(Disclaimer: Though Naruto and Hinata do not make an appearance in any of these chapters along with the Mizukage, they will be in the future. On another note this is not a romance story either. I apologize for any inconveniences.)
Chapter One
"Please speak to me before you kill me. Don't worry, I won't yell or do anything of that sort. I'm too old to do that sort of thing."
An old man dressed in luxurious robes spoke aloud to a hidden figure behind him. His eyes never shifted place, he just continued to watch the play from the balcony he sat on. Slowly from the shadows behind him a shadowy figure emerged, one who wore a mask that strongly resembled a skull, but one side of the mask was entirely black, and the other entirely white. The figure stood up, revealing he was wearing entirely tactical gear that strongly resembled hidden Mist ANBU gear and slowly began pacing toward the old man.
The old man's eyes remained fixated on the play, as it seemed it was reaching its climax. "Yes, I know you're there. Riku Iseya." Suddenly the figure stopped, frozen as if he was stunned with surprise.
"How do you know my name?" The figure spoke.
The old man grinned. "I knew your name since the day I was informed Sojuro hired an assassin to kill me. It wasn't hard finding out who the assassin was, as my contacts are deep within Sojuro's network by now."
Riku remained silent, his eyes watching this old man named Izo Okano to make sure he didn't do anything sudden.
Izo continued to speak. "Yes…I know all about you Riku. I know that you have tan skin, stand 5-9 to 5-10, are 28 years of age, that you have medium length black hair that you tie into a rough pony tail with amber colored eyes, and that you take care of your little brother Yuki. You have had quite the impressive record, but what surprised me the most is that you could have become one of the seven swordsmen of the mist."
Izo continued. "Do you have any idea what you've just gotten yourself involved in? Do yourself a favor young man, turn around and leave the mist before your strings get entangled in this ring you're about to step into, puppet."
Riku's left hand grasped the handle of his blade. "I just want my money."
Slowly, Riku unsheathed his blade. He then heard Izo sigh. "Figures, care to wait a moment? This is my favorite part of my most favorite play."
Izo continued on. "You see, this is where the boy named Shiro accepts his fate and becomes a man, and then his soul becomes free. See, it takes this far into the play to figure out that the boy has actually been dead all along, but he has just been unable to accept it until now."
Then, Izo felt the sharp end of a cold blade touch the back hairs of his neck. "So, do you accept your fate like the boy in the play?"
"Yes."
The blade was then pulled back, and was stabbed through Izo's back, into and out of his chest. A slight gasp was heard, but nothing else, the crowd applauding the finale of the play covered up any other sound. Riku put his foot up onto Izo's back, and pushed off of it, pulling his blade out. He then flung the blood off of his blade, which seemed like an ordinary katana with a black and white handle, and sheathed it.
Within moments after the killing Riku was gone without a trace.
Riku hid under the deck of a boat, removing his gear piece by piece. He had an odd feeling in his stomach…one that he couldn't just shake off. How did Izo figure out my name? How did he know all of this about me? He even got my looks down to the finest detail, and the two of us had never met face to face before. These were all just thoughts going through Riku's head as he removed his mask, revealing his face which matched Izo's description exactly.
His hands reached up into his thick black hair, and tied a rough pony tail, and then he beaded a strand of hair on the left side of his head. Just the way his mother taught him to…for a second his eyes dazed off into the distance thinking about her…
He snapped out of it. I can't be thinking of her now, he thought. He slipped on a new pair of clothes, black shinobi pants that covered his entire legs, a dark blue long sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and of course the toeless shinbo shoes. These clothes would be enough for him to blend in, and tactical enough for combat situations.
Piece by piece, he put the rest of his gear he had just worn into a black bag, and hauled it over his shoulder. He then put his sword sheathe on his back, then climbed the stairs onto the main deck, and walked over to the edge and dropped it into the water. He watched the bag sink into the dark blue abyss below…then his head lifted up to see the sun begin to rise. It was almost morning. By now Izo's corpse had surely been found, and the Mist Shinobi would be on alert.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ON MY BOAT!" A child's voice yelled from behind, it was so sudden it startled Riku.
Riku's eyes opened wide. Wait…what…oh shit, wrong boat, he thought. His head turned to peak around his right shoulder. Standing behind him was a very fat child, with a broom in his hand. "W…what?" Riku asked.
"You're on my boat! You'd better go before I get my big brother!"
Riku's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Now I know why this boat is lopsided…" He murmered to himself.
"Hey I heard that!" the killed screamed, and began jumping up in down. "That was a fat joke, wasn't it? I'm NOT fat, I'm big boned!"
While the boy continued ranting on, Riku grew even more annoyed. Riku reached off deck, and into the water. His hand sat in the water for a second, before it jolted over to the right, grabbing something with his hand while it squirmed.
"YOU JUST WAIT, I'M GOING TO GET MY-" The boy was then interrupted by a fish getting slammed against his face. 'THUD!' the boy hit the deck of the boat, flopping around in pain just like the fish was. Riku honestly felt bad for the fish.
Riku then dropped off the edge of the boat, both feet landed on the water. He peered over his shoulder at the boy one last time, and then ran across the water onto the other side of the river, entering the forest on the shore.
Minutes passed, then half an hour, then one hour of jumping tree to tree through the forest before stopping suddenly at an old well.
"What took you so long?" A voice from inside the well asked.
Riku's eyes narrowed in annoyance again. "It was nothing."
"Whatever." The voice said, and a lady dressed in a full mist ANBU outfit, with a Haku like mask and long black hair jumped out of the well. She extended out her hand and dropped a small bag onto the ground in front of Riku's feet. "As discussed your payment. Master Sojuro is pleased."
He knelt down, and picked up the bag. Riku then turned around and began to walk away, he wasn't in the mood for conversation.
"Hey. I want to ask you something." She said behind him.
"What, Raven?" He asked.
Raven chuckled. "Tell me, how does it feel to have killed a defenseless old man who happened to be an important member of the Mist Shinobi council? You've put quite a gap in it, now there are only five members remaining…now Sojuro will have more power thanks to you."
"I'm not apart of these politics."
"Yes you are." Raven said. "You're an assassin hired by a council member, to kill another council member. That makes you apart of their politics."
Riku rolled his eyes, and walked away. He never did like Raven much, she was nothing more than an ANBU under Sojuro's payroll.
"Yuki, I'm home." Riku yelled into his small home, hidden in the woods of the Mist. He took off his shoes, and entered his house. It was a modest home, made of paper like most homes in the area…people just didn't know about this home.
There was a faint sound in the background…sounded like a blade being stabbed into wood. "Yuki?" He called out again. No answer. Riku felt the vein in his head pulse out, and his eyebrows turned down. Why is he not replying…again, he thought. This wasn't the first time Yuki pulled this.
The sound of a blade hitting wood grew nearer and nearer as he wondered through the home. He slid open the back door, then slid it shut behind him after he walked through. Pacing a few more feet around the house, Riku finally found Yuki.
Yuki, who strongly reflected his older brother Riku's appearance with just a few different things, stood in front of a target carved into a tree. In Yuki's hand were Kunai and Shuriken.
Riku approached Yuki, waving to him. His facial expression remained the same. "What are you doing?"
Yuki glanced over at Riku, then back at the tree, his faced unturned by Riku's presence. He threw another Kunai into the tree, then put another Kunai into his hand.
"Yuki…"
Yuki glanced over again. "What?" He asked with an annoyed tone.
"What are you doing out here?"
"What does it look like, brother. I'm practicing."
Riku's eyes opened a bit with curiosity. "To be what?"
"A shinobi."
"Why do you want to be a shinobi?"
"Well I don't want to be stuck out here with you forever." Yuki then threw another Kunai into the tree, off target a bit, but it still made contact.
Riku's eyes traveled the surroundings for a bit, and he bit down on his lip. "Haven't I told you that being a shinobi is not what you want?"
"Yes, but it is what I want."
"Do you think that they'll let you become a shinobi after they learn that I'm your brother?"
Yuki's attention shifted back toward the tree, and he threw in another Kunai. "I'm not responsible for what you've done, and they won't hold me responsible."
Riku then shook his head, and ran his hand through the front of his bangs. Yuki had his mind set; there was no point of trying to talk him out of it. Yuki walked back to his original standing point and started throwing again.
"You're doing it wrong." Riku said. "You're putting too much back into it. Use your arm and wrist more." Then Riku walked back onto the porch of his home, and slid open the door.
He glanced back at Yuki one last time, before going back in. How did things come to be like this between us…he's so cold to me now after everything I have done for him, he thought to himself. I can just see it in his eyes…he's as eager, and as hungry for power as I was back 11 years ago…
Riku readied the tea he was about to make, placing the teapot on the stove, and waiting for it to warm up. Riku then thought back to that moment…11 years ago
A much younger Riku, roughly 17 years of age stood in the heavily forested area surrounding the Hidden Mist. He wore Mist Shinobi clothes, and gripped a kunai in his left hand. His eyes searched his surroundings…
Where is he? Where is Zabuza…shit…I walked right into his trap, Riku thought to himself, his breathing increased and his eyes searched more frantically. "W…where is he…" He mumbled to himself, his eyes open in fear.
"Here." Zabuza said from behind him, blade up to the back of Riku's neck. "I win."
'POOF!' Riku then burst into smoke…it was a shadowclone!
"I don't think so." Riku said from behind Zabuza, with a kunai up to the back of his neck.
Zabuza's eyes narrowed as if annoyed, and in an instant he ducked his neck away from the blade, and rammed the back of his elbow into Riku's gut.
Riku certainly didn't see it coming. It landed perfectly into his gut, blasting the wind out of his body. The pain of…and being out of breathe…it brought him down his knees, and he even lost focus of where he was just for a second.
Then, Zabuza picked up his blade and swung a foreswing followed by a backswing straight toward Riku's throat. Riku ducked under the first swing, then rolled back out of the second swing. "What the hell, this is just sparing calm down!" Riku yelled.
Zabuza roared in anger. "I don't care!" then lunged his blade at Riku again. Riku leaned back, and parried with his kunai, before rolling out of the range of Zabuza's blade.
Shit, he's really going all out here! Riku thought, before avoiding another one of Zabuza's slashes. He didn't wait for the next one, he hurled a kunai at his opponent then charged. Zabuza blocked the Kunai with his blade, and sweeped his sword at Riku's legs.
Riku noticed the silver shine of the blade, and he lifted his legs as high in the air as he could, arms flung out at the sides. He felt the wind of the blade pass under him, then he kicked out his right foot at Zabuza's face. He felt a satisfying blow make contact with Zabuza's face that made him stumble back a bit.
'GRIP!' Zabuza's hands wrapped around Riku's foot, and before he knew it Riku was hurled into the trunk of a tree. He heard a loud bang as he made contact with it, and pain arched up his as if he had been hit with a hammer. His breathe staggered, and he leaned up, hand held on his back.
Riku did a hand signs. "SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" and made two shadow clones, which all scattered through the woods.
Zabuza started doing his hand signs of his own. "You're not getting away!" He growled. "Water Style: Water Clone!" and Zabuza made three water clones of his own. They chased after the scattering Rikus.
While his shadow clones were on the run, the real Riku sat behind a tree. He sat perfectly still, not even moving his eyes. Zabuza would be able to detect the faintest movement…he knew this because both of them were students of the silent killing method.
'POOF!' Riku heard one clone pop in the distance.
'POOF!' He heard the other one pop.
His eyes instinctively followed the sounds. His eyes opened in panic, he moved!
"Water Style: Water Prison!"
Before Riku knew it he was surrounded by water, trapped in a ball of water. He struggled to get out, his arms flailing and his legs kicking the walls trying to get free. His heart rate was so high he could feel the oxygen pouring out of his system every second, he wasn't calm enough to slow down his oxygen use.
Outside of the water prison Zabuza stood just glaring at him with his cold eyes. "I told you not to spar with me. I don't play nice."
Zabuza then sheathed his sword. Riku stared at him intently, every thought right now was of destroying Zabuza in any way possible…he just had to get out of this water prison before he drowned.
Then, an idea hit him. He would have to go to measures he didn't want to in order to free himself. This was no longer a sparing match this was a fight. Riku intended to win this fight. He put his hands together and started forming hand signs. Scorch Style: Searing Blast!
Scorch Fire (A fire much much hotter than normal chakra fire) then blasted out of Riku's mouth in a continuous stream. The blaze was so hot the water around him evaporated before the blaze even made contact. Zabuza's eyes opened in surprise, and he drew his sword again and flipped out of the way.
Zabuza's eyes locked onto Riku "So, you actually want to do this huh? Looks like I have no choice now."
Riku, under the cover of a dense coat of steam due to his technique, reached onto his back, and pulled out his katana. It had a black blade as its key feature. He unwrapped the handle revealing a handle made of black and white wood. This was no ordinary sword, it was Riku's sword Akuma. "Now we fight for real."
The two didn't say anymore words, within seconds they advanced on each other. 'CLASH!' Their two swords met in a dead lock. They stared each other down with anger in their eyes, both eager to harm and defeat the other. Zabuza pushed with all his might against Riku's blade, and Riku pushed against it as hard as he could.
Then, Riku thrusted his foot into Zabuza's leg to end the deadlock, Zabuza spinned out of the way of his foot, and spun his blade with him using the moment to strike Riku.
Riku ducked down, and stabbed toward Zabuza's thigh to slow him down. His opponent was agile enough to jump above the stab, and Zabuza's foot landed on the blunt side of the blade, and pushed it down to the ground. Zabuza's executioner's blade then raised above his head, and hurled down toward Riku's head.
'CLASH!' Riku slipped a kunai out of his sleeve and blocked the blade. The two of them stuck in dead lock once again, this time Riku's grasp was breaking.
Zabuza growled "You're mine!"
"Go to hell!" Riku roared, before spinning out of the dead lock, and slipping his blade out from under Zabuza's feet.
He quickly got back into stance. Zabuza remained unrelenting, advancing on him once again.
Riku focused his chakra into his blade. 'SWOOSH' scorch fire covered Riku's Katana named Akuma. He then swiped as fast, and as hard as he could at Zabuza. His opponent knew that he couldn't parry or block this blade as of right now, and was forced to dodge.
'SWIPE, SWIPE, SWIPE!' Riku's swung his blade furiously, Akuma roared with scorch fire each swipes. Only once was the sword close enough to burn Zabuza, and because of the distance they were only in the first degree.
With this, Zabuza took a major leap back, going back at least 10 feet away from Riku. He did numerous hand signs. "Water Style: Water Dragon!" and from the ground in front of him a giant water dragon emerged, and few straight toward Riku.
Riku let out his battle cry, and the red scorch on Akuma glowed even brighter, and Riku leapt as high into the air as he could. He came face to face with the water dragon, and hurled his blade straight into its head. The sound of steam curdling was heard, and Riku slashed the technique right in half. The blaze on Akuma then went away, Riku didn't want to use anymore chakra, using Akuma like that always eats up chakra.
His eyes traveled up from the ground below him up to Zabuza, who stood there with his blade ready. The demon of the mist stood in front of him, yet Riku remained unmoved.
"Your move." Zabuza said.
"I've already made it."
'BURST!' Suddenly from under the ground below Zabuza two Shadow Clones of Riku bursted out, grappling Zabuza and trying to pin him down. Riku must have made them when he was under the cover of steam after escaping the water prison. After a few seconds of struggle Zabuza broke free, and after swinging his sword in a single motion he popped both clones.
Then, Riku was gone. Zabuza looked around in panic, only to feel a blade up to his neck. "I…win." Riku whispered in his ear.
"You forgot about my water clones." Zabuza said.
'SPLOOSH!' Zabuza bursted into water.
An eye opening realization hit Riku, and he did his handsigns. "NOT THIS TIME!" He yelled, and surrounded himself in a ring of scorch fire
'SPLOOSH!' a water clone that tried to sneak up behind Riku bursted into water, and a cloud of steam was made. When the cloud of steam settled, Riku was gone as well.
Silence hit the field, both Shinobi were hidden under cover, both just waiting for the other to reveal their position.
Riku patiently waited under cover, as well as Zabuza. Then, the silence was interrupted.
"All right you two, you've been at it with each other long enough. Break it up!" An older voice said, and an elder man stepped out of the trees escorted by three Mist Jonin. "As far as I'm concerned you're both going to make the cut as part of the Seven Swordmen, so you can stop trying to kill each other."
And with that said, both Zabuza and Riku left cover. As they walked to the man from opposite sides of the woods, both rivals eyed each other down. Zabuza had a look of anger and annoyance in his eyes…Riku on the other hand had a different look. It was a look of anger, but it also was a look of hunger. As if he wanted more power so he could beat Zabuza, and all of his other rivals.
"Now, I can see it that both of you are very talented, and that both of you have a rivalry going on. Rivalries are good. Up to a certain point anyway. Your rivalry however is good no more."
The man then stomped his foot onto the ground. "This is the second time this has happened, and this will be the last. Both of you would make a hell of a team, it's time you started acting like comrades and not like children."
"Yes Master." Riku said. Zabuza softly said the same thing.
"Good, now I want you both to rest up for our mission tomorrow."
The teapot began to screech out steam, and Riku was brought back to current times once again. In current times he was no longer a Mist Shinobi, and there was no more Zabuza. Riku now a days was nothing more than a rogue, doing odds and ends just to put food on the table for his little brother, who didn't even appreciate him.
Riku slowly poured himself tea, and began to sip on it. Bitter, as usual. He was absolutely terrible at making tea. Still, it was the thought that counted, so he continued to sip down this bitter tea.