I do not own Naruto. Speaking/Thoughts
Zale stood on a hill looking down at the village that he was about to enter, it wasn't very impressive but there weren't that many villages in this continent that were. He assumed that these people were being controlled by some warlord or another no one that couldn't be taken care of in a day or two.
The last few months had been spent doing this again and again clearing out warlord after warlord and leaving too soon to take any credit for the job he did. He checked his wings sure that the bottoms of them were poking out just enough for them to be noticeable, yet left you unable to be sure. His wings were hidden with an overcoat and were an instinct at this point.
There were a few people on cardboard mats sitting in the street begging for scraps that Zale couldn't afford to give out with the small amount of money he had. He had only a few copper coins on him that would do to get him a decent meal that would taste okay.
The stand he had decided to rest at was a small quaint shop that sold ramen cheap, and let off a delicious smell. "It smells almost as good as Ichiraku's." Zale said sitting down and waiting for the check to turn around from the pot she was stirring. After a few quiet minutes she turned and nearly jumped seeing him as if she hadn't seen a customer in ages. He dropped the coins onto the counter saying "How much can I get for this?"
It seemed like she was excited for some reason. "You know you're my first customer since I took over this place from my dad a week ago." The woman went back to the pot stirring it hard. "For that I'll fill you with food until you pop!"
"What happened to your dad?" Zale asked sipping the water she had given him.
"His back gave out and all of my siblings are all out of town so he had to trust me with it, he's never done that before!" the woman said with a thumbs up. "I've been learning since the day I was born, and I'm the only one willing to continue dad's business, so I get to run it when he dies."
"How old are you?" Zale asked seeing she acted a lot younger than she seemed.
"I'm eighteen shorty!" she said dropping scallions into the pot.
"Don't call me short!" Zale yelled angrily and she laughed. "What's your name?"
"Call me Azumi." she said ladling out a bowl of ramen into a bowl that she served to him. "Tell me how it tastes and don't hold back there's plenty of seconds if you feel hungry."
"I'll take it all." A large man said walking into the shop slamming his palm onto the table and the ramen flew into his mouth gulping it down quickly. Azumi immediately backed up looking terrified of the man who had come from outside, undoubtedly he was in the employment of whatever Warlord controlled the area. "Now give me the money you owe."
"We paid you already." Azumi said nervously unable to back up any farther.
"The rates just doubled." the man said with a wicked smile.
"I was really looking forward to that ramen." Zale said with a sigh, he was hoping to get at least a small meal before work had to begin. The pot that was still on the counter started to bubble and gurgle violently drawing everyone's attention. The broth exploded causing the man to scream in pain as noodles and vegetables fell on his the hot broth burning his skin.
"You did that on purpose you bitch!" the man said angrily.
"I didn't, how could I have?" Azumi said her knees shaking.
"And I suppose that he did it?" the man said pointing to Zale.
"I did." Zale said and they both looked at him as if he was crazy. "Wasn't that hard, but I was looking forward to that ramen it smelled good." The man looked infuriated and got very close to Zale who didn't flinch.
"And I suppose you think this is funny?"
"No, but your breath is nasty." Zale said waving his hand over his nose and the man growled from his throat.
It was over in a second the man lied on the ground in intense pain. Plunged in his leg was a kunai that had drawn blood. "How did you do that?" Azumi asked amazed, that man was known as one of the strongest and the most destructive of Mano's men.
"It wasn't that hard, he was leaning too far and applying too much pressure on his left leg. All I had to do was stab it with a kunai and he went down like a chopped down tree." Zale said grabbing the man and tossing him through the opening of the shop. "Can I have that bowl of ramen now?" Azumi nodded before preparing a new batch. "Tastes delicious, second best I've ever had."
"Second?" Azumi asked as if offended. "I'll have you know that my father's grandfather's uncle won this recipe off of a man who made was absolutely legendary for making the best ramen around."
"I guess there was a reason he had to win the recipe from someone else." Zale said downing the broth then holding out his bowl for another serving that Azumi served him begrudgingly. "Tell me about the warlord that has this town by the balls."
"He's been around since as long as I could walk." Azumi said stirring the pot. "My sister said that they went to school together, and even back then everyone thought that he was an evil person. Rumor has it that he's expanding his reach since he's almost bled this town dry, but he'll keep this place as his base of operations. He took one of the more popular men and shot him in front of the town because he spoke a few words of rebellion, it was horrifying."
"Where does he hang out?" Zale asked.
"There's a club in the red light district that he's always at called "Hero", but why do you want to know?" Azumi asked getting ready to pour him another bowl.
"No reason." Zale said grabbing his straw hat and walking out of the booth.
"Just when I thought I found a nice guy." Azumi said with a sigh putting away the bowls and picking up the coins that Zale had left on the counter.
The day was just turning to night when Zale finally got to the club. "It's called "Hero" how appropriate for the situation." Zale said walking to the door that was guarded by a large man in a dark suit and fedora. He tried to walk in only to be pushed back.
"Sorry you don't look nearly good enough to come in." the man said. "Go back to your cardboard box."
Zale arched an eyebrow before cracking his knuckles. A few minutes later the man was on the ground his suit shrunken to fit Zale who was also wearing the fedora. "I look good in a suit." Zale said brushing off some dirt before adjusting the hat and walking in.
The music blared loudly in Zale's ear making it impossible to hear anything else, the lights were strobe meaning that he could only see things in bits and pieces, people were dancing too close together, the place smelled of sweat, but in the midst of all this chaos was a corner where all the pretty women were and the men tried to get in.
After a few minutes he had navigated his way into the VIP section angering those who must have been the less important of Mano's list of people to impress. Mano himself sat in a suede chair sipping wine two women both incredibly beautiful sat on the arms of his chair. Zale sat across from him a glass of sake finding its way into his hand. "I've got to admit you know how to throw a party!" Zale yelled struggling to be heard over the loud music.
"Thank you!" Mano said lifting his own glass and sipping it. "Now who are you, and why are you in my club?!"
"I'm Zale, and I'm going to kill you!" Zale said.
"What?" Mano asked placing a hand to his ear.
Zale sighed and snapped his fingers the speakers slashed in half by a gust of wind as sharp as a knife. "I'm going to kill you!" Zale yelled and everyone went quiet immediately interested. "Stop what you're doing right now, and I'll let you live."
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Mano demanded his accent now more apparent. "I built my empire from the ground up, and you think that you can just come in here and tell me to stop."
"I don't think I can; I know I can, so how's about you leave and this all goes away." Zale offered trying for a peaceful resolution if only to give being diplomatic a chance.
"Get him out of here." Mano said and several men came from the crowd.
"No need I'll see myself out." Zale said standing up and straightening his suit. "But don't forget what I told you, you've got three days."
"Kill him." Mano said.
Zale looked at the three men approaching him. None of them would be a problem to kill, but he guessed that it wouldn't look good to just kill them, so he went with the best next option; slamming them against the floor hard enough to knock the wind out of them. "Like I said, three days." Zale said turning on his heel and walking out of the club everyone watching him. "Damn it's getting dark maybe Azumi will let me stay at her place."
The next twenty minutes were spent looking for the ramen shop that still had a lit torch. He walked in only to be mercilessly beaten with a two by four held by none other than Azumi. "Azumi, Azumi calm down it's me!" Zale yelled pulling the wood from her hands.
"I know that baka, what the hell do you think you're doing challenging Mano like that? Do you know what he'll do to you?" Azumi said panicked by his rash actions. "He'll have you strung up by your man parts by tomorrow, and he'll feed them to his strongest dog."
"Azumi calm down." Zale said grabbing her by her shoulders. "Take a deep breath." After a few of these she was calm. "Good now, you told me yourself that Mano has this place under his control, and he's making everyone depressed. He needs to be taken out, and I'm the only one that can do it. Besides there's no one he could hire, no army he could assemble, no power he could gain that could possibly get me."
"Alright, do you need a place to stay for the night? It doesn't look like you have anywhere else to go."
"I was just about to ask." Zale said thankfully.
*The Next Day*
The next day Zale was jolted awake by a man who wasn't quite old and not quite young pointing an old fashion musket that would take a while to load, but if it was already loaded would pack a wallop. "Stay away from my daughter you horn dog!" he yelled waving it around.
"Dad, dad, hold on he's a friend." Azumi said running into the room.
"Friends get my daughters pregnant." Azumi's father said threateningly.
"Calm down old timer." Zale said moving slowly.
"Dad, come on let's go into the kitchen and make some breakfast." Azumi said and after some convincing her dad finally went to the kitchen where Zale was told to go fetch water from outside for the food they were going to make.
"Forcing your future Emperor to go get water, how disrespectful." Zale muttered pumping the pump handle until water started pouring into the bucket until it was filled to the brim. Zale grabbed the handle and easily lifted it off of the ground only to face Azumi who was looking at his with unblinking eyes. "What is it?"
"Something's just weird about you." Azumi said with a shake of her head and turning away. "You just seem special in some way."
"Well I'll be out of town before you have to worry about it." Zale said with a sigh.
"You're leaving?" Azumi asked seemingly shocked. "I thought you were the type of guy that would settle down after saving a town."
"No, I'm the adventuring type. Places to go, people to meet, things to see." Zale said with a sigh sitting down to eat the noodles that Azumi's father had prepared. "Mano's either getting ready to run, or assembling a makeshift army of thugs and mercenaries. I've got some time to kill while I wait for him, any place in town that could use some beauty Azumi?"
"Take your pick." Azumi said with a shrug and Zale laughed lightly. "Where did you come from anyway, you're definitely not from this side of the world."
"I'm from the eastern hemisphere." Zale said slipping into an old tongue that was lost to Azumi. "I came from a really faraway place over the ocean and the mountains. I'll be back later, and then I'll get ready for the fight with Mano and his men."
Zale walked around the town creating sculptures here and there whenever he found appropriate material. The village seemed to have all their eyes on him as he had so boldly challenged Mano, he would either save them or die and they were all hoping that he would save them.
The third day couldn't come quickly enough for the village who were anticipating the death of someone. Mano had not gained more men nor had a large amount of ruff looking thugs gathered in one place making some suspicious, but also hopeful. Noon came and people piled inside their homes locking the doors and peeking out the windows.
"Alright Mano, it's time." Zale said his voice echoing through the area. "Come on out, I know you're still in town and I gave you your chance to leave. Now it's time to face your death like a man."
"Such a disrespectful young lad." Mano said walking out on the other end of the street.
"You're braver than I thought, standing here alone." Zale said.
"Oh I'm not alone. The men I have hired are the best in the world, and won't have a problem killing you. In fact they wanted to meet you so badly that they were willing to take the job for only half of their usual price." Mano said with a grin.
Zale tilted his head. "You ruined all the fun Mano." a familiar voice said. Zale was slammed against the ground by the heel of a foot. "I'm glad we still managed to catch him by surprise."
"Suzy, Cole, Liam." Zale said with a scowl. He hadn't sensed their presence which meant they must have come into the town just recently.
"As always you're quick on the uptake." Suzy said kicking his head and sending him slamming into a wall. "You don't think you were the only one to think about this place; when we heard that you were here well we couldn't pass up the opportunity to kill you."
Zale scowled his arms shaking as he pulled himself up. He glared at them, but his dirty looks did nothing to them. "Look at you; do you have time to kill me now?" Liam said with a laugh walking over and stomping his chest. "You should have killed me, but instead you insulted me back in the Land of Sea and now I'm going to kill you for it!"
"Liam!" Suzy yelled but it was too late. A spike protruded from Liam's foot and he jumped back holding it in pain. "You idiot, he wouldn't just let you get close to him." Liam scowled obviously angered by the trick. "Whatever, Cole, grab Zale."
"With pleasure." Cole said grabbing Zale by his shoulders and hauling him up. "You're pathetic, even more pathetic than before. You aren't one of us, you're no devil."
"You're right." Zale whispered back and Cole leaned forward. Zale's arms came up and an invisible force forced Cole to release Zale and fly into barrels. Liam and Suzy rushed at Zale only to be thrown by the same invisible force. "I'm a hero now, and I'm glad to be one." Cole came from the ground and Zale jumped up avoiding his hands. He swung his arms and Cole screamed his hands being struck by what seemed like a whip. "Do you like it? It's in the blood of this body; it allows me to mold chakra into various shapes. Normally it's only chains, but I managed to make it invisible and give it different forms."
"You shouldn't get so confident just because you've learned a few new tricks." Suzy said placing her hand curled into a fist on the open palm of the other. Fire erupted from her palm engulfing Zale who was unable to dodge in time. Everyone watching gasped watching in horror as the fire dissolved leaving only a black clump. "It's called sun's fire; not even one of us could survive a direct impact from that."
"Good thing I'm not one of you." Zale said rising up his wings shaking ash from their dark feathers. "You're going to have to do a lot better than that if you want to beat me."
Zale ducked back avoiding Cole's foot and arched his back to avoid the spike that Liam had formed under him pushing off the ground with his fingertips. "You stubborn bastard just die already!" yelled Cole as he launched frozen ice crystals sharp as knives at Zale who wouldn't be able to move.
"You're not killing me that way!" Zale yelled as red chakra erupted from his body burning the ice in midair and allowing him to land safely on the ground. His nails grew into claws and his eyes narrowed as he transformed into his initial Jinchuriki state. "Now the odds are a bit more even, but let's tile the scale shall we, Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Two of Zale's clones appeared looking just as intimidating and staring down Cole and Liam who charged into attack. Zale went after Suzy who met each of his blows with expert precision that could only belong to someone who had fought alongside him for years. "I know all your moves." Suzy said as they wrestled with each other on the ground.
"Yeah, but I taught you all of yours." Zale said placing his feet under her chest and kicking her off. She hit a wall hard holding her side when she rolled off and glaring at him as he approached. "Any last words?"
"We may not be able to kill you now, but let's see if you can fight when you've got nothing left to live for." Suzie threw a powder into Zale's face causing him to stumble backwards. "As much as I'd love to kill you now for old time's sake I'll let you live; you'll never be able to fight us again."
Zale fell to the ground rubbing his eyes violently, but it seemed that no matter how hard he rubbed the powder only seemed to get deeper ingrained into his eyes. "What is this?" Zale asked finding that he was unable to Manipulate the substance out of his eyes.
"Let's call it a very strong very odd sedative." Suzy said standing up. She looked over to see that Cole and Liam had taken care of Zale's Shadow Clones. "Come on guys let's go; he'll kill himself soon enough."
"I want to be sure." Liam said walking over a blade in his hand.
"If you want to go ahead and kill him; catch up when you're done." Suzy said walking off and disappearing with Cole following soon after.
Liam walked over to Zale who was desperately rubbing his eyes. "What did they throw at me?" Zale asked, but Liam didn't listen to him grabbing Zale by his collar and lifting him. "Answer my question."
"You're in no position to be making demands." Liam said with a smile.
"You were always the stupid one." Zale said grabbing Liam and throwing him against the ground sitting on his chest. "Now why can't I Manipulate?"
"Do you even care?" Liam asked.
"Of course I." Zale stopped midsentence. He didn't care and he wasn't angry at Liam anymore; he knew he was a bad person and that he deserved to die, but he couldn't find it in himself to care to do it. "What did you do to me, what's with this feeling?"
"Or lack of thereof." Liam said with a smirk.
"Well since you're not going to be doing anyone any favors I'll kill you anyway." Zale drove a kunai deep through Liam's skull. "An un-honorable death for an un-honorable person; a fitting end." These were Zale's last words before he fell over the golden dust that Suzy had thrown his eyes sinking into his skin and disappearing.
*Scene Change*
Zale faded into consciousness looking to the side seeing that he was no longer on the ground instead he was on a bed. He could hear voices coming from outside a door from what he could tell they were Kurumi and Satsuki speaking to Gomu and Chrome. "Can't you two fix him with some kind of seal or jutsu or something?" Kurumi demanded.
"There's nothing to fix." Chrome said taking a few steps. "They didn't cut him, they didn't use a jutsu, and they didn't do anything that we can do anything about."
"Then what did they do, and why the hell is he still out cold?" Satsuki demanded. "There aren't any visible scars, wounds, or any internal wounds from what the medical ninja have told us. That Azumi girl said that they just threw some powder in his eyes."
"They took his will away." Gomu said calling their conversation to a halt.
"Then give it back!" Kurumi demanded. "Right now!"
"It's not something you can give back." Gomu said tapping the ground with his cane. "There's no surgery to do, no jutsu that can give it back, and no guarantee that he'll wake up. Will is what gets you up in the morning, gets you out of bed, makes you fight, lets you care, without it there's no guarantee that he'll do anything after he wakes up if he wakes up. They took away his ability to fight for anyone or anything maybe even numbed him to his emotions. It's like losing your ninja way."
"What does that mean for the people he cares about?" Kurumi asked.
"It means that I don't care." Zale said loudly enough to be heard as he rolled off the bed and landed on the ground with a grunt. "Get in here all of you." They poured into the room where Zale leaned against the bed crossing his arms. "Now tell me where I am and how I got here."
"You're in a secret medical ward built in an unknown hall in the nearly completed palace of the empire." Chrome answered standing in front of Zale. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm awake aren't I?" Zale asked grabbing the pitcher of water and pouring it into a cup. He held the cup in his hands only to forget the reason he wanted it in the first place physical need was an option, but he didn't have the drive needed to fix it.
"You must be thirsty you've been out for days." Kurumi said and Zale nodded. "Drink it." This was an order and Zale brought it to his lips immediately stopping the discomfort in his throat. He repeated this several times until Kurumi was satisfied.
"Are you telling me you don't feel anything?" Satsuki asked not believing it. She grabbed at his hand and pressed it against her cheeks. "You don't love us anymore?"
"I don't feel it anymore." Zale said with a shake of his head. The warm feeling that he knew was specific to Kurumi and Satsuki did not rise up in him like it did before as if it was never there to begin with. He took over his hand and held Satsuki's face giving her a kiss, but he pulled back a moment later shaking his head at her hopeful gaze. "Nothing."
Satsuki pursed her lips and pulled away facing away from Zale. "That doesn't explain why he can't use Manipulation." Chrome said. "Did they cut it off?"
"You can't cut it off it's wired to your person ingrained into your very being; there's no power source that we draw it from its part of us. The problem is that when you lose sight of what you're fighting for then it becomes impossible to use it." Zale said standing up straight and uncrossing his arms. "You can't do anything without knowing why."
"But you know why! For your dream! For us! For all the lives that were lost in the turmoil of war! How do you just forget that; how do you forget who you are?" Kurumi demanded grabbing him by his shoulders and shaking him violently. "Who are you?"
"I'm not sure anymore." Zale said removing her arms. "I can't even say why I love you that feeling I used to have is gone now. My will is gone."
"No." Chrome said as iron sand formed in his hand into a sharp blade. He swung it down hard on Zale who saw it coming, but he made no move to block it from impaling his skull. Chrome stopped a milliliter from Zale's skull scowling. "You don't even have a will to live where's the person that survived a million years without a body because he refused to die. Find that fire in your spirit!" Chrome was angry now that someone he could call a friend was so ready to give up.
"I can't." Zale said looking down at the ground.
"You are not who I decided to follow." Chrome said angrily dropping Zale to the ground and storming out of the room.
The others slowly followed leaving Zale in the room to contemplate his current situation. "What was it?" Zale asked himself slowly standing up and staring at the wall. "What made me fight; why can't I get that power back anymore?" Zale thought back, back to when it all began, when he was sold, but for the life of him he felt nothing.
The next day Zale could be found in the courtyard of the palace that at this point was more like a castle, but he was there. His pant legs were rolled up and his feet were dipped in the fountain just soaking; he had been in this position for hours finding no drive to do anything other than this. "I didn't think I'd ever see the day where Zale could just sit and do nothing for any amount of time." Kurumi said with a grim smile on her face. "It's kind of nice."
"But it isn't him." Satsuki said with a shake of her head. "They took away everything that made him care about who he was we can't just let him be like this or else he'll be a lifeless lump."
"What can we do I've talked with my father and Shin, but they say a human's will can't just be given back. He needs to find a reason to live it's why people commit suicide they have no reason to go on it might be a lot safer if he stays like this." Kurumi said shaking her head. "If he goes out there with now will to live and he accidently dies then he'll fade and no one can do anything to stop it."
"How can we give him a will; there's got to be some way to do it." Satsuki said.
"There is." Mikoto said walking into the room wearing a grim expression. "It's not going to be easy to do, and it'll be even harder for him, but it might be the only shot we have."
"What is it?" Kurumi asked.
"We can send him back through his memories make him live it through again, so he can find that spark that made him want to fight in the first place. We can give him back that fire that burned in his soul." Mikoto said, but as easy as it sounded she didn't smile.
"What's the problem?" Kurumi asked. "Just tell us what you need, and we'll get it."
"You can't get it." Satsuki said with a shake of her head. "That's something the Mangekyo Sharingan and it alone can do. It can send you back through any memory you have, but the only live Uchiha who has that isn't in this country and it'll be impossible to find him even if we were to go back to the eastern hemisphere. Even if we were to find him though there's nothing we can do to convince him to help." Satsuki clenched her fist.
"I can't ask you to even consider asking him." Kurumi said shaking her head.
"You don't need to; Itachi's the only one that can do it, and if putting up with him for a few weeks is all it'll take to get Zale back then so be it." Satsuki said. "Get boats ready to retrieve him."
"We can't just leave the continent that'll spark problems with everyone that follows us under the rule of the Empire. I'll get to work on finding some supplies to make durable shadow clones." Kurumi said running off.
"Are you sure?" Mikoto asked. "Zale's still alive whether you do this or not."
"He's not alive he's just breathing." Satsuki said with a shake of her head. "We need to get him back."
"What are you going to do with him?" Mikoto asked. "We can't just let him roam around like this in the palace people will spot him and the plan they formed will fall apart. We're going to need to hide him away until we can restore his flame."
"I doubt he'll have any objections not in his state." Satsuki said shaking her head.