Chapter 9: Why?
Naruto looks on in disbelief, as the mysterious Toshida has identified Naruto's other half. Toshida remains with a maniacal grin on his face, his eyes still glowing green as Toshida's other side seems to be showing.
"How does he know about the nine-tails?" Naruto asks himself. "He seems so familiar to me, yet I can't figure out from where. Now he's calling me a fox. So he must know about the nine-tails. And those eyes of his, they are so cold, they're almost . . . evil."
Tsunade finally catches up and arrives on the scene. She looks around the area and notices the unconscious Shikamaru and Chouji still trapped in the sand prison. She looks to Naruto staring in shock at the four sin shinobi who stand above a fallen Sakura. The sight of her apprentice injured begins to enrage the Hokage as she clenches both fists and readies to attack.
Naruto notices and addresses the Hokage, "Granny Tsunade, stay back, please. There is something about this man that I recognize. He also hurt Sakura and abducted you. I want some answers. So please stay out of this for now."
Toshida looks to his shinobi with an address of his own. He says while still using the combination voice of him and the darker and more sinister voice form within, "You heard him. Back away and let us deal with him!"
Maea and Toragai back away immediately leaving Keinea to stay close behind his brother. Keinea looks to the other two shinobi and signals both of them to move back closer to Toshida. He then says in a low whisper, "Stay close to him, we may have to seal him quickly again. It looks like brother is still managing to maintain control, that means the seal is still working and he's letting the beast out just a little bit. He hasn't changed yet, so we may be lucky today." Keinea then takes a second to think to himself, "He must have received the wrong answer from the Hokage. Dammit brother I hope you know what you are doing."
Inside Toshida's mind, a battle is being waged between both personalities. One is that of this mysterious evil and the other is of Toshida himself. The battle of wills is beginning to turn for the worse, as Toshida begins to lose control.
Toshida's voice echoes inside his own head. "Dammit you monster, what are you talking about? Give me back control. I will not let you hurt anyone this day."
The dark voice answers back, "You don't have a choice boy! Never forget who the dominant one is in this relationship. I have often wondered what happened to that damned fox ever since I became trapped in this realm. Now I know that he's in a stupid human just like me! This is perfect. It will give me the chance to have my revenge on that cursed beast. Hmm, there is also something different about this child."
Meanwhile, Toshida is clutching his head and grimacing in pain as the voice in his head is almost too loud for him to bare. Then, all in attendance are shocked when Toshida's body begins to change.
Keinea begins to panic as he rolls up his sleeve revealing the seal he showed earlier. "Dammit, he's losing, it's time for you guys get into position."
Maea and Toragai roll up their sleeves as well, readying themselves to perform the sealing jutsu. Before they can get into position however, Toshida begins to glow with an ominous green chakra. When the sin shinobi try to grab a hold on Toshida, his chakra flares up and it sends all three of the shinobi hurdling into the air. Toragai hits a tree base hard and lands on the ground clutching at his back. Maea hits the ground and tumbles end over end until stopping her roll and rising to her knees, and Keinea manages to pull off his shadow walking technique in time to land gently in the shadow of a tree. He quickly recovers and comes storming out of the shadow with his fist clenched and ready.
Meanwhile, Toshida's skin has begun to take on a light whitish-green tinge in some spots around his face and hands. His thick braided ponytail begins to quickly unravel itself, sending his long black hair down over his face and down just past his shoulders.
"BROTHER!" Keinea screams as he thunders toward his older brother at highspeed. He punches Toshida straight in the face as he screams "SNAP OUT OF IT!"
Toshida staggers to his left, reeling from his brother's punch. His skin recedes to its normal colour and he regains his composure quickly. "Thank . . . you brother. I got careless."
At the same time, Naruto has seen enough. He makes the seal of the ram and begins to gather a lot of chakra. "I don't know who you guys are, but either way, what you have done cannot be easily forgiven." Naruto's chakra turns from blue to red as the nine-tails chakra is being accessed. His orange coat bursts open and blows in the wind as Naruto then switches his hand seal to one that made him famous.
"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Four shadow clones then appear beside Naruto. Three of the clones begin to charge the sin shinobi as one stays behind. One clone goes after Maea, the other after Toragai and another to Keinea.
"All right then you little punk! If you we have to fight our way out of here, that's fine by me!" Keinea says as he steps in front of his brother ready to defend, and fight his way through.
"Stop brother!" Toshida says as he places a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Something has come up brother. We need to get out of here. This fight will have to take place another day."
Keinea looks to his brother in awe, but he does not argue, he turns to Maea and Toragai and lets them know of the new plan. "Maea, Toragai, fall back, we're leaving."
Keinea leads the way as the Maea and Toragai follow with Toshida in the rear. The four begin heading northwest. Tsunade remains behind but is unable to stop a charging Naruto, who has a Rasengan in hand.
"Wait! Naruto! Come back here!" Tsunade screams in vein.
"No one said you could leave yet you bastard!" Naruto says to get the attention of Toshida. Naruto gets within a few feet of the wiry shinobi and thrusts his right arm toward him. "RASENGAN!"
Toshida turns around quickly and braces himself on a thick tree branch. The others turn around in time and try to make it back to Toshida before Naruto strikes him. However, Toshida shows no emotion as he counters Naruto's Rasengan with his bare hand.
"WH-WHAT?!" Naruto says as he tries to push his way through Toshida to strike him with his trump card technique. "How the hell can you block this?"
Toshida simply smiles as chakra is swirling in a circle in his own hand. As Naruto pushes harder into Toshida's hand, the size of the Rasengan begins to diminish, and its shape becomes erratic.
"The Rasengan is fading! How is he doing this?" Naruto says to himself.
Toshida then uses his right hand to clutch against Naruto's stomach. Naruto looks on with a worried look as he fears the worst wondering what Toshida plans to do next. However, the worst never comes as Toshida rips a large whole in Naruto's black T-shirt, revealing the seal on Naruto's stomach.
"Th-those seals it's the seal of . . . I think I know what it's worried about. This is truly an unexpected development. I must learn more." Toshida then places his right hand on the tree and green chakra begins to transfer from his left arm over to his right, and into the palm of his right hand.
"Uzumaki Naruto eh? You and I will meet again, in the near future. When that happens, I hope we can relate to one another on equal grounds."
"What are you talking about?" Responds a confused Naruto.
Before Naruto can get a response out of Toshida, an explosion occurs where Toshida's hand once was. Smoke fills the air and splinters of burning wood are sent everywhere. Tsunade searches the tree's to see if Naruto has become visible. In a few seconds, Tsunade sees Naruto, falling out of the smoke cloud with his outfit charred and a black smoke coming from his coat. Tsunade runs to catch Naruto before he hits the ground, but notices Naruto stop falling and begin swinging back and forth.
"What the?" Tsunade then looks to the tree's and she can see wire attached to Naruto's leg with the other end tied around the tree branch in which he once stood. Tsunade then notices Toshida finishing the knot that dangles Naruto from the tree. He makes brief eye contact with the Hokage and he leaves the scene quickly with the rest of his teammates.
"I must learn more about this. This child may hold the key to my emancipation." Toshida thinks to himself as team speeds through the wave country toward the bay. "I just hope I didn't hurt him too bad."
Back at the battle scene, Naruto has been cut down from the tree by the Hokage. Tsunade helps Chouji from the sand pit, and Chouji helps her bring Shikamaru and Sakura back to full health. The medical sage uses her plethora of medical jutsu to easily heal all wounds that the brave genin suffered. Sakura regains consciousness first and she immediately runs to Naruto's side.
Naruto's wounds begin to heal right before Sakura's eyes and he too regains consciousness. He almost completely ignores Sakura and directs his attention to Tsunade. Questions and anger fill Naruto's mind, "How did he know about the nine-tails? How does he know me? Why do I hate him so much, when I know nothing about him?"
Sakura still remains concerned for Naruto, "Naruto, are you all right? What happened up there?"
Naruto does not answer Sakura, but offers a question of his own. "Granny Tsunade, who were those guys?"
Shikamaru begins to regain consciousness, and follows with his own question. "Yea, you must have been alone with the leader for at least ten minutes. You must have learned something. About who they really are?"
"Where they come from?" Chouji inquires.
"Why they abducted you?" Sakura asks.
"Or how they know about the nine-tails?" Says Naruto. "I need to know what is going on here Granny Tsunade. This has me really confused."
A shocked look comes over Tsunade's face as if she had been hit with the realization that someone had been left behind.
"Ino!" She says, as she turns around and heads back toward the area where Toshida and Ino fought.
Sakura finds herself concerned for Ino's well being, but she is still occupied with worrying about Naruto. "Naruto, what happened up there?"
"I am not really sure, I tried using the Rasengan against him, and he countered it." Naruto says as he stares off into nothingness, utterly confused about all that has happened this day. "It was like he transferred all the chakra in the technique, and used it against me."
"Well at least you're ok right?"
"It wasn't my well being I was worried about Sakura-chan. It was those eyes of his." Naruto begins to recall the look in Toshida's eyes. The eyes tell a story that only Naruto seems to be able to understand. "There was something about those eyes. They were dark . . . and powerful. Yet, they seemed so sad . . . when he looked at me, and looked in my eyes, and then at the seal on my stomach . . ." Naruto holds the seal that binds the nine-tails to his body, still protruding from the rip in his shirt. "His look changed when he looked at me . . . it was almost like, those eyes that were so sad before . . ."
The scene changes to the sin shinobi arriving back at their former encampment on the shores of the wave country.
". . . were now filled with hope."
Keinea begins moping around the encampment kicking over logs and rocks and cursing under his breath. Toshida stands on a thick tree branch overlooking the shore, watching the sun begin to set. Maea and Toragai begin gathering up any supplies they had left before they departed on their mission.
Keinea continues his pouting as Toragai has had enough. "Keinea will you stop? Your moping is driving me nuts."
"I'm not moping, I'm just pissed off so leave me alone will you." Keinea responds. He then looks to his older brother, "We were so close weren't we? I mean we had the Hokage, we were on our way home, I mean all the months we spent planning this, WHAT WENT WRONG GOD DAMMIT!"
"Calm down Keinea," Maea says as she walks to Keinea's side. "Toshida has not let us down before, you should know that better than anyone." Maea tries to place her hand on the young shinobi's shoulder, but her hand is smacked away by the frustrated Keinea.
"Brother, what happened back there? Why did we let them go? Why did we retreat? You at least owe us that much. We risked our lives for this plan, and we got nothing out of it, the plan was called off. But why?"
Toragai interrupts as Toshida drops from his perch in the tree. "Speak for yourself Keinea, I didn't see that blond leaf bitch walking around so I am assuming your brother gave her what she deserved. So I got what I wanted."
Toragai laughs heartily, as Toshida remembers the accident that occurred when Ino tried her mind body switch technique. Toshida grimaces with a mental pain as he solemnly regrets what happened to the Leaf Genin.
"Haha, I bet you tore that little girl into a million pieces didn't you boss . . ."
Before Toragai could say anymore, he finds himself on the receiving end of a thunderous left hand from Toshida, knocking him to the ground hard.
"Keep your mouth shut you little shit!" A furious Toshida says, as he stands over a frightened Toragai. "What happened to her was never meant to happen, I never wanted to hurt her, she just got overzealous."
"All right, all right! Geez, you can really be hot headed sometimes. You know that?" Toragai says as he rises to his feet. "But like always, I will just put up with the abuse and chalk it all up to that thing inside you."
"Trust me Toragai, that thing doesn't control me all the time. Half the time I am forced to strike you, it is of my own volition."
Toragai's anger rises and he tries to attack Toshida, "Why you!"
Before he can strike Toshida, (who has also moved to strike) Keinea stands in between the two. "Cool it, both of you! This is not going to get us anywhere." The two shinobi back away from one another as Keinea tries to calm them both down.
"Toragai, you should know by now that your mouth will get you into nothing but trouble. And brother, it was an accident and you know how Toragai is."
Toshida then turns from his brother and walks over to a supply bad that sits up against the tree he was once perched on. "Toragai, I apologize." Toragai nods and accepts the apology.
Toshida reaches into the supply bag and pulls out a long sheath. The sheath is doubled and is made of two sheaths put together into one. Toshida straps the sheath onto himself and buckles it over his jacket. The sheath end, which is just over Toshida's right shoulder, shows a sword handle primarily black with a silver trim along the back of the handle and a partial silver grip. The bottom of the handle is a slanted silver base roughly two inches long pointed toward the sharp side of the blade, and directed slightly downward. The hilt protrudes only an inch toward the back end of the handle, but roughly three inches toward the sharp side of the blade. The short end is rounded and the long end curves downward slightly, making a point at the end.
The other end of the sheath has a far more straight forward handle that sticks out just past Toshida's hip. The handle is simple, and black with a rubber grip to it and a length sufficient for one hand, while the other handle would be long enough for a two-handed grip. In between the two weapons, there is a long satchel made of some kind of a pelt. After attaching the large sheath Toshida reaches back, and grabs what was inside the satchel.
"Hmpf, it is strange how I felt almost naked without having these with me."
Toshida then leaps back to his perch on the tree branch, and reveals that the object in the satchel was not a weapon, but a long flute made of a solid piece of bamboo. As he readies the flute to his lips and closes his eyes, he addresses the question of his confused brother.
"Don't worry Keinea. All of you have risked your lives for me and nothing I can ever say would express my gratitude to its full extent. But I must ask you all again to trust me and lend me your skills. We have another mission, which will begin at dawn tomorrow. This one will require much more planning. However, we will need to do all planning only minutes before we actually go through with it. And suffice to say, this mission will be far more dangerous, and less likely to succeed."
Toshida turns and looks to his teammates. "I will tell you the plan momentarily, but I need to know this instant, as to whether or not all of you will participate. If you say no, to me it will only mean that you choose not to partake in this mission. If you wish to say no completely and leave this team forever, it is your choice. I will not stand in your way. But I need to know . . . Are you in? Or are you out?"
The remaining sin shinobi look to their leader in awe, as the request from Toshida is so sudden and almost too much to believe.
Keinea is the first to respond, "I am not sure what your plan is brother but . . ." Keinea shakes his head and tries to remove all doubt in his mind, but the doubt does not leave. He struggles with his reasoning that tells him to say no, and just sit this one out, and his feelings that tell him that his big brother is right.
Toragai gives his answer before Keinea can finalize his. "Well boss, I think you're nuts. But then again, it sounds like fun. So I am definitely in."
Maea follows suit with the same answer however, her response is not embedded in optimism and the pursuit of fun like Toragai's, her answer comes from fear. "I have been in your debt for some time now Toshida-sama, I-I will not back out on you now." Maea tries to hide her fear from Toshida, but Toshida has been aware of it for sometime.
"No Maea." Toshida says, to the surprise of the beautiful dark-haired shinobi. "This has nothing to do with the debt you have to me that you THINK you have to me. This is your choice and your choice alone. Do not let me be the one to decide your fate."
Toshida then thinks to himself, "Sukio Maea. You have followed me for a long time now, but I know you do it out of a sense of duty. You are the most beautiful woman, and the most honourable shinobi I have ever met. Yet you still remain afraid of me, of what I am. I don't blame you. And for that, I'm sorry."
"I know it is my choice Toshida-sama, and I choose to follow you through whatever you ask of me." Maea then reveals a smile that soothes Toshida's mind and heart.
"I thank you Sukio. And please, stop calling me Toshida-sama. I am no more a lord to you then you are to me. So, please, stop the formality."
"Y-yes Toshida-sama, I-I mean Toshida." Maea stammers as she shakes her head and smiles.
Keinea then looks to his brother having been almost inspired by the words of his teammates. "Brother, I made a promise to you years ago that I have not broken. I remind myself of it every day. And until the time comes to fulfill my promise to you, I will follow you through hell and back." Keinea then smiles as he makes eye contact with his brother.
Back on his perch, "Thank you, brother." Toshida turns his back to his teammates and once again readies his flute. "All of you get something to eat, and then get to bed early. We will need all of the rest that we can get for tomorrow morning."
The three sin shinobi turn from their leader and return to their respective tents.
Before Toshida begins to play his flute, one last thought crosses his mind. "Gather your strength my friends. It is a long journey . . . to the fire country."
Back at the area where the battle took place, Tsunade arrives back at the group with a still catatonic Ino. Sakura comes running Tsunade's side as her friend remains lifeless, her eyes staring blankly with a look of fear embedded into her face.
"INO!" Sakura drops to her knees as she looks over her friend with tears in her eyes. "Tsunade-sama, what happened to her? Is she going to be all right?"
"It was their leader. Ino used Shintenshin no jutsu on the leader, and then she just fell to the ground screaming. Physically she is ok, but her mind has been damaged severely. I am positive that I can heal her mental wounds, but I will need some of the medicine back at the leaf village."
Tsunade then closes Ino's eyes and gives her limp figure to Chouji to carry. "She will be in a coma until we can get her home. I would like to look over any of the documents her clan may have on their mind transferring techniques. It might help me to find a way to speed up her recovery."
All of the leaf shinobi then stand up and listen to the Hokage's orders without question. "We must head back to the arena and let everyone know that we are ok. We will stay one more night in the wave country and then head out early tomorrow morning."
All of the shinobi nod in approval, with the exception of Naruto. "Granny Tsunade!"
"It has been more then a year since I have seen you Naruto and you still have not learned, DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Tsunade says as she shakes her fist at Naruto.
"All right, all right! Before I go anywhere, I want to know what you know about those guys! I mean how do they know about the nine-tails?! And why did they kidnap you?!"
"Naruto, I don't really know that much. Everything that Toshida told me, seemed . . . just too hard to believe. But . . . he seemed so genuine, almost frightened. I don't know what to believe."
Naruto becomes increasingly frustrated and impatient. He starts hitting himself on the top of the head with his knuckles in hopes that maybe, just maybe his childish actions will get a straight answer out of the confused Hokage.
"WHY DO YOU HAVE TO SPEAK IN QUESTIONS AND RIDDLES?! JUST ANSWER MY QUESTION! WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THEM? THIS ALWAYS HAPPENS, WHENEVER IT COMES TIME FOR ME TO START ASKING QUESTIONS INSTEAD OF ANSWERING THEM, EVERYONE JUST IGNORES ME OR AVOIDS THE QUESTION, GOES TO FIND SOMETHING TO EAT, STARTS READING A BOOK TRIES TO CHANGE THE TOPIC, GOES BIRD WATCHING, STARTS PETTING KITTENS AND PLAYING CATCH WITH A DOG, OR CHASING BUTTERFLIES OR IN ERO-SENSEI'S CASE GETS DISTRACTED BY SOME WOMAN WALKING BY OR . . ."
Before Naruto can rant any further, he notices the rest of the shinobi walking away, back toward the arena, leaving Naruto behind to rant all he wants to the trees and any other little animals that may be wandering around.
"What?! Oh you guys are jerks!" Naruto then runs and tries to catch up with the group.
After over an hour of walking, Tsunade and company arrive back at the stadium which is swarming with people. Medics, security and news groups all converge on the arena where the abduction and attack took place. As the shinobi walk by they notice that many of the people being treated at the medic stations, are spectators being treated for minor scrapes and bruises, cuts and some broken bones.
The scene is not as bad as the leaf shinobi thought it would be. After searching through the crowd Tsunade notices a familiar face, as Jiraiya has a tent set up where he is looking after some of the injured. The entire group makes their way over to Jiraiya who is looking over one of the injured.
"Tsunade! It is good to see that you weren't hurt." Jiraiya notices Ino in Chouji's arms and his expression changes from one of relief one of great sadness. "What happened to her?"
Tsunade answers. "I don't really know. She is catatonic and in a coma right now. Her injuries aren't serious but her mental damage is severe."
"Hmm. This is not good. That makes two of our genin affected by the same problem."
"What do you mean "two" Jiraiya? Tsunade looks past her fellow sennin and notices Shino laying on a medical bed unconscious.
"SHINO!" The whole group shouts in unison.
Tsunade looks over the comatose genin and does a quick examination. "Jiraiya, What happened to him?"
A voice comes from behind Tsunade's group, "We don't know what happened to him."
The group turns around to see Neji leaning against a tree. "When I regained consciousness and was looked over by the medical team, I went looking for him. I found him at the back of the arena, unconscious in some tall grass. I picked him up and carried him here."
Shikamaru grimaces, as he remembers that Shino was the reason he was here. He remembers himself finishing a mission on the very fringes of the fire country.
Flashback
"All right that should about do it." Shikamaru says as he wipes some sweat from his forehead. "Aw man. It is already three o clock." Shikamaru says as he looks to the position of the sun in the sky. "It will take me an hour at least to get to back to the leaf village. And that is if I don't make any stops or breaks. Then I have to finish my mission report and hand it in to Kotetsu . . . by the time I finish it all up and get home it will be after five. If I am late for dinner then I have to listen to mom yell at me for being late again."
Shikamaru lets out a trademark sigh just before he notices a bug flying around his head. He swats at the bug but the bug continues to bother him. Soon the bug is joined by a second. Two bugs become four bugs. Four bugs become eight bugs and eight become sixteen. Before Shikamaru can react there is an entire swarm of bugs flying around him in a circle. He begins to back away from the annoying bugs but then realizes a purpose in their flying.
"Hmm? Bugs don't normally fly in a formation like that. Unless they are being controlled by some . . . Shino?" Shikamaru looks around the area to try and locate the crafty Shinobi, but he does not notice him anywhere.
"Why would Shino, or any other member of the Aburame clan have their bugs out here by themselves?"
The bugs then form into a large map of the fire country. Shikamaru then begins to understand that the bugs are trying to convey a message to him. The bugs then form the islands that make up the wave country and its surrounding area. The last remaining bugs form an arrow that points to the location of the arena and where the tournament is taking place.
"That's where that tournament is supposed to be taking place isn't it?" As Shikamaru asks the bugs, he realizes what he was just doing. "Why am I asking bugs?"
The bugs then begin buzzing louder and louder as the message does not appear to be getting through to Shikamaru.
"What?! What?!" Shikamaru asks the bugs. "Wait a minute, is Shino all right?"
The bugs buzz louder and begin swarming around frantically.
"Ok, if Shino is all right, buzz louder. If not, then buzz more quietly."
The bugs then buzz at almost a whisper like volume. They then form the map again showing Shikamaru where he has to go.
"All right then. I'll go find Shino. You guys lead the way I guess."
The bugs then headed back toward the wave country leading Shikamaru to Shino's location. Before they made it to the arena however, Shikamaru ran into the fleeing sin shinobi.
Back at the medical area Shikamaru apologizes to the fallen Shino. "Sorry Shino, if I had clued in just a little sooner, I might have made it here in time to help you."
"I don't know if that would have happened Shikamaru." Says Jiraiya, "when Neji brought him to my attention, he must have been unconscious for a few hours already. He would have had to have been knocked out before the bugs even reached you."
Tsunade closes Shino's eyes and places him next to the comatose Ino. "We will just have to treat them tomorrow when we get back to the leaf village."
Naruto lets out a sigh as he knows that he will just be heading back to his training now that the tournament is over. Jiraiya notices Naruto's unhappiness and comforts his student.
"Don't worry Naruto. We will go back to the leaf village as well." Naruto looks to his sensei with bright eyes and a large smile. "It couldn't hurt to take a bit of a break from our training. You did well in the tournament, so we can do some light training back at the village."
The scene then changes to the Raikage and his entourage who are all back at the hotel they had been set up in at the beginning of the tournament. The Raikage is pacing back and forth in the room as he tries to understand how Toshida could be alive.
"It doesn't make sense. Toshida was killed five years ago. At least he should have been. I thought he and his brother were killed. I sent my best men after them!"
The Raikage moves to the window of his room and stares up at the now full moon, high in the sky. "Why have you turned up again Toshida? I thought that you were taken care of. I can only imagine what difficulties you may bring to me now that you are back in the picture. Either way, you should be dead . . . and if you aren't . . . then I will just have to try harder this time."
Suddenly there is a knock at the door. "Come in!" Responds the Raikage.
As the door opens the Raikage directs his attention to the woman standing at the door. "Can I help you Hokage-dono?"
"Yes actually you can." Tsunade says with a determined look on her face. "I want to know everything you know about Akira Toshida. He told me a few details. Now I want you to fill in the gaps."
"I am afraid that Toshida is ranked in the highest of confidentiality in my government, village, and my country. Of that level, I cannot even discuss it with a fellow Kage."
"That man abducted me. He was after ME! He attacked MY shinobi! I saw the way you two looked at each other on that balcony, he knows you very well and hates you. But he avoided any redemption and he abducted me. He wanted me to help cure him from what he has. But I didn't believe him. And I don't think I would have been able to help him anyway."
"Well you are ok now, so everything is all right. Thank you for the visit Hokage-dono but I am tired so please leave."
Tsunade storms closer to the Raikage and spins him around by the shoulder. The Raikage's robe falls away and he appears just behind Tsunade. Tsunade turns around and meets him face to face, with both of them ready to attack one another.
"I don't want to fight you Raikage-dono. But, please, two of my shinobi are lying in comas and I want to fight out why. Please, tell me what you know about him and help me, help my shinobi."
The Raikage sighs and lowers his fists. "All right Tsunade. You win. I will tell you what you need to know."
The two sit down at opposite ends of a long table in the Raikage's room. The Raikage grabs a table side bottle of sake and pours himself a cup. Tsunade grabs an identical bottle from the other side of the table and pours herself a cup.
"Well I guess I should start at the beginning."
"That would be the best I suppose."
"Well then. Are you familiar with the area in the very northwest portion in the high mountains of the Thunder Country known as the Raikou Colony?"
"I cannot say that I have. Why? What does that have to do with anything?"
"It is a prison colony. It is where the thunder country as well as some of their associate countries, sends their most dangerous criminals. The colony is surrounded by mountains on all sides and numerous guard stations throughout the borderline of the colony. However, the area in between most of the boundaries has no guard stations and no security frontier.
"But how is it that you maintain control over prisoners with no security?"
"The mountains and altitude cause some very bad weather conditions in the area. There is no real plant life that grows, no native animals and very low temperatures. Constant lightning storms are also frequent in the area."
"So basically, you send people there to die?"
"I guess you could say that yes."
Tsunade shakes her head at the idea of a land where people are sent to die. "So Toshida was a criminal sent to this place?"
"Not exactly. Toshida was born there. His father was a criminal, and a former officer of mine."
"I am not sure I understand. I thought nothing could survive in that colony?" Tsunade says with a confused look on her face.
"Yes, no one can. However, a number of the criminals sent there managed to create a settlement in a series of caves throughout the mountains. They began to thrive there for sometime actually. The eventually managed to put together their own village of vagabonds, cut throats, and other criminals. This village was in existence for many years with no one having ever been able to survive the trip to the end of the colony's boundaries. Even if they did, the guards in the stations would be ordered to kill them on sight."
The Raikage rises from the table and looks out of his window at the moon again. "Because they were all a group of criminals damned to remain in those cursed mountains . . ."
Back at the shinobi's encampment, Toshida is sitting at his perch in the tree looking up at the same moon that the Raikage is watching so vigilantly.
". . . The colonists began to refer to their colony . . . As the Village of Sin."