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kirfuffel · 8 months ago

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Fire's Edge

4,223 words Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Naruto (Anime & Manga) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Uchiha Shisui, Nibi | Two-tails | Matatabi, Killer Bee (Naruto), Omoi (Naruto), Karui (Naruto) Additional Tags: Implied/Referenced Character Death, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence Summary: The Third Ninja War is waning and Shisui— a battlefield created jinchuriki— finds himself working as arms for hire to keep himself fed as a MIA shinobi. But no matter how good he is at what he does, this latest mission’s stakes are higher than he thinks.

0-0-0

This was going to be a tough one.

Not because Shisui was worried about getting his catch. He’d done that already. He’d found his target pretty easily, while the man had been making a run for the border of the Land of Lightning. He had the man tied up and ready to go— alive, as per instructions. And thank god, because he was twice Shisui’s size and Shisui did not have the fortitude right now to drag a dead body all the way to the drop off point.

I’m stating my position on this again, Shisui-kun, Matatabi chided. Taking this mission was a mistake. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll back out now.

We’re almost there. Besides, the pay is good for a fast catch. Things are a bit tight right now, we could use the money.

Hm.

Shisui chuckled. Come on. Don’t you want to see how your old village is doing?

No.

Okay, okay. I’m sorry.

Matatabi huffed. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

With that, her consciousness settled somewhere warm in the back of Shisui’s mind. Shisui pressed his lips together, but decided to let it go. He scooted a little closer to the fire, the warmth making him shiver. He looked over to where his prisoner was sleeping, bound at the wrists and ankles.

The bounty listed this as a low-ranking missing-nin, someone who couldn’t cut it as a shinobi and decided to make a run for it instead of serving their time. Shisui had heard about the Hidden Cloud’s mandatory service before, but to spend their money on catching AWOL genin seemed a little pointless— especially during the death throes of this awful war. He supposed that was why they weren’t paying their own hunter-nin to go after him.

Which meant the Hidden Cloud must be paying their hunter-nin good money, because Shisui was no cheap labor himself— not usually, at least. The war was at its end, after all (theoretically.) With the threat of peace coming for their livelihood, more and more bounty hunters were popping up out of the smaller villages as they surrendered or their militaries were assimilated into the Five Great Nations. Shisui was a cut above any of these small town thugs and could take on big time jobs, but he had to balance his success with his anonymity. He had to avoid making too much of a name for himself. Word traveled fast even across enemy lines and Shisui was still a wanted man.

And unlike his current target, Shisui was not wanted alive.

By any side.

Despite how lightly he teased her, Matatabi had a point. The Hidden Cloud was likely livid they lost one of their tailed-beasts in the midst of battle. Shisui hadn’t met Matatabi’s old jinchuriki and she did not talk about her often, but he could tell by the sound of Matatabi’s voice and the warmth that radiated in his stomach when she talked about her that the Two-Tails had possessed a… fondness for her old partner.

A deep itch started on Shisui’s shoulder and radiated all the way down his back. He gave a small frustrated grunt, scratching at the seal that was imprinted on his back. It had been a hack job, done by an inexperienced medic-nin in an effort to get the Two-Tails while it was still weak enough to seal alone. Shisui had been the only one around. It was him or letting the Two-Tails go, to be captured by enemy shinobi or worse, allowed to return to full strength and wreak havoc yet again— this time too close to the Hidden Leaf for Shisui to stand for.

Shisui missed home, sometimes. But he knew in his heart that returning a jinchuriki would mean turning over a weapon of mass destruction to the Uchiha and— no matter how much it hurt him— he could not give his clan any more leverage to go through with their foolish coup. He just had to hope that someday, the talks of peace would make their way inside the Hidden Leaf and encourage them to look inward for justice.

Shisui sighed. There was no point in getting all fussed about it again. He’d made his choice. Now he was living with it. It was going to be a long, sleepless night, but in the morning, he’d be in the Hidden Cloud. He’d turn in his target, get paid his bounty, and get out of dodge before anyone suspected a thing.

--------------------

Shisui approached the red, looming gates leading up into the mountains — the entrance to the Hidden Cloud. As he stepped up, however, he was suddenly stopped by two… children.

“Hold it right there!” One of them shouted at him. She was half his size, with fiery red-hair and golden eyes. She pointed a short sword at him, snapping, “State your business! Now!”

Shisui held back a laugh, holding up his hands. “Whoa, whoa. I’m here on business. I’ve got a delivery to make to the Council of the Hidden Cloud. Maybe you could—“

“What kind of delivery!”

Shisui pointed behind him.

The little girl peered around him. She narrowed her eyes and looked back at Shisui. “And?”

“I was asked to bring him here. So I am.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

Shisui waved the question off. “Nothing. He’s just under a little genjutsu, that’s all. It’s easier than convincing him to come back on his own, right?”

The other child came up behind her, looking over her shoulder. He was a young boy with blond hair and what appeared to be a lollipop hanging from the side of his mouth. He frowned.

“Prove you’re not lying!” The little girl shouted, advancing on him.

“Whoa, hey now. How am I supposed to do that?”

“You tell me! You’re the intruder!”

“Hey, hey! What’s all this, what’s all the noise? All this yelling, my concentration destroys! Yea, yea!”

Shisui’s eyes snapped up, as a hulking man came swinging down off the mountain side. He swung over the red gates like monkey bars, landing right next to the little kids with a thud! “What’s the dealio, kiddie-os?”

The little girl pointed at Shisui with her sword. “This guy says he’s gotta deliver this other guy to the Council or something! But he won’t prove it!”

“Simmer down, Karui, let the MC get a looksie.” The man stepped up to Shisui, leaning down to meet his eyes. The sunlight glimmered in his sunglasses, right above the tattoos of bullhorns on his cheek.

That’s Killer B— the Raikage’s brother. Matatabi informed him. You best be careful. He comes off foolish, but his strength is nothing to snicker at. He is the host of the Eight-Tails, Gyuuki.

Shisui’s stomach dropped, but he stood his ground.

Killer B took a look around Shisui at the man tied up behind him. He snapped his fingers. “Oh shit! Yeah, I know this face! You got his ass, record pace, oh yeah!”

Shisui let his breath go subtly. “I’m glad to be satisfactory! Now, I was told I’d be able to find someone here to guide me to the Council. Is that… you?”

Killer B grimaced and waved his hand in a vague circle. “Yeah… I guess. I don’t want to go through the whole song and dance, I don’t even wanna give those stuffy hacks a chance to—“

Killer B’s face brightened. He grabbed Shisui around the shoulders. “I got an idea! How about you let me take this guy off your hands, and then my two best protégés will take you right to the Council?”

“I… don’t know about that. I was told to make the delivery in person—“

“No worries, no worries, mate! I’ll just write a little note, put my name on it, and it’ll all be good!" B whipped out a small notebook and a pencil, scribbling something down. "Besides, my kids’ll vouch for you, won’t you, kids?”

Karui huffed, snatching the note from B. She sheathed her sword and crossed her arms.

The little boy didn’t say anything.

Shisui quickly looked between Karui and B. “I really would rather—“

“That’s the spirit!” Killer B snatched the rope out of Shisui’s hands and slapped him on the back. “Go on ahead, I got this from here! Just follow these kids up the mountain, no fear!”

“I—!”

But before Shisui could protest any more, Killer B hoisted their missing-nin up onto his shoulder and bounded back off up into the mountains. He tried not to let out a groan of frustration. He might have just gotten kill-snatched.

I think you should take this as a sign and quit while you’re ahead, Shisui-kun.

C’mon. We’ve gotten this far.

Hm.

Look, these kids are harmless. If I get into any trouble, I’ll pop them under a little genjutsu and we’ll skedaddle. Easy does it.

Don’t be so sure. These mountains are treacherous to outsiders and crawling with Hidden Cloud shinobi. It will only get worse the closer you get to the village.

Don’t worry about me. My Body Flicker technique is faster than anyone’s. I’ll be fine.

It’s not you I’m worried about—

“Hey!”

Shisui snapped back to the present when a pair of fingers were snapped in front of him.

“Lemme guess,” Karui jabbed. “You can’t use chakra to walk up walls?”

Of course he could but he had… obscured a bit on his background when taking this job. He shrugged with a smile. “Sorry— Karui, was it?”

“That’s Karui-san to you.”

“Yes ma’am, Karui-san.”

She jerked her head. “Come on then. It’s a long walk for civilians.”

Shisui followed these two kids as they began their trek up the mountains. Karui had not been lying. It was definitely a long walk up many steep stairs. The longer they walked, the thinner the air became and the denser the clouds became around them, until it began to look like they were in a fog. Karui trekked on ahead of them, however, kicking a rock up the stairs. The boy hung back behind her, almost walking beside him.

Shisui bent down a little. “So is she always so intense?”

The boy looked at him out of the corner of his eye, but didn’t respond.

Shisui laughed a little. “Not much for conversation, huh?”

The boy shook his head. If Shisui had to guess, the boy had to be around five years old— way too young to be guarding the village gates. The girl was probably older, but not by much. The Hidden Cloud must have been strapped for shinobi—

Don’t underestimate B. Matatabi warned. If you had tried anything, you’d be dangling by your neck off these cliff sides.

So lemme guess. You know these kids?

Matatabi didn’t answer.

After what seemed like forever, they broke through the clouds and the stairs finally plateaued, announcing their arrival into the Hidden Cloud proper. The many plazas and beautiful glass buildings built into the mountain side were all connected with stone walkways and steel bridges. However, the clouds obscured how far the village really went— making it look like some of the bridges walked right into the ether.

“Come on, keep up!” Karui yelled. She turned around with a sneer. “If you get lost, you might walk right off the edge of a cliff.”

“Oh yikes. We better keep up then, right—?” Shisui lead, but the boy did not take the bait. Shisui cleared his throat. “Y’know, I had a friend who had a brother about your age.”

The boy didn’t respond.

“He was a lot more talkative than you. You couldn’t stop him from talking, actually.”

“What, kinda like you?” Karui snapped.

“Something like that!” Shisui laughed. “How much longer, Karui-san?”

“Why? Are your legs getting tired?”

“A little bit, yeah. It was a long walk here.”

“Well lucky you, the council building is right over there.” Karui pointed to the building looming in the clouds to their right. “So stop whinging, we’re practically there.”

And so they were. Karui lead them all inside and up yet another few flights of stairs, until they reached a long hallway leading to an impressive set of doors with the kanji for “Clouds” written upon them in gold paint.

“You stay here.” Karui commanded, pointing at a bench. “I’ll go in and tell them what’s going on.”

Shisui gave her a salute. “Tell them Suishi sent you.”

“Yeah, yeah, Sushi sent me. Omoi, you watch this guy and make sure he doesn’t try anything funny.” With that, Karui grabbed the door handle and — using her whole body weight— swung it open just enough to get through. She heaved it shut behind her.

This left Shisui and the younger boy alone together.

Shisui tapped his fingers against the wall. “So. Omoi, is it?”

The boy looked up at him.

Shisui forced a little laugh. “‘Karui’ and ‘Omoi’, huh? You two must’ve been a package deal at the baby store, huh?”

Omoi frowned. He pulled the lollipop out of his mouth. “You aren’t from around here, are you?”

“Oh, so you can talk! No, no. I’m not from around here. But it’s a nice place, maybe I’ll—“

“I need to ask you a question and you need to answer it fast.”

“Uh, sure. Shoot.”

“What did you do to Yugito?”

“Who-gito?”

The doors burst open and dozens of shinobi spilled out— from the hallways on either side, from the ceiling, from the walls. They swarmed Shisui like attacking dogs, brandishing knives, swords, sealing scrolls. Shisui had a breath to form a single hand seal.

But that’s all he needed.

Body Flicker!

Shisui vanished from the onslaught, feeling the rush as blades passed over his head and clashed against each other. He ran, flitting in and out around ninja as they came at him. As he dodged through a hissing maze of wires bursting from a sealing scroll, he flashed another set of hand seals.

Doppelganger Technique!

In a puff of white smoke, dozens of shadows of Shisui burst onto the battlefield and scattered, all running for the only exit Shisui knew of. As he flickered through these mere shadows, he saw a shinobi running in the opposite direction— holding Omoi. Shinobi were parting around the fleeing ninja like water and they were pulling far ahead. So Shisui switched tactics, sending his clones far out away from him and following closely behind Omoi’s savior in short bursts— just enough to keep inside the hole behind them, but not close enough they could feel him.

But then bolts of lightning shot through the hallway in front of him, shattering the thick windows around him and halting him in his tracks. He jumped back and turned to face the horde behind him— but they were no longer advancing. The wall of shinobi stood behind him, all still poised to attack, but… they were standing still.

Shisui whipped back around.

In front of him stood a hulking man, skin dark and ruddy, blonde hair pushed back behind his forehead protector. Wisps of lightning still crackled across his boulder muscles, even as he straightened up.

Shisui-kun! Jump!

What?!

Jump! I’ll catch you!

Shisui made a dash for the shattered window, his feet clattering against the broken glass. Then the hair stood up on the back of his neck and he flung himself to the side, just narrowly avoiding the devastating blow that zapped past his ear. He scrabbled back, his Sharingan flickering around the battlefield. Then— in a breath’s moment— he saw the man, coated in a veil of lightning, come charging at him fist drawn back.

Even his Body Flicker would be too slow.

S-Susanoo!

With a burst of bright green chakra, a skeletal rib cage burst from the ground around Shisui, rushing up to defend him— but not fast enough. With a crack like a splitting tree, the tip of Susanoo’s rib snapped.

--------------------

The ringing in his ears grew closer and closer, until it seemed to fill his head. The world slowly came back into focus around him and his body seemed to settle back down into reality. Shisui’s entire body ached, like he’d been thrown down a cliffside. His limbs were still tingling, full of a dull static from the tips of his fingers to the bottom of his toes. Whatever lightning-style he’d been hit with, it had been extraordinary. He was lucky he wasn’t dead— perhaps calculatedly so.

Shisui struggled to sit up. His arms felt like they were on a delay and slightly off from the rest of his body. He swayed to catch his balance as he fully sat up. He took a look at his arm and he saw bright pink lines scribbling down his pale, clammy skin.

They’re lightning scars. They’ll fade.

Shisui jolted with relief. Matatabi! You’re still here!

Of course I am. You’d be dead if I weren’t.

I thought for sure you’d be—

I know. I am as surprised as you, Shisui-kun.

Shisui sighed. I really messed up, Matatabi. I’m sorry I came back here.

Don’t be too hard on yourself. It… could have been worse.

What happened?

You met A— the current Raikage. You were never going to be a match for him. You are very, very lucky. If he wanted you dead, you would be.

Then why am I…

Shisui looked around him. He was trapped, that much was certain. The grey stone around him was cold. The bars in front of him were thick and solid. There was a damp smell in the air and it was humid. There was the sound of running water, echoing somewhere in the distance.

You… wouldn’t happen to know where we are, would you?

If I had to guess, we’re in a sealing temple within the Hidden Cloud. There are several, meant to hold a tailed beast if their jinchuriki fails. I could not say which one.

That’s more than I know. Any chance you’ve got enough chakra left to bust us out of here? I think I’m tapped out.

I’m afraid not. Something must be siphoning off my chakra.

“Hey, hey! Look who’s awake!”

Shisui winced as the voice echoed loudly through his cell. He looked over and saw Killer B waving from the other side.

“Welcome back, kid!” B turned around and crossed his legs. He slapped his thighs. “I bet you’ve got questions, yeah?”

“I… a couple, I guess.” His voice was hoarse. He tried to get up, but didn’t make it very far. He sat back down hard.

“I’d keep your backside rock-side, if I were you. My brother’s Lightning Straight ain’t something most bounce back from. Wish I’d been there to see how you managed that one.”

“Mm-hm…” Shisui rubbed his eyes. “Where am I?”

“Jail, my guy! You’ve made yourself a right mess, no try! You’ve got balls up the walls to come back here!”

“I… ugh…”

“Hey, hey, don’t get too down. We’d have tracked you down anyway, you saved us a lot of time, ‘ey. Not many people could’ve gone toe-to-toe with Yugito, much less taken her out. You’ve pissed off a lot of people.”

“Who?”

“Don’t play dumb now, boy. You’ve already fucked up.”

“I…”

Yugito was my former jinchuriki. She was taken out by a man with yellow hair and a long coat. I don’t know how, but I didn’t see him coming. She was gone before I knew what had hit us.

Shisui’s stomach dropped.

“Talking with the Two-Tails, boy?”

“I… y-yes. How did you—”

“So you’re at least on speaking terms, that’s good to hear.” B leaned forward. “So. If it wasn’t you, then who?”

“We… we don’t know. They hit her from behind. Somehow.” Shisui tried again to get up, but failed. “What…what’s going to happen now?”

“Now? Now we’re at a bit of an impasse, a bit of a block. Where we go from here is on you, so let’s talk.”

“What do you mean?”

“Welp, there’s a few things you gotta know, a couple things to get you up to speed. We got you on lock, but there’s a way to get freed! But not without a catch.” B tapped his shoulder, where there was a dark black tattoo of the kanji for ‘Iron’. “You see this seal? It’s better than yours, y’feel me? We’ve gotten your seal modded up, so it’s attached to yours truly!”

“Wh… huh?”

“Listen up, listen up, I’m telling you, son! You and I, fit and fly, are linked now, yea! Where I go, you go, day by day, hey!”

“Wh… wh…” Shisui shook his head. “Wait, so… we’re tied together now? By our seals?”

“By your seal, yeah. So if you try anything funny or tricky, yours will pop right off real sicky. Gonna be a helluva bad end for you then, friend.”

Can they do that?

I don’t know, but I would not put it past them. I would not test it just yet.

“So… how far is the tether?”

“That’s for me to know, and you to find out, kiddo.” B waved his hand around. “But that ain’t the only thing you gotta do, the only catch, I’m telling you. There’s more to the deal, y’feel?”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re a jinchuriki now, of the Two-Tailed Beast. The Hidden Cloud’s Beast, of which we’d like to keep. So you and me, we’re a lot alike, because I’m the Eight-Tails host, no trick, no syke!”

“The Eight-Tails…” Shisui said, like he didn’t already know.

“Hey, hey, surely Two-Tails has said something about me by now, yea? I’m the Killer B, we go way back, me and she!”

“She’s mentioned you, yes.” Shisui pressed his lips together. Then he said, “I… I can’t be loyal to the Hidden Cloud.”

“We ain’t asking that. But until we’ve got a better way to pry that kitty cat out of you, you ain’t going nowhere fast. So you might as well sit back and re-lax.”

“So… I just sit here? Or do we just sit here?”

“Neither, kiddo! We ain’t savages! If you’re gonna be our Two-Tails host, you’ll need some establishes! Something nicer than this!”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s find out, yeah?” B stood up, picking up the familiar bag by his side. He shoved a hand in his pocket and dug around, fishing out a key and jamming it into the lock on the door. He kicked it open with a screech.

Shisui tried again to stand up, his legs finally feeling steadier beneath him. He wobbled back to his feet, only to be nearly knocked back off them when B tossed the bag into his hands.

“All your stuff is still there, you’ll find, plus your mission payment, in kind. Your mission was a success, your target was met, so the Cloud paid their debt!”

“Oh… that’s… nice. I guess.”

“For sure! Now you good to talk, but you good to walk?”

“I… I think so.”

“For sure, for sure. Let’s get a move on then!”

--------------------

“Here we go, here we are! Your new digs, kid.”

Shisui looked around. The room had definitely been recently repurposed— a lot of miscellaneous items and furniture had been pushed to the walls to make room for a fluffy looking futon and a bedside lamp. Pretty bare-bones, but definitely more than Shisui had had some nights.

”It ain’t no five-star resort, but I wasn’t expecting guests.” B nudged him with a cheeky smile. “We’ll go shopping tomorrow.”

Shisui forced a smile. “You don’t have to do that. This is fine.”

“Nicer than jail, huh?”

Shisui nodded.

B patted him on the back. “Don’t you worry about that anymore. Besides. My bro is paying for your upgrades, so you can have whatever you want.”

“Thank you, that’s… nice of him.”

“Yeah, don’t get too used to it. Brother’s a hard-ass most of the time. You’ll find that out once you start training to get your tailed beast form under control.”

Little do they know.

And the littler they know the better, Shisui-kun.

“Anyway. You can put your bag down wherevs, bathroom’s down the hall across from the kids, and I’ll see you at dinner in 40 minner.”

“Thank you, B-sama—“ Shisui stopped, then asked, “Kids? You have children?”

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t sound so surprised! I may look youthful in my age, but I’m responsible, yey! You met my fun-sized protégés, you bet, but I guess I ain’t introduced you all formal yet.” B turned over his shoulder, shouting, “Yo! Karui! Omoi! Get in here!”

After a brief moment of silence, the two kids appeared in the doorway, Karui standing directly in front of Omoi.

B pointed to each of them, stating, “This one’s Karui, this one’s Omoi. They’re my kids, one girl, one boy!”

Shisui smiled tightly. “We… we have met, haven’t we? I’m… I’m Shisui. I hope we can all get along.”

Karui scoffed. “Fat chance.”

B nudged her with his knee. “Hey, hey, watch it, mini-me. We’ve gotta work together all harmoniously.”

Karui rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Come on, Omoi. We are going to go pick up dinner.”

Omoi didn’t say anything. Karui grabbed him by the sleeve and dragged him behind her as she stomped off.

This… might not go well.

Give them time. This is a new change for them too. You’re a big boy, Shisui-kun. Be patient.

I will.

#naruto #shisui #shisui uchiha #killer b #karui #omoi #this was my first time writing shisui and it was really fun #so i hope it came out alright

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