Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Diplomacy ❯ Shunichi ( Chapter 11 )

NARUTO
DIPLOMACY
CHAPTER ELEVEN
BY
Sgamer82

     “M ama! Mama!”

     Kiriko winced as the voice sounded in her mind. Bringing with it both comfort and sorrow. Reminders of its owner were all around her, in the children’s playground she and her husband had chosen for the final stage of their plan.

     Soon… very soon…

     Kiriko and Taiki had waited ten years for this moment. Their opportunity for revenge against those who had wronged them. The ones responsible for taking the one person more important to her than Taiki, than her own life.

     Shun… my little boy… we’ll have our revenge soon.

     As though on its own, Kiriko’s hand whipped out, sending a kunai toward the source of movement she had detected behind her. Turning around, Kiriko saw where Hyuga Hanabi sat, bound tightly. Her gaze was focused on the blade that had flown past her face, missing it by millimeters. Kiriko saw the small bulges of blood vessels protruding around the child’s forehead and eyes.

     “I recommend you keep your Byakugan to yourself, Hanabi-sama.” Kiriko said, stressing the “-sama” with as much venom as she could manage, “The Byakugan disgusts me. Attempt to use those eyes again, and I will gouge them out, are we clear?”

     Hanabi submitted with a gulp and a stiff nod. Kiriko had to give the little girl credit. She was almost certainly terrified, but did an admirable job of choking it back and staying calm.

     “Why?” Hanabi asked hesitantly, “Why are you doing this, Kiriko-nee-chan?”

     “Very well,” Kiriko said with a grim smile, “While we wait for Taiki to arrive, I’ll tell you what this is all about.

     R 20;Hinata-Onee-Sama!”

     R 20;It all started about ten years ago.” Hinata began, “I was only about five years old at the time, so most of what I know is second-hand.”

     “But you’re sure?” Chie asked as they leapt through the tree tops. Chie tried not to let conversation distract her conversation too much. Hinata was moving through the forest at a breakneck pace, and it was all she could do to keep up. Chie wondered how Hinata could speak and maintain the concentration for the speed and accuracy her leaps. Some of which were extraordinary, in Chie’s mind, and spoke volumes of the girl’s familiarity with forests in general and this one in particular.

     “Yes, if they are the abductors, there can be no other motive!”

     Chie didn’t answer. She needed her focus to keep up with her partner, and besides there was no reason to. Instead, she kept quiet and allowed Hinata to continue.

     “I remember him, too. Kiriko-nee-san and Taiki-nii-san would bring him to the same playground I used to go to. We were playmates, despite having different ranks within the clan.

     “His name was Shunichi, he was just a year younger than I was.”

     “So he died?” Chie asked between leaps, “And these guys think your family was responsible?”

     “No, not think… we were responsible.” Hinata said, “Your country rejects those with Kekkei Genkai, so you likely don’t know just how far clans possessing them might go to preserve them. The Hyuga clan divided itself, creating two groups within it. The first is the Main family, of which I am heir. Then there is the subordinate Branch family which Taiki-nii-san… and Shunichi-kun, were born into.

     “When a child of the Branch becomes old enough to begin training, he is marked by the Main Family. This mark is a Juin, a cursed mark which is branded into the person’s head, and fades only upon death.”

     Hinata noticed Chie didn’t even gasp in shock.

     “I’m no stranger to extreme methods.” Chie managed to get out, “My village used to have a particularly barbaric ceremony for becoming a Genin… it was forbidden before I began training, so I never took part in it myself.”

     Hinata had heard of that, but continued her own tale instead of commenting.

     &# 8220;Shun was a sickly child.” Kiriko told Hanabi, “He was ill as often than he was well. We had held off his marking with the Juin for as long as possible, fearing the consequences.”

     All of a sudden Kiriko kneeled down in front of Hanabi, and began pushing her thumb into the girl’s forehead.

     “But would they listen?! Did they even care?! NO!!” Hanabi began to whimper as Kiriko began pressing her thumb harder and harder against the child’s head, “They took him away, screaming for his mama! They took him! And they branded him with that mark!!”

     She suddenly pushed forward hard enough that Hanabi was forced onto her back. Kiriko stood, and looked down at the girl.

     “Our worst fears were realized.” she said, as she suddenly planted a foot into Hanabi’s stomach, “Shun’s body was simply too weak. He couldn’t handle the pain. It killed him!”

     “Kiriko!!”
     The woman suddenly looked up, as if broken from a daze, to see her husband walking toward her.

     “Taiki… I…”

     “Our plan is no good if you over do it. Remember, our plan is not to kill her.”

     “I know…” Kiriko said meekly, lifting her foot off of Hanabi, who was gasping for the air Kiriko had stomped out of her.

     “Did all go well?” Kiriko asked.

     “Not as I would have liked. I had the crowd ready to lynch the Mist girl. When that damned diplomat figured out the truth and announced it to everyone!”

     “But you escaped?”

     “Yes… 221; he suddenly could not meet her eyes, “I am sorry, Kiriko, I broke our promise. I used the Byakugan to hit everyone with the Hebi no Nirami.”

     “Will we have time?”

     “Enough, I made sure everyone in the vicinity was hit. Anybody who comes later won’t know what caused their paralysis until it wears off. By then, we will have finished.”

     “Then I forgive you.” Kiriko said, “In fact, I’m almost happy. Using their own eyes to aid our goal… it’s wonderful. Perhaps I should never have made you promise not to use it.”

     “Perhaps, but I would refrained anyway. I know how much you’ve despised my eyes…”

     “Your eyes, I do hate them.” she said, as she placed a kiss on Taiki’s lips, “But I love you Taiki. If not for you, we wouldn’t be here, ready to make them all suffer.”

     “Yes.” Taiki responded, he eyed a black case that had been lying on the grass by Hanabi, “Let us get underway, then.”