Notes:

Sorry this one is late, I rewrote this chapter over twenty times tring to find the most realistic way that Kiri would react to what Mika is doing. Also Mika's chain blade fighting style is based off of Kratos from god of war

Chapter Text

Chapter six: Changing tides

-Third person pov-

-Some where in Tetsu No Kuni-

Strong howling winds pull at long strands of silver blue hair that once shined brightly like spun strands of silk. Pristine samurai armor blacker than the night sky no longer reflects the light like dragon scales, cracked with many missing pieces were torn clothing hangs exposed. A Nodachi is strapped to the hip of the samurai that stands on a rock steep face overlooking a village below. Two large pines hide their position from those below. Their wide helmet with two deer-like horns, black leather straps connect the helmet to the dragon face mask that conceals their face from the world.

"Ryuen-Sama!" A deep voice like a rolling thunderstorm calls from faded dark blue wooden plate armor. The man in the armor stands around six foot nine towers like a mountain over the black armored samurai. He wears a face mask that looks like an oni's face with long tusk-like teeth. His black hair is pulled tight into a top knot on the tip of his head while the sides are shaved down showing off sharp tattoos. The black samurai turns from their place on the edge of the mountain to face the oni.

"Yes, Oyama-san." A young female voice comes from the dragon mask cold and hard like the terrain around them. Her golden slitted eyes meet the sky blues of the Oyama oni. He nods his head to her and slams his right fist over his heart before dropping it to his side.

"A man by the name of Ashina is here wanting to speak to you." He speaks in a gruff tone hiding little of how he feels about this Ashina. Ryuen steps off the rocky edge with the grace of a cat, her foot falls silent in all her armor as she walks past Oyama heading back towards their camp.

"My lady" He continues causing her to stop at his side.

"he claims to be Lady Hitomi's brother." He says softly, keeping his eyes forward knowing how his lady feels about the late Okami clan. Her left hand goes to rest on the Nodachi on her left hip while her right hand grabs at a jade flower pendant around her neck.

"Where is this man?" She asks in a hard unwavering voice facing forward.

"Waiting for you in your tent, My Lady." His deep voice rumbles keeping his eyes on the horizon, taking note of the sun now slowly edging up over the mountains casting the valleys in its golden glow.

"I told you Oyama, just like I told all of the other clans. I am no longer a lady, not after what I've done." She says walking back to camp her head held high. The Oyama Oni turns to watch her retreating form, his fists clenched in silent anger at what has befallen the once delicate little flower of the Ryuen clan. His sky blues narrow as his mind replays how he found the daughter of the great sky serpent, covered in her Okaa-san's blood screaming for her beloved Rinku surrounded by those that would see her dead or worse. The crimson of their blood colored his club that night. Their screams as he broke bones and smashed their skulls into a pulp against the muddy ground around his lady and her fallen Okaa-San. The squish of the mud under his heavy feet as we walked over to the girl, her broken golden eyes caused him to freeze in place. She jumps to her feet and runs to him, bracing for an attack he stills as she wraps her arms around his waist and cries onto his blood and gore soaked plates. Lifting one hand he rubs her once beautifully styled hair only for the last of the pins to fall at her feet. Bending down her hooks one arm under her knees and lifts her as if she weighs nothing. Grabbing his fallen club he turns and walks away from the scene with his crying lady in his arms.

'No.' He thinks looking back over the horizon.

'You are still a Lady, Kaida. We will avenge Lord Akikiro and his family along with bringing that man to justice even if we have to die for it.' He thinks taking in the scene before him, turning on his heels he walks back to the camp, a new fire burning in his soul.

-Kirigakure-

-Nariko's POV-

Sitting next to the fire in our home I hold one of Okaa-san's scrolls. Her calligraphy flows like little streams across the scroll curving into beautiful kanji, unlike my own. Ane's is better, her kanji is smooth yet strong full of intent without mistakes. Mine is shaky like an unstable hillside that can fall after a heavy rain. Poor Kosuke barely knows how to write his name let alone read, a truly sad fate for a child of the Uzumaki and Okami clans. It's not like our Ane really has anytime to teach us these things, especially while we reside in a village full of murderous scum that would kill rather than let us learn.

Everyday is hard enough just to keep ourselves alive let alone help the other kids that started to follow my ane. Whispers of the vengeful wolf have started to spread around the orphan children. One by one they have started to congregate here at our hideout. It has been a hard change. Ane had to look through our Okaa-san's scrolls to find some kind of fuinjutsu to keep our home safe from shinobi. But then came the issue of no ink or brushes, in the end Ane had to cover the walls and roof is seals painted in her own blood, that day still haunts me. Seeing my Ane bite into the tips of her fingertips ripping away flesh to get her blood to run just right to cover the walls in her seals. It was very crude, and barbaric yet somehow it works, maybe it is because it is in our blood being half Uzumaki. My fingers tighten their hold on the scroll as I hear my beloved Ane's voice direct the orphans in holding their makeshift katanas. I watch five that have shown promise closely as Ane teaches them a basterised way of our noble clans men.

"Hey Nariko-Sama?" A boy around Mangetsu-nii-san's age sits next to me drawing my eyes from the new Aramusha in training to him. His ebony hair falls flat around his pale chin, startling icy blue eyes almost glow as they meet my own. My shoulders tense as I prepare myself for this guy's questions.

"What are you looking at?" He asks looking over my shoulder at the scroll.

"It's Fuinjutsu, Yato. This is something my Okaa-san made years ago. I'm trying to read it and understand it." I say looking away from him my shoulders relaxing as Umiko comes to sit at my side. The boy leans over my shoulder again resting his chin against it to look at the scroll.

"Do you think you could teach me, Nariko-sama?" Yato asks, his normally icy eyes full of warm hope.

"I'll talk to Ane." I say with a sigh rolling up the scroll to seal it away once more.

-Third person pov-

Slowly the gears of war start to spin in Kirigakure grinding all of the unprepared into a bloody pulp. Thick mist fills the air like a white shadow giving form to monsters that like to hide in its embrace. Mika runs through the streets of Kirigakure, the Sōtō-jū clenched tightly in her hands. Heavy panting is the only sound that fills the mist along with her footfalls. Amber eyes glow as she follows the gaging scent of iron down the alleyways. Her eyes find one of the mangled remains of one of the kids she took in, Inaba Kyou. Her eyes widen, filled with pain and sorrow as she sees that the kid's chest no longer rises and falls with his breath. Gritting her teeth, her eyes harden, looking away from the kid that lays like a broken doll in a pool of crimson, her teeth creak under the force of her gritted jaw as she runs past his fallen body. Darting down the dark alleyway she hears the blood curdling scream of Yumi along with the thump of another body hitting the ground. The shouts of the kids she trained fill her ears.

"Niwa! Look out!" Fuse's fearful voice echoes down the alleyway along with another pain filled scream.

"No." She whispers, pushing the liquid fire of her chakra to her legs in a desperate attempt to get to her kids. Rich iron fills her nostrils coating her tongue in the rich taste she knows all too well before she rounds the last corner. Warm, crimson splashes across her body, dieing her skin red as Yumi falls into her outstretched arms. Her once cute round face is coated with the blood of the fallen. Her once bright pink eyes fading with each second Mika holds her top half in her arms, her bottom half falls to the ground coating Mika's feet in the kids inner organs and blood from her body being cleaved in two. Intestines wrap around Mika's feet sliding against her skin like a leach.

"No! Yumi!" She screams trying to keep the dead kid alive. Looking up, her eyes widen at the man standing before her. His tall slider form towers over her own, a black tight-fitting sleeveless shirt clings to his torso, with black arm covers that extend from his biceps down to his hands. Black light pants with a striped cloth belt with matching ninja sandals make up the rest of his outfit. Short, spiky dark gray hair is dyed red from her comrades. Gray browless eyes meet her own angry amber ones. Sharp filed shark teeth pull back into a twisted grin pulling at the red grid-shaped markings on his jaw. Blood drips off of Kubikiribocho's blade glinting in the light of the full moon that finally breaks through the thick fog, as its master looks down at her with wicked glee.

"M-Mika-S-Sama! R-Run!" One of the kids, Masa, a bastard child of one of the whores in the red light district, yells out holding his side as he braces his body against the alley wall, blood pouring past his lips dripping off his round chin onto the soaked ground.

"R-run A-way!" He cries as he coughs up more of his precious blood into his tan hand, brown eyes wide in fear.

"So you're the trouble making brat Mika huh." The man's deep voice draws Mika's worried eyes away from Masa to his towering form. Her hands clinch against Sōtō-jū's hilt, her eyes follow his movement as he steps towards her, his foot lands on top of one of the fallen children's hands crushing what's left of their fingers. A deep snarl rushes past Mika's lips as she charges forward swinging the Sōtō-jū with all her might. The blades clash against each other as Mika drops down and kicks out at the man, her feet make contact with his thigh forcing him to step back off of her kids bodies.

"M-Mika" The familiar voice of Yato calls out, jumping back out of sward range, she places herself in between Yato and this man she once read about and admired in a past life.

"Yato, how badly are you hurt." She asks, keeping her eyes on the man in front of her.

"I can move Mika." His voice wavers causing her hands to clench tightly around the handle of her blade, as her mind runs over every little detail. Trying to find a way for them to escape from this fate.

"How many others are still breathing?" She asks, watching as the man takes note of their conversation with a board look on his face.

"Looks like it would be your friend and maybe two others." The man says as the fog moves like shadows as ambu start to surround them.

"Damn it." Mika whispers as she pushes white hot chakra into the handle of her blade forcing it to turn into two blades with a small ninja wire like chain connecting them together. With one blade in each hand her stance changes, widing to shoulder width as she lowers her body closer to the ground.

"Juzo Biwa! I'll make you bleed for what you've done." Mika yells pointing her blade at the man. Stomping her foot she pumps Chakra through her legs and out of the bottom of her feet into the soaked ground causing more mist to rise and thickening making it impossible to see through.

"Yato, Get out of here." Charging forward she swings her blades like a wild animal, following her heightened sense of smell she slices through the mist. The loud clang of swords clashing rings in her ears as she lifts her leg and kicks out at his upper thigh, hitting it she moves her body to the left lowering one side of the sword making Juzo's slide down hers. Dropping one of the blades she pulls back her fist and aims for his arm, hitting his upper arm with as much force as she can. She lifts her blade blocking his hit that would have taken her leg. Shifting her weight she knocks the blade to the side again before grabbing her dropped blade and jumping back, moving her hands to the center of the chain as she starts to spin the swords around like ribbons, swinging one arm to the right one of the blades flies at Juzo like a bullet. Swinging his sword he knocks one of the blades to the side only for the other to fly by reflecting his face as it cuts into his cheek before both blades disappear into the mist. The rattling of chains cuts through the air as both blades swing down from the air like arrows, dodging to the left Juzo's eyes widen as the blades slam into the ground ripping up the stones that make the path before they almost fly back to their master on their own. A gleeful smile pulls at Juzo's lips as he makes a water clone.

"Alright kid time to play." He says seconds turn to minutes as Juzo dodges Mika's blades while Mika is constantly moving to avoid his justus. The mist constantly changes from a thick all consuming mass to a thin blanket as the area around two is sliced and broken apart from the force of the two monsters going toe to toe. Mika slowly starts to slow down as her chakra is being eaten away not only by her sword but from the use of her kakki genki. Swinging her blade it slices through Juzo causing a smile to bloom across Mika's face only for it to fall when Juzo turns to a puddle of water.

"Water Clone Shit!" She screams spinning around a second too late. Juzo's foot hits her hands, knocking the blade from it. Lifting his own blade high it comes down at her head.

"JUZO!" A voice calls from behind an Anbu mask causing Juzo to miss his killing blow.

"Mizukage-sama wanted her alive." They say as an ambu appears behind her, grabbing her under her arms they reach up and clamp their fingers together behind her neck. Kicking out she howls in anger before kicking back and hitting him in the balls. His hold loosens enough for her to spin her body around and sink her fangs into his neck ripping through his protective clothing and taking a chunk of flesh when she pulls back.

"GOD DAMN BITCH!" The ambu screams, grabbing at his neck to stop the bleeding as he falls to his knees on the ground. Spitting out the chunk of flesh she growls as she grabs her blade and takes off through the mist.

"Let me just kill that bitch!" One of the Anbu yells only for Juzo to laugh.

"Kids got spunk." He laughs a deep belly laugh reaching up to his face to whip the blood from his cheek.

"That kid's mine."