A/N: Before you start the chapter I have put this note at the beginning so you're forced to read it. Mwahahahahaha!
Beware, this is a product of a bored mind. Anyway, name meanings of all my OCs and kanji! (Because I have no life…) Not like any of you actually care, but hey, I said I was bored.
The amount of time I put into this is depressing. Do not ask. For your ofwn sake. Here we go!
Note: Beware the symbolism!
山木 (Yamaki)- Mountain tree.
サスミ (Sasumi)- It doesn't mean anything because it's a made up name.
戻禍 (Modoka)- Returning misfortune.
授三 (Sazumi)-Blessed thrice.
石原 (Sekihara)- Stone Field.
勇鬼 (Yuuki) Courageous Demon.
花蛇 (Hanada)- Flower Snake.
美智子 (Michiko)- Beautiful Wise Child
And onward to the chapter!
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Chapter Twenty-Six-
"They have breached the outer wall, Pein-sama. It won't be long before they-"
"Silence," the orange haired man replied.
The messenger shook with fear, but did not dare get out of his kneeling position.
"Then you know what we must do," Pein said, face engulfed in shadow as always.
The eavesdropper behind the half open screen door shifted uncomfortably.
"B-But, Pein-sama!" the messenger said, aghast, "If we leave, all our resources and data will be lost!"
"We have no choice, fool," the man replied, "I will not risk Konoha getting a hold of our secrets. We must leave before midnight. Understood?"
"Y-Yes…of course…"
The eavesdropper did not need to hear anymore. She crept quietly down the oaken floor and slid out a small window. Abandoning caution, she ran up an earthen slope, pulled up her hood, and walked quickly down the path between deserted shops. It was dusk now and she made her way to a rundown looking tea shop, sliding inside, the bell attached to the door jingling softly as she went. She adjusted her forehead protector, but did not take off her sandals as she stepped up to the counter. The old man jumped as she took off her hood and swallowed audibly.
"C-C-Can I he-hel-" he stuttered.
"Where are they?" she asked rudely, sliding a dark skinned hand into her cloak and pulling out a small piece of paper with a complex floral symbol upon it.
"Y-You?" he said in confusion, "You are one of-"
But the eavesdropper's patience ran out before he could even finish the sentence. She grabbed the front of the man's haori and pulled his face close to hers, slamming him against the counter that separated them.
"Finish that sentence," she snarled, looking feral, "And I kill you. And if you don't tell me where they are, I'm going to also kill you. Understand?"
"T-The b-basement!" he breathed, "P-Please don't kill me! I-I have a granddaughter to tak-take care of and-"
She threw him back against the wall, causing a jar of tea to break, "Shut up," she spat.
She walked past him to the back of the shop, idly tucking her strangely colored bangs behind even stranger ears. Opening the worn door, she heard voices at the bottom. She shut it and walked down the steps without stealth. The voices trailed off as she rounded the corner.
There were five of them, sitting around an old tables that had probably been used for grinding tea leaves, judging by the stains. They were all men and all older than her, but they were all incredibly terrified of her. She removed her cloak.
"Pein will not stand with us," she told her fellow shinobi bluntly, "He is leaving tonight."
The men looked at one another in horror, but soon remembered who was standing in the room with them, and quickly turned their attention warily back to her.
"Why?!" one of them asked angrily, "With his help, we could defeat them! Why will he not-"
"He is a coward," she said, "We don't need him."
They looked at her in disgust.
"You don't understand!" the youngest of the men said almost hysterically, "Without Pein-sama's power we are doomed! Konoha with crush us and-"
The dark-skinned girl silenced him by a blow to the jaw, shattering it.
"Now see here, girl!" the first man cried, "You cannot just-"
"Don't presume to tell me what to do!" she snarled, and for a second, claws seemed to replace her human fingernails, "He is a traitor. A traitor and a coward." She let out a mocking laugh, "You are all cowards!"
"You fool!" another said, "Do you not understand the magnitude of the situation?!" His tones turned ugly, "Or is the truth to large for the mind of a beast?"
She threw herself at him, pupils turning into slits, intent on ripping out his throat.
"Stop!" screamed the senior of the group, and she was dragged up by the lapels of her Jounin vest.
She pulled herself free, her eyes slowly fading back to their normal brown.
"Cowards!" she said angrily, "What will you do, then? If you don't have your illustrious Pein-sama? Hide? Run? Betray our secrets to the Leaf?!"
They did not answer, but instead cowered at her tirade.
"You disgust me!" she hissed and turned on her heel.
She made her way back to the front, tying up her hair in a high ponytail. They were idiots, all of them. Sentimental fools with no bravery or loyalty to their country. They would pay when this was all over. Konoha would not win. They could not win. And if it came down to it, she would kill them all herself.
She climbed up the steps to the top of the turret. The last barrier between Konoha's forces and the center of the hidden village.
"You're late!" snarled the shinobi on guard duty, whom she was supposed to be relieving.
She straightened and walked into the faint light of the paper lantern. The ninja immediately paled.
"Y-You! I-I did not mean-" he stuttered.
She silenced him with a look.
"Any movement?" she asked, peering out into the darkness.
"N-None so far…I think they are trying to starve us out."
She looked at him and he flinched noticeably. How weak.
"Get out," she told him and he did.
Sekihara Yuuki leaned against the stone walls of the tower and scanned the forest before her carefully. They would bring all their forces before their walls soon, Yuuki knew. They thought they had won already, but they were wrong. It, however, was the only good thing about this war. With all their nin, came Modoka Sazumi.
And Yuuki was going to slaughter her.
"That's impossible," Naruto said in awe, staring at him, "It's over already?"
Kakashi sighed, "How many times do I have to tell you? Tsunade-sama said she wanted it done with quickly."
"Still," Sasuke said, "It's so fast. We've only been here three weeks."
"Are we going in then?" Sasumi asked quietly.
"Let me clarify something," Kakashi said seriously, "I wouldn't say the fighting is over," he glanced at Naruto, "They're under siege at the moment. Once we enter the village, there could be more fighting or they could give up completely. With the Rain, it's probably a fifty-fifty chance."
Naruto nodded, looking thoughtful.
"Are we just going to stay here, then?" Sasuke said dubiously.
Naruto frowned, "Aww, you mean, all the Jounin and ANBU are gonna do all the work?!"
"No," Kakashi replied, to their obvious surprise, "We've been ordered to meet our battle forces at the front."
"We're going to fight!" Naruto said excitedly.
Kakashi paused, unsure how to proceed, "Technically, no," he answered truthfully, to their disappointment, "We're being sent for reserve use only. However, the likelihood of you fighting is…very high."
At this he expected Naruto to cheer or do something in that vein and therefore was surprised when Naruto looked serious.
"Good," the blond said.
"Hurry up, then," Kakashi said and they all packed their things away, Sasumi with some difficulty.
She was deathly pale. Kakashi wanted to say something to her, but the words would not come. He knew he could not say anything to make it better. He had never been in her situation, returning home after all these years and all those scars…So, he kept his mouth shut. Sasuke seemed to notice as well and kept throwing her glances. Naruto surprised him the most, though. He had a determined look on his face that made Kakashi shiver. It was so similar to his father's that it hurt.
"Uzumaki-san," he heard her whisper, a few hours later, when they had moved a great distance south.
"Yeah?" Naruto replied, dumping water onto his head, "What is it?"
"I should have told you this earlier…" the red-haired girl hesitated, "But, you…shouldn't use the Kyuubi's power."
The was a pause and Kakashi stopped pretending to read the newest volume of Icha Icha Paradise and glanced over at Sasuke, who didn't seem to be paying attention. For a second, Kakashi wondered if Naruto was insulted.
"Oh, just that?" Naruto said cheerily in a carrying whisper, "Ero-sennin already told me that!"
"But…just don't, okay…?" she still sounded worried, "Not only because of the control issue, but…"
"What is it, Sasumi?" Naruto asked, suddenly serious again.
Kakashi could not see her face, so he assumed she had an expression on her face. That certainly would cause surprise.
"You might…you might become a target," she mumbled and Kakashi frowned. Was she talking about the other jinchuuriki that the Rain was apparently in possession of or…something else?
Naruto looked confused and opened his mouth to question her, but Sasuke interrupted.
"What are you two talking about?" he asked in a slightly suspicious voice.
"Nothing," Naruto said casually, "Hey, Kakashi-sensei, are we gonna sit here all day?"
"Hmmm…" Kakashi said, "I suppose not. Alright, let's go."
They traveled a few more hours and then set up camp and the middle of the forest. Kakashi took first watch and leaned against the trunk of a tree, still reading his book. Naruto fell asleep first, then Sasuke, but Sasumi was still up. She was flipping through the book of one-handed jutsu he had given her by firelight.
It was funny. Two years ago, Kakashi had merely been annoyed by the prospect of being assigned another team and was certain would fail his test. But now…well, he was rather fond of them now. His crazy eye color changing team with psychological problems. Kakashi sighed. He feared that the next few days would only create more problems. Particularly in Sasumi…
Unfortunately, by the time they reached the Hidden Village it was over. It wasn't that Naruto was particularly eager to engage in warfare, but he felt that…well, he should be doing something useful. The past three weeks had probably been the most uneventful in his entire life. Doing nothing but staring at the border between the Rain and the Grass was not pleasant. And though Naruto liked fighting, a war wasn't something you took lightly. But still, he had wanted to help and now it was over.
The Village of the Hidden Rain stood on raised ground, making it look more impressive than it already was as they walked up to it. It had an outer wall and an inner one, turrets, culverts, ramparts, and tiny windows etched in the rock for launching kunai out of. It seemed that the Rain had been geared for war long before Konoha had ever came along.
And it was pouring. Of course.
They walked up to the gates and while Kakashi spoke to the tired but triumphant looking ANBU guard, Naruto looked back at Sasumi. She was several paces behind them and was looking up at the outer wall with an odd expression on her face. Naruto couldn't decide what it was. It didn't look scared or angry or sad. It was…odd.
She just stood there, soaked to the bone and looking up at her old home, the empty left sleeve even more conspicuous as usual.
"Sasumi?" Naruto asked cautiously.
She blinked and shook herself as if out of a dream.
"Are you alright?"
She stared at him for a few seconds. In the meantime, Sasuke had turned around and was frowning in her direction, worriedly. Something only Sasuke could pull off.
"Fine…" she said after a while, "Just…It's nothing, Uzumaki-san."
Naruto let out an exaggerated sigh, "Are you ever just going to call me 'Naruto?'"
Sasumi did not say anything, but he thought he saw a ghost of a smile on her face.
"C'mon," Sasuke said, as the huge gates creaked open and they caught their first whiff of the hidden village Sasumi had been born in, "Let's go."
Naruto would never forget the look on Sasumi's face.
"We shouldn't be here," Sasuke muttered, glancing at their red-haired teammate, "Not with her."
Naruto felt foolish. He should have known, should have realized. Should have thought more about what going into the Rain would mean to Sasumi. But no, he had been selfish and moronic. Self-disgust filled himself for a second, but he pushed it away. There was no use brooding about it. What was done was done.
They walked through the first set of gates and then the second. Sasumi's face was blank.
They were informed about the situation briefly, but Naruto was hardly listening. The statistics went through one ear and out the other. He was watching, Sasuke was watching. As they walked to the hotel they would stay for the night, Naruto realized he wouldn't know what to do if Sasumi broke. He was terrified by the inevitability of it all. And she had worried about the Kyuubi! Naruto wondered why she always did that. Focus on anything, anyone but herself. But after thinking about it, he thought he knew why.
It probably hurt too much to think about herself.
The second they entered their room, Sasumi ran to the bathroom and retched. She spent most of the night there, throwing up until there was nothing left in her stomach and all that could be heard were her chokes on nothingness.
Sasumi was in hell. In hell. She was sick, so sick and everything was coming back. Every single detail, even the things she hadn't remembered before. The stuff she'd blocked out, forgotten, because remembering would be too painful. She wanted to scream, destroy something, kill someone. She had never wanted to be back here. Never, ever, ever.
She wanted to run away, but she couldn't. If she ran, they would follow and lock her up again. So Sasumi did not move, did not think, did not feel. Being safe, impassive, was impossible at this stage. But she would try her hardest, because that even was better than nothing.
Sasuke and Naruto were worried. Sasuke hid it better than the latter, but Sasumi could see it in his eyes. Both of their eyes.
Just being back ate away at her slowly and painfully like acid. Every building, every street, every landmark that she recognized brought a wave of dark images and feelings with them. She ate little, and slept even less. Just one hour more, she told herself, over and over, just one more hour. If I can stand one more hour everything would be alright.
Sometimes ANBU would come and ask her questions, show her pictures of buildings and people. She didn't recognize most of them, but they seemed to appreciate the effort anyway. They didn't complain at least.
Then, three days-only three-passed, and Sasumi woke for the first time in a long time to someone shaking her instead of nightmares.
Terrified, she grabbed at her left hip for the kunai holster that wasn't there, but her hand was intercepted.
"Stop that," Sasuke hissed, and she suddenly became aware of the noise coming from outside, "There's been a revolt. Hurry up!"
Sasumi rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and grabbed her shirt, yanking it over her head with difficulty. She had fallen asleep in her shorts, undershirt and bandages. All she needed were her weapons now and she grabbed them with haste.
They went out of the window, one by one and Sasumi smelt smoke immediately. Lots of buildings were on fire and people were screaming.
Suddenly, everything seemed to slide out of focus and Sasumi was-
-trapped in a room with no windows, red hot pokers burning into her arms-
"Sasumi?" Kakashi said in a angry voice, "What are you doing? We have to-"
- "Tell us!" they asked, "Tell us! Or we'll make you wish you'd never have been born!"-
"Sasumi…?" Naruto's voice sounded panicked, "Kakashi-sensei, something's wrong! She's-"
-I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNO-
Everything went black.
But, when she woke again, the nightmare was not over. It was still dark and the air was still tainted with the faint smell of smoke. She pulled herself into a seated position easily and found that she had been lying outside, in a sort of cavity between two buildings. There was a figure…?
"Sasumi?" Sasuke said, moving closer, "Are you alright?"
"What happened?" she rasped, "Where's-"
"They went ahead," Sasuke said. He looked tired. Sasumi guessed she must have been out for a while.
"What are you doing?!" Sasuke asked in surprise as she stood up shakily, "You shouldn't be…"
"I'm fine," she managed to say.
He did not look convinced, "Sasumi you just passed out for no apparent reason. There must be something wro-"
"I don't want to talk about it."
There was a silence between them. A few screams were heard from the distance, but they were ignored.
"Oh," Sasuke said simply and Sasumi knew he understood.
Suddenly, his eyes went wide. He shoved her out of the way and three kunai hit the spot where she had stood a split second ago. Sasumi fell hard and then swung around, jumping to her feet and scanning the area for the perpetrator.
"Left corner!" Sasuke hissed and they both dodged they next array of weapons.
"He's over there!" Sasuke yelled, apparently throwing caution to the wind and leaping for the top of another building.
He hurtled towards their attacker, Sharingan eyes spinning. Sasumi followed, but as soon as she caught sight of their target, everything seemed to fall away.
It was not a he, as Sasuke had assumed. It was a girl, two years older than herself and Sasuke. She had olive colored skin, brown eyes, strangely colored hair, and pointed ears. The key sign of her standing as a jinchuuriki.
Sasumi was hardly aware of her hand, that had grabbed Sasuke out of the way and pulled him back.
"What the hell are you doing?" he snarled at her as they landed back on the ground again, below their attacker.
He made to attack again, but Sasumi put her remaining arm out to stop him. She stepped forward.
"It's been a long time," she said gently, "Yuuki."
The girl above her did not return the favor.
"Modoka Sazumi," she said disgustedly, fangs lengthening as she spoke, "I'm going to butcher you."
A/N: Oh, c'mon, you knew I had to stick another cliffhanger in before it ended. Anyway, believe it or not, you have just survived an unbeta-ed chapter of Shi no Me. Scary, huh. Yeah, my beta is out of town and I don't feel like waiting. So there. I also apologize for the name meanings. I just had so much fun looking them up…
Also, something you should know. The whole next chapter will (probably) be a flashback. So don't be too surprised.
Er…that's all I really have to say. So review!!