Butterflies

"Me? I'm nobody. I'm not skilled like Uchiha-san. I am not passionate like Haruno-san. I am not smart like Nara-san. I'm not as strong as Chouji-san. I'm not as collected as Aburame-san. Or as pretty as Yamanaka-san. I'm not as confident as Inuzuka-san. If anything, I'm like Hyuuga-san, socially awkward. Oh wait, no, she's just shy. The socially awkward one is me." OC! Team 7 remix!

Chapter 72 – The power of words

8-8

"This is no longer something we can wait on. We need to move, and we need to move now!" I tell them. My team nods, knowing I'm dead serious.

"My team can't cross at night." Taiju says, tired of being left out.

"Go. We will make our way to Konoha." Shira offers.

"Hey, Aya. Trust me enough to stay with them?" Tayuya tries.

"Not my call to make." I say turning to Kakashi.

"…" Kakashi doesn't look convinced.

"Oi! I'm not going anywhere until Aya teaches me those sound release jutsus!" The redhead shouts, obviously peeved.

"Fine." Kakashi caves, knowing that my fears aren't unfounded and that Tayuya did help when she didn't have to. "Be safe."

8-8

We make it to Shinjuku Town just as the sun is rising. Everyone is worn down, but we cannot stop. I hand out breakfast – two rations bars and a bottle of water. No tree cover here; there's no way I'm going in plain view of all these guys!

Once the bottles are sealed again, we head out. We run until we're a half hour past the treeline before taking a break again. This time I go, and thank Kami-sama I do! I was just about ready to explode!

On the road again not long after that. We make it to Artisan village just after sunset. That's when I finally breathe a sigh of relief. The village isn't burned to the ground, the villagers aren't dead.

Kashi-nii doesn't look too relieved. He still thinks something is up. I feel the same, but at least we'll be here when it goes down!

We make our way to the village leader's house again. Once inside, I tell them to wake me if something happens, curl up with Tsu and Hitomi, and immediately fall asleep.

8-8

Poke. Prod. Nudge. Someone's getting a kunai through the eye if they don't let me sleep!

"Naruto, you're the most insane person I've ever met." I hear Tsu, she sounds amused. "You see that frown? If that turns into a smile, you're dead."

"Sorry, Ryuuzetsu-chan, but I doubt sis would hurt me. And trust me, I'm always the one they send to wake her." Naru-nii is just as amused. "Come on, sis. I know you can hear me! Kakashi-sensei called for a meeting."

"Let me know how it goes." I turn, wondering at the cold air now making out with my leg. It isn't worth getting up over though.

"I can't! Because we've got incoming!"

I groan. Fine! If I can't kill Naru-nii, then I'll kill the idiots dumb enough to attack! "If I find out you're lying, I'm killing you and hiding the body." I grind out, getting up and hating the cool air that greets me.

We make our way outside, where Kashi-nii is getting the villagers pumped up. He's saying something about having someone worth fighting for, and refusing to give up until you can fall asleep in their arms – or maybe I'm just filling in the blanks because I'm so fricking tired!

I almost fall asleep standing up, but Naru-nii pinches my cheek – and gets slapped on reflex. He dodges, though; the idiot.

Once the villagers are pumped up, they run along to go play with pointy things. Or whatever. Kashi-nii motions for us to follow him back into the village leader's house – where I just came from. Why did I need to walk all the way out here, to walk all the way back? Am I really supposed to be awake for this?

"Listen up!" Kashi-nii begins, after a funny buzzing fly thingy bugs me. "Zabuza and Haku spotted sixteen eight man squads scouting the area!"

…

Blink…

…

Well, that's a rude way to wake up.

"Hitomi already confirmed, they are fanning out and are camping out around the village. So far no contact has been made. This might be either part of the group meant to haggle Artisan Village, or it may be another group entirely. Be on high alert!"

"Headbands?" I ask.

"Same three as before. All slashed. Imamura might have been hired by this group for whatever reason." Kashi-nii answers. "Average is chuunin, but there are a few jounins here and there as well."

"That… makes no sense. What do they want?" I ask, annoyed. "This has to be bigger than just wanting weapons, but even then… what do they want those weapons for? I mean, someone had to notice this large a gathering of rogues, right?"

"I don't know. And at this point it doesn't matter." Kashi-nii says. "For now, we need to see what it is we're dealing with. Imouto-chan… I need you to talk to the girl. Find out what she knows."

"You want me to interrogate a mourning kunoichi that watched us kill her father?"

"Do you have a better idea?" He asks, his eye almost begging me to give him one.

8-8

I don't know what's worse. Is it that I can't argue against Kashi-nii's point, or that I agreed to do this?

So here I am, in a sealed off room, with Tsu, Hitomi and Naru-nii. He's already made a few seals to help us suppress Ikoku. I doubt we'll need them, but…

I sigh. This is so wrong on so many levels.

I unseal the prisoners' scroll and unseal Imamura Ikoku. I mentally brace myself. She appears out of the smoke, eyes blank, but fresh tears still on her cheeks. "Ikoku. I know there couldn't possibly be a worse time to bother you, but we need to ask you some questions." I begin.

She stares. Blank, unresponsive.

"We need to know about the group, the people trying to burn this village down." I try.

"Sis, give me a sec." Naru-nii says, applying the chakra suppression seal on her forehead. "There. As you were." He sounds amused, motioning to her.

I sigh, knowing exactly what he means, unfortunately. Against my better judgement, I hug her. She stiffens. "I'm here." I murmur, holding her close, tight but gently.

The tears start.

Why do I always end up playing doctor to enemy shinobi – though most often kunoichi.

"I hate him!" That came out of nowhere. "I hate him so much!" The crying, the nerve-wracking sobs, it only intensifies. She clutches any fabric she can on me, holding onto me for dear life.

"Confusing, isn't it. To hate someone you love so dearly." I say, but I'm not sure why. She's doing well enough on her own.

If she was a wreck before, then I don't even know how to describe her now. She keeps muttering half formed words, keeps trying to explain the pain in her heart, but… I can't even understand half of what she's saying. The words 'alone', 'hurt' and 'why' stick out, but I can't make more sense of the gibberish.

Eventually she calms down enough to stand on her own. Her eyes are puffy and red, but she doesn't seem to notice.

I unseal some chocolate, offering her, Hitomi and Tsu some. We can all use some chocolate. "I'm Aya, by the way. These are Ryuuzetsu, Hitomi and the blonde idiot over there's Naruto-nii."

"Ikoku." She says, her voice still quivering a bit. "How did you know?"

"What? About the hate/love thing?" She nods. "I've been there. Just after mama died. I felt so hurt, so lost… I hated her for breaking her promise to come home." I admit, trying to mask the pain I'm feeling, needing more chocolate to not break down.

"Anyway… seriously, we need to know about those people. We think they're here and they don't look like they're in the mood to talk." I change the subject.

"The first major coalition of rogues." She says, almost wistfully. "They want to strike back at the villages that abused them. He-" Her voice shakes a bit, "was one of their strongest members. There were only two stronger."

"But why threaten to burn a village down that has nothing to do with their goal?" I ask, confused.

"Anger and hatred blind them." She sounds sure. "I should know, I've dealt with it all my life."

I nod, thinking about that. "What can you tell me about those two?"

"… Not much. Just that I wasn't allowed near them. They don't have a very healthy view of us."

"Girls, you mean."

"Yeah." She thinks about that. "I could smell the girls they brought back sometimes… young girls often enough. Less of a security risk, I suppose."

"Sex slaves." I grind out. "We found a few."

"On a boat, I'll bet. They were never allowed near the village." She sounds… broken. Even more broken than before. Like what they'd been doing is now catching up to her. "That… could… have been… me…" She manages between sobs, covering her face with both hands.

Yeah, we probably got all the information out of her she'll be able to. So, Aya, you know you're supposed to seal her back into your scroll. You're supposed to move on. You have bigger things to deal with right now!

Aya, no! Don't hug her again! Stop it! You're busy! Lives are on the line! She's a big girl! She can survive another few days in the seal without you coddling her!

I really need to listen to my own advice. And yet, I'm holding her, telling her to let it all out. Promising her that I'm not going anywhere. Kami-sama, I'm such a softie!

8-8

"Two stronger than Imamura. That's troubling, but things could be worse. You get anything else?" Kashi-nii asks.

"United by hate and anger at their villages? Nii-san, she's an emotional wreck! I'm amazed I got her to talk at all!" I remind him, a bit peeved. How does he expect me to get more than that!? I'm not Ibiki! I'm not Inoichi-san!

"You mind asking the other guy then?" He tries.

"Why don't you ask him!? I am not an interrogator!"

"… You connected with her." He doesn't ask. I cross my arms, refusing to talk about that. "Sorry. I should've known. Take Anko with you. She'll get him to sing before long."

"Whatever." I storm off, grabbing Mitarashi-san and dragging her along. "Let's go! You've got work to do!"

8-8

I plop onto the roof, annoyed, needing chocolate, and just wanting to get away from people. So I unseal a bar of chocolate, tearing into it, huffing and muttering about stupid older brothers.

"Hey."

"Not in the mood, Tsu." I warn, taking a larger than normal bite of chocolate.

"I know." She says, sitting down next to me. "You shouldn't be alone when you get like this, though. You tend to make things worse, not better."

"Whatever." I take another big bite.

"You need to talk about it, Aya. You know that."

"I don't want to talk!" I shout, not meaning to. Tears start welling up. I felt horrible before, now I just wish the earth would swallow me whole. I take another bite, quickly followed by another.

"You need to anyway." She gently places her hand on my shoulder. "Aya, please. Let me stand by you. Let me be here for you. We both know you need to let this out."

I take another big bite, not even caring that my jaw hurts from how much is in my mouth.

Her arms slowly snakes around me, pulling me closer to her. She lays her head against mine. Then she says the most horrible thing ever: "She reminds me of you." The first tears streak down, not caring what I have to say one the matter. "Her being the last, her wanting nothing more than to be daddy's little girl. Heck she even looks a little like you, glasses and all."

"Shut up. Please, just… shut up."

"And just like you, life gave her a pretty raw deal." 'Shut up' doesn't mean 'talk more'. It never has. "So I think it's safe to say you blame yourself. You're thinking about the what-ifs. What if you tried to talk to him, what if you tried to save him, what if it was you and that was your father."

Stupid tears. Stupid Tsu. Stupid… stupid everything! Kami, I'm so useless!

She takes off my glasses; it's not like I can see through the tears anyway. She tugs me into her embrace, letting me bury my face into the nape of her neck.

This time, it's me clutching in her shirt. It's my body wracked with drawn out sobs. It's my tears, my heart that's in tatters.

"When… did it… hap…pen?" I manage between sobs. "When… did the… en…emy… turn in…to… good… peo…ple?"

She doesn't interrupt. "He… just… wan…ted her… to be… hap…py."

8-8

"OI!" I shout to grab their attention. "We've killed enough good people for one mission! I don't need more little girls crying over their father's corpse! So leave!"

The shinobi in the clearing don't leave. They're staring at me. "Aya, you're wasting your breath." 'Mitarashi-san' tries.

"What do you morons want!?" I press on anyway. I don't want more blood to be spilled, not when I already know what's going on.

"I want my little sister back!" One of them shouts.

"I want my father!" Comes another.

"Well take a number! I want my parents back, too! You don't see me threatening villages!" I shout at the top of my lungs. "You don't see me enslaving little girls! You don't see me turning them into sex slaves!"

Not surprisingly, no one answers. "Leave! NOW! If you go, you'll live! If you stay and fight! I swear I won't stop until every last one of you is a pile of ash!"

"Go where!?" One of them shouts. "We have nowhere to go! And if we return to our village, they'll kill us for sure!"

"And threatening people is better!?" I counter. "Passing your hatred onto another is better!? Spilling innocent blood is better!? At least you idiots would deserve it! Just look at what you've done since leaving your village!"

"How will you explain to your loved ones what you've done!? How will you explain to those little girls why you tortured and raped them!? How will you explain it to yourselves!?"

"Don't listen to her! We've done what we had to for the sake of our revenge!" A new face announces itself. He's one of the leaders, I can tell just by how the others tense as he arrives.

"OH YEAH!? Tell that to the eleven year old I had to explain that she isn't just getting fat!" I counter, anger burning in my eyes. A righteous anger this time. "Tell that to Imamura Ikoku who was crying for hours over the loss of her father! Tell that to the villagers you're willing to kill if they don't do exactly as you say!"

To be united by hatred is fragile, at best.

He smiles. An indulgent, you don't know what you're talking about smile. "What do you know of loss, little girl!?"

"You don't care!" I counter. "All you care about is using these men! Manipulating them! Bending to your own twisted vision!"

"… Tch."

"What's the matter!? Truth too hard to deny!?" His face is slowly morphing into a scowl. "An orphan raised in a world filled with orphans! I know more of loss than you think! And do you know why!? Because of people like you! People that don't know the value of human life! People that start a war just because they can! All you do is feed the hate! All you do is create more orphans! All you do is make more little sisters die in their brother's arms! More father's that don't return home to their family!" I'm crying a little, thinking about mama and papa.

#Get ready to strike. Halfway to mutiny.# I sign behind my back. I'm a softie, through and through, but I play the game well. It's sad how often I have to use my con-artistry as a kunoichi, though.

"You know nothing of honour! You know nothing of love! You know nothing of the pain your idiocy brings into your men's lives! How they have to drown their sorrows in booze and women!" A few heads start nodding, he's losing ground with his men and fast.

"And you do!?" He challenges. Never challenge a Namiki when it comes to honour.

"My name is Namiki Aya. Head of the Namiki clan! I know honour! I know the value of my pack! I know that I would lay down my life for the sake of my precious people! Can you say the same!? Would you die for your men!?"

"Bah! Words! How petty!" Is that the best you can come up with? Really?

"Not just words!" 'Kashi-nii' is in the clearing in front of them. "As head of the Hatake clan, I can assure you Aya speaks the truth!"

"I agree!" 'Momochi-san' and 'Haku' are down there as well now. "As head of the Yuki clan, I can vouch that Namiki has fought and bled for her pack!" That's not a total lie, but I haven't been badly injured yet. I'm hoping that never comes up.

"You got that right!" Oh boy. Naru-nii can't get left out of the party. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Head of the Uzumaki clan! And let me tell you, my Imouto-chan up there would die for me in a heartbeat! Which she should know by now I'll never let her!"

"Nn!" Tsu. Great! Everyone's getting in on the action! "Trust me! Aya would die for anyone in her pack! And not one of us plans on letting her!"

"Got that right!" Hitomi too!?

I body flicker down between Tsu and Hitomi. "If you idiots are dead set on fighting, there's no way I'm sitting this out!" I swat Naruto-nii to let him know I'm mostly aiming that at him. Especially the 'idiot' part. "Just make sure to be careful, guys. I don't want to have to put you back together, you hear me!"

"OI!" 'Mitarashi-san' is right down here with us. "If any of you idiots try to harm my goddaughter, you'll answer to me!" Kami-sama! So much fluff before a fight, it's almost sad.

You know what's even sadder? Knowing that this is a diversion, and that the actual leaders will be attacking from the east, since Mitarashi found out they're both primarily earth release users. And doubly so, knowing that Kashi-nii's team is to the east. The four here are all Naru-nii's shadow clones. Not that chuunins would notice that. You've got to play the game, after all.

"So tell me!?" I demand. "Who of you will fight us!? And who will lay down their arms in the hopes of finding a village to call home!?" Aya, you can be so evil sometimes. Really you can. I love me anyway.

"I will." One steps forward, dropping his leg pouch on the ground. I smile warmly, welcoming him back to sanity. The sour-puss leader draws his sword, ready to strike him down.

Snap!

He sacrifices power for speed. A wise decision when going for a quick kill, if not for the Mime's Barrier now protecting the man he just tried to kill.

"You see what I mean? You know nothing of honour." I chastise him, hovering the barrier up and away from the crowd. I land him up on the wall where I was a minute ago, but don't let him out of the barrier.

That opens the flood gates, and twenty-nine of the remaining thirty-one shinobi revolt against their 'leader'. Mutiny at its best. I place them all in Mime's Barriers, hovering them up onto the wall to keep them out of harm's way.

"Aww, mister leader looks a little lonely." I tease, mock pouting and pretending to rub my eyes. The idiot looks like he's about to lose his cool.

"So you show your true face at last! A liar and a fraud!" He tries, but I'm not sure why.

"Hmm? Wait, you actually think I was lying? My good sir, against people like you… the truth is far more dangerous."

Doubt is finally seeded in the last two.

I tap Naru-nii, the real one I hope. He nods, and the four transformed clones dash forward to engage the 'leader'. The kunai pierce his liver and eye from the two in front, and his spine and stomach from behind. It turns out to be a simple water clone though. "Coward. Didn't even come here to talk to his people himself!"

No… I think he did. "Water clones can't talk, can they?"

"Sure they can! They can't think and plan, so the caster has to think about what they want the clone to say, but they can talk." Naru-nii corrects. I breathe a little easier. "Anyway, I'm gonna have to ask you two to stand down nicely. If not, well… having to kill only two out of thirty-two is pretty good."

Before they can react though, two camouflaged clones place suppression seals on the last two, knocking them out.

"Well, that's our side defended. Wanna go check on the others?"

8-8

I'm the most worried about the blacksmiths, so we go to the west side first. And rightly so. The four are skilled to have survived this long, but they are clearly outnumbered and two of the four are injured.

I'm just glad Naru-nii placed seals on the shinobi from our side, so I don't have to maintain the Mime's Barriers, and they are all sleeping their troubles away.

We body flicker down into the fray. Naru-nii, Tomi and Tsu start knocking heads, and I focus on patching up the blacksmiths. They're shocked at first, but they don't fight me once the see the first wound close and feel the pain ease.

With the fighting already underway here, there's no point in a skit or any kind of ploy. We just try to knock them out. I place as many as I can into a coma, so that they'll stay down but hopefully not die.

Too much death on one day is a sure sign of bad luck. Let's avoid that, shall we?

It takes about ten minutes for the fighting to die down on the east side. Naru-nii tags all the survivors with those seals of his again, and he spams clones to drag them inside. Then we go to the south side.

"Well, that's a relief. They're already done." I say, looking around. It's sad that Shika-nii can still out-con me and my plans. Or maybe it's as simple as him capturing them all in his Shadow Possession, and letting Kankuro tie them up? I don't know.

Either way, I'll just have to ask later. "Come on! Kashi-nii might need a hand!"

8-8

On the east side… things are… a little different. The two leaders are actually here. And they are not letting their men slip an inch.

"Oi! Kashi-nii! You guys need a hand!? We already wrapped up on our side!" I announce. "Managed to talk sense into all thirty-two of them! They know that these two idiots are liars and have been using them! I've been thinking about talking to our friends in Sand if they could use some capable shinobi there, you know!?"

"What about the others!?" Kashi-nii, you have no faith in me, do you?

"What, you mean the future Kazekage needs a hand!?" I offer, smirking. "Oi! Idiots! I'll tell you a little secret! Your leader's water clone tried to behead one of your own because they wanted to lay down their arms! I'd advise that none of you ever try wanting peace! They are NOT having that!"

I smirk, knowing that the man who tried it is now radiating killing intent. Anyone with half a brain can figure out what that means.

"If any of you even thinks of siding with the enemy, I will cut you down!" And so, the idiot makes exactly the same mistake again.

"Now, would you look at that!? He threatens you, and we're offering you a home with an income! Some leader you guys picked! Seriously!"

The man growls – pitifully, but that's because I've seen true growls.

"Hnn! You think we'll fall for something like that!? Leader-sama has never steered us wrong!" In a mob, he with the lowest IQ and the loudest voice is king.

"Oh!? So you mean you've never touched the sex slaves!? That the girls we rescued from you are lying, that they aren't really pregnant!?"

"A man has needs!" The same idiot defends.

"You know what! You're right! If you can defend raping an eight year old over and over again, then you deserve to die here and now!" I lose my cool. I know that, and I don't care. We've saved plenty of lives today, ending a few won't make me lose any sleep.

I mould the chakra I need, casting Earth Release: Eject on just him. I make sure to aim his flight just right, so he flies to me. He realises it, quick on his feet, I'll give him that. But two wakizashis laden with earth chakra will always overpower a regular sword. He falls (splats) onto the ground behind me, in pieces. "Explain that to your mother when you see her." I grind out.

"I should probably warn you guys… my little sister's in a bad mood. I wouldn't do anything to upset her." Kashi-nii warns, his tone serious.

"Anyone else want to try to tell me you've done nothing worth killing you over!?"

"That does it! ATTACK!" I couldn't have agreed with you more!

8-8

End Chapter 72

8-8

A/N: Hmmm... Aya seems to be more than a little sneaky. I wonder if she'll stick to her word this time though. I mean, we all know she isn't kind to those that would harm any female, whether she knows them or not. I guess we'll see ^_^

Now, let's find out something even more interesting. Like if the team assembled can handle the current fight.