Chapter 21: Mysteries of the Heavens
The sun was shining once more in the village as everyone went about their daily business, smiles on their faces and the faces of the children running around. Not everyone in the village was in a cheerful mood though, one person found it hard to crack a smile on such a beautiful day, his thoughts turning to serious matters.
Ryouske observed the village from his spot on top of the Fourth Hokage's head on the Hokage Monument, his legs and arms crossed as he sat there, deep in thought. It had been a week since the mission to rescue Gaara and, just like they were today, his thoughts had fixated on Karina, the anger at the Akatsuki brainwashing and recruiting her still burned fiercely inside of him.
Since that mission, Ryouske had been training furiously, determined to get Karina back and bring her home to the village. His deep dive into training made his friends become worried for him however, concerned that he was pushing himself too hard and that he was going to severely injure himself and reopen the wound on his chest.
Tsunade, the person who healed his wound, was standing on the roof of the Hokage Building, looking up at the monument in concern for the young ninja. He had been taking missions a lot lately and completing them with ruthless efficiency, making her wonder if he was letting his anger take over him. It had gotten to the point that she had to forbid him from taking missions for a while, ordering him to take it easy lest he exhaust himself to the brink of collapse.
It was not just Karina that was on Ryouske's mind however, Gaara and Ebizo's information about his parents and the Village Hidden in the Heavens weighing heavily on his mind. Why was he not told before? Why did Gaara's father hide the truth from him? These questions were constantly plaguing Ryouske's mind as much as his determination to rescue Karina was. He NEEDED to find this village and get some answers, answers as to who his parents really were. There would be new strength for him in that village too, new power, he could feel that it was where he was meant to go.
Letting out a deep sigh, he rose from his sitting position and dusted himself off, making his way off of the monument and to Training Ground 13, where his team were ready to train with him. When he arrived there, he was met with the same looks that he had been getting from all of his friends, looks that still angered him, making him grit his teeth. They were looks of pity, sympathy and fear that he was going crazy. For hours, Ryouske had his team attack him again and again, doing whatever it took to hold them back, so that he could get stronger, strong enough to beat Karina and save her. Each time he was knocked down, he got back up and demanded that they keep going, despite Namito and Anko suggesting they take breaks.
Hours later, they were all tired from the constant training, panting heavily and feeling themselves drained. Ryouske clenched his bruised fists and looked at his tired team mates, despite being tired himself, and narrowed his eyes. "C'mon guys, we need to keep going," he exclaimed, making Anko shake her head, "Ryouske, we can't keep going like this. Can't you see we're exhausted? You're gonna wear yourself out and us too," she tried to explain to her determined student.
Ryouske just growled and shook his head, groaning from the effort, "NO! We have to keep going, i won't stop until i'm strong enough to save Karina, to bring her back," he stated, causing Namito to glare at him, "You idiot! Don't you see that you're pushing us and yourself to the limit?" he asked his stubborn friend, standing up to meet him in the eye. Ryouske met his glare with one of his own, not backing down as his friend continued, "Don't you see what you're doing to yourself? Your craving to get stronger is making you out to be exactly like Sasuke, hungering for more power," he exclaimed.
With his eyes widening, Ryouske drew back his fist and punched Namito across the face, grabbing the boy by the collar and bringing him closer, "Don't you DARE compare me to him! Unlike Sasuke i want to get stronger to save my friend, not for pointless revenge," he stated, but was unable to say anything else due to Namito slugging him across the face. Ryouske rubbed his jaw and lunged at Namito, throwing punch after punch at his friend, who returned the punches with strikes of his own.
Lukyo was about to stop them but Anko held his shoulder and shook her head, watching the two friends fight, "They need to do this, to get it out of their system," she explained to the concerned Lukyo, who looked back at the fight also. Soon, both Ryouske and Namito were lying on their backs next to eachother, both sporting bruised faces and both panting heavily. Namito let out an exhausted sigh and looked over at his friend, "You...You cooled off yet?" he asked Ryouske, who just laughed and nodded, looking at the sky, "Yea...i needed that," he said with a grin.
Namito smiled and looked at the sky also, "You know...you're not the only one who cares about Karina, you don't have to do this alone you know," he told his friend who laughed and nodded, causing Namito to continue, "We're here to help you bro, every step of the way. You can't push yourself like this, Karina wouldn't have wanted it, and if you continue to do so i'll smack some sense into you once more, got it?" Ryouske laughed out loud and nodded, thanking his friend for always being there, and stood up shakily, offering a hand to Namito who took it.
Having finally gotten that out of their system, team 13 headed out of the Training Grounds and all headed their separate ways, with Ryouske now determined to discover the secrets that were waiting for him in his village. The next morning, after SOMEHOW managing to get permission from Tsunade, Ryouske headed to the village gates, ready to set out to find the Village Hidden in the Heavens.
When he got to the gates, however, he was not surprised to find his team waiting for him, obviously set on heading out with him. Anko grinned at her surprised student and patted his back, "You didn't think we were gonna let you go alone now did ya?" she asked Ryouske, who grinned and nodded, thanking them for being by his side as they began walking. As they travelled, Namito looked at Anko and raised an eyebrow, "So where exactly IS the Heaven Village anyway?"
Anko put a finger to her chin in thought and stopped walking, realising she didn't actually know herself. Lukyo cleared his throat and smiled, pushing his glasses up his nose as he pulled out a map of the Elemental Nations, pointing at the border of the Land of Wind, "According to rumours, some information i was able to dig up and Gaara's information from his father's documents, it can be assumed that the Heaven Village is on the border of the Land of Wind. My guess is it's in the mountains there somewhere," he explained to the group, who were nodding, agreeing with his theory.
Deciding to try looking around the border of the Land of Wind, the group set out for the desert, hoping to find some sort of clue as to how to get to the village. Upon arriving at the border, Ryouske hopped onto a giant stone head that was poking out of the sand and put a hand to shield his eyes, looking around to see what he could find. Spotting a mountain in the distance, he looked down at his team and grinned, "Maybe we should try that mountain over there, it could be a good place to start," he suggested.
They decided to take Ryouske's advice and headed for the mountain, soon reaching the foot of it and began to follow a trial up the mountain side. When they neared the halfway point of the mountain, clouds of fog began to form around them, making them hardly able to see the path ahead. Namito swore and looked at Anko, barely able to see her, "Sensei, how are we gonna be able to see where we are going? This fog is thick as hell," he asked the woman, who frowned and rubbed her head, "To be honest i don't know, we could be walking to a cliff or backwards for all we know," she stated simply.
Ryouske was about to offer a suggestion, when all of a sudden, he tensed up and looked to his right, feeling an odd feeling coming from that direction. Motioning for the others to stay close, he began leading them in that direction, turning at random intervals, until the fog suddenly disappeared, revealing that they had gotten closer up to the peak. Lukyo frowned and looked at Ryouske, "How did you know which way to go?" he asked his friend, who also frowned and shrugged, "I don't know, i just had a strange feeling that something was guiding me through the fog," he explained.
Their conversation was cut short, however, when a dozen ninja, wearing the usual black shinobi shirt and trousers and each wearing a white flak jacket, suddenly appeared around them, forming a ring. The Leaf ninja drew their weapons, with Ryouske reaching for The Executioner's Blade but finding it missing, rembering his fight with Karina in which she sliced the blade in half, and drew a kunai instead, and narrowed their eyes at the ninja. Anko peered closer and saw that the headbands of the ninja all bore the same symbol, a sun with a crescent moon at it's side, and guessed that these were the ninja from the Village Hidden in the Heavens.
The leader of these ninja pointed his katana at the group and narrowed his eyes, "Who dares trespass in our lands? Our village is off limits to outsiders unless you're traders," he explained to the group, "Since you're clearly not traders, i'm afraid we cannot permit you to continue on to our village," with that he ordered his ninja to attack and attack they did. They swarmed over the group, now grown larger due to Ryouske creating water clones, and began using various wind, lightning, water and Sky Style jutsu to attack them, with the group barely managing to dodge or block.
Ryouske, cut up and bruised, decided enough was enough and quickly created his own handsigns, his chakra flaring as fog began to hover over them all, lightning surging within it. "Sky Style: Voltage Volley" he called as wind blew from the fog and at the ninja, making them struggle to stand upright, until bolts of lightning shot from the fog, striking at the ninja until they each fell to the ground, shaking from the lightning.
Upon seeing the jutsu, the leader of the ninja stared wide eyed at Ryouske, pointing a shaking finger at him, "That...that style...you know Sky Style?!," he demanded of Ryouske, who nodded, glaring at the man, "What of it?," he asked. The man walked forward, slowly recovering from the jutsu, and asked Ryouske to show him his eyes, which Ryouske did. When the man beheld Ryouske's mismatched eyes, his own widened in recognition and he took a step back, dropping to one knee, with his ninja following suit, and looked up at Ryouske, his voice trembling, "It..it can't be...we all thought you had perished. It is good to see you alive and grown up...Lord Ryouske," the man exclaimed, making Ryouske's and his teams eyes widen in surprise.
Ryouske blinked and looked at the kneeling ninja, "L..lord?! What the fuck is with this lord stuff?!," Ryouske asked the leader who frowned at his language but looked at him, "Come, you and your friends come with us to the village and all will be explained there," he advised, causing team 13 to nod and follow the ninja as the headed further up the mountain. What they saw there took their breath away.
The village was situated within a large crater in the side of the mountain, with the bottom of the crater jutting forward to give the crater the look of a giant oval chair carved into the mountain side, with the village located on the seat of the chair, protected from all sides by the walls of the crater. The buildings were various in size, with the tallest building near the top of the crater and bearing the symbol for "Heaven" on the front of it. The walls of the village were as white as clouds, blending in with the fog that surrounded the village like a natural barrier.
The ninja led the group through the fortified gates and into the village, where Team 13's eyes widened at the beauty of the village and at the smiles of the people, that is until they stopped to look at the visitors, their smiles vanishing. Namito looked around and sidled a bit closer to Anko to whisper at her, "Why are they all staring?" but Anko shook her head, "I have no idea, maybe they don't get many visitors to the village," she suggested.
Ryouske looked at the villagers, feeling rather awkward at their staring, as the ninja lead them to the tallest building in the village, leading them into a large room with 3 statues standing in a line at the back of the room and a large round table in the middle where he asked them to sit while he went to let the Tengokukage know that they were here. While the others sat down at the table, Ryouske walked up to the first statue in line, one of a man with long hair that was in a high ponytail, and titled his head. He then looked at the third one, a man with short hair and a stern, but fair, face and shrugged, looking at the second statue where he tensed and tilted his head to the other side.
The statue was of a man with wild hair that looked like a lions mane behind his head and a kind, smiling face. For some reason, Ryouske felt drawn to this statue, feeling some sort of familiarity with it, like he knew the man. Just then, doors to the side opened and a man in a robe the same as the Hokage robe, but white and sky blue, entered the room. He looked exactly like the third statue, his face stern but fair and his hair short and brown. He looked at his guests, "Welcome to our village. My name is Kazama Kageyama and i am the Tengokukage of this village."
Anko smiled and stood up, bowing respectfully with team 13 all following suit, "Hello, my name is Anko Miterashi and i am a Jounin of the Village hidden in the leaves," she stated. Namito grinned and put his hands behind his head, "My name is Namito, nice to meet ya," he stated in his usual less than graceful manner. Lukyo pushed his glasses up his nose and nodded with a smile, "My name is Lukyo Mooresaki. It is an honour to meet you Lord Tengokukage," he stated respectfully.
Kazama then turned to Ryouske who raised an eyebrow and bowed softly, "I'm Ryouske Tenno, nice to meet you." At that, Kazama's eyes widened and he smiled, "Ah, so it IS you. I had a hunch when i saw your eyes and your hair. Our young Ryouske has returned to his home at last," he exclaimed, his smile never leaving his face. When he saw Ryouske's look of confusion, Kazama laughed and bade them to follow him, leading them to his office. The office of the Tenogokuke was almost the same as the Hokage office, except the walls were painted white and sky blue.
Once they were in the office, Kazama pointed to three pictures on the wall. The first was of the man whose statue was the first. His high ponytail was a light brown and he had green eyes and a face full of wisdom, "That is our First Tengokukage, Ventaro Tengoku. He founded this village 30 years ago after he left the Village Hidden in the Sky for unknown reasons," he explained. Ryouske looked at Kazama, his eyes widening in confusion, "Tengoku...then that means..., " he began. Kazama smiled and nodded, "Yes, this was your Grandfather," he explained to the surprised teen, who was now looking at his grandfather's picture.
He then moved onto the second picture, which was of a man who was an exact lookalike of the second statue. This man's mane of wild hair was a deep black and he had a warm smile that radiated compassion and strength, while his sapphire blue eyes burned with a strong will. Ryouske's eyes locked onto the man's face, that feeling of familiarity welling up inside of him once more.
At his side was a woman with crimson hair that ran down to her waist, a kind heart shaped face and emerald green eyes. While the man was wearing the Tengokukage robes, the woman was wearing a white kimono with a red sash and sky blue flowers adorning her kimono. Ryouske's eyes widened as he looked at a third person in the picture. In the woman's arms was a small, smiling baby, with a right sapphire eye and a left emerald eye and on his head was a tuft of black hair with another tuft of red hair at the front of it. Ryouske slowly put his hand up to the picture and touched the face of the woman softly, finding himself at a loss for words as Kazama walked up to him, "Yes, those are your parents. Lord Second Tengokukage Sora Tengoku and Lady Eiko Tengoku," he stated.
Anko looked at Kazama, an eyebrow raised, "Tengoku? does that mean...," Kazama nodded, looking at Ryouske, "Indeed. Ryouske's name is actually Ryouske Tengoku. He bears the name of this village, Tengokugakure," he explained, this news causing Ryouske to nod absently, taking it in. Lukyo looked at Ryouske, a smile on his face, and patted his friends back, "Wo, that must be an honour. To be named after the village, just like Konohamaru back in the Leaf Village," he said to Ryouske, who nodded absently again.
Namito looked at the picture and whistled softly, "Wow Ryo, your mother was a beautiful woman," he told his friend, with Lukyo nodding, "She looks so kind and your father looks like a good man." Anko nodded her agreement and looked at Ryouske, wondering why he was quiet, but opened her mouth, susprised by what she, and Lukyo and Namito who had looked around, saw. Tears were streaking down Ryouske's face as he continued to look at the picture, " Kazama, tell me more about them," he asked the kage, who nodded and sat behind his desk.
"Your father was a loved and cherished man, a wise and caring leader and a proud and doting father. He was named a prodigy at a young age, even being offered to graduate from the academy early but he refused, stating that he did not want to leave his friends behind, showing that he cared about those he loved," Kazama explained as Ryouske continued to look at the picture of his parents, while the others sat in chairs in front of the desk.
"Your mother was an exceptionally kind woman, who never showed anyone any hatred or ill feelings, and was loved by everyone in the village for her beauty and generosity to others. Although when angered she was like a demon that even your own father knew best to run from," he explained with a laugh, with Ryouske and his team laughing. "They met while on a mission. They were on opposite sides, with your mother a ninja for an unknown village, and were supposed to kill each other. But your father, finding your mother wounded and abandoned by her comrades, brought her back here to nurse her to health. She chose to stay in this village and, over time, the two eventually fell in love and had you," he finished with a smile.
Ryouske nodded, his smile growing as he listened, finding the story rather sweet. He then turned to face Kazama as the kage continued, "We were all saddened by the news of that snake Orochimaru hunting them down...and at their death those years ago. We all feared what had become of you, please tell me," he asked the boy, who sighed and nodded, leaning back against the wall as he began to tell his tale. He told Kazama of living in the Sand Village, being taken in by the Kazekage, being kidnapped by Orochimaru and the experiments, the mention of which made Kazama's fists clench in anger, his escape and acceptance into the Leaf Village and his life and adventures growing up until now, "...and that's why i'm here, to get strong enough to rescue Karina and bring her back to the Leaf," he finished.
Kazama looked at Ryouske as he finished telling his story and let out a deep breath, "That's quite a tale, i'm glad you found homes within both the Sand and the Leaf," he told the boy, making him smile. Kazama ran a hand over his face and looked at the ceiling. "From what you told me, you already have a wonderful grasp of Sky Style, almost as well as your father did. Truthfully i have no idea what kind of power you could gain here," he explained, making Ryouske look down.
Namito swore and looked at his friend, "Hey cheer up Ryo, least you know about your parents now eh?" he offered to his friend , who smiled and nodded. Suddenly, a musical voice sounded out, making them look around for the source, "Awww, is my little Ryo looking for more power?" the voice asked. A puff of smoke appeared around Ryouske and when the smoke cleared, Valora was sat in his lap, an arm around his shoulders, wearing her black and silver Kimono with the usual amount of cleavage showing.
Ryouske stuttered as he did his best not to look down and stared at the dragon queen, who was now grinning, showing her fangs, "V..V..Valora?! What are you doing here?!" Ryouske asked her, but before she could answer, Kazama stood up, wide eyed, and stared at Valora, "Lady Valora? You have not been seen since Lord Sora left the village, to what do we owe your appearance to?" he asked. Valora smiled and looked at Kazama, "I'm now Ryouske's summon and i could not help but overhear your conversation. I know of a way that Ryouske can grow stronger," she stated as she stroked a hand through Ryouske's hair, making the teen blush brightly.
Lukyo, having heard of Valora from Ryouske, looked at his still blushing friend, "So this is Miss Valora, it is an honour Lady Valora," he stated respectfully, getting a smile from Valora. Namito, being his usual not-so-graceful self, looked up from Valora's bare, dainty feet, up her slender legs and up into her face, his eyes looking ready to pop. "Damn, THIS is Valora?! How the FUCK did you score a woman this beautiful?!," he asked his friend in an amazed tone, receiving a wink from Valora.
Anko, having a vein in her head from Valora flirting with her student, raised an eyebrow, "What is this way? How is he supposed to get stronger?" she asked, but Valora just smiled and got off of Ryouske, standing in front of the still red faced teen, "Why, by becoming a dragon sage of course," she stated, making everyone's eyes widen as Kazama leaned forward, "But that training is dangerous, even Lord Sora could not finish it!" he exclaimed. Ryouske's eyes widened and he looked down, fists clenched, "Something even my dad couldn't do?" he thought.
Ryouske shook his head and looked at Valora, "I'll do it, dangerous or not, i'll risk it if it means i can bring Karina back to the village. I'll do what my father couldn't do and gain the power i need, i'll use it to protect the ones i love." he stated, determination burning in his eyes as he watched Valora walk to the window showing a panoramic view of the village. His team mates grinned at his declaration and Kazama smiled proudly, "Just like his father, determined to protect those he loves. Can you see him Sora...Lady Eiko...you're son has become a fine man," he thought, watching Ryouske.
Valora smiled and looked down at the village, "Very well. I'll train you to be a dragon sage, but i must warn you, if you aren't careful then this training will make you lose something just as precious as Karina," she explained making Ryouske raise an eyebrow as he asked her what. With a wide smile, Valora looked at Ryouske over her shoulder and locked his mismatched eyes with her blood red ones as she spoke, the words sending chills down everyone's spine, "You could lose your very life."
Chapter end. This one took a while ebcause distractions and a LOT of editing but it's finally done, let me know what you think and as always, stay pervy everyone.
This is HaremKing666 signing off.