Chapter 7: Wanted. Dead or Alive?

The mission of the Hunters is simple: Hunt down and Leave no trace.

-Hidden Mist, Mizukage's office; Time: 1643, 5 days later-

Mao had expressed a firmness that messenger birds be sent to other villages at least with the message to capture him for the crime of an attempted assassination but she was unable to talk the other heads into sending out a "Be On the Look Out". Ryo had also been against it, for hoping to handle it in house, but she was Mizukage and her word was final, birds had been sent out to almost every nation, with a simple proviso: 'wanted for questioning'. She hoped it would be enough to get a few ninja searching, it had been Ryo's suggestion that he merely be detained rather than hunted if only to see what they could extract from him when they captured him. But there was something she didn't believe, Zikito had always been very transparent when he came to Unity, he believed it to be a terrorist group, nothing more or less. People guilty of crimes, dozens of them, who followed an ideal long dead. It made no sense to her, it made no sense that her brother would join a group that he hated and despised; she just couldn't accept it.

'He wouldn't ever join a group that did what they've done and he would never turn his back on the Hidden Mist… So why? Why would he do this?!'

Mao sat at her desk, merely trying to understand everything that occurred, trying to grasp something about it. Nothing made any sense. Mao continued to stare at the files on her desk, it was the incident report about the attack on Ryo's office; detailed reports about everything from the killing of the guards, Zikito attempting to kill Ryo to using an explosive tag to escape. Ordinarily, she would never doubt her brother, nor believe what anybody told her about him, but then if he was innocent why flee? There was more to this than she thought but for now there was nothing she could do, she had to play the role of the Mizukage, true, her brother had never been trusted at least by a few people in the village but she never doubted him nor would she ever doubt him.

'For now I need to wait there has to be something more to this…there has to be'

KNOCK KNOCK

Someone knocked on Mao's door, snapping her out of her trance and bring her back to reality for now she would just have to play the part of the concerned leader and put her own suspicions aside, until she heard the truth from her brother, until she discovered the truth yourself she wouldn't think one way or another about.

'Never be the fool who believes everything she's told'

A piece of advice her brother had given her, after he returned from that mission…that last mission that changed him. When he came back she would get the answers she desired…one way or another.

"Enter!"

XxX

-The next day, nearing the shores of the Land of Fire, Time: 0930-

Zikito had been on tours of duty that were easier than this chase across the sea; he had already been attacked four times, the last almost sinking his vessel. The Hunter-nin were on his tail from the get-go, even at night he couldn't let his guard down, his rations were already gone and he was exhausted, getting only a few hours of rest in the fog cloud he went through the day prior. For six days he had been staying one step ahead of the Hunter-nin, dodging them in outmaneuvering them, but he had run out of tricks and they were already following in his wake it keeping their distance. The sea would wash all the ships sure, turning this ocean run into a land hunt.

'I need to lose these guys, I need to think of a way to clear my name and stop them'

The shoreline was fast approaching, the tide was still going down so his ship would wash ashore perhaps a little bit further there's meaning he wouldn't have to make a run through sandy beaches and muddy waters. It would still be a struggle as it was not high tide, but any advantage to get be enough. After all if there was one thing that the Hunter's were good at it was hounding an enemy until he surrendered, was captured, or was killed. No matter the enemy if they were assigned to them, they would never give up the chase… And these are some of the best. Hunter-nin whom he had assisted and even joined in hunting down members of Unity, he remembered the few Unity members that eluded the Hunters for weeks. Using false clues, traps, and multiple hideouts to evade capture but in the end, they couldn't escape the Hunters.

'Not exactly a good thing here, it doesn't matter…if they won't back off…then I'll kill them.'

Zikito was resolved to do whatever he had to in order to clear his name; true, part of him felt the guilt of killing fellow Mist shinobi but he could put that aside, even if none of them were Unity agents, they would not take him alive. And most would not listen to a single thing he said, and even if they did, Unity would have some back-up plan to ensure he wouldn't return to the Mist alive, but so long as he was alive, Unity would do nothing against his family, they were ignorant to whatever Unity had planned and thus would most likely, be left alone; a naïve hope, but it was something he had to believe. Zikito shook off his train of thought, grabbing hold of the boat's railing with one hand, holding onto his scythe in the other…he was about to make landfall…and this, nor what would follow, would be pleasant.

XxX

-Unknown loacton, time Unknown-

~I walk through the streets at a slow pace; small homes and shops on either side, as several people jump at me, others ran as fast as they can away, yells of anger and gallantry are mixed in with screams of terror and fear. In a single breath, flames and heat exhale forth, turning all before me to cinders, cries vanish before they are heard and bodies; charred and black, litter the ground as all around, smell of burning flesh and wood mix together, forming a scent that repulses and sickens but I feel deadened to it, I feel nothing as I walk past bodies, some burned, some impaled with Windmill shuriken, others covered with kunai, but all had one thing in common: They were dead. But I don't care, not for their sufferings, how they lived nor how they died, they were in the way; their deaths meant nothing to me. Passing the body of ninja, I look at his forehead, I see a headband of a village I despise and hate with every fiber of my being; a village I want to see burned to the ground and its ashes scattered to the winds of every direction. As I stare at the headband, I catch a glimpse of myself in a pull of blood; my face is different; my gaze is more cruel, creases under my eyes, my hair is longer, spiked, and my bangs are extend to my shoulders. I look down and see my armor is not like the one I fell asleep in, I turn my head and see a fan on my back. I hear a noise and I look towards it: a child crawls out of the burning building that had once been her home, her hands and feet are burned and blood stains her clothes. I slowly move and stop in front of her, hesitantly, she looks up at me, her eyes gleaming with tears of pain and sorrow. From her lips I hear a small plea:

"Help…me"

I narrow my eyes and produce a kunai, kneeling down, I answer her.

"Yes…I will help you" in a voice…that is not mine~

-Somewhere in the Land of Fire, time: 2145-

Xevhiroth's eyes pop open as he quickly sat up from the dirt he was laying, sweat dropping from every pore, and struggling to catch his breath, the sounds of the forest and the crackling of the fire he had lit next to him were all that greeted his alarmed senses. The heat from the fire felt good against his clammy skin and the sounds of crickets and nocturnal birds helped his mind settle down but it was being overshadowed by his heart, it's pounding causing his veins to sound like hammers in his ears. Xevhiroth tried to stand up but his knees were shaking and he couldn't summon the strength to his legs, instead he sat back on the dirt, using one hand to support himself, taking deep breathes he started to settle down and return to himself. Xevhiroth had hoped to get a normal night's sleep for once but again it escaped.

"Again…again the same damn nightmare…why…"

He never had those dreams before; dreams were he was someone who spread death and destruction, never before then…ever since...Xevhiroth shook his head if not to discourage the memory coming back, then to remove the sweat that was stinging his eyes. After a few moments, Xevhiroth took a deep breath and laid back down on the cold dirt.

"Please Heaven…why do I have these nightmares?"

Slowly he closed his eyes, hoping that sleep would come, minus the nightmares this time.

Sorry for delayed update, problems with editing and life sucks but here are a few more for the New Year. Hope you guys like this story more coming soon. thanks for every view.