Chapter 45: Reunion

"Donnola (Itachi)…Fuori (Uchiha)!"

The dark-haired man stopped reaching for Gelato and glanced casually towards the end of the hallway. Gelato followed his gaze and found Tony standing there with his fists clenched and his face twisted with rage. Meanwhile, the blue-haired guy looked from Tony to the dark-haired guy and said, "Hey, Donnola, how does that kid know your name?"

After a brief sigh, the dark-haired man, Donnola, replied, "He's my younger brother."

This news shocked Gelato, because as he looked at Donnola now, he realized that he and Tony did bear some resemblance to one another in terms of hair and facial features. He also remembered when Tony mentioned that he was going to kill the man responsible for murdering his entire family, but that man couldn't be…

"I thought all the Fuori clan members were dead," the blue-haired guy said with a hint of disbelief. "And you said you killed them all."

But Donnola didn't seem offended. "Sometimes we make mistakes, Pescecane (Kisame)."

"Donnola, you don't know how long I've been waiting to kill you," Tony growled, and he gripped his left arm. Immediately, the bright blue light from his Mille Aquile appeared, accompanied by bird cries. "But now, after years of building my hatred for you, you die!"

Then without hesitation, Tony charged at Donnola with his Mille Aquile in hand, destroying the wall closest to his hand. Meanwhile, Donnola didn't move, and neither did the blue-haired guy Pescecane. But as Tony raised his hand for the finishing blow, Donnola suddenly reached out and grabbed Tony's wrist, moving it away from him so that the Mille Aquile blasted the wall behind Gelato instead. Luckily, Gelato managed to duck before the Mille Aquile hit the wall, and after the debris cleared, he saw Donnola squeeze Tony's wrist tightly, followed by a crack. Tony cried out in pain, and fell over to his side once Donnola let go of his wrist.

"I wish I could stay longer, Tony," Donnola said, turning away from Tony. "But I have more important things to take care of."

Angered, Gelato made a hand-sign (hand seal) and concentrated hard as a blue nature-energy (chakra) enveloped him. Donnola and Pescecane noticed this, with Pescecane remarking, "That's the nature-energy of the Nine-Headed Hydra (Nine-Tailed Fox), all right."

Next, Pescecane took the bass violin case off his back and held it like a gun. Donnola watched with disinterest as Pescecane opened a hole at the top of the case. Afterwards, Gelato's blue nature-energy got sucked into the hole, which forced Gelato to open his eyes. When he realized his nature-energy was gone, he looked quizzically at the bass violin case, which emitted a low gurgling sound from inside.

Pescecane chuckled. "Hate to disappoint you, kid, but your sad attempt at Alchemy (ninjutsu) is no match against my Pelle-di-Squalo (Samehada) gun, which can absorb nature-energy."

Feeling dumbstruck, Gelato started to back away, but Pescecane only advanced closer.

"Who are you guys, and what do you want with me?" Gelato asked.

"We're members of the criminal syndicate Alba Rossa (Akatsuki)," Pescecane answered. "But what makes us special from other crime syndicates is that every single member is a famous rogue from each of the thirteen Mafia families (Ninja Villages), and we're currently searching for the Nine Headed Beasts (Nine Tailed Beasts)."

"But what do you need the Nine-Headed Hydra for?"

Pescecane looked irritated and said, "You sure ask a lot of questions. Maybe I should cut out your tongue."

Then just as he was about to use his free-hand to grab a knife, a gun was shot from behind Gelato and whizzed right next to Pescecane's hand, forcing him to retreat it. When Gelato turned around, he saw Hercules carrying the woman he followed over one shoulder and holding a silver handgun in his other hand. Pescecane's eyebrows rose slightly, while Donnola sighed again.

"So you thought you could separate me and Gelato by fooling me with a girl who was under an Illusion?" Hercules said, and subsequently lowered the girl, placing her against the wall. "Well they don't call me the Great Beast Tamer for nothing, and you will both pay for your cowardice!"

"What are you talking about, Pimp?!" Gelato exclaimed. "The minute you saw that woman, you went head over heels for her!"

"Gelato, you're ruining my dramatic moment!" Hercules complained.

This made Pescecane chuckle again. "So the great Hercules is nothing more than a perverted old man. What a disappointment."

"I may be old, and I may be perverted, but I could easily take you and your partner down in less than ten minutes!" Hercules frowned, and was about to make a hand-sign when a series of groans came from behind Donnola.

Tony was trying to get up despite the pain coming from his wrist, and said, "Stay…out of this. The only one…who gets to fight Donnola…is me!"

He reached for his throwing knife (Kunai) and was about to make a jab at Donnola's waist when Donnola kicked Tony in the chest so hard that he flew all the way to the wall at the end of the hallway. Then before he could get up, Donnola ran up to him and gave Tony a series of severe punches and kicks. Gelato gritted his teeth as he watched, and so did Hercules. But when Hercules tried to step forward, Pescecane held the bass violin case in his way.

"I wouldn't interfere if I were you," Pescecane said. "Family quarrels should be left to sort themselves out."

While Hercules glared at Pescecane, Gelato watched as Donnola picked Tony up by the collar of his black dress-shirt, and slammed him against the wall.

"You may have gained new spells and attacks since we last met, but your hatred…" Donnola paused, and whispered in Tony's ear. "…Is still weak."

With his back turned, Gelato couldn't see what was going on, but was surprised when he heard Tony scream as if he were in pain, even though Donnola wasn't punching or kicking him anymore.

Pescecane looked over his shoulder and said, "How charming. Donnola is using the Caleidoscopio Specchio Occhi's Luna (Mangekyou Sharingan's Tsukuyomi) on his own brother."

That's it! I've had enough of just standing around and doing nothing, Gelato thought, and ran past Pescecane shouting, "Tony!"

Unfortunately, Pescecane noticed Gelato heading towards Tony and Donnola, and ran after Gelato. This made Hercules grit his teeth, and slam his hands on the floor. In the next minute, the hotel walls were covered in slimy pink walls. Pescecane and Gelato were unable to move as their feet sunk into the floors which had also changed. But Donnola didn't seem to mind as he pushed Tony further into the sticky pink wall in front of him.

"I have just placed you all in an Eagle Gizzard Bind Summoning (Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind), and you're not going anywhere," Hercules said, sneering at Donnola and Pescecane.

"That's great and all, Pimp, but why did you have to trap me as well?" Gelato asked as he tried to move.

"You have to trust me on this one, Gelato. I'm actually doing you a favor," Hercules replied.

Then shortly after Hercules spoke, Donnola managed to get his feet free, and ran down the adjacent hallway. Pescecane followed after him, trying to keep the bass violin case from touching the walls. When Gelato noticed them running, he ran after them, with Hercules following behind. At the end of the adjacent hallway, Gelato and Hercules were surprised to find that a hole had been punctured through the gizzard wall all the way to the outside where a full moon shone. But what fascinated the two more than the hole was what was around it.

"Hercules, what are those black flames?" Gelato asked, pointing to them.

"I don't know, Gelato, but I assume that's what they used to escape," said Hercules. Next, he took a small black book out of his coat pocket, turned to a blank page, and drew a series of Latin words in a circular pattern with a fountain pen. Then he placed the open book on the floor, made a hand-sign and said, "Fire Fennel* Seal (Fire Sealing Method)!"

The black flames responded by turning into blue nature-energy and spiraled down onto the page, where an Alchemical symbol appeared at the center. After that, Hercules waved his hand in an arc above his head, and the gizzard walls vanished, being replaced by the hotel ones. When this happened, Tony was released from the wall that held him up and he fell face forward to the floor. Gelato noticed and immediately ran up to him. Apart from blood coming out of his mouth and nose, Tony didn't seem to stir. Hercules walked up behind Gelato and was about to examine Tony when Scar Face (Might Guy) came up the stairs to their right.

"Everyone started evacuating the building, so I had to see what the trouble was," Scar Face said. "I figured it had to be those two guys from Alba Rossa, but I didn't expect to find you guys here. What's going on?"

"Those Alba Rossa guys tried to kidnap Gelato by distracting me with a woman under an Illusion," Hercules explained, glancing back at the woman who was still unconscious. "Then Tony showed up and tried to fight one of them, who turned out to be his brother Donnola, but he got beaten up pretty badly. I tried to trap the two men with my Eagle Gizzard Bind, but somehow they managed to get out of it."

"But that's impossible!" Scar Face exclaimed. "No one's ever gotten out of your Eagle Gizzard Bind before!"

"Well, those two did it, and the only clue they left were these black flames." Hercules held up the black book as he spoke.

"Black flames, huh?" Scar Face glanced at Tony, and frowned. "I don't know much about Fuori Clan spells, but just by looking at Tony, I can see that he's suffering from the same thing that Donnola used on Spauracchio earlier today."

"Spauracchio was attacked?" Gelato was surprised. "Why?"

Scar Face looked at Gelato and explained, "Shortly after you left, Donnola and his partner Pescecane came into Foglia territory looking for you. Naturally, we tried to stop them, but Pulito (Asuma), Rossore (Kurenai), and Spauracchio were quickly beaten."

"All because they wanted…me." Gelato clenched his fists and said, "Well they're not going to get away with it! Hercules, let's go to the Alba Rossa headquarters and give those guys what they deserve!"

"As much as I'd like to give those guys a piece of my mind as well, I'm afraid we can't take that risk," Hercules said, folding his arms. "Our mission is too important, and besides, you would be no match for them."

Thinking back to what Pescecane did to his nature-energy, Gelato frowned and punched a nearby wall instead. Then after that was over, he walked over to Scar Face and asked, "That thing Donnola did to Spauracchio and Tony…will they be healed?"

"Physically, yes, but their minds are beyond our reach," Scar Face looked away for a brief moment. "It's one thing to see your best friend hurt in battle, but not as much as seeing fellow Soldiers being wounded. I'm not sure if our doctors will be able to cure them, let alone our Healers (Medical Ninja). We need someone who is an expert in Healing Alchemy to restore Spauracchio, Tony, and even Beni Niro (Rock Lee) back to normal. But right now, there's no one in our territory who has that kind of power."

Silently, Scar Face picked up Tony, put him on his back, and was about to walk away when Hercules said, "Actually, me and Gelato are looking for someone who has those kind of skills."

Scar Face turned around with his eyes wide. "You don't mean -

Hercules nodded. "Megara is the most skilled Healing Alchemist I know, and she'll be the next Godfather if we manage to persuade her."

End of Chapter 45

*Fennel was the name of the plant Prometheus used to conceal the fire he stole from the Gods