Disguised Curses

I realize this update has taken me far too long, and I dearly apologize, my few faithful readers. My Naruto muse got ran over by a dragon- universe muse for the 'Losers' fandom (stories can be found on my LJ acct, check my profile for linkage)

To make it up to all of you, not only did I finish this and am posting it for people to enjoy over their Thanksgiving break (if you're American) or over the weekend in a day or two, but I'm also 2000+ words into the next chapter. This one is a generous 3500, roughly. Next chapter should hopefully be around the 3000 mark as well.

Also, there's m/m smut in the next chapter. Like, real live smut, not the teaser I wrote a couple chapters ago. Hopefully I can have that up if not by Dec 1st, then at least be Christmas. A suitable gift, I think.

Again, I apologize for the excessively long wait. I am consulting my reviews for email notification requests. If anyone wants to be updated when I update, please just leave me a review with the request and an suitable email address. I want to thank my few loyal readers and reviewers, it is your support that makes me want to finish this story instead of scrapping it. That, and 70K words is too much effort to just abandon it now, when it's starting to get so very good.

On to the Fic!!

 

 

 

 

Chapter 33

 

 

Neji would have laughed his ass off the next day, if he’d dared. Kiba and Tsume had dropped by, and the interactions between his new-found ‘pet’ and the dog- nin female escalated from cute to pure hilarity. The little ermine had reacted much like he did to Kimi, initially, fluffing up into a little ball of fury and shrieking anytime anyone (other than Hinata) tried to handle him. Tsume grabbed him deftly by his nape scruff like she would a disobedient pup and shook him once, fiercely. He hung limp in her fingers for a minute, then pulled his body up in a limber arch to wrap all four paws around her arm. They were gathered in one of the little outside tea rooms- Kimi, Neji, Hinata, and the two Inuzuka, with their dogs. Everyone held their breath as Tsume released the ermine, allowing it to wrap around her wrist and peer above the curve of her fist. It studied her with too- sharp eyes, then chittered annoyingly. Kuromaru, Tsume’s wolfish familiar, chuckled low. “He’s smart, that one. Let him be.”

“He’s right. I don’t feel any malicious intent from him. He’s obviously smart, a creature that will need watching until you determine his loyalties. But he’s not out for your blood.” He chittered again at her words, turning his head to glare at Kimi and hiss nastily. Tsume’s intense gaze locked onto the hawk shifter. “He doesn’t seem to particularly like you.”

Kimi glowered under half- shut lids. She wasn’t ready to trust the little thing yet; her wing still ached, even though they were shut within her body her shoulder vibrated with the echo of healing. Her instincts demanded she put the damn thing down, for the pleasure of the hunt and retribution for the pain. But she will defer to the others on this, for now. She would watch him for any signs, wait with ready beak to shred him for any reason. There was something wrong about him. And she'd prove it. She held in her biting response and stared at the wall behind the woman.

“Thank you, Tsume- san.” Neji nodded deeply in lieu of a bow. The woman relaxed her hand and the weasel scampered out of it, rushing across the table to hide by Neji's hand. “I will be sure that the cage you lent me is put to proper use, and returned when I am done with it.”

“Take as much time as you need, keep the cage if you find you need it.” She stood and walked out, trailed slowly by her dog familiar. The wolfish Kuromaru gave the weasel a last lingering look. “The pet shop on the south edge of the market sells restrictive collars and chakra- responsive leads. You can get one his size easily enough.”

Neji stared after the dog for a long moment after the door closed behind him, then looked back at the bundle of fur perched on his fingertips. He'd never seen an animal of this size on a lead before, but it couldn't hurt. It would be better than caging it all the time or letting it run loose. “Who wants to come with me to the markets?”

 

***

 

They all ended up going. Kiba knew about the shop Kuromaru had mentioned, and led the way on Akamaru's huge back. Neji cradled his new pet in his hands, slowly petting him as he walked in the protective oversight of Kimi. He had given up on trying to improve her mood, letting Hinata soothe his own stressed nerves with her quiet, calm demeanor.

“We ought to visit Tsunade- sama after this.” She reminded him softly. He maneuvered past a few other people littering the road and gave Hinata a small almost- smile. It was his only response, but it didn't strain their peace. Instead she reached over and scratched the little head poking from his elbow. She didn't know why the little face was so endearing in its mottled brown fur, probably in part to her weak streak for anything small and furry. Akamaru had been nearly that size at one point, although he had grown fast into something far bigger. This little guy wasn't likely to do that.

“Hey Neji!” Kiba landed gracefully, if loudly, in front of them. “The shop's right over there. I gotta go take care o' something, so I'm sure we'll like, catch up later.” He glanced around distractedly, nose twitching as he scented the air. Hinata giggled softly, and Kiba grinned at her. “Behave,” she whispered. She knew that look all too well. Naruto had one just like it- though she'd never compare them to each other in front of them both. It would start a male dog macho fight, she was sure.

The shop did sell collars and leads that were chakra- reactive and in the right size, but the owner advised a particular harness that would be far more difficult to escape. Neji helped hook the harness around the ermine's body, earning a glare and a full body droop. The pale blue harness stood out beautifully against the brown fur, and would be visible against the white as well. Neji lifted the ermine up and met the laid back ears and twitching nose with a stern gaze. “You will suffer a leash. Or let Hinata carry you.” It chirped then, ears up and eager. “All he needs is a name.”

“Rat? Snack?” Kimi muttered, and earned a hissing squeak from the bundle of fur in Neji's hand. Neji frowned at the hawk and passed his handful to Hinata. It scampered up to perch on her shoulder, still furiously staring Kimi down. Hinata scooped him off her shoulder and brushed her fingers through his fur until he calmed.

“Ryuu. He's like a dragon stuck in a fierce little body.” Neji frowned. It suited, but it didn't fit right. “No, Hinata. I don't want him to have the ego of a raging dragon. He needs something noble, proud.” He emerged from the shop out into the business of the market, sensation of skin- ruffling tingles arching up his spine. He knew that sensation. His prey instinct surged through his mind as he processed the warning of an impending predator, confident it was probably just Naruto. The blond tended to do that to him.

The ermine must have felt it too, because he was fluffing up in Hinata's hands. A moment later Naruto appeared, dragging Sasuke along with him as he strode over to the knot of people outside the pet supplies shop. The instant Naruto was close enough to be in touching range, Hinata had a bristling handful scraping back onto her shoulder, hissing and shrieking at the fox carrier. Naruto's mood darkened at the vicious little addition on his girlfriend's /Mate!/ shoulder. A hand snapped out and snatched the ermine up, eyes flashing crimson as they stared into the defiant, beady little eyes.

“She's mine, you little snack. You never have to protect her from me.” He hissed at the creature, before settling and handing him back to Hinata. “You get it today, Hinata- chan?” He gave her a brilliant smile. “You didn't mention a new pet last night.”

“He's mine.” Neji interrupted. “I saved him yesterday right before Hinata came home from her date. She helped me patch him back up; he's taken a liking to her since.” His eyes were on the ermine, though, studying the way it was slowly calming in Hinata's hands.

“It's not a normal pet.” Sasuke finally spoke up. He had watched the entire exchange from the sidelines, back and body stiff. But he, too, was studying the ermine, eyes flickering between Sharingan red and normal black. “Neji, take that thing to Tsunade, now. It feels like the way you and Kimi do.”

Those cryptic words were met with near silence, broken by Kimi's grumbled, “I told you.”

 

 

Tsunade was pissed. There was no other word for the emotion boiling within her as she poured over the documents Sasuke had left for her nearly a month before, comparing them with what she had been able to pull from Sandaime's records. Every time she thought she'd found something to follow, there'd be a dead end. Things that stunk nastily of being covered up and corrupted, and she was dreading her possibilities. It wasn't looking good. She was coming to the same conclusion Sasuke had, with more data to point her toward a few select people.

People that she would need hard evidence against before she could ever hope in getting justice. She needed hard evidence; a signed order of execution would go a long way to clearing this up. But some things never got put into writing just so they could be denied. ANBU tasks were often paperless.

The knock on her door had her stuffing a paper mark back into the journal she was glaring at, long past the point of reading it, and shoved it to the side of her desk. A few scrolls on top to keep it from catching attention, and she was ready. Until she saw the contingent of ninja on the far side of the door. “What do I owe this visit to?”

The answer was definitely not what she'd expected, as Neji came forward with a handful of something furry. It took moments for Kimi and Sasuke to present their worries, and even longer for Neji to explain how he'd come by the creature and the steps he had taken to diminish the risks. And then the arguments started, because Kimi was stubborn and suspicious- well within her rights to be- and eventually Tsunade simply had enough. She demanded a moment's silence, hands itching for her bottle of sake and stormed to the door, where she barked an order at the chuunin waiting. And then returned to her chair to stare at the ermine in Neji's hands.

He was studying her, and she knew it.

“Sasuke.” The teen grunted, his focus refusing to come off the ermine. “What about this creature makes you think it's something like Neji or Kimi, both human and animal, instead of a summons or familiar?” She didn't question that it wasn't a 'normal' animal.

“I can look into Naruto and see Kyuubi. Like a nasty phantom, but undeniably present. Kimi and Neji are similar, as I can tell they are more than just mere people. It's like a fuzzy echo of the animal, right behind my eyes. But I get the reverse when I look at that. There is a man in that tiny body.”

“Who?”

Sasuke's minute shrug did nothing to appease her temper, and she fought the urge to drag the answer from him. Her throat burned for a shot, more than a month since she'd quit, but she wasn't getting drunk as long as there was stuff like this needing handling. Maybe on a more relaxed day she could sneak some. Yeah, right. Like Shizune and Sakura would let her. “I'm not trained in the mind- arts, Tsunade- sama. The Sharingan can see through deception, but if you want to know who is in that body, you need a Yamanaka, Ibiki- san, or just get him to change back to human.”

The response made perfect sense. It was why she'd already sent a message to Inoichi to report to her office immediately. “Does it at least have a name?”

“Takeshi.” Neji didn't didn't offer his reasoning, even when he caught Hinata's interested glance. He might tell her later, that he'd picked it for the ermine's defensive fighting spirit. It was only slightly calmer than her choice of Ryuu, dragon. He looked down at the beady eyes staring at him. “Yes, you. Can you answer to it?” Takeshi nodded jerkily, little nose scrunched up for a moment. It left his tiny fangs flashing, something that was definitely more cute than threatening.

“Takeshi- san.” The ermine turned and tipped his head in acknowledgment. Tsunade tapped the open space before her on the desk. He leaped from Neji's hands to her desk, slinking around to the spot indicated before standing on his haunches. He gave her a steady gaze, but no obvious aggression. “You understand what's going on around here, Takeshi?” He nodded deliberately. “Can you change back to human?” A negative twitch this time, with little rounded ears laid back tight to his skull. “Then I have no other choice to ensure the protection of my village. You will submit to this or I will squash you without remorse.”

Takeshi tipped his head again, staring past her toward the window. Two tall ninja were slipping through the opening, attention drawn to the animal on the Hokage's desk. “Hokage- sama.” She nodded at the greeting as she secured the window, then pointed a finger at Takeshi. “I have a project for you, Inoichi. I need an assessment of this one, name, loyalties, threat status- anything you can get. He's human but can't change back. I need to know what the risks are.”

“Ma'am? My limits?” Tsunade looked at her troop of young adults and back to Inoichi, her face set in a firm line. “Do what you have to.”

Inoichi nodded in answer. Ibiki had the ermine in hand before Takeshi could change his mind, and in moments, Inoichi's body had fallen into its limp, nearly meditative state, fingers wrapped securely around the wedge-shaped skull.

 

****

 

Years of sinking into people's minds had left Inoichi with an idea of what to expect. Some people seemed to have clutter in every corner, others had a hallway with rooms. Only a handful had anything resembling real scenery, and Takeshi's took him by a bit of surprise. A glade, edged with trees and shadows in the deep, greeted Inoichi as he entered the ermine's mind. There was a feeling of untouched peace here, and Inoichi searched the glade. He found his target sunning on a rock beneath a sweeping oak.

“Greeting, weasel.” Its nod and squeak in welcome didn't realize surprise him, but the fact the form blurred for a moment before squeaking again was interesting. “This is only a part of your mind. Where's the rest?” The ermine ignored him, rolling onto his back and sprawling with its pale belly up. Clearly, it wasn't going to help him further.

The kunai was in hand before the thought finished, and Inoichi turned to one of the many trees. The point dug into the bark, but the illusion of the meadow didn't even waver. He buried the blade in further, determined to make the illusion of the meadow fracture so he could reach the rest of the mind. But the tree took the knife all the way to the handle without any change. Inoichi returned to the oak where the ermine sprawled, eyes closed. “I can destroy your mind if I have to.” The warning was ignored, and the kunai bit deep into the pale wood of the oak. For a moment there was no change, then a drop of sap, blood red and gleaming, eased out around the knife, and the glade shattered.

A floor, no walls, just darkness extending in every direction, and dim light- it wasn't the worst Inoichi had ever seen, but it was foreboding. A shrouded form sat cross legged on the floor a few feet away, in an otherwise empty space. “It's not nice to screw with other people's minds, Inoichi- san. I like my meditation space.”

Inoichi cataloged the voice with the same clinical habit he had everything else so far. Male, deep, tired. And strangely amused. “Who are you?”

“Would you believe that I am not sure? The man who helped me before I came here said I'd been vitally wounded. I cannot retrieve my memories of anything before him. Neji- san named me Takeshi, and it is acceptable for now.”

“Takeshi.” Inoichi let the name roll, holding his personal thoughts back as he studied the practically unformed figure. “Reveal yourself.”

“No.” A hand raised, halting the expected response from the other ninja for the denial. “Please. Why should I risk exposing myself, when I know nothing of myself or my past? I could be an enemy or a friend, and I know you, and others, will react on whoever I was.”

Inoichi silently agreed, but it didn't help his case, or prove that this 'Takeshi' was really memory- locked. He could do his own probing, past the muck of shadows, and see what might shine through. But if it was trauma induced memory loss- there was no way to be sure he'd get anything from probing through Takeshi's mind without destroying it. Sometimes memories never came back at all. “Why are you here, in Konoha? What are your plans?”

“I seek peace and safety while I try to rebuild my mind. I was advised Konoha would be the safest place to come. Neji- san spared my life yesterday; I owe him a debt of gratitude, at least.” The half-hidden form sighed deeply. “I mean no ill will toward anyone or anything here, barring what is necessary to keep myself safe. I do not know what threat lies unspoken toward this village, but I have had two threats already of being torn to shreds or eaten if I ever betray the Hyuga or Konoha. I do not intend to do so.”

“Intentions can come back in painful ways.” Inoichi intoned drily. “Your memories may come back suddenly and send you on a rampage.” He'd been subtly poking chakra at the obscuring darkness, trying to peel away layers to get to the rest of the mind underneath. He'd gotten nowhere.

“Then I would forfeit all I am. If the worst happens, then I accept I will have to die.” The figure suddenly stood up. “Stop. Whatever you're doing, stop! It hurts...” The man's voice choked off into a pained sound before he collapsed, and everything went to complete darkness.

 

***

 

Inoichi pulled from Takeshi's mind, sliding back to his own awareness with a dull throbbing along his temple. He hadn't gotten much from the ermine, now laying limp in Ibiki's hands. He turned to Tsunade. “He's a blank. Severe traumatic memory loss has pulled everything from him. He talked, but concealed himself, unwilling to risk exposure without understanding what that may mean when he doesn't even know his own identity. He did imply he may be able to revert to human form when he has enough chakra returned.”

“What's his status?” Inoichi met the cold stare, not afraid of his Hokage. Her frustration wasn't toward him. “As long as he's low on chakra and bound to that form, he's a non- threat. With chakra and without memories, I'd consider him a minimal threat. With his chakra and memories returned, unknown. If he gets his memories back.”

“His collar is chakra suppressing, Tsunade- sama. It will help dampen what he does get back as he heals.” Neji offered. He wasn't sure if he wanted to keep the risks involved with Takeshi, but he wasn't willing to just give up on the feisty soul he'd spared from Kimi's claws. Things were quickly getting complex. “I can bring him back in a couple days when his body is not so strained, and we can try again. He will not be a threat without his chakra.”

The room fell into silence as Tsunade studied the limp body, still draped loosely in Ibiki's large hands. The tiny chest heaved, unheard breaths that stuttered and filled the body. It looked practically fragile, so easy to break with a thought. “Neji, I grant you care of Takeshi for three days. I want you back first thing Saturday morning so we can do a follow up on his condition. Hinata, did you patch him up last night?” At the girl's nod, Tsunade rose. Gentle fingers explored the body with a soft green glow. “You did well. Let me know if you would like to study some of the more complex healing spells, okay?” Hinata blushed, but murmured her agreement.

“You're dismissed. Uchiha, I need a moment before you leave.” Neji gathered Takeshi from Ibiki's hands and left, Kimi and Hinata at his back. He didn't need to look back to know Naruto had stopped just outside the Hokage's office. He could feel the burning prickle of being near a predator fade away, and by the time they were back on the street, he felt nearly normal.

“Let's get him home and fed.” Hinata agreed silently to his soft direction and they walked away, the midday sun warming the chill air, chasing the last breath of winter back with the promise of spring. Another bit of white fur brushed away under Neji's combing fingers, falling to the ground. “He's going to be cute when his fur is all in.” Neji smirked at his cousin's words. “He's going to be a handful. Not cute. Warriors aren't cute.”

“You think he's a fighter, a ninja?”

“I think he's got the spirit of one. Only time will answer if he really is.”

 

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

I shall be offering internet brownie points to whoever guesses Takeshi's real identity, and maybe, scene of choice (details can be discussed...) I'm not giving out any other hints than what is already in the story. thank you. All reviewers get my heartfelt thanks.