Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Naruto. Please forgive any spelling and grammar errors, I try to catch them but I know I'm not always successful.
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xXx-Chapter 31-xXx
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Quinn stared blankly out into the pitch dark night as she stood watch. She was sitting with her back against a large rock while the rest of team slept closer to the wall inside an alcove along the river to avoid as much of the elements as they could as well as to help keep them hidden from wandering patrols. Because of how dangerous it was, no fire could be lit, the night wind biting cold, making their situation even more miserable. But Quinn's mind was too focused elsewhere to truly be bothered by the cold.
She was a murderer. She had taken an innocent life for no other reason than convenience to a mission that she wasn't even sure was possible anymore. So much time had passed that Quinn wasn't convinced that Nami Yamata wasn't already dead. This was nothing like when she had fought Mizuki, his death had been in self-defense and in the defense of her friend and teacher. As much as she hated that it had come to that, she knew it had been the only option she had, as cold as it sounded she could justify it. That girl's death, her murder, had been nothing like it.
Quinn rushed towards the blonde haired girl. The girl's blue eyes were just starting to widen with horror as her mind caught up with the speed in which she had seen her team die, she turns just in time to see Quinn reach her. Before she can make a sound Quinn brings her blade forward and around in a powerful and fast sweep. The weeks of training with Yugao-sensei coming to bear.
Her strike is true, perfect in speed, strength and technique and Quinn is showered in a rain of blood as the young girl's head topples to the ground and rolls away. Her body stays standing for only a second before collapsing as well.
The adrenaline wares off and Quinn's mind catches up with what she had just done. She looks over and she catches the glassy and terrified gaze of her target's head, lying a few feet away from her. Quinn lets out a sharp gasp and drops her blade, horrified by what she had just done. She feels arms wrap around her, and a hand covers her mouth just in time to muffle her screams.
Yugao is whispering quietly in her ear, that it was okay, that she would be okay, but Quinn knew that was a lie. This wasn't okay, this was as far from okay as it could possibly get and she would never be okay after this. Yugao shushes her gently, telling her that she needs to be silent. Quinn manages to stop her screaming but can't stop her crying.
Yugao turns her around and pulls her in, holding her closely and rocking her gently back and forth. Hizashi and Hana exchange a sad look before they begin to clean up the blood and seal away the bodies. Standard procedure, a ninja's body had value even in death. The three Kumo genin and their sensei would be taken back to Konoha and studied.
"Leave it." Yugao orders when Hana and Hizashi finally get to the girl who Rin had killed. "She needs to be the one to do this."
"Yugao." Hizashi protests, his tone disapproving.
"It's no trouble." Hana says, glaring at Yugao.
Yugao however shakes her head no at them, before pulling away slightly from Rin. "Rin, I need you to look at me."
Rin nods her head and looks up at her, her breathing is quick and tense, like she's trying but failing to calm herself down, her body is shaking.
Yugao fights the urge to send Rin back and instead says, "Rin, we still have a job to do, do you understand?"
Rin nods her head, but the motion is jerky and violent.
"I need to hear you say it."
"Yes, sensei." Rin mumbles quietly, her voice slightly cracking.
"Say it again so I can hear you." Yugao orders a little more firmly.
Rin swallows and for a moment Yugao isn't sure if the younger girl is going to throw up or not, but when she answers her voice is steady and clear, "Yes sensei."
"Good, now, just like you practiced in our anatomy lessons, I want you to prepare and seal the girl's body."
Rin's face goes ashen white, a stark contrast to her blood splattered face, but she responds once more with "Yes sensei." And with that she gets to work. She moves the body and lays it flat, her own body trembling as she does so. Yugao then watches, her heart aching for her student, as Rin grabs the nearby head and places it next to the body. That action proves to be too much for her student and she quickly moves away and begins to throw up violently, falling to her knees as she does so.
"That's enough." Hana snarls, glaring at Yugao. She then grabs a scroll to finish the job whether Yugao approved or not, Hizashi moving next to her and performing the hand seals for the earth jutsu that would cover up all of the blood.
Yugao moves to her student's side and holds Rin's pony tail out of the way as she vomits.
That had been two days ago. Their movement had been slow but largely unimpeded due to her sensor abilities. Nobody was getting close to them unless they let them, but unfortunately because Quinn had no idea what Nami Yamata's chakra felt like, she couldn't just find her. There were plenty of chakra signatures around that she could detect but none of them screamed wounded Konoha shinobi to her. Though, admittedly, her mind wasn't all that focused.
They had gotten as close to the initial site where Nami had almost been captured as they dared and thankfully it was close enough that Hana's hounds had been able to pick up a faint scent. They were following it as best they could, avoiding enemy patrols, but neither she nor Yugao had been able to pick up a chakra signature that might belong to their target. And with every hour that passed the scent got weaker as well, which meant eventually they wouldn't even have a general direction that they should go.
Quinn is broken from her thoughts when she hears the quiet whimper from San as the dog gently nuzzles up against her. Quinn leans up against the dog and wraps her arms around him, he was so warm, especially against the cold night air. The image of holding that girl's head in her hands come to her mind and she chokes back a sob, fighting with everything she had to not cry. San leans in closer, not knowing why his charge was sad only that his alpha had told him to protect her.
"Your shift's up." Hana says, coming and sitting down on her other side, the other two Haimaru brothers joining them.
Quinn pulls away from San, straightening up and wiping her eyes, "I can take this watch as well, if you want me to. I'm not tired."
"You're exhausted, and don't try to deny it. You need to sleep."
Quinn brings her knees up to her chest, "Please don't make me sleep," she begs quietly. "I can't close my eyes without seeing… her."
Hana nods her head and wraps an arm around her. "Alright," Hana says quietly as Rin leans against her, shivering, though Hana doubts it's due to the cold, "two heads are better than one, we can both keep watch."
"I'm sorry." Quinn whispers after a few moments. I'm sorry I'm so weak, I'm sorry I'm a burden, I'm sorry that I'm a murderer. I'm sorry for existing.
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xXx-Scene Break-xXx
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Nami gasped in pain as the wound in her side tore open once more and she reaches down to try and staunch the bleeding with her hand. She was running as fast as her feet would carry her but she knew it wouldn't be enough. She had two Kumo shinobi on her tail, and gaining fast. It was a fool's errand to run, she should just end it now before they caught her, but she didn't want to die.
She leaps forward, sending a burst of her dwindling chakra to her legs, hoping in vain that it would help. She lands in a slick of mud and trips, she throws her free hand down to catch herself but lands wrong. There is a sharp cracking sound as she breaks her wrist. Nami winces in pain, and she can hear the sound of her pursuers getting closer. She moves her unbroken hand from stopping her bleeding wound, the warm blood gushes out in stark contrast to the cold mud.
Her bloodied hand, shakes as she reaches for her kunai, the footsteps of her pursuers getting louder and louder. Her hand grips the metal blade just as they reach her. It had been a stupid mistake on her part, when she had stopped to rest for an hour she had fallen asleep. It was only an accident on their part that she had woken up in time to run, one of them had misstepped and splashed a foot into the river.
The sound had startled her awake, alerting the Kumo shinobi to her presence. She took off as fast as her feet would carry her, no longer worrying about stealth. She had been discovered, it was too late to do anything. She should have slit her own throat then and there, but instead she ran. Hoping futilely that she might escape. But she hadn't and now it was time to end it.
The two Kumo shinobi rush at her as she brings the blade up to her throat, she can feel the slight sting of the blade as it begins to cut her flesh, but she was too slow and a strong hand grips her wrist and prevents her from doing anything more than nicking herself.
The Kumo shinobi's eyes are hard as he glares down at her, "You are going to pay for what you have done."
Nami glares back at him, but keeps her mouth firmly shut. She wouldn't give these Kumo bastards the satisfaction of getting even one syllable from her.
"What, nothing to say spy?" The other Kumo shinobi growls. "It doesn't matter, our people will have you talking soon enough."
Nami's eyes move rapidly between the two Kumo shinobi assessing her situation, maybe if she wasn't so weak or injured, she probably could have fought them both off and won. Of course if she wasn't injured then she wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place. No help was coming and slitting her own throat wasn't likely to happen. She knew she couldn't be captured, if for no other reason than she wouldn't allow herself to be taken and tortured. She wouldn't betray her village, she had done her duty for over a decade now, one last act of patriotism and then she would be done. It would be messy and painful, but there was nothing else to do.
Nami gathers chakra into her jaw, wanting to make sure that when she bit her own tongue off it would be a clean cut. She would bleed out in a matter of minutes and then this would all be over. Not a quick or clean death, but considering the alternative was capture and torture, it was the best she was going to get. However just as she's about to bite down a loud voice calls out drawing her attention as well as the two Kumo shinobi.
"Fire Style, Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
A young blonde girl wearing a Leaf headband comes jumping into view, small fireballs swirling around her before launching at the two Kumo Shinobi. They jump away from her, easily dodging the flames, only to discover that they had moved right into the attacks of two more Leaf shinobi who arrive on scene. One of them is a Hyūga who slams his open palm into one of the Kumo shinobi's chest. The other Kumo ninja is cut in half by a katana wielded by a purple haired Kunoichi.
A brown haired kunoichi with red triangles painted on her cheek rushes to her side while all of this is happening. Her hands are already glowing with the light green color of medical chakra. "Hey," She says with a comforting smile, "don't worry, everything's going to be alright."
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xXx-Scene Break-xXx
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"Hey kid, are you ready to head out?" Yugao asks.
Quinn nods her head, it wasn't like she had a choice the matter. "Yes sensei."
Yugao places a hand on Quinn's shoulder, "Listen, Rin, I know these last few days have been tough on you. You are so early into your career, having to do something like that, it's rough. Even for more experienced shinobi, killing like that is hard. And gods, you're still so green but… we're still in a very dangerous situation and the life of a fellow Leaf ninja depends on us doing our job. I wish I could have started you out on something easier, less brutal, but it wasn't my call this time. We were given our orders and we were given our mission and we need to complete it, no matter how we may feel. I need you to get your head straight, because we need you Rin. With your ability, you are our best shot at getting out of here alive. I know killing that girl was hard on you, and I wish I could give you the time you need and deserve to deal with it, but I can't. We're on the clock and time is running out, every second we waste hurts Ms. Yamata's chances of survival and increases our odds of getting caught."
Quinn looks down, unable to meet her teacher's eyes. "I'm sorry…" She whispers softly.
"I know." Yugao says with an understanding look, "I know. None of this is fair, none of it. When I told you that you would have to sacrifice yourself to the darkness, I meant exactly moments like this. It's hard and it sucks, but you need to stay focused, otherwise you could get us all killed. Once this mission is over I'll be right there with you, helping you come to terms with what happened, but right now I need you to bottle it. Put what you're feeling into the deepest recesses of your mind and suppress it. It's not fair of me to ask that of you, but this is the path you've chosen and life isn't fair, especially not the life of a kunoichi."
Quinn gives a weak smile, bottling up her emotions was a Fabray specialty. "Yes sensei, I… I'll do whatever it is you need me to do."
Yugao gives a small nod of approval. Cruel to be kind, emotional trauma could be dealt with at a later time, at a time when they were all safe. But right now, she needed Rin in as close to perfect fighting condition as she could get her, it was the only way she would survive.
"Alright, here's what we'll do," Hizashi calls out grabbing everyone's attention. "We'll continue to follow the river. It's our best bet unless, Hana, Yugao, or Rin, have any of you picked up something that suggests we should do otherwise?"
"No, sorry." Hana says, after looking to her dogs to see if they had picked up the scent again, having lost it during the night.
"I'm picking up signatures all around us, but nothing to go off of. How about you kid, do you sense anything?"
Quinn closes her eyes and concentrates for a moment, she picks up a couple of teams in the area but nothing to indicate where their target was. "No, nothing for me either- wait!" One of the signatures lets out a burst of energy and takes off, away from two nearby ones, she gets a strong spike of fear and desperation from them as well. Meanwhile the two other nearby signatures give pursuit. Vindication and excitement are coming from them. She had sensed them for a while, but had just thought they were a three man team of chūnin, but with this, she realized that one of them was actually a weakened jōnin.
"What is it Rin?" Hizashi asks, "What do you sense?"
"I think I may have found her but we have to hurry, two other signatures are closing in fast. We don't have a lot of time."
"Lead the way." Hizashi orders and with that they take off as fast as they can, forgoing any thought to stealth. Once they grabbed Nami Yamata they could worry about hiding again.
"They're just over that hill!" Quinn says tersely as they continue to sprint towards their target. Only moments away from their target and two enemy shinobi.
"Rin, create space between them and Ms. Yamata. Yugao and I will engage the enemy, Hana, I want you to get to her immediately." Hizashi orders as they race up the hill. The veins around his eyes become more prominent as he activates his bloodline limit.
Quinn doesn't allow herself to hesitate or lose focus and as soon as she's at the top the hill she leaps high into the air, her hands making the tiger sign, "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Six fireballs swirl around her before launching themselves at the two enemy shinobi. They easily dodge them, but her goal wasn't to hit them, just create some distance between them and Nami Yamata.
Hizashi and Yugao spring into action and quickly kill the two Kumo chūnin while Hana and her hounds move to Nami Yamata's side. The Haimaru brothers form a protective ring around them, while Hana begins to assess and treat Nami's wounds.
Quinn makes her way over to Hana as do Hizashi and Yugao. "How is she?" Hizashi asks.
"Better, now that you're here." Nami chuckles weakly.
"Not good, at least three busted ribs, not to mention the cut itself. There might even be damage to the lung, I'm not sure, I'm a field medic not a fully trained doctor." Hana's hands work carefully over the bleeding wound, closing it as quickly as she can. "She'll need surgery for sure, but this should hold her over until we can get her to a real doctor."
"I'm tougher than I look." Nami jokes, her face is pale and she winces as she tries to sit up, Hana assisting her.
"My name is Hizashi Hyuga, I'm the leader of the team sent to rescue you." Hizashi introduces himself, kneeling down next to her, "It's an honor to meet a hero such as yourself and you don't need to worry anymore, we're going to get you home."
Nami nods her head and smiles in gratitude, "I don't know about hero, but I'll definitely take the help getting home."
"My name is Yugao Uzuki, and I think hero is the exact word I would use. You've given up a lot to protect our home, I swear to you, we'll get you home safe." Yugao says, as she introduces herself.
"My name is Hana Inuzuka, and I'm going to take good care of you." Hana says, as she takes Nami's broken wrist and starts to perform some basic first aid jutsu on it.
"And what about you kid, how'd you find yourself in this pleasant little corner of hell?" Nami says with a playful grin. Seeing these Konoha shinobi had boosted her spirits more than she had ever thought possible. For the first time since her escape she actually believed she might make it home alive.
The girl gives a weak smile in return, "Just lucky I guess, my name is Rin Yamanaka."
"Yamanaka?" Nami asks, unable to believe it.
"Yeah… you were on the same genin team as my mother…"
"You're Megumi's kid…" Nami chuckles, choking up a bit. Her best friend and teammate's kid was right here. She had been a newborn the last time she had seen her, and now here she was, all grown up.
Quinn nods her head. "She's really missed you."
"I've missed her too."
"There, that should hold you over for now." Hana says, letting go of Nami's hand. Hana and Yugao then both help Nami get to her feet.
"Can you travel?" Hizashi asks.
Nami gives him a confident smirk, belying just how exhausted she was. "You lead and I'll follow." She says throwing a playful wink towards Rin.
Hizashi nods his head, accepting her word for now, before turning to Rin. "Rin, what's our situation."
Quinn closes her eyes and tries to clear her mind and concentrate. "Dammit… We've got two teams of three closing in on us, my jutsu must have alerted them to our presence, I'm sorry."
"You did what you had to, don't worry about it kid." Yugao says.
"Yugao is correct, you got those Kumo shinobi away from Ms. Yamata, that's all that matters."
"Call me Nami, especially you kid."
Quinn nods her head.
"What can you tell me about them, how strong are they?" Hizashi asks.
Quinn closes her eyes and concentrates on them again. "They're all jōnin level ninja by my estimate, none of them are as strong as you and sensei individually, but there are six of them so it'll be trouble if they catch us. One team is closer than the other, but they'll meet up before they reach us. They will be here in a few minutes, we should move, now."
"Agreed. Hana, you will assist Nami, Yugao you will take the rear guard. Rin, you and I will take the lead. We'll move south as quickly as we can. Once we reach Fire territory we should be okay, and once Nami is safe we'll decide how to proceed from there. Rin, keep aware and let me know as soon as anything changes."
"One more thing, she's not close by, but…"
"But what?" Hizashi asks.
"The jinchūriki is in the area and she's furious. She's not close but if they catch up to us and we're forced into a fight…"
"We'll likely draw its attention." Hizashi finishes, not relishing the thought of facing an angry jinchūriki.
"Well then, I guess we'll just have to be extra careful to not get caught." Nami says with a cocky grin. "I've managed to stay uncaptured for the past decade, a few more hours won't hurt."
"That's the spirit." Hana says with a chuckle. "Ichi, Nii, flank." Hana orders, and two of her hounds move to guard their sides. She then says, "San." And motions to Rin, and the third dog moves to stand by his charge.
"Alright, speed is everything people, we're almost home. Let's move!" And with that Team Hizashi along with Nami take off, moving as quickly towards Konoha territory as Nami's injuries would allow.
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xXx-Scene Break-xXx
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Yugito Nii was terrified and furious, her emotional state was in such an upheaval that it was even affecting Matatabi. It had been a shock to see who the spy was and an even bigger surprise at how easily they had led her through the castle undetected. And from how deeply into their territory the tunnel went it was no surprise to Yugito that Konoha had been able to get a team past their blockade. But when she had exited the tunnel a faint scent on the air had left her devastated and sick with worry.
Blood.
And not just anyone's blood, her sister's blood. The body was nowhere to be found and when she had torn up the earth around the area all she had found was more blood… too much blood. The earth jutsu used to cover it up had been competently done, and would have hidden the scent from just about everyone. But with her heightened senses, thanks to Matatabi who resided within her, she had picked up on her sister's scent immediately. She wasn't dead, she refused to believe that Yoko was dead. She had been seriously wounded and captured and she needed to be rescued. Fuck Eiji and his mission, whatever harm had befallen her sister, once she found them, she would pay it back on Konoha tenfold.
"We will find her." Matatabi whispers in her mind. "We will find her and they will face our wrath."
Yugito doesn't respond, she just keeps moving, following the ever weakening scent, moving as quickly as she could. Yoko didn't have much time, she had to reach her, she had to save her. Her little sister was hurt and she needed her big sis, Yugito, to save her.
"I'm coming Yoko, I'm coming, just hang on a little longer!" Yugito growls, her eyes flashing with demonic power.
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xXx-Author's Note -xXx
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Alright, it's a little abrupt, but we're definitely moving the story forward now. Maybe I could have set things up a little better and drawn thing out, maybe I should have waited a little longer to have Team Hizashi meet up with Nami, but I also don't want this story to drag on and eventually you just have to push the story forward. Even if it isn't as smoothly done as I would have liked. Anyway, thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and I will update again as soon as I can.
