SeravyYou are the only reason this chapter got posted. Like I promised, Anko is in this chapter!
The Final Third
"Reality is relative. I had been living life in the myth of the cave and Plato suddenly turned me towards the light. It was then, in my own domain that I realized what had happened. The world blurred to my eyes but in reality it had snapped into focus, fast and undeniably painful."
Jezebel
The Desert- after nightfall
"What the fu," Ibiki covered Anko's mouth. "Wuf zat?"
"That," Genma removed an ice pack from a very puffy left eye. "Was an explosion of chakra,"
"What do we do?" Gai asked. "Do we move tonight?"
"No," Ibiki stated. "We're in a walled spot. The enemy doesn't know we're here. If they did that huge chakra would have been directed at us. We sit tight for now,"
The team took cover behind a rock outcropping only 200 yards away from their original camp. An obvious hiding spot, if invisible to an aproaching party. It was a strategically good position. The enemy could be heard long before they could find the Anbu team.
"What was that?" Anko repeated.
"You tell me," Genma mumbled. "You're our expert on the dark chakras," Anko looked pissed. Ibiki figured he'd better head this one off before Anko bubbled over.
"Ignore him," she said, surprisingly calm, to the other three. "Head wound," Gai nodded knowingly.
"So, perhaps if I took a head wound I would be more sensitive as well?" asked Gai, misinterpreting.
"No," said Ibiki.
"You're correct! I have no need to be more sensitive!" Gai flashed a smile. "I am the epitome of sensitivity!" Ibiki put his head in his hands.
"Anko, Genma was right, if tactless. What did that feel like to you?" Ibiki could at least understand her thoughts and actions came from even if he could not agree with them.
"Oh!" Gai snapped his fingers. "That kind of sensitive! Why didn't someone tell me?" he hissed loudly.
Ibiki clenched his fists and resisted the urge to slap his forehead.
Wind Country- the oasis: morning
Soft sounds reached her ears first. A birdsong, burbling of something in a pot somewhere; muted sounds. The sounds and hot breeze woke her up somewhat. She arched her back in a stretch and stared up at the crystalline blue sky. She saw no birds, not even a fluffy bloated cloud (the kind the sometimes settled over the oasis because of its water). In the corners of her vision palm trees circled, blending in perfectly with the whole scene. Jezebel relaxed letting her eyes shut again. Home. Something draped horizontally across her midriff. The thought bade her eyes open.
A hand, calloused and blistered, complete with bent and broken nails. Muscles played across the hand as it curled into a tight fist. As a matter of fact the whole ensemble connected back to a hairy men's arm. What the?
Jezzy slowly rolled her body sideways to have a good long stare at the owner of the offending limb. A masked boy splayed out next to her, arms and legs thrown at awkward angles, one of which rested on her stomach. He looked barely older or near to her own age. His eyelids fluttered slightly and Jezzy rolled away to face the opposite direction, shoving his hand off her stomach.
Kakashi awoke to tiny movements beside him. Jezebel counting sticks. She pressed them together then moved them farther apart all the while changing the distance in front of her face. Then she searched the ground with her fingers for a pair of different twigs and did it again until she sighed in satisfaction. Kakashi propped himself up on his elbows, studying her. She did not seem to notice.
Jezebel's dark hair curled down over her shoulders, shorter then one would think. Her bangs shielded her eyes, in dire need of shears. The pallor of her skin showed up easily. Her skin itself was tanned, like new leather. The nails on her short fingers were long but ripped. An acrid smell of blood hung about Jezebel like a mist; making Kakashi a touch more cautious in his observations. Reddish-brown gunk crusted around her mouth, it had to be blood. Scratch trails ran from her nose all the way down her neck disguising curving lips and high cheekbones. Purple bruising spread out from a small circle near her left temple and extended itself across her left eye. Watcher showed Kakashi what those looked like the night before; a strange dark green with yellow darts surrounding a pupil that was not always circular. Kakashi felt the hair on his arms rise. May I never meet her at full strength.
Both eyes crossed when Jezebel touched the sticks to each other. Across her throat strung a network of bruising. The multi-colored bands looked like finger marks or thick rope bindings. The former, of course. Watcher caught Jezzy by surprise. You can't catch someone by surprise if you "sneak up" in front of them. Across Jezebel's shoulders dusky skin faded into the worst tan lines Kakashi had ever seen. Then came a coarse linen shirt made of familiar grey material. Kakashi assumed it came out of Watcher's wagon.
The wagon itself had been abandoned by the roaming horses for the last three days and sat full of supplies under an outcropping of palms at the edge of camp. It tilted downward, leaning heavily on the wagon tongue.
"Jezebel?" She looked up.
"Do I know you?" she spoke with a low hoarse voice and the accent of wind country with its rolled "R"s. She looked up, her eyes focusing on him for the first time. "Maybe I do know you," she looked away again. This time towards the horizon. She didn't know him, did she? Something…
Kakashi shivered. There was that eerie feeling again. The same one as last night, only muted. Was it… confusion!
Jezebel, aware of scrutiny, curled her lips. Her eyesight somehow failed overnight. She couldn't focus, when she held the twigs any closer then a foot away they blurred in with the brushy background. Jezebel felt sick. She couldn't hear unless she concentrated. Her sense of smell… nonexistent. There were tiny olfactory scents, water, possibly food. A pillow pressed over her eyes, nose, and ears, making the senses useless.
Don't make the mistake of trying to kill me. You can't. It'd be good for you to remember there is always someone stronger. To the point, change.
Was that what the voice inside her head meant, "change?" To cripple her? Why was she hearing voices inside her head anyway? A dream simply. Someone stronger! My ass, someone stronger! There isn't…
Soft angry voices caught her attention. The boy next to her stretched, catlike. Jezzy watched the muscles rippling down his arms, visible over the coarse linen blanket he slept under. What he would look like as a corpse? Arms hacked at odd angles? Maybe blood dripping into that frosty hair? Diseased? There are more important things…
"What were you thinking? You can't leave her here!" Iruka shouted, or at least did the Iruka equivalent of shouting; very fast and hard speech without the volume associated with shouting. Kakashi shrugged, Iruka, you should have made yourself heard before he brought back hell- bitch.
"She's harmless now,"
"Yes, harmless. Famous last words!" Iruka's opinion seemed to have changed somewhat since last night. He spent time thinking without Watcher's direct influence on his thoughts. Watcher was right, Kakashi realized. Her chakra level now equated evenly with the average genin. Was he right then, in the potential surrounding it?
"I'll prove my point over food then," Watcher banged an iron pan onto the tiny fire, next to the pot of hard boiled eggs. Where, pray tell, had Watcher gotten the eggs?
10 minutes later
Jezzy gulped back loathing as she sunk down next to Watcher. Because of him she could barely walk. He knees might collapse at any second, watery and frail. Where had the muscles in her fingers and upper arms gone? She barely pushed herself upright. When she did manage standing another defect held her attention. Where the bloody hell is my kimono? Temari gave me that!
Jezebel understood the value of a gift. A disguised trump card on which the giver could call when he or she needed something.
The sand shifted underneath her feet, almost making her lose her balance. Watcher smiled knowingly as she rocked forward, just missing the tiny crackling fire. Jezzy cursed Watcher under her breath for it. Watcher ignored this and prodded the strips of bacon sizzling in the collapsible pan with a pair off chopsticks.
Jezebel's stomach won the unspoken argument against her pride, as Watcher knew it would. She settled into sitting position pointedly ignoring the boys on either side of her. Watcher passed her a bowl with egg and bacon in it. Jezzy prodded the egg with a finger, and then stuffed three strips of greasy bacon in her mouth.
"Jezebel, this is Kakashi," He pointed a chopstick at albino mask boy. "This is Iruka," Suddenly Jezzy felt nervous. Iruka certainly looked awful. Jezzy belied her own nerves by contemplating the fact that she could still make someone antsy.
"Hey," Iruka waved. Jezzy spared him a more in depth glance. Smaller then the other one, what's his name? Dark brown hair, held up in a ponytail, a hitai-ate with a leaf and a scar across the bridge of his nose. Nothing spectacular here. Hard to believe he has a temper at all.
"Jezebel," Watcher prodded gently. "These two boys will be your bonded,"
"Wha-huh?"
"Bonded?"
"The fuck?"
"A bonded is… sort of a body guard. Only bondings are much rarer. In your case," He pointed at Kakashi and Iruka, neither of whom had ate any of their eggs. "You were destined to be bonded with Jezebel before you were even born,"
"What does that mean?" Kakashi gulped, knowing he would not like the answer. Watcher looked somehow… older then he had before, and more tired. He shoveled bacon into their bowls on top of the uneaten eggs. For the first time Kakashi noticed the spider webbing of cracks around his eyes. But Watcher's eyes, usually young a bright, looked as aged as the face they peered from. How old was Watcher really? And how long had he been in the business of disrupting lives?
"Jezzy, listen. You need to know this. It's about who you are,"
Bah! I know who I-
"I know you think you know who you are, listen to me today and it will be the last time you will ever have to," He waited for a reply. Only silence fallowed the statement. Watcher took that to be his reply and snowplowed onward. "Jezebel, your father, I trust you had a good conversation with him, was a bonded. He was bound by an ancient jutsu to the woman who became your mother. Your mother was… indirectly responsible for the bondings. Her family can be traced back generations to the time when all the countries were united under one flag," I bet you could be traced back to the time when all the countries were united under one flag, Jezzy mouthed. "In order to protect the noble standing of the house's women the patriarch ordered a resident sennin to perform what is now a lost art. A bonding seal was cast upon each woman, to be inherited mother to daughter as long as women of that line survived. It was basically about self preservation in yet another time of turmoil."
"Bonding happens completely on accident, a woman of that line always finds her two bonded at random. There's no telling who her protectors will be or when the bond will form."
"That's how it used to be. As the line of that royal family lost its prestige and diminished through time, the bonding seal remained, becoming obsolete but irreversible as the arts that created it disappeared. In time, it became almost useless except to ensure the woman that she would have lifetime companions for better or for worse. Your mother found her murderer and her lover in her two bonded. Now, your condition is somewhat different because you are a… hybrid of sorts." Watcher gritted his teeth as some of his trio turned progressively whiter as another became progressively more angry.
"Will the three of you make an attempt to realize this is not to ruin your freedom? It is not, and never was voluntary… It's like falling in love. Well, I can't know that. I've never been in love, but the bond just happens. It'll break if you kill each other,"
"What about Konoha?" Kakashi interrupted. Kakashi normally never questioned authority. His sudden attitude was understandable. Should I consider Watcher an authority? "We have a village to protect! We can't waste time with a stupid girl that can probably take care of herself!" His voice rose steadily. "She obviously doesn't want anything to do with us, so why bother?" Kakashi did not even have time to blink before Watcher's hand slammed into the side of his head. Gold stars burst in front of his eyes, pain ricocheted from his skull.
"NO ONE HAD A CHOICE! If I had a choice I wouldn't be here lecturing stupid kids, which would be you, about bonding, which should've been lost to the annals of history centuries ago!" Watcher took a deep breath. Kami, I didn't know kids could be so goddamn stupid. "Read between the lines, Kakashi, look underneath the underneath, or whatever ever you want to call it. You're here more to protect Konoha then anything else," Watcher said scathingly, "Hear me out and I'll tell you,"
"As I said it is irreversible. Plus if I had not found you, the force of the bond would eventually have dragged Jezebel to Konohagakure," Iruka raised his hand
"What if you found the wrong two people?" Watcher looked at the boy sadly. He lowered his voice and spoke to Iruka alone.
"I can't have chosen the wrong two people. I don't make mistakes. Iruka, you've been feeling the effects of the bond for days now. Kakashi told me you were in agony when I fought with Jezebel. You were hurting, Iruka, because Jezebel was in pain." Iruka stared at the sand, trying to banish memories of the day before. Watcher addressed everyone again. "With the bond you can feel what the person you're bonded with is feeling, emotions, and strong physical attributes, like pain. Apparently sometimes other people's emotions being in your head gives headaches and creates confusion, so, there is a way to block out other people's thoughts. I, however, don't know it. You'll have to learn how to close your minds on your own,"
"I don't feel anything," muttered Kakashi.
"You will,"
"I feel nothing, either," Jezzy spoke with her eyes closed. She searched internally for an invisible channel of some kind. Would she know it when she felt it? She opened her eyes. Kakashi noticed her pupils were still circular "Nope, not a thing,"
"It'll happen. It always does,"
"I don't want anyone else's voice in my head," Iruka murmured. Watcher heard him. "Especially not Kakashi or Jezebel's,"
"The link will be through Jezzy, not around her," Watcher clarified. "So you and Kakashi can't swap emotions anyway," Watcher mused for a moment. "I guess if you thought hard enough Jezzy might be able to pick up on real thoughts,"
Jezebel's head spun. A mother and the man from the dream that was not a dream. Her father, the bonding seal, Kakashi and Iruka. The was-it-a-dream?
"Well, then, what do we do with her? She can't come back to the village with us," Iruka mumbled. "She'll kill somebody,"
"No," Watcher seemed back to his calm, relatively normal self. "We can't have that. You, Jezzy- you don't mind me calling you that right- won't go back to any village yet. You have about 12 hours to do two tasks first. You need to protect Konoha. Yes, Kakashi, protect Konoha. Sand shinobi and Leaf shinobi will meet several miles east of here," he read his watch like a map. "In approximately 12 hours. You head off the inevitable battle that will break loose,"
Konohagakure- same day: Morning 9AM
Sandaime usually received a lot of mail. Today no exception. The mail carrier came by and dumped the usual on Hokage's desk then left with an empty burlap sack.
Hokage sat at his desk this morning (windows open), flipping through mail. A bill (the bill pile), a bill, an electric bill, a Weapons R' Us bill, a complaint (a different pile), letter of thanks (the bulletin board outside the office), B level request (got written down), a chain letter (garbage), something with URGENT stamped on the envelope, a D level request (got written down), wait! He flipped back to the letter that said "urgent."
Sandaime
We apologize sincerely as it turns out the evidence against you was false. I am sorry to have been the aggressor in this situation and hope it will never happen again. I am in all ways supportive of the leaf/sand alliance. However, my offer still stands. The sand is in need of help ridding Wind Country of a certain menace. Perhaps your resources are better then ours. If so, we still humbly request your help. Again,
Apologies,
Kazekage of the Hidden Sand
Sandaime dropped the paper like it was on fire. Oh no…
Sunagakure- noon
The library was made of sandstone. Sun shown inside through square windows (the kind with shutters and no glass) and made the gritty beige walls seem pale yellow. Sleepy shafts of sunlight baked the large mahogany tables where they touched. It felt altogether cool in the library, and comfortable. In the light one could witness dust and particles of sand floating about, especially when someone pulled a book from the many shelves.
Bookcases stretched from the card catalogue at the closed doorway to the back of the room. Each case held tomes categorized by subject and surname of the author. More books then anyone could ever hope to read lined the back and right walls. To the left of the shelves stood a small book rack holding a few volumes waiting to be filed. Also to the left sat three large mahogany tables around which someone had set chairs of the same make and finish. The polished wood was worn but sturdy. No one living could remember the last time something involving so much wood had been commissioned in Sand Village. Each of the tables connected directly to the floor and was Kris-crossed in beams of sunlight from the windows high on the wall beside them.
Under the windows someone tacked a huge yellowed map of the world. A red pin marked Village of the Hidden Sand. On one table sat a globe and the B-Bo drawer of the card catalogue. Only one person visited the library today and she sat at the middle table, legs swinging from a chair. She pushed a pile of newer books to the center of the table, making way for the gargantuan volume she propped up on them.
To Temari the library could have been as old as time. It was a place for silence and peace. Nothing disturbed the serenity within the library. It had been there since before even her father's and it would remain long after Temari died.
She held her bauble high above her head. The blue crystal sparkled and glittered in the light, sending iridescent patterns spinning like tops down the bookshelves and walls. It rotated slowly on the –water chain, capturing light. The jewel looked exactly as it had when Jezzy pressed it into Termari's fists that night on the wall.
Temari hung it back around her neck and continued flipping through the massive textbook. The text book itself took help from the librarian to get down and all of Temari's strength to lug to the table. Emblazoned in calligraphy across the maroon cover was the title, Encyclopedia of Weaponry. The pages combined writing and pictures.
Temari searched for an illustration of her amulet. Jezebel might come again one day. Maybe then she would want the crystal back. Temari would make sure it was safe. However she did want to know what it was she guarded. It had to be something special. It felt special. The seven year old pursed her lips. She would have asked Yashamaru but he vanished a few days before. Daddy might know. He's busy, he's always busy.
One o'clock sun shone on her book. It looked happy, and buttery. Temari yawned. Everyday after academy training for the last two days she had been working on this. Maybe it was time for a snack. Temari heaved the book closed. It thudded shut almost snapping her fingers in its binding. She trotted past the rows of shelves and poked her head out the door, squinting.
The library sat directly across from her Daddy's Office and diagonally from the hospital. So pretty! She closed her eyes to protect them from a sandy breeze. What a pretty day! Temari stood in the doorway looking down the street past the hospital, digging around in her pocket a little. Maybe she had a few yen for lunch at a snack bar? Was it open afternoons?
A few medical ninjas stood talking outside the hospital. Temari didn't know them but they waved. Temari waved cheerfully back and decided a late lunch sounded good. She bounced down the stone front steps leading up to the library and meandered down the street, drifting from shaded store front to shaded storefront.
"The village… yesterday,"
"… A man… told us about…"
"Healing… difficult to say…"
"… Amulet… makes healing…,"
Temari walked into an invisible wall. That was it! Her fingers drifted up to the piece around her neck. The medical ninjas saw her turn and dash back to the library.
"She must have forgotten something important," said one.
The Oasis- minutes later
"So, we have twelve hours until the leaf and the sand clash? One chunin and one anbu cannot head off a war, not even you Kakashi," Iruka said scathingly. He stood up and began to pace between the water and the fire.
"Ah," Kakashi returned. "But we're not alone, are we? We have little Miss Jezebel in Hell here. However, since it seems she's been rendered powerless, I guess it means we're done too,"
"Did I say she's powerless?" asked Watcher. "No, I said she is no longer dangerous," Jezzy stood unsteadily, planting her hands on her hips.
"Don't talk about me as if I weren't here. Believe it or not, we do speak the same language,"
"It's not your fault you're just a big lump of latent ability,"
"Kakashi!" Watcher raised his voice, it was only the second time he had ever done that. "Look at yourself. Ever since you lost Obito you think you have his blessing. Yeah, you do, but it is NOT going to help you here! You're on your own, little shit. I don't care how good you are. You three better get used to each other and quick because I'm leaving!"
"You're leaving?" Iruka asked quietly. "Where?"
"Anywhere, nowhere, not here,"
"When will you be back?"
"If I had my way I'll never have to see you three again,"
"What?" A definite note of panic stuck in Iruka's throat.
"You have a war to head off," Watcher whistled. The ebony horses came running, kicking up small whirlwinds of dust. Watcher guided them in front of the wagon, stroking their backs slipping halters over each magnificent head.
"You shit!" Jezebel screeched. "You fucking monster!" She stalked up to the wagon. Watcher hitched each horse to the sand covered wagon quickly, sliding the reins into each leather halter.
"Look," said Watcher. He dug around in the bed of the cart for a moment. "I didn't ask for this, neither did you,"
"Couldn't you at least give us a hint as to how the hell we're going to pull this off?" Iruka quipped.
"No," Watcher mounted the wagon, holding whatever it was that he pulled out of the back a few seconds ago. "Here," He shoved something small and fuzzy into Jezebel's arms. "It's a gift from your father. Don't eat it,"
Jezzy slapped at him, but missed.
"If I could, right now you would searching for your head in the next dimension,"
"But you can't. You never could. Yah!" Watcher snapped the reins. The horses took off at a full gallop. Jezebel and Iruka were left coughing in the dust.
Kakashi bolted behind the cart. He kept up until the brush turned to hot sand at the very edge of the oasis, then stopped, breathing heavily and flicked off Watcher's back. Watcher turned and looked back at Kakashi standing there, hands on his knees.
"Pain and desperation!"
Notes:
1. Watcher sent Jezzy to sand village to learn something. She failed to learn it, obviously.
2. Jezzy is not concerned with strength. She does not want to be the strongest or anything. She is angry because someone had the power to take everything away from her.
3. Also, keep in mind; Kakashi and Iruka are only in their late teens. Their personalities, intelligence, and skills still have growing to do before they become the characters they are now.
4. From afternoon until dusk hottest part of the day in the desert, consequently not many people are out. Public places usually close then reopen at dusk.
Coming next: P You'll just have to read an find out!
I have to admit I'm sort of angry. One review guys, jeezus. No, never mind I'm not angry, just disappointed. I honestly work hard on my writing. I feel like shit when I don't get review at all.
And for the record, I listen to constructive criticism. I take it seriously and use it to improve my writing.
So, please review. I'll give you a muffin if you do so. : P
