A/N: Raven here again with another installment in my latst project. I see that I have almost 60 hits so far, but no reviews. People, plese review. If you loved the story so far, go ahead and praise away. If you hate it, tell me why you hate it. I try to learn a lesson from every critique, good or bad. Just remember, your reviews will help me become a better writer, which will mean better reading for you. On with the story.
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Kosuke flew through the forest with his father, nearly done with his task of burning villages and collecting heads. Every time he commited another murder, Kosuke could feel something inside him change, little by little.
To him, it was a frightening change. Though he hated having to go through all this just to learn the Black Zodiac, he had come to realise that every time he killed, he enjoyed it.
Most Madarame clan main branch members were seen as insane, blood thirsty ninja, often mentally deranged. It was normal to belong to the main branch and enjoy killing. Even Kosuke knew this. But still, it scared him.
The gates of Konoha were fast approaching. It was the last stop on their list of targeted villages. With one final leap, the two bounded over the gates, landing inside Konoha. The guards at the front gates immediately gave them their full attention.
One of the ninja gave an order to alert the Hokage to the intruders' presence, while the one who gave the order moved closer to communicate with the two ninja who dressed only in black with no head bands.
"The gates are closed. You are intruding. Please leave immediately." requested the ninja in an attempt to be diplomatic. "Forgive our sins. It is nothing personal."
With those words, Kosuke began his attack. He quickly flew through his hand seals, molding his chakra in preparation for the Fireball Jutsu. With four quick breaths, the burning of Konoha began.
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"Lord Hokage, we have two intruders at the front gate. They're already inside Konoha." Minato nodded before speaking. "Have they attacked, or do they appear to be hostile?" The ninja thought a moment before speaking. "I was sent to only notify you of the situation, sir. Better safe than sorry though."
"Can you give me more details on the intruders?" The ninja took a brief moment to recollect as much detail of the two as possible. "Two ninja, dressed only in black, no head bands. One looks quite a bit older than the other."
Minato pondered this for a moment before recalling an incident like this some time ago. Many buildings in Konoha had burned down and almost all of the village had been scorched by the flames. He also recalled that one Konoha nin lost thier life. Coming to this realization, he figured it was a repeat of the same event, and gave his orders.
"Order all ANBU into action and dispatch the disaster teams. We must save Konoha." Minato ordered as he stood up and began going through the old records for more information about what can be expected. "Yes sir. Shall I instruct an ANBU to speak with you on the situation?"
Minato was silent for a moment as he went through the files before finding the one he was looking for and answering the question. "No. Just have all available ANBU converge on the front gate. Tell them I'll be joining them, and that I'll fill them in on everything when I arrive. They are not to engage them unless it is to protect life until I arrive." The ninja flew out the window, muttering a brief "Yes sir." before doing so.
The ninja left to guard the front gate began their engagement on the two ninja. Kosuke created fire clones to speed up the burning of the village while his father made clones to cover his son's attack, keeping the guards distracted.
"I am your opponent. And a fierce opponent am I." the father stated before flashing through hand seals. He formed a Chidori that was reinforced with fire. The flames swirled around the ball of lightning as it cracked about wildly through the air. "Fire Style, Chidori!"
Kosuke ignored the disaster teams as they frantically attempted to bring his fire under control. The deed had been done, and that was all that was necessary, he thought, deciding to move on to his second and final objective.
Leaping from one rooftop to the other, he searched for his victim, finally deciding on a woman who's clothes bore the Whirlpool emblem. He dropped down in front of the woman, who showed no fear for this young boy.
"This is all your fault, isn't it? Why are you attacking us?" she asked. Kosuke drew his sword and grabbed the woman roughly by the hair, delivering a hard left knee to her stomach to bring her down to his level before whispering "It's nothing personal."
With the speed of a cobra, Kosuke brought the blade of his sword down on the woman's neck, taking her head off in one clean swipe. Most likely, she felt little if any pain, but it didn't change the deed any. His prize in hand, Kosuke made his way back toward the village.
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Minato flew through the streets of Konoha, hoping he wasn't too late. At the next intersection he made a right and was suddenly passed by a white-topped flash of blue. Said flash, he knew, was Kakashi Hatake, his former apprentice.
The ANBU had gathered just south of Konoha's main gate. Minato and Kakashi joined up with the group moments later. Minato began issuing his orders.
"All ANBU, detain the two ninja at all costs. Let the disaster teams take care of the fire. Our priority is the two ninja attacking the village." ordered Minato. "Lord Hokage," Kakashi began, "Let me handle one of them. I've got a score to settle." Minato nodded. "Move out!"
Kosuke moved towards his father, who stood amongst a group of dead Jounin. He hadn't attacked even once, yet the sleaves of his shirt were covered in blood. To have done so much damage by simply defending was scary.
"Father, I am done with my work." Kosuke informed as Minato and Kakashi approached with the group of ANBU. Minato's eyes widened as he realized what Kosuke had done.
"Kushina..." he muttered, anger heavy in his voice. "You bastard. You will pay for that, even if I have to chase you to the ends of the earth!" Kosuke turned his head down, realizing the wrong he had done, but then placed the head in the sack with the rest of the ones he had already collected.
"I'll tell you exactly what I told her. It's nothing personal." Minato ordered the ANBU to attack, adding the new order for them to strike to kill. Kosuke and his father formed Fire clones to cover the attacks of the ANBU.
The father formed a single Black Zodiac hand seal. "Black Zodiac, Hammer Second Seal." A giant hammer seemed to come out of no where, slamming down on the group. A few ANBU were killed with the attack but both Minato and Kakashi managed to evade it.
"Black Zodiac, Hammer Final Seal." The father suddenly wielded a large hammer and began attacking the ANBU. Minato attacked one of the fire clones, throwing it into another one that was about to attack him, causing both to disappear.
Minato and Kakashi managed to deal with all of the fire clones while Kosuke and his father quickly disabled or killed all of the ANBU. In the end, it came down to a two on two fight. Minato was shocked at Kosuke's skill level.
"You can't be much older than seven. How can you be so powerful?" he asked. Kosuke's father replied "The people of our clan are raised to fight and kill from the time they are old enough to walk."
Then Kakashi threw in a few words. "Don't think I've forgotten about the last time. I'm stronger than I was before. You won't win this time." Kosuke's father arched an eyebrow as he realized who he was facing. "Likewise. Sharringan!"
Kakashi formed the seals for the Chidori, preparing his attack. Much to his surprise, Kosuke's father prepared a similar attack, only this time, the Chidori was wrapped in fire. "Fire Style, Chidori!"
The two ninja charged eachother, their attacks colliding, sending both in opposite directions. Neither went unwounded. Kosuke and his father managed to make their escape as Minato went to check on his former student.
A few ANBU remained alive and got up to check on the Hokage. "Are you all all right?" he asked them. They all simply nodded. "Good. Find the body of Kushina Uzumaki. We must give her a proper burrial." Again the ANBU nodded and left, as Minato sank to his knees, mourning his lost lover.
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The evening concluded with the burning of the heads. Kosuke himelf set them aflame and was instructed by his father on the next step towards the Black Zodiac. "Excellent. You have done well, my son. Now, drink this and you will wake up in Hell. There, you will meet the Black Zodiac for the first time. Familiarize yourself with them and come back to learn how to use them."
Kosuke nodded and ingested the serum his father had given him. Immediately he fell over dead in front of the pile of burning heads. His spirit flew down into the lake of fire. Brimstone rained down all around him. The scenes he saw there were terrible, far surpassing his worst nightmares. He met briefly with the twelve Black Zodiac members, then woke up, panting and in a cold sweat.
It was just a dream, a dream of the past. Kosuke looked around to see the room he had rented for the night, realizing that it had just been a dream. Last year, he had left the Hidden Flame village for the life of a wnadering arbiter of justice. He would still kill if necessary, but never senselessly. He had spent four years as a Hidden Flame ANBU, killing who he was told needed to be killed. He had decided that he was not going to kill simply because he was told to. And so his path brought him all the way to the Land Of The Waves.
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Kosuke Madarame Age 19 Black Zodiac Master Former Hidden Flame ANBU
Naruto had been on his way to the bridge to help the rest of his team defend the bridge builder when he noticed a spot where the trees had been cut by swords, as if someone had been practicing on them.
Following the path, he came to a dock where he found the mother and her son, who had provided him and his team with shelter and food. The mother was being dragged away by a couple of swordsmen while the son was trying to save her.
Naruto had arrived just in time to save them from a killing blow. The swordsmen sized up their new opponent, but before they could strike, Kosuke appeared before them. The two swordsmen paused for a moment before one of them spoke up. "Hey, Gatou asked us to handle this, so we're handling it. we don't need any help."
Kosuke didn't reply. He drew his sword and stuck it into the wood of the dock before forming the seals for the Fire Style. Taking hold of his sword again applied the Fire Style to sword, transforming it into a dual edged flaming blade.
In one swift movement, he made a move like he was going to attack Naruto, but then turned the blade on the two behind him, slicing both of them in half at the waist. Naruto and the young boy watched the gruesome scene behind Kosuke, who was now sheathing his blade.
Naruto, instead of wondering why Kosuke would kill two men who were apparently on his side, was just happy to have the help, even though he probably could have handled them. "Hey, thanks a lot mister that was pretty cool. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, where'd you come from?"
Kosuke raised his index finger to usher Naruto to scilence. "You came in with that group last week didn't you?" he asked.
Naruto nodded enthusiasticaly, grinning his ear-to-ear grin. "Yeah that's right, were're from-" Kosuke cut him off. "Konoha?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?" he asked. "Simple. Your head band. I've know people from Konoha before. Never been there myself though. Listen kid, can you keep a secret?" Naruto nodded, not dropping his goofy grin. "I'm pretending to work with Gatou to get his trust. But today, he's planning a big attack on the bridge. Don't say anything to your friends, but when Gatou makes his move, I'm going to take his life."
"But why? I know Gatou's the bad guy but does he really deserve to die?" he asked. "You have no idea what that man has done. Death is too good for him, but the world will be a better place without him. And remember, not a word now." Naruto nodded again. "You got it." he said as Kosuke disappeared in a puff of smoke.
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Naruto stood on the bridge, contemplating wether or not to deliver the final blow to Haku. Kakashi was preparing his Raikiri for a final attack against Zabuza, while Sakura guarded the bridge builder. For Sasuke, on the other hand, things didn't look too well.
Before Naruto could make up his mind, Haku moved to defend Zabuza from Kakashi's attack,causing his untimely death. In truth, Zabuza was really grateful to have someone like Haku around, even if he never showed it.
Suddenly, Gatou showed up with a small army of thugs, explaining how Zabuza was no longer needed because he was too expensive. Naruto couldn't believe he would actually kill someone over money.
With only a single kunai as his weapon, Zabuza charged in, taking out many of the thugs in his wake. Gatou moved to the end of the bridge to escape him but Zabuza quickly caught up. But before Zabuza could send him over the bridge, Kosuke stopped him. "That's quite enough." he said.
Zabuza was distracted long enough for the thugs to catch up to him and drive their blades into his back. "This ends now." Kosuke said, forming the seals for his Fire Style Raikiri. Fortunately for him, Kosuke instead turned and drove his attack through Gatou's chest before sending him off the bridge to the water below.
Both Kosuke and Zabuza sent the remaining thugs cold, accusing stares, causing them to flench and hesitate. They parted, creating a path for Zabuza to follow back to Haku, who would collapse before he could reach him.
With Gatou dead, the thugs insisted they weren't going to leave empty handed. They decided on pillaging the village for whatever they could find, but before they could make a move, a single arrow landed in their path.
Naruto turned to see Inari with his mother and the rest of the villagers. They weren't going down without a fight. "Can't let them have all the fun. Shadow Clone Jutsu." said Naruto, forming the appropriate seal to create several clones of himself.
Kakashi even got in on it, creating an entire army of his own clones. Realizing they were outnumbered, the thugs turned and left the bridge, leaving only Kosuke behind. Inari proclaimed victory for the village.
Kakashi moved towards Zabuza, who made his final request. Kakashi carried it out immediately, laying him next to Haku before turning his attention to Kosuke.
"You've been to Konoha before, haven't you?" he asked. Kosuke only lowered his head in shame and nodded. He knew where this was going. "The Hidden Flame village claimed no responsibility for the crimes and denied any knowledge of them. I investigated the incident upon the Hokage's request."
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Minato, still distraught over the loss of his lover, Kushina, briefed Kakashi on his mission. They had decided to hold the briefing immediately following Kushina's funeral procession.
"So, you will infiltrate the Hidden Flame village by any means necessary. You will pose as a traveling journalist, dress in traveler's clothes, wear no mask or head band, and show no signs that you are a ninja. Also, be sure to make it clear you are not a publishing journalist."
Kakashi nodded his understanding. "And who shall I choose as my teammates?" he asked. "No one. This will be a solo mission. Kakashi, as a friend, as a fellow Hidden Leaf ninja, and as my former student, I'm begging you, bring Kushina the justice she deserves."
It took Kakashi two days to reach the Hidden Flame moving at a constant pace. Only when he was close to the village did he stop to rest. He knew well that an exhausted ninja usually meant a dead ninja.
Kakashi decided to rent a room at one of the local inns, believing he would probably be there for a few days. "I'm a traveling journalist. You wouldn't happen to know of any prominent clans here in this village, would you?" he asked the receptionist.
"There are a few notable clans in the village but none are more prominent than the Madarame clan. They practicaly run the village." Kakshi nodded, noting the name in a small notebook before thanking the receptionist and heading up to his room.
He had no idea where to start looking but decided to try the social night scene of the Hidden Flame. He believed he might learn something important, but in reality it was just a chance for him to go bar hopping.
After turning over no new leads, he got lucky. He over heard two Madarame branch members discussing some business. It was nothing big, but at least he could get a location out of it. He paid his tab and left the bar.
Once he was out of sight, he formed a shadow clone and had him wait for the two to leave the bar. In the morning, Kakashi awoke with the new information his clone had uncovered for him. After a light breakfast, he decided to follow the new lead.
The Madarame compound was not dificult to find, nor did they take any measures to conceal it. The plaque at each home proudly announced the Madarame name, and which Madarame resided there. Kakashi noticed that all of the Madarame in this area seemed to be branch members.
After a brief knock and an explanation of why he was there, Kakashi was allowed inside. A tall, thin man had answered the door. Kakashi could tell he was a shinobi, Jounin or higher by the looks of it.
"So you're a journalist?" he asked. "Yes, but not a publishing one. This is all for my own records, and to have some good stories to tell my grand kids." Kakashi replied with a grin, immitating thought of a fake future.
The man mused over the remark for a moment before speaking. "Well, what would you like to know?" he asked. "I'm curious about your clan. Its rituals, its techniques, whatever I can learn of it. I've heard the Madarame are the most prominent clan of this village."
The man nodded in agreement. "Understand though that there are some things I can not tell you. Not because I have to protect the clan, but because I simply have no knowledge of them. Everything I can tell you is public knowledge, or at least shinobi knowledge."
Kakashi nodded, carrying on the conversation. "Is the Madarame clan known for any kind of special training?" he asked. "Well, we Madarame on the 'outside' attend the Academy, just like everyone else. But the Madarame on the 'inside'...They're different from us."
"Different how?" The man paused for a short moment, collecting his thoughts. "They live on the inside with the clan head. They don't attend the Academy. Instead, they are trained by the best of the clan to be ruthless killers as soon as they can walk.
"We on the outside are also trained by our families from a very young age, but we go to the Academy because the best instructors are always Madarame from the inside. Most of us on the outside don't usually rank up much higher than Jounin. The ones on the inside, they're all ANBU spies and assassins."
Kakashi nodded while he took down notes in his notebook. "Any noted Jutsus of interest or Kekei Genkai?" he asked. "Yes, actually. I've heard that someone on the inside has developed a new jutsu, some sort of lightning attack in the Fire Style. They started teaching it to us recently."
Now that caught Kakashi's attention. "But I thought it wasn't possible to mix two seperate styles like that?" The man looked at him through curious eyes, signaling to Kakashi that he should mind what he says, given the situation.
Trying not to look too curious, Kakashi averted his eyes back to his notepad and took more notes. "Yes I was just getting to that." the man continued. "Our Kekei Genkai allows us to combine any physical attack jutsu with the Fire Style."
Kakashi nodded as he continued to take notes. "Very interesting." he remarked. "Is there anything else worth noting?" The man gave him another curious look but then appeared thoughtful. "Understand that there are things in our clan that are village-specific, clan-specific, inside-specific, and individual-specific.
The Fire Style is village-specific. Every Hidden Flame shinobi masters it. Our Kekei Genkai, that's obviously clan-specific. Then there are things that are individual-specific, like the clan head's Sharringan. But the Black Zodiac is something completely different."
"Black Zodiac?" Kakashi was intrigued. He wondered if that was the technique the older one had used during the attack. "The Black Zodiac is a collection of techniques specific to the main branch of the clan. It has made them extremely powerful, blood thirsty, and quite frankly, eccentric.
"No one from the main branch ever leaves the inside except for missions. The clan head gets involved in only the most critical missions and is rarely seen by the general public, let alone us branch members."
"But how do they get their necessities?" Kakashi asked. Now the man felt he was getting too curious, but continued. "They have a group of outsiders who gather their provisions for them. They take these provisions to the main gate and a group from the inside take the provisions in.
"Look, that's about all I can tell you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am late for training with my son." the man concluded, standing up. Kakashi bowed deeply to show respect. "Yes sir. Thank you for your time. Have a nice day."
Kakashi had all the information needed to complete his mission but knew there was no way he would get on the inside. Not without blowing his cover. But now, he believed the two who had attacked Konoha were Hidden Leaf shinobi. He believed they were from the Madarame clan and he believed them to be the clan head and his son.
But even with this information, there was nothing Konoha could do. They had contacted the village leader who claimed to have no knowledge or involvment in the incident. If they told them they had learned the truth, with or without mentioning Kakashi's infiltration, it would be seen as an act of war. The case would go cold for many years.
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As Kakashi finished his explanation, Kosuke could only shamefuly nod his head, confirming it all as the truth. "I know what I've done in the past. I know I've spent the majority of my life killing because I was told I should, because I was told my targets needed to die.
"That's why I left the village. I chase justice where I see it is nedded. I only kill if I have to, and only those who truly deserve it. Believe me, if there was anything I could do to attone for that woman's death, I would."
Kakashi sighed with satisfaction. He had spent more than a decade chacing this vilain and his father, only to find he had changed, or so he claimed. "How can I believe that you have actually changed?" he asked.
"It's true." Naruto piped in, catching Kakashi's attention. "Inari and his mother were attacked by a couple of Gatou's thugs and Kosuke killed them. It was awesome!" Kakashi glanced back at Kosuke, who noded, before turning back to Naruto.
"Naruto, if you knew about this, why didn't you say anything?" Kakashi asked. "Kosuke asked me not to say anything about it. I didn't think it would be such a big deal, so I agreed to keep it to myself."
"Well if you truly want to attone for your crimes, then you can return to Konoha with us." Kakashi said without a demanding tone. Kosuke agreed, and once the group finished with things in the Land Of The Waves, he accompanied them home, back to Konoha.
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A/N: So what'd you think? If you've read this far, I'll ask again. Please review and tell me what you thought. Until next time...