Sorry for the long wait on this chapter. I've been focusing on Akatsuki 2.0. Hope you like
Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
~Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Na-natsuki..!"
Sora just stared at the girl in front of him. It had been maybe three years since they've seen each other. The puppet master could only stare back.
Kenpatchi spoke up, snapping them back to reality. "You two know each other?"
Sora glared back at his attacker. "Yeah, no shit we do." He got a hit in the side of his head in response. Natsuki groaned from the sidelines.
The lizard at Kenpatchi's feet suddenly chirped. The master looked down and caught it's meaning. "Shinobi are coming."
Natsuki glanced at the two boys. "Too bad. You'll be under arrest for sure."
"Wha-wait!" Kenpatchi yelled out to her. "We can, uh, talk this out at my house!"
"Nice place..." Natsuki mumbled as she walked in. Sora laid down on the couch and made himself right at home and she couldn't blame him. Kenpatchi's family was clearly upper class, quite the opposite of hers and Sora's.
"Wanna sit down?" Kenpatchi shoved a drink in her hand, grinning. Something was weird about this kid. His dad's killer was in his house, only a few feet away from him, but he seemed to have completely forgotten. No attacking, not even a glare in his direction.
"Er... thanks." She sat down wondering what had gotten into him. Both boys had explained the situation on the way there, but nether seemed to want to fight. Kenpatchi had clear reason to kill Sora, as his reason 'for god' wasn't exactly justi-
"Feeling okay, Suki-chan?"
Natsuki's train of thought crashed and she glared at him. "Suki-chan?"
Sora laughed. Kenpatchi grinned. "Well, it's cute and I think it matches you, so-"
"Natsuki. My name is Natsuki."
"Whatever." Sora snicker, stealing her drink and chugging it.
"How the fuck you're still alive is beyond me." She muttered. Looking back at Kenpatchi, she asked "Why haven't you killed him?"
"I thought he was on your side."
"S/he's not!" Both told him instantly. Kenpatchi groaned. "So why haven't you killed him, Suki-chan?"
Natsuki rolled her eyes. "Because even though he's an idiot, he's a powerful idiot. He's not normal. If I had the ability, he would have died three years ago."
"But you'll never have the ability." Sora smirked, finishing her drink.
"So...you're immortal or something?"
"Exactly."
"Bullshit. No one's immortal. There's no such thing." Natsuki disagreed.
"Yeah, that's what I thought too." He put the cup on the side table, and stared at it, getting bored.
There was a dull silence in the room. Kenpatchi broke it, "So what's this oh-so-great religion of yours again?"
"Jashinism." Sora answered. "And it's ten times better than whatever you believe here."
"Uh...we follow Pein."
"Pein?"
"The leader of Rain Village, bonehead." Natsuki explained. "He took down their old leader and declared himself god. And with some Kekkei Genkai of his, he has the power to live up to the title."
"Ahahahahahaha~"
"It's not that crazy, is it?" Kenpatchi asked after Sora had fallen onto the floor and kept laughing anyway.
"Human leader as a god? It's stupid, but not worth laughing over."
"St-stupid!"
"Hahahahahaha~"
"Well, yeah. Besides it's stupid to believe in god in the first place if you ask me, but really? A human god?"
"It can work...I think"
"Hahahaha...y-you're kidding, right?"
"No..." Kenpatchi muttered.
"W-wow..." Sora pulled himself up. "And I thought I knew what a stupid religion was. You just proved me wrong."
"Sora, you're asked him to kill you." Natsuki told, not showing a bit of interest.
"Oh...yeah...why haven't you killed me yet Ka- … what was your name again? Kamaru?"
"Kenpatchi." The teen glared. "And I haven't cause...well...I dunno. Maybe cause Suki-chan's here."
"Would you stop calling me that?" Natsuki groaned.
"Nah, I like it" Kenpatchi snickered back. "Anyway, you did what you did for a stupid religion, right?"
"It's not stupid!" Sora snapped, "Especially compared to yours!"
"Your religions are both stupid." Natsuki sighed, leaning her head back. "Are you going to kill each other or not!"
Both boys feel silent.
"I don't have to kill him, even though I kinda want to." Sora said finally. "One sacrifice will be fine for now."
"How do I kill Sora if you can't, Suki-chan?"
"You're not gonna stop calling me that, are you?" Natsuki moaned again. "Though you have a point. I dunno how. Looks like you two just have to live..."
"She's right, Kenpatchi. You couldn't kill me." Sora grinned.
"I guess..." Kenpatchi looked down. "but..what am I gonna do now?"
"Now?"
"Dad's dead... everyone else'll hate me. I'm not my dad. I'm not even a chunin. I won't be given the power of the clans head..." He swallowed a little. "The others... kill each other for power."
"Kill?" Sora repeated, suddenly interested. Kenpatchi nodded.
"Well then." Natsuki spoke up, "You stay and you die like your dad. If that's the situation, it sounds like being missing-nin is the only choice."
"N-no it's not!" Kenpatchi almost yelled, "I- I can fight back! I'm not stupid! I can kill them!"
"Can I watch?"
"No, Sora, you can't." Natsuki replied, "You owe me, remember?"
"Owe you? You're kidding, right? What did you do?"
Natsuki reached over and took off one of Sora's glove, relieving the metal and causing Kenpatchi to stare. She held out her hand placed it on Sora's left hand. There was quick, precise focus of chakra and a sharp shock of electricity hit Sora. Natsuki pulled away holding up a few metal pieces.
"Wh-what are those!" Sora gasped.
"I disconnected the first joints in your fingers, so this is the part where the nail would be if you had nails." Natsuki tossed the little bits of metal around in her fingers.
"G-give them back!" Sora shouted, reaching for them. Natsuki swiped her hand away. "No. Besides, it's not like anyone but me can put them back. I built you."
Sora stopped reaching and a look of defeat fell on his face.
"You still owe me, Sora." Natsuki said. She held out the metal and reached for Sora's hand to reattach them. "I need your help. Get me into Hayashigakure"
"HAYASHIGAKURE!"Sora yelled louder. "N-no way."
"Impossible." Kenpatchi agreed. "No one knows where that place is."
"I do." Natsuki said. "I have a map. Problem is I don't know how to get in and the way there is dangerous. But is you don't want to, I can just take apart your entire arm."
Sora groaned and let her take his hand. "Fine. But why the fuck you wanna go there? It's just criminals and people I prefer not to meet again."
"Good business. Simple fact is you can't get a job as missing-nin. Life's hard." Natsuki spoke as she sent chakra shocks into Sora's metal. "Go to a city like Hayashigakure, and you have all kinds of people willing to hire to do dirty deeds shinobi would arrest you for."
Sora twitches his fingers to find the joints worked perfectly. "Whatever. Deals a deal. Lets go."
Natsuki nodded in agreement and got up. "Thanks for the stay, Kenpatchi-san."
"No problem." Kenpatchi smirked, "Next time you see me, I'll be head of this clan."
"Whatever." Sora walked out the door. "Good bye."
Natsuki sighed. 'Did he even say sorry for killing Kenpatchi's father?'
'Dad's dead. I should move on. Shinobi don't stop for deaths. Sora didn't care. He kills for a living. He shouldn't. What will I do without him? You kill your competitors of course.'
Kenpatchi went to his room and got out some things. Tools for killing. He seals them into a scroll. He remembered his cousins out of the country and packed clothes to make a trip.
Kenpatchi heard the door open. Putting the scroll in his pocket, he went to the front of the house and waved. "Hey Granddad."
"Hello, Kenpatchi-kun. How's your father?"
"Er..." Kenpatchi felt the butterflies in his stomach kick in like mad. His dad wasn't just dead. He was still pinned to the wall!
"Well?"
"I...um...he..er...isn't here."
"He isn't?"
"No. So if you're l-looking for him or something, go somewhere else."
The grandfather glared. "Is this some kind of joke, Kenpatchi?"
"J-joke?"
"Your father is head of the clan for god's sake! He was supposed to meet with me hours ago! Goddamn him!" He stepped further inside.
"u-um, I know for sure he's not here right now!"
"You're hiding something boy. You never were the best liar." He shoved Kenpatchi aside. "Nori, get out here! You're a Tokage, goddammit!"
"G-grandda-"
"Shut up! Tokage Nori, get yo-" He froze up. There was the corpse. Still pinned to the wall as it had been since early that night.
"G-granddad?"
"You killed him."
The butterflies in his stomach might as well had exploded. "Wh-what!"
"Like I don't know the trick, Kenpatchi. Kill another for power. If your father died, that would make you automatically leader of the clan."
"B-but I didn't-"
"Don't bother! You're not leader anyway. You're a murderer!"
"I can explain-"
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
A Chameleon appeared by the elders side, it's massive height rivaling the adult's.
"Tokage Kenpatchi, you are a murderer and a traitor to this clan. You will be arrested and taken in by the shinobi of this clan and of Amegakure."
The Chameleon's skin changed as it faded.
Kenpatchi panicked. Everyone would think he did it. They would come after him and arrest him like a criminal.
He turned his back and ran away.
Natsuki and Sora were nearing the edge of Amegakure. It must had been around midnight by then. Neither one talked to the other and the only noise was an occasional yawn from Sora.
"SORA! SUKI-CHAN!"
"Oh Jashin!" Sora turned around to see Kenpatchi running in their direction.
He stopped in front of them and despite the run, barely tried to catch him breath.
"Take me with you! Please!"
"Huh?" Sora blinked. Natsuki sighed, "Why?"
"They think I killed him...th-they think I killed dad."
"Nice going, bonehead. Look what you did."
"Shut up!"
"So can I join! Please! Just to whatever-that-village-was!"
"..." Natsuki and Sora exchanged glances.
"How good of a shinobi are you?" Natsuki asked.
"I- I'm not a smart one, but I can fight! I've trained in everything! I know a lot of justu! W-well not genjutsu but-"
"Whatever. Sora, if it's okay with you, keep him."
"Really!" Kenpatchi grinned.
Sora groaned, "Why?"
"Strength in numbers. Shinobi are organized into three-man teams for a reason. He looks strong, and assuming what he told us is true, he won't drag us down.
"On the other hand though, he's probably a spoiled brat, being the son of the clan's leader. Treated like a prince. Always having money and able to buy whatever he wants. He won't last two days now that all that's gone. Though it's this or jail..."
Kenpatchi's hand clinched into a fist. "That's not true."
"Not from what I saw in your house." Sora took Natsuki's side. "Me and her, we had small, families not even real parents in them, not a rich-ass clan. We had to work our whole lives, even before we became outlaws. You'll never understand what it's like to live like us."
"..." Kenpatchi couldn't figure out a response to this one.
As the two were about to leave he said, "I have a Kekkei Genkai." They stopped.
Kekkei Genkai. There was something they could never, ever have.
"We're listening." Natsuki said, turning around.
He activated it. His green eye widened a little and the pupil became a thin slit like cat's or a lizards.
"Tokagehitomi (lizard eye) focuses on chakra. Mine gets larger and stronger and I can feel the chakra of others a hell lot better." He smirked and added, "Like how Sora's is barely in him but Suki-chan's is so po-"
"Yeah, yeah. I suck at chakra! I get it!"
"What else?" Natsuki didn't even smile.
"Nothing really. Except my eyesight. It'll get worse when I activate it. It'll be fine close or mid-range, but fighting long-range is harder. I won't be able to see faces."
"...It's nothing super." Natsuki concluded, "but it's better than nothing. What's can you tell right now from your kekkei genkai?"
"There are...three people coming. Chakra's average."
"So probably chunin level?"
"Possibly."
Natsuki reached behind her and pulled on her scroll for paper. "Here's the deal, Kenpatchi."
"Deal?"
"We have enough with us for one on one with these chunin. I know for sure Sora and I can handle it. Question is if you can. If you can take down your guy, you can join us. If not, we let him have you."
"B-but I'm still genin."
Sora groaned and pulled out his katana. "Then just turn yourself in and save us the trouble."