"There's something different about you today."
Utakata tried to hide the grin that crossed his lips, but his training hadn't gotten to the point where his emotional control was stronger than his childlike glee. "You think?"
Yagura's pupil-less pink eyes scrutinized him, trying to pinpoint the change in his friend. After several moments, the grey-haired boy snapped his fingers in realization. "You graduated!"
The Rokubi Jinchūriki beamed. "Yep!" He flapped his arms wildly, the oversized sleeves of his predecessor's blue kimono giving him the appearance of an awkward bat. Strips of white fabric were woven through the cuffs, matching the white sash around his waist that cinched the robe closed.
"Good job. You've been working hard."
Utakata turned away, abashed. He looked out over the lake, listening to the water gently lap against the shore. "I still have a ways to go."
"There's always more to learn," Yagura advised quietly, "but everyone starts somewhere. And now you're further along on your journey. Every step makes us more of an asset to the village. Maybe then people will take us seriously."
"Yeah…" the brunet agreed in a quiet voice. An asset to the village… Like his father had been. Maybe by serving the village, he would finally be seen as something more than a child.
Or a nuisance.
Maybe then he could finally do something good.
-l-l-l-
Utakata floated over the Land of Lightning with his Drifting Bubble Technique, looking down at the craggy country from high above. As difficult as the search for the Jinchūriki was, he would admit that it was a novel experience being able to casually explore the Elemental Nations like this.
As casually as one could while running from both a criminal syndicate bent on his capture and the hunter-nin the Hidden Mist had surely deployed to continue tracking him.
Still, the adventure was more than he'd experienced while in Kiri. While serving as a shinobi of the Hidden Mist, his missions had kept him almost exclusively relegated to the Land of Water. At first, he'd thought it a strange decision by the Mist hierarchy, including his master Harusame. Then he'd thought it might be Yagura trying to protect him.
Now it seemed apparent that the idea had been to keep the Rokubi contained to the village as much as possible.
Whatever the reason, he'd been sheltered from the outside world, unable to properly view its majesty. Where the Land of Fire was warm and welcoming, its green canopies a splendor to a boy raised in dreary grey fogs, the Land of Lightning was all towering mountains capped in grey-white clouds. In the crevices of the mountain ranges flowed quiet, blue rivers; with his eyes closed, Utakata could imagine them reaching the ocean, trickling water bringing him a semblance of serenity.
He took a deep breath and brought himself out of his trance. While he could enjoy the geography before him and how small it made him feel in the midst of everything happening in his life, the sheer enormity of his surroundings also worked against him.
Unlike with Naruto, where he knew the story of the Kyūbi attack, all he knew about the Nibi and Hachibi Jinchūriki were that they were from Kumo…which could mean anything. Were they in Kumo itself? How old were they, what were their level of skill? Were they loyal to Kumo, or was the relationship more tenuous, like Roshi's with Iwa?
Too many questions with no answers. He felt as lost as he had when he'd first left Kiri, wandering aimlessly and hoping for the best. It worked to find Rōshi, he thought wryly. I wasn't even trying then.
Of course, compared to how he'd accidentally stumbled upon the redhead after months of simply trying to evade Kiri's patrols, the…weeks? Months? He'd lost track of time, it all just seemed to blur together…of traveling to and then combing over the Land of Lightning for any sign of something Jinchūriki-related was becoming irksome.
Thunder grumbled above him, and Utakata glanced up to find that grey storm clouds had rolled in while he'd been lost in thought. He sighed and directed the bubble to descend into the mountain ranges below. As drab and gloomy as the Land of Water was, at least it was consistent; the Land of Lightning's storms were sudden, frequent, and annoying. His method of travel was way too high up to make him comfortable amidst the lightning for which the country was named, so he was forced to temporarily halt his search each time a storm cropped up.
He alighted on the ground when his camouflaged bubble popped and checked out his surroundings, looking for a cave or outcropping of rock for shelter. The rain didn't bother him – at least, not when it wasn't being manipulated by the oinin to suppress his abilities – but there was something…clean about the regional showers that made Utakata feel dirty for trespassing. When nothing immediately apparent drew his attention, the Kiri-nin began to jump across the land, keeping a keen eye out for someplace protective.
As the skies opened up and a light rain began to fall, the Jinchūriki's sharp golden eyes spotted an unnatural protrusion off the side of a mountain. What's that? He angled towards the anomaly, eventually finding an overlook in a perch of rocks partway up a mountain to scrutinize what lay below.
It looked like a temple built into the side of the mountains, a two-tiered structure with roofs of blue tiles styled like a pagoda, curved at the eaves. A staircase made of what the Kiri-nin could only assume was stone led from the temple to what he could now see was a rough path carved through the terrain. Someone lives all the way out here? For a moment, he struggled to imagine someone living so far outside the realm of civilization, but then he remembered Rōshi and the redhead's decades of isolation. Could one of the Jinchūriki live here?
The thought spurred him to move closer, careful to retain his footing on the slick geology. As he drew closer, he could make out the finer details of the temple: ornate wooden railings, bamboo blinds, white paneling…it struck him as strangely traditional in a world that was continually modernizing. Then again, Utakata had never been one to put much stock in faith, so any religious implications of the design were lost on him. Abstract statues of some creature, painted black and blue and with a mammalian appearance, flanked the front doors of the building. Strange design choice…
Matatabi always did attract a fervent following.
Saiken's voice in his head sounded almost bemused. Matatabi? Is that one of the Bijū?
Something long and thin, almost like a senbon, settled against his neck. Unlike a senbon, it was sharp along its length rather than just the tips, a fact he knew by the edge that tickled his jugular. A presence behind him made itself known by demanding, "Who are you?"
The voice was rough but feminine, with an authoritative edge that took no prisoners. With a calm that belied the tension coiled in his muscles, Utakata replied, "Just a refugee seeking shelter from the storm."
A small gasp escaped his throat as the sharp edge held there nicked him. A drop of blood dribbled down his neck and mixed with the falling rainwater, lost in the sea of the storm. "Refugees don't use genjutsu to appear out of thin air, so I'll ask again: who are you?"
She saw that? How long has she been watching me? Aware of his precarious situation, Utakata decided to drop the layer of chakra serving as his second skin. Acid dissolved the weapon holding him hostage, eliciting an unexpected hiss of pain from the kunoichi behind him and causing her to retreat. The Kiri-nin took the moment to distance himself from his assailant, turning around to face her.
She was cradling one hand with the other, the long claws of the former retracting back into her nails. Dirty blond hair partially covered her Kumo hitae-ate and fell down her back in a single braided ponytail. Dark pants fell to mid-calf, a red sash slung around her hips; bandages covered the rest of her calves and the entirety of her forearms, ending in black, fingerless gloves. A black short-sleeved shirt with lavender-colored midriff completed her outfit. Furious eyes leveled a glare at him. "Whatever your ability is won't protect you from me."
"I'm not here for a fight," Utakata offered in a rush, trying to dissuade her from attacking. "Really, I'm just a bit lost—"
"You obviously use chakra, which means you're a shinobi," the kunoichi snarled. "And you're not from Kumo, which makes you a threat. Nezumi Kedama!"
A fist-sized mass of darkness shrouded in indigo flame burst from her mouth. Utakata flipped through hand seals and saturated the rain with his chakra. "Suiton: Suijinheki!"
Falling liquid consolidated into a wall of water meant to intercept the Mouse Hairball. Feet before the jutsu collided, the incoming mass split into multiple projectiles that zipped around the Water Formation Wall. Golden eyes went wide as the individual fireballs closed in. What?!
He inverted the Suijinheki, wrapping himself in a sphere of water that barely cocooned him from each fireball's explosion. His defense lost cohesion, and he was blown backwards amid a field of debris. The rain helped quench the resulting dust, and Utakata looked up in time to see the kunoichi appear before him in a blur of dark clothes and pale hair. Claws sliced through his kimono and into his bicep, drawing lines of red along pale skin. The Kiri-nin hissed in pain, a sound echoed by the kunoichi across from him. Black eyes glared in hatred as she once more cradled her hand. "What kind of jutsu is this?"
A curse… Utakata thought, his own hand gripping his injured arm. "I'm really not interested in a fight," he insisted. "My…ability…it's innate, but controllable. And I'd be more than happy to deactivate it if you'd stop attacking me. I really was just looking at the temple for shelter."
"You're not going to convince me you have pure intentions," snarled the kunoichi. "Kumogakure does not take kindly to trespassers. That you would try to leverage the kindness of the Kyūshō acolytes to advantage your village—"
"Kyūshō acolytes?"
The followers of Matatabi, I presume.
"And who's Matatabi?" he asked aloud, annoyed that Saiken still hadn't clarified.
"How do you know of Matatabi?" the kunoichi demanded.
"I don't even know who Matatabi is!" Utakata protested. The seemingly permanent hostility in the Cloud shinobi's voice and posture was becoming more worrisome by the second. He wasn't interested in engaging in a fight that would only distract and delay his mission…at least, more than it already had.
She scoffed. "You can stop pretending you're ignorant. Only a handful of people know the Nibi's real name—"
"That temple is where the Nibi is?" Utakata glanced over at the building in the distance, surprised at the revelation.
"No," asserted the kunoichi. "The Nibi is right here. My name is Nii Yugito, and as a shinobi of Kumogakure, I swear you won't escape me."
Utakata didn't have a chance to marvel at his luck of stumbling across the Two-Tails' Jinchūriki before she charged him. She slashed at him with elongated claws, apparently deciding that the damage she could do to him was worth the contact with his acidic skin. He weaved around her slashes, leaning backwards to avoid a kick with sharp toenails, two nimble shinobi engaged in an aggressive dance.
Fighting Yugito was so different from sparring with Rōshi. The redhead's moves were rigid but purposeful, power behind every simple punch. But Yugito was constant movement, a whirling dervish, relying on the rending power of her elongated claws than any other physical prowess. In a way, the Kumo-nin's taijutsu style perfectly complemented Utakata's own method of contorting around attacks, leaving his mind free to strategize.
He dodged a downward slash aimed at his uninjured arm, jumping backwards when she used her feet to stab at his legs. She dove at him, turning herself into a spiralling corkscrew of sharp appendages. Utakata's hands flew through familiar seals, chakra intermingling with the rain. Suiton: Baikufu no Jutsu!
Rain came together in a deluge that poured on the spinning kunoichi, driving her into the ground under its force. The renegade Kiri-nin had a brief moment to wish that he had some sort of restraining ninjutsu he could activate from afar – like the Water Prison Technique, but without getting in range of the Kumo-nin – before Yugito was back on her feet. She was drenched from his attack, a snarl on her lips, fury emanating from every molecule of her being.
That fury seemed to morph into actual heat, an aura of steam emanating from her form. She's just like Rōshi, Utakata deduced. Proficient with Katon and stubborn to a fault. Great…
"Rengokuen!"
A fireball erupted from the kunoichi's mouth, rapidly growing to a diameter multiple times Utakata's height. He dropped flat to the ground, allowing acid to ooze out of his pores and erode the rocky terrain, creating a trench that he furrowed into. Heat seared his back as the Purgatory Flame roared by, fumes volatilizing off his acidic skin. With the Rokubi's gift, he burrowed through the ground, eventually popping up with an uppercut aimed at Yugito's jaw.
The Cloud shinobi flipped backwards to avoid the attack, her long toenails raking bloody gashes along his chest and dissolving against his acidic skin. They recoiled from each other, each nursing their own injuries.
Utakata pulled his hand away from the lacerations on his chest, inspecting the blood staining his fingers. She could kill me if she wanted, but how she's attacking…she's just trying to debilitate me. She wants information. He looked up at the kunoichi across from him. I suppose it could be worse…at least we have the same goal. "I don't suppose you're willing to listen to me now?" he called. "You're not going to kill me, and I don't want to fight you. We're in a—"
She charged him then, fire in her eyes and along her claws. "Stalemate," he sighed, anticipating her acrobatics and weaving appropriately. The Kumo-nin's chakra flared black and blue, the specter of a feline shadowing her form. Her speed suddenly increased, and Utakata suffered another slash across his chest in the face of the renewed onslaught.
A small explosion – the result of her fire contacting his acidic skin – blew the pair apart and sent them tumbling across the rocky terrain in opposite directions. Utakata swayed unsteadily to his feet, shaking his head in an attempt to cure his disorientation. This isn't working. I was hoping to avoid this…
He withdrew his bamboo blower as Yugito spat out another indigo-colored gout of flame. With a long exhale, a multitude of bubbles escaped the end and floated around him. When the Mouse Hairball split apart, the Kiri-nin directed the bubbles out, each sphere capturing an incoming projectile and containing it.
The immediate threat neutralized, he expelled more bubbles and sent them after the Nibi Jinchūriki, creating a field of floating spheres. Yugito charged through with lightning speed, her lithe form weaving among each obstacle with impressive grace. He manipulated the bubbles so they were closer together, and when she disappeared from view, he snapped his fingers, causing a series of miniature explosions.
Green goo burst from each ruptured sphere, saturating the vicinity – and Utakata – in a sticky, viscous material.
"Ugh! What is this?"
The Mist renegade craned his head to find the kunoichi behind him, her limbs stuck awkwardly to her body by the goo. More adhesive kept her glued to the ground, its elasticity tested with every gesture she made to escape. Utakata turned his body to face her fully, already at work on changing the chemical properties of the goo covering himself to negate its sticky properties. Exasperated, and with a brief window of time to talk, he hurriedly explained, "Look, I came here to warn you that you're in danger!"
With as close as she was, it was easy to see the Kumo-nin's dark eyes narrow with suspicion. "Kumogakure is aware of what's out there, not that it should matter to you."
Utakata shook his head. "I'm not talking about Kumo, I'm talking about you. You and the Hachibi Jinchūriki."
She snorted. "Kumogakure trained us to handle anything that comes our way. Whatever danger you think is out there is hardly a concern."
He hesitated for a moment before responding, mentally noting that Yugito's pride seemed to be blinding her to his message. "Maybe you believe that, but I don't think you really understand what you're up against. Akatsuki—"
"You're the one who doesn't know what he's up against!" Yugito shot back. "Killer B-sama and I are more than capable of taking care of ourselves!" Her chakra flared again, but instead of disappearing, it gathered around her and continued to grow, trails of steam rising from where raindrops hissed against the fiery aura.
Utakata's mouth, open to respond to the kunoichi's assertions, became an 'o' of awe and trepidation as a towering two-tailed cat with a pair of mismatched eyes – one green, one yellow – and fur made of blue and black crackling flames took shape before him. She can summon the Nibi?!
The Two-Tails roared, and Utakata felt his bones quake. One flaming blue paw came down, and the Kiri-nin threw himself clear of the impact zone, though its reverberations shook the earth. With a yowl, flickers of flame shot off the Bijū's fur and formed into winged projectiles that Utakata realized were birds. Not good. They zipped towards him on swift wings, and Utakata expelled an acidic Violent Water Wave at the ground that created a foxhole he dove into.
With Saiken's acidic chakra oozing from his pores, he again tunneled away from the impact zone of the fiery fliers, explosions shaking the earth as he dug through the underground. Within seconds, he could hear the sound of rushing water, and as he broke through rock to find a river, fire filled the tunnel at his back, its heat searing.
River water rushed into the tunnel and pulled Utakata into its cool embrace. The Six-Tails' jailor kicked his feet to swim away as water and fire met, the river behind him suddenly boiling. His head broke the river's surface and he gasped in air, craning his neck to find the Nibi's head bowed over the area he'd disappeared into the ground.
Utakata allowed the river's flow – swollen and rushing with the falling stormwater – to carry him far away from Nii Yugito. Thunder boomed overhead, but even that wasn't enough to drown out the feeling of failure that thumped in time with his heartbeat. When he eventually reached the ocean that bound the Land of Lightning's southern coast, the storm had stopped, and he forced himself to summon a bubble that took him into the sky and away from the mountainous country.
-l-l-l-
Face cupped in his palm, Utakata gazed down at the land far below with vacant eyes and heaved a sigh. He was at a loss for what to do next, and the past week of floating listlessly over the Elemental Nations had only deepened his melancholy.
Wallowing does not suit you.
"No?" he replied aloud. "Because it sure feels appropriate."
Setbacks are not uncommon—
"A setback?" Utakata let out a laughing scoff that wouldn't have been out of place coming from Rōshi's mouth. "Is that what you think that was? I had her, Saiken! I had the Nibi Jinchūriki, and I just…" he gestured around him, as if the empty void of the surrounding sky was answer enough, "left."
You had no options. The slug's boyish voice was almost reassuring, though firm. Hostility is not conducive to your alliance.
"Works with Rōshi," the brunet muttered.
But not for you and me. Or you and Yagura, or Yagura and Isobu, Saiken listed. Nor has it helped you with Naruto.
Utakata hummed his agreement, biting back the urge to tell the Bijū his comment had been more sarcastic than introspective. Saiken had a point, one further supported by the hostility Rōshi seemed to hold for the Four-Tails, for society as a whole. The redhead's animosity hadn't helped in their initial meetings with Naruto, and any additional strife among Jinchūriki – or between a Jinchūriki and his/her Bijū – was more likely to hinder their plans. "So what do you suggest at this point?"
Press on, the Rokubi advised. When you encounter an obstacle, you work around it. Do you think I remained idle after being sealed?
From experience, the Kiri-nin already knew the answer, but he still replied, "No."
Then perhaps you should consider your next course of action rather than indulging your self-pity.
With the slug's youthful timbre, it sounded like a suggestion, but the bubble-user heard the command it was intended to be. "Yeah, okay. Okay…" he repeated, golden eyes scanning the ground below. "So where are we?"
Who knows? You've been aimless since we left Matatabi's Jinchūriki.
Utakata groaned, massaging his temples with thumb and middle finger. "Yeah yeah, I get it already. We've been going west since we left. From Lightning, there's Frost, Hot Water, then…I don't remember. If Kumo's off limits, then that just leaves the Ichibi and Nanabi. One of them's got to be in Suna, so I guess we'll go there."
That sounds like a sensible plan.
"It's nice to know I have your approval again." There was no response from the giant gastropod; Utakata mused that Saiken seemed to have little appreciation for the lilt of sarcasm he'd acquired from Rōshi. As the bubble continued to take him west, the brunet posed, "Why didn't you give me your chakra when I was fighting Yugito? Or against Rōshi when he attacked me?"
It is not right for the Bijū to be in conflict. War and strife are concepts humankind has created to utilize my brethren and me for personal gains. We have our differences and…personal squabbles, but to be forced to fight one another by humans, even our own Jinchūriki, would disrespect the wishes of our father.
"Your father?"
The one you know as the Rikudō Sennin.
Golden eyes widened in surprise. "The Rikudō Sennin? I thought he was a myth."
He is not.
Saiken didn't seem willing to elaborate, and the brunet felt that he would continue having questions if he fell down that rabbit hole, so he instead said, "So I shouldn't rely on you in a fight against another Jinchūriki. The other Bijū don't seem to share your compassion," he noted wryly.
I can only control my own actions. Contrary to popular belief, the Bijū are not all-powerful.
"Sure seems like it when you're staring one in the face," Utakata muttered, too annoyed to appreciate the slug's droll attempt at humor.
His petulant mood was blown asunder – quite literally – by a buffet of wind that sent his bubble careening through the open sky. He bounced twice against the inside surface of the sphere before its elasticity failed, popping to send him plummeting to the ground far below. Within seconds, his bamboo blower was in his hands, another Drifting Bubble forming at its opening, but a second rush of air knocked the instrument loose from his grip.
He made a grab for it, but it had already been blown free of his reach. A curse slipped past his lips as he tried to think of a way out of slamming into the approaching ground at terminal velocity. As if to prove how fruitless his efforts of forming another bubble would be, a third blast of wind slammed into him, turning him into a tumbling ball of blue cloth.
In the midst of his freefall, clear blue water caught his eye, and he blazed through seals at a speed borne of desperation. Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!
A spindly dragon made of water burst from the source he'd spotted and roared up towards him. It opened its liquid maw wide and snapped him out of the air before the next barrage of wind could hit him, then dove back down to where it had originated. Utakata took a moment to enjoy being submerged in the refreshing water before swimming up, breaking the surface with a gasp.
The second his head broke free, a continuous stream of wind hammered him, strong enough to disperse the water immediately around him and carry him over its surface. He rolled gracelessly over fresh green grass before slamming into a tree trunk that knocked the air from his lungs. Utakata inhaled sharply, and by the time the world had stopped spinning around him, a foot was pressed on his stomach, and a small whirlwind circling a couple of fingers was held beneath his chin, ruffling his long bangs. "Who are you?" demanded a young voice.
This is becoming familiar, the brunet thought, looking up into his captor's face. A thin-lipped mouth and pupil-less orange eyes narrowed with suspicion stared at him from a bronze-skinned feminine face framed by short, mint green hair. "I'm nobody, really, I—I was just traveling along when—"
"You're lying," interrupted the girl haughtily, "and Taki doesn't appreciate intruders."
"I'm not an intruder," the Kiri-nin protested, slightly annoyed he had to keep defending himself on that point. "I was hundreds of feet in the air above you, and—wait, did you say Taki? I'm in Taki?" He shook his head – wary of the wind at his throat – to clear the surprise from his features. Focus on that later. "You must be an amazing sensor to know I was up there," he tried genially. "You couldn't have possibly seen me."
"I'm the greatest sensor there is-ssu. That's why it's my job to protect Taki from people like you."
"I'm not interested in Taki," Utakata repeated, "really." The kunoichi's orange eyes remained hard, and the brunet let out a huff of annoyance. "You can tell if someone's lying? Why don't you ask me whatever you want, see what my intentions are? I'll answer honestly this time, I swear."
"Fine," returned the Waterfall shinobi. "Who are you?"
"My name's Utakata."
"Where are you from?
"Kirigakure."
Orange eyes narrowed slightly, and the brunet wondered what she saw in his simple answer. The truth, after all, was far more complicated than the name of his former home. "Why were you above Taki?"
"I got lost. I was going to Suna when you attacked me."
The kunoichi seemed to relax at that admission, the whirlwind beneath his chin disappearing. Utakata breathed a small sigh of relief as his interrogator stepped back from him, hands on her hips. Now that she wasn't in his face, the Kiri-nin was able to get a good look at her. She wore a sleeveless white shirt that left her midriff bare, with fishnet underneath that was snug against her petite frame. More fishnet was visible under a white skirt that had slits on each side, and white armlets covered her arms from wrist to lower bicep. A hitae-ate was wrapped around her right bicep, and some sort of red fabric created an 'X' over her chest, going over her shoulders and under her arms to hold up a burden he couldn't see. "What's in Suna?" she asked, and her voice suddenly lacked all hostility. She sounded almost…wistful. Genuinely curious.
"I'm looking for someone there. Someone special."
"Special? The Elders say I'm special-ssu," she chirped.
"That's…nice," Utakata offered, trying to politely separate himself from the conversation. Since he'd managed to answer her questions without instigating a fight, he wanted to leave before anything else went wrong.
"Mmm…" She seemed oblivious to his discomfort, placing a finger to her chin and tapping it in cheery thought. "Well, no one else can do what I do."
"Your abilities are impressive," admitted the Kiri-nin, "but if you don't mind—"
"Who're you lookin' for?" she chirped.
Utakata shot her a look of pure bewilderment. "Uh, why does that matter?"
"I like knowin' things. And you're, mm…" her head cocked to the side, studying him, "bein' kinda weird."
"You don't know anything about me."
"Don't need to, it's super obvious. Your chakra's really agitated." She paused, then asked, "So, you gonna tell me who it is?"
Utakata sighed, feeling resigned to play the girl's games. Not like she'll know who it is anyway. "I'm trying to find the Jinchūriki—ow!"
His head snapped back against the tree trunk, blown backwards by a sudden gust of wind. The Taki-nin's expression was suddenly fierce, orange eyes hard with anger, all trace of playfulness gone. "Don't call me that," she growled. "I'm Fū-ssu! Fū-ssu!"
"I—what?" The feeling of disorientation was dissipating, though now his head was pounding with a mixture of pain and adrenaline. "Are you a Jin—" he cut himself off, reading the hate in her orange eyes, "—you said you're special," he corrected cautiously. "What makes you special?"
She didn't answer, just continued to glare at him, breath coming in ragged inhales. Utakata looked her over, the picture of anger personified, scrutinizing her with an intensity absent from his original once-over. Her reaction was too intense to have been anything but personal, but… Where's her mark? he wondered. Yagura, Rōshi, and Naruto all had obvious physical signs of the Bijū they contained, but Fū's outward appearance indicated no similar marker. Maybe she's like me? "Fū," he repeated, voice gentle, "how are you special?" When she still didn't respond, he probed, "Do you know about the Bijū?"
She flinched at that, her steely gaze wavering, but continued to stare mutely at the Kiri-nin. Utakata met her orange eyes, trying to silently communicate some semblance of understanding, but she seemed to be looking through him, sight locked on to something only she could see. "If you're a Jin—if you have a Bijū sealed in you," he corrected, noting the way her body shook at the term 'Jinchūriki', "you're not alone. I've got one, too."
"Really?" Her voice was suddenly small, a child learning something new.
He nodded as she moved away from him, back to being more curious than hostile. "The Rokubi's inside me. And there are more like us. I've been looking for them…for you, if you're like me."
Fū visibly hesitated before offering in an unsure voice, "The Elders say…the Nanabi's sealed inside me."
"They…say?" Utakata repeated. "You've never contacted the Nanabi?"
The Taki-nin shook her head. "Why would I-ssu? I could do what they wanted already."
She's like Naruto, the brunet noted, at least as far as her connection to her Bijū. She's definitely been trained better than him. "What did they want from you?"
"Someone to protect the village," she replied in monotone. It sounded like she was reciting something from memory that she'd been told repeatedly but had no faith in. "To make sure that Takigakure continues to remain safe from invaders."
"And what do you want?" Utatata quietly probed.
Fū opened her mouth to respond and then closed it. Hesitation was plainly written across her face, as if she couldn't give voice to the desire she held inside. Knowing how the Jinchūriki were treated, it was likely she'd never been asked, or that any expression of that desire had resulted in something…unpleasant. "I want to be normal," she whispered. "Everyone treats me like I'm…I dunno, diseased." Now that the floodgates had been opened, the timbre of her voice was steadily growing more incensed as more words flowed out of her mouth. "My parents have never spoken to me, no one cares about me, everyone calls me that horrible word…Jinchūriki," she spat.
"And I don't even know what I did-ssu!" she cried. "They told me to protect the village, and all I've done is stay here and watch for any invaders! But no one ever comes, either from out there or from in here, and no one cares about any of it! I hate them!" she hissed, voice pure venom. Then her shoulders slumped, snarl relaxing into something forlorn; gone was the angry kunoichi, and in her place was left a figure Utakata had seen far too often in the mirror: a broken Jinchūriki. "But I really just want someone to like me for me."
She started crying then, her sorrow muffled but not unheard. It was the tears of someone who'd done it repeatedly in solitude, resigned to the monotony of striving for something that seemed so easy to everyone else, but was unattainable for her and her alone. Utakata remained silent throughout the Taki-nin's breakdown, allowing her to grieve for her loss with as much privacy as he could afford her.
She doesn't know…
It wasn't news that Jinchūriki were prone to receiving the short end of the stick; he'd experienced it himself, seen it with Yagura, heard about it from Rōshi and Naruto. Normally that treatment had a purpose: Yagura was intended to be the Mizukage who would put Kiri back on the map, and Utakata and Rōshi were top-tier shinobi, meant to advantage the villages they served in open conflict.
Weapons.
But Fū…she wasn't even that. The Hidden Waterfall's military couldn't compare with any of the Five Great Shinobi Nations, and based on how they utilized their Jinchūriki, they weren't interested in trying. She was a tool, relegated to be used for a single circumstance, but otherwise kept in a metaphorical cage, locked away in the dark.
The other Jinchūriki had freedom, limited though it was. Rōshi had lived outside Iwa; Utakata had been sent on missions outside Kiri proper as he'd risen through the ranks, limited though they were; even Yugito seemed to possess an autonomy the other cursed jailors did not, especially for one so loyal to her village. But Fū had none of that, just the sad certainty of a life full of unappreciation in a village filled with hatred.
Utakata wished he knew how to empathize appropriately, but Fū's situation seemed so far different from his own, sadder in so many ways, he didn't know how. So he sat, waiting, until the green-haired girl's tears dried and she seemed ready to listen to him once more. "There are people like us," he said, "who have gone through similar trials. I'm trying to find them and bring them together—"
"Why?"
"There's a group looking for the Jin—for us," he explained, changing his words at Fū's darkening expression. "They're dangerous, and if you face them alone, you'll die. But if we work together, I think we stand a chance of surviving. And if you're willing, I'd like you to come with me."
"To Suna?"
"At first," he agreed, "but then to Konoha. You'd have to leave here, but—"
"You think they'll be willing to be friends?" Fū interrupted. "That they'll like me?" Her voice was lilting, hopeful.
"Absolutely," Utakata answered automatically. He was this close to recruiting her, and after the disaster with the Nibi Jinchūriki, the bubble-user needed a win. "It…might take time, for some," he continued, Rōshi's lack of social niceties coming to mind, "but there will always be someone who'll support you." He thought of Naruto, accepting of others heedless of their attitude towards him. Naruto…I'm counting on you.
"Then let's go." She shrugged out of the burden on her back, a red cylinder several feet long dropping to the ground behind her. Utakata didn't know what it was, but symbolically he supposed it represented a release from the life she'd led thus far. If he could lose the kimono that constrained the Robubi's gift, a vestige of his own hardships in Kiri, he would do so in a heartbeat.
He nodded. "Let's go."
The Kiri-nin reached for his waist, where his bubble blower was normally tucked away, but grasped only air. He sighed, remembering his tumble through the sky. "Maybe you can help me find something first."
-l-l-l-
"So what's in Suna?"
Utakata shot her a quick glance before returning his gaze to the surroundings below. They were headed more south than southwest with his Drifting Bubble Technique – now expanded to carry both Jinchūriki – and the Land of Waterfalls was giving way to the densely forested Land of Fire. "Like I said before, there's someone special there we need to find. Someone like us."
"Who is he?"
"That…is a good question," admitted the brunet. "I have no idea."
"So how do you know he's in Suna?"
Utakata hesitated. A discussion of how he knew would mean bringing up a lot of information related to being a Jinchūriki, and based on her previous reactions, he wasn't sure Fū could handle that. But not answering could risk their alliance, and that was far worse.
A wry snort of amusement escaped him; it was the same situation he'd been in with Rōshi all those months ago, only now with someone who sought to change their situation rather than stay mired in it. "The people like us," he began slowly, every word chosen with care, "are typically used for war. Trained properly, we're one-man armies, weapons capable of limitless destruction.
"The major Hidden Villages have the Bijū divided among them, theoretically to retain the balance of power. Kiri, Kumo, and Iwa all have two, and Konoha has one. Since you were in Taki, the last one has to be in Suna."
"There's only nine people like us-ssu?"
"Yes. We're lucky it's that small," he muttered, disenchantment coloring his tone. The life of a Jinchūriki was not one he would wish upon any more people than strictly necessary. "Anyway, that was a theory I had based on what I knew about global geopolitics and history. One of my…friends—" it felt weird referring to Rōshi as a friend, considering where they'd started and everything they'd been through, but he supposed that was the easiest word to use right now, "—confirmed my theory."
Fū nodded in understanding, and, questions apparently answered, took to looking outside the bubble at the view below. Utakata watched her from his periphery, a small grin stretching across his lips as her orange eyes widened with awe. The brunet left her alone, allowing her to enjoy the splendor of the world outside the Hidden Waterfall. He remembered having the same reaction in the moments he'd been able to enjoy the different scenery after fleeing from the Land of Water.
They remained in a state of quiet camaraderie over the course of their travel to the Hidden Sand, taking breaks to eat and sleep as needed. Growing up as he had had never granted Utakata the ability to become adept at social norms like small talk, but it seemed Fū wasn't all that different – unsurprising given her background – and was fine with the silence.
On the third day, the forest thinned to leafy canopies isolated from each other by branching blue waters. If I had to guess, I would say this is the Land of Rivers, the Kiri-nin mused. He directed the bubble west, in the direction of the Land of Wind, and asked Fū, "If you don't mind me asking, what's the extent of your abilities?"
"Hm?" The green-haired girl turned away from the idyllic scene below her, placing her gaze on Utakata and adopting a thoughtful expression. "Whaddya mean?"
"Well, how far can you sense someone?"
"Like a distance?" She shrugged. "I dunno. Far."
Utakata let out an exasperated sigh, the only sign of his annoyance. "Okay, well, can you feel where Suna is?"
"Mmm…" Orange eyes closed for a moment, then reopened. "No. There's a couple people down there—" she gestured to the earth below, "—but not a village's worth."
"And your ability to detect lies?"
"The closer I am to someone, the easier it is to focus on their chakra," Fū explained. "A lot of times, how people feel is reflected in their chakra. So if they're nervous or agitated or something, it'll show in their chakra."
"Impressive," the Kiri-nin admitted. He'd never heard of sensing that proficient, but from a theoretical standpoint, he supposed it made sense. Chakra was a combination of physical and mental energy, so if someone was mentally…compromised…that could result in a detectable manifestation within their chakra, assuming a sensor was skilled enough.
And right now, he had no reason to believe that Fū wasn't as proficient as she claimed. "Then…can you distinguish between different types of chakra?"
The Waterfall kunoichi cocked her head to the side. "How d'you mean?"
"Well…" Not for the first time, Utakata was stuck being unable to elaborate on what he wanted to know without delving even further into the complexities of the Bijū and Jinchūriki, a topic Fū was shockingly ignorant of despite being one. She really is a lot like Naruto. "What do you sense if you focus on me?"
"Hmm…" She closed her eyes again, and despite the fact that she couldn't see him, Utakata felt suddenly exposed. "You're nervous…no, more like…uncomfortable?"
"Maybe don't focus on how I feel," Utakata suggested quickly, trying to quell his discomfort. It was…awkward…being analyzed so astutely, like an insect under a microscope. "What about…" he paused, thinking of how to phrase his prompt, "the nature of my chakra?"
"The nature? Well, it's kinda cool. Soothing. Like being under a warm blanket on a cold night. And I can feel it all over you, like…on your skin. But…mm…" Her brow furrowed in confusion. "There's a different chakra, and it's…volatile. Sticky, and…I dunno how to describe it. Dangerous? It's kinda overwhelming, but it feels like it's contained by your chakra?" Orange eyes blinked open. "Does that make sense? I've never felt anything like it before."
"That second chakra you feel? That's the Rokubi." It was so strange to hear the perspective of Saiken from someone who wasn't afflicted by the hateful bias the Bijū normally inspired. "You've never felt something like that within yourself?"
Fū shook her head. "Should I have?"
"If you're really a—if the Nanabi is really sealed inside you," he corrected, "I can't imagine why you wouldn't." He scrutinized her, searching again for the physical marking that would plainly identify her as a Jinchūriki, and again came up short. It didn't help that he had no idea what the Nanabi looked like, and thus no idea what identifier to look for. Hesitantly, knowing that his question could blow up in his face for a variety of reasons, Utakata asked, "You're sure about the Nanabi?"
The Taki-nin scowled, all geniality suddenly gone. "It's what the Elders told me. What, you don't believe me-ssu?"
"It's not that," Utakata placated. This was what he'd been afraid of by digging for confirmation; now he had to do damage control. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean any offense. I've just never heard of someone like you. Or a village that does what yours did. It's just…an anomaly." He sighed, a sad smile playing around his lips. "I've discovered a lot of anomalies recently."
"What's that mean?"
"Stick me with and you'll find out."
Fū shrugged, all nonchalance. "Whatever. Not like I've got anywhere else to go."
"Do you think you'll be able to find the person in Suna who has chakra like me? Or…" he paused, thinking, "not exactly like me, but someone with two types of chakra? The dangerous one?"
"Probably, if you give me time."
"I can do that."
The rest of their journey was accompanied by the silence that had become their third companion, Fū speaking only to give directions as they drifted further into the Land of Wind and the location of the Hidden Sand became more apparent to her sensing abilities. Eventually, the village proper came into sight, a collection of brown buildings arranged like an eight-spoked wheel inside a sort of sandy caldera. Utakata directed their bubble down towards a taller building on the edge of the village, and when they were close enough to the roof, it popped, allowing the pair to land lightly. The brunet grabbed some tan garments hanging from a clothesline and threw some to Fū, wrapping himself in a cloak and drawing the hood up to further disguise his features. "Can you work from here?" he whispered.
Fū's eyes were already closed in concentration. "Yep, just need time."
"Got it." Sharp, golden eyes gazed at his surroundings, taking in the array of tans and browns that made up the Village Hidden in Sand. Everything was so…drab, he decided, bland colors in a town that had boring architecture and minimal people. There were a couple of mothers watching their children playing in the street below, the kids juggling a ball between them.
A feeling of wistfulness bloomed in his breast as he observed them. Must be nice to be so happy.
"It's so nice that things are finally returning to normal."
"Oh, I know! Ever since that boy's been gone, the village has been so pleasant."
Utakata's ears perked at the gossip below him, something in the way the second mother spoke reminiscent of his own past. It wasn't like he had anything better to do until Fū found the Sand Jinchūriki anyway.
"I meant more with Kazekage-sama. We lost so much in the Konoha invasion—"
Utakata gasped. "What?"
"What?" Fū echoed.
Whatever part of the conversation he'd missed continued uninterrupted down below. "You're right. We've had to take the good with the bad. And Godaime-sama seems to be doing well so far."
"We need to go," Utakata announced.
"But I haven't located that chakra yet."
"Doesn't matter, there's a bigger problem," the Kiri-nin said. He threw off the tan cloak and pulled out his bubble blower, walking over to Fū and creating a sphere that encased them both. It lifted them into the air, and Utakata directed the bubble east towards the Land of Fire.
"What's going on? We spent all this time getting here, and now we're just leaving?"
"Something happened," he offered. "I don't know what, but it sounds like Konoha might have been attacked, which means we need to get back as soon as possible."
"This thing doesn't move very fast," Fū observed.
"It's convenient, not quick."
"Hmm…" The green-haired girl eyed the sky speculatively before her fingers began to form seals.
"What are you—?"
"Fūton: Reppūshō!"
The Drifting Bubble accelerated east as the Violent Wind Palm expelled air from the west. Utakata was thrown against the sphere's translucent surface by the sudden movement, grateful that his method of transportation was slightly more durable than his normal bubbles. "Uh—"
"Just tell me when to stop!" Fū yelled over the howling wind. Utakata decided it wasn't worth responding, and instead focused on keeping the bubble sturdy and whole.
They made it all the way back to the Land of Rivers before Fū had to take a break, but Utakata found himself impressed by the time they'd made. He looked down over the flowing waters below while Fū panted, using the serene blue to try and find peace while anxiety coursed through his veins. "How long until you can use that jutsu again?" Now that he knew they could make haste, it was hard to go back to their sedate method of travel when it seemed like Naruto and Rōshi could be in danger, the results of Suna's apparent invasion unknown.
Fū glared at him. "Give me a minute-ssu!"
"Sorry," Utakata offered, abashed. It wasn't the first time he'd spoken out of anxiety for his mission rather than thoughtfulness for his surroundings or travel companion, and it likely wouldn't be the last. Something about the other Jinchūriki - Yagura, Naruto - being in trouble seemed to override all his normal sensibilities. "I'm not ungrateful, I'm just nervous. Really," he continued as the green-haired girl's expression remained unmoved, "it's amazing what you did."
Fū let out a huff. "I'll start again as soon as I can. That took a lot out of me."
Utakata made a mental note to stay quiet during the remainder of their journey, unwilling to risk saying something else that could potentially offend the Taki-nin. The hours dragged on as Fū alternated between using the Violent Wind Palm and taking rests to recover her stamina. Day faded to night, and by the time dawn broke and the sun was fully risen the next day, Konoha's tall buildings were visible in the distance amid the towering treetops. The bubble-user breathed a long sigh of relief at the sight, noting no obvious damage to the portions of the village he could see.
Fū's energy tapered out at that moment, and as the Drifting Bubble slowed down and she panted beside him, Utakata's golden eyes were drawn to a large swath of ravaged forest. Several miles of uprooted and broken trees littered the ground amid the out-of-place sand dunes covering everything. She regained enough breath to ask, "What happened here?"
"No idea," Utakata replied, "but it can't be good. This is what I was afraid of."
Fū hummed in thought but didn't say anything else. Utakata directed the sphere to the devastated landscape, letting it pop and landing on a sand dune. From the floor, the extent of the damage appeared even greater; the Kiri-nin felt tiny among the fallen trees and open carnage. This kind of damage…a Kage could easily pull this off. I'm sure Rōshi would've fought back if he and Naruto were in danger, but there's no lava…
"Hey, Utakata—"
"Hold on, Fū, I'm thinking."
"But someone else is here-ssu. A lot of someones."
Utakata whirled around to face her. "What?"
Several dozen Konoha-nin dropped from the surrounding trees, porcelain masks hiding their faces. One of them stepped forward and demanded in a flat baritone, "Surrender peaceably. The Hokage would like a word with you."
Utakata heaved a tired sigh and glanced at Fū. The green-haired girl was visibly tired, but still tense, orange eyes darting around at the overwhelming number of ANBU with healthy distrust. He waited until he caught her attention and then shook his head. Slowly, she relaxed from her defensive position, and when the Kiri-nin judged that she wasn't going to do something stupid, he raised his hands and told the Leaf shinobi, "We'll do as you say."
At least this way he could get some answers.
-l-l-l-
Author's Note: So this Fū is currently drawn more from the idea presented by Deidara in a throwaway line in canon where she hated humanity, rather than the version presented in the filler arc. However, there is some inspiration from that arc presented here as well, to flush her out a bit more. Feel free to let me know what you think and if you've got any questions.