"Team A is almost in position." Yuuri's voice sounded through the earpiece. "Only three kilometers left. Status report."
"Team B is approximately three kilometers away, coming from the east." Aito replied. "Has anyone come within range to get a hold of Jiro yet?"
"Team C is about two-and-a-half kilometers away, coming from the west." Kiri replied.
"Not yet." Natsumi added. "We're still too far off. I'll try to reach him again in another half-kilometer."
"Understood." Yuuri nodded to herself as she moved quickly over the thick branches. "Try again in a quarter-kilometer. You should be within range then and we need to confirm that he's at the southern coordinates before we begin."
"Yes, Captain." Natsumi replied.
Hana clenched her jaw slightly at the voice behind her mask and exhaled hotly. Aito looked over and narrowed his eyes slightly at her.
"Knock it off."
"What?" Hana looked at him from the corner of her eye with a glare.
"Your animosity toward Natsumi. Knock it off."
"This isn't the time to bring that up. We're on a mission." Hana looked ahead and pressed her lips together in a hard line.
"You're exactly right. We are on a mission." He stared at her. "So, knock it off. You're being childish."
"Childish?!" She shot him another glare. "Shut the hell up. That girl—"
"Is your teammate." Aito kept his eyes on her. "Whatever petty hatred you feel for her, drop it."
"How can you defend that... that... thing?" She hissed. "After what it took from all of us?"
He gripped her arm tightly and his expression darkened. "Stop blaming her for something she wasn't a part of. I mean it."
"Shut up." Hana muttered. "And let go."
"I mean it." He leaned closer to her face. "Drop. It. For one, you're our Medical Ninja. If she ends up wounded seriously, and you withhold immediate treatment because of your unfounded grudge, you'll be responsible."
She tried to pull her arm away and his glare intensified.
"If you're unable to keep your personal feelings in your personal life and focus on the mission at hand and treat her civilly, as a comrade, then I think that I need to have a conversation with the Hokage about have you reassigned."
"You wouldn't." She stopped moving and snapped. "I was a member of this team first! You have no right to threaten to have me removed."
"I can, and I will." Aito squeezed her arm. "A Medical Ninja who lets her personal grudges fester and interfere with her duties has no business being assigned to missions like this, and it'd make you a disgrace to Medical-Nin."
"You—"
"So, I suggest you keep your comments and looks to yourself, play nicely, and do your job. Or this might just be your last mission as a member of Team Yoru. Got it?"
Hana gritted her teeth and averted her eyes. "...Fine."
"Good."
"Now, let go of my arm before I cut it off. We've already fallen behind."
Aito released his grip and she ran off ahead of him. He let out a hot breath and quickly caught up to her, as they hurried to their rendezvous point in silence.
Natsumi pressed the button on the communicator around her neck. "This is Mina. We're approaching our coordinates in about two kilometers. Please confirm you're in place."
Static sounded on the other end and she opened her mouth when a chuckle crackled over the radio.
"So, you were assigned to this mission, too?"
Natsumi shuddered at Jiro's voice and then narrowed her eyes slightly. "Can you confirm your coordinates or not?"
"Yes, yes; I'm here." He chuckled again, glancing through the foliage at the castle with a smirk as he hid. "Are you ready to have fun, little Red? Something tells me that this is going to be a wonderfully messy job."
Natsumi shuddered again and bit her lip.
Does he always have to sound so creepy?!
"Just report back to the Captain." Natsumi grumbled.
"Fine, fine. Don't be such a killjoy."
His voice disappeared and Natsumi let out a slow breath and lowered her hand. Kiri glanced over at her.
"Don't worry about him. He's always a creep, but he does his job well."
"I know."
There was a pause and Kiri glanced back at her. "Are you ready? We don't know what to expect, so be on guard in case any mercenaries or enemies are still inside the estate."
"I know. I'll be fine."
Natsumi looked ahead as they moved quickly and Kiri kept her eye on the girl for a while, then focused on the path ahead. After some time they stopped, hidden behind a thick cover of foliage. They scanned the exterior of the castle within their sights. From the opposite side of the fortress city, a small flash of reflected light signaled them.
"Team A is now in position. Report."
"Team B is here."
"Team C is in place." Kiri responded and crouched on the branch.
"I'm here." Jiro answered in a velvety tone.
"Any activity?" Yuuri asked and narrowed her eyes at the estate. "It's all quiet here."
"Nothing." Aito replied.
"Nada." Kiri added. "It's afternoon and there's absolutely nothing here."
"This is how it's been." Jiro explained. "Four nights ago, every man, woman, and child were summoned to the main building— down to the last servant. Exactly one hour later, two cloaked figures entered, only to leave again after approximately forty-eight minutes. The next morning, all hired ninja and mercenaries that I was able to recognize left, and there hasn't been any more activity anywhere on the estate since."
Natsumi bit her lip behind the mask and looked over the different buildings and courtyards.
It's not adding up. With so many people, there's no way they'd stay holed up the in castle like that.
"Didja tail the suspicious cloaked guys?" Aito asked.
"I couldn't." Jiro shrugged from where he was hidden. "As soon as they stepped foot outside of the gates, they vanished."
"Damn it." Yuuri le out a hot breath. "No clues at to who they were either?"
"Not that I could detect." Jiro stroked the chin of his mask with a chuckle. "Although, you're more than welcome to check again."
"Let's begin a brief surveillance. All teams cover the outermost buildings first and work your way up to the castle. Well meet there and infiltrate it together. Remain in your pairs and stay on guard." Yuuri paused. "Mina, Ikuya; investigate the area around the gates to see if there's anything that Jiro might have overlooked, then go through the buildings and look for signs of life."
"Yes, Captain." Kiri and Natsumi replied in unison.
Kiri lowered her hand from the button as Yuuri continued to give orders to the others and she looked at Natsumi silently, pointing her hand at the gate.
Natsumi followed Kiri and they carefully examined the remnants of the footprints before they ended.
"I don't get it. Besides the footprints, it's like no one was even here." Kiri muttered, putting a hand on her hip.
She's right. Whoever was here did an excellent job hiding all traces of their presence... but for some reason, let their footprints remain? It's almost like they did it on purpose, knowing we would come.
Her eyes widened slightly at the realization.
They're playing with us? Maybe they're somehow watching us right now without being detected?
Turning slowly in a circle, her eyes scanned for any potential hiding spots.
It's no good. I can't see anyplace that would be good for them to spy from without us knowing.
She walked just inside the gate and stood in the shadow.
I don't get it. Who would do something like that, though? And if they really wanted to mess with us, they would have left a more obvious calling card.
A small crunch under her foot made her stop and she stooped down, lifting her foot to peel off something small and fragile. She held in in her palm to examine it more closely and her eyes widened again.
"W-What?!" She muttered to herself, closing her fist around the item quickly and looking around again.
What is this supposed to mean? Was this left intentionally, or was it just a coincidence?!
She pressed her lips together tightly and furrowed her brows.
If it was left on purpose... then it might have been meant for me. I don't think anyone else would have thought anything else of it.
"Did you find something?" Kiri approached her from behind and Natsumi turned to look at her, and stuck her hand into her pocket.
"I thought I might have, but it was a bit of leaf."
"Damn." Kiri exhaled slowly and shook her head. "Alright then; I didn't find anything either, so let's start going through these buildings. Maybe we can figure out what's going on."
"Yeah. I'm right behind you." Natsumi glanced downward and followed Kiri as they snuck silently over to the first building.
I don't like the idea of lying to a friend, but I can't tell her my theory because that will lead to a bunch of questions that I'd rather not answer.
They stopped and peered inside the first building, then carefully opened the unlocked door. They looked around and both frowned slightly.
"Completely empty." Kiri muttered to herself, then walked over to the table in the dining room. "Strange... they had dinner set out, and it looks like they started to eat."
"They were called to the castle suddenly, then?" Natsumi swatted away several flies that buzzed around her head and wrinkled her nose at the rotting meal as flies and maggots covered them.
"Looks like. But we'll have to check the other buildings, first."
One by one, they found each house in the same state and they furrowed their brows in thought as they stood beneath an archway.
"I'm sure the other teams are finding the same thing." Kiri muttered again. "I trusted Jiro's intel, but damn... there's no way that something shady didn't happen."
"What are you thinking?" Natsumi looked at her, keeping her hand in her pocket as she touched her find.
"I don't want to assume... but I don't see a single scenario for why they would just abandon their homes and shops like that if they were alive. Being summoned to hear the Lord give a speech is one thing... but this is just too suspicious."
"You think they're dead?"
"Damn it." Kiri cursed. "I don't know. None of this makes sense."
Maybe I should tell her what I found...
"Team C. Status report." Yuuri commanded through their radios.
Kiri sighed and touched the button. "Ikuya here. The West section is clear. Completely empty. Looks like they got up in the middle of dinner and disappeared."
"Same here in the East." Aito responded."
"The Southern section has been much more... interesting." Jiro chuckled over the line.
"What do you mean?" Yuuri asked.
"Everything here was empty in the same way... except the infirmary."
"Really?" Kiri blinked. "Were you able to get any information from them?"
"Unless you know of a way to speak to the dead, I'm afraid not." Jiro smirked on his end.
"Who was there?" Aito asked.
"Just a bunch of kids." Jiro crouched beside the body of an adolescent boy whose skin was waxy and pale. "Each one of them seems to have died a painful death. The infirmary was locked from the outside."
There was a brief moment of silence and Yuuri scowled.
"Stop beating around the bush and just give us the details. What happened to them?"
"Well, it may or may not be worth noting, but each of the children have snakebites."
Natsumi shuddered and bit her lip.
Snakebites?
"On their necks." Jiro added. "Accompanied by a strange marking." He chuckled. "Ah. Well, it's probably nothing important. Perhaps the markings are a family tradition."
"Jiro." Yuuri's tone darkened. "What markings?"
"Well, I can't be sure. They're each slightly different." Jiro shrugged and turned his back to the pile of bodies. "All I can say for certain is they died in agony, trying to comfort each other, and appear to have been dead for about a week."
"We'll have to bring them back to the Leaf so their memories can be evaluated." Yuuri frowned. "Alright, if everyone has finished their search, meet at the rendezvous point near the castle."
"Got it." Aito replied.
"We've got one more house left, then we'll be on our way." Kiri responded.
"Hurry up, then." Yuuri snapped. "We're waiting on you."
"Alright, alright." Kiri lowered her hand from the button and crossed her arms, frowning. "She's definitely in a bad mood about something Jiro said. I wonder what significance the markings have... She seemed to have some kind of idea, at least."
Snakebites? Markings?
Natsumi stood still in thought.
I don't get it. My suspicion didn't really match that at all.
"Alright, I guess let's finish with this last house then hurry over. I don't want Yuuri even more angry."
Natsumi looked up at Kiri and her lips twitched in a smirk behind her mask. "I thought you didn't care what she thought of you?"
"I don't." Kiri laughed. "I just don't want her to have a 'reason' to treat you even worse."
Kiri started toward the last house, then put her hand on her hip. "Weird."
"What?" Natsumi looked at the house, then narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Unlike the others, this one looks different." She wiggled the knob slightly, then pointed toward the windows. "The locked door, the thick, drawn curtains... everyone else just left at a moment's notice, but whoever lives here took the time to close off their house."
"Look." Natsumi knelt and pointed to a dried bloodstain on the front steps. "It looks almost like something was dragged inside, not out."
"Huh? You're right." Kiri furrowed her brows. "Alright, let's check it out. There might be clues in here."
She formed several hand signs and then pointed the ram seal at the door. "Unlock."
A small burst of Chakra enveloped the knob and there was a faint click before the Chakra dispersed.
"That's useful." Natsumi nodded and looked at her. "Can you teach me?"
"Picking locks too noisy?" Kiri winked beneath her mask.
Natsumi's cheeks warmed slightly and she turned away. "...Takes too long."
Kiri let out a short, quiet laugh, then gently gripped the doorknob and cracked it open as she peered inside. She held up an open palm.
The coast is clear.
Natsumi let out a short sigh and follows Kiri inside, walking silently from room to room on the main level.
"Other than looking like someone hadn't cleaned in a while, there's nothing strange here." Kiri muttered. "Even that blood trail ended in the foyer." She looked at Natsumi. "You look around with a fine-toothed comb and see if you can find any clues. I'll check upstairs."
"Shouldn't I check the cellar?" Natsumi asked.
"This house doesn't have one." Kiri shrugged. "We would have found it already."
"You're right. All the others did, though." Natsumi crossed her arms and touched her chin as she thought.
"It is a little smaller than the rest." Kiri waved her hand. "Alright. I'll be back in a minute. See what you can find."
Natsumi watched her quietly walked up the stairs and then took a long look around the family room.
I don't understand. Why would they take the time to lock up their house like that?
She bent over to look inside of the empty baby cradle in the corner of the room and picked up the rattle inside, giving it a soft shake as she thought.
What would they be trying to protect? I don't see anything of real value, and there aren't any people here.
"Find anything?"
Natsumi jumped, her heart skipping a beat as she put a hand over her heart and shot a look at Kiri.
"You gave me a heart attack!" She hissed.
"Sorry, sorry." Kiri laughed quietly, then frowned at the rattle in Natsumi's hand. "No one upstairs, either but it did look like someone went through some of the rooms and took things. Maybe they were trying to leave before they all got called to the castle?"
"Maybe..." Natsumi replied, glancing downward.
What's this weird feeling?
"Oh. That's interesting." Jiro chuckeld over the radio. "There's a hole in the wall here that was hidden. I think someone escaped."
"Escaped?" Kiri repeated.
"One of the kids?" Natsumi glanced down at the toy in her hand.
What are we missing? I feel like there's something.
"Let's meet up with the others." Kiri motioned for Natsumi to follow, but she stopped suddenly.
"Natsumi?"
"I thought I heard something." Natsumi went quiet again, wrinkling her face as she listened intently.
I know I did.
Then, louder this time, there was a barely audible sound from beneath their feet.
"Is that...?" Kiri's eyes widened slightly. "A... baby crying?"
Of course.
Natsumi glanced down at the rattle, then moved through the rooms again, quietly concentrating.
There's got to be a secret door or something... I thought it was strange that this house had no cellar.
She followed the faint sound to the dining room, but only found a low table in the center of the room surrounded by cushions.
Where...?
She knelt and looked under the table and her eyes rested on a small space in the shadows.
Here?
She pushed the table out of the way as Kiri stepped in the room behind her.
"Look." Natsumi pointed to the square outline on the floor, and then to a hollow knot in the wood.
If I've learned anything from Oto...
She touched her finger to the opening of the knot, then stuck it inside to press the hidden button there. There was a click and the trapdoor cracked open.
It's how to find secret places.
"A secret door." Kiri muttered, shaking her head slightly as she opened the trapdoor and peered into the darkness.
"Hey, we found something." Kiri announced on the line. "A hidden cellar with a trapdoor. Can't see what's down there, yet."
"Investigate. Carefully." Yuuri ordered. "Remember, some of the rogue ninja or mercenaries might still be lingering."
"Right." Kiri nodded and looked at Natsumi. "Alright, let's go see what's down there."
"I'll go first—"
Natsumi stepped toward the trapdoor and Kiri gripped her shoulder tightly.
"No. I'll go first. We don't know what's down there."
"O-Okay."Natsumi stepped back and watched as Kiri lowered herself down, then followed after.
The air down here is stuffy. There must not be good ventilation.
She swallowed and resisted the urge to cough, scrunching up her face instead.
And this smell is horrible... what is it?
Kiri stopped descending, and Natsumi froze in place, glancing down at Kiri as they went quiet to listen.
The baby's cries were loud now and echoed around them, and then were muffled slightly.
Someone's down here. And they know they have company.
Kiri met her eyes slightly, and they shared a nod, and silently continued downward. At the bottom of the ladder was a door, and the baby's cries came directly from the other side.
Natsumi reached up to grip the hilt of her Ninjato as Kiri slowly reached for the doorknob. She cracked open the door, and a loud scream pierced our ears and the door was volleyed with random items.
"No! Go away!" The voice screamed, crying hysterically, and the baby cried louder in response.
A kid?!
Kiri's eyes widened and she released the hilt of her own Ninjato, holding her hands open as she spoke up.
"Hey! Hey! Calm down! We're not going to hurt you!"
The thudding against the door stopped and the crying subsided.
"W-Who're you?"
Kiri lifted her mask off and rested it on the side of her head, then carefully opened the door wider to peer inside.
Natsumi blinked at the girl, who sat completely terrified against the opposite corner of the small room, holding a hysterical, wriggling baby in her arms. Her eyes were haunted, with dark bags beneath them and dried blood covered her clothes and clumped in her hair. She held a cooking pan in her hand defensively as she tried to rock her body back and forth in an unsuccessful attempt to soothe the baby.
"Easy now. We're here to help." Kiri stepped inside the room slowly, and Natsumi removed her own mask and stayed quiet as she looked around.
"H-Help?" The girl trembled and lowered the pan slightly. "W-Who are you? Where are my mother and father?"
She's terrified and she looks like she hasn't slept in days... and she's really young. I don't think she's any older than ten, at most.
Natsumi bit her lip.
What kind of horrible things has she suffered?
"Oh... honey." Kiri shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry. I don't know where your parents are. We haven't found anyone on the estate other than you guys yet."
The girl's eyes widened again, and she stopped rocking and dropped the pan as her eyes watered.
"No... that's... that's impossible." Her lip quivered. "They were going to come right back..."
"What's your name?" Kiri asked softly, and the girl patted the baby's back as he started to finally calm down.
"How do I know you're not one of them?" She held the baby closer to her. "How can I trust you?"
"One of who?" Kiri asked.
"One of those horrible, creepy men." She sniffed. "The ones who put a bag on my head and poisoned me, and then left me in that house with the other kids."
She's the one who escaped?
"It hurt so much... all of us hurt so much..." Tears flowed down her face and she hiccupped. "I thought I was going to die."
"It's okay. I promise that we're not with those guys. We were sent by the Hokage to investigate what's been going on and to help you."
"You're... Ninja?"
"From the Leaf." Kiri nodded. "We're here to help."
The girl's tension eased and the stuck her knuckle into the baby's mouth to let him gnaw on it, and his cries softened to whines.
"There were other Ninja, too." The girl whispered. "Bad men. They came here after those creepy men showed up."
"We're not with them." Kiri knelt to look her in the eyes with her hands still up. "We'd like to find out who they were, though, and capture them."
"You're really not their allies?"
Kiri and Natsumi shook their heads.
The girl broke down into sobs and trembled.
"I-I was so scared... I've been waiting and waiting for my mother and father to come back... I thought for sure one of those bad Ninja would find us and hurt us. I don't know what's going on... I'm just so scared."
"It's okay now." Kiri inched closer. "I'm sure it was terrible, but you've been so, so brave."
The girl hiccupped again and wiped her face with her sleeve. "I-I'm so glad that someone came to help... I was so scared."
"it'll be alright now." Kiri smiled faintly. "Can you tell us your name?"
"I-I'm Kanna." She wiped her face again, then looked down at the unhappy baby in her arms. "And this is Koji, my brother."
"It's nice to meet you, Kanna." Kiri smiled and nodded at her. "I'm Kiri. And this is Natsumi.
Natsumi gave a short wave and squatted beside Kiri. "Hi."
"Can you tell us a little bit about what's been going on?" Kiri asked. "It's okay if it's hard to talk about. It will just help us understand a little better."
"Okay..." Kanna nodded, hesitantly. "What do you want to know?"
"We know that Lord Abe was conspiring with someone who wanted to overthrow the Daimyo." Kiri answered. "We know that the Lord's become erratic and obsessive, and that his madness has started to spread to the rest of his family. Other than that, we don't know much."
"O-Overthrow the Daimyo?" She shook her head. "I... I haven't heard about that."
"That's alright. Tell us what you do know." Kiri smiled slightly. "Anything and everything you can."
"It.. it all started about a year ago." Kanna lowered her head as she explained. "There was a pair of strange men in cloaks that came seeking an audience with Lord Abe. Some kind of proposition. I don't know." She shook her head slowly and paused. "All I do know is what I've overheard from the other servants."
"What's that?" Natsumi kept her eyes on the girl.
"They said... that Lord Abe got angry at the men and had them thrown out. Then, about eight months ago, the men returned. That time, I guess the Lord made some kind of deal with them." Kanna paused again. "After two days of negotiations, the mysterious men left and I've heard rumors that the Lord has looked... different since. No one could explain it, and no one has wanted to bring it up with the Lord. He's always been temperamental... but he's just become someone completely cruel and tyrannical."
Kanna wrung her hands. "All of the people in the village and us servants... we used to look up to Lord Abe. We were always a little afraid of him, because he was always so strict, but we respected his authority and his judgement was usually fair and right. But... people started to notice his change and speak out. If they became too vocal about opposing him, Lord Abe would invite them to the castle and when they came out... they'd be different, too."
Kanna swallowed and lifted her eyes to look at them. "That's why my father started stockpiling supplies here, because he thought we might need to flee or hide for an extended period of time."
"So that's why your old man built this secret place, huh?" Kiri glanced around at the small room. "Smart man."
"My father didn't build it." Kanna shook her head. "Back when my grandfather was a boy, his family was selected to come and serve the Lord and his family directly. They lived in this house, and my father discovered this secret room then. We don't know why it was built, but it's as old as the castle itself."
"Well, it's still been very useful." Kiri smiled faintly.
"You said that the Lord was different..." Natsumi looked at the girl and spoke slowly. "But what does that mean?"
"Um..." Kanna bit her lip. "I'm not sure. My parents never worked for him directly. They're both tutors for the Princes, so they never interacted with the Lord. But, I've heard that the Lord looked inhuman, and his personality changed drastically from bad to worse..."
"How long have you been down here?" Kiri asked.
"I-I'm not sure." Kanna shifted as she sat, swallowing again. "There aren't windows, and no clock, so I'm not sure. All I know is that the Lord summoned everyone to the castle. Instead of hiding down here, my parents went because the only time Lord Abe seemed to change anyone was individually, so they thought that he was only giving some kind of address. Koji was asleep then, and they left him here to nap, so they must have assumed they would only be gone for a short time. They never left him alone for more than a few minutes, not even when he was sleeping. Never."
This doesn't make sense. Not Lord Abe's change, and not how he changed other people.
"Kanna." Kiri said softly, her expression almost pained. "That happened almost four days ago."
The girl's eyes widened. "F-Four... days...?" Slow tears ran down her face and she shook her head. "It... It can't have been that long. Mother and father would have been back by now..."
"I'm sorry." Kiri muttered. "I don't know where they are, or what's going on. But I promise that we'll do out best to figure it out."
"How have you been managing down here this whole time?" Natsumi kept her eyes on the girl, who wiped her face again.
"Dad put some bottled water and powdered milk down here, so... I've been feeding Koji that. But he doesn't like it much and he's been crying this whole time, wanting our mother. He's too little to eat the other food stored here, and I'm almost out of milk." Kanna bit her lip. "And there are only a few diapers left, too. I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't shown up."
"You've been doing an amazing job taking care of him." Kiri praised. "I'm sure your parents would be proud of you."
"It's been so hard to try to keep him quiet." Kanna blinked hard and her eyes fell again. "I've been trying to keep him quiet in case one of those bad Ninja came looking for us. But he's just been so upset and wanting mother..."
"How have you been doing it?" Kiri watched her, curiously.
"I..." Kanna pointed to a small far sitting on top of a box. "My father has insomnia sometimes, so he makes a tea out of Valerian Root that helps him sleep. I've been giving some to Koji when I haven't been able to keep him clam."
"Valerian Root?" Kiri repeated quietly. "I see. That's a powerful natural sedative."
"I really didn't want to give it to him, because he's just a baby and I don't know if it will hurt him, but I thought... it might be better to give it to him if it meant that no one bad would find us."
"As long as he doesn't get any more, I think he'll be okay." Kiri smiled and reached out to gently stroke the baby's head. "But to be safe, he should be checked at the hospital anyway, the same as you."
"H-Hospital?" Her eyes widened and her hand flew to cover her neck.
Kiri frowned slightly.
"What's wrong? What are you hiding?"
That's it.
Natsumi looked at her. "Do you have a snakebite? And a mark?"
Kanna trembled, then nodded quietly. "A few days before the Lord summoned everyone to the castle, the strange men came. They made Lord Abe have all of the children my age on the estate rounded up, and we were handed over to the men with bags on our heads. I never saw their faces, but there were six others and we each got bit."
"Where did the markings come from?" Kiri asked, craning her head to catch a glimpse as Kanna lowered her hand.
"I-I don't know. It was just there when I woke up." She paused and balled her hand into a fist. "And the others... the were all dead. I was the only one who survived all that pain, and I got so scared seeing their bodies that I tried to leave, but we'd been locked inside. I escaped through that little hole and ran back home without anyone seeing. That's when I found Koji still asleep and all alone in the house."
"And you gathered supplies and came down here with him." Kiri added, nodding slightly to herself.
"Do you know what happened to me?" Kanna's eyes rose to look between them, then brushed her fingers against the mark again. "Do you know what it means?"
"Sorry, no." Natsumi shook her head.
"What... happens now?" Kanna looked at Kiri. "What do I do? If mother and father haven't come back in four days..."
"Hey, it's okay." Kiri put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "No one that went into the castle has been seen leaving, so your parents might be okay. We still have to investigate the castle itself and see what we find. I bet we'll find your parents there."
"Really?" Her eyes widened. "Can you? Will you?"
"We'll do everything we can." Kiri smiled. "In the meantime, you and your brother should wait for us to come back. I know you've already done a lot of waiting, but we'll be back as soon as we can, and we'll take you came to the Leaf with us so you can be safe."
"No!" Kanna's eyes watered again. "Please... don't leave me alone again. I don't want to be all alone..."
"We'll be back as fast as we can." Natsumi gave her a small smile. "Maybe we'll even find your parents."
"I don't want to be alone again." Kanna shook her head. "What... What if you don't come back? Just like my parents?"
Kiri and Natsumi shared a look, then Kiri sighed.
"If you're really that scared, how about you sleep?"
"S-Sleep?"
Kiri nodded. "I can make you and your brother sleep with a Genjutsu for a little while. That way, you won't feel anxious while we're gone. Is that okay?"
"I..." Kanna bit her lip. "I don't really want to, but if it will help..."
"It will. When you wake up again, we'll be back for you."
"You'll really be back?" Kanna looked at them each again. "Promise?"
"I promise." Kiri nodded. "This is a special Jutsu of mine that I created myself, called Oasis Plane. While you're sleeping, you'll have nothing but very nice dreams." She met the girl's eyes. "Are you sure about this?"
"Yes." Kanna replied quietly. "Just... please come back as fast as you can. I don't want to be alone anymore."
"We'll be back." Kiri smiled, then formed several hand signs and touched the tip of her middle fingers to both Kanna and Koji's foreheads, and both immediately fell asleep, faintly smiling after a moment from the pleasant dreams.
Kiri stood and sighted, then put her hand on her hip. "Natsumi, are you ready?"
Natsumi nodded and Kiri grinned.
"Alright, Red. Let's go figure out what's going on and kick some ass."