What horrors do his crimson eyes behold? These are the unfathomable depths of Uchiha Itachi.
I don't own Naruto nor do I profit from these writings in any way.
"Speaking"
"Thinking"
"Demon"
Noh
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Years Ago before the beginning of the Second Secret World War...
The sharp whistle of a reed flute could be heard over the sound of bamboo trees knocking against each other as they swayed in the wind. The moon was full, the sky was clear, the world was tinged a cold, ethereal blue. I listened to the snap and crackle and the acrid sent of smoke and burning wood filled the small clearing. The amber light of the fire, banished the cold moonlight from the clearing for a time. It cast transient shadows that took the shape of animals, people and fanciful things. The young ones and their teachers sat in a loose circle near the edge of the clearing. They watched as we tumbled and danced through the air, they watched as we told the story of our ancestors. Of Yama-no-Shirotaiga-no-O-Kami and Yamabushi, tales of MaiMai and the Bear God, the history of our people who were born of this mountain, the cleverness of the first Kensei who defeated a bull demon, of why we dance and sing. We told them tales of the reason why we must live, the reason why we must die.
It was during that time that I first met young Inuki. Oh, how he must curse that day! I played the Yamabushi Oobumibarabutsubushi Genjirou-sama wandering the desolate mountain and meeting the Wolf Goddess. Of how he hid and watched as she danced atop the stone heart of the mountain, her dainty feet skipping from place, to impossible place under the light of the moon. The Goddess disdained the presence of men, so the Yamabushi snuck upon her dressed in green veils, disguised as a woman. He let free his wild hair, washed in a mountain stream and decorated with leaves. The two, dark and light, male and female, mortal and immortal danced from dusk to dawn. Until, at the first rays of daylight, the Goddess returned to heaven, and the Yamabushi, turned into a bamboo patch, arms outstretched to heaven, transformed thus as divine retribution for yearning for a goddess, or so some say. Yet, under the light of the moon, he continued to dance in the wind, his wooden voice, calling for the Goddess to return.
The Kouga were born from the leaves that fell from the Mountain God's hair, we call to the heavens with our father, pleading for the Goddess to look down upon us. We dance upon a stage of cold, hard stone and in clearings such as the one in which I danced then, pleading on behalf of our, father. We carved kugutsu that mimicked the Animal Gods and danced with them too. The arts that we practiced were an emulation of nature and of life, and some among us were talented enough to bring fleeting life to our arts. The Invitators who summoned the spirits into living wood, flesh and bone. Those noble few who were once the protectors of the Kouga Clan.
The Land of Tatami was once a great and powerful nation, but the great wars sapped our power, until Iwa rulled two-thirds of our territory. Ironically it was the loss of the source of our nation's military might that allowed there to be a Land of Tatami at all. But old soldiers bemoan the end of battle, looking to past glories with ever more longing eyes, only to those who remember the grief and hopeless despair, is peace welcome and war a thing to be avoided. For that reason, within the Kouga Clan for every 'Kensei' there is a 'Naoki'.
-Kouga Nipochou Kouga no Naoki
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The old woman examined the statue intently. Standing in the center of a stone stage, cut into the side of a waterfall, is a large armored figure. It sat upon the stage in a lotus position and from the ground to the top of its head was fourteen feet high. It was clad in the armour of a samurai, with thick metal plates covering its stone body. A large mask of carved wood adorned the statues face. The horrible visage of the mask was the twisted features of an ogre. In one hand was a thirty foot long halberd, with a long, broad blade affixed to one end with a crescent shaped blade attached below it. With the exception of two hand-holds near to the middle of the handle, the entire length of the weapon was covered in blunt metal spikes. The ones near to the thick base of the weapon were tinted a suspicious reddish-brown, in a reasonably sized weapon, that would have indicated that the butt of the halberd had once been used as a cudgel.
But no ordinary man could have reasonably hoped to weild a weapon that weighed close to a ton. The old woman's eyes narrowed in thought as memories of bales past flooded her mind. Memories of a woman, dancing on a battlefield, crystal tears falling from beneath her wooden, Noh mask. Those same memories held a dark shadow, dancing with the woman across a warzone filled with the screams of men and women, lazily reaping the lives of all who dared to stand on the same stage. They were memories of bloodshed. Naoki shuddered.
"Ippon!"
The old woman started as an old man, handsome but for the thick scar across his left eye, poked her in her side.
"Fucking, One-Eye!" She cursed. "It's rude to sneak up on old ladies!"
"'Hahaha! You should have been on your guard!" The man laughed, then gestured rudely to his groin. "When fucking and one-eye are used in the same sentence, it's usually good news for me!"
"Is that what you've been using that empty socket for? I just thought that you were weeping tears of remorse." Naoki sniped.
"What's there for me to feel remorse about? I lost my eye in the field of battle!" Kensei said. "I lost it in battle with the enemy."
"You lost it to your son." Naoki muttered. "When he chose love over duty."
In both their minds is a remembered scene, Kensei sprawled across a battlefield, bleeding from a gash across his face, roaring impotently at the swiftly retreating back of a behemoth. "Yaaaaaaahhhh!!" He bawled wordlessly. "Raaaaaaahhhhh!!" Unable to give voice to the true depths of his rage even as he was dragged away for treatment.
"NO SON OF MINE!!" Kensei roared."Just another traitor." He finished quietly.
Naoki sniffed in disgust and turned away to go, if Kensei had something to say then he would have to damn well get to the point before she lef-
...
...
A single drop of blood splattered on the stone stage, and the statue trembled slightly.
Naoki gagged in agony as the blade that pierced her lung was twisted slightly, tearing the delicate flesh within her chest. At the last second, she had avoided a blow to her heart, but the wound that she had received could still be fatal if it was left untreated. Already her lips were flecked with blood, she could feel an uncomfortable gurgling sensation in her chest.
"Naoki-chan, you should have kept your guard up! But then that's to be expected from a 'bedroom' ninja. It wasn't enough that you were spreading your legs for any enemy ninja that happened to pass you by during the war, you had to involve yourself in my plans!" Kensei sneered at her. "Inuki betrayed your plot the second that he left your chamber. The Invitators are the weapon of the Kouga Clan, any threat to our plans on your part is treason!"
Kensei twisted the knife a little harder causing Naoki to gasp before sagging against his chest. "It wasn't enough," He bellowed. "That, that traitorous, misbegotten, half-breed, snivelling bitch of a witch you called a daughter infected my Saito with her evil ways, her treasonous ideas!" The veins on Kensei's temples bulged obscenely as he ripped his tanto from her back.
Naoki coughed up a torrent of blood and in the instant that the the blood of one who had given birth to an Invitator, touched the stage, the statue released its hold on the halberd. The giant metal weapon fell to the ground with a thunderous crash, shaking the the stage, and one of the tips of the crescent blade snagged Kensei's hakama, pulling him off-balance.
That was all the opening that Naoki needed.
"Ippon!" She wheezed wearily.
She had plunged the poisoned tip of her lacquer hairpin, into Kensei's jugular vein. The Irukanji venom stopped his heart in seconds.
The two ninja toppled off of the stage and into the waters below.
The statue sat atop the stage, with one hand held aloft, palm out, as if to say, "Behold!"
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Days before the bandit attack on the caravan
They sat in the meeting hall of the mansion, the strains of music from a hidden koto player artfully disguised a genjutsu that caused any hidden listeners to fall into a trance where time passed without notice. Inuki knelt before Naoki in utter submission. His mane of wild dark hair fanned upon the floor. For a moment Naoki watched him silently, remembering the past. "Inuki..." Naoki said quietly with a sigh. "Oh, how you must hate this foolish old woman Inuki."
Inuki remained silent.
Naoki brushed the strands of Inuki's hair closest to her contemplatively. I her mind the veils of the past parted and she recalled their first meeting. "Do you remember?" She asked. "Do you remember when your master first brought you to me?"
"...Hai..." Inuki replied.
Inuki remembered kneeling before a beautiful woman dressed in elegant robes and emanating a scent that rivalled the finest rose and the clearest spring. A curtain of long dark hair framed a face that was classically beautiful, lightly painted with soft pink lips. She was a woman somewhere in her early to mid-twenties with a youthful beauty that drew men to her like moths to a flame. Poor Inuki was besotted at first glance and knelt as he did so as not to embarrass himself before the lady by staring.
For her part Naoki remembered a shy ten year-old boy, newly finished training and chosen for his expendability rather than any real talent. The boy was to serve her in any way she chose and she had instructions to throw his life away if it ensured the success of her mission. Extracting information in Tatami's occupied Capital was dangerous work for a kunoichi. Naoki, or Benihime as she styled herself had survived for more than a year in the treacherous environment and was now critically placed in the city. If discovered it was imperative that she either escape with the intelligence she had gathered or, failing in that, take her own life rather than be captured.
"Inu-ki?" She remembered saying. "Inu...Ki?" She laughed derisively, the pressure was getting to her and sad as it was to admit, this boy made an excellent target for her frustrations. She had asked for more security, perhaps a jounin or, Heaven Forbid! another kunoichi with which to co-ordinate her efforts with. But no! What did that senile old fox of a Kensei send her? "A brat" She said aloud, and noted how the boy stiffened. She tossed her scented sandalwood fan and nailed the boy in the back of the head. "Not a brat, a dog! They send me a dog! Well?! What do you have to say for yourself dog?!"
Inuki's heavily blushing face rose and his eyes met her own fearlessly. "B-Begging your indulgence m-milady! I-I may be inexperienced b-but I will protect you with my...to my last breath!" Inuki remembered saying to her.
His reward for that bold statement was a blow to the face that caused his lower lip to swell, then a foot pinned his head to the floor.
"Don't fuck with me!" Naoki cried out. "I'm the third 'Naoki' in as many years, and it's a matter of time till your 'Kensei-shishou' buys the farm! What the fuck do you think someone like you can do?! Save Me?! Dog!" She kicked him at that point. "I'll use up your life to escape, is what I'll do! I'll throw you away the second you hold me back, Dog!" She kicked him again, as her anger drained from her body.
Her harsh words were betrayed by the expressions of self-loathing, fear and desperation warring across her features. "And if it comes to it, I'll use you for the reason Kensei-shishou gave you to me for, and have you cut off my head before the Iwa or Mizu ninja get to me! That's what I'll use you for Dog!"
Inuki had no answer for her, his eyes were moist but not from the pain of any of her blows. Then he heard a quiet sob, and a teardrop splashed against the palm of his hand, he quietly promised to defend her with his life.
The next moment she had drawn him to her bosom, and she healed his bruises. She took him to her bed and became his first, as he was hers. After that his body and soul belonged to her and she used his life as she had promised even abandoning him to death once. She healed his scars as he earned them, one by one in her service, eventually ensuring that Tatami maintained some autonomy after the war.
In the present Inuki raised his head to look upon the aged Naoki, his eyes were unreadable. "I have never hated you Naoki-sama." He stated.
Naoki-sama only sighed sadly. "Easier it would be if you did...For I must again make a cruel request."
Looking into Inuki's patient eyes she stated her chilling command. "I want you to arrange my death at Kensei's hand, and then..."
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Somewhere in the woods of Tatami
A messenger falcon circled in the skies above, spiralling upward and out of sight. The message that it had carried was now tightly clenched in the hands of the one who had decoded it. The figure was dressed in loose garb and its face was covered by a lacquered, wood Noh mask.
"We are betrayed." Said the masked woman.
"But, how?" Queried another.
"Naoki is dead, isn't she?" Spoke a third figure, obscured by the shadow of a tree.
"Yes." Confirmed the first "Killed by Kensei-sama... no, murdered by that madman Kensei!"
"What!" Exclaimed the others.
"Naoki-sama's retainers were also murdered and her followers are being detained, this message was sent by one of our agents within the Kensei group." Explained Noh mask.
"Madness!" Whispered an appalled voice from within the shadows.
"What do we do?" Asked the second voice.
"We will carry out Naoki-sama's final wish." Replied the Noh mask. " And when we get the chance, we'll kill that traitorous bastard Inuki!!"
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"Action!"
A small man scurried into the Laughing Panda, Taiga City's most popular restaurant. Actually it was the only place in the city that was truly worthy of being called a restaurant. Said qualifications included an enclosed seating area and private booths on the second and third floors where one had a reasonable chance of finishing a meal without being knifed. The rat-like man, hurried past the bartender on the ground floor and raced up the steps taking them two at a time. Upon reaching the second floor the harried man peered surreptitiously over the railing of the second floor, looking at the door. Seeing no one coming through the entrance, the man sighed in relief before continuing on his way walking along the railing of the second floor which ringed the upper level of the public area of the restaurant.
Coming to the base of the stairs that lead to the third floor, the man whispered a password to a menacing guard stationed there, hidden from the view of the other customers by a large fern. Pulling a painted mask from the folds of his clothes the man slowly made his way up the stairs, showing a talisman to the guards at the top of the stairs when he got there before continuing on inside.
The third floor was darkened this evening with thick drapes, the lighting was deliberately dim to suit the nature of the event being held in the large room. Masked men and women, Taiga City's elite rubbed elbows with what was probably the largest gathering of underworld figures in the history of the city. They had all come to take part in the private auction that took place on the third floor of the Laughing Panda at the end of every tax cycle.
Sitting in rows of expensive antique chairs were the well dressed and wealthy denizens of Taiga, hailing from both the zenith and the underside of Taiga City's social circles. Sipping fine sake and eating rare delicacies they waited as the previous item up for bidding, a septuplet of beautiful sisters, all virgins, was removed from the pentagon-shaped stage and a new item was brought up for bidding.
Torches were lit at each of the five corners of the stage and the few lights at the outer wall of the room were dimmed. The man who had entered the room was speaking in hushed tones with someone in the back rows and so missed the appearance of a large, rotund man and a round, shrouded object the size of the man's gut being lowered unto the stage. Like those assembled, the man on the raised platform wore a featureless wooden Noh mask. Uncrossing his arms, the man struck a pose facing the audience with one hand outstretched.
Stomping one zori-clad foot on the wooden stage the masked man bellowed out.
"Welcome, welcome! Gentle sirs and misses, ungentle louts and lasses! A patient soul is rewarded, and avaricious one even more so! Tonight's last item is the cream of the crop, the jewel in the crown, so to say! WHAaaat?! What did you say?! Who can trust a masked man, you say?" Pausing for a moment to allow the low guffaws and soft titters from the audience to subside, the man reached up and removed the blank mask. Before the attentive audience he revealed his face to be...
Another mask.
Painted a furious red and black, with thick, frowning eyebrows and a long nose, the man now wore a tengu mask.
"Rwaaaaghwrrrr!! I am furious, incensed, galled, disgusted, and enraged! My tears are blood and soot and oil! My blood is bile, my heart is vile, and my FACE!" For a second he paused, and in the silence that ensued he added five words gently.
"My face, is a lie."
Twirling in a pirouette, the large man moved with deceptive adroitness. Coming to a rest facing another side of the stage he continued. "Who amongst us speaks with honeyed words yet whispers poisonous rumours? Who looks upon us benignly, yet eyes our goods and spouses and works and houses covetously? Who lends an attentive ear to our troubled friends yet turns up his or her nose at the merest suggestion of lending aid?"
Somehow during his next spin about the stage, the man had switched masks, exhanging his tengu mask for a neutral bhudda mask. "It is better yes, that I speak from behind a mask that cannot lie than with a face that may at any time or inclination dissemble most maliciously."
Tilting his head forward so that the light of the torch cast shadows across the mask, making the Buddha face seem to smile affably, the man continued in a friendly tone. "Yes friends, yes! I shall not lie with this 'face'." Tilting his head upward and away from the torch, the shadows playing across the mask now gave the Buddha face an imposing, and menacing look. "Yes, friends, yes! I shall not lie with this...'face'."
Slowly the man made his way back to the center of the stage next to the shrouded object "Tonight." He continued. "Tonight we shall start bidding at one hundred thousand ryo. No questions asked, if you can't afford it get outta here ya bum! Minimum raise is fifty thousand ryo. Cash is to be provided in full within two days of this sale. Those who renege forfeit honor, reputation, the item in question, the thirty thousand ryo deposit to participate in this auction and the invitation to all future events."
Pausing to take a breath the man continued."Whoever succeeds in owning this item will find themselves in possession of something we all crave. Only those that have it can ever truly surrender it. All that have some, want more, and more, and more." The man's voice grew guttural at this point, and drool began to leak from beneath the chin of his mask.
"And more and More!" He continued." And More, AND MORE!!"
Drawing the shroud away from the object the man ended his speech by spitting out a single word.
"Power!"
Three things happened after that in roughly this order. First, the audience erupted in a frenzy of bidding; second, the torches flared mightily about the stage, temporarily illuminating the figure of a young, dark haired man in the rafters who cried out, while drawing his sword. "For the Ancestors!" Third a figure leaped out from the rafters wielding a sword, diving toward the torches which were flaring again and screaming...
"Daiiii-namic Entry!"
Enter, Maito Gai...Movie Star.
Seishun!
"CUT!!"
"Alright, alright! Who added that to the script?!" Screamed Director Mikuno.
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Michiru, or Mimi-chan as she now insisted she be called, fed her coworkers some more line at the deputy assistant stunt coordinator's signal. Working together the other stunt doubles she helped to gently lower the movie's leading man from the rafters to where his fretting manager hovered like a mother hen. Not for the first time she was forced to suppress her distaste for the man as well as the temptation to simply twitch the wire out of the hands of a man here, and off of a pulley there and simply watch as the fool fell to his death.
Orders were orders after all and with at least one jounin nearby at all times such an attempt was not likely to work. It had been incredibly easy to fall in with the pet stunt men and women that Wu Long kept as part of his entourage to help establish himself as a genuine action star. It seemed that one of the stunt coordinators also moonlighted as a 'talent scout' for Wu Long's 'girlfriends'. It was child's play to get close to the crew after discovering that the coordinator was also hiring extras and wire technicians. A meager demonstration of her own abilities and the man had hired her thinking that he had scored a two-in-one deal.
There was some risk involved in her plan as already the jounin had vetted the film crew for potential threats. Her best chance was to stay low and mingle with the stunt and special effects crew which was for the large part composed of former genin and ninja academy cadets. As long as she took that route she would be able to keep tabs on the actor in the course of her duties without anyone the wiser. Though as she listened to Xiaou Wu Long complain bitterly to the director his manager, the film crew, the ninja, the trees...!
Michiru uncoiled her body and started testing the flexibility of her wires, rolling them onto a spool and checking for tangles and snarls. All the while she was intensely aware of the fact that her actions had somehow caught the attention of the smallest of the three genin Uchiwa-something-or-the-other she wasn't sure. But soon enough she was called away to help a member of the crew and nearly sighed when the unnerving eyes of that child left her.
"The things I do for Inuki-sama"
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Suzume used her off-time to take in Gai's performance as Maito Gai...Movie Star. Hideo had gone off somewhere to train and Itachi was bugging the stunt coordinators for any tricks with wires that he hadn't known of. Normally so many people gathered together in one place wreaked havoc on her senses but she had been progress in controlling her talents. She would never be at home in a crowd like some ninja, but she wouldn't be rendered completely helpless either. She watched as the stocky jii-san took to the stage and deliver a riveting speech but Nadeshiko drew her attention to the top of the large stage where Xiaou Wu Long and Gai-sensei where tethered to the ceiling by wires and chakra respectively.
The name of the movie was House of Flying Kunai and the protagonist was a daring Ninja Samurai, who was on a quest to defeat the powers of an ancient evil artifact that had been stolen from his family. There seemed to be a few side characters and a leading lady involved as well but their parts had already been filmed with Wu Long off location with the exception of a few fight scenes which would be filmed on location.
To Nadeshiko and Suzume, Wu Long was quickly losing his star appeal. The man reeked of booze and sweaty women in the morning and bitched from sunup to sunset about everything from the number of lines he had to there not being enough caviar flavored pocky. The pocky remark had ticked off Itachi who loved all things sweet and couldn't imagine anyone actuallly preferring the taste of salty fish eggs to the sugary goodness that Itachi loved. So far there hadn't been any 'accidents' thanks in part to the efforts of Gai and Moriko-sensei but there was a nasty rumor spreading that the actor liked it when his women wore a strap-on double-headed dildo to bed.
"Evil Itachi seems to be becoming quite tame." Suzume murmured.
"What was that?" Asked Itachi.
"I said that the stunts seem quite lame." Suzume lied.
Itachi didn't call her on the matter. "They're replacing quantity with quality." He said contemplatively, eyeing the flaring torches which was being provided by a jutsu from Moriko-sensei. "With the exception of Maito Gai." He added as they watched the jounin dive-bomb the burning stage. "But he's.."
" Completely Nutso." Provided Suzume, describing their exccentric jounin counterpart.
"Dynamic Entry- Ahhh! My hair, my hair!"
Seishun!
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Itachi watched the stunt coordinators lower Xiaou Wu Long from the ceiling with a feeling of apathy. He had been interested in seeing how the stuntmen used their wire jutsu and for the most part many of the workers had let him in on the workings of their trade. It wasn't any thing earth-shattering although he was sure that one or two individuals were holding out on him. But there wasn't anything about the art that couldn't be done with its ninja equivalent. What interested Itachi now was simply the novelty of learning to use one of his ninja arts in a manner unrelated to killing things.
He listened as Wu Long complained bitterly about the heat drying out his skin, and eventually begin sniping at the technicians calling them shibari freaks. "Not a wise move when you're still seventy feet in the air. And the Shibari Freaks are keeping you alive."Itachi thought. There was a spike of killing intent that caused Itachi to stare at the ditzy wire technician that Moriko-sensei had told him to keep an eye on. Up above Wu Long squawked as his violent movements caused one of the harnesses on his body to loosen slightly, it held, as did the back-up harness but the loosening caused the actor to flip upside down for a moment and his manager began running in circles like a headless chicken demanding that someone be fired.
Fortunately for the workers, Director Mikuno had already left to take closer look at the last few scenes filmed. The bulky old man from the stage Matsui-san was eating caviar on diagonally cut cucumber sticks, studiously ignoring the conversation between a hairdresser and Maito Gai...Movie Star.
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Hyuuga Hideo sighed as he deactivated his byakugan, it seemed as though the details that his eyes could pick up was improving. He easily spotted one of Moriko-sensei's shadow clones hidden by genjutsu and another of Itachi's also hidden by genjutsu, but making rude gestures at Hideo. Hideo frowned at that, Itachi was still a brat, a brat who was rookie of the year but that meant little in the real world where Hideo had expected Itachi to falter. Instead the boy had proven himself to be unexpectedly capable.
As he began to run through some basic forms, Hideo made note to mention Itachi's capability during his next meeting with his father and Hizashi-sama. His relatives all seemed to be strangely interested in the workings of his team. Hideo brought his hands together and then spread them apart, keeping his shoulders level as his hands drew circles in the air. He walked in a circle taking care to always face the center of of the imaginary circle. As he practiced he gradually increased the speed of his movements. Then he activated the byakugan and concentrated on creating a focused area about himself where he could see everything.
Dimly as he exercised he was aware of the Moriko and Itachi-clones moving rapidly away from the clearing. Curious, he did a short sweep with his telescopic vision, seeing nothing but trees and small animals for miles and-
"Fuck!"
Hideo stopped what he was doing and briskly began walking away, walking only because it was unseemly to run.
"Fuck, sh#&(!!"
"Yoohooo! Hideooo-kun! lets train together!" Called Gai, trailing behind him was a hairdresser and clothing designer who had each at one point or another offered to style Hideo's 'pretty' hair and wardrobe.
They caught up with him at the edge of the clearing and Hideo didn't use an escape jutsu because he suspected that Gai just might be thick-headed enough to chase him down and bring him back.
"Hinata-kun and Billy wanted to help me explain how a ninja's hair and clothes are important factors that must be considered when in a fight." Gai exclaimed.
Hideo gagged. "Hinata?!"
"We can do it over some green tea and biscuits" Said Billy who nodded and gestured expansively with his painted fingernails.
"Itachi-chama said that you'd love doing it over green tea and biscuits." Said Hinata who stared avidly at Hideo's long, glossy black hair, blushing mightily when he said the phrase, 'doing it'.
Hideo gagged some more.
A fanatical gleam entered Gai's eyes and he leaned into Hideo's personal space to utter an exaggerated stage whisper. "Have I ever explained to you the wonders of SPANDEX?!"
"#&#& you #&#) Evil #!&Lf# Itachi!!"
Seishun!
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The maggots had been appropriately cowed, all that was left was for them to find a way to deal with their enemy. Their oponents had at least two jounin-class fighters, one a hand-to-hand combat specialist and the other a genjutsu master of incredible ability. To make matters worse there must be one or more ninja among their number with impressive tracking or chakra sensing skills. One of the surviving bandits had reported stabbing what sounded suspiciously like a Hyuuga in that genjutsu.
Problematic.
Still, in a few more days they would have the advantage of facing the other ninja within the Kouga Clan's home territory. The Mountains and Valleys of Tatami could be perilous to the unwary.
The three masked brothers looked up as one, they had a plan.
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Deep within a little boy, a monster stirred, bound by blood and jutsu and twisted flesh. He raged, he raged against the world, against time, and man and life and nature and fate. In his perverted dreams unspeakable horrors spread across the world. Children fell upon their parents and ripped them apart, brothers slew their siblings and fathers slew their wives.
"I'll get free!" The demon howled. "I swear, I'll get free and when I do..."
He breathed huskily.
"Heh, heh, heh, when I do..."
"There will be bloodshed and chaos to drown the world in an endless cycle of despair."Dark red eyes focused on the ghostly figure of a man wearing the mask of the Shinigami, bound in thick thorny brambles.
"I promise! Yondaime Hokage!"
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In a darkened room twelve men plotted to rule the world. In a forest, three masked women embarked on a journey of justice while three masked men sought to commit an act of villainy. Five Konoha ninja moved toward this clash of wills and all the while a single man stood upon a stage of cold, hard stone.
He twirled in the air, dacing upon the stage. His feet stomped in an unkown rythm. When Inuki stopped he was facing the statue with his own hand outstreched. In a gruff vouce he declared.
"Let's begin!"
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AN: This would go a lot smoother if I had a beta reader. Really, all I do is take a few hours off after writing these things before trying to clean up any grammatical errors. The tense issue bugs me too but really after writing, spell checking, reading and re-reading it I sometimes just want to post it and be done. You guys are just reading the cleaned up result of my exercise in stress-relief so I apologize in advance if I only put enough effort into this to see to it that I sound like just a lazy, good for nothing bum and not an uneducated lout.
There was some Gasaraki references in there for those of you familiar with it and a few fainter references to other anime and manga though the dialouge is completely my own.