Chapter One: A picture to Burn
It was in the morning when Sai decided to check out the new bookstore that he always wanted to go and see. Recently, he was hooked on to pictures from photography, something that will inspire him for his art. As he walks towards the new bookstore, he looks at the sign. "Gorgons: Let us mesmerize you." It stated. It didn't sound much like a bookstore sign. Only like one of those perfume shops that Sakura likes to go to or those bars where Kiba and Naruto hanged out. Slowly, he entered the bookstore and looked around.
"Hello?" he spoke. His voice echoed throughout the people-fewer places. No one answered.
The store was a bit bigger that the rest he saw around Konoha. The shelves were labeled by the contents of the books that were stacked on them. He walked to the shelf that was labeled 'Photography'. He searched for any old book. Something that showed the recent past of Konoha. Something that was around the Fourth's era. And there he saw it.
"'Remembering those from the War'. This looks promising." He said and opened the book. It was exactly what he was looking for. There were some pictures that were taken from the Konoha war and the time that the fourth sealed the Nine-tailed fox inside Naruto.
He scanned the pages. There was a particular picture that caught his eye. It was blurred. Looking at it carefully, Sai saw a shadow. Numerous amounts of shadow. And a small figure in the middle of the shadows as if it was protecting it. He looked at the chapter of the book where the picture was located. It was in the chapter called, 'The one's who are lost…'
Underneath the photograph, there was a description that the photographer left. It read:
"Everything that goes up must come down. That is the same with whatever that is lost will be found. This is a photograph of one terror that attacked Konoha before the Nine-tailed demon appeared."
'Curious….' Sai thought.
He knew that this would be an interesting topic. 'Those who are lost...' that idea just kept on going on in his head. He wanted to know who was this. Who got lost in the war? Did that person have any living relatives to this date? The picture intruiged Sai too much. Little did he know that someone was already creeping onto him.
"Do you like that book?" an old man asked from behind.
Sai slowly turned around. He very old. His back was slump and he was holding a crane. "Yes." Sai simply answered.
"Well then, you should know something about this book. This book was originally dedicated to those who were lost at the war. But there's a special section there for the people prior to the event." he explained.
Sai's mind was swirling with the fascination of the old man's words. '...prior to the event...'. what could've happened so bad before the Nine-tailed fox attacked Konoha or the great war?
"It's forbidden to speak of that chaotic event. The clues are in this book. Take it if you want. No need for payment. I always wanted to get rid of this book. You'll find out the truth." he spoke and thrust the book into Sai's arms.
"The truth?" Sai muttered those words as if they could cause great trouble. Sai accepted and got out of the book shop, holding a book in his left hand.
"Tsunade-sama." Shizune knocked on the door. Though, Shizune didn't expect that Tsunade would be up yet. Give around thirty more minutes before she realized that it was already noon. Again. Shizune didn't bother to knock some more. She knew that Tsunade had been up for the past few days trying to get some area to stop nagging her about some mysterious sightings around the edges of Konoha. Apparently, some people had gone missing after the sightings.
As shizune was about to turn around and go, Tsunade opened the door. "Shizune. What is it? You didn't go in?" tsunade asked. This surprised Shizune and she accidentally dropped Tonton.
"Tsunade-sama! I didn't know you were awake." Shizune replied picking up Tonton. Tsunade had a bright look on her face, something that shizune hasn't seen for a quite a while. Tsunade has been so stressed over the past few week and hasn't smiled.
"Well, did you want something?" Tsunade asked.
"Uhm... Sai-san just wanted to ask you something." Shizune said pointing at the waiting Sai.
"Sure. Sai! Come." Tsunade called over. Sai turned around and went over to Tsunade. Sai and Tsunade went into the room.
Tsunade sat down on her chair and Sai just remained standing.
"Is there a problem Sai? I hope that your team with Naruto isn't a bother." Tsunade smiled. Sai seemed alarmed by the fact.
"No Hokage-sama. I just wanted to know if you knew anything about this." Sai took out the book he just bought. Tsunade carefull took the book from his hands and opened it to the bookmarked page. Tsunade's expression changed as she slowly turned the pages around. The pictures revealed very traumatic events.
For instance, one picture showed shadows devouring a jonin. Another, a ANBU getting hurt by multiple scratches formed by the wind. Tsunade realized what these pictures were. Sowly, she concentrated a small amount of chakra on one finger and applied it to the photograph. A hologram appeared and showed the events about the ANBU.
"What's happening?" the ANBU soldier stated. The wind started to rustle the leaves and slowly, cuts were beggining to form around his body.
"Nothing much is happening. Just you experiencing a very painful death." a boy's voice said.
A figure then appeared in front the ANBU officer, a young boy at around the age of eighteen. He had light brown hair and shockingly red eyes. He wore a black shirt and loose brown pants.
The hologram ended.
"Where did you get this?" Tsunade asked as she searched the pages for another picture.
"In a bookstore. Just today." Sai replied.
"Were you able to read this already?" she asked as she stopped on one page, she found what she was looking for.
"No. I saw that page and I wanted to know if you knew anything about it."
"I do. Do you mind if I can borrow this book?" Tsunade asked as she started to read a passage.
"Ok. I'll be going now. Thank you, Hokage-sama." Sai left the room after a low bow.
Sai was now gone, only leaving Tsunade and Shizune.
"Tsunade-sama, why are you so interested in that book?" Shizune couldn't help but ask.
"Let me tell you something Shizune." Tsunade smiled.
Shizune was a bit worried with the 'Let-me-tell-you-something' events. Sometimes, it was good. However, it was mostly bad when it had gone for hours without any breaks.
"Hai?" she finally replied.
"You know about the Sunagakure siblings, right?"
"Yes."
"You know how powerful they are, right?"
"Yes."
"Well, Konoha also had their own siblings. Long ago, just before the Fourth's era, a young boy was born. He was named Minoru. He had a talent for materializing and controlling anything that surrounds him. He can talk to wind and the grass. It was easy for him to locate his opponents. Two years later, he was given a younger sister named Seitsuga. Though, supposedly, they were twins. But her twin died. So, they implanted the twins' heart into her just for the chakra. And after that, death himself had a liking for the young girl."
"Death? As in Death? The Grim Reaper?" Shizune was amazed.
"Yes. That death. He had a liking for her. They even say that one night, her parents saw death playing by her side in her crib." Tsunade said and looked towards Shzine who seemed frightened speaking about death.
"So what happened to her?"
"Death lent her his shadows." Tsunade thought deep and hard remembering about them.
"What happened next?"
"And four years later, Rika, the youngest of the three was born. Though her birth brought the own demise of her parents and anyone in the room at that time, she was also on the brink of dying. But then an evil spirit called Watanuki gave her life and resided in her. She controlled her great amount of chakra and needed only little techniques. She relied on her chakra to defeat her opponents."
"But I still don't get the relation between them and what the hell you're thinking." shizune spoke.
"Well, the story gets interesting here. Watanuki felt that it was time to take over Konoha. So, using Rika's body, he bit onto the necks of Minoru and Seitsuga. He bit them at the back of the necks of the two, and they almost died. A cursed mark appeared then."
"A cursed mark just like Orochimaru's?" Shizune asked, wondering if the cursed seals are similar.
"No. This is much more powerful. It enabled for thier chakra to increase incredibly. However, there's a catch. They were under the control of Watanuki and they were forced to follow him or they would slowly die. But, the seal was already slowly killing them." Tsunade further explained.
"So, what's the connection?" Shizune sweatdropped.
"They attacked Konoha, killing many hundreds of shinobi. Rika was taken over by Watanuki and was about to face the fourth when she had the ability to overcome Watanuki."
(FLASHBACK)
"Rika..." Minato spoke softly at the twelve year old.
"This is not Rika anymore...." a hoarse voice came out of the young girl's mouth. Minato knew that this wasn't Rika anymore.
"Then who is this?" Minato asked as the wind blew.
"Watanuki..." the voice replied.
"Watanuki, the voice from the depths..." Minato identified.
"Ah... you so know what I am the-...*cough*....*cough*" he coughed.
"Minato-sama..." Rika's voice came out.
"Shut up girl!" the voice yelled.
"Please.... seal...."
"No!"
"seal.... me.... and... siblings...." Rika's voice seemed to struggle. Though, Minato was on his way to help Rika, he was forced away by a barrier.
"You can't get to her!" Watanuki laughed, his chakra forming around Rika. But Rika overcame Watanuki again.
"please.... seal... us...... no... more.... harm...." tears started to roll down her cheeks. Minato knew that she was deadly serious and decided to do what she wanted. After performing a few hand seals and muttering some words, he sealed the three shinobi's in time. Slowly, the three were wiped away, seemingly like dust in the air.
"NOOOO!" Watanuki yelled.
"Thank you." Rika smiled before she was completly gone.
"So that's what happened. Very sad." Shizune started to cry a bit.
"Very." Tsunade agreed.
"But, what's the connection?" Shizune asked.
"Well.... the place where they brought the bodies, was in the mountain where we're having all these ghost sitings of kids." Tsunade said.
"So.... you mean...."
"Yes. Someone found thier tombs or rather, thier bodies and somehow awakened them."
"Ah. So all we need to do now is re-seal them." shizune said, thinking that that's what they could do.
"No. It's not that. When Minato sealed them, he also killed them. He killed them by time. But they didn't mind. They didn't want to be known as something that terrorized Konoha." Tsunade further explained.
"So, what you mean is..." Shizune started.
"The Dead has come back to life. For revenge." Tsunade stated.
'Could it be true? The dead coming back to life?' Shizune's thoughts were roaming around.
A/n: finally, something I finished.
