Hi everyone, I just want to say thank you for following me (or favoriting). I apologize for the lack of updates for this fic, I promise I'm not dropping it. But I do suffer from the occasional writer's block. In any case, please enjoy and lemme know what you think afterwards. Ja ne!
NOTE:
Bold & Italic = modern demonic.
Bold = ancient demonic.
Bold & Underline = Pissed off Oretzi.
Underline = wolf.
Italics = demon talking in human language
Chapter 55
The next hour was spent arguing - with Anko constantly snapping at the two of them to stop talking in demon whenever they forget themselves.
It had actually gotten to a point where the entire team was up and trying to comprehend what has gotten the four of them riled up. Tsuki was mostly neutral in the argument - she had recognized that she was ignorant of many things regarding the demonic world. Oretzi was all for getting away from the brewing war as soon as possible while Reo kept arguing that they needed to do something to reduce the impact.
Anko was siding with Oretzi since they've already been sidetracked by a war. This time, however, they had to consider their client and his cargo which meant they couldn't involve themselves in such things. They've already risked the reputation of Konoha due to their actions in Cha no Kuni.
She was definitely not looking forward to the debriefing and was extremely glad for the fact that they did not wear their hiati-ate the entire time they were in Cha no Kuni.
It was getting remarkably close to dawn when Oretzi finally got fed up with the circular arguments and just held her hand up for silence. Reo was tempted to just keep going but saw something in her expression that was unfamiliar with him and decided to fall quiet.
Once Oretzi saw she had everyone's attention she cleared her throat. "The longer we stay in Akumanosu the more likely we run into trouble with the other demons. At some point they're going to cross paths with us and they're not going to resist the temptation of eating a hanyou," she looked at her teammates, seeing the concern in their eyes at that reminder.
"Right now I don't see a safe path to the peninsula," she continued, her voice low and even. Audible enough to be heard by everyone present but soft as she considered her words. In her hand was the compass given to her by Izabera, her eyes watching as the needle point turned about constantly. "Which means our way to the west… it's likely to be full of trouble."
"Where else can we go?" Anko questioned the hanyou. "It's been established that we cannot go north to the ports - not when our client does not wish to take a ship."
"That may be his only choice," Tamashii remarks. "We may not be able to guarantee his safety if we continue West, especially with the war brewing."
"Is it possible to rush through?" Haruko asked.
"At the pace he travels?" Hoshi shook her head. "Chances are we'll be surrounded by the war at all sides if we try."
"And considering that the war consists of demons and humans - we're more likely encounter a demon that may decide that a delicacy is far more tempting that human flesh," Tsukiko remarks drily.
"So we are in agreement?" Tsuki spoke up, "Going West is suicide."
"Hai," they all muttered.
"If we cannot," Reo starts slowly, "go west then where shall we go? North? South? Back the way we came?"
"Unfortunately we need to go to the Northern Continent," Anko crosses her arms, thinking. "But we're surrounded by water at all sides."
"And the client gets severely sea sick. The peninsula was our best chance getting home," Oretzi sighed.
"So why not end this war to go home?" Reo questioned, bringing up his earlier point.
"I'm with Oretzi-chan on this," Tamashii spoke up on the issue. "We can't get involved with a war with our client in tow. Not to mention the whole hanyou delicacy thing."
"Why not seek safe passage through the Lunar Wolves?"
Team 13 was quiet at the latest suggestion from Reo - something he did not miss.
He didn't understand why Oretzi hadn't requested aid from the pack in the first place. They had taken her to the North continent when she was a child, surely they could do the same once again?
"The reason why we have not approached the Lunar Wolves," Tsuki started gruffly, "is because I was cast out. I would have been left to die if it wasn't for the fact that…"
"I had requested for something from the Lunar Wolves two years ago," Oretzi picked up seamlessly. "Stalks the Night decided to take advantage of this and, in essence, dumped Tsukiko onto me." Her hand finds the back of Tsuki's head and started scratching a spot behind her ear.
"Have they said that she was cast out?"
"Moon-Chaser's exact words was 'She would not last one day with the pack'."
"Gaki…" Anko frowns as she considered the map. "Do you think the Lunar Wolves will help?"
"Normally I would say yes."
"Normally?"
"She means if I wasn't here."
Oretzi sighed and looked at her partner, muttering quietly in their language.
"They'd deny you because of Tsuki?" Hoshi asked, frowning.
"Wolves are territorial and once you've been cast out to return is basically a death sentence."
The expressions on everyone's face at that was grim. They would not risk Tsuki if they could help it. She was one of them, plain and simple.
Tamashii was closest to the map since Hoshi had started to pace, her arms crossed as she tried to figure out how to get around the situation, and he decided to have a look.
"Anko-sensei," he called out, "our current location is at the borders of Jakkaru no Kuni, Oni no Kuni, and Saru no Kuni?"
"Last I checked, yes." She looked at him. "What do you see?"
"What if we go South and then, when we're at the coast, follow it West to Hyō no Kuni?"
Oretzi frowns as she thought about it, the compass' needle point swirling madly before it stilled, pointing South East. She frowns once the result registered in her mind. "Tama-chan," she looked up to him and handed the compass to him. "Imagine what you want," she instructs him simply. He looks at her in confusion before he followed her instructions, the needle turning several times before it pointed South West.
"What is this thing?" he asked in confusion.
"A gift from Captain Izabera. It's a compass that will always point to where you want to go."
"So… if I think about finding a safe passage to the peninsula…" Tamashii muttered, the needle still firmly pointing South West as he looked at it once more.
"Gaki," Anko looked at the hanyou when she saw a frown deepen on her face. "What is it?"
"There's no safe way for me to the West."
"Nani?"
She beckons for Tamashii to hand the compass over and with Anko looking over her shoulder she thought about a safe way off the South Continent. With her sensei watching on the needle turned until finally it turned South East.
"That's… that's very troubling."
"Should we all try it?" Tsukiko glanced at everyone to try and gauge their thoughts.
"No," Anko shook her head, her voice conveying the seriousness of this. "I will not separate this team. If a way is too dangerous for one then it is too dangerous for all."
"Nee-chan, where will we go?"
"I don't know Tsuki," Oretzi answered with a tired sigh as she looked at the map to find what was South East of their location. With the tip of her nail she traces a line that cut through part of Oni no Kuni and Saru no Kuni before reaching open waters. Beyond that was Kuma no Kuni.
"Okay, everyone get some sleep. I have first watch," Anko finally declares, sending her students to bed as she ponders their next course of action.
Oretzi frowned at her but heeded the order, leaving to lay down with Reo and Tsuki. Surrounded by the two demons her scent would be obscured by them. It was her hope that their scent would prevent the demons from scenting her until they were right on top of her. By that point she should've already seen them and be prepared for a fight or a run.
Reo took on his lion form, his size about six feet tall at the shoulders, and settled down near the edge of the camp. Oretzi leaned back against his side with Tsuki draping herself over Oretzi's legs. Between the two of them the chances of her getting cold in the night was slim - not that she ever got cold - often that is. She still remembered the cold she had picked up on the journey back from the Chunin exams. Although 'cold' isn't quite the right word for what she had experienced.
With a yawn she closed her eyes and settled in for a light nap.
~Kazama~
"AAUGH!"
Oretzi jerks awake, her hands scrabbling to push Tsuki off her legs.
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"
Tsuki immediately jumped to her paws, launching herself immediately at the nearest attacker as Oretzi reached for her knives which she had strapped to her thighs.
"ONI!"
Oretzi swung about as a red Oni swung it's club at her - the spiked club slamming into the arm she rose to protect her head. Caught on the back foot she knew she wouldn't be able to react fast enough to avoid injury. Sacrificing her arm she took the chance to slice at the Oni - her chakra wrapped around the blade. Her eyes widening when she saw that her knife had no effect on its skin.
It snarled something at her - she couldn't understand it - just before it kicked her in the stomach. The strength behind the kick was unbelievable - sending her crashing through the trees.
With the breath knocked from her, she laid there stunned. A dull roar in her ears as she tested her limbs.
Wait.
She forces herself to push through the pain - she couldn't feel anything in her left arm, that was troubling, and she could hardly breathe without feeling pain - to take stock in her surroundings. Immediately seeing the approach of an Oni.
It was swinging it's club about carelessly as it approached, a sneer clear on its face. She bit her lip as she forced herself to stand. A glance at her arm told her that her youki was in overdrive but she knew that unless she set the bones - she could actually see them poking through the torn flesh - it would be a waste. And the tightness in her chest told her she had at least had some broken ribs - she was hopeful that they were only bruised but knew better than to believe that.
"NEE-CHAN!" she hears Tsuki howl as she forced herself to match the Oni's every step.
"Half-breed," the Oni growled with a heavy accent.
"Oni," she retorts as she forced her youki to stop trying to heal and instead redirected it to reinforcing her bones and muscles.
"NEE-CHAN WHERE ARE YOU?!"
With a roar the Oni charged and Oretzi had only a split second to decide what she was going to do. She didn't think a genjutsu would work, she was injured with possible broken ribs so anything strenuous was out, so that left what?
With a determined set to her jaws she forces herself to get through her pain to form the proper hand seals. Shouting, "Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" (1)
She all but poured her Katon chakra into the jutsu, blowing the Oni and herself back with a deafening boom.
She crashed through yet another tree before suddenly there was a feeling of lightness and the sight of the morning skies before she blacked out.
~Kazama~
Reo tore through a black Oni and knocked over a blue as he prevented it from tearing into the protective ring of humans. In the middle was the foul smelling male but where was Oretzi? He can hear the wolf howling - what she's saying he doesn't know.
He pauses in his thoughts as he bats away another Oni before pouncing on a second.
Black ichor floods his mouth as he tears out their throat. A wet gurgle escaping his latest victim as he moved on to trim the raid. Doing his best to protect the humans since none of them could afford to run - not when they've been caught flat footed.
And unfortunately for the humans, even if they weren't caught flat footed their client was not willing to part with his cargo.
"I can't find nee-chan!" he hears the wolf howl just as he was ducking back to avoid a club.
"Go find her!" Anko shouts just before she send a jutsu to push a group back.
"No! I cannot protect them on my own!" Reo roared as he batted away an Oni.
He growls loudly as an oni threw itself onto his back, twisting about to grab at it with his claws and teeth.
"What about Oretzi?!"
"She's important but you must trust that she can handle herself long enough!"
Tsuki made a whining noise but didn't rush off to search for her partner.
It was a choice that could bite them in the ass.
They didn't know how long they were fighting when the Oni finally retreated.
Oretzi was still missing.
Tamashii and Hoshi had their first taste fighting demons and - even with the Holy Water and the Ofuda talismans - found that surviving took just about every ounce of their willpower and concentration.
Haruko and Tsukiko were able to keep themselves afloat in the fight - using the Holy water sparingly unlike Tamashii and Hoshi.
But the fight took a toll upon the group and now one of their own was missing.
"I should've gone after her!" Tsuki was growling at Reo, her ears drawn forward and her teeth slightly bared. The hackles at her shoulders and rump was raised. For anyone who knew her they could see that she was minutes if not seconds away from attacking the lion demon.
"Do you think Oretzi would be happy that you left the humans defenseless?!" the lion roars at her.
"Oi!" Anko snaps at the white lion demon, butting in. "Don't be so quick to judge us!"
Reo glares at the purple haired shinobi. "We barely survived the night! If we have had a pride of lionesses I would have felt more secure in our ability to survive! But we didn't! What we had was two full demons - a quarter trained wolf demon and a fully trained lion - five trained humans and a trader!"
Tsuki looked between the two of them worried, she wanted to find her nee-chan but she knew that Reo had a point. Even as Anko glared at the white lion demon, Tsuki was aware that one demon would be too much for a team of highly trained shinobi.
With a frown on her face Tsuki considers all of this for a moment before she seems to deflate, as if all of the air in her has rushed out. Reo was right. Team 13 wouldn't have had a chance of survival if she had ran off to search for Oretzi when she first disappeared.
"Enough!" Hoshi cries out at the bickering duo. "None of this does anything to help us find Oretzi-chan!" she looks anxiously at everyone gathered. The other two girls in the team were looking worried and Tamashii, as per the norm, was trying to hide his emotions but Hoshi could see that he was just as worried as any of them. "We have to look for her!"
"No," Reo quickly cuts in before anyone could volunteer to go searching for her. "It is too dangerous for any of you to search for her."
"I'll go," Tsuki spoke up, looking at the lion demon. "I have the best chance of finding her."
He looks at her for a long moment before nodding his head slightly. "I believe you. But the question is, where will you meet us once you've found her?" He gestured to their surroundings. "I believe we must keep moving. Being stationary is probably what invited trouble upon us all."
Anko frowns. She severely disliked the notion of separating, not after the long hours debating the dangers of the mission.
She was starting to think that they never should've taken on this particular job and she had a thought that from that point on Oretzi will have some say on the missions they accept from the Hokage. It was getting ridiculous just how often they run afoul of demons while on the job.
But she had to admit that here, in the middle of Akumanosu, she was out of her depth in regards of what to do.
"We go East," she finally declares.
Everyone, including the client that had been ignoring their conversations up until now, looked at her.
"No," Kano glared at the Jonin. She met his eyes levelly as he stared her down - little did he know that not much intimidated the Jonin. "There's nothing to the East!"
Tsuki narrows her eyes at the man, suspecting something when she sensed something about his scent as he glared at Anko. She wasn't quite sure what it was but she had a strange moment of recognition as she watched him.
"Kano-san, my apologies, but our primary objective is to keep you safe," Anko stated in a very flat tone of voice. It was the kind that - as her students learned long ago, her nieces included - brooked no argument. "Your comfort is very minor to the end goal."
He glowered at her. "We stick to the West!"
She crosses her arms, alerting Team 13 to the fact that she was starting to get very pissed off. It was always the silent rages they'd have to look out for. They were often the most dangerous out of all of her tempers. It was the kind that would lead to her all but ripping a person's head off bare handed.
"West is suicide," she states flatly, "There is a war brewing to the West and there's no guarantee that we will reach the peninsula before the fighting escalates."
"East will take us nowhere except corner us between demons and water!"
"We'll just have to charter a boat," Anko states matter factly, refusing to back down from her decision. "If you feel like braving the west on your own then be my guess," she continued before he could object. "Once we've found Oretzi we will leave this god forsaken land," she all but growled.
Tsuki, who had been paying attention to Kano, became distracted by the growl that was pretty decent for a human…
If she didn't know better she would've thought that Anko had some kind of animal in her - but Oretzi had established that Anko is completely human, right?
Still, the growl had been borderline animalistic in her opinion.
"Fine," she hears Kino grit out, startling her from her thoughts and causing her to tune back into the conversation once more. Did he just agree to going East?" Damn the consequences upon you all," Kino growls at them. Tsuki - if anyone had been watching her - started to snicker, just barely managing to suppress the sound but her sides heaved in barely hidden amusement.
That was the most pathetic growl she had ever heard - even Hoshi could growl better than that and she is seen as the most innocent of the group. And that was mostly cause everyone underestimates the chunin due to her size.
"Tsuki," she hears, prompting her to look up to the jounin. "Find Oretzi. We'll meet you somewhere along the coast. At the borders of Oni no Kuni and Kuma no Kuni."
The wolf demon nods her head and looks at Reo with an expression that conveyed the seriousness in her. "Take care of them."
"I will."
"Swear, swear on your name," she demands, using the words that she knew would bind the lion demon to the oath.
There was only a brief narrowing of the lion's eyes before he nods. "I swear on my name, Reoine Bilozor, that I will protect Oretzi's precious humans or else forfeit my life and honor."
Tsuki vaguely notices that he did had not included the client but reasoned that he was insignificant to both the lion demon and to Oretzi. Still, regardless of whether or not the client was included, she felt relieved that Reo would do everything he can to protect the team if only to preserve his honor.
"I will find her," she spoke out loud, verbalizing her promise to the team, "I will find Oretzi and bring her back to us."
Anko looks sharply at the wolf demon before nodding. "Go."
With a sharp nod and a half bark - almost sounded like a wolf's version of a salute - Tsuki turned and disappeared into the trees around them. Anko stared at the trees for another moment before she turned to address her students. "Alright, gaki, let's get everything packed up!" she declares. She looks at the wagon that they've been slowed down by and knew that it had to go.
"Kino-san, time is of the essence now," she started in a tone that - had her students been paying attention - would have alerted anyone to the fact that she was not in the mood for an argument. "My students and I will remove everything from the wagon and seal them away."
"You will do no such thing!" he protested immediately only to quell under the force of her glare.
"I was not aware of asking you for your opinion," she comments in an extremely dry tone of voice, gesturing for the twins to start sealing the crates away.
She turned from him in the next second, barking orders to Hoshi and Tamashii to check the oni for anything of value.
~Kazama~
The chirps of birds fills the air, just barely masking the sounds of the wind rushing through the tree tops. Off to the side is the bubble of the river, gentle and calming in its presence.
The curious hoots of the monkey demons as one throws a piece of fruit and the pained grunt of - wait.
The tall black haired man pauses as the pained grunt registers in his mind. Silver eyes searches the bushes for the source of the sound - out of place in Saru no Kuni. He was aware that demons tend to venture into other demons' territories but the sound… it had sounded like an injured human's.
Curious and vaguely aware that if he wasn't careful he could get into some kind of mishap, the man wonders over to where he thought he had heard the sound. With some careful steps he skirted the edges of prickly bushes, his eyes searching the ground for the source.
And so he walked, searching for the sound - and he could hear the monkeys hooting to each other and a thump/groan that told him that the monkeys were still throwing fruits at the hurt person.
The fact that there were no cries of protests he had to conclude that the person was unconscious which meant that the monkeys were being incredibly rude once again.
"Friends," he called up to the trees, "where are you?"
"Skin-walker," he hears just as a monkey, the size of at least two humans, swung into view, upside down as it held onto the branch with its feet. "You walk through our lands as our guest, why stop to ask to see us?"
"My apologies, Saru-sama," he says with a slight nod, recognizing the vines twined around its bicep for what they were. "I thought I heard a particular sound."
"Ah. You heard the youngsters."
"No… I thought I heard the sound of pain."
"Yes. The youngsters seem to have found a human," the Monkey King notes before he swung himself upright. "Or perhaps a half-breed. It was not so clear and the ground stinks of blood."
Startled to hear such commentary the man took a deep breath through his nose and scented just what the monkey had been talking about. He moves quickly through the bushes, not caring if he is heard, and burst out from the foliage and into the clearing that edges the river. Immediately sighting the current victim of the young monkeys.
It was a human, clad in clothes as black as night. Drenched and face down on the banks of the river, with half of their body still within the river. He could see the blood steeping into the ground beneath them. With a frown on his face he moved closer to the person, glaring up at the youngsters to discourage them from throwing anymore fruits.
He kneels down and presses a finger to their neck, partially relieved when he found a faint pulse.
"What happened to you?" he muttered as he turned the person over onto their back and brushed back the wet brown strands. His lips frowning slightly when he took note of the red triangles tattooed on their face - his fingers coming away clean when he had attempted to wipe what he thought was paint. "And what are you doing so far away from human civilization?"
He sets his bag down to the side and received a roll of bandages to use to stop the flow of blood for now. A near snarl forming as he noticed that the blood was mostly coming from the ripped puncture holes on their left arm. It had the look of a defense wound yet he couldn't figure out where they could've gotten injured.
The money demons would not injure a being in such a manner - throw rocks, spears, etc., yes but… this? Something with sharp points clustered together had caused this injury - that much he could figure out if nothing else.
He was just about to bandage the injuries when he realized that he could see the bone of their arm sticking out. It looked extremely painful and he had little doubt that if he was to re-set the bones it would snap the person awake. But before he could even think about setting the bones he would need something to hold them in place.
"Skin-walker," he hears the Monkey King calls out just as he was about to get up to find sticks. "What are you doing?"
"This human is injured."
"It is a human, it will die."
"And that," he comments idly, "is probably why we have conflict with the humans."
He hears the monkey demon snarl something but did not recognize his words. He shrugs his shoulders as he searched the ground for two sticks.
It took some time but he found two and returned to the still unconscious human and went about to preparing to re-set the break.
In hindsight he was grateful for the fact that the human was clad in clothes that wouldn't hinder him whilst he work. He was curious about the fact that their right arm was bound by bandages but reasoned that they were injured prior to the injury to their left.
Gritting his teeth he snaps the bones back into place, the sudden pain causing an agonized scream to twist from the human's lip, snapping them awake. And he saw, for the first time, that their eyes were a startling red and - as this fact registered in his mind - their face shifted into something feral.
But before he could interact with them, find out what their name was, they passed out once more.
With a frown on his face he bandages the wounds and tied the splint into place, making sure that it was secure enough to keep them from jostling their arm.
"So it is a mutt," he heard the monkey king remark, a near snarl noticeable to him.
"So it would appear," he remarks, ripping a relatively clean tunic he had to create a makeshift sling for the hanyou.
Other for that brief display of feralism to the pain it was not so readily clear that they're half-human.
Silver eyes glint in the early morning as he takes note of their appearance. There was truly nothing to suggest their hanyou state… unless…
He frowns as he considered this idea, cursing the fact that he was not proficient with this particular skill. Maybe if his sister was here - she would've been able to undo the genjutsu. But for now he was going to keep this one alive - even from other demons if needed. He hadn't put this much effort into bandaging their injuries if he was only going to kill the half-human for the sheer fact that they existed.
~Kazama~
1) Goukakyuu no Jutsu - Great Fireball Jutsu
