Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Sonic the Hedgehog game franchise.
ITAOJ
Why Are They Hated So?
Previously on In the Aftermath Of Judgment;
After all that, the Shinobi were finally released from the custody of G.U.N. They were finally allowed to walk along the cities and regions that G.U.N. control and those they don't. That includes Station Square. So far, the only place they were actually accepted was at a noodle restaurant where only two of the vendors actually served them food; Teuchi and Ayame. For once, on a humorous side, the Shinobi actually felt what Naruto did during his childhood; rejected and unwelcomed everywhere and by everyone but two Ramen Cooks.
"This is great!" Kiba said and Teuchi just chuckled.
"Thank you Kiba. It seems that even my age won't stop me from forgetting how to make my famous noodles." The elderly cook said and then he lost his cheerful attitude and sighed deeply. "Still, even after Four Thousand years, things still haven't changed. No matter how many times you look at it, it is even worse."
"Yeah Dad. It was bad enough that Naruto was the outlaw imprisoned behind village walls and now it is a whole group of them behind invisible boundaries." Ayame brought up while seeing that no one sat in the bar or any table nor chair near the Konoha Shinobi. They all, customer or staff, kept their distance and glared at them.
"Thank you for your concern Mr. Teuchi, Ms. Ayame..." Kakashi said with real emotion behind those words. "And since we are still Shinobi, we will take this in. We have been having the better life compared to most Shinobi and I was wondering when all this was going to stop making us rusted and soft. We need to a sharper and sturdier edge if we are going to survive in this new world." Teuchi, who had seen how Kakashi treated Naruto, was still not sure whatever to take those words or not. You better believe it but Teuchi wasn't always a Ramen Chef and neither was his daughter; at separate times, they both were Shinobi themselves and made their own names before they decided that the changes to Shinobi Standards and laws just didn't agree with them.
"You better because if you don't hand it in…" Ayame said darkly but never finished her sentence. Just looked at Kakashi's hand and soon everyone else had turned after hearing him scream and they soon gave into their shock once they see what was wrong: Kakashi's right hand was crumbling…to dust!
"Sensei!" Sakura screeched as Kurenai and Guy hurried Kakashi out who was panicking about his disintegrating hand. The other customers ignored the sight which didn't help the Shinobi any better.
"What the hell is going on!? And what is wrong with my leg!?" They heard Kiba shout and saw that indeed, his leg was crumbling in the exact same manner as Kakashi's arm. Akamaru was whimpering about all this, something sure didn't make that little puppy feel easily.
"Come on, we need to get out of this city. It is going to slay us all!" Might Guy shouted with his usual enthusiasm until,
"Easy for you to say Guy-Sensei, check it out." Tenten said and pointed to Guy's hip that was just turned to the same pale and frail stone as the cases before!
"Then where are we going to go!? We will just die anyways!" Kiba shouted while the Shinobi were in total panic. To top things off, the passing civilians just looked in amusement and ignored their state of panic like it was nothing emergent. It reminded the Jonin on how a lonely outlaw Naruto had to live as four thousand years ago in their village; they started to feel a little bad that they allowed it all to happen. And if they were going to say sorry until they lost their voice, it won't come close to make up for a lifetime of painful loneliness.
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Back at GUN headquarters,
"What do you mean our children will die out there!? You said that they will just fine!" Tsume yelled at the top of her voice.
"Sorry Mrs. Inuzuka but you are mistaken. We merely allowed your children to go free since we needed to verify blood connections as GUN protocol." One of the GUN soldiers stated which only made Tsume lose more of her patience. "We were going to set your free once we finished outfitting the rest of you when Commander Tower canceled that order. He stated that the air outside this fortress has been recently labeled as lethal to subjects such as yourselves."
"We have names and we are not some kind of guinea pigs! We want to see our children and know why they are going to die!" Tsume exploded but that GUN soldier won't buckle down; his training must be that effective.
"I am afraid that I can't share anything else outside the word Commander Tower has told us." He said before left through one of the doors, closing in as he left. Tsume was left there like a pot about to boil on the kettle.
"He is right Tsume. We have seen it happen and what good will it do if we escape only to suffer the same thing. We have no way of knowing what to do." Shikaku said in his usual tactician style mood.
"…" Tsume can never deny just how good Shikaku could make everyone to stop acting brashly. "Shut up and let me alone for a few hours. I am just about angry to kill someone." Tsume muttered and went to find some where a little private in an open room filled with the other Konoha residents.
"If you are cold than go to a corner. They are usually ninety degrees." Shikaku could help it and only got about ten kunai sent in his direction.
"Shut up!"
And that was another day for the clan heads who are still stuck in their prison GUN Headquarters. Another day behind walls and being stared at by people in stuffy uniforms and visors on their heads. It's maddening but how is that they are not crumbling to dust like with the Konoha Teams that were released from the Headquarters as soon as they were 'admitted'?
XXXXX
Back outside, things are peaceful.
"Looks like coming back here actually did the trick." Shikamaru said when everyone noticed that the disintegrating bodily parts had reverted back to normal. And it all because they arrived back at the Konoha Village itself.
"B-but how? I thought we were goners!" Kiba shouted and everyone turned to Shikamaru for answers as well. Even a genius like Shikamaru had to be nervous since he couldn't understand it all either.
"T-the only thing I can think of is that this place has the same atmosphere as us." Shikamaru started off, still not liking the looks of suspicion and disbelief. "What happened was that we were exposed to the atmosphere of a time when we are over four thousand years old and our bodies had begun to gain their age's worth."
"Man! And I used to be in a hurry to grow up!" Kiba shouted in awe for once but there were still questions. Questions like so,
"Then why weren't Teuchi-san and Ayame-san not crumbling to dust like we did!? They have been breathing in that killer air longer than us! And I have been looking at them, they were just fine!" Ino shouted all in one breathe. The other Konoha Shinobi wanted to know too.
"I-i-I don't know!" Shikamaru shouted and clutched his head in pain. Something that no one has ever seen before. "I don't have all the facts! I know barely anything since I woke up with a headache and found out that the world had aged four thousand years without us! Give me a break for once!"
"Okay Shikamaru." Asuma had actually stepped in to stop the young genius from exploding. "We're sorry for piling the pressure. We all are frighten and confused as well and now we can't leave this village safely."
"So how are we going to find the answers? What if it happens again when we least expect it. We weren't expecting something like this to happen if we left the village." Kakashi, for one, was just glad to get his hand back in one piece.
"Why not make your village fly like Angel Island? Then it can follow you all everywhere you go." When the Konoha Shinobi turned to the voice of a woman that none of them actually recognized and no wonder because it was someone they met before. But who could it be to ask about my villages float like islands?
XXXXX
"So that is it Tower. That is how they are going to react since their time was four thousand years ago." Naruto said while staring at a few screens; one with the clan heads together, another with most of Konoha's Residents in their cells, another with those released living in Station Square and another one showing everything that happened when the Konoha Shinobi teams had returned back to the very village.
"Y-yes Master. That is why we are going to maintain those conditions you asked of us until further word." Tower may be the boss of GUN but he knew not to cross his master or the wife of whom. He was just wondering the main reason he was approached years ago and asked to found an organization like GUN with the order on the side to build those cells. The discovery had earned the funds and notary to make GUN official but all this is something that makes Tower's head spin.
"Very well Tower. Proceed as such while Naruto-koi and I figure out what to do next." Hinata said in his usual motherly tone; soft and kind but also strict and not tolerate of the nonsense.
"Y-yes madam. I take my leave." Tower said before backing away during his bowing and finally stood up straight once he was outside the room. Meanwhile, the ageless couple continued to witness as the events unfold.
"Do you think that it is time for us to finally appear Naruto-koi? They are already scared and frustrated about all this." Hinata never doubted her husband's word and so she was asking since she had noticed that the blonde was troubled by all this.
"I do want for all this to finally be a lot clearer. I feel like we are nothing but puppets to some inhuman force that cursed us all eons ago." Naruto voiced how he looked on all this. "I just don't understand on how the entire village will anger a being no short of a god or that it wanted only us to remain on the face of the Earth all those years."
"I know dearly. I feel the same way, married to the bravest idiot on the planet is so exciting." Hinata said while changing from worried to teasing which made Naruto chuckled.
"And I am married to the world's most mysterious woman. Now that is exciting." Hinata giggled at that statement. And yet the couple never said another word and kissed with great passion. But there was another being who was watching as well and it was one of a voice that hadn't been heard in four thousand years.
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Somewhere in the cosmos, outside the reaches and sight of any mortal living being,
"I Have Indeed Heard Your Thoughts Of Regret Chosen Ones." Even in its home, this force has yet to reveal its face. Only that it has the arms longer than the tail of any comet and resembled that of a tentacle belong to octopi. "The Village Has Incurred My Wrath. It Dared To Hurt The Mortals I Have Chosen To Carry Out My Influence. The World Needed To Bury Its History In Blood In Order To Learn How Peace Truly Is. You Both Have Done A Perfect Job, Looking After Your World. Keep Up The Good Work." And just like that, the unknown area within the Cosmos had turned cold and empty as the silence which followed this godly voice.
End of Chapter 7.
*I nearly thought that I will never get this chapter done since I needed to make a cliff-hanger in order to get you guys guessing.*