Those Who Are Lost
Chapter 21
In My Enemy's Hands
Hello there my fellow fanfictioners! It's been a while hasn't it? (kind of my standard greeting at this point)
I was so pleased with the feedback I got with the previous chapter that I decided to immediately begin working on the next one... and then immediately hit a wall with my writing.
Now, given the fact that my country is in a bit of a state of emergency given current… global events, I have found myself with a lot more time to write recently. (not at all due to the fact that most people are hiding at home).
Of course, as you can see from the time it took me to write this, there has been a lot going on (beyond writer's block).
Disclaimer: I do not in any way claim ownership of Naruto, Naruto Shippuden (the best one) or Boruto: Naruto Next Generation (of which the old guard mostly do not speak).
Now then enough of my senseless prattling and lame excuses and let's get onto the story!
HI NO KUNI- THE FOREST OF FIRE
When Himawari came to the first sensation she experienced was the damp cold dark. Opening her eye slowly, she blinked a few times to adjust her vision to the gloom. All she knew for sure was that she was in a cave of some kind.
Rocky walls and a jagged ceiling surrounded her and she could feel the cold hard ground poking into her side from where she lay on her side. The damp air had caused little beads of moisture to cling to her exposed skin and when Himawari licked her lips it felt like she was tasting the rain.
Her head was pounding and she couldn't help but wince when, shifting lightly, a sharp lance of agony raced through the base of her skull directly into her brain.
She had been restrained. Bound like a prisoner for that was what she was now. They'd finally caught her. Cold iron caressed the skin of her wrists, dull and heavy. The weight of them was such that it felt as if the shackles were trying to drag her down into the pits of hell itself. Himawari shifted slightly again, suppressing another wince, and noted the soft clink of iron links connecting her fetters to one another.
There was a fire crackling merrily away behind her. The heat coming off of it was faint but warmed her back somewhat and the light it gave off allowed her to make better sense of her surroundings. Himawari lay with her missing eye closest to the ground and her hair obscuring her vision in its curtain.
Still she did her best not to move again when she noticed the flickering silhouettes moving back and forth against the cave wall.
She watched the shadows dance back and forth for a time with her heart in her throat. Against the contours of the cave, the shadow puppetry looked almost demonic, as if from some play about a horror story. One meant to chill the bones and freeze the heart.
I'd say mission accomplished.
If there was going to be any chance of getting out of this then she needed to keep her cool. There was no way she was going to let these bastards see how close she was to breaking down.
Sasuke would come for her. He had to, for the alternative was too horrifying to think about.
She couldn't hear the shinobi around her (the Silent Step had earned their name) but she could hear the traces of them. The faint rustle of cloth on skin, the crackle of the various campfires, for there seemed to be more than one and farther away, and the muted sound of metal being sheathed and unsheathed as they checked their gear and weaponry.
"I know that you are awake little lamb so stop pretending." The voice growled in her ear as a light steam accompanied the words and washed over her.
Upon hearing those words, the young Hyuuga momentarily forgot her plan of defiance. Her throat closed involuntarily as she choked in terror and she could feel her stomach tighten and bile fill the back of her mouth.
Rolling onto her back, her chains clinking as she did so, Himawari came face to face with her captor.
It was him.
The monstrously sized shinobi who had been there to capture her when the trap Sora had led her into had been sprung.
Up close she was able to take in his features in all their grisly detail. The breathing apparatus she had once assumed to be just some sort of mask was so much more than that on closer inspection. The mechanism seemed to extend into the ninja's throat. In fact, it seemed as if the device had replaced most of, if not all of the man's throat.
She could make out the glint of metallic coils and pistons in the device, working even now as the man breathed.
This close to him, Himawari could observe so much more than she had imagined. The faint unhealthy yellow tinge to his skin just barely visible in the dim light, the subtle gurgle at the end of each breath and the red veins in his dark eyes.
What's wrong with him? He looks ill.
The more she studied him the more she felt her courage and resolve return somewhat to her. The large ninja seemed content to stand over her and wait for her to make the first move. Swallowing thickly, Himawari decided to oblige him.
"I'm going to kill you." She promised darkly. Coming from a young girl's lips she had half expected him to laugh her off. A short time ago she wouldn't have believed it of herself either. But a lot had changed since then and she now had plenty of blood on her hands.
The Note of Oto must've seen it too for he studied her with something akin to wariness shining in his eyes. After a few more moments the giant simply grunted.
"You are a dangerous one, aren't you?" The metallic tinge to his voice sent a shiver down her spine but Himawari made sure to keep her composure.
"You have no idea." She hissed. Batou regarded her for another moment before rising to his full height, the top of the sedge hat covering his head grazing lightly against the ceiling.
"I'm afraid that you won't get the opportunity to fulfil that promise." Turning away from her, the man strode to the entrance of the cave, just a few feet away on the opposite end of the campfire. There were a few other fires in the cave around her, each surrounded by a dozen or so Silent Step shinobi and, craning her head, Himawari could see the glow of fires against the evidently night-time air beyond the cave entrance.
"What are you talking about?" Himawari asked, twisting and pulling at her restraints whilst Batou's back was turned to her.
"Tomorrow is your last day on this earth." Batou answered, not deigning to look at her. His attention seemed to be fixed entirely on something outside, beyond her capabilities to see.
"He will come for me." Himawari spat, continuing to test her bonds. It was no good. No matter what she did it felt as if she were only draining herself. There were no obvious keyholes that she could see.
How did they even get these on me in the first place if there's no opening?
"No." Batou's voice was pure ice. "He won't."
"You're wrong." Himawari hissed, fighting her restraints. Despite her best efforts the metal proved unyielding and the effort exhausted her to such an extent that blackness crept into the corner of her vision.
What the hell is wrong with me?
This was the wrong thing to say as the monstrous ninja spun around and stormed over to her, kneeling down and catching her chin in a vicelike grip.
"That washed up excuse of a ninja is dead." The man hissed, the sound like rain hitting a fire. "I made sure of that, put an arrow in the meddling fool myself."
"He's not dead." Himawari shot back fiercely, keeping eye contact with her abductor. "It'll take more than you to kill him."
"You're living in a delusion girl." Batou snorted, letting her go and moving to stand at the cave entrance once more. "No one is coming to save you. Not the Uchiha, not your village and most certainly not that annoying gnat you call a father."
My father?
Making to surge to her feet to demand answers the young girl instead found herself unnaturally pulled to ground once more. As if some unholy force had grabbed hold of her chains and yanked them to the ground. The best she could do was sit upright.
Anything further was met with extreme resistance from the invisible force.
Sucking in a deep shaky breath she turned her attention to her shackles and examined them more closely.
Examining her fetters Himawari noticed various characters etched into the metal. The runes emitted a soft blue glow that strengthened in intensity the more she struggled. Frowning, Himawari channelled the faintest whisper of chakra through her hands.
The moment she did so the glow of the runes turned to a dull red. There was a strange sucking sensation and Himawari let out a gasp as the chakra she reached for was drained away. It was almost as if the runes etched into the metal were sucking her reserves dry.
Eye wide with panic, Himawari shifted backwards on her behind until her back came into contact with the cave wall. She held her arms straight and away from her body, staring at the shackles as if they were cursed.
Knowing what she did of the world, Himawari found that she couldn't discount that possibility.
What kind of restraints are these?
"I wouldn't keep trying to escape like that if I were you." Batou grumbled glancing back at her, dark amusement shining in his eyes. "The more you struggle the more you drain yourself. So long as those chains are intact, you're going nowhere Hyuuga."
Batou let out a wheezing chuckle before turning away, motioning a Silent Step shinobi over, offering the giant a scroll.
Himawari ignored him and shoved more chakra through her veins, straining against her restraints with all the strength that she could muster.
The more chakra she harnessed the more intensely the runes glowed. Eventually the runes flashed bright scarlet and blinding agony lanced through her body, turning her blood to lava.
"Uchiha." Himawari hissed after hawking a bloody gobbet off to the side. She had bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.
"What?" Batou drawled distractedly as he read the scroll presented to him and dismissing the ninja with a growl and a flick of the hand.
"My name is Himawari Uchiha and I will not allow you to kill me."
"Get some sleep girl. Tomorrow is your last day on this earth." Batou repeated.
Despite her best efforts Himawari had been unsuccessful in her attempts to free herself or escape her captors. The cold, hard iron of her chains proved unyielding to all attempts at removal. Whenever she tried to move too far or too fast without aid from Batou or one of the other ninja, she would sink into a state of exhaustion from which she couldn't move without risking unconsciousness. She kept trying until eventually she pushed it too far and the blackness consumed her.
The second time, Himawari found herself able better able to handle the pain when the runes flared and instead contained the pain behind a face of restrained agony and muted grunts. Batou had observed that with narrowed eyes and had taken to keeping a closer eye on her at all times.
That's right you bastard. This is going to be the longest night of your life.
"You're being paranoid." Batou growled suddenly, loud enough for Himawari to hear and she cocked her head, straining to listen to the conversation.
It had been a few hours since her last attempt and Himawari knew that she was running out of time. It would be dawning soon and then they would move again.
And if Batou is to be believed then it might be my last dawn.
The thought frightened her more than she cared to admit. With great difficulty Himawari locked down the rising panic and focused on Batou's words.
Paranoid about what I wonder?
Batou was talking to someone in hushed tones by the campfire. A woman by the sound of it but Himawari didn't want to risk giving herself away by turning over and confirming the suspicion. They had been talking softly for a while now, the sounds of their conversation too low for her to make out the words. All she could hear was the murmur of conversation and the tap tap tap of Batou's great horned bow as he drummed its end against the floor.
Something the woman said had upset him though as their voices rose just enough for Himawari to make them out and the tap came to an abrupt end.
"Am I? Did you see a body?" The woman hissed.
"I hit him with my arrow. No one could have survived that." Batou countered his sentences punctured by the rasp of his breath and the accompanying puff of smoke.
"Are you sure about that? If anyone could survive it would be the Uchiha."
"He's dead." Batou insisted with a growl, emphasizing his point with one short rap of his bow against the ground.
"We should have made sure."
"There was no time. We are already cutting it close enough as it is. The ritual is tomorrow! If we miss it then there will be no other chance. It will be an entire generation before the stars align again." Batou's words grew louder with every sentence, the anger unmistakeable.
"Then perhaps it is best that we miss the chance. If the risk is such as it is then it may not be worth it." The woman retorted, seemingly unafraid of the bigger man.
"Be careful of what you say next. It smacks of treason."
"If Sasuke Uchiha did survive then he poses a serious risk to the Master's plan." The woman insisted.
"How many times must I say it? He's dead!"
"And if you're wrong then the consequences could be devastating." The woman's next words were full of censure. "The Master is not ready to draw the attention of someone so versed in our ways as Sasuke Uchiha."
"If he were to rejoin the Leaf then the war may take a turn in their favour." The woman continued when Batou chose not to reply. Those words proved to be a catalyst though as Himawari heard Batou get to his feet, his hat scraping against the ceiling as he did.
"Over one ninja? Preposterous!" He snorted derisively and Himawari heard the sizzle of something being added to the campfire.
"He's their best military commander and their deadliest fighter. If the rumours about him are true then he was the one who restructured the ANBU and ROOT."
"Then it's a good thing I killed him isn't it Motoko? Else we'd have to rely on your shitty disguises."
Motoko opened her mouth as if to reply before the sound of an explosion filled the air, the interior of the cave lit up for a moment.
Himawari sat up sharply even as the large man let out a roar, his breathing apparatus distorting it to such an extent that, at its peak, it became so high pitched that Himawari had to cover her ears and wince.
An attack?
"Another goddamn attack?!" He spat, the sound ending off with a crackle of static. With a puff of steam, Batou turned towards the entrance and stormed outside.
"For the Hokage and the Leaf!" A voice cried out, followed shortly by the sounds of battle joining outside of the cave.
Definitely an attack.
Motoko cursed and glanced towards Himawari's bound form.
"Fuck it all! You lot with me. You two! Watch her!" The woman finally spat before sprinting outside with a squad of black-clad silent warriors, the rest hanging back briefly, as if the order had not quite resolved itself in their minds.
They're like puppets most of the time.
The air was filled with the sounds of clashing steel and the hiss and crackle of jutsu being unleashed. The power of such techniques caused the walls of the cave to light up in a myriad of colours and the ground beneath Himawari trembled with the sheer power of it all.
It was beautiful in a strange kind of way but Himawari couldn't afford to be distracted. The remaining Silent Step inside the cave drew their weapons and rushed outside to join the fighting at Motoko's repeated insistence.
Now's my chance.
With a curse, Himawari attempted to struggle to her feet, doing her best to ignore the weighted sensation of her unnatural shackles.
So long as I don't channel any chakra I can at least move.
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than her chains glowed blue and the weight of her bonds increased. With a grunt and a yelp, Himawari crashed to her knees. Her vision began to swim and the taste of bile made its way up her throat.
With a strangled gasp Himawari fell forward, bracing her hands on the ground to steady herself just in time to vomit.
Himawari couldn't help but grimace as the taste of acid filled her mouth.
Guess it has been a while since I last ate.
The thought was not a comforting one. She was starving, exhausted and it felt as if the cursed shackles were draining her very essence.
To hell with this. I am not staying here.
Gritting her teeth, Himawari crawled forward on her hands and knees, ignoring the black spots beginning to form at the edge of her vision as loss of consciousness threatened.
She must have made it two feet before one of the remaining Silent Step kicked her in the side, causing her to collapse to the floor with a gasp of pain as fire lanced up her side.
Of course I forgot about the guards!
Berating herself, Himawari had barely caught her breath before another vicious kick aimed at her ribs wrenched a scream from her lips and forced her to roll over onto her back.
Both of her remaining captors stood over her, kunais in hand with their dark eyes full of menace.
Well…
Himawari thought as the pain in her ribs slowly subsided.
That's a clear warning if I ever got one.
Not that it mattered of course. She would never stop trying to escape. Himawari sat up and glared at the one who assaulted her.
Nothing on this damned earth is going to stop me from escaping and finding Sasuke.
Himawari spat into the shinobi's face.
Oh boy was that the wrong move
Understatement of the century as the bastard's buddy grabbed hold of her by the throat and kept her pinned while the bastard himself leaned in closer, kunai in hand and drawing ever closer to her remaining eye.
Himawari couldn't help but to let out another scream of terror as the blade drew closer, until it was all she could see. That pointed edge filled her entire world, it became her entire world.
The kunai stopped an inch from here eyeball and remained there. After a few moments Himawari let out a shaky breath. The threat was a clear one. If she tried to escape again, if she even so much as moved in a manner that the two ninja didn't approve of then they would take her other eye.
Fuck that.
To stay was to die. She would not be some gentle lamb led to the slaughter.
As Himawari prepared to sling her manacles at the shinobi's face, a scream erupted from her lungs instead as a kunai lodged itself first inside her captor's skull and then his partners'.
The breath promptly left her lungs as the dead man's weight bore down on her.
She could not see anything, the dead shinobi's form covering her entirely even as she struggled and writhed to get loose. The man's weight was crushing her and breathing soon became difficult.
"Udon, wait!" One of the shinobi behind her saviour cried out and Himawari found she had just enough time to blink before she discovered the sharp point of a kunai inches away from her remaining eye, it's edge gleaming dangerously in the firelight. The man holding the blade was dressed in dark blue with a green flak jacket and wore the roundest pair of glasses Himawari had ever seen. Behind him were a group of four more similarly clothed men and women.
That's the second time I've narrowly avoided becoming blind in the space of a minute.
"Who are you!?" Himawari wheezed through straining lungs, her hand clutching her chest. The new people ignored her as they continued to scrutinize her form. Unable to move thanks to the shackles, Himawari felt her spine stiffen as she took in their headbands. Sasuke had the same symbol engraved into the one he wore on his hip, though his bore a line through the sigil.
Almost robotically, the man stepped back from her whilst another came forward to heave the dead Silent Step off of her and to the side.
They're Leaf ninja.
"Look at her face." One of the women in the back whispered.
"Kami above…" The one poised over her now with kunai still in hand stood stock still. His eyes were wide with shock and, slowly, he lowered the weapon, his hands shaking.
"I almost…" Udon croaked.
"It's her." Clarified the same kunoichi as she moved forward, her arm outstretched to take Himawari in hand.
The fate of Hyuuga bastards is death or worse.
Himawari wasn't sure why that thought crossed her mind but it set her on edge and decided her next course of action.
Clenching her teeth so hard it hurt her jaw, Himawari prepared to resist.
"You made the last mistake of your lives coming here Leaf scum." An all too familiar voice growled darkly. Himawari only had time to register that same menacing mechanical breathing and the looming shadow at the entrance to the cave before her whole world turned black.
For a moment Himawari thought that she had fallen unconscious again but the next few seconds quickly dissuaded her from that possibility.
The fire had been suddenly extinguished and the darkness was interrupted time and again by the sparks of weapons striking and the flare of ninjutsu filling the cavern with bursts of light and heat.
Unable to move because of her bonds, Himawari curled up against the still warm corpse of the Silent Step ninja, protecting herself as best she could from the maelstrom of violence filling the space.
"Udon!" The same kunoichi from before roared even as the shinobi at her side fell to the ground with a thud and a piercing scream.
"The mission's changed, get her out of here! Now!" The kunoichi managed to say before joining her companion with a gurgle. As if something had sliced her throat open.
Himawari closed her eye and kept it shut tightly, as though it would help to block out the screams of the Leaf nin being slaughtered. She let out a gasp as she found herself suddenly hoisted over the shoulder of someone.
"It's okay my lady." It was the same voice. The one belonging to the ninja called Udon.
The next thing she knew they were moving so quickly it felt as though they were flying. There was a deep dark roar and, for a moment, Himawari felt something grab her by the hair, clutching it tight. Himawari couldn't help but cry out as she felt some of her hair rip loose.
"You're not getting your hands on her you bastard!" Another voice cried out and then there was sound of something thick and solid slamming into flesh and bone and Himawari suddenly found herself free of the grip which had imprisoned her.
Her eye shot open, adjusting instantly to the gloom and was able to make out the huge, menacing form of Batou, his arms outstretched toward her, being held back physically by two Leaf nin. Other than them and the one holding her called Udon, the rest of the Leaf shinobi had already fallen.
"You will not escape with the sacrifice!" Batou hissed, his red veined eyes narrowing dangerously. Himawari let out a squeal as the big man suddenly lumbered forward grasping for her despite the men holding him back.
"Go!" One of the ninja yelled, his partner simply grunting with the effort of trying to keep the monstrous Sound shinobi pinned in place.
Thankfully, Udon decided not to waste any more time and the next thing Himawari knew they were outside.
The Oto camp had become a warzone with ninja fighting ninja both in the shadows and the open firelight of the camps.
The black garb of the Silent Step vastly outnumbered the Leaf ninja and the numbers were beginning to tell. More and more Leaf shinobi were being overwhelmed, disappearing beneath a black tide of Oto nin.
Himawari didn't have time to observe much else as Udon made a break for the treeline and in moments, her vision was obscured by thick vegetation.
Her stomach heaved as her newest abductor leapt into the air and made his way into the branches of the trees, bounding from limb to limb at a speed which left her head spinning.
"Do not worry Lady Himawari." Udon huffed, his voice strained.
He knows who I am!
The thought came as such a shock that Himawari was certain that, if she were standing, she would have lost all strength to stand.
Her thoughts raced around inside her skull and she found herself squirming in Udon's grip, words forming on the tip of her tongue. Words to ask a question but she wasn't even sure what the question should be.
Who am I?
How do you know me?
Where are my family?
What happened to me?
Why did no one come looking for me?
But before she could speak the words she heard the cracking of wood. Looking behind Udon from her position over his shoulder Himawari let out a strangled cry.
Batou had already found them. It seemed that the sacrifice of Udon's comrades had bought them barely a minute before the monster found them. Himawari could see the puff of smoke emanating at irregular intervals from his breathing apparatus and the yellow glow of his skin.
Despite his bulk, Batou was gaining on them quickly, his every leap shattering the limb of the tree he left behind.
Himawari tried to warn Udon but her voice failed her.
In the end it seemed unnecessary as she heard Udon beneath her letting out a string of curses that would've impressed a sailor.
Udon was breathing hard, his whole form shaking beneath her and Himawari could see that the soles of his feet were encased in a dull blue glow. Every jump left behind an imprint of his boot and a momentary flicker of what looked like blue flame.
He's using his chakra. Himawari realized, watching in sick fascination as the Leaf ninja used his own energy, pouring his very life essence some would argue, into trying to move faster.
It was a desperate move and a valiant attempt but with every leap and bound, Batou drew relentlessly nearer.
Soon the inevitable happened and Himawari watched with a strange sense of acceptance as Batou got within reach of them. He was so close now that Himawari, were she able, could've reached out and touched him. Instead all she could do was lie there like a limp ragdoll and observe helplessly.
"I'm so sorry my lady." Udon gasped a moment before a gargantuan fist slammed into his back, his spine shattering to pieces. Himawari was thrown from his shoulder by the force of the blow and the two of them began to fall to the forest floor.
I'm sorry too.
Himawari's fall was not gentle, and she found herself thrown bodily into the trunk of a tree. Her vision went white and blazing pain shot through her forehead as it collided with the ancient timber. She hung there for an instant, suspended with blood pouring down her face, before gravity took control and her descent continued.
Himawari was caught roughly a moment before she collided with the ground but she didn't notice. The blackness had rushed forth to reclaim her once more.
HI NO KUNI- FOREST OF FIRE (LATER)
It all ends at the end.
The words kept turning over and over in his mind. The words the High Priest had spoken to him wouldn't leave his thoughts.
It was like a half-forgotten memory. An answer half remembered.
Sasuke bit back a groan as Kamui hit a dip in the road, aggravating his wounds. With great difficulty he had managed to follow the Sound forces' trail westward, back toward the border. Since he had begun tracking the kidnappers, Sasuke had made liberal use of the various poultices and healing herbs he had in his stock of sealing scrolls. He grimaced as he recalled the agonizing process of sewing a cut closed as Kamui bobbed up and down along the path.
While he had enough to ensure an eventual full recovery, he was running dangerously low on supplies and his chakra levels were nothing to brag about either.
He followed the trail along the road until the sky went from azure blue to burnt orange as the sun began to set. As the light faded, Sasuke blinked, his eyes switching from obsidian to scarlet and he continued to follow the trail.
Kamui was tiring fast and Sasuke knew that he couldn't keep up the pace for much longer.
"I know girl, I know." He murmured to her, leaning forward to pat the side of her neck reassuringly. Just as he was about to pull over to give the both of them some much needed rest, the trail left the roadside entirely and went into the brush.
North… into the great forest.
Cursing under his breath the Uchiha dismounted and took Kamui by the lead. His stubbornness bid him follow the trail for a few more minutes. He couldn't have gone more than a couple hundred feet before he heard the rushing gurgle of a stream.
Convenient. I'll make camp by the water.
It took only another few minutes to reach the stream. It took less than that for the smell to hit his nose and for his lips to thin grimly.
Blood and death. I've become too familiar with that particular scent.
After letting Kamui drink her fill from the river, which mercifully seemed to be untainted from the source of the odour, Sasuke took the time to unsaddle her and Kamui let out a snort before wandering to a spot of open ground nearby where the grass was soft. The horse sank to the forest floor with a whinny of relief and immediately closed her eyes.
With grim determination the Uchiha went off in search of the smell, keeping the river to his left as a landmark.
The farther he walked the stronger the smell of death, blood and decay assaulted his senses. His Sharingan, still active, flitted from left to right as he came upon a small rocky plateau with a cave formation built into the side of a nearby hill facing the river.
There was a battle here.
Large swathes of the forest floor had turned from lush, vibrant green to dark, dirty crimson and there were broken blades and scorch marks all over the small plateau.
The remains of campfires and burnt tents were in abundance. Sasuke took note of all the minute details, his Sharingan blazing, as he made his way deeper into the site.
There was a lot of blood.
But there were no bodies. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he surveyed the cave entrance. Even at this distance he could hear the buzzing of the flies, the smell of burnt flesh and the stench was enough to turn even his stomach.
I was wrong. This was no battle.
Steeling himself, the Uchiha made his way up and into the cave. Covering his face with his sleeve to try and alleviate the overwhelming odour and the lingering traces of smoke, Sasuke's eyes widened as he took in horror before him.
This was butchery.
At the back of the cave, stacked up as high as the ceiling would allow were a pile of bodies. Their limbs blackened, shrivelled and twisted by the pyre that had consumed them. Their mouths drawn open into silent screams in some horrible mockery of life.
This wasn't the first time Sasuke had faced death but even he struggled to recall horror such as this. His Sharingan picked up all the grisly details, accentuating the gruesomeness of the mass grave. From what he could tell, most of the dead had been thrown onto the pyre post-mortem.
But a few had not. They had been fed to the flames bound, gagged and probably screaming. Clenching his teeth so hard he was worried they might break, Sasuke turned away and deactivated his Sharingan.
Taking a minute to compose himself, the Uchiha turned back. Then he began looking for a body that might belong to a child.
It was horrible. Unthinkable. But if Himawari was one of those bodies he had to be sure. The only way to do that was to check as thoroughly as he could.
With grim determination he stepped forward, only for his foot to make a soft clink as it connected with the ground rather than the expected slap of sole against rock.
Looking down Sasuke saw the source of the sound.
A pile, much smaller than the corpses in front of him. A pile of small square strips of metal.
Crouching down, Sasuke picked up the piece his foot had collided with and turned it over. The sigil of the Leaf stared back at him, a long and dark line running through the symbol.
Someone took a blade to this.
Inspecting the other hitai-ate, Sasuke began counting.
Thirty-two.
Thirty-two shinobi of the Leaf had perished here. All of their headbands defaced in the same manner and left here as… what? A warning?
Hate.
Hate was something that Sasuke knew well and he could feel it now, stirring quietly in his gut but rising with every breath he drew. Gathering the headbands into his arms, Sasuke made his way outside and back to Kamui.
He retrieved several bundles of cloth from one of his storage scrolls in the saddlebags and, almost reverently, wrapped the headbands and sealed them away taking note of the names scratched into the back of each as he did so.
Hitomi
Mizuki
Suki
Kiryu
Raito
He did this until the very last headband had been sealed away for safekeeping, committing the names to memory. The next time he encountered a Leaf nin he would relinquish them to be returned to their families and have their names and that of their families etched upon the Memorial Stone.
As he put the scroll back into one of the saddlebags, Kamui nickered nervously in her sleep next to him. Calming her with a few strokes, Sasuke found his gaze sweeping outwards toward the treeline.
It all ends at the end?
Suddenly, without warning, the answer came to him and Sasuke laughed. It wasn't a laugh full of humour but rather one bordering on the hysterical.
Kamui opened one eye gazing her master warily but otherwise the horse did nothing but let out a snort before falling asleep once more. When the laughter finally died, Sasuke found himself bent over, hands on his knees gasping for breath.
Something about the carnage he'd discovered had dredged up the memory.
It all ends at the end.
This must be some form of cosmic karma or Kami was looking down from the heavens and laughing at him.
There was only one place that Sora could've meant by what he had said. Only one place that made sense. A place that the Uchiha was all too familiar with.
The Valley of the End.
It was the only place that made sense. The only place...
Why does everything always come back to that damned valley?
Kamui snorted in her sleep again. That or she was letting him know that he was being too loud. Either way the sound made Sasuke lift his head and when he did he stilled.
I missed something.
Moving back to the plateau Sasuke scanned the area even as the sun set low in the sky, casting everything in golden orange.
There!
There was a trail of absolute devastation leading into the treeline on the side of the battlefield. Setting his shoulders and his Sharingan blazing once more, Sasuke followed the signs.
It was as if a tornado had swept through a small section of the Great Forest. Tree limbs and trunks lay everywhere, shattered and broken. Deep craters in the shape of footprints had been left in the earth as if a giant had cracked the earth with every step.
Sasuke followed the path deep into the forest until he could no longer hear the rushing of water.
The trail led to a clearing. Not a clearing made by nature, but one created by the force that had swept through the green. The destruction didn't concern Sasuke anymore though.
The body of the ninja in front of him did.
The man lay against a tree, broken down to a stump at a height just above the shinobi's head. His legs were covered in a carpet of leaves so thick that they could've been mistaken for a blanket. Even from this distance Sasuke could tell that the man's injuries must've been excruciating. Long shards of bloody bone poked up beneath the carpet of green, now burnt orange, capturing what remained of the man's legs.
He's still wearing his headband. Guess he was number thirty-three.
Letting out a small sigh Sasuke moved closer and knelt next to the shinobi, reaching out to undo the headband and put it with the others he had collected.
"I'm sorry this happened to you brother." Sasuke murmured as he deftly undid the ninja's headband, laying it on the ground beside him. He would bury this fallen ninja. It was the least he could do. A simple earth jutsu should suffice.
I think I have enough chakra left for that.
The next thing he knew, Sasuke stood up in shock as the ninja opened his eyes and let out a cough, spraying blood over the front of Sasuke's shirt.
"K-K-Konohamaru?" The ninja gasped. The man stared up at him with glazed, unfocused eyes through a pair of broken spectacles that had somehow survived his trauma. Suddenly the shinobi's chest heaved and shuddered, and he began coughing again, blood spurting from his lips with every breath.
Glancing at his chest, Sasuke grimaced when he saw the ribs poking through the dying man's shirt.
Cursing Sasuke reached behind his waist and retrieved a small water canteen. Dropping to his knees and uncorking the container with his teeth, Sasuke lifted the canteen to the ninja's lips.
"Here. Drink." Sasuke commanded even as he placed his palm against the ninja's breast. Sasuke winced as he forced himself to channel what he could of his remaining chakra into the dying man's chest, moulding the energy into healing chakra as he did so.
"Thank you Konohamaru." The ninja whispered weakly, drinking what he could of from the canteen but most of the water slipping out of his mouth to dribble down his chin.
He thinks I'm someone else.
"You take care of me 'Maru." The man slurred, more blood than there was water now spilling out and down his lips.
"You've always taken care of me." The man continued even as Sasuke felt his frustration mounting. The healing technique wasn't working, the damage was too severe. At best he was just delaying the end.
"I'm no good when it comes to taking care of people. To saving them when they need to be saved." Sasuke informed him quietly. The man was delirious, thinking Sasuke was an old friend or mentor perhaps. The Uchiha didn't have the heart to disillusion him now.
The man continued as if Sasuke hadn't spoken.
"I was so close 'Maru." The man's eyes grew glassy with unshed tears as he looked aimlessly at a point over Sasuke's shoulder, unable to even move his head. "I was so close to being the hero in our team for a change."
"You were always a hero." Sasuke told him quietly even as he withdrew his hand from the shinobi's chest and unsheathed a kunai. "From the moment you put on that headband."
Tears flowed freely down the ninja's cheeks and Sasuke readied himself. All it would take is one, quick strike. The man wouldn't feel it and then it would be over, he could rest with all the other ninja who had given their lives for the Leaf.
"I was so close to saving the girl." The man whispered.
Sasuke's heart stopped for a brief moment. The hand clutching the kunai froze and the Uchiha simply stared at the dying shinobi.
"It hurts 'Maru". The man whimpered, eyes fluttering closed with pain and the tears increasing in volume though he did not sob.
Letting the canteen drop to the ground, Sasuke picked up the headband and looked at the name etched onto the back.
Udon.
Something about the name struck him as fleetingly familiar but he didn't dwell on it. He couldn't.
"Udon." Sasuke called softly and the shinobi's eyes fluttered open again, but he did not meet Sasuke's gaze.
"What happened to the girl?" Sasuke asked unable to keep the desperation from his voice.
"I-I- I failed her." Udon whimpered brokenly. Sasuke pressed on regardless.
"Is she still alive?" He demanded forcing himself not to care for the other man's pain until he got an answer.
A long moment of silence passed before Udon replied.
"Yes. They took her 'Maru. They took her North."
In spite of it all, Sasuke couldn't help the wave of relief that washed over him. When Udon groaned in his agony that wave dissipated all too quickly.
Cupping the back of Udon's neck gently, as if cradling a newborn, Sasuke whispered a quick prayer to Kami.
"It's time to rest now Udon." Sasuke informed him softly. A look of relief flitted across Udon's face as he closed his eyes.
"Hey Konohamaru?" Udon said softly, his words slurring more and more. Sasuke grunted to signify he was listening.
"My ring?" Udon questioned. Looking down, Sasuke noticed for the first time the small silver band on the ring finger of the shinobi's right hand.
A wedding ring.
Wordlessly, Sasuke lifted Udon's hand and removed the ring.
"I have it with me brother." Sasuke told him and Udon let out a small sigh when he did.
"Make sure she gets it won't you 'Maru? Make sure to tell Moegi that I died as I lived. Loving her with all my heart."
Sasuke promised him he would as he slid the blade home and Udon closed his eyes for the last time, a small smile on his face and his wife, Moegi's name on his lips.
Wow... sad stuff am I right?
Well I hope you guys enjoyed that. I am only envisioning about between 4-6 chapters left before this story is done!
I hope you guys enjoyed it so far and if you have any comments please help me out by leaving a review. It would mean so much to me to hear from you guys even if it's just a thumbs up or down.
Anyway I'll make sure to type up the next chapter soon.
Until next time
Those Who Are Lost Chapter 22: Need For A Hero