P1 "Promise"
Lighting flashed back and forth over Amegakure. The rains that seemed to have stopped following the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War have returned. "I promise you Nagato…I will bring peace! That's my Nindo Way!" A figure stood on one of the many hands embedded into the buildings. She wore a long black cloak with red swirling clouds and had raven hair and purple eyes. This was Rukia Kuchiki. She stood as the rain poured down onto her. She heard some footsteps and spotted an orange haired teenager with a khyber knife resting over his shoulders.
"I guess it's time. Soon we will achieve peace." She said as she placed her hand on his chest. Ichigo just closed his eyes not saying a word. The rain seemed to increase in pressure. Outside Amegakure a figure stood outside the walls of the hidden ninja city. Sasuke Uchiha looked around and something felt odd. {"Mikki should be in charge of Amegakure…..it's like Kakashi-sensei said Amegakure fell into another civil war…who can blame them she was so much like her father a spineless coward."}
Sasuke approached the guard standing at the door. "Halt what do you want…Treehugger…" he said in a gruff voice and snickered at the insult commonly used towards Konohagakure shinobi. Sasuke did his best to remain calm and not let his emotions show. "I would like to visit whoever is in charge." The guard blinked, not expecting that from him. He pressed his earpiece communicator and then waved Sasuke through.
"Don't cause any trouble tree hugger" was all the guard said as he opened the gate and escorted Sasuke through. The guard paused, "Oh Lady Rukia I didn't see you there." He bowed his head and Sasuke's eyes locked onto Rukia. Rukia held her hands together and wore a plain black cloak with an Amegakure headband tied around her neck. Sasuke eyed a figure behind her with orange spiky hair and brown eyes, he also eyed the huge sword resting on the figure's shoulder.
Rukia turned towards the figure "Ichigo…relax he is a guest." Sauske took note of the name {"They seem to know each other…he also seems to not be talkative."} Ichigo relaxed as far as his muscles. He impaled his sword in the ground and placed one foot on it and his eyes never left Sasuke. Rukia turned towards Sasuke ``Why don't we head towards my office?" She offers. Sasuke looks around as lightning flashes analyzing every nook and cranny. "That's not necessary, I was just ensuring Amegakure is stable enough for the upcoming Chūnin Selection Exams, I'm satisfied now."
Rukia's lavender eyes analyze Sasuke {"He is aware of the Coup and civil war…Zetsu did say he has contacts somewhere in the village I will have security deal with them."} She bows her head "I'm glad I was able to satisfy your curiosity. Yes, our village has been stable for a while. I understand with the lack of information and that incident involving that actress concern has and will arise." Sasuke nodded and just said "Hn" in response. "I look forward to the next Hokage summit..I will attend." Sasuke blinked as that caught him off guard. {"Amegakure never attends Hokage summits…"} he narrowed his eyes wondering what the new leader was planning.
Thunder boomed and lightning flashed again. Rukia held out a hand as Sasuke was turning around to leave. "It's going to rain…" she finally said as he kept walking. She coughed into her hand but blocked Ichigo from going after him. Sasuke paused and turned his head slightly. "So you can hear I was just making sure you're not deaf. I heard a rumor that continuous use of Fire, Explosive, and Lava Release techniques makes you deaf." Sasuke completely turned around, he didn't show it but he was confused. Rukia waved it off "Why don't you stay? This time of year gets worse…" as soon as she said that it started downpouring like crazy.
Rukia and Ichigo lead Sasuke to their shared home. Sasuke paused as he recognized this place as the lighting illuminated the foreboding shadow that stood over the land. {"The former headquarters of the Akatsuki…"} He looked around and noticed the building remained the same though he did see modern improvements. Two giant flatscreen televisions were on either side of the main door displaying just a black Camellia flower insignia on a white background.
In front was a statue of a young woman whose overall appearance reminds Sasuke of a yuki-onna. Her waist-length is partially tied up at the back in a long bun and falls behind her shoulders, while a strand falls between eyes. It is parted on the right side of her head by a star-shaped hair clip. She wears a kimono with large sleeves, a long hem. It has a obi wrapped around her waist which is attached to a large bow on her back. It was pretty large and prominent in the courtyard of the building.
Sasuke followed after the two and noted the area had been turned into a garden full of Camellia flowers with walls and armed guards he also noted unlike the accomplice of the former actress Ashina wore warriors monk style armor and attire complete with a rounded square shaped bamboo helmet that enclosed the head with a ventilator on either the side or front of the helmet. They were armed with weapons used by Samurai rather than Shinobi including Yari, and various swords.
The guards watched Sasuke for a few minutes then snapped back to attention. He then arrived inside the building to find it busy with administrators, and various departments running around and shinobi teams picking up mission scrolls or civilians requesting something or another. Rukia and Ichigo waited for him by an elevator flanked by two shinobi guards these guards resembled the attempted bomber. Sasuke had the weird feeling he was being watched by a familiar person every time he passed by a potted plant. "Enjoying the view?" Sasuke blinked Rukia lavender eyes locked onto his ink black eyes.
"Don't lie you were enjoying the view…I half expected you to wander off down to Memorial of the Three." Sauske raised an eye at first but recalled from his former team sensei that the rebels seem to idolize Pain, and the Akatsuki in terms of Ideology. Sasuke looked up as something caught his eyes and he narrowed it to a plaque above the elevator.
"Even The Most Ignorant, Innocent Child Will Eventually Grow Up"-Nagato/Pain
Sasuke sighed {"Yep you were right Kakashi-sensei they idolize the Akatsuki."} Something kept bugging him; it was about his encounter with the experiment of his former mentor Orochimaru Shin Uchiha who straight up vanished and was later determined the Shin they were fighting was a Zetsu clone the whole time. He was interrupted from his thoughts by a dinging noise and he entered the elevator with Rukia and Ichigo.
"OoooOoOoOoOoO!"
Sasuke jumped and looked around as the strange hollow cry pierce the air even inside the building. Rukia and Ichigo were unfazed, "It's just a Hollow." Sasuke turned to her and noted how unfazed she was by the cry. "Hollow?" he repeated the unfamiliar tone, Rukia nodded and turned to him and gave him a smile he didn't like. "If you see one..well rather hear one only certain people can see them it's a matter of believing….but anyways run…hide…but do not fight." She warned as she listed off the do's and don'ts on her finger.
Sasuke was confused but said nothing. Amegakure was mysterious. Before and even more so now the dinging sound ranged out as the doors opened. Before them was a young teenage girl with brown pixie cut style hair who was wearing a pink kimono. She bowed "Oh welcome back Lady Kuchiki….Lord Kurosaki. " Sasuke noted the way she said Rukia's last name was the same way, tone, and respect you gave a god or a deity or someone with a cult of personality. Rukia acknowledged the girl while Ichigo brushed past them towards who knows where. Sasuke stared after his retreating form.
{"Kurosaki?…never heard of these two before…now that I think about it."} He rubbed his forehead to ease the stress as he thought about the punishment he would give Kakashi for leaving out information {"hmmm I will burn his precious books…yea that will do."} He was interrupted by his inner planning by a tug on his coat sleeve. He turned and he found he was alone with the girl. He felt extremely awkward especially since the girl would blush every now and then. "U…u..uh Lady Kuchiki has assigned me to take you to your room." The girl said with a bow.
Sasuke sighed "Thank you…by the way where did she go?" The girl blinked at the question and then her mouth did an 'O' as she remembered. "Lady Kuchiki had a meeting with some of the villagers who lived outside the village." Sasuke nodded but didn't implore more as the girl led him down the hallway. He noted servants quickly moving up and down the hallways and in between small passages here and there. He also noted a lot of propaganda based portraits either displaying Nagato in a positive light or Rukia as a god like figure. He raised a brow but said nothing, the girl decided to start up a conversation as she noted the uneasy silence as the sounds of heavy rain can be heard pounding away.
"My name is Yuki…what's yours?" She starts walking backwards. Sauske blinks at that but answers "Sasuke." "Where are you from?" Yuki askes next "Konohagakure." He notices Yuki frowning but she resumes her smile very quickly, almost too quickly for him. "Oh…that's nice I heard it got attacked by some aliens." "Yea it's rebuilt now." Sasuke says as they reach his room. Yuki opens the door and turns the light on. Sasuke notes it's pretty big, "This is where guests would usually stay but we haven't had too many." Yuki explains as she shows him around.
"Oi…Yuki" Sasuke calls the girl's name , interrupting her as she is showing him the small balcony with a Terrace on top of it. "Hmm?" The girl turns to him expectedly. Sasuke decided to be straightforward and get at least some answers. "Are the rumors true…about a civil war?" Yuki's eyes widened and looked back over the village as thunder booms loudly. Sasuke feels a pain of regret until Yuki does answer him.
"The previous leader…was weak…Amegakure's God and Angel would have removed her….she let the larger villages walk all over us and make promises they can't keep…but Lady Kuchiki." She clutched her hand over her heart. "She restored hope to us….she and Ichigo-sama were exiled after leading a protest over how Konohagakure refused to release the Amegakure shinobi responsible for the bombing considering it was all a sham in the first place…then they execute him…Mikki grew unpopular and a fraction of people demanded Rukia and Ichigo be returned."
Sasuke sighed {"Damn it Naruto….you're always making promises you can't keep…and I still have no idea why you let the head of ANBU execute that guy when he was just a pawn in some snobby actress game."} He listened to the story more "Rukia and Ichigo return and grew more popular…Mikki panicked and in her attempts to please both sides a civil war occured. She tried to please Rukia and Ichigo's fraction by keep the war a secret to avoid what happened during the First, Second , and Third, and Fourth Shinobi World Wars but that pissed off the Ninja clans who turned on her so to please them she decided to ask for help from Kirigakure, then it pissed off Rukia and Ichigo's fraction."
"Both sides launched a coup….in the end Lady Kuchiki prevailed and is restoring Amegakure to the way God and Angel had it…soon no village will walk all over us…." Sauske stayed quiet though his eyes widened when she started quoting Pain: "Nothing happened. Nothing except for the war. Too many people died in this land. All the pain forced me to grow up." "All Lady Kuchiki wants is true peace…" she paused as she turned to Sasuke. "Your hokage that's so precious to you…he hasn't achieved peace, as we speak right now Land of Fire, Water, and Rain clash over pointless things." She then walks away, Sasuke looks to where she stood and hears rain pattering off the terrace above his balcony as he sighs.
In another part of the tower
Rukia stares over the village, she turns toward the end table by the bed and picks up a picture and rubs her hands over it. "I promise you Nagato-sensei…..your dream will be achieved." Ichigo entered the room and placed a hand on her shoulder. Rukia nods and places the photo back down onto the end table.
As the two exited the room Lighting illuminated the picture. Showing a younger Rukia, Ichigo and another Genin standing beside Konan and Pain.
In an underground facility
Water drips from the ceiling as distant Thunder is heard. The water pools into a small ravine carved into a circle with a giant statue in the middle sitting Buddha style. Strange wires and tubs connect to the statue and a cloth covers its head. A holographic image of two figures appears on the top. "So it's time to begin our operations…everyone, the time for waiting has passed." The Female spoke first as the male stayed quiet.
"About fucking time." Spoke a male voice, "What about the Konohagakure shinobi?" Asked another voice. "Maybe if that wannabe fucking Uchiha killed him in that cave we wouldn't have a problem." The male voice returned. "I beg your pardon?" Another male voice appeared "You heard me! Wannabe Uchiha!" The first one replied back. "ENOUGH" the female voice rang out "I didn't call you to hear you bicker." The dissenting voices stopped.
"Now then let's properly begin." The female voice spoke as it calmed down "It's time to move, towards our goal. For now let's raise money by cleaning up the mess left behind by Konohagakure." "We have the contacts and contracts for you to complete, that is all…Grimmjow, Ulquiorra for a moment." The other holograms vanished. While two remained "You two are to locate the former member of our group…he is being held somewhere within the Deer Forest of the Nara Clan in Konohagakure. Retrieve him and bring him here Zetsu will lead you." The female hologram vanished and so did the male as the three remaining holograms discussed their plan of action.