Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Glimpses of Darkness ❯ Meddling Siblings ( Chapter 6 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: shattered-words 
Even those that love you can’t always reach out to help you, even if you wish they could.
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 01.22.2008 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.3K | Visits: 124 | Status: Work In Progress
Even those that love you can’t always reach out to help you, even if you wish they could.
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 01.22.2008 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.3K | Visits: 124 | Status: Work In Progress
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? (The quote was written randomly by me.)
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: The words spoken by Vash went so well that I had to use them. This chapter was written after much agitation and shed tears. T.T Thanks for all the help Shadows-upon-Sand. What would I do without you? -mutters something about misspelling strength- That was my bf’s fault! He was writing in the quote and I was on the phone and I posted without looking! XD The word Taichou came from SanadaSayuri’s fanfic, Mended Hearts. So, credit goes to her. Now, on with the chapter!
Ryohei might have found the whole situation amusing if it wasn’t for the fact that he was seriously pissed. He had let his emotions take over and had attacked the person holding his younger sister without thinking of the consequences. As he watched the kunoichi struggle to wake up, he heard a groan and turned to the other figure on the ground.
He’d left Harukaze’s mask on out of respect for his privacy and had attended to his injuries. It was a relief that he had been thinking clearly enough to attack the Hunter with the blunt side of the sword. Either way, Haru would have suffered the force behind the attack, and then he’d taken Iwane from him. The other had fought to hold on, but he’d kicked him down and he had released her.
Afterwards, he had smelt the stench of alcohol on her and had realized his mistake. It became clear that Harukaze had been bringing her home. So, now it was time to turn his anger on his sibling for having been missing for days, and only to return stinking drunk.
Ryohei turned back to Iwane as she finally opened her eyes and he could tell she wished she’d kept them closed. He had removed his mask so she’d be able to see his blue-green eyes staring down at her, and his handsome features twisted into an angry expression. The mask was secured at his belt, and he still wore his ANBU uniform, the mark of an apprentice; a Hunter’s mask with an ANBU uniform.
“Get up,” he commanded loudly, not sparing her the headache. He watched her wince but refused to be deterred from his objective. So, he let her struggle to her feet and forced himself to stay put. “Explain yourself.”
Iwane fidgeted under his gaze but refused to open her mouth and say anything. The bucket he’d used to give her cold shower with a lay at his feet, and it had served to get her sober. She took in her surroundings now and saw that they were on her apartment’s roof. Also, she was both disturbed and confused to see an unconscious Hunter behind her older brother. She would’ve asked, but she doubted he’d let her change the subject.
“Miwako,” he growled. He almost smirked as her wandering emerald eyes snapped back to him as she hissed in anger, and her features twisted into a glare. Iwane actually had a lovely face if one looked past the tomboyish garments and her attempts to hide it with that genjutsu of hers.
“Don’t call me that,” she snapped. The simple use of her name always had that affect on her. He realized that he didn’t know why, since during her last two years at the Academy he had been mostly pre-occupied with ANBU missions and training. Now he wished he had taken more of an interest in his sibling’s lives instead of just being a ninja.
“Then answer me,” he replied. Ryohei knew he looked intimidating at a foot taller, in his ANBU uniform, and his shoulder length black hair was now short and spiky. He folded his arms in front of his chest and waited for her answer.
Iwane shook her head as her features became devoid of emotion and Ryohei found it disturbing to see. She had always been an emotional child, and she had been the same ebullient person the last time he’d seen her. “I can’t tell you,” she responded in a calm tone. Ryohei didn’t recognize this girl standing in front of him.
The Hunter apprentice wouldn’t let it slide. “You can’t or won’t tell me?” he countered. When he said that, he saw her eyes flicker with an unknown emotion for a moment before they went blank once more. “Maybe I can help.”
Ryohei knew he’d said the wrong thing when she flinched and stepped away from him. He could tell that there was something seriously wrong with his youngest sister. If he forced it out of her then she’d hate him, he was sure of that much. “Please, Mi-kun, I want to help you.”
Her eyes softened sadly at the childhood nickname, and smiled. “I wish we could return to the time when you called me that, Ryo-nii-san,” she muttered. She sighed and turned her face to the darkening heavens, streaked with purple and maroon clouds that looked as if they were being pulled with the sun. “But I can’t. Our childhoods ended a long time ago.”
He watched the grin that spread over her once sorrowful features and her eyes lit up with false cheer. She folded her arms behind her head and turned away with a flourish. “It’s late and I should get some sleep,” she called out, lifting one arm in a wave without turning around.
Ryohei stepped forward to follow but her voice stopped him. “Stay back!” The words were delivered with a desperate tone. “Stay away from me.” She had paused at the door that would lead her to the stairs, and after a moment she went through.
He sighed and suddenly felt like punching something. The soon to be Hunter turned as he heard movement and it was in time to see Harukaze sit up. He quickly started to slip the mask on since the Oinin was facing away from him. The other ninja’s voice stopped him.
“Don’t bother,” he said with a groan. His hand was supporting his bruised midsection. “You hit damn hard, Ryohei-san.” The Erizawa male stiffened, but realized that he must had been awake and heard everything. He found that he didn’t mind the idea that the older man knew his identity. When one became a Hunter, they usually left their past life behind and merged with the Oinin, but he didn’t want that to happen. He cared too much for his siblings to ever do that.
Harukaze stood and slouched slightly to keep from pulling his sore abdomen muscles as he turned to glance at the teenager that would soon become his Taichou. “She’s quite a handful,” he muttered as he moaned in pain when he attempted to straighten slowly. The damn kid did hit hard as hell.
Ryohei laughed and nodded as he ran a hand through his hair. He had turned to look where Iwane had been standing, the bucket he had used to wake her up lay forgotten on the floor of the apartment roof. “You have no idea,” he muttered as she shook his head.
An image of a younger Iwane flashed through his mind. She was covered from head to toe in mud, sporting a black eye and missing her front tooth, which had previously been loose and threatening to fall out. When asked what had happened, she had enthusiastically stated that she had won her first fight. At the time, Ryohei had wondered how the other kid looked like.
The apprentice Hunter chuckled now as he remembered that he hadn’t waited long before he found out that the kid she had beat up turned out to be an older boy in a more advanced Academy class. He had made a rude comment about her clothes and hair and she had seen fit to teach him a bit of manners.
“Do you know anything of what’s going on with her?” he asked Harukaze, voice lowered so that only he would hear him. He didn’t want anyone else to know how worried for his sister he really was.
Erizawa Miwako had always been his sunlight in the dark world of shinobi. He could tell that someone had tainted that light with something dark and she was suffering for it. Ryohei had started to realize that she had gone through something she hadn’t told them about when she had tried to take her own life.
The Erizawa male shuddered when he remembered entering the hospital room that day and seeing her pale, unmoving face framed by the white sheets and surrounded by machines that monitored her breathing, heart rate, and kept her sedated. She had looked so fragile lying there so close to death that he had broken down.
A few days afterwards she had become hysterical and ripped out the IVs from her arms as she sprayed the white sheets with her blood. Some of it already looked dried but he hadn’t noticed at the time, since he had been trying to calm her down.
She had been screaming something then, which he had attributed to the drugs they had her on.
‘Don’t let him touch me! Get away from me!’
Ryohei clenched his hands into fists. He knew now that those hysterical words had been her cry for help, which they had all ignored. Afterwards, she had returned to her normal self albeit a bit more jumpy as she shied away from human contact. Actually, now that he thought about it, she only shied away from males.
“I don’t,” Harukaze finally answered as he slowly moved to stand behind him. “But I can find out.”
Ryohei heard the offer hidden there and wondered if he should agree to it before he knew anything more of the man and his reasons for helping him. His sister’s deathly pale face flashed in his mind and he made up his mind, and he nodded against his better judgment. For Miwako, he would risk his very life.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Amane lifted her head as she heard the door being opened and her heart skipped a beat when she realized that it was Iwane. She was at her side immediately, checking to see if she was unharmed, and was a bit confused as the other girl shrugged her off.
“I’m fine, Ame-kun,” she reassured her teammate with a casual grin. Although, it seemed the Itagaki knew her better than anyone else and it was proven as she frowned. Iwane matched her expression and shook her head. “Just drop it.”
The wind user blocked her way with a stubborn shake of her head. “How the hell can I ignore it when you go missing for a week?” she demanded. Her usually blank expression had been replaced with an angry scowl not normally seen. “You tried to hurt yourself again.”
Iwane flinched and the other didn’t miss it, but the Erizawa female pushed her aside. “Stay out of this Akemi,” she growled. She paused and turned to face her, green orbs narrowed dangerously on her face.
Amane didn’t back off and returned the glare. “You’re out of your mind if you expect me to do that,” she returned with a slight smirk. It only served to increase the tension between them and Iwane’s anger.
Many years from now, they would both agree that this was the time they truly started to drift apart. Without Arisa around for them to rely on, they found no purpose to being together so often, despite how much Iwane loved the other girl. However, that was one secret that wasn’t shared with the rest of the team.
“Maybe I am out of my mind,” she returned softly. “This isn’t about you, so you will not get involved.” She stepped once toward her friend and comrade, but she didn’t back away and she had already known this.
Amane gave a barking laugh as she shook her head. “This does involve me,” she snapped. She pushed up the short sleeved shirt and her slightly tanned skin revealed a marking there. It was the kanji for “death” that had been tattooed into her flesh, and which Iwane had on her opposite forearm. “It’s involved me ever since we became intertwined in one another’s lives.”
Iwane seemed lost for a moment and stepped away from her before she regained her composure. “This was from before then,” she argued, shaking her head. “I’m warning you, Akemi.”
She allowed a grin spread over her features as she let the sleeve drop back over the tattoo and placed her hands on her hips. “And what exactly will you do, Miwako-chan?”
‘Poor Miwako-chan…’
The earth user’s left eye twitched before she lunged at her friend. Amane was expecting her this time and it was Iwane who wound up being knocked to the floor. She watched as the slightly shorter kunoichi tried to regain her equilibrium before she stumbled to her feet.
Her face was swelling where Amane’s fist had connected but she seemed to have remembered who she was attacking. “S-sumimasen,” she muttered, and turned and fled the room.
The Itagaki let her go with a forlorn expression as she sighed. Perhaps she had gone too far but she had been so worried. She had no idea that she could ever care for someone else’s safety again as she had once cared for Akuro, but she did.
They had already lost Arisa to Oto and the chances of recovering her were looking slim, and she was deathly afraid that she’d also lose Iwane, and Amane knew she wouldn’t be able to maintain her sanity if that happened.
“Kami-sama, help us,” she whispered as she flicked off the light and plunged the room into darkness.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Itagaki Hiroaki could be called a bastard on all accounts and the man himself wouldn’t deny it. He knew what he wanted most of the time and he wasn’t afraid to go after it by any means necessary. Although, in hind sight, he should have assured that he had more suitable heirs then his three good-for-nothing sons.
Katsuhiko had been softened by that bastard adopted child, Kiyo and she had also managed to corrupt the two that he had planned to fall back on in case Katsu didn’t meet his standards. Satori was gay and Satoshi was no doubt in the same boat. There were several things he detested in this world, and homosexuals were one of them.
The current head of the Itagaki Ichizoku once had a younger brother named Amon that had turned out to be homosexual. He had seen to his “accidental” injury during a training session one Saturday afternoon just before he’d been made into a Genin. Itagaki Amon had been eleven years old when he’d died in his hospital bed due to complications.
That was the kind of heir he wanted and sadly his sons hadn’t been able to attain that same level of cruelness that he possessed. It was the reason he hadn’t given his position up and retired at such an old age. However, he was hopeful for the future by Katsuhiko’s offspring.
He had been watching Itagaki Motoki for a while, and he liked what he had seen of his actions and personality. The boy had the perfect eyesight and far surpassed any other in his age group, and even some that were older than him.
It was rumored that Erizawa Ryohei was superior to him in skills, but he doubted that. The boy was only two years older than his grandson and he was barely a Tokubetsu Jonin, while Motoki would soon become ANBU in another years’ time.
Hiroaki was pouring over several scrolls when he heard a knock on his door. He lifted his head, his wrinkled scalp showing through his rapidly thinning gray hair. “Nani?” he snapped. The elderly man didn’t enjoy being interrupted while he was doing something important.
The Kazekage had yet to be decided and he was pouring over various reports on ninja he had under his thumb which would be able to hold the position. So far, there was not one. If the Sabaku child was made the kage, then he would lose much of the control he had over the council.
He watched the shouji door slide open and was pleasantly surprised as Motoki entered, but he noticed the frown on his features. “Ah, Motoki-kun,” he greeted him. “Come in and have a seat. What can I do for you, son?”
The younger Itagaki male didn’t take the seat offered him as he shook his head politely. “I actually came to ask you for a favor...grandfather,” he said, adding that last part after a second thought.
Hiroaki frowned and leaned back in his seat. The scrolls he had been going over were abandoned for the moment. “A favor?” he muttered, eyebrows lifting in question. “Well, if it’s within my power then I’ll be happy to grant it to you.”
Motoki placed his hands on the desk and leaned against them as he fixed the older man with a serious expression. “I want you to arrange a marriage between me and Erizawa Miwako.”-
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Translations:
Taichou: commanding officer, captain
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
End, Chapter Six
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? (The quote was written randomly by me.)
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: The words spoken by Vash went so well that I had to use them. This chapter was written after much agitation and shed tears. T.T Thanks for all the help Shadows-upon-Sand. What would I do without you? -mutters something about misspelling strength- That was my bf’s fault! He was writing in the quote and I was on the phone and I posted without looking! XD The word Taichou came from SanadaSayuri’s fanfic, Mended Hearts. So, credit goes to her. Now, on with the chapter!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Our fears transform us into strangers.
and when there’s nowhere to turn,
we inadvertently hurt those we love.
~*~*~*~*~*~ Chapter Six: Meddling Siblings ~*~*~*~*~*~
A yelp of shock and indignant anger escaped her as she was awakened by the feel of cold water being dumped over her head. She spit water out as she sat up and immediately regretted it as everything tilted to the side and she fought off the urge to puke. When she was on the ground once more, she dared to open her eyes and wished she hadn’t.Our fears transform us into strangers.
and when there’s nowhere to turn,
we inadvertently hurt those we love.
~*~*~*~*~*~ Chapter Six: Meddling Siblings ~*~*~*~*~*~
Ryohei might have found the whole situation amusing if it wasn’t for the fact that he was seriously pissed. He had let his emotions take over and had attacked the person holding his younger sister without thinking of the consequences. As he watched the kunoichi struggle to wake up, he heard a groan and turned to the other figure on the ground.
He’d left Harukaze’s mask on out of respect for his privacy and had attended to his injuries. It was a relief that he had been thinking clearly enough to attack the Hunter with the blunt side of the sword. Either way, Haru would have suffered the force behind the attack, and then he’d taken Iwane from him. The other had fought to hold on, but he’d kicked him down and he had released her.
Afterwards, he had smelt the stench of alcohol on her and had realized his mistake. It became clear that Harukaze had been bringing her home. So, now it was time to turn his anger on his sibling for having been missing for days, and only to return stinking drunk.
Ryohei turned back to Iwane as she finally opened her eyes and he could tell she wished she’d kept them closed. He had removed his mask so she’d be able to see his blue-green eyes staring down at her, and his handsome features twisted into an angry expression. The mask was secured at his belt, and he still wore his ANBU uniform, the mark of an apprentice; a Hunter’s mask with an ANBU uniform.
“Get up,” he commanded loudly, not sparing her the headache. He watched her wince but refused to be deterred from his objective. So, he let her struggle to her feet and forced himself to stay put. “Explain yourself.”
Iwane fidgeted under his gaze but refused to open her mouth and say anything. The bucket he’d used to give her cold shower with a lay at his feet, and it had served to get her sober. She took in her surroundings now and saw that they were on her apartment’s roof. Also, she was both disturbed and confused to see an unconscious Hunter behind her older brother. She would’ve asked, but she doubted he’d let her change the subject.
“Miwako,” he growled. He almost smirked as her wandering emerald eyes snapped back to him as she hissed in anger, and her features twisted into a glare. Iwane actually had a lovely face if one looked past the tomboyish garments and her attempts to hide it with that genjutsu of hers.
“Don’t call me that,” she snapped. The simple use of her name always had that affect on her. He realized that he didn’t know why, since during her last two years at the Academy he had been mostly pre-occupied with ANBU missions and training. Now he wished he had taken more of an interest in his sibling’s lives instead of just being a ninja.
“Then answer me,” he replied. Ryohei knew he looked intimidating at a foot taller, in his ANBU uniform, and his shoulder length black hair was now short and spiky. He folded his arms in front of his chest and waited for her answer.
Iwane shook her head as her features became devoid of emotion and Ryohei found it disturbing to see. She had always been an emotional child, and she had been the same ebullient person the last time he’d seen her. “I can’t tell you,” she responded in a calm tone. Ryohei didn’t recognize this girl standing in front of him.
The Hunter apprentice wouldn’t let it slide. “You can’t or won’t tell me?” he countered. When he said that, he saw her eyes flicker with an unknown emotion for a moment before they went blank once more. “Maybe I can help.”
Ryohei knew he’d said the wrong thing when she flinched and stepped away from him. He could tell that there was something seriously wrong with his youngest sister. If he forced it out of her then she’d hate him, he was sure of that much. “Please, Mi-kun, I want to help you.”
Her eyes softened sadly at the childhood nickname, and smiled. “I wish we could return to the time when you called me that, Ryo-nii-san,” she muttered. She sighed and turned her face to the darkening heavens, streaked with purple and maroon clouds that looked as if they were being pulled with the sun. “But I can’t. Our childhoods ended a long time ago.”
He watched the grin that spread over her once sorrowful features and her eyes lit up with false cheer. She folded her arms behind her head and turned away with a flourish. “It’s late and I should get some sleep,” she called out, lifting one arm in a wave without turning around.
Ryohei stepped forward to follow but her voice stopped him. “Stay back!” The words were delivered with a desperate tone. “Stay away from me.” She had paused at the door that would lead her to the stairs, and after a moment she went through.
He sighed and suddenly felt like punching something. The soon to be Hunter turned as he heard movement and it was in time to see Harukaze sit up. He quickly started to slip the mask on since the Oinin was facing away from him. The other ninja’s voice stopped him.
“Don’t bother,” he said with a groan. His hand was supporting his bruised midsection. “You hit damn hard, Ryohei-san.” The Erizawa male stiffened, but realized that he must had been awake and heard everything. He found that he didn’t mind the idea that the older man knew his identity. When one became a Hunter, they usually left their past life behind and merged with the Oinin, but he didn’t want that to happen. He cared too much for his siblings to ever do that.
Harukaze stood and slouched slightly to keep from pulling his sore abdomen muscles as he turned to glance at the teenager that would soon become his Taichou. “She’s quite a handful,” he muttered as he moaned in pain when he attempted to straighten slowly. The damn kid did hit hard as hell.
Ryohei laughed and nodded as he ran a hand through his hair. He had turned to look where Iwane had been standing, the bucket he had used to wake her up lay forgotten on the floor of the apartment roof. “You have no idea,” he muttered as she shook his head.
An image of a younger Iwane flashed through his mind. She was covered from head to toe in mud, sporting a black eye and missing her front tooth, which had previously been loose and threatening to fall out. When asked what had happened, she had enthusiastically stated that she had won her first fight. At the time, Ryohei had wondered how the other kid looked like.
The apprentice Hunter chuckled now as he remembered that he hadn’t waited long before he found out that the kid she had beat up turned out to be an older boy in a more advanced Academy class. He had made a rude comment about her clothes and hair and she had seen fit to teach him a bit of manners.
“Do you know anything of what’s going on with her?” he asked Harukaze, voice lowered so that only he would hear him. He didn’t want anyone else to know how worried for his sister he really was.
Erizawa Miwako had always been his sunlight in the dark world of shinobi. He could tell that someone had tainted that light with something dark and she was suffering for it. Ryohei had started to realize that she had gone through something she hadn’t told them about when she had tried to take her own life.
The Erizawa male shuddered when he remembered entering the hospital room that day and seeing her pale, unmoving face framed by the white sheets and surrounded by machines that monitored her breathing, heart rate, and kept her sedated. She had looked so fragile lying there so close to death that he had broken down.
A few days afterwards she had become hysterical and ripped out the IVs from her arms as she sprayed the white sheets with her blood. Some of it already looked dried but he hadn’t noticed at the time, since he had been trying to calm her down.
She had been screaming something then, which he had attributed to the drugs they had her on.
‘Don’t let him touch me! Get away from me!’
Ryohei clenched his hands into fists. He knew now that those hysterical words had been her cry for help, which they had all ignored. Afterwards, she had returned to her normal self albeit a bit more jumpy as she shied away from human contact. Actually, now that he thought about it, she only shied away from males.
“I don’t,” Harukaze finally answered as he slowly moved to stand behind him. “But I can find out.”
Ryohei heard the offer hidden there and wondered if he should agree to it before he knew anything more of the man and his reasons for helping him. His sister’s deathly pale face flashed in his mind and he made up his mind, and he nodded against his better judgment. For Miwako, he would risk his very life.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Amane lifted her head as she heard the door being opened and her heart skipped a beat when she realized that it was Iwane. She was at her side immediately, checking to see if she was unharmed, and was a bit confused as the other girl shrugged her off.
“I’m fine, Ame-kun,” she reassured her teammate with a casual grin. Although, it seemed the Itagaki knew her better than anyone else and it was proven as she frowned. Iwane matched her expression and shook her head. “Just drop it.”
The wind user blocked her way with a stubborn shake of her head. “How the hell can I ignore it when you go missing for a week?” she demanded. Her usually blank expression had been replaced with an angry scowl not normally seen. “You tried to hurt yourself again.”
Iwane flinched and the other didn’t miss it, but the Erizawa female pushed her aside. “Stay out of this Akemi,” she growled. She paused and turned to face her, green orbs narrowed dangerously on her face.
Amane didn’t back off and returned the glare. “You’re out of your mind if you expect me to do that,” she returned with a slight smirk. It only served to increase the tension between them and Iwane’s anger.
Many years from now, they would both agree that this was the time they truly started to drift apart. Without Arisa around for them to rely on, they found no purpose to being together so often, despite how much Iwane loved the other girl. However, that was one secret that wasn’t shared with the rest of the team.
“Maybe I am out of my mind,” she returned softly. “This isn’t about you, so you will not get involved.” She stepped once toward her friend and comrade, but she didn’t back away and she had already known this.
Amane gave a barking laugh as she shook her head. “This does involve me,” she snapped. She pushed up the short sleeved shirt and her slightly tanned skin revealed a marking there. It was the kanji for “death” that had been tattooed into her flesh, and which Iwane had on her opposite forearm. “It’s involved me ever since we became intertwined in one another’s lives.”
Iwane seemed lost for a moment and stepped away from her before she regained her composure. “This was from before then,” she argued, shaking her head. “I’m warning you, Akemi.”
She allowed a grin spread over her features as she let the sleeve drop back over the tattoo and placed her hands on her hips. “And what exactly will you do, Miwako-chan?”
‘Poor Miwako-chan…’
The earth user’s left eye twitched before she lunged at her friend. Amane was expecting her this time and it was Iwane who wound up being knocked to the floor. She watched as the slightly shorter kunoichi tried to regain her equilibrium before she stumbled to her feet.
Her face was swelling where Amane’s fist had connected but she seemed to have remembered who she was attacking. “S-sumimasen,” she muttered, and turned and fled the room.
The Itagaki let her go with a forlorn expression as she sighed. Perhaps she had gone too far but she had been so worried. She had no idea that she could ever care for someone else’s safety again as she had once cared for Akuro, but she did.
They had already lost Arisa to Oto and the chances of recovering her were looking slim, and she was deathly afraid that she’d also lose Iwane, and Amane knew she wouldn’t be able to maintain her sanity if that happened.
“Kami-sama, help us,” she whispered as she flicked off the light and plunged the room into darkness.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Itagaki Hiroaki could be called a bastard on all accounts and the man himself wouldn’t deny it. He knew what he wanted most of the time and he wasn’t afraid to go after it by any means necessary. Although, in hind sight, he should have assured that he had more suitable heirs then his three good-for-nothing sons.
Katsuhiko had been softened by that bastard adopted child, Kiyo and she had also managed to corrupt the two that he had planned to fall back on in case Katsu didn’t meet his standards. Satori was gay and Satoshi was no doubt in the same boat. There were several things he detested in this world, and homosexuals were one of them.
The current head of the Itagaki Ichizoku once had a younger brother named Amon that had turned out to be homosexual. He had seen to his “accidental” injury during a training session one Saturday afternoon just before he’d been made into a Genin. Itagaki Amon had been eleven years old when he’d died in his hospital bed due to complications.
That was the kind of heir he wanted and sadly his sons hadn’t been able to attain that same level of cruelness that he possessed. It was the reason he hadn’t given his position up and retired at such an old age. However, he was hopeful for the future by Katsuhiko’s offspring.
He had been watching Itagaki Motoki for a while, and he liked what he had seen of his actions and personality. The boy had the perfect eyesight and far surpassed any other in his age group, and even some that were older than him.
It was rumored that Erizawa Ryohei was superior to him in skills, but he doubted that. The boy was only two years older than his grandson and he was barely a Tokubetsu Jonin, while Motoki would soon become ANBU in another years’ time.
Hiroaki was pouring over several scrolls when he heard a knock on his door. He lifted his head, his wrinkled scalp showing through his rapidly thinning gray hair. “Nani?” he snapped. The elderly man didn’t enjoy being interrupted while he was doing something important.
The Kazekage had yet to be decided and he was pouring over various reports on ninja he had under his thumb which would be able to hold the position. So far, there was not one. If the Sabaku child was made the kage, then he would lose much of the control he had over the council.
He watched the shouji door slide open and was pleasantly surprised as Motoki entered, but he noticed the frown on his features. “Ah, Motoki-kun,” he greeted him. “Come in and have a seat. What can I do for you, son?”
The younger Itagaki male didn’t take the seat offered him as he shook his head politely. “I actually came to ask you for a favor...grandfather,” he said, adding that last part after a second thought.
Hiroaki frowned and leaned back in his seat. The scrolls he had been going over were abandoned for the moment. “A favor?” he muttered, eyebrows lifting in question. “Well, if it’s within my power then I’ll be happy to grant it to you.”
Motoki placed his hands on the desk and leaned against them as he fixed the older man with a serious expression. “I want you to arrange a marriage between me and Erizawa Miwako.”-
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Translations:
Taichou: commanding officer, captain
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End, Chapter Six