Chapter Two
Ranotu and the Heartless
Sasuke stood on the heist branch of a tree looking down on the village he once called home. Shanobi ran around trying to cut down the creatures and Sound shanobi that invaded their home but it was in vain. Orochimaru had unleashed these strange creatures he called the Heartless upon the unsuspecting village in cooperation with his own army and it looked like his plan was working. Sasuke recalled the first time he came across one of the Heartless.
Flashback
Sasuke walked into Orochimaru's throne room having been summoned a few minutes earlier. The room was dark with no windows to let in any light. A dark red carpet streaked down the middle of the room to where Orochimaru's throne was. The room was humid and it made Sasuke feel like he was walking through a swamp when ever h had to come in here. When he arrived at the throne there sat Orochimaru and standing beside him was a figure. Man or woman he couldn't tell do to the black cloak that concealed their body. The person had their hood up and an Anbu fox mask hid their face.
"What do you want?" asked Sasuke.
"I'd like you to meet Ranotu here," Orochimaru said pointing at the cloaked figure.
"Why?" Sasuke asked.
"Because he is going to give us an army to crush Konoha," Orochimaru said with an evil grin.
"And what does he want in return," asked Sasuke.
"Nothing," Ranotu said. His voice sounded harsh and muffled under the mask but something about it sounded…familiar.
"You want nothing in return?"
"I just want to watch the village fall to the Heartless," Ranotu said.
"The Heartless?" Sasuke raised a brow.
"These," Ranotu raised his hand which was sporting a black leather glove and snapped his fingers. Suddenly shadows appeared on the ground and strange creatures crawled out of them. The creatures were only about two feet tall and were all black except for their big yellow eyes. Two antennas sprouted from the head of each one.
"What are these things?" Sasuke asked drawing a kunai and prepared to defend himself.
"These are shadows. They are the lowest form of Heartless. They use the antennas on their heads to seek out hearts and then swarm. Individually they are weak but when they are in massive amounts they are nearly unstoppable." Ranotu snapped his fingers again and the creatures all disappeared.
End Flashback
That had all happened only about a week ago. Ranotu had not been lying. The shadows had swarmed the gates of Konoha and had broken through in minutes. What Ranotu had not mentioned were the countless other heartless he had at his disposal. There were big ones with huge stomachs that were seemed nearly invincible. There were small flying Heartless. Some were red, blue, yellow, or green. Each had a power corresponding to the color that they were. Red being fire, blue ice, yellow lightning, and the green ones seemed to be healing the other heartless once they were injured. There were some Heartless that looked like they were trying to be knights. The Shanobi of Konoha were having trouble holding off the Heartless.
Without warning Orochimaru appeared next to Sasuke.
"Why haven't you joined the battle yet?" he asked glaring at Sasuke.
"I'm waiting for Naruto to make his move," Sasuke responded.
"Naruto is not here," said Orochimaru.
"What!"
"According to the information gathered by Kabuto, Naruto left the village and quit being a ninja about two months ago."
"Naruto…quit?"
"That's what his file says. He just turned in his headband and left without a word."
"That can't be," Sasuke said to himself rather than to Orochimaru. "Why would he just up and quit. There has to be something more to the story," Sasuke thought. Sasuke's train of thought was broken when Ranotu landed on the branch as well.
"Soon it will be revealed," he said to no one in particular.
"What?" Sasuke looked at him confused.
"Soon the door to the heart of this world will be found by the Heartless and victory is ours." He said looking down at the village.
"The heart of the world?" Orochimaru asked.
"Yes, you see people's hearts are not the only hearts the Heartless are after. Every world has a heart. It is that heart that gives the world its life. If the heart is devoured by the Heartless then the world ceases to exist."
"That's not what we want," Orochimaru growled. Sasuke figured it lucky for Ranotu that he was standing in between the two or Orochimaru would have attack him already.
"Don't worry, that is not my goal." Ranotu replied calming Orochimaru down.
"Then what is your goal?" Sasuke asked.
"My goal is to corrupt the heart of this world with this," Ranotu help out his hand. A dark mist came from nowhere surrounding his hand. A dark purple light appeared within the mist. Once the light faded so did the mist revealing a sword in Ranotu's hand. The sword was completely made of a pure black metal that looked like it didn't belong in this world. The hilt of the sword was surrounded by black metal in the shape of a heart. The heart shaped hand guard had long thin black spicks around the outside of the heart. At the curled top part of the heart was a longer thicker spike with a dark purple gem imbedded in it. The blade was three and a half feet long. The blade had a slight curve to it and had a very sharp point. Near the tip of the blade was something unusual. The same emblem that was on most of the Heartless was sticking out of the blade.
"What is that?" Orochimaru asked in awe.
"This is my Keyblade." Ranotu replied.
"A Keyblade?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes, it is the Heartless Keyblade. It had the exact opposite energy than the regular Keyblade wielded by a boy named Sora. Both swords chose their wielders. They have a mind of their own. I am the chosen wielder of the Heartless Keyblade. I also have the Nobody Keyblade." Ranotu held out his other hand and the same mist and light surrounded his hand but this time a pure white sword appeared in his hand. The structure was identical to the black sword, with the same heart shaped hand guard and spikes, a diamond rested inside the thicker spick at the top of the hilt, and the blade was the same shape and length but with a different emblem that neither Orochimaru nor Sasuke recognized.
"The insignia sticking out of the blade is the sign of the Nobodies. They are creations made when a person loses their heart but has a strong will. So their bodies and soul are transformed into a Nobody." Ranotu explained.
"What will happen after you corrupt the heart of the world?" Sasuke asked.
"Every living thing on this world will be transformed into a Heartless and serve me and my Mistress," Ranotu chuckled looking at Sasuke and Orochimaru.
"I have to thank you both, if it were not for your army my Heartless would not have been able to gain entrance to the village. Now I must be leaving but here are some playmates to keep you company," The Nobody Keyblade vanished as Ranotu was talking and he snapped his fingers as he spoke the final word of his sentence. Suddenly five silver creatures appeared out of nowhere. The creatures had silver wings and were wielding red and silver spears.
"These are Nobodies called Dragoon. Have fun," With that Ranotu jumped off the branch and started running for the village.
"Sasuke stop him! I'll take care of these abominations!" Orochimaru ordered as he was preparing to use a jutzu. Sasuke didn't reply. He didn't need to. He jumped off of the branch to the ground below and started following Ranotu.