Hunting: Yanagi

“Yanagi, Yanagi where are you Yanagi? Answer me” Alkaid called out her voice full of worry and concern as she ran, chasing after the trail of blood her cousin had left behind. There was a small splotch doted on the ground here and their but they where sporadic and random which prevented her from going full speed less she miss the next one in the dotted line leading her to towards her wayward family member.

She cursed the elders for allowing it to come to this. She hadn’t been the only one checking on the twins so why had they allowed Yui’s body to continue lying in the bed for Yanagi to find. What kind of sick bastard does that? But even more then them she blamed herself for it coming to this. Someone should have been with Yanagi when she woke up to comfort her. To hug her and say they loved her.

What had see been thinking training at a time like that when she should have been at her family member's side. No matter how defective the other clan memebers had treated them Alkaid had always tried her best to be kind to them and yet she had been nowhere to be found when she had been needed the most.

Alkaid wasn’t a sensor but she was a spy. Information gathering was one of her specialist and that included tracking someone she’d marked for ease-dropping or to follow them back to there base of operations.

Yanagi had left the house in a rush, obviously not in a normal state of mind. It was preserve but Alkaid was actually thankful for the fact her cousin hadn’t taken the time to clean her wounds after injuring herself wrecking her room. Without the path of blood to act as guideposts finding her would have been much more difficult.

Alkaid wondered how long she had been running, how long she had been searching calling out for Yanagi? Her throat felt hoarse, her legs like lead and yet she forced herself to solider on. She had a sinking feeling inside her that if she didn’t find her cousin now, she’d lose her forever. Not In the same sense that they had lost Yui but in a spiritual sense where Yanagi would completely sever herself from the rest of the clan.

Out-casting herself the way the sneering senile elders had always hoped for. Those old farts had always treated the two sisters like defects, like black sheep. If Yanagi kept running she wouldn’t put it past them to send hunter nin after her to finish the job, fearing that she would leak their precious genetics to the outside, red eyes or not.

Despite doing everything in her power, Alkaid had failed to save Yui. She was dammed sure she wouldn’t fail Yanagi as well. Someone needed to be there to console her, to heal her wounded soul. Perhaps even to seek vengeance should that be her wish.

To the outside world their biology was considered weird. Conventional medication had no effect on them which is why Alkaid had taken Yui home instead of a the hospital knowing that she would have been turned aside. If anyone knew a way to help it had been the elders and they had not been forthcoming.

A chill ran up Alkaid’s spine as she finally spotted Yanagi off to the side of the same training grounds she had found Yui when she had had collapsed. She was lying in that same ditch, that same spot her arms dripping with blood and face streaked with tears.

She couldn’t have know this was the spot her sister had fallen and yet here she was, as if driven in her blind rage to seek her departed brethren by retracing the last moments Yui had still been conscious. Moments that would forever remain a mystery.

Had she realized what was going to happen to her even as she had fallen into that coma? What had her last thoughts been? Her last words? The fact Alkaid knew none of that and had no way of knowing was endlessly frustrating.

The only one who could have provided answers, the same one who had left Yui for dead had taken them to his grave, stricken by the same plague as her. Maybe their was some justice left in the world after all. If only the plague had taken the elders instead and left poor Yui be.

“Oh my god, there you are Yangai. I was so worried.” sobbed Alkaid sorrowfully as the dam inside her she had despriately trying to hold back finally broke and her eyes where flooded with tears. Running over to her cousin she grabbed a hold of her with a hug and squeezed tightly.

She really should have been cleaning Yanagi’s wounds and binding them. While clan members had a healing factor and would regenerate over time, that wouldn’t save them if they lost too much blood. But Alkaid wasn’t in the proper state of mind to think about that as she clung to her cousin and held her close.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She repeated that word over and over. Sorry she hadn’t found hers sooner. Sorry she hadn’t checked up on them enough. Sorry she had failed her sister. Alkaid had a litany of things to be repentant for, too many to count. But what mattered most was that she was finally here for her cousin even of the rest of the clan bar Tsubaki would have happily abandoned her.

Alkaid liked to think of herself as the tough as nails type. She wasn’t the smartest tool in the shed but she was usually pretty good at spotting trouble before it landed on her doorstep. Considering her role as a ninja she needed to be pretty good at recognizing the signs that someone was about to start shit so that she could avoid it.

Thing thing was she had be a bit of a blind spot regarding close family members, especially her cousin Tsubaki and the two Y sisters. Blood was thicker then water so she naively believed that they would never raise a hand to her. Needless to say when Yanagi went to punch her in the gut as she went in to hut her cousin it caught her completely off guard.

Wham Yanagi’s elbow went straight into Alkaid’s stomach knocking the wind right out of her. The pain was intense enough that a normal person would have been on their knees but as a Kagyua Alkaid was made of sterner stuff and managed to remain standing, if only just barely.

A look of pure shock played across Alkaid’s eyes for a split second only to be replaced by hardened steel as she instinctively switched to battle mode. By the time Yanagi made her follow up assault Alkaid was ready having recovered just enough of her breath to be able to jump backwards out of the way at the last possible second letting the knee hit only empty air but making no attempt to counter.

“That first hit was free. I deserve at least that much. ” She said her words laced with guilt. “Don’t think you’ll get a second." she added, leaving unsaid that if Yanagi tried to pull that shit again there would be consequences. She might put on a sugar and rainbow facade but the truth was far more twisted and she wasn’t afraid to defend herself if should prove necessary.

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe you don’t need the rest of the clan… Frankly those assholes don’t deserve you. But who do you think took you back home when you fainted at the beach? Who do you think changed your cloths and kept you feed until you recovered? The rest of of our family might have abandoned you but I never have and I never will.” declared Alkaid fiercely, pouring her soul into her words.

“If you don’t want to come home with me that’s fine. I won’t stop you from leaving. I just want you to know I’ll always be here for you if you need me. And for heaven’s sake let me at least bandage your wounds before you go.” She implored hoping that her cousin would listen to reason and allow her at least that much before she left.

Toonami was walking down the streets of Kirigakure minding her own business. The obscenely tall woman had a blunt in her mouth and her hands in her short short pockets with her obnoxiously long twin braids trailing behind her. Toonami was a gal who tended to get into a lot of trouble and when she was present in the area one would rightfully be able to assume she was up to no good. However, today this was not quite the case. Toonami was somewhat pleased. The Kereko Clan had been elevated and given a spot on the Kirigakure Village Council. Her older sister (and by extension herself) was selected as the village's interim Kage while Nikuyo drifted towards a permanent dirtnap. The whole scenario made her laugh and forget the fact that Konami had thought her too wild and impulsive to play a more direct role in the political shenanigans of the clan. Toonami's leisurely stroll was disrupted by loud shouting and commotion nearby. The Kaguya Clan district was not quite a true clan district. Whereas the Hozuki District was surrounded by a thick wall which kept out intruders, the Kaguya Clan district was a bit more basic and far less exclusive. So when T heard yelling and what sounded like the rumblings of a fight, it was a simple matter for her to scale a nearby building and leap rooftop to rooftop to locate the source of the drama.

What a fucking awesome day! she thought with a sense of exhilaration as she puffed on the fat blunt.

Toonami hopped off of a nearby rooftop and made her way over to the training grounds where Alkaid and Yanagi were. She had caught the tail end of Alkaid's speech. Toonami had no idea of the details but she could only assume that the Kaguya with the red eyes was running away from home. That clan was notoriously xenophobic and high minded so there could be any number of reasons why the other girl was leaving. This brought a smile to Toonami's face. The scantily clad Jounin liked runaways. They were pliable and usually quite easy to manipulate. T often dreamed of having a little squirt of her own and she was always on the lookout to add to her dysfunctional family of misfits and criminals. Konami would lose her shit if she knew she was poaching Kaguya clan runaways but her Twin would thank her later when they had an army of ruthless bad bitches and bastards to do their bidding. She removed the blunt from her mouth and flicked it into the dirt.

"Aw that's so fucking adorable!" Toonami mocked as she walked past Alkaid and sided with Yanagi. Toonami stood well over six feet tall and thus she towered over the two girls. The giantess placed a protective arm around Yanagi 's shoulders invading her personal space. Toonami lacked subtlety and tended to act on impulse. Her strategy was to recruit Yanagi but it appeared that she had no patience for grooming or luring the girl. The Jounin's nefarious plan was to be executed in the most blunt fashion possible.

"Too bad she probably don't give a shit. Your clan has a real stick up its ass and if I were a Kaguya I'd probably runaway too. I think you should step to be honest. Doctor Toonami will take it from here young'un"

Alkaid glared daggers at the strange blue haired interloper wonder just who this stranger was to be butting in on family business.   Given what Yanagi had already said and what Alkaid was about to say she really didn’t want to be airing the clan’s dirty laundry in front of a stranger  but it wasn’t like she had much of a choice.   If she wanted to have any chance of winning Yanagi over it had to be done now.

“I’d appreciate if you didn’t lump me together with the rest of the the clan.  Just because most of them are anal retentive assholes  doesn’t mean we all are.” Alkaid said feeling more then a little bit bitter at being seen as uptight and xenophobic as the elders who had caused this situation to happen in the first place.

The elders where almost all from another time. A time before the hidden villages where formed. Where clans still fought other clans for supremacy over the land.  They where myopic stuck in an old way of thinking where the Kaguya where the hot shit around town. Little did they know that in trying to keep their bloodline pure they had actually been diluting it, weakening it over time.

Ironically it was the one’s they called the rejects, the imperfects like Yanagi and Yui that had been the strongest. Awakening their ability to control bones long before Tsubaki or Alkaid herself could.   And yet it was Alkaid and Tsubaki who where called prodigy while they had literally left Yui to rot.  The sheer unfairness of the was appalling.

Alkaid couldn’t help but wonder if she might have grown to become like them, Ignorant and intolerant.  No, not might. She would have for sure if she hadn’t been lucky enough to be exposed to the wonders of the world beyond the clan’s self imposed walls.   Still while she wanted the elders to pay for their sins, what Yanagi was proposing to do went too far.

“I DID do the same for Yui.” She rebutted with as much force as she could muster.  “The difference was that when you fell ill there was someone to tend to you right away. Yui…. wasn’t so lucky.” said Alkaid her face grim.

“After I brought you home I went looking for Yui to inform her about what had happened only to find her lying in a ditch.  She had fallen victim to the same disease and yet her Sensai had left her behind, disregarding her like… like she was some kind of trash.” Alkaid spat the revelation out bitterly, her voice full of anger and resentment.   It had taken her weeks to puzzle together what had happened, and by the time she had her chance at revenge had already been stolen from her.

“That sick son of a bitch got what he deserved though. Good riddance to bad rubbish.” she said followed by spitting on the ground.  Her only regret was that it she hadn’t been the one to finish him off but she took comfort in the fact that kama had its own sense of justice since he had fallen to the same disease that had taken their beloved Yui away.

“.…Once I recovered her, I did everything I could to save Yui but nothing I did seemed to help. I was at my wits end when I went crawling to the elders begging them for assistance and do you know what they told me?” asked Alkaid with a dramatic pause.  

“They told me to stop wasting my time on a reject.  To simply let her pass. I nearly jumped them on the spot but their where too many of them for me to win and if I took a shot and failed they would have locked me away then what help would I be?” Alkaid asked clenching her fists in frustration at her inability to raise a finger against a group of decrepit old fossils.  

“After that they did everything they could to keep me from visiting.  To keep me from checking in on you.  It wasn’t enough to stop me completely, but even so I should have done more. Nobody should wake up to find their sister dead beside them.” she said firmly.

“What do you say about making those old farts pay. Alone neither of us can finish them, but together… Together we could annihilate the lot of them.” Alkaid suggested shooting a glance at the stranger to see what her reaction would be to the two cousins talking about straight up murdering a chunk of their own clan.  

This was the hidden mist thought, the land where the strong survived and the weak perished.  She doubted the Mizukage would give a shit if the stranger decided to reported them but even so she was wary that the stranger might try and stop them from doing what needed to be done.  For Yui's sake it was time to reform the clan, and make it better so that others like her wouldn't suffer the same fate.[/b]

The red eyed Kaguya rejected Toonami's false offer of friendship and unity. The arm around the shoulder was shrugged off as the prey viewed her with clear suspicion. Yanagi's words of violence and rebellion however caused Toonami to grin with malice and madness. The runaway Kaguya was not so reckless as to take up with a complete stranger but reckless enough to insult and threaten her own clan member. Apparently this was all over a dead sister. This actually caused Toonami to sober up a bit. Konami could be a real bitch but she was Toonami's world and if someone had let her die without even a proper burial there was no hole they could hide in that would keep them from her wrath. Toonmai stiffened up and twisted a few of the luxurious rings on her finger. If the Kaguya were so deranged and purity obsessed as to let a mere child die because she had red eyes then maybe they were overdue for a change.

Toonami liked Yanagi's spirit but she REALLY liked Alkaid's ruthless pragmatism.

Contrary to what she expected the more typical Kaguya actually agreed with her. She did not want to be lumped in with the rest of the rags that made up the Kaguya Clan. Toonami tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh word?" she said in an Ebonics riddled dialect. Alkaid was giving her fierce looks but that only made her more interested in the blue eyed curiosity. Alkaid continued to plainly reveal her family's affairs in front of Toonami. T wasn't the master strategist that her sister was but she wasn't a dummy either. She was certain that Alkaid had enough sense to realize that talking about sensitive clan matters in front of a stranger was tantamount to familial treason. If Alkaid was speaking so plainly it was because she wanted Toonami to know that she did not think highly of their clan's leadership. From the argument that was transpiring Toonami was able to piece together the situation.

Yanagi's sister Yui had fallen ill with the plague and not long after Yui herself. The pair had red-eyes and the clan's idiosyncratic and xenophobic genetic superstitions had caused them to basically abandon their own kin. Yanagi was able to recover but Yui was not so lucky and when Yanagi woke up it was next to the corpse of her sister. Toonami's arrogant and malicious grin faded and her blood ran cold. The Kaguya were nothing to her and she only lived for a thrill but there was something about the situation that actually ticked her off. Two sisters cast out and forced to live away from people that were supposed to be their family. It was similar to her own and Konami's story except in this case one of them didn't make it. Toonami would have done something reckless herself just from hearing this story if it wasn't for Alkaid cutting in with a solution of her own.

"The fuck did you just say?!" Toonami blurted out while staring at Ryuko with magenta eyes. The loli was bold. She wanted to kill the Kaguya's ruling class outright. Just the thought made Toonami wet but even her in her wildest and most violent fantasies she wouldn't dare to wipe out an entire fucking crew of Kaguya. And she certainly wouldn't have broadcast it to a complete stranger and another Kaguya. Maybe she was getting soft. Maybe all the peace and togetherness shit that Konami was on was making her a baby. The Kereko Clan leadership were fine with keeping the peace so long as it kept the money flowing but if it came at the cost of a good ruckus then what were they really? No. They had to assert their superiority through good ole fashion gangbanging and Alkaid had given her just the idea on how to do it.

"You've got some balls kid! I'll give you that much!" Toonami laughed for a while, flipped her cowlick, and looked at the each of them but mainly focused on Alkaid "I like you. You a bad bitch! A real bad bitch! You remind me of myself when I was your age...but to be real if either of you try to kill the Kaguya Clan leadership your gonna end up getting your motherfucking wigs split. Lucky you, I hate the Kaguya Clan leaders and I can help you kill them. They fucking think they're all that and a bag of chips but I think they're overdue for some new leadership and I'm looking at two bad bitches that are just itching to become the next co-clan leaders. Am I right?"

Toonami crouched down to Alkaid's height designating her as the leader and speaker for the group. The woman looked the Kaguya in the eyes. "Say the word young blood, just say the motherfucking word"

Alkaid was taking a big risk talking about saying what she had in front of the someone she hardly knew and wasn’t sure she could trust. The bulk of her story was scandalous but hardly shocking in light the fact her clan was well known for it’s bigotry. But she had ended by speaking of something that was tantamount to treason.

As a superior officer Toonami was within her rights to arrest Alkaid on the spot depending on how much she cared about the issue. Even if she didn’t she could still report Alkaid to the authorities. The clan itself would likely dismiss that sort of claim coming for an outsider so that was no skin off Alkaid’s back, but she was worried about how the Mizukage might take the news.

The reason the clan’s xenobophic behavior was tolerated was simple enough. They where a huge military asset to the village. As long as they towed the line and didn’t rock the boat too much the fact that they stuck mostly to themselves was easily overlooked in favor of the results they produced.

Alkaid wanted to reform the clan which could improve harmony with the rest of the village but her idea was not without risk. Their was virtually zero chance the clan elders would simply give up the reigns of power peacefully. Even if they did they where so set in their racist ways that they couldn’t be kept around. Their mere presence would act like poison to the minds of the younger generation.

The only realistic way to enact change within her family was a revolution. The streets of their unofficial district would run red with blood. But Alkaid didn’t know if the Mizukage would really be willing to trade a temporary drop in numbers in return for greater cohesion or if would he rather stick with the status quo.

Being that he was an ice cold heartless bastard of a man she didn’t have to think much about what his answer would be. Even so her mind was so full of solicitous for Yanagi she hardly cared at the moment. Her only concern was reaching a hand out into the darkness to pull her cousin out before it was too late, a hand that was slapped away as Yanagi seemed committed to avenging her sister and herself on her own.

“...” Thought Alkaid silently as she considered Toonami’s offer and what to say to the person who had just forsaken everything. Her clan, her bloodline and even her name. It was only then that she realized that it from the start it maybe it had already been too late. The moment Yui had died she had lost, the though she could save Yanagi was nothing more then a naive childlike dream. But it was a dream she was unwilling to let go.

“Fuck off? Stop trowing myself into your path? As if I could ever leave you alone you blockhead. You’re right, I don’t understand but you don’t understand me either. ” said Alkaid dramatically as she walked over towards her cousin and attempted to embrace her with a hug, leaving herself completely vulnerable and at the older girls mercy.

If Yanagai chose to she could easily use that embrace to end Alkaid’s life and yet she didn’t show the slightest signs for fear or hesitation. If that was the path Yanagai chose then she would accept it with open arms.

“Don’t you get it yet Yanagai? I LOVE YOU” she said practically yelling, hoping that the volume of her voice would allow the words to sink though her cousins thick skull. Hopefully this would be enough to finally shock her back to her senses before she ran off and did and did something incredibly stupid like a suicide run. Assuming she wasn’t stabbed things would continue on as planned.

“Let’s do this together, no matter how long it takes.” she insisted. By themselves neither Alkaid nor Yanagi could do anything. But together, together they might just be able to change the future. As for the third wheel, in truth Alkaid had been intending to seek out her teacher Kotsubo and solicit him for aid from the very beginning even though they’d only just met. If she could accept him there was she saw no reason to turn down Toonami.


“Me the leader? Ha how could I be expected to lead my kinsmen after my hands are stained up to the elbows in their blood?” asked Alkaid with a wry laugh as she returned the look she had been given, staring right back into the blue haired woman’s eyes.

“I think we should ask someone else, Someone not involved in taking out the trash. Tsubaki would be an ideal choice. She’s already the heiress so the rest of the clan won’t object, and unlike those old farts she was always willing to give people like Yui a fair shot and she won’t allow Yanagai to be treated like a defect ever again” she suggested.

“Speaking of Yui, what should we do with her remains? I’d like to give her a proper burial but it’s your call….” she said giving her cousin a glance to see if she had anything to say about the funeral arrangements.

Yanagi was having none of it. The girl was so blinded by rage and hatred of her clan that she could not see the utility in a team up. Toonami raised her eyebrow and audibly scoffed. She stood up and backed away as Alkaid dramatically tried to hug Yanagi. The red eyed Kaguya was in a bloodthirsty move and the act of love could prove fatal. Toonami was interested in seeing how that would play out. It occurred to her that Yanagi while being the genesis of this fortuitous opportunity could be a serious thorn in her side. If she went off on her own and tried killing people stronger than her then it could very well jeopardize Toonami's own plan. If Yanagi put the clan on high alert it would make weakening them even harder. This wasn't something she was about to stand for. Yanagi would either have to abandon her quest for vengeance or work with Toonami. The third option was liable to get her killed and make the addict's life much harder as a result. Toonami said nothing for the moment however as she realized that threatening Yanagi to her face might turn Alkaid against her. Alkaid was her only inside girl at the moment. If she could use Alkaid's own desire to avenge Yanagi's sister then all the better.

Toonami laughed when Alkaid said she wouldn't be able to lead the clan after massacring its leadership. "As if they'll have a choice!" she bellowed in response to the girl's question. The blond offered another name: Tsubaki. Toonami did not know who this Tsubaki was but if she shared Alkaid and Yanagi's vision then perhaps she could make an impressionable pawn as well. Although being the heiress to the clan Toonami had her doubts about Tsubaki's willingness to go along with whatever Toonami wanted. Alkaid seemed much more easy to manipulate due to her (relatively) pure intentions. Yanagi was so consumed by vengeance she would not make a reliable puppet.

Toonami cracked a false grin and replied:

"Whatever. We'll deal with that shit when the time comes. I have a feeling you and I are gonna do big things together, bitch." Toonami did not want to stick around for funeral plans and so she decided to make herself scarce before her overwhelming desire to whale on Yanagi took over. "As for you" she looked over to Yanagi. "I'd seriously reconsider your current course. You'll get yourself hurt going after the Kaguya alone or worse yet you'll get in my way which will you get you killed"

The twin tailed Twin couldn't resist. Soft power politics was not her strong suit.

She reached into her back pocket and produced a business card that read:

Toonami Kereko  
Scientist. Pharmacist. Fixer.
445 Water Way

It was something she had just thrown together recently although now that she was technically "interim Kage" she would need something more elaborate and grand. The business card contained her "occupation" and her address. If the girls wanted to find her all they had to do was go there. Toonami handed it to Alkaid and if the girl refused to accept it she'd just drop it on the ground. If they didn't want to find her then she would find them and keep tabs on them as she plotted her next move in the downfall of the Kaguya Clan.

Toonami then stuffed her hands in her pocket and walked away whistling at her good fortune.

[Exit.]

Alkaid pouted as Yanagai drew away from her avoiding the hug. It was difficult for her to understand why her beloved cousin was trying so hard to act like such an edgelord. But she grined slyly as she realized it really was just a petulant act.

If she really wanted to kill the entire clan like she said she did then she would have taken Alkaid’s life when the chance had been handed to her on a silver platter. The fact that she hadn’t just went to show that she didn’t have the ruthless killer instinct to get the job done. A sheep trying to pretend she was a wolf.

But could Alkaid really say she was any different. She was talking a good game but could she put her money where her mouth was when it came down to it. The fact she was absolutely livid with the elders of her clan was true but was she really angry enough to murder them? Hard to say when she’d never actually killed a person before in her life.

Even now the though of plunging her blade into another person’s flesh made her hand shake slightly. She was so soft it that it annoyed herself. It was a wall she was going to have to overcome and soon otherwise she might as well give up on being a ninja and become an actor full time.

Toonami pointed out how the clan wouldn’t have a choice but Alkaid wasn’t so sure. She was far enough down the chain of succession that having her take over would be met with more then just a little skepticism. The only way they’d accept her with open arms was if something happened to Tsubaki first and that was something that she absolutely wouldn’t allow.

Taking the offered business card she gave it a glance with a raised eyebrow at the last name listed. If Toonami was a Kereko then it wasn’t from birth. She vaugly wondered if the older girl had married into the clan or if she had been adopted, not that it was really any of her business. The bottom line was that the card gave her a lead that she could investigate.

If she was really going to do this then she damn sure wasn’t going to be going in blind. She was going to look into this Toonami character and learn more about her to see how far she could be trusted before making any further plans with her.

Soon enough she was on her own again and she sighed as she tucked the business card into her pocket for safe keeping. Feeling a bit bummed from Yanagi’s deceleration of hatred she had let her cousin go off. It was safer to let her blow off steam then push her any further and have her explode.

“Great, I guess I’ve got a funeral to plan.” muttered Alkaid to herself as she headed home for the day to make the proper arrangements for Yui’s burial. It was time to lay her to rest. The poor girl had suffered enough indignity in life, letting her suffer anymore when she was dead would just be ghastly.

[exit]