The group entered the castle through the front entrance as the sun descended toward dusk. They were escorted by a pair of guards to a wooden table, surrounded by eight chairs.
In brief, Sasuke explained the situation.
"I'm so sorry to hear that!" Yokaze declared, her face filled with worry. "I'll send out some patrols tonight. Rest assured, by the morning he will be found."
Sasuke leaned back in her chair, her eyes closing. "Thanks."
"What trouble is it of mine? We both know I owe you two my life." Yokaze snorted. "I will aid you in this because I wish to, but even if I did not—honor demands it." She glanced toward the doorway.
Tayuya leaned against the door. Her eyes narrowed as she regarded the figure.
Yokaze clapped her hands together. "Anyway, you must be exhausted! Come, go to bed."
Shikamaru snorted.
Yokaze frowned.
"Ma'am, you can't be serious. We lost our mentor. At least us three, we're going to look too." Shikamaru's hand fell to one side.
Ino nodded.
Chōji inclined his head. "I agree with Shikamaru. When I think of the villains who killed Asuma-sensei." His face turned a bright red. "My pulse won't slow down."
Shikamaru nodded.
Yokaze's smile faded slightly. "Ah, yes. I had forgotten, but you're correct."
"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather go too. Sorry." Kōju dipped her head.
Sasuke nodded. "I'm with her. Maybe we can reminisce after all this is over with." She rose to her feet.
"If it's all the same to you, I'm staying here." Tayuya's eyes levelly met Yokaze's eyes.
Yokaze blinked.
Sasuke studied Tayuya's face quietly.
Kōju blinked. "Tayuya-san. Even if it's Naruto, even if you could save him?" Her lip stuck out.
"I'm not anxious to lose any beauty sleep over this shit, plus, I don't have the foggiest on what those forests look like. I'd slow you down." Tayuya scowled. "Same goes for Soyokaze. I can't speak for Sai, but my guess is she'll do whatever she's doing without the benefit of our help." She cleared her throat. "Look, I'm as anxious to find him as any of you. But that's not the time."
Sasuke hesitated a moment, then nodded. "All right." She turned and walked out of the room.
The door closed, and high wind blew through the space.
"So, when exactly were you planning on telling them you used to work for Orochimaru? Or still do." Tayuya's eyes narrowed.
Yokaze sighed heavily.
"Don't fuck with me. I saw you six years ago."
Yokaze nodded. "Yes. You did." She paused. "But I have hardly had options. Orochimaru is only preferable to Gato in that he is more polite about it. Ultimately, we're still being stolen from, despite the brave efforts of Naruto. But I don't have a choice, just as you didn't all those years ago. If I want our village to continue to live, I must do so on my knees."
"Fuck that." Tayuya's hand struck the side of the wall.
Yokaze's brow rose.
"Looking back, I can say it for sure, but, I know that I had a choice. I know I could have chosen not to go with him." Tayuya's eyes turned hard, like flint.
"He would have killed you."
"Yeah. Maybe better that than what did end up happening." Tayuya exhaled. "You still working with him?"
"For the time being, yes." Yokaze sighed. "As I said before, I have no ability to disagree with you here."
Tayuya sighed heavily. "Emperor. Don't you get it?"
"I do. But I also know that if I reject him, many people will die."
"They'd die standing." Tayuya cleared her throat.
"From my own curiosity—what significance does dying standing have?"
Tayuya frowned.
"I will admit that I know very little of importance, but I know enough. I know that dying standing is not the right course for my people. There will come a time when we must fight, but that time is not yet." Yokaze rose to her feet. "If you will pardon me. I must attend to a small matter."
"Run, you damn coward!" Tayuya growled.
Yokaze remained silent. She started forward, and then paused. "There is one further point." She turned her head to one side, meeting Tayuya's gaze. "Regarding the present situation, there's no reason for me to mention my association with Orochimaru. It's a factor that lies outside these matters. I still have every intention of rescuing Naruto. He is, after all, the great hero of this land, and my own hero." She placed a hand on her shoulder.
Tayuya scowled.
"Now, whatever may happen after that I freely admit is potentially dangerous. But if it came to a choice between survival and Team Seven, I believe this land's decision would be very clear. We have our own heroes." Yokaze pressed her thumbs together. "That is what I believe. Your guest room for the evening has already been prepared; you will find it down the left hallway." She walked forward, her hands still pressed together.
Tayuya's hands pressed together. "Damn it," she muttered, staring downward. "Just when I thought I could forget all about that life."
A white flash of motion crossed the corner of her eyes. Tayuya turned and saw Soyokaze sitting motionless. "You startled me," she stated. A faint smirk crossed her lips. "Next time be a sight more careful."
Soyokaze nodded.
Tayuya looked downward. "You shut up all the time anyhow, but what the hell do you actually think?"
"Being brave is hard." Soyokaze spoke in a soft voice.
Tayuya frowned. "Eh?"
"If everyone could be brave, if everyone could be strong, it wouldn't have significance. That's what I think."
"Hmph." Tayuya turned toward the doorway. Her eyes narrowed. "You a philosopher?"
"I am an ascetic. Enlightenment is still a long ways away." Soyokaze bowed their head. "But by taking the example of the Vizier and the Emperor, we can learn of the proper path to enlightenment. So I have made some study of it, but it is admittedly a brief study."
"Che."
"You don't believe?" Soyokaze questioned softly.
"Those two might or might not have existed. None of my business. But if I want to learn of enlightenment I'd be looking at that Sage of Six Paths."
"He certainly inherited from those two." Soyokaze smiled.
"Yeah." Tayuya paused. "But ultimately that's not my question, is it? I still don't get it." She looked downward. "What the hell is it that you believe in in that group?"
Soyokaze looked down at the ground. "There's an old story," they went on, their voice soft, "that a monk once went wandering for the desert looking for enlightenment. When he came to a sandy place with no water or bright sky, he declared that the Emperor couldn't be there."
"The moral is that the Emperor's right there, right?"
"Hah." Soyokaze shook their head briefly from side to side. "No, no. The Emperor was not there, but neither was the Vizier. You see, the place they had come to was merely a place of walking. That's all enlightenment is, is realizing that the open path ahead of you is just an open path."
Tayuya's head tilted to one side.
"Well, we have other things like this—but yes. If enlightenment was so easy then everyone would do it." Soyokaze sighed. "I might not even succeed myself. But what I'm going for is worth that."
Tayuya sighed. "I don't get it. I seriously don't." She looked down at her hands. "What is all that for? A thing you'll never achieve?"
"Is your refusal so different?" Soyokaze paused.
Tayuya's brow furrowed. She glanced at Soyokaze. "One more thing. Why aren't you out with the others? I mean, I said that to keep somebody around, in case Yokaze decided she wanted to stab me rather than tell Team Seven that little secret of hers. But if you'd wanted, you could have left anyway. Naruto is your number one priority."
Soyokaze smiled. "You should be more trusting."
"Yeah, maybe so. But old habits are damn hard to break, particularly when they've kept you alive this long." Tayuya glanced toward Soyokaze.
The pair walked toward the rooms.
"Partly, I thought it a possibility. Partly, I also thought my searching would do little good. I have a certain sense or suspicion as to where the thing is and why it is." Soyokaze paused. "That is to say, I have some suspicion regarding the nature of the circumstances that have led us here."
Tayuya frowned. "Okay. What do you think?"
"Whatever has occurred, and whyever it is such a way, my presence wouldn't resolve it." Soyokaze looked at the doorway, their blue eyes gentle. "I suspect there is a certain enemy of mine, a great threat, who has come here. An enemy of that grand group of Hidden Villages, I must add."
"Hakubo. You seriously think they're still coming for Naruto?" Tayuya's brow furrowed.
"I don't know anything. It's only a feeling, as I said." Soyokaze sighed. "But I have a strong suspicion, yes. That things might turn out that way is likely not surprising."
"It just strikes me as weird, that's all. The Nine-Tails is the most powerful Tailed Beast anywhere, so why the hell would they go for it before, say, the Three-Tails?"
Soyokaze shrugged. "That is not mine to question. My sense tells me it's that way, however."
Tayuya frowned. She closed her eyes for a long second. "If that is the case, Hakubo would have to have someone close to Naruto in the village."
"Eh?" Soyokaze frowned beneath the robe.
"Well, think about it like this, right?" Tayuya raised a finger. "Why now? The fact of the matter is, if Naruto is outside their control in the village, the situation hasn't really changed. Sure, there's a risk of the Tailed Beast being re-bound, but that's fairly minor. It hasn't changed from their perspective. So if they're rushing when they previously felt very confident, it has to be because the situation has somehow changed. In other words, it's a change from a situation in which, previously, they had control."
Soyokaze's head tilted to one side.
"So they have someone in the village. My instinct is to suspect Danzō, but that's probably too obvious." Tayuya frowned heavily. Her fingers pressed together. "Of course, at the moment, this is all idle speculation. They haven't really done anything. If they do go for him, that's what it tells us." She stretched and yawned loudly. "But that's something to worry about later. Right now, I need a nap."
Soyokaze inclined their head. The faded away into the darkness.
The moonlight poured through the window.
Vengeance
The rooster crowed loudly in the morning. Sun rays struck the mud buildings.
Tayuya rubbed her eyes blearily. She started upright, her eyes narrowed. "Hah?"
Sasuke stood near the door.
Tayuya blinked. "Shit!" She retreated to the corner of the bed, grasping for her flute. After a long pause, her expression smoothed. "You scared the fuck outta me."
"Uh-huh." Sasuke's lip quirked upward briefly.
"So." Tayuya covered herself with the blankets. "What news?"
"The good is that we've managed to locate a few traces of him. He doesn't seem to be present, though." Sasuke shrugged her shoulders. "That's the bad, too. We don't have more than that."
Tayuya groaned. "Shit. This'd be a hell of a lot easier if we had some kind of sensor-nin with us."
A figure pushed open the window.
Tayuya blinked. "Fuck."
Sai cleared her throat. "I felt that it would be quicker to undertake this mission myself." She forced a smile onto her lips. "I'm not very good at working in groups."
"We gathered that." A brief, fading smirk crossed Sasuke's lips.
"How long have you been out there?"
Sai smiled, seemingly not offended by Sasuke's words. She unrolled a map across the bed.
Tayuya hopped out of the bed, wrapping some of the sheets around herself to preserve her modesty. "Just so you know, once we're back in town, I still plan on kicking your ass."
Sai laughed. "A weakling like you?" She pointed at the map. "This is where Kakashi placed Naruto at the time Pakkun tracked him." She drew a line with the pencil briefly. "And this is where he was when I found him last night."
Tayuya exhaled. "Glad you came back. I don't fancy your fucking chances against two members of Akatsuki."
Sasuke nodded briefly. Her eyes narrowed as she studied the map. "They don't seem to be traveling 'away' from Hidden Leaf exclusively."
Sai shook her head.
Tayuya nodded. "Yeah. The angle on this is pretty bizarre, if that is the reason." She leaned forward. "Fuck, though," she said in a softer voice. "I felt so close to him earlier, and now it feels like he's really frozen over."
Sasuke patted Tayuya on the back. Her callused hand was warm and comforting. "We'll get him back," she promised in a soft voice. "I swear on the name of the Uchiha Clan."
Tayuya cleared her throat. "Yep. Just getting my head in the game."
"If I may inquire?"
Tayuya's brow furrowed.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
"I don't understand it. He's a valuable asset, yes, but I don't understand why you're so concerned with his well-being." Sai's hand tapped the ink bottle at her side.
Sasuke shrugged. "Maybe a mongrel like you, who cares about nobody besides her master, wouldn't ever understand."
Sai's eyes widened.
Tayuya blinked.
"Hell, I'm not even sure I understand it myself. Love is a complicated thing. A lot more complicated than I can explain to someone whose heart is just a bunch of ink sketches. Nothing three-dimensional or solid." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. She rose to her feet. "It just is."
Tayuya's eyebrows rose. "Fuck." She glanced at Sasuke briefly. "You know, you can get pissed when you want."
The door opened.
"Time to go," Shikamaru declared. "We probably don't have much time before they make the transfer."
Tayuya nodded. Sasuke followed Tayuya out of the room.
Sai remained in the room, staring wordlessly at the ink.
A/N: I've been kicking around ideas for a new story. The release date would at earliest be sometime next year, and it shouldn't impede progress on this work (so no worries there). Thanks for reading.