Chapter Two: … And Back

Aido

She was so quiet. I'd noticed that she never expressed happiness or sadness… or fear… but she was still a good companion. "What?" Mizuki asked. I hadn't realized I'd been carefully watching her. "Oh, I was just thinking, that's all." I said, looking back at the road infront of us. She was such an intense person, sometimes it intimidated me.

Once we'd killed our squads for their betrayal, we'd decided to abandon our villages. All of those ungrateful cretins had been planning on the moment to kill us for years. They could all go to hell. After we slaughtered our "comrades", we had a bit of an awkward moment between us.

"So… I am Mizuki Hakumei." she had said, wiping some blood off of her face. "Aido Enzeru…" I replied. "They attacked someone for something they can't remember…" she'd softly said. "What? How did you know that?" I'd yelped. "What? I'm talking about myself." she said, arching an eyebrow.

"I can't remember anything from before I was fourteen!" I gasped. "I can't remember anything from before I was thirteen." She said, narrowing her eyes. "That means… We have to be connected! We only remember these past three years, we have the legendary Kami no Raiton blades… we must've known each other!" I exclaimed, my eyes wide.

She looked surprised, and softly asked, "Are you also without a clan?" I nodded, and she looked at me with intensity in her eyes. After a very long silence, she said, "All of these years, I've been searching for answers. You and me… we are the same." I nodded, and got an idea. "We should team up." I said. "Why?" she asked. "Well… we're both looking for the same thing, right?" I said.

"That is true… and you would be a strategic advantage to work with…" she said, leaning on Yami, which was stabbed into the ground. I blinked in surprise. She wouldn't think of me as a companion? Then I remembered her lack of emotions, and brushed it off. I could probably change that.

"I accept. I'll consider you my ally." she said, holding her hand out to me. I shook it and happily said, "Great! You and I can be friends!" She looked at me like I was high, and then shook her head. "Alright…" she said, looking at me with curiosity. She held curiosity, and that was a good sign. "So… what now?" I asked. We were still surrounded by the bodies of our former companions.

"I am finished with Konoha. I want nothing more from them, except the destruction of Danzo. My new goal is finding the answers to my past. Who am I? Who were my clansmen? I need those answered." She said, gazing off into the night, looking deep in thought. "I'm looking for the exact same answers too. I'm done with Kumo. Arashi has to die." I said, crossing my arms.

"Then you and I will get along splendidly. Let's go." She said. And that's how I found myself walking down an old road with her now. We had to find out who we were, and what our purpose was. "Let's stop at the next town and get a hotel. We needed to sit down and discuss what came next." she said, not taking her eyes off the road infront of us.

Deidara

I'd reached my last straw. I was going to murder Tobi. "Tobi!" I screamed. I barged into his room, seeing he wasn't in there, and I continued storming down the hallway of the hideout. "Where the hell are you hiding, Tobi? Come out and take it like a damn man!" I yelled. Hidan slammed the door to his room open, stumbling out into the hallway in only his boxers. "For fuck's sake! Shut the fuck up Deidara!" he shouted.

"Fuck off!" I yelled. "Oi! Deidara! What are you going off about now?" Kisame asked, as I stormed into the living room. He was sitting on the couch, remote in hand. "That bastard went into my room and fucked with my clay mix! I have to make a new one!" I ranted. Kisame rolled his eyes saying, "Sorry I asked." I glared at him and plopped down on the couch next to him, not even paying attention to the movie he was watching. I was thinking of how I was going to kill Tobi…

"Emergency meeting. Assemble in the sealing room, now." Pein's commanding voice rang out in my head. Kisame and I glanced at each other, and got up, heading to the sealing room with our comrades following. I glared at Itachi when he joined us. I couldn't stand the guy.

We knew something big had happened when we walked in and saw leader and Konan waiting for us in person. We fell into our rightful places on the sealing statue we used for the biju, awaiting Pein to tell us what was going on.

"We're putting all jinchūriki hunts on standby." he announced. "What? Why?" Kisame asked. Pein looked at him, and then said, "We've found something more important to pursue for now." I was surprised. What was more important than the jinchūriki? "What is it?" Kakuzu asked.

"It has come to my attention that two very highly skilled shinobi have defected from their villages. Konoha's Black Cat and Kumo's White Saint, to be exact." Pein said. I was surprised. I'd heard of both. "Very little information is known about them, but we've come to find out that they're both females." Pein continued.

"So what's this got to do with us?" Hidan asked. "They both can either be our greatest assets, or our greatest threats. Do you understand? These girls are of top priority." Pein said, giving Hidan an intense look. "So… what do we do?" Kisame asked.

"Bring them in, preferably alive. We could use these two. Their potential is astounding." Pein said. "Do we get descriptions? Or real names?" I asked. "That's where things get difficult." Pein sighed. "How so?" Itachi asked. His voice made me want to blow something up, namely him.

"We don't have photographs, or set descriptions. All we know is their names. This is the hard part. Kumo's White Saint is a girl by the name of Aido Enzeru, and Konoha's Black Cat is a girl by the name of Mizuki Hakumei." Pein said in a grave tone. We all fell silent.

"It's been quite some time since I've heard of the Hakumei and Enzeru. The clans were wiped out." Kakuzu said. "Apparently not. If we can get our hands on these girls, we increase our success rate by a hundred fold. If they turn against us, then we have a very significant chance of failure." Pein explained.

"So… we're pursuing the last surviving members of two extinct clans, only knowing that they're females?" Sasori asked. "That is correct." Pein said, glancing at him. "Well that fucking sucks! We don't know what they look like, they're really strong, and they are apparently good at disappearing!" Hidan yelled. "Congrats. You can point out the obvious." Kakuzu snorted. "Shut the hell up!" Hidan snapped. I wanted to make Hidan explode into a violent nothingness.

"They are your new assignments. I need them. Got it?" Pein said in a commanding tone. We all nodded, and he dismissed us. I turned my glare to Tobi, who quickly booked it out of my sight. Good. I was going to fucking murder that brat.

"So… I guess we head out." Kisame said to Itachi. "I guess so." he said, not even looking at me. I wanted to kill him. Sasori nodded at me, and I followed him out. Before leaving, however, I managed to punch Tobi in the face. It was so satisfying.

Mizuki

I was alone, surrounded by nothing but darkness. "Hello?" I called out. My voice echoed, but I received no answer. "Figures…" I muttered, starting to walk in a random direction. It was like I was walking on water, with each step causing a rippling motion. This was annoying, to say the least. I continued on, musing in my thoughts. Why was I able to feel anger? I felt curiosity as well… but it was perplexing in any case.

"Forsaken… brought to nothing… will you make it back?" a woman's voice rang out. I spun around, my duel fans drawn. "Who's there?" I demanded, with my voice echoing into the darkness. "Just a piece of what once was… nothing more, nothing less, a ghost if you will." she said. Her voice was smooth and silky like mine, but whereas mine was dangerous and cold, hers was warm and inviting.

"Show yourself!" I yelled. A breeze came through, blowing my hair back. The breeze, surprisingly, wasn't ominous, but a gentle breeze that smelled like a spring day right after a rainstorm. I felt my body relax only a bit, but I still remained rigid, ready to spring into a fight at any moment.

"I am trying… but I cannot just yet. I am not strong enough… and by me not being strong enough, I mean you are not strong enough." She softly said. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, and the breeze died down. "Rest… do not dwell in what cannot change for the time being." She gently said. I was confused…

"Grow and evolve. Things will come in due time." The woman said, with her voice getting softer and farther away. I started running after it, feeling as if I needed to catch her. There was no point in this, because I was soon all alone again. I stopped running, coming to a stop and catching my breath. I didn't know what she meant by getting stronger. Everything that came out of her mouth was some strange philosophical riddle, and I didn't like that one single bit. I gave an irritated sigh, and sat down, lost with my loneliness…

I opened my eyes and sat up, breathing hard. What was that? Some sort of dream? It was insane, however… I looked to my left and saw Aido sleeping soundly in the other bed. We were sharing a hotel room. I shook my head, with my hair falling even more into my face. That dream was bizarre…

I stood up, stretching. It was mid-afternoon. Aido and I had been doing most of our travelling by night, to fit in with my sleep cycle. I was nocturnal. Danzo had trained me that way. I shook my head bitterly at the thought of that rat. If I ever saw him again, I would kill him.

There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it. He needed to pay for what he's done, to both me, and for some reason… he needed to pay for what he did to Itachi. I didn't know why I'd become so defensive of him. I didn't know him. I'd never met him… but he needed to have someone on his side…

I went into the bathroom, turning on the shower and getting in once the water was warm. I wish I could meet him. Just once I'd like to get the chance to sit down and talk to him. I had questions I wanted answered… and though the chances were slim; I bet he could help me answer more than just what I wanted to know about Danzo. And… I wanted to personally apologize to him. I worked for the man that forced him to destroy his clan, his relationships, and his honor.

I closed my eyes for what felt like a moment, and opened them, hearing Aido knock on the bathroom door. "Mizu…? You okay?" she asked. "Yeah, I'm almost done." I called. I quickly washed my body and hair, getting out about ten minutes later.

I don't know when, but somewhere in the month and a half we'd spent together, Aido and I had begun using nicknames. She called me Mizu, and I called her Ai. I suppose this was what it was like having a "best friend."

Aido gave me a concerned look when I came out of the bathroom, and I just waved my hand. "I'm fine. I fell asleep." I said, trying to dismiss her concern. I didn't need her to worry about me. "Okay… I'll just go shower…" she said, going into the bathroom. I nodded and went over to my bed, laying out my clothes. I had a towel wrapped around me, and I quickly put on my bra and underwear.

I got dressed, and sat on my bed, staring out the window, watching the sunset. We were somewhere in the Land of Rivers, which was between Konoha and Suna. The climate was moderate, which was a good thing for me. I couldn't stand heat. I preferred it if the temperature outside was 70 degrees or lower. I also preferred snow and rain over sunshine. Miserable weather relaxes me.

When Aido came out of the bathroom, she was dressed and looked like she was ready to go. "Where to next?" she asked. We'd been aimlessly wandering around, not knowing what to do with ourselves. We didn't know where to start looking.

We packed up our stuff and checked out of the hotel, starting off down the road. We were headed west. "Look… we should figure out a clue of some sort…" I said, breaking the silence. "Yeah… but where do we start? Our clans are all extinct…" Aido softly said. "I realize this… so we ask people who may have been around to at least hear of them. Any bit of information helps." I said. "Well that's great, but how do we find these people?" Aido asked. "Follow me, Ai." I said, continuing my walk…

We had our cloaks pulled up above our heads as we walked through Iwagakure, keeping our eyes dead-set on the village street ahead of us. We wore our ANBU masks, being sure to make our presence as little known as possible. Occasionally a person would give us a curious glance, but then they'd continue on with whatever they were doing. We masked our chakra signatures, knowing full-well that our chakra was distinguishable.

"Where are we going?" Aido murmured, walking by my side as we walked through the village streets. "We are going to talk to the Tsuchikage." I replied. "What? Why?" Aido whisper-hissed. "He is the oldest of the five Kage's, and may know something of our clans." I replied.

"But… Iwa won't like ANBU from Kumo and Konoha being here!" Aido protested. "We will give him something in return for helping us, and by staying silent." I explained. "Like what?" Aido asked. "Just come along." I said. She gave an irritated sigh, and we kept moving.

After a few more minutes, we came to the Tsuchikage's mansion at the center of the village, and made our way inside. As expected, we were quickly stopped by guards. "What on earth are Konoha and Kumo ANBU doing here? And together, at that?" a girl said. "We come without ill-will. We merely would like an audience with the Tsuchikage." I said. The girl glared at me, but my face was emotionless, although she couldn't see it.

"Look, I don't know how things work where you're from, but you can't just barge in here and demand to see our leader!" she yelled. "Lower your voice. I have not demanded anything." I said in a frosty tone. "Excuse me?" she shouted. "I was clear, was I not?" I replied. She stormed forward, trying to act intimidating, but it wasn't working out for her. She looked like a child about to throw a tantrum. "Kurotsuchi! Restrain yourself!"

Everyone turned to see a small, old man with a large nose fuming at the girl infront of me. "But… but she started it!" Kurotsuchi said, pointing at me. I ignored her and turned to face the Tsuchikage.

"Mi'lord, my companion and I would like to have an audience with you. Preferably alone, but seeing as how strained you must be, we're alright with two guards." I said, bowing. The Tsuchikage looked Aido and I over, and then nodded, motioning for us to follow him.

We followed him into his office, with Kurotsuchi and another person, a very large man stood by the door. "Kurotsuchi… don't be so tense." The man said. "Shut up, Akatsuchi!" Kurotsuchi yelled. "You should control your temper and let it out for more useful things, such as combat." I coldly said to her. She glared at me, and looked like she was going to lunge, but Akatsuchi put a humongous arm infront of her, blocking her.

"My granddaughter has my temper. Why don't you two sit?" the Tsuchikage said, motioning to two seats infront of his desk. We did, and I put the hood of my cloak down, taking off my ANBU mask. Aido did the same, but we were still cautious, with masks covering the bottom halves of our faces.

"I suppose we should cut straight to the chase, seeing as how I don't feel like dragging this out longer than I must." I said. "Well… get to it." The Tsuchikage said. I nodded. "My companion and I are no longer shinobi of Konoha and Kumo. We have gone rogue." I said. The Tsuchikage looked surprised, and Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi got tense.

"So… you're criminals?" the Tsuchikage asked. "We're criminals only because we were targeted by our own comrades. They felt we were a threat." Aido said. "… So… that's why a Kumo and Konoha shinobi are together?" he asked. "That would explain part of it. The other part is because we're both searching for the same thing." I said. "Such as?" he asked. "Answers." I replied.

"What sort of answers, and why have you come to me with this?" he asked, growing slightly uneasy. "My name is Mizuki Hakumei, and this is Aido Enzeru." I said. The silence was deafening. "You must be joking. Those clans have been extinct for almost fifty years." the Tsuchikage huffed.

"I was known as Konoha's Black Cat, and Aido as Kumo's White Saint. If I remember correctly, about six months ago, I killed a squadron of your assassins." I said, with my eyes taking in the Tsuchikage's every move. He looked shocked, and then angry. "So… it was you?" he growled. "Like I said, I have no intentions of fighting anyone. I merely came for information." I said. "Such as?" he barked. "What happened to our clans?"

We all turned to Aido, who'd asked that in a quiet tone. "What?" he asked. "We just want to know what happened. We want to know why, and where. We don't care about political affiliations, and we don't care about nationality. We just want to know who we are." Aido said, meeting his eyes. I couldn't be sure, but I could almost see tears forming in her eyes.

"I… I don't know the full details, but I've had many encounters with your clans back when I was a young'un. One day, they disappeared. Poof. There was no trace of them. All I knew was that something had to have happened. And I was right! We came across a temple, dedicated to the clans, and we saw bodies everywhere. Every temple in the world, dedicated to the Hakumei and Enzeru, all were filled with bodies. There was no one left. The deaths of the clans soon became a trigger for the second and third great shinobi wars. The clans helped keep the peace, and with them gone… we all got unruly." The Tsuchikage explained.

I knew the look on my face was shocked. Aido's was as well. I was the first to partially recover, and I softly said, "We need to start finding those temples…" The Tsuchikage gave a tired sigh. "What is it?" Aido asked. "Most of those temples have probably been destroyed. The Enzeru and Hakumei possessed incredibly powerful kekkei genkai. Out of respect for the clans… and to protect their secrets, the clan's close allies destroyed everything they could of the two." The Tsuchikage said.

"Who were our allies?" I asked. They didn't do it out of respect. They did it to hide something. The Tsuchikage gave me an uncertain look, but sighed in defeat. "The Enzeru were closely allied with the Senju clan, and the Hakumei were closely allied with the Uchiha." he bitterly said. I became quiet at the mention of the Uchiha. Apparently I had more to do with the clan than just reading their classified file.

"The Senju?" Aido asked, looking at me in confusion. "One of the founding clans of Konoha." I explained. She still looked confused, and I turned back to the Tsuchikage. "Sir… we'd like to offer you something as retribution for your cooperation, and if you'd keep this meeting a secret." I said, reaching into my back pouch. Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi tensed again, and I pulled out a scroll, doing a summoning, with two thick files appearing.

"What are those?" the Tsuchikage asked in a demanding tone. "These are files of information on our previous villages. We figured you'd appreciate these as reading material." Aido said. The Tsuchikage looked as if he'd struck gold. "We ask that in return, you tell us the locations of the temples you know of, and your silence of our meeting." I requested. He eyed the files hungrily, and nodded. "Then here you go. Enjoy!" Aido said with the hint of a smirk in her tone.

She handed the files to him, and he quickly got out an international map, marking down circles in three different colors. In the north, there were vibrant red-pink circles, and in the south there were bright green circles. Scattered across the map were blue circles, which were in a bunch of different regions.

"These are the locations of Enzeru and Hakumei related sites I know of. The red circles are Hakumei, and the green are Enzeru. These blue markings are places where both clans were often found. As you can see, the Hakumei originated in the north, and the Enzeru came from the south." He explained. I looked at the map with interest, taking it and sealing it away. "Well then… thank you for your time." I said, getting up and bowing. Aido did the same and we left the mansion, walking back down the streets of Iwa once again.

"We've actually got a lead…" Aido breathed. I nodded; clutching the scroll I sealed the map away in as if my life depended on it. We made sure to walk quickly through the village, but still trying not to draw attention to ourselves. Our ANBU masks had been put back on, and we walked closely together.

We made our hasty exit, but for one moment… I thought I felt a spike of a faintly familiar chakra. I stopped, looking around in the middle of a market place. No one was sticking out. "Neko?" Aido asked, using my codename. I scanned the market place again, my eyes intense as I searched for the source.

I couldn't see whoever they were. I looked back at Aido, who tilted her head in concern and confusion. The chakra signature vanished. "It's nothing, Tenshi. Let's just go…" I said, using her codename. She gave me a long look before nodding, and we rushed out of the village. I couldn't help but feel as if we were being watched… and it bothered me, especially considering that it wasn't a Konoha shinobi. Perhaps it was a Kumo…?

It had been about two and a half months since Aido and I had begun travelling together. This last month had been spent investigating the sights of our clan's temples and compounds. The Tsuchikage hadn't been lying. Every place we'd visited on the map so far had no trace of our clans. Occasionally we'd see an old wall or something that didn't get torn down, and had the faint crest of one of our clans, but otherwise… there was nothing there…

"This is getting irritating." I said, sitting on a roof of a small town with Aido, eating my onigiri. "Yeah… it's long winded and produces little results…" Aido sighed. I scoped the crowded town, and my eyes came to a rest on a sight that angered me.

Three shinobi boys in an alley were doing spray-paint graffiti all over a wall with the Enzeru crest on it. They covered the crest in an insulting picture of a part of the male anatomy, and I clenched my fist, teleporting into my signature cherry-blossom flowers, with Aido calling, "Wait! Where are you going?"

I appeared behind the chuckling shinobi, all of them at least eighteen. "I hope for your sake you're planning on cleaning that up." I said darkly. They spun around, eyeing me intensely. Then the tallest of the three, the obvious leader, got a smirk on his face, approaching me.

"Baby girl… you're quite the beauty. Why're you telling us to clean up? It's art." he purred. My glare intensified. "No… art is beauty that is original, and can never be recreated. That thing is not art. It's the essence of immaturity and the lowest form of functional life. You've defiled a sacred symbol. Clean up the trashy graffiti. Now." I demanded.

The guy smirked, getting right infront of me, his breath tainted with the slightest hint of alcohol. I didn't like this at all… no… I didn't like them… "Baby girl… what makes you think you can tell us what to do?" he asked, brushing some hair out of my face. I grabbed his hand, shattering it.

"The fact that I could slaughter you before you could think, "I should've listened." I am much stronger than you." I said, digging my midnight blue nails into his skin, causing him to bleed. He howled in pain, and I released him, my eyes absolutely cold. "You little bitch…" his shortest companion snarled.

He lunged at me, and in one swift, lightning enhanced move, my hand was totally through his chest. He looked at me with a stunned look, and then the light left his eyes, and his body went limp as I yanked my hand out of his chest, with him thudding to the ground.

The other two looked terrified. "Are you wanting to die…?" I asked in a low voice. They were shaking, but the tall one once again did something stupid. He attacked me, causing his companion to follow in his example. In less than thirty seconds, they were both dead. I stared at them, and then dashed out of the alley.

I used the backstreets of the town, once again feeling that odd chakra signature that was leering behind me. I spun around; the street I was on was totally empty. I was alone. But I had been trained mandatory under Danzo as a sensory type first of all. Someone was here. "Who's there?" I asked, my voice low and deadly.

"Mizu? What are you doing?" Aido asked. I spun around, facing her, and the chakra vanished suddenly. "Mizu… what happened?" she asked, approaching me with a concerned look. "What?" I asked. "You've got blood sprayed all over you!" she said, looking me over intensely, searching for any wounds. I swatted her hands away. "I'm fine… it's not mine. We should leave." I said, looking around cautiously.

She looked hurt for a second, but then shook her head, looking at me with excitement. "When you were off… doing whatever it is you were doing… I met this old woman who has been around for a really long time, and she started talking about the fact that the Enzeru used to run this town. I got curious and started asking about the Hakumei too, and she said that if there was one place that would have at least superficial information on them." she said in a rush.

"What? Where?" I asked, my interest taken from the mysterious chakra presence to information on our clans. "You know the Hoshizaki clan?" she asked. I nodded. The Hoshizaki "clan" was a large group of shinobi who were basically mercenaries.

They resided in their own town, and there were no women or children there. Only male shinobi twenty and older lived there. If they wanted to be with their families, they left on pass on the weekends. They didn't strike me as "good parents"… or husbands to say the least.

"So… we head out to Hoshizaki… and take the place and extract the information we need." I said, crossing my arms, looking thoughtful. "I guess so." she grinned. "Great. I've been to Hoshizaki before, so I can get us there easily. We can do recon and such once there." I said, figuring that we'd need preparation time.

"That sounds good. Let's go!" she grinned. I nodded, and we headed out of the village. As we made our way from the town, I could hear the panicked cry of a woman. "Oh my god! Someone, help! Three boys are dead!"

I continued walking down the path with Aido, and I could hear the faint sounds of panic set in at the small town. They most likely had never dealt with something like that; the brutal murders of three young men. They also probably didn't even know the guys.

Their hitai-ate said they were from the Kirigakure, and we were in the outskirts of the Land of Stone. Well… it didn't really matter anymore. The scum were dead. Just three more tallies on my death toll.

We kept moving, far off into the bright, midday sun, most likely with only more questions than answers running through our minds. Who were we? What did we even stand for? And the one question that just kept plaguing my mind… What was my purpose?