The rain fell heavier than before, the clouds were nearly jet black. Streaks of light pierced the darkness; the wind blew furious gusts across the destruction that was the Hidden Mist Village.

Taro stood in disbelief, his family was murdered not by the man who he had pursued and hated this entire time, but by his mother. He was too shaken to even respond to what he just heard. "Ah, this is meant to be for your brother," Akihiko pulled out a notebook from his back pocket. "Your father didn't want anyone but him to see it. Not sure why he gave me it though."

He tossed Taro the notebook, which read Journal. "Do you know of the Great War that took place between the Uchiha and the First Hokage," Akihiko questioned as he dislodged his spare sword from his hip. "It's pretty ancient history if you ask me, but you might be interested in what I have to say."

Taro opened the journal hastily, reading nearly every page he could to find answers. "Don't worry I won't attack you, like I said, we have time." Akihiko sat up straight, staring at the sky allowing the rain drops to collect on his face like tears of regret. "Your mother was an Uchiha, like I said moments ago. Your father, as well as everyone else in your clan," Akihiko paused and dropped his head. He tried to find the right words. "Your clan was mainly made up of descendants of a clan that basically aided the Hokage in undermining the Uchiha in many of their battles. Not just them, several other clans as well. As you may know, in the old days, this land was nothing without war and contest for power. People would literally hire Uchiha and other big name clans to fight in battles for them."

Taro slowed his reading, hearing what Akihiko said followed with what was in his father's journal. The accounts of his ancestry, the battles they fought, and the people they killed. It was no wonder the invasion his father planned would have worked. They were trained to kill… But what they were after wasn't to teach the Konosuchi a lesson about their high taxes. They wanted blood.

"Flip the page, kid; you wondered why this book was for your brother didn't you?" Akihiko continued. He wasn't lying; every word he said was truthful. "Your brother was supposed to carry on the plan. He had all the years of training and was taught by your father in Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and possibly other skills as well. Your mother knew what your father was really after. Power, money, and the title of boss over the trading network; some hero he would have been; tricking all those people into doing his handy work."

"Your… not lying… it's all here…" Taro said disappointed. "So this is why my father treated my older brother so much like royalty."

"Your brother was a natural born killer," Akihiko added with a stern face. "That's how the real world is kid. If you ain't stronger than everyone else or have a trump card up your sleeve, someone is going to get the better of you." Akihiko stared at his spare sword in his hands. He looked oddly content, like a great weight was being lifted from his shoulders. "You- a puny shrimp, timid and weak- matched my strength in a matter of seconds with that sharingan. No- that isn't just an ordinary sharingan- that which you bear in your eye, that is a Mangekyo sharingan. Even though its only one, you can still use its power. Look into my eyes and do as I do."

"No way, it's a trick!" Taro roared as he tried his best to remain still.

"I can understand why you'd think I would lie to you," Akihiko stood up and tossed his sword at Taro's feet. "You can move you know. I deactivated my jutsu while I told you about what happened on the night of the invasion."

Taro, still not trusting Akihiko, refused to move. "You're lying, you're just not effected by your jutsu but I am!"

"Is that what you think?" Akihiko snapped his fingers, nothing happened. "There, I really released it this time." Now with some belief, Taro agreed to Akihiko's terms. Akihiko took a deep breath and did several hand signatures, symbols of a jutsu Taro, nor any other person, had seen before. "Can you copy that? Your sharingan, even at basic level, should allow that much."

Taro, not knowing, was able to complete this task easily. "But how?" He wondered as he felt a strange sensation like as though he had always known this strange jutsu.

"What you just learned was your mother's jutsu, Thor's Hammer. This jutsu uses lightning to strike foes into oblivion. An alternate method is to distort space itself, either by perception, or by altering the very world around you. Much like my Odin's Guillotine, it is a powerful Genjutsu that can render nearly all foes defenseless." Akihiko drew out the Crimson Blade from its sheaf. "Just before I killed your mother, she implanted that move into my mind via her sharingan; a method I didn't know was possible."

Taro could feel the warmth of his mother in this new jutsu, like as if she knew this messenger would someday meet him. He accepted it gratefully, but he still had a battle to finish. "I can't let you go… but I no longer have a reason to kill except for what you've done to my new home, this Village."

Akihiko sighed at the child's foolish nature, "uh, kid, I haven't done anything but drain your Elder's energy, who is recovering as we speak."

Taro's eyes widened in disbelief, "that can't be, you're lying to me. You controlled the entire village into doing what you commanded! Not only that, but you also used that strange fog to sap all of their energy!"

Akihiko laughed at the thought brought to him. He pointed at the village, "someone else took the liberty of demolishing your puny village for me. Besides, I didn't even plan on killing anyone but the Elder, and even that was because he learned my identity."

"Then what about the people you mind controlled?"

"The fog was a Genjutsu I picked up a little while ago that made people see anyone I perceived as a threat as a common enemy, a monster if you will." Akihiko continued his pity party.

"Then… all you did was steal the Elder's energy?"

"Yup," Akihiko tapped the Crimson Blade on his shoulder, "you guys and the little enforcement squad were gonna get in my way so I had a welcoming committee keep you occupied while I did my business." He planned this from the very beginning, his escape, his flawless Genjutsu and even the battles between scenes. "Your little friend caused most of the damage, even with that, he even caused the air pressure to differ from that of the surrounding areas, which created this strange current of wind that blew away my Genjutsu. Everything is back to normal, and all I had to do was get you away from the Elder's package long enough for one of my co-workers to swoop in and pick it up."

Taro's attention was now full throttle anger; he was tricked from the very beginning. "You wanted the package?"

"Of course," he smirked with madness, "that package was a message containing information on a- project- that was meant to be hush- hush." Akihiko laughed by a debilitating madness, "the project known as Evermore!"

"Evermore," Taro questioned as he quickly got into an attack stance. The air was filled with bloodlust.

"Yes, child," Akihiko waved the Crimson Blade around crazily. "But I've said too much as is, if only you had cooperated and brought me what I asked for, things would have went a lot smoother!"

Taro put the fragments of information together; the mission itself was a big scam, the Elder's energy, the package, all for Akihiko's twisted pleasure. "Why- why do it?"

"As a high ranking officer of the mercenary group, NeoGenesis, I am simply doing as ordered of me." He got into his stance and aimed to kill on his first strike. "Now to kill you off, kid!"

Taro sensed his pain would finally be at ease after this final battle. He quickly reached for the sword that laid before him on the ground and dashed toward his opponent. The two clashed swords, but Taro seemed to have a new found strength that made itself known only moments ago.

Akihiko felt this strange presence; he countered Taro's slash and kicked him in the chest. He then followed up with his Odin's Guillotine, sealing off time in front of him. Taro was frozen in time, unable to move. Akihiko laughed and continued his chain of jutsu with several hand sighs and a sharp stab to the sky with his fingers extended, "Piercing Light Jutsu!" Taro, still unable to move, already figured out why he put this combo together, the speed of light wouldn't be affected by Odin's Guillotine in enough time to actually affect its speed.

The sky crackled with bolts of lightning gathering in one location, forming a spear, readying to fire. Akihiko signaled to fire the spear with a slice through the air with his fingers. The spear let out a thunderous BOOM and struck Taro without a moment's notice, causing dust, dirt, and shattered rocks to fill the air in a dust cloud.

Akihiko snapped his fingers and a loud THUMP caused the dust cloud to explode and disappear into thin air. "You're not using that eye of yours to its fullest! And as a consequence, you're going to die her!" He examined the spot of impact for his opponent's scorched remains. The area was cleared of dust, but nothing remained, nobody could be found.

Taro appeared, in a flash, swinging his blade across Akihiko's back, cutting him deep. "You should look closer, that was a water clone!" He spun and continued his onslaught with a solid straight (punch) to the face, sending Akihiko flying toward the edge of the cliff.

Akihiko stabbed the Crimson Blade into the ground to prevent himself from rolling off the cliff's face. He pulled himself back onto his feet only to see Taro complete his final hand signature for a jutsu, Thor's Hammer. "Heh, you're not skilled enough to controls its projector!" Akihiko scoffed, coughing up blood at the same time. "You can't defeat me so easily," Akihiko concluded his insult with a charge toward Taro and a stab through the chest. "See, you can't use it yet, until you've mastered more than just your little Ice and Water style jutsu!"

A smile drew up Taro's face, and with that he jabbed Akihiko in the face, causing him to stumble backward. "Who said I needed to aim, I can use the metal of your sword as a target!"

Akihiko's eyes widened, he was outsmarted again. He could feel the tingling of the charged particles honing in on his wound. Without hesitation, he chucked his Crimson Blade at Taro, stabbing him in the shoulder. "HA, you didn't think I'd know how to counter that simple technique?"

"Did you honestly think I meant that sword?" Taro said, pulling out the Crimson Blade from his shoulder. "Take a look, I stuck a shard of your other sword in your wound, and here, have the rest of it!" A water clone holding Taro's blade clung onto Akihiko's back, restraining him moving. "Let's not forget this, your cursed Blade!" Taro charged at Akihiko in a rush of fury, the Crimson Blade roared through the splitting wind with a Crimson aura shrouding it. Taro stabbed the Crimson Blade through Akihiko, and signaled Thor's Hammer to strike them both. A lightning bolt fell from the sky consuming the entire cliff in a blinding array of rapid lightning strikes, obliterating the cliff to smithereens.

Still stood Taro and Akihiko, smoking from the vast amount of damage taken. Akihiko staggered back, nearly falling off the cliff. Taro clung to him, not letting go of the Crimson Blade at any cost. Sora and Sakura approached the cliff, seeing the two scorched figures stagger off the edge of the cliff down to the waters below. Sora's eyes filled with tears, she knew one of those figures was Taro; her scanner could no longer pick up the crystal embedded in his headband.

Hojo and Narukami sat, leaning against a fallen building. "It's over… isn't it?" Narukami asked in a ghastly voice, exhausted.

"Yea, the clouds are clearing… but what happened…"

"Don't know, maybe those Konoha kids and their sensei stopped the advisor. I hope-"

Kakashi sat on a rock staring at the singed cliff and the light that shone through the clouds atop of the village. "So, that's the path he chose… the path of peace?" He sighed and looked at the Hokage's demolished building; he caught a glimpse of a figure turning away into the shadows, vanishing into thin air. "I doubt this is far from over, Itachi. We'll meet again… someday."

Sasuke woke and rolled onto his feet, Kakashi wasn't paying attention. He used this opportunity to escape and recover elsewhere. Naruto regained consciousness, asking what had happened.

"You and Sasuke demolished the town, everyone is safe… everyone that survived." Kakashi answered as he arose from his resting place and paced over to aid Naruto to his feet. "Unfortunately, we'll have a lot of explaining to do when we return back to Konoha." Naruto nodded in agreement.

"OH! Where are Sasuke and Sakura? And where's Taro?"

Kakashi didn't have an answer for that just yet. He only suggested that they head over to the cliff and get their answers.

Upon arrival, they saw Sora knelt down mourning the loss of her loved one, Taro. She had raised him since he was young, seeing him- gone- was heartbreaking. Sakura was seen at her side rubbing her back, telling her he'll be alright, he was a tough kid.

Sora agreed and wiped away her tears; she stood up and asked if they'd mind finishing the mission they started. The group, minus one, reached East Town and obtained their package, mildly tossed about, but in good condition. The package wasn't addressed to the Village Elder, but to Akihiko himself. The sender however was not named or said where it was from. Sora said she'd take it to the Village Elder once things have been returned to normal, and thanked them for everything.

"It's no biggy, ya'know, if you need help in the repairs, Konoha would happily help!" Naruto said trying to be modest and cheer up the atmosphere. Sora laughed a little at his attempt, not at, but with him.

"Thank you Naruto, I'd look forward to it," Sora kissed him on the forehead, raising his headband to do so. "Take care, your Hokage must be worried. I'll explain everything that has happened to the townsfolk."

Kakashi shook her hand and they received their payment. A ride awaited them at the outskirts of town. "Sora, I can put in a request to send a search party for Taro, if you'd like."

She shook her head, "No, I know he's still alive. He needs time to set things straight, once he's done that, he'll return." Sora hugged Kakashi goodbye, who hesitantly hugged back. "Goodbye Kakashi, safe travels."

"Though it may seem half-hearted, we'll return to help with any repairs you all will need as reparations for the damages we've caused"

Sora smiled, "Go home and get some rest, we'll work things out."

Naruto strode to the other side of town to catch the ride that awaited them. He crossed a clearing in the debris as a shortcut, but found a sparkling light shine from between fallen debris. He walked over to see what it was, it was wedged in good. He summoned two shadow clones to aid him get it out, and after about 5 minutes of tugging, they got it. It was a headband that looked to have been cut in half, but somehow melted back together. Naruto could immediately tell who this belonged to and kept it as a souvenir.

Once all the squad members boarded the cart, the driven started up the oxen to begin their long journey. Sai peeked between the sheets that covered the cart from the beaming sunlight, "Hello everyone."

"S-SAI?!" everyone (except Kakashi) yelled, "where were you?!"

"I had to… take care of business," he answered.

"And your still a terrible liar," Naruto muttered to himself. And so the ride back Konoha was a long and oddly quiet one. But Naruto made the best of it by starting up conversation that made everyone laugh, to get rid of the depressing atmosphere.

Now…

"So that's what happened," Lady Tsunade concluded all the information given. "You know this is going to be a lot of paper work on your end, Kakashi."

"I've already begun writing most of the report as we speak, Hokage."

"Well, you all have about a week to rest up before we send you and most of the other squads in for repairing the Hidden Mist Village. Rest well, and Naruto-" Lady Tsunade stopped to get his attention. "You shouldn't think too much about the mission, things like this happen and-"

"I know Grandma Tsunade," Naruto interrupted as he turned to leave. "Someday, we'll again. That's what I believe." He smiled and walked out to go get some Ramen (yes long journey and no food is a bad combo).

"Well, seeing as I've said all I can, you all are dismissed."

Sakura opened the door and held it open for Kakashi, "Are you headed to get something to eat too, Kakashi-sensei?"

"I think I'll pass, but thanks for asking."

"Oh, I almost forgot, I need to speak to you about something Kakashi." Lady Tsunade seemed serious about what she had to say. So much so, everyone except Kakashi and herself had to leave the room.

All was well, Konoha fixed the Hidden Mist Village back to the way it once was before. And they even made a few new friends in the meantime. Though there was still a small question of whether the events that happened during the mission were true, seeing as only a handful of people weren't controlled by the Genjutsu, it is still up to debate whether the mission actually happened and the advisor was a spy, or Konoha tried to cover up a coup to weaken the Land of Waves and to allow an alternate mission to gather information to take place.

Along the shore of an island near the Land of Waves…

"Well, here he is boss." A female said. She searched a body with scorched clothing and found a scroll containing top secret information.

"Good, did you find anything else?"

She shook her head and stood up. She turned to her boss, a man covered in robes from head to toe and saw a figure washed up not too far from the body she just investigated. They walked over to it and checked it. The body was motionless; it clung onto a strange looking blade with an engraving filled with sand, making it unable to be made out. "I'll see if this sword of his is valuable-"

"No, don't touch it," the boss interrupted as he reached down to turn the body over. It was a boy, young but badly injured. "He's not dead, he's unconscious. Heal his wounds, he's still breathing. It's just as I thought, he would fight to win. To set things right, isn't that what you want?"

The boy coughed up water and rolled onto his belly, pushing himself up with his one good arm. "It's you again…"

"Yes, I've come to take you in. I can teach you to master your gift. Join my group, and we will show you the world for what it truly is." The man reached out to the boy with his hand outstretched.

The boy raised his head, staring at the man's face. "With eyes that burn like that, who could say no?"

Author's note: Thank you for reading, please review, your comments would be greatly appreciated and sorry for the huge time gaps between posting, hope you enjoyed this, comment if you like a continuation of this story. Thanks again!