FicWad

The Widening Gyre



(Herein is the testimony of the Lady Hinata Hyuuga in the matter of her confinement with S-Class criminals Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi, taken on this day, the 31st of August, in the presence of Chief Interrogator Ibiki Morino and her Ladyship the Fifth Hokage, as well as miscellaneous ANBU personnel. All statements within have been sworn to be truth and nothing but truth. Let this stand as official record.)





Hideki had been the first to notice the circle of birds in the sky.

It had been the boys' idea to race home, to see how fast and how quietly they could make themselves go sailing headfirst through the tangle of the Fire Country's native forests as they made their way back. Hinata, flushed with the successful completion of their mission and quietly grateful that everything had gone off without any problems, let them enjoy themselves as she followed a little ways behind.

Two genin on their first C-rank mission and her, assigned by Kurenai-sensei to lead and watch.





"It's time you leaned how to lead a squad yourself," her teacher had told her when she'd called Hinata in to assign her the mission one winter morning.

"Don't misunderstand me," she'd added quickly, noticing the stricken expression starting to creep over Hinata's face. "I'm not dismantling Team 8. Never think that. However, while I'm incredibly pleased and grateful that you, Kiba and Shino are as close as you are, you do have a tendency to hang back and allow them to set the tone of your missions."

Kurenai-sensei rested her chin on her hands and gazed at Hinata, unblinking. Her voice was soft, but stern. "Hinata, this can't continue. I know it might not seem that important while you're part of your three-person squad, but it's absolutely vital to your development as a ninja that you learn to take charge and control people other than yourself.

Just for a moment, suppose you're part of a large, multi-squad mission in which the enemy manages to wound or wipe out most of the higher-ranking ninja, including, for the sake of argument, Shino and Kiba. You are one of the few left unwounded. Suddenly it's necessary for you to direct the survivors in their next action, whether it be retreat or a last-ditch attack." Her voice grew even softer, but no less hard. "As far as you've come, the way you are now, you probably would not be able to do that successfully, opening yourself to utter defeat."

Hinata bit her lip, and said nothing, unable to deny the truth of what her teacher was saying. Even with all her training and all the help'd she received from her friends--Neji, Hanabi, Kiba, Shino, everyone--there were still great gaps in her knowledge and skills, things that needed tending and practice.

She'd take up this challenge--/the hardest yet, I think,/ she told herself silently--with the same unflagging devotion and care she had given the others; it was her vow and her dedication. She wouldn't disappoint Kurenai-sensei, who had been the first to really believe in her, even before Kiba and Shino, before Naruto had given her his whole-hearted endorsement and fully opened her eyes to the strength she held fast to inside her heart. If Kurenai-sensei hadn't given her those first small seeds of outside courage...

She would not disappoint herself.

Kurenai rose from her desk, and came around to where Hinata stood, placing both hands on the girl's narrow shoulders and squeezing gently. "You are wonderful at mastering yourself. Now, you must learn to stand on your own two feet and take entire responsibility for the lives of others as well."

In her teacher's eyes, Hinata could see the words left unspoken: You will lead the Hyuuga someday; I know this. As Neji and Hanabi help protect you now, so must you be ready to protect them in turn when they need you. You must. You will.




This new training was supposed to start out slow and small; take two genin on their first C-ranked mission and proceed from there. Shino had been called away to an important clan function for this first time, so it was only she and Kiba who waited for their assigned genin to arrive at Konoha's main gate that early morning. It was bitterly cold.

Kiba had grinned at her from atop Akamaru and shoved both hands deep into the pockets of his parka, his breath hanging cloudy in the greyish air. "Nice weather, isn't it? Say, you want to make a bet? Last one to get back with their team has to buy everyone else dinner at the Red Lotus Cafe." He freed a hand and wiggled the fingers at her in cheerful menace, while she warmed her hands in the soft fur behind Akamaru's floppy ears. "The expensive Red Lotus Cafe."

"Kiba-kun," she'd protested, laughing, "your team only has to go a few hours away, while I have to take mine almost all the way across the Fire Country. That's not being fair."

He pouted, mockingly and Akamaru yipped something in response. "Aw. All you have to do is bring an ANBU outpost some not-terribly-important scrolls and enjoy the scenery while my team has to go bodyguard some minor lord's daughter at a party. We could be there for weeks, maybe, if they take a liking to us. Remember that story about how Kakashi-sensei took on that bodyguard job years ago and the old hag who'd hired him liked him so much she wouldn't let him leave?" He slapped his hand down on his leg for emphasis and said with slow, portentous gravity, "That...could be me this time. Or Akamaru, since we're really a package deal. You never know. Akamaru's a pretty awesome hunk of dog."

She was still laughing, doubled over and breathless, when their genin arrived, looking terribly small and young in the faint dawn light. They'd sorted out who belonged to whom, set down the terms of each mission and prepared to go; Kiba had leaned over and given her one of his fierce, one-armed hugs, something she'd only been able to return without freezing in panicked indecision within the last year or so. She'd put both arms around him in turn, her nose to the fur trim on his parka and smelled Kiba and Akamaru both, a clean, musky kind of smell. Then he'd left with a whoop and bound, and the last Hinata saw of him was the trees left swaying in his passing as his genin frantically tried to keep up with Akamaru's bouncing pace.

Her genin were two young boys named Hideki Totoyama and Yashino Takada, both genin for less then a year and veterans of ten D-ranked missions. Despite Kurenai-sensei's instructions and her own resolve, Hinata found herself in a nervous study for the first few hours of the mission, until she realized that both boys were more than slightly in awe of the Hyuuga Heir and just as frightened as she was.

After that, she'd swallowed down her fear and concentrated on showing them the ropes of the mission, which was not difficult, merely lengthy, and specifically designed to allow rookies to get a feel for the layout of the Fire Country, as well as learn to scout and judge terrain, something that Hinata was past mastery of. They'd had an uneventful trip out, made interesting by Hideki and Yashino's evident wonder and delight at being so far from home for the first time. The boys were quick-witted, obedient and eager to learn (though they persisted in calling her Lady Hinata, until she managed to get them to downgrade to "Miss"), and to her own mild surprise, Hinata found herself starting to relax and even enjoy herself.

They'd reached the outpost at sunset, making surprisingly excellent time for a mostly-rookie team and delivered their scrolls to the ANBU in charge, all without a hitch. After a short rest and a meal the next morning, they set off again, the boys in high spirits, she quietly happy with their good cheer and success.

Hours passed as they drew closer to home, and then Hideki noticed what even her sharp eyes hadn't.

"Look, Miss," he said, tugging at her sleeve as they stopped for a brief rest upon some branches. "Look at the birds. They're all flocking together like that...is something wrong?"

Hinata was leaning against the trunk, trying to catch her breath; her stamina, never the best, had improved greatly over the last few years, but too much exertion still left her paler than usual and panting. She simply hadn't been built with Neji's or Hanabi's energy reserves, but that didn't stop her from trying to push the border of her limits further and further with each try, grateful for even the tiniest bit of extra work she could scrounge from her body. It was always a struggle, but she liked it.

She glanced up, peering through the black lattice of branches over her head and saw the jagged wheel of birds hanging low in the somber winter sky. They swung clumsily around, dark bird-specks first scattering apart, then some diving, others flying in to fill the gaps that were left. Dozens dipped, flew down low and did not return.

Something on the ground attracting them...something that was most likely dead...

Her heart began to throb with quiet apprehension.

"Ma'am?"

"Ah, yes," she said; shaken out of her reverie, she called up the Byakugan. "Sorry. I suppose we should look, just in case."

They dropped to the ground and walked ahead quietly, Hinata in the lead; she judged from the birds' position and the glimpse she had gotten through the Byakugan that whatever it was they were seeking was no more than a ten minute walk to their west. She did not tell the boys that her look had shown her what looked like bodies scattered across the ground, or that they seemed to be human in form. Unconsciously, she spread her arms out a little as they walked, the better to shield them if whatever they sought turned out to be (as she feared) less than pleasant.

In a cleaning, under some wide-spreading oak trees, she found what the birds were so enamored of: the bloated bodies of three dead ninja.




They stood in a rough line staring at the sight, as speechless as the trees that clustered around them, and even more unmoving.

The dead nin lay in a rough semi-circle of dark bloody earth, arms and legs askew, weapons dropped uselessly at the sides. Crows hopped neatly around and over the bodies, tearing free fleshy strips with their beaks, which they devoured whole and then set out for more. She had briefly turned off the Byakugan to conserve chakra as they drew closer; as far as she could tell they walked through a landscape empty of all life other than themselves and the birds. Now, looking at them with her un-enhanced vision, Hinata thought the men had to have been dead for at least a few days, probably more. There was no sign of who had ambushed them or why.

Yashino finally let out a soft, strangled cry and would have started forward if Hinata had not grabbed his arm. "But Miss, they're Leaf," he choked, pointing frantically at a bent and discolored head protector that was just visible through the ruin of one of the men's skulls. "They--they could be people we know! We have to see! Ma'am!"

"Be quiet," she whispered fiercely, and pushed herself a little more forward, trying to keep them away as they whimpered behind her. "We don't know what's happened here, it could be a trick or an ambush. Ninja don't rush into a situation without checking things out thoroughly first. You two stay back there and stay alert--I-I'm going to try and find out what's going on right now, if I can." She bought her hands up, made the quick sign, and whispered "Byakugan!"

The world shifted into a kaleidoscope of colored blotches, reds and yellows for heat, blues and greens for chill. The birds became a bobbing dance of crimsons and golds, while the bodies remained coolly blue, shading down to lavender and deep violet. Now she could see the wounds that lay on the corpses' surface, deep slashes and long stabs that had gone right through the top layer of fat and muscle in some places; curiously, from the placement, they all seemed to have been made vertically, while the victims were standing. There was no sign of anyone other than the birds, the bodies and her own small team for at least four hundred meters around.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone else around, " she started slowly, "but even so, what we should do is continue back--"

"Miss, if we don't so something right now, the birds will eat everything and there won't be any evidence left for ANBU," Hideki said, interrupting, and stepped past her, out into the clearing, making a move to shoo the birds away.

Hinata had only a fragmented memory of the next few minutes.





(This is all she remembers:

Hideki takes two steps forward, not even out from under the trees yet.

All the birds, as if in perfect agreement and understanding, lift away from the corpses and into the sky with one motion.

There is a soft thunk, and the cry of a child in pain: Hinata and Yashino look over just in time to see several kunai fly past and bury themselves to the hilt in Hideki's throat. They all stare at this, and at the growing puddle of blood on the ground before Hideki's knees fold under him and he tumbles to the forest floor.

One of the bodies shudders and heaves. An arm emerges, then another. Faces follow, with torsos, legs and feet attached, easily shrugging the split husks away. The newly born men bring their hands to their mouths and swallow; their bodies suddenly flare up with reds and yellows and greens.

She is the one who sees their faces and realizes with a dull thump of shock, that these men are from Sound and they are turning their way.)





Three Sounds, all in a row.

"Hmm, so I guess it really does work," the tallest of them said, his joints cracking as he rolled his head around on his neck. "I guess Little Boss'll be pleased, but shit! Hours crammed in a fucking Leaf corpse to ambush two fucking kids and a girl! When we get back I'm going to fucking take Andara's head. Bastard said it was going to be ANBU coming this way, not a bunch of goddamned kids."

They tricked the Byakugan/, she thought numbly, scarcely listening to him. /By lowering their body temperatures, stopping their chakra and vitals and sewing themselves into corpses. This is...like nothing I've ever seen...Who...who could...

She stepped back a pace and collided with Yashino, who was shaking violently, fingers unsteady on his kunai; he'd already dropped several in his fright. Useless in a fight like this, but she could not blame him.

Protect them when they need you.

"L-listen," she said as quietly as she could through chattering teeth and trembling lips. "I n-need you to get a couple of meters further behind me. You remember the other ANBU outpost, not far from here, that we passed on the way in, right? I'm going to use Protection of the Eight Trigrams and once I do, I want you to go. Start running for the outpost and d-don't stop. For anything. Just run."

Yashino moaned. "Miss, I can't--"

"Leave me behind and don't worry," she whispered. "I-I'll catch up, I promise." These aren't good odds, but if we separate, there's a better chance that one will get away. This is the best and only way that I can see. I swore to myself and Kurenai-sensei that I would became someone capable of taking responsibility for other lives. She choked back a sob, but tears ran down her cheeks anyway, leaving tiny ice trails on her skin. Even if I failed Hideki-kun, I won't let Yashino-kun down as well. I won't let myself down.

Even if I die here, I can say that I did this.

I...don't want to die, though.

"Fucking kids," the Sound leader said again as he approached them. "I've got so many better things to do with my time then mess with ugly girls and stupid, senseless kids."

Behind her, she could hear rustling as Yashino got ready to flee for his life. Hinata waited until he was safely away, then dropped down into the stance for the Protection of the Eight Trigrams. I wonder if I'll ever get to tell Neji-niisan if this new variant works as we planned, or if it was a complete failure.

Please work.

"Kid's getting ready to run," one of the other Sound nin said, with a nod towards Yashino, his voice mocking. "You going to save him, girlie?"

"Don't recognize that stance, but them eyes...ain't that the Byakugan?" the third said, also moving to flank her and Yashino. "Don't matter though. I heard the only good one of the bunch was that Neji kid, and she ain't him."

Hinata could feel the slow roil of the chakra below her skin, waiting for release, and closed her eyes for a moment, steadying herself. "Run now," she said, eyes open once more, and felt her chakra snap out from within as she began to move through her attack. Yashino took off as if he was on fire, while the Sound nin froze in place, two to the right and the leader further left, kunai already lifted for attack.

Move closer together, oh move closer together, she begged silently.

They chose instead to test her barrier by hurling their kunai at her heart and head: each one struck the chakra wall that surrounded her with a sharp metallic crackle and fell to the ground, their points partially disintegrated. The leader's mouth dropped open, and worked in silent surprise for a moment, but he recovered all too quickly.

"All right, new plan: get after the fucking kid!" the leader yelled. "Bitch might be protected for now, but she can't last forever like this and she sure can't fucking move. The kid looks like an easy target, so go the fuck after him, Oboro, and take Mitsuda with you just to be sure he isn't hiding some crazy-ass bloodline too. I'll handle Byakugan here by myself."

The other two ninja nodded and began to move off in the direction Yashino had just taken, while the leader move forward and flipped a few more kunai at her, as if he thought he could startle her into dropping her shielding, and took a few more steps to the right, towards the other two.

Now or never. Here I go.

Forcing almost the last of her chakra out of her reserves and holding it ready, Hinata waited until the two Sound nin had almost sprinted to the edge of the clearing before she gave her stored chakra a sharp push out towards the three ninja and dropped out of stance, ceasing the regular attack.

There was a sound like glass breaking and a brilliant explosion of light; she flung an arm up against her face for protection, but some of the light still seeped through, temporarily blinding her. She had extinguished almost of her chakra in order to explode the shield of the Protection from the inside out; theoretically it would both create a shockwave and send thousands of razor sharp shards of chakra flying at the enemy while giving her enough time to escape in the confusion. Though her body ached terribly from the sudden drain and her eyes were still dazzled, she turned and jumped for the nearest tree, catching hold of the lowest branches and slipping higher up into the tree's crown, stumbling once or twice, all grace gone along with her chakra.

When her vision cleared, she turned for just a moment to look back at her handiwork, and saw that one of the enemy nin lay unmoving at the very edge of the clearing, his body in bloody tatters. Next to him, the other Sound nin was moaning and trying to drag himself to his feet, arm hanging useless and smeared in crimson from hip to forehead on his left side. He shambled up and staggered forward, managing to make it to the trees at the edge and disappeared from sight into the shadows between them.

The leader stood very still and mostly unharmed; as she watched, he lifted an arm to rub it against his eyes, blinking and squinting through the dingy winter sunlight. Despite her weariness, she needed to seize the advantage, and so she turned and ran, leaping through the trees as quickly as she could under the circumstances.

My chakra's almost all gone and he's barely even scratched...what should I do, what can I do...

"Bitch!" The voice was much closer than she thought it should be and her heart, already saddled with enough fear and grief for a lifetime, gave a painful thump of warning in her chest. "Don't think you'll get away from me, bitch!" A series of sharp snaps behind her and a quick look gave proof to her fears; he was coming into the trees after her. "You fucking killed Oboro, and he was one of the few people I could stand in that goddamned place! Mark my words, I'm gonna make you scream for that!"

Hinata ignored him and tried to force more speed out of her flagging body. I won't give up, not until the end. I won't--

There was a sudden, sharp pain at her neck and her body went pins-and-needles, fingers and feet blurry at the edges. The world became a whorl of white light that stabbed into her mind, making her cry out; she missed the next jump, slipped and crashed down to the forest floor, landing in a cloud of dust and pine needles. She lay there stunned.

Laughter from above.

She managed to lift her hand high enough /(I'm so cold, why am I so cold.../) to brush it against the aching place on her neck, probed carefully, found a thin needle-like object sticking out. A crawling weakness swarmed through her mind, trailing darkness along with it; she put her hand down again, carefully. Her mind didn't want to hold more than one thought at once, but the one she had now was good enough, and she held it there as she reached for the small bit of chakra she had left.

"I bet you'll enjoy my poison," the voice said from very close by. "It's a unique blend known only to me. Completely original and with no known antidote. Not even Lord Orochimaru knows of its existence: the medic-nin who autopsy you are going to have a fine old time trying to figure out what the hell it is you died from. Even so," (she could tell from his voice that he was moving even closer) "you won't die for a little while yet...and I promised...to scream..."

Hinata could still feel a little sensation through the ice that seemed to coat her entire body, could still move her hands and access her tiny supply of chakra. So when she felt the hands that reached out to hurt her touch down, she was prepared and waiting.

He never expected her to grasp his wrist as he bent over her, gloating, never thought that Hinata still had some chakra left or that she regularly pushed herself above and beyond what her body expected of her, or that she'd taken note of his major tenketsu points when she first saw them in the clearing. She thought of those points, grabbed hold of him with all the strength she had left and shoved all of her remaining chakra into his system, letting it scatter where it would.

Screams and the wet that landed on her face told her that she'd been successful.

"My arm, " he moaned from a great distance, his voice tinny. "Oh, my arm. You goddamned bitch! Bitch! Ahhhhh---"

Still holding that one thought fast in her mind, she struggled to her hands and knees, then to her feet, and stumbled out of the clearing.





She woke to shadow, to muted forest sounds and the faint touch of the air on her skin. Birds called dimly in the distance. It was very dark.

There...aren't any birds that cry at night...here...

Slowly, and with great effort, Hinata managed to raise a hand high enough to touch her eyes and verify that yes, they were open. Her hand dropped back into her lap.

I'm blind. My eyes are open and I can't see. I'm blind.

The cracking of branches rubbing against each other. Birds. Small rustles that she hoped were animals. No screams on the wind. She patted the area around her gingerly, came up with nothing but dirt and empty air.

No cover here. Have to...get away. Hide somewhere. Can't let myself be found...

It was even more of an effort to get to her feet, but she managed, and took one tentative step, then another, hands outstretched and shivering. Save for the tender spot on her neck, she could barely feel her body any more, so heavy and swelling with ice was it; the spot alone beat with its own poisonous warmth, slowly drawing all of hers away into it, leaving frost in its wake. Jealous spot, stealing all the warmth for itself. Hateful spot.

She tripped over something that might have been a rock, then another thing that might have been a branch or a log and sat down hard, her back coming up against a tree. The husk of a thorn-bush touched her gently on the cheek, but it couldn't scratch her through the ice of her cheek.

I can't go on like this/, she realized. /I could walk right over the edge of a cliff, or even the edge of a riverbank and not know it until it was too late.

For now, I guess I'll sleep.

She folded herself up as best she could, tucked her hands in her sleeves for a warmth she could no longer feel, and lost consciousness almost immediately.






Ah. I'm thirsty.

Somehow, she realized it was raining--/It's as cold as I am, but I can smell it, rain in winter, even Kiba-kun.../-- and dragged herself up for a drink. The icy water felt almost warm and gentle against her skin as she opened her mouth and tilted her head back to catch the drops on her tongue.

She lay quietly for a time afterwards, until the wind brought a new scent to her nose: thick and unpleasant, something that made her want to sneeze. Wet wool.

Footsteps in the dark.

"Hello," a voice said very softly from above. "What do we have here?"

Hinata immediately went still. Her heart, which to that point had been as frozen and sluggish as the rest of her, began to beat faster, sending little shoots of pain through her chest and limbs and she struggled not to cry out.

The crunch of footsteps moving towards her, now louder and more deliberate. Rough wet against her cheek, the hem of a cloak, or a sleeve, then fingers on her face, as hot as live coals, that melted the ice and brought pain and sensation back in its place. She tried twisting away.

"Well, you're not dead, though you certainly looked like it for a moment," the voice said pleasantly. It was young, male, good-natured, but that really meant nothing if she couldn't see his face.

The fingers touched her once more, turned her head to the side, making her whimper softly as the poison spot was moved. She waited until the hand retreated, then tried moving away again, but the poison burned in protest and overwhelmed her with dizzy heat. She fell back, her head coming to rest against a root.

The man tsked softly to her left. He was nothing more than a blot of warmth and a heavy scent in the darkness; the fingers reached out once more. "There's absolutely nothing to worry about. I'm a doctor. Let me help you."

He easily caught her weak attempts to push him away, holding her wrists fast in his warm fingers. "Now, now, don't struggle. I can't help you if you don't let me look."

"Please," she choked out. "You shouldn't...I can't..."

"Hmm," he said thoughtfully, completely ignoring her feeble protests. "Pulse slow and uneven. Labored breathing, dark streaks radiating out from that nasty red puncture wound on your neck...poison? I think so. You're also starting to show signs of hypothermia, by the way." His next words were quiet, reasonable and terrifying. "I'll have to take you back with me. Your condition is too serious for me to treat out here."

Take me...where....?

Hinata's head was suddenly very heavy, and her tongue thick. "Who--" she began and couldn't get the rest of the sentence out.

"You'll die," the man said simply in reply. She could feel him at her back and legs and hips, preparing to move her. "Do you want to die?" A hitch and she left the ground, borne up by nothing she could see, a jolt and a bounce. They were moving.

The next words came right by her ear. "I don't want you to die," the voice told her, breath ticklish. "Be strong. I know you can."

Know...me..?

Well, all right, Hinata thought, exhausted beyond all measure. She put her head down on what she thought was his shoulder and quietly passed out.


(At this point, Lady Hokage called for an end to the testimony over the protests of Chief Morino, citing the look on the Lady Hinata's face and her own concern for the Hyuuga's mental state. After much heated debate, a rest period was granted by the Chief's permission. Questioning will resume at a later date. F.O.)





The boss had been gone for a damned long time already.

Nidon stamped his feet and exhaled hard, cold straight through to his guts. He was getting seriously bored out here in the elements and almost considered starting a game of cards to pass the time while the boss was away doing whatever it was he did to things that interested him. It would mean a harsh punishment if he was caught slacking, but it was taking the boss so fucking long. You'd think he could finish things up at base instead of out in the great freezing open like this, but /no/, that's not good enough, he thought, and cursed under his breath.

Though, he thought with a sideways glance at Wakame, at least he hadn't been stuck with corpse duty this time. The fluids were already starting to seep through the heavy sacking, dripping into the dirt below while Wakame picked his nose, serenely oblivious to everything aside from himself. Some Leaf kid and two of their own, one in a lot of little pieces. The boss hadn't said anything though; just covered the kid's face, stirred some of their comrades's bloody pieces around with a stick--"Chakra burns?" he'd murmured--then ordered the whole kit and caboodle brought along.

Nidon had been ready to just write the whole thing off as routine bullshit, but then they'd found Togito lying gibbering in the earth a couple hundred feet back, missing an arm and alternating between cursing a "bitch" and wailing with pain. He'd been sent back to base with the third member of their happy group, while the boss had walked here and there, examined some little fiddly bits of broken twigs and tracks in the earth, then ordered them to stay there and vanished off into the trees. Togito's sobbing had echoed down the path for far too long until it died away.

Wonder who got him, he thought, and blew his dripping nose.

There was a rustle and crunch from somewhere ahead and he snapped to attention, as did Wakame, all thoughts of his nose apparently forgotten. The boss's mud-brown cloak could be seen flashing here and there through the trees, a dull springtime hue against the world's black and greys; then he was out, stepping forward with his bag slung awkwardly around his neck, and a small, blood-stained kunoichi cradled in his arms.

Must be the bitch, I guess. Funny, she doesn't look like much...

The boss was smiling, Nidon realized with a stab of apprehension, the girl temporarily forgotten. No, that wasn't exactly true: the boss was always smiling, but everyone in Otogakure learned to read the degree of his smile, the tilt of his head and the way his eyes widened or narrowed real damn quick unless they liked being up shit creek without a paddle. Hell, he'd seen the boss take down a spy from Iwagakure once on Lord Orochimaru's orders, and he'd smiled all the while as he did so.

Nidon still replayed that scene occasionally in his nightmares.

This wasn't a smile, he realized with a stab of apprehension; it was a grin. A grin like someone had come down off the clouds and given the boss everything his heart (if he had one) could possibly desire, and some stuff that he didn't even know he wanted until he got it to boot. It was one of the most fucking frightening things he had ever seen in his life.

Then he got closer to them, and the grin faded, to be replaced by his more usual blandly pleasant expression, but Nidon could still see the grin lurking around in the corners of his eyes.

"You want me to carry her, sir?" Wakame rumbled, startling him out of his thoughts; he pushed the corpse bag aside with a wet squelch and held out his big ham hands for the girl.

"No, no," the boss said politely. "She's a delicate case and might need immediate attention before I can get her stabilized back at base. I'll handle things for now."

The girl really didn't look like anything special, Nidon thought, staring at her as they walked. Short, skinny (big breasts though, he noted) snarled dark hair, pale as snow (though that could be from her injuries, he reasoned). There was one hell of a poison mark on her neck though, and the small hand dangling at her side was bloody to the wrist, but with no cuts that he could see. Then she was shifted, and he found himself looking straight into the shiny lenses of the boss's round glasses, and the deceptively clear grey eyes behind them. His own face, caught in miniature within the boss's eyes. A tremor slipped through him.

"Something the matter, Nidon-kun?" the boss asked calmly, over the top of the girl's head.

"No, sir," he said, carefully taking stock of every little motion he made, every gesture, every word. "Nothing, sir."

They walked the rest of the way back in silence.