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Haruno House (Day 7 of Kari Kidnapping)
Saki frustration was starting to show after having to repeat the same set for the eighth time that hour. Kaemon watched her closely. He knew that she could do the movements- She had many times before-but it was clear to him that her mind wasn't into it. "You're distracted." It wasn't a question. She lowered her training sword. A couple silent moments later that she attempted to raise it to continue. Kaemon grasped the wooden sword forcing it down. Her onyx eyes met his stern green ones. "Distraction can be a dangerous thing. What do you think you will accomplish by doing this?" She looked down at the floor stubbornly.
"I have to get stronger." It didn't answer his question but Kaemon didn't object.
"Why?" Saki onyx eyes shot up to his.
"Because I never want to lose someone precious because I can't protect them. I want to- no I have to- be able to protect those precious to me!" Kaemon turned to hide a smile that had formed on his lips.
It seems that her goals have shifted.
"I think it's time we moved on with your training." He tugged a necklace out of his shirt. It was made of fine silver and had three circles pressed into the pendent with a small black gem in the middle with strange symbols carved in the circles. It was held on a rusty chain that was locked around his neck. It was antique, and had craftsmanship that was rarely seen anymore. Her Papa was holding, caressing it almost, in his calloused hands. It was made quite obvious that it meant a great deal to him.
He motioned for her to follow, leading her to the basement. Circles were painted on the floor in various sizes. The biggest circle was in the middle with a smaller one within it and five others, the smallest, in equal space around the biggest. She eyed the room for a while before standing in the circle inside the biggest. Her Papa stood in the smallest one in her line of vision.
(1)"This is called a Training Circle; the Master's Wheel. This circle will be your world; your whole life. Until I tell you otherwise there is nothing outside of it. There is nothing outside of it!" He repeated making sure to accent 'nothing'. Her Papa walked closer to her moving into the biggest circle just before hers started. "As your skill with a sword improves you will progress to a smaller circle." He pressed his fingers to the circle on his necklace just before the black stone. "With each new circle your world contracts bring you that much closer to your goal."
Inuzuka Clan (Tsume House)
"It's time for Koga to be paired with his own Ninken." Kanna purple irises flashed up to her mother-in-law, Tsume, who was slouching back in a chair. Her slit eyes were trained on the one year old who was trying to climb onto the back of one of the Haimaru brother's. Kanna stood in silence for a moment, shocked by the sudden subject. Tsume eyes turning to her knocked her out of her reverie.
"What? He just turned one. Amaya got Ah-Un months after she turned two." Kanna said shocked, setting the dish that she was cleaning back into the sink turning off the water.
"There is no certain age that everyone gets Ninken; it doesn't work that way." Hana explained, pushing herself up from the counter she was leaning against.
"Shouldn't we at least wait for Kiba? He's still-" Hana just shook her head, her brown eyes showing sympathy. Kiba had been there when Amaya was getting her Ninken. Kanna didn't remember much about it. But she did remember that it had taken hours. She had been so exhausted at the time though because she had been heavily pregnant with Koga and he had kept her up the whole night before with his nonstop kicking. She had fought to keep her eyes open but after the first half hour she drifted off. Kanna let a soft sigh escape her lips. She really wanted to wait for Kiba. She knew he would feel bad about missing it. No matter what the circumstances were. But she also knew that she didn't have a choice. So with little hesitance she gathered her kids and ushered them out the door following Tsume and Hana.
Somewhere In Konoha
When the search group finally got back to Konoha, they weren't sure if they should tell Naruto what they found or just head out. When they ran into Lee their minds were made up. They would go while Lee told Naruto what was going on and then if possible he would catch up with them later.
Lee rushed to the tower but Naruto wasn't there Sasuke was. It was strange to see the Uchiha behind the long desk instead of the blonde Uzumaki. Apparently two days before Naruto had asked him to temporally do the Hokage duties while he supported his family. When Lee told him what was going on he jumped out of his chair and they left with only minimal objection from Kagura.
When they caught up with the group they were nearing the man's hideout. He was barely three miles from where they had found the transportation tag buried. The man must have doubled back and if Kiba had to guess there was another transportation tag buried somewhere in the path before the spot where they had found the first one. Kiba was at war with himself for not realizing it sooner. All the time they had wasted!
The hideout was behind a string of tall pine trees. There was a small opening in the base of the tall stone wall. Breaking in was cake compared to find the place. The hallway was a straight shot to a large room. The room was filled with tables covered with various experiments and unknown instruments. Shelves full of books and scrolls. It was eerily familiar to Orochimaru's lab, Sasuke noted choking back the bitterness of the nostalgia.
In the far corner of the room fastened to a metal chair everyone could see a slumped form with blonde hair. Kari. Kiba had to force himself to say calm and not rush down their impulsively like he normal would to save Hinata. But she's not Hinata, Kiba reminded himself, she Hinata's daughter. It didn't make him any less anxious, if anything it only made it worse. He could feel Akamaru tensing up next to him.
"Neji," The Hyuga nodded at the Uchiha, activating his Byakugan and scanning the area. Clear. He nodded to them and they jumped down from their perch silently. They went over to Kari swiftly. She seemed to be asleep but the veins around her eyes were prominent. The young girl was sickly pale, her skin was almost taking a grayish color to it. That wasn't a hopeful sign. Neji moved his fingers to her neck for a pulse. Her body was covered in a layer of cold sweat and clammy to the touch. He let out a breath of relief when he felt a faint but consistent beat.
"Kari," Kiba whispered softly, as Sasuke cut the ropes restraining her. "Kari, wake up. Can you hear me? It Uncle Kiba. Kari please, wake up!" She didn't respond. Akamaru whined. "Damn it why isn't she waking up?"
"The IV, it's probably a sedative!" Shikamaru wasted no time taking off the tape holding the needle off and pulling it out then putting pressure with his thumb over the site. Everyone stared at her waiting to see if she would wake. A few minutes they were rewarded with her slowly lifting her lids partly. She tried to push back away from Shikamaru. It was weak attempt. "Hey, it's ok Kari. You're going to be ok. We're going get you back home." Shikamaru promised soothingly. And then were going to bring the bastard who did this back and your dad's going to kill him. He added silently.
"Un'k Sh'ma'u," She gasped hazily, "...Hu'ts…H'rts…'lot." He was about to ask what, but he was soon obvious. At first the Nara genius thought that it was a teardrop. In the dim light it was an easy mistake. But as more trickled down her pale face it was clear that wasn't a teardrop. They were droplets of blood. Kari opened her eyes fully for a moment and they could all see that her Byakugan was activated and that the sclera of her eyes were dark red and blood was pooling around her lids like tears would.
"Deactivate your Byakugan!" But even as Neji said it he knew she couldn't. Kari gasped for air, clamping her eyes shut tightly in pain. Sasuke felt the mark on his shoulder prick uncomfortably. His body tensed.
"C'nt… D'dy." The last thing she did before falling into the bliss of unconsciousness was calling out for her Naruto. Shikamaru was no medic but he knew that wasn't a good sign. For a second Arisa flashed in Kari's spot and he had to force back the bile in his throat. He pulled off his Jonin jacket and cocooned it around Kari's fragile form. He picked her up off the chair setting her in Lee's arms. He made sure the Taijustu specialist was cradling her correctly before letting go. "Lee run as fast as you can. Don't stop until she's with Sakura! Go!"
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." A deep male voice said. They all turned around preparing themselves for a fight. The man wasn't what they were expecting. He was short man with white hair, his blue eyes were covered with wire-rimmed glasses and he was wearing a white lab jacket.
"You don't get a say in the matter and soon you won't get a say at all." Kiba growled. "Go Lee!" The bowled haired Jonin was gone before he could finish his name. The kidnapper didn't seem to upset that they had gotten away. He seemed… awed?
"Look, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way."
"Do it that hard way. I would love a reason to kick your ass." Kiba said taking a threatening step forward, Akamaru growling in agreement.
"You're early," The man said ignoring them. "Most people would have taken months if at all. You found it in a week! Bravo!" He said clapping his hands. It wasn't sarcastically. He seemed truly impressed. "Then again you are the best of Konoha, yes? You really are as good as the books say. I'm honored to be in your presence truly!" He said laughing to himself. "You guys are War Hero's. Well most of you." His eyes trailing over to Sasuke. "But even more so an honor to meet the soul survivor of the mighty Uchiha Clan. Well not anymore. You have lovely kids. I was thinking about taking that boy of yours, but alas it was not meant to be." Sasuke was as stiff as a board and the uncomfortable pricking from the mark was now turning into an unbearable burning. He could feel the seal starting to weaken and the curse beginning to spread. It took all of his will power and focus to stop it.
"Why did you take Kari?" Kiba demanded.
"I thought it was obvious." Kiba was quickly losing his patience. He didn't want to question the guy he wanted to kill him.
"For the Byakugan." Neji said. "He would have taken Takuya or Ryu to learn about the Sharingan but it's not like the Byakugan. Unlike the Uchiha bloodlimit you don't have to earn it, it something your born with. Takuya and Ryu both have yet to activate it. It would be pointless to take them."
"Correct. Very good!" The man complemented, "I was disappointed at first. Like Orochimaru was I am very curious about such a bloodlimit. It wasn't long lasted though. The girl. I was planning on coming back for the Byakugan anyways but she made it so easy. Being the Hokage's daughter you would think she would have a little more protection. But no she was just sitting on the roof by herself completely defenseless. It couldn't have been easier. It almost took the fun out of it."
"Enough talk, are you going to come with us or do we have to force you?" Kiba barked. He wished the guy would do something. He was itching to tear the guy apart but he knew that right was reserved for Naruto. But it didn't mean they couldn't rough him up a bit right?
"Unfortunately, I'm not much of a fighter. I'm just a scientist. I have to know how things work. Surely, there is nothing wrong with that." Before anyone could react the older man was on slamming into the wall on the other side of the room. Sasuke was standing where he had been. His fist still extended from when he punched the man. His head was down. The man winced pushing himself up fingering his broken jaw and split lip. That had been one hell of a punch. When he looked up at the Uchiha he was glaring right back at him his Sharingan spinning. The curse mark that he had been fighting for control with finally won, covering his shoulder and half his face and was steadily making it way to the other side. Sasuke fingers itched for his blade but it wasn't on him. The man was terrified but at the same time in awe of the power. And of Orochimaru's curse mark.
"Hey, Uchiha calm down. I know you want to kill the bastard- we all do- but we need to take him back. Naruto will want to have a word with him." Shikamaru couldn't see the mark spreading or even that it was activated. He had merely thought Sasuke had lost control of his anger nothing more.
Sasuke jaw clenched, but he took a deep breath forcing the marks power back, regaining control until, all he could feel was a sting from the pulsating mark.
1)This is the exact lines from one of my favorite movies! (I do not own it Ok?) It's from Zorro! I didn't really know much about Sword fighting but I loved this movie, so it just worked out. =)
Yes, I do realize the guy is a bit of Orochimaru fangirl, er guy.