Author's Note
I disclaim all anime, video game, and movie references. The song "Sweet Dream" is mentioned in this song but there is actual singing of it. Sorry, no song fic in this chapter. "Sweet Dream" rightfully belongs to Akon 06. I disclaim everything on the song.
Chapter Twenty Nine
Saiban and Hinata had nowhere to run to. There was no exit behind them and if they ran up the walls the Corpser would just follow. It could scale rock and it had more than enough strength to knock them off the walls. They had no choice but to fight.
"Hinata, look for a soft spot on its body or some sort of weak point. That's the only way we're going to beat this thing." Saiban said as he threw shuriken at the beast's face but it protected itself with its armor plated legs. "Crap, this isn't going to be easy."
"I see something!" Hinata said as she activated her Byakugan and saw through the Corpser's Keirakukei and saw that the beast had several huge Tenketsu in its stomach. Hinata would have to get in close to strike its belly and with a rather hard technique if she wanted to move it back. "Saiban-chui, get it to open up its legs! I have an idea!"
"I hope you know what you're doing Hinata! If that thing has its legs come crashing down on you then you're dead!" Saiban shouted as he threw a paper kunai bomb at the Corpser's face causing it to spread its legs apart. "Now Hinata! It won't stay dazed for long!"
"Got it!" Hinata said as she readied her Eight Trigrams. She was going to attempt to seal one of the large Tenketsu in the Corpser. It would have to be enough to push the Corpser back. "Alright! Eight Trigrams: Thirty-Two Palms!"
Hinata struck the small points in the large Tenketsu of the Corpser and it hollered out in pain. It didn't know if its belly was upset or if something worse was happening to it. Once Hinata finished her technique, the Corpser raised two of its legs and attempted to smash Hinata. Hinata jumped away quickly; the Corpser was mad now.
"It worked but what good does it do for us if we just move it back towards nothing?" Saiban asked as he readied another paper kunai bomb. "There's nothing here to kill it."
"Wait a minute, the liquid surrounding us looks pretty hot. Maybe that could kill it." Hinata said as she noticed the yellow, lava like liquid in the room. It was flowing everywhere in some sort of stream. Was this what the Locusts were mining? "I don't know what it is and my Byakugan is showing me that there are some qualities to it that are similar to chakra. I'm not positive, but this liquid may be hot enough through these qualities to kill it."
"I'll trust you on this Hinata. Just be sure to get away from that thing in time to escape." Saiban said as he threw another paper kunai bomb at the Corpser. It spread its legs apart again and Hinata charged in to strike its belly a second time. "Get that teme Hinata!"
"Juho Soshiken: Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists!" Hinata shouted as she struck two more of the Corpser's large Tenketsu with two lion heads that had appeared on her hands. The beast scurried back this time onto a lift to get away from the strange human being that could do so much damage to its insides. It was afraid of Hinata now despite the fact that she was much smaller than it. Hinata noticed that the bolts holding the lift in place were loose, loose enough that a kunai bomb would knock it loose. Hinata did just that before the beast tried to fight back. She threw two kunai bombs at the two bolts holding the lift and ran. "Run Saiban-chui! The lift is going to collapse!"
The paper bombs exploded and the lift fell into the yellow liquid. The Corpser was too slow to get off in time and began to sink into the liquid. The beast screeched in pain as it struggled to lift itself out of the lava like liquid. It scratched its melting legs against the ledge as it tried to pull itself up. The Corpser's sharp spider like legs had lost their sticking ends from the heat and melted like butter as it sank even deeper into its liquid death. The Corpser's head finally submerged into the liquid and died.
"W-Well done Hinata." Saiban said as he walked up to Hinata who was still catching her breath from running away. He was shocked and admiring of her courage. He couldn't believe that the heiress of the Main Branch had become so strong in just three years. "You're sixteen now aren't you? You have a lot of skill and talent to have done such a thing and at such a young age too."
"Thank you. I'm not sixteen yet. My birthday is coming up though." Hinata said. She was flattered by Saiban's compliment. She had just remembered her birthday when Saiban had asked her about her age. Sixteen in only a few more days, she had almost completely forgotten with everything that was on her mind. She hoped that Sakura wouldn't get in the way and stop Naruto from doing something for her on her birthday. No! She would get him back before that! Hinata needed to be strong for both herself and Naruto. She wasn't going to let Sakura push her around anymore. She needed to make it out of this mission alive with the strength to continue on to take Naruto back. But she also needed to get over this fear that her father had given her too. Hinata thought to herself. "I need to make it out of this mission alive so that I can return stronger for Naruto. I won't let Sakura keep him for her selfish needs. He deserves better than that. If I'm strong enough to kill a Corpser then I must be getting close to taking him back. Mom, if you can hear me, I need your help now more than ever! I need to make it through this trial."
Saiban walked over to the ledge of where the Corpser fell and observed the liquid. He wouldn't dare try to touch it after what he saw it do to the Corpser. It bubbled and almost steamed. It was a very odd substance. In another report on the Locust Horde, this substance was sighted. This had to be the substance that the grubs called Imulsion.
"Hinata, did you ever hear about the report by Jiraiya about the Locusts mining this substance? It's called Imulsion and I think this is why the security in this mine has been so tight. They're trying to hide this from the Land of Fire and its entire people so that no one thinks of stealing it or maybe for another reason." Saiban said as he observed it more closely. He would have to report his back to Lady Tsunade and the KSTF. Now that they knew where they could find some of the Locust Horde's resources they could possibly find out where the city Nexus was before Nazo and the others carried out their latest threat. "Hinata, is there any other way across from here?"
"Let me look to see." Hinata said as she activated her Byakugan to search for any other ways across.
Back with Kiba and Shino, things had gone from bad to worse; Reavers were coming in from all over and were firing at them from above. With so much open space, they were easy targets and made missiles a weapon to be used at will since the Locusts didn't have to worry about knocking anything important to the mines stability over. Kiba dodged another explosive as he and Akamaru ran for their lives to the only other exit in the Reaver pin. Shino ran alongside the two and foolishly tried to kill a Reaver with a paper kunai bomb. He failed and pissed off the Locusts riding the beast.
"Ah hell, we're just target practice for these temes if we stay here any longer. I can't tell which exit is safer with all the gun powder and explosives filling up the scent of the air." Kiba said as he sniffed to see if there were any Locusts besides the ones on the Reavers in any of the rooms. He couldn't smell anything but the guns. Kiba ran with the rest of his group to the exit ahead. Suddenly a large rain of explosives came down on him, Akamaru, and Shino which weren't from the Reavers. "Shit! These grubs are tough!"
"Watch out! I see the ones firing those other explosives at us and they're ready to fire again!" Shino said as he looked at one of the ledges for the pens and saw Locusts carrying some sort of small cannon which they had pointed up. "Here they come!"
"Mortars ready!" A Drone shouted as he and his Mortar crew readied to fire the standoff cannons. "Aim, fire!"
Four large shells flew into the air and broke apart into several explosives which rained down on the escaping Shinobi. Akamaru whimpered as he felt a hot fragment of a bomb hit his hide and began to run further ahead of Kiba and Shino out of panic. The two began to run faster as another Mortar crew appeared to bombard the intruders.
"We are so screwed!" Shino shouted as he began to fear for his life with the new weapons attacking him and Kiba.
"Don't talk like that Shino! We're almost out of here!" Kiba shouted. He knew that Shino was the cool headed one on the group and probably the smartest too. If he was losing hope then it would cause Kiba to lose hope too. He wasn't as smart as Shikamaru but Shino was still able to keep Kiba and the others going because of his cool headedness and intelligence. "Up ahead! We take that route out and try to find Hinata and Saiban-chui!"
As the Reavers rejoined the fight, Grenadiers came out of the exit ahead armed with shotguns. Kiba cursed as he saw that the fastest way out was now being blocked. He wasn't going to stop here!
"I'm not giving up here! It's gonna take more freaks than this to stop me!" Kiba said with a cocky grin as he threw a smoke bomb at the Grenadiers and he and Akamaru used their Man-Beast Doppelganger technique. "Suck on this!"
"Smoke! He's got something up his sleeve!" One Grenadier said as he and his partner attempted to leave the smoke but where taken out by a swarm of insects by Shino and Kiba and Akamaru's Gatsuuga technique on the other. They had escaped the Reaver pen!
"Shit yeah! We're alive! I can't believe we're alive!" Kiba said as he and Shino began to catch their breath. The exit had been sealed by a Reaver missile so the two and Akamaru were safe from any more attacks. "Alright, let's get moving. We don't want to be here when the grubs dig their way out to catch us."
"For once you thought of something smart." Shino said as he looked at an annoyed Kiba.
"Shut up Shino." Kiba said as he, Akamaru, and Shino walked on through the tunnel not knowing what lay ahead. The party walked up an ascending path into what seemed to be a transportation area. There were several tracks laid in on one giant, circular area where there were mining carts going through out the mine in their own tunnels and one large train going through another. It was strange, the carts looked like they went into the mine but the train appeared to be leaving the mine. Where could it possibly go? Kiba smelled Locusts on the way and he Shino and Akamaru hid from the approaching grubs. The Locusts were loading the train with oil drums but why? It was very strange. Perhaps they were transporting it to another base or maybe it went to their main strong hold. This was information that had to reach the village once the party made it out of the mine. "I'd love to stay and party with these grubs but I smell something big on its way. Let's go before they spot us."
"What is it Kiba?" Shino asked. If Kiba was afraid of what he smelled then it wasn't good.
"I think it's another animal but it's not like the Reavers." Kiba said as he and Shino moved along down another path. There was a long drop below the ledged path that they walked on. What would need this much space to move? The party soon found out when they spotted a huge dinosaur like creature pulling a giant container behind its back up ahead. Kiba and Shino couldn't believe what they were seeing. "These guys never cease to amaze me."
"My God, those strange insects form that one night, Seeders, Reavers, Nemacysts, Tickers, the Corpser that Saiban-chui said that he and Hinata ran into, and now this. The Horde has a huge arsenal of animal weapons and the power of it is amazing!" Shino said in awe. He never would have imagined that creatures like this one existed. Suddenly one turned a corner with mounted guns and began to fire at Shino and Kiba! "Ah hell! Not again!"
"Run! Run! Run! Those things have bigger guns than the Reavers!" Kiba shouted as the beast now began to chase him, Akamaru and Shino down the path with its chain guns firing at them trying to mow them down. They only barely go t ahead of the beast until they were stuck at a dead end and a long drop below them. "Oh God damn it!"
"Die ground walkers!" The Locust mounted on the beast's chain gun pilot seat shouted as he fired at the ledge causing the ground the party stood on to come loose. "Blow them to hell!"
The second pilot, the one controlling the rockets, fired a series of missiles at the ledge and the ground beneath Kiba and Shino finally came apart. The two began to plummet to their death while the two Locusts rode away laughing at the dying intruders. There were rocks coming down with the party, they were going to be crushed to death!
"SSSSHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIITTTTT!!!!" Kiba shouted as he saw the ground below getting closer and closer. This was the end for him, Akamaru and Shino. "Why now!? I never did anything terrible! Shit! Why did I have to get this screwed over in the end!?"
Suddenly a large rock fell ahead of the plummeting party and broke through the ground below; there was another cave beneath the one that Kiba and Shino were in now! Kiba saw that there were rocks jotting out of the walls. Long thin ones, capable of holding human weight. Kiba came up with an idea. There was still hope left! He quickly turned Akamaru into a doppelganger and the two pulled out weight ended chains that Kiba had packed. They threw them towards one of the out cropped rocks and lashed the chains onto them and caught themselves.
"Grab on Shino!" Kiba shouted as he and Akamaru caught Shino's hands and hug there until the out crop broke in half and the party continued to plummet towards the floor. "NNOOOO!!!"
The floor broke open again revealing lava like bottom below. There was bubbling in the strange liquid and the party could tell that it was hot! Now they were doomed to be burned alive! The outcrop was still in one piece, they could only hope that it got stuck on the sides of the hole. The fate of Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino now stood on the end of a knife where even the slightest bad luck would cause them to die. The rocks ahead began to pile up at the bottom, they could only hope to somehow get lucky and survive!
"Gomenasai Saiban-chui; I don't see any other routes to take that wouldn't involve us climbing the walls." Hinata said as she turned off her Byakugan. She was just as scarred as he was about falling into the Imulsion if they tried to climb a crossed. Suddenly a large pile of rocks fell from the ceiling into the area where the Corpser had fallen. The rocks piled up and made a bridge for them to cross. One rock got caught in the ceiling hole and Hinata could see three people hanging for dear life on it. It was Kiba, Akamaru turned doppelganger and Shino! "Kiba! Shino! Akamaru! Are you okay!?"
"Oh yeah, it's a fucking party up here! We just fell from a ledge and it brought us down here!" Kiba shouted. He was angry about the Locusts almost killing him and the rest of his party. He didn't mean to let his frustration out on Hinata but he couldn't help it with his arm going numb from holding onto Shino. He dropped Shino safely down to the bridge created by the fallen rocks and he and Akamaru dropped down too. Akamaru stayed in his doppelganger form thinking that he may need to help Kiba later on in it. "I'll kill those God damn grubs!"
"Calm down Kiba, just be grateful that you didn't land in the Imulsion." Saiban said. He was glad that he and Shino were still alive. "Now that we can cross let's go."
"I think I saw an exit while I was searching for another way across up ahead." Hinata said. After seeing what happened to Kiba and Shino, she wanted to get out of the mine as soon as possible. This place needed a full legion to be properly searched. Her squad wasn't enough to search it and they could die if they stayed any longer. "I didn't see any Locusts up ahead. Let's just hope that it stays that way."
"I have no problem with that." Shino said as he continued to catch his breath from the fall. He couldn't believe that he survived the fall. He didn't want to stay any longer for more surprises. "We were shot down here by some sort of dinosaur like monster! The Horde has huge mounted beasts here!"
"That must have been a Brumak you two saw earlier. If those things are here then we had better get out of here." Saiban said. If Kiba and Shino were spotted then the whole mine probably knew by now that they were here. They did, and the most fierce Locust hung above the ceiling watching them. "Let's go, I don't want to draw any more attention to us here."
The party carried on into the area beyond the bridge. They all stopped and stood awe struck by what they were seeing; there were rivers, waterfalls, and lakes of Imulsion in the room! If this was fuel, then there was a mountain of it here!
"Whoa, damn, look at all that juice." Kiba said in awe. This would power any village for at least a million years if it could be used!
"Hey Hinata, how much do you think this Imulsion would be worthy if the Land of Fire tried to sell it?" Shino asked. Shino wasn't greedy but he couldn't help but feel that he had stumbled upon a gold mine when he looked at the large amounts of Imulsion in the area.
"Um, I don't think I can count that high." Hinata laughed. Somehow this felt funny to her as if she were looking at fool's gold. The liquid was a sight to see but Hinata felt that it wasn't as valuable as Kiba and Shino saw it.
"Uh oh, I smell Locusts up ahead." Kiba said. The party stepped back and readied themselves. They could all see an elevator leaving the mine; this was their way out and they couldn't screw this up if they wanted to live. "What do you see Hinata? Are we dealing with Drones or Grenadiers here? Are there any Kantus or Boomer sized grubs?"
"Let me check. No, these are normal sized Locusts here." Hinata said as she used her Byakugan to look and see what enemies lay ahead. One of the Locusts turned her direction and hissed. Hinata knew that the Locust couldn't see her from where she was but it still startled her. The Locust wore heavy and what seemed like an elite type of armor. There were other Locusts like this one and they all carried strange cross bows with them. "Um, those aren't Drones."
"What are they then? Some sort of elites?" Shino asked. "Why would they be here?"
"Well we're not here to sell cookies. If the Horde knows that Konoha is here then they'll definitely ready their best men to fight." Saiban said. He could tell that they wouldn't be leaving without a fight. "Stay low until we come up with a strategy."
Hinata looked at the barrel of the Locusts weapons and noticed that there was a swirl like pattern going down the inside of the barrel of the guns'. Hinata then looked at the palm of her hand that she had accidently burned; they looked similar. Hinata had realized this morning that picturing a bow and arrow to fire chakra out of her hands only burned her. Maybe, if she could see how a bullet fired out of a gun, she could come up with a better way to fire chakra out of her hands. It was worth a try but Hinata didn't want to start a fire fight just to observe it. Suddenly a faint echo filled the room.
"Did you hear that?" Shino asked. He could have sworn that he heard the word "hostiles" be echoed.
"Let it go Shino, it's probably nothing." Kiba said. He chose to ignore the sound. It came again.
"I can hear it too Kiba. There's something here." Hinata said. She was a little scarred now. The echo returned but louder.
"It's just the wind." Kiba said. He was annoyed by his team mates getting nervous over what he considered nothing.
"Yeah right. When's the last time the wind said 'hostiles' to you?" Shino asked angrily. He didn't like Kiba's ignorance and he knew that something bad was going to happen.
"HOSTILES!" A strange monk walking on the ceiling shouted. He had a deformed face and a strange staff like weapon. He stood directly above the party and using his staff, cut down a stone stalagmite onto the party. Team Kurenai jumped away and the Locusts up ahead heard the apparent leader of the mine group and readied their weapons. "Therons get ready! We can't let them escape!"
"Oh shit! Danzo mentioned these guards too! These are Theron Guards armed with torque bows! We need to get out of here!" Saiban shouted as the monk above them cut more stalagmites down on the squad with his strange buzzing staff. Hinata activated her Byakugan and saw what the monk was using to cut the stalagmites. There were chainsaw blades on the ends of his staff! "What do you see Hinata!?"
"That monk has chainsaws on his staff! That's what he's using to cut down the stalagmites!" Hinata said. She was scared to death by the first chainsaw she heard when Kiba was attacked by the one Grenadier at the mine's entrance. She didn't want to even think about being cut by one of them! If there was a chainsaw made to be a weapon then Hinata wanted to be far away from it! "Let's go! That monk will kill us if we don't move!"
"Don't forget that we have the other freaks to worry about too!" Kiba shouted as he saw that the Therons were now loading their torque bows to fire. A bright red dot appeared in the center of each barrel aimed at the running ninja.
"Serve the queen! Eliminate the ground walkers! Kill the intruders!" One Theron shouted as he and the others fired from the post they stood on above one of the Imulsion lakes. Arrows went flying at Team Kurenai and all of the team's members narrowly escaped the projectiles.
"Metal arrows? Is that all?" Shino asked in slight disappointment. Not that he wanted to die but he was expecting more from the Horde.
"Don't stop! I can smell explosives in those arrows!" Kiba shouted. He couldn't help but admire the genius of the enemy. If you didn't die by the arrow going through your heart or any other vital organ, it would explode and kill you. It was the perfect trick weapon. Beeping noises went off in the arrows and they exploded. Hinata ran ahead of the party. She may not have been able to kill the enemies from a distance, but she could use her Rotation to protect the party from the arrows and other projectiles. "What are you doing Hinata!?"
"I can protect you guys with my Rotation! Just leave any projectiles fired on us to me!" Hinata shouted as she used her Byakugan to cover the entire area. She could see all of the Locusts in the hanging posts and she could also see snipers and various other Locusts coming in to stop them.
"Get ready Hinata! They're all here now!" Saiban shouted as he threw a paper kunai bomb at one Theron killing him. The rest then fired at Saiban in rage. "Okay! This will decide it all! Weather we live or die!"
Snipers fired at Hinata but her Rotation caught the bullets before they could touch even her skin and blocked them. After Hinata finished spinning, the monk's chainstaff came twirling through the air like a boomerang and decapitated Hinata before she could dodge! The monk then caught the chainstaff and dropped down onto the floor so he could finish off the others.
"NO! HINATA!" Kiba shouted as he ran ahead but a Theron shot him in the back. Kiba lay on the ground bleeding. Akamaru ran up to try and save his comrade but the arrow exploded and killed both of them.
"We're all gonna die!" Shino shouted in a panic as an ink grenade from the strange monk exploded in front of him and he fell down coughing and wheezing. Drones on wall turrets shot down the dying Shino leaving only Saiban left.
"I have to make it back to Lady Tsunade! I can't let their deaths be in vein!" Saiban shouted as he charged towards the elevator. But he fell down as the monk used his chainstaff again like a boomerang to cut off his legs as he ran. Saiban fell to the ground screaming in pain. He was then kicked over by the monk with the hideous face and felt his chainstaff pressed hard against his throat. Saiban was going to be decapitated!
"Know that the man who sent you to your grave was Skorge!" The monk shouted as he decapitated Saiban. Suddenly his body disappeared and so did the bodies of Hinata and the other ninja. "What is this!?"
Skorge looked at the elevator; it was more than half up to the surface! Team Kurenai had used genjutsu to escape! Kiba flicked off the angry monk and taunted him.
"Bye-bye handsome!" Kiba shouted as he stuck his tongue out at Skorge who now shook with rage. Skorge sucked in a great breath and let out a loud scream that had the force of a hurricane and was loud enough to make the elevator vibrate from the sound. "Ah! Shit!"
The squad hurried off the elevator lift as it reached the top. Skorge's scream was beginning to shake the small shake it was in; it was going to collapse! Team Kurenai hurried out of the shack as it collapsed and buried the elevator lift to the mine. They had made it out alive! Kiba sniffed the area, there were no Locusts nearby and the area was clean. Everyone plopped down in exhaustion and gratitude to God that they had survived the Locust Horde underground. They would report back to Tsunade with a ton of information! The mission had been a huge success!
"I can't believe we're alive!" Shino laughed as he fell onto his back with his hand against his forehead as he wiped away all the sweat and blood that had come down onto his face.
"Food man! Food! Hot food all day long after this!" Kiba said as he thought about his mom's cooking back home. He thought that he was going to die down in that grub hole. Akamaru transformed back into his normal form panting because of the relief.
"I did it! I can feel myself becoming stronger!" Hinata thought to herself. She pushed her hair out of her face and looked up at the sky. She almost thought that she would never see it again. "Mom, help me out. I can't do this alone. I've become stronger but I need you to help out here. If you can hear me in heaven, please find a way to respond."
Saiban looked at the young ninja and smiled. Kurenai had trained a good, strong cell of young shinobi. If he became commissioner, his job would be a lot easier with ninja like Team Kurenai around to protect the village from scum like the Locusts. Suddenly his headset began to radio in. The Seeders in the area must have been dead. Saiban tuned in to hear who it was.
"This is Lt. Saiban from the KSTF. Who is speaking now?" Saiban asked as he got up.
"This is Izumo. Report back to the village. The mission is over." Izumo said through the headset. He sounded very sad. "The Akatsuki got away. My squad didn't find anything relating to the Horde besides some monsters in the area."
"We found info on the Horde. We have good intel on the enemy." Saiban said. He didn't understand why Izumo was so sad. Was it because of a failure in the mission? Or was there something worse? Unfortunately it was the latter.
"Return to the village and prepare for a shinobi funeral. Asuma Sarutobi is dead." Izumo said as calmly as he could before he signed out. Saiban was speechless after hearing it; Hinata and the others over heard his headset. They were hurt the most by this news; they knew how much their sensei loved Asuma. The mission was a tragic success; Team Kurenai had succeeded on gathering information on the Horde, but the love Kurenai had died that same day at the hand of the Akatsuki.
Back in the Hollow, Nazo had just returned after wrecking havoc on the Hidden Sand Village. He was sitting at the table and began to make very unorthodox hand signs, maybe even made up. Once he finished, he laid his palms up and two decks of cards appeared out of his hands.
"Chaos Style: Mental Deck Technique." Nazo said in his head as he began to sort through the card decks. Inagojo entered the room he was in. "Evening, Inagojo."
"What are you doing? You had better not be goofing off again." Inagojo said as she crossed her arms and gave him a very authoritative and scolding look. Inagojo was very controlling, just like her mother was. She didn't care who it was or what they were doing; she felt that she had to have something happen perfectly. If Nazo was goofing off, then in her mind that meant that her time and effort had been wasted and that something that should have happened didn't because she wasn't there to make sure that it happened. She had to have things work just as bad as she had to have things her way. She was a strict disciplinarian who expected people, even her two friends, to succeed and do well because if they didn't, it would affect her in some negative way. She hated seeing people do things and not get anywhere with it. She couldn't explain it and neither could her mother. It was this "queen bee" mentality that they shared. "You're playing with your cards again. Why?"
"I'm checking to see how much chaos is going on in the world." Nazo answered as he shuffled through the deck to find the cards that had the characters for "stone", "sand", and "leaf" on them. He was checking to see how much chaos was in the Hidden Stone, Sand and Leaf Village. In Sand he found several eight of spades cards and a few Joker cards meaning that there was a lot of chaos in the area. In Stone, there were some various numbers of hearts and clubs meaning that there wasn't much chaos; he would have to fix that. In Leaf there were diamonds and spades meaning that there was chaos and plenty of uncertainty and fear; Akumu would turn most of those diamonds into spades and create a good number of Joker cards. "I gotta go and fix up the Hidden Stone Village. They are way to serious right now."
"Save some of the Village for me. I have some things I need to take care of there." Inagojo said as she looked down and felt several bad memories flood into her head. "I have some graves to visit, temes to kill, and respects I need to give to some of the remaining Trinity believers there. My mother's old friend still lives there."
"You go first; I got nothing to do there." Nazo said. He could never find a way to express how sorry he was for her. Inagojo was always a sweet girl when they were growing up; why did it come to this? He remembered her mother too; she was more of a mother to him than the witch that reeked of cigarette smoke and drugs that called herself his mother. Yet, somehow everyone saw something terrible in them that they had to exploit and beat on because it attacked the good in them, or at least what they thought made them good people. Nazo wondered: if Inagojo had been treated differently, would she have become a woman who was like the girl he grew up with? Could Inagojo have been able to show the kindness she showed to the Locusts to everyone if she hadn't come to see herself so negatively? Despite her bossiness, Inagojo was a very gentle woman on the inside. Nazo just wondered why more people couldn't see that. "Let's check the personal stash."
Nazo created one deck of cards with the names of various Locusts on the back of them. These were the men and women in Nexus who he would have to treat for paranoia, skitsophrenia, spilt personalities and other conditions that filled their heads with chaos. Before he looked at those cards, he created two more which were his personal cards. One card had Naruto's name on the back of it and the other Hinata's name. He flipped them over and saw that they were both Joker cards meaning that the two were filled with chaos.
"Wait a minute-wait a minute-wait a minute, why are these two so full of chaos all of a sudden?" Nazo asked as he stood up looking shocked.
"When did you tag those two?" Inagojo asked. She couldn't believe that Nazo would look so concerned about a couple of teenagers. This was odd.
"I tagged them during my first visit to Konoha at the Hyuga party. I had a feeling that there was something special between the two of them so why are they like this?" Nazo asked. He didn't like knowing that the two were in so much inner turmoil. It reminded him of when he was young.
"One of our Locusts spying on the village overheard that the two were together for a while. Apparently the heiress of the Main Branch found out about the boy being a Jinchuriki and her father broke them up." Inagojo said. "Also, some pink haired girl had some blame in it. She took advantage of the boy's emotional state and made him her boyfriend out of trickery."
"That's terrible. Well, maybe that means I have a chance at getting the Hyuga princess now right?" Nazo laughed. It was a very fake and he didn't look happy at all after hearing what happened. What was going on in his head? Did he actually feel sorry for the young couple?
Once everyone had returned, the funeral commenced. Everyone had dressed for mourning. Hinata watched her sensei leave flowers on the grave of Asuma walked to stand alone. Hinata could feel her sensei's pain; she had lost some close to her too. Hinata approached Kurenai with teary eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry sensei." Hinata said softly. Kurenai wrapped her arms around Hinata and cried on her shoulder. The man she loved was gone. Kurenai couldn't believe that Asuma had died the way he did. They swore that they would both live on to care for the child that Kurenai was expecting. Hinata and the others didn't know; it was for the best, she didn't want them to worry about her. Hinata had enough to worry about; she couldn't ask her to carry the weight of her loss too. "Sensei, you've been like a second mother to me. I want you to know that I'm here to support you."
"Thank you Hinata, thank you so much." Kurenai sobbed. The pain had seeped in deep into her mentality. But Hinata helped to ease the pain just a bit. Kurenai would not be able to move past this alone; she needed help. Around that time, Tsunade arrived to give a funeral speech about Asuma. There were several members of the KSTF with her along with Anbu. It was a peaceful funeral, but with the Horde in the area, Tsunade and the rest of the village couldn't be too careful about keeping Nazo to his word that he would kill her. Tsunade was due a better bullet proof vest but the Research and Development team hadn't finished it yet. Saiban was supposed to deliver it to her today. She could only hope that nothing went wrong.
"What is Lady Hokage thinking bringing so many of us here to a funeral?" One Anbu whispered to another.
"We can't be too cautious with Akumu here now and with this character that Saiban-chui mentioned named Skorge." The second Anbu whispered back as he looked around to inspect the area. "We're tight but frankly, there are a lot of good sniper shots around here."
Tsunade took the podium behind Asuma's grave with a photo of him in front of the podium to pay respect for the Leaf Village's fallen comrade.
"We gather now to remember Asuma Sarutobi who was a talented shinobi, a great leader, a lover, and a good friend to many." Tsunade began. She was sorry for Kurenai who had lost so much and she wished that she could have had something planned in advance to help him. If only she had planned an operation or a strategy to follow for when the Akatsuki had come instead of worrying about the Locust Horde, maybe then Asuma would have lived. "He fought bravely for the safety of the village and for its inhabitants. We pray for you, Asuma Sarutobi, as you now join your father the Third Hokage in paradise."
Naruto was running late for the funeral. He couldn't believe that Asuma was dead. He had done so much for him and his squad; Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino. Naruto walked through the streets of the village on his way to the cemetery for the Sarutobi clan. Suddenly he heard the muffled cries of someone. Naruto followed the noise until he arrived at an abandoned building where six men were tied up to a pillar, stripped of their clothing, blind folded and gagged. Naruto noticed that they were all bald headed. Were they monks? Naruto pulled the tape off of one man's mouth and began to question him.
"Who are you? What happened?" Naruto asked the man quietly. He didn't know if the people responsible for mugging these men were still here.
"We're the monks from the Fire Temple that were supposed to do a sermon for Asuma." The man said as he caught his breath. "The Locusts, they mugged us. They took out robes and they had guns on them."
Naruto's heart began to race when he heard what the monk had to say. The Horde was in the village incognito! Naruto left a shadow doppelganger to free the monks; he had to warn Tsunade before it was too late! The moment Naruto realized this; the Locusts had already arrived at the funeral!
"We have come to offer our prayers to Asuma as well for his good company and fellowship he shared with us back at the Fire Temple." A hooded monk said while looking down. It seemed as if he was trying to hide his face. "We thank you Asuma, you were the most devoted and courageous of us all."
Saiban began to enter the cemetery as the monks began their prayer. Saiban noticed something odd about the monks; only the hooded one looked down while he prayed, they all wore prayer beads but there appeared to be some other pendent worn around their necks beneath the beads, there were lumps in their sleeves that were hardly noticeable but they were there to hide something, and Saiban thought he saw an extended jaw on the hooded monk. It hit him right then and there; theses weren't monks from the Fire Temple! These were Locusts! Saiban dashed up to Tsunade but the moment he did the hooded monk looked up revealing a deformed face, dropped his arms and caught a gorgon pistol hidden up his sleeve and pointed it at Tsunade. The other monks did the same and fired! Saiban dived in front of Tsunade and took the shots for her.
"Damn you ground walker!" Skorge shouted as he and the other Kantus monks tried to shot through him to Tsunade then began to fire at random at the crowd and guards. People screamed and Anbu pounced on the Kantus but many were blown away by their screams. Four of the monks were killed but two remained and Skorge fled the scene. "This isn't over!"
Naruto arrived and saw that everything was in chaos. One Kantus had been brought down alive by the KSTF; they intended to interrogate him for information about the Horde and Nexus. Naruto ran up to Ino who was in a panic.
"Ino, the monks, their-"Before Naruto could finish Ino answered him.
"I know! They're really Kantus!" Ino said as she ducked down with Naruto as the Kantus began to fire again. People screamed in a panic of what was happening. "I can't believe this is happening! Even at a man's funeral they're trying to kill us!"
Tsunade flipped over Saiban and felt his pulse. He was cold, he was dead. A group of medical ninjas, including Sakura and Shizune, arrived to treat the wounded. Tsunade couldn't believe it; Saiban Hosoku was dead. The man who was so devoted to the cause of the Konoha Special Task Force was dead. Tsunade had to look away; she couldn't stand the amount of blood on her hands today. Two good men had died because of her. One at the hand of the Akatsuki, the other by the hand of the Locust Horde. Tsunade stood up and buried her face in her hand. This was all too much for her to take right now.
"Are you alright sensei!?" Hinata asked in a panic as she helped Kurenai up off the ground. Kurenai held her stomach almost in pain. A group of medical ninjas came and immediately began to observe Kurenai.
"Kurenai you can't be this reckless! You need to take it easy now that you're carrying a child!" One ninja said as he began to check to see if there was any damage to her womb.
"Child? What are you talking about?" Hinata asked.
"Your sensei is pregnant." A second doctor told Hinata. Hinata's eyes grew wide in a collaboration of feelings. She felt happy for Kurenai but she was mostly heartbroken; Kurenai was now a single mother without a husband to support her and a bastard child that would never know its father. Kurenai began to cry and she gritted her teeth in emotional pain. She didn't want Hinata to know yet, and she didn't want anyone to worry about her now. Somehow, it felt like she was using people as a crutch for asking for help but at the same time she needed it. Kurenai was trapped in chaos now too. "She's been pregnant for a while now. Please step aside; we need to take her to the hospital for proper examination of the fetus."
"W-Wait!" Hinata said as she followed the medical ninjas. She couldn't just leave her sensei now that she knew that she was pregnant. Hinata didn't realize that Naruto was there. Sakura approached Naruto who just saw Hinata leave. Sakura had to keep Naruto in line; she couldn't allow him to fall in love with Hinata again. She couldn't be alone again; she couldn't wait for Sasuke all alone, suffering alone.
"Naruto, are you alright? You showed up late. The Locusts didn't hit you at all did they?" Sakura asked in a concerned tone. She was concerned but not like a lover. She tried hard to make Naruto think that she really, truly, deeply cared about him but even she couldn't make her feelings for him go past friendship. She did want to Naruto be happy. But she didn't understand why he wasn't happy with her. He had a crush on her all through their childhood but he still wouldn't regain those feelings. It was as if Hinata had left a permanent mark on him that she couldn't remove. Sakura didn't understand that Naruto liked this feeling that she left. "Let's go Naruto. There's been enough tragedy today."
"Right." Naruto said looking down. He took Sakura's hand, there wasn't any life in it, and walked away with her. Naruto couldn't feel the feelings he felt with Hinata when he touched Sakura. This was the only way that Sakura would let Naruto in some way physically embrace her. They didn't kiss often, she wouldn't let him put his arms around her, and Sakura would sometimes shoo him away when she didn't want him near her. This was not a happy relationship.
"Let's go out to eat tonight. Let's try to move on." Sakura said. She like everyone else wanted to forget the pain that had happened today. It was all too much when even a funeral was accompanied with more death.
Tsunade, Shizune, and one of Saiban's old partners walked up to the door of the Hosoku household. Tsunade knocked and Miyuki answered. She looked into Tsunade and the others' eyes and realized that something was wrong.
"I'm sorry." Tsunade said softly. Miyuki's eyes began to tear and she brought her hands to her mouth in shock.
"No, no." Miyuki said as she fell into Shizune's arms and began to cry. They all felt sorry for her. Today was a very sad day and by far the hardest day so far in Tsunade's reign as Hokage. She sent two people to their graves today and they both died horrible deaths at the hands of Konoha's worst enemies. Shin walked out to see what was going on. He saw his mother crying.
"Mom, what's going on?" Shin asked. He could tell that something was wrong.
"Shin, go play with your sister Hoshi." Miyuki sobbed as she looked up and glared at Tsunade. "Are you happy now? You brought this craziness on us! You did! You killed my husband! You provoked those murdering psychopaths! You did! It's all your fault!"
Shin stepped back into the house tempted to cry in loss but then he thought to himself; no, his father couldn't be dead. He knew how Nazo thought; he knew had examined him better than anyone else. His father wouldn't have gone done this easy. There had to be something else going on; someone was pulling the strings to make things seem one way when in reality they were different. This wasn't something that had gone according to a plan; this had to be some sort of plot. Tsunade looked down feeling awful. She apologized again to the widow Miyuki, knowing how fruitless her words were, and left.
"When will we hold the funeral?" Shizune asked.
"That won't be necessary." Tsunade answered.
"But Tsunade, Saiban was the lieutenant of the Konoha Special Task Force. He worked so hard for the safety of the village. How can you not give him his due respects?" Shizune asked.
"I said that it won't be necessary Shizune!" Tsunade barked. She had enough on her mind already.
Hinata left the hospital after trying to comfort her sensei. Kurenai said she didn't want to talk so Hinata left out of respect for her feelings. Hinata had to see Naruto now; she had to talk to him about everything that had happened. She needed his support right now and she could feel that he needed someone's support too right now. As Hinata went searching, Naruto and Sakura went to the Ichiraku Ramen Bar for dinner. It was a quiet night with all that had happened. People were either mourning the dead or trying to find a way to let go of the loss and destruction. The whole village had fallen into melancholy.
"Konnichi wa!" Sakura said trying to brighten the mood of the area. She noticed that the ramen stand owner did not look pleased and neither did the girl who worked for him. "We just decided to go out for the night."
"Yeah, right." Naruto said softly in an almost depressed tone. He was not feeling well with Sakura. "I, brought two coupons I've been saving for this, sort of, occasion."
"I'm sorry Naruto, but one of these is expired." The ramen stand owner said lying about the expiration date on one of the coupons. He heard all about what Sakura had done to Hinata and Naruto and he would not accept her here now because of it. Sakura was despicable.
"That's alright, I can pay for my own bowl." Naruto said.
"No, yours is fine. It's your date's that has expired." The ramen stand owner said looking at Sakura with an angry face. Sakura returned the look. "Also, there is a new tax on food shipping because of the Locusts."
"Then I'll give mine to Sakura and I can pay for the other bowl." Naruto said softly. He could tell that the ramen stand owner was doing this to punish Sakura.
"No you won't! Because that will automatically make it invalid! Your date should be able to pay for her own meal!" The ramen stand owner said as he glared at Sakura who glared back.
"Alright, fuck you old man! Come on Naruto! We'll just go somewhere else!" Sakura said as she took his arm and dragged him out of the ramen stand. She was not going to be criticized for what she did to Naruto and Hinata. There was no reason that she had to suffer alone while everyone else found love. Naruto looked down as he caught up and walked beside Sakura. He wasn't happy, he wasn't happy at all.
Hinata had been watching the whole thing. Pitiful; she was so determined to get back with Naruto but she was going back to what she had been doing her entire childhood. She was spying on him instead of speaking to him. What happened to the courage and determination she had earlier? Hinata had to stop this and see him!
Naruto and Sakura arrived at a restaurant that Sakura had mentioned. It was a decent place and it had ramen so Naruto wouldn't starve. Though, Naruto wanted to try some of the restaurant's other foods. Hinata stood outside looking through a window. She saw the two sitting there alone. She was surprised to see that Kiba and Shino had gone there along with Lee and few other people who were trying to forget what had happened today. Hinata watched as Naruto tried to put his arm around Sakura but she pushed him away; she was so ungrateful towards Naruto's kindness. She watched them eat; Naruto eat slowly in a depressed way. Hinata wanted to cry she hated seeing him like this so much. After a few bites of his dinner, Naruto noticed a jukebox in the corner of the restaurant. He decided to put on some music to try and lighten the mood. He wanted to at least see if Sakura was romantic at all tonight or if she even gave a rat's ass about his attempts to try to make her less cold. Naruto flipped through the selection and saw the first song he had heard sung by Hinata, "Sweet Dream". Naruto paid the machine and put on the song.
"My ma was too depressed by what happened today so I didn't even bother to ask her to cook." Kiba said. He was feeling down too like everyone else. His sensei was in the hospital for some reason, she had lost the man she loved, and more people were hurt after the funeral shoot out which also killed Saiban-chui. Suddenly he heard music playing; it was really gay in his opinion. "What the hell? Do you guys hear that?"
"Who's playing a love song?" Lee asked. Shino shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know either. Then he turned his attention to Naruto who went back to sit with Sakura.
"Um, what is this?" Sakura asked. She appreciated Naruto's sweetness but she wasn't impressed.
"It's a nice song isn't it? I just wanted to lighten up the mood." Naruto said. He had begun to like music more because of Hinata. Sakura obviously didn't feel the same way. "You did get together with me because I mean something to you right? I want to show you that you mean something to me too."
"Thanks." Sakura said. She didn't like Naruto's attempt and she didn't like how he had to show so much appreciation for her. She thought that this was some sort of annoying obsession. This wasn't normal in her opinion; and she didn't think that Sasuke would be this way. He would be normal in her opinion.
"Oh my God! Naruto, you put this shit on!?" Kiba laughed. He couldn't believe how weird Naruto had become. "First you're giving pedicures to Hinata now you're listening to love songs!? You're turning queer man!"
Hinata heard this and was infuriated. Naruto didn't deserve this treatment! He had a good heart and he shouldn't be persecuted for it!
"He did what!?" Lee asked as he began to laugh at it Naruto too. He couldn't believe how much Naruto had changed. He never imagined that Naruto would start stepping outside the bonds of masculinity so much for a girl. Lee wasn't necessarily thinking like a bully like Kiba was but he didn't see this coming.
"Come on, leave him alone." Shino said. He could see the amount of maturity in Kiba and Lee now because of this.
"Hey, don't give him such a hard time. He's trying to be nice here." Sakura said trying to stand up for Naruto. They had been friends for a long time so Sakura did have an obligation to help him. But she wasn't standing up for him because she loved him; she was doing it so he would stay with her.
"Naruto has a mangina! Naruto has a mangina!" Kiba chanted while laughing. He was being a real prick that night. Naruto looked down at the table blushing as Kiba continued to mock him. He never felt so embarrassed before in his life. He looked up when he heard Sakura snicker at Kiba's comments too. Naruto felt bad about himself; he was just trying to be nice.
Hinata lost her temper and charged into the restaurant. She was not going to let Kiba or anyone else mock Naruto like this! They had no right to! Hinata burst in through the back door, picked up a glass out of a pile of dirty dishes and threw it at Kiba's head shattering it. Kiba began to bleed.
"Ah! What the hell!? Who threw that!?" Kiba shouted as he pulled the glass out of his hair and head.
"LEAVE NARUTO ALONE!" Hinata shouted angrily. She began to catch her breath; she was furious at Kiba for what he had said about Naruto. Unlike Sakura, Hinata cared about Naruto and how he felt. He had been mistreated long enough; it was time that he had someone stand up for him and that he felt happy in his life for once. "Naruto, I'm so sorry about Kiba! I-I wanted to talk to you, but you-"
"I'll be right back Naruto. I need to talk to Hinata now." Sakura said as she got up and walked out back with Hinata. The two glared at each other. "Piss off, now, bitch."
"You wanted him so bad but now you won't even have his back! If you really care about Naruto then show it!" Hinata shouted. This time she was ready to fight Sakura. "Naruto has the decency to show his appreciation of you even though you treat him like dirt! At least try to prove that you love him! If not then I'll take him back and give him the affections he's been starved of for all these years!"
Naruto could hear Hinata and Sakura's argument. Hinata actually cared that much about him? She didn't want him to suffer? She could feel his pain just like he could feel hers?
"Fuck you! Like you know who he is! I've known him longer than you! Sure he's miserable! I know he's miserable! And I'll help him get over it MY way!" Sakura shouted back.
"Yeah, well does this way involve using people and taking advantage of them!? Is this what Tsunade taught you after all these years!?" Hinata shouted. She hated Sakura. "You haven't changed a bit! You are still the same selfish, abusive little bitch you were three years ago! Grow up Sakura! Leave Naruto alone or I'll make you!"
"Alright! Now you're-!" Before Sakura could finish Naruto came out and stopped her.
"Sakura! Leave Hinata alone." Naruto said looking very angry.
"What do care about this whore!? She's the one who dumped you!" Sakura said glaring back at him.
"I said leave her alone!" Naruto said as his first tail stage surfaced. His eyes turned red, his teeth became fangs, and his hands became claws. Sakura backed down. Even she wasn't stupid enough to fight Naruto in his Jinchuriki form.
"This date is over! Good night!" Sakura said as she stomped off. Naruto looked at Hinata. She backed away a bit when she saw his red eyes and fangs. She was still frightened by it. Naruto quickly changed back. He looked at Hinata with the saddest eyes.
"Gomenasai, Hinata, for what Sakura said." Naruto said as he walked up to her. Hinata walked towards him also. She needed to get over this fear somehow. The two were close but the only thing they did was hold hands. They wanted to do so much more but the collaboration of feelings they were having now which had turned into a sick brew of chaos had prevented them.
"It's alright Naruto." Hinata said as she looked up into his eyes. They were so deeply connected to her. These were the eyes she wanted to dry when they cried, the eyes she wanted to look at before she went to sleep, and the eyes she wanted to be in her heart. She just needed a way to get past those red Kyubi eyes and see the real him.
"I know that your birthday is coming up soon. Maybe we could meet again for that." Naruto said. He felt Hinata's pulse in sync with his own. This feeling made them one; the difficulty of the situation was what kept them apart and broken. "Don't worry about Sakura. I won't tell her. It will be our secret."
"I would love that very much." Hinata said. She pressed her head against Naruto's chest to feel his heart beat. Naruto laid his head in her hair; its fragrance was still there. The scent of an angel. Could an angel ever love a demon? "Let's meet tomorrow. We still need to perfect your new technique don't we?"
"You're right; we do as well as your own." Naruto said as Hinata looked back up at him. He looked at her. She held the essence of his being. "Sayonara for now Hinata, I'll see you tomorrow."
The two walked home their separate ways. They both regretted not kissing or doing something to ease the turmoil. They walked home alone feeling so incomplete. Hinata walked to the front of her house where her father stood waiting for her. He looked troubled.
"Hinata, could I talk to you?" Hiashi asked. He hated seeing his daughter like this but what choice did he have when the monster that almost killed his wife was going to take away his oldest child? There had to be something to fix this other than letting her see Naruto again. He had to find a way to fix this without turning to that demon. "I'm very hurt seeing you this unhappy. Please Hinata, let me know how I can help. I don't like seeing you this depressed."
"I can fix this myself." Hinata said as she took off her sandals and walked inside. She didn't even want to look at her father after the way he had made her so fearful of Naruto. She walked on but Hiashi stopped her.
"You had better not be seeing that boy again Hinata." Hiashi said as his face now became stern. Why wouldn't she listen to him? What would it take to keep her away from Naruto? "Hinata, for your own sake and happiness, let him go! There will be others! Forget about Naruto!"
"I'm not going to talk about this!" Hinata shouted as she ran away to her room to get away from her father who was again trying to keep him away from Naruto.
"Wait Hinata!" Hiashi said as his face changed back to being hurt. Why did all this have to happen? Hiashi buried his face in his hand and began to cry. What happened to the happiness his family had? "Hitomi, what am I supposed to do? Our daughter is falling in love with the beast that almost killed you. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to see her smile again. Oh, Hitomi."
There was a bright presence in the air, one that eagerly wanted to mix itself into Hiashi and Hinata. But the chaos of both their minds blocked it out. It would take a miracle for it to get to them and try to heal the emotional pain and turmoil. Hinata cried herself to sleep that night and did Naruto. This pain, this chaos, this inner turmoil was too much. They needed help with some of it to move on. There had to be a way to resolve this! They needed each other! They needed to get back together!
After Show Messages
DB99: *Sniff, Those two need to get back together! Hang in there Naruto and Hinata! Anyways, (camera zooms out to show that dragonbeast99 is once again in Nexus) Skorge here has kindly decided to show me where the Kantus monks train and teach us a little bit more about the Trinity of Worms. (Camera shows Skorge standing next to dragonbeast99 with his arms crossed.) Also, he has also decided to forgive me for the last episode of the After Show and won't be using my head as a cereal bowl.
Skorge: Actually, (pulls out a bowl that looks like dragonbeast99's head with his tongue sticking out like he's dead) the franchise for the fan fiction came up with this. (Shows the inside of the bowl to the camera. The inside looks like the inside of a skull with brain and neck images.)
DB99: Wow.
Skorge: Wait, there's more. (Turns the bowl around to the back of dragonbeast99's head, there is a small sign on the back of it.)
DB99: (Reads the sign.) "So we all have the satisfaction of killing you." I'm speechless. Okay, where are we now? (Camera zooms out and shows a huge temple behind dragonbeast99 and Skorge. The temple has worms coiled around its pillars and statues of several deities on its roof.)
Skorge: We are at the main temple of worship, meditation, and training. I usually mediate in private with Inagojo but this is where all Trinity believers meet. I'm here most of the time when I'm not busy. (Two walk into the temple. Several Kantus meditating and praying.) We have more than one way of salvation and it can take several life times to reach salvation. Our salvation is called moksha; we become one with reality, one with the Trinity's Wheel, and our one again.
DB99: You say that it takes several life times to reach salvation. Please explain this.
Skorge: We are all reborn into the Maya or illusion that is life. We are manifestations of the Trinity's one and only reality called Brahman. We have what is karma, the effects of our actions in this world that affect our rebirth or samsara. If it is good, we are reborn into a higher caste and have a better chance of obtaining salvation. If we have bad karma, then it effects in this life as suffering and we are reborn into a lower caste. However, to obtain salvation, we need to go through this cycle of rebirth in one of the three arms of the Trinity of Worms. That is why there are three paths of salvation laid out by the Three Worm Deities who are the closest to Brahman.
DB99: Who are these three deities you speak of?
Skorge: Their names are too sacred to be said aloud.
DB99: Then could you at least give us an idea on how their names would be pronounced?
Skorge: If you put it that way, then yes I can tell you. Their names are pronounced Yahweh, Allah, and Dominus. Each has their own path that whichever you are able to or feel matches your being or class may chose to take.
DB99: What are these paths? (Skorge leads him into another room in the temple.)
Skorge: (Takes dragonbeast99 to a room filled with meditating Kantus.) The first Sacred Worm offers the Path of Knowledge. He dug this path step into the center of the Trinity so it is a short path. You must seek Samadhi or high levels of concentrated meditation if you are to progress in this path. It may be difficult to understand but the saying of this path is "Tat tvam asi" or "though art that". I do not have enough time to explain the meaning of it so let me move on. In this path, the Atman or individual self IS Brahman. This path requires that you withdraw from society and find a Guru, teacher, like myself or Inagojo whom will teach and train you in yoga. There is a good amount of ascension to raise your spiritual benefits; meditation is primary in this path. When you meditate, you may either use a yantra, an instrument to focus on, or mandala, a sacred space. It also helps to use a mantra of some sort in meditation. (Camera goes to the meditating Kantus and a Guru teaching new converts.)
DB99: What is the next path? (Skorge takes dragonbeast99 upstairs to another room; sees Kantus and other Locusts praying to statues of various gods and wormed shaped deities.)
Skorge: The Second Sacred Worm is a very loving and devoted god to the believers. Salvation is a gift to those who are devoted to him so this path is called the Path of Devotion. The gods, both the Trinity and the lower deities that come from them, help you reach moksha. Now that I am mentioning the gods, it is important that you know what they stand for. The First Sacred Worm is the creator of life in this world and the first to spiral outward in the creation of the world. The second is the preserver who makes sure that even though this world is an illusion, we are able to survive and move on with the cycle of time; he allows us to gain some sort of wealth in this world, it can be both material and spiritual, and ensures the goodness in people at birth and early life. The third God of The Trinity is the destroyer who finishes the cycle of time with the destruction of the world so that it may start over just as the sapling of a tree may sprout after a forest fire.
DB99: Anything else about this path?
Skorge: Yes, this is the path that has the most participants in the various festivals of the faith.
DB99: What are these festivals? Anything like the Shinto festivals?
Skorge: We are really running out of time here so I can't tell you all of them but some examples are the Divali Autumn festival which focuses on the wealth in the new year and Holi Spring festival in which everyone takes a different role from the one they are in now.
DB99: Now what is this final path?
Skorge: (Takes dragonbeat99 into another room where Guru is teaching younger Locusts and other Locusts are studying scriptures.) The third path is the Path of Action which I myself am taking. In this path, you must fulfill your dharma, your duty according to your caste as the Vedas our scriptures teach. This path goes by age; the student at age ten to twenty, the age of marriage, the householder at age twenty to fifty, the hermit who is a grandparent, and finally the Sannyasin. The student must find Kama, sensual pleasure in this stage. The householder must find Artha, material pursuit. The hermit then must find out what his dharma is; few such as me and Inagojo have made this discovery early. The Sannyasin can reach moksha. This path has lost popularity with our history.
DB99: How so?
Skorge: In the Shema of the Vedas, it explains our early history going from our lost land to the Promised Land where the Trinity would reach out to us all as the chosen people of the gods who stand closest to the impersonal power that is Brahman. The Promised Land was the World of Ninja but during the course of time when the Buddha came and created an offshoot of the Trinity, things became complicated. The Gurus and other hermits did agree with him so he was not accepted by many of us and began to convert many non-Trinity believers.
DB99: You say "us" when you refer to your ancestors. Why is that?
Skorge: Our faith and history is very interpersonal; it didn't happen to our ancestors, it happened to us as a whole. Anyways, because of the negative attitude we had toward the Buddha, rumors popped up that we were the ones who killed him and the two faiths became hostile towards each other. There was a First Diaspora which spread us all over the world but many of us wound up in the Land of Earth. The only thing that allowed us to stay in the lands we moved to and survive was our ability to work; many became shinobi while others who were not physically built to be soldiers went towards professions and other practical skills. A good number of believers moved to positions of wealth and jealous and hateful nonbelievers made us out to seem greedy which deepened the hostility towards us. This was one of the reasons for the Second Diaspora which Inagojo survived.
DB99: I'm sorry for your hardships. Thank you Skorge for being so kind to do this with me. (Bows to him since handshakes are culturally awkward for him.) But before I go, what do you guys do to sort of build a bond together since most of you are soldiers and you need some sort of brotherhood to keep you together?
Skorge: Faith, normal military training for the Horde, and what we call yoga of perfect unity.
DB99: What is the perfect unity?
Skorge: It is where we build ourselves up like a pyramid from the various yoga stances to create a link that shows that we are all individuals linked together by the force we all seek to become one with, Brahman.
DB99: Can I try?
Skorge: Um, are you sure? (Doesn't like the idea of dragonbeast99 screwing everything up.)
DB99: Yes, yes I am. (Camera scrolls to later shows dragonbeast99 with veins popping out of his neck as he sits in a full lotus position with Skorge standing upside down in a prayer like stance on his folded legs.) I can't believe I'm doing it! (Camera turns right side up, dragonbeast99 it balancing on his head on top of the back of a Kantus who is lying in a corpse position on top of several other Kantus who are in various other stances and positions creating a pyramid with Skorge standing on top.) Well, that's our show! Thanks for reading and stay tuned! You're gonna love the next chapter because it's time that Sakura be taught a lesson once and for all! Again, PLEASE VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE TO BREAK THE THIRD PLACE TIE BETWEEN ME, AKUMU, NAZO, AND RAMM!!! The Biggest Asshole Award Ceremony will be coming up very soon! Thanks again for reading! Stay tuned! *Scrunches nose Uh-oh, I think I'm gonna sneeze!
Skorge: NO! DON'T! If you do then we all go down! (Dragonbeast99 sneezes and the whole pile of Kantus come down on top of each other. Dragonbeast99 holds his back in pain as he lies on the ground.)
DB99: Ah! My back!
Skorge: (Lying next to him holding his arm and side.) BAKA! (Kicks dragonbeast99 in the head.)