Damn.

Damn, damn, damn! I am -so- late. I don't really know what to say, other than the fact that I am very, very sorry. I was hoping to have this chapter done quickly, but it actually took me over two months. And on top of that, it's actually a pretty short chapter. Argh.

I know that you all probably don't wanna hear my excuses, but I have some legimate reasons for being this late. I promise :-P

The main reason for this horrible delay is the very simple. I've started university, and because of that I've had to move to a different town, and get my own place to live. That's right, I am no longer living with my parents, so I now have to take care of myself. Kinda like Shikamaru :-P

On top of all the issues with school and moving, I've also had to deal with other things. My girlfriend and I have been having a rough time lately, so some of my inspiration to write has been absent. Don't worry, we're doing better now, so she's still my trusty proofreader and muse like she's always been :-)

I've also tried to finish the painting of my Warhammer army, in preparation for a tournament in Sweden this October. I'll tell you, speed-painting more than a hundred miniatures to good quality can be very taxing :-P

Anyway, I guess you're pretty tired of hearing my excuses, so I'll just shut up and give you all what you want J This chapter takes a break from Tayuya and Shikamaru's awkward struggles, to focus on the mysterious stalker that keeps watching them. I hope the secrets revealed in this chapter will elect the surprised expressions I was aiming for :-P

On a side note, it makes me very happy to see that no one have removed me from the Alert or favourite listings, despite my slowness in updating. I thank you all J

Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto

Chapter 9: Visions of Twilight

The world is painted in a deep regal blue colour, like that of a particularily beautiful sapphire gem. Among the golden stars on the near-cloudless midnight sky, a pristine white moon hangs, high and proud. The light from the full moon lessens the darkness of the night, casting a twilight sheen over the world. The contours of the Great Village of Konohagakure stands out in complex patterns of black and white, shadow and moonlight, where it lies below the Hokage Mountain.

It is a mighty, beautiful sight, he admits to himself, both calming and invigourating at the same time. From where he sits, on top of the deceased Third Hokage's wide stone forehead, he can see the entirety of the Great Shinobi Village below him. He sits, his legs crossed and arms in his lap, steady and unmoving as the rock beneath him. He is completely at ease, as he watches the sleeping Village.

He smiles, the slight movement causing the moonlight to shift over his face, bringing his features out more clearly. His ends of his thin lips are drawn upward into an amused smile, his cheekbones high and pronounced, picked out by the light of the white orb in the sky. On either side of his thin nose, a crimson orb shines darkly in the night air. There is malign intentions in those eyes. It seeps out of his very being, like slick oil over fingers. It is as if they draw the very air more tightly around him. And yet, not all of it seems to come from him, but also from the large object at his side.

Sagirisaku. He lifts his hand, moves it slowly from its resting place on his lap, to the large object laying next to him on the stone. It's long, about two metres from end to end. Nearly a foot longer than himself. At the moment, the long object is wrapped completely in white bandages. Still, he can feel the ominous aura surrounded it. He can taste it on his tongue, the faintly metallic taste. Like blood. His fingers hover over the bandages, hesitant. The air tingles like electricity, expectantly. He feels his skin react to the Sagirisaku's otherworldly, eerie presence. Goosebumps pops up all over his arm. He looks at it for a moment before, with strength of will, he pulls his hand back. It is as if the very air resist his withdrawal, trying to hold him back, like a strong vacuum. He tears himself free, and feels the malign aura slowly dissapate, as if disappointed by his rejection. Slowly, relieved, he breathes out.

How long can I resist the temptations? he muses to himself, a smile on his lips despite the pessimistic train of thoughts going through his sharp mind. The ever-stronger lures and goads from the inanimate object are not a prophecy of his own demise, not to him. To him, it is a challenge, an insult against his mental fortitude. Dark shadows shift over his face as he turns his head slightly, looking at the white bandages by his side. The edges of his lips pull upwards, into a toothy smirk. You will not seize me so easily, old friend. As long as you are mine to carry, I will fight you with every shred of my will.

Why are you so certain of the roles in this relationship? The unbidden thought is clear and gentle in his mind, almost mocking. He is not even sure whether the inner voice is his own, or someone else's. Are you sure that you are not my weapon, my possession, being wielded without a thought? He chuckles quietly to himself, but does not answer the thought. Another challenge, one which he gladly accepts. He has always liked challenges. He lives for them.

He tears his eyes away from his long-time companion, and gazes out over the village. He looks at the mountains on the horizon, where they stand like dark shadows against the slightly lighter night sky. It is like a reflection of the world he knows. There is no light. There is only various shades of darkness, varying degrees of evil and pain. He lifts his gaze, towards the centre of the black sky, towards the bright full moon. Then, there's him; the shining light of the world. He smiles, faintly amused by his own sarcastic thoughts.

Once again his crimson eyes return to the sleeping village below him. It is quiet, where it stretches out from the base of the sheer cliff face, until it reaches the large stone walls and the deep forest beyond. One of the mightiest Shinobi Villages in the world. Konoha is famed for it's large and skilled ninja force, and yet they had not detected his presence. He snickers to himself. It seems the skill of this village's inhabitants is nothing more than hot air. His own village would never allow such weakness. His own village. How long has it been? How long ago, was the last time he visited his childhood village? Eight years? He nods quietly to himself. Something like that. It has really been a long time since he left his village, all those years ago, to pursue his dreams. He still remembers it vividly. He closes his eyes, softly, a smile spreading over his lips. He can feel the memories pushing to the front of his mind, a reverie of images of days long past. He allows them to the fore. His subconsciousness is still on alert in the present, so he can allow himself this moment of nostalgia. He welcomes the chance to see his old village again, even if it is only within the confines of his own mind.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

He is standing on a beach. The image is crystal clear to him, even clearer than if he had seen it with his own eyes. He can almost, somehow, feel the warmth of the sun-warmed sand against his bare feet. He looks across the empty sands, the grains a yellowy white colour, stretching as far as he can see on either side of him. In front of him, the ocean lies majestetically, the blue water sparkling in the light of the slowly rising sun. Occasionally a wave rushes up over the sand, tickling his naked toes with the touch of clean, cool seawater. The sight and touch of the ocean causes a tingling in his heart. Pride. Pride in the sheer natural beauty of his home-country. It almost takes his breath away, and he feels a stab of sadness, a sudden longing to see it again, with his own natural eyes. He pushes the feeling resolutely down. It is not yet the time. He gazes from side to side. Nothing. Turning, he looks behind him. Ten metres behind him, the beach give way to a thick, lush forest. Behind them, he thinks he can see the contours of small houses. He smiles. It definately feels like home. Turning back to face the sea, he is surprised to see that he is no longer alone.

In front of him stands a small, lone figure, gazing out over the ocean just like himself. Short, black hair whips in the salty ocean gale. The small boy breathes in deeply of the fresh air. The man smiles, and walks slowly forward, up to the smaller figure. The boy takes no notice, only continues to stare out over the water. Of course he doesn't notice. It is only a memory, after all. The man smiles, a hint of warmth slipping over his smile. He can see his own facial features in the young boy. The thin lips, the cheekbones, the bony nose. The boy will one day be one of the village's most powerful shinobi.

He remembers it clearly, how much he loved walking down to the beach before dawn, just to watch the morning fog roil in over the sea and cover his village in white. It is a mesmerizing sight indeed, and he never grew tired of seeing it. He spent countless days down here in his younger days, training incessantly to become stronger and more skillful in the arts of the shinobi.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Losing yourself in the past again, you sentimental fool? comes the sarcastic voice in his head suddenly, roughly pulling him out of his pleasant memories. The smile disappears swiftly from his lips, and his crimson orbs open again, now hard and cold like sharpened steel. He bares his teeth as he stare into the dark void of the night, as if challenging the very darkness itself.

My past makes me strong, my friend, he states matter-of-factly in his mind, still not really sure if he is simply talking to himself or if there is some malicious entity behind the voice inside his skull.

When there is no immediate answer from the mocking voice in his mind, he chuckles softly to himself, shaking his head slowly. Here he is, talking to himself again. He really needs to get his act together. That's what his brother always used to say. His older brother had always mocked him and said that he "didn't have his feet fully planted in the dirt". To some extent, he agrees with his older sibling's sarcastic statement. He knows it very well himself, that he can seem strange at times.

He and his older brother had been very close in the past. They had only been one year apart, and in their youth they had been near inseparable, as only close siblings can be. They would always go down to the beaches, and train together. There they would practice and spar against eachother, with wooden swords, staffs, or just their own bodies, until late in the evening. They both shared the same passion, and the same dream. They both wanted to be strong. renowned shinobi, and they were both willing to drive themselves to the brink of death to achieve their aim. Both of them would push the other one step further every time. And each time, their strength, stamina, speed, and skill would rise to a new level. Their common goal drove them on every time they faltered.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The sand is warm against his bare skin, after being subjected to the merciless rays of the sun for most of the day. He gazes up at the sky, his heart beating a wild rhytm in his chest. A few gulls fly overhead on the blue sky, shrieking at eachother. He can barely hear them over his own panting. His lungs are aching, as they struggle to draw fresh oxygen into his blood stream. His limbs feel heavy, as if they have suddenly turned to iron and stone. Two broken wooden staffs lie around him in the hot sand. They've been sparring hard, all day long. Only now are they too exhausted to go on, their young bodies unable to move anymore.

He smiles, and closes his eyes, enjoying the warmth of the sun above and the sand below to its fullest. He can feel a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. It sticks to his short, black hair, making it gleam in the light of the sun. Slowly, he opens his crimson-coloured eyes. His breath is finally starting to settle down, and he can hear the breath of the person laying next to him in the sand. He tilts his head to the side, and looks at his older brother. They are only one year apart, and nigh unseparable. He looks at his older sibling. His brother's black hair is shorter than his own, and it stands up in small spikes, whereas his own hangs down like a short curtain. They have the same facial features, making them easily distinguishable as brothers; a slim nose, small mouth and pronounced cheek bones.

"Tired, little brother?" comes his older brother's voice suddenly, and he startles for a moment. As though he has sensed his younger sibling's gaze, the older brother turns his head in the direction of the second-born, and smiles. Slowly, he lifts his hand, signaling to his younger sibling. "That was a good spar, Katsu." he says, grinning in satisfaction. Katsu grins too, his crimson eyes shining with happiness, and high fives his brother's lifted hand. "It was."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

He smiles, pleasant memories flooding over him like a warm wave. He had a good childhood. And it got even better once the two of them realized that they were not alone. They found others, with a passion just like theirs. Around them, they had formed a group of five other young boys, just like themselves. Together, they had all grown and developed, training in unison. It was perfect. It was the perfect way to grow up; surrounded by like-minded shinobi, forming a tight and unbreakable group. Or so they had thought.

The smile wipes off his face, instantly replaced by a cold, contemptous scowl. They had been unbreakable, until that fateful day. His dear brother had been accused of a crime, the worst crime. Treason. The leaders of the village had declared his brother a traitor. Lies. It had been all lies. There was no way his brother could ever be a traitor, like they said. But his brother, that idiot, had disappeared without a trace.

He grinds his teeth together, just like he does every time he thinks about the painful past. His brother had been a total fool for running away. In doing so, he just confirmed the accusations from the village's leaders. People started talking and whispering about them, suspicious of their group now that his brother had left. This had left a deep crack in their 'unbreakable' group. One by one, the members had disappeared, leaving the village without a trace, and without saying a word to their friends. It had been like a silent agreement between the six of them, given without word or thought. One by one, they deserted everything they held dear, and became Nuke-nins.

Katsu too had left the village, in his brother's footsteps, as the last member of their small group to leave. At that time, he had been seventeen. He had no seconds thoughts about leaving his home behind. He was not doing anything wrong; he only wanted to expand his visions, beyond the rigid boundaries of the village laws. It was the village who had wronged, in treating them like they were trash and wrongfully accusing his brother of treachery.

For months, he had lived in the wilderness of the country, living off the land as he traveled between the smaller villages. But he never entered them. He kept himself to the outskirts, unseen. Sometimes, he would capture or kill local bandits and thieves, and claim the bounties before disappearing like the morning mist. He enjoyed the existence of an independent shinobi to its fullest, feeling free to go wherever he wanted. For a long time, he would continue to travel between the villages and settlements of the country, never settling down.

It was on one such journey, almost to a day one year after abandoning his own village, he ran into a certain young girl. He had been walking down a empty dirt road between two villages for the majority of the day, minding his own business, when she had come running towards him. He had realized instantly that something was wrong. A small girl, maybe six or seven years old, had come running down the dusty road. Her clothes were torn to shreds, and she was bleeding and crying. Behind here came two common thugs, one of them still trying to pull his worn-out woolen breaches up from his thighs. Katsu had been very angered by their actions against the small girl, and he had killed the two of them swiftly and mercilessly with his blade.

As he wiped their unclean blood off his blade, using the shirt belonging to one of them, he had looked at the small girl. She had been sitting on the ground, looking at him through tear-filled, brown eyes. It had been very obvious to him that she did not completely trust him, even if he had saved her from the two bandits. It was pretty understandable. He had smiled at her, and walked over to where she had been sitting. She had shuffled away from him as he approached, until he placed his hand gently on her head. The simple gesture seemed to calm the girl down, as she had stopped recoiling from his presence, and looked up at him with confused eyes. He had given her a warm, honest smile, and she had returned it, although hesitantly. Then she had hugged his legs, her cheek rubbing eagerly against his thigh. The physical action had surprised him, though he did not resist it. It was obvious that she was grateful to him for saving her, and it seemed like she wanted to show her gratitude in a physical way. So he had complied to her wish.

Thus, they had been physical together there, next to the road, for a few hours as the sunlight waned and night fell. For the first few minutes she had been scratching his chest with her fingernails and tried to wiggle away, but after a while she settled down and let him continue. Occasionally she let out small whimpers, but for the most she was quiet. He had been very gentle with her, and he was certain that she had enjoyed it as much as he had. Again and again they had done it, until he fell asleep from sheer exhaustion. When he woke up, she had disappeared. He had been worried about her, but had resolved that if Fate willed it, they would meet again. As it was, it seemed Fate supported that fact.

Katsu smiles widely as he stands up, his wooden sandals making a soft clop against the hard stone under him. Fate does have something planned out for him, it seems. Why else has he received this mission? There is no other answer. His master has granted him this task, so that he can fulfill it, and at the same time fulfill his destiny. He is just to retrieve his master's possession, which happens to be in this village. It is pretty ironic, actually. Almost amusing. Because, he has long wanted to square up with this village. His smile wanes slightly. He wants to set things straight with Konohagakure. They killed his brother, and justice must be dispensed. Through his various sources, he has learned that a famous shinobi from this village, known across the world for his skill, killed his brother in single combat. This means that Katsu has a revenge to settle with the people here, to honour his fallen brother. The mission to retrieve his master's possession is just the topping on the cake.

As he gets up in standing position, he suddenly becomes aware of a presence. An unfamiliar chakra presence is coming towards him. He wheels around, and spots the anomaly immediately. Behind him, maybe twenty metres away, he sees another shinobi. He can tell from the start that it is a Konoha shinobi, probably a night patrol. The person is clothed in the standard green shinobi vest, and dark grey pants. Katsu realizes that the patrol has seen him. Most likely, it was his own sudden movement which caused him to be spotted. He curses himself lowly under his breath. The two of them stare at eachother for a second. The other person is a male, tall and lanky, with short, dark blue hair. The darkness of the night obscures most of the Konoha shinobi's facial features, but even under these conditions Katsu can easily see the surprise in the man's eyes.

This silent eye contact only lasts for but a moment, as the other shinobi spins around and kicks off from the ground, making a frantic leap towards the Second Hokage's stone head. Katsu knows the geography of the village well, and he knows that the other shinobi is heading straight for the night guard headquarters, located near the base of the First's head. He can not let this opponent escape, or his whole mission will be a complete and utter failure. Katsu snarls. He will not fail his master.

His hand moves like lightning, his long fingers gripping tightly around Sagirisaku's leather hilt. The sensation is the same as every time he draws his beloved weapon. It feels like someone gives him a hard kick in the back of his head, the world spins violently, and then it feels as if his face is being dunked in icy water. His mind suddenly feels perfectly focussed and clear, like going from sleeping to fully awake in a heartbeat. His chakra is bubbling inside his chest, coursing through both him and Sagirisaku as one. The power flooding through him is incredible. It is both extremely exciting and sickening beyond belief at the same time. His veins are bulging darkly on his chest, his arms, his face, as if fat worms are crawling through his arteries. He can taste bile in his mouth. He smiles. He'll never get completely used to this sensation.

He lifts his weapon, the bandages around it falling off like dry autumn leaves. It is as if the world is moving in slow motion. Katsu squeezes the hilt as tightly as he can with his fingers, trying to resist the urge to let it go. His knuckles turn white, but still he pushes back the bile that threatens to well up from his stomach. The enemy shinobi still leaps through the air, hanging between the two Hokage heads. Katsu swings his blade.

The Konoha Jounin opens his mouth in alarm as he jumps, to shout out over the village and inform the other patrols of this intrusion. But before he has the chance to utter his shout, there is a whistling sound, like a teapot boiling over. Then an invisible wave hits him in the back. His eyes widen in shock and agony, his mouth open but unable to produce any vocal sound. His blood arches through the cold night air, gleaming crimson in the sharp moonlight.

For a moment, the Jounin hangs still in the air, his body spreadeagled and silhouetted darkly against the bright full moon. Slowly, a thin white line is drawn from the top of his head, all the way down to his groin. Then, with a disgusting, gurgling sound, the human body splits, neatly sliced in half. A second later, the two halves hit the side of the Second Hokage's head with a wet, sickening smack.

Katsu slowly resheats his Sagirisaku. His hands are tingling, shaking with the afterglow. Goosebumps pop up all over his muscular arms as his bulging veins shrink back to their normal forms and sizes. He really can't get used to these otherworldly sensations, no matter how many times he feels it. It is just too unnatural. With trembling hands, he slides his sheated weapon horizontally into the straps on his back. After fastening the straps, he looks down at his hand. His fingers are shaking and trembling, even after letting go of the weapon. Humans are not supposed to wield power like this, he muses to himself as he slowly walks towards the edge of the stone head. He peeks down over the edge, a curious smile on his face. Far below, he can see a bloodied hand sticking limply up from a thick thorn-scrub. He's been very lucky. The vegetation is so thick, it will probably take many days before anyone finds the body. By that time, his mission will already be fulfilled, and he will be long gone.

The night is dark and silent. He looks out over the sleeping world one last time. It's all out there. It's there, for him to seize. Nothing or no one can stop him. He grins, as he looks up at the moon, one final time. His white teeth gleam in the weak, eerie light. He has much to do, and much to prove. He must show himself worthy of the trust he has been given, not only for himself. He will honour the practices of his village, the strength of his master, and the memory of his brother. He will rise up to his name, and write it in warm, crimson blood across the sands of the world. From east to west, from south to north, his name with echo far and wide.

The world will tremble in terror before Momochi Katsu.

To be continued…

Well, that's another chapter done. Again, I must apologize for the long delay, and also for the relatively short length of this chapter. I will try to make the next one both longer and faster than this one :-)

Anyway, until next time, take care :-P

Haraio