Chapter 33
Battle Between Wolves

The winds turned colder.

As they walked beside each other in the fog-ridden desert along the Land of Lightning's coast, their eyes scanned for their foretold enemies. Reminding herself that her katana was at her back, Nomasaki was prepared to engage in battle at any moment. Edō Tensei was a terrifying harbinger, a jutsu forbidden for near a century by the man who created it. It was said the Second Hokage regretted formulating the seals, creating a legacy of anguish and torment in the living and the dead. The Sannin Orochimaru was said to have used the jutsu against the Third Hokage during Konoha Crush, binding the souls of the First and Second Hokage to the corpses of his own men. And now there was an unnamed foe pulling the strings from the shadows, summoning the dead to battle the living. The winds picked up as they continued further, with the presence of war and bloodshed echoing in the distance from the father and daughter team who scoured the land for the resurrected adversaries.

"I'm surprised you became a Suna-nin like your old man," Kyō smirked to himself, absorbing the irony of her fate. His worn eyes locked ahead into the mists. "My daughter… the assistant to the Fifth Kazekage, and a jonin to boot! Why was it that you left Yama? I've heard scattered reports of a disaster, a great destruction... was there any cause?"

Her eyes narrowing as they strayed to her side, Nomasaki kept on her path. Flashing before her eyes, she remembered that horrid night of fire that plagued her memory and nightmares like a curse. The haunting site of her flaming homestead was forever burned into her mind and the feel of the freezing frost of the treacherous mountain path – and her blood boiling as she became a beast. As she briefly allowed the memory to flash before her eyes, she recalled the gleam of the armor-clad invaders. A snarling monster was etched on the breastplate before the licking red flames of murder, standing over the frightened girl in the snow. Averting her eyes, she blinked away the scars.

"The entire village was destroyed by mercenaries from Ishigakure four years ago, they were missing-nin led by a man named Kōgen... who was slain my Gaara-sama and myself while we travelled to the Land of Claws." She replied. "Hanone and I fled the attack, but we're unsure of any other survivors. We were told there were ones scattered across the tundra and other lands. I came to Suna because I could sense chakra coming from that place, when I... fled the mountains. I have no village to go back to, but I've chosen to stay in Suna… where I could have a fresh start."

"I see." Kyō nodded once, closing his eyes in a stoic yet empathetic nature. "It's just as I feared, then. The rumors were true, after all… And what of Hanone? I understand he was Mikomi's summon, but is he now passed to you? Where is he –?"

A chakra pulsed through her senses.

Here he comes. All her senses could feel was pure aggression from his strong chakra. Slightly alarmed, she whipped her head towards the source, catching a glimpse of the glistening white fangs that shone through the shroud of mist. Before them with a mighty crash against the sands, a growling white flash separated the two. Hanone's towering stance was arched in pure rage. With lips curled and tail raised, the vicious sounds from his snarling muzzle ripped through the humid air.

"Get away from her, you bastard!" The large wolf growled, his claws breaking the earth apart beneath him with ease. His jaws conveyed their desire to attack the man before him, snarling in their hellbent fury. "You sand-bastard! I'll rip you apart right now where you stand! I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do! Kyō!"

In an instant, a hilt was cracked from its sheath and a wolf prepared to take leap onto its prey.

Kyō readied himself to deal with the raging monster himself. Snarling with wolfishness marked on her expression, Nomasaki appeared before the white beast with arms held out to block his approach, her fangs revealed through her gnashed teeth. Catching her in his sights, Hanone's claws dug into the earth as he stopped himself from striking the orange-haired man behind her who eyed him carefully with his blade. "Out of my way! I don't need you to be involved in this, Nomasaki... This is a matter between myself and this wretched waste of a human!"

"Hanone! Stop!" She ordered. "It's alright! He's family!" Solidifying her stance, she shot him a glare as the wolf inched forward. "Don't! Not a step closer, I swear on my life! I mean it!"

Begrudgingly, Hanone halted his offensive and his arched back eased. Her expression was unmoving – determined, stern, and near as monstrous as his. She chose which side she stood on, her beastly violet eyes proved it to him. His ears flicked back onto his head of white in submission, reminding himself that he was her summon and guardian. As he licked his snarling muzzle in disgust – dismayed but obedient. "You... How dare you act against me! You know what this man did to your family - your mother!" He snarled. "If you don't have the strength to do it... then I will!"

"I chose not to!" She shouted. "I chose not to take revenge! I changed my path, and I forgave him."

Hanone's muzzle curled into a deep growl. "What?!"

Clutching the sheath of his katana, Kyō relaxed his grip from witnessing the feral exchange between the two wolves. Hanone hasn't changed a bit, he thought to himself, his hand trailing from his katana to his side, At least I know Nomasaki was in good hands…

Once everything was calmed, Nomasaki turned to the beast, her eyes pleading and disappointed all at once – containing her bewildered anger and confusion. "Hanone," She began, her voice quiet as she averted her gaze. Meeting the wolf's eyes, the hurt and anger etched its way onto her expression. "Why did you… lie about my father? He told me everything – why he left, why he did so – everything. What you told me that day about my father… it was all a lie."

Looking down at her feet as she could sense the jolt from his paws on the ground below, she remembered the day he told her everything – shortly after she completed the Chunin Exams three years ago, he told her as she proclaimed her desire to be a full-fledged shinobi. The knife twisted in her heart the more she recalled the tale of the man who viewed his wife and child as monsters. The more she thought of it, the more she thought of the sting of betrayal – as if a stiff dagger pierced through her chest with each word. It must have been similar to how Gaara felt about me spying, she thought. Holding in her emotions, she held her head high to face the beast before her – her lilac eyes narrowed in brisk seriousness. "He never thought of my mother or myself as monsters... Never! He left to protect us!" She felt sorrow creep its way into her throat, her angered and stilled voice choking back her rising anguish. "What did you have to gain from keeping the truth from me? I could've found him years ago! He is my family!"

Glancing down at the stern-faced human before him, Hanone peered down at her with his yellow eyes drawing a blank – examining her state of confrontation with hidden amazement and admiration for a backbone. "Nomasaki," He started through his jaws. "There's certain things about your people you don't yet understand. What I've done… was all for the clan's sake. I lied about your father not just for my distaste in the desert-folk, but to protect you."

"What do you mean?" She barked. "Protect me from what –?! My own father?!"

"The Yamamori are gone… all but you," Hanone continued, stepping closer to her, making her jolt slightly in response. "I lied in the hopes that you would abandon Suna for your homeland… in my selfish sacrifice for the clan's faint future." The beast's eyes seemed near mournful. "Your people have come from a long and proud line... with a Kekkei Genkai that is near as ancient as the Sage of Six Paths himself. My kin of the Wolf Clan have long since been hunted by humans... but you are a fragment of what remains of our ancient clan. You are forgetting that you are a half-blood… born of your mother Mikomi and this sand-bastard of a man who stands behind you." A subtle growl escaped his lips as his eyes narrowed towards her, eyeing her stunned and blank expression within his view. "I was worried your days in Sunagakure would provoke you to leave your past behind... and make you turn your back on your destiny. You cannot forget where you've come from or the blood that flows in your veins. You are the last wolf and you belong in the north!"

Her eyes glistening, she looked up at the wolf wide-eyed – hurt. "Hanone... How… could you?"

"Your father was a sand-bastard and will die a sand-bastard... I don't want history to repeat itself – mark my words…"

Kyō stepped closer. "Hanone-sama, please listen to reason–,"

Hearing the crunching of footsteps coming towards him, Hanone arched his back in a threatening stance, snarling wildly towards the approaching man. "Don't tempt me... unless you favour your death sooner than you wish, bastard!"

"Hanone, stop! You have to let this go!" Nomasaki shouted, jumping before him – blocking his path towards her father. Her eyes calm with tearstained sorrow and forgiveness, she gave the beast a pleading glance. "I did, and so should you."

Scoffing in disgust, Hanone stood straight from his aggression, growling to himself in silent anger. "It seems my efforts were for naught…" He remarked to himself, averting his gaze away the girl and her father. "You've become too much like them..."

Perplexed by his choice in words, Nomasaki stood in silence before the beast. "Hanone…" She murmured. Turning towards her father, she took notice of the Allied Forces headband on his forehead. "Are you part of the Fourth Division as well?"

"Yes," He answered with a nod. "I was tasked with scouting for those strange enemies, the ones resurrected through the Edō Tensei."

"I see," She said. "I…–," Suddenly, the winds picked up around them, gusts blowing across the barren land before them, throwing dust and dirt into the once mist-filled air – blocking out the sun from their view. Jarring her, an eerie presence trembled through her core – alarming her instincts instantly from its familiarity and fear. "What's going on?" She questioned, shocked. "I feel… a chakra that was once… dead." As she turned towards the dune in her vision's reach, her eyes widened. In the distance before her, she saw a white wolf watching her with stern-like lilac eyes. She began to shiver from the sight, hoping that deep down it was a mirage, but something was telling her it was indeed real.

"I don't know if you feel the same way, Nomasaki," He started, glaring at the wolf in heavy sorrow-filled suspicion. "But I can't sense any living chakra within this being. It's the Edō Tensei."

Reaching for the handle of his katana, Nomasaki looked on in fearful shock, her senses confirming her worst fears were true. Jarring them both, the wolf drew closer at a walking pace. Within their reach, the decaying creature paused before them, letting out an eerie death-laden howl as it transformed into an indescribable shape.

"I'm sorry to meet you again this way…"

As they looked on in contained shock, only a distance away stood an elegant and feral woman with long flowing white hair and piercing lilac eyes. Her red kimono was dull in her state of decay, and her sclerae of her eyes dimmed the once notable vibrance of her strange but mesmerizing light purple eyes. Keeping her emotions in check, Nomasaki gulped at the sight before her – her mother, resurrected by their unknown masked enemy.

Mikomi of the Yamamori clan.

"Mom…! But… why you…–?"

"It…! It… can't be! It's not possible!" Kyō stammered, frustratedly as he stood in contained shock. "Mikomi?!"

Standing idly behind the two Sunagakure shinobi, Hanone gave a subtle snarl from the sight of his previous master riddled with the constricts of summoning and decay. "The enemy has no force on its own, so they resurrect fallen ninja. How disgusting!" He spat through his fangs. "Surely they have no business desecrating the graves of our honored clansmen… especially that of your mother!"

"I wholeheartedly agree, Hanone-sama." Mikomi spoke, ever so gently. Her lifeless eyes closed halfway in her immortal exhaustion. Turning her attention to the young kunoichi before her, she examined her emotional composure from a distance and her attire on the battlefield – slightly surprised by what she saw with her greyed eyes. Looking down, she gave a light smile as she closed her eyes in relief. "Nomasaki… I see you're dressed as a Sunagakure shinobi… Never had I expected my own daughter to become a ninja, rather a kunoichi."

"Why resurrect you? I don't understand!" Nomasaki shouted, her eyes holding back her sadness from her loss with dignified might. "You weren't… a shinobi–?!"

"She was once," Kyō spoke, looking straight ahead at their resurrected enemy. Jolting, she turned to him. "She may not have been a shinobi of Yamagakure, but she went against their customs and trained herself in the ninjutsu of her clan. Women were forbidden to become shinobi in that village, forced to remain healers, teachers, or wives. Your mother was the sole living member of the Yamamori clan in the Land of Mountains and mastered the arts of her clan regardless of the laws of Yama. She guarded the mountain forest alone from the shadows… no one could catch a glimpse of her, the wolf who bounded through the cover of frost…"

As he reflected to himself as he stood across from the shell of a woman before him, his eyes narrowed in hidden sorrow – remembering their past lives together. While stationed in Yama many years ago, he came across the mysterious woman clothed in red as if by a chance encounter – the only man who could find her within the vast holds of the mountain forest. At the end of his duty every day, he would wait by the forest's edge for the wolf to draw near, until she emerged a golden-haired woman and told him her name. As if hypnotized by her elegance and serenity, he was smitten instantly – proposing to her at war's end and moving into the large winding tatami house with her on the snowy hill – fathering their only child and leaving them shortly after the birth. His eyes cleansed of memories, he locked eyes with the decaying woman.

"Nomasaki, stand your guard! She possesses your Kekkei Genkai and wind-release!"

Suddenly, Mikomi's arm began to quiver. That moment, a long black-bladed sword was withdrawn from her flowing sleeve – poised to attack. Quickly, she dashed towards them in ferocious speed. Sensing the approaching threat, Nomasaki withdrew her blade and blocked the oncoming slash of steel. The sound of sharp blades clashing filled the air, as if in a chilling nature. As pressure from their two strengths built up, they both distanced themselves on the battlefield.

"It seems as though my summoner is commanding my body to fight!" Mikomi shouted. "Please, defeat me! At once!"

Seeing her father drawing out his weapon from the corner of her eye, Nomasaki turned back. "Father, Hanone!" She started. "Please, get back!" Surprised by her yell, Kyō's hand flinched on his blade while Hanone stood silent, his yellow beastly eyes analyzing the forthcoming battle. Facing her shelled mother, Nomasaki narrowed her eyes, a serious glint entering to shield her fear and past sorrow. As she tightened her grip on her katana, her fangs appeared within her mouth. "This is a battle between Yamamori!"

Nomasaki appeared before Mikomi in a swift dash, swinging her katana. Blocking it with her own blade, Mikomi defended against her attacks. Between blows, Mikomi grabbed her sword's handle, pulling it apart – revealing them to be dual-swords. After blocking and defending against each other's bladed attacks, Nomasaki weaved several hand-signs in a quick fashion as she dodged a slice of the blade's air.

"I see you're using what Hanone-sama taught you…" Mikomi stated, forming the same hand-signs. "Very impressive!"

"Wind release! Forceful gale!"

Suddenly, the two wind attacks clashing before each other, the vast slices of torrential wind pounding against the terrain – creating a small crater on the desert battlefield. Sensing an opening, Nomasaki formed more hand-signs. "Earth release! Desert wolves!"

From the confines of the earthy terrain at their feet, beasts of sand and earth sprawled out from the cracks in the ground – dashing towards Mikomi at a violent speed, their glowing yellow eyes boring into their target. As the wolves of sand approached her, she kicked them away, throwing a punch at one behind her with a left hook. As one approached her from behind, Mikomi closed her eyes and shook her skin as she could feel the little control she had over her new form slip away – lunging towards the oncoming attack with fangs barred and claws sharp. Ripping apart the sand creatures with ease, the towering white wolf with strong limbs and large jaws snarled and bit at the beasts of sand that lunged towards it. Mikomi was a fully-grown wolf at death, rivalling the legendary sizes of the direwolves that lurked in the distant Land of Frost. Her ferocity was just as fearful.

From the corner of her narrowed beastly eyes, a white wolf smaller than she suddenly dashed towards her, jumping onto her back and gnawing onto her decaying fur. Nomasaki. Out of the cover of fog, she leapt for attack as the wolf blood in her veins boiled in haste. Swinging forward, the two white wolves lunged at each other, rolling in the sand, thrashing about as they snarled and exchanged blows with their barred jaws and kicks – their harsh yelps and barking echoing in the mist-filled landscape.

It felt as if hours had passed...

Switching back and forth from human to wolf, they fought violently while Kyō and Hanone stood idly by – witnessing the two Yamamori cast wind, water, and earth release attacks at each other. Between the slashes of blades, they would morph their arms into that of a beast, slashing with sharpened claws between blocks. The battle was taking a toll on Mikomi's husk, each attackleaving a more defined impression on her decaying and greyed body. Small cuts were onNomasaki's flak jacket and on her face, with tiny specs of blood on her cheeks, and her Allied Forces headband was dirtied and scuffed, glistening in the faint light of the early morning. Standing on her two legs, she stood across from her enemy with a glare, coughing up a tiny amount of blood and wiping it on her black sleeve.

"Wind release! Summit Storm!"

Alerting her, looking up she seen her mother – tears in her decaying husk – with her fingers positioned into a menacing hand-sign. Suddenly, the winds around them fell dense, striking her direction with more force than she could imagine. Quickly, she held her hands out before her, forming hand-signs for the same jutsu – knowing full well her earth-release would not stand a chance. "Wind release! Summit Storm!"

In an instant, the massive spirals of violent air clashed into each other – flattening the terrain around them and cutting their arms with faint scratches as the winds flickered blindly around them from the source of impact. Solidifying her stance, she pressed her hands forward, gritting her fanged teeth in her struggling strength – remembering how similar it was to the last time she countered an enemy as strong, and what her enemy did in combat. Widening her glare from the risky idea, she stomped her foot into the ground, slashing her hands across the wind with a loud yelling howl – causing Mikomi to lose her footing from the force, her body tearing at the arms from the dissipating violent winds. Clapping her hands together, Nomasaki eyed her mother with her shinobi mantra shielding her emotions.

"Earth release! Four-walled prison!"

Rumbling the earth beneath her hollow body, thick pillars of the desert earth rose from the sands, surrounding Mikomi and slamming together, preventing her escape and recovery. Panting slightly from the overuse of her chakra, Nomasaki could sense that the battle was not yet over, dreading her further capabilities. If she used wind-release, her mother would counter, and if she used earth-release, her mother could break through it. All she had left was water-release, her third chakra type and the newest skill she had – although shaky at times of execution. Narrowing her eyes at the earth prison ahead of her, she knew she was running out of options.

"Nomasaki!" Her father shouted far behind her. "You must finish this quickly! We need to seal her away –!"

"No! We must not interfere!" Hanone interjected, whipping his large snarling head towards the human beside him. "Doing so is a violation of clan law! When two wolves fight, the rest of the pack need not get involved!" Looking on at the battle at hand, he knew the end was still out of reach – his senses could feel Mikomi's decayed chakra resonating within the earth prison waiting to escape.

Wincing, Nomasaki could feel a muscle tearing in her calf, grasping it with her hands lightly – a side effect of countering the strong wind jutsu earlier. Suddenly, she froze, sensing a dense chakra begin to form across from her – the earth prison was shaking. In an instant, the winds picked up once more, shattering the earth walls around Mikomi, who stood white-eyed and inhuman. Before Nomasaki could react, the wind struck her, flinging her across the desert ground, smashing into the sands at her back – knocked unconscious from the impact.

"Nomasaki!"

As she flickered her eyes, she could hear the sound of her father's voice yelling her name. Pulling herself up from the ground, she looked up at her resurrected mother who was completely at the will of the Edō Tensei master – her fingers forming another hand-sign for her powerful wind attacks. Her eyes widening as she realized her fate, she struggled to lift herself up in time.

But it was too late.

Time felt as if it came to a stop that moment.

A howl broke against the mist-ridden land, powerful and chilling. Witnessing the sight of the chakra that appeared, Nomasaki's eyes widened in sorrowful horror. As the wind release escaped her mother's greyed hands, a white flash appeared before her, dashing directly into the path of the jutsu. With his jaws barred with unrelenting ferocity, Hanone lunged directly towards their foe – his pearl white fangs glistening in the faded sun. As the wind struck his body and painted the air with a crimson haze, his jaws clasped onto Mikomi's frail and decaying body, ripping apart her head and arm from her decaying husk – devouring his previous master in a rain of red and white. Falling to her knees, Mikomi's lower half collapsed to the sands as the paper of her fleeting shell struggled to rejoin her form. She appeared to have burst from the seams, her red kimono shattered like glass against the greyed sands beneath. The papers swirled and rained down towards her shell, surrounding the great wolf as his weight fell upon the sands with a thunder. With jaws gaped open desperate for breath, the once proud white beast lay in a pool of his own blood.

"Hanone –!?" Nomasaki cried out, her eyes wet with tears. "HANONE!" Shocked and eyes wet from the sight across from her, she grit her teeth and dashed forward. She formed her hand-signs hastily, emotion clouding her judgement. "Wind release! Forceful gale!"

Swiftly, the remainder of Mikomi's artificial body was thrust away with the winds into the dunes. Desperately, Nomasaki ran to Hanone's side as he lay collapsed on the battlefield, his beastly jaws oozing blood at each breath as he clung to what little strength remained in his being. Her fingers trembled as she lay them upon his reddened fur. The familiar coat of snow-white warmth she knew and clung to as a girl was now a coat of death and crimson. Pushing herself to glance at his injuries, her gut twisted as she could see the outline of a rib. His body appeared to be covered in red tar, heaving at every breath through his nostrils and jaws. Death was waiting for him – she could already feel it on the winds.

"Hanone..." She uttered, patting his fur with her trembling hand. "Why did you…? Your injuries – they're mortal...! Why...?"

"I served my purpose to your mother… I protected you…" He said, weakly. Scoffing, he winced at his mortal injuries as he could feel his chakra slip away. "I was… a fool to try to change what was already set in motion… I was... being selfish... I'll admit that... I've lived almost eight centuries... I saw the clan rise, and I saw the clan fall... I saw you as a young girl, helpless as a pup... become a human more wolf than I could have ever imagined... My only regret is not being able to see what you will become in the future…"

Holding back tears, Nomasaki looked down, closing her eyes tightly as she could feel sobs rise into her throat. In only a matter of moments, Hanone earned her trust with his forgiveness, but he earned his death in turn. Sympathetically, her father stood by her side, gazing down at the dying wolf in understanding. Having only met the foul-mouthed beast a handful of times in the snowy mountains many years ago, he looked upon the beast with eyes unclouded.

"And you..." Hanone managed a weakened snarl. "I was... wrong for what I did... but I will always despise you, Kyō... I will take that to my grave..."

Staying silent, Kyō closed his eyes and gave a nod.

Her hands shaking upon his blood-soaked fur, Nomasaki hung her head low as the sobs forced their way into her throat. They swelled into her mouth, her tightly shut eyes running with streams of choked back tears. His chakra was fading from her senses, the chakra that once guarded her, protected her, taught her, pushed her forward - and it was leaving her forever. She could not bring herself to say her parting words to him. She never planned it, let alone so soon.

They were at war.

Feeling his breaths heave lighter and weaker each passing second, her eyes shot open in alarm as his breathing near came to a stop. Her eyes pleading, she gripped onto his fur tighter as his jaws eased on the sands.

Don't go, she wanted to cry out, Don't leave me...!

Please don't leave me alone... Please...!

But no words freed themselves from her throat.

Helplessly, she was sentenced to watch the last wolf of her clan die with his blood on her human hands. His chakra was fainter than it was, its light nearly gone out completely. Death was beside them, watching with patient eyes as the beast took his final breaths on mortal soil. His lungs grasped air for the last time as his chest heaved under her trembling hands. "Nomasaki," Hanone breathed, his voice fading. "Thank you… for giving me faith in you humans once again… Tell Mikomi… I'll be… waiting…"

As his final breath escaped his crimson-tinged jaws, the wolf's yellow eyes glazed over. His body fell silent on the red sands, his chest no longer raising. In a cloud of sudden smoke, the wolf disappeared by the dispelling of the Summoning Jutsu – bound forever by the contract of her clan.

And she was the last wolf...