Sequence 05 – Bloody mist

Previously: Kese, now capable of using his chakra, had left his home island and travelled to a nearby village, Siplak, to work under another blacksmith, namely Ushimaru. After eavesdropping on him and his friend, our favourite blond found out the man was working for the pirates, and was paid to keep him there. While thinking about what to do with this situation, he was found by the toads of Myoubokuzan, from who he learnt many things about himself and his past. He began training with them also, but had to go back to Siplak. One day four shinobi appeared at Ushimaru's door to escort him to a construction in Kirigakure, but the man refused to go – fortunately for Kese, who immediately accepted the job and sailed away with them.

English isn't my native language, so if you find any mistake, please send me a message about it. And if you have a question or an opinion, feel free to leave a comment. Every little feedback is appreciated^^.

The chapters contain coarse language, violence and adult themes.

Assassin's Creed and Naruto belong to their respectful owners. I'm also not taking other authors' work. I'm writing this fanfiction because I have to do something to avert my drive after chocolate because of my overdose in the beginning of Sequence 4. OvO

Don't forget:

- Text after a dash or between two dashes means somebody's talking. - text written in italic has emphasis. 'Text written like this' means the character is thinking. But when he/she quotes someone else is like the next line.

- "I don't use bold font; don't look for it, please."

Thank you for reading!^^

The hold of the Ningyo bore deep silence. The symphony of Night was only disturbed by creaking of wood and shallow breaths. The sea was rocking men and woman into sleep in a pace so peaceful no one could resist. But the calmness and caring of the still mermaid didn't give light sleep to every passenger. One of them had a strange and troubling dream, his clothes twisted around his fingers, his blond hair covered in sweat.

"Kese, why are you doing all of this? What's that all for?", his friend's golden eyes glared at him. The blacksmith's brows rose. "What do you mean?", he asked, stepped back and started falling from the top of Turul Mountain. He broke smoothly into the ground like it was water and sunk deeper. "What's your purpose?" Karcsa's voice was heard again. "My purpose?" he asked, and all of a sudden he was pulled back to the surface. He was standing on the water, the cliffs of the Silent Island in front of him, floating away and away into the mist. He noticed a giant rat grinning at him devilishly on the rocky coast. Kese started to run towards it, but the rat faded away, and after it, the island too. The blond couldn't see or feel anything but the heavy white fog that began surrounding him. He reached out to find his way or to touch something that could help, but he didn't find anything. He was just walking and running, but he didn't know where he was heading. He was lost. It didn't matter how much he tried, he couldn't find his way out. He was confused, nervous, and above everything: very desperate.

His dream startled him out of his sleep. He looked around to assure himself he was awake. He slowly sat up and rubbed his head. It was the third night in a row he had this dream. And it was still able to frighten him, but not enough for him to pay attention.

It was also the third night after leaving Siplak. And although they had stopped a few times, his surprisingly fast ship would arrive to the nearest harbour to Kirigakure soon. With a boat like his uncle and the fishermen had, it would take much more time. He shared a cabin with a quiet traveller who seemed to be some kind of writer. He didn't like to be outside and around other passengers as much as the blond did, but Kese found him a great companion because they didn't really disturb each other. He always went to watch the four shinobi's training anyway. They let him do that because, in their eyes, he was an average civilian and he always looked very impressed by their moves. The children were learning new techniques from their teacher, and that certain Kirigakure no jutsu, which created mist, seemed very interesting to the blond.

'I examined it well and I saw the hand-seal. As soon as I get away from eager eyes, I'll give that one a try!', he thought, when someone dared to disturb him in this early hour. – Come in. – he replied to the knock, and Choujuurou peeked in.

- Uhm, sorry for disturbing. We'll arrive soon.

He thanked and rubbed his eyes, trying to sweep away his sleepiness.

- Kowachi-san, you saved us a lot of time searching for one more blacksmith, so thank you for this. – the shinobi added while entering. – Once we're there, I mean, in Kirigakure, I'll register you in the Mizukage Office as a new worker.

The blond nodded. He had got to know why the ninja had been sent for Ushimaru. The reason was simple: the Mizukage, Terumii Mei, had fallen in love with wrought iron, and she wanted some of it inside the new Mizukage Office. Outside the wet climate of her nation would corrode the ornaments quickly. She sent requests for the blacksmiths around the Land of Water, but they found surprisingly few, only two of them: one man in the capital, who agreed immediately, and Ushimaru in Siplak. Other blacksmiths of the nation were only interested in katanas and other pointy and sharp things, or had been moved away to work at the new weapon factory near Konoha. And besides Kese and that other blacksmith, there would be one more man working with them, who is from the Land of Fire. But none of them, nor Choujuurou really knew what design they had to forge.

- I'll need your papers for registering you. If you may. – the ninja put out his hand.

Kese blinked at him. – Papers?

- Yes. Identifications.

- I don't have any.

Choujuurou raised his eyebrows, and he didn't know what to say at first. – Excuse me?

- I've been living at the end of the world where everyone knows everyone. We didn't really need things like that.

The Mist shinobi gaped. – You don't have a document office?

- We do not have any offices.

Choujuurou scratched his head awkwardly. – Oh… In this case, I think we can't register you.

- ...What? – 'This whole journey has been in vain?!', his eyes widened. – W-what if I go into this Mizukage office of yours and ask for one?

- You could if you were a citizen of the Land of Water, but you said your island didn't belong to any nation. – both of them turned their gaze away and mutely stared at the floor for a while. It was the shinobi who broke the silence. – You know what? We'll figure out something for you.

- Thanks. – he breathed.

- But you better be a very good blacksmith then. – Choujuurou said jokingly and left the cabin.

- I am. – Kese smirked to himself, stood up and stretched, then changed his clothes and went up. The other few passengers were on the deck, too, waiting for the ship to land. He had talked to almost all of them in the past days, and they greeted him with smiles on their faces. But now Kese was excited about the arrival: he didn't go to them, he remained at the rails, alone. He watched the hiding horizon, and he could slightly see the harbour. The mist wrapped around it reminded him of his dream.

His thoughts were disturbed by the quarrel of Choujuurou's genin*. They were on the main deck; one of the twins was sitting, holding onto his bleeding left arm, the other one was standing still not far from him, his posture filled with shame and worry. The jounin* was in front of the latter one and the girl next to the other. Choujuurou was awkwardly trying to calm Maguro, while Kamome was quarrelling with Ei, who refused to show her his wound. Kese stepped closer to them and asked them what had happened.

- They were practising on the water, and Maguro injured his brother.

- It was an accident. – said boy whispered, on the edge of crying. – I'm so sorry.

- Oh... And those two?

- Kamome is our healer, but she's not allowed to use chakra now. And Ei… - Choujuurou sighed and shook his head. - He's afraid of traditional medical treatment.

- Needles? – the blond asked.

- Exactly.

- I'm not afraid! It's just I don't want to be healed now, I'll be fine until we get to the village.

Kese chuckled. This scene reminded him of one time he had injured Karcsa, and he hadn't wanted to see their doctor. Instead of this, he had asked Emese for help, who – while stitching his wound – had been scolding him and the blond as well for more than ten minutes. Karcsa hadn't really known what was going on because his aunt had made him drink a lot of pálinka as sedative and anaesthetic, and as a result of this, the Magor boy had been mostly unconscious during the process.

- By the way, Emese... – the blond had asked her. - Where did you learn to stitch wounds?

- I was on good terms with Lehel's son.

- Lehel has a son?!

- Actually, she daaated 'm.

- Karcsa, shut up!

- Hehe, ya even left da island alooong with 'im, haaandz in haaaandz. Argh, thiz huaaart!

The blond smiled at this memory. 'I wasn't as scared as Maguro now', he added for himself. 'Of course, I was not.'

Their ship arrived to the harbour of Tesseineko*, and they finally stepped onto the docks. It took another two hours on feet to Kirigakure. After they got there, the jounin dismissed his team and led the blacksmith into the temporary Mizukage Office.

While Choujuurou was busy figuring out how to make some papers for the blond then registering him as a worker, Kese was loitering in the hall, doing nothing or reading some posters. They were mostly advertisements, or announcements of development plans and social events. There were posters of rogue ninjas and missing people also, but they were fewer. He noticed the symbol of Konohagakure on one of these posters, and he took a closer look at it. "What's something from Ko-", he froze when he saw the ink identikit picture. It was of a boy, a little younger than him. He also had light spiky hair like him and the shape of his face was so similar to his also, but rounder and more childish. In two things he differed. The boy's eye was light, not dark, and there were three familiar whisker marks on each of his cheeks. Kese didn't need to read his name, he already knew it. He took a glance around; no one was watching him. He quickly removed the poster and placed it in his bag.

A minute later Choujuurou appeared with a piece of paper. – Kese, we need you to answer a few questions. First, how old are you?

- Nineteen.

- Your birthday?

- 23rd October. - he remembered Jolánta asking him about his birthday. It had been a few days after he had woken up on the island, for the first time after his arrival. He hadn't been able to answer this question, so the girl had chosen one for him. It was that day's date.

- Your birth place?

- I don't know, I was an orphan. My Magor family took me in some years ago.

- I see... uhm, what was your island called again?

- Silent Island.

He frowned at the way Choujuurou wrote the island's name. Of course, the blond translated it to Elemental, but it was still a little confusing for him to see his home's name written that way*. – That'll be your birthplace. I hope you don't mind it.

- No. – he answered. 'In a way, it is my birthplace.'

- Your height?

- About 180 centimetres*.

The shinobi wrote, looked up at his face, then wrote again. – Blond... Black... Blacksmith…– he murmured, then turned to him. – Alright. We'll make a photo of you, then we're finished. It'll take a few hours until it's ready. You can go for a walk, if you want, but try to not get lost, okay?

Kese allowed himself to take a walk around while waiting for his papers to be finished. Kirigakure was a city with thick mist, hills and mountains around it. And it had lots of trees, even on top of buildings, which were mostly cylindrical, and some of them partially covered by ivy. The blond discovered the place where the old Mizukage Office had been and the new one was being built. He didn't find any forge there. And he did not find any traces of an earthquake which could have destroyed such a robust building without critically hurting other neighbouring houses with obviously weaker structure. He suspected there had been a fight, and the building had been ruined in it. 'Destroying it must have cost a large amount of chakra. Gamashiro told me the Mizukage have Lava and Boil Kekkei Genkai*, and the remnants of the building are partly melted, so she must have fought too. But I also see signs of explosions, so there had to be something else too', he mused, and his thoughts turned to a different way. 'Considering the peace amongst the great nations… what kind of enemy could have attacked them?'

Kese walked out of downtown, and while strolling around he noticed a food bar, and decided to have something to eat. Although being the only customer, he soon felt like he was being watched the entire time he was there. So after finishing his meal he paid and went to the restroom to see if someone followed him. No one went there besides him.

'I'm too paranoid', he sighed while washing his hands, but when he looked into the mirror, ironically, he saw two tough men behind him. It was only for a flash, because in the next moment they pushed a rug into his mouth and a sack onto his head. They grabbed his arms, and forced him to move to somewhere. The blond tried to get free, but those men had greater physical strength than him. They pushed him down on a few stairs, removed the sack and the rug, then threw him to the ground. Kese didn't lose his cool, he was to get up already, but his side was kicked right away. He heard laughter as he fell to his back. The leg that hurt him went for another kick, but he grabbed it, and with a quick move, he sent the owner to the ground. He jumped to his feet, dodged a punch, replied with his fists into his opponent's stomach, then kneeled him in the face; instant K.O.

He looked around: he was in a basement, with five other, tough and strong men he had never seen. Their victorious smirk started to fade as they eyed him and the result of his "response". They glanced at each other, then attacked him at once, not leaving him time to take a breath. At first Kese couldn't do anything but defend himself, and when he noticed an opening, he danced away from them. He realized he was a bit more trained and faster fighter than his opponents and he could see through their predictable attacks. He leaned away from the next punch while kicking between the man's leg, and as he bent, the blond elbowed hard into his kidney. Kese crouched to avoid his head being kicked, then grabbed that man's shirt and pulled him in front of him, and so the next attacker hit his own fellow instead of him. After this, the blond introduced him his right fist, then his left foot, too.

Suddenly, two of them seized him from behind, and held him until the rest of them managed to get up. One of those wiped the blood off his face, then reached to his pocket and pulled out a thick, black stick. The other two next to him did the same. – Hold him! – they growled, and expanded those sticks.

'Wa-wait, batons?!' the blond gulped, and as the first one attacked, he jumped and kicked him right in the face. The grip he was in loosed and with two other kick, he managed to free himself. But he was already attacked again: he dodged the first, then – to his opponent's greatest surprise – he stopped the next one's arm and dislocated it. He caught the baton in midair and hit the other man on his hip; he fell to the floor, shouting and couldn't get up. The next attacker raised his arm, to strike from above, but the blond hit his side before that, then with a kick he send him back to a wall. One of the remaining men stepped to his fallen mate to pick his baton up, but Kese noticed him and knocked him out as well. The last two of them charged at the blond at once, he just side-stepped, swept the legs of the left one, then hit his back with his baton. He turned to the last one and countered his attack. The batons flew out of their hands, the blond grabbed his opponent and head butted him so hard, he almost lost consciousness.

- Who sent you? – Kese growled, while the man in his grip tried to figure out where he was. The blond repeated his question to him; and the response he got didn't calm him down.

He knocked out that one too, and then he looked around at the bunch of men on the ground. He had been taken completely off guard; he shouldn't have let that happen, and would not let that happen again. 'I should believe my instincts more often', he thought, took some pocket money from the unconscious or wailing men around him, picked up his stuff, and left the basement. He didn't bother the stunned gaze of the waitresses as he walked out of the food bar.

What did bother him was the man's answer. It was none other but Ushimaru who sent them after him. 'He wants me because he wants his money and his ass saved. The pirates wouldn't forgive him if they found out I'm no longer at Siplak. He will certainly not tell them about it', he smirked. 'I almost feel sad for him.'

He turned a corner and stumbled into Choujuurou's three genin. They were looking for him. – Hey guys, how are you? - they greeted him as well. The always curious Ei grinned and pointed at his bandaged arm, telling him everything was alright with him.

- Sensei sent us to find you, Kowachi-san. – the quiet twin, Maguro spoke, and the blond started to suspect the shinobi were deliberately using their strong Elemental accent on his surname. – We'll show you your quarters.

They led him to a two-storied house not far from the construction. It was cylindrical like the others, surrounded with thick forest, and covered with ivy. – You'll live here for a while. – Ei said and handed a bunch of keys to the blinking blond. – The third door is yours. It's on the second floor. Choujuurou-sensei will come to see you soon.

- Thank you, guys. – Kese noticed the boy was pressing his lips. He really wanted to say something, but his twin stopped him.

- We have to go now. – Maguro spoke, then turned to the blond and bowed. – Have a nice day, Kowachi-san. - and with this, they were off.

Kese stepped to the entrance of the house and tried to guess which key was the right one when he noticed a paper pinned to the door. It said: "Mizukage Office Construction Workers – Department of Glowing Steel and Wrought Iron". The blond casually dropped a what-the-fuck at its unusual decoration, but quickly entered. After a few metres of covered outdoor corridor, he found a round garden with trees, which was surrounded by the house itself, but the roof was opened. 'What's the big idea with this doughnut design?', he wondered as he walked up to the second floor and found his apartment. It was small but neat, had its own bathroom and kitchen, too, and anywhere he looked out of the window he saw trees, in and out of the house as well.

He had just dropped his only bag when someone knocked. He wasn't prepared for the person he met.

- Hi, how do you do? – a spiky brown-haired, very loud and very cheerful man in his late thirties grinned at him. He offered his right; his voice was warm and extremely enthusiastic. – I'm Takayanagi Tadao, but just call me Tata!

- Erm, I'm Kovács Kese. - they shook hands.

- An interesting name you have there! Where are you from?

- Uhm, from an island to the north-east-

- That's awesome! – Tadao interrupted him, and didn't stop. – And what does your name mean? Is the first one your surname or the second one? And how do you write it?

The blond raised an eyebrow at him suspiciously. The other man blinked, then yelled. – Hah! I'm a little too genial, am I? Sorry about that. I'm always like this, but don't worry, you'll get used to it for I'm your only and irreplaceable housemate! Erm... What was your name again?

- Kovács Kese.

- I have a terrible memory for names and faces! So what does it mean?

- What?

- Your name.

- Kovács means blacksmith in Magor.

- Magor?

- My home island's lang-

- Are you a blacksmith, too? What luck! We'll work together from now on!

- Eh? Wait, are you the blacksmith from the Land of Fire?

- Right from Konohagakure. – he grinned lively and proudly.

The blond's heart beat loudly.

- Really? – he breathed out. 'Fukasaku told me I was born and grew up there.'

- Yes. Oh, and yes, we really have the faces of our Hokage carved into the mountain over the village.

- Oh? – he got so excited about Konoha, he was barely able to speak. His only old memory came into his mind, in which he had got to see that mountain. – I'd love to see it.

Tata grinned. – Well, if you ever happen to visit Konoha, visit me as well! I always have a room free. I'll give you my address right away...

- You may do that later. – a voice interrupted Tadao's fidgeting in his pockets; and a moment later Choujuurou appeared. He frowned at the blond. – What happened?

- What?

- That bruise on your cheek. It wasn't on you in the morning. Where did you get it?

- Oh, that... – he touched that place and indeed felt a little pain. He scratched his head. – I wasn't looking and walked into a pole.

He hoped the shinobi believed him, but Tadao did and even laughed at him. – Are you as absentminded as me?

– I'm just a little tired after this long journey. - Kese chuckled awkwardly then turned to Choujuurou. – About the papers...

- I'll bring them tomorrow, don't worry. I managed to registrate you as well, so everything's alright. – the blond thanked him. - For now, I need to show you the workshop.

Kese nodded, and was finally relieved he would get lost from the other blacksmith. He tensed when he heard him speaking, and sighed when the shinobi gave permission to his request.

- Can I come, too? Please?

Tesseineko could be translated as iron cat. Translated to Hungarian, iron cat is "vasmacska", which is a term we use for anchor.

Silent Island in Elemental (Japanese) is something like this: Shizuka no Shima; 静か の 島.

180 cm = 5 feet and 10,9 inches.

~~~For those who are not familiar with the world of Naruto~~~

*Genin are the lowest level of ninja and also the ones that display the most difference in power. When they become genin, ninja start to do their bit for their village's economy – being sent on missions that the village gets paid for. They are typically sent either on D-rank missions (lowest level), which are almost entirely risk-free jobs of manual labour, or, rarely, on C-rank missions, which are a cut above that and begin to verge on real "ninja" work that have a very low possibility of risk to the ninja involved. Genin are put in four-man cells or squad, consisting of three genin and a jounin-sensei, in order to learn teamwork and experience true ninja life under the supervision and protection of an elite shinobi. Via various exams and tests, they can be promoted to higher ranks, first to chuunin and jounin after that. Chuunin are ninja who are qualified to guide other ninja and lead missions. They have reached a level of maturity and ability that primarily consists of leadership skills and tactical prowess. Jounin are generally highly-experienced shinobi with great individual skill who serve as military captains. It is not unusual for jounin to go on missions alone. Jounin are generally able to use at least two types of elemental chakra (Water and Earth-type, etc.), some genjutsu (illusions), and above average taijutsu (martial arts or the optimisation of natural human abilities) skills.

*Kekkei genkai (literally meaning "a technique limited to inheritance by blood" or "Bloodline Limit") are abilities passed down genetically within specific clans. It's possible for a shinobi to have more than one of these abilities. Kekkei genkai abilities that work via the user's eye are called doujutsu (e.g. sharingan, byakugan). Other kekkei genkai include mixing one type of elemental chakra with another (e.g. Lava and Boil Release), creating a new one unique to the users, which is usually impossible for normal ninja; or other bodily manipulations that are usually unachievable by normal standards (e.g. extracting your own bones from your body and use them as weapon). Kekkei genkai and their related techniques cannot be taught to or copied by others.

(As you might have discovered, I changed "blonde" to "blond" when talking about Kese, because I've just learnt about feminine and masculine form of nouns in English. In my native language we don't really have this thing and first time I encountered something like this was when I was learning German. I've never thought English had different gender forms of adjectives (and nouns like this). Is this a problem to write it like this? Is the previous one more accurate, or is it pretty much the same? Which one do you prefer? Please, let me know it. Thanks! )

Thank you for reading again, and thank you for being here and still reading my story! :)