The seductive Kunoichi Fuuka is back from the dead! She wants to take revenge on the blond-haired brat who dared to expose her best-kept secret and defeat her in battle years ago. Much has happened since then but the story of the attractive woman, whose beguiling charm had brought many strong opponents to their knees, also continues...
Fuuka's Last Kiss
Chapter XXVII - The Clan - Part IV
"I could leave you to fry with the rest of them. But I rather do it... myself!" - Fuuka
"What's going on?" asked Hasura with an upset voice.
The two Uzumaki siblings were surrounded. An entire squad of Ninjas from their own village was trying to make any possibility of escape seem hopeless. Hasura gave the masked leader of the troop, who stood in front of him, a puzzled, and at the same time angry look.
"What does this mean? Explain yourself!"
Hasura's tone was accusatory, as if he not only could not understand the behaviour of these Ninjas, but also condemned it - it seemed presumptuous to him how they could dare to challenge him and his sister in this way. The masked Shinobi took another step towards the two after lowering his sword a little - obviously he wanted to de-escalate the situation with this gesture a bit.
"We have been instructed not to say anything until we arrive in the village. Once we are there, you will find out what this is all about. But until then-"
"Who gave you this order? From whom did you receive it!?", Hasura interrupted the Shinobi loudly.
The masked man was silent for a moment before he decided to give him an honest answer.
"From your uncle. From Master Ashina himself."
The red-haired man stared at him in surprise. The clarity that his own mentor and foster father would have ordered this did not calm him at all - on the contrary; his muscles tensed and his face took on increasingly angry features. Resignedly, he lowered his head and clenched his fists - his confusion increasingly turning into anger. The masked Shinobi raised his blade again and pointed it at Fuuka and Hasura.
"I'm sorry, Hasura-kun. But if you refuse, we will not hesitate to use force."
Fuuka's brother raised his gaze again - normally he always did what the village asked of him. He dedicated his life to the protection of the village and its inhabitants, but this circumstance seemed to be the very reason why he was so sensitive to this situation he was confronted with - it hurt him how his uncle could even think of putting him in such a situation, and he was not even allowed to know the reason for all of this... After all he had done for the village... What happened? What were they accused of? Suddenly he felt a hand on his left shoulder - it was his sister's hand.
"It's all right, Hasura. We were on our way to the village anyway, weren't we? Now these strong men will make sure nothing happens to us the rest of the way," Fuuka said with a smile on her face, her hand still resting on his shoulder. She knew she wasn't half as good at lightening the mood, putting off jokes as he was - but she did her best to put him at ease. Hasura stared at her face in surprise; in the past he had always been the one to calm her down. He gradually relaxed - then nodded, averting his eyes from her again. Fuuka took her hand from his shoulder, and placed it gently on his cheek.
"Hey, look at me."
Her brother's eyes moved to her face again.
"We'll get through this together – like back then."
Hasura looked at her - he seemed almost taken aback by his older sister. The anger on his face was now completely gone. The sight of Fuuka, as well as the words she addressed to him, gave him a sense of confidence and security. He smiled.
"Like back then." he repeated.
Fuuka took her hand from his cheek and looked to the Uzushio-Nin squad leader, whose blade was still pointed at the red-haired duo. She gave him a placating nod. He then seemed to calm down as well - he lowered his weapon before slowly returning it to its sheath.
Fuuka and Hasura walked the rest of the way to the village accompanied by the Ninja from the village. They kept a certain distance from the two - apparently they did not assume that Fuuka and her brother would make a desperate attempt to escape. But it could also be the case that they wanted to show respect towards them. There was a certain amount of trust, after all, the two Uzumakis were also villagers - and, unlike Fuuka, Hasura Uzumaki was a well-known and popular figure who was held in high esteem. Fuuka was sure that these Shinobi were just as uncomfortable with putting Hasura in such a position as the other way around - with her, however, things were a little different. Except for her brother, no one in the village seemed to have really had a problem with Fuuka rarely being around them - on the contrary. Among the clan people, Fuuka was almost notorious for messing with the authorities of the village and the clan - especially with her uncle. The Uzumaki clan was known throughout the Shinobi world for its powerful sealing Jutsus - but some of these techniques were under lock and key. Even high-ranking clan members were denied access to this forbidden knowledge. Some of them were only known to the clan head - Ashina Uzumaki. But Fuuka has a naturally curious, as well as subversive nature. The fact that access to an entire library of secret scrolls was denied to the public - and also to her clan - spurred her on all the more and excited her immensely. This got her into trouble frequently. Being under custody had almost become kind of a habit for her - not only to the displeasure of her disappointed younger brother, who would have liked to see his older sister at his side within the ranks of the village Ninjas; the entire Uzumaki clan eventually found Fuuka's constant escapades too much, as she seemed to consistently insist on compromising the clan's good reputation, which is why many clan members even welcomed it when Fuuka did not stay in Uzushiogakure. But Fuuka also seemed to cause a lot of resentment and trouble abroad - but the Kunoichi did not assume that her little burglary in Konoha was the reason that now led to her arrest. Or was it? Maybe she really had gone too far this time. She knew first-hand how important a good relationship with Konoha was to Ashina. Perhaps her machinations posed too great a risk to the village in this politically sensitive and unstable situation. But why her brother Hasura was also targeted this time was beyond her - he had nothing to do with it. He never had anything to do with the trouble Fuuka navigated herself into - but he always defended his one and only sister against any accusation.
"We are there," Hasura stated soberly. Normally there was always a certain euphoria in his voice when he saw the village again, but this was not the case this time. The woman, who had drifted slightly into her own thoughts, only now noticed the large, white concrete torch pillars to her left and right, which decorated the path leading to the Great Gate of Uzushiogakure. Engraved into the light-coloured stone was the wave-like sign of the village - and of the clan. The dark blue gate of solid wood was slightly larger than the green gate she had seen in Konoha - but that was not the only thing Fuuka noticed; the gate was closed.
"Very strange.", Fuuka stated, speaking to herself.
"Not really.", Hasura remarked. "Since the incident with the Anbu from Kirigakure, security has been tightened." he explained to her as his gaze fell on the mountain range to his left, where small makeshift guard posts had been erected. Fuuka followed his gaze.
"I see."
Fuuka also noticed that there were considerably more Ninjas than usual standing guard on the village wall - apparently the number of guards had been increased. The wall grew larger as they approached it. By now it was already late in the afternoon - the orange sun was slowly lowering over the village and gradually disappearing under the high mountain range that surrounded it. Suddenly, the blue gate opened and a young woman stepped out. She wore a plain white coat over a turquoise Kimono - the typical colour combination that distinguished her as a member of the Uzumaki clan, along with her striking red hair. Fuuka also presented herself in the same colours, even though her clothes were definitely more revealing and showed more of her skin than was the case with that young lady - and unlike her, who had her red hair tied up in two plaits, Fuuka usually wore her hair loose. Hasura, on the other hand, did not wear the clan's colours, but the purple uniform of the village's Ninja forces - unlike Fuuka, he never felt the need to distinguish himself from the 'commoners' in the village; quite the contrary - he saw himself primarily as a resident of Uzushio, and secondarily as a member of the Uzumaki clan. The young woman walked ahead and then stopped in front of the gate. The masked Shinobi with the Katana sword, who had been walking in front of Fuuka and Hasura the whole time, moved away from the two and approached the young woman standing in front of the gate. They were talking, but the wind was blowing strongly that afternoon, so Fuuka could not understand a single word.
"Do you hear what they are talking about?", Fuuka asked her younger brother who was standing next to her, but without looking at him. Hasura shook his head in denial.
"Unfortunately, no."
Suddenly, one of the Shinobi who had escorted them here, in front of the village, joined the two - his face was also covered by a piece of cloth, which was why only his brown eyes could be seen, but Fuuka's turquoise eyes could still tell that he seemed tense. Keeping a few feet away, he stood with them - his eyes forward.
"Listen - you should know this. I don't think this is right. The case from almost four months ago. With the guys from Kiri - remember?" he asked in a whisper. Fuuka had difficulty understanding the man, but she heard all his words. Hasura, standing closer to him, nodded as unobtrusively as he could.
"Ashina claims you have something to d-" the Shinobi went silent when he realized that the conversation between his squad leader and the Uzumaki woman had ended. Fuuka and Hasura looked at each other in surprise as they finished the Shinobi's sentence simultaneously in their minds - looking deeply into each other's eyes. It almost seemed as if they were talking to each other without opening their lips. Fuuka drew her eyebrows together and glared angrily at Hasura as she thought to take note of the non-verbal question, which was; Do you know what he was talking about? But Hasura quickly took back the unspoken question - his sister was many things, but not a traitor. But the question of how the Anbu from Kirigakure had managed to get ashore unnoticed and get past the guard posts on the coast had been on his mind for some time. No question; those guys were Anbu - the elite among the Ninjas, but still; it couldn't have been managed without inside knowledge, even for Anbu units - Hasura was sure about that. The woman with the red braids approached them - accompanied by the squad leader.
"Mito - it's always a pleasure to see you. How's Heki?", asked Hasura with a sarcastic tone.
The young Kunoichi, who went by the name Mito Uzumaki, shook her head and sighed.
"I don't think now is the time to talk about my cat."
"I think you may actually be right about that."
Fuuka took a step forward.
"Listen, Mito: whatever we are accused of now, my brother has nothing to do with it. You know how much he loves the village - he would risk his life for every single person living here. You and I have had our... differences, but Hasu-"
"I don't want to hear it," Mito interjected, unwilling to let her finish. Although she was a few years younger than Fuuka, her voice carried considerably more weight than Fuuka's. "You forfeited the right to make your voice heard on such matters long ago. Your opinion doesn't matter."
Fuuka stared at her with her mouth hanging open - she seemed almost speechless. She knew Mito had never liked her much, but still; this disrespect surprised her. Hasura now took a step forward as well.
"You can't talk to her like that, Mito. She is one of us."
The masked Shinobi standing next to Mito reached for the hilt of his blade. Mito, however, made a placating gesture.
"There are many here who see it differently - but that is of no importance right now."
Mito stared at Hasura - her large black eyes resting on his face for a moment as if she was trying to read his intentions and motivations. Then she turned her back towards them.
"Follow me - Ashina-sama is expecting us."
Author's Note: I hope you don't mind some of these Filler chapters. I loved the arc dealing with Kaguya's past in the Anime - so I wanted to do a simular thing with this story, exploring Fuuka's very past which she can't even really remember as well as exploring Uzushiogakure which we nearly know nothing about. I also have other stories planned exploring Ni's, Zabuza's, Kujaku's and maybe Fuen's past - much shorter than this project tho. Also planning to write a story within the Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic universe from the perspective of Umm Madaura. But first of all tell me whether you like the direction this story is taking - are these Fillers to distracting? Should I focus on the main storyline? Is the story interesting? I'm not sure - please let me know in the review section! And thanks for reading my work!