Chapter 18 Separated

We stared out from the cover of leaves out at a large gate. We had followed the blood trail and it had lead us to here.

"We should just kill him and scale the wall." Hiko said.

Yoshimitsu shook his head. "We don't want to attract attention."

"Well, I highly doubt he'll just let us walk through!" Hiko continued.

Mizuko stood. "I'll take care of it."

She opened her bag and began to pull out clothing. She turned her back to us, pulling off her vest and shirt. She put on a dark blue kimono decorated with plum blossoms. She tied up her hair before putting on a wide hat. She turned to us.

"How do I look?" She asked.

"Open up the top a little more." Hiko said.

Mizuko did so until her cleavage showed clearly. She rubbed her hands together.

"Alright, let me work my magic." She said and began to head out from our cover.

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

"Trust her." Hiko said.

I hesitated then settled down to watch my friend.

Mizuko approached the guard slowly and began to stagger a bit, making her look tired.

"Who goes there?" The guard called out loudly.

"Oh, I'm just a travler." Mizuko called out, her voice had become a higher pitch. "May I pass?"

"No one can pass unless they have an appointment with my lord."

"Please." Mizuko begged in a cute but whiny voice. "I'm so tired and my feet can barley take anymore."

"I can't let you through, miss."

"Maybe your lord can employ me." She said. "I'm looking for a job but it's so hard for Entertainers to find work."

"Y-you're an Entertainer?" The guards voice shifted from stiff to curious.

The guard looked at Mizuko for the first time, his eyes traveling down to her chest where they stopped.

"Yes." Hiko said. "She's got him!"

I was stunned. Mizuko had become a completely different person.

Mizuko nodded and walked so close to the guard, nearly touching him.

"You won't let me just sit out here will you?" She placed her hands on his arms, slowly sliding them upward. "You're not that mean are you? Not an attractive man like yourself."

"Alright, I-I'll let you through but you tell my boss you want a job." He said and pulled a lever that lifted the gate up.

"Oh, trying to get rid of me already." She said, seductively. "At least let me pamper you for a bit as thanks."

Mizuko turned the guard so that his back was to us and slid her hands up his back. With one hand she gestured for us to go. The five of us ran forward quietly, while Mizuko fed the guard some sweet talk as he began to lean in slowly. We made it though the gate unnoticed. As we entered the forest, avoiding the road, I could've swore I saw a figure in the trees. We stopped a good fifteen yards from the gate to wait for Mizuko. She appeared about five minutes later. As she approached us, she brought down her hair and reached for her bag.

"Stupid men like that are so easy." She said with a smirk.

I wanted to ask her some questions but Sasuke gave me a look that told me to wait. The sun was starting to set and we needed to find a place for camp.

We wandered for a bit until we found an area of the canyon riddled with tall stone walls and pillars, like a maze. We decided it would me a good spot and settled down near the edge where we got a good view of the river.

We didn't cook or start a fire tonight, it was too risky. Instead we ate onigiri Ekima had packed and went straight to bed, Mizuko on watch duty.

*~~*

The shinobi ran forward into the main hall. Flower plants decorated the edges of the room and beautiful shoheiga screens were artistically placed. But the shinobi ignored these and stumbled into a bow in front of a raised platform. Screens were set up and a figure sat behind them.

"Did you find any information?" The figure asked.

"N-no, my lord! A group of shinobi attacked me!" The shinobi explained frantically. "I-I think they worked for Orochimaru!"

The figure was silent.

"Forgive me, my lord! They won't make it past the gate."

"It's already to late."

The shinobi turned around to see a figure in a hooded trench coat enter the hall.

"They've already made it past the guard." He said.

"B-but, but how?!"

"One on them is skilled in the arts of seduction." The hooded man said. "I suggest you do something about that, my lord."

"Did you see the trespassers, Nobu?" The figure asked.

"None of them were of much interest except for two, a boy and girl, who both wore the Uchiha crest."

"Uchiha Sasuke?" The lord asked, his tone interested.

"I believe so."

"And what about the girl?"

The hooded man was silent.

"Well, Nobu? Do you know anything about her?"

Nobu hesitated.

"She's my sister."

*~~*

"Mizuko-san, you can turn it. I'll take over watch." I said, approaching the ledge where she sat.

Mizuko turned and smiled at me. "I'm fine but if your not tired I wouldn't mind the company."

I sat down next to her, legs crossed. Mizuko sighed and swung her legs carelessly over the edge. There was silence between the two of us.

"The moon id nice, isn't it?" Mizuko asked.

"Yeah."

I looked up at the full moon but realized Mizuko wasn't watching the sky. She was staring at the rippling reflection in the river below. A smile spread across her lips.

"I haven't had a good swim in ages." She whispered.

I looked over. "If you want I could-"

She shook her head. "Now isn't the time. I'd feel selfish if I did."

I smiled. "Earlier, at the gate, you surprised me. You never struck me as the seductive type. You were amazing! I've never been good at that stuff."

Mizuko's face fell for a second but he smile returned as she looked at me.

"The Shirasaki clan, in Kirigakure, was well known, not for our skills, but for our strange customs. While the men of my clan trained to be shinobi, the women were raised to be geisha. The scheme was that a women could be brought along on a mission to draw out information or distract the enemy, while the men did the bloody work. Women never learned shinobi arts."

"Why was Orochimaru interested in you then, if you didn't know shinobi arts?" I asked.

Mizuko looked down, her hair hiding her face.

"My dad was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. He always wanted a son but he ended up with five daughters, he loved them all none the less. My dad's kind was rare in Kiri. He was merciless and cold-hearted on the battlefield but, when it came to friends and family, there was no man you could've met who was more loving and compassionate."

I noticed the was Mizuko's face lit up as she spoke of her father. Her feelings for him were something I could probably never understand.

"I was the youngest of my sisters but I had inherited my dad's love for combat. I was a failure in my geisha studies, so, as an experiment, my dad took me aside secretly and trained me to be a shinobi. I had a natural talent for it, and he said something must've gone wrong when I was born a girl." She smiled. "That's how I learned."

I could tell she was leaving out half of the story, like how he father had died. I didn't blame her though.

"So, what about you?" She asked. "What about your dad?"

I was unprepared for her question.

"M-my father?" I avoided eye contact.

Mizuko had been so honest but I didn't want to ruin the mood or recall those memories.

"I don't really want to talk about it right now." I said. "Maybe later."

"Oh…" Mizuko sighed. "Oh, okay."

We didn't talk much afterward and Mizuko turned in eventually. I sat on the ledge alone in silence, until Sasuke relieved me. It felt good to crawl back under the blankets of my bed roll. I slipped into dreams that became nightmares.

I was in that blackness again with the water below me.

"So you've come." A voice said, there was something disoriented about the way it sounded. "Why are you here?"

I looked around. Laughter echoed.

"You don't even know who I am, do you?" The voice was clearly amused. "How naive."

"Over a year we've been together but you can even recognize me? You look at me in the mirror every day, you just don't realize it. You even refuse to work with me but you don't realize this either."

"Who are you?" I called out.

"I'm you."

"Don't screw with me!" I yelled. "You can't be me!"

The laughter echoed again, sending chills down my spin. Then it occurred to me where the voice was coming from. I looked down at my reflection. It's lips were curled into a cruel smile and the whites of the left eye were filled in black, surrounded by the curse mark.

"I told you." My reflection said. "I'm you."

I jolted awake, sitting up and clutching at my blankets. I breathed heavily, sweat had formed on my brow.

"Hey, you okay, Karasu-chan?" Ekima said, standing over me. "I came to wake you up but…"

"Am I the last one up?" I asked, standing up.

She nodded. I looked around to see everyone starting to pull their bags on. I pulled my yukata on and slung my bag over my shoulder. Then I realized someone was missing.

"Where's Sasuke-sama?"

Hiko pointed to the rock behind me. "Around the corner."

I walked around to the entrance of the stone maze. Sasuke stood their, observing.

"What is it?" I asked.

"The rocks have changed." He said.

"What do you mean?"

"Their closer together, there's more of them and look," He pointed to some rocks that were leaning. "There's bridges. I think someone knows were here."

"Are you saying an ambush?"

He nodded. "Go tell the others he said. "We need to be extra careful."

I gave a nodded and did as I was told.

"We've been running around for ages!" Mizuko complained, coming to a halt behind us. She pointed to a near by boulder. "And I swear I've seen that stupid rock before."

"Yeah, me too." Agreed Ekima. "But wasn't it on this side?"

"Someone is definitely messing with us." Hiko said.

"Genjutsu?" Yoshimitsu suggested, turning to Sasuke and myself.

Sasuke shook his head. "I would've seen through it already. Probably a shinobi with the earth affinity."

Mizuko walked forward ahead of us. "Well then, let's find the bastard and-!"

She didn't get to finish, she just, dropped through the ground.

"Mizuko!" Hiko screamed.

"Hiko-san! Wai-"

But she to disappeared into the ground. I turned to Sasuke. He walked forward to the spot and planted a foot on the ground. It remained firm, he shifted his whole body onto the area. Still nothing. He clicked his tongue sharply.

"Tch! Not good."

Ekima crouched down and pressed an ear to the ground. The ground crumbled beneath her and she barley had time to look at us in shock before she fell down a dark hole.

"Ekima!" Yoshimitsu ran forward but the hole closed up.

"Dammit!" He cursed.

The Hyuuga turned to join us but a wall of rock rose up from the ground and blocked him from us. I ran up to the wall, pressing my ear to it.

"Yoshimitsu-san!? Yoshimitsu-san can you hear me?!"

I got know response.

"Fuck!" I said and kicked a small stone.

"Karasu, get over here." Sasuke said.

I nodded and began to head back but something was grabbing my ankle. I looked down to see the ground sucking me in like quick sand, but much quicker. I tried to pull myself free but all my efforts failed.

"Sasuke-sama!" I cried out.

He ran up to me but I was already sunken in to about my collar bone. I reached out with my free hand. Sasuke took a hold of it but I didn't budge. I held my breath as my head went under. I felt Sasuke continue to pull on my hand but eventually he let go. I couldn't move and I couldn't breath. I felt as though I was completely surrounded my pressure. At some point in time, I passed out.

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I opened my eyes slowly. To my relief I could breath and I wasn't dead, unless heaven look this shitty. I sat up slowly, my head hurting hella bad. I looked around. Yep, I was still in the maze. The rocks around me were strange colors, dark blues, reds and purples. The air was stifling, which told me I was underground.

"Sasuke-sama!" I called, my voice bouncing off the walls. "Sasuke-sama!!"

No answer except for my own voice.

"There's no one around." A voice said from behind me.

I turned around to see a person dressed in a black trench coat standing behind me. I couldn't see his face it was completely submersed in shadows. I stood slowly and backed away.

"Who are you?"

"You can call me Nobu." He said.

Something glinted near his arm. I looked to see a blade sliding out from the abyss of his black sleeve.

Author Notes: Hm, things are getting interesting, no? Many fight scenes soon to come. Yeah, that's all I have to say. (lol, seductive Mizuko!)