"I'm taking these two to have a celebration dinner, you sure you don't want to come along?" asked Kanzu as the four walked down the street. The sun had began to set, staining the rofftops red.
"It's fine, Kanzu-sensei, I want to go home anyways," she replied, kicking a rock in her path.
"We'll walk you home then," he said. Rikou walked along in silence for a moment.
"Sorry about that thing at the arena... I lost my temper," she said, looking down at the dirt as it passed beneath her.
"Nevermind," said her sensei, dismissing it with a wave of his hand. She smiled slightly. Kanzu was the youngest jounin-sensei in Konoha at the time, and he was one of the easiest to get along with. He never really forced them to do anything, he always rewarded them with treats, and he rarely got angry at anyone.
They turned down the street that led to her house, a medium-sized, plain-looking, unpainted house on the edge of the village. Rikou looked up from the ground, suddenly stopping. Kanzu, Ken and Kirema walked a few steps past her before pausing and turning back to her.
"What is it?" asked Kanzu. Rikou was looking at the roof of her house, where a small group of crows were gathered in silence. No, not a small group. She looked in the trees, the ground, the small, broken fence finding them all covered in crows, all silent accept for an occasional caw.
"Somethings wrong," she stated simply. Kanzu turned back to her house, seeing all of the crows gathered there.
"It's just a bunch of birds," he said.
"No, really. Something is very wrong," she said again, stepping back.
"C'mon, Rikou, hurry up," said Kirema, stepping forwards. But Kanzu stopped him.
"Actually, it is odd for there to be this many crows in one place. And you should trust Rikou's senses, she's hardly ever wrong."
Rikou stepped slightly forward and pursed her lips, making a high-pitched whistle. As if one animal, the tens of crows suddenly took flight, cawing loudly and circling once before landing. One crow remained hovering for a moment before gliding towards her as she held up her hand.
She gently stroked the black bird, noticing how it shivered slightly every once and a while, whispering to it softly. It let out a short, low croak before taking flight, back to the group of crows.
"I don't want to go in there," she stated, pulling her trenchcoat around her closely.
"Is your dad home?" asked Kanzu, turning back to the house.
"He should be," she replied. There was a moment of silence before Kanzu stepped forwards.
"Give me your key and I'll go in first, okay?" he asked. She nodded and pulled out her keychain. There were three keys on it, one for her front door, one for her back door, and one that she had no clue what it was for, she had simply picked it up off the ground one day and had never bothered to take it off.
But before Kanzu could take a single step towards the house, the flock of crows suddenly took flight, vanishing in a matter of seconds. There was a soft, but audible, thud from inside and the doorknob turned, revealing something Rikou had hoped she would never have to see again.
"Akatsuki!" she hissed, whipping out her kamas and flipping back into a crouch. The two figures paused in the doorway as Kanzu placed himself between them and the three gennin.
"You three, go and get the other jounin, right now! Run," hissed Kanzu, falling into his fighting stance.
Rikou needed no second warning, she was gone in a flash, dashing as fast as she could through the streets. Looking behind her, she saw now Ken or Kirema following behind her, but she kept dashing forwards despite their absence.
Flipping up onto a rooftop, she spotted the Hokage's quarters in the distance and began jumping from roof to roof, zig-zagging towards the building. She skidded clumsily off the last rooftop, landing in a sloppy crouch before standing and running up to the doors, bursting through and into the main lobby.
It was empty. She ran through another door, room after room until she ended back in the lobby, finding no one there. Damnit, she thought before bursting outside again and jumping back onto the roof, thinking hard.
She raised her hand to her mouth, biting one of her fingers and feeling no pain, the nerves had been severed during torture. She quickly ran her finger across the tiles of the roof, using as much of her chakra as her body would allow, before calling out "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
A large crow appeared before her, roughly the size of a small dog, hopping lightly on the roof as it cocked it's head towards her.
"You? Where's Hayate? What do you want with me?" The crows voice was harsh and cracked.
"Please, go find the other jounin and chuunin and tell them that the Akatsuki have been seen on the edge of the town, at the Gekkou house. Go," she whispered. The crow paused for a moment, before taking flight, speeding quickly to her left and disappearing. The sun was getting lower in the sky.
She suddenly got another idea. Perhaps Hayate hasn't left yet, she thought, taking a deep breath. She dashed across the rooftops, heding into the center of the village until she came across a small apartment. She opened the door and ran up the stairs, dashing down a hall until she reached a door numbered 206 and banging hard on it. Please, Hayate! Please be here!!
She ended her punding with a single, particulary hard thud before slumping to the floor in exaughstion. She heard a cough from inside and looked up as the doorknob rattled and the door opened, revealing Hayate in Anbu uniform.
"-Rikou?" he said, confused. She stood again.
"Hayate! I just got back from the exam, and we went back to my house but there were crows on the roof and the one that stays with us was all jumpy so I knew something was wrong and then the door opened and there were two Akatsuki-"
"What!? Akatsuki!?" he hissed, narrowing his dark eyes suspiciously. She nodded.
"Kanzu-sensei told me and Ken and Kirema to get the other Jounin, but I couldn't find any so I came here. But..."
"What?"
"But when I was running, Ken and Kirema weren't following me. I... I think they're still with Kanzu-sensei," she said.
"Shit," he said angrily. She had only heard him swear once before, and he had been really angry.
"Rikou, I want you to get inside and lock the door. I'm going to go get the others, so wait here until I come and get you, alright?"
Rikou nodded, stepping into his apartment. He followed her in and strapped on his ninja-to, grabbing his Anbu mask and gaving her a quick hug before disappearing, leaving her alone again.
Rikou looked at the place where he had been moments before, eventually stepping forwards and closing the door, locking it and turning on the lights.
Hayate's apartment was fairly small, and every foot was crowded, full of many different things. On one wall was a number of swords, mostly ninja-to's but there was also a katana which was inticately designed. He had a small bed in one side f the room near a window, the table beside the bed was lined with framed pictures, some of family, some of friends, one of him as a sensei with his gennin team, and one of him as a gennin on his team.
She stepped over towards the window, looking out at the still town as the sun lingered only a few inches over the horizon. A moment later, it set completely, leaving the world in a purplish-blue haze. She slumped down onto the bed, placing her hands over her face and closing her eyes.
A moment later, she was completely asleep, curled up in a small ball under the covers, her trenchcoat hanging over the edge as the sky darkened completely, blanketing the world in darkness again.
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Rikou woke to the sound of quiet knocking on the door, pulling her tired and aching body out from under the covers, stumbling over to the door and unlocking it. Hayate, still in uniform, stepped in, rubbing his face. He looked extremely worn out, the dark bags under his eyes considerably larger and his eyes bloodshot.
"It's over," he said quietly, flopping back on the bed and coughing lightly.
"What happened?" she asked, suddenly awake. Hayate sighed and sat up.
"We found Kanzu passed out in the forest, he had somehow ended up there, and chased the two Akatsuki for most of the night until we lost the trail. Ken and Kirema had been trapped in a genjutsu with minor injuries, but all three are fine now in the hospital. You're lucky to have escaped so easily, even the jounins had trouble dealing with them."
"They're in the hospital!?"
"That's not all... Umm..."
"What is it?" she asked, moving towards the bed slowly.
"Umm... they found Dad inside the house as well..."
Rikou swallowed, hoping he wasn't going to say what she knew he would.
"They murdered him," he said quietly.
Rikou slumped down on the bed next to him, staring down at the floor for a moment.
"What...? Why...?"
Rikou bit her tongue to avoid showing emotion, her breaths slowing down, but it came anyways. Her eyes welled up with tears slowly, overflowing and rolling down her cheeks, dripping off her chin and splashing onto her lap as she lowered her head. She wiped them away slowly, trying to prevent any more from falling. Hayate shifted uncomfortably, she knew he wasn't good around other people.
"... It's alright, Rikou-chan. He only had a few more months anyways..."
"But why him? Out of all the people in Konoha, why'd he have to die?"
"... Umm... Well... you're actually lucky, the Akatsuki came here because they were after you..."
Rikou sniffled quietly, wiping away another tear as it tried to trace the same path down her pale cheek.
"I don't get it..."
Rikou sat in silence for a moment, lost in thoughts. She stood numbly, moving towards the door.
"I'm going to go now.... I think I'll go see Kirema and Ken..."
Before Hayate could say anything, she had already hurried out the door, closing it behind her and leaning against it for a moment and taking a deep breath before moving down the hall, tears flowing down her cheeks again. She slowly descended the stairs to the first floor, pushing the door open slowly and stepping into the daylight, blinking slightly at the change in lighting as she stepped outside. She turned towards the hospital, hands in her pockets as she shuffled through the busy streets, between throngs of people.
She kept her eyes on the ground, her hair hanging in her face, as she slowly approached the hospital doors, pausing before them and gazing absent-mindedly at the people going in and out. She stood there for a few moments before pushing into the lobby and walking up to the dest, waiting in silence until the secretary noticed her.
"Hello, how can I help you?"
Rikou stared at her a for a moment, before answering quietly. "Can you please tell me which room Hisui Kanzu is in?"
The secretary nodded, turning to a stack of paper and flipping through it, searching for a moment before turning back to her.
"Room 127, upstairs and down the hall on your left," she said pleasantly, smiling at her. Rikou did not smile back, instead turning away silently and shuffling towards the stairs. She had been in the hospital many times before, she often had 'treatment' sessions with her doctor that could last anywhere from a few minutes to a few days.
She turned down the hall, turning her head slightly to read the numbers as she passed them until she reached room 127, pushing open the door and stepping inside.
Kanzu was asleep in the bed, various machines hooked up to him along with a heart-rate moniter. His brown hair hung in his face, obscuring it almost completely, His head was heavily bandaged along with the rest of his upper body and arms. Rikou sat down beside his bed in a visitor's chair, pulling her knees up to her chin and burying her face in her arms, sitting in silence and listening to the beeping machines.
"At least you made it, Kanzu-sensei... I'm sorry I wasn't faster..."
She sat there for most of the afternoon, staring at her sensei, out the window or at one of the walls, lost in thought. At around five, the door to the room opened and her team mates walked in again, pausing at the door.
"Rikou! You're alright! They wouldn't tell us what happened to you," said Ken happily, flopping into another chair. She said nothing, glancing up at them for a moment before dropping it again.
"Kanzu-sensei overdid it I think... He fought for most of the night. Me and Ken got trapped in Genjutsu and couldn't move for a long time, but he managed to keep them away from us. We didn't know whether or not you made it back, and we only just got out of our rooms," said Kirema, falling back into another chair. Rikou remained silent.
"Why are you so quiet?" asked Ken, glancing over at her. He noticed her tear-stained cheeks.
"Rikou? What's wrong? What happened...?"
Rikou stood, she didn't want to talk about anything at the moment. She slumped over to the door, her hands in her pockets and her head hanging again, opening the door and stepping out without even saying goodbye.
She exited the hospital, making her way back to her house, wondering if she really wanted to go there. She turned down her street just as the sun began to set. She walked slowly up the stairs as a crow landed on her shoulder, the same one she had called yesterday. She pushed gently on the door and it opened easily, not making the slightest noise as she entered the house, the crow croaking gently.
The house seemed so empty and silent, and the air was unusually cold. She stepped into the kitchen, looking around cautiously. Moving into the living room, she opened the drapes, letting in a few rays of sunlight and turning around. She froze.
The wall opposite her had been smeared with red, now dried brown, blood, the writing dripping down the wall and forming muddy-red puddles on the floor. The crow on her shoulder croaked and flew to the window sill.
Physical pain is nothing. Welcome to Hell.
She swallowed hard as she read the message again and again, the words registering numbly in the back of her mind. Something glinted and caught her eye as she turned to better see what it was. She moved forward and knelt down, picking it up and examining it closely. It was a key, small and intricately designed. Wait... she thought. This looks exactly like my key.
"Dad..." She moved over to the couch, suddenly tired again, flopping back on it and curling up. She felt something pressing against her shirt and pulled it out, letting the deep red jewel catch the sunlight, sending red rays of light dancing across the walls. Kankuro...
She held it close to her as she drifted off to sleep again, thinking about the new turn her life was taking. The last thing her striking green eyes fell upon were the words smeared across the wall, and she shivered before closing them again, her mind invaded by darkness.