Book One

Chapter IV

Cold Deck

They had rescued her. Hinata for the life of her could not figure out why they had done it, but they had.

Shino's words from earlier in this whole ordeal rang in her ears. Better a live monster than a dead hero. Were they really going to die? Had they doomed themselves to certain death just to rescue her? And for the love of the Sage, why had they gone through all of that just to change their minds before they had even gotten out the front door?

She didn't ask any of these questions. Instead, she drew her knees in tighter to her chest, and leaned a bit closer to the fire. She was still dressed in her old white dress, which was now little more than dirt stained tatters around her. A blanket draped over her shoulders allowed her to retain her dignity, at least.

It was the first time she had been at a campfire without her hands bound, but she found little joy in it. It was still cold, impossibly cold, even with the fire right next to her, and the mood was bleak. Kiba and Shino picked silently at cans of some kind of white mush, while Akamaru's big puppy eyes traced the fire's sparks, which rose high into the desert air before vanishing.

Finally, finally, for the first time since Kiba had carried her out of the Coven, Hinata found her voice. "Thank you," she said, her head buried in her knees.

Kiba and Shino said nothing. Hinata peeked one eye out and saw them look at each other, and it was as if an entire conversation was taking place between them without a word being said. It reminded Hinata of her father, who was fond of claiming that everything that needed to be said in a business deal was said before either man spoke a word. It was all in the way you carried yourself.

Finally, they turned back to her. "It…wasn't nothin'" Kiba said, his voice quieter than Hinata had ever heard it before. "Guess we…figured we made a bit of a mistake."

The bravado that had shone through during his confrontation with the Witch was gone, replaced by doubt and uncertainty. It looked out of place on him. Shino seemed to be carrying the perceived defeat with more grace, but Hinata could see where his eyes crinkled around the edge of his sunglasses, and how every once and a while he would reach up and rub his temples when he thought nobody was watching. The ordeal was wearing on him too.

"What now?" Hinata asked.

It was a long time before anyone spoke. "I suppose," Shino said, his usual monotone tinged with exhaustion, "that we have a day and a half before the Witch sends out her dogs. Roughly three weeks after that, our creditors will demand the money they are owed, and when the find that we cannot pay, they will begin hunting for us. And we already have the Marshals, the New Leaf deputies, and half of the West's bounty hunters after us."

"I give us a week," Kiba said miserably. "Maybe less. At least we don't have to worry about that Will-forsake debt anymore." Shino nodded in silent agreement.

"This…this debt," Hinata said. "Who do you owe it to?"

"We never did tell you, did we?" Kiba asked. "Guess we figured you didn't really need to know."

Hinata nodded.

"History…is important," Shino said, almost as if he weren't part of the conversation. "When I die, when you die, when everyone we've ever met is long dead, what'll matter is how well you've preserved our story in the pages of history." He had slipped into a cadence that told Hinata that this was not an idle observation but a memorized line that he had heard long ago.

Kiba swallowed and nodded. The saying obviously had some meaning to him to. Hinata felt like she had heard it before as well, but couldn't remember where. It almost made her think of Kurenai.

"We're the only people that still carry the name," Shino said. "That's why the debt rests on our shoulders, even if we aren't the ones that took it up." He turned to face Hinata, and she could feel his gaze through his dark glasses. "Our story is important," he said. "When we…if we don't make it, our story has to continue."

Hinata nodded very slowly. Shino, apparently satisfied with this response, settled back, laying down and staring up at the stars. His fingers were laced behind his head, elbows out, forming a makeshift pillow for himself.

"Kiba and I have been friends since we were born, really," he began. "My parents were doctors. They owned a local clinic in a small town not far from here. Kiba's mother owned the town saloon."

"We got in trouble lots as kids," Kiba said, picking up as Shino trailed off. "Runnin' around, raisin' hell, that sort'a thing. Bout six years ago we got in our heads that we were gonna be a pair of gunslingers. An Outlaw and a Rogue, roughin' it in the Wild West. So we stole some guns from our parents, some horses from some traders and we set out."

"Naturally, we ran into trouble almost immediately," Shino said. "We attempted to raid a small caravan, but were captured and thrown in jail almost immediately. It was there we met Asuma."

Asuma. Hinata had known an Asuma. He was her father's head of security, a friendly, kind looking man with an earring and quite a few scars. Kurenai had fallen head over heels for him the moment he was hired. But that wasn't important to Kiba and Shino's story, so she stayed quiet.

"Asuma offered to break us out of jail on one condition," Shino continued. "He wanted us to join his newly formed gang, a group calling themselves the Magnificent Six. He said he saw potential in us, and wanted to make us the final members. We accepted. He broke us out of jail and introduced us to our new gang, which he immediately re-christened the Magnificent Eight. We were the youngest members by quite a few years, but nobody seemed to mind."

"We were family," Kiba said. "We grew up with those guys, and they taught us how to ride and shoot and steal, all sorts of things. For five years, we were one of the most notorious gangs in the West. But we were getting in over our heads."

Shino nodded quietly. "One of our members, Hisa, was wounded during a raid. Our medic couldn't heal her, and Asuma got desperate to save her. He made a deal with a very talented, very dangerous, very well connected doctor. His name was Kakuzu."

Hinata was sure she had heard the name before. In the paper, or over the radio. But she didn't dare interrupt now.

"Kakuzu saved Hisa's life, but the price he requested for the service was enormous. We spent all our savings, but it still wasn't enough. He gave us six months to come up with the rest of the payment, or he would come after us. Alone…well, he's tough, but all eight of us together, we were tougher. But he wasn't alone. He had his gang behind him. He had Akatsuki."

"Daybreak," Hinata whispered.

Kiba nodded. "Or the Red Clouds, or Dawn, or any of the other million names people have given 'em. The most dangerous gang alive, now that the Uchiha are all dead."

"To pay off the rest of the debt, Asuma hatched a plan to attack and kill Orochimaru, the leader of the Rattlesnake Bandits," Shino said. "We would kill him, the collect the bounty New Leaf Town had on his head. That would be enough to cover the rest of the debt with plenty to spare. But…it didn't work. Something went wrong; it was like they knew we were coming. Our medic and Hisa both died in the fighting, and the battle attracted Danzo, the Sherriff of New Leaf Town. He rode through the battle massacring most of the Rattlesnake Bandits and, well, us too."

"Somehow, some way, me an' Shino escaped," Kiba said. "We figure the rest a' the Eight died there at Kannabi Bridge. Certainly never heard from 'em again. So now the debt's ours. We've tried to scrape together the money, but it's tough, with just the two of us. You were our last plan. Last chance, I guess." He sighed. "You were our ace in the hole."

"Queen," Hinata said to herself. "Queen in the hole. And I still am."

She stood up, ignoring the pain and tiredness in her legs, and looked down at them. "You…saved me from the Witch. You didn't have to. You could've put all this behind you. Why didn't you?"

Kiba shrugged. "Couldn't leave you there, I guess. Wouldn't have been right."

"Nor would it be right for me to leave you here," Hinata said. Something was flowing through her – a strength, a confidence, a determination she had never felt before. "You have three weeks to come up with the money. It won't save you from the Witch, but you can get Akatsuki off your back, right?"

Shino and Kiba looked up at her, confusion evident on their faces. Hinata smiled. "We're going to get you that money," she said. "We're going to steal it from my father. We are going to rob Hyuga Railroad Corporation."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hinata woke in her bed. The bed was soft, and the room was dark, and she was warm and very tired, but for some reason she couldn't fall asleep. Every time she closed her eyes she would just end up opening them again to stare at the stars Kurenai had painted on her ceiling. They were gorgeous – astronomically correct and incredibly lifelike, they almost seemed to twinkle in the darkness. She had missed those stars.

The thought made her frown. She had missed them? When would she have missed them?

Oh, of course, when they had moved out West. Satisfied, Hinata settled back into the covers, but before she could drift off back to sleep she found herself facing a whole new set of questions.

When had she moved out West? And when had she gotten back?

She frowned and kicked the covers off her. She needed a glass of water. That would help her sleep. But when she slid off the bed to the wooden floor, the lights snapped on, impossibly bright. Hinata, shielding her eyes, realized that this was not her room after all. It was far to small, and no furniture, or even doors or windows. The only things in the room were her bed (which, curiously enough, was no longer there) and a very large old grandfather clock.

She opened the grandfather clock and stepped through to find herself in a desert. A long, paved road stretched into the distance, the blue sky dominated by a too large sun. Hinata began to walk down the road, pausing occasionally to steal a quick glance up at the sun, which seemed to be setting quite rapidly.

After maybe an hour of walking, the sun began to vanish over the horizon, disappearing completely after quite the beautiful sunset. Wisps of orange, pink, and cobalt danced on the quickly darkening night sky, which was completely devoid of moon or stars. Eventually, the lasts traces of light faded, plunging Hinata into utter darkness.

"Hinata," spoke a voice.

Hinata turned and now she was back in her old house, the one out East. She was standing in the kitchen, and everything seemed a bit too large – but when she looked down she realized that it was she who was too small. She glanced towards the mirror and saw a much younger Hinata looking back at her. Gods, the servants were right, Hanabi really did look like Hinata had at her age.

"Hinata," the voice said again. Hinata was sure she had heard that voice before. It was soft and feminine, almost sing-song. She turned to face the speaker.

"Mother?"

For it was her mother. She looked younger than she had in the pictures, more carefree. Her hair was down, instead of done up in a no-nonsense bun, and she wore a casual white dress with a yellow shawl draped over her shoulders.

Hinata had never really known her mother. She had died when Hinata was only a few years old, during Hanabi's birth, but even before that Hinata had seen very little of her. Kurenai had raised Hinata since birth, with some help from Ko, and when Hinata could only remember a few times she had spoken to her mother before her death.

"Oh Hinata," her mother said, striding forwards. She was inhumanly graceful, her feet barely seeming to touch the ground, and when she reached Hinata she bent down and kissed her daughter on the top of the head. The kiss burned like fire, but didn't hurt, and a moment later it flashed cold.

"Mother…" Hinata said again. She felt like she was about to cry, but the tears wouldn't come. Her mother simply ran her hands across Hinata's face, smiling to herself before turning away.

"The eyes have it darling," she said almost sadly. She sat at the dining room table, studying something intently that Hinata couldn't see. "The eyes have it," she said again. "And yours are such a beautiful lilac…"

"Mother, I-" Hinata tried to speak before she could finish her mother waved her hand. The words died on Hinata's tongue, and instead she found herself walking towards her mother, who was still stooped over the dining room table.

When Hinata reached the table she could see that her mother was studying a deck of cards, which was sitting face down. The backs of the cards were white, with golden symbols that seemed to shift each passing moment – a sun, a beetle, a dog. A spiral, a fan, a cherry. A boar, a deer, a butterfly. A target, an X, a fist. A slug, a snake, a sword, a rippled pool. Hinata watched the shifting symbols in fascination until her mother snatched the deck up, shaking her head.

"No, no, no," her mother murmured. "Not right, not right." She laid the deck out again, and this time the backs were black, with six red magatama – curved, comma shaped beads with holes in one end – formed a circle around a multi-colored flame.

With shaking hands, Hinata reached out and turned the deck over, so that the front of the cards could be seen. She sensed her mother's approval at the action.

It was a tarot deck – the major arcana, twenty-two cards. Or at least, there were supposed to be twenty-two cards. Hinata knew there were only twenty (though she could not say how she knew).

"Where are the other two?" Hinata asked.

Her mother tutted, springing up out of her seat and pacing the room while wringing her hands nervously. "Now you see the first inklings of the kind of game being played. The Emperor and the Empress unfairly removed from the deck before the cards could even be placed! Bold, bold, but risky. The Challenger grows impatient. He believes the deck is stacked cold." She shuddered. "I am the dealer. I am the witness. My job is to prevent the tampering of the deck. But the players grow restless. I can no longer protect the deck. I can no longer protect the pieces." She touched Hinata's cheek with her fingers.

Hinata tried to speak, but no sound escaped her lips. Her mother returned to the table, picking up a card and throwing it across the room in frustration. "Wrong, wrong! Everything, wrong!" She shouted. "The Lovers split! The Magician wanders off her path. The World, the Fool, the High Priestess and Justice mourn the death of one who would not be a piece! She would not be a pawn!"

Hinata flinched backwards, and suddenly she was standing on an enormous chess set, with pieces several times taller than herself. "You're looking at it all wrong!" Her mother shrieked, appearing from behind an oversized bishop. You see one game where you should see many! Ten was once one, but now Forty-five is nine! More, and yet less!"

"How can more be less?" Hinata asked.

"When more is not in a thing's nature," her mother said. The chessboard vanished, and suddenly they were back at the dining room table, looking at a spread of cards. Not tarots – regular face cards this time. They were arranged in four groups of three and one of four.

"The Jack of Hearts," her mother said, plucking one card from where it sat on the table. "The most important piece, or the least? The Champion removed the Emperor and Empress, but why? To cripple the Jack? So now the Challenger strikes back," she continued, pointing to the two cards the Jack of Hearts had been placed with. "The Queen of Diamonds. The King of Spades. The Jack's destiny is still unclear, but it is there. The stars tell me this. The birds sing of what is to come."

"Mother…"

"I have failed, Hinata," her mother moaned, stumbling forward before falling to one knee. "The sanctity of the deck has been put into question. This is no place for an imperfect soul." She reached out and touched Hinata's face again, and this time her touch burned with a cold fire. Hinata instinctively flinched away.

Her mother stopped and exhaled in a long, shaky breath. Hinata could see her breath on the air. She drew her yellow shawl closer around herself and turned away, but not before Hinata could see the tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"No place for an imperfect soul," her mother said again. "And you are so imperfect. So beautifully, wonderfully imperfect. You must not let them destroy you – they will, if you allow them."

When Hinata woke, she was nestled into a sleeping bag, staring up at the stars.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto sat, scowling, in the passenger car of a large train. On any other day, he would be excited to be sitting on a train. He loved trains. They were big, and metal, and went super fast (even faster than a horse, though Kurama would probably beg to differ if he could talk). In fact, practically the only thing that could ruin a train ride for Naruto would be a cute girl he had met (and totally called dibs on) making an idiot of herself over some stupid Uchiha bodyguard-outlaw-stupidhead.

The worst part was the way he was soaking it all up like a self-satisfied snake. Sitting there, looking bored, disinterested, refusing to even acknowledge her existence as she threw herself at him. Occasionally his face would flash with tremors of I really, really, really wish this wasn't happening to me right now. The smug bastard. Naruto hated his guts.

He even dressed funny. Naruto was dressed like a real Western Hero, with his duster and his bandana and of course, his hat. Sasuke was dressed like a sick parody of a western hero. Instead of a classic leather duster, the Uchiha wore a long, dark blue trenchcoat with an Uchiha fan emblazoned on the back. His hat was the same shade of blue, over-large and with a white feather sticking out of the top at an angle. On his hip he wore an elaborate silver dueling pistol – but as Naruto looked closer he could see that it had been modified somewhat to allow it to hold more than one bullet at a time. He grunted. At least the asshole was practical.

Tazuna, the railroad engineer who was the whole point of this stupid mission, sat at the end of the cart, finishing off yet another bottle of some kind of vile drink that stank to high heaven. Maybe Naruto was still a little hung over, but he didn't think he could stand another four hours of that smell.

He and Sakura had arrived at the train station just a few minutes before the train departed, and met with Sasuke and Tazuna in this very compartment. The Uchiha had cleared it out beforehand, (or maybe Tazuna's smell had done it) and Sakura had immediately set to work patching up Tazuna's wounds. She had been trying to convince Sasuke to shed the trench coat and "let her take a look at him", but Sasuke had so far refused to answer.

Naruto didn't like the smell of this. Sasuke had claimed Tazuna's attacker had been none other than the second demon brother, the one that had poisoned Naruto not two days ago. But last Naruto had heard, the Demon Brothers had been recruited by a larger gang working somewhere out of the swampland to the north. So what were they doing so far south…and why were they attacking Tazuna, of all people? Neither Tazuna nor Sasuke seemed interested in answering what were, in Naruto's mind, very pressing questions.

Finally, Naruto managed to tear his eyes away from Sakura and Sasuke and instead found himself looking at the landscape of the Fire Country speeding by outside the window. They would be in the Wave Confederacy soon enough. Naruto didn't know what lay in wait for them there, but he had the feeling that it was nothing good.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Wait outside," Asuma said as they approached the door in the cliff.

"I will not," Hanabi said, her horse trotting along next to Asuma's own. "You have not even told me what this place is, or why we are coming here. I did not agree to being kept in the dark like this."

"No, you agreed to doing what I said," Asuma said, his voice harsh. "I'm not taking you in there. I'm not taking a child in there. Not again." He leapt off his horse as they approached the entrance, his ankle giving a brief twinge of phantom pain as he landed. "Wait outside."

Hanabi didn't look pleased, but she rarely did. "Fine," she said, huffing out a small breath. "I will wait. I trust you will not be gone long."

"I don't plan on it," Asuma said, walking up to the entrance of the Coven and knocking on the door.

Rap. Rap. Rap rap rap. Rap. Rap. Rap rap rap.

A small peephole opened, and a moment later, closed. The door swung open. Asuma stepped inside.

The guard was a man he didn't know, but it had been a while since Asuma had visited. He nodded to the guard, who nodded back and closed the door before taking Asuma's weapons and storing them in a large locker.

The tunnels smelled like incense and blood. The blood was new. The incense might've been too. Asuma had never really had a nose for the stuff. He made his way through the twisting tunnels until he found the Coven's main room, which for the first time in his life, was empty save for a single girl, staring at a clock.

"Asuma Sarutobi," the Witch drawled. "Or is it Asuma Yuuhi now? It's nice to see you, either way."

Asuma bowed. The Witch chuckled. "Ever a gentleman," she said. "Come. Sit. Count the hours with me."

"What are we counting down to?" Asuma asked as he took the offered seat. He studied the Witch at she watched the clock. She really was lovely. Far to young for him, but lovely nonetheless.

"I gave your two ex-protégés forty-eight hours to get as far away from here as humanly possible. Four remain. Do you think they're far enough away?" She eyed him and smiled.

"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage," Asuma said. "You'll have to educate me."

So she told him. She told him of Kiba and Shino, and of Hinata. Asuma's heart leapt in his chest when he learned that they had actually sold her to the Witch, of all people – what had they been thinking? (Probably not much with incense in the air, but still.) She told him how they had killed her men, and some of her girls, and held her at gunpoint and demanded the girl back. And she told him about how they had been given two days to run away, run far, far away, and never come back.

"I suppose you'll be looking for them too," she said after she had let the story stew in his mind for a few minutes.

He nodded.

"Why?" The Witch asked. "To join them?"

"No. To bring Hinata back," he said. "What they did…I can understand it. But I can't forgive it."

The Witch laughed. "Oh, oh, oh. Poor Asuma. Caught between his old life and his new one. Betraying the friends he once held so dear." She looked down at her lap. "Sound familiar?"

Asuma swallowed. "Ino, I am so, so, sorry."

"Don't call me that," the Witch spat, her voice full of scorn and bitter rage. "Don't ever call me that."

"You should've come with me," Asuma said. "Why didn't you come, when I offered?"

The Witch laughed. "Why didn't I go with you? Make your six a seven, and then later a nine? Why didn't I follow you to die at Kannabi bridge?"

"I didn't mean it like that," Asuma said.

"I know. But that doesn't make it any less true," the Witch said, looking back at the clock. "The truth is," she said after a moment, "I wanted to come with you. I really did. But I couldn't leave this place. It was my home, even then. The people here were my family, even her. She was like my mother. A bitch, but still my mother." She smiled sadly. "And then you came along, and showed me I didn't have to take her shit anymore, and helped me put a bullet in her head. And then you just…expected me to leave."

"I thought you would want to," Asuma said. "I thought you wanted to get away from this place."

"I did!" The Witch shouted, her voice echoing around the empty room. "But I couldn't leave them all here, drugged out of their damn minds, like fucking sheep! They wouldn't have lasted a day without me looking out for them!" She stood, and stared down at Asuma, her pale blue eyes flashing with fury. "I sit here and fucking stew in it, and don't even feel tired. I watch them lose their minds from this incense, from this Will-damned smoke, and I don't even fucking yawn. They lose everything! Their smiles, their laughs, their very fucking beings, they lose it to this fucking smoke. And they can't leave. None of them can leave, because that's when the coughing starts, and the vomiting, and the looks on their faces when they realize clean air is fucking poison to them! Or the looks that would be on their faces anyway, if they still had enough fucking soul to feel anything."

"The incense isn't your fault," Asuma said. "Nobody knows where it comes from. It's just always been here."

The Witch spat onto the ground. "Why doesn't it affect me?"

"I don't know," Asuma said, spreading his hands. "You were just born lucky, I guess."

"Born lucky," The Witch said with a snort. "Born lucky. It doesn't affect me, but it still owns me Asuma. Maybe I can breathe clean air. I wouldn't know. I haven't tried in years."

"All you need to do is step outside–"

"That's not the fucking point!" The Witch shrieked, punching the stone cavern so hard that Asuma thought he heard some fingers snap. "I know I can try any time I want. But what if I try, Asuma, and I can't? What if the air is poison to me?"

Asuma said nothing. He had a feeling that if he said anything it would just send her over the edge, and she would start shooting. And he didn't know if he would have it in him to stop her.

"I was twelve, Asuma!" She shouted. "Twelve years old! And when I killed her, I was the only one who could do her job! One day I was scrubbing dishes, sometimes entertaining the really twisted fuckers who stopped by, and then the next day I was fucking running the place!"

She whirled to face him, clutching at her hair and doing her best to cover her quickly reddening eyes. "And then you left! Oh, sure, here's a gun Ino, here's how to shoot it! How about you kill her, you hate her, right? Oh, you did it, good job! Have fun with your new whorehouse, see you in a year with your replacements in tow!"

Asuma measured his words carefully before he spoke. "Kiba and Shino were never your replacements."

"Who gives a shit if they were or not?" The Witch said, turning away from him. "They're going to be dead soon. In four hours I'm sending out the word, and then half the West will want them dead. Unless…of course…you stop me."

Asuma shook his head.

"Oh come ooooon, Asuma," she said. "I'm about to send out the kill orders on your two boys. The Olive Rogue, the Bronze Outlaw, both of them about to be crushed because I want it to happen. Stop me Asuma!" She shouted, grabbing her gun from where it lay on the table and pressing it into his open hand. "Stop me Asuma!" She shouted, closing his fingers around the grip. He didn't bother resisting – but he didn't pull the trigger either.

Instead, he stood. "Ino," he said, "I am so sorry. For everything." He sighed and let the gun fall to the floor with a clatter of metal on stone. "I have to find Hinata. I have to. I've never been surer of anything in my life. But once I find her, I'm going to try and fix my mistakes. Starting with you. I swear I'm going to find a way to help you."

He turned then, and walked away, leaving her standing in the middle of the room. "I…don't need you anymore!" She shouted after him. "I have a gun! I know how to shoot! What else can you teach me?! I don't fucking need you!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

When Asuma emerged, blinking like an owl, back into the midday sun, Hanabi was waiting for him. "How'd it go?" She asked immediately, straightening up on her horse.

Asuma said nothing. She was so damn young.

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

Asuma grunted and swung himself up onto his horse.

"Where are we going now?"

"Into town" Asuma said, adjusting his hat to block the sun from his eyes. "I need a smoke."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: Notes can be found in my livejorunal, the link to which is on my author profile page.
Thanks for reading, and please leave a review telling me what you thought!