Chapter 25: Beneath the Line of Sanity
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters associated with Naruto. Right now the next few chapters will go away from Naruto and Hinata, to the other plots, like Shenlong and Renji.
The smoke from the cigarette blew up into the rainy sky, oddly enough since the rain was coming down like a hail of kunai and shuriken, battering everything that it touched in its wake. The two men were running trying to get out from under the oppressive sky of black and the furious winds that would rip the skin from the body. Both mean were wearing white cloaks to show their status with the Date Clan and kept their wide brim hats over their heads to prevent anyone from seeing their faces making them look more intimidating. They turned the corner down to a red light district, where the women were kept behind a glass window show they could see them, but at the same time, they wouldn't be caught in the rain. They were all dressed in very ecchi clothing, some with very loose kimonos, all sex red, others dressed in the same manner as girls from hentai movies would. Women were what the men had come for, and they weren't leaving until they had gotten it. It all led the two to a large inn that had beautiful women at the windows in school girl outfits.
"Looks like we found an exciting place to find pleasurable company," said one of the men as he walked down to the other side of the inn, taking in the sight of the gorgeous women that were behind the plates of glass. "Which one do you think I should choose?"
"That is your decision and not mine," replied the other one, who had a scar on his cheek.
They didn't see the other man who was watching them from the shadows as he drank his cup of coffee and looked out at them. He knew he couldn't keep it in their pants and he always looked at the man who was smoking, his partner, from across the road as he gave him the nod. The watcher took out a pack of cigars from his leather trench coat and lit it with the matches in his pocket, but the he would have to become the hunter and, luckily for him, the smell of cigar smoke was enough to mask his trails. His partner was smoking a cheap brand of cigarettes that he could get from the local gas station and they were very weak. The watcher however, liked to smoke on an expensive brand of cigars that were imported from another country instead of being made in his home village of suna. His partner smoked cheap cigarettes that were he personally felt were weak and would chide his partner about it from time to time.
The man in the leather trench coat got up and readjusted his sunglasses so no one could see his eyes. He didn't like to give away information to total strangers and his eyes were special, having been a signature trait of his description. The big thing he kept wrapped up in bandages lay next to him and he picked it up as he turned to walk down the street while his partner walked the other way. No one could tell that the two knew each other unless they expected them to be there.
The two men were inside having a great time with the women of the house since they had their pick of choice. The date clan had considerable power and influence in the town, some people considered Date Masamune to be the mayor of the town due to his influence on the mayor and what went on in the city. The two walked upstairs with two women whom they had chosen to be the best of the house and they were shit faced drunk. Their feet shuffled awkwardly on the floor as they lurched about like zombies looking for their next victim. The room they had chosen was a big room with comfy looking king sized beds that were imported from a different country. The rest of the room was done in traditional Japanese style, but the bed was there because it was considered a sign of wealth.
"So what shall we do first ladies," said the one with a scar on his cheek. "Shall we do some song and dance or do we just get straight to the action? We are very eager to get you two in bed, but we think it would be better for you to strip for us."
"I'll take the little one," said the other man. "It looks like her first time and I've been known to be gentle in bringing a child into womanhood."
"That's always your problem," said the scarred cheek one. "You just like them to young for your own good. That's why you've been getting in trouble with the village."
"They can't touch me as long as a I got the Date clan on my said," replied the other one as he flexed a muscle. There was a soft chuckle that sounded like it came from a dark person. The two turned to see a man dressed in a leather trench coat, black shirt, leather pants, and black combat boots. "Who the fuck are you, you creepy bastard?"
"Tell me something," said the man as he looked at him through his dark sunglasses. "Does hiding behind that clan symbol make you feel big down there or does raping little girls do that for you?"
"Why son of a bitch," shouted the angered thug. He charged at the man in sunglasses, waited until the punch came and stopped it with his thumb, pinky, and middle finger.
"You might be good for punching thugs like yourself," said the mysterious man in black. "But for someone who specializes in killing, your punches amount to absolutely shit."
Then the man in black broke the man's hand with just his three fingers and smacked him aside with left hand in the same way one would swat at a fly. The one with the scar on his cheek was sweating, this man who stood before them was strong enough to kill the both of them and not even break a sweat. Never had they encountered someone this powerful and by the way those sunglasses covered his eyes, the man could tell who this mystery man was.
"Are you Shenlong," asked the scarred man. "Are you the same bastard that slaughtered over a hundred men in an hour?"
"Who is asking," asked the man as he took off his sunglasses to reveal his red wolf eyes. A sense of dread crawled down the other man's spine. "I must have missed something, but aren't I supposed to be the one asking the questions here or am I mistaken?"
"I am Scar," said the man as he stared in fear at the man who was standing before him and then the man flash stepped up to him and pinned him against the wall with just his index finger.
"Now it's my turn to ask questions about your boss," said Shenlong as he looked at the man. "For every time you don't give me the answer I want to hear, I'm going to break something and when I'm bored with that, I'll start cutting. Now first question, is your boss part of the Akatsuki?"
Renji waited for his partner to come out and was just about to light a cigarette when Shenlong appeared out of a swarm of ravens in his traditional style. It was a thing that got on his nerves constantly, but he would never tell him that. Renji was no slouch and he could go toe-to-toe with some of the best, but Shenlong had elevated to stature of legend with good reason. Even though he had suffered one defeat, Shenlong hadn't diminished in intimidation and he seemed to have gotten stronger from the near death experience. If he wasn't stronger, he was definitely more vicious than before.
"So do you know where he lives," asked Renji as he put the cigarette back in his pack.
"Yeah," replied Shenlong as he walked on with a map in his hand, the same kind of map that was sold at the information lobby upon first entering the town. "As I said, the compound for the Date clan is on the map and the structure of it is guarded by twenty men. The only person we need to worry about would be Date himself and his partner."
"Do you know who it is," asked Renji as he ran his hand over the stubble on his chin.
'They didn't say," replied Shenlong as he walked ahead, leaving his partner to interpret his meaning.
The rain was coming down hard on them as they made their way to the Date clan, becoming more obvious to the crowd as Shenlong's tall form stood out among them and Renji was the only person with red hair. They weren't supposed to wear their headbands because it was the most obvious banner of ninja they could have on them, but Shenlong seemed to not care about the not attracting attention thing. He wanted to attract attention because it would force Date to come out and confront him in the open and not in the spot where he was strongest. Renji kept his hand on the kunai in his pocket while Shenlong just walked with his ridiculously large object hanging over his shoulder. As soon as they reached they gates they were greeted by two guards.
"What's your business here," asked one of the guards.
"Masamune Date, get him out here," commanded Shenlong as he set his heavy object down.
"If you think you can command us to do something, you're terribly wrong," said the guard as he brought out his sword. The sword was still in his arm two minutes later, but his arm wasn't apart of his body.