Ch.29 Silent Nightmares

A silent group of three, slowly making their way through the forest of lands connected found themselves each at a crossroads. None of them really knew what this journey might or will do to them. They, for all intents and purposes, could be the same as they had left. But some part, some miniscule thought within each of them found something they wanted to avoid, quickly approaching it however at the nearing of the village. For one it held a past, one that was better forgotten and put away with the demons he still held within the mental plane. A past that continued to haunt from childhood to even now, with the bright outlook on the outside of life barely hiding the dark within. This battle with his demons was going nowhere, better left forgotten than faced. There was always something else to do. Something better to focus the attention he slightly had. But now, it was there, staring him within the eyes. Waiting for him to make a move and destroy what life he has made or will make. Even through all of this, the pressure, the haunting memories. The man looked into his demons with cold eyes, and smiled a deathly, sharp-toothed smile.

For another, this trip held altogether different demon. One without need for a mental existence, for it was already ready within the physical one. This demon of his mind that slowly drove him to the brink of insanity held the form of a human. One face he had grown to hate with every passing moment. Hate was an almost foreign concept to him. But this, what else could it be? Over time however, the hate was replaced by pride. Putting duty and honor before any personal emotion and instinct. It was what he needed to become, a shinobi, by the book and always by the rules. Law and order, those were the only things to save the world from driving itself insane. That he learned for himself, by the training he had put himself through with the added effect of being chosen by the Raikage.

So, over time, he began to forget hate, pain, altogether feelings. But lately, something had gone wrong. Something began to drive out the hidden emotions from within his being. He tried to suppress them. Driving them back to within the depths of his own subconscious. Hoping to contain and suppress what this was. As the demon stared at him with cold, emotionless eyes, burrowing into the soul that inhabited from within. He began to glare back, his own emotionless eyes trying to drive back the evil. Though this thought began to run wild and wonder its own existence; who truly was the demon here?

The final one, the one without a crossroads of her own, only a straight path seemingly without an end. No answers, no explanation for what is to come. Answers, something apparently nothing could provide. Not even the Toads could really do anything, they weren't exactly the 'touchy feely' type. This fight, this war within needed to be over. She needed to face this, with pride and with strength. But this war, this fight with a faceless being was stronger than what she thought. Nothing seemed to work, and with no answers this left her more and more without light of any kind. The last light slowly being extinguished. This light couldn't be saved by her, only by another. And he seemed to be absent around now. Not even willing to see what was happening, what he was doing to her. This pain, the last embers being slowly embraced by darkness. This was never something she had wanted. Hopefully within the coming days, answers could finally be found. Kasai stuck to this thought, continuing to lead her group towards the Mist.

They were close, seeing the rolling fog past them signaled that as much. It got to the point where even her Sage chakra was having trouble, so for now a small purple toad sat on Suigetsu's head, much to the man's disappointment, looking out for trouble. They had stated that he was the tallest of the group and Gamakibo needed a better view, so one he got, with much resistance included. But with a small glare and a fire blast that singed part of his skin slightly from the toad after threatening her summoner, he agreed, still with the occasional mumble of disapproval. With the mist getting thicker and thicker however, he was slightly glad that the toad was up there, pointing at the occasional stump that would trip up the group.

Something was wrong to the man however, and he sensed that the rest of the group may have sensed it. No ninja, nothing, no civilians either even near the borders. Not even the occasional merchant traveling the fields. Did this really scare off all of the lands? Was this incoming threat so decisive no one dared to move from their homes? In this Suigetsu actually reconsidered how greatly this may impact the shinobi world. If they won then the Leaf might not actually exist anymore, other ninja villages may call upon that the village is too damaged to repair. Without the Leaf there would be a huge power struggle, maybe leading to another war, one that the Whirlpool may not win. If they lost, then the trio of villages might as well have the entire lands as a massive red carpet. The Stone and Mist didn't have the type of firepower to take on that alliance of villages on their own. Hopefully they would see reason. His thoughts quickly did a mental one-eighty, was he actually considering his future, everyone's future? Something must be terribly wrong with him.

To Kasai the entire trip was starting to be a bit tedious, almost feeling like they had been walking around in circles for hours. With the fog, unreadable night sky, and Gamakibo only able to keep them on the road, it was unlikely if they were actually on the road at all. Suigetsu's and Han's faith in the toad was slightly diminishing by the second, the woman of the group however still had some faith, in whatever was left within the small toad. With everyone already on edge, it wasn't long until someone gave out. The white-haired man growled in frustration "we have been going around in circles, no thanks to this thing."

In which the toad promptly smacked the man, causing a loud popping noise and a wince of pain. Han nodded as well, taking his pipe out and popping a few bubbles in contemplation. "It does feel like we have been on this road for a while, most of these places look familiar. Even though we are in a forest, surrounded by fog."

"I smell sarcasm Han."

"Both of you shut it! But, you both are right, find a marker, a tree or something make sure we remember it. I hope we are not going in circles, and I hope that that is the least of our problems."

Suigetsu nodded at the command, taking Samehada from his back and slashing across a nearby tree. Carving deep within the bark and splintering wood around him. The toad ontop of his head jumping slightly as he did so, making the man smirk at the toad's surprise and feeling like he had given enough payback for the few hits. Feeling like his job had been accomplished; he walked back to the group skipping across the road as he did so. In which the blue-robed man shook his head in slight contempt "you enjoy cutting things way too much."

"What can I say; a person has to have a hobby."

As the rest of the group laughed off the slight joke, they began to walk upon the road again. Eventually, something defiantly seemed wrong, the fog was getting thicker with each passing moment. The trees around them almost seemingly the same in each and every minute. Kasai was starting to get frustrated; she had hoped that this wasn't the case, that this wasn't what was happening. They were only supposed to teleport here, walk within a day to the Mist village and set up camp for the night. But with this, it seemed like hours and yet the light hadn't changed, the fog hadn't disappeared and the forest seemed endless. This was bad, but now it was just getting worse. As the group stopped a large exasperated sigh came from the silver streaked man. The other two within the group turning to the man as he pointed towards a tree, hidden within the fog, the toad as well pointing towards it. "We are in trouble."

As the other two walked closer towards the tree, their eyes as well began to widen. The tree, its base was almost destroyed, by a large and devastating slash across the trunk. As Suigetsu groaned and threw his arms into the air, Gamakibo leapt from his head to Kasai's shoulder, looking slightly irritated as well. Suigetsu grimaced while Han developed a small smirk on his face "I don't recognize this place."

"Are you serious, I destroyed this exact same tree!"

"There are a lot of destroyed trees in the world."

"I hate you."

As Han scoffed slightly, the shark boy turned back towards the tree, his face perplexed and with slight anger. "Well this is great; we were going around in circles. So what is it? Genjutsu, or are we just that stupid?"

Kasai shook her head "I really should have noticed the change when my Sage chakra almost all but disappeared, this is Genjutsu, but when did we get into it?"

Han took another thought while blowing a few more bubbles, popping louder than usual "when the fog started to appear, a few hours ago, that was the triggering point. We never noticed the change in thickness within the fog, thinking we were just getting closer when we were getting further away. But who placed it?"

"Hell if I know!"

"That…that would be me."

The group turned at the sound of a new voice. Each stepping into a battle position which Suigetsu drawing Samehada, crashing into the ground with a massive thud. Han forming a Taijutsu stance, his pipe ready at a moment's notice. Kasai out within the front of the group and drawing her spear intimidatingly, with Gamakibo launching off into the front of the group, stepping into a Taijutsu stance of her own, arms raised into a hand sign. The man was pasty-skinned, a tan jumpsuit, and was coughing uncontrollably. In all other cases they would have pitied the guy, but as he fidgeted with a gasmask that was attached to the lower-half of his face, a loud whooshing sound echoed before breath seemingly returned to the man. Kasai recognized him from the Chunin exams slightly, one of the Rain ninja, Hanzo. His eyes finally resting upon the group, his arms crossing "I do not wish to fight you. I've come with a warning."

The woman grimaced slightly "if you wanted to give us a warning why didn't you just tell us instead of leading us on for a while?"

"I am currently within the Leaf village do you know how much chakra it takes to launch and sustain a Genjutsu from a land away? No, well a hell of a lot and it is not fun."

"What now that you have us, before we beat you to a pulp what do you want?"

Hanzo sighed slightly, steam rising from the mask as his hand fixed it again slightly. "The Mist, they may not be willing to help you. I just want to let you know, there are other villages. Other places nearby you can try, hidden within nothing."

Suigetsu shook his head furiously "wait, are you helping us?"

"Yes, I come on behalf of my leader, my true one. You may remember Jak."

Han nodded slightly "a powerful ninja from what we seen, but you still haven't told us why you are here."

"Yes I suppose I should get to the point. I come with a warning, Jak told me to test your abilities before I told you this. In case you are not worthy, but at the length I am keeping up this Genjutsu. The amount of chakra, I wouldn't last very long. Although I may live to regret that later. Know that we will fight you, although we would rather not, for our village's safety we will fight you so do not in any way see us as friends on the battlefield.

"The Leaf, they are getting dangerous, severely. I can feel chakra, immense chakra spawning from nothingness in that place. I don't like it, I don't like not knowing. They are preparing something, something huge, they were dangerous before but now something is defiantly wrong. So wrong to the point where my group risks everything to tell you this! So I advise you to be ready, what can scare Jak will defiantly make you feel fear. I will not give up your position; trust me I do not want to fight so bringing it to you will be a waste of both of our time. Forces are gathering against you, powers beyond either of us and stronger than we realize. They found Itachi."

Everyone's eyes grew twice their size, including Gamakibo. Kasai was the one who regained her senses first "what did they do?"

"I don't know, I doubt I will ever know. They say they still have him but I cannot feel him anymore. He may be gone, I don't know where. I have to go, my chakra is running out. One last thing before I go. I will try and kill you later, do not take it personally. But I will try to lighten up slightly during the time."

"Well at least we will know you won't try as hard when you are trying to brutally murder us."

"I said nothing personal. I won't contact you anymore, just please stop us when the time comes. I do not wish to fight for these people and neither do my comrades. You need the Mist and Stone by your side, or even the smaller villages. If we win, then I have no idea what the future could hold."

"Why don't you just quit?"

"I can't, I already set things in motion beyond my control. And if we quit now, then my entire village gets into this war. We are the best my village has to offer, but if my entire village goes into battle you will have another problem on your hands. The power of numbers to power that we have, I would gladly take the latter. Do not make me regret this, please be ready. I know we will goodbye."

Kasai eased up slightly, her spear returning to the strap across her back "thank you Hanzo."

With a small nod from the gasmask, the man seemingly disappeared from view, vanished within nothing. The fog started to lighten as well, the forest changing to another scene. One they haven't seen before. Kasai smiled slightly "good, we are out. Hold on to that info Hanzo gave us; we will have to tell Kenshi later, I will send Gamakibo when we get there. We need to get to the Mist, where are we?"

Han, Suigetsu, and the smaller toad took a quick look around the area. Suigetsu and the smaller toad looking slightly bewildered and wondering where they were as much as Kasai. Han however taking one look around the area and turning back to Kasai "we are a day again from the Mist; he just led us to the west slightly."

"And how to you know this Sherlock?"

"I've been around the world a couple of times. Know places, photographic memory, see all know all. Trust me on this, we head north and we should get there pretty fast."


Ten hours later, Han was a little skeptical if his knowledge of the area was still what he thought it was. If he knew any better, he would have thought they were still inside the Genjutsu that Hanzo placed. That guy, the power to cast a Genjutsu from that far away. Sure enough, a quick look of the area in that time showed he was nowhere to be found. That type of Genjutsu power rivals an Uchiha, or at least a high level mastery. If these people were going into battle against them, he may not want to be on the other end in that fight. Retracting from this thought, his mind returned to the task at hand. Suigetsu continued to lead with Kasai, slightly infront of him, seemingly talking about something. Maybe the upcoming task. The toad, Gamakibo, continued to rest on Suigetsu's shoulder. Han was still wondering if the toad was needed anymore but Kasai seemed to like to have her around, so she stayed.

The area was now more than dark; seemingly pitch black and his own vision starting to disorient him. All he needed to do was follow the both of them but it seemed to be harder with each and every step he made. The duo gaining ground with each step, even the toad was turning to him slightly in concern. Taking out his pipe slowly, the bubbles flowed through in a steady rhythm, calming his mind and allowing vision to slightly return to him. Still, it didn't seem to help, something must be getting to him, maybe the M.R.E.'s he ate, they didn't look to healthy. Was it; was it what was coming up? It shouldn't be getting to him this much. This feeling of hate should be long behind. Not here, especially not now. It wouldn't be for a while anyway, he could hold it off as best he could. He would need to be ready, not like this. Strong, structured, emotionless, just…like…always. Luckily ahead of him, the two stopped, Kasai turning to the two men of the group. "We should rest, it is about midnight and we don't want to be weak in the morning. Han, are you alright?"

The man nodded slightly "yah, just a head-ache. A little rest and I'll be fine."

"Alright, do you want to take first watch?"

"That will be acceptable."

"Fine, one of us will take over within a few hours. Let's rest."


Suigetsu's snoring didn't help the silence through the night. Kasai had hoped for a quiet evening alone but with that horn alarm it was hard to bear. So quickly stuffing a pillow within the man's mouth and leaving the two a few trees away, she jumped into a high tree, strong enough to support her weight. Resting her back against the bark, her eyes found the late sunrise, barely rising over the edge of the world. Still late enough to see the stars shining above in the endless black void but early enough to finally see the sun. The golden orb was a beautiful sight, something different than the bland forest of late. Especially more calm than the group she was traveling with.

They were not by all definition bad, just slightly annoying in more ways than one. The bickering between the two of them, Suigetsu threatening Gamakibo about her being on his head half the time. It was nice just to have some quiet in this time. For a while it hasn't been like this, not unlike the sentry duty she once hated. This would be the times missed, if something did happen. Just sitting here, admiring nature. She had always admired how it worked, how life sustained even as the world traveled on and on never-ending. Midori thought otherwise, not that he didn't like it, nature just hated him. During the initial training, the Sage chakra rejected his body to the point where he was sick, bedridden for days on end. Then another where a weaker tree almost fell on him, only directed by gravity and the weakness it was put on by weather and time. If she didn't push the man, he might as well be paste right now. That man, has never had the best of luck, it was almost funny.

In this thought, her mind started to give way. Her vision hazy and thoughts blurry, tired was a good describer of the feeling. But something was different with this, something was wrong. In the dark, within the blurs, looking down into the fields of green a lone figured walked. Surrounded by black robe that hid his upper and lower body, a hood lifted on his head and a band around both eyes. A gleaming smile was caught, bright white teeth showing through the dark. She watched the figure, walking slowly, almost without a destination. Then as fast as the figure appeared, it was gone, passing a tree and beyond the dark. A feeling of need took her over, something wanted Kasai to pursue this person, and she obliged with the commanding impulse.

Grabbing her spear within the right hand, her body acted without a will of its own, pursuing darkness and shadow. Landing on the ground, tumbling and dashing off towards where the figure last stood. She hunted the grounds around the area, loading her Sage chakra and looking for whatever was out there. Then, carried by the wind, a chuckle, a faint laugh sounding within her ears. Quickly looking behind, her eyes caught a faint tint of black hair within a dark robe. Turning and already heading deeper into the forest. Taking off again and calling for the man to stop, Kasai wanted this man to stop, whoever he was, she wanted him to wait.

The man was fast but she was faster, taking off into a furious pace Kasai quickly gained ground. Chasing this man for what seemed to be ages, until stopping suddenly as the man did. Facing her within a clearing of the forest, rounded into a circle. The man now had his hood off, his mess of dark hair showing and pale skin shining like ivory through the darkness. His smile was different, strange almost. It was warm and inviting, it seemed…familiar. The man spoke then, his voice only slightly deep but with power behind it. "Hello Kasai."

He began taking steps towards her, long strides, each making her paralyzed with something more than fear now. Movements were beyond her, not even thoughts graced her mind. This was beyond fear, something inhumane and beyond words. "You haven't forgotten me, have you? I still need your help."

"Get away!"

"The future still stands, why haven't you done anything about it?"

"Get out of my head! Why now, what do you want from me!"

He was close now, his breath against her skin. The feeling of it was unnatural; the feeling that was sent up her spine was that resembling pure disgust. "What I always wanted…to save the world."

In a rush his pale hand was placed upon her forehead. A burning sensation was felt like that of fire, screams filled the night air. Her hand reached for anything, grabbing onto the headband that covered the man's eyes. Through the screams, one would have heard a gasp of shock. The man's eyes were pure green. The once burning sensation was then transformed into a raging inferno her body exploding into flames, destroying clothes, flesh, all within a blast of holy fire. Nothing remained but a hollow shell, still screaming in pain and horror, with the man laughing in contempt of her screams. Savoring every moment of her pain.


Screams that carried into the morning, with her failing upwards and striking something hard with a fist. Retracting said fist and her senses finally returning to her, she began to hear the faint sounds of pain and someone trying to talk to her. "Kasai are you alright?"

Looking upwards, a man with dark hair and a silver streak was above her, seemingly looking over her form with a purple toad on his shoulder doing the same thing. While another with white hair was standing a few feet away, holding his nose with the left hand and the right resting on his hip, almost waiting for an apology. Only looking closer did she realize that a small trail of blood was running down his hand…she had broken his nose. In all other cases she would have been laughing and on the ground right about now. But with the way Han was looking at her, it was more than slight concern; he was clearly worried along with Gamakibo. "Kasai, again, are you alright?"

With a slight nod, her hand found her forehead, a slight groan of pain escaping her "yah…just a nightmare."

Suigetsu turned then, still holding his nose, speaking with a slight wheeze now "when you weren't at camp we got worried and started to search. We found you a while from camp, almost on the verge of screaming your head off. Are you sure you are alright?"

"…No, but it is my nightmare to fight. Now, since everyone is up let's go."

Slightly brushing off Han's grasp, she regained her footing and headed back towards camp. The two men noticing the slight anger within her steps. Turning towards each other, they didn't need to speak to know that the subject wasn't to be approached again. With a slight shrug, the duo started on their way towards camp with Kasai, Suigetsu resetting his nose with a sharp crack and a wince of pain. The both of them ready to get this mission over with and hoping she was as alright as she said. Gamakibo however stayed behind slightly, looking over the area with a hardened look. A flash then blazed through her mind, a pointed, red eye, a Sharingan. The look was fierce and with power that escaped even her. With slight fear coursing through her body, the toad took off towards the duo. Remembering the glare of the red eye, and the words the man said. "Kill her, she will destroy us all."


Something was dearly wrong. He felt, the actual feeling of touch. The roughness of the earth below, the warmth of his own flesh, the dull throbbing of pain in his head. What was slightly worse, movement was foreign to the body. Trying to even move a leg was all but impossible. Luckily, some form of vision and hearing was available to him. Looking to his right, he saw another figure, almost in the same predicament as he was in. Almost glaring at the floor with brown eyes, with long dark hair, almost resembling a woman. Something seemed familiar about him, something he should know.

In a rush memories flooded his mind, of childhood, training, becoming a swordsman and much more. The memories flowed, showing a full montage of his life. It became to the point where it hurt, screaming out in pain. He realized then that another was also screaming, the figure beside him. He wanted to help, to do anything for the being he had yet to know. Fighting against the invisible restraints, a hand moved, reaching out towards the figure within the dark. More feelings came to him then, emotions from not that long ago. Fear, hope, hostility and happiness, what was this? He then started to remember; the memories came into focus and began to show more than the picture in his view. His name, ringing in his ears as clear as day, the name of the being beside him. The feeling of his first kill, his first love, becoming a sensei and much more than that. Then, as fast as the emotions came, they vanished. His body hitting the dirt and arm still outstretched for the figure. Clenching his fist, the will only a true ninja could muster was called upon. Allowing him to stand and slowly crawl towards the figure.

Hearing footsteps coming towards him, his brown eyes turned towards an approaching pair. Although the pair were high in chakra level, one was towering above the other, obviously the leader. He stood tall, a suit jacket, and golden eyes seemingly glaring into his soul. Making him even feel fear, something he hadn't felt in a while. The other was a woman, long red hair and missing sandals, strange for a ninja. Missing his voice, he failed to make threats, or even tell the duo to go away. He needed to protect the boy, whatever it cost. The man nodded towards the woman, a silent gesture, but one telling her to move. The red-head leaving the area in a flash of speed. The man then turned towards him, golden eyes glaring into his before softening a little. Offering a hand towards the fallen warrior, and another towards the slowly awakening boy. He spoke softly but with a deep voice, enough to catch his attention fully before darkness returned. "Hello Zabuza, welcome back to the land of the living."


Hanzo's throat collapsed as the Genjutsu ended. His mind exploded and thoughts became intertwined within his draining chakra, becoming nothing with each second. A firm pair of hands grasped his back and stomach, supporting the man as he quickly reached for his mask. Adjusting it slightly and allowing oxygen to return, chakra also stabilizing. Taking a deep breath, his vision returned to where he stood, along with the sounds that began to run into his ears. He gazed at the sight of a rather large hill, a cliff almost covered with green, beautiful in a poetic way with the cloudless sky above. His attention then turned to a voice that practically invaded his senses "did they get the message?"

The deep voice came from infront of him, a shorter person but more than powerful. He nodded slightly towards Jak, breath still evading him. "Yah, they got it. Hopefully they will follow."

"Alright, Ryu, are they ready?"

From behind, a massive wall of a man approached dark skinned and fierce. He first turned towards Hanzo, making sure the man was alright before approaching Jak. "Yes, they have been for the past hour. They were starting to get a little suspicious before I came to check on you guys."

"How many?"

"Around seven-thousand, maybe more."

"That many? Didn't know they wanted this village so bad."

Hanzo then stood, oxygen finally in ample supply and allowing the man to speak. "They don't, they want what is in it."

Jak nodded slightly, his black coat shifting slightly "I will handle one of them, the controlled one can get the other."

"Are you sure, we are strong but-."

"I know my strength."

The man moved, behind the both of them, towards the edge of the large hill. Following, the duo stopped at the edge along with their leader, almost gasping at the amount of ninja below. The white clones stretching on and on endlessly. Hanzo turned to Jak, a slight amount of light to hit the pale face behind the mask of darkness that hid the physical; he wished sometimes that their leader would put away the mask that hid everything. Just, be herself, but that would never seem to pass anytime soon. Still however with the commanding voice that inspired and caused fear within himself and Ryu. They did care for Jak, but anymore they feared more than respected their leader. Hopefully all of this would end soon, and without much bloodshed. Turning slightly, he caught Jak turning and facing another that walked onto the cliff, a man with dark skin, white hair, a black tattoo across his shoulder, and a large cleaver-like sword across his back. Jak seemed to declare the next sentence, but Hanzo saw something below it. Something that seemed to be in the area of slight worry, and fear within himself. "When we battle the Sand, I will face Naruto Uzumaki in combat, and he will die."

A/N: Possibly may be going back to do another rewrite soon, changing nothing to the plot but fixing grammar and stuff like that. So if the next chapter or the one after it comes at a later date, y'all know what happened.