"If someone is out there,
Tell the world that I was here,
That I had been,
That I had lived,"
-Shock, AmaLee
I pushed the paper door open a little more as I stepped into the room after Yahiko and Naga.
A line of red paper lanterns hooked to the roof waved outside as Hidan shut it behind him.
Except for an old woman kneeling on a mat wearing a plain blue kimono and a short table, the room was empty. On the table was five cups and a steaming pot of tea.
Once the door clicked shut, the stranger knelt opposite of her and poured himself a cup. "Is Ms. Terumi in, Mrs. Katayama?"
"Of course, of course," she said quickly. "Where else would she be, but here? It-It was quite the hassle to move all the other girls out on such short notice, but Lady Terumi has been generous to me with her presence here, and I hope such generosity continues into the future."
The stranger drank slowly and said, "I'll pass along your concerns, Mrs. Katayama."
"Oh, no need, no need," she insisted. "I'm always happy to host Lady Terumi's honored guests."
I walked around her, looking at the small round window behind her, and then down the paper-wood hallway to the left and the rooms split into boxes. She didn't look at me, but her hands clenched in her lap.
I didn't miss, either, the way her lips twitched down when she saw my bare feet.
The stranger finished the tea, stood, and bowed deeply to her. "Thank you for your assistance and discretion, Mrs. Katayama."
"You flatter me, Gushiken," she said, tensing as I walked back around her. "I'm only doing my part."
Gushiken nodded and gestured us after him as he walked down the hallway. Katayama nodded, as if to give us permission to leave.
Naga was the only one who didn't follow him, instead kneeling in the spot Gushiken left. Namekuji was half over his shoulder. I heard him politely pouring tea and thanking her as she tried to dissuade him.
Gushiken opened the last door and went inside. The hallway was only wide enough for us to walk in a line. Yahiko, then me, then Hidan.
I saw the window first in the right corner of the room. A dark curtain was pulled over it. Three futons were rolled up on the floor, sweet-smelling sticks burned in cups around the room, and three ninja watched us.
The first in the right corner closest to the door with his arms crossed wore an eyepatch. The second, to the left, was a year or two younger than me with a big, wrapped blade on his back. The third ninja stood at the center of the room with a hand on her hip and a smile.
"My, my, you didn't tell me they were pretty, Gushiken," she said, appraising us. "I was surprised to hear that you came so soon, but rain-nin are known to be unpredictable. Second only to mist-nin, I'd say."
Yahiko, hands behind his head, smiled back and said, "Well, we have a common goal, don't we? We both want to free Kirigakure."
Gushiken slid the door shut behind Hidan, whose eyes narrowed as he looked around the room. He walked around her without a glance and sat against the wall.
"H-Hey!" the sword-wielder said, taking a step, "You can't do as you please—"
She held up a hand and he stopped. She kept her eyes on Yahiko. "I didn't know rain-nin had a sense of humor."
I looked at the wall behind me. The paper was thin, but not see-through. If Katayama wanted to listen in, and Naga wasn't a sensor-nin, we wouldn't know she was doing it.
"I didn't know mist-nin asked for help," Yahiko countered.
Gushiken stayed in front of the door and I moved to stand next to the window. He watched me, but said nothing.
"You'd be right. Most don't, but as you can see, I'm not your typical mist-nin," Mei said, "If we're to work together, we should at least know each other's names before we talk circles around each other, shouldn't we?"
"Yahiko of the Akatsuki," he told her, nodding at me. "And over there, that's Oka of the Akatsuki. Hidan of the Akatsuki and Amegakure, and Nagato—"
"Of Amegakure...?" the sword-wielder asked, frowning.
Mei didn't skip a beat, "The one who just spoke is Chojuro. He's green—"
Chojuro went red.
"—but more skilled than he appears, so excuse his interruptions. Ao, with the eyepatch, is the closest I have to a second-in-command, and Gushiken acts as my eyes and ears on the island."
Ao didn't move.
She glanced at me after a second, "Should I guess which of you is the leader of Amekage, or is that a secret?"
"We call it the Taiyokage back home," Yahiko answered.
Chojuro looked like he wanted to speak, but stopped himself with a quick glance at Mei.
"A secret, then," Mei said, her smile sharper. "But you went with Sun Shadow? How do you plan to convince the other elemental nations to accept such a thing?"
"Easily. If, let's say, one of the five great nations took it seriously, the others wouldn't be able to keep ignoring it."
I looked out the window. A string of red lanterns hung from the building across from this one.
if we'd kept Kusagakure long enough for them to rebuild, to be useful, if Ren had more influence, if making an ally out of Iron was faster.
if this happened, if that happened, if deals made of words weren't so easy to break.
I didn't see the net being dragged down the road, or the people shoving dirty, thin fingers away as they tried to pull fish from the holes.
"You burn bright with ambition," Mei was saying, "My request was for you, wasn't it, Amekage?"
"Who the leader is, is more complicated than that," Yahiko said breezily, "It might've been for me, but if I learned anything, ambition isn't enough without the power to make your dreams a reality."
Mei looked at him in understanding, but I didn't think she did. Not really.
Kirigakure, after all, didn't need allies to be taken seriously. No one used them as training for their spies.
Mei paused as Gushiken moved to the side and opened the door for Naga. Surprise flitted in her eyes, and then her emotions were hidden away again behind her sly smile.
Ao's eye narrowed.
"Gushiken didn't tell me that you had an Uzumaki," she said, a hand on her hip. "Is he how you found us? Have you hired him?"
"The Uzumaki can hear you," Naga said, amused sounding.
"It was their summon," Gushiken answered before anyone else could. "The ferret, not the slug. It's an olfactory type."
"So, I was right. You owe me a drink, Ao."
"Last I checked, no bar in the Land of Water would serve a traitor," Ao said blithely.
Mei laughed prettily. "Don't be a sore loser. It's true, isn't it? That you were behind the inn massacre outside of Yugakure?"
Hidan leaned forward, and I thought he might yell at her for calling what he'd done a massacre, but instead he bit his tongue, leaned back, and closed his eyes.
"If we were paid to do it, what makes it a massacre?" I asked, turning away from the window.
"If you don't even try to collect the payment for it, you can't call it a mission, or even a job," Mei answered. "There was so much buzz around it because of what happened, or didn't happen, after. And of course, Hidan."
Chojuro glanced nervously at Hidan, but he was still and unmoving.
"Anyway, I'm almost jealous," Mei said, her attention returning to Naga. "If you worked here, you'd have women falling over themselves to tell you their secrets. Mrs. Katayama, the lady of the house, prefers to house women, but I can convince her to take you in, if you're interested. You'd be paid enough to make you never return to mercenary work for as long as you live. If you were to share those secrets with me, you'd live comfortably. Not to mention the gifts women would shower you with."
"I'm not interested," Naga said politely, avoiding her gaze.
"Or if you prefer, the men," Mei said smoothly, studying him. "Not everyone is made to be on the battlefield."
Naga blinked at her. And then he made a sound like an aborted laugh, covering his mouth with the back of his hand to hide his smile as he turned away, trying to hide his shaking shoulders.
Mei looked at him in surprised silence.
Yahiko nonchalantly stepped in front of Naga. "I like gifts and women," he drawled, his hands still behind his head. "I might not be an Uzumaki but—"
"You don't know how rare it is to see one," Mei interrupted him. "The nobles would tear each other apart to offer him protection faster than an infiltrator could ever earn such a place. After all, scars or not, a pretty face is a pretty face. And he has the benefit of being an unknown. Both you and Oka are already in a bingo book. A nobleman might not be aware of it, but that's why they have courtiers for such things. You'd never make it off the island."
Mei pulled a small brown book from her boot and tapped the cover. It was imprinted with a faded symbol of an hourglass. "And, simply put, women who want to enter this line of work need to look soft, even if they aren't. Soft hands, a soft face. Does anything about Oka look soft to you?"
"I didn't ask about Oka," Yahiko said, and shot her a grin.
"You must've known that being in a bingo book would complicate things. If you planned to disguise yourselves, you can forget it. The mist, as a natural defense, doesn't treat makeup well. Only companies within the Land of Water sell makeup specifically for our mist, and there are deterrents in place to discourage theft."
Mei opened the book and held it up at him, and Yahiko whistled and asked, "So, asking our names, that was another test?"
"You must've had an idea that you might be recognized," Mei said, unamused. She tossed the book at him and he caught it with one hand.
"I knew it probably existed, but it doesn't change anything," he said, shrugging. "If you know that much about Nagato's clan, you should also know that no plan would be able to hide his chakra."
"How much can you suppress your chakra?" Ao asked suddenly, staring at Naga.
Ao was making an unfamiliar sign. The veins bulged around his eyepatch.
Naga looked knowingly at him, but did as he asked.
"He's right," Ao said after a second. "Hair dye or clothes won't be enough."
Yahiko threw the bingo book at me without looking and said, "You had to know we'd send strong ninja."
"There's ninja, and then there's the Uzumaki," she fired back. "Large chakra pools aren't unusual for us. It's expected with the ninja vastly outnumbering the civilians. It's the combination of those big pools from ninja clans that create the monsters we have. And they only stand out because of how exceptionally large their signatures are."
"Monsters?" Naga asked.
It was the third last page of the bingo book. Yahiko's page was the left, and mine was the right.
approx. 176 cm, it said under his drawn portrait. It didn't have a headband, but they'd perfectly captured his grin.
kenjutsu proficiency known.
origin: unknown.
A rank.
"The Seven Swordsmen of the Mist for one, but luckily for us most of them are already dead. Only the Hirameikarei user has chosen a successor, and that's our very own Chojuro," Mei answered.
Chojuro went red again as Yahiko and Naga both looked at him.
"And then there's Kisame Hoshigaki. He'll be our biggest obstacle in this," Mei said, and said nothing else.
"We don't know him," Naga told her.
Mei looked at him in surprise, but after a second she pulled a small green book free of her boot, handed it to him, and said, "During the war Konohagakure was the first to name him the Tailless Tailed Beast. Once the other nations encountered him in battle, it became his moniker all over."
approx. 172 cm, it said under mine. They'd drawn me with my hair down to my waist and ringless eyes. It was unrecognizable.
abilities unknown.
origin: unknown.
A rank.
"You're awfully quiet for someone named after Zabuza," Ao mentioned as Naga asked Mei about Kisame's page, eyeing Hidan like he was a wild animal.
"Fuck you and Zabuza," Hidan said instantly, low and threatening even with his eyes still closed.
"You had the most obvious reaction when you came in," Ao pushed on, unperturbed, "You've been here before?"
"I cleared them already," Gushiken spoke up. "You think I'd make a mistake—?"
"No, I don't," Ao said over him. "But if someone is familiar with any part of Nankai, I'd like to know how."
Hidan tsk'ed and didn't answer, and I knew it had to do with Yugakure.
I slid the bingo book into my pouch. "Enough," I finally said. I looked only at Mei as I had the attention of the room. "What I want to know is why I should I care about Kirigakure."
Mei stopped.
"Fuck this," Hidan muttered, standing.
Ao trailed him with his eye as he left the room.
"You don't have to. Is one of the great nations being on your side not enough incentive?" Mei asked.
"You want us to care," I pointed out. "The Yuki clan. Bloodline targets. Yahiko let you dance around it, but if it was just about an alliance, we didn't need to know more than what we needed to do. You want the village to be saved, and you want us to care enough to help you do it. Why do we need you to save Kirigakure?"
"Remember our audience," Gushiken said abruptly, gaze flicking to the wall.
"It's not for foreign-nin to know," Ao said in the silence after.
I kept my eyes on Mei.
Mei shook her head, smiling softly. "It's ancient history," she said. "But, from a young age I was betrothed to Hyousuke Imai, the current daimyo of the Land of Water. I was known, in his father's court, as the Jewel of Nankai. I was adored for my beauty, and that adoration allowed me give some protection to my people. I still use that influence to protect the women here from abuse. But at that time, I was terribly happy. There was always a prejudice in Water against bloodline users, but nobles rarely shared the same thoughts of a ninja, or so I thought."
"Lord Fourth's rise to power changed things. The nobles that hated those like me were always there, but only empowered and bold enough to act when I developed a second bloodline limit. Their rising influence was enough to have Lord Imai annul our betrothal," she said, waving a nonchalant hand. "He married someone unlike me, and many times since he's proposed that I join his court as his favored concubine. But I still have my pride."
"My goal is to end Yagura's rein and create a Kirigakure with a potential its long lost. But as long as I accomplish the first goal, I don't need to become Mizukage to do the second. You need me, because Lord Imai has the final say on who becomes Mizukage and who Kirigakure will or won't ally with, and he won't be influenced by foreign-nin, no matter what role you play in freeing Kirigakure. I'm the influence you need to sway his mind, even if I must sacrifice to do so."
It was silent.
Ao eventually asked, "Now you ask why you came? Not before?"
"It's easier to lie and go back on your word on paper," I answered simply.
and, I answered to myself, Yahiko thought we had a choice, until Kusagakure.
He'd been exhausted back then. More than I ever was.
"I think you could've convinced Yahiko before we came here if you'd written to each other. You're similar," I told Mei. "Naga too, maybe even easier, because he has a big heart."
Mei gazed at Yahiko, waiting to see what he might say, and Yahiko pretended not to notice as moved closer to Naga and patted his shoulder in sympathy.
"I wouldn't—I'm not that easy," Naga was quietly sputtering to him.
"Well, I wouldn't say easy," Yahiko told him. "But I wouldn't say hard either."
Chojuro looked at Naga differently, like he wanted to talk to him, but held himself back with another glance at Mei.
"And then, when we came here, I'd ask you questions anyway, but it'd be more dancing, because you'd have prepared better," I added. "So, why should I care about Kirigakure as a place, and not just a reward?"
Mei shifted deliberately to face me, putting her back to Yahiko and Naga, and closed her eyes.
"T-There hasn't been a good time to ask, but I've never seen a dojutsu like yours—It is a dojutsu, right?" Chojuro asked me.
"Chojuro," Ao admonished.
"Sorry, sir," he said reflexively. "Sorry, forget I asked—"
"It's an Uzumaki dojutsu. It doesn't have a name. Or if it did, it's lost," I answered.
"Uzumaki dojutsu?" Gushiken asked incredulously.
Chojuro's eyes widened. "That's-That's amazing!"
I hummed.
Ao's looked warily at Naga's brown eyes.
"I don't have it," was all he said, watching Yahiko flip through Konohagakure's bingo book.
"Keep your stare to yourself, eyepatch," Namekuji told him.
Ao blinked twice.
"The people of Kirigakure deserve a chance." Mei finally answered, meeting my eyes. "If our roles were reversed, would you let me do as I wanted as long as I accomplished your mission, or would you expect me to follow the rules you set? No matter what's happened in the past or what they've done to you, they're still your people. Even if they've taken everything from you, you'd still stop a foreign-nin from committing crimes against them as they pleased, because like a true fool, you still care about the place that made you who you are."
I stared at her.
They...?
I thought of all the stealing, Mamoru-sensei, how the second person I'd ever killed was from Amegakure, how most of the people I'd killed had been rain-nin.
It didn't feel like it. Sometimes it felt like I was only war, but they had, hadn't they?
"You'll find no one who despises the Land of Water more than me. Yet, I have no regrets about remaining here to fight for Kirigakure when I could escape Water more easily than most, and have no one sent after me for it. Surely, you can understand the feeling?"
I looked at her, and then I shook my head, but said, "I can."
"There is a way forward without killing the Mizukage—"
"Ao," Mei warned, low and dangerous.
Chojuro tensed, looking between them.
Ao didn't meet her burning gaze as he calmly continued, "Killing the Fourth when he has no control over his actions and may never have instead of targeting the puppeteer is cowardly. I tried to pretend otherwise, but I can't. My pride as a shinobi won't allow it."
"At the very start, Yagura was himself. That's what we know," she seethed.
"What about the Mizukage?" I prompted Ao.
Mei glared at him.
"I have an... ability, that allows me to see disruptions in chakra. I was able to see his chakra the day he became Mizukage, and it flowed normally. The next chance I had was shortly before we came to Nankai, and it was changed," Ao explained, looking only at me. "His chakra doesn't flow as it should within his head but pools in his eyes. His brain is starved of chakra. I've seen it with severe head injuries, but most commonly it happens when someone is under the influence of a powerful genjutsu or fuinjutsu."
He finally glanced at Mei and said, "Under such conditions, we can't act hastily. They should know, because we don't know who else the puppeteer might control—"
"I thought we'd settled this, Ao," Mei said icily.
"Can you break it?" I asked him.
"I'm confident that I can."
"Do you think he can save Kirigakure?"
"By capturing the Fourth, the puppeteer has proven that no one else is safe. No matter who we put in charge, the chance that they'll fall under the same manipulation is high. Any trace of foreign chakra in the Fourth's system will die with him. If given the time to find it, I can identify them if they appear again."
I hummed. He hadn't answered my question.
"I want you to describe what the Fourth's chakra looked like," Naga spoke. "Everything you can remember about it. I can help you find the chakra."
Ao hesitated.
"How did you plan to get us to Kirigakure before?" I asked Mei.
"There's a merchant ship that passes between the islands over the course of a week to collect contributions to Kirigakure and then it returns to the village to unload them. There are pirates in these waters, but only the truly stupid would attack a ship covered with so many of the village's markings. Being part of that crew is a sought-after position because of how safe and easy it is."
"With the help of a friend I can have it detour here, and we can board it by tomorrow morning," she explained. "You'll only need to put away your headbands, cloaks, and whatever else can be used to tie you to Amegakure."
"Aren't there patrols?" Naga asked.
"There will be no issues as we travel," Mei assured him.
"And after that?" I asked.
Mei smiled without humor and said, "You'll be the first to know when I've thought of it."
"One thing," Yahiko said, unhooking his pouch. "Our friend, Kuu, stays here."
Kuu poked his head out, sniffed his hand, and then burrowed back inside.
"Your friend could be useful to find the Fourth," Gushiken protested, confused. "If it found us then it could—"
"Kuu isn't ours. We were only borrowing him. The deal we made with his partner was to track who we were looking for. Kuu only hasn't de-summoned himself because he likes us," Yahiko said, shrugging, "But taking him with us would break that trust."
"You value its life over those it might save by saving us time?" Mei asked, not understanding.
"Yes," I answered for him.
Mei was silent, and then she turned away, her expression unreadable.
Gushiken stepped suddenly away from the wall and faced Ao as he said, "Can't wait all day. Get on with it."
Ao nodded once, uncrossed his arms, and drove his fist into Gushiken's stomach.
Gushiken folded in half as he choked. He dropped to his knees, coughing, and Chojuro grimaced. But he didn't look away.
Ao punched him into the face, sending him sprawling, and I watched Mei.
Her hand was on her hip, watching without a sound, trying to angle herself so we couldn't see her face.
But, since Yahiko was leaning on the wall on the opposite side of the room with Naga, it meant that when she turned her head slightly, I saw part of her frown.
I thought of what Gushiken had said about what people here thought of missing-nin, and what it might mean if he went back unharmed.
Naga, once he realized what they were doing, excused himself from the room.
Ao hit him again, and again, and no one moved.
"Is it worth it?" I asked her, over the sound of Gushiken coughing blood.
Ao stopped with his fist raised, but Mei didn't turn around.
"Doing this for you, for peace," I mused. "Where's the line?"
Mei lifted her head. Eventually, she evenly said, "Your question assumes we have the option to have a line. A life with sacrifice as an option is a kind one, and not one open to us. I pledged a long time ago to lead everyone to a brighter future, not only for them, but for those we've lost. Drawing a line, at this point, would only make everything we've done until now pointless. The Fourth would seek to have us executed if we fought, or if we did nothing. Even this island will only protect us until the Fourth's desire for control becomes stronger than his fear of losing the power he has."
I didn't respond.
"This?" Gushiken managed, gesturing at his swollen, bruised cheek. "It's nothing. Don't even feel it. Ao hits like Chojuro—" He collapsed on his side, gasping, and Ao lowered his hand.
"Hey!" Chojuro spluttered, "I-I hit pretty hard!"
"I'm entrusting things here to you while we're gone, Gushiken," Mei said, warm-sounding.
Yahiko and I locked eyes. She didn't understand what I meant, and I hoped she never had to.
赤い
I couldn't tell, in the dim light, if anyone was in the stalls.
The counters were covered, some of the tarps stained with old blood. It smelled like rotting fish. The guts of a one had been left on the ground in front of another stall.
"Your name?" A man standing on a bridge made of wooden planks asked, staring at a clipboard.
A lantern swayed slightly from a wooden post in the middle of the ship. It was at least the length of two or three longboats.
"Mei Terumi," Mei answered, standing confidently in front of him.
His eyes roved automatically over the clipboard, and then he stopped, eyes snapping up. "Terumi...?" he trailed off, eyes wide. "Mei Terumi?"
"I'm the only Mei Terumi I know of."
His frown showed his sharpened teeth. He looked uneasily at us and at Hidan, standing alone. "Well, you're supposed to-we're not supposed to let anyone with that name off the island," he said, pulling his cap low over his eyes. "Our orders come directly from Lord Fourth. You should take your friends back with you."
"You're handsome, and you look smart," Mei said, smiling sweetly. "Do you think it's a coincidence that you've come here ahead of schedule? The people here haven't even had enough time to leave anything for you to take. It'd be a shame if I had to tell someone above Lord Fourth that I can't carry out the mission asked of me."
"Working in a cave all day or being sent out into the field wouldn't suit you," she continued.
Scary, Yahiko signed at us.
His fingers squeezed his hat. "I have my orders," he said again. "Doesn't matter what happens to me, but I've got people back in the village to look out for."
Mei looked at him for a few seconds and said, "Your orders come from a Kage, not a Daimyo. If ninja hassle you, you only need to tell them that your orders came from Hyousuke Imai. Use his full name and do so confidently, and your interrogators won't keep you. You, and those you're protecting might even be lucky enough to be exiled from the village. Many would kill for a fresh start without hunter-nin on their heels."
His frown deepened. He raised his eyes, looking distrustfully at her. "Walk away, miss."
Mei smiled again. "This isn't a test. My mission is real and standing in the way of that won't make your fears disappear. But, if you refuse me again, my offer is off the table. If I were you, I'd look out for myself and my family and give them a better life. You never know what might happen."
His shoulders sagged. After a second, he scribbled something on the clipboard. "Only you, miss Terumi. The missing-nin with you—"
"Will introduce themselves as Mei Terumi," she finished for him. "Only my name will be on that manifest, and no one will look twice. Let me handle the crew."
He looked suddenly terrified. "You want me to trust that you can keep them quiet about this? About smuggling them?"
Mei stepped closer to him. "Nothing should matter but the offer I made. Hyousuke will defend you on my behalf, but only if you stretch the truth. Or, you can continue as you are, and trust in the village to reward your loyalty."
He looked at her, then away. He didn't speak, but he stepped aside.
Mei patted his cheek as she went past.
ライト
I traced a hand along the wood paneling, following Mei to where the storage rooms were.
It was safer for her, he'd said, if we stayed in the middle of the ship.
And for me, he'd added hesitantly, then asked if my eyes were just like that or if it was a dojutsu.
"That was so cool," Chojuro said, at her side.
Mei smiled at him. "It had better be, if you're to learn anything from me."
I watched a tall man come out of a room up ahead carrying a full sack. He glanced at us, glanced away, then blinked back at Mei, staring intensely at her.
"I don't think—" Chojuro squeezed the strap holding the blade to his back. "I don't think I'll ever be that."
Mei didn't look at the man, even as he frowned at her. "You'll have to be if you're to take over for me one day."
Chojuro sputtered out a denial.
He glanced at me, pausing for a few seconds before he dismissed me.
I hummed.
He would've kept glaring at Mei, and maybe even come over, if his eyes didn't catch on the blade on Chojuro's back. He paled a little and quickly turned away.
Chojuro didn't notice him.
A/N: 赤い - Red, ライト - Lights
Yahiko is 176.5 to be exact.
If I could separate this story into parts, Part 1 would be chapters 1-32
Part 2 would be 33-76, and I'd call it "grief" (or "set-up" if I really wanted to be meta).
Part 3 would start at 77.