May Death Find You Alive

[Amy]

Tsubaki was sick. Really sick. She needed water, medicine, she thought as she groaned softly, the sound echoing in her chest. She needed help but her body was so heavy she couldn’t even open her eyes, let alone call out for Tousha. She had felt fine the day before when they had gone for their walk. Much like the previous day, she had even enjoyed herself for most of it. The longer they spent together the more comfortable Tsubaki became with Tousha. He always seemed interested and invested in what she had to say but he was careful to not ask her too many questions. She really appreciated that. Tentatively, she was allowing herself to feel comfortable around the man. Not just to experience comfort as they shared their time and their meals and their walks. But to actually allow that comfort to seep into her soul. She had been reluctant, at first, knowing how easily that feeling could be stripped away. But he had made it so easy for her and it was hard to resist.

Focus, she thought to herself, knowing she needed to figure out what had made her so sick that she could hardly maintain consciousness. There was no guarantee Tousha would find her to help in time if something was seriously wrong and if she was this weak she knew she might only be able to use a little of her chakra. After they had shared breakfast they had taken their usual path around town, Tousha waving and chatting with the locals while she stood half behind him offering half smiles when needed. They had been assured that the path to the next town was an easy one which had caused Tsubaki a great amount of relief. She could do with an easy trip after the last one they had endured. They had eaten dinner and taken their nightly stroll, obtaining dessert. But it was all the same. Even their goodbye for the night had been the same as the previous ones with an agreement to get breakfast together.

The only thing that had been different was what she did before she went to bed. It was their last day there and she hadn’t written Shirai’s letter yet. Did I write it? Yes, she knew she had because she had spent minute after minute staring at the desk before sitting down. Convincing herself that it was fine, and that what had happened last time wasn’t going to happen by accident and she wasn’t going to do it on purpose. So she had sat and she had written and she had gone to bed. No. No, she hadn’t. Tsubaki fought the darkness as she remembered the rest of what happened, trying to lift herself from her bed. Tousha…

When she went to sit on her bed she had seen a small bundle, a note pinned under it. ”Thanks for putting up with an old lady. Safe travels if we don’t meet again.” Signed by the old woman who ran the inn. A small piece of chocolate cake was wrapped in the napkin. She had shaken her head, tucking the note into her pocket. Thinking to herself that maybe the nosy old woman wasn’t that bad afterall.

And then she ate the cake.

It’s not right. Even if the cake had been made with an off ingredient, it shouldn’t have made her this sick. She wasn’t even nauseated. She just couldn’t move. Tsubaki knew that she was still missing something. Something important that drifted at the edges of her consciousness. All of her effort swapped from remembering what had happened the day before to focusing on her current surroundings in hopes of figuring out a way to get help. If she could pick up things around her then maybe she could maintain enough consciousness to crawl to her door.

The first thing she knew was that she was cold so she must have kicked her covers off at some point while sleeping which was not unusual. What was unusual was that it felt like her window must be open because a small breeze drifted across her skin but she never slept with her window open. Her feet ached, the tops of them. Like they had a rash, or cuts, or something heavy sitting on them. It felt hard to breathe and she couldn’t lift her hands to see why. A thread of panic began drifting along her consciousness.

"Stay where you are," a strange man’s voice called to her.

Oh, good, she thought, relaxing again. Tousha had found her and gotten help after all. She shook her head slightly, wincing at how heavy it was. She couldn’t even look up at the man who had come to help her. Tsubaki heard Tousha too but he was too far away to understand what he was saying. She forced her eyes open, closing them instantly as the sun blinded her. A louder groan fell from her lips as she shifted uncomfortably. Gravel dug into her knees. Wind blew against her skin, pushing her hair into her face. The sun blinded her. Something important that she hadn’t been able to grab a hold of.

This time, when she opened her eyes she didn’t let them close again, forcing them to adjust to the bright light of the outdoors. Not her room. Her hands hung behind her and she could guess from the wide metal bands that they were clasped in a set of manacles. She knew now that the reason she felt like she couldn’t breathe was the third one latched tightly around her neck, pulling slightly from the dead weight of her arms, the chain too short for them to hang loosely. For one brief moment, Tsubaki wasn’t even scared. Because surely, she begged the universe, praying that she would wake up.

Surely, this wasn’t happening again.

"What do you want from us?"

Except it was. The hands on her shoulders finally registered as the only thing keeping her upright. Whatever they had drugged her with was still wreaking havoc on her. Things were coming together but every time she picked a piece up she dropped another one. She wanted to tell Tousha to run. They had to be after her, just like the last time. Tousha must have intercepted them as they were trying to get her out of the village. She would never forgive herself if he got hurt because of her. If something happened to the first person who had been real with her. The first person who she had finally let herself tr-

"Or should I call you Lord Hokage?"

Silence rang in Tsubaki’s ears as even her breathing stopped. The words echoed through her not making any sense the first or third or tenth time. But finally, they settled in her brain. A truth. She doubted they were wrong. There was no objection from Tousha. Which meant that this whole time, the whole time, ever since she had found him dying in the-

Tsubaki coughed erratically as panic formed in her chest, having forgotten to start breathing again. The metal band around her throat made it difficult to get the air she needed. Her head had finally picked up, her wide eyes finding Tousha’s instantly even as she continued to struggle to fill her lungs. Nara Tousha’s eyes. The Lord Hokage’s eyes. Childlike confusion and wariness swam in her own eyes as that man spoke again, his eyes drifting briefly over to her.

"Well. Look who’s finally awake."

[Toshi]

Blood pounded in the former Kage's ears, threatening to drown out the bounty hunter's words. The weight of the world pressed against Tousha and smothered each ragged breath that managed to escape his parted lips. That weight only worsened as he watched Tsubaki lift her head and stare across the way at him, still in a stupor but aware enough to realize what was happening. The look in the Kunoichi's eyes was enough to rip the soul from his body.

They were starving for understanding, and Tousha didn't even know where to begin.

"Tsubaki, I..." Tousha started but faltered, trying to find the words and falling short beyond measure. His mouth worked in silence as he stared back at his friend as she knelt there, shackled and helpless. "I can't... I don't kno-"

"No more talking," the naginata wielding man said sharply, his tone sharp as flint. The man with the bow was at full draw now, holding the weight of the bow's string effortlessly. "You only need to listen. That's your job. Understand?"

The Hokage's eyes tore themselves from Tsubaki's and landed in the taller man's stony gaze. He held up his long, bladed weapon and pointed it behind him, at his captive. The motion sent a fit of rage and panic knifing through his body. Part of him wanted to bite out the man's throat while the other part shrunk back in dismay. He wrestled with either side of himself but the Shinobi remained silent through the ordeal.

Satisfied, the nearly bald man continued.

"You're both coming with us. That's what's happening. Give up on thinking otherwise," he said with such sterility that Tousha began to question if the man was even human. It truly was like being spoken to by a man shaped boulder. "As long as you cooperate, the girl keeps all of her parts. Try to run away, try to fight back, try to do anything that isn't exactly what I tell you to do and she doesn't walk away from this."

Tousha's mask of stunned horror grew dark, almost feral, at the man's threat. The one holding Tsubaki's left shoulder raised his club at the ready as the former Hokage's blood lust washed over the street like a cloud obscuring the sun. The shadows themselves seemed to grow darker around them all as a whiff of the rage that Tousha tried so hard to keep well hidden from the world peered out from that hiding place, grinning with the darkest of desires.

"Touch her and-"

Tousha didn't even finish the threat before the arrow sprang to life. The iron tip grazed Tsubaki's cheek and sank deep into the road just behind where she was kneeling.

"I said no. Talking."

Another arrow was at the ready and pointed at Tsubaki before Tousha could blink.

[Amy]

Tsubaki was catching up fast, but not fast enough. She was still trying to run through what had happened to her while also trying to listen to the man with the blade while also trying to communicate with Tousha with just her eyes. How long had she been with these men? Probably all night, she decided. It would have been the smart thing to do so that if Tousha went to check on her she would have already been gone. As far as she could tell, they hadn’t touched her while she was unconscious. She was still wearing her own night clothes, knee length shorts and a half sleeve top which brought her an additional modicum of comfort. The comfort ended there, though.

She tried to shift her weight, in an attempt to alleviate the pain in her knees from the tiny pieces of gravel that were sinking into them. As soon as she tensed to move though, each hand on her shoulders tightened to the point of pain. A subtle but clear warning that she shouldn’t try to move again. Tsubaki kept her eyes on Tousha even as he looked away from her. For now, she pushed the knowledge that she had gained into the far corner of her mind. Regardless of who he was, they were in a bad situation together. So, she was determined to not let the information overwhelm her so that she could keep a clear head and help get them out of the situation they found themselves in.

Things were not looking good though, she thought to herself as her eyes drifted from Tousha to the blade that was now pointed at her face. These men made the ones who had taken her before seem like children. She had mouthed off to them from the moment she was awake and while she had suffered for it… This did not have the same feeling. When he told them not to talk, Tsubaki had no intention of disobeying him. Not with the multitude of weapons surrounding her, none of which were in her hands. His voice worried her more than the threats against her did. There was…nothing behind his words. And a man that felt nothing was a dangerous man. It was Tousha who seemed more offended by his threats against her wellbeing.

“Don’t,” she mouthed the word at him as his eyes darkened and she felt the rage roll off of him in waves. “Tousha, please,” she mouthed at him, desperate for him to look at her. They needed a plan, not to lose control in the middle of the street. She opened her mouth, danger be damned, placating words bubbling up in her throat when he beat her to it. His voice reached her ears right before she heard the reverberation of a bow. She hadn’t even seen him turn towards her. The only indication of surprise she gave was the slight widening of her pupils. A trickle of blood rolled down her cheek and underneath the cuff around her neck. She didn’t figure it was a bad wound. It was to make a point. The second arrow, however, was aimed much more directly at her.

She swallowed heavily, her eyes bouncing between the arrow and Tousha. For some reason, she was much more concerned about the arrow than the club hanging over her head. When neither she nor Tousha said anything for several beats the man spoke again.

"Glad we’re on the same page now," he said. The men holding onto Tsubaki’s shoulders moved their arms underneath her own, lifting her onto her bare feet, her knees immediately buckling under her own weight. They pulled her around so that her back was to Tousha and held her up until she found her balance. Even after they let go of her arms, though, they didn’t move from her sides. The man with the bow had moved to stand slightly behind her and off to the side, his bow still fully drawn in her direction, the string completely steady.

"Walk here. Slowly." He said, presumably to Tousha. Tsubaki’s eyes looked anywhere she could think to land them as tension raked its way up her spine, unable to see what was going on. "Weapons." The demand was simple and it was barely a fraction of a second of pure silence before Tsubaki felt the tip of a weapon press against her spine. He was certainly not a patient man. Her jaw clenched as she held perfectly still, hoping that Tousha could reign in his rage long enough to keep them alive.

[Toshi]

Seeing Tsubaki's blood spilling down her face thanks to his outburst forced Tousha to close his eyes and take slow, measured breath. Getting angry now wasn't going to help anyone, especially his friend. With no small amount of effort he willed the flames of rage building in his chest to dwindle into a seething bed of embers. The bounty hunter holding the Naginata didn't soften by any means, but the tension seemed to die down enough to his liking to proceed.

Tousha held up his hands slowly in a gesture of resigned obedience as he slowly walked forward. At the man's request, Tousha reached with painstaking slowness into the left inner sleeve of his Samue traveling jacket and produced a single kunai. He dangled the knife on his finger by the ring at its hilt to show he wasn't grabbing it by the handle before letting it drop onto the road with a dull clang. The Shinobi hadn't even thought to bring any of his other gear with him when he'd left the inn. He'd been too worried about finding Tsubaki.

"Good," the nearly bald man said simply, now holding his long naginata defensively between himself and the former Kage. There was just enough distance between them that Tousha couldn't reach out and grab the weapon if he tried, and more than enough room to react if Tousha decided to rush the group. Tousha's dark, shrewd eyes flitted in the archer's direction for a fraction of a moment, who was still aiming his weapon directly at Tsubaki's heart. Tousha hadn't noticed the man with the naginata signal to shoot at Tsubaki, or move into a more favorable position in anticipation of the Shinobi moving towards them.

'He's sharp,' Tousha thought as one of the men holding Tsubaki upright slowly handed a set of manacles to who Tousha assumed was the leader, the man who he'd been speaking to all this time.

The iron manacles clanged and chimed as the leader of the bounty hunters held them up for Tousha to see. "I'm going to pass these to you," he explained in the same monotone dirge of a voice, "Put them on your wrists first. Then the collar. One at a time. I'll know if they're loose."

Then he tossed the manacles at Tousha's feet. Tousha bent down to grab the restraints, prompting the man holding the dagger to Tsubaki's back to prod the knife's tip a touch deeper. "Slower," was all that was said. Tousha took another breath, leveled a dimly hateful look at the one keeping Tsubaki at knife point, and bent down much more slowly to grab the irons.

Without a word Tousha slipped the first manacle over his left wrist before tightening it. The man holding the knife to Tsubaki's back relaxed somewhat.

"More."

Another twist and the manacle was pressing uncomfortably against his skin. The man with the naginata nodded, and Tousha repeated the process with the right wrist. Finally, slowly, Tousha slipped the collar onto his neck and tightened it as well to the point where he felt the iron biting painfully into the muscles of his neck. Like Tsubaki's restraints, he couldn't relax his arms completely without the chain attached to the collar around his neck becoming taught and even more uncomfortable. Instead the former Kage allowed his elbows to stay bent just enough to create a comparatively comfortable amount of slack.

"That's good. Thank you for listening," the leader said, still refusing to loosen up for even a moment. Tousha stood there as the men holding Tsubaki turned her back around to face Tousha, only helping her stand when it looked like the Kunoichi would topple to the ground otherwise. The archer barely budged, now aiming his arrow between the Kunoichi's shoulder blades. Tousha was pretty sure he hadn't seen the boy blink once this whole time.

Tousha couldn't pull his eyes away from Tsubaki's as the man with the naginata moved on. The Hokage's face was a grim mask of shame that he couldn't express with words if he tried. "We've been watching you. Both of you. It's been a couple of days now," the leader explained, staring through Tousha rather than at him. "You seem close. Real close. We figured this was the best way to settle things." He slowly nodded at the town around them. "Word is you're something of a humanitarian. Rare for a Shinobi. Seems foolish to me, but I'm not one to judge. We also figured that if fighting were to break out, there would be a good chance you'd hurt one of these common folk in the process. Caught in the crossfire, so to speak."

The Hokage looked around. He saw faces in windows, in doorways, all of them watching in communal dread at the bounty hunters and their marks. The ramen cook, one of the women they'd met at the bath house's front gate, a half dozen other locals he recognized.

"You've been very helpful so far, Tousha. So I'm going to do the courtesy of giving you a fair warning before the next step." With a deliberate movement, the leader touched the manacles Tousha was wearing with the tip of his naginata. Tousha's eyes widened as he noticed some kind of marking hand carved into the iron, its symbols jagged and harsh. "We can't have you walking around undisturbed. Man like you is likely to pick us off while we're focused on something else. So, we're going to give you something to focus on too."

Tousha felt a trickle of chakra flood into the manacles from the leader, causing the marking to pulse with a foul aura. Almost instantly, the Kage felt his chakra being siphoned from his body and poured...

He looked up and realized that his own chakra was being funneled into Tsubaki's manacles.

[Amy]

Tsubaki had felt dread like this before. It was the kind of dread that felt alive. It swam through your veins, calling out to you, something’s wrong, something’s wrong, something is very wrong. The dread didn’t know what was wrong, or it didn’t want to tell you. But it could smell it in the air, taste it in people’s words, and hear it in the things that were left unspoken. This was the dread that Tsubaki felt as she was turned back towards Tousha who was now also restrained, the only difference being his hands were in front of him.

Something’s wrong.

Tsubaki stared at Tousha and only Tousha as the man spoke. How had neither of them noticed? She was always so careful. She had relaxed around Tousha, but not that much. Not enough that this should be her punishment. Even as Tousha looked at their terrified audience, Tsubaki only kept her eyes on his face. She was pretty sure it was the only thing keeping her from panicking. Her chest expanded more and more rapidly as the feeling of dread wove its way up her spine. She knew what was obviously wrong. But it was more than that. And as the man’s naginata clinked against Tousha’s manacles she figured out what it was.

Iron wasn’t strong enough to restrain Tousha.

Tsubaki froze in anticipation of what was happening, what he had just done to Tousha. She couldn’t see her own manacles, she couldn’t see the reaction that had started on them when Tousha’s had been activated. She simply waited in the deafening silence that had settled over the town.

Until she broke that silence with a high pitched scream that echoed through the streets. Every inch of her felt like it was being torn apart. But it wasn’t her skin, or her muscles, or anything that she could see that felt the pain. It was somehow so much worse. She collapsed to her knees before falling onto her side. Tsubaki shook uncontrollably as wave after wave of agony rolled through her. She didn’t even realize that she hadn’t stopped screaming.

”So, here’s what you need to know," he said, not even glancing at Tsubaki.

She couldn’t listen to him, she could barely hear him. She couldn’t tell where the pain started and where it stopped. It was all that existed for her. She ground her head into the street as a fresh wave of pain cut through her, drawing another scream from her lips.

”If you want to turn that seal off," he pointed to where Tsubaki writhed on the ground, her shoulders heaving, tears streaming down her face. "All you have to do is channel your chakra into your own." He tapped Tousha’s manacles with his naginata again. "Continuously."

Tsubaki couldn’t hear what was going on over the sound of her own gasping and gagging as it became harder to breathe. Each fresh wave of pain caused her to curl into herself, her hands pulling the collar tighter against her throat. "Tousha…please”
She could barely choke the words out. She didn’t even know if he would be able to hear her.

”Your choice."

[Toshi]

In his darkest, most haunting nightmares, Tousha wouldn't be able to conjure the screams that ripped the town's silence to shreds. He could only look down at Tsubaki's writhing form in abject horror, his eyes shaking as he attempted to process what was unfolding before him. Even as the image of his friend shrieking in unknowable agony seared itself forever into his mind's eye, the Shinobi couldn't bring himself to acknowledge that he wasn't back at the inn, tossing and turning in bed and waiting for Tsubaki to shake him awake from... Whatever this was.

The leader of the bounty hunters spoke up, his desolate tone unaffected by the Kunoichi's wails. To Tousha he sounded very far away, but it was enough to snap his attention away from Tsubaki long enough to understand what was happening. Without a second thought, Tousha opened the flood gates and poured as much chakra as he could into the brutish seal carved into his iron restraints.

Like a beast with an insatiable hunger, Tousha felt his chakra fall into nothingness only for that gluttonous absence to beg for more. Just as alarming, Tousha quickly found that maintaining this flow of chakra felt so much more unnatural than anything he'd ever experienced as a Shinobi. Due to Tousha's need for exceptional chakra control from an early age, he had always prided himself on his ability to seamlessly mold chakra and maintain that hold for as long as he needed to.

Pouring his chakra into this seal felt like sticking his arm into a thorn brier only to realize the only escape was to keep reaching, and reaching, with the shallow hope that at some point he would break through the thorns.

"Wow. That's something," the man with the naginata said, not at all looking impressed. "Usually takes people longer to make it stop. Thing's a real piece of work." He motioned for the two men standing next to Tsubaki to get her back on her feet. "Sometimes they swallow their tongues before the pain puts them down. Might be kinder that way."

Tousha groaned and fell to a knee as he desperately maintained the stream of chakra that he had to constantly dump into a seal that seemed to bite him back every second, overwhelmed with the sheer effort on top of the guilt of watching Tsubaki suffer because of his past catching up with both of them. Tousha opened his mouth to speak, to call out to see if his friend was okay, and he was interrupted as the naginata's brass pommel smashed into his face. The Shinobi's head rocked back from the impact, a feint groan escaping his cracked lips as blood spurted onto the road. For the briefest of moments his concentration was broken, and he could feel the manacles siphoning his chakra once more to funnel into Tsubaki's restraints.

The bleeding Shinobi crashed onto his side, unable to brace his fall, as he wrestled with the seal before it could cause Tsubaki any more pain.

One of the men holding Tsubaki up chuckled at the sight of the former Hokage laying in the dirt, bleeding from the mouth and nose, his expression locked in desperate focus to spare the Kunoichi from suffering any more agony.

"Good. You understand," the leader said, approaching Tousha and with surprising strength bodily forcing Tousha onto his knees. He grabbed a handful of the Nara's long, black hair and pulled up so that his bleeding face was facing Tsubaki. "And you," he said, staring with inhuman eyes into Tsubaki, "You're here to keep this one in line. That's it. That's your one job. I will kill you in front of him if you forget that. Understood?"

[Amy]

Tremor after tremor rolled through Tsubaki’s body even after Tousha turned the seal off. She had briefly thought, hoped, that it was some sort of mind game. Some sort of trick. And that once it was off the pain would just disappear. This was not the case. The worst of it had ended but residual pain still flared through her. The chains behind her jangled slightly as she weakly tried to pull her hands free. Take it off. She didn’t know if she thought it or said it out loud. All she knew was that she would do anything to take the collar off of her neck so that she could breathe. Every second it was on it became more and more suffocating.

Tsubaki groaned, low and deep, as the men hooked their arms through hers again and pulled her up. Her feet found no purchase under her, her vision swimming and blurry. She blinked quickly, clearing it just in time to watch the boss smash the end of his weapon into Tousha’s face. Tsubaki lurched forward, her toes digging into the earth but a sharp tug on the chain connected to the collar bit into her neck and stopped her from moving towards him.

For the first time since she had awakened in the middle of the street, anger began swirling in Tsubaki’s gut. He had made his point already. Several times over in fact. There was no reason for him to strike Tousha, she thought, until she felt the smallest prick of the pain that had ravaged her a moment ago. That was all it took. The smallest fraction of Tousha’s broken concentration and the seals on her own restraints would activate again. He would never be able to use his chakra to attack and keep the seal off. He would have to choose. Focus entirely on funneling his chakra into the seal or let her suffer.

Rage simmered in Tsubaki’s eyes as she brought them to that man’s face. Her jaw twitched as she chewed on all of the things she wanted to say to him. She had never felt fury like this before, not through any of the terrible things that had happened to her. It had never reached so deeply inside of her and made her tremble with the restraint it took to hold back. As she finally opened her mouth, realizing that the man wasn’t going to do anything until she responded, Tsubaki realized what this new feeling was. “Understood.”

She wanted to kill him. The feeling was so strong she felt like she could touch it. Like she could see it. She pulled it back, slowly, watching him watch her. An empty smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, a threat or maybe a dare for her to say something else. But Tsubaki gripped the rage tightly and shoved it down. She would need it later, but not now.

When he was satisfied that she was going to keep her thoughts to herself, he released his grip on Tousha. "What an obedient girl you are. You would be smart to keep it up." Long, slow strides brought him back closer to Tsubaki but he was no longer looking at her. "Get him on his feet." The man to Tsubaki’s left released her arm and moved towards Tousha, yanking him unceremoniously to his feet.

Tsubaki tried to catch his gaze as they stood facing each other. She needed to see his eyes, to know he was okay. Right as she finally caught his gaze, the cool steel of the flat side of the naginata rested against her cheek, sending a chill scattering across her skin. She hadn’t noticed the man move behind her, where he stood now, watching Tousha from over Tsubaki’s shoulder. Her breath shuddered out of her, eyes widening subtly at Tousha as the blade slid softly against her.

"I think everyone has a good understanding of their roles now." He almost sounded bored. "Any questions?"

Tsubaki let her guard down for just a moment as she locked eyes with Tousha so that he could see what she was thinking. She let the pain and the fear that coursed through her veins flood them. The only question she had was for him.

What are we going to do?

[Toshi]

One of the men who had been keeping Tsubaki upright moved towards Tousha and grabbed him by the front of his jacket before yanking him off the ground. The Kage's hair was disheveled and hung in front of his bloodied face as he found his footing, his jaw slack with the effort of maintaining the stream of chakra pouring into the fathomless well that was the seal holding himself and his friend captive. That task was made all the more difficult with the added obstacle of still being stunned from the naginata man's less than gentle demonstration of how perilous his hold on the seal truly was.

The man who had pulled Tousha to his feet smacked the small of his back with the club, urging him forward. The Shinobi stumbled but managed to keep himself from falling face first onto the road, his gaze leveled down at his own feet. He would pass Tsubaki, who was still being held up by the bounty hunter who had her at knife point. The former Hokage's eyes met the Kunoichi's, his heart dropping into his stomach when he saw the pleading desperation in them.

In the briefest of moments when they were close to each other, Tousha's thin eyes closed and he smiled at his friend despite everything.

I'm not going to leave you. I promised.

"No questions? Good," the leader said, allowing the man escorting Tousha to move to the head of the pack. "We've got a long day's walk. Keep up the pace and no one gets hurt." The man wielding the naginata fell into pace in the middle of the group, and the bounty hunter holding Tsubaki half dragged, half carried her along. The archer kept a healthy distance from the group, changing his position as they marched down the road leading out of town. The young man's eyes never strayed from the captives for long, watching their every move for any sign of resistance.

The townsfolk still on the street moved aside without a word. The onlookers safely nestled in their homes and places of business could only watch as the two Shinobi were escorted out of town. From a little, squat inn's front entrance an elderly woman clutched her wrinkled hands close to her chest, her expression wracked with worry for the nice young woman and silly old man she had come to enjoy the company of.




The walk was indeed long. They stuck to the road for several miles before turning off into what appeared to be a game trail, nothing more than a foot worn path used by huntsmen and local country folk. All the while Tousha marched ahead, forced to lead the group further and further from safety. His entire world had shrunk to the size of the seal carved into the iron manacles, nothing else mattered. Despite the brisk, mountainous air that blanketed the wilderness around them Tousha was sweating profusely. His long, black hair clung to his pale skin uncomfortably, his eyes stung from the salt of his perspiration. He had chanced a look back to see how Tsubaki was doing but the effort was met with a swift strike from the bounty hunter's fire tempered club, which caught him square in the jaw.

He toppled over, much to the delight of the man keeping him in line. The bounty hunter aimed a heavy kick against Tousha's ribs, forcing the Shinobi to cough up blood. There was a moment's lapse of concentration and once again Tousha felt that seal hungrily drink up a portion of his chakra, sending it directly to Tsubaki's manacles. In a panic, Tousha doubled his efforts to feed the depths of the seal again, horrified to allow the Kunoichi even a single ounce of agony. The man with the naginata told the bounty hunter to stop toying with the shackled man and keep up the pace, which he obeyed without a word.

Back on his feet, Tousha trudged on. And on.




After what felt like days instead of hours, the bounty hunters decided to make camp. The sun was getting low in the sky, casting the craggy woodlands in deep, orange light that only darkened the lengthening shadows. The bounty hunter escorting Tousha pushed him down roughly against the base of a fallen tree, motioning him to sit down. The Shinobi groaned and sat on the hard earth, his back mercifully resting against the near petrified bark. The man in charge of Tsubaki did the same to her, though ten strides away against the side of an outcropping of roots.

"Dai," the leader said tersely, nodding to the woods. "Firewood. Go." the man nearest to Tsubaki simply nodded and made his way into the trees. Then he leveled a stare at the bounty hunter next to Tousha. "Goro. You're on guard. Go." Another nod, no more words, and Goro was gone.

Only the leader and the archer remained. No looks were given to the young man, no orders were issued. He still hadn't seen the boy blink once. Tousha, his dark eyes peering through the struggle of maintaining the flow of chakra, wandered from one man to the next, and then settled on Tsubaki.

The man with the naginata rested his weapon against a nearby tree and rummaged through an old traveler's pack. After a few moments he pulled out an apple and a small knife. He walked casually over to where Tsubaki was sitting and sat with a grunt on a nearby rock only a stride or so away from the Kunoichi. The man's stony gaze wandered up and down Tsubaki, and Tousha could only watch, his breath stuck in his throat, as the leader reached out and grasped the young woman's chin. He tilted her face left, then right, then up.

"I don't like using drugs," he explained, still inspecting Tsubaki intently. "Too unpredictable. Looks like they're starting to wear off though. Good." He released his hold on Tsubaki's chin and pulled out the small knife, carving away a chunk of apple. He offered it to the Kunoichi, his stare free of deception or guile.

[Amy]

It was impossible for her to keep the pace of the rest of the group. Tsubaki’s feet crashed into each other, blood from her soles splattering as far up as her ankles. For every two steps she managed to take her knees would inevitably collapse beneath her and she would simply be dragged along until she managed to get her feet under her to repeat the process. Her chest and throat burned, each breath a ragged struggle. The only thing that kept her from collapsing completely was keeping her eyes on the back of Tousha’s head, remembering the smile he had given her. Even when his control slipped and that pain ripped through her again, she only thought about the message she had read loud and clear in his expression. They were in this together.



Tsubaki hardly noticed when they stopped walking, her body set down and propped up against something hard and rough. The world spun around her, her grip on consciousness weak and fleeting. She didn’t think it was the drugs anymore but rather the toll that the pain had taken from her. She couldn’t relax, afraid each second that Tousha was going to lose concentration again and those sharp blades of pain were going to cut through her.

His lapse on the walk had been short but it had been enough to solidify for Tsubaki why the pain was so horrible. The seal wasn’t targeting her muscles, her blood, or her bones or anything physical for that matter. She didn’t know how, and she didn’t even know if it should be possible but she was certain of what was happening. The seal was somehow cutting through her chakra network. Even if she had the strength or state of mind to use her jutsu…she didn’t think it would matter.

As her breathing evened out and the world stopped spinning, Tsubaki tilted her head in Tousha’s direction. She was worried about him. How much chakra was he giving up to that seal? Could he recover it faster than he was giving it up? Was it hurting him too, somehow? The question that she refused to confront drifted in the corners of her mind.

What if he ran out?

Tsubaki’s gaze was pulled away from Tousha by the man rummaging through his sack before walking her way and sitting near her. The fear that had started forming in her gut was quickly overwhelmed by the rage she had pushed down earlier as he grabbed onto her face. Tsubaki held her breath as she glared at him, resisting the urge to pull out of his grasp. She simply bided her time until he let her go, knowing that the flame that was burning inside of her was reflecting in her eyes.

“See what happens if you put your fingers nea-” The sneer on Tsubaki’s face turned stony when he lashed out and gripped her face much, much harder. The look on his face hadn’t changed and when he spoke, neither had the dull, emotionless tone.

"What’s going to happen?" He squeezed her face tighter, staring down at her with those unsettling, empty eyes. "He can’t even keep control of that seal when he trips. Think he’ll be able to hold it through a beating?" Tsubaki continued to glare at him, hatred laid bare in her gaze. "What about after? How long until he wakes up? How long do you think you’ll last? It was barely a couple of minutes that first time."

He released her face but immediately placed the blade of the small knife under her chin, holding her gaze up at him. "Open your mouth.”

Each breath that raced through Tsubaki’s lungs was fire. She understood the threat. She ground her jaw as she realized that there was no choice here. Their gazes still locked together, Tsuabki slowly opened her mouth so that he could place the piece of apple inside. He didn’t remove the blade until she had swallowed it. Only then did he stand, his hand giving her cheek a firm pat.

"Remember what I said about being obedient." Tsubaki glared at his back as he walked over to Tousha, holding a piece out to the ragged looking man. "What about you?"

As the man stood in front of Tousha, from Tsubaki’s right side Dai returned with an armful of firewood. He knelt in the center of the area and began setting the logs up, not giving either herself or Tousha so much as a glance.

[Toshi]

Every fiber of his being wanted to burn the man from the inside out. He wanted to watch what little life there was in those inexorable eyes fade away. The rage he felt, watching him touch Tsubaki knowing how much she must have hated it, sharpened the Hokage's eyes and mind like a bucket of ice cold water. The pain in his jaw from where the club had struck him, the chaffed and raw skin under his manacles, the gnawing tenacity of the seal threatening to suck his chakra dry, all of it numbed as he glared across the camp.

I'm going to fucking kill you.

He let that fury slip away, the sharpness quickly replaced with the visage of a weary, aging man. Still sweating and bleeding, Tousha watched as the leader approached him, offering a slice of apple as well. He also noticed Dai return to the camp with an arm load of firewood, which he dropped in a heap before getting to work clearing out a small patch of grass and undergrowth for a campfire.

Tousha looked up at the man offering food. He held out a hand and the leader dropped the apple slice into it. Tousha took a small bite, savoring the fruit's flavor after a long, tiresome march through the wilderness. All the while he felt the fire burning inside of him raging against the thin layer of calm, begging to be let loose. If the man staring down at him noticed any of that roiling hate, he didn't show it.

"Thank you," Tousha said before taking another small bite.

"You're welcome," he replied, blockaded as usual. For a moment it looked like he was going to turn away to help with the fire, but then the man paused. Curiously, he sat down right next to Tousha against the fallen tree and carved off another slice of apple. He raised it to his lips and chewed silently. Thoughtfully. Tousha looked straight ahead, watching Dai shave off kindling from a piece of timber with his dagger. "Why are you out here?" he asked, cutting away more apple and offering it to the bound Kage.

Tousha leveled a sideways glance at the man before slowly reaching out, his chains clanking, and taking the slice. "Here here? You marched me and my friend out here, remember?" It was a small risk, Tousha knew, to answer with anything but obedience. But he needed to test the waters, and now seemed as good a time as any.

To the Shinobi's relief, the leader grunted in what he assumed as amusement.

"You know what I mean. You're a long way from home."

Tousha took another small bite and chewed slowly, thinking a while about the question. "I got lost," he finally answered. The two men ate their meal in tandem silence, watching Dai spark life into the campfire. The bounty hunter blew on the newborn flames as they hungrily licked at the kindling. Tousha's dark eyes focused on how the fire twisted and curled into the air.

"What's your name?" Tousha asked quietly. The leader turned his head toward the Shinobi, quietly sizing up the question.

"Yuji. Why do you ask?"

Tousha shrugged as casually as a man in chains could. "I like to know everyone's name. Seems polite."

"I like polite people," Yuji said, offering Tousha another slice. The Shinobi took it. "Your friend over there has quite the temper." He nodded to Tsubaki.

Tousha couldn't help but smile at that. "You have no idea," he countered before taking another small bite. Then that smile fell into a hard, straight line. "You seem like a smart man, Yuji. Takes a thinker to get one over on me like this. I respect that, believe it or not." Yuji slipped the last bit of apple into his mouth and chewed quietly as Tousha spoke. "I'm not going to try to convince you to let us go. I don't think it'll do any good. But, please, is this really necessary?" Tousha held up his manacled hands, facing the seal towards the bounty hunter.

"Whoever you're turning us in to won't care one way or another that we're suffering the whole trip there," Tousha reasoned, lowering his hands again. He stared into Tsubaki's eyes as he added, "She's been through enough. Please... Just leave her out of this. That's all I ask."

Yuji sat there for a long while. He swallowed the apple and stood up, brushing himself off as he did. He knelt down in front of Tousha and gestured for the Shinobi to raise his hands. Tousha did, slowly, and presented the seal that he was still pouring chakra into. The bounty hunter pressed the small paring knife's tip into the seal, and then swiftly caught two of Tousha's fingers between the knife's handle and his own closed fist. Tousha screamed in pain as Yuji squeezed hard, his forearms bulging with lean muscles that turned that clenched fist into a vice that pressed the handle between the Shinobi's middle and ring fingers.

Stifling the scream into a muffled groan, Tousha fought tooth and nail to keep funneling chakra into the seal. The Kage's brow knitted in pain and concentration as Yuji, still impassable, stared back. "You don't make the rules," he said matter-of-factly. The archer simply stood, bow in hand but not drawn, and watched as his leader clenched even harder.

Over the crackling fire Tousha's finger bones snapped, and the Shinobi buckled over in pain as Yuji released his grip. The former Hokage pressed his face into the dirt and screamed. He kept screaming as the leader of the bounty hunters walked away to grab something else from his pack.

"Your bath buddy talks too much," he said to Tsubaki while Tousha struggled against the demands of the seal, feeling his control wavering. A small portion of his chakra was fed to the Kunoichi's manacles against his will and efforts.

Jutsu usedShow

Mujuushin • Humility of the Vagabond
D-rank Taijutsu Discipline
The practitioner of this discipline is able to more easily not present himself as a threat to those who can perceive him. He may appear frail, inebriated, uninterested, boring, or simply not worth any attention whatsoever. This discipline is particularly useful for blending into the scenery, or catching an opponent with relatively low Willpower off guard.

[Amy]

As Yuji sat down by Tousha, Tsubaki didn’t know how to feel. She was glad that he didn’t seem interested in bothering her for fun but she didn’t like the thought of Tousha talking to him too much. Yuji wasn’t a man who could be reasoned or bargained with; though not the same, he was similar enough to other men she had met in her past that she was sure about this. But for the time being, their conversation seemed simple enough and Tsubaki was so tired. She slid down further until her arms rested against the ground behind her, taking all of the weight off of her neck for the first time that day. A quiet sigh tumbled from her mouth as she looked up at the canopy that hung over them.

She half listened to the conversation happening across from her and half thought of how to get out of this situation. The hunters were doing their damndest to ensure both shinobi were too worn down to lash out. Tousha walked a thin line of control and every time he faltered Tsubaki suffered for it. If it wasn’t for the fact that it was being used against her she may have been impressed by the genius of it. Rolling her neck, Tsubaki caught Tousha looking over at her. She shook her head at him almost imperceptibly. It wasn’t going to work, she wanted to scream at him. She wanted to tell him not to waste his breath. Her eyes had barely closed when his scream pierced the clearing.

By the time Tsubaki’s eyes were open she had one knee underneath her and one foot planted on the ground. At the same time she gathered her strength to launch herself forward, a dagger embedded itself deep into the earth in front of her toes. So close that if she pressed her foot harder into the ground the metal brushed against her skin. Her eyes locked onto Dai’s who had also reacted as soon as Tousha had screamed. He was standing just a few paces in front of her, another dagger held in his hand. He smiled at her, his eyes roaming over her body as if deciding the best place to throw the next one. Tsubaki’s entire body was wound as tightly as a spring as her eyes bounced between Dai, Yuji, the man with the bow, and Tousha. Even if you could make it to him, she reminded herself, the fight deflating out of her slowly. There’s nothing you can do.

She collapsed back against the roots, her feet still planted on the ground, just as the all too familiar sound of his fingers breaking echoed across the fire. They were going to pay for this, she promised herself. Tsubaki didn’t have a plan, she didn’t know how or when. But they were going to suffer. She glowered at Yuji as he walked back towards his pack, talking casually to her. Like they were acquaintances. Her mouth fell open, all those words she had been chewing on earlier ready to tumble out. Instead, all that came out was a strangled whimper as a now all too familiar pain raced through her. It was less intense this time but it was still agonizing and somehow worse now that she realized what was happening.

"Figured he’d have better control of it by now."

Tsubaki managed to keep her noises down to a low groan, her heels digging hard into the ground. She panted, her brain trying to find and manage where the pain was coming from and failing. She couldn’t breathe through this or talk herself through it. She could only suffer until Tousha regained control.

"He’s got a soft spot for you," Yuji said as he swiped the dagger from the ground at her feet, throwing it at Dai who easily caught it by the handle. "You should be nicer to him." Tsubaki kept her eyes on the ground between her knees, her breaths still shaking on each exhale. She didn’t like the direction things were taking. It was better to stay silent and just let things cool down again. But even as she told herself this there was nothing she could do when Yuji squatted down between her propped up legs, one each of his elbows balancing on her knees. She didn’t dare to move, her eyes staring past his ear, her skin burning where it pressed against his. She waited, and waited, and after what seemed like hours he simply stood and walked away.

Things were not going well.

Both she and Tousha were adequately subdued for the time being. The men worked smoothly together, suggesting that they had been a team for a long amount of time. Every once in a while a low pitched whistle sounded from a different direction, working itself into a high pitched sound over the course of a few seconds. Tsubaki assumed that was Goro doing his check ins. The man with the bow, the only one whose name they still didn’t know, positioned himself around the camp according to whatever plans he had in his mind. She could find no pattern or reason behind it. Dai had brought the small fire to life and it crackled healthily in front of them all now, a small pot balanced high enough that the flames barely licked the bottom.

And Yuji seemed to just do as he pleased. Sometimes he leaned against the tree Tousha was propped against, looking down at the injured man or across the way at Tsubaki. Sometimes he helped stoke the fire and chatted to Dai about supplies and time lines. The only thing none of them did was talk to the man with the bow. Tsubaki couldn’t deny her curiosity over the man. Other than the fact that his mind worked at an incredible speed and that he was a spectacular shot she couldn’t figure out anything about him. As the sun started to set Goro appeared at the edge of the camp near Tousha. Yuji met him there and the two spoke, too quietly for Tsubaki to hear what they were saying.

[Toshi]

Tousha forced his body into a sitting position, his back leaning heavily onto the fallen tree and his face pointed skyward as pain lanced through his hand and up his arm. He didn't need to look at Tsubaki to know that she was suffering her own flavor of pain, once again because of him. The Shinobi pushed a fresh wave of guilt aside and breathed quickly, focusing instead on the pain and his responsibility to keep Tsubaki safe.

"Stay on task," Tousha said to himself through gritted teeth. Slowly but surely his focus returned, his breathing slowed into an even pace, and he was able to keep the seal sated with a steady flow of chakra once more. The Kage exhaled deeply, his shoulders slumping and his head drooping forward. His long, black hair fell over his face as he sat there, sweat rolling down his pale skin and tumbling to the earthen ground. His lungs screamed for more air but the Shinobi needed to keep breathing slowly to better center himself.

Some time later Tousha would tilt his head up and stare down at his left hand. The middle and ring fingers were both bent awkwardly, bowing in at the middle where the bones had snapped like twigs. So much for hand seals. Not that he could use them anyway when he was locked up in irons. Finally somewhat stable, though still in considerable pain, Tousha looked across the camp at Tsubaki and mouthed a single word as subtly as he could.

Sorry.




As night was beginning to fall Tousha heard Goro emerge from the nearby craggy treeline and approach Yuji. The man had been gone for hours, far too long to establish a reasonable perimeter. Especially with such rocky terrain to the north. The pair of bounty hunters made sure to keep their voices low as they spoke, but Tousha quieted his breathing and closed his eyes, concentrating all the attention he could afford away from the seal and into overhearing something anything, that their captors were saying.

Even with his keen hearing Tousha could only make out a handful of words, but they were enough to drive an ice cold spike of panic through his stomach.

Goro confirmed that a message had been sent. They were to meet somewhere nearby, but Tousha didn't catch exactly where. Finally the word that had Tousha's brow creased with horrible realization.

A Broker. They're bringing us to a Broker.

Memories radiated from deep within Tousha's mind. Many years ago, long before he stepped down as Hokage, Tousha remembered a number of reports detailing Shinobi going missing in the field. These Konoha Ninja were always operating alone, their bodies were never found despite immense efforts, and they had no apparent motivations to abandon The Leaf Village. Even more puzzling was a consistency in eyewitness reports that cropped up in the files every now and then, mostly from civilians who had been in the area. A mention of a deal, some kind of transaction, financial terms that seemed to act as a code. The word 'broker' was mentioned more than once.

It wouldn't be until after Tousha had resigned his position that rumors began to waft into the Hidden Leaf from the outside world. Talk of an underground operation that dealt in human lives. Specifically, the lives of captured Shinobi. For what purpose no one knew, but Tousha's mind ran wild with the possibilities.

Then he remembered what Yuji had said back in town. "A lot of people would pay good money for a man like you." These bounty hunters didn't have a buyer in mind. No, they were handing Tsubaki and himself off to be put up for auction to the highest bidder.

Once again Tousha was forced to control his breathing. He wanted to tell Tsubaki somehow, to warn her that their situation had worsened so dramatically. But then he thought better of it, knowing that revealing such information would only incite panic. The Konoha Shinobi would have to wait until the time was right to let Tsubaki in on what he'd learned. Or, if the opportunity didn't present itself, Tousha would need to make a very difficult choice before they reached their destination. If they couldn't escape these men, their fates might very well be worse than death.

As Tousha thought this, Yuji and Goro returned to the campfire, hardly paying Tousha and Tsubaki any mind. They sat with Dai around the fire on upturned logs, drinking from simple dried gourds and eating what looked like travel rations. Dried meats, hard bread, cold cheese, nuts and berries, nothing lavish. Still, with only an apple slice or two in his belly, Tousha watched the men eat with a hunger not related to the seal still demanding the attention of his chakra.

Tearing his eyes away from the bounty hunters, Tousha turned his attention to the surrounding camp and tried to spot their fourth man. The younger man with the bow. There was no sign of him now that Goro had returned. Tousha reasoned that it was the boy's turn to patrol the perimeter.

Night fell properly less than half an hour later. The night air was filled with the sounds of crackling wood, nocturnal animals, and an orchestra of chirping insects. Soothing as the sounds were, Tousha forced himself to stay awake through the night. He couldn't stop molding his chakra into the seal etched into his manacles, knowing that even the slightest lapse of concentration would wrack Tsubaki's body with pain, and he refused to allow that to happen again.

Throughout that long night Tousha watched the bounty hunters change guards, sleep, and keep tabs on their Shinobi captives. It was like clockwork, no senseless risks and no hesitation in any of their movements. These men were masters of their craft, and it wouldn't be anywhere near easy to catch them off guard. As the hours ticked by Tousha rolled their situation through his mind over and over again, like a river smoothing a stone. The facts remained the same each time, though. If Tousha wanted to fight these men he couldn't mold chakra without endangering Tsubaki's life. He remembered all too vividly how the pain had wracked her body to its core. No one could survive that kind of punishment for long. Even if she could hold out long enough for Tousha to dispatch the bounty hunters, the first sign of any provocation from him would reward the Kunoichi with a swift arrow to the heart.

There were just too many variables, too many chances for things to go wrong. He wasn't going to watch another friend die. Tousha didn't think he had it in him to lose another. So he sat quietly, rolling that stone over and over until the sun finally broke and the morning found them all.

Jutsu usedShow

Mujuushin • Stay on Task
D-rank Taijutsu Discipline
The practitioner of this discipline is able to tune out distractions in order to focus on a singular task more effectively. These distractions are still perceived by the user and will affect him accordingly, but they will not break his concentration.

[Amy]

As darkness began settling around the strangely peaceful camp, Tsubaki found it harder and harder to keep her eyes open. She had slid down against the roots again, her legs splayed out in front of her. It wasn’t comfortable but it was the best she could do with her hands shackled behind her back. Her shoulders had gone numb hours ago but the pain surrounding the three bands of metal was as sharp as ever. Not even that could keep her awake, though. Her eyes were half lidded as she watched the men move around camp, sitting around the fire, eating. Chatting. Like everything was just normal. Like she and Tousha weren’t even there. She wondered what Tousha was going to do. If he slept, she knew she would be woken up by that horrible pain that made her want to vomit just thinking about it. But he needed rest too. He was their best hope of getting out of this and it wasn’t like his day had been a painless walk in the park. Her heart reached out to him, urging him to sleep some. She could take it, she told herself as her head fell back against the log. She could at least do that, even if she couldn’t do anything else.




"Hey."

Tsubaki groaned, her face twisting into a grimace as she took a deep breath, every muscle in her body aching deeply. Her head fell back against the log, knowing that if she could just go back to sleep she wouldn’t hurt so badly.

A sharp slap across her cheek brought her eyes open instantly to find Yuji squatting in front of her. Right, she thought to herself, her eyes scanning over the camp. This wasn’t all a terrible new version of her nightmares. This was really happening. Her shoulders drooped as the weight of reality settled onto her.

"Time to wake up."

He stood, walking back towards the pit where the fire had been the night before. They had already packed up the majority of the camp, Dai and Goro tying up the last of the packs. Tsubaki wasn’t concerned with them for the moment, the stinging in her cheek already forgotten. Who she cared about was sitting slumped against the tree, his shoulders rising and falling with the effort of every breath he took. He had stayed up all night. Not once had he lapsed in keeping the seal off, not even for a second or two. She had woken up many times the night before, because of her muscles screaming in agony or a sound that startled her but she had fallen back asleep soon after each time. Not even her usual nightmares had visited her, the exhaustion wracking her body too powerful.

But not a single time had he dropped concentration. How long had it been now, minus the couple of times he had lost it for a few moments? Around a full day. For a full day, he had been sinking his chakra into that seal, never resting, never relaxing, never sleeping. She knew that he did it for her, she knew that he felt like it was his fault. His apology the day before had made it obvious. But they were going to have to manage these things together. If he wore himself out so much he collapsed there would be nothing he could do for her. That pain would eat her alive.

"Dai, get the girl. Goro, bring our kind hearted Kage to his feet."

Tousha staying awake all night had not slipped past the men’s awareness. She just wanted to talk to him. Just for a moment. They hadn’t said a single word to each other since they were taken and it was eating her up. She needed to tell him that it wasn’t his fault.

Her teeth bit down on the sharp gasp that formed in her throat as Dai pulled her to her feet. Shockwaves of pain radiated through her body and she hung loosely from his grip as the fog of pain settled deep into her. She may have been better rested but that rest had done nothing for her body. Thankfully, they simply stood there while Goro gathered Tousha up, Tsubaki watching desperately as his hunched body limped forward. Yuji followed behind them and then Dai brought her up to bring up the rear. Exactly the same as the day before. She clenched her teeth again as she felt the familiar heat of tears forming behind her eyes.

How many days were they going to do this?




It was midday before they stopped to rest. Tsubaki dripped with sweat, her light nightclothes stuck to her skin. The wind was still chilled but it did nothing to cool her down because it wasn’t the heat that was getting to her. Every step was agony for the kunoichi and Dai seemed much less inclined to drag her along for a second day. Each time she stumbled he grabbed the chain that ran between the collar and wrist cuffs and yanked her up. The sticky blood and growing bruise across her neck were encouragement enough to stumble as little as possible.

He had pushed her down against a short log, as far from Tousha as she could be. The bowman did not join them on their break, the three men standing between the two Shinobi, drinking from water flasks. She hadn’t cared about the food from the night before; she was used to not eating. But she was pretty sure the only thing she wanted more than one of those flasks was her hands moved in front of her. Yuji did not miss her desperate stare and made his way slowly over to her. "Ask." It was all he said as he stood over her, holding the flask between them, his tone as bland as the day before.

Tsubaki glared up at him. She wanted to kick him. She wanted to tell him that he could shove that water flask somewhere it didn’t belong. She wanted to tell him that she would rather die than ask him for anything. But…Tsubaki knew that she needed strength if there was any hope of escaping. She was already weakened from the pain. She didn’t need to stay dehydrated to prove a point. Swallowing her pride wouldn’t be as painful as the alternative.

“Can I have some water?” Each syllable that came out of her mouth was clipped and to the point. There was no rage, no sadness, no disgust. Her voice was almost as empty as Yuji’s. He was satisfied though, kneeling on one knee in front of her and lifting the flask to her lips. Tsubaki drank slowly, unable to stop her eyelids from fluttering closed as the cool liquid washed across her dried lips. When she pulled back, Yuji stood and glanced down at her only once.

"Better."

He turned to walk towards Tousha before the rage returned to her eyes. She was going to fucking kill him.

[Toshi]

Tousha watched with exhausted eyes as Goro approached where he sat, his back still pressed against the bark of the nearly petrified fallen tree. The bounty hunter looked down at him, frowning impatiently. Tousha sighed heavily and tried to shake some of the weariness clinging to him. It had been a very long night, and it was looking to be followed by an equally long day.

"I don't suppose anyone made coffee?" he asked, only half joking.

Goro kicked the Kage's leg. The message was clear, 'get up or I'll get you up.' Tousha groaned as he used the tree as leverage and pushed off the dew kissed ground. At least Goro was generous enough to allow the Shinobi to stretch out some of the tightness in his legs and shoulders before pushing him forward. Once again, Tousha and his handler Goro were leading the way through the rocky, expansive wilderness that stretched out for countless miles in every direction.




The bounty hunters would halt their relentless pace at midday. Tousha sat against a rock and watched as the men ate another round of trail rations, drank freely from their gourd flasks, and checked their equipment to fill in the downtime. Goro even paid Tousha a special visit in which he checked the tightness of his manacles, frisked him for any potential weapons he might have picked up in the woods, and gave him another kick for good measure.

Thankfully the man left him alone after that, but with that delightful exchange wrapped up Tousha didn't have any distractions from the pain that was brutalizing his hand. Tousha looked down, his tired eyes ringed with dark circles, at his broken fingers. They were swollen and discolored, a mottled mess of purples and yellows. Any movement, even the slightest twitch, sent waves of mind numbing pain through his hand and up his arm.

The Kage was vaguely aware that Yuji was speaking with Tsubaki, they were too far away to hear properly over the constant buffeting of wind that swept through the trees and undergrowth around them. He watched as the leader of the bounty hunters allowed Tsubaki a drink of water, but when the man turned his back Tousha could see the enmity in the Kunoichi's eyes. It did his soul some good to know there was still fight in her, and through the pain, weariness, and self loathing the former Hokage felt a pang of admiration and affection for the young woman.

"Ask."

Tousha looked up at Yuji, his standing form blocking out the midday sun. The Kage had the sudden urge to pour chakra into the shadow that the man was casting down on him and make the bounty hunter a prisoner himself. It would be so easy to stop focusing on the seal etched into his manacles, grab hold of the man with tendrils of shadow, and snap his neck like a twig. He could see it so clearly in his mind's eye.

So clearly, in fact, that the archer noticed an all too familiar look in the Shinobi's eyes. Without a word the young man with the bow knocked an arrow, an impossibly smooth and practiced movement, drew the string back and pointed it right at Tsubaki's heart. Tousha's eyes widened, all traces of malice and lethal intent drained from them. Instead they shook with fear and dread. Yuji looked over his shoulder at the archer, and then back down at Tousha.

"Ask," he repeated, hefting the gourd flask.The archer didn't budge, the tip of his arrow still aimed at the Kunoichi.

Tousha looked at the man holding the flask and asked, "Can I please have some water?"

With a deliberate movement Yuji uncorked the flask, knelt down, and dumped its contents on Tousha's head. The former Hokage held the man's gaze as the cool, clear water cascaded down his head, hair, clothes, and body. Slowly the archer relaxed his bow, the arrow dipping to the ground and away from Tsubaki. Once the gourd was empty Yuji stood, firmly set the cork back in place, and went about joining his men.

Tousha stared at the ground between his bent legs, his tongue lapping up what water it could as it trickled down his face.

[Amy]

If the morning trek had been difficult, the afternoon still managed to be worse. The man with the bow seemed adept at sniffing out murderous intent, he had demonstrated that several times now. But Tsubaki was finding it difficult to look forwards, at the back of Yuji’s head, and not imagine his blood spilling on the ground. She found it difficult to not let her eyes drift down his body, marking all of the places that she could cut him to make him suffer as he bled out so very slowly. But it wasn’t her they would directly hurt if they sensed what she was thinking. They would hurt Tousha and make her suffer through the seal and the guilt he felt would only root deeper in him. So, she stared at nothing. She didn’t let herself think about anything other than staying upright, keeping one foot moving in front of the other.

Halfway through the afternoon, the scenery had slowly changed from woody forest to a much sparser landscape. The thick leafy trees had given way to knobbly pine trees and the earthy ground wasn’t thick enough any longer to hide the stone underneath. The air had grown noticeably chillier, a shiver working its way down Tsubaki’s spine every once in a while. She hoped that Tousha had dried off, otherwise, he was likely to be just as cold as she was. Judging by the placement of the sun, they came to a stop at about the same time as they had the previous day. They were much more exposed this time without the trees to act as a windbreaker.

It felt like deja vu as Goro and Dai threw Tousha and Tsubaki down against some larger boulders protruding from the ground. Almost the exact same distance apart as the night before. Yuji provided the same orders and the two Shinobi found themselves alone with him and the bowman once again.

Tsubaki was so over it. It was maddening the way they practically ignored them. For two days now, anger had just been simmering and building inside of her to the point it now felt like a living thing. She was tired and in more pain than she had ever been in. She had no idea where she was being taken and what fate awaited her there. Her friend was suffering. And she had no outlet for her anger that wouldn’t cause both of them more pain. And somehow, none of that was what was pissing her off the most.

She yanked, once, solidly at the cuffs around her wrists when she found it impossible to settle against the stone with any amount of comfort. Everything else that was going on could be managed. She could think about them, contemplate them, and then set them down when the anger started to rise. But there was no putting the cuffs out of her mind. They were a constant presence in her mind, a constant pain biting into her. She couldn’t do anything to comfort herself, hold herself up, or even sit easily. She yanked on them again, not even caring about the pain she was causing herself.

”Problem?”

Tsubaki looked up at Yuji, a small growl of complaint huffing through her. She wasn’t going to ask him to do it. Not only was she positive he wouldn’t do it for her - Tousha had earned himself two broken fingers because of his request. But even more than that she would rather choke on her own vomit than make a request of him.

”Not enjoying the accommodations, then, I take it?”

Still, she only stared, her jaw locked. All she wanted was to throw her tantrum in peace. It really felt like the least the universe could offer her.

”Let’s change it up then.”

Tsubaki flinched as he reached past her, but he didn’t touch her. Instead, he grabbed hold of the manacles and dragged her several paces across the stone before letting her drop on her right shoulder. She winced, opening her eyes to find she was facing Tousha. A small, rueful smile drifted across Tsubaki’s face, the meaning clear. Oops.

Yuji stepped one foot over her, straddling her waist before he squatted down over her, grabbing her face the same way he had the day before. He turned her face to the side until he could look her in the eyes.

”Keep thrashing around and I’ll add another set to your ankles.” He released her face and stepped back over her.

“Fuck you,” Tsubaki thought to herself as his footsteps moved steadily away from behind her.

Until they weren’t. And she realized that that had not, in fact, been a thought.

[Toshi]

Shit.

Tousha sat upright against the rock at his back, the Shinobi's cramped and tired legs bending ever so slightly for better leverage. The archer noticed the shift in weight and turned to the former Hokage, watching his every move with a hawk-like stare. Tousha's eyes darted from the young bounty hunter and then back to where Tsubaki lay on the ground, and then rested on Yuji. The man stood stone still only a few paces from the Kunoichi. The world seemed to hold its breath, Tsubaki's words still ringing in Tousha's ears like an ominous bell that heralded tragedy.

"Fuck me?" he asked, breaking that pregnant pause with the same flavorless tone. Yuji turned to face Tsubaki slowly, regarding her as if he would a piece of furniture. "Fuck. Me."

Tousha could only watch as the man stepped over the Kunoichi again, this time instead of squatting over her he planted a knee between her thighs and lowered himself so that he was almost laying on top of her. The man's impassable eyes ran up and down her body for a handful of breaths until they finally settled on Tsubaki's face.

"Have you forgotten your job?" he asked simply, malice eerily absent from his words. "Do you know why you're here? You're here," he continued, grabbing her chin roughly and angling her face towards where Tousha still sat, the Kage's expression stuck between rage and horror, "to fuck him."

After letting Tsubaki get a good look at Tousha, Yuji pulled her face back to his. "Your purpose, the only thing you're good for, is to be his leash. That's it. You know it. I know it. He knows it."

After saying this the bounty hunter leader shoved his knee upwards, forcing Tsubaki to spread her legs to either side of it. "Do you even know who he is?" Yuji asked, his voice a hushed whisper as he leaned in closer to Tsubaki's ear. "Do you know the things he's done? I don't think you do. If you did, you wouldn't be so attached."

Yuji's free hand slid down from Tsubaki's chin and rested on her neck, just above the collar bone. He held her there gently as he said, "I'll let you in on a secret. After we sell him off, we're not sure what to do with you. If you're worth selling too then we might. But..." He rubbed at the skin of her neck with his thumb and said, "We might keep you for a while."

Tousha stood to his full height only a moment before the archer drew his weapon back to full draw, the arrowhead aimed directly at Tousha's head. The Kage's first two fingers of his right hand were raised and pointed under his chin. At the tips of those fingers a rust colored chakra had solidified into the shape of a bullet, practically vibrating with bitterness. Tousha's face was pulled into a dire sneer, his eyes sharpened by conviction to a razor sharp edge.

It was difficult work splitting his focus between keeping the manacle seal sated and not blowing his head off with his own technique, but suddenly the former Hokage didn't seem so tired and meek. Before them stood a man who had seen too much, done too much, but had survived all of it.

"Get. Off. Her," Tousha said with the authority of a leader of Shinobi. "Or you lose your prize."

Jutsu usedShow

Sankaton • Erasure Bullet
C-rank Ninjutsu
Prerequisites: Sankaton • Erasure Torch
Rather than rely on hand seals the user will make a finger gun with his hand and gather a highly compressed dose of annihilation chakra at the tip of his index finger. A 1x1x1m diameter mass of Sankaton chakra will be condensed into the shape of a bullet no larger than a half inch in length at a Speed up to the user's Control before being shot in a linear path at the same Speed up to 30m. Any inorganic matter that comes into contact with this bullet is immediately eaten away by the Sankaton chakra while organic material is eaten through at half the rate. The amount of material that is destroyed is exactly relative to the technique's volume.

[Amy]

What did you do?

Tsubaki didn’t move. She didn’t breathe. She didn’t even think, as she lay facing Tousha. Wide eyes looked past her friend into nothingness as she waited. And waited. And just when she thought maybe he would walk away, let it go, move on, she heard him speak. In that one moment, Tsubaki knew that she had never felt terror like what washed over her, draining all color from her face. Every instinct she had in her screamed to run away, to move, to fight but she was frozen as he kneeled over her. His body heat brushed hers as he leaned so closely he was all she could smell. He was all she could feel. And when he tore her face towards his, he became all she could see. He became her whole world.

She couldn’t think as he pointed her towards Tousha, all she could focus on was how rough his fingers were on her face. All she could think about was where he had kneeled. How close he was. How helpless she was. He was going to hurt her, she had already accepted that. But knowing it didn’t make it any easier, this time. Each breath she took passed loudly through her flared nostrils, her jaw still clamped shut in an effort to not cry out. Each inhale washed his scent over her. Smoke, steel, earth. And every exhale shook her to her core.

A whimper slipped past her defenses when he shoved his knee hard against her, forcing her legs open. All she could do was beg the universe: Not in front of Tousha. Whatever he was going to do, or whoever was going to do it, she just begged that they wouldn’t make him watch. She had seen the look of horror on his face in that brief moment. If he had to watch that, she knew he would never be able to forget it. It wasn’t something they both needed to suffer through.

Tsubaki’s eyes screwed shut as he slid his other hand down her neck, his fingers leaving behind invisible scars she would never be able to show anyone. She could feel her body remembering, remembering what it felt like to not be strong enough to stop someone from touching you. Her breaths grew shorter, closer together, faster, faster, faster as he leaned even closer, whispering to her. Get off of me. The words screamed in her head, so loudly that she almost couldn’t believe he didn’t hear them. His words crawled under her skin, taking root. They were going to separate them. She hadn’t even considered that possibility. She had just assumed that she would be kept with him to maintain his control. Tsubaki had thought that at least, no matter what, she would have him by her side.

And then everything froze. Tsubaki looked as far towards Tousha as she could, her head still immobilized by Yuji. She hadn’t thought that things could get worse.

"Do that and she’ll be alone with us. For a long time."

Yuji was still staring at Tsubaki. The air was electrified. Tsubaki stared into those soulless, depthless eyes. Neither man was caving. Her seal wasn’t hurting her which meant Tousha was maintaining both. He was risking his life because of her fuck up. She had done this. Her and her temper, no one else. She had no one else to blame. Slowly, her jaw unclenched.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

Yuji’s head tilted just a fraction to the side. "Louder, so your friend can hear you."

“I said I’m sorry,” she replied. Whatever fury and pride she had been holding onto had slipped out of her into the cold stone beneath her back. She would do whatever she needed to do to spare him. “I forgot my job. A leash. You’re right,” she continued, her voice calm but laced with desperation. She was begging him. “It’s the only thing I’m good for. A leash.” When he kept staring at her, Tsubaki swallowed, his thumb tracing the motion.

“I’m sorry. I won’t forget again.” When he kept staring, Tsubaki guessed what he wanted. She softened her voice slightly as she spoke to her friend, though she was still staring up at Yuji. “Tousha. I’m okay. Please, stop. It’s ok.”

After a few more tense moments, she figured Tousha must have relented and released the jutsu as Yuji climbed off of her. Somehow, it didn’t make it any easier to breathe.

"Usually by now, my captives are all out of fight. Since you two seem to be a special case let’s establish some new rules." He walked over to Tousha, grabbing him by his broken fingers and pulling them backwards. "Unfortunately, you have to keep both of your hands. If you try anything like that again, it will be one of her hands that gets cut off."

Yuji released Tousha’s fingers and walked back over to Tsubaki, facing Tousha with the girl’s body between the two men. "And if you forget your place again, we’ll take our time with you and make him watch it all." Yuji paused, seeming to think for a moment. "I guess that would be a good punishment for the both of you." Yuji stepped over her body, his second foot kicking hard enough into her side to turn her onto her stomach. "Stay like that."

As he finally walked away, Tsubaki laid her cheek on the ground, facing the opposite direction of Tousha. The last thing she wanted was for him to see the tears that she couldn’t stop from sliding from down her face.

"You have something you want to say?" Yuji was standing in front of Tousha, his face as passive as ever. The face of a man who never doubted that he was in control.

[Toshi]

"Do that and she’ll be alone with us. For a long time."

The annihilation chakra at Tousha's fingertips hissed and churned at Yuji's threat. Tousha knew full well what would happen if he died here. Tsubaki was helpless and surrounded by men who only saw her as a tool to exploit, to take advantage of in any way they could. At that moment, as he watched that monster of a man touching Tsubaki with his bastard hands, the Kage was prepared to put Yuji and the archer in the ground. He'd make them understand why he was so valuable of a catch.

He also knew it would probably cost him his life, but he reasoned that would be more than a fair trade if it meant Tsubaki could get out of this mess alive.

A few more moments longer and Tousha would have thrown everything he had at their captors. Everything he had left in his tired, half starved body. The Kage would have burned everything down around them had he not heard Tsubaki's soft voice from under Yuji. The desperation in her words made the Shinobi's heart ache, knowing that she was trying to apologize for a mistake she only made because she was in a terrible situation thanks to him. Tousha wanted to tell her that she wasn't just a leash to be used against him, and that everything was going to be okay, and that he wished more than anything that they were back at the ramen house enjoying each other's company.

Tousha wanted to tell her that she reminded him of his daughter. That she'd become something of one to him, even in their short time together.

But instead, Tousha didn't interrupt her apology. He understood that this was their best chance to stay alive. Both of them. So when Yuji pulled away from Tsubaki, Tousha released the annihilation chakra from his fingertips and slumped heavily to his knees. The Shinobi refused to scream as the bounty hunter grabbed his broken fingers, bending them backwards and sending unspeakable lightning bolts of pain arcing through his entire body. Tousha allowed himself a pained groan through clenched teeth, but he would not scream. He wouldn't give Yuji the satisfaction.

After the bounty hunter was finished making his threats and new rules Tousha glared through the long, black hair that hung over his pale face. "No. I understand," Tousha said through ragged breaths, fighting off pain and the manacle seal's constant, biting hunger.

There was another long moment before Yuji said, "Good. Last chance. For both of you." With that he walked over to Tsubaki, grabbed the chain connecting her wrist and neck shackles, and bodily dragged the Kunoichi even further away from Tousha than before. He dropped the young woman on the ground unceremoniously, not even breaking stride as he walked off to prepare camp.

Tired, hungry, in pain, and frustrated, Tousha leaned back against the rock and hung his head. White hot tears formed at the corners of his tightly clenched eyes before spilling down his cheeks.

[Amy]

Tsubaki didn't lift her head from the ground. Not when Yuji dragged her further from Tousha. Not when tears continued to slide down her face. Not when the adrenaline wore off and her body began to shiver, the stone beneath her providing no warmth. She just kept her head down like she should have been doing from the beginning. She didn't know why she was like this. Why she bit back at danger like a caged animal instead of just playing things safe and smart. She was smart. But something about feeling trapped and helpless just set her off. It had gotten her into trouble more times than she could count. For better or worse, she hoped this would be the last time.

Things around the camp progressed quietly into the night. She remained in the exact position Yuji had dropped her in and she didn't hear anything coming from behind her where Tousha was. She assumed he was as subdued and tired as she was. They had no plan. Tsubaki didn't even have any ideas. All they could do was wait and see what fate awaited them. Tousha would be handed off to someone who probably wanted to kill him themselves and Tsubaki…she shivered harder against the ground. Yuji hadn't been lying. He had no reason to. After Tousha was gone, if they didn't want her she would just become their plaything.

Until they got tired of her.

Then what, was the real question. When she was nothing more than an empty husk of a human would they kill her? Abandon her in a strange place? There were worse things, she knew. Maybe Tousha's buyer wouldn't want her but her village certainly would. Maybe, she thought to herself, when they were done breaking her they would just sell her to a brothel. She couldn't imagine the pay would be worth it when compared to a bounty but why throw away good money, she supposed. Maybe if she was lucky, one day Ak-

Tsubaki ground her knee into the rock, stopping her train of thought with a rush of fresh pain. She had been doing well, not thinking about them. If she thought of them she would not be able to hold it together. Right now, she knew, it had to be just her and Tousha. There was no one else. They had to do this together. But they were running out of time.

It seemed the men were pretty proud of themselves for finally subduing the two shinobi as they brought out some of their better stores. The wafting smell of meat made Tsubaki's stomach growl but she didn't pay it any mind. She didn't seem them giving her or Tousha anything that would give them strength. It was better for the men if they were weak. Their voices filled the quiet camp and though she had nothing but hatred for all of them, the crackling, hissing fire punctuated by talking was lulling her to sleep. She preferred it that way. At least, if she slept, she thought to herself, the-

Tsubaki's brow dropped and she finally picked her head up. She listened closely, her ears straining. She wasn't wrong. But that didn't answer her question of: Why was the fire hissing?

[Toshi]

---

Five days ago

---

A flat, almost disc-shaped rock rests precariously on a craggy slope in the wilderness. It tilts and jostles as the roiling storm clouds overhead unleash a torrent of rain, wind, and lightning onto anything unfortunate enough to be in their path. This deluge of rainwater has birthed a muddy river, which weaves through a once dry riverbed carved into the mountainside itself after generations upon generations of storms just like this one. The flat, water-smoothed rock jostles once more and then topples into the river, rolling end over end as it's carried by the powerful current.

Eventually the storm would pass and the riverbed would dry again, leaving behind countless shards of timber, rocks, and undergrowth in its wake. The disc shaped rock rested near the bank, its smooth exterior drying in the sun. However, the muddy earth it rested on kept its somewhat porous interior cool and damp. Some days later, a man named Goro would find this rock and conclude that it was perfect for cooking on a campfire.

---

Present day

---

Tousha watched with a weary gaze as Yuji, Dai, and Goro sat around the roaring campfire. The men were in good spirits, so good in fact that they had decided to break out their stores of non-hard, non-dried food. The chilled, mountainous air was alive with the smells of pork, eggs, potatoes, and hardy vegetables, and Tousha was trying to ignore the rumbling of his stomach over the need to keep feeding the seal that threatened Tsubaki with life threatening pain. The former Hokage sat there against his designated rock and sighed, wondering himself how much longer he'd be able to maintain the steady flow of chakra into his manacles.

Despite his efforts to clear his mind, the thought was gnawing at the edges of his focus.

Every now and then Tousha would chance a look over at Tsubaki, her form barely illuminated in the darkness by the raging campfire. His brow creased in concern every time, realizing that she still hadn't moved from where Yuji had dropped her on the hard, earthen ground. The Shinobi wanted to call out to her just to ask if she was okay, to ask one of the bounty hunters to check if she was hurt, but he knew that would only end up with one or both of them suffering even more. Feeling that he and Tsubaki had more than met their quota on pain and torment for the past couple of days, Tousha decided to keep his mouth shut and occupy himself with trying to see a pattern in the archer's movements.

There was a pattern there, Tousha could feel it, but he didn't understand what it was. The young bow-wielding man constantly stuck to the camp's periphery, standing still in one place for over an hour before shifting his position, where he would also stand still without fail. The archer's predatory eyes never wavered from Tsubaki or himself for long, but they seemed to stay fixed on the Kunoichi more often than not.

The young man didn't seem to eat, or blink, or sleep. He was as perplexing as he was maddening, and Tousha couldn't shake the suspicion that the bowman was an odd man out in this group of bounty hunters.

These suspicions were cut short when Tousha also noticed a strange hissing sound coming from the campfire. The trio of feasting bounty hunters were either too preoccupied to notice the sound or simply didn't care, refusing to let the good times die down for something so innocuous. Yuji was pointing at Dai with a pair of chopsticks and recounting a past bounty when the disc-shaped rock they were cooking on exploded like a grenade, sending shards of jagged stone spraying in every direction.

The sound was deafening, painful even from where Tousha was sitting. Dai fell off of the upturned log he'd been sitting on, Goro pressed his hands to his face and started screaming, and Yuji stared, dead eyed as ever, at the fire as he reached for his throat. Tousha's eyes widened as he spotted what Yuji was reaching for; a knife-like sliver of stone was protruding from the man's throat, its wickedly sharp point protruding from the back of his neck.

Then many things happened at once.

Movement caught the corner of Tousha's eye, tired as it was. From the far side of the campsite he watched as the archer knocked an arrow, raised his bow, and pulled back the string just as fast as Tousha found his feet. The Kage didn't have to wait to know where that arrow was heading, and with all the speed he could muster Tousha was darting after Tsubaki.

While this was happening, Yuji saw that the archer was loosing an arrow straight for Tsubaki's head. The bounty hunter raised a hand and tried to issue the bowman a command for the young man to stop but choked on his own blood. Unable to speak, Yuji stood, his hands wrapped around his own throat, his eyes showing more than stoicism for the first time since they'd met in town. They were tense with horrible realization.

Before the arrow reached its mark Tousha appeared in a burst of blinding speed in front of Tsubaki, managing to batter the projectile aside with the iron cuffed to his right wrist. "Hey!" Tousha yelled at the bowman, who had already grabbed two more arrows, one held on either side of his deft fingers, and knocked them both at once. "What are you doing?! Stop!!"

If the archer heard Tousha he didn't show any signs of backing down. He fired both arrows at Tsubaki, trying to aim around the Shinobi standing in his way.

[Amy]

Tousha. Tsubaki lifted her head from where she had buried it when the explosion went off. Yuji had dragged her far enough away that other than the ringing in her ears she was unaffected. Tsubaki’s eyes drifted over the men at the fire who looked fine at first pass. Unhappy, but fine. When she found Tousha sitting in the same spot as before, his eyes also trained on the hunters around the fire she huffed a small sigh of relief. Her eyes flicked back over to the three men, the thought crossing her mind that if there was a time to get away it was now. Yuji hadn’t moved from his seat and Dai was helping Goro. The men had to be somewhat shocked from that going off in their faces. The only man left was the archer. It had been only a fraction of a second since she had looked away from Tousha but when her eyes flicked back to where he was sitting, to see if he was thinking the same thing she was, she was met with a shock.

He was gone from the base of the tree and he was running straight towards her.

Tsubaki didn’t stop to think about why he was running towards her. Escape, danger, whatever it was it didn’t matter. He was in a hurry and so was she. She pulled one leg up and planted her foot on the ground, rolling first onto her shoulder and then leaping to her feet. She saw the arrow at nearly the same time she saw Tousha appear in front of her. Her heart thudded in her chest as he stood just paces in front of her, the arrow laying on the ground to his side. They could leave, she thought. She wanted to leave, she wanted to run and run and run until she never had to see these men again. It was nearly palpable how much she wanted to go with Tousha right in front of her. But then Tousha shouted and Tsubaki shook such dreams from her head. They had to deal with this first.

She stepped to the side so that she was still behind Tousha, but could peer past his shoulder. Her eyes were glued to the archer who had two more arrows pointing in her direction. “I’ve been thinking,” she said quietly as she sunk her weight through her knees and into the ground. Tsubaki honed in on those arrows with every bit of training she had. She was sure she was right. The man released the arrows, one at a time but in such quick succession that it was hardly noticeable. Even less noticeable was the fact that he had changed his aim to the side of both her and Tousha. Her sigh of relief got caught in her throat when the second arrow hit the first one and changed the trajectory. Tsubaki released the tension in her legs and leapt forward, the arrow whizzing behind her back. “Tousha, I’m pretty sure the archer is a ninja.”

The thought had slipped in and out of her mind several times over the past couple of days. His sharp eyes, the weird third sense of moving where he needed to be to have his bow trained on her at all times. Yuji never needed to give him any instruction, he just always knew what to do. When he had shot the arrow before she had just assumed he had really good aim. But this was something else entirely. That wasn’t a feat of skill. He had already drawn another arrow but this time he was circling them. The bow was fully drawn and he never faltered from his aim. Tsubaki pushed all of the pain and discomfort out of her mind as she watched the archer watch her. Each breath she took steadied her further. She found herself incredibly grateful that she had spent some of the past few years training.

”Stand down!”

Tsubaki risked a glance at the fire. Dai was also staring at the archer, shouting at him, but the archer never even blinked in his direction. Goro was kneeling in front of Yuji, his hands covered in blood. His own face was smeared with blood from several cuts but it was Yuji who Tsubaki’s eyes landed on for one extra moment. He was facing the archer, waving, trying to get his attention. Blood ran steadily down Yuji’s neck, stemming from the through and through puncture wound.

Slowly, Tsubaki’s feet pivoted so that the archer was always in front of her. “Yuji is hurt.” She couldn’t deny the little bit of joy in her tone.

Suddenly, the archer pointed his bow high in the air and released the arrow. Tsubaki watched it soar up, and up, and up until it was out of view, lost in the star-covered sky. She didn’t move. If Tousha spoke to her, she didn’t answer. Tsubaki simply kept her eyes on the archer and waited. She held her breath and waited. And then, in an instant, Tsubaki was two steps back, an arrow embedded in the ground where she had just been standing. The feathers vibrated with the force the arrow had landed with.

”Yuji orders you to stand down!”

He already had another arrow notched in her direction. “I’m getting the feeling the only one he’ll listen to is the one bleeding out. Please tell me I don’t have to go save that man’s life.”

[Toshi]

"You might have to save that man's life," Tousha replied, already short of breath. The lack of sleep and constant drain on his chakra was beginning to take its toll on the Nara. Just defending the Kunoichi was taking everything he had, let alone launching any counter attacks of his own. Still panting heavily Tousha added, "Much as I enjoy watching him bleed out."

Tsubaki's suspicions about the archer were proving to be well founded, he had never seen a non-Shinobi move so fluidly or shoot their own projectiles mid flight to aim around obstructions. The Kage recalled a few Hidden Leaf Shinobi who had been masterful archers by the strictest of standards and seeing the young bowman stalk Tsubaki with such precision reminded him of them. If Tousha wasn't so physically exhausted and chakra drained he might be able to end the fight quickly, but as he was it was either defend his friend or attack the enemy and leave Tsubaki vulnerable.

It was a stalemate and Tousha didn't have enough time to see it through to the end. He needed to defend and attack at the same time and use the same amount of energy to do both.

Tousha gritted his teeth, splitting his focus once more as he kneaded chakra into the air around them while maintaining the gluttonous desires of the manacle seal. "I'll give you as much time as I can," Tousha said, matching the archer's movements as he tried to find a better angle to target Tsubaki. With blurred speed the bowman fired another arrow, twisting the bow slightly as he did. The arrow spun awkwardly through the air but then picked up speed as it arced around Tousha and straight for Tsubaki's eye.

The arrow collided with a disc of pure chakra hovering in the air mere inches in front of Tsubaki's face and ricocheted with an ethereal chime. The bowman was about to launch a follow up shot but had to jump aside as his own arrow was reflected back at him with equally deadly aim. The arrow thudded into the trunk of a gnarled tree where the enemy Shinobi's head had been a fraction of a second before it landed.

Tousha exhaled with effort as he extended the fingers of his right hand, each fingertip controlling a single disc that hovered around himself and the Kunoichi. Five in total, Tousha's technique acted as a barricade from the barrage of oncoming arrows. Three more of the projectiles tried to find their way through the translucent discs of chakra but each one was equally thwarted and reflected back at the man firing them. With each deflection came another twitch from Tousha's pale, extended fingers, and more beads of sweat that riddled his furled brow. Like a puppet on a string, the archer always managed to dodge just in time to avoid his own arrows being shot back at him.

"Go. I have you."

With that the former Hokage prepared himself to follow Tsubaki as she made her way to Yuji. Tousha didn't know how much longer he could keep this up, but he needed to. There simply wasn't another option. Tousha was running on fumes but that wasn't nothing, and it would be a cold day in hell when he let some young punk with a bow hurt his friend.

Jutsu usedShow

[Ninjutsu • Reflection Discs]
B-Ranked Ninjutsu
Prerequisites: *[Ninjutsu • Reflect], [Ninjutsu • Reflection Bracers]
After completing a string of hand seals or utilizing advanced channeling the user will create up to 5 disc-shaped barriers at a Speed and Strength in any location of their choosing within a 25m diameter. These discs can reach up to 3m in diameter and can be individually manipulated by the user at a Speed and Strength up to his Control stat as long as they stay within a 25m radius of the user. Any attack that strikes these discs with a Strength equal to or lesser than the user's Control will be reflected back at its point of origin a moment after the attack lands. These discs will remain apparent for up to 6 posts until additional chakra is required.

[Amy]

“I'll cherish the memory forever," Tsubaki muttered when Tousha answered her. Her mind was processing information at an almost dizzying speed, a talent she usually reserved for treating patients. She couldn't remember the last time she had been in the center of a fight instead of watching from the sidelines. Tsubaki had dedicated her life to medicine, to healing. It was what she excelled at and it was the way she liked things. A steely look had settled into her eyes as she regarded the situation that she was now pretty sure she had a grasp of.

She had seen Tousha redirect a bolt of lightning. She didn't expect that the archer would be much of a problem for him in a normal situation. It was unfortunate that this was anything but. If it was just the lack of food, water, and rest then he could push through, she believed. But there was also the physical pain that he had endured as well as the mental exhaustion of being held captive for days. And despite how bad all of those things were when combined they didn't even begin to touch the real problem Tousha was facing.

He was exerting so much energy and chakra to keep the seal on her bindings off. And he was not going to like what she had to say about that. But it was their only chance.

She spun out of the way of the next arrow a fraction of a second too late but it didn't get the chance to cut her face, Tousha reacting faster than she did. He couldn't keep this up though, the effort it was taking to keep the seal off and mold his chakra into jutsu was clear on his face. “I know you do, but you need to listen to me.” She didn't flinch as the next three arrows flew towards her, her faith in Tousha was absolute. Instead, she took advantage to quickly move so that she was between Yuji and Tousha, and Tousha was between her and the archer.

“I'll go once you ease up on the seal.”

There was no question in the woman's voice. She laid down no ground for argument. If Tousha turned from the archer to look at her, he would see the resolve in her eyes. Tsubaki breathed evenly, preparing herself for the pain. She knew she could handle it because she didn't have another choice. The archer was pulling out a single arrow, this one looking heavier. Thicker. He fired it as quickly as the others but this one sunk low to the ground on its path towards Tsubaki.

Several feet in front of her it collided with the ground and ricocheted back up at her. Tsubaki spun in a one-eighty so that she was now facing Yuji who was still alive but also still bleeding. Luckily, neither of the other men had been stupid enough to remove the shard. Yet. Her back pressed against Tousha's back as they each looked at their task.

“Cut it in half, Tousha.” Tsubaki's voice was firm. Tousha would hear no fear in her words. “We're in this together. Give me half the burden. I can take it.” She paused, her voice sounding just a little more like what Tousha was used to when she spoke again.

“I'm not ready to die. Let me give us a better chance.”

[Toshi]

“I'll go once you ease up on the seal.”

"What?" Tousha shot back, glancing at the Kunoichi over his shoulder and finding a deadly serious look on her face. He knew it all to well. She'd looked at him the same way the first time they'd met, when she was treating him for a bad case of poisoning and refused to budge an inch on much of anything. Frustrated, Tousha set his attention back on the archer, who had already fired a thick looking arrow. The projectile hung so low to the ground that it passed just under one of Tousha's floating chakra discs, skipped off the craggy forest floor, and darted right for Tsubaki.

The Kunoichi deftly avoided the arrow, placing herself right behind him in the process. Tousha felt Tsubaki's back press into his own. It was the first real relief he'd felt in days, but he forced that warmth out of his mind. What she was suggesting made the Kage clench his jaw, the muscles of his neck and face tensing in quiet objection.

He knew she was right. She always was. That didn't mean he had to like or accept it.

"I'm not doing that," Tousha said, his voice pained beyond the labors of his attempts to hold off the bowman's attacks. Two more arrows glanced off the discs, this time from wildly different angles. The Kage barely had time to react to the third shot, realizing almost too late that the first two had been nothing but distractions. The third shot zipped past two discs and curved in a wicked arc aimed at Tsubaki's arm. Tousha shifted his weight and put his own shoulder in the way of the attack, groaning in pain as the arrowhead bit through his clothing and sliced through the pale skin hidden beneath.

The wound was superficial, and Tousha's own body had knocked the arrow just enough off course to make it go sailing past the Kunoichi and clatter to the ground harmlessly.

His fingers twitching as one, Tousha willed the discs to hover closer to Tsubaki. Like loyal guard dogs they refused to leave her side. "Don't make me do this," he pleaded to his friend, desperation darkening his voice. His mind was yanked back to the street, where he'd watched Tsubaki's body convulse and shake in agony. He could still hear her screams if it got too quiet. "I can't, Tsubaki. I can't watch you go through that again."

[Amy]

Tsubaki’s jaw twitched as Tousha fought her on what needed to be done. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand where the man was coming from because she did. The first moment the seal activated on the street of that town was seared into her memory. She had been working incredibly hard over the past couple of days to not think about that moment. And the few times that Tousha had lost concentration and let the seal partially activate she had had to work that much harder to block it out. And that was fine while they were just traveling. There hadn’t been anything she could do about it, she hadn’t been able to tell him that he could relax some. She hadn’t been able to convince him with a few glances that if she knew it was coming, that if it was just partially active, she could live through it. She had spent her whole life living through things. What was one more?

She swallowed heavily. The archer didn’t seem to have any desire to move into close combat which was expected. If Tousha could move more freely he may be able to close the distance and prevent the archer from firing off his terrifyingly accurate shots while she healed Yuji. Or, in an even more ideal situation Tousha would be able to kill the archer and she could let Yuji die. But either way, both options relied on her being able to tank the punishment from the seal.

With her back to the archer now, she could only hear the arrows as they headed towards her, trusting that Tousha would stop them. She heard the first two knock against his jutsu but the third did not. Her weight countered against Tousha’s, giving him something to lean against as he lurched in front of the arrow and changed the direction of it with his own flesh. His groan of pain flared the temper that she so resented.

“This is why,” she hissed at nearly the same moment he pleaded with her. She didn’t know why he didn’t understand. She had thought of every other option. Dai had given up trying to stop the archer, the three men by the fire only watched in some sort of passive abject horror and cruel amusement all mixed into one. Like she and Tousha had found themselves cast in an unscripted play and no one knew how it was going to end. She didn’t know how much longer Yuji would live for and she didn’t know if Tousha could stop the archer for long enough when he was in this state. Her hands clasped and unclasped behind her as she ran through everything one final time, trying to find an option for Tousha where he wouldn’t have to do this.

But there were none.

Her hands opened and searched for purchase in the back of Tousha’s clothing. She held tightly so that he could feel her grip, feel her hands pressed against his back. She loosened the reins on her emotions just enough so that Tousha could understand but not enough that they could run away with her.With what she was about to have to do, she was going to need all of the control she could muster.

“Tousha, I’ve been told my whole life what I can and can’t do. What I’m capable of and what I’m not. It never mattered what I said or what I proved or what I worked for. People look at me and for some reason they see something that should be put on a shelf, protected, and never taken down. It’s why I left. Both times.” Tsubaki realized that she couldn’t hear the archer drawing his bow any longer. She wondered if he was still visible to Tousha, what other tricks he had in store for them. There was no more time to waste. “I’m tired of being protected. I’m not made of glass, Tousha. Fight with me. I don’t want any more of my friends to sacrifice themselves for me. I can’t take it. Please, just trust me.”

[Toshi]

The bowman had retreated into the darkness that surrounded the small campsite. Tousha couldn't see him, but he could feel a cold, unyielding obligation to kill pressing down on them both from every direction. Would it be so simple that the young man had given up the hunt and disappeared into the wilderness. He could take Tsubaki far away from this nightmare, far away from anyone who wanted her to be anything but happy and free of pain. Bitter self loathing was threatening to take over the Kage as his eyes darted here and there, desperately trying to breach the inky blackness that concealed the only thing stopping their escape.

His eyes widened and stilled when he felt Tsubaki's hand clench at his clothing, her hand pressing into his back. As she spoke Tousha's eyes softened little by little. His breathing became even and calmer, that oppressive air of failure shrinking back like shadows fleeing from the safety of a candle's naked flame. Tousha's expression was still pained, still taught with a palpable need to put himself in harm's way over the slightest risk to the Kunoichi's wellbeing, but he could feel himself relenting to her.

Tousha closed his eyes, his brow locked in sadness and concern, and remembered all too well what it was like to be told he couldn't do something. To be seen as a fragile in a world too harsh for such weakness.




A young child, a wild-haired boy no more than 7 or 8 years old with thin, dark eyes and pale skin watched from behind a tall chain-link fence as a group of children paired off. The children, near the same age as the boy, were doing funny things with their hands and then disappearing into small puffs of smoke only to re-emerge as the person standing across from them. The dark haired boy's eyes widened and he grinned with delight at the trick, wondering how anyone could do something like that.

To him it looked like magic. To the other children it seemed so... Ordinary. He fumbled for understanding as he watched their teacher, a Kunoichi wearing an olive drab Konoha flak jacket, go from pair to pair. She beamed at her students' progress and offered words of affirmation or kind criticism here and there. Eventually she turned towards the boy standing alone, his stubby pale fingers wrapped tightly around the fence's wires.

Her face fell as she saw him. Even a child could recognize a look of such pity and condolence.

Before the young boy could call out to her, to ask if he could learn how to play with the magic too, the woman gathered her students into two orderly lines and walked back to the academy building. He watched them follow their teacher, obedient and normal, and disappear into the school.

The boy's eyes closed and he pressed his forehead against the fence.




“ Fight with me."


Tousha's eyes opened. With sudden clarity the Kage saw their situation from a bird's eye view. Not allowing himself to fight at the best of his ability was only going to get himself and Tsubaki killed. Protecting her from the manacle seal's agony at the expense of depleting what little of his chakra remained wasn't going to get them out of this mess. Neither was wishing that things were different or allowing his frustrations to cloud his judgement.

"You're right. I'm sorry," Tousha said quietly, forcing the immense empathy he felt for the Kunoichi to calcify into something harder. The worry savaging the Kage's brow fell away into a familiar sternness. At that moment, the bowman emerged right in front of Tousha. His weapon was at full draw, the arrow head pointed right at both of them. Then another archer appeared from their right flank, his weapon at the ready as well. Finally a third emerged from the darkness, closer to where Yuji and his men were still watching everything unfold.

"I trust you, Tsubaki."

With that, Tousha's unerring flow of chakra into the manacle seal lessened as if dammed off. The Kage breathed through his nose, ready to follow Tsubaki anywhere she needed him to.

[Amy]

Tsubaki inhaled a deep breath and held it when Tousha finally spoke, her eyes darting between the figures of the archer that appeared in her sight. She didn’t know how she was going to manage the pain but she knew that she had to. For everything that she had survived to make it to this moment of her life, she had to do it. It had to have all been worth something. She refused to accept that she had struggled for happiness for so long just to have her chances permanently ended by a few asshole bounty hunters in the middle of nowhere. She couldn’t let this be the end of her story. Her resolve hardened as Tousha uttered the words that meant more to her than he could know.

"I trust you, Tsubaki."

She released her breath in a hard exhale as the seal activated, the breathy noise turning into a strangled groan by the time she ran out of air. Her right foot slid forward to brace herself as her knees threatened to buckle underneath her. Her jaw clenched as the now terribly familiar feeling raced through her, just as horrible as she remembered, and for a brief moment she wondered if she had been too hasty in taking this on. Breathe, she told herself as her eyes started to lose focus, her mind riding the waves of torment that were crashing through her. The thought that she couldn’t do it ran through her mind, the words on the tip of her tongue. But then a movement from the archer on her right caught her eye and with a sharp, desperate sound she finally inhaled again.

“I’m okay,” she finally said, her voice strained but clear. She gasped through the next few breaths, each one coming slower than the last as she urged the pain to settle in the back of her mind. “My right,” she ground out as the archer’s bow shifted just slightly and he fired in their direction. The arrow’s trajectory didn’t make any sense at first, the path was going to lead it far above and past them.

Tsubaki shifted her feet side to side, digging them deeper into the earth and trying to use the biting sting to pull her mind away from the pain of the seal that she still couldn’t name. She had been prepared to jump to the side to avoid whatever sudden turn she expected the arrow to make but what she did not expect was for it to suddenly burst in the air above them. When she tried to turn to shield herself, she realized the seal was going to affect more than she had hoped. With the sudden movement, she lost traction with her right foot and found it sliding forward sharply as she landed hard on her left knee. Another loud, pained groan eased out of her as she had to put all of her effort into not tumbling over.

“He’s going to bleed out.” She wanted to tell him more, but getting that much out was more of a struggle than she would admit. “Can’t get to him like this.” There was no way that she could manage the pain and avoid attacks from what had become three archers. It was taking most of her concentration to remain upright and ready to dodge. She just had to hope that with this part of the burden taken off of Tousha’s shoulders, he would be able to get her there.

[Toshi]

Tousha couldn't spare a moment to look back at Tsubaki as he heard her struggling against the effects of the manacle's seal. The bowman moved as one and launched a volley of probing projectiles at the two chained Shinobi. The Kage set his jaw and focused on the incoming ranged attacks, sharpening his spatial awareness to account for the barrage of arrows without letting a single pass through his defenses. More ethereal chimes sounded out in an eerie harmony, reminding Tousha of an otherworldly staccato orchestra of chirping crickets. Each of the Kage's chakra discs darted this way and that, his fingers twitching independent of one another and met with the swift response of another reflected attack.

Through the sounds of arrows whistling through the air only to be met with a floating chakra disc, Tousha heard Tsubaki hit the ground and groan. Fearing she'd been shot, he chanced a look in her direction. One of the archers noticed the brief distraction and launched an arrow at half draw, quicker than Tousha expected. The arrowhead bit deeply into his left flank, the sharpened steel finding a rib and coming to a painful stop. With a grunt the Shinobi grabbed the arrow's shaft in a reverse grip, the only way he could manage to grab it at all while bound in irons, and snapped it just an inch past where it protruded from his clothes.

Feeling a rush of adrenaline and urgency wash over him, Tousha looked at the Kunoichi and then at where Yuji was still grabbing uselessly at his throat. The sliver of rock was still stuck in him, preventing the bounty hunter from speaking. To make matters worse, Tousha's sharp gaze spotted the arrow that was arcing high above their heads. He watched as it shattered, splitting into hundreds of splinters that threatened to rain down on himself and Tsubaki.

With a groan of effort Tousha focused inward and willed his Chakra Gates to constrict. He was running on the last of his fumes, but maybe he could make what he had left last long enough to give Tsubaki the time she needed to save their captor. Tousha's pale body sparked to life as his chakra network shined through his skin, creating a glowing blue webbed network to spread out from his torso until it reached all of his extremities.

Just as Tsubaki said she couldn't get to Yuji in her condition, Tousha ground his feet into the earth and knifed towards the Kunoichi at full speed. He scooped her up, barely breaking his stride, and darted away a fraction of a breath before the forest floor she'd just been laying on was peppered with a swarm of angry, biting shrapnel.

With considerable effort, Tousha slammed his feet into the root-laden dirt and came to a skidding halt just in front of the three bounty hunters and their still roaring campfire. Tousha's blue, illuminated chakra network intermingled with the oranges and reds from the licking flames as he placed Tsubaki down as gently as he could. The Kage's chakra discs returned to him obediently, and he willed them to form a rotating blockade around himself and the others.

The Leaf Shinobi was starved for, his ragged, long breaths doing little to satisfy his wailing lungs. He had seconds left of fight in him, but he'd use them well.

"Hurry," Tousha sputtered, the chakra gates fighting back with each passing moment. His glowing network of energy flickered briefly before bursting back to fading life as two of the archers converged at the center of the camp, unleashing a steady stream of attacks. The rotating chakra discs raised, lowered, and weaved to reflect each projectile, though their movements were becoming more and more erratic .

Unseen, the third archer had managed to run up a nearby tree and was crouched atop a thick branch hanging over the group nearly twenty strides away.

Jutsu usedShow

Mujuushin • Count the Leaves
B-ranked Taijutsu Discipline
By heightening his spacial awareness through diligent training, the practitioner of this Discipline is able to perceive multiple incoming threats without dividing his attention between them. This will allow the user to react without hesitation in a way that addresses each source of danger effectively.

Mastery activeShow

- F8 (30 Mastery) - The Eight Gates narrow significantly, improving chakra control, chakra efficiency, and and Endurance due to the high concentration of chakra saturating the body: +5 Control, +5 Chakra Pool, +5 Endurance

[Amy]

“As much as I’d love to stand here and watch you bleed to death, my friend needs help.”

Tsubaki’s eyes darted between the three men as she stood in front of them. Because of them, Tousha was standing behind her, risking his life to save her. Again. She had watched him throw himself in front of danger for her too many times to count recently. He had carried her to safety through a mudslide, waged war against nature and won, and found them a safe place to stay for the night. And already, they were here again, his life on the line. Rage practically poured off of her body as she closed the short distance between her and the men, each step slow and deliberate. The pain coursing through her spun and threaded its way into the rage and combined until both shone brightly in her eyes.

Dai took a hesitant step towards her when she was almost to Yuji. Her eyes locked onto his and when she spoke it was with the voice of a shinobi with the confidence to bring a man back from the edge of death who had no time to waste.

“Undo my hands so I can save this piece of worthless shit so that I can save my friend.”

The man hesitated again, his eyes drifting back to Yuji and then back to Tsubaki’s. "Wh-You ca’t sa-”

“I’m a medic. A shinobi medic. So yes, I can. Now undo. My. Hands.”

Every second she was standing there was another second of strength she was losing. Every second the pain of the seal tore through her body was another second that she wasn’t going to be able to help Tousha. Because first, for as sick as it made her, she had to save Yuji.

And still, they hesitated, the men glancing between each other and the woman before them. Tsubaki took another step forward, her eyes darkening further, something akin to a snarl settling over her face as she locked onto Yuji.

“Have you lost feeling in your fingers and toes yet? Is your vision going dark? Can you feel your warm, thick blood sliding down your throat, filling your stomach? I wonder what it will feel like to throw it all up with that shard in your neck. I wonder if you’ll suffocate or bleed out first.” One more step had Tsubaki looking straight down at Yuji where he had collapsed on the ground. Neither Dai nor Goro seemed to have the presence of mind to stop her.

“I wouldn’t dirty my hands touching you for no reason. I could just stand here and do nothing and you would be dead in a few minutes," she spat out. Yuji’s eyes widened slightly. “I don’t care about you. But I’m going to save my friend. So undo my fucking hands.”

There was only one more beat of silence before Yuji nodded his head. She immediately felt Dai’s hands at her wrists, unlatching them from each other and the chain hanging from her neck. The pain in her shoulders as they released for the first time in days settled into the melting pot of boiling rage and fury in her soul as she allowed herself to fall to her knees in front of Yuji. There was no point in fighting it, not when she needed to be closer to him anyway. She didn’t have time to waste pretending she wasn’t struggling with the burden of the seal. All she could do was use it to push herself towards her one and only goal. Save Tousha.

“I may not be able to let you die here,” Tsubaki said to Yuji. Her voice was low enough that only he would be able to hear her and there was a new twinge of cruelty that hadn’t been there before. She wrapped her hand around the shard of stone in his neck and smiled straight at him as a flash of fear appeared in his eyes. “But if you get to live, I’m going to make damn sure you never forget us.”

In one sharp movement, Tsubaki yanked the shard out of Yuji’s neck, blood spurting out violently. She continued the momentum though, swinging the shard down and through the center of his hand, down into the soft earth beneath it. He tried to scream, air bubbling up through the blood that was pouring from his throat.

She didn’t waste any more words on him. Her right hand was coated in chakra as Tsubaki placed it against Yuji’s neck. Nothing had ever felt as disgusting as letting her chakra touch him. Nothing had felt as painful as willing her damaged chakra network to open and bend to her will. Her hands shook as she willed the new pain to settle with the rest of it, to fuel her until she could get to Tousha. As long as she could last until she made sure he was okay, it would all be worth it. She utilized her years of training as a medic to focus on only the task at hand, pushing everything else to the side.

The thumb of her left hand pressed below the nicked artery, causing the flood of blood to slow to a mere trickle. She knew she had to work quickly and without waste, so she first used mystic palm to heal the damage to his artery and trachea, the things that were threatening his immediate life. It was all of the precise work she would use on him, the necessary minimum. As soon as the wounds were closed she looked up to his eyes, her brow settled in a harsh glare.

“Call the archer off, now or I’ll slit your throat again and this time there won’t be a second chance.”

As soon as his mouth opened, Tsubaki began stitching closed the wounds on his neck so that she could get to Tousha as soon as Yuji finished speaking. She just hoped that she had been fast enough.

Jutsu UsedShow

*[Medicinal Style • Medic]
C-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Perhaps one of the most important disciplines of any aspiring Medic, one who has mastered this Discipline can maintain a clear mind when treating patients. Techniques of equal rank or lower that affect this character's emotional stability or distract them from their work will have no effect while they are treating patients.

*[Medicinal Style • Pressure Points]
D-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
The user has learned all appropriate pressure points on a body. In the event of bleeding, they know where to apply pressure to slow the bleeding while treatment is administered.

*[Iijutsu • Mystical Palm]
A-Ranked Ninjutsu
One of the almighty and most highly coveted abilities of medical-nin, the *[Iijutsu • Mystical Palm] technique allows its users to heal wounds quickly and efficiently. After focusing chakra into his/her hands, the user will place them over the wound in question and begin to channel chakra through it. As the chakra interacts with the cells and tissues in the area, the wound will begin to regenerate and heal over until there's no remnant of it ever being there.

*[Iijutsu • Chakra Stitching]
C-Ranked Ninjutsu
The user performs a short set of hand seals and then will gently place their index finger at the base of the patient's wound. Once this is done, the user will lift their finger and touch it to the other side of the wound, causing a visible 'stitch' of chakra to appear and hold the wound together with [Control] Strength. This is repeated until the wound has been pulled together. Actions performed with more [Strength] or [Speed] than the [Control] used to create the stitch will destroy it.

[Toshi]

While Tsubaki tended to Yuji, Tousha was meeting a fusillade of arrows head on. The world shrunk to the size of the surrounding camp as the Kage's entire being focused on deflecting the incoming projectiles. The archer's goal was to kill Tsubaki, that much was clear, but their tactics had shifted in the seconds since they had begun their assault in earnest. He seemed to understand that the best way to reach the Kunoichi would be to take down Tousha first, leaving her vulnerable to attack. Tousha couldn't fault the ranged Shinobi's tactics, it's probably what he would do in the same situation.

What the archer hadn't accounted for was that Tousha was incredibly pissed off.

The Kage's movements blurred as he poured what little chakra he had left into maintaining the chakra discs that darted through the air like birds of prey, battering away the perfectly aimed projectiles before they came close to their marks. More eerily harmonious chimes rang out in the night as sharpened steel met hardened chakra. He maintained this frantic but somewhat controlled pace for what felt like hours, though only a a handful of seconds had trickled by. Tousha couldn't remember the last time his chakra reserves had been pushed to their limit so severely, but stopping now wasn't -

- An involuntary scream escaped his lips as one of the arrows bounced off of another that had already been reflected, altering both of their trajectories. One of them bit deep into Tousha's right foot, penetrating through flesh and bone before sinking into the forest floor below. The second arrow found its way past Tousha's manacled arms and stuck with a dull thud into his midsection.

The chakra discs wavered for a moment, threatening to tumble out of the air as Tousha's body fell into a kneel against his will. With his bloodstained teeth gritted he flung his arms forward, willing the discs to form a spinning barricade between himself and another volley of arrows. Both of the archers directly in front of him were slowly walking forward, firing arrows at an accelerated pace with each step. They were focus firing all of their shots directly at Tousha now, pressing their advantage.

The third archer perched high above the camp, drawing slowly and focusing a small but intense dose of chakra into his arrow's tip.

One of the chakra discs shattered like spectral glass as Tousha's vision began darkening at the edges. He could feel unconsciousness beginning to take him now, but he fought furiously against the overwhelming desire to collapse. With a defiant groan Tousha stood once more, breaking the arrow shaft pinning him to the ground and rallying the remaining four discs to try to do the work of five. It was a losing battle, punctuated by several more arrows darting past the whirling discs and punching through Tousha's arms, legs, and left shoulder.

The archer overhead exhaled, aiming his chakra imbued arrow at the back of Tsubaki's head.

In a moment of pure instinct, Tousha sidestepped an arrow he knew would fly harmlessly past where Tsubaki was tending to Yuji. As the arrow passed time seemed to slow, and the glinting metal of the projectile's head drew his gaze. The Kage's eyes widened as he spotted the third archer in the polished metal, now at full draw, aiming a killing blow directly at his friend.

Without thinking, without time to think at all, Tousha turned his back on the advancing archers and angled two of his remaining discs to reflect one of the many incoming arrows they were launching at him. The reflected arrow bounced rapidly between the two chakra discs, ringing out almost angrily as they launched the projectile upward.

In the same instant, the third archer loosed his shot at Tsubaki.

"Neru!" Yuji's strained, garbled voice called out.

Tousha's reflected attack caught the chakra imbued projectile mid flight and knocked it off course as a quartet of arrows thudded quietly into Tousha's back. The Kage's eyes grew unfocused as he fell to his knees, facing Tsubaki and the bounty hunters as the chakra imbued arrow spun away and disappeared beyond the campfire's light. Blood and sweat stained his pale skin as his shoulders heaved with haggard, gasping breaths. His glowing chakra network flickered and sputtered out, the chakra discs cracked and crumbled away like fine grains of sand into the cool night air.

At the sound of Yuji's command, the archer high overhead and one of the other archers at ground level disappeared in a puff of smoke. The real archer, the one who had ricocheted the attack that had pierced Tousha's foot, collapsed to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut. They young Shinobi's eyes were still open as he laid on the ground, lifeless and dead to the world.

Tousha's eyes clumsily fell on Tsubaki. He tried to say something to her, but his mouth only parted wordlessly. Nara Tousha's gaze went blank as he collapsed to the ground on his side, arrows shafts protruding from his still body.

Jutsu usedShow

Mujuushin • Count the Leaves
B-ranked Taijutsu Discipline
By heightening his spacial awareness through diligent training, the practitioner of this Discipline is able to perceive multiple incoming threats without dividing his attention between them. This will allow the user to react without hesitation in a way that addresses each source of danger effectively.

Mujuushin • Mirror Sight
D-rank Taijutsu Discipline
Using the blades held in his hands, the practitioner of this technique is able to see the reflections of his metal weaponry as though he were looking into a mirror. This grants the user the ability to see from multiple angles at once depending on how many blades he is wielding. Any obstruction on the blades or any detriment to the user's vision will hinder this technique's effectiveness.

[Amy]

It was by and far the worst stitching job Tsubaki had ever done, even counting her first attempts as a child. Yuji would have small but horrific, jagged scars on both the front and back of his neck where the stone had pierced him. Tsubaki couldn’t have possibly cared less. Not as she heard Tousha fall to his knees behind her. Her heart pounded with urgency. Faster, she urged herself, faster. As soon as the last of the wound was closed Tsubaki spun away from Yuji so that she was facing Tousha, barely catching his eyes before they lost focus. Her hands slammed into the ground, her toes digging desperately for purchase underneath her. As soon as Tousha started falling to the side, Tsubaki pushed off with everything she had. In one moment, she was at Yuji’s feet. In the next, she was next to Tousha, her arms wrapped around his chest, holding up his limp body. She grunted with effort as she slid herself slowly onto her knees, lowering Tousha gently on his right side on the ground in front of her. She took the greatest care to position him so none of the arrowheads were pushed further into his body.

Her vision swam in front of her as she kept him propped up, her hands holding onto him tightly and shaking with the effort. How long had it been since she went to help Yuji? A few minutes? Five, at most, she guessed. “Tousha. I have you. You’re going to be okay.” Tsubaki panted over his body as she took note of the arrows in his body, her eyes drifting between each wound, categorizing them and prioritizing them. There were so many. And they were all good shots, deep. They were all more than a simple stitch job. As she started forming a plan, she noticed the change in the pain from the seal. She had been prepared for it to worsen, assuming that Tousha had passed out and would no longer be able to prevent it from siphoning his chakra. She had expected to have to do this while battling the cutting pain of the seal at full force.

It seemed that she had been wrong.

She bent down, putting herself face to face with Tousha. “Stop feeding the seal, you idiot. You’re half dead already, you need to relax and save what energy you have left. I’ll be fine.” Her voice was harsh but pleading and as she expected nothing changed. He wouldn’t let it go. Tsubaki couldn’t wait and she couldn’t waste time trying to convince him so she satisfied herself by cursing him in her head. She would yell at him later for being this self-sacrificing. For now, she had to get to work. She held her hand out behind her, palm up and open.

“Give me a knife.” She didn’t waste time being surprised when she felt the handle of Dai’s dagger settle into her palm. Swiftly, she cut through the clothes on Tousha’s upper body so that she could make absolutely sure that she wasn’t about to kill him by tearing arrows out. She slammed the dagger into the ground before heaving herself over his body and bracing his back with her feet so that she could use both of her hands. She ignored the way she could see the tremors from her body transferring into his. She could pass out when the arrows were out. All of them.

As she worked, Tsubaki didn’t know what else was going on around her. Every ounce of focus and energy was on Tousha and only Tousha. The first thing she did was snap off all of the arrow shafts right above the head, laying the broken, jagged pieces of wood next to her within arm's reach. She then placed her left hand in the center of his back, her fingers spread out and reaching out towards the four scattered arrowheads. Wincing, Tsubaki started channeling her chakra into his back as one by one she pulled the arrowheads from his back. The chakra seeped into the wounds, clotting them, and preventing more than a small trickle of blood from flowing from them.

Her chest heaved with effort as she switched to mystic palm again, grinding her teeth against the pain that sparked through her. Tousha taking on more of the seal was helping but the longer he did that for, the more danger he was in. Which meant she had to move quickly, no matter how much it hurt. Each puncture wound she healed all the way through the top layers of muscle, leaving what looked like a small cut on his skin. She could heal those later, remove the scars if he wanted. For now, it would prevent him from bleeding more and help prevent infection and it was where she had to draw the line.

Now that his back was free of arrows, Tsubaki scooted away from him and laid him down gently. She grabbed his hands and folded them over his abdomen, chakra still seeping from her hands as she held onto his. Her body was a shield between the men behind her and Tousha.

“Tousha, please, you have to stop.” Her voice was barely a whisper, choked with tears that had begun dropping from her eyes. After a few more moments, she released his hands, covering his left hand with his right. “You had me. Now I’ve got you. You said you trusted me.” Tears still running down her cheeks, Tsubaki could do nothing except continue to tear more arrows out of his body and heal the wounds one by one.

Jutsu UsedShow

*[Medicinal Style • Priority]
B-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
When faced with multiple patients, one who has mastered this Discipline is able to rapidly assess multiple patients and determine priority of their individual injuries and determine which require the highest priorities and which can survive with delayed care. An additional benefit of this Discipline is that one who has mastered it is always able to determine whether a patient is alive or dead unless they are under the effects of equal or higher technique designed to make them appear dead.

*[Iijutsu • Blood Clot Technique]
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
After focusing chakra into their hands, the user will hover them over the bleeding wound and begin to channel chakra through it. The chakra will began to thicken the blood, causing it to clot at [Control] Speed. Wounds can be dealt with one limb at a time and the number of wounds that can be tended to within the three (3) posts that this technique lasts depends on their size. Although this technique stops the bleeding, the wound remains vulnerable and will require further care after this has been performed.

*[Iijutsu • Mystical Palm]
A-Ranked Ninjutsu
One of the almighty and most highly coveted abilities of medical-nin, the *[Iijutsu • Mystical Palm] technique allows its users to heal wounds quickly and efficiently. After focusing chakra into his/her hands, the user will place them over the wound in question and begin to channel chakra through it. As the chakra interacts with the cells and tissues in the area, the wound will begin to regenerate and heal over until there's no remnant of it ever being there.

[Toshi]

Tousha couldn't believe he was still hanging on to consciousness, infirm as the grip was. He watched through unfocused eyes as Tsubaki swam in and out of his vision and tended to his injuries. She was speaking to him with her unique brand of annoyed concern, though he was finding it difficult to focus on the words. The Kunoichi's voice brought a feint smile to his lips, even as she was pulling arrowheads out of his bleeding and drained body. Thankfully Tousha couldn't feel any of it, save the occasional tug from Tsubaki's life saving efforts.

His body was going into shock, which only helped remove any pesky distractions from getting in the way of nursing the manacle seal with what little remained of his chakra.

She's safe, he thought, relieved beyond words.



While Tsubaki worked on Tousha, Yuji pried his hand off the ground where the Kunoichi had skewered him with the same rock she pulled out of his neck. Goro came to his leader's aid, offering a hand to help Yuji to his feet, The bounty hunter's face was settling back into its usual stony stoicism as he rubbed at his neck where Tsubaki had pulled out the shard of rock. Then the man's stare settled on his bleeding hand where a gaping, raw wound stared back up at him. Goro, seeing the injury and then Kunoichi partially free from her constraints, moved to pull her off of the former Hokage.

Yuji grabbed the man's shoulder and said, "No. We need him alive. Let her work." Still visibly rattled from the evening's sudden turn of events, Goro simply nodded silently and decided to watch the medical ninja with a grim curiosity. Yuji walked off towards where the bowman was still laying on the forest floor, holding his bleeding hand all the while.



Tousha felt himself being gently placed back first against the ground. With some effort, the Kage looked down at his hands as Tsubaki gently took them in her own. Healing chakra flooding into his broken fingers and washed them both in a soothing green glow. Then his eyes wandered to Tsubaki's tear streaked face and his brow creased with concern. She looked so worried and it broke his heart more than he could express in his current state.

Slowly, deliberately, Tousha reached out to her with his right hand as she was leaning over him. A pale, shaking thumb brushed away a line of tears there.

"You've got me," he confirmed softly, smiling up at the Kunoichi like the fool he was, "and I've got you." Tousha's tenuous grasp on consciousness was beginning to loosen. His vision was narrowing, the void threatened to claim him.

"So... Don't look so worried. Okay?"

Tousha's right hand fell back onto his left, his strained eyes closed, and he slipped into darkness.

[Amy]

Sweat rolled down Tsubaki’s body, mixing with the tears that wouldn’t stop. It didn’t matter though, nothing mattered except the chakra that she was urging out of her trembling hands. She heard the men beginning to move around behind her but she instantly shoved it out of her mind too, in the same way she shoved out the pain. It crashed against the walls of her mind like giant, city destroying waves, over and over again threatening to tear it all down. But Tsubaki grit her teeth and blocked it out. She had to. She wouldn’t have made it this far if she hadn’t met Tousha and she hadn’t even gotten a chance to tell him that he had saved her life more times than even he knew. She hadn’t gotten the chance to thank him truly for it. She hadn’t gotten to make sure he knew that none of this was his fault, that she didn’t care who he was. She hadn’t gotten-

She blinked hard as his hand brushed against her face, his words sinking into her ears. The tears only fell harder, the exhaustion in his voice clear. He wasn’t going to be conscious much longer. Again, he sacrificed himself to keep her as comfortable as possible. Her eyes, wide with panic, glanced at the task that remained. He still had several arrows in his arms and legs but they were all in non vital spots and none had hit bone. He still had one in his shoulder, one in his ribs, and one in abdomen. “Okay,” she whispered back to him, just before he lost consciousness, the pain of the seal fading with him.

It was somehow worse, the absence of the pain. Like it had been the only thing keeping her sharp and focused and now that it was gone, the only thing waiting for her was a bottomless void. She shook her head repeatedly, desperately trying to blink Tousha into focus. She used her arms to drag herself down his legs, not bothering to snap the arrows in them before pulling them out. Each wound she washed with her clotting technique before moving on until she was at his foot. This one had already clotted so she quickly healed that one as she had the ones on his back. Her shoulders heaved with effort as she scrambled back to his chest.

He’s just unconscious, she thought to herself as she pulled the arrow out of his shoulder, throwing it angrily to the side. He’s just unconscious.

Her body wracked with a harsh cough, her lungs desperate for air they weren't getting. She tore the last two arrows in the front of his body out with a sharp grunt. She covered the wounds each with one hand and poured her chakra haphazardly into them, worried more about time than control. “He’s just unconscious,” she whispered to herself this time. She shook her head again, squeezing her eyes closed while she did. She ripped out two more arrows, one from each arm that was near his elbows, and leaned over his body, one hand on each wound.

"Will he live?"

Tsubaki didn’t look up at Yuji. She couldn’t have, even if she wanted to.

“Shut up,” she said, hatred oozing from her words. When this was over, she was going to kill him. Slowly. She was going to watch what little life existed in his eyes limp out of him until he truly was an empty husk.

"Is he going to live?" The man repeated, annoyance in his voice.

Tsubaki almost laughed, the noise was nearly there but it fizzled out in her throat as she tilted her head slightly to look at the trash she had been forced into saving.

“Yeah. He’ll live. So wh-”

A short nod from Yuji was all it took. Before Tsubaki could say anything else a heavy thump sounded through the camp before a much softer one followed a moment later. Tsubaki had collapsed on top of Tousha, a thin line of blood trickling down the side of her face, knocked out cold.