7Broken glass and fallen chairs litter the floor, surrounded by scattered papers from the small cabinet that had been thrown against the wall. A pool of ink gathers in a corner around a bottle lying on its side, the last drops of ebon dripping into the growing puddle and sending faint ripples across the surface. There are splinters of wood from where several jagged holes had been punched through the overturned table, and moving amongst the wreckage of the destroyed study room- spurred on by with the faint swirl of air from the circling ceiling fan- are long, wispy strands of carmine.
The trail of crimson grows more intense the closer it gets to its source- a mass of red tresses lying in a heap on the floor of the connecting bathroom. Next to the mess of shorn locks, back slumped against the wall and sitting almost completely still, is a seventeen year-old with hair that just barely brushes her ears and an elongated dagger with a wavy blade in her hands. The only sign of movement from her is the faint tremble of the exposed blade from how hard she's clenching its hilt, but there is only hollowness in her eyes as she stares blankly at the white walls surrounding her.
The letter at her side stays where it is, its contents forever unchanging no matter what she does or doesn't do.
Hours pass- maybe an entire day. The sound of the door to the study room opening doesn't make her do so much as flinch, nor do the quiet gasps and murmurs that fill the once-silent space. The voices- familiar, so familiar- grow louder, the air shifts as someone kneels by her side, but the moment their hands reach down to touch her she flinches and pulls away, afraid and yet- not.
"Natsu." Static on her skin, a flash of silver and painful, painful violet. "Natsu. Please, put that down."
She can't. This is all she has left of-
"Natsuki, please." There's a glint of fire, and a warmth she knows deeply envelops her as familiar palms cup her face. "Look at me. I know it hurts, sweetheart. I know. But you have to come back to us."
Words form on her lips, but she doesn't hear them. She has no idea what thoughts make themselves known, but she finds she doesn't care.
"Don't say that." The hands are stronger, gripping her face with just enough pressure to make her aware of the strength in them. "Don't even try to make this about you. None of this was your fault, understand? You couldn't have stopped this."
"I saw it." Her own voice sounds unfamiliar to her- dry and raspy and nothing like it's supposed to be. "I saw it, and I told him. I did that to him."
"No, Natsuki-"
"I was supposed to protect us." Something wet trickles down her face, caught by the hands that still haven't released her. Her already ruined voice is getting even worse, like something grating and broken. "Just us. I didn't want this."
The blade in her hands finally falls away, clattering against the tiled floor. Her own hands are now clutching at her face as she chokes on horrible, broken sobs, almost missing the way the second person in the room joins the first by her side and wraps their arms around her. Even as she's surrounded by people who so obviously love her, none of their comfort chases away the overwhelming, crushing guilt weighing against her chest, and Natsuki - her name, that's her name now, she's no longer - wonders if anything ever will.
The burden of knowing the future is a difficult one to carry. On Natsuki Hagiwara's seventeenth year of rebirth, the cruel reality of that fate rears its head, and she swears it is one that she alone will bring to her grave.
The mood in the Furihata family's restaurant is lively tonight- more so than what one would expect beyond opening hours, at least. Natsuki takes in the atmosphere with a small smile lingering on her face, a cup of sake clasped between her fingers while her eyes roam over the faces at the table. Akira had closed up shop an hour ago, just before Yoshiko emerged from the back room with bottles of liquor that she'd saved specially for the occasion and immediately challenged Tatsumi to a drinking contest.
The twenty-one year old councilman had hesitated, but he had a penchant for being unable to turn away a challenge, and so had acquiesced to the birthday girl's request. Natsuki, upon realising where this was going, had thus decided to take it slow and watch the ensuing train wreck as it happened.
"You sure you should be drinking tonight, Natsuki-san?" Akira's smooth tenor reaches her ears, and Natsuki looks over her shoulder to see the young restaurant owner sliding into the seat next to her, along with his co-worker, Tsunami. He's eyeing the nearly-empty cup in her hands, clearly remembering her poor alcohol tolerance and the last time she'd gotten completely wasted in his establishment after-hours. She remembers waking up on Tatsumi's couch when said best friend had thrown a bucket of water over her head the next morning for being an idiot- the same bucket she'd used to completely rid herself of the previous night's dinner almost immediately after.
"Not at all." Akira shoots her a withering look, and Natsuki raises her hands in defence, putting on a look of feigned innocence. "I'll drink in moderation, I promise. I'm done with getting blackout drunk."
"Leave it to the future Ōnami to set a good example," Hatsume teases, earning an eyeroll from Natsuki as she takes another sip from her cup. Thankfully, she doesn't have to say anything to defend herself, as Yoshiko- already tipsy from her first few glasses- slings an arm over her soulmate's shoulders and interjects on her behalf.
"Hey, forget about all of that, akagami. It's my birthday, you don't have to care about any of those pressures here!" Despite the birthday girl's vehement words, Natsuki merely shakes her head with a reassuring smile.
"I'm fine, Yoshiko-chan. Someone's gonna have to drag Tatsu home after all of this." Right as she says that, Tatsumi takes the opportunity to finish his- fourth? fifth?- glass of beer with a grimace, gesturing to Yoshiko to take the next turn. Yoshiko swears quietly under her breath as she returns to the game at hand, muttering several indecencies about Tatsumi's heritage as she fills her glass again. They're the only two here who both enjoy and can really handle their drink, and it's always fun to see them try and one-up each other in a good old fashioned contest like this when they let their hair down.
"Shouldn't you stop him, Natsuki-san? It's still a working day tomorrow," Tsunami asks in a whisper, worry evident in her voice. She has a glass of juice in her hands that Hatsume had slid across the table to her, while Akira appears to be nursing a small cup of sake of his own.
"He's let me have my fun, so it's about time he gets a turn. Besides, he's had a rough couple of weeks since the last meeting." Her statement earns a quiet groan from Tatsumi and Hatsume both, and Natsuki grins unapologetically for reminding them of their most recent headache, even as she laments it as well. Tsunami, however, leans in with intrigue.
"What happened this time? I haven't heard anything from Otou-san yet."
Natsuki shrugs, taking a sip from her cup before she replies. "The draft for the rent control bill is meeting some opposition from the executive council. It's a bit of a mess, but we're trying to work out a compromise."
"Trying to." Hatsume groans, looking at her glass of juice as though she wishes she'd taken something stronger. Natsuki can only pat her shoulder sympathetically- after all the number crunching Hatsume has had to do on her end, she has every right to feel dejected by the lack of progress.
"Then, why aren't you joining him?"
"I get to drink on Natsuki's birthday. Tonight's his turn." Hatsume replies easily, and Akira laughs at the arrangement they've clearly sorted out.
"Must be a pretty big deal if the council is opposing it. And here I thought you lot wouldn't be able to surprise me after that petition you started to pass that labour bill- I still hear about it in the shop, by the way."
"Don't forget the bridge project," Tsunami adds, earning a mumbled sound of approval and a thumbs up from Yoshiko as she tosses back another glass. Natsuki winces- she's going to feel that one in the morning. "Otou-san got so excited when the council appointed him as the supervisor- not that he'd admit that to anyone."
"Yeah, the old man's allergic to showing any emotion that isn't disdain."
"Is that really how you should talk about your shishou?" Hatsume asks, raising an eyebrow at Tazuna's most brilliant and favourite student- at least, according to Yoshiko herself. Natsuki can somewhat believe that, seeing as how Yoshiko had virtually hounded and begged the old man into finally taking her on as his apprentice before she even got out of school. Tazuna is far too prideful to ever call Yoshiko anything but a nuisance, though- even if she has proven to be one of the most innovative architects Waves has seen.
"He can dish out the insults, so he can take it." Yoshiko shrugs, clearly unaffected. When Tatsumi finally raises his cup to his lips again, her lips curl into a scowl, and she hisses, "Dammit, Arikawa. You don't know when to quit."
"Don't start a fight you can't finish, Furihata." Tatsumi counters easily- to any untrained eye, he seems to be the epitome of composure. To Natsuki, however, the slight tremble of his fingers as he lowers his glass is indicative that he's breaching the line between tipsiness and full-blown drunkenness. Figuring that now would be as good a time as any to get her thoughts out in the open, before all sane conversation is lost to babysitting the two drunkards at the table, Natsuki decides to speak.
"In any case, everything we've been able to do has taken a group effort. All of us here- we've all contributed to something bigger than any one of us could have done on our own." Glancing over to every one of her friends at the table, a small, genuine smile rests on her lips when she sees that they're all looking at her attentively. She hadn't meant to sound so serious, but her gratitude is genuine- were it not for Hatsume and Tatsumi's work in their respective departments, or Akira's network amongst the villagers, and even Tsunami and Yoshiko's influence amongst their peers, none of the efforts they've made would have had the impact that they did. The success of the first petition has given the people access to a voice they did not have before, motions have been passed for the improvement of labour and immigration laws, and these smaller feats have opened the door to so much more.
"It's only thanks to all of you that we've been able to make so much happen. For that, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart."
There's a moment of silence as everyone digests her genuine statement of gratitude, before Tatsumi puts a hand to his lips, his eyes wide with surprise. "Is that gratitude I hear from our resident princess?"
"Shut the hell up, Tatsu." Natsuki pokes him none too gently in the gut, earning a satisfying grunt from Tatsumi moments before he bursts into laughter. The rest of the table follows suit, with Yoshiko throwing her arm over Tatsumi and complimenting him on 'losing the rose-tinted shades' and 'taking her down a peg'. Natsuki rolls her eyes and ignores the subtle pokes at her character- she knows it's all meant in good fun, and that alone won't stop her from getting sappy every now and then. The alcohol is a good way to make sure they're all too busy getting over the hangover as punishment for their teasing, anyway.
"You're just lucky we like you enough to see all of this through with you," Hatsume jests, nudging Natsuki in the side. Natsuki just snorts at that, raising her cup to Hatsume's and clinking them together.
"I'll toast to that," she says cordially- moments before Yoshiko slams down her empty cup and stares at Tatsumi with a challenge burning in her gaze. Some of his usually slicked back, ebon hair is falling into his green eyes, and his stare darts from the cup in his hands to Natsuki's own sake cup, and his lips curl into a frown. When he reaches for the sake jug next, everyone else at the table emits a groan of defeat as they realise where this is leading- namely, a pit in the depths of hell called Hangover Central- but otherwise, they let the two adults continue on their little contest without much protest.
A small smile plays on Natsuki's lips as she watches her friends merrily chatting long into the night, content with just being there with them and revelling in the carefree energy of the celebration. At the end of it all, she does end up helping Tatsumi get back into his flat when he tries opening the front door with a toothpick he'd smuggled from Akira's, before finally making her own way home under the peaceful lull of nightfall, a pleasant buzz in her ears from the alcohol and the sound of cicadas and owls echoing from the nearby forests. It's a quiet night in Waves- there have been many of those since the end of the war three years ago- and Natsuki breathes it all in. There's the salty tang of the ocean carried on the breeze, the faint smell of incense from the little altar set along the road to the apartment complex, the cold touch of moonlight against her skin- and she smiles.
It's good to be alive.
There are screams in the air, hundreds of distorted voices calling for her blood as she runs through the bone-white forest. Natsuki's breaths leave her lips in short, heavy pants as her feet carry her through the woods, not once pausing to consider where she's going or what she's running from. All she knows is that whatever is chasing her is out to kill her, and if she stops for even a moment, it will catch up to her and finish the job.
"Come on, let's play for a bit!"
"Kill the intruder!"
"Stop running!"
Even as her heart races in her chest and her lungs burn with exertion, Natsuki finds herself feeling eerily composed as she navigates through the dark forest, moving with a singular purpose in mind under the cover of nightfall. She's clutching something in her arms, a small bundle that's wrapped in cloth and hidden from sight, and though Natsuki has no idea what it could be, she still carries it with care- like it's something fragile and precious. Something that she needs to keep away from the thing that's chasing her. A treasure to be protected at all costs.
When the pale, bare trees begin to thin out, Natsuki feels a surge of relief as she reaches a seemingly empty clearing in the middle of the forest. She only allows herself to slow down as she crosses an invisible threshold that she somehow knows is there- and when she finally lets herself fall to the ground to catch her breath, she hears the sound of a hundred footsteps stampeding towards her, feeling her hands body tensing in preparation for the onslaught. She knows it's safe here, but still…
Natsuki turns to look at the treeline she's left behind her, only to see the first of the monsters emerging from the shadows. Creatures with unnaturally pale skin begin to approach at a cautious pace, their lips pulled back to reveal vicious fangs while their yellow eyes glow with the promise of murder. Several of the creatures are bigger than the rest, gigantic monstrosities with multiple heads and their bodies fused together like they were made out of clay, unnatural structures protruding from their forms like large sets of teeth ready to consume any that get in their way. Again, Natsuki knows she should be frightened- and yet, all she feels is a steady calm.
"You should have stayed out of this," One of the creatures closest to her hisses. Despite knowing how outnumbered she is, the words of the beast make her scoff.
"Yeah, well." Natsuki finds her lip curling into a vicious smirk as she spits, "Maybe you should take a word of your own advice, you nasty old relic."
The monster makes a terrible, gurgling growl and surges towards her with its army- but almost immediately they recoil as they all make contact with the wall of light that appears between them. Natsuki didn't know when she'd sent her adamantine sealing chains into the ground to erect the barrier, but it's strong- stronger than any she's ever made before.
(This is when a small part of her mind realises this isn't actually real. She's never been good enough at creating barriers to make something this powerful.)
"Don't even think about it." Natsuki growls lowly as she holds her treasure closer to her chest, anger and an almost twisted sense of joy at seeing the creature wail as the large sealing trap she'd laid out over the ground finally activates at her command, lines of chakra ink wrapping around the creature and the rest of its counterparts. She can feel herself losing strength rapidly as she expends the last of her reserves, but she refuses to let her barrier fall as she hisses, "He's mine."
"Cheater!" Another one of the monsters- one of the few with the multiple faces- thrashes against the seals, none of which do even the slightest bit of damage against the restraints. There are flashes of black and red and green outside of the barrier, and Natsuki swears she can make out the forms of countless individuals attacking the immobilised army. In a disjointed voice, it cries, "You cheated! The Fox was supposed to be ours!"
"Kurama belongs to no one." Her eyes fall to the bundle in her arms, and Natsuki hears her voice soften as she says, "And someday, people will understand."
"No!" The creature is helplessly cut down by the onslaught of people hacking it to bits, unable to withstand the onslaught of jutsu and sheer numbers being thrown at it. Its voice begins to shift into a gurgling, incomprehensible mess as it cries, "You bastard! You'll pay for this!"
"Uzumaki-san, we're ready." Suddenly there's another voice, and a trio of the strange, blurry-faced individuals are gathered around her. Natsuki feels a sense of heaviness weighing down upon her, as though finally coming into the clear only to be met with the terms of a terrible truth.
Looking down at the treasure she'd been protecting this whole time, she reaches a hand up to push aside some of the cloth covering it- only to reveal a small, pink face bearing whisker-like markings and a crown of fine, almost white-gold hair. Natsuki finds herself running a finger along the slumbering baby's face, as if willing herself to remember every detail about this precious child at that very moment, never once lifting her eyes from the treasure in her arms even as she nods and gives the faceless men her okay. Leaning forward to press a kiss to the baby's forehead, Natsuki feels warm wetness trickling down her cheeks, even as a bright golden glow envelops her in its grasp.
"Someday, I know you'll-"
Natsuki doesn't get to finish her sentence before she jolts awake, hands clutching at her chest as her heart throbs painfully in her chest. The sudden movement has her gripping at her head as a wave of nausea and dizziness overcomes her senses, the aftereffect of a night of drinking compounding the remnants of her night terrors. Without pausing for even a second, Natsuki reaches over her bedside and grabs the bin she'd placed there before emptying the contents of her stomach. She stays that way for a good minute, allowing herself to be absolutely sure that there's nothing else that wants to exit her system, before she finally sags against the headboard, grabbing a tissue from her bedside table to clean her face.
As she simply sits there on her bed, head throbbing and throat completely parched, Natsuki allows her mind to wander off towards the menial things on her list. It's an automatic response she's cultivated when confronted with a sleepless night like this, and all she wants is to forget the images her mind can conjure. It's almost five in the morning, which means she's gotten a grand total of three hours of sleep since she'd gotten home from the celebration last night- that's going to be great for the bags under her eyes. She's got two hours to get her ass into gear and out into the forest for training, an hour after that to clean up and get to her office, and hopefully Tatsumi is feeling better than she does because oh gods, she's really feeling that last glass and her head is killing her.
Natsuki gets onto shaky feet as she stumbles towards the bathroom, already sorting through more of the day's tasks and focusing on the day before her- all while the memories of her nightmare slip away like sand through her fingers.
There's the sound of her adamantine chains shattering as Kaoru spears her own chains through the links, and Natsuki is forced to release the jutsu with a hiss. Before she can even recover from the shuddering feedback of having her constructs broken, she's already dodging her mom's quick strikes at her person, only narrowly avoiding the last swing she makes with her training sword as she uses a substitution on the rock near the riverside.
Natsuki hears the solid thunk her mom's bokken makes as it slams against the granite, wincing as she realises how close she'd come to getting a particularly nasty bruise, before she picks up on a distortion of chakra in the air around her. Shifting her hands into the tiger seal, Natsuki flares her chakra to disrupt the genjutsu attempt, only to be caught off-guard as she notices a movement to her left. Dodging under the massive paw that swipes at her head, Natsuki doesn't have time to curse the sneaky tigress that had slipped past her senses when said animal lands on her front paws and spins around, using the momentum of her hind legs to sweep her off her feet.
Natsuki only just manages to stop herself from rolling into the water as she tumbles to the ground, her head spinning from being thrown literally ass over teakettle by the unexpected attack. Even through the haze of her dulled senses, she can feel her mom's chakra settling down as she straps her bokken to her back- it looks like lessons are being cut short for the day after that miserable performance, thank the gods. Pulling herself to her feet, Natsuki is met with woeful amber eyes set in a feline face- Keiko, the tigress who had been the one to knock her down, whines slightly as she rubs herself against her leg, clearly remorseful for having taken her by surprise.
"How's your leg, boss? Was that last kick too hard?" Her words are spoken in the Eastern derivative of the common Continental tongue- the mother tongue of the Land of Whirlpools. Natsuki finds herself reverting to the same dialect as she replies, rubbing the young summon behind her ears in reassurance.
"Don't worry, Keiko. I'm alright." Natsuki had dislocated her ankle almost a year ago during an inspection of one of the factories- the accident having involved a few spooked horses, a convenient timber load, and her being in the wrong place at the right time. The ensuing injury had been troublesome- she'd decided on recovering naturally instead of resorting to the healing techniques of her clan- and it had impeded her training for the longest time. It seems that Keiko remembers, and Natsuki feels guilty for making her think she's done something wrong when it was her own inattentiveness that had left her open.
"You seem distracted today, Natsuki-sama," Meiko comments as she approaches her with slow steps, and Natsuki huffs. Of course she would have noticed- Meiko is the genjutsu master of the twin tigresses, and is far more perceptive towards her opponents' reactions in battle. Before Natsuki can defend herself, however, her mom chooses that moment to clear her throat, calling her attention back to her as she does so.
"Alright." Kaoru gestures towards her stomach, shooting her a wry look. "Let me see it."
Natsuki groans, while Keiko slowly slips away from her hands and plops down next to her sister. "Kaa-san, it's fine."
"I know. I just want to see what you've done this time," Kaoru replies evenly, her tone bearing no inflection yet somehow leaving no room for argument, either. Natsuki blows out a huff of air in exasperation, making several stubborn strands of hair that had fallen out of her hairband float off her face, but starts rolling up the hem of her training gi anyway. When she reveals the three-hexagram seal painted in ink over her stomach, Kaoru moves closer to get a better look, finger hovering just slightly over her skin as she reads the web of commands connecting the seal.
"Well, the displacement construct looks stable. The lines aren't opposing your nature, either- so why were your chains so flimsy?"
"...I drank a little last night. The seal's messing with my chakra." Natsuki's quiet confession quickly wipes away any worry from Kaoru's face, her mom's lips curling into a smirk as she finally withdraws with a chuckle. Natsuki pulls a face at the obvious lack of sympathy for the remnants of her hangover, but her mom just flicks her forehead affectionately.
"I've told you to be careful with alcohol when using a stomach seal. You know you already can't handle your drink."
"Kaa-san…"
"You don't smell of alcohol, though?"Keiko points out curiously. She's taken to lounging on the forest floor now, while Meiko absently paws at the circlet of beads around her neck.
"It was only one cup." When Kaoru raises an eyebrow, Natsuki has the decency to look a little sheepish as she corrects herself. "Okay, maybe three-" Four. "-but it was barely anything! I have to go to work today."
"This." Her mom points at her stomach, before she redirects her pointer finger towards her head. "Affects this. Remember the basics, Natsu- the body and mind must be in agreement with the seal. Even the slightest disruption can weaken the commands of a self-placed seal."
"I know." Natsuki sighs at the lecture- she's heard the repeats of all her fuuinjutsu lessons multiple times at this point, but she keeps her mouth shut and appreciates the refreshers anyway. Who knows when they might come in handy? "I might have gotten a little carried away. It was a fun night."
"You should have told me. I would have given you the morning off today." Here, Kaoru's eyes soften slightly, and even her voice lowers as she asks, "Any nightmares last night?"
Natsuki shrugs. "Nothing too bad." A small, white lie- but not quite. Her mind has conjured up worse images, and the Yin energy dispersal seal has already helped reduce her night terrors by a fair bit. Drinking is one of the few things that can make her dream of anything these days, since the seal basically reduces her regular bouts of dormant spiritual activity to zero- a few conscious hours of numbing her mind slightly while awake almost aren't worth the resulting terrors, but that hasn't stopped her yet.
Kaoru doesn't give any indication that she suspects Natsuki's lying, merely nodding as she gestures for Natsuki to join her while she heads towards the spot where they'd left their belongings. Once she's entered the shade of the trees and away from the glare of the sun on the riverbank, Natsuki sighs as she plops down on the floor without hesitation, lying against Meiko who has settled at her back. Her brain feels a little more like mush after being hit with the tiger's genjutsu onslaught during the fight, but at least it isn't so bad that she's throwing up again.
She feels a tap on her shoulder, and reaches out to take the water canteen her mom is offering her without even opening her eyes, a murmur of thanks on her lips. Natsuki can see Kaoru's outline clear as day with her chakra sense as she settles down in front of Keiko right next to her, and from the way her chakra doesn't quite settle down, she knows her mom has something to say even before she opens her lips.
"Yura-chan came to visit me the other day." The topic is surprising enough that Natsuki slowly pries her eyes open, listening intently as her mom speaks. Kaoru's shoulder length locks- an uncommon shade of silver instead of the Uzumaki's crimson- are tousled by the slight breeze that blows by, and she pushes it out of her eyes as she continues, "She asked what subjects she should focus on before enrolling in the police academy. She seems pretty set on wanting to join the force."
"What did you tell her?" Natsuki asks, carefully suppressing her chakra to avoid showing any sign of worry. It doesn't make much of a difference- Kaoru isn't a sensor the way that she is- but she's gotten so used to keeping a grip on her chakra that it's become almost second nature.
"I answered her honestly. Told her it would be a lot of hard work, and she should probably start thinking on which department she'd be interested in working in." When Kaoru answers so casually, Natsuki finds her grip on her chakra relaxing slightly. She's relieved that her mom hadn't been yet another person to dissuade Yura from her ambitions. Natsuki had only been a part-time teacher at the local middle school for a short while, but having taken the effort to personally engage with the young, but headstrong child, she'd found herself supporting her dreams for the future fervently.
It's just frustrating that it had taken her until then to realise just how many of Waves' occupations still haven't made themselves quite accessible to others like Yura.
"Did she have one in mind?"
"She told me she wants to join the patrol squad." Natsuki smiles at the answer- Yura had always explained how much she loves the outdoors, and while patrol duty may get repetitive outside of rare moments of excitement, it's better than cooping up her free spirit in a cubicle. "She's really thought this through. I just hope the instructors will take to the notion kindly."
The morose look on her mother's face has Natsuki sitting up a little straighter. "Haven't the sign language classes for the MPs already started?"
"The intended purpose was for communicating with civilians. Having an officer use it to teach students is new, especially when most of us only know the basics." Kaoru rubs a hand over her face, clearly lost in thought. "I'm not sure what the others will think until the time comes."
"Well, what do you think about it?" Kaoru's gaze fixes itself on her again at the question, and Natsuki can see her genuinely sifting through her thoughts for an answer. Natsuki drums her fingers idly against her thighs as she waits- if she doesn't distract her hands with something else, she'll just end up ruining the hem of another good shirt. She's had all sorts of discussions about her ideals and plans with her family members even before she'd started working on the council to help run the country, but this question is on a smaller scale. She's asking for Kaoru's opinion as a ranked member of the police force, not what she thinks these movements are doing for Waves.
"I think," Kaoru says slowly, before a slight smirk pulls on the corner of her lip. "We could do with opening our doors to new changes. I'll do my best to keep an eye on Yura if she joins up."
"When she joins up. Let's face it, there's no stopping her once she's made up her mind." Natsuki corrects with a chuckle, feeling another swell of reassurance within her chest as Kaoru snorts quietly and settles back against Keiko as well. She's relieved that her parents and her see eye-to-eye on many of her opinions- not all of them, sure, but it's better than all the flak that many of the old coots on the council give her. Some days it feels like most of them would rather have the Shinigami itself come for their heads rather than implement any changes to their comfort zones, especially at the behest of a 'child' like herself. Perhaps age has made them forget that Ayano had only been about five years older than she is when she'd inherited the mantle- and that's without the extra years that Natsuki has accumulated mentally.
Not that they know that, of course. No one did, except-
"Say, Boss." Keiko suddenly speaks up, a sliver of genuine curiosity in her voice. "Is it just me, or is your compass moving slower?"
Natsuki blinks at the interruption, before looking down at the compass on her left wrist. It looks the same as always to her- its needle forever spinning in a spiral that never ends. Useless piece of junk.
"Dunno. I don't pay enough attention to tell," Natsuki replies honestly. Meiko turns her head to shoot her a strange look out of the corner of her eye.
"Shouldn't you, though?" The tiger asks, and Natsuki scoffs. Like she has the time for that after nineteen years of staring at this thing with no progress whatsoever.
"I've got other things to be worried about besides a broken compass. No offence, Kaa-san," She quickly adds. Her mother merely grunts at her remark- she's heard Natsuki dismiss her soul mark so many times in the past that she doesn't try to change her mind anymore.
"In all seriousness, Natsuki-sama, it does look like it's moving a bit slower than usual." Meiko stresses, her own eyes now fixed on the ebon compass. Perhaps the tigers can see something in the turns of the needle better than she can, what with their incredible vision. She isn't inclined to argue with them on this, though.
"Maybe." Natsuki relents, taking another swig from the water container as she finally averts her gaze. It doesn't matter in the end- she used to pay more attention when she was younger, but after the war, it just became a secondary worry as she finally started training properly to become her mother's successor. There had just been too many other things to worry about, especially after...
Natsuki bites the inside of her cheek as she runs a hand through her hair- it's been a while since she last cut it, and it's almost touching her shoulders again. A part of her wants to take out one of the kunai sealed beneath her practice arm guards and hack at the thick, overgrown mane of red there and then- but the rational part of her mind tells her that it can wait until later, so that way she can contain the mess and avoid having her mom stare reproachfully at her for her lack of self-control.
Her eyes flicker towards the woman sitting next to her again- Kaoru has her eyes closed as she lies against Keiko's back, the large cat purring as she scratches her under her chin. Natsuki smiles at the sight, automatically reaching to do the same for Meiko. The twins are the youngest of the tiger clan, having been born about ten years ago- the same year that Natsuki had signed the contract herself. They'd grown together with her, honing their own specialties while training alongside and against her, and she loved them dearly- even amongst all the other tigers she's come to meet over the years.
Though Natsuki sometimes laments that she can never truly bring them to their full potential, having tied them to a non-shinobi like herself, she finds herself grateful more than anything else- after all, this way no one has to senselessly die fighting the battles of other men. Here in Waves, all is safe, and she wouldn't trade it for anything else.
Closing her own eyes for a moment, Natsuki takes another deep breath and reaches out to grasp her mom's hand. There she lies beneath the cover of leaves and sunlight, warm spring air dancing against her skin, and allows herself to bask in this treasured moment of peace.
"You're joking. He actually showed up to the office? Even Yoshiko-chan had to get Otou-san to let her have the day off!" Tsunami's voice bears nothing but awe as she clears another table, having to throw her voice over her shoulder at Natsuki who sits at the counter. Furihata's is packed to the brim at lunchtime, as usual, and all the staff members are too busy handling the flow of customers to entertain too much small talk.
"Forget that- I don't think she's even left her room since I last checked." Akira whistles lowly as he ties off the packet of noodles in his hands, along with a bag of milky-white soup to go with it. "Tatsumi's really something else with that iron stomach of his."
"He's not entirely free of suffering, though. Hatsume's been making the effort to be very clear with her announcements the whole day." Tatsumi had looked like he was ready to hurl something at the loudspeaker on the wall the third time Hatsume cheerily tuned into the PA system just to provide some barely-important update from her department, and Natsuki smirks at the memory. When Akira hands off her takeaway order to her, she gives him a curt nod of thanks and asks, "Are we still on for dinner tomorrow, by the way?"
"Tsunami-san already made the reservations." Said woman shoots them both a thumbs up as she walks towards another table to take their order, and Akira winks playfully at Natsuki when she gets to her feet. "Don't be late, alright?"
"Yeah, yeah." Natsuki dismisses the comment with a discreet, but crude hand gesture that earns her another bark of laughter from Akira. A grin of her own lingers on her lips as she leaves the restaurant, offering pleasant greetings with some of the customers that she recognises along the way.
The raffia ties of her takeaway lunch are hooked over the fingers of one hand, and she takes to the streets at a brisk place, humming a song unfamiliar to this world as she does so. She's in a surprisingly good mood today, even as she's still feeling the slight effects of her hangover in her throbbing head and sore joints- and perhaps that's why she'd made her first mistake of overlooking the chakra patterns around her.
Natsuki only realises that a pair of signatures have been trailing behind her when she's two blocks away from the Ōnami's office, and as she slows her steps slightly, she is careful to keep her own chakra flowing at a natural pace even as her heartbeat quickens. Suddenly hyper-aware of the number of people are milling around along this path, and how her reserves are running lower than she'd like compared to her stalkers, she considers the situation. The chances of an attack in broad daylight among so many are low, but the crowd also provides an opportunity for any shinobi worth their salt to slip in and out without even blinking, and she could be dead in seconds.
A worst-case scenario, perhaps- but after everything that's happened over the past few years, she'd expected an attempt on her life at some point.
Even in the light of the afternoon sun, Natsuki feels cold as she places a hand over her stomach, using the smallest pulse of chakra necessary to release the seal- if it comes to a fight, she can't afford to have her control compromised. Once she feels the effects of the dispersal seal subside, she almost immediately feels her senses sharpen with the removal of the block on her core- it'll be a pain to remake that seal, but that's time she's willing to spare. Finally slowing to a stop along the side of the road, she turns around with a small smile on her lips, trying to seem as casual as possible when she faces the duo who have been following her for the past few minutes. The man and the woman approaching her seem harmless, and they look to be exchanging words with each other casually enough, but Natsuki's not fooled.
She knows her home and its citizens well, and she's never seen these signatures before. They're too strong to be regular civilians, with shinobi-level chakra that's difficult to place- not quite jounin-level, but she would say they've got stronger reserves than the regular Konoha chuunin. Just who are these people?
"Can I help you?" She asks politely, quickly assessing the two strangers. They're both rather young, possibly a year or so younger than she herself is, and while the woman is a petite thing clad in pale grey travelling clothes, the man is taller than Natsuki by a good head- and that's a little impressive, given that Natsuki only misses six feet by a couple of inches. They don't seem nervous or surprised at catching her attention- but it's hard to tell what they're feeling even with her chakra sense. They've both got excellent control over their chakra if this is nonchalance is faked- none of it seems forced; it's as if they really are just casually intrigued.
"Yes, we actually have a question." The woman speaks first, a somewhat sheepish smile on her face. "It's our first time here in Waves, you see, and we were hoping you could give us a hand. We've gotten a little lost."
The question is innocuous enough, but Natsuki maintains her distance as she gives a courteous nod. "Yeah, that can happen sometimes. Where are you headed to?"
"We have a ride to catch on the Southern docks. Could you tell us which path to take?"
"Sure thing. From here, you just need to head back into town and walk downstream of the main river, and then when you come across the pharmacy on your left…"
For a moment, as Natsuki relays the appropriate directions without either of the strangers reacting suspiciously, she begins to think that maybe her suspicions are unfounded. Maybe these guys are retired shinobi who are just passing by? Yugakure had just undergone its demilitarisation, after all- these guys could be stragglers who have decided to travel the world now that they're free. Perhaps she'd been too quick to judge them, her paranoia running high after that nightmare of being chased in the dark.
Natsuki's second mistake is dismissing her sore, aching joints as the aftereffects of a few drinks. It isn't until she finishes her sentence that she is struck by how much her neck hurts, and she absently rubs at her nape when she feels something long and thin sticking out the base of her neck. That's weird, when had- oh, shit.
Natsuki stumbles backwards in shock as soon as she realises what's happening, suddenly all too aware of how lethargic she's feeling. A sedative, maybe? Hell if she knows. The expressions on the faces of the strangers are stoic, unmoving even as she comes to realise exactly what they've done, and Natsuki's immediate train of thought is to take to the rooftops and lose them. However, the man beats her to the chase, using a shunshin to intercept her path before she can take so much as a step.
The moment she opens her mouth to call attention to herself, the woman darts forward and jabs another senbon into her neck, and Natsuki's world turns dark.
It was supposed to be just another regular day. She would have her morning workout, rest a bit before heading off to work, and then retire to bed with little fuss. A stress-free day when the only things she would have to worry about are last minute meetings with the council and influxes of paperwork to review.
She wasn't supposed to find herself here. Not kidnapped by a bunch of shinobi.
When Natsuki finally pries her eyelids open again, it takes her a good long moment to remember what happened through the absolutely mind-numbing throb in her skull. Her first instinct is to panic, and she immediately tries to move her hands to push herself up- only to find that they have been tied behind her back and that her feet are bound, too. Realising she's been rendered immobile, Natsuki forces herself to reel in her emotions, trying to assess the situation to see what her options for escape are.
Her cheek itches slightly from the where she'd been lying against the ground, and her left arm is feeling particularly sore from where she'd been lying on it for- hours? It's possible, the lack of sunlight and almost complete darkness enshrouding her indicates that it's nightfall, when she distinctly remembers having been intercepted early in the afternoon. She can feel the chakra of her captors behind her, and though she's certain they've noticed her awakening, the agitation in their respective signatures tells her that they were possibly arguing just before she'd started stirring. She'd turn to look at them, but Natsuki instead remains on her side, eyes squinting into the thicket of trees and shrubbery in the forest beyond. She needs to get her head on straight again- and staring at the nuke-nin who had successfully abducted her in broad daylight would only distract her.
Besides, this way they might think she's still incoherent after being knocked out like that. Given how she can still feel her head pounding inside her skull, she'd probably believe she wouldn't be moving for a while, too.
Her wrists itch against the grainy ropes that keep her hands tied behind her back, and as her captors slowly return to speaking amongst themselves- convinced she isn't going to start causing any problems- Natsuki does a quick self-check. She isn't foolish enough to believe her shinobi captors would have left her bindings half-assed, and she knows she couldn't possibly undo them even if she could without alerting them. They hadn't gagged her, but without her hand seals, she's no good for any orally-expelled jutsu. Besides that… her reserves are running on half, at least. The dispersal seal on her stomach had slowed her chakra replenishment by a good deal for half the day, and she'd used up quite a bit on training earlier, even if the lesson had been cut short.
Nothing about this situation is optimal, and Natsuki curses her luck. Still, her dwindling hope doesn't stop her from channelling a stream of chakra to her ears as she clarifies her hearing, trying to get an idea of what has her captors so worked up. Even in a potential life or death scenario, there's something to be said about knowledge bearing power- and navigating her life as the Ōnami's successor has trained her to snoop very discreetly.
"Everything we've heard checks out so far. This is definitely the one he told us about."
"But will Orochimaru really be satisfied if we hand over some girl who only might be an Uzumaki? How do we know that man isn't just setting us up?"
"What other choice do we have? You gonna waltz into a Hidden Village and steal one of their clan members?"
A ringing starts up in her ears as soon as Natsuki is able to compute what she just heard, and the panic she'd so carefully tucked away start bubbling beneath the surface of her composure once more. Orochimaru's the one these goons are trying to sell her off to? Natsuki had already guessed that these ninja were trying to get into another village's good graces by offering her as a sacrificial lamb, but the Snake Sannin? Natsuki's hands flex as she helplessly tries to pull against her bindings again- bodies cut open, a thirst for power and knowledge, prisoners forced to fight to the death in his search for the most powerful host - but it's no use. She can't escape like this, but she can't let that madman get his hands on her.
The damage he would be able to do if he extracts the knowledge in her head may just be worse than anything she could possibly imagine. She can't let that happen- she won't. With that single denial pushing her forward, Natsuki gradually pulls herself together again, taking deep breaths to try and calm down. She can't afford to panic, not when this may be her only chance of escaping her fate. She just… she just has to think of something. She's good at that.
"Hey, calm down. Maybe if we can find that guy again-"
"Are you kidding? He'd kill us himself if we go back now! Listen, we've already committed to this, so let's just get to Oto and finish the job."
"But don't you get it? Once we're in, we're in this for life, Jiro! How can we be sure he isn't going to kill us anyway?"
"I… he won't. We'll be his only source of inside information, he's not going to just get rid of us."
Natsuki finally steadies her breathing, running through some of the options she's managed to piece together in her head. She already knows damn well she can't outrun a ninja, so that leaves two choices. She can give up here and allow these traitors to give her up to Orochimaru for whatever sick experiments he can come up with- or she can resist, fight, and maybe die in the process of doing so.
The choice is obvious. Eternal silence would be preferable to anything that madman would put her through- and she would not give anyone, especially him, the satisfaction of tormenting her. Not when there are still things in this world she wants to protect.
"I should never have listened to you. We could be walking right into a trap!"
"We can argue about this later!" The woman's voice finally snaps, and from the weight of her footsteps, Natsuki can tell she's stomping back to retrieve her. It's now or never. "Right now, we need to get a move on, so just shut up and bear it."
She can feel the kunoichi approaching her back in her mind's eye, and Natsuki makes sure she keeps very, very still. The moment the woman gets close enough and is just about to grab her, Natsuki channels all her chakra in her centre, moulding it into chains that burst out from her back and spear through the kunoichi right as she starts to bend down. She doesn't need to look to know she's hit her mark- the woman's chakra jumps in shock for just a moment before it begins to sputter out after the fatal blow- and Natsuki desperately ignores the unpleasant memories that surface at the sound of tearing flesh and breaking bones. Extending her chains even more, she quickly swings them at the second shinobi- but she's just a bit too slow with her follow-up, and she can sense as the man leaps back and out of her range just as the chains spear into the ground where he'd been standing.
Natsuki curses, but she recovers and immediately goes for her next course of action. Taking advantage of the opening left by the shinobi's surprise, she retracts her adamantine chains, dropping the body of the kunoichi before she sends the extensions of her chakra into the ground. Erecting a barrier without her hand seals is difficult, especially as she struggles to maintain control necessary to do so, but she manages to form a weak shell that would buy her the time she needs to make her next move.
As the second shinobi begins to recover from his shock, Natsuki sinks her teeth hard into her bottom lip, gathering and spitting the welling blood onto the ground. Twisting her body around, she prays to every higher being and more to hear her as she throws herself backwards onto the spot, her hands stinging as they come into contact with the bloodied dirt. Still, her hand is touching the blood- and that's all she needs for the black seals to spread out from beneath her palm moments before her weak barrier collapses under the force of an explosive tag.
Kuchiyose-!
The familiar cloud of chakra smoke erupts beneath her as her summon calls forth its intended target, who appears with a growl and almost tosses Natsuki to the side with its sheer mass. Kazuki is quick on the uptake, and without her even having to say anything, the tiger makes quick work of her bindings in two clean swipes before turning immediately to face the shinobi full-on. Her hands and legs finally free, Natsuki quickly joins her summon companion on her feet, turning to properly look at her kidnappers for the first time.
At some point during her abduction, her captors had changed out of their travelling clothes in favour of the standard shinobi gear. The man is wearing a headband bearing the carved steam wisps of Yugakure, a gash across three lines- so, she'd been right on that guess, at least. Natsuki warily watches the missing-nin as his dark eyes dart between her, the armoured tiger next to her, and his dead companion. A flurry of emotions flash across his face, before it finally settles into cold outrage as he makes the hand seals for a shadow clone.
"You'll pay for that, bitch." She feels the sharp whip of his wind chakra as it flares with killing intent, but Natsuki staunchly refuses to react to it. Her head is still in a bit of a mess, but she's got Kazuki, and her hands are free. She can do this, and with that thought in mind, she moves to strike in favour of a reply.
The first minute or so of battle has her feeling- not good, but certainly confident enough that she actually stands a chance of winning. Natsuki's speed has always been her strong suit, honed by years of practice against her jounin-level teachers, and it comes to show in how she's able to dodge the combination of jutsu and weaponry the Yuga-nin hurls at her. Without any weapons of her own on hand, Natsuki keeps two adamantine chains permanently drawn, using the bladed ends to parry and counter the ninja's own katana. He's skilled, however- enough that he's able to keep up with both her and Kazuki tag-teaming him, and neither of them succeed in landing a blow or dispelling his clone. Each strike he makes is parried and countered, only for her own attacks to be blocked or dodged in turn. Even as she manages to sneak in an Air Bullet jutsu at one point, he'd brought up a wall of wind of his own to dissipate the oncoming projectiles. Natsuki is almost glad that she'd managed to do in the kunoichi with such a cheap shot before- if it had been a proper two-on-two, she has no doubt that she'd be dead.
It's a horrible thought to have, especially in the face of her first real kill, but she pushes aside the guilt for later, when she's not fighting for her life. When she's ready to confront the mess that she carefully keeps under wraps. Always, always later.
However, there's just one advantage the ninja has that Natsuki and Kazuki don't- and it's ultimately what costs them. Natsuki hasn't really trained alongside Kazuki in combat before, having only summoned him because he puts the least amount of strain on her chakra- but that means neither of them are particularly used to working in sync in a proper battle scenario.
So, as the ninja's shadow clone distracts the tiger and Natsuki holds her own against the Yuga-nin, she doesn't see it coming when the shadow clone body flickers behind the original and forms the hand seals for a Wind Blade jutsu.
With both her chains tied up in defending against a flurry of slashes that the Yuga-nin is throwing at her, Natsuki only catches the tell-tale surge of chakra from his clone before she disengages and dodges at the last possible second. Her reaction is just a moment too slow, however- she feels the jutsu slice into her side right as she uses a substitution on a distant patch of grass, and she gasps at the sudden, blinding pain. When Natsuki lands on her knees against the ground, hands clutching at the injuries she's sustained, it takes all her strength not to scream as her fingers slide against the deep wounds that have entrenched her skin. She can feel the blood gushing from the wounds, the most severe of which had only just missed her vitals, and she can only think about how lucky she is that she isn't dead yet.
Even as she's momentarily distracted by the agony, Natsuki doesn't miss the trail of chakra connecting to the tree trunk next to her as her enemy attempts to use a replacement to get close again. Clearly, he hasn't caught on to the fact that she's a sensor, and with a scowl Natsuki pre-emptively lashes out with her chains- just in time to spear the shadow clone straight through its body. Finally- one down, and just one more to go.
A yelp of pain has her spinning towards Kazuki once more, her feet already carrying her forward on instinct alone. The man had somehow sent her tiger flying into a tree, but Kazuki recovers quickly and leaps back into the fray, claws and teeth slashing and snapping at the ninja while Natsuki lets her sealing chains drop, waiting patiently for an opening. Seeing a chance to attack when Kazuki catches the ninja's sword in his teeth, Natsuki replaces herself with a rock by the ninja's feet and drops low, chakra burning at her fingertips as she strikes at his legs with her palm. The ninja narrowly dodges the brunt of her attack, foregoing a chance to attack the tiger in favour of keeping his leg- but her fingers still manage to brush against the bandages wrapped around his ankle, and that's all it takes for the paralysis seal to wrap itself around the limb. The ninja stumbles over himself when his leg suddenly stops responding to his command, and that is exactly the break that Kazuki needs. The tiger's claws sink into the flesh of his shoulder with a sickening squelch, and the Yuga-nin howls in pain as he drops to the ground, only narrowly evading Kazuki's teeth clamping down on his neck as he once again uses a replacement jutsu to escape.
From the other side of the small clearing, Natsuki can see the furious glint in the shinobi's eyes as blood seeps into his clothes from his ruined shoulder. His killing intent nearly doubles in pressure, but Natsuki stands firm and glares back at him evenly as she readies herself for another exchange of blows, trying hard not to let her legs shake from exhaustion that's starting to show through. The gashes in her side are impeding her movements more than she'd like to admit, and her reserves are starting to run low- she'd already been tired out after her training, and the fact that these clowns had abducted her before she'd had the chance to eat does little for her plummeting energy.
But she won't die here, she can't. She has to attend Yura's graduation, Hatsume and Tatsumi are counting on her to push for that programme they'd been working on, she needs to tell her parents how much she loves them and- there's someone else here.
Natsuki registers the feeling of something amiss even before she hears the crack of a branch snapping underfoot, the jarring sound immediately forcing her to rip her eyes away from her opponent. It's deathly quiet all of a sudden, and even the movements of the rogue shinobi halt along with the rest of the forest. He'd stopped his advance the moment he'd heard the sound, and his wild eyes are darting around blindly, looking into the trees that surround them for the source of disruption. Natsuki can't help but do the same- but instead, her eyes follow the outline of barely concealed chakra amidst the treeline with a newfound sense of trepidation. Whoever's here, they're... circling them. Waiting- but for what?
For a moment, there's absolutely nothing, save for the beating of her heart in her ears. And then Natsuki hears the scream before she registers the source of the foreign chakra appearing right in front of her.
When she turns back towards the shinobi, Natsuki doesn't realise what exactly she's witnessing right off the bat. It's the jarring, grotesque sounds accompanying it that snap her out of her momentary stupor, and when she finally understands what she's looking at, she feels her stomach flip over. She thought seeing a limp body hanging over her cradle had been traumatising, but this... this is beyond any macabre nightmare she could possibly have envisioned.
The hulking creature embedded deep in the crook of the man's neck makes an odd squelching sound as its numerous scales move in wave-like motions, digging deeper into the flesh. The sight of the man's face, twisted in terror as his body goes limp and pale would have been horrifying enough, only- that's a weapon. One that radiates chakra in a way that Natsuki has never felt before. It's a mishmash of all sorts of jarringly different energies that's almost sickening just to linger upon, held together by something ravenous and very much alive. It's ozone and typhoons and breaking waves and fresh soil and- and the dry, whispery chakra of the man it has just killed, seeping out from the corpse and sucking it dry.
It's... monstrous. Nauseating- and it's wielded by an owner who is somehow almost as big as the sword itself.
As she watches the black-clad swordsman yank the monster sword free of the rogue's corpse, a part of her can't help but marvel at the sheer strength of this stranger- even as the sight of ruined flesh and exposed bones sears itself into her memory. She's so stunned that it's hard to do anything but stare, even as Kazuki positions himself between her and the newest threat and braces for battle.
When she focuses her senses on the swordsman, it's a mistake Natsuki immediately regrets. A choked gasp escapes her lips as she nearly stumbles backwards, only just barely keeping herself upright upon being hit with the sheer impact of the chakra flooding her senses. Now that they're not intentionally concealing their presence, she can feel just how massive the stranger's reserves are- building waves as tall as skyscrapers and slumbering whirlpools that could pull her under on a whim. Natsuki has never pulled back her chakra sense so fast before, the whiplash from doing so making her already aching head throb with a new jolt of pain, and fear seeps into her bones as she is forced to acknowledge just how outmatched she is here. The newcomer looks at her then- and that's when Natsuki truly feels her heartbeat stop in her chest.
There's absolutely no way this is happening.
She'd been shocked enough by the horrors of everything that had just ensued, and yet this- this single moment is the one that actually strikes pure, unadulterated fear into her veins. Despite every alarm in her head going off and her most primal instincts blazing with the urge to run, she's somehow able to meet that unearthly stare whilst her blood turns to ice in her veins. She recognises the symbol of Kirigakure on his slashed hitai-ate, and recalls a character in a story from her time before all this madness. No one else could have a face like that- pale blue skin and an impossible combination of shark-like features on a human visage.
Of all the people in the world that she could encounter, Natsuki never once considered the possibility of Kisame Hoshigaki.
Immediately, Natsuki's eyes flicker back towards the bodies of her captors, and she swallows thickly as she realises just how soon she could join them if this goes wrong. "I don't suppose you're here to collect these traitors," She asks, trying her best to appear unaffected by his presence- not that it helps any. She's probably radiating fear, even as she tries and fails to quell her chakra.
"Who are you?"
That... is not a response she'd expected. Natsuki stares at the giant of a man before her, trying to gauge just what he's after by asking such a question, but finds herself coming up short. Instead of trying to lie her way around it, she decides to come clean- shinobi could probably smell lies a mile away, and she may be a politician, but she's nowhere near good enough to deceive the likes of them. The last thing she wants to do is piss him off by trying to do so.
"I'm the daughter of the Ōnami of Waves. These men believed me to be a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, and attempted to take me hostage." Her wrists still burn from the chafing of the ropes earlier, and it's making her uncomfortable, but she forces herself to remain still as she awaits Hoshigaki's response. His strange eyes are impossibly bright under the darkness of night, and it's impossible to read his expression.
"What is your name?"
Natsuki is so surprised by the follow-up question that she actually blinks in surprise. "What?"
"Your name." The Kiri-nin repeats, something like mild exasperation leaking into his tone at how she had failed to understand such a simple question. Natsuki eyes him warily, trying to figure out just what game he's playing at by throwing such strange queries at her, but answers nonetheless.
"Natsuki Hagiwara," She says slowly, and she detects a waver in Hoshigaki's signature- relief? That only makes her even more confused, and the long silence that follows her answer doesn't help either.
Natsuki's about to lose her patience and chime in with a clipped 'this is usually where you tell me yours', before the itch on her hand makes itself known again, this time with such fervour that she has to hold back a wince. Finally caving in, she rubs absently at her wrist, still not quite daring to look away from the Kirigakure no Kaijin's piercing gaze- however, the sentiment is clearly not shared. Instead, Hoshigaki's eyes are suddenly drawn to her hands at the movement, his expression unreadable. Natsuki opens her mouth, undoubtedly to make some sort of remark about how she's not stupid enough to try and attack him, but Kazuki suddenly interjects with a hiss.
"Shōko. Your mark." For a moment, Natsuki doesn't make the connection, nor does she comprehend the urgency in Kazuki's voice.
That's when she glances down and sees it. The black ink of the eternally spinning compass etched into her skin- but it's not the same sight she's grown used to. Instead, the needle is now perfectly still, balanced on its axis without even the slightest sway- and it's pointing right at the shinobi in front of her.
Natsuki doesn't move. She can't even if she wants to, for she swears her heart has suddenly stopped functioning along with her mind and maybe her eyes too, because there is absolutely no way this is happening. She doesn't even think about glancing at Hoshigaki as her eyes remain fixated upon the compass, the needle stilled in a peaceful balance that it's never been in before. There's no doubting now why he'd been able to find her in the middle of nowhere, why he'd looked at her like that and asked such odd questions. His wrists are covered, but she doesn't have to see to know that the exact same compass is on his right hand, down to every minute swirl and pattern. Every instance that she's felt her compass hurt ever since she was young, the increased moments of pain during the wars that made her realise her soulmate is a shinobi- it all adds up. This is her soulmate.
Her fucking soulmate is Kisame Hoshigaki.
"Are you really an Uzumaki?"
Slashed hitai-ate. Black cloaks and crimson clouds. Red hair on a withering man and a monstrous statue from the age of gods. Natsuki is immediately shaken from her momentary stupor at all the images that single question brings up, and Kazuki shoots her a glance as he senses her sudden tension. Forcing herself to remain neutral, because think about this later, it isn't safe yet- Natsuki tears her eyes away from her soul mark and focuses upon Hoshigaki with a calmness she doesn't really feel. "What's it to you?"
There's a hint of teeth revealed behind the twitch of his lips, a faint echo of the broad, taunting smile she remembers drawn upon a caricature of Hoshigaki's face from a lifetime ago. This lopsided baring of jagged teeth is tentative, as if it's something born out of habit more than actual malice.
"Call it curiosity. I'm wondering if these nuke-nin were on the money with their assumption, or if they were just deceived into chasing lost legends." He reaches out with his foot to kick at the mangled corpse on the ground, and Natsuki deliberately keeps her eyes focused on Hoshigaki when he doesn't look away, either. "Though, you clearly aren't just any ordinary civilian, Hagiwara-san."
The blood drying on her palms start to flake off as she rubs her fingers together, carefully considering her options. She has no idea how to approach this situation, or what the consequences of her answers will be, so she decides on playing neutral. "Let's say that I was. Why would I confess that to a shinobi who might just be after me for the same reasons as these two?"
Hoshigaki raises an eyebrow, before gesturing towards the Yuga-nin. "I just killed one of them for you."
"You might have done it so you could claim the credit for abducting me instead," Natsuki counters, which only succeeds in making his grin broaden. She has no idea what's so funny about what she said, but she doesn't get a straight answer.
"Those chains you used weren't just any old parlour trick. Remnants of Uzushiogakure's lost techniques, right?"
Kazuki growls, his voice low and menacing as he reverts to common Continental. "You have no right to even breathe that name, Mist scum."
"Hold on." Natsuki places a hand on Kazuki, stilling the tiger from doing anything reckless. With narrowed eyes, she asks, "How would you know that?"
Hoshigaki shrugs. "There were one or two of your kind in the war- they had the same hair." There's a gleam of… something, in those inhumanly bright eyes as he says, "It's hard to forget the kind of damage those chains can do. The red at least makes for a particularly bright target."
It's basic knowledge to never turn away from a potential enemy when they're in front of you. The very first rule of battle, in fact- and yet Natsuki ignores that ingrained lesson in favour of turning her eyes away from the Mist-nin before her, painfully forcing down the fury and despair that crawls up her throat. Even Kazuki is growling wordlessly again, and this time Natsuki doesn't calm him. "So, you killed them."
"It was them or me." Despite the almost condescending way in which he says that, Natsuki senses the barest flicker of chakra within him before it settles immediately. It's hard to tell what that means, but Natsuki wonders- is that... worry, that she detected? "You feel more upset about a few strangers dying than the possibility of having your compass go grey?"
Natsuki has to bunch her hands into Kazuki's fur to prevent the wildcat from reacting- and to prevent herself from saying anything thoughtlessly. Hoshigaki is saying it like it's nothing, but his momentary lapse in control is a giveaway. This question means something to him, and how she answers here is important. Slowly, Natsuki says, "Blood is all that's left of my clan's legacy. To feel its loss in any capacity hurts, especially when so few of us remain."
She takes a breath. A part of her wants her to answer in a way she thinks he might want to hear- passive, forgiving, unoffended- but it's silenced by her stubborn, stupid pride. She's seen too much suffering in the eyes of her family to simply let this slight on their- on Uzushio's- honour go unaddressed. With that, she looks back at Hoshigaki with narrowed eyes, her voice level as she says, "Kirigakure already took part in the alliance that slaughtered my predecessors once before- I think you'll understand if I'm upset at the notion of you finishing that quest."
Hoshigaki takes just a second too long to reply- a barely noticeable difference, but Natsuki is far too aware of everything right now to let even the smallest detail slip. "You think I'm here to kill you, then?"
"I don't know what you're here for," She confesses, somehow maintaining the steadiness in her voice despite the fatigue slowly creeping up on her limbs. Her head is starting to feel light from all the blood she's lost, yet she forces herself to remain steady. "But we both know that if you really wanted me dead, that's what I'd already be. So no- I don't think that's what you're going to do."
There's a long pause, during which neither of them avert their gaze, gauging each other's response. Tension is almost bleeding into the air- Hoshigaki never lowering his weapon, Natsuki gathering her chakra within her core in preparation for an attack, Kazuki's muscles taut with anticipation. Neither of them make a move, however, and the chakra in the air is almost stagnant to her senses.
Then, Hoshigaki's grin slowly returns to his face, exhaling a soft huff before he finally looks away- and Natsuki quietly releases the breath she'd been holding. He then shifts his hold on his sword and hooks it back on the strap crossing over his back, Samehada settling against his back with surprisingly little fuss. The obvious gesture of non-aggression slowly unfurls a coil of worry that had been wound tight in her core, and Natsuki finds herself relaxing slightly despite her better judgement.
"Well, you're certainly not what I expected, Hagiwara-san."
His light-hearted, almost teasing response makes her exhale a short, surprised laugh. However, the moment of amusement quickly dissolves when the action jostles her wounds and turns her laughter into an abrupt hiss. Without the rush of adrenaline fuelling her, the pain is enough that it makes her vision go white around the edges, and when Natsuki doubles over and clutches her side she finds her shirt soaked in blood.
Goddammit. She'd almost forgotten about that.
"Shōko!" Kazuki only just manages to support her body as Natsuki drops to a knee, suddenly aware of how weak her limbs are and how tired she feels. The stress of battle, piled onto her earlier fatigues hits her all at once, and Natsuki shakily clutches at the hinges of Kazuki's armour in alarm as she realises just how much blood she's lost. A low whine rumbles in the tiger's throat as he takes note of her injury, and she can hear the tense underline of desperation in his voice as he asks, "Do you have enough chakra to heal yourself?"
"I don't know." The wounds are deep, and she's not sure how much it takes to actually heal even minor wounds. Her mom has warned her about the risks of using this technique, and death by chakra exhaustion isn't the way she wants to go out, but it's better than bleeding out in the middle of... shit. Where even are they?
Her vision is going hazy. This isn't good.
"That looks bad," Hoshigaki comments- and suddenly Kazuki is growling again. Natsuki can only guess that the nuke-nin had tried to take a step towards her, and the summon had reacted unfavourably to the assumed threat. His movements are surprisingly quiet for such a large man- just more proof how deadly shinobi can be.
"Not another step."
"She's bleeding out. Unless you have a way to heal wounds like that, I'm the only one around here who can be of any help," The Kiri-nin fires back, and Natsuki can hear the scowl in his voice.
"And why would you ever want to aid us?"
"Listen, cat-" Before things escalate into a full-blown argument between the two idiots who are ignoring the fact that she's dying, Natsuki interjects with a question directed at Hoshigaki.
"Do you have any soldier pills on you?" Her voice is weaker than she'd intended, but the cutting edge in her voice is enough to get both Kazuki and Hoshigaki to stop and listen to what she's saying.
"Only the C-grade stuff," Hoshigaki replies after a pause. C-grade... that sounds familiar. Natsuki vaguely remembers her grandfather explaining the shinobi medicines to her years ago- she's pretty sure S-grade productions are the high quality ones that could give a boost that lasts days, but she's not sure where C-grade products fall along the line. The lowest, maybe? Those were only good for small bursts, right?
"That'll be enough," She coughs out, and Hoshigaki takes a knee as he removes the scroll attached to his hip. Natsuki slowly lowers herself to the forest floor while he unseals his equipment, and Kazuki appears conflicted as he hesitates between standing guard or sitting down so that she can lie against him. Petting his front shoulder, Natsuki waits for Kazuki to turn his gleaming eyes on her before she says, "Kazuki-san, it's okay. Please, I need those."
The tiger does not look pleased as his eyes flit between her and the missing-nin, who has already withdrawn a small package and is shaking out several of the round pills within. A rumble echoes deep in the confines of his chest- soft enough that Natsuki can only tell because of the gentle shudder running beneath her palm- before he finally, slowly settles on his haunches. He's still positioned so that his front paws are between her and Hoshigaki, claws out and ready to attack at the slightest provocation, but Natsuki doesn't comment on it. Instead, as Hoshigaki steps closer and drops the small, brown spheres into her shakily extended palm, she focuses on the task before her.
As soon as she bites down on the pills, Natsuki nearly gags at the horrible, almost rancid flavour that hits her tongue. Still, she forces down the reflex urge to spit them out, and swallows them with effort, already feeling a slight boost to her meagre reserves. Before she can linger upon the horrible taste on her tongue- and maybe gag again- Natsuki then raises her arm to her mouth and sinks her teeth into her flesh.
Next to her, she hears Hoshigaki's sharp inhale- clearly, he had expected her to pull out some sort of fancy medical jutsu instead of committing some strange form of self-cannibalism, but she doesn't stop to explain things. Instead, Natsuki closes her eyes and remains fixated upon the warm, almost liquid sensation flooding into her mouth as she pours her chakra into the wound, feeling the effects in her side almost immediately while the rest of her body stiffens in response to the drain.
Natsuki's only ever needed to use the Healing Bite once in her life, and that was when her mother had taught her how to use it on a small cut on her finger. The reason she doesn't rely on it for most of her injuries is simple- the process is agonising. Forceful chakra drainage in any form is uncomfortable in theory, but when it's literally being sucked out of her coils through a single, concentrated point? If she had to describe it, it feels like a very unpleasant blood donation with a hundred needles sticking into her skin, and instead of a mild discomfort, the drainage actually pulls against her blood vessels and stretches. The anime had failed to depict how the coils throughout the user's body literally turn blue-green beneath the skin when placed under the strain of a Healing Bite, and she can see the glow of her chakra pathways even past her closed eyelids.
Natsuki's teeth clamp down harder as she holds back her whimper, unable to do much else other than concentrate as her wounds patch up. Though she knows she's healing up faster than any other healing jutsu could manage, it still feels like an eternity before she feels the last bit of torn skin mend itself beneath her fingertips, and she gasps in relief as she finally releases her bite.
The wounds are closed- not quite fully healed, but the bleeding has stopped and that will do. Natsuki feels her entire body sag against Kazuki, her arms falling to her side as she leans back and closes her eyes. She's really, truly drained now, and if she wasn't so exhausted she feels like she would have leaned over and thrown up in the grass after how sick that bite had made her feel.
Gods, she would never complain about hangovers ever again.
"What the heck was that?"
Oh, right. There is that little bit about shared pain on their compasses now, isn't there? She feels bad now- first she gets shredded by a wind jutsu, and now this... she makes the worst soulmate.
"Sorry. Should have warned you." Even toned down, she can imagine the kind of pain that could ignite. Natsuki blinks, her eyelids feeling heavy as she struggles to look up at the towering shinobi. She gives up the effort halfway through, only catching a glimpse of his dark grey vest before her eyelids droop shut.
"Shōko, how are you feeling?" Kazuki asks. Natsuki hums, finding it difficult to even muster the strength to formulate a response.
"I'm okay. Tired." Beneath her, she can feel Kazuki shift slightly, and when he speaks again his voice has lost the softness from when he'd addressed her.
"Do you have any more of that medicine?"
"Wouldn't recommend it. Forcing in more chakra after exhaustion is risky, especially using the cheap stuff like this." Hoshigaki's voice sounds almost distant to her ears, and she only just hears him over the sound of her own laboured breaths. Damn it, why can't she keep her eyes open? "It doesn't look like there's anyone else in the area. It should be safe to rest for a while and recover."
"Thank you." It takes Natsuki a moment to realise the words came from her, a rushed mumble that is quiet even to her own ears. There's no response from either the tiger nor the shinobi for a moment, long enough that Natsuki almost thinks that her words had gone unheard until Hoshigaki finally speaks up.
"I didn't do anything worth thanking." Is that note of tension in his voice just her imagination? Natsuki squints again, and this time, her eyelids refuse to budge once they shut. She can feel herself falling asleep, but- no, she has to get home. She has to-
"Kazuki-san-"
"Rest for now, shōko." Natsuki feels the pressure of a warm, slightly wet tongue lick against her cheek, and she doesn't even have the energy to wrinkle her nose in distaste. Tiger tongues feel so weird. "I will carry you to safety."
Even if she doesn't want to, Natsuki finds herself unable to do anything but nod. For one second, she has a brief moment of clarity wherein she wonders where she'd gone wrong in her life for her to end up collapsing in the presence of an S-rank missing-nin. In the next, there is nothing but darkness.
Kisame has no idea what he'd expected to find when he'd started following the needle of his compass, but it hadn't been an Uzumaki survivor and her giant cat.
Hagiwara's tiger had carried her far from the site of the earlier battle before settling down against the forest floor, hiding under the cover of shadows and nearby bushes- the whole time, Hagiwara herself hadn't so much as twitched. From his vantage point amongst the trees, Kisame gets a good view of the surrounding area with ease- and it keeps him at a safe distance from Samehada's newest obsession, too. The legendary sword is generally well behaved when Kisame commands it to be, but during whatever strange jutsu Hagiwara had used, he'd actually been forced to retreat slightly when Samehada had started reacting to the outpouring of her chakra.
Whatever Samehada had managed to get a taste of from Hagiwara, it had liked it. Enough that it still wants to get more, if the way its scales are shifting restlessly is any indication.
Kisame recalls the gripping pain from his mark the moment Hagiwara sank her teeth into her arm and started glowing blue, and absently rubs at his wrist. Whatever that healing jutsu was, he's just glad she's never had to use it like that up until this point- he's only ever felt faint stings of pain on his compass, save for that one time over a year ago. If he'd been struck by something this jarring in the middle of a battle, it probably would have cost him. He can see why the Uzumaki clan had been so feared by the other nations if they had such powerful techniques- and isn't that the most ironic thing out of this whole mess? His soulmate is a member of a dead clan that his village had played a part in exterminating. He may not have personally taken part in the attack that devastated Uzushiogakure, but in her eyes, he might as well be guilty enough by association. His little quip about those clan members he'd killed probably hadn't earned him any points in his favour, either.
Honestly, the way she'd reacted to that comment- steel in her dark eyes, her voice edged with ice that had meant to cut as she spat her retort- had been unexpected. There are many things about his soulmate that come as a surprise- but the fact is, he hadn't expected to find her quite so fast. It's easily been a year or more since he'd abandoned his village, throwing hunter-nin off his trail- Zabuza had been especially persistent for a while- before carefully tracing his steps back to the Land of Fire, where he remembers his compass slowing by just a fraction of a second the last time he'd been there during the war.
The only question is, now that he's found her... what comes next? He'd thought the answers would become obvious after he found the person at the end of his compass, believing that it would have taken years for him to pinpoint exactly where they were and that he'd have figured something out along the way. If not that, he'd thought- pathetically, naively- that perhaps meeting his soulmate could point him in the right direction.
Instead, he's just as lost on what to do as he'd been before, only now he has a half-dead civilian- and not just any random civvie, but apparently the heir to the leadership of Waves- with an overprotective tiger to deal with.
If this is the gods' way of messing with him, they're doing an excellent job.
Kisame clicks his tongue as he leans his head against the trunk of the tree at his back. Almost by rote, he unbuckles the straps of his right arm-guard and removes the piece of leather, revealing the compass on his wrist. For the first time in his life, he sees the needle lying completely still on its face, pointing in the direction of the woman sleeping against the overgrown cat on the forest floor.
He remembers dreaming about this happening as a child, just before the reality of the Bloody Mist truly struck him and removed all such innocence from his days. The recollections of how he'd used to wish his compass would focus on one of the kids in his neighbourhood strike him as bizarre now- especially when his soulmate is so obviously not Kiri-born in every sense of the word. The copper glow of her russet skin proudly displays her island heritage, instead of the cooler undertones more commonly seen amongst dwellers of the mist-covered village. Her flaming waves are brighter than any shade he's ever seen, and redder than even the Terumi clan's trademark burnt auburn locks. His soulmate is so completely different from any imaginings his childhood self could conjure that it's laughable.
She's also still covered in drying blood, and despite knowing she had healed herself, a seed of worry is planted in Kisame's mind. Hagiwara is going to need to replenish her energy and make up for all the blood she's lost- there's no way she isn't going to be hungry when she wakes. Doing a quick mental review of his inventory, Kisame knows he's got a half-full container of water and a few packs of dried meat he'd managed to pick up from the last town he'd stopped by at, but it will hardly be enough. Chakra depletion leaves one ravenous, and he knows that from first-hand experience.
Kisame pulls himself to his feet, his mind already set on hunting around the area. His soulmate is going to need more than just a few scraps of food to recover, and he hasn't eaten in a while, either. Her summon should be able to guard her well enough in his absence, and even if he doesn't know what those Yuga-nin were after, he doubts that they're expecting reinforcements. That reminds him- he needs to get rid of those bodies, especially the one he'd used Samehada on. Wouldn't do to leave that enormous clue for the hunter-nin to catch onto- Zabuza would smell the sign from a mile away and latch onto the trail like a leech, the tenacious brat- and maybe those two could fetch a fair price at the bounty office.
The former Kiri-nin rolls his shoulder around in its socket, taking one last look at his slumbering soulmate and her feline companion- who is looking right at him with distrust; as he should- before taking off in the direction of the abandoned bodies. First, he'll clear up the mess, and then he'll look around these parts for game.
There are a lot of things for him to do before the sun rises- and with that thought in mind, Kisame decides that his concerns about the future can wait until later.
Always, always later.
AN: Yknow when i made the initial outline of this fic my only thought was "i suck at writing fight scenes and im going to avoid that at all costs". So you can imagine how I feel looking at this 15k word doc and wondering if I have been condemned for my hubris.
Anyway, I know the timeskip seems jarring and there are a lot of unanswered questions, but i swear the discordance is intentional. The things that happened during the time between will be addressed in the coming chapters- I just wanted to keep a dose of suspense for Building Plot Drama™
