What I Wouldn't Do Chapter 7 Draft
Temari would later say that this was the moment they should have killed her.
The fireball directed at them was surprisingly large for a torture-laden prisoner, but too cool to ignite more than a few leaves. They dodged easily, jumping onto a lower branch, and allowed ash to rain down on their heads dramatically. By the bedraggled woman’s posture she’d put everything she had into it, and now stood hunched forward in an effort to catch her breath. Inwardly, Temari scoffed. If this was the extent of the woman’s prowess, she might have to beg off and send her son in for easy target practice.
Still, she had to make this look at least somewhat convincing. With unnecessary flourish, Temari unfolded her tessen and crouched along the tree branch. Konohamaru copied her with his bo staff.
“Prisoner of Konoha,” she began imperiously, “you have been caught in the act of escape. Come quietly and no further harm will befall you.”
The woman below smirked, panting as she tried to regain her breath. “Has that ever actually worked?”
Temari shrugged and tightened her grip on her fan. “No.”
“Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”
The prisoner immediately startled, jumping out of the way of Konohamaru’s barrage. Shit. She had completely forgotten he was there. Landing unsteadily on the other end of the clearing, her grin was quickly wiped away by a pained grimace. Four of the shuriken had imbedded themselves in her body – two in the arm and two in the back. All of them turned out to be fakes and the added burst as they dispersed tore at her muscles.
Konohamaru didn’t give her much time to recover. As soon as the cloned weapons were gone, he leapt into the air. Swinging his staff behind her ankles, he knocked her to the ground. She rolled out of the way of his next strike and jumped back, hoping to give herself some breathing room. But in her panic she’d forgotten about Temari and was completely unprepared when she was suddenly thrown across the dell.
“Fūton: Toppa!” The blonde woman announced from above.
Prisoner 22769 crashed onto her back and let out a sharp cry. Rocks dug into her wounds, creating small cuts along her already abused body. Her back and arm were slick with blood, making it difficult to grip the staff as Konohamaru barreled down on her. They wrestled for control of the weapon for a few seconds before 22769 shot out with her foot to hit him in the pelvis.
Konohamaru flew back, nursing the area with his hand. The prisoner used the added momentum to flip herself backwards onto her feet, staggering a bit as her muscles protested. She forced herself into a defensive position, holding her newly acquired weapon up to her chest, and braced herself against a tree.
The Konoha jounin smirked. “Gotta say, you’re tougher than you look, kore.” His opponent glared. She pointed the staff at him threateningly. Konohamaru raised his eyebrow. “Do you even know how to use that thing?” She wasn’t even holding it properly.
But instead of the uncertain or even defiant look he’d expected, the woman flashed him a toothy grin. In an instant, she switched the staff to one hand and ran through a series of seals with the other. “Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!”
“Holy shi—!” A volley of small fireballs shot themselves at Konohamaru. He quickly flipped out of the way and shifted his weight to his side, rolling along the grass to add some distance. The smell of charred wood filtered through the air.
He let out a low-pitch whistle. “Impressive.”
“But you keep forgetting about me.” Temari shunshin-ed behind her, bring her fan down on the woman’s side like a club.
She let out another pained cry as it sent her sailing through the air. Her blood-slicked hand made it impossible to keep ahold of the staff and it went flying out of her grasp. Konohamaru grabbed it and pivoted on his heel, rotating the weapon so that the tip smashed into her back.
“Aggh!” The woman screeched. White spots danced along her vision and she landed not far away in a crumpled heap. She coughed, choking on air as her body attempted to recover.
Temari scowled. “Is this really all you can do? Maybe we should just kill you now and save Ino the trouble,” she goaded, inwardly chanting, come on, do something. Ino said you were a defiant little bitch so I know you’ve got it in you. She really didn’t want to have to arrest her and then pretend incompetence by orchestrating another escape.
Konohamaru walked forward, bringing out a pair of handcuffs from his hip pouch. “Alright, let’s go. Back to interrogation, kore.” He bent down to clamp her wrists when the woman’s head shot up.
“Katon: Haisekishō!” A cloud of black powder erupted from her mouth, filling the air with the faint smell of charcoal. Temari and Konohamaru surged backwards and shot up into the trees.
“Smokescreen,” Temari remarked. “Smart.”
“It’s the only good that jutsu will do her.” Konohamaru leaned forward on his own branch, squinting to catch a glimpse of their target’s silhouette. “She doesn’t have any flint to make the explosion, kore.”
“And obviously no more chakra to use another katon jutsu.” With a sigh that sent her shoulders falling, Temari relaxed out of her defensive stance. “Well, at least we managed to push her in the right direction.” With a light wave of her fan, the powder dispersed to reveal an empty clearing.
“Good.” Konohamaru popped his neck and stood up. “Ya know, for a moment there I was afraid we’d actually have to capture her.”
“I’ll say,” Temari snorted. “She was easier to beat up than you were.”
Konohamaru twitched and fixed her with a glare. “I was nine!”
“I was talking about last week.”
“Oi! I almost won that!”
“No you didn’t,” Temari rebuffed with a wave. She ignored his grumbling and pulled out a small communicator. Waiting until it flashed green, she raised it to her lips and said, “Ino, it’s Temari. Target is injured and should be heading south.”
“Perfect. Her locator seal puts her close to section 44-R. Rendezvous at the nearest checkpoint and await orders.”
Temari nodded. “Right. And Ino?”
“Hm?”
“Up her chakra output. At this rate, we’re accidentally going to kill her.”
Ino sniffed apathetically. “So long as she does what we want first you can deal with her however you like.”
“Oh, trust us,” Konohamaru’s mouth pulled into a savage grin, “we’re looking forward to it.”
Ino laughed over the com. “Have fun, then. I’ll let you know when she’s ready. Yamanaka out.”
Temari returned the device to her leg pouch and folded up her fan. Placing it on her back, she motioned to her partner. “Alright, you heard her, kid. Let’s go.”
Konohamaru rolled his eyes but leapt after her anyway. “Really? I’m twenty-five.”
“Still a kid to me.”
“Course I am.”
A beat of silence passed.
“You think Naruto-nii-chan will let me feed her to Gamagorō?”
~*~*~*~*~*~
“Are you really going to increase her chakra capacity?”
Ino twirled the edge of her ponytail in thought, regarding the Hokage with an air of indifference. “It would be a hassle if they killed her too quickly.”
“Hm.”
She quirked her brow, shooting him an oblique look. He hadn’t moved since Temari and Konohamaru let the woman go. “I’m surprised you’re not telling me to spare her,” she tested, just managing to catch the way his fingers curled under his cloak. “I mean I know she infiltrated the village and everything, but she’s still just a pawn as far as we know. Following someone else’s orders. I half expected you to show her some mercy.”
“She’s not dead yet,” Naruto remarked, sounding completely apathetic to the possibility.
Oh, Naruto. Ino turned fully, leaning her weight against the console controlling the cameras. “You’re reacting with anger. Now, don’t take this the wrong way, because I completely get it, but maybe you should take a step back.”
“And do what?” He very nearly spat.
Ino shrugged. “I don’t know. Do some paperwork. Play with Hima. Sit with Boruto.”
“I don’t think that will help me calm down.” If anything it would just reaffirm his desire to slaughter someone.
“Maybe, maybe not, but it will give you some space, and you desperately need space.”
“I’m fine.”
Ino didn’t even need to do anything to convey her disbelief. “And I’m a civilian. If you’re going to lie don’t do it to a trained psychiatrist, especially when that psychiatrist is me. All I’m asking is for you to think. Make sure that what you do doesn’t come back to bite you in the ass.”
“You sound like you want me to spare her,” he stated with an air of incredulity.
Ino scoffed. “Oh, please. So long as she tells us what we want, Temari and Konohamaru can eviscerate her for all I care. In fact, I might even join in, but I’m not saying this for her. You’re the one I’m concerned about. I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret later.”
“You think I’d regret it if she died?”
“I think you’d regret it if we killed her and you didn’t get a chance to talk to her first.” Nailed it, she thought as Naruto’s glower shrunk into a conflicted grimace. “I’m not saying let any of them stay in the village – gods no! – just don’t do anything rash. Okay?”
“This isn’t rash?”
“Oh, no. This is definitely rash. Even by your standards. I’m just saying you can afford to be cautious, okay?”
Naruto’s lips puckered, sucking them in to his teeth in conflict. “I’m not very good at the whole cautious thing,” he said softly.
Ino smiled, the knot in her chest loosening. “I know. We all know. But that’s why we’re here. If at the end of the day you want them all dead, we will happily tear them to shreds. Hell, we’ll probably even enjoy it, but we know you too well to think you won’t try to get her to see reason first.”
“I want to know how they got into the village first,” Naruto reminded. He trailed the image of their captive as she stumbled through the undergrowth of the Forest of Death. “What comes after that will depend on her.”
“But you are willing to reconsider her position,” she said, less of a question than a statement. She personally wouldn’t have been able to do it, but that was one of the reasons she admired him so much. “And from that will come consideration to the others locked up downstairs. Much as I enjoy playing with them, they were just following orders. Granted, that doesn’t excuse their actions, but we’ve pardoned people for less.” The only problem was that those crimes weren’t so completely personal.
Naruto’s Adam’s apple bobbed. His teeth worried his lower lip as he tossed her words around in his head. “If…if they showed remorse, I might be willing to reconsider.” He couldn’t just order their deaths, not now when they were defenseless, but then he also couldn’t just let them go free and endanger the village further. Especially with his children so vulnerable. Ideally, they would realize the error of their ways and carry out their sentences peacefully, but the anger inside of him almost made him reluctant to try. Forgiving Nagato had been easier.
And then there were the Hyūga to consider…
“Of course, commuting them to mere prison sentences have there own risks,” Ino mused to herself. “Are they docile enough to send to the Correctional Facility in Konoha or do we send them to Hōzuki Castle? I guess the castle would make the most sense considering the crime, but there’s still the risk of assault during transport and–”
“What’s she doing?”
“Huh?”
Ino followed Naruto’s finger to the array of video monitors. In the centermost screen, it showed their prisoner trying to dig her way underneath the sprawling tree roots. Every few minutes she would lick her thumb and raise it to the sky, before continuing her excavation. Streaks of blood ran across her cheeks from wiping away the dirt with her wounded arm.
Ino leaned in close. “It looks like she’s checking the wind current. Trying to move downwind, maybe? She could be accounting for an Inuzuka.”
Naruto’s expression flickered in appraisal. “Maybe, but hiding in the roots isn’t going to do her any good. It’s the first place we’d look.”
“She doesn’t know that.” Ino pressed a button along the console, bringing up the geological information recorded in the forest. Bars and graphs flared to life atop the screen forming a confusing mix of information. Her brows scrunched together. “That’s odd. She’s not downwind at all.”
“Upwind? Who wants to be upwind when they’re being chased?”
“No one,” Ino replied with unease. “Do you think we should call this off? Moegi can rebind her chakra easily.”
Looking just as unsure, Naruto tentatively shook his head. “No. We need that information. If anything happens, Moegi can bind her then.”
“As you say,” she said, the ‘but I don’t agree’ hanging unspoken between them. She quickly pressed the communicator in her ear and altered the frequency to the one she wanted. “Moegi, up her chakra output to thirty percent. Then give the go ahead to Team 2.”
“You got it. Give her twenty minutes.” The orange-haired jounin flashed her hands through a few seals, and they watched as the prisoner stopped digging. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough of a sign that the technique was working.
Ino lowered her hand and maneuvered her arms across her chest. She pressed her tongue to the top of her mouth, staring suspiciously at the kunoichi on camera. “Still can’t believe you talked me into this. The sooner we finish the sooner I can have her back in lockup.”
“Let’s hope thirty percent is enough.” His gut twisted. Something wasn’t right. He would breath easier once this woman was back in interrogation, too. The subject of forgiveness could wait until she’d given them what they wanted.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Her stomach ached. For such a sprawling forest, food was surprisingly scarce and unless she wanted to eat bugs or tree bark 22769 was straight out of luck. The last life form she passed had been a giant centipede that had her more concerned for her life than any notions of hunger. How long had it been since she’d eaten? A day? Two? Three? The bitch had given her food that first day, but she was too smart to fall for such a ruse. The whole nice act might have worked on her compatriots, but no amount of food or bathing or extensions of friendship would persuade her. When the blonde finally figured that out, she’d stopped with the pretty little lies and turned into the bitch 22769 already knew her to be.
Her stomach gurgled again, and something in the wind shifted. Her nose twitched. The smell of pork wafted through the air, washing away the scent of rain, and her mouth salivated at the illusion. A scowl lit up her face. It’s not real. It’s not real. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, willing the imagined sustenance away.
She smelled tea.
“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”
Prisoner 22769 jolted. High up above her dugout sat a redheaded woman calmly eating a stick of chadango. A portly man stood at her side on the thickest part of the branch, no doubt so his weight wouldn’t send them careening to the ground. He held a bag of potato chips in his hand and didn’t seem at all opposed to the woman leaning casually against his leg. In fact, he didn’t seem opposed to much except perhaps finishing his food in a sightly manner.
Chip crumbs fell from his mouth to the ground below and 22769’s stomach growled.
The woman quirked a brow. “You hungry?”
22769 remained silent. Unsure, she raised her arms into a shaky defense. The woman crossed her legs, clearly unimpressed. “Ah, the silent type. Ino did say you were a tough nut to crack.”
Ino? 22769 felt like she should know that name, but for the life of her couldn’t remember why.
The redhead polished off the last bite of her snack and twirled the stick between her fingers. Her ochre-tinged skin shimmered under the sunlight and for a moment she almost looked like she was on fire. 22769 rubbed her eyes – surely the fatigue was getting to her.
It was a costly mistake.
The dango stick went flying. It struck her across the cheek, drawing a thin line of blood and leaving a faint sting in its wake. The polished wood stick buried itself into the grass behind her. 22769 stared.
“Hm,” the woman intoned. “Missed.” She didn’t even sound upset! Rather, she just tilted her head up towards the man now munching on another bag of chips and said, “Dear, do you have another one?”
The man – her husband? – hummed thoughtfully, not even surprised by her actions, and stroked his beard. With an apologetic grimace, he scratched at his temple. “I think I ate them all.”
“Oh, Chōji.” The woman – definitely his wife – shook her head ruefully. “I told you you’d get hungry. You should have just gotten that extra order.”
“I know, but searches just make me so hungry, Karui.” He rubbed at his belly mournfully, and 22769 didn’t know whether they were playing her or if they were really that unconcerned about her that they felt comfortable enough to act so blasé. Whatever it was, if she could hold out long enough to gather a little more chakra, all the better for her. She edged backwards. Her eyes darted to the treeline.
“Did you keep the sticks, at least?” Karui asked, seemingly oblivious to her movements.
Sheepishly, Chōji played with the chip bag. “No. I didn’t want to litter so I threw them out.”
“Is that even considered littering?” His wife asked under her breath. “It’s wood. In Konoha.”
“You can never be too careful.”
Karui sighed, longsuffering. “We’re going to have a long talk about self-control after this – and don’t think I don’t see you down there,” she said, halting 22769 in her tracks. Her feet paused against the underbrush and something compelled her to look up into the younger woman’s golden gaze. “Trying to run away, hm?”
22769 scowled. She could feel the chakra in her coils swelling in anticipation and was more than pleased to note that her overall capacity had increased since last time, but it still wasn’t enough and if these people kept finding her then no doubt it would be a while before she was again at full strength.
Karui only smiled. It was horribly condescending. “Oh look, hon. I think she’s trying to be intimidating. Oh well,” she shrugged idly, “can’t say I blame you. Running’s probably your smartest option.”
A wary shadow crossed 22769’s face, and she hedged away slowly. “Oh?” A distraction. A distraction. I need a distraction. She checked her chakra. Only a quarter. Fuck. She cast her eyes about for some sort of weapon, flicking them up to the couple in the tree every second or so. Her fingers curled in preparation.
“Yep,” Karui replied, casually. She even had the gall to examine her nails. “I’d run away too.”
22769 tensed even further. Was that a threat? “You would?”
“Oh yes,” she remarked. “I would.”
“Bubun Baika no Jutsu!”
Even though she’d expected it, 22769 still wasn’t able to completely evade the attack. Chōji’s arm erupted in size as it sailed towards her and she was too tense to react quickly. He caught her by the leg mid-dive, swinging her into the air and sending her careening into the roots. Her back landed hard against them and only sheer breathlessness kept her from screaming.
“Oh dear, I think you hurt her.”
Somewhere in the trees, a bag crinkled. “Not too badly.” 22769 begged to differ, though she doubted he would care either way.
“Oi, you dead?” Karui called, and 22769 would have cursed if she had any breath to do so.
She struggled to pull herself from the roots as Chōji and Karui leapt from the canopy to the forest floor. Blood ran in rivulets down her back; the old wounds opened, now accompanied by new ones. Her shirt clung to her in sticky patches. Bereft of a voice, she shot them a loathsome glare.
Karui grinned – like a lion upon prey. “Guess not.”
“Fuck…” she rasped, gulping down air, “…you.”
If anything, Karui’s grin widened. She jerked her thumb at Chōji. “No thanks. I have him for that.”
The man blushed, but said nothing. 22769 would have almost gone so far as to say he smiled under that beard of his.
Urg. If she didn’t need to concentrate she would have gagged.
The woman reached behind her to the hilt just now noticeable at her waist. With practiced fingers, she wrapped her gloved hands around the weapon and pulled out a tantō.
A very familiar tantō.
22769 gasped. Involuntarily, she reached out.
“Recognize it?” Karui asked, taking note of her expression. “Hokage-sama let us have the pick of your tool bag. I liked this one the best; it’s unconventional, but of course there’s not much room to use it these days. Figure I should get what I can, when I can.”
“That’s mine.” Her blood boiled, drawing a flush across her skin, and it was only vigorous self-control that kept her from lashing out at the woman immediately.
“Ah.” Karui held up her index finger. “It was yours. Now, it’s mine.”
“We’re thinking of giving it to our daughter,” Chōji remarked, saddling up behind her like some kind of ominous bodyguard. Something undeterminable flashed across his face. “She’s been very upset lately. Her friend got hurt.”
Shit.
Somehow, the two seemed larger than before. Imposing even. Her heart thundered like a war drum in her chest. Did they get closer? She hadn’t even noticed.
Chōji took the last chip from the bag and crunched down, stuffing the empty plastic into his pocket as he did so. Karui vanished.
Her senses screamed and 22769 jumped quickly to the side. Karui followed, flashing behind her and bringing the tantō’s sharp edge up to her neck.
Kawarimi! She instantly replaced herself with a nearby branch. The drain on her chakra was minute, but in her condition it was best to refrain from too many jutsu. Still, she had to smile at the way Karui stumbled. There was a lot to say for going back to basics. “Careful,” she mocked, “don’t want to cut your head off.”
“Oh, clever,” the younger woman replied, dripping sarcasm.
22769 would have retorted had the large, meaty punch to her left not sent her flying. Twisting her body, she landed in a crouch atop one of the lower branches. A large bruise would no doubt form there and at least two ribs were broken. She was still trying to catch her breath when Karui reappeared in front of her, tantō raised. The woman brought the weapon down towards her shoulder, but 22769 was able to grasp hold of it before it could hit its target. Blunt pain spread throughout her palm as the dull edge dug into her skin.
Karui’s teeth flashed. “Oh, so you do have some fight in you. Good. Let’s see if you can take back this beauty of yours then.” Without warning, she twisted her arm ninety degrees and bashed her elbow into the prisoner’s nose.
“Gah!” 22769 immediately staggered back, dropping hold of the weapon. Pain arched across her face. A bead of blood passed her lips and dribbled down her chin. Without preamble, she wrenched her nose back into place and scowled. Oh she’d get that blade back alright, and when she did she’d happily draw the sharp end right across Karui’s throat.
But such daydreams would have to wait as Chōji grasped hold of her leg and pulled. Using the momentum, 22769 swiveled her other leg up to strike his face. He caught it with his hand and flung her bodily towards the roots. Karui reappeared midflight with a punch aimed at her stomach. 22769 contorted, twisting around the punch to grab Karui’s wrist. She used it to anchor herself as she flipped their positions, kicking off Karui’s chest and sending the younger woman into the underbrush.
The former Kumo-nin landed with a gruff shout, but 22769 had no time to enjoy her victory. Karui’s husband quickly rounded into view and she briefly debated whether it was worth the chakra. It was a wasted thought as her distraction allowed Chōji to barrel into her, his large frame almost enough to shatter her to pieces. They traded blows for a few minutes, blocking and kicking, before Chōji maneuvered his fingers together into the ram sign.
“Baika no Jutsu!” What had once been an overweight man now stood a literal giant. His form was at least twice as large, towering over some of the smaller trees in the area. Her eyes narrowed in consternation. No matter, all it meant was that he was easier to hit.
She spat out a glob of blood. “Well, look at that. Fatso got fatter.”
But the man didn’t get angry. Instead, he almost seemed amused – maybe even nostalgic if she was reading him correctly. “You know, years ago that might have worked.” He tucked in his arms. “Now? Not so much. Nikudan Sensha!”
There was a great rumbling, one that made the ground shake under her feet. It was the only warning she got before the man was on her. Now a human boulder, Chōji used his rotational force to propel himself at the prisoner. With a chakra-enhanced jump, 22769 vaulted over the juggernaut, leaving Chōji to plow down the mass of trees behind her. It would have been satisfying had he not then angled himself to curve back towards her.
She flipped again, but wasn’t prepared for Karui to use him as a cover. The woman’s knee implanted itself in her back and 22769 arched upwards. Her body screamed in pain, and she gasped for some sort of reprieve. It was not to be as she was forced to twist out of the way of another swipe from Karui’s sword. 22769 rolled along the dirt, dodging each stab. Deep gouges along the earth were her only clue to the fate that awaited her should she remain still.
With one final roll, 22769 hurdled herself into the trees. She landed at a wobble amongst the leaves, and checked her chakra. Twenty-percent. Not good. Her energy was waning and her injuries screamed for attention. Black spots danced along her vision.
“Bubun Baika no Jutsu!” Chōji’s hand flew towards her. He grasped hold of the branch and all thoughts of fatigue were brushed aside. 22769 dashed backwards into another tree before he could tear this one to the ground. She panted, trying to catch her breath when Karui suddenly leapt onto Chōji’s engorged arm and scaled after her. The woman landed lightly on her feet. Now only a few meters away, she shot off the branch with a sharp burst of chakra.
Karui’s grip on the tantō was a little awkward, as if she were used to a larger blade, but it was evident that she was no novice with a sword. With minimal effort, she struck at the prisoner’s face. An instinctive flinch was the only reason 22769 remained conscious, and Karui ended up slicing through air. The exhausted woman bobbed under the attack and pooled her remaining strength into her hand.
Please let this work. She landed a sharp punch to the woman’s stomach. Taking advantage of Karui’s loss of equilibrium, 22769 pivoted on her heel, kicking the woman out from under her legs. The look of shock on her face was more than enough to satisfy 22769, but she took extra pleasure in directing a final haymaker to the woman’s chest. Now in free fall, Karui was unable to dodge and plummeted to ground. Chōji caught her deftly in his palm, but the force of the punch sent her tantō flying.
22769 whipped out to her hand catch the blade before it fell, and she relished in the familiar feeling. A cursory glance saw Karui cradling her chest, and she used the brief respite to check her chakra again.
Fuck. Still too low. She needed to get away and regain her strength. At this rate, she’d pass out and get caught.
Her shirt pulled uncomfortably where blood had stuck to the fabric, but she ignored it in favor of escape. Chōji and Karui were still distracted with each other so 22769 channeled a small amount of chakra to her feet and pushed. Seconds later, she was bounding through the trees as fast as she could in an effort to add distance.
Behind her, back on the ground, Chōji and Karui disappeared. A branch swayed, leafy coverings pulling back to reveal the duo resting in the exact spot in which they’d started. They watched their opponent go with grim satisfaction. Chōji, bereft of any signs of a fight, pulled out a bag of chips for a quick snack. Karui clicked her tongue.
“Maybe you should’ve given a bag to her, hon. She seemed quite out of it.”
Chōji scoffed around the food. “There are plenty of animals for her to find. She doesn’t deserve my chips.” He bit down on one for emphasis, and Karui snorted in fondness.
“No, I guess not.” She watched her husband for a second before raising a hand to her ear and switching on the communicator. “She’s headed your way, Tenten.”
Static echoed over the line for a moment and then, “Does she have the weapon?”
“Yep,” Karui replied with a pop.
“Perfect. I’ll get ready then.”
“And we’ll head to the next station. Good luck.” The line went dead, and Karui shifted her attention back to her husband.
She raised an eyebrow. “How many of those did you bring?” A new bag of chips had replaced the former, and he now stood munching away on a low sodium brand he only bought to appease Chōchō.
“I have to keep my strength up!”
“Of course.” She brushed the excuse aside easily. “Come on. It shouldn’t take Tenten long to whip her around and send her back towards us.”
“Not too quickly, I hope. I still have three more bags to get through.” He swallowed happily around another mouthful of chips before tossing her an inquisitive glance. “By the way, what was the genjutsu you used on that dango stick?”
Her only response was a coy grin and a kiss.
~*~*~*~*~*~
This was ridiculous.
Prisoner 22769 weaved under another slash aimed for her neck. A ripple of air brushed overhead, nicking a few strands of hair. She attempted to strike at her opponent’s stomach, but the brunette was quick to block it. A sharp shing! echoed throughout the clearing as metal grated against metal. Their hands shook from the force of the hold, and they only managed a few seconds’ stalemate before breaking apart and springing to opposite ends of the clearing.
22769 gasped for air. She’d barely had any time between escaping the couple and finding shelter before another Konoha-nin was on her. The woman had sent off a volley of kunai to chorale her into the clearing where she had continued her onslaught. 22769 was at the point where she didn’t know how much more she could take. Her bones ached, her wounds were seeping, and her malnutritioned body cried for sustenance.
I’m not going back to the bitch. If she collapsed now, she’d only wake up back in her cell.
“You giving up?” The double-bunned woman called from across the dell. She twirled one of the kunai around her finger lazily.
She’s not even winded. 22769 shot her a heated glare that only served to make her opponent giggle.
“Guess not.” The kunai stilled. “You know it’d be easy for me to knock you out right now. I wouldn’t even break a sweat.”
“Oh yeah,” 22769 heaved. “Then why don’t you?”
The woman shrugged. “You and your friends hurt someone I care about. Call this revenge.”
“Revenge?” 22769 scoffed, a smirk toying against her lips. Stall, stall, she repeated in her head. “Thought you Konoha-nin didn’t do that shit. Your Hokage won’t be happy.”
“My Hokage doesn’t need to know. Besides, he’s angry enough with you that I don’t think he’ll raise much of a fuss.”
“Good to know the entire village hasn’t gone soft, then.” She was so close. She could feel it. A few more minutes and she’d have enough chakra.
“Soft?” The woman laughed. “Well, I guess if you were able to escape. I’ll be sure to tell Hokage-sama when I haul you back to your cell.”
“By all means, but if the other teams didn’t manage it, I doubt you can.”
“Hah!” Something strange twinkled in her eyes. “It’s as you’ve said. They’ve gone soft.” A nodachi erupted from a seal on her hand and 22769 had barely any time to raise her own weapon before the woman was on her again. “I haven’t.”
Her arms shook with tension, but 22769 didn’t dare use any chakra. She had to preserve it. She was so close. Only another minute or so and she would have enough.
The younger kunoichi struck out with her leg. She hooked her foot behind 22769’s and swept the prisoner onto her back. 22769 quickly rolled to her side to avoid being stabbed, wincing as some of her other wounds reopened. She flipped back onto her feet and swung her tantō at her opponent’s neck. It was easily blocked. The Konoha-nin flashed her a savage grin.
“You’re gonna have to do better than that.”
22769 pivoted, tantō aimed for her side, but was blocked again.
“Are you sure you know how to use that thing. You swing like a genin.”
The prisoner growled. “Shut up.”
“Why? What are you gonna do about it?”
Instead of retorting, 22769 reared back to balance on her hand, and flung her heel up to hit the woman on the chin. A sharp cry rang out through the clearing. 22769 righted herself and grinned as the other kunoichi nursed her face.
She spat out a glob of blood. “Well, what do you know? You can fight.”
“You should see me on a good day.”
“Hah, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I just want to know if you can actually put that kubikiri of yours to good use.” She ran at her again, nodachi raised. 22769 bolted to the side, flipping over a grouping of tree roots. At this rate, she would never be able to get enough of a breather to recover. The Konoha-nin was toying with her; that was a fact. If 22769 didn’t find some way out of this, she was screwed.
And I can’t use any chakra. Not yet.
“Is that it?” Her opponent called out. “Geez, you know this isn’t any fun if you don’t fight back, right?”
22769 didn’t respond. She shifted on her feet.
“Ah well, I’m getting bored anyway. So how about we tie this up and–” 22769 bolted. She pivoted on her heel and raced into the trees. A surprised squawk was the last thing she heard before everything was drowned out by the sound of her own heartbeat.
A minute. One more minute and I’ll have enough.
She tumbled over roots and fallen branches. The forest around her was silent with the exception of her own ragged breathing, but she kept one ear out for the sound of her opponent. She knew at least five other people were in here with her and she didn’t have the energy to fight off all of them.
Almost there.
A flurry of kunai pulled her up short as they burrowed into the ground at her feet. She scrambled to change directions, when the Konoha kunoichi appeared behind her looking far too pleased with herself.
“It’s an A for effort, but trying to outrun me was pretty stupid on your part.”
22769 growled in the back of her throat before whipping around and yanking one of the kunai from the dirt. She spun and sent the weapon flying towards the other woman’s head. It distracted her just long enough for 22769 to vault over the line of kunai and continue her run.
“Oh don’t be like that!” She heard from behind her. “We were just starting to have fun!”
The telltale sound of a shunshin was the only warning she got as the Konoha-nin was suddenly in front of her, a kick to the chest sending her flying. 22769 gasped for breath and was unable to avoid the kunai sent sailing into her thigh.
She screamed.
The other woman tsk-ed. “To think. I had such high hopes for our fight. Oh well. Back to Ino-chan for you.”
“You…you wanted…a fight,” 22769 huffed. “I’ll give you…a fight.”
There. Her chakra. She could feel it. She was ready.
She flashed the Konoha-nin a savage grin and let herself go.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The smoke was pink.
It shouldn’t have been the most surprising part of this whole turn of events, but Tenten couldn’t help herself. Forget that the kunoichi she’d been chasing had dissolved into smoke. That was shocking, but not shocking. It was the fact the smoke was pink that really sent her over the edge.
Her day had been going pretty well so far.
She’d managed to get a small break from the Underground while giving her weapons a good workout on someone other than a sparring partner. Sure, she hadn’t managed to goad the women into activating whatever messed-up sealing was on that tantō, but she’d planned for that. One of her summons was waiting just out of range, ready to come barreling in like a wild animal and give the woman a moment to escape. It was all planned. Everything was fine.
But now there was a phantom of pink smoke in front of her and Moegi was shouting something unintelligible into her ear and she might finally have an inkling of what exactly those seals were supposed to do.
Because the tantō was glowing. Faintly, but glowing. As if filled with chakra. And it was floating. In the smoke.
Huh. Didn’t see that coming.
A density seal. Stabilizers. Transmitters. Oh yeah, it was starting to make sense. She didn’t know how the fuck it worked, but it made sense.
This, she could work with.
Tenten flicked off the communicator in her ear; she couldn’t afford distractions. “Well now, this is new.” She hedged back into a ready stance and pulled a kunai up to cover her face. “Gotta admit, you’ve surprised me. Wanna tell me how it works?”
All she got in response was a sort of echoing laugh. It sent a chill down her spine but Tenten brushed it off. Things had finally gotten interesting and she was aching for a good fight. It had been way too long.
The smoke swirled into a vortex and dived towards her. Tenten jumped out of the way and threw her kunai, not in the least bit surprised when it fazed right through. The smoke reared back, condensing and swirling like angry bees. The tantō floated at the forefront. Tenten raised her nodachi to meet it, but was thrown when the smoke suddenly dispersed to surround her on two sides.
Tenten leapt forward. She let out a volley of shuriken and watched as it did nothing. The smoke bobbed as if amused. Tenten scowled. “Tch, laugh it up now, bitch. You won’t be when I’m through with you.”
The smoke bobbed again and Tenten dispelled her nodachi. She flipped out of the way as the smoke barreled towards her, a curse on her breath. Skidding to a halt, she pulled out a scroll and smeared it with blood. A pair of small fans appeared in her hands and she flung them out with abandon.
“Fūton: Reppūshō!” The smoke dispersed with a shriek and Tenten quickly cast her eyes about for her opponent. There was a dull glow out of the corner of her eye that sent her pivoting on her foot. She watched with tactical interest as the smoke slowly reformed into a solid figure.
The woman glared at her, shoulders shaking with fatigue. Tenten smiled. “So you’re weak to wind, huh? That’s good to know.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” 22769 stated.
“No, but I’m sure Ino will enjoy getting it out of you.”
22769 only smiled. “I’m not going back to that bitch,” she stated, her body dissolving.
The jounin flicked her fans. “Fūton: Reppūshō!” Wind rippled across the forest, cutting more than a few branches from their trees, but the prisoner only dodged. Tenten made to use the fans again when the smoke was on her, surrounding her on all sides. It closed in too quickly for her to react and Tenten found she couldn’t breathe.
She was suffocating. The smoke was down her throat. It clogged her airways and paralyzed her body. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe. Black spots danced along her vision.
“Fūton; Toppa!”
The gale knocked Tenten off her feet, but the pain was infinitely preferable to suffocation. She coughed, great gulps of air filling her lungs. Through her blurry vision, she could just make out the stunned form of their prisoner kneeling on the ground. Her teeth were bared at whoever it was that’d interrupted their fight.
A woman stood between them, knees bent and a large fan positioned to swing. The familiar cloth was a welcome sight. Tenten was a weapon’s specialist but even she acknowledged Temari’s superiority with the tessen. Konohamaru appeared not a moment later, and Chōji and Karui jumped down from the trees to join him. They were far more serious than Tenten felt the situation called for.
“Seems like you have some skills after all,” the Nara woman mused. “I’m a little insulted you didn’t bring it out before. It would have made our fight much more interesting.”
The prisoner didn’t speak.
“What? Did your brain go up in smoke, too? It’s a nifty little trick you’ve got there, but I’m betting you can’t hold it for long. It’s got to be hell on your chakra if you’ve waited this long to use it. So why don’t you make this easier for all of us and come quietly?”
“I already told you,” 22769 growled. “I’m not going back to the bitch.”
Temari smirked. “It’s cute how you think you have a choice. Ressenpū!” She swung the tessen with deadly grace, unleashing a concentrated whirlwind straight towards the downed prisoner.
22769 was too slow to react and was sent careening into a nearby tree. She collided with a piercing crunch, crumpling to the forest floor instantly. Temari scoffed in distain.
She stalked forward, feet crumbling over dead leaves. The prisoner had only grown more disheveled since their fight and Temari reveled in the small amount of satisfaction that brought her. Shikadai had been a mess ever since they told him what happened. He waffled between mutism and excessive crying, finishing off the end of every day by crawling into his parent’s bed and clinging to them for all he was worth.
He knew they were lying through their damn teeth when they told him Boruto was okay. The Nara mind wouldn’t let him ignore the very present holes in their story. He knew, and his parent’s persistence of the lie only served to make it worse. So, if Temari had the opportunity to completely dismantle one of the people who was at the root cause of all that strife she was all too happy to take it. It might even make her son smile when she told him.
Her foot collided with the handle of the dormant kubikiri and she absently kicked it aside. At this point, she didn’t care. All she cared about was putting this woman back where she belonged: interrogation.
“How did you guys know where I was?” Tenten questioned from behind her.
Temari snorted. “Ino told us. She’s not happy you turned off your radio.”
“Well, yeah, I couldn’t concentrate with Moegi shouting in my ear.”
“Moegi,” Karui stressed, “was shouting because whatever shit that bitch pulled messed up her inhibitor seal.”
Tenten stilled. “What?”
“Yeah,” agreed Konohamaru. “Naruto-nii-chan’s not happy.”
“So the inhibitor seal is just what? Gone?”
“Yep. Another fifteen-minutes or so and she would have had full access to her chakra.”
Tenten pulled back, now eyeing Konohamaru with dread. “Fuck. Well, I guess that explains the surge in strength. What do you think it is?”
“A bloodline limit,” Temari said, nudging the unconscious kunoichi with her toes. “If I had to guess. One we don’t have on file.”
“Not many of those.”
Temari tilted her head, acknowledging. “One more than we thought.” She nudged the kunoichi again, more forcefully this time so that 22769 was sprawled out on her stomach. “I don’t suppose any of you know how to put the bindings back on her?”
“I do,” Tenten said, stepping forward.
“Do it, then. We don’t wanna risk her waking—” The air shifted. The familiar sensation of killing intent buffered against them and the Konoha shinobi tensed. Temari whirled back. “Tenten! Now!”
“Right! Fūinju—” The prisoner surged forward, her body dispersing into pink smoke.
Temari cursed under her breath. She readied her fan and cast her eyes about for any sign of the woman. Behind her, the other jounin stood back-to-back, waiting. For a few seconds, nobody moved.
Then, without warning, the smoke seeped out of the trees. It swirled around the group, obscuring their vision even of each other.
“Oh for the love of—! Fūton: Reppūshō!” Temari and Tenten swung their fans in concert, the dual gales easily dispersing the smoke. They watched, waiting for the woman to reform.
A second passed. Then two. Then—
“Karui!”
