Chapter 55 - A Twisted Heart and...

Naikou watched mildly as her servant’s premier jutsu was only vaguely effective.

“They’re a strong group. The girl is strong AND beautiful. The taller boy, with the eyebrows, he’s incredibly fast. But it’s the masked boy that interests me…such an interesting body…strangely attractive. No matter. Tomorrow, they will find this place, and I’ll make him mine.”

Naikou looked into the mirror, now a regular mirror. She tugged her purple robe a little lower, revealing more cleavage. This was how so many met their end; seduced by this heartless murderer. But her heart had begun to beat; THIS target she didn’t plan on killing. Ekyt Kaguya was to belong to her as a lover.

Whether he agreed or not.

Naikou did her makeup, and added some jewelry. The light purple sash around her waist concealed poisons, needles, and a dagger. She hoped that she wouldn’t have to mar her target’s body with them. She wanted the boy intact.

In the mean time, perhaps the girl should sample my genjutsu again…




Sakura felt it- genjutsu. But it was too powerful to release on her own. Ekyt was awake, and keeping guard, while Lee slept peacefully.

(GENJUTSU)

Sakura saw herself chained up in a strange room. It looked the workshop of the devil himself. Blood stained the walls, and even the thick chains that bound Sakura to some kind of torture device. It was a rack. Sakura felt it tighten, stretching out her body, her arms over her head, and her legs spread, so there was no chance of fighting back.

“Ah!” Sakura cried out in pain, feeling her limbs beginning to strain under the pull of the chains. Please…no! This isn’t real! But- I can’t dispel it! It MUST be real! No!

Koori walked into Sakura’s view. “Hello, sweetheart. You caused me so much trouble before…I had thought about killing you, as my Lady wanted, but I decided- torturing you, making your mind snap, would be more satisfying to both my Lady and myself. Your eyes are so lovely…soon, they’ll belong to me. But first…I want to show you my latest experiment…such a promising young boy…I DO hope I do this right…if not, oh well, plenty of others to try this on…”

Koori opened a curtain. The boy Naikou had put in her adjoining room was tied up, but only his torso remained. His arms, legs, and eyes had been cut off roughly. Blood poured from the holes where his limbs had once been. Sakura felt a wave of nausea, and swallowed hard, hoping to quell the feeling.

“Is anyone there?! Please, help me!” the boy shouted.

“I told you to SHUT UP!” Koori took his familiar four-pointed dagger and cut off one of the shrieking boy’s ears. “I will cut more and more off, until only what I need remains, unless you learn to shut up! If you are smart, you will forget all you are about to see…You know (chuckle), better safe than sorry…” Koori’s dagger thrust down twice. Where there were once life-filled brown eyes, there were now empty sockets of blood. The boy screamed, though if it was because he felt more pain or that his vision was gone was debatable. The blood dripped to the cold castle floor, where it would soon dry and become part of the structure, just as so much other blood had.

Koori’s hand reached for the zipper on Sakura’s vest, his yellowed hand working it’s mechanism. Sakura knew what was coming, and tried to fight. But it was hopeless. She could feel her mind starting to crack...

Koori had begun to mutter his strange words, in a language unknown to Sakura. That was when she realized he needed her as a sacrifice, just as Kora had been…

(END GENJUTSU)

Ekyt knew it- genjutsu. He leapt up from his kneeling position, rushing to wake Lee.

“Lee, I’m going in personally to stop this genjutsu. Whatever it is has pushed Sakura to her limit. I’ve got to enter her subconscious and tell her that it isn’t real. An external release won’t work, the genjutsu is too advanced. Keep an eye on my body…”

“Right!” Lee replied. He watched Ekyt made the handsigns, then caught his body as it went limp. Ekyt-san is taking a risk…whatever happens to him in her mind happens to his body in real life. If he is killed, his soul is trapped inside her…


(GENJUTSU)

Sakura almost WANTED to die…the shame was unendurable. She had never let a guy look at ANY private part of her body, but now, Koori was close to doing just that. The zipper on her vest jammed a little, still high up, leaving her covered up.

“Now, I need your body to perform the sacrifice, in place of that girl you meddlers saved. How inconvenient this happened.

WHAM!!!

Ekyt rushed in and floored Koori with a brutal punch, breaking his nose.

“Sakura, this isn’t real. Just hold on, I can’t break it just yet. You’re really laying down, asleep, away from danger. This is all an illusion. And I’m going to end it. But I need you to stay calm.”

Sakura heard Ekyt’s voice before she saw him. Instantly, hope came rushing back to her. It’s like I told Naoto…When you fight with Ekyt, you feel like you can’t lose…


Ekyt parried a strike from Koori’s dagger with the palm of his hand. He clamped down on the arm holding the dagger, then shifted his weight and threw Koori into the wall. Koori bounced off and tried to attack again. This time, instead of stabbing straight at Ekyt, he stabbed down. Ekyt moved aside and used Koori’s momentum against him. Maneuvering Koori’s arm, Ekyt forced Koori to stab himself in the leg. Koori screamed, falling backwards onto one of his own racks. Ekyt quickly chained him up. Koori’s good eye widened in shock and fear as Ekyt grabbed him by the neck, choking him.

“You bastard. I SWEAR- If you even TOUCH her again, I’ll do more than end your pathetic illusion. I’ll kill you, and burn your remains!” Ekyt took the dagger Koori had dropped and made a violent slash just Koori’s eye.

“You are the worst kind of vermin. And I swear…I won’t even kill you all at once, I’ll kill you slowly, and I’ll make sure you know it’s coming, you damn, filthy pervert.” Ekyt threw the dagger aside, instead using his fist to disassemble Koori’s face.

The room began to evaporate around them. Ekyt ran over to Sakura, the sound of his boots clacking sharply across the stone floor a sound of relief to Sakura. His hand already in the tiger sign, Ekyt melted the chains away, then picked up the barely-conscious Sakura and shouted “Release!”

(END GENJUTSU)

This time, there was no qualms about it. Sakura grabbed Ekyt and pulled him in close to her, holding tight. A cold sweat had dampened her hair, and she was close to crying. Ekyt noted her grip was strong enough to snap him in half, but that she wasn’t, either consciously or unconsciously doing so. Then the fear hit: A kunoichi, the very one he had a crush on, was the one squeezing the life out of him. But, for once, that was on the back burner. Ekyt himself had been afraid of that genjutsu, and he wasn’t even the target. How Sakura must have felt…

“Why am I so weak?!” Sakura wailed. “I’ve trained so hard, and I’m STILL the weakest! WHY?!

“Sakura, you’re too hard on yourself. That genjutsu was aimed at you directly. And…what you saw might have been partially real…that boy, his cries for help seemed too real…”

Sakura didn’t relinquish her grip just yet. If anything, she tightened it, moving closer to Ekyt. Asking only with her eyes, Sakura removed his dragon mask. Beneath it, she saw what she was looking for.

“Your eyes always show pain, and loneliness…why?”

Sakura’s question caught Ekyt by surprise. “I’m usually in pain, and, I guess, lonely, in a way…”

“I know what you mean…after Sasuke, I felt that kind of loneliness, too. But it was awful, because my dream, the one I’d wanted all my life, had come true, and it sucked. Sasuke turned out to be the biggest jackass possible…” Either overcome with emotions, weakened by the genjutsu, or just plain cold, Sakura shivered. Immediately, Ekyt shrugged off his coat and laid it across her shoulders, ignoring Sakura’s protests of worry about him.

“We need a fire. Lee, I’ll get the wood. Can you just keep an eye on her? The genjutsu shouldn’t be recurring. But if it is, pain is the only way out of it. Sakura, if you feel it coming on, use the release technique, then move as quickly as you can. If whoever is behind this genjutsu is targeting you, well, it’s harder to hit a moving target.” Ekyt said all this as he rubbed mud on his face, to darken it so as not to be found against the night’s grim backdrop.

Ekyt leapt off into the night. It was only then that Sakura noticed that Ekyt had donned his war gear from when he was Hokage, minus the helmet. Instead, Ekyt was wearing a black, straw hat, helping him to blend into the darkness. That image rapidly faded into the night, as Ekyt ran farther away.



“Pardon me, Sakura-chan?” Lee asked, hoping he was doing this correctly..

“What is it, Lee?” Sakura replied dismally.

“I, well, I was just curious: How do you feel about Ekyt-kun?” If I can find out if she feels the same way as him, maybe I can help them work this out!

“He’s comforting, Lee. And one of the most loyal friends I have. He’s been there for me every time something went wrong. And, well, if he had stayed as Hokage, I think our Village might be doing better. He doesn’t get enough credit, and he’s kind of taken for granted. And, I admit, he’s…you know…charming, and kinda cute.”

Lee wanted to shout out his REAL question, but had to keep it quiet.

“I mean, about him, as a person. Do you…like him?” Lee asked, trying to phrase this just-so.

“Of course!” Sakura replied, as if Lee had asked the stupidest question in the world.

“I mean…do you LIKE him…like you did Sasuke?” Lee knew there was a chance he would get hit, but his own curiosity had gotten the better of him.

“I don’t know, really. He’s loyal, cute, and he’s got that ‘air of mystery’. Not to mention powerful. I guess I…never really thought about it seriously before. Why do you ask?”

Lee was disappointed with the answer, but tried not to show it. “No reason, really. I was just curious…” Damn, that did not solve anything! It is like she likes him, but will not admit it! It is frustrating, even for me! So how does SHE feel? I know the pain of not being able to express emotions, and I also know that love is one of the strongest. If she had just given me a definitive answer, I could have helped.



Ekyt returned with the wood, using a quick fire jutsu to get it going.

“Won’t the smoke give us away?” Sakura piped up.

“No. I used a “False Surroundings” genjutsu around our immediate area. No one should see anything but an empty clearing.” Ekyt looked around, as if making sure his statement was correct. Then he turned back to the others, poking the fire with a stick, keeping it’s embers burning.

“Sakura…I hate to do this, but…the genjutsu…did the chakra seem familiar at all? We’ve fought here before, was there any similarity?” Ekyt had replaced his dragon mask, and his hands never strayed far from his Striking Serpent Blades.

After a moment’s thought, Sakura shook her head. “No. The chakra was foreign to me.”

Ekyt gave another nod. “When I went into your mind to break the genjutsu, I sensed the chakra, too. When I “killed” Koori in the illusion, his chakra SHOULD have been disturbed. But I don’t think it’s him casting the jutsu. The chakra felt…younger, and less malicious, for want of a better word.”

That gave them all something to think about: A new threat? But what, or who?!




Naikou giggled girlishly, the sleeves of her too-big robe in the way of her pointing.
“He’s so cute! He’s only a little younger than me, too! He would be the perfect companion! Now, to bring him here…but what’s this?!”

Naikou looked sadly at her mirror, seeing Sakura hug Ekyt, and seeing Ekyt blush.

“Are they- in love? DAMN IT! I want him for my myself! But he keeps protecting that girl! I need to get HER here. My husband used to say “Once you’ve got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.” Hehehe! Oh, this will be SO much fun! A threat to her worthless life, and the boy will throw himself at me to save her! It’s so perfect! Koo-riiii!” Naikou sang out the name.

“Yes, my Lady?” Koori answered instantly, smiling widely. If his niece was happy, chances are that he would be rewarded with one of the occult trinkets her fool husband had been so involved with.

“Get me the girl. Kill the boy with the eyebrows, but leave the other for me…and how is our guest doing?”

Koori smiled sadistically. Adjusting his glass left eye, he replied. “Oh, he’s still fighting me. Perhaps I…scared him a little, when I told him his eyes would make a lovely addition to my collection…”

“Uncle Koori, you’ve always made me see the humor in such grave situations! I’m so proud to tell you that the one boy, with the mask, is going to be my lover! I’m going to carry his child, and he’s going to stay here forever!” Naikou already pictured herself pregnant, the masked boy holding her close, their lips meeting in a warm embrace.

At this, Koori frowned. “Lady Naikou, you have everything you’ve ever desired in this room. That mirror most of all. I will not permit you to share your bed with that vermin! The little bastard wouldn’t. He doesn’t understand the beauty of pain, and the necessity of death. He lives to protect. He would NEVER allow himself to be seduced by you, no matter how beautiful you are.”


Naikou’s face took on a dangerous expression. “The Look” and “The Pout” rolled into one.
“I’m afraid we disagree, uncle. The boy is lonely. His face is stoic, but his eyes speak volumes. And they tell me just how lonely he is. And you know that lonely, desperate young men are my specialty…I’ll kill anyone, though never with a cold heart. But I’ll only sleep with someone I love. And I love that boy.”

“THAT’S RIDICULOUS!” Koori thundered, pounding his hand on a dresser, causing makeup to go flying and a small, hand mirror to go crashing to the ground. “YOU DON’T KNOW THE BOY! HOW CAN YOU LOVE HIM?!” Koori’s chest was heaving with ragged breath and anger.

“How can YOU understand love? You’ve grown to be a bitter old man, uncle. I am the heiress. If you hope to see that money and power, you will forget we had this conversation, and you will do what I say. Am I clear?”

Taken aback, Koori brushed his cloak away and straightened his spectacles, trying to sweep up the remains of his dignity.

“Of course, my Lady, forgive me…” Koori asked simply, adding a humble bow.




The birds began to chirp the following morning. Or, rather, they began to caw. Crows circled overhead. Lee woke up instantly and began stretching. When he bent over to do toe-touches, through his legs, he saw Ekyt sitting up against a rock. With his face hidden by two masks, it was hard to tell it he was awake or not. Next to Ekyt was Sakura, who had Ekyt’s trench coat over her, and a second, smaller fire built near her. It had taken over an hour, but she finally calmed down enough to go to sleep. She was still shaking slightly, though, as if her body wouldn’t completely calm. Upon closer inspection, Lee saw that she had a grip on Ekyt’s gloved hand that wouldn’t have let him move if he had tried. But they had work to do.

“Sakura-san, it’s time to wake up,” Ekyt told her gently. Sakura stirred, sitting up and rubbing her eyes sleepily.

“Mmm…right. Time to finish this mission. Do we stay together, or split up?” Sakura was wide awake now, the thought of finishing this mission really not what she wanted to think of right now, but she didn’t have much choice.

“We should stay together while we gather information. No offense Lee, but if someone hits you with genjutsu without Sakura or myself around, it would be trouble. And Sakura, if the genjutsu is that powerful…we should stay together.”




The first trip was the only trip the three needed. They found their way to the Koubakage’s castle, and was greeted warmly by the leader of the Herb Land.

“I still can’t thank the three of you enough for what you did! Now, what brings you here?” she said, gesturing for the three to sit.

“Information, Lady Koubakage. Someone in this town is attacking with genjutsu from remote distances. We’re under orders to put a stop to it. It’s not Koori. Do you have any ideas as to who might be doing this?” Ekyt was frank and to the point.

“There’s one…her name is Naikou, and she was widowed a year ago. Her husband dabbled in the occult, and created some strange, dangerous things. He was killed while trading with a merchant. He tried to attack, and the merchant managed to cut his stomach open. Since he died, Naikou has become secluded. She hasn’t left her room in her husband’s castle, and she’s become the heiress of one of our wealthy lords.”

“Did she have any items that would enable her to attack from any distance?” Sakura questioned. She was nervous, and realized that she was holding Ekyt’s hand. Apparently, the boy had put his shyness aside in favor of her comfort, because, despite his blushing, he didn’t move away or protest.

“This mirror her husband got her might be it. It’s enchanted somehow, some occult-like jutsu.”

Lee, Sakura, and Ekyt nodded. They had the information they needed.

“Thank you, Lady Koubakage. Pardon us…” Ekyt stood up, while Sakura and Lee followed suit.





Before they went into battle, Ekyt opened up the leather pouch Kimimaro had given him. “There’s no better time to use some of this paint…those undead things are going to be attacking again, and we’ll be ready. Sakura, I’ve got a plan in place. You and Lee wear these (headsets), and I’m going to put this bug on myself. I’m going to let myself get captured. Once I’m near that mirror, I’m going to smash it, because I’ll bet that thing is how these genjutsu are hitting specific targets so far away.”

“And if something goes wrong?” Lee chimed in.

“That’s what the headsets are for. Sakura, I checked in with Lord Hokage a little while ago. I’m going to check in again once I’m near that mirror. If it’s enchanted, it’s going to take something special to break it. But, for now, we’ll probably have to fight out way to the castle, and then out of it.” Ekyt put the mix of blood and chakra on the sides of his eyes, the way Kimimaro had. Immediately, he felt his thought-process become more vicious, but also more efficient. The Kaguya Bloodline jutsus were now fresh in his mind.

“Ekyt, wait, one more thing…if things get really bad, get out of there, okay?” Sakura asked him. She couldn’t find his eyes through the dragon mask, but he nodded.

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