Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in the Naruto anime/manga because, copyrights suck and Kishimoto-sama's the greatest, of course. I'm using a lot of my own characters in order to practice my character developing techniques as well as sometimes just to further the plot along. A lot of the descriptions of countries in Naruto's world is made up since they are not mentioned much in the actual anime/manga, unless there's a filler episode I have yet to see. I'm not sure if any of this stuff that I'm making up belongs to Viz now since it's based off of Naruto, and they own that...I think. But well, whatever. It's not like I care. Copyrights confuse me, therefore I tend to ignore them. Meh. Now on to the story. Oh and by the way, please leave a review if you can. I want to know if anybody besides the people that have reviewed so far are reading this at all. I think a lot of people are either really put off by the fact that it's practically all OC, or maybe I'm just not making it interesting enough. If in the second case, please make any suggestions you want as long as they're within reason. And if for the first reason, Itachi's coming in the next chapter, I swear! He's one of the coolest villans ever, and I really want to do his character right. I'm also going to have Sasuke show up, kind of...but well, yeah. We'll just have to see, sometimes the words come to me before I even know what's going on. It's creepy actually.


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The Curse of the Mononoke and the Rescue Itachi Mission

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"What? Itachi's been captured by the ninja of the Hidden Rain? Why? How?"

--

And just when we thought things were getting easier too.

--

It seems that for some reason, Itachi had intervened on behalf of a local village against a ninja clan of the Hidden Rain. This family was very powerful, but had lost a lot of money due

to a recently failed business venture. A man named Hideki Takanashi was willing to pay an extremely high price for a piece of land located deep within the dreaded Mononoke forest.

This forest was similar to the Forest of Death and had often been used in the past as a place for the chuunin exams. As such, the ninjas of the Hidden Rain thought that they knew what

they were in for. However…somehow the members of the teams that were sent out to secure the land wound up killed mysteriously in the night. Their bodies were found the next

morning with no markings at all, dead without a trace of how it had happened. Many of the local villagers and even some within the Hidden Village immediately attributed the deaths to

the workings of the Mononoke. So now, instead of gaining the money they would have gotten, not only did the clan have to spend more money hiring better trained ninjas to complete

the task but they also had to pay people to keep their mouths shut and not let the situation come to the attention of the investor. But, after the third group of jounin were killed in the

forest in the same exact manner as the ones sent before them, fewer and fewer were willing to go into the forest at all. Soon, there seize to be any willing to partake of the now S class

mission, even on the order of the Mizukage. It got to the point where the situation could no longer be kept secret and the investor somehow found out. But instead of tearing up the

contract completely he added a clause which stated that any land bordering the area mentioned would be acceptable, so long as it was the same size in total area as the one requested.

It just so happens that bordering that area, existed a village. It was about the same in size as the area of the land requested by the investor, and the benefit was that it was already

inhabited, and therefore seemed to be outside the area affected by the curse of the Mononoke. However the head of the village would not concede to the idea of someone buying the

land that they had lived on for centuries, and was not willing to force his people to live in a different place, any different place, simply for the reason that somebody else wanted it to sell

for money. No amount of bribery, or threats was able to sway him. In the end, they hired a group of assassins. Unfortunately for the group of assassins, the day they were sent to kill

the stubborn head of the village, was the same day that he arrived in the village, without a memory of anything but his name. Due to a mistaken confrontation, Itachi somehow wound

up killing the assassins, but not before they had accomplished their mission objective with the tip of a poisoned kunai. Thus somehow Itachi wound up being the new head of the

village, and was regarded as a hero for obtaining revenge for the death of their previous leader. This created quite a stir.

--

Fortunately for the village, the reputation of the one called Itachi Uchiha alone kept the ninjas from the Rain at bay for a while…until after the incident with the Konoha ninjas and they

realized that Itachi nowhere near as powerful as he was before. So after the ninjas from Konoha left, the clan sent three of their best men to the village. Although there was plenty of

resistance, in the end, half the village was burned down and Itachi was captured. A mysterious force somehow stopped the rest of the village from being destroyed. But this was not

the end. The ninjas from the Hidden Rain promised to come back with an even bigger army…

--

"So where is he now? And why did they capture him instead of killing him outright? Don't they know how dangerous he is if he were to regain his memory?"

--

"They know. However…they're more afraid of what would happen if they did kill him."

--

Hizashi and I looked at each other, then at the man. We were puzzled. What could possibly happen that would be worse to the Hidden Rain ninjas than Itachi regaining his memory

and killing them all.

--

"Ah, I believe I forgot to mention... Itachi is in a state currently…one you might called, possessed."

--

"What?" Both Hizashi and I shouted at the same time.

--

"You see…there's another reason beyond gratitude as to why the villagers were so easily willing to accept a man known as a criminal as their new head leader. There is a certain

inheritance, that every leader of this village had to pass down before he is able to transfer his position…this "inheritance" is actually the spirit known as the Mononoke. The village itself

has the name of Mononoke village…not because it borders the Forest, as the ninjas of the Hidden Rain thought, but because they are the actual guardians of the Forest, and of the

spirit that resides there. Every leader of the Mononoke village is required to be possessed by the Mononoke spirit. It is important because, if the Mononoke is without a host, all of its

powers would spread out to the forest and the areas surrounding it, causing massive damage due to foliage growth and vegetation where there really should be none. This kind of

environmental damage can spread to even as far as other countries that border this one, such as the Grass, the Sand, and maybe even far as into the Earth and Fire countries. This, I

believe, is the reason why the previous leader made his decision so hastily. And now…your Itachi, the one feared so much by everybody, is in possession of a creature so powerful

that if it broke free of the bonds to which ties it to the host, it could unleash chaos of unimaginable proportions. If Itachi were to regain his memory, at most he would kill all the

members of that one ninja family and leave. However, releasing the Mononoke has the potential of destroying all Rain. The MizuKage had not known about this before as the clan had

tried to keep it quiet. However, somehow he learned of this little factor. The clan was immediately ordered to cease what they had been attempting to do, and cancel the contract

immediately. However, the investor responded with a threat of cutting off all financial backing to the village if they did not succeed in the mission. So now, both villages have been put

into a critical state. As for Itachi… he'll most likely be held at the main prison compound at the edge of the Village of Hidden Rain, since this is the place that is most secure, and where

they usually keep criminals and the like."

--

At the conclusion of this story, the stout man gave a huff. "This is the reason why we haven't been getting customers lately. Everyone is afraid that something is going to happen to them

like what happened to the ninjas that came here on that mission. They don't know what we who have been living inside this forest for such a long time know in our hearts. If that spirit

had wanted to kill anybody, it could have easily done so before. It is not a vicious demon, but merely a creature trying to protect its home. Are we humans not like that too? How

many of those same ninjas, willing to give steal this forest away for mere money would not give their own lives to preserve their village, to protect the ones they cherish and keep their

children happy in their homes. Ah, but there's no telling what will happen now. But ah, at least Koushirou and I will survive. We may not have many customers...but the good thing

about living in a place such as this is that all the ingredients required to sustain human life exist inside this forest. We can survive off the land and wait till this recent bout is over. But…I

feel very sorry for the villagers, of both sides really. Those ninjas didn't know what they were getting into when they signed that contract…and now it is too late."

--

It seemed all gloom and doom. This applied for us as well. I never expected that I'd come all this way, dragging Hizashi along with me…only to find that Itachi's in a prison so guarded

that most likely even my stealth abilities wouldn't allow us to get in. And still…as much as I would like to see that person suffering in a prison, part of my reasons for coming here was

not so much revenge…but a letting go of that revenge mentality. That was what got my father killed, and I longed to get rid of the same burden which somehow now still resided within

me. After pondering along this line for a long time…I came upon a course of action. We would have to free Itachi. Hizashi and I. We would have to do this somehow, because doing

so would be the only way I could ever come to terms with my past, with any hate I carried inside me. As to what would happen after that…something inside told me that this course of

action was right…and that it would lead me to any answers that I sought. It was a feeling…an intuition you might call it. Although I don't usually operate under this mentality, in such an

instance I could see no other way. Besides…uncle Naruto often did things in this manner, and somehow luck always seems to be with him. I silently asked Kami-sama if I could

borrow some of that luck…because for this, we could definitely need it.

--

"If Itachi is being held there, then that is where we must go. Even if it's a maximum security prison, we should be able to get in somehow. We will be fine. After all, we've had lots of

practice recently. That sneaking adventure into the Hokage's office…and you Hizashi, you did manage to get that plant required for that antidote. The villagers in the Grass told me

that there were always hundreds of guards posted around there. If you managed to get past all of them, I'm sure we'll get past these ninjas of the Rain. We can't give up now. We've

come so far…"

--

"We won't give up Hikari. I may have been dragged into this situation, but I have learned on this journey that helping people can often lead to unexpected awards. And who

knows…since Itachi is technically the head of that village now, wouldn't we be doing them a service if we freed their leader and sent him back to them?"

--

"Hizashi! You're brilliant! That's the perfect excuse for rescuing Itachi. We'll tell him once we see him in that jail, that we're there for the purpose of breaking him out for the sake of

the village. He'll most likely think we were hired by the village people to go save him, so he won't be as suspicious of my background and intentions. This way I won't have to tell him

anything, but I'll still be able to observe him. But…it would be even more potent if we actually do get hired by those villagers. Say, "master chef" you still haven't told us your name

yet."

--

"It's Kyo. Kyo Midori, of the Mononoke Forest. And if you plan on heading to the remains of that village, please do take this with you."

--

He hands me an item he took from a large pouch sewn onto his very large apron. It was a small round metal coin made of something that smelled and looked like silver. It had the

words: Live and Die engraved on opposite sides of the coin.

--

"This was something given to me a long time ago by the village head when he was still young. It had belonged to his father, who was also the head before him. He was young and

foolish then, and forgot to bring money to pay for the food. So he gave this to me instead, and told me that any villager seeing that would immediately trust me. So, now with all that

has happened…this may just give you two the edge you need before convincing those villagers to send you two on this rescue mission you intend to undertake."

--

"Arigatou, Midori-san."

--

"You're very welcome. Now, sit here and wait for a while. I'll see what's taking Koushirou so long in cooking. He's usually much faster than this."

--

With that, he left the hut. From the distance we could hear his loud booming voice shout something, most likely telling his apprentice to hurry up.

--

As for myself…I sat there wondering how this journey has taken such twists and turns. It seems almost like dejavu again. In the country of Grass, we somehow managed to save a

village plagued by a large snake, and Hizashi faced ninjas from the Hidden Grass who were acerbating that situation by not allowing the villagers access to the main ingredient of the

antidote to the snake poison. Now, we were in the Rain country, and something similar seems just about to occur. Change the snake to a spirit and the situation was about the same.

But then again…Midori-san had said that the spirit wasn't precisely evil… unlike the snake. As well, Itachi was involved. That changes the scene quite a bit. However…both of these

situations seem like something that mere Genin like me and Hizashi…just weren't supposed to handle. And yet somehow, at least in the previous situation, everything turned out ok. It

all seems so coincidental…almost like it was…fate. Then I shook myself mentally. I was beginning to sound like uncle Neji!

--

As I was wondering about such things silently to myself, Koushirou came whizzing in with the food.

--

"Gomenasai for taking so long…I thought your conversation was interesting so I sort of listened in. Don't worry! The food's a okay, I turned the burner off when I was done. I also

needed to add some finishing ingredients. Well! Enjoy!"

--

"Arigatou Koushirou-san." I said.

--

As the plate was set down, I realized how hungry I was. There was only one plate, so we had to share, but Hizashi didn't seem to mind, and neither did I. The plate was huge, so

much so that the edge of the plate was hanging off the table. There was a huge assortment of meat and vegetables piled on top of the plate and covered in a sauce that made the dish

look a bit like the curry of life I had tried once before back in Konoha. As such, I decided to let Hizashi try it first. After all, he was certainly more experience with that particular dish.

He had more contact with Uncle Lee than I did during the early part of our lives. Actually…come to think of it, Hizashi was the one who invited me to try that dish first, along with

Uncle Lee. That baka probably invited me just to see my reaction after I took the first bite. I wouldn't put it above him. This is Hizashi after all. Half the time I think he lets the women

in the baths see him when he's taking a peak…just to get a reaction from them. For a Hyuuga, he certainly loves attention. Ah, but it just goes to show that nurture plays just as nature

in a life sometimes. Uncle Neji constantly blames Hizashi's behavior on his old sensei, Uncle Lee, grandpa Kakashi and great grandpa Jiraiya. Those four were constantly being sent

over by Uncle Naruto, since, "As the Hokage, I can't let those two shrimps turn out to be as stuffy as their father. One Neji is enough…but two Nejis? That's scary." It might surprise

you that Uncle Neji and Aunt Tenten might object to this…but apparently they didn't seem to mind, perhaps because it was an order by the "Hokage", although how Uncle Naruto

came to be one, I'll never really know. It wasn't until the first peeping incident occurred with Hizashi that those two finally decided they had enough. Except it was more like Uncle

Neji had a fit… and Hizashi wasn't kidding when he said that Uncle Neji is scary when he's angry. This is one of the reasons I think that in ordinary life situations; Hizashi has far more

courage than me. He faces that kind of wrath every time his antics get too far. Once I was in the room after a particularly bad incident that both Hiashi and I had to get him out of. We

were both cringing at the look on Uncle Neji's face, and Hizashi had a silly grin. It's amazing really… And in circumstances where an unknown food might be too spicy for me to

handle…as with now…it's always Hizashi that tries it first. The curry of life incident has forever scarred me to the possibility of my food being waaay too spicy.

--

At that moment, Hizashi couldn't have had a more Uncle Lee-like expression than if he actually was Uncle Lee. His silver eyes somehow seemed to emphasize the white gleam of his

teeth. He was also holding that strange utensil Midori-san gave us to eat with…something called a fork…the way that you would hold a shiruken knife. It freaked me out, but at the

same time made me want to laugh out loud. As it was, all I said was.

--

"You go first Hizashi, I don't mind."

--

"Arigatou Hikari! Itadakimasu!"

--

After the first few bites and he didn't seem to be turning red…I decided to try it myself.

--

"Hikari, this is so good. Why aren't you eating?"

Hmph! As if I'd lose to him in eating. I took up my forku in exactly the same manner that he had, and started chowing down just as fast, if not faster. It wasn't really spicy at all…only

we were both reaching for it at the same time. An incredibly awkward moment ensued to which for some reason the forks just wouldn't come unstuck. We were so busy trying to get

our forks unstuck that we didn't even notice when an extremely large shadow loomed over our heads and plucked the last piece right out under our still stuck forks.

--

"Kourshirou! You didn't add enough spices!"

--

It was only then that the two of us noted that the last piece of meat was gone…and our forks were still...

--

"Ah, when something like that happens, you just do this." And as he said it, the large man took the two forks and just seemed to just pull them apart effortlessly. Hizashi and I looked

at each other and laughed.

--

After we paid for the meal, we asked Midori-san and Koushirou-san if we could stay there for the night.

--

"Absolutely. And the Inn fee is on the house. Somehow, this forest is telling me that you two being here will have a good effect on this land…and I believe it. If you two do happen to

embark on that rescue mission, I wish you both the best of luck."

--

"Arigatou, Midori-san. Goodnight." Our voices overlapping as we said this, we both began to set up our small camp inside a relatively large round hut that was nearby. Just before I

was about to fall asleep, Hizashi voiced a question.

--

"Hey Hikari? I don't doubt our abilities will get us past the Rain nin…but, do you really think Itachi will come with us, even if we do somehow manage to break him free? What

if…what if he's not willing to come with us and decides to kill us instead. What then?"

--

"I doubt that's going to happen Hizashi. From what we've heard so far, these Rain nin don't seem like the type to treat any kind of prisoner with personal dignity. My mother's met

him before briefly once…she told me that, even though he is evil, he seems to be the kind of person that values his own pride above everything else. A person like that couldn't

possibly be content to stay in a jail of any kind."

--

"But he's lost his memory, could he not have changed? How much can a person change if they lose the memories they have? Sometimes when I think about it, if it weren't for grandpa

Kakashi, Uncle Lee and all the others in my life…I wonder what I would be like. Would I be like my father, who never seems to be satisfied with the way things are? Would I be like

my aunt Hinata who's always quiet and never seems to take a risk at life?"

--

"I don't know Hizashi", I was kind of surprised that he had said all that, considering that I had been reflecting on that exact same point earlier. Sometimes it's scary how much we think

alike. Maybe it's because we've been friends for so long…

--

"I think that even if a person loses their memories of their life…whatever's truly in their nature still remains. And a person can't lose all their memories, and even if they do…wouldn't a

trace of that memory still be left in our souls, even if not in our minds? I'm not sure… Its times like these I wish my mother were here. These are the kinds of questions I usually ask

her." It was strange. It hadn't been until that moment that the homesickness hit me, and I really began to miss all of the people back in Konoha. That was probably why my voice

cracked a little when I told Hizashi that I really missed my mother.

--

"Yeah, I really miss all of them too. I think all this talk of memories is making us homesick. But don't worry Hikari. We'll definitely see them again. We just have to trust in our own

abilities I guess. And like you said…this won't be that bad right?"

--

"I'm sorry Hizashi."

--

"What? Why?"

--

"It's my fault you're here. If I hadn't brought you along, you'd be back home with them and completely safe. I'd never be able to forgive myself if you got hurt because of me. That's

what you're scared of isn't it? Then maybe you shouldn't go with me. He's not your problem after all, he's mine. You're only being dragged along. You should stay at the village and

help them out. They probably need it. I'll go…and if I don't come back, just return to Konoha and tell everybody what happened. I'm sure they'll understand. I'll even write a letter to

them just in case"

--

"There won't be a just in case." He said this very somberly. "Because I'm definitely coming with you. You think I'm a coward? I wasn't saying that because I was scared. I was only

stating a worst case scenario. Maybe we should think of a plan to convince Itachi to come with us in case he doesn't really want to. That's all I was saying. I wasn't saying that I

wasn't going to go with you. You think you'd feel guilty if I got hurt? How do you think I'd feel if you died and I knew that I wasn't there to protect you as I should? I'm glad you

brought me with you. What do you think would have happened if I hadn't been here when that snake poisoned you? Who would have fought all those Grass nin in order to get that

plant that was needed for the antidote? I am not a weak shinobi. You know that."

--

"I know you're not weak Hizashi. I train with you, remember? It's just that…I guess I'm scared. This guy killed my entire clan. I feel really weird inside. Like I'm being pulled in two

directions and I don't know where to go. I'm saving the person I should want to die and suffer eternal torture in the pits of hell. Why am I doing this Hizashi? Please tell me why I'm

going to do this."

--

"I think…it's because you're a good person. You don't want him to suffer, even if you think that's what you should want. It's what I admire about you actually. I remember back in

the academy when people used to tease you about your background. You used to get so mad about that, and then one day…instead of getting mad, you just smiled at the person. As

if you didn't care, and you forgave him for all the bad things he'd said in the past. I think that's the strength you're searching for now…and it's why you want to rescue him instead of

kill him like your dad wanted to. But I don't really know…I'm not you…"

--

"But you understand me better than anyone else…sometimes even myself I think. I really am glad I brought you along. At least now I know I'm not alone. Thanks...Hizashi."

--

"You're welcome. I think we should get some sleep…if we're really heading out to that village tomorrow, we'll definitely need the energy. And Hikari? You're definitely not alone."

--

I smiled…and I remembered something my mother told me before. The greatest strength lies in the ability to believe in yourself and your friends. This strength is emotional strength, and

it has the ability to let you live for a hundred years. And I also remember something my Uncle Naruto told me as well. When you believe in yourself and the people you care about,

anything you set your heart on is possible. It's times like these that I really understand what they're saying. It was then that I knew that we were going to get through this okay. I

believed it.

--

My eyes closed. Soon we both fell asleep to the sound of the Rain country night, and the soft pelting of raindrops on the ground.

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