I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.


Consequences

Ryuu sat on top of the building and glanced at the street below him. At about midnight, it was no surprise it was deserted. Ryuu had never had trouble sleeping, well, not since he had stopped having nightmares about his family's death two years ago. He couldn't even close his eyes now, though, without seeing the faces of the ninjas he had killed. He hadn't expected the fact that he had taken a life to make him feel sick. It did though. He couldn't stand the thought.

"You can't sleep can you?" Kakashi, Sasuke's team captain and wielder of a Sharingan, questioned appearing behind him.

"No," Ryuu admitted. "I can't get their faces out of my head."

"I see," Kakashi nodded. "Guy told me that you had seemed a bit different when he woke up but given the situation and the details about the fire light, the blood, and the number of corpses, I was more afraid that he meant you had seemed a bit darker. You feel guilt for their deaths don't you?"

"Yes," Ryuu nodded. "How do you get past that?"

"It's different for everyone," Kakashi stated. "I just focus on protecting those I care about. Guy focuses on the fact that they were trying to kill him, making it self defense. Your teacher is somewhere in between myself and Guy."

"That doesn't help me," Ryuu stated. "They weren't after the others and I already tried focusing on the self defense. It stopped working when I got to the ones that were trying to run away when I killed them."

"Are you religious?" Kakashi questioned.

"Yes," Ryuu nodded unsure. "It's hard to witness your entire clan's death without either going insane with thoughts of revenge or becoming religious. Why do you ask?"

"Maybe you feel guilty because part of your religion is that it is a sin to kill," Kakashi stated. "Or because you feel like you sent them to Hell. Perhaps you should try praying, for their forgiveness and your own."

Ryuu blinked in surprise and turned to look at Kakashi but he was already gone.

"He's right," a familiar voice below him spoke.

Ryuu looked down and smiled, seeing Yugao leaning against the wall on a balcony wearing her mask.

"Hello Master," Ryuu smiled.

"You should try praying," Yugao stated. "A lot of people have to. I do."

"You're religious?" Ryuu questioned.

"I am," Yugao nodded jumping up to sit beside him. "I wasn't for a long time. I didn't care about the souls of those I killed, or my own. I didn't start praying until those around me began to die. It's the kind of thing that makes you see how bad death really is. Everyone you kill could be just like you. They could have friends, a family, a lover. They may hate killing as much as you do. But in the end, either you kill them, or they will kill you."

"I suppose," Ryuu nodded. "I take it you heard about what happened."

"I did," Yugao nodded. "It's alright that you killed them."

"I didn't kill them all," Ryuu stated. "One got away."

"That's alright," Yugao stated. "The important thing right now is for you to find peace, then find your bed."

He smiled and nodded and Yugao did the same behind her mask.

"Thank you," Ryuu said after a moment. "It helps to have someone that knows how I feel."

Yugao nodded as Ryuu stood.

"Good night," Ryuu smiled and she nodded again.

He turned and walked away, leaving her to her thoughts as he finally went to bed and fell asleep. The next day, he left his house and made his way toward the clearing where he and Yugao always trained to find Sasuke standing with Yugao, who had her mask on.

"Welcome Ryuu," Yugao smiled. "You and Sasuke will be training today. How did you sleep?"

"I've been better but I'll make it," Ryuu assured her. "So Sasuke, I hear you awakened your Sharingan on your mission."

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and Ryuu grinned, doing the same.

"One and two," Ryuu smirked seeing that he had a different tomoe count in each eye. "Rare."

"As is awakening it at two tomoe," Sasuke stated. "Are we going to fight or chat?"

Ryuu deactivated his Sharingan and held his hand out focusing on what he had memorized during his fight against the rogue ninja.

"Flame Sword!" Ryuu stated and it instantly sprang to life, surrounding his hand and extending four feet to the tip.

"Impressive," Sasuke grinned silently forming a matching blade with the help of his Sharingan.

"Copy Cat," Ryuu grinned. "I mastered it without my Sharingan."

"I'm an Uchiha," Sasuke grinned. "It's what we do."

They both charged, their blades meeting in a shower of sparks before Ryuu spun past Sasuke and spun, slashing again only for Sasuke to block it then drop and kick him away.

"Enough," Yugao spoke up. "Open hand combat."

Both released their jutsus and Ryuu activated his Sharingan, the two Uchiha charging at each other and beginning to fight instantly. They had both been trained by their older brothers who had trained together. As a result, their fighting styles were identical and neither could gain the upper hand on the other. After a few minutes, they both jumped back, breathing hard.

"Impressive," Yugao nodded before stiffening and looking behind herself slowly. "Who is...run, both of you. Now!"

Both turned and fled into the trees, sprinting toward the village as Makai stepped out of the trees on the opposite side alongside another man who seemed to be his boss. The man had spiky black hair to his shoulders and wore a black cloak over pitch black splint mail armor, black pants, black boots, and black, fingerless gloves.

"Handle the bitch Makai," the man spoke and Makai instantly darted forward, kicking her into a tree then picked her up by the throat and squeezed.

She fought to break free as she struggled to breathe but both abilities eluded her. The other man walked into the trees after the two Uchiha and Makai grinned just before a sword blade sprouted from his back.

"Hayate!" Yugao gasped after falling to the ground coughing and gasping for breath.

"You chose the wrong village," Hayate growled wrenching his sword out and beheading Makai.

"We have to find Ryuu," Yugao stated standing. "He's the target."

They both sprinted into the trees and soon came to a scene of utter chaos. Sasuke, Kakashi, Naruto, and Ryuu were all fighting the man, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Ryuu all using their Sharingan and Naruto using five clones at any given time. The problem was, the man was avoiding every attack without once throwing one. He ducked under a Flame Sword from Ryuu then spun past a stream of fire from Sasuke. Kakashi darted forward and drove a hand filled with lightning at him but he leapt over it and spun, redirecting a Naruto clone. The moment he landed, a second Kakashi exploded up from below only to receive a foot to the face and disappear in a puff of smoke.

The man suddenly threw his arms up, revealing hundreds of seals on the inside of his cloak, but he left them alone. He caught two of Naruto's clones by the fists and hurled them into two more, destroying all four. Then, he leapt over a combined fire blast from the three Sharingan users and made several hand seals.

"Fire Style, Searing Migraine!" he shouted before sending a massive wave of flames straight down, covering the area and destroying the last Naruto clone while the others barely escaped into the trees.

The jutsu ended, leaving everything in a quarter mile radius burning. The Konoha ninja all leapt to the ground, Ryuu reforming his Flame Sword again as the man landed across the new clearing from him. Kakashi and Sasuke also formed a Flame Sword and the man snorted and began walking forward.

The clearing still had the burnt husks of a few trees but for the most part was merely a scorched waste. Soot and ash fell slowly from the air, giving the area a claustrophobic feeling. Small fires dotted the area, illuminating everything in a bloody light, accented by the light of the three Sharingan users' Flame Swords.

The man summoned a katana from a seal inside his cloak and charged forward. Kakashi and Sasuke reacted first, charging forward and slashing at the man only for him to knock their blades aside then leap into the air and kick them both in opposite directions. Yugao and Hayate both appeared, slashing at the man with their katanas but he blocked both, punching Hayate in the throat before kicking Yugao toward a fire. Ryuu caught her, setting her down as Naruto swarmed the man with a dozen clones only for them all to be cut down instantly and Naruto to be slashed across the chest shallowly before being kicked into Sasuke. Ryuu drew his tanto, forming a Vacuum Blade over it and charged, slashing at the man. He blocked the slash and punched Ryuu in the stomach, forcing him five feet into the air, almost level with the man's head. The man then raised his arm and jumped smashing his elbow into Ryuu's back, launching him downward into the man's knee. Ryuu shot away from the man and crashed into a tree then stood, using his Vacuum Blade as a support while the man fended off Kakashi for a moment before dropping and kicking him away.

No one should be that strong, Kakashi thought pushing himself up again as Ryuu charged.

Ryuu slashed at the man but he sidestepped the attack then smashed the butt of his sword into the back of Ryuu's head, knocking him out. He threw Ryuu over his shoulder and returned his sword to its seal, sidestepping another Lightning Blade from Kakashi, who managed to blast a large portion of the cloak, missing the intended target by less than an inch. Kakashi spun, swinging his Lightning Blade again but the man caught his attack with his left hand and spun, hurling Kakashi across the clearing and into a tree before vanishing in a swirl of falling ash.


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