"Yuki-chan, have you packed all your stuff?" Mitsuru calls me from the front-yard, where she and the old Matron are waiting for me.

  She and the old Matron had a long talk since we arrived back yesterday. I could only pick up some single phrases. Apparently, Mitsuru needn’t convince the Matron all that much. She obviously thought that I would be leaving much sooner than I did and they then talked about some papers for me so I wouldn’t fall into the lowest class at the academy…whatever that means.

  There were some pretty harsh glares in for me as well from the other kids. They nearly assaulted me, not for the first time since I’ve been here at the orphanage, for being too close with Mitsuru. Looks like she is one, if not the most popular caretaker for the kids. How I never noticed that... easy; I never really interacted with the other kids and prepared to play the long game in avoiding everyone. But there were some instances where it was impossible to avoid conflict with the other kids. A particularly nasty example, Taka…something, a large kid a few years older than me. He seems to be of the illusion that I am a witch AND blind. How that fuck never noticed that I dodge his assaults with my vision is still beyond me. While he is the worst of the other children, he’s by far not the only kid here, hating me for no obvious reason other than my looks and closeness to Mitsuru.

  So I wasn't all that enticed by any idea of social interaction. They all seem to carry the hope or delusion, maybe both, that Mitsuru would take them to a better life. Somehow it only dawns on me now that Mitsuru taking kids away seems to be a pretty normal occurrence here.

  “I'm coming.” I mumble, more for myself than anyone else.

  I grab a small satchel, fitting all my meagre possessions. A half-broken brush and a stuffed bear I adoringly named Teddy...don't blame me, I am pretty lonely.Also, some somewhat decent clothing.

  Hesitantly, I make my way over to the front-yard.

  Only half-way there, a group of four kids block my way. The leader, a sandy-brown haired child a few years older than me, Taka-something, great… stares haughtily at me. “Look here witch, don’t you dare play innocent with Mitsuru-sama,” He invades my personal space and makes a grab for my shirt, lifting me up a few inches. “Hey! You hear me! She’ll never fall for your witching tricks, you blind fuck.” I stare defiantly back at him, my eyes provocatively widened more than normal. Damn, I shouldn’t have been lost in thought like that. Then he wouldn’t even be able to catch me..

  “Fuck, I bet you are deaf as well. C'mon guys let’s teach her a lesson, a little beating will make her at least feel!” I flinch my eyes in reflex, fully expecting the incoming blow. The damn kid really wants to annoy me today.

  But before any blow lands on my face a voice calls my name again. “Yuki-san, hurry up. Don’t dawdle.” It’s Mitsuru who calls for me and stops the kid from punching me.

  “T…takeo, shouldn’t we let her be. If the Matron notices we beat her up again, we’ll be in trouble.” one of the smaller kids, a black haired girl intervenes even further.

  “Hmph, call yourself lucky, witch! I bet Mitsuru-sama will take you away to get rid of you. There’s no chance in hell you would go anywhere good.” with that he lets me drop down, but I catch myself and adjust my shirt back to normal. Those cretins aren’t even worth any response.

  I just stare at Takeo, smirking a little bit for good measure. I see him get visibly more angry, but in the end he huffs greatly. “Whatever! Let’s go guys.” then they all scuttle away, like sheep following their leader. What a farce.

  After that whole debacle, I face my original problem again and slowly make my way over to Mitsuru.

  My steps are not that eager, actually. I haven't had a proper chat with Mitsuru yesterday, but I guess she must have thought everything important was already said, after all she didn't explain anything further.

  Just expected me to pack my things and off we go come the next morn.

  I wish I could've at least slept a little, but sleep evaded me the entire night long.

  All my mind could do was ponder... ponder what I actually could recall about Kirigakure. But damn, I really came up blank. And the worst part is, that I feel like I am forgetting something very important too… Which in turn has made my anxiety skyrocket.

  “There you are, Yuki-chan. Hurry along now, dear. It's already later than good for us. We have a long way ahead of us,” Mitsuru calls out to me sternly, but not unkindly. She is wearing a perfectly fitted robe. A dark blue yukata adorned with a multitude of purple and black lotus flowers. Her long and black hair is bound in a tight bun atop her head, pierced with what I assume is a kind of weapon...as I know her. A long silvery needle.

  It looks quite regal on her. I have to admit she wouldn't be amiss in a horde of geisha.

  But before I can answer or give my affirmations, I am intercepted by the old Matron. I really should've paid attention to her name, at least.

  She gets between me and Mitsuru and, to my surprise, hugs me firmly, right out of nowhere.

  “Oof!” Now I am kind of love starved, yes. But even I have my comfort zone and this gets me right into the awkward zone.

  As the old matron drives the air out of my lungs, I just go somewhat slack in her tight hug. I don't really know where to put my arms. Should I hug her back?!

  I've got no real connection to her after all...

  The decision gets taken out of my hands, luckily.

  With a last brisk squeeze, she lets go of me. “Don't be too harsh on her now, Mitsuru-san. You have plenty of time, let her be a child for some precious hours longer, won't you?” The Matron changes a knowing look with Mitsuru, then looks me over. Her kind and brown eyes, like liquid amber, stare into my ivory ones. “Keep your head where it belongs, Yuki-chan. You're a smart one. I knew from the moment I first saw you. You won't die easily,” She sighs the last sentence with morose acceptance.

  But her kind eyes aren't wavering from mine and she is quick to enforce any well meaning with a beaming smile at me. “I wish you the best of luck, little one.” With a gentle pat on my head the Matron steps aside and leaves me to meander over towards Mitsuru.

  Okay...I can't lie. I am a little confused and scared at this interaction. I know ninja have a hard time and that the possibility of them dying is always a given. But what the fuck?! My head stays pretty please where it is right now!

  I didn't experience reincarnation, choking, near-drowning, and almost getting assassinated, only to have my head chopped off. I beg your pardon!?

  The look on my face must've given away a lot of my inner turmoil. “Ah no worries Yuki-chan. I wasn't implying you will die, just that... the world is a dangerous place these days. And..” The Matron tries to placate me, not insinuating me dying? She kinda was; or not? But she gets interrupted by Mitsuru, who is impatiently tapping her fingers on her arm.

  “Enough now, Matarabi-san. I'll take care of you Yuki, there won't be any incidents with me at her side. Now let us go, we have dawdled long enough. Please.” Both the Matron and I know that wasn't a request.

  So with a small sigh the Matron; Matarabi-san! Ha! I learned her name at last; encouraged me with a smile and a wave of her hands. “Then I won't stall you any longer, Mitsuru-san. And you Yuki-chan. Good luck.”

  With that, Mitsuru gently lays her hand on the back of my shoulder and leads me onwards. I throw some melancholy and very unsure glances back at the orphanage, Matarabi-san still standing there, and is that a sorrowful look on her face?

  “Don't worry Yuki-chan. The academy isn't all bad,” Mitsuru says quietly, the unsaid, but very much present thought of, but many things are indeed bad, lingers in the air and mostly in my mind.

  What the fuck have I gotten myself into? A question that now more than ever crashes into my thoughts.

  I just learned something.

  Mitsuru is a damn slave-driver. We walk. My guess is in random directions. I don't know why or how far we've come towards our actual goal, but my feet hurt and it must've been several hours already. Despite how long we're on our way already, we passed no other civilization. Although Just now in the far distance I think I can make out some small huts I would categorise as fishing huts; thick billows of smoke wafting into the air.

  “Look Mitsuru-san, there are some houses, is that our goal?” If there's a lilt of desperation in my voice it's obviously my feet that are speaking, but my question stirs something on Mitsuru's face.

  Something akin to worry...

  “No, Yuki-chan. That's not where we need to go,” Now I see it more clearly. She looks at me, but only half-heartedly as she answers me. Her gaze strays from me towards the huts and back. An alert expression etched deep into her features. I've never seen her so serious before...

  “And actually I think we need better go in this direction, it's a shortcut.” She tries to smile, tries to sound as normal as always... But something seems off.

  So I bite my tongue and stay quiet, despite the ache in my feet. And I follow her directions silently.

  And to my chagrin she even decides we must quicken our pace.

  It's gradually wearing me down... the walking I mean. If before I had sore feet, I now feel like I have no feet, just stumps of raw kneaded flesh.

  Why the hell does Mitsuru expect me, a five year old girl, to walk such horrific distances; I don't know.

  My guess is that about half an hour passed since I saw the fishing huts. Mitsuru's face is only a mess of furrowed brows and my attempts at conversation get harshly hushed by her.

  We pass in between a huge gorge of limestone and the ground gets kinda slippery with all the rocks laying loosely around. I really need to watch my steps now. I just barely escaped slipping.

  When we pass a large boulder that partially blocks our way, I spy Mitsuru looking rather disconcerted. She also grabs my hand, a little tight and I wanted to say something, but one look at her face had me still. She looks as if something spooked her drastically.

  Slowly, I start to worry as well. “Mitsuru-san, is everything okay?” I whisper as quietly as I can in her direction.

  But I never get an answer. My eyes can't follow what happens, but something comes flying at us at an extreme speed and suddenly I hear a metal something, a Kunai maybe, hitting something distinctly metal as well.

  Rather than answer me, Mitsuru spins with a fluid movement in front of me. She ends up in a half crouch before me and wields a weird needle thing, which she pulled from her bun. The kunai she just deflected stuck in the ground beside me.

  “Stay behind me Yuki! This will get messy.” She pauses, listening for something or someone.

  I only manage to look around us in panic. “Show yourselves scum!” Mitsuru yells into the brushes, her stance not faltering one bit.

  Instead of an answer, a black blur jumps across the huge boulder. Right at us!

  With a loud clang of metal vs metal, I get thrown to the floor, hitting the ground with a loud “Oof”.

  When I look up again Mitsuru is standing atop me, strenuously holding back a man clad in ninja garb. The man leers at us, his metal headband showing the leafy etchings I identify as Konoha?!

  “Look what I've found. Some little kittens are too close to the border. Taking a meandering walk, huh?,” His mocking leaves me absolutely clueless. But not less frightened.

  The ruggish man, black-haired with a gross-looking scar across his face, exudes something truly menacing. It makes my skin crawl with goosebumps all over.

  “Oh girls, I am gonna have my fun with you.” With laughable ease, he pushes Mitsuru away, using his stronger build to his advantage. He follows up with an aimed cut at her stomach with his kunai.

  But Mitsuru anticipates his move, her agile body curving out of the way just at the right moment.

  And she counters with two precise stabs at him, hitting only air. He jumps back a little in surprise, but readies his kunai again.

  But before he gets to do anything, Mitsuru dashes forward again, slashing in well trained moves at his throat. She nicks his neck slightly and his demeanour changes into seriousness.

  It feels like a dance, a dance of death.

  Mitsuru seems to be gradually pushed back, and then he tempts her with an opening. He takes a fierce stab into his shoulder, only to drive his kunai straight into her abdomen. A creepy smile blooming on his face, and he wants to say something.

  But his smile vanishes quickly. The Mitsuru he stabbed dissolves neatly into puddles of water, drenching him. And his eyes widen in recognition as the real Mitsuru reappears behind him, proceeding to blow a vast cloud of steam into his face.

  “Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu! You will die here Konoha scum! You chose the wrong opponent.” I just hear her scream at the Konoha-nin and then the world disappears into thick swaths of fog.

  “Whatever you do, Yuki, stay down!” The voice echoes from all around me, but hell, that's exactly what I do. Without preamble, I go slack and cower on the ground.

  My eyes became useless in this fog, but my ears ring with clashing metal.

  “You bitch! Show yourself yo...Aahhrg!” A pain-filled scream pierces the fog to my right. I roll a little over to the left, bringing distance between me and the scream.

  Not a second too late. With a small thump, something heavy landed where I just laid. And half curiosity and half dread urge me to look at what just took my space. It is as I feared and hoped… What a ridiculous situation.

  With horror-ridden eyes, the just freshly skewered corpse of the konoha-nin stares lifelessly at me. And I make out just enough in this fog, to know that whatever end Mitsuru bestowed upon that bastard was not something I’ll want to witness up close.

  Carefully I lift my head, listening for any sounds, but there is nothing I can make out. “M…Mitsuru-san? I…is it safe now?” my voice is barely a whisper and I strain my ears to the max for any kind of response. Without noticing, I involuntarily shiver and it takes me a conscious effort to keep myself from losing whatever my stomach holds.

  That’s when I see a figure slowly approaching me, slightly clouded within the fog and making it hard for me to discern who it is. But I guess it's Mitsuru? I stand up, trembling heavily; Very aware of my surroundings I carefully approach the person as well. My head swivels from left to right, trying hard to locate any sound that might indicate danger. And I grow very anxious at the constant silence I am deferred to.

  “Mitsuru…san?!” My voice carries over in a damp low, but my eyes widen in sudden realisation and horror; I stumble backward with an abrupt reaction.

  “No… Kid. Not your sensei,” Before me appears another ninja, his small and slim form well hidden behind the terrible sight that probably will fill my coming nightmares; should I survive this. Mitsuru's coastal blue eyes, glazed by the silvery white only death may bestow upon you, stare blankly forward. Her hands hanging limply at her sides and her normally so orderly hair swaying gently with her assailants every move. The childish form of the other ninja leisurely walking beside her floating corpse, a hand sharply pierced through Mitsuru’s chest, carrying her with him, making blood flow freely down his arm.

  His eyes are glaring red, spinning in my direction and I gasp for air. My lungs suddenly tighten very heavy; making it hard for me to breathe. T..that’s definitely a sharingan…

  I scramble backwards even more, hitting the ground in the process. “W..why are you doing this? I haven’t done anything!” Despite the air not wanting to enter my lungs, I scream at the konoha-nin, panic and adrenaline forcing me to flee his ever so red stare. A near hysterical whine escapes me and I dig my fingers and nails deep into the wet and sandy ground. And then even the clouds pull tighter and it starts to rain.

  “Why?,” he sounds young and also confused, my mind nearly convinced I am talking to just another kid, maybe a few years older than me. But there’s the eyes! His eyes with their eerie red, glare at me, disgust and something more shining within them. “We’re at war kid. People die like flies in war. There’s no reason, no deeper meaning and certainly no ‘Why’ it just is.” he answers me calmly and casually walks closer to me; with a slick move for show, he pulls his arm from Mitsuru’s chest and her dead body crumples to the floor, not a second thought wasted on her, he then crouches before me. His eyes lock onto mine and I feel a deep pit opening in my gut.

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  “Kida-san, enough playing. We need to go, ere more of them appear; remember the mission.” there’s another voice, drifting from somewhere to the right. A distinctive female voice. For a short while the uchiha lifts his eyes from mine and I feel a slight bit of relief; very short lived relief. Not a moment later I get a stabbing pain in my chest and I turn my head in panic. Behind me stands a woman, her face covered by a blank and white mask, her hand extended into my back, casually sticking a shortsword into me. “Sorry kid, but no witnesses.”

  “...S..orr..y ?!” My eyes feel wet, they fill with panic driven tears and I cough, gasp and hack desperately. But my lungs fill with blood. I can’t stop crying, “p..hech..plea..se,” In a last hopeless effort my eyes search for that kid's eyes. I bore into those red eyes, my tears making my vision swim and my milky whites begin to dim in retrospect to his reds gaining seemingly in colour.

  Is he mocking me?...those fuckers! I curse this god forlorn world. This shithole, shitty Mitsuru, is not even able to protect me. Fucked up children at the orphanage, what can I do for not being or looking normal like them.!! I haven’t decided to be reincarnated here! I could still be with my cat… SHITTY MURDERER! My thoughts explode into varying degrees of desperation, anger and lastly hate.

  And with a surge of emotions, something awakens within me, something just cracks. The hate, the madness encroaching upon me since I came to this world, it all just breaks free.

  I’ll show these fuckers! My desperation simmers over into pure undiluted hate, and I manage to rip my eyes open again. The pain in my chest feels more numb by the second and I find the slightly surprised stare of the kid before me. His eyes spinning in abject premonition; a look I very much enjoy.

  “Kida! Dodge!,” The cold steel weapon is ripped from my shoulder and I gather that the woman wants to stab me again, but my emotions explode and I can feel it; the enormous ball of whites and blues within me, it responds. In an explosion of ivory white, hundreds of sword-like bones extend from every space my small body has available. They pierce forwards, unrelentingly boring into flesh and extending even further. I give it my all, the whole ball of energy within me, take it all.

  Make them pay!

  A scream of agony reaches my ears and a wet cough hits my face. My teary white eyes stare into confused red ones. The uchiha wants to speak again, but his eyes widen in horror as he only hacks a few red blotches on my face; multiple pristine bones have pierced the kid in many places. His head being the only part of his body that stayed untouched, by the pure carnage I drove into him. And you know what? I smile. The pain in my chest and back seems to have receded. My bleeding also stopped. But my mind is occupied otherwise.

  “Ha..haha…HAHAHA! You bastards, that’s what you deserve!Come at me world, I take it all!” With a hysterical laugh I throw my head back, staring exhausted into the air, before remembering the other person, the woman. I tiredly whip my head around and fear the worst. But it was unnecessary worry, like a fly impaled on a cactus spike, the blank mask covering the woman’s face is pierced…right down the middle. Her body, similar to the uchiha boy, skewered properly in all directions. She is still half turned, her arm held high, grabbing the shortsword perfectly above my head, only to be held in place by a massive bone spear extending from my shoulder-blade. But unlike the boy, this one didn’t even realise she died. She simply stares blankly into nothingness, her head pierced, straight up killing her.

  “Yes…that’s what you deserve. You…” I can’t end my sentence, not even my thoughts. Pure exhaustion tightens around my body like a vice and my eyes grow as heavy as lead. I drop to the ground and lose consciousness.

  Pov change;

  Throughout a slight drizzle of rain three shadows rapidly make their way towards a small clearing.

  They fluidly traverse steep rocky walls and jump across muddy ravines with absolute ease, until they finally transcend from the rocks and land in a tri-formation; lead by a huge orange haired man, a big and bandaged sword strapped tightly to his back.

  In front of their eyes a field of destruction. Careful prodding from their leader reveals that the pristine ivory that spread itself all over the place in a circle-like formation before them, is indeed bone. Large and uneven bone-like lances and spears have spread and grown in a huge circle around a small clearing. In their midst, a small girl and beside her a woman, lying face down in the earth.

  The spears of clear white have not shown mercy to anything in their way. Trees and rocks were pierced like butter, the earth erupted from protrusions growing underneath and then, then there are the two unlucky ninja.

  A woman and a boy, skewered beyond recognition by many bone spears, still held in place and motionlessly frozen in time. Their last actions displayed in a grotesque form of art. Like pinning dead insects against a board.

  “Haah, seems we’re late already. Jūzū, check for their vitals! Hoshigaki, perimeter check.” The orange haired man barks out orders to his two followers. One, a jagged man with a cross scar on his right cheek and a mouth covered with a red grid-like tattoo. A massive sword; more rectangle than sword shape; carried on his back.

  The other is a very tall and muscular boy. His skin is blue-grey and his facial features resemble that of a shark more than that of a human. He sports three curved facial markings on each side under his eyes and on his shoulders are gills.

  Biwa Jūzū, the man with the cross scar, rolls his eyes at the orange haired man. “Holy fuck, Fuguki, is there really a need to see if they’re alive… I mean…look at them. They are fucking piked! They’re more shishkebab than human…not that I don’t approve. Konoha scum had it coming.” He low whistles as he slowly walks towards the two obvious corpses, careful not to get nicked by the bones he walks on top of.

  “Not the Konoha-nin you idiot! Check the girl and even though I guess it's obvious, still, check for Makabi Mitsuru…” Suikazan Fuguki, the tall and orange haired man, yells at Jūzū. He exhales a low sigh and mumbles on “not that she would be alive after this disaster.”

  Hoshigaki Kisame, the other and last member of the three, warily inspects the bones first. His small white eyes narrowed at the prospective thought of being on the receiving end of such an ability.

  And a small shiver of excitement crawls through him, imagining fighting with someone using such devastating moves. “Is this the famed ability of the Kaguya’s then?,” He asks in an excited whisper, more in thought than anything else, “I would really like to measure myself against one.”

  “Yes and no, Hoshigake. That IS, the power of a Kaguya. But this amount is not what the average Kaguya would be able to pull off,” Fuguki takes it on, nevertheless answering Kisame, his voice a harsh mixture of reprimand and awe for the display himself.

  “You shouldn’t expect them to match this amount of power. But never dare underestimate them as well. That clan in particular is even more bloodthirsty than Jūzū over there and that's a hard feat already,” And it really was, Jūzū counts as one of the most brutal swordsmen Kirigakure has brought forward. “But enough, go check the surroundings already you brat!” Fuguki yells in exasperation, just remembering he gave Kisame orders and not hold small talk.

  “On my way, Fuguki-sensei.” Kisame gets pulled from his thoughts and astutely jumps back into the brushes, scouting for enemies.

  Narrowing his eyebrows, Fuguki jumps onto the bones as well, joining up with Jūzū, who just about now turned the corpse of Mitsuru over, checking her for signs of life.

  “Nothing, chief. Makabi-san is dead. It’s already a miracle that none of the bones hit her body, though it wouldn’t have made any difference. She was dead before they happened I presume.” Jūzū grimaces a little as he gets up from Mitsuru’s corpse, then jumping and landing side by side to the small girl in the middle of all the havoc. “This one is…alive?!,” he exclaims in surprise.

  “Mhh, I don’t know if that’s good news or bad news,” Fuguki says, gently massaging his temples

  Not understanding him, Jūzū looks up, crouching over the girl. “So? She’s really battered and I guess she got stabbed in the back, right into her lungs,” he prodds a finger directly into the wound on the girl's back, checking how deep the wound actually goes. “Lucky brat, I guess. Seems her Kekkei-Genkai is something else, really.,” he cackles slightly “got some hard as fuck bone shielding her lungs, my bet, but I am no medic, it sealed the blood flow. And prevented fluid from entering her lungs any further,” he gently picks the girl up, carrying her bridal style now “Although, I guess. We should hurry her to the next best hospital or medic. The wounds may be sealed for now, but if those bones vanish or…” he lifts an eyebrow at Fuguki “or if you actually want to liquidate her, we could just do it now as well.”

  The orange haired man considers his options carefully; blankly staring at the girl in Jūzū’s arms.

  “No, the risks are well worth the gain I guess,” He turns his gaze to Jūzū again. “We are at an impasse with the Kaguya’s, but we are at war. Kiri could use her well. With powers like hers…if trained well,” He trails off in thought, but suddenly shakes his head “No, we keep her away from the clan and Makabi-san at least made sure she got listed as an orphan already, name and all. She won’t have it easy, but at least we keep her alive…for now.”

  “Too bad Makabi-san died, she wanted her as her protege. But well, Konoha really sent those bastards here at the fucking wrong time and Makabi payed the price.” Jūzū swears gently as he looks back at Mitsuru’s corpse

  “Can’t change that now. You should go, catch up to that Hoshigaki brat and rush that girl to the next medic. I will take care of this mess here!” With a turn of his head towards where Kisame has made his way, Fuguki orders Jūzū.

  “...Fuck, why can’t that brat carry her..You shouldn’t have sent him away,” Jūzū grumbles after realising he’s got to carry the girl. But one look at Fuguki made him open his mouth, only to close it again. “Yeah yeah, alright. I get it.” With that he carefully affirms his grip on the girl and jumps away, rushing to find Kisame.

  Fuguki meanwhile stares intently at the corpses left behind. His imposing figure then grabs the boy; the Uchiha’s head; and rips it fiercely from the body. “You should have done the job you came here for…now I am stuck with this mess.” He turns the head in his hands, looking into the black and glazed over eyes, which still retain some of the horror and panic he must’ve felt before being impaled. “For what good do I even give info to that useless master of yours..” He sighs quietly “Now, luckily Jūzū is an idiot. Otherwise I’d have to explain why I let the perfect eyes of an Uchiha slip through our fingers, but really… Kiri still gets another ticking time bomb. Fucking Bloodlimits, all they do is flaunt their powers and destroy everything in their path.” With a little outburst, Fuguki crushes the boy's head with his immense strength. Then he turns towards the mess of bones and the four corpses. He walks over to Mitsuru’s corpse, pulls a large scroll out of his robe and seals her away within.

  He then jumps high into the air and shouts. “Suiton: Bakusui Shouha!” A giant mass of water spouts from his mouth and forms huge and destructive waves, shooting directly at the remaining corpses and the boney-mess. The waves surge forward and with absolute force slam into everything in their way. The clearing fills with water at an alarming rate and the waves take everything with them, scattering the corpses into many pieces and washing them away. Only the bones seem to be holding out, but seeing this Fuguki pushes even more chakra into his jutsu and the water gets propelled forward even faster, a blast of waves crashing and grinding against the bones, finally cracking them and sending them in all directions.

  “Damn, more work than necessary.” After assuring himself that he got rid of the bones and the corpses, he lands on a rock, slightly above the still raging water he created.

  It took him not long after, finding his two teammates. While they got a head start, Jūzū still had to carry the girl and slowed them down considerably, so as to not aggravate the girl's injuries.

  Fuguki seamlessly joined with them and only got reciprocal nods in response. They quickly made their way through rocky terrain, manoeuvring the misty swamplands with ease.

  It’s a while later that they arrive at a small encampment. A bunch of tents cramped into the sandy crevice hidden between two steep cliffs.

  “God damn, why here Jūzū?” Fuguki snarls at Jūzū as he recognises the place they are about to arrive at. “We could’ve made our way directly towards Kiri…”

  “Sorry chief, but you said to the ‘next’ best medic or hospital,” Jūzū nonchalantly answers and tries to rub his chin against his shirt, alleviating an itch he got. “And the next best medic is here, right at the border to Kumo” He then turns forward again, carefully adjusting his hold on the girl, coming to a halt in front of two Kirigakure-nin in chunin gear.

  The two guards greet them politely the moment they arrive, recognising them near instantly.

  “Suikazan-sama, Biwa-sama, are you here to support us as well? I shall inform the Mizukage of your presence. He’s sure to want to talk to you two I guess.” One of them exclaims excitedly, and starts running back into the camp.

  The other chunin stayed, looking at the two men in awe. Then, as if forgotten turns towards Kisame and cups his hands in greeting as well. “Greetings Hoshigake-san, are you here to stay as well?”

  Before Kisame gets to answer though, Jūzū interrupts rudely “No kid, now be a good brat and show me where the fuck your best medic is…Obviously, I have someone here who needs their attention.”

  “Oh..uhm yes sir! I am sorry, I didn’t notice…” The chunin flushes with embarrassment, but turns and gestures in following motions. “Please follow me Biwa-sama, but be prepared our medics have their hands full. The last attack dealt a heavy blow against us; the Raikage’s son led the onslaught; and if it weren’t for lord Mizukage himself we would’ve been wiped out…”

  “So he’s here then…still.” Fuguki whispers in thought, he listens in closely and narrows his eyes in thought. “See Jūzū, now we’re in trouble. All because you had to come here… I swear, if we get roped into any kind of defensive mission here in this shithole, I’ll blame only your arse for that.” The huge orange haired man then raves at Jūzū.

  “Well, fuck!” Jūzū makes to follow the chunin, but throws his head back, swearing into the air. “Not that I coulda known the Mizukage would be here,” then he swivels his head back at Fuguki, only to display his sharp teeth; a feature all of the seven swordsmen of the mist share; “But man Fuguki, we all may have accepted you as default leader, but you sure know how to make my blood boil with that bossy tone of yours. Better watch out…otherwise I might just challenge you on your position as leader of the seven swordsmen.” His vicious grin making Fuguki only raise an eyebrow, although the threat came not unanticipated.

  “You’re welcome to try, I’ll be sure to feed whatever chakra you might pose to my dear Samehada.” The orange haired man begins patting his back; where the big and bandaged sword was strapped to its place; And lets a little of his chakra out. A wave of nauseating killing intent accompanied his every word, giving the leading chunin slight trouble staying on his legs. “And now hurry you scarface, ere the girl dies for real, because you carrying her, makes you not much more of a threat.” The imparted jab at Jūzū, makes even Kisame, who stands a little farther behind the two swordsmen, snicker slightly.

  “...Bah! Whatever.” Jūzū snarls, more to himself than anything else “Hurry up you brat, before I really need to kill someone!” He yells at the chunin.

  The chunin only nods and leads the way into one of the tents. Many stretchers fill the tent and nearly all of them are occupied; swivelling around them in exhausted but orderly fashion are three medic-nins; pearls of sweat hanging and dripping from their heads and blood and grime stuck to their hands.

  The Chunin gently clears his throat. “Huhm, I am sorry, Meada-san. But there is a new patient who seems to need your attention.” With held breath and quite nervous the chunin waits for the person in question to acknowledge them. Jūzū meanwhile only rolls his eyes, but even he holds his tongue. He knows that in the career path of a ninja there’s rarely anything more stupid than to annoy those, who could and would fix you after a tough battle. So he patiently stands behind the chunin, the girl firmly in his arms.

  After roughly five minutes, the Medic-nin; A tall and very slim man with moss-green hair and thick round glasses probably in his fifties; comes over to them, instantly his eyes fall onto the prone form of the girl in Jūzū’s arms. Then with a sceptical raise of his eyebrows he charges his gaze at the bloodthirsty swordsman. “Not like you, Biwa-san… to bring patients…who’re alive at least.” He walks closer, a hand; his left; flickering with a greenish hue, he begins hovering it over the girl's body, stopping at her back and a sigh escapes him “Whatever have you done to this poor soul…no wait! I guess I don’t want any details after all, the less I know, the less the chance I get dragged into any of these shenanigans.'' He pulls his hand back, sparing a further glance towards Jūzū “Be a dear and place her on that empty bed there. As you can see we pretty much got our hands full here. It’ll take a while till I can fix her.” He gestures towards a bed; the only empty one.

  “Uhm Doc… As great as it is that it’s you who holds up camp here, I know your skills are unchallenged, could you perhaps fix her now?” The scar faced man awkwardly scratches his head, not accustomed to being the one to politely request things. “You know, Suikazan-san is here as well and he kinda wants the girl fixed fast.”

  The Medic-nin, Meada-san, already walked towards the nearest bed, pulling what seems to be an old bandage off of some unconscious Ninja and proceeds to change the filthy piece, without looking up he answers. “Look Biwa-san, only because I know you since you were such a bratty little snot, alright? Never assume I did it because of that prick Suikazan. I can’t stand that bastard's mindset. By the way, didn’t you say he’s here as well?” His work casually finished he walks over to the bed with the girl.

  “Yeah, he’s probs working his slippery words on Mizukage-sama, so we won’t get roped into any mission here.” Jūzū looks back at the tent's entrance, only half an eye on what Meada-san does with the girl. “You know.. Mizukage-sama and Fuguki can’t really stand each other.” He falls into a near whisper with that, obviously expecting Fuguki to come barging in and hearing what he just said.

  They both fall into a friendly silence after that. Jūzū watches in morbid fascination as Meada-san begins treating the girl. Watching as hands glow blue, cut through clothes, bone and skin alike and switch to green, beginning to close flesh and knit wounds together again.

  It takes a while, the small child is certainly more damaged than visible at first and Meada-san looks like he’s reaching his limits as well. That is until, he finally lets out a long breath of relaxation.

  “It’s done, she’s as good as new. But damn, I’ve rarely seen a chakra exhaustion as severe as this one. Pray tell, whatever was this one up to? Also, one of her lungs has collapsed from too much blood in it. It’ll hurt a while, but won’t pose any dangers.” The tired medic rushes a hand through his green hair and wipes at his forehead; flicking sweat away towards the ground.

  Jūzū just looks at the medic-nin a little perplexed before he answers. “Well, she survived an ambush from Konoha,” he then looks awkwardly away. “And that’s all I can tell you, if you know what I mean.” He switches back to look straight at Meada. “You know how it is.”

  “Yeah yeah, the credo of secrecy. Heh, I bet I don’t even want to know after all.” Meada looks tiredly at Jūzū and smiles, before he walks over to him and claps him gently on the shoulder. “And now take that poor dear and spirit her away from these frontlines here, even if that bastard Suikazan has his clutches on her already, it’s better than being here.” With that he walks away, back to mind his many other patients.

  “I heard that, Meada-san.” A voice drawls behind Jūzū before he can answer and with it Fuguki appears, sticking his head through the tent-flap. “Then hurry up Jūzū! I just about smooth-talked our way out of here, had to use the ‘medical emergency’ of the girl as a reason that we must hurry home. So we better turn tail. And where the fuck is that Hoshigaki-brat…anyways we go, now!” with that his head vanishes beyond the tent-flap again.

  “So, the girl is fine cept some hurty with the lung, right doc?” Jūzū hurried to the girl, already picking her up again.

  “...Yes. Just go, you idiot. And Jūzū… it was nice seeing you again, brat.”