Chapter 11

I couldn't find an excuse to delay, so we got started. I lost track of time quickly in the thick forest. For a change, I decided to walk by Saskue, to try to get to know the aloof boy better.

For a while, we walked silently side by side listening to the others argue and fight good naturedly. I also sneak glances at him from the corner of my eyes. He is good looking; I had to admit to myself. I still don't understand why all the girls go so crazy for him though. It's like trying to love a rock. At least if you hold a rock long enough in your hand it will absorb some of your body heat, he seems to be encased inside impenetrable ice.

"I can see you looking at me." He informed me. His voice made me jump, not because he caught me off guard, but because for once, it wasn't sarcastic or mean.

I shrug, "I thought you'd be used to that by now. Back home all I could hear was your name in all the ladies heads."

"Who asked you to eavesdrop?" He asked, back to his sarcastic self.

His usual insolent manner irked me and my temper got the better of me. I swung my hips and knocked into him. He stumbled a little and threw me an incredulous glance. "Hey, what the hell!?"

"Whoops!" I say sweetly, batting my eyelashes sarcastically.

He looks baffled for a second, but then a little devilish grin tugged at the corners of his lips before he attempted to copy my move. Luckily, I saw it coming and danced out of the way. I side ste quickly back into range to throw an elbow into his ribs. He catches my elbow, with a full smile, and snatched at my hair. I let the tips of his fingers brush a strand before I jump behind him, and pinch his earlobe from behind. He spins around, facing me and laughing before I once again leap over his head and run. I take another big leap, and land on Naruto's back, nearly toppling him over. "Run, run, run!" I cry out laughing. "Angry Uchiha on the loose!"

Without even looking behind himself, Naruto takes off. I hand on tight and look over my shoulder at two confused faces, and one joyful one that chases us.

I let go of another care free laugh, before grabbing an overhead branch, removing myself from Naruto's back. He gets another few steps before he stops and looks around wildly, "Red? Hey Red! Where did you get to now?"

I patiently wait for Saskue to pass under my branch before I drop down on him taking him by surprise again. This move upsets his balance and before I can get my bearings, we're rolling down a hill.

I cling to Saskue for dear life, while his grunts and the impact of our bodies hitting the ground over and over fill my ears. When we finally stopped rolling, and I could finally see clearly again, I noticed that he held me protectively, shielding my head. He noticed me noticing and we jump away from each other simultaneously, embarrassed. "Saskue, I'm so sorry! I didn't notice that hill until we were rolling all over it." I put a hand to my forehead dizzily.

Instead of a sarcastic reply, I get silence. I look over at him, and notice he is crouching deadly still, with his sharingan fully activated. "Watch out!"

I react a second too late, arms scoop me up and have pinned me securely to someone's side. A hand is clamped over my mouth and I look up to see five masked faces. I can hear the feet beneath me pounding the earth in a frenzied manner, carrying my far away from Saskue and the others.

Panic seizes my chest and threatens to crush me. My breathing is already laboured because of the hand blocking my mouth. My heart kicks into a frenzy and my stomach contracts painfully. I reach out without really meaning to in my panic. "Saskue, help me!" Is the message I send.

"Calm down, I'll get the others we'll find you in no time. Be smart."

Hearing that promise soothes something in me, as my brain begins to spin as I devise a quick plan. Finally I manage to conjure one up.

I struggle wildly. I wiggle and kick and trash letting out muffled screams for help.

The man holding me grumbles a little and uses his other hand to punch me in the back of the head. As I hoped, he's misjudged me, the punch is enough to make me see stars but I keep a tight hold on consciousness. I let my body go limp however, feigning passing out. I assume the man carrying me is the leader, so like a viper I lash into the others minds burning the same command into their heads. "Do not question the leader. Do whatever he says." I hope its taken effect, for they show no outwardly change in response to my command. Maybe they're just dumb, I hope.

The next step of my plan will take a lot of energy and concentration. I force my way into the leader's mind and manipulate him from the inside. I spin the illusion that he's getting far away, while making him run in wide useless circles. The followers follow silently, offering no complaints. This illusion is a herculean effort for me however, and I'm soon exhausted and running out of chakra. I know I have to preserve a small amount in order to hear the others and let them hear me so that they can find me quickly. I try to slip in another small suggestion, "Maybe you and your men deserve a rest, and you have traveled very far. Tie the girl up to a tree, she's weak anyway."

The suggestion is accepted, the man stops. "Let's rest, hey you, tie the kid to the tree."

It takes all my self control to stay limp and still as he lets one of his henchmen tie me to the tree. It irks me how it seems that the hands linger on my skin. One of them inquires, "How do we wake her up?"

"Like this," comes his arrogant reply before his hand makes painful contact with me face. I let the pain spread across my face for a moment before I snap my head up and make blistering eye contact with the leader. I use my power to burn my stare into his mind and make myself look threatening. "If you get too close, I will hurt you." I vow.

His eyes widen as he takes a step back. I only now realise that he and the others have removed their masks. The leader is older, I estimate about 40. The others are younger than him, but older than me, ranging from 18 to 25. The leader has pale hazel eyes and salt and pepper hair, and a patchy beard.

I turn the power of my gaze back on again, "Who are you?"
"Ex black-ops." Comes the instant and almost sleepy reply. A strange look passes over his face and he shakes his head, as if to dislodge my influence. He meets my eyes again with an expression of pure amazement and awe. "Wow, you really are just like her. It's not just the looks."

"Like who?"

"Same hair…the eyes! Her eyes! I thought I'd never see those eyes again. You even have her freckles. Your skin is a shade darker though, hers was as pale as moonlight…" He muses to himself. He quickly snaps back to reality. "Where is she? Tell me, tell me now!" He demands taking a step forward.

"Who are you talking about," I shrink back against the tree trunk.

"Your mother."

"Never met her." I look away as if losing interest in the conversation.

"You even have her powers."

I look back at him. I notice his outfit is deep black, while his sidekicks are in varying shades of grey. It is then I realise, that these people are truly crazy, full blown whackos. I close my eyes and let my hearing spread out. No surprise, but the first I connect with is Naruto. "Help me!"

"Red, are you okay?"

"I'm scared," I admit, "but no damage done. These guys are crazy though. The ring leader here thinks he's ex-black ops and knew my mother. Come quickly –"

Our contact is cut short by another stinging slap breaks my concentration. In the back of my mind I feel something savage stir. I can't really explore it though, because another slap hits the opposite side of my face. My rage boils, my blood flows hot all over. I feel tingly, and like I might pop out of my own skin. An animal growl slips out of my throat and I look back at this stupid imbecile's eyes. I jump into his mind, and I can feel everything. I know exactly what switches to hit to get my desired reactions. I force him on his knees and send an electric shock throughout his body. As I watch him twitch painfully I say in a voice that scares even me, "Lay another hand on me. I'll fry you from the inside out you pathetic, insolent, stupid, little worm," To emphasize my point I send another shock through his body. It is only then that I realise that the twitching body lying in front of me isn't the leader, but one of his men. He must have made one of them slap me to get my attention. Smart, not doing it himself, he must have believed my earlier threat.

"That's something your mother never did. She had a better controlled temper." The leader offers.

"You don't know anything!" I yell at him, surging against my bonds. I want to wrap my hands around his throat so badly they itch. "You don't know her! NO ONE DOES." I scream.

"Oh, I know her alright. I loved her. Still do actually." He replies calmly to my angry screams.

I stop my struggle, surely in my rage I misheard him. "You…what?"

"I met your mother a long time ago. I was first entering the black-ops. It was my first mission to watch over the strange woman the others had captured from another village. She was beautiful, like I said; she looked just like you, older though. She was probably 21. She also shared your unique powers. Unique powers we wanted our village to own. Until now, we never found anyone who could do what she did. Our codename for her was 'The Enchantress' because she could draw you in without a word. Some people adored her at first sight, while others were unspeakably terrified. She told me once that she was used to this, it was an unconscious effort on her part, a first line of defence really. It was completely an unconscious effort on her part, and she had gotten such mixed reactions her whole life wherever she went. You either adored her so much that you couldn't bear the thought of harming her, or you were so terrified you couldn't think of trying to. With…experiments we discovered that this was not a permanent and you could get over whatever initial reaction she gave off. She proved time and time again that she was indeed a mind reader, and could persuade you to do her bidding or adopt her opinions. She would have been invaluable with negotiations with other villages. She also could temporarily take your senses from you while she attacked. She killed many of our best men this way."

"Mother," I whisper.

"I loved her. She should have stayed with me." He curled his hands into hard, unforgiving fists.

"What happened?" I ask him desperately.

"She tricked me. I kept an eye on her day and night. It was my job to be near her, protect her. I spent many of my best nights talking with her. Eventually, I fell in love with her. We planned to set her free, so that we could be together. She was going to wait on the outskirts for me. I would have followed her anywhere." His fists smack the ground. "I let her go. I told my superiors she somehow used a soul possession jitsu on me, and made me release her. They didn't believe a word of it and fired me on the spot. I barely escaped with my life, but escape I did. I waited three days and nights for her, but she never came back." Angrily he continues. "I've spent my life chasing after her, trying to restore my honour and position within the black-ops. We saw you walking with those boys, and you looked so much like her, it wasn't until I had you I realised you were her child. It doesn't matter though. I can bring you back instead of her. My friends and I can trade you for better positions! You're younger, still teachable. Truly your mother was too old and set in her rebellious ways to ever be useful as a tool. With my old honor and new position I will have even greater tools at my disposal to find her. And when I do, she'll pay."

It takes me a few moments to really process everything I've been told. My mother, I know what she looks like. He's even given me a hint at my own powers. She was brilliant; she tricked those stupid black-ops without showing all her cards, maybe she did that to give her future daughter an out. I send a silent grateful prayer. I reach out to Naruto again, but I can't find him, instead I can hear Kiba easier. "Kiba, what's wrong? Where's Naruto, I can't hear him."

"Red! You're in my head, weird. Uh, no wonder you can't connect to him. He's going nuts. Apparently he felt them slap you or something. We can barely keep up. He seems to know where he's going though, so hang on girl."

I smile and look up at my captors. "You guys are soo stupid." I smile.

They all look at me as if I've lost my mind.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" I grin at them before I explain. "For ex-black ops, you idiots sure didn't do much, if any, intel. You didn't bother to find out who my friends are. And now, you're gonna pay because you pissed my friends off. Here, let me spell it out you dimwits. I'm from the hidden leaf village, your village isn't shit compared to mine because mine is home to the most powerful ninja's ever. For example, my friends, you have Shickamaru Nara. The most intelligent ninja to ever walk the earth, not only can he spin circles around you fools mentally, but he also is a master of the shadow possession jitsu, and the things he could make you do makes even my blood run cold. Next, Kiba Inuzuka. He's straight from the fiercest clan in our village. His fighting style is more beast than civilized human, especially when he has help from his furry companion. Thirdly, Saskue Uchiha. That's right an Uchiha." I emphasize at their collective looks of disbelief. "Someone whose powers are just as rare as mine, but probably much more dangerous." I laugh. "You idiots kidnapped a girl right in front of his face!"

As if on cue Naruto bursts onto the scene. "My boyfriend," I introduce him proudly, "Naruto Uzumaki, future hokage."

They all look horrified, and I can't blame them. He's in a half crouch and his nails have extended into deadly claws, he's panting with his mouth wide open, showing off newly grown needle sharp fangs, and his eyes are alien and blazing with the heat of his anger. What truly scares them, however, is the bucketfuls of red chakra pouring out of him.

The strange but familiar eyes meet mine, "Red!" He roars.

I grin. "What took you so long?" I tease.

The others burst into view looking impressive themselves. Saskue is standing deadly still again, with his sharingan blazing, taking in everything, and missing nothing, proving my boasts of his heritage true. Shickamaru has his arms crossed and shifts his weight from leg to leg, looking anxious to get started. Kiba is crouched by Akamaru, letting forth a stream of never ending growls mixed with hearty curses.

"My boys!" I say brightly, happy to see them all safe.

"Hi, Red." They chime in together.

I survey the scene. "Well this is a fair fight, five against five."

Naruto's enraged roar fills the forest.

The punk that dared to slap me twice must have had more than enough, because he turns to run. But, before I can say anything, Shickamaru's shadow snaps out to capture the coward. "Hey, we aren't done here."

"Could someone untie me?" I complain. As Kiba hurries to comply I nod towards Shickamaru's victim. "That's the one you want Naruto, because this clown of a ring leader is mine." I rub my wrists as I feel the blood flow back freely into them. "I can't let him run my mother all over the globe. I at least owe her freedom from this annoyance." I consider for a moment. "The rest of 'em we can let go, someone has to spread the word not to mess with us anymore." At the sound of relived sighs I add, "They'll need the scars to prove it though."

I smile to myself and raise my right hand, turning back on to the guys. "Gentlemen! Start your engines!" I hear collection of eager snarls. "3…2…1…GO!" We all take off in opposite directions.

I catch my prey in no time; it's almost a shame really. I enjoy the feeling of being a dangerous unstoppable predator. Before the poor fool can barely realise, I'm standing on his back, while he's face down in the dirt. A heady rush of power swims through my veins, and I use my foot to press against the back of his neck.

"My mother couldn't have loved you, you stupid fool." I mock him. I press a little harder with my foot. "When I find her I'll be sure to tell her what a simple pleasure it was to kill you. I'd ask you your name, but I really don't care." With a fluid quick motion, I grab my knife, pull his head back, and slit his throat.

With a sudden flash, the delicious rush of power evaporates and all I'm left with is revulsion at myself. I feel the blood thirsty grin fade from my face, and my stomach turns sickeningly. I drop my knife with a shriek and scramble back from the lifeless body.

I feel a presence behind me. I can't find the strength to turn around to defend myself; I can't even find the strength to stand as I sink to my knees, my eyes welded onto the body.

Hands clamp onto my shoulders and a deep familiar voice buzzes in my ear urgently. "Red…Red, are you okay?"

I turn my head, somehow managing to look away from what I've done. I can see my startled expression reflected back in the twin dark pools that are his eyes. He looks concerned and confused. "Hey, what's wrong? Snap out of it." He demands.

"I killed him," I choke out.

"Of course you did." He says sounding bewildered. "You couldn't let him get away with trying to kidnap you."

I look down at my shaking hands. "What does that make me though? I killed him, and I liked it."

He sighs, "When you chose this path Red, you should have known you would have to take lives. For someone like you, it makes it easier if you know that you take lives to defend yourself, the ones you love, and your village. You should enjoy protecting what you love, that's how you know you love it, and know it's worth protecting."

In a twisted way, it made sense to me even comforted me. "Thanks." I whisper.

He retrieves my knife, wiping it on the grass before handing it back to me and together we make our way back.

Naruto still has those crazy eyes, claws, and fangs, but I can tell he's reaching the end of the steam that's keeping him going. There's no sign of the ring leader's friends, and I don't ask about them.

The others keep a safe distance away from Naruto, but I ignore caution and walk straight into his arms, wrapping mine around him, drawing him close and burying my face in his neck. His arms enfold me, and I feel his heart beat. I know he tries to hold me gently, but his grip is still strong and it's a little hard to breathe, I don't move or complain though.

"We're safe," I whisper in his ear. "We're safe now. You saved me. I'm safe, and I love you."

This reassures him, and I feel him relax and somehow, I can even feel the fox retreating, leaving the boy I love in its place. His body goes limp against mine; I use what I have left of my strength to hold him up. "I love you." He mummers before dozing off.

"Oof, he's heavy."
Shickamaru helps me, and arranges it so I can sit with Naruto's head in my lap as they set up camp around us. I watch over them as I run my fingers through sleeping Naruto's hair. Eventually, Shickamaru sits down beside me and yanks on my hair. "You're a lot of trouble."

I brush his hand away, "I'm worth it."

"What did those losers want anyway?"

"They knew my mother. Apparently she's a lot like me. The leader was obsessed with finding her and getting revenge because she made him look like the fool he was, so I took care of that problem. Do you know what that means though? She might be out there, Shick. I may still have a mother, who can teach me how to use my gift."

He pets my hand, "That's great Red, you need to get some rest though, you've been through a lot today."

I laugh, "Sure thing, mama." I tease. I lean over and kiss his cheek, watching him blush furiously.

"Hey! Stop doing that!"

"Be a dear and help me move him will you?"

That night I dreamed of an extremely pregnant woman. Her shiny red hair was cut in a bob that kissed her shoulders and her green eyes flashed as her hands hovered protectively around her heavy belly. Despite her pregnancy, when she moved it was graceful and she flowed and I knew before, and even despite, of her pregnancy she was dangerous and deadly. She looking lovingly down at her belly and cooed, "My baby."