Here comes the new chapter of FHDFHR!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Negima.

Chapter 12
Death and Despair

Start

The soft patter of feet across water echoed along the walls of the sewer as a woman with pale blonde hair and dark eyes ran with much strength away from something. She jumped away as something whizzed towards her and splashed against the water. She landed in a large section of the sewer when she smirked. "You'll have to do better than that to catch the nimble and fast Nii Yugito."

"Heh, then again, I have the slowest attack speed in Akatsuki," the owner of the weapon sneered. "Maybe it's just that you're faster than my scythe."

"I was right. You are from Akatsuki." She flicked a hair strand back. "So I'm next in line, huh?"

A deep voice answered, "Essentially, yes, you are. We already have the Ichibi in our grasp and our other partners are on their way to collect the Sanbi, Yonbi, and Gobi."

Ichibi, she wondered in shock. Then, she went back into a smirk. "Well, the Ichibi jinchuuriki may have lost to you but you better not underestimate me! I have been trained by Raikage-sama himself in speed and power!"

The two Akatsuki revealed themselves fully into the light of the sewers. The first, the one with the scythe weapon, had shoulder-length silver hair and purple eyes. His Akatsuki cloak was open near the top, revealing his slashed hitai-ite and a necklace of sorts with the symbol of a triangle in a circle.

The second had tanned skin and green, pupil-less eyes. Most of his head was covered by a white hood and his mouth was covered by a black mask. Like any other normal shinobi, his hitai-ite was on his forehead, slashed across the insignia.

"Ho, look at that!" The scythe Akatsuki exclaimed. "The little kitten has some claws! Haha! We'll see how much bravado you've got, bitch!"

"Mind your tongue, Hidan," the masked Akatsuki retorted. "We are in the presence of a lady. It would not do well to be foul-mouthed."

"Don't make me kill you too, Kakuzu."

Yugito frowned before she made a handseal. "Don't mock me! I'm a kunoichi of Kumogakure! I will not fall to the likes of you!" A series of explosions rocked the place and closed off all the exits. "You will not leave this place alive. I purposefully led you here so that I can seal off all exits."

"Well, what do you know? She has some brains, after all." Hidan grinned.

"No," Kakuzu replied, "if anything, she's dumber than first realized. We are the Akatsuki. We do not retreat and we have no need to. We already failed once. We shall not do so again."

Hidan, for once, flinched. "I told you before, don't fucking remind me! Leader was so bitchy when we didn't manage to reach our objective! I still have those scars!"

"Hmm," Kakuzu looked at him. "I was right, after all. You are a masochist, not just with your puny god. You can easily remove those scars."

"What's that?! I should kill you along with that bitch to Jashin-sama!"

"Just try it, Hidan. But do it later. We should concentrate on the moment."

"Tch, now my blood is riled up." He started grinning madly at Yugito. "When my blood is riled up, it goes to my head. And when it goes to my head-"

"Hidan," Kakuzu warned but was ignored.

"It makes me focus only on one thing: DESTROY! DESTROY EVERYTHING! That is Jashin-sama's way! We spill blood and destroy everything for his sake! Anything less is a sin!"

Yugito looked disgusted. "You sicken me." She crouched on all-fours, like a cat about to pounce on mice. Blue flames of chakra erupted from her body and encased around her to form a gigantic, two-tailed cat with a yellow right eye and green left eye. Her voice took on a sharp feline yet bass tone. "I'll get rid of you once and for all!"

She slammed a paw on Kakuzu and fired a large fireball at Hidan. The sewers then rumbled.

A piece of stone rubble shook and flipped over to reveal a smirking Hidan. "So that's the power of the Nibi no Bakeneko, the Ima Yurei (Living Ghost). This is going to be FUN!"

Back in Konoha

Fate, who stood atop the Yondaime stone head, twitched for some unknown reason. Closing his eyes, he ignored the arrival of Minato, Kakashi, and Negi. Then, he opened his eyes and whispered, "Keikakudori…"

He then turned to face the three. "Is there something you need?"

"Ah, yes," Minato said, "Kakashi and I planned to train you and Negi-san and went to get you both."

"Train," he pondered, "train us on what?"

"Negi-san told us that his affinities are towards wind and lightning, quite impressive for his age. So, Kakashi and I will train him on those two affinities. After all, Kakashi is the foremost expert in Raiton jutsu and I am the apex of all Fuuton users. As for you, heh," he smirked. "I can train you on how to expand on your Rasengan."

Fate blinked. "Do you mean to tell me that you will train me how to take it to the highest level? You will train me how to incorporate the elements into the Rasengan?"

Minato grinned at his son's veiled enthusiasm. Good, at least, he's starting to mellow out. "You heard me. I have already done my part and created a Fuuton Rasengan. I'm also on my way to create a Raiton Rasengan."

Negi was soon surprised to see a small hint of a smile in his face. Unlike his previous smiles, this smile was more natural.

The people in Mahora didn't miss that smile either.

"He looks oddly handsome with that smile," Mana commented. Everyone looked at her. "What? He does."

"Fate-sama is ours, woman," Shirabe sternly said.

"I see. Well, I can't refuse, can I? And what of Negi-kun's companions? Who will train them?"

"I had Kushina, Tsunade-sama, and Shizune train them."

He stood silently as he looked behind him to the horizon. However, no one seemed to notice that he stared into the general direction of Kaminari no Kuni. "Then let's begin."

Back to Yugito

She was defeated, plain and simple. She underestimated the two Akatsuki and paid the price. She is now stuck to a broken wall, held in place by a stake piercing her conjoined hands above her. Beneath her, Hidan was lying down on the ground in the center of a larger version of the symbol around his neck. The odd thing was that he was covered in black and white markings that made him look like the Grim Reaper and that he had a stake going through his chest.

Beside him, Kakuzu sighed in annoyance. "Oi, Hidan, are you finished yet? It's already been 30 minutes!"

"Fuck you, Kakuzu," Hidan replied, who raised his hand to remove the stake from his chest. "Unlike you, I have great devotion to my god!"

"Hmph, whatever," he sneered. "We still have a few more trips to go before we cash in…hmm?"

Both Akatsuki looked to the side, where Zetsu soon emerged from the ground. "Finally, you're done with that awfully long ritual. I don't see the point in it at all. What's the point in continually mutilating yourself just to please your god? He must be a masochist."

"Heh, that's what I told him."

"Shut the fuck up," Hidan shouted, "both of you! You're both fuckin atheists who can't get a life!"

"I have a life," Kakuzu retorted humorously. "For me, money is the only thing I'll need. In fact, you could say money is my religion." Then, he started mumbling off. "Hmm…maybe I should be the first to create the Money religion."

"As for me, I don't really even care about religion. I'm the only person I'll ever believe in."

"Tch, someday I'll kill both of you."

"Anyway, Leader-sama wants the Nibi back at base. I'll take her to him. You two can go frolic and look for the leprechaun at the end of the rainbow."

But unbeknownst to the three Akatsuki, Yugito Nii was conscious, although barely, as she softly whispered, "Keikakudori…"

Konoha

"So these are the pups that came with Naruto," one Inuzuka Tsume asked Kushina, Tsunade and Shizune. They crossed paths en route to the training grounds and she decided to come along for the heck of it. "They look so fresh out of the academy."

"Don't let appearances fool you, Tsume-chan," Kushina replied, "they held their own against Akatsuki's Akasuna no Sasori during the Godaime Kazekage's retrieval."

"I know. That must have been one heck of a party. Pity I didn't come. I would have loved to give those Akatsuki a taste of my claws." Her partner, Kuromaru, barked in agreement. "So what are we training these pups on?"

Tsunade replied, "Well, essentially, we're going to have them learn some jutsus that they can use before we have them start on combat experience training. They haven't yet experienced the might of the ninjas of the Elemental Countries, have they?"

"Well, well, well, this ought to be fun. I'm going to skip on the teaching jutsu stuff. Call me when we get to the fight part. I'll take that Inugami fellow."

Kotarou, for some reason, shivered. That doesn't sound good.

In another training ground

"Okay," Minato started, "so let's begin. Negi-san, you studied the Kage Bunshin beforehand, right?" The redhead nodded. "So it means that you know how to use it?"

"Yes. The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu creates an exact replica of the user. An advantage of this jutsu, compared to other bunshinjutsu, is that anything that the clone learns or experiences is transferred over to the original when it is dispelled. As such, it is perfect for learning difficult jutsus and for incognito missions."

"Heh," Evangeline smirked. "That would have been useful in training boya in different magic spells."

"Good, you studied well. Yes. It's exactly that. Also, the more clones one creates, the faster the user learns a jutsu. Hence, if you create five clones, you can learn a jutsu five times the normal rate; and with ten, ten times the normal rate; and with a hundred, a hundred times. Sadly, since the Kage Bunshin splits chakra evenly between clones, it would take someone with exceptionally large reserves to create and maintain that many clones. Kakashi, for one, cannot create as many clones as you did, Naruto, when you were young."

"What about you then, Minato-san?"

"As for me," he smiled, "well, I never really thought about it. By estimation, I can create a few hundred clones. Anyway, that's where you two come in. I already know that Naruto's chakra reserves are exponentially high, since he is an offspring of a Kage and an Uzumaki, as well as the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko. I also sensed quite a large amount of energy from you, Negi-san. That's why I had you learn the Kage Bunshin as well."

He blushed a bit. "Thank you."

"So, Kakashi, go ahead and train Negi-san in some Raiton jutsus. I'll start training Naruto in Rasengan."

"Right," Kakashi said, "so, Negi-san, you have Fuuton and Raiton. I'm not much for Fuuton myself. I have Raiton as my main element, Katon as my second, Doton as my third, and Suiton as my fourth." Negi looked at him in awe. "What? Are you surprised that I can use four elements? Don't be. That is just borrowed power. The secret to that is this," he lifted his headband to reveal a spinning Sharingan. "But even I know not to get arrogant with its use. I took everything I learned and perfected and mastered them. That's how I came to be known as the Sharingan no Kakashi, the man who has copied over a thousand jutsu."

"Whoa," Negi's eyes were stars.

"Tch," Evangeline scoffed, "he's still easily impressed."

"Anyway, the very foundation of Raiton is vibration. Its high-speed vibration allows it to pierce anything it is targeted on. Take this, for example." He formed a single handseal and pointed at a nearby tree, "Raiton: Byakurai." A single bolt of lightning burst from his finger and went through a number of trees before dissipating. "And that is just a minor jutsu. With proper training, you can use even more powerful jutsus. One of the most powerful Raiton jutsus I know is created by Sasuke himself. That Raiton jutsu is called Kirin."

"Really, how powerful is it, Kakashi-san?"

"I haven't faced it personally since sensei was the one who tested him. According to him, Kirin can obliterate mountains." He chuckled. "That's a genius for you."

Negi was awestruck. This Kirin must be similar to his Thousand Thunderbolts.

"At first, Sasuke needed the proper weather conditions to use Kirin since it requires a massive amount of lightning. But as of now, Sasuke can use Kirin without even resorting to changing the weather. He has adapted his chakra to accommodate that large amount of lightning. Anyway, we're getting off-topic. I don't really know how well-versed you are in Raiton but according to Fate, you are powerful in Raiton. That makes it easier. I can teach you some powerful Raiton jutsus without having to worry much. Let's begin. First, create some Kage Bunshin."

Negi nodded and made the cross-shaped seal. At once, the area behind him was full of Negis.

"Heh, I'll be damned. Alright, the first Raiton jutsu I'll be teaching you is the Raiju Hashiri no Jutsu."

With Minato

Minato was greatly impressed. He knew that Fate didn't need chakra control. So he wouldn't bother with leaf cutting, or waterfall cutting or anything like that. He simply jumped straight to the actual lesson: the mixing of the elements with the Rasengan. The area was also filled with Fate clones, which were split into five different groups, one group for each element. He then looked to the side, where he saw Fate sitting in a seiza position, meditating. Minato suddenly got an idea. Maybe I should have Jiraiya-sensei teach Naruto some senjutsu.

He returned his gaze to the clone groups. They're already making good progress. What Minato found amusing is that every single clone is training without even a single expression of discomfort or difficulty. And they're training using their right hands, not like how Naruto used to create Rasengans with himself and a clone.

He sensed Fate twitch and saw that the Rasengans the clones were making dissipated. What happened?

"It's nothing," Fate replied through his meditation. "I simply lost concentration."

There's more to it than that, Minato knew. But he knew that he would sooner get a harem of females than have Fate give a reason for his loss of concentration.

Mizu no Kuni

"Hey, Deidara-senpai," Tobi shouted, "did you see me? I beat up that Sanbi real good, neh?" Underneath Tobi, a gigantic carapace of the Sanbi no Kyodaigame was wrapped and chained to a flying clay bird by Deidara.

The blond Akatsuki clicked his tongue. "Don't get cocky, Tobi! The beast was outside a jinchuuriki so it's basically ruled by instincts, hm. Besides, weren't you the one who were complaining that you weren't fit for this job and that Kisame was more suited for this Bijuu?"

"Hehe, I was joking?"

Deidara glowered before he let loose some clay bombs at him. "THAT WAS NOT A TIME FOR JOKES, IDIOT!"

Back to Konoha

Minato smiled with pride at his son's progress. His eyes then went serious as he asked, "What is it?"

Behind him, a person in a monk attire knelt. "I have come to report Akatsuki sightings, Hokage-sama. Two members have infiltrated the Fire Temple and fought Chiriku-sama. Also, they have taken the pseudo-jinchuuriki, Sora, with them."

The Hokage's eyes narrowed. So they knew. Sora, the son of one of the Shugonin Junishi, was made into a pseudo-jinchuuriki by his father, Kazuma, who acquired Kyuubi's chakra when it attacked 16 years ago. Kazuma was one of the six who wanted to stage a coup d'état against the Hokage. The other six, which included Chiriku and Sarutobi Asuma, stopped them but at the cost of the four other members. Just recently, but before Fate arrived in Konoha, Kazuma, under the guise of Furido, tried to take the corpses of those four. Somehow, Kazuma couldn't resurrect them but he could make do without them. He also manipulated his son by saying that Asuma killed his father. Minato sent Kakashi's and Asuma's team to deal with the traitor and they dealt justice. Sora, on the other hand, was revealed the truth when he was eavesdropping on the two groups fighting, where Furido exposed his plan. Since then, he's training to control Kyuubi's chakra. Also, for some odd reason, the three members of Kazuma's team weren't recovered for interrogation, even though the two teams claimed that they didn't kill them.

"I see. Call the Niju Shotai. It's time to take the offensive."

Later

"Are we clear? All of you are to head to the Fire Temple."

"I have a question, Hokage-sama." Asuma asked. "Should Chiriku be there? I mean, he became a monk after retiring from the Shugonin Junishi."

The monk beside Minato sighed in despair. "Chiriku-sama fell before the might of Akatsuki."

Asuma's eyes were wide in horror before they narrowed. "I see…"

"That's your mission," Minato said. "You are not to let Akatsuki escape. Also, if possible, retrieve the son of Kazuma from their possession."

Asuma twitched again before Minato shouted, "Dismissed!"

Land of Fire Bounty Station

"Tch, typical, why does that fucking bounty station have to be in a literally shitty place?" Hidan whined. "I don't know what's worse: the smell of piss and shit or the smell of corpses!"

"If you don't like it here, then leave," Kakuzu said. "I don't need you with me now anyway."

"Tch, whatever, I'll be waiting for you then. You better hurry up or I'll destroy this whole shithole. A guy can only take some much waiting before he snaps." He left.

"He must not like smelly places much." The bounty man said.

"It's kind of surprising, considering the work we do. Anyway, where's my money?"

"Ah, here you go. Don't spend it all in one place." As he put Chiriku's corpse into his respective chamber, he said, "I couldn't help noticing that kid on your partner's shoulder."

Kakuzu softly snapped, "Don't even ask about that kid. If you do, then I'll be forced to kill you."

"Ehehe, I'm sorry about that. Curiosity killed the cat, eh? By the way, your companion doesn't seem to be easily swayed by money. Why won't you change partners?"

"It's because he's the only one that can."

He blinked. "What do you mean?"

Kakuzu turned to the exit. "I've had previous partners before. But they all irritated me and I, with my short temper, killed them all. However, with this guy, no matter how many times I try, he cannot be killed."

Outside

"Che, I left the damn station more than a minute ago but the smell still sticks." He heard footsteps behind him. "Is that you, Kakuzu? You sure took your damn time." He heard a whizzing noise so he jumped away. Turning to it, he found Asuma. "Who the hell are you?"

But as he landed, he found himself stabbed in vital points by Izumo and Kotetsu with Shikamaru binding his movements using his shadow jutsu from the roof. He coughed. "That hurt, bitch," he growled, much to the shock of the four Konoha ninjas.

"What the hell," Kotetsu exclaimed. "We hit his vital points! He should be dead by now!"

"Well, that's a sad fuck, isn't it? We don't live in a perfect world."

Asuma prepped his chakra blades and said, "Akatsuki, you are to be executed for crimes against Konohagakure and Hi no Kuni."

Hidan noticed the cloth on his hip. "Damn it. I have to go back to that damn shithole again?"

The Sarutobi tensed. "You sound so confident that you can kill me. You are alone. Your partner's not even here."

Hidan grinned. "I wouldn't be too sure." An explosion from the roof made everyone look up as Shikamaru escaped being pummeled by Kakuzu. Freed from the jutsu, Hidan grinned and expelled his chakra, sending both chuunin away.

Kakuzu chuckled darkly. "It seems that my luck is high. Another member of the Shugonin Junishi appears before me and it is one of higher bounty that Chiriku: Sarutobi Asuma."

"Oi, Kakuzu, don't interfere! They're sacrifices! Stay away from my fight!"

"Hmph, do as you will," he said, standing away from the main group. "Give me the boy, though. He's still important for our cause."

"Take him, then! He'll just get in the way!"

Asuma twitched. Hidan tossed Sora's body to Kakuzu when Asuma immediately acted. However, Hidan was faster and intercepted him. "You ain't going past me!"

Kakuzu caught Sora and hauled him over his shoulder. After some scuffle, Asuma managed to prevent Hidan's scythe from decapitating him. But it did manage to cut his cheek a bit. Hidan grinned at that.

As they separated, Asuma made some handseals and expelled gunpowder onto Hidan's general area. After a few seconds, he snapped his teeth shut, breaking the flint between them and igniting a large explosion. He said, "Katon: Haisekisho."

"Hehe," Hidan's voice resounded in their ears. The dust cleared to show Hidan with blackened skin with white markings. His arm protected him from the blow, although it's burnt. "Perhaps you now know pain." Asuma winced as his own arm was burnt as well. "You've been judged. You've been deemed unworthy. You've been considered as sacrifice!" He raised his head to show a skull-like appearance. "Come then! Let's share the feeling of pain together!"

Konoha

"We've just received word from Asuma's group." Minato said to the ninjas in front of him. "They made contact with Akatsuki. You are to be their backup and help them defeat the Akatsuki. Am I understood?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Kushina said with utter seriousness. Behind her were Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji, and Fate Averruncus.

"Also, Naruto," Minato said to Fate, "I know that I called you here while you're still training. Don't fret. I can have your clones continue training in your absence."

Fate simply nodded.

"Alright, Kushina, you be the leader. Go now, posthaste!"

Back to Asuma's team

The four-man group of Asuma's team were shocked and horrified at the fact that Hidan's head still retained the ability to speak while detached from the body.

"What is he," Izumo asked. "How can he still be alive after being decapitated?"

"It doesn't matter," a tired Shikamaru replied. "He's incapacitated and that's all that matters."

Asuma sighed. That's one threat down.

He froze when he heard. "Check." Asuma was sent flying when Kakuzu immediately appeared in front of him and kicked him away. "Never lose sight of your opponent. I thought you took that in ninja school." Grabbing Hidan's body, he said, "I'm jumping in now that I'm fixing your head." He put Hidan's head on his neck and threads crawled from his sleeves to stitch Hidan's head and neck together.

"That's better."

"Don't hit on the stitches, dumbass. You'll break them."

"Whatever," Hidan smirked. "Let's continue, shall we?"

"Hidan, deal with Sarutobi Asuma. I'll take on the other brats."

Izumo and Kotetsu charged at them. Kotetsu summoned a conch shell mace from a scroll and jumped at Kakuzu. Izumo used the jutsu, Suiton: Mizuame Nabara, to slow Kakuzu down.

However, what they didn't count on was the fact that Kakuzu's arms are extendable through threads. Within seconds, he has both chuunin in his grasp.

Asuma slashed at Hidan, who jumped away, and ducked, through Shikamaru's exclamation, under the scythe attack. The scythe hit Hidan's midsection. Asuma smirked. "That's not going to-gurk!"

It was Hidan's turn to smirk. "You see it, don't you? I have reinstated the ceremony again." He withdrew a black stake from his cloak. "Now, shall we both experience the ultimate pain together: the ultimate pain of death?"

"STOP," the three other Konoha-nin shouted.

STAB!

"Oh, yeah," Hidan moaned, "That's the stuff." Asuma soon fell to the ground.

Shikamaru shouted, "ASUMA!"

"I'm done here, Kakuzu."

"Good," his partner said, "I'm just about done on this end, too." He was about to crush the chunnins' windpipes when a downward slash cut off the threads. "What the hell?" He looked down to see Fate Averruncus. "It's you!" He was kicked away by Kushina and impacted a shocked Hidan. "Yes. More bounties for me…I must be very lucky today."

Ino and Chouji appeared beside Shikamaru. "Don't worry, Shikamaru," Ino said.

"We'll protect you," Chouji added.

Kushina said, "Ino, Chouji, take them and go. Fate and I will hold them off."

Kakuzu said, "As much as I'd like to fight you, Uzumaki Kushina, I still have beef with that kid beside you."

Fate stepped up. "Then let's see the strength of the full Akatsuki."

Both Akatsuki were about to attack when they twitched.

Hidan cursed. "Fuck! Can't you wait longer, damn it! It was just getting good!"

Everyone but Fate showed looks of surprise.

Within Hidan's and Kakuzu's minds, the voice of their Leader spoke. "We have the Nibi and Sanbi in our midst. Prepare yourselves. Don't worry about the pseudo-jinchuuriki that you abandoned. There will be time to collect him later."

Hidan cursed again. "Damn it! I told him to wait a little bit longer!"

"Don't argue with him, Hidan. You don't want him to be furious at us like before."

"Che, oi, you, white kid," he called out, "you better remember this day, the day that you were saved from utter destruction!" He disappeared.

Kakuzu looked at Kushina and Fate. "Shelter the pseudo-jinchuuriki, if you wish. However, no amount of security can prevent the Akatsuki." He too disappeared.

A cough alerted them all to Asuma's consciousness.

Shikamaru said, "Asuma, you're alright! Ino, heal him!"

The blonde nodded and did so. Asuma said, "It's alright…I don't have much longer…"

Ino frowned in despair. "He's right. He's been hit in four vital points."

Asuma continued, "I finally understand how dad feels about dying for what he believes in. Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru…I have one last thing to say to you."

Chouji exclaimed, "Please save your strength, sensei!"

"Chouji," Shikamaru shouted, "please, let him have this, his final moment."

"Heh, ever understanding, are you, Shikamaru?" His eyes flickered to Fate. "Oi, kid, I might not have known you as much as Kakashi did. But know this. You may be different in looks, name, and personality then and now; that doesn't change the fact that you are still you, no matter how many changes you have had. You control your own destiny; no one can force you into things you don't want to; but you also can't force people into things they don't want to. Remember, every single person in his planet has their own course in life and it will be up to them how they meet that. You can't deny them that in the name of Fate."

Fate narrowed his eyes…and nodded.

He went to Ino. "Ino, you are very confident but you also know how to take care of yourself. Shikamaru and Chouji, those two are clumsy so take care of them, too. And don't lose to Sakura, ever, be it in ninjutsu or in love."

Teary-eyed, Ino said, "Yeah!"

"Chouji, you are not just big stature but in heart. You can be a stronger ninja than ever." He smiled. "Of course, you might need to go on a small diet."

"That sounds difficult, sensei, but I'll try."

"And Shikamaru, you have a great mind and you have great ninja senses. You might even make it into Hokage…but you probably might think it too troublesome. Heh, you know what? I never once beat you in shogi, have I? You're always steps ahead of me. Oh, yeah, do you still remember our talk about the King and who it is?" Shikamaru nodded. "Come closer. I'll tell you." He did so and Asuma whispered into his ear, making Shikamaru widen his eyes. "I'll leave you to them, Shikamaru." He coughed a bit. "Can you give me my cigar? I just want one last smoke."

As Shikamaru put the cigar in Asuma's bloody mouth and lit it, the three members of Team Ten slowly fell into a flashback state, remembering their first meetings and their official induction as Team Ten. Slowly, Asuma's breath stilled and the cigarette fell from his mouth.

Ino screamed, "SENSEI!"

Shikamaru slowly stood and lit another cigarette from Asuma's pocket. He coughed. "I knew it. I still couldn't smoke." He started crying. "The damn smoke gets in my eyes."

Izumo and Kotetsu shed a tear or two and Kushina, although not knowing Asuma that much, gripped her fists tightly.

Fate remained unmoved, his face devoid of emotion. He received the hidden message of Sarutobi Asuma.

Don't resurrect him. He has already fulfilled his purpose. He faced death to the best of his ability. He has no more regrets leaving this world now.

He needn't have bothered, Fate thought. Sarutobi Asuma is beyond his capabilities. His wound is from a curse, a curse of the evil god Jashin. Jashin's influence is quite far-reaching. He once had a foothold in Mundus Magicus but the Hajimari no Maho ordered his puppets to quell that religion once and for all. As of now, Jashin is but a forgotten word in Mundus Magicus' annals of history. However, powerful as Fate is, his Grand Master Key is nothing compared to the power of a god and his ability to resurrect using Kyuubi's chakra is limited, thanks to the Shiki Fujin, to recent deaths within the mortal realm, like Chiyo, and any deaths in relation to the Shinigami, like Minato, and Kyuubi, like Kushina, Mikoto and Hitomi.

However, try as he might, Fate cannot deny that his chest, his heart is heavy with…

…sorrow? Is it sorrow I feel? I felt it back then with Shiori's sister, but, back then, I couldn't describe it. Now…I comprehend it to an extent. Yes. I feel sorrowful at this death. My chest is…heavy with sorrow. Sarutobi Asuma's death caused me to feel sorrow. Sarutobi Asuma, even in death, you have achieved victory. You are truly worthy to die a warrior's death…

…a death befitting the one who has defied the puppet-master.

That ends the new chapter of FHDFHR!

It kind of made me sad, writing this chapter. And Fate can't even resurrect Asuma because of Jashin's curse. It's saddening but Asuma's death is necessary for Fate to develop.

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