Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Reading Totems ❯ Chapter 28 ( Chapter 28 )

Author's pre-ramble: Alrighty then! Here we go! The reveal of the bad guys! Dun dun dun…

 

Thank you to my reviewers: otakutron, DragonTamer94, TheForsakenOne, tasuki001, Dwarfwarrior, ghostreader14, TheRavenQuoth, sotobell, interestingstuff, mousetrap, DemanFox, Simply Me, jadedkatrina, Alexeihowe

 

Title: Reading Totems

By: GrizzlyTeddyBear

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and this makes me sad. I do own Paige Stone, my OC! All information regarding animal totems was taken from the books Dancing The Wheel by Sun Bear and Animal Speak by Ted Andrews.

Main Pairings: ShinoxOC, NaruxHina, SasuxSaku

Rating: M for mentioned adult themes

Warning: AU, Post-series start time. Rookie 9 is 23-24 years old. Fic mentions pagan religions, if you can't handle it, don't read! Also is OC-centric. Hold your pants, all will be revealed as the story progresses. I like to take my time.

 

Chapter Summary: Somehow, days always manage to go from bad to worse.

 

***Chapter 28***

 

Just walking up to the arena in which the last stage of the Chunin Exams was being held made her crane her neck backwards. Paige was struck with an image of the Roman Coliseum—despite the Suna construction favoring a dome shape. Reaching their seats on the inside reinforced the coliseum image. A dirt floor was surrounded by a 10 meter wall, above were row upon row of stadium style seats. It was clear one section was reserved for the Kage and other visiting politicians even if she hadn't recognized Tsunade and Gaara in their formal wardrobe—the seats were larger, there were bodyguards, and their canopy gave just a bit more shade then what was over the rest of the audience. A voice drew her attention from her surroundings.

 

“Shino! Paige!” yelled Hinata with a wave.

 

She returned the wave with a smile as she watched the Hyuga woman make her way to the seat next to her not occupied by Shino. “I haven't seen you and Kiba since we've left Konoha.”

 

“Kiba's been on duty keeping watch over Tsunade-sama. And I've been busy along with Sakura making sure there are as few lives lost as possible this exam.”

 

Paige looked between the two Konoha shinobi seated next to her. “I didn't realize it was that ruthless of a competition. Isn't it held to improve relations between villages?”

 

Shino broke his silence. “Old animosities sometimes die hard.”

 

“But it does improve relations.” Hinata pointed out. “This is Hoshigakure's second Chunin Exams since being recognized as having a Kage by the other villages. This exam they have someone that's made it to the third stage. It's something they have been working towards for years.”

 

Something about what Shino and Hinata said struck Paige. She felt her totems stir. Something important was hidden within all of those words, but she wasn't getting a clear answer from her gifts. “It also gives them something to prove,” she whispered to herself.

 

However it had caught the attention of Shino who turned towards her with a questioning look.

 

“I think it was right for me to come here today,” she offered in explanation as she threaded her fingers with his. Paige turned her attention back to Hinata, “Can you point out the students and their sensei for me?”

 

“Sure.”

 

She paid attention to each shinobi pointed out to her with her gifts—attempting to sense any totems or emotions which would give her some clue of who the enemy of Konoha was. A sensei named Hoshiro, the Hoshikage, had an extremely strong association with ravens. The similarity between their totems struck Paige, but the differences between them were greater. Hoshiro was filled with a seething anger. It was not a hot boiling rage, like Danzo, but rather a more dangerous anger that was cold and calculating. She turned her attention to his student, Masa, who was a careful study of emotionless-cold with an even stronger association with ravens than Hoshiro. The two shinobi made her skin crawl, and she worked hard to suppress a shudder when she thought Hoshiro briefly made eye contact with her.

 

Her attention then was drawn to another Hoshi shinobi, one of the Hoshikage's bodyguards. He felt of grizzly bears, conflict and shame. It was a curious mix since the position of bodyguard required loyalty. Paige debated on telling about her discoveries, but decided against it. She'd tell Shino later tonight.

 

The matches of the Chunin Exam's third round were ruthless. Paige was strangely fascinated with how the young genin could be so deadly and graceful at the same time. Literally on the edge of her seat, she watched as the young shinobi, some no older than 12, attacked, parried, and retreated in not-so-mock combat. Wincing in sympathy pain when blows were landed, biting nails when they circled each other to assess strengths and weaknesses of the opponent, it was spellbinding. Paige also noticed Hoshiro seemed to be enjoying each of the matches…and maybe even enjoying the more brutal ones a little more? Anxiety was slowly building in her with each completed match. Something was just wrong about him and Masa.

 

Masa had yet to fight in the third stage. She was certain he was the type of shinobi that was beyond ruthless. Sure he looked a little older than some of the other genin at the exams, but to have so many ravens following him around, he had to have killed many…from a young age. Paige fought another shutter when Masa's name was called almost at the same moment she reached the conclusion Masa was not about to start showing mercy just for the sake of inter-village relations. “This is going to be bad,” she stated to no one in particular.

 

“Paige?” Concern almost radiated from Shino. It looked like he had been picking up on her tension, despite her attempts to hide it.

 

“Masa doesn't know how to hold back…he's almost completely emotionless. He's someone I could have lived a happy life not knowing that people like him actually existed in the world.” Paige inched a little closer to Shino, but spoke to Hinata. “You're going to be needed down there. You should get Sakura too…as many medics as you can.” She watched Masa's opponent walk slowly towards him in the area. “That Kusa shinobi is going to need a lot of medical attention.” She didn't have the heart to tell the Hyuga that he might need a funeral planner as well…he was marked by one of Masa's ravens already.

 

“I'll go now.” Hinata gave the couple a curt nod and was gone in a small swirl of leaves.

 

Arms came around Paige. “We don't have to stay.”

 

She gave a loud sigh. “I think I need to see this. Tsunade said death was a part of life in a shinobi village. I need to learn how to deal with people like Masa eventually.”

 

“I'm hear to deal with people like him, so you don't have to,” stated Shino matter-of-factly.

 

“A compromise then…you help me deal with people like him?” she ventured. The arms around her tightened momentarily.

 

“Acceptable.”

 

Paige's grip on Shino did not loosen after the match with Masa began. It tightened, and she often found herself hiding her face from some of the more brutal moves.

 

He was toying with the Kusa ninja—rushing in to inflict damage that would cause bleeding and then dodging any counterattacks. There must have been a hundred wounds that were bleeding, but none were threatening enough to stop the match… And then the mortal wound was inflicted. kunai in hand, Masa flickered momentarily. If Paige had blinked she would have missed it. What drew her attention next was the Kusa shinobi staggering to the side….the kunai that had been in Masa's hand was now neatly sticking out from under his chin. Strange gurgling sounds accompanied the blood coming from his mouth and the wound. The length of the kunai…the depth of the wound…his soft pallet was most likely punctured, leading the brain to be pierced. Masa calmly walked from the arena as medics rushed in…as if he did this sort of thing daily.

 

“I think I need the restroom. I'm going to be sick.” Paige's statement was muffled from her attempt to burrow into Shino and not watch the Kusa ninja die. There was no need for an answering statement. She just felt herself being gently pulled upright and led out of the stadium part of the arena. Looking up when she wasn't being guided anymore, Paige saw the universal sign for a women's public restroom. A hand appeared in front of her.

 

“I'll hold your medicine wheel bag.”

 

She gave a half-smile while handing it over to Shino. “Thanks.” The harsh lighting of bathrooms greeted her inside the restroom. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror, Paige winced. “You look a little green around the gills, if I do say so, my dear,” she stated to herself. Turning on the cold water, she splashed some on her face and then used a paper towel to dry off. The cold helped with the nausea, but she still felt rather shook up. Paige had never actually seen anyone killed in front of her before. Sure there was Tami-chan, but this was different…colder…darker.

 

The feeling of unease intensified when the knowledge of totems waiting outside the bathroom for Paige suddenly pushed at her gifts.

 

Beetle. Protection. Shino was ready to protect her from danger.

 

She was struck with a dilemma. Does she go outside? Does she stay inside? Bathrooms were not known as good strategic positions. As silently as possible, she made her way to the door and placed her ear against it, hoping to hear something.

 

Silence. Nothing.

 

Neither shinobi was making a noise, but they were broadcasting loudly in other ways. Paige felt Shino's protectiveness and readiness for battle. Ravens were on the other side of the door as well…Masa. Exiting the bathroom through conventional methods had officially been ruled out. Shish kabob Paige was not on the menu. Spotting the window at the end of the opposing rows of toilet stalls and sinks, another exit strategy became a possibility. A quick assessment of supplies was made: Shino's jacket and two weapons pouches with kunai, shuriken, and wire. Now all Paige needed was an army knife and she could MacGyver herself out of a bathroom via the window.

 

Hurriedly, she made a few quick preparations. Paige knew her time was now. A short piece of wire was cut, one end tied to her piece of amber in its pouch, the other to a kunai—the contraption went back in a weapons pouch for now. Taking off Shino's forever borrowed jacket, wire was looped through the arms and torso of the piece of clothing before she put it back on. Paige was hoping the jacket would rip instead of her flesh for the stunt she was about to pull. The other end of the wire was tied to the pipes of the sink closest to the window. Walking back to the window to open it, Paige took the kunai with the piece of amber in her hand and a deep breath before calling loudly, “Aburame Shino!”

 

The door opened swiftly in response.

 

The reaction time confirmed Paige's suspicions. Aiming for the wall next to the door, she threw the kunai with her bundle. “Keep that for me. I need to go,” she yelled as she made her running start. Closing her eyes, she did the absolute dumbest thing in her life…jumped out of a ten meter high window. “Brothers protect me.”

 

Wind in her face.

 

A feeling of weightlessness.

 

Warm protective fur.

 

The sound of many wings fluttering

 

Paige's eye snapped open at the last sensation. “Thank you brothers.” Next she felt her feet sliding down the convex curved outer walls of the arena. Sitting back on her heals, Paige braced for impact.

 

The wires stopped her descent first in a jerk that almost knocked the wind out of her. Shino's jacket let out a loud ripping noise, and Paige winced. Looking down she guessed she had about 2 more meters to hit the ground. Wriggling out of the now ripped jacket, she dangled for a moment…and then dropped to the ground, executing a tumble that was more practical than graceful to reduce the shock to her joints. When her feet hit a solid surface once more, she began to run like her life depended on it.

 

Because it did.

 

She headed for the most crowded section of Suna…the Bazaar. However, as the Bazaar finally came into view, Paige realized her mistake. On the day of the third round of the Chunin Exams, the Bazaar was closed. There were no crowds to lose herself in, only rows of empty and shuttered stalls. She couldn't afford to slow down, and so Paige picked a row to go down at random, hoping to find inspiration for her next move. What she did find, was the Hoshikage's body guard who had the totem of grizzly bears.

 

Conflict. Resignation.

 

Paige skidded to a halt and calmly drew two kunai. “You don't want to do this,” she attempted to reason. She was surprised her hands and voice were both steady.

 

Resignation. “You will come with me,” was the Hoshi shinobi's reply.

 

“Didn't your mother ever teach you to be polite when asking a lady for a favor?” she retorted.

 

Anger. “Come. With. Me. Now.”

 

It looked like she had hit a nerve in speaking about his mother. A dark chuckle from behind her caused her to shift her stance to take in the new arrival.

 

“You do not have a say in the matter. You come with us, or he dies.” It was Masa…holding Shino who looked more than a little worse for wear.

 

“Sh-Shino?” Her voice cracked. They knew how to get to her…hurting Shino.

 

Shino gave her a signal to leave.

 

Paige chewed on her lower lip. Should she leave? Abandon Shino? Was she able to take on these two shinobi and escape? Was this her moment of serving Konoha? Needing direction, she sent up a quick prayer for guidance.

 

Comfort Safety and a pull towards the Hoshikage's bodyguard were her answer.

 

Sighing, and giving Shino a look which pleaded him to understand her actions, she held one of the kunai to her own throat and locked gazes with Masa. “Leave him, and I will come with you. Hurt him more, and I end all of this now with no one getting what they want.”

 

Giving a mirthless smile, Masa let Shino crumple to the ground and began to advance on her.

 

Struggling with her own fear, she had forgotten about the other Hoshi shinobi. The next thing Paige knew, she had been relieved of both kunai and her weapons pouches. Turning in surprise, she caught the sight of a hand coming down hard. A hand…with a kikaichu hitching a ride. And then…blackness…

 

***

 

Paige awoke to the strange sensation of being slung over someone's shoulder for carrying. From her position she could see her surroundings retreat at an alarming rate. No ninja should be able to move this fast! Not even Shibi running full out taking her back to the carnage of her old apartment building had run this fast… Paige began to wonder about Hoshi shinobi and pray that her time with them would be short. A small part of her mind digested the detail of the sun getting ready to set.

 

“You're awake finally,” was Masa's greeting.

 

Turning her head, she realized with some relief that she was not being carried by Masa. He was the one to be feared between the two. “Yes, I am,” she answered.

 

“You are not struggling,” the Hoshikage's bodyguard commented.

 

“It seems smarter to take a `wait and see' approach for now,” Paige answered the unspoken question of why she was not trying to escape.

 

“Masa, we should set up camp for the night. She does not have the training we do,” stated Paige's ride.

 

“Fine,” was the grunted reply. “There are caves ahead.”

 

In the silence that followed, she attempted to recognize any of her surroundings, but was unable to do so. She was not in Suna anymore. There was no sight of the desert and the temperature was decidedly cooler. Paige was not in Fire Country either, no signs of the large forests it was known for. She was silently cursing herself for not telling Shino of her findings regarding the Hoshikage and his shinobi. He would have no way of knowing where she was being taken.

 

After a few moments, the strange group slowed down and eventually stopped at a large cave. The Hoshikage's bodyguard unceremoniously dropped Paige on the ground inside and then dropped something in her lap. A ration bar. “Thank you,” she said in a reflexive response to being given something.

 

Masa gave another chuckle that made Paige shiver at the coldness of its sound, “It's not a favor.”

 

“We were told not to harm you unless it is deemed necessary,” explained the bodyguard

 

“I wanted you to fight back more,” stated Masa.

 

Paige struggled to swallow the ration bar through the lump that suddenly formed in her throat at that statement. She was beginning to wish she had Shino with her. He said he would help her deal with people like Masa, and he wasn't here to help her now. Struggling against the tears threatening to begin, Paige felt a slight tickling sensation on her side. Curiosity winning out for the moment, she turned slightly away from the two Hoshi shinobi.

 

Lifting her shirt, she spotted something that caused her tears to finally break through. It was Scarab.

 

Realizing she had been spotted, the small kikaichu stopped her tickling.

 

Paige kept silent, but hoped the small insect knew the relief she brought with her. Scarab was the kikaichu on the shinobi's hand that she had spotted before being knocked unconscious. There was a chance Shino would be able to track her down. The chance, no matter how small, let Paige decide that no matter what happened to her, she would be able to survive, and return to her new home.

 

While Paige watched in fascination, Scarab proceeded to go back to what she was doing. Scarab calmly, and without inflicting any pain or bleeding, burrowed herself into and beneath Paige's skin, safe from prying eyes and fingers.

 

It was almost ridiculous that an insect could bring so much comfort, but Paige's relief was so great that she had a piece of Shino with her, a piece that could help him track her, and a piece intelligent enough to know how to hide, that she felt her eyes grow heavy with emotional exhaustion. Curling up on her side on the cold floor of the cave, Paige felt her totems stir slightly, and then fell into a dreamless sleep.

 

***

 

She was roughly awakened then next morning by someone shaking her.

 

“We're going.”

 

Paige nodded at the Hoshikage's bodyguard and obediently got up. For this portion of the journey, she was allowed to travel on his back while they ran towards their destination. The sheer speed with which they traveled still amazed and frightened Paige. If she was found, would Konoha shinobi be a match for Hoshi shinobi? What training methods were they using to gain such speed and strength? She couldn't help the shudder at the other question that followed. What training methods created someone like Masa, a cold, almost emotionless soldier? And were there more like him somewhere?

 

It was when the scenery began to pass at a slower pace, one that didn't strain her eyes if she tried to follow it, she asked the question which had been running through her mind. “Where are you taking me?”

 

“Don't answer,” stated Masa.

 

“She'll learn soon enough, anyway. I see no harm in telling her what she will find out in a few minutes,” challenged the bodyguard.

 

Paige watched the interplay between the two shinobi. They acted more like adversaries than allies.

 

The bodyguard then turned his head slightly to address Paige as they once again slowed their pace. Letting her down, he spoke, “You are to be taken before Hoshiro, Hoshikage and leader of Hoshigakure, in Bear Country.”

 

She couldn't help the sharp intake of breath at the information. Bear Country? Paige felt her grizzly bear totem stir and wrap her in a feeling of warmth and safety. It had the immediate effect of making her calmer, able to think more clearly. “This is not an official meeting. Otherwise the Hoshikage would have gone about meeting me in a more…diplomatic fashion,” she accused the two. She was following Masa along a winding path in the forest they had been traveling through while the bodyguard brought up the rear.

 

No one answered to her accusation.

 

They traveled the path for several more minutes before coming to a small building built into the side of a hill. Masa held the door open for her.

 

Paige stood in front of the open door. “After you, I insist.”

 

“You don't trust me.” Masa phrased it as a comment, not a question.

 

“No,” she answered anyway.

 

He gave another mirthless smile before entering ahead of her. “Danzo said you were intelligent.”

 

Danzo. The connection had been sitting in front of her all of this time. Danzo had been feeding information to the Hoshikage. Taking a calming breath, Paige entered the room where the Hoshikage sat, in a plain chair, waiting for her.

 

Hoshiro motioned to the chair across from him. “Shall we begin?” he asked.

 

Paige steeled herself to face him and sat down in the offered chair.

 

***

 

Author's post-ramble: So…everything clear as mud now? Everyone fess up, who saw the Hoshi shinobi as the bad guys…'cause I wanna know if I surprised you!

 

On a more personal note: the posting of chapter 29 may be delayed. It is completely written, but I like to keep a buffer of pre-written chapters so that I have time to self-edit up to my usual standards that you've all come to know and love. The reason for this? I was in a car accident last Friday, my car was totaled, and I'm in the process of buying a new one. So yeah. I haven't had much time to spend on chapter 30 and thusly, must slow down the posting of 29 until I've got more work done on 30. Don't hurt me!