Chapter 2 - Months Seven to Thirteen: Shikotsu Myaku!

--Seven Months- Spring--

Ryouko chose a safe rooftop in the Land of Herbs to study on for the night. He didn’t want to stay in this hellish place for long. But, strangely enough, the fact that it had so many bad memories within it’s borders was why Ryouko had journeyed there.

Maybe this mess will stop hurting if I can associate the Leaf Village with this hellhole…

Ryouko shivered, thinking about the battles he had fought here, the blood he and Lee had lost, when Sakura had kissed him on the cheek…damn. So much for that theory. The memory of that kiss was too fresh in Ryouko’s mind to be suppressed. And the Land of Herbs was safer now, with the second Koubakage taking the reigns and taking control. Ryouko wondered if he had anything to do with it, fighting here twice, with no gain for the Leaf Village, or himself. If his actions saved lives, Ryouko was truly thrilled…but at the same time, it hadn’t been his fight. With this thought came another, more poisonous thought.

Did I ever really belong in the Leaf Village? Everyone else had a team, or a sensei, or a career. I was just the favorite genin of Lord Third, and the worst nightmare of Lady Fifth. At least that’s how it seems…was I loyal to the Leaf, or to the Third Hokage?

The Third’s grandfatherly voice went through Ryouko’s mind, reminding him of the Leaf virtues, and reminding him that, if you love something, you have to protect it with everything you’ve got. Ryouko knew that his love had been for the Leaf and the people in it, and most likely always would be. Even if the love was unrequited.

With a sigh, somehow feeling even more depressed for figuring out the truth, Ryouko went back to his scrolls. His repertoire of jutsu had grown, and his skills had expanded with it. But without someone noticing, even a little bit, the progress felt shallow. What good was knowledge, when it had no outlet?


~THE FIRST SUMMER~ (Eleven Monthes since his departure)

Ryouko had been gone for just shy of a year. The only contact he had with people came when he needed to buy necessities, or a night’s lodging to bathe when he couldn’t find a clean stream or river. Still wearing his black monk robe, Ryouko was growing pale. His diet had been reduced, as he couldn’t eat out often. More than once Ryouko heard a version of his story. He hadn’t known that Orochimaru’s defeat would mean so much to so many.

Of course, not all the stories were positive. It seemed that Orochimaru’s followers had since returned to their old villages, claiming to have been ‘brainwashed’. Ryouko supposed that was true for some of those telling the story, but that most found it to be a convenient excuse to avoid execution.

Now resting in Sunagakure, while visiting his old friends, Temari and Kankuro, Ryouko learned that Gaara had become loved as the Kazekage, and had started to develop bonds with people. Ryouko mostly let Temari and Kankuro do the talking, while he listened, taking in the culture of Sunagakure. Somehow, it made him long for his home all the more. In a moment of weakness, Ryouko had joined Temari and Kankuro for an afternoon meal. The spicy food of Sunagakure was excellent, but it was while consuming the veritable feast that Ryouko had begun to backpedal, answering rather than asking or listening. This even more made Ryouko think wistfully about the life he could have had.

“So…” Kankuro began uncomfortably, prompting his big sister to take over while he played with his spicy chicken.

“We’ve heard you’ve left the Leaf…what happened?” Temari spoke quietly, wanting to be sure she wasn’t overheard. This was big news, and for more reasons than Ryouko was aware of.

“Yeah, weren’t you just declared ‘legendary’? Why would you leave all of a sudden?” Kankuro added, trying to augment Temari’s rather vague question.

“Push came to shove. The Village and I couldn’t exist together, for a number of reasons. Forgive me if I don’t discuss them; this trip has been about self-healing, and I’m afraid this will tear open some old wounds that have just begun to heal.” Ryouko had returned the vague question with an equally vague response. He drew his hood tighter despite the heat; being recognized might lead to Konoha Shinobi trying to track him down.

“So you’ve left for real, then,” Temari murmured, amazed. The picture of loyalty leaving his home? Must have been a damn good fight with them…Or something else that he isn’t saying…

“Then stay here…” A dry whisper came from behind.

Ryouko turned around slowly, carefully.

“It’s been a long time, Lord Kazekage,” Ryouko greeted, with an accompanying bow.

“Indeed...more than a year since we last met…” Gaara sat down at the head of the table that Ryouko, Temari, and Kankuro were occupying. Kankuro and Temari didn’t flinch around their little brother anymore, they were proud of him and his success. They were genuinely proud, not just proud because they gained prestige as his siblings. Gaara had also gained control over his impulses to kill without the Shukaku influencing him. He had become a steady leader.

“Are the stories true?” Gaara rasped, his slightly-less menacing eyes looking over the changed Ryouko.

“They are, Lord Kazekage. I’ve been named a legend, and I’ve left my village, under less than ideal circumstances…” Ryouko replied, trying not to shift nervously. Legendary or not, Gaara was still a scary kid with a nasty ability to kill people with very little effort.

“I know…Konohagakure sent us this…” Gaara reached inside of his robes and extracted a sheet of paper, stamped with the Konoha logo. Ryouko took it, careful to avoid giving Gaara even a paper cut. After glancing at the paper, Ryouko’s hands began to shake, and sweat ran down his face.

It was a mug shot of Ryouko, offering 25 million Ryo for his capture- alive only.

Ryouko looked up searchingly, trying to gauge the Kazekage and his siblings. Were they only being nice to collect the offer on his head? As if reading his thoughts, Gaara spoke once more.

“I have ordered my village not to hurt you. We will offer you sanctuary here, in exchange for your help…You see, our backs are to the wall. With the Shukaku gone from my body, other nations have become to perceive us as weak. My youth does not assist in destroying that perception…” Gaara looked Ryouko squarely in the eyes, the last thing many people had seen before everything went black.

“How would I be of service?” Ryouko inquired. Though he had been traveling and had heard lots of news, weakness in the Hidden Sand Village had never been a topic of discussion. And Ryouko knew that he wasn’t ready to commit to any village just yet. Would Konoha take him back, if he even chose to go back?

Gaara pointed to the East. “There, outside the village, lies a group of followers of Orochimaru. They believe their power is enough to overtake the village. Allowing them in would indeed weaken the Sand…” Gaara shifted his eyes toward Ryouko once more. “But your reputation alone may spare the blood of my people.”

This left Ryouko at an impasse. This would surely attract the attention of the Hidden Leaf. But at the same time, Temari, Kankuro, and even Gaara…if Ryouko could help them, so much the better. Even though he had left the Hidden Leaf, he had left when he was no longer needed. Here, at least for a time, he was needed, and it ill suited him to leave his allies in their time of need. As a paper lantern blew, tossed by the wind, Ryouko raised his eyes, while keeping his head bowed.

“I’ll help. You’ve offered me hospitality, and it wouldn’t be correct for me to leave without repaying it.”

--

“Mune, Raina, Kissaki- you three will confront the Kazekage. I myself will seize the capital building, and the city shall fall from within!”

Yakiba and her three brothers, all bearing cursed seals of earth, nodded to each other. Sunagakure had been weakened, or so they had heard. Despite the powerful Kazekage, the Village Hidden in the Sand had a small population, and would offer little resistance. They hadn’t been heard from at the chunin exams for a number of years, leading Yakiba to believe that there weren’t many Shinobi within the walls of the well-fortified Sand Village that were quality warriors..

“The loss of that demon that the Kazekage housed will surely work in our favor…” Mune said.

WHOOSH! TOK! The group of four turned to stare at what had just whizzed over their heads.

“Are you certain of that?”

Ryouko uncoiled from his crouching position, his head still facing the ground.

“Who the hell are you? Some monk dares oppose the greatest of Lord Orochimaru’s followers?!” The hot-headed Kissaki had already started to attack. Rushing forward and activating his cursed seal, he now commanded a staff that was nearly nine feet long. The staff had the ability attack free from Kissaki’s grasp, caused by Kissaki’s meager puppetry skills. His propensity with the staff, however, made this jutsu a dangerous one to face.

Ryouko’s first dagger blocked the staff, while the second swept it to the side. It came at him upward and diagonally next. Ryouko parried the strike, while silently casting a genjutsu.

“Death Forseeing Jutsu!”

Kissaki suddenly froze up. His death…so gruesome, and in so many ways! It was paralyzing, crippling fear that brought the proud Sound warrior to his knees, where he shook as a leaf in the breeze. Kunai riddling him…burning…hanging…decapitation…it all felt so real…

“You asked my name…though it’s common courtesy to offer your own before engaging in combat, I’ll humor you…My name is Ryouko Kaguya…” Ryouko snapped the staff that had been annoying him moments earlier, holding one half in each hand.

“Big deal! Some cousin of Kimimaro! I don’t see your bones, you don’t scare me! Hyaa!” Mune rushed, followed by Raina. Both activated their cursed seals. Their ability was interesting, to say the least. They could each transform into giant Shuriken and guide their flight with their chakra.

SCHWINNG!

Ryouko’s shoulder dripped blood, as either Mune or Raina managed to his him. But as they swung around to attack again, they were met by a replacement jutsu. THOK! They were stuck in the thick wooden log! Before they could undo their transformation, they saw Ryouko, still holding the two sticks.

“Dragon’s Ember Jutsu!” Ryouko called. He threw both sticks at the base of the log, making handsigns as he barked out the jutsu. Just as the sticks landed, Ryouko punched. Jets of fire left his fists, and ignited the two sticks, which served as kindling to ignite the wood. Raina and Mune were still trapped, while the fire burned!

“Water Style: Tidal Crest!” Yakiba called out. The only female of the group, she was also the most talented, as well as the leader. She directed her jutsu at the burning log, while avoiding the still-suffering Kissaki. She rushed Ryouko next.

“HYAGH!” Throwing rights and lefts, Ryouko blocked with his forearms, until the fifth strike, where he stepped to the side and pushed Yakiba’s hand inward, throwing her off-balance. Using a side-kick, Ryouko propelled Yakiba into the Sand Village’s outer wall, effectively ending the fight. As Yakiba looked up, blood running down her mouth, she met Ryouko’s eyes.

“You…Now I know…the legend…the one who defeated my Lord…this was surely a fool’s battle. Next time, I won’t come with only my brothers! I’m tempted to collect the Ryo on your head myself…but to do so, I would have to forsake every instinct I have…” Yakiba forced herself to her feet, staring at Ryouko with a mix of respect and hatred.

“Next time, I will end your reign as a legend! You have never witnessed the power of my cursed seal! In Otogakure, I was recognized as the most lethal kunoichi to survive the curse mark’s usually-deadly beginning process!”

Ryouko released the genjutsu on Kissaki; his mind had been hovering near collapse.

“Your bragging is boring…everyone proclaims their talent to be great, yet few possess true talent. Take your brothers and go. Do not make the mistake of returning to this Village.” Ryouko was trying to show mercy, although he was rapidly understanding that doing so was an empty gesture.

“Damn you!” Kissaki rushed Ryouko once more. Ryouko was about to defend himself, but Kissaki stopped. He was bound by sand!


“That’s enough…Ryouko, you’ve made the point I needed you to make…now let me deal with them…” Gaara was standing on top of the wall that Yakiba had been thrown in to. From the gourd on his back, sand was flowing.

“Enemies of the sand, you chose not to heed the warning of our ally. Your threats against this village cannot go unpunished…” Gaara’s sand had engulfed all four. Gaara raised his arm, which tightened the sand while raising the enemies up to his level.

“Lord Kazekage….are you sure this is necessary? They proven not to be a threat, and they’ve been humiliated. Isn’t this…extreme?” Ryouko knew he was risking Gaara’s wrath, but the thought of four people being killed so gruesomely had made his heart soften. This was not the case with Gaara’s heart.

“Letting them go would only allow them to breed an army…You left a message, now it’s time for me to leave mine…I take no pleasure in this execution, but it’s a necessary evil. Surely you can understand. Even if you can’t…our customs are different than yours. Our Village, with it’s smaller population and fewer resources, has to eliminate threats before they reach their full power. Your job is finished…”

Gaara raised his hand in front of his face. As he clenched his fist, and blood rained from the four bodies trapped in the sand, he said:

“Crushing Sand Coffin!”

--

“Will you be returning to the Hidden Leaf Village? You could always stay here, you know.” Temari cocked her head to the side, waiting for a reply, while Kankuro stood silently beside her.

Ryouko wondered about that himself. Would staying in Sunagakure be so bad? Ryouko had thought about it. Maybe even find a kunoichi here, and leave the past to die. But the past was that very thing that stopped him.

The past…I can’t let it go…not yet…Getting close to people again? What would that accomplish? It would only hurt…

“Thank you for your generous offer, but I feel I need to move on. But should you need me, it would be my honor to help again. For now, I have to go. Thank you for your hospitality. And please give my regards to Gaara. I know he can’t be troubled at the moment. Thank you again for the hospitality.”

Ryouko bowed, accepting a return bow from Kankuro, and a good-bye hug from Temari. Briefly, Ryouko remembered Sakura’s hug, and then even his own crush on Temari. It was time, once again, to leave. The Sand Village hadn’t wronged him, but the past seemed to be scattered in his future. Makabishi spikes on the path of life.

--

--13 months since departure—

The Land of Rain.

So this is the land…I finally get to see it. I wish Kimimaro had come to the Leaf. Even if we couldn’t have saved him, he could have told me the heritage of our clan…All I’ve heard is the bad: Blood-thirsty, partially-insane savages that wiped themselves out attacking the Mist Village. I know Kimimaro was different. He had such an intense loyalty to his ‘master’…that bastard Orochimaru. Did he even TRY to heal Kimimaro, or did he just let him die?

“Excuse me, young man? Are you lost?” The voice of an older woman, her hair gray, and her stature small, reached Ryouko’s ears as he was tapped on the shoulder. The woman hadn’t spoken unkindly, so Ryouko opted for a nice approach.

Ryouko turned around, realizing that his robes hid the Kaguya family crest.

That may be for the best, I don’t know how the village felt about my clan…

“I was looking for information. I hope I’m welcome to be searching…” Ryouko said/asked, in this way conveying respect. Being by himself had earned Ryouko street smarts over the past thirteen months.

“Of course, dear boy! Perhaps I can help you! What are you searching for?”

Before Ryouko could answer, the woman got a glimpse under his hood, and put her hand to her face to cover a gasp.

“You’re that boy…of the Ka-”

“Please, don’t speak it, if it holds ill omen here.” Ryouko didn’t mean to interrupt, but he didn’t want to have a whole village chasing him down.

The women grew stern, her features darkening. “If it were any but the legend who defeated Orochimaru…You’ve come to search your bloodline, am I correct?”

“That’s correct,” Ryouko confirmed, bowing slightly. The aged woman closer her eyes, looking even older by doing so. Her wrinkled hands had tensed such that her knuckles had turned not red but white from the strain.

“The Kaguya clan’s grounds are considered sacred…and cursed. But if the cursed blood flows in your veins, you won’t be harmed by the insanity…or so I am told…”

Ryouko looked at the woman closely. “You are a mystic, or a fortune teller, if I’m right. Your speech…your dress…you are one of those who speaks of what is to come…or what has become the past…”

The woman gave a toothless smile. “Sharp, boy. Very sharp. Come with me, legend, to the grounds of your ancestry! You may lay claim to any of it, or none of it. But be forewarned- I will not speak of your death!”

Ryouko nodded his understanding and consent, and followed the woman.

--

“Lady Tsunade! Lady Tsunade! Oh, wake up! Come on!”

Shizune was trying to wake Tsunade up from a drunken stupor. Not a great idea, but this was urgent.

“What the hell? What is it, Shizune?!” Tsunade was more annoyed than concerned, despite the fact it was so rare for someone to dare wake her up. Poor Sakura had endured this for a long time, waking up Tsunade to train every morning. Not an enviable task.

“How could you, Lady Tsunade?!” Shizune demanded, waving a paper around wildly.

“How could I what? You could mean a lot of things…” Tsunade remarked off-the-cuff. She did a lot of things that worried, annoyed, or flat out pissed her assistant off.

“How could you put a bounty on Ryouko’s head?! And why?!” Shizune thrust the paper at Tsunade, who suddenly looked guilty, like she had her hand caught in the cookie jar.

“Oh…that. Well, I guess I can tell you, now that you’ve found out. I wasn’t going to tell you. You and your motherly instincts, you would have overreacted. Listen, that boy is legendary, and he belongs to Konoha. And he needs to be here. Simple as that.”

Shizune couldn’t resist. “Oh, like YOU stayed in Konoha? YOU left, HE was pushed out! There’s a difference, you know! What choice did he have but to leave?! And now he’s a criminal for living his life?! Don’t you realize that HE knows about this two, and he could turn this right back in your face? Spill our secrets to anyone he wants? You’re just lucky he’s honorable enough not to do so! You would have gambled them away on the right day!”

“SHUT UP SHIZUNE!” Tsunade boomed, causing Shizune to shrink away, losing her momentum as fast as it had come.

“Where did this come from? This flyer, who sent it here?” Tsunade held up the flyer.

“It came from Sunagakure. Ryouko visited, but he’s long gone. The Kazekage offered him a position there, but Ryouko refused it, and disappeared…no one’s heard anything since…”

Tsunade leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. “I see. Well, the trail is a little cold, but I know a few Shinobi who need a work out. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Sai, Lee, and Shikamaru. Dispatch them to Sunagakure. Let’s see what information they can give me.”
--

The old woman led Ryouko to what looked like a cemetery. A gray, mausoleum-like building was the center of it all. It was built grandly, three stories high, with ivy climbing up the sides. It looked as though no one had cared for the building or the surrounding patch of land in some time.

“Here, boy, lies your ancestry. This land is yours…tell me, can you use the Shikotsumyaku?” (Corpse Bone Pathways) The older woman had donned a gray shawl. Ryouko sensed chakra around the shawl, but he guessed it was a heating jutsu, or a protective spell against the ‘cursed’ land.

“Only partially. I assume that it’s because my blood has been diluted by 50%.”

Ryouko kept his answer short, in fear that he would say too much. Instead, he looked around the building that he had been led in to. It was dark, and even the inside looked like a mausoleum. Gray walls with long-tattered scrolls and a blood red carpet was the décor, save for the staircase that led upstairs, and a suspicious-looking wooden door that must have led to a downstairs room. For some reason, as he saw the door, Ryouko felt something…evil, or maybe sad, possibly both. But the feeling urged him to stay away from the door. The door itself was harmless looking, made of old wood and black iron frames, like the barrels that ingredients for various poisons came in.

“I see…now, you’ve come with a heavy mind…full of worries, fears, and regrets…but also questions. It’s only the questions that I can help with…but you may ask only one question! Choose your query wisely!” The old woman clasped her hands behind her back and began to walk in circles, muttering strange words that Ryouko either didn’t understand, or wasn’t hearing correctly.

One question…I may as well get the answer I came here for…

“My question is this: WHERE, exactly, can I find the Kaguya clan’s notes, scrolls, and other valuable information?”

The old woman was now wearing glasses, big and circular, and peering up through the bifocals at Ryouko. She was smiling again, a truly disconcerting gesture that Ryouko wasn’t ready to embrace as friendliness.

“Very specific…I see living on the streets for more than a year have given you a good head on your shoulders, Dragon Boy. Very well…” The old woman beckoned Ryouko to follow her, while Ryouko wondered how she knew his old nickname, and how long he’d been gone from home. Was she really a fortune teller, or a mystic? A demon instead? His thought process stopped as the woman led him to the door that he had studiously avoided earlier.

“Down their lie the secrets you desire. The Kaguya bloodline explained, it’s jutsus defined, and even what little remains of their artifacts. And it’s your property…” The woman opened the door; nothing greeted Ryouko except the smell of stale straw; the smell to tatami mats. As he looked over to the door to peer down, he saw it was a pit, with bones at the bottom.

“Bones?” Ryouko said aloud. That’s when he felt a push from behind. He was falling toward the bones in a showdown he wasn’t going to win.

“THE ANSWERS YOU DESIRE ARE YOURS!” the old woman shouted. Ryouko had to think fast to save himself, or he was going to be an addition to the collection of bones at the bottom of the pile.

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