I had to drive back home this weekend at the last minute. The chapter was ready but driving and updating are mutually exclusive for safety reasons. I came back yesterday but I went straight to bed. Sorry about the wait :/
To Chisa Chispa: Thank you for your review! I'm glad to have you back! I guess we are as excited then. :P Since a few weeks, I always mention when updates are to take place so you don't need to check every day anymore .^_^
To Shikainofans: I shall try to write more ShikaIno moments. :) Thank you for your review!
Summary of Chapter 1: The story began with the death of Emperor of Japan and his heir by Haku who was paid by Shimura Danzo. He left no other direct heir, but both Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto had a claim on the throne. Tenten left Konoha with Katsuo and Maito Gai and they were headed toward the shore to sail toward China. They met with Hyuuga Asuka, the elder of the Hyuuga who supported Neji when he claimed the head of the clan. She was revealed to be Katsuo's mother even though she was never married. Neji learned through Ino's informants that the Emperor is dead and his heir cannot be found. So he wouldn't appear as a traitor rebelling against Uchiha Sasuke, a potential emperor, Neji changed their banners as if they were supporting Uzumaki Naruto's claim to the throne. The battle against the shogunate of the Sound thus became a battle for the throne.
-X-
Uzumaki Naruto renamed his katana Kyuubi when the blade was brought to him at his mother's death.
He avoided his wife's pleading glance, his blue eyes focused on the shimmering red blade. It dulled the sense in urgency in her glance. It dulled the abrupt rising voices of his men discussing war. They tasted it and spat blood. The forest and curtains of rain that were his mother's lands always soothed him, sheltered him. However, sometimes he would glance over the thick clouds and reached for something higher, louder, deeper that reminded him of his childhood as a hostage in Konoha. He thought he yearned for quiet, and the slow rumbles of tireless rains.
He didn't.
The first time he handled his sword, it was against Sasuke, his friend. The second time, it was against Sasuke and he called him his brother.
He wanted war to rain down on him, taint his katana and hands.
"Don't..."
Naruto let the naked blade redden in the front of Sakura's widened eyes. Her lips paled and he licked his lips, his throat dry and craving for the bloody taste of revenge.
"Don't pretend you are asking me to stay put when all you truly want is to protect him. I'm done hoping and waiting, Sakura-chan."
"Naruto..."
The two years they had spent apart still sat between them and she was at loss with the words they never uttered to one another, with the caresses they never shared. She didn't apologize, didn't regret and the tears she shed were still for him. Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto let her go after their wedding, didn't reach for her sleeping form the way he hoped he could someday.
"I told you it would come down to this, Sakura-chan. Sasuke and I still fighting," he growled, waving for the servants to open the sliding doors. "I thought we will both die if we ever did, but now... there's a throne between us. It's not only about you anymore."
The war, the anger that rose within him made his teeth sharper, his will for revenge a heavy cloak thrown over his shoulders. It closed around him; he let the darkness grow on him. He would unleash of the fox of the Uzumaki clan feast upon his best friend's cadaver. However, he still lied to her when it came to fighting the Uchiha heir; it was always about her. He would look at himself through Sakura's eyes and expected the reflection of his eyes to be red and pulsing.
Foxes didn't share their mate, they fought to the death for them.
Naruto knew she didn't recognize him with the last curves of childhood gone from his face. He still reached for her shortened hair when she appeared at the Uzumaki compound. He still hoped then she would recognize him as her husband even if it were as Uchiha Sasuke.
Because he would have never hurt her.
Because she didn't love him enough for him to be able to hurt her.
He let her tears fall, his heart stilling in his chest but his mind clear when he pushed himself up on his horse. She appeared through the thick curtains of rains like one of the pale ghosts that were said to rummage the forest of the shogunate.
He let her go, for the second time, as he did before, the heavy blanket of rain snaking his pain and sorrow between the hooves of his mount.
Rain dulled foxes' senses but it could never tame their growling hunger.
-X-
A Feast for Foxes
by Clementive
-X-
Yellow was the colour of deception.
Ino Yamanaka pushed her shoulders back, feeling the eyes of Fu on her kimono like a sleek caress; to him, she still belonged to him. She had practiced the act a thousand times, she had let the heart and mind of men wandered on her skin, binding them to her will. Slowly, she turned her head exposing her jugular while her hand closed around a kunai in her sleeve.
She only felt something when she met Shikamaru Nara and yellow didn't deceive him.
"Do you think Danzo-sama will be long, Fu-san?" Ino's lips formed a pout and she watched him drew a sharp intake of breath through thick eyelashes.
"Danzo-sama told you to wait so this is what you should do."
Ino shrugged, carefully smouldering the rise of anxiety and fear. What if yellow wasn't enough? She walked towards the open sliding doors, her eyes taking in the deserted garden, the drowning sun in streaks of blood and flickering orange. Her heart quickened, noting the symbol of Imperial Japan attached to the heraldry of the Shimura clan.
"Ino-chan."
She bit the inside of her cheek, falling gracefully in a pool of silk until her forehead touched the floor. The information she had gathered had been correct, after all. She bowed to the next Emperor of Japan.
"Leaves us, Fu," Danzo snapped, watching her closely as she kneeled back, her eyes downcast.
Fu brushed past her and she didn't flinch. She thought it would be harder, but the yellow kimono and everything it entitled had always cloaked her like a second skin. Layers only Shikamaru withdrew from her body in the darkness and lurking shadows.
Swiftly, she snapped her fan open while the old lord set his cane down next to his knees.
"I never thought I would see you again, Ino-chan," he started, his lips set in a hard line. "You vanished without a word. Tsunade-sama had me worried that you would betray us."
Her pulse hissed in her ears, she remained silent riding the threat of his words. She had a kunai while he had an army. A country. He would either believe her and join her board or she would lose her head.
"Where were you?"
"I was with child," she muttered letting her voice break over her lie, a porcelain polished lie and an artefact of her old life. "Shikamaru-sama threatened me into leaving so I would get rid of the child. Danzo-sama knows I would never betray him. I did as he asked of me regarding the young Nara lord. I just..."
Her eyes became humid and she let the pace slow, sneaking a glance at the cold face of Danzo. He didn't flinch, give in the way she knew he wouldn't. He never broke his back on power, never walked away from it. He was the prowling fox with keen fangs that would never go of a victim until its blood dried.
"Tsunade-sama would have thrown me on the street had she known."
That was the reason, he would never let go of her until he was done using her. This close to the Japanese throne, he needed her. Her beauty reached beyond the mind of men. Heartlessly, she would drown them in it until they break, until they reveal everything she needed to know.
"I suppose, you are not Nara Shikamaru's mistress anymore, then. This is bothersome, Ino-chan. I was told he married."
For the briefest moment, her mask cracked at the corner of her lips. She didn't expect Danzo to know about the wedding. She pressed her sweaty palm together, rolling her shoulders to drape her face with loose strands of blond hair. Or was he playing her?
"Danzo-sama is mistaken. Shikamaru-sama still visits me. His wife is said to know nothing of the art of love," she covered her faked embarrassment with her fan.
Ino counted the passing seconds with the hammering in her chest, buzzing in her ears.
"The fool," Danzo smirked, shaking his head.
"Shikamaru-sama asked me to look into the Emperor's murder. What should I tell him, Danzo-sama?"
Sharply, he returned his attention to her face, his eyes burning, scrutinizing her features. After a moment, he reached for his cane.
"This is how you found me, then. Don't play me for a fool like Tenten-chan, Ino-chan. It would be such a shame to cut off your beautiful head."
He rose to his feet, his eyes still narrowed.
"Tell him the assassination was ordered by Uchiha Sasuke. Spread the information, he has lived long enough. At this point, he's served his purpose."
She bowed lowly, silently choking on the faint smell of bamboo and summer. Her heart clutched and the memory of Sasuke's touch ran down her spine. The sound of his cane echoed inside her when Fu appeared next to her. His presence was oppressive as they walked out of the Shimura compound. He handed her a small pouch of silk. The gold clicked long after he was gone.
Dry leaves and mud gathered at the rim of her kimono. She walked.
Her steps took her deeply into the forest but the trees and plants were still grey. Shuddering, she licked her lips wondering if that was all that was left of the bodies they burn every day. She never dove a kunai in a man's flesh but she knew information could dive in and tear a heart apart. Ino pushed forward, the texture of mud and herbs roughly caressing her anklets.
Information drove men wild and mad with pain. She took another step. It crushed skulls. She stopped.
Holding herself up on a thick tree, she closed her eyes. She. She drove men wild and mad with pain. She crushed their skulls.
"Another minute, troublesome woman, and I was barging in."
She only relaxed when the shadow reached for her hand, his mouth already pressed against her ear. She let the leaves gathered around them, the memory of their first encounters presented in the way Shikamaru pushed her hair away from her face.
She gave in as she did back then. Her mouth let go the information he sought, then she let him seek her touch, her lips.
The world stilled and she asked herself again if she would ever be whole in the way she acted.
"Don't worry, when this is all over, you will be free. I will kill him myself and you will be free."
Ino smiled as she always did, because she loved him and believed his feelings to be as true as hers. He nuzzled her neck, planting kisses along her jawline. She closed her eyes never once reminding him that he promised her the same thing years ago when they met. 'Tenten had been right all along, we will never be more than pawns when it comes to warlords.'
She opened her eyes to pull him for a kiss.
'And we are foxes dressed as geisha because there's nothing that we enjoy more than this sickening game.'
-X-
The strong equine smell hit Tenten as she slipped through the ajar doors of the stable. The inn glowed behind her, surrounded by trees that bent crooked over the roof. She followed the curves of the rotten wooden pillars, her nose wrinkled. Her footing was steady, flowing onto the ground while her mind raced.
She thought of Neji, Konoha and China. The boat's anchor weighed on her movements, slowing her. She paused, she blinked. She never thought she would be torn between two homes and the things they each represented to her, to them. Neji and her.
Freedom shouldn't taste as strong. It shouldn't galloped over mountains of bodies, forgetting the cadavers that still rocked to the afterlife into the deep Chinese waters. Tenten drifted between two harbours but she still reached for her horse. She paused looking over her shoulder, her fingers sinking in the coarse robe of the animal. In the thickening silence and darkness, she squirmed, her senses in alert. She expected his eyes to gleam savage and sparkling.
She expected the choice to be clear between China and Japan.
Finally, Tenten crouched next to her mare, her palm on her flank to reassure it. Her other hand reached for the bridles, testing the silence in slow steps. The fresh air pooled down on her, once she exited the stable. She welcomed the howls of the owls and the veiled moon. Her senses were filled with the scent of silver. It weighed on her tongue as she rose her head towards the welkin.
No stars, only crushing darkness.
She choked on the wind that carried the scent of salt from the North and blood from the South. The air twirled around her, dancing in snapping dry leaves at her feet. Everywhere Tenten went, cadavers seemed to follow her, never once releasing the daunting memories and guilt.
Neji and China.
Shiftly, her hands worked over her twin katana over her meagre possessions. She slipped in her saddle-bag before pulling herself up on the saddle. One last time, she glanced up searching for the stars her father used to follow. Shaking her head, she pushed her mount forward, its breathing regular unlike hers. Nausea assaulted her throat and she leaned forward.
The wind whipped her face and neck.
The wind carried a black arrow.
Pain exploded in her left shoulder, blurring her vision. A gasp knocked the air out of her lungs. The mare neighed loudly, its muscles working beneath her to throw her off its back. Tenten pulled her eyebrows together, hanging on to tangible ground. Hanging on the pain, running down her spine. Her hand jerked against her sides, the bridles slipping between her stiffened fingers. She tasted melted silver and blood on her tongue as she bit her below lip to keep from screaming. Fearfully, the mare kicked again and she slipped. There was no tangibility, no common ground. The choice had been made for her.
Roughly, she rolled on herbs and dry leaves scratching her skin, the pain sneaking past her fear and anger. It blurred her mind, possessed her.
It reminded her of Neji's touch when they first spared, when their blades first clicked and gleamed.
"My weapons!" She cried out, her pupils dilating, her fingers closing around the arrow stuck in her shoulder.
Blood leaked between her fingers and two full moons stared down on her. They twirled, the mare's neighs echoing farther away and Gai's words exploded shapelessly at her ears. Unflinching, Katsuo didn't lower his bow, his finger twitching over another arrow.
"My blades!" Tenten tried again weakly.
The noise washed over her, she couldn't look away from his orbs. She had never stared at such burning hatred and sorrow before even in her own eyes.
Her pulse quickened, her blood rushing in her system, pounding in her head. There was the pain, hers and his, looking back at one another. She wanted to live, he wanted to kill her.
"You told me you wouldn't let what happened cloud your judgement when it comes to her."
"And I told you I wouldn't hesitate shooting an arrow through her if she tried to escape." His finger stilled over his other arrow and he neared her, Gai following him with a clenched jaw.
Drowsily, Tenten moved her head to watch her mare run away with her weapons. Her hooves crushed the last pieces of her freedom and she blinked away the angry tears. The world spun again, a rush of grey colours that now masked the welkin. Inhaling sharply, she realized Gai was holding her up.
"Did you seriously think you could escape my eyes, little pest? Where were you going anyway? To the front?"
She hissed, glaring at the dancing moons before her. She still looked past them for the stars that she could cling to. Pain rippled under her skin, when her sensei tore open her traveling clothes over the black arrow.
"Anywhere," Tenten spat between clenched teeth, gasping for air.
Vaguely, she sensed Gai's hands on her skin, supple around her wound. Katsuo sat on the back of his heels, snickering silently. A shiver ran down her spine, thick sweat gathering on her temples.
"You planned on running away without a plan? This is so unlike your mother. You must be as stupid as a donkey."
"Is this what this is about? My mother did you wrong."
The hands stilled and the elder leaned forward, his orbs savage and unforgiving.
"I called your mother 'my sister' and there is not one day that passes by that I don't think she is just that. My sister. You should thank her because had it not been for my thinking so, I would have shot an arrow through your heart," Katsuo of the House of Dragons straightened his back, his orbs drowning in a thought that made them the colour of ashes.
Roughly, Gai removed the arrow from her flesh. Blood oozed, dripping down her back and she cried out. Katsuo's glance didn't waver from her pain, he dropped the other arrow back in his silver quiver.
"Or drown you," he added softly, his features quivering in excitement. "Yes, I would enjoy having you kick and gasp uselessly for air."
His smirk widened, hints of silver needles piercings through his lips. Tenten stared down at the bloodied arrow on her laps, her gasps thinner in the humid night. Pain surrounded her gaping wound dulling the sensation in her arm.
"Katsuo, this is not youthful," the monk whispered, his hand pressing down on her wound to stop the blood.
"Shut up, Gai. You will thank me later because now she can't hope to run away. Without weapons and with only one good arm, she's nothing."
She raised her head one last time and she shuddered, afraid and lost. The clouds thinned revealing a bright star in the star. Tenten recognized the shape, the fangs and the fall of an empire her father believed it meant.
The Fox and the Goose.
It was the constellation of deception and unwary souls breaching the limits of the kingdom of Doom and Death to feast upon the living.
Gently, Gai helped her to her feet and staring at the back of Katsuo's head, she already knew who was the goose and who was the fox.
-X-
The constellation of the Fox and the Goose is also called Vulpecula cum Ansere, if you want to check it out. :)
I had fun writing this, I have missed the adrenaline of Silk and Machinations. I am more than happy to find its intensity once more. ^_^ I hope you liked it!
(April and May will be hard for me to deliver quick updates because I have been admitted to an internship program in a country of North Africa (either in Tunisia or Libya), hence the impromptu trip back home to send over some missing documents. The Professor in charged has sworn that I would get internet connection, so updates won't stop once I land, fear not. I just can't promise updates will be as fast with intensive Arabic courses and exams coming up. I just wanted to let you so you don't think I have abandoned my stories. :) )