Chapter 14
A Murder of Crows

Even as the night crept onward, the words Kenzō whispered in her ear tormented her.

Her eyes locked absently on the sand-ridden earth, she paid no mind to the happenings around her, continuing on towards the shelter of her apartment and awaiting its warm and unmade bed. In the last twenty-four hours, she sold her soul for the sake of duty – and the chance to see her forgotten and vanished father. But at what cost? She was to be Gaara's assistant as well as the key to his undoing. She was his spy. The thought twisted into the pits of her stomach, realizing the hole she dug herself into. She had only just become a jonin – appointed as the new Kazekage's assistant – and now she was tasked with repaying her 'debt' to that dissident in the council robes. If she were brave, she would have refused – but Kenzō had her right where he wanted her. She was helpless against him, his shadows too strong for her to escape their unknown eyes and ears.

Already she was worrying about Gaara.

Meeting him again for the first time in what seemed ages should have been a happy occasion for her, but now the meeting only brought her sorrow and regret. If only he asked someone else, she thought to herself painstakingly, if only she was able to live a normal life. But could she? Becoming a deserter of the village meant that she would be classified as a missing-nin, a 'rogue' ninja. She would then be hunted for bounty by the tracker-nin and possibly the ANBU as well. To make her case worse, she had a rare kekkei genkai – the wolf's blood circulated within her veins, the Ōkamitoko of the Yamamori clan. If she were to leave now, she was as good as dead.

Damn them, she thought – Damn them, both.

Reaching the crossroads towards her apartment's blackened alleyway, she felt a presence stumble in front of her from a passing sake bar. Red-faced and incoherent, two young men blocked her path with their drunken misadventure. From the sounds of it, they were seemingly kicked out of the shop, the booming voice of the shopkeeper threatening to summon the village authorities. Forcing her to come to a stop, the two men towered over her petite stature with grinning red faces as the scent of cheap alcohol stuck to their flak jackets. "Where do you think you're going?" One of them asked, leaning too close for comfort. "It's dark out, why are you by yourself?"

"Home." Nomasaki forced herself to say. "I'm going home."

The sight of them struck an unfamiliar fear within her. She could not only smell the alcohol, but she could sense their wandering glances. Their glossy eyes were looking her over smugly from head to toe, inching themselves closer to her cautious stance of timid fear. Never had she felt so intruded upon. One of them started to laugh, prompting her to hold a hand close to her chest to keep calm.

"From behind I took you for a boy… and here I see a girl!" The man awed, his words slurring. "How old are you, girl? Old enough to join us for a drink?"

She could feel her skin crawl.

They were certainly foul men, she thought.

In her near-sixteen years of life, she was luckily able to avoid any unwanted glances or intrusions to her sexuality – but that time had come to pass. Unlike her Suna shinobi attire and flak jacket that concealed her from the eyes of men, her simple kimono-like dress made her blossoming femininity more obvious. Although modest, the subtle shape of her small breasts and hips could still be seen from outside the fabric. She was boyish, she remembered – she was nothing to be sexualized – and she was underage. Why were they bothering her? Was it just her unfortunate luck of walking home the wrong path – or were they just predatory men?

She went with both.

"That's the foreigner, the wolf-girl." One of the drunkards said to the other, gesturing a wobbly finger towards her. "Just look at her strange eyes!"

"I have to admit," The other sneered, leaning closer. "For a foreigner, you're pretty cute."

Backing away, she tried to inch herself closer to the shadows of the alley. Drunkenly, the man closest to her tried to follow her, moving his body sideways to deter her from leaving. It frightened her to think that he might try to touch her. No, she thought to herself – she had to do something. At the back of her mind, she wished it was just the ones who bullied her those years ago, the ones who called her an inbred. And Gaara came to stop them. Her nervous eyes narrowed towards them, she pushed herself to grow brave.

She was a wolf, she remembered, and wolves devour fear.

"Stop it, now. You're scaring her."

"Ah, come on!" The closer one grinned. "I think she's cute when she's scared."

"Please leave me alone," She said once more, her eyes growing stern. Hearing her own voice clearly, she pushed her fear aside. "I just want to go home."

"Want us to walk you there?" The other inched closer, his hand reaching out. "The streets of Suna are dangerous at night, a young girl like you could be –,"

A growl suddenly ripped out from the darkness behind where she stood.

Keeping her expression calm and eyes unbroken, Hanone's monstrous head appeared above her. His muzzle was snarling towards them, lips curled and teeth barred while his beastly yellow eyes appeared as if daggers. Towering over his master, the great white wolf snapped towards the drunken fools. One of the drunkards fell onto his rear, trembling like a leaf in the winds.

"I have it handled on my own, thanks." She said, her expression unmoving. "Now leave."

"A w-w-wolf!?" One scrambled, lifting his fallen friend onto his feet. "Let's get out of here!"

Within a matter of seconds, the two drunken men ran off into the moonlit streets. As she watched the backs of their flak jackets disappear, she could hear one yell to the village guards, the other to the ANBU. The ANBU would be fools to help them – if anything, they should be helping her. Stepping forward, Hanone paused beside her. His muzzle was faintly snarling still as his black claws dug into the earth as he witnessed their escape.

"Want me to hunt them?"

"They're drunkards, Hanone." She replied, looking up to him with relief in her eyes. He had never failed to protect me, she reminded herself – she was forever in his debt. "Best to just leave them be. We can let the village guards deal with them."

As she sensed an approaching presence on the winds, Hanone arched his back in fury, barring his fanged muzzle while his tail prickled in preparation to strike. Placing a hand on his coarse white fur, she tried to calm him – and also herself. She had enough 'excitement' for one night, she thought, eager to return to the safety of her home. "Should I hunt these ones?" Hanone growled. "They're getting close…!"

"No," She answered, scanning the darkened and empty street before them with careful eyes. "But keep up your guard."

Soon after she spoke, the shadows of two shinobi leapt down from the rooftops before them. Standing, she could clearly see the shapes and carvings of their porcelain masks.

Tracker-nin – Kenzō's men.

Damn him, she thought, Damn him to hell…

Out into the glowing moonlight that danced in the skies of blackened night, the faces of their shrouds became clear to her. Owl and fox – those two she remembered clearly from the night she was cornered. Frail, afraid, and helpless, the tracker-nin sent by Kenzō found her. Trapped her. She clung to that false sense of freedom as tightly as she could, and she felt as if she were already being stripped of it after barely two years of her new life. They were not doing it from the bottom of their hearts, that was for certain.

They wanted her.

They wanted her Kekkei Genkai.

And they wanted Gaara dead.

Damn them all, she thought, her eyes narrowing as they stepped closer. Pausing before her, the eerie carvings of their animal masks sent a chill through her. Ripping a snarl through his vicious jaws, Hanone took one step closer as his master's hand tried to keep him at bay. Surprising her, the tracker-nin were unmoved by the large wolf. They were the first, then, she thought – but they should know they would be the last. The silence of the night air was broken by her wolf's snarling, his fangs gleaming in the moonlight as he fantasized about their heads within his jaws.

"Calm your pet, outsider." The vulpine-masked one said. Tojiru, she remembered was his name. "Or better yet – leash him."

"Why you…!" Hanone fumed, his white fur prickling down his back as he prepared to lunge. "I'll break through that mask with one bite, you pathetic human…!"

"Hanone," Nomasaki calmed, her expression stern and unmoving. "Please," Taken aback, the beast grunted through its flared nostrils, easing its stance as it silently growled beside her. It would not take its eyes off the tracker-nin for a mere second, the wolf's beastly yellow eyes boring into their animal shrouds. Barking under his breath, he leapt onto the rooftops, leaving the scene in a flash of furious white.

"We understand that Kenzō-sama has made his intentions clear to you," The owl-masked one spoke. "Is that correct?"

"Yes," She nodded, narrowing her glance towards them. "What of it?" Silently, they handed her a sealed scroll. Taking it from their palm, they disappeared into the shadows within an instant. Taking refuge in the darkness, she opened the parchment to read their message. Her eyes narrowing in suspicion, her fingers trembled on its paper – unsure of what to make of its contents.

"By order of Kenzō-sama, you're being moved from standard jonin training to the ranks of the Sunagakure Tracking Unit," Owl-face said, their tone cool and crisp as the night winds. "Tomorrow, you will embark to the outskirts of the Demon Desert and meet with our leader, Commander Moro. He will decide if you're worthy enough a shinobi to enter our ranks… and you will be able to serve Kenzō-sama as the tool he desires."

She furrowed her brow, suspiciously. "But what about –?"

"Kazekage-sama knows nothing," Tojiru interrupted. "And he should know nothing of this. If you reveal any of Kenzō-sama's plans, you will have your head mounted on a spike! Us or him, that's for justice to decide –,"

"Tojiru!" The owl-face snapped. "Enough!"

"She should know… we don't take kindly to traitors." The glare of his darkened eyes through the slits of his mask haunted her, chilling her from his mere glance that night. She did not know who was worse – him or his master. "You will continue your duties as his assistant," The owl spoke to her, calmly. "But you will answer first to the call of Kenzō-sama. Is that clear?"

Meeting his eerie owl visage, she felt the shadows surrounding her. They had her – hook, line and sinker. She had a choice – accept and see her father while Gaara may die – or decline and die a long painful death in the desert sands with the buzzards. She had a kunai to her throat since she arrived in Suna, it seemed – and now it was too late to turn back.

She was as good as caged in their eyes.

The bastards had their wolf.

"Yes," She answered, her eyes broken.

"I wonder if Moro-sama will accept you…" Tojiru mused. "He's a scorch-release user, so make sure you don't piss him off… much. Unless you want to be burned to a crisp."

His words left ashes on her tongue.

Damn him, most of all – she thought to herself. When the masked-men left, she felt empty. If only the drunkards were her only trouble walking home, she lamented. A restless night was ahead of her, that was for certain. Making her way into the shadows of the alleyway, she could sense Hanone on the winds. I should have let him attack, she thought.

Dawn broke.

She could feel the blinding sun strike her forehead protector, already the rays were scorching hot. Wearing her Suna flak jacket and black shinobi attire, she stood beside a large masked man upon a gorge in the vast desert, overlooking the site of a misguided voyager. The man was a giant to her, six feet tall and all muscle underneath the boiled black leather he wore over his clothes. A notorious figure in Suna that dwelled within the shadows, Moro was the respected and feared commander of the Suna Tracking Unit. Having served Suna for near thirty years, Moro was a man hardened by the shinobi code and the harshness of the desert. Among the few to have a Kekkei Genkai in Sunagakure, he was one of the only surviving scorch-release shinobi known to inhabit the village's walls. Even as she stood by him, the warning Tojiru gave her rang true. She could tell just by the feel of his chakra how much of a feared and skilled opponent he was.

He was as unbroken as iron.

Shuffled amongst the ranks to such an organization, to her it felt more like a death sentence. Much like the Sunagakure ANBU, the tracker-nin worked within the shadows of the village to protect Suna's authority – the only difference between the two being that tracker-nin specialized in manhunting and pursuing missing-nin, concealed by animalistic porcelain masks. In contrast, the Suna ANBU maintained the peace by patrolling the village limits and being assigned S-rank missions on the weekly – wearing turban-like face coverings that left only the glint of their eyes visible to their enemies.

If she were to have had the fate of staying in her mountainous homeland of ice, she would have no such sentence. The only sentence that awaited those in Yama who made the shinobi oath was border patrol, guarding the base of the mountain from an invasion that would never come. Pledging their service for the prime of their lives, the men who swore their honor to protect their settlement seldom left their posts – and women were not welcome amongst their ranks. Still, the women of Yama who dreamed of becoming kunoichi were allowed to practice their ninjutsu – but all had to abandon their hopes for servitude. Many became the teachers, the healers, and the foreseers, the name 'kunoichi' worn proudly amongst them.

Her mother was never such a woman to her knowledge.

Mikomi of the Yamamori was a just that – her mother.

Nomasaki wondered if she would have become a kunoichi after all, or if she would have remained the keeper of her ancient clan's homestead – or a farmer living a simple and quaint life. The fate that lay before her now was neither simple nor was marked with death. Cawing and squawking, dozens of crows flocked to the decaying corpse – their feathers blanketing the ground in a black shroud of death. Catching the stench of rotting flesh in the air, she covered her nose with her elbow – gathering all her strength to not become physically sick.

"Take it in, girl."Moro finally spoke, his voice husky and deep as he looked upon the corpse from above. Jolting her for a moment, she turned to him. Lifting his demon-carved mask from his face, it revealed an expression hardened by scars and burns. A ghastly visage, nearly more fearful than the grinning demon that was his mask. She felt herself flinch from the sight."This is your future. Anyone who swears the oath of shinobi will inevitably become food for crows. Death waits for no man… although this man was a criminal, so his death was imminent."

Holding back her gag reflex, she hesitantly moved her arm back to her side, her brow furrowing in disgust of the stench. Although her only heightened sense from being a wolf was her chakra detection, she was also sensitive to certain smells. Seeing the scars and burns upon his face was bad enough, but the scent of rotting flesh was far worse than she could have imagined. Attempting to shield her disgust, she tried a straight face and nodded.

"Y-Yes, sir."

"I take it Kenzō-sama convinced you to join the ranks of us quite recently?" He asked, turning to her. "I've heard of a foreigner with a strange Kekkei Genkai arriving in Suna but I didn't think they would show up to our headquarters undetected. You are indeed something else… and an interesting find. What is your clan, outsider?"

"Yamamori, sir." She nodded. "From Yamagakure."

"Is that so?" Turning back to the crows in the gorge, his dark eyes narrowed. "You'll find yourself among our ranks as a rookie. The path ahead will be difficult… but being that you were also promoted to jonin recently, it shouldn't be an issue."

Facing towards her, he solidified his authority in the earth at his feet – standing his ground as his menacing creature-like mask bore through her. The demon was resting on the side of his face, unmasked but yet just as resemblance to humanity was near uncanny, chilling her. She wondered if she would have to wear a mask just as frightening. "We also don't take kindly to traitors. We carry out our duties for the sake of Suna and its future… Any defiance from our commands and you will be persecuted faster than you can say 'wind'. Is that clear, outsider?"

"We don't take kindly to traitors"… the same words that Tojiru spoke the night before. As she met his dark gaze, she jolted from the sharpness of his words. Knowing full well she could not escape the fate that lay ahead for her, she swallowed her pride and gave a glance of stern understanding – her jonin training and experience shining through her glimmering violet eyes."Yes, sir."

"Good. I expect Kenzō-sama gave you that assignment to carry out, then?"

"Yes, he did."

Darkly chuckling to himself, he turned back towards the gorge and its remains – dismayed by her answer. "Damn him… he knows full well not to go over my head with these matters, but he does have seniority since he is an advisor. I see…" Turning to face her, he crossed his arms against the black leather that coated his chest. "The tracking unit tends to stay out of council-business but given the situation, it's best if it's kept top-secret. Remember, that we of the tracking unit serve Suna – we carry out our duties from the shadows of the outside. The ANBU serve Kazekage-sama and the village from the inside. I understand that you're his assistant as well, is that correct?"

Looking down for a moment in visible sadness, she averted her gaze. "Yes, sir." She replied, her voice low. "I was appointed after his nomination as the Fifth Kazekage… I started yesterday."

"I expect you to keep watch from the shadows. Make sure no one finds out about your assignment… especially Kazekage-sama. Kenzō-sama may have given you the order, but I will be monitoring your progress. We have our pride as the tracking unit, and that pride transcends some devious order from our head proxy. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Now then," He spoke, walking down towards the mouth of the desert pit. Donning his demonic mask of porcelain, the black feathers of the crows painted the lands, thrashing about in frantic hordes as he approached closer. "We'll be disposing of his remains…"

Accepting her duties, she soon followed and stepped into the realm of death and black, the morning sun blinding the against the sands as the birds flew above them in cawing distress.

Luckily, there were no buzzards.

She had no more room in her heart for bad omens.

Finding herself seated at a small dango shop with familiar faces, Nomasaki sat across from her teammates a former shell of herself.

Although the day was pleasant and the sun was bright with promise, the memories of the last few days haunted her repeatedly. Sleep evaded her, stress wriggled its way into her bones, and her lilac eyes appeared drained. Only a false soft smile was enough to mask her internal struggles, which played to her benefit. She did not want to burden Meiyumi and Shinto with her fears and conflicts.

Taking one of the colourful dango from the tray, Meiyumi snickered. "I can't believe you got hired as Kazekage-sama's assistant!" She awed. "First your surprise jonin promotion – now this! Honestly, you must have a neko hidden somewhere in your pockets and not know about it!"

"Thanks, Meiyumi." Nomasaki answered, fidgeting with her kimono's sleeve under the table as she tried her best to manage a smile. "I'm still trying to process everything, too."

Meiyumi frowned upon seeing her half-hearted efforts. "Well, at least don't look so glum." She chided, concerned. "You're Kazekage-sama's right-hand shinobi now! I know it's a bit of an adjustment but we'll always be Team Hashira." Placing the skewer back onto the tray, she gestured to herself humbly. "Take me for example – I joined the medical corps after the exams and now I'm barely able to get a full four hours of sleep every night. And Shinto is trying for the ANBU -,"

"Shhh! Not so loud…" Shinto hushed, cowering his hand over his face and watching for those eavesdropping. "I don't want any of the prospects to hear how desperate I am… I'm still in the application process for the normal troops…"

Giggling at him, she turned back to Nomasaki with an assuring smile. "But you get the picture, it's normal for our genin teams to drift apart mission-wise. But we'll always be a team no matter what – now turn that frown upside-down and let's eat our dango!"

Nomasaki took in her words. She was right in a way – she should be happy. But she was not. She felt the absolute worst. Wanting desperately to ignore the shadows the lurked around her in her memories and reality, she pretended for a moment that she was just another shinobi passing the scarce free-time she had to eat dango with some comrades. If only that were true enough to convince herself. She had only to keep up the charade for an hour, tops – then she could make a break for it. Putting on her best feigning glance of relief, she could feel the guilt swell into her heart as she gave a hesitant smile. "You're right – sorry," She said, taking one of the dango skewers in her hand. "It's nice to see you both, it's been so long."

"And now I have the feeling I won't see you for a while," Meiyumi sighed with a smirk. "You're going to be up to your eyeballs helping our new Kazekage-sama with all that paperwork he's going to have to do, now that he's been formally appointed… and the desert-gods don't know how well the council kept up with the piles left behind by the late Fourth Kazekage."

"Is that what you want, Nomasaki?" Breaking the fragile tone, the kunoichi's eyes glanced to Shinto. Averting his eyes out of spite for the mention of the name, his sharp tone struck Nomasaki unabashedly. Looking her straight in the in the face, Shinto's dark eyes narrowed while his expression slowly tensed. "Are you sure you want to be his assistant – to that jinchuriki? You know what he's like. He hurt you back then, remember? During that skirmish with the Ishi shinobi when he transformed… You have an uneasy look around you, what's wrong?"

Averting her glance in shame, she lowered her eyes to the hands she had shivering on her lap. "N-Nothing, it's nothing."

A lie.

The memory still haunted her, even more so the memory of Shukaku and its vile chakra as it pierced her white fur that day in a spray of red. She forgot she told Shinto about it – about that day in the forest of the Land of Rivers. How foolish she was.But it wasn't Shukaku I'm afraid of… it's my mission.Convincing herself otherwise was becoming a daunting and exhausting task.

Seeing loads of civilians and garbed shinobi hurrying to the streets, Meiyumi whipped her head to the sight. "Where's everyone going?"

"The Kazekage's inauguration ceremony is about to begin!" A shinobi paused to tell them. "Everyone's gathering in the plaza!"

Nomasaki thought her heart was about to come to a solid stop. Sighing with a smile, Meiyumi watched the shinobi dart off and pushed herself from her seat at their table "Looks like our dango will have to wait,"

"I'm staying here." Shinto huffed, sulking in his corner. "You can go without me, I have no interest in going."

A silence crossed them.

Accepting, Meiyumi nodded. "Alright. We'll be back soon, Shinto." Turning to her side, she gave her teammate a light smile. "Nomasaki, you coming?"

Snapping out of her daze, Nomasaki pushed herself to speak. "Oh… yeah, right."

As she stood behind the onlookers in the crowded plaza, their echoes of pride filled the air in loud bursts. Donning the traditional white and blue garbs, Gaara stood before his people as the Fifth Kazekage for the first time. Above on the rooftop of the grand mansion in the heart of the village, he stood with his siblings and council – all of them for the village to see. It had been two agonizing years for Sunagakure. Pretending that the late Fourth Kazekage was still alive was proving a heavy burden on their shoulders, with deaths mounting from inexperienced shinobi filling the gaps left behind those who perished in the ill-fated Konoha Crush. Thankfully to the council's relief, a son of Rasa and descendant of the Kazekage bloodline was groomed and primed to fill that role. Standing before his village as its leader, as the council announced his name there were already cheers echoing it across the sea of people.

She was truly happy for him.

She heard him tell his dream to her back then, and now his dream had become reality.

Despite the fullness in her heart, she could not bring herself to look up at him anymore. The guilt that swelled in her chest was proving too much to bear, her eyes saddening as she took her leave. Meiyumi failed to even notice until the ceremony was over – and her friend's space was left with a cold void. Disappearing into the back of the crowd, Nomasaki shook off her skin and bounded towards her home as a wolf once the coast was clear.

No one noticed her leaving, not a single onlooker – and she became one with the shadows…

While the moon rose into the desert sky that night, she could not find it in herself to sleep. The day's events had sealed her fate – and there was no way out in sight. Although she was happy to have been appointed as Gaara's assistant, she regretted the decision as she would also have to act as a spy for the council – an act she seen as a betrayal. Trying to admit to herself that as a shinobi she must follow every duty to the end, she failed to see the benefit from following the command – but then she remembered the consequences.

Banishment and possible death.

As she sat on her small faded couch that night, she could feel sleep slowly make its way towards her. Suddenly, her senses jolted – alarming her and interrupting her scarce comfort. Following the chakra's presence, she grabbed a kunai from her pack and made her way towards the window – slowly stepping in its direction in preparation for attack. As she made it to the open windowsill, her eyes widened slightly. On the open cavity of her window was a box – no one was anywhere to be seen or detected. As if in an instant, the presence vanished. Putting aside the weapon, she took the box and closed the window. Slowly, she lifted it open. Her lilac eyes gleaming in shock, she grasped its contents and held it before the moonlight that coated her apartment. In her hands she held a white porcelain mask adorned in red markings – its likeness carved to that of a snarling wolf.

Its muzzle barred towards her as she held it, she looked into the eyes of her new identity.

Notes: Commander Moro's name was inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's film Princess Mononoke (1998). His name (Moro, モロ) translates to "completely".

Tojiru, the vulpine-masked tracker-nin, carries another meaning. His name (Tojiru, 閉じる) means "to close".

When Meiyumi talked about a neko, she was referring to the fabled maneki-neko (招き猫). The maneki-neko are Japanese good-luck charms carved into the likeness of beckoning white cats, which are said to bring good-luck to their owners.