Divine Reckoning

by Zemptai

A spiteful little man ends up dead and pissed. Finding himself before the judgement of a 'God', and granted a 2nd opportunity at life, he was reincarnated - reborn into the Hyuga clan. Mina now finds 'herself' in a female body with a goal to survive this war torn world to defy and spite the self-proclaimed 'God' she's given the alias 'Being-X'. [Dark/Antagonistic MC] [Semi-SI/OC]

41. Chapter 37 - (Volume 2)

Article 41 - Chapter 37 - Deus Lo Vult

-Volume 2: Subarticle 6-

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┬┴┬┴┤ Chapter 37 ├┬┴┬┴

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

(Kisuke POV)

A young boy bent before the altar. He wore a Kasaya too large for his body. It draped down dusting the floor with each step. The robes colors were a faded orange and brown. Orange the sigil of the monastery and brown to distinguish the nationality of the monk as a stone citizen.

The young priest was granted citizenship within days of arrival, an unheard of feat excluding times of crisis or conditional terms for an alliance. I doubted either were true, but simply because Deus lo Vult.

God wills it.

"We're here to protect the cycle of reincarnation?" I asked.

sunlight gleamed off The youth's head buzzed down to a reflective peachy dome. His blue eyes commanded the attention of Shinji and I.

"The singularity as you know that has given you new life is being hunted by Jashin and their chosen champion. I bore witness to the envoy's destruction and influence rendering me unable to continue my task as Overseer. No one is safe, and after some preparation we will all be pulled to the frontlines, even me."

The child was no child. It was the elder soul Amadeus injected here with the wisdom and direction of the creator that gives and takes away. The almighty singularity.

"What can we do?" My longtime brother of the cloth asked. "Lead a holy crusade on the false god's champion?"

"In due time." Amadeus soothed. "There is a mission I can only entrust to the two of you, my fellow brothers. Your ancestors of this world had tools to suppress Jashin's influence, but Jashin had his followers lead a raid on Uzushiogakure. Making a journey to your homeland is an objective one, planting seeds of faith among people along the way to build a web of faithfuls is objective two."

Shinji's curly red hair twisted into a clump and spiked out the top through a hairbow. His hairstyle made his head resemble the shape of a fresh uncut pineapple. He refused to chop off his hair to appease the temple's elders instead claiming it was his 'right of ascension' from his last life.

As if ghosts are entitled anything.

I rested my fingers on my scalp. The prickle of short coarse hair met the fleshy pads of each fingertip.

I always wondered how Shinji and I could be twins, yet differ in appearance drastically. A misty blank was drawn when trying to recall back to childhood, but it was as if the memories were corrupted, likely the price for the silly identities we still cling to.

"Those are your objectives, but to reach these will require many, many smaller tasks of both of you. Are you two up to it?"

"Anything Ama, we'll help anyway we can," Shinja said before I nodded slowly in timid agreement.

I let them do most of the talking so I could pay better attention to the subject matter.

"The singularity is still looking for recruits, and we have one particular in mind. He will find himself in trouble in the near future, and will need to be rescued and escorted somewhere. The rest of pertinent details are on this parchment, I trust you will succeed in your duties."

"Sir." Shinji bowed before the reincarnated priest, and I followed his example.

"Take a good look at our god's greatest threat. Mina Hyuga, enemy of humanity."

My glance dropped to a white-bordered paper frame in Amadeus's hand, a photo of a snow white-haired slender girl whose featureless white eyes were barren of humanity. She was a shell, an empty husk controlled by Jashin. That's a minimum requirement to back that monster.

"I know that you both, as well as your brothers and sisters, have struggled under Jashin's demonic systematic persecution. The loathsome creature hellbent on shattering our cornerstone of faith. Only we can protect the people's right to faith, a basic human liberty." He said, nodding his head as he spoke. "As Amadeus, champion of the Singularity, let me formally knight both you as Templars, champions of faith. Present something that holds meaning to you."

I couldn't bear it any longer, the clash of religious teachings gave me whiplash.

"I'm confused… Templars? Deus lo Vult?" I asked uncertainly. "These are common beliefs held by Catholicism."

"My scripture sent to your last world was corrupted by man. Have you heard the story of the tower of babel?"

"Yeah. After the floods, a united people built a tower to reach heaven."

"Have you ever wondered why God would divide his people into different places and languages?"

"In honesty, I never believed the story until now."

"You what?!" Shinji barked up.

Amadeus silenced him with an outheld palm. "Then you were wise."

A gasp over Shinji's way let him realize how fast he started to hop on the wrong bandwagon. He went to stroke his currently nonexistent beard, an ingrained compulsion of another lifetime.

"Man stopped the construction of the tower. They knew that once construction finished that only the wicked would remain, and misery loves company. Man introduced new languages to distort our god's words and blame him for banning the tower's construction."

"-You make it sound like it's all man's fault, but Catholics believe in the existence of the devil? He was already present in the Garden of Eden."

"I see you know your scripture, but you're forgetting it's a farce. At best you can look to it for commonalities but even that can be dangerous. Humanity has always held the capacity for good and evil. Eve tempted Adam of her own accord. Adam succumbed to sin after making his own decision. Humanity has a funny way of blaming everyone else for their problems. Remember - Only through wisdom can perspective be achieved."

"Ohh…" I was at a loss of words at how to respond.

"-But the devil does exist, but he was corrupted by man. There are two doors, and both of you know heaven to be ascension. Purgatory is reincarnation in a lesser realm. What is it you think Jashin's purpose is? "

It dawned on me."...To drag as many lives into purgatory as possible. Holy… that makes so much sense!"

With a somber face, Ama could only nod to the affirmative.

"Wait a second… so death is Jashin's door to purgatory?"

"You are correct."

"So all people who die go through Jashin's door?"

"That is incorrect. By grace, the Singularity can redeem us with strong enough faith. Death is only our judgment, but our life is a gift, and seeing it wasted is distasteful to the lord. Enough of this, we need to get down to business. Champions of faith. Present something meaningful to you."

Shinji was aboard all along and jumped at the opportunity without deliberation. He took a knee and pushed his treasured dagger forward, a precious gift from our sensei and former captain Rōshi.

The young blue-eyed champion of god brought his hands together, and because of his stature, he needed only stand. His hands fell over the weapon cupped in my brother's hand. The dagger burst into illumination. Hues for blue and green light sped out of the weapon before fat rays spat out of thin air glistening with radiance.

The dagger came to life, sapping chakra from the air in a swirling vortex. These rays fired across the room sucked into the cyclone of building chakra. The mounted ruby on the hilt began glowing a mellow red before overtaken by the maelstrom of energy turning it a brilliant Emerald green instead.

"Wow. I can feel… and harness the chakra in the environment! Does this mean I can reclaim any chakra expended?" Shinji mouthed even as his brain fought to keep up.

"These relics transform the essence of faith around you into chakra. Greater faith, greater power." He paused before continuing."I wouldn't recommend you use your system like a battery, any excess chakra should be released back to the world rather than stored in your system. Better to use the external or nature chakra before calling on yours in the first place."

"Heck, I got enough faith to fill this up alone, ain't that right Ki?"

"Yeah," I replied gazing at both metal bracers fitted to my wrists. A strip of leather ran along the inside for comfort, two similar rubies to Shinji's laid embedded in both but were cut half the size. It's unblessed nature far from the glorious treasure at Shinji's disposal. That was about to change.

Ama ushered me over, and I took Shinji's place on a knee ready to undergo the ceremony.

I offered my arms bearing the bracers to our priest who took his spot over me, his hands reaching out.

An awesome light-bluish shaded light seeped from his palms into my bracers. A comforting warmth flooded my body. My energy spiked draining every drop of rigid training fatigue out. It finished and I felt invigorated and enhanced past what I considered optimal condition before.

"What is this?" I asked, not expecting the symphony of bliss filling me up.

"This is your lord's blessing. Be led not into temptation, but walk and tread a path for him and he will make you eternal."

This is his blessing? The singularity? She must be mad to serve that demon. How could Jashin's contract be anything like our lord's blessing.

Yes. The singularity unites us, even allowing us to communicate through our minds. This is further proof of the depth of our devotion. Amadeus's voice rang through my head.

Light streamed through the stained glass, distorting the hue from yellow to blues, greens, and reds.

My heart lurched in my chest, a quiet yearning threatened the sanctity of my mind. An offhand thought that something wasn't as it seemed.

This unease your feeling, I know it well. It is not easy to find and trek the path of salvation. The lord does not always give us the answers to our questions when we want them, but they will arrive all the same.

"Thank you." I finally responded, giving a sincere bow to the honorable champion, leader and founder of the Hidden rock's newest sect, the Knights of Singularity.

"The pleasure is all mine." His face adopted a content grin.

"We've got to go get ready to go and check-in with the village Ama, If we run across this Mina girl on our travels we'll take her out for you, no problem. It's the least we could do right?" Shinji gave me a nudge with his elbow.

Shinji's unrelenting personality often won people over with little other than pure charisma. His ability to establish new bonds has intrigued me for as long as I've ever seen it.

"Yeah." I agreed

"No! Absolutely not. Avoid Jashin's champion at all cost, and if you do somehow come into contact, under no circumstances should you inform her of your faith, your knowledge of her or Jashin, or what your mission is. She's had her powers the longest of any of us, and holds a special power that counters my own. In our last encounter, she overwhelmed me, and that might even be an understatement. We need to put our faith in our lord's plan and leave the rest to him. Am I clear?"

"Ama, she's really that dangerous? We've got more than 65 years of combat experience between us now." My brother squeezed my shoulder displaying his fist to Amadeus.

"I'm sure that seems like a lot to you, but you only keep your memories from consecutive ascensions. Purgatory wipes you clean, forced to start at the bottom, unless Jashin interferes. That girl, His envoy of death and destruction, is more horrific than you can imagine… Which is exactly why recruiting new help and collecting the tools of her demise comes first. When you get into position, use your blessings to contact me and let me know. We can use them like radios."

"Radios are already like magic. Does this thing get any better?" Shinji cheered, holding his dagger to his face then kissing it.

"Electricity and technology aren't magic, don't be deceived."

"That's why I said -like magic."

---

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

(Mina POV)

Squads of recruited grunt labor contracted by Gato Industries packed load after load onto the fleet of ships docked at the pier.

"Packing up shop after one encounter with team nine? Career criminals are pathetic. No conviction at all."

I leaned against a tree. Bark pricked my back but I camouflaged into the foliage. Sasuke squatted beside me peering through binoculars sneering.

"It could all be a front. Make themselves look weak so we drop our guard." I said.

"I already thought about that, but even if that's true that means they think of us as a frightening opponent."

"I think you're getting ahead of yourself. As of right now, Gai-sensei is the threat they see. That just proves how great he is, so maybe you should show him more respect, hmm?"

"Gai is… Hn, He's better at Taijutsu than anyone I've ever seen. But that doesn't change the fact he acts like a clown at all times."

"Tch," I clicked my tongue.

His neck snapped over with squinted eyes. "What are you getting at?"

"His lifestyle… I envy it."

"You envy everything. You've always been a greedy little girl."

"Good, so you have been paying attention." I grinned.

He sighed, squatting down and taking a seat.

"...what do you mean 'His lifestyle?'"

"Like the principals he honors. He's basically a dense metal forged by his beliefs. He trains, thinks, and acts on his principals. We might not agree on everything, but he is a fine example of a man."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he leaned back from me. "Are you planning on marrying him?"

"Who knows...Maybe." My snark left a smile on my companion's face.

"You talk about him enough, I'd believe it."He huffed a breath out his nose and rubbed beneath his eyes for the lack of proper rest. "It gets... repetitive."

We got quiet for a while, but then I got to thinking about how he'd been conditioned to view relationships. With a little digging, I might find some treasure.

"What was your dad like?"

"Hn… Proud. Strong... Hard Headed."

"Imagine that, sounds like you didn't fall too far from the tree."

"Hn."

"What about your mom, how did they both get along?"

"Why?"

"Because I bet some of their beliefs rubbed off on you."

"Fine… Dad organized the clan and upheld his responsibilities. Mom spent all her energy making his life better, Itachi and me would get her leftovers."

"I figured as much just from how you act with girls. It's like you think ignoring me is romance."

"You hardly even act like a girl except for when it's convenient. We both have other things we have to worry about, and besides, I can't imagine you slaving for anyone."

"Yeah?" I scootched over towards him and rested my hands on his shoulders. I pressed in with both thumbs and worked around his tense flesh in my grip. "I do stuff for other people all the time."

"-Because it benefits you." His shoulder popped in my grasp, and a short grunt followed.

"How is this benefiting me right now, hmm?"

Surprisingly he let me keep going, my thumbs tracing the alignment of his spine.

A comfortable silence fell as I worked on a tensed knot under his shoulder. He leaned further forward, and I took the opportunity to dig my knuckles into it, trying to get some separation and stretch it out.

"I can't always tell what you're up to, but I can tell when you're up to something."

"But I'm up to something all the time," I smirked.

"Exactly." He replied. A light chuckle escaped him sending vibrations through my fingers.

---

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

We made our way back to base. The door to Darshuan's family abode was blown clear off its hinges, lying atop the textured concrete steps ramping up to the breached entry.

Byakugan.

All was quiet, but Sasuke and I were on high alert noting the unusual conditions.

He signaled over his shoulder he was going around back.

'No!' - I signed. 'Breach here with me.'

I pointed to the front door, then to my eyes.

He caught on and we rushed in to get the full picture.

Furniture was damaged and knocked over. Lights, mirrors, and chandeliers smashed with their wreckage littering the floors.

"What happened here?" The Uchiha asked.

"Zabuza must have come back to try to mop us up while we were split. Classic divide and conquer." Desperation leaked into my voice.

I rushed upstairs unable to say a word from my disbelief of sight.

Kicking the door in, the deadlock took a huge chunk of the door's paneling to clean off as the door boomed open.

The ceiling fan's oscillation at the lowest setting turned the curved blades in slow motion. Hung from two blades hug the severed heads of Gōzu and Meizu, the Demon brothers. The floor was splattered in blood, a gentle rain of red drumming on the floorboards.

The scene was chilling, even for a monster like me.

He did this to his own men and is selling out his apprentice. One question came to mind.

Can I really leash something capable of this?

While running from room to room, nearly all the troops under Darshuan and his father were executed. The desperation was no act, but everything was going according to plan.

Dead bodies and their features are hard to make out through solid objects with the byakugan. Living bodies with chakra on the other hand are super easy, barely an inconvenience.

The mangled corpse of the angsty teen hellbent on shaming and scorning me laid unmistakable out of commission. I laid my hand on his neck, before the stillness of no pulse made things apparent.

"Where is your voice of dissent now?" I asked the corpse.

Sasuke poked his head in the room with disgust visible on his face.

"All dead?"

"Yeah, I figured I just wanted to check and make sure. Lee and Gai are both somewhere else, so they must have gotten out. Back up is supposed to be here at 8 so we have two hours we need to hold out in the worst case."

He gulped and nodded. His body shook gently. I imagined him reliving a portion of his homecoming to his clan's slaughter.

That realization was like a sucker punch, unexpected and overwhelming sparking ill opinions of myself to resurface in my head.

I actively make his life worse...

"At least he tries to make mine better." I bit my lip, lost in thought of someway I could make it up to him in the future.

"Hn?" I overheard.

I shrugged his question off, taking off out of the room without looking back. "You coming?"

---

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

(Might Gai POV)

Ningame my loyal nin-tortoise took my orders from me and split off to find the young blossoming buds of my team.

They have a frequency blocker, all radio transmissions are being scrambled.

From foothold to foothold, I bolted outward leading my pursuers away from my team.

A roll of mist always at my heels displayed the determination and skill of the trackers.

With a somersault over a branching tree limb, I maneuvered behind a dense trunk.

This should be fine.

The mist caught up and kept right on going enveloping the woods in thick white vapor.

I bent down, wrapping my arms around the trunk of a tree.

My fingers dug into the bark splintering and shattering it.

With a single-minded focus, I called upon my greatest arsonal.

"Gate of Pain," ~ OPEN!

My blood turned Hotter and hotter, until reaching a boil. My spine tingled before the nervous system went numb from exceeding its own capacity. My skin and tissue beneath burned as if exposed to a branding iron. I gazed to my hands. There was a shift from brownish peach skin to an ominous red. That signified the transformation as successful.

"UrrrAAAHHH!" I screamed, pushing off the balls of my feet violently wriggling the roots embedded in the ground to worm free. They snapped like overburdened rope, the tree broke free from the earth.

I twirled around on my heels digging them deep for leverage. My new fan churned up the air as I swung it around and around. Leaning back while still spinning a cyclone shredded the boggy mist restoring visibility, but now a hint dizzy.

A sheet of Ice blinked into existence. Airborne water fed the many spawning mirrors growing larger and completing after only two seconds. A shadow popped from mirror to mirror traveling at absurd blistering speeds.

Lances of Ice dashed out some of the mirrors in coordination. I evaded all threats with minimal effort as they were nowhere near as fast as the little shadow.

The tree enacted on by gravity tumbled to the ground with a significant tremor.

My mojo struggled to hit its groove under the knowledge of the lives I failed today, but there wasn't time for one of my slumps to hold me back, only immediate action.

The assassinations were swift and stealthy, sending away my sensory ninja was an unwise call. They were able to eliminate the scent of themselves and the blood of their kills so Ningame couldn't pick it up.

A fool won't give what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

"I will not lose my precious team. My team comes before the mission. A fool? Maybe, but I'll never be a lonely fool."

The demon blinked before me. His slash still carried the momentum of his body flicker making it appear as curved blurry steel with afterimages. My blitzing palm knocked the hilt of the weapon at a vulnerability ejecting it clear out of his hand disarming him.

"You're a hell of a brute!" Zabuza exclaimed joyously.

"You are sneaky-sneaky. I'll nickname you 'wet n' slick' Zabuza boy."

"Mhmm… Just how I like it."

Having gained an edge, my real assault began.

He juked or blocked my flurry of strikes one after the other. With every block came the recoil of my rocketing limbs he had to contend with leaving him an instant slower on every one of my successive strikes.

The fact he could keep up with me in this state was a mild shock, but it mattered not.

Within two dozen strikes, I earned myself enough headway from recoil for my first blow to land solidly square on his chin. His neck cracked loud enough to make me cringe. The whiplash sent him careening into a tree momentarily dazed.

My body bulleted through space, my own body flicker launching me towards the stunned missing-nin.

Zabuza underwent a transformation of his own, condensing to a pool of water evading my attack by shapelessness.

I regained my composure and reworked my battle strategy. I'm ready.

"Have you written any cookbooks Zabuza?" Even as I asked the question, the fog thickened, minimizing visibility to near none once again.

A snark maddened laughter spilled from the fog. "Have I wrote a cookbook? What games are you playing you unhinged oaf?"

Under the guise of concealing fog something like fabric rubbing fabric sounded.

The Demon of the Mist cackled as his water clones prepped more jutsu while his hands clapped together, the mist starting to reintensify.

"Games? No games but I will say lemon salt and honey go pretty well with roast duck. Wouldn't you agree?" I gave him my thumb of approval and dashingly handsome grin.

"...Huh?"

Having caught my adversary by surprise I couldn't help but crack a grin.

"I call it 'Sweet and Sour Love', and it's going to make it to my first of many serialized volumes of Beastly Recipes!"

"Konoha's green beast is one knife short of a set. Lucky for you I pack plenty of blades." Some metallic clinks sounded as the missing-nin patted his waistline, not lying by the looks of things.

Soft ignition cracks warned me of more nasty ninjutsu waiting for me.

I shook my head, ashamed at the actions of my fellow man. He was taking enjoyment in ninjutsu replacing the incentive of close combat. To top it off I still can't zero in on that zooming shadow of an ice user.

"Ox - Monkey - Hare - Rat - Boar - Bird - Ox - Horse - Bird - Rat - Tiger - Dog-" He rambled.

But with such poor visibility, my options grew slim helping push me to action.

Opening multiple gates at a time is always a challenge, but the later ones even more so.

"GATE OF JOY… OPEN!"

The rapture of torment was nothing I couldn't smile through. The torrent of aura poured out of my inner gates like a facet draining my lifeforce. I'm a betting man, and if I have to take a bet, I'd like to bet on me. But when forced to rely on the gates, it feels like I'm gambling against myself.

The contents of my stomach compressed and burned to support my body's metabolism from eating itself. The side effects in the stomach alone were comparable to the Deadman's Reaper, a pepper notorious for its status as the hottest pepper grown publicly on the continent.

Neon green aura seeped from my pores, my sweat vaporized by my sheer body heat. Each pore stretched to make room for the sweat to seep out.

"Uaah… It'd be hard to argue that I'm as hot as they come!"

"-Dragon - Ram - Rat - Ox - Monkey-" Zabuza mumbled on.

My arms spun faster than my vision could perceive. If I were going by sight, I'd only have a wobbly blur to guide me. Luckily sight was not all I had, I also had instinct, intuition, and creativity. With those three things alone I can pilot even at the Raikage's speeds, so this is a cakewalk.

Having already scouted the area and mapped it in my head, my mental landscape transformed into my memory, keeping track of every movement and where that would place things relative to me.

The mist dissipated enough to compare to my mental notes, and although it was pretty close to what I had figured out, there were unmistakable errors. It didn't bother me one bit because there was still room to claim victory over these Missing-Nin and get out of here with my team. So long as I won that was.

"-Bird - Yang Water - Rat - Boar - Bird!"

A surge of water sprung forth drenching the woods. My aura fought back the liquid-like an impenetrable barrier, allowing none of it to reach my skin scalding to gas along the way.

Six mirrors erected up surrounding and imprisoning the Demon of the Mist.

"What the?" The Ninja exclaimed as A thunderous clank rang out. "Kid what's the big idea! Are you retarded?! I'm in the middle of something here!"

"You are done. Done tainting the world with your hatred and spite. You are irredeemable and deserve everything you'll get." The young voice of a female choked on her words as she came into focus. "How could you order me to murder our own in cold blood just to make a point?!"

"The fact they were still alive meant some part of them were traitors, and the only good traitor is a dead one." He gnashed his teeth so hard under his wraps he split them open in shreds.

"You're a traitor! We're all traitors! How can you not see that?" She fought against her emotions.

He smiled a wicked smile that mocked the compassion of others. His pointed teeth like sharks' sat in a clean symmetrical row, clashing them again for amusement.

"All traitors die. They got the choice to die a warrior's death but clung to life on sympathy and I'm supposed to feel bad for putting them out of their misery? You're brain-dead if you can't see that much after everything I've taught you. It must be your fragile constrictive morals, but you're a tool and everything will be fine if you let me out."

"Here you are outnumbered and outmatched and you're pretending you've still got all the power."

"What have we got here?" I stepped closer, cautious of a trap but refusing to clue them in on my distrust.

"Shinobi-san. I apologize for my Sensei's lack of conscience. He is broken and I don't know how to fix him..."

"Fix? There's no fixing me kid, I broke perfectly. One of a kind. -And let me show you why you call me Sensei, Cuz you still got some learnin' to do you runt!" Zabuza shouted from inside his prison, before anticlimactically sitting down.

Raising a brow at the situation, I was interested in his claim, and the whole situation as it unfolded. It wasn't uncommon for villages to trap and leave for dead dangerous and insubordinate ninja jeopardizing a mission, and once or twice I've seen someone spiteful enough to drag them under at the cost of themselves.

"What's your expectations here? ...Handing over you and you're superior to us...to ninja of questionable motives?"

"I just want to be useful and do something good for Wave Country for a change… We've done enough damage already."

Gazing at this sterling youth's resolve filled me with pride. Pride that the next generation can stand against prejudice and choose to follow their heart.

With the excitement over, I closed up my gates. A rush of energy and limitless potential suddenly vanished, replaced with the aching pain of damage sustained from the session.

I breathed deeper as I dropped to a single knee from the rush of blood to restore homeostasis to my system.

With a critical eye, I watched the features of the missing-nin still capable of mobility, the girl. I waited for something to jump out at me, or throw me a curve, but nothing so far.

I can smell it in the air. If things were to suddenly change, it'd be now.

A finger twitched erratically. The squawk of a bird of prey echoed through the trees and woods. In the sky hung an eagle on the wind begging an arc of descent.

That bird strikes me as familiar, I wonder why. My internal sass left me grinning wildly.

Being underestimated is the most exhilarating experience. Lesser men might even call it an addiction, but not me. The tingles from grasping for an absurd or unlikely interpretation of a joke, leaving them unsure whether it was wasted on me. Or the puzzlement of a foe wondering how many notches I can still kick it up, frozen between a decision to flee or fight.

Subverting expectations is the true spice of life, and I'm a connoisseur of the spicey. In my opinion, spice makes it right.

Pop.

Zabuza's body burst into liquid pooling beneath where he formerly sat.

The blossoming Kunoichi eyes widened, alarm with a hint of percolating fear crinkled her otherwise unblemished features.

Cute kid.

Expressions and reactions can be faked, but for everything that I can't reason out, I can go with my gut.

My gut reaction told me she was confused, and there's more room to be confused if she really meant to turn in her commander, meaning that I'd play nice until she gives me a reason not to.

"Water clone… He could have substituted before your prison landed. That nifty little demon."

"I… You… What happens now?" She asked like a wilting flower.

"No. say it with me: 'What happens now!?'" I projected. "Put some UMPH in it."

Frozen like a statue, the Kunoichi was unable to act.

I gave her a nice easy pat on the back.

Dang, I'm sore. I rubbed my bicep before progressing to more dynamic stretches.

"...WHAT HAPPENS NOW?"

"THERE WE GO! That's what I was looking for." I clapped my hands. "You have to make a choice. Lend a helping hand to the land of waves. Make testimony against Gato, or you can do nothing-"

"-I'll help." She didn't even consider another option. "What do you need?"

"Heh, I like you. You remind me of a younger me." I leaned in closer, putting a finger up to my lip as if imparting a secret. "I was even more handsome then."

"I'm… sure you were?" Her voice fluttered higher as she finished shrugging.

---

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

(Mina POV)

Ningame and Lee caught up to both of us with the orders to stay back and use the backup rendezvous point. Speaking of backup, Ours arrived from the hidden leaf right on time at 8pm, as in after all the action was over. A raid was planned against Gato Industries, but I knew nothing of significant value would be left behind. I almost felt bad for wasting the Anbu team's time, but what could I say?

"It's not worth all this effort, everyone and everything has been moved. Trust me, I organized it all."

The fringe excitement from the fantasy of speaking that line laid in its tabooness. Instead, I actually said nothing but my accounts of relevant mission details to assist them in their search for their eventual dead end.

"Gai-Sensei! I believe we should stay and finish what we started."

Lee's beliefs were mirrored by the group, but our departure wasn't rescheduled. We left early the morning after.

With Haku's testimony and Gato's business liquidated overnight, the city officials didn't have any qualms letting Darshuan take over all former real-estate held by Gato Industries. They had long tired from the racketeering scheme even they weren't immune from.

"What about her?" I pointed to Haku, our captive of goodwill. "How is this going to work?"

"Our higher-ups love a ninja willing to look at the needs of the many before themselves. This is a core belief of the Will of Fire. I think once they screen her she will be able to leave her life of violence and crime behind her. A new beginning."

"You do not have to lie to me. I know the position I'm in." Haku spoke.

"Don't ever call Sensei a liar!" Lee butted in.

"Lee… You realize lying and deception is a cornerstone of the ninja lifestyle, yes?" I asked, hoping to wake him from his fantasy.

"Not Gai's, his ninja way is better than that, and mine will be too!"

"Now look here, everyone. I'm manly enough to admit that playing it straight can normally get the job done, but a white lie can be the difference between life and death. Lee, can you afford to add more limitations as you are now?"

"You hear that dead-last? You barely made the cut so don't get in our way."

"Y-Yeah… well… O-Oh..." Lee stuttered, the wind knocked out of his sails.

"Insulting you isn't even fun, it's no challenge. You're even dead last in brain function."

I threw a punch right into the knot on Sasuke's back. I watched him squirm having exploited a vulnerability disclosed in confidence, but I couldn't and wouldn't condone such disrespectful behavior. 'Lee's just a little innocent still, give him some time,' Is what I wanted to say, but before I could speak up, in swooped Gai-sensei.

"Hey now, get along everyone! You're all members of team 9, aren't you? -or have you forgotten?"

...

A flashback had me relive our peculiar team-building exercises.

Sasuke and Lee were embroiled in hostility until it turned physical. I wasn't certain who started it, but it was finished with Lee pinned to his back and Sasuke sitting over him.

Gai ripped them apart, tossing each aside and giving them a hardened glare.

I couldn't help but giggle, but that same hardened stare fell on me shutting me up in my tracks too.

"Since you can't sort this out for yourselves, your wise and caring Sensei has a solution."

"Sensei?!" Lee exclaimed, his eyes growing large and glassy.

"Hold hands." He announced, pointing out both boys of the team. "Did I stutter?"

The Uchiha seethed under his mask of apathy, it was cooking him inside even as he complied, holding his arm out with a "Tch."

Lee grabbed his hand unionizing them, a firm war of grip strength immediately followed.

"Don't let go of your 'buddy's' hand or We'll restart the whole thing and it'll be twice as bad." Sensei's eyes of passion burned like the sun. "The objective is simple, Lee or Sasuke must tag me. Mina keep track of my location and give them directions. Any questions?"

"Does this have a purpose?" Sasuke growled.

"Certainly. Camaraderie. It'll work too, we can do this as many times as it takes… GO!" Gai vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"Due north." I pointed to the shopping district.

"He's forcing us in public like this?!" A scowl replaced his frown, the realization sombering him.

"Hahahahaha!" I couldn't hold back. Gai never failed to one-up every expectation I made of the man. In a minute he formulated a punishment that promotes camaraderie while attacking Sasuke's boundless ego. I wiped away a tear from my eye grinning madly.

Lee too grinned, adopting a mannerism of Sensei by giving me a thumbs up making it even more hysterical.

"Let's get this over with…" the Uchiha pouted.

...

"Everyone hold hands now. That's an order!" Our Captain bellowed.

Both of the boys shot an awkward glance at each other, while I tore myself apart determining if this was one of Gai's metaphorical pump-fakes before settling on holding my hands out to both of them.

"Just kidding. Ah, you should have seen the look on all your faces. Priceless. I bet Kakashi would have gotten a kick out of that one." Gai released a hearty laugh after his outburst or whatever it was. I should just start calling it Gai-sensei at this point because that's more him than anything else.

---

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

Within the week we arrived back at the towering gates of Konoha's main entrance, and standing there was a pair of waiting Anbu. Both of their masks were painted white and black. The leftmost operator was less than half a head taller than me. I wondered the age and identity beneath their concealment, suspecting Danzo's root organization.

The shorter Anbu wore a boar mask, the taller one, more than an entire foot taller, wore a goat mask with lengthy spiraling horns curling around the side.

The smaller Anbu stepped before Gai, holding out some sort of yellowed paper which he accepted promptly.

This elite took hold of our captive and spirited away without a backward glance. Exchanging custody of high-value prisoners I assumed would be a lengthier process, but far be it from me to criticize security protocol as an inexperienced Genin.

"She'll be alright, right?" Lee turned to our leader expecting some reassurance.

"She'll be in capable hands."

My ears perked up hearing this and identifying it as the non-answer it was.

Along our travels back, I had difficulty getting a one on one with Haku.

After a while I began worrying there wouldn't be an opportunity to play doctor through her memories. I set up a distraction to create my solution, but fortunately, it never came to that, and we got some precious alone time.

Knowing which memories to target beforehand made my job much easier. I overwrote multiple memories with fledgling replacements erasing all traces of my extracurricular activities before arriving at the village limits.

"Cya Haku!" Lee waved energetically as her and her handlers turned out of vision.

"Do you think we'll be able to visit?" I spoke up.

"Why do you ask?"

"You know… Strong Kunoichi are scarce and ones that are around my age even more so."

"Ahh… Hmm…" Gai grinned wildly while resting his chin between his fingers in a V formation. "I'll see what I can do after our mission report."

"Sensei?!" Lee exclaimed, tears of joy spilling from his eyes as he haggard over throwing is arms around him. Before long they were squeezed in a mutual embrace a spectacle of the streets.

Sensei nodded in affirmation, letting lee go. "I try, but like I said, we'll see."

My skeptic eyes were too sharp to miss his smile retreat. In my heart, I knew the truth Lee couldn't grasp or refuted as false. The paired fanaticism and ferocity the will of fire supports. A regime reinforced by fear. The things they were capable of in the name of protection of the majority were on par with my own machinations.

Goodluck Haku. You're going to need it.

---

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

(Hiruzen POV)

"You had the opportunity to nip this in the butt by emergency mission reassignment. How could you let this happen?"

My longtime comrade stared me down with his single remaining eye, the other a casualty of war.

"It was a politically sensitive Genin team out on their first mission. That's beyond the scope of reasonable behavior in peace-time." I replied.

"Peace-Time? Wars are embroiling everywhere Hiruzen! It's taken everything I have to hold back this storm from crashing over our homes. You're worried about outsiders when you need to be worrying about what is best for the village. Your pigheadedness severed a lifeline in Gato Industries while strengthening our bordering neighbors. What do you think happens when the malcontent find themselves with power? They revolt."

"Gato's operation couldn't survive forever. With no compassion for your neighbors comes isolation, as true in all things. It was high time to set an example of how we want to be treated. If you burn down all bridges, where will you go?"

"'-as in all things.' 'Where will I go?'" Danzo mocked. "Where does one go when a nasty storm promises to rain on the parade? You bunker down putting survival and practicality first," his cane wrapped against the floor with a thud. "Master Tobirama would be rolling in his grave."

"Let him roll." I ushered waving him away with my hands. "The re-established Nakamura Shipping Company will take over for Gato. The contract proposals are being couriered over as we speak. Konoha's exports will experience minimal shock, in fact with all the surmised damage in some of these reports, we might be able to expect to sell extra lumber this quarter… so what's really got you ornery?"

"Ornery?!" He huffed. "I'm being responsible. One of us has to, or did you forget you soft senile idealist?" Danzo shook his head in disbelief. "What's idealism ever done for the leaf? I'll tell you. Enemies on all sides with tailed beasts and Jinchūriki our village gifted them. I rest my case." The door to my office slammed shut behind him.

Leaning back in my chair, I closed my eyes seeking clarity.

Master Tobirama would be rolling in his grave.

I chuckled before my smoker's lungs sputtered and I choked on a wad of snot.

I spat it into the wastebasket, visualizing the fit Sensei would have thrown if my decisions were open to his criticism. Danzo was certainly correct in his deductions, but the breakdown in relations with neighboring villages could have happened as a result of his ironclad authoritarian views. Tobirama was a wise man, but he was exactly that - a man, not a measuring stick to judge others by.

A gentle knock met my ears as I stiffened in my seat, tilting my vizor back into place and sighing an elderly sonata.

"Come in."

"Team Nine reporting in." A certain bowl-cut Elite Jonin instructor greeted me, his team followed in line behind.

"Good Afternoon Sandaime-sama." The Kaguya prodigy spoke.

"It's wonderful to see all of you back, and a successful mission as I've been told."

"We helped a whole city of people getting oppressed by these greedy businessmen." The ever-energetic light of the Lee clan said. "We made the village money and helped people in need."

"It is by fate that has presented you this golden opportunity. It is not every day that you get it both ways, so all the more reason to appreciate when it arrives on your doorstep don't you think Rock Lee?"

"Sandaime-sama knows me by name? I am honored! I will make sure to live up to all your expectations, sir."

"Heh-heh." I chuckled. "Very good."

The last bastion of the Uchiha avoided eye contact with me, favoring to glance out the window behind me instead.

"Here is our final mission report, it should cover anything missed in the preliminary files sent over." Might Gai dropped a bundle of papers into the box on my desk as I nodded in approval.

"If I was not mistaken, both Mina-kun and Sasuke-kun have taken their first life in this mission."

The little girl swallowed and nodded while the Uchiha responded with: "It's no big deal."

"No big deal? Maybe, but I believe the experience to many can be life-changing. There are inner truths exposed to you when taking a life, and misinterpretations of these truths can be horribly detrimental to both a shinobi's personal and professional life."

The unlikeliest of the Genin to take to heart the underlying lesson of my words spoke up.

"Who gets to decide what's true and what's a lie?" Lee asked.

"It's not about deciding. Truth is fact, lies are deception." I paused long enough to allow Lee-kun to nudge Gai-chan and meet his gaze with an earnest nod. Something special between a teacher and his student no doubt. I knew the sentiment well.

I continued: "In an objective reality there are plenty of toxic, unsustainable outlooks. They start small, rooting in your mind and festering. What follows is classically a wake of self-destruction. We just hope to see promising talent able to overcome and adapt to the changes that come hand in hand with military service, and this is our way of being proactive."

Lee glanced side to side to his peers, likely looking for their insight.

"... Is this something I'm not getting 'cuz I'm not a killer yet?"

"Don't overanalyze things, it doesn't suit you." The Uchiha muttered.

"Hey! You just called me dumb!"

"Nope. You did." He snorted.

The innocence in the room touched me. I regretted sending our youth out to be corrupted by the world, but they'd have to face the world someday.

It was truly a conundrum that has plagued our people as long as we've lived.

"Yes, well in any case, good work everyone. Mina and Sasuke, I'd like both of you to participate in a quick no-nonsense psychological evaluation to make sure you're adjusting properly."

"...Together?" Sasuke asked, his attention perking up and flashing a knowing nod to the girl who scowled at the insinuation.

"No, no. These things are best done in private, as are some other things. Just make sure to stop by and schedule an appointment before your next mission. That is all. Have a wonderful day everyone."

---

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

I'm an avid believer that procrastination is a habit and if practicing mindful abstinence, how can you pick up a habit?

"I'll show you to the evaluation room Hyuga-san."

"Thanks." I trotted behind quite the lanky lab technician, his strides covering twice the ground of my own.

"How did you get stuck playing secretary?" I asked. My curiosity was too much to bear to dam me off the potentially sensitive topic.

He ignored me. We arrived outside a door and stopped. He dropped a sheet of paper off his clipboard into the translucent cubby clinging to the door before answering my previous question.

"A misunderstanding… Hold tight, your administrator will be here shortly. Please take a seat."

The lab tech slid the door open and hurried off in the opposite direction of the lobby we'd come from.

Does anyone want to actually do a proper job as a desk clerk or is it a position doomed to mediocrity at best?

Taking the advice of the missing lab tech, I planted my butt down in a chair, crossing a leg over my knee.

I waited for half an hour, nearly bored to tears by the time he arrived.

I recognized him instantly from a previous evaluation I had here. The Yamanaka clan are categorically perceptive and empathetic. These traits may make them sound perfect to keep things fair due to the assumption that empathy is in the best interest of the individual. I'm here today to put this myth to rest, The Yamanaka empathize with nothing more than the village AKA. the village's upper management, and the Yamanaka's 'extended family' in the Nara and Akimichi clans.

Our pleasantries were short-lived. We dove into the questions.

"When something bad happens… How do you figure out who is responsible?"

"Uhh… Holy crap, THIS is our first question?"

"I know this might sound like a hard question to answer, but it's actually really simple. Do you put the blame on others or yourself?"

"If I deserve blame, I put it on myself, if it was out of my control then I don't."

"I believe most people react this way, but it's by your interpretation of what is in and out of your control. Can you perhaps give me an example of something inside your control?"

I figured I'd start off with the reason I'm here in the first place.

"Whether or not I engage in combat with an enemy."

"But what if you are under orders to engage by a superior officer?"

"Does this hypothetical scenario also involve my teammates?"

"Let's say yes."

"... If by judging the competency of my team I deduce we have a path for victory I will act as the village's tool."

"So if you are ordered to fight a losing fight we are to expect a refusal of the order?"

Using Gai's empathy here is getting me flack. Damnit. I'm going to have to say something brave and patriotic or I'll have done a complete 180 turn in their eyes. It's better to be predictable than unpredictable in the eyes of the higher-ups if your goal is survival.

I chose my words very carefully before speaking, sure that they were truthful and camouflage my Flight Risk-esqebehavior. "Not necessarily, if I can believe the gamble is worth the risk. If my team and I's lives can go to a worthy cause… I think I could stomach death."

"I see. You certainly shoulder responsibility with maturity. Where do you think you learned this?"

"From my mother Ayasha, she always took responsibility for things even if she didn't have to. But I'd like to think I know better than her where to draw the line to stop."

"I knew Miss Hyuga-chan personally, it is a horrific tragedy everything that you've been through."

"I'm… I'd rather not talk about my mother, I don't see it as relevant to your evaluation."

"I see, perfectly understandable." He met me with a sympathetic nod. "

"Would you describe yourself as someone who can turn on charm on and off like a fountain?"

"... I have been trained to seduce and negotiate by the Hyuga and the Academy. I'd be a failure if I couldn't at least do that much."

"Yes, your right." He frowned before writing something else down.

"Before jumping into action, would you say you weigh the consequences of your actions?"

"Absolutely. I believe in preparation, and expecting the unexpected. Ideally, I'll already have the consequences for my actions thought out well before I'd need to act on them. I was told by a teacher that it would be an invaluable asset for leadership, so I've practiced it ever since."

"That makes sense," His head bobbed like a fish right into his next sentence. "Do you think your ability to see consequences helps you rationalize taking a life?"

"Certainly. Like we talked about before, Killing isn't ever an end goal for me," I paused briefly before thinking about Being-X and how that statement might be able to pass as a lie. "It's a tool to get favorable consequences for myself, my team, and my village."

"This might be slightly uncomfortable, but please bear with it. Please think back to your mission when the assailants showed up. How did they make you feel?"

"I… I guess they made me feel confused. They were arrogant for how little power they wielded."

"And you held this against them?"

"What? No! I'm not that petty."

"Right here it says you managed to strike a killing blow to the Captain of the squad, you caged the non-ninja in a jutsu, then proceeded to kill numerous as a display of dominance over them."

"That's not how it happened, and that's not what was in the mission report. After I encaged the non-ninja, they continued hostilities and aimed projectile weapons for my teammates. I couldn't risk the health of my team, so I made a judgment call that not all the captives were mission pertinent, and in truth unnecessary liabilities and a direct threat. After coming to this conclusion, I executed several to make our captives numbers more manageable while simultaneously gaining control of the situation." My words were long-winded, but they were not over.

I continued. "I thought it made me better than the others who couldn't or wouldn't compartmentalize, I saw them as weak, and even Sensei said I wasn't technically wrong… but seeing his disappointment after my kills made me realize that just because I'm authorized to be able to use lethal force in situations like these doesn't mean I should when other avenues are still possible. I don't like to see the people I care about sad, so I figured the least I could do was imagine the hostiles have families and friends like I do. At least then if I kill them I can come to terms with it and carry the mantle of their legacy."

The Yamanaka jerkishly bowed but gave up half-way through. "My apologies for making assumptions earlier." He searched his paper hovering over different parts seemingly scanning it before glancing back. "Okay, I think we've got something here. So you're saying that your shift in ideology was brought by Your sensei's words and disappointment. I'd focus more on his words because they make perfect sense and are wise. Remember that the enemy is still the enemy. If given the opportunity it's within their capacity to kill your family and loved ones. An enemy spared is an enemy that can take up arms again. You do not have a moral responsibility for outsiders. There are times when your moral compass will make or break you, for all of those decisions think carefully."

"Yessir." I agreed as the Doctor fiddled with his ponytail and his hair between his fingers.

"Okay, and what did you feel when you killed the enemy?

"I'd say it was...Recoil. Yeah, definitely recoil from my Kekkei-Genkai."

"What? No, I was asking when confronting your kill if you were... angry? Afraid? Perhaps numb?

"Uhh, right. Of course… I don't really know. I was sorry I had to do it. But like I said it had to be done. I didn't have the power to directly protect my team against dangers, so I neutralized them instead."

"I'll just put you down for numbness."

"Woah, don't you think that opinion might be a little hasty? I don't like to see my fellow man cut down, but I like to see my friends and associates cut down even less."

"I think your misconception of the question gives us a great insight into your deeper psyche. Numbness would be a sensible solution given your other personality identifiers." He finished as his pen whipped into motion spilling words onto the sheet.

"What other personality identifiers?" My curiosity piqued.

"And would you look at that! Our time is up." He stood to his feet sliding his clipboard behind his back. "Based on everything I've collected I can reasonably say that your coping ability is top-notch. Most of the time when we ask these kinds of questions it takes the patient some time for introspection, but the fact you had already gone through most by yourself is a testament to your mental fortitude."

He frowned, I was left to think he was displeased by something I did before he derailed his conversation with: "-Ahh, right. You're still quite young. Introspection is-"

"-I know what introspection is Doctor, please continue your thoughts."

"Yes, Excellent… Actually, that was pretty much everything. I'll just finish up in here and you're free to sign out at the desk. "

"That's it?"

"That's it." He shrugged. "Not too bad, huh?"

That depends on what you wrote about me.

---

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

I was happy as could be bearing my circumstances. Everything was falling in line for the most part. Sasuke is treating me better, my family has nearly been tolerable lately, and if there was ever a time to slow down and give myself a break it would seem there is no replacement for the present.

"Hyuga-chan… Mina!" A voice caught me before stepping through the Hyuga compound archway.

I turned to the voice to find a pale intricately dressed young adult. His long uncut black hair was bunned on top of his scalp into a traditional Queue hairstyle. His robes were pristine and flew the land of fire's Royal crest of the Hideyori, the symbol of fire.

"Hello, can I help you?" I paused, giving the young lord my time of day.

"I would be overjoyed if someone as beautiful as yourself would accompany me around the city in my family's carriage. We have a wide selection of fine drinks and snacks." He ushered me towards nothing less than the Fire Daimyō's official carriage.

Swept up in the moment, I followed him while trying to get a sense of what was going on.

"I don't believe we've met before. Am I missing something?"

"The explanation is lengthy, I am Raito Hideyori, nephew of acting fire Daimyō. Won't you hear it over some drinks?" His smile spoke to his confidence in the weight his family held.

"I suppose?" Lost for what else I could say.

I climbed up and off the footpeg entering the carriage. I noted the detail and ritz of the compartment. A table was positioned between two booth-style benches furnished with silk-wrapped cushions.

Is this another trick by Being-X to poison me? I refuse to fall for the same trick twice.

I took a seat on the bench. The lord retrieved two glasses and a bottle of white wine from the overhead cabinet before disturbingly sliding into my booth shielding my exit with his body.

"How is it? Being relegated as second class in your own family?" Disdain heavy in his voice, as he poured himself the first glass, white fizzy microscopic bubbles filled the upper half of it.

"What?"

I was too confused to be able to refuse in time, and now the second glass was nearly overheaping.

"You have no need to pretend. You are of the branch family, yes? A faithful dog that wags its tail for its master."

"I'm a branch family member and I experience lesser freedom because of it, yes."

He slid his slimy hand onto the outside of my thigh, slowly tracing his fingers up as he spoke. "It's tragic your family don't see you as the irreplaceable gem I do."

"You see me as a gem?" I asked, hoping to keep him talking to keep him from advancing on other ground.

"Come, have a drink with me." He slid the extra glass over my way.

"I've sworn off alcohol with my dad. We made a promise to each other."

"His rules hold no weight here."

"No, it was mutual. We both had a problem and it was for the best."

"Fine. If you don't want drinks," He gulped down the rest of his glass in two swallows and pushed both glasses away and the bottle to the other side of the table. "-Then there will be no drinks."

He leaned into me, his eyes exploring over me like he was an adventurous cartographer and I was uncharted unexplored territory. He grew bolder and finally, I was forced into playing defense against his exploring hands.

"I see... A recovering drunk and a prude. I hadn't imagined you'd make for such splendid company." His hand retreated off my thigh, back to his own personal space.

"No matter. Your beauty is something to marvel, but in truth, it's the least in my interest in you." He relaxed, leaning back into the booth. "The first time I saw you, I rode two full days to make it to your village's public exhibition match. My expectations were low in the beginning, but the stories and hype around you was quite infectious. I loved how the majority were convinced you were the favorite over an older boy of your clan declared a prodigy as well. The hype was infectious."

"Thank you for recognizing that my loss was a fluke, I was going through a lot."

"Oh certainly. I respect your strength and how you control the battlefield. You have the bright future of a star. I have no doubt with your blood you'll be one of the greatest aces' in the land of fire."

"I love when guys I barely know monologue about me…It would go better for you if you talked about yourself rather than me, or at least ask me questions, what am I supposed to do? Sit here and listen to you talk about me?" I brought my hands up in confusion, looking to see if it was registering to him.

"I see your reputation of ruthlessness wasn't misplaced. Perfect."

"Perfect for what?"

"Perfect for handling the inner workings in the royal family."

"Why? Am I being assigned as an undercover protection detail?"

"I had you pegged to be sharper than this… No silly, you'd become my wife. I know with the backing of strength and fear I'd get by taking you as a wife and making an alliance with the Hyuga, that my claims to the line of succession can no longer be ignored."

"M-M-MARRIED?! Are you out of your mind?! We just met, not to mention you're skipping right on over most of the things girl's geek about. Do you think you can own me?"

"I will become the next Fire Daimyō and you will be my bride. You will not be owned, but rescued from your callus family and given status and influence unlike anything you've ever imagined."

"I'm sorry, I have absolutely no interest in marriage at this time, and don't think I haven't already dreamt of being more influential than the wife of a Daimyō. You don't know me at all if you think that."

"Really? Fascinating, truly fascinating. 2nd class and still under the illusion of entitlement? Or is it greed? Either way, your family has already made a formal agreement and bartered you off to me… rather cheap I might add. I simply can't fathom it, why they would be so willing to forsake you."

THEY SOLD ME OUT?! WHAT THE FUCK!

He paused long enough to take my chin in his hands. "We are to be wed after your twelfth birthday, but I wouldn't mind opening my present early." His hand slid down my back, goosebumps sprouting over my skin as I shivered.

I went to stand, but Raito blocked me in and took pleasure in it with his sleazy grin.

"I'm leaving. I've got some thinking to do." I pushed him out of the booth and stepped over him to leave.

Before I could exit fully, the lord stumbled up.

"It seems you need a lesson in how to properly treat your fiancé."

Byakugan!

Blood poured to my eyes as they focused on Raito. My fingers took on a calcified shank at each end displaying my very real threat to him if he planned to proceed.

"Dude, you're like twice my age and I don't even know you. Why would you think I'd be cool with an arranged marriage, let alone how shameless you were."

"I believe in setting precedent, I showed my intentions upfront like someone of upstanding morals."

"I haven't even had my first period. Did your family come to power by revolutionizing cradle robbing?" As I made this argument, the relationship between Sasuke and I suddenly felt dirtier.

"Heh. I'll be honest love, I'm not well versed in rejection and you seem to be running a workshop."

"Kill yourself," I stormed out.

---

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

My knuckles slammed into the door repeatedly. Long exhausted was my veneer of patience eroded by the news delivered to me, and by a third-party nonetheless.

"Hiashi-Sama!" I announced as I continued to beat down his door.

He's treating 'US' like a sacrificial pawn. Unacceptable!

The door flung open, the patriarch with discolored bags beneath his eyes answered. "I'd appreciate it if you were more gentle on my door Mina-kun."

"You sold me out! Didn't you?"

"Hmm? Oh your marriage." He sighed and sat on the front of the desk. "The Fire Daimyo's nephew came to us with a proposal too good to refuse."

I worked my way around in front of him, determined to plead my case and get the whole thing called off. I could provide more value than that failure of a womanizer to the clan. He'll see.

"But hadn't I been doing good?! I've nearly finished all your secret tasks you wanted, and I've been trying my hardest to put family first."

"An effort in futility." He grumbled. "Raito Hideyori is a respected gentleman and highborn, has long black hair, intelligence, and has extensive combat experience. I didn't accept without thinking of your preferences."

"Preferences? And do tell me what you think my preferences are."

His hand flicked up, a scorching burn searing the frontal cortex of my brain.

"You never seem to realize your position in everything. This union is too important to the clan to let you muck it up by strutting around mingling with our greatest historical rival. I'll be glad to have your traitorous blood out of our family once and for all."

Kill.

He flew forward, slapping me across the face while holding my seal steady.

"I've been losing hair over what to do with you and the heavens plopped down this opportunity onto my lap. Do you know what a direct alliance with our royal family means for the Hyuga? For decades we have been in a power struggle with the other clans of nobility. This step will propel us past our rivals and into the firm position of the mightiest in the village. No. I won't let you jeopardize this."

Take his life and topple the power structure of the clan.

My traitorous alter-ego worked to take control from me.

"I will never let you win Izuna!"

My words were meant to be internal, and I realized my mistake instantly.

Hiashi's expression overwrote with confusion, his eyes rolling into the back of his head in thought.

He knows too much.

With the arrival of chaos, my grip over the seat of control restrengthened giving me the opportunity to act.

The void drew in and swallowed my Caged Bird Seal to be sure it couldn't be used against me again.

Hiashi bared witness to my seals 'Houdini act', his eyes juiced up even without the Byakugan, fat veins bulging out of his head. The best part was his pure astonishment. His jaw dropped open dumbstruck.

I called forth my greatest tool, Leon's weight appearing on my shoulders.

Hiashi decided to spring to late action, his palm reaching out with a collection of Chakra built into his hand.

I didn't know what could be done, only that something was necessary. All my focus went in sending my Chakra through my strings, None at all for the jutsu's utility

Forget me! Tsukiyomi!

My hands shook violently as I expected the office would be blown apart from Hiashi's air palm, but it seemed to have dispelled without detonation.

In other situations I normally have a particular goal and vision in mind to show my target, but not this time.

Hiashi-Sama collapsed to the floor with an audible thud. My vengeance and his silence came at a price.

Excellent work. Finish your kill.

I can afford a moment to think, this will certainly affect the rest of our life, so how can we make the best out of it?

I sat down and pondered. Letting idea's come and go, until I was pulled between two of my options.

I've already made a scene and people saw me stomp up here… there is no way to disassociate us. We're implicated no matter what.

So in that case, the best damage control is collateral damage.

Standing up, I stood over my patriarch's slack form.

From the void, I retrieved a functional set of black leather gloves slipping them over each hand.

Reaching out, I pulled his eyelids' apart to expose an eye.

The damage is already done, If I am gone, I might as well take everything else with me.

I broke and shattered the internal network responsible for storing memories, wiping it as close to clean as possible.

My heart beated a mile a minute, everything but my firm belief in understanding consequences spurred me to split and just go on the run, but I didn't believe I could survive Being-X without better infrastructure to fall back on, and Zabuza won't have it ready and would probably be pissed if I didn't show up with Haku.

FUCK!

That was when something occurred to me. A nasty gamble possible.

I could gamble by rewriting my own memory so that no criminal evidence could be used to prosecute me.

No, that's far too risky.

Since when have you learned restraint?

Meddling with your own mind is the ultimate taboo among the Uchiha.

Really? Perhaps the ultimate taboo should have been slaughtering your own indiscriminately, it probably would have held out as a stronger version of self-preservation.

This is not a game, It's out of the question.

Izuna's firm opposition to the idea felt off. Why would he be against something that has what I deduce the highest statistical probability for success?

Then give me a better alternative.

…

Yeah, that's what I thought.

My stomach dropped as I realized just how many memories I'd need to adjust, and to play it the safest, It'd probably be better if I did them all at once.

I got up and locked the door to the office. A bound composition notebook popped into my right hand ejected from my seal.

The book was an assortment of data I compiled and recorded. Ninja's, their arsenals, their allegiances, and their personalities. Tales and snippets of my life journaled away more out of a drive for organization and improvement than anything. Little did I know that these facts would be at risk of forceful eviction by anyone but the Yamanaka, especially myself.

I opened it and transcribed every memory I could think of with importance that would be lost from the cleanse. Like this the gamble only held my precious memories as collateral, rather than bidding them farewell for good.

At no other time was it more clear that my most precious assets by far had always been my memories. Some things we never appreciate until they are gone or at risk.

Will I even be the same person I was before without them?

…

There came no response, I figured as much from his adamance of the dangers of self-mutilation of the mind.

Tears spilled down my cheeks as memory and memory came to me that I'd need to part with.

"It's necessary," I told myself.

I shut the book, bidding farewell to the well of experience that served me these many years. If the memories were indeed unrecoverable, at least I can read about my exploits to fill the gaps later on.

The notebook poofed out of existence in this dimension, sucked into the void.

I begrudgingly drug myself over to Hiashi's ornate mirror hanging perpendicular to his desk, gazing into the eyes of my reflection.

I wonder… I briefly thought of Izuna, and where his existence truly resided. Is he in my brain?

As that thought concluded, I was blindsided by Izuna's largest power play to date. With vigor and desperation, our internal tug of war saw us violently flicker between driver and passenger.

I can erase you before you erase me.

Fear compelled me to struggle even harder for the self-preservation I was determined to exercise.

Now I know why you've been against me from the start, you were going to take my body for yourself!

IT WAS MINE TO BEGIN WITH YOU OUTSIDER, GET OUT.

At this moment, All I was certain of was that it was him or me, and he'd have a hell of a fight if he expected me to go down.

The barrier between reality and fantasy snapped, the world succumbing to the influence of thought.

The void ripped open by Izuna's doing, spilling out my numerous possessions everywhere.

You are weak. A slave to your possessions, Even succumbing to emotion over your 'precious' puppets, both living and not.

Leon's mother and brother clanked to the floor, A crack sounded as they made an impact. My heart skipped like a scratched CD.

You're just as fragile as they are.

A shadow bolted from the mirror, it's blackened featureless form winding and worming around my defenses before slithering into my nostril.

I blew and blew, attempting to dislodge and vacate him from this body.

Return to eternal darkness, where you were born.

I was lost for a better option, I began throwing my body into every object around, banging my forehead on something hard enough to cause nausea.

A spell of dizziness overcame me, but I threw my head into it again, determined to see Izuna lose even at my expense. If I couldn't win, I'd make sure he lost too.

"Are you insane?! Stop that!" Spilled from my mouth.

"MAKE ME!" I shrieked.

I doubt I even have to mention that I didn't comply. His orders left me certain I'd need to continue instead.

I whipped my neck forward, throwing my forehead into it again.

The fantasy dispelled, leaving the trashed bloodied office as my surrounding environment once more.

With a line of sight to my reflection, I built the jutsu that would make or break me, and launched it.

The retina behind my eyes cooked like exposed to a sweltering flame. Data came rushing in like the tide, drowning out or replacing the chain of memories. Events unraveled, breaking apart leaving them disconnected.

I experienced each memory as if they were new and unknown. Soon the chainlinks began reattaching and reforming building back a reservoir of experience to draw upon.

Suck up everything you can see in this room. After, forget where they went. Forget you sent them there, and most importantly, forget you can send anything there. The abyss never existed.

The command echoed through my brain in my own voice, begging the question if it was me or my imagination, but following orders came natural, and so they were carried out.

Satisfied with everything I packed away, I fell slack to the ground, out cold.

---

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

(Iwazumi Nara POV)

Turning the knobs and dials while flipping through the different subsections of the puzzle box.

It had been a week since this thing showed up, and I wasn't any closer to solving the blasted thing. While shaking it around I could tell there was at least one secret department inside with some crap in it, but I was starting to wonder if my curiosity was even worth it.

It was apparently supposed to be a gift, but I think whoever sent this had to have a mean streak against sensibility.

There was a note that came with the box with only one sentence.

"Deus lo Vult."

The lettering was unlike anything I'd come across before, dissecting it down to at minimum 8 distinct characters with no modifiers evident.

I hate to admit to have gotten so curious that I browsed around local library collections to see if I could identify the language.

That was when I realized that I'd been looking at the problem all wrong. It could be a substitution cipher, however, my interest was beginning to be overshadowed by laziness, so I took a shortcut by poking around with some relatives in Research and Development to see if they could make heads or tails of the thing.

"Nothing?" I repeated disbelieving my ears.

"Nothing."

And the list of all the potential people who could have given the box grew incredibly short.

"As much as a sink-hole as it's been I bet it would be fun to watch it burn." I played with the idea, before dismissing it and fiddling with the left knob until it was 4 notches from turned all the way.

A clockwork tink clicked in the box.

Intrigued, I put my ear to it looking for another hint.

Something changed.

I leaned up on the sofa and had a little look around.

Something's different than it was just a second ago… In this room.

My gut grew heavy, my body warned against impending danger, but like someone with sense I concluded the change and I sighed in relief.

The stupid clock must've ran out of juice. It's been a defective piece of junk for a while, but maybe Dad will finally let it go instead of saying how it's - our heritage. Like, Okay? It broke...

"Moooooom, the friggin' clock stopped working again. I thought dad was going to throw this thing out?" I called out up the stairs.

I love to call out my parents' failings because they never hold back on me, don't I know it.

My grin laxened. "Mooom?"

Footsteps shuffled around upstairs and I knew instantly she was back to her old tricks.

"Come on! You've never heard of the story of the boy who cried, ninja? What if something actually happens, hmmmmmmm?" I yelled up to her, snickering before ultimately sitting back down on the sofa.

At least puzzles can be solved. With women you can never win.

My ears perked up with solid footsteps coming down the stairs.

"I knew your were being redi-AAAAHH HOLY-" I stumbled back over the couch tumbling to the hardwood.

Entirely blackened eyes darker than midnight rested in my mother's head.

"You have been chosen." She mouthed, her vocals strained and off-pitch.

"Mom?"

"You have been chosen... as a prospective Champion of the Singularity. Do you wish for a better world, and the wisdom and strength to fight for that world?"

"Huh?"

"Do you have the strength to fight for a brighter tomorrow?"

"Ye-ahhhh-Sure?"

My mother wobbled over and tinkered with the box for a few moments. I didn't know what to expect of all this, but the puzzle box made a LOUD CLICK, and popped open.

Gold light enraptured out of the box only adding to the spectacle of an already impossible to comprehend scenario.

The light faded, and inside of the box was a dusty old parchment paper.

It read:

The Summoning Jutsu

Boar → Dog → Bird → Monkey → Ram

Fall into the depths of your mind before completing the hand signs.

"Fall into the depths of my mind?" I asked. "What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

"You have been chosen."

Mom's eyes pressed shut tightly, but when they opened, every trace of the unnatural vanished.

Tick...Tick...Tick… The clock continued.

"What was I… What was I just doing?" My parent questioned aloud.

"Mom is... is everything okay?"

"Hm? Sure it is, why? Have you been shirking your duties again?" She stooped down. "Ahh… You swept it all under the dresser. Do it all over again, and if i find out you just moved it again I'm going to be pissed."

How did my concern end up backfiring on me like this?!

"So you finally got that thing open, did you? Any treasure?"

I slipped the parchment in my pocket sure not to make any sudden movements.

"It was empty. The rattling was a mechanism that popped off."

"Oh, my poor baby. Maybe if you would actually sweep some of the times when I asked you karma might have put a little something in there for you."

"Good one." I laughed nervously.

"Yeah, yeah. Get back to work."

I pretended everything was normal, but for real my head was spinning. It was like one of those crazy horror stories that have a hero. I couldn't keep my mind off it all day.

This jutsu takes you somewhere else if you don't have a contract… but I guess I agreed to a verbal contract of some sort. Why does everything have to be so complicated?

If I do end up summoning something, It better not be in the house or my parents would kill me under busywork chores so I'd never have free time again. So if that's the case, and I'm really going to try it, It'll have to be outside.

Kicking off my windowsill, I slipped out of the compound's interior and made my way to our family's forest.

I came through the gate and continued, making sure to go further than I'd needed to stay inconspicuous.

Alright, this is probably good enough.

I retrieved the parchment, holding it and bending it in hand.

Here goes something...

I took a seat crossing each leg over the other, taking a meditative 'stance' as I figured anything as cerebral as "Fall into the depths of your mind" might take a little more focus than your average jutsu.

I stilled myself, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath filling my lungs. My hands began shifting in and out of hand signs as I chanted them aloud. I wasn't feeling the whole falling vibe, but I was trying.

As I finished, I opened my eyes… to no changes.

I tried again… and again… but it just wasn't working. I guess maybe it just wasn't meant to be.

I shrugged, convincing myself I must have eaten some bad mushrooms or something like the time Dad thought the sink spicket was a Boa constrictor.

...but then again, he wasn't just okay in a few minutes. If not that then… wait a second, doy! You have to use blood. God I'm an idiot.

I pricked a finger giving myself access to a trickle of blood.

I cycled through the conditions one more time, and after completion slapped both hands into the dirt. Black ink shot out and expanded over the ground. Everything got wavey. Shapes distorted, colors blinked and flashed different colors, and my body was squeezed like my sink wanted revenge against me because I didn't believe it was the real deal.

Zoom.

I plopped out in the darkness. My eyes were already pretty adjusted, but after several more seconds I could make out vague shapes to the left and infront, but nothing behind.

"AAAWWUUUUUUU". A mighty howl sounded, bouncing off everything around and echoing repeatedly. Instantly I knew that this area was enclosed and hollow by the acoustics.

A flickering orange light appeared and grew from the left.

"Believe the magic box - I said. What could possibly go wrong - I said…" I shook my head from the realization that I'd made a mistake. Puzzle? No, it was a trap.

I only had moments, but I ducked off backward and clung close to the wall, hoping that whatever ended up coming wasn't looking for a fight.

Another howl splintered my eardrums, well at least felt like it.

The light grew bigger, but as it became brighter and more clear, it also showed movement or variance of some kind.

Plop, plop, plop.

The unmistakable sound of footsteps drummed against the floor carried into the den or wherever I ended up.

I held my breath and silently prepped for a shadow possession. If I could see what the heck I was doing I'd be the strongest in the dark.

A figure carrying a burning torch passed through, it was pretty short, maybe as tall as me but significantly thicker. They wore a brownish flak jacket.

A Hidden stone Nin… Aren't I lucky?

"He's got to be around here somewhere." I heard.

"Who's fault is it we couldn't just wait in one spot. No, you had to explore to kill time." This voice sounded different, a bit higher pitched.

A second figure leapt out of the entrance as well, this one's head illuminated better than anything shining like a metal. There was no hair on his head, and he looked to be in his later teens at the cusp of consideration for adulthood.

There are two… even shadow possession is out of the question now.

"Ama just told me we're super close, probably in this room if I had to guess."

Are they looking for me? This was a trap set by the hidden stone the whole time?

I went and shit myself resigning to my fate.

"Hmm? You hear that?" The torch waved around as the leader switched directions navigating directly towards me now.

"Alright, I get it, I'm boned," I said uncrouching and holding my arms up in surrender.

"ALRIGHT!" The shorter one shouted. "Super excited to meet ya… man it smells in here." The man stopped after his sentence to sniff the air.

"Hyena's have taken over this whole place and rodents denned here before that. What did you expect it to smell like? Flowers?"

"Yeah-yeah. Man, this is the guy that Ama needed? He kind of looks like a toothpick." He paused for a moment and added. "No offense."

"…okay?"

"I'm Shinji and this man over here might not look it, but he's my brother Kisuke. We are champions knighted by our one true god, the Singularity. We just need to escort you to the new squirrel den for your summoning contract, right?"

"My… summoning contract?"

---

┬┴┬┴┤神の起源├┬┴┬┴

A/N: Took a nice break from writing, but a creator can only stand still for so long. A lot of working components to this chapter, I holy hope I did it justice.

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