Once upon a time, there was a prince who saw the damage of a war.
The prince's brother returned bearing victory to the Sun Kingdom, and the kingdom loved him for it. But while everyone else saw the hero - the warrior, the crown prince, the future king - the prince saw the haunted eyes of a young boy thrust into violence too soon. The prince didn't understand it as that, but he understood when his beloved older brother wasn't happy.
One morning, the prince woke inexplicably early. He sought out the elder prince, and found him standing on the ledge of his window. The prince peeked over and shivered, for the drop was hundreds of dizzying meters down. Then he looked up, where the older was staring out at the horizon as the sun washed over the kingdom, one hand on the side of the window as if he could fly away in an instant.
But even though it was an awe-inspiring image, the older prince only looked jaded and worn.
"Why are you so sad, brother?" the prince asked.
"Because there was war," was the reply. "And there will continue to be war, for as long as the sun continues to touch the land each morning." There was a flicker of loathing on his face as he looked down at his open palm. "And I was a part of it."
"But you've won the war, you've gain victory and our kingdom is mighty as ever. You will inherit the Sun Kingdom, and all the power with it."
The older prince only shook his head.
"Look, brother," he said, pointing to the empty sections of the soldier's barracks below. "War is a thief and a liar. It takes away all we hold dear. It is a terrible truth wrapped in pretty lies. Never fall for the illusion of glory or whatever lies they package it in. It is death, it is destruction, it is everything we fight to prevent happening ever again. Yet in this battle, we will always lose."
The prince frowned, for he did not understand such dark words.
"But you're strong. And I'm training very hard - my teacher says I'm at the top of my class. We'll protect this kingdom together! We'll protect everyone, so there will never be another war."
Finally, the crown prince turned his head and looked at him. A knot in the prince's stomach loosened, though he couldn't pinpoint why he'd been so scared.
"Promise?" his brother asked softly. The prince nodded emphatically.
"Foolish little brother." But the older prince no longer looked like he was about cry and he stepped back down from the ledge. He poked the prince in the forehead. "Do not make difficult vows. Because I will hold you to that."
And so, the prince promised he would defend the kingdom with his brother.
Prey for the Hunted
By Airyo
Chapter 24
When Sakura had first been apprenticed to Tsunade, the Sannin had made the mistake of starting with chemistry. While it was the basis of all the drugs a medic would need to create, no one's health ever benefitted from that particular combination of saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur.
Sasuke remembered, because the resulting explosion had taken out a wall of her lab, as well as her bewildered teammates on the other side of said wall. Concussions were always tricky, and it had been deemed better for Sasuke and Naruto to heal naturally. For a jinchuuriki, that had meant a day of lying in bed forcing a guilty Sakura to fetch him ramen.
For Sasuke, it had been a little less luxurious, and a little more being continually prodded awake every few hours even though all he wanted to do was sleep. Yet no matter how he had threatened vengeance, Sakura, Naruto, and even Kakashi had kept to the brutal schedule. Even when he had been seeing double without the help of the Sharingan, he could see the concern filling the lines of rigid duty.
So this is being loved…
It was the first time acknowledgement of it crossed his mind, though it had been mixed in with the curses and the threats and the gratitude he couldn't quite word. It was just a concussion, but it was the realization that they cared. Not for the prince, but for the boy under the crown.
Exothermic, Sakura had explained, one night when he'd woken exhausted and disoriented and combative. Kind of like your temper, Sasuke. She had still been working through her annoying crush on him, but they were taking the first tottering steps into a friendship far stronger. He had sneered at her, but it was true.
It was a reaction that exuded heat in a burst, destroying everything around it while leaving the center used and cold.
That was how he felt as he walked away from Seidou. From Hinata, from Nori. He had lashed out, and after he had spent himself, he was left the sick feeling like a film in the back of his throat and cold clarity in his mind. After the defenses are down, what else is left? It was the bare bones, the ashes.
He remembered that he cherished and loved Hinata. Loves, even if the feeling was poisoned by the disease of his resentment and anger and hurt and all the ugly emotions of the one left behind.
The worse part was that the source of his anger wasn't her deception. She wouldn't be Hinata if she hadn't acted so selflessly it bordered on arrogance. And the bloodless revolution...
They would have to gain political control well over half of the cities, as well as the major trade routes that enabled any kingdom to thrive. That level of infiltration would require the work of a puppet master so skilled everyone would already know his name, which soundly defeats the whole goal of infiltration in the first place. Ridiculous.
But so was Hinata.
Anyone else brought such a thing up, and he would have laughed at them. But here he was actually working through the logistics of it. He wanted to help. Wanted, yearned..needed to. He should be there at her side, and she at his (not next to some annoying redheaded sand monkey). And all she had to do was ask.
Why couldn't she have trusted him?
Sasuke stopped. The sand gave way beneath his feet and he slid to his knees on the steep dune.
Maybe he never gave Hinata a reason to trust him. Both of them certainly knew how lies could be wrapped up so prettily, and how promises could be worth less than the air spent to make it.
Fuck…
He'd lied to himself, convincing himself that merely regretting not fighting harder was enough. Should have, could have - empty words when the reality laid before him.
But from lies, the beauty of truth was made clear; from the forest fire, there was lush new growth; from destruction, there was rebirth. Saltpeter, charcoal, sulfur - salt on the wound also cleanses, and so even from ash and rot there was the potential for new energy.
Sasuke felt new iron coursing through his veins - fiery medicine for his soul. The smoke of his mind cleared, leaving the sharp, neat knowledge that everything wasn't okay, far from it. But it could be. He was done being so damn pathetic, not when he felt he had nothing left and still had so much to lose. He took a breath, another one, and stood back up.
But this time, he turned towards Seidou.
The sand beneath his soles felt sure and true.
Kurenai and Gaara kept pace with Hinata.
"Is is…"
Her Byakugan saw pale skin, white hair and the fine features of a noble-born son - the same face that she'd easily pass over at the camp meeting days earlier. Two crimson dots marked his brow, the same coloring around his green eyes. Hinata shook her head after she described him to the other two.
"I don't recognize him." She kept the fact that now that she perused him carefully, something about the familiar tilt of the man's eyes and the mouth made for gentle smiles struck a deep chord in her. But she truly didn't know who.
"Sounds like Maru, one of the recruits," Kurenai said. "Quiet guy - I thought he was a calm one."
"He will die," Gaara said simply.
Hinata slid to an abrupt stop, and the other two followed her example with bemused expressions.
"No." She looked up, pale eyes narrowed and wrath sizzling in every fiber of her being. "He might have allies. Secure Seidou first. We must protect our comrades and their families. Kurenai, gather the people you need to activate the wide-field illusion to hide Seidou. Gaara, eliminate all threats."
"But...Nori…"
Hinata shook her head. "I will deal with this. You may come help me if and only if Seidou is secure. These are your orders."
Gaara looked mutinous. His sand shifted in agitation, but Hinata held his glance and shook her head. A snarl flickered across his face, reminding her of the feral boy she'd met so many years ago, and then just as quickly, he recomposed himself. He nodded, trust hard in his eyes. "Leave it to us."
They parted ways, two blurred figures heading back to the heart of the camp, and a solitary one for the edge. Hinata slid to a stop in front of the tent alone and swallowed hard. Then she threw back the cloth from the doorway and strode in.
"What is your business here?" she asked a clipped voice. The intruder stood, letting Nori's unconscious form slump over his vacated section of the cot. "You're one of the new recruits, Maru. How long have you been here? Three weeks?" She tested every part of his story, desperate for information.
"Two weeks, and my true name is Kaguya Kimimaro," he corrected placidly. He eyed her with disinterest. "Where is Uchiha Sasuke? Until recently, he was here. Give him to me, alive, and I shall return young Nori to your care."
"He left several days ago," Hinata said. She herself wondered where he'd gone to. She gripped her naginata, more to stop her hand from visibly trembling than for any show of force. A sense of deja vu was nothing when her daughter was being threatened. "There is little point in blackmailing me; he is not here."
"Then you will give me his new location." It wasn't a question, and the steely certainty in Kimimaro's voice chilled her.
She remembered the Kaguya clan from her lessons as a child - a bloodthirsty clan with the ability to manipulate their bones. Her Byakugan saw enlarged chakra veins gathered near his bones, his bone density, and his loose double full idea of what Kaguya Kimimaro could do terrified her. Two hundred and six weapons in his frame, and each had endless capability. His body was designed to continually break and reform. Near-perfect defense. Perfect healing.
Kimimaro looked amused as she readjusted her naginata in its sheath and pulled a pair of protective gloves from her belt. Hinata slipped them on, clenching her fist to test the fit. Then she unsheathed her naginata, and dropped into a low stance, blade down her back like a scorpion's tail.
"I would be very careful on how you proceed." He turned and tapped Nori's head lightly in reminder. Hinata felt as if her blood had turned to ice-cold sludge in her chest. The Kaguya glanced at her over his shoulder, green eyes cold. ""The conditions still stand. You will bring the Uchiha to m-."
He barely caught the blade of her naginata with his forearm, with a screech of metal that shattered the air around them. Hinata stared down where blade met bone. A ridge of white protruded from the skin, like a grotesque arm guard. Before he could retaliate, she leaped to the side, and darted around him, trying to slip by to reach Nori. Kimimaro flicked his arm. Hinata was forced to jump back to dodge the spinning projectile. She heard it sing far too closely to her ear. A beam of sunlight spilled across the floor, where the weapon tore a hole in the tent wall.
"You are not fast enough to defeat me," he warned. Hinata disregarded it and spun her naginata in a complex series of turns that distracted even as she attacked. Two ends of a weapon with everything in between, and not nearly so predictably linear as her enemies would like. He dodged everything with the efficient movement of a seasoned fighter. Then she pivoted, knees bent low, and the most simple move drove the butt of her glaive deep into his gut. Kimimaro was sent flying, away from Nori.
He landed on his feet soundlessly, winded but not a hair out of place. "You are stronger than anticipated," he commented. "But it will not be enough." Then Kimimaro was in front of her in the blink of an eye, bone dagger slicing for her shoulder. Hinata brought up the staff horizontally to block his hand. She was successful. But then a second bone blade came bursting out of his palm, a flash of white angled wrong. Too late, Hinata twisted out of the way.
It pierced the bulk of her shoulder pad with ease. Bright pain heated her arm.
Unphased, Hinata dropped to the ground and dealt a low roundhouse kick. With a sweep of his cloak and robes, Kimimaro sidestepped. His fist smashed down. Hinata rolled away and flipped to her feet in one smooth movement -
And the other fist came too quickly. She stabbed her naginata into the ground, and use it to balance as she leaned back so far her body was horizontal. He slashed down, forcing her to abandon her weapon and tumble out of the way. She lunged forward one step - ready for the next punch. Hinata caught his wrist and used it to leverage a kick high up for his jaw. Five spikes suddenly burst out where her hand was - had been. She had seen the shift in the bones this time, and had released her hold, dangerously off-balance.
Their eyes met in the moment she hung in the air; his green ones were wide, and her Byakugan were half-lidded in merciless concentration, with dark ribbons of hair waving around her.
Her kick missed. She dropped to the ground and leaped back for her naginata, where it was still wedged into the ground. Kimimaro gave chase, as predicted. Instead of retrieving her weapon, Hinata grabbed it and let momentum swing her back around the staff.
Her roundhouse sent him flying with a sick crunch of bone.
This time, he didn't land on his feet.
Kimimaro crashed to the ground, sliding several feet in the dirt. Hinata landed gracefully and plucked her glaive from the ground. She moved so she stood between him and Nori, and dropped into a ready stance.
He staggered to his feet, his neck at an odd angle. She saw the cells and chakra coalesce around the injury. Hinata watched in horror as he grabbed his head and with a sickening crack, realigned his vertebrae. A broken neck was nothing with that kind of density and regeneration control over his bones.
She'd only managed to make him angry.
The pale man charged, a floating run that belied his speed. Hinata braced herself and blocked the first, the second, third, fourthfifthsixth, refusing to move from between her daughter and her opponent. The force of his blows numbed her hands, but she waited patiently for her chance - and there! Hinata attacked the opening in his defense.
Bone spikes burst out of his chest, trapping her naginata. She immediately let go, and crossed her arms, unsheathing the daggers at her side. Hinata slashed out at him. He blocked with one arm, reinforced with bone. Her blades made not even a dent, and all the force reverberated back through her arms.
She withdrew, just in time to twist away from the bone spikes that burst out of the same arm. One caught her cloak, pulling her off balance. Kimimaro took advantage. He grabbed a fistful of her cloak and held her in place for a harsh kick to the chest.
Hinata was sent flying backwards, landing with a tumble that made dirt float up around her. Before she could recover, he pinned her cloak to the ground with three bones flung from his arm. Then he extended a hand down towards her. White points shot from the tips.
Hinata struggled, but she knew it was already too late. The bullets flew towards her.
A wave of sand roared up before her.
Hinata could hear the hiss of the missiles spinning to a stop. Gold peaks extended out from the wall where the bone almost drilled through. All ten dropped harmlessly to the ground at her feet.
Sand stormed around them, shredding the tent around them and revealing a dizzying blue sky above them. Hinata freed herself from the mess of cloak and bones, and stumbled to her feet. A hand caught her elbow, helping her up the rest of the way.
"Kurenai is with everyone to the caves," Gaara said as he looked her once over for injuries. "He came alone - no other threats as of now. I ensured everyone was safely evacuated before returning." He gave her a sideways glare, clearly unhappy with her orders.
"Thank you," Hinata said with a sigh.
They both turned back to Kimimaro, who gave her a flat look as he extricated her discarded naginata from his bones and tossed it to the ground with a dull clatter.
"It won't make a difference," he said.
But it did. Hinata had bought enough time for them to make sure Seidou was safe, and now she could concentrate solely on protecting her daughter. On cue, a blast of sand inundated Kimimaro, sweeping him away from Nori. Gaara balled his open hand into a fist.
The sand convulsed - Desert Coffin.
Hinata was already hurtling forward, spare katana glinting in her hand. Just before she could scoop Nori up in her arms, bone shards exploded out from underneath her feet. She drew up her cloak to minimize the damage.
A tendril of sand wrapped around Hinata's waist, yanking her out of harm's way at the last moment. Before Gaara could direct another strand to grab Nori, Kimimaro wrestled himself free of his technique.
Both of them gaped at Kimimaro. He should have been crushed. Instead, his clothes were only a little mussed. Patches of bone now showed through his skin - Kaguya had reinforced his body with a layer of bone.
"So you will not cooperate," Kimimaro murmured quietly. "I am sorry that I must resort to this, but I cannot fail." Hinata realized that he knew that he might lose now that Gaara was here.
He plucked two of his ribs from his side and snapped them out at Nori with a flick of his fingers. Sand whipped out to knock them away, but their trajectory curved around it. The two small bones clattered into place around Nori's neck and then melded together, forming a collar.
"Fight me all you will. The girl will die before you can defeat me. Regardless of my status, those bones will slowly constrict until..." He didn't need to finish. "Now will you give me Uchiha Sasuke?"
Hinata trembled, panic and rage burning the back of her throat. Her mind flickered through a thousand solutions and every one of them could not save Nori. Gaara lacked the precision to save Nori, and Hinata simply lacked the strength to break Kimimaro's bones.
"Please," she entreated him, one last time. "We don't have Sasuke. Please don't punish an innocent child for it."
Nori began to shift in discomfort as the circle of bone narrowed. Kimimaro reached over for her. "You are running out of time."
Then there was a blur, and a scream of rage. Flashes of chakra blinded them all between the screech of lightning against bone. Then the storm of motion broke, leaving Kimimaro nursing a mangled arm. The pieces of his bone collar fell shattered at his feet.
Sasuke landed a short distance away, bloody sword glinting in his right hand. His tattered cloak whipped up in the wind, revealing Nori cradled in his other arm, close to his chest. His head was protected by a swatch of pale fabric, the mockery of a proper turban, and from the shadows of his bangs, red eyes glowed with the promise of pain.
"This is," he said sharply, "most unnecessary, Kimimaro."
Sasuke's heart hammered at his throat.
The Sharingan had shown him those sickening seconds into the future, had made him watch Nori's neck bend at the wrong angle.
He might have been too late.
But now he could feel the steady rise and fall of her tiny body breathing, the warmth of her body washing over his clammy skin, soothing his erratic pulse. Still alive, still alive, his heartbeat seemed to murmur. Thank Kami.
His eyes lingered on the reddening skin at her neck, where his lightning chakra had flickered a little too close as he cut away the bone collar.
He was already plotting a hundred bloody ways to erase the Kaguya line from the world, but this time, Sasuke pressed it back into the creases of a past chapter. Anger won't help him - it had never helped him. He needed a clear mind. They could fight to destroy Kimimaro, but where Kimimaro was, Jugo was sure to be close by. Even Sasuke wasn't sure if he could defeat them without severe collateral damage. He did not want anymore memories of Hinata's sorrowful expression. He did not want to be the cause of them.
He had to find another way.
Kimimaro stared at him. To Sasuke's surprise, the Kaguya seemed to relax minutely.
"What did you do to Lord Orochimaru?" he asked solemnly. "Did you kill him?"
"Did I?" Sasuke asked with a disinterested expression. He kneeled, gently lowered Nori to the ground, and covered her with his cloak. Out of the corner of his eye, he made sure Hinata was coming for Nori before returning his full attention to the pale man. "Would I really be so idiotic as to commit suicide?" A flash of chakra, and he was standing right in front of Kimimaro. Genjutsu curled around both of them, and his pupils took on a slitted, amber appearance. "You already know, don't you, little Kimimaro?"
"You...switched?" he sputtered. "But...there was no indication."
"I am Orochimaru's legacy, after all." Sasuke smiled wide, mimicking Orochimaru's snakey countenance. He could defeat Kimimaro, but not without wrecking everything around them. The safety of the witnesses, of Hinata and Nori...that he couldn't be sure of. So Sasuke made a desperate gamble. "And don't be daft - would Orochimaru really announce his most vulnerable moment to the world? You overestimate yourself."
Kimimaro still looked at him with suspicion. But he wasn't attacking. His arms hung loose at his side, even if his hands were clenched. "Why are you still yourself?" Sasuke shrugged, careful to include a tilt of the head that was reminiscent of Orochimaru's mannerism.
"I'm not sure. Our chakra clashed, and resulted in an incomplete merge."
"So that was why Kabuto's neck was snapped..."
"And he deserves it for botching it up so badly," Sasuke sneered. He wasn't about to correct an advantageous misunderstanding.
Kimimaro studied him. "How convenient, that no one may hurt you." Sasuke prepared himself for the next attack, but the Kaguya shook his head and retracted his bones back under his skin - exoskeleton to endoskeleton, becoming something that looked human again. "I don't believe you at all. But Lord Orochimaru favored you, even without a cursed seal, and in a way, you are his legacy. Even if he never wakes up inside you."
Strangely enough, it sounded as if Kimimaro was trying to convince himself of this opinion, even though it was Sasuke's role. The Uchiha narrowed his eyes. The Kaguya wanted an excuse to stop fighting. But why?
"Good," Sasuke said even as he considered all the possibilities. The notion of being Orochimaru's legacy made him ill, but it was preferable to Kimimaro as his enemy. "Then know this. This village is under my protection. You shall not hurt them. Hinata, Nori, any of them."
To Sasuke's surprise, Kimimaro inclined his head respectfully, in a motion almost like a bow.
"I understand."
Hinata watched in shock as Kimimaro bowed to Sasuke.
Was this some elaborate plot?
"I don't like it," Gaara said. He watched the two warily as they approached. Hinata hugged Nori closer to her. "They know each other." She bit her lip.
"I just feel like I can trust him," she said.
"You're blinded by your affection for the Uchiha," Gaara muttered. She shook her head, even though what he said was true.
"Not Sasuke. I meant Kaguya Kimimaro." He gave her an incredulous look. HInata looked down at Nori and gently brushed away the spiky wisps of her bangs. Her fingers trembled. "He feels familiar, even though his name is not. He is straightforward in his loyalties. He isn't the one we need to worry about. Even if his powers are monstrous."
This gave Gaara pause. "I cannot fault you for your intuition, even if I disagree," he said after a moment. "After all, you gave me the same trust when I deserved it no more than him."
"Stop that," Hinata scolded softly, her eyes still warily following the pair as they spoke. "You broke from Orochimaru's hold as soon as you had the means to escape his seal. It was not your fault."
"And the Amaterasu War wasn't yours."
It was the pieces of an old argument and neither could ever back down.
Fortunately, they were interrupted when Sasuke approached them, Kimimaro steps behind. He stopped just out of arm's reach from them. His dark eyes rested on Nori, curled up safely in Hinata's arms. He turned his gaze to Hinata but she looked away, careful to avoid looking in his eyes directly.
"We will join you."
Hinata blinked. They could hardly refuse, could they? Gaara seemed to think the same, as he remained silent and watched the other two men stonily.
"Can we trust you?" she asked Sasuke. He looked down at Nori. His expression was unreadable.
"If not, I will make it so."
That was the best that she could hope for.
"Then, are there others...with you?" she asked. Sasuke glanced at Kimimaro, who nodded.
"One of them is very sick. I wasn't sure if you were enemies or allies to Sasuke...but…"
Hinata understood. "Go fetch them. We'll have the infirmary ready for you."
Kimimaro studied her. His green eyes drifted down to Nori, and HInata automatically pulled her daughter closer to herself. A tinge of remorse colored his gaze. Then he turned and left. Sasuke accompanied him.
Hinata swallowed hard, breathing slightly easier.
An hour later, they returned with two additional strangers: a tall man with spiky orange hair who carried a pale, unconscious woman.
"Who are they?" Hinata asked as she directed them to a tent with three waiting medics. Gaara and Kurenai had already efficiently reinstated order, and Seidou business went on as if nothing had happened. Currently, Gaara was watching over Nori in a different tent, far removed from this one. The medics had already checked over Nori - the girl was unharmed and sleeping off the mild sedative Kimimaro had used.
"Jugo and Anko. My...friends." Hinata didn't miss the slight hesitation before the title. Jugo bowed slightly.
"Lady Hinata," Jugo greeted cautiously. "Thank you for allowing us to bring Anko here."
Hinata nodded distantly and pointed to the cot. Jugo gently lowered the woman down. "She's been running a fever for three days now," he informed her. "Please, help her."
Anko was in poor condition. She had been starved, and the effects of it were apparent in the missing patches of hair and the sunken cheeks. Hinata could almost count her ribs even through the thin, dirty fabric of her shirt. No wonder she had been fighting her fever for days.
"She was worse when I found her," Kimimaro said quietly.
Hinata winced in sympathy. She quickly directed one of the medics to bring a small basin of water while she checked the woman's vitals - pulse, breathing, vital organ functions.
Then, she peeled back Anko's right eyelid, and recoiled.
"Is that…the Byakugan?" Her stomach twisted at the idea of someone gouging out her eyes and transplanting them into someone else. She covered her mouth with a hand.
Sasuke nodded grimly. "Orochimaru was originally driven out of the Sun Kingdom for his sick experiments." Hinata breathed slowly and recomposed herself.
"Who is Anko?" she asked Sasuke. He looked down at the unconscious woman.
"Mitarashi Anko. She was a student of Orochimaru's, back when he was still a member of the Sun Kingdom. We thought she'd gone willingly." Sasuke paused for a moment, before sparing Hinata a sideways glance. "You may recall a 'Mattress Dango'."
Hinata's eyes grew wide with shock and pleasure as she stared at Anko. It was the first expression of open warmth she'd shown Sasuke since his return. "That's her? She's alive?"
"She was transported to Orochimaru's hideout. It was coincidence that I found her and I made sure to give her a way to escape before I fought Orochimaru."
There was still humanity left in Sasuke. The memory of how he'd pushed her out of the window of the desert castle, to give her a chance to escape, welled back up in Hinata's mind.
Finally, the wary edge in Hinata's eyes faded and she smiled slightly. "The medics and I will tend to her. Please give us some privacy. The rest of you, go clean up. Someone will inform you when we meet up to resolve all our questions."
A muscle in Sasuke's jaw jumped as he wandered around Seidou. While the wary glances the residents gave him were nothing new, his new shadows were.
Kimimaro and Jugo were following him like lost little ducklings, albeit freakishly strong monster ducklings, but the analogy still applied with disturbing accuracy. Somehow, in between the chaos of everything, they'd decided that he was their replacement Orochimama.
Don't make these guys hate you, too, he reminded himself. Not when their strength would be sorely needed, if Sasuke guessed right. Seidou was struggling. Out in the harsh folds of the desert, they were as ineffective as ice. Why were they just waiting out here?
Sasuke stopped. He felt Kimimaro and Jugo pause a few steps behind him. He gritted his teeth, and turned with a blank expression on his face.
"I'm sure you're hungry," he said. "Go to the mess tent and eat."
It was still disconcerting how easily Kimimaro and Jugo obeyed. The two nodded once and immediately left in search of the mess tent. With a sigh, Sasuke sat down on the nearby barrel and covered his face with his hands.
What the hell was going on anymore? He'd come back to reestablish himself in Hinata's life, and yet here he was, pretending to be Orochimaru's vessel. That was really going to endear him to Hinata and Nori. Don't mind the snakey eyes or the forked tongue. Come and give Papa a kiss.
Sasuke shuddered at the thought of Orochimaru anywhere near Seidou. Not on his watch.
"Uchiha."
Sasuke lifted his head and glared at Gaara impatiently. The sand-user lifted a nonexistent eyebrow in challenge.
"Is this the welcoming committee?" Sasuke asked as he stood to face him. He felt like the intruder, when it should be the other way around. "I'm insulted."
"A welcoming committee implies that you are welcome," Gaara said. "I assure you that you are anything but."
"Poor unfortunate you," Sasuke sneered. "I will try my best to spare your feelings."
"It's not my feelings that you should be worried about. Seidou is a place of trust - we have no place for traitors."
"Yet, between the two of us, you possess Orochimaru's cursed seal."
Gaara's eyes narrowed. "The Snake might have had my obedience, but he never had my loyalty."
For Sasuke's sharp intelligence, the other man's reluctant servitude was the final piece of a puzzle: Gaara's survival after Naruto had witnessed his bijuu being ripped from his soul, the Sand Demon attacks, perhaps even his shift of loyalty to Hinata.
"He actually used some form of his incomplete resurrection jutsu on you, didn't he?" he asked. "Perhaps a transfer of life force after Naruto's kidnapping a decade ago? That's how he managed to brand you with a cursed seal."
Gaara's silence was answer enough.
"Then tell me," Sasuke demanded,"how you are any more fit to judge me when you've caused more deaths than anyone else?"
"Take care never to say that in earshot of Hinata. I've learned that our value is not measured in the blood we've spilt." Sasuke gritted his teeth, hating that Gaara understood that Hinata would never quite forgive herself for the Amaterasu War. "I have steadily supported Seidou and Hinata for the past four years. Maybe, I have atoned for my crimes. Either way, at least I have proven it through my actions." Gaara crossed his arms and looked down his nose at Sasuke - a feat in of itself since the red-haired man was quite a bit shorter. "What have you done in the meantime?"
Sasuke snarled, because it was a question that looked for the ugly truth. "Really have it out for me don't you?" he asked. Gaara gave him a flat look.
"You deliberately hurt her."
Sasuke stiffened, and he forced back the chakra that threatened to activate his Sharingan. Last thing he needed was for his eyes to play back his fight with Hinata in perfect clarity. "I know. No need to remind me," he said, voice tight. "Just punch me already for my misdeeds. Clearly you want to."
To Sasuke's surprise, Gaara took him up on his offer and aimed for his face. The Uchiha could have dodged but he braced himself instead. Gaara's fist stopped just before crushing his nose, so close that Sasuke could feel his breath bounce back off his hand.
"So it can feel remorse after all," the red-haired man said. "But can it learn?" Sasuke gave him a sideways glare as Gaara lowered his arm.
"Don't push your luck, lapdog."
Gaara bared his teeth. His other fist snapped up, driving deep into his gut and forcing out a grunt of pain. Sasuke staggered, bent over to the side, and emptied the contents of his abused stomach.
"Real mature," he gasped, bracing his hands on his knees when the worst was over. Sasuke straightened back up, wiping the sick taste away from his mouth.
"I'm just the messenger," Gaara told him flatly, though he looked far too satisfied. "Also, meeting in Hinata's tent in half an hour."
"Consider a career change," Sasuke snapped, still clutching his stomach. The sand-user had not held back. "You're an awful messenger." Gaara made a quiet noise of amusement.
"Half an hour," he reminded Sasuke before disappearing in a swirl of sand.
The Uchiha couldn't help but feel like he had passed some sort of unspoken test.
Hinata's tent was running out room. It was a place just meant for herself and Nori, not the motley group of people that currently occupied it.
Kimimaro and Jugo had tucked themselves in one corner, criminals reduced to guilty children by their own, rare sense of morality. Kurenai and Gaara watched them carefully from the other corner, wary guardians of their uncertain allies. Hinata sat at her desk, caught in the middle as the uncomfortable referee.
All their heads snapped up to look when Sasuke entered. Unphased, he let the door flap fall shut and walked several steps forward so he completed the circle of people. He crossed his arms, and scanned the faces. His gaze lingered on Hinata's as she studiously looked past his shoulder. He wished she could look at him for once. Mentally, he cursed Itachi.
"Well?" he asked.
"So why should we accept you into Seidou?" Gaara started. Sasuke glared at him. His stomach still protested the abuse from earlier.
"Could you have stopped us if you didn't want us?" he asked bluntly. Green eyes narrowed.
Hinata sensed the rising tension and quickly interjected before they could descend into an argument. "If we had to, but not without risking Seidou and the precious people in it," she said. To her relief, Sasuke peeled his glare away from Gaara. Unfortunately, she was the new target. The anger was still present in his dark eyes. Hinata looked past him, silently pleading him not to start anything. Not here. Not now.
With a faint sneer at his lips, Sasuke turned back to the others. "Good thing we don't have to find out then," he said.
"Good thing indeed," she echoed. She looked at Kimimaro and Jugo, before glancing back at Kurenai and Gaara. "But before we move forward, we do need to be sure of a few things. There are more lives than just ours at stake."
"Then ask away," Sasuke said to a spot somewhere by her shoulder, refusing to look directly at her.
"Are you still loyal to Orochimaru?"
"No," Sasuke said flatly. "You saw what he did with the Byakugan. He sought to the do same with me." Kimimaro and Jugo, nodded in agreement with him.
"That explains you, young Uchiha, but what of your comrades?" Kurenai asked.
Sasuke looked towards the two, prompting Kimimaro to speak.
"Before I was Orochimaru's tool. But now I am Sasuke's."
"Why?" Gaara demanded. Kimimaro regarded him steady, green eyes, before he moved his gaze back to the Uchiha standing at the center of the tent.
"Because I owe Sasuke my life," he said.
Everyone, including the alleged savior, stared at him in shock.
Once Orochimaru's initial interest in him abated, Sasuke found himself with empty hours that cast shadowed thoughts. Restlessness and insomnia drove him to the training halls, but even when his body was wrung of his last drop of sweat, as long as he was conscious, Sasuke's mind drowned in her.
Even worse was when he used his Sharingan. Perfect recall. Of her. Of them. Everything. What had been the stuff of dreams was the fuel for nightmares.
He had to find escape.
Wrath was easy. Lust was easy. Greed, sloth, envy, gluttony. All easy additions to the slippery slope of his sins. The base animal instincts had their own sort of truth, more trustworthy than the shifting thoughts of a more intelligent being.
Sasuke learned to suppress his thoughts, his regrets, himself. Eat sleep train mission glare. Rinse and repeat.
It wasn't a perfect solution. Sometimes, Sasuke still woke, ripped from sleep by the strangled screams in his throat. With no enemies to fight but himself in the dead hours of night, Sasuke began to wander the hideout.
It was during one of his forays that Sasuke found something interesting.
It was the only room lit in the random hallway he'd turned into and it drew him in like a moth to fire. Sasuke entered to find a human being laid out on the table like a sacrifice, especially with the stone walls pressing in. Sasuke stared down at the still man, whose sharp features were barely distinguishable in between a mess of tubing.
Something stirred in the dark recesses of memory. A gentle smile, and pale hair. And another - paler eyes, and also gentle smile.
Kabuto sidled up to him and leaned far too close to Sasuke's liking. "Kaguya Kimimaro. The man your highness usurped."
"Not a prince. And you are presumptuous," Sasuke sneered. He warned Kabuto away from him with a glare. The medic only smiled in that slippery way that made Sasuke's skin crawl.
"He is comatose on the table, while you are strong and standing - Orochimaru's most favored right-hand man."
Sasuke turned back to Kimimaro, curiosity overtaking his dislike for the medic. "What is wrong with him?"
"His body is different from a normal human being's. With his ability to regenerate his body to accommodate his bloodline limit, his chakra has warped over -"
"You're wrong."
Kabuto stared him. Sasuke's Sharingan spun as he regarded the ill man.
"His chakra isn't the problem - his bones along those chakra veins are. He's probably aware of us right now. Even if his body can't move, his mind is active. It is stupid of you to let a salvageable weapon rust because you are incapable of figuring out how to fix it." Sasuke thought of Hinata, who had been so easily tossed away by her family, by her kingdom. He will help Orochimaru bring her back, he promised himself.
Kabuto bristled, though he tried to disguise it with another sly smile. "Orochimaru agrees with my conclusions. The existing medicines don't work."
"Find another way. I figured out what you couldn't in mere moments with my Sharingan eyes...that's a little pathetic. Aren't you supposed to be some sort of genius?" He raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Unless you're only one when it comes to easy cases."
It spoke volumes about Kabuto's self-control that the man didn't punch him.
Sasuke blinked. "I had forgotten about that. No wonder Kabuto had looked so smug the first time you and I were ordered to spar."
"I haven't," Kimimaro said promptly. "Kabuto was going to let me die and harvest my parts. Your challenge to him saved my life."
None in the room needed to point out that Orochimaru could have simply commanded Kabuto to try harder. But the Snake hadn't, and lost Kimimaro's loyalty for it. Even if the Kaguya wouldn't admit it, not even to himself.
Hinata bit her lip, fighting the urge to smile despite the serious situation. Her years with Nori had taught her to find amusement in the strangest things. Sasuke had manipulated Kabuto into doing exactly what the Uchiha wanted bypissing him off. Like father, like daughter.
"So how did he actually heal you?" Sasuke wondered.
"With Anko's Byakugan. He had her identify the infected bones. After that, it was simple enough to eject them from my system before the disease spread. As long as I continue to cull the faulty ones, I remain healthy."
There was a pause. "I see nothing wrong with a life debt. But what about Jugo?" Hinata asked. "How does he fit in this?"
"My place is by Kimimaro's side, and therefore Sasuke's," Jugo answered placidly. "If Sasuke aims to protect Seidou, I will be Seidou's most stalwart shield. Please use me as you see fit."
It was clear to her sharp eyes that he was telling the truth. Hinata relaxed. "Good answer." She turned to Kurenai. "Please arrange accommodations for Sasuke, Kimimaro, and Jugo. Anko will remain in the infirmary tent until her fever breaks." The older woman nodded and exited.
"Gaara, please take over for me and assure the squad leaders that everything is resolved for now." The sand-user nodded and also got up to leave.
"And Sasuke." Her voice softened. "Please stay back. I need to talk to you."
Gaara caught Sasuke's eye and held his glance in warning for a few moments. Then the redhead exited with the others.
And then it was just them - Hinata seated at her desk and Sasuke leaning against one of the support poles of the tent, the hard lines of her meager bed filling the space between them.
"How's the brat?" Sasuke asked brusquely. Hinata didn't answer. "I know she's mine. The age is a giveaway." She smiled slightly, and he realized that he'd just confessed to his belief in her fidelity and integrity. That his empty accusations were just that - empty.
Then he remembered that he'd held to no such standards on his part. Guilt roiled in his stomach and he gave a weak snarl. "How's Nori?" he asked, desperate for a distraction.
"She is fine - Kimimaro had purposely used a sedative that was safe on children." Hinata laid a hand over her navel, where her own damaged chakra coils were. They both remembered how dangerous such medication was, and couldn't help but be grateful that Kimimaro had at least taken that into consideration.
"I'm glad you decided to come back even though I am the last person you want to see," she said. "We could use your help. Kimimaro's and Jugo's too."
"It wasn't for you," he said defensively, though his words were without venom. "Can't trust that red-haired monkey to take proper care of Nori." His stomach was still sore.
"I see," she said with another smile tinged with both sadness and relief. Sasuke looked away.
"And I don't hate you," he confessed. Though he would not admit to himself why he was even trying to explain. "Angry, betrayed, confused, yes, but…" He stole a glance at Hinata. She was looking past him with soft, trusting eyes. He wished she could look at him. Instead, he snarled at the wall, as if the cloth walls of the tent were to blame for confining them here. "I could never hate you."
"Sa-"
"Are you going to introduce me properly to Nori or not?" he said forcefully. He was determined to cling to his anger, because the alternative was to fall to regret and expose the most vulnerable parts of himself. It was easy to plan for action beforehand, but now that he was teetering on the precipice of truth, he found himself scrambling back from the edge. He couldn't trust himself around her. Not yet. Because Sasuke wasn't sure if he could survive something like what she put him through a second time.
Hinata sighed. "Come here." She stood and dispelled the privacy jutsu around them. Sasuke marveled at the ease with which she used chakra. Sakura's treatments had done wonders. At least some good (other than Nori) had come of his and Hinata's meeting.
She led him to different room in the tent and pulled back the dividing cloth to let him in.
Nori was already awake. She was seated on the edge of her cot, swinging short legs that didn't quite reach the ground. The child's intelligent gray eyes followed their progress into her section of the tent.
"Soso! You're back!" Her jubilance was quickly muted by the solemn looks on the adults' faces. "What's going on?" Hinata smiled and gestured to Sasuke.
"Nori, meet Uchiha Sasuke. We will continue to call him Sousuke, as his name is dangerous. Just like how Mama's name shouldn't be given so easily to strangers."
The child nodded slowly, brow furrowed in thought as she regarded Sasuke.
"I'll leave you two alone," Hinata said and she disappeared behind the flap that covered the doorway. Sasuke froze, half tempted to run after Hinata. The woman had actually left him alone with the brat. She was supposed to mediate! What was he supposed to say? Hi Nori. Congratulations, you are my spawn. That would go over well. Did Hinata had some sort of birth documentation that he was suppose to give to the kid? Some sort of family tree? What the h-
"You're my Papa, aren't you?" Her voice was soft with awe and fear.
Sasuke opened his mouth, and then closed it. That worked too. He braced himself for the questions, the denial, the temper tantrums, and nodded.
Nori promptly burst into tears.
Sasuke backed away, palms out as if to ward off a wild beast.
"Hinata!" he called, voice tinged with panic. "Hinata!" No answer. He ripped aside the door flap only to reveal an empty room. Hinata really had left them alone. That...sneaky….Sasuke shook his head with a snarl, cursing mentally. He wasn't about to rush out and get anyone else involved.
Nori was crying louder now. Sasuke wheeled around and crouched in front of the child.
"Shhhh…shhhhh…" he hushed, waving his hands as if he could manually decrease her volume. Predictably, it had no effect. In desperation, he grabbed the child's shoulders, shaking her slightly in an effort to get something other tears out of her. "Nori. What. Is. The. Matter?" he asked stiltedly.
"Youhatemeeeeeeeeeandmamawilltoooo," was the answer, both her voice and head bobbing from Sasuke's shaking. The Uchiha thought for a moment.
"You think I hate you? And because of that, Hinata will too?" he asked hesitantly. When the wailing continued, Sasuke released Nori and frowned.
"Nori, answer me," he commanded firmly, but as gently as he could manage. She hiccuped in an attempt to compose herself, swallowing back another sob, and then nodded tearily. "Why in the world would you think I hate you?" Nori sniffled and scrubbed at her face, but to Sasuke's relief, she didn't start leaking like a bad water jutsu again.
"I was m-mean to you. And then y-you and Mama were yelling b-because of me. And then you ...you left. I'm s-s-sorry I was mean to you. I'm really sorry. I w-won't do it again. I p-promise just don't leave us-" Her stutters got progressively worse, until it was hard to understand her. She had seemed so calm until the dam burst. His heart squeezed with a primal agony born of protective rage and sympathy.
Did all children assume everything was their fault? Was this martyrdom a unique trait of Hinata's? Or was such presumptuousness his?
Sasuke frantically tried to think back to how Mikoto or Itachi or anyone had comforted him when he had such attacks...but he couldn't remember such a time. All he could remember was a lonely boy huddled in the corner, trying to keep the sobs quiet so the servants wouldn't glare at him again. What would his four-year-old self have wanted?
Awkwardly, Sasuke gathered Nori in his arms.
"Idiot. If I hated you I wouldn't even bother talking to you. It's arrogant of you to presume everything is your fault, because it's not. I left because of a childish matter between your mother and I."
Nori sniffled again. "Mama's not childish...you're mean, Sos-Papa." She glanced at Sasuke hesitantly. He glared, hoping she didn't notice the pink tinge to his cheeks, but he didn't protest the new title. Taking it as permission, Nori ducked, smooshing her snotty face into his chest. Sasuke winced. Was she snuggling? He will have to instill in the child the importance of wariness - snuggling random strangers, especially random males, will not be permitted.
But...just this once, Sasuke will allow an exception.
"I am not mean," he huffed. Nori wrapped stubby arms around his neck and Sasuke tensed. She hugged harder and he had to remind himself that this wasn't some enemy nin trying to strangle the life out of him. His throat felt tight, even though she wasn't all that strong.
"It's 'kay," she murmured. "I'll love you anyways, because you're my Papa."
Sasuke blinked. He didn't miss the proud emphasis on the possessive she used. She'd decided to accept him and to love him so easily. She didn't know of his power or his strength or his misdeeds or titles or anything about him except that he was her father. And that was a enough.
Sasuke was enough.
Either his daughter was cutting off too much of his air or the climate was too dry or someone was peeling copious numbers of onions in his vicinity because he was most certainly not tearing up. He was a hardened traitor, an S-rank warrior turned missing-nin who could level entire cities. He covered his eyes with one hand.
Nori misinterpreted his discomfort. "No take backs," she said hurriedly, leaning back to tug his hand away and look him in the eye. "You already gave your word and Mama always said you're a good man, even though you get mad a lot, but a good one. And good mans don't take back promises!"
Hinata said that about him? Given the way Nori's eyes shone with absolute belief, Hinata had painted the picture of a far better man than in reality. The things he'd accused her of rose up in the back of his throat, more distasteful than bile. Sasuke found it difficult to swallow.
Shakily, he laid a hand on Nori's back, which the uppity little brat immediately took as permission to snuggle back into his chest.
"No take backs," he agreed hoarsely.
Outside, Hinata deactivated her Byakugan and dabbed at her eyes with the edge of her sleeve. A knot in her chest unravelled, and made room for the complexity of cruel, brilliant hope.
Some days later, Kimimaro was waiting for Hinata when she stepped out of the infirmary tent with one of the camp medics, a young girl with near-perfect chakra control. The new isolation tent was already erected, and the sand had already erased any remaining signs of battle. Such was the transient nature of the desert.
"Thank you for your work," Hinata was saying. The medic glanced at Kimimaro, whose cloak had slipped askew to reveal a pale, toned chest, and blushed.
"Please excuse us," she said to the medic. The normally chatty girl nodded eagerly. She left, but not before throwing one more hopeful glance back at the handsome Kaguya. Unfortunately for the young lady, Hinata doubted Kimimaro had eyes for anyone else, given how he was trying to hide his anxiety as he peered into the doorway behind her.
"Her fever broke. Anko will be just fine," Hinata said. She was still wary of the man. He was aware of it too, as he politely remained a good distance away from her.
He smiled, almost shyly. "Good. I was never taught healing." Never needed it. Hinata glanced at the too-smooth skin of his chest. Just days earlier, bone spikes the size of her arm had protruded through there. There wasn't even some sort of inflammation for that level of trauma.
Somehow, the reminder of his monstrous powers calmed her. Even Sasuke had opted for other methods rather than meeting him head on. Kaguya Kimimaro could have taken them out long ago if he'd truly wished it so. Fortunately, he had't.
"You and Jugo did well," she said softly, with more warmth in her smile this time. "Fevers are far more dangerous when subjected to the whim of the desert."
"I wanted to bring her into Seidou," he said tightly. "But…" Kimimaro frowned in thought, but she finished the thought for him.
"You weren't sure if we were trustworthy."
He nodded. Then, Hinata found herself staring at the top of Kimimaro's head as he bowed. "I'm sorry that I tried to hurt Nori and you, Lady Hinata. I had not realized that you were Sasuke's allies. You've been nothing but kind to me...if there's anything you wish of me…"
Hesitantly, she laid a hand on his shoulder and guided him to straighten back up. She, of all people, understood. The warrior would go the ends of the earth for the lucky few he care for, but everyone else were simply obstacles. Not that she wasn't going to be watching Kimimaro very closely, but he was straightforward enough to understand. The smartest thing she could was to endear herself, and by association Nori, to the lonely man.
"I'm just glad it's over," she said."Now, it is of the past. You can go inside to see her, if you want, though she won't likely be awake anytime soon." He gave her another small smile, this one again hauntingly familiar, and started for the entrance.
"Kimimaro?" He paused, and turned to her. She had to ask. "Have we met before...before all this?"
The white-haired man thought for a long while. "The people of Seidou care for you - they were very careful with your family name. I did not know it was you until recently. You were titled Princess Hyuuga Hinata at one point weren't you?" She nodded. "Then, yes, we have met. But you would not remember Kaguya Kimimaro, even if you remember me at all."
Rather than feel heartened by the confirmation of her suspicions, Hinata felt a lead weight drop in her stomach, sinking her hopes with it. "Why not?"
"Because when you were in the Sun Kingdom as a child, you knew me only by my alias - Shin."
[edit, added below]
"Shin," Hinata echoed. She felt faint. "Do you mean the same Shin that Uchiha Sai knew? The one with white hair that Sai can't remember? That none of us can quite remember? That Shin?"
It was the knowledge of "Shin" that saved her from Sai's blade, twice. Even if Kimimaro had no specific significance to her, he was important to the puzzle of Sai.
Kimimaro's posture straightened. He turned from her and gripped the door flap of the infirmary. "I've already said too much, Lady Hinata," he said, glancing at her over his shoulder through the curtain of his white hair. While he was calm, it was the sort of lazy demeanor with which a wolf regarded a helpless doe. "If Sasuke wishes it so, I will reveal the details of my mission, but...I need to see Anko."
Hinata swallowed, and nodded. "Thank you, Kimimaro." He returned the gesture.
Hinata remained standing where she was even after the door flap had fallen behind the Kaguya. The sun beat down her exposed head, seeping into the darkness of her hair like a warm bath. But the rest of her felt cold and numb.
She could never quite escape her past, could she? While she had long accepted her circumstances and decided instead to fight her demons, it was a nasty shock to discover one more lost in the swarm. If Kimimaro's account meant she was in the same physical location as Sai, that could only mean that there was more than the single horror of bloodline envy.
"You aren't supposed to have the Sharingan."
"I don't."
"King Itachi wouldn't botch a seal," Hinata countered. "He placed the reactive seal himself. If I look into the eyes of a Sharingan-user, that black fire-"
Hinata hugged herself.
It was too much of a coincidence that children with the Byakugan and the Sharingan were at the same place. Rumors placed Sai as the greatest of his generation, excluding the royal brothers themselves. It would be suicide to poach Itachi's eyes, so they had sought more vulnerable targets.
Even before the Amaterasu War, someone wanted the three kingdoms to tear each other apart. Broken down to be rebuilt for a new master. Sky fell, but that still left the Sun and Moon Kingdoms.
Hinata shook her head. She was jumping to conclusions, smearing her own paranoia over the picture like a clumsy artist.
After all, if powerful bloodlines were their goal, they wouldn't kidnap her despite the weighty consequences...only to send her back with her eyes intact.
It must just be a coincidence.
AN:
- Thanks to Rhinst for betaing! (Pointing out inconsistencies...because I have the memory of a goldfish.) I added a little bit more, so it's my fault if there's some lingering mistakes.
- Feeling a lot more chatty since I actually like this chapter. Chapter 23...was a struggle for me.
- Saltpeter (also known as potassium nitrate), charcoal, sulfur are the components of gunpowder. Gunpowder can be literally translated to "fire medicine" in Chinese. Via Wikipedia
- Forgot to include this: Seidou - 'sanctuary' or 'righteousness'. Via some online Japanese dictionary
- I debated making Kimimaro's attack the reason Sasuke returned, but I wanted his decision to be independent, not forced because of danger or big explosions (any recent ones, anyways). It's an internal shift. Our boy Sasuke has a lot of growing up to do, but he's getting there. :D
- Gaara and Hinata...dammit. I might have to write a GaaHina now. Damn. It.
- But Gaara matured and figured other things a lot more quickly than his contemporaries in canon (coughKazekageatfourteencough). I follow that precedent here as well.
- Nori is based on all the poor children I've ever babysat. All of which were presumptuous snugglers and excessive wielders of "iloveyou"s. They know their power.
- Don't know why their parents paid me to take care of their children when I am the type of person who would tell her little brother that the hot chili pepper plant was a special candy tree.
- Not that I actually did such a thing (shifty eyes).
-...okay, I did. This is why he has trust issues.
- There are so many bad puns/jokes waiting to happen with Kimimaro's bone ability.
- Like this non-pervy one:
"Because when you were in the Sun Kingdom as a child, you knew me only by my alias - Bone." Kimimaro slips on a pair of sunglasses. "Shin Bone."
- Did the plot twist come partly because of this bad pun? Absolutely.
- Also a shameless reminder: I am a rampant review-junkie. Please feed my addiction. :D
