Chapter 8 Village Relations

The Village Hidden in the Stones was a dark place since the war broke out. Poverty had overcome the vast majority of the population. It was a lawless place full of anarchy. A place where true warriors were bred. Much land had been lost since the recent invasion of the Sand and Sound. Some said that the village was coming to an end, but somehow it had survived. Remaining shinobi dedicated their lives to defending the borders from outsiders. The leaf had started this war assuming that a wanted criminal had infiltrated the area, then sent their henchmen out to find him. All the while evolving in the background, waiting for their opportune moment.

"This war is getting tiresome..." The Tsukage said as he looked out upon his village.

"Little by little those foreign nations have been consuming ours, and this newly founded nation, the Sound, will most likely take our place."

The shadow of a man stood in the corner of the and spoke, "That seems to be the case."

"My people feel hopeless, my nation is suffering. We must strike back, and soon."

The shadow remained apathetic, "Negotiations with the Storm Union are going well. It seems that they are taking notice of the ever expanding Triad. I wonder if they even know that the Cloud and Mist villages were building an army?"

The Tsukage sighed, "Probably not... Are you almost ready for the counter attack?"

"Of course."

"Thank you again...for bringing back my family...Madara..."

The shadow faded away and the Tsukage's tone of voice changed drastically, "It was no problem at all. You did loan me this brand new body, so I should be thanking you."

Madara looked across the room, "Zetsu, I hope you've prepared the new troops. It's time to start taking back Stone territory."

Zetsu emerged from the nearby wall, he was entirely one entity now. Black Zetsu now had full control of the body, "Right away."


Otogakure was much larger than when Shikamaru had visited 12 years ago. Since then, it had expanded to become even larger than Kahona. Large steel walls surrounded the village and the Otokage's tower could be seen from the outside. This monstrous building replaced the dark church that stood there long ago.

Kazuki was excited after seeing the village. He had never been inside of any major village except for the Leaf. At first, he was disappointed that he'd have to wait to see Keiko again, but he reconsidered when he entered the Sound gates. The city was huge and filled with people, they were doing incredibly well for a new nation. Kazuki looked to at Atsui who appeared just as amazed as he was. The city itself was much more industrious than the Leaf, utilizing machinery in many places, but still maintaining a large amount of trees in the village. Kazuki felt as though the Leaf had influenced this somehow. They were greeted by a mysterious man with a body similar to Gumo's upon entry. His six arms slightly covered by long, jet-black, hair. The man was incredibly muscular and about two feet taller than Shikamaru.

Kazuki felt intimidated by his appearance, but Shikamaru smiled as though seeing an old friend.

"Hey there kid! Long time no see. How's life been training the munchkins?" the large man asked sarcastically.

Shikamaru smiled, "I've trained them well enough to beat Sound genin, I guess I should be proud."

Tayuya frowned, "You don't have to brag about it. They just got lucky that my team was stupid enough to get taken out one at a time."

The large man laughed and looked at the Sound genin, "You kids have to remember, power doesn't always win a fight. Always have a plan, my friend Shikamaru from the Leaf here taught me that."

Gumo seemed shocked, "This guy is YOUR friend?"

The large man laughed again. Kazuki was confused, "I don't get it, who is this guy?"

Isai had been hiding behind Shikamaru since the man had appeared, she stammered as she spoke, "That's...That's the 8-Legged Demon..."

Kazuki was astonished, "Holy crap Sensei! You know the Otokage?"

"Just call me Kidomaru," Kidomaru announced, "and yes, I know Shikamaru. As a matter of fact, it's thanks to him I was able to make this village what it is today!"

Shikamaru frowned and scratched his neck, "I really don't deserve that much credit..."

"Nonsense!" Kidomaru blurted out, "Let's have a feast to commemorate our reunion!"

Tayuya's clone punched Kidomaru on the shoulder, knocking him back, "I'm having a baby dumbass! Now get us to the hospital!"

Isai and Atsui expected Kidomaru to strike her back, but instead he just groaned and rubbed his shoulder.

Kazuki laughed, "You sure know how to choose 'em Sensei."

Shikamaru sighed and looked at his genin, "You can all explore the area if you like. Just make sure you meet me at the hospital in a few hours."

Kazuki smiled, "Will do!"

Tayuya motioned to her genin, "You three, make yourselves useful and show them around."

Gumo tried to complain, but he knew that the stare Tayuya's clone was giving meant that she didn't want to hear it.

"Fine...where do you buggers want to go first?"

Atsui was the first to give a suggestion, "I want to see where you train."

Gumo smiled, "Sounds good to me."

Kazuki was surprised when Isai spoke up as well, "I'd like to see your history books, if you don't mind."

Gumo yawned, "A bookworm, eh? Sutishi, you're into that kind of thing right? You take her there. I'll take the other two."

Kazuki's stomach growled loudly and the other five genin looked at him, he scratched his head nervously, "I guess I could get something to eat..."

Gumo sighed, "Rin, you take him to get some food. We'll meet at the hospital in three hours."

Rin nodded blankly. Finally, Shikamaru took off with Tayuya and Kidomaru, Isai left with Sutishi, and Atsui left with Gumo, leaving Kazuki alone with Rin.

Kazuki smiled at her, "I guess it's just us, what do you want to eat?"

Rin didn't even look at Kazuki, "I'm not hungry, just tell me what you want, and I'll take you there."

Kazuki kept smiling, "Straight to the point. I guess I just want some ramen."

Rin started walking without another word.

"Hey, wait up!"


"I think that your team needs to have a more clear battle plan next time you engage an enemy in battle. I don't think that 'distract them while I place traps' counts as a legitimate strategy." Isai said as she lectured Sutishi as they walked to the library.

Sutishi nodded, "Coming up with battle plans was never my strong suit, and Gumo isn't the brightest person I know either, but he's the only one who has the guts to be the leader of our team. Which one of you is the leader of your team?"

Isai thought to herself, "I don't really think that we have much of a leader. We all play our part."

Sutishi laughed, "Typically, that's what members of a team do, but who plays the part of leader?"

(Atsui and Kazuki are both pretty commanding...)

Isai couldn't think of an answer, "I don't really know."

Sutishi couldn't help but throw out his opinion, "Why don't you step up and be the leader? I can pretty much tell from what you've told me that you are brilliant, and though you wont admit it, you're strong-willed too."

Isai blushed in embarrassment, "I'm not any of those things."

Sutishi stopped walking to look Isai in the eyes, his gaze was serious, "Look, I know that you're a genin, but you're a ninja now and you have to accept that. You must become the leader that your team needs, that way you don't lose anyone you're close to."

Isai looked down, "I don't know if I'm up to it... I can't even find the courage to tell the person I like that I like him..."

Sutishi didn't feel sorry for her, "If you can't grow up on your own, you're going to do it the hard way. Believe me, you don't want that. There are much worse feelings than rejection."

With that Sutishi turned away and kept walking. Isai couldn't help but be curious, "What do you mean by that?"

"It's a long story."

"We have time, besides, you obviously have something you need to get out."

Sutishi walked over to a bench and sat down, making room for Isai to sit next to him. He stared off into space a bit before speaking, "Gumo wasn't originally in our squad. We had another member named Tomoya. He was a pretty average genin, no special traits that stood out. Anyways, He, Rin, and I were all great friends. We had known each other throughout the academy and Rin had always been very 'close' to Tomoya. Those were happy times."

Isai spoke sympathetically, "What happened?"

The was a long pause before Sutishi spoke again, "We had been genin for more than a year, so Tomoya requested a C-rank mission. Kidomaru obliged and sent us on a scouting mission in Storm territory. We happened across a large Storm patrol consisting of two jounin and 6 chunin. We thought that they'd let us out with a warning, but they struck hard and fast. We barely managed to hold them off even after unleashing our Sound marks, but one of the jounin got around Tayuya and killed Tomoya. It happened so fast...there was so much rage, so much despair that Rin and I lost control in our 1st state. Together we killed off the jounin and two of the chunin while Tayuya got the rest... Even since then, Rin has been like this. A machine, until she goes into 1st state... When that happens, she relives Tomoya's death and kills every enemy in sight. I've lost track of how many lives she's taken after that day..."

Isai didn't know what to say. She felt so immature, being unable to comprehend such a feeling.

"Tomoya always smiled, he always laughed. No matter how bad the situation was, he'd just keep smiling..."

No tears came from Sutishi's eyes, the only hint of emotion detected in his voice was a hollow sadness. Sutishi realized what it had meant to be a ninja, and sometimes, a ninja would lose their closest friends.


"You were pretty hot out there, I'll give you that." Gumo remarked snidely.

Atsui brushed off his poor attempt at flirting, "I can't say the same for you. You got taken out by Kazuki. He's probably the least skilled member of our team."

"You guys just got lucky that we weren't allowed to go into 1st state. Then you'd be in some deep shit."

Atsui laughed, "You see, the difference between us Leaf ninja and you Sound ninja is that we don't rely on piteous artificial enhancements to be strong. We are just naturally stronger than you."

Gumo had a hard time understanding a bit of that, but he knew an insult when he heard one.

"You Leaf ninja say that because of your clans, but from what I see, you just hide behind your clan names to look strong. I bet I could take any one of you Leaf village losers, no matter what clan you are from!"

Atsui moved behind Gumo with great speed and placed a kunai to his throat, she whispered in his ear, "Trust me, I highly doubt that."

Gumo laughed, "Next time you make a move like that, I hope you can back it up."

Atsui felt the the points of four kunai against her stomach and ribs and pulled back.

Gumo smiled, "You shouldn't underestimate me, I'm the leader of my team for a reason. If those ear buds hadn't limited my hearing, your friend would've been cut up in seconds."

Atsui smiled as well, "Let's have a sparring match when we get to the barracks shall we?"

They stared each other down intensely until Gumo agreed, "Alright, sounds like fun!"


"OH MAMMH GOHHD!" Kazuki swallowed, "This is the best ramen I've ever had!"

The store clerk gloated, "Well of course! We have spices collected from the Earth, Wind, Fire, and Lightning Country! Our ramen is the best in the world!"

Kazuki wanted to defend Ichiraku, he really did, but this ramen was definitely better...

Kazuki wolfed down another bowl, then realized that Rin wasn't eating, "Hey Rin, I don't wanna look fat, you have some."

Rin responded by shaking her head, but Kazuki wouldn't have that, "Hey, we need a regular for the girl!"

Rin tried to refuse, "No, really, I'm alright..."

Kazuki laughed, "I'm paying, so it doesn't matter if you eat it."

Rin looked at the food that was put in front of her. She never really cared what her food tasted like, as a matter of fact, she didn't eat much anyway. She grabbed a bit of everything with her chopsticks and ate. "Not bad..."

Kazuki smiled at her, "It's awesome!"

Rin started eating slowly, but got progressively faster as she ate.

Kazuki was glad to see her change in attitude as they left. He didn't see anything different about her, but he could tell she was a bit happier.

"Hey Rin, let's grab some ice cream!" Kazuki announced.

Rin said nothing and started walking in a different direction.

(She probably doesn't notice it, but she's walking faster.)

Rin looked up at Kazuki, who noticed and smiled at her. Her face didn't change, she just looked back to where she was walking.


"Rin, how about we get some ice cream?" Tomoya asked.

Rin blushed and attempted to refuse, "No really, it's alright. I'm not hungry."

"I don't believe you! You never eat anything, you must be starving!" Tomoya declared.

Rin looked him over, his short silver hair flowing over his face in the cool breeze. It wasn't like she could say no to him.

Rin turned away and frowned, "Only if you pay for me, or else I wont go."

Tomoya laughed, "Well of course! I wouldn't be much of a gentleman if I didn't pay for my date."

The memory seemed so vivid in Rin's mind. The first date with Tomoya. The time when she was still just a child. A lot can change over a few years.

"Hey Rin, how about I get you a chocolate?"

Rin laughed, "Ew no way, Tomoya, I'm more of a strawberry person!"

Kazuki was completely taken aback by her response, "Um... Who's Tomoya?"

Rin's eyes widened and she looked away, "I'm sorry... You just remind me of someone I used to know."

Kazuki stared off into space, "They must have been a great person, that's the only time I've ever seen you smile."

Rin wouldn't eat her ice cream anymore, so Kazuki finished it off for her.


Atsui stood across the arena from Gumo. The Otogakure Barracks was a huge building with many floors. The basement level was a large practice field.

Gumo walked over to the wall, which had a few levers that popped out of it, "What kind of terrain would you like? Water, forest, mountain?"

"I want a straight fight, no tricks." Atsui spat.

Gumo smiled, "Alright then!"

Gumo pulled one of the levers, a field of artificial grass began to grow. Atsui hid her amazement.

Gumo stood across from Atsui as their judge walked between them.

The judge held his hand up, "This is a fight following the rules of a standard match. Treaties between villages will be upheld. If both contestants are ready then you may begin."

With that, the judge quickly leapt away from the battlefield. Atsui pulled out five shuriken and flung them at Gumo. Gumo reacted with a handsign, "Ninja Art: Spider Web Net!"

The web fired from Gumo's mouth collected the shuriken and headed straight for Atsui, who easily sidestepped. Gumo then pulled out a kunai and flung it at Atsui, who easily dodged this attack as well."

(He attached his thread to the end of his kunai. Same trick as before.)

She had learned from Kazuki that she'd need to use her chakra to cut the threads. She channeled earth chakra into a kunai of her own making the blade harder, and sharper. She then cut the thread leading to the kunai.

Gumo sneered, "So you cut my thread, huh?"

Atsui smiled and began to rush Gumo.

Gumo proceeded with an attempt to intercept her with his spider web nets, but she was incredibly agile. He needed to get some distance.

Gumo threw a few more kunai at Atsui, but they were easily deflected.

The spiders he had thrown should slow her down. Then he realized that her skin seemed to be melting off... A clay armor?

It was too late, Atsui had closed in.

Atsui's taijutsu was exceptional, striking through Gumo's six arms with ease. He could barely think, but he came up with idea. All he had to do was block one punch.

Atsui's strikes were fast, but Gumo had six arms. He held his arms out desperately, catching one of Atsui's fists. A swift roundhouse kick was barely blocked a second later.

(Got one!)

Gumo leapt back from Atsui, a large web extended from Gumo's hand to Atsui's fist. Atsui attempted to slice it off with her earth enhanced kunai, but the kunai only got stuck in the web. Gumo laughed, causing Atsui to look up. A swarm of small spiders was quickly scaling the web and on it's way to Atsui's arm. She shook the web violently, but not a single bug would fall off. What's worse is that she couldn't form any handsigns since the web was forcing her hand into a fist.

Gumo laughed out loud, "You can give up before you lose an arm you know!"

Atsui ignored him and condensed her chakra. She then slammed her webbed fist into the arena floor, ripping off a large portion of the web. Then immediately used her chakra enhanced kunai to remove the rest. The spiders cowered back to Gumo. Atsui shook off her hand and panted. Gumo was worn out as well, he had taken a massive beating when she got close to him. He couldn't let that happen again...

Atsui was really feeling her chakra use now. She knew how to use her chakra nature well, but never had she used this much before. The strain was getting to her.

(I had really wanted to force him into first state, but now I'll need to take him out before that.)

Gumo had similar thoughts.

(I can't let this rookie genin force me into first state, what would everyone think? I need to beat her now.)

Gumo pulled six kunai out from his pouch, he carefully attached a thread to each. He needed to make her expend her chakra and slow her down so he could take her down.

Atsui used the last of her reserve chakra to create one last clay armor around herself. She couldn't risk those spiders coming near her again. The rest of it would be dedicated to slicing webs. She would rely on her speed and taijutsu to finish him off.

Atsui made the first move, charging forward to close distance. Gumo leapt back, tossing one of his kunai into the ground in front of Atsui.

(I have to avoid wasting chakra on those threads.)

Gumo didn't stop there, he threw another into the ceiling above her. She looked up to avoid spiders that were falling from the kunai. Gumo made a handsign, "Sticky spider thread!"

Gumo launched a volley of spider threads in Atsui's direction, she was forced to dodge each to the best of her ability. Gumo kept the pressure on by throwing two more kunai in front of Atsui. He predicted her to go around, but instead she sliced right through the thread and came straight for him. He fired off a few more volleys in an attempt to stop her, but she kept slicing through them, Gumo was too late. She had closed in on him, immediately throwing a punch to his gut. The impact knocked him to his knees and he raised his hand in surrender, allowing the judge to put an end to the match.

Atsui laughed, "How's that? Still think you can everyone from my village?"

Her confidence didn't last as she fell to her knees as well, coughing on the way down.

Gumo smiled, "That was a good match. If I didn't have the extra year of experience, I'd say you could fight me in first state easily."

Atsui smiled back and held out her hand, Gumo shook it tightly.

"The name's Gumo. That was quite an entertaining fight."

"I'm Atsui Yamanaka. Let's do this again sometime."

Gumo regained his composure, "It's been about two hours. Wanna grab a bite to eat before we head to the hospital?"

Atsui stretched, "Sounds good to me. What are we eating?"

The two walked out, leaving the arena partly destroyed and covered in spider web.