Notes: As far as I'm concerned, Gaara is asexual.
Eri fingered her new headband thoughtfully. It looked a little bit too new for proper use, but that could be changed with some sandpaper. Across from her, Karatachi-sensei cleared his throat, a reminder that she was musing. Glancing up, she snapped back to attention; it was bad form to keep a superior waiting.
Karatachi-sensei just smiled. He was nice that way. He didn't really like to punish her. "Now that you're a genin, you'll be taking part in out-of-village missions. Sandaime-sama plans on having you run low-difficulty assassination missions with some ANBU teams. From now on, we'll be working harder on chakra control in order to make you fit in stealth missions."
Eri nodded slowly. It made sense that she run missions with ANBU—it was the safest option, really, but why assassination missions? Wasn't she being trained for front-line combat?
Karatachi-sensei seemed to have sensed the confusion in her eyes. "The Sandaime believed it to be best to break you into the bloodier parts of shinobi lifestyle in increments. Front-line battle sees more death than assassination missions."
At this, Eri understood. First-kill and mass-kill shock wasn't uncommon, even amongst members of the Bloody Mist. And, while she highly doubted she'd fall prey to the dark side of her mind, it was still a logical move to be eased into the life of murder.
"Your first mission is with ANBU Team Six, setting out within four hours. ANBU Snake will brief you. Now, go and pack."
"Hai, Karatachi-sensei." She promptly rushed out of the room, body humming in excitement. A mission!
Karatachi-sensei couldn't have known. He couldn't have known.
She repeated that mantra in her head, over and over, until she almost believed it. He couldn't have known. Couldn't.
Frustrated, she kicked a fallen stone—the screams of the past hour echoing in her head—and watched as it tumbled into the open palm of a fallen civilian.
They were standing in the remains of an all-civilian merchant-village that stood along the border of Iwagakure, deep within Rock Country. Snake-taichou had something about payback for the tragedy of Yosuga Pass, but she somehow doubted that Yosuga Pass had even come across the Mizukage's mind when he'd dished out the mission. She doubted he'd pulled this mission out for anything as noble as revenge. She would know, after all, she'd lived with him for the past five years. Powerful, the Sandaime was. Honorable, he was not.
Eri turned, surveying the damage they'd done. Corpses lay strewn about in varying states of dress. A newborn was lying on the ground, brain matter splattered on the dirt.
A civilan mother had wrapped her corpse around her child—not that it'd done any good. Scorpion's tanto, enhanced with wind chakra, had pierced through both bodies with a sickening squelch.
Blood soaked the streets of the small Rock village she was standing in. A few seconds before, she'd opened the tap in one of the now-empty houses, only to watch as red water came flushing out.
This wasn't an assassination mission, and it most definitely wasn't revenge for Yosuga Pass. This was pure, unadulterated murder, targeting those who had no ability to fight back. Eri felt sick to her stomach.
Within her, Isobu-chama quivered, three tails directed up at the sky.
ANBU Scorpion, by her side, had roughly torn off one of the dead civilians' shirts and was now using it to wipe his tanto clean of blood. Glancing at her, he gave a small grin. "So, how's it feel, eh? First blood? First kill? First mission?" His eyes glinted maniacally.
Eri hesitated. Better to go with a safe answer. "It takes some getting used to."
Scorpion eyed her suspiciously. "Takes some getting used to?" Turning back to his tanto, he scoffed. "Now that's a vague answer if I ever heard one." He got up from his crouch, admiring his tanto in the way it shined in the moonlight.
"Look, kid. I've been a shinobi since before the Bloody Mist ever was. Let me give you a piece of advice 'cuz you look like you need it. A hell lot of it. This place? Kiri? It's a shithole. It's hell. You come in, you never go out. Mob mentality, all that shit. If you don't want to be killed, do the killing. Simple as that.
"This mission was a test for you, jinchuuriki. Your sensei told you it was an assassination mission? Yeah, it was. Assassinate all your remaining humanity, that is. Get used to killing. War's coming." He sheathed his tanto, sharply. "Kiri is no place for morality to stay. We're a cesspool of human shit, kid. Better get used to it. Now, get yourself together before anyone thinks you're treasonous." He leapt away, possibly to go find the rest of the ANBU they'd come with. Eri watched him go, pausing for a few seconds, before darting after him.
Kill, or be killed. Kill, or be killed. Kill, or be killed. Kill, or be killed.
She wondered if ani-ue ever had these kinds of missions.
Deep within her mind, Isobu shuffled. You know he's right.
Eri almost paused in her footing. Yes. I do.
The rest of the ANBU were gathered together, patching wounds and raiding houses. She joined them, lifting her eyes to stare into the sky. Isobu-chama.
Huh?
It's a blood moon tonight.
Kakashi stalked down the street, slouching into each step, one eye drooping. Itachi, by his side, looked up at him, eyes set in grim stubbornness. Ah, fuck. He knew what was coming.
"You weren't at your apartment."
"A-ah." Kakashi's hand went up to his hair, ruffling it slightly in consternation. His one eye crinkled into a smile. Look healthy, look healthy.
"Where were you?"
Look healthy, look healthy.
"Maa, maa. I was out getting groceries."
Itachi's eyes darted over, narrowing. "You're lying."
Fuck this kid.
"My crows told me where you were."
Of course they did. Why wouldn't they?
"You were back at the Hatake compound. I thought that the last couple Yamanakas you'd gone to see had told you to either sell the house or demolish it."
Kakashi forced himself not to tense. Itachi meant well. "Maa, maa. Itachi-chan. Memories aren't so easy to demolish."
He was met with a pregnant silence. Quiet eyes stared at him, daring him to make eye contact. He already knew what Itachi was going to say. You shouldn't live in the past, yadda yadda yadda. Confront the past to make way for the future, etc etc.
"Okaa-san told me to invite you for breakfast."
What?
"There's also some leftover onigiri from yesterday, your favorite. Sasuke misses you. You haven't been to the Uchiha district since our last mission together." And that was over two months ago was left unspoken.
"Haa—" Kakashi shook his head ruefully.
"Naruto slept over last night." Hook, line, and sinker. Damn, the kid was good.
"Hai, hai. I'll be there." Kakashi waved his hand lazily, coiling his chakra in preparation to shunshin off before Itachi asked him to go to the compound with him right now.
"You can rest at the Uchiha compound." Dammit.
Kakashi let his shoulders drop in noticeable defeat. Next to him, Itachi stayed impassive, but he could tell the little smirk playing in the boy's eyes. Fine.
But the lighter lilt in his steps and the feeling of something being freed in his chest told him that Itachi had been right, once again. What had he ever done to deserve all the good things that came his way?
"That blasted Mizukage!"
Kurotsuchi watched, a tiny smirk playing on the edge of her eyes, as Ohnoki flitted about the room in agitation.
"Oi, oi, grandpa. It's just a small merchant village, bound to be torn down during the war sooner or later."
The Sandaime Tsuchikage came to a stop in front of her, beady eyes glaring dark holes into his granddaughter. "And this is why an old man is still Tsuchikage. Your lack of capability."
Kurotsuchi raised her hands as if to appease him, grinning sarcastically. "They're just civilians. Nothing to worry about."
"There's everything to worry about, you blasted—"
"Hey old man, watch your back."
"Watch your language! Gah—" Lightning pierced through Ohnoki's eyes as he clutched his back, eyes tearing in agony. Kurotsuchi gave a teensy giggle, covering her mouth with a dainty hand.
The Tsuchikage settled himself on top of his desk and glared as menacingly as he could at his granddaughter.
"How are the ships coming along?"
Now, Kurotsuchi was nothing but business. Her eyes narrowed in seriousness and her features sunk, grimly. "Better than expected, but it'll still take us a couple more months before we build enough."
Then, almost as if her previous seriousness was nothing but a fitful memory, she smirked again, placing her hands on her hips. "Tell me again why we couldn't just buy a bunch of ships from Kumo? That'd be such less hassle."
"You fool! You fool! This is why I'm still Tsuchikage at my old age! It's all you!"
Kurotsuchi hid her giggle behind her hand.
The Tsuchikage flitted about the room in agitation.
"Kiri watches Kumo like Kumo watches us! We buy ships from Kumo, Kiri will know within the hour!" He harrumphed and crossed his arms, glaring sideways at his granddaughter. "Besides, who knows what Kumo would do to those ships."
"Hai, hai, Tsuchikage-sama." Kurotsuchi playfully waved her hand, before settling into seriousness once again. "What exactly is it that you want from Kiri?"
Ohnoki rose from his desk to face his granddaughter, age lines set deep into his face. "Their jinchuuriki."
Kurotsuchi frowned and opened her mouth as if to protest but silenced any arguments at the glare she received.
"Konoha has lost the Kyuubi. Suna has their hands full with an insane jinchuuriki. Kumo is our ally."
"So—"
"So the only jinchuuriki that poses a threat is Kiri's sanbi jinchuuriki."
"But, oji-san, she's only five."
"She's only five and she's already a fuuinjutsu third-tier expert, she's already mastered her Uzumaki chakra chains, and perfected her control over the sanbi. If we give that blasted Mizukage any more damn time to train her, Iwa will be razed to the ground!
"We are Iwagakure. We are stone, Kurotsuchi. Stone does not allow budding flowers to grow."
"I understand."
"Do you? Truly?" Beady black eyes bore into hers, testing to see any hint of weakness.
The Tsuchikage rose, drifting towards the windows of his office. "You will ready our forces. I want Kiri razed to the ground within the next half-year."
"Hai, Tsuchikage-sama."
ANBU Team Six, with the exception of Houzuki Eri, were all assembled in the Mizukage's office to report their mission status.
The Sandaime crossed his fingers and leaned forwards onto his desk. "How was her performance?"
Snake stepped forwards, then snapped into ANBU salute. "Responding to Mizukage-sama, Houzuki Eri is a successful experiment. She has the ninjutsu capability of an early jounin—she displays decent mastery of Suiton jutsu and Raiton jutsu and is capable of using them in combination attacks. Her taijutsu is weak, as is her genjutsu, but her intelligence puts her easily at jounin level. She also displays remarkable control over the sanbi and regularly converses with it without much strain on her identity."
The Sandaime nodded, slowly, contemplative. "Ringo Ameyuri's illness has become a problem. Perhaps it's time to pass the Lightning-blade Kiba onto a worthier successor."
His eyes narrowed in thought once more before turning back to the ANBU in front of him. "What would you say about her loyalty? Scorpion?"
"Responding to Mizukage-sama, Houzuki Eri doesn't seem to be at risk to abandoning Kiri. She seems remarkably loyal."
The Sandaime's shoulders shook and for a moment, the ANBU averted their gaze nervously. Had they said something wrong? Would they be killed? Tortured?
A chuckle sounded. "Suna is overrun by an insane jinchuuriki, Konoha seems to have lost the Kyuubi, Iwa's two jinchuuriki have turned rogue, and only Kumo has two able-bodied ones."
The Mizukage tilted his head towards the ceiling, frowning in thought. "Perhaps it's time to recall Utakata."
"Kaka-shi!" Naruto leered up impressively, arms clasped behind his head.
Ah, why does this kid have so much energy? Rubbing his hand nervously in his hair, Kakashi's lone eye smiled. "Maa, maa. What is it, Naruto?"
"Sasuke-teme said that you're a big-shot jounin! Train us, train us, train us, train us, train us, trai—"
"Usuratonkachi, nii-san and Hatake-san have a mission today, or did you forget?"
Naruto visibly deflated. "Awwwwwww."
"Maa, maa. We don't have a mission anymore, Sasuke-kun. Hokage's orders." At this, the boy perked up, eyes glazing wide.
"So—"
"So we can train you guys today, if you're up for it." Shit. Why'd he say that. The plan was breakfast and leave since when did it turn into breakfast then socialize?
Naruto whooped, and dashed towards the door. Sasuke straightened, tomato forgotten and tamago uneaten, darting after the blonde.
Aahhh… what had he gotten himself into this time?
He slumped reluctantly towards the front door, hands in his pockets, heading towards the Uchiha private training grounds where Itachi was already ready, throwing shuriken at the easy targets placed before him. The fourteen year old turned towards him, a soft smile on his face. "It seems that they've swindled us into training them once again. "
Kakashi smiled ruefully. "Maa, about that…"
"Oi! Old man! You better not to back on your promise now!" Naruto struck a pose, pointing an offending finger at Kakashi. Sasuke, standing behind him, noticeably strained to hold back his own outburst before deigning with a "hn".
Kakashi deflated.
"Sasuke, Naruto-kun. Let's start with shuriken practice today." Give it up for Itachi for being mentally stable enough to deal with two hyperactive children. Kakashi could never.
Two months later, on the outskirts of Konoha
Eri raced through the forest, nevermind that the Land of Fire was dryer than a Houzuki could take. Two of the six ANBU who'd gone on the mission with her were already dead, one having exploded his guts over her uniform and the other nastily beheaded. Straining chakra towards her ears and legs, she muttered a curse when the tell-tale of a shuriken exploded into action behind her.
Isobu-chama chanted somewhere in the back of her head. Use it, use it, use it use it use it use it use it use ituseituseituseituse—
Eri snarled in annoyance and immediately circulated her chakra towards her back. Let him have at it.
Ten blue-white chains exploded out of her, eight pummeling towards her attacker, while the rest acted as extra appendages, swinging her up into the trees and boosting her speed by several times. Her ears strained before the tell-tale whump of one of her chains hitting their target sounded and immediately, she leapt back, heading straight towards her pursuer, Kiba in hand, crackling white electricity. If she couldn't take Utakata back to Kiri, then she'd kill him and seal the bijuu herself.
The chain that had managed to connected in its attack strung itself through Utakata's body while the rest wrapped around him, encasing him in a yellow glow—the fuuinjutsu art of chakra chain sealing arrays. A clone would've disappeared already, so this had to be the real Utakata.
Eri landed by the Rokubi jinchuuriki, Kiba blazing. "Nuke-nin of Kirigakure, once-Jounin Utakata, Rokubi jinchuuriki, the Sandaime Mizukage recalls you to the village." Utakata glared, face twisted in righteous fury.
A ruffle of leaves behind Eri alerted her to the presence of another group within their vicinity and five more chains slid out, encasing both jinchuuriki in a protective array. She stiffened. "Show yourself!"
A Konoha ANBU team slid out from the shadows, arms held placatingly. Their leader, a white-haired figure with a dog mask, dropped down from his perch, slunking over. "What brings Kiri-nin to the forests of Konoha?"
Eri straightened at the sight of allies and sheathed Kiba within the storage seals she'd inked onto the sides of her stomach—it wouldn't do to be violent on the outskirts of Konoha, especially since the treaty between Kiri and Konoha wasn't as strong as the one between Kiri and Uzu. "A retrieval mission."
Silently, she mentally berated herself. Why hadn't she noticed that Utakata had been herding her towards Konoha? If he'd chased her any further, if she hadn't used her chakra chains, then perhaps she'd have violated a sacred treaty in a time when such an action had too many far-reaching consequences to count.
"Maa, maa. Next time please settle Kirigakure disputes away from Konoha. Your little spar put our village on Code Red high alert." The ANBU surrounding her gave small snickers.
Eri resisted the urge to call off her chains and pummel the man into the ground. Four known chakra signatures sped by and she signed in relief. Team Six had finally caught up. They landed around her in a semi-circle.
ANBU Spider whistled. "Ne, ne, Eri-sama. You did good for a snot-nosed brat. Now let's haul ass outta here. Konoha gives me the creeps." She gave a fake shudder, then pranced away into the trees, barely even acknowledging the Konoha ANBU still surrounding them.
"We'll let you go on your way, then." The Konoha ANBU melted back into the shadows, but Eri wasn't naïve enough to believe that they'd truly left.
Scorpion stepped up to her and gave a low whistle. "So, Utakata, huh? Hey, you a boy or a girl?"
The Rokubi jinchuuriki ceased his struggling only to glare daggers back.
Isobu-chama was glomping circles in her mind-palace. Saiken! Saiken! Saiken! Saiken!
Ah. So the Rokubi was named Saiken.
Eri knelt, facing Utakata. "Utakata-san. The Five Nations are once again going to war. The Mizukage has recalled you to the village."
He glared at her, eyes spitting daggers. "As if I'd ever go back to that hellhole. Kiri can go die if it wants to. It's got nothing to do with me."
Eri felt her eyes narrow. "Does it really not have anything to do with you? Utakata-san. I'm five years old. Iwa has recently updated my bingo-book status to 'capture on sight'. You've also been updated, Utakata-san. Guess what? You're also a 'capture on sight'.
"Utakata-san. Iwa has Han and Roshi. They may be nuke-nin now, but both have been unerringly loyal towards Iwagakure. If you can be beaten into submission even by me, all that's left of you in this world is just death."
Utakata glared.
Scorpion tittered. "Goodness! Teenagers these days!" Fanning himself airily, he walked off, probably trailing after Spider.
Eri retracted her chains, leaving Utakata lying in the dirt, clutching his wound. "Saiken, you should heal your jinchuuriki."
His flesh slowly searing into one, Utakata stood on shaky legs. "Perhaps it is time I returned to Kiri."
Isobu-chama splashed about in the mind-palace. Saiken's back! Saiken's back!
Eri's eyes twitched into a soft smile. "Hai, hai. Saiken's back."