Chapter One
Glimpses of Darkness
Author: shattered-words
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, it’d be called ‘Gaara’. So, isn’t it a shame that I don’t own it? (This verse belongs to M.e.Tello)
Summary: The Kakurezato are on the brink of war and certain events leave several lives hanging in the balance. Meanwhile, what’s the fire wielder’s fate, and who is the deadly Oto Oinin that has suddenly appeared? (AU, Sequel of "Glimpses of Fire")
AN: Now, the sequel basically picks up where GoF left off, and then of course the time jump will occur, but not for a few chapters, so please bare with me. Flashbacks will be all in Italic. btw, Hitori comes in months after Eizan (Arisa)'s kidnap, so he won't be seen for a while. Thought I'd let ya know that. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome! Flames will be read and then ignored. If you think OCs in fanfic are a waste of your time, then go read something else. Thank you.
Also, following the thoughts of fellow Naruto author Ayien (on ff.net), I feel that warning when a story contains Yaoi or Yuri isn't necessary since that would give the impression that one type of relationship is more offensive than another. So, please be warned, there are Heterosexual pairings in this story as well as Homosexual. So, thank you Ayien for making me see that. Now, on with the chapter, and please enjoy.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The truth is laid bare,
where others concealed.
These shocking things I share,
are here to be revealed.
We’re all lost in our fear,
controlled until the day we die.
The darkness is creeping near,
we’ll fade away within the lie.
~*~*~*~*~*~ Chapter One: Suna Politics ~*~*~*~*~*~
It wasn’t easy slipping away from the secluded door without killing someone in the process. The strange thing was that it was her own grandfather that she wanted to hurt and/or maim. She clenched her hands into fists and entered the corridor, walking several feet before unleashing her killing intent and anger. The hall cleared easily after that as she stormed out of the Kazekage tower.
Her teammate peered at her curiously as she exited the building and then noticed a Jonin hurry out of her way as she walked past. She was able to feel what everyone had felt and winced, knowing that it hadn’t gone too good. "What happened?" she asked against her better judgment.
Amane threw her a glare and she cringed back before the other realized that it was her and the intensity of her stare lessened. "The council is still refusing to cooperate with Konoha to search for Eizan-sama," she growled. "In fact, they refuse to even consider her recovery a high priority."
Iwane frowned and started to walk with her down the street as she stuffed her hands into her pockets and stared intently at the ground. "Damn bastards," she mumbled and both went quiet for a few moments.
They knew that without the council’s approval then they couldn’t be sent after Arisa since they would ultimately not gain anything from it. Missions were taken based on pure profit which benefited the village, but no one except Gaara and them would do that. However, they doubted that the council would agree that they accept a mission from a shinobi of Suna.
If they left the village as Nukenin to search her out then they would be unsuccessful against the army of Oto by themselves. Most likely, they’d be killed or captured and then they would be of no help to the Ashikaga. Iwane had proposed they let themselves get caught so they’d be brought into Sound and then they could find her and escape.
Amane didn’t think that was a good idea since there was no guarantee that they’d be allowed to live before being brought in, and any number of things could go wrong if they were imprisoned. Namely, they would be chained and unable to use seals or chakra and then they would be unable to save the girl.
They needed the council to agree to the recovery of Arisa or they’d have no chance of saving her. However, the head of the Itagaki household --Amane’s grandfather, Hiroaki-- was one of the ones that refused to let the girl’s recovery take priority over missions.
The Itagaki knew that the reason her grandfather refused to assist Arisa in any way had to do with her mother. Arisa had never spoken of her family before so she didn’t even know what her parents name’s were, and she doubted that her father or grandfather would tell her anything. Amane knew that she’d have to find out some other way.
It had been only days since they had returned from helping the Leaf-nin in trying to recover Uchiha Sasuke, and the ones sent on the mission by the Hokage had all been injured in one way or another. Luckily, the two that had been severely wounded had survived thanks to their first aid.
The blonde Genin had gone off to train with Jiraiya but they hadn’t received word from him. So, they took that to mean that he had heard nothing of Otogakure’s location, or Orochimaru’s whereabouts.
Another matter that had the blonde worried was the appearance of Akatsuki. It was an organization made up of Nukenin from various villages that had a hidden agenda. The blonde Genin hadn’t revealed what they wanted with him, but only that they were after him. If that was the case then they knew he would be trying his best to avoid being captured while out training.
It was a bit comforting to know that Jiraiya was with him, and the members would have a hard time kidnapping him with the Sannin at his side. The only problem with that was that the old man at times got detained with his research somewhere else, leaving him alone. At least, that’s what the Uzumaki had been worried about when they’d last seen him.
"Naruto said that Jiraiya-san would lead him toward Tsuchi no Kuni but he had no idea where he would go after that," Iwane mused out loud. She wanted to break the silence any way possible. "Maybe we should-"
"Iie," Amane calmly cut her off before she could finish what she had been about to say. "I’ve already told you, Iwane-kun. We would never stand a chance against Oto by ourselves." Her shoulder length dark brown hair had been pulled into a ponytail at her back and she’d trimmed her bangs a bit.
Iwane sighed and ran a hand through her short hair. It had suffered the same treatment that she had used a few years ago when she had butchered it while they had still been in the Academy. To her, it seemed almost a lifetime ago when they had still been training to be ninja. They had seen too much in a year than they should have been allowed to experience.
"Damn it, Ame-kun! I don’t just want to sit around doing nothing." She clenched her hands at her sides and felt the need to punch something. The days when she could train and work out her frustrations were gone. Their sensei was dead and one of their cell had been taken by the enemy, whom they had thought to be an ally.
"We can’t help her if we’re both dead," Amane said more firmly. Her ebony orbs shifted to met the other girls’ as they paused in the almost deserted street. "The only thing we can do for the moment is gather information."
This peeked the Erizawa’s interest. "Information? About what?" she couldn’t help but ask her. If it had to do with recovering their friend then she’d do anything to help.
Amane nodded and started to walk once more, motioning for her to be quiet for the moment. She didn’t want anyone to hear what they had to say. If this reached their families, then they’d be in serious trouble. She didn’t care if she was cut off financially, but physical punishment might keep her from her efforts in finding Arisa. She wouldn’t allow that to happen. After all, she was as restless as Iwane with doing nothing to help, but she just knew how to hide it better.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The battered Oinin arrived on the outskirts of Sunagakure no Sato and he paused as he surveyed the village that had been built to blend into the desert that surrounded it. His body was as worn as his attire and his weariness settled over him.
His long sleeved black shirt was torn and frayed where he had barely escaped the edges of his enemies weapons, and his matching gloves were in the same state, the metal on the knuckles scratched heavily. His beige armored vest had saved him more times than he cared to remember, and all the weapons hidden within had been used and soaked in blood at one point. His black pants were in better condition, and he had thanked Kami repeatedly for the modifications that had allowed him to walk properly over the sand since his chakra was sufficiently depleted.
The moon’s pale light lit up his masked features that had the designs that represented his namesake, Harukaze, which was etched into the forehead. And carved into the right cheek was the Suna symbol that had become faded after these three months. Now at last, he’d returned to the village.
He couldn’t remember if he’d ever thought of it as home, but it was the only place that remotely resembled it. Also, the only family he had left was here. Although, it was a painfully obvious fact that he had never tried to reach out or help the girl besides stopping the assassins, but he had come to a decision. He had finally realized that his anger had been toward Ritsuko, not Arisa. At first he’d been too blind to see it and had only seen his brother’s face on the child, and yet he’d been moved to save her that day so many years ago.
The Hunter went over the walls like a shadow, and he wasn’t seen in the darkness that had gathered since the sun had disappeared into the western horizon two hours ago. Even then, he noticed that there was a lot of activity in the village as he headed toward the Kazekage tower. He caught bits and pieces of what people were saying as he passed over the rooftops.
‘So, the invasion failed,’ he mused. He had wondered why the Kazekage had sent all five Hunter-nin of the First Seat on missions right after the attempt on his life, and knowing that none of them would be there to assist in the attack on Konoha.
Harukaze slipped into Kaze no Dairi and walked down the virtually empty hallway. There was something in the air that he didn’t like, and made a shiver go through him.
He paused as he heard an outraged yell float through the hall. He flinched and broke into a run as he headed toward the Kazekage’s office, since that’s where the yell had originated from.
He burst inside only to jump out of the way as a desk crashed through the door. The Kaze no Yaiba had ripped through the room and the piece of furniture had gone flying. His hand settled on the hilt of his katana in an automatic reaction to protect the leader of Suna, but paused.
The Kazekage was nowhere to be seen out of the few gathered. He recognized two elders, Temari, Kankurou, Gaara and Arisa’s teammates. It was obvious that one of the kunoichi had used the jutsu by the damage.
They paused as he was noticed. "What’s happening in Kazekage-sama’s office?" he asked as his voice was slightly muffled by the porcelain mask.
"You have returned, Harukaze-san," one of the elders spoke to him. "Although, the situation is grave."
"What has happened to cause a jutsu to be used in such an honored place?" the Oinin asked. "Where’s Kazekage-sama?"
The elder that had spoken sighed and rubbed at his eyes. He sagged and seemed to look older in that instant. "He is dead."
His eyes widened behind the mask. He felt no sorrow for the man but it was still a shock to learn of his death. "What? How did this happen?" he demanded.
"The Otokage killed and supplanted him," the other elder said. "We don’t know for how long we were deceived. Maybe since the first time Oto approached us with the treaty."
Harukaze let it all sink in as he tried to remember anything that might have indicated that he was being surplanted. He realized that there had been subtle hints but none of them had seen them. For now, however, he decided to leave that for later and turned his attention to his niece’s teammates.
"I understand the situation, but what is going on here?" He noticed that Gaara looked strangely haggard. His eyes were closed tightly and his lips pursed as if he might be holding back tears. It was a bit surprising since he’d never seen any emotion on the younger ninja’s face. He suddenly realized that it had nothing to do with his father’s death. Gaara had hated the man.
"I’m gonna kill him," Iwane growled, "that’s what’s going to happen!" Her hands flashed through hand seals. Harukaze was stunned. He had observed the Genin team his niece was a part of and he knew that the other two girls would never harm the red head by Arisa’s wishes.
Also, he knew that Akemi; or Amane; was the calmer of the two and usually kept her rowdy teammate from causing trouble for herself. However, he was thoroughly shocked to see as Amane formed seals for the Kaze no Yaiba. He realized that she’d been the one that had attacked before since Iwane specialized in Doton jutsu.
Also, he noticed something else. "Where is Arisa-san?" he asked, not knowing the consequence of his words.
Iwane flinched and yelled as she unleashed her attack. The whole room shook and a hand of earth broke through the floor and went to crush Gaara. Her attack was soon joined by Amane’s from the other direction.
The red head’s sand came to automatically defend him, but Gaara himself didn’t even react. Harukaze frowned and let his chakra and killing intent fill the entire room. The kunoichi stilled as they went to attack again, and everyone except Gaara shivered.
"Enough!" He didn’t flinch as both girls turned glares on him. "What the hell is going on?"
The calmer of the two spoke up since it looked like Iwane wanted nothing more than to attack Gaara again. "This bastard gave her to them," she ground out through clenched teeth. "He gave her away like a piece of property." Iwane felt bitter tears well up in her eyes as she tried to control her anger and let her nails bite into her palm until she drew blood.
The Oinin didn’t even have to ask whom she was referring to. He already knew just by looking at the Suna kunoichi. Even Temari and Kankurou looked upset by what was happening. Obviously from never having seen Gaara in such a state.
"Arisa?" he whispered in disbelief. He felt an odd pain grip his chest and he forgot to breathe for several seconds.
"I’ll get her back," Gaara finally spoke up. "Or die trying." He lifted his gaze toward Amane and Iwane as if he saw no one else. "I will need your help."
Iwane opened her mouth perhaps to yell at him, but the Itagaki held up a hand to silence her. She complied grudgingly. "We’ll help you," she agreed. "But you will die regardless of whether we recover her or not."
The sand wielding shinobi actually smiled. "I’m already dead," he intoned. He turned and left the room without having directed a word to the rest of them.
Harukaze watched the scarlet-haired ninja leave and clenched his hands. He then turned his attention on Iwane and Amane and saw that the earth user was clutching something in her hand. It took him a moment to realize that it was a hitai-ate and he knew immediately that it was Arisa’s.
The Erizawa female glanced at the Itagaki and at her nod they both left. Haru hadn’t missed the tears that had gathered in Iwane’s eyes, and knew that she didn’t want to break down in front of them.
Meanwhile, the Hunter wasn’t sure what to say or feel and gave his report to the elders when they asked it of him. All the while the numb feeling in his chest wouldn’t fade. He doubted it would anytime soon.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harukaze was shaken from his memories as his name was called. He lifted his head as his ponytail settled behind his back, barely hiding the Hunter tattoo on the nape of his neck, and almost sighed as he saw an ANBU with a Scorpion design on his black mask heading his way. The twenty-seven year old Hunter was almost tempted to flee from the overzealous shinobi, but he was Oinin and he fled from no one.
He wore the ANBU uniform of a sleeveless beige shirt with black vest armor on top, matching beige pants with black shin and arm guards on their gloves that ended at their elbows. Trailing behind the ANBU, who refused to be called Sasori, was his partner whose mask was designed after the Karasu. He had seen these two in action before. Scorpion was as deadly as his name and Karasu was as quick and agile on the ground as his namesake was in the air.
"Konichiwa, Sasori-san," he said in a bored voice. He was grateful for his mask or the Anbu would have seen the amused look on his features. The use of the name had the effect that it always did.
The Scorpion twitched and swore under his breath. "Don’t call me that!" he hissed. "You think I wanna be associated with that traitor in any way?" By traitor, he was of course referring to Akasuna no Sasori. He had been a master in puppetry and had defected from Suna a few years back. Shortly before his desertion, the Yondaime Kazekage had mysteriously disappeared.
He suppressed the urge to sigh and fixed him with a look as if to say, ‘Are you stupid?’, but remembered that he still had his mask on. "Then what else shall I call you, Anbu-san?" He had been half tempted to repeat his thoughts out loud, but didn’t think it wise. After all, he didn’t like to reveal too many of his thoughts, or they might later be used against him.
The slightly shorter ninja seemed to think about this. As he did, Harukaze studied him and his partner. They both had light brown hair, but Scorpion had his shoulder length and streaked with black. Karasu had his short and well groomed, much like his attitude. The shinobi were complete opposites of one another and yet they worked so perfectly together.
He turned to the ANBU when he heard him chuckle and knew he wouldn’t like the response. Honestly, he wondered if he and Satori had ever met cause they’d most likely get along famously. In the event that it was the same person, as he had suspected for a while, then he knew he’d have to keep from smacking him the next time they met. "How about calling me Fujin-sama?" he asked and Haru knew he was grinning.
"Perhaps when hell freezes over, Sasori-san," he informed him. He inclined his head toward his partner. "Karasu-san." Then he turned and walked off before the Scorpion could throw a fit. All the while, he was trying to hold back his amused laughter at how easy it was to anger the Anbu.
Harukaze sighed as he arrived at his apartment and wasted no time in stripping and getting into the shower where he stood under the hot spray for the better part of an hour. His shift had just ended when he’d met the Scorpion and the Crow and he had already been exhausted. He had a pounding headache due to the meeting that had taken place earlier that day.
It angered him that they refused to even think of searching for Arisa. She had been ostracized and treated like a monster by almost every single person in that room, and they had most likely been the ones that wanted her dead or banished. Now that she was in the hands of Orochimaru, they wanted to label her a Nukenin in fear that she’d one day come back and destroy the very village that had caused her so much suffering.
‘Cowards,’ he growled mentally and then sighed. He shut off the tap and leaned his forehead on the cold tiles as he closed gray eyes. The shoulder length strands of his dark brown hair stuck to the sides of his neck as he stood there. He couldn’t really call them cowards and not take his own actions into account.
He hadn’t reached out to the girl when she most needed him. It was true that he had saved her all those times until she could defend herself, but he had abandoned her like everyone else. She had to suffer through so much to survive when he could have taken her in.
‘But I’m trying to correct my mistakes, damn it,’ he argued. Although, he was merely a Hunter, so he held almost no sway over the council. He didn’t even know who Arisa’s mother was.
Harukaze stepped out of the shower and toweled himself dry. He decided that the first thing to do was find out more on the girl’s mother’s side of the family. Of course he knew that his brother had first married Arato Etsuko and had a son whom he named Eizan. Then she had been wounded on a mission and died in the hospital and left the child motherless.
Ritsuko hadn’t been widowed for long before he ran back to the one he had wanted to marry all along. He had known that he’d been trying to get out of the arranged marriage and had almost managed it until his girlfriend had gotten wind of it. She had ended it in no uncertain terms and he had married Etsuko.
He had never known who this girl was and at the time he had been too young and bitter to really care. All he had known at the time was wishing his older half brother the same suffering that he had gone through, that his poor mother had to endure. She had engaged in a love affair with a married man and gotten pregnant. He had claimed that the bastard child wasn’t his and had left her.
Meanwhile, she’d been disowned by her family and she was forced to do anything to provide a life for her son. When he had gotten old enough he had entered the Academy to become a ninja so he could save his mother from poverty. She had died before he turned thirteen.
Harukaze sighed as he slipped on the beige flak vest over his short sleeved white shirt and let his hair trail down his back so it hid his Oinin tattoo, and then fitted his Suna hitai-ate around his neck. He slipped on his usual dark green pants that ended at his akles and black sandals, and finally tied the bandages around his gray eyes. The door was closed and locked as he headed out of the apartment building.
He had no idea where he’d find the two kunoichi Genin, but knew that he had the rest of the day to find them. As he walked down the street with his hands in his pockets, he felt his heart skip a beat before he sighed at the next sound that assaulted his senses.
"Aikooooo-kun!" an enthusiastic voice cried out. The sound of running footsteps could be heard heading in his direction, and he tried to suppress a sigh. First Scorpion and now him. ‘I think someone up there is laughing at me,’ he mused moments before he was nearly tackled to the ground.
The sound of nonsensical curses and exclamations filled the air for a few minutes as he fought to throw off the Jonin. "Satori-kun! Get offa me!" His face was red with the effort, and he almost sighed as someone pried the male off him. "Arigato, Satoshi-san," he gasped to his savior.
Satoshi was almost identical to the male he was holding back from tackling the other man as he tried to compose himself. "Are you unhurt, Kuroboshi-san?" he calmly asked with a raised eyebrow at the older ninja. The look in his eyes said that he thought less of him because he’d allowed himself to be tackled.
Harukaze, or Kuroboshi Aiko, blushed under the scrutiny of the younger Jonin and scratched the back of his head and bowed. "Aa, I’m fine. Gomen for the trouble Sa…Itagaki-san," he quickly corrected, knowing that the older twin had become the more disciplined of the two. "Sumimasen, but I should really get going."
Aiko found himself being glomped before he got two feet. He didn’t even have to look down to know whom it was. "Satori-kun, iki ga deki-masen," he wheezed. The junior ninja had his arms wrapped tightly around his midsection and quickly released him when he noticed that the older shinobi was turning blue.
Itagaki Satori laughed and stepped back with a sheepish grin. "Gomen, Aiko-kun," he apologized, ignoring his brother who dropped his arm. Apparently, the other hadn’t even realized when he’d gotten free. "It’s that I haven’t seen you in a long time." There was a faint blush coloring his slightly tanned features.
Satori’s light brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail and his sea-green eyes were staring up at him adoringly, since he was taller than him by a few inches. He sighed and wondered how to get this man out of his hair and threw a desperate look at Satoshi.
The man sighed and walked over. His short, straight light brown hair was wild and seemed out of place when compared to his composed face, and he couldn’t help but think that it reminded him of their Genin days. He mentally shook his head free of such thoughts. Those days were over.
He wasn’t quite sure if these two were Sasori and Karasu, but he doubted it. Hiroaki would have been boasting about having two of the best in ANBU within his family, and so far he hadn’t shown anything but contempt toward the two ANBU members.
"He was most likely on a mission, Satori-kun," his brother told him firmly. "Speaking of which, we have to get going, now." His tone didn’t leave room for arguments and Aiko was grateful. However, he doubted that he’d done him any favors and they really did have to be somewhere.
The younger twin sighed and pouted but knew that his sibling had a point. They had to meet with Katsuhiko soon. "Alright, Shi-kun," he muttered. He turned back to Aiko and grinned. "I’ll see ya around, Aiko-kun. We’ll go eat somewhere, so don’t leave on anymore missions!"
Satoshi had already walked off and he hurried to catch up to him as he waved at the older Jonin. Aiko watched the other go with a forced smile and waved back once. When they’d rounded the corner, he sighed and straightened his clothing. He fixed a neutral expression on his features and once again went in search of the kunoichi.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The figure wearing the black coat with the red clouds had headed in the direction that would lead him back to Suna. The trail had ran dry after Konoha and he had no other places to check right now. He was sure that this time he had been very close to catching the jinchuriki.
This ninja could have the biju they were after or it could just be something else, but it didn’t matter to him. He was simply following orders. Normally, he wasn’t one that did so blindly, but for now he was content to let the Leader think he was in control. No one had that power over him.
He only stuck around with this organization because it kept things interesting. His village hadn’t been such a place and so he had entertained himself with how fast he could kill his fellow ninja. Of course they found out, but then again by that time it had been too late for them to stop him from fleeing.
If there was one thing he liked, it was his freedom, and trying to recover this biju meant that the Leader let him do as he pleased. He liked that type of freedom.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She lifted her head and let her eyes adjust to the darkness of the room she was in. The sight that greeted her made her wish she had kept them closed. There was a brick wall in front of her and she could feel her arms being restrained with something.
That’s not what worried her though. It was the dried blood on the walls, and the stench of human waste, and sex that made her almost gag. She suppressed a groan as she moved her head around and knew that she’d been drugged, but had no idea how long she’d been under.
Her eyes snapped to the door as the sound of the bolt being removed reached her ears. It was opened and she winced as the light flooded the room and temporarily blinded her. When her eyes had adjusted she shuddered when she saw who stood in the doorway. Orochimaru.
There was something wrong with his arms. They were wrapped in bandages and she could smell his blood ranked scent from here. She almost threw up again. Also, his features were twisted into an expression of pain and his skin was slick with sweat. "Who do you belong to?" he asked hoarsely.
She bit her tongue to keep from cursing at him and tried not to take in too deep a breath or she’d start to gag. "I belong to no one," she answered, blood-rimmed eyes narrowing.
Orochimaru chuckled and stepped out of the room and another figure came inside. "You’ll soon learn that this is the wrong answer," said a familiar voice.
‘You know, they abandoned you...all within Suna are traitors.’
Arisa shook her head as the person came closer, the light from the hallway glinting off his glasses. A cold terror washed over her as the door closed behind Yakushi Kabuto and enclosed them in darkness.-
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Translations:
1. Harukaze: spring wind
2. Sasori: scorpion
3. Karasu: crow
4. Konichiwa: Good day, said from morning until sundown
5. Akasuna no Sasori: Scorpion of the Bloody Sand
6. Fujin: the Japanese god of wind in Shinto
7. iki ga deki-masen: I cannot breathe
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End, Chapter One