[Kokushibo Hozuki]

Kokushibo considered himself a lucky man. He had a wonderful life and wonderful loved ones. And soon a little one of his own to look after. He was eternally grateful for all of the things in his life. So when some of those things were taken away he wanted revenge.

And lucky for him, Yagura-sama gave him this opportunity. And even luckier for him, he was the man for the job, "Bastards thought they'd be sneaky. Heh," Kokushibo was the best tracker the Hozuki had to offer. Since his skill in his clans Hiden involved him turning only parts of his body into water, he could turn his hand only into water and feel footprints for traces of chakra which was useful for hunting down people when they used clones. All elemental clones had different effects. Lightning was his least favorite.

Feeling his least favorite elements effects made Kokushibo frown. 'A lightning user? I'll need to be careful around them then.' Now there weren't many lightning users in Kirigakure, Fourteen total to be exact. There used to be fifteen but Raiga defected a long time ago after throwing a hissy fit over not being a swordman of the mist. 'Prick.' So he couldn't have done this. Kokushibo felt around a bit more and felt two water elements and a wind along with the lightning in all but one track.

'Okay odd grouping but this only makes things harder.' The water users were probably his greatest ally in his revenge. So he'd have to keep them alive for as long as he could when he tracked them down so he could kill the lightning user first. Then the wind. This wasn't commonly known but wind users were a pain for water users to fight. Hozuki were screwed against Suna's Warfan corps as they could freeze them(wind was fucking cold when not paired with fire) or they could disperse them into the air.

Unless you were a master of reformation then you were dead within a minute.

Kokushibo shuddered to think what would happen to him if he was hit by a wind attack that strong whilst using his Hydrofication technique. Since he couldn't use it fully he could only make parts of his body water. And that meant they could easily be blown away.

'Don't think about that Koku, Think about finding the bastards that killed your friends.' Kokushibo thought whilst he palmed some mud. Thinking about that day made his blood boil. It was only two days ago too. He looked at the path of the correct footprints and went over all of the logical locations they could be hiding in or heading too. 'Suika. Its closest for resupply and it's a safehaven for defectors commonly.' That last part was a lie. Suika was just keeping them there for Kiri until they could arrive and take back their Ninja.

Kokushibo stood tall and looked at his new path. He needed to do this so Yagura-sama would be proud of him. He needed to do this to avenge his friends. He needed to do this for Michikatsu's students. If they went after the academy, who was to say they wouldn't come back and kill the students? Kiri's security wasn't as good as he wished it was thanks to this damn war and someone might be able to come in and kill them all.

Kokushibo snapped out of that line of thought. 'I can't think about that. It won't happen. I'll kill those bastards before I allow harm to come to Michikatsu's students.' He had to do this for a better future for everyone. And if it meant he had to kill them brutally. He'd gladly do it ten times over.

He'd have to be away from everyone he loved for a long time. But he'd do it so they'd be safe. His loved ones came first to him. The one's that were left that is. 'God what if they go after them?' His wife and unborn child were the two most important people in his life. If someone hurt them, Kokushibo would slaughter every last one of their bloodline and then revive them just to kill them again. The thought of someone targeting them possibly made him want to do this even more.

'I'll make sure harm doesn't come to you all. I swear that on my life.' Kokushibo promised mentally with his heart racing. He was determined to not let his worst nightmares become reality.

Raising his hand into the air, Kokushibo looked at the distant Kirigakure behind him and raised his hand, "I don't know how long I'll be away but when I come back I'll have killed them and you'll be safe. I'll make you proud Yagura-sama and I'll be a man everyone can depend on," Kokushibo slipped on his mask then, "I promise,"

He then looked at his sword, "I'll avenge you all, I promise," He thought about his friends then.

With all three promises out of the way, Kokushibo began traveling to Suika.

[Sanemi]

For Sanemi, the last few days have been hectic to say the least. He and his friends killed their academy teachers by blowing them up, they defected from their village in hopes of one day getting strong enough to kill the villages leader, and he and his friends have been making their way to Suika village.

He wouldn't change it for the world though. He hated Kirigakure anyways for oppressing and killing people like Himiko(Resident probably not right in the head knife obsessed girl) whom he considered his best friend. So he wanted to leave. And his teachers were all Bigots who would have killed Himiko on the spot for being a "dirty bloodline hellspawn." So needless to say, Sanemi was happy with his choices in life. He even got to hang out with his friends all day for the last two days and they were so close to Suika!

He couldn't wait to find a place to spar there and show off his new moves. He was getting really good at Chakra flow over the last two days(all of last month's work was finally paying off!) and Kukui gave him some ideas(the resident Thinker of the group and the one who was creative) Like using his swords to create wind blasts. It gave him long-range options and it would kill if he put enough chakra into it.

He obviously wouldn't use it lethally against his friends but he was excited to test it out on them. Particularly Choujuro(Resident unconfident prodigy who needed a confidence boost). He was hopefully going to beat him but knowing his skill level and the fact Choujuro was also getting better over the last month was probably telling of the result of that fight.

At least he could probably beat Kukui and Himiko more often now.

Suddenly a hand waved in front of his face, "Earth to Sanemi! Hello are you there?" Himiko called out whilst waving her hand. Sanemi blinked and Himiko stopped waving her hand, "Guy's I think he's sick, He hasn't been responding to me talking about Mochi," Mochi sounded good, "Oh finally you responded!" Himiko turned around and grinned, "Yes it does sound amazing right now!" Did he say that out loud?"

Sanemi grinned too though, "I said that out loud didn't I?" Choujuro nodded and Kukui laughed, "Mochi does sound good though. Maybe we can get some?" Chocolate Mochi sounds fucking amazing right about now. That and a nice cup of tea or milk with a book to read. Yes Sanemi did indeed read books.

Choujuro's eyes lit up, "Yes!" His burst of excitement was replaced by his meekness right away, "I'd like some vanilla Mochi myself. Maybe with a bit of Carmel inside of it too?" It sounded more like a question then a statement but it didn't matter.

Himiko nodded, "Yeah! And with a few strawberries on the side to look like blood! It sounds delicious! We're so getting some at Suika after we get the Sushi!" Just what had Sanemi missed whilst he was thinking? Suishi did sound good though and they could treat themselves to it for once. Himiko then looked at Kukui, "So how about you? What kinda Mochi do you want?"

Everyone looked to Kukui for his opinion on Mochi, "I already said, Mint Mochi," That was just evil. Kukui looked at them and shrugged, "What? Its good especially with some chocolate on top!" Mint Mochi was something they all tried once and hated. Kukui apparently liked it.

Sanemi narrowed his eyes at the chocolate part, "You can have your crime against humanity but don't bring chocolate into this!" His precious chocolate wouldn't be tainted by mint. If he could help it he would keep it as far away as possible from any sort of Chocolate.

Kukui narrowed his eyes and stepped closer, "What did you say about Mint?"

Sanemi took a step forward, "Its a crime against humanity and you know it Kukui!"

Meanwhile in the peanut gallery, Choujuro looked at Himiko, "Should we stop this?"

Himiko shrugged, "Before they fight about food again, yes,"

Sanemi heard that. 'Do we really fight about food that often?' Sure they did it yesterday night when talking about seafood and how Kukui despised most of it and Sanemi loved all of it but they didn't do it that much right?

Kukui took another step forward and lightning crackled in his palms, "I'd say Mint isn't but if that's what you think how about we settle this with a friendly spar?" A friendly spar is what he wanted? Sanemi put his hands on his swords, he'd give him a "friendly spar" then.

Sanemi allowed wind chakra to flow in his swords, "You want a friendly spar huh? I'll give you one!"

Before they could attack each other, a wall of water separated the two, "Stop fighting please. You can fight after we make it to Suika and we have proper medical supplies," Choujuro said as he pushed up his glasses meekly.

Kukui and Sanemi stopped and looked at Choujuro, "Sorry,"

Himiko then came up from behind the two and hugged them, "Good now that we're friends again we can finish our trek to Suika! We're literally almost there!" Surely enough they saw the gates of Suika and grinned.

Finally they could rest.

[Kukui Tanku]

I ducked under another wind slash and began breathing heavily. Sanemi was relentless and I didn't have the luxury of jutsu that could help me here. All my Electromagnetic murders were doing jack shit because he was a wind type. Damnit.

Sanemi began slashing in a horizontal cyclone pattern, "TRY THIS ONE KUKUI! I CALL THIS ONE DUST WHIRLWIND CUTTER!" That was the first form of wind breathing... Sanemi... wind user... wind breather... Sanemi. I nearly began breaking out in full on laughter.

'What a coincidence!' He looked like Sanemi too now that I thought about it. Just without the scars. The manic smile he had on right now helped a lot with that look. I grinned and used chakra to jump over the attack. If I had chakra flow like him I might have been able to use it in my legs to have more speed and get close but it wasn't happening, "I'LL JUST DODGE IT LIKE ALWAYS SANEMI!" I then threw three shuriken at him to which he blew them away with a wind jutsu.

Sanemi began running toward me with his wind covered blade and our blades collided, "Liked it? I took your idea to heart and made that!" Sanemi was a fast learner it seemed as it's only been a month and he made bastardized wind breathing. I'm impressed.

I grinned, if only I could do the same, "Oh hell yeah! If only I could do the same with my lightning affinity!" Wait? Theoretically... Thunder breathing was possible with Chakra... 'Holy shit I can use Demon slayer techniques!' That realization was pushed back to the depths of my mind for now as I jumped back and avoided a slash that would have been really painful for me and my stomach.

Sanemi's grin grew, "Sorry but even if you could, nothing would ever beat the original!" I felt like laughing again at the statement. Technically his wasn't original either since I gave him the idea, "Now I'll beat you!" Sanemi ran at me once more, sending several wind slashes my way. I dodged and ducked but one grazed my arm.

I winced but blocked Sanemi's attacks with my blades.

[Intermedite Kenjutsu has leveled up]

I dismissed the screen as I tried to push Sanemi back but he had more leverage at the moment. 'I'm boned.' I thought as I was pushed to a tree, "I yield," Sanemi let off and we both sheathed are blades, "I'm going to need to work on more options for attacks aren't I?" Flashes of several bodies went through my mind and I grit my teeth. 'I'm pathetic still.'

Sanemi nodded and grinned, "Probably but I'm sure that big head of yours can think of something to do, now lets go meet up with Choujuro and Himiko we need to talk about our plans," I nodded. We had to figure out what to do now that we were relatively safe. We began to head to another part of the forest. I continued to wallow in my self pity.

Soon after our spar finished we met up with a bruised Himiko and a perfectly fine Choujuro, "Hey!" Himiko waved and grinned as we waved back.

I grinned, "So You win?" We all already knew the results of their spar before it started. All but Choujuro. 'Still need to find a way to improve his confidence.' I'd do it one day. One day. Mark my words! Mark them!

Himiko rolled her eyes, "No."

Choujuro nodded grimly, "It was close,"

It probably wasn't. Sanemi just nodded and rolled his eyes, "Sure. Now what the fuck are we gonna do next?" Good question. What were we gonna do next? I think we'd be safe from hunter-nin for a while so there was that. But you never knew.

I hummed for a second, "There's likely already a tracker after us but they likely won't be here for another couple of days. So we have time to plan our next actions," There were a few other villages close by we could go too. I planned on bringing a few of those up soon.

Choujuro nodded along, "Probably but they're most likely good so we might need to leave soon," That would suck. But it was needed.

Himiko Whined, "But we just got here! Can't that wait a few more days?" Yeah we did just get here... I didn't feel like leaving either at the moment. We also needed to refine our plans a bit.

I nodded, "Yeah. We could, we still need to plan a bit more, stock up on supplies, and find a place to go too after Suika," That was a lot we had to actually do. Saying it made it seem like it wasn't much but it was... It also costed a pretty penny to stock up on stuff like food or camping supplies that ran out quick and were available in the Naruto world.

Sanemi groaned, "Thats gonna suck,"

I grinned, "It will,"

[Ito Kaguya]

News traveled somewhat slow to the Kiri rebellion. Often times being shared suddenly by the people who are closet members of the rebellion. So often times unless the news was stupidly huge like Kisame Hoshigaki defecting from Kirigakure, they didn't get it. And only the biggest things like that got reported quickly. So often times, the rebellion was often uninformed. And it sucked.

So when Ito had heard about the academy being blown to dust and that all the staff were killed. It was pleasant news even though no students were dead although four were reported missing. This was as big as Kisame's defection. The academy was a huge pillar of all shinobi villages. It kept the shinobi system going and it allowed for there to be more shinobi made quickly.

When one was destroyed. It was huge news. The last time it happened to any of the five great villages was when Sunagakure's puppet corps decimated part of Iwagakure in retaliation for them near crippling Suna with the five tails. After that and Minato Namikaze's massacre of Iwa-nin the war ended. They simply had no more Manpower to fight. Kumo came shortly after although small skirmishes between them and Konoha happened. Kirigakure was too busy screwing itself.

So the Kirigakure academy was fantastic news. Like the best Ito has heard in recent years. "I can't believe he did it," Ito muttered. She knew who did it. It was just a hunch but it was a strong one. The boy she had helped all those months ago had to be the one to destroy the academy. Kukui Tanku really was an odd one. 'I wonder if those other three are his allies.' Ito hadn't thought of the boy often since the last time she went to Kirigakure.

But the times she did, she wondered how he was doing. If he was stronger. If he was planning, scheming, waiting. Waiting for the time he could kill the bastard of a man that was the Mizukage. But it looks like he had other plans. Killing and cripplling the academy essentially made sure Kiri couldn't pump out more soldiers until they had more sensei trained.

And Sensei were hard to train.

"What are you thinking about brat?" Kushimaru sensei asked Ito as he poked her arm. She could tell he was smiling under the mask. Who wasn't smiling after today? The Rebellion's chances of victory had just gone up dramatically. Even if there were more sensei they'd be inexperienced and Kiri's next batch of soldiers would be underprepared. So this was basically a years long patch job for Yagura. It was beautiful.

Ito looked up at the lanky man who was a father figure to her and smiled, "I think I know who blew up the academy," Common talk among the rebellion in the last few hours was: Who were the crazy bastards that blew up the academy? It was assumed it was the missing students or a chunin. Ito knowing it made Kushimaru curious. Ito could see the look in his eyes through his mask.

The swordsman cocked his head to the side, "Who was it brat? The students or the Chuunin?" Kushimaru had bet on the students. Ito really hated her sensei's gambling habit. Often times he lost. And it made him mad or depressed.

Ito smiled knowing that her sensei was at least gonna be happy, "The students. One of the missing students is likely the brown haired boy I met a few months ago,"

Kushimaru smiled under the mask. (Ito could tell because his left index finger twitched and that's what he did when he smiled) "I WIN!" Nobody was around to hear the mans shout of joy, "You didn't hear that," Ito nodded, "So that brat huh, I wonder what he's gonna do now. Maybe he'll murder more Kiri-nin," He chuckled, "Hunter-nin are gonna fuck him over for sure,"

Ito nodded sadly. 'A shame. He'd have been cool to have around here. Maybe I should have kidnapped him?' Another friend was always nice in Ito's book, "Dang Hunter-nin ruining good people's chances of escape," Ito' grumbled and Kushimaru chuckled.

Kushimaru patted Ito's head, "Brat's probably got a few days left on the clock. Yagura's likely not even sent the hunter-nin out yet. He needs all his resources at the moment. He may just have some jobber out there looking for them now," True. Yagura's likely scrambling to get the academy rebuilt and keeping Kirigakure safe from a potential attack.

Ito smiled softly at that, "Well then he and I assume the other three will probably get away if its some jobber," Knowing the skill level Yagura wanted his students at before they graduated they'd likely be better than most jobbers. But that didn't mean the four would all be safe for long. Yagura was a petty man. Almost as petty as he was a coward. He'd send all of his hunter-nin at them by Wednesday. Ito had an idea then. They had time didn't they? Ito looked at Kushimaru and opened her mouth to speak.

Kushimaru sighed and cut her off, "I know what your about to ask. No we're not looking for them. Its too dangerous," Damn Mother hen.

Ito sighed, "But Sensei! They don't deserve to die! Especially after blowing up the academy!" Ito's whines would hopefully not go unheard. Knowing Kushimaru he'd give in soon. 'I hope so.' Ito wants a training dummy again and Kukui was a fun one last time.

Kushimaru shook his head, "No."

Ito decided to use her ultimate weapon, "Please Kushimaru-sensei!" She gave the blonde man the puppy dog eyes jutsu. The closest thing to Mind control Kunoichi had

The man tried to look away definitely but he eventually sighed and slumped to the ground, "Fine... just stop looking at me like that you brat and we can find them. I'm sure Ameyuri will cover for me if I get another mission from Mei-sama,"

Ito cheered. She could finally see the progress Kukui had made and hear about how he did the unthinkable

Ngl that last part feels like me having Ito wank Kukui a bit. Idk why but it just feels weird. I'm sure its fine though. Anyways fuck this chapter took nearly a week to write. I was supposed to begin five days ago but my lazy ass decided lets have the week off and here I am. Anyways that's the first chapter of the second arc. A lot of plotlines were started and or Continued this chapter and I'm sure you can guess which ones were.

Anyways, see y'all next week... or rather... six weeks from now? Not too sure at this point. Six weeks minus six days so five weeks and one day. Yeah seems about right.

Bye everyone!