I do not own Naruto or God of War. As I am quickly running out of ideas for disclaimers, The Dark Void will on that responsibility for a few chapters. Yay!
Now, I know it's been a while since I updated, but (insert standard paragraph about finals, holidays, etc). Seriously though, I swear I'll have a consistent update schedule eventually. Until then, enjoy the chapter.
XXX
The young girl ran as fast as she could underneath a blazing, high-noon sun. A rapid tempo of blood pounding through her veins mixed together with the steady thumping of feet against the cracked earth in her ears. Her mouth was dry and sandy; her tongue cried out for even a single drop of water. Sweat poured down the girl's face as her body struggled to keep her cool. The girl's lungs worked harder than ever to try and satisfy her screaming muscles. Her aching arms and legs monotonously pumped back and forth, carrying her exhausted self further along the ditr path. She could feel her sore soles beginning to blister, but she could not stop. If she stopped, she would be left behind, and the girl's pride refused to let that happen.
Out of the corner of either eye, Ino could see her teammates struggling to continue on as well. Shikamaru's gray shirt was almost black from the perspiration of his skin, and for once the tired look in his stare was not simple laziness. Choji had long since abandoned his scarf and bandana. The poor boy had been forced to haphazardly stuff the two items into his backpack all while still trying to keep pace. Ino was sure that the Akamichi was having the hardest time out of the three of them, for the genin had been forced to eat only extremely light rations for the past three days. The large boy's clan had never been known for their healthy eating habits.
Of course, that was not to say that any of them were out of shape. Each of the three had done at least decently well in the physical training portion of the Academy, though Ino knew Shikamaru had only put in the minimum effort needed to avoid his mother's nagging. No, the Yamanaka heiress knew that the singular reason for their current suffering was the lone man they were running after.
The blonde shot the best heated glare she could muster in her current condition at her sensei, not that it mattered. Him seeing it would imply that he had actually stopped and waited long enough for them to catch up. As it was, the three were barely able to keep him within eyesight.
This was supposed to be a right of passage for them, and for three straight days it had been nothing but unending torment. The three genin started running as soon as it was light enough to see ten feet in front of themselves, and they did not cease until sun was completely set. When one of them passed out, Kratos-sensei would halt and allow the three a brief respite while that child recovered enough to continue once more.
On and on they went for six full days, a large city finally came into view during the afternoon of the sixth. The massive urban center rose out of the landscape in harsh contrast to the surrounding forest, but it was not until night had almost fallen that Team Ten managed reached it's outskirts. There the genin found their teacher standing outside of small inn.
"Room 203." Kratos said upon his students reaching him; he then tossed a small key at Ino and proceeded to disappear into the establishment. The girl fumbled a bit trying to catch the tiny object in the dark, fuming at the empty air where her sensei had been after she finally managed to do so.
"Come on, Ino. Let's just go inside." Shikamaru sighed at her antics.
"Hmph." The Yamanaka huffed before following her childhood friends inside, running right into a man who had been passing near the door. The man stumbled back a bit, but the large bundle of sheets in his arms cushioned the impact enough that he did not fall.
"Oops, sorry about that. It's kind of hard for me to see where I'm going at the moment." The man said, jostling the blankets a bit for emphasis. He was a young man in his mid-twenties, a little under six feet tall with medium length, jet-black hair. His charcoal eyes were covered by a pair of thinly framed glasses. A white apron draped down his front over his tan tunic. The man peered around the bundle as best he could to get a better look at the three. "Ah, you must be the young masters Master Kratos mentioned earlier. Follow me, and I'll show you to your room."
Having nothing better to do at the moment, the genin fell in line behind the man and accompanied him up the flight of stairs just off to the left of the main entrance. Two stories and a short walk down a hallway later, and they had arrived.
"Here we are, room 203. These are actually the bedsheets for this room, so if you would wait out here for a little bit, I'll have it ready in no time." The man said pleasantly as he unsuccessfully tried open the door. The genin stood awkwardly to the side, watching his failed attempts, when Choji spoke up.
"Umm...Do you need some help?"
"Oh no, no, no, no, no. Don't worry about it, young masters. You came here to rest, not work." Shikamaru started to let out a breath of relief but stopped when Ino dug her elbow into his side. The Yamanaka stepped forward and opened the door for the struggling man.
"Thank you." He said, his cheeks coloring.
The interior of the room was quaint with four separate beds spaced evenly apart. In between each of the beds was a medium sized dresser with a mirror on top. To the left of the door was a small bathroom. A pair of windows overlooked the front of the inn. The man set his bundle of sheets on the nearest cot, and the four went to work. Never one for prolonged silences, Ino decided to small talk while they did so.
"So, you work here?" She asked while tucking in a corner.
"Actually, I'm the owner of this inn." The man said a bit embarrassingly. "Uliriamu Xie, at your service."
"Wait, if you own this place, then why are you doing something as troublesome as this yourself?" Shikamaru inquired of their host as he flopped down on the bed Choji and he had finished making.
"There's no one else to do it. This place does not get very many tenants at one time, so I haven't bothered to hire anyone else. I'm usually able to handle workload all on my own." Uliriamu explained.
"Don't you have any family nearby?" Choji questioned.
"No, my wife and I moved here from the northern side of the Land of Fire seven years ago. It was our dream to start an inn, nothing to fancy, simply a nice place where people could rest without having to deal with the bustle of the city."
"So then, doesn't your wife help?" The innkeeper smiled sadly.
"She died almost a year ago." Instantly, the mood in the room sobered .
"I'm sorry." Ino apologized softly. Uliriamu waved his hand.
"It's fine. I had my time to grieve, and now I've moved on like I know she would have wanted." Any further conversation quickly died off after that, and the four finished their task quietly. Once it was done, Uli clapped his hands together.
"Well, thank you for your help, you three. Dinner has already been served for tonight, but I would more than happy to bring you up any leftovers. If not, breakfast is from seven to eight tomorrow morning." At the mention of food, each of the genin suddenly remembered the state their bodies were in. A home-cooked meal sounded delicious at the moment, but ultimately the siren song of sleep won out. Ino and Choji followed Shikamaru's example, and all three let out tired groans before surrendering to slumber.
XXX
The next morning, Ino groggily scarfed down as much food as she could in the inn's dining area. Because the inn was not very big, the first floor only had a few rooms on either sid with the middle portion set up with an assortment of tables and chairs. A portion of the back right corner was sectioned off to serves as a kitchen. There, a warm fire burned inside of a large brick and mortar oven. Choji sat beside Ino as she ate, outpacing the petite girl by a large measure. Shikamaru was, of course, still upstairs sleeping.
A voice in the back of the platinum blonde's head reminded her that she was supposed to be on a diet, but she simply told the voice to shut up because she was hungry. Last night's sleep had started her body's long road of recovery, but the Yamanaka highly doubted that Kratos-sensei would be nice enough to give them a break today. Therefore, she had to make sure she would have the energy to make it through whatever fresh hell he had them doing. Her suspicions were proved correct when the gray-skinned man entered through the back door.
"Pack your bags. We're leaving in thirty minutes." Kratos commanded as he walked past the two and out through the front. Ino scowled at him and quickly finished off her plate.
Up in their room, Shikamaru was rudely awakened by a dark red apple smacking him in the face. The boy grumbled something under his breath, and Ino threw another one as a follow up. The lazy jerk, he should be glad she had brought him anything. She could have just let him starve for considering a few more minutes of sleep more important than filling his empty stomach, but noooo, she was a good teammate. A short time later, the group took off once more for the city.
Hours passed by, and the landscape began to change around the traveling shinobi. The thick woods gave way to humble homes and neighborhoods. These, in turn, were replaced by larger businesses and apartment complexes until the four found themselves in the beating heart of the city.
Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji made sure to stay close behind their sensei so that they would not lose him in the organized chaos of the streets and sidewalks. All around them was a madhouse of activity. People moved about like ants in an anthill, going from one destination to the next in the familiar dance they performed every day.
Soon the crowds began to dissipate as the group continued on into the less than pleasant side of the city. Eventually, Kratos-sensei came to a halt in front of a small, run down tavern. The few windows there were were practically opaque from all the dirt and grime they had accumulated over the years. An old, weathered sign with only a few distinguishable letters hung above the door. The jounin teacher looked back over his shoulder at his students.
"Stay close, and do not talk with anyone." He growled, and Ino resisted the urge to roll her eyes at how melodramatic he sounded.
The interior of the pub was almost exactly as Ino had pictured it. Dimly lit, musty smell, hushed conversations, and patrons just as likely to share a drink with you as they were to stab you in the back. Said customers glanced up from what they were doing to size up the newcomers, but hastily went back to their own business at the imposing sight of the tattooed Greek.
Kratos-sensei ignored the stares and marched directly up to the bartender casually wiping clean a glass. The two men eyed each other for a moment, neither one saying a word. The tavern employee was thickly built with a barrel chest and strong shoulders. He had a burly, brown beard that hid the bottom portion of a diagonal scar across his face. His plaid short-sleeve shirt did little to hide his muscular frame.
"Jiyoosefu Burelki?"
"Who wants to know?" The man asked in a heavy accent. Kratos reached into his pouch and pulled out a sealed scroll. Handing it over, the bartender broke the glue and unfurled the paper. One short scan later, the bartender rolled the scroll back up and put in his own pocket. He then reached underneath the counter and tossed Kratos a small stack of bills. The jounin nodded, walked back the way he came; a bewildered trio of Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji were not far behind. Outside, Ino could no longer contain her curiosity.
"What was that all about?"
"That, was our mission. We will return to Konoha tomorrow." The Yamanaka stopped dead in her tracks.
"You're kidding us, right? That was our entire mission?"
"Yes." Kratos stated simply. Ino sputtered in sheer disbelief. As her sensei began the trip back to the inn, the platinum blonde could do nothing but tag along. Her body was running on autopilot while her mind tried to comprehend what she had learned. Not a single word was spoken during the entire journey back.
It was almost time for diner when the four finally got back to their temporary housing. Ino drifted through the front door like a ghost with her teammates staying close behind her. In the twelve years that they had known her, neither Shikamaru or Choji could remember a time when she had ever been this quiet, and they were severly unnerved by it.
The group reached their room and retreated inwards. Ino said nothing as she fell backwards onto her bed. She slowly grabbed a nearby pillow, covered her face with it, and let loose a furious scream.
Choji jerked backwards in surprise, and Shikamaru's could not stop his hand from palming his face. Ino emptied every breath of air from her lungs then settled for punching the side of her pillow with hate-filled fists.
"Are...you...okay, Ino?" A nervous Choji asked his female friend. Ino sat straight up, tearing the pillow away her face.
"No, I'm not okay." She snapped. "Our sadist of a sensei just dragged us across the entire Land of Fire, almost killing us from exhaustion, all so that one stupid scroll could be delivered to some random person in a bar."
"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered. Ino focused her wither gaze on him, and the Nara actually felt a chill run down his spine from it's intensity.
"Don't start with me, Shikamaru Nara."
"I'm sure he had a reason for it." Choji tried to defend weakly. Ino rolled her eyes.
"Oh, I know exactly why he did it." The Yamanaka puffed out her chest and put a sneer on her face.
"I don't want to teach weaklings, so prove to me you are worthy by running nonstop for six days while I starve you." She said in a low mocking voice. Choji nodded his head hesitantly. From what little they had been able to learn about their new teacher, that did sound like something he would do.
It was then that a sudden knock halted any further ranting. The door opened up slightly, and Uliriamu's head poked in.
"Is everything alright in here? I could hear someone yelling from downstairs." Shikamaru sighed.
"Don't worry about it. We're just a little frustrated with our sensei at the moment." Ino snorted at his understatement.
"Okay, well, I just finished making dinner, so you can eat when you're hungry."
"I think we'll wait until after our Sensei's left." The Nara said dryly.
"Oh, if that's the case, how about I sneak some up and let you three eat in here?" The boy shrugged his shoulders.
"Sure." Uli closed the door behind him, and Shikamaru rubbed his forehead. "This is all such a drag."
Downstairs, Uliriamu hummed softly to himself behind the kitchen counter as he gathered up supper for the children. He placed three plates on a tray and turned around to head back up the stairs, but when he did, the innkeeper almost jumped out of his skin at the sight of Kratos now standing on the other side.
"Ah, umm, hello, Master Kratos. I was just...umm...bringing your students their...uhhh." He trailed off. The shorter man coughed lightly then went on. "Your's is over there when you want it." Kratos only stared coldly at him. "Are you sure that's all you want? I could whip up something better if..." The Ghost of Sparta narrowed his eyes, and Uliriamu understood the unspoken message. He scurried around the counter and up the steps as fast as he could without spilling the contents of his platter.
Kratos' gaze stayed on the the young man until he had vanished from sight. Once he had, the former God of War sat at on of the tables and wolfed down his meal of bread, salted pork, and a few slices of cheese in silence. He washed it down with a flask of wine, draining the leather canteen in seconds.
However, the moment after he did so, Kratos knew something was wrong. The fact that he was a demigod usually meant that foreign substances such as alcohol had little effect on him, if they had any at all. This time though, he could see his vision already starting to swim. His head was spinning faster and faster. The Spartan gripped the counter to try and steady himself. He fought as hard as he could against the blackness invading the edges of his eyes, but it was no use. Kratos collapsed and fell once more into a sea of crimson torture.
XXX
"-r a backwoods innkeeper, he sure does have some good stuff."
"Damn right, he does. I almost feel sorry for the poor bastards. They had to haul those kids all the way back to the base while we get to stay behind and get sloshed." The red ocean relinquished its hold on Kratos as he returned consciousness. The sound of two different voices reached his ears.
"You know, I don't think the boss'll mind to much if we took a bit of a vacation after we drop this fucker off at the bounty office."
"You talkin' 'bout that whorehouse near the pier?" His eyesight gradually came back into focus. Two men were standing across the room, facing away from him. A large bottle was passed back and forth between them.
"Course I am." He was lying in the corner of a room, his wrists and ankles bound together. The Blades of Athena were still on his back, and he could hear their howling for nourishment.
"Alright, I'm in." A series of loud snaps caught the pair's attention. The one on the right had barely even twitched when the sake bottle they had been drinking from shattered over his head, and he found himself hurled out the second story window. The second man swore and hurried to draw a knife from his belt. Kratos grabbed that arm by the wrist and struck the upper portion with a vicious blow, fragmenting the man's humerus into tiny pieces. He then twisted limp limb upwards, so the razor sharp edge was pressed against his former captor's jugular. The man's pupils dilated right before Kratos dragged his arm across, causing the man to slit his own throat.
Kratos let the man drop to the ground as he shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind. He looked around the room and saw the same layout as the inn his team had been staying at. This fact caused all other thoughts to come to a grinding halt, for his brain had finally registered what the men had been talking about prior to their deaths.
The Ghost of Sparta burst into the motel hallway, barreling towards his students' room. When he found it, his hands clenched into fists, and rage welled up inside of him.
Room 203's door was wide open. The inside was pristine with no sign of the three children. It was like they had never been there to begin with.
Forcing himself focus, Kratos looked away and headed downstairs. The decent was slightly unsteady at first, for the effects of whatever drug had been given to him still lingered in his system. Fortunately for him, it did not last long as his body filtered out the final remnants of the blasted poison.
The ground floor of the inn was an utter mess. Tables and chairs were tipped over. Food and trash were strewn about; empty flagons and broken glass littered the floor. A pair of trash bags and a broom indicated that someone has been trying to clean it up, but there was no one in sight.
A light shuffling from the kitchen corner caught Kratos' immediate attention. Apparently the room was not as deserted as it first seemed. Not wasting any time, he marched straight over to the area where this entire affair had started, knocking away any furniture in his path. When the Spartan reached the counter, he grasped the jutting lip in his massive hands. The aged wood creaked and groaned from the strain of his flexing muscles until it finally gave way, and the once great god ripped the entire divider from the ground.
Uliriamu tried to scramble away on his hands and knees but was stopped by the slab of lumber slamming down in front of his face. Kratos grabbed the innkeeper by the back of the neck and dragged him up off the ground.
"Where are they?" He roared.
"I, don't know." Uli managed to gasp out despite the demigod's painful grip. Kratos snarled and smashed the younger man's head against the stone oven. He pulled the sniveling proprietor in so close there was barely and inch separating them.
"Do not test my patience, worm." The tormented man threatened.
"A-a small island of th-the coast of the Land of Rivers." Uliriamu stammered. "P-please, you have to understand. I had to do it. There was no other choice. They would have killed if I had refused. Please have mercy." The innkeeper's voice rose with his desperation. The dinning hall fell silent while the Ghost of Sparta ground his teeth in anger. Finally, Kratos dropped Uliriamu to the ground, releasing him from his grasp.
"The strong have no need for mercy." He spat venomously.
Tears streamed down Uli's face as he fell to his knees.
"Thank you. Yes, yes, I understand. I promise I'll get stronger. Oh gods, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank y-grck"
The words of gratitude died abruptly in Uliriamu's throat. Mouth agape, he looked down, eyes wide in horror at the Blade of Athena embedded in his chest. He coughed breathlessly; blood and spittle ran freely out the corners of his mouth. Kratos twisted his sword harshly and wrenched it from the eviscerated abdomen.
"The weak do not deserve it."
The Ghost of Sparta left the lifeless corpse where it lay, never once looking back as he walked out of the inn. Glancing up at the sinking sun, Kratos turned towards the west and began to run.