CAT'S PAW | DARKEST NIGHT

[D]

There was a dark spirit over Kumogakure. D could feel it from the moment that the rebel clans made themselves known. He knew that there was no possible way he could sit idly by with civil unrest and the Bijūtsukai to show their faces sooner or later to the world. He had to act now. It was his responsibility to the world and his village, as the Raikage. It was mere moments after he'd sent his four man team out of Kaminari no Kuni that D rose from behind his desk and surveyed the village from the large windows behind his seat. The night was quiet and crisp, unmoving and calm. He knew it was a farce. Before the sun rose up over the first mountain in the range, he would have to make more moves to secure the security of the Hidden Cloud. The cat would have to be hidden. He was unsure if he was being paranoid or not--but he placed no mind to uncertainty. These were the actions of the Raikage. They would be carried out the moment he gave the order. YOIPPARI DISTRICT The west of the Cloud Village was where the Yoippari had always resided. D was a little ashamed to say he hadn't spent much time here since he had become a jōnin; he'd spent even less there since becoming Raikage. And now, he only returned to pluck one of his kin from their home so he could hide them far far away. He was a burden unto this clan. He was produced from the marriage of two clans, one of which could no longer even be called such and now, he was pitting three rebel clans against the Yoippari. He hung his head low as he walked on the mountain pass, progressing further and further down. Soon, the moon would be drowned out of his sight and all that would remain would be darkness. "Raikage-sama." an ANBU called out, breaking D from his trance. "We have located the boy and are currently preparing him for travel." "Good, Pochi." D responded as he exhaled a deep breath of relief. "How is the family responding to this?" "Not well. His mother is distraught." "For the good of the village." he reassured himself out loud as he began to follow Pochi to the mountainside home. "For the good of the village, Raikage-sama." Pochi responded in like, reassuring the man who was tearing his family asunder as he tried to save his comrades. The home of Yoippari Takashi was low on the Western Mountain. D himself had come into his prime at the peak of the mountain where the head family resided. While he knew that the lower one went in the mountains, the less prestigious the area became, he never fathomed that the Yoippari mountain could go this low. It was sobering to say the least. He looked down on the little woman who called herself the mother of the Nibi's Jinchūriki, Yoippari Tsutsu, with sadness in his eyes, but he would find no solace in hers. Only rage. Her approach was quick, but that of his ANBU was quicker and before she could cock back her fist to punch the Raikage in the face, she was watching the blood pour from her body. And then she would greet death. "For the good of the village." Pochi said simply, sheathing the sword he'd used to commit the deed. D wished he'd greeted the scene with shock. He'd hoped that some glimpse of his humanity would show itself and make him respond emotionally to the murder of his kin. But there was no such humanity in this one. A jōnin from nine and a member of the Kinkaku from ten, he had long since stomped out the smoldering flames of childhood and emotion. As much as he wanted to feel for the death of this one, he knew Pochi's duty swayed him to kill her. And for that, D was begrudged to thank him. "Where is the boy?" D asked through the internal turmoil, eager to finish this business and close this night forever. "We have prepared him and we await your orders to leave." Pochi responded, motioning his hand to the inner hallways of the mountainside house. "He is further in the home." "I will escort you all to the gates." D responded solemnly. "I at least owe my kin that much for allowing you to murder one of my own." "I will gladly take my own life to reconcile the offense, my lord." "Speak nothing of it. Your duty is your life. You owe me no apologies." "I owe you thanks, Raikage-sama." D gave no response. He couldn't accept thanks for kin-slaying. He merely left the room, walking out to breathe in the fresh mountain air and await the emergence of the ANBU and their charge. KUMOGAKURE GATES "Give me a moment with him, would you all?" D asked the four ANBU who accompanied him and Takashi. He didn't wait before looking back at the young boy, fear smearing his face as he faced the uncertainty of the night beyond the mountain village. He knelt before the boy; he could see anger brewing now as he looked in the face of the man ultimately responsible for the death of his mother. He couldn't blame him. "You are a member of my clan, a Jinchūriki of the Hidden Cloud and ultimately, a ninja of the Hidden Cloud." he began slowly, looking down at his fingers. He never thought he'd be ashamed to look in the face of a boy, but here he was. "Understand the life that comes with these three things, especially the second. As a member of my clan, we have the same fiery blood flowing through our veins. Your mother died defending you against even me, her leader and kin. I love her for that. It shows that her humanity was still intact and that despite your second status, she held you dear and close." He looked up into Takashi's face now, and saw the anger break slightly. Now, he was once again a fearful boy, about to face the wilds. "You are also the Jinchūriki of Nibi. There are some that would call you a weapon over a person. Know that I am not one of those people because your third status trumps your second. You are the Nibi's companion for all of your life but even beyond that, you are my comrade. You are a shinobi of the Hidden Cloud. I, as Raikage, have a responsibility to protect this village. As a fellow shinobi from this village, that responsibility too rests on your shoulders. You must be strong. You are leaving the village to protect the village, not because we are abandoning you. Pochi and his team will give their lives for you, today or any day. Rely on them and be strong, Yoippari Takashi." "I'll try." Takashi sobbed, wiping tears from his young eyes. "You will. I have faith you'll return to us when it's safe." "I'll miss the village." "We'll miss you more." D smiled. SEVEN KILOMETERS NW OF KUMOGAKURE Pochi put up his fist as he heard the shuffling of someone outside of his troop. He didn't expect trouble so soon and close to the village... Something was afoot. He cursed below his breath as he surveyed the area, a kunai already in his hand as the rest of the team formed around the young Takashi. More rustling. Again. Then again. "Who goes there?" Pochi called out, his brow furrowing as he prepared for the trouble to come. "Oi, it's just me." a deep raspy voice called as he came into view on a branch to the group's left. "Jōi-sama?" Pochi asked, confused, though relieved, to see it was Jōi. No mission would be too large for the man who was A's son and the Raikage's father. "D-sama said I would be leading this mission. While I'm glad to see you, I regret that he had second guessed my abilities after sending us from the village." "Oh, Pochi-kun, no worries." Jōi laughed as he put his cigar into his lips. He pulled long and hard--there was an ominous silence that rested between them all. Pochi was unnerved by this. He finally exhaled and the thick perfumed smoke was visible even in the dark. "To be truthful, D-kun has no reservations. He knew you could do that you needed to do when the time came." "Ah. That's good to hear then," Pochi responded. "But that leads me to ask why you're here? Just to help?" "To help, of course. Though...," The sound of Jōi's voice was drowned out by the cackle of the black lightning that took his form. Pochi's eyes opened wide as he turned around to issue a command to his team only to be met with all their corpses strewn about the mountainside. And then, the cackle grew louder and the gargantuan hands of Jōi were wrapped about his throat. He looked through his mask at Jōi's black shades, but he couldn't see his eyes behind them. Jōi once again blew a plume of smoke from his mouth. "D-kun didn't send me out here. A man named Ōjin did." Pochi struggled to believe what he was hearing but he knew what it meant. What upset him most was not that Jōi was a Bijūtsukai, or that he was looking in the face of the man who would end his life. What upset him most was that he would be unable to warn D before he met his demise. Then it all faded to black.