Chapter 20: Venture: Steelraker

I know this chapter is also a little(VERY) late, but there was a group project that needed to be finished by the end of the week, while working on two other solo projects. Plus extra-late shifts at work, but at least I get paid extra for that. Also, why am I being left in charge of an entire building, plus customers? I still don't know, I'm too busy internally screaming.

In which Kimimaro is an annoying little gremlin and Kakashi wallows in remorse with a side of retrospection.

Warnings for implied bargaining with sex, I guess.

Part 4: Steelraker

Upon waking up and gauging the immediate situation- namely, slapping away the shark-girl drooling on my arm -I do the most sensible thing possible which is to back into the corner of the room for a defensive position. It would have been far more graceful than it is, if my legs hadn't refused to move.

"Don't bother, maggot," shark-girl, known henceforth as Bitey, sneers. "Sensei temporarily crippled you before you woke up. And if you try to escape, or such much as twitch a jutsu, I'm allowed to eat your fingers. You're stuck in here with me."

So that's how it is. "I'd prefer to say you're stuck in here with me. And who says I'm going to try to escape?" I grin, the one people say is slightly foreboding. Since I'm stuck here, I might as well annoy the ever-loving shit out of them. How's about I kick it off with a classic...

"I know a song that'll get on your nerves,

Get on your nerves,

Get on your nerves.

I know a song that'll get on your nerves,

And this is how it goes, oh!

I know a song that'll get on your nerves,

Get on your nerves,

Get on your nerves...'"

"Who's the child?"

Rengetsu glanced over at the question. "Enemy brought his kid along. Good hostage," he grunted. "He...I lost Chiriki. And it wasn't even to the enemy; fucking crocodiles."

"And you lost an ear," Isa Himonoya stated dryly, not even looking up from her embroidery. "Guess I'll just have to shout louder at you."

He leaned against the doorframe, watching her nimble fingers pull the coloured thread back and forth. "Shouting won't make me relax your protection detail."

"You mean my house arrest."

"You can call it that."

A snip of scissors. "I hate you."

"That's fine," he admitted, turning to leave. Only for her to rise from her seat and walk up behind him. "Are you going to seduce me again?" He breathed as her hand ran up his arm.

"Would it work the second time around?" She murmured into his ear.

Reaching his hand across to squeeze her knuckles, he tilted his head back. "No. It was fun the first time, but it's not going to get you free. Don't do it to yourself." He gently pushed her hands off him and exited the suite of rooms, locking the door behind him.

"Sorry," he murmured to the empty air. Or maybe to himself.

"Yo, Sensei!" Komi ran up to him. "What are your plans for Hatake? Hey, what's that wishy-washy stare for?"

"You know, in hindsight," Rengetsu Houzuki mused, glancing down the corridor at the other locked and bolted room that held his student and their juvenile prisoner, "this was not the best idea."

"Just kill it already, Sensei, it's just baggage," Komi complained. "Or let Mon eat it, the greedy bitch."

He slapped his errant student upside the head for disrespect. "Shut up. That was Kakashi fucking Hatake out there, so this is a pretty tenuous hostage situation we've got here. He's ANBU; he's had years of missions in stealth and assassination. It's only a matter of time until he launches a counterattack and we haven't a snowball's chance in a curry factory."

"Tch. C'mon Sensei, you fought him off easily out there. And he's not going to risk his spawn." It's...somewhat comforting, to know that his ornery, emotionally-stunted student thinks so highly of him. But it's not even close to reality.

"I didn't fight him off, I distracted him. The hostage situation will make him stronger if anything; focused and angrier, pushing his limits. Love does funny things like that. It's...quite the experience." Komi snorted and waved her hand dismissively.

"Pah! I'm glad I've never felt it. First, Jonin throwing themselves into danger and now you're making goo-goo eyes at the Harbourmaster. Not to mention a few nights ago when you two-urk!" Her comments screeched to a halt as his hand curled around her windpipe.

"Refrain from discussing my personal life, if you please." He released her and quickly checked her over to see if she was breathing properly. "Now, we should probably check on Mon. The kid should be waking up by now and I might as well try and get some information."

He unlocked the door and opened it, stepping over the threshold only for his feet to immediately leave the ground. To join the other various objects in the room. "The f-"

"He turned off the gravity Sensei, after I tried to make him shut up," Mon said stoically as she perched on the underside of a chair, sporting an impressive black eye and a split lip.

The child in question giggled as he floated past while sitting in a bastard approximation of the lotus position. "We allll floooaaaat," he sing-songed. "And I usually get yelled at for turning off the gravity, so excuse me if I'm not used to fighting like this." Komi threw the coffee table at him from where she had managed to get a hand-hold on the door frame. He tried to stick onto it but the momentum sent them both hurtling in an odd pinwheel of child-furniture.

They made an audible smack as they hit the wall, accompanied by an over-the-top bloodcurdling wail of "MY KIDNEY! MURDERER! I LOVED THAT KIDNEY!"

"FUCK YOU, MAGGOT!" Komi screeched back as she sprinted around the room using the wall as a foothold and dove for him.

"PAEDOPHILE!" Was the answering scream as both parties forgot all strategy and went at it tooth and nail.

Then there was an almighty CRASH as gravity returned and resumed it's grip on everything in mid-air. In the turmoil, there was a puff of smoke and the glimmer of sharpened steel.

CRACK

The child's back met the wall for a second time, muscular but soft and unscarred flesh shuddering at the impact and grip of Rengetsu's enlarged hand. In the corners of the room, kunai pierced the walls and floor, breaking up now gently-smoking seals.

"So, I see the Hatake genius runs true," Rengetsu breathed, feeling lungs flutter desperately in shallow gasps beneath his palm. "Proficient in Fuuinjutsu at so young an age, and storage seals other than the one on your wrist I found and emptied." With his other hand he snatched up a thin wrist, birdlike bones creaking as he examined the gleaming tekko-kagi. "So, you're skilled enough for the real thing? And this is quality craftsmanship too...'"

A twitch of his fingers and there was a muffled grinding sound as dark eyes widened in a rapidly paling face, a stifled whine escaping a bitten lip. The suddenly limp wrist offered no resistance as the weapon was unbuckled and slipped off.

"What, no smart mouth this time?" Komi sneered. "Run out of tricks? Finally realised how worthless you are?" The child remained subdued and still, but the last question hit home, and not in the way anyone expected.

"You know nothing." His eyes met hers, alight with fury. But then that slid away, quick as the Yellow Flash, replaced by a dopey grin. "I've got friends waiting for me at home, and I refuse to abandon them. Also, we've sworn to avenge each other's deaths, so if you kill me...yeah, you're fucked."

"Fuck, who cares about that, brat, your weapons are worth their weight in gold," Rengetsu suddenly wheezed. "Do you even know...did you even look at the Maker's Mark?"

"Are they from one of the master Weaponsmiths in Tetsu no Kuni, Sensei?" Mon piped up, curiosity piqued.

"No. You, brat. You're not staying here a moment longer," he said lowly, then his voice filled with urgency. "This is one shitstorm I don't need blowing up in my face. Komi, Mon, get your shoes on. Mon, you splint the kid's wrist; one nibble and I'll have your fingernails for a charm bracelet-"

"Aren't you taking your toy birdie, Sensei?" Komi gestured in the direction of the Harbourmaster's suite.

"No, we're still guarding her here, but right now my priority is getting you two to the other end of the island and making the brat not our responsibility, ASAP!"

He turned away, busying himself with dismantling some of the traps around the building.

"Shitshitshit, it wasn't the only one, that sword wasn't the only one, I not equipped to deal with weapons from historical lore!" Rengetsu swore under his breath, completely to himself.

"What is this?" The man asked, as the shinobi Gatou-sama had hired through him dumped a Small Child on his floor.

"One of the intruding shinobi we captured," was the bland reply.

What was that supposed to mean? The boy couldn't be more than four! Mind you, said gagged and bound child was glaring at him and flipping him a middle finger, so the attitude was definitely there.

He didn't know much about how these killers thought, but; "why is he here, what use do I have for your prisoner?"

A shrug. "I dunno, but we've got no use for him. His teammates are dead, and I've bound his chakra so he's helpless now. You could ransom him off or put him to work, sell him...I don't care."

The man groaned internally. He was just a puppet corporation for Gatou-sama, a scapegoat for all the dirty work in return for immediate bail whenever he got arrested! He didn't really have authority to decide anything!

"Uhm...any possessions I could pawn off?"

The oldest shinobi froze for a second, then looked thoughtful. "Oh yeah, forgot about that." He untied the child's gag and ropes. "Brat, what you got in your storage seals? Empty them out."

Sighing, the child took his own shirt off and started pressing fingers to small calligraphic symbols on his skin, producing scrolls in small puffs of smoke, listing them as he dropped them on the floor.

"Weapons."

"Weapons."

"Explosives."

"Sealing stuff."

"Rations."

"Medicine."

"More weapons."

"Spare clothes."

"A sewing kit."

"A bird skull."

"Hygiene supplies."

"Medical supplies."

"Cold-weather clothes."

"A watermelon."

"Money."

"Manual disguise supplies."

"A bedroll and camping equipment."

"Water bottles."

"Some books."

"Ropes and other climbing gear."

"Oh, and ookami-chan."

The last comment was addressed to a wolf plush toy, which was promptly tucked under one arm. "I'm keeping him."

Mon frowned, seeing how Rengetsu was packing all the equipment scrolls and odd objects into a bag. "Nope, I'm taking it."

He sidled backwards keeping a tight grip on the toy. "Kindly fuck off, good day to you madam. I SAID GOOD DAY!" He shrieked piercingly as she lunged. But she was jerked back by a hand on her collar.

"Sensei?"

"Just leave it," he shook his head. Then in one swift blur of movement he replaced the bindings. "Now that's sorted, I trust I can leave him in your capable hands? Wonderful, bye now!"

The man seated at the desk opened his mouth to protest weakly, by closed it again as the door shut behind them. What was he supposed to do now? He pressed the intercom button on his desk.

"Uh, Gatou-sama...yes...we have a...situation...'"

Not again. This would not happen again.

Kakashi flexed his hand; back to normal now.

He would not lose another comrade, he refused.

His hands were already filthy with bloodguilt; one does not stain innocent children with such dirty hands. Kimimaro is neither innocent nor child and already bears the crushing weight of some dark responsibility that it seems only Itachi- another not-quite-child -is privy to.

Kimimaro is stronger than Kakashi is ever been. Sometimes...every so often, the shrewd, calculating gaze splits apart and there's wonder and curiosity.

Is this envy? To want to know how he can do that, so Kakashi can look back and realise, that for one single second, black thoughts of grief and loss slipped away from his mind?

And there's another reason. Something else Kakashi sees when Kimimaro lets his guard down. Love. A hesitantly, barely acknowledged one, but a deep and terrifying one of self-sacrifice. A horrifyingly beautiful abomination between a fragile but fierce heart and a cruel detachment of measures and scales. One that weighs the balance and always finds the self wanting in comparison to the safety of those loved. A price of pain is determined and gladly paid.

The first time Kakashi saw it, he had held Kimimaro in his arms, both of them crumpled on the bathroom floor. The kidnapping incident had probed open old wounds and confessions had fallen from trembling lips, of how much it had hurt to play the obedient fool.

But Kakashi's gut tells him that this is not the end; that Kimimaro has seen what he thinks he must do and that nothing will dissuade him... Well, maybe not nothing.

Itachi is the same. Had been the same, until Kimimaro came along. And now Kakashi can glimpse the fear in his eyes as something only he knows of hurtles towards him. Itachi has grown stronger; Kimimaro's friendship has strengthened him. But that same strength is not returned. Kimimaro fights and claws his way out of his own mind but has no-one that reaches out to take his hand and pull him out. At least, he didn't until recently.

Kakashi doesn't know much about Aburame Queens, but he knows a silent oath to protect when he sees it.

And he adds his own.

Never again will a shinobi who chooses loved ones over a world set alight, pay with a gallon of blood and a pound of flesh until a sword point pierces guts and empty eyes say 'all for you'.

An afterthought of Minato-sensei smiles in the corner of his eye. "You tease him with your Clan Secrets, you gift him your Clan weaponry, you swear to protect him, an Apprenticeship...'"

What is he saying?

No matter; there are more important things to attend to. Like rescuing Kimimaro, for instance.

And if he has so much as a scratch, he's going to invert some ribcages and plasma-charbroil some spleens with his chidori.

Kakashi's heard about wrapping people in blankets to protect them and he's kind of interested if it works or not.

There is only one chakra signature in the building, and it isn't Kimimaro's; Kakashi made sure to memorise it long ago. There are signs of traps having been removed and the rooms are empty. But one has faded seals drawn in each corner, pierced by kunai. Seals drawn in blood.

Kakashi's breath catches in his throat, but then eases, because the brat is exactly the sought of person to simply nip open a finger if he's ever out of ink.

"-ungry!"

The life-sign a few rooms over shouts something and he wanders over, noting that the traps around this part of the corridor have been left intact. They're...decent.

As is the lock.

"-inally, I was wondering if you'd lost your other earrrr…er...'" the women's comment trails off into silence as she realises he is not who she thought it was.

"Both my ears are intact, Harbourmaster Himonoya," he mutters dryly. "It seems we don't need to engage in elaborate subterfuge to infiltrate the Business Gala; good. But first thing's first..."

She makes a sound not unlike a squashed hamster, stepping back as he leans forward over the threshold. "A child, about four years old. Silvery-white hair, dark eyes, all the charming personality and tact of the cute bird that starts screaming outside your window at 4-fucking-am. I want him back."

"Yes, they had that child with them," she says quickly. "Look, you're after Gatou, right? That's why you want me. But you have to leave me here. If I don't play along until the Gala tomorrow evening, the docks will be turned into hell on earth."

Kakashi paused, teeth gritted in uncertainty. "I'm listening."

READ: NEW POLLS

Right, it's time to settle this. The Angst debate.

Some of you are okay with the level of angst in this story without an Angst in the Genre box. Some of you are not.

Personally, I do not consider the current level of angst to warrant one of the Genre, nor do I consider it particularly 'deep' angst looking at some of the SI stories on this site. I don't really feel the Angst Genre is applicable since it's not a constant feature of the story.

However, there is a poll up for you to vote on this. You have until the end of this Arc, which, considering my life right now, will be a while.

If you don't care about the Angst poll, or you want get your opinion heard, there's an opinion poll for Dem Bones as well.