Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen.
This little piece has been in the making for way too long. The reason was simple: I grew slightly bored with it chapter half way through. While I had grand hopes for this slightly darker part, real life killed the mood and all I wanted to do was go back to something light. Hence this whole chapter probably seemes rushed and 'unrefined'. It actually never even saw a beta reader so you are very likely to spot several mistakes.
Not much else to say here. Enjoy while you can.
ΩΩΩΩ
Akuma was staring blankly at the students training with kunai and shuriken, the revelation a few nights ago still too fresh in his mind to forget them. Even the students seemed to notice that the 'scary freak' was not fully paying attention.
"Alright! Take 10 minutes!"
TenTen's voice cut through the air and send the kids hurry away. They had sensed a charged situation between the two kenjutsu experts and none of them had any interest in getting between them when the fireworks were set off.
Standing before the male TenTen had a look of pure anger and murder on her face. "What the fuck you think you are doing here Ryoushi?" The venom was dripping from her words in rivers and it would have normally sent anyone running.
Akuma simply raised his head, looking dead into her eyes. "What do you mean TenTen?" His voice was even, flat and not showing any emotion at all.
Before the Adept could react he found himself hosted in the air and slammed against the closest wall, an arm pressed against his throat and a snarling Kunoichi in his face. "DON'T fuck with me Ryoushi! You bloody KNOW what I mean! Do not dare believe I have forgotten the night a week ago. What game are you playing?"
He reached up, pulling TenTen's arm away a bit to be able to breath. "I will tell you the same I said that night: while I will do everything to bring those bastards to justice I will NOT speak of those things when we are clearly off-duty."
Her eyes narrowed dangerously as her next words came as a whisper, "What do you want from me? What kind of blackmail are you planning? You want my body? You want me as your slave?"
The words registered very slowly in his mind but when they did it took less than a second to react.
TenTen's head was spinning when she suddenly found their positions somewhat reversed. She was pressed face first into the wall, arms pulled high onto her back and a strangely clawed hand threatening her throat.
"Watch your words carefully. Do not dare assume that you can peg me as a sexist chauvinist pig. I gave you my word, I swore on ALL I hold dear that I would NOT hold your past and present against you. I swore that I would find a way to change the future and the elements be my witnesses, I WILL make it happen; with your help or without."
"You have no idea what you are talking about Ryoushi... you have NO idea WHO you are dealing with! Dozens of 'us' have tried to bring them down, alone or together and all it earned them was death, having their minds whipped clean and reduced to nothing but fleshly lust puppets! They OWN us, our bodies and our future!"
Akuma was silent for several moments staring into the back of hear head with a burning gaze. Then he spoke, his voice low and dead. "You give them way too much credit... you have seen what your friends are capable of... you KNOW who and what you call a friend in Naruto... and you have seen what each of us can unleash..."
Instantly he released her, stepping away. "Be prepared to teach alone for a long while... for I will hand in a long, medical leave..."
And without a sound he was gone, leaving an angry but also scared Kunoichi behind.
ΩΩΩΩ
Tsunade was going over the dreaded paperwork when a knock came to her door. "Enter."
She had expected Shizune to walk in with even more paperwork, and while Kage Bunshin helped there were still things she had to do herself, but who walked in was someone else entirely.
"Akuma? What do you want? You just handed in your latest report this morning."
"I need a medical leave."
"WHAT?"
Tsunade shot out of her chair instantly, staring at the angry looking teen before her. "What do you mean, you need a fucking medical leave?"
"You read the report," he said with a stony voice. "You know WHO I found in there... It is not possible for me to work next to her while this investigation is going on, hence I need a medical leave until I am able to settle this... situation."
Slowly Tsunade sat down, eying the Adept with a sharp and calculating gaze. She laced her fingers before resting her chin on them. "Do you have a new plan?"
Slowly he nodded. "I need to go back and find out WHO those girls were before. While most of them seem to be the usual runaway or orphan that got caught in the webs some seem to have been... acquired by different means. As long as we can find someone important enough... getting those punks dealt with will be easily explained."
"So you hope to find someone, a daughter of a higher noble, amongst them? Someone who is related to someone with enough political pull that we can sweep the slaughter of the whole ring under a rug?"
"Hai. It pains me to say this but most believe that they have met their fate. None of them believe that their tormentors can be stopped at all. It seems that attempts from the inside had been made in the past but they were found out and the results... were not pretty it seems."
Leaning back into her chair Tsunade looked out the windows, overlooking Konoha with a distant look.
After several minutes she finally spoke again. "You are on leave for the next two weeks. By then I NEED you to have found enough evidence to bring them down."
Slowly he nodded before turning to leave and being swallowed by shadows.
ΩΩΩΩ
It was that next night that had Sakura search for her lover. She was worried since he had not shown up at the academy, even though they had left together. Having already searched the whole house she finally decided to search the basement.
She found him holed up in one of the small rooms down there, brooding over a table littered with scrolls, pieces of paper and other things.
"Akuma-kun?"
He did not react at all and it send a bang of anger through her. But that quickly evaporated when she felt something in the air.
It was like the air itself was filled with the stench of murder and death.
Looking around she saw that seals were carved into the ground, the walls and the ceiling and she realized that those seals were nothing like any seal she had seen Akuma, Naruto or even Jiraiya work with before.
"Sakura... if you do not want to be caught up in something that could utterly change you... you should better leave this room..."
Akuma's voice was dead, cold and emotionless. He did not even turn to her and only kept staring at the papers on the table.
"What are you doing," whispered the pinkette, feeling a sense of dread wash through her body.
"Something you do not wish to be part of Sakura... trust me..."
Slowly she backed out of the room, closing the door and swiftly left the basement. She felt that whatever her lover was doing was dabbling in realms she should not even know about.
ΩΩΩΩ
The next morning found the Tsunade in the presence of two people she would have never expected to deal with at once: the Daimyos of Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni.
Both men had come to her at the exact same time and for the exact same reason: one member of each of their families had vanished and all leads pointed towards Konoha. Just as she was about to reply to the accusations the doors to her office were blown on their hinges with enough force to send the flying through the windows behind her.
All three occupants of the room turned around and Tsunade froze as she saw the person responsible for the commotion: Ryoushi Akuma.
"What is the meaning of this disturbance," demanded the Fire Daimyo sharply, wondering who this person was to simply barge in on his Hokage.
"Hokage-sama! The recon was successful! I have the real names of ALL 'prisoners'!"
Instantly Tsunade was out of her seat and lifted the teen up by the front of his shirt. "Tell me brat! Are the names Furiki and Sorita amongst them?"
"Yes," was all the Adept could get out before he suddenly felt a level of killing intent coming off the kunoichi before him that was unreal to even him.
"Ryoushi Akuma, you are hereby ordered to go to the site and deal with the scum you find there in the most appropriate way possible! They are guilty of having abducted and enslaved the granddaughters of the Daimyos of Wind and Fire!"
Silence fell over the room as Akuma slowly processed the information. Seconds later and Tsunade saw how his eyes turned pure silver, his lips were drawn up in a snarl and baring fangs. "Hai." And without another word he was gone with an explosion of shadows.
Slowly Tsunade made her way back into her seat, her face a stony mask.
"That is all you plan to do? Send one messily ninja," demanded the Wind Daimyo only to suddenly have a glare leveled at him that froze is blood.
"You have no idea who Ryoushi Akuma is Daimyo-sama. He has been investigating for barely two weeks and already he has more leads than even Jiraiya could gather."
"Maybe so Tsunade-hime," said the Fire Daimyo carefully. "But still he surely is no matc-"
"With all do respect, the only way for me to send someone more powerful would be sending a few squads of ANBU to take care of this."
Both men gasped and Tsunade slowly turned in her chair to look out the windows. "Ryoushi Akuma is one of the few people capable to issue wide-spread mass destruction in this village that could rival the destruction one of the grand summons could bring forth. Also he is the first summoner of the dragons in years."
finally she turned to face them from the corner of her eyes, "Not to mention that he has family about as young as your own. He has the most valid motivation to rain down judgment on those monsters of anyone I could send. And believe me that their death will be nothing short of hell."
ΩΩΩΩ
Neji and Lee were painfully slammed into a wall, both coughing up some blood as they fell to the ground.
"We told you brats to never return. Nothing you could offer me with be able to live up to her price."
A large man, build like bull was standing over the two Tokubetsu Chuunin, cracking his knuckles. He was dressed in a fine suit that stood in strong contrast to the man's looks.
"But... we have the money she owes you... even with interest...," muttered Lee as he slowly staggered back on his feet next to Neji.
"You think THAT is enough? She brings in enough money that she alone could support several families! She is worth her weight in gems!"
A good twenty more men appeared from within the building, standing next to their boss and in front of all the females. The woman and girls were huddled together behind the female in question: Shuri as they knew her.
"Let's teach those brats a lesson boys," grinned the leader as every started to prepare an attack of sorts.
But before anyone could even move a finger the whole building shook, the light that came through the windows vanished into twilight and the electric lights started to flicker.
"What is the meaning of this," barked several of them men.
Before anything else could be said or done a single, deadly voice filtered through the entrance door. "Kuroton: Charon Yubi."
Instantly five pure black rays burst through the doors, impaling five men through the heart. Neither of them screamed in pain or even reacted. For several seconds nothing seemed to happen.
But then something did happen.
Before the very eyes of the onlookers the five men suddenly started to age. In a matter of seconds they started to look like conserved bodies of long since dead people.
A few more seconds later and all that was left of them was leathery skin and bones.
Slowly heads turned toward the door as it opened and the rays of blackness faded.
IN the door stood a person a few recognized instantly, though he had features about him that were utterly scary.
The three Tokubetsu Chuunin could only stare as they saw four massive wings of electricity sprout from Akuma's back.
Slowly he raised his head, two pure silvery orbs burning into the eyes of the leader.
"In the name of the Godaime Hokage, the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni and the Daimyo of Kaze no Kuni... you are all sentenced to death..."
Without another word spoken shadows and lightning exploded from his body in thick waves.
Faster than a civilian could ever hope to follow he moved against the men and an instant later two were gutted. Blood dripped on the floor as they slowly fell and tried to stuff their intestines back inside their bodies.
Finally they reacted and prepared to fight the monstrous teen. But they might as well try to stop an earthquake.
With speed and precision that would rival Neji and Lee combined the draconian descendant slaughtered one man after the other, tearing them apart limp by limp or mutilating beyond anything any healer could heal.
After less then a minute only three of them were left: the boss and the two guys closest to him.
"W-wh-what t-he f-f-fu-ck a-re y-ou," stammered the man out as they slowly backed away.
Blood dripped from his hands like water, his whole appearance was covered in gore, even his hair had a good chunk of the life liquid in it. "Me," Akuma asked lowly as a line of blood ran over the left half of his face. "I am your end. Your Judge. Your Jury. And your Executioner."
Drawing deep into the darkest pits of his souls Akuma prepared a Jutsu that he thought he would never use in his entire life. But this... skum... this waste of resources... they were the perfect target for it.
Slowly his hands moved through the appropriate hand seals,his mind drawing forth all the darkness he held within himself.
An eerie chime filled the room as the lights started to flicker again before they fully died.
"Kanmon Makai."
The chimes grew slightly faster in the perfect darkness and the females started to further huddle together. The younger girls started to silently weep into the arms of the older ones.
Neji and Lee felt as if the very life force was slowly sucked out of them, their muscles shaking as cold sweat was running down their faces.
TenTen had her eyes closed, not daring to hope that anything would change.
Suddenly a presence filled the room that made time freeze.
No one could draw even a single breath.
The sounds of metal against metal filled the air before suddenly three blood freezing and mind halting screams of terror, pain and fury filled the air. The sounds lasted for what felt like eternity before a it stopped suddenly.
And then a laughter, so cold and ruthless that it would chill anyone to the very bones filled the air for a several seconds as slowly the light flickered back on.
Where the three men once stood lay three bodies. Their faces were warped by fair and pain and all their muscles were tensed up and ready to snap.
Eyes slowly moved away from the corpses and fell on the creator of the... situation.
Akuma was kneeling on the ground, his face downward. His chest heaved with deep and heavy breaths. The wings of electricity were gone.
Suddenly the ninja present saw how he started to cough and blood dripped from his lips, hitting the floor with soft splashes.
Slowly he staggered back to his feet, swaying from one side to the other.
Slowly he raised his head and they all saw the amount of blood that was still dripping from his lips.
No one said a word as he whipped away they blood with the back of his hand, eyes still burning with an unholy hatred.
Finally someone spoke. "What have you done to them," whispered Neji, his face pure white and his eyes wide.
Turning his head slightly all Akuma said for now was a single sentence. "A place worse than Hell."
Slowly his eyes moved back to TenTen as slowly the burning hatred dissolved. "I told you, I would end them; one way or the other."
A woman in her late thirties or early forties stepped up in front of the clearly exhausted male, leveling a glare at him the confused him.
"So you killed them... What is your plan? Do you wish to take over for them?"
The three other Tokubetsu Chunnin could not help but draw sudden gasps. No one had ever dared to accuse Akuma of such a thing and lived to tell the tale.
Staring deep into the eyes of the woman Akuma spoke lowly but calmly. "I plan nothing. I did what I did because it what felt right to me and for someone I call a close friend. And if it were not for the sheer inability to cover it up I would let this place be swallowed whole by the earth, never for it to be seen again."
The woman seemed shortly confused by the answer before a slight frown appeared on her face. "Did it EVER even occur to you that some here might actually do the works because the ENJOY it?"
For a moment the male seemed gob-smacked before his mind drew a quick connection. Looking her once more dead in the eyes he spoke with the same calm tone. "If there are actually those amongst them who did it of their own free will than I will not be the one to do anything about it. If they wish to continue this business than they can. Am not one to judge their actions without knowing the tale behind them."
Again the woman seemed confused for a moment before Akuma turned from her. "Now if you excuse me, I just traded ten years of my life for three souls' eternal damnation."
His words hang in the air for several moments after he left the room, no one daring to breath as they tried to digest the words of the young man.
ΩΩΩΩ
Setting the first step outside of the building Akuma dispersed the four clones he had used to create a barrier around the building. It had blocked anything that happened on the inside from being noticed.
A woman walked up to the staggering male. She was of average height but what set her apart were her raven colored hair that reached just below her ankles, the deathly white skin and the pitch black, haunting eyes.
"Have you achieved what you desired hatchling?" The woman's voice was dark and cold, bare of any emotion.
"Hai, Shi-Kisaki-sama..."
"Was it worth the price you had to pay for it?"
"No. But it had to be done anyway..."
A single finger traced his jaw line, forcing him to look into those eyes that made his soul shiver in fear.
"You are a strange being hatchling, so different from your ancestor."
He did not dare to answer; anything he could have said could have lead to his instant demise.
"But it seems that you got something he seriously lacked: smarts. Until you are once again in need for my services hatchling."
And in a plum of smoke the female was gone.
Drawing a shaky breath Akuma thanked the elements that he was still alive. 'Never again... Never again shall I deal with a death dragon..."
ΩΩΩΩ
A day had gone by and the case of the twiddling kunoichi numbers had been solved adequately.
Tsunade had not pressured Akuma for a written report after he had come to relay the happening to her and the two Daimyos. This were words not meant to be put on paper.
After the report the two elderly men had rushed out of the office, totally forgoing any dignity. Had the situation not been so utterly serious Tsunade may have found humor in it.
She soon dismissed the young male, seeing that all of his being yearned for rest.
Turning in her chair she looked out of the windows at the village that was her charge, lacing together her fingers. 'To find such darkness in this village... Have we grown really that blind?'
ΩΩΩΩ
Her mind was swirling with thoughts, emotions and pictures.
She could not figure them out... they came too fast and just as quickly they were gone again.
Voices filtered through but were too far away to understand.
A short pain raced through her.
Then a warmth spread unlike anything she had ever felt.
Slowly the warmth faded and the voices became stronger but still not audible.
Shivers went through her.
Her whole body tensed.
Something brushed against skin.
A soothing tune.
Another gentle touch.
Her eyelids fluttered.
The light blinded her shortly.
Two gasps.
One on each side.
Bright spots were blinked away.
The world returned into focus.
A set of two red orbs appeared in her focus.
Warmth shone in them and a mix of relief and desperation.
Then words were spoke.
"Welcome home...mother..."
ΩΩΩΩ
Cut. And done.
Clearly not the best thing my mind ever came up with but it serves its purpose: get the dark stuff out of the way. I know that it is hardly worth being called 'a chapter' but I am tired of writing dark and evil for a while. I just want to go back to some light-hearted writing.
Translations
Shi-Kisaki - Literally translates to Death Mother. She is THE death dragon. She might appear again but it is unlikely since all her services cost the summoner dearly.
Kanmon Makai - Hell's Gate - An ability that trades the very life force of the user for sending a set amount of souls straight to eternal damnation. How this actually plays out depends on who used the ability and who it was used on.
That is it for today. Hopefully it was not too much of a disappointment for you. Until next time.
- Nelo Akuma