The Wanderers
Chapter 60 – Dealing with Traitors
A/N: I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed my story since its beginning; I'm very flattered that my story has over 550 reviews. It really does mean a lot to me.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, there would be honest to God infiltration missions.
***Previously-On***
The battle with the Seven Swordsmen began with gusto as Naruto demonstrated a new level of battle instinct that gave the four Tailed Beast containers the edge in the fight. Using shadow clones to gain some experience in their techniques, Naruto and his companions began their fight with the Seven Swordsmen of Kirigakure. A clash of techniques forced four separate battle lines to be drawn, and the fight was on. Naruto took on the pair of Houzuki brothers, Suigetsu and the Swordsmen leader Mangetsu in a heated battle, though with clever use of teleportation and lightning he was able to neutralise the younger brother without much effort. After being confronted with the question, Mangetsu confirmed that the Swordsmen are aware of the Mizukage's doppelganger and were very angry about it, though they still defended their home. Pulling out the Second Hokage's sword, Mangetsu and Naruto continued their duel without noticing anything around them. Killer Bee fought on par with Ameyuri Ringo, who demonstrated both an ability to push lightning through her blades and an ability to see through his swordsmanship. The two were equally matched, with neither giving any ground as they continued to fight. Han was faced with both Chojuro and Kushimaru, though he was not concerned whatsoever. After a short battle he took down Chojuro with little effort, though he was interrupted before he could finish the job. Kushimaru gave him a run for his money for a little bit, before Han gave in and went into his first tail form and removed his head from his body. Roshi, on the other hand, struggled against his two opponents Jinin and Jinpachi. He was forced to bring out his best techniques without actually transforming into his Tailed Beast form, eventually taking out Jinin with his companion's weapon, though the kickback was enough to damage him seriously. He was able to defeat Jinpachi with a final blow, but was unable to get up to recover. When Han came over under the guise of helping, he killed Roshi and left the battlefield, satisfied with the results of the day.
***End Summary***
The four infiltrators slowed their pace to a walk as the first elements of the Kirigakure civilian population began to come into view. They were mainly mothers and small children, though they noticed that there were a few scattered Genin among the civilians.
"They got here quick," observed Yugito, as they stood about a minute away from meeting them.
"The Genin tend to get the civilians to mobilise quickly, while the shinobi move to neutralise the enemy forces," said Yagura, adjusting his uniform and nodding to his companions. "Keep in character; we don't know who is mixed in with them."
The women nodded in agreement, as the first group of civilians noticed their approach and looks of relief on their faces.
"Oh thank the stars, we were worried you weren't going to be able to help us," said an old lady to Yugito, a smile unwrinkling her face.
"We're here to help," said Fu, noticing that Yugito wasn't going to say anything in response.
Yagura nodded to the women and moved forward to come to the first Genin he could see, standing at the same height as the young man but his presence and outfit demonstrated his seniority.
"How many came with you?" he asked in a gruff voice.
The Genin seemed to shrink under his masked gaze, "Um…about fifty…sir. My Jounin teacher said to defend the civilians while they take out the enemy threat."
"Good work son. Continue doing your job, and you'll go far."
The Genin's face lit up at the ex-Mizukage's comment, but Yagura and the group was already moving down the tunnel towards the village. Despite concentrating on not breaking their cover with the people of the village, the Tailed Beast containers and Hinata noticed a strange pattern in the people they were ultimately there to save.
There was a glazed-over look in their eyes, like there wasn't much to be joyful about in their lives, current attack on their homes notwithstanding. It was likely this wasn't the first time they had been down in the tunnels in recent times, and they probably figured it wouldn't be their last.
Both Hinata and Fu wanted to ask what had happened to them to make them that way, but it became apparent when they noticed a rather small amount of elderly in the civilian population as they moved without much future interruption.
This is worse than I thought, said Yagura to himself, feeling a terrible sense of dread at the urgency of his mission.
As they moved closer to the edge, Hinata slowed to a stop as she saw a young girl crying by herself as the other civilians walked past her. She knew their mission was time-sensitive, but she couldn't pull herself away as she slowly leant down in front of the young girl and offered her a hand.
"Are you okay, dear? Where are your parents?"
The little girl moved her hands from her eyes and looked up at Hinata's masked face with a scared expression. "I was…I dunno…I want my mummy!"
Behind her Kirigakure ANBU mask, Hinata smiled warmly before slowly reaching forward and rubbing the top of the little girl's head. "We'll help you find your mum, I promise you."
Her three companions pulled back and huddled around her, scaring the little girl even further.
"We don't have time for this," warned Yagura. As sympathetic as he was to the situation, there were larger things at stake.
Hinata tried to give him a glare, but the effect was minimised by her mask. "We can at least put her on the right track."
Behind her own mask, Yugito rolled her eyes and walked around behind the little girl, before lightly tapping her on the back of the neck and knocking her out. She picked her up off the ground and handed her to a nearby Genin.
"Take her to the others," she instructed, using the same tone of voice she would when she gave orders to her own subordinates in Kumogakure.
Hinata wanted to be furious at what she had done, but the more cynical part of her agreed with her. She didn't like it, and made that very clear to Yugito once they emerged from the tunnel, but decided to leave it at that for the time being.
"Welcome to the Village Hidden in the Mists," said the ex-Mizukage, indicating to the village in front of them. "Stay in a tight formation, more than one infiltrator has been lost within our mists."
Staying true to its name, Kirigakure was covered by a light mist that hid it from most outward observers, but from their inner village perspective it was really something else.
The village was a multi-complex assortment of tall buildings with trees on top and stone walls that gave it a rather new age look compared to the other villages. To Hinata it didn't look like it was any larger than Konoha had once been, but there was heavy bushland and tree coverage even within the village proper. A large circle building sat at the very centre of the village with an overview of the entire area, with the symbol of the Mizukage stamped on its front.
This village would be a nightmare to invade, thought Yugito, taking mental notes of some strategy weaknesses, though closer looks showed her they were obvious weaknesses that were likely well-reinforced. This trip has become worth it already.
"Let's keep moving," said Yagura, not wanting to remain static for too long.
"Where are we going?" asked Hinata, still using her Byakugan to get extra information about their mission. There were a number of things that concerned her, particularly the fact that after passing by nearby three hundred civilians there were almost none left in the village itself.
"How many shinobi does the village have?" she asked quietly, figuring she wasn't going to get a real response to her first question.
Yagura turned to her after a slight hesitation, "Perhaps ten thousand, maybe more."
That's a serious discrepancy of population.
Hinata turned her gaze back to the people they just passed, noticing serious problems with their appearance including withdrawn features and a lack of physical energy, likely caused by severe malnutrition.
They are feeding the shinobi and starving the civilians…this is unacceptable. I'll take this guy out myself if that's what it takes.
She followed the others as Yagura led them through the village, jumping from the tunnel entrance to the tree tops along the edges of the village before moving onto the nearby cylindrical buildings.
They moved slowly and deliberately, with both Yagura and Yugito holding them back at times as Kirigakure shinobi moved past them. They didn't receive more than the occasional glance from the younger members of the patrols, their ANBU disguises working as intended as several other ANBU squads moved in similar patterns to their group.
"Where are they all going?" asked Fu, as they waited behind the wall of a building close to the southern edge of the village.
Yagura frowned behind his mask; he wasn't sure what was happening, they weren't responding in the manner he had expected. He expected a reasonable force to respond to the four people he had sent to distract them at the village entrance, but the bulk of the Kirigakure shinobi force appeared to be reinforcing the village walls rather than converging on the enemy in front of them.
"Hinata, can you use your eyes to see what kind of response your husband and the others received?"
The Konoha shinobi nodded and concentrated for a moment, though it was only for show as she had been watching the battles the entire time. "There were seven people that attacked them."
"The Swordsmen…" muttered Yagura. "I should have thought of that…they wouldn't send anyone else if they were going into the field; they're too prideful for that. How has the battle gone so far?"
"Five of them are down, three of them are dead."
"Damnit, I told them not to kill anyone. Is that so hard?" Yagura's tone was frustrated, but it wasn't as if he was expecting much better.
Yugito scoffed loudly, "Against those kinds of opponents, it would be hard to hold back. We are in the business of death, if you've forgotten."
"Still, it's not how I wanted things to go," said Yagura, leaving the topic for the time being as they started to move again.
"We don't always get what we want," added Fu quietly as they leapt towards the eastern side of the village.
After a minute Hinata stopped herself on top of a building rooftop, forcing the group to pull back and regard her with suspicion.
"What is it?" asked Yagura. "We are short on time."
I can't tell them what I just saw. It would change the entire mission, and we can't afford the distraction. Naruto hasn't noticed…but he doesn't seem to be moving to attack the others. Damnit, what is going on with this mission? It just gets worse and worse.
The Hyuuga shinobi hesitated for a moment before shaking herself out of it, "It's…nothing, just tracking some movements nearby. They're gone now."
Staring at her through his ANBU mask, Yagura took a moment before indicating to the single story on the other side of the village. "That's our target."
Both Fu and Yugito looked at the building suspiciously, "Will these disguises hold up?"
Not if the wrong people stop us, though Yagura, though he kept that to himself. "If we move quickly enough, we'll look like another squad moving to secure that part of the village."
"I'll take point, lead us around the patrols," said Hinata, walking to the front of their group.
Yagura extended his hand to indicate his approval and the group started to move again.
Closing the door behind her, Yugito kept to the back of the group as Yagura spoke to the prison warden. He spoke in a code she didn't recognise, though judging from the tone of the warden's language it wasn't going well. Eventually they moved back to traditional Japanese.
"We came to transfer the prisoners to an offsite facility, and you are telling us most of them are dead?! What kind of incompetent operation are you running here?"
The Kirigakure warden shrugged as he threw the chart in his hands onto his desk and leaned his head into the back of his chair, "We've been told to ration supplies like the rest of the village, and it seemed stupid to feed prisoners who are on death row. I've got a family of four to feed, sir."
Behind his stolen mask, Yagura bit at his lip in frustration, things had fallen apart worse than he'd feared. If she were actually in charge, Mei Terumi would have never let such a thing happen, but then again he knew that everything that was going on was new.
Shaking his head, Yagura pulled out a notepad from his disguise's pocket and flipped through the pages like he was trying to find something. "Fine, I can understand that much. We still have our orders though and I'm not about to disobey the Mizukage. How many prisoners are left?"
"Just over one hundred including the Omega-level prisoners."
"And how many guards do you have under your command?"
The warden raised his eyebrows at the question, "It's…er…just me, sir. This is a mostly automated prison…but surely you know that, don't you sir?"
"Yes…of course."
Yagura closed his notepad quickly and put it back in his pocket. That confirmed everything he needed to know. Turning his head, he gave a quick nod to Hinata.
The Hyuuga shinobi wasted no time in putting her hands into a handseal and activating a low level genjutsu, immobilising the warden in his chair.
"That won't hold him for long," she warned, but Fu was already on the move, sinking her teeth into the neck of warden to knock him out completely.
"Good work," said Yagura, moving around the desk and flipping through the files. "How long will he be out for?"
Fu wiped her mouth and sat on the desk, picking at her nails with a slight hum, "A few days, maybe more depending on his immune system. More than enough."
Yagura didn't respond, spending several minutes going through the files.
"Is there any reason we are sitting here?" asked Yugito. "Why don't we just go in and spring her?"
"I don't know about here, but in Konoha we had safeties set in place for the more dangerous prisoners so that if you didn't know the defences you couldn't get to them at all." Hinata turned her head slightly as she used her Byakugan to look around the area. "There are two lower levels of the prison that my eyes can't penetrate. If the Mizukage is anywhere, it'll be there."
Yagura let out a sound of approval as he pulled out a small innocuous book from the desk drawer, running a chakra-filled finger along the spine to open it. "This should have what we need."
"How are we going to move her from the prison to the Kage building?" asked Fu as she jumped off the desk. "She's probably mal-nourished and weak; it isn't like she'll be in a state to fight."
"I'll take care of that," said Yagura, tucking the book under his arm and moving to the back door.
Even through her Kirigakure ANBU mask, Hinata could see through her Byakugan the slight facial movements on the ex-Mizukage's face.
And will you survive this plan, Yagura? The others can't see it, but I can tell. What aren't you telling us?
"So what's the plan then?"
Yagura turned around and removed the mask from his face, indicating that the others should do the same. "Are there any other guards in the building, Hinata?"
The Konoha shinobi took off her mask and placed it on the desk, "No, it was just the warden like he said. All the Kirigakure shinobi in the area have been moved towards the front line, likely in response to Naruto and the others. I don't know why they are attacking them though, it's like they are waiting for something."
"Can you see how the battle is going?" asked Yugito. "I'd rather not have to drag Bee's body back to the Raikage. That would annoy him just a little bit before he removes my head from my shoulders."
Hinata cancelled her Byakugan to preserve chakra, shaking her head. "I can't see that far very clearly. I don't have anything more than earlier." Two years of playing cards with less-than-savoury types had given Hinata a very effective poker face, as there were things she had seen from the battlefield that she didn't think the others needed to know at this point.
The others seemed to believe her, making no mention of it again as Yagura indicated to the nearby door, "We'll have to be careful here. This whole building is new to me, so my expertise may not be as useful as we intended."
"Sounds fun," said Fu, though she wasn't too ecstatic about breaking into a prison rather than out of one. She'd broken out of her own prison in Takigakure just before it was destroyed, and didn't have many good experiences in such places.
"Is there anyone else we are springing?" asked Yugito, slipping a piece of paper into her back pocket without any of them noticing. "Or is it just the Mizukage?"
Yagura gripped his hand on the doorknob for a moment before turning slightly, "Just her. The others are likely to be murderers or worse, we don't want them running around."
The Two-Tails nodded in agreement, if Kirigakure's prison was anything like their own, the occupants would be the worst of the worst.
"Let's just do this before someone comes and discovers what we are doing," said Hinata, reactivating her Byakugan. She braced herself for whatever she might see, while keeping an eye on her husband's battle with the leader of the Seven Swordsman. She knew it probably wasn't a good idea to use her chakra in such a manner, but there were times when the blonde shinobi concerned her.
Just another part of being in a marriage.
oOoOoOo
Passing through the initial levels of the prison blocks, the group ignored the shouting and begging of the Kirigakure prisoners and moved as cautiously as possible. Yagura said they were primarily robbery and incompetent criminals, and he defended the village's position on imprisoning the latter when Hinata called it into question.
"If they are detrimental to the village, then why wouldn't we imprison then?"
"Just because they've done something incorrectly? Do you honestly think you have the right to do so?"
Yagura stopped at the end of a cell block and turned to the white-eyed shinobi, "If their incompetence causes the death of fellow shinobi, or risks harm to the village, we absolutely have the right to imprison them. And I don't like how uptight you are about this discussion, Hyuuga. This is my village, and I will not have questioning its methodology on a whim."
Hinata stared down at him for a few seconds before putting her hands up, "You don't have to beat your chest to me, ex-Mizukage. I do understand how things work in this world."
The Three-Tails container stared at her right back, before moving onto the next cell block. It bothered him that many of the people in the early levels of the prison were there by his hand while he was being controlled, but as a leader he took responsibility for everything he did. There were also a number of political prisoners that he had put in there before he had come under that man's influence, and he had no intention of letting them out.
As they moved down a staircase and opened the door to the next level, Hinata gave them a signal that there were things she couldn't see beyond the door. Moving into the room, the four of them saw a large glowing floor with spikes running along the middle.
"What is this?" asked Fu, moving to step onto the glowing floor.
Before her foot touched the ground, Yagura reached out and wrenched her back. "Don't touch the floor; nothing here is what you think it is."
Fu picked herself up and stuck her tongue out at his back.
As the ex-Mizukage flipped through the book he took from the warden's office, Hinata gave Fu an amused expression. "How old are you, out of curiosity?"
"Nineteen, give or take."
Hinata didn't want to point out that lying to someone with a Byakugan was meaningless, simply giving her a knowing smile and standing by their leader's side. "Is it an electrified floor?"
Stopping at the page he was looking for, Yagura shook his head and ran a finger down the image. "Worse. Stepping onto the floor alerts the whole village to the presence of an intruder, gasses the prisoners with a deadly neurotoxin, and ignites the explosion tags in the building's walls."
"Yeah…so let's not do that," said Fu, taking another step back just in case.
"We just have to get to the other side, right?" asked Yugito, staring at the doorway and patch of concrete in front of it.
Yagura nodded, closing the book and putting it into his pocket. "That's the theory, I guess."
"Oh, well that's easy enough," said Fu, sprouting a pair of wings on her back and letting the buzzing sound echo through the room as she fly above the glowing floor.
She hovered dangerously close to the bottom before flying back up with a childlike look on her face. One of her wings moved over one of the spikes and she called out in pain as the spike shot up out of the glowing floor and slammed into the roof, splitting her wing in two. She began to lose height at a rapid speed, but before she hit the ground and doomed them all, Yagura shot out with an arm of red chakra and caught her in a tight grip.
"Are you okay?" called out Yugito, trying not to jump out onto the floor to help her.
Fu grimaced and held her shoulder tenderly, as Yagura's arm wavered slightly under her weight. "I've felt worse…but not by much."
"I can't hold her for long," said Yagura, lamenting the fact that he didn't have the kind of control he once had over his occupant's chakra. Being previously deceased had its disadvantages.
"I've got her," said Hinata, moving her spiritual energy to her feet and floating into the middle of the room to where Fu was being held.
Slowly pulling her out of Yagura's grip, Hinata floated to the other side while avoiding any possible contact with the spikes and putting her on the concrete carefully.
"Thanks, I'll be okay," said Fu, standing up carefully and letting her occupant heal the damage. It was more shock than anything else, but a part of her pride was wounded as Hinata flew back to the other two and offered a hand to their leader.
"How the hell are you doing that?" asked Yagura, noticing that there was no chakra being emanated from her whatsoever.
The Hyuuga shinobi gave him a wink and nodded to her hand, "We all have our tricks, ex-Mizukage."
Shrugging his shoulders, Yagura let her pick him up in a decidedly un-Kage-like fashion. She transported him across to join Fu, but hesitated before going back for their blonde companion.
Yugito had taken several long steps back and gave Hinata a death-glare.
"You don't want to fly?" asked Hinata, hovering down to the ground beside Yagura and Fu.
Yugito dropped down to all fours and looked at her three companions on the other side of the room, "I'm an ANBU shinobi from Kumogakure and the container of the Two-Tailed Cat. I have no interest in being carried like a small child."
Hinata smirked and took several steps back to leave her a landing area.
Yugito took a long breath before charging forward and leaping into the dangerous room. It was clear from the first jump that she wasn't going to make the full distance in any capacity, but neither Hinata nor Fu moved to fly forward to help her.
Instead they watched as the Kumogakure shinobi lured a few of the spikes to shoot up into the roof and leapt off them to increase the distance of her jump, doing so twice before landing on the edge of the concrete with a satisfied look on her face.
"I don't need your help."
Hinata turned around and motioned for her to come with them, "Evidently not. Let's go."
oOoOoOo
"You've got to be kidding me," said an exasperated Yugito.
"This is new to me too," said Yagura, flicking through the warden's book. "How far things have fallen…"
Hinata frowned as she cancelled her Byakugan; they were on the levels where she could only see specific areas with heavy levels of concentration, making it mostly a meaningless exercise. "What are you talking about? This is more intricate than anything I've seen before."
Fu walked forward and kicked at the nearest steel wall, "This doesn't look that difficult."
The sound of her kick echoed around the steel walls and around the corners, before eventually making its way back to their group.
"Wow…that's weird…"
"It's called a labyrinth, Fu," said Hinata. "Think of a maze, but more nightmarish."
"Sounds fun," said the Seven-Tails container.
"You're very peppy, aren't you?"
She grinned at her companion as Yagura indicated for them to follow him.
The Three-Tails container followed specific instructions within the warden's book to lead them through, even as they moved from one room to another and the steel doors slammed shut behind them.
As the patience of the group began to dwindle at the thirtieth minute within the labyrinth, Yugito found herself questioning whether they were going in the right direction.
Yagura ignored her question and rapped his fist on a nearby steel door, causing it to slowly fall into the ground to reveal their ultimate goal.
"Seriously, a little book gave us specific instructions on how to get through the defences of their most secure prison?"
Hinata chuckled and walked past Yugito and into the next hallway, "Sometimes it's the small things that break the greatest fortresses."
"Is that how they got through to Konoha?"
For a moment Hinata considered letting that go, but something primal awoke within her and she grabbed at her shirt with a furious look on her otherwise serene expression.
"That's my home you are talking about, so treat it with some damn respect. My father and sister were in my village, along with my whole clan and everyone that we cared about. If you continue berating my people, I will close off every chakra point in your body and drop you into an active volcano."
The Hyuuga heir activated her Byakugan and stared straight into the surprised Tailed Beast container's eyes, watching the influx of chakra through her body.
"And that is me being nice."
With that, Hinata let her go and turned back to the job at hand, her expression back to her usual optimistic self. Yugito was shocked at the sudden switch in personalities in the seemingly docile Hyuuga shinobi, but didn't make a move against her as a cold realisation crept into her mind.
She would kill her and not think twice about it, and Yugito wasn't sure she would be able to fight her off.
Hinata's eyes told her she had a serious problem with her, and if she didn't keep to herself it would become a very dangerous place for her.
Ignoring the two women's argument, Yagura led the group out of the final part of the labyrinth.
In the hallway the four of them saw a long row of solid steel doors, each covered by complex seals that looked like they would take days to decrypt.
"How many of these cells are full?" asked Fu, tracing a finger along the wall.
Yagura didn't have to look through the warden's book to know the answer to her question.
"All of them."
Yugito let out a low whistle of appreciation, "Which cell is our mysterious target in?"
"The one at the end," said Hinata, pointing down the row of prison cells.
"How do you know that?"
The white-eyed shinobi gave her the most basic of are-you-kidding-me look. "It's the one that has five separate seals across the front, with two security seals along the walls that would shut down the whole complex if unlocked incorrectly."
"How do you know all that?" repeated Yugito.
"I'm a Hyuuga of Konoha, why wouldn't I be an expert of Fuinjutsu?"
Yagura walked past the two of them and down the corridor, "Another time ladies, if you please. We are here to do serious work, not have a pissing contest."
For a split second Hinata's expression darkened and she gave Yugito a look she wasn't even aware she had in her repertoire. The Kumogakure shinobi wasn't sure what she had done to deserve it; however she could see that it was something the two of them would have to resolve another time.
"Can you unlock it?" asked Hinata, breaking off contact with the Two-Tails container.
Yagura flipped through the warden book, trying to find the right reference for that particular lock. "It…won't be easy; this is the most complex array I've ever seen. It's likely that I'll need your help, Hinata."
"Let's get to work then.
After half an hour they finally broke the lock. Yagura slowly pushed the door open with his staff to regard the contents. Hinata had told him that it wasn't pretty, and Yagura could see pretty clearly what she meant.
The cell was tiny, barely fit to cage a beast let alone the leader of a village of shinobi. There was no source of light within the cell; it was illuminated from the corridor with a blinding glare.
Within the cell was a single figure huddled in the corner, covered in a single piece of prison uniform that hung off her a shirt that was two sizes too big. Her flush red hair was frayed in strands and covered her front in a small attempt to maintain some sense of personal pride, while her body was withered and withdrawn.
"My god, who would do this," said Fu, shaking her head like she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
The female prisoner shook herself awake at the sound of voices, and a pair of lively green eyes snapped forward to regard her would-be saviours.
"Terumi…can you understand me?" asked Yagura carefully, wary of what had happened during their last encounter.
Dragging her nearly skeletal body around to face him, Mei Terumi took a long breath through her teeth. "For a dead man, you are looking well, Yagura. I guess it was only a matter of time that we would meet again."
"He's very real," said Yugito, "And so are we. We're here to get you out."
Despite her deteriorating condition, the fifth Mizukage laughed awkwardly. "Won't that be…the day. Three women from different villages and…the last Mizukage that I killed with my own hands. It's a bad joke with no-one to laugh at it."
Stepping into the cell with his staff on his back, Yagura lent down onto a knee and looking his killer straight into the face. "I was brought back to do this, Mei. The village needs you, and we can't have you dying in a place like this."
For a moment the Mizukage's eyes dropped the ground, "I can't move my legs, Yagura. I'm not a leader anymore; I'm barely a shell of a woman. I can't save anyone in my state."
Yagura leaned forward so that only the two of them could hear him, "This isn't the time for you to give up, Mei. Let me do this for you, and we can save our home together."
The prisoner stared into his purple eyes for a few moments before reaching out with a thin hand and clasping him on the shoulder. "Yagura…I'm days from death, even with healing and food. You have to…"
Yagura clasped her hand with both of his, smiling warmly at the younger woman who had killed him so many years ago. "Not a chance."
He turned to his three companions, "Stand back and close the door."
The three of them gave him a suspicious look, but Hinata closed the door according to his order and they all stood back. Without needing prompting from her female companions, Hinata activated her Byakugan and watched something that she would never reveal to anyone besides her husband.
Within the cell, Yagura helped the Mizukage to her feet, noticing a glimmer of hope in her green eyes. She'd always been a strong shinobi, and had made the hard decisions when staging the coup against him, and he didn't come all the way back from death to let her go just yet.
She needed saving.
The Three-Tails container ran through a long set of handseals, the room began to brim with power as his technique came to completion. Yagura could feel a great wrenching within his stomach, but pushed through the pain and clapped his hands together before reaching out and placing his hands one over the other onto the Mizukage's stomach.
To her credit, she neither cried out in pain nor collapsed under the pressure of Yagura's technique. The room filled with blue and white energy as Mei Terumi began to recover from her months of solitude and torment with frightening speed.
Hinata grimaced as the bright light hurt her eyes, though it wasn't long before the door swung open and the other two saw the results of the previous few minutes.
Standing tall and bright in the middle of the small cell was the fifth Mizukage, looking nothing like the sullen withdrawn prisoner they had seen only a few moments ago. Her figure had filled out and it looked like she actually fit into her prison clothes, with the dirt and bruises on her body all but gone.
"Damn…" said Yugito, looking up and down at the leader with an impressed look on her face.
Mei turned around and helped Yagura to his feet, the Three-Tails looking like he had aged twenty years in the past two minutes. He breathed heavily for a few moments before straightening himself out and giving his companions the signal that he was okay.
"What did you do?" asked Fu, reaching out and lightly poking the Mizukage's breasts with fascination.
The red haired leader looked down at the young girl with an amused smile, "You right there?"
"Sorry, it's an old habit."
Mei reached out and ruffled her hair affectionately, "It's okay. I used to do that to my sisters."
"How did you do this?" asked Hinata, her hands already glowing with blue chakra to heal their group leader. "Her chakra levels are off the chart, it's like she was never a prisoner to begin with."
Yagura grimaced as he let her heal the wounds that had reopened during the transfer, "I gave her a part of something I'd given up the rights to a long time ago. She is now a part of our group, in a measure of speaking."
"You gave her the Three-Tails? I didn't think that was possible without the previous container dying in the process."
The ex-Mizukage shook his head at Yugito's question, "In her state, I was only able to transfer half of the Three-Tails chakra. When the time comes I'll do the rest, but I suspect I still have a role to play before that occurs."
Mei smiled down at the older Mizukage, offering him a hand as Hinata gave her an indication that she had healed what she could.
"You have done much to make up for the past, Yagura, I won't forget it. We can save this village together." She frowned slightly before rubbing at her temples with her fingers. "It's…strange. I can feel a presence swimming around in my head, though it seems to be quietening down."
Yagura chuckled with a tired expression, "It gets worse, believe me. There are times when he won't shut up."
Mei shook head slowly before looking at his companions more carefully, "So, do you mind explaining to me what is going on then? Why are the Tailed Beast containers from Kumogakure, Takigakure and the heir to the Hyuuga clan at the bottom of our most secure prison?"
Hinata wondered how she could have known all of that, until it occurred to her that they had all removed their masks, revealing their forehead protectors and faces to the current Mizukage.
"That…could take a while," said Yugito.
The Mizukage looked up and down at the Two-Tails container for a moment to size her up before indicating to her stolen Kirigakure clothes, "Mind if I steal those off you? It wouldn't do for the leader of the village to be running around in prisoner robes."
Yugito grinned and reached down to remove her top before noticing that Yagura was standing nearby.
"Maybe we should step back into the cell to change."
"I have no intention of ever returning to that place," said Mei, taking a step away from it to prove her point.
Yagura put up his hands and turned around, "I'll keep my eyes shut."
Mei smiled at him before removing her prison shirt, "I'd like to keep some level of innocence before I get married."
After a minute of changing Mei wore the outfit of the ANBU shinobi of her village, while Yugito pulled on her Kumogakure uniform from her pack.
"Won't I stand out among the group now? Our outfits are pretty different."
"People won't ask questions if you are travelling with me," said Mei, thanking the Two-Tails container for her help. "Now, tell me what is happening so I can start to take back my home from the bastard that has been plaguing it for too damn long."
"We'll talk as we go back through the labyrinth."
"You know the way?" asked Yagura, noticing his voice had started to sound like he felt.
"Of course I know the way. I built it."
After making their way back to the top levels of the prison, Mei hesitated for a moment before she called Yagura over to her side. "Does that book have a prisoner manifest?"
Yagura retrieved the book he had appropriated from the warden and handed it to the tall woman, "Except for the people on your old level, yes. Anyone in particular you are looking for?"
"Call it a hunch," said the Mizukage, looking through the names quickly before nodding to herself.
Fu leaned in to get Hinata's ear at the back of the group, "What do you think?"
"Think of what?"
"The Mizukage! Is she what you were expecting?"
Hinata watched as the red-haired woman slowed her pace and ignored the shouts of the prisoners before coming to a single person cell at the end of the row.
Within the cell was a blue haired shinobi sitting on a bed with his hands across his chest. One of his eyes looked like it had been pulled out, though it was clearly something that had happened a long time ago. He still wore a green robe with white trimmings and looked completely out of place in comparison to the other prisoners.
He sensed their approach and looked up, seeing both the Fourth and Fifth Mizukages standing side-by-side and his expression darkened immediately.
"Are you here to mock me again? You don't deserve to be standing there in their images, and I won't let you bring me down like this. Get out of my sight."
Mei Terumi smiled down at him, and his resistance wavered slightly. "I thought you'd be in here Ao. If there was anyone that would notice the doppelganger's deception it would've been you."
Ao slowly rose from his bed and turned his single-eyed gaze to the shorter shinobi at her side, "I saw you walking past earlier, but I couldn't believe it. Now you stand at the side of the woman who put me in here and I don't know what to believe anymore."
Tracing a dark blue fingernail along the bars, Mei melted the bars to leave a wide enough gap for her to enter. She took a cautionary step inside, and to his credit Ao didn't recoil, he knew he had no chance at defeating her under the best circumstances, let alone in a prison cell.
"Ao, you were always a bright shinobi. You were the one that exposed the conspiracy surrounding my companion here, and if anyone could help us here it is you."
The blue-haired shinobi took a step forward and stood toe-to-toe with the slightly shorter Mizukage. His expression seemed to have softened, but his uncertainly melted away as he was met with the green eyed gaze of his leader.
"You are the real thing, aren't you?"
The Mizukage nodded and left the cell, "Come help us take back our home, Ao. We need your help."
After half a minute he made a decision and left the cell with her, nodding a greeting to the others of the group. "This is a strange day to say the least."
"Guy, you have no idea," said Yugito, unimpressed by the fact that they were wasting time for a single shinobi that didn't look like much.
Ao wanted to ask how it came to be that there was a Kumogakure shinobi in the middle of the Kirigakure prison, which was the least of his concerns, but before he could the Mizukage frowned and stared into his empty eye socket.
"What happened to your Byakugan, Ao?"
Hinata poked her head out from the back of the group and stared at their new companion, "You had a Byakugan? How did you get it?"
"It was a relic of a previous war," said Ao, not understanding how a Hyuuga could be in their group as well. "But it doesn't matter anymore."
"What happened?" repeated Mei, drawing his attention back to her question.
"I don't have an answer for you, I don't know. It just slowly disappeared like it was being eaten away, but by then I was already put in here by the person pretending to be you."
Activating her Byakugan, Hinata's eyes widened as she saw the chaos of chakra running through the blue-haired shinobi's system. It was frighteningly invasive, and had a level of intricacy that she couldn't even begin to comprehend, but Hinata knew it wasn't anything a normal shinobi could have done. She also knew that it wasn't something she should inform him of; since she could see that the chakra actually perceived things around him.
"Are you combat ready?" asked Yagura, wary that Ao wouldn't ever trust him even with the current Mizukage's reassurances.
The Kirigakure Jounin cracked his knuckles loudly and took a long breath of air outside of his cell.
"If it is who I think it is, I'm going to tear him apart with my own two hands. Let's go before he gets away."
"Now that's a plan I can get behind," said Yugito, pumping herself up as they moved to the entrance of the prison. "Where do we go from here?"
"The Mizukage's building," said both old and new Kirigakure leaders at once.
After a few minutes of moving at a high speed to the large circle building in the middle of the village, the current Mizukage called the group to a halt and moved them to a hidden grotto concealed by a row of trees. It was clear from the moment she stepped out of the cell why she was the leader of the village, and Yagura had gladly shifted leadership of the group to her. One of his main goals had been achieved, but he kept the repercussions of his earlier action to himself.
"You are running out of time."
Don't lecture me, Isobu. I know my own limitations. Focus on yourself.
"Why have we stopped?" asked Hinata to their new leader.
Mei turned to her one-eyed companion and considered their position for a moment. "We don't need everyone to attack the building, it's only so big and we have enough military strength as it is."
Hinata looked for a moment before nodding to the red haired leader, "There are no guards, only the fake Mizukage."
A smile came over Mei face, "Good. He's drawn the guards away to avoid an obvious conflict of interest when we expose him. However this is not a foe we can underestimate."
"What do you need me to do?" asked Ao, having worked with her long enough to guess what she wanted him to do.
Mei's smile widened, "Nobody knows you were imprisoned, right?"
"No, ma'am. It was only once I stopped co-operating that he put me in prison."
"Good then. I want you to gather the ANBU and post guards around the Kage building, with explicit instructions not to enter under any circumstances."
She turned to Yagura, "You have people on the outside?"
"I'm not pulling them out just yet; your doppelganger has too much influence to risk it. A distraction is the best way to keep the normal shinobi under wraps."
Ao jumped away to do his duties while Mei and Yagura discussed their plan of attack.
"This feels out of my league," said Fu as she stood with Yugito and Hinata to the side of the grotto.
Yugito scoffed at the notion, "This is what we signed up for. What were you expecting?"
"I dunno, tea and cupcakes?"
The Two-Tails container rolled her eyes, "What are you, twelve?"
"I try to be."
"I think they are ready for us," said Hinata, not wanting to get in another stupid conversation with the two women.
oOoOoOo
Letting her top commander gather up their best forces to guard the building, Mei led the group around the sides of the Mizukage building, pointing out that even with only the fake Mizukage inside it was foolish to enter from the front.
With the building being held above the walls of the centre of the village, the five of them hung off the wall by their chakra-covered feet.
"When do we go?" asked Yugito, feeling her blood pumping in her veins. It was a mini-ritual for her, a way to get pumped up for the coming fight without going ballistic like Killer Bee did.
"Hinata?" asked Mei, turning to the only non-Tailed Beast container in the group.
"We're clear," confirmed the Hyuuga heiress.
Mei turned to the Two-Tails container with a grin, "Now we go."
The five of them flung themselves over the stone wall and onto the grassy base level of the Mizukage building, with Mei jumping up several places around the sides to lead them onto a small balcony hidden by a cluster of trees.
Yagura landed on the balcony and hesitated as he saw Mei breaking into her own building rear entrance.
How does this end? Do we have the strength to take that man out?
He shook himself out of it; this wasn't the time to question his decisions. He nodded to his companions to indicate his readiness and they made their way inside the building he had once worked in.
Having entered from the rear entrance, there was only a single corridor that separated them from the office of the Mizukage. Hinata confirmed that their target hadn't moved from her original position, and the group moved quickly to form up at the solid door designating the entrance to the office.
Mei went to use Kirigakure hand signals to direct their attack, but reconsidered it when she was reminded that three of them weren't from her home village. Yagura had told her why he had garnered their trust and their strengths, but the Mizukage wasn't sold on them entirely. The Hyuuga girl was the most useful by far, but she was frighteningly observant and that wasn't a quality that you necessarily want from an outsider.
However both Fu and Yugito wasted no time in positioning themselves in the doorway, indicating for the other three to get ready.
The two of them kicked the door down and Hinata, Yagura and Mei jumped over the top of them and prepared themselves for any kind of attack that could come their way. Instead, they found the fake Mizukage standing with a set of papers in her hands, a warped grin on her face.
"It doesn't end with such a pathetic…"
Her voice was cut off as Mei Terumi shot forward and clutched at her throat with a single handed iron grip.
"No more," was all she said before snapping her doppelganger's neck and drenching her with lava as she threw her body to the ground.
"Well that was a lot of build-up for nothing," said a disappointed Yugito, stepping into the office. She kept it to herself, but this was a treasure-trove of information that she couldn't wait to get her hands on.
Looking down at the figure she had just killed, Mei was surprised to see that the body slowly transformed from her image to something she hadn't seen before at all.
It held the shape of a man, but that was where the similarities ended. He was completely white with stitches across its arms and legs. Despite being clearly dead and burning, it stared up at her with lifeless yellow eyes and the same smile he had when he was wearing her face.
"What the hell is that thing?" asked Fu, kneeling down beside it and poking it like one would a jellyfish. "Some kind of plant?"
"Is it dead?" asked Yagura, drinking in the image of his old office. It felt ironic that the doppelganger had fallen in a similar manner as he had.
With her hands glowing blue, Hinata made a quick medical examination and kept most of the more obvious information to herself. "Yes, it is. It's…strange. It's like it was never alive to begin with."
Running a hand over her desk, the Mizukage took a long breath before turning to their group, "It doesn't matter. What's done is done."
She turned to the Two-Tails container, putting on her leader face once again. "The Fourth Mizukage said he made a deal with Kumogakure for a release of your prisoners, and I will honour that deal."
"That's a nice sentiment, but my companion is still fighting on your doorstep. Is it over now? Can I call him in and tell him to calm down?" asked Yugito, stretching her arms and cracking her neck. "I could use a bath."
Thinking about it for a moment, both Yagura and Mei put up their hands cautiously and drew the others back together into a group; they knew it couldn't have been that easy.
"Someone's coming," warned Hinata, her Byakugan showing her what everyone had already figured out.
There was a surge of chakra in the room as they all turned to the front of the Mizukage's office.
"That wasn't very nice of you. He didn't even get a chance to fight back…"
oOoOoOo
Slowly appearing in a spiral of chakra, the masked shinobi slowly traced his single eye over the strange group of shinobi that had invaded his privacy.
His opponents wasted no time in unleashing their attacks on him. Mei spat a large globule of lava straight at his chest while both Yagura and Yugito shot forward and attacked with their respective weaponry at each side.
All three attacks went straight through him as if he wasn't there, with the spiral masked shinobi not even noticing them as he looked down at the white corpse at his feet.
"I guess this scenario has been bled dry. It lasted longer than I would have expected, so that's something."
He looked up at the Mizukage, who was watching with surprise as the other attackers continued to fail to strike at anything substantial in his body. "Keeping you alive was a mistake. No point in sending a message if it falls on its face."
"You've held my village prisoner long enough," said Mei with her hands in a handseal.
Turning his head down slightly, the masked shinobi shrugged in his Akatsuki robe, "It hasn't been your village for a long time. Don't pretend to be a leader when you aren't one."
His masked face turned to one of his attackers, who had given up and jumped back to the rest of the group, "It would appear that death cannot stop even the most stubborn of people. How are you, Mizukage-sama?"
Yagura gave him a purple-eyed death stare, "Your time is over. Get out of my home."
The masked shinobi let out a deep laugh before looking over at his other opponents, "You brought two additional Tailed Beast containers to the fold as well? It's a shame my plan is no longer functional with the death of the Kyuubi."
Hinata went to correct him, but hesitated when she noticed what he was hiding behind the black eye of his spiral mask.
That can't be right. They are all dead except...
"Regardless, it no longer matters. The Quiraji will be here within the day, and this village will be protected from the war that is to come."
He moved his head slightly and revealed a three-tomoed Sharingan that caused his opponents to hesitate. "I no longer have time to waste with you people. What makes you think I cannot take over your minds at my slightest whim?"
"Because genjutsu doesn't work on Tailed Beast containers who have complete control of their occupant," said Yagura defiantly. "Why do you think I brought them here?"
The masked shinobi turned his single-eyed gaze to the current Mizukage and the girl from Konoha, "Not all of you are containers. Perhaps I will have you kill your friends?"
Placing her hands together and staring straight into his mask with her white eyes, Hinata moulded large amounts of chakra in a show of force. "The Sharingan isn't effective against large groups, and you are outnumbered five-to-you."
Her expression darkened as she glared at him, "And my doujutsu exceeds yours by a fair measure."
"Arrogant little girl, aren't you?"
"Enough of this crap," said Yugito, clutching her hands into claws and slashing at his throat, though once again went through his body without any effect.
"Who the hell is this guy?" demanded a frustrated Fu, not sure how to even begin to fight someone she couldn't hit.
"I have no name," said the masked shinobi, who hadn't even thought of attacking his enemies yet. It was beneath him.
"Bullshit, everyone has a name," said Yugito, jumping back to take the measure of her opponent. "Or are you too embarrassed by it? Is it a girl's name?"
Even with only his Sharingan visible, it was clear that she had hit a sensitive spot as his chakra appeared to darken with his mood. "I once went by the name Tobi; it suffices for the mortals such as yourself."
"Mortals? You aren't a god, and never will be," said Mei, standing against him with her hands ready to attack him. "You are simply a man, and a soon-to-be-deceased man."
"I'm done talking to you people."
With that he stepped forward to grab at his nearest opponent, which was Fu, but the Seven-Tails container wasn't going to let that happen, jumping back and spraying a small area of sparkling dust that threatened to paralyse him in place.
Tobi was forced to use the same technique to dodge as he moved to catch her with his hands, however he was intercepted as Yugito began scratching and clawing at his body, using the small area to her advantage.
After nearly a minute it became clear that they weren't going to be able to harm him, however after having observed the entire fight they were starting to get a good picture.
"How does he keep dodging?" demanded a frustrated Fu. "It's like trying to fight air."
Even with her Byakugan active, Hinata wasn't sure what she was seeing. There were times when his chakra signal was normal, which was frighteningly large compared to most, and when he was avoiding their techniques it was like he wasn't there at all.
"Trying to figure my abilities out is meaningless," said Tobi with the same arrogant tone he had been speaking with. "Are you done flailing against the inevitable?"
"He can't attack while he's like that," said Hinata, ignoring his taunt. "It's like he's phased out of reality, or intangible."
"How are we meant to fight against that?" demanded Yugito, breathing through her frustration.
Yagura held back from fighting against Tobi directly, his techniques weren't well suited to close quarters combat, though collateral damage was hardly the issue as the majority of the Mizukage's office was trashed beyond recognition.
He can't take the fight elsewhere, as that would draw the attention of the Kirigakure shinobi outside. She was right to order the ANBU around, it contains the situation, and it's clear he doesn't have many offensive capabilities. But how do you fight against something you can't hit?
As Tobi continued to try to grab at his opponents one at a time, he was attacked on all sides by Fu, Yugito and Mei, while Hinata conserved her strength and observed his ability with patience tempered by her medical training. None of their strikes were effective, but Tobi didn't seem like he was going to leave the battle that clearly wasn't in his favour.
There is a pattern to his movements; I just can't…wait…
Running through the battle in her head, Hinata began to understand a small part of what was going on in the Mizukage's office. It was ingenious in its design, but there was something intrinsically simple about it as well that she couldn't quite put her finger on.
It was only when the Mizukage burnt a hole through the wall with a ball of lava and Yugito attempted to slam a bolt of lightning in his face and shattered the window behind him that she finally caught what was missing.
"Everyone back me up," she said, jumping forward and covering herself in a thin layer of defensive chakra. It was a higher level Hyuuga technique that she had mastered from her memory of reading her family's scroll, but it led into a technique that she really didn't want to use in such close quarters.
Tobi turned to regard her with the same level of disdain as the others, but was surprised when she didn't come at him with an attack, but rather she dived straight into the middle of his body, exploiting his intangibility and standing as if she was trying to take his place.
He moved to the left, and Hinata followed him, forcing him to maintain the technique as she seemed to stick to him like glue.
"What are you doing?" asked a confused Mei, holding back attacking for fear that she might hurt the Hyuuga shinobi.
With her Byakugan activate, Hinata had complete coverage over the small battlefield and could respond to each minute movement that her opponent made, keeping herself in his body tenaciously.
With Hinata keeping herself within his intangible form, Tobi was unable to retaliate in any way. He tried to move out of the way in a variety of ways, but Hinata was tenacious while her companions were waiting for the right moment to strike.
Tobi knew his own abilities far more than anyone else, and it disturbed him that the white-eyed girl had seen through one of his weaknesses so easily. The only way for him to get out the situation was to sink into the ground, which would remove him from the area altogether.
He still needed this village, it was the only way he saw he was going to survive the next few months, and it was vital that he did. Otherwise his plans would fall to pieces, and he couldn't have that.
With less than two minutes before he would be forced to return to normal tangibility, which would cause serious issues for both him and the Hyuuga girl, Tobi decided it was time to take the battle onto his home turf.
A loud suctioning noise sounded through the makeshift battlefield as the area around Tobi began to swirl towards his right Sharingan that was revealed through his mask. Even as she felt herself being pulled in like a black hole, Hinata maintained her vigil and refused to let him turn back to normal, though she was surprised to see both Fu and Yugito jump forward to try and save her.
The three women all disappeared in sort order as Tobi sucked them all into his alternate dimension, knowing that he could probably just leave them there.
But they had insulted his pride and he wasn't about to let that go.
Author's Note:
Not really too much to say about this chapter, things are moving along at the pace I was expecting it to.
Next week will be the most entertaining chapter I hope I will write for this story. It's a Bonus Chapter, but I'm turning the dial to 57. It shall be glorious, and probably cringe-worthy.
Please review and tell me what you think. I try to take each review into account, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.