Chapter 51: Loose Ends

Ryouta woke with a start. The very first thing he noticed was Suzumi kneeling over his prone body her hands glowing from the chakra in which she was pouring into. His entire body felt like he was on fire, but slowly enough the pain was subsiding until it reached a bearable level.

" Don't get up yet. I'll be done with you soon," Suzumi replied, seeing Ryouta attempting to sit himself up. It didn't take long for Suzumi to finish her treatment, and a few seconds later she was finished. " Alright, you're okay now. You did overload a lot of your chakra circuits, and your entire internal system is taxed, which is an understatement. I've applied a lot of painkillers and reduced your nerve sensitivity so that you can walk. How are you feeling?"

" Okay so far," Ryouta replied.

" Were you trying to kill yourself?"

Ryouta was about to respond when he realised that someone else spoke to him. Looking to his left, he noticed for the first time that Maya and her companions, Kaname and Akane, were right next to her. However, the voice did not belong to any of them, and looking around, he could see a somewhat familiar face behind Maya, waving her hands cheerfully towards him.

" You are Negi, right?" Ryouta noted.

" You can call me Tsubaki, if you like. Sorry for being a little rough on you earlier, it wasn't as if I really wanted to hurt you," Tsubaki replied, trying to look apologetic while Akane simply rolled her eyes.

" So, you were Maya's informant. You seem to have your people almost everywhere where you conveniently need them," Ryouta noted, trying to get to his feet while Suzumi helped him. " What happened while I was out?"

" Things have surprisingly gone as planned. Your comrades Sora and Hiroshi, with a good dose of inside help, has managed to take down Naoto. The rest of the Void Hunters have been taken care of, or have escaped, so for the meantime, they pose no threat. With no backing, and no central control, the organisation will eventually break-up or disappear, since Naoto controls pretty much almost everything. I'd say well done," Maya replied, clapping her hands mockingly together.

" I see..." Ryouta replied, not before turning to Suzumi. " Go check on the rest. I don't think they managed to escaped unharmed, and they might need medical help."

Suzumi raised her eyebrows, but she caught on quickly on what Ryouta intended to do. Without waiting, she quickly headed off to another direction, leaving all of the rogue shinobi alone with Ryouta. Ryouta watched her leave, and until she was out of his sight did he return his gaze to Maya.

" So, what now?" he asked.

" That depends on what you want to do," Maya answered.

" I mean what now between you and me," Ryouta responded.

" I just answered that," Maya replied.

Ryouta sighed dejectedly. " You are a missing-nin, and regardless of your reasons, whether they are good or bad, you have previously attacked important figures of our country and caused a lot of trouble. You are still listed as a wanted person in our bingo books, and I doubt this can be erased that easily," Ryouta replied. " Besides, I am occasionally in-charge of hunting down missing-nins. We are bound to cross-paths if I just merely let you go and do whatever you want. Your services today may render your debt null, but only for today."

"…There is this mountain range north to our village. It is about roughly 100 kilometers north of our village. It overlooks a small fishing village, and it is a pleasant, scenic place, quite a place to go for a holiday. I think, starting from now, I will visit the place every year, on the second week after the start of each New Year. If I somehow don't hear that you are causing problems within our borders, and keep a low profile, you can find me there every year. If you even do anything slightly suspicious, consider our ties severed. You don't need to answer me now, but I can read your actions. With any luck, perhaps I will see you again in 6 months," Ryouta answered. " Now, I think you better make yourself scarce."

" Chasing us away already so quickly?" Kaname asked, snickering slightly.

" Takeshi's forces will arrive soon to take everyone in custody and to clean up the place. While he can answer for our presence, I can only assume he won't do the same for you. Besides clearing this entire organisation today, he owes you nothing on the whole, and will most likely prefer to catch you than let you go. If we have settled most of the forces here, then it would be prudent for your self-preservation to leave now," Ryouta replied.

" He's right, girls. We better make a move," Maya replied.

" Send Sora my regards," Akane replied, smiling sheepishly at Ryouta.

" I'd rather not. You know how she is," Ryouta replied.

All of them quickly disappeared one by one, with Maya being the last one to leave. Ryouta watched her as she lingered for a while, obviously wanting to do or say something. After what felt like the longest minute he had ever waited, she slowly walked towards him, and kissed him on his forehead.

" I know that you have little reason to be proud of a person like me, but if you believe my words, I want you to know that I am proud of what you turned out to be," Maya whispered into his ears, not before slowly fading away, her figure slowly disappearing like a mirage.

ooo

" Looks like I didn't really need to be here. It seems like you have taken care of things before I came to help," Kagura noted the moment she reached the harbour, glancing at Sora, Hiroshi and Miyako all lying on the ground, tired and rather injured. Hiroshi had secured Naoto with thick metal wires, which would hopefully hold her in place. Sora was sprawled unceremoniously on the ground, looking as if she was too tired to move anymore. Miyako was quietly observing Kagura, as if expecting her to do something to her. " You did well. On behalf on my village, I would like to thank you for your help."

" No worries, we wanted to take care of this problem as well," Hiroshi replied. " I assume that Takeshi wants to take her into custody?"

" Of course. Is there a problem?" Kagura asked.

" Well, I suppose we would like to do the same, but I guess we owe Takeshi for this. Still, if he does find anything important or relevant to our village after interrogating her, could you please inform us of anything?" Hiroshi asked.

" I am sure he would be glad to oblige," Kagura answered. Hiroshi couldn't see it, but he could sense she was smiling under her mask. " Anyway, what are you going to do now?"

Kagura directed her question towards Miyako. As she is about to answer, Hiroshi stepped in and answered instead. " She's coming with me to my village. Regardless of whatever she has done, she did help us today to take down Naoto. If anything, I hope you can overlook this much," Hiroshi answered. " Much of her actions are not her fault."

" It is not her actions that I am concerned about," Kagura replied.

Hiroshi figured out as much. Kagura probably knew of Miyako's ability, or at least had an inkling of what it was. " Then it would be imperative that she follow me back to my village, if that is the case. We will take care of her," Hiroshi replied. " If they don't, I will at least."

Kagura seemed satisfied with the answer, and as she was about to respond, all of them sensed someone approaching. Takeshi appeared from the northern side of the town, looking unharmed.

" Looks like I am late to the party. Sorry I missed it," Takeshi replied, chuckling slightly. " That's another one we owe you, Hiroshi. At this rate, I might not be able to pay my debts to you."

" It's fine. At least I got something out of this one, compared to the last time," Hiroshi replied, getting to his feet.

" I didn't manage to ask: what did you do the last time?" Sora piped up all of a sudden.

" It was a secret mission," Hiroshi replied flatly.

" I don't believe you," Sora responded quickly.

" I don't give a shit," Hiroshi replied.

ooo

Sakuya opened her eyes. For some reason she found that she was miraculously still alive. Her last vision was that of the shinobi named Hibiki standing over her, his spear posed to strike her. From the looks of it, it seems like he had decided to spare her, and she had merely passed out from the blood loss. She tried to pick herself up but she seemed to have lost all strength to do so. The loss of blood was making her feel a little dizzy.

" Need a hand?" someone asked.

Sakuya turned to the direction of the familiar voice, and she saw Kouma's head sticking out from the house in front of her. He slowly emerged, coming out from the wall he was hiding within, not before standing before Sakuya, grinning mischeviously.

" Why are you here?" Sakuya asked weakly.

" Well, I was thinking of getting the hell out of the place. The organisation is finished now, and I am not willing to wait for the Cloud-nin reinforcements to come and clean the place. I was going to scram and I decided to come pick you as well," Kouma answered.

" …What? The organisation…" Sakuya gasped.

" It's over already. They have taken down Naoto, Yashamari and Haji has defected to the Cloud-nins, and the rest of the Void Hunters are dead or missing. I think it's high time we leave. I was planning on hiding somewhere south. I am kinda fond of the southern plains, so I was thinking of heading there. Wanna come along?" Kouma replied.

" You'd leave so willingly?" Sakuya chided him.

" You'd rather stay?" Kouma rebuked her.

" …I guess not," she answered after a while, and Kouma quickly picked her up, carrying her on her back. Sakuya was about to scold him for not fixing her wounds, but she suddenly felt something rough and hard spread across her chest. Kouma was using his earth jutsu to temporarily seal up her wound to prevent any further blood loss. However, Kouma suddenly stopped moving, and Sakuya raised her head to see what was up.

Maya was standing right in front of them. Not only that, it seemed that she was accompanied by 3 other people, two who were familiar to her, but the one who wore the Cloud-nin vest was an unfamiliar face. All of them were lined up in front of them, and Sakuya wondered if they wanted to stop them.

" You don't seem surprised," Negi remarked all of a sudden.

" I kinda suspected it all along," Kouma replied sheepishly.

" Oh, it was nice of you to not report it," Negi replied.

" Meh, it was too much trouble. I'd rather not put myself in such a position," Kouma answered honestly. " So, what are you all planning on doing? I suppose you all are leaving once you loot the place, correct?"

" Of course," Maya replied. " I'm surprised you managed to survive Ryouta's attack. I was under the impression that he burnt you to a crisp until there was nothing left."

" Well, I had him fought a replica golem that looked like me," Kouma answered. " I merely watched the fight the entire time."

" Oh, you must be pretty good to match Ryouta with a mere golem clone," Maya replied.

" You give me too much credit…So, we have no argument here, correct?" Kouma asked, although this time his voice dropped a little, and Sakuya sensed some level of hostility from his voice, making him sound extremely dangerous all of a sudden, as if he suddenly changed his personality all of a sudden.

" Of course. I have no bone to pick with you here. I think it is in our best interest to get out of here as soon as possible. You are free to go as you please," Maya answered.

Kouma instantly lost his dangerous personality, smiling all of a sudden. " Oh, is that so? Thanks, may fortunes favour you in the future," Kouma answered. He casually walked through them as they stepped aside to let him pass. Sakuya turned her head to observe Maya and her group as they continued to look at Kouma and Sakuya leave.

" Did you think they wanted to attack?" Sakuya asked.

" Maybe, maybe not. It was highly unlikely, but I'd rather not take the chance," Kouma replied. " I am be invincible, but I cannot protect you if I fight them."

" …About that…"

" …Hmm?"

" Why did you decide to save me?" Sakuya asked.

" Well, it will be boring on my own, so I decide to bring you along. It is always nice to keep some company," Kouma replied.

" That's the thing. I am so far the only one who can effectively combat your golems…would it be safe to keep me around?" Sakuya asked.

" Irrelevant," Kouma answered almost instantly.

" Why?" Sakuya continued.

" Because by then you will have fallen for my roguish charms, so I won't need to worry about a thing," Kouma replied, laughing out loudly. Sakuya could merely smile as he took them out of the town.

ooo

" I'm hungry," Sora muttered all of a sudden.

" What's with you now?" Hiroshi asked.

" I am damn hungry. I am going to eat till I drop when I do manage to get back," Sora replied. She still hasn't gotten up from her position, lazily lying down on the ground. Hiroshi was slowly picking up all his weapons and pieces of his puppets that had been strewn all over the place.

" That sounds like a very good idea. I think I am going to do the same when I get back as well," the sound of Hibiki's voice spoke up. Turning around, Hiroshi could see Hibiki, along with Makoto and Mayuri reaching the harbour to meet them. Makoto seemed to have suffered some serious injuries to his legs, so Mayuri was carrying him. At a distance, Takeshi and Sougo could be seen entering the harbour, followed by Suzumi.

" I guess our work here is pretty much done," Makoto replied.

" Indeed. No doubt thanks to your steadfast cooperation. My village owes you a debt once more," Takeshi replied, nodding his head slightly towards Hiroshi.

" Hahaha, it's okay. Don't worry about it," Hiroshi replied. " I'm just glad this is all over and done with."

" I'm hungry," Sora repeated herself.

" Yes, I heard you the first time," Hiroshi groaned.

" I think it will be good to get back to get some rest. You might have to get some extended R&R when you all return to your respective villages. Once you have recovered slightly, I will have my people transfer you back to your village through a summoning seal, so you can return instantly. Don't worry about clean-up, my village can handle that. I have informed them of our situation, so they are sending people on their way already," Takeshi replied, not before extending a hand to Hiroshi to help him stand up.

Hiroshi accepted his hand, and once he was up and Suzumi had taken care of their more serious injuries, all of them proceeded to leave the harbour. Sougo and Kagura escorted Naoto, carrying her since she was still unconscious, leading the way as everyone followed them from behind.

As they were about to leave, Hiroshi removed a kunai from his weapon pack, which had a small piece of cloth tied to it, and casually dropped it onto the ground without anyone noticing it, keeping to the back of the group so that nobody would notice what he had done.

When everyone was gone from sight, a lone shinobi with a long, thick cape appeared on the harbour, standing at where Hiroshi had dropped his kunai. He picked up the kunai and undid the knot on the cloth, reading the message within. Once he was done, he disappeared once more, like he was never there at all.

Writer's note: I realised that I have spelled Naoto's name wrongly. It's supposed to be Naoto, although I believe I have typed Naota instead on occasion (although truth be told, I have completely forgotten whether I initially used Naoto or Naota) . Sorry for the typo, and I will try to correct it if I find it.