Hello those who are reading this, I hope you are all staying safe and everything. I'm sure many of you are keeping yourself occupied while staying at home; I know I am, with my updates such as this. Hope you like it.
ju-hkjv: Thanks for the review and hope you enjoy this update.
Inner Thoughts…
Sakura and Kyro are walking down the hall to find a room that could help them reach to the outer mind,
"Do you know which room that could connect outside the mind?" Sakura asked,
"There is one particular room that only views the outside, but only in a 2nd dimensional surface through reflected areas," Kyro said,
"You mean like mirrors?" she asked,
"Kinda," he said. Then he noticed Sakura is about to take another step,
"Whoa! Watch your step," he said stopping her, she looked down and saw what appears to be small leafy vines at the edge of the hallway and there is many more around the walls,
"What's with all these vines?" she asked as she was about to touch one of them on the wall until Kyro stopped her by grabbing her hand,
"I strongly recommend not touching them. They belong to my counterpart, he sprouts his vines in certain areas in case any of us ever try to find a way out of here," he explained, before he started leading her away from it started heading down the hall, but taking some small steps to avoid touching the vines,
"They're like trip wires in case intruders were to trespass on someone's territory, only if you ever step on or even touch any of them, it will alert our counterparts and they will find us here. So we have to be very careful not to make contact to them," Kyro said while guiding Sakura through the hall, she follows his lead by avoiding the vines that sprouted to the ground, taking small open steps passing through. Within moments, they made it out of there safe, Kyro sighed with relief,
"We made it," he said before he let go of her hand, they continue their way, then Sakura became curious,
"Does he hurt you…?" she asked him, he looked at her confused,
"Ibate, has he physically hurt you?" she specified, Kyro was silent for a moment before he answered,
"… Yes and no," he sighed,
"Because we are connected to each other, he can feel no pain whenever he gets hurt, but I do. There are moments he intentionally allowed himself to get hurt as his way of punishing me for intervening," he explained,
"What did you do?" she asked,
"… I attempt to take back control of my body… but failed miserably," he answered, then Sakura became silent for a moment as she felt sad for him for what he been through while trapped here.
"We're here," he said as he finally led her to a room where she saw multiple of mirrors in many sizes, some of them are placed in walls while some are floating and dangling in mid-air; so many and yet rather so intriguing. It's like walking into a funhouse where they're in a room full of distorting mirrors, except is not for showing crazy or silly appearances but rather it reflects the view of the outer mind. Sakura approached to one of them and discovered one of them reflects… the main room inside the Hokage mansion, the reflect is intact by one of the tinted windows, she gazed at it and saw… Kurenai and Anko standing at the center while some staffs are arranging what appears to be a preparational event,
"Kurenai-sensei, Anko-sensei, over here," Sakura tried to call out to them,
"They can't hear you," Sakura turned to Kyro,
"These reflections can only view the outer of the mind, but we're unable to reach out to any of them here… all we can only do is watch and listen," he said, before Sakura turned back to the reflection…
…
Kurenai and Anko stood at the center as they supervised the staffs arranging the tables and chairs for the gathering,
"Is everything all set?" Kurenai asked,
"We're just waiting for the caterers to come with the edibles and we should have enough tea for all the Jounins and Chunins," Anko answered.
"And did you confirm the others in case somebody might try to leave before the gathering starts?" Kurenai asked,
"I have, they're all in position to make sure no one leaves, once everyone is present, we will place this whole building on lockdown," Anko stated, Kurenai smirked,
"Our master will be pleased," she said.
…
"Gathering… lockdown… what are they talking about?" Sakura wondered,
"Sakura," she turned to Kyro as he stood in front of what looks like a very thin mirror that you can you look through with one eye,
"Check this out," he said, Sakura went over to him, she looked from the bottom as he looked from the top, it reflects what appears to be at the Hokage's office, which is intact to a mirror that is nearly blocked by a tapestry, they can barely see some people there, but soon discovered… Lady Tsunade and Shizune kneeling down at three familiar people…
…
Tsunade and Shizune kneeled at their master's allies, the three people standing before them as none other than Dujobe and the Zukato twins, both disguised as their human counterparts,
"Have you received any report from the village?" Dujobe asked them,
"We have, they were able to follow through master's instructions and send out the flowers and the tea throughout the other nations, starting with the daimyō," Tsunade said.
...Two days ago…
At the Land of Water, the five daimyōs are in a middle of a brief meeting at the main building until one of the knocked on the door,
"You may enter," the Fire daimyō said, the door slid opened revealing a young female staff member holding a tray of five cups filled with tea,
"Forgive my intrusion my lords, I thought I brought some tea during your meeting," she said with a smile and her eyes closed,
"You know, we could take a quick break for some refreshments," the Water daimyō said, the others agreed before the young staff came over a placed the cups to each of the daimyōs. They took their cups and then some of them quickly noticed an unusual blue color,
"What kind of tea is this?" the Lighting daimyō asked,
"This looks nothing like chai," the Earth daimyō stated,
"It's a special homemade tea sent by Lady Hokage herself," the staff answered,
"That's oddly kind of her," the Wind daimyō said,
"Did you check to make sure there's no poison in it?" the Fire daimyō asked, the staff bowed to them,
"I have my lords, it is perfectly safe," she said.
Within that moment, the daimyōs raised their cups like making a toast, and at the same time the daimyōs took a drink, the staff member just stood there, still smiling, waiting for that moment to happen, and…
The daimyōs all started gagging and gasping, one of them dropped their cup and the other almost fell to the floor, the staff member opened her eyes revealing her paled brown eyes, and soon after the daimyōs stopped gagging and gasping as their eyes soon became paled, thus became Ibate's subordinates.
...Present...
"They have already sent out more flowers and teas to the other four nations, it won't be long until many more subordinates will be obtained," Shizune said,
"That's promising news, in the meantime, we entrust you both to make sure the gathering goes uninterrupted, that way with many Jounins and Chunins consume the edibles and the tea, we should be able control many of their strongest shinobis," Dujobe said with his arms crossed,
"Also seize full control of the village," Myazo said,
"Which should be before the time we open the gate to our dimension," Fuzca said.
…
Sakura froze after what she just heard, she took a step back,
"They're going to control the shinobis and the village," she said,
"They mentioned about edibles and tea… they must've added something to them in order to possess those who consumes them; and if I were to guess, my counterpart maybe responsible for it," Kyro stated.
"We have to do something! We need stop to them!" Sakura stated,
"How can we stop them? They're preventing us to even find a way out of here," Kyro argued, Sakura thought for a moment then she asked,
"You told me you attempted to take back control of your body, right?"
"Yes, and I fail miserably, why you asked?" he asked,
"I need for you to explain to me how you done it, so that I can try to take back control of my body," Sakura stated, Kyro stood in shocked after what she said.
Tunnel…
Sin guided the Genins through the tunnel, they have been walking for almost thirty minutes, Shino turned to Naruto as he noticed something off about him.
"Hey Naruto," he said, Naruto turned to him,
"You've rarely said a word since we left the cottage, everything okay?" he asked,
"I… didn't get that much sleep last night," Naruto said,
"Bad dream?" he asked,
"… Something like that," Naruto said. He is still on edge about that nightmare/dream last night about Akalra, and is deeply conflicted about his… feelings towards her; despite the fact she is a demon and is considered very dangerous, and yet, he doesn't want to harm her.
"We're here," Sin said as the Genins found themselves at a ladder that lead up to a small door above them, Sin started to climb up the ladder and then opened the door above them, as it cracked open, a bright yet dim light appeared.
…
A small door slowly opened from the ground, as they soon discovered back in the village, outside in an alley between large buildings, Sin looked around to make sure the coast is clear,
"Okay, it's safe," she said to the Genins before they started climbing up the ladder and out of the tunnel.
"I should tell you all before I leave, a brief warning, never inhale any of the blue flowers, don't eat or drink anything that is either 'homemade', 'specialty', or even if it's 'free', and most importantly, if you noticed anyone, whether or not they're your family and friends, who are behaving strangely out of the ordinary and their eyes appeared abnormally paled, you must stay away from them no matter what they say or do," Sin instructed them, then she turned her attention to Naruto,
"Understood?" she said, as she especially meant that for him, since she is still mad at him for accidentally have hers and her grandmother's location compromised. They all nodded for agreement, before Sin is about to head back down the tunnel,
"You're heading back to cottage?" Sasuke asked, she turned to him,
"I have too, I don't want to leave my grandmother to face the Deceiver and his subordinates alone, although you may have fought him, you have no idea what he's capable of; especially if things doesn't go his way," Sin said to him, before she turned to other two,
"You all be careful now," she said before she returned to the tunnel and closed the door.
Cottage…
Sin's grandmother grabbed her staff that has a turquoise gem attached to it, and gathered three small bags from her drawer, she soon heads towards the door as she prepared herself for an upcoming battle. It wasn't long until she sensed the Deceiver's presence, she stepped out of her cottage and wields her staff, she stared at the Anbu's as they all stood their ground. Within that moment… Ibate soon finally appeared, he walked past his subordinates in stood up front, he stared back at her with his paled blue-eyes,
"So, it's just you then," Ibate said,
"It would appear so," Sin's grandmother said, as she stood in her position, awaiting for anything he's going to throw at her.
Training ground…
Tenten and Lee are there waiting for Neji and their sensei, so they decided to talk while they wait,
"So Lee, you done some training before coming here?" Tenten asked,
"I have… though I almost encountered a familiar foe," Lee said,
"Foe?! Here in the village?" she became surprised,
"I encountered two girls whom I thought were the same thugs from last week mission," Lee explained,
"I'm still upset of how you and Neji went without me," Tenten glared at him,
"But it turns out it to be a misidentification, a strangely weird misidentification," Lee stated.
"That's not the only strangely weird thing that happened," they got startled by Neji as he just appeared behind them,
"Hey Neji, what do you mean?" Tenten asked,
"Something strange happened at the household, my uncle's behavior has changed, he became more attentive and caring," Neji explained,
"Isn't that a good thing?" Lee asked,
"If either of you has known my uncle as well as I do, you would know he's not the type of person. Just yesterday he was his usual stern self, and then this morning he is a complete opposite of who he is; I'm still trying to figure out what changed him," Neji said while thinking. Then he noticed Tenten's pocket of a plastic bag contained with new shurikens,
"Did you got new shurikens?" he asked,
"Oh, yes I did, a man bought it for me after I helped him locate the weapon store," Tenten said, Lee and Neji looked at her by surprised,
"Wait, a man bought you those shurikens? You received weapons from a stranger?" Lee asked,
"I know what you're thinking, and I too find it odd too, but he insisted since told me he's an associate for this weapons expert as he came to this village to pick up a specific weapon," Tenten explained,
"What kind of weapon?" Neji asked,
"Some sort of kunai knife is all, plus he seems like a decent man, oddly strange but he seemed nice," Tenten stated.
Weapon store…
The manager, who is also Ibate's subordinates, went down to the basement to remove the supplies and package, enough to find a small case that gathered in dust, he picked it and dust off the dust,
"We have kept it as you instructed," the manager turned around and kneel at his superior, Akeeba, as he stood with his arms crossed,
"My Lord," the manager said as he presented the case to him, Akeeba opened the case, and stared down at a small wrapped up small weapon. He smiled evilly as he can sensed the demonic energy from it,
"Excellent," he said as he unwrapped the weapon and a small bright light appeared, making his bright yellow eyes appear more demonic,
"Now the real fun begins," he said with his demonic tone.
To be continued…
Hope you like, would've updated sooner but you know how life is, despite the crisis, and staying safe and all. Please review and I'll do my best to update another chapter soon. Thanks and stay safe.