Notice: I do not own Naruto, and make no claims of copyright on the
characters who are not my property. Original characters, however, are mine.
Author's Notes: Ah nothing like a cliffhanger to annoy the heck out of everyone reading the story. My apologies, though this wasn't a true cliffhanger (I mean, no one's between death and life or anything, well except Tonetero) and I do try to minimize them, but extending the chapter any further would have been ridiculous. Unfortunately the situation takes a few chapters to resolve (like 4), fortunately I have actually written them all in some mad frenzy of output, it's just a matter of editing and putting them up. This particular chapter covers a little less ground than I originally intended, but it expands on Dar's character and what's going to have to be done to resolve this.
I recognize that its hard to review when I post new chapters so fast, but I encourage people to try, especially about the romance stuff (which is kind of the point of this plot arc).
Anyway, thanks regardless!
Hattuteline: Funny you should mention that eye trick, but at the risk of reducing the suspense a bit I'll say that one's going to simmer awhile. Regardless there are supposedly 21 dragon jutsu (I said so about a hundred thousand words ago) and I intend to gradually fill additional ones in as things proceed. And Xi taught Neji all of the eighteen jutsu he currently can't do.
A Frigid Pause
They land upon the pile of boulders hard, and tired. It is a miserable scraggle of rocks sticking up from the top of this hillside, none any taller than a man, but affording at least a view of the surrounding scrublands. The three ninja who land here are dissimilar, but all are tired and dirty with the stink and debris of battle. The eyes of two are focused and harsh, but they are inwardly confused, and turmoil is clear beneath the stony gazes. The other sees a world clouded, answering only to a single internal demand, one that absolutely must be met, but one that seems horrifying unreachable, and so distant now. His gaze drifts constantly south, but it is empty.
Neji lands absently and Xi walks over to him as Dar looks about for any signs of pursuit. The dragon ninja's gaze is harsh and absolute. "You are pathetic, Draci Neji." The words are like a sneer, and Neji looks up at Xi with anger behind his blank eyes. "Perhaps I should not even call you by that. For over a month, since before the chuunin exam, you have not listened to me. You are denying what you are, denying that you are a dragon ninja, and instead acting like some weakling. You have no one but yourself to blame for Shiren's taking." Xi stopped there, and slashed a hand forward to cut off any protest. "You are not even worth my time right now. I will deal with you later. Don't move."
Neji stared off blankly after Xi as the older ninja walked away, but though he felt the anger and hatred surge within him, he did nothing. The sense of loss was far too great.
Dar turned to face Xi as the dragon ninja approached him, standing atop the highest of the stone outcrops. "There is nothing as far as I can see." He said.
"Let me check." Xi's hands flashed through seals. "Dragon's Eye." He whispered, letting the dragon's vision close the distance, looking for any hint of fear far to the south, seeking to sense it. All was empty. Xi let the red gaze fall swiftly as he had called it. "It seems Tonetero is content with his hostage."
"He expects you to come to him then?" Dar asked.
"Perhaps, but that is not important at the moment." Xi replied. "There is more pressing business between the two of us, Kataishi Dar."
"Oh?" Dar raised an eyebrow. "And what is that, Draci Xi?"
"You followed us for a reason, and interceded upon our behalf, in a struggle that was not your own." Xi's gaze was dark. "Why?"
"I'm certain you've guessed." Dar answered simply, showing no obvious emotion. "As for the battle, the lands were still Stone Country, the Grass ninja were invaders here, I acted as I deemed appropriate."
"So you say." Xi looked at him. "I owe you a debt now, possibly a very great one." He looked at Dar, taking in the nondescript stone ninja, with his simple features and close cropped hair, and the straight and deadly sword he wore, the only thing that marked him out. "So, what is your price?"
"Train me as a dragon ninja." Dar said without hesitation.
Xi nodded silently. He had expected this demand, had finally determined a little about this strange Stone chuunin. "Why should I?" He asked anyway, even though he knew the answer.
"You are already training a Leaf ninja and a Cloud ninja, why not a Stone? You need three to form a proper training group in any case. I have the skills necessary, and I have my reasons." Dar answered firmly, his face betraying nothing.
He is different from the other two, Xi recognized, he understands this fully, even if his talents are lesser. The dragon ninja looked down at the sword Dar wore, knowing its true nature. Yes, he does have his reasons. "Very well, assuming you have the Tsuchikage's permission."
"I do, you think that man would refuse this chance?"
"Then very well, I will train you, but it will be on my time and by my rules." Xi said.
"I accept." Dar said sternly. "Now, to the matter at hand."
"Indeed." Xi looked over his shoulder, making sure Neji could hear them talking. "Do you have questions?"
"How is that Tonetero creature alive?" Those were the first words to leave Dar's mouth.
"Edo Tensei." Xi answered. "A forbidden technique, one developed by Mehize Kizen, the mummifier ninja of Wind Country. It takes the sacrifice of one person and uses their essence to bring back another, in power proportional to how potent the sacrifice is. The resurrected form must obey the creator, and cannot easily be destroyed. Of course, I doubt Tonetero requires much in the way on motivation to do what he is now."
"How do you know so much?" Dar asked.
"Orochimaru used the technique against the Third Hokage, I observed part of that battle, and questioned the ANBU afterwards. However, though Orochimaru might have refined it, Kizen, the master of dead manipulation jutsus, and an s-class criminal, developed the technique. Knowing that he is here, it makes sense for him to bring back Tonetero, since I am sure he was not supposed to die in the exam." Xi scowled. "Now he is even more dangerous than before."
"So, you will go after him?" Dar asked.
"No." Xi said loudly and clearly. Below them both Neji's head jerked up, and the shock was written clearly upon his face, only growing greater as Xi continued to speak in his deadpan tone. "My mission is to hunt the Akatsuki. Tonetero is not my problem; I am going after Kizen, who I suspect has gone northwest. He will abandon grass, as since you interfered the plan is a failure, and Tonetero's resurrection will make all nations work against them."
"What about Shiren, your student?" Dar was incredulous, and Neji's shock was palpable in the silence that had followed Xi's words.
"It's not my problem." Xi said coldly. "I am not going to invade grass country."
"We must rescue Shiren!" Neji's words were desperate, hollow, and filled with longing. "We can't let her be taken like that!"
"That is not a part of my mission." Xi replied, his voice like ice. "I have to follow Kizen, I will not loose this chance to break open the Akatsuki. I almost killed him there in the clearing, he is no match for me."
"But Shiren-"
"If you want to save her Neji, then you can do it yourself." Xi said simply. "I owe her nothing, it is not my problem."
"Then I will!" Neji shouted, his eyes narrow.
"How will you even find her?" Xi scoffed. "Even if you could," Xi continued, inwardly pained to say the words, but knowing their truth. He was a dragon ninja; there would be no exceptions. "As you are now you would accomplish nothing but your own death." Xi spoke the words and turned away, leaving Neji staring at his back. "I am going to scout the area." He told Dar. "I'll be back by nightfall."
Dar nodded, unable to say anything.
When Xi was gone the stone ninja looked down at Neji, glancing into those blank eyes for the first time. Looking down at him, Dar's expression was confused. "You are not curious?" He asked Neji.
In truth Neji was curious, he had many questions about this strange stone ninja he knew nothing about, and yet who Xi had just agreed to teach. Was the debt so great that he would agree to such a thing, when he was so hesitant to allow Shiren? Why should this ninja be a dragon ninja? Yet Neji said nothing.
Dar looked at Neji carefully, and then sat down cross-legged atop his stone. He pulled his scabbarded sword from his side, and held it up vertically in front of him. "At least, I will introduce myself." Dar said easily. "I am Kataishi Dar, chuunin of Hidden Stone."
"Draci Neji, of Hidden Leaf." Neji answered automatically, but his speech was empty of feeling.
"I suppose I should have expected that reaction." Dar muttered. "You're not a stone ninja, so you don't know who I am."
"Are you so special that all ninja know you on sight?" Neji said, the slightest hint of mockery in his voice.
"Heh." Dar chuckled. "As to be expected from someone of your talent. But, yes, I am that special, at least." Dar's right hand reached out and he pulled his sword free of its scabbard. "I bear this."
In the quiet light of the cloudy afternoon Neji now saw the weapon clearly, a single razor sharp crystal, folded by forces he could not imagine into the perfect form of a sword. It was purely colorless, reflecting nothing but the flat light to shine with a quartz gleam. Even deadened as he was, Neji could not help but ask. "What is that weapon?"
"This blade..." Dar paused. "It is called The Crystal That Pierces the Heart of the World." The name was lengthy and powerful, so Dar gave Neji a moment to absorb it. "It is an ancient weapon, considered by some the mightiest ninja sword ever made, one of the great heirlooms of Stone."
"So why are you carrying it?" Neji mused. He could see Dar's strength, and while the ninja was talented, and had potential, he was not particularly remarkable. He has the control to be a dragon ninja, but only barely. He will never be as strong as Shiren. That thought immediately cleared any focus from Neji's mind beneath a cloud of grief.
"Why?" Dar's visage grew dark, and his voice was sad. "I carry it because I am the only one who can. I am the sword's custodian, my family, the Kataishi clan; my grandfather was the half-brother of the last true bearer of the blade. He died without issue, and I am the last child of my clan, so the blade passed to me when my mother died."
"All your family are dead?" Neji wondered.
"From disease, cold, and accident," Dar spoke somberly. "Not the wars of the ninja. There were never many, I was the only child of my generation, a blizzard killed my father before I remember, and my mother died of disease when I was eight. Our family has had little luck in stone," Dar gave Neji a stern look. "But that is no concern of yours. It is the sword's fault."
"What do you mean?" Neji asked Dar, confused both by the ninja's words and his own disinterest.
"No one in my family can properly bear this blade, we have only half the lineage to awaken its true powers. In my hands it is little more than an especially sharp blade that will never break, and a channel for my jutsus, nothing more. The blade wishes to have its true powers wielded once more, but it will turn in the hands of anyone without the blood to wield it." Dar sighed. "There are no easy answers for this weapon, but should I perish it will become useless for a long time, until someone gains the strength to bind themselves to it once more. Tsuchikage-sama would probably rather I die so that might happen sooner, but so far I have no obliged him."
"If you have such a weapon, why do you want to be a dragon ninja?" Neji wondered aloud, considering Dar to be very strange, even as he acted so simply normal.
"In many ways I already am a dragon ninja, Draci Neji." Dar replied without intonation. "This weapon I bear has but one purpose, to kill men. So no matter what techniques I learn that is still the path I will take, since I cannot rid myself of the weapon. So, since the dragon ninja are the last true path of ninja who kill, I should join them. It is my own choice to not deny what I am, that is all."
"What do you mean?" Neji wondered, thinking Dar quite insane.
"I would think you know the answer, dragon ninja, after all, you know what it is like to be a killer." Dar replied. "Xi understood my reasons, he accepts them."
"I am not Xi!" Neji spat back.
"No, you're right." Dar mused. "You're not him, you surpass him."
"What do you mean?" Neji's anger spilled over then, and the words were a bare face accusation, his muscles tensed. I am not like Xi! He thought.
"The former record for the fastest victory in the chuunin tournament of Stone was ten seconds, and was held by me. I defeated my opponent with a single draw-cut, and yet I had to step aside from the initial attack, you beat my mark by a full two seconds." Dar said, and he held his eyes to Neji's blank pupils, forcing the dragon ninja to listen to him. "Do you think with your skills, your abilities, that you are less of a dragon ninja than Xi? Your potential is above his, he practically told me himself, you could have blocked the Thunder and Lightning strike, a move that to my knowledge no other ninja has ever successfully deflected. Tsuchikage watched you fight with dread in his eyes, and yet you're sitting here like this."
"I will get Shiren back!" Neji hissed. He knew he would, he absolutely had to, and there was nothing else worth doing if he didn't.
"How are you going to do that then?" Dar asked simply. "Do you have a plan, or did you expect Xi to do it for you?" The words were harsh, but Dar's gaze was not the viscous attack that Xi's had been. "You completed the second exam, you led a team, I know you can plan, so have you come up with one?"
No, I have not. I need to get Shiren back, and I have done nothing about it. Neji looked at Dar, and refused to admit that to him. I will not allow this stone ninja to talk to me as if I am a child. "I would need to know where she is first, but I have no way to know where she was taken."
"So?" Dar wondered. "You seem to think Xi would have had a plan, your skills are the same as his, what would he have done?"
Though Neji didn't like it, Dar's words forced him to think. They were enough for him to realize that to get Shiren back he would have to do something. It is hopeless without Xi's aid, but I have to try something, anything. Neji thought for a moment. I cannot go to the south, the area is too large, and I don't know the country. I'd need at least a map to even begin. A map...Neji looked at such a thing in his mind's eye, and realized the situation. To see from above-.
Instantly Neji's hands formed into seals, and he recalled the forms that he had used only twice before: Claw, Fang, Gaze, Breath, Spirit, Dragon, and Circle. He brought his left hand slowly to his face and bit the index finger. He then placed his hands on the ground, gathering to gather chakra. "Dragon summoning no jutsu!"
Sigils and runes burned themselves into the stone, spreading out from Neji's hands, and a blast of air spawned from chakra surged all around. Dar had to slam his sword into the stone to prevent from being knocked backwards, and he looked on in shock when his vision cleared.
A brilliant creature hung in midair, long and slender, with a whiskered mane and rainbow colors, its back topped with a grand fin. This was the Shen Lung, Sirachi.
Dar's jaw dropped when he saw the dragon. "This is a dragon?" He gasped.
Sirachi ignored the Stone ninja; his alien eyes bore deep into Neji's own, searching there, projecting their horrible message of fear.
Neji felt the fear hit him like a struck blow, every bit of it forcing to recall the image of Shiren dragged away while he did nothing to stop it, the raw ache when he considered the possibility that she might be dead, one that he had refused to consider up until now. He collapsed to his knees slowly, desperately trying to fight that fear, but failing. I have to get Shiren back! Neji remembered dimly, and he forced himself to recall that everything those horrible eyes were showing him would come to pass if he failed. With that much he managed to raise his head and stare through his tears at Sirachi.
"Weak." The dragon commented, a thin thread of contempt in its voice. "This is what has become of the one who summoned Wusashu?" Sirachi tossed his mane. "Pathetic. Yet, you have resisted the fear, so I am bound to serve. Name your request."
"Save Senirai Shiren." Neji said hauntingly.
"I cannot do that," Sirachi replied. "It is beyond my power. I am messenger, not a warrior."
"Then find her at least." Neji almost begged. "I need to know where she is."
"This much I will do." Sirachi replied. "However, know that you will receive no further help from the dragons upon this task, and you will owe me for this. The rest, you must do yourself." Sirachi tossed ran a claw through his whiskered beard. "I had thought you were more than this, Draci Neji, regardless, I will return with news in the morning."
Sirachi dashed off to the south, carried with the speed of the wind, faster than the eye could follow, a blur of color that vanished in moments.
"That was a dragon?" Dar asked Neji, awe in his voice.
When Neji nodded Dar looked down at his hands. "Perhaps I have undertaken more than I expected. Yet he said you would have no further aid."
"Ah." Neji replied. "It seems hopeless, Xi will not help and neither will the dragons. I must get Shiren back, but how? Attack a fortress of Grass ninja by myself?"
The desperation was so deep in Neji's voice that Dar felt a great deal of sympathy for the younger ninja. "I did not think you could be so close to someone who almost killed you, it seems I was wrong." He commented. "Since we are both going to be dragon ninja together, and you are my superior at least by seniority, I will offer you a favor."
Neji looked at Dar curiously.
"If you can get Xi's permission to go after Senirai Shiren, then I will go with you." The Stone ninja said firmly.
"You would aid me?" Neji asked.
"Freeing the lightning girl and defeating that dead man will have to be your task, and that must be your plan." Dar said. "But I will cover your back. The grass ninja did invade Stone, they should be punished for that, our roads are not free for them to prey upon like bandits." Dar gave Neji a slight smile as he explained the excuse.
"I thank you." Neji said the words slowly, as if they were torn out of him. "It seems more likely we can all go and die together."
"Bah." Dar shook his head. "If you fight as I am certain you can, this should be easy."
Neji looked away, unable to answer that comment. When he felt Dar fall silent and turn away, he finally managed to look at his thoughts. He knew he had to get Shiren back from Tonetero. I cannot do this without her, he realized. It seems so obvious. Looking at it this way Neji was forced to acknowledge something he had kept from himself. I am in love with Shiren. How frightening. Neji did not know how to react to that realization, he did not think he understood love. Indeed, he believed he was in love with Shiren because he suspected that was how others would describe it. He did not love his family, his friends, anything like that. There were those he respected, such as his sensei Gai, Gosain, and even Xi, though that was now clouded by anger, but love? Neji couldn't quite comprehend it. Yet, what else could it be? Shiren is more than a friend, and she is attractive, and even, he allowed himself to remember with trepidation, she kissed me once.
Neji hung his head in his hands then, hopelessness washing over him. Do I learn this now only to lose her forever? Taken away by the grass ninja and a monster that is already dead? Why won't you help me Xi? Neji couldn't reason it out, and furthermore, he couldn't understand how this was his fault. He had built his life on always doing that which was required of him. He had become the strongest ninja possible to satisfy his family, he had gone with the mission against the sound to satisfy his duties, he had accepted becoming a dragon ninja because he believed that was his place, and he had led his team to victory in the chuunin exam. How have I failed? Because I failed to learn the new jutsus quickly? Surely that is not it, Xi said it took him a year and half, and I am so very close already. What is the problem?
Though he tried to think through it Neji found his thoughts constantly blocked by images of Shiren, both happy ones where he saw how close they truly were, and horrifying images of her in the hands of Tonetero, a foe who could not possibly hate her more, since she had killed him. So Neji just lay there, silent and teary, while the stony image of Dar watched the clouds pass by.
Finally, as night was falling, Xi returned. He settled quietly in among the stones. "Any problems Dar?" He asked the stone ninja, continuing to ignore Neji.
"Nothing." Dar answered as briefly as he could.
"Fine. The grass ninja departed south, that much I could see. They hid their trail in the pasture lands well though, and I did not try to follow." Xi paused, and his eyes closed to slits and his gaze became predatory. "Kizen took a horse northwest, and he has passed us by, the tracks show a creature ridden to death, one that got up again and kept running even after it collapsed. He is out of reach for now, but his path leads only one way: Hidden Waterfall."
"So you are leaving?" Dar asked.
"In the morning, yes, we will travel back to Konoha as fast as we can. I need to alert Tsunade. With her aid enough forces can be gathered to intimidate Waterfall and give me a chance to catch Kizen. That Akatsuki is not foolish enough to expose himself." Xi's eyes gleamed with eagerness. "But I will catch him."
"Could he not have companions?" Dar mused aloud. "Such as he had here?"
"No doubt he will." Xi answered. "That is why I am going to Tsunade, but the real threat, that fool's master, she will leave him to die when he tells her that I almost killed him."
"This Akatsuki fears you that much?"
"No, Dar." Xi replied. "She fears nothing, but if found not only I, but a thousand ninja will ready their weapons and hunt her down. That is enough."
"So we leave in the morning." Dar confirmed.
"I am not leaving." Neji said from below, standing up. "I will not abandon Shiren."
"What will you do?" Xi asked mockingly. Have an answer Neji, please, he thought, though his face remained stone. Offer some option, I will need a lever.
"The dragon, Sirachi, will bring word of her location in the morning." Neji replied.
"You summoned a dragon?" Xi could not keep the shock out of his voice. You're still alive Neji, I can hardly believe it. That is good; perhaps I have a chance to save both you and Shiren. "Fine. We will hear what Sirachi says in the morning. Regardless of what he says, I am not going to save Shiren."
Neji seemed to deflate, but he only nodded.
"Both of you, rest, there is no time to waste." Xi said.
As he unpacked his bedroll Neji noticed that the deep cut on Xi's hand, which he had seen as the dragon ninja carried him north, was almost completely faded. He heals that fast? Neji wondered. It was with that glimpse that Neji realized just how driven Xi was to find his target. But I will not give up, I will save Shiren! He swore the oath to himself before he let sleep take him.
Author's Notes: Ah nothing like a cliffhanger to annoy the heck out of everyone reading the story. My apologies, though this wasn't a true cliffhanger (I mean, no one's between death and life or anything, well except Tonetero) and I do try to minimize them, but extending the chapter any further would have been ridiculous. Unfortunately the situation takes a few chapters to resolve (like 4), fortunately I have actually written them all in some mad frenzy of output, it's just a matter of editing and putting them up. This particular chapter covers a little less ground than I originally intended, but it expands on Dar's character and what's going to have to be done to resolve this.
I recognize that its hard to review when I post new chapters so fast, but I encourage people to try, especially about the romance stuff (which is kind of the point of this plot arc).
Anyway, thanks regardless!
Hattuteline: Funny you should mention that eye trick, but at the risk of reducing the suspense a bit I'll say that one's going to simmer awhile. Regardless there are supposedly 21 dragon jutsu (I said so about a hundred thousand words ago) and I intend to gradually fill additional ones in as things proceed. And Xi taught Neji all of the eighteen jutsu he currently can't do.
A Frigid Pause
They land upon the pile of boulders hard, and tired. It is a miserable scraggle of rocks sticking up from the top of this hillside, none any taller than a man, but affording at least a view of the surrounding scrublands. The three ninja who land here are dissimilar, but all are tired and dirty with the stink and debris of battle. The eyes of two are focused and harsh, but they are inwardly confused, and turmoil is clear beneath the stony gazes. The other sees a world clouded, answering only to a single internal demand, one that absolutely must be met, but one that seems horrifying unreachable, and so distant now. His gaze drifts constantly south, but it is empty.
Neji lands absently and Xi walks over to him as Dar looks about for any signs of pursuit. The dragon ninja's gaze is harsh and absolute. "You are pathetic, Draci Neji." The words are like a sneer, and Neji looks up at Xi with anger behind his blank eyes. "Perhaps I should not even call you by that. For over a month, since before the chuunin exam, you have not listened to me. You are denying what you are, denying that you are a dragon ninja, and instead acting like some weakling. You have no one but yourself to blame for Shiren's taking." Xi stopped there, and slashed a hand forward to cut off any protest. "You are not even worth my time right now. I will deal with you later. Don't move."
Neji stared off blankly after Xi as the older ninja walked away, but though he felt the anger and hatred surge within him, he did nothing. The sense of loss was far too great.
Dar turned to face Xi as the dragon ninja approached him, standing atop the highest of the stone outcrops. "There is nothing as far as I can see." He said.
"Let me check." Xi's hands flashed through seals. "Dragon's Eye." He whispered, letting the dragon's vision close the distance, looking for any hint of fear far to the south, seeking to sense it. All was empty. Xi let the red gaze fall swiftly as he had called it. "It seems Tonetero is content with his hostage."
"He expects you to come to him then?" Dar asked.
"Perhaps, but that is not important at the moment." Xi replied. "There is more pressing business between the two of us, Kataishi Dar."
"Oh?" Dar raised an eyebrow. "And what is that, Draci Xi?"
"You followed us for a reason, and interceded upon our behalf, in a struggle that was not your own." Xi's gaze was dark. "Why?"
"I'm certain you've guessed." Dar answered simply, showing no obvious emotion. "As for the battle, the lands were still Stone Country, the Grass ninja were invaders here, I acted as I deemed appropriate."
"So you say." Xi looked at him. "I owe you a debt now, possibly a very great one." He looked at Dar, taking in the nondescript stone ninja, with his simple features and close cropped hair, and the straight and deadly sword he wore, the only thing that marked him out. "So, what is your price?"
"Train me as a dragon ninja." Dar said without hesitation.
Xi nodded silently. He had expected this demand, had finally determined a little about this strange Stone chuunin. "Why should I?" He asked anyway, even though he knew the answer.
"You are already training a Leaf ninja and a Cloud ninja, why not a Stone? You need three to form a proper training group in any case. I have the skills necessary, and I have my reasons." Dar answered firmly, his face betraying nothing.
He is different from the other two, Xi recognized, he understands this fully, even if his talents are lesser. The dragon ninja looked down at the sword Dar wore, knowing its true nature. Yes, he does have his reasons. "Very well, assuming you have the Tsuchikage's permission."
"I do, you think that man would refuse this chance?"
"Then very well, I will train you, but it will be on my time and by my rules." Xi said.
"I accept." Dar said sternly. "Now, to the matter at hand."
"Indeed." Xi looked over his shoulder, making sure Neji could hear them talking. "Do you have questions?"
"How is that Tonetero creature alive?" Those were the first words to leave Dar's mouth.
"Edo Tensei." Xi answered. "A forbidden technique, one developed by Mehize Kizen, the mummifier ninja of Wind Country. It takes the sacrifice of one person and uses their essence to bring back another, in power proportional to how potent the sacrifice is. The resurrected form must obey the creator, and cannot easily be destroyed. Of course, I doubt Tonetero requires much in the way on motivation to do what he is now."
"How do you know so much?" Dar asked.
"Orochimaru used the technique against the Third Hokage, I observed part of that battle, and questioned the ANBU afterwards. However, though Orochimaru might have refined it, Kizen, the master of dead manipulation jutsus, and an s-class criminal, developed the technique. Knowing that he is here, it makes sense for him to bring back Tonetero, since I am sure he was not supposed to die in the exam." Xi scowled. "Now he is even more dangerous than before."
"So, you will go after him?" Dar asked.
"No." Xi said loudly and clearly. Below them both Neji's head jerked up, and the shock was written clearly upon his face, only growing greater as Xi continued to speak in his deadpan tone. "My mission is to hunt the Akatsuki. Tonetero is not my problem; I am going after Kizen, who I suspect has gone northwest. He will abandon grass, as since you interfered the plan is a failure, and Tonetero's resurrection will make all nations work against them."
"What about Shiren, your student?" Dar was incredulous, and Neji's shock was palpable in the silence that had followed Xi's words.
"It's not my problem." Xi said coldly. "I am not going to invade grass country."
"We must rescue Shiren!" Neji's words were desperate, hollow, and filled with longing. "We can't let her be taken like that!"
"That is not a part of my mission." Xi replied, his voice like ice. "I have to follow Kizen, I will not loose this chance to break open the Akatsuki. I almost killed him there in the clearing, he is no match for me."
"But Shiren-"
"If you want to save her Neji, then you can do it yourself." Xi said simply. "I owe her nothing, it is not my problem."
"Then I will!" Neji shouted, his eyes narrow.
"How will you even find her?" Xi scoffed. "Even if you could," Xi continued, inwardly pained to say the words, but knowing their truth. He was a dragon ninja; there would be no exceptions. "As you are now you would accomplish nothing but your own death." Xi spoke the words and turned away, leaving Neji staring at his back. "I am going to scout the area." He told Dar. "I'll be back by nightfall."
Dar nodded, unable to say anything.
When Xi was gone the stone ninja looked down at Neji, glancing into those blank eyes for the first time. Looking down at him, Dar's expression was confused. "You are not curious?" He asked Neji.
In truth Neji was curious, he had many questions about this strange stone ninja he knew nothing about, and yet who Xi had just agreed to teach. Was the debt so great that he would agree to such a thing, when he was so hesitant to allow Shiren? Why should this ninja be a dragon ninja? Yet Neji said nothing.
Dar looked at Neji carefully, and then sat down cross-legged atop his stone. He pulled his scabbarded sword from his side, and held it up vertically in front of him. "At least, I will introduce myself." Dar said easily. "I am Kataishi Dar, chuunin of Hidden Stone."
"Draci Neji, of Hidden Leaf." Neji answered automatically, but his speech was empty of feeling.
"I suppose I should have expected that reaction." Dar muttered. "You're not a stone ninja, so you don't know who I am."
"Are you so special that all ninja know you on sight?" Neji said, the slightest hint of mockery in his voice.
"Heh." Dar chuckled. "As to be expected from someone of your talent. But, yes, I am that special, at least." Dar's right hand reached out and he pulled his sword free of its scabbard. "I bear this."
In the quiet light of the cloudy afternoon Neji now saw the weapon clearly, a single razor sharp crystal, folded by forces he could not imagine into the perfect form of a sword. It was purely colorless, reflecting nothing but the flat light to shine with a quartz gleam. Even deadened as he was, Neji could not help but ask. "What is that weapon?"
"This blade..." Dar paused. "It is called The Crystal That Pierces the Heart of the World." The name was lengthy and powerful, so Dar gave Neji a moment to absorb it. "It is an ancient weapon, considered by some the mightiest ninja sword ever made, one of the great heirlooms of Stone."
"So why are you carrying it?" Neji mused. He could see Dar's strength, and while the ninja was talented, and had potential, he was not particularly remarkable. He has the control to be a dragon ninja, but only barely. He will never be as strong as Shiren. That thought immediately cleared any focus from Neji's mind beneath a cloud of grief.
"Why?" Dar's visage grew dark, and his voice was sad. "I carry it because I am the only one who can. I am the sword's custodian, my family, the Kataishi clan; my grandfather was the half-brother of the last true bearer of the blade. He died without issue, and I am the last child of my clan, so the blade passed to me when my mother died."
"All your family are dead?" Neji wondered.
"From disease, cold, and accident," Dar spoke somberly. "Not the wars of the ninja. There were never many, I was the only child of my generation, a blizzard killed my father before I remember, and my mother died of disease when I was eight. Our family has had little luck in stone," Dar gave Neji a stern look. "But that is no concern of yours. It is the sword's fault."
"What do you mean?" Neji asked Dar, confused both by the ninja's words and his own disinterest.
"No one in my family can properly bear this blade, we have only half the lineage to awaken its true powers. In my hands it is little more than an especially sharp blade that will never break, and a channel for my jutsus, nothing more. The blade wishes to have its true powers wielded once more, but it will turn in the hands of anyone without the blood to wield it." Dar sighed. "There are no easy answers for this weapon, but should I perish it will become useless for a long time, until someone gains the strength to bind themselves to it once more. Tsuchikage-sama would probably rather I die so that might happen sooner, but so far I have no obliged him."
"If you have such a weapon, why do you want to be a dragon ninja?" Neji wondered aloud, considering Dar to be very strange, even as he acted so simply normal.
"In many ways I already am a dragon ninja, Draci Neji." Dar replied without intonation. "This weapon I bear has but one purpose, to kill men. So no matter what techniques I learn that is still the path I will take, since I cannot rid myself of the weapon. So, since the dragon ninja are the last true path of ninja who kill, I should join them. It is my own choice to not deny what I am, that is all."
"What do you mean?" Neji wondered, thinking Dar quite insane.
"I would think you know the answer, dragon ninja, after all, you know what it is like to be a killer." Dar replied. "Xi understood my reasons, he accepts them."
"I am not Xi!" Neji spat back.
"No, you're right." Dar mused. "You're not him, you surpass him."
"What do you mean?" Neji's anger spilled over then, and the words were a bare face accusation, his muscles tensed. I am not like Xi! He thought.
"The former record for the fastest victory in the chuunin tournament of Stone was ten seconds, and was held by me. I defeated my opponent with a single draw-cut, and yet I had to step aside from the initial attack, you beat my mark by a full two seconds." Dar said, and he held his eyes to Neji's blank pupils, forcing the dragon ninja to listen to him. "Do you think with your skills, your abilities, that you are less of a dragon ninja than Xi? Your potential is above his, he practically told me himself, you could have blocked the Thunder and Lightning strike, a move that to my knowledge no other ninja has ever successfully deflected. Tsuchikage watched you fight with dread in his eyes, and yet you're sitting here like this."
"I will get Shiren back!" Neji hissed. He knew he would, he absolutely had to, and there was nothing else worth doing if he didn't.
"How are you going to do that then?" Dar asked simply. "Do you have a plan, or did you expect Xi to do it for you?" The words were harsh, but Dar's gaze was not the viscous attack that Xi's had been. "You completed the second exam, you led a team, I know you can plan, so have you come up with one?"
No, I have not. I need to get Shiren back, and I have done nothing about it. Neji looked at Dar, and refused to admit that to him. I will not allow this stone ninja to talk to me as if I am a child. "I would need to know where she is first, but I have no way to know where she was taken."
"So?" Dar wondered. "You seem to think Xi would have had a plan, your skills are the same as his, what would he have done?"
Though Neji didn't like it, Dar's words forced him to think. They were enough for him to realize that to get Shiren back he would have to do something. It is hopeless without Xi's aid, but I have to try something, anything. Neji thought for a moment. I cannot go to the south, the area is too large, and I don't know the country. I'd need at least a map to even begin. A map...Neji looked at such a thing in his mind's eye, and realized the situation. To see from above-.
Instantly Neji's hands formed into seals, and he recalled the forms that he had used only twice before: Claw, Fang, Gaze, Breath, Spirit, Dragon, and Circle. He brought his left hand slowly to his face and bit the index finger. He then placed his hands on the ground, gathering to gather chakra. "Dragon summoning no jutsu!"
Sigils and runes burned themselves into the stone, spreading out from Neji's hands, and a blast of air spawned from chakra surged all around. Dar had to slam his sword into the stone to prevent from being knocked backwards, and he looked on in shock when his vision cleared.
A brilliant creature hung in midair, long and slender, with a whiskered mane and rainbow colors, its back topped with a grand fin. This was the Shen Lung, Sirachi.
Dar's jaw dropped when he saw the dragon. "This is a dragon?" He gasped.
Sirachi ignored the Stone ninja; his alien eyes bore deep into Neji's own, searching there, projecting their horrible message of fear.
Neji felt the fear hit him like a struck blow, every bit of it forcing to recall the image of Shiren dragged away while he did nothing to stop it, the raw ache when he considered the possibility that she might be dead, one that he had refused to consider up until now. He collapsed to his knees slowly, desperately trying to fight that fear, but failing. I have to get Shiren back! Neji remembered dimly, and he forced himself to recall that everything those horrible eyes were showing him would come to pass if he failed. With that much he managed to raise his head and stare through his tears at Sirachi.
"Weak." The dragon commented, a thin thread of contempt in its voice. "This is what has become of the one who summoned Wusashu?" Sirachi tossed his mane. "Pathetic. Yet, you have resisted the fear, so I am bound to serve. Name your request."
"Save Senirai Shiren." Neji said hauntingly.
"I cannot do that," Sirachi replied. "It is beyond my power. I am messenger, not a warrior."
"Then find her at least." Neji almost begged. "I need to know where she is."
"This much I will do." Sirachi replied. "However, know that you will receive no further help from the dragons upon this task, and you will owe me for this. The rest, you must do yourself." Sirachi tossed ran a claw through his whiskered beard. "I had thought you were more than this, Draci Neji, regardless, I will return with news in the morning."
Sirachi dashed off to the south, carried with the speed of the wind, faster than the eye could follow, a blur of color that vanished in moments.
"That was a dragon?" Dar asked Neji, awe in his voice.
When Neji nodded Dar looked down at his hands. "Perhaps I have undertaken more than I expected. Yet he said you would have no further aid."
"Ah." Neji replied. "It seems hopeless, Xi will not help and neither will the dragons. I must get Shiren back, but how? Attack a fortress of Grass ninja by myself?"
The desperation was so deep in Neji's voice that Dar felt a great deal of sympathy for the younger ninja. "I did not think you could be so close to someone who almost killed you, it seems I was wrong." He commented. "Since we are both going to be dragon ninja together, and you are my superior at least by seniority, I will offer you a favor."
Neji looked at Dar curiously.
"If you can get Xi's permission to go after Senirai Shiren, then I will go with you." The Stone ninja said firmly.
"You would aid me?" Neji asked.
"Freeing the lightning girl and defeating that dead man will have to be your task, and that must be your plan." Dar said. "But I will cover your back. The grass ninja did invade Stone, they should be punished for that, our roads are not free for them to prey upon like bandits." Dar gave Neji a slight smile as he explained the excuse.
"I thank you." Neji said the words slowly, as if they were torn out of him. "It seems more likely we can all go and die together."
"Bah." Dar shook his head. "If you fight as I am certain you can, this should be easy."
Neji looked away, unable to answer that comment. When he felt Dar fall silent and turn away, he finally managed to look at his thoughts. He knew he had to get Shiren back from Tonetero. I cannot do this without her, he realized. It seems so obvious. Looking at it this way Neji was forced to acknowledge something he had kept from himself. I am in love with Shiren. How frightening. Neji did not know how to react to that realization, he did not think he understood love. Indeed, he believed he was in love with Shiren because he suspected that was how others would describe it. He did not love his family, his friends, anything like that. There were those he respected, such as his sensei Gai, Gosain, and even Xi, though that was now clouded by anger, but love? Neji couldn't quite comprehend it. Yet, what else could it be? Shiren is more than a friend, and she is attractive, and even, he allowed himself to remember with trepidation, she kissed me once.
Neji hung his head in his hands then, hopelessness washing over him. Do I learn this now only to lose her forever? Taken away by the grass ninja and a monster that is already dead? Why won't you help me Xi? Neji couldn't reason it out, and furthermore, he couldn't understand how this was his fault. He had built his life on always doing that which was required of him. He had become the strongest ninja possible to satisfy his family, he had gone with the mission against the sound to satisfy his duties, he had accepted becoming a dragon ninja because he believed that was his place, and he had led his team to victory in the chuunin exam. How have I failed? Because I failed to learn the new jutsus quickly? Surely that is not it, Xi said it took him a year and half, and I am so very close already. What is the problem?
Though he tried to think through it Neji found his thoughts constantly blocked by images of Shiren, both happy ones where he saw how close they truly were, and horrifying images of her in the hands of Tonetero, a foe who could not possibly hate her more, since she had killed him. So Neji just lay there, silent and teary, while the stony image of Dar watched the clouds pass by.
Finally, as night was falling, Xi returned. He settled quietly in among the stones. "Any problems Dar?" He asked the stone ninja, continuing to ignore Neji.
"Nothing." Dar answered as briefly as he could.
"Fine. The grass ninja departed south, that much I could see. They hid their trail in the pasture lands well though, and I did not try to follow." Xi paused, and his eyes closed to slits and his gaze became predatory. "Kizen took a horse northwest, and he has passed us by, the tracks show a creature ridden to death, one that got up again and kept running even after it collapsed. He is out of reach for now, but his path leads only one way: Hidden Waterfall."
"So you are leaving?" Dar asked.
"In the morning, yes, we will travel back to Konoha as fast as we can. I need to alert Tsunade. With her aid enough forces can be gathered to intimidate Waterfall and give me a chance to catch Kizen. That Akatsuki is not foolish enough to expose himself." Xi's eyes gleamed with eagerness. "But I will catch him."
"Could he not have companions?" Dar mused aloud. "Such as he had here?"
"No doubt he will." Xi answered. "That is why I am going to Tsunade, but the real threat, that fool's master, she will leave him to die when he tells her that I almost killed him."
"This Akatsuki fears you that much?"
"No, Dar." Xi replied. "She fears nothing, but if found not only I, but a thousand ninja will ready their weapons and hunt her down. That is enough."
"So we leave in the morning." Dar confirmed.
"I am not leaving." Neji said from below, standing up. "I will not abandon Shiren."
"What will you do?" Xi asked mockingly. Have an answer Neji, please, he thought, though his face remained stone. Offer some option, I will need a lever.
"The dragon, Sirachi, will bring word of her location in the morning." Neji replied.
"You summoned a dragon?" Xi could not keep the shock out of his voice. You're still alive Neji, I can hardly believe it. That is good; perhaps I have a chance to save both you and Shiren. "Fine. We will hear what Sirachi says in the morning. Regardless of what he says, I am not going to save Shiren."
Neji seemed to deflate, but he only nodded.
"Both of you, rest, there is no time to waste." Xi said.
As he unpacked his bedroll Neji noticed that the deep cut on Xi's hand, which he had seen as the dragon ninja carried him north, was almost completely faded. He heals that fast? Neji wondered. It was with that glimpse that Neji realized just how driven Xi was to find his target. But I will not give up, I will save Shiren! He swore the oath to himself before he let sleep take him.