Chapter I: A Year Later…

A/N: So, I'm around again with another version of Part 2 with Yorukō Shinden: Wandering Ninja. First two ended up being shelved due to either lack of direction with the story, or maybe there was good direction (at least to me) but flawed or downright horrible execution. It could also be attributed to a lack of time allotted to writing these chapters, which often leads to when I write the chapters, they end up in a completely different direction that I had initially intended the chapter to be written in, something like that. Thing is, I really and truly want to end the series with a better, if only slightly different way to how I ended the first story. With that being said, I would really hope you, the wonderful reader enjoy this work, and if there's any way and areas that I can use to improve this, do let me know in the review section. However, enough of me rambling, let's get into the story, shall we?

A year has passed since Yorukō and company sought asylum in Konohagakure no Sato, the Hidden Leaf Village. Since their initial arrival to the Leaf, the group (especially Yorukō) has been treated with hostility, and in some cases, utter contempt. It ended up becoming so bad that even certain shops and restaurants would refuse to serve them, citing their reason around the fact they were outsiders. It took the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade to forcibly remind and warn the citizens of the village that Yorukō and company were indeed just as much of a Konoha shinobi as the other shinobis of the village. After the Hokage's warning and a certain rescue mission, the villagers and most shinobi alike began to warm up more to the group like they were all one big happy family.

Present Day…

"Something's been bothering me as of late." Yorukō said, looking up at his mother from his desk.

Yorukō's appearance hasn't changed much since arriving to the Hidden Leaf, the only noteworthy changes to his form being that he grew a beard and allowed his sideburns to grow, these additions giving him a slightly more rugged look. He decided to alter his hairstyle, allowing his locks to freely flow and slightly rest on his shoulders as opposed to keeping most of it up and leaving only a small amount to cover the scar on his right eye. He wore a white shirt with a black Konoha symbol in the middle along with dark slacks and a pair of equally dark sandals.

"What's up?" Sayuri asked, concern evident in her voice.

Sayuri's appearance, unlike her son, has changed since arriving to the Leaf. She decided to start wearing floral kimonos which hugs at her attractive figure and allowed her hair to flow more freely down her back. However, her biggest issue remained at hand – that being she is a reanimation. By the time she fully explained her situation to Tsunade, minor cracks began to show on the reanimated body, as if beginning to decay. For a while, Sayuri would indirectly scare people around her due to this, but eventually people got used to it, some children even beginning to call her the 'zombie queen'.

"If I'm 18 now, and it's been 14 years since you 'died', how old would you technically be?"

"That's a good question." Sayuri began: "I was about 20 when I had you, so 24 when I died, and add 14 onto that…I guess you can say I'm technically 38, but I'm physically 24. Why?"

"If I'm being honest, it's extremely weird that you'd be resurrected after committing suicide. Normally, we just move on from it, especially if a female shinobi does it. So, why would you be reanimated almost instantly?" Yorukō questioned.

"Even though I broke free from the reanimation, there's like some block in some of my memories; almost like they're restricted from me." Sayuri answered: "Because now that I think about it, it IS kind of weird that I'd be reanimated for this long without being sent back to the afterlife by now. Me currently being here is nothing short of breaking every natural rule."

"Right." Yorukō affirmed, the teen standing from his desk: "There must be a reason for you to still be alive. But what is it?"

"It may have something to do with your father." Sayuri noted, bringing her fingers to her chin: "He was the one that did it, with the help of Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru. That's it!" Yorukō exclaimed, looking at his mother: "He must know more about this situation – but it begs to ask, will he reveal anything to me about it?"

"Perhaps. He is fond of you from what you've told me, but let's not worry about that for right now." Sayuri said, walking to the door: "We have to meet with Lady Tsunade soon, remember?"

"You're right. Best not to worry about it for right now." Yorukō affirmed, following behind his mother.

"That reminds me," Sayuri said as she turned around to face her son: "were you ever going to tell me how you picked up Aya-chan when we first met?"

"Oh yeah." Yorukō said, his expression becoming serious. He quickly glanced around the room before fixing his gaze upon his mother once more and took a deep breath: "I'll tell you the full story later, but she's a refugee from a village I had to… burn to the ground."

"Burn to the ground? Why?" Sayuri asked.

"It has something to do with a fanatic organization I began investigating under the orders of the Frost Village a year ago, even before I met up with you." Yorukō explained.

"I see." His mother simply replied before turning around to face the door. To her, something about his explanation doesn't fully sit right with her, but for the time being decided to shrug it off and deal with the Hokage instead. Sayuri opened the door, allowing the sun's rays to hit her (somewhat decomposed) body, smiling at each ray hitting her. Yorukō, for his part, decided to ignore his mother's antics before walking past her, gaining a lead on the way to Tsunade's office.

"Wait up!" His mother yelled at him. Yorukō facepalmed and sighed to himself as he turned around to see Sayuri running towards him, the teen less than impressed with her.

"You always do that, mom." Yorukō complained, putting both hands on his hips: "Every time you go outside, you do that."

"Well, try being under control and dead at the same time before breaking free from said control, maybe you'll appreciate being around to see another day." Sayuri said rather harshly before covering her mouth in embarrassment: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Yorukō raised his hand in front of his mother, stopping her from finishing: "Nah, I'm the one that should be sorry. I forgot you've suffered for years."

"Well, I'll accept your apology if you treat me to some dango later…" Sayuri said, a sly grin appearing on her face.

Her son laughed at her comment. "Sure, I'll treat you to some dango after we speak to Tsunade."

"Yes!" Sayuri happily replied, clapping her hands.

"What am I going to do with you?" Yorukō sighed before smiling to himself: "Well, you're still the best mother anyone can ask for, so I won't complain."

"Yorukō, you…" Sayuri thought to herself, a tear rolling down her cheek. Luckily, Yorukō failed to see it as they continued walking toward the Hokage's office.

At Tsunade's Office…

"I'm glad you made it, Kori, Yuina." Tsunade said, looking at the two shinobi in front of her: "I wish all of you were on time, but Yorukō probably has a good reason to be delayed."

"He should be here any moment now, Lady Tsunade." Kori stated.

"We are so sorry on his behalf." Yuina added: "He was looking over some files when we saw him last, and he insisted that we go on ahead first."

Yuina and Kori's appearance hasn't changed much since arriving to the leaf. Yuina, now 18, kept her hair in braids, which now had rose gold color tips at the end of each braid. She wore a grey overall with a white t-shirt under it. Kori had on a similar attire to her cousin, although she opted to undo her braids, keeping her hair in a ponytail. She also wore grey overalls and a white Konoha shirt underneath.

"It's alright." The Hokage said, letting out a light chuckle: "You'll both be able to fill him in on details that he may have missed out on hearing."

As if almost on cue, there was a knock on the Hokage's door. The three women opted to stay silent as the door opened, revealing Yorukō and his mother. He looked at Yuina and Kori, the former having an apologetic look on her face while the other was not so apologetic. Tsunade watched the family's dynamic with a particular interest, a smile forming on the Hokage's face.

"My apologies for being late, Lady Tsunade." Yorukō said with a slight bow: "I got caught up in looking over some files, and I forgot that we were supposed to meet at this time."

"It's alright." The Hokage replied: "We haven't even started yet, so you were right on time."

Yorukō and Sayuri let out an audible sigh at the Hokage's comment. Tsunade's demeanor slightly shifted, although she did not lose much of her smile.

"I must say, since you guys sought asylum in the leaf a year ago, I wasn't expecting much from you." Tsunade commented, grabbing some files out of a drawer: "However, how quickly wrong I turned out to be. With that being said, some changes have been made to each of your statuses here in the Leaf."

"Some changes?" Sayuri asked.

Tsunade nodded at the reanimated shinobi: "Yes. Yorukō, Yuina, and Kori will be assigned to Team 1. We haven't used that team in a while, so I will be reinstating it with Yorukō as the leader."

Sayuri looked over at her son, stars forming in her eyes: "Congratulations! I'm so proud of you!"

Yorukō rubbed the back of his head sheepishly: "I'm truly humbled, Lady Tsunade."

"A team with Yorukō-kun in it…" Kori said to herself, something Yuina somewhat picked up on.

"Yeah… a team with Yorukō-kun," Yuina said. Even though the circumstances were different the first time, she began recalling what happened when they were both on the same team during a mission mandated by the Taiyōkage of the Hidden Frost Village which caused her to slightly shudder.

Yorukō turned around and noticed Yuina's off behavior and decided to talk to her more about that whenever they were alone. Tsunade cleared her throat, causing everyone to return their attention to her.

"Now that you guys are in a team, I've also assigned your official statuses here as Konoha shinobis." The Hokage commented, looking intently at the three teens: "Yorukō will be a jōnin of the leaf, while Yuina and Kori will both be Tokubetsu jōnins. Any objection?" The three shinobi shook their head, signaling that as affirmation.

"What about my request, if you don't mind me asking about that?" Yorukō interjected, earning looks from everyone involved.

"I was just getting to that." Tsunade replied: "In relation to you, Sayuri, your son asked that if you could be placed on active duty as a shinobi, but the choice is ultimately up to you."

"You asked that of Lady Tsunade, Yorukō?" Sayuri asked.

"Yeah – it makes sense if you were a shinobi alongside us, and it even works out better with your reanimation powers and its durability." Yorukō explained.

"Yorukō brought up those exact points to me when he first brought it up. Going off those alone, I'd love for you to be a shinobi here in the Hidden Leaf Village." Tsunade said.

"I'd be honored." Sayuri said, accepting the position offered: "I'll do everything in my power to protect the village."

"I'd love that." Tsunade said before turning back to Yorukō: "As for your other request. You asked if your student, Aya could enroll in the academy here."

"I sure did. I believe she'd fit wonderfully here. After all, she doesn't necessarily have anywhere else to go, and at her young age, learning from this village's academy could really leave a lasting impact on her."

"Well, I did bring something similar up to the council, and they approved it." Tsunade replied, earning a sigh of relief from Yorukō: "However, she cannot start now, as the academy is about to have their genin exams."

"Isn't there some way she could be interjected?" Yorukō asked, slightly desperate: "I can speak from experience; that girl most definitely has some hidden potential to her that needs cultivation and proper growth."

"I'll try to see if I can get her placed, but there's no promises. Best I can suggest is that if it falls through, just wait until the next time." Tsunade answered.

"That's fine by me."

"Good." Tsunade commented, satisfied with Yorukō's response: "There's nothing else I have for you guys, so you're all free to go."

The group all turned to exit Tsunade's office when the door opened, revealing Danzō Shimura, accompanied by two of his ANBU Black Ops shinobi, one sporting a phoenix mask while the other wore a crane mask. Sayuri, Kori, and Yuina all slightly bowed to the village elder, but it was Yorukō that kept his eyes locked on the man, slight killer intent beginning to radiate from the teenager. Yorukō decided it wasn't worth making a scene with the older male due to his status in the village and decided to walk out of the office first, the three ladies following him almost immediately. An ANBU closed the door not long after their departure.

"Danzō. To what do I owe this honor?" Tsunade gritted.

"There's no need for the hostility, Tsunade." Danzō coolly said: "I only wanted to see the shinobi from the Frost Village, if only in passing."

"Well, you saw them." Tsunade said, pointing towards the door: "Now get out!"

"As you command." Danzō replied before turning around, his two accomplices following suit: "Before I leave, I believe those four should be… 'conditioned' in some capacity to only protect the Leaf. Having them around the way you have them now could lead to problems down the line."

"I appreciate the concern, but I'm handling them just fine. No need to get that extreme." The Hokage replied.

Danzō chose not to reply to Tsunade's comment, and decided it was best to simply walk away. To the older man, he was confident in his ability to take Tsunade on but ended up deciding that it was most definitely not worth it. Phoenix opened the door for his leader, allowing him to walk out first, followed by Crane and then himself. Phoenix turned to bow to the Hokage before closing the door behind him. The trio had walked a good distance from Tsunade's office when Danzō suddenly stopped and cleared his throat before turning to look at his two subordinates.

"Tsunade is too soft when it comes to those Frost ninjas." The older man noted: "It seems we will have to take matters in our own hands." He pointed at Crane who stepped forward: "I want you to keep tabs on that group, and report to me of any suspicious activity. This will be your mission from me – take as however long as you need."

"Yes, Lord Danzō." Crane said, nodding.

"This includes integrating into everyday life. You understand, right?" Danzō affirmed.

"Yes, my Lord." Crane said, understanding the elder's words. The ROOT shinobi took his mask off, revealing a man who looks to be in his late teens to his early twenties. His shaggy hair mostly covered his cobalt blue eyes, leaving only the bottom layer being visible. Using his free hand, the shinobi pulled a blank scroll from a pocket before opening and placing it on the floor, where he then placed his mask onto the blank canvas, which allowed the mask to assimilate into the scroll. Satisfied, Crane rolled the scroll up before placing it into his pocket once more.

"From this point on, your name will now be Chikara." Danzō said, christening his operative with the name.

Chikara simply nodded in approval to his name.

"Yorukō Hasegawa…" Danzō mused, the village elder turning around to face the exit: "I don't know what your endgame is, nor am I interested in really finding out. However, it is clear to me that your loyalties do not lie with the leaf, and should that be the case, I will personally ensure your demise should you threaten this village in any way."

Meanwhile…

"I'm surprised we got those promotions." Kori remarked, trying to start a conversation. Since leaving Tsunade's office, the four shinobi had been walking in silence; Yorukō himself having a deep scowl etched on his face. Since that small exchange with the village elder, the girls – Kori in particular – couldn't help but notice the very drastic change in the boy's mood, something both Yuina and Sayuri also picked up on. The walk from the office towards the village square was one of pure tension, especially where Yorukō is concerned.

"I'm not surprised at the promotions," Yuina added, subtly picking up Kori's hint: "I was more surprised at the ranks we were all given, and how we're all on the same team."

"I'm proud of you guys!" Sayuri cheered before clapping her hands together: "I'll make you guys something special at home tonight for dinner for a small celebration!"

"Sweet!" Kori exclaimed, excited at the idea: "But, we must get you something too you know. You also became a shinobi!"

"Oh, you don't have to." Sayuri said, waving her hands in dismissal: "That wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for…"

Sayuri stopped herself as she turned to look at her son, his expression unchanged since their meeting with Tsunade. The reanimated woman felt sadness towards her son, a feeling she has been recently feeling more often when she thinks about Yorukō. It seems that Sayuri isn't the only one who feels this way towards Yorukō, both Yuina and Kori now looking at the boy with a similar expression. Yorukō for his part sighed to himself and continued walking, choosing to not say anything. This began to annoy Yuina more out of anyone, seeing her boyfriend act in this manner concerned her at first before becoming annoyed when he refused to join in on the conversation at large. She decided to walk in front of everyone before stopping dead in-front of Yorukō, which caused a small vein to appear on his forehead.

"What's the matter with you?" Yuina asked, annoyed at his erratic behavior: "You were perfectly fine back there before you ran into that village elder, and now all of a sudden, you have some grudge against anyone and everyone."

Yorukō (and the other girls) began to notice the glares being directed towards them due to Yuina's comment, something that somehow made Yorukō's already erratic behavior even worse. Instead of answering his girlfriend or even address the stares being directed towards them, the adolescent jōnin had decided to start walking at a faster pace towards their home, the other girls following suit. Before long, Yorukō arrived at the compound first, the others arriving in quick succession.

"Sorry about that." Yorukō said to the girls, slightly bowing in embarrassment: "I didn't mean to just up and take off like that."

"Don't change the subject." Yuina said, getting more irritated: "Why were you acting like that? It's almost like you were just thinking about yourself – nobody else in the world mattered to you except you."

"It wasn't about just me, Yuina." Yorukō retorted, unfazed by his girlfriend's reactions: "It's clear as day to me that we're still not welcomed in this village."

"What do you mean?" Kori interjected. "The villagers like us, we're giving Tsunade good progress, and we haven't caused any problems!"

"Kori-chan is right, son." Sayuri added. "But, with you, there's a deeper meaning, so could you elaborate some more?"

"From a frontal standpoint, we haven't caused any problems. We've lived here for a year – done nothing wrong, protected the village, took hard missions, even rescued some injured shinobi and civilians from further harm, but it's almost like none of those things matter." Yorukō explained.

"It doesn't matter?" Yuina asked, her irritated behavior turning to a more confused one: "What do you mean it doesn't matter? We're rather well-liked by everyone as far as I know."

"You said it right there, Yuina: 'as far as I know'." Yorukō told her: "You saw the look that elder gave me before we left."

"I didn't see him," Sayuri said, confused: "what look was he giving you?"

"A look of pure distrust and contempt." Yorukō answered: "Without directly saying it, he basically said, 'you're not welcome here.'"

"He may be an elder, but he isn't the Hokage." Kori said: "It's not as if he can just exile us like that."

"See, that's where you're slightly off, Kori." Yorukō quickly added: "With enough just reasoning and probable cause, the village elders can overrule the Hokage's rule for certain decisions. In addition, should there be a meeting with clan heads in the village, that also works by majority rule."

"I…I see." Kori quietly replied, slightly ashamed: "I didn't know that much."

"That's alright, Kori." Yorukō reassured, managing to cheer the girl up a bit: "Things like that aren't taught to the shinobi back home – seems all the majority of us knew was how to efficiently kill, and the weaker ones were taught diplomacy."

"Then," Yuina cut in: "how do you know so much?"

"Being Reiki's son, he made sure to teach me the bare minimum – he only wanted to make sure I was strong but smart enough to know diplomacy, if only basic. However, I did want to learn more on diplomatic affairs and how to handle, spot, remedy, or even prevent them." Yorukō explained to his girlfriend.

"I'm so proud of you, son." Sayuri said to herself: "If things were different, you'd most definitely be able to become Taiyōkage even at this age."

"Well, that still doesn't excuse you from how you were acting." Yuina reminded her boyfriend: "I'm not mad about why you were that way, but mad about leaving us," she pointed at herself before pointing at Sayuri and Kori: "in the dark. We're supposed to be a group, a family that looks out for each other. You don't have to tackle everything on your own, okay?"

"Yeah," Yorukō answered with a slight chuckle: "I'm happy to have you as my girlfriend, and the four of you as family."

Yuina blushed after hearing that.

"Speaking of four, when are you going to tell her, Yorukō?" Sayuri asked.

"That's something I wanted YOU to do, mother." Yorukō answered: "If I do it, then it makes you a grandmother in hindsight."

"I'm not that old!" Sayuri retorted: "That's why I wanted you doing it."

"Yeah, okay." Yorukō said dismissingly: "…old woman."

"What are you guys bickering about?" Kori asked, Yuina looking at the pair as well.

"Well, throughout the past year, mother and I were arguing on something relating to Aya." Yorukō answered.

"That being?" Yuina asked.

"To see who'd be the one to adopt her." Yorukō answered.

Both Yuina and Kori were stunned at the answer, Kori stepping back in shock while Yuina began to stammer uncontrollably. Yorukō and Sayuri looked at the girls in mild amusement before giggling to themselves.

"A-A-A-A-Adopting?" Yuina said: "If you do that, Yorukō-kun, doesn't that make her your daughter?"

"Precisely." Yorukō simply answered.

"But… Yorukō-kun with a child sounds…" Kori said, losing her train of thought with each word.

"…I wish it was with me." Yuina muttered to herself.

"What was that?" Kori asked Yuina, only picking up some of what the teen said.

"Oh, n-nothing!" Yuina stammered, sporting a now crimson mask.

"Well, what happens, happens." Yorukō said, bringing the attention back to himself. "My loving mother here wants me to be the one to adopt her, considering I was the one that found her first. However, I think it'd be better if you adopted her, that way she could be a little sister to me instead of my child."

"When you put it like that, it seems like you don't want to adopt her, Yorukō." Sayuri jabbed.

"Don't get me wrong – I have literally no problems with adopting her." Yorukō affirmed before taking a deep sigh: "However, you must remember I'm a wanted shinobi across the great nations. Just finding out that she'd have such a direct connection to me could see Aya become the target of many nations wanting to capture her to draw me out, or at the very least, the Frost Village."

To say a cold chill swept through the compound would be an understatement. Even for Yuina and Kori who were in their own emotional (and somewhat funny) messes, they both became serious when remembering their village. In a not-so-subtle way when he explained why he couldn't become her adoptive father, Yorukō basically said without saying: "We're still wanted by our own village."

"We've been here for over a year, and I can't believe we've gotten so relaxed that we almost forgot about that!" Kori said, clapping her hands together.

"There's more." Yorukō simply added.

"More?" Yuina asked.

"I have my own ways of getting information throughout the shinobi world, and it seems that Reiki has had squads actively hunt us since I killed those hunter-nins. He somehow found out that Kori, Yuina, and my mother defected and joined me." Yorukō explained: "What's more, the only reason he halted his hunt was due to us choosing the leaf to defect. He didn't feel the necessary need to start a war over killing us."

"Reiki… you bastard…" Sayuri said, gritting her teeth: "What won't you do against us? Haven't you made us suffer enough?"

"That's why…" Yorukō started.

"Why…?" Yuina, Kori, and Sayuri simultaneously asked.

"That's why I intend on going back to the Frost Village to kill him myself." Yorukō stated.