Naruto Fan Fiction / Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction / Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Fan Fiction ❯ The False Apocalypse ❯ Torturous Feelings ( Chapter 33 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

The upper echelon of the Others meet in council and Lord Torture is shown to be a man few wish to cross. Meanwhile a group of battle happy mercenaries weren�t too happy about Jao�s peaceful resolution. A short but sweet battle ensues. The next morning something is troubling Nazomishi as Naruto and Hinata approach their first goal, a port.

Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction / Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction / Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Martial Arts / Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 01.16.2010 | Pages: 6 | Words: 13.3K | Visits: 212 | Status: Completed

The False Apocalypse

Shinobi Saga

Chapter 33

Torturous Feelings

Disclaimer: See chapter 1

Seven figures entered a sparsely candle lit room and took places around a large wooden table with eight chairs. All seven wore long flowing robes as if to a ritual. Their heads were covered so that only the occasional gleaning from the candles could reveal their faces.

“Report, how faired the mission?” The dominating figure in the room commanded as the others coiled back fearing the meeting to come.

“It was a failure, Lord Torture.” A battle hardened and frightening woman answered blatantly while lowering her head ever so slightly. She had deep green hair on the brink of black. It was pinned up by a hair pin; both were just barely visible under her hood. Beneath the ritualistic robes for the meeting it was impossible to tell what she was wearing. Her face looked old and evil though there wasn't a wrinkle on her face. She looked as if death itself had taken her face and cursed it with its own torturous visage.

“So you failed to retrieve Lord Zansatsu… Why am I not surprised? And how exactly did you fail against such weaklings?” This Lord Torture sat high in his chair and spoke with demeaning authority. The Others knew not to cross him verbally or otherwise. He, in many ways, could be as bad as Lord Massacre himself.

“They wouldn't speak!” Torment shouted as quickly as possible. “T-they …” Torment soon realized the error in his outburst and stuttered momentarily before being interrupted by his immediate superior.

“Torment here was having too much fun playing with them. If it weren't for me, Lord Zansatsu would never have gotten through to him. Does he have to serve under me, Torture? He acts entirely on impulse. He never thinks about the consequences. He's a childish fool who doesn't deserve a place among us.” She pleaded. Among the six seats there were three masters and three apprentices. Of the eight Lord Zansatsu was the leader and Lord Torture was his apprentice, the man temporarily in command of the group. The three other Lords served directly under him and under them their apprentices. Together they made up this small council of similar beings.

“It is the will of Lord Zansatsu. Do you wish to argue his orders?” Torture spoke as if it made little difference. Even the Lords on this council were replaceable in his opinion. Arguing the orders of either himself, or much worse, Lord Zansatsu assuredly meant death.

“N-no Lord Torture, I would never…” She coiled back realizing her mistake in speaking out. Moments like this rarely ended well.

“Then I suggest you prepare your own words more carefully because to me it sounded very much like you don't like the way our Lord has arranged us. Besides, where were you when the mission failed? I saw the whole thing, you were useless.” Torture finished with malice in his voice as he raised his hand to eye level with his palm up. A small, crystal orb came flying rapidly through the room into his hand. “Don't ever lie to me again Famine or it is your head I will use to begin the ritual.” Torture placed the orb on a pedestal in front of him as Famine recoiled in fear of the man knowing his threat to be true. Torture's name gave more insight into his personality that anyone would ever want to know. Those who crossed him always found themselves in one of his deepest, darkest, torture rooms. She cringed every time she thought of the place. The fact that he would forgo the torture and move strait to the kill showed how much he cared for her and their group. Still, that is all the love he had for them, to forgo his playtime for a raw kill. It was only too bad for her that she knew how painful his methods of a so called `raw kill' could be.

“Well I just don't see why we even need him. Can't we just kill them all right now? That's their purpose isn't it, to die?” The figure to Torture's right spoke up. Blond, nearly white hair and a childlike face just barely met the light of a candle for an instant before retreating back into the darkness of his hood.

“Yes, Nothing, the purpose of the world is to cease existing. However, our purpose is to create a new world, one whose purpose is to exist. That is why we need Lord Zansatsu. Only he holds the key to creating that world. Only he and his physical presence can perform the final incantation.”

“So there is a purpose aside from attaining a world without existence. Intriguing…” The boy interlaced his fingers within themselves. He would have to spend countless hours contemplating this new piece of information. The `child's' mind was blatantly unstable by human standards. From the moment he first looked out into the world he contemplated its existence. Of every creature he had ever met only three had ever struck him as wise enough to answer his questions. Lord Zansatsu's words rang true to him as did the words of Lord Torture and his own master. Though lord Zansatsu had only been a remote voice. To hear one of them further the meaning of existence… he didn't quite know what it meant.

“That is correct, Nothing. And what of your Mission?” The boy simply smirked as his lips became visible within the candlelight. He reached inside his long druid like sleeves and pulled out a small vile. Within the vile there rested a golden liquid that seemed to be taking crystalline shape. Such an object was difficult to describe. It was warm enough to be liquid but cold enough to have frosted over on the sides of the container. It was almost jell like and yet it seemed pure as the clearest crystal. It glowed, as if with the very essence of life.

“You are sure it is the soul of a Jedi?” Torture questioned, having suffered too much failure this day.

“I could feel it; the energy echoed through the city, he was one source.” Nothing's emotionless voice spoke as dead as a dampened bell. Nothing's own master turned to him with a satisfied grin on his face. At least his apprentice could do as he was asked.

“And you chose to attack one of the weaker ones?” Torture asked inquisitively as if confirming that his orders were fallowed.

“Yes, Lord Torture.” Nothing answered slower but with more firmness. The boy's voice was strange, almost disembodied. When he spoke it was as if he did not really exist. His manner of speech

“Good, good, we wouldn't want to lose future allies now would we?” Torture announced to the room. Not a moment later the massive door to the circular room flung open and another robed woman rushed in, neglecting to close the door. She speed through the room and knelt by Lord Torture's seat.

“Lord Torture…” The lord's eyes hardened with anger at the outburst. In an instant he grabbed her by the neck and stood from his seat. Her shorter body dangled in the air from his monstrous grip, helpless and frightened.

“You are interrupting an important meeting.” Torture stated with malice as he looked into her eyes with fury.

“Sir…sir…” She tried to get out but his grip was crushing her throat. After a few moments of her struggling to breathe he slowly set her on the ground and released his powerful grip. She immediately fell to the floor gasping for air, clutching her own throat as if it would help.

“Spit it out already and pray it is good news because I cannot bear another failure this day.”

“Lord Zansatsu…” She gasped for air once again as she threatened to feint from the dizziness of the loss of oxygen. “He's…he's dead sir.” She finally got out. One hand pulled away from her neck as she looked at it, noticing blood where Torture's grip had broken the skin. She shivered from the pain knowing the message had been delivered.

“HE WHAT!”

“Konoha… They executed his container. I lost track of the body after the execution. The Zate, they simply vanished sir.” She struggled to return to a kneeling position as she spoke, knowing it would be an insult to do otherwise. Lord Torture was a sadist in every meaning of the word and he would not hesitate to kill over the smallest indiscretion.

“You IMBASILE!” Torture kicked the woman in the face with such force that her rag like body flipped through the air several times before smashing into the stony walls that surrounded the room. Blood poured forth from the dismembered area that was once her face. It was painfully obvious from the sound and the unnatural position her body was in that the kick had broken several bones and torn several limbs from their sockets.

“Why didn't you stop it? Why didn't you fallow them?” Torture demanded quickly as she attempted to coil back in fear. Despite her attempts, her body was too far gone to even make such attempts, much less without causing herself more pain. “Without him all our efforts are for nothing!” He screamed as he drew closer to the woman.

“P-please, sir.” She pleaded, she knew her time had come. Delivering bad news to that man had never been a good idea. The fact that she was `Silence,' the spy and messenger for their group meant that she had the worst job in the entire organization. There had been eight before her to take the title of Silence but she was the first to have taken the job without a seat on the Council of Eight. Now it seemed she too would become a former Silence.

“Don't sir me you pathetic whelp. You're soul does not deserve Hell after a failure like this!” Torture raised his hand, turning it palm up and summoned a blaze of fire which lit the room with intensity.

“No, NO! FORGIVE ME!” She screamed in one final plea before she evaporated under the intensity of the flames. Black scorch marks remained as the only evidence that she had once existed. Her scorch mark was now the ninth added to the walls of the room.

Torture returned to his seat with a sigh. “Torment, you have a chance to redeem yourself.” Torture declared as he turned to the slightly taller man.

“Master?” Torment asked excitedly as a grin grew on his face.

“You will search out Orochimaru and acquire his assistance by any means necessary. I don't care if you have to burn and drown him so long as he lives and his hands are intact. Remember, no killing.”

“Yes, yes Master, It will be done.” Torment nodded in acceptance of his assignment.

“Lord Torture, what about me, surely you don't expect him to do this by himself?”

“You're failure is of a different nature, you are going back to Konoha and finding any trace of Lord Zansatsu's DNA. Hair, skin, anything will do so long as it is from him. If he is truly dead then we will revive him with the blood of the village.”

“Yes sir…” Famine resigned herself to her mission. She didn't like her apprentice being off by himself, he was too reckless but she couldn't argue with Torture either. Among the eight seats in the room there was a place for Zansatsu and his apprentice Lord Torture. Without their true master here Lord Torture was in effect the leader of the group while the other six on the council were merely his right hand men so to speak. They were the few strong enough to be trusted with the more difficult tasks Zansatsu would give out through Torture's mouth.

“How can you be so sure Orochimaru still lives, Lord Torment? You watched that fight yourself. He turned on Nagato and just barely escaped. With the condition his body was in, he'd be lucky if he took the body of a peasant.” One of the Lords of the three remaining members asked. His given name was Oblivion and his apprentice was Sting. Sting had learned a long time ago to keep quiet during the meetings. His words only got him in trouble. He had survived the fate of Silence once and he did not plan on going through that again. Outside of the council room he was a quick talking and strait to the point individual who struck just as precisely with his short, poisoned dagger. Despite being a short man, little taller than Yoda he was respected within the organization for the efficient ways in which he carried out assassinations. Poison masters rarely failed at assassination missions.

Oblivion on the other hand was a tall and wrinkled old man with long, unkempt, white hair. For a quiet old man he was probably the one Torture could trust the most. Though he would seem frail if one were to look at his unhidden body he was nearly as powerful as Torture himself; perhaps not so much in raw hand to hand combat but in his ability to cause mass annihilation. Between him and his apprentice there were few who could attempt to take them down and survive the first few seconds. Within the council he was known as the wisest and most contemplative of the group.

“He made the transfer more than a month ago. His body is fresh and durable for the moment. For a human he is surprisingly resilient. I sense he's still alive.” Torment replied. One of the things that made him the most powerful of the present members was how he was trained in the Force by Lord Zansatsu. The rest of the Others had no idea how he had done it but they did know how powerful he could be. It wasn't wise to cross him.

“True, but for how log? Against the Rinnegan there's no telling what technique could kill him before we find him.”

“The conversation is closed, Oblivion. If Orochimaru is truly dead then we will simply search his facilities and find his techniques ourselves. Besides, I have a feeling he is one of us. Council dismissed.” Smirks filled the room at the thought. The Others were finally making their move.

---Later That Night Back In The Land Of Rice---

Tenzo had spent the last four hours constructing a wide array of wooden buildings in a labyrinth format to mess with any potential enemies and lure them into one on one combat. Such a situation was perfect for the Zate and their lightsabers. Around the Zate's temporary housing a number of earth users formed a twenty foot high fortified wall. Such a wall wouldn't be much to Shinobi but it would be more than enough to sway an army such as the one they had met earlier that day.

A quarter moon hung low in the sky and rose as Yamato finally found his long dreamt of rest. The extensive use of his bloodline was exhausting. Still it gave him a proud feeling to know he was needed. Master Yoda had specifically requested that he work with the carpenters on the construction of the city. It was agreed that he wouldn't do any of the fine details but he would create the framework for some of the more elaborate arcs and decretive structures. The main framework for the final city would be handled by droids once Anakin created them and located a decent source for forging the durasteel needed for the city framework. Around the durasteel framework the Force users would use clones to levitate the tens of millions of enormous stone blocks necessary for the final temple. While the former Jedi used the Force to obtain the large blocks other droids would be used to created and position the further necessary stones. As the plans went the Zate figured it would take about half a year to construct the temple and a base framework for the city and its walls.

Many worried that the Others would become problematic and that they could better use their time training for future threats. Still, the Masters had come to the decision that this would be for the better so long as techniques used to create the city furthered the training of the Zate to some degree. They could not sense that the Others were an immediate threat. For that reason their new home, the new beacon of hope to the universe became first priority.

By the time the moon had risen about a third of the way into the sky most of the Zate and its allies had retired to their new rooms within the encampment. Still a number of Shinobi had gathered to discuss their new roles within the walls of Bevelle.

“I thought Tenzo was coming?” Hayate asked when Kakashi closed the door. The room was a moderate size and there were about fifteen Shinobi there. Among them Yuugao Uzuki leaned lovingly on Hayate's shoulder. The last few months had taken its toll on their relationship but the time they had got to spend together after the war ended had been more than worth it.

“He's had a long day. Unlike the first, his bloodline really takes it out of him.” Kakashi replied, fully understanding of the situation. Like his own Sharingan, the wood bloodline wasn't something meant to be used for long periods of time. The only reason he was able to go as long as he did was because of the soldier pills he had taken periodically once he got started.

“I can believe it, building a city's not an easy task, even an encampment of this size. At least we have a roof over our heads while we build the city. What job do they have you on?” Hayate asked the Cyclops nin.

“I'm with the Force users. Master Yoda gave me a Dimension stone before we left and I'm supposed move stone blocks as exercise. They want me to start off small while the Masters handle the large blocks. At least it's not D-ranks all over again.” Kakashi sighed in relief at his last statement. Oh how he hated D-ranks. Regardless of how he felt about the kids he was supposed to train as a cell captain, the thing he dreaded about it was the D-ranks.

“I hear you there. What about you Zabuza.” A hard stair ensued for a few seconds before Hayate got a reply.

“They have me cutting trees with my sword.” He replied with a somewhat annoyed tone.

“I guess we'll be working together then. I heard Haku's going to be working with Aoshi quarrying the stone.”

“Seriously, well, at least she's ecstatic.” Zabuza replied still annoyed with his job. Oh how he wished he could be one of the perimeter guards or… something better than the `hunter of the immovable forest'.

“I wonder why they are doing that? She's not a Force user is she?” One of the former Chuunin in the room asked.

“They can use water and ice. They can cut the stones with water jutsu and break them off from the rock face by freezing the water between the block and the cliff. The two of them could make the large stones faster than a thousand civilians working on it. Once they start using clones those two will be masters at it.” Sasuke noted intelligently, having arrived back from visiting his brother about an hour earlier.

“Right skills for the right job I guess. Those Zate sure know how to put everyone to good use.” Kakashi added in his usual board tone only to notice Zabuza scoffing at the comment. “Well, you do have a big sword.” At which comment Kakashi narrowly avoided a Kunai zooming past his head.

“hehe..heh…Soo, uh, how's Itachi doing?” Kakashi asked shakily after removing the kunai from the wall behind him.

“They still have him sedated but his recovery's going better than expected. Kaoru's working with an Anakin clone to build a Synthetic Bacta tank, whatever that means.” Sasuke didn't have a clue what one of these `Bacta tanks' were. All he had got out of Kaoru was that it would greatly assist in Itachi and Kimimaro's recovery.

“Ah, a Bacta tank, It's the preferred recovery method from their home planet. According to Rei Kolto tanks work better but they've found it impossible to synthesize. I guess as long as were away from a dimension where Kolto naturally grows were stuck using Bacta.”

“Okay… that explains what it does, but what is it?” Sasuke sighed at the pointless answer.

“It's a large tank filled with a bacteria that mimics the body's natural healing functions. Being immersed in the stuff can dramatically accelerate the body's natural healing rate. She never mentioned how fast it was but she did mention it was helpful in repairing nerve damage.”

“Wow, they can repair nerves without seals? I imagined that could be possible.”

“Neither did I but their technology is far more advanced than ours. There's no telling what to expect. From what I've heard it's slower on individual wounds than chakra but more absolute. Then there's the fact it can heal a far wider range of injuries. Inside one of those tanks they don't have to worry about outside interference. I have a feeling Kaoru and Rei will spend a great deal of time attempting to combine it with healing seals to make it more effective.”

“It's amazing what worlds have discovered without the ability to use chakra.” Sasuke commented with a nod. Hayate was about to make another comment when everyone in the room turned to the window as a wall of sand crashed down upon an unsuspecting man. Three more drew blades and attempted to slash at the sand that came towards them. They too were soon overcome by the all consuming sands. Moments later flashes of bluish white light flickered upon the buildings as if covering the entire compound. Someone had used a lightning style technique. Something was going on.

---Outside In Another Part Of The CompoundFifteen Minutes Earlier---

“That bastard Jao, I'll show him peaceful negations.” One of seventeen sneaky characters muttered as they marched towards the Zate encampment under the cloak of night. They leaped through the trees, using them to conceal their movement towards the base. As they drew closer it became evident that they could no longer use such methods to camouflage their actions. Eyes darted from the end of the tree line towards the walled encampment.

“Shit… they managed to build a wall since we left. How the hell did they manage that. It's huge.” One commented, amazed that so much had been constructed in only a few hours before another pushed his way in front of him to view the situation.

“Rin, do your thing.” A female covered in samurai armor a few feet away stepped forward with a smirk on her face. She began forming hand seals and after a few seconds she smashed her hand into the ground. In an instant there was a hole in the ground deep and wide enough for them all to fit in.

“Fallow me and stay close, the path will seal up on you if you get too far behind.” The others nodded accepting the terms of their movement. They weren't going over the wall, they were going under it. As they group of mercenaries walked under the encampment a cell of five of them fiddled around with some vials, preparing them for battle. The purple liquid within the vials were carefully spread onto their blades while other vials were wrapped with exploding tags designed to vaporize the poison within in an instant. Sadistic grins adorned their faces as they walked under the outer perimeter of the encampment. There would be blood tonight, they knew it.

Their movements under the fortified camp were slow and stealthy. They were warned early on that they would take things slow to maintain a surprise attack. If all went well they would kill off most of these fools in their sleep and leave a few good fights alive just long enough for a little fun.

The woman known as Rin was the first one out as she slowly expanded the hole and lifted them all up with an earthly elevator. With a few motions of his hand the leader gave out commands to his followers. Soon enough they all began their own paths between the wooden labyrinth of houses. Just as the mercenaries took their first steps a single voice drew their attention. All seventeen of them wore curious expressions at the thought that a single man would dare take them all on. They turned to face him almost indifferently as he the man were only going to be the first of a thousand deaths that night.

“Leave this place, you're not welcome here that you are not.” The figure stepped closer with the partial moon as the only source of light aside from a handful of dim street lamps that stood every dozen yards or so. The figure wore a blue kimono and white Hakama with a single blade to his left and a small cylinder to his right both held solely by his cloth belt. The most distinguishing aspect of the warrior was the blue screen that seemed to wrap around over his eye from his ear. They didn't know what it did but figured it served some communication purpose.

“Leave? Were only getting started…” The mercenary closest to the figure stated with mild satisfaction. Taking a step forward he drew his own Katana and began a charge towards the blue Zate. Raising his blade high into the air he hoped to end the battle with a quick slice of his blade. He moved quickly for someone in his field. Among the mercs his speed was nothing to be impressed by but by Shinobi standards it was nothing to laugh it. Most Chuunin would probably have trouble keeping up and most Genin would have trouble even fallowing it.

“A strike from the Shouten Style…” The blue Zate commented as his opponent drew closer. A streak of reflected moonlight fallowed the mercenaries blade as it seemed to cut the motionless warrior from neck to hip. Shock was evident on his face when his blade seemed to pass strait through, as if there were no mass to the form what so ever. His allies looked on in shock as the afterimage faded and appeared behind him in an instant. A few had kept up with the speed though it was a strain on their eyes. It was clear to them that the man had used Shunshin to evade the attack. Though how he managed to do so while simultaneously creating an afterimage was beyond them.

“Such an attack could never work on me.” The warrior noted with his back to his attacker. The Mercenary heard the voice and immediately turned for another slash, shocked that anyone could have evaded him so effortlessly. His blade was stopped in its tracks by two outstretched fingers over the Zate's right shoulder.

“That… that's impossible!” `How the hell did he block that. He wasn'teven facing me! Why cant I move my sword!' The merc thought in fear as he struggled to reclaim his blade. Somehow his opponent had a death grip upon the blade, the likes of which he had never imagined possible. Somehow this man's had done more with two fingers than most were capable of putting their entire body into it. He couldn't even budge the blade from the grip of this mysterious warrior.

“My skills as a swordsman far outweigh your own. None of you can hope to defeat me this night. Again I ask you to leave in peace, that I do. Continuing to fight will only lead to your meaningless slaughter.” The voice was calm and masculine though the warrior's high wouldn't have hinted that. His size was that of a fresh out of the academy Genin. Regardless of the warrior's size the tone of his voice was concerning to some of the more battle hardened of the group. The tone was something few had seen outside of a battlefield. Then there were his eyes. Those weren't the eyes of a child, not even children that survived the last great war had eyes like that.

“WHY YOU!” The mercenary who's blade was trapped between the Zate's fingers relinquished his blade, drawing a dagger from his belt in an attempt to slash him from behind. Every move the mercenary made was meaningless. Again the Zate vanished without a trace, leaving a momentary afterimage in his wake. Before any of the mercs could realize what happened a shower of blood rained down from the sky as the fool's head flew high into the sky.

“Mayuri…” One of the mercs whispered in shock that his ally had been defeated with such ease. Mayuri was no Shinobi but they knew him to be at a level on par with a high Chuunin. Whoever this guy was he was clearly Jounin level, and not any normal Jounin by any stretch of the imagination.

The Zate sighed, sensing that his opponents weren't about to back down. They were mercenaries who had been hired for a job. Regardless, it wasn't the job that motivated them. They took the job so they could fight. It was clear at this point that they didn't care that they had been ordered to back down, they wanted blood and they would have it weather it was an enemy's or their own.

“Do you wish to back down now that your ally has suffered such a humiliating defeat?” The warrior asked noticing the shocked looks he was receiving. The looks were surprising considering the thoughts he could feel from them. They wouldn't…“I feared as much, fine then, but remember you have made me your opponent. I will show no mercy.” The boy raised his now unsheathed blade with his right hand while holding firm on his sheath with his left.

“I am your opponent; feel free to strike when you are ready.” The Zate replied to the on looking mercenaries.

“That's impossible…” The man who had whispered the comment about his former ally continued, shocked by the raw skill their opponent was displaying. He took a firm look at their opponent, making every attempt to figure him out. That was when it hit him. He had red hair, a dramatic oddity around here. A cross shaped scar on his cheek, so that's why Jao ran away like a coward. “Battousai…” He growled as his eyes hardened. A few of the mercenaries were taken back by the sudden statement.

“The Battousai, are you sure?” Another mercenary questioned, taking a closer look himself. If it was then things were about to get a lot more interesting. He wasn't asking out of fear… he was asking out of excitement.

“There's no mistaking it, just look at him; a swordsman with unparalleled speed, red hair, and a cross shaped scar on his left cheek. It's him…” With the last remark the merc grinned in such a way that it was leaning towards a smirk.

“The Battousai you say? I think it's my turn, you guys go on with the plan, this one's mine.” A new face stepped out from behind the one known as Rin.

“I'm staying with you just in case.” Rin replied from behind as a few of the others grumbled for a moment but decided it was their best opportunity to get a good fight in.

“Don't worry, I don't plan on loosing.” Kenshin eyed the leaving members as his scouter registered their chakra signatures and alerted him to several approaching allies who would likely take care of them.

“You really should leave. Missing nin like yourselves should repent and seek a peaceful life. Your current path will only lead to your deaths.” Kenshin commented while reaffirming his combat stance.

“I guess that means you know who we are, impressive for a Genin, even one of your caliber. You must sleep with your bingo book.” Rin commented from behind her ally.

“Rin Ukoru and Jin Sousei, A-Class Missing nin of Iwagakure, correct? We Zate have logged all missing nin of the Shinobi Nations into our Scouters. I'm surprised you never did any research into our ranks. I believe your allies will be quite surprised when they realize there aren't any civilians.”

“What are you trying to say, that you have more than a hundred Shinobi here? Don't make me laugh, we know your trying to start a village. Even your group couldn't gather that many trained in the Shinobi arts. Hell, every village needs citizens. Besides, you're underestimating us…” Jin replied as he walked closer, entering a Battojutsu stance as he reached a comfortable distance. “Let's see if you're as skilled with Battojutsu as you are said to be.” Before any eye could blink Jin burst into action, slashing his blade towards the Battojutsu master. Less than a second had passed before Jin's blade came into contact with Kenshin's. Sparks flew as Jin was brought to a standstill. Kenshin refused to give any ground as he stopped the blade in its tracks.

“Battoujutsu won't work on me.” Kenshin added as his eyes narrowed. With raw strength he pushed back against Jin's blade and forced him into the air. Using his opponent's position to his advantage Kenshin continued with an upward slash only for it to be knocked away as Jin dropped back down to the ground, landing without a hitch.

“…Stay out of this Rin, he's mine.” Jin screamed when he noticed Rin twitch. She was itching to into the battle. Rin shrugged at the comment as the two warriors engaged once again. The blades clashed, igniting sparks and making the air heavy with bloodlust. Jin struggled to maintain his ground under Kenshin's raw strength. `No kid should have this kind of power behind his blade.' He thought as he noticed his feet slipping underneath him. `Damn it, I've got to …' Jin was taken from his thoughts as he felt something awkward happening to his blade. Kenshin had turned his own so that the blade was touching the side of Jin's. Before Jin knew what was happening he felt the weight of his own blade drop significantly and in a split second he could feel warm blood gushing from his chest. Kenshin's blade had sliced through Jin's like a hot knife through butter. Jin's body began to curl over as it he struggled to stand barely able to even look up towards the face of the man that had defeated him. As his world grew dark the last thing he was permitted to see was the disappointed look in the eyes of the `Battousai.'

“You see where this fighting gets us?” Kenshin spoke in a tone one wouldn't expect of such a well seasoned warrior. It was as if he mourned the loss of his opponent. “You fight and fight but where does it get you? I could sense it; he could have lived a decent life. His only problem was lust for battle, the same as you. Is your only goal in life to kill until you find someone better than you!” Kenshin screamed, infuriated by the failed logic that was going on in Jin's mind before the end. Of all the things that he could have thought, he was satisfied. How could anyone be satisfied by murdering people just to find a high in battle. Rin only scoffed at the remark.

“Jin was my friend but there's honor in battle and he died with honor. Now it's your turn!” Rin screamed as she threw her am to the ground. A seal on the palm of her hand shone brightly as it made contact with the earth. In an instant chains burst forth from the ground, pulling themselves tight around the Battousai's body and bringing his sharp blade uncomfortably close to his own skin. “Now we can play…” Rin commented. One thing bothered her though. The Battousai's expression was hardened and unwavering. Didn't he care about being captured? Unless…. No it couldn't be a clone, was it a bluff? “Oh no….”

“…” Kenshin simply stared at her with accusing eyes as electricity surged from his body into the chains. Rin tried to release them from her hands but it was too late, the electricity was simply too fast. Her body went into convolutions and pulled her into the air by the chains which began a majestic electrical dance. For nearly ten seconds her body flew around the road, smashing into buildings and various poles. When it finally seemed as if she were going to pass out from the pain it all subsided before dropping her onto the cold, hard ground. With a thud she landed, still twitching as random surges coursed through her body.

“K..k-kill …m-ee” She struggled to get out. “M-my…” Her body convulsed yet again causing Kenshin to look down in pity.

“You are not deserving of honor, that you are not. Go home, rethink your life.” Kenshin replied sternly as he turned away and slowly left the scene. Rin could only manage to convulse there, catching the occasional peek at the warrior as he faded into the night.

--- Early The Next MorningNear The Sea---

Hinata, Naruto, and Nazomishi strode casually along a side road. They could smell the sea though there was none within sight. They had been walking for several hours and according to Nazomishi they would reach their first destination within the hour. For some reason something seemed strange. Nazomishi was and had been deep in contemplative thought through the entire walk. Hinata looked to him, wondering why it was he hadn't said anything since they left the cave.

“What are you thinking about?” Hinata asked curiously after spending several hours talking with Naruto. It was nice being able to talk with Naruto like she had been. For the first time in her life she felt free to do and act as she willed. Still their ally was unnaturally quiet. Was he always like this or was he still depressed over losing the Force? Or perhaps something else entirely perplexed him. If it was the Force, how long would he be like this? A week? A month? A year? Till he got it back?... The thought was depressing.

“Nothing interesting, just trying to find my place in the universe.” Nazomishi grinned at the question. She was caring that was for sure. She didn't need this life, still she had chosen to be a Shinobi so the step to Zate wasn't relay that large of a stretch.

“I thought people usually found that out after a midlife crisis or something.” Naruto replied only half interested as Nazomishi chuckled.

“No, they just find a place where they are satisfied.” Nazomishi replied. He had lived far longer than many and had seen and experienced a great many things few would experience in one lifetime.

“Then why aren't you? Is it that hard for some people?” Hinata asked curiously. Could adult life really be that difficult?

“My life… no, the lives of people are so difficult. The problem with gaining wisdom is you learn that your life is so insignificant. In the concept of time our lives are but mere grains of sand tossed into an ocean the size of the universe. In some dimensions there are a few billion people on a lone populated planet within a galaxy. In others there are millions of inhabited worlds with literally trillions of inhabitants between only a few of them. I'm fine with my life. I have found my fate and fallow that path to the best of my ability. It's the it's everyone else I worry about. The thought that people without my strength or resolve will have to face the horrors I have… it sends chills down my spine, it has for centuries. Still, looking at it I can never seem to find a good solution. There always seems to be more greed, more famine, more murder, more war. Every life is affected by such things and not in a good way. Far too many innocents see their lives ruined by the greed of others, destroyed for a few coins.”

“No solution? But you've had centuries to think about it. I thought the Zate was your answer.” Naruto asked, now curious about this. He had though Nazomishi had found a solution to everything. He had thought the man was on some high horse with an answer for every problem. The way he acted most of the time, it sure seemed like it.

“An answer? No, the Zate is but a means to lessen the hurt in the worlds we visit, though sometimes it seems we do more harm than good. There are some questions that even the wisest, most educated among us can't answer. Even Master Yoda hasn't found an answer. You could kill all the evil people in the world and still more would come. You could police the world till the hair on all the people in all the worlds fell out and you would have accomplished nothing more than imprisoning them, making them slaves. It makes me wonder if there is an answer, if there is any purpose in all of this.”

“But, if you didn't, wouldn't there just be anarchy.” Hinata replied. It was one of the things she had learned from her father. Without governance there was chaos. Without law and consequences people quite simply ran amok.

“Someone would do it, sentients can't function without society. They would rally together to survive, to fight against it. It makes me wonder if what I'm doing is any different. Then I wonder why I am here. No God would send anyone on this sort of journey without a purpose. And no real purpose would be for any one world, would it? There's something far greater going on, I just wish I knew what, I wish I knew how to do it. As it stands there is no point. No matter what I do, no matter what any of us do or say the sentient nature remains. Until there is some great revelation in the masses there will always be pain and suffering, there will always be crime and war. ”

“How often do you think about this? Seriously, it's no wonder you're depressed.” Naruto scolded. “You can't take on the pain of the world, no one could…” The conversation had got Naruto thinking. Was he any different? He wanted to protect Konoha but all they seemed to do was ridicule him and go about their lives like any other village or any other country. Every country had to have people who thought the same way. Isn't that the true job of a Kage? If that's true then was there something flawed in governance?

“Honestly, I haven't given it any thought in a while. Everything was going so smoothly. Then everything snowballed with Zansatsu. They were there the whole time and I never knew… I formed the Zate for people who couldn't simply sit by and watch atrocities happen. I formed it to prevent war between countries. I thought that it would be enough to be the warrior and only fight those who try to start the wars. Until recently I thought it was enough but all we can do is combat governments and organizations. All the Jedi could do was police the universe. In the end we can only take life one event at a time. No organization, no matter how powerful or widespread can ever hope to completely fix the problems of the world, not unless we figure out how to change the Sentient nature without turning everyone into mindless drones. I'm afraid that there will always be another Madara, another Zansatsu, another monster.”

“Then stop worrying about what you can't do and start doing what you can!” Naruto exclaimed boisterously. “Let the Zate worry about this Zansatsu. Once we take care of these Others we'll have a peace right? If peace doesn't last forever then make a temporary peace. Then you can worry about making a real peace. Right now we have to worry about getting stronger so we can fight. I don't care if we can't use chakra, we'll get stronger and beat them, BELIEVE IT!” Hinata looked to Naruto with a warm smile on her face. This was just one of the many reasons she admired him so. When it came to such complicated and impossible circumstances he seemed to come up with the only thing that really seemed to make sense. Nazomishi stopped in his tracks simply staring off into the distance. Naruto still had his arms behind his head where he had rested them after making his boisterous exclamation. The new couple turned to their stopped ally wondering if something was wrong. It wasn't like such outbursts were abnormal around the `former' blond.

A smile grew slowly on Nazomishi's face before he nodded a few times as if accepting some truth. “Thank you… and you're right; worrying about it will accomplish nothing. We have to believe in our allies and hope for the best… One small thing though…” Nazomishi replied with a satisfied grin on his face. As he said one small thing he motioned his fingers as if her were squishing a bug between them.

“Huh?”

“For the love of God, NEVER do that again… am I clear?” Nazomishi made a special effort not to raise any killing intent but he screamed none the less as Naruto simply looked at him like he didn't have a clue what Nazomishi was talking about.

“Wha-Wait what? Never do what?”

“Promise me one thing Hinata. If he ever screams `believe it' like that again, I don't care how you do it, just incapacitate him. If you don't, anything I do will be far, far worse…” Nazomishi's tone grew dark and seemed to threaten maiming and great suffering if he ever heard such a thing again.

“Now then, we're less than an hour from the port so we should refrain from using our actual names. Remember what we discussed. Naruto you are Tobimaru Hajime, Tobi for short. Hinata you are Hikari Hajime, Kari for short, and I am Shin Hajime. We all seem to be the same age so we are fraternal twins. If it comes to a fight we were trained by a weapons specialist from Iron country who took us in after our parents died during the Iron country plight. I'm sure you remember that from history back in the academy. If anyone questions it the master was a friend of our parents and he died recently of natural causes. We are leaving the continent to use our skills in a country in need of mercenaries. That should be believable enough. I'm surprised there are as many mercenaries as there are in these countries with so many Shinobi around.” Hinata nodded, recalling their previous conversations about it while Naruto just sort of nodded his head and rolled his eyes at the fact that he was actually going over it… again…Seriously, did everyone think he was that stupid?

“One last thing, the less information we give out the better so avoid saying anything you don't have to. When we get there I'll look around for a decent ferry to a larger port. If I can find one I'll see what I can do about forging some passports we'll need those to board a larger ship. If all else fails, we find the largest ship we can find and sneak onboard. Got it?”

"Got it..." Naruto replied plainly while Hinata simply nodded.