Frozen Heart

After her mishap in Konoha, Leader-Sama wasn’t pleased to say the least. Some word had gotten out, rumours saying that Shi no Gensō was actually secretly kind. To Kaiya`s own surprise her appearance still wasn’t out to the public. She also was thankful for that hole in the identity which left Pein with less of a reason to just kill her. Instead for over three months Kaiya`s life had been in the small rainy village.
There she mostly stayed with Konan completing simple tasks throughout and around the village. She still continued going off to send messages to partners, her one chance to escape the downpour of rain. It also gave Kaiya a chance to observe Pein. And she had been able to see that he truly was insanely powerful with the power of the Rinnegan. The dojutsu having previously just been something she read about back in her clan`s compound. Fighting him wasn’t a plan in Kaiya`s future, no matter the few sparring matches she`d done with him. The other times she instead sparred with Konan.

But it wasn’t too long for Kaiya until Pein sent her back out into the field again and she returned to the world of S-rank criminals and spying. This is what put Kaiya where she was now. She was heading off towards the border of Land of Lightning to meet up with Sasori at one of the small hideouts. The idea of seeing the puppet and getting the chance to annoy him put her in a good mood. The travelling time was made quickly so as not to raise that ire from Sasori. Besides she didn’t like taking too long for things either, it was annoying. So she pushed her legs further catching up speed through the mass of branches and trunks. The coming of autumn in this part of the world left the leaves scarce and crunchy beneath her. It was just that lack of foliage that warned her and Kaiya knew she might just be making Sasori-Senpai wait longer than she had meant to.

Kaiya let her body move towards the ground keeping her head titled as her cloak settled behind her. Hat shadowing any expression on her face, she knew only her Sharingan eyes were visible in the afternoon light. The man across from her stood up high on a tree branch staring down at her with an air of superiority. He gazed at her unwaveringly, just as he had when she’d been twenty feet away. His eyes had never left her form. And Kaiya recognized both the feeling of his gaze and chakra signature. A signature that even now was perfectly concealed from usage, even to her Kekkei-Genkai; in a village she’d never have pegged him as a shinobi. Well, exempting the dangerous glint of steel tucked into a sheath at his back.
For a few minutes he didn’t speak and Kaiya wouldn’t dare break the silence. He’d been following her before and she wouldn’t let him gain an upper-hand in any possible way.

Finally, he tipped his head and spoke in a mild tone that held undertones of arrogance, “Only a coward hides their face from an enemy.”
Kaiya mimicked his head tilt and let a smirk fall on her lips. Slowly reaching up towards her hat she murmured softly “No one ever said I was hiding.” The hat then fell away letting her long braid come down over her shoulder, raven criss-crossed bangs hanging over her forehead. She stared up at him letting the hat fall from her hands. When she met his gaze everything around them fell silent, a silence that only came before the worst of storms in Ame. The wind came to an abrupt stand still. The wildlife around them froze, nothing dared move as ozone leaked into the air around them. The only thing missing was the lightning strike.
Kaiya was right; she would be late getting to Sasori.

Suddenly in a burst so startling and powerful Kaiya had to step back; chakra was flaring around her in an enormous eruption. The chakra she’d seen swirling in his system could now rival that of Kisame’s. It pulsed and throbbed to a blazing fire. Lashing out around her pushing at Kaiya’s own chakra; pulling at it. It made her breath catch in her throat. In an even quicker instant the man had moved from the tree and his face distorted with pure blinding rage.
“You!” he began in a roar that lashed around them along with his chakra. “A mere child? A child has taken my name of Death Bringer, my title! ME! Odoshi Tochigi! How could something so pathetic and weak willed bring about such rumours of death!” In Kaiya’s sight his eyes seemed to shift, face contorting into animalistic fury. “I will not allow for it! You shall die you ignorant—“
“Child I may be,” Kaiya interrupted. “But ignorant, I am not.” And a shower of her senbon were sent flying out towards the white haired man.
The contortion of his face increased before he disappeared from one moment to the next. On opposite side of her needles, and the criminal was charging towards Kaiya at a blinding speed. Her eyes narrowed as she watched him. His blade glinted in the light and stabbed out towards a blow at her gut. Kaiya reacted immediately jumping back nimbly and shifting to the right. Mid-air she pulled back a leg lashing out for a blow at him, matching his speed. Except the moment she made contact the man’s body went up in a puff of smoke.
Eyes widening Kaiya looked to the corner of her eye. At that moment she landed on the ground spinning around she reached for her senbon launching it at the man. And from behind her a hand clenched onto her throat and she was heaved into the air. He’d come out of the smoke behind his clone while producing a second one.

Gritting her teeth, Kaiya activated the butterfly technique successfully moving out of his hands and out of reach. But, she abruptly reappeared only metres away and the Uchiha’s knees gave out beneath her. It was sheer will-power that kept the girl from lying face down on the dirt. It made Kaiya suck in a breath staring at the ground clenching her jaw. Her chakra…
A boisterous laugh sounded from in front of her making Kaiya look up so quickly her vision blurred. The man proclaiming himself as Death Bringer sneered down at her his blue eyes glinting maliciously. His sneer widened as she stared up in disbelief, “Silly, silly little girl. Don’t you know anything?”
His voice irked Kaiya to the bone, that stupid smugness that let Kisame trick her into fighting him all the time. It was annoying and he was impossibly cocky. However at this moment he had some reason to be and Kaiya could do nothing to stop him.
“Maybe you should pay more attention to your elders kid, instead of playing in the big leagues. Your guess would be right, you’re chakra is gone, well, not exactly,” his grin widened to that of a Cheshire cat. “It’s all mine now, gone in an instant from you, over to me. Years of collecting chakra and I’ve gotten fairly good at it don’t you say?”
Kaiya huffed out a laugh, “You really must be pretty old then.”

Kaiya flashed from Odoshi’s sight. Teeth still gritted she appeared behind him and lashed out with a kunai in hand. Speech cut off Odoshi’s eyes narrowed and he jumped away. The tip of the blade grazed his shoulder, a thin line of crimson appearing.
This time, Kaiya sneered at him, “You talk too much, old man.” The pair paused, facing off against each other Kaiya’s face set determinedly, a bead of sweat appearing on her brow while the rogue openly gaped at her. A light dawned in her mind while surveying him and Kaiya let an amused chuckle pass through her lips.
“What? Anybody can pick up a blade, even without chakra. At least I don’t steal something to get stronger.”

There it was again.
His hands formed quick seals Kaiya tensing body but even that couldn't prep her for when, without any extra warning, the ground beneath her began shaking. Another tremble and ground began loosening and cracking. Kaiya's eyes widened as she felt her body begin falling down uncontrollably. She lunged swiftly to the left rolling away on the ground and back to her feet. Looking back, the ground where she'd once been was now a dark crevice. And the ground wasn't done moving yet, even as she registered the sting of pain that was skin ripped away from her knees. The ground shook her vigorously sending her balance off and then Odoshi was coming for her himself. Sensing his presence instantaneously Kaiya blocked once again with both kunai pushing him with all her might. The ground beneath began to give away again. Grimacing, Kaiya pushed his weapon down with her own sending sparks into the air. In a blur she managed to vault her body up into the air, over his head. More rumbling from the ground was her only warning before Kaiya took off up in the highest tree. When that proved difficult without chakra to hold her there Kaiya went back to the ground perched with a hand against the trunk instead, then focused back on Odoshi.

When she caught sight of him the Uchiha forced a smirk upon her lips. He was crouching on the ground next to a second gaping hole in the ground. The roar of the earthquake settled down as he brought himself to his feet, staring at the fissure nervously. The chakra Kaiya had felt in the air moments before, settled down.
"Try not to fall for your own trap old man," Kaiya called out. "I thought you were going to be a real fight, don't cause your own death," A faint chuckle and Kaiya continued "That's my job."
He spun towards where she was crouched on a tree branch "Insolent child! You are the weak one here due to die by my hand! You should be trembling at facing the Death Bringer! Why aren't you?" his voice shrieked out at her. While he stomped his was towards Kaiya the Uchiha's red eyes glinted in the sun as she tilted her head towards his chakra-created chasm. Her reply came in a bland tone, "Maybe because you just nearly killed yourself instead of me." It only took a split second for the atmosphere to shift again.

Odoshi charged at her for another go his speed intensifying, a roar escaping his lips. Prepared this time, Kaiya flipped out of the way, away from his attack and up onto a tree branch managing her balance. Panting slightly she watched him pause from his charge like an irked bull. And she caught the sight she'd been searching for with her Sharingan.
Odoshi caught view of her up in the tree and his eyes flashed angrily again “You shouldn’t be able to move you impudent child!” His hands then blurred into seals giving Kaiya a mere second window of opportunity before a tornado of wind was hurtling towards her. The branches it made contact with turned to sawdust against its force gave Kaiya enough of a warning. She hurtled her body upwards then to the side. But as she lost ground just her foot was too slow behind her. It caught in the hurricane and dragged her backwards mid-air. The Uchiha’s breathing choked in her throat and her body tensed as she was spun around in a violent torrent of wind that stole away her breath before she was flung back out back into the air, heading for the ground. Kaiya managed to twist her body, bracing it just in time for her rear and hip to take the hit against the ground. She slid a few more feet, pushing dust up around her.
Eyes flashing and a second later he was on her again in a white blur. Kaiya pulled her kunai back out blocking the blow feeling herself push further into the ground as she absorbed the force of the attack. She swept a kick up towards him, forcing him into moving away from her. The blade was back in the next second forcing Kaiya to unsheathe a second kunai. She crossed the black metal across each other forming an X. The kunai absorbed the blow perfectly allowing Kaiya to jump and push forward with the remaining force. Tensing the muscles in her arms she shoved his blade to the side with one hand, moving the other to strike out at him. She crossed the blade against his collar bone when his sword broke free from her hold. Flinching Kaiya attempted jumping back, but still felt the sting of the blade across her cheek. He was back just as quickly and Kaiya’s breath was knocked out of her as his foot implanted firmly in her gut.

The power drove her back through the air and across the ground. When her body finally stopped flying Kaiya could only groan out feeling the remnants of that tornados damage adding on to all the pain. Her body didn’t want to move. She gritted her teeth, catching the coppery taste of blood in her mouth from biting her tongue. Nothing worked right, she couldn’t move. Her muscles quit as they ached in fervent pain. Kaiya could only twitch her fingers feeling something odd rub against them that distracted her momentarily. It was a string of chakra…
That thought was immediately broken when a hand wrapped around her throat a second time choking off her breath, Odoshi’s face appeared before hers as he held her suspended off her feet. She met his blue eyes with her own red scowling at him venomously. “Aww, little kid doesn’t even have any chakra for me to take. Mores' the pity. To think you said I'd be the one to die” He reached to her belt where she kept her deadliest of poisons and senbon. “Pretty useless toys when your opponents too fast to be hit by them,” he gloated.
A vicious laugh followed from his throat before Kaiya’s body was thrown back once more. Everything seemed to numb when she was lodged into the rough bark of a tree. There was only the throbbing across her back and the roar of her own heart in her ears. Kaiya’s hand settled at her side in a white knuckled fist. She pushed herself onto her feet feeling her body struggle to catch any proper steadiness.

Glancing up, Odoshi had begun stalking towards her sadistically. Seeing her on his feet his smirk only grew and he charged towards her. In an instant Odoshi was in front of Kaiya giving her no chance for reaction. Flinching her hands out in front of her in a last spurt attempt she activated the Butterfly Technique. Feeling her body dissipate into butterflies for a moment relief sought through her as Odoshi’s blade headed to go through the swarm of blue tinted wings, where her heart had once been. Then, in a forceful lash her body had reformed filling Kaiya’s muscles with a new spurt of pain. And leaving the deadly sword headed straight for her. Suddenly, Kaiya lurched over, just slightly and her body was pierced directly in the stomach, right through and out the back.

The Uchiha’s eyes flickered back and forth from Sharingan before steadying again. Her body hunched over as pain swarmed her, clogging her throat, depriving her body of air for a moment. She heaved a cough and blood spewed from her mouth, dripping down her bloodied lips. Hunched over, Kaiya allowed her smile to grow as her teeth stained with blood. Shaking her head Kaiya let out a pain filled laugh.
The sword ripped out of her body making her stumble and nearly collapse. Odoshi’s anger ripped through the air once more. It only made Kaiya’s lips turn up further. Chakra filled the entirety of the clearing.
“All that chakra,” she muttered. “And you waist it so easily with every single emotion you feel, pride, anger, all of it. It releases from you every time because you try to contain so much in your body on a daily basis. More than a chakra system should be able to handle. I wonder…” another cough tore through her throat letting out more sticky red liquid. “What happens if it’s all released at once?”

Odoshi’s anger only grew and he wrapped both hands tightly around her throat and began shaking the young Uchiha brutally. Kaiya's lids lowered over her eyes veiling expression, the pain absorbed through her and disappeared into her aching head. Seeing no reaction from her Odoshi cursed in frustration pulling her face inches from his. She watched his eyes swerve wildly staring at her in utter bewilderment and wrath. It was all Kaiya needed.
His mind so distracted the Death Bringer never could have noticed as Kaiya's hand flitted up to a hidden pocket in her sleeve. The sound of a miniscule cap popping was beyond him. Her hands gripped his wrists as though trying to force them away, Odoshi only laughed.
No, he didn't notice anything, not until resolutely Kaiya poised her hand and a thin sharp object just barely pierced into the vein on his wrist.

Kaiya's eyes opening she fixed him with her glare when his hands finally loosened in confusion. Any smile was lost from Kaiya when her body was dropped to the ground. Unsteadily pushing back to her feet ignoring her bloodied stomach the raven haired kunoichi shook her head at Odoshi Tochigi.
"No Tochigi," Kaiya whispered. "I don't die today, you do."

Then it began as the blue liquid transferred from her senbon made its way throughout his veins completely and activated upon that completion. To Kaiya's Kekkei-Genkai his chakra system itself, the vein-like system exploded open. And with it the entirety of that chakra Odoshi had collected in his life-span. It commenced blasting out of him. Kaiya watched as slowly the main chakra pressure points ripped open, bursting from the inside-out. Releasing all the chakra; his own power relentlessly tore up his chakra network, and everything else with it.
Kaiya clutched her stomach as she watched him staunching the bleeding to the best she could. The attack of chakra began turning violent then. His skin began burning before her eyes and blood started flowing freely out of his ears, eyes and mouth. Kaiya watched the chakra escaping incinerate leaves and anything closest to it the more the implosion grew. She scowled shoving her weakened body back as much as she could. When, abruptly, she was pulled away whilst a large black and red blur swept in and out of the clearing to the trees a good yard away. Hiruko's tail released her beside Sasori who crouched beside her outside of the puppet for once. Kaiya's vision began to blur, looking up at the red-head who gazed out at the explosion within the clearing.
Even as her world swarmed and wavered the kunoichi could've sworn an amused smile played on his face, his voice echoed oddly "That poison was always meant for personal use. A last minute boost of power. Of course you would find something else for it though..." Then everything went dark.

Kaiya's awakening back to the world was none too pleasant. As the feeling slowly came to her, she regretted waking up in the first place. Never before, even when training with Pein or Kisame, had Kaiya's body ever ached so much in her entire life. Without opening her eyes the dark haired girl knew healing would suck just by the ache she felt to her very bones. Working this off would be a pain that Kisame would happily help with.
Then again. Her thoughts paused, where was she exactly? Kaiya must have begun speaking aloud because it was Sasori's rough voice that spoke from beside her, "We're at the main hideout, brat. Now get up."

Adhering to the order Kaiya opened her eyes blinking slowly a few times adjusting to the light above her. Groaning Kaiya shook her head, but that only made it worse, the movement making her world spin. Her hands came up to grip her temples and Kaiya could feel the familiar texture of bandages on them. Rubbing her eyes, the Uchiha slowly this time heaved her body up from the bed upright. She blinked again focusing over on Sasori's red haired teenage form. Glancing around the room, the grunted at the normal lack of windows.
"Hn," she mumbled. "What year is it?"
A heavy sigh sounded from Sasori, "A concussion and she still manages dramatics." "Could be brain damage," that voice startled Kaiya. She shifted to dangle her legs off the bed and caught sight of Kisame her smirked at her in greeting from the doorway before continuing snidely "Oh wait, that was already there."

"Shut up or I'll turn you into sushi!" Kaiya retorted with equal amounts of snark. An amused chuckle rumbled from the swordsmen's throat, "You couldn't hurt a fly the way you look right now, twerp."
Sighing Kaiya rolled her eyes and fell back onto the bed hiding a wince when it hurt more than she expected. "I'll turn you to sushi when I'm not so stinkin' tired!" "Ah! So she is too afraid to fight me!" Kisame replied lightly.
In a flash Kaiya sat up, "Am not!" Before she winced and let out a loud moan gripping her stomach. At that moment Kakuzu made himself known from his position outside the door. Only to step past the entrance continuing out of the way, but just before making his complete exit she caught his gruff voice muffled through his mask "If you open up my stitching, I'll let you bleed out this time."

Then the miser was gone, out the door and down the hallway. Kaiya could faintly hear the scurrying of some terrified criminal following behind him.
A pout formed on the young Uchiha's lips "C'mon, he started it. Trying to fight an injured twelve year old." Kisame gaped over at her before smirking and shaking his head, he too then made his exit mumbling something about tiny things being too gutsy. Though Kaiya didn't bother with a remark. At that instant she'd realized why everyone had begun making a hasty retreat from the room, Sasori having already disappeared before Kisame entered the room. Itachi was there at the end of the bed.

Her breathing froze in her throat and Kaiya looked down at her hands in her lap, twiddling her unwrapped thumbs. The teen pinched her lips together, looking over at him out of her peripherals with blue tinted charcoal eyes. Slowly and deliberately, Itachi left his place by the bed. His steps were slow, almost hesitant and Kaiya could only keep her head down looking away from him completely.
She felt him paused directly in front of her before Itachi's training worn fingers touched her chin and pulled her up to meet his intense onyx gaze. It took Kaiya by surprise to see that he wasn't actually meeting her eyes. Instead his sight was completely focused on her cheek. Where, after deliberation, she could feel thin stitches going through her cheek. Taking further stock Kaiya wasn't quite sure what the extent of her injuries. She softly voiced the question to her brother.

Itachi's eyes intensified and looking above her head then he replied to her, "Three stitches on your cheek, a concussion derived from the bump on the back of your head, eight stitches on your stomach, two bruised ribs, one broken, a sprained ankle is the smallest of it all and—" Itachi cut himself off to take in a heavy breath before leaning his forehead against hers as lightly as possible. "My butterfly. I almost lost you in that fight–and I wasn't even there to prevent it." Kaiya knew her Onii's ranting would continue on so instead she mustered up all her energy and through her arms around him in a tight hug.
"I'm so sorry Nii-San."
Itachi returned the hug fervently, almost desperate in his own reassurances that she hadn't been lost and truly died. For a few minutes the siblings just stayed like that. Clutching onto one another looking for different things to comfort because even Kaiya couldn't quite believe she was alive. So it was Kaiya to be the one to pull apart.
She took a waited breath holding Itachi's hands in her smaller ones.
"You're right I nearly did bite it. But you know Nii-San, before then I don't think I'd ever truly had a physical fight like that and I realized...I suck at it. Without my genjutsu and chakra, I was worthless a battle. But I won Nii-San. Because Odoshi Tochigi had a fatal flaw to his jutsu of letting his emotions and greed for chakra weaken him, without that...I'd be dead. And not just an illusion." Another sigh left Kaiya's lips before suddenly the butterfly wielder glanced up and met Itachi's eyes with a smile that lit up the room.

"So I'll thank him for that" Kaiya continued, letting her smile widen when Itachi's expression switched from remorse to shock into pure amusement. Seeing it Kaiya kept going, "I won't let that happen to me again, not like that. I guess I really couldn't keep away from taijutsu. I need to be a prodigy after all, right?"
Itachi shook his head and smiled at her stepping back and staring up to the ceiling in exasperation. When he looked back over at his little sister Itachi rose an eyebrow, "So what's your plan then, Imouto?"
Kaiya's lips shifted into a wide grin and her eyes glinted eagerly in the light, "Well step one would be to get out of these bandages," she smirked when he gave her a chastising look and continued without missing a beat, "Which won't happen for a few weeks, if I'm lucky not more."

Kaiya then reached over to her pouch at the side of the bed pulling out a kunai and fiddling with it casually, pulling out a second one her eyes shot over to Itachi.
"Step two would be to get a pair of duel blades," another pause and this time the black-haired Uchiha's expression turned gleeful. "Then, it'll be time to annoy Kisame."