The Darkness Returns 28/12/2013
Times have changed since the day the Sun Sage destroyed the Darkness of the world.
The world took time to repair and reconstruct its villages and the hearts of its people. But humans' still craved power, the remnants of the darkness that was defeated came back, crawling from the underworld and back into people's hearts and souls. Battles and Wars raged out, so the five Kages had a summit. If people craved battle, they could train and prepare for a tournament. Every three years it would be held within the village of the winner of the previous tournament. Twenty Four Years have passed since the Fourth Shinobi War.
We start our story from the outskirts of a dormant volcano, where two shinobis are awaiting their client from a minor village on the edge of the world…
"God where is this guy!" exclaimed Mizua. It had been four hours since they had been waiting for their client. Mizua stood up from his position upon a rock. He jumped off and walked towards a stream that was trickling past. He cupped his hands and washed his face and pulled back his hair. He looked at his reflection and trailed his finger down the scar across his face. Mizua was an above average looking guy. He turned to his friend, Shura who was sitting on the branch of a tree. He was deep into the book. Mizua squinted his eyes and peered at the title; Make Out Paradise. What a strange name. He walked back to the rock and sat down.
"Shura, what did the contract say about this guy we are meeting?" Mizua asked. Shura closed his book and put it into his bag. He turned and looked at Mizua with an expression of annoyance.
"Don't tell me you forgot to read the contract and just agreed because your Father asked you to?" he asked. Mizua breathed out and nodded.
"Fine. We were told to wait outside the Okuzi Volcano for a Shinobi who will be wearing … hold on, let me check" he said. He reached into his bag and pulled out a artistic painting.
"The client is a male, early twenties, has blue hair, odd hair colour. Green eyes and…..get this, grey skin with tattoos covering his entire body. He shall be wearing a black cloak to hide his body but the eyes should give him away" he said.
Mizua laughed and stopped laughing and looked at the sky. The clouds were growing darker and the sky was beginning to grumble.
"Wasn't the weather supposed to be clear skies and sunny spells" he spoke. Shura looked at the clouds and trailed his sight towards the mountain. He suddenly noticed someone coming towards him. His eyes suddenly flashed purple and he increased his vision. The figure fit the description he had just given Mizua.
Shura and Mizua landed next to each and began approaching the figure. The person stopped just in front of them. He knelt down on one knee and placed both hands together and bowed his head. He then stood up.
"Are you Hatake Mizua and Shiryoku Shura?" the person asked. Mizua nodded. He was taken aback by this person's manners.
"Yes we are. You are a client, may I ask your name?" Shura asked. He was also confused by this person's attitude. The person unzipped his cloak to reveal his grey skin and a mask covering the top part of his face, his chin and mouth.
"Fuwa Kukan, a pleasure to meet the son of the Great Hatake Kakashi and one of the prominent members of the Shiryoku Clan," he said. Shura laughed and was surprised that this person, Kukan knew of his minor clan.
"Thank you for the acknowledgment of my clan, not many know my clan to be honest. Now we are guiding and protecting you to the location of the Tournament," said Shura. Fuwa stepped forward and passed between them. He stopped and turned at them.
"Only guidance, I would not be allowed to leave if I did not know how to protect myself," said Kukan.
"Oh… do you believe that you do not know of the dangers of the Forests of Chaos. That is the location we need to pass through to get to the stadium," Mizua spoke. He was surprised but now something ticked him off about this fellow.
"The Forest of Chaos sounds dangerous and exciting. But the tone of your voice deems that you would take extra caution since you are travelling with baggage. How about this, I shall show you a technique of my village and we can get to the stadium in seconds." He said. Shura and Mizua lost their breath. They were few people in the world who knew Teleportation Jutsus, but ones that could take one from one country to another would be amazing.
"Uh sure. How would this work, do we need to stand all together?" Mizua asked.
Kukan chuckled. He performed two hand signs and placed one palm on Mizua and the other on Shura.
"Black Technique: Lion Tumble" he said. Suddenly for a moment, the air around the three shinobi shimmered and the next moment they were gone, leaving only a crack in the ground.
The Village of the Leaf, Konoha was a prospering village that grown double in size since its destruction twenty six years ago. The Hokage Mountain that had six fire shadows upon it. The current Fire Shadow was Uzumaki Naruto, a lifelong dream the shinobi had.
Just outside the village, the Stadium of the Tournament stood. It was grand and large and had extra facilities within it including; training arenas, hospital, resting quarters and halls for other events.
Just next to the metallic gates, the air began to shimmer, suddenly three shinobi appeared out of thin air. Mizua and Shura fell to their knees and coughed. Mizua vomited and breathed heavily.
"The initial reaction from a Shift between Locations is the miniature breakdown of your internal organs. It should pass in a few minutes" Kukan said.
Shura stood up and held his stomach. He pointed towards the gates as they opened. He walked through the gateway with Kukan following and Mizua coming behind last, barely walking to be exact.
They entered into a great hall and stopped at a desk. Kukan stepped forward and registered himself. Fuwa Kukan. Okezagakure
Shura then pointed towards some steps. Kukan walked up then with Shura and Mizua either side of him. He turned and walked through a stone corridor and entered a large room. At the end of the room was a balcony that seemed to overlook the battle arena. Before the balcony was a table that had seven seats surrounding it, and three of the seven chairs were taken up by what seemed officials. The first official stood up and walked towards Kukan. His hair was a clear silver tone and both his eyes glared down at Kukan. Kukan knew at once who this man was. He bowed in front of the official and took off his mask off.
"A Pleasure to meet you, White Shadow of the Leaf, Hatake Kakashi" Kukan said. Kakashi smiled and bowed back to Kukan. He then looked past him and looked at Mizua.
"Has my son been treating you well?" he asked. Mizua walked next to his father and gave him a hug. He then walked past him and sat down.
"He has been. Although his body is in a bad state of him having a negative side effect to my Shift" he answered. Kakashi's eyes widened and turned to look at his son who was in a relaxed position.
"The Shift technique. I heard it from your grandfather. It allows you to jump locations instantaneously. A technique I was told I would not be able to capture with my Sharigan" he said. Shura walked next to Kukan and looked at Kakashi.
"Elder Kakashi, where is your sharigan?" he asked. Kakashi smiled and both his eyes suddenly glowered red and then vanished once again.
"I can now summon them, rather than having them always activated" he said. He turned and pointed towards the other two officials. One official was staring out towards the balcony. His yellow hair glistened in the light. Kukan made out the clothes he was wearing. He was standing in the presence of the White Shadow, the Sixth Hokage and he knew who the third official was also. The Shadow Eye of the Leaf, Nara Shikamaru.
"Fuwa Kukan, do you know why you have been requested to Konoha?" asked Shikamaru. Kukan stepped forward and bowed in recognition of the Eye.
"Yes, Elder Nara. I am here as a representative of Okezagakure to fight in the Sanka Tournament. "He answered. Shikmaru clapped his hands and pointed towards the exit.
"You may go now, place your belongings, rest, walk around or train, your choice. The tournament has already begun, but your first battle will be tomorrow" he said.
"Thank you. I shall take my leave." He said and walked out.
It seemed only mere minutes but the directions by the passing attendants allowed him to find his dormitory quickly. He was given a single room with a seal protecting his door, so competitors could not visit their enemies unannounced.
Kukan placed his bag and cloak upon the bed. He laid down upon the soft bed and closed his eyes. He opened them and looked at the hanging clock. Six Hours had passed and he looked over to the window. The moon and stars were out. Night-time. Time to go train.
He exited the room, leaving his cloak upon the bed. The door closed automatically and found his way to the training room quite easily.
The training room was impressive. It was spaced with overlooking balconies and weapons and pads ready for sparring. He took off his shirt and folded it to the side.
He then paced around the matt and stood at the centre. He put his hands together, as the training room had a special requirement and accessory. As it was used for sparring, one could summon dummies to battle and train. He knelt down and pressed the ground. Nine shadow dummies appeared. They all have ANBU masks on. ANBU was the special force within the Leaf Village.
Kukan had heard of them and they were a force to be dealt with. One could change the settings of the difficulty level of the dummies. He had set it to level 12. Two charged at him and in the moment he stood still and breathed in.
Suddenly both dummies were shattered into dust as Kukan was standing in a different pose. His left leg was forward and his right leg was back. His arms were by his sides. He leaned his body down and burst forward to the remaining seven dummies.
The flurry of punches he gave the ANBU dummies was immense and the dummies slowly learned how to avoid them, but their numbers dropped quickly.
Kukan stopped and brushed the dust off his shoulders. He looked at the remaining dummy. It burst with kunai at the ready and thrust them into the chest of Kukan. The dummy was quick, but Kukan was quicker. He appeared above it and slammed his foot down on the head. The force shattered the dummy and part of the ground.
He stepped off the matt and walked to the clothes. He put it on and walked back to the mat. He glanced upwards and smiled.
"I can hear your heart beat jittering through your chest. I won't mind you watching" he said.
From the third balcony, a figure jumped down. He was a striking resemblance to a shinobi known for his eccentric personality and his use of Taijutsu, receiving the nickname of; Mountain Demon, like his teacher, the Green Beast of the Leaf.
"Your Taijutsu is amazing. My teacher and father would be amazed by your skill. I am Ramnu Rock and you are?" he asked. Kukan was not surprised by who the watcher was.
"Fuwa Kukan, the pleasure is mine. Your father's techniques are amazing. "He said.
"Would you like to spar?" Ranmu asked. Kukan shook his head and waved goodbye to Ranmu.
He entered his room minutes later and lay down. He had a battle tomorrow to get ready.
.