AN: This is a side story that runs alongside the plot of Creation of All Things, my other fanfiction. This story is also rather Jigokudo-centric.

I will just get on with this then.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, or Jigoku Shoujo; it is fanfiction for a reason.

Sentience...

Indeed that was one of the first things this vessel was being offered after it had been...given the gift of an eternal existence, and the burden to represent the realm of Hell.

It could still remember who this body it occupied, a man with great ambition, one whom would envision a world of justice, a world without cruelty, a world of peace. He had devoted his many years of life to become strong enough to reach his ambition, even so far as to fill his very being with the potent venom of a black salamander. For some years he had seen success, as through his devotion and hard work he had gained dominion over a village, a village of unending rain.

Alas with that success, bred the beginning of his downfall, for as he gained power, he recalled and reminisce the difficulties of acquiring it. He himself had orchestrated much treachery against its previous leaders, and now he feared the same would befall him.

His mind corroded, caution turned to paranoia as he made sure no one would bring him back to the dredges of failure. Soon enough he started to stray away from his vision, and his goal of a better world was a long forgotten memory. His village, hidden in endless rained and its inhabitants became the victims of his growing insanity.

It was from his fear of falling that was ironically the cause for his downfall.

Amegakure, Kage Tower

The man coughed hard, it was likely that much of his organs had been severely damaged, and he would not be able to get on his feet. After all the sins he had committed, it was indeed time for Karma to reach him. He was on the ground, and in front of him behind the bodies of his dead bodyguards was a familiar face, a face of someone he had killed...or had induced to kill once upon a time...at that he felt nostalgia flood through, a face that haunted his dreams for some time.

"Have you forgotten this face that easily?" the other individual spoke, a man with spiked, auburn hair and his face covered with numerous metal piercings. The man's eyes were most striking, a metallic purple with concentric circles around his pupils, resembling a ripple.

The man calmed himself down, until his voice was even, "Oh I remember you...Yahiko, from that splinter group Akatsuki. What shocks me is how you could possibly be alive." he spoke, more out of curiosity and resignation than actual panic or fear.

The man in front of him did not answer his question"You made a pact with Danzo, and took us down with your treachery, all so you could hold on to your power and your life a little longer. It disappoints me to see that you have reduced yourself to such trash."

The ripple-eyed man approached him slowly, he just looked on.

"Hanzo, you used to inspire us...I had looked up to you, your vision of a world without cruelty and injustice was a world we had wanted, a world that we would have willingly laid our lives to help you in achieving, but you have changed."

This made him think hard...changed? Indeed he has changed. All this time he had allowed his fear to eat into his mind like a vile parasite, and in the end he had lent his hand to creating injustice, many have suffered including the one standing in front of him. It had to take a sea of corpses of his army and waiting at the gates of hell for him to understand that all these years he had erred.

It made him chuckle, a hollow chuckle. The man in front of him gave a questioning stare.

"I ended up being the biggest failure have I not? Embodying everything that I swore to go against, many people have died, many who do not deserve to. You did not deserve to die...but I suppose this is my time to pay my toll, hell will have a special place for me."

The rippled eyes of the man in front of him widened slightly, very likely in shock of his sudden epiphany, this did not deter him to continue.

"Even if my soul will be cursed to wander in pain and agony from my sins, and be forever sealed off from heaven...I think I'd deserve that, there's no use wallowing in what I have done."

His gaze on the man in front of him hardened his resolve steadfast; he had made peace with himself.

"Yahiko...if you are the boy, for what it is worth I am sorry. Now I am in my last moments of life before the arms of Hell claim me. Do what you must." His words must have shocked him if the lack of response from the ripple-eyes man was any indication. But in time movement took place, and the man raised his right palm towards him. Hanzo merely closed his eyes, death would not find fear in him at his last moments.

But still he hesitated.

He lowered his palm and something else formed in it, a blade made of a dark metal was now in his hand. The man he called Yahiko approached him further, and lowered himself to his level, now in very close proximity to each other.

"What you have done, is not for me to forgive. Yahiko is already dead there is no changing what has happened...but if he were here, and knowing him, he would have forgiven you...farewell Sanshouo no Hanzo."

A clean thrust into his heart, ended his life...it was near painless. In his final thoughts he knew that the man could have utterly destroyed him until there was nothing but a pool of blood and guts, yet he did not.

At least in death, he had asked for atonement, rather than beg for his life. Even with the wrongs he had committed, the people he ruled over still remember the Hero he once was. His body was entombed deep in the citadel of his village, an eternal slumber.

Hanzo would spend his eternity in Hell, but his memory lived on, but his vessel would be needed in the coming of the Second Sage.

It had been some years since his vessel had known life, still sealed in its tomb never expecting to awake.

Deep in the Amegakure citadel, the gate of Sanshouo no Hanzo's tomb had burst opened with immense force. It was unexpected given that the steel gate was exceedingly thick and was tightly secured.

Footsteps were heard, someone walked towards the stone coffin at the centre of the chamber, his appearance difficult to discern as darkness had enveloped the person's place. Though it would not last long as the intruder had had enough of the dark, the torches at the ends of the chamber lit up and his appearance was now clear.

His hair was short, and blonde, he wore a horned hitai-ate, and on it was the symbol that resembled concentric circles. The man wore dark gray armour beneath his long grey cloak, and around his neck was a jewelled necklace with six glowing red magatama. Lastly were his eyes, which bore some familiarities with the man whom killed Hanzo, it was a metallic purple and the concentric circles were clear to see, what made it different was the small yin-yang symbol which encompassed his pupil, and surrounding said pupil were six tomoes (1).

Rikudo Sennin, the First and also the Second, Sage of Six Paths

The intruder stood some distance from the coffin, staring intently for a moment, it was then he spoke, partially to himself, and partially to the body sealed within it.

"Sanshouo no Hanzo, a man whom sought peace, and justice, had walked through hell and back to acquire the power to make it remotely possible. Yet he had ultimately fail...but his memory lives on...even if he had damned his soul to Hell, his intentions were pure, his goal was...right."

The man snapped his fingers, and in such short moment, the stone lid of the coffin was detached very violently and fell towards the ground at the side of it.

The man walked closer, until he was at arm's reach with the body. Hanzo's empty vessel was surprising perfectly preserved, his eyes were closed, his battle attire untouched. The gasmask he was always known to wear was still firmly attached.

"Life does not end when you die, it only does when you lost faith...perhaps it is true in a way."

The ripple-eyed man placed his palm on Hanzo's head, and as soon as that was done, black-white streams of chakra came off from him and entered the dead vessel, through his closed eyes, exposed nose and the slits in his gas-mask. Soon enough the man removed his palm, Hanzo's body leaking the black-white chakra.

He went through a complex series of handsigns in rapid succession, the tomoes of his ripples eyes spinning madly.

"Gedo: Jigokudo no Jutsu", Hanzo's body floated upwards from his coffin and the chakra flowing through him, it lasted for only a few minutes before the body fell back down. Though it did not stay still for long, as slowly but surely its fingers started moving.

Soon, it sat up and made its way out of the stone coffin; and at that point 'Hanzo's' eyes opened; gone were his dark-brown iris and pupil, as they were now replaced with a familiar one, almost exactly like the ones of the man whom ended his life. Ripples and a metallic purple.

The Sage willed the body to move its limbs experimentally, and for it to perform a few taijutsu katas. He was satisfied, the body was still in perfect condition, and all the knowledge it possessed during its life was still retained in his mind.

The Sage then spoke to himself, "Nagato, you treated your paths like puppets, your tools...but it should be made clear that they are embodiment of the cycle, they are no tools. They deserve thought, they deserve to be more than mindless puppets."

With merely a thought, the Sage gave sentience to the vessel; a sentience most similar to the original owner of the body, it would have the personality and qualities of Sanshouo no Hanzo, without his weaknesses.

With that thought, the dead eyes of the vessel started to gain some semblance of life, and it blinked. He then diverted his attention to the Sage, his anchor.

"Tell me vessel, what is your name?" the Sage asked.

"Jigokudo, The Hell Path, vessel of the cycle, the vessel of judgement", Jigokudo, the occupier of Hanzo's body replied immediately.

The Sage nodded to himself, it was a success, he had his Hell Path and successfully given sentience to it. He got what he came for hence it was time to leave.

Both the Sage and one of his six embodiment made their way out of the chamber and Amegakure's memorial citadel.

Indeed he had been reminiscing, one of the gifts of thought, and one of the gifts of retaining the memories of the deceased up until his final moments. The Second Sage had dictated that the Hell Path 'occupy' himself whilst he returned to his birth village to acquire the vessels for his other embodiments. Hence he had decided to travel the Elemental Nations, much like the other Paths of the Sage that have been given a vessel. Whatever knowledge he retained would also be made aware by the Sage, knowledge has always been a paramount past-time for him.

And certainly, the knowledge that Jigokudo was about to acquire would also spark an unexpected action, both for the Path and the Sage.

As he travelled across the Nations, he reached a remote village at the peak of night, hidden in the more hilly regions of Hi no Kuni, a very small village it was as the Hell Path could very clearly identify, made even easier to see since there were a mass sea of torches heading towards a specific area a distance away from the structures, likely the villagers.

Jigokudo decided it would be beneficial to move in closer to see what the attention was all about, and what he could see disgusted him thoroughly, and the thought and consciousness resounding from the Second Sage indicated likewise.

As he was standing on the tree-line he could see very vividly a large hole at the centre of the crowd and a few men were dumping more dirt to cover the hole. In it was...a girl, in her teens if he would have to hazard a guess. She was blindfolded, and it was very clear she was being buried alive.

Jigokudo could vividly hear her panicked cries for help, for a boy named Sentaro. To the side of the hole was indeed a boy on his knees, this was 'Sentaro' perhaps? If she was crying for his help, it was indeed a curiosity to see how he would act since it would mean having the entire village against him if that were the case...

One of the villages yelled out, "Don't you understand this boy? The village is in shambles! Everything is getting worse by the years. She was chosen to be sacrificed...it has been nine years! And you have kept her away from us!"

Another added his opinion, "The village ended like this because of you an Ai! But we are willing to forgive you completely if you apologise to the people and help us finish the deed that should have been done years ago!",

A spark of familiarity came to Jigokudo as he heard such words, the behaviour of these villagers were not unlike those back in the home village of the Second Sage, when he was a victim of circumstance. Bigots in their most incorrigible form, disgusting examples of human behaviour;

All the more it was a test to see what this boy would do. The girl, very clearly needed him right now, but the boy was thinking very hard about his choice.

Jigokudo was not surprised with his decision, though he remained appalled...the boy muttered a silent apology before he grabbed on to one of the many shovels lying about. He then frantically gathered up dirt with it and poured them into the hole she was buried in; he had made his decision to help the villagers bury the girl.

The girl must have known what happened, as a part of her blindfold came off and her brown eyes were clear for the Path to see. In them were strong emotions of betrayal, despair, sorrow and a growing feeling of hate; so very palpable it grew.

She spoke in her likely final moments, her voice filled with despair "Sentaro...I had trusted you, I thought that you would protect me...I believed that you would protect me.."

The boy stopped his actions, his body started to shake and he started walking back from the burial site.

The girl's voice then turned hateful, "Sentaro..." he must have had enough as he decided to run as fast as he could from the site, but the rest of the villagers continued to fill the hole with dirt.

"I hate you...I hate all of you!" As the dirt filled, she started shedding tears of blood, and her brown eyes slowly changed to a red tint. This was intriguing to the Hell Path, and this thought resounded in the Sage.

"Even if I die at this moment, and my body decay, it will never stop me hating every one of you! May all of you burn in the darkest pits of Hell for I curse all of you!" Upon that declaration, the hole was completely filled, the girl was completely buried. The Path stood on the tree-line and looked down at the villagers, they were silent for a moment...before they walked off back to the direction of the village.

Such a shame, the people of this village are damned. Such cruelty will bring upon them a very timely catastrophe; they would know without a hint of doubt what it feels to take their step into hell.

Jigokudo's thoughts then diverted towards the buried girl...so much hate in her being, it remained strong even as her life extinguished.

A few hours later:

By the time all the villagers were gone and the burial site was silent, she would have no doubt been dead. Jigokudo had waited until it was so, he and his maker, the Second Sage had already made a decision.

Jigokudo dropped from the tree-line and walked towards the site where the girl was buried, and he focused. His eyes could see that there was no longer a pulse or living energy under all that soil. Instead, he was surprised that a residual energy that was very familiar resonated from the ground...chakra. As the Path focused on, it was scarlet, far darker in colour than Kurama's, and the amount of hate resonating from it was immense though still incomparable to the Bijuu.

Jigokudo breathed deeply, and his rippled eyes burned a deep purple; the now deceased girl had some potent chakra in her but not nearly enough for her to withstand death. It looks like the Hell Path would have to give it a slight...push.

He laid his left palm on the covered earth above the buried girl, and expel a considerable amount of chakra; slowly a pattern formed on the ground resembling an overly complex seal with a ripple-like pattern at the centre. In time the pattern glow a blood red and slowly turned a deep shade of purple. Jigokudo removed his palm and performed a few hand-seals and as it was done the glowing patterns intensify in hue.

"Jigokudo: Edo Tensei no Jutsu" the earth shook lightly for a short moment, the colours shifting between purple and red, this lasted for moments before it stopped. Silence reigned for about a minute, as the patterns faded and all that was left was an unblemished earth. It would have seemed that nothing else would happen, but nothing was that simple.

A part of the ground moved slightly and the earth burst open; an arm came out from the ground, the very pale and slender arms of a young girl, it struggled to free itself further and it was moving somewhat frantically. The path decided to help the child and bring her back up to the world of the living.

He grabbed on to the girl's exposed hand, and gave it a light pull. More of the earth was moved and eventually a clear form of her body was visible. Soon the Path pulled the girl completely out from the ground and letting her lie on the earth. She did not gasp for air, nor did she cough...she just stayed prone on the earth, almost soundless.

Jigokudo merely looked on with curiosity;

With her currently limited strength, she pushed herself up and got onto her knees from her prone, and then she saw him. She tilted her head upwards to look at the man whom pulled her up, with her one exposed eye...she kept staring. Her eyes darted up and down until it settled for his face, perhaps she had found his appearance odd, the breathing mask was indeed striking.

As the Path continued to assess the person he had brought back from the cold grasp of death, he could see the girl in earnest under the full moon; her hair was obsidian black, straight and long. Her features were exceedingly beautiful and surprisingly mature given her tender age. Jigokudo ripped out the blindfold still attached to the right side of her eye and threw it aside.

From what he could recall they used to be brown, but now it was a very deep and striking scarlet, her left cheek had vivid traces of blood that flowed out from her left eye when she was buried alive. She stared intently at the Path's rippled ones, whom eyed her back analytically, it stayed that way until the girl became felt intimidated by the intensity of the Path's stare and looked away.

There was silence for a moment until the girl decided to voice out, "Why?" her voice a whisper, broken in spirit.

A valid question, it was indeed a query natural for one given that they have been brought back from death...though in this girl's case no longer as an earnest human. Jigokudo responded, "A curiosity demands attention child, un-fated death demands undoing."

The Path remained still, as he continued to assess the girl, clear as day, he could see a multitude of emotions flooding her expression; same as the ones he felt when she cursed the village with all her waning strength but undying fury. This girl must have taken the term 'curiosity' in a fatalistic view as her anger resurfaced, her look turned hateful as she glared at him.

"Curiosity is it? That's the reason I am not dead now? Am I some unusual thing that gives you entertainment?! The villagers see me as some abomination, a Hell Girl, a cursed child doomed to be a sacrifice...to them I am cattle! I was already dead, and now I am back from the dead! What am I now, human? Beast? Ghoul? Demon? What am I?!" The girl's voice was almost hysterical in tone, her sanity was being pulled to the limit and in mere moments it could be ripped apart. Jigokudo did not answer the girl, he just kept his heavy gaze. Though the more she spoke, the more sorrowful she sounded; soon enough she moved her palms to her face.

"Sentaro...I trusted him with all my heart...I believed that he was the only one who cared...but he is just like them, like the villagers... why am I the only one, why can every other child live a happy life...why must it be me?" the girl began to weep, a painful sound for any person to hear.

Although Jigokudo remained impassive, deep in his thoughts he could feel the faint emotions running in the Second Sage's mind...hints of sorrow, but surprisingly significant amounts of empathy. True pity for a defenceless village girl, being treated as something inhuman by the villagers she spent her very short life with, truly a victim of fate.

The Second Sage relay his will to the Hell Path, dictating him to give her time; a short outlet for her bottled up misery should be a necessary generosity. With that in mind, the Path remained silent, just watching; the intensity of his stare now simmered down to merely an understanding gaze.

Soon enough the girl did calm down ever slightly, Jigokudo noticed that she no longer wept blood, though her blood red eyes remained unchanged. She had a hopeless look on her face as she wrapped her arms around herself. Jigokudo was then given single instruction by the Sage which surprised him.

"Do what you will, Jigokudo." A simple instruction, which meant he had complete free reign to decide the child's fate, and perhaps the fate of those whom reduced her to such an existence.

Jigokudo broke the silence, "What is your name child?"

She snapped her attention back to the Path, likely surprised with his sudden breaking of silence. Jigokudo asked the same question again, still with patience, and this time she responded in her broken voice...

"Enma...Enma Ai, that is my name mister..."

He nodded, it was indeed an uncanny coincidence that her name bore such a close connection to the symbolism that he embodied, the Judge of the Underworld. Ai...in all possibility it meant love, a bitter irony.

"I heard that in your dying words, you would never stop hating the village for the torture and torment they have inflicted upon you. You would never stop hating the boy for betraying your trust and breaking your spirit." Jigokudo spoke, the girl named Ai just listened absently. But as she did, she nodded and the fury in her eyes evident for him to see.

"You wish to seek revenge for what they have done to you? For them to feel the torment you felt, all that pain. Even if you lacked the power to do so?" the Path questioned further, and she nodded again but her head now lowered, she knew she was powerless, if she showed her face in the village again they would resort to even more drastic measures...she might even be burned at a stake...

It was then Jigokudo contemplated slightly, just for a moment, until he told her something that would change her life perpetually or more aptly...un-life.

"What if I told you, I could give you the tool to bring these sinners their Karma?" Ai looked back at the Path, her eyes now wide, though she looked apprehensive but nevertheless anxious.

"This village will burn, bringing death and torture to the innocent for generations, it is about time they understand the true meaning of Hell. I offer you a choice, do you want the power to destroy this sinful village and keep your promise of vengeance against those who wrong you?"

Ai was now conflicted; she was being offered power by someone she did not know, someone with power far beyond her comprehension if bringing her back from the dead was any indication. She had wondered what his condition would be for what he was offering her, everything comes at a price and at the back of her mind she was certainly worried. Though that being said, her feelings took precedence over prudence, whatever cost she would bear, it was something to worry about after this was done.

She gave one final nod, signifying that she was willing to take up his offer; she felt there was nothing for her to lose; she was already dead.

Reflecting Hanzo's character, Jigokudo was somewhat intrigued by this girl's resolve, most children would have been strongly indecisive or far too impulsive, but he knew she had considered it carefully; likely knowing there might be a cost to it. She understood the possible repercussions yet she persevered and insisted.

The Path's thought resounded in the Sage, and in short moments he was provided the needed power to pass on to the child, a Kekkei Genkai that was all too familiar, without its weaknesses as this was truly a full gift of the Sage.

In short notice, Jigokudo laid his palm on the girl's head, she was confused with his action but he reassured her.

"At peace child, you have made your choice, and I will abide by it; understand this Enma Ai, as you will be the only bearer of this power, bring my judgement to this village which have sinned, and bring peace to your grievance." A familiar black-white chakra coursed through Jigokudo and into Ai's body, most of the energy entered her eyes.

As soon as that happened, the girl started screaming in pain, such blinding pain that she felt like her eyes were being scraped out by searing hot knives. She closed her eyes in hopes of limiting the pain but it did nothing, the torture lasted for less than a minute, before Jigokudo released his hold on the girl and she now had her head towards the earth, as she whimpered.

Drops of blood fell from her eyes once more and on to the ground, and she looked up tears of blood seeped through her still closed eyelids, this time from both her eyes. Ai slowly opened them, and what she saw surprised her, instead of broken eyes she could see everything with undeniable clarity, even in the dark of night everything was vivid, the texture of the earth, the butterfly resting on a plant, the moon and the stars.

All these time, Jigokudo eyed Enma Ai, as she appreciated the details of the worlds, with her new eyes. They did not change much, they remained the scarlet red that had replaced her once brown ones, but they now resonate untold power so much that the dark of night was made slightly brighter with the glow of her blood-red orbs. Within the red eyes, was a faint pattern which was rather difficult to see, but was there nevertheless, and it was a hue darker than the rest of her eyes.

The blood that flowed from her eyes now fell to her cheek, though Ai did not bother. But as she took in the detail of the worlds, she came across a tree, a big tree. It had numerous straw dolls pinned to it, each one had a name etched to them which would have been hard to see in the night, it was likely the names of many other children sacrificed for the village; one had her name on it and a piece of paper pinned, it's words which angered her immensely;

"Jigoku Shoujo, may Hell claim her back." Her rage returned and hate grew stronger, she damned the village with all her might and all her fury. All her malice was then diverted on the tree where the doll was pinned to and...

The tree burst into flames, not the ember coloured flames she was familiar with on the torches of the civilians, but rather flames as black as the pits of Hell, and the heat resonating from them was far more intense than any other.

Ai was shocked by the black flames, it had been unexpected. She wanted the fire to stop spreading, and as if understanding her command, the fires dissipated; leaving a very charred bark that was devoid of any life. It dawned on her, this man, whatever he was had indeed given her the tool for her vengeance and it obeyed her, with thought alone, like a voluntary muscle.

The black fire had a name, an ironic name...Amaterasu.

Knowledge flooded into Jigokudo, as he told Ai the eyes she now bore;

"Let me tell you a story Ai, these were the eyes that the Rikudo Sennin had given to his oldest son countless years ago. It was a fragment from his own eyes. His son's fragment was weak, and flawed. It had taken generation for his son's descendants to find a resolution to its weaknesses, and many years of pain. But they became misguided, corrupted by their quest, hence the Sage with his feelings of regret ripped his gift from his son's descendants. "

Jigokudo rested his palm on her head again this time in a more gentle gesture, almost fatherly; "your eyes are different, you have had your share of pain, and to him you might be different. He would give you the eyes he gave his son, but without its flaws, second only to the eyes of God."

Enma Ai looked into Jigokudo's rippled orbs, she had come to realise how hypnotic they were. The Path continued;

"Your eyes are eternal, and they will bring judgement to the sinful. May the people understand that their cruelty will be returned to them. Wield this gift and resolve your resentments."

Ai remained still for some time, digesting what she was being told. This...Sage, Rikudo Sennin had bestowed upon her a powerful weapon, second only to his. In the back of her mind she questioned, why would he do so? What made her so special as to receive such a favour? Though as she thought, she recalled this strange man's statement;

"Bring my judgement to this village.."

She had much to ask him; but now she had a promise to keep...

After a long time, Ai stood up, her face was now impassive, but Jigokudo could see her controlled fury through the now blank crimson orbs.

The red glow of her eye intensified, and a spatial distortion was vaguely visible around where she stood, invisible to the naked eye but not escaping the Path's vision. Soon after, Ai disappeared from where she stood, Jigokudo would guess that she had teleported to the village, where Hell on earth would begin in earnest for its inhabitants.

Once again, thoughts of the Sage resonated in the Path, admiring her ability to wield the fragment of his eyes, and the power of Kamui.

Jigokudo was instructed to follow Enma Ai, and watch the massacre that would no doubt unfold. Rikudo Sennin was curious, and so was the Hell Path.

(1) For the eyes described, consult my profile and search for the link with the following description

"Naruto/Rikudo Sennin's Complete Rinnegan (Centre picture)", click on the link below.

AN:

What do you think?

This came out all of a sudden, a spark of impulse that I had no choice but to act upon,

It is pretty different to the other Hell Girl x Naruto fanfics in this archive. It is a shame that there are so little Hell Girl crossovers on ff. So if anyone reads this story, thanks for your time.

I will also appreciate any reviews or comments that any of you would give and your thoughts on this story so far. This is one of the few side projects I have, still focusing on Creation of All things and once again I reiterate that if any part of this story seems confusing, it should be made clearer with this other tale.

The next chapter will be ready when it is, and if you wish, read Creation of All Things. Until then!

Druid