A lot happens in this chapter – a lot. Which explains why it was so super hard to write without descending into absolute chaos.
Also, to anyone who's interested: I've uploaded the prologue for my Harry Potter crossover fic:)
It's called "A Game of Chess".
There are five children in their wagon. Rui and Yuki have been there for only two days, Daisuke for six. The toothless boy, who introduces himself as Kenta, has been around for more than 25 days.
"I'm not good with counting," he admits, "so I just stopped. But I've seen many come and go. Three or four days, then the circus moves and at the next stop they're gone."
There's one more person with them, a silent boy in Hoga's cell, who only shakes his head whenever they try to speak to him. He's injured; his ankle is broken, but he won't let Hoga anywhere near it. The last cell is empty.
Time moves slowly. After the initial introductions there's suddenly nothing to say to each other anymore. Nobody wants to talk about how they got here, and there's no use in going over their escape plan, because Daisuke still refuses to believe that someone is coming for them and gets upset whenever they mention it. One after another they drift off to sleep.
Hisana herself is wide awake. She has the first shift; she'll sleep later.
The next morning she's awoken by the door opening and dousing the whole wagon in bright sunlight. They are thrown some food; apples and bread. One man, a short but burly guy that reeks of ninja, has them come to the bars, to examine their faces and force some water down their throats.
"You better behave," he tells Hisana, squeezing her jaw with dirty fingers. "Things don't go how they did with your mama 'round here."
"Chuunin," she assesses grudgingly as soon as the men are out of hearing range. "Together we might be able to overwhelm him, but I wouldn't risk it."
How someone like that could make chuunin is beyond her. He doesn't seem like someone with enough discipline or brains, but his raging chakra levels can't possibly lie.
"Let's hope they get him before we have to try," Hoga sighs. "It's kind of selfish, but I really hope I won't have to kill yet. Then Sensei would really be angry."
"You're a medic, but you're still a ninja, aren't you?" Hisana asks in confusion, "Your Sensei surely knows that you might have to hurt someone someday, doesn't she?"
Hoga gives a non-committal shrug.
"Yes, sure. But she still likes to think we're the scholars, you know? We're supposed to protect, not hurt. The last line of defense, not the brawlers. And here I go and volunteer myself to do something like this."
"Well," Hisana offers, "maybe you and your sensei just have different views on what it means to protect someone."
They're fed once more, just as it becomes darker again. It's the first time Hisana is forced to sit by idly during a mission and wait of the others to get their shit together.
It makes her nervous and snappy, so she refrains from interacting with the children, and lets Hoga do all talking. The girl is good with the traumatized kids.
Maybe, she ponders, it's because she's a medic. Bedside manners, and all that. As the light fades further, her thoughts are drawn towards the rest of her team. She worries about Shizuha and Sora more than she worries about herself and Hoga.
Shizuha is soft-hearted and the furthest thing from inconspicuous; a dangerous mix in an undercover mission. And Sora … she still remembers him dead-eyed and unresponsive after their mission to Otari. This is the first time they've left the village since then, and already they've put him in a situation where he might have to kill again.
She tries not to think of Haru, trying to pose as a natural entertainer with only razor-tongue Shiki and her cahoots for company. Oh, the Nara will make sure to bring him back in one piece, certainly. But she's not the kind to coddle someone emotionally.
Which might be for the best in the long run, but still …
Haru is fragile.
"I can see you fussing from over here," Hoga remarks. "Have a little more trust in your teammates. I'm sure they're as eager to prove themselves as the rest of us."
Hisana makes an agreeable noise.
"That doesn't mean I have to like this. I'd rather be out there and have an eye on them myself."
That seems to amuse Hoga.
"What will you do if you're not around to lead them by the hand? They'll have to learn someday. You said it yourself: nobody's going to die on Yuhi-taichou's watch; so better now than later."
She's right of course.
A soft noise jerks her out of any further thought. Something small and jittery lands on her cheek. Hisana's not sure whether to be relived or more anxious.
"So they're here. Tell Shizurin we're fine and to watch out for any more ninjas. We've only counted one chuunin so far."
The kikai flies off with barely a sound.
"So that means they're in the other wagons. I wonder if they've been split up," Hoga muses. "It would be better for the mission if we had someone in every wagon."
As time passes she only gets more nervous. A whole more day. Twelve more hours. One more meal. One more sundown. Two more hours.
"Are you ok?" she whispers to Hoga, trying to mask her own growing discomfort.
"So far, yes," the girl confirms. "I'm a bit worried how to get them all to safety. We can't organize them in the middle of a battlefield."
"Don't worry about it," Hisana says. "Just grab them by the hand and run for the nearest chuunin. You're the medic; it's not your primary job."
Chances are that the jounin will take care of this so quickly, that nobody will have to evacuate very far. Hoga makes a face.
"I didn't come here to be a coward," she says.
"Last line of defense," Hisana reminds her. "Don't make us lose our medic."
Not long after midnight more kikai come crawling through every hole of the wagon. Rui squawks in disgust, while her little brother scoops them up eagerly with his chubby hands.
"What in all the world – " Daisuke sputters.
"Calm down," Hisana hums. "They're friendlies. Even if they look creepy."
Something nips at her.
"Ouch! Ok, ok – not creepy. Special. Sheesh, aren't you touchy."
Rui makes another disgusted noise and sinks down into a corner. Hisana is not a fan of bugs either. But the kikai are buzzing with familiar chakra; they're comforting rather than disquieting. Maybe it's a sign that she's spent too much time with the Aburame clan, but she can't really see them as anything but part of Shizuha anymore. It's not as if they are dirty or diseased or dangerous to her.
"It's starting," she warns them. "The kikai are probably here to protect you. Don't brush them off; they're useful."
Hoga makes a strange noise.
"I'm sorry Shizuha-san," she yips into the dark, "I don't think I'm comfortable with this…"
"Get a grip, Hoga," Hisana snorts. "You're a ninja, and they're not out to get you."
Knowing better by now she herself resists the natural urge to brush off the bugs that are crawling into her ear and dangerously close to her eye. Her chakra is familiar enough to them that they're looking for a way to crawl into her. It's not the first time this has happened, and she knows they'll give up when they don't find any of the small holes usually littering an Aburame's skin.
Instead of answering, Hoga gives her a slightly disturbed look and reaches for her cellmate. The boy whines pathetically, but his resistance is futile against Hoga's firm grip.
"Get ready," the girl tells the others. "As soon as the fight starts we bust out of here."
Rui hoists her brother against her chest. The boys can only stare at the door in anticipation.
There's a flare of chakra – and another one. Then the first scream echoes through the night.
"Now," Hisana snaps, breaking the lock on her cell with a well-placed kick. The cell door next to her bursts under the force of Hoga's fist. Together they rip the door of Rui and Daisuke's cell out of its hinges.
"Go, go, go!"
Outside more and more chakra signatures explode. They kick open the wagon door, the genjutsu turning to smoke around them.
The circus grounds are big; there are at least twenty wagons of performers, some of them stumbling out of their beds still in their night gowns, and the huge circus tent. On their right another, shabbier wagon appears out of thin air and a door goes flying.
"Sora-kun!"
Her teammate's head whips around.
"Hisana-chan!"
He looks relieved.
"Shizuha-san's not with you?"
Before Hisana can shake her head, one more wagon appears, as the last genjutsu breaks. There's an overwhelming humming noise coming from inside it.
"Oh sheesh," Sora winces, "I guess she's fine without us."
"Let's go!" Hoga urges them, still struggling with her former cellmate.
Hisana grabs Kenta by the hand and ushers Rui along.
"Daisuke, don't fall behind! Towards the woods – maybe we can hide there!"
Sora is already yelling at his own charges, and judging by the sound of splintering wood, Shizuha is already on her way too.
They have to pass the circus tent if they want to avoid the fighting going on between the showman wagons. Hisana nearly has a heart attack as someone comes shooting out of the huge, darkened pavilion. It's Anko.
"Keep running!" the tokubetsu jounin instructs. "Follow me; I'll get you to the forest."
Smoke bursts from beneath the tent as if a bomb has gone off. Somewhere in the middle of it she can feel Kohaku-sensei's chakra signature pulsating like a stubborn candle refusing to go out. Anko snickers.
"Hurry, hurry, I don't wanna miss out on the action."
There's another familiar chakra signature hurtling towards them. For a second Hisana is confused – who is it? Then Choumei's roundly shilouette appears, coming at them with top speed.
"Stop!" he cries, trying to slow down. But his momentum is too high, and his legs too chubby, so that he almost races right past them. In the last second Anko manages to grab him by the arm.
"We need your help! The others -" he huffs out something unintelligible.
"What?" Sora snaps impatiently.
"They've got the others! They've known who we are from the beginning – they have three jounin with them! I only just got away."
Anko's face turns from playfully vicious into something truly ugly.
"Haru," Sora blurts out. "Is Haru ok?"
Choumei winces guitily.
"Alright," Anko decides, "you're going to have to get to the forest by yourselves. I'll head for the brats."
She casts the frightened, scruffy children a considering look
"And you better hurry, before one of them pees where they stand."
A small part of Hisana wants to protest, but the bigger part knows that it would only be wasting time. Someone has to evacuate the children, and maybe even some of the adults wandering the battle field in confusion and fear. And there's no way that they'd be able to cope with even one of the jounin. Anko on the other hand stands more than a fair chance.
"Let's move then," she urges the others. "Come on. The sooner the civilians are safe, the sooner we might be able to go back and do something."
"She's right," Hoga says, voice shaking. "We have a job to do."
Sora throws them a wild look and for a second she thinks he'll make a run for it anyway. But in the end he nods.
They encounter no real resistance on their way towards the woods. Only a few of the civilian circus workers try to stop them, but they are easily shoved aside or knocked out. Nobody has the time to spare to ascertain whether or not they really are the enemy, so they deal with them in the most efficient way. Unconscious people don't get into trouble.
Every once in a while one of them has to double back and carry one of their charges for a few minutes until they catch their breaths. Only Rui seems to be driven by the wild instinct to protect her sibling. She never once stumbles or whines but only runs and runs and runs.
"Let's stop here," Choumei calls from further ahead. "There's a ledge we can hide under; it's easily defensible."
He points towards a rock formation protruding from the ground. There is in fact an overhang, where a large standing stone has sunk crookedly into the mud.
There are ten children in total; Hisana doubts they would be easily defensible anywhere. But Hoga slams a fist into the ground and mud splashes high, then rapidly dries into sturdy enough looking walls.
"Earth affinity," she says gleefully. "I can stay here. You go and get the others."
"You sure you'll be fine?" Sora asks, casting the mass of frightened children a skeptical look.
Hoga shrugs.
"I'll be fine enough; Shizuha-san is on her way, isn't she? Go, hurry."
There's only a second in which the group listens to the growing drone of Shizuha's hive coming closer, then Choumei is off like a shot. Startled, Sora follows him. But Hisana hesitates.
Hoga is a short, weedy girl, with little muscle mass to speak of. Most of the children she's supposed to protect already tower over her by a considerable margin. It seems ridiculous that she should be protecting them instead of the other way around.
"Go! We're safe for now," the girl urges.
It's all Hisana needs. She catches up with the boys easily enough. Without the children to drag along the way back seems almost laughably short. 'Safe enough', she thinks worriedly, is not ten minutes by foot away from battle. They slink past the wreckage of the collapsed tent, dodging grasping hands and the odd piece of splintered, burning wood. The place is loud with the sound of people crying. Not children, but adults.
She's not sure if all of them knew about the slave trading; if some of them simply think her team to be monsters that came over them like a divine plague. She doesn't want to know either. It's already hard enough to live with the knowledge that she'll have at least permanently crippled a hand full of them in her haste to reach safety.
"We need to get to the wagons!" Choumei calls over the noise. "There's more of them under a genjutsu."
Hisana eyes the long line of showman wagons in trepidation. There are people milling about; they don't actually know how many ninja are with the circus, so genin and chuunin could be hiding everywhere among the innocent.
"Onto the wagons," she cries in realization. "Use the wagons!"
She kicks off the ground and lands onto a rickety roof; the force of her impact very nearly puts her foot through the old thatching. The others follow her. From above it's easier to see that not many of the wandering performers are actually injured. They are shocked, confused, and frightened by the smoldering remains of the ten, but most of the fighting is taking place around the outmost wagons now. She can feel no actual civilian chakra signatures there; only the bright, familiar flames of the jounin and chuunin teams and the high-tension vibrating of the enemy.
And further off, past the tree line, there is also the anxious flickering of her friends.