Mito smiled happily as she watched several children run by her on their way to one of the festival stalls. But, it quickly faded since she felt a sense of menace that both seemed to be directed at her, but also which also felt rather vague. She remembered Naruto having mentioned a similar such feeling when he had been in Wave, making her wonder if something dark was taking root in the small country. Yet, although she had alerted Fuka, who while had also been attending the official grand opening of the Great Tree Shipping Company's port had slipped away to meet with an envoy from the Sea Country. Still they had decided to proceed since the overall feeling of menace hadn't really seemed to be centered on them.
However, shortly after introducing the leader of the trading fleet that the Uzumaki Shipping Company had partnered with, the more general sense of menace had been joined by a very distinct one. One which seemed to be focused squarely on her. However, what was making it difficult to narrow down who it was that seemed to harbor her such ill will was the much larger sense of darkness which covered the area.
Therefore, while the leader of the Kaientai Trading Fleet gave a speech from the bow of his ship while trying not to throw up as he had after he had been introduced, Mito had begun to mingle among the crowd hoping to find the person focusing their hatred on her while Sakamoto Tatsuma spoke to the crowd about how he hoped the commerce generated by the port would help bring the various countries closer together. All intermingled with his occasionally needing to stop in order from coating the deck of his ship with more vomit then he already had.
She paused in her search though as she felt a pair of eyes settle on her, and turned to the source. She noticed the man's second in command, a woman by the name of Mutsu, was watching her. She suspected the woman had picked up on the concern she felt since in their dealings, Mito had come to suspect the woman was the real brains behind the success of the Kaientai. But, from her own experiences she knew most groups needed a central visionary to attract followers. She let a soft smile return to her face as she thought of the man that she was currently following.
Her smile seemed to darken the mood of the person directing hostility towards her as she felt a sharp spike of it. It allowed her to zero the person out among the crowd causing her to focus on a young woman with brown eyes. Her black hair was tied up in a bun held in place by a white cloth. She was dressed somewhat like a priestess although all in black making Mito feel like she was there for a funeral. Considering the hatred that she was radiating it left the Uzumkai with the distinct feeling that they were meant for hers.
The short woman quickly seemed to realize that she had captured Mito's attention, and although for a slight moment a sense of panic seemed to set in. She quickly seemed to recover her balance which caused Mito to grow deeply concerned since it seemed to convey the woman wasn't just a random crazy, but someone with a plan in place.
Fearing that meant the people attending the port's opening would be in danger, she decided to confront the woman. She began to make her way through the crowd towards her and the dark-haired woman recognizing her intentions began to walk off. But, she did so at a measured pace making it rather clear that she wanted to be followed.
Mito grew concerned as the woman disappeared behind a stall at the back of the dock, and considered backing off. However, before she could she felt someone cast a genjutsu on the area. She quickly recognized that it wasn't meant to affect her but the people nearby. Yet, before she could attempt to dispel it she suddenly felt another spike of ill intent which was directed right at her. She spun towards the source and lashed out with a palm strike that shattered the man's nose. He stumbled back allowing her to see that he was dressed as a civilian. She saw several more men turn towards her from the back of the crowd, and she prepared to defend herself. But stopped as a voice said calmly from behind her, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. The genjutsu was so we could grab you with little fuss. Imagine the panic that would begin to spread if we started killing these people one by one because you decided to put up a fight."
Mito turned to the voice to find the woman standing behind her. She smiled at the red-head in a manner that gave the Uzumaki the impression that she wasn't entirely sane. Mito noticed some movement out of the corner of her eye and saw that Mutsu was now moving through the crowd towards the as well.
Unfortunately, so did the dark-haired woman. She frowned for a moment, before mumbling softly to herself, "Is she another of his bitches?" Focusing on Mito, she said, "Decide quickly. Come with me or we start killing people."
"Well," Mito said calmly figuring she could be tracked via the fox mark and under the impression the woman was some sort of kidnapper, "if you put it like that. It sounds like I don't really have a choice."
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"You don't," Momo said and smiled as she noticed that the woman that seemed to have detected the genjutsu walked past them behind the stall making her realize she likely wasn't a member of Naruto's harem. But, aware that some may be nearby and Mito was likely attempting to call towards them wanted to make a quick exit.
Several of the men Sasuke had assigned her moved to flank the red-head, but stopped as she ordered them, "Spread out throughout the crowd."
"What for?" one of the men asked confused.
"Just in case she gets any funny ideas," Momo answered, "I doubt any of you would be capable of stopping her. So we use these people as hostages until I get her back to base." She could tell the men didn't exactly believe her, but she simply nodded her head to their unconscious comrade. A man who had been filled with similar disdain when Momo had said that he needed to approach their target carefully.
Although not pleased, they nonetheless began to fan out among the crowd. She smiled as she had another reason for wanting them to remain behind, mainly to act as decoys for Naruto's harem as they were currently reporting their positions as the red-head's due to the seal that she had applied to them under the guise that it would allow them to operate in her genjutsu without being caught up in it. Having seen the one on Tayuya, she knew there was a locator function so was aware that if she was going to have time to implement her revenge, would need to distract Naruto. The seal she had designed had basically hijacked the red-head's signal when she had hit the man that had attacked her, it was also boosting it to momentarily cover the fact that there were multiple people sending it, as well as to bury her target's among them. This she hoped would prevent Naruto from just teleporting in to save the woman, at least until she was ready for him.
Stepping up to the woman that she had planned to destroy for years, she affixed a seal to her forehead that robbed her of her chakra as well as cut out her signal to her master as it also rendered her unconscious, she said, "Oh what plans I have in store for you."
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Tamaki was sitting patiently in a dimly lit room with the only sound being a respirator which was helping one of the other occupant's breath. At least until the radio she was near cracked to life, "This is Hound Unit reporting, please respond."
Reaching for the control to turn on the mike, she looked back at the shrunken and gravely injured man lying within the shadows coating the nearby bed. Decipher a nod from the darkness, she activated the control and replied, "This is Darkness Central Command. Report." She wasn't surprised by how long it took to get a response, since the signal was being transmitted to various hidden bases strewn throughout the Shinobi world before reaching the backpack worn by the shinobi reporting in.
"Sir, it appears the priestess betrayed us."
She looked back at the bed ridden man who frowned although only half of his face responded to the gesture. She felt her anger towards the man who had been responsible for the bed ridden man's current condition grow, and feared years of careful planning were about to come crashing down because of the one unstable element that they had relied on, and truthfully had needed to obtain their true objectives. Pressing the mike again, she said, "Explain."
"The initial grab of the bait went down smoothly," the man said doing as instructed, "but then a few moments later after she loaded her into the wagon, the target and dozens of clones appeared and took down all the men assigned to help with the extraction. They then took off with them before he reappeared to calm the crowd while claiming they were part of a plot. The thing is there was a woman with him who appears to be the woman that we grabbed."
"Have you entered the Wave Facility to verify..."
"It doesn't matter Tamaki," the man said in a weak sounding voice, "It is possible that the woman they grabbed was a body double. Everything is proceeding fine."
"Sau..." Tamaki began to say fearing the shell of the man she loved was letting his desire for the operation to succeed cloud his judgement.
Yet before she could make a fool of herself, the leader of Hound Unit said, "We have flash at the cave entrance, and secondary barrier has activated."
Raising a withered arm which was nearly as white as Orochimaru's the man chuckled faintly as he said, "See, predictable to the end. Whether it was a body double or the real deal. If Naruto has formed some sort of alliance with the owner of that company, then he wouldn't just abandon an employee of it."
Tamaki nodded before asking, "What should I tell them?"
"Tell them to remain on station so we can learn the outcome. If the priestess survives, then they are free to eliminate her as repayment for the men she betrayed."
Tamaki nodded, but just before relaying the message stopped to ask, "And if the Bastard is the one that lives."
The man sat back deeper into the darkness surrounding him as he replied, "Oh he'll survive, and if so, likely tie up the loose ends nicely. It isn't like they aren't as expendable as the ones the priestess took care of. Tell Sora and Juugo to inform Dorothea that it is time, and find out if the bonus target kept to the schedule."
Tamaki quickly relayed to the commander of Hound Unit how he was to react once the barrier trapping Naruto in their Wave Facility came down. She could tell the man didn't relish his orders, particularly since he was aware that they could find themselves facing a very pissed off jinchuriki. But, she imagined they feared the man that they had pledged to serve more so didn't doubt they would do as instructed. She then switched the channel to carry out the rest of her orders, and imagined the men of Hound Unit should be thankful they would likely encounter him before he found out just how much he was going to lose that day.
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Mito awoke to find herself suspended almost a foot off the ground by a pair of iron manacles that covered her hands forcing them to remain balled into fists. She cursed her arrogance since it had dawned on her just how much trouble she was in just after the seal that had been applied to her had rendered her unconscious. Which was because she had felt it cut off Naruto's presence from her. She knew it wasn't an effect of having her chakra sealed since she had modified the seal formula after Naruto had been taken prisoner by Sora. As such, she figured the seal that had been affixed to her had specifically been designed to cut her off from Naruto and the others.
That bit of information, which coupled to the fact that although her chakra was still being sealed she could tell her fox mark was working once more. Even though she was still being blocked from her Family told her all she needed to know about who her kidnapper was, Momo Hinamori.
She cursed herself for not having recognized the woman, although she knew it was somewhat silly of herself to feel that way since she hadn't even rejoined the land of the living when the Family had first encountered her. Truthfully it wasn't her looks that had clued her in since there had only been a handful of old pictures of the priestess. But her skill was easy enough to recognize since Mito could feel her fox mark was using the small residual chakra coursing through her to remain active. Yet since she still couldn't feel her Family, it told her that the woman had erected a barrier that was blocking her signal as it were. That told her it was the special barrier favored by monks and priestesses since they often had to battle otherworldly elements, such as ghosts, that could operate on different plains of existence.
Mito didn't think it a mistake that Momo had removed the original seal she had used to kidnap her. As such, she quickly realized that she was meant to serve as bait to lure the Family in.
Taking in her surroundings, she noticed a barrier formula placed on a wall to her right. Studying it, she could see malleable portions which came in handy as it allowed her to adjust the intensity of the barrier. She imagined that Momo would use it to drop the barrier enough that Naruto would be able to feel her presence again. A part of her feared that knowing her lover, he would charge in through the barrier. But, she figured it might have been a tactic Kanji had used in the past so he would be aware of the possibility.
She also imagined that Momo was aware that Naruto wouldn't just charge in as she noticed several monitors laid out before her. She guessed they were setup so that when she did drop the barrier she would only do so enough to let her presence be felt, but not enough to let him cross it so he could reach her. Figuring they were in a kind of nerve center, Mito believed the woman had likely prepared a trap for her lover so wanted to be able to monitor him or perhaps more accurately wanted her to be able to.
She heard a door open behind her and despite the anger and rage that Momo had displayed before, the priestess sounded almost giddy as she said, "Ah, I see you're awake. Good. That means that now we'll be able to begin the show."
Mito remained calm as she asked, "What show would that be?"
"The one where you get to watch the man you care for die right in front of you," Momo replied eagerly.
The red-head kept her concern from her face as she tried to bluff the woman by stating, "Do you have any popcorn handy? I have no love for the bastard considering how he brought me into his harem."
For a moment, Momo seemed conflicted as if unsure how to proceed, but then recovering said, "If you truly meant that then you'd probably wait for me to kill him. You're just trying to make me doubt myself."
"That would seem to suggest you have doubts, like perhaps knowing it was wrong to threaten the wellbeing of innocent people to trap me." The Uzumaki could tell she struck a nerve as the woman winced.
Still, Momo quickly countered almost pleadingly, "I had no choice. You need to pay for what you did to Master Kanji."
"I never met this Kanji but from what I've heard he deserved..."
"Haido number twelve," Momo said holding her hand up as electricity shot from the palm of it.
Mito screamed in surprise and pain as the electricity coursed through her. Momo approached her and it felt a little comical due to her short stature, but she managed to still reach her with a backhanded slap that caused the red-head to spin around in a circle. When she faced her kidnapper again, Momo grabbed her by the chin as she said dangerously, "If you insult Master Kanji again, I'll kill you."
Mito studied the woman for a moment before slamming her forehead into hers causing the priestess to stumble back into the table holding the monitors. She seemed surprised for a second before her face registered her anger and she reached for a sword that was resting nearby. She began to unsheathe the blade, but then stopped as she forcefully calmed herself by saying, "No...no.... she wants you to kill her."
That hadn't really been the case since Mito had already figured the woman didn't exactly want her dead. But, with confirmation that whatever Momo had planned required her alive, she did feel a little freer in pressing her kidnapper. Yet, she was aware that the dark haired woman may be unstable, particularly due to her threating to kill her, and then quickly revealing that she wanted her alive thus nullifying the threat. She suspected that it was because deep down, the priestess knew what she was doing was wrong, but her devotion to Kanji was dictating her actions. She imagined it was how Momo had served him so devotedly while a part of her recognized the horrible things he was doing to the other women bound to him. In essence she had truly lived with blinders on. Mito suspected that with him gone her psyche was beginning to fracture as it probably realized she was as much a victim as the other women. But rather than face it was focusing on avenging him.
Aware that she had some immunity she said, "It seems you are at something of an impasse. You just revealed you can't kill me."
Momo frowned but a calm settled over her which made Mito rather nervous. Placing her sword back down the priestess turned away and began turning on the monitors as she said, "No, but I'm going to make you wish I had for killing Master Kanji."
The Uzumaki frowned for a moment not sure what the woman was talking about. But, then she began to laugh loudly and with genuine amusement. Something the priestess picked up on as she spun asking angrily, "What is so damn funny? Do you think I'm bluffing?"
Although a part of the red head suspected Momo's heart wasn't truly devoted to her revenge, she knew the woman would go through with it. If only to avoid facing the truth about her time with Kanji for a little longer. However, seeing an opportunity to sow more doubt into her heart she said, "No, I believe you are fully capable of getting your revenge. But, I'm afraid it is off to a poor start."
"What do you mean?" Momo asked closing the distance, "You fell into my hands even easier than I expected."
"Perhaps," Mito replied with a grin, "But, I'm not the woman that killed Kanji."
"What..." the woman replied with obvious disbelief. "You can't fool me," Momo said after a moment. However, despite using Tsunade's henge so that her eyes matched Kiyomi's and the seal on her forehead was hidden, the way her gaze didn't waver told her captor that she was telling the truth. Turning away, Momo smashed her fist on the table behind her as she cursed, "Shit! How could I be so stupid as to grab a body double?" However, after a moment she calmed and a smile appeared on her face as she faced Mito saying, "It doesn't matter. I was going to have you, I mean her, kill him. Now I'll be able to get right to the main event since I'm sure she'll show with the rest of his whores like before."
Mito frowned as Momo moved to the seal that controlled the barrier she had cast. She wondered what the woman had meant and focused on the monitors which looked in on various rooms of the base. She didn't see anything all too concerning, but did notice a fog coating the ground in the large open rooms as if someone had left a bunch of dry ice lying about. She began to wonder about it but became distracted as she felt Naruto's presence again. She looked over towards Momo to see she had dialed back the power of the barrier thus allowing her to transmit to her Family. A moment later a red flash appeared on the camera near the entrance which once it faded revealed both Naruto and Kiyomi.
Momo then quickly applied her chakra to another portion of the seal array that she was manipulating, and Mito felt her connection to the other women of the Family once more disappear. Still she could feel Naruto and Kiyomi still, so figured she had raised a second larger barrier to trap them inside.
The priestess moved away from the seal array, and let out a happy sounding squeal of joy. "Master Kanji must be watching out for me. I was worried he would come alone and she'd escape my revenge."
"I think you'll find that you've bitten off more than you can chew," Mito said.
Momo looked back and for a moment considered simply stabbing her captive in the stomach. But, although she had been willing to butcher Naruto's entire harem for her payback. Was glad things had worked out the way that they did, so said, "Be silent, and you'll survive this. But truthfully I have no further use for you, so sit back and enjoy as your master enjoys his last few moments on this earth."
"If anything happens to either of them, then you best finish me as well or I'm going to kill you," Mito said angrily.
Momo turned to focus on her and gave her an amused smile as she replied, "Then perhaps you'll have a use after all, because I'm not sure which of them will survive."
Mito felt her anger become replaced by pity as she realized the woman had no intention of surviving her encounter with them. But, she felt a fresh wave of concern as she directed her gaze to the monitors to see Kiyomi touching the inner barrier preventing Naruto and the Bijuu from teleporting right to her. Momo smiled as she moved back to the seal array, and manipulated it so that it only covered the room they currently occupied. Fearing what the Priestess had in store she tried to warn them off but felt their determination to save her grow stronger, so prayed she wasn't about to lose someone important to her.
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