Disclaimer': I own absolutely nothing.

"Okay, so let's get this straight." Ren asked the old man known as Hanzo while drinking the tea that he prepared.

Right now Ren's and Morgana were having tea and sushi with Hanzo. Morgana was on his guard and wasn't eating or drinking anything despite eating what Ren now guessed was Hanzō's sushi earlier. Too bad too.

. Hanzo was actually quite the affable old guy when he's not fighting you, and Renn felt like what he's eating is trustworthy due to the fact that Hanzo could have easily taken them out while they were asleep. No need to put poison in the food.

"Ninjas still exist, and not only that, but I'm on their watchlist since I'm the leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts."

"Pretty much." Hanzo told him while drinking his teae.

"Good to have that cleared up." Ren said before eating some of the sushi that was prepared. Truly delicious.

"Indeed." Hanzo told him in response.

"Don't just leave it That!?" Morgana told him angrily.

"He's quite a noisy cat." Hanzō said while looking at him.

"Yeah. He's quite a chatterbox." Ren said in agreement.

"I amnota cat!" Morgana told him angrily.

"Anyways, to make sure Morgana doesn't get angry enough to claw at our faces,I might as well ask why did you bring me here?"

"I simply wanted to ascertain your level of strength." Hanzo told him.

"Okay. But why?" Ren asked him again.

"There is something that my dear friend needs done. And you may be the best candidate for the job."

"Okay," Ren asked him. "What's the problem?

"Before I talk about the problem, I must first talk about my close friend, Kurokage." Hanzo told him. "And the balance between Shinobi."

There were once two young men who sought to become Shinobi. They were the best of their class and knew the strength of the other.

"Hah! I will win again, Kurokage!" A young man with . His grin and general positive and percy attitude gave him an aura that feels like he's completely approachable. His hair was tied up in a ponytail. His name will one day be remembered as a legendary Shinobi, but for now it's simply Hanzō.

"Yeah right, Hanzo." The one that said this in return to Hanzo, was a muscular young man with dark grey grey spiky hair. There was a certain intensity that he gave off that made people want to stay away from him, completely contrasting Hanzō's own atmosphere.

It was a simpler time. Training to become Shinobi and among all of those here, these two were definitely the best of the best.

"Bet I'll win again next time." Hanzō told him with a confident smile on his face.

"Heh. I'll take that bet." Kurokage told him.

"They ruined the training hall again…." A classmate muttered after seeing this sight. They were too used to it at this point that it's stopped registering as a shock to them.

"Why did we have to go to a school with those two in it?" Another one said with a sigh.

"Oh come on guys," Hanzo said with a goofy grin on his face, "it's just a little mess."

"Oh really?" A feminine voice said to him from behind. When Hanzo turned around stood a beautiful girl with large, perfect boobs. But her aura was filled with killing intent. This was Sayuri, the top ranked female student and the one Hanzō's was in love with.

"It's okay to compete with your best friend…" Sayuri started, but her eyes had no light in them at all. "BUT DID YOU HAVE TO DESTROY THE FUCKING TRAINING HALL!?

"S-sayuri!" Hanzo said, seeing she was this angry , decided that his best option for survival was to run, but before that could be done she grabbed him by the ear and started to pull him by it while lecturing him. Hanzō then looked towards his best friend and mouthed to him

"Kurokage, help me." Hanzō mouthed to him.

Kurokage then shook his head, knowing that she was already set off and that his chances of survival were higher leaving him alone.

"You traitor!" Hanzō yelled at him, unfortunately interrupting Sayuri while she was lecturing him. .

"Oh? Still have energy don't we?" Sayuri said to Hanzō, before bringing out a wooden sword. "Looks like I'll have to be a bit harder on you then." She said with a menacing gleam in her eyes.

"What happened to me on that day was so bad, that I'm still suppressing memories from it." Hanzō told Ren. Looking completely traumatized just from the memories alone.

"I'm sure that it must've been something very painful and/or humiliating though."

"Ah. I see." Ren nodded with sympathy.

"Y-yeah sounds bad." Morgana told him.

"Hanzo, I became a Shinobi for one reason: to eliminate Evil Shinobi." Kurokage told him one day while they were eating lunch. "But it seems like that goal is still far from me."

"That's less of a goal and more of a plan." Hanzo pointed out to him.

"What would you want after eliminating all of them?" Hanzō asked him. Hanzo was curious what Kurokage would have done after completing his self-imposed mission.

Kurokage didn't answer that question, because at that moment, not even he knew what he truly wanted. What world would he seek after completing his mission.

"Hey! Hanzō!" Sayuri called over to him, wanting something from him.

"I've gotta go. See you later." Hanzō told his best friend, but Kurokage was still in thought. What does he want at the end of all of it?

"So, you're not planning on becoming a Kagura?" Kurokage asked Hanzō on graduation day. Kurokage looked surprised, as if he's never considered his best friend not taking that path.

"Tell me you're not going to give me crap about it, cause I just got enough of it from Sayuri." Hanzō groaned.

"No. Just kind of surprised." Kurokage told him. "You always wanted to protect your friends, acting as a sword and shield. I just thought that path would lead to being a Kagura."

"Being a Kagura isn't necessary to protect my friends." Hanzō answered him.

"No. That kind of life isn't for me." Hanzō replied to him.

"What about you?" Hanzō asked him.

"I'm after Evil Shinobi. Not Yoma. You should know that by now." Kurokage responded to him.

"Guess we'll be by each other's side even longer than I thought." Hanzō said with a laugh.

"Yes." Kurokage told him on his own.

"Bet we'll be close friends long enough for our grandchildren to know each other." Hanzō told him jokingly.

"I'll take that bet." Kurokage told him.

"See you completed another mission, Hanzo?" A good Shinobi councilman said to him, praising his abilities once again. "And so fast too. Impressive as always."

"What about Kurokage?" Hanzō asked him. "I'm sure that he's gone on one at the exact same time as me."

"He's just gotten back."

"Thanks." Hanzō told him.

When Hanzo found him, he couldn't help but notice the look of intense frustration and irritation on his face. He's been seeing this face a lot lately from him.

"Oi, Kurokage." Hanzō called out to him. "What's the matter?"

"I signed up to eliminate Evil Shinobi. Not doing recon for a war we're barely fighting." Kurokage told him. His hands clenched together so tight that his fingernails might draw blood at this rate.

"Fighting against Evil Shinobi isn't all that we do." Haanzō reminded him. Sure, it was an important part of being a Shinobi, but it wasn't the only thing that mattered in the end.

"I know." Kurokage told him, but Hanzō was beginning to doubt that he actually did.

And things continued like that for a while. Hanzō and Kurokage continuously got great results. But every mission they came back from, Kurokage grew more and more dissatisfied. This all continued until one day, Kurokage killed an Evil Shinobi that wasn't part of the mission.

"I've heard you've done something unneeded." Hanzō told Kurokage, waiting in the council building hallways for the latter to appear.

"They're still enemies." Kurokage pointed it out to him. "Does it matter when I do it to them?"

"...I suppose I can't argue with that." Hanzō said, desisting his issues for now.

This was how it continued for a few years. Kurokage eliminating Evil Shinobi that weren't apart of the mission he's on, but no one said anything about it due to the missions still being complete.

Until one day, someone who was on both sides was attacked by him.

"Wait a second." Morgana said, interrupting him.

"Morgana, it's rude to interrupt someone's story when it's getting good." Ren told him, lecturing him about proper storytelling etiquette. Seriously, why were people always quick to answer unimportant questions during someone's life story?

"Ren, this is an important question." Morgana told him.

"There were big shots that were both Good and Evil Shinobi at the same time?" Hanzō had a feeling that he knew what was going to be asked and braced himself for it.

"Did no one see the problems with that?" This seemed like something people would have an obvious issue with.

"Hah." Hanzo said with a sigh, the circumstances were definitely a pain later down the line, which is why these sort of people had their existences covered up by both the Good and Evil Shinobi councils later on.

"It was mostly out of some sort of convenience." Hanzō told them.

"Convenience?" Ren repeated.

"Some of the big shots were heads of clans with various talented members that they'd sell out to Shinobi sides." Hanzo revealed it to them.

"Others had resources both sides wanted but didn't want to risk damaging. It truly was a mess."

"Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted." Hanzō continued his story.

"Kurokage! Did you have any idea of what you just did!?" Hanzō asked his best friend. Right now the council was in an uproar at Kurokages latest victim. The biggest manufacturer of their combat puppets. They've used them for various purposes, guards, training dummies, soldiers, and more. But the person himself didn't look like he cared about it at all.

"Simple. Took care of an evil Shinobi." Kurokage told him, seeing nothing wrong with it.

"You know that he's also been supplying us with puppets!" Hanzo told him.

"So I should ignore his crimes because it's more convenient for us to do so?" Kurokage asked him in a pointed tone of voice. "Should I ignore the villages he's destroyed during hias tests?"

themmm him him

"Kurokage…." Hanzō said to him. What was in his voice? Disappointment, confusion, sympathy? A mix of all three or none of them at all? Was it something else entirely. Even to this day, the person in question had no idea what it was. But at the moment what Hanzō wanted to know was why he's always going this far? What was he trying to gain from all of this?

"I told you Hanzō. I will eliminate Evil Shinobi. Without question." Kurokage told him, unhesitantly.

However at that moment Shinobi appeared surrounding them.

"Kurokage, you've been called forth by the council." One of them told him.

"Fine." Kurokage said following after them.

Kurokage was to be punished for it, as expected. However before they could decided on a punishment, Kurokage escaped from his prison.

They sent multiple Shinobi immediately after his escape. They were among some if the top Shinobi they had.

However Kurokage was as powerful as Hanzō was, powerful enough to have become a Kagura after graduating. There was nothing that no one who didn't have equivalent power could do to stop him. So Kurokage easily defeated the numerous amount oif them.

And the Kagura didn't see the point of wasting their time on this nonsense.

So Kurokage was escaping from them without anything stopping him.

Kurokage then looked above at the sky.

The clouds were dark, signaling that it was going to rain soon. That could probably help him make his escape, hiding his smell from Shinobi with summons with strong enough noses.

However when he was making his plan, he's was his escape someone stood in his way. Someone unexpected. A familiar man, who also thought that this could never happen.

"Hanzo." Kurokage said, looking at the man who was his closest friend.

"Are you following orders? Or is this something personal?" Kurokage asked him, before getting into his stance.

"It's a mixture of both." Hanzō told him, drawing his swords. "I can't let you keep going wild." Hanzō then said with absolutely no emotion in his eyes.

They both stood still until they each felt a rain drop touch their bodies. They then charged forth, fist meeting sword, creating a shockwave that forced all other raindrops away from thim. The first fight that they had in years, and also the last fight that they'll ever have. Both were giving all of their being into this battle, each giving harder and harder blows to each other, with both of them dodging them.

"Kurokage!" Hanzō yelled, sliced at Kurokages chest leaving a light scar on it

"Hanzō!" Kurokage responded by punching Hanzō in the chest and cracking a couple of his ribs.

Both were then preparing to release their ultimate ninja arts on their opponent. With Kurokage releasing a cold energy from his fists and Hanzō's blade glowing green. They were both about to strike each other, but then

They looked at each other's faces both remembering everything that happened to them,

"Hey there." A younger version of Hanzo said to a younger Kurokage.

"Names Hanzō." Hanzō told him, reaching his hand out to him.

"Kurokage." Kurokage said, shaking his hand. "Oh, strong grip you got there?" Hanzō told him.

"Guess we're classmates huh?"

"You and Sayuri are together?" Congratulations Kurokage told him jealously.

"Come on now. I'm sure there's someone who'd go for you?" Hanzō told him with a laugh.

"...Do you want me to punch you?" Kurokage asked him.

"Here's your gift." Kurokage said, giving Hanzō his birthday present.

"Nice! What is it?"

"Open up and see for yourself?" Kurokage told him. Hanzō did just that

"A new pair of wakishakiz!? You shouldn't have!"

"Your current ones are filled with chips and damage, and you don't have the time to repair them recently, so why not?"

"Thanks, Kurokage." Hanzō told him gratefully.

"Your welcome, Hanzō."

At that moment, both stopped their attacks. Neither had the heart to keep on fighting each other, no matter what circumstances they were in.

There was a silence between them with only the sounds of them heavily breathing being heard.

"Hanzō, a long time ago you asked me what I wanted after eliminating every Evil Shinobi." Kurokage said after taking in deep breaths. "At the time I gave you no answer. But now I can."

Kurokage then looked up at the cloudy sky.

"I hate evil. All evil. All it does is hurt people." Kurokage told him, once again looking at him, gaining a fire in his eyes. "Sso I'll create a world without it!"

"Kurokage, listen to yourself!" Hanzō argued with him. "A world without evil, where only good can exist? Is that even possible!? I'm betting it's not. But even if it is….it might not be the right idea!"

"I'll take that bet." Kurokage told him. "The next time we meet, we'll all be living in my utopia."

Kurokage then left, Hanzo letting him. One with no regrets in his heart, one with nothing but them in his. Both wishing that the other could understand them.

"That was the last time I saw my best friend for a long time." Hanzō told him sadly. "I managed to hear something about him around eight years ago. About him raising children on his own."

"Raising children?"

"They were children if those who've had their parents killed by Evil Shinobi."" Hanzō informed him. "The council thought that he's raising them, trying to restart the war with the Evil Shinobi. This sending Shinobi to take care of him."

"The ones who were sent to assassinate him reported something different than what they thought. That he's not seeking war with them anymore."

"But a few months ago, he appeared in front of me asking me for a favor." Hanzō told Ren and Morgan.a 0

"He was terminally ill, but this matter took precedence over his own health." Hanzō revealed to him. "It wouldn't have been surprising if he dropped then and there."

"His adopted granddaughters have managed to become a bit of a problem."

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