～映画物語～

藤原のムラサキ

The sound of the waterfall roared around Murasaki as she perched irresolutely on the slick rock beneath it, the ice-cold mountain water pounding against the top of her head and saturating her thin yukata.

She blocked the urge to shiver, the dull, cold induced headache drilling at the back of her brain as her chanting voice came out frail and weak over the din of the falling water. The cold was part of why it was done; when the body and mind are free form worldly distraction, the spirit will be one with the Kami.

It had been exactly one week since she had killed Sanjo, one week of nightmares and damning thoughts, of furtive looks from fellow villagers and doubt in the back of her mind. It felt as if she were in the bottom of a dark hole, looking up at the unattainable sky.

The brunette's nose ached dully, as did her ankle and hand, but the pain seemed like a small price to pay for the inner comfort of Misogi Shugo purification. Murasaki's logical mind told her that it was more of a risk to sit under the onslaught of icy water, but her spirit and mind needed cleansing and direction. If she got sick afterwards, it would be a small fee for maintaining her sanity.

The water crashing on the rocks around her had a calming effect on her frayed nerves, the coolness of the mist surrounding her as she took a deep breath, the cold filling her lungs as she prepared for the last lines of the Misogi-no-o-harai:

"I will be able to recognize the truth, only after I purify myself of all negativity, impurities, faults and restore myself to what I am meant to be…"

All that came out of her mouth, however, was a rasping cough, followed by a splutter as she inhaled water, her hands never coming unclasped form one another as she forced herself to plea to the Spirits for clarity.

Extracting herself from the waterfall was the hardest part, the bandages peeling from around her hand and ankles as she made her way down the slick rocks and onto the grassy shore, the weight of the water pulling at her yukata as she sat on the smooth, green knoll beside the pooling stream.

The summer morning was already despairingly hot as the sun beat down unforgivably on Murasaki, who found herself shivering despite the warmth. She reached into her bag, preparing to re-wrap her leg with fresh bandages, but stopped.

Someone was in the trees not far off, someone annoyingly familiar. And by the feel of their chakra, totally oblivious to her presence.

The chunnin smiled to herself, hurrying up with her bandages and rising to her feet. Oh what a lovely bout of revenge this would be…

Without another moment of hesitation, Murasaki disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing in the middle of the hokage's office, her soaking wet yukata making a puddle on the wooden floor beneath her. Immediately, the men in the room averted their eyes as Murasaki stood shivering before the Hokage.

"Murasaki-san, what is the meaning of this?"

"Megumi is here." Murasaki said, crossing her arms for warmth as one of the Jounin draped a heavy cloak around here. Her leg was aching from the weight, but this was too important.

"Where is she?" The red-haired woman asked, her ginger-colored eyebrows knitting together.

"A little less than one kilometer south of the Main entrance, by Taki waterfall."

The ginger-haired jounin nodded, waving to a group of three ANBU, who disappeared along with the woman. Muraskai turned, looking back at the hokage, their solemn gaze meeting one another's in a stare down.

"Well done, Murasaki-san. The jounin will bring your things from the waterfall. You are dismissed."

Murasaki bowed with a frown. "Thank You."

As she hobbled out of the office, she found herself secretly wanting to stay and watch Megumi being brought in in disgrace. Murasaki wanted to watch as the Hokage gave the arrogant brat what she deserved, to deal out justice against a traitor.

But orders were orders, and she'd been dismissed…

Murasaki knew that Sarutobi was fully aware of her desire to watch Megumi get knocked down, and she knew that this, more than anything else, was why he had dismissed her.

Without thinking, she put her full weight on her leg, biting her lip as she stepped out into the brilliant heated afternoon sunlight. She clutched the door, letting out a sigh as she gripped the cloak tightly over her still wet yukata. Getting home was now a priority as the muscles in her other leg began to burn from exertion.

She let out a sigh, stopping to rest her ankle, leaning against a wall and rubbing her other leg. The cloak began to slip form her shoulders, but someone caught it, holding it up just before it fell completely.

"Kakashi-san."

"Need help?"

"I should be fine…just slow." Murasaki said, pushing out a grin in hopes that he would go away. On the contrary, he draped the cloak across her shoulders.

"I think in light of who they're bringing in, you and I should get out of here as fast as possible."

"Megumi-ki?" Murasaki couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Murasaki-chan, you've gotten stronger since the academy, no doubt, but so has Megumi, and the only difference between you and her is that she has people at her disposal, you don't. So unless you want to incur her wrath, too, then I would suggest you either hurry up or let me help you."

"I don't care." Murasaki said, growing openly irritated. "And what, really, do you care?" And just what did he mean by 'the only difference?'.

"I just don't want to have to deal with her, and you know what…" He shook his head, glancing over his shoulder. For a brief second, he seemed to be stalling. "I don't know why I care, alright, other than I thought we were friends, and friends help each other out."

Murasaki nearly lost her grip on the cloak in surprise, her entire body flushing with embarrassment and guilt. This entire time he'd thought they were friends, this entire time she'd wanted to be friends with him, but was too proud to act on it for a reason she didn't want to admit to herself; like many other young women in the village, she had a bit of a crush on him. In spite of the nauseating sense of vertigo she got whenever he was around, there was something calming about his prescience.

"Fine, sorry…I've just been under a lot of stress lately." She said, disguising her embarrassment with annoyance.

His visible eye arched up on a smile. It was so obvious he didn't believe her. "Well, then, come on. Put your arm around my shoulders." He reached beneath the cloak and Murasaki drew back, falling against the wall surrounding the Konoha Administrative building.

"Relax, I'm not being a pervert. Trust me." There was something in his tone that made Murasaki sad: trust me indicated that he was in no way interested in her…

'No no no.'

Murasaki shook her head at her own stupidity and consented, draping her left arm around his shoulders as he fixed his arm around her waist. An electric chill ran down her spine and she looked up at him, a tinge of red gracing her cheeks. He didn't seem to notice as they made their way to the gates just in time to see six jounin come around the corner, Megumi tied and fettered between them. Kakashi paused, drawing them both into the shadows of a structural beam, pulling Murasaki close to his chest to make their presence smaller.

But to no avail; Megumi's head turned in their direction, amber eyes flashing. Murasaki felt a sudden chill of fear, as if caught in a swoon, her injuries aching dully as she felt a sudden weariness consume her.

"Murasaki-chan." Kakashi suddenly shook her and the weariness passed, her head wobbling back and fourth like a rag doll.

"Curse her." Murasaki hissed, recovering and watching the jounin pass. "she can cast genjutsu with her eyes."

"This isn't fair! it was my turn for revenge!"

"No, her voice…she was speaking. You were already caught in the illusion by the time she rounded the corner. That is why you need to be careful when it comes to Megumi." He let go of Murasaki, who's head was aching dully, and pulled some cotton from his ears.

"Damn her, damn her to hell! Why weren't the jounin effected by it?" Murasaki swore in a sudden outburst. "She did something! She did something to me!"

"Hush, Murasaki-chan, just because you didn't notice doesn't mean that she did something." Kakashi's voice was stern and scolding, as if speaking to a teriibly stupid child. "Come on, we need to get out of here."

XxX

Megumi smiled inwardly as the jounin marched her down the street. Everything that had transpired, getting caught and hauled in by Konoha…it was all going in accordance to her plan.

She knew where her abilities were; espionage was a strong point of hers. Megumi knew full well she could be manipulative, but instead of being ashamed of it, she prided herself on the fact. Sneaking in, going unnoticed, well, that was impossible for the Snake-princess. She liked attention, she liked to be noticed, and, like it or not, she was a head-turner of uncommon beauty.

When Danzou realized she was here, he would know why. This would also give her a chance to plead her case before the hokage…

Megumi wasn't exactly sure what she'd do when the Hokage granted her re-entrance into the Hidden Leaf Village, but at the very least she'd be gone from her father.
As long as Megumi kept talking, working her genjutsu with her voice, there would be no trouble. Kononha would be eating out of the palm of her hand…

The teen felt a sense of pride at her own cleverness, but this was all crushed when they entered the grounds for the administrative building.

She spotted Kakashi hiding in the shadows of a nearby tree, it's leaves fluttering in the soft summer breeze, but Kakashi was holding something to his chest. He turned slightly, and Megumi spotted long brown hair fluttering in the breeze and a pair of uncertain sea-grey eyes staring back at her.

Fury consumed her: how could he be cheating on her with that…toad spawn!

No, it was foolish to think he was interested in her beyond his espionage mission. But that didn't mean she wasn't about to give him up.

Summoning her chakra, Megumi opened her mouth, preparing for her Siren-Song jutsu.

Her voice rang out, sweet and strong across the yard, but it didn't seem to have any effect on anyone, not her captors, not Kakashi.

In fact, the lead jounin, a redhead, seemed to pick up the pace, growing visibly irritated.

"One more word, Megumi-no-ko, and I will kill you."

"You can't kill me." Megumi sneered as they rounded the corner to the stairs. "I'm the only tie you have to Orochimaru."

"Don't overestimate yourself." The woman said casually, not slowing her pace even when Megumi stumbled on the stairs. "That ego will get you killed around here."

The doors swung open, and much to Megumi's dismay, she way led down the corridor opposite to the Hokage's office.

"Where are you taking me?" Megumi spattered, the darkness of the Administrative buildings hallway seemingly closing in on her. No one even cast her a second glance, fear taking over her mind.

What were they going to do to her?

xXx

Murasaki and Jiraiya had rented a hotel room until they could find an apartment, much to Iruka's disappointment. It didn't take long for Kakashi to get Murasaki back to the room, where was she able to clean the dirt from her bare feet and change into dry, more modest clothing. She came out of the small bathroom toweling her hair off, causing Kakashi to look up with a smile.

"This brings memories, doesn't it?"

Murasaki sighed, sitting down on the bed opposite to him. "Doesn't it."

There was an intense silence that followed, accompanied by a heavy, awkward feeling.

"I'm curious." He paused, leaning back on his palms, the duvet cover creasing beneath his gloved fingers. "How were you able to get from the waterfall to the Administrative Building without trouble, but from the Administrative Building to here was a struggle?"

Murasaki sighed, letting her hair fall as she laid the towel on the bed. There was something about his hands, the way he was holding them, putting his weight on them…

"It's something I learned at the temple…well, I wasn't taught it, but I…" She sighed, tearing his eyes away form his hands. "Don't think ill of me, but it's something I developed myself, using the principal that chakra is connected to spiritual energy: I taught myself to open the gates individually in accordance to my needs. It's not perfect, yet, but it's something the monks use for meditation."

"So you're basically manipulating your soul?"

Murasaki thought for a moment. "Not the soul itself but the chakra gates that anchor it to the different physical and mental areas."

Kakashi looked skeptical, rising slowly and beginning to pace silently. "That sounds extremely dangerous. It sound's like Gai's 'Hachimon' technique, but more localized."

"Gai's technique is rough, and deals only with chakra flow, not spiritual energy, furthermore, I'm not opening all of the gates at once, which is what makes Hachimon so dangerous." Murasaki said, her tone defensive. Kakashi nodded thoughtfully, his face unreadable silhouetted against the wide, glass doors that overlooked the town behind him.

"This sounds…it seems simple, yet complicated…"

"It takes ample knowledge of chakra in direct correlation with Buddhism and Shinto…" Murasaki sighed, running her fingers through the ends of her chocolate brown hair. "For example, by opening my Sacral chakra, I can temporarily release connection with physical pain, therefore endure torture longer than I normally would. That's how I got through the Iwagakure incident two years ago."

Kakashi went rigid, turning his heel. It wasn't an order to not talk about it, it just wasn't something anyone really brought up.

"It sounds risky, and complicated, but that still doesn't answer my question."

Murasaki stared at him blankly. She had enjoyed where the conversation was going, or at least, she had been looking forward to a halfway competent discussion on chakra application.

"I released my Root chakra for a moment. I don't like to use that one very much, because it can be unpredictable at times because it is the 'Root', what ties one to the physical dimension. If I left it open for too long, or opened it too wide, I would have died…or vanished completely."

Kakashi seemed to have taken this very seriously, taking off his forehead protector and rubbing his closed eye.

"Then don't do it." He said, opening his regular eye and looking at her. His expression was so grave, has face looking so suddenly old beyond his years as he cast her a look that it made Murasaki sit up a little straighter. The room was silent, only the chirping of the birds outside and the distant din of people going about their lives outside, the sunlight crawling slowly across the bedroom floor as large, light grey clouds passed.

There would be a storm tonight. Nothing massive, just a summer storm…

"Kakashi, I can't just stop using it." Murasaki said quietly, standing up and closing the sliding glass door. "This entire technique is the only thing I have that sets me apart from the rest of the village. It's the only thing that I have that's going to get me anywhere. In case you haven't noticed, but I'm not good at anything else."

"Are you really that concerned with rising in the ranks?" Kakashi asked quietly, not even looking up. Murasaki crossed her arms, staring out at the gathering storm with knit eyebrows.

"I guess I am. I'm not going to lie and say it's for the better of the Village. I have my own selfish motivation. I don't want to be a disappointment to dad. Or to you. Success here is shown by rank. If I rise in the ranks, I won't be a disappointment."

"I've never been able to understand ambitious women. It's disgraceful, really. Why can't you just marry into an auspicious family." Kakashi muttered, obviously masking his seriousness with a teasing tone. "A Hyuuga or an Uchiha."

Murasaki shook her head in disgust. "The Fujiwara family is auspicious enough."

"Not auspicious enough for your line of work. The Fujiwara's are rulers and courtiers, not warriors and shinobi. Besides, aren't you descended from a lesser line?" Kakashi laughed, clearly uncomfortable.

Murasaki muttered darkly to herself, casing him a spiteful look as the hotel room door slid open to reveal Jiraiya, looking more tired than usual.

"Hey, it's you two." He muttered, tossing his scroll in the corner and sitting down on the bed with a groan. "The ANBU are looking all over for you, Hatake-san."

"Why?"

"Ah, something about that Megumi."

Kakashi and Murasaki both exchanged glances before the jounin left without a word.

XxX

Kakashi swung the door to his apartment open, slamming it off of the white wall before it bounced back and shut behind him. Usually, he found conversing with Murasaki on most levels relaxing, but the rude awakening to current events was an unwelcome stress. It seemed like every time he got the opportunity to speak to her, there was some kind of interruption, distraction, or tragedy…

He stopped, sitting down in front of the cat-masked ANBU sitting silently beside the low-slung table.

"Tenzou."

"Kakashi, where have you been?"

Kakashi put his shuriken holster on the table. "I was lost on the road of life" He sighed, repeating the old proverb, his tone ominous.

Tenzou's dark eyes flashed behind the mask, his body language growing irritated, though his voice refused to betray him.

"Megumi is in interrogation. She said you'd bail her out. Is this true?"

"Yeah."

xXx

A/N: I meant to upload this earlier, but I ran out of time.

I'm getting really burnt-out on all of my writing :(

1)The phrase: "I will be able to recognize the truth, only after I purify myself of all negativity, impurities, faults and restore myself to what I am meant to be…" is a part of the actual (translated) chant used in a Shinto water-purification cerimony.

2)Megumi-no-ko is a slang term for 'daughter of delight' or more precisely 'child of delight', which is a rather poetic but wonderfully blatant term for a prostitute.

3)Ending someones name with '-ki' is a term used when trying to make someone sound more demonic or impure. (Note to fangrils thinking about using it for their characters: it is HARDLY a compliment and should NEVER be used. It's not cool at all in Japan, and Murasaki was being a BITCH when she used it). It is a rather dated term, but since Murasaki seems to be caught somewhere in the pre-WWII and possibly even pre-Meiji era, it seemed more suitable.

4) Murasaki's techniques are based off of Shingon Buddhist concepts of the chakra gates, like most techniques in Naruto, however, I combined a small degree of Chinese concepts as well a various Japanese ideals of a 'shamaness' or, crudely translated, a 'shine maiden'. I also borrowed elements form the Krusnik infected Methusalah from 'Trinity Blood'. A priestess, while primarily found in Shinto, would have ample arcane knowledge, hence her application, while a Buddhist nun, which Murasaki served as as a child, would have keen knowledge of the gates and how to open them.

5) 'Lost on the road of life' seems to be part of a longer 'kotozawa' (Japanese proverb), but I can't find any sources. Nonetheless, my Japanese professor really liked it when I used it to explain why I hadn't gotten my homework done.