It was early morning and Asuma walked out of his home. Asuma smelled the fresh air and tried to take a deep breath, but when he did he reflexively coughed.
Asuma sniffled and walked towards the training ground 10. On the way there he saw Ino come out of the Yamanaka flower shop.
He ran over to her and greeted her, "Good morning Ino."-Asuma. Ino was startled and jumped. She turned around and greeted him, "Good morning Asuma sensei, you're up early."-Ino.
"I couldn't sleep very well so I decided to go to the training grounds early."-Asuma. "Well I was heading that way anyway so I guess I can join you."-Ino.
They both started walking and Asuma asked, "Are Shikamaru and Choji already there?"-Asuma. "Hmmmm, Shikamaru usually sleeps in but after our near death experience with Hidan and Kakazu he seems more awake, so I think he'll be there. And Choji... he might take a while, you already know he needs at least 3 breakfasts just so he can leave his house."-Ino.
Asuma tried letting out a laugh at the joke but when he tried to laugh he started coughing violently. They both stopped walking and Asuma coughed a few more times before blood came out of his mouth. He pulled out a spare napkin and wiped the blood off of his hand.
Ino asked in a worried tone, "Sensei are you ok?!"-Ino. Asuma waved her off and lied, "Yeah I'm fine."-Asuma. "Was that blood?"-Ino.
"No no, I had a cherry popsicle earlier so my saliva looks red."-Asuma led once again. Ino accepted that answer and they continued onto the training ground.
Southern Hideout Entrance
Menma picked up Nozomi and got frantic, "Nozomi! What are you doing here?!?! You can't be here, this place is dangerous!"-Menma.
"I wanted to see what you do all day when you're out!"-Nozomi. "You're too young to know about this job!"-Menma.
Nozomi frowned a little, "Menma, do you work at a brothel in the woods?"-Nozomi. Menma got a little red from embarrassment, "N-NO! It's nothing like that!"-Menma.
Nozomi smiled, "Well then think of it like take your daughter to work day!"-Nozomi. Menma got redder, "DAUGHTER?!?"-Menma. Suigetsu decided to join in on the fun and said, "Ooooooh, is that why Minako was in your room last night?"-Suigetsu asked with a devilish smile.
Menma got on a Hinata level of red and
asked lightly, "You saw that?"-Menma. Suigetsu was surprised and he said, "No I was only joking, but seriously?"-Suigetsu asked with a mixed look.
Menma took a deep breath and he returned back to normal, "We can talk about that later. Menma looked at Nozomi, "Fine, you can stay for a little while. But if things get too bad or mature I'm sending you back, got it?"-Menma. Nozomi nodded and they headed in the hideout.
While walking down the hall Menma thought, 'Nozomi is a bit of a mystery. She was shy at first but warmed up to us quickly, she sounds happy now but I can tell she's nervous being out in the open, she must have saw that her mother was asleep and didn't want to be left alone.'-Menma.
Menma's thoughts were interrupted when he felt weight on his back and saw that Nozomi was holding on to him. He smiled and propped her up on top of his shoulders.
Menma crouched and activated his arm seal. When he could see the symbols on it he placed his hand on the ground and gathered A huge amount of sage chakra.
Menma opened his eyes and revealed the golden cross pattern in his eyes. He got into a criss-cross position and started sending the surroundings in the hideout.
Near Training Ground 10
Ino and Asuma turned the corner and the training ground was in sight. Ino started jogging and said, "We should race there!"-Ino. Asuma agreed and started jogging alongside her. "Ok, 1...2...3!"-Ino.
They both jolted towards the entrance at full speed. The entire run was 70 meters. They were both less than 10 meters away from the finish line and Asuma was 5 meters ahead.
He was about to touch the finish line but before he could he felt light headed and thought he was gonna pass out, 'How am I out of energy so fast?'-Asuma. Asuma passed through the Training ground entrance but as soon as he did he passed out.
Southern Hideout
Menma stood up and started walking towards the door. "So what's it looking like?"-Suigetsu. "There are hundreds of chakra signatures in here, but most of them are faint, so I'm assuming they're prisoners. But I think Toshiro was wrong about this place having almost no guards."-Menma.
Menma made eye contact with Suigetsu and said, "There are at least 120 hostiles in there."-Menma. Suigetsu got a little excited and gripped the handle of his blade, but then he lost his smile and asked, "You aren't gonna say I can't kill them this time ars you?"-Suigetsu.
Menma smirked and said, "When I'm in sage mode I can sense all the chakras around me, and sense this is the 6 paths sage mode I can go into even more detail, I can see what kind of chakras people have and tell if their good or malicious. I can even faintly see recent memories of them if I pay enough attention!" Menma turned around, "And when I look in the room out of all the hostiles only about 10 of them have good family relations, so I'll deal with them."-Menma.
Suigetsu laughed a little under his breath and said, "How come every time I talk to you you always have a new ability?"-Suigetsu. Menma laughed and said, "I don't know, but since I've been getting a lot of good sleep lately I think I'm gonna start studying those seal books and the Rinnegan scroll." Menma lost his smile, "We're already in the sound village, our journey is nearly halfway done... but I just wanna let you know, if you don't wanna be here you can leave, I don't wanna force you to do anything you don't want to, and I won't think any less of you."-Menma.
Suigetsu closed his eyes and said, "Menma, in the time I've known you, although it's annoying when I can't kill someone, being around you has helped me suppress my urges. And on top of that... I don't know how to say this, but it always feels like you have an aura around you that always carries fortune. And I guess that's why I can call you a friend."-Suigetsu.
Suigetsu was about to continue and opened his eyes but when he did he realized that Menma was crying. "Hey hey hey! You're even more emotional than before!"-Suigetsu. Menma wiped away his joyful tears and said, "Sorry, I'm still not good at controlling my emotions, but come on. We gotta job to do."-Menma.
They both walked towards the door and Menma put his hand on the door handle, but before he good open it Suigetsu made "ahem" sound.
Menma looked at him and Suigetsu pointed at Nozomi. Menma nervously laughed and realized he forgot she was there, "I'm no parent but I don't think she should see what's gonna happen here."-Suigetsu.
"Yeah, hold on, I'll be right back."-Menma. Menma grabbed Nozomi's hand and they both went to the Kamui dimension.
Kamui Dimension
Menma opened his eyes and saw that he was in a corridor. He looked around and noticed that the place was actually pretty clean. Menma felt someone poke his shoulder and turned around to see Menma.
Menma was still in sage mode so he could see Menma's chakra. But when he did he noticed that the chakra was almost in the middle of good and malicious. Menma looked him in his red and black eyes and almost thought he saw a sense of sadness in them.
"Hey Menma, it's been awhile since we've spoken."-Menma. Menma was still surprised and noticed that his voice was a lot calmer now, and seemed almost friendly.
Menma finally snapped out of his trance and said, "Hey Menma, how has the torture been?"-Menma. "Please, don't call me Menma anymore, just call me Kaikaku. But about the torture... it's been fine."-Kaikaku said chuckling under his breath. 'Kaikaku, that means reform.'-Menma. "Have you ever done something so much, that you lose interest in it? Even if it's your most favorite thing in the world, like some kind of food for example, have you ever eaten it so much that it loses its specialness and you become bored of it cause you've already memorized every little detail about it?"-Kaikaku.
Menma thought about ramen and how it's basically his primary food source. "Well the ramen almost always taste good, but after eating it for so long it starts tasting disgusting and you need to take a break, it's like soup or broth. When you have the flu you usually have it as your primary food source, but after a couple of weeks, whether you still have the flu or not, the soup starts to taste disgusting and you think you might vomit."-Kaikaku.
Menma nodded and Kaikaku said, "Well after awhile it starts to seem trivial and tedious, I've come up with so many fun ideas, but in the end it's always gonna be the same reaction... but I've recently had an amazing experience." Kaikaku looked at Menma, "I think your personality rubbed off on me a little, cause depending on how evil they are I start to feel a little like my old self, it's as if I wanna punish them for the severity of their crimes. Kaikaku laughed in a confused tone. He looked a little crazy when he laughed and he said, "Now, Haha. Isn't that funny? Someone, haha, like me that claimed they killed indiscriminately, actually caring about people?! Hahahahaha!"-Kaikaku. Kaikaku was pulling on his hair and looked confused.
Menma became concerned and walked up to Kaikaku. He put a hand on his shoulder and said, "That's not a bad thing, that just proves that you're becoming more human. Remember the famous quote violent delights will be met with violent ends? Well because of this reform you might be forgiven."-Menma.
Kaikaku looked at him and asked, "Forgiven by who?"-Kaikaku. "Well I've already forgiven you, when we first met I was hostile towards you and you were trying to use me, but now... I think I could even call you a friend."-Menma.
Kaikaku gave him a smile and a look showing many different emotions. "After all I did, you'd really forgive me?"-Kaikaku. Menma gained a wide smile, "Well if it weren't for you I would have died in that pit, and sense Sasuke was still alive at that point I wouldn't have come back to life... so even though you killed Sasuke, I can't help but thank you. Cause if it weren't for you I wouldn't have a chance to save everyone from those Aesir Gods."-Menma.
Kaikaku smiled his first pure smile in all of his existence and simply said, "I'm glad I got to be a part of you, Menma."
Nozomi walked up to Menma and pulled on his cloak. Menma looked down at her and remembered the reason he came here in the first place. "Hey Kaikaku, can you do me a favor?"-Menma.
Kaikaku nodded and Menma showed him the little girl, "Can you take care of this little girl while I liberate some prisoners being held captive?"-Menma.
Kaikaku looked unsure and said, "Well I've never been around any kids, but I'll try."-Kaikaku. Menma smiled and said, "That's great! But all of your rooms are torture rooms, so maybe I should make a "- Menma was cut off when he saw that Kaikaku already created a kids room.
Kaikaku noticed the surprised look on Menma's face and said, "Are you surprised I can do what you can?" Menma nodded and Kaikaku said, "Well out of all the personalities you have I've always been the most compatible and the one that's been around the longest. I'm practically you, so it only makes sense that I would be able to do anything you can do." Kaikaku rolled up his sleeve on his right arm, "I even have this weird seal on my right arm, you have one on your left arm right?"-Kaikaku.
Menma rolled his sleeve and showed his left arm, "Yeah." Kaikaku rolled back down his sleeve and said, "Well, I'm not sure how any of this stuff works yet but I think you should go back now, your friend is waiting for you."-Kaikaku.
Menma nodded and started disappearing, "See ya Kaikaku, and don't worry Nozomi I'll be back."-Menma.
Southern Hideout
Menma appeared right back in front of the door and Suigetsu said, "You've been gone for a while."-Suigetsu. "Sorry, I had a little talk with a friend of mine."-Menma.
Suigetsu stood up. "Well that doesn't matter now, c'mon. We gotta job to do."-Suigetsu.
They both walked towards the door and Menma said, "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. There is this one sealing technique I learned, I call it a restriction seal. Basically what it does is increase the gravity of everything around me in a meters radius. So let's say if I was in a fist fight, the other guy would be slower than a drunk."-Menma. Suigetsu sweat dropped and said, "Don't you ever lose track of all these powers you have?"-Suigetsu. Menma put his hand on his head and said, It's easier to remember than you think."-Menma responded as he placed his hand on the door and pushed it open.
Menma looked around and found the good chakras, he quickly dashed past everyone without them realizing it and fazed all 10 of them into walls. Everyone heard the sound of their screams and looked in their direction.
Menma called out to Suigetsu and said, "Alright, we can cut loose now!"-Menma. Suigetsu walked through the door and locked his lips. All 120 of the hostiles split into 2 groups of 60 and started attacking them.
Menma purposely jumped into the middle of the group and made a hand gesture for them to come at him.
Everyone started attacking him at once his punches kicks and weapons and Menma put himself on the defensive. But no matter how much they attacked him or how fast the strikes were he could dodge them all.
'So this is what ultra instinct feels like... wait that's the wrong anime. So this is what 6 paths sage mode is like, I can dodge everything so naturally.
Eventually Menma decided to go on the offensive and jumped into the air, he was going to pounce on someone put they had a spear and pointed it up so that Menma would land on it. 'Oh? That's pretty smart.'-Menma.
But before Menma could be impaled by the spear he placed one finger on the tip of it and balanced on it. While they were shocked at what he did Menma mixed Amaterasu with a fireball jutsu and incinerated everyone in the group except for 5 people.
Looking around Suigetsu was still cutting his remaining 40 people to pieces and on Menma side the ground was pure ash and small black flames, but the spear that Menma was balancing on still remained.
Menma slide down the spear and deactivated his sage mode before gathered all of the Amaterasu flames into the tip of the spear. He compressed the flames into a small little candle and started rushing at the remaining 5.
They were all shook in fear and Menma was only a few meters away from them, but before he could pierce them he felt a giant jolt of pain in his ankle and fell over.
Menma groaned in pain and looked at where he got hit, he thought there would be a kunai in his leg because he was too focused on the other 5. But instead he saw a hole going straight through his leg, like something metal went right through his body.
'What the hell happened? I didn't hear the sound until it had already hit me, and once I did hear the sound it extremely loud. What the hell was it?'-Menma.
Menma's thoughts were cut off when the man who hit him walked up to him and pointed the strange weapon at him.
Menma examined it and came up with an analysis, 'It's black, and he's holding it in a way that the hole is aimed at me. He has 3 fingers wrapped around the handle/grip and his pointer finger is on a tiny curved lever. Is that some kind of trigger?'-Menma.
The man pulled back on a small hammer like object with his thumb and pulled back the chamber of the weapon and started pulling on the trigger. Menma tensed up and thought, 'It's about to go off! I'm gonna have time my Kamui and quickly kill him!'-Menma.
Time almost seemed like it was in slow motion and Menma's eyes started spinning like a pinwheel. Menma saw the trigger hit the back of the trigger guard and he activated Kamui. Ignoring his pain he trusted up the man and the small metal projectile went right through him. In the mans shock Menma grabbed his arm and chopped it off with the sage blade before kicking through his torso. But Menma didn't finish there and made a thornbush along with branches grow on his leg while it was still inside the man.
Menma shoved him off and looked down at his leg and saw that it had already healed. Menma smiled and looked at the remaining 4. He activated his 1 meter gravity seal and rushed towards them.
He punched one in the head and his fist went clean through his skull, revealing brain matter and splashing blood everywhere. Menma was a bit surprised but dispatched of the other 3 with a powerful sidekick with branches attached on them that instantly killed them since it stabbed their liver and heart.
Menma calmed down and thought, 'Hmmm, I don't think I'm that strong, so maybe the increased gravity increased the force of my fist by magnitudes. These abilities just get better and better!'-Menma.
Menma's self praise was quickly cut off when he felt the hair rise on his left side that was followed by a loud boom of sound. He thought, 'Damn it! I just remembered that there was 5 of them! The last guy must have ran away towards the arm I cut off to pick up that weapon, damn it! The speed of the projectile is too fast for the gravity to affect it good enough, and I don't have time to use Kamui because it will take too long to activate my EMS. I guess I'll just have to dodge it the best I can.'-Menma.
Menma channeled electric chakra throughout his body and got his adrenaline running as fast as possible, while at the same time he was ducking under the bullet.
The bullet made contact with his head and digged past his skin. The bullet shattered parts of his skull and was about to touch his brain, but before it could Menma had ducked low enough for the bullet to graze his brain.
After a few seconds Menma tried to stand up but his ears were ringing and he felt light headed. After stumbling for a few seconds he lost his balance and fell on to the ground. Menma tried to stand up again but his entire body felt numb and he was in pain. He felt like he wasn't in his own body and put his hand on his head. When he looked at his hand he saw that it was covered in blood and his vision started becoming darker and lighter at the same time.
Menma look at the up at the man who was holding the weapon and thought, 'Da-da... dahm et... I ca-...can't th...think... straight, I th-think this... is it.'-Menma.
Menma saw the man place his finger on the trigger and Menma tried standing up with everything he had like earlier but it was futile. Menma thought that the wound would have healed by now but it seemed like the higher up a wound is on his body the longer it takes to heal, and the wound on his head hasn't started healing at all yet, so Menma wasn't even sure if head injuries would heal by themselves.
Menma was starting to lose hope but he remembered he still had one thing left he could try. 'My chakra is hard to control sense I'm in this bad of a condition. But sense he's at point black range this should be good enough.'-Menma. Jenna channeled a burst of chakra into his eyes and they transformed. The sclera of his eyes turned red and his pupil expanded and turned Into a complex pinwheel design.
Menma's left eye started bleeding and his eye became bloodshot. The man in front of him instantly burst into scorching black flames and he dropped the weapon.
Suigetsu ran over to Menma and put him in his arms. Menma's lights were fading and he was seconds away from passing out from the sheer pressure his brain and body was under.
Menma used the remaining of his strength to point at the weapon on the ground and told Suigetsu, "Bring that with us." And passed.
Hidden Leaf Village
Asuma was walking down his usual path towards his home, and everything seemed normal. But if you looked into his eyes there was a hidden despair in them.
He was cut out of his thoughts when he heard one of his students walk up to him. It was Choji. "Hey sensei, I'm glad you're already feeling better. The doctor had us leave after we brought you there so we didn't get to know if you're sick or not. Are you alright?"-Choji.
Asuma wanted to say that he wasn't ok, but he didn't want his students worrying about him, he thought, 'No Choji, I have something much worse than feeling ill, I have lung cancer.' But he couldn't say that. "Yeah Choji, I'm fine, but I'm in a hurry so I don't have time to talk."-Asuma.
Choji said, "Alright." and walked off. Asuma continued towards his house and thought, 'How long do I intend on hiding this?' He stayed in his thoughts for the rest of the walk, and kept on having coughing fits along the way.
Minako's House
Menma opened his eyes and looked around. Menma looked outside the window and felt blinded by the brightness. He recoiled and covered his eyes.
Once his eyes adjusted he saw Nozomi in the corner of the room and wondered what she was doing there. Her eyes were baggy and Menma instantly thought, 'Has she been staying up this whole time waiting for me to wake up?'-Menma.
But before Menma could dwell on the thought the curtains closed and Menma saw an unfamiliar face standing there. The man was about 6ft tall and wore a black and white suit along with a matching black bowler hat. He was had a burly build and had a gray mustache that rested on his chin.
Menma was about to say something but the man put his fingers up to his lips and said, "Shhh. Don't be too loud, that little girl needs her sleep after everything that's been happening."
Menma was overwhelmed by the presence of the man, but not in a stressful way, it was like his aura cleansed his soul of all sins and stress. The man opened his mouth and said, "You're lucky I came by child, if I didn't you would still be asleep for another month."
Menma sat up out of his bed and felt extremely lightheaded, as if he would pass out again. He sat back down and slowly got up this time. Once he felt comfortable he asked, "How do you know about what I've been doing?"-Menma.
"I know everything child, nothing can be hidden from me." The man stated. Menma found that to be a weird response and asked another question, "Who are you?"-Menma.
"I go by many names my child, Adonai, Jehovah, Yahweh. But you can call whatever you like." Menma felt most comfortable with Adonai and asked, "Who exactly are you Adonai? I don't sense any chakra in you, so are you even human?"-Menma.
Adonai remained silent and after a few seconds Menma asked, "Did you hear me?"-Menma. Adonai snapped back to his senses and said, "I'm sorry child, I'm more used to people calling me father. But I am not known of by your people so it's understandable."-Adonai.
Menma felt awkward in the man's presence, he wasn't sure if this guy was completely sane. He asked again, "Are you human?"-Menma. Adonai smirked and said, "Human... I wish I was human, I sometimes wonder what it's like to have all that freedom... isn't it great being human? A lot of people take it for granted and say they wish they were something like a dragon, or a bird... or even a God. What do you think about being human?"-Adonai.
"Ummm, life as a human has its moments."-Menma. "Hmmm, well enjoy humanity, humanity is something precious that you don't want to lose... but when it comes to you, you probably won't remain one for much longer."-Adonai.
Adonai turned around and started becoming transparent. Menma yelled, "Wait! I still don't know who you are! And what do you mean I won't be human much longer?!"-Menma.
Adonai glanced at him and said, " I'll tell you this. That seal on your arm is called the God Seal, Freya gave it to you and I amplified it's abilities with my own. The current capabilities of it are to defy your own fate and give you insight, but once you've mastered all of its abilities no one will be able to come close to you in capabilities, not even that arrogant child Odin."-Adonai.
Menma absorbed everything he just heard and Adonai continued, "Oh, and one last thing. When Minako says she has fulfilled her destiny, don't try to save her."-Adonai.
The last comment made Menma's heart jump and he yelled, "Wait!" But it was too late, he was already gone.
Menma stood there alone and was left to his thoughts. He heard the front door open and saw Suigetsu and Mina there. Suigetsu ran towards him with a smile and said, "You bastard, we almost thought you died!"-Suigetsu. Mina walked in and said, "He's too stubborn to die."-Mina.
Menma asked, "Did you guys see a tall overweight old man walk somewhere near here?"-Menma. Suigetsu and Mina shook their heads and Suigetsu asked, "Why do you ask?"-Suigetsu.
Menma was about to tell them but for some reason he felt like he shouldn't so he kept his mouth shut. "Nevermind, it's nothing important, so how long have I been out?"-Menma.
"You've been out for a whole week, some old guy named Akiro came over to check on you, he said you would be out for a whole month! How are you up in a week? Your head still seems damaged." Suigetsu pointed out pointing at the bandages wrapped around Menma's head.
"I don't know how, but I feel kinda like someone's watching over me." Menma said looking up at the sky outside the window.
They remained silent for a few more seconds the Menma said, "I wanna go check on Minako so that she doesn't have to worry about me anymore." Menma stated as he looked at Nozomi. He found it heart warming that she's been sitting here waiting for him to wake up.
Menma decided he would wait until she woke up to tell her and started walking out. But before he could walk out of the door Suigetsu said, "I just remembered!" And he pulled out the strange weapon that shattered Menma's skull. "You told me to bring this with us. What do you need it for?"-Suigetsu.
Menma waved him off and said, "I just wanna know what it is, but I'm glad you reminded me. I completely forgot about it."-Menma. Suigetsu gave him a thumbs up and Menma walked out.
Menma looked down both sides of the wall and thought, 'Which way goes outside again?'-Menma. Menma decided to go right and started walking down the hallway. Once he arrived in the kitchen he finally regained his core balance and looked outside the back door.
He saw Minako there and smiled. He opened the back door. He walked out and decided to sneak up on her. He merged into a tree and spied on her.
He saw her picking apples and decided what his plan would be. He saw that she was reaching up to the branches to pick the apples. He decided to make it easier and manipulated the trees to drop apples.
She heard an apple fall behind her and walked over to it. She put it in the basket and was about to start reaching up to the branches again, but Menma made another apple fall and she walked over to it and picked it up again.
After she picked it up another one fell and she caught it this time. Then she put it in the basket. Menma decided to make the challenge harder and started making multiple apples drop from the tree.
She started running around and picking them up. She said, "Why are these apples growing so fast?"-Minako. After a minute passed the apples stopped falling and her basket was full.
She had to catch her breath and placed the basket on the ground. Once she caught her breath she looked down at the basket but realized it wasn't there. She looked around and saw that roots were carrying it off.
"Oh come on!"-Minako complained as she started chasing after it. Eventually the basket came across a tree and hid behind it. Minako saw it go behind the tree and rushed towards it.
But when she turned the tree instead of being met with a basket full of apples she was met with a chest. After getting over her surprise she looked up at the face the chest belonged too and saw Menma's face.
She stood there for a few seconds out of shock and Menma eventually said, "Good morning Minako. I came back here to tell you that I'm fine now, and that"- Menma was cut off when Minako wrapped her soft arms around him in a warm embrace.
Menma was slightly surprised by the action but quickly replied to the sudden action with a hug in return. Menma felt like his chest was getting slightly wet and looked down to see a couple tears in Minako's eyes. "I was starting to think you wouldn't wake up."-Minako.
Menma smiled and said, "Minako"-"Promise me you won't do anything so reckless again! I don't want you being so care free when your in a place like that, you almost died..."-Minako.
Menma smiled and gave her a kiss on the forehead, "I promise I won't be reckless on my missions again. Could you let go so we can go back inside now?"-Menma.
Minako shook her head and dug her head into Menma's chest. "Can we stay like this longer?"-Minako. Menma sighed and said, "Ok."
Menma looked up at the blue sky and almost thought he saw a silhouette of Adonai in the sky. And he thought, "He was right, humanity is nice. Especially when you have friends there with you."-Menma.
Wow, it's been an entire month since I've updated. I'm sorry for the accidental hiatus but I ended up getting too distracted by Sekiro. But now that I've got the platinum trophy for it I should be able to upload like I used to.
It just feels discouraged when no one leaves a comment on a chapter and I feel like people didn't really enjoy anything so I end up not writing, but hopefully people are still enjoying this.
