Ryusando's eyes squeezed open slowly. The immense pain that accompanied this action was a sign that, in whatever pitiful way, he was still alive. His mind hurt as he looked around, unable to remember the cause of his predicament. His eyes - burned as they were by his own past - had no need to adjust to the light of the room. The instant they were open, he could see clearly.
He was in a hospital room that seemed to double as a prison cell. It had a tiny, barred window that didn't open and barely let in a glimmer of light. The walls were white tiles, over a linoleum floor. The room's door was a massive steel thing with a barred window even smaller than that on the wall. No doorknob was present on the inside, nor were there any hinges for an intrepid escapee to remove. Air was circulated by a lazy overhead fan.
He was lying in a hospital bed, white sheets covering his body. The only other furniture in the room consisted of a bedside table, an IV tree holding a single empty bag, and three stiff, plastic chairs. One of them was occupied.
"Ah. I was wondering when you'd wake up." Ryusando's gaze riveted on the speaker. He was a fairly short man with black hair. A slightly grubby bandage was wrapped over his eyes.
"Obindo Redai?" Ryusando's face picked up a smile. "What happened to me?"
"Well, for starters, we're even now. You held off an Amegakure ninja while the pretty Kirigakure woman and I escaped."
"Pretty Kirigakure…" Ryusando began to shake his head, but stopped quickly when a pain in his neck discouraged the motion. "You mean Ink?"
Redai nodded. "I don't know what you did with her, but she's quite loyal to you. She almost came back to help you. We brought you here when you flickered in."
"Is this Konohagakure?" Ryusando asked, as his memories slowly began to return. The man with the Rin'negan eyes. The Akatsuki.
"Yeah… best medics in the world. Why?"
Ryusando slammed an angry fist onto his knee, and then quickly regretted it. Pain shot up his leg, and his body twitched as it tried to overcome the uncomfortable sensation.
"Careful." Redai muttered sarcastically. "You might hurt yourself."
Ryusando turned to him, sitting up despite his body roaring for rest. "You would have been better off taking me back to Sunagakure.At least I'm only a traitor there…"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Redai said, irritated. "I thought you'd be grateful. We could have just left you hanging there in the forest if you wanted."
The antagonistic conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Ryusando-san, you have visitors." An unfamiliar voice called through the door, muffled by the thickness of the steel.
Ryusando sighed, and then lowered himself back onto his pillow. "Come in."
Two figures walked in. One was the second-to-the-last that Ryusando wanted to see, while the other was unfamiliar.
The mysterious ninja was a large man, though his posture tried to hide it. He had powerfully built arms that hung too low for a normal man, and similarly oversized legs. His nose was perhaps the most notable figure of his face, larger than the rest of his features. Dark brown eyes - nearly black - watched Ryusando quietly, but judgmentally beneath a head of odd, wiry brown hair.
The more familiar figure hid his face behind a black cloth mask, and his forehead protector hung low over his face, masking one of his eyes. The other glared at the wounded ninja with untold hatred. He was younger than his companion, though both were close to Kensei in age.
Both figures were dressed identically. Short sleeved black shirts and long black fatigues. Their chests were covered with the white hardened leather breastplates Konohagakure's ANBU were known for, and painted steel plates protected their forearms. Both wore black sandals, and Ryusando noted that the ninja he didn't recognize had long, prehensile toes which slowly rapped on the floor as if he were nervous.
"Sharingan Kakashi…" Ryusando muttered. "And you brought a friend."
"I was hoping you were dead." Kakashi answered. "Ryusando, this is Kumanezumi Toi. Toi, this is an insufferable bastard who deserves a kunai in the heart."
Ryusando noted that Toi lived up to his surname, as his appearance certainly suggested a bear, and a rat. The second Konoha ANBU soldier stepped forward, offering a hand. "Nice to meet you, insufferable bastard who deserves a kunai in the heart."
"Tohiryuu Ryusando." The wounded shinobi introduced himself, knocking away the man's hand. "So, Kakashi… what do you want?"
"You know each other?" Redai asked, breaking into the conversation that was quickly growing toward a fight without his participation.
Ryusando nodded. "Leave us alone for a minute, Redai. I have a few things to discuss with Kakashi-kun in private." Nodding slowly, the man left.
Ryusando began, addressing the younger man before him. "Are you here for revenge? I can't stop you."
Kakashi shook his head. "Why bother? You aren't worth it. No, I'm here because the Hokagewanted me to ask you a question." Ryusando's white eyes narrowed to match Kakashi's glare. The Sharingan master found two kunai on his fingertip, which he spun absentmindedly. "Are you here to assassinate the Hokage?" He asked casually, as if Ryusando did not know what would happen if he answered 'yes'.
"No." Ryusando answered plainly. "Though he deserves it."
"People die in war." Kakashi responded, but his reply seemed strained and airy, as though he was reading it out of a book, and he didn't actually believe it.
"They weren't ninja. They were children! How could he sleep at night, knowing what he had done?" Ryusando's voice began controlled, but rose gradually into a violent shout. Kakashi shrugged, more because he didn't feel like explaining than because he did not know. "You did the same!" Ryusando added, still shouting.
"I had a right." Kakashi answered.
"An eye for an eye." Ryusando muttered. "At least I killed that damn girl."
"She wasn't his pupil anymore. She was under my command." Kakashi answered. For the first time in their conversation, anger was present in the young man's voice.
Ryusando's words did nothing to comfort the man before him. "I only hope I caused him at least one night without sleep."
"He was a hero!" Kakashi shouted back.
"No, he wasn't." Ryusando's words dropped to a mere whisper, with far more hateful intensity than anything he had uttered before.
Kakashi stared at Ryusando. The Missing-nin stared back. An awkward silence settled over the pair. Finally, Kakashi turned, walking calmly toward the door, as though nothing had happened. He paused in the doorway, turning over his shoulder to address his old enemy.
"A tragedy has struck this village. I suggest, for your own sake, that you are gone within a day. Any longer, and you might become a suspect. I can't guarantee you a fair trial if you're accused."
The threat did nothing to intimidate the lone ninja. He had already faced one staged trial.
In a rage, Ryusando ripped the IV cable from his arm, and knocked over its stand. The same painful weakness that had cost him the best years of his life now left him without any way to expel his burning fury. As tiny drops of blow fell out of his now open arm, Ryusando clenched his hands into the hospital mattress, tearing away chunks of the stuffing and hoping that somehow, that little bit of damage would hurt the village he hated with every tiny fiber of his soul.
Kensei dove from treetop to treetop, until the trees became too small to support his weight. He had long since reached the end of the canopy, and rain fell on his spiky brown hair, pressing it down against his head. The Sotaichou didn't care. He was alone, on the hunt, as he had always been meant to be. He had sent off his two companions following other leads.
Then and only then, did he drop to the ground. Ten years of conditioning gave his body more than enough strength to run the remainder of the distance to the towering buildings of the village in the distance. He never reached that far, though.
About halfway to his destination, a woman dropped out of the sky before him. Her round face and blue hair were decorated with a pierced lower lip, and a white flower that Kensei suspected was made of paper. She wore a black robe emblazoned with red clouds.
"Who are you?" She asked, her voice a deadly serious tone.
"Kensei. A representative of Sunagakure." As he had for all his life, Satetso Kensei chose not to betray his clan name.
"We could consider this an act of war." The woman threatened. Behind the white mask of his disguise, Kensei smiled.
"But you won't, because Amegakure is still no match for the military might of Suna."
Kensei was surprised when she seemed unfazed by his bold declaration. "I would not bet on it." She answered coldly. "Now, why are you here?"
A drop of cold sweat fell down Kensei's cheek, and he was suddenly grateful that the mask hid it from the woman. He couldn't sense her chakra, and that worried him. He had no idea of her strength, no indication of whether a fight would end in his favor.
"I am searching for a Missing-nin."
"You are searching for Tohiryuu Ryusando." She stated the fact as just what it was. "He left here just last night, after engaging in battle with Amegakure's Village Elder."
Kensei tried to read her face, but it seemed to be the perfect mask. The amount of information he had just been given seemed excessive, meaning that either it was a lie, or that the woman trusted him. The second seemed an almost ridiculous option. "Was your elder injured?" Kensei asked.
The woman glared at him. "No. But your prey was. Heavily. He had a large wound on his left shoulder when he escaped. He was last seen traveling east with two companions. One was a swordsman, and the other, a missing-nin from our own village. We were unable to identify the swordsman's village, but our traitor is also an S-Rank Missing Shinobi."
Kensei knew too much about diplomacy to believe that he was getting this information for free. "What do you want me to do for you?"
"When you catch Ryusando, kill both of his companions. The woman, we don't care about, but we want our man's body returned to us
Every ounce of the young Sotaichou's instinct told him that somehow, something was horribly wrong. Kensei could tell that the information was true, as it matched up with what he had already gathered.
The problem was the woman's apparent willingness to allow another village to claim one of their missing-nin. Trusting Kensei with the body was an enormous risk that their village jutsu would be leaked. The woman seemed in no way worried by this threat, as if she weren't even aware of it. It seemed to Kensei that the woman was toohelpful, as though she were trying to cover up something in her own village. That led him to his next question.
"May I spend the night in your village, and take the time to regroup."
"You could… but then you would lose his trail." A second, male voice answered Kensei. He spun quickly. His gaze was met by a boy, no older than fourteen, who a black cloak that was the perfect pair of the woman's. "He arrived in Konoha last night, along with one of the Swordsmen of Kirigakureand an Amegakure Shinobi." The boy continued.
Kensei analyzed this new figure. He stared at Kensei with blood-red eyes, and a Konohagakure forehead protector adorned his face, sliced through with a single long scratch.
"You are…?" Kensei asked.
"It doesn't matter. He works for me." The woman muttered, quickly enough that Kensei recognized a cover-up.
"Uchiha Itachi." The boy answered, ignorant of his superior's words. The Sunagakure Sotaichou had heard of the boy. He was a Konoha ANBU Taichou himself, with a powerful Kekkei Genkai. Why was he working for an Amegakure Kunoichi? Kensei made up his mind quickly and decisively. "Thank you for your aid." He muttered, turning toward Konohagakure.
Seven hours later, Redai addressed his new commander." Are you able to stand?" he asked as Ryusando settled his bare feet onto the cold tiles of the hospital floor. By rising to his feet, Ryusando answered the question. Carefully, he rolled his wrists in wide circles, releasing the few knots in his muscles that had developed from lying still for hours. His eyes still burned, but his body was otherwise fine.
"Well, I guess we can go, then." Ink muttered. She leaned against the corner of the room, where two walls met, leaving the vast majority of her body concealed by shadows. She had reclaimed her mask and sword, and now wore her loose black fatigues, along with a Konoha tactical vest, dyed gray to match the Kirigakure style. "Are you sure you're all right?"
Ryusando held up a hand as a request for a moment of time. Slowly, he lifted a foot up, holding it at a right angle from his body. The foot wavered in midair, about a half-meter off the ground. Then, to the amazement of his companions, he lifted his other foot, and stood in midair. After about three seconds, he lowered his feet again to the floor.
"How did you…"
"A Kinjutsu." Ryusando answered, in a tone that didn't entirely convince Ink. "If I can use that technique, I'll be fine. Let's go." With calm grace, he walked to the door, which Ink had thoughtfully unlocked from the outside. Grabbing onto the bars in the window, Ryusando painstakingly dragged the door open.
Outside, the hallway was empty. Ryusando half-strode, half-limped down the hallway, still wearing the white tunic of a hospital patient.
"Ryusando-san, you really aren't in any condition…" A medical Shinobiaddressed him.
"I am fine." It was not an opinion, but a statement of fact.
"We can't have you out walking the halls." A large senbon appeared in the ninja's hand, presumably poisoned with an anesthetic. Ryusando saw it coming. He was much faster than his attacker. With his right hand, he grabbed the wrist of the man. His left hand settled onto the man's abdomen slowly. The doctor stared down at Ryusando's hand. A moment later, his eyes flashed with pain, and he collapsed onto the laminate floor.
"What was that?" Ink asked.
"A variant of Juuken."
Ink found herself thankful again for her mask. It seemed that in every conversation, this man surprised her. Ryusando carefully, but swiftly fished through the man's pockets, before taking a hold of a small scroll. Through the whole motion, he made not even the slightest sound.
"Redai, cover our backs. Ink, hide the body in the cell."
With those words, he darted on down the corridor. Redai was the last to follow, and his blind gaze unnerved Ink. He seemed… almost unnatural in his grace of movement. And worse, she never knew if he was watching her.
"Who are you?" A voice asked. Kensei was not the slightest bit surprised. He had heard not only the owner of the voice, but also his nine associates as they followed him through the woods. Instead, he dropped to the ground, leaving his hands where they were visible. "Sharingan Kakashi… and your entire ANBU squad. I'm surprised I merit such attention."
"You're intruding on Konohagakure's territory. Identify yourself." Kakashi ordered, his face hidden behind a white dog-mask. It surprised him that the boy had been able to identify him by voice, but then again, there were eye holes. One was filled with red.
"Kensei. I'm hunting a missing-nin. You don't recognize my voice, Kakashi?"
The ANBU Taichou's memories slowly returned. "We fought in the War…"
Kensei nodded. "And now I'm here to tie up some loose ends."
"Then you're hunting Ryusando?" Kakashi asked.
Again, the boy masked as a hunter-nin silently nodded, and then he took off his mask and smiled. "Would you like a reason to kill him?"
Ryusando stood at the end of a long hallway, his companions behind him. One by one, he scanned the labels of the hallway doors quickly. After minutes of searching, he came to a door simply labeled 'Storage'. before He stepped back from it, and then lowered his shoulder and slammed himself into it. As the dust from the cracked doorway cleared, Ryusando rubbed his arm, groaning under his breath in pain.
"You all right?" Redai asked.
"Fine." He muttered, stepping into the room. "Keep your eyes ready." As he spoke, Ryusando walked into the room. Ink and Redai followed on his feet.
Ink gasped as they entered the room. It was filled, wall to wall, floor to ceiling, with shelves of weapons and ninja-gear. Ryusando scanned the various shelves with an alarming speed, before, heading first to the racks of clothing.
"Why are you in such a hurry, Ryusando?" The Kirigakure kunoichi asked.
"It's only a matter of time before we're discovered." He answered. "Take anything you need. From here, we head straight for Kirigakure."
Ink studied the weapons for barely fifteen seconds. When she looked at Ryusando again, he was wearing his black tactical vest and white slacks. He grabbed a pair of blue sashes; each covered in loose straps, and slung them over his shoulders, forming an x-shape across his chest.
"Those yours?" Ink asked.
"They are now." Redai muttered sarcastically, grabbing a set of kunai for himself. Meanwhile, Ryusando walked over to the bins and shelves filled with weapons. He quickly filled his pockets with explosive tags, kunai, and shuriken. He stuffed a pair of wakizashi into his belt, before examining the other weapon racks.
"What is this?" Ink asked.
"Konoha's armory." The Light Ninja muttered, agitated.
"In the hospital?" Ink asked.
Redai nodded. "Unlike Suna or Kiri, Konoha is relatively easy to reach. Instead of a desert or an ocean, they rely on man-made defenses, like the wall. Therefore, when they are under siege, the hospital is the last line of defense."
Ryusando smiled when he reached a single tray, buried deep in the corner of the long room. His hands blurred, too fast for Ink's eyes to follow. When his motion was completed, he turned away.
Ink opened her mouth to ask what he had gathered, but her sentence was interrupted by the crunching of sandals on the scattered drywall behind the team. As one, they turned to face their enemies. "Looks like he wanted revenge after all, Ryusando." Redai muttered.
Hatake Kakashi stared down the trio, a short, straight-bladed sword in his off hand. "Tohiryuu Ryusando, you and your companions are under arrest for the massacre of the Uchiha clan."
Ryusando's eyes settled on the man beside him. "Kensei."
The Sunagakure Sotaichou smiled at his predecessor in a vicious, self-satisfying way. "Sensei…" He spat the word, with hatred burnt into his inflection. "This is the end of the road."
"Kensei, stop. Listen to me. Arashi was lying."
Hatake Kakashi's hand began to glow with lightning as Kensei answered. "Don't bother, Sensei. I saw the body. I know what it your jutsu look like." He turned to Kakashi. "Let's go."
Kakashi lunged forward, moving at a speed to put a bolt of lightning to shame. Kensei drew his own elongated katana, charging after the Konoha ninja.
"Redai. Now." Ryusando ordered.
The Amegakure shinobi took a step forward, placing himself between Kakashi and Ryusando. Kakashi was a split second from reaching Redai's face when the bandage came off.
Kensei gasped. In one moment, all three had been standing in plain sight. Kakashi was about to kill the first of the three missing-nin. The next moment, they were gone. Kakashi's electrified hand flew into a shelf, slashing the wood in half. He pulled himself out of the wall and turned to Kensei.
"What was that?"
The Sunagakure Sotaichou looked around, but found no sign of his quarry. He sheathed his blade and shook his head. "Goodbye, Kakashi. I'll let you know when he is dead."
"What did you do to them?"
Redai laughed at Ink's question as he re-tied his bandage. "Nothing. Literally."
"Was it a Genjutsu?"
Ryusando grunted. "A Doujutsu Kekkei Genkai." He paused, before adding "They weren't harmed."
"What does it do?" Ink asked. Ryusando grunted again, his feet meeting another stump. With a strong kick, he sent himself far ahead of his companions.
"I take it he doesn't talk much?" Redai muttered.
"I guess not." Ink answered. "But I've only known him for three days."
Ink saw the mysterious Amegakure man raise his left eyebrow from beneath his grimy bandage. "You mean you aren't a team?" He asked
Ink laughed a little, but it was a false laugh, as though she were trying to give away comfort that she didn't actually have. "I was hunting him, on orders from the Mizukage." Redai glanced at her sword again.
"The Swordsmen of Kirigakure, I take it? How many actual members are left?"
"Three... well, two now. The twins. Kodaru and Kisame. I counted myself, but I guess that isn't right anymore."
"You're both missing-nin?" Redai asked incredulously. "I thought Ryusando, but you...?"
"I guess. Like you said, he doesn't talk much. He's from Suna, but I don't know more than that. He must have been the Kazekage."
"What?"
"You didn't hear? It was a few years ago. The Sandaime Kazekage just disappeared."
"So you think he's an ex-Kage missing-nin?" Redai asked sarcastically. "Brilliant. I've got to say, beautiful, your brain clearly isn't your strong suit." Ink rolled her eyes behind her mask as the pair ran on, trying to keep up with their new, mysterious leader.
It took the group a few silent hours to travel across the dense forests of Fire Country. The leaves around them grew looser and looser, until they finally disappeared atop a short rocky cliff that led down to a thin, sandy beach.
Ryusando grunted in pain as he landed on the sand. He waited for a moment as Ink and Redai caught up to him "Ready?" he asked.
"Now what?" Redai asked. "I mean, she can swim, but you and I need to get there somehow too. Do you have another insane trick, or are we just going to walk?"
Ryusando turned back to Redai with a cold glare. "Yes." Ryusando's hands launched into a string of untraceable seals, and then he gestured at the sand. A beam of light emanated from his hand against the ground. Slowly, a mass of sand began to glow, until Ink was forced to cover the eyeholes of her mask.
A few seconds later, Ryusando panted slowly. "It's done."
Ink opened her eyes to a strange sight: a boat made entirely of glass. "That's genius…" She whispered to herself.
Ryusando grabbed onto the transparent craft and pushed it into the water. "Let's go."
Kinjutsu – Forbidden Technique.
Juuken – Gentle Fist
Wakizashi – A short katana (usually 50 cm's in length)