Chapter 18

When the Sword is once drawn, the passions of men observe no bounds of moderation

-Alexander Hamilton

Hanzo wiped the blood off his sister's nose. His frown and furrowed brow showed the frustration and tint of sadness that was clearly on his face. To anyone that could see, he loved his sister. Servants stood nervous on edge because their master had bouts of unhinged anger and anyone could become a victim to one of his tantrums of grief.

"You can crush him my darling" as he kissed her limp cold hands. "These orphans are not worthy enough to share the same power, to be leaders of our clan." His eyes darkened with madness.

"My Lord they are here", as soon as the servant said that a group of men and women entered the room with an ominous aura. They did not cower like the servants. There were four men and three women. The men had sandy brown skin with jet black hair. The women matched their complexion, but their hair was longer and braided down the middle. The men wore all black with turbans and masks that covered their faces. On the other hand, the women wore gray and were maskless, with each wearing a different shade of gray as if signifying their rank. The woman with the darkest shade of gray stood alongside the man that was the leader.

"So this is the famous Janjira, the mercenaries, beyond the sand", greeted Hanzo. Hanzo could tell that some of his guests were disgusted by his presence.

"Call us what you will, our only purpose is to do the mission and collect", said the woman. "You said you will pay us a handsome sum of money, now-" she pointed the sword at Hanzo "What do you want, we have come a long way"

"Do your women always speak for you", Hanzo asked the man directly. "And hopefully this isn't all the men that you brought"

"You foreigner's always thinking there are such things as roles", she spat as she got closer ready to attack. One of the men stopped her.

"My darling, he is not accustomed to our way of life", he gently pushed her hand down. "And we are the foreigners of this land", he chided. "I beg you not to vex my wife, once we become a Janjira we become one, no male or female, slave or master, we become nameless; assassins, mercenary, bounty hunters, whatever for the right price." Hanzo nodded at his response. "We came a long way because of the generous payment that you gave us, now what is it that you care for us to do"

"I want a girl gone, not dead, but never found, I want her placed in the Janjira prostitution trade so she can never be found again," Hanzo wanted to torture Konan with the thought that she may find her once again, and even if she did Soraya would be beyond broken. He smirked at the thought.

"And who is this girl", the man asked.

"My daughter, my heir", Hanzo spat in distaste. The servant opened a chest full of gold. The man who was the leader of the Janjira studied it to make sure it was real and it was all there. Hanzo also gave him a picture of Soraya. The man nodded and closed the chest of gold. "You failed to tell us that Itachi of the Uchiha was also part of the equation"

"If you want more money-"

The man waved his hand to the contrary. "I have old business with the Uchiha due to the war." The man opened his shirt and pointed at his face. "His father gave me this scar and the scars on his body, his wife was and her friend, I believe she was an Uzumaki were going to be nice assets, and the Uchiha woman was pregnant which would have made us better profits, but his father fought with such vigor, even without his Sharingan. We were evenly matched, it was a formidable battle. But we were both left with scars. It was my only failure and I went back to my people with shame, that took years to recover. I will take care of Itachi free of charge."

Hanzo smiled. "Well, I'm glad we could do business"

Soraya rocked back and forth out of frustration and nervousness. Her surgery was soon and she particularly felt uneasy around Orochimaru. Nevertheless, she knew she would be fine. But, she always hated doctors.

"Stimming, interesting", Soraya was puzzled at Orochimaru. She heard whispers about it before with her parents thinking that she couldn't hear them. In truth, she could hear the tiniest details of sounds. "You probably have good hearing as well, and notice everything. It's a wonder why you haven't exploded yet", he added as a matter of factly.

Soraya felt uncomfortable at Orochimaru's assessment. The bewilderment showed on her face. That was something her cousin Eulalia did. She never really exploded before, but right now she was on edge. "What are you trying to say, and why do you know that much", she eyed him in mistrust. She hated that Itachi wasn't in the room, and it seemed like Orochimaru timed his presence when Itachi would be gone.

"It's so obvious to see if you know what to look for, your brother definitely has more characteristics than you. Your brother hides it well because of his genius, kind of like me", Orochimaru chuckled to himself.

"What are you saying", she demanded.

"Your cousin, Eulalia, or Eui, as your cousins call her definitely has it, must run in the family, and it must be from your mother's line." Orochimaru was intentionally getting more vague, but accurate in his statement.

"I don't understand", she said as her hands started to become clammy. "Wait they are alive?"

"Oh so, Itachi didn't tell you? Strange he had a whole conversation with the one you call Pri-chan", he said in fake astonishment.

"You're lying", she spat.

"Now, Soraya, you know I haven't lied to you, not yet anyway", he added. Soraya could feel that he was telling the truth. "I can tell you my intentions, just to prove how truthful I am"

"What are you planning", she asked reluctantly falling into his trap. Orochimaru smiled.

"Immortality. Your clan along with the Uchiha bloodline will allow me to use my own body. Think of all the knowledge I could provide, and share with you and people like you. Always told how stupid you are, out of place. There is a place for you in my world"

"Stop it", she said starting to feel overwhelmed. This wasn't the conversation that was supposed to happen.

"I am willing to sacrifice, your brother, your cousins, Itachi's brother, I mean he would be a healthier specimen.", he said.

"How can you talk about a child like that", she eyed him closer as if she was missing a piece of information. "What do you mean by healthier?"

Orochimaru just chuckled and Soraya knew she wasn't going to get a response from him. "Seems like there are things that you still need to discuss with Itachi" He caressed her cheek. "How can you trust someone that isn't completely honest with you"

"How can I trust someone that is giving me cryptic information", she glared at him.

"Don't trust me, that's fine. I won't lie to you, you really shouldn't. But, there is so much that you don't know about the Rui and luckily I am curious to know more about them. I guess you are my hobby for now", Orochimaru confessed.

"Hobbies can be discarded", she sneered "What do you want?"

"Trust me this will be a lifelong endeavor. It's simple, I will need you in the end, if you swear to me that I can use you at the time of my choosing, I wouldn't even need your cousins. I just need a little more research. Give me blood samples on occasion, and when my research is done, I will use your body as needed. Then our deal will be done."

"That sounds like a death wish", she said.

"I wouldn't kill you, I think people like us deserve to live more than most people. How about this, I promise not to attack you. Except if I am training or defending myself. And I always keep my promises."

"You won't experiment on Masaru or my cousins", she clarified. Orochimaru grabbed her hand and his chakra seemed to almost float in her hands.

"You are aware of Shinobi oaths, no?", he questioned.

"Yes", she answered skeptically. "A breaker of such an oath is said to die, or lose something very precious to them. No one breaks it so it's hard to tell which one is actually true or worse"

"Then let's make one", Soraya then gave some of her chakra to Orochimaru to finish the deal.

"Good", the tone of his voice hissed in excitement, and Soraya was reminded of the Snake Sanin's prowess.

A few minutes later Itachi walked in. Soraya avoided his gaze not wanting to give him any hints of what transpired between the two. Also, she was very angry with the withheld information. She searched her mind for reasons of why he would do such a thing, but her mind went blank. It was probably the IV that she felt that was just punctured in her arm.

"Itachi just in time before our Little Soraya is out cold, you missed a great chat"

"And that was?", his voice was low, and normal tone to some, but Soraya could hear the slight inflection that he wanted answers.

"A riveting discussion about the ethics of honesty", she said curtly.

Itachi eye's narrowed. "Interesting". Itachi took note of how Soraya's mood seemed to be on edge, but he dismissed it as being worried about the surgery, and a slight mood swing.

Orochimaru chuckled. Soraya was asleep by the anesthesia in a matter of minutes.

"What did you really talk about",

"Itachi, you should be more worried about what you don't say to her", Orochimaru warned. Itachi's eyes narrowed in rage, he clenched his fist. "That's how I like it." Orochimuru chuckled and it sounded like a evil hum. "You are so angry you want to kill me, but who is going to fix your little damsel in distress"

"She's is not a damsel, she may be weak now, but she is strong, and she will survive", Orochimaru chuckled.

"Of course she will, she is under my care after all", he said ominously.

There was blood spattered on the floor. Four girls' bodies were sprawled throughout the kitchen that they called home. The youngest one was cradled underneath an older girl arm.

"Priya. Hestia", Masaru's eyes were wide with schock and fear. He glanced to the side where two other girls were. "Eui, Talise?". He could tell that the amount of blood on the floor that all of them were dead or dying. He couldn't hear their thoughts. Eui faintly whimpered and Masaru turned and ran toward to her.

"You couldn't save me, you failed us, you didn't protect us", Masaru could feel the sides of his eyes start to sting as teardrops tried to escape from his eyes as he wiped the blood from her face. "You...didn't...save', Eulalia's head went down ungracefully as she suddenly died.

"Eui, Eui, EUI", Masaru started to shake the dead body. "Don't leave me" Masaru let out a loud scream. "THIS IS FAKE", He took a deep breath and before he knew it he was back in the place he came to know for an undisclosed amount of time. He stopped keeping up with the time after a week. Time was more of Soraya's strong suit, not his.

Masaru looked up at the pink sky that had become his and Misaki's blended subconscious. He heard every word that they said ever since Tsunade came to him.

He gazed at the thunderous landscape. Those gray thunderous clouds marked the territory of Misaki's overreach in his subconscious. Outlining the sky was a reddish-brown dessert that was part of the Southwest in America back in his old life.

Everything that the storm touched washed away the dry serene landscape and for once he didn't know what to do. He usually knew how to do everything, he was calculated, logical, and never lost anything. Nevertheless, he was slowly discovering that talent and experience were two different levels.

Misaki had years of experience in molding and creating new personalities to fit her needs. He could only read them not control them. He never explored his potential. He beat all of his peers so he didn't deem it necessary.

Masaru wanted to cry in defeat, but where would that leave him? Dead? Or Something worse?

Masaru...

He heard his sister's voice and scrambled to look for it.

MASARU

He started running to her voice hoping that he wasn't dying. It was there he saw her. Her figure was a ghostly mirage that was getting closer and closer. When he finally caught up with her, he stopped sensing a clear barrier. On her side, it looked like a tropical Forrest, one that he used to see in those National Geographic magazines,. There were fauna and flora growing everywhere and through the barrier he could feel the stark contrast of humidity versus his dry sandy terrain.

"This is your subconscious?", Masaru asked. "How are you here?". He took notice of how she looked. She appeared to be in her late 50s, but she still had a youthful glow around her. A wolf cub was by her side and a sparrow rested on her shoulder and she petted both of them.

"There is something you need to understand, there is no concept of time here, you must reach past your subconscious to get towards your spiritual center after you find your's, you must find Misaki's"

"What about you, are you okay"

"Oh right!", as if she suddenly remembered that she was in danger herself. "I'm almost dead, but I will be okay."

"Really, you couldn't lie, what am I supposed to do with that fucking information.", he stated angrily.

"I only care about the twins right now, and to make sure that you okay", she replied.

"That's it, Mom always said we were linked somehow, maybe we just discovered this because we wanted the same thing.", said Masaru referring to their birth mom.

Soraya's barrier turned cold and cloudy but soon returned to its radiant sunshine. "Are you okay", Soraya nodded and exhaled. "She did always say that", her voice wandered off.

"Why aren't you finished yet?", asked Soraya. "If you do this another week on top of what you are doing for the twins, you will die, you are going to have to choose one or the other"

"I don't know what to do", he admitted "And it's an easy answer don't you think, one life versus two". He turned around avoiding her gaze. "If they can make it through the second term..."

"Masaru, you avoid pain or anything hard, at all cost". Masaru turned around and glared at her.

"Dying is easy to you?"

"Yes it is", she answered firmly. "Dying is easy, living is harder". Masaru exploded in anger.

"HOW COULD YOU SAY SUCH A THING", he yelled. "I'm keeping them alive by staying in here"

"So", she said simply. "Masaru you are the smartest person you know, if you could do that on instinct just imagine what you can do awake? You haven't even tried to figure out why you are here, Misaki has been playing with you, and you are scared of a Storm"

Soraya walked over to his side the sand attaching to her damp feet. "You are the Thunder and Lightning of the Storm, dig deep and beat her", Soraya grabbed Masaru's collar and pushed him down.

"How can I just step into your mind, huh", she pushed him again. "THINK, you are supposed to be the Master of the Mind and someone like me just waltz in your subconscious?",

"Stop it", he said.

"Oh your mad because I'm hurting you, what are you a little sissy", Marau's eyes glowed a dark brown red.

"How dare you,", he said shoving him off his collar.

"How dare I? Are you mad because I used a slur? What do you care, you're the one okay with dying"

"I'm not okay"

"If you are not, then it's time to fight a real battle.", she said wiping the blood of her mouth. "This battle is for yourself, and then after that it will be for many more people". Masaru nodded and his smirk was back and his voice got deeper.

"Thanks Soraya-chan"

Soraya blinked and she was back in the barrier of her subconscious. Masaru's face went from the fearless little boy to the potential man that he may become. Soraya unconsciously tried to run back to him, but he made her and his barrier stronger. Alternatively, her appearance turned back to the 14 year old she now was.

"Go and take care of yourself now", he said. "I can't stand the thought of you dying now, so please for once let me take care of this myself".

Soraya smiled and nodded and waved."Bon Courage", she whispered.

He started to run across the desert horizon. His target was the center of the storm where he knew Misaki's essence was located. Her infection was rapidly spreading. His memories were becoming, her memories, his thoughts were slowly becoming her thoughts. He saw everything and it was beautiful and destructive at the same time. He saw all the victims of Misaki and Hanzo and how they reveled in pleasure destroying people's lives. He saw the torture that Misaki personally saught to with Konan.

He started to scream a warrior's scream, something that his biological dad try to pass to Masaru when all he wanted to do was learn Mathematics and outsmart his teachers. His body started to grow red and everywhere he landed the desert went back to it's serene nature. He wasn't going to be beaten by this woman. Nevertheless, the closer he got to her center, the more his skin felt like it was being burned.

Then he finally saw her. Glowing with a Gray Aura. She locked eyes with him terrified. "How did you get here?"

"The same way you did bitch", She sent more telepathic energy to subdue him, but he slowly stalked to her appearing as a 20 years man. He looked dead in her eyes. "I could kill you right now.", he said towering over her frame. She used her hands to push him away, but he grabbed them aggressively. Instinctively he started to absorb her energy, and she screeched in pain. Something arose in him, but he couldn't put his fingers on it. He finally realized that he enjoyed seeing her wither in torture. Especially since he had a first-hand account of all her atrocities. "But I don't want to see you brain dead, that's too easy."

"You have to kill me now or...

"Or what? You will kill me?", said Masaru. "Let me tell you what's going to happen Misaki, I'm going to leave just enough energy for you to survive, you're going to recoup in a week or so, but your power will be gone, and that's going to leave you on edge. My sister will kill Hanzo and take his power, and when that happens, I will show you all the way's you can die, I will mutilate your body without remorse, your face will be butchered and I will make sure your body is buried with your limbs buried across different sections of the village. And what's even more satisfying is that you aren't going to remember this so I get to see the fear in your face twice.", he didn't smile nor did he frown. Absolution is the emotion he held on his face, and she knew that he was serious.

"You sadistic bastard",

"I don't rationalize with rapists and murders of the innocent." He tilted his head back and forth. "And you hurt my Ma."

"Please, I'm begging-

"Wake Up Misaki", he commanded. With that, the last bit of her remains and powers were gone from his mind.

Masaru woke up with a gasp and looked at his arms and body that did slightly grow, but it was still in its adolescent stage, not the fully grown man he saw himself in his subconscious.

"Masaru", Haku couldn't help but hug his friend. Masaru was surprised but smiled and hugged him back weakly. Konan was about to check on Masaru again but stopped at the door when she noticed the two chating away. She smiled and rubbed her belly and turned away allowing Haku to have his time.

" Thank you, mom ", she stepped back and locked eyes with Masaru, and winked. There were things that needed to be handled, there were still situations that could turn worse at any given moment. But for now, Konan couldn't help but run to the head members of the Akatsuki to give them the good news

Yahiko entered the room later that night. He surveyed Masaru's growing frame. He took into account the weeks of his unconsciousness made him lose much muscle and it would take double training to get him back into shape. There were many things that he wanted to teach him, but he would let him rest.

"Father, there is something I need to tell you", Masaru looked at him with pleading eyes. Yahiko came to his side.

"What is it, my son?"

"It's Soraya, she's in danger.", he said.

Yahiko chuckled. "Itachi is with her, she will be just in fine"

"No", he raised himself from the bed. "I could read Hanzo's mind when I...overtook Misaki, he hired a group called the...", he paused trying to remember the images of people he saw. "Jan..Jin...Janjira." Masaru was irritated with himself at the stutter and pinched his nose together to calm down. "Hanzo wants a fate for her worst than death, they will kidnap her and use her for their prostitution rings."

Yahiko was silent. The Janjira did not operate as a regular ninja. They came from a foreign land beyond the desert and because of that, not enough information had been obtained to actually deal with them. They rarely came this far North, but when they did people went missing or dead. During the Great Ninja War, they only came to raid and destroy the land. Their previous Kage died fighting with one. From the very small information, anyone had is that they could nullify any ninjutsu. Including in some reports, Bloodline limits. For some odd reason, every encounter the shinobi would be immobilized by their presence. Some of them just dropped dead.

To say it was concerning was an understatement.

"Itachi, will not let any harm come to her, and I have an inkling that Soraya would come back to you no matter what", Nagato said assuring Masaru of her safety and interrupting Yahiko's thoughts. "Soraya has a fire in her underneath her phlegmatic exterior", Nagato patted Masaru's head in comfort. "Maybe, this will be a way to help her find her voice, neh?"

Masaru nodded in response. Not knowing what to say.

Shortly after Yahiko and Nagato left his room Masaru went to Konan quarters. When Konan acknowledged his presence she looked at his appearance. Noticing the physical changes he went through. He was taller, but he was pale, had dark circles under his eyes and his skin was still clammy. Konan wished she was good as a cook as his sister. He would need to eat more to get his strength up and she recalled he was a very picky eater.

Masaru sat at her feet, too tired to stand. Konan observed him. He was staring off in a distance and looked like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. He glanced at her and averted her gaze.

"I'm fine", he stated. He didn't have to hear her thoughts to know that she was worried about him. Ironically, his mother's thoughts were the only ones he couldn't mute. "And I heard your cooking has gotten better." Konan wasn't alarmed at him reading her thoughts. Remembering a previous conversation that her mind was the only one he couldn't block out.

"Tell me what's on your mind, my son", she coaxed. Masaru hesitated. He was afraid of what she would think of him and the reaction to the news he was about to share.

"I'm going to kill her, unmercifully.", he paused waiting for her reaction. "I saw what she did to you, and I can't forgive her, it was meaningless, all she wanted from you was pain."

Konan swallowed. She felt slightly ashamed of the past and the memories made her heart quicken. Her skin crawled at the remembrance of the feelings of her hand over her body and how she was forced to pleasure her, and sometimes Hanzo at the same time. How they desecrated her body over and over again. "She loved me, and I couldn't return it"

"That's not love, I refuse to believe that was love. People don't hurt people they-", his voice trailed off as a memory of his mother and Soraya came into his mind. "It's not a good enough reason", he firmly stated.

"This is revenge.", she grasped his hand. "That is a road you don't want to go down"

"No, it's justice you are not the only one that she hurt, her victims are endless in her and Hanzo's sick game", he turned away not wanting to look at her sad eyes. She looked disappointed, but he wasn't only doing this for her, Misaki was a stain on society and had no regard for human life. "Even her children would be suffering without you", he adverted his eyes from her.

Konan grabbed Masaru's chin and made direct eye contact. "Avenging won't rewrite the past" Masaru pressed his lips thinly at the statement. It was true. Konan would still live with the pain and the memories of the trauma that she endured.

"You see me as a child, but the child in me died when I saw my family slaughtered", Masaru turned away from her. She didn't know what to say to comfort him, and she knew that he could read her thoughts so he knew of the concern that she had. "I know I was supposed to...end her when I invaded her subconscious, but it seemed too easy for her to die in her sleep."

"You are still a child, a hurt child, a traumatized child, but still a child", she wobbled down to his the floor and met his eyes. Something in the air told her he was resolved in his decision even if he disagreed with it. "You will always be the tiny boy who silently followed me around, that gave me flowers on a rainy day, no matter what you do, I will always love you". She embraced him then kissed his forehead.

"If you truly want peace, you have to let them go, you have to show the world that you won't tolerate dictators like them, the people need you to be strong", he said. "The people will need vengeance of their oppressors" Masaru paused before he made his next statement as he could tell Konan was processing what he was saying realizing the full extent the damage of Hanzon and Misaki caused. "Your children need vengeance", he emphasized every word. "And not only Soraya and I, but all the bastards and orphans you took in that also belonged to Hanzo and Misaki", Masaru said passionately. "They need their mother to stand up for them, I need you to let me do this"

Konan released him and gave him an intense stare."You want my blessing for this...sin", tears started to brim from her eyes. It was like she could see the man he was becoming. A man of justice, a man fury, but she released her breath when she saw the warmth and affection in his eyes. But he was right, in a way she failed everyone for her lack of strength. To watch her children take on her burden was painful. Nevertheless, that would just have to be her penance. She nodded realizing that he would do it with or without her consent. Either way, she would still love Masaru. She just wished he knew how much.

"Just so you know, thoughts aren't the same as emotions, so it's never a waste of time to speak to me", he said. She hugged him even more tightly as all the emotions started to fill her: happiness, uncertainty, and finally acknowledging the pain that she tried to hide away for so long. He embraced her back as he felt his shirt get damp with her tears.

Yahiko smiled to himself watching the two. "It seems a child has taken the initiative that we should have done years ago"

Kisame shook his head. "We were all fooled and controlled, but not anymore.", Kisame said.

"He must be stronger to carry the mantle, Kisame make sure you train him to beat even you", he said signaling to Kisame that Masaru needed proper training. Yahiko wanted him stronger than even him or Hanzo for that matter.

"Already planned on it", Kisame said as he clutched his sword.