Sealkeeper: He Who Binds
Chapter 83 – Blossom's Edge
It was only in hindsight that he realized they had no good way to get rid of him. Sure, giving him to Orochimaru's former apprentice was a great idea in theory- and, really, just a fantastic idea in general- the only problem arose trying to get the bastard into her clutches.
They couldn't exactly frog-march him there and present him as a gift.
Well, they could but then they had to explain who he was, who the people bringing him to her were, and why she should want to inflict unspeakable tortures upon them. It had the unfortunate consequence of telling Mitarashi Anko- the woman who wanted nothing more than to grind their boss into a fine paste and feed it to her garden- that they worked for him- her- too.
He still wasn't used to that.
Sure, they didn't necessarily have to say that they too worked for Orochimaru but you try hiding that from one of Konoha's top interrogators. She didn't just get that title because she loved torturing prisoners or because her reputation caused many of them to spill their guts before she even asked a question.
Ibiki, the poor man, couldn't even perform most interrogations these days thanks to his own reputation making them unnecessary. Pity, too, he heard it was a sight to behold.
But he was getting distracted when he really needed to be getting back to work. So, why was Dosu contemplating the difficulties he had faced getting that dumbass Zaku into Mitarashi's possession so he could serve out the remainder of his pitiful existence as her little torture toy?
Mainly because he had finally reached the end of his very long rope and decided to just do things the Dosu way.
"Well, it was a pain knowing you." Dosu grunted as he tossed an unconscious Zaku from his shoulder and into a crate. "But we've found someone much more competent for the team. Hopefully your new owner will have some use for you, though I don't know how she feels about second hand toys."
He spared a glance to the jar sitting innocently on a nearby table. Well, as innocently as a table holding your former teammate's tongue could be. He had taken great pleasure removing it earlier. Unfortunately he had also been forced to cauterize the wound to keep the idiot from bleeding to death. It would have been so much easier, but Orochimaru herself had already cleared the plan to deliver him to Anko- albeit before they left Konoha after the third exam- so he wasn't going to risk angering her by not following through.
Late was better than never, yeah?
"Guess we'll find out." Slipping the top of the crate into position he nailed it into place and gave it a solid kick. "Yep, should hold nicely." he commented with an approving nod. He did good work, if he did say so himself. Hopefully Zaku would still be alive- if barely- by the time Anko got a hold of him. If she wanted to she could continue keeping him alive, otherwise she should still be able to have some fun before he expired.
The note he had left within the crate had been simple enough, explaining that the cretin had been one of Orochimaru's little pawns but had managed to irritate them enough that even they didn't want them around anymore so Anko, as the former apprentice, was more than welcome to use them as they saw fit.
It was possible she'd take pity on him- especially because he didn't have a tongue to get him in trouble anymore, but Dosu was counting on Anko seeing red at the mere mention of Orochimaru and simply getting rid of him. Either way, as soon as the crate was off it was no longer Dosu's problem.
Oh, he could almost taste the freedom from stupidity.
Ripping the "fragile, handle with care" sticker that had been on the crate when it carried things of importance he replaced it with one he felt was more fitting.
With great satisfaction he slapped the sticker on the crate and stepped back to admire his handiwork.
"Shake well before opening." He smirked behind his bandages. "That should do nicely."
It was just a pity he wouldn't be able to watch.
"So we have two there." Naruto pointed out to his teammates.
"Dibs!"
"And three over there."
"Dibs!"
"And I'm pretty sure based on the number of tents that there will be between four and six more currently sleeping-"
"Dibs!"
"-So we might want to focus on them first because they'll be the easiest targets. We just have to get past a single guard to have access to them." He continued, admirably ignoring the way Anko was jumping up and down with her hand furiously waving through the air.
Sakura rose a shaky hand and Naruto turned to her immediately. "Yes, Genin Haruno?"
"Um, will we, have to uh, k-kill them?"
"That is the mission, yes. I suppose if you're not quite ready for that you can just subdue them and I'll execute them after the rest of the camp has been cleared." That didn't seem to give the girl any more confidence- in fact, she seemed to be turning a bit green- but she gave a shaky nod anyway.
"O-okay."
"Good, any more questions?"
Anko continued to shake her hand back and forth to get his attention but Naruto ignored it in favor of Naruko's.
"What is it, Genin Uzumaki?"
"Are we all doing this as a group or will we be going after our own targets simultaneously?"
"An excellent question, thank you. Before I answer, I have one of my own to ask." He made sure to catch the eye of both teammates so they knew he was asking them specifically. "What would you ladies prefer?"
"Huh?"
"Either way can work, what are you two more comfortable with?"
Anko's waving became even more frantic and she seemed to be only just refraining from shouting out and drawing the attention of the bandits.
He didn't even bother asking her because he already knew what she wanted to do.
He also found it somewhat amusing, not that he would ever admit it. No point in encouraging it.
"Um, maybe small groups? Like someone more experienced with someone less, just in case?"
Naruto thought about it for a second before giving a nod. "That sounds reasonable. Naruko, you're with Anko. Anko, try not to put her in any excessive danger just because you're trying to get your rocks off. I'll take care of you after the mission." Anko only became more excited as the younger Kunoichi turned a bright red and Kakashi gave a giggle from his position leaning against a nearby tree.
"Sakura can come with me, we'll go after the sleepers in the back. Kakashi, book away. You'll be keeping an eye out for any returning bandits. We didn't see any additional patrols on the way in but I'd rather not be stabbed in the back because we missed a few of the fuckers."
While disappointed at having to pause his reading, Kakashi nevertheless put away his beloved book and gave a lazy salute. "Hai, hai Taicho."
Naruto shot him a suspicious look, wondering just how long he'd be able to resist pulling out his book again, but ultimately decided to move on. If he was going to end up reading again anyway they might as well take advantage of the time they had with the book away.
"Any questions?" When no one said anything- though Anko looked like she was about to burst in excitement any second now- he gave an approving nod. "Alright then, let's go."
He crept forward silently, aware of the way the small hand on his shoulder shook with every step. Technically she was watching his back as he guided them through the camp but he was certain she was really just following along and trying not to break down in a panic attack. So far, she did not strike him as front line material and he wasn't sure if she had been given any training to fulfill a support role. Having her with him, however, was probably better than leaving her on her own as a lookout. He didn't have much confidence that she would be able to defend herself if she encountered any hostiles.
It was painfully obvious that she had not really been given the attention she needed. He'd have to see about fixing that.
With Anko and Naruko doing their part, he might even be able to start now.
Reaching the first tent he carefully removed two of the stakes and used his chains to slowly lift up the side, keeping his hands free just in case. Mōryō's tooth, being a medium sized blade, was left at the small of his back in favor of a blade more suited for the task at hand.
The cuts were simple and swift, slicing through jugulars and killing them in moments. A hand to the mouth ensured they couldn't scream and a chain wrapped around their throat provided additional insurance.
Her shaking, he noted, grew worse with every kill. By the time they reached the last tent she seemed moments away from collapsing to the ground. Rather than entering the tent, he stopped by the side and guided her to the ground.
"Breath, Haruno." He instructed. "You have an entire team counting on you, don't let them down." She gave a hesitant nod and took a few shaky breaths.
"Good, good. We're almost done, this is the last tent." Naruto pointed out. "Everything's going fine. You've made it through the others." She gave another hesitant nod, turning slightly green at having been involved so closely to those deaths.
Sakura had been on the bridge when the Wolves slaughtered Gato and his men- which had been horrible- but back then she was distanced from it. Rather than her or her team, it had been as if Gato's own men had turned on eachother.
Most importantly, it wasn't her fault.
Now, however, it was her team doing the killing and she was right there with the one holding the blade. Green eyes darted to the dark metal in his hand and he must have noticed. Both the dull grey and the slight crimson that had managed to cling to it as they moved caught the light of the moon and the distant glow of the campfire where Anko and Naruko were taking care of their own targets.
"Have you ever killed before, Haruno?" The pinkette shook her head in the negative, earning a frown from Naruto. Typically you wanted to blood your Shinobi early and in a controlled environment. Sakura and her team had gone through the Chūnin exams recently and they had all managed to get out alive.
The fact that she hadn't been blooded yet was, quite frankly, a miracle. In this case, however, that was not necessarily a good thing.
"No animals, no clones, nothing?" Again she shook her head.
Clones were a favored technique of the first and second Hokage not only because they were as human as they could be but because they wore the face of someone you knew. It was slightly lessened by the knowledge that it wasn't really them but the second Hokage had used fruit punch to spectacular effect in his Mizu-Bunshin to scare the ever-loving shit out of a group of academy students once.
They later went on to be one of the meanest, unhinged groups Konoha ever had the pleasure of producing, much to a smug Nidaime's great satisfaction, but that was completely unrelated.
Clone-killing, as it had been dubbed, became a favored technique of Konohagakure no Sato- though usually without the fruit punch- for wetting a Genin's feet before they actually took a life. Some Sensei still preferred throwing them in the deep end and letting them sink or swim as their instinct dictated but that was more personal preference than anything.
With Kakashi's own ability to use Kage-Bunshin it should have been a trivial matter for him to have them perform a clone-killing. Even if he had found the idea of getting back memories of his students managing to kill him distasteful- and Naruto couldn't really fault him for that- the man had plenty of other clone techniques in his repertoire he could have made use of.
Then again, this was Kakashi. He was honesty more surprised the man hadn't marched his Genin down to Ibiki so they could help with an execution or three. It was just more his style.
"Well, do you understand it, at least?" She gave him a confused look that he supposed he deserved for such a question. "Let me rephrase that. Do you understand why we're killing and what that does?"
She still looked confused, just slightly less so.
It wasn't really the time for a lecture, but he was confident he could keep them both safe on the off chance that they were discovered by the sleeping bandits or any of their friends. It would only take a moment to kill them, anyway. He could spare a minute or two.
"I could go on poetically about how we're eliminating evil and helping to protect the people of Hi no Kuni or how sometimes heroes have to descend into the darkness in order to fight it, but that would be sugar-coating it and I'm not going to lie to you." His purple eyes caught her own green and held them fast. "We're here because we're being paid to kill them. At any point we could have simply walked away until the second we stepped into the camp. As soon as we did not only were we being paid, but we had put ourselves in danger to earn it. We are in enemy territory and regardless of the monetary compensation we might receive on our return we now have to ensure we actually get back."
"The best way to do so is to remove the enemy. Coincidentally, that's also the mission. We could try sneaking out now, I suppose, but when we've already come so far why would we give up? There's no point to leaving and we secure both our own safety and a paycheck by finishing this. So, tell me, Sakura, do you think you can spend the rest of your life doing this work?"
She thought for a moment, eyes flicking back to the blade held loosely between his finger, before ultimately shaking her head.
"An honest answer." He gave her a small smile. "Its' good to know yourself Sakura. Before you give up on this aspect of being a Shinobi, however, I want you to do one thing for me, okay?"
"W-what?" He wasn't sure if the whisper was because they were trying to be stealthy or because she was just having trouble getting the words out but he almost couldn't hear it.
Spinning the Kunai so the blade was held towards himself he offered her the handle. "Before you say you can't do it, I want you to actually try it." Her hand started moving for it before her shaking worsened. Gently reaching out with his other hand he guided her to the handle and wrapped her fingers around it firmly. "Breath, Sakura. I'll be right here."
She nodded, still nervous but noticeably more composed. He wasn't sure how long that would last, so they needed to do this quickly.
"I-I'll do it." He gave her another, brighter, smile.
"I'm glad to hear that, Sakura. Lets' see if you can be the Shinobi I know you can be." Actually, he didn't really know her at all but if the Wolves taught him anything it was that anyone could be turned in to a competent fighter. Whether or not they were competent when it came to anything else was up for debate but he didn't have time to follow that particular thought at the moment.
He had a Kunoichi to make.
Part of him wanted to remind him that he was no psychologist and that his only examples of conditioned soldiers were the Wolves. They also mentioned the fact that he had no idea what he was doing and that he was probably going to end up breaking the girl.
He argued back that she would end up breaking anyway if he didn't try something.
It countered that he had already brought the fact that she wasn't suited to this work to her attention and that she had a chance to live a life of not being a Shinobi- or not being a frontline Shinobi, at least- but he honestly couldn't see the benefit to a life of not being a Shinobi.
Really, death or madness might be preferable.
A support-type Shinobi was still a possibility, but that also seemed like a waste. There was no reason for her not to be a fully capable Shinobi and posses support skills for her team. If nothing else it would help increase her suitability during missions and he couldn't see the downside to that. The small part of him gave the equivalent of a shrug before falling silent.
It tired, at least, and what was the worst that could happen? If he did mess her up she'd probably still fit right in with his pack, so it wasn't like she wouldn't have all the support she could possibly need.
Whether it was his words or the smile he didn't know, but something about that seemed to have given her much more confidence. Using a chain to lift up the side of the last tent, he was intent on having her make use of that confidence before it had the chance to vanish.
Together they snuck up to one of the occupied beds and peered over the sleeping bandit. Carefully he made use of his chains to gently reposition the man to make him an easier target. At the same time, it would serve as restraints in case something went wrong. Unseen by Sakura, his chains also extended behind them ready to take out the others in case they were awoken by her first attempt.
Better safe than sorry, after all.
She lifted the Kunai to just above the man's throat, ready to plunge it down, before her shaking resumed. It wasn't the best way to go about it, he noted, but it should work just fine. Stepping behind her he placed his left hand on her hip and his right over her hands.
"Just one movement, Sakura. That's all this will take. You can do it." Evidently he was just a little bit too loud as two brown eyes flickered open but by then it was too late. Guiding her strike down- both to keep her from giving up and to ensure it struck with enough force to end the poor bastard- the Kunai found itself buried deeply into the mans' throat with a meaty thud. He continued to hold her hands there even as she stared with horrified eyes at the face of the man she had just killed.
She tried to back away but his body served as a suitable wall and his hand on her hip kept her from going anywhere but closer to her first kill.
"Very good, Sakura. I'm proud of you." She seemed mere seconds away from giving a horrified wail so his hand slipped up from her waist to cover her mouth. "Through you nose, breathe." She was completely stiff, frozen in a mix of fear and disgust. "Sakura," He stressed. "Breathe". It was fortunate that the other bandits weren't close enough- or perhaps were simply too intoxicated- to be woken by his voice.
"You just watched me do this in the other tents, there's nothing different about it. Everything was fine then and it will be fine now." He waited until she was breathing again before he started talking again. "Any disgust you feel, any fear, anything that might make you hesitate – put it away. You're a Shinobi right now, you can feel those when we're done. Right now it's just you, me, and the mission."
When she seemed to have composed herself he relaxed his grip slightly.
"Good, good. Come on, we have work to finish." Her body tensed again when he said that, her head shaking in disagreement and her hands desperately trying to escape his. "None of that now. We started this, we're going to finish it." He guided her to the next bandit and his chains immediately set to work making it easier for them to proceed. "Look at him, Sakura. Do you remember how easy the last one was? Just one strike, one single strike. In seconds you can be done with all of this and we'll leave the tent."
Sakura was shaking again, horribly, but the promise of freedom was evidently too good for her to pass up.
Raising the blade once again she brought it down swiftly.
"See? Easy." From her continued shaking she still didn't agree. "Come on, last one." He lead her over to the final bandit but instead of just restraining him this time his chains went to work gagging the man and squeezing tightly enough to wake him. Blue eyes opened in a panic but there was nothing a normal person could do against such Chakra constructs.
"Look at him, completely defenseless. There's nothing he can do against you." His hand moved hers across the man's torso, the Kunai lightly trailing over the exposed flesh of the previously sleeping bandit just enough to draw thin lines of blood. "Don't you feel powerful knowing that you hold this man's life so easily in your hands, ready crush it like an angered goddess?" Before she could respond he continued. "Or maybe you can feel that sense of justice at putting a stop to a group of dangerous individuals who have been terrorizing the innocent enough that they banded together to call upon you for rescue? And here you are, the avenging angel, making them feel the same helplessness of their victims before you remove them from your world."
Her shaking lessened slightly at that so he held fast.
"Oh? You like that, don't you? As much as I say it's just work, it doesn't change the fact that this work is helping people. If you can kill these bandits and it saves even just one family of innocents, isn't that worth it?" She gave a nod and he couldn't help the smile that stretched over his lips. He had found the chink in her moral armor, the little twist she needed to rationalize away her actions and do what needed to be done. He could work with this. "Even better, because this is a job for Konoha you're saving the innocent, getting paid, and helping support your home. It may be a dirty job Sakura, but does that mean it cannot be noble?"
She thought for a moment, mulling it over, and he could see the gears in her head turning. Almost had her.
"This is also a good opportunity to get stronger. Not only will you be able to help more people, but maybe being stronger would have prevented the Uchiha's abduction..." Her eyes briefly widened in surprise and he went in for the kill. "I'm sure the retrieval team could have used more help, I hear they very nearly died trying to get him back. So many people counting on your strength, who need you to be strong."
"Can you be strong, Sakura? For them?" He forced her to look into his eyes. "For me?"
The surprise vanished as jade eyes hardened in determination and turned towards their target. The bandit's blue eyes spilled fear like an ocean and he started frantically trying to escape his bonds.
He did not succeed.
With a vicious thrust she buried the Kunai into soft flesh and gave a sharp twist. Ripping it out ended up splattering the both of them in small droplets of crimson but it also sealed the fate of the poor bastard. There would be no recovering from that unless Tsunade herself appeared within the tent in a burst of radiant light.
No such thing occurred as the bandit rapidly bled out, the chains holding him slithering away to return to Naruto.
Sakura stared at the corpse for a moment before her determination abandoned her and she dropped to the floor. With his foot he moved his dropped Kunai out of the way and crouching down behind her he was just in time to pull back her long hair before her stomach began violently purging itself of its contents.
He gently rubbed her back with his other hand as she continued to heave, noting idly that unless Anko had been playing with her prey she should be long done by now, and as soon as she had finished he used a nearby blanket to wipe the remnants from her lips.
"Good, Sakura, very good." He gave her a small smile. "It can be difficult, but now do you think you can do this for all those counting on you?"
She gave him a hesitant nod followed by a more assertive one and his smile widened just enough to be noticeable.
"I'm proud of you, Sakura, very proud. You did well tonight." He returned to his feet and helped her do the same. "Come on, the others are waiting for us."
It had been a Genin who entered the tent with him, green and inexperienced despite the time she had spent as part of team seven. It was a Kunoichi who left with him, or she would be if he had any say in the matter.
There would be no going back to the girl that had entered the tent.
A job well done as far as Naruto was concerned.
Naruko sat by the bandit's fire, eyes towards the tents, as she waited for any sign of her brother and their teammate. She was also trying to ignore a blood-splattered Anko merrily strip-searching the pile of corpses that had previously inhabited the camp. Shed' rather not dwell on the fact that some of those wounds on the corpses were inflicted after they had been killed.
She didn't know much about this "Mitarashi Anko" but from what she was seeing she didn't like her. She liked the fact that the woman was close to her brother even less.
As there continued to be no sign of the rest of the team she grew increasingly nervous. They should be done by now ,having a lesser number of sleeping targets to eliminate. At the same time there was no indication that something had gone wrong because she was sure the bandits wouldn't think twice about shouting 'intruders' or otherwise indicating the two Shinobi had been discovered- or captured.
The only pother thing she could think of was that Naruto was getting a head start on the pilfering- though with Anko doing the same next to her maybe it wasn't considered so early afterall- and would be back once he had taken everything of value from the tents.
She didn't particularly like thinking of her brother that way, but he had shown himself to be, well, a wolf. He was a hunter who would go after any prey and take any advantage he could get. He was resourceful, clever, and dangerous when alone. He also had a pack, but as far as she was aware they hadn't joined them on this mission.
Some part of her wondered if- even for just the moment- team seven- and Anko, she supposed- were his pack. The thought was odd, but did bring a gentle warmth to her chest. It was probably the closest to being a family again they had been in years.
She couldn't quite decide if that was sad or something to be really happy about.
Eventually her musings were interrupted by the appearance of their subject, both Naruto and Sakura walking towards them sedately. Upon closer inspection, it would appear 'sedately' was not entirely correct, as Naruto's movements were simply being slowed by the Kunoichi leaning against him. One of his arms was slung over her shoulder in a manner Naruko could only describe as comforting and were it not for the fact that Sakura seemed pretty shaken- and yet at the same time strangely resolute- she probably would have felt a bit jealous.
By the time her teammates had reached the fire Anko had finished picking anything of value from the corpses of the bandits- was more than Naruko expected, honestly. She supposed they weren't likely to leave their own cut just lying around lest it be taken by someone else- and Kakashi had meandered down from his position in the trees, book in hand.
Naruto shot him a disapproving look that earned a sheepish shrug as the man pocketed the book once more. With both Anko and Naruto present he hadn't even been able to pretend the situation was in any way a serious danger to his team. Everything being under control, he couldn't resist the call of his book for even five minutes before it had found it's way into his hand again.
"Good work team, this mission was a success." Naruto praised them. "We can take our time sweeping the camp now. If it was on one of your kills it's yours, otherwise start a pile here and we'll divvy it up when we're done."
Naruko shot Anko a suspicious glare at hearing that- some of the corpses Anko had looted were her own kills- but Anko was too busy giving Naruto a sly grin to notice.
"It seems to me that two of you already took your time," The Tokubetsu-Jōnin taunted. "You weren't celebrating without us in those tents, were you?"
Distracted by thoughts of what Anko was implying rather than the memory of what had just happened in those very tents Sakura turned a bright red and pushed closer to Naruto in a doomed attempt to hide.
This, of course, only spurred Anko on more.
"Aw, don't the two of you make just the most adorable couple?" She grinned. "It's just a pity your hair clashes so badly."
"And yours doesn't?" Asked Naruko skeptically, one brow raising. Anko just gave her a grin before practically skipping over to Naruto. She could have gone to his free side but that wasn't as fun. Firmly sandwiching the pinkette between the two of them was much more entertaining. She leaned down slightly and grabbed some of Naruto's red hair to hold up next to her own purple spike. Consequently, this had the added effect of squishing her breasts into the side of Sakura's face.
"See?" Asked the Tokubetsu-Jounin. "Perfect match." She looked down to Sakura who was just as red as Naruto's hair. "Huh, like this I suppose it doesn't clash all that badly. Kind of cute, actually. You okay down there girly?"
Whatever she tried to saw was muffled by mammary.
"Eh, she's fine."
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– Eyazahrid