C8, Homecoming
"Talking." 'Thoughts.'
XX
The two girls stood by watching the tender moment between their old friend and his fiancée, it was clear to them that they were deeply in love and that they would miss each other greatly until they were reunited after this mission.
The two of them finished kissing and then separated going on their separate ways until they were reunited, Washi walked up to his old friends and noticed that Kakashi was standing directly behind him with a concerned look about his mask and eye.
"Don't worry Sensei I plan to take good care of them, and when I do get back you and I are going have a little talk about what's been going on in the Hidden Leaf." Washi said.
Kakashi nodded and then said, "Of that we do, I have so much to tell you about your past."
"Have you forgotten about my bloodline called the Animus, it allows me to relive my ancestors memories including my parents but you can tell me things that I would have to wait to see. Just remember to keep them all safe." Washi said to his former sensei and then walked away with his new companions knowing full well that something had happened in the Land of Waves to justify the rapid return of the good Capt.
Tenten and Hinata walked directly behind the two warriors as they made their way to the docs and began to overhear their conversation about what was happening in the world outside of the Land of Water, "As my Mentor would say it is a pleasure to see you again Jack but I have to ask what prompted your rapid return as we only just sent out a request for your aid to head to the Land of Waves?"
Jack continued walking at his leisurely pace but also kept his weapons at the ready just in case of an attack since the both of them would be a tempting target for the Templars who were at this moment running around like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off.
Because of the combined attack that had freed yet a another section of the capital city from their tyrannical rule, the skilled and deadly privateer or pirate depending upon who you ask simply responded, "I'm afraid to say that Aizen has been stepping up his efforts to not only hunt us down and kill us but also in helping someone do something around the island of Whirlpool which is now known as the Land of Waves, for the last five months we have not been able to get any intelligence from the island at all."
"I find that most disturbing as I helped set that island free in the first place and if they're helping someone to control things there something else is going on altogether, we need a really fast ship to get there I hope you got one handy."
"Just wait till you see my pride and joy Washi." Jack said to him as they came into view of the harbor.
Once they walked up to the boat that would take them to Jack's ship they then noticed Raven standing there as well, "I hope you were not waiting long mentor."
Raven turned his head to them and then said, "Not at all Washi, it gave me time to think about what we need to do once we arrive however I believe the good Capt. Is about to inform us that things are not as they appear."
"I don't know all the details master Assassin, but all I do know is that it's really bad." He then motioned for them to follow him into the boat as they took off into the bay.
About a minute out they came upon a huge battle type ship that had been heavily modified, once on board they saw Mai walking up to them, "We're all set dad, the Wreckers said that they get the engines going even better now than it was about a week ago."
"The refits helped a good deal didn't they, what about the improvements to the weapon system?"
"Better than we thought, we should be able to take on anything they can throw at us. The only ship we need to be worried about I believe would be Aizen's." She said to him.
He knew what she was talking about as he had seen the ship before and knew that their only chance would be for all seven of the mariner lords to take that ship on at the same time, "hopefully if we do run into that ship won't be alone, given the fact that the other seven Mariner Lords will be arriving at the Land of Waves within a week."
With this said he then walked into the bridge and then said, "Helmsman lay in a course for the Land of Waves."
"Yes sir." The bridge then came to life with everyone moving about their jobs, Washi then noticed a plaque on the wall that stated when the ship was made and by who what surprised him the most was to see that the ship had been made after the great events have occurred in 2012.
Raven noticed this as well and then said, "This is just one of many ships that survived the great event or were created afterwards and that are still in one piece even today, there's even a small island not too far from whirlpool that hides our own fleet."
Washi was surprised to hear this; he had a feeling that there was a bit of history he still did not know about that occurred after the great event.
XX
Tenten looked at the weapon that Washi had handed her with a bit of curiosity and excitement, right at this moment Raven decided to give a basic overview of what the weapon was and did, "The weapon you hold in your hands is known as a rope dart, it was created by our ancestor Shao Jun."
She then looked the weapon over and was truly impressed by its simplicity and design, the dart part of the weapon itself was still intact but the rope had long since become useless because of age.
She then turned to one of the sailors who currently was standing at the door waiting to assist them if they needed it and said, "Do you guys have any spare rope I could use?"
The sailor nodded and walked away, Raven then put a scroll on the table near the old weapon and unrolled it revealing the basic blueprints of a standard rope dart.
Tenten studied the scrolls description of the weapon but realized that she could not read any of the attacks as it was in the old trade language of English at only a few people in their group could even understand a bit of the language like Shikamaru.
Raven and Washi notice her look of concern and then said in, "You don't understand English do you?"
She nodded her head that she did not know it, they both nodded to her as Raven then handed her a second scroll and said, "This scroll translate the sections that you need to read."
She studied both of the scrolls and came to the realization that she could make brand-new rope darts with very little time and also could repair the rope dart that she currently held in her hands, the only thing she needed was the workshop and the resources to do it.
"If I have the resources or a workshop that I could use I could make at least 20 more of them right now within a couple of hours."
Mai who had been standing in the doorway listening to their conversation then decided to make her presence known and said, "Well you're in luck as we do have a workshop on board and plenty supplies for you to use please follow me."
Within a minute they were all standing in one of the many workshops watching Tenten work her magic upon the metals, within the hour she had already three brand-new rope darts as well as the old one repaired and ready for use.
Washi using the memories of his ancestor Connor studied and tested the darts, he turned to one of his longtime friends and then said, "Nice work Tenten, all we need is a few more made and I know that you want couple of them for yourself."
She nodded her head in a positive manner and began to finish the work on the remaining darts, he then walked over to Mai who was currently standing in the doorway and asked of her, "How long until we arrive at the coast of Waves?"
"By tomorrow morning, Raven said that there's a Pacific Place in the coast we can safely anchor as well as for you two to find whatever it is you're looking for?"
He gave her a smile and then returned to his two childhood friends as Tenten continued to work her magic.
XX
Tenten and Hinata still found it hard to believe that Naruto or Washi as they had discovered that this was his original first name that had been hidden from not only him but them as well could be so calm at this point in time and were still trying to wrap their heads around the whole Assassin and Templar thing that had taken over not only his life but was beginning to find its way into theirs as well.
While the two young women had heard the horror stories that were supposed to of occurred in the Land of Water thanks to the Bloodline Wars, they still found it hard to believe that a single group could be responsible for causing so much death and destruction.
And yet they both began to realize that many things that had been happening not only in the Land of Water but also back in the Land of Fire were beginning to make a lot of sense, it was also this form of revelation to them that also sent a shiver of fear up their spines knowing that the things that had already happened made a lot of sense to them now and that there was more to be revealed with time.
Washi At this time had only just entered the mess hall and pick up some food from the chefs and was looking for a place to sit and eat his meal in peace when he noticed the look upon his childhood friends faces and realize that they were still coming to grips with what was happening, without a moment's hesitation he walked over to their table and sit down and looked them over.
The two women then looked him right in the eyes trying to find the words to ask their question of him only for him to put his hand up to stop them as he finished eating one of the biscuits that had been given to him, "I can tell that you have a lot of questions to ask me, and from the look upon your faces you're still trying to come to grips with what's going on and why it would be dangerous for me to go back to Konoha."
The two of them were shocked by how easily he had figured out what was faxing them, Tenten was still curious why it was such a danger for him to go back to their home village as well as why he felt that there were Templars holding positions of such high-powered in their village and want it meant for all of them.
"I still don't understand why you are afraid of the Elders?"
"Let's just say that they've had a hand in just about all of my suffering in one form or another, and in fact not just mine but quite a few peoples as well."
Tenten Was surprised by both the question and answer at the same time and decided to ask for a bit more clarity, "What do you mean others?"
"Well for one I mean the Uchiha Clan, did either of you know that directly after the Nine Tail's attack that they were basically corralled into what became known as the Uchiha district."
He observed the looks of shock upon their faces realizing that this was not a commonly known fact.
However he had been around the Third Hokage for a good part of his life and knew certain things about the village that few others were even aware of.
"What most people are not aware of unless you are a member of the older generation is that there are only two clan's in the Hidden Leaf that are even capable of controlling the strongest of the Biju. The Uchiha and The Senju." He said to them.
Tenten was truly surprised to hear this as she was one of the few people know about his burden, "Tsunade's clan?"
He nodded his head a yes and then said, "To be more precise Tenten it was her grandfather they could do this thanks to his bloodline, but as we all know she was not present in the village upon that day."
"But the Uchiha clan was." Hinata said realizing where he was going with this.
"That's right and they did everything within their power to try to help me out as much as possible, however many of their efforts were stopped by the two Elders and the Civilian Council."
Hinata came to the frightening realization of what she had just been told and by what she had seen and overheard her own father talking about that both the Council and the Elders had made no secret of the amount of power they wield it and that they did not enjoy people challenging their power in the least.
"What you just said makes a very frightening kind of sense; my father often spoke of having to have fought the Council and the Elders
Just to keep our own clan safe and sound. As they have been trying to find a way to remove my father from his position as clan head that would give an unimaginable amount of power to our clan elders who would not hesitate to do things to not only are clan but others as well."
Washi gave her a smile and then said, "And the village Elders would gain a powerful ally in doing so, plus do not forget that they and the Council were directly responsible for me being removed from the Shinobi program in the first place."
Tenten was beginning to see all the pieces fitting together but still could not see the whole picture and decided to ask some more questions of him, "But what advantage do they receive from removing you from the program and what could they possibly hope to gain with what they did to the Uchiha clan?"
"You two do know about the Akatsuki?" They both nodded to him.
"What you may not know is that the organization is planning within a few months to begin hunting down all of the Jinchuriki for whatever they are planning to do to us, if I had stayed in the village because of what elders had done I would be weak and unable to defend myself against this extremely dangerous enemy who are as strong as the Kage's themselves in or capable of causing unimaginable amounts of damage to any village they wish to attack."
"But the Elders could make a deal to hand you over to them and prevent the destruction of the village, but that would mean that they would have to know what was coming and they are supposed to have so much information when it comes to the military aspect of the village." Hinata said of realizing the ramifications of what the Elders were planning.
Tenten now understood why he did not wish to return as it was the elders and the Council who had pushed for this mission in the first place, but she was still curious as to the Uchiha aspect.
"But how does the Uchiha clan fit into all of this?"
"Because they were planning to take out the Civilian and the Elders, remember they were the primary police force of the village and were tasked with dealing with any kind of internal threats." He said to them.
Again on both of their young faces was the look of Revelation, "Whatever they had on the Council and the Elders would have been enough to rip away their power, and if that was the case they would have to act."
Washi nodded his head and then explained, "That's right they had to act I mean think about it how would Itachi have managed to single handedly killed off his entire clan which just so happened to be made up of high level Jonin and ANBU?"
"And they left Sasuke alive so they could mold him into anything they wanted?"
He nodded his head and pointed his finger at them and then said, "That's right, but what they were not counting on was him going rogue."
Hinata could only think of one response to all of this, "It's all starting to make a creepy kind of sense, it also explains why certain missions have been denied in the past."
"Exactly but it only gets worse over time, as their power grows so too will their ambitions." Washi said to them.
Washi then finished his meal and motion for the girls to follow him out of the mess hall as they continue to talk as Tenten then asked him, "So what's the difference between you and the Templars?"
They then walked out onto the deck of the ship as he then turned to them and responded, "From a certain point of view we both seek peace."
"A, certain point of view?" Hinata asked him with a sense of curiosity.
"Yes, we each seek peace in our own way for the Templars it is through order and control."
They were both a little confused by what he said, he then responded to their unspoken question, "Seeking order and control isn't a bad thing in its self but the way they go about it is."
"For one little we do know they always seem to have people fighting them." Tenten said.
"Well they always stole people's freedom that was how they instituted their control and order… Do as we say, even if your life is shit."
"And the Assassins?" Hinata asked.
"We seek both freedom and peace, like good and evil or a perfect sphere one cannot exist without the other. When freedom is taken from someone peace can no longer live, that's what the Templars take from people their freedom so they can have their control."
They were shocked and surprised by the wisdom in his words, he then continued by saying, "Freedom and peace can exist even in a place like one of the hidden villages, even in a place like Konoha that is a dictatorship there can still be freedom."
They had a look of surprise upon their faces as he then continued, "You have to remember the village is supposed to be ruled by the Hokage, not by the Civilian Council. And the only Council supposed to help the Hokage is the Shinobi Council and maybe the Elders, civilians are only supposed to handle civilian matters have supposed have any power in the affairs of Shinobi."
Tenten was still trying to figure this one out, "How does the Civilian Council play a part in all this?"
"You have to remember they came to power after the Nine Tale's attack on the village, they were the ones who passed for the restrictions on the Uchiha clan and have even been bleeding the Clan's dry of their funds as well as the manipulation of other things. The Civilians are only supposed to tend to the civilian affairs have no say in the military aspect."
Hinata then put in her own two cents, "Because of what they've done to the village is not running as smoothly as it should be and certain military operations are not as secure as they need to be, I mean look at the invasion that occurred at the Chunin Exams all those years ago."
"Your right, I always found it so strange that they able to pull that off without any problems especially when the third increased the security." Tenten said in self-discovery.
Washi then said, "And if no one stands in their way the last couple of wars will look like a schoolyard brawl in comparison, it's one of the reasons we Assassins fight."
To his surprise Tenten then asked with Hinata agreeing, "Is it possible to learn the ways of the assassins?"
Washi looked them in the eyes and said, "It is, but it's a choice you will have to make. Can you live with it once you start down this path, because there is no going back?"
XX
Washi had woken from his rest a little earlier and had begun his journey to the ship's bridge just as the rays of the sun were just beginning to rise over the ocean's surface, as he entered the bridge he noticed his mentor Raven as well as the girls standing near the navigation center as Jack and the crew worked frantically to navigate the warship into its safe port that was hidden away.
Washi look out one of the many windows of the bridge and was in awe of the many Whirlpools that gave his mother's homeland its namesake, he then heard Raven speak with a strong will that only a sailor could have and realize that he had many more questions for his mentor when this was through, "Hard to starboard right now and reduce speed for the turn."
"Aye, aye Sir." The helmsman said as the ship began its turn into the narrow channel that would lead them to the ruins of the Whirlpool Village.
After several nailbiting turns that were bordered by aggressive looking whirlpools that once gave the village and Island its name once upon a time they made their way into a large lake deep enough for heavy ships to anchor and saw what appeared to be a somewhat intact dock for ships directly ahead of them, Jack wasted no time and ordered the ship to dock as quickly as possible and began barking orders to his men to prepare for their trip ashore.
Within 10 min. the two Uzumaki's were overlooking what had once been their ancestral home, to their astonishment several of the buildings appeared almost 80% intact despite the massive damage done to the area.
Tenten and Hinata watch their longtime friend observed what was left of his ancestral homeland with both a sense of despair and horror but also a feeling of determination to not allow something like this to ever happen to anyone ever again.
Raven could not help but let the tears fall as he observed the destruction upon his homeland, he did not allow the sense of loss to control him as he realized that there was still a chance to salvage their homeland and motioned for the group behind him to follow him as they made their way deeper into the runes and came upon what had once been the central tower of the village where the leaders would make decisions.
Upon reaching the tower they could see that it had been the scene of a great battle that had once been taken place there but also that a good amount of it was still intact, Raven walked up to a wall that had the emblem of the Assassins up on it and touched it activating the hidden single array that then opens the secret passage next to it and motioned for Washi to come forward.
Washi Immediately activate his Eagle sense and walked into the passage, before he could go into deep he saw his two friends about to enter and motioned for them to stop, "No, you rely too heavily on Chakra. This is something only an assassin can do as there are undoubtedly sales in here designed to stop the use of Chakra."
They both understood where he was coming from as they watched him enter the tunnel, it didn't take him long at all to free run his way through the tunnel system and eventually came upon the entrance to the sanctuary.
Upon entering the Soul Sanctuary Washi was shocked to see what could be only describe as the ghosts of his ancestors one of them was clearly William Miles the father of Desmond and the other was a beautiful young woman who was clearly with child that he recognized as Rebecca.
The ghostly image of Rebecca looked around the room with a sense of joy upon her face and then turned to the older man and said, "It's absolutely perfect and will be able to put so many things in here and how is the Animus room coming along?"
He looked around the room and then said, "The Animus room should be along shortly however still take a couple of more years before this place is truly ready to house everything we need but at least with my son's sacrifice gave us all have a fighting chance including my grandson or granddaughter?"
After hearing him say that she looked down at her swollen gut that held her unborn child and gently caressed it, "We just started to fall in love to get to know each other when we eventually open the vault, I really wish I had stopped him from touching that damn orb."
As soon as she said this the two ghostly images seem to disappear and he was once again alone realizing that he had just experienced a effect of his bloodline that was known to occur at times depending upon the place he was at, he eventually made his way up to the main entrance and opened the sanctuary allowing his companions to enter the sanctuary.
Jack his daughter the Wreckers and his two childhood friends were astonished by the room they now stood in, Raven was smiling at them and then said, "It is an impresses site is not?"
The three Wreckers instantly began to examine the entire structure and were overwhelmed with its beauty and strength, "You Assassins sure know how to build things, from what we can see right here this place is stronger than it looks."
Both Washi and Raven just smiled at everyone as they admired their ancestors handiwork, just than one of the crew members came running in with a concerned look upon his face.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to the young crewmember as he stops directly in front of Jack who then said, "Catch your breath boy, what's going on?"
"Sir we've discovered that there appear to be camps of people here in the ruins of the village, it almost looks like the kind of refugee camps we had back in the Land of Water."
Jack was surprised to hear this bit of information but then realized that the young man was not done, "It also appears Sir that there are hostels here attacking them right now."
Before Jack could even get an order he saw Washi fly past him and and up the stairs leaving the sanctuary without a moment's notice, both Tenten and Hinata were after him without a moment's hesitation.
By the time they reached the surface they were shocked to see him already flying through the trees are silently which was something they could not do even with their amazing abilities, they had to run upon the ground trying to remain as hidden as they could and watched him move as if he somehow knew where the people were who were hiding within his homeland.
They then began to hear the shouts of men trying to plead for mercy for them and their families only to hear the laughter of cruel individuals, they eventually made it to a hiding place and watched as an old men who must've been the bridge builder was trying to shield his daughter and grandson from harm and receive a punch to the face.
The leader of the group looked at him with a sense of both triumphant and arrogance as he then said, "You know old man your precious bridge is ours now and soon we'll find out who was responsible for my bosses loss of his brother who had every right to do with you people as he saw it."
The old drunk bridge builder looked up to him and then said, "We may not have the strength to fight you but it's only a matter of time before someone comes looking for you, until then you'll never have a moment's rest on this island."
He then pulled out a small knife and walked behind one of the small children no older than 10 years of age and with a sickening smile upon his face plunge the blade directly into the young man's body, the below would not kill him right away but it would cause tremendous amounts of pain until he his death from bleeding out.
This is all Washi had to see as he was still trying to find a position to attack from and instantly have had enough without a moment's notice to he pulled one of his rope darts out and quickly let the blade fly hitting one of the murderers in the back, before anyone could clearly figure out what happened he was chirped up into the sky hanging by a rope that was suspended on a branch it was then they heard a sound hitting the ground and turned to see a strange warrior in black who quickly moved like lightning slitting the throats of the four men nearest him but there were still at least three more men who quickly engaged him only to be cut down without a moment's hesitation.
The leader quickly grabbed one of the hostages and held the blade of his knife to her throat with a clear look of insanity upon his face, he thought that the strange warrior before him would not engaging that all risking the hostage.
How wrong he was as Washi lifted up one of his arms that held his hidden gun and pulled back the hammer, with the aid of his bloodline he quickly pulled the trigger and let the bullet fly.
Akima watched as the bullet left the gun in slow motion and came right in front of her face as she perceived it in the Animus and saw the emblem of the Assassin Brotherhood as well as their family crest embedded in the bullet's surface, after she got a good look at the bullet it then quickly sped up again this time hitting the monster who paraded in human skin directly in his forehead.
His eyes quickly rolled in the back of his head and his body went limp hitting the ground scaring the hostage in the process he then quickly ran over to the young boy and try to do his best to stop the bleeding, by this point both Hinata and Tenten rushed onto the scene to see if they could help the young boy.
Hinata began to scan the young boy with her medical Nin-Jutsu but was saddened to find out that the blade had also been poisoned and that there was nothing she could do to save him, the boy looked up to see the face of the man who try to save them and smiled knowing exactly who it was before any of the others did.
Washi gave the young boy a smile and then said, "Be strong young one, God shall wipe away all the tears from your eyes and there shall be no more death. Neither shall there be sorrow or crying. Neither shall there be any more pain… For the former world has passed away."
Eventually the young boy passed, Washi closed the boy's eyes as he let his tears fall from his eyes and looked over to both Hinata and Tenten who also let their tears flow.
It was right at this moment that he heard the sounds of one of the men he had cut down trying to escape and realized the cut had not been deep enough to end his wicked life, Washi stood to his full height and calmly walked over to the man who was now laughing at them as if there was nothing they could do to stop them.
Before the man could even get out of the area a foot landed squarely on his shoulder stopping him dead in his tracks, he then felt a strong pain in his chest and looked over to see Washi stabbing him in the chest it was at this moment that he realized that they were in serious danger from someone who would not hesitate to kill them.
"You know what the difference between us is Templar?"
The man was even more afraid now knowing that this person knew what he was, "The difference is we live by a Creed, we do not harm the innocent as you do… May you find peace and forgive in the next world."
Eventually the man breathed his last and passed away, Capt. Jack Webb removed his foot from the dead man and walked over to try to help as many people as he could.
The old bridge builder then looked at the assassin knowing full well who they were, this particular assassins who had fallen down revealing spiky blond hair and when the man turned around he was shocked to, "Naruto!"
End of C8
I like to hear what you all think about how the story is going; I also recently just finished Assassin's Creed 3 and realize there's not much about the story I have to change as I haven't even gotten to certain aspects of that yet it also leaves a good amount of things open I won't spoil the ending of the game so you should pick it up and try it out yourself.
I'm also playing the one on the Vita and so far I like it as well I'm hoping to integrate things from both games into this story as they will directly back to the past I also managed to bring Akima back as well.
As for Hinata she won't be a love interest to him but more as a sister to him which will be expanded upon in future chapters, also I'm not against giving him more than one love interest in the story that he can end up with since it's a completely different role from our own, remember this takes place 500 years after the 2012 event that I've referenced a couple of times please tell me what you think please read and review.