[Jashin & Jiongu Chapter 7]
(Bane of the Seven)
XXX
"Ah, if it isn't Akatsuki's most fair weathered member" spoke a snaky tone in the dark.
There was some mumbling as well as the casual shifting of eyes from the one who had spoken, to the one who was being spoken about and then back to the original speaker.
"It figures the one with the loudest mouth would make the most idiotic comment" spoke Kakuzu as he gazed over towards Deidara with a look of contempt. "Or should I have said the one with the most mouths?"
Kakuzu and Deidara had never been on good terms. It seemed that the Akatsuki had a personality divide within it. On one side there were the emotionless members, (Itachi, Pain, Konan, Sasori, Kakuzu, Hiruko, and black Zetsu) and on the other side there was the over the top members (Kisame, Deidara, Hidan, white Zetsu, and Tobi).
The emotionless members were usually quiet, only speaking when they were conveying useful information, or trying to learn something to help the group or themselves. The loud mothers were usually just idiots, though Kisame could be clever when he wanted to be. This led to more than one confrontation that Pain usually had to break up himself.
Kakuzu tended to lean towards the emotionless side of the spectrum, though he wasn't the same type as Itachi Uchiha. He felt emotions, usually anger or annoyance, but kept them to himself for the most part; unless it was anger then whoever had pissed him off was as good as dead. He actually didn't like people who seemed to be emotionless robots, like Itachi and Pain, because he felt that it was emotions that drew humans forward.
Kakuzu remembered all thought his life that it was his emotions that had drawn him forward, been there for him when he was in need, and empowered him when he felt weak. Yes, anger had always been with Kakuzu. He remembered it was his anger that had kept him from dying after fighting Hashirama Senju, it was his anger that allowed him to kill the elders and steal the Earth Grudge Fear, and it had been anger that had kept him from dying and had allowed the Earth Grudge Fear to adapt to his body without killing him.
Yes, Kakuzu was proud of himself, but just because he could see the use in emotions didn't mean that he felt they were all useful, or that the people using them were doing it correctly. Deidara was a perfect example of this. When Kakuzu felt anger, he struck with precision and deadly accuracy, when Deidara was angry he ran his mouth and made giant spectacles of himself. It was obvious that some people were better off with or without emotions when compared to others.
Deidara's eyes flashed in his anger, and the laughing of other members of their organization hadn't made things any better. Kisame and Hidan were being the loudest in their laughter, but that didn't mean the others were not snickering, besides Itachi, Pain, and Konan, who were all as emotionless as robots.
"You bastard, I will blow you up to kingdom come" shouted Deidara as she gazed towards Kakuzu. "You damn old man, just because you are old doesn't mean I will hold back!"
It wasn't a secret that Kakuzu was the oldest member of Akatsuki. He had mentioned, now he was regretting it though, that he had faced the First Hokage in combat and survived, a feat many could not say they had done.
"I would hope not, after all, a brat like you can't do much besides run his mouth" spoke Kakuzu in an uninterested tone of voice. "Now if you are done pop boy, we have real business to deal with."
"Damn, he got you Pop Boy" laughed Kisame as he pointed one of his blue fingers towards Deidara.
"Looks like someone is getting put in his place" spoke Hidan, who did not like Deidara either.
"Pop Boy? I will kill you, you old geezer" shouted Deidara. "Where are you right? TELL ME! I will fly there right now and turn you into my newest art piece!"
"Hmph, that is a fight I would like to see" spoke Hiruko with a grin. "The "Rag Doll" verses "Pop Boy", I bet it would cause quite a few kicks from the spectators."
"Deidara calm down" spoke Pain as his ringed eyes looked from the fiery blond to the stock masked man. "Kakuzu has returned to our organization that is all that matters at the moment."
"How can you let this bastard back into Akatsuki just like that? He just abandoned the organization when it was convenient for him, and now all of a sudden he is back" shouted Deidara with anger in his voice. "He could be a spy for another village, or even here to try and collect the bounty on one our heads!"
"That is not a bad idea, I am tired of hearing your voice after all, and the little money that is on your head wouldn't be too bad either" spoke Kakuzu in a passive tone. "My only fear is that people will start to revere me as a saint for ridding this world of your annoying presence."
"You bastard! I have a fifty five million ryo bounty on my head from Iwagakure" shouted Deidara, insulted that he was being called a low level bounty to the ancient bounty hunter.
"Enough Deidara, Kakuzu has his own dealings to attend to and was unable to remain in our group at the time" spoke Pain as he looked out towards Kakuzu. "Kakuzu is needed in the Akatsuki. His contacts as well as his knowledge in collecting bounties will be indispensable in the future."
It was true, not that some were happy about that. Kakuzu had many years in the bounty hunter business and had established himself as one of if not the best bounty hunter alive. With him in the organization, money would start pouring in much faster than it ever had before.
"I get that" shouted Deidara. "I just want to know why nobody suspects him of dealing under the table. I mean look at that face, does it look like the face of a person who wouldn't stab you in the back when it was convenient for him?"
"Unlike you pop boy, I have other things going on in my life that I cannot just drop, like you and your pour excuse for art" spoke Kakuzu earning some snickers from the other members of the Akatsuki. "You see, I have investments I have to take care of to make sure that they reach their full potential, so that they will be useful to me when they reach their peak."
Everyone looked at Kakuzu with looks of confusion, except for Pain, Konan, and Itachi; they were never surprised or shocked. Kakuzu just ignored the looks, and thought back to his apprentice who should have gained some modicum of control over his new powers.
He still found it weird that he have even considered wasting all of the time that he had on Naruto, and by extension money, to train and develop the boy's skill over the years. He had always been a solo bounty hunter, but he wasn't stupid, that was for sure.
Kakuzu realized the value of a partner, especially one who you could rely on and only have to pay them a small fraction of the money that they made. It was basically the motto of the Hidden Leaf Village, and they had been the greatest shinobi village since their founding. It was made even better since he wouldn't have to worry about accidently killing his partner, allowing him to use his jutsu to their fullest potential.
"Oh, and what kind of investments does the Rag Doll have" asked Kisame as he looked over towards Kakuzu with a sharky grin on his face. The grin revealed a long row of shark like teeth that were bone white which contrasted well with his dark blue skin.
"Kakuzu is training a possible future member for the Akatsuki organization" spoke Pain in his level voice. "He needed time and space in order to train the boy to his maximum potential."
This shocked everyone in the room. Never would they have ever suspected that someone like Kakuzu would be ever be willing, patient, or competent enough to teach anyone anything, without killing them in a moment of rage. To think that Kakuzu had been teaching someone, and hadn't killed them, was like a sucker punch to the gut for the other members.
Kisame started to laugh loudly. "Hahaha, who would have ever thought that someone like you could ever teach anyone anything" laughed Kisame. "I am surprised that he or she isn't dead!"
Kakuzu grumbled a bit at his capabilities being insulted. "He refuses to die" was all Kakuzu said, though this only made Kisame laugh harder.
"Ha, I knew it; you have tried to kill him!" The laughter was really starting to work Kakuzu's nerves, but it seemed that Pain saw this and decided to intervene.
"Enough" spoke Pain, causing everyone to quiet down until the room was completely mute. "We have other things to deal with other than Kakuzu's apprentice."
"Yea, why did you call us here" asked Hidan with a bored look on his face. "Do you want someone to go wipe out a village? If you do then count me in!"
"Bloody religious fool" spoke Deidara, but it seemed that Hidan heard him.
"You bastard! How dare you insult the sacred religion of Jashism" shouted Hidan. "Just for that, I will offer you soul to the Lord of Slaughter myself!"
"Bring it on freak show" shouted Deidara.
"You don't have any right to be calling anyone a freak show" shouted Hidan as his image reached for his scythe like he could actually attack Deidara's hologram form or something. "Isn't that right mouthy?"
"You're a dead man" shouted Deidara.
"Ha, like you could kill me" retorted Hidan. "The Lord Jashin protects me from you little pop art Pop Boy!"
"Enough!" The room fell deadly silent once again. "We are not here to bicker like children. It seems out old friend Orochimaru is up to his old plans again, so we are going to have to do something about it."
"Finally we are going to get that damned snake" spoke Hidan.
Everyone was thrilled at the thought of killing Orochimaru, none more than Sasori, though he hid it well. He had been the secularly most hated man in Akatsuki even after he left the organization. Many of the members had scores to settle with him, and everyone wanted a piece.
"No, not yet" spoke Pain. "He has been interfering with Suna, as well with their jinchuriki. This cannot be over looked, but the jinchuriki are our main concern, so that is what we will focus on."
Many looked disappointed, but didn't say anything.
"So what are we going to do?" asked Itachi.
"I have a plan" spoke Pain.
XXX
Walking down a soggy path was a young man with silver hair and purple eyes though these features were greatly hidden away by a black cloak and hood that he was wearing. He had taken it off some pore bastard who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time when the thunder storm started up.
He was on his own, as usual, walking down the soppy paths towards his next destination. He had been feeling rather daring as of late, and wanted to take on a job that was a bit more high risk then his last few jobs that he had been on. That is why he had decided to target someone of greater strength and renown.
As of late he had been hunting down and capturing or killing chunin grade rogue shinobi from various Hidden Villages. They had all been weak, but the boy had decided he needed experience, so working his way from the bottom to the top would be wiser than attacking someone who was to strong and getting into a situation he couldn't handle.
But now he was ready for a new challenge. He had heard from one of Kakuzu's sources that a great bounty was in the Land of Storms which just so happened to be close to where Naruto had been. He had instantly set off to look for his newest bounty, and to improve his skills with the Earth Grudge Fear.
'Hmph, that jerk just left me there to suffer on my own" thought Naruto with an annoyed tone in his own head.
Naruto hadn't been too pleased after he had been buried alive, burned, and then abandoned by Kakuzu right after Kakuzu gave him the Earth Grudge Fear, and while it was still integrating itself into his body, which was mind numbingly the most painful thing he had ever been forced to suffer through.
After a few days though he had been healed back to his former self, but then he was nearly starving, and his chakra was acting oddly with the black threads that now called his body home. It was needless to say that the symbiotic relationship that he now shared with the somewhat sentient black threads of the Earth Grudge Fear had taken some time to get used to.
Naruto stopped for a moment and looked up into the sky. Lighting danced across the sky creating beautiful spectacles of itself to Naruto, but all Naruto could do was wish it would stop raining. It was made worse by the ever so often effect of lighting hitting the ground and shooting electricity through the water that coated the ground, and into whatever that electricity could get to.
"Damn it, didn't I get enough damn rain in the Land of Rain" asked Naruto, really to himself as he was all alone, something that he had to once again get used to since he had not been able to see his friends at the Fuma clan since the day he left.
"My, what a mouth on one so young."
Naruto turned around to see a little old lady with white hair and dark beady eyes looking at him. She had an umbrella which she was using to keep the rain off of her, and was wearing a small outfit that led Naruto to believe she was some kind of cook.
"Hey look lady, I am sick of rain ok" spoke Naruto, not really seeing why he needed to justify himself to this old woman. "Don't you ever get tired of all this rain? Wouldn't you prefer something a bit less lethal with all these bolts of lightning flying through the air?"
To Naruto's surprise the old woman just smiled like she knew something that he didn't.
"Dear boy do you not understand that you cannot get something without first giving something? It is the law of nature after all, so yes while the lighting is dangerous, it is also beautiful. While the rain is a bit depressing, it is needed to water the plants. While in combination the lighting and rain are both deadly, they are also highly needed for life to continue" spoke the old woman with a smile as she began to walk down the path in a slow, steady pace. "After all, without life there is no death, and if there was no death, then there could be no new life."
Naruto was both intrigued and surprised by this old woman and subconsciously started to follow her. Naruto could count the number of people who he had met on both of his hands that had any real form of brain power in their heads such as Kakuzu, the Third Hokage, Mei, Sasame, Kotohime, Kagero, and a few others, but out of all of them, only Kakuzu, The Third Hokage, and Mei seemed to possess the wisdom that this woman seemed to possess, and it fascinated Naruto.
'Figures, the only people I can stand are fossils' thought Naruto dryly as he continued to follow the old woman in the darkness and thunder storm.
"That may be true, but couldn't things be different for once" asked Naruto, trying to understand something that he still did not know what was. "Why couldn't the world just for once just give and not ask for something in return?"
Once again Naruto was surprised when the old woman began to chuckle to herself. Naruto found it a bit insulting and for a moment the homicidal urge to kill that his sensei seemed to be plagued with stirred within Naruto, but he squashed it feeling far too interested in the old woman to kill her.
"Well isn't that just like the pot calling the kettle black" spoke the woman with a good natured smile on her face.
"What is that supposed to mean" asked Naruto as he narrowed he eyes at the woman's back.
"Oh don't give me that look, you don't even know what I meant by that" spoke the old woman as she gave him a dismissive wave of her hand. "All I am really saying is it is easy to ask for something, but doing it is much different."
Naruto raised an eye brow at that, but decided to ask a question, that he knew he wouldn't like the answer to. "What are you trying to say" asked Naruto.
"Well, when was the last time you did something for someone else without asking for anything in return, or without getting some other form of compensation?" The old woman didn't look at him, whom Naruto was grateful for, but still it didn't lessen the pain he felt.
Naruto didn't like having his words thrown back at him like that. He felt like one of those spoiled children who cry in stores until their weak willed parents broke down and just gave them whatever they wanted, not caring that their children were developing bad habits, just so long as they could have a moment's peace.
He felt so stupid for complaining about the stormy weather, and of course about life in general. Kakuzu had always told him that this was the world that they lived in, so he should stop all of his bitching and do something productive with his life. Naruto felt like he hadn't grown at all since those days and that he was still a brat.
It was not a pleasant thought thinking about all he had been though to get where he was, only for it to have been made meaningless by his negativity. Why did it matter if life wanted a fair deal? More importantly why was he complaining that life was actually fare? It could be so much worse, but still he complained. It was starting to really anger Naruto.
"Well?"
Naruto looked at the old woman for a moment, before he realized she was still waiting on his answer. He bit his lip a bit trying to think of anything that would keep him from losing face, but in the end he couldn't think up squat.
"The thunder storms are beautiful" spoke Naruto, giving a vague response, though he knew that he had still lost no matter how he worded it.
The old woman hadn't called him out on it, thankfully, and just looked up at the dancing lightning running across the sky. "Yes, it really is" spoke the old woman before she looked over at Naruto. "So where are you headed young man? Can't imagine you are lost, the look in your eyes tells me that much, so you must have some business around these parts."
Naruto shrugged his shoulders a bit as a grin formed on his face. "Why couldn't I be a traveler? I could simply be walking around doing this and that, yet you seem to believe the contrary" spoke Naruto, finding the old woman more and more interesting.
"Oh young man you will have to do better than that" quipped the old woman with a smile. "I have been around for quite some time, and have seen thousands of travelers come and go, but none of them have ever held the imposing presence that you exclude, yet you do it without doing or saying anything."
"Well if you must know I have some business in the next town over" spoke Naruto as he gazed out towards a mountain in the distance. He didn't see it, but the old woman looked at him, and saw where he was looking out towards. "Anyways I need to get there as soon as possible, so that I can collect my paycheck."
"Oh deary, the next city over is quite dangerous, especially at night" spoke the old woman as she placed her hand to her lips. "If you need to go there then why don't you stay with me and my son in our little diner slash inn? It will keep you dry, put some food in your belly, and you will be all energized to make your journey tomorrow!"
Naruto thought about it for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head. "Yea a hot meal sounds like something I could go for right about now. I haven't had any home cooked for a while now" spoke Naruto with a grin on his face.
"Great, you can stay with me and my son until tomorrow, and then you can make your way to the next city over" spoke the old woman with a joy filled voice. "This way you can taste my world famous curry, the recipe though I cannot give you, it is a secret after all."
"Who are you anyways" asked Naruto, realizing he had never asked the old woman her name before he accepted to stay the night at her inn.
"Oh, I nearly forgot got to tell you" laughed the old woman.
'You did forget you old crow' thought Naruto as the vein in his temple began to throb.
"My name is Sanshō, a pleasure to meet you Mr….." she trailed off hoping that Naruto would tell her his name.
Naruto being as prideful in his name as he was didn't even give her a fame name. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, a pleasure to be staying with you" spoke Naruto with a grin.
"Nice to meet you" spoke the old woman in a kind tone. Naruto was a bit disappointed that she had not responded to his name, but once again he figured it was a good thing, didn't need anyone hunting for him at the moment, he wasn't as strong as he needed to be.
XXX
The old lady's shop was actually a curry shop. Apparently she made some famous curry around the area known as the 'Curry of Life' though why it was named that, or what it needed to be made was a mystery to Naruto.
To Naruto's surprise the old woman, who looked old enough to be a grandmother, had a son about Naruto's age. It had been a shocker to the system for sure, but like a pro Naruto hadn't let the shock become evident on his face.
Karashi was a weird boy in Naruto's opinion. He looked strong and capable, but it was obvious he was a coward. It became apparent to Naruto when he walked in and he looked directly into the boy's eyes. The fact that the boy shied away and looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, but where he was, spoke volumes about the coward in which he was.
Naruto didn't really care about that though. He would only be in the shop until morning, so it didn't matter to Naruto that Karashi was a coward. It was kind of funny though watching him falling over himself trying to serve him as his mother cooked curry in the back room.
The curry was not what Naruto had been expecting. It was hot as Hell on earth. One bite and Naruto thought that his tongue was going to melt off, and that he would start breathing fire any moment.
At first Naruto had actually thought it was an assassination attempt on his life, but he noticed the smile on the old woman's face and could see she was actually expecting him to tell her that he loved the food. It took a lot of restraint on Naruto's part, but he was able to crack a smile and nod his head in appreciation.
Needless to say Naruto got rid of the rest of the curry when no one was looking in order to not have to eat it himself. He wondered if he should take some with him, it could be useful against enemies, but ultimately decided against it.
His room was nice. It wasn't anything special, but in all honesty Naruto had not grown up with the finer things in life, so the room was actually very nice by his standards.
The room was a dark shade of blue with two windows with brown shudders on it. On the floor was a mat that he would sleep on it, and some pictures of plants were hung up on the wall. The floor actually had carpet, something that was rare in the elemental nations, but left Naruto thankful for since he didn't have a bed.
After a long days track across the country Naruto was happy about finally catching some Z's. He put his ninja supplies beside him before pulling the covers over his face. He closed his eyes, and drifted of to dream land.
XXX
In the night a lone figure could be seen leaving the Curry of Life shop and running down the dirt path silently as he possibly could. After running for a while he eventually came upon a small town down the road that had some housing scattered all around and a gold mind not too far off into the distance.
He ran through the village and into what was known as the 'Boss's House' before kneeling before the leader of the 'Family'.
The leader of the family was none other than Raiga Kurosuki, a missing nin from the Village Hidden in the Mist, and an ex member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. To his side was his trusted Kiba Blades, which was a set of short blades with the power over lighting that were part of the set that made up the blades of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, and on his other side was a small boy with purple colored hair.
Riaga was an intimidating man, who's fighting style, personality, and reputation was enough to put the shakes into almost anyone's boots. If that didn't scare someone then his imposing, and slightly deranged looks were almost assuredly capable of finishing off the job.
Raiga had blue eyes with a darker ripple around the pupil, waist-length green hair with the top two bangs falling down on his cheeks on each side, and having dark fleshy lips. Raiga wore a dark-brown sleeveless vest falling to his knees where the inside was purple, a light brown belt, a light grey pants and, like all the Swordsmen of the Mist, he had bandages covering most of his body, his neck down to his chest, including his arms and his tibias.
On Raiga's right hand side was a small boy by the name of Ranmaru, who though frail, had unique powers that captivated the ex-mist ninja, and had earned him a place at Riaga's side permanently.
Ranmaru is a young boy with chin length purple hair which is parted in the middle. He wore a light-purple shirt with black stripes on each side, a sash around his waist, a pair of dark-colored pants and sandals. He also has a slightly feminine appearance.
Together they formed the head of the Kurosuki Family, which ran the area. They were the most powerful people in the area, and there word was as good as law to all of the people around them.
"What are you doing here" asked Raiga as he looked down at Karashi who was bowing so low his nose was literally touching the floor. "Shouldn't you be at home sleeping or making curry with you mother?"
There was some chuckling around the room which caused Karashi to bite his lip knowing that there was nothing he could do about it at the moment. He wanted these peoples respect, and more than anything he wanted power. So he needed to bide his time, and hope they would teach him what he wanted to learn.
"I was just coming here to tell you Lord Raiga that a young man has taken up residence in my family's curry shop and claims that he is on his way here" spoke Karashi, pleased to see, or rather hear, the murmuring of surprise around the room. "I am not sure of his intentions, but he keeps saying that his next paycheck is supposed to come from here."
"He is not lying" spoke Ranmaru as he gazed down at Karashi with his odd glowing red eyes. "There must be someone at your house that has really captured your attentions, if he deemed it worthy to come all this way to tell us."
Nobody said anything for they knew that Ranmaru was the only person who could argue with Raiga and not get punished for it. That could also be said for vice versa as anyone who challenged what Ranmaru said was basically challenging Raiga himself, which would only end up one way. That person being buried alive.
"What did this boy look like" asked Ranmaru comply ignoring the murmuring going on around the room. He was used to it by now, so all he really needed to do was act like he didn't hear them. It would be better that way.
"He looked really strong with silver colored hair, purple colored eyes, and he had an aura that felt like it was chocking me when our eyes met" spoke Karashi with a shiver going down his spine. "I don't know this for sure, but the look told me that he had killed before, and he was willing to do it again."
"Hmmm, a boy vicious and strong enough to cause such an effect is rare, though Zabuza could do it when he was just a runt as well" spoke Riaga with distaste in his voice when he mentioned his former teammate. "In any case, we will deal with him when he arrives tomorrow, so until then you can just go home."
"Yes Lord Raiga" spoke Karashi as he stood up and hauled ass leaving Raiga and Ranmaru to talk.
"What do you intend to do about this intruder" asked Ranmaru.
"What do you think" asked Raiga. "I am going to give him a funeral worth remembering."
