A/N: Before you start reading I wanted to apologize for not double releasing 12 and 13 at the same time. I started 13 and realized that my SAT test day was today… so much of my attention this week was focused on studying for that. The chapter isn't far from being completed however. I might be able to post on Sunday or Monday but if not, be expecting the double release to be for 13 and 14
In light of that, please bare with me and enjoy this chapter. I made it extra long since I realized I wouldn't be able to offer 13 right now.
Ch 12
Jurou Hideyoshi
The thunderous steps of a large man echoed throughout the Kusagakure hallway. He was located in the city's central government building, heading towards his scheduled meeting during such a lovely Monday morning. Surrounding the man were several of his personal attendants. Bodyguards strode along his perimeter at each of its four corners. They were members of Kusagakure's elite shinobi battalion, carefully handpicked for this specific duty. In between them were simple servants and advisers that attempted to offer refreshments and suggest ways for the man to open up the meeting itself once he arrived. He swiped the drinks out of his way, shattering glass across the wooden floor boards. The advisors that walked with him were pushed to the side; one of them even tumbled from the edge of the walk and splashed into a pond of the inner gardens. The guards were eventually ordered to keep them away. The only thing that mattered was stepping foot in that room he was headed towards.
The man's zori sandals tramped against the flooring with loud clicks. His silky jade hakama pounced around while his legs made powerful strides. Underneath his hakama was a kimono of matching color with intricate golden embroidery along the trim and collar. Completing this regal outfit was the sparkling black haori that shrouded the contrasting green hue. The fingers of his clenched fists were fashioned with separate golden rings, each with a different gem at the center ranging from sapphire to ruby red and everything in between. Solid jade bangles jingled around his wrists and around his neck were three gold pendants. He possessed black hair that was able to extend to his back, but was tied into a bun. A few strands of it hung into his face, however. His facial structure was delicate but had the age of 40+ years embedded into his rough skin. His jawline was faded in a slightly darker color than the rest of his complexion as it was where his facial hair grew. The man recently removed all of it, revealing the scars on his cheeks and chin. Normally, this was a face that was quite appealing to the opposite sex. This morning though, his dark eyes and features were twisted in livid anger.
The meeting room was now in sight. The man of the hour arrived at the frame. His silhouette could be seen through the bamboo film of the shoji door. Then within the blink of an eye his full image appeared. The wooden stopper at the edge of the shoji was completely torn from its position by the way it crashed against the frame. The intense impact boomed, expanding the eardrums of every individual in the room. Rattling fragments of wood dangled from the inner structure of the screen. After such an eccentric entrance, the man took a calm step inside. The guards followed behind. One of them attempted to close the shoji in which his employer destroyed, but only got as far as sliding it three fourths of the way closed without getting into an awkward struggle. The rest of the door was dragged out and the thin wooden poles that supported the screen snapped further with pieces crumbling into the floor.
The man was now kneeling upright at the head of the long rectangular chabudai table. His fists slammed down into the table as he leaned in to examine his company. The men in the room noticed the splintering of the solid wood underneath the large man's fists. Each of the ten individuals in the council gulped with some even attempting to wipe away sweat beading down their faces when they met the man's belligerent scowl. His eyebrow twitched once his vision completed its period around the room. "EIGHT months!" he roared to open up the meeting. The room shook from the vociferous tone. The grown men trembled in their zabuton seating.
"H-Hideyoshi-sama…" one of the men tried to begin.
"EIGHT BLOODY MONTHS!" Hideyoshi continued with his coarse accent. His head dipped down. He was writhing with fury now. His words came out slowly, "Eight. Months. It has been EIGHT months since our laboratory was vandalized and incinerated. The only sample of my serum has yet to be returned to me."
"Hideyoshi-sama," a different man interjected, "we've received intelligence on the whereabouts of the fluid…and—"
"And when was that, might I add?"
The room fell silent. Hideyoshi broke with a grin.
"It was… about half a year ago, my Lord."
"Ah, I see. So why is it not in my hands right now?" The sarcasm was blatantly obvious.
"We've been having troubling trying to retrieve it." The man was being grilled on an open flame. His lips were pursed and laced with perspiration.
"I was told in October that I would have my merchandise within my possession within the year. It is now August. What could POSSIBLY prevent you milksopping heathen's from obtaining it?"
"My Lord," another individual across the table spoke up, "we suspect that the Yabune Serum is located within the bloodstream of one of our previous Genesis Program participants. Akua Uchiha."
"WHY hasn't this child's head been brought to me on a platter yet?"
"She is taking refuge with her fugitive mother, Karin Uzumaki, within the Land of Fire, specifically Konohagakure, my Lord."
"And this was kept from me for what reason?"
"We did not want you to stress ov—" That man was cut short, never getting to finish the rest of his sentence. The zipping sound of a projectile replaced his voice and found itself lodged into the side of his temple. The tanto extended through the council member's head, forcing him to the tatami mat floor, staining the tan brown material with a wet crimson. Hideyoshi closed his right hand and rested the fist on the table once more. The nine remaining men didn't utter a word of defiance, nor did they attempt to help the man bleeding out beneath them. They were all too worried about their own wellbeing to focus on anyone else other than themselves. Nine grown men were shaking underneath their kimono's, afraid to make any sudden moves. Hideyoshi tilted his head up to scan the faces of each member of his council.
"Let that be a lesson to all of you. Do not deceive me." Hideyoshi rose from his knelt position and towered over the low table. "The solution is simple. Those wallowing rats in Konoha will not be the ones to profit." He turned to face the door, delivering one last order before he exited. "I request an audience with Ginzen. Send a messenger at once."
Akua stepped onto the porch of her home and eased the front door shut. She spun around to prance down the steps, approaching the sidewalk where her mother stood. The sun had finally found its position in the bright blue sky that morning and its rays gently kissed her now lightly bronzed, ivory skin. "You look so pretty, darling," Karin pointed out.
"Mom please," Akua blushed, "this is just my uniform, it's nothing special." Normally when Akua had shinobi business, she would wear the standard Konoha uniform that consisted of the new green flak jacket style over a black jumper. However due to such stifling times, she decided to change the outfit a bit. She wore her headband the same way she always did around her forehead, except now it was over her hair. This was because she had her raven strands held back into ponytail that extended to the end of her neck. The rest of her hair remained the same. Underneath her flak jacket was a black, short-sleeved shirt instead of a long one and the Ushiogakure symbol was worn on a red band connected to her left sleeve. Below, she wore the shorts similar to the ones she wore during the Chunin Exams. Her kunai holster was strapped high around her right thigh over a wrap of white bandages and her sandals were the same black pair she had always worn. The girl didn't carry many weapons on her, nor did she have her ninjato equipped. She wasn't going on a mission yet, afterall. It was getting closer to the time of her meeting, however.
Karin also changed her outfit to something a bit more familiar. She had a light-colored, collared shirt with the end unbuttoned to the point where a portion of her flat stomach and tiny navel were visible. Furthermore, she had a short black tie around her neck and dark-colored wristbands. Her signature short black shorts were worn along with high-calf length, open toed boots as her footwear. The satchel that she always carried around when she went away hung diagonally across her body. "If you're the one wearing it then it's always special!"
"You're so embarrassing," Akua giggled, "I have to go, I'm gonna be late if I don't leave now. Take care!"
Akua waved while she ran until she disappeared around the corner. Her focus now shifted from her mother to the potential assignment she was about to receive. Within a few minutes of leaving her house, she was on the train and on her way from her neighborhood of Meguro to the Academy district where the Hokage's Mansion was located. During the ride there, she was fidgeting with her interlocked fingers and knocking her knees together in anticipation. The girl was getting antsy to arrive, looking every few seconds towards the clock within the railcar as well as the monitor that displayed their location and destinations. Every time she rode this train, it reminded her of the first day at the Academy, which surprisingly was also her last day. Furthermore and more importantly, it reminded her of Sarada. She had only seen the girl twice during the past six months and each time was a passing glance that they shared. Akua would be waiting outside of the Academy for classes to be over in order to see Boruto. Neither of the girls bothered to speak to each other at all. Sarada still harbored some sort of grudge against Akua which was clear for the latter to recognize. Her wrist had long since been healed and any lingering resentment for that would be pointless and irrational, especially since Akua apologized. There was something else, Akua thought, that was the cause of such apparent tension, but she didn't bother to worry herself about it. The train was coming to a stop at her destination.
Akua stepped off the vehicle, into the station and immediately exited onto the street. She was in a dash now, scaling up the side of a building and jumping the rooftops to avoid the crowd. She sprung and made a swift landing just outside the golden, open gates to the courtyard. A cool breeze carried in through the open doors of the mansion building as she walked in. The receptionist at the front desk was someone different today. A man with short brown hair and round glasses. The girl approached the desk. "Hello, I'm here to see the Seventh. I was summoned to retrieve mission details?"
The man shuffled through a pile of documents then turned his attention towards the computer on his desk. He made several clicks before responding, "And your name please?"
"Akua Uc-… I mean, yea Akua."
"Ah yes," the man said as he typed in the characters for her name, "you're scheduled with Mirai Sarutobi for a meeting with the Seventh. You can head up there now, I believe they're both waiting for you."
"Thank you!" Akua turned to sprint up the stairs before she halted.
"Wait!" the man yelled.
"What's the problem?"
"You forgot to sign in."
Akua's expression flattened out into embarrassment. "M-My bad," she apologized.
The Uchiha girl opened the oaken door to a room with three individuals within. One was a man standing next to the desk at the far end of the room. This was Shikamaru. Near him was Mirai, who stood with her back facing the door. Her head turned and a smile spread across from cheek to cheek. "Well, well, well, look who decided to pop in," she announced.
The sound of her speech caused the third individual to look up from the papers on his desk, the Seventh Hokage. "Ah, Akua!" his face lit up.
"Good morning everyone," Akua politely greeted. She shut the door behind her, stepping further into the room to stand next to Mirai.
"We're actually waiting for one other person, but we can start the debriefing for now. He's already aware of what I'm about to tell you both."
Both Akua and Mirai nodded.
"Now," the Hokage began, locking his fingers and resting his elbows on the desk, "in the past few weeks, we've noticed some… unusual action being taken by an old friend of ours, Kusagakure."
Akua's eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean by that, sir?" Mirai asked.
"They've begun to mobilize in several ways. Specifically speaking, they've been making military and economic moves that we can no longer ignore. We've also received reports that they've been working with a organization called 'Ethuriel'. There isn't much known about this organization yet, but we do know there is some sort of connection."
Akua seemed curious. "What's the status of the Kusa-country in regards to this? Are these movements a secret-cell operation, or are they being endorsed by Jurou Hideyoshi?"
"We're absolutely certain that Jurou, the leader of that country, is spearheading this. He's a powerful man and has assets in several industries. Kusagakure would be quite wealthy if he didn't hoard everything to himself. But that's beside the point. Right now it seems like they're making covert moves." Naruto slid two copies of a document across his desk so that each girl was able to take a look. The document consisted of charts that graphed out several different components regarding Kusagakure and the Land of Grass. The most obvious feature synonymous with each graph on that document was the upward slope.
"This is…" Mirai started but didn't finish. She was still trying to wrap her mind around the unbelieveable contents of the document.
"As you can see, their GDP has increased exponentially over the past month or so compared to previous years. There was a slight recession in October but, they seem to have fought back. What you might also notice is the increase in the production of weaponry and funds being pushed out to the development of their shinobi. I'm sure you're both familiar with the Genesis program as well."
"Then they're prepping; getting ready for something," Mirai suggested, "but for what?"
Akua rubbed her chin in thought before refocusing on the Seventh, "Could it be that…"
"Yes. We have something that originally belonged to them and it has been classified as a weapon of mass destruction. We also have no intention of returning it to them. Their actions even now have been too suspicious." Naruto leaned back into his chair and turned to face Shikamaru. He made a gesture with his bandaged hand while he spoke, "Show them the map."
The Hokage's advisor turned and unraveled the map they had rolled up and attached to the wall. The entirety of the Land of Fire was shown as well as its borders with the Land of Wind, Rain, Grass and several other countries. Shikamaru pointed to one of several red x's along the borders of the Land of Fire as well as other nations. "These markers are locations in which we've spotted foreign and unauthorized shinobi. They're neither officially from Kusagakure, or any other nation on record. We've concluded that they're hired agents of Kusagakure however, because they have been seen together with Kusa ninja in other countries," Shikamaru reported.
"Could it be that they're the shinobi of the Ethuriel group?" Akua questioned.
"That is our primary speculation, however we haven't received any solid proof of this. Furthermore, as time has passed, we've recently started to spot them further in from the border. They've avoided attacking any towns or villages though. It seems that these mystery ninja are also searching for something. This hasn't been limited to the Land of Fire as you can see, but we've notified our allied countries to pay attention to this. All we can do now is focus on ours."
Mirai examined the map, glanced at her former sensei, then back to the Seventh. "How may we be of assistance, Lord Hokage?"
Naruto was in the middle of rising from his seat and positioning himself to gaze out the large windows, giving him a stunning view of the prospering city that he and his own former sensei developed. His hands were held behind his back. "Our objectives are two fold. In order to secure the safety of the Land of Fire, we must strategically weaken the assets of the Grass. Jurou has repeatedly ignored my pleas for negotiation and we can no longer sit back while he mobilizes. We must do this under the radar to avoid a large scale conflict." The Hokage then turned around to face his two female guests. "Our second objective is to drive these unknown shinobi out of our country, while also discovering whatever they were looking for. For them, use any force necessary."
At the moment, there was a knock on the door. It appeared that the final individual they were waiting for arrived at last. "Come on in," the Hokage ordered.
The door opened and from the hall stepped one of the shinobi from the Anbu Black Ops. It was obvious due to the uniform that he was wearing, although it was not the new design that they wore on missions. Akua and Mirai turned to examine the person who entered. His mask only covered the top half of his face. It possessed a single, visor-like glass in which he could see through. From the look of the rest of his face, they could both tell that this person was a young male. He was about as tall if not slightly taller than Mirai was, indicating he was around her age as well. He had bangs of black hair hung around the mask with the rest of it tied back in a low ponytail that didn't reach too far past his shoulders. He had a smirk on his lips the moment he walked into the office. "Sorry I'm late, I lost track of the time," he explained, scratching the back of his head.
Akua switched her eyes back to the Hokage. "Who is this?"
"This is Hishiro Sureiya, one of my Anbu Corps. Since we're being stretched thin by missions currently, we don't have sufficient manpower to provide you with a substantial amount of assistance. However, he will accompany you during your missions. You will also be accompanying him on his missions. I believe the both of you with your skills set are more than qualified to do so."
Hishiro reached out his right hand to Mirai first. "Nice to meet you, please take care of me." They shook hands.
"Same here! Is it alright if I called you by your first name?"
"No problem, but first, may I ask you of yours?"
"It's Mirai, Mirai Sarutobi."
"Such a beautiful name," he complimented. Mirai couldn't help but share his smile. Hishiro then fixed his attention to the other girl, holding his hand out. "You must be Akua, correct?"
"Y-Yes… how do you know my name?"
"I was able to see you fight during the Chunin Exams a few months ago and I've been dying to meet you ever since. And you have quite a fierce name for a young girl so I wanted to check it out myself."
"I see, well you won't find too much that's fierce about me," she lied, "and it's nice to meet you, Hishiro." The two shook hands.
"Well now that you're all acquainted with each other, I can give you the details of your assignment. Over the next couple of months, the three of you will be assigned to various missions in regards to the topics that we've just recently discussed." The Hokage's attention shifted to Akua and Mirai. "You two won't always be working with Hishiro, but tomorrow will be your first mission with him. Use the rest of this day to prepare yourselves. You'll be travelling to the Land of Grass in the morning."
Akua didn't have much to prepare for after that meeting. She had been waiting for this opportunity to return to her homeland from the moment she hopped on the train to leave it. All of her travelling supplies were waiting at home. Her mother wasn't going to be there that night either, so she decided to go to a friend's house. After gathering some of her belongings, she got on the next train to Rasen. After the train ride, she ran the rest of the way towards the west of the district into the suburbs. It only took about 15 minutes before she was ringing a doorbell. Akua waited a moment before the door was opened. There stood a gorgeous woman of average height with large pale, lavender eyes. She had immaculate dark hair with a violet tint that was cut perfectly around her neck. The woman wore a plain pink short-sleeve shirt and ecru shorts that covered most of her thighs as well as black open toed boots that extended up her calves. The woman looked surprised, she wasn't expecting any visitors so early in the morning. "Hinata-san! How are you?"
"Oh my, Akua! How wonderful it is that I got to see you today!" The two females exchanged a passionate embrace before releasing each other. "Would you like to come in?" Hinata offered.
Akua complied. She was always welcomed into the Uzumaki household without question. It was practically her second home because of how often she was there. "Thanks for inviting me in, you're always too nice to me," she smiled.
"Please, don't thank me, it's always a pleasure to have you here, Akua," Hinata replied. Hinata always had a smile on her face whenever Akua saw her, and that was frequent. It was like being upset or frowning was foreign to her. They walked back to the living room where Hinata had been trying to tidy the place. Akua placed her bag on the ground and took in the the blessed fragrance of the home. Hinata glanced over to Akua while she wiped down the living room tables. "Were you looking for Boruto, dear?" she wondered.
"Oh, yes I was. Is he here?"
"No he's not unfortunately, but I know where you can find him." Hinata also had a basket of laundry that she needed to fold as well.
"Are you sure you don't need any help around here though? It's a pretty big house… I know it can get tiring sometimes."
"It's okay, I've been—"
"I'm not in a rush, Hinata-san," Akua flashed another smile as Hinata watched her make her way to the laundry basket, starting to fold clothing. The woman simply exhaled and enjoyed the company, allowing Akua to aid her around the home. Hinata's average working time was cut in half with Akua's hand involved. The pair went all around the house, dusted off cabinets, washed the dishes, vacuuming the floors and carpets, and fixing the bedroom accessories. The Uchiha wiped sweat from her face as they finished. The interior was just as hot as it was outside.
"Wow," Hinata pointed out, "this place is spiffy isn't it?"
"Mhm, spotless!"
Hinata tilted her head to view the clock in the kitchen where they were located. "You should get going now, Akua, I can't keep you here too long now. I'm sure Boruto would be happy to see you."
"Ah- Well… I…" all of Akua words were jumbled. Hinata had succeeded in flustering the young girl.
"Here, take this," she said, handing Akua a laminated slip of square paper. It had the Hyūga clan's crest upon it as well as Hinata's signature. "Boruto went with his sister to train with their aunt and grandfather. The address of the Hyūga estate is also on that seal. Show them that and they'll let you right in."
Akua stared with gaping eyes at the seal that seemed to shine with its own light. "Yes, I will! Thank you so much again, Hinata-san!" She slammed into Hinata, giving her another hug before she went sprinting towards the door. She skidded to a stop however, turning to ask one more thing. "Hey, my mom isn't going to be home tonight so could I stay here by any chance?"
"Of course, Akua! You don't have to ask every time, you're welcome to stay whenever you'd like."
With that, Akua exited the home in glee.
The Hyūga estate was just a little southeast of Rasen and the Uzumaki household. Located in the residential district of Edogawa, the estate was the largest private plot of land in the entire city. The Hyūga were the most noble family after all. Akua arrived at the front gate about half an hour after she left the house. She had to walk most of the way since the trains didn't cut deep into the district. The Hyūga didn't want the noisy vehicles near their properties. The seal was shown and she explained how she obtained it. The two guards hesitated for a moment before agreeing to let the girl in. Akua stepped through the threshold into what seemed to be another world compared to the outside. The space was ever abundant with stone pathways that mapped around the area. Koi ponds that were fed by stone fountains decorated the compound along with medium sized maples with amaranth colored leaves, nicknamed "bloodgoods". Cherry blossoms were also sprinkled about and occupied spaces in between buildings. Furthermore, the buildings were some of the most breathtaking pieces of traditional feudal-style architecture that she had ever seen. Akua felt as though she was strolling through sacred temple grounds. Akua was headed towards the largest building within the estate, the main branch's mansion. It was just as much a monument to Konoha as the stone faces and the Hokage mansion itself were. There were pale eyed residents all about. The Uchiha girl was an outlier, the lone violet eyed individual as always. Several attendants approached Akua to offer her some aid once she showed them the seal. Each of them lead her in the direction of the mansion.
Soon, Akua found herself at the base of a set of steps. At the head was the rectangular walkway that surrounded the main building. She removed her sandals and was escorted into the building by an attendant and lead through the mansion towards her destination. She came to a door and wound up in front of the sparring grounds. She wasn't allowed to go beyond that point, however. The individuals within were still training, practicing secret techniques that outsiders were not permitted to witness. Therefore, Akua had to wait for them to be over, and that wouldn't be for another hour or so. Akua took a seat in a bench near the door and five minutes later, Boruto barged out. The two of them shared a shocked glance at each other. "Ku-chan? How did you get in here?"
"Uh, your mom sent me here. I wanted to say hi, talk, that kinda stuff, you know." Akua sensed the negativity of Boruto's aura. She could tell that there was something bothering him. He didn't smile when he saw her and that was an instant red light. Akua examined his clothing. He had on the standard Hyūga training gear that consisted of thin, black dogi pants and a long-sleeved black dogi top that resembled a full shirt with a large v-neck collar. Underneath was a mesh t-shirt that could be seen from the space that the collar revealed. The outfit itself was dirty and tattered and his blond hair was a mess. It was clear that the boy had been training. "Are you alright? Why did you come out so early? They told me I'd have to wait an hour."
"Because I couldn't continue on. I don't have the byakugan like my sister so my Gentle Fist training is limited." Boruto lifted the dogi shirt from himself and threw the dirty clothing to the ground. "This thing is filthy."
Boruto didn't want to be around the main branch's mansion anymore. Just the thought of being inside it now frustrated him and it was easy for Akua to see. So, they both decided to walk about the grounds. It was the perfect chance for Akua to take in all the scenery she could. "So you said you couldn't use the byakugan…why is that? You're a Hyūga too aren't you?"
"Yea well I guess I just wasn't meant to have it. Hima, who's even a few years younger than me awakened it the day our dad was supposed to be inaugurated. It was over her stupid stuffed animal getting torn too. Ever since then I've been pretty jealous of how strong she is now." He kicked at some loose stones.
"Hey, that's nothing to get upset over. You should be encouraged. Even though you guys aren't full blooded Hyūga, you can still awaken the Byakugan. You just gotta work a little hard to do it."
"Yea, yea, yea."
Now Akua was becoming discouraged. There was a sharp pain in her chest from the tone of his nonchalant attitude. His response showed her that she wasn't getting through to him, wasn't succeeding in cheering him up. She took hold of his right hand with her left and kept him from walking any further. "Please, Boruto, don't stress about it. It hurts to see you so gloomy. I promise, you will awaken it. Just don't give up." He was reminding her of her brother when she awakened the Sharingan.
"That's easier said than done." He pulled his hand away and continued to walk.
Akua sighed. "I got another mission. That's why I came here, to let you know."
"Oh, did you see the Hokage?" he asked in blatant sarcasm.
"You mean your dad? Yea, he was there."
"Hmph. Don't give him that title. He doesn't acknowledge it."
Akua narrowed her eyes. "Are you… Boruto, he's your father, but he's also the Hokage. You have to understan—"
"That's the thing, you don't understand at a—" Boruto staggered back as the impact of skin against skin rung in his ears and he found himself a seat in the ground. His head spun to the right and locked out against his neck. The boy brought his hand up, pressing his fingers against the swelling in his cheek. Akua's right fist was brought back to her side. Boruto's pupils trembled at the sight of her in disbelief of what she did to him and with regret of what he said.
"You're right. I don't know. But at least you have a father who knows who you are." Akua tossed the entrance seal into his lap and turned towards the gates of the estate. Attendants were rushing over at that moment, ready to angrily escort her out. "Give that back to your mother"—she started her stride—"and call me when you fix that attitude of yours. I hope you awaken your Byakugan soon."
Akua didn't bother to stay over that night. After that occurrence, she decided to retrieve her belongings and return home until it was time to leave for the mission. Her excuse to Hinata wasn't very solid, as she was able to perceive that something had happened. The Uchiha rushed out of the household in haste, never seeing the frown that developed in the Hyūga woman. Akua spent the rest of that day alone in her house flipping through channels on the TV. Nothing seemed to interest her at all, except for one station. It was a live interview of the Seventh Hokage himself. The girl decided to tune in, but her stomach growled. The volume was turned up so that she could hear it in the kitchen while she prepared her dinner.
Cooking time wasn't extensive. It would only take her ten minutes. Akua opened the fridge and removed the miso marinated salmon cut which she had let soak for about an hour. She removed the excess marinade and placed the fish in the oven to broil. The girl payed closer attention to the television while she waited. The interview was about half way through. "Lord Seventh, could you tell us about the dreadful Moon crisis all those years ago?" the interviewer questioned. She was a young woman, most likely in her 20's. She donned a formal, business suit and skirt with dark, chestnut brown hair styled back into a bun. Naruto pondered the request, trying to sift through what he was allowed to say about the top secret mission.
"Ah… well, heehee"—he scratched his head with a wide grin—"there isn't much I can tell you specifically, ya know, but I can say that it was quite a struggling trying to stop that thing from crashing into earth."
"What methods did you use to get to such a distant world? What was it like being there?"
It was all interesting to information to Akua. Her mother didn't elaborate on the moon crisis much.
"I'm not authorized to talk about how we arrived there, unfortunately. However, my first impression of the place was way beyond my expectations! We popped up in a place that pretty much looked like we never left earth in the first place, but it was still pretty weird."
"What do you mean by that, Lord Seventh?"
"Well you see, we came out within a cave and there was light from a sun in the air and a huge ocean within the cave itself… but the creepiest thing was the way the ocean warped and islands looked like they were floating!" Naruto was not only speaking with his voice, but with the movement of his hands, and it made Akua giggle at how goofy he naturally was.
"Oh my, Lord Seventh, I don't understand!" the woman laughed on with Akua, although she had no knowledge of the young girl. "Could you be a little bit more clear?"
"My bad! Ok"—he made sharp gestures with his hands as he explained—"we realized that the light we saw was from an artificial sun created by a mechanism within the moon itself. That same device made the interior of the moon a habitable environment for humans like us to live on. And that's what it seemed like. There were so many ghost towns as if people originally lived there."
"Could these lunar inhabitants have been the fabled Otsutsuki, Lord Seventh?"
"Yes, they were. But they were all gone by the time we got there because of an apocalyptic civil war that they had."
"How were you able to stop the moon from descending?"
"Ah, well, I had a group of my friends with me: Sakura Haruno, Sai, my advisor Shikamaru Nara, and my wife Hinata, who was still only a Hyūga at the time. Together we were able to stop the force pulling the moon to earth. That's about all they're letting me say."
"Ooh, then tell us about your wife! You went on such a dangerous mission with her, how did that help strengthen your bond together?"
Akua couldn't take her eyes off the the TV now. At this point, she had the broiled, miso seasoned salmon over a bed of rice in her lap while she sat, nestled into the couch. She was especially interested in hearing this story. Naruto was playing with his fingers now, and his deep blush in reaction to that question made the studio audience bathe him with aw's.
"Wow… heh, now you really hit some buttons," he admitted, "ya know, I bet if she was watching this right now she'd be super embarrassed and wouldn't want me to say anything, haha!" The Hokage paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "But I can't help but tell the story about how we finally fell in love."
Naruto was now entering uncharted territory, prying into the hearts of millions of viewers, Akua, and even Hinata herself. Little did he know that she actually was watching the live interview that night. She was surrounded by her prodding, enthusiastic daughter and moody son as they were gathered in the living room. His prediction was correct. Hinata had her knees hugged to her chest and her now cherry red complexion half buried within a pillow.
"I was a real idiot growing up ya know, and I didn't understand what it meant to romantically love someone. I thought all types of 'love' were the same thing, so I didn't pay much attention to it. But here such a beautiful woman was, watching an idiot like me from afar as they grew up. I was truly oblivious to how Hinata felt about me, even when she had officially confessed in the heat of Pain's invasion." His facial expression shifted to one of disappointment, not in anyone else but himself. "You know what they say, you don't know what you have until you lose it. For a moment in my life during that mission on the moon, I thought I had lost her forever." He wiped the tears that were beginning to develop underneath his eyelids. "But the time we spent together there, the feelings I learned that we shared, everything came together for me in a resolve that refused to believe she was gone. In the end, that mission brought us closer together and once we arrived back on earth after completing it, we shared our first kiss. Soon after, we were married and the rest is well, yea…" His expression shifted from the despondency in the middle of his speech to one that blessed the room with its bright warmth.
The audience burst into a round of applause. They completely soaked up the passion of their Hokage's personal tale that served to literally bring him down to earth. He showed that he wasn't just the Seventh Hokage, but an individual with emotions, trials and tribulations like everyone else. The interviewer herself was delighted to have heard the story. Akua had a cheek-filled smile on her face. Her tasty cooking was just one pleasure she experienced in that moment. Naruto's love story caused her to reflect on the story of her own mother. The girl developed a sympathy and understanding for her that she originally wasn't able to comprehend. She was happy for Naruto's fortunes while at the same time felt pity for mother and jealousy that her family might never be as functional as that of the Uzumaki's. That thought almost ruined her night, but it was saved by the thought of a young boy she'd encountered earlier. Even though there was no wrong in what she did, she still felt she took her actions a bit too far and was stricken with guilt. These fluctuating emotions were interrupted by a question that almost twisted the girl's stomach.
"It is said that a mysterious man appeared during this crisis and helped to protect Konoha from a meteor that would've otherwise spelt destruction. This person was rumored to be the rogue, Sasuke Uchiha. What can you tell us about him?"
"Sasuke, huh?"
Akua was compelled to shut the television off, but she couldn't follow through with pressing the button on the remote.
"Sasuke is my best friend, that's pretty much all there is to say…but there is more that I'm able to say. He lived a similar life to me growing up, so that's how we can relate. I've always been looking out for him, and ever since he became rogue I've wanted to bring him back. After the war I believe it's safe to say I accomplished that. Hidden behind that outer, shadowy guise is just a normal guy that cares about his friends, his family, and the place he calls home, Konoha."
The Uchiha girl listened to what Naruto had to say before her index finger applied pressure to the remote, and the picture of the of the television flashed and wrapped into reflecting sheet of black glass. She was able to see the dark remnants of her silhouette with in. About a quarter hour was spent sitting in still silence before Akua rose from the couch and reentered the kitchen. She put her dish in the sink, gave it a thorough wash, dried it and then placed it in the cupboard. While doing so, she pulled out a cup to pour herself a glass of water to drink before she went to sleep. The lights in the living room and kitchen were shut off as she made her way into the small corridor where her room was located. The glass was placed on her bedside table and she went into the bathroom to complete her hygienic routine.
Akua exited the bathroom. The light was shut off. She entered her room and proceeded to change into her pajamas and found herself laying up right against her pillow. Every action she had done since shutting the TV off in the living room was done without so much of an extra thought in her mind. It was void of anything, all except for her father, the mysterious man, Sasuke. Furthermore, she went through that series of actions with a constant expression in her deep violet eyes. The more she lingered on the topic, the more the weight of her longing pain tugged at the strings of her heart. Thinking about that man did nothing but plague her psyche. The thought of him now subsequently led to remembering each and every hardship that the young girl had been put through, none of which did anything of significance to truly help her. That was how she put herself to sleep that night and almost every night; thinking about was was and should have never been.
The girl sunk into her mattress and curled up against its surface. Despite having the window open, the heat of the season provided her with a layer of sweat as she slept. Sleeping without covers didn't make that much of a difference either. Moreover, identical to every night, the glass would sit on her bedside table without a single sip being taken from it. There it sat until morning where she didn't bother with it anymore and tossed it away.
Akua was the first of the group of three to arrive at the western gate, their scheduled meeting location prior to their departure. She had her back leaned against the interior frame of the towering, wooden-emerald double doors that just opened for the morning. There was a single, arching torii gate that was constructed into the frame and within the walls that closed off the city. It was a glossy bright crimson and the kasagi that crowned it sat with it's intricate, golden glory of design at the head of the wall. Akua turned her head towards the village. The Hokage Monument was visible from her location to the northeast, although it was a great distance away, enough for its image to be perceived as faded. She then fixed her vision upon the polished, granite path. Its width matched that of the gate itself, stretching an exact 20 meters across. She saw her teammates approaching. Mirai waved towards her friend. She wore a black version of her flak jacket for this mission, as did Akua. The green color would stand out too much for what they were preparing for. Hishiro was present a few steps behind her. His mask was already adorned. Akua had yet to view his full face, and the more she was prevented, the more eager she became to see it. The three gathered themselves, checked all their belongings, and were authorized to exit by the gatekeepers. However, just as they were ready to leave, Akua heard the distant calling of a familiar voice. Her eyes widened while they were directed towards their path. The owner was instantly recognized. "Ku-chan..!"
"Who's that?" Hishiro wondered.
Akua turned around and waited for the individual to scale the short flight of steps towards the granite path.
"It's her lov—"
"Shut up!" Akua blurted, cutting Mirai off. Her arms folded as a reaction to her embarrassing irritation.
"Ku-chan!" shouted the boy as he lugged up into view and collapsed into the stone. The three shinobi were able to see how his back expanded with his harsh respiration. He pushed himself from the ground and continued his marathon. Akua stepped forward and started to walk in order help him out.
"What are you doing here, Boruto?"
"I-ha… agh… huff… huff…" he babbled.
"Did you run all the way here, you idiot?" She sounded as if she was annoyed, but her teammates only saw her back. They couldn't see her smile.
Boruto was catching his breath. "I… I took the train and then...and then I sprinted all the way…"
"But why?"
"I wanted…"—he was hunched over with hands on his knees—"I wanted to say that I'm sorry for what I said to you yesterday, I didn't mean it ya know, really!"
Akua took a moment to pause and process what he said. She was rather surprised that he would run miles all the way to the gate just to say that instead of texting or calling. That realization set in. He wanted to see her in person. The girl's lips tightened as her chest seemed to weigh her down.
"Here," he said, reaching into his back pouch and withdrawing a short, cylindrical container. It had the Konoha insignia printed on the cover. Boruto held out his arms with it between his palms. "Please take this, it's a healing ointment. I'm sure it'll come in handy for your missions, ya know. My… my uh, mom told me to give it to you." He looked away, using his mother as an excuse again.
"Hm… I accept your apology, and your offering," she declared. "…And I'm sorry for punching you." The container was taken and she held it to her chest. "Thank you."
Even though he just caught his breath, again it fled him. His bright blue eyes had to expand to take in the image of the young girl standing before him. The gentle curve of her face, the curl of her lips as she smiled, the grace of her long eyelashes, the lustrous raven hair that danced with the slightest breeze, the ripe pink of her cheeks, and the most captivating feature of them all, the depth of the violet, amethyst orbs she possessed, flecked with blueberry hues. It all blended together in perfection to produce the pool of color that could swallow him whole with extended exposure. Boruto's jaw dropped a few centimeters because of how her eyelids relaxed. She used her curled index finger to close it for him.
"I have to go now, I'll probably be gone for a few weeks. Take care of everyone for me!" she said before raising her fist to him. This time it wasn't for punching. Boruto bumped his own against hers.
"Haha, sure thing!"
Akua turned and ran back to her comrades. It was time to leave if they were to be on time. She placed the ointment in her back pouch then lead the way as the group of three vanished into the trees. At this point, all focus was now tailored towards the mission. All except for one person's. "That was the Seventh's son, wasn't it?"
"Mhm," Akua replied, pouncing and leaping from a branch.
"Heh, I didn't know you were so popular."
"There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Hishiro."
"Woah, Shrimp's getting all jumbo now, huh? Talking up to higher ranks all sassy…" Mirai teased.
Akua rolled her eyes and launched herself forward, accumulating velocity. She broke the 160 km/h barrier with ease. Their first objective was to arrive at their checkpoint. It was a rest stop compound about 1600 km from the border. Here they would regather themselves in a base that Konoha's shinobi used specifically for their travels. Several of these were scattered across the vast country. The trip would take them at least 24 hours to arrive, however, not including any time they took to eat or sleep. The team left Konoha at around 7:00 am in the morning and travelled until around 9:00 pm later that night. That was when they decided to rest after a long day of constant running.
They set up clearing within the forest to be their camp for the night. Sleeping bags were laid out and a lantern was lit. Mirai immediately collapsed into the padding of her mattress, falling asleep without even entering it. It was much too hot, even at night, in order to do that anyway. Akua sat towards the flickering of the amber flames within the glass. Her knees were bent and her forearms rested across them with her chin pressed on top. Hishiro sat on the other side within the radius of fluxing light. He was still and motionless in his seated position, supported by one of his arms. "Hey," Akua called. There was no response. From the corner of her eye, she saw no significant movement or attempt to answer. "Hey," she snapped her fingers until he stirred. "Why are you staring at me."
"Oh crap," he said, shaking his head clear. "My bad, I just—"
"Were staring at me."
"Forgive me, your eyes are quite hypnotic when they blend with this light. It's like the violet is fighting against it, never being cloaked by the lantern."
"Uh-huh…I don't usually get 'hypnotic' a lot. But it's not fair that you can sit here and stare when I've yet to see your face."
"Anbu aren't allow to reveal their appearance while on their missions."
"Quit being a stinge. There's no one around here for miles to see you."
Hishiro exhaled in submission to her demand. "Very well." The tips of his fingers clung to the glimmering material of his mask, detaching it from around his face. When his hand came down and the light touched his skin, Akua glanced for a moment then shifted her gaze back to the lantern.
"Wasn't that hard now, was it?"
"Well that wasn't really the reason…" There was a long pause after he spoke. Akua didn't pay any attention to him afterwards. His appearance wasn't that striking to her. In fact, he looked exactly how she thought he did. The shape of his eyes were sharp and his eyebrows were thin. His hair covered much of his forehead, but there was nothing of significance there. His skin was free of any marks that stood out. "Why did you want to see my face so earnestly?"
"I just wanted to confirm my speculations. Usually when people put on masks there's something important they want to hide. But you don't seem to have anything."
The way Hishiro's shoulders drooped made Akua think he interpreted her words differently, but she shrugged it off. There was another long pause. Hishiro attempted to spark conversation again. "Well it's true. I don't have any cool scars or anything. I don't think my appearance is unappealing, though."
"It's good to have confidence."
"G-…Yes indeed," he said, trying to laugh off the potential blow. "You're a lot less open than I thought you would be, Akua."
"Why would I be open to someone I just—" She stopped herself. She'd opened up to Boruto in the first few minutes of their encounter. Although this wasn't the same, she figured another friend wouldn't hurt. "Why are you so interested in talking to me?"
"I think there's an abnormally mysterious aura about you. I'm curious. I also wasn't able to learn much about you from Ms. Karin."
"You know my mother? How?"
"Ah! Now you're talking, splendid!"
"Tsk, whatever, explain yourself."
"Whenever she would leave the city, I would accompany her for protection. That is what I've been doing recently. However, someone new will be doing that until I return. I know about yours and her situation with Kusagakure. We wouldn't want them attacking her out where we can't help her now do we."
"And they sent a kid to bodyguard."
"Hey! I'm 14 years old, thank you very much!" He sat up and folded his arms.
"I didn't ask."
"Gah! Don't be so rude. Besides, you're a little younger than me, yet I'm sure you're not just a 'kid'. I've seen you fight afterall."
"If they sent who I think they would, one Anbu member wouldn't be able to stop them."
"You might be right, but the Seventh seems to trust my abilities."
"Arrogance and confidence are two completely different things."
"Heh, you're a lot wiser than you look too."
Akua rolled her eyes, now gazing away from the lantern. The girl then decided to clock out. She scooted back from the lantern and unravelled her sleeping back. The position in which Mirai slumbered was mimicked as to avoid the heat within the padding. She laid herself on her side, facing away from the light. "I'm going to sleep. You've got watch."
"Wait! How long are you—"
"Good night."
"Akua!"
There was no response. She was ignoring him now; no one could fall asleep that quickly. The boy sighed and complied. He wasn't thinking about waking the girl so he decided Mirai would be the next best choice if he got tired.
The second leg of the trip to their checkpoint went by without any complications. This compound was were they would be returning to for the next few weeks after each individual task until their deployment duty was fulfilled. They didn't stay long once they arrived however, only a few hours. There they refreshed themselves on what their actual mission was. Their current objectives resided in three specific targets within the Land of Grass itself. Two of them were industrial factories, and the third was a textile storehouse, all of which were owned by the government. It benefitted them that the locations where in such proximity to each other as well as the border.
Once they finalized their first task, they were off. They travelled the last couple hundred kilometers to the edge of the Fire country and scaled the cliffs that lined the border. Once that imaginary line was crossed, it was like the atmospheric content changed for Akua by the way her chest tightened up. She felt some sort of disgusting nostalgia to this country that she couldn't fully comprehend. Nothing was said, however, and they continued on. By that time the sun was creeping down behind the horizon and they were drawing nearer to their destination. The landscape of the Grass country in some areas was not much different than the Land of Fire. Vast and unique forests defined a majority of the landscape. Giant mushrooms or bamboo could be found in some of those areas as well as tall grassy plains. Old rivers cut deep ravines into the ground over thousands of years and expansive jungles rich with plant life were prevalent. These were some of the places that Akua literally grew up in.
The time for reminiscing was over. The mission was only a few minutes away from commencing. The sun disappeared from the heavens and the earth was shrouded by the darkness of the night sky. The only shadows were caused by the beaming display of light refracting from the full moon. The team was approximately one kilometer away from the first target, the storehouse. "Oh, here guys, take these," Mirai remembered, "we'll need them to communicate."
She handed Akua and Hishiro an ear piece with a built in microphone. Each of them were wirelessly linked to each other as well as the command center at their designated rest stop.
The team started to separate as they closed in on the storehouse. It was a three-story, stone complex with large, glass windows and a tall center tower that scaled into the air. At the peak of the tower was a watch house with four patrolling lights. Several Kusa shinobi could be seen within it. Around the perimeter of the complex was steel, barbed wire fencing. Electrical discharge scampered along the chain links and the night shift security were stationed in specific positions without any apparent blind spots in their surveillance. Overall, it was a heavily guarded facility of about 40 acres of land at its disposal. Unauthorized individuals weren't allowed beyond a certain point. However this did not hinder these special Konoha shinobi. There was a buzzing in on their ear pieces. "Hishiro reporting in, is everyone in position?"
"Clear," Mirai and Akua said respectively.
"How many guards are on your ends?" The three of them were in a triangular formation about the perimeter of the complex.
"There are 56 Kusagakure shinobi present on the exterior, I repeat, 56, and 44 on the interior, 44." Akua announced.
"Really, how do you know that?" Hishiro wondered in awe.
"I can sense their chakras. My mother taught me."
"A sensor type, huh? Pretty nifty," he voiced over the mic.
"I'm suppressing our chakra signatures now," Akua warned, "we'll begin in three… two… one…"
And they vanished into the cloaking darkness.
A soft breeze pranced through the area. CRASH! It was interrupted by the felling of a massive oak about 300 meters southeast of the storage house. The impact shook the earth and rustled, flimsy leaves as well as the creatures that inhabited them. The attention of the men and women occupying the compound was drawn for a moment before they focused on their watch duty. One moment was all that was needed. Akua had already infiltrated, creeping along the roof of the facility. She noticed as she crossed the threshold, there was indeed a chakra detecting barrier visible from the inside. Around that time, two ninja were instructed to investigate the timbering in the forest, only to find no traces of any person having been there.
One of the men in the central tower noticed the lurking of an unidentified individual within the perimeter of the complex. No one should be leaving their post at this time, especially in such a suspicious manner. It was clear to him that this person was not supposed to be here. He realized a bit too late before he could spot them with his light, unfortunately. The barely audible sound of sandals clicking against the ground of the watch house caused him to turn on instinct. In the middle of his rotation thuds were heard, which resulted in him spinning around instead. There he saw the three incapacitated bodies of his comrades, but only for a glance. The rest of his experience was characterized by two scarlet red harbingers of light. And then there was nothing for him.
Akua scanned the four individuals, the light emitted from her eyes like a beacon in the darkness against their bodies. She toned it down as much as she could though, to avoid detection. This was difficult as there was nigh a time when her crimson vision was dull. "Watch tower is clear, over. Proceed with mission," she declared.
Mirai complied. She scuttled across the open field of the compound without the worry of the lights spotting her. They were being operated still by clones of Akua as to not alert the other guards, but their path was altered so that Mirai was not detected. The Sarutobi girl sneaked up the side of the wall while Hishiro reported in, "Were there any casualties, Akua?"
"No, I used genjutsu."
"Alright, keep Kusa death's to a minimum. We're not here to kill anyone."
"Got it," she said before removing her finger from the ear piece. Akua witnessed Mirai approach along the wall towards the wide window panels. Her trench knives were drawn and a sharp ignition of chakra coated the blades. Four precise cuts were made, and she kicked in on a lower portion of the glass. The entire square panel unhinged from its sealed bindings and rotated counterclockwise about its center instead of falling to shatter. This gave Mirai time to catch and remove it silently so she could enter.
"I'm inside the storage house, I repeat, inside the storage house," she said before her microphone tuned out.
With that being said, Akua opened the latch in the floor of the tower and descended into the storehouse and Hishiro was on his way back from the tree site. Within a few minutes all three shinobi were within the facility, having bypassed all 56 guards without so much as a whimper by either of them. The interior of the storehouse was a simple, hollow space. The stone walls and ceilings were supported by steel beams. Two layers of balcony, constructed of the same metal were built against the beams, encircling their perimeter. The top balcony had two bridges that extended across to the other side, a scattered population of ninja moving around with 44 pairs of eyes patrolling within. The ground level was where all the product and supplies were being kept, organized in rows and columns and teeming with lighting all around. Furthermore, there was a surprising discovery. "Guys, I have some information to reveal," Mirai reported.
"What is it," Hishiro whispered, now within the storehouse itself.
"I learned that they aren't just storing textiles here. It's… much more than that."
"How did you figure that out so soon?" Hishiro questioned.
"Heh, C'mon now, you think Akua's the only one skilled at genjutsu?"
Akua giggled over the microphone. "What else did you find out, Mirai?"
"I infiltrated the mind of one of these shinobi and apparently there are other raw materials here as well as stashes of ninja tools in most of the crates. Some of these things are quite excessive, especially for a small country like the Grass. There are also mechanical parts for large artillery. Seems like the textile label was just a guise."
"Interesting," Hishiro responded, "well done. I'll confiscate some of these parts as proof. Let me know where they are. You two continue on."
"Sure thing."
Akua was already a few steps ahead. She had already dispatched the 16 shinobi within the balconies and disabled all electrical framework with her lightning chakra nature. The entire facility fell into darkness. Hishiro's mask was equipped with night vision technology which he switched on the moment light disappeared. Mirai had a similar device, except she had to wear hers like a pair of glasses. Akua too had the same device as Mirai but didn't deem it necessary for her. She was able to sense the positions of each shinobi regardless and move accordingly. The Kusa guards fell into chaos, unaware of what to do and where they were. Shouting and screaming by the frightened men and women boomed throughout the hollow building. They were becoming quite unorganized now and this was used to Konoha's advantage. Within a few minutes, they were able to reactivate the power and the chaos subsided. Light revealed the Kusa nin to each other, and there was a calm silence.
"OUTSIDE! WE'VE SPOTTED A BATTALION OF MILITANT SHINOBI BEYOND THE PERIMETER," boomed the now functional loudspeaker, "ALL SHINOBI ARE ORDERED TO ENGAGE ENEMY TARGETS OUTSIDE." And so they did. The Kusa nin fled the interior of the facility to combat the nameless bandits. However as they would slash and cut with their weapons, the bodies of the bandits dispersed like exiled phantoms.
"Are they all out, Akua?" Hishiro asked.
"Yea, all kusa nin have exited."
Hishiro held a hand sign.
BOOM! The was no time between the handsign and the volatile storm of combustion that swelled the storage facility and poured out from broken glass panels. A spectacular array of various reds, oranges and yellows melded together into the explosive ball the gnawed out the interior of the building. The black of the night burned away from the spark of light that flashed and flames screamed to life in the aftermath. Scorching debris and scarred steel burst from within and rained down from the impact. The foundation of the building itself shook and cracks raced across the infrastructure. Another chain of explosions rattled off caused by the denotation of materials already present beforehand. The tower collapsed in on itself in the last moments after the destructive climax. Kusa nin on the outside had been caught in the shockwave and displaced, unaware that their building was a ticking time bomb. Much to their confusion, the bandits had vanished as well.
"Shit… the guys in the tower…" Hishiro remembered.
"Don't fret yourself," Akua asserted. "It's unrealistic to think that we could do something like this without any casualties." The girl turned and leaped to another branch. The group itself was at least 500 meters away in the deep forest. "Now come on, we have other targets." Akua never expected that she would say something as mature as she did just now. Her experiences as a shinobi seemed to be taking their toll, however slight it may be. Whether or not it was positive or negative was to the interpretation of the observer. To Hishiro, he was distraught at the unnecessary death, but impressed at the same time that a girl so young could accept the consequences of the real world so… calmly.
"I suppose you're right," he agreed.
"Maybe I should use my phantom warrior genjutsu first next time to draw their attention?" Mirai suggested.
"As long as we don't get detected, then sure."
Such was how their missions transpired over the course of several weeks. Several small splinter cells of Konoha shinobi targeted and destroyed Kusagakure points of interest. After the first week, it was even discovered that the country was indeed mobilizing in order to lead an assault in the coming future against Konohagakure. Their progress was being slowed, much to the benefit of the Leaf. Since the beginning of their covert campaign, the stocks of Kusagakure industry plummeted. Also taking sharp blows were the military production rates and the amount of income that entered the country. This hindered them from obtaining any excess funds and forced Jurou Hideyoshi to pour out his own money if he wanted his operations to continue. And so he did. Despite the slowing of the economy, Jurou kick started it once more by his own hands. This was after he met with the Seventh Hokage on diplomatic intentions where he requested aid in capturing the culprits behind the destruction of his production facilities as well as the returning of the weapon stolen from Kusagakure. Naruto, being the nice person he is, agreed to help the Lord despite being the leader of the shinobi causing the damage. However, he refused to search for the weapon brought over into his country and prohibited Kusa-nin from entering to retrieve it. Naruto, encouraged by his advisors, believed that keeping Kusagakure in check would reduce the threat of war. That, coupled with the lack of aid from Konoha in discovering the ones behind the attacks, served to infuriate Jurou.
After about one month, it was discovered that the mysterious ninja that were spotted around the Fire Country were not the mercenaries of Ethuriel. They were Kusagakure shinobi in disguise. Although they weren't anywhere near Konoha itself, this action behind the Hokage's back increased tensions between the two countries. Therefore, Konoha did not yield their assaults, and Kusagakure was still clueless. As far as the raiding continued, there were fewer casualties. The infiltration parties became efficient in getting their assignments done without taking lives and being detected.
Akua hadn't realized it since she was too focused on dismantling the Grass country, but her birthday had already passed. It took messages that she saw on her phone a few days later to remember that she had actually turned 12. She received a week of vacation time from the front before returning for another mission, perhaps the most significant task she would take part in that year.
Hōfu was the name given to one of six mega-facilities, located on the western end of the Grass country. It was 300 total acres of land occupied by steels mills, construction and storage houses, laboratories, and an enormous, centerpiece production factory that dwarfed any of the other complexes Konoha destroyed. The factory was where all raw materials were processed and packed into crates to be stored. The mills themselves were connected to the main factory. Within them, metal was smelted and welded together for the mass production of ninja tools and larger weapons of destruction. In order to secure such a larger area, a legion of shinobi were required, not including the workers themselves. There were perhaps about one thousand Kusa nin scattered across the facility. Despite these impossible odds, Akua's team walked right through the front door.
Since the Grass country requested aid, rather than going through the trouble of maneuvering through their defenses, Konoha decided to send their shinobi in through the escort of Kusa. Once inside, they were stationed in separate spots well out of the range of the structure of importance, the factory. It seemed that there was a lack of trust apparent between the two countries. "Mission Control checking in. Leaf One, do you copy?"
"Leaf One, Hishiro, reporting in."
"Leaf One, Akua, reporting in."
"Leaf One, Mirai, reporting in."
"Golden! What's the status?"
Hishiro spoke up. He checked around for any nearby Kusa nin. "We've successfully infiltrated but there's been a mishap."
"What is it?"
"We've been split up. And I can sense that we're on different ends of Hōfu," Akua informed.
"Goddamnit!" They could hear the crashing of a fist on a desk.
"Stay calm Mission Control," Hishiro said.
"Yea, Leaf One has got this under their belt!"
The team adapted to the new mission conditions with ease. There wasn't much difficulty to it. Each member was able to produce a decoy and guide themselves within the shadows of the facility, but had to wait two hours until it was dark enough. Akua was the closest in proximity to the factory and was able to sneak her way into the industrial building. From her vantage point she was able to see the several floors, walled off sections and inner mechanisms that steamed and clanked around. The entire interior had the glow of magma painting the walls and tinting the atmosphere, produced from the tempering of metals. After crossing the threshold, it became difficult for her to breath. The chemical mist within the building was stifling, and regardless of the intense heat, there was a chill down her spine. "Mirai, Hishiro, are you two ready?"
"Yea I'm on my way, Shrimp," Mirai reported.
"I've begun planting," included Hishiro.
"Alright." Akua turned and leapt down to one of the balconies against the wall with feather feet. "I'll start prepping the bombs as well," she thought. The girl had to be careful though. Kusa nin were stationed on every corner down below. She would have to be as subtle as she had ever been in order to accomplish anything. She treaded without a sound, her movements swift. Her chakra was suppressed and undetectable, used only to provide a cushion underneath the soles of her sandals. The monstrosity of size the factory possessed was used to her and her team mate's advantage. Size meant that there was more space for the Kusa nin to search and more places for the Konoha nin to conceal themselves.
Akua positioned explosive tags that melted into the surfaces they were planted upon. She was able to tip toe her way around guards to each specific location required of her flawlessly. Within ten minutes she had completed her portion of the task and was ready to rendezvous with her team, but the ship of her elusive concealability sailed.
The Uchiha girl advanced across the high balcony like a ghost when three kunai zipped through the air with the intent to kill. The tips of the knives hit the wall like darts. Her eyes immediately drew themselves towards the projectiles as she was able to stop, lean back and allow them to pass by only inches away. Had she reacted a split second later her face would've been skewered. The sound of splitting air continued, and Akua backflipped several times to safety, followed by a barrage of the deadly knives, each one sinking deep into the solid stone walls. She landed in a position knelt on one knee, able to release her breath when she heard the ruffling of clothing. Her head tilted up to witness the individual who was present, shrouded in all black. It was as if there was a blank void of a silhouette standing before her. To Akua's right were large window panels, and when the light beams of the watchtowers passed, she was able to make out the details of the cloaked, phantom figure.
Akua wasn't able to determine the gender of this individual, their attire didn't permit it. The feet were covered by dark close-toed boots and on the legs, shinobi pants of a similar color. The features of their upper body were a mystery as it was hidden underneath a cloak that extended down to the beginning of the thighs. All she could see was the coat that rested underneath it. The individual had black gloves and a harness around their waist that appeared to hold a weapon. Physically, this person wasn't as tall as the average Kusa-nin and didn't seem very muscular. They bore no signs of village affiliation either. Akua scoured her brain for an answer as the enigma lifted their head. The hood they wore revealed the full obsidian mask that covered their face, resembling a human skull. It fashioned sharp edge details and contours but was flat around the mouth area, bearing no teeth or any signs of a mouth itself. Blank white highlights glided across its surface when the source passed over. Akua wasn't able to tell whether or not the eye holes were covered or hollow, but that didn't matter. It was the most sinister shinobi besides Tanoshimi that she'd ever come across.
Akua was putting the pieces together now. This person bore no affiliation to a village. They were able to detect and uncover her location with ease, a feat that was virtually impossible by any of the Kusa ranks to achieve. Furthermore, their grace and proficiency with the kunai was inhumane. This could only mean that this shinobi was from the Genesis Program. "Konoha shinobi weren't supposed to come near the factory," the male voice grated through the breathing holes of the mask, distorting its true sound to one that rattled the bones of the weary. "You don't belong here, girl."
"I was… I saw something suspicious so I decided to follow it here…"
"Heh, don't lie to me."
Akua was close to falling short with her reaction time when the sound of sharp, clashing steel rung. The Genesis shinobi had drawn his weapon and cleaved his weapon down upon the knelt girl with inhuman speed. The blade of a wakizashi and Akua's ninjato grinded against each other. "W-What are you doing..! This is.. A violation between Kusa and Konoha's agreement!" She was being overpowered, even though she had her palm against the other end of her ninjato. The masked individual's sword was weighing down on her now.
"I don't take orders from Kusagakure."
Akua couldn't overcome this strength. She broke the clash and rolled out of the way of the chopping blade. When it bounced against the floor of the balcony she swiped her right arm, slicing across the figure's waist. But when the action was completed there was no one there. Akua's acute senses tingled her skin and she jolted her eyes upwards to the airborne roundhouse kick that crashed into her left temple. The girl's body whipped to the right, and the side of her head parallel to the level of her eye collided directly into the balcony railing. Her brain beat against the walls of her cranium and in a dizzy haze, she stumbled back with her rear hitting the ground.
"Hey! I heard some noise over the microphone, what's going on on your ends?" Mirai whispered with a notch up in her voice. The girl was busy planting her bombs.
"It's all clear over here," Hishiro chimed in.
"Akua?" Mirai called, "Akua!" She tried to make her voice as low yet as audible to the microphone as possible. "Fuck it, Hishiro, I'm heading over there."
"Alright, I'll continue the preparation, be there in a sec."
Akua's hand matted the ground until she was able to grasp the hilt of her ninjato, not comprehending the voices of her comrades in her head. Her right hand was against her temple. She had to wipe the blood spilling from the gash near her eyebrow. It was definitely going to need stitches if she survived this battle. The future didn't seem too bright for her. The world was spinning now, and she could barely make a clear image of what was in front of her for a moment. She didn't understand why this person was allowing her to recuperate either. Genesis shinobi were taught to be relentless in combat. It was decided that the way she was now would result in her death. Therefore, it was time for her to act. Akua's eyes shut while she rose to her feet. Once settled, she finally came to her senses and opened her eyelids, revealing the morphing of violet to crimson. Akua's Sharingan bloomed to life with the three signature tomoe spiraling around her pupils. There was an unmatched, natural-burning fury in the hues that made up her iris. "Such, beautiful eyes…"
Their blades clicked and clashed against each other upon the balcony. The male assailant was ruthless with his strikes, hammering down against Akua's ninjato. The impacts sent vibrations crawling up her arm and caused an uncomfortable ringing in her eardrums. Her movements were noticeably slowing due to the head trauma she sustained. Each parry lead to the individual bashing Akua's sword out of the way and throwing her off balance, only for her to have to struggle and regain her composure. The male, who had a physique not much different from her own was advancing upon her. Akua switched her method of combat after the last slash and focused on the offensive, charging with wild swings at her opponent. Her crimson eyes trailed the individual wherever they went and he mocked her by simply evading her sluggish strikes. Everything was occurring rather quickly. Only a few seconds had passed since this person spoke. The grunts of Akua's voice as she attacked and the noise of steel were the only present sounds. Luckily, the two drew little attention towards themselves. The guards weren't able to hear them at their altitude underneath the pressing steam, the roaring of generators and the tireless work of machinery. Furthermore, the area was large enough to devour the sounds they did make.
The individual shrouded in the darkness of his clothing decided to no longer give Akua the benefit of the doubt. Upon their next clash, he slacked his wakizashi and allowed her momentum to pull her towards him. The male stepped around her as she fell forward and stopped the girl with the gut wrenching strike of his knee, followed up by the rebounding of his roundhousing shin. Akua was able to use her forearms to protect herself but was thrown onto her back by the force of impact, sprawling out against the balcony. Her head was spinning again, and it became harder for her to keep her eyes open and focused. "Tell me… what do you actually see with those eyes of yours?"
Akua scooted along her backside to sit up and get distance all the while trying to suck in enough air to breathe. "…W-Who the fuck are you…"
The black leathery material of the individual's gloves tightened around the skin of Akua's neck. She clenched her teeth and her face twisted in fright at the sudden drop in her oxygen intake. Her mouth opened, desperately trying to fill her lungs. The crimson of her sharingan seemed to be bleeding out into her sclera by the way her eyes became bloodshot during her struggle. Her attacker thrusted his arm and knocked her back into the floor repeatedly before pressing her against the cold metal. She watched his upper body descend, leaning over while she searched the balcony for her weapon with one hand, and his wrist in the other. She was gasping now, and his polished black mask was in her face. Her sharingan tightened as he got closer. "Why would that matter to YOU of all people." He slammed her again, rocking the entire length of the balcony.
"W-What are you…" she forced out of her collapsing throat, "a-are you talking… ab-bou-t..!"
"I don't know. What am I talking about? Hm?" His head lifted with his mask in ponder.
Akua was too busy suffocating to respond. Her face flushing to a dull purple from the abundance of deoxygenated blood in her system.
"Perhaps I should give myself a name. This outfit is quite new after all." He was speaking to himself at this point. "Nothing too complex… A nickname or alias of some sort… Ah I know…" His head returned to gaze down through the empty eye sockets of the mask. "Do you think Kuro Hensō is simple enough? I think it has a nice ring to—"
He was interrupted by the swipe of Akua's ninjato across his form. However, he was able to anticipate and evade, using Akua's neck to vault himself over the blade and front flip to his feet. The girl spit up a quarter pint of blood as she rolled over to her stomach. This was followed by her returning to her own feet.
"Your technique is dull and sloppy. Perhaps Konoha's softened you up too much."
"Shut your mouth… you don't know a thing about me!" She growled. Akua charged with a newfound willpower and cleaved her ninjato down. But it was stopped short, her wrist was caught by her opponent. At that moment his weapon swung around only to have his wrist caught by her free hand.
"Is that so…?"
Akua's eyes narrowed, not only in anger, but she was trying to reduce the amount of wavering opponents she was seeing. The were in a stalemate face to face. Akua attempted to use this proximity to her advantage. "Sharingan!" Her eyes widened and flashed with the hypnotic glow unique to the scarlet eyes. The tomoe were nearly swallowed by the light.
"Stunning as they may be… those useless eyes won't work on me…" Akua learned the answer to her previous question. The eye sockets were in fact hollowed out for the male to see. And through them he combatted the gleam of Akua's eyes with the twin, blood red hues that ignited beneath the mask through the shadows cascading his face.
In that instance, Akua found herself in an endless, pitch black plane with only a white horizon line in the distance. When she looked down towards her feet, she saw the ripples of liquid around her ankles. What was more disturbing was the blank, contrasting figure that wavered in the dark ocean, appearing before her after she blinked. It was her shadow, but instead of it being an absence of light, her shadow was light. In fact it completely was void of any color, pure white. She deduced that was in an inverted reality of negative space. Even her own body was affected by the black and white contrasts. But it was no domain of her own. The shadow stretched far and wide. The physical laws governing the normal world didn't exist here, and the white silhouette body painted the sky. From it, a being peeled from the walls of the plane to release a ghastly, howling screech that shook her very soul from the bearings of her body. Her heart was a frozen block of fear.
Akua's experiences continued with her reactions carried over into reality. She threw herself back and crashed into the ground holding her eyes. Her ninjato clamped against the balcony and slipped off the edge. It hit a series of objects that led its trajectory into a bath of molten steel. Screams of terror ripped themselves from an already damaged throat, and the helpless girl rolled along the ground as her mind was infected and tampered with. "…they won't work on me, at least the way you are now."
"Get away from her!" Mirai suddenly shouted. The girl swooped down and threw a slashing fist with her trench knife that forced the cloaked individual to gain some distance. "You certainly don't know how to treat women," she teased, continuing her rescue. Her humor was short lived. Hensō wasted no time. He had already made his way past Mirai and dragged his blade across her back which forced a yelp from her. The slash split open her flak jacket and sliced a bursting line of blood down her skin. Mirai endured that pain, however and used her spinning left heel to knock Hensō's weapon out of his hand. Therefore, he switched to taijutsu. All of her trench knife jabs were either dodged, or redirected by his palm. Every once in awhile she would be overwhelmed by his martial arts efficiency and be jarred around by the blows of his fists. Mirai's body was durable though, and she continued her fast hands. Yet Hensō anticipated and reacted to each strike with little effort as he backed up against the balcony. The thudding of Mirai's halted limbs in the middle of her attacks was then devoured by rumbling of a nearby explosion.
The earth quaked from the destructive aftermath and the entire factory's foundation shook. Both Mirai and Hensō had to brace themselves against the rattling balcony. This gave Mirai a period of rest to take in the appearance of her mysterious opponent to which she was startled. The bright, superheated metals below them emitted a light that reflected off the obsidian of the mask. It was like she was staring into the face of a demon from the deepest abyss in hell. "Another Konoha shinobi in the factory they were specifically told not to be…"
Mirai was on her hands and knees now. She had not noticed it until now, and she was reminded that hot air rises. The boiling, thousand degree pot of material below them stifled the atmosphere she breathed. The sweat was dripping down her face and hair, and her skin was tinted with her burning blood. Clearly exhausted, the girl never took her eyes off of her opponent. "Are you insane…" she huffed. Another series of eruptions sounded. Below them was the raiding force of the unknown bandit shinobi. "…we were here to help you idiots because of them!" she lied. To any other person it would seem that attacking the Konoha shinobi was the wrong thing to do, but there were no signs of emotion or regret in Hensō's mannerisms. His mask tilted as if he was gazing down below.
Kuro Hensō casually reached his left arm across his body to catch Hishiro's sudden fist, almost disregarding his presence. Mirai wasn't even able to see the Anbu arrive, and she was staring in that direction the entire time. "Now now…"—his fingers clenched around Hishiro's cracking knuckles—"those shinobi down there… they don't look too menacing," he responded to Mirai. None of the past few seconds seemed real to her. There was no way he should've been able to detect her teammate. The disbelief was written all over her expression. She saw the way Hishiro's teeth clenched in irritation. There was a flash of steel as the chokuto in his left hand cut across where Hensō head was. All he did was slice air. The masked individual ducked spun clockwise to his right, unravelling the reach of his left arm. He then proceeded to bury his right elbow into Hishiro's ribcage, deflating his diaphragm. The expelling air in the Anbu's chest forced his mouth open, only to be beaten into by the back of Hensō's palm. The material of the Anbu mask dented into his nose. Before Hishiro could react to that, he was stricken with another attack, launched by an extending sidekick just as the sweeping of his sword cut fully across. Everything in that moment happened within three seconds and on the fourth his back was hurtling towards the platform of the balcony. He immediately caught himself in a backflip and landed in a crouched position with his chokuto braced in front of him, preventing the painful collision
"This guy…he's not a normal shinobi…" the Anbu speculated.
"They look more like an illusionary diversion to me…" the individual continued. "I wonder why that might be."
Mirai was silent. Her genjutsu didn't seem to affect him.
"Tsk… why don't you go find out?" Hishiro instigated. He decided to launch another assault, but his body wouldn't allow it. His muscles were frozen solid within the piercing heat. His legs and arms were trembling. It confused him until he realized why his body wouldn't do what he was telling it to. He was staring directly into the mask's eye sockets, empty except for a bloody crimson gleam in each. Hishiro's own eyes beneath his mask widened in witness of what he was looking at, although he couldn't comprehend it. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face due to the fact that he was virtually defenseless. The only part of his body that was overworking was his climbing heartrate.
"You look a little pale," Hensō commented. He was now crouched with his forearms rested and hanging inward over his knees, shining that gleam against Hishiro's damaged mask. "Weren't you going to do something?" he mocked. "Now's your chance."
Hishiro gulped. He couldn't even move his jaw under the spell of paralysis. All he could see was his distorted reflection in the shining black canvas where the individual's face would be.
"I guess not." Hensō glanced behind himself to Mirai and then back towards Hishiro before he stood up and spoke again. "You two have ruined my will to fight. And they call you shinobi… heh." His footwear clicked against the steel balcony as he walked past Hishiro toward the girl he had laid on the ground behind him. "Especially you."
Akua was collecting herself against the floor, trying to slide away from the approaching enemy. Her right eye was covered by her palm, but the dull red in her left eye was visible. Her teeth gritted together.
The individual simply walked passed her as well, but she didn't dare to turn to see him. That was until he said, "The other two are irrelevant… but you… know that you live today so that you can be of use to me in the future… Akua."
Her chest throbbed. She turned and stumbled to get up against the rail. "You… how do you know my name!"
There was no response other than the ceasing of the individual's movement. He offered one last glance that forced goosebumps out of Akua's skin.
"What did you do to me… how did you negate my..!" She was becoming frustrated now. "Answer me!"
No response. He walked towards the location of his Wakizaki, picked it up from the floor, and then climbed the rail. Portions of the factory were crumbling in now. Eruptions blasted the hinges from molten steel containers, causing them to thud against the floor they were on and release the heated materials onto collateral objects. Machinery was either destroyed in the explosive forces or crushed by the flailing parts of another mechanism. Akua with her weak, mentally tortured body staggered after Hensō, but he had already tilted over the ledge. The girl arrived and fell against the rail where he had stood only moments ago, reaching down while he disappeared into the chaos.
Tunnels of combusting material drilled through the structures of the factory. The alarms of the compound were blaring, and instructive announcements were being made. The forces of Kusagakure were combatting the illusionary bandits. "Can we get the hell out of here..?" Mirai complained. Hishiro suddenly caught himself from collapsing; the paralysis had worn off.
"Fuck..!" he cursed. The Anbu glanced back at Akua for a moment to examine her condition. She sat with her back against the rail with her head tilted down and a blank expression on her face; her Sharingan was already deactivated. He then examined Mirai. She was just able to get to her feet but was thrown against the rail by the unstable rumbling of the factory. "Mirai, can you run?"
"Yea I'm fine… this wound is nothing..!" she boasted. The pain across her back was crippling, but she refused to admit it. "A couple stitches would be nice though… and some pain killers…"
"I don't think Akua is doing well… who the hell was that guy though? He was…"
"I don't know but he's gone now, so let's be thankful and high tail it outta here. Pick up Akua and let's go."
Within a few minutes they were well out of the area of Hōfu. They could still see the active explosions, the collapsing building and the corona of citrine light that illuminated the night. They were resting upon an elevated branch in the forest, large enough to provide enough space for all three of them. They had a clear view of the spectacle only a few hundred meters away. "I think Akua's got a concussion, Mirai. She's not responding properly. We should call a medivac"—he turned his body a bit so he could see the girl behind him—"…"
"Do you know how to do stitches?" she asked, couched with needle in one hand and a cotton swab dabbed with rubbing alcohol in the other. She didn't seem to mind that her entire upper body was vacant of any type of clothing.
"Mirai! What the hell!" Hishiro reacted, covering his mask so he wouldn't be tempted to stare at her curvaceous, naked chest or the hourglass shape of her torso.
"I need to get this shit stitched before I bleed out and die okay?! And I can't reach my back at all, and the clothing is in the way so just shut up, take that hand off your face, and help me, ya pussy!" She thrusted the materials forward. "We don't have time for a medivac either. We're already suspects and they're out searching for us most likely so hurry."
"But…"
"What? Never seen a pair of boobs before? Geesh. C'mon, the wound is on my back so you won't even see'em!" She turned around and held her hands up above her shoulders.
"Are you turned yet?"
"Yes."
Hishiro complied. He took the swab and disinfected the deep wound, to which Mirai flinched and yelled. He then attempted to apply the stitches. His hands weren't very steady and he refused to touch her bare back. Mirai rolled her eyes because of how long he took. There was the occasional yelp, and gasp at the pain of the needle sticking through her skin. Hishiro might have done more harm than good, but the wound was closed now. Mirai was able to wrap her torso in bandages and proceeded to return the clothing to her body.
"Alright," she said, "let's go home."
The next couple of days was a recovery period for the team. They were allowed to recuperate at their rest stop before they returned to Konoha. Akua was quite mute during that time, however. The most she did was apply the ointment Boruto gave her to the wound near her brow twice a day. She and Mirai were given an extended leave due to injury and Hishiro was eventually deployed once again soon after. From this point on, the tensions would only increase.
Jurou Hideyoshi sat comfortably in a personal lounge room located in his palace that he also used for one on one meetings. It was fashioned with expensive velvet couches, platinum refrigerators, golden coffee tables, an indoor koi pond, and shoji screens along the walling with a mystical forestry theme. The person he welcomed into his abode wasn't phased by the pampered elegance of Hideyoshi's lifestyle. "So…" the Lord started, "you're the one Ginzen provided for us?" The man examined what appeared to be a boy cloaked in black attire, and a face covered by solid, onyx birthstone.
"Precisely."
"That mask necessary?"
"Yes."
"I don't like when people hide things from me," he informed, narrowing his eyes.
"I don't believe that my appearance is of any importance to you. But I have information for you that is."
"Heh, pretty insightful aren't ye?" Hideyoshi removed the kiseru, or thin tobacco pipe and expelled the smoke from his nose. "Then what did you find out?"
"I believe Konoha is behind the incidents regarding your industries."
"…I see… the conniving bastards."
"That's all I have to say."
"Do you have any proof?"
"I encountered them in the Hōfu factory a few days ago. The intangible bandits that were terrorizing your properties were mere illusions. That's all the proof I have. Whether or not you take my word for it is up to you." Kuro Hensō turned towards the exit. There was a moment of silence before Jurou spoke up.
"Wait."
Hensō stopped.
"Tell Ginzen he'll get the support he wanted, the bastard."
The black cloak billowed as Hensō approached the door and exited the room after Hideyoshi's words.
Several hours later found the boy within the headquarters of the Genesis program in Kusagakure—the city was located northeast of Jurou's palace. He walked down the long, dark, narrow hallway, lit only by blue flamed lanterns. Upon entering the compound, his hood was removed and rested around his shoulders. He arrived at a junction with a high ceiling and mural glass ornating the roof, split into ten sections. The wide, circular space in front of him was empty except for the three different hallway paths. He intentionally stopped in the center. There was a presence behind him. "What do you want, Tanoshimi?" He didn't look back at girl.
"For you to take that stupid thing off your face. You sound like a goblin."
His shoulders relaxed in a sigh. The mask itself resembled a helmet more because of the fact that the crown of his head was covered rather that just his face. The lower half of the back his head was free however, and his black hair was tied into a ponytail, blending into the colors of the cloak he wore. He used both hands to remove the skeletal mask from his head and held it in his right hand. The frame of his ivory skinned face was visible from behind now. It was a stark contrast with all the black he wore. "Is this better for you?"
"Yes, much better. Now tell me, why'd you volunteer to go?"
"Why does it matter?"
"Just curious."
The boy turned his head to the right and gazed back at the girl. He was able to see her leaned against the wall with her legs crossed and her arms folded at her chest. For her, she was able to see his straight, unkempt black hair that spiked at the ends. He had front bangs that hung around his eyes. She was also able to see the three jagged scar marks along his face caused by some sort of clawed beast. There was one that split over his right eye, another that cut slightly longer down the corner of the socket and cheek bone, the third that basically curved with his jawline. His last distinct feature she saw was the bloody glow in his eye. It had a unique, shuriken-like design pointed straight in all four cardinal directions and a single dot between each leg that produced the light. The gleam of this design bled into the the rest of his iris that was colored a solid black. This was shared between both of his eyes. He turned his head back towards where he was faced and paused before answering Tanoshimi's question. "I wanted more opportunities to utilize these eyes of mine. I hardly get to when I'm around here."
"Well… did you?"
"Barely."
"Heh… I can tell you're hiding something. Who'd you run into?"
His chin anchored down near his neck. "Akua."
"Oh… you saw your big sissy? Don't tell me you were wearing that mask?!" her words were coated in sarcasm.
The boy didn't respond.
"Aw… I'm sure she would've enjoyed that reunion. You're a cruel one, you know."
He continued his pace down the center hallway before him as the white hair girl burst into a short fit of laughter. She didn't accomplish what she was trying to do however, getting under his skin. Very few things were able to do that anymore.
A/N: I'm sure you've figured out who Kuro Hensō is at this point. But did you figure out the other bombshell about him?
I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Again, I apologize for not double releasing today. If the next chapter isn't finished by Monday, I'll push the double release back to chapters 13 and 14 instead for June 18th. These two chapters will be the final installments of this bridging arc before the impending finale and anchor into the next major arc with chapter 15.
Feedback is always appreciated. I enjoy reading and responding to your reviews. I also encourage some of the guest reviewers to make accounts so that I may respond to any questions you might have or you can follow me on deviantart or twitter. The names are the same as my pen name here.
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