For what felt like the hundredth time that day, a distant explosion rocked the ground. The walls of the building shook, and dust from the ceiling trickled down around them. There was a dull clamor in the distance that could have been the sounds of screaming, but she tried not to think of it.
Princess Awano of the Land of Waves did not understand what was happening to them. Just that morning, she had finally been allowed to see her old nursemaid, and she had been dressed in fine silk robes that felt unbearably soft after months of wearing nothing but rough smocks.
The small man in black glasses had been there. He'd appeared in her doorway with the two bodyguards who never left his side. And then he'd promised her that if she or her little brother ever stopped smiling on that day's procession, he would rip off all of their fingernails.
Awano believed him: The last time the small man had made them a promise, her mother had disappeared.
And she'd tried her best. Every time Hakyū looked like he was about to cry, she'd squeezed his hand and stretched her own smile even wider.
But even though she'd never stopped smiling, their guards had all been killed in front of them, heads and bodies falling unnaturally away from each other.
Amidst explosions and shouting, they'd been dragged from their chairs and carried away. Now, they were hiding in an empty building by the waterside. Hakyū shook in her arms, and Awano drew him in closer to her thudding chest, but she dared not scream.
After all, the two who had kidnapped and brought them here were right in front of them.
The one with a scar on his face silently paced back and forth, gripping what looked like a knife in each hand. In sharp contrast, the other, with bright red hair—the one who had taken Awano—was pressed up against the wall by the door, stock still.
They had been hiding in the masses of children that had swarmed her sedan chair, but they must have been working for the man in black glasses. And now, they were just waiting for the signal to kill.
Awano looked down at her brother, and smiled at him. Maybe she just hadn't been smiling enough. Maybe if she kept smiling, she thought, the small man in black glasses would change his mind.
Suddenly, the boy who had been pacing stopped, and at the same time, Awano thought her heart would burst.
"Someone's coming."
...
As far as Naruto was aware, everything had gone pretty much according to plan—except for the final and most important part: That everyone re-group at the safe house Kaine had managed to procure. Well, he and Rai were there with the prince and princess, but the absence of the others who should have been back by now was painfully apparent.
If the plan hadn't stressed the importance of sticking to their individual parts, Naruto would have already left by now in search of his remaining teammates. As it was, he had to force himself still, and lacking the means of any meaningful communication, the most he could do was to keep his senses sharp for the slightest sound of approach.
Thankfully, he wasn't kept waiting for too long. The first to arrive was Kaine. She came alone, shivering from either cold or adrenaline.
As soon as the door opened, the merchant woman froze and stared at Naruto. She looked lost, as though she hadn't been the one to outline the entire plan in the first place, before a look of relief filled her face. Stepping into the building, however, some of the relief began to visibly fade.
"Where is everyone else?"
Naruto cleared his throat. "You're the first one to make it back." And hopefully, he added to himself, she wouldn't be the last.
"You didn't see the others? Did you see Mayu?" Rai prompted, his tone worried.
Kaine shook her head. "It's chaos out there. We all got separated... I barely got away myself. I'll get into the details once the others get here."
His jaw setting, Rai didn't respond. Instead, with an extra crease lining his furrowed brow, he resumed his pacing. Meanwhile, Naruto returned to his position by the doorway, his head spinning with possibilities.
It had always been a risk of the plan that some of them wouldn't make it back to the safe house. In fact, it was a risk that had always been there from the start; it was an integral part of their job description. Naruto was well aware, and had assumed the responsibility that came with it as soon as he'd accepted the mission.
And yet, there was something very wrong with their current situation. Something had felt off from the moment his team had arrived in Wave country. Had it been mere coincidence that he had met Hidan again? That Hidan had been with someone who knew about jinchūriki?
And who in the world was that white-haired man he'd met at the bathhouse and again at the procession?
It was as though he held several puzzle pieces in his hand, with no idea of where the rest of the puzzle was, or whether they all even belonged to the same puzzle. A frustrating thought—understanding how little he knew, yet lacking the capability to learn more.
It was then, with his thoughts being thrown about like leaves in the wind, that Naruto caught sight of the princess' face, and it gave him pause.
Was it because Kaine was an adult, unlike he and Rai? With every step Kaine took towards the two children, Naruto thought he could see the color drain from the princess' face. The princess' mouth opened, and he thought she would speak –
Suddenly, his attention snapped up towards the ceiling. There was an open crack there that led to the outside, and something had just slipped inside—a bird.
For an instant, hope welled up in his chest, but it was quashed just as quickly: It was a small bird made of ink, not a bluebird, and it flew down straight into his hands.
"It's from Sai," Naruto announced, reading the contents off a scroll. "He and two others are on their way."
As if right on cue, the door slammed open, and Sakura and Menma staggered inside. Looking slightly less bedraggled, Sai followed them. As the three collected their breaths, there was a pregnant pause. And then –
"Where's Mayu?" Rai blurted out.
"I'm fine, thanks," said Sai, but for once, the smile was gone from his face. He looked around at the building's occupants, and his gaze fixed on Kaine. Something there hardened.
Before anyone else could say anything, Sai made his move. And somehow, Naruto knew what he was going to do.
In a flash of movement, there was a screeching sound as Sai's kunai met Naruto's, an inch from Kaine's exposed neck.
...
"Some other time you say...that'll be difficult, seeing as how you'll be dead." Even before the last few words had left his lips, Jiraiya began to move, joining his hands together in the snake seal: "Ranjishigami no Jutsu (Wild Lion's Mane Technique)!"
His chakra coursing through his hair, it burst out into what looked like gigantic white ropes that surged through the air, flying straight towards his opponents.
In an impressive range of diversity, the men immediately splintered into three different responses: With the two bodies still in his hold, Kakuzu deftly leaped into the air, evading his attack. Zabuza on the other hand released the man he had been holding and stood his ground, countering his technique with an oversized sword. Meanwhile, with seemingly little regard for his own demise, the other member of Akatsuki shot straight towards Jiraiya, a maniacal expression stretched across his face and a flashy scythe in hand.
Scooping Zabuza's cargo—a man who could only have been the country's daimyō—out of harm's way with one rope of his hair, Jiraiya felt his lungs swelling up with chakra and reared back. "Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu)!"
Sheer heat searing his face, he blew out a stream of fire that roared along the ropes of his hair toward his opponents. In an instant, the one who had been making a beeline for Jiraiya was consumed in the fire, and the smell of burning flesh filled his nostrils.
On the other side of the battlefield, Zabuza raised his sword and sliced the air with a gigantic swing, countering the stream of fire headed in his direction. However, it was all he could do to raise it just in time to parry another sword—this time, from Shirakumo.
Jiraiya returned his attention towards the man who was now a burning inferno before him. It was curious; by all standards, he should have been reduced to nothing but melted flesh and charred bone by now, but even as he could begin to make out hints of pure white bone in the man's face, the man kept walking toward him. His lips had burned off, but the bared teeth made it look as though he was grinning. No—the madman was actually laughing, the sound raising goosebumps along Jiraiya's arms. In a single creaking motion, the burning skeletal frame raised its scythe –
Since evading Jiraiya's first attack, Kakuzu had made no move from the peripheries to help his allies, but he spoke now, in guttural tones: "Zabuza!"
It must have been a warning—thrusting his sword forward to force Shirakumo back, the missing-nin held up his free hand in a tell-tale sign. Thick, immovable mist converged on the grounds, fogging his senses.
"I will claim the bounty on your head, eventually." Kakuzu's disembodied voice rang out harshly. "But for now, you are not our target."
And then they were gone.
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