บท 77: Unexpected Consequences
Having finished the mission, the two teams met inside the fort's first floor. They had already checked the building for valuables with Neji having combed through it for Hyuga relics with his Byakugan. All he needed to do was report his findings to the Hokage and his clan to see if they wanted to take further action.
"Well, that was easy. I was hoping we'd meet a jonin or two." Himiko casually admitted.
"Well, what did you expect. These were bandits, not trained soldiers. Even if they were affiliated with and tasked by a great nation, it's unlikely strong combatants would be stationed here. Plausible deniability is important with that kind of operation. Though, it's possible one or two were present but were taken out before they could properly get their bearings." Naga uncaringly commented.
"Hey, at least you guys got some action. We barely got one each." Tenten complained, annoyed that these two had the nerve to complain after getting all the fun.
"I disagree. This was a splendid experience. To witness their strength is inspiring." Lee exuberantly rebutted, a passionate fire burning in his eyes.
"Seriously Lee?" Tenten asked, deflating at his positivity.
"Yes" he immediately replied.
From their positions, Naga and Himiko noticed their friend's silence.
Kamui hadn't said much since they assembled. She also seemed oddly quiet as if she were contemplating something. Of course, Neji was the same, but his was less contemplating and more wary towards them all. Whereas previously he had mostly been wary of her, his caution extended to the whole group now. That said, it was obvious to all that cared to notice that his wariness was mostly focused on the silver-haired girl.
"Are you okay Kamui?" Naga asked.
Kamui looked her in the eyes and sighed.
"I'm fine. I'm just considering somethings is all." She half-heartedly replied.
"What'cha thinking about? It's always healthy to talk about it. Wouldn't want to turn into a brooder." Himiko bluntly asked, drawing narrowed eyes from Naga and the nearby Yugao with her lack of tact.
"*Sigh…* Sure. It's just… I crafted a chakra sword that made killing those bandits as simple as cutting grass. I felt no resistance as I ran through them; it was so… easy. Without needing skill, strength, or even experience, anyone could have used it to commit mass genocide. It made me think-" She paused, taking a deep breath while sorting her thoughts.
She continued absentmindedly, "It reminded me on how fragile our lives are and how someone with a similar jutsu could come and tear through Konoha shinobi…, through my friends and family with little difficulty. It honestly made me realize that I'm going to have to redesign my seals with far more security in mind…"
Hearing her student's philosophical struggle, Yugao chuckled, drawing a mild glare from Kamui. The others maintained their silence, though the members of Guy's team were startled at what kind of jutsu would trigger that type of thought. One of them didn't need to ponder though, he saw the whole thing.
"Well, what you're feeling is one of the driving reasons why peace is so hard to achieve in this world. We have such potent means at our disposal and so do our enemies. Seeing such power, we seek to eliminate threats before they're used against us." Yugao explained. Pausing, she realized she had started rambling. Bringing herself back on focus, she continued, "All that is to say, that realization is important, but it is also what gives birth to malevolent shinobi like the third Raikage, current Tsuchikage, and your father's predecessor. From that realization and their feelings of responsibility toward the people they sought to protect, they issued orders that would make a demon proud."
Kamui's eyes widened at her sensei's words. It was something she 'knew' for a while, but this was the first time she could start to truly 'understand.'
Neji, for his part, flinched at Yugao's words. Unlike Kamui, he had a far greater understanding of the lengths people would go to in fear of other powers. After all, both the lives of him and his direct family members were defined by that fear. It was due to this that the implications of Yugao's words tore at his morality. It was only for a brief moment, but his mind unconsciously drew a parallel between him and his grandfather, a parallel that had him tasting rancid bile in his throat.
Still, that wasn't the only parallel he drew.
"Hmph, you didn't look all that regretful when you butchered those bandits. You did it so casually." Neji spat out with unmistakable spite.
"Neji! That is most unyouthful!" Guy angrily shouted with his hands on his hips.
"What? Did I lie? You didn't see it. There was no honor in her strikes, nor did skill come into play. Those people were put down without care, hesitation, or even consideration for their status as humans. They were like sickly dogs consigned to their unescapable fate." Neji furiously explained.
The two jonin looked at the genin with stern expressions. Kamui with an uncomfortable questioning look. Lee and Tenten unconsciously took a few steps back from Kamui, which didn't go unnoticed by anyone. Himiko's eye flared in rage at the ignorant boy. Naga…
"Really? That's why you're angry? Because she mercilessly killed the targets she was assigned to kill? You hate her for doing her duty without the hesitation that leads to mistakes and casualties? What are you, a child?" Naga coldly asked, her eyes narrowed at the ignorant boy.
Neji burned with anger at her ignorance. Her sophistry clearly sought to divert the argument away from his point.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a monster like yourself would algin themselves with a demon. You two newcomers aren't that different from her after all." He scathingly stated.
"Neji." He heard a deadly whisper from the silver-haired demon. "Let me make this clear." Her sharingan faded, replaced by reptilian slits. "I frankly don't care if a worthless insect like you insults me." If he'd ever wanted evidence of the eyes being windows to the soul, he'd have it now. He could feel her silent anger bear down on his mind like a guillotine. "But insult my friends, my comrades, and I have no problems 'educating' you on just how demonic I can be."
Unconsciously, he took a step back from fear, a primordial fear he hadn't felt since his younger years with his beloved sister. Noticing what had happened, the silence that now dominated their surroundings, and the looks of contempt glaring at him from the others, Neji gave a prominent grunt and turned around, hoping that his false front would hide his weakness.
"Neji." Guy sternly stated, stopping his retreat. "Why are you really angry? I've known you for over a year and your unyouthful hatred of young Kamui isn't something you would truly feel in this way. We know each other very well; our team is just that close. So, all of us on our team know you aren't that ignorant of how our profession works. So, bare your true feelings. Only with the truth can we truly reignite your flames of youth."
His passion met a brick wall, however. Neji turned to look guy in the eyes, taking a moment to fully process the, in his opinion, intrusive request. Still, it wasn't like he was trying to keep it a secret. In fact, he'd prefer it if everyone knew, especially 'her.'
His lips curled up into a sneer.
"You want to know why?" He asked with a strange combination of smugness and hatred. Then, the smugness died, leaving only a smoldering fury. "She exists; that's why. She's a blight that tore apart my family with every action she took."
The others were taken aback by his answer.
With a raised eyebrow, Kamui confusedly asked, "Can you explain? I don't remember ruining any families. In fact, to my knowledge, the only real interactions I've been allowed to have with the clans are to discuss techniques. I don't see how I could have had any influence on your family dynamics."
At her question, Neji broke out into a fit of giggles, which crescendoed into a maddened laughter, causing the others to feel more than a little uncomfortable, especially his teammates.
"Y-you… you don't know, do you?" He asked in his laughter. Without waiting for a response, he continued, "No, of course you don't. It was a well-kept secret after all."
"Spit it out." Naga commanded impatiently.
Not paying her any mind, Neji looked directly into Kamui's eyes with those same burning eyes and continued, "You weren't the only anomaly born on the day of the nine-tails incident; My little sister was too and like you, she was an enigma of our clan."
The eyes of everyone in the group shot open in shock. Kamui's most of all.
"What…?" Kamui muttered.
Guy's eyes narrowed at what was being discussed, but he didn't stop it, although he had a feeling he would be reprimanded for letting it happen.
Yugao was of the same mind.
"Preposterous. If there were such a person, we'd know about it." Yugao rebutted, not believing that someone like her student would be unknown for over a decade and a half, especially to a member of the ANBU like herself.
"Humph. It was a well-kept secret, one only known to the inner circle of the Hyuga Clan and her family of course. The why is quite obvious. Unlike our demon friend over here, her chakra was not only compatible with ours, but could enhance it. Based on the doctor's opinions, they believed she could give birth, and they confirmed that belief 14 years later."
"Wait, but for them to confirm such a thing, they would have had to…" Lee somberly whispered, his focus latching on to the implied tragedy.
"Yes, for her whole life they locked her up and at the age of fourteen, my grandfather forced himself on her, my sister, and through that twisted union, two kids were born." Neji somberly confirmed, his eyes having shifted to the ground. Between his gritted teeth, clenched hands, and hunched posture, his grief could almost be felt.
"That's horrible…" "How could they?" Tenten and Himiko muttered respectively.
Lee and Guy were stunned speechless.
Naga's eyes narrowed but chose to remain silent.
"That's a really sad story… but how is any of it my fault? I'm always one for taking responsibility for my mistakes and all, but I don't see how I could have played a role here." Kamui asked as tactfully as she could. Although internally horrified, without seeing it, it couldn't faze her; her experience in the minds of those scientists had dulled any reflexive feelings she experienced, something her sensei was currently realizing.
That's not to say she wasn't incredibly disturbed; it just wasn't as novel as it was to everyone else, and she wanted to keep the original point of him explaining this story in mind without it getting lost.
The others, especially Team guy, were horrified at Kamui's question. It was so incredibly insensitive; they didn't know how to react.
"Do you really not see the writing on the wall miss 'unmatched genius?' Your very existence served to inform the elders responsible just how valuable my sister was to the clan. Every achievement had them double checking the security measures to prevent her escape. Every story had them review the list of people who knew to see if any of them weren't needed. Without you existing, she may have gotten the chance to live a normal life; the clan's greed may not have grown to the level where they'd commit such extremes. Without you… my mother and father would still be alive…"
Kamui took a moment to sort her thoughts and feelings. The story was heavy, though not unexpected for the most part. There was an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach at the fact that such atrocities were going on in the village without her awareness. What's worse, that could have easily been her under different circumstances. Still, she wouldn't back down; she couldn't back down. Her instincts wouldn't allow it.
Unconsciously, her cold rationality further asserted dominance over her thoughts. Recognizing an emotional moment, her mind fell back on the same solution it had employed when processing the memories of others.
Staring into Neji's eye with her draconic eyes, she asked, her tone a little colder then intended, "Let me ask you a question then. If you were so concerned over your family, why not tell the village? Just a hint of this girl's existence would have helped." The other's eyes widened at the question, horrified at the lack of compassion. The cold logic grated at their ears, giving them the impression of an unfeeling judge unjustly ripping away at a delicate situation.
Hearing this, Neji's hatred began burning even brighter at the audacity of the question.
Without pause, Kamui continued, "Regardless of what seal was placed on you, all you had to do was present yourself to the Hokage with the seal shown. Unless they're at the level of an Uzumaki, there's no way to actively conceal it. You can't even claim that your sister was a hostage. If you're right and she's like myself, she could have removed that seal whenever she wanted. In fact, the only real prison they could have bound her with was her own mind. No, you didn't—" Before she could continue tearing into the enraged genin, she was interrupted.
"Kamui! That's enough!" Yugao demanded.
Kamui was startled out of her cold rebuttal. Turning to the group, she was shocked to find their horrified faces as they looked at her. None of them looked to be directing any ire toward Neji. No, they were doing so towards her.
'Why are they looking at me like that?'
['It's just what humans do. They're ruled by their emotions. I honestly don't understand it myself. It's a reoccurring theme in the memories I've accumulated from Kurama, Indra, and even Fugaku. All of them acted in erroneous ways based off them.'] Yume voiced her thoughts, for once not having the answer herself.
"What? Am I wrong?" She asked the group and more specifically her sensei.
"Youuuu…" Neji growled out.
Without warning, he lunged at Kamui, fingers extended, poised to pierce her heart with the most powerful blast of gentle fist he could muster.
Without hesitation, a handle appeared in Kamui's hand. Igniting it, she drew her hand back, ready to strike this assassin down.
Before it could come to it though, two blurs flew to intercept, one black and one green.
Before Neji's head could be severed from his torso, Yugao caught Kamui's wrist, while Guy did so with Neji.
"Neji! Have you lost your mind!?" Guy roared, an unusual seriousness marring his normally jovial face.
"Kamui! Were you really going to kill him!?" Yugao shouted disbelievingly, surprised her student would move to kill a comrade.
"Hmph. Typical. Protecting the Hokage's kid." Neji grudgingly muttered, receiving disbelieving looks from Himiko and Naga at his self-overestimation. The other members of team Guy were of the same mind, though even more concerned considering he had admitted to being completely outclassed earlier in the day.
"Sensei, did you not see what he just attempted. Without provocation, he just attempted to assassinate me, a comrade of Konoha, without hesitation. He's proven, without remorse, to be a traitor to Konoha who would willingly betray his comrades for little more than a tantrum. What should I have done?" Kamui asked with narrowed eyes.
"Damn it Kamui! You restrain him! Clearly, he's not in his right mind! Were you listening to his story at all!? Of course he's going to act foolishly, but that doesn't mean you kill him! Have you ever heard of empathy!?" Yugao shouted to a visibly annoyed Kamui.
"Sure, I have empathy. I feel very bad for him in fact. His tragedy is heartbreaking." Kamui evenly stated, with an unchanging countenance. Then, her draconic eyes peered into hers, "That said, that doesn't change the reality of what just happened. Merely from proposing solutions that could have helped him, he attempted to assassinate me. What about what just happened justifies that?"
"What's your problem!? He's obviously traumatized from what happened. After what you said, are you seriously saying you can't see why he attacked you!?" Tenten disbelievingly rebuked.
"Indeed. While Neji's actions are most unyouthful, so was your response. I do not believe judging him will solve anything. As you saw, it only made things worse." Lee firmly rebuked. Uncharacteristically, his eyes narrowed, "Also, if judgement is passed on him, I request that we bring this to the Hokage. There is simply too much we do not know."
"Agreed. As his jonin sensei, I will take charge of him and report everything to the Hokage." Guy firmly stated.
"That sounds good. Let's travel back in two separate groups then. Normally, I'd say we just have Kamui teleport us back so we can resolve this as quickly as possible, but in this case, I believe both need time to cool their heads. Well…, in our case, I would say our team needs to warm her back up. She's usually more empathetic than this…" Yugao acknowledged.
"I think you're missing the point." Naga suddenly spoke up. "It's not a question of empathy; it's one of understanding. If you remember, Kamui's eyes have given her insight into a world of tragedy far worse than what was done to Neji, so she feels for him. Her levels of disgust are likely even higher than any of yours as she has visual memories and emotions to compare it to. In fact, I can feel vestiges of the emotions running through her head, supporting that point.
"Speaking from personal experience, people like us simply don't let those feelings cloud our perceptions of reality. Of course, that doesn't mean we're right. Emotions are a part of it, but since we experience them differently, understanding the way others do so is much harder. Everything she said is true from an objective viewpoint. It's just ignorant of the perspective of someone actually in that situation. It's her putting herself in that situation and simulating how she would behave. That's the disconnect. While that means that she's not actually being empathetic, that's not from a lack of trying. The best any of us, including all of you, can get to understanding his situation is sympathy."
"Hmm. I guess that makes sense. Still, we'll be traveling in two separate groups. Guy can go first. We'll follow from a couple of miles back. It'll give us some separation, while keeping our team close enough to support yours in case of an ambush on the way back." Yugao stated, receiving a nod from Guy.
The two jonin took their time planning out their route, while the genin talked amongst themselves.
With the groups, you could see Tenten trying to calm down her teammate, while Lee gave motivational speeches of all the 'youthful' training they would do once they got back to the village.
On the other side, Kamui was chatting with Himiko as if the whole thing hadn't happened. It really struck home to everyone who saw this that, perhaps for her, nothing of consequence had. There were no signs of grudges or tension in her countenance.
'Perhaps letting her read through those scientist's minds had a bigger impact than I thought… Or does it have to do with her being part dragon…? If Naga's mind works similarly, it might be. *groan…*" She let out a long frustrated groan.
Her thoughts continued, 'Regardless, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I might have to bring in Iruka for those fucking sensitivity classes they're offering in the academy now.' Yugao internally groaned at the thought. 'When I was told I'd be a jonin sensei, I didn't realize that sensitivity would be something I'd be teaching. Troublesome…'
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Falsic
Falsic Yes, Kamui is using cold logic to tear into an abuse victim’s actions. No, this is not me, as the author, taking any personal stances or voicing any of my own personal opinions on this. This is simply one of Kamui’s flaws, one that couldn’t become obvious until a situation like this presented itself. As for why she’s colder than seen previously, it’s because she’s being directly accused for something she personally ‘did’, which brought out her colder, emotion-inhibiting thought process. Basically, she’s defending herself, so she’s focusing on the original argument versus letting the emotions brought on by the tragedy dull her ‘defense’. Although this is all explained in the story, I wanted to clarify it here too in case anybody misunderstood. Of course, as always with scenes like this, reader feedback would be helpful.
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