CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The One Who Humanity Forgot!

XXX

"I'm not gonna lie," Han began, "When you told me you rented us a boat headed to the Hidden Mist, I expected something fancier… maybe a sailboat… perhaps a fishing vessel, at the very least. The last thing I expected was a stupid, leaky rowboat that I'd have to row for nearly two whole hours!" the large man complained as he rowed the tiny vessel through the thick Kiri fog.

The Land of Water was made up of hundreds of islands, some uninhabited, others with populations in the thousands, the biggest of which being Kirigakure. This meant there was only one way to travel from the mainland to any island in the Land of Water, and that was by boat. The only problem was unless you were going to Kiri, or any other island with a population above a few hundred, you needed to find your own transportation. A fact made worse by the fact that the jinchuuriki were essentially fugitives, living off the land and whatever connections they could muster up along the way.

"I would've loved for us to take a bigger boat here, but I couldn't find a cruise liner that stopped on Utakata's island, and I left my private yacht back in Kumo," she apologised vehemently. Her voice riddled with sarcasm and mockery. Han rolled his eyes before returning to the task at hand.

Gaara leaned over the side of the boat to run his hand along the salty water below. Fuu did the same on the other side of the boat while Hinata attended to Naruto, who was still recovering from chakra deprivation. After a few minutes of silence, Gaara finally asked a question that'd been burning a hole in his brain.

"Why would the Six-Tails jinchuuriki be on some tiny island in the middle of nowhere?"

Yugito, standing at the front of the boat, behind Han, offered to answer that for him. "See, Utakata left Kiri a few years ago during an era of the village known as the Bloody Mist Era. It got its name due to the cruel and unusual nature of its academy graduation exam. Rather than graduate by proving themselves through theory and practical examination, the Hidden Mist forced its academy students to battle in an arena near the centre of the village… the victors went on to become Hidden Mist genin… the losers… were those who were killed in the arena."

Gaara's eyes widened. A graduation exam to the death? Most graduates are only twelve years old… why would a village subject its own youth to such a tradition? At this point Hinata and Fuu also turned their attention to Yugito as she continued to explain Utakata's backstory.

"Usually, it was expected that about twelve to fifteen students would survive… nine if you were pushing it… worst-case scenario they could've predicted was when Zabuza Momochi, a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, killed over a hundred students to become the sole survivor… but when it came to Utakata. His tailed beast rushed to save his life… and he killed not just the genin… but also the chuunin… and a healthy portion of the jounin. Effectively, decimating a generation of Kiri's shinobi force… to this day they've never recovered. Utakata wasn't attacked by the village… he wasn't beaten, he wasn't spat on, he wasn't killed… he wasn't even used as a weapon. After that attack, the village just ignored him. As far as they were concerned, he doesn't exist, and never did. They didn't respond to him when he called, they didn't acknowledge him when he passed them, his hospital records were burnt, and his identity scratched from history. It got to the point where they just let hunter-nin enter the village and try to kill him. Seeing as there was no use staying in the village at that point, Utakata became a missing-nin… I don't even know if missing-nin's the right word in this case because according to Kirigakure… there is no such person known as Utakata who has ever lived within their walls."

Yugito Nii finished her story as a foot reached out of the mist to stop their wooden boat in its path. Han looked back over his shoulder. They hadn't even sensed him coming. Scarily, Yugito hadn't even smelled his presence.

"Utakata," she whispered as the robed man stood atop the water with a warm smile running across his pale face. "How did you know we were coming?"

"I sensed your chakra… Two-Tails," he trailed off the blonde woman to focus on the other members of Yugito's crew, "Five-Tails… Seven-Tails… Nine-Tails… One-Tails… Hyuuga?" he listed everyone off perfectly.

Han's face lit up when he finally realised that he wasn't just guessing, "You're a sensory type shinobi?"

Naruto's eyes crept open, "A sensory what?"

"A sensory type… a shinobi able to detect other people by locking onto their chakra… not only that but you're able to differentiate between people's individual chakra natures and identify their tailed beasts," Han folded his arms in bewilderment, "That's amazing. How does it work?"

"Well, the moment someone enters a ten-kilometre radius around me, I can read them like a book. It's how I've managed to survive all these years against more skilled mercenaries than me," he explained removing his foot from the boat. A current slowly pulled the wooden vessel closer to shore but Yugito chose to hop out and walk next to the fellow jinchuuriki.

"Speaking of mercenaries… have you had any weird mercenaries attempt to kill you recently?" she wondered.

Utakata glared at her with his one exposed eye, "I've had over fifty attempts on my life… you'll have to be a lot more specific than that."

Gaara went in further on her behalf, "Large, imposing men in black trench coats with stylised red clouds, big straw hats with tassels along the rim, and a single ring on one of their fingers."

"Sounds pretty unique," Utakata scanned his memory banks for half a second. If he'd ran into anyone like that, he probably wouldn't forget it so easily. He shook his head, "Nope, no one like that that I can recall."

"You think maybe they'll go after Roshi-sensei next, ssu?" Fuu sat up.

"Roshi? That's the Four-Tails, isn't it?" Yugito enquired. Han nodded softly, "Where is he?"

"We left him in the Land of Earth. He promised to collect intel on the Five Great Nations and meet up with us when we got to our paradise… wherever it is," Han recalled.

Utakata stuttered. He turned back to Gaara, "Could you run that description by me one more time?"

"Long black coats that cover their whole body from their neck to their ankles, decorated with red clouds… straw hats with tassels that cover the rest of their face-."

"And a single ring on each of their finger," Utakata said massaging his temples.

XXX

"It looks like we caught him while he was all alone, un," a shadow cackled jumping down from the forest canopy. Utakata slowly glanced over his shoulder to stare into the blonde man's eye. Just like the jinchuuriki, the missing-nin was sporting a bang over one eye. Utakata's pale golden eye stared daggers into the mercenary's lively blue orb.

"Nice job giving away our position, Deidara…" a second figure grunted as he emerged from behind a tree. This one was much shorter, a more rounded figure wearing a mask over his face with a metallic scorpion tail waving behind him.

"If you think he gave away your positions then whoever hired you didn't give you enough intel," Utakata explained.

"Ohh, then go ahead… educate us," the short man chuckled.

"I've been tracking you for the past thirty minutes… drawing you further and further away from my hideout."

"Why draw us away from your hideout when it's you we want?"

"… I didn't want to burden Hotaru with the sight of your dead and decomposing bodies," he warned them.

"He's a cocky one, I'll give him that, huh, Sasori… maybe I should blow the smile right off his face, un!"

"You're one to talk about cockiness, Deidara… this guy took out Juzo, Itachi's old partner… he's not someone we should underestimate."

"That guy with the big sword? I could've taken him out, to be honest, un."

"Should I give you guys a moment?" Utakata wondered.

Deidara grinned, "Hehe, I love him… not at all. Don't mind us," he said before throwing out a piece of white clay. It expanded into a large clay eagle. "We're just figuring out who gets the right to beat you to a pulp, un!"

"Don't come crying to me when the jinchuuriki overpowers you," Sasori warned. And overpower him he did.

Utakata let out a burst of deathly red chakra. Deidara covered his nose. His black trench coat fluttering in the wind. The jinchuuriki had already gotten a read of the Akatsuki member's chakra. A kekkei genkai that infused earth style and lightning style. What could that have been?

Deidara revealed a pair of mouths on the palms of his hands. They coughed up a blob of white chakra.

Utakata grabbed his pipe.

The blobs rose to their feet as deformed humanoid creatures and charged at him.

He dodged their swings. Vaulted over one and slammed it on the ground. It wrapped around his wrist. He blew bubbles onto it before covering his hand in tailed beast chakra.

An explosion.

Utakata landed on his feet.

Deidara's smirked widened into a toothy grin, "So, you also believe the best form of art is a temporary rush of air, un?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"True art cannot be framed and looked at for all of eternity. The best form of art is that silent fleeting moment… of an explosion," a clay humanoid came down from behind Utakata.

He sensed it coming and blew a soap bubble.

The bubble shattered when the humanoid exploded, throwing the jinchuuriki to the floor. Deidara threw a few clay bugs on the ground around Utakata.

"All art is an explosion!"

The light-footed Utakata hopped from bug to bug as they exploded around him. They caught him. He slid across the clearing until he hit a tree. Deidara's white bird came flying through the cloud. Utakata blew a bubble.

Deidara leapt off, just in time.

The explosion launched him into the air.

He was sent even higher by the column of dark red chakra almost hitting him in the face. Deidara crashed through a couple of branches. He snapped a tree trunk in half and rolled a few more metres before coming to a standstill.

He needed to get up.

Utakata was standing over him, covered from head to toe in red chakra with five tails waving behind him.

Sasori came to the rescue, scooping up the blonde mercenary before swinging away.

Utakata exhaled a cloud of toxic gas. He didn't move. He just observed them for a moment.

"I didn't need your help, un!" Deidara yelled.

"Now, it's my turn," Sasori brushed him aside.

Utakata was hovering over him.

The jinchuuriki crashed into the earth sending chakra out into the forest, destroying trees and slicing boulders in half. Nothing remained of Sasori but a log.

"Boom," Deidara quipped as he threw a clay bug at the jinchuuriki.

Utakata ate it and reached out for Deidara.

The jinchuuriki hopped away in time to dodge a flurry of poison needles. He manoeuvred through the trees in silence, waiting for the right moment to strike.

"You see, true art is a slow and painful demise. A poison-ridden agony… that makes you crave the sweet release of death," Sasori corrected his partner. Utakata circled the duo. "I mean… what's the point of art if you don't sit back… and… admire it!" Sasori revealed a large metallic left arm that fired senbon in every direction. Deidara jumped on a diving eagle to get away.

Two needles dug into Utakata's skin. Chakra strings allowed him to yank the jinchuuriki back into the clearing and deck him across the face.

Sasori's hand was melting. "Fucking hot," he commented, shaking the steam off.

"Oi!" Deidara yelled from above.

Utakata reared his head to growl at him. Steam escaped the monster's mouth. Utakata's eyes wandered. He was surrounded by twelve small white balls.

"Ha!"

The inferno swallowed the jinchuuriki.

Utakata was thrown through the trees, slamming through a selection of trunks before rolling onto a large bolder.

He reverted to his normal form. His skin blood-red. He remained still.

"I told you! I told you! Anyone who sees my art is captivated by its fleeting beauty, un," Deidara celebrated as he hopped off his eagle.

"Deidara, you fool!" was the last thing Sasori managed to yell.

"… Saiken…" Utakata murmured.

White sludge emerged from everywhere. From below, from above, it broke through the tree line, it melted boulders, it exploded out of every nook and cranny in the vicinity, until it swallowed Deidara, Sasori and Utakata whole. The sludge bubbled, popped, and moulded until it formed into a beautiful white slug that towered over the island.

"Hook, line, and sinker! How was my timing on that one?"

"Yeah, yeah, you did well, Saiken. Now then… turn these scumbags into a pile of bone…"

"HA!"

Deidara used his clay eagle to escape from the slug's grasp by blowing a hole in its side. Both Sasori and Deidara came flying out with half their trench coats gone. Saiken dissolved around its jinchuuriki as the Akatsuki duo made a break for it.

XXX

"That sounds amazing, ssu!" Fuu yelled with stars in her eyes. The team made landfall. Han hoisted Naruto onto his back before dragging the boat through the sand onto shore.

"I think it was your use of imposing that distracted me," Utakata said, "To me they seemed nothing but… incompetent."

"You said you'd already managed to kill one of them?" Yugito's eyes widened. "Well, they travel in pairs, so you're telling me you've faced four of them, and have come out the victor in every encounter?" she wondered. Utakata nodded.

In the chart of jinchuuriki rankings, Utakata, although a perfect jinchuuriki, was still nowhere near as strong or as talented as Yugito or even Roshi, so if he could hold his own against four of these S-rank mercenaries, was there really any reason to worry?

Fuu seemed to share the same sentiment, "All this hype over a group who can't 2v1 a jinchuuriki?" she chuckled, "Hell, I think even Naruto could take them out based on your description."

Gaara shook his head, "That's impossible. We can't be talking about the same group. The feeling I got staring into these guys' eyes… it would take a whole village to take them down."

"Well… tailed beast are village destroyers, so by that logic, perhaps it's not that far-fetched," Hinata reasoned.

"I have to agree with Gaara on this one… I saw them myself, even then, look at Naruto. The kid ran himself into exhaustion… I don't think any old S-rank shinobi could do that to him," Han said as the team marched through the island's dense shrubbery. He slowly brushed away low-hanging leaves to stop them smacking Naruto in the face, "Perhaps there are rankings within the organisation, meaning they send their weakest available pair first, and send more difficult opponents if they see it fit."

"There's only like ten of them, nine if they haven't managed to replace the one Utakata killed," Yugito argued. "If their weakest members are already S-rank shinobi, then how high could the gap between their weakest and strongest pair be?"

"S-rank shinobi this, S-rank shinobi that. What even classifies an S-rank shinobi? On my day, I could be an S-rank shinobi," Fuu boasted.

"Not even close," Han shut her down. A bit too harshly if you asked her, "S-rank missing-nin is a title reserved for the most deadly mercenaries that can only be dealt with by the most elite jounin or a Kage-equivalent shinobi. So, the fact that we've been moving from small village to small village to avoid running into the Kage proves that we're not S-rank shinobi."

"I'm not scared of any Kage, ssu, I'll just unleash Choumei on their asses."

"Every Kage is trained in sealing their village's tailed beast," Gaara said, "When I was younger, my father would purposely evacuate sections of the Hidden Sand to unleash Shukaku in order to test if I could control him. Every week, I'd lose myself to him. And every week, he managed to bring me back."

"To be fair to Fuu, since the Hidden Waterfall aren't after us yet, she might be the only one immune to that fear," Yugito giggled. The mint-haired jinchuuriki thumped her chest in superiority. The fact that she didn't hail from a Great Shinobi Village was finally working in her favour.

"We're here," Utakata finally spoke up. He pushed through one last entanglement of shrubbery into a clearing. Within the clearing sat a lone two-storey wooden cottage with a massive tree jutting out of it, a garden surrounding it and a stream running through it.

Hinata looked up at the clearing's roof. They were standing under a massive weeping willow that was draping a thick green curtain around the cottage. Only small columns of wispy blue misty light managed to breach the canopy.

Naruto's face lit up. He sniffed the air around them. "Food?" he asked.

Utakata didn't look back, "Yes, that must be Hotaru doing the cooking."

"Hotaru? Who's that?" Han wondered.

"The one person I can't get rid of," he said begrudgingly.

Utakata stopped just in front of the cottage door.

"What's up?" Han asked. Utakata didn't say anything.

With his foot, he pushed the wooden door open all the way.

As the door flew open, a young blonde woman, no older than Fuu and Hinata, came charging out armed with a frying pan. She swung wildly at the group with her eyes closed. Yugito backed up out of the way. Han leapt back. Utakata stared at her nonchalantly, only to disarm her with one hand, pull her wrists together with the other and slamming her against the cottage's wooden walls.

The woman finally opened her eyes, "Oh hey, master, you're back," she snapped out of it.

"Don't call me that," Utakata warned.

"What the hell was that, ssu?" Fuu asked rubbing her eyes.

Utakata looked over shoulder, "That was Hotaru… Hotaru, these are the other jinchuuriki," he said before finally releasing her.

The blonde woman apologised profusely before introducing herself, "My name is Hotaru. I'm Utakata-sensei's only student."

"Except I'm not your sensei, and you're not my student" the jinchuuriki commented.

"I'd hope not," Yugito chuckled, "Your form and technique for the Pan Style: Closed Eye Jutsu is shoddy at best."

Hotaru puffed her cheeks. "It's just that you caught me off-guard. If I was expecting company, I would've been more prepared," she warned.

"I told you I was going to meet them at the beach," Utakata said.

"Shut up!" Hotaru yelled before rushing back into the little home to finish preparing her meal.

Utakata palmed his forehead. He invited the other jinchuuriki into his humble abode before making his way to the kitchen. "If she forgot you were coming that probably means she didn't prepare anything for you… so get comfortable, make yourselves at home. Dinner will be ready in an hour or so."

XXX

It turned out the only thing Naruto needed to cure his exhaustion was a good bowl of curry over rice and he was back to his hyperactive loudmouthed self. The energetic Uzumaki was halfway through his second bowl and showed no signs of stopping.

"It's good to see you're back," Hinata said as drops of curry splattered onto her face.

Naruto lifted his head slightly and with a mouthful of rice said, "It's good to be back."

Yep, now there was some rice on her face to compliment the drops of curry.

"Swallow your food before you talk," Yugito warned. It felt like lecturing a child.

"Sorry," he said, sending more rice flying.

"You're telling me he's your revolutionary symbol?" Utakata asked Yugito and Han.

Han chuckled slightly, "He's our revolutionary symbol. You're gonna have to get used to him."

"I guess I don't have much to complain about, he's a perfect jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox, no matter how old he is, that's a dangerous title to have."

"Ooh…" Yugito winced.

"What?"

"He's not a perfect jinchuuriki. He's basically not a jinchuuriki at all," Han informed him.

"You said everyone here was a perfect jinchuuriki, those were your words!" Utakata stared at the larger man, "What could you possibly mean by that?"

"I mean he can't even use the Nine-Tailed Fox's power because he needs to kill Sasuke Uchiha first… it's a stupid deal he made with his tailed beast but it's the only deal we've got," Han explained.

"The good news is that everyone else is a perfect jinchuuriki though," Yugito tried to look on the bright side.

"Even the Hyuuga?"

"You know that's not true," Yugito said.

"Then why is she here?"

"The Hyuuga heiress is one of our founding members," Gaara said, "She may not be a jinchuuriki but she shares the same goals as us, to escape the persecution that comes with the village systems."

"And what persecution does a princess face?" Utakata wondered.

Fuu blocked Hinata's mouth before she could answer, "Don't answer that… who the fuck are you to talk to Hinata like that?"

"I'm the person you're trying to convince to come with you, and you're doing an awful job at that."

"We've got four perfect jinchuuriki, a master of the Byakugan and Naruto… why would you think you're worth so much to us, ssu?" Fuu chuckled, "You want us in this situation… a war is coming and just because you can 2v1 a couple of guys in black pyjamas doesn't mean you'll be safe when the Great Shinobi Nations descend on your position."

Hinata paused for a minute to comprehend what Fuu had just said. "Is no one else worried about the fact that there are six jinchuuriki in one location?" she wondered.

"Shush, babes," Fuu silenced the Hyuuga heiress.

"I've survived on this island for years and I'll survive on my own for many more years to come," Utakata stood up, "I show you unmatched hospitality and this is how you reward me?"

"Fuu! Sit down!" Han demanded.

The mint-haired jinchuuriki stared at her crimson clad father figure. Her eyes darted back to Utakata. Her piercing orange eyes drilled into his pale golden eyes. She returned to her seat.

"We're supposed to be on the same side here," Yugito reminded everyone. "The whole world is already against us… the last thing we need is to be against ourselves."

Fuu folded her arms in anger.

Naruto slammed his empty bowl on the table, "Done!" He looked around. "Did I miss something?"

"Not at all," Han said patting the top of his head.

"Speaking of all of us being on the same team. We need your help on something," Yugito said, trying to ignore the smug smirk forming across his face, "… we've identified and located the One, Two, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, and Nine-Tails. Only one jinchuuriki remains and we were hoping you knew where they were."

It didn't take a genius to deduce who she was talking about, "The Three-Tails jinchuuriki? Unfortunately, I can't help you with that one. Last I heard, the Three-Tails was sealed within Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage but he's long dead," Utakata explained, "And as I'm sure you two know, when a jinchuuriki dies their tailed beast dies with them."

"Tailed beast can die?" Hotaru wondered. She quickly slapped her hands over her mouth when everyone stared at her.

Han answered that one, "They can but, at the end of the day, they're just beings of pure chakra. And chakra cannot be created or destroyed, it just changes from one form to another, so eventually they'll be revived."

"After how long?" Hotaru asked.

"That's the problem. There's no scientific formula that can answer that question. When the tailed beast is revived can depend on a number of things that we, as mortals, can't even comprehend. It could be days… could be weeks… it could after a hundred years even."

"And since I haven't heard any movement from Kiri about its revival, there are only two options: it's still dead or it revived somewhere out there… in the ocean… too far from land for anyone to even notice."

Yugito chuckled, "I'll give you one thing, Utakata. You're good at telling people what they don't want to hear."

"It's my speciality."

Hotaru stood up, interrupting everyone's moment of despair. "How about I grab some board games to lighten the mood?"

"Board games!" Naruto's face lit up.

Utakata smirked, "Sure, might as well. They're on top of the dresser in my room…"

Yugito stared at Han. The larger man tried to avoid her gaze, but he knew what she was trying to say to him.

Utakata's statement left them with two options. They could either head into Kiri, even though there's probably another ambush waiting for them, or they could forget about Kiri and head somewhere else in search of a place to weather the storm.

What a difficult decision to make. If the Three-Tails is swimming around in the ocean, then there's no point in risking their lives by walking into the Five Great Shinobi Nations' trap. But what if? What if the Three-Tails had reformed? What if they'd sealed it in some poor jinchuuriki? What if that person was sitting in their bed, staring up at the stars, hoping, waiting for their knights in shining armour to come rescue them? Were they going to be left behind due to no fault of their own?

Yugito knew that pain more than anyone else in that room. Being locked away in a cell underground for a month for no reason. Just because you were brought into this world and a decision was made on your behalf, whether it was by your parents or your Kage or your elders, you've been forced to bear the burden of becoming a human sacrifice.

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.

Yugito returned her attention to Utakata. The man was staring over his shoulder at a window. She looked at the window too before looking back at Utakata. What was on his mind?

XXX

Unbeknownst to Yugito, a few kilometres away, on the sandy beaches of Utakata's island, a young woman dressed from head-to-toe in a waterproof black skin-tight attire had washed up onto shore. Slowly but surely, she coughed up nearly a litre of seawater before rising to her feet. She removed her swimming attire to reveal bright orange hair, a black trench coat, a small face laden with piercings and deathly grey eyes. She kicked her suit off and tossed it into the ocean. Hidden under the guise of night, she stared at the dense jungle island and muttered, "I made it…"