Chapter 35
ALUBARNA KINGDOM
King Cobra of the Alubarna Kingdom in Alabasta sat upon his throne with his two right hand men at his side. A soldier ran into his throne room in distress.
"Your majesty! Your majesty! Did you hear!?" The soldier distressed.
"Hm? Please calm yourself sir! What is the problem?" Cobra asked.
The man huffed and puffed.
"I just got word from the Sakura Kingdom that a major battle took place there between the straw hats and the shinobi from the ninja world!" The soldier said.
Chaka and Pell looked at each other. Cobra stared at the man with concern.
"And? The results?" Cobra asked.
"The straw hats and shinobi were confirmed to have been the victors! They defeated the DEATH army and DEATH general Eneru!" The solider said.
Vivi walked in and smiled at hearing this.
"Those guys! They're still as amazing as I remember!" Vivi thought.
Cobra smiled as well.
"So what then is the concern? They won!" Cobra said.
The man tensed up.
"Well… your highness… later on that night…the navy base of Marineford!..." The man stopped.
Everyone in the room stared with anticipation.
"Was completely ravaged! Everyone on the island was killed and their homes destroyed! The top naval officers in the world were also killed!" The soldier said.
The room was in complete shock.
"Everyone!?" Cobra asked.
The man nodded quickly.
"Yes! And… DEATH was behind it! Look!" The soldier yelled, showing Cobra a newspaper with the cover of Marineford in ruin.
Cobra's eyes widened as he read the paper.
"In the early morning hours of the thirteenth of the month two masked man arrived on an armored man of war battle ship and began to lay waste to the navy's proud base of Marineford. The combination of the early morning hours and the power of the two assailants kept anyone from escaping, the entire island is to believed to have been destroyed and no one is expected to have survived." Cobra read to himself.
The king of Alabasta began to sweat and gulped. Vivi slowly walked up to her father in distress.
"F….F…Father… what's…. what's happening?" Vivi asked.
Cobra slowly looked up at his daughter. Before he could say anything else another soldier ran in.
"KING COBRA! KING COBRA! I HAVE NEWS ABOUT MARINEFORD!" The soldier yelled.
Cobra closed his eyes slowly.
"I know soldier… I'm reading the paper currently." Cobra said softly.
The soldier began to shake and sweat.
"No! This is the paper that just came this morning! The identities of the men who destroyed Marineford have been revealed! And there's currently a war going on there!" The soldier yelled.
Chaka and Pell gasped. Vivi stared with surprise. Cobra was shocked. The soldier delivered the paper to Cobra to which the latter grabbed and read very slowly. Cobra's mouth opened slowly, and he choked on his words. Chaka and Pell became nervous as well as Vivi.
"Your highness?" Chaka asked.
"Father? What does the paper say?" Vivi asked, sweating.
Cobra slowly handed the paper to Pell who skimmed it and grunted.
"Pell!" Vivi yelled out.
Pell closed his eyes with anger and handed Vivi the paper. Vivi skimmed over it and her eyes widened as well and she became scared. Cobra's face was hidden in his hands. Vivi shook as she read the paper and started to freak out. The same organization who tried to assassinate her started a war in Marineford and are growing in power, her troubles were probably far from over! Vivi cocked her head back and screamed, sweat and tears running down her face. Chaka and Pell instantly became concerned. Igaram, hearing Vivi's screams, ran in to comfort her.
"Miss Vivi please calm down!" Igaram yelled.
"Your highness! What are we going to do!?" The soldier asked.
Cobra lifted his head, intertwined his hands, and covered his mouth as his elbows rested on his knees. After a moment, Cobra lifted his head and spoke.
"Inform the ninja world of this chaos! I feel like a major war is coming… and we will need all the help we can get!" Cobra yelled.
"But majesty! We only have a treaty with the sand village!" A soldier said.
"Damn a treaty! If we're lucky our friends from the sand will vouch for us! Now go!" Cobra commanded.
The soldier gave a salute and exited the throne room. Cobra looked down and thought to himself.
"What a big mess… please… ninjas… I apologize for what this kingdom did to you all those years ago! Please! Help us!" Cobra thought to himself.
VILLAGE HIDDEN IN SAND
Garra watched over the rebuilding of the sand village from the top of the Kazekage mansion. Kankuro and Temari stood by his side.
"What a big mess all that was." Kankuro said.
"Sorry we weren't here Garra. We apologize sincerely." Temari said.
Garra looked at his siblings and smiled.
"It's quite alright. You both were out on important missions, Naruto and the others did a great job defending this place, as well as…" Garra stopped.
Kankuro and Temari looked at him.
"As well as who?" Kankuro asked.
Garra smiled remembering the straw hat pirates.
"The straw hat pirates. Their strength is incredible. Naruto and the other's fought amazingly with them." Garra said.
"Straw hat pirates?" Temari asked, looking at Kankuro.
Kankuro shrugged.
"Any friend of yours is a friend of ours Garra." Kankuro said with a smile.
Garra smiled and nodded. Suddenly a sand shinobi ran onto the roof.
"Kazekage! News from Alubarna!" The shinobi said.
Garra, Temari, and Kankuro turned around with concern.
"What seems to be the problem?" Garra asked.
The sand shinobi showed Garra the front of the paper and Garra became shocked. He gasped and choked on his words. Kankuro and Temari became concerned.
"Garra? What's wrong?" Temari asked.
Garra pulled himself together and spoke.
"Tell the other kage that I'm calling for a meeting at the five kage summit. Psycho is back." Garra said seriously.
VILLAGE HIDDEN IN STONE
"Tsuchikage-sama! A letter of importance from the Kazekage!" Akatsuchi yelled.
Onoki looked at the letter and became shocked.
"What!? That punk has finally resurfaced after all this time? Get me a transportation party! We're going to the five kage summit!" Onoki ordered.
VILLAGE HIDDEN IN MIST
The Mizukage, Mei Terumi, read over the paper that was sent to her by Garra of the sand.
"Psycho hm? Just when things were going smoothly in this world…" Mei sighed.
"Mizukage-sama?" Ao asked.
Mei put on her Mizukage hat and walked towards the door.
"To the five kage summit shall we?" Mei asked.
Chojuro and Ao looked at the other and nodded then followed their leader out the door.
VILLAGE HIDDEN IN CLOUDS
Darui and Shi sat outside the Raikage's office. A cloud shinobi ran up to the two panting.
"Darui-san! Shi-san!" The shinobi said.
Darui and Shi stood up.
"What's the problem?" Darui asked.
"Is the Raikage in?" The shinobi asked.
"Of course he is, come on!" Shi said.
In the Raikage's office, Ay sat, doing paperwork. His brother B stood next to him with his arms crossed. Both men looked up when Darui, Shi, and a cloud shinobi burst in.
"What the hell are you doing busting in here!?" Ay asked.
"Yo yo if they doing all that my brother then there must be trouble ya feel? Fool!" B rapped.
The Raikage stood up to hit him but was stopped when the shinobi yelled.
"Raikage-sama! You're not going to like this!" The shinobi yelled, handing Ay the paper.
Ay grabbed the paper and skimmed it. The more he read it the more he began to wrinkle it in his one hand. Suddenly chakra swallowed his body and became lightning coated and his Kage mansion began to shake. People outside became concerned.
"The Raikage is angry! Who pissed him off?!" Civilians asked amongst themselves.
B, Darui, and Shi ran over to grab the Raikage and calm him down.
"ARGGHHHHHHH! DAMN THAT MAN! DAMN HIM! HE'S A COWARD! RUNNING OFF AND FIGHTING WEAKLINGS! BRING HIM TO ME SO I CAN KILL HIM PERSONALLY!" The Raikage screamed.
"Raikage-sama! Please calm down! The Kazekage requested a meeting at the five kage summit! You can vent your frustrations about this situation there! Please! You're scaring the villagers!" Shi pleaded.
The Raikage looked over at Shi on his shoulder.
"Big bro you gotta stop this!" B yelled.
"Raikage let it go! We can talk about it at the summit!" Darui reasoned.
Raikage slowly but surely calmed down and his lightning aura dimmed. When he was completely calm he slammed the paper down on his desk and put on his kage hat.
"Let's go to the damn summit! I can't wait to address this!" Ay yelled. B, Darui, and Shi followed.
VILLAGE HIDDEN IN LEAVES
Tsunade stood at the window watching over the village. Shizune sat by the Hokage desk playing with TonTon.
FLASHBACK
"These ships reported sailing around..with some logo on their flags..what if they're another form of Akatsuki? We need to make sure that princess is safe!" Tsunade said.
Kakashi continued to look at her with low resting eyes. He leaned back and looked up at the ceiling, then turned around to look out the window.
END OF FLASHBACK
"I had every right to be concerned… the princess was attacked, and a major battle destroyed half the sand village… what the hell is this organization…DEATH? Who runs it? What is their goal? And why NOW? When we JUST got peace?" Tsunade thought to herself as she slowly turned around and looked at the desk. She raised her fist and slammed it on the desk, cracking it. Shizune shot up.
"Milady!" Shizune yelled.
Before Tsunade could say anything a knock on the door interrupted her tantrum.
"Who is it!?" Tsunade yelled.
Shikamaru walked in with a straight face and a newspaper.
"Milady…" Shikamaru said softly.
Tsunade became very serious.
"What! I don't like suspense! What's the issue!" Tsunade yelled.
Shikamaru set the paper down on her desk and stepped back and put his fingers together ready to restrain her. Tsunade snatched the paper off the desk and read it over. The more she read the more her eyes widened. She flipped the page to continue reading.
"The latest news regarding the naval base of Marineford is that the attackers have appeared to start a war with the marines. Key figures appearing in this war are as follows: Former government officials Kaku and Rob Lucci, former warlord Donquixote Doflamingo, Kuro captain of the Black Cat Pirates, and the two men who attacked Marineford slaughtering its population not once but twice. "Shogun" Cyclone and…" Tsunade stopped reading for a moment and prayed silently to herself that she wasn't about to read the name she thought she was going to read. Tsundade pulled herself together and looked down at the page, "And the most wanted man in the world… Psycho Uchiha."
Tears began to fall down Tsunade's face as she read that line. She began to shake and sweat profusely. She fell back against the wall and panted, she clutched her chest and screamed. Shikamaru and Shizune went over and grabbed her.
"Milady please calm down!" Shizune yelled.
Tsunade's eyes rolled into the back of her head as she screamed and cried, both arms wrapped around her body in an attempt to comfort herself. As she screamed Shikamaru called for more shinobi to come help calm her down. As shinobi ran in the room to help Tsunade was having a battle in her mind.
FLASHBACK THE SECOND GREAT NINJA WAR
Rain poured into the forest of the Hidden Leaf as Tsunade lay next to her dead boyfriend, Dan Kato. Blood covered her body and his. This was the exact moment Tsunade would develop her hemophobia. The dead leaf shinobi that surrounded Tsunade didn't make the situation any easier. There were only two people left alive in that forest of blood. The mourning Tsunade and the rouge ninja Psycho Uchiha. Psycho stood over Tsunade and Dan. Psycho wore a hidden leaf bandana with the leaf emblem on the front, the emblem itself was scratched three times. He also wore a black jumpsuit underneath a grey flak jacket worn by leaf jonin. Psycho's signature marking was on the left side of his face, his sharingan activated. Psycho stared down at Tsunade with an intense but calm look on his face. Blood ran out of his left eye from using sharingan techniques and the right side of his face was almost completely covered in blood. His clothes were torn and scratches riddled his body. Psycho held a small scythe in one hand. It's handle was a ruby red and had a gold blade with a red ruby inside. It was attached to a chain on his belt. It too, was covered in blood. The rain continued to fall heavier. The blood that ran down the dead bodies spread into the grass and all around Tsunade and Dan. Psycho continued to stare at the crying woman until he decided to speak.
"Do you see now? What it's like to lose someone you love? Tsunade-chan." Psycho said softly, "You leaf ninja left me a forest just like this, screaming my lungs out as I held her in my arms. How did you expect me to retaliate?" Psycho asked rhetorically.
Tsunade lifted her head slowly with a stuck shocked face and looked at Psycho.
"I'm not going to kill you Tsunade-chan. I want you to live. I want you to remember this pain. I want you to remember the man who did this to you. I want you to remember my name, PSYCHO UCHIHA!" Psycho yelled.
END OF FLASHBACK
Tsunade continued to yell and scream, by this point a lot of people were able to get a hold of her.
"Lady Tsunade please calm down!" Shikamaru yelled, "Hold her!"
The men held her as Shikamaru performed his shadow possession jutsu. Once connected the men let Tsunade go, and even though she was still hysterical, she was immobile. Shikamaru sighed. Shizune was frightened.
"I haven't seen milady like that in so long… what happened?" Shizune asked.
All of the shinobi in the room shook their heads as they didn't know what made Tsunade freak the way she did. One of them picked up the newspaper and saw Psycho's face.
"Hey! Isn't this?" The shinobi stopped.
Shizune walked over to the shinobi, grabbed the paper and gasped.
"This can't be! This is impossible!" Shizune yelled.
"What's impossible Shizune-san?" A shinobi asked.
"This…this man… he killed my uncle! I think that's why milady got so distressed…" Shizune said.
"Your uncle?... Dan-san? Didn't he die in the second shinobi world war? The man in the picture looks the same age as you!" A shinobi noted.
"That's why I said this can't be possible… it must be some sort of transformation jutsu someone is using…" Shizune said.
At this point Tsunade had passed out standing.
"I'm going to retract the shadow possession. Someone catch lady Tsunade." Shikamaru said.
A shinobi caught Tsunade when she fell and Shikamaru grabbed the newspaper. His eyes widened when he read it.
"Psycho… Uchiha? I thought the Uchiha clan was…" Shikamaru thought, looking over at Tsunade, "And he's the one who killed Tsunade's boyfriend at the time. He does look young in this picture as well… they never told us about somebody that important in ninja history." Shikamaru folded up the newspaper and looked over at everyone.
"Everything alright? Shikamaru-san?" A shinobi asked.
Shikamaru nodded.
"Take Tsunade to the meeting at the five kage summit. I'm going to go get answers about this Psycho guy." Shikamaru said.
"Huh? From who?" Shizune asked.
"One of the hidden leaf's oldest prisoners. A man who fought against the leaf in the second shinobi world war." Shikamaru said.
Everyone in the room became concerned.
"Shikamaru-san! We can't tell you enough to NOT go see that man! He's a demon!" A shinobi said.
"I agree! I don't think you should go see him!" Shizune said.
Shikamaru was already walking towards the door.
"Get her to that meeting safely. I'm going to go see him." Shikamaru said.
Shikamaru left and everyone stared at the door with confusion.
"You heard the man! Let's move out!" A shinobi said.
HIDDEN LEAF PRISON
Shikamaru walked up to the prison entrance and was met by two guards.
"Shikamaru-san! What brings you here?" The guardian asked.
"I came to see someone." Shikamaru stated.
"You are an important official here in the leaf, Shikamaru-san, but we can't just let you in. We'll need to search you and do all the standard procedures." One of the guards said.
Shikamaru nodded and the two guards searched Shikamaru and stripped him of his weapons.
"Alright you're all set. Go on in. We'll walkie in to the warden and get you an escort to go see the prisoner you wish to see." The guard said.
Shikamaru nodded again and walked into the prison. He was greeted by a guard.
"Shikamaru-san! The warden already knows about your arrival he'll be here any minute." The guard said.
Shikamaru nodded and waited about ten minutes and the warden of the prison, former interrogator, Ibiki Morino walked out of a room.
"Shikamaru. How have you been?" Ibiki asked.
Shikamaru smiled.
"I've been good. How's the warden position treating you?" Shikamaru asked.
"Good. Keeping evil in line is all I care about." Ibiki said, "So you're here to visit someone?" Ibiki asked.
Shikamaru nodded.
"Take me to see… Zayoshi Botoya." Shikamaru said.
Ibiki's eyes widened.
"What do you want to go see him for?" Ibiki asked.
"Do you remember what he was saying when we first brought him in for interrogation?" Shikamaru asked.
FLASHBACK
"GET HIM IN HERE! HURRY!" Ibiki yelled.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME! THE SECOND NINJA WAR HAS BEEN OVER FOR YEARS! YOU'RE GOING TO BOTHER AN OLD MAN!?" Zayoshi yelled.
Hidden leaf officials dragged him into the prison.
"DOESN'T MATTER ANYWAY! PSYCHO WILLL COME FOR ME! WHEN HE HEAR'S ABOUT HIS LEFT HAND MAN BEING CAPTURED BY THE SAME VILLAGE HE HATES HIS VENGENCE WILL BE ABSOLUTE! YEEE HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Zayoshi laughed.
END OF FLASHBACK
Ibiki grunted.
"Psycho is in fact back. He's tearing up a part of the world none of us have even heard of according to the newspaper we got from Garra. He even sent some men from an organization he's running to attack the sand to kill the princess who tried to make a treaty with them. I have a lot of questions for your prisoner, if you'd let me ask them." Shikamaru said.
Ibiki nodded.
"I'll take you to him." Ibiki agreed.
Shikamaru and Ibiki as well as a few guards got on an elevator and descended deep into the prison. They finally reached the bottom after a few minutes where only one man was locked up. Zayoshi Botoya, the supposed left hand man of the criminal Psycho Uchiha.
It was dark, damp, and hot. The old man sat in his cell Indian style. He slowly looked up as Shikamaru and company approached his cell. Zayoshi's arms were locked to the walls on both sides of him. He wore prison pants and his shirt was worn and torn. He had a long grey beard and his white hair was tied in a ponytail. He also had three scratches over both of his eyes.
"Old man! You've got a visitor." Ibiki said.
"Heh heh heh heh heh… how long has it been since I had my last visitor? Ibiki-kun?"
"I don't recall you having any… Zayoshi." Ibiki said angrily.
Zayoshi looked over at Shikamaru.
"I remember you. You led the mission that led to my capture. Why are you here? Here to drag me from somewhere I call home again?" Zayoshi said.
"Only filth calls filth home." Ibiki joked, the guards laughed.
"Laugh now Ibiki… you're here because Psycho is up to something isn't he?" Zayoshi smiled.
Ibiki punched the cell.
"KEEP QUIET! WE SHOULDN'T EVEN BE DOWN HERE THIS LONG! Shikamaru! Ask him what you need to ask him." Ibiki said.
Zayoshi smiled.
"I won't speak to anyone as long as you're here watching, Ibiki-kun." Zayoshi said.
Shikamaru winced.
"Ibiki, leave us." Shikamaru said.
"I don't think so. I am the warden and this man is incredibly dangerous! If he won't speak then you'll have to get your information another way!" Ibiki said.
"I've got it under control just leave us!" Shikamaru yelled.
Ibiki became serious.
"Fine. I'll let you hear what you need to. But I swear to you, if I regret this, you'll pay for it." Ibiki said as he and his guards left.
"Sit. Shikamaru-kun." Zayoshi said.
Shikamaru looked down behind him and then sat down Indian style. Zayoshi smiled.
"Ask me anything you'd like to know about my partner. I promise to answer everything truthfully." Zayoshi said with a smile.