*I'm uploading the last two chapters of this arc at the same time. Enjoy!

Chapter 21 - The End of the Yakuza: Yusano & Minoru

"Dammit... Dammit...! Dammit!" he kept yelling while munching the dirt with his fist. "That stupid idiot! Why did he do it?! He didn't have to... He didn't..." He clenched the mud into his palm. He opened it and Onbara's necklace fell out. "Miss Beniko... I'm sorry..."

Sasuke gazed sympathetically at his apprentice's back. Hana had already experienced a massive loss when his clan was eradicated, and now he had to go through this.

'The reason I brought Hana to the village was to try and steer him away from darkness, but all I did was drop him in the center of it.' Sasuke sighed at himself. 'This really is my fault...'

In the middle of his brooding, Sasuke heard Bolt groan.

"Huh... What's going on?" he asked while finally regaining consciousness. He looked up. "Sarada's dad?! Why are you-"

"It's a long story," Sasuke interjected while letting Bolt go. "You missed a lot while you were asleep, Bolt."

Bolt made a face while scratching his neck. When he heard Hana's sobs, he peered back at him. Then he looked up at the burning casino.

"Hey... Sarada's dad, what happened to momma's boy?"

It took Sasuke a moment to realize that Bolt was referring to Hana. "See how the casino is in flames? A man named Onbara is the cause of it. You might not remember, but you and Hana were surrounded by yakuza when I found you, and Onbara sacrificed himself to kill them all."

Bolt's surprised face was highlighted by the fire. "So that's what he's crying about..."

Bolt watched Hana's shoulders quiver for a few more seconds before walking over to him.

"Hey, momma's boy."

Hana looked up, tears still falling. "Bolt...? You're finally awa-"

Hana's question was interrupted by Bolt kicking the side of his head, shocking him and Sasuke both.

"W-what was that for?!" Hana exclaimed while rubbing his head.

Bolt just laughed at him. "You went from a momma's boy to a cry baby! Boo-hoo~ My yakuza friend who almost killed me died~ What am I gonna do?~"

Hana glared, and, in spite of his injured leg, jumped up and onto Bolt while he was still taunting him.

Hana mounted Bolt and socked his cheek. "Take it back!" he ordered.

Bolt rolled Hana and himself over and started choking him with his wrist. "How about you make me, momma's boy?!"

Hana headbutted him and the pair began rolling around in the mud again. The climbed over each other repeatedly, punching, choking and even sometimes biting each other. Sasuke watched the scene with a bemused look on his face.

After nearly two minutes of scrapping, the boys finally ran out of steam. They laid out on the ground next to each other, panting loudly with their eyes to the night sky. The rain fall actually felt refreshing now.

"Why... Why do you always have to pick fights...?" Hana asked, still angry.

Bolt panted. "Because... when you're busy fighting, you don't bother thinking about other stuff. You aren't crying anymore, right?"

Hana's eyes widened once he realized Bolt was right. The only thing wetting his face now was the rain.

"Oh... Is that why you kicked me?"

"No. Your head just looked really kickable then."

Hana made a face. "Err... right. But still..." Hana turned his head and smiled. "Thanks Bolt."

Bolt blushed a little. "I-I told you, I only did it because your head looked kickable. Don't start getting weird ideas, Hana!"

Hana's expression froze. He sat up slowly. "Bolt... did you just call me by my actual name?"

"Huh? Yeah. So?"

"You never did that before! It was always momma's boy up until this point! Your image of me really did change!"

Bolt jumped up and pointed. "Didn't I tell you not get any weird ideas?! Keep talkin crap and I'll kick you again! Believe that!"

Hana started laughing at Bolt's frustration. While the two were going back and forth, Sasuke still watched them, a small smile on his face.

'Maybe I was wrong. The village might be the right place for him, after all,' hethought.

Then he paused. He looked at the burning casino again and a thought occurred to him. More accurately, a person.

"Hana, Bolt; did Sarada go inside with you two?!"

The two boys stopped their chatter and made expressions similar to Sasuke's.

"Oh, crap! We forgot!" Bolt exclaimed.

Hana made a troubled face. "Sarada got separated from us almost as soon as we entered Imaeda Palace..."

Sasuke gripped his chokuto. "So that's why she wasn't with you two..."He started marching toward the casino. "You two – stay outside until help comes. I'll be back."

"Hey, Sarada's dad, wait! Let me go too!" Bolt shouted. while running up to him. "I can help you find her."

"I appreciate your help, but it would be better if you stayed out way."

Bolt scrunched his brow. "Oh yeah? How about this, then?" He grabbed his hand put up to fingers. '...Byakugan!'

The veins around Bolt's eyes bulged, and his pupils disappeared. His eyes were pure white, save for the light irises in the center. Sasuke couldn't believe it.

"Bolt... you've mastered the Byakugan? But I remember Naruto saying you and sister weren't-"

"Forget about what the Dumbkage, said!" Bolt held his fist to his chest. "I'm just as much Hyuga as I am Uzumaki!"

The Uchiha got a strong sense of nostalgia while he watched Bolt. It seems like the boy had inherited every trait his father ever had. That made him a headache, but it also made him simple to deal with, ironically.

"Alright, then. Let's go," Sasuke said. He briefly glanced at Hana.

The boy shook his head. "Go on, Master. I'd only get in your way."

Sasuke nodded, and grabbed Bolt. He then warped the both of them inside the non-burning wing of Imaeda Palace. Hana looked down at the necklace in his hand one more time. Then he went back to watching the casino burn.

When Sarada and Eda passed through another wall, they found themselves in an empty lounge. Sarada looked around. She was still near-sighted without her glasses, but she easily recognized the cave-in that nearly crushed her.

"This is where I got separated from Hana and Bolt," she said.

Eda wiped away some of her locks. "Great. That means we're close to the exit then."

"Is there a reason you couldn't just Phantom Tread us outside?"

"That jutsu uses up a lot of my chakra, and since I used it a bunch and healed you while fighting four-eyes..."

Sarada looked down when she realized where Eda was going with it. "Sorry."

"Heh. I'm just joking. Come on, let's head for the exit."

As the two were leaving the lounge, Eda noticed something, and stopped Sarada behind her.

"What is it?" the latter asked.

"...someone else is here. Come out, now, and maybe I'll show some mercy!"

"Yikes! Can't you be nonvolatile for even a second?" a familiar voice called back.

From the shadows stepped a man with shaded glasses and suit similar to Eda's.

"Tsuno? Where the hell have you been?"

"Looking for the Yamabe clan's boss, obviously. Haven't seen that asshole anywhere, though."

"So Sawako lied to us...? Well, that's not too surprising. She did give us this information, shortly after she almost killed us."

"Actually, no, she didn't. Apparently, Minoru Yamabe was here a little while ago."

"That is correct, Sir Tsuno.," a young, yet distinguished voice said.

From the wall behind Tsuno came another Oza, who was escorting the person who had spoke. She had wavy silver hair that partially covered her right eye.

Upon hearing the voice, Sarada made a face. "Ryoma?"

Ryoma paused. Her eyes could easily recognize Sarada in the dark. "Sarada, you're here?! ...why?"

Sarada took a step towards her. "To rescue you! You didn't think I was going to sit back and let get kidnapped, did you?"

"Sarada..." Ryoma looked away. "As much as I appreciate your efforts, coming here was a mistake I can see how serious your injuries are, and as you can see, I have already been saved by the Oza clan. What you did, Sarada... was pointless."

Eda and Tsuno made troubled expressions. They hadn't expected for such a reunion to occur. Even less did they expect for it to be so awkward. Sarada, however, barely looked bothered by Ryoma's words. It was almost like she had not heard it. She walked toward Ryoma without so much as a winkle in her brow.

"So, you really mean what you just said?" she asked.

Ryoma wasn't looking at her when she said. "Yes. Your efforts tonight were pointless. You should have stayed home, Sara-"

Ryoma stopped when Sarada held a silver-shelled object toward her face. The sight of it made Tsuno and partner's eyes widen, but one head shake from Eda that said "Don't even think about it," made them both sigh tiredly.

"The 'egg...' You still had it with you this entire time?" Ryoma asked.

"You gave it to me for safekeeping. Of course, I would keep it with me. Now, I'm giving it back."

"Sarada... This 'egg' and I-"

"It's not your fault." Ryoma paused. "What happened to your brother, what happened at the park, what all these jerk in the yakuza have done to you is none of your fault, and it's not the 'egg''s either. So don't try and run me off like you just did, because you're afraid I might end up getting hurt over you." Sarada took Ryoma's hand and placed the egg inside of it. "I'm not going to run away just that easily, so stop underestimating me. ...I'm your friend, Ryoma."

The young Hanimura was lost for words. She saw a distorted reflection of herself in the 'egg''s shell, smile sadly.

"Sarada... I..." Ryoma wiped a tear before it could fall, and smiled. "Yes, I understand... I'm sorry. I'll never do such a thing again."

Her friend smile back at her, and two fell into each others arms. Eda almost felt warm watching the girls. Then she felt a literal warmth coming from ahead of her.

She sniffed. "Is that smoke? Tsuno, was there a fire in the casino?"

"No, but we did feel this huge explosion not too long ago. Didn't you feel it?"

"No, I was too deep down. Either way, we should get out of here before-"

Before she could finish, a man in black appeared behind Tsuno and the other Oza. He neutralized Tsuno by kicking the back of knee, putting him on his knees and forcing his arm behind his back, and made the other one stay still by holding his sword's edge under his neck.

"You guys!" Eda shouted.

"W-w-who is this guy?" Tsuno asked, his bound arm twitching.

"Dad?!" Sarada blurted.

The lounge was filled with total silence up until Bolt ran into the lounge, his Byakugan still active.

"Hey, Sarada's dad! Did you get those yakuza guys I saw?" he asked.

"Oh. The blonde boy from the park," Ryoma said, casually. "He came with you too, Sarada?"

"Yeah... Hana too."

"Hana came as well?!"

"Hey... Sarada was your name, right? I see you're having an intimate talk with your friend there, but could you get your old man to let us go?" Tsuno asked.

"Oh... Dad, you can let go id those two. They aren't going to hurt us."

Sasuke raised a brow of concern as he released Tsuno's arm and retracted his chokuto. "But these three are yakuza aren't they?"

Tsuno rotated his freed arm. "Yeah. But we're the good yakuza."

"Good yakuza is an oxymoron, Tsuno," Eda said.

Sarada and Ryoma looked at each other and started laughing. No one but them understood why.

After a brief exchange between Sasuke and the Oza, everyone headed for the exit together.

Ryoma stared at the egg in her hand intently the entire way.

"Ryoma, what's wrong?" Sarada asked, seeing her friends concern.

"My father – I'm worried for his safety," she confessed. "Minoru Yamabe said he was targeting him."

"You're worrying too much, kid," Tsuno said while adjusting his glasses. "There's no way a man like Yusano Hanimura would get offed by that cheap bastard Minoru."

Ryoma smiled weakly at Tsuno's reassurance. Regardless, she still felt a tinge of fear in her heart.

That specific street corner held a special place in Yusano's heart. Most would simply walk by, ignoring the memorial that had been placed on the street, but Yusano had spent the past half hour in front of it.

"A decade has already passed, but it still feels like it happened yesterday. Do you feel the same way, Fudai?" Yusano asked.

He didn't need to look back to notice his tall subordinate. The bodyguard stood behind his clan head with bandages wrapped over one side of his face, obstructing his left eye.

"Indeed... Not a day goes by that what happened on that night doesn't haunt me."

"You should not blame yourself, Fudai. The one to blame for Nozomi's death is Minoru, and no one else."

"That does not ease my guilt... but it does make it easier to accept. Thank you, Lord Yusano."

They both heard applause. "Wow! It's just like It's like watching classical stage play." Fudai looked back and saw a woman with shaggy dark hair and gloomy eyes approach. "Did you two go over your lines before I got here?"

Fudai glared at her, but Yusano kept his eyes on his wife's memorial. Realizing she wasn't going to get a response, Sawako shrugged and walked up to man her employer had hired her kill. Fudai let her go unchallenged.

"You should at least try to put up fight. It'll make it more believable," Sawako said while looking at the memorial with Yusano.

"My death will be enough. The only thing I'm concerned about now is what will happen afterwords."

He gave the assassin a look and she shoot one back. "What? Do you take us for amateurs? Of course, we'll wrap things up on our end. You shouldn't underestimate the Kurotsurugi."

Yusano lightly chuckled. "Of course. Forgive me." He gazed at the memorial again. "What I'm about to do is immensely selfish. I don't expect my clan, let alone my children, to forgive me for this, but I hope that they will one day understand my reasoning."

Fudai gripped his fists while his boss spoke.

"...you're an amazing man, Yusano Hanimura. You sound like a crappy dad, though," Sawako said with a shrug.

Yusano smiled. "I don't doubt that."

She sighed. "Well, let's get this over with."

Sawako backed up until she was directly behind Yusano. Her arm briefly decomposed then transfigured itself into a thin, sharp blade, similar to a katana, and made entirely out of hardened mud.

Yusano braced himself. '...Nozomi, I've been a terrible father to our children. I'm sure you're angry with me right now, but please... understand that I do this as much for them as I do for you. They deserve better than life in this depraved underworld, and I will make sure they have it. Don't worry Nozomi... They won't end up like us.'

Yusano's final thoughts reached out to someplace he was on his way to. He closed his eyes, and Sawako pierced his heart through his back with her sword arm. When she yanked it out, Yusano stumbled forward and fell to his knees. He peered a the memorial once more before smiling and collapsing sideways onto the street.

Sawako swatted the blood from her sword arm with a single swipe, then morphed it back to its original form.

Fudai who's face had darkened immensely looked at her. "...you know what must be done now, don't you?"

"Didn't I already explain to your boss, big guy?" Sawako brushed passed him on her way. "The Kurotsurugi always gets the job done."

With that, she left Fudai alone on the street corner. He stared at Yusano's body. There were now two people he cared about that met their end on this street corner.

Minoru was enjoying the view from his balcony. He remembered when he and Yusano were kids. He would brag about one day owning house big enough to have a balcony , and Yusano never believed him.

'Seems as though you were wrong even back then, Yusano,' he thought while drinking sake from a small drinking cup.

He suddenly got a call, and answered it. "Lord Minoru, it's Sawako. I wanted to let you know that Yusano Hanimura is finally dead."

A feeling more satisfying than any drink surged up Minoru's spine. "Very good, Sawako. How would you feel about a bonus on top of what I already paid the Kurotsurugi?"

"I appreciate the thought, Lord Minoru, but the Kurotsurugi only takes what it's given for the job. Nothing more. Now that that's done, I'll be leaving the Hidden Leaf. Goodbye."

Sawako hung up, and Minoru kept smiling. It was finally done. He still had that old snake Saizo to deal with, but regardless, the underworld was now his.

He spilled his drink over the balcony to honor the dead. "For my old friends, Yusano and Nozomi. May their love last throughout the after life."

He set the cup down beside the sake bottle on the balcony and went back inside his unlit room. He was wondering how he would go about dealing with Saizo Oza when he heard a deep voice say "Hmph. You're even more callow than Sawako mentioned."

Minoru quickly wheeled back to see a man dressed in a lengthy crimson trench coat trimmed with black fur, sitting beside his window. The moonlight highlighted the man's face, but his mouth was hidden by a black mask, and he wore his coat's furred hood slanted, covering one of his eyes.

"...who are you? And how did you get into my room?" Minoru asked while sizing the man up.

"Keio. And your security is pathetic," the man said with his arms in his lap. "Keeping out yakuza is different from keeping out assassins."

Minoru's eyes widened. "Assassins?! ...are you-"

"A member of the Kurotsurugi? Yes, I am."

Minoru grit his teeth. After a moment of clarity, he calmed himself and smiled. "Really... I should have thought as much, hiring a band of assassins and all. I never expected you would break into my estate just to extort me, however." Minoru adjusted his tie. "So tell me – how much to make you disappear for good?"

"I've already been paid."

Minoru froze. "...by who?"

"Yusano Hanimura."

Minoru nearly ripped his tie from around his neck. "I-impossible! I hired you to kill Yusano, so how could he-"

"He hired us first; long before you ever did, in fact. He didn't let us act immediately, though. Instead, he froze the contract and said it was only to go into action after his death."

"Yusano... he knew I was going to hire you to assassinate him...?"

"No..." Keio leaned back in his chair. "The fact you hired that you hired the same organization was pure coincidence. All he knew was that, eventually, you were going to successfully take his life one day when you saw the chance."

Minoru glared. "If Yusano knew that then why didn't he kill me the first chance he got?!"

"Because, the yakuza would have survived just your death." The Yamabe's clan head paused. "Yusano knew you wouldn't be satisfied with your current position in yakuza, and that you would try to take over the entire underworld by any means necessary. He was right. You had five of the Seven Great Clans' heads killed, and just a few moments ago, four of those clans just lost major casualties at Imaeda Palace."

Keio leered at Minoru. "You wanted your competition to disappear. Yusano wanted all of the yakuza to disappear. It looks like you both succeeded."

Minoru gripped his fists until his fingernails drew blood from his palms. "Yusano... Does he think I'll stand for this?! I was going to leave the Hanimura clan be, but now... I'll have all of them wiped out! And then the Oza as well! I'll climb over as many bodies as it takes!"

Keio sighed. "Sawako was right. You are full of yourself."

Minoru snapped and charged at the assassin with his palm raised. Keio didn't leave his seat. He didn't even flinch. He just raised his gloved right hand and pointed his index at Minoru.

"Die."

Minoru did. There was no extra convulsion, and no dying gag. He simply hit the floor before Keio's feet, dead as a doornail. Keio calmly stood, put the chair he sat in back at a table in the corner of the room, and left cordially with his hands in his coat pockets. While walking down the manor's hall, two Yamabe monitoring the hall noticed Keio coming from the direction of their boss's room.

"...who the hell are you?" one of them asked while squinting.

Keio didn't answer, nor did he stop walking. He just pointed his right finger and said "Die." Both of them did immediately, and Keio walked over their bodies like they were clothes someone left on the floor.

Five members were chatting among each other in the lounge he passed through.

"Who's this guy? A friend of the boss?" one asked

Keio pointed. "Die."

They all did at once; some slouching into their seats, and others sliding onto the floor. Keio continued his walk through the manor, pointing and saying "Die" at everyone he met. Yusano had only payed him to kill Minoru, but Keio wasn't a man who did things half-assed.

Eventually, he came to the steps leading to the lounge where the manor's front door was. It was being blocked by approximately forty-eight men. Likely what was left of the Yamabe's yakuza members. They must have finally noticed all the dead.

"Bastard... what did you do to the boss?!" one of the barked.

Keio looked down at them all silently.

"Scared shitless now, huh...? Well, it's too late for that!"

Everyone of the men charged up at him. Keio pointed his finger one last time and said "...die."

When Keio left the manor, he made sure to lock the door behind him. A final showing of courtesy. He headed for the manor's front gate. When he got close he saw somebody's shoulder sticking out from the side.

He sighed upon reaching it. "I thought I told you not to wait on me, Nobunari."

A child with white hair that fell into his eyes despite him wearing it in a shaggy pony tail looked up at Keio, then quickly looked away.

"...stupid," he muttered.

"What?"

"I said stupid! Why do I always get left behind when you guys go on hits!"

"I already told you, you're too young to go on any hits yet."

Nobunari stood. "Hattori gets to go on hits and he's only a year older!"

"Hattori has a different temperament than you. He went on his first hit when he was just six."

Nobunari's cheeks puffed up. "You're just making excuses! Stupid! Dummy! Cyclops! Idiot!"

Keio's one visible eye looked very tired while Nobunari kept jumping around him and calling him names.

"Look... how about this? Let's go meet up with Sawako first," he proposed. "After that we'll go get dinner at anyplace you want."

Nobunari stopped belittling Keio, and showed him his bright, blue eyes. "...really? We get to eat with Sawako?"

Keio made tired noise while he massaged his neck. "Sure, but no more complaining about how you don't get to go on hits. Got it?"

Nobunari eagerly nodded at Keio, and two started walking away from the manor.

"So, what do you feel like eating?"

"Hmm... Oh! I heard about this weird district in town. It has a shabby restaurant that serves amazing food!"

"Hmm... What's it called?"

"Uh... I think it was called... the Imperial Majesty?"

The two kept talking as they disappeared into the streets of Konoha City.