Fixed a missing chapter.
Kaoru and the other villagers were still slashing at the wheat when Atsuko snuck in.
"What happened?" Kaoru hissed when Atsuko joined her with a scythe. "Where have you been?"
"I found the other member of my team. He's safe, but he's injured."
"What happened to your face?"
"Blame their leader. For some reason he doesn't think I am who I say I am."
Kaoru frowned. "This isn't the time to be flippant. If you push Kei too far, he will kill you. I've seen it happen."
"Is that why there are no young people in this village?"
Kaoru's stroke froze mid-swing.
"I know he has power over you. It's why you and your people are still alive.
"He didn't kill all of them." Kaoru's voice was quiet and filled with pain.
"Did they manage to escape?"
She shook her head and finished cutting the swath in front of her. "Wheat isn't the only resource our village has."
Another resource? Atsuko pulled up everything she'd seen as she swung her own scythe, managing only to bend a few stalks. Something that required young, strong people. The only escapee she knew of was the young girl that had managed to find her way to Konoha to beg for help. Something besides wheat.
"A mine?"
Kaoru shook her head, but offered no other information. That was odd.
"Why can't you tell me?"
Several emotions crossed Kaoru's face. Pain? Regret? Pride? Fear?
"Please. If I can find where they are, we can rescue them. At the very least it might give me something I can use against this guy."
Swinging the scythe with a bit too much vigor, Kaoru's swatch bent like Atsuko's. She growled at the stalks. "If it were to get out, our main source of income would be gone. We've gone to great lengths to keep it going without dealing with competition or saboteurs. Somehow Kei found out about it. That's where everyone is." Angrily, she tried to cut the swatch again, managing only to mangle the stalks.
"You know I only have your village's interest at heart. I don't need to hear about any secrets you want to keep, except where they are and how the leader is taking advantage of it. I want you to be free to do whatever you were doing before they arrived."
With a sigh, Kaoru threw down the scythe. "Silk-weaving. There is a cave where we've bred worms for generations. They make a silk unlike anything else. It must be kept secret. The leader intends to keep it for himself, but if we rise up, he will kill everyone harvesting and weaving, and reveal its existence to the world."
"How did Kei find out about it?"
"He came for the wheat and while 'questioning' some of us learned of its existence," she said. "I thought ninja would be able to save us, but I think we'll just have to wait until he's done with us and hope there's something left to salvage." At her last word, she threw the scythe on the ground and took a shaking breath.
Atsuko grabbed her shoulders and turned her so they looked each other in the eye. "Don't give up, Kaoru. Things may not have gone well, but we came into this blind. I haven't given up yet. I won't give up." Her lips curved. "I've known some stubborn shinobi from Konoha and I have no intention of letting this guy get away with it. Just hang in there. Your people will be free and your secret safe."
Kaoru didn't look convinced. "But how? You've brought attention to yourself by escaping and freeing your friend. They'll be looking for you."
Atsuko shrugged. "So what? I can outsmart them. But I'll need your help. I know you want to protect your village. Have whatever weapons you shared among the villagers."
Kaoru narrowed her eyes. "What are you planning?"
"I'm not sure yet, but you'll know when." Her grin deepened and Atsuko felt a fierce pride swell in her chest. "You will be free again."
Skepticism and concern faded on Kaoru's face. She relaxed under Atsuko's hands. "All right. I'll get the villagers armed as best I can. Don't expect much."
"I understand. If you are willing to fight for the survival of your village, we can do this."
Kaoru nodded. Shouting erupted from the direction of the village. Atsuko glanced over Kaoru's shoulder and saw guards emerging from the forest. "On that note, I think it's time I get lost. Be careful, but don't lose hope." Throwing her a confident smile, Atsuko ran out of the field, scooping to pick something off the ground, and sprinting into the forest.
Taking a circuitous route, Atsuko bypassed the main guard force on the opposite side of where she'd left Gisuke and came up behind them. Ten of them, waving spears and swords, were loudly making their way to the field. Pressing her fingers together, Atsuko made a clone of herself. The clone glanced at her, nodded, and headed into an unoccupied portion of the forest, crashing through bushes, leaves, and branches. The shouts changed and most of the guards headed off. The real Atsuko slipped into the village, hiding behind a hut immediately before any other guard saw her.
She worried about Kaoru and the villagers in the field. They would be the first to feel the fist of the thieves as they searched for Atsuko and any who would have aided her. The clone would hopefully give them the impression that Atsuko was running away, not hiding among the villagers. However, the range on her clone was not long and it was fragile. Any damage, and it would immediately vanish. Not for the first time she wished someone would teach her the shadow clone technique.
Still, her chakra was dented from making the clone and she still had plenty of work to do. Most of the guards were still in the village, although their patrols had changed since Atsuko's escape. Maybe it hadn't been at the most opportune moment, but looking back she was glad she'd had the strength to do anything at all. Confidence and the willingness to stand up had been difficult to learn, and still was. Something burned in her chest and she knew that if she just kept moving she could do this.
Yukina was up ahead in the main hut. Plenty of guards stood in plain sight, and she suspected more were just out of sight. She could jump the distance between the huts, but they'd notice immediately. Another clone would work, but she needed to save some chakra for later. Everything she had would be put towards getting Yukina out and she still had to face more guards and the mysterious Kei. After that, they could regroup and maybe have enough time for her to regain some of it back while Yukina figured out how to get rid of the thieves.
Well, no time like the present.
Atsuko sprinted around her hut, heading towards the central one. Someone spotted her immediately and a slew of spears, arrows, and knives exploded in her direction. Training all those hours kept her reflexes sharp, and she dodged every single one, simultaneously noting the position of each guard. Reaching into her shinobi pouch she'd retrieved from the field, she tossed kunai knives back at them. Each one hit home - an arm, a leg, a shoulder. She aimed to injure and incapacitate. She wasn't ready to kill just yet.
Five guards were down, and as she crossed behind the main hut, more appeared. Some gave her a double-take, likely realizing too late she was the one who had just recently been under their care. Her supply of knives was not infinite, though, so she retrieved all the weapons thrown at her as best she could. The knives she threw back with ease, but her skill using spears was poor. She accidentally caught one in the neck and missed three others. Three more came within arm's reach and she swiftly knocked them out of commission with some well-timed punches and kicks. Still they kept coming.
It felt like she'd been fighting for hours and fought each guard in the village three times over before no more guards came. Trembling in fear or waiting for an ambush probably. No wonder Kaoru was losing hope. With the lull, she found herself out of breath. Well that was disappointing. She'd have to work more on her stamina if she managed to get out of here.
At this point, she had a choice of where to go next. The hut, her destination, had one main entrance - the wooden doors through which she'd been brought before the leader just the day before. She could try to break in through the thatched roof and call the leader out. All of her choices risked a trap. They knew she was coming for Yukina. They'd have to be absolutely brain-dead not to. The question was what they were going to do about it. Threaten Yukina? Most likely they'd spring an ambush inside the hut. How best to counter it? Running the possibilities through her mind, she picked one and walked up to the door.
Grasping the handle, she pulled and stepped back out of the way. There was a loud thump, a pair of grunts, and a crash. Then a spear flew out to land in the ground outside the hut. Peering around the door, Atsuko saw darkness and the same flame. Just in front of the door a pair of guards sat on the ground rubbing their heads. When they saw Atsuko, they grabbed their spears and attacked her, screaming as they lurched to their feet. She dodged and wove between the spears, snatching one out of their grasp and proceeded to beat them over the heads.
Faint whistling from the rear of the hut gave her pause and she just barely got her chakra shield up in time to block a cloud of knives thrown by the guards she could see clustered around the leader's chair. Apart from a rapidly beating heart, she felt uncharacteristically calm. This was a nice feeling. She hoped it lasted.
Another wave of knives and spears flew at her. Catching one of the spears, she spun it rapidly, knocking all the other weapons aside. Keeping her eye on the guards, their shapes coming into focus as her eyes adjusted, she reached out to her side without turning her head and pulled out two knives with each hand. Settling back into a balanced crouch, she paused, connecting her breath to her fingers. Then she threw them. Four grunts followed by four thumps as the guards fell. As a spear launched towards her face, she grabbed it, spun, and when she faced them again threw it. A fifth thump, and then nothing for a few moments.
Then someone started to clap.
"Excellent!" Kei said, his enthusiasm sounding genuine. "As I expect from a true shinobi."
"Do you know a fake one?" Atsuko asked.
"You'd be surprised how many people claim to be trained ninja. In my experience, it's best to test them out first."
Atsuko's stomach clenched. "I'm guessing I passed?"
"Indeed. Come see your friend, girl. You've earned that much."
Cautiously Atsuko relaxed her fighting posture.
"Come. I admit the traps you've eluded so far have been child's play. I don't wish to trap you just yet."
Trembling, Atsuko reminded herself that she was here for Yukina. She was walking into some kind of trap, maybe not one that would snap close now, but she was not in control of the situation. She had to learn the edges of the trap in order to find an escape.
She took one stiff-legged step, then another. Passing the fire, she stood at the base of the stairs leading up to the chair. Yukina's form still lay still, dark in the dim light. Atsuko looked up at the chair into Kei's eyes.
Black orbs glittered gold in the firelight. Seeing the grin on his face, Atsuko shivered. His calm demeanor and absolute confidence despite the fact that Atsuko could attack him left her with a cold fear. Alone and unarmed, her life was in his hands and she had no idea what he was going to do with it.
A hand waved casually down at Yukina. "She lies, waiting for her rescuer. Don't disappoint her."
Atsuko approached and knelt by Yukina. Her face was calm and so still she seemed to be inanimate. Just enough pink to her cheeks told Atsuko she wasn't dead. Bringing a hand to her cheek, her skin was cool. Sliding her hand down to her neck, she felt a steady if slow pulse. Under her eyelids, though, Atsuko saw her eyes darting back and forth as if in an intense dream.
Closing her eyes, Atsuko took a breath, feeling the pulse of her friend beat steadily under her fingertips. "What did you do to her?" she asked quietly.
"That is irrelevant," Kei replied. "What is relevant is that you have injured a good number of my people in order to get to her." His voice carried a sort of curiosity. "What lengths might you go to save her?"
"I suggest you don't find out." She didn't know herself. "What do you want? Clearly it's not just control of the village, or you would have eliminated us from the start."
"I may not have been certain it would work."
"You didn't even try. You seem unconcerned about the lives of your people. You throw them at me like they throw knives - if one lands on its target, then so be it. The rest fall where they land."
"I'll admit my strategy wasn't terribly clever. I didn't know what I'm dealing with." She could hear the grin in his voice. "I think I do now."
"Oh? And what have you learned?"
"You are the weakest on your team. You are not used to being the leader, to making the decisions. You rely on others to tell you what to do and where to go. That is why she was the bait. She was supposed to be the one whirling through my village like a twister, not you." He paused, then, "Ah. I see. The boy was part of your team as well. Naturally. Shinobi tend to work in teams of three or four, I believe."
The utter calm arrogance of the man froze Atsuko to the spot. He'd figured out everything. Even knowing he'd had something up his sleeve, now in his clutches, the old familiar fear crept in. She shouldn't have been the one to rescue everyone. He was right - she was the weak one. Yukina couldn't help her. Gisuke at least was free, but so weak and injured that he couldn't help. She was on her own. Again.
He stood, the chair creaking under him as he crossed to Atsuko. Long thin bony fingers lashed out, wrapping themselves around her throat. Kei slammed her against the wall, her feet swaying as he held her up. Her lungs immediately pulsated in panic, trying to draw in fresh air. She clawed at the fingers.
As the lights started to dim, colored spots appeared at the edge of her vision.
"Sir?" a voice said. A familiar one. It wasn't one of the guards.
"What?" growled Kei.
"Please."
Atsuko began to relax. So tired.
The pressure around her neck that she'd forgotten about vanished and then her world crashed. Pain exploded across her body. Her lungs took a massive gulp of air. It rushed down her throat, but it wasn't quite right and she exploded into a fit of coughing. She lay back as the coughing spell tried to continue, but she didn't want to move. Just lie here and rest.
"Why are you interrupting? Get back out there. We had a deal."
"Yes, we did, and this wasn't part of it. Please."
Her fingertip started to tingle. There was something she had to do. Something pressing. She had to get up. Why? What could possibly be more important than staying still? The imperative didn't fade. In fact the more she fought it, the stronger it became. Get up, it said. Get up and fight. Don't give up. Get up now.
The part of her that craved sleep and rest didn't seem as desperate now. She had to get up. Something called her. She had to move. She started with a finger. It brushed something. What was her hand touching? Moving her fingers, she felt fabric, then flesh. Yukina. She'd landed next to her. Then she remembered everything.
Reaching, she placed all of her fingers on Yukina's cheek for a moment.
Yukina took a deep breath.
"What have you done to her?" gasped the first voice in angry shock.
"Just playing." Kei. A wave of hot anger radiated across her body, but she instantly cooled it. Not now.
"This has been a mess from the start. You keep getting greedy. Why can't you be satisfied?"
"With a farm?" he laughed. "How could I possibly be happy with this? This is nothing."
"But look at what lengths you go to keep it."
Atsuko took a deep breath, ignoring the tickle in her throat demanding she cough. It seemed pointless. With a grunt of effort, she rolled onto her side, then pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her eyes, adjusted to the dark, saw the speaker and identified the voice immediately.
"Kaoru?"