The lone male shinobi stood in front of the mud trap. His orders were to keep the jutsu going and to kill any shinobi who tried to escape or he found once the jutsu was finished.
"I feel bad for whoever is in there," he laughed to himself "this jutsu is slowly going to crush them."
Then a voice came from inside the muck.
"Hey!" A girl's voice came out.
He suddenly got excited. The only female he remembered was one and she was pretty. Back in his village not many girls would even talk to him, now he saw his chance.
"Yeah?" he called back
"Is there anyway you can let me and my friends out of here?" she asked innocently.
"Sorry, no can do." He replied "My orders were to keep you three in there until I run out of chakra. By then you'll all probably be dead."
"But I don't want to die!" she whined "How about you just let me out?"
"How do I know it will only be you?" he replied "How your other two friends?"
Her voice fell to a whisper.
"Their both asleep," she explained quietly "they can't hear a word we're saying!"
The shinobi thought about it.
"Well," he thought out loud "why not? I'll do it under one condition."
"And what's that?" she asked
"That you go out with me sometime." He answered
"Sure!" she sounded pretty happy "I'd gladly go with you!"
"Ha! A girl like you will definitely make Kairi regret she turned me down!" he laughed "My name's Beltrano what's yours?"
"Her name's Tsunade." A voice said behind him "And only I get to ask her out."
A sharp chill crept down his back.
"What the?" He turned his head "How did you two get out?"
Orochimaru and Jiraiya stood behind him.
"We're the three legendary shinobi." Jiraiya laughed "A weak jutsu like that won't beat us."
"How?" he cried shocked "The mud should have consumed all of you! Any movement in there should have caused the mud to constrict!"
"Hehehehe." Orochimaru laughed "You really are naïve aren't you? We barely moved at all. The only thing we had to do was ask our Tsunade to forcibly open the ground beneath us with her strength."
An image of the girl throwing one of his companions into another ran through Beltrano's mind and he realized just how strong that girl was.
"But I would have noticed!" he complained even more.
Orochimaru's face began to be filled with annoyance.
"You know, you would be dead by now if we did not have a use for you." He said "We used the girl as a decoy to keep your mind away from us."
"A use?" Beltrano asked "What use do you have for me?"
"You'll see soon enough." Jiraiya answered hastily "But we really have to get going. Tsunade you can bull through now!"
"Finally!" a voice inside boomed, it was the same girl's voice but somehow the inflection was different "You guys always take so long!"
Beltrano felt the inside of the muck begin to vibrate.
"But if she tries anything," Beltrano warned "It will constrict her!"
Both the sannin behind him laughed.
"Only one person has
ever been able to restrain Tsunade," Jiraiya laughed "and you're
nowhere near as good enough to equal him!"
Suddenly Beltrano
felt himself flying into the air, eyes closed to keep the debris out
of them.
He hit something, it felt like a body, and landed with a thud on his bottom. Opening his eyes he found himself looking straight into the eyes of Tsunade.
He blushed. He was never this close to a girl.
"And that's what happens when you piss of a sannin." She said
"Wow, you look like an angel." He said in awe.
She got up and walked away. Jiraiya followed her as well.
Suddenly the earth beneath him moved and he could feel it restraining him. Slowly it forced him into a standing position. Then Orochimaru stepped in front of him.
"Be grateful you got a piece of heaven," he smiled menacingly "because now you'll have to go through more pain than you've ever known."
"What?" Beltrano gasped.
Suddenly the world around him began to change.
"How in the world?" he gasped.
Orochimaru's eyes were mere slits now, and pierced through his mind.
"You're in my world now!" Orochimaru laughed "And you will answer me, or you will feel pain!"
Meanwhile the other two sannin had their backs turned to Orochimaru and his prisoner. They had both sat down, and gazed toward the sky. Jiraiya was sitting cross legged. As she laid on her stomach next to Jiraiya, Tsunade had to cover her eyes because of the sunlight.
The sky was still clear and the trees in front of them were unaffected by battle that was fought only minutes before.
Smoothly a blue bird landed on Tsunade's open palm. It began singing as if enjoying her beauty.
Suddenly they could hear groans of pain behind them and they both knew Orochimaru had begun his torturous genjutsu.
"It freaks me out when he does that." Jiraiya moaned
"Yeah, he does a lot of things that freak me out." Tsunade replied, still looking at the bird on her hand.
Jiraiya merely nodded and looked toward the sky; his normally energetic face was filled with seriousness and strength.
She had known Jiraiya since they were kids and she knew instantly something was wrong.
"Hey Jiraiya!" she laughed, giving him her best smile.
"Yeah?" He replied unenthusiastically
"When we finish this mission do you want to go out?" She asked
"Sure…" He shrugged.
Slowly the bird fluttered away, as if sensing the tension that had grown.
"All right, something's wrong." Tsunade concluded, shifting her body so she could look straight at Jiraiya "Spill it."
"What makes you think something is wrong?" Jiraiya asked, still unable to look her in the eye.
"I just asked you out." She said bluntly "Now the Jiraiya I know would have either fainted or peed in his pants if I ever say that. And the one time I do he gives me a "sure", that's it! A sure! Do you know how many people I ask out?"
"Not very much." Jiraiya gave a small laugh
"Exactly." She said "Now, what's wrong?"
Jiraiya took a deep breath, and gazed even harder toward the sky.
"I was just thinking." Jiraiya said
"About what?" Tsunade asked
"If Sarutobi sensei made the right decision in making me squad leader." Jiraiya confessed.
Tsunade looked at him confuse.
"What do you mean?" she asked "We're all safe and once we now where we're supposed to head then we'll be there in no time!"
"We're not all safe." Jiraiya answered quietly.
"Sure we are!" Tsunade replied "You and I are safe here. And Orochimaru's over there doing what he does."
"But that wasn't all of us." Jiraiya said
"What do you-" she said "Oh yeah. Mitsuba."
"Uh huh." Jiraiya nodded "I lost her and we do not even know where they are headed. And I didn't even notice the shinobi that were tailing us until Orochimaru pointed it out."
"Oh don't worry about it!" she laughed it off "You were probably so excited to be squad leader. Besides that's why they made squads and not one man teams. So the other members can help you out, even if you are squad leader."
" I guess." Jiraiya shrugged again "Still I can't help but worry."
"Worry about what?" Tsunade asked.
"What will happen when the time comes." Jiraiya answered.
"When what time comes?" She continued
"I don't know, I mean I know as squad leader your lives are in my hands." He explained "But when the time comes for me to step up as one, will I make the right choice?"
Tsunade flipped her body over so that she was now laying on her back and gazing upward to the sky.
"Sarutobi sensei had faith in you." She answered "Do you really think he would have made you squad leader?"
"Maybe he was being nice." Jiraiya answered.
"Sensei may be kind, but he knows to be serious when he has to be." Tsunade retorted "Besides Orochimaru and I have faith in you."
"But you nearly had a heart attack when Sarutobi sensei I should be squad leader!" Jiraiya exclaimed.
They both laughed.
"Yeah I guess I almost did huh?" She laughed "Don't worry about it, I say a lot of things."
This seemed to lift Jiraiya's spirits as a shadow of his goofy smile showed.
She sat up with her legs now extended on the floor and she looked Jiraiya in the eye. With a small gleam of a smile he looked at her as well.
"Look you're on of the sannin," she sighed "If anyone will pull through it's going to be you. I think even Orochimaru believes in you. As cold as he seems he holds you in high regard."
Then she raised her right hand and extended her pointing finger. Jiraiya winced as it was nearing his head.
She shook her head and smiled.
She placed her finger on his head.
"Don't let a win get to your head." She said
The slowly her finger slid down his face and on the left side of his chest, where his heart was beating.
"And don't let a lose get to your heart." She smiled
Finally, he returned her smile with one of his own.
She dropped her finger and pointed at the direction of Orochimaru.
"Looks like he's done." She said "He's headed here right now…with the poor kids unconscious body."
Jiraiya turned around and saw Orochimaru approaching. Both of them got up and waited for their comrade.
"Well, I got what we need." Orochimaru hissed "I know where we have to go and what to do once we get there."
The other two nodded.
'What about this kid?" Jiraiya asked
"He's unconscious." Orochimaru laughed "After what I did to him, it's amazing that he's still alive! We should just leave him here, he'll probably die anyway."
Tsunade shuddered.
"Let me take a look at him." Tsunade said.
Gingerly Orochimaru handed the boy over to her. She placed him down and began examining his head.
"What did you do to him?" she gasped "Without and medical aid soon, he could die!"
"I made him witness his own death." Orochimaru shrugged "Over and over and over again."
"You must have overdone it." Tsunade concluded "I'll try and use my medic ninjutsu but what this boy needs is to be home with his family so his mind can be at ease."
She placed both her palms over Beltrano's head and a small light green aura emitted from her hands.
"Why not just leave him to die," Orochimaru said "He'll only slow us down."
He turned at looked toward the direction away from Konoha.
"We need to get there before sunset," Orochimaru claimed "so that means we have to go now!"
"All right, we go." Jiraiya agreed.
"But what of Beltrano?" Tsunade snapped, she quickly stopped using her healing "We can't just leave him here to die!"
"We're not." Jiraiya assured "And we are going to make it in time."
He picked up Beltrano's body and swung it over his shoulder.
"I'll carry him." Jiraiya said "Orochimaru lead the way, and Tsunade can you watch my back just in case there are other shinobi waiting to attack?"
Tsunade nodded.
Orochimaru laughed.
"What's so funny?" Jiraiya asked
"Just now." Orochimaru explained "You're finally starting to sound like a squad leader. I was beginning to worry about you and if sensei made the right decision."
He gave Jiraiya a soft punch to his chest.
"All right squad Jiraiya!" Jiraiya exclaimed "Let's go!"
Orochimaru jumped forward into the trees with Jiraiya following behind him. Tsunade waited a few seconds before jumping behind them.
The trees and landscape were relatively the same as they jumped and raced from tree to tree. They had no trouble from any other enemies, but it was taking a long time to reach their destination.
Both Jiraiya and Tsunade were wondering when they would possibly reach their destination when suddenly Orochimaru dove down into the trees.
They both followed and found themselves in a deep underbrush, with only small light coming from dense forestry above them.
Orochimaru stood in front of them and was raising his hand, motioning them to come closer but to stay as quiet as possible.
Both of them walked until they were inches behind him. Then slowly they saw a movement in his arms.
A snake slithered out from each arm.
Slowly they began slithering to the ground and onto a mass of underbrush in front of them. A few minutes passed and still nothing happened.
"What are you doing?" Tsunade whispered.
"Wait." Orochimaru snapped "It should happen very soon."
On cue, the ground started to rumble. The underbrush began to away on its own accord to reveal what it was hiding.
There was hole in the wall that was about ten feet tall.
"How did you do that?" Tsunade asked
"There are different recesses in the wall with buttons in them," Orochimaru explained "you have to press the right buttons and the same time. But the tricky part is that you can't press the wrong ones or it won't open for days."
"How did you tell which on is which?" Jiraiya pondered
"They each have a smell that contains human hands on it since it is the most often pressed." Orochimaru explained.
"Should we go in?" Jiraiya asked
Orochimaru nodded.
"After this there is no perils, but I need to recite a chant in the room we are to enter in that tunnel before we can reach the village." Orochimaru explained
Jiraiya nodded.
"I'll take Beltrano." Tsunade offered "You go ahead and go first Jiraiya."
Quickly switching luggage, Jiraiya went first. Then came Tsunade and behind her Orochimaru.
At first the tunnel was dark and smelled of old dying plants. After a few minutes, Jiraiya saw a light near the end of the tunnel.
Abruptly he stopped in his tracks and rose his hand.
"Good, Jiraiya" Orochimaru said.
Jiraiya brought out a kunai knife and threw it to the light.
There was a clang but the kunai knife had merely flown a few feet in front of him.
"I thought so." Jiraiya said.
He folded his right hand and extended his middle and point finger upwards.
"Kai break!" he said.
Slowly the image of the light faded away and an old door remained. It had needles jutting from it's front.
Slowly Jiraiya put his head in front of the spikes.
"They're laced with poison." Jiraiya said
"So how do we get through?" Tsunade asked
"Leave it to me." Jiraiya assured
He configured his fingers so that his thumbs and pointing fingers created a triangle.
"Wind Style: Hurra-wind!" he whispered.
And wave of wind energy erupted from his fingers and pushed against the wall. It sent the door flying into the room behind it.
They entered it and found a dome room with a big hole at its ceiling. It was completely empty except for the door that laid broken at the end of the room.
"Now what do we do?" Jiraiya asked
"Over here." Orochimaru said passing Jiraiya.
He stepped in the middle of the beam of light. It was incredibly blinding but they were able to see outlines of each other.
"Now listen," Orochimaru said "We need to form a triangle and look up toward the sky."
They did so without much difficulty.
"And Tsunade before I recite the chant," Orochimaru said "I think that it would be best that you drop Beltrano."
Tsunade gave a reluctant grunt.
"Do not worry." Orochimaru assured "He will be coming with us, it is only a safety precaution."
"For what?" Tsunade asked.
"When we reach the village," Orochimaru explained "There might be trouble."
Finally conceding, Tsunade dropped the unconscious body to the floor. And soon all three were gazing toward the light.
Everything was silent until Orochimaru's coarse yet clear voice cut through.
"I bring about darkness and light. I bring about death and life." Orochimaru said "I am the destroyer and the liberator. And I alone decide the fate of the world."
Orochimaru remained quiet for a moment.
"I am Chaos!" He shouted.
Flash
The light grew stronger and all three had to squint their eyes.
Slowly the light lessened in strength, and it allowed Jiraiya to open his eyes. They were no longer the dome room, but rather they were out in open air and the sky could be clearly seen.
Tsunade gazed around in awe. Beltrano's body was in the middle of them.
"Where are we?" Jiraiya asked.
Orochimaru pointed toward a ledge behind them.
"Look over there." He said "And Tsunade hold his shoulder."
"Why would she need to hold my shoulder?" Jiraiya asked as he walked toward the ledge."
Tsunade followed and kept a firm grip on Jiraiya's shoulder. They were nearing the ledge.
"What could he possibly mean by making you hold my shoulder! It's not like I'm a little-" Jiraiya stopped in mid sentence "What the heck!"
As Jiraiya looked over the ledge he knew instantly where they were. He was gazing at ground, but the ground was over thousands of feet below him.
They were on a floating island in the sky. They had finally made it.
They were in the Village Hidden in the Sky.
((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
In a forgotten home found in one of the towns of the village hidden in the sky, a lone cloaked man knew of the entrance of the sannin and was conducting his own arrival. Though he was alone he knew that the people he was waiting for would soon be there.
The room his was in was shrouded in darkness, with the only light coming from two dirty windows found at the right side of the wall and one on top of the room. The blurry light from these windows were superfluous except to illuminate the cloaked man and what was in front of him.
In front of him there was a table that had a chessboard on it. There were pieces already taken out of the game. The white side had nearly it's full force except for two pawns missing. The black side was not as lucky. It had lost nearly all of it's pieces except for five pawns, a bishop, a queen, and a king.
He sat behind the desk and the pitch black cloak he wore covered his arms and even his face.
The door creaked open in front of him, and in entered three people armed with swords. One carried an unconscious body and placed it on the floor in front of the cloaked man.
"Gau, you have done well." His voice was barely a whisper "The three sannin have made it here in time."
All three knelt down and bowed in front of the cloaked man.
"Thank you my Lord." Gau said "Getting them here was easier than expected."
"All the shinobi from Konoha are easily fooled when they think they are playing the hero." He laughed softly "Now the wheels are finally turning, but we must be very careful in order to execute are plans and attain our ultimate goal."
"My Liege," Koji's methodic voice broke in "what are we to do now?"
The cloaked man put his hands together in front of his face in a thinking posture. He remained silent for a few minutes.
Slowly he reached out toward the black pieces in the dead zone. He picked out three pieces from: two knights and a rook. He placed them near the black king.
"It seems as though new pieces have been put into play and our opponent have gained new warriors." He though out loud "We do not need to take them out just yet. Instead we will use them for our own cause, as was initially planned."
He moved one of the white pawns forward.
"And very soon one of their pieces will become ours." He voice seemed to smile at the thought.
"What are you talking about my lord?" Gau asked
Still the cloaked man did not make an answer for a few seconds.
"We will need to use the sannin's heroism to our advantage." He said softly "Make sure that they hear and understand the pilgrimage that is about to begin."
"Yes sir!" all three said
"I do not care who the other guardians of the new sacrifice will be," he continued "just make sure that those three are part of the sacrafice's entourage."
All three nodded again.
Suddenly the cloaked man started to have a coughing fit.
"Gah!" he screamed loudly between a cough.
Blood splattered all over the chessboard.
"Blood spilled." He moaned in between coughs "There will be a bloody battle very soon."
"My Lord!" Gau got up
"No!" he shouted
Quickly he brought out a glass bottle from within his cloak. It held a light blue liquid. He gulped it down quickly and slowly his coughing stopped.
He raised a shaking finger toward the unconscious body.
"She will also be needed for this." He said, still catching his breath "You decide what she will be needed for."
Gau nodded and motioned for one of his comrades to carry Mitsuba. Deidara walked over and placed her in both his arms.
"Go," he said, his voice returning "make sure you do not fail."
"Never." Gau promised.
The all got up and turned to leave.
"Wait!" he called after them "Gau, your blade, it's been slightly cracked. I thought it was supposed to be unbreakable."
He turned and answered while his allies left out the door.
"It is." Gau said "But only when it meets it's opposite can it be cracked."
"So you found it's opposite?" he questioned
"Yes, one of the Sannin." Gau explained "I dueled with him for a few moments and he used it."
"Kusunagi." The man breathed
"Yes." Gau nodded "The snake blade, Kusunagi. Orochimaru, the Great Snake, wields it."
"As young as those three are," He said "They are truly a formidable force."
"Yes." Gau said "They are merely eighteen year olds and yet they are already heralded as the best squad to have ever been assembled."
The cloaked man tensed his fingers again, showing his concentration. And he gave another mysterious order.
"I want you to watch the sannin very closely for me." He said "I want one of them to join our little group."
"You want one of them to join us?" Gau said "Which one?"
"They are all gifted," He answered "but one of them stands out from the rest."
"Do you mean Orochimaru?" Gau asked.
The cloaked man yawned loudly.
"I grow weary." He said "No, I will not tell you yet who I have in mind. In my own time will I make the offer to him."
"But it will be far easier if we knew who it is!" Gau pushed
"No, take a close look at all of them and tell me what you think." He replied "I once met and fought against their teacher."
"You mean Sarutobi?" Gau gaped "They say he will become the next Hokage!'
"And rightfully so. I am one of the very few people who can say that they fought a real fight against that man and lived" He sighed "But when I spoke to him after our battle, he seemed to pity me. I do not know why. But as he was helping me reach minimal health to survive, he spoke of his students. Though they were young then, he spoke of one who could become greater than even him."
"And that's the one you want?" Gau asked
"Maybe." He replied "This one will be very crucial to our plans."
"How so?" Gau asked.
"If all goes well, it will be he who defeats Chaos." The cloaked man laughed "And when we have control of all the armies in this village and with Chaos bending to our every will no one, not even Sarutobi and the three legendary shinobi, will ever be able to stop us!"
