Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Leaf in the Desert ❯ Chapter 14

Chapter 14

 

“Since you seem to be familiar with the Sharingan and its capabilities,” the captain said quietly, “there is no reason for me to hold back…”

 

Her red eyes shifted again, from the normal triple tomoe to…

 

“Mangekyo Sharingan,” Kohaku whispered, tearing his gaze away from hers and moving quickly over to Aikou to cover her eyes. “Don't look at her eyes!” he hissed in her ear. “Whatever you do, don't look in her eyes!”

 

Aikou crouched on all fours on the dry floor of the cell, her eyes covered by Kohaku's hand. She knew, without seeing, that they were the very image of two vulnerable and scared people.

 

The captain laughed, low and tinged with the pride that comes with knowing one is superior. “Look at the two of you. Sired by two of the most powerful ninjas in the world and you cower here in the dark like a couple of scared children.” Sand and stone crackled faintly as she took a step forward. “You are nothing special. The Tsuchikage should kill you both simply for being so weak.”

 

Aikou heard the captain's footsteps on the stony debris despite the woman's silent movements toward them. Her hands clenched into fists-

 

And threw a double-handful of sand into the captain's eyes.

 

She let out a gasp of surprise and pain, and in that instant Kohaku was on her, holding her arms behind her body. She turned her head to affix his gaze with her Mangekyo- only to have Aikou slide the kunoichi's forehead protector over her eyes.

 

“Nice work,” Kohaku murmured as he secured the captain's hands behind her. Aikou focused on tying a rag around her head to keep their captive silent. “I wasn't sure if you knew about the Sharingan and what it can do.”

 

“Of course,” Aikou replied, blushing lightly. “Father was no slouch when it came to teaching and training us.”

 

Kohaku moved the captain to Aikou's control. “All right. Let's get out of here.”

 

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Bouzen snapped to attention as his captain marched out of the cell. The Suna girl was unconscious in the Konoha boy's arms, and the captain kept her arms crossed over her chest and her red eyes on the captives.

 

“Eh, Taichou? What's going on?”

 

The captain turned her gaze to the guard. “I got… a little carried away,” she said with a lethal little smirk. “I will be taking these prisoners to a different, more secure cell, as the walls in this one are about to collapse.”

 

“But… Tsuchikage-sama said…”

 

The captain scowled and glared at the guard, who frantically looked at the ground in his effort not to meet her red-eyed stare. “Am I not the captain?” she murmured, soft and deadly.

 

“Y-Y-Yes, Myougi-Taichou, ma'am.”

 

“Then keep your useless comments to yourself.”

 

“U-Understood, ma'am.”

 

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“That was incredibly clever.”

 

“Yes, it was, wasn't it?”

 

“…Humble is not in your vocabulary, is it?”

 

“Can't say it is, no.”

 

“Egotistical pretty-boy.”

 

“Self-absorbed ice princess.”

 

“Why, you-!”

 

“Quiet. We've still got this maze of stone hallways to find our way through, not to mention the hundreds of Iwa guards. Remember- you're `Myougi-Taichou,' not the pampered little sand princess.”

 

“That makes you my prisoner, Leaf-nin. So watch your mouth.”

 

“Since this is my plan- and as you said, it's pure genius- the same goes for you.”

 

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Gin and Kin finished their sweep of the somewhat battered Village of the Rock. “There's an awful lot of shinobi in there,” Kin murmured, releasing her Byakugan.

 

“But we don't see Kohaku or Aikou anywhere,” Gin added sadly.

 

Haru exchanged a glance with the other two members of his team. “It is natural that they would not have prisoners of war in an easy-to-find location,” he mused.

 

Shourai pondered that for a moment as he looked at the terrain surrounding the compound. “Wouldn't they want to keep them away from other prisoners, considering the situation going on?”

 

Kisho crossed his arms and frowned. “I'll bet they're underground.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Think about it.” Kisho tapped his head with a finger. “This is the Rock Village. They've got the whole freaking ground to live in. My guess is that there's a whole slew of underground passages and cells for their prisoners.” He snorted. “They're like ants.”

 

“We'd have to get closer for us to be able to see that far,” Kin said.

 

“The guards would see us for sure,” Shourai pointed out.

 

Haru looked at Gin, who stared at the ground in front of her silently. “I have a better idea.”

 

Her eyes lifted to his and she looked… scared. She shook her head slightly, but Haru ignored it. “We will have to utilize all our resources- and infiltrating the compound will be a very dangerous mission. It is quite possible that one or all of us could be caught and/or killed.”

 

Kin turned her attention to her sister. “Gin…”

 

“No. It's no good, remember? Mother and Father wouldn't approve…”

 

Kisho and Shourai exchanged a glance. “We need everything you can offer,” Kisho said. “If there's something you can do to get us in and to Aikou and Uzumaki without getting caught, you need to spill it.”

 

Kin sighed. “Gin is a really powerful genjutsu user,” she informed them on behalf of her silently protesting twin. “She could trap the guards in her technique and I could move in close enough to use my Byakugan to see if I can find the two of them.”

 

Gin shot her twin a dark look. “Kin, shut up. I can't do it. You know it won't work.”

 

Shourai looked thoughtful. “I rather think it would. You don't need to entrap the whole compound-“

 

“Even though she could,” Kin added with sisterly pride.

 

“-Just those near the gates so Kin can do her thing. Once we know where Aikou and Uzumaki are, we can regroup and come up with an escape plan.”

 

Haru nodded. Precisely what he was thinking as well. “We will make our move about 4 hours before dawn- the guards should be sleepy enough at that point and may fall under the genjutsu a lot easier.” He turned towards the direction they had come from. “We will camp back at that cluster of caves we passed earlier. We should rest now, as the trip here took a lot of our energy. Kisho will take first watch.”

 

Kisho grinned. “Rest up, kids. Tomorrow will come sooner than you think.”

 

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Sleep came quickly as it usually did for Haru. He had always been able to fall asleep quickly and awaken just as swiftly- two traits necessary for a successful shinobi.

 

A hand on his shoulder had him up and on his knees, his assailant in a choke-hold and a kunai against their throat.

 

“Haru!” came a choked whisper. “It's me! Let go!”

 

He immediately released his hold on her. “Gin? What are you doing? I could have killed you!”

 

“Shhh.” She placed her finger over her lips and grasped his hand. She got to her feet, forcing Haru to do the same.

 

“How do I know you are Gin?”

 

She turned to him and he watched as she activated her Bloodline Limit ability. “Is this proof enough?” she whispered. “Or should I tell you how we first met in front of the Kazekage's hospital room and I called you a prince?”

 

“All right. I believe you.”

 

She indicated the sleeping forms of Kin and Shourai and gestured for him to follow her away from the others. He eyed her as they walked, slightly cold due to his lack of a shirt and shoes and utterly confused with his companion as she led him deeper into the cave, the darkness within no match for her Byakugan.

 

She could at least have offered me the blanket she has wrapped around her- or at least allowed me to put on my shirt. I could die of exposure and THEN where would my sister and Uzumaki be?

 

Finally she stopped, but she didn't turn around. She released her eye technique and closed her eyes.

 

“What's wrong, Gin?” Haru whispered, not wanting to disturb the silence around them or have his voice echo throughout the cave and awaken creatures- or shinobi- that were therein. “You have been acting strangely ever since your sister asked you to do the genjutsu for the mission. Do you not want to do it?”

 

Gin shook her head, even though in the darkness he could barely see her. He pulled out a small glowstick and lit it so they could see each other. He lifted the stick and peered at her face, so beautiful and sad in the glow. He turned her toward him and his heart clenched to see tears slipping down her cheeks.

 

“You are sad?”

 

Gin sniffled softly. “I'm scared, Haru,” she whispered, so softly he had to strain to hear her. “I've never used my genjutsu in battle before. What if I fail? What if it doesn't work and Kin gets hurt? What if they find us and kill us all? What if you die, and I…” She trailed off, sniffling again.

 

She is not meant to be a shinobi, he thought to himself as he gazed at her. Her heart is much too soft, too uncertain. Why was she pushed into this? Was it… me? Did I force her to come along on a mission she did not want to go on?

 

Guilt ate at him as they stood there. “I am sorry, Gin,” he apologized quietly. “I did not mean to force you to come on this mission. If you had simply declined, we could have found another shinobi that was more prepared-“

 

“No,” she interrupted. “I wanted to come.” She lifted her white eyes to his face and smiled faintly. In the glow of the stick, he thought he saw her blush. “I wanted… to be near you.”

 

His heart skipped a beat. “I wanted to be near you too,” he confessed. “But we cannot endanger the mission because of your uncertainty. If you cannot do the genjutsu, we will have to quickly come up with another plan to get close to Iwa.”

 

“I know what I'm certain of,” she said, taking a step closer. Her voice shook slightly and he could see that she trembled. “I'm certain about how I feel about you. And, if I'm not mistaken, how you feel about me.”

 

He forced his arms to stay by his sides. Never had he wanted to hold someone as badly as he wanted to hold Gin now. “I have not made a secret of my attraction to you,” he admitted. “But we are on a mission-“

 

“A mission that could end in our deaths,” Gin interjected, her voice cracking as she closed the space between them. Haru could practically feel the nervousness pouring off of her. “And I don't want to die… without being with you.”

 

His eyes snapped wide open. She does not mean… she could not POSSIBLY mean…

 

“Please, Haru of Suna,” she pleaded, placing her shaking hands on the bottom edge of her tank top. She awkwardly pulled it off and he could see that in the dim light of the glowstick that she wore only her pants and a see-through mesh shirt- and no bindings underneath that to hide her high, firm breasts.

 

He looked at her face, flushed obviously red even in the faint light. “Y-Y-You want… m-me… and y-you… to… to…”

 

She dropped to her knees, covering her face in her hands. “Oh, I knew I shouldn't have done this,” she whispered hoarsely. “I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.”

 

Haru knelt in front of her and lifted her chin, wiping off tears that slid down her cheek with his thumb. “Gin… Please, do not cry. It is not that I do not want you- I do. Very much. It is just that we are so young and we have the mission to think about…”

 

“I know all that. I know that we're still just kids to the rest of the village. But we're here on a dangerous mission, just like they have,” Gin replied. “A shinobi's life is too often short. We could die tomorrow.”

 

“That is true. But still…”

 

“I'm so sorry,” she whimpered. “I was being really stupid. I wasn't thinking about how you felt. I was being selfish and only thought about how much I want to be with you.”

 

Haru caressed her cheek. “Gin, I want to be with you too. I have wanted you to be mine since I first saw you practicing your genjutsu outside your family's home in Konoha.”

 

Gin sniffled. “You… you saw me? You were there?”

 

“I was resting in a tree nearby, enjoying the flora. We do not have much of that in Suna. I was caught in your technique- and it was then that you captured my heart as well.” He cupped the back of her head and drew her closer.

 

“The rose… was from you…” Gin whispered, her mouth scant centimeters from his.

 

“Of course.” His mind and his heart decided his fate for him. His lips descended and pressed against hers slowly, savoring the sweetness of her mouth. “Promise me… when you see a white rose… that you will think of me.”

 

Her world was on fire wherever he touched her. His hands were hesitant, uncertain, but she didn't care. Her heart belonged to his. She knew if they stopped now and they died tomorrow, her soul would be filled with regret. She held onto him as if afraid he might change his mind.

 

“I love you so,” she breathed, reaching up to wrap her arms around his bare shoulders. “Never let me go.”

 

He leaned her back onto the blanket that had been wrapped around her body earlier and kissed her again.

 

“There is no going back, Gin Hyuuga,” Haru warned her, sliding his hand underneath the mesh shirt she still wore.

 

“I know. I don't want to go back.” She shivered under his touch. “I just want you.”

 

“And when the time comes for the mission…?”

 

“I will do my part. The mission comes first.” Her hands slid down his smooth chest to the black pants he still wore. Her hands trembled, evidence of her nervousness. Instead, she took her mesh shirt in her hands and pulled the material off, leaving her torso bare to his gaze.

 

His eyes seemed to glow in the dim light of the glowstick now lying on the ground above their heads. He lowered his head and took one succulent offering into his mouth while gently caressing the other in his hand. Tears filled her eyes- tears of joy, tears of uncertainty, tears of hope, tears of sadness. She slid her fingers into his reddish-brown hair.

 

This… will have never happened.