Fate of the Souka Clan.
By Riotv2
Disclamer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters, minus the Original ones I've created for this Fic
AN: sorry about the long wait for this one. College aplications had me bogged down for a few weeks. I still haven't recieved any reviews for this story. C'mon guys, you've got to let me know how i'm doing. Also i'm thinking about pairings though they probably won't happen for at least a few more chapters.
On the final day of their trip Takeshi began to relay whatever information he could recall about the Sound Nin who had attacked his home, as well as everything he knew about the layout of the surrounding area. They stopped when they were within an hours travel to the small village itself, and began to plan a strategy. It was agreed that Shino would send out his swarm of insects first to inspect the area ahead of them. When they actually began to move it would be slowly with Kiba, Akamaru and Hinata up front to look out for traps and hidden enemy ninja that might have been missed by Shino's bugs. Takeshi, as the only one who had first hand knowledge of the area, would be right behind them to relay directions and essentially lead them through the forest by the least known paths. Kureni and Shino would bring up the rear, to cover them all in case of an ambush since it would likely come from behind. It was also agreed that when the time came, Shino would send some of his swarm back to the village with a message for his clan, which would then be taken to the Hokage.
They were just entering the outermost perimeter when one of Shino's Kiki bugs alerted him to the fact that the village contained only a few individuals, though being only insects of course they couldn't identify more clearly weather or not they were members of the Souka Clan or left over Sound forces.. Akamaru and Kiba's noses also reported the smell of smoke and a large concentration of blood coming from the direction of the village. Takeshi was about to rush headlong into the village, when he was restrained by Kureni.
"Takeshi, I understand your feelings, but we can't get ahead of ourselves. We know there are people alive in there but we don't know who they are. They could very well be a clean up crew left by the Sound to take care of any survivors…"
Rather than having the calming effect her words were intended to have, they had the opposite. Takeshi broke free of her grip with a surprising amount of force, and she realized that, though they had talked about his skills on the way there, she had absolutely no idea what he was capable of. Takeshi was leaping from tree to tree before anyone could stop him, and they had no choice but to follow.
It was only a few moments later that their situation grew worse. Before anyone could react, a large amount of chains began to spring out of everywhere, from the trees, the shadows, even from underground, and wound themselves around all of their bodies, stretching them all out into a spread eagle pose and hoisting them into the air, with the exception of Akamaru who was lashed to the ground, and muzzled by the chains. They were all effectively immobilized.
Hinata, who still held her Byakugan active, scanned the area while they struggled. "Kureni-sensei… th..the chains…It's a genjutsu…"
Before their red-eyed Jounin instructer could respond they heard a distinct and fairly evil laugh, coming from seemingly everywhere all at once.
"Kukukuku, very good little one." The figure, and the source of the voice seemed to grow out of the ground before them. "So the coward returns…"
The figure was a man wearing the standard garb of the Sound, minus the mask, he had instead thin glasses and very short dark hair, with a Sound protector tied around his leg. He walked towards Takeshi while twirling a Kunai around his fingers.
"We were wondering why our persute team hadn't returned yet." He regarded the members of Team 8. "It seems that you actually made it to Konoha. No matter, not one of you will survive this to report anything."
He took another step closer to Takeshi and held his blade up to the boys chin, digging the point in slightly. Takeshi didn't flinch and only met his gaze with a look of defiance, as the man went on. "I am a bit insulted that you only brought back a bunch of kids and a woman with you. I would have so loved to have killed someone of more notable reputation…" It was then that he noticed Hinata's eyes. "…Ahh a Hyuga, from the main house I would guess judging from the lack of a seal on her head. Perhaps I was wrong about you boy. Orochimaru will reward me greatly for bringing him this prize."
The Sound Nin was so engrossed in his discovery that he almost missed the large amount of mist that was beginning to gather quickly to the area, so quickly in fact that in a few moments it would be nearly impossible to see even his own hand in front of him. His wicked smile only grew further.
"Now, now we'll have none of that. Though I am impressed that you didn't even need hand seals." The man plunged the Kunai into Takeshi's chest, just as the mist grew too thick to see the boys anguished look. Hinata and the others gasped in shock. They could hear the rending of flesh by the blade, though Hinata herself was forced to watch with her Byakugan.
He could feel the blood pouring out over his hand and running down his arm. He was a little confused by the sensation, it was flowing very quickly and was…cold?
His eyes widened suddenly as he felt a Kunai imbed itself into his shoulder, followed by two more to the back of his knees. His jutsu fell from Team 8 even as he fell to the ground in complete agony. The mist quickly faded to reveal a large puddle on the ground rapidly soaking into the dirt. Kureni and the others looked up to see takeshi leaping down from the trees and standing over their foe with another kunai in his tense hand, like he was only barely stopping himself from sepparating the mans head from the rest of his body.
'He used his distraction to replace himself with a Mizu-bunshin, then combined that with the Kirigakure no Jutsu, to cover his attack. He's been hiding his strength.' Kureni thought as she watched the boy in action.
The now free Leaf Ninja gathered around him as he knelt down and spoke in clear deliberate words. "Where… is …my…clan." The only response the got was the pained gasps of air from the injured man. Takeshi gritted his teeth and gripped him by his hair forcing them to look into each others eyes. The Sound Nin saw his own death there, and began to stutter in fear. "De..dead…mmo…mmoslty." The grip on hir hair tightend and Takeshi's eyes narrowed.
"Mostly?!" The defeated man began telling all he could of the battle, and of the few survivors that were taken prisoner. Those were being taken back to the Sound Village along with all of the clans records and scrolls that could be found. Kureni knelt down next to them. "How long ago did they leave. Which direction." The man shifted his gaze over to her, weakly. The color had drained from his face and his breaths were getting shallower they knew he was losing blood fast, and would soon die from the loss. They had to make this quick. He couldn't answer before lapsing into unconciousness. He would be dead within minutes. Takeshi couldn't bring himself to care. He dropped the mans head and rose to face the others.
"We have to hurry and find them…" Kureni interrupted him.
"We will Takeshi, don't worry, but for now we need to go into the village and try to find their trail. Kiba…" she turned to him. "…can you sniff out where the other ones are in the village?"
The wild looking boy turned in the direction of the smoke and sniffed the air, his canine partner doing the same. His eyes opened wide, "They're coming this way."
Hinata reactivated her Byakugan and scanned ahead of them. "Three of them Sensei, in the trees ahead, but…" Shino coughed slightly as all three dropped to the ground, two of them out cold and the third barely staying awake. A large cloud of bugs flew off of them and up into his sleeves and hood. Kureni smiled at her student.
"Well done Shino, We'll tie them up and bring them along with us to interrogate in the village while we try to look for the trail. We need to see what happened there."
With Shino and Kiba carrying two and the third slung across Akamaru's back they all entered the village and were stunned into silence at the carnage before them. Even his nightmare the night before couldn't compare to the reality of what he saw. Many of the bodies were strung up on to racks made from the wreckage of the buildings and fences that once comprised the small town before them. The bodies had been tied down to them and then cut open so the carrion birds and scavengers of the area could feed on them. The mark of the Sound Village had been carved into the foreheads of each and every one with a shallow blade. A clear message to never cross them. There were also a great many bodies left where they had fallen. Appairently their three prisoners were in the middle of leaving that message when the screams of their comrade brought them running.
With tears flowing steadily down his cheeks, Takeshi lead them through the horrible scene towards the middle of town. There they found tall pole standing errect, cut from a log. Half way up its length was a figure hanging from his hands tied around the broken length of a sword buried into the wood deep enough to support him. The figure was letting out low moans. Recognizing him, Takeshi gave and anguished cry and ran towards the pole.
"FATHER!!" He climbed up the side using his chakra and cut the man free. Jumping down to the ground they all saw a large gash going in a angle across his chest, his armor nearly cloven completely in two. Hinata began to work on closing the wound with her limited knowledge of medical jutsu. She knew right away it would be hopeless.
"Father…" The Souka Elder opened his eyes and looked up at him.
"Ta…keshi… did you… make it?" The young boy, holding his fathers hand, nodded as Kureni also knelt next to them.
"Yes father. These Ninja are from Konoha. They came to help us. Please hold on." The dying man smiled up at his son.
"No…son…m..my time… is done." His smile faded. "The…there were… others…cough…taken."
Kureni spoke up. "We know, my team is searching for their trail now. We will find them. You have my word."
His smile returned as he looked at her. "Th…Thank you, Leaf…Ninja. cough…I…am glad…that …my …son got to… you in…time. cough" The Souka Elder went into a fit of coughing, blood coming freely out of his mouth.
"Father, don't talk. You must save your strength." Takeshi cried worriedly.
He looked back up at his son after the fit had subsided. "N…no…my…son. Y…you must let… me go." His look turned serious. "Pro…tect…our people. Pro…promise…me!"
"I swear it…Father." Takeshi's eyes took on a determined look. "I won't fail you. I'll make you proud." His father smiled again as he lay his head back down staring strait up at the sky.
"You…al..ways…have…Ta..keshi... I…lov…"
His body sagged and his head rolled to the side. Souka Takeo, Elder of the Souka Clan, was gone. Takeshi eased the mans head back onto the ground. His tears falling on the face of his father.
"Goodbye, Father."
Kureni and Hinata lowered there heads in silent respect at the Clan Head's passing. After a moment Kiba and Akamaru ran into the scene.
"Kureni-sensei! We've found the trail of the survivors. It's heading north from here, towards the Rice Country." Kureni and Hinata acknowledged his words and rose to join him then stopped and looked back at Takeshi. He closed the eyes of his father and crossed the man's hands over his chest. Takeshi bowed low over him as if whispering something into the mans ear. "I will keep my oath, Father, I will save our clan."
Takeshi rose and walked into one of the nearby houses, one of the few left with only minor damage. Inside he strode purposefully towards a small chest hidden under the wreckage of the collapsed roof. Inside he found two smallish, wrapped up packages.
When he emerged from the house the others saw what he had been after. He was now dressed as if ready for battle. He was clad in a short sleeved dark red shirt with dull metal fore-arm guards going up to his elbows. His hands were still covered by the half fingered gloves he wore before. With the metal plate emblazoned by the scratched out symbol of the Hidden Mist village, a sign of where the clan found it's origins, now covering his upper body was a black close fitting sleeveless top, like a martial arts gui, with white along the edges and across the shoulders, tied at the waist with a thin white belt. Along with this went black pants, tucked into medical tape extending up to his knees, and his normal footwear. He had a Kunai holster on his right leg.
As he walked once again towards his father he retied his forehead protector to his head. It's blank surface gleaming in the sun and long black fabric hanging down his back. Shino had tied their three prisoners to the pole securely. Takeshi regarded them and looked up the pole at the sword buried into the wood. Once again he acended the pole and took the sword from it's perch before dropping back down to the ground with it. It was his fathers sword, the sword of his ancestor. It's hilt was wrapped in dark blue fabric. It had no hand guard like ordinary katana, the sword style of its original owner had no use for one. The blade had been cut cleanly, half way down it's length, the very cut that must have gone through his father as well. His hand clenched around it. He took the scaberd from his father's waist and tied it around his own, with the sword resting against his back rather than at his side.
He looked up at the waiting Leaf Nin. "Let's go."