I don't own Naruto or any cartoon, manga or anime series that may be implied in the following story.
Chapter 11: The Hoods and Some Insight
Bang! The gong yelled once gaining everyone attention. Bang! It yelled for a second time, opening a huge wood, metal-re-enforced door. Dust clouds appeared from everywhere reducing their vision range to a meter at most. Bang! The last one was so strong all of those outside were pushed backwards and fell to the ground. The dust was blown away completely revealing the dark insides of the monastery like stone building. Only Hao remained standing.
With his seasoned eyes he watched a group of twelve hooded people exiting the temple and surrounding them. Their hoods were grey, simple grey and tied to the waist with a simple rope. Their eyes glowed with red light as they spoke in unison. The voices were cold, icy-cold as if a machine and not a human spoke them.
" HAO ASSAKURA! YOU ARE NOT WELCOMED HERE! LEAVE OR FACE DYRE CONSEQUENCES!"
The shaman was not shaken at the slightest by the warning and instead of summoning his fire spirit, he simply laughed. " Even after ten centuries you still use that worn-out plate, he addressed no one in particular. I thought the great temple of the Truth-Speakers would be a little more cautious by now, considering what occurred here the last time I paid you a visit."
"DO NOT TAKE US LIGHTLY DEMON! WE ARE MORE THAN CAPABLE OF DEALING WITH YOU! MAKE ONE MORE STEP AND WE SHALL RID THE WORLD OF ANOTHER ASSAKURA SHAMAN-KING!"
Hao's laughter now took a maniacal note as his followers shivered from the intense furyoku being released from the twelve." My ancestors died here because they were too weak to gauge your real strength. They were fools to go against you head on. But I am different!" at this one of the figures tensed and moved back a few millimeters." I can by-pass your so called infallible eyes." Hao took out a small paper seal from an inner pocket of his cloak and attached it to his fore-head. In an instant the hooded men broke the circle and frantically began to search for something in the area, although none seemed to know exactly where to look. The shaman remained in their place, confused, as their leader kept his ground.
"As you see old-fools, I now can pass beyond the borders of the material world. Time is my slave!!"
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO YOURSELF, FOOLISH HUMAN?"
"Let me demonstrate…" and he was completely out of vision.
With a certain blond…
He moved above the sands quietly, his eyes closed in meditation. His steps were precise and silent, avoiding any rocks or plants and making sure the noise he made was reduced to a minimum. Strangely no birds seem to be flying that particular day, even though the weather was beautiful and no storm clouds appeared at the horizon. The shaman wore a yellow cloak with a hood to him from sun and prying eyes alike. Half of his face was covered as well leaving only the eyes exposed.
His spirit followed him in it's reduced form, it couldn't be distinguished as a particular animal but the prominent nose and the markings on it's skin eliminated the possibility of a human.
Unlike it's shaman, the spirit was restless, constantly watching the area and expressing it's worries. " Is it really wise to travel like this, we should have taken a plane or a bus ride. Faster, I reckon."
The blond didn't even turn around as he answered.
"Patience my friend, I considered those options already and found them inappropriate for our goals so far. We must avoid detection." Some large rocks were now visible at the horizon, but only as mere stones to the untrained eye. The blond knew better.
"You and you're plans. Now you're exposed to attacks from any direction. And you're your furyoku at such high levels to avoid detection is nothing less than a god's power." Indeed they were traveling in open desert, but in his mind-realm the shaman snorted' That also means we can't be taken by surprise dumb-ass' instead he chose not to anger his spirit.
"Ah G, you can never rest can you? Calm down for a while and admire the scenery."
"Yep, that a good idea. Watch a bunch of rocks , scorpions and did I mention rocks. You've gone crazy kid. Why did you sent those two away anyhow? They could have been useful you know."
"My purposes do not allow me to travel with a constant escort. They served their purpose, now they are gone. The end." But the spirit wasn't yet convinced.
"You letting them go just like that is kinda risky, what if they betray you and go to Zeke, or what if they're captured and spill everything they know. You should have just disposed of them like a good Hunter-nin ?"
"Killing them was out of the question."
"You're such a leaf-nin sometimes." The blond smirked behind his face cover." Come on. We are nearly there." The rocks were now larger and seemed to house a large group of stone-made houses in a huge cavity. It was an old Amerindian settlement.
With the Yoh team.
The four stood outside the tunnel exit, awaiting for the last member of the crew to join them. Unknown to them, two other green-clad women kept themselves hidden behind a large rock above the cave. They wore large round hats and Chinese long battle suits. The model was specifically made for those preferring speed to brute strength. To that point none of those below seemed to have noticed their presence.
The sun began to set as Manda's pacing left a large trench in the ground. He was nervous. He trusted Yoh but stories of many other great shamans entering the tunnel and never being seen made him way too uneasy. Plus, after the battle with Faust, Yoh had been very cold to the short-sized boy, a coldness not unnoticed by the rest. Anna didn't mind at all, the Hyuuga's couldn't care less if the client was begging to slip and act stupidly but Manda was another matter.
Ever since he met Yoh he became more and more confident in his abilities, he now had the guts to challenge older and taller boys, not because he had a shaman to protect him but rather because his self-respect had risen. Now Yoh barely even smiled at his jokes. He was feeling lonely again.
Neji's thoughts drifted far away, to a girl he had left back in Konoha, to an over-controlling family that would never approve their relationship, and besides, he wouldn't ever consider of making her a part of the Branch. None Hyuuga were less than trash for the Main, and a caged-bird sealed one…No. He didn't want this kind of life for her. But what could he do?
The self-proclaimed ice-queen of the group kept her eyes solely on the cave entrance, but the dark remained impenetrable even for the strongest eye. Nothing on her betrayed the mixed feelings she was now having. Inner turmoil was something she believed only happened to weaklings, un-worthy people, but now she was confused. The last battle took everything she had in her sleeve only to keep her alive. It was like when she was a child, when she was 'normal' . The word rang strangely into her head. 'Am I what I feared I would become…but it's not possible…is it?...they assured me I was out of harm's way…but…'
Flashback
A three year old blond girl was walking on a paved alley full of fresh snow in the chilliness of a January morning. The sun still had not risen and torches were used to mark the way. Behind her were a man and a woman. He was tall and even through his ceremonial black clothing one could see well toned muscles. His gaze however was one of mixed feelings- the girl couldn't tell if it was worry, anxiousness or fear. The woman was slim, only two thirds of his height, with long beautiful hair. Her face was emotionless as she strolled forward to what seemed the main building in a large complex. All around them, medium ,spirits and shamans gathered as if it was a ritual.
The great black doors of the temple opened to reveal…"
"Anna, hey Anna" Manda's voice rang in her ears" Are you there" She pounded his face into the ground, by natural instinct only that something didn't feel right. Strangely she could not understand why she did it…She looked up only to see Yoh emerging out of the tunnel, with a few bruises on his face and arms, but nothing serious. She smiled inwardly.
The two spies leapt back with a huge amount of force, going for about fifty meters before landing without the slightest sound. They turned around and disappeared. But they were being watched as well…
World of Elenius. In a mountain region, on a high plateau.
The teenage boy stood motionless on one of his legs, with his arms outstretched to his sides. His eyelids were closed in concentration and he was clearly trying to maintain his current position. He was shaking slightly and sweat drops formed on his forehead. In the dark of the early evening his features couldn't be distinguished. Only his onyx, shoulder long hair.
From behind a rock another figure emerged, shorter than him with her hair tied up into a large bum. She was wearing a leather suit with iron buttons, colored in green and yellow. The scowl on her face was obvious.
In a quick motion she slammed her left foot on the solid rock causing a mundane column to appear right underneath the boy and then crash back before reaching even two feet in height. It was enough ,tough, to destabilize him and so he obeyed the law of gravity and crashed on his rear end.
" Soh, you ruined it!"
"Ruin what, a ballet form. Stop doing that stupid exercise and get some rest. We're leaving for Ba Sing Se tomorrow at sunrise." Immediately his face brightened with the prospect.
"You mean it finally began. Did the comet appear?"
"Come and see for yourself." And she sank into the ground while he leapt to the nearest peak and onto another and another and so on. After five minutes of jumping he landed in a rather remote valley where three tents, two small ones and a larger were gathered around a campfire. Six or seven figures also circled the fire, with the girl from before closest to it. He advanced hastily between two twin girls with red hair, and red eyes and clothes to match it and found who he was looking for.
Yhe man looked like an elder of some sort, dressed in white and blue battle armor. He was holding a scroll in his hand and didn't seem to be in a hurry to open it. The rest of them scowled at the latecomer and some muttered various opinions to each other. The word 'unprepared' was the most commonly used.
"Ah, Tokka, you are finally here" the elder said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice" How nice of you to join us."
"Quit the small talk old-man. Tell me what it says…"
"Would you care for a cup of refreshing jasmine tea first? Or maybe some mint flavored tobacco?"
"YOU KNOW I DON'T SMOKE AND I HATE TEA!!"
"Hate is such an ugly word" he said, apparently oblivious to the anger of the one in front of him. The twins however giggled at the boy's antics, a strange look in their eyes." Come on nephew, no one in our family ever said he hates tea. He may dislike it, or simply not want it but never hate it."
Flashback.
A young boy, no older than two was given a cup of steaming tea from his mother. He wore clothes with tea-leaves design on them, he stood on a chair with tea-leafs patterns on it. His room was filled with everything even remotely connected with tea.
"Mom, can I have some orange juice?"
"Come on dear, I'm sure ou don't want some dumb juice instead of my tea?"
Flashback end.
"SORRY! I MEANT TO SAY I FREAKIN' HATE TEA, IT DISGUST ME TO NO END AND I WOULD GLADLY TWIST THE NECK OF ANYONE OFFERING ME TEA!"
"Oh well! I guess it can't be helped. According to the message, we must arrive on the world of Terra in a standard week for the preliminaries. We leave at dawn."
Xxxxxxxxxx
On a ragged battlefield, filled with metal extensions and electric cables as well as human corpses, a man in a black cloak moved casually as if he were on an empty plain. His objective was another man, this one in full battle armor, in lotus position.
"You've outdone yourself Prince Reymo, or should I say Darth Ragnor?"
"What are you here for Ma'ak? You should have re-enforced the southern flank."
"I did, but that was hours ago. As you can see from here, they have retreated. Should we give pursuit?"
"No. They have nowhere to go and will soon surrender. What news from HQ ?"
"You are summoned on the battleship ' Messiah'. Captain Grez has all the details of the journey. The Portal has opened and an official invitation has been sent for us. In a standard week we must be on Terra."
"Finally, we now have the chance to prove our own strength and show that we deserve what is ours by birthright."
Ma'ak smirked" Sometimes you really are kind of crazy. The old man was right sending you away." Instantly a laser sword, blue in color was at his throat. "Watch your words, brother or I will"
End!
Damn that was hard! Finally got it right. I'm back in the game people!
Alexander R signing out!