CHAPTER 16: THE DARK MASTER REVEALED
The crowd turned eerily silent as they watched the being in front of them announce his presence and enmity to many in the Konohakagure village. The dark man laughed aloud as families clung together in the stands for fear of what could happen next.
"Well…it seems that you all know my reason for being here…" Memnoch cackled heartily, giving a twisted smile. "Oh and before I forget, I am extremely sorry for my associate's behavior earlier." Placing his hands upwardly in the air, he made a mocking posture, "He's just a Jounin that's out of control!"
"He's a what!?" Naruto burst. "I KNEW IT!" Naruto screamed looking up to Tsunade, waving his fist. "YOU said he was a genin! But does anyone listen to Naruto? HELL NO. WHY I-" Naruto was cut off by a hit to the head from Ryu who then brushed his hands and looked over at the stranger.
"Like I said, I recognize the shortest one- the kid- and the gray haired punk. I really recognize him, but who the hell are they?" Ryu muttered to himself, memories winding through his mind.
Up above the genin, Kamaasu stood with his back to the wall, beads of sweat rolling down his face. His words became incoherent and mumbled as Tsunade tried to snap Kay out o fit. Kakashi burst onto the scene just as the newcomer had made his speech. "Tsunade-Sama! Its Domen the St-"
"I KNOW." Tsunade said pointing down to the battlefield.
"The hell happened?" Kakashi said, stroking his chin. "Who are those other 3?"
"One of them is apparently here for the Kyuubi," Tsunade said as Kakashi's face turned white. "And I do believe our friend Kay here knows something about it…" The both of them looked over at the garbled Kay as Kakashi began to move towards him.
"Don't worry. I know what to do." Kakashi moved over to Kamaasu and looked him straight in the eye. Kamaasu stopped his babbling and looked him straight back. Ducking down, Kakashi fiercely punched the Okage in the stomach, sending him collapsing to the floor.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" Tsunade screamed, rushing over. "You wanna start a war between the shadow and leaf?"
"Heh." Kakashi chuckled, standing back up. "He'll be fine. He just needed some sense knocked into him."
As Kamaasu slowly stood up, he reached out and put his hand on Kakashi's shoulder, slightly startling the copycat. "Thanks, I sorta needed that." He said, giving a weak chuckle.
"Okay. Now that you're 'normal.'" Tsunade said, making little quote signs in the air, "Who they hell are they!?"
Taking in a deep breath, Kay let out a huge sigh. "It'll be better if we just head on down there."
Back at the battlefield, the genin participants, and many of the Jounin and chuunin onlookers began to move closer to the demonic quad. As they were about to attack, Naruto screamed "ITS THEM!"
Everyone looked at Naruto at out of shock. "They're the four guys from the ramen place!" Looking up to Tsunade, he realized she wasn't in the boxed room but on the battlefield with Kakashi and Kamaasu. As he saw them getting closer he rushed in to get closer as well, followed by the genin and a few chuunin.
"Heh heh heh." The cloaked one laughed as Kamaasu drew near. "Hello Kay. Been a few months since I last saw you, eh?"
"…" Kamaasu looked down at the ground trying to avoid eye contact.
"Well, lets begin with some friendly banter!" The man said chuckling aloud. As he was about to begin speaking again, a lone chuunin rushed out from the throng of people and whipped out a kunai.
"Take this you bastard!" The chuunin ran at his enemy, but the sand arose to protect its new master.
"Ah ah ah." The stranger muttered, waving his finger. "Not now sand. Leave him to me." The sand dissipated as the attacker came forward. Just as the Chuunin was about to make contact, the beast of a man outstretched his arm in one quick motion grabbing the chuunin by the neck. "Well, this has to be uncomfortable!" he cackled.
"You…you bastard." The man choked from the vice-like grip of the beast's hand.
"Well, don't always judge a book by its cover." The beast chuckled. "I could let you go…" he looked at the smiles coming onto some people's faces. "But that's no fun." Squeezing in one fluid stroke, the leaf's neck was instantly broken. The beats dropped him to the ground and the man sprawled along the ground lifeless. "And I just don't tolerate people trying to attack me. It's a definite no-no."
"You haven't lost your sense of humor I see, Memnoch." Kamaasu sneered at the frightening man.
"Well you have to keep something throughout all the years don't you? I need something to keep me sane." He smirked.
The gray haired man behind him chuckled aloud. Kamaasu took a step to the right to see the chuckling man and nearly fell over from shock. "No…it can't be…" Kay said, getting a grip on himself. "Sonari? Uzika Sonari? Is that you?"
"SONARI!?" The shadow genin gasped. "No wonder we recognized him!"
"Who the hell is this Sonari guy?" Naruto asked.
"He is a former Jounin of the Village of shadow…" Kamaasu spat out. "I thought you were dead."
"Well you thought wrong, Sensei." Sonari chuckled coming out into the forefront.
"Why Sonari? Why the hell did you have to get it in your head that our village was worthless to you? We weren't, we still aren't."
"Heh, there's nothing to go back to. Here I have something worth while." Sonari replied leisurely.
"So, after killing your parents, you figured the only thing left to do was join someone even worse than you right?" Kamaasu blared, giving his old student a look of disgust.
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH KAMAASU!" Sonari snapped back, clenching his teeth and tightening his fists. "What I do is MY business, not yours!"
"When you go killing members of MY village, it sure as hell becomes my business."
"Well, I'm not a part of your fucking village anymore Kay, so just stop trying to get me to come back." Sonari grunted, moving to the back again.
Looking at Kamaasu and his staredown with the demonic quad, Tsunade had had enough. "He's a student of yours, or former. Whatever. My question is who the hell are they and what re they doing in my village!?"
"Well, I already told you didn't I?" Memnoch asked. "I'm here for the Kyuubi. The Nine-tailed demon fox."
Thinking desperately, Tsunade scrambled out, "Well come here 13 years ago. The 4th sacrificed himself to destroy it."
Laughing, Memnoch replied, "Don't be silly. You don't just destroy a demon." Looking around the arena, he nodded finishing with, "Yes. It's here somewhere, I'm sure of it."
Naruto began to cower down, but soon stood up again, for he was a strong Ninja! "But that's doesn't tell me who you guys ARE." Tsunade finished.
Sighing again, Kamaasu began to explain. "His name is Memnoch. And he is here for the Kyuubi." Tsunade stared in disbelief at Kay.
"How the hell do you know that?"
"Because…because I brought him into this world…" Kamaasu said, staring down at the ground again.
"AIN'T that a fact." Memnoch chuckled, pulling down his hood. His ashy hair and empty red eyes glared out at the crowd. "This idiot thought he could truly control the shadow. What crock."
"Tsunade, do you know of the Gatekeepers?" Kay asked in earnest.
Hearing the word, 'gatekeeper' Naruto suddenly picked up attention. After seeing Naruto's reaction, everyone paid more attention as well.
"Of course." Tsunade replied. "A thousand or so years ago, the great beasts-Kyuubi, Knightmare, the original Sand Shukaku, etc.- roamed the earth. In order for humans to live peacefully, these beasts had to be stopped. Thus, a group of men gave up their lives to seal away these beasts. Those men were called Gatekeepers. Their descendants, most of them original Kages of villages, were made to keep charge of the beats in their prisons. Of course, every now and then they get loose, like 13 years ago with the Kyuubi."
"What about the rest of the tale? The superstitious part?" Kamaasu further inquired.
"Heh. This'll be good." Sonari chuckled, looking at a smiling Memnoch. Jamshu stood behind the others, carefully listening about what had happened in the past.
"You mean the stupid part about a man who wished to control all the beasts? That he was the real reason that the beasts had to be shut away? Please that is just a bunch of bull."
Staring Tsunade deep in the eyes, he lifted his hand and pointed at Memnoch. "That," He said breathing heavily, "Would be him." Tsunade stood speechless as she turned to look at the demonic monster.
"HA!" Memnoch cackled staring at Tsunade's expression. "You were right, Sonari. That WAS good."
"Anyways, to finish up your story Tsunade," Kamaasu began, "This guy right over there, Memnoch, one thousand years ago, tried to obtain and accumulate the powers of the great beasts. He collected them and brought them into his being one by one, but only one eluded him."
"How could he do that? No one can harness the power of the great beasts. That's why the Akatsuki are fools." Kakashi mocked, finally speaking his mind.
"Ah, so YOU are the copycat ninja…" Sonari said, staring a Kakashi's face. "Well at any rate, its easy to do that if you're a great beast yourself."
"WHAT!" the whole crowd gasped.
"Oops!" Memnoch laughed, covering his mouth. "Looks like my secret's out!"
"Well yeah, there you have that part. Anyway, he wasn't able to collect the last beast, what we call the Neo Dragon. Its power was too great even for him. Eventually he was sealed away with the rest of the beats in a realm we call Oblivion. Apparently in Oblivion, he learned how to further control the demons."
"Yes that would be correct." Memnoch butted in, putting his part into the story. "To find these beasts was rather difficult when you're trapped in a different plane. But of course, I managed to escape on quite a few occasions…" He smiled menacingly at Kay. "Soon, I founded the Akatsuki which was to search and collect the beasts all over the world for me. Of course it would seem they have strayed from the path. I must get to finding them as well."
"So you…you are a demon?" Naruto asked aloud. "A demon who wants to destroy the world though the power of great beasts?" Realizing what he had done, Naruto clamped his mouth tight and fell back into the crowd. Hearing the question, Memnoch looked in Naruto's general direction and answered, "No. I do not wish to destroy the world, I want to bring some order to it."
"How does killing innocent people bring order?" Kamaasu lashed.
"I have never killed an innocent person. Everyone I have EVER killed was either attacking me, or about to attack. That gets rid of 'warmongers.' Which, in turn, brings order."
"You ARE a ruthless bastard." Kamaasu muttered, sitting on the ground. "You have a twisted sense of justice you son of a bitch."
"Perhaps." The demon chuckled. "Anyway, I wish to bring order to this world because you pitiful humans aren't worth ruling it. You hate each other, and don't get along. Hell, you don't even want to help each other."
"What do you mean!?" Tsunade screamed. "I will always take care of my village bec-"
"You just proved my point woman!" Memnoch bellowed. "You help ONLY your village, and slightly an ally. You people are worthless until you can grasp the idea of TEAMWORK, FELLOWSHIP, and BROTHERHOOD. You people sicken ME. You are not fit to live let alone rule yourselves."
"To completely change topics," Kakashi interjected, "Earlier on, you said YOU released Memnoch. "How'd you pull that off?"
"Oy…" Kamaasu shrugged. "I was trying to create a kinjutsu that would truly allow me to be one with the shadow. But in the process I loosened the lock in Oblivion and allowed Memnoch to come free. But now I will rectify that mistake!" He screamed pointing at his nemesis.
"That sounded so cool!" Naruto muttered aloud.
Memnoch became extremely alert, and began sniffing around. He began racing around the arena, trying to catch the scent of something. Going back to where he started, he looked at Naruto and smiled, beginning to laugh maniacally. "I found it. I FOUND IT AT LAST!" Sonari looked at his master and over to what he was staring at: Naruto.
"That's the guy we've been searching for?"
"Oh yes…" Memnoch smiled, licking his lips. "He is the one." Looking back to Tsunade, he smiled. Tsunade looked to Naruto and looked back again with horror.
"What re you doing? Leave him alone!"
The crowd looked around feverishly to catch a glimpse of what they were talking about. Shikamaru, who had been standing on the sideline, began thinking of everything that has been said, and what had happened in the past. "Why stare at Naru-" He remembered all the power bursts Naruto had had during Chuunin exams and the like. "No way…" Shikamaru thought taking another look at Naruto. "HE'S the Kyuubi...So that's what the Akatsuki were always after. Its so obvious" He jumped down to join Naruto and the others as Memnoch began to speak again.
"Well, seems now that I have found my prey I'll be on my way my friends." Walking over to the genin, he smiled saying, "Come to me my little N-"
"Say the name, and die." Tsunade said, getting fired up for a big battle
"What, don't want him to become a bigger social outcast than he is now? Please." Walking over more he was stopped again by Kamaasu.
"Don't." Kamaasu said, a horrible glint in his eye. "I will stop you. And so will they." Looking around Memnoch saw hundreds of Ninja, many Jounin.
Shuffling back, Memnoch smiled and said, "Fine But I will not leave without a parting gift." Looking around, he saw a timid ninja with strange eyes. "Yes, she will do fine!" Sinking into shadow, he moved along the ground like he had with Gaara, popping out in front of Hinata. "HERE I AM MY LITTLE FRIEND! MWAHAHAHA!" Sinking down with his might sand, he smothered Hinata and nothing was there. Appearing where he had been before, he smiled and made an evil cackle. "This will do nicely!" He said, as his eyes began blank and even emptier as the veins throbbed around them.
Neji slumped to the ground and he realized his cousin was no longer there. "Hinata…HINATA!" Jumping up he rushed Memnoch only to be grabbed by Maito Gai, who held him down, refusing to let him go any farther. "GIVE HER BACK!" Neji flared. " I CANNOT FAIL IN MY DUTIES!"
"Sorry lad." Memnoch replied, "But she's mine…"
"NO WAY!" Ryusuke screamed. "He's the guy! THE MAN WHO KIDNAPPED MY GRANDFATHER! I'd recognize that tone anywhere…"
"Well, it looks like I'm making all KINDS of enemies to today! HAHAHA!" Memnoch laughed.
"YOU FREAK!" Ryu pulled out his sword and rushed the demon as well to find himself in the same predicament as Neji but this time with Kay.
"We'll get him Ryu. Not now, but we will get him…I promise." Looking over to the demon he spoke again as he laughed, "You fool. You may have collected some of the beasts already, but you will never get your hands on the Neo dragons. They are too powerful, even for you."
"Perhaps. But not when I have their gate keeper on MY side" He smirked pointing to a slightly hidden Jamshu Dragano.
"Jamshu? JAS!? Is that YOU!?" The shadow genin yelled in shock. Rushing over, they saw that it was true. "What the hell are you doing on his side!?"
"I am doing what's best for my Village." Jamshu answered.
"But this has nothing to do with the shadow." Kenshi replied.
"I meant the village of light."
Staring at Jas, Kay realized what was happening. "DON'T LISTEN TO HIM JAS!" Kay screamed. "All his promises are lies and will be broken! Don't give him the Neo Dragons!"
"Feh, I'm not an idiot." Jas answered with a smirk.
"The hell?" Sasuke wondered aloud, joining in the commotion. "I thought there was one dragon?"
"Let me explain…" Jas began. "There was one dragon, but in an attempt to claim it, a beast, now I know it was Memnoch, split the dragon into a good and dark side. These dragons have been sealed inside of the Gatekeeper from the village of light since then. But, when I was young, a corrupt man caused me to release the dragons and they destroyed my village. They were soon sealed within me again, but not till my village had been completely ruined. I went to the village of shadow for solace, but I soon returned to my home."
"Well all this chatting has been fun really." Memnoch said getting tired of the current situation. He realized that although he was powerful, 500 to 4 was not good odds. At least not yet anyway. "But we must be on our leave. I have to go have a chat with an old snake of a friend of mine…" He chuckled. Muttered a few katas, he and his companions disappeared, into thin air, leaving a confused Leaf village, and worry in the hearts of all who lived.