Author's Note
Age updates and my timeline thus far. (If you don't care, skip the rest of this Author's Note scroll down to see Chapter 20)
Katiya is written as 4 years older than Itachi, Itachi 6 years older than Sasuke, and Sasuke a year older than Gaara… And Gaara is 3 years YOUNGER than Temari, who is a year OLDER than Kankuro. (And Gaara is now 7.)
Katiya is 18, but looks like a 15 year old because she cannot age (which could be subject to change later). She is 11 years older than Gaara. She is also 1 year older than Guren, who is 2 years older than Kabuto, who is 4 years older than Kimimaro and Jugo (and Kimimaro is 1 year older than the rest of the Sound Four). Katiya is also 3 years YOUNGER than Anko, who is 1 year OLDER than Yamato.
Rough Timeline (given with Gaara's birth as year 0)
(-40) Orochimaru (and the other Sannin) is born
...
(-38) Katiya's father is born
(-37) Katiya's mother is born
...
(-26) Katiya's mother leaves Kiri, arrives in Land of Waves
...
(-20) 2nd Shinobi War begins
(-19) Katiya's father leaves Konoha, arrives in Land of Waves
(-18) Katiya's mother enters Orochimaru's service
(-17) Katiya's parents meet
(-16) 2nd Shinobi War ends
...
(-14) Anko is born
(-13) "Yamato" is born
...
(-11) Katiya is born
(-10) Guren is born, Orochimaru enters Root service, "Yamato" is kidnapped
...
(-8) Kabuto is born
(-7) Itachi is born
...
(-5) Jugo and Kimimaro are born, 3rd Shinobi War begins, Kabuto is adopted by Nonō
(-4) Sound Four are born
(-3) Anko enters Orochimaru's service, Temari is born
(-2) Kankuro (and Team Gai) is born, Kimimaro enters Orochimaru's service, "Yamato" enters Root service, Kabuto enters Root service
(-1) Sasuke is born (3 months before Naruto), Jugo enters Orochimaru's service, Katiya's father dies
(0) 3rd Shinobi War ends, Gaara (and Naruto) is born, Orochimaru operates on Danzo's arm (for the first time)
(1) Anko leaves Orochimaru's service
(2) Kabuto leaves Root service, enters Orochimaru's service, Orochimaru operates on Danzo's arm (again), Orochimaru leaves Konoha & enters Akatsuki service
(3) Itachi enters ANBU service
(4) Katiya's mother dies
(5) Itachi & Katiya meet, Uchiha Massacre, Itachi enters Akatsuki service, Orochimaru leaves Akatsuki service, Guren enters Orochimaru's service
(6) Katiya arrives in Suna
(7) Yashamaru dies, Katiya leaves Suna & enters Orochimaru' service, Gaara begins missions
…
(10) Otogakure formally created, Orochimaru takes 2nd(?) host
(11) Chunin exams (for Gaara, etc)
Other notes: Temari, according to the Naruto Fandom Wikia or "Narutopedia" page, was made chunin at age 17 while Neji was made chunin at age 15… but I hear (lost my ability to watch the rest of Shippuden) Temari was the one of the people (along with Shikamaru) who proctor the exam Neji takes (and therefore must be a jonin, yes?)... but Neji was 13 during the FIRST Chunin Exams when Temari was 15… so that math doesn't add up, assuming the timing for the jonin* and chunin exams follow a similar schedule… so I'm going to go ahead and say I'm BASING my timeline off of the Wikia… But not using it.
(Asterisk) Canon manga has no Jonin Exams; canon anime does. (For the sake of this fanfiction, when I refer to "canon," I mean the anime, by the way.)
Other other note: Naruto is one "year" younger, but still falls in the same SCHOOL year as his team. Read: "Rough Timeline"
(Damn, that was one long Author's Note… IF YOU FIND ANY DISCREPANCIES IN THIS TIMELINE PLEASE CONTACT ME SOMEHOW. You don't know how many edits I had to make to the timeline to make things fit…)
Chapter 20
Temari (the next day, approximate time: 2:00 AM)
Temari took the second watch that day, Baki the first, and her brother the last. Under no circumstance were they to allow Gaara to go unsupervised, and that included through the night. She was standing at an angle to the window, lamenting how in the desert, the large distance between herself and him would have at least allowed her to train while she was on watch. Now, in such close quarters, to do so would not allow her nearly enough reaction time.
Tilting her head slightly back to look at Gaara, she felt a deep-seated hatred and apprehension roll through her. Hatred at how calm he could appear despite being a monster. How their entire lives revolved around keeping him sated, and how he entered that trance-like state, no one daring to attempt to reach him when he was within it. And apprehension, because the boy was a ticking bomb, capable of killing them all with the slightest flick of his hand.
Untucking her fan from under her arm, she swung it experimentally. It was still closed, so it behaved more as a club rather than a long-range weapon, less likely to damage her surroundings and better able to react in the close quarters. She swung it once more, an overhead arc, pausing when her fan landed at chest-level. And then again, pivoting to face the opposite direction.
She turned her head slightly to check on her team, but then she froze.
While Gaara remained seated where he was a few moments ago, he had opened his eyes to watch her. Temari drew her fan back to her, placing it over her chest lengthwise to use as a shield if necessary.
"You're awake," Temari breathed.
"... I did not sleep," Gaara rasped in response before turning his head to stand. Temari's eyes widened, tightening her grip on her fan as Gaara turned to the door. "I never sleep," he continued simply.
Temari sucked in a breath before she did a Body Flicker Jutsu to place herself at an angle by the door. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked a tad roughly.
Gaara let out a quiet growl. Temari shifted her weight and eyed her sensei. With one yell, she knew he'd awaken—but the question was whether or not it'd be too late before he did.
"The roof."
Temari suppressed a scowl. She wasn't supposed to let Gaara out of her sight. Taking a steadying breath, she tried compromising, "How about you sleep, then? And wait until morning when Baki-sensei wakes up to go to the roof?"
Gaara growled again, this louder and more forcefully. Temari broke out into a light sweat. She knew was lucky if Gaara didn't outright kill her to get to the roof.
"Shukaku never lets me sleep…" Gaara growled, glaring at his sister with greater intensity, pushing an edge of killing intent into them. Temari wisely shifted away from the door. Gaara narrowed his eyes before taking the action as consent to leave. He pushed the door open and left.
What does he mean? "Shukaku never lets—" him—sleep? Shukaku? The…
Temari thought back to the tailed beast that she saw rampaging through Suna, the smell and the scene as vivid as it was back then. Temari shook her head. After steadying her pounding heartbeat ever so slightly, she followed him quietly, leaving a more than three meter distance between them.
She watched as Gaara hovered himself over to the roof to watch the crescent moon and the street below. Her eyes widened. The light reflecting off of her brother's slate green eyes colored them a slight yellow, forcing her to recall the yellow eyes of him, those months ago. Inhaling deeply, she took a seated position on the verandah of the inn, Gaara visible out of the corner of her eye as she mentally rehearsed her fan training sequence.
At around four in the morning, she sent a clone to awaken Kankuro and watch Gaara stare intensely at the street below from the roof of the inn.
Gaara (approximate time: 5:00 AM)
Gaara watched the moon rise and then begin to fall again from his perch on the inn rooftop. His siblings, lucky it was not a full moon. He did not know how long he could appease his mother's desire for blood without destroying everything on those days, the full moons, Shukaku stronger.
As it were, he and Shukaku were joined together to be his mother's weapon against the village and against humanity. No attempt by his father would ever change that in Gaara's mind. And as his and Shukaku's destructive union was by his mother's wishes, any of Shukaku's wishes to wreak havoc Gaara perceived to be by her will.
So he felt guilty for the headache that was caused by Shukaku's thirst for blood. Guilty for attempting to quell it for his own benefit. For his life, that is.
Because on one hand, the full manifestation of Shukaku would slowly kill him to form the demon body and his father would simply stop him or kill him before the full transformation took hold. Yet on the other, if it were his mother's wish for him to raze the plane she once called home, it was his duty to do so. Giving his life to her purpose as she did to birth him.
Soon, Mother, soon, he whispered in his mind, over and over again. A promise he made to her every day, replacing his former pleas of "just a little bit longer" to keep himself awake.
Small kills, when he could, he promised. Ones that satiated Shukaku's and thus his mother's desire for blood... and kept himself alive until he was ready.
So no one would be there to stop him once he was.
Kankuro (approximate time: 6:00 AM)
Baki-sensei and Kankuro's sister exited the inn with their equipment. It was a good thing his sister told him to pack up early, as they were now able to directly leave the inn without him needing to delay by walking back to cram everything together.
"Is he still up there?" Temari asked, coming out.
Kankuro looked to the adobe chimney of the inn. Baki and Temari followed his gaze. "Yep," Kankuro grunted.
Baki cleared his throat. "Gaara, we're leaving."
Gaara continued staring out at the street. Kankuro kicked the sand with his foot. Guess I wasn't the one who needed to worry about holding everyone up, afterall, Kankuro mentally grumbled.
Baki moved to yell again, or fetch the Jinchuriki down himself when Gaara turned his head to acknowledge his sensei. Kankuro watched the inscrutable expression on his face as Gaara floated down to earth using his sand. Kankuro took a few cautious steps back from his brother.
"Let's go," Gaara rasped.
Kankuro's eyelid twitched at the entitled tone.
Katiya (the next day, approximate time: 1:00 PM)
"You know, I was the one who faked a corpse for you, when you left Suna the way you did. The reason why you don't need to worry about sleeping with one eye open, either," Kabuto said as the team jumped from tree to tree as they were en route to the Northern Hideout of Orochimaru's.
Katiya raised an eyebrow to the last statement but said nothing.
"You owe me," Kabuto continued, now jumping parallel to Katiya.
"I owe nothing to you that I won't repay fighting on behalf of Oto."
Guren, who was ahead of the pair, turned her head to sneer at that response. Kabuto, however, smirked. "I didn't even say the proposal I had in mind for you."
Katiya's face remained deadpan, only deigning him with a sidelong glance as she "focused" on her footwork.
"You can't tell me you aren't the least bit curious about your mother," Kabuto continued going back to his original talking point.
Katiya narrowed her eyes. "Whatever you tell me will likely be only half of the story, and I see no reason to allow you to manipulate me with information I can gather myself."
Kabuto tilted his head towards her. "I noticed you know about the work your mother did on behalf of our Wood Style Project, but did you know about the work she did on behalf of the Curse Mark Project?"
"Curse Mark Project"? she mentally repeated. She allowed a look of wonder and an eyebrow raise to slip into her outward features.
"I can tell you—or as you wish, show you the work she did—if you prove yourself useful, that is."
Kankuro (approximate time: 1:30 PM)
They had made it. On the far side of the village outpost they entered a day previously, there it was: the cave museum under a sand dune that held the artifact they were to escort. Kankuro breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't a person, because that would have meant a potential issue, and he didn't quite have that much trust in his own ability to keep a level head during another Gaara-Shukaku rampage. At least, not yet.
Ignoring the little brat, he took in the elaborate carved rock pillars that formed the entrance, then the domed roof of the interior. It was excellent craftsmanship that Kankuro could appreciate. Reminiscent of the intricate sculptures Gaara used to make of sand, when they still behaved as siblings, that was. He fought with his features to keep them neutral rather than in awe.
Pulling his gaze back down to earth, he watched as Baki-sensei took a brown wrapped package off of the museum curator's hands. They exchanged words, bowed, and then Baki moved back to the rest of the team. "We're done here, time to head towards the Land of Rivers for the delivery."
The entire team, sans Gaara seemed to stand taller. We're almost done. Kankuro moved to snatch the map of Suna out of his sister's hand.
"Hey!"
"Geez, lemme borrow it."
"Ask first next time!" she rebuked, curling the scroll up to whack Kankuro.
"Ow! Be polite—our employer's right there."
Temari's mouth curled. "Really. You should have thought of that before you tried grabbing my map," she said, thrusting the map into Kankuro's hands. Her tone was vitriolic, as it had been since Gaara joined their team and she wasn't stepping on eggshells speaking to him.
Kankuro sighed inwardly. Gonna be hard for any of us to lighten up with that punk around.
...
Baki watched the group out of one eye, Gaara in the corner of his vision at all times. From his stance at the door, Gaara did not seem at all pleased. Baki took his own map out. The village they were to deliver to was in the southeast, giving them a much easier return journey back to Suna, but also a much easier time for any potential assassins to reach them.
Kankuro examined his (sister's) map while eyeing Baki. "Something up?" he asked absentmindedly while tracing the easiest pathway to the next village with his index finger.
Baki's usually stiff form didn't give any indication what, if anything, was wrong, but Kankuro was a better people-person than his sister, especially if he wanted to be. Baki swiveled his head to look at Kankuro, and then Temari, still keeping an eye on Gaara. Noticing that the museum curator was still nearby, he said, "Later."
…
The team set off at a brisk pace to the next village to increase the distance between themselves and Gaara. When they were finally out of earshot, Kankuro opened his mouth to speak. "So… anything we should know about, sensei?"
Temari evened out her pace to match her brother's, listening now as well.
"We're going to be getting closer to Suna again," Baki said. "The number of assassination attempts will likely increase, but it's unlikely for them to be of the Kazekage's origins."
Kankuro and Temari exchanged glances. "What d'you mean by that?" Kankuro asked.
Baki hesitated. "Many shinobi families were put into jeopardy the day of… Gaara's… rampage, many of them having lost all there was to lose. No reprimand the Kazekage can or will give is likely to deter them from their cause: to put an end to the being that caused them their suffering."
Kankuro frowned, "But what's that got to do with us? As long as we stay out of their way, we should be fine, right?"
Temari swung her gaze out to look at Gaara's position. "We're assuming Gaara doesn't kill us with the attackers," she told Kankuro. She swung her gaze back, "Just how under control do you think Gaara has his… issues?" she asked Baki.
"Not well enough," came the blunt reply.
Great, Kankuro thought. "You're worried about another rampage, are you?"
Baki replied hesitantly. "No more so than the likely result of an assassination attempt, even without one."
Temari and Kankuro exchanged glances once more. They both knew what would have that meant. This time, Temari spoke, "If we continue at this pace, we can get to the next village in a single day—and we can take the pathway by the eastern ridgecrest. It'd be less likely that any assassins will be able to triangulate our location like that."
Kankuro gave her sister a look of stiffened shock. They'd be really pushing it like that, and the eastern ridgecrest was one of Suna's toughest natural borders, not to mention not the easy pathway he had scouted out on the map. "Alright, but what about Gaara, Baki-sensei? Do you think he'd keep up with us?"
Baki looked at his two students, then Gaara's small and distant form. "I doubt it, but we can hope."
Gaara (approximate time: 2:00 PM)
Gaara continued behind his siblings as they traveled southeast. He continued on his own slow meandering pace, seemingly lost in thought while his siblings rushed to get to the twenty five meter distance from their youngest member that the Kazekage mandated. Gaara growled softly. He didn't mind.
He recalled the lecture he got about a week ago. "I've sent Baki-sensei along with… your siblings ahead of you. And I've given him my permission to kill you should you get any closer than twenty-five meters to them, or give them any reason to question their security. Make no mistake, Gaara. My sending you on missions is not to give you free rein and per my instruction, Baki can and will kill you."
YoUr FaTheR isN'T hErE riGht NoW, LiTtLE GaARa… KiLL tHeM, kiLL, KILL NOW!
Gaara faltered, hissing as his head pounded. No. He couldn't. He couldn't let Shukaku out. Baki would kill him.
YoU reaLLy ThiNk tHAt liTTle SenSEI oF YoUrs CaN KiLL yOU?
Gaara inhaled deeply, recalling the image of Baki cutting one of his—Shukaku's—sand arms with his Blade of Wind Jutsu during that night. I don't want to try it, Gaara rasped, kneeling in the chamber of his mind, Shukaku's chamber.
FiiiNNnnEeeee. Be ThAT WaY! … JusT dOn'T exPeCT mE tO MaKE ThAT gUArAnTEe LaTeR… wHeN yoU SLeeP…
Gaara huffed, continuing on his path despite his headache. I don't need you to—their time will come… all of humanity's time will come.
Shukaku giggled in agreement.
Gaara looked to the path ahead of him. The rest of the squad he was assigned to were taking off, running now rather than the enhanced shinobi paced walk they were at.
Where are they going?
Shukaku laughed heartily, AwAy FrOM yOu, NOw! AFRAID, ARE THEY? KiLL thEM LiTtLE GaARa, KiLL tHeM, kiLL ThEM NOW!
Gaara ignored Shukaku this time. The sand hissed around him agitatedly. He pushed chakra to his legs, focusing the spiritual energy aspect of it to temporarily replace his cells with beads of sand and create a small sand tornado to use to propel himself forward to the speed of his… teammates despite the greater following distance.
Perhaps they were moving towards people he could kill and alleviate the headache Shukaku was forcing onto him.
Katiya (approximate time: 2:00 PM)
The expressions of the two other members of the team, not including Kabuto, were at opposites of each other. On Ryuteki's face was a placid facsimile of pity; Guren's was a look of abject glee. They had entered Orochimaru's Northern Hideout, and were greeted with the same set of labyrinthine walls as his base in Oto, only this time they were a pale and sterile grey.
"Oh, Kabuto, wouldn't it be better to wait for Kimimaro to come back from his mission? Surely, whatever you need can wait until then," Ryuteki simpered.
Guren, on the other hand cackled. "If the task I think you have in mind is going to be a test, Kabuto, you're even crueler than I thought you were!"
Katiya frowned at the two statements, and looked to Kabuto for clarification, the latter of whose mouth twisted into an "obviously evil" smile. "After leaving the Land of Waves, Lord Orochimaru lost contact with your mother. But as you said yourself, she was a researcher for him and so nearly all the work she did remained. Much of it has been transferred here after the fall of the Land of Waves base, to the Northern Hideout."
Katiya absorbed the information, breathing deeply as she considered the details.
Kabuto continued, "Hence our reason for being here, and the task I have in mind. You see, your mother was a highly accomplished geneticist who worked on the Curse Mark Project—which is still ongoing—based on one boy's unique kekkei genkai that feeds off of nature chakra to enhance the strength of our followers."
"Then what task do you intend me to do? I'm afraid that talent wasn't exactly hereditary, nor do I think I learned much from my mother via osmosis…"
"Oh, no, you misunderstand. I know your medical ninjutsu skill only goes as far as basic field medicine. I'm offering to train you further. That is, if you succeed in your task and prove yourself useful to our cause."
Katiya tilted her head to Kabuto ever slightly in agreement to the proposal. I can use any additional training I can get, she thought, even though she knew she'd be opening herself up to an analysis of her strengths and weaknesses from a potential enemy—she wasn't ever going to demonstrate her full skill anyways. But that "use" that Kabuto spoke of—she wasn't inclined to a full agreement until she knew what that was.
… However, she could decline that second part later, she hoped, if it was between the extra training and being useful in a way she didn't agree with and receiving neither privilege.
Kabuto noticed her interest and carried on, "The Curse Seal Jutsu your mother worked on with Lord Orochimaru was incomplete, all of them with a success rate of less than 5% or worse… with side effects. Lord Orochimaru has since refined it to have a more than 10% success rate, but even so, it's much too uncontrolled. It still is therefore reserved only for Lord Orochimaru's strongest and most loyal followers."
Or expendable lab experiments, Katiya added privately. She frowned, "I still don't see what you need me to do."
"I'm getting to that part. Ryuteki here was one of the latter, one of Orochimaru's most loyal who willingly bore through the process of receiving a prototype curse mark such as that one," Kabuto said flatteringly, gesturing to the woman in question.
Upon hearing her name, Ryuteki began to unwrap her cloth neck guard until what appeared to be a charred seal on the side of her neck appeared—seemingly fused into her skin in the form of three crescent lines revolving around an invisible center. Katiya's eyes widened at what appeared to be a slightly swollen, violent fusion and an odd familiarity with the mark. Katiya swung her gaze back to Kabuto as he began speaking once more.
"Truth be told, Lord Orochimaru isn't happy with the present success rate, but we need more data—blood—to continue experimentation. Blood, containing the secret to the Curse Mark Jutsu. However, with both Kimimaro and Lord Orochimaru out on assignment, ordinarily, we'd be forced to wait for them to arrive back to obtain samples, the absorption of natural energy making the boy we need highly unstable. But I think we can make do today—after all—you do have experience managing unstable Jinchuriki, don't you, Katsu?"
Katiya clenched her jaw. Oto clearly had a few spies in Suna or a few other recent defections to know that detail… so yes, Katiya did. "Alright…" she began.
It's someone else like Gaara, dangerous, but not intentionally… at least… Katiya swallowed the rest of the thought before thinking once more, it shouldn't be any worse than that...
"I'll do it," she said, weighing her words, "but under three conditions if I succeed: One, I gain access to all of my mother's documents, no redactions and no other limitations; two, I get this boy's full file—like hell I'm going in there blind; and three, if this is intended to be a test for me and me alone, that woman stays here," Katiya said, pointing to Guren.
She knew the first term was unlikely to be ever met completely, but at least she'd be able to get something out of this initial deal of hers, even if she never got any training from Kabuto. The second and third terms were simply about making her task easier. There was still that question of that other "use" Kabuto spoke of—as Katiya doubted it was as simple as completing a single assignment.
She waited, watching Kabuto's expression.
Kabuto met her eyes, nodding almost imperceptibly as he thought, confirming that it was indeed a test for her and her alone. "That woman" in question, however, barked a short laugh. "By the time you see who you're collecting samples from, you'll be lucky if you're even able to beg for my help!"
Katiya ignored her.
After a pause and with a curt nod of consent and a flick of what appeared to be an info card from Kabuto, Katiya took off in the direction of her target.
Author's Note
No one really has a good curse mark yet. The way my storyline is set up, currently no one besides Anko and Ryuteki have proper curse marks… and Orochimaru's current host (because I assume he would have taken one as soon as possible after he lost a hand to Itachi. (He doesn't exactly strike me as the sort of person who would just sit around with a missing arm… for long, anyways...))
Everyone else died in my story. Ryuteki and Orochimaru's current host were both parts of the Curse Mark of Earth trials so Anko is still the only one who survived her trial—for the Curse Mark of Heaven. And I'm going to write this thing so that Kimimaro doesn't get a curse mark until he's twelve (and maybe the rest of the Sound Four, that year). Hence these chapter bits.