Mission: The Maiden's Song

[Lunanana]

Tsuki heard someone knocking on her door, and she sat there staring at herself in the mirror for a moment longer. The second knock came, more urgent than the other, and she slowly stood up, opening the door with fluid movements in which she carried herself. She was handed a sealed mission scroll, and her eyes widened - she had plans to meet Yoshinori today as well as give lots of pets and cuddles to their new friend. However, she was a kunoichi and after Tsuki closed the door, she gently opened the scroll, reading through its contents with a bit of a worried expression.

The village northeast of Konoha has been experiencing an unnerving phenomenon: each night a song sung by a young woman could be heard, and the next day someone from the small village disappears. People have resorted to unorthodox practices, slaying their livestock and giving offerings to the spirit that they believe haunts the village. This is too close for comfort to Konohagure no Sato. Please head to the location provided below and reveal the mystery - if not, gather enough intel information for someone more equipped to understand what is going on.

Tsuki knitted her brows - it was something straight out of a horror book. She understood why she was needed there - the genjutsu can be detected by the Byakuugan, well, unless it is specifically crafted not to be. At least that was what she was thinking. Lost in thought, she finally remembered to read the rest of the scroll. Mission partners: Tei, Yoshinori. Mission start: Immediate. Her eyes widened now as she owlishly blinked at the scroll, only to quickly pack it up in her weapons pouch and grab the needed supplies, running through the compound. ”Tsuki-sama!”, “No running in the corridors, you’re 20!”, “What has gotten into her?” Were the comments she didn’t catch, as she almost flew by the kitchen, grabbing two sandwich bags, and placing on her sandals by the door, while also passing through them.

Not 10 minutes later did she land near the gate, panting, and her cheeks flushed, as she eyed the sun already approaching the West. Tsuki collected herself, as she saw a few ANBU pass by, and stood by the gates with her back straight, like a statue, staring into nothing. Hokage-sama, thank you. I will do my best! She though, and closed her eyes for a second, letting the warm summer wind cool her off.

[Niro]

Yoshinori felt like he was on an emotional rollercoaster. He’d originally planned a quiet afternoon with Tsuki and Shinya, but a sudden mission summons had upended everything. Just as frustration had begun to settle in, he discovered the twist; Tsuki was his mission partner. The initial annoyance melted into something warmer, something unspoken. A multi-day mission outside the village with her? As far as surprises went, it was one he wouldn’t trade for anything.

He quickly packed a small bag: spare clothes, sealed rations, a few essentials... and then paused. Something sweet wouldn’t hurt. With that thought, he stopped by Haruto's stand, buying two cones: vanilla and lemon. Haruto, ever the chatterbox, tried to rope him into conversation, peppering him with questions about the mission. Yoshinori cut him off mid-sentence, flashing a grin before tossing the ryo into Haruto’s hands and vanishing across the rooftops.

The village gates came into view just as the sun began its slow descent. Spotting Tsuki ahead, Yoshinori leapt down, landing a few steps away from her. A wide, boyish smile lit up his face as he held up the ice cream cones like a peace offering. “Well, who would've thought my mission partner would be this cute?” he teased, his tone light but affectionate as he extended the lemon cone to her. “Figured we could actually enjoy them this time… and the road's long. Might as well start sweet.”

He took a slow lick of his own cone, eyes briefly meeting hers, soft with familiarity. Once she gave her nod of readiness, they set off together, the road unwinding beneath their feet as Konoha faded behind them and the horizon slowly dressed itself in dusk. As they walked, the sounds of the forest shifted, the melodic chirps of birds giving way to the occasional screech of a bat or the deep, distant hoot of an owl. Yoshinori filled the air with stories, animatedly recounting a childhood mishap involving meat scraps, the Inuzuka kennels, and a chase that left him running half the day.

Tsuki’s laughter, if she let it slip, warmed something inside him. Even if she only smiled, it was enough. That smile had the power to ground him more than he’d ever admit. By the time the sky fully darkened, they reached the village but something was off. The streets were still. Windows shuttered. No welcoming faces. Just silence. Yoshinori’s steps slowed as a faint chill prickled at his skin. His eyes scanned the empty surroundings before flicking back to Tsuki.

“…Let’s find the local inn and get a room,” he murmured, voice low, calm but alert. “We’ll figure the rest out after we’ve got a place to breathe.”

[Lunanana]

And there he was - with a lemon ice cream cone in his hand no less! She smiled widely, gently taking it from him and leaving a soft kiss on his cheek. ”I didn’t know they let models become shinobi, but here we are…” Tsuki teased back happily, licking her own ice cream as they both embarked on their journey.

She laughed at his stories, and smiled when he looked at her. They helped each other cross small ravines, and jump through the stepping stones. Tsuki warned him of upcoming spider webs, and he in return lifted any branches that her head might touch. Her heart was buzzing, she was buzzing with excitement and adventure she got to take with him.

Once the sun set, they approached the village and their mood changed. Actually, the whole world’s mood changed, and she couldn’t put a finger on why - it was obvious that the villagers were scared of something, something they both needed to find and help them out with. However, Yoshinori made a good call and she nodded in agreement, taking his hand gently as they both approached an eerie looking in. The man at the counter jumped seeing them, evaluated their appearance and nodded in understanding that they were shinobi. What was interesting that he really didn’t want to talk - he just gave them 2 separate rooms free of charge (no one is visiting the village anyway) and went back to reading his book. Tsuki looked at Yoshinori with a question in her eyes but she didn’t say anything as they both approach their rooms, which were on the same floor. ”I… I can stay in mine, if you prefer.” She said, with a light tint to her cheeks. It seemed that no matter how close they got, there were still things that made her blush. Probably because she was never loved enough.

Tsuki slowly opened her door, and looked inside to see a very shabby room, which also did not help that it was in this village - it was just eerie. She closed her door a little too quick, and turned to him with scared eyes. ”C-Can I sl-sleep on your floor?” She asked and walked up close to him. Once she calmed down, she added. ”Why was he so silent? I thought they will be eager to share, but it seemed like he was looking at us with a death sentence in his eyes and I didn’t like it… “ It seemed that they both were in for some detective work tomorrow. If Yoshinori let her, she followed behind him to his room, setting her backpack on one of the dusty chairs.

[Niro]

The first thing Yoshinori noticed as they stepped into the quiet village was the absence of people. Lanterns glowed faintly in windows, casting long shadows across empty streets. Signs of life were everywhere, freshly swept porches, clotheslines still hung with drying fabric, but the residents themselves had vanished behind closed doors. It was as if the whole town had taken a collective breath and was holding it in.

Whatever the locals knew, he intended to follow their lead. Instinctively, his fingers found Tsuki’s, interlacing gently with hers as they walked up the gravel path toward the inn. The weathered sign above creaked with each breeze, its rhythmic sway setting his nerves further on edge, though he gave Tsuki's hand a slight, reassuring squeeze. Inside, the innkeeper, short, round, and visibly startled, nearly jumped out of his skin when they entered. Without much more than a grunt, he shoved two keys into Yoshinori’s hand and gestured stiffly toward the stairs. Yoshinori blinked, muttering a soft “thanks,” but the man was already disappearing behind the counter.

He watched Tsuki begin up the stairs before following, his footsteps quiet on the old wooden steps. Their rooms were side by side, but given what they knew, people vanishing in the dead of night, he wasn't about to leave her alone. “No way. You're sleeping with me tonight,” he said, voice steady but gentle, leaving no room for doubt. It wasn’t about romance, not right now, it was about safety, presence. She moved to inspect her room anyway, and he took that as all the confirmation he needed. Opening the door to his room, he held it for her and waited until she stepped inside, then locked it behind them with a quiet finality.

When she voiced concern about sleeping arrangements, he let out a soft scoff, drawing her into a loose, protective hug. “You’re not sleeping on the floor,” he murmured against her hair. “The bed’s big enough for both of us. Just get comfortable.” He slung his backpack beside hers near the chair and walked over to the small oil lamp. The glow flared momentarily as he adjusted the wick, letting the warm light spill across the room so they could sort through their things and get ready for bed. Once done, he dimmed it again, low enough to invite rest, but not so dark that the shadows took over.

Yoshinori undressed simply, pulling on a pair of pants and sliding under the covers without fuss. He didn’t crowd her space, but his presence was steady, a quiet comfort in the unfamiliar room. Sleep didn’t come easily, but with Tsuki nearby, the weight of the silence felt more bearable. Eventually, the tension ebbed just enough for them both to drift off. Come morning, the sound of raised voices stirred them from slumber. Outside the window, the town had gathered in the square, and the grim news echoed in the chill morning air.

Another person was missing.

[Lunanana]

Tsuki gently pulled the curtains to the side, looking through the window. Many houses, actually, almost all of them had a dim light shinning through. You'd think that would look cozy and inviting, however, even the lights didn't help much to lift the eerie feeling. She retracted her fingers, letting the curtain fall back and looked at Yoshinori who was already getting comfortable in bed. Deciding to leave the mission for the next day, she changed into her sleeping attire, which was similar to mission gear just a little more comfortable, in case they needed to run and fast. Silently, she climbed into the bed, snuggling to his side, as he drew the cover over them. Tsuki fell asleep first with her hand draped over his waist.

As the morning came, her eyes slowly opened, seeing Yoshinori still sleeping peacefully. She placed a kiss on the tip of his nose and gently slid out of bed, finding her notebook and pencil. She sat by the window again, looking through it and not noticing anything too out of place. The streets were filled with villagers: some carried vegetables in baskets, others were chatting, some kids were running around. Pressing the tip of the pencil to her lips, Tsuki wrote down a few observations.

The innkeep wasn't talkative. People sleep with lights on. Well, it wasn't much... But it was a start. She heard the blanket move, and her pale eyes caught Yoshinori just waking up. Her gaze softened as she closed her notebook slowly. "Good morning... Let's hunt some ghosts." They got ready quickly, and agreed to share a ration of beef jerky for breakfast. As they went downstairs, Yoshinori pointed out the innkeep putting up something on the cork board, and Tsuki caught that it was a new missing poster. What she also noticed was the hurt in the corners of the innkeep's eyes. Maybe it was her imagination. She wrote it down regardless as they went outside.

"Another one missing... I don't like this." She admitted, a small frown on her lips, as she clutched her notebook closer to her chest. "We should take a little walk a bit further, not much. I could try to look at the village through my doujutsu..." But something told her that it wouldn't be much help. Regardless, the two shinobi did as agreed and on the outskirts of the village, they stopped. Tsuki inhaled. "Here I go..." Her veins around the temples tightened, and her pupils moved a little to the sides, indicating she was looking for something, anything really. There were long stretches of silence. Her eyebrows knitted, as she visually seemed to be looking harder, even leaning in a little, and... "...Nothing." If she could've seen at least something, maybe traces of leaking chakra or some condensed chakra somewhere... 0, nothing, nada. As if even her Byakuugan was in shadows.

She opened the notebook, visually disappointed in herself. Two words appeared on the page. Byakuugan inconclusive. With a soft exhale, she looked up at Yoshinori. Something was off, she couldn't quite place it yet.

[Niro]

The night passed without incident, a quiet relief given what they'd come to expect from the village. Morning light filtered in through the thin curtains as Yoshinori stirred, eyes blinking open to find Tsuki already awake. She looked calm, focused, even before the day had truly begun. He gave a small, sleepy smile and sat up, already reaching for his gear. “Morning,” he said simply, tugging on his mission attire with practiced movements. He pulled out a ration and broke off a strip of beef jerky, handing half to Tsuki before they both made their way downstairs.

At the bottom of the steps, Yoshinori’s eyes were immediately drawn to the innkeeper standing near the information board. The man’s face was pale, and his hand shook as he tacked up another missing-person notice. This one showed a young girl with soft features and a familiar roundness to her face, likely a relative. Yoshinori exhaled quietly, his brow furrowed. He didn’t speak right away, just studied the poster and committed the girl's face to memory.

“We should track the details closely,” he murmured to Tsuki as they stepped into the street. “The more we see, the better we’ll understand what we’re dealing with.” At her suggestion to use the Byakugan, he nodded. “Let’s find a good vantage point.” Together, they made their way to a gentle slope just outside the village, giving them a clear view over the rooftops and narrow roads. Yoshinori remained watchful as Tsuki activated her dojutsu, staying nearby but giving her space to concentrate.

When she turned to him with a faint frown and a shake of her head, his own expression darkened. If she couldn’t see anything unusual, that meant they were dealing with something subtle, maybe even supernatural. He crouched down, pulled out his notes, and began flipping through them again. After a moment, something stood out. “Hey,” he said, tapping a page with his finger. “Look at this list. Every person who’s gone missing… they’re all kids. None older than twelve.”

He paused, letting the pattern sink in before continuing in a quieter tone. “No wonder this place feels so… drained. That’s generations vanishing overnight.” He stood and looked back toward the heart of the village. “Let’s start talking to the families. Not just for information, we might learn more if we can get them talking. And they could probably use someone who listens.”

[Lunanana]

She leaned in, looking over the list as well, her head tilting to the side slightly, in thought. He was right - the younger generation was vanishing one by one. They didn’t hear any song last night - probably because they were sleeping tightly from the long trip yesterday, so she took a note to ask again if the others in the village heard something. ”Let’s split up, Yoshinori. This way we will cover more, and maybe if we ask the same ones we will get different results.” She suggested, and they both wrote down a few questions they thought were important to ask, before parting ways.

She began on the other side of the village, knocking on doors and talking with women who were walking down the gravel path. Tsuki’s way of questioning was subtle, she would state her business quickly but made sure to listen to every word, hold the hand of a crying mother, and truly listen to every word. She was slower in her work then but at the same time was forging a bond, although frail, but a bond nonetheless. When she was clipping a washed blanket on a clothesline with another mother who lost a child, the woman finally spoke. ”You know, first were the orphans. We don’t have many of them, just three from the same family. They vanished one after the other.” Tsuki’s hands froze mid action, and slowly leaned back to her sides. ”I haven’t seen their missing poster?...” The woman brushed off a stray tear from the corner of her eye. ”No one thought anything of it at first, a troublesome bunch those three. We just assumed they moved on, everyone fed them, donated clothing, blankets but they still lived in their parent’s house.” Tsuki blinked. Orphan system can’t work if no one is telling the authorities about that… But a more horrifying idea was in her mind. Whatever was doing this did it methodically - targeting orphans first, buying time for others to catch up.

Tsuki said a quick thank you, taking her notebook and writing down what she found, asking for directions to the house. First, she’ll have to find Yoshinori, so, Tsuki walked into the center of the village. She knew that the village was small enough for her to sense him somewhere with his chakra signature. After the third lap around the village she knitted her brows, stopping in her tracks. She didn’t feel him. Was he somewhere else? Surely, he couldn’t have gone far, right?

More importantly, she didn’t sense others as well. She just brushed it off that none of them were ninja, but… Was it the case, really? That is what was wrong - something was suppressing her sensitivity.

[Niro]

"Good idea. Let’s meet back in the square later. Stay safe." Yoshinori said with a small nod, his pen already moving as he jotted down a few thoughtful questions. He knew better than to approach grieving villagers with a cold, investigative tone, especially in a place where fear and loss lingered just beneath the surface. People were hurting. If he wanted their help, he’d need to earn their trust first.

He parted ways with Tsuki, taking the longer path around the village’s outer edge. As he moved quietly through the streets, he made mental notes of what stood out: boarded windows, patched roofs, and the tense rhythm of daily life. Some of the men left with hunting gear, disappearing into the surrounding forest, while others stayed behind, reinforcing homes or repairing structures that bore subtle signs of damage. He briefly considered asking the innkeeper for information, but quickly dismissed the idea. Better not to risk their lodgings unless absolutely necessary.

As he neared a small park, a man sat slumped on a bench near the remnants of an old playground, clutching a half-empty bottle. Yoshinori approached slowly, cautiously. But before he could say a word, the man hurled the bottle toward his feet, shattering it with a shout. Heads turned at the noise, but only for a second, before returning to their routines. It was clear: outbursts like this had become part of the town's background noise. Deciding not to press his luck, Yoshinori quietly moved on, slipping his hands into his pockets as he wandered the narrow streets. Eventually, he spotted someone on a rooftop, struggling with warped boards under the afternoon sun.

He stopped and tilted his head up, squinting slightly. "Need a hand?" he called, voice light and open. The older man looked down, brows furrowed. His face bore the deep creases of age and hard labor, and his salt-and-pepper hair clung to his temples with sweat. For a long moment, he just stared. Then, after flipping the hammer in his palm thoughtfully, he gave a gruff nod.

“Yeah, sure. Get up here.” Without hesitation, Yoshinori leapt onto the rooftop, landing carefully. The damage was easy to spot, rotting wood that needed to be replaced before the next rainfall made things worse. The man handed him the hammer, and Yoshinori got to work without fanfare. Side by side, the two worked in relative silence, the repetitive rhythm of labor slowly building a quiet kind of camaraderie.

As they neared the top of the roof, the man finally signaled for a break, settling into a seat along the ridge. Yoshinori joined him, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. After a moment, he asked gently, “I know it’s probably not easy to talk about, but… when did all of this start? It feels too deep-rooted to be recent, but something had to have triggered it.”

The man let out a tired breath, his gaze distant. “Wasn’t always like this. Things started to fall apart after two men in the village made some kind of deal with a stranger, real shady sort. Word is, they offered up their eldest boy in exchange for something. No one knows the full story. Next thing we knew, both men were dead, and their kids were left behind, angry, grieving.”

He paused, voice growing quieter. “We tried to help those kids, we really did. But a couple months passed and one by one, they vanished. After that... others began to go missing too.” Yoshinori’s eyes widened, and he quickly reached for his notebook. That was no ordinary rumor—this could be a key lead. He thanked the man sincerely and stood, brushing dust from his pants. “I really appreciate you sharing that,” he said. “I should go check in with my partner, but this helped more than you know.”

Back at the village square, Yoshinori scanned the crowd, searching for Tsuki. He spotted her first, she moved with purpose, but there was something off in her expression. Something unsettled. He stood from the bench where he’d been waiting and waved to catch her attention before weaving through the crowd to meet her halfway.

“Hey,” he said, brows drawing together as he studied her face. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

[Lunanana]

Finally, she saw him, and walked up to meet him halfway. It seemed like she was assessing something, a focused expression on her face. She took a few steps back, three, five. Then stopped. ”Hey, I… I don’t sense you unless you’re closer than five steps from me. It’s a very subtle shift, nothing changes, I just don’t sense your chakra. I see you, thought. Wait.” She checked with her Byakuugan as well and nodded. ”You have a chakra network and I see it but it’s… Default? It’s like there’s no… Uniqueness to it.” It was strange, something out of her range to grasp, at least now. They sat down on the bench and compared notes, Tsuki carefully reading through his.

”...You think these are the same orphans that the women told me about? It seems so strange, doesn’t it? You make a deal and suddenly kids start vanishing. The question is, why them at first? What made those kids different?” She asked, her eyes darting between the lines of his notes and then back to him. ”We’ll have to round up all the kids tonight and keep watch. If they are the targets, and no one vanishes, well… If something more sinister is… We’ll see.” Tsuki was a little on edge, harming children didn’t sit right with her, actually, none of this did, naturally. And why couldn’t she see? At least something. She’d brush it off that she was not trained enough, not good enough but… You’d sense at least something. She slowly closed her notebook and they both agreed that they had to dig deeper, the lead was very good, the one that Yoshinori got. She took out two apples from her backpack, giving one to him, and biting into hers, as they both stood up. Next stop was the house of the orphans, who were missing first.

Yoshinori and Tsuki took off, gravel crunching under their feet, as they passed the village again, following her notes of the house’s location. A group of hunters that Yoshinori noted before walked past them, dragging a dead boar by its leg. ”...Would you drag a boar you’re about to eat through all the dirt?” Tsuki asked, unsure if she was just seeing things now or this mundane task just seemed a little off. Soon, they both stood by the entrance of the house. It was cold, not in the literal sense but the broken windows and unlocked door made the impression of a house that once held many memories and now was just turning to dust, rotting board by board. She followed him in, gulping as she sidestepped a hole in the floor. It was… Sad. There were three sleeping bags in the main hall, a half eaten can of apricots, now molded. Wax build up at the base of a candle holder, a few dirty stuffed toys. It seemed that only the main hall was lived in, while other rooms had closed doors and much more dust buildup. She stayed close to him as they explored.

Finally, the pair found what seemed to be a work room. They locked eyes and nodded, opening every drawer, searching the desk, and looking for anything that could help them at least identify a reason why this family was worth making a deal with. Soon, Yoshinori found some pictures, and it showed some sort of event, everyone was smiling, there were pictures of babies with their eyes closed, a lot of them, actually. She didn’t think much of it - of course you’d take a lot of pictures of your children. They looked at the pictures one by one, while Tsuki was sitting on the table and Yoshinori was shuffling through them silently, until… She gasped, her eyes widening. The picture showed an adult’s hand with its fingers placed on the top lid and the bottom lid of the baby’s eyes, forcing it open. However, the color of the eye was burned out. ”W-What…” They went through the other pictures in a much faster rate, and all of the faces of children were burned, as they grew up visually by the almost animated movie that was now happening before their eyes due to the speed of picture shuffling. ”...Why?” She asked more herself than him, going through the pictures again, which were now in her hands.

She slowly slid down from the desk and walked over to the documents they found of some sort of medicinal records. At first, Tsuki dismissed it, the documentation did not seem relevant aside from what was written. It was a doctor’s note of a cold, some stomach bugs, nothing too serious or that seemed like a lead. Her fingers tightened around one of old, yellow papers and she placed it down on a table with a slam, turning around and placing her both hands on her mouth and nose, pressing the bridge of her nose with her index fingers, her eyes closed.

The name on the top of the page read: Hyuuga, Mao.

[Niro]

Yoshinori looked at Tsuki with a questioning glance as she studied him at various distances. His expression shifted to concern when she explained what she had observed. “That’s... really strange,” he said, voice lowering as he considered the implications. “Almost like someone set up a countermeasure...” He trailed off, deep in thought, as they sat down to compare findings. The link between the missing orphans sounded more than coincidental now, it was a thread that demanded pulling. “The timelines line up. If the disappearances started after that deal fell apart, and now we’re hearing about animal sacrifices and desperate attempts to ward something off… it has to be connected,” he said, more to affirm their direction than convince her.

He closed his notebook with a quiet sigh. “If we can even talk to the kids,” he added. “They’re scared enough already. Putting them together might just make them easier targets. It could backfire.” He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, still mentally sorting through all the pieces. Tsuki offered him an apple. He gave a brief nod of thanks and took a bite, welcoming the break more than he expected. The tart flavor cut through the tension, grounding him again before they moved on.

Their walk toward the orphans' former home was largely silent, disrupted only by a troubling sight off the main path. “That’s not for food,” Yoshinori said, narrowing his eyes. “That’s something else.” His thoughts immediately returned to the rumors of sacrifices, and he picked up the pace, eager to put distance between them and the disturbing scene.

The dilapidated stood at the top of a small rise, more decayed than the homes around it. Even in a village weighed down by grief, this place seemed... hollow. Yoshinori entered first, checking the floorboards and flagging dangerous spots. There wasn’t room for carelessness. They eventually found what seemed to be an old workshop. The deeper they searched, the heavier the air seemed to grow. Yoshinori pried open a false bottom in the desk and pulled out a stack of photos.

He leaned on the table, fanning through them so Tsuki could see. His breath caught. “These are…” He shook his head, unwilling to finish the sentence. Infants with forced expressions, open eyes, some burned. The images weren’t just unsettling, they were horrific. He passed them to Tsuki with a grim expression, his mind trying to grasp the why.

While she looked through the photos, he sifted through other papers, trying to maintain focus. Suddenly, a thump echoed through the room, Tsuki slamming a document onto the table. The sudden noise startled him out of his thoughts. He glanced down and saw the name on the report. “…Hyuuga?” he said, barely above a whisper. His brows drew together. “Could they have been bastards? What the hell happened here?” The questions tumbled out, his discomfort growing with each passing second.

Just what kind of madness had these children been dragged into? Yoshinori's eyes scanned the documents, zeroing in on the finer details. At first glance, they appeared to be simple notes on illnesses, mundane and unremarkable. But as he read more carefully, he began to notice irregular markings on certain words. They didn’t fit with the structure of the language, and they certainly weren’t standard notation. Frowning, he pulled out a spare sheet of paper and began jotting down each suspiciously marked word. It was slow-going, and for a while, it seemed like nothing more than a strange pattern.

“There’s something hidden in these, Tsuki,” he muttered, not taking his eyes off the page. The irregularities weren’t random, he just needed to break the logic behind them. Working letter by letter, he started shifting characters, reordering them based on the markings, searching for meaning. Finally, the pieces began to fall into place. Isolated, the deciphered words painted a disturbing picture:

'Summoning. Child. Baku. Experiments.'

His grip tightened slightly on the paper. He didn’t need every detail to understand the weight behind those words. Whatever was happening in the village, whatever curse or horror was unfolding, this was at the center of it. “…We might need to set a trap tonight,” Yoshinori said quietly, the resolve in his voice undercut by a hint of frustration. “I don’t like it. But if it gets us closer to whoever’s doing this…” He didn’t finish the thought. He didn’t need to. The risk was obvious but so was the necessity.

[Lunanana]

Tsuki’s eyes widened in horror, seeing him write down letter by letter, her hand on his shoulder tightening with each one. ”...I don’t like this too.” It’s way too close for comfort. She let him go gently, tightening the straps of her backpack. ”...We’re only two here. We could go back, call for reinforcements, but it would just take precious time… And we can’t keep track of every child, especially since I can’t track well - I won’t tell the difference from afar.” Her voice had a hint of sadness to it, understanding that while it was not the best idea to round them up in one place, it might be necessary. She started slowly pacing around the room, thinking, thinking, thinking. More often than not she’d stop, shake her head, and think again, bouncing ideas off of Yoshinori about the possible trap.

”We’ll have to trap everyone. Villagers and the… Whoever that is too… What about this: I can convince the woman to hold a storytelling evening, she’d be the initiator of it in the villager’s eyes. We’ll round up all the children except for two - me and you will stay in the different houses to increase our chances, exchanging places with one of the parents.” She didn’t voice what would come next. Whatever does, they will need to rely on their instincts, intelligence, and ability to make good decisions in a short amount of time. They were shinobi, and she trusted Yoshinori’s abilities. They both nodded and made their way out of the house.
. . .
It didn’t take much to convince a woman to spend time around children. Both Tsuki and Yoshinori explained that it would be best for the morale of the village, not sharing too much to not alert anyone else. This was the way of the ninja - doing everything silently, seamlessly, with minimal intrusion. They decided against getting more men to their sides - whatever was at work here will likely take no prisoners either way. Both of them agreed which parents they will switch with, considering that the surrounding omen around the village did not let her Byakuugan pierce through was a double edged sword. That meant that they will be no different from the parents in other’s eyes.

Dinner was silent. Tsuki barely touched her food, moving the rice around with her chopsticks, her cheek resting on the back of her palm, eyes focused on the bowl. The faint light in their room flickered, and she blinked, coming out of her own head and going through the plan with him again, step by step, but her breath hitched when the part after putting the children to sleep came. They both didn’t know what to expect. She lifted herself up from the chair and walked over to him, slowly leaning in and pressing her lips to his, leaving him with a kiss. ”Be safe…” Tsuki said, trailing the curve of his jaw with her finger, closing her eyes and turning around to open the door. She left first, as per their agreement. She slowly walked to the house, knocked a few times, her hand against the door with silent thuds. A single father opened the door, a frown on his face, and colors of hurt and fear in his eyes. They didn’t exchange words. He left, and Tsuki walked in, finding a young girl hugging a plushie to her chest. Her gaze softened and she knelt to the girl, explaining that dad had to go tonight and she will keep watch of her. The girl was scared but soon her mood shifted, when Tsuki started telling a story about the koi fish in the Hyuuga compound. ”Ew, fish! The girl said and Tsuki laughed, spending some time with her before it was time for sleep.

She was leaning her back to the wall, her arms crossed over her chest and eyes closed, waiting. The little girl was safely tucked in and snoring softly in her bed, while the kunoichi was standing by the door leading outside, listening, waiting. It seemed that the world was still, too still, and the only thing she heard was her heartbeat, until…

The song was the most beautiful thing she has ever heard. It was soft, and flowing like waves of the ocean, surrounding her, luring her in, making her eyelids heavy. She felt her limbs go numb slowly, one by one, and the amazing feeling of ecstasy started taking her over. She was a bunny, jumping around a field of sunflowers, munching on the stems, looking for her bunny friends. Her body slid down the wall, landing on the floor with a soft thump. She heard the sound of window opening, but she had to catch up to her bunny friends, running and running in her dream. ”Ew, fish! The girl’s voice echoed in her head. The girl!!! She tried to open her eyes but it seemed impossible. Tsuki tried to move her arms, and it felt like pushing a tree but it did move. Slowly, painfully slowly, she forced chakra to her hand, moving it just slightly faster. No wonder the villagers couldn’t do it - they weren’t shinobi. After very long minutes, Tsuki grasped a kunai, lifting it up and stabbing herself in the hip. She muffled her scream, catching breath as if she was drowning just a moment ago, and lifting herself up from the ground, running into the room only to find the window open, curtains dancing with the night wind.

She ran fast. Way out of the village, and her Byakuugan started picking up on the unfamiliar chakra network in the near distance. Finally catching up, she hit the man on his shins, making him fall down, the girl rolling away with a scream. He came at her, trying to hit her but she hit him, numbing his arms easily. His movement seemed erratic, nonsensical. She knitted her brows, looking at him, and the horrible realisation dawned on her. He was one of the villagers. It was a decoy.

”Yoshinori!!!”

[Niro]

"Going back and forth would take too long, we don’t have time," Yoshinori said as they packed up their findings. "And if we show up with reinforcements, we risk spooking whoever’s behind this before we learn anything." He couldn’t shake the worry that leaving might trigger a contingency, one that could silence the village entirely just to bury the truth. Whatever was happening, they had to act before it vanished into the shadows. He nodded in agreement with her plan, and together they left the house, heading back toward the village to prepare for the night ahead.

Yoshinori moved with quiet purpose as they finalized their preparations. A community gathering had been arranged, giving them the perfect opportunity, so many people in one place would make it difficult for anyone to move unnoticed. With the children safe and the adults distracted, the trap could finally be set. There were only two roles left to fill. He sat at the table, absently eating as the sun slipped behind the mountains. When Tsuki walked him through the plan once more, he listened closely, offering a nod when she finished. His expression turned thoughtful, the weight of what was to come sinking in. She leaned in and kissed him, a brief, grounding gesture, and then she was gone. He kissed her back gently before she pulled away and he nodded at her.

“Be careful,” he said softly as she slipped out the door. Once she was in place and the first parent safely relocated to the community center, Yoshinori left through the back and made his way toward the house he’d repaired earlier. When he knocked, the same man from before opened the door, eyes grim. They exchanged a firm handshake, no words, only understanding, before Yoshinori stepped inside. Waiting for him was a child with a stubborn spark in his eyes. Yoshinori almost smiled at the defiance but instead crouched and pulled out a few kunai, deciding a quiet distraction would serve them both better. He gave the boy a short demonstration, moving with practiced ease, then handed one over so the boy could try. By the time the lesson ended, sleep was pulling at the child’s limbs, and he drifted off on the couch.

Yoshinori exhaled slowly and sat at the table, arms crossed, eyes locked on the door. Waiting. Then he heard it. A soft, haunting melody slipped through the night, delicate and unnatural. The voice of a young woman laced with something dangerous. His muscles tensed. Before he could react, his limbs were bound by an invisible force. Across the room, the boy stirred. Drawn to the sound, he stood, still half-asleep, and moved to the door. Yoshinori watched helplessly as the child slipped outside, entranced by the song. With effort, Yoshinori gathered his focus and forced his hands together into a Kai seal. A pulse of chakra surged through him, breaking the enchantment. He surged to his feet and bolted after the child. The village blurred around him as he ran, eyes scanning frantically for movement. At the edge of the forest, he spotted the boy darting into the trees. Yoshinori followed, branches scraping against his arms and legs as he pushed forward.

In a clearing ahead, a strange mound rose from the earth. The child was already atop it, hands fumbling with a hatch built into the ground. Yoshinori caught up just in time, pulling him back and sealing his chakra with another Kai to break the trance. The boy collapsed briefly before blinking up at him in confusion. Yoshinori knelt beside him and explained, keeping his voice calm. “You were being controlled. But you're safe now. I need you to go back, can you do that?” The boy looked hesitant, eyes wide with fear. Yoshinori pulled a kunai from his belt and pressed it gently into the boy’s hands. “You’re brave. You've already made it this far. If something scares you out there, you know how to use this.” The boy swallowed and nodded. Carefully, he turned back toward the village. Yoshinori watched until he vanished down the path, then turned toward the hatch. He hesitated for just a moment, then dropped into the dark below.

[Lunanana]

Yoshinori descended down a metal ladder. The air was heavy with medical supply scent, alongside a more sweet, sickening and vomit inducing smell of decay. The pale green tiles lined the flooring while the walls were just roughly carved out rock. Whatever the underground building was, it was here for a long time. Walking further into the corridor, the silence of the place would have indicated that, in fact, it was too silent. A large door was waiting at the end, clearly taken from a rubble of a past hospital building, and opened with ease. The corridor had 5 rooms.

There was faint beeping of machines in one of the rooms, the other was laced with sound of static, and one of them was shut off with a lock. The last room had an open door and the second to last room only had a faint buzzing sound, possibly from old hospital lamps.

Room 1 (beeping machines)Show

Upon entering, a few things became clear. First, whoever was attached to the machines was still alive as indicated by the life line on one of the screens. It was a girl, a bandage wrapped up around one of her eyes, clearly bleeding for some time, since the blood was already dry and dark. Her breathing was steady, although she was unconscious, and the way her IV was installed, with a puddle of blood at the tip, indicated hurry. She was alright, as alright a child could be after a surgery in these conditions.

Room 2 (static)Show

The second room proved something even more uncanny. There were screens with cameras, pictures of Tsuki talking to a woman, and Yoshinori fixing a roof. A photo of them approaching the village for the first time. A picture of her giving him an apple. From the quantity, there were way more pictures of her than of Yoshinori, especially those where she was alone, walking around. The cameras showed real time view of the dungeon hospital, and of the village center, and the old orphan house.

Room 3 (locked)Show

The door was locked, but the putrid smell was most felt near the door. There was a silent whimper coming out of the room. Yoshinori could notice that the whimper came from several children, not one.

Room 4 (open door)Show

This was clearly the dwelling of a few people. Whoever they were, they left in a hurry, clothing spread across the room, food supplies packed in a corner, clearly some of them taken in a rush as a can of beans was tossed near the entrance. Aside from this information, the room did not hold anything interesting.

Room 5 (buzzing sound)Show

It was the operating room, clearly. Uncountable amount of medicinal tools sitting in cupboards surrounding the room, medicinal supplies, anatomy notes scattered on one of the white tables. There were two books opened on the table, one portraying the anatomy of the scull and the eye, and the other, portrayed the anatomy of a female human, particularly the region of reproductive organs, ovaries, uterus. This one was scribbled with notes, and a list attached of Hyuuga women from Konoha, the village so close to this one, some of them were from other parts of the world, crossed out. Whatever the connection, something clearly sinister was brewing here, yet, abandoned in a hurry. The blood on one of the operating tables was still evident, possibly from the girl he found in the other room.

What was more unnerving was the jars filled to the brim with preservation liquid. It held eyes, normal eyes. Unfortunately, some of them were broken and clearly stomped on. From the neat line that it formed, a keen and intelligent eye would notice, that some of the jars were missing, taken.

. . .
Tsuki looked at the girl, extending her trembling hand to her, and once she taken it, crying so loudly it probably woke every animal in the nearby forest, Tsuki stood, looking at the man now on the ground with such hatred in her eyes that even she didn’t know she possessed. She tightly grasped his collar, forcing some chakra into her hand as she started walking with the girl in one hand and dragging the villager back with another.

They were fast to come back, without explanation, she dropped the girl off with the other adults and took the man with her into one of the now empty houses, as the night went on. With a steady exhale, she began asking questions. Tsuki lacked the will necessary for gathering information but the man was clearly frightened of her by now. He wasn’t making any sense, rambling, not telling anything necessary. Tying him up, she pushed the door outside, her mind fogging up from fear that she hasn’t seen Yoshinori yet, but her pale eyes caught sight of a boy running back to the village with a kunai in his hands.

[Niro]

Yoshinori slid swiftly down the ladder, the cold metal rungs slipping past his hands as light began to flicker at the base. Letting go a few steps from the bottom, he landed in a crouch, hair fluttering in the stale air. He paused, tense, listening, for a footstep, a breath, anything, but only silence greeted him. Rising slowly, he took in the space. The floor was lined with green tile, dulled by age and grime. But it was the smell that hit him hardest, a bitter blend of antiseptic and something decaying beneath it. He grimaced, swallowing down nausea. Whoever had worked here hadn’t cared much about hiding what they did. He stepped through a wide, rusted hospital door and into a cavernous corridor. The scale of the underground facility stunned him. How had something this massive existed just beneath the village, unnoticed?

Moving cautiously, he drew a kunai and held it low, his steps light, careful not to disturb anything. The first room he checked made his stomach twist: the girl from the innkeeper’s missing poster was there. Alive, but clearly mistreated. Her vitals were steady, an IV sloppily taped to her arm. She needed help, but not yet. Not while this place was still crawling with unknown threats. He couldn’t protect her and continue the search at the same time. In the second room, he froze.

Cameras lined the walls, covering every corner of the village. Photos, dozens of them. Of him. Of Tsuki. Far too many of Tsuki. A cold dread settled in his chest, followed by a darker, angrier heat. Someone had been watching her. Fixating on her. The idea of Tsuki being targeted made his pulse thunder. His grip tightened on the kunai, and without thinking, he slashed through the photos, one after another, until the wall was bare. He pushed out of the room with clenched fists, protective instincts overriding fear.

The next door was locked. He fiddled with the latch, but a rustle from the other side made him freeze. Survivors? Or something worse? He couldn’t risk it yet. “I’ll come back for you,” he whispered, guilt a weight in his chest as he moved on. The following room held living quarters, sparse, sterile, and cold. He rifled through drawers and shelves, snatching up a few abandoned journals. They might hold answers later, but right now, time was a luxury he didn’t have. He shoved them into his pouch and moved to the final door.

The low hum of flickering lamps buzzed on the other side. He kicked it open. Something shifted in the dark and scurried away. He followed, heart pounding, eyes adjusting to the low light. The operating table in the center was brightly lit, but the rest of the room was cloaked in shadows. His gaze swept the space and halted on a wall covered in preserved eyes. Dozens, maybe hundreds. A trail of broken glass led deeper into the dark. He stepped forward, and froze again. A whispering melody began to drift through the room. Familiar. Haunting. He didn’t need to turn to know what was behind him. But he did. Spinning, kunai raised, Yoshinori came face to face with the creature they’d only caught a hint about before. The Baku.

It was smaller than he anticipated, roughly the size of a boar, but still nightmarish. Its limbs were too long, jointed like stilts, and it moved with unnatural grace. Its skin was paper-thin, stretched tight over a skeletal frame, colored a lifeless grey-blue. Veins pulsed faintly beneath the surface like ink in water. Its head resembled a twisted tapir, snout twitching as it exhaled a shimmering pink mist. Eyes too large for its skull glowed with a mournful luminescence, and from its split, yawning mouth poured that dreadful song, the one that had stolen children’s dreams. Tufts of dark fur ran along its spine and clung to its hooves. Where it stepped, frost bloomed instead of footprints.

Without hesitation, Yoshinori hurled his kunai into its gaping mouth. The melody snapped into silence as the creature reeled. “Disgusting,” he muttered, breath sharp, back pressed to the wall of eyes as the Baku began to crawl over the operating table, closing in.

---

Back in the village, the boy ran as fast as his legs could carry him, tears streaking his cheeks and the kunai clutched tightly in his fist. He didn’t stop until he reached the community center, where he pounded on the door with all his strength. When someone finally opened it, he burst into panicked shouts about how he was safe but the brave older brother who had traded places with him was still down there.

[Lunanana]

Her heart was thundering in her chest as she listened to the now very scared boy. He was crying, and she caught him mention Yoshinori. The kunai in his hand was also a Konoha-issue, and she inhaled deeply, kneeling near the boy. Her voice shaked but she was trying to say it as softly as possible. ”You are very brave. Please, be my hero and tell me, where did he leave you?” The boy finally said between his sobs, and Tsuki nodded, closing the door slowly behind her, no need to alarm others… And as soon as it closed with a click, she ran, as fast as she could. Soon she caught sight on a hatch, and wanted to slam it open but decided against it. If he was in trouble (Yoshinori, please, don’t be), her revealing herself so soon would not be an advantage to either of them. She silently slid down the cold ladder and gulped down the dinner that was threatening to come out due to the terrible stench of this place.

She slipped out her kunai, her Byakuugan active but it all was a blur. Worry painted her features now. It looked like a huge wall of chakra blocked her vision, and, silently, she pushed the door open, walking in, her feet making close to no sound on the tiled floor. There were a few rooms here, yet her attention was grabbed by the sound of a stab, and a silent murmur, too faint for her to pick up. She made her way, peeking through the door and saw a horrible creature, closing in on Yoshinori. Yoshinori! She panicked. She could’ve kept the element of surprise. She should’ve been more stealthy.

”HEY! Get away from my man!” The creature scared her, and her fingers, holding the kunai on her eye level, pointed at the abomination, trembled. She readied her stance, breathing heavily, gulping down the fear with her eyes closed. When she opened them again, her lips were a thin line and her eyes focused solely on the creature.

[Niro]

Yoshinori squared his stance, eyes narrowing as more of the sickly pink mist spilled from the Baku like creeping fog. His muscles tensed, ready to strike, but a sudden movement in the far doorway stole his attention. Tsuki. She stepped in with calm purpose, her voice ringing clear and steady. Her words made him pause for a breath, the faintest flicker of surprise passing over his face. She’s grown confident, he thought. There was pride in that, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on it.

The Baku turned at her voice, its expression twisting into something like a grin, its too-human teeth bared in mockery. Then it returned its focus to Yoshinori, slinking over the blood-streaked operating table with eerie grace. Yoshinori dropped low and surged forward to meet it. His left fist drove toward the creature’s eye, but the mist shifted instantly, solidifying around his arm. His punch landed, only to sink into the unnatural fog, trapping him mid-strike.

The sensation was revolting, clammy, resistant, like pushing into rotting cloth. His face tightened with revulsion. The Baku gave a jagged, unnatural laugh that sounded far too human. Its trunk lashed out, aiming to engulf his head. With a sharp grunt, Yoshinori spun, dragging his trapped arm in a wide arc. He flung the creature away from him, hurling it into the stone wall with a heavy crash. Amid the scuffle, if Tsuki’s Byakugan was active, she’d spot it: a faint strand of chakra, thin as thread, linking the Baku to the unconscious girl in Room One. It was siphoning her life force—anchoring itself to her like a leech.

The Baku crumpled, then vanished into the shadows with a ripple of laughter. The silence that followed was brief. It returned seconds later, emerging from the gloom near Tsuki. "Tsuki, right side!" Yoshinori shouted, already moving as the creature lunged again, jaws wide, aiming for her shoulder with predatory speed.

[Lunanana]

Tsukis eyes were focused on it, whatever it was, as it very clearly mocked her, and her eyebrows raised, fear again fighting to be the controlling emotion. He took a swing at the Baku, and she saw the moment his hand freezed, taking this short amount of time to focus and analyze and her Byakuugan instinctively activated. It all happened so quickly, she clenched her teeth at the creature trying to strike back at Yoshinori, ready to dart forward but he was quicker, sending it to the wall.

She looked at it, again, ready to strike with her hand above her head, two fingers extended, the tips sharp with chakra but she froze for a second, her eyes and head following the thin thread. Yoshinori would’ve noticed her head moving, and her gaze stopping by the door behind which the girl was laying but she didn’t know that until she saw a faint bubble of chakra. Her eyebrows dipped in anger but when she turned back it was gone.

She had exactly four seconds to react. In the first one, Tsuki leaned her upper body back, on the second, she moved her right leg, on the third she steadied herself with her left one and raised her hand and on the fourth she pierced on of its legs, sending it to fall between them now. However, the creature was quick and she had to find her footing again as it lunged at her, mouth wide, aiming for her hand this time. She was quick to avoid that but it was not the intention behind this attack - instead, the creature tripped her, making Tsuki fall on the hard ground. The taste of iron and warmth filled her mouth as she bit into her cheek from the fall, and just in a moment she managed to roll to one side, then the other, avoiding what could be called punches from the creature.

There was no way for her to cut the thread if she wasn’t given an opening.

[Niro]

Yoshinori lunged forward and grabbed the Baku by its hind legs, short, stubby limbs that felt more like scaled armor than skin. His grip tightened as he twisted at the waist, then hurled the creature across the room with a fierce roar. It slammed into the wall of preserved eyes, sending glass jars shattering in a cascade of shards and thick, chemical-slick liquid. Positioning himself between Tsuki and the creature, Yoshinori didn’t waver. His stance was firm, eyes locked on the slowly rising summon.

He’d seen her Byakugan activate, and for a moment, just a flicker, she’d hesitated. Whatever she saw, it wasn’t nothing. "Whatever you found, go," he said, voice low but sure. "I’ve got this thing." The Baku shook off the broken glass with a wet rustle. Its hooves struck the ground, and from the surrounding shadows, a fist-shaped mass of pink mist erupted and struck Yoshinori hard across the face. His head snapped to the side, a metallic tang blooming in his mouth.

He staggered, tasted blood, and tried to grab at the mist, but it dissipated, retreating back into the darkness. "Go!" he barked, eyes scanning the gloom as the Baku vanished again. The room fell into a tense stillness. Yoshinori stood his ground, breath even, senses taut. Then the shadow beneath him surged upward, and the creature came barreling out, mouth stretched unnaturally wide. He didn’t flinch. In one swift motion, Yoshinori caught the Baku’s upper and lower jaws, halting the bite inches from his torso as the beast thrashed and strained to crush him.

Elsewhere, the thin thread of chakra tethering the Baku to the unconscious girl began to pulse and thicken. Her vitals, once stable, spiked erratically, alarms on the nearby monitor flaring to life. If they didn’t act soon, the creature would claim her completely.

[Lunanana]

Tsuki raised her arms and crossed them over her face only for the impact to never come. She opened her eyes, staring at Yoshinori’s back with her eyes slightly widening. He told her to go, and she pulled herself up by placing one hand on the ground, her hesitation dying with the second more firm “Go!”. She stumbled, with a grunt picking herself up again and running with her Byakuugan, following the thread. She practically jumped into the room with the girl, the thread pulsating with energy before her eyes and the monitors beeping louder and louder by the second.

What she saw was horrible but that was not the focus right now. She forced chakra to the tips of her fingers, extending it further than her skin, and lowered her hand to cut the thread only to be met with equal force, making her hiss as if it burned. She tried again, and again, when finally, with a shout and a lot of focused chakra, she managed to cut the thread, sending her backwards into the wall from the impact. It wasn’t anything too serious, she just slid down, picking herself up again and watching at the faint flicker that was now left of the girl’s network. The girl was unconscious but so weak, Tsuki was afraid that a moment more and… Pushing those thoughts aside, she gently unconnected her, the lifeline on the machine flatlining. She took the girl into her hands, holding her close to Tsuki’s chest, as she pushed the doors open with her shoulder. Before she left, Tsuki took a quick scan again and almost let out a cry noticing that there were more chakra signatures, three to be exact.

She looked down at the girl and then at the three small chakra networks behind a locked door, making the impossible decision. Gently, she sat the girl down, making sure her head leaned on her own shoulder comfortably. She approached the lock, kicking it off with a swift movement, tears already staining her face, clear streaks appearing on her dirty cheeks. What she saw behind the door will haunt her in her nightmares for a long time.

There were corpses. Corpses with small hands. Piled on one another, tossed aside, forgotten. Rotting. And three children, curled up, holding each other on one wet bed. Whimpering, crying, delirious. Hungry. Scared. Tsuki took one step further, her body impossibly heavy, not blinking, barely breathing at this point. The shock was unmeasurable. She took another, her gaze softening, as she knelt and gently placed her hands on the small backs.

They still had time to save everyone. The chance was slim but it was there.

[Niro]

Yoshinori grunted with effort, forcing the creature’s gaping jaws apart before shoving it backward once more. The Baku crashed into the operating table, metal groaning beneath its weight. Yoshinori straightened, breathing hard, eyes locked on the twisted summon as it grinned again with that same grotesque, too-human smile. The sight turned his stomach. He didn’t just want it gone, he needed it ended. Pink mist crept from the corners again, curling tightly around his ankles before solidifying. His feet locked in place just as tendrils of chakra burst from the shadows, hammering down on him in rhythmic succession. He threw his arms up to guard himself. The impact was jarring, but manageable, he’d weathered worse.

One hand slipped into his weapons pouch, fingers tightening around a roll of explosive tags. He scanned the room, alert for movement. It would come again. It always did. And then, it did. From beneath the warped table, the Baku lunged, shadows cloaking its approach. It struck from an unexpected angle, right out of the light. Yoshinori pivoted and thrust his arm directly into the beast’s gaping maw, burying his hand past the wrist. The creature clamped down. Pain lit up his nerves, but he held firm, jamming the explosive tags deep into its throat. His other fist crashed into its eye, forcing it back.

It flailed with its eyesight attacked and stumbled back into the wreckage of the chair. Yoshinori panted as blood dripped down his shoulder and bite wounds marred the front and back, the sleeve torn and consumed by the beast. "Eat this, you bastard." He muttered and his uninjured hand turned into a singular Kai seal for the explosive floating in the beasts stomach. The Baku had a look of horror come over its face as it tried to return to its summoning realm in time but found it lacking in enough chakra to complete the reverse summoning with its unwilling host finally severed from it. The dreameater exploded from the inside out as the tags went off painting both Yoshinori and the room in blood and guts.

He stumbled from the room while shaking his head free of the ringing caused by the explosion and moved to help Tsuki with the survivors. Yoshinori barely felt it as he strapped the unconscious girl to his back; a rumble from below. The pit in his stomach only got worse as the rumbling continued to grow. "Tsuki, we need to move, now!" He called out while wincing and reaching out to shake her free of the shock at the scene in front of them. "Hand me those two and grab the last, let's go!"

[Lunanana]

The explosion in the other room failed to shake her out of it. She was staring at the children, probably scaring them even more. A hand landed on her shoulder, shaking her and she slowly turned her head to Yoshinori, looking at him. He was covered in blood, and whatever those pieces were, and worst of it all, he was hurt. But she couldn’t move. He called out again and she blinked, once, twice, scooping up one of the children in her arms as they all ran out. How? It was a blur… She didn’t remember Yoshinori practically punching the hatch open, and she didn’t hear the cries of the kids on them. Only when they escaped and she could breathe in, did she start thinking again, dashing forward and jumping on one of the branches to sprint through the trees.

She didn’t say it but they both knew that none of them will survive if they don’t take them to the Konoha hospital. Which meant that they had to run and run fast. She passed Yoshinori, gently taking another one, a small boy, to her side, releasing some pressure from his injured arm. Tsuki didn’t say anything but it did signal that she was regaining her senses, focusing on bringing them to safe hands. Another one passed out, the one in her arms, and she fastened her pace. She was determined to save them.

And as she ran a realization dawned on her. She failed him. As a mission partner, she failed Yoshinori in her reaction speed, she fell victim to shock, when she, as a shinobi, should’ve been quick and precise. And it hurt, not only on a personal level but also on her sense of duty. ”...I’m sorry.” was all she really could say.
. . .
Both of them barged into the hospital, and the nurses quickly took the children away from them and it felt so empty for a moment that she held her hands still in the holding position, as if still holding them, the phantom sensation of a small body curled in her grasp. She clenched her fists slowly and let her arms rest by her sides, staring at the door in front of them that closed with a loud thud and the sounds of the nurses shouting and doctors running now muffled.

[Niro]

Their escape from the lab was a blur of motion and adrenaline. Yoshinori had practically launched the hatch clear off its hinges as the pair of shinobi emerged from the forest floor, fleeing the horrors hidden beneath. Behind them, the ground shuddered as the lab began to collapse in on itself. Without pause, they leapt into the trees and took off toward Konoha, moving with single-minded urgency. The children in their arms were barely conscious: malnourished, bruised, and showing signs of cruel experimentation. No amount of field care would be enough. Their earlier journey to the town, filled with quiet conversation and shared ice cream, now felt like a memory from another world. This was a sprint for survival.

He heard Tsuki murmur under her breath, soft, almost apologetic. He didn’t respond just yet. Not because he hadn’t heard, but because it deserved more than a reply made on the run. As the village gates came into view, Yoshinori shouted his ID number at the guards, not slowing down. The shinobi on duty recognized the urgency and stepped aside, allowing them to barrel through without resistance. Within minutes, they burst through the doors of the emergency ward, where chaos met them in the form of nurses, doctors, and orderlies. The children were taken immediately, staff calling orders to one another as gurneys wheeled away. A nurse reached for Yoshinori, concerned about the blood trailing from his shoulder, but he gently shrugged her off.

“I’ll be fine,” he muttered, eyes already scanning for Tsuki. When he spotted her, he reached out, his uninjured hand finding hers. Not to hold her close, but to steady them both. He gave her fingers a squeeze and led her outside to a quiet bench near the hospital entrance. They sat without speaking for a while, letting the sounds of the village at night and the adrenaline in their blood settle into silence.

Finally, Yoshinori looked up at the stars above and exhaled. “There’s nothing to apologize for,” he said, voice even but firm. “You did good today. Whether or not it feels like it.” He glanced sideways at her. “If you hadn’t acted when you did, that Baku would’ve made it back to its realm. My tags wouldn’t have done a thing. You kept us in the fight. You saved those kids.” A small, tired smile tugged at his mouth. He leaned back on the bench, eyes fixed on the sky again. “We got them out. That’s what matters.”

[Lunanana]

She wrapped her fingers around his hand tighter than she would’ve wanted to but as did he, she needed something to ground her. She followed him out, sitting on the bench, listening to every word he said. She didn’t answer yet - it was one of those moments where she needed to digest what happened, what has been said to her, and then come back with a reply.

While he was looking at the stars and decompressing, she was looking at the ground, the events still vivid in her mind. It took a few long moments before she opened her mouth. ”If not for you, we wouldn’t be here. None of us.” And with that, she stood up and patiently waited for him to join her. It was slight but she was a little distant, somewhere there but not here. She led them to the Hokage Tower, and they both shared their mission report.

”Tei Yoshinori and Hyuuga Tsuki, reporting for the immediate mission of vanishing people and strange song. It has come to our attention that only children were targeted and with some interviewing we managed to narrow down the first disappearance. It was an orphan from an unnamed family, however, we…” She stopped for a second. With another inhale, ”We have uncovered that the child has been of Hyuuga decent. We have devised a plan to trap the unknown force, which lead us to an underground laboratory of sorts… The… The building has collapsed due to an encounter with Baku. Four survivors were taken back to Konoha hospital. Further investigation is needed.”

With that done, she turned around and exited the room, falling into step with Yoshinori. Neither of them agreed where they were going. They just walked… And found themselves in the Nara house.