Naruto Fan Fiction / Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction / Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Fan Fiction ❯ The False Apocalypse ❯ All Ships Reserved ( Chapter 35 )

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

While Yoda prepares Hiko�s group to combat Orochimaru Nazomishi finds an interesting scroll. Later Yoda calls for Sasuke to discuss philosophy and his brother. After searching for a ship Nazomishi and his group find that all the ships are reserved by an unusual event.

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: 03.31.2010 | Pages: 4 | Words: 12.7K | Visits: 187 | Status: Completed

The False Apocalypse

ShinobiSaga

Chapter 35

All Ships Reserved

Disclaimer: See chapter 1

--Cue- Funeral Theme: By John Williams—

The glimmer of torch light caused a pause in the night's movement in the small village only a few miles away from Bevelle. Never before had any of the residents seen anything like it. Many alerted their friends and family to the mysterious glow but all soon became silent as they heard the faint sound of what seemed to be chanting. `So this was the day' many thought as they listened to the beautiful sound flowing off the mountain. It was difficult to hear but even the crickets and animals of the night were silent, as if paying respects to the dead. What they didn't realize was that it was true. All the creatures for miles had been influenced by the feelings echoing from the plateau through the Force.

The overtones resounded as the chant continued. Every face was shrouded by an oversized hood highly reminiscent of the Jedi robes many of the mourners once and several still wore. Flames flickered off the hoods, casting huge shadows on the wooden walls and fortifications around the Zate encampment. Down the grassy roads, the pallbearers marched slowly. Behind them the robed onlookers parted with the sidelines and began to walk in sequence behind the valiant dead.

Through the wooden alleys they strode, marching on to the pyre. Slowly the bodies made their way and were soon laid upon their respective pyres. Wood and stone covered the ritual grounds. Surrounded by wood and flowers their carriers layer them to their final resting place in unison. Together they all stepped away, each drawing their own lightsabers in seemingly practiced unity. Every blade flashed to life as the final mourners entered and silently found their seats. The chanting soon came to an end and every head was bowed in a moment of silence.

Another darker sound came to life within the acrostically resonant area. Like the hundreds of others Sasuke looked on somberly, thinking about how close Itachi had come to the same fate. As he watched his mind drifted back to a conversation with Master Windu earlier that day when he had asked about the funeral.

“It is calledthe right of Sh'kal, the ceremony of passing. It originated on a planet of humanoids in the mid-rim of the Galactic Republic. Their dialect was ancient and pure tongue, it changed little from foreign influence. We in the Zate have adapted several of their rituals and learned their tongue for many reasons.”

The words he was hearing were the words of that culture; he could only wonder what they meant as the notes drifted out to space. After several minutes Master Kenshin stepped forward from his place among the pallbearers to a central place within the circular structure.

“Tonight we honor our fallen dead with the right of Sh'kal. We mourn their loss as friends and allies. For years, decades we fought together. There is not a person here today who has not been touched by the actions of these fine warriors. However, they were far more than simple warriors. They were friends, and more importantly they were family. In a few cases by blood, but in most they were brothers and sisters in the Zate. They were family as fellow sentiments who yearned to provide a more peaceful life for those who would follow them…” And so Kenshin spoke in official fashion. He went on to tell how the fallen warriors had affected his life. Kenshin told how Nazomishi had become one of his closest friends, how the Vidur Aaruo, the Iradonian, had been such an inspiration to his allies, how Naruto had lived to protect even as he was shunned. He had deeply emotional words for all five of the warriors though he had not known Naruto for long. Truthfully Naruto had never officially entered the Zate, he never had the chance. Still in all but formalities he was one of them and honored as such.

As Kenshin finished up his portion of the ceremony he lit and raised his red lightsaber once again saying. “Iiro Suun, Res Naor, Naruto Namikaze, Nazomishi Mitsukoi, Vidur Aaruno; we honor your legacy.” With the final word he wove his lightsaber to the edge of Nazomishi's pyre as every other lightsaber did the same with the nearest one. The sabers lit the wood and flowers around each body. Every Zate withdrew their weapons and slowly moved away as the flames grew encompassing the bodies in their all destroying heat.

Not far away shadowed eyes glared over a nearby roof to see the flames engulf the bodies. The eyes hardened upon seeing the sheer intensity of the blaze.

“Alright, I got you here now where's my pay.” A female voice said a little further back in the shadows. The first answered in a feminine but more aged voice.

“Coming here was as useless as Konoha. I have no pay for failure. That is, unless you wish to join us?” The hired helper fumed, silently shaking at the audacity to deny her payment.

“You …” A smirk grew on her face as her employer's eyes hardened. “INTRUDER! THERE”S A SPY, INTRUDER!” She screamed as she leaped to the nearest rooftop in an attempt to get closer to members of the Zate. They had shown her mercy before; perhaps a decent ploy will achieve similar results. Unfortunately for her, her employer had other plans. With a flick of the wrist an enormous string of chakra flew through the air slicing through ground and building alike. The damage was evident to the Zate even before the string struck its target, effectively cutting her in half. A broken and bloody body fell sharply to the ground as sword and lightsaber came to life and dozens of warriors began to chase after the now fleeing woman.

---The Next Morningin Osaka---

Hinata stirred awake at a little after six. She had taken the only bed in the room they found completely by luck. As luck would have it the boys didn't mind having to get a couple futon to sleep on. The room was small, only made for one occupant or possibly a poor couple, but it was more than welcomed after the time they spent in the damp cave.

Rubbing her eyes she groaned. Taking a short look at her surroundings she noticed that Naruto was still deep asleep, sprawled out on the floor. A blush turned her face cherry red the moment she noticed his frog covered boxers peeking out from under the covers thanks to the awkward way he had moved during his sleep. Immediately turning her head in embarrassment she took some time to regain her composure before deciding it was a good time to take a shower. A shower… it had been a few days since she had a nice warm shower. Sure she took ashower before going to sleep but they were all so tired from training that she didn't get to enjoy it. She had hardly given it time to warm up.

Crawling out of the bed Hinata made sure to avoid the side of the bed where Naruto would be. `Where's Nazo?' She thought, looking down at his empty and neatly folded futon. After a moment of thought she simply shrugged it off believing he had gone out for some reason or another. Since she had known him he always seemed to have his mind on business and little else. The thought had crossed her mind that he might be in the bathroom but left as soon as she realized how quiet it was aside from the occasional snore from Naruto.

The shower was a welcome comfort Hinata always missed when she was on missions. After she got out and dressed she took another look around the room she sighed noticing nothing had changed. To avoid the certain embarrassing situation of Naruto waking up she decided to go to the roof of the inn and enjoy the morning air.

There was the sweet smell of freshly fallen rain around the city of Osaka. It had only stopped raining about an hour earlier though it continued to drizzle on and off for much of that hour. The sun had only been out for a short while and was starting to break behind the morning clouds when she opened the door to the roof.

“Good morning…” A voice sounded before she had a chance to see who it was. Once she located the person she found it to be Nazomishi, sitting calmly near the edge of the roof. `So that's where he went.' “G-good morning.” She replied with a slight nod, barely taking notice of the small picture he discretely pocketed.

`Old habits can be so hard to break.' Nazomishi thought as she came closer to sit by him. “Felt like breathing the fresh morning air?” He asked while enjoying it himself.

“Y-yes, after it rains, I always go to the roof of the Hyuuga compound and enjoy it. It's amazing how homesick I feel.” Hinata replied; reminiscing on the habits she may never do again.

“It's understandable; you haven't ever left home without any idea of when you'll be back. I remember when I first showed up in Kenshin's world. It was so peaceful in comparison to my home, but I still felt homesick. It lasted for weeks.” Nazomishi commented reminiscently.

“You know, this is the first time I've ever heard about your home world. Naruto's always talked about Master Yoda's and Logan's, he said a little about Kenshin's.” Hinata replied with interest. Over the month of training with Nazomishi, Naruto had learned a great deal about the world Kenshin was from as well as the other two. He was especially fascinated with the Jedi's world and the Force powers they were capable of using. Hinata had to admit, it intrigued her too. The possibility of doing so many things with something that penetrates everything was unimaginable. That was one of the many things that made their situation so strange to her. To train with and survive with someone she new little to nothing about was an uncomfortable unknown. It just seemed natural to know about the past and origins of your allies. Nazomishi, as his name implied, was a mystery. (For those who didn't know `Nazo' is Japanese for enigma or riddle.)

“There's not much to say. Unless by some miracle I end up back in time when I get there, it will be nothing more than a smoldering crater. Even how this dimensional travel works is just conjecture. There's no point worrying about a dead planet.” Nazomishi replied in an accepting tone. He had come to accept that fact long ago, shortly after Rei had consoled him about his depression in the Force world. Change what you can and accept what you cannot was a particularly helpful phrase in his mind.

“How can you say that? Don't you care about it?”

“I could care less about a rock. What matters is the life within it. Your planet can still be saved. Logan's, when we left it, was on its own path to salvation. The Jedi's was much the same. When I left mine there were a hundred thousand people dying a day from battle alone. Sickness diseases were far less forgiving. And that was after more than half the planet's population was gone. If by some chance it can be saved I will worry about it when I get back.” Nazomishi replied somewhat bitterly. There was a reason few talked of his home. He never said much of it himself. Truth be told, he would be perfectly happy living out the rest of his life in any of the worlds he had visited since. At least he could feel a sense of hope that they could still be saved.

“Oh... well, Naruto…”

“Tobi…” Nazomishi interrupted, reminding her that the code names were still in effect. They had all three had problems with it over the past day but they all knew it was necessary.

“Tobi and I were wondering where exactly…” Hinata stopped when she noticed a strange glow coming from inside Nazomishi's shirt. After only a second of glowing a short poof was heard as Nazomishi looked into it curiously as he reached for it.

“What is that?”

“Remember when I said there was only one man with a mind strong enough to trust with our secret?” Nazomishi replied, indicating whatever it was, was from that person.

“Master Yo…” Nazomishi cut her words short, causing Hinata to look at him oddly. She was certainly not used to people interrupting her but it seemed like a common occurrence with Nazomishi. It was certainly strange, and somewhat rude, but it was definitely Nazo.

“Yes, I may not be able to communicate with him without giving us away but he can send me updates through this summoning seal I've had on my chest for years. It would seem something important happened. Let's go back to the room. This should be interesting.” The two stood and left the roof only taking a couple of minutes to get back to the room.

“Get up.” Nazomishi commanded blatantly while tossing a pillow Naruto's way only moments after entering the room. This of course resulted in a confused Naruto to begin thrashing about as if he were being attacked. Nazomishi merely palmed his face while Hinata turned beet red the moment her crush stood starkly in his boxers.

“And get some pants on, look what you're doing to poor Kari.” Nazomishi commented teasingly, causing Naruto to stop his thrashing about and cautiously pull the remaining covers off his head and down around his waist. The embarrassment as was evident on his face as it was on Hinata's.

“Hehe…I'll be…yea…” Naruto pointed to the bathroom. On his way he made a quick trip to his bag where the rest of his clothes were. A few minutes later he was back fully dressed though with an embarrassed and red face.

“You two are seriously going to have to get over that. We'll be living together for a while so it's bound to happen again. I just hope you two can be responsible about it. That aside we have some business to attend to.” Nazomishi finished with a more serious tone than when he started. Holding out the scroll and opening it Nazomishi paid careful attention to the introduction.

“What's that?” Naruto asked curiously.

“A message, I haven't read it yet. For now…” Nazomishi reached into a small bag hanging from his belt and pulled out a set of paper tags. Skillfully throwing them to the eight corners of the room Nazomishi raised a single hand seal and activated them with the miniscule amount they needed. His left eye twitched as he fell back onto the bed in exhaustion from the simple gesture.

“What the hell, I thought we couldn't use chakra!” Naruto screamed, shocked and annoyed that Nazomishi had been holding out on them.

“Naruto…” Hinata gestured for Naruto to calm down; the last thing they wanted was to draw attention to themselves, especially since they were in the inn. With the town as packed as it seemed to be they certainly didn't want to lose their room.

“It's alright Hinata; those seals were sound barrier tags. Like I told you before, I didn't seal all our chakra, just so much of it that our signatures can't be detected. Just activating those seals is more than I should really be attempting. Sorry… Anyway, now we can talk freely. The curtains if you would Naruto.” After a short glair, Naruto complied and took a seat on the bed followed shortly by Hinata. All three sat cross-legged on the bed as Nazomishi rolled the contents of the scroll onto the bed in front of them.

“So, what's it say? Who's it from?” Naruto asked as Nazomishi glanced over the text, eyes darting from line to line.

“…Intriguing…most intriguing…it would seem Bevelle is coming along nicely. I like it; it has a nice ring to it.” Nazomishi commented cheerfully, more so than he had seemed to have expressed in several months.

“What the hell's Bevelle?” Naruto asked, still not knowing where or how the hell Nazo got a hold of the scroll.

“The new city the Zate are building. They have a summit coming up tomorrow with the former Daimyo of Rice and a number of other important Kage and Daimyo are attending as well.”

“Even Konoha?” Naruto asked with disgust in his voice. As much has the thoughts of being Hokage still lingered he had become disgusted with the politics of the village. None of them yet knew how many friends and allies had joined the Zate in moving to this Bevelle. If he had known the thoughts of Konoha would have long passed over to this new city and the residents within it.

“I can only assume, but I wouldn't doubt it. It appears things are moving along nicely.” Moving on down the scroll he continued to summarize its contents. “Apparently they've been attacked twice, the first wasn't all that bad but the second time was by that woman who held back that Other back in Konoha. The damage wasn't too bad; apparently she was spying more than anything. Luckily, our bodies have been successfully been burned and scattered. We can only assume she was confirming my death.”

This new piece of information brought an uneasy feeling to the stomachs of both Naruto and Hinata. With that done they were truly gone. Nobody could ever know they were still alive as long as they kept hidden. All their friends, all their family knew they were dead.

“So we really are dead…” Naruto added sadly, knowing how angry Sasuke should be right about now. They were supposed to look out for each other; everything just had to become so complicated.

“That was the plan, Naruto.” A moment of silent understanding fell between them before Nazomishi continued with the contents of the scroll. “You'll be happy to know Jiraiya's doing well. Sasuke's starting a new training regimen while he helps build the city. Then Itachi's recovery is going well.” Nazomishi told Naruto before turning to Hinata. “And your Father left Konoha for Bevelle with most of the Hyuuga and a good number of Konoha clans. Even Shikamaru left.” Nazomishi summarized with a slight smirk.

“That lazy ass?” Naruto practically burst out into laughter while Hinata only managed a reserved chuckle.

“I guess he thought it would be too troublesome to stay.” Hinata commented in a tone that seemed a little forced. Nevertheless it brought a few chuckles of its own. Both boys could tell, she was definitely starting to come out of her shyness. Little did they know, Nazomishi had a plan to push them together, to help build their bond into something lasting, and memorable?

“…Thank god…” Nazomishi sighed in relief after reading the next line of text.

“Huh…?”

“Master Yoda should be sending me some seals in the next few weeks.” Nazomishi replied bluntly, before reading a bit further.

“Seals, for what?” Hinata asked curiously.

“Remember the room we trained in before the finals?” Nazomishi asked Naruto while looking back up from the scroll.

“You mean that huge… can you even call that a room?” Naruto asked, throwing his arms wide for effect. He then scratches his head in confusion as to what one would actually call something that large.

“Yes, it absorbed all the chakra that came into contact with the wall and fed it into maintaining the barrier. By doing that, no one outside the barrier could detect that chakra was being used. Even our scouters could detect nothing within. Master Yoda is going to have Jiraiya seal a number of training rooms with it so the more chakra heavy Zate won't make any citizens feint inside the building while they're training.”

“Who cares, are you saying we might be able to use chakra again!” Naruto exclaimed, excited that he could finally use chakra again.

“It could be a while. But yes, that does seem to be likely.” Naruto practically leaped off the bed in excitement. He quickly recovered his balance moments before falling head first off the end.

“Um, I thought you were good with seals, why can't you just make it?” Hinata replied while suppressing a laugh from Naruto's antics.

“It's not that simple Hinata. I learned what I know from Master Jiraiya and a few advanced books. He's the one who designed the seal. I only helped him set it up. I didn't participate in enough to actually learn it, granted I wish I did. The other problem is we can't just use it anywhere.”

“What do you mean; can't you just surround an area with some tags like you did with the sound barrier?” Naruto asked, his excitement somewhat deflated at the extra info.

“ The sound barrier seals are only C-Class Fuuinjutsu. It may not be widely known but it is simple. That Chakra barrier is far more complicated. First we'll need to get far enough away for me to unseal a decent portion of my chakra without giving away our position. Next is a similar issue to what the sound barrier seal has. You notice I placed eight tags around this room. The chakra barrier we used takes one seal on each side and each corner of a fully enclosed space, fourteen seals in all.”

“So we can't use our chakra outside of a massive room or cave…” Hinata elaborated with full understanding where he was going. They couldn't use it outside and it would be pointless using it anywhere without a large enough space to train without the risk of destroying the barrier itself.

“Exactly, unless I can somehow modify an already complicated, S-Class Fuuinjutsu; we are going to need someplace big, preferably mountainous with lots of caverns.

“So we aren't going overseas?” Naruto groaned. Why did everything have to be so uncertain?

“Oh, were going there but now we know exactly where were going. Now we actually have a safe house. We just have to wait and hope Master Yoda sends us the seal before we get there. My friends were going to Mount Ornus.”

“And that is?” Naruto asked, not likening being left out of the loop.

“A sacred place, very difficult to reach; Mount Ornus is the most sacred peak to the dragons I summon. You see, there are four separate dragon tribes and five sacred mountain peaks. Master Hiko holds the summoning scroll for the water dragons of Mount Yamazumi while Master Yoda holds the scroll for the earth Dragons of Mount Humus. There are already summoners for the Dragons of Acerbus Ignis (Dark fire) Mountain and the thunder Dragons of mount Lei.”

“So you summon wind dragons?” Hinata inferred.

“Hardly, you don't know the hell I went through to get that scroll. Actually, all dragons, save the earth dragons, are in fact partially wind natured. Most thunder dragons have wings. Most water dragons have wings, though they often use them like fins underwater. The Black-fire dragons have wings and are known for producing flames nearly as powerful as the Sharingan's Amaterasu. They all broke off into their own clans after some debate as to which type of dragon was to rule them all. What they decided is to have a form of loose union. Each type of dragon broke off into their own tribe and found their own mountains to protect. The dragons of Mount Ornus are made up of two groups. The first is made up of a council of dragons who meet out of necessity to maintain the union. The other group is a fifth clan of dragons. They are more diverse than the other clans because they are made up of the dragons who decided it was best to try and live in harmony with one another. Most of them however, are fire dragons. Fire dragons are not anywhere near as independent or hardheaded as Black-fire dragons, which is why they are separate. For that reason there are very few Black-fire dragons who actually choose to live at Mount Ornus.”

“Wait, isn't still dangerous to go there if Master Hiko can Summon dragons?” Hinata questioned after having somewhat of a revelation.

“I'm afraid so.” Nazomishi replied with a sigh. “Within the Zate there are four dragon summoners. Masters Yoda, Hiko, Rei and Myself; fortunately Yoda is in this with us and Rei has been shunned by the dragons for signing with the tigers. Most summons don't make too big of a deal with signing multiple contracts so long as you prove yourself. Still there are certain summons others find objectionable. Dragons and tigers are like Yin and Yang, they do not like each other and would prefer to avoid the other unless absolutely necessary. Regardless, that leaves one loose end that could be troublesome. Unless we can think of some way around that I may have to do something drastic and have Hiko join us. I would prefer leaving that as a last resort.”

“Hey Nazo, didn't Danzo have some kind of seal that messed with you reading his mind?”

“It wasn't perfect but it did impede me somewhat. If I could get a message to Yoda he might be able to have Jiraiya look at it to see if anything can be done. It might be helpful but I'm not sure how well the dragons will take it. Regardless, I can't send anything to Yoda without revealing our existence. As I see it our best option is be in contact with as few dragons as possible, preferably ones Master Hiko doesn't summon. Don't worry yourselves with it. We have time to work things out.”

---Bevelle Shortly After Eight---

One of the many structures Tenzo had created over the past few days was a moderately sized council room. Of all the temporary structures outside the temple of Bevelle this was by far the most important. This was where the masters of the Zate would meet to delegate and organize the construction of the city and give out critical missions that had to be completed. This morning a very interesting group was gathered around the only master present and controlling the flow of work within the growing city.

Master Yoda sat in a freshly constructed hover chair similar to the one he ones used in his time as a Jedi. In front of him stood a group of the most powerful and promising Zate he knew. Master Hiko stood with Masters Logan and Sanosuke next to an almost fully recovered Kimimaro.

Now there was a remarkable young man. Kimimaro's body had miraculously reacted to the recovery tank with exponential success. It did in fact make sense for him to have reacted in such a way. The tank used special enzymes in the synthetic Bacta to magnify the body's healing rates, using it to fight off a phenomenal amount of sickness and disorders. Kimimaro's bloodline had an advanced rate of healing on its own, thus the reason he had not yet died from the cancer he had. In combination with the tank it his body was able to eradicate every trace of it overnight. He still felt somewhat weak from the procedure but in comparison to the fits he had suffered from for the past few years, he felt great.

With a proud grin Kimimaro stood next to his friend Master Hiko, ready to begin the hunt for Orochimaru and his secret lairs. To his surprise Sanosuke had taken to him immediately. The energetic and friendly warrior congratulated him immediately after seeing him up and going. Logon had his own, less lively way of congratulations but he clearly got it across. Hiko was right; they did accept him without any hate or malice.

Much had been discussed that morning before the group had arrived including the disturbing events of the previous night. Apparently the woman Kenshin had let go during the attack a few days earlier had returned, guiding that Other to Bevelle. By a stroke sheer of luck the woman had survived with the immediate help of Tsunade and Kaoru. Her spine was broken in three places and the wounds just barely missed her heart. Thankfully such injuries could be repaired with the level of technology the Zate had backing them up. Unfortunately it would likely be months before the facilities would be in the condition to perform such a surgery. In the mean time Inoichi Yamanaka had the first crack at determining her intentions. The key questions they hoped to answer; `Why did she help that Other?' and `Why did she betray her at such a time?'

“Good, good, leave once prepared you are. But be careful you must. A wild and manipulative opponent Orochimaru is. Defeat him easily you will not, even together. More and more like Darth Sidious he grows, I sense. Know yourselves, yearn for immortality he does. Assume you must, that gained it he has, even if imperfect it is.” Master Yoda replied after hearing that the group had gathered their supplies for the mission. His advice was well taken, especially by Kimimaro. He had lived under the snake for a long time and only since meeting Master Hiko did he begin to realize how manipulated he was. Regardless of power or skill, the one thing that Orochimaru was good at above all else was manipulation.

“Be vigilant and may the Force be with you.” The old master finished with an elderly grin. Master Hiko had told Kimimaro much about the green sentient in their time in Orochimaru's lairs. Not a word of it had been exaggerated as far as he could tell. Sure the master was short in stature but he held a presence unlike any he had ever felt before. There was greatness there. Within it there was an air of elderly peace around him, a genuine care for people that made it self evident as to why the members of the Zate thought of him like a father. To stand before a man with such greatness about him, it was surprising to Kimimaro that the first thing out of Yoda's mouth was a congratulation for such a quick recovery. He didn't know how but he could tell it was spoken with a deep and heartfelt sincerity. He appreciated that deeply. He knew it now, this was where he belonged.

With a series of respectful bows, closer to a full bodied nod than anything, the group left for their mission. Their first destination was not far away. They would first start at their own eastern corner of Rice country with Kimimaro and Master Hiko to guide the way. According to them Orochimaru had three separate bases within twenty miles of the Zate's temple. Those would be their first targets.

As team Hiko stepped out the doorway, into the fresh air, another figure came closer to the building. Sasuke Uchiha had received a message from Master Windu who was running messenger duty for the day. Apparently Master Yoda wanted to see him for some reason.

“You wanted to see me Master Yoda?” Sasuke addressed the green sentient as he stepped through the doorway, glad he hadn't missed him.

“Young Sasuke, come in. Yes, sit, much to talk about we have.” Yoda spoke in his usually difficult to understand dialect. As requested Sasuke found the nearest seat as Yoda hovered his chair closer to the young Uchiha.

“If you don't mind my asking, why is Master Windu delivering messages?” Sasuke asked, honestly curious as to why such a powerful warrior was doing such a simple task when there was so much to be done.

“Sitting and debating, useless it is when experience there is not. Seen a Kage, raised a politician have you? No, warriors are they and rule from experience they do. To see life unfold, to see it oneself and act on experience, there is where true wisdom is found. If never stepped outside did we, many bad decisions we would make I think. Agree would you?” The little man spoke with wisdom and a smile on his face. He loved passing on wisdom to the younger generations.

“I think so…” Sasuke replied cautiously. He was still trying to gather what he could from Yoda's unusual dialect. It was still new to him but he could wade his way through it if you gave him enough time..

“Worry not, understand me in time you will. Come, follow and see.” The cane always at Yoda's side rested gently in his lap as he pointed towards the door. Sasuke had a shocked look on his face. Yoda was directing everything today, he couldn't just go for a random walk…or..hover…or whatever he called it.

“Worry not Sasuke…Ah, Master Jaden. Watch the office will you? Some business I have with the Young Uchiha here.” Yoda asked as Jaden Korr stepped unknowingly through the door. Sasuke couldn't help but wonder how Yoda knew Jaden was going to walk in just in time. No, he knew, it was the Force. There were so few Force sensitive's on this planet it was child's play to know when one was around. Even he was making enough progress to sense such things when he made an effort. The training he had undergone moving stones from the quarry was only enhancing that ability. It was more proof of how powerful and influential the Force could be.

“Uh…Of course Master Yoda, should I get you if…” Master Yoda merely pointed the personalized scouter fastened securely on his face. If he needed contacting it would be a simple matter. “May the Force be with you, Master Jaden.” Yoda replied as he hovered out the door with Sasuke trailing not far behind.

Off in the distance it could be seen how rapidly the temple's foundation was growing. Already it was ten percent larger than the day before and work on it had only been going for an hour or so. At this Rate it would only take another week or two before the foundation was ready for some actual construction. To another area it could be seen where massive furnaces were being set up so the pipes and wiring could be forged. They walked some ways further and noticed where Anakin had dozens of clones working on droids, even the fifteen droids he had managed to build were working on other droids. All of them would come in real handy as construction went on. He was practically making permanent clones that could work on through the night. Their progress was certainly advancing.

“Itachi's doing well I hear, recovered tomorrow he should be.” Yoda commented, knowing it would bring a smile to the little brother's face.

“Yea, Kaoru told me this morning. He would have recovered faster but he had that disease he wouldn't tell anyone about.” Sasuke replied, disappointed that his brother hadn't trusted him with knowledge of that disease.

“A selfless one he is. Never misjudge it for selfishness must you. Still, trust his friends more he should. Perhaps, show him that you could, hmm? Like trusted Naruto you did?” Yoda replied. He had seen much of Itachi's mind. The Uchiha had lost a great deal of his trust in friends and family after learning of the planned coup. It was going to be hard for him to regain that. Luckily for him he still had his little brother. They would help each other grow more than they knew.

“Thank you for all this Master Yoda, it was really enlightening but what is it you really wanted me for? You couldn't have just wanted to talk about my brother and philosophy.” Sasuke tried to stop the conversation, he was needed building the city, he couldn't walk around talking all day like some philosophical bureaucrat.

“Underestimate your role in this you do. Forget not, in training to be Captain you are. Important to your future this is… A summit tomorrow there is. Many countries will there be. Act as Captain Itachi will, but be there you will. Watch, learn from your brother. A pivotal point in the future it will be, for you, and this world.” Yoda replied cryptically. What did he mean it would be a pivotal point in his the future? Why did everything with this man always have to be so…unknown… Naruto would have hated it.

--- Osaka Port Shortly After Noon---

“Any luck?” Nazomishi asked Naruto and Hinata after meeting up a little after noon in a sparsely populated square near the center of town. A few bars and coffee shops lined the streets as did a good number of merchant stands. It was populated enough for them to be inconspicuous but loose enough that they wouldn't have to try too hard to avoid prying ears. The three had split up early that morning to start looking for some ships leaving within the week to the next continent. The news that came in the scroll gave them newfound hope in their future. Sadly, it only lasted until they started looking. Naruto simply hung his head in disappointment while Hinata shook her head negatively.

“I don't know. It seems like all the ships are reserved for something.” Naruto replied with disappointment in his voice. How were they supposed to get off this contentment if all the ships were booked, for a month!

“Reserved?” Nazomishi replied questioningly. This was a crucial port for the Shinobi Nations' imports and exports. Why would all the ships be reserved? Was that even possible? He himself was unaware of the situation since he had gone looking for a decent weapon shop to find some common weapons they could buy without drawing attention to themselves. Much to his surprise that would be too much of a problem with all the warriors that seemed to be in town. Every shop he found was full to the brim. He was lucky enough to find some good wrappings with how fast they were going. Some was already wrapped around his remaining arm, covering the seal that once stood out on the back of his hand and trailed up his arm from the sealing procedure. He planned to add the rest later on but figured there were better times for such things.

Perhaps the abnormal number of warriors had something to do with the reserved ships?

“Everyone I asked just shrugged and told me off.” Now this was interesting, something abnormal was definitely going on. It seemed to be a bit overkill to react like that to such a simple question. The last thing they needed right now was to have stumbled upon something troublesome. Unfortunately, everything seemed to be pointing that way at this point.

“Ano…” Hinata muttered quietly while raising her hand slowly, immediately drawing Naruto's attention.

“Huh? Oh Kari did you find something?” Naruto replied excitedly. He really hoped those bastards were kinder to her than they were to him.

“I did… I heard some people were recruiting for something called Agni Kai. There were lots of heavily armed men coming into the city. They're everywhere.”

“Agni Kai…Interesting…I was wondering why all the swordsmen were around.” Nazomishi muttered under his breath, simply thinking out loud. `It would also explain why they could only find one room…'

“Must not be too important, I've never heard of it before.” Naruto commented offhandedly. On the other hand, those guys did seem really peeved that he had to ask.

“Oh it's important alright. It's just …curious. They don't normally recruit this far west.” Nazomishi responded, still curious about the whole matter. This was far too unusual for his tastes. He had certainly never heard of them before arriving in this world. Something in how they changed the planet's fate must have changed its role in the world. Or perhaps he was overestimating the accuracy of events from the show.

“So you know what it is?” Hinata replied, her interest peaked by the topic. Her luck had been similar to Naruto's. Everywhere she looked all the ships were spoken for; none were going anywhere anytime soon. Still no one would answer why? All she could gather was that it somehow related to this Agni Kai that seemed to be the talk of everyone in the know. Anyone who asked about it simply got snubbed or rudely removed from the conversation.

“I've heard rumors. They're rather popular where were going. I've never heard of any that permit the use of chakra though. That's why I was so surprised to hear about it here.”

“No chakra? So they're fights?” Naruto extrapolated to the relief of Nazomishi.

“Brutal ones, and not very well regulated by our standards. Think a massive tournament like the last part of the Chuunin exam only with hundreds, possibly thousands of fighters. Most of them are like team Guy; martial artists, swordsmen, and weapon specialists; you remember how lee fought. The problem is I haven't heard of one yet that's actually had a ref. The only way to win a match is for your opponent to forfeit, die or get knocked out. No rules, no repercussions, just a huge bloodbath.”

“That's awful, how can that be legal?” Hinata asked, shocked that how brutal he meant.

“The governments can't really do much about them. The people love them too much. Some are worse than others but most are either supported or at least tolerated by their governments. Entries are usually open to all; some even have children's divisions. On the other hand some are a bit more underground and have an excessive use of slaves; others call for all losers to be executed. Hell, I've even heard of some using animals for sport, not many of them are exactly normal either. I'm sure those would use low class demon if they could get a hold of one. Unfortunately, the underground matches are a bit of a regional problem, not something the Zate will really deal with till they get more members, a lot more …”

“You say that like you don't have a problem with them?” Naruto replied with shock in his voice. He liked the idea of a tournament with hundreds, maybe thousands of competitors but no rules? The Shinobi nations had brutal matches but they had procedures in place to stop unnecessary kills. Fighting without that much was simply insane. He particularly hated the slavery and use of animals. The way Nazomishi put it, it seemed like he meant rabid animals. What Nazomishi meant were `things' more along the lines of Orochimaru's experiments.

“Should I? I don't recall saying that killing was encouraged, quite the opposite actually. It's simply the culture. Fighting in these things is as much a matter of honor as is entertainment. So long as the competitors fight of their own accord I don't see the problem. Despite the lack of actual rules there is a code of honor that must be fallowed, in the legal ones at least. There is shame and dishonor in killing a beaten man. Most of them actually ban the dishonorable competitors. I'm afraid that's actually why the underground matches survive.”

“But…”

“You've never met a Mandalorian before. One thing I learned from the Jedi is that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our point of view. What is seen as murder in one country might be considered mercy in another, given the right situation. In the end, I could care less what one man does with his life so long as he doesn't take others down with him. If there's one thing I believe must be upheld, it's that people be able to make their own choices. It is one of the paradoxes in our logic. We fight to keep people from being oppressed but in doing so we oppress people who would oppress the masses. All we can do is take the path in which the most people gain. Don't get me wrong, if I ran into an illegal match I would do anything in my power to dismantle it from the ground up.”

“I…guess that makes sense…” It was an uneasy concept for Naruto. Despite his choice of profession it was awkward to think of the fights in such a way. Then the concept of choice in life… now there was a conundrum…and there was a word he didn't think he knew… `So that's what it's like to think like Shikamaru!'

“So, what are we going to do? We can't just join one of those.” Hinata asked. That was a good question. What were they going to do? This put a rather large damper on their plans. They couldn't exactly put themselves out in the open like that…could they?

“Well I say we fight! If we're going there anyway then it's the fastest way there. We're supposed to be training right? What could be better?” Naruto replied exuberantly.

“As surprising as it may sound I have to agree with Naruto. We don't have much of a choice if we want to get off this continent and it would be good training.” Nazomishi replied, giving some serious thought to the matter.

“But, I thought we were trying to hide?” Hinata countered. It seemed strange to go through all they had the past few days and throw it all away just to get away faster.

“A good point, however, sometimes the best hiding place is in plain sight. As long as we don't draw too much attention to ourselves we shouldn't have a problem. This could actually work to our favor. Still, we need to do some research. If all this uproar is from one Agni Kai then it may not matter what we find. But, if there are several then we need to avoid anything illegal or unnecessarily deadly. I don't mean to put you down Hinata but I'm not sure how many fights you would survive. You're skill is near Chuunin level and more than enough to compete, but these fights tend to attract more than their share of A-Class fighters. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a couple S-Class matches.” She nodded understanding his reasoning. There might be a lot of people around her level but there would be a good number on par with Neji, maybe even her father. If what Nazomishi said was true there could even be people on par with Itachi. The last thing she needed was to end up in a fight against some maniac of a missing nin looking for an excuse to kill.

“I'm going to check out some of the registration areas and see what comes up. You two go get us something to eat and meet me back at the room. We have some planning to do. Training's on hold until we figure out what's going on.” Nazomishi replied and went off in search of some of the registration booths. If luck was on their side it wouldn't be too hard getting some information about individual tournaments so long as he showed an understanding and respect for the concept. If not, well, he had ways of persuading people, even without the Force.

Author Notes: Good news, this is the last chapter of the Shinobi Saga. I haven't come up with a name for the next saga yet, HOWEVER! As far as I have it planned Naruto, Nazomishi, and Hinata will not return to the Zate till the end of this Zaga. The Journey will be interesting indeed. And let's not forget that Wolverine has moved out and are still a few mysteries left unsolved.

By the way I have added a few links in my profile of the Bevelle temple as it should be by completion. It's not a finished and amazing render but it is what I'm capable of at the moment in Maya. It should be enough to get the idea across. By the next chapter I should also have Nazomishi's lightsaber rendered and posted here as well.

http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1183930/Nazomishi