"Alright, I'm back. Anyone dead?" Tomoe's voice sounded as the kunoichi materialized from nowhere. She glanced down with a deadpan at the still down clown. "Damn, you kids take things too literal. I was joking when I said we should kill him."

"He did that to himself."

"Still, you should have stopped him."

"Oh yes, because I'm such the speedster right now."

"Don't make excuses."

"Who the hell said I was making excuses?" She lifted an eyebrow.

"I did, you dumb little bitch, and I'm always right."

"You two do know he's not actually dead, right," Law pointed out.

Both Tadashi exchanged annoyed glances.

"He ruined the fun."

"I know he did, Runt. I guess it's just his thing." Tomoe shot the thirteen-year old an icy glare before kicking the large blonde clown. "Oi, Cora-kun, get up. It's clear to head in."

"It's what?" The clown still looked pouty as he rolled over and sat up.

"Half the invading country is shut down, if there was ever a time to go without conflict it would be now."

"Conflict?" He glanced off to the northeast where a town was likely located.

"Oh no, we're not going there." Tomoe placed her hand on his head and adjusted it to where it was facing the blob that was floating just off the island.

"WHAT?! TOMOE-SAN, NO!" Wow, Kikyo thought his eyes only popped out like that when she told him to go fuck himself.

"Cora-kun, yes."

He desperately pointed back to the island they were on. "But-but-but, the country—"

"Is in shambles, Cora-kun. The invading country basically pillaged their new subjects," she scoffed. "Our best bet is to hope that the invaders have an economy besides pirating." The kunoichi pulled the young Tadashi onto her back. "You can stay here or leave if you want, but I need to get these supplies."

"I—but—" He glanced at Law.

"Don't look at me for guidance. Tomoe mentioned that they may be less superstitious here and considering their advances in technology I would bet they have made astounding medical advances. I'm not passing up this chance for a cure."

"I-I…"

"Bye, Cora-kun," Tomoe called as she finally gave up and began walking.

"W-wait!" There was a sound of rapid foot fall before there was a distinct thud.

"I am so sick of these idiots," Tomoe mumbled under her breath and rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Tomoe, how did you finish your scouting so quickly?" Law asked. "It'll take us just as long to cross over to the floating country as it did for you to leave and come back? You didn't half-ass it, did you?"

"You dumbass." Kikyo pointed her finger at him. "The only thing Tomoe half-asses is her sword making." She nodded at the accurate defense.

A tick mark popped atop the kunoichi's head. "You want me to drop you, Runt?" She glanced back and the girl could see her eyebrow twitching. "And I don't owe you any explanation, Runt #2, I'm a shinobi and I don't have to share my fucking methods with an ignorant brat."

The boy mumbled something that would most likely have gotten him bitch slapped had Tomoe had heard whatever the fuck it was.

"You're so stupid, Law, shinobi have an entire arsenal of techniques to gather information. It would take all day to cover even half."

"With abilities like that, it's surprising that a ninja hasn't destroyed the world."

"Dumbass, that would be harder than you think considering how many shinobi there are."

"But if it's done right, destroying the world is particularly easy."

"Only after a while."

"How so?" He crossed his arms and gave her a skeptical look.

"Well, you gotta take out the leaders, but to do that you have to take out the top of their military first so that their armed forces are unorganized. In doing that you also get rid of the strongest opponents. Then, kill their leaders so that the people are in a frenzied panic. From there it's easy pickings and you can use whatever you feel like."

"Ptf!" he scoffed. "No, idiot, if you want to do that then start with all the doctors. Then they can't heal their injured. Once they're all gone, you're free to begin biological warfare. Leak it into water supplies and they're done."

"And if you get sick?"

"I would have my own cure before even doing it."

"No you wouldn't, you suck."

"No I don't!"

"Aren't you afraid you catch it?" Her lips twitched up.

"SHUT UP!"

"Besides, wouldn't killing all the doctors be bad for someone like you who can get sick? What if you get seriously injured?"

"I could take care of myself. I know a lot about medicine."

"But what if you can't? What if it's a terribly crippling injury. How the hell are you going to operate on yourself if you lose something like your right arm? You better fucking learn to ambidextrous before you kill off the real doctors."

"Oh, like your method is so much more effective!"

"It is. You get the problem out of the way quickly and then you can just blow everyone else up. You leave nothing behind so you don't have to deal with disposing of rotting corpses."

"STOP! You're children!" The clown was completely appalled. "You shouldn't be talking about such morbid things!"

"We're not talking, we're arguing, get your shit straight, Corazon." Law rolled his eyes. By now an enormous moving island that sat on a large series that must have been spherical flotation devices was in full view and a gigantic ramp which must have been used in the siege was down, leading from the beach to the edge of the country. The pathway was littered with tire tracks, mud, and something that smell and looked suspiciously like blood. When hearing about this country, Kikyo figured they would have been heading for some kind of giant fleet, but this place looked more like a city than a fleet of warships. The civilization was composed of many stone buildings and towers in an architecture that was very different from anything they had in the Elemental Nations. In the center was an enormous series of stone towers that connected high above all the rest. Was that a castle? Its design was so weird.

"Tomoe-san! Talk some sense into them!"

"I was just about to." She cleared her voice. "Both of you runts are going about this the wrong way." She wiggled her finger. "There's a peaceful way and a destructive way to do this. The peaceful way is slow and steady. You act all nice, seem like you're their friend, all the meanwhile you verbally tear down any leader who opposes you, make it seem like they're the problem. Meanwhile, you come across as this great hero, a savior. That way whenever someone dares go against you; their own people will turn on them. When that happens enough, even those who do disagree with you will remain silent due to the fear of a coup de ta.

"And then there's the tyrannical way where you become a complete dictator and seize the power through fear and weapons. You rise above all the others and execute your competition publicly. That path is much quicker and much bloodier. It also has a higher risk of being overthrown by the people that serve you."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!" The blonde clown was foaming at the mouth.

"Yeah, we weren't talking about taking over the world, Tomoe." Kikyo frowned. "Who would want that job? We were arguing over the best way to destroy it."

"Oh? In that case—"

"TOMOE-SAN?!" His foaming and hysteria caused the clown to trip again.

"—The easiest way would be to start with the doctors, or at least the ones that aren't on your side."

"Ha!" Law pointed and laughed.

"Once the doctors are done, then you assault the political leaders. But, from there the reigns open up." They were at the end of the ramp and on the edge of the country's city.

"So, you would kill the leaders before disorganizing their militaries?" she asked.

"I think in the process of eliminating them you'd have to face the militaries anyway. If someone attacked the Daimyo, don't you think you'd have to kill their guards anyway?"

"But if I just kill the guards and the Daimyo, then I'd have to deal with the 4th, and if the Daimyo is already dead then I have no leverage."

"Let me finish, geez. You attack the political leaders which disrupts their organization – especially if they weren't well liked. New leaders will attempt to take power which will cause internal strife. Meanwhile you deal with those who are actually threatening while everyone debates on what to do next. From there, you just have fun. Alternatively, you can frame those who are threatening for the murder and let them deal with each other."

"Okay, I think I get it. In the chaos, we have a lot more freedom to use different methods."

"Just choose your methods carefully."

"You sound way too enlightened in methods to destroy the world," Law proclaimed.

"Oi, when you been in the military as long as I have, you pick up on how things are run and how the cracks in the system work."

"All of you… you're horrible…" Blue lines covered the clown's head.

"Get off your fucking pity pot, Cora-kun. Every kid plots to destroy the world once in their lives."

"What kind of children are you around?!"

Tomoe lifted an eyebrow and pointed to her back. The nine-year-old took the opportunity to give the clown and evil smirk, hoping it might give him nightmares.

"Alright." Tomoe clapped to make sure she was the center of attention. "Since Cora-kun is such a whiny bitch, we're going to split into two groups in order to speed up the shopping process." Tomoe handed the clown and terminal midget a small piece of paper before sending them down a street.

"That was a little unexpected," Kikyo stated as Tomoe carried her down a different path. "Aren't you afraid they'll mess it up if one of us isn't there?"

"No." From her shoulder, Kikyo could see the older Tadashi's sharp Ryugan scanning the environment. "If they fuck up then they'll be screwing themselves."

"And us," she reminded her.

"No."

"No? What the hell do you mean no?" Had Tomoe become delirious?

"We, as in you and I, are leaving after we have our supplies."

"What?!" Her grip tightened. "Listen, I know their stupid, but they have a boat! And you told the midget you would find a cure for his poison!"

"Kikyo—"

"If this is about you being pissed at him for having to take care of me then that's dumb!"

"Kikyo—"

"You said ninja help people too! Are you going back on your word?!"

"Tadashi Kikyo!" she barked loudly. "You're so fucking impatient!" she growled. "Would you fucking let me speak?!"

"If this is some dumbass excuse—"

"I can't cure it."

"—For aban… what…?" Her face dropped. Did Tomoe just say that she couldn't do something?

"I can't find a cure for the poison, I've tried over a hundred combinations for an antidote, but it's practically imbedded in his cells. There's nothing I can do about it." Her face fell even more. Tomoe never said things like that, was she making it up? Was she lying so she wouldn't have to travel with those two idiots again? Was she doing it so Law would die? "Don't give me that look, Runt." Tomoe scowled back over her shoulder. "I came to the conclusion about a week ago. I was waiting for the right time to say it when…" She ground her teeth.

"But Tomoe…" How could she give up?

"Sorry, Runt, but it's over and done with." She turned to face the road. "Besides, it's time to move on." Her eyes darted to dark, stormy clouds that rolled over the edge of the doomed country. "Shinobi must always put their mission above their own wants and needs."

Kikyo stared. The mission? "Is it like the other storm?" But that sounded stupid. How could there be two Outsides? Were the teleportation jutsu storms really all that common? It had barely been two months since they came to the Outside!

Tomoe nodded. "When we leave here, that's where we'll be going."

"Doesn't it need to be inspected first?"

"It is, along with the rest of this and the other country."

"It is? H…" The young kunoichi-to-be pursed her lips. There was no way in hell she would sit through another shadow clone lecture. "How much have you seen?"

"This country is congregating in the city square for something so nicking a few files here and there isn't too difficult."

Tomoe was right, the country was congregating, they had to be because half of the places the two stopped was either already closed or closing for the day, doubling in the amount of time it took for them to gather supplies.

"Come on, Runt." Tomoe picked the child up once more after she had finished sealing what rations they could get ahold of in her scroll. "Let's go see what all the buzz is about."

"Isn't it bad to go to a crowded place?" Tomoe was basically ransacking this country's information from the shadows and she wanted to go to some big party thing?!

"Not if you know how to do it right," she replied with a smirk, insinuating that she knew how to do just that. Kikyo watched as Tomoe flawlessly merged them into a large group a people and were basically led to whatever the hell this was.

"Hey!" The clown called excitedly with bags in his hands.

"Oh joy." Tomoe didn't sound very joyful. Maybe she was hoping to lose them for good when they separated for the shopping.

"I was wondering when we'd find you guys! I guess you got swept up in this big crowd too, right?" He smiled widely and his cigarette caught his feather coat on fire.

"Yep, not going to miss having to deal with that." Tomoe had a sweatdrop.

Kikyo scanned the bags. "Your haul looks a little skimpy, doesn't it?" The pair only had four begs between them."

"This was all we could get before Corazon was practically thrown out of a store by the manager. He totally chewed him out for grocery shopping when such an important event was today."

"What's the event?" Maybe Law had heard something about it.

"Who knows, we got what we need and now we can leave," the clown commented. He turned to leave when Tomoe let out a sharp whistle. She lifted an eyebrow and gestured to the front.

"Hey! Why—"

"Sh!" Tomoe gave him a warning glare and gestured once again to a high stage where a man had walked up to a microphone. Behind him was a two-story high portrait of a little blonde haired boy, smiling gladly in the picture.

The man then began to speak of how he was killed in an accident and what a tragedy it was for their country and how he was a pillar blah, blah, blah. Man, if the kid was the leader's son and they lost him in an accident, Kikyo would bet Hogoken that someone had to have gotten fired or killed in the process. She laid there, gripping Tomoe's back as the grown shinobi stood quietly and listened to the memorial service.

"Who's dead? I can't see?" Law said from the ground.

"It's a kid about our age."

"Our age? I'm older than you."

"But you look ten, midget, so I'm including you."

"Shut the fuck up!" Tomoe hissed at the other three. "Show some fucking respect for the dead!" She then mumbled about them being raised in barns or something like that. What did she care? She didn't know the kid or anything, so why did it bother her?

Kikyo sighed, if Tomoe was doing it then there had to be some reason for it. Or at least that's what she'd think if she hadn't just given up on helping the terminal midget so that he wouldn't be terminal anymore! But, there was nowhere the nine-year-old could go and skulk around at the moment because of her physical condition, so she sat patiently and tried to do as Tomoe said and be respectful of the dead kid who apparently didn't have someone to take his kunai away… but she got bored. Her eyes and mind began to wonder and noticed a few odd things about this country. First, there were sixes everywhere, clothes, flags, and some even had tattoos of the number. Another thing, so many of the people in this country looked the same, like, exactly the same! Either they wanted the kid to seem more popular with using multiple clones to improve the crowd mass… or there were some seriously dangerous levels of incest in the country.

The memorial must have ended or decided to take a break because people began to depart and Tomoe moved on as well.

"Alright, now, let's head back to the ship. I'd rather spend the night sailing than anywhere near this place." The clown unrolled his map after they had exited the mobile island and were back on solid ground. "Plus, we can get a head start for the next island."

"Actually, Cora-kun, I was meaning to talk to you about that." Tomoe sat Kikyo down by a tree and ushered for the two adults to talk in private. Why did adults always do that? Kikyo and Law were both as fucked up as they came, what the hell could they possibly have to hide from them?

"You two are leaving." Law sat down as well.

"Yep." She popped the 'p'. "I tried to talk to her about the poison thing, but she told me there was nothing more she could do." The feeling of annoyance filled her chest. "I can't believe she would just give up on it so easily, it's so unlike her. I thought she was, if nothing else, stubborn enough to not let something get the better of her. I think she's using it as an excuse so we can leave." Why else would Tomoe say she couldn't do something? She was supposed to be this amazing shinobi that… "… Not that anyone was surprised. Fuck up Tomoe had fucked up again…" She sighed, right, she was putting Tomoe on too high a pedestal again. Kikyo wondered how hard it was for her to admit that she couldn't do something about the terminal midget's poison problem. It was easy to forget sometimes that Tomoe couldn't do something because it seemed like she could do everything so much better than other people, especially Kikyo.

"I wasn't really expecting any results anyway. My father was the greatest doctor in our country and he worked for months, fruitlessly trying to find a cure, if he couldn't do it then I didn't put much faith in someone who wasn't a true doctor." He pulled his knees in and scratched one of the white bruises on his cheek. "But she was willing to do more than anyone else was and for that I'm grateful."

She scowled. "I think you'd be a lot more grateful if she actually did something."

"Again I state, she did a lot more than everyone else."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Where are the two of you going to head next? Are you going to steal a ship or something and head your own way?"

"Honestly?" Kikyo glanced at the not-terribly-distant dark clouds. "I have no fucking clue."

"I suppose there's no delaying this then." Law dug in his pocket and pulled out a small leather wristlet. "Corazon told me I had to apologize and be nice." He held the wristlet out, his eyebrow twitching.

She glanced at the small accessory. "And because you're a rude, angry little midget, you would rather present me with a token of peace instead of actually saying it and having to wash the taste of apology out of your mouth later."

"Glad we've come to an understanding." He nodded, accepting the truth.

"Hold on, I didn't say I would accept your shitty gift."

"Bitch."

She snatched the wristlet and tied it on her right wrist. It was simple and comfortable and even covered the scar from her kunai. "But seeing as the clown was jumping down your throat about it, I'll pretend to accept so that everyone will shut the fuck up about it and throw your shitty peace offering in the trash later." She sneered, feeling good enough to let some bitchiness out.

"Tch, whatever. I don't fucking care anyway," he snarked back.

Kikyo saw the adults walking back to where they were sitting. "Good luck on your cure, midget."

"Yeah, you too, crippled bitch," he scoffed.

"Alright, Runt." Tomoe had returned to pull the nine-year-old onto her back. "We don't have much light left so we better go while we can."

"Fine," she huffed from her guardian's shoulder.

"Good-bye Tomoe-san! Good-bye Kikyo!" The clown waved from beside Law.

"Bye, Kikyo-chan!" Law yelled in the most mocking tone the young kunoichi-to-be had ever fucking heard.

…

… Oh, that cheeky little son of a bitch. "Tomoe, put me down." Tick marks covered her head. She'd rip his fucking tongue out for thinking that he could talk to her like she was a fucking child!

"You can't move kid."

"THEN FUCKING THROW ME!" she snapped. "Aim for the head," she said in a much lower and more sinister tone. "I can strangle him from there." Fucking midget thought he could get away with it after she beat the shit out of the clown for doing it? He fucking thought wrong!

"As fun as that sounds, I would have to go back and get you aaaand I really don't feel like doing that, especially when we're just now getting some fucking distance."

"But—!" She glared back at his fucking pompous-ass face.

"You can always have faith in his painful death."

The girl glanced back at the two figures that were quickly diminishing in size. "Yeah." She nodded. "You fucking midget! You better hope that poison kills you! If not, you're going to wish it did!" She managed to hold her middle finger high in the air.

"Feel better?"

"No, not really." She rested her chin on the kunoichi's should and watched the storm that they would be closing in on soon, wondering if this other Outside was as fucked up as this one.