Chapter Fifteen: The Source of Their Rage

"All these damned plants, ugh!" Nana cursed as yet another branch came swooping past her face. She slapped it away irritably. Along with a small group of others she tracked through the northern forest of the Land of Sound. They chose the most obscure and precarious of roads to avoid detection. The vegetation grew so thick, that Snake had to go up front to clear a path. He bulldozed on, snapping young trees and pulling bushes root and all from the ground, like removing weeds from a garden. But even he had to tire at some point, and despite his strength they weren't moving with great speed. Her clothes were wet from crossing the river, from climbing up against that slope. Dust clung to her skin and she had scrapes all over.

"We never travel comfortably. Always hiking through rough terrain. Couldn't we have travelled incognito, and taken the road?"

"By the Gods, why did dr. Heero pick such a spoiled brat for his special mission," Sumairi thought aloud and turned his mutilated face to the girl. "How do you imagine a 7 and a half-foot freak of nature, a creepy old scarface and an obvious gypsy girl such as yourself to travel incognito?"

"Don't call our people that," she said annoyed.

"What, gypsy?" he replied with a grin, "you're a sensitive one aren't ya. You might not like being called a gypsy, but that's just what you are to the rest of the world. They wouldn't care you're a highborn, daughter of some gypsy king, even if you were able to tell so. So get used to being called a gypsy, cause ya can't change your heritage anyway. Wear it like an armour, and they can't hurt you."

Nana kept silent in thought. 'At home I'm not even treated as a highborn, so what's the difference. Perhaps Sumairi is right, I shouldn't let it tick me off. That's what Jonas keeps telling me too. I should be stronger than this.'

Snake broke the stems of bamboo like toothpicks and stepped over their remains. He moved to the side and a beautiful panorama unfolded before them. They had reached the top of the mountain and below lay the vale of Otogakure. The famous mountain rice fields. Rice paddies covered the slopes of the mountains, like stair treads filled with tufts of green immersed in water that reflected the lightly clouded blue skies. To their front loomed Kazan, the dormant volcano. You could clearly see the deep trenches through which the lava once flowed. The land's fertility had much to owe to Kazan. A flock of white crane birds flew over their heads. Tiny spots of people working the rice paddies could be seen, wearing colourful straw hats while they bend over in the shallow water of their fields. From a large distance they moved slowly, their bright coloured figures almost like rare flowers swaying in the breeze. Nana almost forgot to breathe. Her heart ached. All her life she had listened to stories of this scenery, trapped in tunnels carved in the mountain or a glass orb in the darkness of the deep-sea.

"Here it is, our homeland," Sumairi grunted caught in nostalgia. He saw the tip of the watch towers of the village ahead and traced the scars on his face in thought. He remembered...

Fire... the valley was on fire. The black smoke clouded the stars and filled the night with fear. In sheer panic the people ran around, trying to save what they could. The chaos reminded him of when he was a kid and poked holes into an anthill. The ants started circling their own position, running up and down without focus. He had enjoyed their distress as a snot nosed brat. Now that memory crept over him like ice. Orochimaru was seizing the country. The daimyo had caved in under his pressure and allowed him to take over. All the clans residing within the Land of Rice Paddies were in chaos, deciding whether to fight for freedom or aligning with Orochimaru to ensure their survival. He was poking holes into their defenses much like Sumairi had done to the ants. And Sumairi's people were running about much like those ants. Would they go down without a proper fight? But he knew, they weren't ninja. They were a technology driven nation, which kept themselves fed with rice. This particular region had been their home for years in relative peace.

"No, no!" a young girl protested, pulling on her mother's skirts.

"What? What is it?" she snapped, turning to her teary eyed 8-year old.

"Lucy, she's still there, the fire..." she pointed her little finger at the house. The roof of their hut was on flames, about to cave in. On the base of the house was a dog shed. A golden retriever tied to his house. The animal tried to pull loose and barked at the lady and her daughter. She whined and wanted to escape with all her might but it wouldn't do. Death was certain.

"Lucy! Lucy! She'll burn mama," the kid cried.

"Emmae we can't! Don't you understand, we need to survive. It's too dangerous, we need to get out, now!" The girl started sobbing loudly and her mother carried her away like a sack of potatoes. The golden retriever watched his owners turn out of sight. Sumairi couldn't take it anymore. Was this the sum of their courage? Would everything burn down? He grabbed his dagger and ran to the house, skidded to a halt besides the dog shed and grabbed Lucy's collar. The fire from the roof was so hot, he could barely take it. A wooden shingle caught loose and dropped on the shed. Soon this entire structure would come down. Any second he and Lucy could be swallowed in flames. He hastily cut the rope and got up to leave, but the animal was paralysed with fear.

"Come on Lucy, we've gotta move!" he nervously yelled at the dog, as more shingles started fall down around them, but she whined with her tail between her legs and wouldn't budge. Too afraid of the burning objects that barely missed her.

"Goddammit!" Sumairi cursed, tucked his dagger away and swooped the dog in his arms. The golden retriever pressed her head into his chest.

'To the escape tunnels,' he knew. His eyes scanned the crowds of people scurrying around in panic.

"Lucy!" A faint scream. The dog responded and barked.

'That's it girls, keep communicating with each other.'

The girl's screams and the dog's barks led the mother and Sumairi back to each other. The child wiggled out of her mother's grasp and Sumairi dropped the excited dog down. They embraced each other and Lucy gave her a good sloppy kiss.

"Thank you... for your kindness," the mother muttered, with guilty eyes for having given up on their canine family member before.

"Fein!" someone screamed, his real name. "We need you at the gates! Orochimaru is getting close!"

As if Orochimaru heard and wanted his presence known, a rain of shuriken dropped down from the sky. With nowhere to hide, Sumairi squatted praying he would live. Screams of deaths followed surrounding him. Moans, gurgling, wailing. The scent of blood.

"Mama, mama!"

When he opened his eyes the lady was lying on her side, a puddle of blood spreading in the mud. She had covered her daughter and the dog with her own body and several shuriken were carved deeply into her back, one wedged into her scalp. She must've died a quick death, at least he was glad for that. If he would've left the dog, and they didn't make an effort to find each other in the panicking crowd, perhaps the girl and her mother would've reached the tunnels. Now she was alone, her dad likely caught in the battle. What good did he do, saving the dog, if now she lost her mother? He had orphaned her playing the hero! He gritted his teeth and slammed his fist into the ground.

"Orochimaru! Aaaaah! I'll have your head!"

His rage gave him strength and speed. With newfound purpose he rushed the girl and the dog to the tunnels and turned back to join his comrades. His goal was not to survive, he told himself. His goal was to keep Orochimaru and his troops at bay long enough for more of the civilians to make it to the tunnels.

"Fein, what weapon you've got?" someone breathed, who ran up to him. He lifted his scabbard.

"You old-fashioned fool. Take this!" the other grunted, and pressed a laser gun into his hands before hurrying away.

"All men on the wall! I want all men on the wall!" the commander shouted. Sumairi grabbed someone's shoulder.

"Why aren't we using the canons?" he wanted know.

"Orochimaru eliminated them first. As you know, Dr. Heero Senior and his sons have been commissioned to work alongside of Orochimaru in the past. And the daimyo yielded to him. He must've learnt our secrets! What to strike first!"

"But why? Why would he do this?" Sumairi screamed in return, clasping the frantic man's shoulders and shaking him.

"They say... he wants to use our laboratories, he wants to establish his own ninja village."

"Tsk!" Sumairi spat, letting him go. 'Couldn't that bastard have chosen someone else's village!?'

Suddenly the rattling of guns echoed through town.

"He's here!" the other man yammered and clutched his own rifle. Sumairi saw it, he was shitting himself. It'd be lucky if he could shoot straight. And frankly, he had never felt more scared too. His arms were trembling. But now was not the time. To win, he had to fight. Fight!

"Come on, let's shoot holes into that bastard!" he grunted and gestured his new companion to follow him. Orochimaru and his ninja platoon were slippery as snakes. They jumped back and forth, slitting throats and breathing fire, releasing justu after jutsu, while zigzagging to provoke friendly fire. Orochimaru bit his finger, and dropped down to the ground. A tentagram expanded and with a large explosion a giant snake crashed through the surrounding buildings. Sumairi saw people flying from the force of the blast. With one swoop of its tail, the snake crushed an entire platoon. And Orochimaru stood on top of him, drinking it all in with a wicked laugh. If he let his eyes roam the ground, Sumairi saw nothing but torn limbs, dying comrades. It was too much. Sumairi emptied the battery of his laser gun, carving black smouldering cuts through the giant snake, screaming at the top of his lungs while tears streamed down his face. He injured the snake, but it just wouldn't die! Orochimaru saw him, and dropped down, starting to run to him. Sumairi aimed his gun at his head. The red laser marker travelled across the Legendary ninja. He pulled the trigger.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!"

He had to reload! Yet Orochimaru was fastly approaching. His fingers clawed at his ammunition, but he let it drop. There was no time! Yet he had a flashgrenade. He threw that a few feet in front of him, and when it exploded dived into the open door of the drugstore. He pressed his back against the wall under the window as he grabbed for more ammunition to reload his weapon. But someone else stepped forward from the shadows.

"Think you can outrun Orochimaru?" a voice drawled. It was a woman.

"You're from the neighboring clan," Sumairi answered, recognizing her fashion. She drew her katana.

"Think you are faster than me?" she dared him. He had his empty laser gun in one hand and the ammo in the other.

"Why? Why choose to associate yourself with him?"

"Survival..." she stated bitterly with cold eyes. He decided to take a go at it. Swiftly he brought his ammo and gun together. It clicked into place, a sound that made his stomach jump with joy! He had a chance! But it was too late. Her weapon was far more straightforward. His old-fashioned dagger might have served him better in close combat with an empty gun. She pressed her blade against his cheek.

"Drop the gun," she commanded. He understood he had lost. He did as he was told.

"You played the game, the game is over."

"If this is a game, I'm not laughing," he retorted. She arched an eyebrow and seized him up before pressing the edge of her sword harder against him.

"Let's give you a smiley then."

When it was over, he was lying limp on the ground, staring into nothing as the pain almost made him loose consciousness.

"You've got a kind heart, you hesitated. You should have shot me when you first realized I was there," he heard her say, "the weak are meat and the strong do eat. Next time you face a foe, don't hesitate. Do what you must to survive. Be as cruel as you have to be. Or as you've seen today, your people will fall, and what was once yours is now mine."

She walked out, joining the others.

"Dead?" another one of the attackers asked. She replied confirming.

He stayed on the floor of the drugstore, wondering if it was mercy or cruelty of the woman to leave him there, wondering if the building would collapse on him, wondering if someone would come in and finish the job. But apparently the Gods had other plans for him. And from the back of the store a boy appeared. The doctor's son. It was Heero junior who saved him, and it was the young boy that stitched his cheeks together. He wasn't a trained surgeon and scientist yet, but it was good enough. He and that boy managed to get away. Mostly because of the boy. And as the Gods commanded, he now owed his allegiance to repay the life that was saved.

He drifted back to reality, looking upon the scene of where he had lost it all, more than thirty-five years back when he was twenty and Heero was eleven. And now he knew. It was mercy to let him live. She was the one who was weak. The one who didn't resist Orochimaru when he came to take over her land too. He liked to think she had hoped him to find a way, to survive, and come back stronger. Here he was...

"Sumairi?" Nana asked, shaking his arm. He looked at the girl. He owed her as much loyalty as he did Heero. He had gotten a taste for cruelty, as the woman who marked his face taught him to, but he would protect Nana.

"I'll go alone from here," Nana said. Snake nodded understandingly.

"It's a big house on the outskirts of the town I'm looking for, right?"

"That's correct," Snake replied , "there's the orphanage. You'll find Kabuto Yakushi there, Orochimaru's former favourite. Kabuto has executed much of Orochimaru's experiments, but since the last Ninja War had a change of heart."

"Orochimaru's experiments... with Heero's cell infusion technology I bet."

"He's no mere copycat. Kabuto and Orochimaru developed other pathways to use those insights."

"The cursed mark... the chimaera's they created together..." Nana thought aloud.

"Yes, I've heard he experimented quite a lot on his own body too. You're both hybrids, so I guess you'll get along," Sumairi remarked with a chuckle.

"Oh, shut it!" Nana spat back. She hated it when people emphasized her being a chimaera.

A kinder way of thinking about it was that she had an artificial bloodline limit. She took a good look at her surroundings and turned towards Snake and Sumairi.

"Look, I need to get on this Kabuto's good side right? He's an important link between our rightful lands and Konoha, the country of both Orochimaru and Madara and the heroes of the last Great Ninja War, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto as Kage has a great influence on the Five Kage Summit, so we assume. I'm a key part of this plan to reach these big shots. Playing the role of the orphaned gypsy will give me a good chance to gain Kabuto's sympathies. And from there on... infiltrate the ninja village... gain intelligence... and if the opportunity ever comes, recapture Ayumi."

"Seems like you've got a clear idea of what's expected of you, Nana. We'll leave it up to you."

The men were getting ready to leave.

"Wait! Before you go... hit me..."

Sumairi and Snake looked from Nana, to each other, and back.

"You crazy girl?" Sumairi muttered.

"You got a banana in your ears? I said hit me, come on," Nana replied. She licked her lips and gestured for them to strike her. Snake and Sumairi were baffled.

"Look, I gotta seem like a helpless gypsy girl, right... and as you made clear, gypsy girls are worth nothing in the Land of Sound. They expelled us, killed us, and every attempt to return was broken down so far. So, what would they do when they see me, huh? With my trademark features. I gotta look bruised up. I got to look helpless if I'm to play my part. As you pointed out before Sumairi, I'm the daughter of your leader. So treat me as your princess for once and do as I say. Make it look real. I'd rather be punched by you guys than someone else down there."

"Ssss," Snake hissed grimly with a deep frown and tongue dancing. He looked over at Sumairi. He didn't really want to do this. Sumairi had known Nana for all her life, watched her grow up from crawling in diapers to where she was now. And it seemed she had become gutsy. She was trying to appease her father real bad. He appreciated her resolve and her courage. Plus, she was right. If to be successful, she had to play her role as convincingly as possible. He nodded at Snake to listen to Nana. He hissed again and his tail twitched with irritation. He wasn't keen on hitting Nana, but he would do as she wanted.

"Forget I called you a spoiled brat. Brace yourself." Sumairi warned.