Chapter 23
The King
Pitou did not know what to think when, in the dead of night, the Watcher fearlessly stepped into her En.
It was a suicidal move, one which sent the Royal Guard from a relaxed posture into full alertness in less than a second, all of her senses straining to penetrate the distance and darkness. Even with the prenatural senses of a Royal Guard, on a cold, wet night with no moon and few stars Pitou had been unable to see the human approaching from the distance through the shadows; the Watcher had not begun existing until they'd entered Pitou's Nen.
At the same moment that Pitou's En covered the silent and near invisible human, the Watcher's gaze fell on Pitou, further alarming her. The woman had kept her sight inactive until she herself was spotted, knowing that it would alert the Guard. It only took Pitou a moment to appreciate her opponent's cleverness, understanding the Watcher had long ago realized the dangers of its active observation.
The woman did not stop once she entered Pitou's En, maintaining a steady pace towards the palace. They tracked one another every step of the way.
With the initial moment of surprise gone, replaced by hatred, Pitou considered what to do. Her first instinct was to attack. That was obvious. Allowing the Watcher to get close to the palace would be a disaster, especially on the eve of their own assault on Peijing; the woman could doubtlessly disrupt things.
But that first impulse was only formed out of protective instincts for the King. Pitou had to approach the situation with more thought than that. She could not maintain her En and fight the Watcher at the same time, so if she were to attack, launching herself from the top of the palace with claws extended, the protective aura around the palace would vanish. Until another Guard noticed and established their En, the building would be vulnerable to infiltration.
That meant she could best serve the King by remaining vigilant. Another Guard, or a number of Ants, would be able to deal with the Watcher. There were other concerns as well. After the human's nearly successful attack on the Queen, Shaiapouf had told her that either the Watcher or another among the humans had some Nen trick that let them produce perfect copies of themselves, which puffed into smoke once they were destroyed. If this Watcher were one of those smoke clones, meant to bait a response, attacking it could be disastrous.
It was that thought that convinced Pitou this was, in fact, a clone, the woman who had entered the zone of death around Pitou without a missed step. The Watcher was brave, and strong, but no human could have entered her En in that manner. So she remained, still as the night, as the woman drew closer.
'Make a move,` she thought, and somehow she was sure that the woman was thinking the same thing, the both of them frozen by the moment of shared understanding. Despite her lack of hesitation, the woman didn't want to be here.
A feeling Pitou shared.
But neither of them shifted. The Watcher continued towards the palace, and Pitou watched her go, both entirely ready to attack, neither taking their focus off the other. The moment stretched into ten seconds, and then twenty, thirty, a whole minute. Both of them trembled in anticipation, Pitou viciously fighting against her defensive instincts. If the human really was a clone, would it shiver like it did?
Perhaps it took courage to walk into certain death, even as a clone.
She continued to track the Watcher as she drew closer. The woman didn't look as she had back in the NGL. She was sharper, harder; the Royal Guard could not define those qualities, for certainly the woman's features were the same, but they bled off the Watcher nonetheless. A month of strife had made her even more dangerous than before.
Who would intercept her? A lowly Ant, or one of the other Guards? Even a clone would strike down an ordinary Ant without hesitation; it would have to be Menthuthuyoupi or Shaiapouf. Youpi was lurking in the halls of the palace, still, as he usually was; when he didn't have a task, the large guard was inert. Pitou sometimes wondered if he thought the same way she did. She understood that Shaiapouf perceived the world differently from her, but still understood the vain Guard. Menthuthuyoupi's thoughts were a mystery to her, and to Shaiapouf as well.
Nonetheless, Youpi was the better option. Shaiapouf could be threatened by the Watcher's burning fists. His body was built for evasion over strength. Not ideal for an omniscient opponent who could burn internal organs with her energy.
Alerting the other Guard was a simple matter. Not taking her focus off the Watcher, Pitou flexed her aura, a fraction of her En rippling towards the inert Youpi like a forceful tide. It washed over him, and the Guard blinked, looking up at her position. After a moment of silent confusion, he began moving towards her.
Youpi was not the only one who noticed the fluctuation in Pitou's Nen; almost every being in the palace perked up at the supernatural movement, sixth senses tingling. Even the King, engrossed in his board game, twitched his tail.
Pitou prayed to the King that he would not move, not investigate, that the frail little human that had so engrossed him would be enough to stifle his curiosity. Thankfully, it seemed that was the case; after a moment, he settled back into the rhythm of the game.
It took less for a minute for Youpi to reach her side, and he loomed over her when he did, swallowing her in his shadow and regarding Pitou with bland curiosity. He looked out into the darkness, unable to see what she could, and then back to her.
"Something wrong?" he asked, and Pitou flicked an ear.
"The Watcher is coming," she said, and Youpi stood up a little straighter. "You can't tell?"
"My neck itches," Youpi said, scratching at it as he followed her line of sight. Apparently, he was less perceptive than his fellow Guards, if all the Watcher's gaze elicited was an itch. "She's out there? It's too dark."
"You should be able to see her soon," Pitou said. The woman was barely a mile away now. "You need to go stop her. She cannot reach the Palace."
"You're telling me to leave the King?" Youpi asked, and Pitou twisted her head to look up at him. There'd been a hint of challenge in his voice, the first bit of individuality she'd heard out of him.
"I'm asking you," Pitou said, marvelling at the new situation. "I would go myself, but I would have to drop my En to attack. If this is a feint, that could be dangerous."
Youpi took some time to consider her answer, nearly six seconds. As he thought, his eyes staring blankly ahead, not perceiving anything but his own mind. They reminded Pitou of the eyes of the human whose brain she had stolen the secrets of Nen from. Glassy, but faintly conscious.
"I will go," Youpi eventually decided, and Pitou smiled. "After I ask the King." Before Pitou could respond, he turned and lumbered off, entering the shadow of the palace's halls and quickly vanishing from her sight.
Despite his roughly equal age to the other Guards he was like a child, she thought, more so than any of the other Ants. Afraid to move without permission from the King. Or suspicious of her? It was impossible to tell. Perhaps he didn't have a motive of his own at all and was simply seeking instructions instead of advice from a peer.
It didn't really matter. The King would surely make the same decision that she had. Pitou returned her attention to the Watcher, which drew steadily closer, growing more cautious with each step. Clone or not, it would have to die, and Youpi would be more than enough for the task.
But in the meantime, she would stretch her Nen out, farther, hungrier; the Watcher's allies, or the real body, could not approach the Palace under any circumstances.
###
Hinata was cold, but in the strange, distant way that shinobi felt cold when they were in good condition. The weather was damp, the sky was dark, and the air was still, perfect conditions for chilly temperatures, but her lukewarm chakra, inundated throughout her body, kept the majority of the chill at bay. While frosted grass crunched under her feet, she only felt the occasional wisp of warmth being stolen from her body.
However, striding into Neferpitou's En had been more freezing than the weather ever could have been. It hadn't taken long for her body to betray her and produce a cold sweat despite her razor focus. After a minute of peace, the anticipation had become far worse than the Nen itself. Pitou refused to look away from her, even when the creature was speaking with a fellow Royal Guard, and the sensation was unnerving as ever.
Though now, Hinata knew how to kill the thing. That certainty, even if she was only a Shadow Clone, gave her a measure of calm. If this expedition ended in quick disaster, at least the next day would almost definitely see the Guard's demise.
The other Royal Guard had gone to speak with the King after Pitou had called it over. The conversation had been short; the King had said something, softly, still engrossed in his game with the small, frail Gungi master, and sent the Guard on its way. Hinata hadn't been able to read his lips from the angle she was approaching it; at a slight incline, almost perpendicular to her, the human movement from the inhuman, childlike face could have been anything.
But now, the Guard was coming directly for her, tromping across the crackling earth with heavy cloven hooves. Concealing herself was pointless with Neferpitou's Nen still covering her: the Guard would be able to alert its comrade to her position the same way it had called it over earlier. She would have to slip past the largest of the Guards, or even fight it.
Hinata didn't know anything about this one, Menthuthuyoupi. He had rarely spoken to other Ants while she observed him, and out of all the Guards, he reacted the least violently to her sight. It was impossible to know what he'd do when he spotted her. He could attack immediately, as Neferpitou would, or take a more cautious approach as many more experienced Ants did. If he did the first, her mission would be over before it began.
But there was little she could do aside from keep up her courage and stay on her toes. When the Guard drew within three-hundred meters of her, his sight finally picked her out of the gloom.
The Ant didn't pause, or rush to attack. It just slightly altered its trajectories, now heading directly for her. Hinata half-consciously did the same, curiosity sparked by the muted reaction. The Guard's expression had barely changed when it had spotted her: just what could it be thinking?
They moved towards one another with silent finality, Hinata's curiosity growing as the Ant drew closer. At one hundred meters, the Guard clenched its left fist, but otherwise made no move. Aside from that flicker of aggression, the thing was totally relaxed. If it was going to attack, its intent was so buried that even the Byakugan couldn't find it.
Fifty meters, forty, thirty. They were making definite eye contact now; Youpi's face seemed painted on, his eyes flecks of red in the dark. He was enormous. It was never quite the same seeing something from a distance and being near it up close; the Royal Guard was easily twice Hinata's height, more than eleven feet tall.
Hinata came to a stop, tensing up. If the Guard was going to attack, now would be the time. But the thing kept up its remorseless tread, drawing yet closer and refusing to drop its placid attitude. Ten meters, eight.
Finally, it stopped, less than fifteen feet from her. Hinata felt a bit of cold sweat on the nape of her neck; the muddy earth between seemed to swirl with deadly potential. She felt one foot shift back and checked it, ready to spin into a Kaiten at the slightest bit of movement.
Youpi leaned forward, his red face looming in the darkness, and cocked his head slightly to the right, blatantly examining her. Even leaning down, his head was still several feet higher than hers.
"Hmm," he suddenly said, his voice like cement rubbing together. Hinata was surprised by his mild tone. She had expected something more emotional from such a towering opponent. "You're small."
She looked up at the massive Ant somewhat at a loss for words. It hadn't even crossed her mind that it would try to talk to her. That didn't seem like the appropriate actions for a Royal Guard, especially one sent directly by the King.
"Did you expect me to be bigger?" she eventually asked, staying ready for an attack. The Guard continued to disappoint her and reared back up, idly scratching at his chin.
"Not sure," he said, looking back over his shoulder. Did he not regard her as a threat? "You almost killed Pitou…" He frowned. "But she is pretty small too. And so is the King…" The Guard shook his head, refocusing on her. "Come with me."
"Excuse me?" Hinata relaxed, more out of confusion than anything. Nothing was going as she'd assumed.
"The King wants to talk to you," Youpi said. "So, I'm supposed to bring you to him." He let slip an infinitesimal smile, revealing the huge fangs barely confined to his mouth. "Whether you want to or not."
Hinata blinked, unable to believe her luck. The King wanted to talk to her? Had Gon really pegged the Chimera so easily?
"Then lead the way," she said. Youpi chuckled, turned around, and did just that.
###
When he laid eyes on the Watcher, Shaiapouf could think only of killing her. The woman entered behind Youpi, walking with composed caution. The Royal Guard had fearlessly presented his back to her, out of disdain or naivety Shaiapouf could not know.
Seeing the thing here, in the King's palace, in the King's country, no, his world, drove Shaiapouf to grind his teeth. This loathsome creature had fooled him from the moment of his birth with its all encompassing sight: the urge to tear out her eyes was overwhelming.
The Watcher's steps spoke of calm, but her aura told a different story. Shaiapouf's Spiritual Message penetrated her facade with the care of a man wiping a cobweb away, laying out her emotions bare to see. Anxiety, curiosity, confidence, fury. The woman wasn't frightened, ready for anything, but she was anything but unflappable. How easy would it be to push that anxiety to fear, push it to 100% until her head popped, veins rupturing from the stress?
The King swiped his tail through the air, barely glancing up from his game as the woman entered, and in a moment Shaiapouf's bloodlust was transformed into disgust and terror. The woman was here by the King's wishes. he'd sent Youpi to escort her, invite her. She was the same as the frail Komugi, an article of the King's will! Shaiapouf's eye twitched, and he fought down the iron urge to rip his own face off and present it to the King for his errant, heretical thought. Foolish Pouf! His fingers dug into his hand. Arrogant Pouf! He felt as a mote of dust. You would think to deny the King his wishes? You are a worm, a speck, a stain on his hand! You should never have been born! You were a mistake, a foolish, easily fooled mistake!
Outwardly, Pouf showed none of this; he simply inclined his head towards the King, though he had obviously already noticed the woman.
"She has arrived, my King," he said, on the edge of simpering, and one of the King's narrow eyes darted towards him.
"Quiet," he said, and then he was immersed in his gungi once more. It was beyond Shaiapouf why the King had occupied himself with games, with the pitiful blind girl, for so long. A salve for boredom had become an obsession. It seemed like his monarch gave more thought to the board than to the country he was depopulating.
But perhaps that was part of the beauty of a King, that he could engage in trivialities while his will was carried out. Pouf could never be a king, and so had long ago surrendered to ignorance of his majesty's majesty, bitter as the admission was.
The room remained silent as the King played, save for the murmurs of both gungi players as they called out their moves. Forty seconds later, and it was over. The King swept his pieces from the board, conceding defeat once again.
"A good game," he said, and the girl across from him smiled and nodded. She really was disgusting, snot constantly dripping from her nose, eyes glassy. If any creature's birth had been a complete accident, Pouf thought, it was surely this gungi master's. "I have another guest. Take this opportunity to rest; I will call on you later."
"Thank you, Supreme Leader!" The girl was exhausted, but enthusiastic as always. The King signaled, and Youpi stepped forward to escort the master from the room. She left with only the sound of her cane accompanying her, practically asleep on her feet, and as she did, the King turned to the Watcher, regarding her with curious eyes.
"Sit," he commanded, gesturing across from him. The woman slowly stepped forward, gracefully sinking down on the other side of the empty board. A chill went up Pouf's spine. Sitting in the same position as the blind girl, the physical similarities between the Watcher and the gungi champion Komugi were impossibly pronounced. But where the girl was awkward, pathetic, and frail, the Watcher was harsh and dangerous. Even before the King, she still showed no obvious fear. The thing had to be a clone, like the humans that had attacked him inside the nest. No human could be this close to the King and not be overcome with rightful fear.
"Are you here to make an attempt on my life?" the King asked, and Pouf almost vomited at the notion. His mind and gut boiled, but he did his best to remain quiet and listen. The King was surely relying on him to keep an eye on the Watcher with his Spiritual Message: there were things he could see with it that even the Chimera's monarch could not.
"If I were, I would not have gone with your Guard," the woman said. She was still infuriatingly composed. "Though if I see the opportunity…"
The King chuckled. "How honest. You must be some duplicate, correct? The real Watcher wouldn't be foolish enough to come before me."
"Of course," the woman admitted. She was rigid, unwilling to shift her stance. "But in every way that matters, I am… 'the Watcher,' I suppose. I wouldn't be here if I weren't."
"Then why are you here, if not to kill me?" the King said with a smile. "Or die trying, at least."
"I'm here to prevent death, not cause it," the woman said, her composure shifting. Pouf watched with fascination as her anxiety drained away and was replaced with even more confidence… as well as anger. "You're planning to root us out of Peijing later today. I want to try and convince you against it."
The King had been smiling, perhaps at the woman's audacity, maybe at the novelty of the situation, but the Watcher's arrogant declaration drove it away immediately.
"Don't be ridiculous," he said, and Pouf melted at his harsh tone. "There's nothing you could possibly offer me." His aura rippled, water disturbed by a falling stone, but the Watcher refused to budge.
"How can you be so sure?" the woman said. Calm, measured. How? "You were to send your Guards to retrieve me from the city. I'm here now: surely that is something."
The King's tail flicked back and forth, irritation clear in his aura. Pouf found himself fantasizing about it whipping the Watcher's head off. It was an amusing image. "You're not real: you're just a copy. Worthless."
"Really?" the woman asked. "You didn't want me out of the city just because I'm a danger to your Ants. We both know it. You felt it that night you ordered the attack, as sure as I did." Pouf was suddenly lost, and horribly alarmed by the woman's tone. "If I were just an enemy, you would have had your Guard kill me."
The King's tail jabbed out, stopping just short of the woman's throat. For the first time since sitting down, the Watcher flinched back, putting another inch between her and the King.
"I felt nothing," the Ant said. His aura grew larger, wilder, enveloping both himself and the woman. Pouf was sure of it: the King would destroy her at any moment. His body vibrated in anticipation, his very cells thrilled at the prospect of the Watcher's death.
Yet, suddenly…
The King flinched back as well.
The Watcher's eyes grew wide.
The tail withdrew. The aura expanded, coursing with more and more energy, and yet growing less aggressive by the second. It boiled, dominated by confusion. Pouf froze; he'd never seen the King exhibit anything like that feeling. Though he could never admit it to himself, the Watcher's confusion was just as alarming to him.
The field of energy, now visible to the naked eye, pulsed and grew yet more, pushing out towards Pouf. On reflex, he took a step back. He didn't know what would happen if the mixed emotions of the King and the Watcher washed over him, but he had zero doubt they would completely overwhelm him.
"Shaiapouf," the King said, and even under the circumstances Pouf couldn't help but thrill at his name in the King's mouth. "Leave. I am in no danger. Wait for my command."
"Your Majesty…" It was all Pouf managed to say before the King's Nen pierced him like a fly on a pin.
"Leave!" the King barked, and Shaiapouf fled the room in an instant, mortal terror penetrating his being. As he flew through the nearest window, he stole a single glance back. The last thing he saw was the King and the Watcher, eyes locked, as the aura around them boiled yet more.
To his Spiritual Message, the constant ripples almost looked like communication. But he was sure it was only a hopeful thought, some rationalization for what was happening, before he retreated into the darkness beyond the throne room.
###
Nothing had gone as was expected since she'd set out for the palace, so it shouldn't have surprised Hinata that her meeting with the King had been nothing like what she'd prepared for. She'd been ready to be killed on the spot, to be bargained with, to be threatened. That had been easy enough to prepare for.
Never in a thousand years would she have expected his chakra to reach out and surround her.
"What have-"
You done, he said, and Hinata tried not to betray her hesitation. It was a futile task, but she had to try.
This isn't my- "doing," she responded. "It's…"
She stopped cold as she
recognized the feeling? She'd been here before, hadn't she, in this silvery cold world. But the way she remembered it, it was-
"Gold?" the King asked. "Don't be ridiculous." They were still in the room. Nowhere else. There was no silver.
No gold. But the King was-
Unsure? Impossible.
You are. We both are. We don't understand what's happening.
That's a lie.
"It is," Hinata said. "But not on purpose. I never thought-"
WHAT IS HAPPENING, the King demanded, the imperative striking Hinata like a tidal wave. She actually had to resist the urge to anchor herself with chakra.
Chakra? That's what's causing this?
With Naruto. That's when she had experienced this. Only ever with her husband. It made her want to retch, to think that the only other thing she'd experienced this sort of primordial connection-
EXPLAIN.
with was this awful creature. This starving, fearful, curious, malicious, arrogant, confused, thoughtful, developing, regretless-
The King was rooted as well. I can move! But he did not. Fear, honest fear, curiosity, uncertainty, they all weighed him down with impossible strength. If he moved - then you would move too - then Hinata would move too, and neither of them knew what would happen then.
Could they fight like this? Could we fight like this? It would be like fighting yourself. Myself?
"Stop," Hinata said.
"Stop," the King agreed, and the stream of unstoppable emotions, half formed sentences, and alien compulsions stopped. They hung in the air around the both of them, and the Ant and the woman took the same breath, trying to center themselves.
This is dangerous, Hinata said without opening her mouth, and the King cocked his head, looking so much like a child.
"I am not a child," he growled, and Hinata narrowed her eyes. He'd been born just weeks ago; by any rational standard, he was a baby. Her tail… no, his tail twitched, the homicidal urge anchored by sheer curiosity.
Chakra, he said.
That's this "energy. I understand."
You think you understand. "But you don't have a full picture."
She couldn't tell him this, any of this, any of the thoughts running through her mind. The information could be unbelievably dangerous in the hands of the King. He didn't deserve it.
There was nothing he did not deserve. The very idea was a fallacy. He was the perfect being.
"Listen," Hinata gritted out, forcing herself to speak. The room had to crack like an egg, soon, surely. It couldn't contain what was being thrown around here, this storm of chakra. She'd felt nothing like it. "That energy of yours, you know it's not like the other Ants." He did know, and she knew, because he knew. She felt his loneliness, his trepidation. Was he really so different that even his aura was unrecognizable to them? Of course not, he had an explanation now. That arm, from her delicious friend, it had changed him.
It's a weapon, the King said,
not deigning to speak. You are a weapon, and you have made me a greater weapon still. Should I thank you?
SHUT UP. Hinata pushed back, flaring her chakra for the first time, striking at the King with her anger and fear, and the link shriveled, receding, as the aura gained a purple cast. Her thoughts were her own for a second, and she took a steady breath.
"Listen," she said, even if she meant more for him to feel. She had to spill out what was boiling in her brain, even if the Ant didn't deserve to know. The King was trembling with anger and fear. For the first time in his existence, he was afraid, for this was something he could not understand without her, and Hinata felt it as her own. She struggled to speak through a thick mouth. "We were like you once, before my ancestor changed us." Without even meaning to, she showed him what she meant, her memories arising before the both of them like a primitive puppet show. The Sage of Six Paths, yearning for people to connect without conflict, imparting chakra to his descendents, and then the rest of humanity. The foundation of Ninshu. It was like a red string, from heart to heart, like the scarf she'd knitted once upon a time.
And then, quite out of her control, the scarf spiralled apart, like a bloody razor. She saw it become the very ninjutsu she'd been slaying the Ants with. The King watched coldly as dozens of his subordinates split apart under her fists, blue blood staining her jacket.
"So, this is chakra," the King said. Neither had the courage to move. "This is ninshu. My chakra has connected with yours." It was so matter of fact, so obvious, even though he'd only learned the word five seconds before. So many things made sense now.
"It shouldn't be possible," Hinata said. "Not this easily. But you've been-"
Doing it on accident. Hinata remembered trying to push her energy into all of the Ants in the Palace, no, the King's energy, his probing, trying to find something that just wasn't there. Since his birth, he'd been searching, his chakra had been searching, for that connection-
And finding nothing.
He'd made puppets instead of equals. That was appropriate, that was the job of a monarch who had no equals. But now, he'd found the connection, the empty space, and Hinata…
Hinata. That was her name, wasn't it. The name of the Watcher that had been such a thorn in his side. Hinata Uzumaki. That was her real name, not the name she took when she was on business, on a mission, dealing with strangers. The proud name of her husband.
Why was his chakra so strong, so early? Why had it searched so greedily for a peer? He did not know, and she did not know, so neither of them could know. It would remain a mystery of his soul.
Was she a monarch as well? A princess, perhaps in some amusing way, but certainly no queen. She rejected the title so violently that for a moment the King found royalty itself impossibly detestful. The current was threatening to sweep them both away once again.
That's what you meant by dangerous.
"This isn't Ninshu," Hinata said. "It's too aggressive. We're both losing ourselves." That was his fault, without a doubt.
Perhaps she was just too weak. The musing made it real, which she could not allow. Hinata struck the foreign thought down; in that moment, she certainly was not weak. The King fell back once more.
It was starting to make sense now. Hinata tried to make a basin in her mind, where her thoughts could pool without the King's mixing with them, like an undersea lake. The King was doing the exact same thing; it was impossible to know which of them had come up with the idea first.
The King's chakra was wild and barely usable, constantly searching for something to combine with. That's how it had to reached out to her across more than ten kilometers when she'd been watching him from Peijing, that sudden electric connection, the preternatural observation skills of the Ants and the hunger of his chakra, the same hunger he constantly felt, combining to produce an impossible result. In effect, he was constantly producing a field of raw, aggressive Ninshu, invading the bodies of those surrounding him with his chakra; that explained everything about what she'd seen of the Ants around him in the palace.
But what did it mean for her? She'd already learned things from the King about the Ants without even realizing it, but the connection went both ways; what had he already stolen from her without her knowing? She had to terminate the connection as soon as possible… but what would happen if she dispelled herself while filled with the King's chakra? Would her energy return corrupted to her original body?
That was an unacceptable risk.
"We can't back out of this," the King said, and Hinata lost her train of thought. I can't allow her to leave, she thought. There's too much I have to learn. No, too much to teach. She was thinking the wrong thoughts again.
What did you learn? The names of the Guards, their strangeness, their habits. He didn't care to learn the names of the lesser Ants: the only reason he had any respect for the Guards was because they could survive his incidental anger. The other Ants were so pathetic his own hunger had turned them on themselves; he hardly had time for such creatures. The only aspect of them that raised them over common humans was their obedience, even if it wasn't given honestly.
Ninshu was a fair trade, and despite the King's predatory nature, that fundamental remained. What had she given him for those names, those personalities, that disdain? The names of her comrades, their plans-
NO. Hinata tried to snap her mind shut like a steel trap, hoping to strike like a Yamanaka and sever the King's consciousness, but this wasn't an attack. It could not be an attack. This was a two-way street, an electric connection between their souls. She couldn't close the connection, only substitute the information.
The silver void pulsed, the walls of the room cracked and coated purple with her own energy visible beyond it, and they both understood that Hinata's epiphany had opened the same door for the King.
Not their plans. They needed those to be sovereign from the sovereign. Something else bubbled to the surface quite naturally; something that was inevitably on the Watcher's mind, no, Hinata Uzumaki's mind.
The rest of the Uzumaki's. Her family, immediate family, Hinata's family was quite large but when she thought 'family' this was what appeared. What were their names, two blondes, a child that looked like her? Humans were so dreadfully similar in personality and looks, it was little wonder they resorted to names to artificially differentiate them. Naruto and Boruto, ha! Even their names were similar! Had they picked such a ridiculous repetition on purpose, simply because the smaller human shared the same hair, the same scar? Absurd. The little one however, she was different. She looked like her mother in a way Ants could never look like their mother, like the gungi player. Himawari, that was her name. A delicate name for a delicate creature. She was just like that little morsel in the fields around the palace, that had screamed so loudly as her heart had been painlessly removed from her chest. Pitou had said humans screamed even when they weren't in pain. Just another bizarre trait of theirs.
Would Himiwari's brain taste just like that little girl's? Crab-meat, though not quite, and spongy, almost like poorly made cake? No, she had the same eyes as her mother. She would surely be far finer. Hinata pulled back, feeling her daughter's brain in her teeth. It was a taste she couldn't begin to describe, the King's imagination driven wild.
It was beyond delicious.
She screamed, for she was in indescribable pain, and the room exploded in a hurricane of violet energy. The gungi board was sent flying, pieces scattered to the wind, and the walls cracked further. The King, absorbed in the taste of her daughter, wasn't prepared for the force of the scream, of Hinata's anger, and was bowled over backwards. He rolled smoothly to his feet and regained his original position so quickly it was as if nothing had happened, but the unintended movement was still shocking.
Hinata surged to her feet, her entire body boiling with her ancestor's chakra, and rushed at the King without hesitation. She leapt and struck at him like a bird of prey, intent on tearing the top of his head off; for just a second, her anger and her ancient chakra had severed the connection.
The King barely bothered to move, not even to get to his feet. He lazily raised his right arm and caught her left hand by the wrist with unbelievable tenderness, stopping half of her attack cold. Before her other hand could move even an inch, his tail flashed out, encircling it and freezing it just as he had her other limb.
Hinata was left stuck, both arms pinned. She kicked out, had kicked out the moment her first attack had been stopped she finally realized, her brain barely keeping up with her body, but the King merely tilted his head and let the attack pass him by by less than a centimeter, one of his ears fluttering from the force. He moved his head back, and suddenly her leg was pinned, simply by the muscles in his neck.
Before she could send out another kick, his hand wrapped around her ankle, and as suddenly as the attack had begun Hinata was completely trapped.
"You fool," he whispered, still recoiling from the violence of the severed connection. His entire body violently shivered. Chakra-shock. "I'll tear you apart."
Hinata thought of her daughter, felt the phantom taste in her mouth, and the world went white. The King would rip her limb from limb any moment; with the primitive Ninshu dispelled, there was nothing holding him back. That was fine. She was just a clone, after all.
But she couldn't dream of dying without a fight, even if it was a pointless one.
Another her appeared in a puff of smoke, and the King's head turned, eyes growing just a bit wider. The vice around her foot loosened.
All of her limbs were pinned. Making any sort of sign to form her chakra was entirely impossible. But to the Byakugan her chakra was simple to see, and with her terror, it was simple to guide.
The King started to say something. Probably 'How.' Hinata would never know. With her marginally free foot, she kicked at the King's throat, and her clone threw a Lion's Fist right at his face. Both attacks made contact in the same moment, one slamming the King's head back and the other pushing into his trachea.
The Ant didn't react. It just squeezed, utterly destroying Hinata's arm and leg, and the first clone disappeared with a muffled hiss of pain. He turned to the other one, her fist still boiling against his cheek.
Once again, neither moved. The King hadn't sustained any visible damage, and yet, he didn't counterattack. Hinata couldn't shift; if she attacked, she'd die. If she retreated, she'd die. So like an animal caught in headlights, she stood stock still, her fist pressed to the King's face.
The silver void started to creep back into her vision, occluding the Guard's anxiously waiting outside the room. They were clearly afraid of disobeying the King and come back in even with the commotion, torn between their duty and their obedience. With the moment of violence and panic gone, the second granted by both of their hesitation, their chakra link was re-establishing itself.
"If you were not so weak," the King said, his words once again slipping back and forth between sound and thought, "you could have killed me." He stood up, the top of his head coming up to Hinata's chin. "You had me dead to rights."
He tilted his head, regarding her with open curiosity. Somehow, the link was calmer now. Before, it had seemed like a wrestling match for her soul; now, it felt more like their minds brushing against one another. It was far too comfortable for her taste.
Just a moment ago, he would have killed her. They both knew it with the same certainty of a heartbeat. But now, something had changed. Maybe it was the more stable link, or her managing to outmaneuver him, or both, or something else entirely. Neither of them were sure where the King's sudden tranquility stemmed from.
"Hinata Uzumaki," he said, and it was the first human name he'd bothered to speak. "You really much are like that girl. If I didn't know better, I'd assume some sort of conspiracy."
The gungi player? The King could have killed her as well, and yet had spared her for game after game. Was this the same thing? Since she had defeated him in however minor a manner, he'd hesitated to land a killing blow of his own?
"Perhaps," the King admitted. "I could kill you now, but it would accomplish nothing. You'd only return to your original self." He'd stolen that knowledge as the other clone had died, she understood with a jolt. She'd let it slip in her pain. "And you're no threat to me at the moment, that much is clear." It was patronizing, but accurate.
"I didn't expect this." Hinata spoke the truth. She'd thought the King would be cruel and arrogant, and he was, but she hadn't foreseen his byronic traits; she couldn't have conceived of him stalling a killing blow in battle. How could she have, with the limited information of her Byakugan?
"Nor I," the King said, before suddenly switching tracks, his aura probing hers. Unlike last time, Hinata found some success in pushing back. "You have two different chakras. How peculiar. Is that the case with most humans, or are you special?" He frowned in thought. "Pregnant?"
"Why should I tell you?" Hinata asked. "Just kill me and be done with it. I won't answer your questions."
"You can't be pregnant," he said. "Your reaction to your children… you would never go into combat carrying one inside you. And of all the special humans I've met so far, none have had binary energies. So you…" the King blinked, slowly, looking at her like he was trying to peel away her skin with his gaze. "You must be particularly special."
"My chakra doesn't matter," Hinata said. "Don't be distracted. I'm here for a reason."
"Peijing," the King said. He crossed his arms. "That will be quite impossible. Though…" He smiled, revealing tombstone teeth, and Hinata jerked as the taste of Himawari drifted across her consciousness again. "Perhaps that's not true."
She could stay, Hinata realized, the thought foreign and hers at the same time. That's what the King wanted now. His curiosity was just growing more and more overwhelming. All he wanted now was to pick her brain, somewhat literally. It was the first thing since the Gung player, Komugi, that had truly drawn his attention. The revelation of chakra had ignited an obsession.
"Komugi?" the King asked, their surprise combining; Hinata's at the question, and the King's at the name. He'd never really considered that the girl had a name, but now that he'd learned it it seemed almost exotic. Komugi: that was the name of the human he could not defeat in her chosen arena. Komugi: that was the name of the human who refused to fall to fatigue or fear.
Komugi: that was the name of the first human he'd respected, whether he realized it or not. Had Hinata snuck that thought into the King's head, or was it wholly his own? Neither of them were sure.
It was entirely sensible, of course. Everything had a name. It was simply the way of things for even insignificant creatures and objects to have some sort of identifier. All Ants had names, including his Royal Guard.
Except him. That was true, wasn't it. He was only the King. His position was the only identifier necessary. He hadn't been–
"No…" Hinata said, still caught up in the current of thoughts. The connection was growing more controlled by the moment as they both learned to navigate it. "You had a name."
The King started, his first indication of surprise. Hinata didn't need him to speak to understand why.
"I have a name?" the King said, and for only a second he sounded his age. He took a step forward. "What… where is it?"
This could be a bargaining chip, Hinata thought. Valuable, no, priceless information. But when she searched her recollection, groping back nearly two months ago, trying to recall a conversation she'd only witnessed secondhand, something Morel had passed on to her afterwards that she'd deemed as meaningless, she could only see twitching, mismatched eyes, feel Gon's knife-black Nen, hear the hollow thud of Kite's body falling to the floor. Pitou's puppetry had completely overwhelmed the other events of the day.
"You forgot my name?" the King murmured. His chakra suddenly boiled, and Hinata's entire body jerked with a brief sharp pain, as though she'd received an incredible static shock. "You forgot my name?"
"Why would I have remembered it?" Hinata spat, and the King flinched. "It was the name of a monster that murdered its mother; there was no need to know it!" Her guilty looking sister was superimposed over the Ant for a heartbeat, eyes downcast, before reality returned. The King had moved forward again, his hands wrapping around her throat before she'd realized it.
"You are probably right," he said, his tone measured. With just a thought, he could crush her throat and bring this to an end. Hinata wished he would. "Ultimately, my name surely does not matter." His tail flexed. "And yet, I would dearly like to know it."
"If I did find it for you," Hinata said after a moment, "would you stay out of Peiing?"
The King considered, and then removed his hands from her throat.
"No," he decided with complete certainty. "You and your comrades are plotting something out there; there's no way you're foolish enough to simply wait for your ends." He clenched a fist. "You're frightened of me, and rightfully so… but you're still confident you can win. There's something you've hidden from me."
Not quite, Hinata thought, but she refused to let more than that slip into the connection. The King regarded her, and then turned his back on her. How could she attack, when their souls were communing like this? He'd know the moment she made a move.
"Shaiapouf," the King pronounced, and as if by magic the Royal Guard scuttled back into the room, bleeding fear, hatred and unimpeachable loyalty. Hinata felt the same amusement as the King at the sight of the Guard's almost jealous glance towards her. Was he really so insecure?
"I'll be traveling to Peijing myself," the King said, and Hinata's heart froze. So too, apparently, did Shaiapouf's; the Royal Guard looked as though he were about to have a stroke. "There's things I can only find out from the real Watcher. This copy is too disposable."
"Your Majesty!" Pouf gasped for air, growing paler and paler. "You must not! To enter enemy territory, fortified territory, even with an escort–!"
The King's tail flashed out, and Pouf fell to one knee, his cheek split open. The King stared down at him, his chakra flaring out and threatening to crush the other Ant. Hinata could only watch in astonishment at the sudden violence. It was like she was participating in Shaiapouf's beating. The feeling was incredibly bizarre.
"Do you doubt me, Pouf?" the King said, his voice soft and deadly. Somehow, the Guard managed to meet his gaze.
"Never, my King," the Ant cried, his whole body trembling. "Never! Nonetheless-!"
The King struck him again, opening up the Guard's other cheek, and more blue blood spilled to the ground. Pouf shook violently, but somehow continued to speak.
"You are invincible!" the Guard declared, and the King's eyes narrowed. "But invincibility is not enough!" The King finally struck out with one of his hands, snapping Pouf's head to the side, but the Guard refused to be quiet. Hinata couldn't imagine the strain it was putting itself under. The King could barely comprehend how Pouf could deny his wishes. The Guard was battling its very genes.
"The humans have had time to prepare," Shaiapouf said, more blood leaking from his mouth. "They have powerful Nen users among them, and more like the Watcher besides. They could not defeat you-!"
The King struck out, and this time Hinata could feel his murderous intent. Shaiapouf's stubbornness was no longer amusing. The slap shattered the Ant's jaw, sending some of his perfect teeth flying, but it only delayed the creature for a moment.
"They could not defeat you," Shaiapouf said, dropping his head as blood poured from his broken jaw, "but it's conceivable they could trick you, or trap you."
A trap. The King glanced over his shoulder at Hinata as his subject shuddered and spat out more teeth. She resisted the urge to grimace. The Guard was right there; there were certainly no shortage of traps in Peijing. And with Hide and Seek, it was conceivable they could trap the King, though they'd never planned on it; it was simply too dangerous to even approach him.
"Hmm." The King kneeled down, taking Pouf's crushed jaw in his hand and lifting the Ant's face to look him in the eyes once more. Broken bones ground together under his fingers. "Then you propose I wait, as I have?"
"My King," Shaiapouf gurgled. "As a monarch… as our King, you must sometimes make sacrifices. You must allow others to bear your burdens, even if it seems more difficult than doing it on your own." Pouf seemed ready to burst at his own arrogance, but somehow he managed to choke out his next few words. "That is what a King is. If you do not rely on your servants… you are just…"
The Guard was finally at a loss for words; his courage had run out, and he was left gasping for air. And yet, Hinata found herself agreeing with what he had said. It reminded her of her husband's convictions, and that feeling of solidarity infiltrated the King.
"If I do not trust my subjects," the King mused, standing back up and letting Pouf's face fall, "then I am simply a pillar of strength. A monolith, not a leader."
A moment that seemed an hour later, he nodded. "That's correct." He started to turn, and then paused, leaving Pouf lying on the floor. The Guard was sobbing in relief. The King reached back, gently placing his hand on Shaiapouf's shoulder, and the Guard instantly froze.
"You are odd, and foolish," the King said. "But you are not a fool. I will send others in my place." Shaiapouf seemed as though he might die of happiness, despite his shattered jaw and split cheeks. "But the plan has changed."
"My King?" the Guard mumbled, and the King bent down.
"Listen carefully," he said. "Neferpitou and Menthuthuyoupi will lead the assault on the city. Her En will be more valuable there. They will capture any special humans they can manage, and especially the Watcher if possible. That has not changed. You will remain here, and guard the palace."
"My King-!" Shaiapouf's eyes welled up. "Thank you!" He shot to his feet, towering over his monarch. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I will leave this place impenetrable!" His eyes shifted towards Hinata, growing thin and cruel. "And the copy?"
The King smiled, turning to face Hinata, and she realized she should have dispelled herself as soon as the creature's attention had drifted away. Now, with the weight of his chakra on her, she wasn't sure she could manage it unscathed; some of the King's heavy energy might return with the rest of the Kage Bunshin. It could be nothing… or it could cause disaster.
"She will remain with me," the King said, and Hinata's eyes narrowed.
"Will I?" she asked, and the King's smile grew.
"You are just a copy, and a sentimental one at that," he said. "If you depart, I will kill Komugi." He tilted his head. "You are in no real danger, just a creature of smoke; are you willing to trade your presence for that girl's life?"
The King wasn't trying to trick her. Komugi was of interest, but she was a smaller piece of the puzzle now; no, only an archer on the board, Hinata thought, the gungi analogy slipping into her mind. She was important, but she could be sacrificed for something greater.
Like more secrets of chakra.
It was the right decision to dispel immediately, or failing that to kill herself, Hinata realized. Komugi was just one life. If the King did manage to wring even rudimentary knowledge out of her, the results could be disastrous. And even if he didn't, her real self would be left without a quarter of her chakra so long as she remained her, which could be equally horrible given time.
But could she throw away an innocent girl's life without regard, after she'd beaten the odds for so long?
It took five seconds for Hinata to make her decision. She sunk to the ground, falling into a cross legged-position, and deactivated her Byakugan. The King smirked.
"You are strong for a human, Hinata Uzumaki," he said, sitting down before her as Shaiapouf flew out of the room behind him. "But you will never have the strength of an Ant."
