Chapter 36: A Fated Reunion
Seventeen Years Ago
With a flint in one hand and a stone in the other Shoichi struck furiously at his gathered tinder. Enough meat for two rested raw by his feet, but without a fire it might as well be useless. Shoichi found himself alone in the close confines of a rocky mountain pass, a crevice in which they could be hidden from the eyes of any onlookers. Pigeons and gulls cooed upon the razor sharp peaks around him.
From the outside the stony cluster of land was as drab and dead as the Tenth Raikage. There was no reason for anyone to be here; it wasn't a shortcut to anywhere nor was it an ideal spot to take in the scenery. In short, this was the perfect meeting place for a pair of runaway ninja.
Shoichi wondered then whether his cousin would even find this place amongst all the other barren bluffs the Land of Lightning had to offer. Only an unassuming, easy to miss deposit of white chalk distinguished it from all the others. He was running late now. The ninja gave another glance to his watch and decided he'd leave if he wasn't here in the next half an hour. If something had gone wrong then lingering was hardly a good idea.
"Shoichi!"
The Jonin's fears were put to rest as Michio strolled into the clearing. His gaunt chin and stern frown lines always looked odd when married to his happy expression, but it was the matted blizzard of white hair that set him apart from the other ninja Shoichi knew. A combat jacket hugged tight to his chest and the mark of the Hidden Mist was engraved in steel across his forehead.
"Hey!" Shoichi rose, and as the two got closer he clasped the hand of his cousin and pulled him into a fierce embrace. "Been a while!"
"Too long," Michio agreed. As they parted he added, "How's the hand?"
Shoichi held up his preferred right hand, one that he'd broken badly after a B-Rank mission involving some Hidden Sand rogue. The bandages came off just a week ago; he flexed to test it out. "Still aches a bit, but aside from that it's good as new," he explained. "So, how's the weather over at the Glacier?"
"Sunny as usual."
Shoichi breathed a sigh of relief. Good – it was really him. Espionage was the oldest tactic of the Senmatsu; sometimes it took a while to see past the obvious spy posing as an ally. By now he knew not to go blabbing off information before confirming one's identity.
As the Cloud ninja returned to his kindling Michio crouched to aid him, and with the two of them striking in unison a fire was made even in the cold, wet atmosphere they found this far north. With a warm hearth the food could be prepared. Months of survival in the wild ensured both Shoichi and Michio knew the ins and outs of enduring outdoors. Pork sausages and bacon rashes made their camping session all the more enjoyable.
As the two made themselves comfortable atop opposing rocks Michio dropped the news he'd been saving.
"Rin is pregnant. Has been for a while actually."
In a volcanic eruption of mulch and spit Shoichi's kebab found itself splattered across the floor. His mouth hung open as his eyes formed full moons in his surprise.
"No way!" he exclaimed, maw still full. "That's incredible! Look at my favourite cousin all grown up! Real happy for you bro."
Michio flushed red with embarrassment. "Thanks – you can be the godfather if you want?"
"That would be awesome!"
The ninja laughed to himself. "So how far gone is Yuuko by now? Must be getting close, right?" he asked, eager not to talk too much about himself.
Pressing his thumb and forefinger to his chin, Shoichi let his eyes wander upward. "I think. . . Six months? Yeah, six months by now. Sooo excited – I get to be a dad! You know Yuuko already came up with a name for it?"
"Oh yeah?" Michio leaned forward.
"Yeah. 'Shoryu'." The Jonin traced a line across the sky as he said the name, imagining how it would look on paper. "It means 'Soaring Dragon'. Works for a boy or a girl. Kinda fitting right?"
"If they turn out like you."
"Good point. I didn't exactly turn out like my old man did I?" Shoichi rocked back on his seat and tore another hunk out of his meal. Shaking his head he grinned to himself, still in awe about the news. "I can't believe you're getting this serious! So this is what you called me here for? I'm impressed buddy. You've gotta let me come see him sometime."
"Well. . ." Michio trailed off, chewing his fingernails as he looked glumly to the floor. "That's not exactly why I called you here. . ."
"Hm?" Shoichi's head tilted.
"The thing is. . ." A groan escaped the Hidden Mist ninja as he buried his hair in his hands. "I've been compromised. Guess I won't even get to see my child born." He slanted his mouth, adding, "and we were supposed to be married next month."
Shoichi set down his food and paid attention. Five years ago the two of them stole from the fortress in the dead of night and fought their way through clones to freedom. Shoren's fishing boat on the eastern coast helped them escape Magnus Sanctum, the moving island the Senmatsu called home. Since then Shoichi knew his family must've been searching high and low for the two of them – as wielders of both the Alpha Gene and Jikogan they were invaluable assets to whatever wretched scheme they had planned for the world. They separated, deciding they would be harder to find if they worked alone; Shoichi went to the Hidden Cloud and Michio to the Mist, eventually resigning from the position to spend more time with his high-born girlfriend from the Glacier.
"I suppose it was only a matter of time," said Shoichi at last. "What will you do?"
"Leave. We swore to do just that if ever we were found out. I can't involve Rin or my child in this."
"My brother would kill them," added Shoichi. He knew Teijo only too well. "Is it safe right now?"
Michio shrugged. "Define safe. Packs of clones patrol the Glacier's borders day and night, and they grow bolder by the day. I don't know who sold me out but they know I'm close by. Soon enough they'll come down to investigate. I won't last long in a village that already distrusts ninja – a samurai will sell me out before long. They don't want the trouble of harbouring a fugitive shinobi."
"I take it Shoren and Masaru aren't leading the scouts?"
"No." Shaking his head, Michio looked to the ground. "Worse – Teijo is out there. I saw him the other day when I decided to look around. If he so much as catches a whiff of me-"
"-He's like a bloodhound. Once he has your trail he'll follow it to the ends of the earth. You need to shake him off. Shoren made a smart choice sending him after you."
For all his faults Shoichi couldn't deny how cunning his father could be. Not only was Teijo their most ruthless, twisted ninja, but his fighting style was also a natural bane to poor Michio's. With the Jikogan in his possession Michio was the fastest, most skilled user of Taijutsu that Shoichi ever knew, but it all meant nothing against Teijo – the man who could enslave a mind with only the slightest touch. Kicks and punches – Michio's primary line of attack – would only lose him the fight.
"I'll have to disappear for a while; hopefully it's only temporary. I'll return once I'm sure he's off my back." Michio decided.
"I'll keep a lookout for you. Knowing Teijo he'll keep some clones nearby to watch the area in case you come back. Send me your location and I'll let you know when it's safe," said Shoichi. It was the least he could do; sending a scout down to the Glacier every month or so was hardly a massive sacrifice.
"Thanks. I owe you one."
"Don't worry about it." Shoichi gave a wave of his hand. "Anyway let's forget about your vanishing act for now – it's making me depressed. How've you been since I last saw you? It's been nearly half a year."
"Good. Yeah, I've been good," said Michio. "Got ourselves a nice little cottage on the outskirts of the village. We have to work the fields sometimes but it's not exactly hard work for guys like you or me. Mostly though we just get to do as we please. I'm stronger and fitter than ever before."
"Ehhh. . ." Shoichi made a face and shrugged his shoulders. He didn't see the appeal. "What do you even do in the bowl of a glacier all day?"
Michio counted off his hands. "Climbing, training, fishing, Shogi, meditation-"
"-Fishing?" Shoichi arched an eyebrow. "Somehow I can't imagine you fishing."
"The quiet life does funny things to you. . . What have you been up to then?"
As he picked up a bowl the Cloud Jonin filled in his cousin. "Saving up mostly. Yuuko and I are pretty broke after buying that house together. I've had to keep missions to a minimal though."
"How come?"
"Got one of my own to carry out. I've been spying on Kira Asakura – you know the tenth Raikage?"
Michio's palm met his forehead with a slap. "You've been spying on your own Kage? You do know that's likely to get you killed or exiled right?"
"I keep well hidden. And it's necessary at any rate; I think he's under my Teijo's control. It just happened a few weeks ago, people started muttering changes about him. One minute he was talking about stepping down and the next he renews his term for another five years; started making all these weird policies up. I've avoided speaking to him just in case."
"You're walking on eggshells here Shoichi. Just be careful you don't blow it."
"He rarely comes out of his office these days anyway, the guy's like eighty. It's not like he speaks directly to every ninja in the Cloud, much less rookies like me who only just got promoted."
"Even so, watch your back," Michio warned him. "It might only take him one look across a crowded room to find you."
Shoichi agreed, and as the conversation reached a more casual tone the two dug into their meals, reminiscing about old times good and bad. In all twenty years of his life Shoichi knew no one who he could be at ease with Michio. He'd told him time and time again that he was more a brother than either of his wretched siblings, and with the darling Madoka as his only sister he figured it was a safe bet Michio felt the same.
Once the flames reached their highest and hottest Shoichi withdrew his new favourite flute and began to play. In truth he still preferred the melancholic, bass-laden drones of his bamboo shakuhachi, but the tune of the lighter model Michio gave to him still struck a chord with Shoichi. The notes were higher and happier – playing it made him suddenly full of optimism. Since receiving it the last time they met Shoichi practiced and practiced until his fingers were blistered, but the sound it produced was well worth the pain.
For over half an hour the crags of the gorge were made cheerful by the melody of the flute and the dancing orange embers of the fire. Afterwards the two ninja sparred for a time, trading new techniques and correcting the other when a mistake cropped up.
Beating Michio up close was a trial even without his Jikogan – with it he was unstoppable. At every turn of the fight Shoichi had to come up with new ways to extend the distance between them and loose a blunted shuriken. The close confines of the rock walls made using his Alpha Gene impossible, but the challenge was a welcome adjustment. Somewhere inside Shoichi wanted to prove to himself that he could still fight with his own skills; he didn't want to rely solely on the inherited, unnatural genotype of his family.
Midday passed in a blur; before long the sun began to set over the Land of Lightning as Shoichi and Michio sat recovering at opposite ends of the fire. The flames descended into tiny forks; mostly ash and charred twigs nestled at the steaming basin.
Checking his watch, Shoichi wondered whether he should go out and get more sticks for the fire. He decided it was late enough already; there was no sense collecting wood when they'd only be here another half hour. He had to get home. If he set off before eight he reckoned he could make the Cloud by the following afternoon. Yuuko would be worried by now that he hadn't returned from his mission.
One day Shoichi vowed to tell her everything – about himself, his family and his life up until now. Once Teijo was dead the Cloud would be completely risk-free. For now, the less she knew the safer it was for her.
"Taking a leak, be right back."
"Huh?" Shoichi snapped from daydreaming to glance around the camp. "Oh, sure thing."
The fire crackled as Michio snuck down the winding path he'd crossed to get here, leaving his cousin free to go back to his thoughts. A minute passed before he returned.
Michio shuffled back into the clearing as white as his hair. With a blink his eyes flashed into spirals. He clenched his fists and gave a wary look over his shoulder. "Uhh, Shoichi," he started.
In an instant Shoichi leapt to his feet and drew his sword. The look on his cousin's face told him danger had found them.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Well. . . Just outside that little alley. . . Yeah, there's a squadron of clones waiting for us," Michio revealed.
"Did they see you?"
"I don't think so." Again the ninja looked behind him. "No. But there's no other way out of here – if we try to go over the rocks they'll spot us. What do we do?"
"Calm down," said Shoichi. In tense situations the awkward Michio had a tendency to lose his head. "Tell me everything you can about them."
Michio scratched his head as he tried to recount the details. "Well, I think there's ten altogether – a few projectile users and some unarmed. I saw radios too – short wave ones – Teijo must be nearby. . . Shit! I made sure I wasn't followed!" he cursed.
"They probably tracked you here. Shoren has clones specialised for everything. There's no helping it now – you were going to leave the Glacier anyway, I guess this just means you'll have to push ahead your schedule. You should go tonight; leave everything behind and don't look back until you're sure nothing's in your shadow."
"But I didn't want to get you involved in this!"
"If we can take these guys out quick enough they won't have a chance to use their radios. I can slip away unnoticed," Shoichi assured him. In truth he didn't like their chances, but calming Michio down was more important now.
"We might not get that opportunity. I'm sorry Shoichi – I really thought we were safe here."
"Don't apologise for my brother's persistence. And we'll just have to create an opportunity, that's all," he suggested.
"Any ideas? This stuff is your area right?"
Shoichi laughed. For all his fighting prowess Michio wasn't exactly the 'battle planning' type. His cousin's greatest schemes normally involved charging the enemy head-on with no regard for his own safety. Fortunately an idea did occur to him.
"I might have a plan. Give me a second." In his head Shoichi did a quick calculation of all their jutsu, the tools at their disposal, the amount of enemies, the chance of clone reinforcements and every possible escape route. As Michio panicked beside him Shoichi's eyes went up as he bobbed his head up and down, muttering nonsense under his breath. "Alright, I definitely have a plan," he concluded.
"Care to tell me?"
"Watch and learn little bro, watch and learn." Shoichi drew his sword back into its scabbard, and after a deep breath he formed a cross before him with the first two fingers of both hands. The seal did not belong to the standard twelve animal signs, nor did it resemble the twisted, outright painful-looking seals of the Jikogan. On the contrary, the simple cross looked easy enough for a child to pull off, and would be if it weren't for the immense amount of chakra required to use it.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
The clone captain kicked over a stone in boredom, fidgeting eagerly with the shuriken strapped to his thigh. Bald, tattooed and muscular, he distinguished himself from the others by being the toughest looking clone in the group, his age making him the leader by default. Half an hour they'd spent here, having tracked a set of footprints all the way from the Glacier. He decided that entering the narrow confines of the rock face was too risky with so many men; their numbers would mean nothing if their target managed to bottleneck them.
Said target was Michio Senmatsu, the escaped fugitive of Magnus Sanctum. At the will of their masters the clones had been instructed to be on the lookout for a young man with white hair – no other target was specified. Just a week ago they received a tipoff that Michio was hiding in this area, but for all their scouting and patrolling they had yet to find any evidence.
Waiting here was a chore for the soldiers. For all they knew, those footprints could've belonged to a common samurai sneaking out of the village for a secret love affair, or a serving girl who'd strayed too far from home collecting berries. But waiting was their only option – wait until that white-haired bastard emerged or until this whole thing turned out to be just another wild goose chase.
The scraping of steel then claimed the squadron as clones drew knives one after the other.
Turning back to the rocks, the captain saw the source of their worry. A man had emerged – a ninja from the Cloud judging by the mark upon his forehead. This was a problem; a samurai or a peasant would be easy to dismiss, but another ninja? The coincidence was too great; they had to be in league.
Whether the man was a consort for Michio or not, it didn't change the fact that he gasped like a little girl upon seeing them and dropped his basket of apples.
"God damn it! You guys scared me half to death! You know how long it took to clean these? And look at them now." Shoichi dropped to his knees and bundled them in his arms before inspecting one. Pouting, he brushed dirt off it like a fussy cook. "Nope, that's it – they're ruined. How am I supposed to explain this to my wife?"
"Get on the ground weirdo!" barked the commander. "Stay where I can see you."
"Eh?" Shoichi got back to his feet. He turned aghast when he saw the plethora of blades and hand-signs pointed in his direction. Convincing them he was an idiot was the fastest way to catch them off guard.
"You heard me! On the ground! And throw away your weapon!"
Shoichi looked over both shoulders and looked back with a look of confusion, furrowing his brow as he pointed to himself in disbelief, mouthing 'me?' with a flutter of his lips.
"Yes YOU! Are you deaf? Lose the sword or we blow you away!"
"Alright, alright, alright." After opening up his hands to show nothing was in them Shoichi slowly made for the strap that held his katana in place. He saw the clones jump in their sandals a little when he released it with a snap of his fingers, but fortunately no one fired. Good; he could continue his little charade.
"Alright now on the ground," ordered the captain.
"Are you guys bandits or something?" Shoichi snapped back.
"On the ground."
The ninja smiled; if they hadn't fired by now they never would. Now he could turn the tables. "You know, I don't think I will," he said. "Give me one reason why I should."
"I'll give you ten reasons ninja - they're all looking at you. Do as we say or you die, it's that simple"
"Haha!" Rocking back, Shoichi laughed and held his belly, enjoying the threat far more than he should. "That's a good one! But you see. . . We are in the Land of Lightning are we not?" The ninja took his first step towards them.
"What of it?" asked the clone.
"You see this headband don't you?" A jerk of Shoichi's thumb motioned to the symbol of the Cloud. He took his second step. "Any of you care to tell me what this means?"
"You're a ninja, and as it just so happens we were looking for a rogue ninja – a dangerous criminal in fact. Michio Senmatsu is his name, though I imagine he's using an alias."
At the mention of his cousin Shoichi's face gave nothing away. He continued towards them, one step at a time. "That's funny, because any criminals in the Land of Lightning are dealt with by the shinobi of the Hidden Cloud – people like me. Get it? This whole area is under our jurisdiction, not yours. So if I see this 'Michio' fellow for you, I'll bring you his head. That way we can all sleep better at night, you can apologise to me for this whole affair, and who knows? Maybe I'll even forgive you for spoiling the apple pie I was so very looking forward to."
"You hear that boys?" The captain turned to his men as guffaws went from clone to clone, and the distraction let Shoichi inch three steps closer. "The unarmed man threatens us!"
Laughter spread around the group like wildfire, so infectious that the Cloud Jonin decided to join in. With a mocking face he chuckled at their expense until his breath ran out.
"No no no, that wasn't a threat," he said at last. "I merely just stated a fact! Here's a threat for you: lay down your arms, turn around and keep walking in the other direction before I kill you for laughing in my face."
The captain didn't like that at all. Redoubling his grip on his kunai, he cajoled, "Think you're pretty smart don't you? We'll see how silver that tongue of yours is when we cut it out for you."
"Oh no, I'm not all that smart," said Shoichi.
"Clearly."
"It's all relative - you're just morons."
"Kiss my ass shinobi. On the ground – now. And did I say you could come any closer?"
Shoichi cursed to himself; so he finally noticed. Throughout their trash-talking and empty threats he'd slowly closed the gap between them, now standing just a few strides away. It didn't matter now at any rate; after taunting him incessantly the clone captain seemed to want nothing more than to kill him with his bare hands.
"You made a lot of demands in between your endless blabbering," said Shoichi. "But staying still wasn't one of them."
Finally the captain snapped. Shoichi had to hand it to him – most people didn't last that long once he started annoying them. The captain's high tolerance would be his downfall. Putting up with Shoichi's mocking for this long had allowed him to get within range; he could scatter them now with a single move.
With the veins visibly throbbing across his bald skull the clone captain holstered his weapon and lunged for Shoichi. The ninja opened his arms, as though preparing to hug his attacker, although his odd gesture did little to sully the rage of the clone. Twisting his body into the move, the captain plunged his fist straight into Shoichi's stomach, feeling ribs crack and kidneys flatten as the ninja released a spray of spittle.
With his hand still buried in the ninja's gut the clone gave a grin as he assessed his handiwork. Shoichi's face was a contorted squint of pain. He keeled over onto the captain's shoulder, managing a rasp and a snigger as he whispered.
"Gotcha."
A harmless puff of smoke suddenly bloomed to life where Shoichi once stood, and as the captain stood dumbfounded a roll of something thin and leathery slapped him across the face. Scraps of paper scattered from the mist, fluttering innocently like autumn leaves in the wind, drifting toward the squadron freshly inked and ready to blow.
"Paper bombs!" screamed a clone, already too late.
In an instant the countryside was lit up by ten consecutive explosions, igniting in fiery spheres to wreak havoc on the trained formation of the clones. Three went up in smoke from burns alone, another four hit the ground, and the remaining trio scrambled for safety as their hands closed around the radios strapped to their belts.
"Wind Style: Squall Fang Jutsu!"
From the gaping opening in the rocks the real Shoichi's voice called out. With his last hand sign in place the jutsu took form; a great tempest of wind crashing as a storm into the already crippled legion of clones. Those on their feet took to the air tumbling as those on the ground were hurled up in manic flips. It took a whole three seconds for them to hit the floor again, a timespan made much longer for Michio Senmatsu.
"Jikansanpo!"
Tracks of light marked the blink-and-miss flight of Michio, sailing in a perfect warp across open air before materialising again in a high-speed roundhouse kick to a falling clone's neck. Through the smoke of his first victim he cast his hand sign and shot off again, this time marking his arrival with a savage right hook to the jaw of a second.
A shout of "Playback Four!" forced a second Michio to materialise; the copy streamed in a Time Walk from his body and finished a third before the flying squadron finally returned to the ground.
As a soldier by the flank struggled back to his knees a windmill shuriken speared his chest. Shoichi leapt into the fray, blocking three kunai with quick swipes and closing in on the thrower. Once the clone began to cast hand signs it was over – his front was left exposed, his movements too slow to escape the graceful swing of Shoichi's sword that severed his head from his body.
With both fighters just a few steps away the last clone finally steadied himself. Shoichi turned to see his shaking fingers pressed upon the chunky button of his radio. "Target confirmed! Unit six requesting bac-"
A windmill shuriken opening his throat prevented the clone from further speech. The attack was in vain however – just five words down a radio sealed their fate. Shoichi looked to his cousin to see that look of terror again. It told him 'we're screwed', and with his own nerves on edge Shoichi didn't have the heart to tell him otherwise. Teijo was coming.
"We need to move," said Shoichi. It was the only thing left now – get as far away as possible as quick as they could. With five hand signs and a palm to the ground Shoichi called for his fastest ally.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The ink circles spread and twin columns of smoke blasted away to reveal two beasts. A pair of panthers, lean and muscular, stood ready to serve at Shoichi's command. Michio leapt back in fright when he saw them. Who could blame him? At over two metres metres long the sabre-toothed creatures weighed a tonne apiece, their backs each coming right up to Shoichi's chest. Save for the bone-white fangs and claws and eyes the colour of blood they were black as dusk from nose to tail – perfect for speed and stealth.
A few traits distinguished one from the other. The female was at once noticeably larger, with bigger eyes and a longer tail. One of her fangs was broken in half where a sword or a shuriken had severed through the bone. The male by contrast was leaner, and from the faded tips about his fur Michio judged he was the elder of the two. An age-old scar stretched from his ear and through his eye before ending above his lip; those claws weren't just for show, these creatures had seen battle before.
Shoichi bowed first, ushering Michio with an urgent gesture to do the same. With his Alpha Gene and gift of empathy Shoichi's understanding of such things came as naturally as breathing. He tried to explain it to Michio once; some of the creatures he befriended had been on this earth longer than even the ninja. Their customs and behaviours were passed down through the generations, and many of them rarely if ever came into contact with humans. The oldest and most powerful breeds of creatures were often easy to offend if one wasn't cautious.
One of the panthers bounded forward to give Michio a sniff. Beside him his cousin laughed as the ninja went a paler tone of white. With the giant wet fist of a nose prodding him Michio saw right up close exactly how sharp those twin fangs were, protruding down from the maw of the creature with enough length to tear him in half if the panther decided it didn't like him. Eventually it gave a grunt and padded back, satisfied.
"Aitrax, Shade, could you lend us a hand?" Shoichi asked.
"Who is this other two-legs you bring before us?" said the female, eyeing Michio up and down.
"Easy Shade, he's family. I wouldn't ask you to ferry someone you didn't know unless it was urgent."
"Then climb on. I smell your father's creations around the corner."
"Climb on?" Michio paused as his cousin clambered aboard a panther, reluctant even in such dire straits. "You know I'm pretty fast myself, I think I'll just stay on my feet," he said.
"You're fast alright," Shoichi agreed. "But unless you plan on using that Time Walk of yours all the way you won't keep up with these guys."
The ninja groaned, and with a look of defeat he pulled himself atop Shade. There was no saddle nor any reins of any kind he could see; these were wild animals in every sense. As the panther honed its claws, raking the ground like a bull about to charge, Shoichi leaned over and whispered,
"You might want to keep the Jikogan deactivated. These guys are gonna show you what real speed is all about."
"But where do I hold onto?"
A gust of wind drowned out Shoichi's reply as the beasts took off. One mighty push of Aitrax and Shade's enormous hind-legs set them off at a blinding haste across the countryside. Instinctually Michio leaned forward and flung his arms around Shade. As they approached shuriken-speeds the wind ruined his hair and battered against his face; opening his mouth even for an instant forced air to fill his cheeks and make his face ripple like a recently disturbed pool of water.
Glancing over proved what Michio suspected: that Shoichi was having the time of his life. His cousin was poised like a jockey as he spurred the scarred panther to his top speed, and once there the ninja sat up, spread out his arms to embrace the wind and called out,
"Isn't this awesome!?"
"You're a dick!" Michio called back, feeling queazy.
Over the scream of the wind Shoichi missed the line. "What was that?" he asked again, lifting a hand to his ear.
"I said I'm going to be sick!"
"Well man up!" Shoichi glanced around. They weren't out of the woods just yet; somewhere secluded and hard to traverse might see them safely out of trouble. A forest sprang up to the east, but after travelling these parts for years Shoichi knew it led right back to the Glacier. The lack of manoeuvrability in the woods meant the giant cats would slow down, braking just in time for another ambush of clones.
Instead Shoichi pointed them west. Innumerable crags and unmapped canyon ranges spread out for miles running up the spine of the Land of Lightning. Steep ravines and sharp passages were child's play to the panthers, but a clone legion on foot would have trouble navigating them. Shoichi only hoped his brother wasn't close; it might already be too late.
Once the panthers began to dart between the rocks the ninja sacrificed a single shuriken as a waypoint. Targeting a faraway thistle, Shoichi positioned himself accordingly and threw, taking care not to falter under the near-hundred mile per hour speed of Aitrax. The weapon veered dangerously on the wind, and for a moment Shoichi thought it was flying wide until it caught the current and speared the plant to the ground. Greenery was rare in parts so dry and barren; an easy thing to spot if they lost their way.
Wherever the sabretooths leapt their claws dragged a small landslide of broken sandstone along with them. The pair skidded down the steepest banks with ease before bounding back into a sprint to clear the next crevasse in a single pounce. For such hulking beasts the agility of the creatures proved staggering; they switched directions in a heartbeat, throwing their riders side to side. Shoichi bucked and whooped with one hand aloof like a cowboy trying to tame to a wild horse. Michio clung on for dear life, praying at any moment that the rollercoaster might end.
In just a few minutes Shoichi felt certain they'd managed to widen the gap between themselves and any pursuers, but still he spurred the panthers on just in case. Before long their meeting spot was long behind them. Fifteen minutes passed before Shoichi finally slowed them to a halt.
In the shadow of a crooked overhand the two ninja drank their fill of water from the skins in their packs. Colour had at last returned to Michio's face, no doubt a sign that he was finally getting used to riding the great beasts that served his cousin.
Once hydrated and rested Shoichi filled in the panthers on the situation – about his brother, the clones and the events leading up to his summoning. Naturally one of them – Aitrax – tried to pin the blame on Michio, claiming they would not have gotten into this trouble if it weren't for his carelessness. Defending him, Shoichi explained that his brother's eyes were everywhere; it was only a matter of time before one of them was caught.
As the sun winked its last rays over the horizon Shoichi and Michio hopped back aboard the panthers and set off again. To Michio's surprise the creatures were in fact quicker in low light; they moved even nimbler and crossed the terrain even faster than before. At his shock Shade told him they were predators of the night; their eyes had long since adapted to hunt their prey in darkness.
Not ten minutes into their gallop however, Shoichi brought up the fist of a clear stop sign once more. He froze in terror, eyes fixated upon a single speck of scenery ahead. Trotting over, Michio guided Shade towards him and prodded his arm. Sighing, Shoichi pointed over the next rise.
"We've been wasting our energy," he said. "Try not to freak out."
At a closer look Michio saw exactly what spooked his cousin. That same grounded thistle stood like an omen in the distance, and if he squinted hard enough he could even make out the windmill shuriken Shoichi had used to mark it with.
Before Michio could panic Shoichi dug in his heels and began to ride Aitrax in a circle, scanning for any sign of an attack. This whole area belonged to Teijo now – he could move from any angle. As he rode around Shoichi threw out his arms, welcoming his opponent with a free shot.
"Come on out little brother!" he roared into the wind. Michio opened his mouth to complain, but already Shoichi carried on his taunts. "You want us? Well here we are! Now how about we skip this game and get down to it?"
"Shoichi-"
"-What do you say Teijo? Let's go a few rounds! You and me! Just like old times! Don't tell me you're afraid now are you?" Finally Shoichi ran out of breath. Returning to his cousin's side he straightened his back and squared his shoulders. There was no way out now; once he saw his shuriken he knew right away that a fight was unavoidable. Seconds of silence passed as Michio's eyes darted around the empty space like a startled rabbit.
"Any moment now," Shoichi assured him. "He won't ignore that one."
Sure enough Shoichi's prediction came true just a few instants after he finished his sentence. Around them the world changed slowly, morphing and twisting its way to some dreamlike plane of existence. Like the stalks of a thousand plants the rocks seemed to stretch upward before them. Sparse, barren trees and greenery found themselves rooted up and thrown asunder with a spray of mud like confetti.
Michio jumped when twin chunks of stone sprouted from the ground either side of them, forming a narrow corridor of sorts before the walls began to buckle and bow towards them, as though made of rubber rather than rock.
Above them the clouds gravitated in singularities, forming tornadoes in the far distance as the sky bled crimson lightning from a sickly green hue. To their eyes everything moved in a way that nature should not have allowed. Running water stood perfectly still in the streams as labyrinths of rock sprang up from the ground, moulded like wet clay. The sun was a dampened smear of watercolour - a weeping orange sphere that seemed just as beautiful as it was terrifying. Concentrating in one direction gave only a nauseous feeling; Shoichi's feet looked a mile away from his body and the clouds above barrelled towards them at a second look.
"Told you," he muttered.
"What is this?" said Michio. With a free hand he touched the surface of the shifting wall beside them, believing it was imaginary until the texture of stone upon his fingers convinced him otherwise.
"It's his Alpha Gene," Shoichi said then. "Genjutsu works for more than just enslaving people."
"But how is he doing this? How can it be real?" was Michio's obvious question. He was convinced now that he could smash through the archway that had sprouted beside them; he would feel the impact on his knuckles and see the waterfall of broken stone scatter apart – his fists might even bleed if he punched it hard enough.
"Real is all in your head Michio – it's a matter of perspective. Real is what you see, what you feel, what you hear, what you taste and what you smell; and Teijo controls it all," Shoichi reflected, regurgitating all the horrific little facts that came with fighting his brother's Alpha Gene. It all boiled down to one thing: "Just telling yourself it isn't 'actually happening' won't change a thing. When you fight this man consider everything as real as it is in any other battle – everything he throws at you – everything little change you experience. We're in Teijo's world now; our minds are his weapons, and there's nothing we can do about it."
"Couldn't have put it better myself!" cried a voice.
The pair looked up to see Teijo, gliding down out of nothingness from a spot fifty metres up in the sky. Nothing supported his flight; no wings, no jutsu and no summon – he glided like some celestial guardian down from the sky, still with that mocking grin like he knew something they didn't.
What a self-important, arrogant, egotistical entrance that was. Teijo, you always were a pretentious brat, Shoichi thought to himself.
In truth the boy had changed much since Shoichi last saw him. It irked him constantly how much the two looked alike; now at least the problem had lessened. His hair, greasy and scruffy, fell in wiry fingers over his shoulders, a shade darker than his brother's chocolate brown. His eyes too contained that same green sparkle, but a gleam of mania existed there – of mental instability and a desire to kill. He spread his lips in that awful smile of his, baring pearly white teeth that betrayed his ragged appearance.
More than ever Teijo gave Shoichi the impression of a man who shouldn't have been allowed in human society - he looked like a vagrant in his first week following an escape from a mental asylum. He was always a problem child, but their father's doctrines had turned him into a monster, taking pride in his sadism whilst retaining total apathy for laws of a civilised community. The smug look on his face said it all; he knew what he was and he enjoyed every moment of it.
"It's been a long time big brother! I gotta say, I didn't expect to see you here! Two birds with one stone! Ain't that right Shoichi?" Gliding to the surface, Teijo landed slowly and gracefully as he waited for his opponents to make the first move.
"Guess we'll just have to fight him!" said Michio, putting up his fists. In the heat of the moment he forgot everything Shoichi told him about it being too dangerous.
"If we kill you here we can end all of this today." Shoichi drew his sword, keeping a firm hand clutching Aitrax's fur as the panther growled beneath him. "Bring everything you've got little brother. Don't hold anything back."
.
Author's Notes: Alright so here's the deal. Originally I planned to have two separate flashbacks for Shoichi one after the other, this being the first one. Both of them would be a chapter each. Unfortunately though I didn't anticipate how long this one would be. I'll finish this one off with the next chapter, then we'll get back to the plot, then I'll shorten the other flashback and put it in at a later date. But on with the new characters.
Shoichi does seem to have a tendency to ignore people's threats doesn't he? Buuut then again he does seem to be pretty tough. In case it wasn't apparent his clones are actually the exact same as Naruto's – just regular Shadow Clones. I imagine since his father has the Alpha Gene for clones and can basically create life with it, Shoichi must have picked up a thing or two just by hanging around him, hence he has the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Writing Michio was pretty funny too; he's basically just a timid, socially awkward dude who can go all Bruce when the moment calls. I wanted to make him as different from Kazuya as I could considering how alike I made Shoryu and Shoichi. Would be a bit of a cop-out if I just pulled the same move again. It wouldn't make sense for him to be strict and brooding anyway; Kazuya is only meant to be that way because of his upbringing as an orphan, an heir and a samurai.
Teijo – however crazy he is – probably has my favourite Alpha Gene to write. Been waiting to do this scene for a while. Fighting with him is basically like trying to defend yourself whilst tripping balls. Saving the more fun parts of it for when he appears in the current timeline (since this is seventeen years ago) but we should still see a fairly interesting fight next chapter – a bit of a sneak preview if you like. Don't look at me like that, it's a tried and tested technique in manga! Kishimoto himself is guilty of it!