Chapter 43
A long time coming
Review Responses:
: I decided to have them all die because I've had surprisingly few named characters actually die so far, especially on the 'good' side.
EeveeTheImmortal: You're telling me. At a guess we'll reach the Shippuden time skip at around chapter 60-65. The Shippuden arcs will be put into their own separate story and lord knows how many chapters that'll end up being.
LandoCali: Ha! It actually does as well, I had no idea. I've always known 'Prodigal' as a word used to describe a person or persons as a prodigy.
Kaiokenkaizer: I have begun the early stages of planning out the 'remastered' edition of this fic that aims to rectify the many issues present, some of which you've highlighted. The early chapters especially suffer from these problems, whether it be poor character development, lack of storytelling for characters or borrowing too heavily from SoulReaperCrewe.
Ok, we're back. Would have likely been done last week but the tone of the chapter kept changing from more serious to lighthearted and back again so I had to reorganise this chapter and the next one.
"Do you remember her name?"
It was just five simple words, they were spoken in a calm and neutral voice and on the surface at least would appear innocent enough. But under the surface it was a very different story, behind Raven's calm demeanour was a storm of pent-up and barely repressed anger.
"What?" Gatō said in confusion. He had a large forehead, although you could attribute that to a receding hairline, speaking of his hair, it was long and a dull brown similar to the colour of dirt. He wore a small pair of circular glasses, the lenses were not much bigger than his eyes and were slightly tinted and his face in general was rather round.
"I said – Do you remember her name?" The strain was beginning to show in his voice, it was a little deeper this time, each word punctuated with a spike of building animosity.
The short man, dressed in a grey suit snorted, he presumed this guy was talking about Zabuza's dead brat, "Hmph, what does it matter? Haku's de…"
"I'm. Not. Talking. About. Haku," he cut him off, a small pause between each word as it became harder and harder to keep himself in check. "It's not Zabuza's runt? So how the fuck am I supposed to know who you're on about.?" He questioned in return, his tone carried utter indifference.
"Zabuza. Could you lop off a few limbs please." His eyes never moved from Gatō as he spoke to the missing-nin behind him. Zabuza took a moment to answer, he was taken a little by surprise, he wasn't expecting to be asked to start cutting people. Nevertheless he reunited with his sword and hefted it back onto his shoulder, "I'd be happy to," he said with a dark laugh.
Despite his injuries he was still more than quick enough to get amongst Gatō's mob, after all they were nothing more than civilian mercenaries and even that was a stretch.
Zabuza disappeared from sight, they all looked around nervously. A ripping, tearing sound was followed by "AGH!" as one of their number screamed. The others all span to face the noises origin, they were greeted by the sight of one of their own on the ground whimpering, his left hand clutched at the shoulder where his right arm used to be. Without knowing they all backed up, then they heard the second scream.
They all span 180°, a cascade of gasps and worried cries sounded. A second mercenary was on the ground, his left arm missing this time. It wasn't much but it fulfilled its purpose, Gatō's hired muscle were scared and on the brink of routing. Zabuza appeared back next to Tri, his sword in one hand and two detached arms in the other. He threw them both out into no man's land between the two groups.
"Zabuza. Those who run die last," Raven declared. The purpose of his words was clear, and it worked. To the Merc's, they interpreted what they heard as 'Whoever runs first has the best chance to survive. You stay – you die.'
They broke. Weapons were dropped as they ran, metal clattered to the ground as they tried to get as far away from the guy with the giant sword as fast as they could. None of them got more than thirty feet. Zabuza flickered in and out of them, streaks of blood flew through the air along with the occasional limb, several were cleaved clean in half. Kubikiribōchō was soon immersed in Iron-rich blood.
"Oh, it seems you've killed all of them."
"Yeah, my bad. But I've had a really bad day so far, sometimes it's difficult to restrain yourself, you know how it is. Besides, it made me feel better."
"Oh no, I understand perfectly my friend. Sometimes your feelings get the better of you and before you know it, everyone's dead." Gatō could only shudder, he could still hear the cries of the dying behind him.
"But you understand what killing off those who get in the way is like, don't you Gatō?"
"I – I…"
"But your words concern me," Raven again interrupted. "How deep and debauched must your crimes be that her name is lost to your conscience." The short man didn't reply, he was already terrified and was wracking his brain for who this masked man was talking about.
"I don't think he's ever going to remember if you don't drop him a clue or two. I presume he's responsible for the death of someone you knew, in which case, you're going to have to be far more specific," Zabuza suggested. Raven rolled his neck, "You're right."
He tore the mask from his face and threw it against the ground where it bounced it a distinctive sounding clatter. The Genjutsu around him dropped revealing the tomoe of his left eye spinning rapidly. Zabuza's eyes widened, he recognised the person standing next to him, he had mentioned him in a conversation he'd had with Haku not days earlier.
"Perhaps this will help narrow it down for you," he said as a folded piece of violet material appeared in his hand. Without the mask his voice was now undistorted, the emotion coursed through it.
Unfolding the material he threw it around his waist and tied the knot, he spun it a few inches to the right so the Jūnishi symbol was facing forward parallel with his thigh. "This narrow it down enough for you?" he asked heatedly. The colour drained from Gatō's face as he recognised the slightly modified Kanji for 'fire' – 火, that served as the symbol for the guardians of Hi no Kuni's Daimyō.
Suffice to say, Gatō remembered who specifically the Ninja was referring to now. He didn't even notice he was doing it but he was slowly backing away trying to get as great a distance between himself and them as possible but for every step he took, they took two.
'Damn it, damn it, damn it. Why did I antagonise Zabuza over his brats death? I might have been able to bribe him to kill this one off.' All around him his bodyguar – meatshields were dead or dying.
"You remember now, don't you," Tri asked in far too calm a voice to be genuine, his hands tucked behind his back. The constant changes of tone were confusing Gatō even more, then he tripped.
"Hey Rezano, how you feeling?" Kakashi asked as the first of his Genin was discharged by Sakura. "I'm alright – I think, my stomach really hurts though, can't remember why. What's been happening since… oh," Rezano's eyes fell on the body of Haku, his new friend was dead, but she had a peaceful, almost serene look on her face despite the gaping hole in her chest.
"She gave her life willingly Rezano," Kakashi said placing his hand on his shoulder. "Death is an inevitability for all Shinobi and she chose an admirable way to embrace the inevitable. She gave her life for Zabuza's."
"But why? Why does someone like Haku have to die instead of Zabuza."
"Oh come on," Kakashi said with that trademark eye-smile, "Zabuza's not that bad. Seems like he's on our side now."
"Huh?"
Kakashi pointed over to the former Kiri nin, "He and your brother are busy dealing with Gatō."
"Brother?" he said in surprise he scanned ahead to find which one Kakashi was referring to, he quickly spotted the distinctive black and red hair. "Tri? Why is he wearing Raven's gear?"
"Uh… Because he is Raven." 'Guess his brain is still a little sluggish,' he surmised.
"Why didn't he tell me? And why did you know?"
"Because you didn't need to know, ANBU identities are kept secret for a reason and I knew because I'm mission leader and the senior most Shinobi present on our mission. Although the secrecy part seems to have been forgotten."
"Ok, I get that," he conceded, "But why is he here?" Again Kakashi pointed towards them and a backing up Gatō, "Why do you think."
"To kill Gatō?"
"Bingo. And you will not interfere." It was then they watched Gatō fall backwards, he'd tripped over the bodies of his one of his lackeys.
"Wait, wait, please," Gatō pleaded, his hands held up in front of him in surrender. Tri stopped a few steps in front of him. "What's it going to cost to make this go away?" he asked suggestively. Bribing had gotten him so far in the past, it had gotten him trade deals, it had gotten him past bureaucracy and meddlesome politicians, it had gotten rid of other meddlesome politicians in a more permanent manner.
It had worked superbly well for him, no one else mind, but no one else mattered in his world. What reason did he have to believe it wouldn't work again.
Zabuza, however, seemed to disagree, "Seriously?" he said drolly, "Bribery? You really think that's going to work this time? Just face it Gatō, you're fucked. Even if by some miracle he doesn't kill you, I still will."
Despite that he still tried, he stuck to his 'code', Zabuza had to give him that. "Come on kid, name your price, 500,000 Ryo?" His first offer made Tri snort in amusement, he'd get more for delivering Gatō's head to Daimyō-sama – not the body, just the head would do. His answer was to take another two steps forward.
"One million?" he hurriedly said doubling his offer, the nervousness was beginning to creep into his voice, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple. This time Tri actually gave him a proper answer, a slow shake of the head.
"Two million?" Was the third offer, that sense of nervousness was replaced by fear as Tri neared ever closer. "Give it up Gatō, he's not interested."
"H-hey Zabuza, I'll give you two million Ryo to kill the Jūnishi." He was truly growing desperate. Zabuza just laughed at the offer, "Are you kidding? You don't seem to understand. Look at the state of me, dog bites all over, he'd kill me without much effort right now."
"Well, there's that too, but what you also don't know is that you have no money to bribe anyone whatsoever. You see, that giant explosion, you can't have missed it, that was me blowing that abomination you call – called a house sky high. But before I did that I relieved all those safes of their contents."
The grin on Zabuza's face seemed akin to one you'd find on a cat after it successfully broke into a pantry filled with fresh cream, shredded chicken and tuna. "You may now consider yourself penniless, an ironic way for your life to end really."
Gatō's hands and suit were now soaked in blood, Zabuza had made sure to hit major arteries, a lot of major arteries, the ground was covered in a thin and slick layer of red, he grimaced at the wet touch but he had more pressing concerns right now. He had no money, for the first in, well ever, he'd never not had money, his entire life had been spent making life's problems go away through the medium of currency. Now with it gone it was the end of the line.
"Please, please, please don't kill me," he begged, his eyes screwed shut, his hands clasped together as if praying as Tri grabbed a handful of his suit's front. "Come now Gatō, it's far too late for that, at least meet your death with some dignity.
He punched him, square in the face – hard. Gatō's skull reverberated as the recoil made his head snap back. His head fell forward again but before he could cry out in pain he was punched again, this time joined by a sinewy snap as his nose broke under the assault, a splatter of blood splashed across Tri's knuckles as the third punch came in.
Zabuza. Kakashi. Rezano. All three watched on in absolute silence as Tri hit him again and again. Their feelings as they watched differed greatly, Zabuza watched on with a sense of satisfaction, it seemed the stereotype of Konoha Shinobi's status as 'softies' didn't apply to this one. Kakashi was indifferent while Rezano shook his head in disapproval.
One minute became two, then three and Tri's pace didn't let up, if anything it only increased, Gatō's face was now a blood-ridden mess, distinctive features hidden under a layer of blood and swelling. His grip on the man's suit was the only thing holding him up now having long since been knocked senseless and unconscious.
Kakashi and Rezano were joined by Sakura, " Sasuke and Meshikamaru are still out of it for now but both are fine… And what is Tri doing?"
"Oh, thank you Sakura. And he's killing Gatō – I think," Kakashi answered. "By punching him to death?"
"I think that's what he's going for, yeah. From what I've been able to overhear, Gatō's transgressions have finally caught up with him."
Rezano snorted, "Sensei, just don't call it justice or whatever, call it for what it is – murder, plain and simple," Rezano said aloud. His words actually brought Tri to a halt, his head quickly snapping to the side to face his younger sibling. Rezano was unnerved by that look in his eyes, he couldn't hold his gaze and looked away.
"If you knew the full depths this scum has gone to serve himself you might be whistling a different tune. The pain this man has caused, the lives he's ended or forever destroyed." He hit him again, his head just limply rolled around on his shoulders.
"Tri!," Sakura barked, "That's enough, you've made your point – just put him out of his misery." Her words bit deep into his psyche, for the first time in his life he felt self-conscious. It was that look on her face, that tone of voice, he didn't like it. He recognised what it was, it was the look and sound of disappointment. "Fine," he quickly acquiesced, another idea had sprung to mind. He let go of Gatō's suit and instead grabbed him by the hair as he moved to stand behind him.
"Rezano, come here."
"Why?" he asked suspiciously. "Come here," he repeated. Despite his misgivings he slowly, cautiously walked towards Tri, coming to a stop a few feet in front of him. A kunai appeared in Tri's hand, he cast it to Rezano who effortlessly plucked it from the air. With he a raised eyebrow he asked, "What am I supposed to do with this?"
"It's time you used a kunai for its true purpose. Kill him," he ordered pointing at Gatō with his spare hand.
Truth be told, Tri was testing him, whether he actually killed Gatō or not didn't bother him. He knew Rezano had this innocent naivety about him that was ingrained into his mindset, he was far too trusting, far too forgiving. These traits contradicted the generations of conditioning that left Shinobi near universally mistrusting of others with a different emblem etched onto their Hitai-ate.
Tri had been concerned for some time now that this mindset would get Rezano or those he served with seriously injured or outright killed. He believed Rezano lacked a ruthless streak, something given his status as a Jinchuriki he would need.
But this would also test his conviction, how long was he willing to stand by his principals? He preferred talking his way out of situations, to his credit he was pretty good at it, but there would come a day he encountered someone he couldn't talk down and right now he wasn't ready for that day.
Tri had read his file, he knew Rezano still hadn't been blooded, it wasn't too great a surprise given the short time he'd been a Genin. But due to Tou-san's raising of the minimum age for Academy attendance he was already three years older than Tri and Naruto had been when they'd taken their first lives.
"Why me? You seemed more than happy to bludgeon him to death with just your fist."
"While that's true, I'm telling you to do it."
"That didn't answer the question, why me?"
"Because I don't think you've got it in you to kill." That made him wince slightly, "And if I say no?"
"Rezano… I gave you an order." He winced again.
"But you aren't my CO."
"Irrelevant, I outrank Kakashi." He seemed to upsetting Rezano a little now, which was intentional. "Are you all this heartless in ANBU?" he emotionally shot back. "Yes, it's sort of a pre-requisite. We do what others in Konoha cannot."
"Look, Rezano, you know who this is. I can assure you that his death will make the world a better place. You've seen what's become of the people of this island, the hopeless destitute they live in because of him, the friends and family whose lives were stolen because of him. You've seen first-hand the damage done to Tsunami's son.
"His crimes include murder, kidnapping, extortion, fraud, theft, blackmail, bribing officials, assassinations and who knows what else. And wasn't it you just last night who wanted to help the people of this island get rid of him? Well here's your chance."
"What is Tri doing?" Sakura quietly hissed to Kakashi, "He's just going to confuse Rezano."
"That's exactly what he's going for. He wants Rezano to act on instinct and not think about it. You know what your first kill is like, you didn't think much doing it, did you?" She shook her head.
Perhaps it was because Gatō was helpless and completely unable able to defend himself but Rezano still looked highly conflicted, rolling the kunai around in his fingers. "Well, what's it to be?" That seemed to be the wrong thing to say as the look in his eyes steeled.
He threw the kunai to the ground, "Do it yourself," he said before stomping off. No reaction, no call to wait, just a quiet sigh as another kunai appeared in his left hand. Jamming the tip into the right side of Gatō's neck Tri opened him up from ear to ear. He kicked him away as the blood freely spewed out.
He picked up the first kunai and wiped the blood from the second and sealed them both away. Looking at his left hand, it was covered in a layer of blood. Wiping the blood away revealed the bruising on his knuckles. 'Maybe I should learn some rudimentary medical Ninjutsu because I doubt Sakura's all that interested in taking a look at my hand right now judging from the look she gave me.'
The battle was now over. The body count was high, collectively perhaps a hundred people had died today. On the opposing side the prominent names were Haku, Ameyuri Ringo and Gatō, in return they had lost Kusuri.
"How are you doing Kakashi?"
"I'm good," he replied, that blasted book was already back in his hand, "Thankfully Zabuza's oversized butter knife only left me with a single cut and that was because I let him."
"Hang on, you let me?" Zabuza questioned, he'd walked over just a few steps behind Tri. "Oh, so that's how your puppies found me" he quickly added upon realising. "Yep, they homed in on my blood on your sword."
"Huh, I'll have to remember that."
"And are you feeling alright?" Kakashi asked him, curious as to the rather polite tone he was taking with him. "Yeah, the dog bites sting though but they seemed to have stopped bleeding. Nice job on Gatō kid, I'd have gone for the death by a thousand cuts approach before beheading him myself but I can't argue your choice."
"Well I'm going to need the head so knock yourself out." He held his hand up, "Say no more," he left with a big grin.
"And how are you, Tri?" Kakashi asked as if became just them. Rezano was with his teammates and Sakura had returned to Kusuri. "Feeling distinctly unsatisfied, I thought killing him would feel much more satisfying that it was. I thought I'd be happy to finally kill him but I don't, I don't feel – well, anything."
"Good," Kakashi said, his eyes not leaving the page. "Good? Why good?"
"Because that kill was very personal to you and it was a very violent death. But you got no enjoyment out of it. If you had then what is there separating you from the likes of Ringo?" He stood there for what must have been several minutes but felt longer, neither he nor Kakashi said anything as he mulled over his words, both perfectly content to stand in silence.
Eventually he walked away, a thoughtful expression on his face.
He walked over to and gently placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder. She held one of Kusuri's hands in her own, in spite of the violent end she met, the look on her face was peaceful. Ignoring the pool of blood he knelt down on the other side of Kusuri's body. In his hand a narrow, wide scroll appeared, he unrolled it and placed it over Kusuri's chest. The inside had a single circular design inked onto the paper.
"Tri, could I seal her away please?"
"Of course. Place your index and middle fingers on the centre of the array pointing towards Kusuri's face. When you're ready, turn them 90° counter-clockwise whilst applying chakra," he guided her. Sakura tearfully succeeded in sealing her friend's body away for transport back home. When the seal activated it gave off a cloud of smoke and when it cleared the scroll had rolled itself shut to prevent the Fūinjutsu from being damaged.
"Do you want to carry her?" he asked picking up the scroll. She gave him a nod so gently placed it in her outstretched hand. "Suppose I'd best clear up this mess," he quietly said to himself standing.
A half dozen clones appeared around him, "Clear an area of flammable material and place the bodies in an incinerator," he instructed them. "Yes boss," they replied before setting to work.
Since Tri's arrival and removal of the fog a crowd had been gathering on the hill separating the town from the bridge and right now news was beginning to travel through them that Gatō was dead. None came down from the high ground, they all stayed put, not exactly sure how to react.
On one hand Gatō's reign of terror was ended, but so many of their friends, family and neighbours had died under his domination of the island and now a foreign Shinobi had died aiding in his downfall. It made for restrained celebration and mixed feelings.
It wasn't until Tri's clones were busy at work that the first and second persons descended from the hill. A worried Tsunami with Inari at her side bolted for Tazuna. The elderly man hadn't really moved throughout the entire engagement, he'd just stood there and could only listen to the sounds of combat as the fog had rendered it impossible for him to see anything.
The three family members came together in a big hug, a tearful Tsunami just glad her father was safe.
Meanwhile Zabuza held out the severed head of Gatō, "The grin on your face is concerning, Zabuza," Tri said dryly. The head was quickly put into another storage scroll. "Whad'ya need the head for?"
"Proof that he's dead."
"Ah, bounty," he said in understanding. "Not too much I hope," he laughed. "A million," Tri answered matter-of-factly. "Not bad for an easy kill."
1,000,000 Ryo to go along with the estimated tens of millions he'd 'liberated' from Gatō's safes, then there were the diamonds he'd have to get valued. A fair amount of that money would be put to use before he even left the island.
"So what's this great scheme of yours that Kakashi mentioned?" Zabuza asked. Tri turned to face him, "We'll go over it in greater detail tomorrow or someday soon, but to summarise, I need a pair of eyes and ears in Kirigakure. You want rid of Yagura, which I've no problem with and I happen to know who's leading the growing resistance against him."
"Resistance?"
"Yes, the anti-Kekkai Genkai rhetoric had shifted to full-blown purges, when those loyal to him get their hands on anyone with a blood limit they kill them. As you can imagine, I, possessing both a Dojutsu and a Kekkai Genkai don't much appreciate his actions. So I wouldn't sympathise for him in the slightest if he were to be, say – overthrown," he finished, a wry grin on his lips.
"So you get me as a spy out of this?" he asked with more than a hint of suspicion. "No, I wouldn't say a spy per say. I am not interested in every little secret hiding behind every tree. I just want to know what's happening. You'd simply be keeping me abreast of what the hell is going on across those innumerable islands you call home."
"Do I get paid for this?" he grinned, "The only reason I tolerated Gatō was so I could amass money to attempt another coup."
"In a sense, yes. When financing is required, something can be arranged," he answered throwing a small storage scroll at him. "What's this? Money?"
"Yeah, not sure how much though, but probably a few hundred thousand Ryo at least. That should look after you for a while, right?"
"Uh yeah, I-I guess," he said sheepishly.
"What do you want to do with Haku's body?" Tri asked changing the subject. Zabuza quickly put the scroll away before answering, "I think it would be best to bury her here on the island. Kiri was never really a home for her since she was so young when her parents died. She loved walking through the trees so maybe somewhere in the forest would be best."
"Sure. But there's one more body we need to deal with."
"Ameyuri," Zabuza said. "Yes. I'm not clued in on the customs involved with the death of one of the seven. I don't know whether you cremate them or bury or what."
"I would side with burial, there's never been anything specific in regards to the funerals of members of the Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū. But her name carried an air of respect in Kiri, she was so young when she became a member. There's no shortcut to becoming one of the seven, you have to do it on merit."
"On another note, you know how the swords are normally transferred right?"
"I am," Tri replied.
"And how's that?" Sakura queried joining them, she not so subtly made sure Tri was between her and Zabuza, Shinobi were slow to trust after all. "The weapons of the Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū are almost always passed down via right of conquest."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning that by right, Kiba now belongs to you." Sakura's eyes widened at Zabuza's words. As he spoke Tri retrieved the twin blades, one still covered in a red sheen.
"Tri here got Nuibari through right of combat and now you have Kiba."
"And you by all accounts were given Kubikiribōchō," Tri snickered. The Kiri born Nin gave him a stern glare, "Yes. Ironically Yagura asked me to take up this great big thing after he himself had killed the previous wielder," he said patting the hilt of his weapon. "That whole affair was weird."
"How so?" Tri asked curiously as he began cleaning Kiba. "Jūzō Biwa, Kubikiribōchō's previous holder randomly turned up outside Kiri one day doing Kami only knows what, and he's wearing this body-length black cloak with red clouds on it."
"Black cloak, with…"
"Red clouds," Zabuza repeated. "Was it just him, or was anyone else with him?"
"Yagura did mention someone wearing a face mask like Kakashi's but they took off pretty quickly before anyone could get a good look at him."
Before they could discuss further Sakura butted back in, "So what the hell am I supposed to do with these? I don't even use swords."
"Neither does he," Zabuza retorted pointing at Tri.
"No one is asking you to use them, Sakura. But if you ever find yourself in a tight spot with Kirigakure then you'd have a bargaining chip in Kiba. Keep in mind you'll end up in their Bingo Book eventually, I don't know how they find out but they do."
"You'll begin to develop a reputation too," Zabuza picked up, "I'd prefer it if you held on to Kiba though. I can imagine Yagura having an aneurysm when he finds out two of the seven swords are now held by a Konoha Shinobi," he chuckled.
She relented, "Do you have a spare scroll you don't mind parting with Tri?" It seemed he'd beaten her to it, in the midst of asking him he sealed the now clean blades away and handed the scroll to her.
"Boss," a clone spoke, Tri turned his attention to it, "We've finished." With a nod from Tri all six dispelled.
They had been busy. One had used Tri's fairly basic knowledge of Doton Jutsu to create a square hole in the ground. The bodies were quickly piled in and then a roof placed over the top with a chimney. There was also a narrow diagonal shaft coming out from one end that would serve as the input. The clones had created a rudimentary incinerator as requested.
He moved to in front of the diagonal shaft and took a deep breath, "Shakuton: Hibana Hi," (Scorch Release: Spark Torch). He breathed out but unlike the rest of Tri's Shakuton techniques it didn't come with a great release of flame. This time it was a jet of superheated air aimed down the shaft, it forced all the colder air up out of the chimney.
He brought his left hand close to the stream and clicked his fingers, the air instantly ignited into a blue-white stream of flame. Inside the temperature skyrocketed quickly surpassing the 1000°C barrier. The fire quickly burned away what clothes they were wearing and rapidly moved onto consuming their bodies, flesh and bone were turned into ash. Most of which remained within the cavity in the ground but some shot out of the chimney in small black clouds that were carried away on the wind.
A few minutes later he ceased, immediately jumping back from the shaft before the heat came shooting back up it. He sat down and breathed heavily for a few seconds before looking directly upwards, a small fountain of water shot from his mouth and fell back on top of him covering his face and hair. "Fuck, that feels a whole lot better," he croaked.
"You ok?" a once again conscious Meshikamaru asked him, her two teammates either side of her. He turned to her, his face a bright shade of red, the look of someone overheating. "Yeah, I'm alright. Doing that for that long really dries my throat out a lot and spikes my body temperature. I just need to cool down again. You three doing alright?"
"Seem to be, Sakura knows her stuff."
"That she does, Tsunade-sama was very happy to have her and who better to spot a prospective medic."
"Are you not going to need Sakura to look at you as well?" Tri's eyes flickered to her for a fraction of a second, "Nah, I'll be alright," he said standing again.
"We're done here," Kakashi declared as he lifted Haku's body off the ground. Zabuza had his sword on one shoulder and Ameyuri's body over the other. Tazuna and his family were still huddled together and to a lesser extent so were Kakashi's Genin.
"Tri. Aren't you forgetting something," Sakura asked him. He came to a stop, "Yes I am, thank you." He walked back to his makeshift incinerator and remoulded the ground back to its normal shape, the ash buried beneath. He turned back around and instinctively snatched something out of the air heading straight for his face. Looking at it in his hand he realised it was his ANBU mask. "Oh, thank you, Sakura."
-(*)-
Back in Konoha
"What are basing this off of, Itachi?" Minato asked. Team Ro had returned the late last night. "I'm afraid it's nothing more than gut instinct Hokage-sama."
"Hmm, I've never known you to not have good instincts but this is markedly different for you."
"Agreed, Hokage-sama. I can't quite explain it but there was something in the air up there. I've never seen my team look so jumpy, they were on edge at the slightest noise and they had trouble sleeping.
"And their insistence that we take a really elongated route back home only further reinforced it. They constantly looked over their shoulder worried that someone would be there every time they did. A normal 15-20 hour travel time took us days."
Minato knew Itachi was not one to embellish in anything, much less than during a mission debrief so what he was hearing right now was a concern. Orochimaru was up to something and it seemed to involve the building of his own hidden village, at least that was the serious impression they got from what was going on to the north.
It was further reinforced by the item Team Ro had retrieved by sheer chance after running into a pair of Nin on their return to Konoha. On his desk sat a Hitai-ate, etched onto the metal plate was a symbol you only saw on musical score sheet, it was a musical note. After they were done here he would place it in a vault only he had access to until he brought it up at a future meeting.
"I may have to reassign some of Tri-kun's and Jiraiya-sensei's intelligence assets to investigate this further," he sighed. "While it will likely frustrate Tri-kun to have to reassign them again, I too believe it would be best. There are still too many unknowns about this Akatsuki and Orochimaru is a known, credible threat."
"Ok Itachi, I think that'll be all for today, you're dismissed. Team Ro can have the rest of the week off."
"Understood Hokage-sama – and thank you," he replied before vanishing.
Minato put his head in his hands and let out a heavy sigh. 'If this is truly the work of Orochimaru, amassing an army to rival a minor hidden village then we must take precautions.'
"ANBU," he called, the masked figure that was always present in his office with him appeared before him on one knee, "Hokage-sama?"
"Bring my ANBU Commanders to me, all of them," he ordered. The ANBU's head lifted up a little in surprise. "Hai, Hokage-sama," they replied a moment later than usual.
-(*)-
Back in Nami no Kuni
"I don't know what the customs are in Kiri, but do you wanna say anything?" Tri asked a quiet Zabuza who quickly shook his head, "No," he answered before darkly chuckling. "She'd spit feathers if she knew someone spoke for her at her own funeral. I don't think there was even a single person in her life she could have called a friend – even as a child."
Ringo's grave would only be marked by a simple wooden marker, her name was not etched into it, in fact it was totally devoid of detailing but for one thing. The four small diagonal, curvy lines that formed the Hitai-ate emblem of Kirigakure. They had buried her real Hitai-ate with her.
Tri and Zabuza had spent several hours looking for an appropriate spot, the others had declined to accompany them. They didn't want it somewhere it could be stumbled across by the island's inhabitants. Eventually they settled for a grassy outcrop atop a small hill that overlooked the eastern shore. It actually made for a very pleasant view.
The grass had since been cut back to make way for the simple grave they'd dug. In time the grass would grow back and cover the gravesite. It would afford Ameyuri's resting place some privacy.
"When do you want to bury Haku?"
"This took quite a bit longer than I was expecting, it'll have to wait till tomorrow now, the sun will probably be setting by the time we get back."
-(*)-
Rezano fidgeted with his hands under the table, a bowl of rice sat relatively untouched in front of him. The events of the morning had left him decidedly lacking an appetite, didn't seem to stop Kakashi, however, who's bowl was long empty. Although he couldn't figure out when, Kakashi always wore that mask and the food only seemed to vanish when no one was looking.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Kakashi asked even though his eye never lifted from the pages of his dirty book. Rezano leaned back in his chair and sighed, "Well Sensei, can you explain why my brother is trying to turn me into a killer?"
"Yes," was his blunt response, Rezano flinched a little having expected words that were more understanding. Kakashi took his nervous look as permission to explain.
"You have a strong personal ideology, Rezano, you always go for diplomacy first. But there are some for whom words won't get through to, Gatō is – was such an individual. You need to come to terms with the fact that it's kill or be killed more often than we'd like as a Shinobi. And if you can't kill then you'd best prepare yourself to get killed."
Rezano noticeably winced at his Sensei's harsh words. "I'm your Jōnin-sensei, Rezano. I'm not an Academy teacher, there's very little hand-holding out here."
"I'm not going to change who I am," he stubbornly stated. "Then you'd best find a balance real quick or you'd be better off finding a new profession.
Kakashi sharply exhaled before snapping his book shut. "Look, I know you don't like being compared to your brothers but both were younger than you when they became Genin and I know for a fact that it was about six months into their Genin careers that they were blooded."
"Blooded?" His lack of understanding perking his curiosity. "It's what we say to describe a Shinobi whose made their first kill."
"Oh," he muttered, the curiosity draining away.
"I don't know whether you still harbour ambitions of one day being Hokage but just to get to Jōnin you need to be desensitized to killing completely." The teenager's head dipped a little, "Do you think I should have killed him?"
"Yes. You were presented with a rare opportunity, the chance to make your first kill without your own life being threatened."
"You'd didn't have to think about that much, did you?"
"You shouldn't put much thought into killing, it's easy to overthink and convince yourself not to. It might be best if you discuss this with Tri at some point," he advised before opening his book once again.
Rezano audibly exhaled, again staring at the bowl of rice, his appetite was still absent.
-(*)-
Sakura just stared blankly into the sky, whether it was blue sky, the white clouds or the brown and green of the branches and leaves of the nearby tree blown into her field of vision by the wind – none of it registered. Almost as soon as they'd returned that morning she'd wandered off aimlessly in a sombre daze. Unbeknownst to her she'd arrived at the same tree she'd fallen asleep under a few nights ago.
Her body laid flat on the soft ground, her hands clasped together and she'd done nothing since, she hadn't moved, hadn't spoken, just – nothing. The dimming light in the sky as the sun neared the completion of its descent in the sky was a testament to just how long she'd been there.
The sounds of footsteps squishing the soft grass underfoot didn't register. It wasn't until a hand rested on her shoulder that her mind was pulled back into the real world where her senses began functioning again.
"How are you holding up?" She slowly rolled onto her side, using her arm as a cushion of sorts, folding it under her head. She didn't give any answer, she just looked at him, her eyes vacant, the shine in her usually vibrant and alert light green eyes noticeably absent.
"Are you able to sit up?" Tri gently asked her. Again no answer but she did sit up – eventually, her body aching from the hours of inactivity. He sat behind and allowed her to lean back against him as he wrapped her in a hug, her head settling on his shoulder.
"Is this the first friend you've lost?" he sympathetically asked her, his voice barely above a whisper, a series of short, sluggish nods followed as she began to respond, he ever so slightly tightened his grip on her for those nods.
"D-Does it ever get easier?" she asked, finding her voice, it was hoarse and dejected. "I'm not really the best person to ask," he began, Tri's reaction to losing friends was normally an angry one, not a sorrowful one as you might expect. "But from what I've seen, heard and experienced, no, it does not."
Sakura sniffed loudly as she turned onto her side, her face moving into the crook of Tri's neck. Taking note of the sniff, Tri spoke again, "Sakura, if you need to cry, then do so. Bottling it up won't help."
"I don't w-want to be a bother," she said despondently. "Why would you be a bother? Crying is normal when anyone is upset. If I couldn't handle you crying then I'd neither be here nor be a good friend, would I?"
"N-no."
"No, I wouldn't. So go ahead, I'm right here."
She gave a single curt nod as the first tear escaped her left eye, running down her tear troth it swept down her nose until it reached the end where it fell away landing on Tri's shirt.
Several minutes passed in a silence only broken by the occasional sniff, other than that she made no noise, the tears fell with a slow, steady pace, alternately slipping from her eyes every few seconds.
"I just d-don't know how I-I'm going to face them," she said as the tears began to slow, her voice cracking a little. "Fa-," Tri cut himself off as he remembered. Internally he sighed, 'She's Kusuri's commanding officer. It is the responsibility of the CO to inform the next of kin should any of their subordinates die on mission. And regardless of the reassignment, she's still Kusuri's CO.'
It was one of the responsibilities that came with higher ranks. It was something Tri hadn't had to perform nor was he likely as he so often worked solo.
"There's little harder than informing the next of kin," he said morosely, "But you don't have to do it alone," he added, tucking the hair that fell over her face back behind her ear. "What d-do you mean?" she questioned in confusion, lifting her head a little to look him in the face. He grabbed hold of his shirt sleeve and gently dabbed around her red eyes before answering.
"I'm afraid it has to be you to inform her parents but if you want, I'll go with you. While I've never had to do the informing before, I have been present for a few back in my time with the Jūnishi so I can help you through it."
"R-really?" He gave a nod and she gave him a weak smile in return.
"I j-just wish I knew what to say."
"What do you think you should say?" he asked, trying to get her thoughts on the matter. "I-I could tell them how brave she was. She sacrificed herself p-providing me the chance to put Ringo down," as she spoke, Tri gently squeezed the back of her neck supportively. He smiled,
"That sounds nice. Shinobi rarely get to pick the manner of their death, it so often happens in the blink of an eye. But she chose to put the wellbeing of others ahead of her own. She displayed absolute selflessness in making the ultimate sacrifice. And while it won't bring their daughter back, they can at least be proud of the young woman they raised, there can be no finer honour. And if you feel up to it, I'd like to hear about her" he paused a moment, "- I certainly can't claim to know her but she kept you safe so I want to hear all about her."
She surveyed him for a few moments before her lips curled a little into another weak smile, "Hai. Arigatou, Tri-kun," she said with a nod. "Hey, hey now, why so formal," he queried with a raised eyebrow. "Thank you, you great big softy," she retorted, toning down the formality. "That's great big softy-san to you," he countered with a mock-snobbish look on his face. Sakura lightly laughed, this time smiling fully. "There's that lovely smile," he grinned, again pushing errant hairs back behind her ear.
"Tri, you said crying is normal when your upset, right?"
"I did."
"Then why can I not recall ever seeing or hearing of you crying?" This time it was his turn to sigh, leaning his head on hers. "I can count the number of times I've cried during my life on one hand, and I won't need the thumb. And after what I did this morning, I think it's clear to see I don't meet the definition of normal."
"What do you mean? I presume you're talking about Gatō."
"Yeah… What I did to him, I've never done to anyone else. Don't get me wrong I've inflicted horrific injuries beyond counting, but always with the express purpose of killing. But today was solely to cause as much pain as I could and drag it out as long as possible. While I struggle with empathy, I feel hate just fine… A-And I gave into it today."
"So what made you stop?" Another sigh, "I stopped because I saw the look on your face. It was a look that screamed disappointment. I saw that and for the first time ever, I felt self-conscious. I've never, ever concerned myself with what others thought of my actions until today, I can't say I particularly enjoyed it."
Sakura neither confirmed nor denied that her expression was one of disappointment, she didn't say anything in fact. Truth be told, she didn't know, everything from that morning was a blur, the only image that was as clear as crystal glass was Kusuri getting impaled by a sword.
"Why did you do it? What did he do to get such a reaction out of you?" A third sigh as he dragged a hand down his face. "Ok, I'll tell you but be warned, it's not a pleasant tale." She gave a small gesture of her understanding and he began.
Twenty minutes later he finished, "That poor girl," Sakura finally said, "What a nightmarish way to die. Your final hours spent in absolute terror," she added with a small shudder. "And I spent years chasing down every single one of those involved. Gatō, who financed and organised the operation was the last. They're all dead now."
"What about the few you said were captured?"
"Dead too, Daimyō-sama sentenced them to death shortly after. They were all hung before that day ended."
"So it's over?" she wanted to double-check, he nodded. "You don't look too happy about it."
"That's because I'm not, I thought I would be, but I'm not. Knowing the job was incomplete ate at me for years and now it's here I don't feel any sort of closure, I'm not quite sure how to explain it."
"It only ended this morning. Maybe it's still too raw?" she suggested, it was something he hadn't considered. "Perhaps," he said gratefully, giving her a kiss on the forehead.
"Has anyone ever told you just how soft your hair is?" he said suddenly, the fingers of his left hand smoothly caressing the locks on the back of her head. "What?" she giggled, "Hmm?" he hummed in feigned ignorance, his fingers still running through the pink hair.
"Do you normally take note of how soft a ladies hair is?" she whispered in his ear. "No, not all of them. Just the good-looking ones," he replied with a completely straight face. She sat up straight so she wasn't leaning back on him, managed to force him to move back so he could lean back against the tree before she spontaneously decided to move up and sit in his lap before again leaning back against him.
He raised an eyebrow but certainly didn't stop her. "So, you think I'm beauteous do you?"
"Ooo, that's a good adjective. And yes, yes I do. I'd question my sanity if I thought otherwise."
"Good to know," she said with a pleased smile, trying her utmost to seem as suave as possible.
*Grumble*
Unfortunately Sakura's very much ignored stomach had other ideas as it announced its dissatisfaction vocally. Sakura tried to hide the flush of embarrassment on her face by trying to bury it in Tri's chest as Tri mirthfully tried to contain the laughter building in his throat.
Would I be right in thinking you haven't eaten?" he chuckled. Her head, still trying to dig through his ribcage, rapidly shook from side to side. "Sakura, while your hair might be soft as silk, your skull isn't and I'd rather you not break any of my ribs," he told her in mild discomfort. She shot up, back straight which allowed Tri to rub his chest, "You really need to remember how strong you are," he lightly scolded her in jest.
She playfully pouted in return. Her eyes having now regained that lustre they'd been missing earlier. They brightened further when Tri lifted a hand into her line of vision, a small stack of Sushi pieces piled atop one another.
She reached out to tentatively take them from him, it brought their fingers into contact, that's when Tri realised how cold they felt. "Sakura, are you cold again?" Her eyes widened just a little as if she'd only just noticed herself. "Uhh, yeah," she replied sheepishly. With an amused shake of the head the blanket from a few nights previous made another appearance.
"Come here," he ushered her closer. She had been facing him, but now spun 180° so her back was flush against his chest, the Sushi protectively cradled in her hands as the blanket was opened over them both and quickly tucked under limbs. "You don't have to go cold, if you are then say so."
"Umm, would you believe me if I said I didn't realise."
"Well, it's been that kind of day I guess," he said in resignation.
He watched on as she chomped her way through portion after portion, never once slowing. "Are you sure you aren't part Uzumaki?" he joked. "Hey! I'm hungry," she defended herself.
"Do you feel up for telling me about Kusuri?" he tentatively asked, "I understand if you aren't," he hastened to add. She continued chewing for a few seconds, swallowed then answered with a few quick nods, "But only if you keep giving me food," she added. "Well, I was going to anyway but alright."
"Yay," she quietly cheered, "But first, I wanna get more comfortable." The moment she finished speaking she started wriggling around much to Tri's bafflement as when she settled a few seconds later she'd barely moved an inch from her starting position.
"Comfy now?" he asked in exacerbation, "Very," she smiled. "Are you?"
"Yes," he answered, "You're even lighter than you appear," he wrapped an arm around her while the other remained outside the blanket for food providing purposes. With her settled again, she regaled the story of her and Kusuri.
Her story lasted longer than his and carried a far more cheerful tone than the one Tri had told. Jokes and humorous titbits were plentiful with her having to stop more than once to work through a burst of laughter. He noticed her words slow towards the end, today had been greatly trying for her and now with the sun long since set her energy levels were dropping fast.
"Thank you, Sakura," he said appreciatively when she finished, her tale had finished with the arrival of the letter ordering their reassignment to this island. There was a weary smile on her face as she leaned back on his shoulder. "Tired?" he asked as she closed her eyes. "Hm," she mumbled. "I'll take that as a yes then. I guess you aren't going to want to move?"
"No, too tired, and I like being on top of a comfy mattress."
"Sakura. There are so many different ways you could interpret what you just said."
"Maybe we should act them all out?" she teased. "Please, let's not," he shuddered, "I think your mother would legitimately murder me."
"Pfft, as if she could catch you."
"Yeah, but she knows where I live."
"Pity." *Yawn* "Could have been really fun," she slurred, now on the brink of falling asleep.
He shook his head as she relaxed which was a sign to him that she was now asleep. He for a moment considered the young sleeping woman. Despite what had happened today, Sakura had coped well, relatively speaking. But most importantly she had remained focused on defeating her quarry, so many Shinobi down the years had lost their cool in the midst of battle, soon to be followed by the loss of their life.
"You were magnificent today," he quietly said before closing his own eyes, he didn't see the smile appear on her lips.
End Chapter