Chapter Twelve
Author's Note:
It's been a while since I last updated huh people?
Sorry about that.
Konan looked out at the blossoming countryside that contradicted how she felt on the inside. Bleak, empty, yes she had a new job that she loved, yes, she had found a small measure of peace in her life and she was surrounded by new friends and old, familiar comrades but it bothered her that her newfound peace, so precious, so fragile was swiftly being crushed by war and death once again.
It seemed to be her lot in life, something she couldn't escape, from the time that she was a little girl and had stumbled across her father's and sister's bodies into the war- torn cesspit that she had called home, to fighting bloodthirsty Sound ninja now, it left her feeling empty inside, hollow, weary and she wondered briefly if this is what it must feel like to have no soul and to have nothing to look forward too. Yes she was a strong accomplished kunoichi with power and notoriety behind her, but what had she lost to gain those things?
Her head snapped to look behind her to find the Headmaster grinning ruefully at her careful observance, Remus was with him.
"Is something the matter Konan?" He asked, sensing her need to talk.
Konan wanted to unburden herself so badly, something she used to be able to do with Nagato, since it was disadvantageous and foolish to do with other shinobi. But these people lived like civilians, they could not understand the horrors of war on her level, they could not understand what it was like to have a hand in killing the man you called sensei, to kill the people you thought were friends.
Remus studied her, she seemed so strong to most people, but as the full moon approached, he could sense what a muddled mess she was on the inside. Sure she didn't let it affect the things she could do, she didn't fall into despair or reckless anger the way some people did, but the despair was buried there beneath razor-sharp instincts and a cold mask of indifference.
Suddenly there was a commotion coming from within the Headquarters and Konan got up to see what was going on.
Kisame had a black-haired, vicious-eyed, child by the throat, the child wore Oto's headband and, she thought squinting a little, Orochimaru's cursed seal.
Members of the Order were formed in a loose, half-circle around the Kiri nin and were either gazing uncomfortably at him, or protesting the boy's treatment.
"You can't kill him! He's only a boy!" Molly pleaded with the man and Konan knew that she was seeing one of her own children in his place.
"Lady, little boys like this could kill you while you were wide awake." Kisame explained in a patient tone.
"Anyway it's not my call." He explained, jerking his head over in Konan's direction.
The newest member of the Order pleaded with her.
"Konan, you can't let him be killed. You just can't!"
Konan looked at Kisame who looked back expectantly, then her gaze shifted to the child. She stepped forward and pulled the collar of his shirt back a little, where she could clearly see the cursed seal between his neck and shoulder. Another surge of bleakness crashed over her. She did not like what had to be done, but she didn't have a choice in the matter, if given the chance to activate the second level, he'd be a match for them.
The other members waited with baited breath as she turned back around.
"I am sorry Molly." She said, her face blank and perfectly composed.
Molly, what a pretty name. Her tired thoughts provided out of the blue and briefly made her wonder where that thought came from.
"But the boy is of no use to us."
"No-use-the-boy-no-use-he-he's just a child!" The woman sputtered.
"And a lethal one." Konan explained.
Minerva felt a lurch of nausea in her stomach. Child soldiers….
"The only use we could have had for him would to be interrogate him and he would suffer terribly before he died. At least this way, he will be killed quickly and cleanly."
Most of the Order members stared at her as if she'd grown a second head.
"Well…why couldn't we just toss him in prison?"
"Do not be foolish. One, by your own wizarding laws he would have to be sent to Juvenile Detention instead of Azkaban, a place he would be able to break out of with absurd ease. Two you would have to explain why he was there and the authorities, who have never dealt with a shinobi child would come snooping around and there is a good chance that they would discover your secret organization and the fact that you have hired high profile assassins to kill for you in which case you would end up either in Azkaban yourselves or on the run from the law."
"What if I adopted him?" She shrilled, hand reaching for her wand.
"Then you and your entire family would be slaughtered." Kisame answered. "It's not an uncommon tactic for some Ninja Villages to use younger kids to gain a family's trust and sympathy so that they would either end up taking in a spy or an assassin. I agree, it's not fair and it isn't right, but that's just how it is sometimes."
He speaks of the Bloody Mist. The one village that still refuses to set an age limit on their shinobi. She realized.
Before further discussion could be had, the boy's neck was snapped and the struggling child moved no more.
Molly flew at her and Konan caught her fists in her hand as she tried to beat against her chest.
"How could you?!" She shrieked. "You're a monster! A horrible, horrible monster!" She railed and Konan simply let her do so for a while until Arthur came and led his distraught wife away.
Kisame immediately went to see if the brat had teammates tucked away in the building somewhere. After making a thorough scan of the building, he told the wizards that they needed to a more secure space and soon.
As they walked away from the Headquarters Kisame sensed Zetsu's chakra flaring in the forest.
He had the weapons that they needed and had been doing a little spying on Otogakure.
"Zetsu-san." Said Konan bowing politely.
"Orochimaru is planning to attack Hagrid and the Weasley family, other then that, he's been away from Oto a lot."
Kisame snorted.
"He's also planning to wipe you out." Zetsu's Darker Half said.
"Which means lots of carnage for us."
"I trust you three will take care of it."
"Come now, haven't you ever wondered what Kisame and Hidan would taste like?"
"That would be an interesting experience." Zetsu's Lighter Half said contemplatively.
"Sorry Zetsu, but you're not going to find out anytime soon." Kisame said.
"Perhaps."
"We'll see."
With those parting words, the Spy Master melted into the forest.
Kisame and Konan walked back towards the Headquarters and called a meeting, as soon as everyone was there, Kisame spoke.
"Good news folks, we just received news from one of our spies that the Weasley family and Hagrid is next on the hit list."
"How is that good news exactly?" Asked Arthur.
"Because it means that Oto no longer has the advantage of surprise." Kisame said, turning serious now.
"Kisame will be guarding Hagrid and I will be with the Weasleys'." Konan said.
"No! I refuse to have that woman in my home!" Molly objected vehemently.
"Looks like she hasn't forgiven us yet." Kisame said.
Konan raised her eyebrow at him and turned to address Molly.
"I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter, since Kisame's strengths and talents will be better suited to defending Hagrid's and the other teachers at Hogwarts and Hidan is not suited to guard duty."
"Why not?" She asked.
Those in the Order who had met the psychopathic priest winced collectively.
"Hidan is a Jashinist priest and there is a chance he would slaughter you as well as the Oto nin."
"You mean….that his religion requires him to go round killing people?" Asked the now white faced woman.
"That is correct. So like it or not, I will be standing guard in your home."
Later on that night, a special assassin lay in wait, listening to the sounds of drunken revelry coming from inside, when the two men finally fell asleep, he crept in noiselessly, it was going to be difficult to try and kill the target with the inebriated Akatsuki asleep on the table, especially since he'd fought members of the Hoshigaki clan before and they were a formidable bunch.
He plunged the kunai into the man's throat and it poofed out of existence.
Kisame swung his sword into the man's torso.
"Surprise." The man hissed behind him as the Shadow Clone dissipated.
Kisame grabbed the man and flung him down in front of him and struck him viciously across the jaw with his foot. The man rolled out from under him and burst through the window with Kisame hot on his trail.
"We know all about your little spy." Denjiro said, leaping into the air and flinging some shuriken at him.
"Do you now?" Kisame asked in amusement as deflected them with his sword and began running up the tree trunk.
"Exploding Water Shockwave!" The water was powerful enough to take down trees and shrubs in it's path and the Oto nin used a Substitution Jutsu to avoid getting caught in the deadly surge that reached as far as the lake and filled it to just overflowing.
Kisame used his elbow to break the man's nose and the ninja ducked out of the way and led him towards some trees. Kisame growled as exploding tags were set off and the assassin watched irritably as the clone turned into water on the floor.
"Where'd he go?" He wondered, trying to sense the ex-Kiri nin's chakra.
His eyes widened as he looked to the left and he ducked as Kisame nearly ripped off his head with Samehada and he flipped and zigzagged tree to tree. He whipped a scroll out of his pocket and used the blood from his nose to summon Kasshoku-Kakyaku.
The spider was about ten feet tall and her long, strong legs made her seem even larger.
Kisame eyed the summons with a bit of apprehension as he tried to figure out how he would dispel it. Then he closed his eyes and performed the seals for the Hidden Mist Jutsu and a thick, heavy fog rolled around the forest.
"Mmm. Mist user, it's been a long time since we have fought against one of those eh Denjiro?" The spider murmured as fangs dripped poison along the ground.
"Yes and this one is a Hoshigaki, I recall how much you enjoyed the juices of the last one we defeated." Denjiro answered.
The spider suddenly seemed excited and went on the hunt, her legs shaking the ground and causing all forest creatures to try and scramble out of her way, then she lunged down.
Denjiro frowned, he knew Kasshoku-Kakyaku was one of his best hunters, but surely the Hoshigaki would be harder to kill then that. His instincts proved correct as a centaur convulsed from the paralysis poison coursing through his system.
The spider wrapped the hapless centaur up in her silk and sent him to her web in the other dimension for later, before resuming her hunt for the Mist user. Kisame sent out a water clone and ripped off part of the Summons lower leg before leading her on a chase through the thick fog.
The enraged summons thundered after him and fell into the water with a loud splash.
The real Kisame was in the water and was beginning to create his sharks when the summons created a giant bubble and began swimming expertly towards him.
"Oh shit!" He thought.
Molly had not seen hide or hair of Konan that night and she suddenly wondered if the woman was coming at all.
"Arthur when do you suppose-"
"Shh Molly. We mustn't talk about that now, or they'll know we've caught onto them." He murmured in her hair.
"I'm frightened." She said, eyes darting frantically towards the children's rooms.
"I am too. But we have to have some kind of trust in Konan."
"I don't trust her any further than I could throw her." She hissed vehemently.
"But Dumbledore trusts her and we have no choice but to trust her." He explained.
Konan waited patiently in the shadows as a small squad of ninja came out of the forest, among them, she realized was her spy Masato, she began performing the hand signs.
Molly and Arthur were in the hallway as a last line of defense for their children, when they heard a loud shouts of dismay in Japanese.
Arthur told her to stay put and cautiously crept his way towards the front yard, there was one of these Oto ninja, the first he'd seen close up, with his dead teammates scattered around him.
"Konan-sama." He said, kneeling in front of her.
"You have done well Masato."
Arthur gulped. So, these ninja had their own form of the Imperius Curse did they? It was something he would have to tell Dumbledore and Moody about.
She knelt down and began weaving her hands in a jutsu, modifying the one still breathing kunoichi's memory on the off chance that she survived, it would not do for Masato to be the lone survivor of a massacre a second time. Kabuto would be sure to get suspicious.
The man took his dying teammate and headed off in the direction he'd come.
The water churned and frothed as Kisame's sharks continuously attacked the Summons legs. It made strange noises that sounded like a cross between a hiss and a shriek and finally the beast decided she'd had enough and went back to her own dimension to heal.
The sharks turned to the summoner and began ripping him apart and Kisame watched as the man's head followed his body and leg down into the lake before swimming back towards the surface and taking a deep breath of air. He hopped onto the surface of the lake and dispelled the fog.
At dawn Konan made the journey back to Hogwarts where she met up with her tired colleague and sat down to sleep.
A few days later, they were heading out to Hogsmeade with Severus, Remus and Minerva when Kisame sensed several chakra signatures slowly flanking them.
"Oto shinobi are coming our way."
She turned towards the wizards. "You will do only what we tell you to do if you want to survive this experience. No arguing."
Severus opened his mouth to argue when they attacked.
Konan tensed as Kisame and Hidan took off after two of the ninja, Hidan's bloodlust heavy in the air around them. The twins were from the Gouryuu clan and he swung his scythe at them, trying to get a hit.
But the twins were fast and dodged it. They blocked his heavy handed punch when Kisame severed the offending hand with Samehada and backed away hastily. He had never liked fighting Gouryuu.
"Don't let them touch you you fool! Don't you know what clan they're from? He growled.
"So fucking what?" Hidan sneered. "Who cares what clan the little freaks are from?"
"They are members of the Gouryuu clan Hidan." Konan explained, "The way they kill is unique. They will take over the body of their opponent one cell at a time, absorbing and killing all your own cells until you are no more. They are one of Hidden Rain's most formidable clans."
The wizards gaped. These people could do things like that? Create entire families capable of manipulating their bodies and the bodies of their opponents at a cellular level?
Hidan lifted an eyebrow in disgust before letting out a loud whoop, he leaped over the Gouryuu's head and swung his scythe hard. But each and every time the scythe was blocked by a hand or a leg that came from nowhere.
One of the twins sneered at him as she pulled herself into his body.
Hidan tensed at the frightening sensation of his body being slowly absorbed by the girl.
"Are you ready brother?" Haruka asked with glee.
"Yes…" Kinkin responded as he began sliding into Hidan.
Hidan slashed at the places where the twins were merging into him, causing shock and dismay as blood fell to the ground and Hidan ingested their blood by cutting his tongue and .
Minerva froze. She didn't think he could stand to watch the priest perform his horrifying rituals again.
"W-what the hell are you doing?" Kinkin asked as Hidan drew the sacred symbol and began to change color.
"Tell me, do you believe in God?" He asked.
"What the hell does that have to do with anything?"
"Oh! It has everything to do with it, because today you're going to meet him." The man cackled.
"Come and we will share the gift of your agony together!" Hidan lifted his pike and raked it down his arm, causing the Gouryuu twins to scream.
Kisame felt his own battle lust rising and he went after the brown haired kunoichi.
She made rapid hand seals and stomped the ground with one foot.
"Earth Release! Crumbling Earth Jutsu!"
He leaped out of the way as the ground crumbled beneath him and made three water clones to circle her.
Her sharp brown eyes flickered to each one rapidly, before she spun out of the way of his sword.
"Is that the best you can do?" Kisame mocked as he brought the huge sword towards her shoulder, she moved towards the ground and sank beneath it, only to pop up behind him at a safer distance.
Kisame sneered. "Not good enough! You're playing with the big boys now girly! You need to do better then that to keep up."
Hidan plunged his pike into their liver and laughed as they crumpled to the ground.
"Eh. You know that's not a fun way to go. But wait'll you see what happens when I kill you little freaks! That's the best part seriously!"
He plunged the pike into his heart and the twins lay dead at his feet.
Remus, who was the only one who hadn't seen them fight was surprised to see the big man moving so quickly as he kicked the girl, she got hit with Samehada before she body flickered out of sight and thrust a kunai into his kidneys, dissipating the water clone. Then she turned and was forced on the defensive by Kisame, being backed further and further away from her teammates, she grit her teeth in pain each time the big sword shredded her skin.
"Double Rock Assault Jutsu!"
Kisame hooted with laughter as he slashed through the rocks, swinging his sword he whirled and hit hers again, she blocked with her right and struck with her left, but he merely turned Samehada and blocked both, before using both hands to try and knock the right sword left, then she groaned as she felt herself being drained of chakra.
The real Kisame threw a kunai and she melted into a mud clone.
Severus Snape may not have been a ninja but even he could see the apparent differences in strength.
"Why is he taking so long when he could easily dispose of her?" he whispered to Konan who was guarding them from attack.
"Kisame likes a good battle, though I fear he may not get it today. So he will toy with the kunoichi in hopes that she is holding back. He will get bored soon enough."
She replied in an emotionless tone of voice when a third nin attacked her, they watched in horror as the ninja plunged a kunai into her throat and let out stunned cries as she turned into a log.
Konan stood on a tree watching the ninja and cast her genjutsu.
The Oto nin looked around and saw his team being obliterated, then one of his dead teammates got up right before his eyes and transformed into the Ame kunoichi. With a snarl, he went for the enemy.
"I'll kill you Akatsuki bitch!" He said.
The kunoichi flipped over his head and he blocked, forming hand signs he blew out a large fireball and she rolled on the ground to put it out, getting up smoothly on one knee.
The other two were coming closer, the Kiri nin grinning unnervingly and the crazed Yuu nin brandishing his scythe. As the three closed in he applied chakra to his legs and leaped over them. The kunoichi was closest and he severed her head.
The wizards screamed in horror as the illusion melted and he stared at the headless body of his teammate.
What was that? Snape wondered. He didn't understand. These ninja were far more dangerous then the Dark Lord and all his Death Eaters put together! Even a handful of them had caused a remarkable amount of devastation in a few short moments.
"Dammit Konan! " Hidan growled angrily. "He was supposed to be my fucking kill! Not yours! Mine!"
"Save some for the rest of us Hidan." Kisame called.
She shrugged and went after the Oto nin. The man spat in her face and she leaped, he blocked her kick and blew out another fireball.
She made rapid hand signs and spoke in English.
"Origami Dance! Murder of White Crows!"
The wizards watched in morbid fascination as she dissipated into a flock of slowly circling white crows, they spiraled higher and higher before covering his body, sharp beaks and talons ripping the man to pieces.
Kisame had the girl's leg shredded off, she backed away with terror in her eyes, she looked dumbly at the sight of her leg on the ground before he killed her. Minerva shuddered. It looked as though it had gone through a blender.
Konan and Kisame shot each other significant glances.
Something was wrong. Something was off, this fight had been too easy. She had worked too long with the Snake Sennin, who was something of a tactical genius to know that with him, things were never as they seemed. He always had a bigger, better plan behind subtle ruses.
"It is a ruse." She said out loud. "Orochimaru is planning something."
The sound of someone slowly clapping caught their attention.