Chapter 9

"OK! Good warm up, now onto the obstacle course!" the boy yelled at his panting sister hoping for a break pointing at the ridiculous course he built with his two hands.

"Nii...Sensei, can we 'pant' please 'pant' take a break?" the girl said panting heavily while her brother was thinking about it

"Fine, take 10. Make sure you get some water in you." the boy said tossing his sister/pupil a canteen of water to which she guzzled like mad

It had only been a month since the boy had been training his sister like his previous Sensei did to him. The boy knew he was a hard on her, though not nearly as hard as his last Sensei was, he didn't have the heart to do that, but he wasn't going easy on her by any means. Day in and day out he trained her until the last bit of his sister's almost limitless energy was drained to the very last drop which would last from 6:00 in the morning to 8:00 at night. Doing so would often leave his sister to barely eat her dinner only to pass out at the table so that he would lay her to bed. This training involved him teaching her the Shadow Clone jutsu so that he could cover multiple training methods in a matter of days. Once she had learned the jutsu which was challenge in it of itself the boy immediately began her training in every way he knew how with as many Shadow Clones as she could produce, which was 3. One for ninjutsu, one for taijutsu, and one for studying medical ninjutsu through scrolls her teacher. He taught the real her everything from endurance training to survival training and everything else he could think of. The boy continued to train his sister so that she'd be prepared for anything that would come her way. Although...

"Ok, you got you're break now get a move on!" the boy yelled before blowing into a whistle

"Y-yes N-Ni-I mean Sensei!" the girl said as she struggled to get up but pressed on nonetheless

It wouldn't hurt if he would take it easy on her once in a while. Oh sure, the girl had gotten stronger and smarter in many ways before now, but she had wished that would have waited for a bit longer so that her brother would go back to how he used to be. Ever since she agreed to take on her brother's training he was rarely himself anymore, and the times that he did return were all but brief. Gone were the days where she could sleep in a get a slap on the wrist. Gone were the days that her brother would cuddle with her at night comforting her with his warmth going to bed with a smile every night. Gone were the days of actually having genuine conversation with her brother instead of "Sensei". Now, now she had to wake up ridiculously early. Now she had to sleep alone craving that warmth again, sometimes cry herself to sleep. Now she had to anything and everything her "Sensei" would tell her to do without question lest she wanted to add to her amount of work. Before the girl would always see the warm, gentle yet sad eyes her brother possessed from doing his best to be his Niichan, her family. Now his eyes were cold, hard and possessed a minor sense of regret within them from her brother acting like her Sensei, her warden.

The boy wondered if he was doing the right thing for his sister.

The girl wondered if she should give up her brother's training.

Both wanted for things to go back to normal.

The boy had often thought of going with his sister to her parents.

The girl often thought if she should stay with her brother here.

Both knew that the pain of that decision would make it impossible for them.

The boy was always saddened for what he did to his sibling.

The girl was always heartbroken on what she did to her sibling.

But both knew that this was for the better and kept to themselves.

Immediately after Shintaro dealt with Yugao the first time now navigating his way through the Forest of Death.

7:40

'Alright, I can now say that I've gained the attention of every ninja in Konoha…. oh well, now where is that damn flower? Let's see I passed the fake Unholy Nests a minute ago, next up should be the Poison Pods coming up….now!' Shintaro thought to himself as he jumped down holding his breath counting to 5 like he was trained to.

'1...2...3...4...5!' Shintaro thought as he prepared his lungs to inhale the poisonous misty air. As he took a deep breath inhaling the poisonous air on purpose concentrating his chakra to his lungs

'Just concentrate….focus with mixing the poison air, and filter it to your lungs like psycho-sensei taught you. Aaaand done.' Shintaro said taking a deep breath

"Ahhh….poisonous fresh air! The best on a sunny day in the Forest of Death." Shintaro said now walking through the poisonous air like it was nothing.

Finally exiting the section of the Poison Pods, Shintaro began sprinting with chakra enhanced speed towards his next checkpoint….the territory that belongs to the giant man eating tigers, bears, and other carnivores that stand about 10 ft tall or taller on their hind legs: The Land of the Beasts, one the three forbidden areas within the Forest of Death, in order to find an….ally.

7:42

This part of the forest was more wrecked than the others full of the blood of dead animals that have fallen prey to ravage beasts hungering for meat, and prey. Broken trees littered the area from previous battles of beasts fighting for domination along with the giant bones of those who've lost said battles for dominance. Passing through the graves of fallen beasts Shintaro felt a rumbling beneath the earth he stood upon.

Looking around for the source Shintaro turned his head to find the source being a giant saber tooth tiger that was obviously an Alpha male to his species. With his blood stained orange-black striped fur, multiple scars across its torso, legs, and face; this….monster most would say already had its canine fang's protruding from its jaw releasing a half-eaten corpse it was eating as a reward from its earlier battle with the poor creature. Growling angrily at his new prey, starring Shintaro down with its cold, blue, predator like eyes with Shintaro returning the glare; the beast began to prepare himself for a pounce on Shintaro, but Shintaro wasn't intimidated in the slightest seeing as he dealt with a situation like this before.

Shintaro himself got down on the ground into a beast like stance, he began focusing his chakra like he'd been practicing these past years into the abilities he was given since birth….transformation, or at least partial transformation. He then kicked off his boots setting them to the side; after taking something out of his eyes, and putting it away in a container Shintaro was now closing his eyes as a menacing red chakra began swirling around Shintaro changing his appearance: his hair became wilder, and more spiky, his hands began growing in a claw like manner, if you were to see his feet you could tell that they would tear holes from them growing rapidly in size. His eyes though….no longer his "normal" ocean blue color, but instead blood red with vertical slits for his pupils. The red chakra then faded away with Shintaro rising from his stance raising his KI level to the highest degree he could in front of the beast which who showing his reaction through his snarl. The beast was holding its ground, if barely, but only because it felt this presence only one time before….that time was 5 years ago. Trying to pull off one last show of power it gathered all its strength to draw one….final….all powerful, blood-curdling, ear shattering deep roar that shook the ground along with frightening any other wildlife within the vicinity.

Normally, this would entice any living thing to turn tail, and run the hell out of there; but not Shintaro he's been through this before. Shintaro prepared his lungs, inhaled the air around him, then let out himself a beastly roar that rivaled the beast's roar both in size, and power. Continuing to stare down the beast Shintaro rose from his stance, and started to walk towards the beast that continued to growl at him showing him the fangs that have torn the thick, rough hides to shreds of many challengers that tried to steal his throne from him. Shintaro not caring continued to walk in his transformed state glaring at the gigantic beast, but as the predator was about to attack Shintaro spoke with his voice more deep, dark, and feral than it was before.

"Sit." Shintaro said pointing his finger down with the beast protesting with its angry growls, but Shintaro wasn't having it.

"I said….Sit." Shintaro said raising his KI again with a fury pointing his finger at the ground again.

Out of honor, or rather fear at this point the beast reluctantly retreated its legs into a sitting position as he laid down on the floor continuing to glare, and growl at Shintaro.

"Good." Shintaro said as he decided to change his appearance once again back to his normal form putting back on his boots, and putting back the contact he took out of his eyes back into them looking at the gargantuan of a tiger with his cold blue eyes.

"Now, since you've dropped the tough guy act I'm gonna ask a favor of you." Shintaro said calmly giving the beast an eye smile.

"What is it that you want from me little cub?" the beast said in a deep powerful voice while raising an eyebrow at Shintaro not even phased that the beast could talk.

"I was wondering when you were going to speak. I could sense that you weren't a normal tiger despite the fact you're nearly 30 ft. tall right now." Shintaro said as he found his boots putting them back on.

"45 when I stand up." the beast said mildly with pride

"Impressive, may I ask your name?" Shintaro politely asked

"It was Byakko the 2nd, but don't ask about my fur color. My name was chosen solely to represent Byakko-sama's legacy in terms of power, but I have long since discarded that name when those fools banished me from my homeland. I haven't thought of a new name for the reason I haven't needed one in decades for all who have seen me have only considered me as nothing, but a ravage animal. Even when I found a way to appear as you humans I was still shunned by you, and it only cost me everything." Byakko said annoyingly

"Well then, how about Akihiko? It fits the description for someone as….large as you." Shintaro said somewhat jokingly

"Hmpf….that'll do I suppose. I suppose I should thank you for letting me now cut all ties of those who've abandoned me. Akihiko….yes that'll do wonderfully. Now may I ask your name little cub?" the now named Akihiko

"It's Shintaro, a pleasure to meet you." Shintaro said politely bowing his head

"Shintaro eh? The pleasure's all mine. So, what is it that you need of me?" Akihiko asked Shintaro

"Two things actually, one's a favor, and the other is actually a proposition. The first thing is that I request your services for transporting me to a certain area that most would never even think of going without an army behind them, and even then the army would most likely be called a suicide squad by most people. I am sure you are familiar with...The Forbidden Section 12: No Man's Land. However, I only want you to take me there after we take a pit stop to the Devil's Mist first. Then I'll enter in alone from there." Shintaro explained plainly while getting reaction he didn't expect from Akihiko's by….laughing at Shintaro

"Hahahahahaha! Never in my life have I seen any human willing to cooperate with a beast like myself, much less a cub! Hahaha, and because you want to enter a place even I'm wary of entering, ALONE no less. Heh, I like you boy, you've shown more spirit than any human to ever encounter me, and even shown me that you're capable of handling things through your words not like some mindless brute that punches his way through every problem he encounters. Yes, you have my cooperation to take you there, and in turn my respect something that few have earned." Akihiko said nodding his head in respect

"Now, what's this proposition that you have for me?" Akihiko asked

"Simple, now I'm going to dive into your personal life seeing as that's your business, but I'm going to ask one question. Are you from Batorubarē? The place legend to hold cat summons that few have even found much less made a contract with?" Shintaro asked sincerely

"Yes, yes I am. Though I loathed that place because I hate being being called a "cat" when I tower over those lowly weaklings when I'm a WARRIOR!" Akihiko said roaring to prove his point

"Someone's got an ego." Shintaro thought to himself

"So yes, I'm from Batorubarē why do you need to know?" Akihiko asked

"Simple, do you wish to partake in battles when I need your help?" Shintaro asked Akihiko

"Yes! I grow weary from these "beasts" that have the gall to challenge me in power, and every time the Chunin Exams are held here I constantly seek out strong opponents to satiate my thirst for blood. That is the only thing keeping me from escaping this wretched forest, and going out in that damn village to stir things up a bit. Luckily I haven't gotten that bored yet, but how do you propose I can help you? I'm not exactly "travel size" as you humans say." Akihiko asked with curiosity hoping he would find a way out of this forest of a cage

"Simple, I'm going to summon you whenever I need you, but not by normal summon means. No, I'm going to summon you with one of these." Shintaro said as he removed his newly acquired armor, and tank top to reveal the seal on his back

"This is a special seal that I can use specifically to summon any creature from another dimension I sent them in, and summon them here to this dimension. I already have some summoning creatures there to keep you company or some "practice dummies" for you to play with whenever you feel the need to lash out at something. All you need to do is have me mark you with a special seal in a location of your choosing, have me send you to the dimension I mentioned earlier, set up a seal here so you have somewhere to return to if you wish, and that's it. All I have to do is set up a seal somewhere on my body as well so I can summon you at a moment's notice, and the best part is, for me anyways, is that I don't need any handsigns just blood, and chakra. So, you want in?" Shintaro asked Akihiko

"Are you fucking kidding me? Of course! Anything to get out of this forest especially if I have some new territory to explore, and something else to fight other than my own lesser kind. I'll do this only if you promise me many future battles that'll prove challenging to me, and I'm hard to please. Do that, and I'll let you mark me as one of your "summoning animals" so I can see what this dimension of yours looks like." Akihiko said giving Shintaro his front left paw before retreating it back

"Just a few questions first if you don't mind. I would like to know a few things about this seal of yours that I know nothing about." Akihiko asked Shintaro

"That's fine with me. I like to inform my "summons" the in's and out's when it comes to this particular seal. Especially former summoning animals; and you'll receive information about the seal that I only tell to the "summons" if you can call them that." Shintaro said to Akihiko who nodded in understanding

"When you "summon" me from this dimension of yours, do I have the ability to return if I'm injured badly or if I want to on my own, or do I have to wait for you to send me back?" Akihiko asked

"Yes, you can return at will whenever you feel like it or when you're too injured to fight. The seal monitors your health in the original condition your body was in when I first applied the seal on your….paw I guess." Shintaro said

"Hmm….Alright, how about this. You said you can summon me without the use of hand signs, how is that possible, and how do you summon me? I don't have to crawl out some tiny hole on your body do I?" Akihiko asked

"Well, to answer your first question it's both yes, and no. Yes, because it's more of a teleportation seal than a summoning seal, and it's because of that it works differently yet the same as well. Let me expla-aw shit I just realized something!" Shintaro said smacking himself in the face

"I planned to make this whole thing quick no less than half an hour, an hour at most when I left the hotel. I've spent way too much time here, and I need to get a move on for Ayano-chan, and Naruto's sake. Look, I promise to explain everything to you later, but right now I need to leave." Shintaro said as he made a Shadow clone

"Look, I need you to go out, and take Naruto to that Ichiraku Ramen place now before Teuchi tabs me on those ridiculous prices." Shintaro said to his clone "Fine by me, free food at the price of a story of me beating the crap out of some fat guy." The clone said before taking off while the original Shintaro was putting back on his shirt, and armor

"Ayano-chan? Is she your mate little cub?" Akihiko asked incredulously giving Shintaro a smug smile making Shintaro flustered a bit

"N-no! She's just a good friend of mine that's all." Shintaro said blushing

"Mmhmm….ok little cub, whatever you say. Tell you what I'll escort you to No Man's Land, and become your summon if you introduce me to this girlfriend/mate of yours." Akihiko said chuckling to himself

"S-she's not my mate! She's my lov-I mean girlfr-I mean Ugh! Look, she's just a really close friend of mine, and I'm looking for something in here that she'll appreciate that's all…." Shintaro said explaining himself "but I'm willing to introduce you to her provided you don't eat her the second you see her ok?" Shintaro asked rhetorically

"As long as she's not too delicious looking." Akihiko joked

"Aki…." Shintaro said glaring at Akihiko

"I promise, I promise. I won't eat your mate little cub." Akihiko said laughing to himself

"She's not my-oh fuck it. I give up, let's just get going already Akihiko." Shintaro said as he jumped on top of Akihiko's head

"Very well, let's get going then. Hold on!" Akihiko said as he rose from his sitting position and sped off immediately to No Man's Land. Where Shintaro hoped to find what he was looking for along with another ally of his that might me able to make this easier on him. An ally that can be found within another part of the Forest of Death just before No Man's Land that few have entered knowingly, and returned alive without with the same amount of sanity: The Devils Mist.

The Devil's Mist was of the one first sections of the Forest of Death that was talked about being a training ground for the original Anbu itself, but due to high casualties to trainees they decided to only hold it as a means to torture prisoners of Anbu operatives when times of war were upon them.

The reason being it called Devil's Mist was a throwback to Kirigakure when all who entered the "mist" all saw a "Devil's" face followed by laughter then slowly drifted to madness. However, there was a reason for all this madness that only a few knew about, the few being the first 3 Hokage, that chose to hide this fact from the rest of the village only spreading it a rumor to scare children like they do with all their mistakes; like a certain Snake they chose to forget. As Akihiko made his way towards The Devi's Mist he began to chat to make the trip a little less…. intimidating

"So….what can possibly possess you to willfully enter a place such as this?" Akihiko asked

"There's someone I want to see in there that I hope will help me in my endeavour to find a certain….object I have in mind." Shintaro said

"Who could you poss-wait….are you talking about that bug witch that's imprisoned so much her cage drives spineless humans insane? It does that for a reason you know. She hates humans , and last time I checked little cub you're as human as they get….or at least I think you are with what happened earlier." Akihiko said

"Yeah, I have special….abilities that I….inherited when I was born, and they've been useful at times; however it's mainly been both a burden, and a curse my entire life. I don't want to talk about it, at least not now when I need to focus on something like this. As for your earlier speculation, yes, I'm going to see the bug "Queen" for some help, and she will help me." Shintaro said with certainty

"Oh? And how do you know that she will help you in whatever suicide mission you're on?" Akihiko asked with skepticism

"Simple, I'm going to offer her something she's been wanting for nearly half a century now." Shintaro said

"Oh? And what might that be?" Akihiko asked with curiosity

"Freedom." Shintaro said plainly shocking Akihiko to the point he stumbles a bit to the point where he has to stop to keep from falling

"Freedom!? Boy do you know what you're saying? I mean what makes you think she won't kill you just for entering her territory? There's a reason why she's been trapped in this forest you know!" Akihiko said

"Yeah, I'm aware of her….tendencies to be destructive to others. However, I have a way to both satisfy her needs, and keep her away from the general populace….at least the nice one's anyways. And as for her not killing me when I enter her territory, let's just say I have contingency plans for when that happens should she fail to listen to reason like you did." Shintaro said rhetorically

"Tch! That's only because you reminded me of that damn fox that escaped 5 years ago….by the way how did you manage to do that?" Akihiko said getting back into a running pace

"Let's just say I'm an interesting person with interesting abilities that I technically shouldn't know or be able to do." Shintaro said cryptically

"Hmm….fair enough. Just gives us something to talk about in the future." Akihiko said dismissing the subject

"Agreed. We're almost there just drop me off at the outskirts. I can make my way from there, and if I don't make it back within the hour….consider me dead or fighting her to the death. Whatever you think is more likely." Shintaro said

"Hmpf! With everything that's happened I'd be pissed beyond belief if you didn't go down without a fight, and a damn good fight too that I'll join in despite the outcome." Akihiko said with pride

"Good to know. Now onward my future comrade, we have a bug queen to battle!" Shintaro said with enthusiasm

"Heh, you're a strange one you know that?" Akihiko said chuckling a bit

"Hey….eh you're right, but only with people I've taken a liking to." Shintaro said accepting his description.

Finally reaching their destination, though one would think they reached the demonic gates of hell, the trees that towered over everything when to the point where you thought the sky was green; were covered by the thick mist that made it impossible to anything past 1 in. in front of you. There was an ominous feeling of dread surrounding the area that would put most people on edge, but Shintaro has learned to be on edge whenever he needed to be at a drop of a pin or knew how to prevent him being on edge for whatever reason. This is one of those times when he needed to be on edge, and for good reason. As Shintaro dismounted Akihiko he took a minute to check out the mist that's tortured the minds of many people throughout history.

"Well, let my suicide walk into this misty hell commence. Remember, not back within the hour, dead or fighting for my life." Shintaro said as he stepped into the mist disappearing from sight leaving Akihiko to take a nap while he waits

"Yawn….fine, but after my nap." Akihiko said falling asleep.

7:49

Stepping into the mist Shintaro already began to experience the hallucinations that haunted everyone who stepped in here to not only bring people to insanity, but screw with their perception of time. He was already hearing the voices in his head trying to bring him to that state.

"Taro-kun." a very familiar female voice whispered sweetly in Shintaro's ear sending a shiver down his spine

"Taro-kun, why did you leave me?" the voice whispered again with Shintaro walking faster trying to keep cool

"Taro-kun, I thought we were family?" the voice whispered a bit louder

"Just don't talk to it, just don't react, and it'll pass." Shintaro thought to himself as he kept his walking pace

"Taro-kun, why do you hate me?" the voice said hurt halting Shintaro's walk squeezing his fists tightly uttering the smallest of responses before being interrupted

"I…"

"Kit! Snap out of it!" Uncle Ku yelled interrupting Shintaro

"Taro-kun, where are the others? Yumiko? Haruko? All the rest of your friends? Why aren't they here with you? Where's your brother, and sister?" the voice getting louder and louder

"Ignore her, just ignore her. Don't listen to her, she's just a voice." Shintaro desperately thought to himself as he kept his head down doing his best to ignore the voice that's haunted him since she died….the voice of his mother.

Now, to make matters worse the voice was slowly changing into a woman figure about in her mid thirties, but looked like in her early twenties. She wore a pearl white dress that covered her creamy skin from top to bottom modestly covering her chest with short sleeves, and with the locket that Shintaro wore around his neck only it looked better on her when it was hanging from her neck looming over her large bosom that Shintaro often buried his head in as a small child for comfort. Her blue hair was long, smooth, and beautiful from the top of her head to her lower back. However, one thing was very off about her that was obvious to anyone that would look at her directly which thankfully Shintaro didn't, but if he did all he would see would be the blank face that nothing on it except for the mouth which was smiling gently at him.

"Taro-kun, why don't you give your mother a hug? Then we could go find your sister, your brother, and everyone else with your father. Speaking of your father, where is he? Do you know where your father has gone? I swear he always leaves at important times like this." Shintaro's mother said looking around for her husband despite her not having eyes.

"Don't look up, don't look at her. She's dead, no one knows that better than the one who buried her….and that person is me." Shintaro thought as he did his best not to run trying his best keeping his heart beat at a low rate so the other traps wouldn't take effect, as if the looming guilt that was hanging over Shintaro's head wasn't effecting his mind set enough.

"Taro-kun? Why won't you talk to me? I thought you loved me? Please, don't leave me!" Shintaro's mother pleaded with sorrow making Shintaro stop dead in his tracks again doing his best not to cry

"Son please, don't leave me I'm all alone! Won't you comfort your mother?" Shintaro's mother said on her knees directly behind Shintaro freezing him to his core. Shintaro couldn't take it anymore he was on his knees sobbing to himself

"Damn it! I can't comfort what's dead, and I can't comfort someone I killed! Even if it wasn't me who drove the knife into her heart I was the reason she died, she knows that more than anyone." he thought to himself

"Taro-kun, am I worth nothing to you now? Was I worth nothing when you chose my fate, your sister's fate, OUR Family's fate?" Shintaro's mother said accusingly

"DAMN IT! I didn't have a choice at all! I had to choose….between Mom and….fuckin hell I can't do this." Shintaro said to himself while falling to his knees.

"I..." (Lowers his hand)

"Just..." (Reaches for his ninja pouch)

"Can't..." (Grabs a kunai)

"Do..." (Raises hand shakily)

"This..." (Puts kunai at his throat)

"I can't go on. I can't live on like this….I….give u-" 'SMACK!' suddenly Shintaro was hit in the back of his head making him crash flat out on the floor by something or someone.

"DAMN IT GAKI! Get your ass out of your head! I didn't train some spineless weakling crying for his mommy. I trained a Kami-damned assassin! Or did you forget your training already?" a new but also familiar voice said to Shintaro in an angry mood taking the place of the haunting figure that pretended to be his mother.

The figure was around in her 60's, an old woman to be sure, and her face had wrinkles all over, but still possessed a fire in her light brown eyes indicating she still had some energy left in her tired body. She wore a cloak that covered her entire body from the neck down with a twin silver snake design on the back slithering upward to her neck. Her hair had lost it's lush purple color now just a very light tint of lavender almost white, and her stature indicated she was a warrior, but her time as one had cost her body plenty or wear and tear.

"Ps-psycho-sensei? W-what are you doing here?" Shintaro asked looking at his old sensei

"By the power of love." Psycho-sensei said sarcastically rolling her eyes smacking him on the head

"The fucking mist that's how dipshit! I swear I can't even rest in peace with you crying your eyes out for fuck sakes, and you want to know the shitty part?!" Psycho-sensei said truly intimidating Shintaro, something only she could do.

"There's no fuckin booze or dango here! GAH! You couldn't dream me up something to eat or drink or something to do?" Psycho-sensei said annoyed

"D-dream?" Shintaro said confused

"Duh, gaki don't you remember what I told you about this place? It fucks with your mind gaki, and remember what I told you? You gotta have someone in the back of your head in case this place gets to you, and since I'm here I guess you chose me as your fuckin savior. Whoopee fuckin doo I'm so honored, but it seems you made the right choice. Why? Because I'm gonna remind you what I hammered into that thick hollow skull of yours all those years we spent together." Psycho-sensei said as she picked up Shintaro by the collar….and then repeatedly began smacking Shintaro's face back and forth with her fist….hard with every word.

"GET 'SMACK!' YOUR 'SMACK!' SHIT 'SMACK!' TOGETHER 'SMACK!' OR 'SMACK' DIE 'DIPSHIT!" Psycho-sensei said upper cutting Shintaro so hard to the point where he flies back a couple of feet while Shintaro spit up blood while painfully fixing his jaw into place

"How'd you…."

"Don't you listen to a word I say gaki? This place fucks with your mind. Take another look at that jaw of yours." Psycho-sensei said pointing to his jaw while Shintaro inspected his jaw once again to see it wasn't in pain or blood dripping from it

"It's…."

"It's fine isn't it?" Psycho-sensei said as she stepped to Shintaro kneeling down to him face to face. Look gaki, you know for a fact that I'm not good with all this mushy crap, but even I know what to say in situations like this, at least when it comes to you anyways. Look, all you have to do is think of abso-fuckin-lutely nothing at all. Clear your mind of whatever shit's going on in there, and keep it that way until this damn mist has cleared got it?" Psycho-sensei said getting back up while Shintaro also stood up wiping away his tears

"Got it, but what if I ca-OW!" Shintaro said rubbing his head

"What did I say about what you can or can't do?" Psycho-sensei said in a lecturing tone

"You don't know shit about what you can or can't do without even trying you damn pussy." Shintaro grumbled out loud through the pain

"Exactly, and remember this before I hitch it back to heaven: It wasn't your fault what happened to your mom, you had to make a tough choice between which family member lives. Your mother or your sister, and you damn well know that your mother wouldn't have it any other way, because no mother wants to live knowing that her daughter could've lived if she died. I may not have had kids of my own, but even I know that. You're the one who made me realize that so don't die on me because of some ghost you damn brat." Psycho-sensei said as she faded away in front of Shintaro eye's

"Thank you Ps….Auntie. Or should I say Grandma, I almost forgot how old you were." Shintaro said lightly chuckling to himself as he wiped the last of his tears away before concentrating on what his psychotic grandmother/aunt/sensei told him.

"Who was that woman Taro-kun?" Shintaro's mother said in a demanding voice

"Heh, no one for you to worry about, especially when it's none of your concern whatever you are." Shintaro said with a new found confidence

"Especially to someone who's doing a poor impersonation of my mother." Shintaro said now walking through the mist with pride

"That's no way to talk to your mother! Apologize, now!" Shintaro's mother said with her voice starting to distort to something else, something evil

"Apologize? Pfff! As if, I got business with the Queen of Bugs up ahead, and I need to focus. So that means I don't need any distractions….including you." Shintaro said as the mist around him began to dissipate more and more with every step with the illusion of Shintaro's mother fading away as well, but not completely.

"Shintaro I am your mother, and you WILL listen to me!" Shintaro's mother said appearing right in front of Shintaro trying to make eye contact to finish off what it came here to do

"Listen whoever or whatever you are, you're not my mother! She was the kindest person I knew, and she would never say those things to me. I may not have forgiven myself yet for what happened, but that doesn't mean I can't do my damnedest to at least try to move on with my life….at least until I finish what I came here to do. Now I suggest you get the hell out of my sight before I burn every single tree around me just to find out who's controlling you." Shintaro said lifting up his head opening his eyes to see the illusion changed from looking like his mother to some crazed demonic woman.

She-no, it was covered with blood coming out of her empty eye sockets, her beautiful blue hair now a black mess all over the place covering half of her face, her white dress now torn to shreds stained with dark red blood in various parts, her once beautiful creamy skin now deathly pale with flesh missing or wearing down in various locations. This was not his mother, and if this did anything to him, it proved that fact to him 100%.

"If you won't listen to me as your mother. Then you will fear me as your reaper!" the illusion screamed as it charged at Shintaro staring down the illusion

"Nice try, but unlike my father…." the illusion flew closer and closer with Shintaro just standing there with his arms crossed

"….I'm not scared of ghosts, at least not the ones who try too hard. Nice try though, I hardly ever meet someone or something that uses psychological tactics against me."

"Although, that's because no one knows anything about me, this is last time it'll ever happen. Goodbye...Freak." Shintaro said as the illusion flew straight through Shintaro not harming him in the least as it faded away along with the rest of the mist.

"Huh, guess this place is gonna need a new name. Oh well, not my problem." Shintaro said as he now started his chakra boosted sprinting through the forest to reach the center of the former Devil's Mist.

Taking a breather from his sprint Shintaro found the source of what was causing his troubles the entire time, rather he found the lock to a cage that the past Hokage's would hope be never opened again. The cage that held an experiment gone wrong from a rogue member of the Aburame Clan to help give them an edge against invading forces should they ever enter their territory: Project Alpha Queen Bee. The nameless Aburame scientist discarding his original name changing it to Zwei had a strong hatred, one of the very few Aburame to experience the emotion of hatred strongly, for the Kamizuru clan in Iwagakure. Where his hatred originated or how it even managed to control his way of thinking rather than the logical mindset all Aburame follow is something that no one knows except for both the Aburame Clan Head, and Elders at the time.

Zwei's thinking was that he could create a queen for a hive that wasn't specific to any single insect rather it would be the queen of all insects, and would adapt to any situation on the fly; not just a queen bee, ant, or mother of spiders, but an alpha among queens to all species maybe even reaching out to mammals even humans if she ever got a chance to test it on them. Henceforth, Project Alpha Queen Bee was born, and Zwei began his experiments to finish what he set out to do: Exterminate the Kamizuru Clan. To many Zwei experiments were….unorthodox even to some of the Aburame Clan members, but times of war meant times of desperation so they let continue on with his experiments in the hopes of ending the 2nd Shinobi War as soon as possible with hopefully an edge against the other nations.

As Zwei was close to perfecting his "Alpha Queen" something bad happened….or at least bad in Zwei's mindset anyways. The "Alpha Queen" began to think, and not in the friendly "I'll work with you guys" thinking; no it began to ask questions of its surroundings, it's purpose, it even formed a conscience with its own moral values, developed a personality, even found a way to communicate to others outside of her human master, but what was most frightening was her sudden hatred for man, for creating her solely to destroy. So she chose to hide her hatred for mankind out of fear of being destroyed, and waited for a perfect opportunity for an escape while "obeying" what her master instructed her to do whenever he went into battle with the Kamizuru Clan. Then when her master was weakened enough she took him alive, and dragged Zwei to the Forest of Death for the sole purpose of asking Zwei "Why was I created like this?" "Am I just a weapon?" "Why are humans so cruel to each other….to me?" these are some of the many questions that the Alpha asked Zwei. What she got for an answer was imprisonment for her actions thanks to a failsafe of neurotoxins released into her system paralyzing her that Zwei had installed in case of situations where his Alpha Queen turned against him in any way….well all except this version.

When Zwei brought his Alpha Queen to the Aburame Clan Head to report what had happened Zwei requested, well demanded really, that his Alpha Queen be destroyed for it has adapted beyond what his expectations could anticipate, and for the purpose of studying its remains for finding a way to prevent this from happening again. However, for better or for worse the Clan Head: Shiro Aburame decided against it seeing as the "Queen" was a valuable asset to them during the 2nd Shinobi World War, and considering they were near the end of the 2nd War, and with knowledge that a 3rd war is probably not too far off, they needed an edge against the Kamizuru clan Giant Bee summons to lessen the casualties of the Aburame Clan that went head to head, or bug to bug so to speak, with the Kamizuru Clan. So, Shiro ordered Zwei to release her in order to try, and cooperate with her in hopes of avoiding a bloodbath within Konoha during a time of war.

At first the Alpha was slow to trust, but eventually was won over with help from Shiro, and even support from the Elders as well in hopes of her not turning on them so that they could find a more "efficient" way of controlling her. Though the Alpha Queen accepted to cooperate she would only do so if they would give her a name, this was a red flag if anything to Zwei, but he was chosen to name her since he's the closest thing to a father she had; he thought long and hard about it, but eventually decided on Joōbachi even though she wasn't a bee or looked like any other insect at all strangely.

Strangely, Zwei decided on a humanoid shape with the ability to change her physical appearance for blending in with normal people or enemy troops if need be. Every battle from then on was a slaughter rather than a fight, thanks to Joōbachi who straight out destroyed any insect user with their own bugs by using her trademark Seigyo Pesuto or "Controlling Plague" Jutsu on whatever insects they threw at her. It really was a remarkable jutsu, whenever she used it on insects of any type she managed to control the entire hive extending them to her own, and whenever they "adapted" to her jutsu she changed the formula completely making their "adaptation" to her jutsu useless.

However, with every battle, every interaction with a human being, everything she did whenever she was with anybody or on her own she learned from it, and every time she learned something new she saw through lies, saw patterns within human speech patterns, and most of all she learned how to lie, deceive, even manipulate people to her will with practice. What did she do with these newly acquired skills? She used them to find out what they intended to use her for the rest of her life along with her next generations of followers….and she did not like it one bit at all. When she had wasted away naturally or had fallen in battle, they would use her to either clone, or "perfect" her where she wouldn't rebel against Konoha in any way nor her future children seeing as they would be indoctrinated to follow Konoha without question. The second she learned this from her "informant", one of the council members of the Aburame Clan, she outright killed him out of rage.

Then all hell broke out with Joōbachi raging at Konoha as a whole starting with the man who created her, her father, Zwei. It was a nightmare for the Aburame Clan seeing as they took the most casualties out of any group in Konoha; it was a long, bloody day, but in the end thanks to Jiraiya's seals he managed to trap her in a section of the Forest of Death since he was unable to kill her without prolonging the battle wasting more lives in the process. The mist itself was a defense mechanism to kill anyone or drive people away from even walking close to that area, thus The Devil's Mist was born. Thankfully this didn't happen till a year or two after the end of the 2nd Shinobi World War, but it was one of Konoha's darkest days with a body count of over 300 ninja and 240 civilians; along with being forced to remove Zwei from official records to forget about his horrible creation.

In a few ways Zwei was an inspiration to Orochimaru of all things to prove that experiments, unethical or immoral otherwise, can take Konoha to new heights, and everyone knows how well that turned out. So, even though Shintaro was fully aware of this he still decided to go through with this, because dangerous "Alpha Queen" or not he needed her for the upcoming battle of something even more dangerous than her. Examining the seal closely Shintaro noticed that this seal was a rush job, probably because they were rushing to trap Joōbachi forever, and hoping to reduce more casualties than there already were. However, he also noticed it was well crafted with safeguards around the seal in case someone, like Shintaro for instance, would try to release Joōbachi from her prison.

7:53

Seeing his destination ahead Shintaro slowed down in time to sense the chakra seals that prevented access to Joōbachi. Crouching down he managed to get a better look at the "advanced seals" placed there.

"Huh, pretty complicated….for an amateur at least who knows nothing about seals, luckily i'm no such person. Alright time to get to work." Shintaro said as kneeled down starting to diffuse the safeguards around the seal.

8:00

"Aaaand done! Whew!" Shintaro said swiping the sweat off his brow as the sweat hit something hidden in the grass. Little did Shintaro know that this action would cause him a great deal of harm from a pressure sensitive trap that laid hidden in the grass activated by the bead of sweat tossed aside from his forehead.

"Man, this seal was a pain in th-" 'BOOM!' is the last thing Shintaro heard before being blasted 20 ft. away from being hit from an explosion face first leaving a huge blood splatter trail to follow.

Now normally this would signal the end for anyone who got hit from a blast that close, but that wasn't the case for Shintaro for his body was far more durable than any normal human being. Oh, he was alive alright, but he was in major agony right now writhing in pain with ringing in his ear and mind being disoriented trying to move with every fiber of his being.

"Owwwwwww! Oh Kami this hurts! Fuckin hell! Shit this hurts!" Shintaro cried in pain as he held his heavily bleeding face

'At least you're still alive kit.' Uncle Ku said

"Obviously!" Shintaro shouted out of irritation. Finally the ringing in his ear gone Shintaro painfully sat up going over the damage,

"Thank Kami I had this armor on, even though now it seems useless." Shintaro said ripping off what was left of Yugao's now ruined armor tossing it aside with his "good" arm on the floor to inspect the damage to his person more closely.

After reviewing his bodily damage Shintaro concluded with this….he was fucked up. Obviously he had internal injuries so he decided to focus on what's outside first. First of he had major third degree burns on his entire front torso, left arm and leg, and about half of the right side of his face. His right arm was almost broken off with the bone showing that once connected his elbow, half of his tank top was burned off showing his burned midsection, his ninja pants were now ninja shorts with the left burned off at the knee area the right leg burned up a little higher up to his calf, and his boots were surprisingly intact; but Shintaro decided they were too much of a hassle so he removed them seeing the soles of his boots were actually missing revealing his feet. Using his...other abilities that involved his eyes Shintaro inspected his insides to discover his entire rib cage was shattered, his pelvis was also cracked badly (not a good thing), and every other bone was fractured to the point of breakage. Deciding to deal with these injuries as soon as possible he quickly mourns the loss of his new boots.

"Damn it, I just bought these last week." Shintaro said dropping his feet back to the ground

"Ok, time for the unpleasant, but necessary treatment." Shintaro said as he focused the red chakra he used to intimidate Akihiko to the areas he was injured the most.

As Shintaro concentrated an entire red cloak surrounded his entire body painfully healing his injuries both internally, and externally; the burns started to heal leaving no scars behind besides the one on his eye that he always decides to keep, the bone in his right arm started to retract back into place being covered by skin once again, and his internal injuries were a thing of the past. Now fully healed, and sore as hell Shintaro did some stretching going over his gear to see if he lost everything or not; and he noticed that out of all things that could've been removed or destroyed his mask was burned off completely exposing his true face to the world.

"Damn it. Alright I need a quick mask or something to cover my face….here this'll have to do." Shintaro said as he ripped more of his tank top constructing a makeshift mask out of it with his tank top only barely covering his upper torso with the same amount of coverage as a sports bra for women.

"There's no point to wearing this thing anymore." Shintaro said as he completely removed his tank top storing it away for some other use later on leaving only his disproportionate shorts as the only intact, if partially, clothing he wore.

"Well, at least the seal's gone, and that explosion was bound to attract attention. Might as well move forward, and fast." Shintaro said as he sprinted deeper into the forest.

8:14

Finally reaching his destination Shintaro had his sword ready to be drawn if the need should ever arise. What made him discover he was in the right place? Well, the giant amount on hives, nests, webs, and other various bug homes in the air, trees, and ground was a dead giveaway if nothing else for Shintaro had entered a section of the forest that got it's own double for when they lost the original sealing Joōbachi in here…. the original Unholy Nests. Bugs of all shapes, and sizes confided here peacefully hunting one another for food, resources, or for whatever reason they saw fit. Seeing all the various bugs Shintaro decided to blend in with the crowd.

"Ninja Art: Mimic Scent Jutsu!" Shintaro said as every smell around him was gathering around him so he wouldn't be attacked every time he took a step.

Walking slowly to see if it worked to see that it did he picked up his pace to notice that something or someone was approaching him from behind. Carefully he watched his steps to see who it was, hand ready to slash whatever was behind him he quickly turned around drawing his sword in a flash like Old Man Z taught him in situations like this; as he was about slice whatever was behind him in two he abruptly stopped the moment he heard an 'eep!' in defense.

Turning around completely Shintaro saw that the source of the 'eep!' to be a blushing Ayano with ragged clothes torn in various places, probably due to he terrain or previous battles, struggling to find words to speak.

"Ayano-chan? What are y-hold up how do I know you're really Ayano-chan? She'd never be stupid enough to walk in here without reason, plus I didn't tell her where'd I be so who are you?" Shintaro said putting the sword back to the supposed fake Ayano's throat

"S-Shintaro-kun it's me!" the supposed Ayano said with her hands up

"If you are the real Ayano-chan then tell me something only she knows, and I can tell if you're lying or not, and damn it if I find out you hurt her in any way you'll answer to me." Shintaro said calmly staring down the girl in front of him

"L-like what Shintaro-kun?" Ayano said

"Tell me….if you're the real Ayano-chan, then tell me how we first met." Shintaro said releasing the sword from Ayano's neck a little observing her every move, sniffing her to see if it was her scent….which it was, but you could cover yourself with others scents to hide who you are, it's been done before.

"Y-you came out of nowhere beating up those boys who were bullying me when I was coming back from the store, then you picked me up from the ground, dusted me off, then flicked me in the forehead calling me an idiot for walking on my own late at night. Then when I tried to thank you, you just stared at me coldly not saying a word only telling me to "hurry home before you get into more trouble that i'll be obligated into taking you out of" in an emotionless tone before taking off leaving me alone with the bag of groceries suddenly put back into place on the floor for me to pick up." Ayano said recalling the memory with precise detail while Shintaro mentally slapped himself in the face.

"Wow...I was a huge asshole. I'm lucky she even likes me at this point."

"Wow, uh….I did all that? I just remember beating up some stupid kids picking on a defenseless girl, then just leaving before I made sure you were alright. Sorry for acting like such a big jerk like that." Shintaro said sheathing his sword

"I-It's fine Shintaro-kun, really it is, and you did Shintaro-kun, I-I have a good memory when it comes to important ones."

'And nothing was more important to me at that moment other than finding out who you were, so I could properly thank you among...other things.' Ayano thought to herself with a blush

"I cherish every moment whenever I'm with you" Ayano said absent minded quickly covering her mouth for saying such an embarrassing thing in front of her crush

"You really mean that?" Shintaro asked Ayano who didn't know what to say.

Thankfully, she didn't have to say anything because Shintaro spoke first or yelled anyways.

"Look out Ayano-chan!" he yelled before tackling Ayano pinning her to the ground while dodging, and slicing an insect in half that was lounging itself at her.

Realizing he finished off the insect no longer a threat he looked down to see he was only inches away from her face to his face. And to make matters worse he was on top of her holding her down somehow taking her mask off in the process, and realizing one other detail that he failed to notice….her eyes weren't the same color he'd seen these past 4 years.

That happened thanks to the colored contact lenses to further hide her true appearance from that bastard who hunted them down, they must have come off somehow. It was weird seeing those eyes again in their true beauty, eyes that were a bright emerald green that reflected wonderfully to her...well everything, eyes that could look into one's soul, and see it in full reflection, all the pain, happiness, sorrow, greed, joy, all of those emotions going on at the same time seen with those eyes….a new trait for someone from Ayano's clan, but that was to be expected given Ayano's exposure to something...she wan't supposed to find.

It was strange, yet it was nostalgic at the same time to see them again after so long. It was at that moment that something pinged in Shintaro's heart almost like a jump start making him see Ayano in a new light.

"It's been so long...so long since I've seen her without that mask, without those contact lenses hiding her true eyes. Has she always been this pretty?" Shintaro thought to himself in wonder

Now from Ayano's perspective it was both a dream come true, and a nightmare at the same time. The dream part was obvious enough….well, maybe it was inappropriate of her to think this, but she didn't care she was enjoying herself, and damn it all she deserved something like this….in the future perhaps when her body was more developed so she could take pride in seducing her man. She being pinned down by her crush on the floor with her clothes torn was already taken it's toll on her, but it didn't help that her crush was shirtless with only his ragged shorts on staring into her eyes.

She longed for a moment like this for when they could be alone now this would be perfect….except for the fact that she was in a deadly forest surrounded by bugs she could hear creeping, and crawling all over the place, but that wasn't the worse part. No, it wasn't the fact that her mask that Shintaro told her to wear himself for her safety when he went out of his way to make it himself even designing it wonderfully for a boy. No, the worse was that her contact lenses were off, and forgetting that she inherited a burden passed down to random members of her clan.

It was 4 years ago the last time she saw the condition of Shintaro's soul….it wasn't good to say the least; it was at that time that….that monster hunted them down like crazy driving Shintaro to make choices, decisions, and, sacrifices that Ayano believed no one should be forced to make in their lifetime, but Shintaro pulled through….and it only costed him his humanity, or that's what it looked like. Forced to see your friends killed days in between another in front of you taken away forever when you could have done something to help, but if he intervened the whole group would be killed, that's something Ayano could not even begin how painful that experience could be, nor did she wish to find out. Even he didn't see each other eye to eye on most things, not one blamed him for what happened at their moment of death for they knew that it was either them or an entire group that Shintaro constantly tried to keep safe including them.

However, when Aiko, the last one that was taken away from him, he just….died inside. Whatever hope, whatever light Shintaro held onto it was just….gone. When she first met Shintaro, she saw that he wasn't in the best condition mentally anyways, but he still had a small ray of hope left that someday his life would change for the better. With every friend Shintaro loss that small ray got smaller and smaller, but, that ray of hope was still there still shining. However, the second Aiko was gone that light was gone with her, and seeing that light fade away into complete sorrow firsthand….it was heartbreaking to see someone she loved in so much pain, but it was even more so when she saw the change happen with her own eyes. Another reason to hate the power she was given, as if there wasn't enough already. It took three days for Shintaro to "recover" from this loss, but he wasn't the same after that not by a long shot.

It was soon after that Shintaro chose to hide their faces, and other noticeable traits from being easily hunted down by that relentless monster which was when Shintaro gave her the contacts that somehow blocked her clan's unique ability which she was both thankful, and worried for at the same time when the last thing she saw in Shintaro was darkness that she hoped to cure if little by little over time if need be. Now, with Shintaro staring into her eyes, and with her doing the same she he had changed the last time she had seen him with her true eyes. She had seen his soul that was weary, which was a given, both old, and new emotions she had never seen in him….at least not this strong before. When she found out about this ability she studied the colors of emotion that constantly fluctuate within the soul, and from what she saw in Shintaro at that moment….it was indescribably beautiful, yet tragic at the same time.

Ayano could still see the small ray of hope was gone sadly, and Shintaro was still going through suffering, she also saw the familiar concentrated combination of rage, hatred, and anger situated near the kanji tattoo he had on his chest. Then Ayano turned her eyes to his shoulder where his wolf tattoo was, and saw a similar combination like the kanji Wrath tattoo, but the only difference being it seemed... animalistic.

However, once Ayano turned her eye's to Shintaro's core she had seen an emotion not seen since their final days of the village, happiness. She knew not the source of it, and it was small, but that didn't matter to Ayano; for whether it was her, Kami she wished it was, or someone else she knew that Shintaro was at least starting to recover as a human being emotionally. She also saw something that both raised her hope for her future for him, and made her worry for it at the same time….it was the color of love; but it was split down into two variations, which meant he did love someone much to her crushing hope….two someone's in fact. Which raised questions in her mind.

"Shintaro-kun, you love Misaka-san don't you? Who is this someone else? Why is there someone else? You only like Katsumi-san as a friend if that, Momiji-san you just feel neutral about her, maybe Ling-san...but she's just a friend to you right? No, it can't be Ling-san he never once hinted he was interested in her, and besides I think she likes Genyumaru-san."

"Guren-chan, and the other girls are far too young, Hiromi-chan is your sister, and that color isn't of sibling love, it's the love you have for someone that is for your partner, who you'll spend the rest of your life with, someone like Misaka-san. So then, that leaves out all the girls in our group, and Shintaro-kun hasn't been here long for him to meet other girls...at least in that sense as far as I know. So, after all of that, after all that thinking, that would only leave...me?"