Insomnia

XV

When a plan goes awry – however meticulously planned it may have been – there is no choice but to form a back-up plan, a contingency, if you will. Such as it was that Hitatsu’s contingency involved a long trip to Konohagakure and improvisation as he spied on the man he knew to be Hyuuga Neji. The longer he observed, the more aware he became about Neji’s “condition”. He discovered the Hyuuga was no longer blind, and he was carrying the most precious – and intriguing – cargo around in his belly.

Pure life, young and unadulterated, ripe for the harvesting. A child with the Byakugan – a newborn child – should be easy to harvest.

But he had to be extra careful with his planning now because the Hyuuga brat had surrounded himself with powerful friends. Uzumaki Naruto, the Kyuubi; the Kazekage and his brother; the Hokage and her assistant; Sharingan no Kakashi, and that was just the tip of the list. Hitatsu needed to make sure he neutralized any threat to his plan and he needed to make sure that no one was able to interfere with it as well. So the moment he completed his plan, he began to scout for a secluded place where no one would ask questions. He found an abandoned warehouse and began the renovations.

It was just as well Hitatsu had a project to occupy his time, for, as the months went by, he was able to determine the best course of action for dealing with the threats. Divide and conquer became his mantra, and by the middle of the eighth month – or so Hitatsu estimated – his plan’s preparations were complete. The warehouse was fitted with all the equipment he needed, neat and sterile. The rooms he built were littered with traps meant to kill, but Hitatsu was no fool. What was meant to kill ninja would only delay them, but it would give him enough time to harvest the Byakugan. Now all he needed to do was to acquire his target. It was simple enough. Wave a little money under the noses of thugs and they were your slaves. A little extra sealed the promise of care. Hitatsu only had to wait for the delivery.

He didn’t have to wait long – only a few hours, really – before his prize was delivered to him. Hitatsu enjoyed the way Neji writhed as he was forced down on the table and bound, how wide his eyes went when he saw Hitatsu and the scalpel in his hand. Hitatsu gave his little helpers the rest of their pay and watched them go before he turned his attention back to Neji. He began to hum as he worked, drowning out the Hyuuga’s screams as he cut into flesh.


“Where is he!?” Gaara snarled as he pinned Naruto up against the wall of his apartment. Those expressive electric blue eyes flashed orange and Naruto shoved the former Kazekage away from him.

“I don’t know!” Naruto yelled back. “But if you give me a goddamn minute I’ll get you to him!”

Gaara fumed as he watched Naruto let Kyuubi come forward, blue eyes tinged orange as he scented for Neji. The blonde only cocked his head in warning to Gaara before he moved, bolting from the apartment to the street. The pair ran, Naruto quickly flashing a few seals. A toad appeared on Naruto’s shoulder and then was gone in a puff of smoke as the pair continued on. Gaara didn’t care where the beast had gone; he needed to get to Neji.

Naruto’s nose led them to an old warehouse in the bad district of Konoha, and Gaara brushed past the blonde toward the door. A hard grip caught his wrist and Gaara turned to snarl at Naruto. The snarl died in his throat as he saw those rusty eyes staring at him.

“Don’t be hasty,” Naruto whispered – or was it Kyuubi? – as he released his hold. “We need to wait for backup.”

“You wait for backup.” Gaara hissed. “It isn’t your mate that needs you.”

Naruto’s face hardened and he said nothing. He shoved Gaara forward and summoned another toad, instructing it to wait here for their backup. The toad dutifully nodded and Naruto turned to Gaara, flashing him a glare as a signal to move. Carefully, the pair entered the building, closing the door behind them. Their eyes adjusted and slowly they began to move forward. They escaped the first trap by sheer luck. They bounded through the other traps – obvious now that they knew what to look for – and made it to the final room.

Dead silence as they entered but both could smell blood. Naruto centered on it and glided forward, leading Gaara across the floor. As the approached the far wall, there was the muffled din of screaming.

“Neji.” Gaara hissed, but Naruto help him back.

“Easy. Tripwire.”

Gaara snarled but let Naruto disarm the trap – and felt himself tumble head over heels down a set of stairs. Gaara turned back just in time to see Naruto crushed by thick pieces of lumber and he could only hope Naruto had managed to pull off a kawarimi no jutsu in time. Still, Gaara was on his own now, so he crept silently down the stairs until he emerged into a cavernous room filled with all sorts of strange gadgets. His eyes settled on Neji, lying prone on a table, naked and bound, his chest still slowly rising. He was alive, which relieved Gaara immensely, but what drove that relief away was Neji’s flat and bloody stomach. There were sutures showing he’d been taken care of, though not cleaned, but Gaara ignored that.

Where was his child?

Gaara stepped forward and felt his heart stop as he saw two tiny forms lying on a far table. Bloody and sticky, the twins were too silent, too still. Gaara quickly approached and felt the snare close around his ankle. He was too late to avoid it, upended and suspended upside down above the table upon which his children lay. He studied them – the girl was moving, however lethargically, but the boy – he was so small and blue, a scar crossing his right eye, still fresh and pink with blood. Gaara felt the anger rising, bubbling in his chest, and sent forth his chakra to the Hyoutan.

“You’ll be finding you won’t be able to reach your chakra.” Hitatsu said, emerging from the shadows with a jar in hand. Gaara snarled, and the madman only smiled.

“Did you think I hadn’t planned on you getting this far? Don’t be silly. I’ve been watching you, Sabaku no Gaara. That thread is designed especially for you.”

“What did you do to my son?” Gaara roared, struggling against the thread around his ankle, imperceptibly working a kunai out of his belt.

“Nothing he won’t notice.” Hitatsu replied. “Not for much longer.”

Hitatsu held up the jar in his hand and Gaara went cold. Floating in the liquid was an orb, silvery and blank, like the Hyuuga clan’s. Slowly, the madman pulled the orb from the jar and held his hand up, grinning. Gaara looked to his small son, back to Hitatsu and roared in anger. Hitatsu only ‘tsk’ed and dropped the eye back into the liquid, moving over to Neji he stroked the Hyuuga’s face lovingly before he picked up a needle and syringe, holding the tip just above the vein in Neji’s arm.

“Get away from my cousin, you bastard!”