Hello my dears! It is my latest update! I don't have much for here this time, which is weird.
Another thing that is weird, I didn't get any reviews. D: I've gotten reviews for every other chapter (even some weird ones/flames), so it's kind of odd. It's cool. I still love you guys. 3
Enjoy! I do not own any of the Naruto characters.
Chapter Thirty-Eight – Shreds of a Past Life
When I arrived in camp, I glanced around to get my bearings.
Ino was sitting next to Shikamaru, and they were talking quietly with their mics off; Hanabi - now that she had finished leading me here - and Daichi were the same, on the opposite side of the clearing. In the middle, by the campfire and the pot of what could only be our dinner, were the two children we'd saved. Even appearing to be distracted, I could tell the team was still watching the two. I set Nobori near my other two genin and then walked over to kneel before them. The girl cringed away into the side of the boy, who put a protective arm before her. Interesting.
"Hi. My name is Maia Haru, a kunoichi from Konoha in the Land of Fire. What are your names?" I asked, my voice gentle and calm.
"My name is Tetsuya Nagano. This is Lady Kiyoko Nagano. She is the only daughter of Ayaki Nagano and his wife Ayame Nagano, the head of our clan. Since they are... gone... she is now the head of the clan." That explained why they had a five year old in their possession. If they held one of the children of the head family, they could repopulate the clan under Orochimaru's thumb. Even if she was a girl, she would carry the name. And, if they were the last of the clan, it would make him her bodyguard and caretaker. At least, if they were anything like what I'd learned of other clans.
"I did not realize I was in such prestigious company. My lady." I bowed my head to the girl, who just stared at me with fear. "We are going to escort and protect you to our village, to defend you against further attacks by Orochimaru and his men." I explained. "We need to know, however, if they left your clan home intact, or if they burned it. Do you know?"
"They left it standing, probably to go back to steal from it. Why? Do you want to steal from our home too?" Tetsuya asked, becoming overly defensive. I held up my hands in a placating way.
"I merely want to salvage your clan documents and secrets, for you and Lady Kiyoko. You'll need them for when you begin to build your clan again. Artifacts, scrolls - anything that's left behind will fall into your enemy's hands. I promise that anything we remove from your clan's home we will return to the two of you." That calmed him a bit. "We will begin our travels tomorrow, so I suggest after you eat you go to bed. It will be a long day tomorrow." The boy nodded and I rose with a stretch to check dinner.
It took a week and a half to travel back to their clan home. I carried the little girl most of the way - Tetsuya wanted to be the one carrying her, but I adamantly refused. He could carry himself if he'd liked, but I couldn't risk him running off with the girl. Not that we wouldn't find them - that was a given. It would just be a pain, and we didn't need the delay right now. Finally, so we could get moving, I told him he could run next to me to be by her, which placated him for the moment. We had a similar argument every morning, but I each day I ran with her in my arms and Tetsuya at my side. Our conversations - they weren't much in the way of arguments by the third day - became half hearted at best, and usually ended up turning to other topics. Kiyoko began to relax and trust the rest of us as Tetsuya calmed down and stopped getting overly defensive, which was a great plus. Having a little girl stare at you with fear and apprehension was not the greatest way to travel, needless to say.
There wasn't any problems that arose in our travels - no enemies to kill, no wounds to tend, nothing. It was kind of anti-climatic, but I wasn't going to complain - defending two children from the enemy wasn't the easiest thing in the world (and I would know; I've done it enough times to practically be an expert at it). When we arrived at the outskirts of the compound's walls, I whistled at the size of the hole in the protective wall.
"Shikamaru, Hanabi - go scan the area. I want to know if there's anything dangerous in there before we bring the children any closer." I ordered. The two darted past me - Shikamaru because he'd be level headed and in control, and Hanabi because she could see what the rest of us would be unable to.
"There's no sign of any enemies, but, Maia... you should see this." I left Kiyoko in Ino's arms and made for the wall - I was there in short time, landing next to the two that had appeared as I moved.
"What's wrong?" Looking to them for answers.
"Nothing's 'wrong' per se. Just... look." Shikamaru said, gesturing with one arm. I looked out at the clan's miniature city, ready to see the carnage of a massacre before me. Instead, while I did see blood stains, there were no bodies to be seen.
"Where are the bodies?" I whispered, more in shock than anything. I knew that the Sound wouldn't have taken the time to bury them, so what had happened to them?
"We found a grave yard on the far side of the compound - they looked recent. I think the villagers found them and cared for their bodies." Shikamaru told me, pointing in the direction of the grave yard.
"That's probably what happened. However. I don't want to take any chances. We'll bring the children with us, but they don't go anywhere alone, and they don't enter any buildings or rooms first. Does everyone understand?" I asked into my mic. I was answered with affirmatives. "Good. Then get up here you three, and let's get going."
We entered the compound warily, as if there were booby traps everywhere. Hanabi's eyes wouldn't be able to see that without something definitive to look for. I had Tetsuya guide us to the places most likely to hold their secrets - after all, he was only eleven. Why should he knew where their scrolls and artifacts were protected? Three false trails led us to a jackpot - the fourth location. It was a small room towards the back of the main house; we'd almost passed by it all together when Daichi noticed there was something off about the floor. Further inspection revealed a trap door, which was sealed off. I sighed.
"Give me a few minutes to see if I can't break this seal open." I told the others, kneeling down to get a better look at the writing. After a few long moments, I turned to the others. "Ino, bring Kiyoko over here, would you?" The woman came over, but before I accepted the girl I slipped my hand into her kunai holster, grabbing a clean blade. I set it on the floor before me before accepting the child. "Now, Kiyoko. This seal requires the blood of a head family member to open. So I need to make a little cut on you, okay?" I asked, leaving the weapon on the floor as I talked gently to her. I heard Tetsuya make a noise of dissent, but I heard him swiftly silenced.
The girl stared at me, before offering her hand gravely. I smiled at her before raising the blade and cutting her forefinger. I didn't need a lot of her blood - I just needed to trace the seal. "Now, I'm going to take your hand and guide it, okay?" She nodded. I guided the hand, bloody finger pressed to the wood, along the edges of the seal, until it was fully traced. A moment later, it shimmered for a moment before it disappeared, leaving nothing behind - not even the blood. Then I healed the little girls finger. "There. All better." I lifted her into my arms as I rose, before tugging the door open.
It led to a small vault, but the items within would be priceless to these children. I sent Ino off to find me paper, a brush, and some ink - I'd be sealing away all of these into a scroll - or multiple scrolls - until it was safer. While she was searching, I turned to Shikamaru.
"Lend me one of your kunai, please." I asked him calmly, holding out one hand. Quizzically, he passed me one, and then I turned to Tetsuya. "Now. When Ino returns, I'm going to create a sealing jutsu that will store your treasures. However, since these are clan secrets, I'm not going to use a basic seal - I'm going to use a blood seal. It's actually going to be a dual blood seal, since I'm going to use the blood of two different people to do this - mine, and yours. Mine, because I'm the one who is creating the seal, and yours because you're a member of the clan. Does this make sense?" I asked, holding the kunai in a non threatening way. He stared at the blade, nodding after a long moment. "Good. This seal prevents the scroll from being opened without the two of us together - without both us giving some blood, the seal will not open."
Just then, Ino appeared in the vault again with all of my requested materials. "Alright, let's get this started. How about I take the scrolls first, once I've gotten the seal created?" I asked, though it really was an order phrased as a question. Everyone except for the two children went into action, moving what was needed into an ordered stack of scrolls before me. While they did that, I painted the seal onto the paper with the brush. Once it was ready to accept the scrolls, I began to carefully slide each one in. I managed to fit all of them within - the artifacts would go into a second scroll. As I began preparations to seal them away, I turned to Tetsuya.
"I need your blood. Come." I cut his thumb, and as the wound wept, I did the same to myself. "Alright, on three, press your thumb here. One, two, three!" Together we pushed our thumbs into the center of the seal, finishing and sealing it shut. It wouldn't open without the two of us now. I made quick work of the few artifacts within the vault, before sealing it the same way. Then, the two scrolls were added to my emergency scrolls, for safety purposes. Then we went back upstairs and set everything back to the way it was, with the exception of the seal.
"Which way to your room, Kiyoko?" I asked. Since we were here, we might as well let them gather a few personal effects. It would be cruel to deny them that chance. Through insistent pointing and cries of "No, that way!" we reached the girl's room.
"Hanabi and Ino, you two go find backpacks for these two. Shikamaru, Nobori, take Tetsuya and help him select things to take back to Konoha with us." A chorus of yes's answered me and the room rapidly cleared of people. "Alright, Kiyoko, let's get some clothes and toys, okay?" She nodded emphatically, to which I smiled. Leading me to her closet, she pointed at the items she wanted. Pretty cotton dresses light enough to be worn in summer came down in a variety of colors, followed by stronger woolen ones. There were very few silk ones - then again, this was a five year old. None the less, I made sure to grab all of them for her, to note the designs for later. I'd have Tetsuya lead one of the others to Kiyoko's parent's rooms and take down a few of the dress kimonos for later references. I set Daichi to folding each item I handed him, and soon we had a nice, condensed pile of clothing for the girl. Add a fluffly bunny, a less fluffy - but well loved - bear, some photos of her family and friends from the clan, shoes and undergarments, and we were ready to go. Hanabi returned to Daichi and I with a pack for the girl about halfway through our endeavor, and with a little pushing and patience we got everything but the bear into the bag - which was okay, seeing how she was clinging to it as if her life depended on it.
The three of us exited the room and headed to find the others, only to meet up about halfway to our destination. A quick stop in Kiyoko's parents room had me carefully placing the formal attire in my own pack, before we were ready to get camp set. While the compound was suitably equipped to our needs, we all agreed that staying there would just be too awful and creepy for the children. The next morning would see us heading home.