Author's Note: It seems that no one liked what I did with the previous chapter, so I changed the last segment back to my first draft. I didn't realize mixing two canons would upset so many people. Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me this long for reading and reviewing! All feedback - positive and negative - helps me, although 'this story sucks now, I'm out' doesn't really tell me what exactly you think I'm doing wrong. The more specific criticism offered by others was far more helpful.
Chapter 37: Taken
Hinata Hyuuga's bare feet sank slightly into the warm white beach sand with each step, and the sun on her skin filled her with pleasant warmth. A happy coo emerged from the tiny bundle in her arms. Hinata smiled softly as her son looked up at her, his reflective eyes meeting hers. A short cap of blond hair clung to the newborn boy's head, a rarity for a child conceived with Hyuuga blood, but a sure mark of his father. "Hello Minato," Hinata murmured. "Do you like the beach?" She and Naruto had agreed before he left that their first child would be named after one of the parents he'd never had the chance to know.
Minato gurgled agreeably. He'd been born just days earlier, but Hinata could already feel the faint hum of his chakra when she held him. Much like Uzumaki's son Unmei, it seemed that her firstborn was going to be a powerhouse when he got older. Looking up from her son's face, Hinata glanced around, grimacing slightly at the sight of the six Uzushio shinobi who formed a loose ring around her. They were giving her plenty of space at least, but they were all armed and their eyes swept the area constantly as though ambushers were likely to leap from the sedge grasses that sprouted in the sandy soil above the beach.
Hinata had discovered once she'd recovered from the birthing that Uzumaki had assigned a bodyguard to her son, one that accompanied him constantly and hovered outside her chambers even when she was in the tower that she and Naruto called home for now. Hinata had grown up surrounded by a certain level of security when she travelled, but the permanent bodyguard in the heart of what was supposed to be safe territory was beginning to wear on her. Uzumaki would not be budged on the topic however, insisting on the presence of the guards at all times.
Hinata's musings were interrupted by murmurs from the two shinobi closest to the water. When she looked up, they were both studying a metal-hulled cargo ship that was anchored in the bay near the coast. It was a bit close to shore for a vessel of its size, and most merchant ships anchored closer to the port. The private beach where Hinata was taking a stroll was off the beaten path. "Byakugan," Hinata murmured, and her expanded vision leapt out to take in the ship. She saw that it was flagged under the emblem of the Land of Wind, and most of the crew had the caramel skin and loose, flowing garb of that nation. "Huh," Hinata murmured. "Well, I suppose they're free to anchor wherever they want as long as they're not obstructing the shipping lanes."
Hearing her, one of the guards turned with a hesitant nod. "Still, perhaps we should return to the tower, milady," he replied.
Hinata shook her head. "I'm not going to build my stamina back up sitting in my quarters all day."
"Still, perhaps further outings should wait until your honored husband returns?"
Hinata frowned, but before she could chide the man for his unwanted persistence her byakugan caught a familiar flash of red on the deck of the ship offshore that vanished as quickly as it had appeared. In the same instant, the calm sand ahead of Hinata and her guards swirled, and a single man appeared when the grains settled. He wore a burgundy and tan shinobi uniform and had a large gourd strapped across his back. He had short, spiky red hair and teal eyes ringed with black that looked like makeup but was part of his skin, much like the whisker marks on Naruto's cheeks.
Those eyes were cold and hard and focused on Hinata, who blinked in surprise at the hostility practically rising from the new arrival's skin. "Gaara? What are you doing here?" Hinata asked, perplexed. She supposed it wasn't unusual for one of Naruto's closest friends to visit him, but there had been no announcement of his impending arrival that she was aware of, and Naruto wasn't even in Uzushio. He was still off dealing with the situation in Westport.
Hinata's confusion grew when the men around her drew weapons as soon as she'd spoken Gaara's name. "You're not welcome here, Kazekage of Suna," their commander rumbled. "Leave now, or face Uzumaki's wrath."
"Stand down now," Hinata commanded once she recovered from her surprise. "Why would Naruto's friend be unwelcome here?" She looked back at Gaara. "Why didn't you send word that you were coming? Naruto's not here, but he should be back soon. Come, let's return to Uzushio. I'm sure we can arrange a proper welcome."
Gaara's eyes narrowed. "I know Naruto isn't here, you bitch," Hinata flinched, her eyes going wide in shock at the hate etched into his every word. "I don't know what game you're playing, but this isn't a social visit. I've come to make sure you pay for your crimes, Hinata Hyuuga."
Minato's bodyguards drew weapons, and three charged Gaara while the rest sent kunai and shuriken winging at him. "Stop this!" Hinata cried, baffled, but the guards ignored her.
The guards' ranged weapons were stopped by barriers of beach sand that leapt up in response to Gaara's will. He raised his hands and more sand climbed up around their feet, engulfing and immobilizing all six men in seconds. "Sabaku Kyu [Sand Coffin]," Gaara snarled before closing his fists. "Sabaku Soso [Sand Funeral]."
Hinata cried out in horror as the blobs of sand contracted violently and blood sprayed forth from each. She crouched over Minato to shelter him and was showered with gore from every direction. When she looked up, eyes wide with disbelief, Gaara was striding toward her. "Why are you doing this?" Hinata cried out. Her words only seemed to make him angrier, and he wasn't stopping, so Hinata shifted Minato into one arm and thrust her palm forward. "Hakke Kusho [Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm]!" The shaped chakra pulse moved fast enough to fly past Gaara's sand shields as they rose and impact the armor crusted on his skin, cracking the sand on his jaw and knocking him back a pace. "Gaara please, stop," Hinata pled as she backed away, "this is insane! What's gotten into you?" Sensing his mother's distress and the killing intent from Gaara filling the air, Minato started to wail.
"The only person here who's insane is you, murderer," Gaara growled. "I won't be lulled by your words of poisoned honey ever again!" The sand hissed as Gaara prepared his next attack. Hinata drew Minato tight against her chest, crouching slightly with the intent to start the defensive spin of the Hakkesho Kaiten [Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation]. Sand flowed up her legs to the knee before she could form the chakra dome, and her spin turned into a fall.
Minato fell from Hinata's grasp and she cried out in alarm, but a soft cushion of sand caught the baby, forming a shielding bassinet around him. Hinata couldn't take much comfort from that, however, because more sand poured over her body, forming tight bands around her wrists and ankles. The sand lifted her, the restraints fusing themselves to a grainy vertical slab. More bands cinched around her thighs, biceps, neck and torso. Her hands were entirely engulfed and immobilized. All of this happened in seconds, and then Hinata was facing Gaara's furious gaze, unable to move a muscle. "Gaara, why- mmph!"
The Kazekage made an irritable gesture and sand flowed thickly over her mouth and jaw, muffling her voice. "If you're going to continue this ridiculous charade then you don't need to speak at all. Words aren't going to help you, Hinata Hyuuga; we're far beyond words." Gaara was lifted up on a platform of his own sand, and both Hinata's slab and Minato's bassinet drifted tamely behind him.
Hinata struggled against the rock-hard sand to no avail as they drifted over the water back to the ship offshore, her mind awhirl. Terror for her child, for herself, hammered at her. Hinata couldn't understand what was happening. Why was Gaara so angry with her? When Temari had died she'd apologized to him for not noticing the Rock assassin; she'd been asleep and unaware when the killing had taken place. Gaara had insisted at the time that no apology was necessary. What is going on? Why did he call me a murderer? Hinata thought frantically. Has Gaara lost his mind? No one's ever become a jinchuuriki twice over. It was the only explanation that made sense, and filled her with terror. Oh Naruto… where are you?
Hours later Uzumaki walked the same sands Hinata had, his three-toed feet sinking deeply into the beach's surface. A dense chakra permeated with rage radiated off the ancient demon, along with a killing intent so potent that even his most devoted followers had drawn back save for High Priest Chaim, who sweated and endured the unpleasant sensation of his god's wrath. "My son's wife and heir have been taken," Uzumaki rumbled ominously. "I can feel them moving away; borne west and south by ship."
"Our fastest frigates will be dispatched at once, my Lord," Chaim replied immediately, barking orders that sent couriers scurrying back to the docks.
"When I find out who did this, their suffering will be a thing of legends. I do not like being made a liar in the protection I have offered to my blood in my own domain. Find out who did this, Chaim. I want their heads."
"Your will be done, my Lord," Chaim murmured with a bow.
"It was never my intent in this expedition to conceal my identity. In fact, I would prefer that it be known by whose hand justice was delivered." Both Uzumaki and Chaim turned to the source of the voice, and saw a circle of sand swirl and rise, coalescing into a man's form. The sand construct rippled simply from the force of Uzumaki's power washing over it, but its features solidified after a moment.
"You; I know of you," Uzumaki rumbled dangerously. "You are Gaara Sabaku. The Kazekage of Suna who was once Naruto's friend." Uzumaki spread his hands to take in the gory mounds of bloody sand where Hinata's guards had died. "You killed my subjects. You have taken my son's wife. Most egregiously, you have abducted a child of my blood. Do you have a death wish, shinobi?"
"My only wish is that a murderer receives the punishment to which she was sentenced," the sand clone of Gaara replied evenly. "I left Konoha believing that Hinata Hyuuga would meet the fate she deserves. I was wrong to trust in Konoha's ability to execute a single convict. I will not make that mistake twice."
"No, you have now made a far graver error," Uzumaki replied angrily. "Gaara of Suna: are you foolish enough to believe you can stand against me? The fragment of my little brother's folly nestled in your soul will not save you, of that you can be assured."
The sand clone shook its head. "No, I do not believe myself the equal of the demon that defeated the massed power of the Akatsuki. But neither has it ever been my intent to oppose you. My desires and yours are not as divergent as you may believe."
"Harm the child of my blood that you have taken and no distance or fortress will protect you whelp," Uzumaki snarled. "You will die alongside everyone you know or love."
"I intend no harm to the baby," Gaara replied. "I have taken him along with his mother only to give you pause, else I suspect my ship would already be sinking in a storm conjured from a clear sky. My sole aim in this endeavor is to return a convicted criminal to Suna and carry out her sentence, as the law and my duty demands. Once justice has been served Naruto's son will be returned to Uzushio unharmed."
"You seem confident that I will not punish you for your trespass, mortal," Uzumaki purred dangerously.
Gaara's eyes narrowed. "If you believe you can create a hurricane in the hottest, driest desert in the Elemental Nations you're welcome to try. If you want to make an enemy of another nation and create more ports where your citizens will not be welcome to sail, I suppose there isn't much anyone can do to stop you. The decision about how much should be sacrificed to your wounded pride is yours to make. But if your first concern is the sanctity of your bloodline, then you need do nothing. The baby will be returned to Uzushio once his mother's sentence has been carried out."
"You play a dangerous game, Gaara of Suna," Uzumaki said softly. "Before this regrettable affair is over, you will find the price of your decisions far too high. In the days to come you will see the mark of my wrath spread out before you. When that happens, ask yourself how many must suffer for your pride." Gesturing with one hand, Uzumaki lifted the sand clone from the ground with a thought. Then he curled his many-jointed fingers into a tight fist, and the clone imploded violently. When Uzumaki lowered his arm, an irregular chunk of white sandstone felt to lie on the beach.
"I do believe I'm going to have to make that insolent pup suffer before he dies," Uzumaki mused, "but for now let us return to the city. Countermand that order to dispatch our frigates in pursuit; even if they overtook that man's ship they would not be able to defeat him."
"Yes, my Lord," Chaim replied. "What of the Chosen One?"
"Have Naruto brought to me as soon as he returns. The failure to foresee this attack was mine. I will give him the news."
Naruto Uzumaki sat on the edge of the bed he and Hinata shared, staring distantly at the empty cradle standing beside it. The cradle for the son he'd yet to see or hold. The son taken hostage by a man he'd once called friend, a man who had his wife as well and intended to kill her.
Breathing hurt; Naruto felt like there was a boulder sitting on his chest, trying to crush him with every breath. The boulder hadn't shifted since Uzumaki had taken him aside just minutes after his triumphant return from Westport and told him that Hinata and Minato had been abducted in his absence, their bodyguards slaughtered.
Naruto surged to his feet, gripping the crib's rail until he felt it start to splinter. He made himself let go. "Hinata won't want it damaged," he told himself. Then it sank in that Hinata might not be coming back; might not stand in this room ever again.
Rage boiled up through the numb haze lying over Naruto's mind. Lashing out, his fist struck the solid stone wall hard enough to send fine cracks radiating out from the point of impact. Pain shot down his arm, but the physical discomfort was almost refreshing next to the spiritual ache deep inside of him. He hit the wall again, and again, using the pain to distance himself from the intolerable now.
"Naruto?" The question came from Haku as the bedroom door opened behind him. "Naruto stop!" He hit the wall again, sending stone chips and drops of blood flying. When he drew his arm back to swing once more, Haku's hand captured his wrist in a firm grip and held his wounded hand still. "Naruto, you must stop this."
Naruto strained against her grasp. He wanted the pain; needed it. He deserved the pain for not being in Uzushio to protect Hinata. She was his wife and Minato was his son and instead of being with them he'd been off doing Uzumaki's bidding, protecting strangers instead of his family!
Naruto was stronger than Haku was, but she responded to his attempt to pull free by drawing his wrist behind his back and up, denying him leverage. "Naruto, this isn't helping Hinata or your son," Haku chided him.
"It's helping me," he muttered.
"No it isn't," Haku replied firmly. "Now are you going to stop this foolishness if I let go?" Naruto relaxed, nodding reluctantly. Haku eased her grip, letting him turn around to face her. "Sit down," she said gently, guiding him back to the bed. When he was resting on the edge she left his side to retrieve the first aid kit before returning. Kneeling before him she probed his mangled hand gently, but it still elicited hisses from between his teeth. "Well, you managed to break most of your knuckles in addition to a perfectly good section of wall. Should I call Ino?"
Naruto shook his head silently. He didn't want to see the blonde; didn't want to be reminded of her constant sniping and spite toward Hinata. "All right," Haku murmured. "you heal fast anyways." She carefully cleaned and disinfected the cuts on his hand, and then got out gauze to bandage it.
"I… I can't lose them, Haku," Naruto said quietly. With the pain in his hand diminished under the dark-haired kunoichi's gentle touch, the constant pressure squeezing his chest was back worse than ever.
"Then have faith that you will not," Haku replied kindly. "Hinata is still alive, and by the Kazekage's own words he intends no harm to the baby. We can follow them; there is time to plan and prepare and pursue, since Gaara seems intent on returning to Suna before carrying out Hinata's sentence. Else why would he not have slain her on the beach with the bodyguards?"
Naruto shuddered. He'd seen the bloody stretch of sand where Minato's bodyguards had died. Thinking about it always led to haunting images of Gaara doing the same thing to his wife. "Does it matter?" Naruto asked morosely. "He's got a head start of more than a week, and his ship is mechanically powered. Nothing in Uzushio's fleet can catch it."
"The Soul Mirror's bond carried you to my side when those false ANBU were about to take my life," Haku pointed out. "Will it not afford you the chance to do the same for Hinata?"
"Uzumaki says it will, but the problem is that those renegades who were sent to kill you didn't know that it was possible," Naruto replied. "Gaara was at my wedding; he does know what will happen, and he's not stupid. I don't think he took Hinata alive because he wants to make a show of her execution; I think he wants to set up the confrontation between us on his terms to make sure I can't stop him."
With her work on his hand done, Haku leaned back. She studied him silently, and her expression was an enigma; a mix of hesitancy, frustration and sympathy. After a time she stood up and walked out of the room without a word, stepping out onto the balcony.
Curious, Naruto focused on the bond. Even quieted there was always a connection between them. What he discovered was that Haku's mind was in turmoil; she was arguing with herself in the silence of her mind, though about what he couldn't tell.
Following Haku out onto the balcony, Naruto found her leaning on the railing, studying the city below. "Something's bothering you," Naruto observed neutrally. "Should I have noticed sooner?"
Haku shook her head. "I am merely… uncertain how much the bond between us affects my decision making even when it has been dampened from your end. I am considering something I should not, and I cannot help but wonder how much of that temptation is due to our link."
"I'm not influencing you or Ino at all," Naruto replied, "I haven't since the night we left Konoha. That's something I've been very careful about." He joined her at the railing. "The more I learn from Uzumaki, the more I realize how subtle the Soul Mirror can be. When the Kyuubi first gave me this power I didn't even know I had it, but I still used it. That usage had all of the crude bluntness of a hammer swung blindfolded: what I did to Hinata, Ino and you, what I did to Han in the Land of Earth, and what I did to Carver in Westport. These eyes can be used to simply bludgeon all but the strongest minds into submission. But that's only the simplest application of the Soul Mirror's power."
"How so?" Haku asked, sounding curious and grateful for the distraction.
Naruto shrugged. "Uzumaki has told me more than once that the greatest mastery of the Soul Mirror is in using it so subtly that the one affected never realizes what was done to them. Case in point – and don't mention this to anyone else – is the little 'nudges' Uzumaki gives Konan to suppress her jealousy towards Alara. It's only recently that my perception has become keen enough to notice when he does it. The pulses of chakra involved are so small and delicately shaped that I thought I was imagining them at first."
Naruto paused. "So if I wanted to, I could use the Soul Mirror in a manner that you'd be unlikely to notice, but I've made a choice not to do what Uzumaki does. If I have to wield these eyes as a weapon to protect you and Hinata and Ino so be it. I won't use it to enforce obedience or agreement, however, so if this decision you've been wrestling with is troubling you I'm afraid I can't take credit."
"I see," Haku sighed.
"Can you tell me what it's about, at least?" Naruto asked.
"I am contemplating the betrayal of an oath I swore in earnest, and continue to value," Haku replied with frustration. "The woman I was before you bonded me would not have even considered it."
Naruto shrugged. "Then stay true to your word."
Haku looked at him askance, sunlight glinting off of her silver irises. "Even if, in betraying that oath, I could give you a chance to catch Gaara before he reaches Suna?"
Naruto's jaw dropped. "This isn't a hypothetical? You know of a way I could catch up to Gaara in spite of his head start?"
Haku nodded reluctantly. "A way exists, Naruto. But making it available to you would require me to betray my oath of loyalty to Kiri. The Mizukage gave me a home and a cause; I owe her my fealty and my life. When Ao failed in his attempt to take Hinata and I alone returned to report the failure, she could have made things easier for herself by ordering my execution. She did not. She sent me to you for Kiri's sake; this I have told you already. But if I help you in this matter… that home will be lost to me. I could never return to Mist."
Naruto sighed. "What do you want me to say? I need your help; Hinata needs your help. Are you determined to make me a hypocrite, Haku? After everything I just said?"
"You asked what I was thinking about. I told you."
Naruto's eyes narrowed, and he had to push down some anger. "Is this like that night in the Harbinger's brig, Haku? You want me to force you into something, so you can tell yourself later that you didn't have a choice?"
"You have taken away choices from me before, Naruto," Haku reminded him sharply. "When I chose to die with Zabuza, you prevented it. When I wanted nothing more than the place I had in Kiri's ANBU, you took that away from me. Why do you hesitate now?"
Naruto ground his teeth. "I'm not going apologize for stopping you from committing suicide on that bridge in Wave, or doing what I had to in order to protect the Harbinger of Hope."
"Then do 'what you have to' once more," Haku replied sadly. "Perhaps it would be easier if you were more like Uzumaki."
"Maybe it would be," Naruto replied. "But I'm not him, and I don't want to be."
"God, you two are… really, there are no words." Naruto and Haku turned around to see Ino standing in the balcony doorway, looking at both of them wearily.
"What do you want?" Naruto growled.
"Well, I wanted to take a nap, but who can sleep with you two going on out here?" Ino sighed. "Since you'll both keep dancing around this until one of you decides to do something they'll hate themselves for, what say we skip all the angst? I haven't made promises to anyone." She turned her silvered eyes to Haku, who stiffened as she realized what the blonde meant.
"Ino, don't-" Haku protested.
"She's trying really hard not to think about a ship docked in the harbor right now," Ino interrupted. "It's… oh, that's actually really interesting. Kiri has a whole fleet of ships like the ones that attacked us on the Harbinger. They look like civilian light cargo vessels, but they're used to ferry Mist shinobi all over the world and they're basically the fastest things afloat. There's one here in Uzushio right now, probably to keep tabs on Uzumaki."
"You have no right to violate the sanctity of my thoughts and memories," Haku growled at the blonde.
"Would you prefer if Naruto had forced the information out of you and then resented you for making him compromise his principles yet again to protect Hinata?" Ino shot back challengingly. "You don't fool me, Haku; if you didn't want him to know about the spy ship you wouldn't have brought it up in your roundabout way. Well, now you can tell your precious Mizukage that the nasty Yamanaka dragged the secret out of you against your will. It's not like my family hasn't been a boogeyman in Mist since the Second War." Ino shrugged. "We could keep debating the comparative morality of our positions, or we could grab our gear, head down to the harbor and go hijack that ship. What's it going to be?"
"Wait, you want to come?" Naruto blurted out. "Why?"
Ino gave him a patient look. "Because god knows what messes you would get into without me, Naruto. Besides, Hinata's still not my favorite person in the world, but that chimera you and Uzumaki cooked up isn't really even her anymore. Maybe she still deserves to die, but your son doesn't deserve to grow up without a mother. Besides, Gaara's in the wrong here. He's threatening the safety of an infant and endangering countless innocent lives in the face of Uzumaki's rather indiscriminate wrath. So yes, I'm coming along. You can thank me later." Ino tossed her ponytail over her shoulder and disappeared back into the tower.
Naruto looked back at Haku, who hadn't spoken since Ino's last rejoinder. "You don't have to come if you don't want to," he offered.
Haku shook her head. "I am at least as committed to this endeavor as she is," the ice-wielder nodded towards the absent Ino. "Let us rescue Hinata…" she hesitated, "but regardless of the means by which the information was given – or taken – I do not think I will be welcome to return to Kiri. So when your wife and son are safe, perhaps you could consider the request I made the night you altered Hinata's memory."
Naruto had to think for a moment, and then her blinked. "You mean, about opening our bond and leaving it that way?" Haku nodded silently, Naruto swallowed hard. "Well, maybe Hinata will be so happy about being rescued that she won't be mad when I ask her about it," he concluded optimistically.
"Yeah, no," that dry observation came from Ino, returned to the balcony doorway with a pack over her shoulder. "Hinata's going to geld you with a pair of dull scissors when you ask her if you can start screwing Haku, too." Ino looked between the two of them and smirked at the crimson staining two sets of cheeks. "Aww, that's almost cute. C'mon you sinful lovebirds. Let's get moving. The Hyuuga princess isn't going to rescue herself. You can discuss a threesome afterwards."
Lying in bed in her cabin, Kurotsuchi stared at the dark outline silhouetted faintly by the moonlight from the window and listened to slow breathing that wasn't her own. Freed from its usual spiky topknot, Shikamaru's hair was spread across the pillow as he slept.
What am I doing? Kurotsuchi asked herself. On one level, she was attracted to Shikamaru. He was younger than her, but possessed qualities she found pleasing in a man. He was intelligent, shrewd and courageous. He wasn't bad to look at either, once you got past the clan's poor choice of hair styles among males. If her professed intent to assimilate into the Nara had been genuine she could do a lot worse.
For all that what she'd just done was enjoyable and had good reasons behind it Kurotsuchi couldn't shake a deep sense of unease. Examining the unusual feeling, she was surprised to discover that she actually felt regret. There was a part of her – a part that had been growing for some time – that wished the lie could be real; that she could make a home in this place. That realization was followed by intense guilt; Konoha had destroyed her real home and her true family. Regardless of the extent to which the Nara had been directly responsible for Iwa's fall, they were part of the alliance that had seen the deed done.
This is ridiculous, Kurotsuchi reminded herself firmly. I can't be anything other than what I am: an instrument of vengeance. Every bit of acceptance and welcome I've been shown here would evaporate if any of them knew what I really was, what my true purpose is. How many good, decent people in Iwa died for Konoha's war of aggression?
Such was the turmoil of Kurotsuchi's thoughts that it took some time for her to become aware that she could hear two people other than herself breathing.
Rolling out of bed with the kunai under her pillow in hand, Kurotsuchi whirled to the bedroom door. The shadowed figure stepped into the faint moonlight, and she barely stopped the throw in time. Kurotsuchi's eyes widened at the long, wavy mane of emerald hair cascading over pale skin and bright blue eyes that sparkled with amusement. Mayonaka - appearing in her human disguise - tilted her head towards the room behind her. Kurotsuchi followed her mistress into the living room, closing the bedroom door behind her with a glance to make sure Shikamaru hadn't woken.
"Lady Mayonaka, what are you doing here?" Kurotsuchi whispered frantically.
"Why, I've come to collect my cute little infiltrator," Mayonaka purred. "When what do I discover but that she's been a dirty, naughty succubus? My but you've worked quickly, luring a Nara into your bed already. Well done."
Kurotsuchi blinked, not sure how to respond to that. Then the first part of the disguised demon's statement hit her. "'Collect me'? For what, mistress?"
"It's time to do what you and the others were sent here for," Mayonaka replied smoothly. "Before the sun rises, Konoha will feel your wrath."
"Now?" Kurotsuchi asked, mind awhirl. "Tonight?"
Mayonaka nodded. "I've already gathered the other children and freed the few who had not found a means to do so themselves; I saved you for last since this," her lips twisted into a moue of distaste, "forest required some additional precautions."
"I… I see," Kurotsuchi replied slowly.
Mayonaka gave her a curious look. "What's the matter, pet?" She glanced at the closed bedroom door and chuckled quietly. "You haven't forgotten why you're here, have you? It's not to have fun with one of Konoha's young studs. You wanted revenge for your dead village, remember?" Mayonaka shrugged. "Anyways, let's snuff your Nara fuck toy before he wakes and then we can get to work."
For a moment Kurotsuchi didn't know what to say, the thought of killing Shikamaru in his sleep sending a shudder of dread through her. When she spoke, the words that came out of her mouth surprised her. "I can't," she whispered.
Mayonaka just stared at her. "I know I didn't hear that right," she growled. Taking a few steps forward, she loomed over Kurotsuchi even in her disguised form. "Have you forgotten what you were created for, girl? You're Iwa's weapon of vengeance."
"Like you care about Iwa," Kurotsuchi snapped back, startled at her own reaction. "Konoha destroyed my home, killed my family. Maybe they even deserve to bleed for it, but Shika- urk!"
Mayonaka's fingers closed around Kurotsuchi's throat like a vise, cutting off her words. Her hands rose to tear at the crushing grip, but her limbs became cold and numb. "What's this?" Mayonaka hissed, sounding puzzled. "The chakra I gifted you is all but gone, girl! The poor child nestled in your bosom is nearly starved. Now what could have done that?"
Choking, Kurotsuchi couldn't respond, couldn't even breathe. What? I… that's right, she put that thing in me. How could I have forgotten that?
"No matter," Mayonaka decided. "You have a job to do. Now wake up." The disguised demon's voice intensified with the last two words, and Kurotsuchi shuddered silently as dark chakra poured into her. Motes of blackness danced across her field of vision, and when Mayonaka released her she slumped to her knees.
"Now," Mayonaka demanded, "do you remember why you're here?"
Rubbing her throat, Kurotsuchi nodded absently. Rage pulsed through her with every heartbeat. She existed for only one reason; to make Konoha pay in blood for their sins. "Of course I remember, Mistress. What task must I complete?"
"First we're killing your boyfriend." Pushing past Kurotsuchi, Mayonaka pushed the bedroom door open, only to hiss in anger at the sight that greeted her. The bed was empty and the window was open, the curtains stirring in the breeze from outside. "He's fled while you hesitated," Mayonaka raged. She waved a hand, and the whole wall exploded outward. Stepping through the rubble she looked around before sighing. "He's gone already. Well no matter; he can't stop what's coming."
Kurotsuchi followed her mistress outside, and the ancient demon turned back to her. "Your task is one you'll appreciate, I think," Mayonaka replied. "These Leaf ninja took something very valuable from your village. You, my dear, are going to take it back while the other children and I… cause some chaos."
When Mayonaka was done explaining the task, Kurotsuchi felt a hard smile cross her face. It was poetic justice. "It will be done, mistress," she vowed.
"Then go. Cut down every Leaf ninja who stands in your way," Mayonaka exhorted her.
Closing their eyes for a moment, both women assumed their true forms. Mayonaka swelled to immensity, while Kurotsuchi's skin darkened to a deep green and her wings shuddered free of her shoulder blades. The transformed Rock kunoichi took wing over the forest towards the village proper, while Mayonaka conjured a shimmering aura of blue light and vanished from sight before wending her way back through the forest.
As she walked the last distance to her target, Kurotsuchi was struck by the fact that the area in one of Konoha's civilian residential districts was almost remarkable in how unremarkable it was. Equally far from the insular clan compounds, the administrative heart of the village and the garish spectacle of the red light district, it was what she supposed would be considered a 'nice neighborhood'. After landing and taking on mortal guise once more Kurotsuchi had walked down well-maintained paths flanked by manicured trees and shrubs. Each house had a wide lawn, and most had trees and flowers planted as well as perhaps a playset for children visible in the backyard. The homes were for the most part freshly painted, the lawns were all mowed to a uniform height, and in the hour before dawn there was a plastic-wrapped newspaper resting in front of each domicile.
It was evidence of the sort of dreamy domestic life that Kurotsuchi supposed civilians aspired to. It was certainly peaceful enough, though activity was starting to pick up as early risers left home for whatever jobs they held, wearing formal clothing and toting briefcases. The men and women Kurotsuchi passed sometimes offered a respectful nod at the sight of the hitai-ate she wore.
It seemed like a decent place to live, and as she approached one specific house and turned down its front walk, she almost felt a moment of regret that she'd have to shatter the placid domesticity of this particular residence. But a job was a job, and revenge couldn't wait any longer.
Of course, the house in question was slightly less normal than it seemed. Barely had Kurotsuchi passed between the shrubs at the boundary of the property than a pair of uniformed Leaf chuunin flickered into place between her and the house. The male half of the pair had his sword drawn, while his kunoichi partner wielded a pair of wicked-looking knives. "You're not authorized to be here, ward," he informed her contemptuously. "Get lost, now."
"I'm exactly where I'm meant to be," Kurotsuchi replied calmly before snapping her fingers. Narrow, razor-sharp spikes of rock erupted from the manicured grass the ANBU stood on. The man was impaled cleanly from groin to skull, while the kunoichi's reflexes were fast enough that she took half a step back before the stone spike lanced through her thigh. A choked-off scream broke the domestic silence of the neighborhood as the stricken women fell, which only tore the wound wider. The amount of blood soaking into the grass told Kurotsuchi that the femoral artery had been severed. Stepping around the dying woman, Kurotsuchi continued on her way.
Halfway across the yard a half dozen more shinobi appeared, four of them chuunin and two jounin. They didn't appear to be in the mood to talk, and Kurotsuchi couldn't have dodged the flurry of shuriken and ninjutsu that flew at her from several different directions. She didn't try either; instead she shifted into her true form and offered a feral grin when steel and fire were deflected by her green hide without leaving a scratch.
The failure of their assault made the Leaf ninja hesitate for a fatal second, and they didn't notice two more new arrivals rise up from the lawn behind them as though it was a lake's surface. The pair was part of the larger group of Iwa shinobi Kurotsuchi and Mayonaka had recruited from Camp 4A, and they were just as hungry for Leaf ninja blood as any of the band.
Pan, the largest of the pair, grabbed the skull of the nearest chuunin and snapped the smaller man's neck. Rikki, wiry and shorter even than Kurotsuchi, jabbed a narrow-bladed kunai up into the base of another Leaf ninja's skull, piercing the brain surgically before jerking the weapon out. The Leaf survivors scattered, but Kurotsuchi let her chakra surge, and the soil of the lawn turned liquid in an instant.
The jounin managed to leap free, while the remaining pair of chuunin sank and were quickly set upon by Pan and Rikki. Kurotsuchi took to the air with a powerful beat of her wings and caught up with one of the jounin mid-leap. He parried her opening claw swipe, but she brought a knee up into his ribs and the sharp bone spur extending from the top of her kneecap punctured his flak jacket and slid between his ribs. She willed it to grow, and its tip found his heart. Kurotsuchi shivered with delight as she felt that heart spasm and stop. She let the body fall and swooped down onto the roof of the house where the other jounin had landed and drawn a tanto. "What are you?" The man demanded.
"The daughter of a murdered village," Kurotsuchi hissed. The thing Mayonaka had set burrowing into her heart months ago was fully awake now after slumbering for all the time she'd been in Konoha. It fed her all the rage and hate it had eaten when it first joined with her, and her fury fed it back in a cycle that was amplified with each repetition. "I am Konoha's sins come due." Feeding the dark power of her rage into speed she flickered across the rooftop.
The jounin displayed impressive speed in blocking her first claw strike, and showed he'd learned from his deceased companion's fate when he ducked under the bone spike that grew from her elbow as she swiped it at his throat. He retaliated with the blade in his hand and it pierced through her armor, but snapped in two on meeting her skin. Catching the broken tip of the weapon in her hand, Kurotsuchi smacked the jounin with one of her wings to knock him off balance, and used the movement to hide her lunge. She drove the broken tip of the man's own tanto into his left eye with a snarl, and he fell without a sound.
Hearing the twang of a bow string behind her, Kurotsuchi turned to see Pan fall to the ground with an arrow through the temple. Rikki dropped into the earth to avoid the same fate, but when he was only waist-deep another arrow flew from the shadows around the side of the house and buried itself in his chest, piercing his heart. He slumped back, unmoving and half buried.
Kurotsuchi willed a forest of rock spikes to shoot from the ground in the area where the arrows had originated. A blurring figure leapt away from the trap, landing on the far side of the roof from where she stood. The new arrival was a tall, slender woman a few years her senior with short auburn hair. She wore a short-sleeved shirt with the faded logo of a local sports team, sweatpants, a kitchen apron of all things, and she was barefoot. The quiver across her back and weapon pouch at her hip, hastily donned over the civilian clothes, were her only martial gear. The compact, powerful recurve bow in her hands was a master's weapon, however, and her movements as she drew and fired another arrow were quick and sure.
An arrow from an ordinary archer wasn't really a threat to a shinobi; there were samurai without any chakra who could deflect an arrow in flight, and ninja were a lot faster than that. Archers who were also chakra users however, were more of a problem. Kurotsuchi's opponent was wreathing her projectiles in wind chakra, giving them both a considerable speed boost and the ability to pierce virtually any target. She started moving as soon as her opponent drew back the bowstring, but it wasn't enough. The arrow missed her vitals but pounded into her left shoulder, the broad steel head lodging in the bone of the joint. Kurotsuchi gasped in pain, feeling her left arm go numb. Fuck… this really hurts!
Kurotsuchi retaliated by drawing up more rock spikes from the ground behind the archer. She evaded them, but that set her up for Kurotsuchi to rip out of the heavy ceramic tiles from the roof at her feet and throw it. The spinning projectile hit the leaping archer in the center of mass with bone-crushing force, but rather than falling the bow wielder vanished entirely in a puff of smoke.
Kurotsuchi's eyes widened in alarm; she flared her wings to propel herself into the air, but before her feet left the roof she heard another twang from behind her. Agony exploded through her body as an arrow pierced through the membrane of her wing before burying itself in her lower back just to the right of the spine.
Demonic constitution or no an arrow in the kidney really hurt, and Kurotsuchi screamed as she fell to one knee, half-turning to see what was probably the real archer standing on the broad branch of a tree next to the house. "Kaneda wasted breath asking what you are," the kunoichi archer growled, "but I don't really care. You monsters came to the wrong house." She drew and fired in a blurring motion.
With two arrows already in her, Kurotsuchi had little chance to evade. The third shot slammed into her gut, and her back hit the chimney behind her. Half a dozen more arrows followed in a few seconds, each broad steel head striking through one of Kurotsuchi's limbs and wings, pinning her to the chimney like a butterfly in a collector's box.
Panting and groaning as the pain hammered at her, Kurotsuchi struggled to free one of her arms as the archer hopped down from the tree, advancing across the rooftop. She nocked another arrow, aiming it at Kurotsuchi's forehead. "Do you even know who the fuck you're messing with?"
Despite the pain Kurotsuchi managed a bloody grin. "Of course I know who you are, Rima Kichiki. What you don't know is how hard it is to kill a demon without a priest around." She was rewarded with a momentary look of alarm on the older woman's face before the rooftop below her feet exploded upward, peppering her with ceramic shrapnel and throwing her into the air. Pan's bulky figure shot up through the hole, the messy wound in the side of his head already closing itself up. Rima fired in midair, but the arrow through the side of his chest only made Pan grunt slightly in discomfort.
What goes up must come down, and when Rima fell Rikki was waiting, already recovered from his arrow through the heart. The long, narrow rock spike he'd formed had already grown above the level of the rooftop when Rima hit it with a meaty chunk, her agonized scream splitting the air as she was impaled through the abdomen, sliding down the spike until its width stopped her. The bow fell from her hands, and she weakly grasped at the bloodied length of stone emerging from her stomach.
After Pan yanked out a few of the arrows pinning Kurotsuchi she was able to free herself, and she let her dark chakra close up the wounds she'd been given. When she could move without pain, Kurotsuchi nodded her thanks to Pan and Rikki before dropping through the hole in the roof Pan had created. Inside the Kichiki residence she strode into the master bedroom. The cradle by the large bed was empty, but after listening for a few seconds Kurotsuchi could hear ragged breathing.
When she tore the closet door open, Kurotsuchi found a man who had to be Rima's husband huddled on the floor, his arms wrapped tightly around a baby girl shy of her second birthday. He had no detectable chakra, and his wide eyes were full of fear. "Please, no," he gasped, clutching his daughter to his chest. "She's just a baby."
Kurotsuchi's knee met the side of his head and crushed his skull against the wall. "Shouldn't have let your wife steal what was ours," she muttered. Little Mana Kichiki was spattered with some of her father's blood, and started to wail. Ignoring the child's cries Kurotsuchi scooped her up under one arm. She stumbled when the whole house shook with a loud impact from just outside. Frowning, she sprinted for the door. Kicking it open, she saw Pan brawling with a grim-faced Choji Akimichi, the two burly men engaged in a fierce melee. The source of the impact she'd felt was a brand new crater in the front lawn with Rikki's mangled body at the bottom, likely victim of an opening strike from an enlarged Akimichi fist. The damage looked bad enough that Rikki wouldn't be getting up for a while, even with demonic regeneration at work.
Kurotsuchi spread her wings, preparing to fling herself aloft and flee. Pan and the others could take care of themselves, and Mayonaka's instructions had been explicit: obtain the infant jinchuuriki and deliver it to a specific place at a specific time. Before she could flap her wings, however, every muscle in Kurotsuchi's body froze. From the corner of her eye she saw a thin tendril of shadow snaking out from behind a tall shrub latched onto her ankle.
"You don't want to do this, Shikamaru," she warned him. "Don't get in my way." She took a few involuntary steps, and Shikamaru emerged from hiding to her side.
"So that really is you, Kurotsuchi," Shikamaru replied, his expression surprised and disappointed. "What have you done to yourself?"
"My mistress freed me," Kurotsuchi replied. "She gave me the power to avenge my people, and no one who stands in my way will be spared; not even you."
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "The demon that's been terrorizing the Land of Fire… it made you like this? Why go to all this trouble to take a jinchuuriki who won't be useful for another decade at a minimum?"
Kurotsuchi grinned mirthlessly. "Oh, we're doing far more than just taking back what was ours. Look around Shikamaru; listen."
He did so, and over the sounds of Choji and Pan hitting each other they could hear the faint sounds of battle elsewhere in Konoha. The sun was starting to stain the predawn sky, but even so the sooty orange glows of fire were visible in multiple directions. "What have you done, Kurotsuchi?" Shikamaru growled.
"Given Konoha a taste of what you did to Iwa," she spat. Reaching deep into the blackness shrouding her heart, Kurotsuchi activated her dark chakra and latched onto Shimakaru's shadow. Then she started pulling, and a feral grin spread across her face as the Nara heir flinched, blood draining from his face. He staggered back, trying to retract his shadow, but she stooped and grasped the tendril, keeping a grip on it and draining chakra through the link. "I think one of your ancestors made a pact with a demon, Shikamaru," she purred, "or at least bedded one. These shadows of yours are too much like the chakra I was gifted with to be a coincidence."
Shikamaru's limbs were shaking already as she sucked him dry and he stumbled over a loose rock where the lawn met the flower beds, falling backward. Kurotsuchi released his shadow when it became too thin and faded to grasp. She raised the arm that wasn't gripping a wailing toddler, the first rays of the sun glinting off of the claws tipping her long fingers.
"You… don't have to do this," Shikamaru gasped. "Kurotsuchi, you don't have to be like this! Whatever that demon has done to you, we can help you."
"You can't give me back my family!" Kurotsuchi shrieked. "You can't give me back my home!"
"Was trying… to give you both," Shikamaru replied weakly. "But if this is all you want… to have your revenge, and to have nothing once you've taken it… then do it. Kill me."
Kurotsuchi's claws plunged down – and came to a halt inches from Shikamaru's neck. The razor-sharp digits trembled in place, nicking his skin but not sinking home.
"What are you waiting for, Kurotsuchi?" Shikamaru demanded. "Isn't this what you wanted?"
Kurotsuchi looked between the hand that wouldn't do what she was ordering it to, and the man who looked back at her – calm, resolved, without any hate or anger. "Stop looking at me like that! I'm your enemy! Hate me, damn you!"
Shikamaru shook his head. "You're not my enemy Kurotsuchi," he replied, "and I'm not going to hate you. I was hoping this morning I could tell you that I care about you, that I could ask if you felt the same. Let me help you. Whatever that demon's done to you, the woman I know is stronger."
Kurotsuchi flinched back as though stung, staring at Shikamaru with wide eyes. The rage pounding in her chest was still howling for his blood… but something else inside refused. "Don't follow me, Shikamaru," she said raggedly. "Just… don't." Taking a step back she spread her wings and cast herself aloft with a few powerful beats.
"Kurotsuchi!"
Kurotsuchi's vision blurred for a moment, and she cursed the wind stinging her eyes. She wiped the tears away, but they didn't stop entirely until she couldn't hear the voice from below anymore and the only sound was the wind and the sobs of the child she carried north and east, high above the village of Konoha and the knots of conflict where its shinobi did battle against the demons that had nestled in their midst.