The Back Stories Of The Village Of Sin

by Spyderjsr

The Battle of Tarawa creek blazes across the fields between the fire and thunder countries as the war between the leaf and cloud rages on at its climax. Amongst the soldiers, stands Akira Toshida a man that history would later remember as, The Butcher

1. Akira Kunashiro, Servant Of The Cloud

The Toshida Gaiden Part One - Akira Kunashiro

(Authors Note: These next few chapters will be posted in the Village of Sin section and moved later into a separate story which will be strictly back stories for this fic. The main storyline will continue after the gaiden chapters are over. So enjoy, and I hope all the pieces start to fall into place, so pay attention! And thanks for reading!)

Akira Toshida sits perched upon a low hanging branch over looking a calm and clear pond in the middle of the leaf village. He sits watching the sun set over the horizon, creating a beautiful collage of colours, that are only doubled with the reflection off of the water. Most people would be able to find humbling peace sitting before such a beautiful sight. But Toshida sits, alone and as stoic as ever. He turns his attention to the Leaf Jounin Hatake Kakashi, who has just asked Toshida to tell him the tale of his origin, from his birth, to the battle of Tarawa Creek, all the way up until his arrival in the leaf village.

"Start at the beginning, and tell me everything kid." Kakashi says as he takes a seat on a log that lays parallel to the tree Toshida has perched on.

"Very well Kakashi. I will tell you everything. You are the first one to hear my autobiography I suppose. Feel honoured, who knows it may make a great novel someday." Toshida says as he cracks a smile over his stoic face. "I was told that the Raikage had told Tsunade-sama about my father and about where I came from, is this correct?"

Kakashi nods, "Yea, from what I hear your father was a traitor that tried to kill the Raikage."

Toshida laughs whole heartedly to himself, "I am afraid that is certainly a lie. My father was many things, a warrior, a swordsman, a bastard, an asshole and a poor family man, but he wasn't a traitor."

"My father's name was Akira Kunashiro. He was born in the Thunder Country to parents who I was never told about. He grew up in the hidden cloud village and was trained as a shinobi. He was a natural genius, and was as brilliant as he was deadly. I was never told much of my father's childhood. The earliest tale I was told of him was when he was roughly 23 years old, and was close to the completion of a mission ordered to him directly from the Raikage himself. The Raikage back then was a young Yamato Dake."

Kakashi pauses as he remembers the name of the Raikage. "Hmm, Yamato Dake is still the Raikage to this day. He has remained in power in the Cloud village for more than 20 years now."

"My father was on a mission given to him directly from the Raikage and he was in the midst of completing it . . ."

The scene changes to the dark hallways of a large deluxe suite located in a small merchant community on the southern outskirts of the thunder country, roughly 18 years ago. It is 2am and there is a large and portly man walking in his bath robe from the bath house in the adjacent room, into his bedroom. The man's name is Muntanagi, a wealthy kingpin of the thunder country's black market. The man has made a fortune over the last few years, selling weapons and other materials to insurgents in the thunder country, hoping to lead a rebellion and overthrow the current Raikage.

The man is a fat glutenous man, with a beard that flows down to his chest, and a receding hairline that has been badly covered up by a poorly done comb over. The man walks into his bedroom where he has enlisted the services of several female escorts for the evening. All of the women are young, likely under the age of consent, and all drunk on sake.

As the man continues on his way into the room waddling from side to side with a bottle of sake in hand he smiles and laughs, revealing a disgusting grin of brown and yellow teeth. "Well, well, well. I suppose I am in for a treat this evening aren't I? Or maybe it is my birthday and I simply forgot!"

The hired escorts continue laughing amongst each other, too drunk to be repulsed by the sickening man standing before them. The night goes on as Muntanagi had hoped and after a while he retires to his bed and sends the escorts home. Muntanagi is so completely oblivious to his surroundings likely due to a combination of alcohol, lack of sleep, and a possible overload of testosterone, that he does not even notice the shadowy figure that has bridged himself against the two walls of the narrow hallway leading from the bath house to the bedroom. The shadowy figure is wearing a full black shinobi outfit with no opening, save the one over his eyes, and he is spread out just centimetres from the ceiling, his legs bracing against the wall and his hands doing the same.

The fat arms dealer yawns as he walks to the bathroom before heading to bed. The shadowy figure moves with the utmost stealth as he moves from the hallway and into the bedroom. With one motion, the shinobi leaps from the floor spreading his legs into a perfect split and bridges himself just above the frame of the door, and readies a kunai, clutched in both hands raised just over his head.

Muntanagi finishes his business in the washroom (leaving the door open the entire time) and returns to his bedroom, moving with the speed and grace of a sleepy horse, knocking over things in his path as he had forgot to leave the light on after he left the bedroom. He staggers around, blind as a bat as he reaches for the light switch on the other side of the door. Only a second after flipping the light switch, the shadowy shinobi swings from his perch, stabbing Muntanagi in the chest with his kunai. The shinobi twists his lower body and drops safely to the floor without making a sound, twisting the kunai in Mutanagi's chest and covering his mouth in the process to prevent the man from screaming.

The balding fat man drops to his knees dead and then to the floor, bleeding profusely from his wound. As the shadowy shinobi removes the kunai from the dead man's chest, he looks around the room searching for the information he has been sent to intercept. He notices a set of scrolls, sitting on the bed side table and he quickly moves to investigate, cleaning his kunai with a white towel in the process. The shinobi searches through all of the scrolls, numbering about ten or so until he finds the one that he needs.

"Got it!" The shinobi says silently. He places the scroll in a pouch on the back side of his belt. Before the shinobi can do anything else, he hears the front door slide open and can see one of the hired escorts walk into the room.

"Sorry Muntanagi-sama, I forgot my makeup kit . . ." The young woman pauses for a second as she notices Muntanagi's body laying in a pool of his own blood, and the dark shinobi standing over him. She then lets out a blood curdling scream as she realizes what has happened, but her scream lasts only a few seconds as the dark shinobi side arm throws his kunai that hits the young women right between the eyes, killing her instantly and sending her to the ground.

The shinobi moves over quickly to the girls body, removing the kunai embedded in her skull, "Shit! I gotta get out of here fast!"

The shinobi cannot react fast enough, as the door slides open again with four of Muntanagi's bodyguards entering the room all armed with different weapons. One carries two polearms (a wooden baton with a sharp blade at the end), the other a large naginata (a spear like weapon with a curved blade, good for slashing as well as stabbing) and the other two carry katanas.

"Muntanagi-sama, Are you all right?" One of the guards shouts before noticing his employer's corpse on the floor. The guard notices the shinobi standing in the room and he draws his sword ready to attack. "Who are you? You are under arrest!"

The four guards charge at the shinobi with their weapon's draw, ready to avenge their former master. The shadowy shinobi readies himself for the encounter, reaching over his shoulder and clutching a silver trimmed handle and pulling out the very same blade that is brandished by Toshida. He readies the sword at his right side and raises his left hand in the seal of a half ram bringing it up to his lips and closing his eyes. When he opens his eyes, he charges toward the four guards and readies his attack.

"KIRIGESSHOKU NO MAI!" (Dance of the Moonlight Fog) The shinobi leaps into the air and with a quick spin, his body then miraculously disappears as it disperses into a dark black fog that completely fills the room and temporarily blinds the guards.

"What the hell? Where did he go?"

The guards stagger about in the thick fog trying to locate the missing shinobi. As they turn about blind in the fog, one of them notices a silhouette speed by them like a blur. The guard swipes his katana, but hits nothing but air. Before he can make another attempt, the fog behind him begins to swirl around, and the body of the assassin spins out of the fog and strikes the guard with his sword, slicing him across the throat before he makes another pirouette and disappears back into the fog. The guard falls to the ground clutching his throat and he eventually bleeds to death after a few minutes.

The next target for the assassin is the guard with the polearms, who has his weapons crossed in front of him in a defensive position. He never even hears the shinobi coming as the fog directly in front of the guard begins to churn and the shinobi emerges. The guard catches only a glimpse of the shinobi storming out of the darkness, before he too is struck down with a slash from the shinobi's sword.

The final two guards come face to face with one another and the two take a defensive stance placing their backs against one another. Once again it is to no avail as the shinobi drops down from only a metre above them, striking the katana wielding shinobi with a back heel kick, that clubs the guard across the back of the neck, sending him to the ground. At the same time, the shinobi stabs the guard armed with the naginata, straight in the back, impaling the guard's heart with one swift blow. The fog begins to dissipate as the guard starts to rise to his feets and the first thing he sees is the shinobi walking toward him with the remnants of the black fog swirling back into the shinobi's body. The guard tries to back away, but cannot move fast enough as the shinobi lobs off the guard's head with one quick swipe of his sword.

"This guy should have hired some better help." The shinobi says to himself, just before he makes a run for the window behind the bed in Muntanagi's bedroom. The shinobi leaps through the window and falls to the ground several stories below. As soon as he lands the shinobi takes off at high speed, leaving the scene in a hurry before he can be discovered, taking the documents he was sent to acquire along with him.

The next morning the shinobi has returned to the village of the hidden cloud to report into the Raikage. The shinobi walks through the streets of the village which is coloured with numerous shades of blue and white. The architecture is much different then the leaf village's, as many of the buildings share a similar rounded shape, separating each level of the building like the different levels of some large snowman. The roofs share the same kind of tiling as apparent with most other villages with the exception of the roofs having three corners instead of four, and white tiles instead of yellow.

The townspeople mostly seem to be dressed in thick layered clothing, as the weather is slightly below freezing. There is a calm wind blowing through the air as the shinobi reaches the palace of the Raikage. The palace sits atop a natural rock formation that brings its top levels high enough that they actually touch the clouds. The path to the Raikage's palace is marked by chalky white marble roads, bordered by eight large copper statues, that show the visage of the previous Raikage's of the cloud village. As the shinobi reaches the doors to the palace, he notices a construction crew working on a new statue that stands just off to the left side of the large red doors that mark the entryway to the Raikage's palace. The new statue will be erected to honour the newly appointed Raikage, whom the shinobi has been sent to meet.

The shinobi enters the large red doors and walks toward an open fire that is set in the middle of the large open room. As the shinobi reaches the open fire, he removes his mask and begins to warm his hands over the warm flame. The shinobi has long straight black hair that runs just down to his shoulders, and a light goatee in the midst of roughly three days of growth. The shinobi looks up from the fire as he notices another set of doors opens in front of him. A cloud village jounin walks out from the doors and calls to the shinobi.

"Akira Kunashiro, the Raikage will see you now." The jounin says as he holds the door open for Kunashiro.

"Yes sir." Kunashiro says, as he walks toward the large open doors. The shinobi enters another large room decorated with all sorts of decorative weapons and suits of armour.

The Raikage sits at the back of the room on top of a large blue throne like chair, garnished with a gold trim. The Raikage sits with four other special jounins that remain at his side at all times. The Raikage is a young man, roughly 28 years old, however his followers are much older, and all of them follow him without question. The Yamato Dake was selected from a panel of candidates to be Raikage for reasons that were never disclosed. He came from a wealthy family whose name is well known throughout the thunder country for being honourable and powerful shinobi.

"Ah yes, Come in Kunashiro. I am interested to hear how your latest mission went." The Raikage says as he rises from his chair to greet the shinobi. "I have heard great things from my cohort here. Isn't that right Shin?"

One of the special jounins at the Raikage's left side nods in approval. (The jounin known as Shin, would later be killed by Toshida in an effort to infiltrate the Wave Country Tournament)

"Thank you Raikage-sama." Kunashiro sits crossed legged on the floor in front of the Raikage as he tells his leader of his mission. "I acquired the documents you requested and erased the target you ordered."

The Raikage's entourage looks on in shock at Kunashiro's announcement. "You mean to tell me you made it to the merchant town, snuck into Muntanagi's suite, stole the documents and assassinated him, and still managed to return to the village without a scratch? And all in less then twenty-four hours?" Shin says, almost dumfounded.

"Yes, sir." Kunashiro says still showing no expression whatsoever.

"This is marvellous." The Raikage exclaims, "What an outstanding shinobi you have brought to my attention Shin. It is a shame that the other members of the village council have been reassigned, and cannot see you here, such an excellent example of a true Cloud village ninja. You are indeed an excellent tool . . . to use as I see fit Kunashiro, are you not?"

"Yes Raikage-sama. I assure you my loyalties lie to you and to you alone, and I will serve you until I take my last breath."

"I hope so Kunashiro," The Raikage sits back down in his throne and grabs a large goblet that sits on top of a side table next to his thrown. "Because I assure you that I am no more lenient than any of the previous Raikage's. I will continue to use you for your services and I want your word that you will serve no other. You are mine, and I own you until I see fit to release you. Is that understood?"

"Yes Raikage-sama. I serve only you, the one who has dominion over my homeland." Kunashiro, then solemnly bows before the Raikage and rises to his feet. "With your permission, I will take my leave of you Raikage-sama."

"I only wish more of my shinobi were as willing to fight and die for me as you are Kunashiro." The Raikage rises from his chair and begins to walk toward his private chamber. "Kunashiro, will you accompany me to my chamber?"

Kunashiro nods his head and follows the Raikage into his chamber which is marked by a single door marked with a golden border with a seal written over the lock of the door, preventing anyone other then the Raikage from entering. The Raikage bits down on his thumb, drawing blood, and wipes it across the seal causing it to quickly burst into flames and dissipate into the air releasing the seal. The Raikage enters the small room which is lit by a single candle on a desk in the middle of the room. The Raikage walks to the desk after grabbing a set of scrolls off of a bookshelf on the left side of the room, and takes a seat in the desk's chair.

"I have another mission for your Kunashiro." The Raikage says, surprising the loyal shinobi. "This mission will be of the highest secrecy. You will be given the location and information of your three targets. And I expect that the target will be taken care of within in the next 72 hours. I want it done quietly, and with no witnesses. And I want you to send reports on your progress after every target is taken care of"

"I understand Raikage-sama. Who are the targets?"

"That information is not for you to know. Simply go in and take care of it quickly. If anyone notices you, or if you are taken prisoner, I will deny any knowledge of your existence. Got it?"

"If I am taken prisoner Raikage-sama, I will kill myself without a second thought." Kunashiro says without so much as a flinch.

"Hmpf. That is the answer I wanted to hear Kunashiro. Now, I want you to leave as soon as possible and take whatever provisions you require. But I ask that you leave your sword behind. The sword of Murakakumo (Village of the Clustering Clouds) is a very recognizable blade. Many of the more superstitious shinobi, believe that the "beast" that wields the mythical blade kills all those that even catch a glimpse of it. Where did you acquire it anyway?"

"I obtained the sword after a pilgrimage in my youth that led me to find it in the Temple of Atsuta located in the southern part of the Thunder Country."

"By pilgrimage, you mean a mission right?" The Raikage says.

"Yes, Raikage-sama. I was sent to invade the temple after it was discovered that some mercenaries were planning a coup against the Daimyo, and were using the temple as a hidden base of operations. I was sent to flush them out, and when I did, I discovered one of the artifacts that the temple was erected to protect. So after I was finished disposing of the mercenaries, I took the sword as a prize. It has served me well ever since."

"Interesting. I heard that blade also has a twin somewhere in the hidden grass village. Is that true?"

"I believe so, Raikage-sama." Kunashiro says as he removes his sheath from his back. "The sword of Kusanagi I believe it was called. Although I cannot imagine another blade being as sturdy as this one." Kunashiro hands the blade to the Raikage and in exchange, takes the scroll detailing his target.

"Remember Kunashiro. I want the first man eliminated in 24 hours. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" Kunashiro then leaves the Raikage's chamber and continues out of the Raikage's palace.

The Raikage reseals the door and proceeds to watch Kunashiro leave his presence. "Excellent. Kunashiro will not fail. I only hope that he is smart enough to keep his mouth shut and not ask questions. I cannot keep these men out of the village forever. People will start to ask questions. Make haste Kunashiro, or you will be the next to die."

As the dawn of the new day approached the peaks of the cloud village, Kunashiro readies himself for his mission. Dressing in his full black shinobi's outfit, armed with a series of kunai, shuriken and wire he sets off on foot toward the location of his first target. His speed is unrivalled as he runs with both arms swung behind him, moving at almost inhuman speed. He moves down the slopes of the village, through the large valley's and across the vast plateaus of the thunder country as he heads toward a small hamlet on the outskirts of the country. After travelling for several hours, Kunashiro arrives at the hamlet where his target is located. The hamlet is a small agricultural community with a series of farms and small houses that create almost the shape of the letter H as it is bordered by coniferous trees like pines and cedars.. In the centre of the village is a community centre that is headed by an elderly man in his late sixties. Kunashiro spies on his target from the tree line that is only about a hundred metres from the small wooden cabin.

"According to the Raikage's information, the target should be located in the building." Kunashiro notices a figure walk by the window of the cabin. He lowers himself in the tree branches, hiding amongst the leaves and blending in with the shadows the branches cast upon them. "I must bide my time until the moment is right. It is roughly noon now, so I will wait until the sun sets before I make my move. Under the cover of darkness, it is easier to use my jutsu, especially in open areas."

Kunashiro bides his time, waiting for the sun to set, never once taking his eyes off of his target. He watches the old man leave the cabin and go about some of his daily routine. The old man receives documents from some of the other farmers, files them in the cabin's office, and returns to the farms writing down numbers and writing reports. His job appears to be the inventory and regulation of all that the farm is producing, as well as order supplies and feed from suppliers in other areas of the thunder country.

As the time goes by, Kunashiro readies himself for the instant the sun sets. As the sun goes down around 6pm, Kunashiro drops from the trees and readies his hands in the seal of the horse, and then connects his thumbs together starting the jutsu that only members of his family have been trained to use.

"Kage Sonsaku! (Shadow Walking) Kunashiro then disappears into the shadow of the trees and begins to move through the tunnels created by his jutsu as his moves with the utmost in stealth toward the cabin where his target is residing. As he moves through the shadows he arrives at the cabin, stopping just under one of the windows. Kunashiro emerges from his shadow tunnel and peers into the window to identify his targets location in the cabin. He does not see the old man in the room, so he uses a very thin piece of metal in his equipment to pry the window open. Kunashiro sneaks into the cabin without making a single sound, but is surprised as he can hear the old man coming down the stairs from the top level of the cabin. Kunashiro uses his jutsu to hide in a shadow cast upon the floor by a rocking chair next to the wall.

The old man comes down the stairs at a slow pace, as it appears his hips are not at full strength most likely due to his old age. As the man reaches the main level he moves to a cabinet that stands against the wall opposite Kunashiro. The old man opens the cabinet which is stocked with bottles of liquor and reaches in to grab a bottle of brown liquor. The man pours himself a glass and he sits in thee same chair that Kunashiro is hiding by.

Kunashiro waits patiently to make his move, but after almost an hour of the old man just sitting in the chair and sipping his drink, Kunashiro realizes that it may be a long night. Growing impatient, Kunashiro moves to the brink of the shadow cast upon the floor. He reaches out from the shadow slowly making every effort not to be noticed by the old man. Kunashiro reaches to grab the candle stand that is casting the shadow upon the floor. When the old man turns his head just enough, Kunashiro knocks the candle stand over, changing the direction of the shadow to behind the old man's chair.

"What the hell?" The old man says quietly to himself, as he reaches to the floor to pick up the candle stand. As the old man lifts up the candle stand, he strikes a match to re-light the candle. As he lights the candle, a dark figure can be seen standing behind him, as Kunashiro has emerged from hiding.

With the blink of an eye, Kunashiro wraps some of his wire around the old man's neck, pulling tightly and strangling the old man. The old man thrashes about as he tries desperately to escape from Kunashiro's grasp. Kunashiro shows no change in emotion as he strangles the old man to death and then drops him to the ground after all life has left his frail body. And then for the first time since he began stalking the old man, Kunashiro is able to identify the face of the man he was sent to assassinate.

"What the hell? Why would the Raikage send me to kill him?" Kunashiro then notices a cloud village head protector that was wrapped around the old man's waist as a belt. "Why would I be sent to kill one of our villages own shinobi? And this man . . . he was one of the members of the ruling council. The Raikage said that this man had been reassigned, but why would such an elderly and seasoned shinobi, be sent to the outskirts to work as a farm attendant?"

Kunashiro leaves the cabin in a hurry still with an uneasy feeling at what he had just done. He moves under the cover of darkness to an outpost station that will be able to send word to the Raikage that the first stage of his mission has been a success and he will now move to stage two. But Kunashiro has begun to grow suspicious of the Raikage's motives

"That man was one of the ruling council that made a unanimous vote to promote Yamato to the position of Raikage. Why would the Raikage want him reassigned . . . And why in the hell would he want him dead?"