~*~
Bonds of Blood
By: Animeroxsmyworld
Chapter 16: Becoming Aware
~*~
“He’s still not coming to.” Yuki stated from his position crouched next to the still Hari. The Iwa Nins had fled to a cave outside of a small town just a good distance away from Konoha. The unconscious male was lying on all their cloaks and coats at the back, and warmest, part of the cave.
The cave was well hidden, trees shielding the entrance and hiding it from view. The only way to see it was to actually hack away through a series of underbrush and wedge between some trees. It was the perfect hiding spot.
Haru had also encased the entrance in a genjutsu, making it hard to be tracked by normal means.
“You guys probably hit him too hard.” Iki piped up from his seat by the fireplace near the center of the cave, the flames sending shadows against the stone walls, tiny tendrils of smoke out the cave’s mouth.
“Not that I care. Let the rat bastard die.” He cussed, glaring at the prone Konoha Nin with his visible eye. His other eye was covered with gauze bandages, the bandages covering most of his body.
The burns he had sustained had started to go down thanks to the herbs Haru had been able to find for him…not that he would admit he was thankful to that old bastard of a man.
“We need him to live so we can get some information out of him.” Haru interjected with a sigh as he made to stand up from his spot from the fireplace, his back groaning in complaint at the motion.
They needed to know why he was in that house instead of Namikaze Minato. And maybe he would know the location of the certain blond they were hunting.
“Well then maybe you shouldn’t have knocked him unconscious…ever think of that?” Iki offered with a shrug, earning a glare from the elder.
Haru turned away from him, running a hand over his bald head in irritation as he walked towards Yuki, the other member of their team looking surprisingly more intimidating without the cloak and the mechanical goggles.
Yuki had jagged, white scars criss-crossing over every inch of his body, looking like intricate lace work. His big burly frame, small eyes, and square jaw just seemed to add to the look even more.
“Here…let me take a look at him.” Haru advised as he knelt down next to Yuki, the black haired male nodding and moving over.
“Maybe he’s already dead.” Iki continued to talk away, raising his voice so they could hear him. “Died right when you hit him and we’ve just been lugging around a dead body.” He continued.
Haru pointedly ignored him, though he had a deep scowl on his face, as he grabbed Hari’s limp wrist. He had been out of it for days now, and if he didn’t come around soon then—
“Urgh…”
“Oh.” Haru blinked, his eyes snapping to Hari’s face. The younger man let out another groan before his good eye began to flutter open. Even though Haru wasn’t in the man’s body, he could tell that Hari’s vision was severely unfocused.
He was probably a blurred blob in the man’s eye.
“We were starting to wonder if you were ever going to wake up.” Haru said as Hari just laid there, blinking rapidly to try and focus.
It took a minute for Hari to register that someone had spoken to him, but when he did, he jerked upright violently.
The action caused his skull to erupt in unbelievable pain, Hari giving an inaudible cry of agony as he collapsed back onto the cloaks and jackets beneath him. It felt as if he was going to pass out, the pain was so fierce.
“I wasn’t concerned.” Iki snorted, the words barely a buzz in the background to the Konoha Nin.
“Wh…wh-where am…I?” Hari stammered, his words slurring together horribly. A side affect from the blow to the head. Haru frowned. That could be concerning.
“Not too far from where we got you if that helps.” Haru answered vaguely as he watched the man clutch at his head, his body curling itself up in a ball.
“…Urgh…No…it doesn’t…” Hari ground out, wincing at the way his head throbbed when he talked. He tried to prop himself upright, but the world around him spun horribly, making him feel nauseous.
When he put pressure on his one arm, he cried out in pain, immediately reeling back to trying to support himself with just one hand.
“Eat this, you’ll feel better.” Haru instructed as he rummaged in his pockets before producing a small yellow pill. At this, Iki perked up, turning and watching as Hari, despite his situation, still managed to stare at the pill suspiciously.
“What…is it?” He slurred as he resigned himself to lying down once again, his arm shaking badly underneath his weight from his efforts to try and sit himself up.
“It’s only a painkiller.” Haru lied, keeping his gaze locked on Hari’s face. “If we had wanted to kill you, we would’ve done so earlier.”
Hari still looked sceptical and Haru’s eyes narrowed before he sighed.
“Yuki.”
“Got it.” Yuki nodded before his massive hands shot out. The still disorientated Hari grunted as Yuki grabbed his chin in one hand, the other hand squeezing his nose and yanking his mouth open.
Haru placed the pill in the man’s mouth, Yuki shutting Hari’s mouth and clamping it shut while Hari made garbled, strangled noises against his hand. Now totally aware that this pill was in fact, not a painkiller, Hari struggled against Yuki’s grip.
But being unconscious for days made him weak, and he was forced to swallow it.
“Ah! Now I recognize that pill!” Iki piqued up, the fingers on his good hand snapping together as realization entered his bandaged face.
“Shut it!” Haru hissed over his shoulder, turning his head to send Iki a warning look. Iki only scowled in return.
Upon ingestion of the pill, Hari’s eye turned glassy. His head began lolling to the side before jerking straight…only to loll to the other side for a fraction of a second. Yuki slowly released him, putting one hand on the top of his head to keep him in place.
“Hell those truth pills are strong.” Iki whispered to himself as he idly took in Hari’s behaviour.
“I made that one myself.” Haru commented absently, he too, watching Hari. Now the man would spill whatever secret they desired from him. All they had to do was ask.
Hell then maybe he would let Iki have him. Lord knows that the young man had been dying to pay him back for killing Kimi and burning half his body.
“Now then…let’s start nice and easy.” Haru said as he clapped his hands in front of Hari’s face, satisfied when the glassy green orb managed to focus on his hands. “What’s your name?”
“Hiroshi Hari.” Was the immediate answer, though his voice let everyone in the area know how drugged he was.
“His family name isn’t even Namikaze.” Iki growled in annoyance, watching the scene as he subconsciously prodded the fire before him with a stick. The flames made their shadows dance across the walls.
“You live in Konoha correct?”
“Ah.” Hari confirmed.
“Where in Konoha?” Haru asked as he began shifting in his kneeling position.
“In the Namikaze Estate.” Hari answered, his eye looking like it was about to shut before Yuki gave his head a small tug upright, and his eye opened up wider, though the glassy effect was still in play.
“Why do you live there? Are you a friend of the Namikaze’s?” Haru asked, not bothering to try and conceal the hiss of anger that wormed into his voice.
He was going to make Minato pay for taking away his son and wife in the war.
“I’m raising Namikaze Kyoko, daughter of Namikaze Minato.” He explained. Silence fell over the cave before Haru sputtered as he realized what this meant.
“YOU MEAN MINATO’S DEAD?!” Haru roared, lunging to his feet, Iki copying the action in the background, minus the outraged scream. Hari didn’t even blink. The drug wouldn’t allow him to.
“Yup. He died fighting the Kyuubi no Kitsune twelve years ago.”
Haru continued to sputter soundlessly, his face turning an odd burgundy colour as his shoulders shook before he suddenly snapped around on his heel.
“Yuki, let him go! Iki, kill him!”
“But I—“ Yuki started, confused as Haru started stomping towards the mouth of the cave.
“YUKI!” Haru bellowed, Yuki’s features hardening before he nodded and released the man’s head, letting it loll to the side. In this state, Hari’s body was practically in a sedated coma…minus the brain functions.
“…Are you…are you serious?” Iki asked, stunned, as Haru stormed past him.
Enraged eyes met Iki’s.
A smile pulled at Iki’s mouth before widening and stretching his cheeks. With a mirthless laugh, Iki swayed up to his feet as Yuki followed after Haru. The two other Iwa Nins left the cave, leaving only Iki and Hari in the stone hole.
Picking up his katana, Iki playfully twirled it in his hand as he lopped his way over to the other man.
“You know, I’m going to have to thank Haru for this later.” Iki commented as he stood at the man’s side, looking down at his face. The glassy eye was now starring blankly up in his general direction. “Even though I hate the fact that I have to do so.” He admitted.
Despite what he was about to do, Iki couldn’t help the grin on his face, or the way that his eyes gleamed as he placed the edge of the blade against the man’s jugular.
It was all too easy. He would’ve preferred to have to fight for his kill, but after taking Haru’s pill, Hari would probably be in this drugged state for close to an hour.
Without any sort of warning, Iki brought the blade through the flesh of Hari’s neck. Blood splattered from the quick motion, the horrible sound of metal grinding against bone cutting through the air for a split second before the katana cut through the vertebrates of the spinal chord and continued through the rest of the neck easily.
The momentum behind the swing sent Hari’s head tumbling from his body, blood spraying from the newly cleaved end of his neck as it fell a good distance from the rest of the body.
Blood oozed steadily like an ever growing pool, out of the torso, the yellow fat around the spinal chord of the neck now painted a deep crimson. Almost black.
“Fuck. That was my coat.” Iki cussed, scowling as his mentioned coat become soaked with blood.
~*~
“Naruto? What are you doing here?” Sarutobi questioned, perking up as the orange clad ninja clambered into his office, Sarutobi faintly noticing the gleaming forehead protector Naruto had made sure to tie around his forehead that morning.
Naruto grinned at him as he leapt over to the front of the desk, the whisker marks on his cheek stretching from the motion.
“Hey Oji-chan!” Naruto called out energetically…like always.
“Naruto, orientation is this morning and class starts in fifteen minutes. You should be heading towards the Academy.” Sarutobi scolded as he drummed his fingers on the surface of his desk. By the time he got to the Academy, he would only have enough time to get to his seat before class started.
“Aw, don’t worry. I’m still going to orientation.” Naruto assured, waving his hand to dismiss Sarutobi’s concern.
“Then what are you doing here?” Sarutobi asked, raising a brow at the child. At this, the blond male’s brow furrowed, his lips puckering ever so slightly.
It was the eeriest replica of his sister.
“Kyoko came to my apartment last night.”
Sarutobi went rigid.
“What…what did she say?” He asked, straightening in his chair while trying desperately to take in Naruto’s behaviour. He had acted so normal when he had walked into the office.
At this, Naruto turned serious making Sarutobi’s hand clench into fists on top of his desk. ‘Dear Lord Kyoko…what did you do?’ He thought to himself anxiously.
“She said she was my sister…Oji-chan.” Naruto retold, all forms of playfulness out of his face. “She wouldn’t…she wouldn’t be joking about something like that…right?” He asked, a timid tone slipping into his voice as he began to fidget.
“That’s what she told you? That you’re related?” Sarutobi clarified slowly. She hadn’t mentioned the Kyuubi? At all?
Naruto nodded, his gaze locking onto the floor.
“Yeah. I just don’t know whether to believe her. I mean…I just…I’ve never had…” Naruto fumbled, frowning as his mouth was unable to form the words he wanted to say.
He had lived his whole life with only himself as his own relative. There was no one else. No parents. No siblings. Not even an aunt or an uncle that he knew of. But yet, the idea of actually having a relative…someone that actually shared the same blood as him, made his heart beat with a tremor of happiness.
“You would’ve told me if we were related, wouldn’t you?” Naruto asked as he lifted his gaze up. The look Sarutobi saw on Naruto’s face made barbs of guilt pull through his chest.
It was the first time…in a long time, that Sarutobi actually saw him as the small child he used to be. He looked almost fragile.
“Naruto…” Sarutobi started, his voice etched with sadness. How he wished Minato and Kushina hadn’t died. Then none of this would be happening. “You two are related.” He confirmed.
Naruto inhaled sharply while Sarutobi continued quickly, feeling the need to explain why Naruto had been lied to for years.
“It was the council’s decision to split you two up. It was never mine. They thought it would be safer that way.” He explained, hoping to sooth whatever feelings Naruto was feeling at the moment.
“Safer…? Why?” Naruto breathed quietly as he took in the Hokage’s rushed words. Sarutobi flinched as he realized what he had almost let slip out. The action however, was caught by Naruto who surprisingly became spurred on, his brow furrowing.
“Why? What’s going on? Is it the ‘reason’?” Naruto asked brashly, his hands balling up into fists. What wasn’t he being told?
“Reason?” Sarutobi repeated.
“Kyoko told me that when she found out we were twins she got really upset and angry. She attacked me Oji-chan! When I asked for the reason, she told me to ask you!” Naruto declared, now scowling at the elder before him.
Sarutobi opened his mouth to respond, but Naruto interrupted him, apparently not finished.
“I mean what else have I not been told about?” He exclaimed, flailing his arms around him for emphasis.
“Naruto, calm down.” The Sandaime advised, Naruto pausing his antics before slowly following Sarutobi’s advise and settling down, arms dropping back limply by his side.
“Sorry…” Naruto mumbled absently.
“Now as for Kyoko,” Sarutobi started, Naruto rubbing the back of his head.
“She’s been acting strange towards me for years. We used to be friends when we were kids and then one day she just started avoiding me, jumping and running away whenever I got near her.” Naruto admitted solemnly. “Then yesterday she came over and she was so angry. I’ve never seen her so mad.” He continued, shaking his head as his gaze fell to his shoes.
“She looked like a Vill- oh.” Naruto started before stopping as he realized that he was talking to the head of the Village. It probably wasn’t wise to talk bad about the residents. Sarutobi, however, only quirked a brow at him, a silent invitation for him to continue.
“She looked like a Villager.” Naruto muttered, just barely loud enough to be heard, glancing away from the Hokage as if Sarutobi was a teacher and Naruto had been talking about him beneath his breath.
The Sandaime’s shoulders slumped at the choice of words Naruto had decided to use for comparison. His life was rough, Sarutobi knew that. And it was thanks to the Kyuubi. But Naruto wasn’t staying oblivious to it anymore. It was shoving itself in his face, forcing him to acknowledge that something was really wrong.
“Naruto…listen.”
The blond raised his head at the sound of his name, blue eyes looking back at the man behind the desk in front of him. He was surprised at how worn out Sarutobi looked suddenly, his brow creased in an almost apologetic look.
“I’m going to give you two options. The first option is to just believe that everyone has their own reasons for doing things, and leave it at that. With that, you would leave this office and continue on your way to orientation.” Sarutobi began. That option, if Naruto decided to take it, would keep the blond oblivious for a while longer.
He wasn’t at all surprised when he saw Naruto still standing there, waiting to hear option two.
“Or option two. I can break the law that I myself, put into play, and tell you why the Villagers, and Kyoko, act the way they do. It will startle you and you will probably not be the same.”
“Do you even have to ask?” Naruto asked, his eyes lighting with mild curiosity, though his face still stayed straight.
But what small warning that Sarutobi had given him, did not prepare Naruto for the words the Sandaime spoke when he straightened in his chair, hardened eyes locked on Naruto’s.
“Sealed inside your stomach is the Kyuubi no Kitsune.”
“…”
“…”
“Wh…what?” Naruto stammered breathlessly, stepping backwards as his eyes dilated, his skin draining of color. His stomach clenched so viciously he almost felt sick, the scenery around him begin to sway.
“That…I mean…I…what…but I…a…how did…I never….” Naruto choked senselessly, his words toppling over each other. Kyuubi? Sealed? In his stomach? Did that even make sense?
“When the Kyuubi attacked the Village twelve years ago, the Yondaime…your father,” Naruto jerked at the information. He hadn’t made that connection yet. “Sacrificed himself and sealed the Kyuubi inside you, saving the Village.” Sarutobi explained before taking his hat off, setting it on his desk.
“There was no other way Naruto. We tried everything. Trust us we did. Your mother, Kushina, she was furious when she found out what Minato had wanted to do. She had never wanted to put you through it.”
Naruto just starred at the Hokage in front of him, the old man looking like he had lived lifetimes. His face looked far more withered then normal and his eyes full of so much pain and remembrance that it was a little frightening. The elder starred down at the hat he had placed down on his desk as he remembered how Kushina and Minato had argued when he told her what he had planned.
She had been on the verge of crying. That’s when they didn’t know they were going to have twins.
From the corner of his eye, Sarutobi saw Naruto begin to shake. Was he…crying? Looking up, he saw the blonde’s head bent, making it indistinguishable to tell. Sarutobi frowned in concern as Naruto’s arms crossed over his stomach.
“Naru—“
Naruto’s head whipped back and laughter broke out of his mouth, booming through the office. It was a bitter, hallow sound that vibrated through his body, yet sent goosebumps rising on Sarutobi’s arms.
The Kyuubi? Oh God, it made sense now! The Villagers…Kyoko. It was falling into place. He had a shitty childhood because of a damn demon sealed inside of his stomach. That was the explanation. He was doomed to be hated! By this stupid Village that was alive because of his father’s sacrifice! Because of him!
His chest felt like it was constricting in pain, and anger as a jumble of emotions clawed at his heart, Naruto’s hallow laughter still continuing to tumble from his lips as he walked backwards from the desk, a hand raising and covering his eyes.
Sarutobi almost missed the gleam of tears Naruto had hastily tried to hide, the liquid spilling over from his closed eyes.
~*~
“So now what do we do?” Yuki asked, glancing over at a still fuming Haru as Iki became visible at the mouth of the cave, wiping blood from his katana. Haru and Yuki were just a few feet from the entrance of the cave, Haru having his hands pressed against the trunk of a tree to steady himself after his short burst of anger where he destroyed a nearby tree.
Even from that distance Iki would still be in hearing range. He was every part of the conversation as they were.
“What is there?” Haru ground out viciously, the bark underneath his hands splintering a fraction. Obviously his anger hadn’t quite disappeared as much as they would’ve liked. “Minato’s dead. Trying to get revenge on him is meaningless now.”
“I just wanted the bounty on his head.” Iki commented from the lip of the cave, looking his katana over for any blood he might’ve missed.
“Is money all you ever think about?” Haru snarled, whirling around to glare at the bandaged man, brandishing a fist in his direction. Iki glared at him, the move looking distorted as it pulled at all his bandaged, burned skin.
“Money is what makes the world turn. If you don’t have money, you don’t have anything.” Iki growled, slowly straightening himself to his full height, anger radiating from him.
Yuki looked between the two warily, calculating the situation.
“That Nin mentioned a daughter.” Yuki interjected, deciding that it wasn’t beneficial if the two other male’s decided to fight, which is what would most likely happen. “Minato’s daughter.” He added in.
“What use is she to me?” Haru snapped while Iki relented a second before beginning to head towards them.
“Not for your revenge crazy ways, but it might help me.” Iki muttered as he joined them, his visible eye locking on Yuki’s burly frame. Haru snorted.
“And how is that?”
Iki cast him a brief look as if he was an idiot, which only made the elder want to smack him around for treating him with such disrespect. “Because if she’s Minato’s kid, and Minato was the Yondaime, she is probably important to the Village. They’ll be glad to pay for her release if we hold her hostage.” He explained.
Haru opened his mouth to point out all the flaws of this ludicrous plan when Iki cut him off and turned to Yuki sharply.
“Did you catch a name? I wasn’t paying that much attention.”
“Namikaze Kyoko.”
~*~
[Reviews - 35]Chapter or Story
Table of Contents
- Text Size +
Chapter notes: Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Authoress Note: Yes, there is punishment for telling Kyoko about the Kyuubi but I have something else in mind for Hari.