AN: If you haven't figured it out yet I rewriting this whole story. I realized that I just had one chapter even touching on the origin story I intend to make a whole arc on the origin story for the new brotherhood.
"Welcome" – Normal
'Weclome'- Thoughts
"Welcome"- None living entity
"Welcome"- Living entity
(NEW CHAPTER STARTED 9/13/22 FINISHED 9/19/22)
Breaking another branch to clear a path the pair of Uzumakis moved through the forest. It had been a few days now since they had parted ways with Itachi.
Naruto was still dressed in his black trench coat and forest green shirt and pants, but now he was sporting a leather eye patch over his left eye. Karin had discarded her original clothes for a set of earthen pants and gray shirt. She had cut up her last set for rags and was using a piece to keep the sweat out of her eyes.
They had managed to make it to Arakawa Village before the sun set an through some quick thinking, more then a few lies, and the last of the cash Naruto had with him they were able to procure enough rations and supplies for almost a month if they included the food they already had. When he checked the map this morning he figured they would make it to Oni Lake before nightfall, an would make it to the coast by the end of the week.
That was of course assuming they didn't have to make anymore stops or get caught by a team of ANBU.
Thankfully the second part wasn't going to happen. During the time the pair had spent together he had learned a lot about Karin Uzumaki they had tried to keep it lighthearted though. One she was a natural sensor with a range that exceeded a few miles when she wasn't focusing, and if she was focused on just that it was increased exponentially. Two they will never see eye to eye on food.
'Ramen is the food kings!' the argument started when he tried to buy a small six pack of instant ramen and she tried to buy a bag of pancake mix from the village a few days ago. 'If we weren't odd looking before we tried to buy that stuff we were after…'
The third thing he learned about her was that she good at acting. In the four days since they had left the village, and if he was to guess the nine days since her death, Karin had a dream every night replaying the night her mother died. She would cry and cry in her sleep only to be awoken by Naruto each time, but when he asked her if she wanted to talk about it she only put up a mask an acted like she was okay.
To the rest of the world that mask was perfect to the point that he was almost fooled by it, almost. He had worn a mask everyday when he was back in Konoha an he knew a mask when he saw one, and hers wasn't cutting it around him.
He had decided to let her sort it out, hell that was all both of them could do. After all it wasn't everyday a ten year old goes on the run from his father, nor was it everyday that one had to watch as he only family she had was raped and basicly murdered in front of her. Needless to say they were both a bit messed up.
Breaking another branch he looked up an noticed the sky ahead was clear of trees.
"Lake is just ahead Karin we can take a break there and find a place to set up camp before nightfall."
"Gods be praised, my feet are killing me after today." she wasn't the only one's whose body was hurting. He was still trying to recover after the fight at the bandit base and being on the run doesn't really allow ones body to fully heal.
Stepping onto the shores of the lake the pair looked out over the water admiring the scene before them. The low sun casting its rays making the normally dark blue water have an orange cast. The place had almost a serene feeling to it.
"For such a peaceful place you have to wonder why its called Oni Lake." Karin said looking out over the lake.
"I don't really know if I was being honest I haven't learned much about Hi no Kuni outside of Konoha. Back in the village there weren't any places remotely close to this besides the Hokage monument." he turned his back to the lake an looked around just inside the forest. "This isn't the worst spot I could think of for a small camp. I'll go and start cutting some brush for shelter, can you go and collect some dry wood for a fire?"
Nodding to him he watched as she walked off to get the wood. Pulling out an ax he bought at the Arakawa he set to work with his own task of making a shelter for the both of them.
Unknown to both of them a figure watched from the wood line face hidden by the shadow of a green and grey cloak the person turned an disappeared into the darkness of the woods.
The Creed Reborn
Itachi walked through the streets of the Konoha watching as the people went about their lives. Some were headed out for dinner, others shopping before headed home, it was for this reason that he became a ninja and later an ANBU. He wanted to give the people a peaceful place to sleep at night, a place to call home, to live and laugh, but his mind wasn't on the people but a string of issues that recently cropped up.
His family had recently started to have idle talks of rebellion, couple that with the fact of the information that a certain blond had passed on to him, and the info allowed by ANBU, the village that he had come to love with his entire being started to become a dark pit of emotions. Both of the factions that he was thinking of wanted the same thing, power.
The Hokage faction made more then a few questionable moves in the recent time, and add onto the fact that he had recently seen Minato in the company of Dazno the warhawk. While it was true he answered to the Hokage he couldn't condone the actions made in the shadows by the ones controlling the village.
The faction right now was the Uchiha clan. It was one of the first clans to set roots down in the newly formed Leaf Village beside the Senju. The clan as a whole was well over a thousand people with over seventy percent of them being active military or police and another twenty percent retired or reserve.
Some would say he owed the Hokage everything because he protected the village, and that wouldn't be wrong, then there were those that said he owed the clan everything because the police force who answered to his father kept the streets safe, and those people wouldn't be wrong either. Both factions protected the people he cared for so dearly.
He was brought out of his thoughts when a red headed kid ran into him before stumbling to the ground.
"Ow that hurt," she said rubbing her knee "Sorry mister I was looking for someone and didn't see you there."
Itachi smiled an offered her a hand "No the fault is mine I was lost in thought and wasn't paying attention to where I was walking."
Taking the offered hand she dusted herself off "Sounds like we both have our share of problems huh?" he nodded "My brother recently left our house and is living somewhere out here I'm not sure where he is though so everyday when I get off from the academy I make it a point to run around an see if I can find him, just to make sure he is alright."
By this point everyone in the town knew that the so called Demon was missing, only those that were Jonin an up knew that he had left the village. But Itachi he knew the rough area that he was in, something that he wasn't telling a soul about.
"Well you know that the Police force is looking for your brother an I'm sure that your dad the Hokage is doing all he can as well." he noticed she looked down at the ground when he brought up her father "I knew who you were the second you bumped into me Naruko Namikaze." She flinched at the name, something that didn't go unnoticed by Itachi.
"I figured an Uchiha would, just my luck running into an off duty officer. My father was the one that caused this mess in the first place. He didn't enroll Naruto into the academy like I was four years ago, everytime Naruto asked dad would just say next year. Everyone in the village hates him but they see me as the poster girl for what the next generation should look like, when all of them didn't think that we both hold the same thing." she stopped an looked at the sky "I look back and I see that it was my father playing favorites all because I had more charka then him, and that made me question if he even saw me as a daughter in the first place, or if he just sees me a tool that can be used for the good of the village."
That was info that Naruto didn't share with him, but thinking about it he might have not known in the first place. "Wherever he is I can almost promise you he is alive an well, just like all Uzumakis he has a knack for both trouble an wild luck." chuckling a little he turned to look at the girl "I bet you right now he is having the time of his life."
While Naruko couldn't bring herself to believe him fully she had a gut feeling that wherever he was he was enjoying himself, maybe around a fire under the now starry sky.
The Creed Reborn
Naruto sidestepped a swing from a long saber, he was not having fun at all. A little while after Karin had gotten back with the fire wood four people in green an gray woolen cloaks showed up out of nowhere surrounding them. Worst part was that Karin who should have been able to detect people didn't even sense charka from them in the first place. Thankfully they were slow, slower then the bandits he had faced, but just because they were slow didn't mean that he had it easy.
Karin wasn't a fighter and he had to keep four people away from himself all while trying to protect her. Ducking under a wide swing he kicked out planting his boot in the side of one of the attackers sending them crashing into the tree. The sound of bones snapping could be heard upon impact.
'One down three more to go' he turned quickly using the momentum from the first kick to do full circle knocking out the legs from one of the attackers, he tried to finish him off using his blade but was forced to back up because the other two swung trying to cut him in half.
Looking at the three before him he knew something was off here, the unnatural way in which the one he knocked down stood back up only cemented the fact. He turned to where the fourth that he had ended an saw that it too was gone.
"BEHIND YOU!" he spun an extended his blades just in time for the one he was looking for to come down onto them with the saber. The light from the burning fire illuminated the figure under the hood, a skeletal face stared back unmoving an lifeless.
Forcing the blade to the side he pushed the skeleton into the fire, the flames engulfed the wool and bones. He looked down to the sword it dropped an slid his foot under the hilt before kicking it into the air.
'Hey Kyūbi can you do me a favor an see if this is an illusion, because there is no way in hell I am fighting skeletons!'
"Trust me kit I've checked three times already. There is a energy signal coming from the south of you that seems to be in line with the freaks in front of you."
'So I'm not loosing it and there are skeletons in front of me' he replied parrying one of the sabers 'is someone controlling them or something?!'
"I would say yes but the energy source isn't changing in output like a puppeteer's would."
The skeleton that was on fire ran full speed into the tree that Karin was hiding in trying to set the green wood alight. Grabbing a walnut from the branch she started to throw them at it in a vain attempt to keep it away from her.
Moving around one of the skeletons Naruto sprinted towards the burning one and using the saber it dropped he cut the head from its body. The body fell lifelessly and never moved again, but its head kept clicking its teeth in some attempt to move or bite down on something.
"Karin we need to move south there is something down there controlling them!" he yelled up the tree stabbing one of the skeletons in the chest causing bones to crack. He removed the blade an punched the skeleton with his open hand trying to give Karin and him space to run. "GO NOW!"
She took off running in the direction he was pointing. He quickly disengaged from the fight an followed after her, his mind going a mile a minute, each question he had would hopefully be answered by whatever energy source was making these things.
"Kit to your right under that rock!" he quickly turned and found the hole Kyūbi was talking about. It was barely big enough for him an Karin to make it through, so he was hopping that the skeletons wouldn't be able to make it through.
He reached into Itachi's supply pouch an pulled out one of the chem lights. Cracking the florescent green light source he dropped it down the hole it was only a few yards down to the light.
"Karin take my hand and I'm going to lower you down first. I can't have you up here should the bone brigade find us in the open."
"You'll be right behind me right?"
"I ain't leaving you but I want you safe first." the answer seemed to calm the redhead down who took his hand as she climbed down the rocks. There was still a few feet left before she had to drop down the last yard or so.
"Your turn I'm down!" she yelled before bending over an picking up the light. She turned back up just in time to watch Naruto get sent reeling from an unknown source. Then she heard the delayed click boom. "NARUTO!"
Above Naruto had managed to crawl around the side of the rock an take cover the shot had missed its mark due to the range but it did manage to punch a hole in his leg. He heard Karin yell from the hole and it took everything he had to not yell back to her that he was fine. Pulling the ANBU pouch off his side he tossed it down the hole with the hopes that she would get the message that he was fine, ish.
'Kyūbi how long till the hole is patched?' he asked in hopes that the fox had some trick up his sleeve.
"Kit I'll be honest with ya, there ain't a damn thing I can do for this one. I'm still trying to recover what little charka I had from the last stunt you pulled."
'I was afraid you would say that.' opening the tourniquet holder he wrapped it around his leg and tightened to stem the bleeding. Once he slowed the blood loss he poked his head out to see what he was looking at there was four skeletons now the three from before had caught up to him an the fourth was a new one that carried a shoulder fired version of his hidden gun. 'Looks like something that was at the outpost back in Konoha in one of the crates of rusted gear. I can't let them find Karin down there.' he pulled his head back and pushed up on the rock forcing himself to stand.
"HEY YOU UGLY BASTARDS OVER HERE!" he yelled before limp running into the treeline glancing over his should he smiled as all four of them started running towards him. Once again the game of cat an mouse was going to be played in the woods only difference this time was he couldn't kill the cat.
The Creed Reborn
Picking up the pouch that fell into the hole Karin opened it an removed a kunai before quickly attaching it to her belt loops. She was useless in a fight an she knew that but if Naruto was going to fight the least she could do is try to help, but to do that she had to find a way out of here.
The light only gave off enough to see a few feet in front of her, and in a cave this big it was unknown to her what was ahead. Taking quiet steps she moved forward. The cavern was massive just from the slight echos that her foot falls gave off. Her body was coiled an ready to jump at the first sign of trouble, after all it was just her down here.
It felt like hours of walking in the dark to finally begin to see light ahead. It was soft blue light that almost looked like moonlight. Hopping it was a way out she walked towards it instead she found a door way.
"Isu DNA Detected, Unlock Sequence Initiated" she jumped a the voice that seemed to come from all around her. The sounds of heavy dead bolts moving out of their holes sounded off from the door in front of her. With each one her nerves became less an less.
The doors started to creep open and with it the same light blue light lit the hall one section after another. With a loud hissing sound the doors stopped moving and only then did she gather up the courage to walk into the depths. The black polished stone or metal floors made no sound when her feet met the floor. It was deafening to not hear herself walk, but she kept pushing forward.
There was no other path off to the side of the hall just one long hall that eventually opened into a room of some kind. In the center of the room suspended by what looked to be cables there was a slow flashing light on a screen of some sort.
Walking to the screen she sat the kunai down an prepared to push the screen. Every fiber of her being was yelling at her to walk out an try to find a way back to Naruto, but something about this place called to her. Like she knew some of the purpose behind this place. Finally touching the screen the room came to life.
In crimson and alarms.
"INVALID DNA, TRIPLE HELIX PATTERN NOT FOUND. SECURITY LOCKDOWN. SECURITY LOCK-" she heard tapping from the other side of the console from her, whipping around she saw a person with blond almost see through hair clad in white robes with a golden hair piece. "Security Lockdown override accepted, welcome Aether."
"It has been almost 85000 years since I last was here according to my console. I take it Adam an Eve won in the conquest against Juno, pity I didn't live to see the bitches face when the people she called cattle removed her head." Karin just stared dumbfounded seeing but not truly understanding what she was seeing. "I see you either don't understand me or Humans as a whole have lost the ability of speech. While adaptable your kind was never really the pinnacle of knowledge, always unable to understand the even the most basic of concepts. How I ever fell in love with one of you I will never know."
Finally shaking the cobwebs from her Karin's brain began to reboot in its own way. 85000 years the number by itself made no sense, but nether did this complex nor the woman standing in front of her. While she wasn't see through at the same time she was but she could interact with the world like she was alive. "THIS MAKES ZERO SENSE!" she yelled while grabbing her head. "First the undead rising from their graves, then some door that can tell what blood type you are, now a fucking ghost that is talking to me."
"It really is quite simple young one. I am a suspended soul fragment of myself, who is projected into this room via photon projection, through the use of geothermal batteries powering the projection system." the woman who the computer called Aether acted like these ideas an concepts even existed now.
"I'm sorry but the only two things there I understood was soul and battery, I guess the world was sent back into the stone-age in comparison to your time."
"Indeed it seems that is the case" Aether walked around to the console once more and Karin watched in amazement as the room around her flashed with pictures and objects she couldn't understand. "It seems that your assessment is not too far off the mark. When the last solar ejection hit almost four thousand years ago your kind had the ability to travel into the stars, but it seems the both the moon an almost 99.6% of humans were wiped out and only those with Isu DNA or pure luck seemed to have survived. It is troubling that almost anyone could walk right in here."
"I don't know what you are talking about did we use to have two moons or something?"
"No this planet has only ever had one."
"Then I guess the story of the sage was true then, when he created the moon."
"Interesting indeed the idea that mankind treaded into a realm that not even the Isu would touch for fear that the world would be destroyed. This requires further study, oh if only I were still alive." Looking back to the screen she pulled up page upon page of info "It would seem that the remaining DNA has morphed into something else, a form of power allowing you to bent the world around you, oh how I wish I had time to study the people that survived."
"Um sorry to bother you but could you just point me to the nearest exit my friend is above us fighting what I would assume the protectors of this place." Karin said timidly still not fully understanding the situation she was in.
"Oh you must mean the Oni, they are really just harmless toys meant to keep people away from here. I forgot they were even active until you said something just now." another screen appeared an after a few taps once more returned to the void "Not really sure that on how your going to get out of here tho, this place was built as a repository of data and in the event it was breached I ensured it would self destruct minutes after opening. Its odd that it hasn't went off yet." Karin went white at hearing this and quickly turned to make a dash for the door.
Sprinting full speed back the way she came she watched in horror as the door slowly closed. Each second spent running to the door was another second that she watched it close. She reached it just as the first deadbolt fell into place sealing the door and her fate with it.
"I told you it was useless…"
The Creed Reborn
Naruto watched as one of the skeletal protectors passed in front of the bush he was hiding in. He couldn't continue running from these things all night, he somehow needed to find a way to get back to the cave but it was like these things had a hive like mentality. He had managed to relieve the one of it powder pouch possibly giving him a major boost in ammo, if the caliber was right, but the main thing was that he removed the most dangerous one's ability to reload after the shot it had.
But when he attacked the lone gunner soon after two of the other ones showed up an started searching in the area for him. With his leg the way it is there was little he could do in the way of fighting other then a quick sneak attack, which against these monsters that was little more then a fly buzzing their face. The only thing that seemed to work was removing their head.
It was easier said then done when you had a hole in your leg and the things were now faster then you. All he could hope for was an opening or for Karin to find the source of the energy controlling these monsters.
'Well guess we found out why it was called Oni lake…' he thought in dark humor watching another one of the things pass in front of his hiding spot. 'I mean who wouldn't call a moving skeleton an Oni. That's practically the definition of demon.'
"Well you could say that's the pot calling the kettle black there kit."
'Huh, now that you mention it I guess your right in a sense.' he replied back while using the saber as a crutch to stand up. With the hunter gone he was going to try and move back towards the cave in hopes that he could sneak down there.
Each step he took sent pain shooting up his leg but he had to move forward. The only way both of them could get out of this mess was for him to get back to that cave an together they could find the power source or if all else failed get the hell out of this place.
His eyes widened as the flash of silver shown out under the moonlight forcing him to quickly bend backwards lest his head be removed. "Heh the sad part about fight you lot is that there is no murderous intent, at least with those damn villagers I could tell roughly where they were." he parried the follow up slash and backed away.
Hearing the brush rattle all around him he tried his best to see what all was coming. In front of him was the one that just tried to take his head and pushing through the brush behind it was four more. Looking to his left there were three that had just showed up and to the right he counted six at a glance.
Click.
Glancing over his shoulder the last one showed up to the party. It was the one carrying the shoulder fired gun, and at this range that shot it had loaded was all it needed to kill him.
"Ya know fellas I'm really tired of us meeting like this here. How bout we all just calm down an….ah hell I'm talking to a bunch of bones what does it matter." he held up the saber an shifted his weight to be able to push off on his good leg "Well are we going to tango or are we going to have a staring match, pretty sure ya'll would win that one though."
Almost as soon as he finished talking the skeletons surrounding him fell over almost like puppets with their strings cut. He looked around trying to make sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him.
"Seems like that vixen of yours managed to do something right." the Kyūbi piped up breaking his amazement at surviving this night mare. He an Kyūbi were both sure he was a goner, Naruto's last stand and the only thing that would have been covered in blood was himself.
'You ain't kidding the timing couldn't have been any better. Now to get back there an find her.' turning back in the direction of the cave the only other thing he could think about at this point is how much he hated the Land of Fire.
Finding the opening he crawled down all while trying to avoid dropping on his busted leg. At this point he was kicking himself for not having the experience or the full range of tools that the assassins of old had. But on the other side this saber while in need of care was better then any kunai in his hand.
Landing on the ground he noticed the cave was covered in an odd glow of blue. 'Kyūbi correct me if I'm wrong here but I think we are standing at the entrance to a Precursor site, what were they called again Inu , Emu, Lemu or something?' the architecture was identical to the memories of Desmond Miles during the last days of the then modern times.
"Isu kit, Isu, they were the creators of humans if those memories were true. Looking at it now all the doubts I had before about these precursors have been put to rest. That explains the energy and why your mate couldn't feel it."
Naruto stumbled at the wording of the fox. 'For your information fox she is not my MATE!' The fact that he had to even state that was what annoyed the blond more then the fact that he had forgotten the name Isu. 'Back to the original topic what do you think this site was. I'm not getting the military vibe from it…' stopping and looking at the door in front of him he realized something else.
"Kit whats wrong you having visions again?"
'No I just realized how something, well more like a question...How in the hell am I to explain all this to Karin. I've made it a point to keep her out of all this if she ever wanted a normal life.' the response he got was nothing but manic laughter.
"Kit normal life went out the window the second you an her met. At best she could have rebuilt her life, but she chose to stay with you."
All Naruto could do was stare blankly at the door. The Kyūbi wasn't wrong, but he refused to accept the truth. 'We can finish this conversation later, any ideas on how to get this door open?'
"Kit your asking a giant fox how to open a door, if it were me…"
'Nevermind dumb question you would just blow it up.' that left the blond with one option the old school way of looking for a way around.
The Creed Reborn
On the other side of the door Karin was frantically looking for a way out. This was the only door into the vaults and it was sealed up tight, the only other thing in here were the screens that surrounded her.
'Wait screens….' running over to the nearest console she tapped the screen an almost like it was alive it responded to her. The symbols on the screen were foreign to her but at the same time they were familiar almost like she had seen them before.
Subconsciously she opened her mind and slowly the foreign text started to make sense to her, each tap on the screen became faster an faster. Aether who was looking through the logs of the past 85000 years was drawn out of her stroll through history by the tapping on the screen.
Walking over to Karin she looked over the shoulder of the red head. "Child do you have any idea at all what you are doing?" the question was answered with silence. She walked around to see her face an saw that she was in something akin to trance. She had a far off yet focused stare as she worked through the code that was written by the Isu. Her fingers moved with practiced ease yet she had never touched one of these super computers. "A Mind Eye holder, to think that even that mutation survived all these years."
The clock was ticking for Karin and even if she didn't realize it at the time each second passed was another second until the complex exploded on itself. While Aether shut down the security lockdown she didn't shut down the self-destruct sequence, its not that she couldn't she just refused to shut it down. With the complex itself breached and the data and knowledge contained within these walls she didn't want to allow information to reach the current world.
With her body not being able to fully interact with the world around her there was nothing she could do, against a Mind Eye wielder there was nothing even an archivist like herself could do even if she was alive. A person with a Mind Eye could process information at a rate that normal Isu couldn't, it was the ultimate code breaker and nothing could stay hidden once a possessor of one became focused.
"ARCHIVE PROTECTION SEQUENCE CYCLING DOWN, DNA DETECTION PROCESS REMOVED."
Within seconds she had stopped the anti-matter bomb and was in the process of revoking her admin rights from the system. Had she known that this kid in front of her could do all the damage that that she was in the process of doing she wouldn't have lifted the security lockdown, and even then it might have bought enough time for the bomb to detonate.
"REGISTRATION OF NEW ADMIN COMPLETE. WELCOME KARIN UZUMAKI."
The sounds of a door opening caused Aether to turn an look towards the entrance of the library. Using what looked like a sword as a walking stick a hooded figure came walking in. Their eyes met for all of a split second.
"KARIN BEHIND YOU!" the figure yelled lifting the sword and trying to run towards her. The redhead turned an looked to where the voice came with her thousand yard stare, before collapsing into the floor. Upon seeing the state of Karin the hooded figure reached up and removed at eye patch.
If blood still ran through her veins it would be froze solid right now. In the figures left eye was a golden slit, the eye of an eagle.
"I mean you and Karin no harm." she said taking a knee in hopes that he would get the message that it was indeed true. The blade fell short of cutting her neck, not that it would have done any damage to her.
"Who are you, and what are you?" the figure asked while holding the blade inches from the woman's neck.
"My name is Aether I was once the archivist of this library, as for what you see before you I am little more then a fragment of the past."
Reaching up and removing his hood Naruto coldly stared down the ghost. Based off the memories in his head from Desmond this "Ghost" in front of him was one of the precursors, the Isu. His blood was boiling. "Answer quickly Ghost, what happened to Karin?!"
Aether looked up at the ice cold gold an blue at the question. "She used her Mind's Eye for the first time without even realizing it, based off the your eye I would say something happened to you after your awakening."
"She's not wrong kit remember the coma you went into after you woke that Dōjutsu that you have. I mean that was more severe then whatever Karin has, but either way the end result is a coma like state." Kyūbi chimed in.
'Okay that explains why Karin is like that but that still doesn't explain what this Mind's Eye is, an now that I am thinking about it that she should know what the hell I have.' Naruto responded to the fox. "You seem to be able to answer this question what exactly is this Mind's Eye, and while your at it what Dōjutsu do I even have?" Not taking his eye off the kneeling form of Aether.
"The first one is fairly easy since it well documented by the Isu. A Mind Eye allows one to process information that is normally outside of the scope of the mind, take a cipher for example, if you were to place a coded message infront of this girl she would in theroy be able to make the cipher needed to crack the code, or could even crack the code without it. Yours on the other hand is harder explain," the blonds eyes hardened at the explanation "it was never documented as being a blood mutation of Isu like the Mind Eye was, only humans showed signs of it and the first two that did quickly lead an uprising because they couldn't be controlled. After the uprising documentation became a little harder since there was a war going on. Yours seems to have either mutated more, or degraded over the years since only one eye is slit."
It was at this point that the Kyūbi decided to add his input on the explanation. "If I was to guess it would be a bit of both, based off the way she is talking I doubt the first iteration of this eye was dangerous to the user, but at the same time it was doubtful that the eye allowed one a modified perception of time like yours seems to do. If I didn't know any better I would say that this eye is the predecessor of the Sharingan that those Uchiha monkeys have."
Placing the eye patch back over the eye he slowly removed the blade from Aether's face. He didn't trust the thing in front of him, nor will he ever, but at least at this very moment she did not pose a threat to him or Karin.
Leaning the sword against the wall he sit down beside it, all he wanted was sleep an some food right now. Placing a hand on Karin he slowly rubbed her back 'Here's to hopping that at least one of us gets a goodnight of sleep.'
"Here's to hopping that she ain't out for days like you were…
The Creed Reborn
Naruko had had been home for almost four hours and for roughly three of the four there had been a sharp pain in her leg. Almost as if someone had stabbed it with a hot kunai. She had told her mom about it but in end Kushina had said it was just her muscle locking up from all the running they were doing at school, before she listlessly walked away.
What she didn't tell her mom was that even if that was the case it would have fixed itself in less then an hour. Pulling out a kunai from her desk cut her finger an watched it seal itself back up before it could even bleed.
There was an old saying that twins were connected in more ways then one, and when they were near to each other it allowed them even tell what the other was thinking even before they said it. She didn't particularly believe in the saying but there was one thing she knew, this pain was not her own.
She had felt a similar pain her shoulder ten days ago the day after her bother had left, but unlike last time this pain wasn't going away.
It had been eleven days since Naruto left the house, and with day passing her expectations of him just walking back home became less and less.
Eleven days, if it was eleven days ago she wouldn't have paid much mind to the coming an goings of her brother, eleven days ago her mother would have only set the table for three at dinner, eleven days ago she didn't feel empty. She had to find him and bring him back home, maybe then just maybe they could become a normal family.
Putting the kunai back in her desk she opened the window and looked out over the village. One by one she watched as the village slowly slowly cut off lights and called it a night, but there was one light that stayed on well into the night. Her father's office at the top of the Hokage Tower.
Her father had hardly been home since Naruto left. She could count on one hand the times he had been home, and even the few times she had saw him he looked like it wasn't in a talking mood. His eyes were hardened with a barely contained rage.
She had played and replayed the words of the letter in her head countless times. There were so many questions she was left with, who were these Templars, why did this group want to control the world, and finally how did her dad get wrapped up in all this.
Deciding to take a walk she went ahead and closed the window. The academy was closed tomorrow and while it was after midnight she couldn't sleep because of her leg. Heading downstairs she quickly left a note for her mom and walked out the door.
The air was cool at this time of night. She didn't really have a end location in mind so she wondered around. The only people she saw were the night shift of the police force and the occasional person headed home from a bar or some other fine establishment. Not that right now she couldn't use something to take the edge off.
As she walked she eventually made it out of the main streets of the village an was working her way through the outskirts near the training fields. Looking up she noticed there was a person standing in front to the memorial stone which was odd for this late at night. Deciding to check it out she turned and walked towards the person.
Standing in front of the stone was the same person she had met earlier in the night. Itachi if she remembered correctly, was standing in front of the stone lost in thought.
He finally noticed her when she stepped up beside him. Not even reacting they stood together in silence. Naruko didn't even know what do say her mind was still all over the place when it came to her brother and father. Itachi didn't want to voice his issues to the daughter of his commander even if they weren't on the best of terms at the moment. The one thing they both subconsciously agreed on though was the silence was killing them.
"What would you do if a person you care about left because another person you care about was power drunk?" she finially asked kicking herself after she said it. Little did she know Itachi was in the same boat.
He knew already from his talk with Naruto who the two people were she was referring to. "At this point in time I really couldn't answer that. There was a point in time that I would have stood by what's right but when either choice you have is wrong in your heart then the question becomes what is right." he was mostly referring to himself when he said that. After all it isn't everyday you learn that one of your best friends is the one influencing your clan to start a rebellion.
"Say for as second you know what you should do, but are too scared to do it, even if it stands against all that you want to do?" she looked at the stone and could faintly read some of the names inscribed. Taking a knee she sent prayers up to the ones that had died to protect the peace of this village. After praying she knew what she needed to do, even before praying she knew what needed to be done. "I came out here to clear my head, an maybe answer a question I had. Instead I found you" she stood up and bowed to Itachi "and because of you asking me what is right and the stone before me I have the answer I seek. I will protect the people of this village against all enemies foreign and domestic."
Itachi while outwardly didn't move on the inside he himself steeled his heart. He knew what needed to be done even if what he done wasn't right. Nodding he turned an faced Naruko "Life gives you hard choices, and tonight marks the start of many hard choices for you. For me it was a four days ago that I started to make hard choices, it was the day that I gave your brother all the help I could." her head shot up at the mention of Naruto "You won't find him here in the village, by now I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't even in the country."
"You met him? How was he? Did he say where he was going? Did he say anything at all? What did he tell you about the Templars?" all the questions she had swirling in her head came to the forefront.
"Yes I met him, he was fine just a little tied up, no he didn't say where he was headed just that he was going to get as far away as he could, and no he didn't tell me anything about some...Templars?" something in his mind clicked when he said the word.
He remembered that some of the most elite units jokingly called themselves Temps, even a small handful of his own clan had uttered the word Templar. Hearing it now he started to question if it was something akin to Ne the supposedly disbanded branch of the ANBU. ' I'll have to look into this.'
"When Naruto left he wrote me a letter it somewhat explained a few things like the fact that each Templar is marked with a red cross, and that the group as a whole is looking to control the world around them. The last thing he told me was that if I followed my dad that he would…" she couldn't finish the last part it bothered her that she had even let it get that far.
And with that it all clicked. Those elite ANBU units all had a red cross stitched into the collar of their flak jackets, the members of his clan each had one either around their necks or in their pocket. He had seen that red cross across almost all units. Tracking, Interrogation, ANBU, Hunters, and even the Academy, all of these specialized units had hundreds of shinobi working all under the Hokage and now he realized that there were dozens that were truly working with the Hokage.
The Creed Reborn
Red eyes fluttered opened, blinking a few times to clear the blurriness from her eyes it was at that point she realized two things. One her side was cold from sleeping on the floor, and two her pillow was somewhere between soft and hard. Taking her hand she moved it up to fluff it. She shot up wide awake finially realizing that her pillow was Naruto's leg and her bed was the cold floor of an Isu Archive.
Naruto woke up when he felt her head leave his leg. It had been a few hours since bandaged his leg and went to sleep, neither he nor the ghost Aether were in the most talkative of moods after the night they had both had. She was more concerned with whatever was in front of her face and he was still hurting from those skeletons up top.
"Nice to see your awake." he told her as she tried to look anywhere other then the blond.
"The new admin is fininally awake, child do you have any idea what you took control of? Better yet are you even able to comprehend what it is?"
"Oi ghost how bout you do us a favor an shut up. What she took from you doesn't matter what matters is that she is ok."
"I'm fine Naruto just sore from the bed I had," she replied leaving out the fact that she was happy that he was worried bout her "as for what I took control of, yes I know what I took control of. It was a Isu sub-archive documenting weapon design and black technology."
"Then you know the reason why this place must never see the light of day. That is doubly so based off what I'm seeing from your era." in the time that the pair had been asleep she had been combing through the limited info she had been able to retrieve.
Standing up she walked over to the nearest console and touched the screen, once again going into a half trance. "No I perfectly understand. While too advanced for our current level of technology even some of the older designs in here would alter the state of the world. The sad part is that some of this earlier tech like the black powder guns that Naruto has had already made it to the world."
"That part is not exactly true since I think that the only ones in existence are are in this room that's not to mention the larger one I saw carried by the bone heads up there. These were leftovers from the Brotherhood," he saw the half clouded eyes of Karin look over towards him "which I promise to explain in a little bit."
"Noted," she looked back to the screen "I don't have any intentions of letting this place fall into anyone's hands since everything in this place is made to maim, kill, or cause mass destruction."
"How are you going to protect it then since you humans have a limited life span and even with the Mind Eye you won't be able to remake any process to extend your life even if you started now."
"No we won't protect it we will remove it all together. I know I didn't realize this when I disarmed it but the bomb that is set up in this facility is mainly designed to just destroy in here. I plan on setting the timer for three hours and setting the door to seal again once we both leave. I'm assuming you have no problem dying for a second time since you had to set to go off should anyone enter this place again." Typing on the screen she proceed to input the data needed to do just that.
"SELF-DESTRUCT PROCESS STARTED TIMER SET FOR THREE HOURS"
"SECURITY LOCK-DOWN PROCESS SET TO TWO MINUTES"
Naruto at this point was sweating bullets his recent track records involving bombs has not been the best. Looking down at his bandaged leg he hopped that three hours were enough for them to get away.
"Maybe this generation of freedom fighters won't be corrupted like the one I knew. I thank you for not taking anything from this place."
"I didn't do it for you, I done it for the world. I cant sleep tonight knowing that something from this place could make it into the hands of the people who killed mom." she stepped away from the console and grabbed Naruto's hand "Its time to go now that bomb will remove everything from existence for about a half a mile."
"At least its not that bad, even with my busted leg I could make it outside the blast zone before it went off." picking up his 'new' saber he used it as a crutch while Karin supported the other side.
Aether watched the door close and only then did she let a small smile out. Maybe there was hope for this world yet.
Outside the door the pair walked in near silence. One was thinking about how to explain the story of the brotherhood and its relationship to the precursors in general, the other was running lines of Isu code through her head so that she wouldn't forget.
Reaching the cave entrance Naruto cupped his hands together and helped Karin up to the hole above. Once up there she quickly found a vine for Naruto to use to climb up.
"Once we are outside of the blast zone I want you to explain everything to me from the start." offering her hand to Naruto to pull him up the rest of the way. "The other thing you are doing is your going to take me by the site where you fought with those Oni so I can grab that rifle off of the one."
"I thought you didn't take anything from the archive?"
"Oh I didn't take anything per say" she replied tapping on her head "I just remember most of it and stuff like flintlocks and black powder are easy to make using the technology we have on hand now."
Pulling his hood up to block the sunlight from his eyes he motioned for Karin to follow him back to the battle site. The tracks were easy to follow since it was covered in the many boot prints of the skeletons trying to kill him.
"There's the one that had it." he pointed to the pile of bones that were once the bastard that gave him the hole in his leg.
Picking up the rifle as she called it he watched as she looked it over before digging through the bones. "Did this idiot only have enough ammo for a single shot?" she asked before looking around to Naruto who held up a leather bag "Oh so you stole his ammo."
"Yeah I figured the easiest way to keep em from shooting was to take the ammo, and if I was lucky it was the same size as mine." he tossed her the bag "Not really sure how far that one is accurate for but mine is only good for anything under ten yards."
"Its a smooth bore so maybe fifty but its better then what I have at the moment, which is nothing. I can work on this stuff later. My mom always said I should be a scientist when I grow up always playing with different chemicals at our house back in Kusa." she got a long off look in her eyes as she looked down at the rifle. "It was thanks to that knowledge that we were able to escape the guards."
"I'll tell you what I will tell you my past if you promise to tell me about yours when your ready." he told her not wanting to pour salt on an open wound. "Because as it stands right now all I really know bout ya personally is that your addicted to pancakes…"
"Oi pancakes are life!" she yelled back after slinging the rifle and pouch. "How you can be addicted to that salted noodles and water stuff you call ramen I will never understand!"
"Well ramen is better."
"Pancakes!"
"Ramen!"
The pair walked off from the lake arguing about who's taste in food, each just happy that they had someone to banter back an forth with even if it was a food war.
The Creed Reborn
Itachi sat on the shore of a small pond near his family house. His eyes had bags underneath it caused by lack of sleep, him and Naruko had parted ways hours ago with her heading back to her house an him staying out the rest of the night lost in thought. In that time he ran through hundreds of plans in his head, but each one ended in the same situation.
A majority of his direct family dead.
Hearing footsteps approaching he looked over an saw one of the main people he was thinking about. Shisui Uchiha, the person behind the endangerment of his family and by extension all of the people of Konoha. He was wearing his standard issue flack vest proudly baring the red cross of those Templars.
"You missed the morning clan breakfast." Shisui said sitting down beside Itachi "Your father was worried about you and asked me to see if I can find you. Didn't expect you to be here though."
"I had a lot on my mind these past few days and couldn't sleep last night so I went on a walk to clear my head." Itachi replied.
"I see did it help, because looking at you now you look like hell."
"You could say that it was enlightening."
"I was afraid that that bastard the Hokage had gotten you as a first strike against the clan."
"Cut the bullshit." Itachi said as he fingered the ring of the kunai in his pocket. "I know you are the one causing the strife within the clan at the behest of that man, isn't that right Templar…"
Shisui's eyes hardened and shot to Itachi. Barely hidden surprise an rage were evident in his eyes for a second before softening and trying to play it off. "What are you talking about cousin you know as well as I do that the Uchiha clan should be the one leading this village, after all we are the only surviving founding clan."
"I know that your eyes can give suggestive thoughts, add onto the fact that I know your little group is aiming to control the way the people live, I can not stand idlely by while you and Namikaze tear peace from this village and its people." Itachi's sharingan blazing as he pulled the kunai and swung it at Shisui's neck.
Leaning back to avoid the strike Shusui activated his sharingan and pulled the tanto from his back. He struck back an it was blocked by the kunai leaving the pair locked in a dead heat. "Oh how I wish it didn't come to this. You were always to attached to the people of this village, to attached to the idea of this peace. That's the reason we never extenend a hand for you to join us. Does the idea of false peace attract you so, why have this constant cold war when you can have true peace and the devastation of the last war never has to happen again! You know I'm right!"
Itachi held his ground an used his right hand punch at his cousins head. "I never want to see another war like the one that we lived through but I refuse to put lives in danger to make it happen!" the pair broke the lock on their weapons and it was in that second that Shisui disappeared from Itachi's sight. Quickly placing the kunai behind his head he watched as sparks flew from the strike.
Growling Shusui disappeared and reappeared a few feet away from Itachi. "What does it matter if a few thousand die in the goal of true peace?! Master Minato was right your nothing more then a idealist!"
Itachi's eyes narrowed at the mention of Minato Namikaze. "At least with this peace those people don't have to die, better yet any of the people who might be killed because of you an the Templars as a whole might one day be the one who makes peace achievable!" he took off running at Shisui and dodged a upward swing as Shisui blocked Itachi's arm.
"Why are you so persistent on the idea of a possible peace when you have the option of real peace in the near future?!" he felt a sharp pain in his side as Itachi place a kick in his kidney. Kicking himself for allowing tunnel vision and anger to get the better of him he pulled a pair of kunai and threw them at the retreating Itachi.
Deflecting the kunai he watched as handsigns were formed before diving off into the water to avoid a massive fireball. Seeing that the threat was avoided Itachi grabbed a handful of fine mud from the bottom and shot out of the water while throwing the mud at Shisui.
Blocking the mud with his hand Shisui once again shot off towards Itachi and managed to stab Itachi in the side. Itachi looked stunned before he dispersed into a murder of crows and reformed again a little ways away. "You should know that in each spar we had you never once won."
"I held back all those times and you know it Shisui." Itachi picked up one of the kunai that he had deflected before flipping it into a defensive stance. "I never once used more force then I needed to match you in those spars, this isn't a spar its a dance to the death." he faded once more into a flock of crows an each one encircled Shisui all bearing the sharingan.
"You should know that genjutsu is useless against us Itachi!" Shisui sent out a pulse of charka breaking the illusion before him.
It was then that he felt the cold of steel slide smoothly across his neck. "It was never meant to do anything other then block you sight for a second." Itachi whispered into his ear before stepping back.
Dropping his tanto an grabbing his neck Shisui tried to stem the blood loss, but he knew it was a useless action. Sharingan met Sharingan and Shisui watched in horror as the eyes of Itachi morphed into a three pointed wheel.
"Amaterasu." Itachi coldly said before walking away from the black flames that engulfed his cousin and disappearing in a swirl of leaves.
Had he looked back he would have seen the body of Shisui fade into nothingness leaving a black burning flame in its place.
"DAMN YOU ITACHI!" a man yelled as he punched the ground. Both his eyes were closed and he was unable to open them. Reaching into his pouch he pulled out one of the few radios that the village had and fumbling to put the mic around his neck. "10-13 Red Down, I repeat Red Down at Uchiha pond." he cut off the transmitter knowing his message got through. 'To think that he would have timed the Amaterasu with the same time I used Izanagi, some shit luck I have…'
AN: Well folks that's all for now, go ahead an leave a review if you want and tell me how I did.