Chapter 53: Falling Leaves


Akamaru picked up the scent first, but even as the shaggy white ninken's massive head rose from the bed Inuzuka Kiba's eyes snapped open as he smelled it too. A moment later a quiet knock came on the door of his apartment, and Kiba rolled off of the bed, slipping on a clean shirt before padding barefoot out of the bedroom, the thump of Akamaru's paws behind him as the ninken followed.

Kiba and Akamaru had just gotten back that morning from a few months leading coastal patrols, and both of them were weary and bore healing wounds from the Mist shinobi they'd driven back or killed. He hadn't even checked in with his mother, though she'd left him a note indicating that he should drop by the family compound at his earliest convenience; getting a bit of rest first had been his priority.

Despite that, an ebullient smile crossed Kiba's face as he opened the door. Hinata stood on the threshold, dressed in the civilian-style finery that had seemed strange to Kiba at first after so long seeing her in shinobi garb. Still, he couldn't deny that she looked far more beautiful with a bit of makeup and clothes tailored to accentuate her figure rather than hide it. Most noblewomen he'd met were delicate hothouse flowers that didn't entice him at all, but Hinata was different; he knew how strong she was under that fragile-looking exterior.

"I'm not disturbing you, am I?" Hinata inquired politely.

"Not at all," Kiba replied. "Akamaru and I were just resting; we've been on the move for a long time, but I'm glad you're here. I was going to come see you as soon as I could. Please, come in."

He escorted her into the living room where they'd last sat together on that rainy day when he'd found out Naruto was cheating on her and she'd vowed to leave him. That hadn't happened as quickly as either of them would have liked due to Naruto's unexpected illness, but rumor had it that the jinchuuriki was back to full strength. "Can I get you something to drink?" Kiba asked.

Hinata shook her head. "That's all right, Kiba."

"Okay, then." Kiba settled down in his usual chair, and Hinata sat on the couch. "So I heard about Naruto," he growled the name, "being cured when I was still on the coast. Have you served him the papers yet?"

"I have," Hinata nodded.

Kiba grinned. "How did he react?"

"He was furious," Hinata replied calmly. "So were the Hyuuga elders."

Kiba glanced at her forehead, which remained unmarked. "But they didn't…?"

"Oh, they wanted to apply the Caged Bird Seal immediately, but Neji insisted on a formal inquiry first. They'll still do it; the elders are unanimous in their disapproval, so the sanction's only delayed. But they can't reverse the divorce, and that's the most important thing."

"You're right. So now you're free. How does it feel?"

"Liberating," Hinata replied, favoring him with a happy smile. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do going forward – I can't imagine the Hokage will make it easy for me to resume active duty after I embarrassed his son – but whatever it is, I'll be able to face it without shame."

"Glad to hear it." Kiba paused. "Do you already have a place to stay? Because I've got more than enough space for a roommate if you need it."

Hinata shook her head. "I've already found an apartment for the time being."

"What about Tomaru? Naruto and the Hyuuga didn't give you trouble over him, did they?"

Hinata sighed. "They did, but I'm his mother and the wronged party in the divorce, and I can provide for him, so they couldn't legally keep him from me. They'll place the Caged Bird Seal on him, which bothers me a lot more than receiving it myself, but at least the days of capricious activation of the seals by any elder who felt like it are over."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kiba told her sincerely.

"It was the right choice," Hinata said simply. "I owe you a great deal for helping me see that, Kiba."

"You don't owe me anything, Hinata. It's what teammates do for each other."

"Mmm. Yes, that's true." A spark of mischief appeared in Hinata's eyes that made Kiba's breath catch. "So here I am; no longer married, and soon to be no longer a true Hyuuga. My father's probably rolling over in his grave, but I can't live my life solely for his approval anymore." Hinata rose to her feet and moved over to stand before Kiba, her expression both intent and faintly naughty. "Ino has been telling me for years about other things teammates can do for each other, and I must confess to being suddenly curious."

Kiba didn't even dare to blink for fear that this Hinata would disappear as she climbed onto the chair, straddling his waist. Her warm, sure-fingered hands ran lightly over the stubble on his cheeks, and then she was kissing him, and the taste and smell and feel of the woman he'd loved for so long was overwhelming. Kiba folded his arms around Hinata, drawing her closer to him.

Kiba was no inexperienced youth, but the women he'd been with before had all been flings, more or less. None of them could hold a candle to Hinata's beauty and poise, or how fiercely he desired her. His hands explored her body with joyful abandon as she did the same, his lips parting from hers to trail kisses and soft bites down her neck to her collarbone, drawing pleased gasps from Hinata.

Intoxicated as he was by Hinata's presence, Kiba soon became aware of how tightly his pants were binding, and the way Hinata ground against his lap indicated that she knew it. "We could probably do something about that," Hinata whispered in his ear after nibbling on the lobe. That was all the permission Kiba needed, and he scooped her up in his arms, carrying her into the bedroom. Akamaru's yips of approval elicited giggles from Hinata as she rested her head on his shoulder.

Kiba kicked the door closed with his foot and lowered Hinata onto the bed. She sat up enough to grip his belt, but he caught her hands in his. In response to her questioning look, he explained. "I've wanted this – wanted you – for so long Hinata, and for most of that time I thought this could never be. Let me take my time with this. Just relax; I promise I won't disappoint."

Hinata lay back and Kiba unwrapped her slowly, reverently, like the best holiday present ever. He lavished caresses and kisses on each centimeter of creamy skin as he exposed it, and soon had Hinata mostly unclothed and writhing on his sheets. "Kiba, I…" she gasped. When his dark eyes met her pale ones, he saw desire there, but also confusion. It took him a moment to place it, and when he did a fresh wave of contempt for Naruto washed through him.

"This is what a man does for a woman when he wants her to feel good," Kiba explained, refraining from naming her former husband, the only man she'd ever been intimate with before.

"Oh, I see," Hinata murmured. Kiba took his time with her last few bits of clothing, and simply drank in the sight of her once she was nude before him. Then he slid down the bed, gently spreading her legs and dipping his head between them.

"Kiba, what are you…?" Hinata trailed off as he demonstrated, and a shudder ran through her. "Oh… oh kami," she whispered, her back arching and fingers fisting in the sheets.

Naruto never did this for you either? Kiba guessed silently. Idiot; he was given the finest gold and treated it like dross. Every wiggle and helpless little noise of pleasure turned him on even more. He kept at it until she was whimpering quietly, her fingers running through his hair. "Kiba… I… something's…" Hinata gasped, and then she cut off with a wordless cry as climax took her.

Kiba placed a few gentle kisses on her inner thigh as she quivered in the aftermath, and then sat up when she did. "What was… it's never been like that before."

Kiba snorted. "That's what sex is supposed to feel like every time," he told her, once more repressing the urge to offer his opinion about what a sack of shit Naruto was.

"Oh," Hinata murmured.

"We're not done, either," Kiba told her, a canine grin crossing his face at her alarmed expression.

"That… again?" Hinata stammered.

"At least once more," Kiba assured her. "This is a day I'm never going to forget, and I promise I'll make it the same for you."

Kiba grasped his shirt to pull it off, but this time she stopped him. "Let me," she murmured with a shy-but-determined expression on her face that was pure Hinata. It was so cute that he had to fight a laugh, nodding and letting Hinata have her way. She revealed him with the same care he had for her, her nimble fingers and hesitant lips exploring his body. Kiba felt his breath grow heavy, and wondered if she knew that she was driving him crazy. The crimson stain of her cheeks as she undressed him was both arousing and adorable.

Once Hinata had Kiba fully undressed she surprised him again by pushing him back on the bed and moving over him. "This at least I know how to do," she whispered with a note of vulnerability in her voice. "Let me make you feel good, too."

"Hinata…" Kiba trailed off with a groan when she lowered herself onto him. The sensation was exquisite, and the fact that it was Hinata made it even better. Holding himself back was hard but Kiba persevered, drawing her down so he could kiss her and lavish attention on her breasts as their bodies found a rhythm. Kiba held back until he felt Hinata go over the edge with a breathless cry, and then lost himself in his own release.

It was in that instant, empty of thought and with reaction possible, that Hinata moved with the speed and precision of a striking viper. Kiba's ecstatic wash of release was followed immediately by blinding pain that made his limbs numb and unresponsive. His vision cleared to discover Hinata still leaning over him, her skin flushed and beaded with sweat, her marvelous bosom heaving, but the two fingers of her right hand buried between his ribs to the first knuckle, blood trickling from around her fingers. Pain radiated from that point, and Kiba could feel his chakra flow lock; she was blocking the vital tenketsu in his heart.

"Hinata… why?" Kiba choked out, reeling from confusion and betrayal. Hinata's face was a blank mask now, her eyes cold and empty. He'd seen her do this to an enemy more than once; with her chakra merely filling the tenketsu it was a submission technique, but from there…

"Because my husband commands it," Hinata told him, her voice empty of emotion. "Goodbye, Kiba."

"Hinata, wait-" Hinata turned her fingers in the wound, sending a vicious spike of chakra through the heart tenketsu. The pressure shredded the organ, and Kiba's last breath sprayed blood from his lips.


Hyuuga Hinata drew her gore-soaked digits from Kiba's sternum and spared a glance at his wide, sightless eyes still filled with bewildered hurt. Because she'd activated her byakugan at the moment she struck Hinata didn't linger, but rolled off of the bed and to her feet as the bedroom door exploded inward and an enraged ninken landed amid the splinters.

Hinata watched Akamaru take in the scene; Kiba's corpse on the bed and her standing over him naked, his blood dotting her face and breasts and dripping from her hand. Hinata had always known that ninken were intelligent, and in that moment she saw it. Deep in Akamaru's canine eyes was a mirror of the horrified incomprehension that Kiba had worn in his last moments. But while Akamaru was as smart as a person he was also an animal, and after that moment of hesitation canine instinct took over and he leapt at Hinata with a furious howl.

Akamaru was too angry for more than a blind charge, however, and Hinata had studied the ninken's movements in combat for a decade. It was easy to turn past the lunge and lash out with another precise jyuuken strike, aiming for the same organ she'd just struck on the canine's human partner. This time she didn't bother with a paralysis hold. Akamaru's heart exploded mid-leap and the ninken was dead before he hit the wall and fell heavily to the floor.

After that everything was still and Hinata studied the two bodies she'd just created. Her vision blurred and she felt a spike of alarm; had one of them managed a counter-attack of some kind? Rubbing her eyes with her unbloodied hand, Hinata's fingers came away wet with tears and she frowned. Why was she crying?

Hinata became aware of a new arrival when she heard footsteps, and turned as Naruto stepped through the shattered doorway. He wore his armor and long coat with flames trailing the hem. His hair was a short layer of blond fuzz, just starting to regrow after his illness. He looked Hinata up and down with approval. "Naked save for the blood of my enemy? I don't think you've ever looked sexier."

Hinata respectfully lowered her gaze to the floor. "I am glad that you are pleased, Naruto."

Naruto's fingers cupped Hinata's chin as he drew her gaze back up. He licked a few of the droplets of blood from her face and then kissed her, a gesture of dominance and claiming, with none of the tenderness Kiba had shown her. "Delicious," Naruto murmured when their lips parted. "Now finish the job." He handed Hinata a brace of kunai, and she drew two from the sheath; the steel was faintly blue-tinged and had a wavy grain. They were manufactured in Kirigakure and used by Mist shinobi. Hinata drove one into the wound over Kiba's heart and the other into Akamaru's shaggy side, obliterating the physical evidence of her jyuuken strikes.

"Get dressed," he instructed her, and Hinata wiped off the blood still clinging to her skin before slipping back into her discarded clothes. "What's wrong?" Naruto asked curiously when he saw her rubbing her face again.

"I'm not sure," Hinata admitted. "My eyes won't stop watering. Maybe I upset something in here that irritated them?"

"Yes, I'm sure that's it," Naruto said, drawing her close with an arm around her waist. "I'm proud of you, Hinata; you did well. I'm glad I had you take those lessons from Ino."

Hinata frowned slightly; she knew her old friend had taught her to kill in the bedroom; how to entice a man, to lower his defenses, and deliver the fatal blow in the moment of release that made even the strongest male shinobi vulnerable. But she couldn't recall the details of those lessons, or when they'd happened. She shrugged it off mentally; that didn't matter, only the fact that Naruto was pleased with her work was important.

"Why don't we head home?" Naruto suggested with a leer. "You can show me what else Ino taught you."

"As you wish," Hinata murmured in automatic assent.

On their way out of the apartment Naruto retrieved a vial from his belt and hurled it into the wall behind them, shattering it. They left quickly, but not before Hinata caught a whiff of the acrid stink of the liquid it had contained, a scent-killer that would make identification of those who had been in the apartment impossible. The pair took to the rooftops, but tears streamed down Hinata's face all the way back to their home. Underneath the rush of the wind, Hinata felt like she could almost hear another noise repeating over and over. It almost sounded like her voice, screaming. She shivered, and it had nothing to do with any chill in the air.


Tenten of the Akatsuki – no longer a Hyuuga or a shinobi of Konohagakure – walked slowly along a beach of black sand. High cliffs of the same basalt as the sand rose a hundred meters to her right, and to her left waves lapped the shore and the ocean stretched to an unbroken horizon. She had adopted the local manner of dress, and colorful tropical flowers sprouted from her buns. A skirt of bright blue cloth embroidered with yellow flowers hung low on her waist, and a bikini top wrapped around her chest. She carried a leather satchel slung over one shoulder, its weight negligible to a kunoichi used to carrying far more gear. No other garb was required on the warm tropical island that was – for now – Tenten's home. Her outfit bared a great deal of smooth, tanned skin that was not only devoid of the marks of her recent and brutal torture, but had also been wiped clean of every scar she had earned in a lifetime of service as a ninja. The Shinobi Soul's rebirth had been profound, and it was impossible not to be reminded of it when she looked at herself or noted the absence of aches from old wounds.

Tenten knew she was the only living soul for kilometers; the nearest people were the residents of the clan compound where she was staying, and she had left them behind hours earlier. Her only companions were the noise of the surf, the sea birds that occasionally wheeled overhead, and the odd crab skittering across the sand. Tenten varied her pace, sometimes walking in the surf, sometimes on the dry sand. The beach was narrower now than it had been when she set out, and eventually the tide would swallow it completely, the waves breaking on the cliff face to form new sand. The cliff stretched as far as she could see in both directions, but Tenten felt no alarm. If she was still on the beach when the tide came in she could ascend the cliff to the tropical forest above, or simply walk atop the waves for her return trip.

The solitude was empty, echoing and profound, but it was also liberating. Tenten had her doubts when the Leader had ordered her to spend some time resting. She'd protested that the Shinobi Soul had restored her to health, and she didn't need to be lazing about when the Akatsuki had so much work to do. Pein had insisted, however, and it had been Hoshigaki Kisame of all people who had suggested a retreat and brought her to the island of black sand beaches, beautiful forests, and a secret that had surprised her quite a bit.

The island was named Blackwall after its towering basalt cliffs, and it was located in the far east of the Land of Water, nearly a thousand kilometers from the front lines of what was now being called the Fourth Shinobi World War between Kirigakure and the alliance of Konohagakure, Kumogakure and Iwagakure. Blackwall Isle was remote, well off of the trade routes. Tenten was the first outsider to visit in years, which given the lushness and beauty of the island had surprised her until she'd disembarked with Kisame and come face to face with the island's only permanent residents. They'd met the ship at the dock, and Tenten had come face-to-face with a sea of towering men and women with blue skin, deep-set eyes and gills on their faces. Blackwall was the home of the Hoshigaki Clan, and that had been nearly as much of a surprise as discovering that a clan ostensibly loyal to Kirigakure still welcomed their most infamous prodigal son.

Kisame had explained the mystery to Tenten over dinner the first night. "The Hoshigaki lived here centuries before the founding of Kirigakure. My ancestors didn't want much to do with Mist at first, but as the village grew, the clan's elders realized that soon they'd have to come to terms with the Mizukage or be cut off from the rest of the world. We're perched right on the edge of the map here. There's nothing to the east but the Land of Veils, and there's no work for shinobi there."

"So we made a deal with the first Mizukage to send a certain number of our young men and women in each generation to serve as Mist ninja in exchange for alliance, continued autonomy, and general license to do what we want with our own territory. That's how it's been ever since."

"They don't mind that you defected from Mist and joined the Akatsuki?" Tenten queried after a sip of a fruity, distilled concoction served in a coconut shell that was pleasant-tasting and strong enough to go to her head after just a few sips.

Kisame laughed. "Oh, my pa was furious, but it's not something they'll banish me over as long as I keep my visits home brief and hidden from Mist's eyes."

Tenten wandered the beaches for most of the day, exploring as she did most days in the months since coming to Blackwall Isle. She retrieved food and water from her satchel when she wanted it, and continued on. The island's remote, natural beauty and solitude gave her time to think; time to contemplate who she was now. She wasn't a wife anymore, or a Hyuuga. Her marriage was over both formally and practically, and Sasori had confirmed that Neji was recovered from his long coma. Her feelings were conflicted; obviously she was happy that Shizune had been able to heal Neji, but an icy pit formed in her stomach whenever she thought about what he must think of her now. Did Neji regret saving her life nearly at the cost of his own? Did he hate her as she'd always feared he would when he learned the truth, or did he miss her as much as she missed him? She wasn't sure which would make her feel worse.

Thinking of Neji led to thoughts of Azuna and Rika, and those musings led Tenten closest to the yawning gulf of despair in her heart that she had to fight every day. Her daughters, her babies, the tiny lives that had grown inside her, were now as far from her as if they had been spirited away to the moon. The Hyuuga compound was one of the most secure places in the Elemental Nations from covert intrusion. Even if they hadn't figured out Zetsu's underground means of entering the compound, the girls would be guarded around the clock. The possibility that she might never be allowed to see her girls again or hold them in her arms – even if the Akatsuki's great work was successful – tormented Tenten whenever she thought about them, which was every day.

In the late afternoon dark clouds that towered high into the sky and swirled ominously appeared on the southeastern horizon. Having experienced the island's hurricanes before, Tenten chose to head back to the Hoshigaki compound. She climbed the sheer vertical cliff with chakra adhering her feet to the stone and took a shortcut through the jungle to get back ahead of the storm. As soon as she was away from the sea breeze clouds of biting insects descended to have a snack, but Tenten let her steel chakra flow through her, and the luckless mosquitoes and flies found her hide to be suddenly quite impenetrable.

Tenten had a brief mental image of a horde of tiny insects armed with hammers trying to straighten out bent proboscis after attempting to bite her metal skin, and grinned at the thought. She wasn't sure what the jungle's apex predators thought of her in this form, but while she glimpsed a few of the island's larger hunting cats and saw some truly massive crocodiles when crossing the river that ran down from the mountain at the island's center, none of them gave her more than a passing glance. Tenten suspected that in steel form she no longer looked or smelled like something edible.

The Hoshigaki compound was surrounded with massive stone walls quarried over decades from the basalt cliffs, and steel spikes jutted out at all angles from the top of the wall. The Hoshigaki had already closed the gate in preparation for the winds that were already starting to kick up, so Tenten simply glanced up at the battlements and focused on one of the larger spikes of dark steel. She reached out with one hand and pulled. If it had been a kunai or sword it would have flown to her hand, but since it was anchored in the wall, Tenten's metal body was lifted up to meet it instead. She grasped the spar once she reached it and flipped easily onto the narrow path atop the wall.

Tenten walked down the wall to the nearest sentry tower, where a pair of Hoshigaki kunoichi watched her with amusement. Hoshigaki women tended to be tall as their men, flat-chested and slender, so given the heavy storm cloaks they wore, it was only their longer navy blue hair and a certain delicacy of their movement that identified their gender.

"You could have knocked on the gate," Ruka – the older of the pair – commented with a shark-tooth grin. "Kisame told us to keep an eye out for you."

Tenten shrugged, letting the steel form fade and her own skin emerge. "No sense in going to all that trouble." As she spoke, a strong gust of wind howled out of the forest and slammed into the unyielding wall. Hassa, the younger kunoichi quickly moved to close the steel shutter of the tower's narrow outward-facing window. No sooner had she done so than pounding rain began to fall. "Looks like I made it back just in time."

"Would the storm even hurt you?" Ruka asked.

Tenten glanced at the shutter, which was rattling against its hinges as wind-driven water pounded it. "Probably not," she admitted, "but it wouldn't be fun, and I doubt my clothes would fare as well as my hide." Tenten shivered as the wind howled and the temperature dropped rapidly. In steel form she was largely indifferent to heat and cold, but back in her own flesh she felt goose bumps on her exposed skin. Ruka tossed her a spare storm cloak, which she wrapped around her shoulders gratefully.

Tenten could have returned to the buildings of the main compound, which were linked together with covered and walled walkways to allow movement during storms like this one, but she lingered in the tower instead, keeping the sentries company. Ruka was several years older than Tenten and had been among those who had served in Mist for a time, while Hassa was only sixteen and had been trained at home before working as an unaffiliated shinobi directly for patrons of the clan.

The trio of kunoichi had been passing the time in pleasant conversation around a charcoal brazier for more than an hour when a low horn blast came from one of the towers further down the wall, pitched to carry over the driving rain and howling wind. Ruka and Hassa perked up, listening carefully as the tones repeated with differing lengths. When the sound faded the pair exchanged a grim look. "What is it?" Tenten asked.

"One of the outer towers spotted a ship caught in the storm on the western coast," Hassa explained as Ruka started collecting oil-soaked torches, coils of rope, a bag of spikes and a hammer. "The cliffs on that side of the island are shorter and more broken, but there's no beach, just sharp rocks. The ship will be run around and torn apart."

Tenten caught Ruka's arm as she headed for the stairs leading down to the gate. "You're going out to help?"

"Those of us strong enough to protect ourselves from the storm, yes," Ruka confirmed.

"I'll come with you."

Ruka shook her head. "I can't ask you to help; you're a guest, and the cliffs during a storm like this are not travelled lightly."

Tenten let the steel form flow back over her. "You're not asking, I'm offering. Like you said, the weather can't really hurt me." She'd been surprised and a little awed to discover that in steel form she didn't even need to breathe. If she felt into the ocean she'd sink like a rock, but she could simply walk along the bottom to safety.

Ruka hesitated before nodding curtly. "All right; stay close to us."

At the bottom of the stairs a dozen Hoshigaki were clustered behind the closed gate, Kisame among them. He looked surprised to see Tenten, but didn't comment on her presence. When the gates were cranked open gale-force winds howled through the gap along with a near-horizontal torrent of water. The Hoshigaki simply braced themselves against the wind while their chakra flared, guiding the stinging droplets away from their bodies. Tenten allowed the torrent to wash over her; she could barely feel the water, and her metal body was too dense to be bowled over by the wind. The Hoshigaki filed out into the storm, and Tenten followed.

The hike to the western cliffs was difficult; the rain had already saturated the island's volcanic soil, and now ran in rivulets and tiny streams through every wrinkle in the ground. Tenten's feet sank deep into the mud with each step. Her cloak and clothes were soaked and practically glued to her steel skin by the time they skirted the forest to their destination, a stout stone tower with a view of the entire western coast of the island. More horn blasts emerged from the top of the tower.

"The ship's already run aground!" Ruka told Tenten, shouting in her ear to be heard over the winds. "We'll have to move fast!" The Hoshigaki suited action to words, making their way to the cliffs at a rapid pace. Tenten followed as quickly as she was capable, making better time once she had rock underfoot. When she arrived the Hoshigaki were already picking their way down the broken scree of black rock that terminated in violently churning waves.

The ship being battered against the submerged rocks was a small cutter with a narrow hull, a type typically used to carry small cargoes, messages or passengers who needed to move quickly. This ship was flying the flag of the Land of Lightning and was plainly far from home. It wouldn't be going anywhere soon, either; Tenten could see where a spar of rock had been driven through its hull; each new wave was tearing the gap wider.

If the ship had been close to shore the rescue would be easy, but unfortunately the rock it had run around on was more than a hundred meters offshore. When the Hoshigaki made their way down to the waves, leaving rope lines secured with steel pitons driven into the rock, they still had to contend with the waves. Even for shinobi with powerful water ninjutsu travelling over such violent surf would be impossible. The Hoshigaki had other options, but even they had to respect the currents. Tenten watched as Kisame and a few of the older shinobi formed hand signs in unison before sending their chakra washing over the waves. Incredibly, their power calmed the sea before them in spite of the storm's fury, and the younger Hoshigaki including Ruka could dive beneath the waves and swim out to the sinking ship.

Assessing the situation, Tenten came to a grim conclusion in spite of the herculean efforts of her hosts. "They're not going to make it, are they?" Tenten asked Kisame.

He shook his head. "We may be able to save a few, but that ship will break up before they can make more than one trip, and whoever's on that boat can't breathe underwater."

"Well, you've been asking exactly how much I can do with this resurrected kekkei genkai. Let's find out."

Kisame looked at her with concern. "Don't stress yourself."

Tenten didn't reply, only closing her eyes. The first thing she did was send a probe of steel chakra down into the ground below her feet, questing until she found what she was looking for; an iron deposit deep in the rock. She latched onto that iron, anchoring herself to it. Once that was done she opened her eyes and focused on the ship. Most of its construction was wood, but steel bands held the hull together and anchored the masts. It was those pieces of metal that she seized hold of. The strain hit her immediately; she'd never tried to affect so much metal before. But out on the rocks, the stricken ship stopped bobbing on the waves, the hole in its hull no longer being torn wider with each swell.

Tenten saw the swimming Hoshigaki reach the ship and climb aboard. They returned to the rail carrying sailors. Kisame and the others intensified their efforts, calming the strip of ocean between the ship and land enough that their kin could run across the surface with the survivors. Getting them up the rocks to safety took more time, and then Kisame inhaled sharply. Tenten looked up following his gaze, and saw that time was running out. Through the driving rain, out on the horizon, the ocean itself was rearing up. "Storm swells incoming!" Kisame shouted.

Tenten's thoughts raced; the Hoshigaki wouldn't be able to get to the ship again to pick up more survivors. She saw their resignation as they saw the massive wave bearing down on the doomed ship. Only one solution occurred to Tenten, and the enormity of it gave her pause. Can I actually do this? She wondered briefly, before shaking off her doubt. It wouldn't help the people in need.

Pouring her steel chakra into her connections with the iron lode below her feet and the ship on the waves, Tenten commanded it to rise, and in fits and starts it obeyed, lifting free of the rock with nothing holding it up but her chakra. She moved it laterally to get it free of the rocks, and as she did so felt the stone under her feet crack and dip slightly. She hurriedly set the ship back down on the waves, but it immediately began to sink. Gritting her teeth, Tenten pulled on the ship, drawing it to her. Its progress across the waves was slow, and she knew if she faltered it would go under in seconds.

"Tenten, we need to retreat!" Kisame called out. "That wave will wash over the top of the cliff!"

"Go; take the ones you've got!" Tenten yelled back. Then she turned her attention to the ship, dragging it the last of the distance to shore. With one last exertion she lifted the ship once more before allowing it to fall on the rocks. The rough landing finished the job of splintering the hull, but before the wreckage could slip into the waves three figures leapt free of the disintegrating deck with shinobi speed. They found the rope lines the Hoshigaki had left and ascended quickly.

"Hurry!" Tenten called out over the roar of the wind, pointing at the storm swell that was rapidly approaching. One of them, a pale-skinned blonde woman, turned and saw it, and yelled at her companions. All three made it to the top of the cliff with the towering wave just seconds away. Tenten took in details in that instant, noting the Kumogakure hitai-ate and the fact that the other two were dark-skinned, a man with spiky white hair and a woman with bright crimson locks. In that moment she realized that she'd seen two of them before somewhere, but there was no time to search her memory for details.

The three Cloud shinobi reached Tenten and the blonde spoke with a glance over her shoulder at the wave bearing down on them. "We're going to die, aren't we?" The question was resigned, but free of emotions like fear or regret.

"Nope," Tenten replied, releasing her steel chakra anchors and slamming one foot down on the stone, channeling pure earth chakra into the basalt. The rock responded to her will, flowing upward around them. The dome closed over their heads and plunged them into darkness just a second before the wave hit, shaking their shelter violently and filling their ears with a roar like a vengeful kami.

When the noise and shaking faded a flashing orb of blue light appeared. The blonde kunoichi held a tame ball of lightning in her upturned palm that illuminated the rock dome with its arcs. "Impressive," she noted calmly as she studied their shelter.

The white haired man with a katana sheathed at his back retrieved a water-logged lollipop from a pocket and shook off the wrapper before opening it and popping it in his mouth. "Woah," he murmured around the treat, "are you made of metal?"

Tenten looked down in mock-surprise. "Oh no, am I?"

The crimson-haired kunoichi smacked him upside the head. "Well obviously Omoi; it's not a genjutsu!"

Omoi. That name sparked Tenten's memory, and she remembered where she'd seen them before. The blonde – Samui, she recalled – had been a referee at her team's Chuunin Exam, and the white-haired swordsman had been the sensei of the youth who had tried to kill Amaya. Small world. She was suddenly grateful for the steel form, since it meant they were unlikely to recognize her.

When the sounds from outside faded entirely Tenten parted the dome, letting it sink back into the rock. Water flowing back to the ocean streamed through the space they were standing at ankle height and everything around them had been flattened by the wave, but other than the wind and rain they were out of danger.

The Hoshigaki returned minus Kisame with the sailors they'd rescued in tow. Tenten let them take the lead on greeting the new arrivals, though she felt curious gazes from the Cloud shinobi linger on her as they made their way back to the compound. Despite the Hoshigaki pushing away the rain it was a long slog since most of the sailors were injured. Tenten judged that even the trio of Cloud shinobi were hurting based on their movements, though they bore up with their wounds better than the civilians.

Back in the compound the Hoshigaki went about seeing to the care of their new guests, while Tenten returned to her quarters for a chance to power down and take a long shower. No sooner had she emerged with a warm robe wrapped around her than a knock came at the door, and she felt Kisame's familiar chakra outside. She opened the door, smiling up at the towering man. "You disappeared fast back there."

Kisame shrugged. "I couldn't take the risk of those Cloud ninja recognizing me." At her gesture he sat down on the couch, while Tenten curled up in her favorite chair. "How are you doing? That was quite a display of power."

"It was," Tenten nodded, "and I'm feeling fairly drained, but not as much as I thought I'd be. I lifted that entire ship with chakra, and I could probably do it again today if I had to. I never had reserves like that before; it seems the Shinobi Soul gave me more than just a kekkei genkai."

"Good to hear," the fish-faced Akatsuki murmured. He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Did you recognize those three Cloud ninja?"

Tenten nodded. "I've crossed paths with two of them before in Sky City, but I don't think they recognized me all chromed out."

"Good, good…" Kisame lowered his gaze for a moment before looking back up as though coming to a decision. "They might present an opportunity for us, if you're up for it."

Tenten snorted. "I told the Leader months ago that I'm good to return to duty. What do you have in mind?"

Kisame chuckled. "Well I'm not the Leader, so this is more of a suggestion," he leaned back. "Those three claim that they're in the area looking for a fugitive from the Lightning daimyo's justice who fled south."

"But…?"

"They're lying," Kisame told her flatly. "You know that the container of the Hachibi slipped away from Tobi and the Leader, and we haven't been able to find any sign of him since?" Tenten nodded. "Those three are former students of the Hachibi's jinchuuriki and according to the intel the Leader picked up in the Land of Lightning, they're the ones the Raikage sends to find this 'Killer B' whenever he takes an unscheduled vacation."

Tenten saw where he was going with that immediately. "If they're on such a high priority mission they're going to be wary of a stranger. I hardly think they'd let one of us tag along."

"It'd have to be you, Tenten," Kisame said frankly. "My face is too well-known. You on the other hand, with a little disguise work…"

"Which doesn't solve the problem of why they'd let me join them."

Kisame favored Tenten with a sharp-toothed grin. "You're selling yourself short. They've already seen your power, and the leader of their team – the blonde, Samui – is by all accounts an ambitious kunoichi with an eye on earning a letter. They're stuck here until the next trading vessel makes port. If you get to know them and eventually let it slip that you're a homeless-nin, she'll probably see the possibilities and try to recruit you. It will help that she knows the Steel Release isn't possessed by another village; any kage who had it would have shown it off. So how could you be an infiltrator as opposed to merely the last survivor of a lost clan looking for a home?"

"Kisame, that's truly devious," Tenten exclaimed, "Sasori would be proud."

Kisame snorted. "I was ANBU of Kirigakure long before I met Sasori. After what passes for office politics in Mist, this is child's play. So are you interested?"

"Sounds like a plan, sure," Tenten replied; or at least something other than regrets and worries to occupy my attention.

"Good, then let's see what kind of a makeover my cousins can arrange for you," Kisame said as he got to his feet.

"As long as I'm not blue when they're done," Tenten warned. Kisame laughed uproariously as he departed.

Tenten got changed out of her robe and into nondescript shinobi garb once he was gone. Looks like my vacation's over, she mused. At least getting back to the hunt is straightforward; the jinchuuriki are too dangerous to be left free. The Hachibi's container is next to last; after him, we'll take out Naruto and the last of the monsters will be caged.


Nara Shikamaru and his new bride Shimi made their way across the clan quarter from the Nara compound on the edge of their private game reserve to the Yamanaka estate, which was located far closer to the center of Konohagakure. The trip wasn't fast, since most of the people in the area knew him on sight as the Nara heir and wanted to stop and talk, even if it was just about the weather or the state of the war with Mist. When he'd first discovered as a genin that people attributed status to him simply because of who his father was Shikamaru had viewed it as, well… something of a drag. His father had eventually talked to him about it after being prodded by his wife. "It's just another game, son," Shikaku explained, "a dance of information and connections. The people who play take it very seriously, and so should you. Think of it like rope-walking on a spider's web. If you keep your balance and learn how to navigate, you'll never have to worry about getting stuck."

Shikamaru had taken the lesson to heart, so he tolerated the small talk, and used the exchanges to see how much he could learn without disclosing much of note himself. He was grateful for Shimi by his side; their betrothal had been rushed and he hadn't had much time to get to know her better prior to their nuptials, but he'd come to appreciate her aplomb. She was a social chameleon, comfortable with this kind of interaction in a way he wasn't, and he learned a lot just letting her take the lead when he could and observing.

Eventually they made it to the home of the Yamanaka clan. Unlike most clans in Konohagakure they didn't have a wall around their sprawling urban property, or visible guards. They didn't need it; Shikamaru knew well enough that the clan collectively could read the intentions of just about anyone who approached; if you had business with them you could just walk in unchallenged. If you didn't, you usually found yourself headed in another direction without being entirely sure why.

Shikamaru and Shimi entered the largest of the homes, and he navigated it with easy familiarity, greeting members of the staff. He'd been visiting since he was in diapers, and knew exactly where he was going. They ascended a wide staircase to the upper level and headed into the east wing. Reaching the doors of Ino's quarters he knocked, glancing at Shimi while they waited for a response.

After they'd gotten back from the honeymoon Shikamaru had raised the question of interactions with Ino, and Shimi had surprised him with her calm pragmatism. "I'm not the jealous type, Shikamaru," she'd told him. "I'm not going to ask you to cut ties with a friend just because you used to sleep with her any more than I'd expect you to forbid me from still being friends with Tanai." He appreciated the sentiment, and had made an effort to include Shimi on occasion when he got together with his old teammates.

As though the thought had summoned him, heavy footsteps on the hardwood floor of the hallway announced Choji's presence even before he turned the corner. Shikamaru braced himself for his Akimichi friend's crushing hug, and wasn't disappointed. "How've you been, man?"

"Doing well," Shikamaru wheezed.

"Don't crush any of the parts I need, big guy," Shimi warned Choji. Shikamaru decided not to seek elaboration on which parts of him his wife considered essential. The answer would probably just depress him.

After a minute it dawned on Shikamaru that Ino hadn't answered the door. He knocked again, and frowned. "This is the time we were supposed to meet her, right?"

Choji fished out a gold pocket watch, checked it and then nodded. "Maybe she lost track of time?"

Shikamaru shrugged in lazy agreement before noting the suddenly intent look on Shimi's face. "Something's wrong," she murmured. "Ino's in there, but she hasn't moved since we got here, and… her chakra signature's fading." Shimi was one of the few Nara whose chakra sense was finely tuned enough to be classified as a sensor. Shikamaru and Choji exchanged a concerned look, and Shikamaru tested the door knob, finding it locked.

"When was the last time Ino locked the door to her room?" Shikamaru murmured.

"When she wasn't fighting with her dad? Never," Choji replied.

"Yeah…" Shikamaru flicked his fingers, animate shadows growing from the tips. He slipped them into the lock, drawing the tumblers into line. In a few seconds the mechanism gave way, and he pushed the door open.

"Ino?" Shikamaru called out, stepping into her quarters with Shimi and Choji on his heels. "Are you okay?"

Shimi saw it first, and gasped. Shikamaru followed her gaze, and his eyes widened in alarm. Ino's favorite armchair was turned away from the door, and there was a pool of blood slowly spreading around its base. He blurred forward into a shunshin, reappearing in a swirl of leaves beside the chair and discovering a nightmare scene. Ino reclined in the chair panting quietly, trails of blood trickling from her lips, her skin deathly pale. She gripped the hilt of a kunai driven deep into her sternum just below the rib cage. Blood soaked her hand, her clothes and the chair where it had run down to pool on the floor.

"Choji, get a medic!" Shikamaru yelled, and his teammate thundered out of the room after one glance at their teammate's state. "Ino, stay with me," he said. "Help's coming." He knelt before her, blood soaking the knees of his pants as soon as he did. His analytical mind went to work; who could have gotten to her here of all places? One glance around showed him no sign of a struggle. A terrible suspicion occurred to him, reinforced by a weak smile from Ino as her pained eyes met his.

"It's all right, Shika," she whispered. "It's too late to change this, but it's okay. I'm ready."

"You did this? Ino, why?" Shikamaru demanded, his heart breaking. She was right; he'd seen too many fatal wounds on the battlefield not to recognize one. Maybe if Sakura was in the room already Ino would have a chance, but the time it would take Choji to find a healer would be too late.

Ino coughed, blood trickling from her lips and spattering Shikamaru's face. "It was the only way," she gasped. "The Seal of the Condemned… needs my chakra to bind me." She laughed bitterly. "Not enough chakra left to power it, now."

"Ino what are you saying?"

"No time to talk," Ino whispered. "Please, Shika… help the people I've hurt. Tell my father… tell him I'm sorry I wasn't stronger." She released the kunai and raised her shaking hand to trace a symbol on Shikamaru's forehead with her own blood and press two fingers to it, a trickle of chakra jumping between them. What followed felt like ice water pouring through every crack in his mind, more information than could be held in a dozen books forcing itself into his memory. Shikamaru staggered back and only Shimi's hands kept him from falling.

When he could see straight again, Shikamaru grimaced. "Ino, what did you…" he trailed off when she saw her. Her eyes were still open but unblinking, and her chest was still. "No," he whispered.

Thundering footsteps filled the hall, and Yamanaka Inoichi burst into the room with Choji and half a dozen other members of his clan at his heels. They all stopped dead when they took in the scene. "Shikamaru, what happened?" Inoichi demanded. Not trusting himself to speak, Shikamaru turned the chair around on its swivel to face the door, and watched something in his father's best friend die at the sight.

"He's killed Lady Ino!" The declaration came from one of the Yamanaka who had followed Inoichi, a man some three years Shikamaru's senior. His hair was gathered in a topknot and darker than Inoichi's, almost orange. He was shorter than the clan's patriarch and broader of shoulder.

Shikamaru's eyes settled on the man, and put a name to the face. Yamanaka Fu. The memory of the name was his, but as soon as he recalled it other memories that were not his suddenly clicked into place out of the jumble of thoughts Ino had passed to him with his last breath. Cold rage filled the Nara heir, and he raised a hand; the entire room got darker despite the midday sun streaming in from the window.

"Be silent, traitor," Shikamaru snarled. Viper-swift tendrils of animate shadows leapt from his outstretched hand and arm. Fu was already moving, but the midnight lances curved to follow, drilling through his shoulders and arms and nailing him to the wall. "You betrayed your clan and kin, your own cousin, and for what, a bit of Shimura Danzo's favor?"

Everyone was staring at him in shock, and a number of the Yamanaka had weapons in hand, but he was too angry to care.

"Shikamaru, explain yourself!" Inoichi bellowed.

Shikamaru's eyes flickered to Ino's father. With his free hand he gripped Ino's brief purple top and ripped it from her body. He ignored the outraged exclamations of her kin, and they faded in seconds when they saw what he already knew was there. Just above Ino's left breast was a circular seal in black ink. He'd seen Ino wearing little or nothing, had touched and even kissed that area a number of times and never felt it. Only death had revealed it.

"No," Inoichi whispered, his shoulders sagging at the sight. He turned to Fu slowly, who was grimacing and sweating as Shikamaru held him pinned to the wall like a butterfly. "I trusted you; my sister's only child. I taught you the Seal of the Condemned because you were to be my heir if Ino passed without progeny."

Shikamaru saw the calculations going through Fu's mind as clearly as if they were being written out on a blackboard. The man debated denial and decided it would be useless. "You speak of this clan as though it matters, Inoichi," Fu hissed, his kin gasping in shock. "Only Konohagakure matters. Clans? Family? They exist to serve the village. Ino was weak. She lacked the resolve to serve the village's needs, so she was made stronger."

"Made stronger?" Shikamaru choked, more memories cascading out of the jumble in his head. The effect was disorienting, and he would have fallen if Shimi hadn't supported him, but his hand tethering Fu to the wall never wavered. "You helped Root kidnap her, you maniac!" Shikamaru pressed a hand to his forehead as pain exploded behind his left eye, the beginnings of a migraine. Ino had jammed so much into his head, and making sense of it was a daunting task. Worse, the memories that were unfolding inside his head were not pleasant ones. "A Root prison… the 'mountain home'?"

Chakra flared from Inoichi at those words, an oppressive psychic weight falling on everyone in the room. Shikamaru lost control of his shadows; he and Shimi both fell to their knees, as did some of the other Yamanaka. Choji remained standing, staggering with the effort. Inoichi took two steps to Fu, who had fallen as soon as Shikamaru's shadow spears were no longer holding him up. The Yamanaka patriarch grabbed his nephew's tunic and hauled him to his feet. "You allowed Danzo to take my daughter to the mountain home?" Inoichi's words were quiet, but the sheer menace of the words sent shivers through Shikamaru's spine, and they weren't even directed at him.

Fu's reaction was different. He didn't seem afraid, but whatever vitality had been in his expression fled, leaving his eyes dead and flat. "I was there when she broke," he replied simply.

Inoichi let go of Fu's collar, and the younger man slumped to the ground. Inoichi took two steps away, and Shikamaru saw Fu's hand flicker, a kunai falling into his grip from a wrist sheath. Before he could call out a warning, Inoichi waved a hand negligently without looking back. Fu's head exploded, splattering the wall, furniture and bystanders with flecks of bone and gore.

In the profound silence that followed, Inoichi turned back to his daughter, looking sadder and more lost than Shikamaru had ever seen him. "Leave us," he murmured to those behind him. "I will address the clan this evening." The Yamanaka filed out of the room silently. Choji, Shikamaru and Shimi moved to follow, but Inoichi held up a hand. "Not you."

Inoichi examined the smudges of Ino's blood on Shikamaru's forehead. "I see," he murmured, his voice neutral and detached. "She actually found a way around the Seal of the Condemned; clever. Let's see what she gave you." Inoichi laid his fingers on the blood seal and the pain in Shikamaru's head faded. Inoichi's mastery of the mind tuned the welter of confusing images and sensations into an orderly retelling of Ino's private hell.

My first solo mission after being promoted to chuunin is a straightforward one: companion and bodyguard to a nobleman's daughter living in a remote estate in the west of the Land of Fire. I feel dizzy and lightheaded after the first meal; collapsing at the table. I wake up in a cold stone cell with snowy peaks visible through the barred window.

It's a secret prison run by Root. What is Root? They claim to serve Konohagakure, and stink of fanaticism. The guards are all dead inside; yawning emotional voids. They don't let me sleep more than an hour or two a day, and they barely feed me; hunger is constant. Beatings come whenever the guards get bored. I'm exposed to the elements, stripped naked and forced to stand in the snow shivering until I can't feel my extremities and the men never even look at my body; that should be comforting, but it's frightening too. Why was this done to them? Oh kami, that's what they want, to make me like them.

Time loses meaning; days blur. I'm made to stand on hard stone until my feet swell and every muscle screams; forced to move heavy stones across a courtyard until my fingers crack and bleed. Never enough to eat, woken with kicks, bruised all over and I'm so tired…

One day the cell door opens and Fu enters. Is my nightmare over? No; Shimura Danzo is with him. I'm too drained to resist the Seal of the Condemned; can't believe my own cousin would do this to me. It's meant for Yamanaka who break clan law but can't be executed; it binds them to the will of another member of the clan. Danzo's ultimatum is simple; serve Root and I can go home. Yamanaka are useful to Root; one isn't enough. Obey and I can have my life back. Obey or I'll die in this cell and no one will ever know what happened to me. I'm sorry, daddy; I can't fight them anymore. I wish I was stronger.

Home again, but nothing's the same. Daddy and Shika and Choji notice something's different. I tell them I was sick while I was away to explain how thin I was when I got back. Have to do a better job of putting on the face of who I was; they can't know. I'm too ashamed, and if they ask the wrong questions, what happens then? Root is everywhere.

Most of the time Danzo leaves me be, but I can never forget the chain around my neck. The seal burns above my breast, ever present. Can't warn anyone what Root's done to me, what they're doing; it hurts just to think about it, and then Fu knows and hurts me even more.

Danzo's summonses usually come at night. Sometimes he wants me to take a specific mission from the Hokage's office, and do other things off the record. The first time my real mission is to kill one of my teammates once the mission in the scroll was done. He seems like a good man; I kill him in his sleep and take his personal effects like Danzo wants. I shouldn't have looked at them. He had a picture of his wife and kids. What have I done?

Sometimes Danzo wants me to test recruits. They're just little kids – scared, lonely orphans – but he wants me to attack their minds, to hurt them with their own emotions until they're empty just like the rest of Root. I refuse the first time. He hands me over to the older trainees so they can practice torture techniques.

I'm going to hell for what I did to those children. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough.

Years pass. I hate myself a little bit more every time I give in to Danzo. I think about dying more and more, but I'm afraid. I'm so tired of being afraid.

For the first time, Danzo pulls me out of a Root mission in progress to come back to the village. What does he want that Fu can't do? I find out in the basement of Naruto's house. Oh kami, what has he done to Hinata? What's worse is what he wants me to do. I draw the line there. Hinata is my friend! I won't do it! But there's that last threat hanging over my head. I can't go back to the mountain home; I can't. I'd go mad.

What Naruto wants makes me sick down to my soul. Making Hinata forget his infidelity isn't enough. He wants unquestioning obedience; he wants a plaything, not wife. I do what he says and try not to think of poor Sakura. One scrap of defiance left in me. Naruto wants the real Hinata erased so the puppet is all that's left. I lie and say it's done. The real Hinata is sleeping, hidden. Daddy could find her, but Fu never will.

At home afterwards I cry until there are no more tears. I can't do this anymore. Root's turned me into someone I don't even recognize, a monster. I look in the mirror when I'm alone and don't need to keep up the mask; my eyes are as empty as the men who beat and starved me.

The things I've done can't be forgiven. For years I've prayed for an end to the fear, and now I'm not afraid anymore. The answer is there, it always has been. The kunai hurts going in, but Danzo's taught me so much about pain. I don't make a sound. Shika's coming just in time for the end. I'm sorry, daddy; I'm sorry, everyone.

Jolted back into the present, Shikamaru had to fight the urge to vomit, and Inoichi didn't look much better. "Shikamaru, Choji… will you bring your fathers here?" Inoichi asked in a dull voice. "Quietly."

"What is going on?" Choji exclaimed, glancing from Shikamaru and Inoichi to Ino and Fu's bodies.

"Later, Choji," Shikamaru said raggedly. You don't want to know. I wish I didn't.

Choji studied Shikamaru's expression and nodded slowly. "Okay." He left, and Shikamaru followed, Shimi still supporting him. He glanced back as they walked out the door to see Inoichi kneeling beside Ino's chair. He closed the door as they left; Inoichi's broken sobs were cut off by the solid wood.