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The sky was a clear, endless blue.
Bright sunlight streamed through the window of an empty office.
Yugito was stopped at the door to the Hokage's office.
"I have business with the Hokage," she lied, smooth and practiced.
The guard at the door barely reacted. "The Hokage isn't in."
"Hmm?" Yugito frowned, glancing at the flow of people on the street below. "It's not even the end of the day yet, is it?"
"…The Hokage left the village on a mission," the guard said flatly.
Yugito narrowed her eyes. What mission could possibly require Tsukimi Heshu's personal involvement?
She sighed and turned away.
Her long braid swung through the air in an arc before settling against her back.
She wasn't particularly disappointed. Most of her excuses to see Heshu ended in failure. She'd been turned down so many times that rejection barely fazed her anymore.
She was just… curious. What kind of mission could pull him away?
With Heshu gone and lunchtime approaching, Yugito headed to a small, out-of-the-way shop she frequented. The food was incredible.
The place was cramped. Right now, she was the only customer. She placed her order and idly scanned the menu pasted on the wall.
"Hmm?"
The curtain over the entrance stirred. Wind chimes hanging from the eaves clinked softly. A faint breeze brushed against Yugito's back.
She turned to look at the new customer.
Hanataki stood there, draped in the black-and-red cloak of the Akatsuki. His mask gleamed with a cold light under the shop's white glow.
Yugito's pupils contracted. Her instincts screamed to run, but her eyes flicked to the shopkeeper behind the counter—an ordinary woman, with a child. If she fled, what would these men do to them?
She gritted her teeth.
Please, she prayed silently, don't come out now, ma'am.
Fate loved to be contrary. The curtain to the kitchen parted, and the owner's wife stepped out, carrying Yugito's order. She acted as if Hanataki and the red-haired man beside him weren't there, placing the bowl before Yugito with perfect calm.
"Please enjoy, miss."
Yugito's heart turned to ice. She looked sharply at the woman, searching her face. Nothing. No alarm, no fear. Only deep within her pupils, a faint, flickering golden sheen.
She's under control.
Yugito's fists clenched. Her body tensed, every muscle coiled like a hunting leopard. She could explode into motion in a heartbeat, become a blur.
She knew her own limits. Facing this man, whose name shook the entire shinobi world? A man even the Five Kage couldn't defeat? The gap was… unimaginable.
Escape was the only logical choice.
But she couldn't. Not with the kind woman and her child held hostage.
"Don't bother struggling," Hanataki's voice was cool, his gaze flicking to the faint chakra glow gathering around Yugito's hands.
"You!" Yugito spat, teeth grinding. "I'd die before I let you take Matatabi!"
Hanataki chuckled, utterly dismissive. "I think you know, Jinchūriki. Your death doesn't guarantee the tailed beast's."
They could kill her and seal Matatabi afterward.
Yugito's heart plunged into an abyss. This was the truth. She knew his power too well. Despair, cold and heavy, settled in her chest. Heshu wasn't in the village. She couldn't think of a single soul who could save her.
But she wouldn't give up. Not like this.
Matatabi's voice resonated in her mind. Even the beast preferred partnership with Yugito over capture.
Blue patterns erupted across Yugito's skin. Her hair lifted in the surge of chakra. Her pupils transformed, turning white, gleaming with primal, feral ferocity.
This was different. She wasn't losing herself. She and Matatabi were one, fighting together.
A monstrous wave of tailed beast chakra exploded outward.
A blue streak flashed past Hanataki and vanished into the street.
Yugito poured everything into speed. Trees, buildings, people—all became a streaking blur. She knew she couldn't outrun him. Her only goal was to get far away, to draw the fight away from the innocent.
Deep in a lush forest, she moved like the cat Matatabi was, limbs flowing between branches with impossible grace.
Her animal instincts screamed.
She stopped dead, crouching low on a thick branch. Every hair on her body stood on end. A suffocating wave of terror crushed her.
Shink!
A thin line of golden light sliced past the corner of her eye.
The metallic scent of blood filled the air.
Yugito lifted a trembling hand to her face. Her fingers came away wet and red. Pain bloomed from her temple. Matatabi's instincts had saved her—that light had been aimed for her forehead. A grazing blow. Her vision was intact.
She launched herself backward.
A figure materialized in front of her.
Another golden thread. It struck her knee.
Crunch.
"Ugh!" A strangled cry escaped her. Her face drained of color. She collapsed, half-kneeling on the rough bark.
Sweat beaded on her forehead and fell. Her knee was gone. Not broken—shattered. Pulverized. Standing was impossible.
Her fingers dug into the tree bark, nails biting deep. In the eerie silence, fear spread through her veins like ice.
"Scared?" Hanataki asked, tilting her chin up. Her pale, terrified face reflected in the dark lenses of his mask.
Yugito's pupils shrank. The taste of blood filled her mouth. She forced her expression blank, emptied her eyes of all emotion.
The hands resting against her thighs twitched. From her fingertips, sharp steel claws extended.
With a roar that tore from her very soul, she lunged. Every ounce of hope, every shred of will, poured into this final, desperate strike. Her body, broken and bleeding, moved with a power beyond instinct. The claws flashed, aiming for his throat.
Her strike met empty air.
A hand closed around her neck.
The air vanished. Her strength bled away in an instant. His grip was iron. One slight squeeze, and her life would end like a ripple fading on a pond.
Worse, she felt it. A terrible, violating pull. Chakra—Matatabi's chakra—was being forcibly ripped from her core, flowing out from her stomach into his waiting hand.
Deep within her, Matatabi, normally so calm and gentle, raged against the violation. The feeling of being utterly, helplessly controlled drove the beast into a frenzy.
Hanataki, inconvenienced, gestured. A shimmering golden barrier formed, compressing Matatabi's form into a tiny, struggling cube.
Blood trickled from the corner of Yugito's mouth.
The fierce light in her eyes dimmed, faded, and went out.
The warmth of life seeped away, replaced by a profound cold.
Hanataki watched as her body fell from the high branch, tumbling down through the green canopy. For a single, fleeting moment, his gaze held a hint of hesitation.
"Let's go."
Sasori's voice broke the stillness. He judged Hanataki's mood had improved enough.
The sound scattered that last trace of pity in Hanataki's heart.
A flash of gold. The two figures were gone.
A cool forest breeze rustled the leaves. A single, vibrant green leaf broke free. It drifted, turning slowly in the air, and finally came to rest upon the grass.
It settled over Yugito's dull, unseeing eyes.
The last rays of sunset died. Night claimed the forest, wrapping it in a deep, silent darkness.
…
Rōran Ruins.
A desolate desert.
A lonely, skeletal tower.
By the ruins of the sealing platform, two figures waited anxiously.
"Where are they?" Sakura fretted, wringing her hands. "Why aren't they back yet?"
Sai offered a strained smile. "I'm sure they're fine."
Sakura's mouth twitched. She didn't bother replying.
Suddenly, a flash of purple light erupted not far away. As it faded, three figures appeared through the settling dust.
"Naruto!" Sakura cried, spotting his spiky blond hair. She rushed forward, then skidded to a halt. Her eyes widened. "Hokage-sama?"
"Mission complications," Heshu explained simply. "I came to assist."
Sakura flushed with shame. "We… we couldn't handle it. We failed."
Heshu shook his head at her and Sai. "It wasn't your failure. Akatsuki showed up. You're not ready to face them yet."
"Akatsuki?!" Sakura and Sai exclaimed in unison.
"Let's head back," Heshu said.
Yamato had met up with them later, after everything was already resolved.
The journey back was quiet. Unusually quiet, especially from Naruto. Meeting his father, facing the masked man's attack, being treated as a burden… the experiences of Rōran had carved deep wounds and left profound lessons. Because of Heshu's presence, Minato's proposed memory-wiping technique was vetoed. Naruto carried the full weight of those memories back to Konoha.
To push them, Heshu shortened the normally three-day journey from the Land of Wind to just two. It was a grueling pace for the genin.
When they finally stumbled through Konoha's gates, Naruto was bent double, wheezing like an old ox. Sakura's face was pale, but she held herself rigidly upright, determined not to look weak in front of the Hokage. Sai, white as a sheet of paper, wore a similarly strained smile, sharing her resolve.
Heshu, with a mountain of paperwork waiting, had no time for a debrief. He gave them a nod and headed straight for the Hokage Building.
"Hokage-sama! You're back!" The guard at the door looked profoundly relieved.
"What's wrong?" Heshu asked.
He didn't need an answer.
A thunderous BOOM shook the conference room door.
"GODDAMN IT!"
"THOSE AKATSUKI BASTARDS!"
"I'LL KILL 'EM! I'LL SKIN 'EM ALIVE!"
The voice was a familiar, grating roar. The Fourth Raikage.
What was he doing in Konoha at a time like this?
"Hokage-sama!" As Heshu pushed the door open, all eyes snapped to him.
Nara Sōsai's face lit up like he'd seen a savior. Dealing with the Raikage is a special kind of hell, his expression screamed. Even a brilliant mind is useless against pure, unadulterated rage.
"Hokage! Finally!" The Raikage stormed over, slamming a fist the size of a dinner plate into the wall beside Heshu's head.
CRASH.
A section of the wall disintegrated.
Heshu stared at the rubble. "…Raikage. What happened?"
The Raikage's nostrils flared. "Yugito's dead. Matatabi's gone."
"What?" Heshu's eyes widened in genuine shock. He stared at the Raikage. This wasn't a joke. The man didn't make jokes about things like this. Heshu's own fists clenched. "The Akatsuki… they're everywhere."
"On the mission I assigned Naruto," Heshu added, voice heavy, "Akatsuki agents targeted him as well. The Nine-Tails' allure is the strongest."
His words explained his own absence. He'd been saving the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
The Raikage understood. Heshu was just one man, not a god. He couldn't be in two places at once. Deep down, the Raikage knew the truth: even if Yugito had been in Kumogakure, that masked man could have taken her just as easily.
"AKATSUKI!" The Raikage's chest heaved. He raised his fist to smash something else, found only empty air where a wall used to be, and slowly lowered it, grumbling.
"Hokage. Let's go. You and me. Let's wipe that nest of rats out. I can't take this anymore!" The Raikage's eyes burned with furious sincerity. His muscles were corded steel, hard as rock.
Heshu: "…"
Nara Sōsai's eyebrows shot up so high they threatened to disappear into his hairline. He swiftly inserted himself between the two Kage, plastering on a diplomatic smile. "Raikage-sama, please! Let's not be hasty! The Second Tails is just the beginning. The Akatsuki will move aggressively for the others now. This is precisely when we must be vigilant, not reckless! We need to strengthen our defenses. As leaders of our villages, we cannot act on impulse…"
He launched into a full-blown, patient lecture aimed at cooling the Raikage's volcanic temper.
Nearby, Killer Bee was lost in his own grief, a low rhythmic murmur escaping him. "Yo! Poor Yugito, yo! Damn Akatsuki, ho! Next time they see me, it's gonna be tragedy, see!"
"Bee," the Eight-Tails' voice rumbled in his mind. "If we see the Akatsuki again… running is the superior strategy."
Gyūki assessed the situation. A head-on fight was suicide. Speed was their only chance. If that masked man appeared… running might buy them a few more seconds. Fighting meant one outcome: capture. And then who would listen to Bee's terrible raps?
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