Once upon a time, there was a princess who was in danger.
A high fever threatened to consume the slumbering princess. The royal healers could only shake their heads, for the princess was too young for the normal antidotes to chakra suppressants. The king guarded her bedside, cursing his doubt of his daughter's instincts. He issued a reward for anyone who could save the princess, but no one in the Moon Kingdom came forward, and she continued to fade away.
Then one day, the Sun king offered a proposition. He would send his renowned medic-nin team, led by the Legendary Sannin healer herself, if the king would consider helping him conquer the Sky kingdom in return. The Moon and Sun kingdoms were on opposing sides of the Sky Kingdom, but the Moon king was greatly angered by the Sky kingdom's actions.
The Sun medics arrived days later, just as the princess started to seize. Though exhausted by their treacherous journey through Sky territory, they rushed to the princess's room. Through the night, the king sat vigil outside his daughter's room, hearing yet trying not to listen to the medic's frantic whisperings.
"I have the declaration of war and treaty with Sun." His brother approached him, already clad in the ceremonial armor of the Moon Kingdom head general. The king looked up at his mirror image with dry, red eyes.
"They tell me she may not survive to dawn. Is a few hours or days really worth what may be years of fighting?"
"You need to sign. The taint of the Sky Kingdom needs to go. The princess is only the final spark that ignited it." Nodding absently, the king signed the documents. As his brother raised his fist and riled the troops to a patriotic frenzy, the Moon king bowed his head and prayed.
And so, the kingdoms prepared for war.
Prey for the Hunted
By Airyo
Chapter 4
As she watched the window shrink away, Hinata almost forgot that she was falling. She was still recovering from the shock that Sasuke had pushed her out of a damn window.
Survival instinct kicked in moments later. The wall slanted away from her, so slowing herself down with chakra was out of the question. She'll have to chance a free-fall. Hinata contorted herself so her feet pointed to the ground, legs ready to bend and absorb the impact. She still hit the sand with enough force to fracture a few ribs. If she hadn't angled herself into a calculated roll, she'd have died instantly. It felt like someone attempted to punch her stomach up through her spine.
She let momentum carry her down the dune in a daze, stars dancing in and out of her vision. It hurt to breathe. Ribs were definitely injured. Her heartbeat filled and pulsed in every hurt - even the place where Sasuke's bird had pecked her throbbed painfully. Hinata realized that she had already stopped tumbling, but the world was still spinning. Not a good sign. With a wince, she rolled to her feet and forced her watering eyes to focus on the castle she'd just fallen out of. The ground shook with several more explosions, ruining Hinata's already precarious balance. She sunk to her knees in the sand and gripped handfuls of it in an attempt to steady herself. Thirty feet down - maybe even forty feet - and she could still hear the sounds of fighting. The flares of chakra made her hair stand on end.
It was a battle way out of her league. While she had several points of contention with the prince's method, she was grateful he bothered to let her escape. She could easily be killed in the crossfire. The force of another detonation shook the area, and Hinata could see faint cracks appear on the smooth sand dome of the roof. She needed to get away from here.
The slide of working muscles against bone was agony as she tried to stand and she let out a small whimper. She needed to wrap her ribs, but even thinking about the required motion of reaching back made her vision go gray. She needed help. But for now, Hinata just tightened the straps of her chest armor as she crawled to the shaded shelter of a nearby cluster of rocks.
If the bird-riding man defeated the ninja, it would be too easy for him to find her against the smooth planes of the desert sand. Night was beginning to triumph over the tiring day and the darkness would provide the cover she needed. A quick glance at the skyline and surrounding terrain triangulated her about ten miles southeast of Sado.
The castle shuddered. Then the atrium collapsed in on itself.
Hinata blinked away the afterimage, staring at the cloud of dust that hovered over the ruins. The haze marred the vast sunset, blurring the sharp jagged streaks of fire. Just as the motes began to settle, another explosion blasted the rubble apart. She saw the silhouette of an enormous bird flutter out of the ruins as the rider cursed up a storm. Hinata caught the words 'where are they? escaped!', and she let a small sigh.
"I hope they're okay," she whispered.
She waited until she could see the stars blinking back at her curiously before she gathered the force of will to go. Hinata unsheathed her naginata and used it as a crutch to struggle to her feet. She had a long journey ahead of her.
Hinata wasn't sure how she made it back to Sado. Each step that she took seemed to tighten the burning vice clamped around her torso another agonizing notch. It was relief to finally wade out of the soft dunes, where the sand had felt like it was trying to suck in her leaden feet. The guard at the gates gave her a strange look, but waved her through. Dawn was just beginning to peek through the cloak of night, and the streets were quiet.
Roshi was just opening up his workshop for the day when she stumbled into his yard. She leaned against his rickety wooden fence, struggling to catch her breath. The air swelled and caught in her throat like sticky honey. Her leather armor was starting to press down her shoulders like a heavy hand. The bearded blacksmith glowered at her.
"Little hunter. Naginata are not meant to be used as walking sticks." She nodded, or at least thought about nodding, because she wasn't sure if her body was still responding to her properly. Roshi opened his door. "Get in."
She fell more than walked to him. A broad, callused hand caught her arm and helped her into his hut. His hand felt too hot against her clammy skin. The dirt floor blurred together with her dark brown boots. Roshi made a noise of irritation and dragged her over to a cot. Hinata winced at the thought of being dumped on the hard surface, but the smith set her down with surprising gentleness.
"You'll need to take your cloak and armor off." Hinata reached up with shaking hands and started to unbuckle the straps that connected her shoulder pads to the cropped armored vest that concealed her chest. "The chest piece too." She shook her head and just pointed at her lower ribs. Those weren't covered by her armor. Roshi didn't ask again. He pressed a light finger against her side and Hinata couldn't help the hiss of pain. The blacksmith didn't let up, continuing to prod along her ribs. Agony made her vision scatter like lightning bugs.
"Broken ribs. Both sides. What the hell did they do to you?" Roshi gave a low whistle as he got up and grabbed several rolls of fabric. He started to lift the edge of her tunic. She knew that the smith needed to expose her lower torso to wrap her ribs, but Hinata panicked and pushed his hands away.
"Stop that," Roshi snapped. "This is no different from the last time I had to stitch you up. Unless you let me wrap them, you're not going anywhere anytime soon. I'm not lending you my cot for that long." Slowly, Hinata lowered her hands and rolled up her tunic. Even without Roshi's sympathetic grimace, she knew that her torso was one enormous bruise.
The hut was silent as the smith worked efficiently. She grunted in discomfort when he pulled the cloth bands tight and tied it off, but the support of the layers already eased much of her suffering.
Roshi handed her a cup of murky water and pain pills after she'd retreated back into her cloak and armor. He busied himself with digging around his cupboards. "There are rumors of a Demon of the Sand again. Three men were just found outside the gates, crushed." She didn't know why he was offering it, but it was good information to have. The burly man spun and dumped a pack into her lap. "Herbs for pain and preventing pneumonia. The only reason you're probably not crying like a kitten is because of the adrenaline. You're going to be feeling it tomorrow." Medicine out here was nearly priceless.
She withdrew three of the new tanto she'd taken from the armory, paused, and then took out a fourth. The red-haired man accepted them, lined features darkening as he studied the daggers. There was no doubt that he recognized the fine make of them.
"This is sufficient payment." Hinata recognized the dismissive note. She stood, bowed, and walked to the door. Roshi's flat voice stopped her just as she placed her hand on the doorknob.
"Little hunter. I don't know what trouble you've gotten yourself involved in, but you should get out of it before it kills you." She stared back at him in shock. What could almost be called worry deepened the lines in his face. His bright red hair glowed like the embers in his workshop against the darkness of the hut. He wasn't done, so Hinata waited, curious why the brusque smith was suddenly caring.
"I would have been a grandfather," the old man added after several minutes. "My daughter. She was pregnant, four months. They killed her." He didn't need to clarify who 'they' were, not when he was glaring so heatedly at the Moon kingdom tanto in his hands.
Hinata bit her lip and lowered her head in respect, pretending not to notice the slight quiver in his voice. A lot of people died in the war. Many of their families still blamed her.
"Thank you, Roshi. I will be careful." Her voice crackled of disuse and dusty channels of emotions she hadn't let herself use for years.
She let herself out, because if she dared to stay, she would cry.
In a forest several miles from the site of the battle, an enormous yellow toad appeared with a puff of smoke. He blinked stupidly for a few moments before he tensed and started retching. He hacked up three globs of slime in pink, yellow, and black. They landed on the ground, gasping for air.
"I hate traveling by toad," Sasuke coughed, trying to wipe the goo from his face. Gamatatsu croaked indignantly.
"I thought Naruto was going to give me snacks. You don't taste very good." Naruto hugged the normally jolly toad.
"It okay, Gamatatsu. Don't mind the bastard – he's just upset because you messed up his hair. You did awesome transporting us out of there. I'm going to buy you lots and lots of snacks later." Looking significantly cheered by the prospect of the food, the chubby toad saluted and dispelled. Naruto turned to his teammates. "Do you think that guy's dead?"
Sasuke tried to squeeze the toad mucus out of his hair as he scanned his teammates surreptitiously for injuries. He doubted Sakura had the chakra left to heal anything too bad, but it looked like they all escaped with only minor flesh wounds. He replied with a grimace that disguised his sigh of relief. "Unlikely. My priority was to get us out of there, since there was no doubt his partner was also close by. Just burying him under rubble is only enough for a distraction so you could summon your toad."
"I can't believe Akatsuki is back. I'd hoped they'd rotted away during the past few years," Sakura growled as she clenched a fist. She quickly unclenched said fist when she realized her glove was soaked through with slime. "Do you think the hunter's alright? That was a pretty long fall. You could have given him a warning before you pushed him like that." Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"I do one little thing and the both of you suddenly become bleeding hearts. I gave Hunter an entire speech. I even gave him money."
"Because money is so useful when you're dead," Sakura said blandly.
"Which he is not," Sasuke snapped back. "In fact, I'll prove it to you." He summoned Mozou. The raven appeared in a flurry of feathers and started to land to perch on Sasuke's shoulder, only to pull himself back up with a squawk of repugnance. He quickly redirected himself to a nearby patch of dry grass.
"You're all disgusting. Except for you, Lady Sakura." Mozou bobbed his head formally toward the scowling medic.
"Glad to see you care whether we survived or not," the Uchiha quipped. The raven gave him the stink eye.
"Stupid, you wouldn't have been able to summon me if you died. And you owe me bacon on the massive scale. Two teams going to be here in a few."
"Good. I doubt we'll be able to move anytime soon on our own. But that isn't why I called you. You marked the Hunter, right?" Sasuke moved his hand before Mozou could peck him.
"Of course I did!" The summon hopped up and down in irritation. "Don't underestimate me. I can find him at any time now."
"Is he okay?" Sakura asked with worried eyes. Mozou ruffled his feathers importantly.
"My mark wouldn't stick if he's dead. I can feel it in the spirit realm if it slips. So as of about five minutes ago, I'd say he's still alive."
Mollified by that, the medic flopped back on the ground with wet splat.
"Then everyone's okay. Thank god."
"Sure, believe the bird over me," Sasuke muttered bitterly to himself.
A few minutes later, a team of shinobi dropped in to help the exhausted Team 7 to a nearby inn to clean up and rest. Sasuke only allowed them one night of rest before pushing for a rapid return to the Sun capital. They could heal properly at the palace. The reappearance of an Akatsuki hunter and the attack on Areno were both disquieting, and he needed to confer with Itachi on the implications. As soon as he cleared the palace gates, he headed for Itachi's office.
"The events of your mission are indeed perturbing," Itachi said as he finished scanning Sasuke's report. He closed the scroll and set it aside in the pile of paperwork that dominated his desk. "But tell me, did you even stop by the infirmary before bursting through my door?" Sasuke scowled. So he still had a few blood stains on his shirt. He glanced at Itachi's nondescript black uniform enviously.
"I'm not a little kid. You don't need to worry so much." Itachi tilted his head. His expression was blank, but the sly glint in his dark eyes was all too apparent to the little brother.
"But I do need to worry. Why do I recall walking on a rather scandalous scene with—"
"That was just Naruto!" Sasuke snapped in explanation, only to realize that his words were only more incriminating. "He was playing a prank with his Sexy no Jutsu!" His brother blinked and smiled slightly.
"It's alright, little brother. I accept you for who you are, though it may be problematic when betrothal contracts start -"
"Back to the mission report, if you will, my honorable king," Sasuke ground out through his teeth. He hated how quickly Itachi could reduce him to feeling like a little kid. "I don't need to go to the infirmary - it's only a minor case of chakra exhaustion due to those chakra binders." Itachi frowned, discarding his teasing air.
"You did not mention this in the report. Chakra cuffs should not be a problem for your team."
"I'm having Sakura write up a separate report because these particular binders are different. I grabbed a sample of them when we were escaping, as well as the pieces of the fake bracelet, and Sakura's bringing them to the lab. When they were engaged, they actually used the chakra of the prisoner to strengthen the cuffs as well as steal away our reserves. The stronger the chakra, the stronger the bond."
"That doesn't sound like anything we have on the field or in development."
"We wouldn't have escaped if the hunter hadn't helped us, actually," Sasuke confessed. "The bounty hunter we'd hired to track down Hyuuga Hinata actually had prior knowledge on how to escape them. When we mimicked the chakra patterns of someone whose coils are on the verge of collapse, the material of the cuffs could be weakened enough to be smashed. A more detailed description is in my report." Itachi's expression didn't change, though he was staring at space, indicating that he was thinking hard.
"I disagree with your conclusion in the report," his brother finally said. Sasuke scowled, but kept his mouth shut. "Our focus should not be on finding the perpetrator of the Areno attack, nor this Deidara character. And it is highly likely that those two are connected. We may be chasing after the symptom of a deeper problem."
"What deeper problem is there than the little situation of someone trying to start a war?"
"A war is the last thing we want. But the setup with the bracelet will not be the last time they try to meddle."
"Obviously," Sasuke said flatly. It was frustrating whenever the teacher in Itachi tried to help Sasuke think through a situation rather than just telling him. The jerk knew it annoyed him to no end. "Which is exactly why we should find the culprit behind the trap before they try again."
"Indeed, the mind behind the plan is who we're looking. The people who carry out his schemes are useless. Akatsuki is a mercenary group, so they only hunt targets that other factions pay them to. So we need to find out who is hiring them to go after Team 7." Itachi laid down the report and used one long finger to tap the paragraph detailing Sasuke's thoughts on the bounty hunter.
"I said that I'm not sure if the hunter is on their side," Sasuke explained. "It seems unlikely that it was a plot to gain my trust. I wouldn't recognize him should he try to infiltrate anything later." Itachi nodded.
"I don't think your hunter is involved with them directly either. However, I feel that he is still a key in this."
"Him? He's just a little brat." Sasuke looked at Itachi with wide eyes. The king reached across his desk and poked the prince in the forehead. Sasuke repressed the urge to scowl and rub at the injured area.
"Foolish little brother, age is irrelevant. The hunter may not even know how entangled he is. Your profile states that he is most likely from a samurai family given his skilled use of noble weapons, and what little he spoke seemed to have an accent. It's highly possible that he's originally from a samurai family in the Moon Kingdom."
"How would that change anything?" The possibility of the hunter being from Moon had occurred to Sasuke, but he didn't see how it affected the importance of the hunter in the larger scale of things.
"Everything," Itachi said. "People always gravitate to what is familiar to them because it gives them a sense of security. With the level of skill you witnessed, your hunter could have easily been a successful bounty hunter on the other side of the border."
"Then he did something bad enough that the Moon Kingdom chased him out. What'd the brat do, kill their king or something?" Itachi shook his head with a hint of an amused smile.
"I doubt it's something quite on that level, but it is enough that he has nowhere else to hide."
"Then..." Sasuke thought carefully as he looked over the points he'd listed about the hunter. "He never really hunted the Moon Princess."
"A strong possibility," Itachi confirmed. He looked pleased, and Sasuke felt the glow of pride in his chest.
"That makes sense. He probably helped her escape, too." Sasuke punched his palm, imagining the hunter's face there. "He really led us on a wild goose chase. I'm going to kill that little brat." The king chuckled and Sasuke glared at him before continuing. "That still doesn't explain how he would know how to crack those binders. He's too young to have been a soldier."
"Which is why I want you to investigate him further. There are several mysteries about this boy that may help us unravel what exactly happened in the Moon Kingdom three years ago. I guarantee you that what happened back then plays a part in the recent events. I know that Hyuuga Hiashi cherished his daughter, despite their differences. And it is extremely uncharacteristic of Hinata to murder him in cold blood." Sasuke nodded and raised his thumb to bite down on it.
"I had Mozou mark him, so I can track him down immediately." Itachi indicated for him to stop.
"It will be a waste of your time. Focus your efforts on preventing further attacks like the one on Areno - our people are being endangered. And for now, Team 7 will be on temporary leave until we gain a better perspective on the Akatsuki attack."
"Yeah, I'm good on missions for a long while after this one," Sasuke muttered. "I'm still cleaning sand out of my ears."
"But do have the ravens keep an eye on the hunter and report any trouble. While he will be doing his best to avoid any problems, the Moon Kingdom is not done with your hunter yet. We only have to wait."
2 months later...
The air was crisp with the smell of pine and winter nights. The road was normally a busy one, but the cold had all but the most intrepid running for the hearths of the numerous roadside inns. Frost glazed the remnants of the day's activities, leaving everything in a state of breathless stillness, marred only by the steady progress of a solitary traveler. Hinata followed the side of the road, as wary as a ghost. Even her skill couldn't prevent the soft crunch of hard grass nor the puffs of condensation as she exhaled, but only the burning eyes of the stars witnessed these small signs of her presence.
Hinata paused, tilting her head to hear only the whistle of the wind. Shaking her head, she resumed walking. Venturing further into Sun territory only heightened her paranoia, but it was safer for her here. A marked downside of being a fugitive was the lack of access to medical ninja. Her fractured ribs limited Hinata's ability to move or breathe properly. Hunting along the hostile desert border was out of the question. The need for some means of income forced Hinata to extend her range deeper into the Sun Kingdom.
Of course, Hinata did have a secondary motive as well. The information that eventually trickled to the border towns were warped at best. So for the past two months, she's kept an ear out for further news on current affairs or the three ninja as she wandered from city to city. However, ninja by definition kept their matters away from the tongues of civilians, and there was nothing except the heartening absence of funeral announcements for the Crown Prince. Hopefully, that also paralleled the status of war.
It was a mark of just how lonely Hinata had been, if she was even worried for the well-being of three complete strangers who probably wanted to kill her. Bounty hunting was an isolated profession, as the very nature of it required the hunter to lurk unseen along the fringes of society. It was what kept her alive this long even if the work was dangerous. Unfortunately, it was much harder to enforce her personal brand of hermitism in the crowded cities, where avoiding one person meant stumbling into another. And people tended to pay attention to strangely dressed young women who asked too many questions. Tracking down criminals was so much easier on the border, where many were willing to betray their mothers for a coin or the chance to evade her blade.
Thankfully, she was mostly healed. Hinata planned to return to her old pattern of life after the capture of her current target, a man by the name of Mizuki. His bounty was posted just last week, wanted for spying for the Moon Kingdom. Hinata generally avoided targeting ninja, but the opportunity to wrench information from him was tantalizing. No one would miss him even if she had to be more forceful in her inquiry.
He was last sighted along this road. It made sense. The man must be desperate for an escape route, and this road was one commonly used by nobles. The wanted poster listed Mizuki at Chuunin level, so her best chance would be to catch him while he was distracted with taking a hostage. She'd been patrolling this area for a few days now. If Mizuki was here at all, she'd only have to wait for a suitable noble to pass by.
Some distance ahead, Hinata saw the glow of another inn's lights. She slipped close, peering into the stables. Perfect. The elaborate coach with rich velvet curtains couldn't belong to anyone but a noble. The horses in the stables whickered softly, and Hinata ducked back out before the stable boy dozing in the corner could wake. She rounded to the backyard of the inn, where the windows to the rooms faced the forest. As she waited, Hinata found herself missing the warmth of the stables. She quietly moved her feet to restore some circulation.
A dark figure appeared on the roof.
Hinata stilled, watching as the shadow expertly scaled the roof and continued to the wall. He was using chakra to stick as he chose a dark window and started picking the lock.
"Byakugan," she whispered, using only a imperceptible burst of chakra. The ninja had silver hair. She narrowed in on his face. It was Mizuki. Hinata deactivated her bloodline limit with a blink. She ran across the yard on silent feet, scaled the trellis that lined the side of the inn, and followed the man into the window.
A flash of silver caught her eye. Mizuki had his back to her, with a kunai held high over his chosen victim, a noblewoman with a waterfall of sleek gold hair. He started to stab down - he was going to kill her.
Hinata's thrown dagger suddenly bloomed from his forearm. Blood colored black by moonlight splattered across the bedspread as Mizuki dropped his kunai with a pained yowl. The chuunin whirled on Hinata, two windmill shuriken appearing in his hands as he charged her. Hinata tossed several more tanto at the spy, but he batted them away like flies. She ducked under the first swing and sidestepped the second.
There was a hidden third.
Hinata threw herself backwards to avoid nearly getting scalped by the spinning blades. It passed over her face close enough to knock back her hood. Before she could barely regain her balance, Mizuki pushed his advantage. He wasn't giving her any room to unsheath her naginata. Not that there was any space in the room to begin with. Hinata threw herself between his legs before she could be backed against the dresser, forcing him to stumble. She whipped out a leg, but he leaped over it as he threw his shuriken. Hinata rolled. The shuriken blades sunk into the wooden floor where she had been a moment earlier.
She jumped up, unsheathed katana gleaming in the dim light. He flickered through the hand seals for - Hinata interrupted Mizuki with a hard kick to the face. She couldn't afford to allow him the advantage of ninjutsu. He grabbed her ankle and slammed her into the ground. Hinata gasped at the pain as her tender ribs protested the abuse. She had forcibly checked her impulse to swing back with the katana - the goal was to capture him alive. Her hesitance cost her and Mizuki flashed through a series of handseals.
He blew fire everywhere.
Heat consumed the room.
Hinata leaped to the side, only to be stopped short by a sudden pressure to her throat. There was the sound of ripping cloth. Mizuki grabbed her cloak and yanked her into a headlock. The flames disappeared. It had been genjutsu.
"Just who are you?" Mizuki growled. He ripped off her veil. Everything was suddenly too clear with the absence of the gauze. The noblewoman staring at her with wide blue eyes. "You! Aren't you Hyuu-"
Hinata panicked. She slit his throat.
The blonde woman was still staring at her. Hinata scrambled for what remained of her veil. She knew. Not good.
"Lady Yamanaka! Is everything okay?" Feet were thundering closer.
Yamanaka. The clan was famed for their mind-reading jutsu. Hinata couldn't kill her as well. While no one would miss Mizuki, she did not need the concentrated rage of the entire Sun Kingdom on her head over the death of a noble. This hunt had veered into horrifying chaos. She'd wasted days on a bounty that she couldn't even collect, now that she knew Hinata was after Mizuki.
Guards burst into the room.
Hinata fled.
For those who knew the full story, it was obvious that their capture when they were at the border was a point of worry. He was easily one of the strongest fighters in the Sun Kingdom, even when compared with shinobi that had unfair advantages like a nine-tailed demon or a stolen Sharigan.
'But you also have the Sharingan,' some may point out, but it wasn't cheating if you were born with it. And while his infiltration skills still needed some polishing - he ignored the person who pointed out that 'you can't polish what doesn't exist' - Uchiha Sasuke was most definitely not someone who could be subdued unless there was foul play involved.
'Cheating is the point of the job,' another may argue. But it was the fact that his almost-captors did trick him that was worrisome. Unfortunately, the situation was troubling enough that the details were classified, leaving a watered down version that left the crown prince of the Sun Kingdom the butt of endless S&M jokes.
'Technically, those started when the king walked in on that rather awkwar-'
"Dammit Itachi," Sasuke snarled. "Stop interrupting me!" The Sun king only regarded him with a suspiciously blank expression as he waved for his brother to continue his proposal. "The point is, this whole thing is ruining my reputation. Normally I could care less about politics, but it's starting to interfere with training. I can't even spar with someone without getting laughed at."
"I thought you were more focused than than, Sasuke." The younger Uchiha's eye twitched at the inflection on the 'uke'.
"It was you!" Sasuke glared at the man accusingly from across Itachi's desk. "You're the one who started that stupid nickname again. That doesn't even make sense!"
"What's wrong with being the 'receiver' of an attack? Isn't that what you do in spars?" Itachi asked evenly. The neutral expression did not fool Sasuke.
"Itachi, I'm..." Sasuke gritted his teeth, determined not be dragged down by his jokes. It would only prove that he was the immature one. "I'm here to request that you lower the clearance. We've had three more attacks like the one in Areno: inner region of the border, and almost total destruction. Except for Areno, when Team 7 was already present, reinforcements were too late. There seems to be no pattern that I can discern other than the fact that they shouldn't be attacked. Even worse, there are reports of people being crushed to death all over the border. Those may even be connected. The other shinobi and samurai might have heard something that they can add to the investigation."
"No. I told you already, we can't say anything until we confirm it ourselves on the bandit attacks and the Akatsuki. There are already rumors pointing fingers. If we so much as mention the Moon Kingdom, people might make...stupid mistakes." Sasuke paused. He hadn't realized that things were so shaky.
"You mean...?" Itachi sighed. He looked tired.
"Certain people have been pushing for war. Our forces are especially strong right now, while Moon has just recovered from Hiashi's death."
"He died over three years ago."
"No matter how long that may seem to you, it takes longer than that for a new leader's power base to stabilize. Even now, I still have problems with some of the samurai clans." Sasuke looked away uncomfortably. It was always disconcerting when Itachi seemed anything but invincible. He looked back at his brother when Itachi hmphed. "Of course, a lot of that is your fault. You're far too rude to the other nobles. Many still doubt my abilities to lead since I can't even convince you to attend one measly ball. You could do your brotherly duty and cooperate." Sasuke stiffened. He should have suspected that Itachi's little show of weakness was a trap.
"No."
"With all the rumors questioning your masculinity, I'm sure that there will be fewer fangirls," Itachi said with a bored tone.
"The answer is still no. I attended one ball when I fifteen, that is all the 'dancing' I'll ever need to do in my entire life," Sasuke said flatly.
"Hmm, I don't seem to recall much dancing, though. Just a lot of running..." Itachi mused. "Clearly you need more practice."
"I told you. I'm not playing that game of cat and mouse," Sasuke snapped as he crossed his arms and slouched in his chair. He was well aware that he just regressed about ten years in age, but it was an old, tired argument. "Just betroth me to whomever you think is best for the kingdom. As long as she's not completely hideous or annoying, I don't care."
"Are you sure, little brother? You wife is someone that you will be with for the rest of either of your lives."
"Not like it really matters," Sasuke said honestly. "I'm not here to play diplomat. My strength is my combat abilities, so I only need to listen to you. It's not like I need to find a queen who can rule." Because Itachi wouldn't have the good graces to die when Sasuke was still around for him to torture, anyways. "And why are you so keen on my marriage when you haven't even gotten married yourself?" Itachi raised his eyebrows slightly.
"What makes you think that I don't have someone in mind?" Then he clearly hadn't told said someone yet, because Sasuke would have already heard it shouted from the towers. "Regardless, you and I are not the same, Sasuke. As much as I try to be accessible to my subjects, I am still king and very busy. As the prince, you are the bridge between the throne and the people. That is a very powerful place to be." Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, all the noblewomen and their mothers already noticed."
"Which is why it is imperative that you attend the Winter Ball."
A knock on Itachi's office door interrupted them before they spiraled into the same argument.
"Enter."
"Your highness. We just received an urgent message from Lady Yamanaka's group. There was an attack by Mizuki."
"Mizuki?" Sasuke echoed.
"A low-level spy we managed to suss out from the chuunin," Itachi explained.
"A third party interfered," the messenger continued. "But no one knows who it is."
"Strange. Where is Lady Yamanaka's entourage right now?"
"Just outside of Sanso at the Roving Raven inn, your highness. They specifically requested Team 7 for aid." Ino would use the opportunity to force Sasuke to spend time with her.
"That's quite far from the border..." The king frowned and then glanced at Sasuke. "Uchiha Sasuke. You are to immediately gather your team and go to escort Lady Yamanaka to the castle. While you are there, please see if you can find who this third party is." Despite his misgivings over Ino's intentions, even Sasuke knew not to question Itachi when he spoke so authoritatively.
"Yes, my King." Sasuke bowed and left.
He found Sakura in the infirmary wing and Naruto in the training halls. Within half an hour, they were bundled up in thick winter cloaks and hurtling along the slippery bare branches of the trees.
"So why are we rescuing Ino-pig if she's perfectly safe?" Sakura asked as she vaulted high over Sasuke's head. He pulled even with her as he gave her a flat look.
"The Yamanakas are one of the most influential noble clans in the Sun Kingdom. If Yamanaka was attacked, we as the Uchiha are obligated to show our concern by personally going to ensure her safety."
"Why bastard," Naruto said with a wide grin. "It sounds like you actually like Ino! Do I hear wedding bells in the -" Sasuke tripped him. Naruto's curses harmonized so well with the sounds of him scrabbling for purchase on the ice-slicked bark. It was the only time Sasuke could say he enjoyed listening to the blond.
"That was mean," Sakura admonished.
"Like you haven't done worse when he's being obnoxious."
Sakura shrugged guiltily.
They arrived at the Roving Raven within a few hours. Ino's guards weren't many, but they were dedicated. They'd closed off the entire inn and refused Team 7 entrance until Sakura put a crater in the ground. Sasuke wasn't sure if it was fear or Sakura's reputation that convinced them to part ways after that. Probably both.
Ino was in the lobby, pretending to nurse an untouched bowl of stew. She looked perfectly okay. Every hair was in place in an elaborate style, and every crease was perfect on her elaborate gown.
"Ino-pig! You look terrible! What happened?" Ino pinned Sakura with a condescending look.
"It's Lady Ino-pig to you, Forehead," she drawled with a smirk. "I just got attacked. You should be kinder to a delicate flower like me."
"You're anything but delicate, you pig!" Then Sakura hugged her. Naruto had an incredibly confused expression on his face that Sasuke was fighting to keep from his own features.
"Prince Sasuke, Naruto," Ino gave them a practiced smile and inclined her head slightly. "It's good to see you."
"Yamanaka," Sasuke said stiffly. He hadn't forgotten the times when she used to chase after him. Because Ino had the gall to be born as the heiress of the Yamanaka clan, Itachi had expressly forbidden Sasuke from hurting her. It gave her the terrifying sort of invincibility that only ghosts should possess. She certainly haunted him like one. "We are here to investigate your attack as well as escort you the remainder of the way to the palace." Fortunately, she'd calmed down some that past few years, as it wasn't good manners to tackle the prince and try to rape him. However, to Sasuke's surprise, Ino made no coy advances this time. The attack must have shaken her more than he thought.
"Are you going to look for my savior?" she asked. The pointed way she referred to this third party just made Sasuke's job significantly more complicated. Damn politics.
"It's far more likely he was also an assassin who had the bad luck of running into Mizuki," Sasuke reminded sharply. "We will not kill on sight, but if we catch him, he will be under arrest."
"I'm so glad the Uchiha place such consideration on my life." Sasuke tensed. If he did anything to this "savior" now, he would be implying that his clan did not regard Ino's well-being as something worth their time. Damn politics. He almost felt betrayed. He was supposed to call her 'Yamanaka' and she was supposed to insist he call her 'Ino' and then coo over his elbow or eyebrow or something. She wasn't supposed to remind him that when it came to verbal sparring Sasuke always...had to retreat to reevaluate his options.
"We will do our best, Yamanaka," Sasuke gritted out. "Could someone show us to the room of your attack?" He herded his team after the guard and left - because princes do notflee - as quickly as possible.
Mizuki's body was still sprawled across the light wooden floor. His throat was slit, rather sloppily at that. Two windmill shuriken were embedded in the floor a few steps off. The dresser was disheveled. There was blood on the covers. There were shreds of black gauze on the ground. Sasuke's sharp eyes took in the scene, not missing the slightest detail. He could almost see the battle happen before his eyes. Ino had been sleeping when Mizuki attacked. The third person had thrown a dagger, distracting the spy. They fought, knocking into the dresser at one point and Mizuki had thrown his shuriken at another. They seemed to be evenly matched until somehow, Mizuki gained the advantage.
This was where things stopped lining up nicely. The clean nicks on the wood indicated that the third person had been quite skilled. But the ragged wound on Mizuki's neck was the botched job of an Academy student. Then there was the question of why he was here in the first place. If he was a bounty hunter after Mizuki, the spy's head would be gone. If he was an assassin, Ino's head would be gone. Neither were misplaced. Finally, Ino herself was trained in combat. Why was she just sitting there the whole time during this fight?
Ino refused to answer that question, and reminded them her savior already had several hours of a head start. Sasuke returned to the site of the fight with a snarl. Nothing made sense. What was he missing? He stared at the evidence, and his gaze landed on Mizuki's clenched hand. He pried it open to reveal a large piece of sturdy fabric. He turned it over. It was two-toned, sand and shadow on opposing sides.
The memory of the hunter gracefully twisting in midair to catch the window ledge came to mind, his two-toned cloak fluttering like the wings of a bird. A ridiculous idea occurred to Sasuke.
"Summoning no jutsu."
Mozou appeared with an angry caw.
"Where the hell is my bacon?" The raven glared up at him with beady eyes.
"Nonexistent until you tell me where the hunter is." Mozou opened his beak to squawk out another gravelly insult. "I will feed you nothing but tofu for the rest of my life." The bird's beak snapped shut neatly.
"Right away, boss." Mozou dispelled with pouf of smoke. Minutes later, he reappeared on Sasuke's shoulder, speaking in an almost obsequious manner. "In Sanso, about two miles from here. So how about that -" Sasuke dismissed him.
Sanso. That can't be a coincidence.
"Sakura, Dead-last, I've got a lead." Sasuke couldn't help the wide smirk that overtook his face. "We're going hunting."
In Japanese:
"Sanso" = oxygen
AN: (So I lied. I can't help but adding longer and longer author notes...)
-This was betaed by the wonderful and kind Rhinst. Thank you!
-Yes, I am a cruel and terrible person for injuring Hinata. But she's not superwoman, so she can't magically fly away. And I need a reason for her to actually leave the border. I see Hinata as a passive person, so unless a situation forces her hand, she's not going to change an arrangement that's already working well.
-Wrapping broken ribs is actually not recommended, as you can get pneumonia from breathing too shallowly for a long period of time. So please don't try this at home (both the jumping out of abandoned buildings bit and the wrapping ribs bit..)...it does help ease the pain, which is why Roshi does it. She kinda doesn't have the luxury of taking it easy.
-Squee! Itachi! He's the reason Sasuke is so spoiled, but not a complete asswipe. I love torturing Sasuke through his aniki.
- Fun fact: In the first draft, I originally had Hinata accidentally kicking Mizuki in the gonads. Twice. Then I realized that was me projecting and had nothing to do with Hinata. Oops. Yeah, you can tell Mizuki is my most favoritest ever character.
-Finally, please let me know what you like and what you don't. That way I can include more of the good and less of the bad! (And not the other way around...) Even if I don't reply to your review, I'm so happy whenever I read a review. Your reviews make me swoon (but said swooning is a state of where I write even faster!:P)
