28: Empire of cards.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

09:52 a.m.

Ame Club in Kyoto

Kakuzu hurried over to Madara, the cell phone still in his hand. "I just wanted to call you so that we could move the location of our meeting somewhere else."

But Madara didn't pay much attention to him. His gaze was constantly fixed on the get-together in the only occupied seating area of the Ame Club. The men there had hardly noticed his arrival. Genma stared at him and only now did the others register the cause of his shocked wide-open eyes. Asuma got into a fighting position despite his sitting posture, Gai flinched when he spotted Madara's red irises, Kakashi hid his horror behind a quiet breath and Itachi only read the reactions of the men in front of him to know that he didn't need to turn around.

Madara smiled slightly, came to them and looked at the faces, which were fixed on him in different degrees with the same fear. "Good morning," he said politely. "What a.. well, interesting picture you offer."

"Heh!" Genma shouted and grinned crookedly at Madara. "I know you! The other day at university. What was your name?"

Madara tilted his head. "If you want to continue playing Hinata's boyfriend in my presence, you should hide your service weapon properly, Genma Shiranui. Otherwise, it's a little treacherous."

Genma's masquerade fell away from him immediately. "What do you want here?" he asked with a threatening undertone. "Or no, wait before you tell me, let me call Ibiki, I'm sure he'd like to hear what you have to discuss with retired Bill Butcher."

Kakashi looked perplexed from Madara to Kakuzu, who had followed the Uchiha at some distance. At the mention of this name something seemed to dawn on him.

The smile on Madara's face widened. "What makes you think Ibiki doesn't already know the reason? But you're welcome, call him and send him my best wishes." He sighed theatrically, pulled up a plush-covered stool from the next table and sat down on it. "Help me out. What should I think of this scenario? Why did Division G leave their cozy office, where work is likely to pile up after the events of the previous evening?" While Genma, Asuma, and Gai flinched, Madara turned to Kakashi. "And why do they meet Kakashi Hatake, a capable ex-soldier who prefers to bury his nose in novels with pornographic content instead of finally divorcing his adulterous wife?" Kakashi's trembling opening of the mouth was also ignored by Madara. "And why.." Slowly, he turned to Itachi, who was sitting next to him. ".. does an undercover agent of the local police leave his postat a meat inspection of the clan, admittedly ordered out of personal revenge, and thus risk his cover being blown?" His eyes flashed to the heavily breathing Genma. "And now don't ask me what I want here or how I know all this, but finally tell me what's going on with Hinata. That's why you are all here, aren't you?"

In the silence that followed, one could have heard teeth chattering. But after a few quiet seconds, Genma took a deep breath and said, "I don't know why, but she left my apartment."

"Traces of a raid?" Madara asked directly.

Genma shook his head. "Anko would have reported that to me. She said Hinata had retreated to my room with sticky notes to clear her head. So shortly after I drove to work, she left or was lured."

"But Hanabi is still there," Madara stated knowingly, "so Hiashi should have no leverage over her."

"As I said, I don't know why she left, but she has and we have to deal with that." Genma looked at Itachi. "Maybe Itachi can tell you what happened after that."

Itachi didn't look in Madara's direction for a second, but exchanged a gaze with Kakashi, who nodded and hesitantly filled in the gaps. "A student with whom Hinata had taken some courses came to me shortly before nine and met Hinata downstairs in front of the side entrance. She had injuries to her face and neck and seemed distraught. You all seem to know where she got those from, could you enlighten me?"

Three mouths opened, but Madara interjected impatiently, "Yesterday afternoon, Hinata fled the estate with her sister after Hanabi was forced to participate a meeting with Suigetsu Hoozuki. She then returned with the help of Division G and a few guests from this establishment to steal evidence against her father. I don't know who exactly inflicted these injuries on her."

"Hiashi's bodyguards," Genma added. "Tokuma probably choked her, although she wasn't entirely sure if it was him. It's just as possible that her cousin Neji did this when the two of them raped her on Monday. The other injuries are from Iroha. He tied her up in the closet when she tried to help her sister."

"Thank you," Kakashi nodded, cleared his throat, looked briefly again at Itachi, who was staring absently at the tabletop, and continued, "Hinata told Shino that she wanted to see me and—"

"Why?" Madara interrupted him.

"I don't know," Kakashi replied bluntly. "Then the Four showed up. They knew Shino's name."

"Where is he now?" asked Madara.

"I sent him home and told him to watch out for anyone following him. At that time, I didn't know who commissioned the Four. I was afraid that it was you to kidnap Hiashi's daughter. But I assume that was a misconception."

"You are absolutely right," Madara said. "And this Shino is sure it were the Four?"

"He was able to describe each of them."

"So, you are sure it were the Four?"

Kakashi raised his eyebrows. "Do you think I don't know them?"

"How?"

"You know so much about me, tell me."

"We don't have time for such games," Madara growled and took out his cell phone.

Kakashi didn't want to let that get him down. "I was forced to ensure within my scope of discretion that an uninvolved student was not kidnapped, tortured and killed by a brutal group of mercenaries. Why was that necessary?"

Genma stirred. "That's my mistake."

Everyone looked at him, even Madara took his eyes off his smartphone. "Hinata explained to me what had happened on Sunday."

"Oh?" Gai said interested. "What happened there? Tell us."

"Kaguya Ootsutsuki received her husband's gift and then confronted Hiashi. She probably thought that Isshiki's mutilation was revenge for abusing Hinata. They.. well, she called it 'interrogated' her and in the process, Hiashi noticed traces on her that..." Genma hesitated, but then he continued undeterred, "She had consensual sexual intercourse without his knowledge and had traces of it on her body." Almost imperceptibly, Kakashi, Madara and Itachi moved minimally. "In a panic, she told Shino's name as her boyfriend's, Hiashi wanted to meet him and she called me to play him. I guess when Hiashi was looking for her, that name was his first port of call, and he set the Four on him."

"And where was your mistake now?" asked Asuma. "You had de-escalated the situation after all, or were you wrong?"

"Obviously, I was wrong, otherwise they wouldn't have been looking for the real Shino. I hadn't been convincing enough."

"Aaah, you're too hard on yourself, Genma," Gai said and put his arm around his shoulder encouragingly.

Genma sighed and tried to push Gai's arm away. "No, that—"

Suddenly Madara rose. "They arrived at the estate seventy-two minutes ago."

Now he attracted everyone's attention. "How do you know that?" Genma asked suspiciously.

Madara pierced him with his gaze. "I told you not to ask me something like that. That is also not relevant. The fact is, the Four brought Hinata to Hiashi. So, we know where she is and can get her out." He turned to leave.

"Waaaaiiiit," Asuma interjected and stood up as well. "You can't just show up here, get confidential information from us and storm in there now."

"Why not?" Madara asked with knitted eyebrows.

Asuma crossed his arms. "That is still a matter for the police."

"You mean the police who just sit around here waiting for next spring?" Madara nodded down to the others.

"We need a plan," Asuma replied.

With an inappropriately leisurely pace, Madara walked towards Asuma. "My plan is to get Hinata out of there while she's still breathing. With every second I wait, the likelihood of me succeeding dwindles." He had arrived at Asuma and now they were very close to each other, so that the tips of their noses almost touched.

Asuma didn't back down and asked, "What interest do you have in her? Why do you care if she lives or dies? It can only be right for you to see your enemy's daughter dead."

"My interest in her is none of your business. Don't stop me, or I'll make sure you will never be able to do it again," Madara whispered, but everyone heard his words and they provoked a clicking sound. Genma aimed at Madara with his gun loaded and unlocked. "Don't threaten my partner, or you'll have a hole in your head."

Madara smiled. "So, we understand each other. Everyone here has the same goal" – he gave Asuma a last, sparking look – "our motivation behind it doesn't matter. What are you still waiting for?"

"Madara," Itachi said suddenly. He had been silent the entire conversation and hadn't look at anyone, but now he stared his clan leader straight in the eye. "If we go in there, it's suicide. Hiashi is many things, but not stupid. He certainly gathered his people around him. There is an army in there that the six of us are no match for. We don't even have the equipment for it."

"I can tell you the name and address of all the people who are currently in this building. Hiashi, Sukunai, Neji, Tokuma, Iroha, Kou and the Four. That's all of them. Hiashi did not prepare for a war, but only for the torture of a single young man. There are also no employees there who could become collateral damage. Eleven out of twelve can defend themselves, they pose a danger to us; twelve deserve to be punished for their deeds. Our advantage is the element of surprise. Each of us is armed," Madara stated, but Kakashi, who was the only one sitting next to Gai, let out a snort in comment. "I haven't held a rifle in my hand for over ten years."

Madara appraised him. "Do you want to save Hinata?"

"Yes," Kakashi replied without hesitation.

"Good." Madara reached into his rear weapon holster, pulled out the Glock, and handed it to Kakashi. "Are you familiar with P 80?"

"Magazine size?", Kakashi asked in response.

"Eighteen and one in the barrel." He turned back to Itachi and continued his conversation as if nothing else had happened. "Are you afraid that I'll shoot you by chance, Itachi? Do you think I didn't know for a long time that you were spying on the clan for Ibiki? If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it long ago." He stepped next to him, bent down to him and murmured so that no one else could understand, "You know the saying: When it rains, it pours." He smiled at him. "Why do you think I let you get away with this all these years? This clan is worth nothing to me. This is a rotten pile of vultures. They think they are better than the Hyuuga, but we are all the same. What do you think of Sasuke, huh? Do you think he deserves this show?" Itachi was silent and Madara took this as a negation. "Neither do I. Our clan has lost itself in its own pride. I'm striving for a world without all of that and you, without knowing it, have been helping me to fulfill this dream. We're a good team, Itachi, don't you think?" Itachi did not reply. Madara straightened up again and said to the group behind him, "Let your imagination run wild. Hiashi has had Hinata in his power for seventy-nine minutes now. What do you think he could have done to her during this time?" No one answered. "If you don't want it to be more, we should go."

"Fucking shit," Asuma cursed. "Genma, you realize that Tsunade will kill us if we survive this, right?"

"Asuma, you don't have to come with us. Your daughter needs you."

"And then I can hear from my wife that I allowed Gai and you to go in there without me? No. I show my father what it means to be a real police officer." He resolutely adjusted his shirt collar.

Genma twisted his mouth and said in a sober tone, "The job of a police officer is actually to write reports and patrol. What we are trying to do here is stupid heroism. As you said, Tsunade will kill us. But fuck it, Madara is right. If we wait longer, there will be nothing left of Hinata. We're six good shooters, we'll get it rocked."

"Seven," said Kakuzu, leaning against one of the pillars, and when everyone looked at him, he shrugged his shoulders. "I'm neither blind nor dead, so I'm going in."

Asuma didn't seem particularly enthusiastic, but he shook his head, probably to get rid of a thought, and grumbled, "We have four vests in the car, they definitely go to Kakashi, Kakuzu—"

Once again, Madara interrupted someone. Seemed like a hobby of his. "You can save yourself. Akumahikari-kai, are you familiar with this name?" In the silence that followed, he declared, "The syndicate of the Hoozuki clan from Fukuoka. Specialists in weapons technology. Their bestseller is armor-piercing ammunition. Hiashi did business with them in preparation for my attack." He shook his head slowly, stripped off his jacket, and began to roll up the sleeves of his shirt. "The vests will not protect you, only hinder you. It doesn't matter whether you go in there with or without. If we are hit, we die, one way or another. That should be clear to all of us."

The air in the room changed noticeably. Through Madara's words, any superficial composure had fallen away from the men. They all armed themselves, partly mentally, partly physically, to face their possible death. Itachi did this by also taking off his tight jacket and loosening his tie. "Let's get started."

A loud sigh came from Pain. "Honestly guys, you're killing me." Seven pairs of eyes turned at him in surprise. "Yes, I'll go with you and obtain post outside to get help. Or do you want to have a sick goods ready beforehand?"

"Good idea, but otherwise stay out of it," Genma said. "If we take too long, it means we've failed. Then call the emergency service and give the sentence: 'It's colder at night than outside.' They then know what's going on and send a team from the SFG to your position."

Pain barely twisted his stony face. "It's colder at night than outside? What is that? Didn't someone pay attention in physics?"

Genma smiled and shrugged. "I didn't make it up."

"Fine," Pain muttered and, in contrast to the others, who had partially gotten rid of their jackets, put on a bright red faux fur parka.

"Follow us at a distance," Asuma said. "If the property is observed, you should not be associated with us. And when you have positioned yourself, behave inconspicuously."

Pain frowned. "Inconspicuous? Me?"

Genma, Gai, Itachi, Kakashi and Madara wheezed with a suppressed laugh.

"Yeah, boy, I understand," Pain fended off Asuma's seething attempts at apology. "I'll just stand on a corner and smoke. Maybe I'll be lucky and someone will hit on me, then at least this action will be worthwhile for me."

"Well, since we've clarified that, we should go," Asuma suggested with slightly reddened cheeks.

With Madara at the head, the men marched off towards the Hyuuga estate. Itachi and Kakashi brought up the rear and Itachi used the time to talk to his former team captain in peace. "Kakashi, I'm sorry that I dragged you into this."

Kakashi made a questioning face. "You dragged me? Itachi, I dragged myself into it when I decided to ask Hinata why an Akaiisan-kai was sitting next to her in the lecture. I could have ignored everything, then I wouldn't be here now, but.." To Itachi's visible surprise, Kakashi laughed and said in a cheerful tone, ".. at least something happens in my life again."

"Do you miss the ANBU?"

"Sometimes. I would only find it nice if it didn't end today like it did in Nagoya."

"Oh," Itachi snorted, "do you want to keep your eyes this time, Scare?"

In front of the two of them walked Gai, who dropped back a little and asked curiously, "What happened in Nagoya?"

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Our team was deployed to ensure the security of an event that had become the target of an attack. We lost a lot that day and I resigned from the military."

"Was it your fault?" Gai probed.

"I was the head of the operation, so yes, it was my fault."

"No, it wasn't," Itachi said and when Kakashi was about to contradict, he added firmly, "And you know that. No one is to blame for this, least of all you. You almost sacrificed your own life to save others, you couldn't have done more."

"That's all very romantic," Asuma suddenly intervened, "but we're approaching the property and should be quiet. They don't have to hear us coming at a distance."

Madara, who was checking the charge level of his second gun in broad daylight, said simply, "They won't be able to hear us down there anyway, it's all soundproofed."

"Down there? What do you mean?" Asuma asked skeptically.

Only a few feet away from the entrance gate, Madara stopped and looked questioningly at the men behind him. "Huh, amazing. Then Hiashi manages to keep at least one secret from the police."

"He'd had enough of that for years," Genma replied piqued. "But what do you mean by 'down there'?"

"Hamura Hyuuga built this house and created a basement system that was converted into an air-raid shelter by Hitoshi Hyuuga before World War II. That thing is a fortress. There is only one way in and out."

"And of course, you know where it is, you know everything," Genma nodded mockingly.

Madara's eyes narrowed. "I happen to know someone very well who has been down there before."

"Ah, and whom?"

"The basement serves the clan as an oversized panic room," Kakuzu said. "And when the clan leader senses danger, he barricades himself there with the core of the family. This happened more often in the nineties and how do you think I could have reached my target otherwise?"

"You mean Hinata, at least call a spade a spade," Asuma hissed. "You had to go in there to kill Hinata."

Kakuzu made an innocent hand gesture. "Asuma, I feel such tense vibrations between us. Why is that?"

"Kst," Asuma blurted out.

Madara groaned heavily. "Gentlemen, save the kindergarten for later. We're going in now."

"Wait a minute," Genma said and grabbed Madara by the shoulder, which he answered with a grim look. But Genma didn't care if and to what extent he was insulting Madara, so he asked matter-of-factly, "How do we know that the twelve people are all downstairs?"

"Quite simply: by notifying me if there is any movement in the cameras. And since that hasn't been the case since the Four brought Hinata to Hiashi's office, they're still in there."

"In his office?" Asuma interjected.

"Just follow me," Madara murmured annoyed and was about to walk towards the door, when Genma stopped him again. "The entrances are all alarm-secured. If we go through one of the doors, we lose our advantage. They are warned and can quickly develop a defense strategy and presumably they will kill Hinata directly. They don't know yet that we're coming, we have to take advantage of that."

This time, Madara ignored the physical contact. "And what do you suggest?"

Genma fiddled with his toothpick and couldn't help grinning. "Is anyone here afraid of heights?"

Question marks of different sizes were emblazoned on six faces, but when Genma had led them around the property over the wall through the garden to the tendrils that Hinata and he had used to break in, no one seemed particularly enthusiastic.

"Will this thing hold us?" asked Asuma, surely just looking for excuses not to have to climb a wobbly wooden construct up two floors.

Gai hit his colleague on the back with such force that he actually buckled a bit. "Believe, Asuma! I'm going first." And already he climbed up the grating as if he had never done anything else.

The others followed him with more or less heavy sighs and if the reason for this were not so sad, it could have looked funny to outsiders as seven grown men, some in suit pants and button-front shirts, climbed up to Hinata's window. When the last of them - Genma, who had been observing the surroundings the whole time and in the end, after a wild exchange of glittering eyes, managed to beat Madara to take the rear - climbed through the broken window with Itachi's help, he immediately noticed that Hinata's room had not been spared Hiashi's tantrum. All her drawings had been torn from the wall and lay partly destroyed, scattered wildly on the floor and the futon. The sight reminded everyone why they were here, so they didn't waste any unnecessary time, everyone pulled out their gun and they quietly went down to the ground floor.

Asuma, who was taking the lead, peeked carefully around every corner they passed, but Madara seemed to be right: there was no one here. Nevertheless, Itachi and Kakashi covered their backs to be on the safe side.

After the Hinata Liberation Front had passed most of the long corridor leading to the west wing, Genma tapped Asuma on the shoulder and the entire squad stopped. "Security room," he whispered, pointing to the open door on his left.

Asuma nodded, pressed himself flat against the wall and peered around the corner. "Clean," he stated curtly.

"We should equip ourselves there," Madara suggested – although he rather ordered it. Nobody objected to having more shooting power in their hands, so all seven crept into the comparatively small room, Kakuzu closed the door, Madara headed for the surveillance system and Itachi immediately went for the wide metal cabinet in the corner. "Um.. Guys?" Everyone looked at him. He stood in front of an empty gun safe and examined the hooks on which pistols and rifles usually hung. "We may not expect an army, but they are still heavily armed."

"Do you want to back down?" asked Asuma. At Itachi's defiant look, he expanded on his statement, "No, I'm serious. Anyone can still go."

"And then I climbed into the attic for nothing? No, thank you," Kakuzu interjected with his arms crossed.

Kakashi jerked his head, which was probably meant to indicate agreement. "It's not as if each of us doesn't know what we've gotten ourselves into. But it's about Hinata."

"That's right," Gai nodded wildly and you could get the impression that he hadn't only known the young Hyuuga for sixteen hours.

While Itachi also quietly announced his determination, Genma approached Madara, who was standing bent over in front of the control console of the surveillance system, his cell phone connected via cable and typing something into an input window. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm installing a virus," Madara murmured, half absent-mindedly.

"Mh-hm." Genma pursed his lips and tilted his head to the side. "Is it of any use to us? Or do you just do it for fun?"

Madara paused, turned his head and looked at Genma maliciously. "What do you think?"

Genma shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know what to think of you." Madara straightened up and you could immediately feel that he wanted to take advantage of being the tallest of them all in his conversation. Genma, however, was not intimidated by this. "Asuma has already asked you that and you have skillfully evaded the duty of answering. That's why I repeat his words: What interest do you have in Hinata?"

Neither wanted to give the other the satisfaction of breaking their eye contact. They stared at each other silently, Genma raised his eyebrows a little and Madara knitted his together. Then Madara pulled away from Genma's face and said simply, "RICA, let us disappear."

"Yes," answered a calm woman's voice from somewhere.

Genma was about to come to terms with the fact that Madara didn't want to give him an answer and had given Asuma a meaningful roll of his eyes, when suddenly the Uchiha said clearly so that everyone in the room could hear him, "I asked Hinata to resist. She did and now she's stuck down there. I see it as my duty to save her."

"Do you think she did it because of you?" Genma asked. "I rather think it was her choice. She didn't want to let her sister suffer the same fate as she did and saw only one way out and used it. She is a strong woman who makes her own decisions, not a small bird that cannot fly alone."

Madara looked at the wall of screens. "Whether it was my fault or yours for not keeping her safe" – Genma shrugged his hand as if to prevent himself from smacking Madara – "or anyone else's, is irrelevant. The fact is that we will all find a fault with us as to why Hinata is stuck in this basement. And that's exactly why we're here, to pay our debt to her and not to let her die because of our failure."

As if to underpin his little speech, the woman's voice said, "Madara, you are invisible."

"Thank you, RICA," Madara replied. He turned to the room where everyone present had been watching his back and had to silently agree with him – they all found a fault in themselves. "Nobody will notice our presence anymore, at least not through the cameras or any alarms. Right now it's like we've never been here. But as soon as we fire the first shot, they know we're coming, and then we have to be quick. We should go."

No one needed to be told twice. They left the cubicle again and headed for Hiashi's office. There Kakuzu went purposefully to a thick tome on the bookshelf, pulled on it and the desk pushed aside. A hole opened up underneath it, in which a metal spiral staircase led into the depths. Seven barrels of guns were aimed at the blackness between them. No sound came out, so Asuma nodded and was the first to descend the narrow steps.

Apart from Kakuzu, no one had been down here, but everyone immediately realized that this bunker was a labyrinth. Only one corridor led from the base of the stairs, but after only seventeen feet the path forked and in every direction there was silence and darkness. Without having discussed it, they had agreed not to talk anymore from here on, so Asuma pointed to himself, Gai and Kakuzu and threw a thumb to the left, and pointing to the other four and pointing to the right, they split into two groups. Pressed against the opposite walls of the corridor, Asuma and Genma nodded to each other and at the same time scurried around the corners with raised weapons. Their teams followed them.

Gai and Kakashi each provided the backing and saw each other's figures disappear into the distance. The four men stopped at the first door on their way. Genma crouched down next to the frame, Itachi sneaked past him and secured the empty corridor in front of them, Madara stood behind him to cover the unknown space in the other direction and at his nod Genma pressed the handle and they both aimed at something, that looked like a bedroom with several bunk beds. They found such rooms in abundance. Behind almost every door, uninhabited bedrooms opened up, which could offer space for tens of dozens of Hyuuga. But they did not meet a soul. This exorbitant shelter was as if extinct.

With the passing minutes and more and more abandoned rooms and corridors, the mood in the four-man team became much more tense. No one said it, but they all feared that they were going in the wrong direction and moving further away from the target of their mission. With palpable nervousness, they approached the last two doors in their corridor. They had just lined up again, as they had done with all the other doors before, and Genma's hand was already on the handle when dull noises reached them. Single pistol shots, several consecutive of machine guns. The four flinched and looked stiffly into the darkness behind them.

"Let's go," Madara whispered roughly, but Genma stopped him and shook his head. "We still have to check these two, then we'll help them."

Madara wanted to protest, but Itachi agreed with Genma. "We only have two left, then everything is secured here." Kakashi nodded. Madara grumbled discontentedly and reluctantly took position.

But they didn't even get around to checking what was probably the twentieth bedroom. The last door was one that was thicker than the others and was at the head of the corridor. Itachi, who was closest to it, was the first to hear the footsteps behind the metal. He lunged so as not to stand directly in whose line of fire, and warm light flooded the hallway, which initially blinded the four men. They hardly had time to get used to the unaccustomed brightness when the thick steel door was slammed shut again and Tokuma's surprised face disappeared.

None of the men hesitated. They sought halfway cover on the walls—Genma and Madara on the left and Itachi and Kakashi on the right—and Itachi pushed the door open again. Behind it, a large room opened up that was reminiscent of a living room. It was clear that the Hyuuga clan would spend their free time here in an emergency. Several sofas and armchairs were set up in front of an artificial fireplace, there was a long bar on the long side and several poker tables were scattered.

The four ignored the decadent facility. They had only eyes for the three people at whom they pointed their weapons. Hiashi shouted something that was drowned out in the bang of three shots. Tokuma slumped to the ground before he had even had a chance to lift his semi-automatic.

"On your knees!" Genma roared at the two remaining men.

Neji was the only one fully undressed and aroused, though his unimpressive cock was dry, so one could assume that what should have happened hadn't happened yet. He seemed completely overwhelmed by the situation, raised his arms and threw his pistol away.

"What are you doing?!" Hiashi yelled at him angrily. At Tokuma's short warning call, he had rushed to a radiator, in front of which lay two people covered in blood. One of them was a headless, armless corpse in a gray suit, the other naked with long, wet, blue-black hair. In the few seconds that Tokuma had been unable to escape his fate, Hiashi had pushed the camera along with the tripod aside, pulled Hinata to her feet and now held her in front of him like a shield. He stared past her disheveled hair at his nephew, who got down on his knees with trembling hands and stammered, "M-my uncle did everything... I don't know... He-"

Neji didn't get any further. A single shot from Madara's gun silenced him. With a perfectly placed hole in his forehead and his eyes widened in horror, he fell to the side. His body landed on the concrete with a crunching thud.

"FUCK!" cursed Genma, giving Madara an angry look before turning it back on Hiashi, who was holding a small katana with a curved and dirty blade to Hinata's throat. "He had surrendered!"

Madara didn't answer him. His red eyes were fixed on the kaiken in Hiashi's fist, which pressed lightly into Hinata's neck as Hiashi pulled her body to cover all his vital organs. She whimpered softly and clung to her father's arm. It was amazing that she was still conscious, even alive. She looked frightening. She was missing the little finger of her left hand, had several long cuts on her face, a stab wound under her ribcage and two kanji carved into her stomach that read "whore". She uttered a choked "King..." and her watery eyes closed, allowing a single, bloody tear to trickle down her cheek.

"Your beloved 'King' is not here, Hinata," Hiashi murmured quietly, yet clearly audible. "He will not save you. His whore is not worth it to him."

"Let her go," Madara ordered with a threatening undertone.

A dark laugh sounded. "Madara Uchiha... I should have known." His silver eyes flitted to Genma. "And there he is, the man of my desire. Who are you?"

"A fucking Tanuki, you bastard," Genma growled.

Hiashi did not respond to the insult. "You must mean a lot to my daughter. I just wanted your name and she preferred to suffer instead of giving it to me."

Genma tightened his grip on the weapon.

"Oooh, she suffered so much..." Hiashi purred diabolically. He slipped his free hand, which wasn't holding the kaiken, into Hinata's crotch and stroked her labia. She tried desperately to resist. "I was actually planning to make another little movie with her. Well, my nephew can no longer play the leading role in it. Would any of you like the pleasure of taking her?"

Four jaws tensed, four postures were perfected.

"Or do you already have?" Suddenly, Hiashi grabbed Hinata by the brand in her stomach. She gasped loudly. "See? My daughter is a whore. A cheap, little slut who loves to spread her legs for everyone. If we come to an agreement, you can also have a go."

"Take your hands off her," Madara said in a tone that would have made anyone obey immediately. Hiashi just giggled. "Oh, Madara, you have already tasted her yourself. It was your reward for our business."

"I think I withdraw from our contract," Madara replied simply. "I don't like working with people who sell their own daughters."

"Too bad..", Hiashi murmured. "But please tell me one thing: Did you ever intend to keep the peace?"

Madara snorted. "What do you think?"

"No."

"Correct."

"So, you wanted war again."

"No, I wanted to destroy you."

"Oh, why is that?" Hiashi asked innocently.

"Because you don't deserve it," Madara replied calmly. "Your clan is rotten, I just wanted to prune the tree a bit."

"So that you have a clear path in Kyoto." Hiashi laughed humorlessly. "The Ootsutsuki are on my side, Kaguya would not have allowed you to take over all this power."

"No?" Madara actually smiled, even though he didn't take his eyes off Hiashi for a second and aimed his gun at his head incessantly. "Then please ask Kaguya who she thinks murdered her husband."

Hiashi's face distorted. "You set her on me.."

"Smart boy."

"You wanted to drive a wedge between us, sow mistrust."

"And do you think I succeeded?"

"Kst," Hiashi said. "Kaguya and I agree. She confronted me, but we both chose you as an enemy."

"Hmm.." Madara tilted his head a little. "When was that? On Sunday afternoon? Well, I don't think it makes any difference if I tell you that she was with me that night and told me about your alliance. She's realized that your oh-so-great empire is nothing more than a shaky house of cards. You don't even have your own daughter under control. You may wonder why she's not loyal to you when she should be afraid of you. Well, I guess that's the problem. She hates you. She asked me if I will kill you. Me, a man who was supposed to be her enemy. But I recognized her true nature immediately."

"Her true nature?" Hiashi laughed and didn't notice, as he gaped madly at Madara, that Itachi looked Hinata in the eye and moved his head slightly to the left. "She is an anxious little brat that is nothing without me."

"Do you really believe that?" asked Madara. "She's afraid of you, that's quite possible and understandable, but you've been trying to keep her small all her life. But you know, Hiashi, that was your mistake. You've never thought of her as an independent human being who has thoughts and feelings. In doing so, you have bred your own judgment. Do you think someone persuaded her to betray you? It was her own decision to save her sister. She noticed that you wanted to do the same thing to Hanabi as you did to her, and she couldn't stand it. Isn't it ironic that your own daughter is responsible for your downfall? If you had appreciated her more, this might have ended better for you."

Hiashi laughed growly. "You cannot kill me without sending her to hell with me."

"Oh, how wrong you are."

Itachi pulled the trigger. A bullet raced out of the barrel of his gun, penetrated Hinata's right shoulder, and struck Hiashi's sternum. He gasped and loosened his grip. Hinata took advantage of this to push his hand away and crouch down with her arms above her head.

Four shots were fired. Two tore a gaping hole in Hiashi's forehead, two shredded his heart. For an eternal second he still stood, staring at the four men in front of him, his judges and executioners, his daughter's deadly guardian angels.