Note: I'll be using both names: Hiraishin seal and Flying Thunder god technique.
CHAPTER 10
One knelt at her Master's feet, clasping her hands together and pleading with him. "Master, please, the medics say Nine-Nine needs treatment."
Laid on his side behind One, Nine-Nine was curled into a ball and clutching his throat, wheezing painfully from his crushed throat and hacking painful, bloody coughs on the hard ground. Each gasping, grating breath chilled the CORE siblings, keeping away from the suffering boy at the command of their Master.
Nearby were some ROOT medics, holding first-aid but unable to rescue the child from his suffering.
Those who weren't standing away from Nine-Nine were attending to Kakashi, who was beaten within an inch of his life by the boy currently anguished by a crushed throat. Kakashi wasn't unconscious, but he was forced to stay on his back to keep from worsening his bruised ribs and his concussion.
Danzo's cold expression didn't lift at the pleading stare of the girl.
The CORE siblings collapsed onto their knees and begged alongside their sister, most of whom set their brows on the ground and stretched their arms forward, muttering their pleas for Danzo to have mercy.
"The medics can still save his vocal cords," One said, a bit louder but shuffling back at the impatient look Danzo was getting, narrowing his eyes and barely curling his lips back with contempt. "Please, Master."
"If his voice is the price he pays for not using his full potential, then so be it," Danzo said, driving another chill through the CORE siblings, and the spectating ROOT medics, who stepped away from Nine-Nine and left him to his pain. "Blame Ninety-Nine for not taking the spar seriously until after his injury." He looked at Kakashi, condescension oozing off him, thick enough to make One grit her teeth to keep the tears at bay. "Blame Kakashi for Ninety-Nine holding back."
Much to Danzo's chagrin, Ten went to Nine-Nine and set a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder, not speaking a word but conveying comfort for the torture his sibling was being put through. The wood release user didn't look at his master, keeping his contempt to himself, but the insubordination was clear as day.
Following Ten, the other four-hundred-and-ninety-eight CORE operatives moved around Nine-Nine to console him. Those who had a firm grasp on healing techniques refrained from using them, not able to bear any more silent animosity from their master.
One cast a betrayed look to her master, but the man clicked his tongue and turned around.
The ROOT medics went with him, taking Kakashi with them.
One's purple stare followed Kakashi as the boy was hefted on a stretcher, out of the CORE training facility. Her hands were closed into fists and she clenched her teeth. The tears glazed over her eyes couldn't be held at bay any longer, and she whipped around before Kakashi could see her cry, going to Nine-Nine and giving him her support.
Months later, the CORE graduation ceremony was held, and the five hundred siblings were cut down by their own hands to one hundred.
Still, One didn't forget the look Danzo gave Naruto—
The girl refrained from jerking up when her mind forced her awake.
She blinked, clearing the smudged and blurred colours in her vision, keeping her breathing even and quiet.
First, she darted her eyes around to understand her surroundings; she was lying in a tight sleeping bag inside a dark, lightless tent. The only source of light came from a thin crack at the entrance of the tent at the foot of the sleeping bag, where a campfire merrily crackled.
She tried moving, but a wave of tiredness flooded her system.
She bit her tongue when it felt like she was being pulled back to sleep.
Shit, she cursed, focusing on the pained throb of her tongue to stay awake. Her eyes flicked around, inhaling and exhaling through her nose to keep from panicking. She felt her fingers and toes twitch, and that relieved her a little. She closed her eyes and focused, feeling every prickle of chakra underneath her skin, running through her chakra points, and every rush of blood as her heart pushed.
She exhaled slowly from her mouth, inflating her lungs as much as she could and releasing it again, bringing her heart rate down to a calm thump.
She searched inside her body, conscious of every cell that made up her body, from the tip of her hair to her toenails, and ever so gently, she felt the press of ropes and tough chains that had been lost with the tight feeling of the sleeping bag.
She thanked her little training in sage mode for this breathing exercise.
One again peered inwards, grasping for the chakra she felt firing at each of her chakra points but was not able to hold it as if the chakra was passing through her hands like sand. Her chakra was there, she just couldn't summon it.
She knew this sensation all too well; it was a ROOT training method to help build separate stamina and endurance when, for whatever reason, their chakra was useless. Except, the seal used on her was drawn directly on her skin and induced sleep when she tried to move or summon her chakra.
The girl didn't try struggling again, not wanting to be hit with tiredness and falling asleep again in an unknown area, so she pricked her ears and listened patiently.
Just then a shadow passed in front of her tent, standing to the side. One's keen eyes saw thinner, fainter shadows walking about further away from her tent, and counted about eight of them, congregating close to the campfire or at a tent on the other side of the fire from One's tent.
A different, taller shadow went close to One's tent and the two people walked a little bit away from One's tent, close to the fire.
A third shadow, about the same height as the first person, joined them.
"You don't need to interpret for him," the taller person said, speaking in a low voice in what One assumed was an attempt at sounding cheery. Immediately, One recognised the person as Minato Namikaze, the prospective Fourth Hokage. A terse silence followed, with both other people not moving to reply and the speaker scratching the back of his head. "Look, I'm sorry about your wings—"
One's bewilderment didn't have enough time to set, as one of the two other people moved.
The first person sighed. "Right. Let's focus on the matter at hand." He continued, speaking quieter, "I've been able to move Kakashi back to Konoha; his physical wounds are forgettable. I've arranged for him to be speaking with Inoichi, for what it's worth. He won't be the same."
"The girl—Rin—has refused to be moved," the third person supplied. This person One didn't recognise, and she couldn't pin down which region she was from. The airy, light tone the person spoke in, though feminine and regal, made One strain to hear her properly.
"She's helping the other medics with Obito," Minato said. "She can stay."
The first person moved a little.
Minato answered, "I don't want to risk using my hirashin to carry Obito; I don't know what would happen to his head injuries, and I don't want to find out. It's safer if our reinforcements push into Earth Country and recover him."
The first person turned to the third person, moving their hands.
"Sandy is gone, but I've been able to recover Kisame, Kushimaru, and the other Mist ninja; his name, as far as I can tell, is Ao, and I have his byakugan with me. Ao is worthless, so I left his body." The frankness almost jarred One. The CORE girl wondered how devoid of mercy the other girl could be, though she promptly realised her hypocrisy. "Samehada is still a petrified rock, but I'm sensing some life." She shrugged, attempting to sound less formal. "There's a chance it'll return to normal, and even if it doesn't, I'm sure there will be buyers ready if we announce it."
"Cashing in Kisame and Kushimaru's bounties, I understand. But are you sure you want to sell their swords?" Minato asked. He held up his hands and said quickly, "I'm not interested, just that Samehada and the Needle Swords are, y'know, priceless Mist weapons. You could be painting a larger target on your backs."
"Let me worry about that," the girl replied with finality.
One didn't know what to think about the girl.
She didn't sound cocky or obnoxious; her words were genuine and straightforward. It was like handling the animosity of a whole Hidden Village was a fact of life for her, and she took it in stride.
Strange. One screwed her lips to the side and listened.
"There's not much the medics can do for Obito." One jerked at Minato's words, biting her tongue again to keep awake, and shutting her eyes at her part in the Uchiha's brain injuries. She was sure that it had killed him when he fell into the crevice. One shook her head, forcing her attention back to the conversation. "There's a chance the Uchiha would want to mercy kill Obito." Minato sighed wearily, suddenly tired and irked. "I can't predict their reaction if they find out Danzo was involved in this sabotage."
The first person moved.
"There's no paper trail leading to Danzo. That old man is too careful for that. But the weapons the Kiri and Iwa ninjas in this canyon used are 100% Konoha-made." Minato mused audibly, "There's also the fact that there were Iwa and Kiri ninjas in the canyon at the exact time the mission was meant to start, and no person outside of the war council knows the details of the mission. Even then, we can't pin it on Danzo."
The first person moved their arms.
"Even if you're able to ransack Earth Country and provide proof Danzo is involved in the mission's sabotage, he'll somehow find out ahead of time and flee."
"What if we present the girl as proof?"
A charged stillness followed.
One's heart jumped into her mouth.
There it was again; the frankness and straightforwardness that alarmed her.
It seemed like an eternity passed, until the first person shook their head, and Minato supported them, saying, "Danzo could just as easily destroy all records he has of her and deny her." Minato crossed his arms and spoke with an audible frown. "Then at that point, it would look less like proof and more like me disparaging a comrade, even if the girl somehow decides to speak up about Danzo."
It would put Minato's bid to be Hokage at risk.
It would put him in a bad light in front of the Third Hokage, and the Council.
It would distort public opinion about him, and likely change some people's minds from supporting him to being Hokage.
One knew firsthand the countless contingencies her Master had; as a CORE sibling, and thus a high-ranking member of ROOT, she was privy to a fractional knowledge of her Master's mindset.
Danzo prioritised three things; his standing in Konoha, his authority over ROOT, and his life. All in that order.
It was only when the first two were lost that Danzo would flee, and if that were the case, catching Danzo once he left Konoha would be impossible.
ROOT had eyes and ears in every corner of Konoha, and the simple matter of Nine-Nine leaving had increased the tempo of security around Danzo to something akin to illogical.
"What do we do now?" the girl asked. Her tone was brisk and annoyed. "We can't just let this go."
A minute passed with silence.
The low bubble of murmured conversation in the background punctuated the quiet, as well as the howling of wolves in the distance.
Minato hummed, reflective but still managing to smile. "I appreciate everything, Naruto. Both of you. I understand that your wolves sacrificed themselves to keep my students safe, and I can't ever repay that." The first person moved, and Minato chuckled a little. "I owe you three times over. You have no idea how much I appreciate your time and energy."
One was only half listening at that point.
Naruto.
Her brother's name boomed in her mind.
Then she remembered the moments leading up to her blacking out.
"I want Danzo gone, and you want him dead." Minato proceeded, keeping his tone down and firm, unwavering as he said, "Our best option is to be patient. Gather up solid proof of his activities, locate and eliminate all of his eyes and ears in Konoha, block all of his exits so that he's boxed inside Konoha, and come down on him with all we have. He's too resourceful for us to let live afterwards."
"That…doesn't sound easy…" the girl admitted in an exhale. She seemed more and more to be Naruto's spokesperson, accurately voicing his thoughts and opinions, especially when he didn't sign. "Any little mistake on either of our parts, and he's gone."
"That's why I want us to enter a pact; you, Naruto, and me."
Naruto signed something.
Minato elaborated, saying in no uncertain words, "Danzo intends to mould Konoha into his image, and for him, that means burning the village down and rebuilding on its ashes. I can't stand by and let this happen." Minato straightened up and said, "I want a silent alliance between Konoha and Whisper Group, effective now till the end of time."
The girl spoke, jarring Minato and One with her precise bluntness, "Danzo dies with or without the alliance. As far as I can see," she briefly turned to Naruto, and he didn't move to interrupt her. "Any alliance between Konoha and us is entirely one-sided in your favour when it comes to benefits." She held up a finger, stopping Minato from interjecting and stating, "This isn't only about my wings—the ones your wife took from me—" The dark, murderous snarl cast rivulets of goosebumps up One's ankles to her neck. "Master Naruto built Whisper Group with his blood and sweat, and among many other things, we value profitable returns from our investments." She gestured to Minato, standing tall under the Namikaze's firm stare. "What do we get out of this alliance?"
That girl was good.
She also wasn't afraid to speak her mind.
"Aside from documents and other materials crucial to Konoha's national security, political standing, cultural identity, and economic prosperity, Whisper Group can have everything and anything it encounters during the crusade against Danzo." He began listing them off, counting on his fingers, "Ratlines and spy networks outside of Konoha, all of the ROOT knowledge not tied to Konoha, and any form of money and resources you find. Whatever, as long as it doesn't bring harm to Konoha or affect Konoha in any way, shape or form, and only if your reach into the criminal underworld ends at Konoha's borders." Minato stood with a rigid posture, unshakeable and resolute as he stated, "I will not have that in my village."
Naruto and the girl shared a long look.
The girl cleared her throat, saying, "Konoha wants our help removing Danzo, and in return, we get the spoils of war outside of your village."
"Right." Minato nodded.
This time, the girl drew Naruto away a little, with the boy leaving his back to Minato and signing to the girl. She whispered something that One couldn't catch, her airy voice lost to the low background noise of the camp.
Konoha's black market was non-existent, and the ANBU made extra sure of that with no interference from ROOT. So, in that regard, there wasn't much territory lost. But when it came to all of Fire Country, from the standpoint of Whisper Group—which One assumed was a criminal organisation—, it was a lucrative oversight.
One was sure Minato didn't purposefully forget to cover Fire Country as a whole from the reach of Whisper Group. He was too smart for that.
Then again, if Minato was willing to waive ROOT resources—not tied to Konoha by any stretch of the imagination—, then they must be desperate to have Danzo gone.
Naruto returned with the girl two minutes later and shook hands with Minato.
"We need this in writing," the girl said strongly, her tone not conveying any of the genial mood between Minato and Naruto. "Preferably, as soon as possible. Before our people start making any definite moves."
"Consider it done. We'll iron out the details as we're sorting out this mess," Minato replied, motioning to the camp, seated far behind enemy lines and waiting for Konoha reinforcements to free them.
Naruto looked at the girl and she bowed. "Leave it to me, sir."
Minato laughed, nervous. "I'm still not used to talking to kids this…articulate. Itachi can be spooky at times, and Kakashi is amazing, but you and Naruto are something else entirely." The girl didn't reply to that, briskly moving away from Minato and Naruto without another word. One felt Minato's awkwardness as he asked, "Did I say something wrong?"
The girl went up to One's tent, and One pretended to go to sleep, closing her eyes peacefully and evening out her breathing.
Through an invisible crack between her eyelids, she saw a pair of neon pink eyes staring at her at the entrance of the tent. One scarcely saw anything else, as blackness shrouded her form, leaving just a pair of bright pink eyes hovering at the tent's entrance.
The girl whispered, low and quiet, voice empty of emotion and speaking with the same jarring bluntness as before, "Just like me, you are a simple tool for my Master. Your status as Master's 'sister' means nothing to me." Her voice deepened a little and killer intent flooded the tent, encasing the girl in heat and weighing down her soul to the malice the other girl was pouring out. One's eyes flew open and she clenched her teeth, fighting the dual urge to cry and fall apart at the seams from insanity; images of blood and hellish mayhem flashed behind her eyes, testing the bare limits of her endurance. The girl continued, her tone was frosty and laden with malice, "You are only useful until you are not."
One wheezed, feeling her chest and stomach caving in from the unseen pressure.
"Do as you are told and don't be a bother."
One tried to yell, but her voice was gone, sucked out of her lungs alongside the air in her chest, rendering the girl gasping for air that constantly fled her system. Her face began to purple and her body started quivering, showing signs of asphyxiation.
Accompanying the lack of oxygen and her inability to exhale a sound was a deep, rotting cold that dug into her bones, whittling away at her muscles and her organs, fraying her hold on sanity.
All the while, the girl subservient to Naruto hadn't moved from the entrance of the tent, and her pink eyes looked at One with irritation and disdain, the only flicker of emotion that passed those bright eyes.
One's eyes started to water and her muscles started getting taunt, gradually frozen by the mysterious chill.
"If I see that you are a problem, I will remove you."
That oath echoed like death bells.
One's eyes started to roll to the back of her head, until the killer intent rapidly retreated, absorbed back into the girl's body the moment Naruto patted her shoulder, drawing the girl back.
The tent flap was open a little to show Naruto with his arm over the girl's shoulder, walking elsewhere as the girl smiled blushingly, her head low and her right hand grasping Naruto's left pants pocket. Her bright pink eyes were fixed on Naruto, preening adoringly under his beaming smile as he guided her away from One.
One's mind was reeling from her encounter with that girl.
Once upon a time, Orochimaru's killer intent was the worst she had been forced to endure; it had broken down her will to live and almost, very nearly, convinced her to slit her throat with a readily provided kunai. Through sheer stubbornness and force of will, One survived that and her tolerance increased. Everyone else who tried to use killer intent on her during missions met a particularly gruesome end.
This was different.
This wasn't even hellish.
No.
This wasn't of this world. Not at all.
One purposefully summoned her chakra and was promptly knocked out by her seal restraints.
She needed to recover from that strange killer intent.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The Sandman, or CORE Operative One-Hundred, sat facing a corner of the room, his knees tucked into his chest and his chin wedged on his knees.
His Mangekyo eyes stared dark, red holes into the corner.
At his back and littered around the torture room were heaps of slumbering ROOT ninjas, unable to near the Uchiha boy as Sandy's presence and chakra nature put everyone in the vicinity to sleep. Anyone who tried to retrieve the sleeping ninjas crumbled into a fitful sleep, succumbing to the gentle whispers of their mind lulling them into unconsciousness.
It was a deadly thing, when a person's brain convinced the heart and body that it was currently sleeping, forcing the body to comply and slump to the ground.
The only form of resistance a person could have to Sandy's chakra nature was one brought about due to constant exposure, something his CORE siblings had in spades.
Sandy's ears perked when he heard the peculiar squeak of wheels rolling on the ground.
The lumps of sleeping humanity heaped behind the Uchiha parted, discarded haphazardly to the side through an invisible force.
The squeaking stopped abruptly as the last ROOT operative was pushed aside.
"Your wheelchair needs oiling, Wheelie," Sandy spoke over his shoulder, his red eye trained on the boy slowly wheeling through the parted mass of sleeping people; it was a thirteen-year-old child seated in a clean, silver wheelchair. His legs were strapped down to the chair, covered in a soft, plaid blanket, and he wore a black long-sleeved shirt with a black shinobi vest over his torso. His head was covered by a dark beanie, pulled down to cover his ears and his eyebrows, only showing his tan face as he blinked at Sandy.
Wheelie, or CORE Operative Nine, sighed in exasperation and palmed his face.
Sandy hmphed and turned back to the corner he was staring at.
Meanwhile, Wheelie slowly drew closer; his wheelchair wasn't mechanised, yet it moved on its own.
"How's your neck, brother," Wheelie asked. His voice was hollow as if he was speaking from the end of a tunnel, but it was genuine, threaded with emotion and care for his brother.
Sandy, though, snapped. "Don't even start."
Wheelie sighed again, stopping at Sandy's back, about three feet away. "Nine-Nine always had a problem with pulling his punches." The cripple lilted in his chair, adding, "Except, y'know, against Kakashi, but that's whatever." He chuckled nervously when Sandy glared hotly over his shoulder, holding his hands up. "We both know that's true."
Sandy huffed, exhaling steam from his nose and grunting.
The wheelchair squeaked a little as Wheelie neared a little more. His knees were now a foot away from Sandy. "Did you remember the plan though?"
"Sleep Talking Hypnosis doesn't exist, dipshit. I'm Uchiha; I'm not a magician." Sandy spat, losing his temper and rounding around and snapping at his brother in a hushed flurry of heated words. "Just because I have these eyes, doesn't mean I can pull rubbish illusions out of my arse." His red eyes crackled and turned. "I couldn't even put him to sleep. We all know how thick-headed he is."
Wheelie again raised his hands to show that he wasn't Sandy's enemy. He said calmly, motioning for his normally sleepy brother to relax, "It's alright. Our mistake."
Sandy's sharingan burned hotly, sizzling and spinning at blistering speed. Then, Sandy retreated a step and clenched his fists, closing his eyes and fighting for control over his emotions. "Brother, I'm sorry."
Wheelie laughed. "You didn't do anything wrong, brother."
One-hundred went down to his knees, his shoulders heavy. "I want to know why he left us. More than anything, I want to know."
"Me too."
A quiet beat passed, with both brothers lost in their thoughts.
This was broken by Sandy yawning sleepily, shaking his head to rid himself of the sleep that wanted to take him.
He asked Wheelie, "Does the Master want me dead?"
Wheelie pursed his lips and didn't answer until he slowly shook his head. "Master is forgiving. He dearly treasures his children, even those of us that stray from the path."
Sandy wilted, relieved that his death wouldn't be a stain on his brother's conscience.
"It might be against our doctrine to keep secrets from Master and have ulterior motives aside from His grand design, but he is a forgiving Master," Wheelie professed wholeheartedly, and Sandy agreed with a heavy nod, his eyes lowered and heavy from wanting so much to curl up and sleep.
His eyes flared open, though, when his body moved on its own and he shot to his feet, arms apart and legs together.
"But…Master's abundant and unending forgiveness is conditional."
"Brother, no—"
An invisible force covered Sandy's mouth, silencing his pleas.
"Master's forgiveness is conditional." Wheelie pursed his lips apologetically and shook his head. Tears glazed his eyes, a few stray tears trickled down his face as he quietly said, "There must be a blood penance."
Atonement.
The boy's wheelchair rolled back a few feet, and the wheels didn't squeak.
Sandy levitated into the air, his arms spread and his legs still together.
Hot tears rolled from Sandy's eyes and he screamed voicelessly, shaking his head as hard as he could, not able to fight the compulsion Wheelie had over his body.
Sandy stopped rising fifteen feet from the ground and Wheelie sat back, holding his arms out and grasping the magnetic field that trapped Sandy, threading and weaving his fingers into the unseen electromagnetic field covering the entire room, holding them in his hands like invisible threads that had no source and no end.
Without any more prompting, Sandy's elbow and knees shattered as they bent in the wrong direction. His wrists twisted grotesquely and his ankles rolled back, straining the muscles.
Sparing his neck and head, every joint was forced out of its sockets and turned in the wrong direction, and Sandy wailed in tremendous, unbearable agony. His mind was alight with torture and he screamed his throat raw at his atonement.
His stifled cries ebbed from the torture cell, echoing out of the temple.
Authors note
That's it for this chapter.
The next chapter will be Chapter 10.5, a short side story. The events of the side story are still canon and relevant to this story. Since it's a side story and it won't be as long as a regular chapter, it should be ready by Sunday. Can you guess what the side story will be about?
I'll see you when I see you.
Foy.