Naruto 1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto in any way and make no claim on its copyright or any characters from the series. Original characters are my own property.

**Author's Intro:** Ah, I don't know what this is, it's something, and we'll see what (if anything) happens with it I suppose. It won't hurt to publish it anyway. Anyway this is a fanfic that will apparently feature Kamizuru Suzumebachi (who premiered in the Bikouchuu filler arc) which might be a first in Naruto fanfiction (is that a good thing?). Anyway, there may be manga spoilers at some point, but there aren't any right now. Also, this story may not have a strong chapter organization, so while requires a chapter organization, I may have a looser structure in this than in anything else I've done.

Please comment if you read this, with good or bad replies, or even simple acknowledgements that it was read, I very much appreciate it and will try to make note of that.

That's it, enjoy!

**Other Gifts**

The first sign was the loss of absolutism. It did not really brighten any, nor could normal vision have detected anything at all, but to those with eyes and experience to know the difference between absolute darkness where the sun never touched and the utterly faded glimmer of light from above it was obvious. It had many meanings, this change, and drew on the search for greater signs. Such were the tiny clues present in deep places.

Other signs followed, subtle at first, then more obvious. An absence of calcite formations indicated many recent passages by large presences, culminating in a naked path gliding through the darkness. Bricks, their alien clay scattered on the nature stone, could be touched and marked along the base of the passage. Other debris followed, pieces of metal, cloth, and wood, scattered in disarray and without organization. They were very old, no such wispy debris would have survived so long above, but their foreign nature and the lack of water in this particular location had preserved them for a time. Even so, they would soon be gone as this place measured time.

In the end skilled interpretation was not necessary, for the situation resolved with abject blatancy. A crumbling and crooked skeleton, bearing no possessions save a metal plate lying across the brow, lay before a crushed formation of clay and stone, a small structure of one single enclosed space.

A hand reached out and grasped that plate of metal. Though no natural creature could see in this lightless black, it reached out with perfect assurance, knowing exactly where the piece lay, and not touching the brittle bones at all. The darkness allowed no sight by natural means, but vision was yet possible for the one who turned that plate in a gloved hand, slowly scraping off the mineralized outer surface that the dark life here had made into many a meal. The fragment was damaged by those invisible creatures, thinned and crumbling even as it turned, but enough remained that the mark in the center could be felt through those gloved fingers, a touch of frightful sensitivity. Strange sight could glimpse things in black, but not all, so touch was required to trace the outline of the roughly etched marking. Two irregular geometric outlines overlapping each other, such were the marks the hand detected, and suspicions were confirmed.

The gloved hand closed, crushing the degraded metal to powder. The skeleton, a hindrance, was kicked aside by feet encased in tough boots. It made soft crinkling sounds as it shattered to minute pieces against the stone base.

Boots crushed bone shards without sound as they passed the space occupied by the skeleton. Beyond lay a shattered wall, once holding a door made of a single slab of stone. Granite it appeared by the grain under a gloved hand, a stone foreign to this place. The origin was clear enough now, this thing had fallen from far above. A crack must remain even this day, allowing the echo of sunlight to enter, parting the dominion of darkness.

The granite slab remained, now fixed in place by forces of immense power slamming it into the substrate. That entry was blocked, but the sides behind it, made of clay and stone bricking, were crushed and perhaps passable. Curious hands reached out and tested them. They were held, but not solid; a reasonable force might free them and create a hole.

Measuring with the sensitive feel of his hands the observer tested the bricks, judging the sequence they would need to be removed, the one that would open a passage but preserve stability in the same moment. It was not so difficult to find, not for one whose body had charted endless passages of tiny space and maddening instability. Slowly the removal began.

Movements deliberate but assured pulled and pried free one brick at a time, with hands, needle, and knife, setting each one down in silence, the entire operation soundless and lightless. It was soon completed; a passage just wide enough to squeeze head and torso forward had been opened.

Without hesitation a slender body slid forward, passing head and shoulders through, the space tight enough that the arms must proceed first, or they would not be able to move within. Up to the base of the ribcage the body submerged into the tiny gap, precarious but assured.

The inside was simple, a single small enclosed space above another granite slab. This slab was not rough like the doorway, but smooth and polished, marked with a pair of characters. One hand traced these carefully, noting them for what they were, a name. This information completed what had been suspicion from the very beginning, that this sunken object was a tomb.

Uninterested in the bones of the dead, and unable to move the massive slab in any case, eyes cast about carefully in the black within to search for anything of potential value. There was no sanctity here, in the low places of the world nothing could be spared the dead, and thus the dead possessed nothing, something unused was simply waiting for a user.

Symbolic bits of metal and stone there were, as well as fabric, all pointless and of no value, degrading slowly, for this chambers structure had not kept the seeking creatures of the deep out. Yet one thing else there was, long and thin, a cylindrical shape, though tapered at each end by strange designs, it appeared unmarked. It could not be stone or metal, for neither deposition nor degradation had affected it. The structure was smooth, and faintly cooled beneath the ambient chill air. A single tap of the finger, with a hard stud embedded in one pinky knuckle of the right glove, revealed the truth of the matter. The cylinder was a ceramic of some kind, deep forged and solid, offering little purchase for even the most tenacious of scroungers.

Firmly the right hand grasped that cylinder, and then the whole body pulled back as one, held perfectly stiff and drawn through the tight space without a single disruption. The cylinder was perhaps as long as the distance from elbow to fingertip, including its cone-shaped ends, and filled the open hand completely in width. Sliding a hand along its length revealed a tight groove at the base of each end. The cone-shapes were disguised caps.

The cap turned smoothly with a twist of the wrist, having accumulated no grime in its tenure in the sepulcher. Within the cylinder was a single thing only. Pliable and crinkling with dry stiffness, bound by fine metal ties, was a thick scroll of paper. This was indeed something of value, and it was quickly restored to its cylindrical container.

Swiftly and surely precise moves wrapped that cylinder about the back-straps of the body. It was unbalancing and awkward, disrupting the finely tuned balance of equipment borne as the only exterior presented to the world, but it would only be a temporary arrangement. It was not far or hard to reach the place where this thing might be dumped, and that destination had been planned for the short term regardless.

Putting the name on the tomb with that scroll together in his mind once more, Harvestman smiled beneath his fleshy filtration mask, a cruel motion that had never seen the sun. Once more he would surprise those who discounted him, and his legend would grow.

It sat carefully on the desk; a cylinder of iron-hard porcelain in black and yellow, weathering a gaze so penetrating an observer might have expected a lesser object to melt. It was clean now, some unlucky genin having performed the displeasing duty of washing and scraping the thing free of filth. Such treatment was necessary for objects that arrived in headquarters having come up through the sewage disposal route. That route of entry made the source of the object very clear, though it left the logistics as a puzzle. Many times everything beneath the building had been searched and, supposedly, utterly sealed against all entry, but it was here nonetheless. Thinking on it the Tsuchikage was annoyed, but could not fail to admit his substantial admiration of the sender's ability to consistently bypass all attempted blockages.

Knowing the sender left the question of what to do with the thing, or indeed, what it really was. The Tsuchikage was examining carefully with his unwavering and endless gaze, trying to pierce that shell to divine the contents before he even had to open it. That was something he would only attempt with care, for he would not put it past the sender to place some lethal trap inside the thing, or to leave an original one active, as something that his twisted sense of humor found amusing. It had been years, but the Tsuchikage had not forgotten the device that had been delivered swimming in a bowl full of flesh-eating ooze. The medics had never been able to repair the unfortunate chunin's hand afterward, or figure out what the mixture had been. So he was left staring at it.

Eventually, with a sudden motion that defied the nature of his ancient frame, the Tsuchikage grasped the cylinder firmly with his left hand and twisted one of the odd cone-shaped caps with his right, spilling the contents out onto the floor to the left of his desk.

Out fell a yellowed scroll bound in twin brass ties, clattering softly against the wooden floor, and then stilled. Giving the object a single glance, and adding a light tap with his foot to see if anything decided to crawl out, he picked the scroll up. Placing it on his desk once more he examined the ties first. They were nothing more than thin strips of metal, malleable enough to be flexed around the scroll easily. There was nothing symbolic about them, which seemed strange for something placed in such a fine case. The Tsuchikage considered this, and decided the most likely explanation was that the case had been made for preservation purposes only, and not for high elegance. Such a choice he could appreciate.

Not waiting any longer, he opened the scroll.

It was relatively untouched by age, but the Tsuchikage pealed it back with great care, in order to insure it was not damaged. As he opened the outer end a small slip of paper fell out onto his desk, obviously of far newer material than the scroll itself. Placing the scroll down he paused to take a look at it. A short scrawl in black ink was written on the scrap. It took a moment to puzzle out the twisted and malformed characters belonging to Harvestman's hand, but there was only a single chopped sentence in all.

_Found in Kamizuru Ichneumi's tomb._

The Tsuchikge blinked slowly, and read the name again, making certain he was correct. His eyes were old and he wished no errors from something as mystifying as Harvestman's mad scratches. Looking up from the scrap back to the scroll everything made perfect sense now, down to the colors on the casing. It cast everything in a very intriguing light.

Second Tsuchikage of Hidden Stone, the man who sat in this desk had seen more seasons pass than most of the ninja he commanded could barely dream to survive, so he was not easily surprised or engrossed by something, but he surely felt such a pull now as his hands grasped the scroll in wrinkled hands once more.

He began to read.

- from Ichneumon, a large family of wasps (primarily parasitoids), from Greek meaning 'to track'


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto in any way and make no claim on its copyright or any characters from the series. Original characters are my own property.

Author's Notes: More stuff happening and greater character focus. There's nothing else much to say. Enjoy!

Please do comment if you read!

**Other Gifts Continues**

Suzumebachi's head hurt. This was a common thing, a dull grinding pain behind her eyes that afflicted her seemingly whenever she tried to focus too seriously on one thing. It was not supposed to be there, this pain, it was wound-induced, she knew that much. She had fallen from the back of her summons and struck the ground hard not long in the past. The medics claimed there had been no permanent damage, but something was wrong, she knew it, this pain was not right. Few believed her claims of pain, however, choosing instead to see it as a childish mechanism to avoid the ugly stigma of failure that clung to her every waking hour. Disobedience and failure, she had made this bed for herself, and though her punishment had been served out swiftly, the galling shame would linger forever, unless heroism should erase it. Suzumebachi held no hope for such heroism. She had lost all her hopes when she awoke with blood before her vision and pain behind her eyes. Only stubbornness drove her now, stubbornness and the not-forgotten belief in the justice of her course. She believed she had made the right choice, believed it to her bones and deeper. Failure had robbed her of all things to be reaped from her deliberate disobedience, but she would never forget that she had seized at least the ghostly chance of redemption.

Putting her hands before her face Suzumebachi let her eyes fall closed, reducing the aggravation by a woefully insufficient fraction, but still reducing it. She held her eyes closed for many long slow breaths, not wanting to return to the abject routine of report processing that consumed her every workday. Such was the composition of her duties, a ninja who would not undertake to return to the field where death walked. Coward, the walls whispered into her ears, and her eyes opened again, bodily denying the charge. Her head hurt! She was not merely thinking it, there was something wrong with her and she knew it, something that could get her killed if she went out in the field again. She did not want to sit in drab stony offices for the rest of her life, editing and correcting reports. No! She slammed her hands down on the desk hard.

A loud thump resonated, and Suzumebachi glanced around hurriedly, thankful that everyone else had already quit for the day. She remained to work extra hours to make up for time lost during her disobedience and punishment.

"The reports are not to your liking?" a cold voice crackled from behind Suzumebachi's right ear, laden with grim amusement.

Reflexively she kicked out, throwing the chair backward with enough force to strike the wall. She spun, reaching for the kunai hidden beneath her skirt and pulling it free as she did so, fueling all her repressed anger to strike out.

A bony grasp with impossible, mountainous strength stopped her right arm dead in space without the slightest budge. Her body turned on with wrenching pain as the tissues screamed and stretched, and then she re-exerted control and adjusted to the position forced on her by that brutal vise of a grip.

Suzumebachi looked into eyes glittering piercing crystal to bore into her very soul. They held her gaze solid for long second where she could not summon even the strength to breathe. All the while the grinding pain built to a fever pitch within her, but she could not find the power to cry out in pain, so fast was she held. In the end, though, pain won out, and her head jerked away of its own accord, slicing downward to stare at the bare gray tile flooring, away from the telling eyes.

The vise relaxed slightly, even as the kunai dropped from her limp hand. Suzumebachi looked back, seeing this time more than just those diamond-fire eyes, but the whole wrinkled face and withered form, somehow projecting incredible force. The Tsuchikage! Shock overwhelmed her with the impossibility of the moment. The Tsuchikage himself held her captive. It seemed so unbelievable. Suzumebachi was not a weak woman, and knew her strength well, and her anger. How could a man so old, well over seventy and perhaps more, hold her with such dreadful absolutism. All ninja in Stone village feared their grizzled master in at least some secret corner of their hearts, but in that moment fear blossomed into impossible, awful terror as Suzumebachi glimpsed for the first time and last in her life the full fortitude of a man with the strength to rule a ninja village for more than five decades. It was as to stand before the mountains themselves. She could not possibly summon speech, her body reduced to craving animalism before the imperial knowledge and potency of those stone frozen orbs, but she had yet a will, and stubborn as she was, stared back into that gaze with all she possessed, daring her master to label her a coward to her face.

"Not bad," the Tsuchikage muttered in the same grimly amused tones as before. "Many could not do so well. You are indeed a worthy candidate." His grip relaxed, so that no force held her now, but he did not let go and she dared not move, trying desperately to puzzle through these words. "The best of a bad crop I suppose, but sometimes the midden holds treasures greater than any counting house," he chuckled, stones grinding against each other deep in the throat, a joke whose answer only he knew. "You were not lying were you, when you said there was something wrong with your skull." It was not in any way a question; the Tsuchikage did not ask questions.

Suzumebachi only nodded her affirmation, still not finding her voice.

The bony hand released her wrist, flowing slowly through the still air toward her face. It seemed the only thing in the world the moved, the rest of the Tsuchikage's body was utterly still, totally composed. "The medics did not find it, but perhaps they were not looking in the right way," he seemed to be musing, but if so the topics upon which this voice mused could swallow lives whole. "Let me see," the bony hand settled on her forehead. "Do not move at all," a whisper of command it was, nothing more, a whisper holding life and death.

Suzumebachi locked her gaze to those frightful eyes, trusting them to hold her fast even as they bored past her own, traveling on a journey she could not conceive deep into the depths of her skull. How long they held that position she could not surmise, counting the shallow and irregular breaths she allowed with great trepidation served no purpose, her fear having robbed them of consistency. She felt something within her seem to shift and tug, something she could not properly feel, more the echo of feeling. The pain spiked brittle and cutting, then returned grinding stronger than ever till it seemed her skull would split apart, and then suddenly was gone, all in a moment that exploded from her throat in a gasp.

Suzumebachi shook uncontrollably for the length of the exhalation as the Tuschikage calmly pulled back his hand. "A mineral deposit," he explained, clearly for her benefit. "Concentration was shifted when the bones where damaged in your fall, it was affecting the nerve behind your eye," a simple, matter-of-fact explanation for a thing that had mystified the medics completely.

"How did you…you…not a medic…" Suzumebachi stammered, her voice returning.

"No," he smiled slowly, a sharp motion that touched only his lips, never his furious eyes. "Medicine I do not know, but the mineral composition of the human body, this thing I know so well as how to put on my robes in the morning."

Nothing more than a silent nod could be brought out to acknowledge such a statement, as Suzumebachi recalled all the furious rumors endlessly circulating about this man, the rumors of the strange powers he possessed. Twenty years had passed since the Tsuchikage was last observed in a battle, longer than she had lived, his abilities had passed from the realm of the known to that of myth, hidden by choice and obscured by time. Eventually, after a long pause, Suzumebachi remembered what she ought to say. "Apologies, you have my most sincere thanks, Tsuchikage-sama."

"Never thank me again girl, and you will be doing well in remembering the nature of your world," he replied evenly. "I do none beneath me any favors when they gain my attention."

Again, only a nod was available as a reply.

"Straighten up your reports," the Tsuchikage ordered. "You are done with them for today."

"Yes sir," Suzumebachi replied hurriedly, and swiftly sorted out the reports she had been working on, placing everything in order so she could begin against the next. She almost turned back to her leader then, but barely recalled in time the chair lying against the wall, and went and restored it to the desk before she returned to face him again. "It is done."

"Good," his thin smile reappeared and then faded away once more. "Follow me."

With careful strides Suzumebachi did so. It took some consideration, for she must moderate her pace carefully, as the Tsuchikage walked slowly, his age telling in his motion. He carried a cane-like short staff, but rarely leaned up it, or seemed too weak to walk at all, only slow and creaky. It seemed to her that he was an old mountain, weathered and ground down, but with bones strong as the heart of the world. She said nothing, only walked beside him.

"You have presented me with a small puzzle, Kamizuru Suzumebachi," the Tsuchikage began, speaking as idly as his grim and grizzly voice could manage. "Knowing full well the rules you took two subordinates beyond our borders to undertake an unauthorized activity on what was supposed to be your training time. You engaged in foolishly aggressive activities, kidnapping and engaging ninja from the Hidden Leaf. Moreover, you pursued a goal of no concrete value, grasping at a dream, and you managed to fail to crown the whole measure." Suzumebachi grimaced with the recitation, but made no moves to deny, it was all completely true, her quest had been a ghostly chance from the start, but it had been her great hope. "And yet," the Tsuchikage continued with an odd tilt to his language. "And yet you returned, admitting to it all. You took the complete blame for the incident and for your companions as well, and accepted the full punishment. Scream in pain you did, anyone would from the privations you earned, but you never screamed for them to stop. It is all very interesting. Tell me Kamizuru Suzumebachi, why did you do this?"

"You have already heard my answer surely, Tsuchikage-sama," Suzumebachi replied, for indeed, it seemed she had explained to ever one of the disciplinarians, every teacher, all her family members, and everyone, she had done it till the explanation was sickening to recite. She had no desire to say it again.

With frightful speed he spun about, pulling her head level with his face and bringing the drilling fury of his vision within inches of her own. "Tell it to me!"

The command was absolute, and the words spilled forth with brutal immediacy.

"I want my family's place restored to the Village! Restored! Not lost! I could never leave, ever! I will not dishonor my family that way! No matter what my crime!" Suzumebachi realized she was screaming into the Tsuchikage's face, but she did not care, the truth of her position torn from her without mercy. "Even if the village abandons me I will not abandon it!"

"Good," he said simply, and released her, continuing to walk as if nothing had happened. "I thought so."

They reached the door leaving headquarters but did not pause, continuing on outside. Suzumebachi had not expected this; she had thought they would take the stairs up to the Tsuchikage's office. "Tsuchikage-sama," she managed. "Your pardon, but, where are we going?"

"Curb your curiosity little wasp," he chuckled, and it seemed as if the universe rolled beneath the irony of his mirth. "We are going to remake your hopeless shell into a form that has a future once again."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto in any way and make no claim on its copyright or any characters from the series. Original characters are my own property.

**Author's Notes:** There's some small amount of technical jargon here, but fear not, for it is tame and fully comprehensible. Suzumebachi's day goes on…

Comments are welcomed as always!

**Other Gifts Continues**

The Hidden Village of Stone lay high in the mountains, deep in ranges treacherous and cruel. In a hidden plateau high among the cold peaks of this northern realm the village had been located, a place remote and all but inaccessible save by a few secret routes. Isolation and terrain were its first barriers, and powerful they were indeed, no invader had ever forced their way even so far as to see the distant gates of Hidden Stone when attacking the country from without.

Harsh and windswept was the land under the homes of the stone ninja, homes sheltered in and among rock so they might not be buried under avalanches of snow crashing down from the never melting glaciers on the three mighty peaks enclosing the village's border. It was a vista of forbidding beauty, icy unapproachable magnificence. Yet not all beneath the ice was gray and cold.

Vibrant colors coated the slopes on the steep climb to the glaciers, green and blue and more, splashes of red, yellow, orange, purple, brightness of a thousand shades hung upon the mountain side when the warm of spring peeled back the layer of snow embracing the land. Alpine meadows sprouted into shows of brilliant extravagance, celebrating their short lives while the staid deep green groves of spruce and fir looked on from below. It was a sight few not native to the sheltered village had ever experienced.

Most of the meadows lay distant from the village, far up brutal slopes even a ninja could not carelessly ascend, but a quirk of the geology had left one small meadow in a saddle not more than a few minutes walk from the village proper. It was here that the Tsuchikage had brought Suzumebachi.

Surrounded by the bright colors and strong, lively scents of these desperately enthusiastic flowers she welcomed the refreshing memory of this place. The meadow was an old friend, almost her second home. An insect master, Suzumebachi primarily trained and built her abilities here, among the flowers that drew her small companions, not in the far more barren needle-coated forests. She knew every crease and patch of the field, and could point out many of the long present insect colonies by memory alone, having memorized their respective positions. It felt good to return to this place after so many days of indoor duty, and with the pain in her skull blissfully absent.

Even as the meadow's essence invigorated Suzumebachi, she was given little time to appreciate it. The Tsuchikage paused on arrival here for a moment, resting his old body after even such a short excursion, but only for the space of a few deep breaths. Weakened as his frame might be, he knew precisely how to manipulate it for maximum effect and action. A slight clearing of his throat was the only action required to reacquire Suzumebachi's complete attention.

"I have been told this field has many strange and rare insects within its boundaries," The Tsuchikage muttered casually. "You are familiar with this."

"Of course, Tsuchikage-sama," Suzumebachi replied swiftly. "My clan has long cultivated this place to insure as much diversity as possible," more somberly she added. "It has fallen off some in recent years of course…" She did not continue, knowing the details were unnecessary.

"Regrettable, but it shall do," there was no true regret there, only calculation. "Now then, you are a wasp user; gather up wasps of this place now."

Not expecting the request, Suzumebachi was somewhat hesitant. "You mean gather together a sample?"

"Yes," The Tsuchikage's gravel crunched with irritation, his limited time remaining disdained him to waste any. "Be swift."

Still uncertain as to why she should do such a thing, Kamizuru clan members regularly collected insects as part of their training, but the Tsuchikage should have no interest in such things, Suzumebachi folded her hands together and molded chakra, dispensing the mystical power carefully, for though this technique required little energy it took some precision to achieve appropriately selective results. "Floral Ingathering no Jutsu," the words were clipped and precise, the deliberately machine-like diction of a ninja technique, so as to avoid dangerous errors.

Chakra emitted from the hand became a scent no human could detect, but one that unerringly drew bees, wasps, ants, and their kindred to it. Swiftly, by wing and rapid run they gathered to Suzumebachi's open palm, landing there or crawling to it up her body and clothes.

"One of each kind only," The Tsuchikage commanded. "Release the rest."

Carefully and quickly Suzumebachi began flicking away specimens with the fingers of her left hand. A simple brush aside was enough to break the artificial attraction, but the task was not easy. The insects were numerous and diverse, representing many varied kindreds, and not easily differentiated. She had keen eyes though, and images held deep in her memory recognized creature after creature, so she could comply with the command, though her eyes darted about her palm with frenzied tracking.

When Suzumebachi's palm was a patchwork of twitching, buzzing creatures, only glimpses of pale skin still visible beneath the tempted mass, the Tsuchikage ordered her to stop. "That will be enough," he informed her. "Now, show them to me."

Curious as to what the old man could possibly want with an assemblage of random hymenoptera, Suzumebachi held up her hand to the old man's face. The skittering of insect legs on her hand did not bother her, and she had no fear of stings, so she could wait patiently, though the strange mystery had begun to grate on her. Of course, no Stone ninja would dare demand an explanation of the Tsuchikage before he was ready to give his own. It was not a wise proposition.

The old man looked at the twitching creatures on Suzumebachi's hand carefully, examining each in turn with his piercing eyes. It could not have been, but Suzumebachi almost felt as if each creature froze in place when those eyes lay upon it, but no, insects would surely not react to such a thing.

After a moment the Tsuchikage took a scroll bound by two brass clasps from his robes. It was old, but not damaged, though Suzumebachi could see no more than that, for he did not turn the written side of the thick document toward her, and blank paper could reveal only a little.

"No bees," Tsuchikage muttered, looking out from around the scroll. When Suzumebachi did nothing, he targeted her with a blast of his frightful vision. "Well, remove them."

She obeyed with alacrity.

He looked upon the remainder again and back to the scroll. "Ants…hmm…no ants," Suzumebachi did not hesitate to flick away the numerous small insects, though this took some time, for ants outnumbered everything else on her palm. "No sawflies," The Tsuchikage continued, and he followed with more requests, naming off groups of creatures to be eliminated from the assemblage one by one. Suzumebachi obeyed, though she could tell the Tsuchikage did not know anything about many of the groups he named, barely pronouncing their names properly. Whatever knowledge he was acting on came entirely from the scroll.

After the rapid listing finished there were only perhaps a dozen insects remaining on the Kamizuru's outstretched palm. All were wasps of some type or other, and most fiercely appearing creatures of sharp angles with obvious stingers. Tsuchikage looked at each one carefully, muttering to himself with careful looks back to the scroll. "Hornets are not so bad, but not ideal, what's this creature?" he pointed to a thin wasp of dark metallic blue, almost steel turned black. Its countenance was sharp and fearsome.

"A cricket hunter, a sphecid," Suzumebachi replied, naming the fairly common creature.

The Tsuchikage turned back to the scroll, grinding his throat slowly, he seemed displeased. He asked Suzumebachi about two other wasps, both also fairly common, before his gaze caught on something else. A grizzled and bone-edged finger pointed to a small red-black insect. "What is this, it looks like an ant," Displeasure laced the grinding voice.

Suzumebachi had been focused far more on the Tsuchikage than on the creatures in her hand, and so she had to look again. It was a small specimen, had to see clearly with only the eye, but she could discern much, knowing well the proper places to look to place such a thing. "No, it is a wasp," she remarked, noting the wings and the legs. She held up the specimen more closely, between the thumb and index finger of her right hand, channeling light over it. It was strange indeed, a wasp, but so very ant-like in body form, no one of inexperience would know the difference, many other insects likely would make the mistake. There was something else strange as well. The front air of legs did not end in small straight claws as expected, but instead there was a great and sweeping modification. The end of those limbs had become powerful pincer-claws, echoing the image of a mantis, though different. Such edged blades, bristling with tiny rippling teeth, stood out on the little creature, a distinctive marking that gave it away entirely. "It is a dryinid."

"Dryinid…" the Tsuchikage repeated the unfamiliar word, and then turned back to the scroll. Suzumebachi then heard one of the strangest sounds she had ever heard, a swift intake of breath from the Tsuchikage, a sound she might have dared believe indicated surprise. She froze instantly.

"Pass me this dryinid," the Tsuchikage said evenly.

With hesitation and care she took the little insect between her fingers and passed it over into the wrinkled depressions of the Tsuchikage's leathery hand. He gave the wasp another sharp glance, then closed his hand about it, ensuring the creature could not free. With his left hand he placed the scroll carefully on the grass and drew out a small glass vial from a pouch at his belt. The little vial was filled with black liquid, viscous and thick, bile dark and gorge rising. Slowly and carefully, using only the fingers of his left hand, the brittle bones crackling together with every motion, he unscrewed the top of the vial.

A swift final motion of the right hand dropped the dryinid into the black goo.

It did not endure. Suzmebachi watched as the insect seemed to melt into the fluid, the sight was discomforting, and she felt as if her own tissues were melting away as she watched that merciless substance devour even the solid chitin shell. The dryinid struggled briefly, but only seconds passed before it was submerged and completely subsumed. Slowly the Tsuchikage recapped the vial and shook it calmly, letting the fluid move slowly along the walls, clinging to them before falling back again to a steady pool of destructive energy. Watching in rapt fascination Suzumebachi thought she saw strands of red appear in the colorless black as the liquid scurried within its barriers, sloshing about itself, but she could not be sure her eyes were true.

Raising the vial to eye level old eyes examined it carefully, until the Tsuchikage finally gave the slightest of nods. "Ready."

The old man's head snapped like a whip to bore into Suzumebachi's eyes. "Freeze!" his eyes seized and commanded an unstoppable imperative.

It was Kanashibari no Jutsu, the power to freeze another in place, but so sudden and absolute as Suzumebachi had not believed possible. They technique was more difficult to use on insect masters, but she had no defense against the Tsuchikage's power at all, her mind was frozen as the glaciers high above, to be released only when the old man's towering will chose.

Calmly, with no hurry at all, the Tsuchikage took a long, pointed needle from the same pouch at his belt. Unscrewing the vial once more he dipped that needle into the black fluid there, taking a single drop on the impossibly sharp end. Holding the needle between index and middle finger, so that it extended along their length, his hands passed through a slow procedure of seals. A combination unfamiliar and thus laborious, but performed with exacting accuracy from memory.

The needle plunged into Suzumebachi's forehead.

A tiny point, extraordinarily narrow, it should not have hurt at all, but it burned with furious fire. Her body surged internally, energies building with furious panic, but the Tsuchikage's eyes slammed into her own, and all automatic resistance was for naught, no pain or urge to scream would overcome the time-compressed power of his mastery.

The needle pulled free and the pain died immediately, only to be born once more as it jabbed into her again.

In and out, in and out, the process repeated many times each minute, the Tsuchikage continually jabbing the needle into his vial of black liquid and stabbing her forehead. Long time passed, and the day grew late, but there was never a pause in the old man's motions. Suzumebachi's body was slicked with sweat, the only response open to her. Everywhere was soaked, save her face, it remained dry as the most blasted desert.

Only when every last drop of the burning black liquid was gone from the vial did the needle's torturous progress cease.

"Release,"

Suzumebachi's legs buckled and she collapsed to the ground, numb and lifeless, her muscles twitching from the tension-bled weakness. She took deep gaping breaths, pulling air into dry lungs in a hurry to return to any sort of stability. It took several minutes to find her voice in the cooling dusk of the meadow. "Wha…what…what did you do?" She eventually manages, forcing the words out through her dry throat.

The leader of the village held a small square mirror before her face.

Suzumebachi gasped again, this time from a very different form of surprise. Her forehead, previously unblemished and smooth, now held a complex design in black ink. The precise image of the dryinid she had not so long ago held in her hand no adorned her brow, a tattoo of masterful design. She put her hand to her forehead slowly, watching the mirror as she felt along the image tracing the outline of the strange insect. "What does this mean?" she asked at last, not knowing anything more to say.

"A transfusion of essence has been performed," The Tsuchikage replied. "It has many consequences, ones you will have to discover in time."

A transfusion of essence, the phrase tumbled through thoughts like a spinning razorblade, cutting and slicing apart assumptions and surety. It had many meanings, none certain. "Why?" Suzumebachi asked, rising to her feet again, her stubborn, angry drive returning somewhat. Awe could not smother her completely, not even awe of this man.

"You were the best candidate," such was the only answer she received. "Now," The Tsuchikage commanded, reaching down to pick up and roll away the old scroll as he spoke. "Go home, and rest well, you must be here tomorrow at dawn."

Confused, Suzumebachi could not silence her questions. "Tomorrow at dawn? Why? What is happening?" Even as she spoke the words she knew they held far too little deference, but her emotions ran high at the Tsuchikage for marking her so and not giving any explanation of consequence.

Slowly, bones creaking, the aged ninja master turned away. "You will have all the answers you wish soon enough, more than you desire I suspect," he remarked with frightful grimness, ice scraping his voice. "For now, be content with your change in duties."

"Yes, Tsuchikage-sama," there was nothing more to say.

- for those who are surely wondering, dryinids are real creatures, wasps of the family dryinidae, and they're some of the coolest insects you've probably never heard of. Uncommon and little known parasitic wasps, their distinctive feature are the modified tarsi (the fingers if you will) of the forelimbs, which become pincer-like claws called chelae. There's a pretty decent picture showing the feature here: http/ though it's a wingless specimen. As for why I chose these creatures, well, there's one sitting in an alcohol vial on my desk right now, and I like them, as they sort of combine some of the coolest features of ants, wasps, and mantids.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto in any way and make no claim on its copyright or any characters from the series. Original characters are my own property.

**Author's Notes:** Suzumebachi just got the heavy end of the hammer dropped on her, but she doesn't really know it yet, so yeah, things keep going.

Comments, yes please, let there be comments!

**Other Gifts Continues**

Morning arrived with a sickening, twisting, loss of sleep, not waking. Equilibrium receded beneath perception, until all things were in wretched flux. So unfamiliar was the situation it took many long troubled moments for Suzumebachi to gain any understanding her circumstances.

Illness assaulted her with all the weak and contorted feelings familiar to anyone who had ever suffered serious disease, but it was all wrong. Her insides disassembled and every nerve firing with insecurity and demanding attention everywhere, so as to scatter it nowhere, but she was not suffering. Signals coursed through the body, spreading a message of deathly danger, torment, and disruption, but Suzumebachi was hale. Though she could find no focus in the storm of sensation, no nausea assailed her, she felt no pain lying still or when she sat up in bed. Confused and troubled to the edge of panic, she scanned her body hurriedly, searching for some sign to explain all the messages her mind received moment after every endless moment.

Nothing was wrong. Her body was fine, nothing visible was out of place or damaged, she was the same as yesterday. Indeed, objectively she was healthier than she had been in days, for the knot of pain buried behind her eyes had been exhumed completely.

Faced with this incomprehensible situation Suzumebachi dared to stand and get up from the cramped futon where she slept.

A blinding wave of dizziness crashed down upon her, scorching all vision black. Something inside her lurched, tugged, and slid, but then all was still as quickly as the moment began. Normalcy returned with a snap, far quicker than the dizziness of standing when weak should normally be dispelled. All the other strange sensations stopped at once as well, a gate slamming closed upon them, not dribbling off or fading, simply there in one instant of perception and gone the next, as if some switch had been tripped inside her body.

At this point Suzumebachi wondered if she was dreaming, or perhaps if she had drunk a vast quantity of sake the night before. The hard worn mats beneath her feet were thoroughly solid, and the seeping cold from their poor insulation dispelled any illusions of a dream-state. A simple search of memory eliminated the other possibility as well, though Suzumebachi knew she had considered it. Despite her youth she had drowned her sorrows in sake twice before and now considered it a foolish course, never helpful. It had been a serious temptation, however, and Suzumebachi now recalled why she had considered such a course with grave trepidation.

Slipping a thick kimono on to ward off the cold of the mountain morning she left the small barracks-like chamber she shared with three cousins, distant relatives of hers those girls, not friends, and headed to the washroom.

The room was simple, stalls and showers over white tile, all very industrial and lacking in comfort. The whole apartment building was like that, more a barracks than a residence. It was the residence of many young ninja, mostly new chuunin and experienced genin, those ninja old enough to move away from their parents but not yet able to truly afford their own residence. This place was deliberately made available to them for almost nothing, but its comforts were barren, terrible, no one could enjoy living in such a way. Many might have thought it cruel, and perhaps it was in a way, but there was a deliberate psychological pressure exerted through the design. It kept the ninja in this situation devoid of contentment, forcing them to strive for greater abilities so they could command a salary for more tolerable lodging. It took only the promise of cheap isolation to drive adolescent ninja from their parent's comfortable protection, while shame would prevent them from returning. The strategy was not even hidden, Suzumebachi and everyone she knew was fully aware they were being manipulated, but they went along with it for all that, it was a matter of pride.

As part of the impersonal nature of the washroom one side was devoted half to sinks, strung together in a single slab of stone, and above those the wall was converted into flat, impersonal mirrors. It was impossible to turn to that side of the room and not see one's own reflection, as Suzumebachi did now.

She gasped audibly when her image appeared before her.

The memory had been shielded by the haze of the morning, and by the far more troubling sensation of discomfort she had awoken to, so it had not struck her until now. It hit hammer hard from that image when it did. There was no mistaking it, her reflection showed clear in the pale but florid light of the washroom, the black image of the dryinid traced into her skull.

When she had seen the image graven on her brow the evening before Suzumebachi had believed it would shortly fade, as seal markings traced upon the skin commonly did, but it was totally clear, a tattoo emblazoning her with permanent marking, visible to all.

Embers of anger clustered inside the chuunin's core, stoked, and burst into fiery outrage. The scarring sense of violation was converted straight into anger, and Suzumebachi's fist slammed down onto the hard stone countertop. Again and again she struck, each blow not dissipating her anger but feeding it further for her gaze never wavered, staring into the image marking her now and forevermore. A dull rumbling crescendo built within the stone, until it rang with power beneath the force of her blows, stronger and stronger.

The stone's counterstroke would stop her. The rumbling force beat counter tempo to Suzumebachi's strokes, but not perfectly, and eventually both reactions peaked at once, so the counter bent itself into her hand even as she pounded it. The resulting pain from the meeting of forces shocked her back to rationality and invoked dead silence on her.

Embarrassment streaming from her in waves, her eyes dashed about the room, but no one was present. Luck, or perhaps mercy was with her at the moment. It was early, but the schedules of ninja were unpredictable, it was only chance prevented another from observing her worthless display.

Breathing deeply to calm her, the embattled Kamizuru recalled she must meet with the Tsuchikage by dawn. Making the old man wait was not to be contemplated, though she would have given much in that moment for some form of retribution, she knew she had no right to demand such as thing, and no chance at all of receiving it. One of the few valuable things Suzumebachi's father, a man she regarded as largely incompetent, had taught her was to never dwell on the impossible or unachievable, for then you will never reach anything. The thick glass window of this room revealed nothing of the outside save the first glimmers of light, there was little enough time.

A shower was wise, and would be calming. Hanging her kimono on a hook she got to it quickly.

Relaxing and blissfully warm water, fed from hot pools deep beneath the snow-capped mountains, slid over Suzumebachi's body, and it drained some of the tension from her. With deliberate casualness she forced herself to avoid touching her marked forehead. The tattoo could not be scrubbed away, even a child knew that, and touching it constantly would make her appear foolish, unworthy. Catching her arms creeping up anyway, she came to a deliberate decision. She would not be afraid of this mark. It was part of her now, and if she had not asked for it, there was no removing. The black design would have to be worn with full acceptance, even pride. Yes, pride, that was the correct approach, she decided. It was bestowed on her by the Tsuchikage himself, a designation marking her for a great purpose, it would not be questioned, nor would it be kept secret, she would wear her bangs pulled apart as always, baring the mark for everyone to see. It would be alright, so she told herself. It was small comfort at least that the dryinid was indeed a visually impressive insect, and the Tsuchikage's rendition was a powerful work or art, with a full creature folded into the presentation of a single color. There was a part of Suzumebachi that would have considered the tattoo a beautiful thing if only it occupied a less challenging location.

Clean and with her decisions made the wasp ninja grabbed the set of clothing she kept in the slot marked by her name and made ready for the day. Her outfit was simple enough, a dark purple skirt reaching not quite to her knees and sleeveless top all of one piece, tied about the waist with a simple band of yellow cloth and complemented by purple stocking and free hanging sleeves for warmth and protection, serviceable wear of functional quality, nothing more. She could not afford to spend what little free funds she had on clothing.

Her ninja gear necessitated a return to her room, quickly and silently slipping in and out to gather the few ouches of scrolls, shuriken, and other tools without waking the one cousin currently in the village, a young girl who slumbered yet, recovering from a tough mission.

The bedrooms and washroom were not the only industrialized portion of the building, the whole structure was blocky, squared off within the boundaries of a larger triangular frame to allow snow to slide away freely. It left no interesting nooks or places to hide, but made the building solid and warm, of key importance in brutal mountain winters. The entrance was out under the sloping roof, and Suzumebachi retrieved her hard soled sandals and left with quick, deliberate strides. The heavy door slammed behind her as it always did.

Autumn was proceeding, and it came on fast in this high valley, but there was still little time until the sun rose. It was obvious to Suzumebachi that she had slept later than usual. She was disappointed, and had to pull her right arm back to her side to avoid fingering the tattoo. It seemed likely to have done something to her beyond leaving an image, but she had no idea what it was and there was nothing to be done about it now. There was also no time to go and check on her hives, normally her first action of the day. That brought a frown when she realized it, but there was nothing to be done. The insects would have to fare for themselves for one morning at least. They could handle it of course, in fact the greatest danger was that they would harm something else, not that anything would imperil the tenacious and dangerous specimens. Suzumebachi could call her servants to her at any time of course, and it made hardly any difference whether or not they were across the village or hidden among expandable folds in the back of her garments and sleeves for their speed of arrival. Even so the disruption in the usual routine bothered her. More than her parents and siblings those insects were her family, the beings she was closest to in the world, and she hated to neglect them.

There was nothing to be done however, she could only remind herself to be sure to visit the hives later in the day.

The meadow was not far, but the wasp ninja hurried, her quick pace serving many purposes. It warmed her in the cold morning air, it ensured that she would not risk lateness before the Tsuchikage's summons, and most importantly of all it carried her swiftly past the surprised stares of those few people about at this hour when they saw her face. She could feel her emotions rising toward an outburst with each consecutive pair of eyes, and the explosion must be put off.

In the dim predawn light the alpine meadow was gray and pale, empty of the vibrancy of the day before. The cold had caused it to fall asleep, as if it were a single being, and the stirrings of the morning began only now. Suzumebachi could hear them, the sounds of birds and mammals, but also the chirp of crickets and the buzzing of flies, all waiting for the coming of light and heat to energize them for the new day.

Suzumebachi stood waiting for a few moments, her mind strangely blank despite its earlier turmoil. Something in her knew an explanation was coming; patience was the method of the moment. The Tsuchikage would not delay with the likes of her, the fate he had inscribed into her would be revealed soon enough.

With a suddenness only known to those who lived in the mountains the sun burst above the barriers of the peaks and bright yellow light flooded the world. Long streams of color flooded across the field in streaks and the world seemed to explode into life behind their passage, motion and color blossoming in every direction.

Above it all could be heard a clear sound, solemn and forceful, drawing all attention to its source. "So it begins."

The Tsuchikage stood on the east edge of the meadow.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto in any way and make no claim on its copyright or any characters from the series. Original characters are my own property.

**Author's Notes:** Let there be freakiness! With this chapter things get even stranger (something that may continue for a while). Still, I believe it's a good kind of freakiness, besides this story is about breaking barriers.

Anyway, please leave a review if you read, it's a very simple way to do a nice thing!

**Other Gifts Continues**

Having used the arrival of the sun to make a dramatic appearance leaving Suzumebachi momentarily stunned, the Tsuchikage did not pause, but strode purposefully into the meadow. In his right hand he held the same brass bound scroll he had possessed the day before. Standing within one of the streaming bands of sunlight he placed the scroll at his feet. A tiny needle appeared in his hand, pricking his right palm to draw a single drop of red blood, obvious to the eye with its dark coiling color.

The old man's hand slammed down to the grass covered soil, the motion backed by the force of his whole body bending so the ground shook with the force of his blow. "Konchuu Yobidasu no Jutsu! Vesp!"

Suzumebachi had barely any time to consider the unfamiliar technique's name, and the strange, foreign word that followed it, before a flurry of disrupted grass stalks and flowers were thrown into the air, forming a brief whirlwind of verdant torment before the Tsuchkage, and them coalescing into a single thing.

Black and yellow it stood in the morning sun, a creature almost as tall as a man but with length stretching out far behind it. Six legs it possessed, supporting a tripartite body neither slender nor bulbous, but stocky and powerful, with four clear wings above. An insect master and wasp specialist, Suzumebachi recognized the creature instantly as a yellow jacket, but there was something off. She had summoned mighty insects of this great size before, but this one had slightly different form than a true yellow jacket, its head and thorax were tilted oddly, facing more upward than they should, and the forelimbs projected forward, not down, serving more as arms than legs. These were further modified to form something that could only be called hands, though they bore little resemblance to those of humans, they suited well enough to hold tools no normal insect could possess, a broad curved single-edged sword and a round shield.

The great black eyes of the eerie insect peered at Suzumebachi, and she felt drawn to the unmoving gaze, seeing there something different than the normal perceptions of a simple worker wasp, something far wiser, and a thousand times more dangerous. Though a summoned insect might have great intelligence due to its spiritual nature, this creature had an intelligence that came from no spiritual source, but from itself alone. Fear bled deep into Suzumebachi from that realization, a cold leaking fear, spilling through her core as she tried to recognize just what this creature might truly be.

The yellow jacket's gaze lingered on Suzumebachi for only a moment. Its mandibles opened and closed repeatedly, and to her everlasting shock it spoke. "Not you, it's not you," the words did not match the motions of those chewing structures, but they combined together with a combination of other sounds somehow produced by the complex mouthparts taken together to form a rough approximation of human language. It was not spoken in any way a human might speak, and the sounds cracked against each other, as if a drum had been made to speak human words, but they were comprehensible.

With its exclamation the yellow jacket thing spun about, moving with the terrible jerking speed of insects. Non-fluid motion, but in stop and go sequence with no intervening parts it turned, and then was not facing the direction it had been the moment before. Nerves in Suzumebachi reacted with the instinctive panic at such unpredictable motion she had long thought eradicated from her, even from insects of great size, but there was something far more dangerous embedded in this encounter, something to wake fear from its slumber and give it new hooks into her mind.

Only quelling that momentary fear did Suzumebachi observe the new situation, having missed how it had occurred.

The Tsuchikage had not moved, seemingly, but now that curved sword lay at his throat. Suzumebachi's eye fixated on that blade. It was different from any weapon she had observed before. The blade was not long, perhaps only a few inches in length greater than a wakazashi, but it was far broader than any sword of the katana class, a massive thick blade and curved smoothly all down the length, again to a degree much greater than could be seen in a katana. Suzmebachi could not place the style at all, though she had heard some Mist ninja might use greatly curved swords. Beyond the odd construction the blade had one other frightfully shocking feature. It was not made of steel. Glisten brightly though it did, and with an edge as sharp as any on a metal sword, it was clearly not of metal, but some other substance, crystalline like clay. A quick twitch of the eye confirmed the rounded shield was likewise made not of metal, but of this unusual material instead.

The Tsuchikage made no motion whatsoever regarding the sword at his throat, meeting the great black eyes with his own. It was a mismatch in size. The yellow jacket creature's head was not much bigger than a man's, and its height roughly matched the Tsuchikage's wizened frame, but its eyes encompassed a massive portion of that head, their size might match a human's clenched fist or more. Nevertheless the Tsuchikage never wavered, nor did he say anything.

"Why did you bring me here, hu-man," the voice, so odd and impossible, could not be read for emotion or tone, save in that last word, deliberately divided into two incomplete parts. Hearing it Suzumebachi could not interpret it as anything but a scorn-filled insult. The yellow jacket was surely hostile, and threatening her leader, but she did not move. She could not find her place in this encounter, and she did not think she could bring her to attack this creature, no matter how hostile it might appear, until ordered. For there was a great majesty she saw in it, and it was not in her to strike first without cause. So she waited.

"I require a service of you," Tsuchikage answered levelly, his voice firm as ever, un-intimidated by the appearance or the blade.

"Too bad, hu-man," the answer was swift and immediate. "No bonds have you to command me."

"Yet you will obey me Vesp," The Tsuchikage returned, naming its nature with the foreign word. "You will train the girl behind you, for I require it."

"I care not, hu-man," the reply was swift and firm, and the Vesp, though it could not alter its tone for human speech, increased the volume of its voice to underscore the point. "I need not obey you. She has the bonds to command me," the massive insect did not look or point to Suzumebachi but she knew it referred to her, and somehow she knew the words to be true, a dark knowledge bubbling up from inside her, but she could not know why those words were true. "But I why should I teach another to control my kind?" the Vesp asked. "Am I a fool?"

"No," The Tsuchikage replied. "Yet still you will do it. It is in your own best interests."

The Vesp's long full abdomen twitched up and down, thrumming with something that could not be known. Then, without warning, it pulled up its sword and spun about again. As it moved its wings snapped up, and legs powered forward, propelling it in a sudden leap that brought the creature's face to within arms reach of Suzumebachi.

Up close the Vesp's alien, frightful nature was all the more potent, the massive eyes and powerful, toothed mandibles, so unlike anything any mammal held in its face, the long antennae snaking upward to overtop Suzumebachi that never ceased slow twitching. She was too awed and frightened to move before that creature, even as she inspected it with a ruthless fascination, the inherent curiosity she held for all insects and wasps in particular rising high in her senses.

The long antennae slid about Suzumebachi's head, occasionally brushing her hair, touching off an unusual sensation from the soft caress, something unfamiliar and yet very potent. She shivered with the touch, but did not take her eyes off the Vesp, now looking over the whole creature, memorizing every inch of it.

"You have the bonds hu-man, strength, and will, you could," it paused, and slashed its mandibles through the air once more, spewing forth a stream of crashing, clacking sounds unfamiliar to the human ear, but Suzumebachi, hearing them, heard more than bare noise. There was a cadence to the pace, and she was certain, words. This was the language of the Vesp, she was utterly sure of it, and suspected she might in time understand such speech. Such thoughts seemed flights of fancy, but there was something in her that recognized those stressful sounds, and more to this creature, something she wondered at. "But why should I submit, for what?" The Vesp opened its mandibles and lunged, snapping the vise closed within a hair's width of her face, the blast of air streamed across her flesh with the speed and power of that motion. "You must offer me something hu-man." It spoke. Then it spouted a foreign word, clearly stressing it and speaking slowly. "My name," the Vesp spoke the word again, and a third time, and quickly Suzumebachi caught the strange pronunciation.

"Chul'To?" She attempted to pronounce the strange word several times, striking her tongue against her teeth in experimental fashion until the Vesp nodded that she had gotten it close enough for use.

"Yes, hu-man, what will you give Chul'To in exchange for the bond?" Chul'To demanded.

Suzumebachi was fully unsure of what was being offered. She did not know if the Vesp would train her to summon it as the Tsuchikage apparently had, or something else. Regardless, she hungered with flaming desire to learn everything this creature would deign to teach her. She could sense its power and skill, and fervently desired to make them her own. Yet, no matter her desire, she had no idea what the Vesp could possibly want. What did a furious female warrior, for the Vesp was yellow jacket enough that it must be such, desire? And from a human? Suzumebachi had no idea. With no other choice, she was forced to ask. "What do you want from me?"

There was no way to gauge Chul'To's reaction, the insect face was largely expression less, with immobile eyes and mandibles able only to open and close no human expression would have any meaning. Suzumebachi guessed motions of the antennae and the slender palps, extensions of the mouthparts vaguely whisker-like in form, held much expression, but she had no hope to read such things.

"A good question, hu-man," Chul-To replied. "What could you give me of use? Most things of human nature are pointless, and I need no favors from your kind." She fell silent for a long moment, and the head moved slightly, as she appeared to look over her body, and the few things she carried, tied to straps on the thorax. "Metal," Chul'To said forcefully, the word very clear so as not to be mistaken. "A weapon. Forged by your hand and melded to your essence by much use. While you live it will be yours, but you will swear it passes to me upon death. This is my price to teach you to use your bonds to our world. Are we agreed?"

Suzumebachi had never made a weapon in her life, and had no idea how to go about such a thing, but she did not for an instant hesitate. "Agreed," her reply was firm as she stared deep into the great black faceted eyes.

"Very well hu-man," Chul'To answered. "So it is agreed. Here is how to use the bonds within you: the scroll holds the ritual to bridge boundaries, but only through commonality can you command. Our kinds are very different, what is most in common?"

Suzumebachi thought for a moment. In truth, there was little in common between insects and humans, almost all things, even the most basic, where different, everything functioned different, from skin to blood to nerves. Still, she had not studied and lived with insects her whole short life for nothing. "The throat," she chose.

"Clever girl," Chul'To no longer used her derogatory pronunciation of human on Suzumebachi. "Hold our name in you throat while your project your power and the bond will be invoked. It is simple." With yet another sudden motion Chul'To turned away from Suzumebachi, flipping back to face the Tsuchikage. "There hu-man, it is agreed," the snapping voice was loud and clearly hostile. "When her weapon is made she may call upon me, now send me back or I shall take you as prey!"

The Tsuchikage made a single dismissive seal with his right hand, and in a whirl of wind and dust the Vesp vanished, leaving no sign that it had ever been present.

For a single moment only Suzumebachi stared into the empty space in the air, but only for a moment. Then her head snapped back to the Tsuchikage, still standing still on the meadow. The tension skittering through her for the long encounter now broke free, and converted itself to wrath. "What is going on?" she screamed the words, a bare faced demand, not caring whether or not she had the right to make it.

"Calm yourself," the Tsuchikage replied. "Even I could not have predicted how the meeting would go."

Suzumebachi regained a little control after that rebuke, but bitterness still seethed within her. "What did she mean, about bonds and everything else? What is happening?"

"I told you yesterday, your essence had been changed, it has been transfused with an alien being, but one that serves to bond you to an alien world," his voice was steady, patient. "One of the consequences is that you may command such creatures as the Vesp."

"One of the consequences?" Suzumebachi could tell the old ninja was hiding things from her, and she felt violated and betrayed. Something had been done to her, something she had not asked for and did not understand. It was not right, and she would not accept it meekly.

With a calm, deliberate motion the Tsuchikage retrieved the aged scroll from where he had left it on the ground. It was undamaged; Chul'To had not stepped on it. "The full explanation is in here," he explained, taking a long cylinder of porcelain, with cone-shaped ends, and placing the scroll within. He walked slowly over to Suzumebachi, and held out the scroll. "I needed to make use of this to remake your future into something useful. Now you have proven a worth suitable to possess it. So it is your inheritance."

Suzumebachi reached out and took the heavy, solid cylinder of yellow and black. She recognized those marks now; they had the same pattern as Chul'To's abdomen, the fierce warning pattern of a yellow jacket. She also knew that pattern was a symbol long used by her clan. A possibility exploded into her mind with shattering force, and she wrenched open the case hurriedly. The scroll spilled out into her hands, and discarding the case to the grass beneath her feet she pulled free the ties and unfurled it.

Only a glance was needed to confirm her suspicions. "This is my grandfather's forbidden scroll…" she breathed. Suzumebachi had sought this precious object ever since becoming a genin. The hidden knowledge her clan had lost, the powers that had once made the Kamizuru insect masters feared throughout the shinobi countries, all these things were contained in here. It had been in the hope of finding this scroll that she had gone away, breaking rules and orders, knowing this document could be the redemption of her life and the salvation of her hopeless, weakened clan. "Where did you get this?" Suzumebachi demanded it of the Tsuchikage with a force she should not have used, but did not regret it.

"It was recently placed within headquarters," he informed her, accepting her excitement. "Only a few days ago. I do not know where it was found." Such an admission was strange, for the Tsuchikage always seemed to know everything that happened in his village.

Shocked, Suzumebachi looked at his aged face, searching for a lie, and then back to the scroll, seeing once more her grandfather's neat and tiny characters, reading the words she knew came from the forbidden scroll, and then back to the Tsuchikage again. "But how can that be?"

Tsuchikage shook his head, revealing nothing, but the answer was to become clear immediately thereafter.

- Konshou Yobidasu means something like "Invoke Insect" the procedure is effectively the same as a summoning, but the implications are rather different.

- Vesp, from Vespula, the genus to which Yellow Jackets belong.

**About Chul'To's Voice:** This is difficult to describe, so I thought I should try to make it clear. Chul'To, like all insects has neither lungs nor vocal chords, making speech as we understand it impossible. She therefore produces sound by forcibly sucking air into her throat via muscle action and expelling it over her mouthparts while moving or striking them together in various ways, producing something that can, with difficulty, be considered human words. It is not pleasant to the ear and cannot produce tonal variation.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto in any way and make no claim on its copyright or any characters from the series. Original characters are my own property.

**Author's Notes:** Well, here's an action sequence, in case anyone's been waiting. I wouldn't get your hopes up for more too soon, but the story will probably have a heavy action component (wait till Chul'To shows up again). Oh, also, another new character in this segment. For some reason there's going to be a bunch of new characters introduced pretty rapid fire here, but I don't think the overall cast will be that large.

Thanks to anyone who has commented, and hopes for more!

**Other Gifts Continues**

Suzumebachi stood staring at the scroll in her hands for a long moment, trying to grasp the impossibility of it simply falling into her hands once again. The scroll's presence fit the events of the past two days together smoothly. The tattoo on her forehead clearly invoked some potent technique described within; one that gave her some power in the strange form of summoning the Tushcikage had used to bring forth Chul'To. That much she understood, but where had the scroll come from? The old man had died young, at the height of his abilities, only in his thirties, and Suzumebachi's parents had only had children later in life, this scroll had not been seen in sixty years. Its reappearance now, from a source completely unknown, shocked her to the core, even as the implications it offered slowly spread through her mind, shining new possibilities with every passing moment.

The Tsuchikage allowed the wasp ninja some time to absorb the situation, standing motionless, considering the events of the morning so far, planning ahead with his cunningly intellect, examining many possibilities. He was unmoving as he thought, and Suzumebachi was almost able to ignore the powerful old man, but then his body lurched backward a step in surprise, and she snapped to alertness, wondering what had happened.

A cold edge of steel touched her neck.

Hot breath, laden with strange liquid scents, passed over her right ear. Suzumebachi's body went completely tense, her muscles coiling with energy, ready to react at the slightest opportunity. She could not believe an opponent had so simply gotten behind her without her sensing it; her senses were acute, especially to the small and concealed. Moreover, whomever her assailant was the Tuschikage had not noticed the presence in time to warn her. Frigid tendrils of fear rushed through her with that realization, for however much age might have dulled the old man's senses it still took unbelievable skill to hide one's presence from a Kage on an open field.

"So this is the one you chose to bestow my gift on old man?" the voice that spoke from behind Suzumebachi's face was slick, slurred, and it seemed as if the words spun about an unnecessarily mobile tongue as they escaped the prison of the mouth, a frightful voice, and one not filled with anything familiar. "How very generous of you…"

The Tsuchikage stood straight, looking past Suzumebachi to the face that must be behind her own. "She is of the proper family, and has an appropriately sturdy mindset, it is her right, and the best chance," he spoke firmly, assured.

Suzumebachi wondered at the meaning of those cryptic words, but only for a moment, for the response was far more frightful.

"So you say, old man," there was no respect there, the young ninja could not believe anyone could speak to the Tsuchikage that way, much less get away with the cruel tone. "You say so, but I'll decide for myself whether this one has the worth."

"Will you?" the aged ninja master lifted an eyebrow slowly, his expression thoughtful.

"Yes!" the unseen other barked. His voice was strident, harsh, and absolutely confident, holding assurance greater than the Tsuchikage's, something Suzumebachi had not believed possible. "Right now!"

The blade vanished from the edge of her skin suddenly, but it was followed by a frightful declaration. "Defend yourself girl! Or perish!"

There was no additional warning, and the voice's strange qualities seemed to belie location, so Suzumebachi had no idea where the attack was coming from. With no other options she dashed forward, past the Tsuchikage's immobile form, believing her enemy could not possibly be in front of her.

"Kanrakukou no jutsu!" the words came from below her, and the ground split open under Suzumebachi's feet. She tried to jump, but everything in a wide radius crumbled and the move had been timed with both her feet off the ground, sending her tumbling down into a dark pit. She twisted as she fell, but the ground sealed itself above her, leaving her to fall in absolute darkness.

There was nothing to be done now, except to fall safely. The darkness was disorienting, but Suzumebachi's experience with insects had taught her to correctly orient toward the ground, so she struck feet first. Bending her knees she deliberately tumbled forward with the landing, rolling to the ground and then sideways, spinning in a full circle three times before striking a stone wall. It still hurt, but no bones were broken.

Blind now, and with no time to accept input from the other senses, Suzumebachi forced herself upright and drew a kunai from its usual place in her skirt, bringing it up before her in her right hand.

"So you are not dead yet," the frightful susurrus voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. "Let's see how long that lasts."

There was little time to plan, and Suzumebachi's mind was well into panic, trying to reason out the nature of her enemy and the unbelievable situation she was suddenly entrapped within. A barely noticeable whirling noise passed through the air in front of her, and she reacted.

Too late, the kunai struck the shuriken, but far to close to her body, and the weapon was not spinning parallel to the floor as usual, but perpendicular to it, so her strike only sent the metal star flying up into her ribcage.

Burning fiery pain blossomed from the points of metal digging into her flesh, but it aided her, not defeated her. Her thick clothes, designed to provide a buffer space against her body for the placement of insect allies, absorbed much of the light weapon's impact, and the pain brought her back to her senses.

Suzumebachi dropped to the ground, crawling forward on both legs and her left arm, kunai extended before her. Only two steps, and it struck and outcropping of stone. She reached out with her left hand and pulled herself against it, moving her hand to discover a thick spire, wide enough to shield the body. Scrambling with desperate vigor she put her back to that rock, and moved slowly around it, continuously, to hopefully confuse her opponent. The situation was utterly desperate, and she must buy a few moments to think.

It was possible that this was only some strange kind of test, arranged by the Tsuchikage or some other, but Suzumebachi realized she dared not bet on that, she could not take such a risk, she would have to fight with everything she possessed. Assessing her situation, she possessed very little at the moment. Her insects were sealed far away from her, and she could not see her opponent. Those few earth jutsus she knew would be too dangerous to use in an unknown cavern like this, she could easily kill herself. It left little beyond taijutsu to fight a mysterious and unknowable opponent. She was in all probability dead.

Yet Suzumebachi gripped her kunai tightly, and grasped a shuriken in her left hand, holding it between index and middle fingers. She was not going to give in; she would not plead for mercy. She would make her enemy work to kill her.

Only a moment after reaching such a final decision it almost came to make no difference.

The tiny difference in temperature, the universally chill air of the cavern compared against the slightly warmer heat of steel in the sunlight for a few minutes was all she had to go upon, the only sign when the blade came in toward her throat from the right.

She lashed out with the kunai to block, jamming the weapon between her neck and the blade, and struck forward, and to her sides, only to find nothing.

Steel slid against steel, and pricked her skin, drawing blood. Suzumebachi recognized that her opponent's blade was not straight, but could be made to curve around her kunai. She jerked it forward to buy a moment, but there was no more time, she had to drive her opponent back or have her throat cut, pierced like a wasp-killed spider.

That image provided her the inspiration she needed, and her left arm lashed out upward, the sharp shuriken points projecting above her hand.

A great weight fell upon her, driving her to the stone floor, hard, striking her knees with an audible crack. Elbows bit into her sides, and a flurry of motion moved against her. Her enemy had not tried to dodge, but had simply fallen upon her!

Suzumebachi jerked and thrashed, bringing her kunai and shuriken in every direction, but she could get no leverage with her arms, even as she felt her enemy strike her. A steel edge slashed across her leg, opening a hot flow of blood there. A moment later and a fist struck hard into her left side, smashing bruising her ribs and driving air from her lungs even as her kunai struck something hard and was wrenched from her hand.

The maddening closeness of the fight was immediate and awful. Ninja combat was fluid, filled with motion, avoidance, and counterstrikes, not this mad brawling. This close all her taijutsu maneuvers were useless, there was only scratching claws, striking fury all about her as she tried desperately to ward off the blows of something that handled her completely. When the second gash cut into her cheek, prevented from taking her throat only by a last second jerk of the head, Suzumebachi knew it was only a matter of time until she was killed. No seals, no insects, no techniques, nothing could save her, she might channel chakra to increase her strength somewhere, but always was it blocked by greater strength in the same place, while striking elsewhere at the same moment. Death was slowly taking her apart piece by piece.

At that moment she might have given up. It would not have been hard, or unreasonable. There was no way she should win a fight like this, with all her skills compromised, it was an impossible expectation, a miracle she had survived so long as she had. If she was killed here no one would claim she was incompetent, just outclassed and unlucky, a reasonable death for a ninja.

It was tempting to accept that death. There were worse ways for a ninja to be remembered than as killed by a superior opponent in straightforward combat. Indeed, it was tempting, not a bad way for Kamizuru Suzumebachi, disgraced, called a coward by all, all but disinherited child of a dying clan, to fall, an honorable place on the rolls of Iwa's dead awaited her then, and no one would say she was a coward.

Then she remembered the scroll.

Above it waited for her, the repository of all her hopes for so long, the instrument of her salvation, and that of all her clan as well. Suzumebachi was sure of it, recalled even as she fended off a knee to the stomach with her leg, suffering yet another painful gash in the process, the powerful form of Chul'To, the Vesp's compact and lethal body. The scroll could give her the power she desired, the power to find a useful purpose, the one chance at heroism to wipe away her shame. The Tsuhcikage had as much as said it himself.

"I won't die like this!" Suzumebachi shouted, bringing her head forward, pouring energy into all parts of her body. "Not like this!"

Her forehead struck something hard, and she lashed her left arm about wildly, feeling the shuriken's sharp edge bite against something solid, knowing she had connected to something of meaning she put all her strength and energy behind that arm, snapping forward.

The arm went forward, but Suzumebachi's body spun back, kicked hard along the rough stone beneath. Pieces of crystal cut and tore at her as she rolled, driving the breath from her lungs, and then everything changed again.

A sudden sensation of falling overcame her for a single instant, the complete suspension of gravity. Then all went bitterly cold, chill as ice, and slick. Her eyes, closed in panic, snapped open. Darkness remained, but a stinging pain burned her eyes, wet. She was submerged.

It was terrifying, to be submerged underwater in the dark, feeling blood leak out from her scratches, a terror multiplied a thousand fold when an iron grip enveloped the top of her head.

Primeval fears blasted through Suzumebachi's mind, the fear of drowning here in the dark. Her lungs, already bereft of air, screamed at her, demanding to the mouth to open, calling the frigid, mineralized water into her lungs. Resistance against that urge could not last, and when it failed death was certain.

Strength born of panic surged in her, and arms lashed out above her, but though she struck the arm holding her the water worked against her strength, and the slender points of her shuriken could not cut into the thick, tough fabric covering the limb to reach vulnerable tissue. The arm held her without so much as budging.

Legs thrashed in desperation, and they scraped flesh raw against sharp edged stone behind her knees. Blood flowed hot around her legs, but the feel of that stone, blissfully solid in the mad dark water, gave her one last idea.

Suzumebachi reached up to grab the arm holding her down, gripping with both hands in a dead-man's grip. A sharp blade bit into her hand a moment later, but she ignored it, her last measure, all her dwindling reserves invoked, engaged. All her chakra was shunted to her legs, and she pushed off against those rocks behind her hard enough to rip through her sandals and slash her feet, throwing her whole body forward, applying maximum leverage.

A splash resonated through the water, confirming success.

Swiftly Suzumebachi kicked and broke the surface, grasping at the ledge of stone and pulling herself from the water, trying to flee once more.

She had levered herself halfway from the water when a wet, cold hand closed on her own and she felt the sharp steel edge envelop her throat completely.

"Enough," the sliding voice was laden with amusement. "You are strong enough to keep it I think, so you do not die today." The blade pulled away from her throat and strong arms grasped her shoulders and pulled her from the water.

Still confused, and flooded with the brutal combat, Suzumebachi could only gasp, and try to staunch some of her wounds. Touching those cuts, she found that they were hardly bleeding at all, and though they strong terribly, seemed not at all deep. "Wha…" it was all her muddled mind could manage.

"The minerals in that water staunch bleeding and sterilize wounds," the answer came, again filled with sly amusement. "Besides, I did not cut you deep, though I might have."

"What, but surely…" Suzumebachi could not believe her opponent had been holding back.

"You have a strong instinct little girl," the voice chuckled, a frightful tone sending shivers cascading though Suzumebachi. "But no one beats Harvestman in his realm, no one," the statement was utterly emphatic.

"Harvestman?" she questioned, wondering at the meaning behind such a strange title.

"Hmm…I think I will give you something to think about," the frightful laugh, far from anything Suzumebachi had ever heard before from a human throat, came once more. "You seem to need a bit of rest before going up."

Light blossomed about Suzumebachi, stinging her eyes for a moment. The light was not strong, a pale green color, and when her eyes could see again after a moment she saw it came from a pale green crystal, lying on the ground in front of her. The light illuminated a bit of the cavern, a cold stone space with a deep, narrow pool of utterly clear water behind her, filled with great thick columns of stone in an otherwise tall and narrow chamber. It was oddly awe-inspiring, but terribly foreign and frightful at the same time.

The appearance of her antagonist was far more shocking. He was a man, sitting calmly with his legs crossed before him, or at least she thought he was a man. The profile certainly belonged to a human, but the entire body was covered in thick, supple fabrics died completely black. Various pieces of equipment clung to that fabric, hooked in place by tight chords winding across the body to pass near the hands or mouth. The face was the worst, it was painted entirely black, and goggles tinted the same colorless darkness covered the eyes. Worst of all was the mouth, for Suzumebachi saw it was surrounded by a fleshy thing shaped perhaps like a starfish, legs wrapping down to the back of the jawbone and up over the ears, with one covering the nostrils. A thin membranous extension held the center, covering up the man's mouth. Black as well the thing was organic and perhaps even alive. It disgusted her utterly.

Perhaps amused at the look on her face the man took the knife he held in his right hand, a strange blade bent forward in the middle she vaguely recognized as being called a kukri, and placed it between his teeth. The starfish thing bonded to the edges of it for a moment before he took it back out again.

Suzumebachi retched dryly onto the stone floor, grateful she had forgotten to eat breakfast.

Harvestmen laughed uproariously. "You find my breather revolting? Ha! There's no place for such weaknesses down here. Best you learn to overcome that."

She fixed the strange man with the best stare she could, but her anger was wasted. Instead, recovering herself a little, Suzumebachi decided to question him. "Why did you attack me?"

"To see if you had the strength to take my gift, that's all," his voice was no longer amused, but still had that strange, twisting nature.

"What gift?" Suzumebachi was in no mood for obliqueness, and felt no need to bother with politeness to the man who had almost killed her. She no longer even cared about possibly angering him to attack again; she wanted something for her pain.

"The scroll," the answer was swift, and when Suzumebachi started to question he added. "Where think it came from? I found it, down below, far from here. No such things do I need, but I won't let one who hasn't the strength to live have it."

"The strength to live?"

"It takes strength to survive. You know this, a little at least," he told her, standing slowly. "Savage strength by your standards, but you need it." Harvestman reached out and picked up his rock. "I don't like light," he muttered. "Come girl, grab the column," roughly he lifted Suzumebachi to her feet with his gloved hands, hard, studded gloves and tough leather that scraped her skin. "Now climb," he ordered.

Suzumebachi grabbed a hold of the stone surface, only to discover it was cold and slick. Then the light went out completely. Her breath ran fast, but she slowed it, taking deliberate breaths and tightening her grip on the stone. Slowly she pulled herself up a step. It was bitterly hard, for her muscles arched from cuts, bruises, and blows, and chakra was no help on the slick, irregular surface, but she could move, gradually.

"When you reach the top strike the ceiling with all you might and you will find your realm again girl," Harvestman's voice echoed from below her. "Not soon, no, but again, we will meet again, best for you to be stronger."

"Wait!" Suzumebachi called out, not wanting to be alone in the darkness, thinking even the odd, freakish presence of Harvestman to be a small comfort, but he was gone instantly, leaving no sound. In that moment she sensed some aspect of his mastery of this underground place.

Left with no other options, the wasp ninja climbed, though her hands grew cold and numb from the moisture slowly dribbling down the surface of the column, and her sense of time and orientation faded, until all that occurred was the slow motion upward of one limb at a time. Upward, always she went upward, in the disorienting darkness.

Eventually her hair brushed something solid, and Suzumebachi reached out to feel solid stone above her. Recalling now Harvestman's command she pulled her arm back, gathered chakra, and struck the surface.

It cracked before her, light flooding in to burn her wide eyes. Air rushed up from behind her, propelling her through the thin gap, and out onto a soft surface her body remembering blissfully as grass.

A shadow moved over her. Blinking furiously, Suzumebachi turned her head to glimpse the graven image of the Tsuchikage staring down at her, and behind him a shinobi in the white coat of a medic.

"You live, good," The Tsuchikage muttered. He placed a hand on her shoulder, forming a single seal. "For now, sleep."

- Kanrakukou means "Sinkhole."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto in any way and make no claim on its copyright or any characters from the series. Original characters are my own property.

**Author's Notes:** Time for ninja economics! Well not really, but there are some weird questions involving money in this chapter. I hope my rendition seems suitable. There's some important background stuff here as well.

Thanks to reviewers, and hopes for more!

**Other Gifts Continues**

Prior to becoming a chunin, Suzumebachi had a teammate who was constantly getting hurt, partly through clumsiness, partly due to a bone condition that eventually caused him to be scrubbed from the ninja ranks. Before that occurred he'd once given his teammate a strange piece of advice. "The world only has one kind of hospital room, so you can always know when you wake up in one."

The wasp ninja hadn't made a practice of receiving serious injuries, but now, waking up in the middle of the afternoon, she could certainly recognize her location. White predominated, the sterile color all up and down the walls and floors, even the sheets. The room was small, and consisted only of the bed where Suzumebachi laid, a single white chair, an extension table, and several pieces of medical equipment.

For the second time today, strange, unusual feelings coursed through Suzumebachi upon waking. She did not feel ill as before, but all of her body tingled and squeezed tight, especially her arms and legs. She examined her body, but aside from bandages on the various places Harvestman's kukris had scored, there was nothing to notice. In fact, there was very little residual pain from those strikes, they felt almost healed already. Then she felt another strong, overpowering urge. She was ravenously hungry.

A meal tray had been left on the table beside the bed, and Suzumebachi dug in eagerly. The food was bland and uninteresting, as it seemed hospital food always was. She recalled her former teammate had believed the over-stressed doctors kept all the good rations for themselves. Additionally, it lacked the sweetness she preferred in food, Suzumebachi commonly added honey to almost everything she ate, there was no way to use all of it up otherwise, and she refused to waste the stuff. Hunger overwhelmed those hesitations completely, however, far more than simply not eating breakfast and emptying the contents of her stomach once ought to have. She had not been this hungry since she woke up after cracking her skull from that horrible induced fall off her summoned bee, and as she recalled she had not eaten for almost five days then. It was very puzzling.

There was no time for Suzumebachi to consider the mystery. Almost immediately following her finishing off the lousy hospital rations the door was opened and a white-coated medic walked into the room.

He was not someone familiar to Suzumebachi, but she did not know all the village medics. The man noticed she was awake, but did not say anything for a long moment. Suzumebachi wondered if he was staring at her forehead, and stared back at him, to dissuade him if that was the case. "Ah, well," the man stammered. "It's good that you're awake. You're feeling alright?"

"Fine," Suzumebachi answered, not entirely certain of the statement, but she did not think the medics could do anything they had not already done.

"That's good," the medic replied, though there was little spirit in it. "Your injuries were mostly minor anyway, though there sure were a lot of them. You need to be more cautious when sparring; if any of those strikes had gone deeper you could have been in serious trouble."

Sparring. Suzumebachi wanted to laugh. She couldn't imagine applying any word having to do with practice or control to Harvestman. Yet she recognized that his words had been the truth, he had held many opportunities to kill her, and had not. It was embarrassing, to recognize that, and the wasp ninja swore silently that he would never embarrass her so thoroughly again. "It's not your concern," she told the medic, daring him to challenge her.

As expected, he didn't. "Well, don't say you weren't warned, they're your medical expenses not mine. Anyway, I'll go get you your clothes, we had to wash and patch them in a few places. Oh, and the Tsuchikage said he wanted to see you about something, so you're to go to headquarters as soon as you can."

"Understood," Suzumebachi told him.

The man left, leaving Suzumebachi to seethe for a moment about having to pay for this visit to the hospital. A ninja's medical costs were paid out of the village funds only when they occurred during a mission, otherwise the ninja was on her own, but Suzumebachi could not believe that her fight with Harvestman was being classified as a training exercise. It made her angry, and not just at the indignity. Ninja medicine was expensive, since medical ninja were so rare, and Suzumebachi was not rich. She would have to dip heavily into her meager savings to pay these bills, leaving her only one further difficulty away from begging her parents for money. She'd left that portion of her family, un-ambitious, downtrodden failures all of them, behind the day she made chunin, knowing she couldn't save her family while her parents held her back, taking no risks at all. They hadn't gotten along for a long time before that in any case, and Suzumebachi did not think she could bear the shame of crawling back for support.

The medic returned her clothes, and Suzumebachi changed back into them from the white hospital smock she had been wearing. Examining the rips and cuts she noted fine workmanship in the patching, so the hospital had not skimped out there. Nodding with satisfaction at this, for she would need to wear these repaired garments a while longer, Suzumebachi walked down to the reception desk to settle her bill. As expected, it was heinous; she was decidedly not carrying enough with her, and had to make a deduction from her account. When the receptionist, who must have been having a bad day, asked why Suzumebachi had just gotten such an expensive tattoo if she was in financial trouble it took all the wasp ninja's control to avoid strangling the woman. She took some solace in the possibility of retribution if she ever saw this woman walking about outside. Control of bees had wondrous uses for petty vengeance.

Walking across the village to the headquarters building and the Tsuchikage's office Suzumebachi discovered she was hungry again. That wasn't expected. She had just eaten a full, nutritious, if not particularly appetizing, meal, and should not be hungry again, but the hunger was there, and with it the strange tense, tingling, though less than before. What was going on?

The combination of hunger and sour reflection on her new, nearly impoverished, status did little to put Suzumebachi in a good mood when she walked into the Tsuchikage's office. She wasn't feeling particularly charitable to the old man in any case, considering what she'd just been through, but she had to deliberately take several deep breaths before opening the door to calm herself. Thankfully she was good at that, a consequence of working around excitable stinging creatures. Suzumebachi was not naturally an overly angry person, during normal events, but the past two days did not at all fit her definition of normal.

The Tsuchikage was seated at his desk, reading reports. He looked up from his report by the slightest shift of the eyes when she entered, then simply finished reading the page before further acknowledging her existence.

Only when he put the paper down did Suzumebachi speak. "You wanted to see me Tsuchikage-sama?"

"I did," the old man returned in his gravelly voice. "Come here," he pointed to directly in front of his desk.

Stiffly, Suzumebachi walked over to stand before the old ninja.

"Here," he passed her a slip of paper.

"What's this?" Suzumebachi asked.

"Your wages."

She looked at it again, recognizing the slip as a record of an addition to her account. Her eyes went wide when she read the number. "Um…thank you…Tsuchikage-sama," she stammered. "But what is this for?"

"That is the standard pay grade for a solitary A-rank mission," he replied as if it was of no consequence at all.

"A-rank?" Suzumebachi didn't get it at all. "But I haven't served on a mission since…" she trailed off, recognizing what had occurred.

With a thin smile lingering on his creased and wrinkled face the Tsuchikage looked up at her. "You fought Harvestmen," the old man appeared to find the situation deeply hilarious.

"What was the mission completion condition?" Suzumebachi asked.

"Survival," the cold, thin smile lingered.

"I understand," she managed, feeling suddenly much better. "I appreciate the recognition."

"Good," The Tsuchikage told her. "Of course, you are going to have to use most of that money very soon."

"Huh?" Suzumebachi was confused, certainly she had no intention of spending such a sum quickly, she knew how to be thrifty, and it really wasn't that much, over the long term.

"Have you forgotten?" the hinted smile was gone from the Tsuchikage's face now. "You promised to make Chul'To a weapon. Given that you have no training in such enterprises and no access to a forge you will have to commission both instruction and facilities. It will not be cheap."

Suzumebachi's heart sank, though she kept her expression even. She hadn't even thought about that problem. At least the Tsuchikage's money would hopefully pay for it, she could get by on the rest, and without what he had given her she would have been ruined. "I see," she managed.

The Tsuchikage nodded. "I suspect you have many questions," he told her. "Don't bother to ask them, I will tell you some things you need to know for now, for the rest you must be patient." He bent down slightly to the right, picking up something from the floor behind his desk.

Suzumebachi recognized the familiar black and yellow cylinder he gave to her. "I kept this for the afternoon so the medics would not see it, but it is yours now," he said firmly. "Keep it safe, learn what it contains, and do not teach its techniques to anyone else. Understood?"

"I understand Tsuchkiage-sama," for Suzumebachi did indeed recognize the firmness of that order. "But why should I not let my kin know some of these techniques?"

"There are very dangerous things written on that scroll, Kamizuru Suzumebachi," The Tsuchikage's voice was low. "Things that were perhaps not meant to be part of our world. You wish to redeem your clan do you not? Very well, you are the experiment, prove the worth of what your grandfather unlocked, prove it can be used and controlled."

Suzumebachi nodded, understanding the ninja master, and not a little fearful. She wondered just what had been done to her, and once more resisted fingering the tattoo on her forehead.

"You will not have any missions for a while," The Tsuchikage informed her. "For now your assignments are to craft a suitable weapon, master the Insect Invocation, and beginning training with the Vesp. You will be put on the stipend given to ninja undergoing prolonged advanced training, and I will personally check your progress at intervals. Understood?"

She nodded again.

"Good," he handed her another slender slip of paper. "Tomorrow go speak to Otomo Katai, he can instruct you in weapon-crafting."

Suzumebachi nodded a third time, secreting the two pieces of paper carefully in one of the inner pouches of her robe.

"Those are the procedural matters," The Tsuchikage remarked slowly, almost speaking to himself. "Of course, there is something else."

Recognizing that she was not intended to interrupt, Suzumebachi said nothing.

"Harvestman," The Tsuchikage spoke the word slowly, deliberately. "You saw him today, or at least I assume you saw him, since you came out of there alive. That puts you into a very small group little wasp, very small. I could count on one hand the number in our village who have seen him and lived, at least of those who are alive today," the Tsuchkiage almost sighed. "Such a strange man. Or perhaps a strange creature. I do not know his origins, no one does, and you need not know all I do of his history."

Suzumebachi suspected the Tsuchikage knew a great deal more than he said here, for the man she had seen, Harvestman, had surely not been over fifty years old, so the Tsuchikage would have known when he came to Stone. Yet she did not press, she was uncertain she even wanted the answer.

"Harvestman is a subterranean creature; he lives below ground almost constantly. I do not know how, but his emergence today will likely be the only time he sees the sky for months. It is his madness, and his great power. As you might expect, no one else can adapt to that below-ground realm as he can, so he is considered invincible there," The Tsuchikage was no longer speaking directly to Suzumebachi, but simply to the air before him, his aged eyes staring well past her, thinking on his own words deeply, seeing things she could not. "As might be guessed, such unmatched and unanticipated prowess has great use. Sometimes Harvestman finds things in the depths, as he did that scroll, and they appear here, useful to us. Other times, he presents himself more openly, and offers his services, always when it seems they are most needed."

"Do you remember the war with the Leaf little wasp?" The Tsuchikage asked suddenly, breaking up his recitation.

"Only snatches," Suzumebachi answered, for that was all in her recollection, she had only been three years old at the time.

"Not surprising, you would have been too young," He shook his head slowly, and Suzumebachi saw for the first time the tremendous weight of this man's great age. "Still, you have learned the history. How did that war begin?"

The war between stone and leaf, thirteen years ago now, was the most studied ninja conflict in Hidden Stone, and Suzumebachi had been grilled on it in detail. "We launched a surprise attack," she answered. "A strike team snuck into grass country and took down their entire village council and most of the jounin in a single night, so we could invade easily."

"Yes, so history says," The Tsuchikage replied. "And it is accurate, in all aspects save one. Not a strike team, a single man."

"Harvestman…" Suzumebachi breathed, recalling the blackened face, with its goggles and hideous breathing device, the merciless grip holding her under the water, fully prepared to kill her if she did not struggle hard enough to suit him. She had no trouble believing it.

"Indeed, only the jounin know the truth here, and they don't speak of it, no one speaks of Harvestman in anything other than whispers," The Tsuchikage crossed his hands together. "His name is known even in other countries though, terrible legends and stories, things told to frighten genin in the night, but I believe many of those tales are true. It is not that we truly fear him though, that we do not speak of him, fearsome as he might be." The Tsuchikage bent his head and stared straight up at Suzumebachi, his eyes auguring deep into him. "It is that we do not control him. Harvestman is no Stone ninja, though he serves the desires of this village and no other. I believe it is only because we possess the best craftsmen, so he can name his price in exquisite blades and strange equipment."

"Harvestman's strange abilities give him great power, but his lack of assurance limits his use. Now, you are to harness strange abilities of your own young wasp. Remember always that you are a ninja of this village. Ninja of Stone must be loyal as stone to the mountain. I do not need another Harvestman, I will not have another Harvestman," His eyes burned with fires deathly cold. "Do you understand this?"

"Yes, Tsuchikage-sama," Suzumebachi replied without hesitation. "But what do I do if I encounter Harvestman again?"

"We shall then see the limits of your judgment," The Tsuchikage responded, a tired note in his voice. "Now, that should be all, you are dismissed. The rest of the day is yours; you can wait to start your work till tomorrow."

"Yes, Tsuchikage-sama," Suzumebachi bowed to her leader, since he was still sitting, and left.

- About Harvestman's Name: Harvestman's name is Harvestman, in so far as there's nothing else to call him. Also, it's not a symbolic reference, but a type of creature. In Japanese it would be Mekuragumo. There's a reason for this, but it won't be revealed yet.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Notes:** More about Suzumebachi's life here and another new character is introduced, a quiet chapter, but important.

**Other Gifts Continues**

Thoughts ran fast through Suzumebachi's mind as she left headquarters, trying to sort out the many implications of the day. Soon enough, however, one urge overrode all the others. Hunger. The Tsuchikage's masterful presence had subdued it, but Suzumebachi was ravenous once more. She hurried back to her apartment, even though it was not yet sunset. Her body required food.

Her room, and the joint industrial kitchen shared between four rooms of four, was empty for the moment, the other ninja still fulfilling the duties of the day. Suzumebachi sighed in relief at this, knowing she would have at least a little time to sort her jumbled thoughts out. She cooked a simple but substantial meal and ate hungrily, but her attention was elsewhere. Images of Chul'To and Harvestman surged through her mind, competing for attention, occasionally edged out by the black outline of her tattoo, or the yellow and black casing of the forbidden scroll of her grandfather. Recognizing swiftly that she would have to deal with each in turn, Suzumebachi organized her thoughts one by one. First the tattoo, that was easiest. It came from the scroll; the Tsuchikage had been examining it when he performed the technique. The answers she wanted regarding it could wait until she examined the scroll. The scroll also surely contained the strange form of summoning the Tsuchikage had used to call forth Chul'To, but the strange yellow jacket, the Vesp, was far more of a mystery.

Suzumebachi did not know what to make of her. She had summoned massive insects before, some much larger than Chul'To, but the Vesp had possessed a vibrancy those could not match, and obvious skill. Was it the only creature the scroll could summon, or were their more? She resolved to read that portion of the scroll soon, and very carefully. Beyond that, she recalled Chul'To's seeming displeasure at revealing how she might be summoned and commanded, but a weapon had not seemed such a great price. Her only guess was something to do with the strange material from which the insect's weapons were made. In the end Suzumebachi decided Chul'To could wait until summoned once again, the Vesp would surely prove a source of answers when she could be asked in person. Chul'To had seemed to know something about the effects of the tattoo as well.

Only Harvestman remained. He was the strangest of all, a being even more foreign than the Vesp, though he was still human, at least in shape. Why had he done what he did? Suzumebachi shivered at each memory, realizing how many times he likely could have killed her had he truly desired it. The Tsuchikage's cryptic partial revelations had not helped. It seemed unbelievable that a man could spend almost all his time below ground. She could not understand a person able to live like that. It was all very disconcerting, especially as Suzumebachi now knew Harvestman had brought back her grandfather's scroll. She owed the alien ninja a debt, perhaps a great one, and had no idea how to pay it. Being indebted to a creature who considered her life so casually as Harvestman did sent consistent chills through Suzumebachi.

She continued to mull over these various topics while cleaning away the dishes and carefully placing the scroll in a hidden panel within her bed frame. She added a simple genjutsu, one of the bare few she knew, to cover it, suspecting her roommates would quickly steal the scroll if they knew its true nature. Normally her cousins' status as family members would have been some protection, but in this it only increased the danger.

Only moments after the scroll had been hidden the door opened, admitting one of Suzumebachi's cousins. Kamizuru Kuroari was Suzumebachi's second cousin on her mother's side. A year younger than Suzumebachi, and surprisingly similar in appearance, though she wore her hair even shorter, cropped above the ears, she was the only one of her roommates in the village at the moment. The wasp ninja had not wanted this meeting so soon; she had hoped to avoid Kuroari until tomorrow, when she had a set of answers prepared. The younger girl was less hostile than most of her relatives, but the two were by no means close.

"You're back early cousin," Kuroari had the habit of calling all her relatives cousin, ostensibly out of friendship, but Suzumebachi knew it was because she had trouble remembering names. "I thought you still had extra repor-" She paused suddenly as she glimpsed Suzumebachi's face. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Suzumebachi sighed, recognizing that this would not be easy.

Taking a closer look Kuroari glimpsed the truth. "A tattoo? I thought you couldn't aff-" She snapped her mouth shut again, knowing Suzumebachi didn't like to talk about her financial troubles. Kuroari, though hardly rich, had been blessed with a generous jounin sensei that still sent her gifts even after she became a chuunin last year. "Anyway, it's nice, but, um…isn't it a little obvious?"

Suzumebachi glared at her cousin, not in the mood for such things.

Kuroari changed the subject. "Um, I don't recognize it," she said, trying to be diplomatic. "I mean, it's some kind of wasp, but I'm not as good with those as you are."

"It's a dryinid," Suzumebachi answered. She was always willing to explain insect matters to others, and Kuroari wasn't the time to feign questions of that sort, she never kept quiet when she knew an answer.

"Oh," the slightly younger girl exclaimed. "I though it looked familiar, I've seen some of those in with my ants, not with wings like that though. Tough creatures, with those claws and all."

Silence dragged on after this comment, for Kuroari ha nothing else to say, and she couldn't help staring at the tattoo on Suzumebachi's forehead.

"It wasn't my choice," Suzumebachi said at last, recognizing that she would have to offer some explanation, and not feeling in a mood to lie. "But I have it now so I won't hide it. Otherwise I can't say anything else."

Kuroari took the hint in Suzumebachi's hard expression and cold words and didn't say anything else. She turned and walked over to her own bed, across from Suzumebachi's, but not really so far in the small room. The younger ninja took a book from a slender shelf above her bed. "I've been assigned to work with father strengthening the formica mounds+ in the hill forests, we're trying to breed out a dry season batch of alates before winter so they can be tried near the Grass border in the spring, so I should be around for a while. Did your schedule get changed?" The question was posed idly, but it was far from idle. Suzumebachi knew Kuroari was a reasonable girl, dutiful, intelligent, and not judgmental, but as young chuunin from the same clan the two couldn't help but be seen in a sort of competition with each other, though Suzumebachi's recent disobedience would have seemed to remove her as a threat to Kuroari. It was natural for the other girl to want to know if that situation had altered.

"Yes, but you needn't worry about it," Suzumebachi answered, luckily figuring out a perfectly convincing story just as she realized she needed one. "I've just been assigned to work on some old dead-end jutsus. I don't think they'll let me do much of anything until spring comes." That was more truthful than Suzumebachi wanted to admit. Once snow closed in on Iwa village in a few months, hardly anyone except the most elite ninja or those already with assignments to less snowy areas would have missions. She would likely be training all the way till spring.

"Well, I hope you can make something of it," Kuroari replied with perhaps genuine support, and perhaps scornful relief, Suzumebachi couldn't know, she hadn't allowed herself to get close enough to the other girl for that, friendship was a two way street of risk. "I've got a dinner meeting with the trap wardens, since they figured we should treat them if they bothered to come into the village, so I'll be out for a while. Were you going to check the hives later?"

Only now did Suzumebachi recall that she hadn't checked on her precious hives of bees and wasps since yesterday evening. She was tired, and wanted to take more time to think over the events of the day, but she couldn't bring herself to neglect her creatures anymore. Probably it would make her feel better anyway, or so she made herself believe. "Yes, did you want to tag along?"

"Would you mind terribly?" Kuroari asked as politely as she was able, which was quite polite really, she had a much more intellectual polish than Suzumebachi.

Thinking about it, Suzumebachi decided to be kind to her cousin. Kuroari had been about as polite as could be expected about the tattoo, and that made her predisposed to be nice. Besides, with the other girl there, perhaps she could focus only on the hives, that seemed like a potentially restful distraction. "Alright, but you have to let me come with you on your mound probes one of these nights."

"Done, we'll find one when father's not there to harass you," Kuroari turned to go. "I'll see you at the hives later."

Suzumebachi nodded.

The wasp ninja's thoughts remained a jumbled mess for a while, and she headed over to her hives early, poking and prodding at the stacks and spheres containing thousands upon thousands of her many insect allies, natural bees and wasps and ninjutsu enhanced varieties both. The insects did not require the great care of animals such as dogs or cats, but they could not be left alone completely. With autumn coming on she had to make certain the temperatures in the hives would remain stable, and that there was enough food stored for the winter. She took this opportunity to perform many of the various irregular maintenance tasks that she had put off for a while, and instructed Kuroari as well when her cousin arrived well after dark.

Coming back tired Suzumebachi discovered that once again she was hungry, and hoping this was not going to become a trend, made another quick meal before going to bed. Surprisingly, her mind quieted easily and she fell asleep almost immediately.

- Kamizuru Kuroari: Kuroari means black ant or carpenter ant; she's an ant specialist instead of a wasp specialist (though ants, the Formicidae, are a part of the Hymenoptera, the order containing all wasps, bees, and relatives).

- Formica mounds: Wood Ants of the genus _Formica_ (common in Northern Europe) are known to form huge colonies built up in massive mounds that may be as much as 2m high and contain millions of workers, some colonies expand to have many queens spread across several mounds.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto in any way and make no claim on its copyright or any characters from the series. Original characters are my own property.

**Author's Notes:** Short chapter here, but it introduces the last of the new characters for a while.

Thanks to all who review, and hopes for new readers!

**Other Gifts Continues**

The next morning was cold, the autumn air whispered with the coming chill of winter, not long off now. It was not truly frigid, but Suzumebachi awoke to coldness, for the heat in the building had not yet been turned on, and likely would not be for weeks. Her first thought of the day was to take out another blanket that night. The second thing she recognized was the absence of raging hunger. She was hungry, yes, but only as usual in the morning, not like the day before. Kuroari was still asleep, her cousin having a more erratic schedule than Suzumebachi; she took the chance to sleep in longer. So Suzumebachi went through her morning routine quietly, eating a simple breakfast, showering, and putting together her gear for the day before heading out. She added a new element this morning as well, checking the hiding place of the forbidden scroll, insuring it was still present. It was, and Suzumebachi resolved to spend the evening, with Kuroari out helping her father, reading it intently.

After heading over to check her hives, she noted that several would need harvesting of stores to keep the insects working at their peak until the full onset of winter. The wasp ninja went through a common set of morning exercises she had been advised by her jounin sensei to never neglect unless it was a matter of life and death, she also added a few routines with some of her wasps. Varying the ones she used each morning kept the creatures closer to her than they would otherwise be. It was a greatly pleasing feeling to guide the wasps to swarm about her, glimpsing their power and capability.

With the usual tasks done, and the sun just creeping over the horizon, Suzumebachi headed to the location on the card the Tsuchikage had given her.

The address was not a familiar one. It laid in a portion of the village she, or most other ninja, rarely visited. Iwa village was deliberately not an industrial town, kept instead as a fortress for the ninja, but such a well positioned mountain valley was obligated to host at least a small amount of mining work. These, and the few other industries located within the town not suited to be placed with everything else, were located on the west edge, near a small stream that plunged down deep in the rocks not much further distant, carrying the wastes away from the village proper.

It took some time looking about for Suzumebachi to locate the proper place, she dodged harsh looks from dirty laborers as she did so, men not very appreciative of having a kunoichi poking around their workplace, and who constantly stared at her tattoo. The building she wanted, when she eventually found it, was not very large, built of squat construction heavily of stone and metal, with little wood. A squat smokestack belched black fumes carried west by the wind to the mountainside. The iron door was marked only by a simple number, nothing more, and no samples or signs stood outside.

Suzumebachi wrapped her knuckles soundly on the metal sheet, but no response came from within. Not wanting to stand about in the chill air and dirt of this area any longer, and figuring her note from the Tsuchikage would excuse any breach of etiquette, she pulled the heavy door back.

A blast of heat greeted her from within, spilling out into the open with feverish speed. The light within was low, but Suzumebachi saw a stocky man bent over the obvious forge before her. Strange pieces of equipment and weapons lined the walls, shining as the low yellow light caught them in turn, pieces glittering with power. She had only a short time to glimpse some of these before the man stood and turned to her.

"Close the door," he said. "You're letting the heat out."

Suzumebachi did as she was asked, pulling the door closed sharply, hearing it scrape against the frame as it did so.

The man before her nodded. He was not tall, or particularly wide, but his body held a vibrant and compact power, his arms especially coiled with muscle, bulky in a way that most ninja, even the strongest, were not, but he did not seem sluggish. Suzumebachi noted he wore only a thick white robe, obviously fire retardant, but the wasp ninja caught the forehead protector lashed about his right leg, holding the symbol of stone. She was somewhat surprised, not expecting this man to be a ninja.

"I don't recognize you," he told her, his voice stern, but open, direct. "You're one of our ninja, but what is your business with me?" The man had a stern countenance, but not a harsh one. Suzumebachi thought he simply did not need to express his emotions to others often.

"I am Kamizuru Suzumebachi," the wasp ninja replied. "The Tsuchikage told me to come see you."

"The old master himself, huh?" his expression remained even. "What about? You need something special for an upcoming mission?"

"Not exactly," Suzumebachi replied, recognizing that he had not been informed of her coming. "You are Otomo Katai, yes?" It wasn't very proper to ask his name like this, but she wanted to be certain.

"I am," he did not appear offended. "Otomo Katai, chunin of Hidden Stone, you are in my forge."

It was surprising to think of him as a chunin, for Katai was surely past thirty, and likely a good bit older, unless Suzumebachi was totally mistaken about his age. Yet she surmised that perhaps a ninja craftsman, of which Hidden Stone had a goodly number, might not be sent on as many missions and never reach the rank of jounin even if highly skilled. "I was told you could help me make a weapon," Suzumebachi informed him.

Katai's eyes looked her up and down, making a careful examination. Strangely, he completely ignored the obvious tattoo on her forehead, concentrating on other things, for Suzumebachi, already expecting people's gazes to halt there, it was somewhat surprising. "You look in good enough shape, but you've never forged anything before," it was not a question. "Why do you need to make it yourself? That's not something a Kamizuru's ever needed before."

"I have to make it for another," Suzumebachi answered, though she had no intention of revealing Chul'To's identity. "Forged by my hand and melded to my essence, those were the requirements."

Katai blinked, the only indication of surprise he'd made so far. "Essence forged is it? That'll be hard, and it takes some expensive ingredients. You're young, can you pay that?"

"I should have enough," Suzumebachi squirmed a little bit inwardly, wanting to avoid bargaining with this man, who she expected was much better at haggling than she was. "I'd like to keep the cost as low as possible though."

"Hmmm…" Katai's hands clenched slowly, and then unclenched. "You're planning on using this weapon yourself for a while, if it's to be essence forged. Do you use any special weapons?"

"Special?" the question caught Suzumebachi off guard.

"Some ninja use unusual weapons," Katai answered. "Chains, sai, metal fans, all sorts of strange things. What about you?"

"No," Suzumebachi told him. "Just the usual kunai and shuriken mostly."

"A tanto then," Katai said definitively. "Unless you would prefer an aiguchi? The cross-guard helps against kunai though." He named both types of knife easily.

"A tanto would do…" Suzumebachi returned hesitantly. That had certainly not been the type of blade Chul'To used, but such a broad sword would be useless in her hands, and the Vesp had not specified anything about the type of weapon. "Why do you suggest that?"

"The less material the cheaper it will be to make, and quicker too, in some ways," Katai told her. "My business is making fine pieces Kamizuru, not impoverishing young ninja. How about so much," he named a figure, that, while high, was payable out of the A-rank reward with a little left over.

"I can do that, yes," Suzumebachi told him, smiling a little, feeling easier.

"Very well," Katai nodded. "Half now, for the materials cost, half upon completion. What's your schedule?"

"I have nothing else assigned until this task is completed."

"Hmm…" Katai considered for a moment. "Well, I have a few commissions, I always do, though the winter glut hasn't piled up quite yet, but my last student got sent off to run a circuit of instruction to the south, so there should be space. We can get started whenever you want, right away even."

The man's direct form of efficiency was somewhat infectious; Suzumebachi could tell that his feelings in the forge were similar to her own when tending the hives, completely devoted to the task, and able to forget the other aspect of work, the ninja side, that made it all necessary. "Then let us begin."

"Grab a smock from the wall," Katai pointed. "Over there, on the left behind the shuriken molds. Then come over here and I'll start explaining while I pound on this sword for a while."

Suzumebachi was quick to obey the ninja smith.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto in any way and make no claim on its copyright or any characters from the series. Original characters are my own property.

**Author's Notes:** With this chapter I have taken a fairly unusual approach. As my knowledge of Japanese swordmaking is limited to what I can read on a few easily googled websites, I have deliberately going into detail regarding the process. I hope I was able to convey a sense of the undertaking regardless however, and would eagerly appreciate commentary on this segment.

Thanks to all reviewers!

**Other Gifts Continues**

With great care and diligence Suzumebachi ran the blade over the water stone, again and again, continuing the long, slow, and dangerously boring process of polishing the nearly finished blade. She was almost done with the stones, and soon it would only be sandpaper and true polish that were required, a matter of the rest of the day, little more. Once done it could be fitted to the already made tsuba and tsuka quickly, taking effectively no time at all compared to the process of forging, tempering, and polishing the eleven inch blade. Those earlier steps had taken almost four weeks.

Suzumebachi recalled how dismayed she had been at the beginning, learning how much time everything would take. Admittedly, it had taken so long because she had to learn everything from the beginning, under Katai's careful guidance, practicing the techniques on old, ruined, student makes, before daring the actual process. It had also taken extra time due to the requirements of melding a blade with personal essence. Some of these things were simple enough, seal combinations evoked over the blade, pouring small amounts of chakra into it during the tempering process, about what one expected. Mixing corundum1 powder with her blood and melding it with the steel, however, had not been a portion of her expectations.

Katai had explained the process. "Steel has the capacity to hold structure, and to strike apart structure, but it lacks the permanence to hold your essence. Melded with the chakra in your blood the corundum will harden the blade so it will never chip, nick, or break. That is the strength of the bond."

Suzumebachi had asked him why they did not use diamond, since that was a harder material, and considered more precious.

"Diamonds can break and shatter," Katai had responded easily, remarking that it was a fairly common question. "Also, for some reason diamond does not hold the bones of the earth, so the bonding process does not work fully. No one knows precisely why."

The wasp ninja tried to focus on polishing instead of the smith's intriguing remarks of the past. She had gradually formed an opinion of Katai as a surprisingly complex man, and a regretful one. There was something terrible in his past, something he could never get over so long as he continued to make weapons. Despite this weapons were his gift, and he would not abandon what he saw as his duty at least until he had an apprentice who surpassed him. Suzumebachi had avoided probing further, for the man had never once asked about her tattoo, so she would not delve his own secrets.

The ninja smith's footsteps could be heard on the stone floor, walking over. Suzumebachi paused, and turned her heard up to meet his gaze.

Even as always, Katai took a single look at the blade. "You should switch to sandpaper now," he told her. His face was even as always, but he couldn't help adding, "Surprisingly fast, surprising," before walking away.

Suzumebachi had heard him make the same remark several times before she felt it necessary to ask Katai what he meant. His explanation had surprised her. Apparently she had been able to fold the blade much faster than she should have, having far greater strength than he expected of her. She had made more of each hammer-stroke she made than he believed possible.

"I am a good judge of strength," Katai had told her. "I can usually guess the might in a man or woman's arm with a single glance. I do not think I have been so wrong about anyone since I learned the Tsuchikage's true power. It is a mystery."

Suzumebachi was puzzled as well, by the strength she had been able to put behind the blows. Katai had forbidden the use of chakra in the forging process, explaining that striking too hard would damage the blade and could ruin the whole enterprise. Still, Suzumebachi had found she could easily strike the steel far harder than she would have thought in her own estimates. Indeed, she felt substantially stronger in everything she did these days, after her body's tightness had finally settled, and her appetite, after a few more surges, stabilized at a level slightly above her previous norm. It was something about the tattoo on her forehead; it had changed something in her. These changes terrified Suzumebachi, though she would not have dared to admit such a thing even to herself, so she avoided thinking about it, and when she did took only the stubborn view that nothing could be done.

Sandpapering went on into the evening. After only a short break for dinner Suzumebachi moved on to the final polishing and placing the blade with swordguard, handle, and scabbard. The dark tsuba was carved so it mirrored the face of the dryinid on her forehead, while a motif of wasps, bees, and ants in black and yellow adorned the handle and swordguard, a small yellow jacket capping each end. She had done all the decoration herself, in times when the blade was being heated and out of her hands. Though she was hardly an artist, like all Kamizuru ninja Suzumebachi could draw her insect companions with great accuracy, and they had a beauty all their own when properly portrayed, so it was finely styled.

When the setting was finally done Katai, seemingly without weariness despite the long hours working on his own projects in addition to providing careful instruction, turned to Suzumebachi. "It is quite late, best to let the blade sit for the night. You can come get it in the morning, so we can examine it with fresh eyes."

"I'll be certain to come early," she replied, and left without further word.

It was a restless night for the wasp ninja, as several of the last few had been. When the blade's tempering had finished, leaving only the tedious, but hardly tiring process of polishing to be done she had begun to study her grandfather's scroll with diligence. She had searched for information regarding the tattoo first, but had found nothing, despite searching the scroll from end to end. By now Suzumebachi was certain the Tsuchikage had somehow sealed those secrets from her, so she would not know precisely what had been done to her. It continually made her angry, but the rest of the scroll's contents were so fascinating such feelings would wash away quickly when she began reading.

For now Suzumebachi concentrated on the Insect Invocation, the jutsu allowing a ninja to summon strange other-worldly insects whose intelligence naturally matched those of a human. Not just Vesp, the scroll listed many other such creatures though even Suzumebachi's grandfather had not known precisely where such beings originated. It was not the same spiritual origins belonging to other summons. Superficial similarity to summoning had only made the jutsu more difficult to learn, for it was tricky and different, requiring unusual seal combinations and chakra movement. Without any real opportunity to practice Suzumebachi was far from certain she had mastered it, she would not be able to know until attempting to summon Chul'To. There would not be any second chances, the Vesp warrior was a powerful creature, and invoking her would take a great deal of chakra.

So, sleep evading her, Suzumebachi woke terribly early and spent some two hours rereading the scroll in the kitchen, practicing the hand seals, nervous. Thankfully she had a task prepared she knew would serve to calm her.

Before dawn, an event somewhat later now as winter came on fast in the high mountains, Suzumebachi went out to the hives. Carefully calming her bees she proceeded to harvest two small pots of honey. This process was made fairly easy because she could command the bees to remove the wax caps on the honeycomb themselves, and then simply force it free with a simple application of chakra. The method was not suitable for large amounts of extraction, but it was the fastest way to acquire a small batch, and the honey always seemed to taste better this way. Suzumebachi sealed the pots with melted wax and placed them in a small sack before heading to Katai's forge.

It was not yet dawn when Suzumebachi arrived, pulling open the heavy metal door as she had become accustomed in the past weeks. Katai was already present of course, stoking the forge fires as he did every morning. He looked up when Suzumebachi entered, pausing.

Without saying anything the ninja smith went over to the table holding Suzumebachi's completed blade. She walked swiftly to meet him there. Carefully Katai picked up the tanto and pulled it free from the scabbard. "This is a complete weapon now," he said, his words surprisingly somber. "It is quite fine, and I can feel its quality from the essence process, so there is no need to test it. It may be used immediately." He flipped the blade over in his hand easily, taking it between two fingers so as to avoid being cut. He picked up the saya in his left hand and passed both to Suzumebachi.

Seeing it now, in faint dawn light leaking through the paned glass windows, Suzumebachi was surprised at how fine the blade was indeed. It had a wicked edge, and shone with an azure blue sheen from the corundum powder melding in the making. Strong lines from the forging proceeded along its length, and the blade verily thrummed with energy when she grasped the handle. Sheathing it carefully she placed the blade into the scarf wrapping her waist, sticking up on the left side, in easy reach.

With great care Suzumebachi bowed to Katai formally. "You have my utmost thanks for all your guidance and assistance in this task," her gratitude was not at all feigned, a rarity. The smith had been genuinely helpful and kind to her, something she had rarely experienced in recent memory. "I am not worthy of it, but would you please accept a small gift in expression of thanks?" She handed him the bag with the honey pots.

Katai took the bag, spent a moment examining its contents, and then bowed himself. "Gratefully," He smiled then, a rare expression on his face, splitting it wide. "I'm a lousy cook, so this will be a big help."

Suzumebachi laughed slightly, knowing Katai was only partially joking. She had shared several meals with the man, and though she was no culinary expert herself, he was a lousy cook indeed.

Placing the pots on the table, Katai pulled something from a small pocket in the back of his white robes. "You have been a diligent student," he spoke solemnly once again. "I feel that as the smith I cannot allow you to leave my forge without having made you something." He held a small star-like device out in his palm. "So, in an experiment, I made this." It was a shuriken, but oddly made, with six points bent out from the center at unusual angles.

Suzumebachi immediately realized that each point represented an insect's leg. She took it carefully, testing the weight of the device. It would fly, though oddly, and she had no idea how much damage it would do, though it seemed likely to stick into a person painfully. "I will take good care of this," she told Katai.

"Do tell me if it actually works," he added with a smile.

"My thanks again," Suzumebachi replied. "I shall come back if I need anything."

"Certainly," the ninja smith replied, though with a hint of sadness. Despite not grasping the reasons, the wasp ninja understood, and said nothing more before leaving.

1- Corundum is the second hardest natural mineral, behind diamond. It is well known for its gemstone forms, ruby and sapphire.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto in any way and make no claim on its copyright or any characters from the series. Original characters are my own property.

**Author's Notes:** the wasp returns! Some action here, for the action fans. Don't worry, this story will heat up eventually, it just takes some time for things to be set into motion. Anyway, I hope this chapter works well, because Chul'To's character is challenging, but important.

Thanks to all reviewers!

**Other Gifts Continues**

With the sun high overhead, signaling the transition from morning to afternoon, Suzumebachi sat among the alpine flowers and read through the steps to the invocation a final time. The scroll was spread out carefully before her, only the critical pages exposed, and she would roll it up and place it away in its case before attempting the next step.

Wind wound its way slowly about the small expanse of flowers, tucked in between short trees on all sides. Most alpine meadows were wide, expansive places, but this one, by some quirk of topography, had formed here enclosed and isolated. Suzumebachi had chosen it for that specific reason. She did not want anyone else around when encountering Chul'To for the second time. The meadow's high place on the mountainside had helped select it as well, for the long journey had provided the wasp ninja with time to think and consider what she must do.

Suzumebachi's memories of Chul'To were filled with fascination, but also fear. The Vesp was a truly powerful creature, and dangerous. Words in the scroll made deadly clear that a botched invocation might trap the insect in this world, doomed to solitude and death, something that would send them into berserk fury. If such a thing were to happen Suzumebachi suspected Chul'To could surely kill her.

Fear, icy though it was, could not overcome curiosity. Suzumebachi knew she had to complete the jutsu, and not simply to obey the Tsuchikage's instructions. The hope she had long wished for was in her hands, and it must be seized, even if the risks were high. In the past risks had not ruled her, and they would not now.

After finishing her final rereading Suzumebachi rolled the scroll up swiftly, placed it in its case, and stood. There was no point in waiting, and it was getting slightly chill, here high above the village autumn had arrived in full force in the time she had been caught in Katai's forge.

Drawing her tanto, Suzmebachi marveled at the azure shining blade for a moment, still unable to believe her hands had made such a thing. Slowly she pressed the razor point to her palm, drawing a drop of blood. She breathed in deep, taking the foreign sounds that together made the word Vesp into her throat, holding them deep there, before the point of release. Slowly and with great care Suzumebachi worked her hands through the awkward series of seals, her fingers contorting in unnatural ways, forced to bend at angles humans hands were not meant to hold. As she did this she focused her chakra, funneling a great deal into her arms, ready to be unleashed. At last she slammed her right hand down into the grass.

"Konchuu Yobidasu no Jutsu! Vesp!" Suzumebachi shouted, letting the word emerge from her throat at last. Symbols spiraled out from beneath her hand, forming a pattern different than the partitioned ring of summoning, a six fold pattern of alien characters, unrecognizable to her memory.

Wind lashed about, swirling in front of Suzumebachi for an endless instant, forcing the eyes closed. Thus all glimpses of the transition across space and time were eliminated.

Suzumebachi's eyes snapped open to reveal a Vesp, the same in all aspects as Chul'To, standing before her. She had handled the name in her mind during the invocation, so it ought well to be the same being, but her eyes would not suffice to tell one Vesp from another simply by sight.

Initially facing away the Vesp turned back toward Suzumebachi with blinding speed, rapid stop-motion, jerking past the perception of the eye, shocking the nerves.

For a long breathless moment the great black eyes on the sides of the great peered at the wasp ninja, an examination to be sure.

"So it is you, hu-man," the cracking voice shattered the serenity of the meadow by its very being. "It seems you have the necessary skills to hold up this part of the agreement." Though the unnatural voice of the Vesp held no markers to differentiate one from another to the human ear, Suzumebachi was certain from the words that this was Chul'To. "So, where is the weapon you promised?"

Reaching down to grab it from where she had dropped it point first to the ground to complete the invocation, Suzumebachi grasped the handle and brought the tanto up to point straight at Chul'To's face.

"Crack!" Mandibles snapped shut with a brutal crashing shock. "Short!" Chul'To remarked. "Such a little thing, but, it is metal, and I can see the markings it has to carry essence. It will do," Chul'To reached back; placing her falchion in a strap on the underside of the thorax, between the leg mounts, and then reached out to grasp the knife. The glossy black hand had four fingers, each with five jointed segments and capped by short, slender, twin claws, extending out from the end as if horns. If was with these claws, and not the true ends of her fingers, that Chul'To examined the blade. The Vesp's glossy, inflexible hand seemed likely to be cut by the bitterly sharp edge on the tanto, but Chul'To suffered not even a scratch to the black chitin. "This is sharp, well-made," Chul'to remarked. "Good for cutting wings."

Watching those eerie fingers in fascination Suzumebachi barely heard Chul'To's words. They were so different, yet formidable in their own right, as was everything about the Vesp.

Chul'To pulled her hand back. "So the weapon will pass to me when you perish, and our bargain is complete," Chul'To told Suzumebachi. "That part is done. Now, I am yours to command, what would you have me do?"

"Huh?" Suzumebachi looked up in surprise. "Command?"

Again the mandibles snapped, sharp cracking rebuke, though not so loud as before. "You have performed the summons correctly, and so I am bound by the bonds to obey your orders," Chul'To drew her falchion again, flipping it through the air in her hand. "Have you nothing to ask of me?"

Still momentarily confused, Suzumebachi tried to buy a bit of time. "How long are you here?"

"Until you dismiss me," Chul'To answered. "Or until the link to this place is broken, perhaps by the time your sun sets. Are you simply going to dismiss me?"

It was a good question; Suzumebachi did not quite know the answer. She had summoned creatures before, but that was always for a specific purpose, such as battle or reconnaissance. She was unsure what to do with the Vesp before her, but did not think simply sending her away was worthwhile. Thinking back, she recalled the Tsuchikage's instructions. "I believe I am to ask you to train me," she told Chul'To.

"Train you?" the Vesp held her falchion forward, pointing straight at Suzumebachi's torso. "Beyond the skill to command my kind, I can only train you to fight. I am battle-master among my sisters, but is such a thing what you wish girl?" It was impossible to read the intent behind Chul'To's words, whether she was angry, resigned, or anything else, and so Suzumebachi could only guess at the Vesp's feelings.

"I believe that is what the Tsuchikage intended," she replied honestly, not knowing anything else to say. It was a curious situation, for she wondered precisely what Chul'To might teach her about fighting. "Can you truly teach a human?"

"Fighting is fighting," Chul'To spoke immediately. "I will teach you. Here are my conditions. Though I serve you, in this I am your queen, and you will do completely as commanded. You will fight only with your body and your tanto, none of these jutsus your kind uses. Last, you will not question my methods. Are we agreed?"

"But how can I improve without using jutsus?" Suzumebachi didn't understand.

"How could you if you did use such tricks?" Chul'To countered. "When I cannot? Have no fear, if you can come to beat me with only your body, no human will ever defeat you."

There was something absolute in that last statement, something truly frightening, but Suzumebachi believed Chul'To's promise. She could see the power in the elongated form with shimmering wings. The potent speed had been observed already, and the curved falchion was held with experience, Chul'To was formidable. "I agree," she told the Vesp.

"Then we shall begin now!" Chul'To jumped back, placing some separation between herself and Suzumebachi. "Draw your blade girl!" she ordered.

It had been grating on her for a time, and now Suzumebachi would not accept it further, no matter that the Vesp might have different standards. "My name is Suzumebachi, you could be courteous and use it!" she retorted.

"I cared not for your name, girl," Chul'To replied. "But that I will not call you, for you do not deserve it. Now, ready yourself!"

Angry, Suzumebahci ripped out her tanto, holding the gleaming blade out in her right hand, falling back into a fighting stance. The weapon felt smooth and balanced in her hand, despite her holding it for the first time as such. It held perfect balance, and promised great strength. She knew already how to fight with the weapon; it was hardly different from fighting with a kunai, something she had long been trained to do.

Chul'To charged.

The Vesp was brutally fast, as Suzumebachi had expected, four legs powering forward in a furious jerking surge, but the attack was direct, simple. The smooth razor edge of ceramic falchion was held cocked back, wide in Chul'To's arm, only to snap in at the moment of impact.

Suzumebachi stood her ground, blocking the blow as it came. The impact was jarring, jolting. Chul'To's arms were thin and spindly, but the Vesp's strength was immense. Suzumebachi's left foot slid back, but she held her ground, blocking the open blow squarely, her own increased strength sufficing to hold back the strike.

The wasp ninja, having measured her opponent's strength, though now to strike back on her own, but she had no chance. Chul'To's left arm swung in, smashing her across the side with the broad face of her ceramic shield. The force of the impact sent Suzumebachi sprawling to the ground, breath driven from her body completely.

Her head rang for a second, and she blinked, only to find the ceramic edge of Chul'To's falchion resting on the back of her neck. "Lesson one girl, everything is a weapon, all parts of the body, all parts of the battlefield."

With some difficulty, her side aching from the force of the shield bash, Suzumebachi stood, and nodded once.

"Then again!" Chul'To snapped, leaping back away once more.

A second time the Vesp warrior charged, and this time, instead of meeting the blade straight Suzumebachi fell back before it, making smooth, quick blocks whenever it reached into her bounds, sliding freely to avoid the swinging shield that beat counter to the sword strokes. She countered once, but Chul'To's shield was there, and the ice-edged tanto only skid an almost imperceptible line across the iron-hard ceramic.

As Suzumebachi's blade slid against the shield Chul'To moved her body behind its protection, bringing the falchion far in, and turning. A weak strike from the curved blade was easily evaded, but Suzumebachi had been out-positioned.

Chul'To's left legs dug in, and her right mid-leg snapped out, the motion so fast Suzumebachi had time only to know what was to happen before it did; she was unable to maneuver in time.

The mid-leg struck Suzumebachi's right leg with certain force, taking away her footing and sending her tumbling to the ground. The wasp ninja caught herself with her left hand, but the cold ceramic edge rested on the back of her neck before she could attempt to roll away. "Lesson two," Chul'To's alien voice could not be said to hold anger, but its inherent unnatural cadence made all points harsh. "If you have a disadvantage, overcome it." Chul'To backed off once more. "Again!"

The third exchange was longer still, Suzumebachi forced herself to watch her whole opponent, moving constantly, dodging, weaving, and sliding, always keeping her tanto's edge out before her. She brought her left arm bent before her, ready to strike out if there should be any opportunity. It became swiftly clear that the Vesp had an inherent advantage. Those unmoving massive eyes could track a great sphere of movement without shifting, while Suzumebachi's eyes raced across her skull, trying to encompass her whole opponent. It was not like fighting a human, whose movements might be sensed and predicted, the Vesp's motions were off, alien, jarring. They shattered preconceptions of motion and possibility, and kept Suzumebachi stumbling away, rarely able to counterattack. Chul'To was stronger than she was, and faster, with a weapon of longer reach, and other advantages besides. With breath coming only in gasps after even a few moments, Suzumebachi began to understand and believe Chul'To's statement about the ability of one who could defeat her.

The cruel edge of the falchion descended an overhand blow. Suzumebachi blocked away, sliding her own blade against the edge for only a moment, letting the Vesp's own strength push her back, then twisting the hand down and around, to whip back up.

Her opponent was no longer there.

The front arms had continued downward with the blow, planting themselves on the flowers. Wings snapped, legs straightened, and Chul'To was in the air. She spun over Suzumebachi, twisting in a tight spin, abdomen pointed to the sky, falchion and shield whirling about to take the human's head. It was not flight, only a mad leaping maneuver made possible by wings.

Desperately Suzumebachi blocked, grasping her right arm with the left, below the wrist, for additional strength and so she could drag her arm freely to intercede the spinning weapons, but it was not enough. Ceramic struck her head on the side, blurring vision and sending her tumbling to the ground, everything ringing as a bell.

Chul'To landed behind her, and a third time the cold edge of the falchion embraced her. "Third lesson, you must seize the advantage of maneuverability, find a way."

When Suzumebachi wobbled for a moment Chul'To reached out and hauled her to her feet by the biting grasp of those sharp hands, but did not hurt Suzumebachi's skin. "These three lessons?" the Vesp questioned. "Do you understand? Make them your way and you will never let another beat you."

Here head slowly ringing still, Suzumebachi nodded. "I understand." She was not entirely certain she understood yet, truly, but she would not admit to it. She took the words in carefully, memorizing them. "I will learn these lessons," she turned to stare Chul'To in her great eyes.

"Good," the Vesp put her blade in its harness. "Now pay attention, we have much work to do girl, to make you learn."

- Why Chul'To won't call Suzumebachi by name: Because Suzumebachi literally means "Wasp" the Vesp would be offering Suzumebachi a level of equality she is not prepared to give a human. She has no other aversion to referring to humans by their names.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto in any way and make no claim on its copyright or any characters from the series. Original characters are my own property.

**Author's Notes:** First apologies for the delay in getting this posted, it's been a rather busy week and I haven't had copious free time. Hopefully following chapters should be quicker. Anyway this chapter is mostly about Suzumebachi and Kuroari, but it sets up some of the major events to come.

Thanks to all reviewers!

**Other Gifts Continues**

Suzumebachi shook powdery snow out of her hair as she reentered her shared room. Warmth assailed her as she stepped in, and she welcomed it, for the cold had seeped down to her bones the moment her furious exercising had ended. It had been a long, chill walk home in almost blizzard conditions and darkness. The storm had not been expected, having blown over the mountain walls suddenly late in the afternoon. It made for a very beautiful but miserable walk back through the snowy boughs of the conifers on the mountainside.

"You're back," the voice of Kuroari was clear and quick to Suzumebachi's hearing.

Her cousin sat on the floor, cross-legged, examining several scrolls at once, all bearing large colored illustrations of various ants. Still, her expression carried little interest in such researches, and instead fixated intently on Suzumebachi.

"So I am," Suzumebachi replied, harsher than she intended. "What of it?"

Normally Kuroari, not an overly talkative kunoichi, would have let it drop at that and gone back to her work, but her expression shifted suddenly, and she bounded to her feet.

Taken aback slightly, Suzumebachi shifted her weight backward, only to be even further surprised when her cousin reached out and grasped her forearm firmly.

"Hard as steel…" Kuroari breathed, and then let go. She took a single step back, but fixed her gaze on Suzumebachi, determined. "Just what have you been up to in those hills?"

"I thought I told you…" Suzumebachi began, trying to forestall the interrogation until she had time to think, and to change out of clothes rapidly becoming sopping wet with melted snow, an uncomfortable feeling.

"Don't start," Kuroari said curtly. "That new body of yours and these long workdays don't come from any testing of old jutsus." With these remarks Suzumebachi recalled her cousin's high level of intelligence, and recognized she would not be able to fool her. "What have you been up to, really? You're not disobeying orders again, are you?" there was a dark undertone to that last question.

"No," Suzumebachi snapped back immediately. "I'm not disobeying orders; I'm following them very precisely." Indeed, so she was, following every bit of Chul'To's brutal training regimen until her body screamed from the exertions. The Vesp battle-master was poorly equipped for the cold, so Suzumebachi summoned her only rarely now, but Chul'To had set nearly impossible goals and objectives, and there were the ancient jutsus of the scroll to be mastered in what little spare time remained. It was almost too much, but the results were obvious to Suzumebachi, and apparently now to others as well, which was more than enough to drive her forward with a flicker of rekindled hope.

"Okay, I see," Kuroari returned. "I believe you, but, just what are you doing up there on those hillsides? And how'd it get you so well, torqued so fast?"

Now Suzumebachi faced a quandary. She knew she really couldn't tell Kuroari the truth, it would make keeping the forbidden scroll a secret almost impossible, and she suspected she would have little success stymieing Kuroari's analytical mind with some partial truth, but she truly did not want to lie to her cousin. Of all her relatives only Kuroari had managed to remain civil to her after learning of the tattoo on her forehead. Everyone else in the clan, from her parents to her former companions Kurobachi and Jibachi, had taken it as an act of disgraceful, shaming, pride, and used the image as an excuse to ostracize her. Suzumebachi couldn't really blame the two genin, who had been punished for going along with her reckless scheme, but if she drove Kuroari away no one in the clan was likely to so much as talk to her. Though Suzumebachi looked down on much of the clan as cowards who accepted their downtrodden fates, she was still doing everything for it, not for herself, and so the concept of complete isolation was abhorrent.

"I, well, I've been training," Suzumebachi began, haltingly.

"That's obvious," Kuroari quipped.

"I know, but, but I really can't say anything more than that, sorry, orders," it was the closest she could manage to apologizing for the situation, though Suzumebachi was rather annoyed at Kuroari for making it a problem in the first place.

"Really?" her cousin appeared to consider this, studying Suzumebachi for a moment more. "Well, if that's the way it is, okay." She turned back and sat down before her scrolls again.

The simple response somehow made Suzumebachi feel terribly guilty for a moment. "Did you think you should be the one singled out?" she blurted. Suzumebachi wished the words back almost immediately, recognizing their source as mixed emotions, including some jealousy on her own part. Kuroari had a good reputation, and most of the clan had fixed high hopes on her to become the first Kamizuru jounin in two decades, passing Suzumebachi over. Seeing it now she had not realized she held such a serious resentment, and was disappointed in herself. Yet, as Kuroari turned to face her slowly she made her face firm, not taking the accusation back, her innate stubbornness asserting itself.

"That was a bit harsh, cousin," Kuroari said firmly, but without anger. Suzumebachi could tell she was not holding anger in, she just wasn't angry, what she did think the wasp ninja couldn't tell. "I will serve as I am dictated to serve, as will you, that's all. I was just curious."

Chastened, Suzumebachi replied. "Well, when and if things can be revealed you'll be the first one I go to," she found she actually meant that, without really realizing it.

"Thanks," Kuroari's tone lightened considerably. "Now go take a shower, you're dripping."

Knowing she couldn't say anything to that with a straight face Suzumebachi spun out and hurried to the shower, already anticipating the chance to truly warm up.

When she returned, wrapped in thick robes, the barracks was built to keep the heat in, but warm clothes helped keep the heating bills down, Suzumebachi found Kuroari had cleaned away her scrolls and seated on her bunk, waiting with fairly obvious impatience. "You've haven't eaten I assume?" she asked the moment Suzumebachi walked in.

"No," Suzumebachi replied. She hadn't eaten since taking her cold outdoor meal much earlier, and she was quite hungry. "Haven't you?"

"Actually no," Kuroari said levelly. "I got caught up in my reading and so haven't made anything yet. Since you're back and we're the only ones here I thought we might eat together."

It was a dead giveaway. Suzumebachi knew her cousin fairly well by now, having spent the past two months of autumn and winter with only her at home, and Kuroari was not the type to idly wait around for the sake of companionship. She would always do things efficiently; asking to share dinner with her cousin meant she had something deliberate to ask. "Fine," Suzumebachi answered, curious what her cousin wanted. "But I'm cooking."

"No problem."

Suzumebachi was hardly a skilled cook, but her cousin had essentially zero appreciation for food at all. If it was edible and nutritious she ate it, taste was unimportant. That might be a good quality in a ninja in many ways, but it rarely made for pleasant shared meals. "You're doing the dishes though."

"Fair enough."

The pair of Kamirzuru kunoichi were silent as Suzumebachi prepared a quick meal, each concerned with her own thoughts. Only after they had sat down at one of the bare tables in the small common room, empty now due to the late hour, and begun eating did they speak.

"So what's happening?" Suzumebachi asked, not feeling much inclined to small talk.

Kuroari reacted in stride. "Well, this training regimen or whatever you're doing, does it take up all of your time?"

That was not the question Suzumebachi had expected, and hinted little at what her cousin wanted, but she had no good reason not to answer honestly. "It's intense," she replied with a grimace, intense didn't do Chul'To's inhuman expectations justice by any means. "But it's not like putting in hours at the office."

"Do you think you could take some time off from it, say a week or so?" Kuroari probed further.

Suzumebachi caught the implication, however, and replied with a question of her own. "Why would I need to take some time off?"

"For a mission of course," Kuroari shook her head, stirring her short-cropped hair along her brow. "What else is there?"

"A mission?" Suzumebachi was seriously skeptical, and with reason, almost no one asked for any missions in the middle of the Stone Country winter, the logistics were far too messy.

"There's a c-rank open mission request that was just posted," Kuroari explained levelly. "Up in one of the valleys in the north part of the country. There's been rumors of voices from high on the mountainside. It's probably nothing but wolves and some odd echoes, but there's an ant species that supposedly occurs almost at the glacial edge on one of the slopes, and I want to try and find out how it survives the winter."

"You and your ant quests," Suzumebachi shook her head.

"As if you haven't gone on wild goose chases for weird-looking wasps," Kuroari countered, with a slight smile. "Anyway, I want to take the mission."

"So why are you asking me about it?"

"You haven't forgotten stone policy have you?" Kuroari's voice chided her cousin lightly. "'All missions undertaken north of the village during winter must have a minimum of two participants,'" she quoted, performing a fairly decent impression of a jounin instructor.

"Right, the hypothermia rule," Suzumebachi did remember, now that she thought about it, it was just something that rarely came up. She had never actually gone on a mission north of the village in winter, there was little call for it, especially for insect masters whose creatures were of little use in freezing cold. It was not a particularly enticing prospect to embark on such a mission with the memory of the chill cold on the hillside still fresh in her memory. "So you're asking me to go with you?"

Kuroari nodded, a slight jerk of her head.

"Why me? You've never asked before," Indeed, Suzumebachi was puzzled as to why Kuroari would risk offending the rest of her family by asking her along on a mission. Her cousin was not the most personable of ninja, her efficient personality combined with the normal Kamizuru insect obsession did not make relationships easy, but she was by no means a recluse.

"Well, there's hardly a wide candidate pool," Kuroari began, something Suzumebachi had to acknowledge as a grim truth. The village was nearly empty, excepting those ANBU posted permanently for defense. For reasons no one, except perhaps the Tsuchikage, quite understood, recent months had seen a vast increase in espionage missions toward the Fire and Wind country borders. As a result almost all stone ninja who could had taken the opportunity to spend much of the winter in warmer climes. "Besides, you'll be willing to let me go looking for ants in the cold when some of my friends would give me crazy looks." Kuroari's smile was knowing and somewhat cruel.

Try as she might the wasp ninja was forced to acknowledge the grim truth in her cousin's smile. She would indeed acquiesce to such a seemingly foolish enterprise, in fact she could already picture herself crawling along in waist deep drifts searching for buried ant nests. If she shared anything with her cousin it was a mutual obsession for any insect with a pinched waist. Silent for a moment she pretended to consider, but her conscious mind really had no ability to refuse. "I'll have to ask the Tsuchikage if it's okay, but otherwise, sure."

"Thanks," Kuroari stood immediately, taking away her empty plate. "Ask him tomorrow, will you," she said over her shoulder as she launched into the limited dishes. "I doubt there's a lot of demand for this mission, but it's best not to take chances."

"Right," Suzumebachi mumbled half-heartedly back as she passed her cousin her empty plate. Internally she was already considering the mission, even though she had no idea whether the Tsuchikage would agree. More importantly, it was clear to the wasp ninja that she would have to push herself above and beyond the mission's challenges, so the time would not be wasted and provoke Chul'To's wrath. The Vesp battle-master's anger was impossible to predict, but held a terrifyingly constant ferocity. Dark visions of black and yellow haunted her dreams when she went to sleep in dour moods, as she would this evening, after a fairly fruitless survey of the scroll for techniques of obvious use in the chilling cold.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto in any way and make no claim on its copyright or any characters from the series. Original characters are my own property.

**Author's Notes:** Well, it's been a while. Things have been busy, but to make up for it I have not one but two chapters today. One's really short, but the other is decidedly not so. Hope people enjoy.

Thanks to all reviewers!

**Other Gifts Continues**

The Tsuchikage, being the leader of a ninja village, was a busy and prestigious man, and so he had the luxury of possessing a receptionist. Or so non-ninja thought. In actuality he possessed two, a nice smiling girl who sat behind a desk in front of headquarters and took civilian requests and a cold eyed chunin veteran whose ostensible position was door guard, but who handled appointments by ninja. The meeting policies were likewise different. Civilian leaders, unless daimyo, inevitably met with a stone bushin in a mock-up of the Tsuchikage's office at the other end of the building, only ninja could arrange to meet with the actual leader face to face. Even with that, and the general slowness of the village in winter, Suzumebachi was still forced to wait almost an hour before the chunin told her she could head on up. She knew she would never see anyone walk out, so it was impossible to tell if the Tsuchikage had actually had another appointment, had pressing business, or had just been making her wait.

She knocked clearly, but without deliberate demand, on the Tsuchikage's door, and then waited patiently for a raspy reply.

"Enter," the old voice muttered, scarcely audible through the reinforced door, plated internally with strong metals capable of stopping the strongest sword stroke.

Suzumebachi entered hesitantly, but stood firm once she crossed the threshold. The Tsuchikage sat behind his desk, various stacks of reports kept in neat piles all about, but he was not reading any at present. He looked up as Suzumebachi shut the door behind her. "Well, so the little wasp has come to see me," he commented lightly as his raspy voice could manage. "Your training progress has been acceptable to date, what is it you need to see me for?"

The comment struck Suzumebachi like a blow, and she froze. Only now did she recall the Tsuchikage's promise to check on her progress at intervals, and she recognized he must have been watching her secretly, either through spies or more likely some clandestine jutsu. It made her queasy to recognize this monitoring. Chul'To's oversight was intimidating in its own right, but Suzumebachi could face that. She did not know, standing there, if she had the strength to withstand the Tsuchikage's expectations. Still, she determined to try.

"My cousin Kuroari wishes me to accompany her on a mission," Suzumebachi said frankly. "I wished to ask you if it was acceptable to a period of time away from my training to accomplish this."

"Missions serve as a form of training in their own right, perhaps the very best," the Tsuchikage answered. "So long as you spend your time with equivalent intensity the means are not truly important. Besides, it will be good to observe your progress in a real situation. You may go. However," he paused and put his hands together slowly, flexing the old bones. "Each time a mission comes up in the future, so long as you are still training, you should consult me as you have today. Do not assume the decision will always be the same."

Recognizing this as a tacit acknowledgement of her making the right choice in clearing the request directly instead of simply signing up with Kuroari, Suzumebachi nodded. "I understand."

"Good, you are dismissed."

She bowed carefully and left.

A blast of wind stirred snow through Suzumebachi's hair when she exited headquarters, ripping heat from her skin. Shivering, she acknowledged that it was becoming truly cold. Doubt settled deep in her here, wondering at that cold. She was a creature of warm places, a wasp, and did not welcome the cold. Everyone raised in Iwa village had the gear to survive a winter, but it was not in everyone to revel in the chill, and to go north presented a dark foreboding. The hypothermia rule, foolish though it might seem, had been instituted at the cost of lives, and had saved them. Ninja of warmer realms might forget it, but the blasting mountain winds served up an annual lesson to the ninja of stone that, for all their powers, they could not overmaster nature.

The rest of the day would be devoted to preparation, as Suzumebachi and Kuroari requisitioned winter field gear, and proceeded to proof it further, not daring to trust any work but their own. They planned their route with care, and made sure they had additional food and fuel, and knew the locations of the critical caches hidden throughout the mountains. It would be late into the night before they decided they were ready.

Both ninja ended the evening with a long shower, reveling in warmth that would soon be gone.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto in any way and make no claim on its copyright or any characters from the series. Original characters are my own property.

**Author's Notes:** Yay, two chapters in one day, consider this my apology for a generally slow pacing, though I can't really promise things will pick up much, April will be busy. Anyway, this chapter was not easy to write, because I was faced with a situation where the modern/not-modern situation in Naruto really affected things. How does a world without transportation technology deal with remote areas and other such questions were troubling. In the end my portrayal draws somewhat on the depiction of the 1970s Himalaya from Peter Matthiessen's The Snow Leopard, I wonder how people think it works, since it's going to come up again.

Thanks to all reviewers!

**Other Gifts Continues**

"Is this the right valley?" Suzumebachi shouted over the howl of the wind, forcing her words to her cousin's muffled hearing.

Kuroari heard, and turned her cowled and masked face to meet Suzumebachi's similarly masked eyes. The tinted plastic masks kept the lasting wind off the face, and prevented snow blindness when the sun deigned to show its face, but they otherwise obscured everything. Kuroari nodded curtly, saying nothing, clearly not wanting to waste the energy.

Grimacing inwardly, for with the ridge crested it was her turn to take point, Suzumebachi struggled forward into the waist-deep snow, pushing against the powder just soft enough it failed to support weight, forcing the bitter, soaking slog. Her insulated pants were waterproof of course, treated with Kamizuru made wax, but the heat of exertion covered her lower body in sweat, making her thick white costume resemble nothing so much as a personal sauna.

With such great warmth of exertion it would have seemed worthwhile to take off the bulky white insulation jackets, pants, hat, and facemask, but that would be madness. On these high passes, the temperature plunged many degrees below freezing, and in howling winds, body heat would be overcome in mere moments, and tremendous energy would be wasted in the desperate attempt to become warm again. The misery of heat would have to be borne.

At least it was the last descent, and this brought Suzumebachi strength as she plunged her boots against and again into the drifting snow. It had taken three days to reach the village, a full day more than it should have, all due to the blasting blizzard of the second day, an event that had cut the progress of the two Kamizuru ninja to almost nothing, and made everything more difficult from then on. Now, finally, after hillside after hillside of wind-wracked pines and massive snowdrifts, the village that had called for ninja could be seen. It was little more than a few brown and gray dots near the bottom of the valley from this vantage, caught in itinerant glimpses between swirling blasts of snow.

Her heading confirmed and spirits lifted by the sight Suzumebachi kept her head down and surged onward, her cousin following, stepping carefully within her tracks. They had been walking like this, alternating sections to share the burden, for the whole of the journey, though Suzumebachi had insisted after the blizzard to take a great portion of the snowplowing. She was taller and stronger than her younger cousin, it was only logical, and Kuroari did not bother to waste her strength arguing.

As the afternoon wore on they descended a great distance, slowly but measurably smashing their way down the steep sloping pass. It would have been a vulnerable position under other circumstances, but only a madman would dare battle in this howling wind and snowy lash. Ranged weapons were almost worthless, and in snow like this a ninja who needed to escape could burn through chakra to skid freely down the mountainside, taking a chaotic course almost impossible to follow, so long as there was open ground below them they were more or les safe. Not that either Kamizuru suspected anything. Both believed the mission a fool's errand. Brigands did not raid within the Stone country in winter, they huddled in such sanctuaries as they possessed and attempted not to freeze or starve, and wolves, well, wolves could be dangerous, preying on herd animals, but it hardly required ninja to chase off such creatures.

With the descent from the exposure of the pass to the valley's more sheltered terrain the wind moderated, and eventually the sun came out. As the clouds slid away to let the radiant orb pierce through light did not simply emerge, but exploded onto the landscape. The covering of snow and ice on every surface caught every glimmer and threw it back in a thousand directions. Scintillating crystal gleams flew across the valley, shooting up to the high glaciers on the great mountain peaks to the north and east. The everlasting towers of ice residing there caught the light and threw it back to the sky with seemingly greater force than the sun itself. Illusion though it was, those mighty ice sheets gleamed with glare.

Peering through tinted poly-carbonate glass, exquisite fashions of Iwa's glassworking ninja, the pair of Kamizuru ninja could see the entire brilliant display. Both paused for a moment, turning full circle to survey the whole valley. Great peaks bordered it to the north and east, creating an almost impassable wall of stone and ice on that side. The pass they had taken came on a shoulder between the lesser slopes of the eastern peak and a smaller series of mountains forming the valley's southern border. River carved they snaked along, preserving the thin and narrow fertile land in the shadow of the mightier towers on the other side. Another high pass could be seen as the river snaked up into these mountains where they turned north in the west, but it might be almost completely closed now given the snowfall. This place was isolated indeed, though hardly the most lonesome of the mountain hamlets of hidden stone.

In the brilliant snow light the village could be seen easily, triangular and rounded structures of stone and solid wood, with thin runnels of smoke issuing from a few chimneys. The trail down the rest of the mountainside was more obvious now, with sturdy cairns marking the way. Suzumebachi turned to continue her trek again, but a comment by Kuroari stopped her.

"See that tongue of glacier on the east peak?" she asked, her voice muffled by the facemask, but clear enough.

Suuzmebachi turned, and indeed there was a gleaming spear of ice streaking down a portion of the eastern peak, delving down almost to the treeline, and with a thin waterfall falling away beneath it, frozen now, and breath-catching in loveliness. "I see it," Suzumebachi managed, wanting to say more but not able to muster the words.

"I think my ants are over there," Kuroari told her cousin. "It matches the description."

"Fine, then we circuit around to it last," Suzumebachi said sternly.

That managed to induce a weary chuckle from her cousin, and Suzumebachi found herself joining in a moment later. "Have it your way cousin," Kuroari laughed. "We're going to get cold no matter what we do."

That remark killed the budding happy mood fairly swiftly when it sunk in to the paired ninja. "Come on, let's move, we need to be down to the village before nightfall," Suzumebachi spoke brusquely, and pushed her feet forward once more.

It was almost dusk when they arrived, and the village was quiet. Such a thing was hardly surprising, with the recent blizzard people would be mostly sheltered in their homes, or in the case of herders, hidden in caves in the hills with their livestock, but it wasn't particularly heartening. The village was not large, only a few score stout homes, perhaps a few hundred people lived here and maybe twice that many scattered throughout the valley. A small place indeed, but the people of such places were hardy folk, strong-willed, hard-working, pragmatic folk, and from places such as this grew the mountain born strength of Hidden Stone.

The little river that had made this valley ran through the village, though ice covered it now, mostly. A woman knelt by the edge of that river, by a break in the ice, drawing water into buckets and goatskin bladders. Suzumebachi and Kuroari made no attempt to hide the crunching noise their boots made on the compacted snow at the center of the village, so she turned to look at them when they approached.

The wasp ninja expected the woman's initial jerking reaction precisely. The slight jump back as she glimpsed these masked travelers in white with gray and brown patches, heavy packs on their backs and weapons holstered in front. Only after a moment did her gaze travel up above their covered faces to notice the metal plates sewn into the reinforced hats, plates with the symbol of Hidden Stone upon them.

"You're the ninja?" she had to pull her own scarf down from about her mouth, exposing a face lined by long winters and reddened by the snow-reflected sun.

Suzumebachi tugged open the insulating mask protecting her lower face. The cold air brought stinging cold immediately, seeping deep into flesh and lodging in the teeth. "Yes, we are, Kamizuru Suzumebachi," she inclined her head ever so slightly.

"And Kamizuru Kuroari," her cousin imitated the maneuver.

"I'm Izue, the headman's wife," she replied in a weathered, but motherly voice. Standing, she grasped her half-full skins and gestured. "Come, we should continue this out of the cold."

She led them not to a home, but to the largest building in the village, a long triangular hall made mostly of wood, but with foundations of stout stone. It had wide double doors of some dark colored wood, cherry Suzumebachi guessed, but it was nothing more than that, though she knew such wood must surely have been rare in this coniferous place.

Izue pounded on the door with a mitten covered fist, and then struck it with her bucket several times when it did not open speedily enough for her pleasure. "Open the door you laggards, cold's no excuse for wastrel ways!"

There was the sound of a bar being drawn, and the door opened a bit. A pair of dark eyes peered out. They saw Izue, and then shifted suddenly, noting the two behind her. "Who these?" the voice was gruff and demanding.

"The ninja we summoned you goat-brained fool!" Izue shouted, and those eyes cringed back. Suzumebachi noted the effect, recognizing that the headman's wife surely wielded some real power here. "Now open that door and let us in!"

The door opened with rapidity, reveal a long hall lit dimly by a few fires in pits placed at set intervals along the length. As they walked in the two ninja observed a number of men and women present here. The floor was made of stone, surprisingly, for Suzumebachi had expected only dirt, but it was hardly clean for that. It became clear this place was some kind of feast hall, but it also served to house many of the herders or their families through the winter. Their occupancy did not make it a clean place by any means, though it was clear some attempts had been made, and Suzumebachi could see Izue looked upon a number of unkempt men and women with open disdain. So perhaps this current crowding might only be temporary, a result of the blizzard. She hoped it was that, and not a consequence of whatever they feared in the hills.

The headman's wife guided them through the hall, to a stout wooden table at the far end, near a sputtering fire. Three men were seated the table at present, looking carefully at a map, discussing matters in low tones. Catching a snippet of the conversation Suzumebachi could tell they were considering where to move herds for grazing at various points through the winter.

As Izue approached the three men looked up. "What is it, wife?" the man seated at the back of the table muttered. "Shouldn't you be cooking?"

"Your ninja are here husband," Izue barked with little kindness. "I thought you might like to know." She said nothing more, only turned and headed off toward one of the small fires.

"Ninja?" the headman, for Suzumebachi was certain this small-eyed weather-beaten man must be such, looked at them seemingly for the first time in the gloomy low-light. "You two?"

Suzumebachi took her hat off completely at this point, more to avoid overheating than anything else, but it served to bring the stitched forehead protector closer to the man's face. "I am chunin Kamizuru Suzumebachi," she said in her most formal voice. "This is my cousin, chunin Kamizuru Kuroari," Suzuembachi pointed to her, and Kuroari responded with the slightest of bows. "We have responded to your mission request."

"Huh…" the headman appeared slightly put off. "So you are, I didn't expect two girls though."

"You should consider yourself lucky anyone came," Suzumebachi replied frankly, not interested in pandering to this man. "Few were interested in coming to such an isolated place in the cold, and we had to fight our way through a severe blizzard to get here."

"Yes, yes," the headman nodded repeatedly, his eyes failing to meet Suzumebachi's directly. "Well it's good you're here, we do need it."

"So, what is the precise situation then?" Kuroari spoke up from beside her cousin. "Your request was rather low on detail."

Kuroari's voice was even, but the slight tilt to her expression made it very clear to the headman that this was not acceptable. "Um…yes," he stammered, not used to being faced so directly by people younger, smaller, and female. "Of course, we don't know the whole problem, that's why we called you." He took in a shallow breath. "There's something up on the mountainside. Herds have been attacked, even with the herders only a short ways off, but only torn bodies are found. It's not normal, and there was a traveler too, a mine prospector, he headed out toward the high pass in the west, but men herding up there never saw him pass, and we don't think he made it."

"That's hardly enough to prove a disturbance," Suzumebachi returned skeptically. "It's been a hard early winter, perhaps the wolves have gotten desperate, and any traveler could go missing in lands like this with only an accident for cause."

"It wasn't wolves, chunin," the man to the right of the headman spoke, provoking a sharp look from the village leader, but he ignored it and went on. "I've hunted these mountains for twenty years," he said, and the man was ripcord lean and with the weathered but sharp visage to back his claim. "In that time I've seen plenty of attacks by wolf or leopard or desperate man, and you're right, sometimes they do brazen fool things, but not like this. I've been up by places that were attacked, the wounds are all wrong, and so are the snow prints, like nothing I've ever seen before. It's not any animal chunin, I'd stake my life on it."

"So, presuming you are correct huntsman," Kuroari questioned, her interjection forestalling any attempt by the headman to regain control of the conversation. "Do you suggest these are the attacks of bandits? Men so desperate they can operate in snow where they can be easily tracked, yet competent enough to avoid the sharp eyes of every herdsmen on the mountainside, it does not make sense."

"True enough I admit," the hunter replied, stoic. "I don't have an answer for you. We've had bandits in this valley before, I've fought them with the headman and others, but if its bandits it's not like any bandit group I've ever heard of."

"What's that leave then?" Suzumebachi had been trying to follow her cousin's line of reasoning, something she did with little ease, not being quite so quick witted as her cousin. "A ninja terrorizing this valley?"

The three men gasped at this, and stood silent.

"It could be cousin," Kuroari remarked. "It could be, but what's the motive? It can't be Stone country politics, or we'd know, and how could a foreigner even get here in this weather? A puzzle, but you have the right idea." She addressed the headman directly. "Events suggest the actions of a human party, one who wishes you ill, perhaps employing another trained hunter or a group of woodsmen to deplete your herds and intimidate you. Can you provide a reason for such an action? Does this valley have enemies?"

The headman took his time answering, and the two Kamizuru ninja studied him intently, trying to gauge his response with the utmost care, to read the truth behind the words.

Finally the headman spoke. "I do not think we have enemies here. This valley is good only for farming and herding. We pay our taxes, when the weather gives us enough to harvest, and sometime we ship timber, but there's no great trees here. No minerals neither, not like some of the mining valleys further north. We aren't even important enough to merit an ashigaru post. So why would anyone bother us?"

Suzumebachi watched the man's thick face. He was telling the truth. At least his reasons were logical and believable, and he himself believed them, but there was something else, something she could see. Though she could not pinpoint what, the man clearly had some secrets about his valley he wished to protect. However, it was clear he would not yield them openly. "Very well, it seems there is nothing to do but search out the cause," Suzumebachi told the men. "We will make a circuit of the valley walls, starting tomorrow I think. Have you accommodations for us?"

"Um, well," the headman looked uncomfortable once again. "We have food for you certainly, however much you need, and you can use the bathhouse by the river as you wish, but, well with the blizzard, and so many herdsmen scared, there's no room in any homes," his expression grew sour. "You have my apologies, but I did not really believe anyone would come. You are free to sleep in this hall of course, if you wish; it is warm at least, though the floors are not comfortable."

Suzumebachi looked out of the corner of her eye at Kuroari. Her cousin's eyes moved slowly all the way to the right, and then back all the way to the left, a clear, silent signal of no. The wasp ninja agreed fully. She did not like the eyes of the men in this place. The headman was likely sincere, but there was great danger in such an isolated area as this for young kunoichi, and having to sleep in shifts would simply not work between only the two of them. "We'll make camp I think, it will keep us closer to the field. Yet, I will not hesitate to take up your offer of a bath, and after that a meal."

"Huh," the headman appeared slightly snubbed, but there was nothing he could do about it in front of the ninja. "As you wish."


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto in any way and make no claim on its copyright or any characters from the series. Original characters are my own property.

**Author's Notes:** Well, I have another chapter, it's a long one, and well, if anyone's been wondering when things would start to get appropriately messy in this story, right about now would be good. Oh, and I finally get to show off some of the cool insect based jutsus I've been devising for this story. I hope people like them.

Thanks for all reviews!

**Other Gifts Continues**

On the south side of a high mountain, in the northern end of a snow blanketed valley, two ninja struggled through waist deep snow, fighting to keep the bitterness from their minds. It was not easy. The cold chilled thought, and slowed the world somewhat, but beneath gray sky in a forest almost completely silent with icy air, there was little distraction. Nothing to hinder the mind from recognizing that this, the afternoon on the fourth day, represented the last section of the valley to cover, and once covered, they would have spent four days finding absolutely nothing. At least, they had not found their quarry. Kuroari had found her ants on the eastern glacial edge on the second day, and they were interesting creatures certainly. A micro-colony now scrambled about in an insulated box of Kuroari's, but further study would wait until they returned to Iwa village, and without the ants to spur them on the fruitless search had become particularly onerous to continue.

Suzumebachi had tried to view it as a training exercise after the first day, when it became clear there were no obvious signs to be found. After all, her troubles stemmed largely from a failure in tracking in the first place, so it was not hard to focus on improvement in such an arena, but there was nothing to find. Not during the day, nor in the twilight hours when she forced herself to head out again, pushing as she knew Chul'To would demand, only long empty footfalls across great white snowbanks.

It had not taken long for the cousins to become convinced the villagers were chasing shadows and exaggerating their fears. There had been no incidents since they arrived, and apparently none since before the blizzard. It seemed as if the trouble, if there had been any to begin with, had finished or moved on. So now, on the fourth day, they marched in snaking trails up the mountainside toward the barren glacial edge out of habit more than any other motive.

Soon enough they reached the edge of the trees.

On this north slope the boundary between treeline and glacier was not gradual, but sudden. With the sun to the south trees grew almost up to the very foot of the advancing icewall. Shattered branches and stumps bore marked witness to the ice's advancing power, as the glacial took more and more of the hillside every year.

The wall of ice was perhaps ten feet high at its edge and sloping higher beyond that, a massive glacier pressing on toward the skies. Snow had drifted against it, but it was still a formidable obstacle. "Do you want to climb up cousin?" Kuroari asked without enthusiasm.

"There's surely nothing much alive past this," Suzumebachi remarked sourly. "But we should go up, so we can say we did, and we might get a view of something in the forest below."

"Fine, let's look for an easy route," Kuroari returned. "No reason to waste chakra."

There certainly wasn't that, chakra was useful for warmth, and recovered only slowly on cold nights in their freezing tent when sleep was restless. Suzumebachi nodded, and headed to the left, leaving her cousin to take the other direction along the edge.

She traveled slowly, carefully examining the path up, searching for something they could ascend without resorting to heavy chakra use or driving spikes into the wall of ice. After walking only a short distance, and finding nothing promising, Suzumebachi heard Kuroari call to her.

"Cousin! You'd better come here," the ant ninja's voice held a far more serious concern than the cold merited. Suzumebachi hurried back to her, leaping from footprint to footprint two at a time.

She found her cousin standing in a small grove of fir trees, marked by several massive ant mounds. The mounds were not at all uncommon on the slopes of this pine forest, though they were rarely found so high, so Suzumebachi wondered what had caused the concern. "What is it?" she asked, curious, and somewhat irritated.

"There's something wrong here…" Kuroari wasn't focusing on Suzumebachi, but looking at each of the snow-covered mounds.

Not an ant specialist, Suzumebachi had little idea what her cousin saw in massive piles of ant construction, now mostly dormant for the cold months.

With a sudden swiftness Kuroari strode to the nearest mound, put her left palm on the surface, and then plunged her right arm into the structure, burying it almost to the shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Suzumebachi gasped, recognizing that such a reckless action was a foolish way to acquire hundreds of bites, as ants disturbed so abruptly would attack even a Kamizuru.

Kuroari pulled her arm out slowly, covered now with dirt, grit, and many red and black spots, twisting feebly, a sample of the ants of the mound. She gave her arm a quick scan, and then shook her head. Turning to Suzumebachi she removed the mask over her eyes, revealing an expression of deep sadness. "This colony's dead cousin."

"What…"

"There are no queens," Kuroari explained, her sad look only deepening, and she held out her arm to Suzumebachi. "You can see it I'm sure, probably feel it too."

Suzumebachi grasped her cousin's arm softly, taking a careful look. Red and black workers toiled slowly to wake from their cold-induced lethargy, but they were no greater creatures among them, no bloated queens, and she could indeed feel the chill black foreboding of death upon them.

As Suzumebachi felt the sensation of the colony's slow demise for the first time her senses seemed to expand, recognizing the scent of death on these ants, and following it outward, from colony to colony it traveled, each bearing the same grim and hopeless fragrance, doom to come. Millions upon millions of workers, all living out the remainder of their life with no purpose, there were no queens in the entire clearing, and well beyond. All the ants with reach of her senses were living dead.

"How could such a thing happen?" Suzumebachi asked out loud, prying her thoughts away from the touch of death for the moment.

"I don't know…" Kuroari appeared almost on the verge of tears. "Something's not right here, those villagers were right after all, there's something bad in this valley."

"Stay focused, cousin," Suzumebachi reminded Kuroari. "I believe you, but we need to maintain our-" she stopped in mid-phrase, hearing something strange from the way she had come before.

There were many odd sounds in the snowy forest, for snow interacted with the regular activities of nature to produce strange tones and odd amplifications, but this was a particularly unusual noise. Suzumebachi could not describe it as anything other than a sort of crinkling, similar to the sound made when rolling a great ball of snow together to make a snow man, but such a sound made no sense here.

Kuroari looked at Suzumebachi, and without speaking they made a decision. In a flash each ninja took up position behind one of the firs on opposite sides of the clearing. They no longer trod through snow, but stood loosely atop it by the grace of their chakra. Suzumebachi's tanto was in her gloved hand, and Kuroari held a kunai, both waited ready for the very worst.

They could never have expected what they would see.

Snake-like it came, and yet not, a massive image of red and black, it was two meters or more in width, but not more than a half-meter tall, and stretched back into the snow for a great distance, twenty meters or more surely. It did not travel over the snow, but neither did it sink through it completely. Instead, many legs supported the creature as it crinkled along, leaving the shallowest of furrows before it. When it entered the circle of trees the front turned straight toward Suzumebachi, and revealed the head.

It was a centipede.

Antennae swayed before the head, several meters in length, leading down to an armored forehead, beneath which lurked thin and trembling mouthparts, to feel and handle prey, and below those waited the massive killing fangs. Seeing those appendages, as long as Suzumebachi's legs and just as thick, laden with killing poison, and sharp enough to glimmer in the little light reflected off the glacial wall onto their black chitin, the Kamizuru's blood seemed to freeze.

For an endless second nothing happened. The centipede knew Suzumebachi's whereabouts, she was certain of that, there was no way the fir tree hid her scent, not with all the sweating she had done trudging through the snow. It had good eyes, but it would not need to use them to kill here. That it was here to kill them Suzumebachi never doubted. Centipedes were predators, deadly ones, and to summon a creature of this size would take a ninja of considerable power. The situation, only moments ago merely chilling, was now unmistakably grave. Faced with that black and red non-face, Suzumebachi froze, unable to think of a reaction.

The centipede struck.

It was blindingly fast, myriad legs churning through the snow with radial power, throwing the smooth, segmented body forward. The head spun parallel to the ground effortlessly, and slashed around the tree trunk separating it from Suzumebachi without slowing in the slightest. The left fang came in to spit her, a giant's spear.

Reacting on instinct alone Suzumebachi parried, her tanto meeting the end of the fang, black acid spilling from it at contact, with all her strength locked behind it.

She was thrown straight backward, arcing not at all in her path, to slam into an ant mound half again the centipede's length away. The snow and her insulated clothing cushioned the blow, but her whole body rang with the impact, and the air was crushed from her lungs.

The centipede did not stop, but came on with unerring swiftness, attempting to spit Suzumebachi once more.

Darts of metal struck the massive creature in the side, as Kuroari hurled a pair of kunai, but the weapons, deadly against humans, and guided through the lashing guard of the many legs by Kuroari's sure hands, simply glanced off the thick black chitin exoskeleton, the centipede did not even register the strikes.

Suzumebachi, breathless and with blurred vision, had only a moment to react. Thankfully the oncoming blackness of the centipede's head was a sure signal even to her befuddled mind. She seized on the first possibility to streak through her thoughts.

She jumped.

Recklessly, harshly channeling chakra into her legs, pain revealing her uncertain control, she launched herself upward in a prodigious leap. The canopy extracted a lashing caress from its branches as she passed, but winter clothes served well enough to protect her from true harm.

The centipede, never losing its scent track on its prey, turned and lurched upward, somehow separating almost three-quarters of its many segments from the ground, reaching skyward.

The wasp ninja rose above it, and came down with focus, landing on the upper branches of a towering ancient spruce. Suzumebachi's control had returned, and her tanto was held firmly in her right hand. Heart pounding, she considered what she might do.

"How do we fight this thing?" Kuroari's shout carried clear to Suzumebachi's ears. Her cousin had emulated her own action and taken to the trees, jumping away from the centipede, the creature apparently confused for the moment.

Their myriapod enemy did not give them time to consider. Its legs dug into the truck of a massive spruce, and the great body shot upward in a seemingly impossible motion. Legs pushed off and the centipede arched through the air, its head seeking still for Suzumebachi.

Seizing on a reflexive plan, the wasp ninja leaped upward, passing over the centipede's head. It spun in the air, trying to stab at her, but though an antenna struck her body, she avoided the deadly mouth.

Suzumebachi landed on the back of the centipede's long body. She struck hard, really the pain as her arms connected with the chitin, and then sliding on, for there was no purchase on the smooth segmented chitin, only a slide down to the snow, and certain death when the centipede coiled about her.

However, Suzumebachi had never lost hold of her tanto, and now she gathered all her strength in her arm and slammed the blade into the centipede.

Chitin screamed, resisted, and then was punctured, as the razor sharp azure edge bit into the centipede. The creature did not make a sound, but its whole body jerked, sending a series of vibrations down its segments that came very close to throwing Suzumebachi free. She held the hilt with both hands now, augmented by chakra, but it was still a struggle.

As the centipede tried to throw her off Suzumebachi recognized the truth of the matter. Her blade had penetrated the exoskeleton true, but hardly deep at all. Eleven inches of slender steel could pass all the way through a man when buried to the hilt, but this creature was barely injured by any measure. A strike like this was little more than an irritant to it, and like most arthropods there were very few vulnerable points. A human had many organs to puncture to insure a quick kill, but an insect's body was not structured the same. Only the brain could be struck down in such a fashion, and it was several meters in front of her.

"Cousin!" Kuroari's warning snapped Suzumebachi's focus back wider.

The irritant having refused to be shaken off, the centipede had simply dropped down in the snow and proceeded to circle about itself. It would take only a moment for its head to pass over the spot where Suzumebachi hung.

The wasp ninja pulled up on her tanto, but it stuck, and her mind would not even contemplate running away with the knife left behind. Instead she slashed her finger across the raised bit of blade, cutting through the thick glove material and drawing a slender rivulet of blood.

Hands churned through seals and then slammed down on the centipede's carapace even as its head surged forward.

"Konchuu Yobidasu no Jutsu! Vesp!"

In the events that followed Suzumebachi distantly heard her cousin's gasp, but for the rest it appeared as if the world had fallen silent. The familiar form of Chul'To coalesced between her eyes and the onrushing red and black vision of death represented by the centipede's head. The Vesp battlemaster asked no questions and took no discernable time to measure the situation, only dug chitin claws against chitin carapace, snapped out shining glassy wings, and met the surge head on.

Chul'To's long curved blade of white ceramic came down to smash straight into the center of centipede's head.

There was a noise so shrill it seemed born of an impossible hell where stone grated endlessly against metal and flesh.

The falchion exploded into a thousand pieces.

No other word sufficed, the blade was at one moment whole, and in another splinters flying in all directions. Some struck the centipede, some struck Chul'To, most struck snow, and a few even managed to pass through the wide spaces in the Vesp's legs to lodge in Suzumebachi's clothes.

Bereft of her blade, Chul'To's motion changed with a swiftness Suzumebachi, who already considered the Vesp terribly fast, had not known she possessed. All six legs slammed down against the centipede's head, avoiding being stuck like a pin by the sheer virtue of their long thin length, flexed, and pushed away.

Airborne for a moment, two pairs of wings flexed and surged, but too slow, and seemingly weighted.

Unable to take wing, Chul'To angled her wings and spun through the air, so she landed upright.

Suzumebachi had not paused in the moments since the falchion shattered, but had wrenched her own tanto free and jumped clear of the centipede. The creature was now bringing its back segments under it, and would soon be just as mobile as before. The ceramic shards sticking out of its face did not appear to harm it in the slightest.

"Kuroari, we must get away!" Suzumebachi called to her cousin. "We need to make up a plan!"

Level-headed, Kuroari asked no irrelevant questions. "It's faster than we can possibly run!" she replied even as she attempted to run around behind it.

"So distract it somehow!" Suzumebachi replied as she leapt aside from sharp-edged legs as the centipede passed by, the massive creature aiming now for Chul'To.

The Vesp battlemaster was sunk up to her abdomen in the snow, barely able to move, holding only her ceramic shield. "Fool!" Chul'To called her words as uninflected as ever, but their native harshness now a brutal rebuke to Suzumebachi's ears. "What use am I in this? Dismiss me! For the cold summon a Gryllo!"

Chul'To made no move as the centipede came on beyond raising her shield, but it was clear that even if the creature did not spit her on its fangs the shear force of being thrown back against the weight of the snow would rip all six legs clear off.

Shame raging through her veins like ice Suzumebachi raised her hand and muttered a single word. "Revoke."

The centipede slashed through empty air, but it did not paused, smoothly turning as it went, to come around once again. It was a cold predator, and the long chase was not about to frustrate it.

Suzumebachi stared into the red black face again, knowing she had no time to do anything but try and dodge once more. "Kuroari!"

"Forgive me my friends," she heard her cousin say. "Unshuu Hazerou no Jutsu!"

The ground turned from white to red and black.

Ants covered the clearing, surging out from their mounds in numbers so massive as to unhinge the mind. All at once they swarmed, crawling, running, leaping forward, a tide of formicid mass boiling about the centipede, coating it. On and on they piled, surging from mound after mound, red and black wood ants and all their lesser cousins, black, brown, yellow, red, multitudinous and varied, obeying the command to charge.

The centipede was beset on all sides by tiny creatures, its senses obscured by their shear numbers coating eyes and antennae, their numberless bodies restricting movement as they mashed between its segment joints. Confused it thrashed and lashed, but though it crushed them in great numbers it had not the dexterity to remove creatures so small from its body.

Suzumebachi was already moving when her cousin cried out. "Hurry, they will freeze before long, and they cannot harm that creature," there was sadness in Kuroari's voice. A sadness Suzumebachi shared in lesser proportions. She had not her cousin's love for ants, but it was never a happy moment to watch others sacrifice themselves for your preservation, even such mindless living dead as those workers.

The two Kamizuru ninja ran through the trees side by side, dashing over the snow in great bounds, knowing that speed was essential now, leaving a trail bore no bearing on this chase. Suzumebachi knew the centipede was behind them, she could almost feel the creature's presence, a malicious scent in the back of her mind. However, she pushed it away, it could not be allowed to distract. They needed a plan.

"My tanto can barely harm it, and we have no more penetrating weapons," Suzumebachi called out as she ran.

"True," Kuroari replied, her voice empty. "Normal ants cannot harm that creature and even summoning something larger would hardly help. Insects are disadvantaged in the cold."

Suzumebachi only nodded, that much had been made very clear to her. "We need some other trick, but I can't think of any jutsus useful against something so massive and so armored."

Kuroari nodded in return, and the two ran silently for a moment. After a time she offered. "We could just keep running."

"Huh?" the remark took Suzumebachi by surprise.

"Think about it," Kuroari replied coolly. "It's clearly a summons, but there's no sign of a master nearby. It can't persist forever; maybe a few hours at most, so all we have to do is avoid it in these trees and gullies and it will dissipate."

"But the master can summon it again soon enough," Suzumebachi countered.

"Yes, but another one could be summoned anyway," Kuroari countered. "If we go back to the village we can make spears to kill it with."

Her cousin's point was a good one, Suzumebachi decided after a moment's thought. They could indeed make spears, or likely the villages even had some already, and with such weapons they could punch through the thick chitin. Then, suddenly, she felt something, and heard distant noise.

"We can't go back to the village," Suzumebachi told Kuroari darkly.

"What, why?"

"There are two more centipedes, closing from the front on the left and right. We're trapped inside a triangle," her voice took on resignation of its own accord.

Kuroari slammed to a stop, plowing a short furrow in the snow. She put her ear to the snowpack a moment later, and with her mask down to let her face suck in air, her expression went grim. "You're right, we're trapped. Damn, there must be a way…" Kuroari's face tightened, and she held a breath. Suzumebachi watched her cousin carefully, hoping for an idea. "Damn it!" Kuroari spat out her exhalation. "If only we had spears!"

"We could tie kunai to branches," Suzumebachi offered, feeling the uselessness of such an idea the moment it left her mouth.

"Won't work, we couldn't make something strong enough to push on through beyond the blade length with these lousy conifers. It's not length but penetrating power that matters now," Kuroari shook her head violently. "Damn, it we were up by the glacier still we could use icicles maybe, damn!"

"Icicles," it was an ironic thought, to stab something with a cone of ice, but Suzumebachi recognized bitterly that it might indeed have served as a spear. Then suddenly she stumbled over the thought again. A cone…

"The fangs," the words burst out of her.

"What?" Kuroari looked at her cousin incredulously.

"The centipede's fangs," Suzumebachi explained. "We can cut one off and use it as a spear."

"I suppose that could work…" Kuroari managed. "But how do we cut it off?"

"Use this," Suzumebachi handed her tanto, hilt first, to her cousin. "Put all your strength into a single strike and push straight through, then toss me the fang."

"How will I get such an opportunity?"

"I'll distract it, I've got something that will work," Suzumebachi managed to say the words with a lot more confidence than she felt, though she doubted Kuroari was convinced. "Just be ready to act, there will only be a second."

"Fine, let's do it," her cousin answered. "We need to attack one now before they all converge at once."

"Right," Suzumebachi could almost feel the centipedes closing in now, the predator's seeking antennae reaching out to detect her. She picked the left-hand direction, down slope, and darted across the snow at full speed.

Running full speed it was only a moment before Suzumebachi could see the centipede. It glided through the top of the snow as before, a truly graceful motion, if horrifying in its predatory rapidity. Her whole body seemed to turn to ice as she tore into its path, a living missile.

The centipede never paused. The creature was fully aware of the size disparity, if Suzumebachi struck it at such a speed she would hardly damage the great predator, but her own body would be destroyed even if the fangs missed her completely.

Instead, when she judged the centipede was not more than a few seconds away, Suzumebachi stopped dead. She forced chakra into her legs and went utterly rigid, holding absolutely in place.

Her blood seemed frozen, and time dilated before her, stretching the moment out as she contemplated what must be done. It was a move she knew in concept, understanding the seals perfectly, knowing the method, but she was far from certain she could pull it off in this situation, forced to wait until the very last moment.

Suzumebachi slid the chakra into place, holding the mental sequence in her mind, but not moving at all, not daring, until the centipede was impossibly close, inches away. Then she let everything go.

What followed was a terrible sensation of dislocation.

One moment Suzumebachi stood on the ground, a massive centipede bearing down on her body, instants only from crushing her to pieces. The next, without a transition she was aware of, not even in her memory, she was high in the air, above not just the centipede, but the trees as well, many times her own height above the ground.

Looking down Suzumebachi saw, as she had expected, the centipede had stopped suddenly. She had expected it might be confused by having something seemingly disappear utterly from its senses; it was a hesitation she was counting on.

Kuroari streaked in, even as Suzumebachi tumbled through the air. The azure-edge of her tanto flashed, and it struck into the great fang on the right side of the centipede's head.

The slice was clean, there was no scraping noise, only the seeping of white fluid as the fang came free in the same moment Suzumebachi landed on the centipede's carapace.

"Kuroari!"

Her cousin lifted the severed fang with her left hand, throwing it even as the centipede, all hesitation gone, slammed its attacker aside with the snap of a pair of legs.

Kuroari was thrown back, and she struck hard into the snow, but her throw was true.

Suzumebachi spun, reaching out to grasp the fang, headless of the dripping white hemolymph, or the darker poison secretions coating it. The centipede's bucking threatened to throw her off, but stubbornly the wasp ninja funneled her chakra and clung on. She held the fang in both hand, point downward behind the first segment, the head.

With all her own substantial chakra-supported strength Suzumebachi brought the fang down.

Chitin cracked and broke, and the still-living spear plunged down into the head it had only a few short seconds ago been attached to. It passed through chitin, muscle, and then the brain, stopped only when it lodged in the carapace on the bottom, having cleaved through the whole flat thickness of the centipede.

The mighty predator did not die easily. Its brain was destroyed, and its hemolymph, the lifeblood of such a creature, was pouring out of the massive hole in the head, but it was not so easily killed. The rest of its many segments were a ways from acknowledging their death, and thrashing without overriding commands, Suzumebachi was thrown completely free.

She landed in the snow, and was forced to scramble away blind with whiteness covering her eyes as she heard the centipede's body slam into the ground near where she lay. Rolling and spinning, rubbing snow from her eyes with her sleeve to clear the snow, it was a harrowing few moments until the centipede's exertions moderated and then finally ceased.

Suzumebachi rolled upright in the deep snow to see Kuroari standing there, carefully holding out her tanto.

Grasping the blade in one hand, she took her cousin's hand in the other, pulling herself up.

"What did you do?" Kuroari asked. "One second you were there, the next you were in midair. There's no way you just jumped."

"No," Suzumebachi replied as she walked over to the fallen centipede. "That's Tobimushi no Tobu no Jutsu."

"You can actually do something like that?" Kuroari couldn't keep the surprise from her voice. "Where'd you learn it? For that matter what about the talking wasp with the sword?"

"Later," Suzumebachi slashed her hand through the air. When she caught Kuroari's eyes, she reiterated. "Later, I promise, but we still have two centipedes to kill."

"That's true," her cousin's tone shifted, but it was clear she had only banked away her curiosity. "Are you going to use that fang again?"

Suzumebachi was already leveraging the severed appendage out of the ruin of the centipede's head. "Do we have time for anything else? Besides, this will serve as a spear."

"Well, then I'll handle the distraction this time," Kuroari told her cousin. "There's no need for excessive acrobatics."

Chuckling slightly, Suzumebachi fell silent immediately when she heard the sound of another oncoming centipede.

"Get to a tree!" Kuroari shouted, as she ran to the back of the fallen centipede.

Suzumebachi did as her cousin suggested, running up a tall snag, the openness providing her with room to jump. She held the fang in both hands, planning to repeat the strategy from before. She was not intimidated anymore. The centipedes were impressive, that much she freely acknowledged of the powerful predators, but they were only normal predators, simply hunting. The wasp ninja had looked into the eyes of much fiercer creatures and lived, no simple predator would bring her down, and no unnatural terror from insects and their kin lurked inside her Kamizuru bones.

Kuroari stood before the oncoming centipede likewise un-intimidated. She held her hands out, pre-forming a seal, clearly judging the distance.

It was not nearly so close as Suzumebachi had been, but close enough to make her fear for her cousin, when Kuroari acted. Her hands burst through a sequence of seals, culminating in her holding her left hand curled below her mouth. "Gisan Sutingaa no Jutsu!"

A stream of sticky, globby fluid burst from Kuroari's mouth, to catch the centipede full on in the face, and fan out all before her.

The predator reared up, its antennae twitching wildly, spastically.

Suzumebachi saw her chance. She jumped.

It went just as before, though this time Kuroari was able to catch Suzumebachi as she was flung through the air, sparing them both additional bruises.

"Formic acid?" Suzumebachi shouted over the centipede's dying spasms.

"What else?"

"Nice," Suzumebachi replied, indeed impressed, for it was a powerful technique, and would be far more dangerous against a creature not armored with thick chitin. "Now help cut the other fang off the first one. There won't be time to pry it back out of this one before the last arrives."

"Right," Kuroari was already moving. "Same plan?"

"If you're up for it."

"You're the one riding the damn things."

Suzumebachi took that as a yes, and a few minutes later two battered but whole Kamizuru ninja sat in the snow staring at three massive centipede corpses.

The wasp ninja took a moment to marvel at it all, but her cousin was not so easily satisfied. Instead she went and tapped on the chitin skeletons, listening, and her expression went quickly sour. "They're not dissipating."

"What?" Suzumebachi questioned.

"These things, they're obviously summoned, so they should dissipate upon death, but there's no sign of disillusion," Kuroari explained.

Suzumebachi understood of course, and berated herself for not recognizing the same thing sooner. "But that's impossible, isn't it?"

"I thought so," Kuroari replied. "I suppose dissipation could take a long time if you had somehow made the whole summoning period last even longer, but it would have to be on the order of weeks."

"Weeks?" Suzumebachi started to say something derogatory, but then stopped. "But then, the reports from the village…"

"Damn!" Kuroari exclaimed. "I wasn't even thinking quite that far. It could all have been conducted by summons like these then, perhaps, no probably, by these three specifically. There can't be many more, they'd eat too much."

"So someone has managed to make giant centipedes persist for weeks or months instead of minutes or hours?" Suzumebachi couldn't believe it. "That doesn't seem right, and these things, they felt so like death, even more than usual combat summoned beasts."

"Death…" Kuroari's face went from grim to sad. "I had almost forgotten, but it could be…"

"What?"

"Remember the queen-less mounds?"

"You can't mean to say that it was those mounds that allowed this," Suzumebachi couldn't believe it.

"No," Kuroari replied. "It couldn't have been so specific, but what if the centipedes could maintain themselves by somehow consuming chakra from things? That would explain why only the queens were gone, their chakra is orders of magnitude greater than any of the workers."

"Damn," Suzumebachi echoed her cousin's response. Then she paused. "We need to get back to the village. We've fulfilled our mission, but I think we need to tell those people and head back to Iwa right away."

"Indeed," Kuroari replied. "And you can explain what you've really been doing on the way down."

Her cousin's eyes were steel, and Suzumebachi, looking into them with the evidence of their near death wrapping about the clearing, held no power to refuse them. Instead she began walking, searching for a place to begin.

Jutsu Notes

Unshuu Hazerou no Jutsu: translated as "Swarm Burst" this technique calls forth all the insects in an area (in this case the massive numbers of wood ants) to simply charge a single location. They aren't actually attacking, but the shear mass can prove a serious impediment.

Tobimushi no Tobu no Jutsu: translated as, ideally "Leap of the Springtail." Springtails (order collembola) are minute, wingless insects that have a feature called the furcula that hooks into place and can be released to propel prodigious leaps (Suzumebachi mimics the posture by bending her knees tightly and kicking out against the ground). The truly useful part is that, owing to modifications of the nerve cells, a springtail's leap takes only 4 milliseconds, faster than the eye can follow and actually faster than the speed of human thought (which is governed by how fast neurons can transmit information).

Gisan Sutingaa no Jutsu: translated as "Formic Acid Stinger." Ants of the subfamily Formicinae don't sting, but spray formic acid at enemies, at extremely high concentrations. While not powerful enough to eat through chitin, it would do very bad things to human skin and more vulnerable features and can seriously aggravate wounds, as well as being a powerful irritant.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto in any way and make no claim on its copyright or any characters from the series. Original characters are my own property.

**Author's Notes: **New chapter time! Okay, just to note, there's some fairly dark things in this chapter. I've tried to avoid being too graphic but just so that's said. Oh, and this incident is very important to the rest of the story, though that should be obvious.

Thanks for all reviews!

**Other Gifts Continues**

As they traveled down the mountainside in chill afternoon Suzumebachi was continually impressed by her cousin's ability to rapidly absorb major revelations.

"Are you sure you don't have any questions?" Suzumebachi asked after a brief pause, as the pair exited the woods and entered the slender fields in the flattest part of the valley, near the village.

"Not really," Kuroari replied, and when she caught Suzumebachi's questioning look, elaborated. "Essentially, the forbidden scroll was found, the Tsuchikage drew that tattoo on you and gave it to you, and now you can summon intelligent insects from some other reality. You made that knife in return for becoming one of the insect's students, and you've been studying the scroll and learned some jutsus but you can't teach me any of them because the Tsuchikage forbade it. I believe that's everything?"

Chastened, Suzumebachi replied. "Right, and again, I'm sorry about the jutsus."

"Not your fault," Kuroari managed, though her disappointment was clear. "Anyway, you'll just have to impress the old man enough so he lets you share the knowledge."

"I suppose," Suzumebachi said nothing more. Her feelings were mixed on the things she had revealed. It felt as if she had disobeyed the Tsuchikage's intent, but she could not see another solution. Chul'To's speech had been far too obvious a signal for someone like Kuroari to miss, and so she had revealed the truth, holding back only the existence of Harvestman, which had been surprisingly easy. The odd part of it all was how comfortable Suzumebachi felt telling Kuroari. At no point had she felt her cousin would betray the information or spread it around. It had not even been necessary to ask for her cousin's silence, Kuroari had offered it immediately once the forbidden scroll had been revealed. Such a level of trust was unexpected and heartening, though, considering the day's events, perhaps not surprising.

By the time they reached the village the sun was descending behind the valley wall to the west, and light seemed to flee the valley floor with great speed. The Kamizuru ninja saw no one in the village moving about, but that was not truly surprising. The villagers had seemed hesitant to wander about throughout the past few days, uninterested in traveling in the cold. Suzumebachi shared the sentiment, but she would have thought people who lived in such cold climes would have adjusted to the temperature better.

"We should speak to the headman," Suzumebachi said as they approached the first buildings. "I'm not sure the trouble here has ended, but our mission is complete for now."

"I think you're right," Kuroari replied cautiously. "We need to determine the consequences of those summons back in Iwa, and inform the Tsuchikage."

As they walked through the village all was quite, and there was no one at all about. This was somewhat odd, Suzumebachi did not remember things having been so somber, and the absence of anyone gathering water at the river to cook for a late meal was strange. It put her on edge.

They saw the first evidence in the small open area before the hall. Scraps of clothing lay on the ground, and there were blocks of ice lodged in the snowpack, strangely out of place. "Maybe there was an accident carrying?" Kuroari wondered.

"I don't like it," Suzumebachi told her cousin. "Something's changed here, and I hate to hope for coincidences."

Kuroari nodded, and they headed to the wooden doors.

Suzumebachi pounded on the doors with her gloved fist, and then waited, only to have silence answer her. She repeated the action, striking harder, making sure she would be heard even if those within were in a drunken stupor. Yet there was still no answer.

The two ninja stepped back, and both drew weapons.

Holding her tanto tightly Suzumebachi grabbed a door handle with her left hand and pulled. It should not have opened; the door ought to have been barred from within as it had been the past four days, but grudgingly, with protest, the heavy wood swung back.

Warm air from within the hall rushed out to meet the cold, and it carried the unmistakable scent of death with it.

Kuroari, standing directly in front of the opening, not shielded by the door, gagged and coughed, unable to resist the powerful urge. Turning, Suzumebachi was warned by the horror in her cousin's eyes before she took her own glimpse into the gloom within.

A vision utter horror greeted her. All within the long hall lay the dead, men and animals both, men, women, and oh so numerous children, all lying in place. They were not peaceful in death, but lay with clothes in tatters, bodies blackened and soiled, in positions and expressions telling tales of great suffering. All this, and not one bore an obvious wound.

Pulled by the siren call of revulsion, Suzumebachi stepped across the doorframe, her boot touching the stone floor.

The silence broke. Within the air turned black, and a brutal, loud, asynchronous buzzing materialized as untold numbers of flies swarmed upward, and then surged toward the door.

"Get down cousin!" Kuroari shouted.

Suzumebachi, feeling the incredible surge of malice just as her cousin did, obeyed immediately.

"Gisan Sutingaa no Jutsu!" Kuroari's blast of acid smashed into that oncoming cloud, a wave of liquid to encapsulate the flies in their massive numbers, the liquid gumming up their wings and the weight bringing them to the ground.

The moment the blast of acid had passed Suzumebachi jerked back into the snow. She grabbed the door's edge with both hands and pulled with all her might, slamming it shut on the death within.

When the door struck into place and no flies came forth the two ninja looked at each other for a long moment, breath coming in heaves.

Kuroari broke the silence. "What now?"

"I think we should burn it," it was a knee-jerk reaction, but Suzumebachi could consider nothing else so appealing as allowing flame to claim such a desolation.

This suggestion seemed to adjust Kuroari's mind away from the horror she had seen. "Even if that's the right action, I don't think we can light such stout timber on fire, unless you've learned katon moves I don't know about."

"Damn," Suzumebachi growled, knowing her cousin was right. Instead of saying something unnecessary she considered the next move. "We need to check the other houses."

Kuroari nodded, but her face was grim, and she slowly raised the snowmask to place at least the sense of a barrier between her senses and these visions. "We should be careful, those flies can't be natural, even if there we eggs in there, it was far too many, and they should not have developed so fast." She did not bother to state the obvious, that the cold meant they could not have come from outside.

"Right," Suzumebachi replied. "Let's see the rest of this."

It was a quick search, but speed did not make the horror go away. Instead, it seeped deep into the mind, the tormented bodies, found in home after home, the swarming flies so often found with them, these could not be pushed away, only drew deeper, scarring vision, until every door became a trial of tremendous will, every buzzing noise delivered like a lash.

The worst were the children. Adults and animals they found, but they were surprisingly few, less than either ninja expected, but the children, these were obvious. Small forms, held in contorted positions and faces strung in silent screams, they were present all, Kuroari related, in a short, clipped sentence, that it seemed every single child the valley contained was dead within the village. The weight of such a thing could not be borne with any ease, if at all.

When they were done at last it was full dark, but the two ninja kept active even as the temperature plummeted. With careful motions they disassembled their tent, packing it up and putting all their gear in order for travel. Their own belongings were completely undisturbed, but by silent agreement they refused to camp anywhere near such horrors.

Only after midnight, several hours of silent trudging under the pale light of a half-moon behind them, did the two Kamizuru ninja stop. They set up the tent again, but now, with the shield of distance and time to protect them, dared to discuss what had happened. "How?" Suzumebachi asked first. "How did they die, and in only a few hours too? There were no weapon marks on any bodies."

"Poison," Kuroari replied. "That's most likely. If they slaughtered a goat and it was poisoned it could well kill almost everyone, it would only take one poisoner with a strong dose."

"Is that the only option?" Suzumebachi asked after thinking about it for a while. "I know some poisons leave bodies like that, but it seems so exotic."

"Well there could be a jutsu to kill a person without leaving a mark," Kuroari offered, but the doubt was clearly audible in her voice. "But to use it on such a scale seems unbelievable, poison seems most likely. It could be fungal perhaps; such a thing might be found locally."

"Alright, but why?" that was the far more important question. "Why kill the villagers, and are we connected?"

"That is the question isn't it," Kuroari muttered. "It makes no sense to me. What do you think?"

"I think it is connected to us," Suzumebachi replied, letting her anger loose, the anger that had been rising as soon as she considered this possibility. "I think those centipedes were supposed to kill us, and the village was targeted at the same time. Whoever engineered this ruckus in the first place decided to eliminate the whole thing."

"Maybe you're right," Kuroari offered. "But that leaves one problem, where did the survivors go?"

"Are we certain there were survivors?" Suzumebachi wondered. It appeared almost impossible to her that a village could have been so completely snuffed out, but she would take nothing for granted. "There were no tracks out from the village."

"They probably walked along the ice," Kuroari said. "That way there would be no tracks. Maybe it was a slave raid," she spoke suddenly, as if the idea had just occurred to her. "Since only adults lived perhaps those considered unsuitable were poisoned and the rest carried off."

"But in that case there should have been violence," Suzumebachi countered. "Recall the hunters, these villages could have defended themselves. Besides, would anyone actually raid for slaves these days? The last brigand state was destroyed decades ago."

"Still, I think the deaths were meant to disguise the living who are missing. If we had perished too the next to investigate would never notice the lack of numbers, and surely there would be an investigation, the villagers were only a fraction of the people in this valley. A herder will stop by soon enough," Kuroari fell silent for a moment. "I hope the flies aren't actually dangerous then."

Suzumebachi was having the same thought. "They'll probably be dead by morning, the temperature has fallen, and with no fires heat won't be maintained. It should be alright, but what about the flies?"

"Meaning?" Kuroari's tiredness showed, and she crawled lethargically into her sleeping bag, not picking up on the nature of the question.

"It's too cold," Suzumebachi felt exhaustion folding over her as well, but she was not yet ready to let it claim her. "And it was too fast. There shouldn't have been any flies, so how did they get there?"

"I don't know," Kuroari mumbled, and her voice degenerated. "Couldn't we have done it though…"

The words, once puzzled out, flashed through Suzumebachi's mind with ice-cracking force. She reached out and shook Kuroari violently. "Like us? You mean an insect master? Another ninja, out here?"

The jostling apparently shook some energy back into her cousin. "If the centipedes and the villagers are connected, then it has to be doesn't it?"

"But who could do such a thing?" Suzumebachi could hardly believe it, didn't want to believe it. "Who would do such a thing? It can't be our family!"

"Probably not," Kuroari mumbled. "None of us summons centipedes." Then she spoke very clearly for a moment. "Cousin, I'm tired and cold and my mind keeps replaying images I can't stand. Let's go to sleep and try to figure the rest out in the morning on the way back to Iwa."

Suzumebachi heard the soft rebuke, and recognized how strained her cousin's endurance, not hardened by endless training sessions on freezing hillsides, truly was. "Okay, let's do that, sorry," she rolled over in her sleeping bag and fell silent. Even in the silent darkness, tired as she was, sleep would not come quickly. The chilling cold seeped through the tent, and it was occasionally punctuated by sharp blasts of wind, keeping the body agitated and awake. As it was, Suzumebachi's mind could not accept the darkness, but continued to call up all the horrible images of the afternoon, playing over again and again the scenes revealed with each opening door. She wanted to scream at the endless terrible openings, again and again they came, until the stress finally overtook her reserves, and the darkness took her inside the door and let her rest there.

In the morning the two cousins would discover their mutual thrashing had managed to rip out every last tent stake and collapse the fabric over them.


End file.
