A/N: Okay, so I wrote a previous version of this chapter, but it really, REALLY sucked. REALLY. Lately I've been suffering from what I like to call "the rushes". This is a peculiar sensation that makes me want to burn through the build-up chapters so I can reach the climax faster, and if anyone has been noticing this, I apologize most sincerely. I promise to take my time on this and future chapters, and do my best to engage in damage control.
Okay, let's see what can be done.
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Tracing the Clouds
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Chapter 14: Silence
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The four sat in eerie silence, each doing their best to focus on the task they had chosen to pass the time until they were to act. Kakashi had returned almost two hours ago, relaying the important information he'd picked up in his search for their target, and the group had formed a plan.
It seemed the Grass ninja were holding the young man in the Ninja administration compound at the very center of the village, and Iro could tell he wasn't the only one who found this fact rather odd. Kakashi's normally lazy demeanor had changed to that of quiet contemplation, and Iro could tell the Jounin in question was currently reviewing all the possible explanations for this, but still hadn't found an plausible answer, save that the Kusakage himself had ordered the kidnapping.
Iro sat cross-legged, back hunched in concentration as the oiled cloth he always carried made it's way lovingly across the glinting steel that lay balanced upon his lap. His katana shimmered softly in the lamplight from where it stood leaning against the wall just next to him, standing as if in silent watch over it's little brother, which was currently being polished by it's wielder.
Any who had seen the young Karu fight might think that he treasured his Katana most. The gleaming black hilt that never seemed to lose it's luster, even after years of use. The shining steel blade, sharpened almost extraneously through hours of careful love and attention. The way the very essence of the blade seemed to sing as it passed through the air, meeting it's target in a terrible sonnet of finality. But Iro knew, that while the Katana was indeed treasured, it was his Wakizashi that he held truly dear.
It was a simple weapon, nothing of it's build frivolous, it's ordinary-seeming oak handle worn by the countless generations of Karu that had gone before, passing it from one pureblood to the next, each honoring it in his own way. The blade had been dulled and sharpened countless times before, and yet it never seemed to decrease in quality, nor in the beautiful simplicity it carried with it. The steel was made of tougher stuff than the world now possessed, and with every passing century it seemed to only grow stronger, even as the blood of it's forefathers dimmed, and the blade had become the strength of the clan in it's final days. Now it sat in the loving arms of it's last owner, it's sheen all the brighter as the light of the Grey Star faded. Iro couldn't help but smile, remembering a time seemingly part of another lifetime, when he had questioned the blade's strength.
He'd been sitting with his mother, in the same courtyard they'd sat in every night since he could remember, looking out at the stars. She'd just finished telling him the story of that little sliver of steel that the clan held so dear, and he'd turned to face her, staring her in the eye as he asked that all-important question. "Why?" He couldn't understand then why a bloodline as strong as theirs would hold something that wasn't even generally considered a striking weapon in such high respect. His mother had smiled at him, her eyes looking through him as she seemingly remembered to a time when she'd asked the same thing.
"You see, my darling," She'd began, wrapping her arms around her precious only son as soft amber tresses fell loose from behind her ears and danced playfully across the young boy's face, causing him to giggle, "Sometimes it isn't the blow that silences your enemy that is most important…" She'd looked down at him then, her sentence finishing itself in her eyes. It's the block that keeps you safe. He'd understood then, and turned from her, looking up into the inky night sky, watching as the spirits of his ancestors burned with all their intensity. Sometimes it wasn't victory that mattered, it was protecting those that were precious to you.
Something in the room stirred, shaking Iro from his silent reveries. He blinked away the wetness in his eyes, and looked about, startled to find Sakura sitting perhaps only a foot away from him, staring directly into his eyes, a look of worry playing across her soft features. "Iro…you're crying…why?" The scruffy haired young man shook his head, sucking in a deep, shuddering breath. "Nothing. It's alright, just some…uncomfortable memories." They had been the happiest days of his life, and it brought a feeling of emptiness when he remembered them, as if all his tribulations up until now had been in vain.
Sakura opened her mouth as if to protest, but promptly clicked it shut again as Kakashi spoke up. "Time to move, guys. Get ready." A pair of cerulean eyes snapped open as Naruto, who'd supposedly been taking a nap in one of the darker corners of the dimly lit room, came immediately to attention. Iro smirked. "Couldn't sleep?" "What are you, kidding me? Sleep at a time like this? I'm no idiot!" exclaimed a revved-looking Naruto through a malevolent grin. There was a fire in his eyes, a ravenous hunger barely suppressed just below the surface. Iro knew that feeling all too well.
A flash of silver hair was all the villagers saw as Kakashi leapt from the window of their hiding place, entering, and melting into the shadows of the alley below, his three pupils in tow. Of an entire village of ninja, not a single one noticed as the three Leaf-nin crept their way towards the center of town, and the Shinobi Admin building. Dusk had gathered, and the streets vacated, however, it was noted that several ninja patrolled the dim alleyways. Clearly the guards Iro had felled busting Sakura and Naruto out had notified whoever was in charge that there were several talented Shinobi now free within the city, and the authority figure in question had seen fit to increase local security. Iro smirked as they approached the broad iron-clad doors of the Main Office. All the security in the world wouldn't help them now.
As the four emerged from the shadows that cloaked them, the two ANBU at the door of the main office tensed, but before their hands could reach the katana at their backs, a black flash came between them, and fresh blood met the walls behind them. Both shot incredulous looks at the young man who stood, hands pressed together, head bowed. One of the two men managed to stutter "Heh…you're fast." Before slumping over, his own katana buried in his chest.
Kakashi came up behind Iro, kneeling to remove the offending objects from the fast-fading ninjas as he whispered short prayers for each. Standing, he placed a hand on the young man's shoulder. "That was pretty impressive. Killing ANBU is no small feat, even if they are from a minor village." Iro looked up, his face contorted in a strange mix of resentment, remourse, and bloodlust. Kakashi started at the look in the boy's eyes, his hand falling away from his shoulder. For a second, he could have sworn those eyes were silver.
Iro reveled in the blood on his hands. The men had been faceless, easy prey that left little to burden his conscience when they died, their masks hiding away any personality that might have stirred the human being within him. Wordlessly, he pulled the Katana from it's sheath. Bird seal, then Horse. He gripped the hilt of his blade in the seal as Chakra began to boil around it, seething up the edge and spilling from the tip like steam as he readied his technique. "KenKashou No Jutsu!" The blade of wind cut a jagged path through the solid metal of the giant door, rending it neatly in half. Kakashi reached out and pushed lightly, the door giving easily under the pressure as tiny metal shards fell away from the new separation Iro had made.
"Well, that's one way to make an entrance…uh, no pun intended."
Kakashi sighed, sinking into a battle stance as the sound of rushing feet and clattering weapons could be heard coming from within the building. He looked down, and was unnerved by the grin on the young Karu's face. Iro didn't care if he had to fight the whole village. No, he wanted to fight the whole village. He wanted to feel the rush of the brink of death, wanted to dance the thin red line between victory and defeat. He looked over his shoulder at the building Chakra as Naruto flipped through a lengthy series of seals, and he could see the same emotion burning in the eyes of the other shinobi. He wanted to feel.
Iro grinned, relaxing his body as he stood, forming the familiar Wayward Sage-style stance with his blades. This would be fun.
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I cannot TELL you how much better this is than the last version. Even if it's crap, it's just SO MUCH better it hurts.