Of Demons and Gods

by AJ-Writer

Everything in this world will always have their opposites. Man and woman, good and bad, Demons and Gods. Pairings inside. New Chapt FINALLY up.

38. Unthinkable, Trapper and the Trapped

Also read Samurai Seed and kind enough to leave a review. It's the prequel of this story. Go to my profile and you'll find it.

NOTE:

"Chidori!": normal talking

"Rasengan!": special case (Naruto Berserker mode, different language)

'Darn!': thoughts

GWA HA HA HA! : Giant creature speech

"Journal no bla bla": Renald's writing or other uses

Disclaimer: I own nothing… except the plenty of OCs in the story.

Chapter 35:

The Unthinkable, the Trapper, and the Trapped

"M…My mother was… subjected to that drug?" To say Yukiku was shocked of the revelation would be an understatement.

"Yes. And the end result… was you and your brother." Fujiki confirmed. "I suppose that's the source of your phenomenal blizzard power. It is a culmination of all the ice powers of the previous generation shinobis."

"No… You're kidding right?"

"I don't think so, Yukiku. I'm afraid, that might be the truth."

"N… Naruto?" Yukiku looked at the blond.

"Your skill… with the sword, up to the point you can create your own technique. I mean… there's gotta be a limit to how talented a person can be." Naruto remembered during the whole maze ordeal. "When one creates his own technique… like when I create the Katon Rasen Ensho to burst through your blizzard, one can expect a few errors in the first try. Back then in the maze, your first attack was so perfect it's kinda hard to believe that no one taught you… If that Nanite really implanted the talents and experiences of the previous shinobis to you… well, it only makes sense that to a certain extent, their techniques and jutsus were implanted on you too."

"Exactly." Fujiki nodded.

"What about my brother? Was he too, a super soldier?" Yukiku turned to Naruto again, the one person who had faced her brother directly in combat.

"I'm not sure." Naruto frowned. "I was still weak at the time… and I wasn't myself when I beat your brother. My worst half took over. But… he's powerful nonetheless… and he's as fast as hell."

"Perhaps your mother too had not suspected that she was giving birth to twins." Fujiki rubbed his chin, trying to deduce an answer. "In my assumption, your brother didn't get altered by the Nanomachines as much as you. Perhaps it has something to do with your genetic makeup or the fact that you're a girl."

"Why does my gender important?"

"Because that means you take up from your mother a lot more." Fujiki continued. "Touzou method does not take into account of the survival of the mother. What I do understand until you were around six years old, your mother was still alive. A proof that she survived the childbirth. And a proof that she was compatible with her own nanites; a compatibility that she passed on to you."

"But… why did I lose control of my power every so often?"

"Again it was probably because you guys were born twins. The nanites altered both of you, but in a different way. The male one, he probably had augmented control and physical strength… while you… had augmented chakra capacity and chakra elemental prowess, and some talent in weapon fighting. For your case it's more like… the Nanite installed the water tap but they forgot to put the lever."

"Then?" Neji joined the conversation. "What happened to the team after her mother left?"

"Fell apart in a matter of days. She was the lifeline of the project. Separated, we made no progress whatsoever. I myself quit the team soon after, but Touzou remained with a few of his loyal scientist for the next few years. However, they made no significant progress in those years, and even though your mother left us with her Nanotechnology and cloning knowledge, we've never been able to produce any result that is remotely close to the ones created by your mother. When the war was over, the third Mizukage was killed; Kaguya and Murakumo killed each other out. Enshin then became the Mizukage, and he decided to close down the project and for some reason forbade further similar experiment, much to Touzou's discontent."

"So… you think Touzou intend to kill or perhaps replace the Mizukage with a clone so that he can continue with the project?" Neji voiced out a possibility.

"Unlikely. And besides, if what you guys told me about experiments in the last two years was true, that would mean he didn't give jack about Mizukage's approval."

"Say… about those Nanites. You said there were two doses. One was used on Yukiku's mother, what happened to the other one?"

"I kept it for some time. Three years after the war is over, I proceeded with my own idea of genetically engineered clone; I thought I was trying to honor her legacy. I even used my own DNA as base. But… midway… I…" Fujiki fell silent. In his mind, the images of that event occurred again.

"Somebody stop him!" A bleeding Fujiki, wearing a lab coat looked in horror at Namimaru who was rolling on the floor, roaring as he hold his bleeding socket where his eye once was.

"WRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" a molten sack of flesh that horrendously resembled Fujiki roared.

"JUST DIE YOU…!!"

"…I freaked out. Call it an epiphany or a late wakeup call. At that time I fully understand why your mother quit. We were trying to distort what God had given us. It's just like we're trying to be God ourselves. Scientist can break many lines of etiquette and morale when seeking progress. But at times, you gotta draw a line and said to yourself: here's the line we don't cross. So DON'T." Fujiki sighed. "I gave up and wash my hands clean of the project. And I gave the last dose to Enshin, told him to destroy it and forget this super soldier business. But as we all found out, he didn't. And Touzou or some other scientists get their hands on it, reproducing as well as modifying it."

"How do you know?"

"I recognized your mother's design. What we saw in my ship? That was a malignant use of the Nanites. You see, your mother's nanomachine had several weaknesses, which perhaps she purposefully made as safety measure. First, it's wickedly sensitive to ultrasonic wave. Back then, your mother tried to use this fact to control the nanites regeneration rate. It was literally a bloody mess. Those guys, let's call them Exploders, who turn into those bloated tentacles? My guess is, the nanites were overdriving their regenerative strength, turning them to… well… those… tentacle monstrosities. And for those guys, the Screamers? The nanomachines must've wired to their brain, programming them to do just that: screaming at the ultrasonic frequency. The Exploders received the ultrasonic wave from the screamers and the nanites inside them went haywire. And then the exploders' tentacles spread the infectious nanites to other normal human, making them mutated as well… Some sort of… a chain reaction bio human bomb, if you want to call it so."

Neji suddenly realized a horrible fact. "Wait a second. Those guys who got nanomachines wired to their brain… they weren't happen to be clones… were they?"

"I'm afraid they are." Fujiki closed his eyes. "And I understand the dangerous repercussion that could occur. A screamer that will affect 3 or so Exploders might affect 10 or more Screamers in vicinity. With that many clones residing in the village, imagine the chain reaction that might happen if even one of those screamers were set loose to the village."

"…perhaps that's what they're going to do? Now that they know assassinating the Mizukage will be too hard with him now on alert and under protection all the time, using booby trapped clone to take the entire city hostage, to force Enshin-dono to relinquish his mantle of leadership?" Reynald proposed an idea.

"That's a very fine theory. Yes. That might be it. Stubborn or not, Enshin-jii is a Kage. The safety of his people will always come first."

"But something I still don't get. So I'm a so-called perfect super soldier. But I'm still the product of those nanites. How come those Screamers didn't affect me the same way they did to the others?" Yukiku raised a question.

"Because the manner in which the nanites were administered. You see, the one responsible of transforming your body was not the nanites per se. The nanites are just carrier to the genetic mutator. The Mutator then altered your mother. In return, your mother's altered body altered you in her womb. So you see, unlike the artificial super soldier, you were born a natural biological super soldier. There's not a single shred of Nanomachines within you. That's why the Screamers didn't affect you."

Yukiku nodded, somewhat relieved.

"But… 4,500 of those things lurking in a village… just look what a three of those had caused… how are we supposed to fight something like that?" Naruto groaned.

"What's the other safety measure my mother had prepared?"

"Electricity. One time, a scientist got infected by the nanites. Your mother used a defibrillator on maximum voltage to fry out every last one of those nanites in his body. The scientist suffered some minor second degree burns because the nanomachine combust… but nothing serious. We had to be careful. First." Fujiki suddenly head bent down and his eyes glaring in all seriousness. He showed them a communicator. "Understand that now; I'm also part of you guys. I haven't contacted the Kirigakure, if Touzou is indeed the traitor; for all he knew is: I'm dead. And we're going to keep it that way. Dead man moves easier."

"Okay." Neji looked at the other spies. They all agreed. A local ally at last.

"Good. Now I have an idea on how we can take out all those possibly booby trapped clones. But that's for later. It won't do much good taking out all 4500 clones if Touzou can create another 10,000. We have to take them out at the source. The only way to do that is to have someone infiltrate their circle."

"How do we do that?"

"Neji, you told me about the human testing procedure pattern. I reckon the whole procedure from phase 1 to 3 would take about 2 years. The first phase usually last no more than a month. The second phase took about half a year. And the third phase could last a year or so. But there's one thing you've missed. In the standard procedure, the third phase had to be done TWICE. The first one was just for the testing of consistency and validating the drug efficacy on random subjects; second one is to test its feasibility for mass production. You understand what this means?"

"That there will be another wave of disappearance and replacements?" Neji caught on.

"If what you told me was true, then I suppose the first part of the third phase is nearing its end. Soon, they will have to proceed with the second part."

"But if they want to do it in secret, that many people missing, the Mizukage will probably start sniffing around." Naruto pointed out.

"The Mizukage had already sniffing around… with you guys." Fujiki chuckled. "Anyhow, since we know there will another wave of replacements, we gotta make sure that one of us gets taken in."

"That's risky."

"It's the only way to find out the real traitors."

"So… one of us gotta use some henge and then infiltrate the circle… Alright. Let's do it."

"Wait." Yukiku raised her hand. "If we're going to do this… do you mind if I do that part?"

"Yukiku?" They looked at her.

"When I first take down this mission, I thought I just want to finish the job. But now that I know my mother was involved in all this… this is getting personal. And don't get me wrong, Fujiki-san. Sure I Hate Touzou for what he did. But this is no longer about revenge. I'm my mother's daughter and I'm damn proud of it now. My mother left that abominable project because she wanted it to end then and there. But instead it continued with devastating proportion. So I'm going finish my mother's job, once and for all."

Neji and Naruto sighed. At this point whatever they're going to say will be useless. Fujiki smiled. 'You're your mother's daughter alright.' "Well… if that's the case… fine." Fujiki took the photo of Lab 404, and then felt the back of the photo's thick frame. 'Hm… what's this?' Fujiki turned the back of the frame and realized something was bulging out of the back of frame, and it's too thick to be a photo.

He pulled out a kunai and look at Yukiku. "Don't worry, I won't ruin the photo." He tore the back of the photo frame. He opened the torn part, and behind the photo, there's a book. Fujiki chuckled and took it and handed it to the girl. "This is your mother's personal diary. During her time in Lab 404, she made no secret that she kept her own personal notes on what's going on in there…"

Yukiku jaw dropped as she took the diary. "This is… my mother's… diary?"

"Yeah… Touzou always thought it contained secret formula or something… but… truth be told… we never figure out what exactly she was writing in there. I take a look at one page a long time ago, and all I found was nothing but gibberish."

"Gibberish?" Yukiku looked at the front cover of the book. There's a handwritten poem on it. "'Look into every letter written on the pages. Look deep enough and you'll see the answer to all.'" Yukiku read the poem. 'Hm… she's a poet too eh?'

The girl opened the first page. And all she saw was, exactly like Fujiki said: gibberish and nonsensical letters that didn't make even the slightest sense. Or at least… that's what it looks like for Naruto, Neji and Reynald. "Hey I know this!"

The three nins and one journalist looked at Yukiku. "Yeah… it's a secret code my mom used to teach me!"

"Is that so?"

Fujiki chuckled. 'Yahari…'

"Yeah… she made me memorized everything and made it our second private language. Here it says…"

"ALRIGHT! STOP RIGHT THERE!" Fujiki closed his ears. They looked at the swordsman antics. "That book was written in a code that only the daughter of the writer understands. That means, your mother meant the message to be read by you and you only. I don't have the right to hear it."

"I thought you'll be interested." Yukiku smirked as she opened other pages. "From what I've seen, all that is written here is your rehabilitation recipes."

"…" It was as if someone just dropped a lightning on Fujiki's head. "…you're serious?"

She read one recipe. "Eh hem… appetizer: swan neck sausage with mushroom cream sauce. Stir fried Swan innards with red wine and some thyme with a little honey for secret taste, stuffed on the swanbone-soup-boiled swan neck skin made into sausage and eaten with salty sour shiitake mushroom sauce and…"

"Yukiku! Stop right there." This time Naruto stopped the girl.

"What?"

"Anymore and his saliva will drown us all." Reynald pointed at the salivating Fujiki.

The girl sweat dropped. Her mother made him a gourmand alright.

00000000000

Contrary to the mending atmosphere aboard the Takogiri, the situation on the Amegakure territory was the complete opposite. People were screaming, family members were crying at their lost ones. People were groaning and screaming that they couldn't feel half of their body. Hanzou witness all this as he arrived on his village, to find it in ruins.

"What… atrocities…" Shinja cover her mouth.

"Could it be… the traitors?" Juuou gritted his teeth.

"No… ninjas can't get through our defenses that easily."

Just then, black feathers start falling from the sky. Shinja looked to the sky. "The grieving brother arrived."

A nin, bearing black wings, descended from the skies. His face was a mirror image of the man he carried in his arms.

"Karas… my heart grieve for your brother." Shinja bent down her face.

"Taka found something before he died. That's why he was killed." Karas was a spitting image of his brother, safe that his clothing is darker, a direct contrast with his brother's.

"What do you think it is?"

"I don't know. But, I did saw a ship, bearing the mark of the Kirigakure."

"Kirigakure, kero? Your brother's last report did say he saw a giant Kirigakure ship on shores, kero." Ankou blabbered.

"Could it be that they're responsible for this?" Juuou growled angrily.

"Could be. Though I cannot imagine why they would shoot at us." Hanzou massaged his temple.

"Then let's find out why, Kero!" Ankou replied.

Karas nodded. "Then, if you excuse me." The eagle's twin dashed to the skies.

"What now my lord?"

Hanzou frowned.

00000000000

Kyoko's maids and subordinates had given up on trying to have her eat anything. The usually cheerful and bright girl was slumping on her bed, her eyes widened, devoid of all live. Her usual long blue hair is gone. Flocks of blue hair scattered around her futon. Unable to believe what had happened in just yesterday's morning.

Flashback:

Yesterday morning…

"AAAAAAAAAAAhn…" Kyoko just woke up from a good night sleep. "…nggg…eh?" She found a letter found by her brother. "Eh? Nanni ka?"

She opened the letter, read the content… and ran out as quickly as her feet can take her

In an abandoned warehouse near a dock…

"…" Hiko the Swordfish was waiting for his former teammate inside that very same dock.

"You still remember the old pirate way of sending a message eh?"

Hiko turned around and saw the brown haired man.

"Shu… this is not your former first mate wanting to have nostalgic moment." Hiko glared at his former Pirate Captain. "This is a Kirigakure Devil Swordsman, doing his job."

"That's the look you shoot your enemy."

"Why did you try to kill Enshin-sensei?"

"Ha? Where in the blazes you get that crazy of an idea?"

"Stop playing coy with me. I still remember when you show me that ridiculous Death list six."

"Ah. I remember cause you quit my crew soon after."

"I thought you were just joking." Hiko grab hold of his sword. "But I never understood it, until today. Shu! Why did you attempt to kill the Mizukage!?"

At this, Shu's laid back attitude and playful speech changed. "I've warned that old man. I'll be watching his every step."

This answer sounded like a confirmation to Hiko. "Aso." He retracted his sword and prepared for his signature stab movement. "Shu, as one of Mizuakge's Devil Swordsman, I will now put you under arrest."

"Don't make me do this. I don't want to hurt you. Not for Kyoko's sake."

"Hurt me? I think-" Hiko disappeared. Shu brought out his red sword and the two attacks clashed. Hiko's stab was blocked by Shu's crimson blade surface. "You've overestimated yourself."

Shu glared back.

00000000000

Outside, Kyoko was looking around, wondering where his brother could be. She asked the morning watch guard if they saw his brother.

"Kyoko, if you're seeing this letter, I may well be long gone.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" Hiko roared as he sent another high speed stab at Shu, who dodged it by hairbreadth.

I watched over you for as long as I can remember, and if I think about it now, as I wrote this letter… I've always seen you as another Kunoichi, instead of a family. In this respect, I have failed you as your brother; therefore, I'm sorry, even if it's late by a lifetime.

"Oh… I saw Hiko-dono this morning. He went that way I think." An old man pointed at the direction of Strut 1.

Me, Fujiki, Shu, and so many other senior jounins… they were actually victims. We were turned into a Ninja by using the bloody system of killing our friends in our graduation from our academy. An act that… quite in fact, scarred us deeper than one can imagine.

"Grhhh!" Shu bashed the attack to the side before sending a roundhouse slash to Hiko's head.

Fujiki for example, he suffered it physically. Me… well… I suppose I've lost the ability to ever care or love someone. Even to you… my own family. Father's betrayal simply made it worse. I was so caught up in restoring family name, not a moment thought given to your welfare.

Kyoko ran as fast as her feet can muster. When she arrived to Strut 1, she was totally lost.

We, the older generations had taken a path of no return. If… one day came, where shinobis are no longer needed in this world, we may not know what to do. For killing is the only things we know how to do.

Hiko barely blocked the overhead slash, and the blade grated his sword, scratching the side of his forehead.

I know Zabuza was a missing nin, and a ferocious one to boot. But… quite personally, I'm glad he put an end to that bloody tradition. It spares you, and other later generation from the horror we, of the older generation had went through. You're unscarred. Unspoiled. Even though you are trained as a kunoichi. You remain as you are. It is my fondest wish that you will remain that way. And I won't let anyone try to bring that time of horror back.

The gray haired nin prepared his stabbing attack again. He thrust with all his might. Unbelievably, Shu caught it with his finger. "Focusing on one technique is good and all but… if you keep using the same technique over and over, it's bound to get seen through."

That's why, at the very least, I will protect this peace… even if it's… a relative peace. Not for Mizukage-sama, or the Kirigakure. At the very least, I'll do this for you. And if you found out the truth. If you've realized what I've done… you might hate me for it. It's alright. Hopefully, your hatred for me will give you the strength to go on.

'Nii-san! When he wrote that… it must be about Shu… Nii-san! Shu!' She asked around the guardsman, none have seen her elder brother so far.

00000000000

Aboard the Takogiri… at the present…

"You know, Fujiki-san… There is actually one more suspect… but…" Neji realized that Fujiki was once the suspect's former teammate.

"Shu isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"What did Enshin-jii told you about him?"

"Shu's father was the head retainer of the Murakumo head. He was murdered by Fetaru Hiryuu and…" Neji rubbed his temple. "…and then Shu killed Hiryuu."

"A cycle of killing and getting killed eh? Well, he was that kind of a hotheaded person." Fujiki sighed. "But… from what I know, he and Enshin were… quite close."

000000 (AN: Note that the event on Takogiri and the events happening between Hiko and Shu are one day apart) 00000

"GuaaHAAK!" Hiko gasped blood as he was knocked so hard unto a steel wall.

Shu stomped to the ground, his killing intent was clearly shown in his eyes.

00000000000

"Shu was quite close to Hiko too… Not in a friendly way, actually… but… his sister."

"Kyoko-san?"

"Ah. Kyoko had a… crush on Shu." Fujiki sighed. "Not that it went unnoticed. But Kyoko had to battle Shu's first love: the seas. The big blue ocean. I mean… Hiko doesn't really agree with Shu on many things but… they agree on one thing."

00000000000

"I told you didn't I? You and I, we both only agree on one thing." Shu approached Hiko with his sword at the ready.

Kyoko look around frantically as the last parts of the letter played in her mind.

00000000000

(Shu's words, Fujiki's words, and the content of Hiko's letter) I don't want Kyoko to cry.

00000000000

"In that respect, they agree." Fujiki pointed matter of factly. "They cared for her."

00000000000

Just then, Kyoko heard a distant sound of sword clashing and realized there were people fighting. She rushed to the source of the noise.

At the warehouse

"But…" Shu raised his sword. "I'm glad Kyoko wasn't here… I would hate for her to see this."

00000000000

"They were so agreeing on that point, it unified them. Up to the point that the thought of Shu bring any harm to Hiko is…"

00000000000

"SHU!!" Hiko roared and charged towards Shu, lunging his sword at his former closest friend. The two clashed, and they run to the side as their sword grind on each other. When they break up, Hiko attempt to use the momentum to send another lunge, but Shu, with more power than the Swordfish thought possible, smashed his sword away with a swing. And then, while the sword is still in the air, Shu mercilessly slash his sword on Hiko's head.

00000000000

"-unthinkable." Fujiki finished his sentence with a grin.

00000000000

The blade cut through the upper portion of the swordsman's head just as the Swordfish's sword landed right in front of the horrified Kyoko.

Shu's eyes widened as his eyes met Kyoko's.

"…N…Nii… san…?"

"…K…Kyoko…"

"…" She looked at his late brother's sword and to her crush. "…S…Shu…d…dou…shite…?"

"…it wasn't my intention for you to see this." Shu mournfully holster the bloodstained crimson sword to his back. He approached the still shocked Kunoichi. "I do hope someday you'll understand why I did this." He took Hiko's sword and walk away. "But… if… when you do understand… and you still feel raw about it…" He turned around and gave her one last look. "I'll be waiting." And with that, he disappeared.

Kyoko was still half conscious. Crawling on all fours, she approached her brother's dead cold hands. "…Nii-san? A… Are you sleeping?" She was still in the state of denial. "You are… aren't you? Yeah… you're getting back at me when I played dead at the first time… r…right?" Her voice was cracking up as her psyche as a kunoichi forced her to accept the truth: her brother is not playing dead. His head got cut to two. Instant death. He's dead.

Then, the last part of his brother's letter flowed in to her mind.

Oh… and… if only I can show it… but… truthfully is, the day you were chosen as the new swordswoman… I'm the proudest and the happiest brother in the world."

00000000000

"You trust him? This Shu?"

"With my life."

00000000000

And the cruel reality crashed on her… as she screamed and cried. "HIKO-NII-SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!"

00000000000

Just then, the rear section of the Takogiri exploded.

"W…What was that?" Naruto gaped.

"Enemy attack?"

"No. I don't think so…" Fujiki frowned. He ran towards the rear section and found the cause. "Oh crap… Our engine's busted!"

"Eh?" Everyone gasped.

"I guess using a 500 horsepower engine on a ship designed to be pushed by at least 2000 is just overkill…"

"EEEEH!?" Everyone jaw dropped.

"J… Jaa! Then why didn't you put a 2000 horsepower engine!?"

"Cause initially I got 8 of those 500 Horsepower engine. Plenty of power no? But… the other 7 got busted during the Kraken incident so…" Fujiki sighed. "…we still carry enough momentum… I might be able to land this ship… but that means we'll have to walk our way home now."

"Walk our way home… Wait a DAMN minute!" Naruto raised his hand in objection. "If my memory serves me right… isn't there also another tiny weeny bit of insignificant detail BUT INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT FACT paired with this whole idea of walking our way home!?"

"True. We'll be walking on Amegakure's territory. And after that incident, they might double, no triple their defenses, and they'll be very, very pissed off."

All color disappeared from everyone's face.

"Even worse, the missiles were shot at highly populated area in the country. Any people belonging to that country will be extremely hostile."

Their knees gave up on them.

"In fact… I won't be surprised if we're targeted on execution on sight already."

Some of the nin literally had their souls flying out of their mouths.

"That's why we need stealth, disguise, and a miracle." Fujiki walked to the center and showed a map. "Look. This is Wave's border. Our destination is to reach this place. If we can somehow get pass the border without anyone on Rain noticing, they won't be able to lay hands on us once we're in."

"What about this ship? They can trace that back to Mist."

"We'll have to destroy it. Every last bolt of this ship must be destroyed. No one must know we're here."

And so it was, Takogiri landed on the shore. As soon as it touched the ground, the engines exploded completely. They quickly evacuate the ship. Once everyone is safe on land, Fujiki let the ship went adrift to the middle of the sea before he pressed the button. The ship self destruct and quickly sank to the bottom of the ocean. They quickly move away from the site. Fujiki and the other nins hurriedly covered their trail with branches and leaves before leaving quickly, knowing the explosion is sure to attract scouts.

00000000000

True enough, up in the skies…

Karas was scanning the area when he heard an explosion. He quickly turned towards the explosion. When he got there, no one was around and there's nothing on the sea. He looked around but there's not a single soul around him. He looked at the ground and noticed a few things. Several leaves are seemingly out of place and there are faint traces of people… a lot of people standing here and marching. A faint lead… but lead nonetheless. "This is Karas. I found something."

Soon enough, Hanzou's elite nins came at him.

"What do you find Karas?"

"Faint traces. A group of people were here. Many of them… and they've been trying to cover their tracks. Apparently in hurry, but they did a good job doing it nonetheless. Juuou!"

"Wakata." The large man grinned. He starts sniffing on the ground. "…I smell… sea salt. Mist nins. But… weird… I also smell… a myriad of other smells… trees and woods… Konoha. Three of them. One of them had a similar smell with a Kitsune… grasses… Dirt… apparently there are some hailing from the Grass village… and Iwagakure."

"In his report, Taka did mention that there's a group with myriad of ninjas, even including our own that came to that settlement we've been observing in the last few months, kero." Ankou frowned.

"This is most disturbing." Shinja looked at the sea. She could see small debris. But that was it. "Where dost the scent shall lead us, Juuou?"

Juuou sniffed a few more times… "…I need map."

Karas unravel the map. Juuou studied several times. "Here." He pointed at the Wave city. "If they have left the seas, they'll have to go to Wave-on foot. Once they get there… we won't be able to so much as to lay a finger on them."

"Shinja."

Shinja took a deep breath and let her long hair touched the ground. It surged and trembled. "…96 sounds… art threading ever so slowly. Mostly consist of… children, woman, the sickly, and the men art incapable of offense."

"Yeah, or so you think, kero." Ankou smugly sneered.

"Ankou, shut up. Shinja. What else?" Karas impatiently demanded.

Shinja closed her eyes to further sense the details of their targets. "I sense 23 sounds of footsteps. Unlike the others, these steps are much sturdier, and they gave of the sound of clanking metal… they are carrying metallic objects."

"Shinobis. Or warriors."

Just then, Shinja heard another noise. "Wait… a group of shinobis art approaching towards us."

"Enemy?"

Shinja frowned. "No… this is…" Everyone turned and then, a group of Rain nins appeared and bowed before them.

"You guys."

"My lords of the Gokouken (five guardians). We're here to accompany on your quest for vengeance."

Ankou jumped giddily as he saw many nins are bowing before them.

"Your offer of aid dost not go without our gratitude." Shinja bowed in thanks. "But we're afraid we must respectfully decline thy sincerest offer."

"No, please, milady Shinja! We've lost our family! Please understand! Someone has to pay!"

"Someone will pay." Karas replied without turning his back. "But we will be the one to make that someone pays. Go back to your village. With all four guardians here, Lord Hanzou is all alone. Go to him and protect him."

"But-!" One of the nin tried to retort, but Juuou's large hand suddenly raised.

"Lookie here. This ere be Karas, not Taka. Wher ye think the lad go hm?"

"Eh?"

"Taka be dead." Juuou answered. "Amongst all of us, Karas be one most itchin' to rip them bastards to pieces. The poor chap understood yer feeling more than ye think."

The rain nins bowed down. "V…Very well… But… some of us went on ahead of them before we ran into you. What of them?"

"Well, we can always use a cannon fodder or two, kero." Ankou croaked.

"Ankou, shut your trap." Karas spat back. "We're heading towards the group anyway. In any case, we will run into them."

"Then we shall take our leave." The nin disappear in a puff.

"Isoge!" The four Guardians also disappear in opposite direction.

00000000000

Forget the fact that their investigation finally began to take turn for the better, Naruto's mood had gone down under for some time. Fujiki can guess why. It was Naruto's idea that the villagers should board his ship. How would he know that the ship was about to be booby-trapped by three dead bodies? Even though they all know it wasn't his fault, how were they supposed to explain that to the villagers, who had been driven to the edge by their harsh live in settlement and now more paranoid than ever. They were all too stressed out to even blame Naruto, but now they're all not as hopeful as they were when they start their journey.

"It's not your fault you know." Ina came to him, trying to encourage the boy.

"But… if you think about it now, I'm the one who bring them to that slaughterhouse."

"Let's put this in perspective Naruto-han." Ina followed. "The other ninjas probably would've left all the villagers there if it weren't for your suggestion."

"And let's not forget." Inari followed. "You were the one who defended the last lifeline. If it weren't for you, we'll never get away."

"…" Naruto understood that they were trying to cheer him up. But for some reason, it doesn't make him feel any better. "…thanks… I appreciate the effort but… I just don't know… I need some time alone."

Yukiku suddenly found Naruto's situation awfully familiar. She carefully approaches him. "Naruto?"

"Hey there."

"Umm…" Yukiku tried to choose her words carefully. "How are you feeling?"

"…What do you think?"

The girl decided to choose her words but then she realized she couldn't and so she went straight anyway. "If this is any consolation, you fare much better than I did."

"Am I now?"

"Well… for one, you didn't laugh."

Naruto paused. His face turn red, he was trying to suppress a chuckle. "…damn you. Damn you for making me ALMOST laugh."

Yukiku smirked. "And let's put it this way: when I did my mistake, I didn't try to save the lives of those endangered by my mistake. You did. If it weren't for you, there won't be any survivor at all."

"…yeah, but now, they'll be walking in an extremely hostile territory."

"That's why you have to stand firm now. They need your help now. More than ever."

"I guess…" Naruto still a bit gloom, but his mood somewhat improve after his sense of duty returned. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

Just then, Neji called them. "Naruto, Yukiku! Come here."

Naruto and Yukiku looked at each other and smiled once. "Let's go. Looks like they need our help." And as Naruto and Yukiku went to Neji's location, they noticed that other ninja are also getting summoned. Guccha was also rushing towards the gathering spot. He took a glance at Yukiku and turn away just as the 'witch' noticed. Yukiku sighed. Soon, everyone gathered. Fujiki started.

"Neji spotted a patrol guard scouring a spot just ahead. All Jounins."

"You're sure?" One of the nin asked.

"He's a Hyuuga. His eyes are black, but his sight is definitely sharper than any of you."

"I concur." Naruto nodded.

"Then? What should we do?"

"Obviously, we need to get pass them. But, as far as I'm concerned, I don't think any of you can bypass much less taking on Jounin level nins." Fujiki's statement of fact earned some glares from the other genins. Ignoring their glare, Fujiki looked at Konoha team.

"We'll see what we can do."

Neji nodded. "Yukiku, can you take care the guards? I'll be the scout along with Naruto. Naruto, you'll also act as reinforcements. You can use your bunshin in the event things go awry." The Hyuuga handed his teammates some earpiece. "We'll keep contact with this, but keep noise at minimum."

Naruto and Yukiku nodded. "What about you, Fujiki?"

"As soon as you cleared the patrols, I'll get the people move on. Under disguise of course."

"Disguise? This many people?" One of the Genins jerked his thumb at the crowd.

"Hey, didn't they teach you at the school?" Fujiki sneered, faking a surprised expression. "Octopuses are masters of disguise. So let me worry about that."

"Let's go." The Konoha team move ahead. Neji climbed a tree and act as a scouting tower. Naruto waited at the base of the tree, ready for support. Yukiku went on ahead and on the field. "Yukiku do you read?"

"Loud and clear." The girl was crawling beneath the blades of grass. "I got one patrol on my sight."

"Okay."

Yukiku crawled silently and tried not to move too many grass in her stride. She lowered the sound of her breathing and waited. The nin was showing his back. Yukiku pull out a senbon and concentrate on that one nin, specifically, a certain spot on his nervous system. And then, she let loose the small projectile. With deadly accuracy, it hit that spot. The nin jerked ever so slightly, and then remain still as he turned his head several times, scanning the area with empty eyes.

Yukiku got up and approached the nin. She was right behind him, and the gasmasked nin didn't move a muscle and continue swinging his head left and right slowly. Yukiku swing her hand in front of him several times. "…it's safe. He's completely unconscious."

"That's one. We got half a dozen more or so."

"On it."

Neji sighed. "To induce unconsciousness while simultaneously turning them to animated puppet… You once told me that she was quite gifted in use of acupuncture. Quite frankly, I thought you exaggerate."

"She's a super soldier, remember? His brother, Haku, once used those needles to fool even Kakashi-sensei to induce a fake death on Zabuza. And then they're twins for cryin' out loud. If she's the better product of the two… I'd say this ain't even half of what she can do, if she put her mind into it."

Yukiku hid beneath the tree as a patrol came by. Two of them. They search the area, back to back as to leave no blind spot. One of them turned towards Yukiku spot, and the girl was no longer there. The two nins moved to that spot, unaware that Yukiku was right above them, standing upside down on a tree branch. The girl held two senbon by her mouth and then, with one fell swoop, descended upon them, first she gently punctured the first needle on the left side of her mouth on the first nin's back, and before the other one can turn, she grab hold of the other one and stab the other nin on the back.

The feat was noticed by one other Rain nins. Yukiku noticed that and as the nin tried to blow a whistle, Yukiku throw two needles: on right at the flute before a tone came out, and the other sank deep on the man's throat, preventing him pulling it out nor utter another word. But the poor man can still move and hid behind the tree. Given enough time, the nin will pull the needle out. Yukiku knew this, and so she took off one of her gloves, create an ice fuuma shuriken and throw it to the tree's side. And then, in quick succession, she pulled out another senbon, and threw it at the shuriken. The needle bounced off from the shuriken, and accurately hit the rain nin in the needed pressure point. Paralyzing him like other nins on the spot. The ice shuriken broke way and melted, leaving no trace whatsoever. All this was done without a sound.

Even Yukiku was marveled at her own performance. She never performed that good in Kira's trainings. Little by little, something keep coming to Yukiku's mind. Things that she initially ignore. Fujiki's story had given her a better understanding of herself. These… things are experience. Experiences and knowledge of dead Jounins from the past. Experience that are implanted on her genes. Experience which was her mother's life's work. And the experience that gave her knowledge of skills: angle of the shot, adaptation to the condition of the terrain, the curve of the swing, the point that she must hit, etc, etc. One, or a few jounins whose genes made in to the mixtures of knowledge of the super soldier serum must've been acupuncture and senbon experts. And now she's using their knowledge to perform feats that she never even thought of capable of doing. 'So… this is my mother's work… this is what she's trying to create… something… like me.' "…4 down… how many more to go?"

"What?" Neji, who also watched everything, was so amazed he forgot to respond. "A… Ahh… three more… one approaching from your six, the other two closely behind… they're from a rather higher ground."

Yukiku turned and saw several rain nin appearing from a nearby small cliff a few miles away from her current position, scanning the area. Two of them were scanning the area while the other one look on the back, his neck laid bare. As of now, she's protected by the woods, but the way things are, soon, they'll see her. She nodded. "I got it…"

"You're sure? Won't you need Naruto's help?"

"I said I got it." Came the girl's reply.

Neji looked at Naruto. How a story can make a person change so much.

Yukiku suddenly felt a something that she never had felt before. A rush. A feeling of complete confidence. All this time she was afraid of her ability. The fact that she had no control over her ice chakra did not change but, now she knew where that came from, and it was also a fact, that now, for the first time in her life, she's not afraid. With that in mind, coupled with the next surge of experience, Yukiku unfurled her Dragon Tail. Using the chain sword, she grabbed a trunk and swing upwards to the top of the tree. She landed on the tree, and took out a very thin needle. She put the needle at the tip of the chain sword and then starts spinning the sword (and the needle along) at top. She timed her target and the strength needed… and then slingshot the needle all the way from the tree to the small cliff. The needle first went through the first nin on the neck, missing his arteries and windpipe but punch a hole on the back of his neck and then stabbed the nin behind him on the back, right on his spinal cortex, rendering him unconscious, but still standing. The first nin that got hit went limp and fell down to his back, his empty eyes staring to the sky. A minuscule hole can be seen on the first nin's neck, but no blood came out since not a single blood vessel has been pierced. Meanwhile, the other nin alarmed that one of his friend suddenly fell down. He quickly bent over and look to the fallen comrade.

"H… Hey! Are you okay?" As the nin kneel to check on his fallen nin. As he did so, he exposed his neck.

Yukiku used that chance, and slingshot another needle that nailed the last nin on the spot. The nin fainted and fell still. A smile found its way to Yukiku as she packed back her chain sword. "All target down. I repeat, all target down."

"T… T… This is Neji… that one guy… a-are you sure he's okay?" After witnessing that superhuman feat, even Neji was left breathless.

"Don't worry. I avoided his artery and his windpipe. I only graze his nervous system from the front instead from the back. He just fainted. I'll go there and make sure he stays unconscious while you guys signal Fujiki and start moving those people, okay?"

"Okay, we got it. Naruto, pick that jaw up, we got work to do." Neji cut out transmission, while Yukiku dashed towards the small cliff. The first thing she did was putting some more needle on the first nin to ensure he stay still. A few minutes and needles later, Yukiku looked at her handiwork. With a bit of alteration and some acupuncture on their nervous system, the nins now looked like they're still patrolling, and their head move around appropriately. But their eyes are empty, they're completely unconscious. "Okay."

Satisfied, she quickly returned to the group.

The refugee's walk through that spot was sort of… eerie. Even Fujiki was amused when he saw a rain nin almost mechanically swing his head left and right, and yet didn't move a muscle as dozens of people walk past right under his very nose.

00000000000

Some time Later…

The four guardians reached that spot as well. At first, they didn't notice anything different.

"Now, wait just a minute…" Karas blinked. He approached one of the 'patrolling' nin. He swung his hand in front of the nin several times and… "…you gotta be kidding me." He slapped the nin, he didn't budge. He looked at the man's neck and found Yukiku's needle. He plucked it out, and the man fell down to the ground, unconscious. Karas showed the needle to his colleagues. "They put a needle on his central nervous system in such way so that this guy lost consciousness but his body still move around."

"My…" Shinja frowned.

"Looks like he ain't the only victim." Juuou pointed at the other nins. Most of them are on an animated frenzy, they simply repeat the same movement, over and over.

"Useless idiots, kero!"

"Put them down before they break their joints."

Minutes later, they put down all the incapacitated guards and removed the needles. "The incredible thing be… all these fellers be alive. This particular feller got him a hole on him neck, front and back, which means a needle went through him neck, but missed him windpipe an' arteries."

"So… whoever did this had no desire to further take more lives?" Shinja pondered.

"And incredibly skillful." Karas landed. "I found a tree trunk that had some of its bark shaven off, like someone just stood on it. Would you believe that this guy here got pierced by a needle thrown from a tree trunk several miles away?"

"Are we really chasing a human here, kero!?"

"We'll see that for ourselves, after we caught up to them. Let's go!"

00000000000

Some time later…

"This is… from a farsighted swordsman named Kakei Juubei the Urchin… he was a master acupuncturist… and a needle user. And that slingshot skill was probably from his wife, Kakei Fuuchoin Natsuki. She's, coincidentally, a whip sword user. Both are Devil swordsman from two generations prior."

"Their genes were on the genepool too?" Yukiku was quite interested on from which swordsman she took her skills from.

"Of course. In weapon skill department we try to cover all branch of weaponry: one hand, two hand, katana, sword dance… we even cover unorthodox weapon style like wire swords, or nunchuck-blades." Fujiki counted the skills with his fingers. "We put in everything, and everyone, we can think of."

"Wow. It's just… before this… every time I stab a needle I just… felt it was right… and now… it's almost as if I knew it was supposed to be there."

"Well… it's just this… your brain has always been slowly assimilating the information from the genes, adding them to your own knowledge. Now that you know, your mind consciously assimilating those information at a faster rate."

"Aso…"

Naruto was somewhat terrified. '…I can't play around her anymore… she'll kill me next time she's pissed…' "Anyway… how much further until we reach Wave border?"

"Well… after we get out of this forest, it should be a straight shot all the way to the border. Let's pick up the pace."

Hours later…

"…have you noticed… on top of everything… that we're going in circles?" Naruto sweating profusely. The refuges too had gone very tired that they're dragging themselves up.

"…yeah… I noticed." Fujiki sighed. "Damn it, everyone stop!" They looked around. No one can be seen, but doubtlessly, they're being watched.

"This is… genjutsu. They've trapped us in one." Neji look around for any sight of any seal or anything suspicious at all.

Everyone pull out their weapons and on high alert.

Some distance away…

"Whelp, that's it, kero. They figure it out, kero." Ankou grumbled.

"That be our cue to get in the show. Shall we make it flashy?"

"As you please." Now that the target knew they were being watched, Karas couldn't care less.

"Alrity…" Juuou cracked his knuckles.

A few moments later…

"Hey… did you feel that?" Neji felt the ground trembling.

"…what's that… thumping?" Yukiku frowned. Something was thumping from the distance, and as the sound got louder, the tremor also got stronger and stronger. Abruptly, something BIG burst out from the forest right behind them. They turned around and looked up. Lo and behold, at least a dozen wood logs came raining on them. As expected, everyone quickly ran way from impact area. Dust rose up as the logs crashed into the ground.

"Aw, I'll be monkey's uncle. None of you got nailed or anythin'?" A rowdy voice sounded. Everyone looked at the speaker. A giant of a man spoke from on top of one of the trees he hurled. Every nin there gaped at his size. He is easily bigger than twice the size of a full grown man. A large cross scar plastered his face right on top of his nose, his hair is wild, giving off an animalistic feeling. His teeth were filed to fangs and his eyes got this wild look in it to emphasize the point. While everyone was appalled by the man's monstrous size, only Fujiki was unfazed. Following, three other figures landed on other trees. A woman with extremely long green dark hair, a man with black wing-like contraption on his back, and a hunched bloated short guy.

"First meetings, usually warrant introductions." Fujiki realized these people aren't just anybody since they're capable of putting up genjutsu that could even trap him.

"Gotcha. I'm Juuou the Beast King. Of the Amekage-sama's five guardians." Juuou smirked - snarled, as he start gazing on the nins one by one, specifically, the Konoha nins. When his eyes landed on Naruto, he smirked like a beast finding its prey.

"Karas, the Black Sky. The same."

"Shinja, the Elegant Scale. The same."

"Ankou! The Changeling. The same, kero!"

"Five? I counted four of you."

Karas eyes twitched.

"Thou dost not hath the rights to demand answers from us." Shinja quickly answered in cold fury.

"But you will answer for the genocide you committed on our village." Karas followed.

Fujiki sighed. "…I won't deny that the ordnance that destroyed your village came from my ship."

"AHA!" Ankou yelled.

"But-" Before Fujiki can utter another word; something sticky and goopy wrapped around his mouth and lift him off the ground. An then, mercilessly, the swordsman was slammed, head first, to the ground. Ankou retracted his tongue back, earning a disgusted response from Yukiku and many other nins.

Karas glared at the shorter nin. "Ankou-"

"Excuses, kero! Unimaginative, excuses! That's all he's gonna come up with! You're gonna kill him anyway, kero. So why wait, kero?"

Juuou and Shinja shook their heads.

"As I was saying…" Fujiki's voice continued. Everyone turned to the supposedly dead Mist jounin. Fujiki restored his horrendously bent neck to its original position, earning jawdrops from everyone. "…before I was rudely interrupted. That attack-" Again, before he could finish, Ankou's tongue swirled on his leg, lift him up, and then bang him again, rather frantically, several times to the trees around, turning them to a pile of wooden rubble and splinters. Ankou lifted the small figure of Fujiki one more time. Fujiki's limbs were all bent and twisted in humanly lethal condition, and yet, the former captain of the Kraken can still give him the bird. Ankou quickly banged him back full force.

"There… kero… is he… dead?"

An ironclad grip and one strong yank that earned Ankou's groan answered his question.

"WILL…" the rain nin was swing in a 180 degree arc and slammed to the ground. "YOU…" Another swing and Ankou's face bashed to the ground one more time. Fujiki rose out from the ground, furious as hell. "KNOCK IT OUT!" He yanked Ankou's tongue one more time and start spinning the chubby nin in circles, lasso style, sending him flying to a tree. Fujiki cracked all his dislocated body parts and returned them to its original spot. He looked at the other three nins. "I apologize for the wanton show of aggression but… I assure you, if possible, I'd love to avoid confrontation, given the… circumstances." 'Any other time I probably would've loved fighting them all.'

"Naw. I'm glad someone whale the thar outta that prick. I just regret that ain't me." Juuou snorted.

"So… what is your defense, Mizunari Fujiki?"

"…those missiles were shot against my order. In fact, at the time I gave no such orders. Kirigakure had no desire to engage combat with your village either."

"Yet the damage art done. Thou must understand how difficult for us to recognize thy reasoning."

"Let's put this in perspective. Suppose I really have done such atrocity. If I had indeed ordered the destruction of your village, threading on the soils of the village I had destroyed will be the last thing I would've done."

"…you'll have to understand how difficult it is for us to trust you."

"Then I beg you to understand. Let me tell you a little secret. The 'I-would-get-court-martialed-for-high-treason-just-for-telling-you-kind of secret. Our village is also being beset by conflict. The attack on your village is more likely being perpetuated by that same party and now it seems they wish to add Amegakure into the mix."

"…then why did you kill my brother?" Karas suddenly went direct and speak his thought outloud.

The nins blinked. "…your brother?" Fujiki and the three Konoha nins echoed.

Karas blinked. Suddenly he realized he had gone personal. But he decided to go with it anyway. "My brother. One of the five guardians. We found him dead."

Neji suddenly managed to piece things together. Karas resemble a crow. During the whole trip, he's been seeing an eagle following them from the sky. Add all that up… "Were you twins?"

Karas glared at Neji.

"Brother… was your brother… had an… eagle theme?"

"How did you know that? How did you know we're twins!?"

"Because you're wearing a similar animal themed outfit. And throughout this journey, I've been spotting a single eagle intently following us. I think I know why your brother died… though I'm not sure who did it… but my guess is, he knows what really happened to Fujiki. In fact, I think he saw the whole accident. He knew something was wrong. He wanted to warn you guys but…"

"Whoever orchestrated the whole thing in Kraken… got to him first." Fujiki concluded the hypothesis.

"Hath thou not a proof to offer?" Shinja seem, at least, half convinced, but still skeptical.

Fujiki sighed. "None. I'm a victim as well. We're still looking for the party responsible. I know you've lost much, and I understand you're eager for revenge. I cannot offer you anything safe one promise. I will find the one responsible. And I will bring them death."

"Something still doesn't add up. Would you explain why you had to bring your whole ship, your whole fleet just to secure a bunch of students? We had our experience with Chuunin exam, but using your own flagship… is it really necessary?" Karas still adamant.

Neji snapped as if someone juts turned the lights in his head. The crow nin made a very sound argument. In reality, one need not have to send an entire Kraken just to retrieve a bunch of Chuunins and humanitarian workers. One ship would've sufficed. Why did one of the Swordsmen would have to come down all the way here in the first place? It was then Neji realized there's something else Fujiki didn't tell them.

"I'm afraid that's classified. A water country classified information. Even if I wanted to, I'm under contractual order to sworn secrecy." Now, Naruto and Yukiku also glared questioningly at Fujiki.

"THAT'S UNACCEPTABLE KERO!!"

Everyone turned towards the chubby nin.

"Well you're one tough bas-" Fujiki's word stopped midair as he saw the refugees travelling with them were encircled by a bunch of strings, with dozens of explosive tags hanging on them. "…bastard."

The chubby nin, quite literally in a bloody mess, gave one smug smirk. "IMAGINE, KERO! WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU MOVE, KERO!?"

Fujiki cursed. "…asshole."

Shinja's face wreaked in disgust. Karas glared while Juuou only frowned.

"KARAS! SOMEBODY! KILL HIM, KERO!"

"Ankou! Calm down. We still got a few inquiries…"

"I DON'T CARE! HE'S GONNA PAY FOR DOING THIS TO THE GREAT ME!!"

Fujiki sarcastically amused at the use of word 'great.' "What so great about taking hostage?"

"Heh! I won't take that word from you, kero! Of all people, kero!" Ankou roared. "Your reputation as a hostage taker and a berserker is no mystery to me, kero!"

Fujiki nodded wholeheartedly. "Point taken." Indeed. One of the modus operandi he had used to force someone into a duel was hostage taking. Though of course he returned them, or compensate them when his opponent died afterwards. "Well… I got no choice. If I force an unwilling person into a fight, it won't be a fight at all. It'll be sheer murder."

Naruto, Neji and Yukiku looked at the berserker in disbelief.

"Plus that's the only way to get them to fight seriously." His face softened a little. "You know what they say about true power? When you fight to protect someone you care about, that's when you fight the hardest. That's when you fight to the point of exceeding one's own limit. Me? … sometimes I got beat to edge of the death-cliff… I just fight for pleasure. And it was always fun." He grinned like a sadist that he is. The three Konoha nin had to sweat. "Plus… Unlike you, I don't ask someone else's help to finish the job."

"SHUT UP!! KARAS! KILL HIM!"

The Crow nin frowned. "No. We need him alive. Fujiki. I'm afraid I have to ask you to co-"

"I WANT HIM DEAD NOW!!" The Chubby nin hopped in anger.

"You got no manners do you?" Fujiki now really took a great dislike on the froglike nin. "Naruto, show's over."

"Yosh!" Naruto snapped his fingers, and all the sudden, everyone puffed into smoke. Once the smoke subsided, only Fujiki and the three Konoha nin remained, much to the Rain nins' shock.

"B…Bunshin!?"

"You seriously think you could trap me with a Genjutsu? Me, the Octopus? The master of disguise? I maybe suck balls in NinJutsus, but Genjutsu… that's another story entirely. Do you seriously think I can fall into one that easily?"

"W… When did you notice!?" Ankou's face was getting redder in anger.

"Oh? It was your handiwork?" Naruto chuckled. "Too bad. You fell into our trap."

"T…Trap!?"

"When we left that patrol of yours in paralyzed puppet-like state, we realized you'll be catching up soon. So we decided to prepare a little trick." Fujiki made a handseal. Just then, the illusion disappeared and everyone found themselves in an unfamiliar ground. Even the tree rubbles disappeared, the area is now a large open space. Perfect for an all out confrontation. "You think we've been walking in your illusion for hours? We dispelled that the moment I noticed them. You guys have been in my genjutsu for hours… where we lead you guys… here."

"From that point where we had a run in with your patrol, we get the refugee to stop there and sent 8 groups of fake Refugees first. All are clones. Courtesy of Naruto." Yukiku jerked her thumb to the smirking Naruto.

"Each group of clones is tagged." Naruto showed a unique talisman. One he learnt to make when he was training with Kira. "If any one of them got caught in a genjutsu or any kind, I would know."

"We sent the real groups of refugees away as soon as Naruto detected one group of clones are being wrapped in a jutsu." Neji continued. "Then we go after that group of clones, dispel the Genjutsu, and quickly wrapped you guys in one of Fujiki's."

"But seriously, why didn't you use this when you fight me?" Naruto smiled rather nervously. The genjutsu was pretty good, he probably would've lost the fight on the Kraken if Fujiki had used Genjutsu instead of his single Suiton Ninjutsu.

"Cause I don't really like Genjutsu. Most of my Genjutsu techniques are for distraction and camouflage type. I don't like hiding, getting distracted or/and distracting someone in a straight fight." Fujiki gave a matter of factly grin. "Well… the real group should have arrived on the Wave's border by now. You guys have been stalking our clones for hours. I hope you excuse us for tricking you people like this… but, with all this going on… we have to assume that all… or some of you be will be anything but noble." Fujiki looked at Ankou to emphasis the last part.

The fooled and angry Ankou was quaking in his boot. As expected, a giant long tongue burst forth from his mouth and went straight to Fujiki. The Swordsman easily caught the tongue and quickly swing the toad nin in a 180 degree arc. The toad nin managed to land on all four without a crash.

"I guess this goes for both of us. That's one technique used too many." Fujiki gripped the sticky tongue tightly in his hand.

The toad nin smirked. A smirk that did not go unnoticed. Just then, Fujiki noticed multiple shadows appearing on top of him. Given the growing size, whatever those things were descending rapidly. He looked up only to have no less than six, more-toadlike, Ankou landed and stuck on him.

The toad nin retracted his tongue and snapped a finger, and the toad-clones burst into a series of brilliant explosions.

"WHEEHYAHYAHYAHYAHYA! Take that! Kero!"

"Did anyone ever tell you…" Fujiki's voice, now more annoyed than ever, flow out of the smoke. "…that your laughter is as ugly as your manner?" the smoke swirled, and as they cleared out, a black swirl take its place. The swirl stopped, revealing Fujiki, holding a huge, jet-black, eight-sectioned, chain-linked, handle-less serrated blade. The Kuroumi – The BlackSea. The peculiar blade encircled the wielder, its chains, still carrying the momentum from being yanked so hard, slithering in circles around the diminutive swordsman. "Maa… still… I implore you to please let us go peacefully? We really don't want to add more victims to the bodybag list."

"Then we beseech thee to cooperate peacefully."

"No matter how pretty you put it, Miss Shinja, this still involves me getting arrested by you guys. Sorry, but I'm afraid I have to resist."

"THEN DIEEE!!" Ankou bit his thumb. "Kuchiyose no Ninpou (Summon Ninja technique)! JIGOKU GAMA!!!" He summoned several frogs that opened their mouths, revealing a set of seals tattooed within their mouths. The seals emit a burst of smoke and hordes of spiked balls and blades, chain linked tear through the smokes and went straight to Fujiki. The Octopus whipped his chain sword and the chains extend greatly. Holding the blade at the center, the swordsman start spinning the Kuroumi. Naruto recognized that move. "Tako Hachitouryuu… Sandai… KURO ARASHI!" The black iron storm easily tore through the barrage of morning stars and blades, turning them to scrap metal. The toads jumped away just in time as the attack landed, a few centimeters before Ankou. Fujiki retracted the blade and rejoined them. "One - nothing."

Ankou continued with his next attack. "Kuchiyose Ninpou! Gama Sentai (Frog Fleet)!"

'Another Kuchiyose Ninpou?' The frogs from before opened their mouth again, and thousands and thousands of… smaller frogs burst out. Quite literally, a fleet of frogs. The frogs swarmed allover Fujiki. And then, they start sticking to Fujiki.

"Gama Sentai: Gama-Tsubo (Frog Gourd!)"

The smaller frogs covered every inch of Fujiki's body and they slowly merged together and soon, the nin was encapsulated in a giant mass of bloated, fleshy… gourd.

"Ha! How's that! Kero! The coffin will block all air and no light can come in! You'll die like that! Imprisoned forever! You can't move, you can't cut your way out, you can't do anything Kero! In years of my expertise not one soul has ever-"

Ankou's tirade of incessant gloating was cut short when the frog gourd start trembling and a weird sound start flowing out from the gourd. Naruto was the first to recognize the sound. "That's the sound of… munching?"

And then, all the sudden, a small hole appeared, which quickly get bigger and bigger… as Fujiki just ATE his way out of the gourd. Everyone's jaw was on the ground.

"OMAEWA OOBAKEMONO-KA!?" Ankou gaped.

"Munch… Munch… What? Frogs are edible, raw or cooked, no? Aa…um! munch! Munch… munch…" The gourmand Swordsman took another bite on what's left of the Frog gourd in his hand.

Juuou tapped his palm with his fist, catching the logic in Fujiki's warped method. "Indeed… eatin one way out of the gourd be something never cross me mind… but it be possible."

Naruto was slightly tormented. He has no love for Ankou. But as a nin who also bind contracts with Frogs, he couldn't help but to feel an ache and a slight pity to the frogs that answered Ankou's call… and as of now are being turned into Fujiki's in-field ration.

"A pinch of salt would make this. (belch) two – nothing." Fujiki kept count on how many times he had suckered the toad nin. "Anyway… are you sure you guys still won't let us go? We really don't have much time ourselves."

Karas, Shinja and Juuou looked at each other. Putting aside Ankou's demand for Fujiki's death, there's no denying that Fujiki, and especially these three Konoha nins are suspicious. And they know more than they let on. With that in mind, Karas deliver his answer: "No. I'm afraid you'll have to come with us for questioning."

"Then you will forgive us we cannot afford that." Fujiki glared as he wiped the last traces of the frog gourd from his face, and his face showed all the seriousness of a warrior. "Any harm or possible death we will inflict from this point onward… will be self defense."

"It is decided then." The Rain nins charged at the group. Shinja collided with Neji, who draw his twin katana just in time to block her attack. Karas flew upward before attempting to swoop on Yukiku. Naruto attempted to intercept, but Juuou's large figure came crashing down upon him. The boy barely able to support the giant man's fist. Yukiku herself barely able to block Karas's attack with the Headcleaver.

Fujiki quickly take note of the situation. 'A four way battle… no… this won't do…' "Otto!"

The swordsman barely dodged another barrage of Frog tongues from Ankou.

"HAH! Your attacks haven't landed on me, not even once!! Do you think you can win!? Kuchiyose Ninpou! Gama Suijin Mai!" He summoned two more frogs, and together with the other frogs, they start spinning around the swordsman. Fujiki only watched passively.

"Then? What will they do? Dance me to death?"

"Hyahya… you had no idea!" Ankou snapped his fingers, and the frogs start shooting jet-streams of water at Fujiki from every angle. The swordsman spun his black sword blocked all the attacks.

"Hyahyahya! Let's see how long will you last!"

"You don't have to wait." All the sudden, Fujiki gave one powerful roundhouse swing that accurately nailed all the frogs. Another yank, and they were all tossed to the sky. Fujiki waited for one second, and then thrust his peculiar blade upward. And it accurately impaled all the descending frogs in one stab. "Three – nothing. Seriously now… how exactly a coward like you gain the position of a guardian, Ankou-san?"

"N-nanni?"

"Back then, when you took hostage on one of the clones, instead of finishing the job yourself, you asked your friend to do it for you… and then, all the time we're fighting, you always rely on your toads… the only time you did attacked directly was when I seemingly off guard… don't you have any jutsu of your own?"

"I… I… I… I do!! But if I use it it'll end quickly!!"

Fujiki sighed bitterly with that pitiful excuse of a defense. "No you don't. In any case, I've wasted enough time." With one swing of his sword, the swordsman turned all frogs impaled by his blade to shred. "Tako Hachitouryuu: Yondai…"

Naruto blinked. That's one technique he hasn't seen yet.

"…Kuro Kaiten! (Black Spin)" Fujiki stabbed the BlackSea to the ground, and black mist burst forth and head straight to Ankou. The chubby nin panicked and tried to run to no avail. The mist quickly encircled around him and blocked all exit.

"K… KONO YAROU!!!" Ankou used his tongue to hit the mist. To his horror, his tongue was stuck on the swirling mist. Tentacles suddenly burst out from the mist and tie him up. The black mist encircled Ankou several times, and the toad nin were soon rendered completely immobile. The mist cleared, and the nin gasped. He was completely tied up by Fujiki's sword chains. Fujiki was holding the other end of the chain and pull it a tad harder. Several cracks can be heard as the chains that bind Ankou tightened and break some of his bones. "Never got the chance to use this when I fight you, Naruto."

"Uh-huh…" Naruto stared nervously on what fate awaits Ankou.

"YOU!! HOW DARE YOU!! YOU…! YOU…!"

"You just piss me off. Not for hostage taking. No… I had no right to say that." And with that, Fujiki yanked the chain HARD. "It's just… well… the knowledge that a pitiful excuse of a warrior like you existed pissed me off. That's all."

The chains binding Ankou wildly spin rapidly, and Ankou didn't have the chance to scream when the spinning chains tore his lower body to shreds, leaving his viciously mangled head in the after burst. The sectioned sword returned back to its original state, drenched in blood.

The nins stare nervously at the vicious technique. Naruto found the technique to be strangely familiar.

"Expect nothin' less from Mist Devil Swordsman… that technique be beastly…"

All the sudden, Neji roared. "FUJIKI! You've taken care of your enemy! You better bail out of here!"

"Eh?" Naruto and Yukiku looked at the Hyuuga.

"Rather than waiting here, you better hurry up and get back to Mist. Who knows what the traitors will be doing while we're away. Plus, now you know the whole situation, and you're more familiar with Mist than we do. You're more important to us when you're alive!"

"Ah… well… I've thought of that… minus the 'alive' part but…" Fujiki nodded. "But will you two be alright?"

"Two?" Shinja blinked.

"I'm not too worried about Naruto. Will you both be alright?"

Neji and Yukiku looked at each other and sent a gesture. "I think we'll be fine."

"Okay. Good luck." Fujiki turned to leave.

"You sure about this?" Karas bellowed. "Don't you think you put too much credit on these three… assistant of yours?"

"Lemme get this straight. If someone like Ankou is one your best, that gave me some idea on you people. So even if some of you are at least twice as powerful as him… I think they can take care of it."

Fujiki clearly implied that their strength were no different than Ankou's. Something that earned an angry glare from the insulted.

"And even if I'm wrong…" Fujiki pointed at Neji. "A genius fighter with a well balanced brain and brawn." Next, he pointed at Yukiku. "A super soldier with a crapload of skills and serious case of power control…" And finally to Naruto. "That kid there? The worst of the worst. He beat me one on one. And he got a thing for his friend. If any one of you hurt one of his friends… you're all so in for it."

Juuou looked at Naruto in a shocked glare.

The Octopus Swordsman added with one last sinister smile: "Understand this: 'They're' not stuck with 'you'. 'You' are stuck with 'them'… the biggest pain in the ass you'll ever felt."

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Deidara's Days in Interrogation – if you can call it that

Minichapter 19

The Fourth Wall breaking Rage of no-screen-time casts

"KATON GOUKYAKU NO JUTSU!!!" Sasuke sent a flaming fireball at Deidara's ass

"WAAAAARGH!!"

"BODY CHAOS!" Kabuto wreak chaos on Deidara's nervous system, making him perform tap dancing.

"Snake PIT!!" Quite literally, Orochimaru vomited an enormous amount of snakes on Deidara.

"SYANNAROOOOOO!!!" Sakura punched the clay user 50 kms away.

"Ninpou Kuchiyose: Yattai Juzushi!!" A giant frog landed on the clay user.

"RAIKIRI!!!"

"ASA KUJAKU!!!"

"NIKUDAN HARISHENSHA!!!"

"Anoo…" Athrun scratched his head. "What are you guys doing here in my section?" Meanwhile, Tsunade kicked the missing nin all the way back to slaughtering ground, where Shino and Kiba were waiting with their bugs and dog-nin.

"Shut up! 37 chapters had passes since I appeared… We don't get screen-time at all!!" Sasuke roared.

"At least let us have some action!!" Sakura added.

"But you do realize he'll die at this rate?"

"D-Daijobu… T-this is non-cannon to the plotline of Deidara's Days in Interrogation… a-all damage will be annulled." Hinata nervously pointed out.

"SO LET US HAVE SOME FUN!! YOUTH BARRAGE!!" Gai roared.

Athrun looked at the script-book together with AjWriter.

"Well fancy that… you plan to bring those t-"

A headshot landed on Athrun's head before he committed the mere mention of spoiler. AjWriter turned to readers and bowed down. "Don't worry. Like Hinata said, this is Non cannon. No Demi-god or Clay bomber missing nin has been harmed in the making of this section."

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