From The Ashes

(Gatsuuga’s P.O.V)

12 years. 12 years since I’ve been locked up, and I finally am getting my justice. My personal justice, and nobody will ever take that away from me again.

I hear the guards walking down to my cell and I can hear them whisper to each other things like, “ Are you sure this is the right guy?” and “ I think we should just keep him here, he’s unstable.

I finally see three guards come around and they gaze upon me as I’m sitting on the ground in the middle of my cell meditating. I hear one say, “ Gatsuuga Hyouro, it’s your time.”

I stand up and wipe my very matted, filthy long reddish hair away from my face and I reply, “ Good, get me out of this dump.” The middle guard takes out his key ring and uses the proper key to unlock my cell door and I walk out following the guards towards the exit. Being held near the bottom of the prison in solitary confinement for the last 3 years of my stay has given me a lot of time to think, and I suppose not fight people during lunch. Killing people is supposedly frowned upon, even in prison.

The guards lead me to the last checkpoint in the prison and we reach a counter where the lady behind the counter hands me container. I open it up to see my old clothes that I had on before I came to this place. It seems so long since I actually wore them, though luckily my figure hasn’t changed since I was 24, and now 36.

“ You can take your belongings outside with you, also you’ve been requested to see the Hokage tomorrow morning at 10 A.M Hyouro-san.” The young lady being the counter says to me and I nod. I notice the guards have departed back to the actual prison, leaving me alone with an old box of clothes and a door to the outside. I can’t even remember the last time I had fresh air.

I open up the door and I see it a complete down pour. So much for seeing sunshine again I suppose. I start to make my way from the prison and I see a figure with an umbrella standing across the dirt path looking at me, and it seems somewhat familiar.

We approach each other until we meet on the path and he says, “ So Gatsuuga, it’s been awhile, huh?” and I realize I’m staring at Hayai who is dressed in civilian clothes; a red and brown robe with sandals.

I crack a smirk and reply, “ Suppose so. Care if we find some shelter and a place where I can change out of these prison clothes?”

“ Of course, I have plenty of time.” Hayai replies as he turns around and I follow him down the dirt path back towards Konoha. The prison is kept on the outskirts to keep undesirables away from society, so I guess Hayai made a boring trip all the way out to meet me in the rain.

We finally reach a restaurant right outside the main gates of Konoha and we enter quickly to avoid the rain. The place is nearly empty when we walk in, so I hastily walk over to the bathroom to get changed while Hayai takes a seat at a table. I flip open the box and take out black combat pants and my black undershirt. Looks like they took my jounin flak and anything that resembles leaf shinobi, them bastards.

After getting changed I walk back out with box in hand with my gray prison clothes inside and I see Hayai sipping some tea. I walk over to his table and pull out a chair for myself across from him and pick up the menu. I’ve been dying for a real damn meal for a long time.

“ So…how’s it been?” Hayai asks as he picks up his own menu and begins to scan the choice of meals.

“ That’s the best you have to say?” I mock without any real emotion behind my voice.

“ Fine, you start then.” Hayai counters as he turns the page on his menu.

I let out a sigh and reply, “ Alright, when did you get released and how did it go over?”

Hayai pauses for a moment before he goes back to reading his menu and replies; “ I’ve been cleared as of 6 months ago, although I wasn’t released from the facility until 5 months ago. I’ve taken care of my addiction and I no longer have hallucinations or nightmares.”

“ Glad to hear it. I’ve been stuck in solitary for 3 years, and the other 9 I didn’t make too many friends in prison.” I admit as I motion for the waitress to come over to take out order.

“ Oh? How many people did you kill?” Hayai inquires with a slightly humorous twist.

I go along with his humor and put my hands up and reply, “ Only 9 people. I don’t see what’s the big deal, I mean I’m killing criminals so I should get a medal or something, but no. I get locked away for “ bad behavior”.”

The waitress finally arrives and asks, “ What are you two having?”

Hayai speaks first and tells her, “ I’ll have a salad.” And I add on, “ I’ll have miso soup and your chef’s sandwich.”

“ Good choice, it’ll be done shortly.” The young waitress says as she walks with a little skip in her step back to the kitchen, and Hayai catches me staring a little too long.

“ Alright there?” Hayai asks me with a little chuckle.

I shake my head to snap myself out of my thoughts and say back, “ yeah. It’s just that I’ve been locked up for awhile without seeing anybody, well, attractive.”

“ Fair enough, so how did you spend your time?”

“ Well, I’ve kept myself in shape and I’ve spent lots of time meditating to sharpen and clear my mind. Not much you can really do in a cell.”

“ Fair point, so did you get the notice from Lady Hokage for us to meet up with her tomorrow?”

“ Yes I got the note ba- wait, did you say lady?” I ask as I give Hayai an eyebrow raise as I brush my overly long bangs out of my eyes.

“ Yeah, Hiruzen died just a few months ago and Tsunade Senju took over about 3 months ago.”

“ Seriously? She deserted the village last time I remember. If she’s the best the village could get for Hokage, I’m surprised my name wasn’t thrown in.” I say to him as scratch my clean-shaven chin. Good thing I learned to shave with a shank.

Hayai rolls his eyes and says, “ I bet you were considered, but she’s quite respected by the villagers and shinobi alike. We are meeting with her tomorrow about reinstatement.”

“ Already? Fuck, maybe I don’t want to be a shinobi due to our last go around.”

“ And do what Gatsuuga? You’re only talent is being a shinobi and being an asshole, and unfortunately only one of those pays.” Hayai says jokingly so I smile and nod my head.

“ If they paid me to be an asshole, I’d be a millionaire- oh our foods here.” I say as the waitress comes over holding both our meals in her arms.

“ Enjoy your meals!” She says joyfully before walking back to the kitchen, as Hayai and I grab our chopsticks and begin to eat up. This is definitely better than that slop they serve in prison.

We finish our meals and Hayai kindly pays since I don’t have any money what so ever, and we exit back out into the rain. Only about 5 minutes from the main gate to the village we begin to walk once again, as I glare at Hayai for not bringing another umbrella, let alone sharing.

We reach the gates and I ask Hayai, “ So, I don’t have a place to stay, think I can crash with you?”

“ That’s fine. Someone needs to do the dishes since the sinks been getting pretty full.”

“ That’s not what I meant…but thanks.” We watch the gates open for us as Hayai waives to the guards up top, and we enter under the raining duck into Konoha.

Nobody is really on the streets since it’s raining and getting late so we easily make it over to the east side of Konoha where Hayai’s apartment is located. We reach it and it’s a fairly small place, but that’s expected since he’s probably been living off tax funds from the Hokage or something. He takes out his key and opens the door top reveal a very clean and empty apartment with the exception of a few pieces of furniture and a television.

“ Make yourself comfortable on the couch, I’ll go fetch you some blankets.” Hayai says as he disappears down the hallway to probably his room as I take a seat on his maroon couch and lay down. So much better than those damn prison cots.

“ Here ya go, see you in the morning. I’m going out for a little bit and I’ll be back later.” Hayai says as he hands me a couple blankets and walks back to the door with umbrella still in hand.

“ Fair enough, I just want to sleep here undisturbed.” I respond as I settle myself in on the couch with the cotton and wool blankets. I don’t care right now where Hayai is going, I’m excited to sleep outside that damn prison, so I guess I’ll bug him tomorrow about it. He was nice enough to meet me at release and buy me a meal, so I guess we still do have a bit of a bond after all these years, although tomorrow will be very interesting for what might happen to us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

-Into the Norm

(Hayai's POV)

It sure was nice to see Gatsuuga again. I'm glad he's doing well...For him at least. Last night I went out to grab a few things for our meeting with the Hokage today. I picked up a weapons pouch and some ninja tools for Gatsuuga so he wouldn't be traveling emptyhanded. I also picked up a spare set of clothes just in case he wants a change but who knows? Maybe he likes his old outfit.

I walk out of my room to see Gatsuuga get up, stretch, and yawn.

"Enjoy your rest?" I ask him.

"Oh yeah. It's nice to get a great nights rest on something comfortable rather than a prison bed."

"Heh. I know that feeling. Want anything to eat?"

"Eh I'm not that hungry. Kinda anxious to meet the new Hokage today."

"It will be interesting that's for sure. Why don't we get going soon?"

"Sure why not. Let me clean up."

While Gatsuuga changes, I make myself some toast and munch of that for a bit. Eventually he walks out of the bathroom looking cleaned up, dawning his new weapons pouch. "You ready?" I ask.

"Yeah. Lets go."

I lock the apartment and we begin the walk to the Hokage building. I look over to see Gatsuuga glancing around at the village. A few things have changed since we were locked up and it's a bit to take in sometimes.

"The village sure has changed huh?" Gatsuuga questions.

"Sure has. Along with the new Hokage, a few new buildings have popped up. The village is really flourishing right now."

"So how did old Hiruzen pass?"

"Believe it or not, Orochimaru invaded the village in a planned attack along with the sand. He isolated himself and the third and fought him in a battle to the death. Hiruzen preformed the reaper death seal but only managed to seal Orochimaru's hands so he was not able to use jutsu anymore."

"Orochimaru...One of the three Sannin? Wow..."

"That's what I heard. That was a few years back though so a lot has changed since then. He hasn't really been around though."

"Interesting..."

We make it to the Hokage building which is one of the few things that hasn't changed. The bright red paint and giant kanji symbol still signifies the center of the village. We walk inside and I talk to the lady at the front desk to make sure we can go inside. She checks a list and approves for us to go on in. We walk up the stairs and find ourselves standing outside the door to her office. I knock twice and hear a voice from inside, "Come on in!" the female voice booms.

I open the door and walk inside to see a young blonde kid wearing an orange and black jumpsuit along with a young lady with pink hair. Lady Tsunade's apprentice I'm pretty sure along with the Hokage herself. We both bow and await her word.

"Hayai Sutoraiki and Gatsuuga Hyouro correct?" She asks.

"Yes Lady Tsunade." I respond for the both of us.

"I came across your file one day when looking through the third's assortment of papers."

"What did it say?" Gatsuuga inquires.

She stares at him, "A mission in southern fire country dealing with some rogue ninja and disappearances." She continues to glance through the file, "Blah blah blah, a monster and then you guys get locked up, right?"

"Um yes ma'am." I say.

"Hayai for insanity and Gatsuuga for breaking rules. Huh. Let me guess, Danzo ordered that?"

"Ding ding ding." Gatsuuga sarcastically puts.

"Long story short, I'm giving you two another chance."

"Ah a mission huh? What kind of mission?" Gatsuuga curiously asks.

"No not a mission. I need you two to fill in two spots for team seven. Hayai, Gatsuuga, this is Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno, your new teammates."

"Hello." Gatsuuga and I simultaneously say.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Sakura says.

"We get two psychos as our teammates?! Ah man! Where's Kakashi-Sensei?!" Naruto obnoxiously yells.

"Well we're off to a nice start." Gatsuuga Sarcastically says.

"Quiet down Naruto. It won't be for long...Hopefully. Kakashi is going to be out for a bit. Gatsuuga is your Sensei. If you two do well I may just have a mission for you too." Tsunade says.

"Kakashi is your sensei huh? We were with him on the mission that got us locked up. How is the old copy ninja doing?" I nicely ask.

"He's doing great. Naruto just got back from a two year training session with Jirayia, the Sannin also." Sakura explains.

"Jirayia? How's that old perv doing anyways?" Gatsuuga humorously asks.

"Still an old pervy sage!" Naruto mocks.

"Haha so the same as usual hm?"

"Ok now that you have all introduced yourselves, how about you get out of my office?" Tsunade threateningly says.

We all hurry out of the office and stand there awkwardly for a while before Sakura pipes up, "So uh...How about we do a little bit of sparring at the training field?"

"Yeah sure that sounds good." Gatsuuga blandly puts.

We casually walk through the village and get to know each other a bit more. We figure out that Naruto is the nine-tails Jinchuriki. I never would've expected that this was the kid. Jirayia's name comes up a few times and we laugh about the humorous stories that we each have. They also tell us of their lost comrade Sasuke Uchiha, and how he's with Orochimaru. Naruto confidently says that their going to bring him back one day. I'm pretty doubtful of that but whatever drives the kid to train I suppose. Eventually we make it to training field number six, which is empty, and trot to the middle.

"Two on two I suppose. I might be a bit rusty since I just got out of jail so go easy. I'll be with Naruto I suppos-"

"Ah! I have to fight with the crazy murderer?!" Naruto cuts in.

Sakura proceeds to smack Naruto in the head and yell, "Naruto! What have I told you about respecting our higher ups?!"

Gatsuuga chuckles, "Heh heh I like you girl. Ok. So Hayai and Sakura, Me and Naruto." Gatsuuga re-explains.

We back up to our respective corners of the feel to which Gatsuuga raises his hand and drops it to signal the start. Naruto immediately charges in while Gatsuuga stands there giving Naruto a blank stare. I see him mumble something under his breath before he too charges in. I throw a few shuriken and join in the charge while Sakura tightens her gloves and follows suit.

"Cmon Gatsuuga hit me with your best shot!" I playfully yell.

"It's been a while since I've been able to use jutsu!" He roars back, making a few hand-signs while charging. "Fire style: Fire ball jutsu!"

The flame roars with intensity as it hurdles across the field at Sakura and I. We easily dodge it and I find myself face to face with Naruto. I whip out a kunai at the last minute and slice him across the chest. He grimaces in pain before poofing away in a cloud of smoke, making me realize it's a clone. Before I can react I feel a foot connect with the back of my head, making me slide across the dirt face first. I get up quickly and rub my face to see Naruto charging me while Gatsuuga is busy clashing with Sakura.

I form a set of hand-signs, shouting, "Earth style: Rock spike jutsu!"

When I plant my hands to the ground, a few rock spikes begin erupting from the ground creating a trail heading right for Naruto. He stops dead in his tracks and begins side stepping to the left to avoid my jutsu. While he's distracted I manage to get around to his blind side and deliver a kick to his back.

Poof!

A substitution. This time though I react quick enough to catch his foot and spin around throwing him across the field, dodging his deadly attack. Just then I see a figure fly across my field of vision. When I look to see what or who it was, I realize it's Gatsuuga who's received a nasty hit from Sakura. He gets back up and rubs the blood from the corner of his mouth, instantly charging back at her. He manages to dodge her attacks while delivering small hits of his own, any hit from her would send him flying across the field again. Naruto and I amusingly watch until they tire out.

"Okay! We'll stop for today." Gatsuuga orders.

"Man, I worked up an appetite from that. Anyone hungry?" Naruto asks grabbing his stomach.

"Yeah why not." Gatsuuga says, "I'll pay too."

"Ramen anyone?!" Naruto excitingly exclaims.

"I could go for ramen." I say.

We head to Ichiraku which hasn't changed at all. Gatsuuga enjoys any bit of real food seeing as he's been eating prison crap. We continue to talk amongst ourselves before finishing off our food. Naruto has somehow managed to finish off four bowls of the stuff while Gatsuuga, Sakura, and I have only eaten one. Kid sure has a big stomach. We say our goodbye's and part our different ways for the day. I'm not really sure what we're going to have to do being substitutes and all, it's not like we're receiving any interesting missions either. I'm kinda curious to see what Gatsuuga has in plan for the short time that we're substituting but I'll leave that up to him.

Relapse into Illusion

A Glass Dream

(Gatsuuga’s P.O.V)

Ahh, morning again. My eyes slowly flutter open as a ray of light penetrates through the window and hits me in the face. I groggily lift myself up to a sitting position and I take in the feeling of being in a house, or more importantly not in a cell. Sure is something most take granted for.

I lazily turn my head to look at the clock on the wall and it reads “ 7: 49”. Well, looks like I overslept, which isn’t surprising considering how comfy the couch is.

After gathering my thoughts I stand up and clumsily walk over to the kitchen table where I see a note from Hayai, which basically summarizes that I need to see the Hokage today. At 8. Fuck.

I grab all my ninja material and dress myself appropriately and I run out the door as fast as I can humanly possible. Why the hell did Hayai not wake me if the Hokage wants to see me?

I reach the Hokage tower shortly as I’ve been running across rooftops at a dangerous speed for someone half-awake, but I enter the building and bypass the receptionist without caring what she’s babbling about. Most likely I have to sign in or have an appointment, but I’m not in the mood to argue. I just woke up, I’m hungry, and I’m a hurry so don’t fuck with me unless you have a fetish for pain.

I burst into the doors of the Hokage’s office to see Hayai, Sakura and Naruto already there, so I look to the clock that reads “8:01” and I sigh. Well a minute late isn’t too bad, and besides these kids are used to Kakashi, so I should be okay with them.

“ There you are Gatsuuga, now I can begin to issue your mission.” Tsunade declares as she rummages through a stack of papers on her desk. I walk up behind Hayai and whisper into his ear, “ Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“ You looked tired so I let you rest.” Hayai whispers back and I snort. I may be rested but that’s been completely erased by the morning stress I’ve had in the past 15 minutes.

“ Here we go. You 4 will be going to Tenshi Bridge to intercept and capture Sasori’s spy that is working for Orochimaru and also look for Sasuke. This is very important and I expect results from you all, and rendezvous is in 4 days.” Tsunade explains carefully to all of us and we all nod.

Both Naruto and Sakura seem to be in deep thought once Tsunade mentioned that Sasuke character so Hayai speaks up and says, “ You can count on us. The mission will be handled accordingly.”

“ Good. Let’s meet at the gate in one hour.” I say to the new team and they all nod back in response.

“ Good. You may leave expect Gatsuuga and Hayai. I must speak with you in private.” Tsunade announces as the two youngsters exit the room, and just now I notice Shizune isn’t in the room. Wonder where she is right now?

Everyone besides the Hokage, Hayai and I are in the room and Tsunade calmly says, “ I do have a few questions for each of you, since this is both your first field mission since the incident. First off, are you both comfortable being away from any critical mental medical attention?”

“ I’m perfectly fine, and my records from a few months ago can prove it, and I think Gatsuuga can say the same for himself.” Hayai replies while I maintain a plain face.

“ Good. Now, the reason I’m having you two do this mission is that Hayai is ex-ANBU and has excellent tracking skills while Gatsuuga is skilled in information gathering from his background in P.I and the Torture&Interrogation corps. With your backgrounds it makes the both of you the most logical choices for this mission, and that your all we can afford since Kakashi is out that have substantial experience.” Tsunade lectures and Hayai and I both reply, “ Sounds good to us.”

Tsunade takes one last glance at us as she brings up a strange file and opens it asking us, “ And last question for each of you. Hayai, how long have you been off your medication?”

Hayai swallows his saliva and looks into Tsunade’s eyes saying, “ I’ve been clean for 7 months without any help and the illusions have completely disappeared. There’s no chance that I would jeopardize the mission.” Ending with a bit of irritation.

Tsunade turns her attention to me and asks, “ Gatsuuga, I’ve come across that you have been noted by several former comrades for use of ‘unnecessary force’ and ‘ extreme brutality’ with your…methods. If the spy is captured we need him intact for a full observation, so bring him back in one peace. Also I have a question about one of your jutsu.”

I raise an eyebrow and cautiously reply, “ I can assure you I will be…civil with any prisoners unless my methods are absolutely required, and what jutsu are you asking about?” I have many different torture oriented jutsu that are very inhuman, so could it be one of those? Since my time in prison I’ve only developed 1 new technique stemming from my chakra overload jutsu.

“ Prison records say about 4 years ago you used a jutsu to kill a prisoner with a type of chakra overload jutsu where you blew out every chakra point in his body crippling him, and on top his chakra ate away at him like a bacteria…care to explain?” Tsunade sternly asks me as she dangerously narrows her eyes. Looks like she does have some information on my new jutsu.

“ Yes, it’s a variation of my chakra overload jutsu, where I pump my own chakra into my target to overload their chakra system. That one you reference is called chakra infection jutsu, where I overload their system with my chakra, and then it continues to corrupt the enemies system infecting them with my foreign chakra eventually burning away at the victims internal organ, nerves and body, since my chakra is naturally fire element.” I explain and Tsunade maintains that very watchful look of judgment.

After a small pause of silence Tsunade says, “ Very well. I need to know since nobody could decode the medical records, since even the Hyuga were a bit stumped on the cause of death. You two are free to go now.”

Hayai and I leave the room and Hayai turns to me and jokingly says, “ Your one sadistic murderer, Gatsuuga.”

“ Well that’s what happens when I have spare time and nothing to do, and living around people that constantly piss me off.” I remark back as we head toward the exit of the building.


We head back to Hayai’s place and pack a few extra garments and some field rations into a storage scroll that Hayai carefully places inside his ANBU style clothing. He still wears his ANBU combat clothing since it’s pretty good and I managed to bum a few equipment pieces from him. Just the fore arm protectors since I think their quite handy and he had an extra pair.

After packing our needs into the scroll I look up to the time and it seems we have about 15 minutes before meeting up with Sakura and Naruto at the front gate. At least it’s more time than I had this morning.

As Hayai and I are walking down the street toward the main gate he asks me out of the blue, “ So, what’s your strategy for this mission?”

“ Not sure really. I’m not sure how experienced these two are, but from my observations they have some sort of feeling for this Sasuke character we might encounter, so if we do have an encounter any mental blocks they may have might screw us over, so I’ll be asking questions and it may get personal so if anything gets physical I’ll need you to back me up since I don’t want to turn our new teammates into human pincushions with my senbon.” I explain to Hayai who scrunches his face into a thinking pose.

“ I got your back, just try not to push the envelope too far. I fear they’ll be quick to get emotional involved if you get inside their heads and taunt them. Your can be quite the overachiever when it comes to these things.” Hayai reasons as the gate is coming into sight.

“ We’ll see. We still don’t know much about them and vice versa, so let me do what I do best on this mission, and if I’m doing anything too “crazy” just let me know.” I reply as I see both the orange kid and the pink haired girl come into my field of vision.

“ Just try not to be a complete douche until they know you better. First impressions can go a long way.” Hayai says as we finally meet up with the rest of our team.

“ I’ll try.” I sarcastically say back to Hayai as I roll my eyes, and Sakura and Naruto look at us slightly confused and left out.

“ What are you two talking about?” Sakura kindly asks and Hayai is quicker than me to reply, “ Nothing of importance. You two ready for the mission?”

“ You bet we are!” Naruto shouts with an aura of serious determination.

“ Good, now lead the way team, because I don’t remember where Tenshi Bridge is…” I say slightly embarrassed. Naruto and Sakura both facepalm as Hayai gives me his “ Really?” look and I shrug my shoulders.

“ I remember where it’s at…. let’s go.” Hayai says as we start walking out the gate onto the road with the burning sun over us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~```

Premonitions

(Hayai's POV)


After receiving our mission from Tsunade we gathered our supplies and met at the front gate. Gatsuuga, being locked up for so long forgot where Tenshi bridge is. Eh, I can't blame him, it really isn't that important when your surviving for your life in prison.

For the most part it's been quiet. Sakura doesn't talk much and Gatsuuga likes to stay quiet. I exchange a couple of words with Gatsuuga and except for the occasional outburst from Naruto, things are pretty boring. Both Sakura and Naruto have a certain look in their eye though like their eager for something. I can't exactly pinpoint what their eager for but it'll be interesting when we come across that bridge...Not referencing Tenshi bridge...

"When are we gonna get there?!" Naruto blurts.

"Kid...If you ask one more time I'm going to shove a senbon so far up yo-"

"Hey, I think I see the bridge just up ahead." I interrupt.

Gatsuuga grumbles before shaking his head, "Ok lets stop here and discuss our plan."

We drop our things and take a seat on a soft patch of grass. The wind calmly sweeps across the earth and the sun is just starting to peak. Being fall, the weather isn't too hot or cold, it's just right. Gatsuuga takes in a deep breath before looking at all of us.

"What do you have for us Gatsuuga?" I ask.

"Well Sasori was going to meet the informant himself which means I'm forced to transform into him. Being from the interrogation unit and all, I think I'll be able to steer the conversation in the right direction without giving away who I am. I want you three spread out and ready to ambush just in case though. Got it?" Gatsuuga explains.

"Got it." Sakura confirms.

"Lets get this show on the road!" Naruto enthusiastically yells.

Gatsuuga forms the transformation hand-sign and poofs into an exact replica of Sasori. In his puppet outfit, Hiruko. Naruto, Sakura, and I spread out in the forest just before the bridge as Gatsuuga slowly creeps his way towards the bridge center. After a while of anxiously waiting, I see a young ninja with white hair and glasses approach Gatsuuga. Being far away, I can't tell what their talking about. In the blink of an eye a pale man with black hair appears out of nowhere. I didn't even see him walk up or anything...He must be strong. They exchange words before the white haired ninja with glasses hops over to Gatsuuga's side as they face the black haired man. All of a sudden the white haired one slices at Gatsuuga with what looks like medical ninjutsu. Gatsuuga manages to dodge at the last second before transforming back to himself and signaling us. We hop into action and appear right beside Gatsuuga in record time, getting into battle stances.

"Very well Kabuto..." The pale, black haired man says in a very creepy voice.

"I am always loyal to you lord Orochimaru." Kabuto replies.

So that's Orochimaru...I haven't seen him in years. He must be a big deal for the leaf village.

"Where's Sasuke?!" Naruto roars.

"Sasuke? Oh he's still training..."

"Give him back!"

"It's not that simple." Kabuto says. "He came to us on his own will, there's no giving him back."

"It looks like the nine tails tagged along too...How about we have a little fun? Lets see who got stronger...You...or my Sasuke."

With each icy cold word from Orochimaru, Naruto's anger radiates off of him like boiling hot lava. Though I might be mistaking that for the red chakra cloak that's engulfing him right now. It looks like his anger is fueling the nine tails...Not a good sign. Like a speeding bullet, Naruto shoots across the bridge and smashes Orochimaru right in the face, sending him flying hundreds of yard. I'm surprised at this magnificent speed and even Kabuto is taken aback.

Kabuto looks at us, "You three aren't going anywhere, that fight is between Naruto and my master."

I look over to Naruto who is roaring and flailing around the bridge. The chakra is so strong I have to squint my eyes just to look past the force of it. The red lava like chakra continues to engulf his entire body. His nails elongate, hair becomes more frizzled and wild, and his nails grow sharp into sharp claws. Then out of the forest comes Orochimaru whose face is torn to shreds but it appears he has another face...under his face? He approaches us again and gets into a stare down with Naruto.

"How interesting..." He coldly says.

A hit like that an he's not even harmed? This guy sure is strong...

Kabuto notices Naruto not paying attention and charges at him with that medical ninjutsu flaring in his hand. He attmepts to strike Naruto but Naruto turns around and sends a blast of pure chakra into Kabuto's chest who gets launched towards us. Gatsuuga and I manage side step and dodge the flying body but Kabuto smashes right into Sakura, knocking her unconscious. Kabuto hits the dirt and skids across it like a rock on water.

I can literally feel the chakra flaming off of Naruto. It's like staring into the sun itself. Something seems to be going on...Another tail rises up out of Naruto and the chakra becomes even more powerful. Gatsuuga actually has a surprised look on his face and Sakura looks like she's seen a ghost. Hell, even I'm aghast from this raw power. The bridge begins shaking and the metal starts to bend. Some of the supports begin snapping and the bridge begins rattling violently. Eventually it begins to crumple quickly with Sakura sliding off towards the edge. Orochimaru flees into the forest and Naruto all riled up, chases after him.

I manage to use my earth style: vine trap jutsu and pull Sakura to safety. The bridge has a giant gap in the middle and we're sitting on the other side of it that's still intact with Kabuto knocked out behind us.

"Gatsuuga this situations gotten out of hand. What do we do?" I ask in the midst of the chaos.

"We do not want to get in the middle of that fight...Naruto would tear us to shreds in this state...We should keep an eye of Kabuto though."

Out of the corner of my eye I see Kabuto get up and adjust his glasses while looking at us. He smirks before flickering off to who knows where. So much for that idea. I turn my head to the forest and see a magnificent chakra storm explode like a rampaging volcano. Pure dark red chakra erupts from a single point and I can only assume it's Naruto...

"You don't have anyway to stop this thing? I can't imagine no one warned you about this." I say.

"Well actually..."

"What?"

"I talked to Kakashi a few days ago and he gave me this." Gatsuuga says pulling out a small tag.

"What is it?"

"It's a sealing tag of some sort. Kakashi told me that it would stop Naruto if he got out of control."

"Then why don't we use it?"

"Do you honestly want to get close to him while he's like that? It's suicide."

"Yeah I guess your right...But we can't just do not-"

My words are stopped by three colored walls with faces on them emerging from the forest. Looks like a rashoman wall to me. An ear splitting screech roars throughout the forest and the giant walls begin to crumble and split eventually being broke through by whatever hit it.

"Should we go?" I put out.

"Yeah...Lets move."

Gatsuuga leaves a clone with the unconscious Sakura and we take off towards the destruction. As we approach to Naruto's area the forest begins to change looking more and more destroyed as we get nearer. Trees are split down the middle and ravaged by the pure annihilation of Naruto. We hit a certain point where there's no trees and just pure land with no vegetation whatsoever. In the middle of it all I see a red figure purely engulfed by chakra...It doesn't even look like Naruto. The nine tails chakra has literally eaten his body...No trace of skin or anything.

"How do we handle this?" I shakily ask.

"Bind him with your jutsu then I'll place the tag on him." Gatsuuga says, gulping.

The possessed Naruto looks at us with pure murder in his eyes and roars at us. The force from it kicks up dust and dirt and we put our arms up to block our face. Then...he begins to charge at us.

Forming the hand-signs I yell, "Earth style: Vine bind jutsu!" The vines from the forest whip into action and wrap around Naruto tightly. It holds for a while before melting off of him like nothing ever happened. Like he erased my jutsu.

"You'll have to use a stronger jutsu! Vines are going to deteriorate!" Gatsuuga yells while barely dodging the attacks from Naruto.

"Rgh. Earth style: Rock binding jutsu! Sealing variant!" Tons of rock breaks off the earth and smashes into Naruto one by one. My sealing rocks bind themselves together through massive pressure and it's nearly inescapable. Note that I said nearly as the rock begins to slowly crack in some places. The Nine tails rampaging within Naruto, struggles to break free of my jutsu.

"Gatsuuga go now!" I roar.

Gatsuuga jumps into action and stands on my rocks over Naruto's head. He slaps the tag onto Naruto's forehead right before getting thrown back by Naruto breaking out of my jutsu. On all fours Naruto dashes up to me and is right about to claw me in the face when it stops, with me looking right into razor sharp chakra engulfed claws. The chakra begins to suppress itself before releasing it's fiery grip on Naruto and dissipating into the air leaving an unconscious Naruto lying on the ground.

"Whew..." I say wiping my forehead of sweat. "You alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Haven't had a challenge like that in years." Gatsuuga says, half smirking. "Lets get back to Sakura and find a place to rest..."

"I agree with you on that. So the first day has been...Interesting." Probably an understatement.

I pick up the knocked out blonde as we head back to the wrecked bridge where Gatsuuga's clone is sitting with a now awake Sakura. We cross the bridge and set Naruto down next to her.

"Are you guys alright? I was afraid something happened to you? How did Naruto..." She trails off.

"Kakashi gave me a sealing tag that we managed to get onto Naruto. It stopped the flow of the nine tails chakra."

"Kakashi...Always one step ahead of everyone else."

"You got that right. How about we find a place to camp out tonight. I bet we're all tired just from that amount of stress."

"I'll go look for some firewood." Sakura says.

At the end of the first day we already have a long list of crap that has happened. I feel like it was a dream and none of that actually happened. I don't even know anymore and heavens know tomorrow is going to be even more interesting. How are we going to find this so called Sasuke character? The meeting with the "informant" was blown to bits by the Orochimaru fellow who still has me curious. Rgh, too many unanswered questions. I'll just sleep it off tonight. The sun is just beginning to drop off the horizon signifying a long day's end. By the time we're done setting up camp, it should be night so we can find something to eat and pass out. I have a feeling everyone just wants to forget today, I know I do.

Eventually we set up camp, get a fire going, and get the food cooking by the time night arrives. By this time Naruto awakens from his sleep and groans before sitting up and yawning. The nine tails sure took a toll on his body...I can see chakra burns and deep wounds on his skin. That thing sure isn't healthy for him to use let alone safe.

"How long have I been out?" He says tiredly.

"A while...The nine tails was running rampant within you. We managed to stop it though." Gatsuuga explains.

"How did you stop it?"

"A sealing tag. Don't worry about the details though, just rest and let Sakura treat your wounds. They're pretty bad."

"Yeah...The nine tails has that effect."

With that all said and done, I retire to my tent and pass out right when my head touches the pillow. At this point, I'm so tired, I can't even form straight thoughts. So I drift off...into dream land.

Relapse into Illusion

Witchdoctor

(Gatsuuga’s P.O.V)

I hardly got any sleep last night, partly out of fear Naruto wakes up again and decides to go berserk, and I’m also contemplating how to deal with the mission. The bridge was a complete failure, and our secondary mission is near impossible now since any leads for tracking Orochimaru are pretty cold now. I assume Sakura and Naruto will want to press on without hesitation, so we might as well take our time to think up a really good plan for invasion.

The early morning sun just peaks over the horizon as I stand over the burned out fire and I hear some rustling from Hayai’s tent, and he soon emerges while yawning.

“ Morning Gatsuuga. Sleep well?” Hayai greets as he stretches out his arms.

“ Didn’t do much of that. Took over nightshift for everyone.” I reply monotonously back to him.

“ Well, the other two are still asleep. What’s our plan?” Hayai asks as he looks around the camp for some breakfast.

“ Well, you know as much as I do that their going to want to press on, but it’s high possibility it would be a waste of our time due to our lack of leads…. unless.” I stop talking mid thought as I just had an idea. I ridiculous and idiotic idea, but an idea nonetheless.

“ Hayai, summon one of your dogs here now. Preferably one with excellent smell.” I command as Hayai gives me a confused look, but follows through by summoning a tired looking bloodhound.

“ Okay, care to explain Gatsuuga?”

“ Sure. If I remember during the fight Kabuto collided with Sakura after being blown back by Naruto. Theirs a slim chance his scent is still detectable on her.” I explain and Hayai smirks at me.

“ You probably stayed up all night to think of that.” Hayai jokes and I reply honestly, “ Well, the sad thing is I actually did.”

Hayai with his mutt and I walk over to Sakura’s tent and we see her still sleeping and Hayai whispers, “ How do you want to wake her?”

“ Well, I don’t want to spook her and get punched through the tent, so I’ll do it the smart way.” I respond quietly as I pull out two senbon and carefully approach Sakura’s sleeping body. I crouch down to her level and in one swift movement I take both senbon and jab one in her neck and another in her upper back. Her eyes open wide with surprise and fear as she realizes her body is temporarily paralyzed.

“ Shhh. Rise and shine sleeping beauty.” I whisper to her as I remove the senbon quickly and back away from her exiting the tent. I don’t want to get hit by her backlash.

“ That’s no way to wake a lady!” Sakura roars as she charges out of the tent pushing Hayai to the side as she looks at me angrily.

“ Calm down. Gatsuuga just wanted you up and…his people skills are terrible.” Hayai comments while suppressing a chuckle and I retort, “ Okay then mister, you go wake Naruto.

Hayai rolls his eyes as he walks around the camp and picks up a rock about the size of his fist and walks over to Naruto’s tent. He opens the tent to see Naruto drooling over his pillow and Hayai chucks the rock very hard at Naruto’s head.

“ Ow! We’re under attack!” Naruto shouts as he clutches his head and tries to stand up but stumbles and falls on his face. That’s the fool I was scared of murdering me last night…

“ You’re not under attack, it’s morning.” Hayai replies casually as he returns to Sakura and I and shakes his head at me as I glare back at him.

“ You’re no fun. I could have done that.” I chide at him and Hayai replies happily, “ Don’t be jealous you didn’t think of it.”

“ I think you two have some issues…” Sakura mutters audibly but it’s obvious by her sudden expression that it was intended to be kept on the inside.

“ We do, and if you’re around us long enough you’ll be insane too.” I say to Sakura and Hayai just shrugs. Naruto walks out of his tent rubbing his head where he got hit by the rock Hayai threw and asks, “ So what’s big idea, and what’s with the dog?”

I ignore Naruto’s comment and announce, “ Good, we’re all up. Now, we may have messed up on Tenshi Bridge, but we still have a chance to track Orochimaru and his accomplice back to their hideout.” I see Naruto and Sakuras’ eyes have a glimmer in them and I continue, “ And that’s why Hayai has that dog. It’s going to sniff Sakura.”

“ No way!” Sakura says aghast and Naruto shouts, “ What?!”

I remain unfazed, as I should have been clearer. Not sleeping for a while is starting to have an effect on my thinking. Hayai sighs and explains to the kids, “ During the fight yesterday, Kabuto collided with Sakura and this dog may be able to pick up his scent off Sakura.”

“ Awesome!” Naruto shouts as he pumps his fist in the air and Sakura looks uneasy about the whole situation and says, “ Let’s just get this over with.”

Hayai leads the dog over to Sakura and points at her giving the bloodhound the signal to investigate for foreign scents. After a few seconds of sniffing the bloodhound turns to Hayai and in it’s course voice says, “ Nothing out of the unusual here. Just smelling the girl.”

Naruto and Sakura look very disappointed and Hayai simply sends the dog away via his summoning jutsu like before. I scratch the back of my head and address the group, “ Alright, so their goes my final plans. The mission is a failure as of now, so we have a few choices. Choice one, we head straight back to the village and report. Two, Hayai and I can teach you two a few things before we head back and investigate Tenshi Bridge some more before deciding to head back. Three, well… I kinda lost my train of thought.”

All three of them think to themselves for a moment before Hayai speaks first and says, “ It doesn’t matter to me.”

Naruto and Sakura both unanimously decide, “ We check for more clues.” It’s obvious these kids don’t want to give up just yet. And I was hoping to go back to the village and enjoy sleeping on Hayai’s couch. Oh well.

“ Very well. We’ll head back to Tenshi Bridge tomorrow morning to do a full investigation, and as for today we’ll do some training.

“ How do you plan to arrange this?” Hayai inquires and I answer, “ Simple. Since Sakura is a medic I can teach her a thing or two about acupuncture, while you maybe teach Naruto some ninjutsu, and maybe some anger restraining techniques from ANBU.”

“ What! After waking me up like that, you think I would want to train with you?” Sakura barks at me with a scowl, yet Naruto has quite the opposite expression on his face and shouts, “ Yeah! Training time!”

“ You can stay at the camp if you wish Sakura.” I offer fairly unfazed by her mini tirade. Hayai beings to walk out of the camp, and without turning around says, “ Naruto, follow me.”

Naruto chases after Hayai in the blink of an eye leaving me with the moody pinkette. She sits down on the ground near the fire pit and I take a seat across from her to study her facial expressions.

“ Why are you looking at me like that?” Sakura asks with a mix of irritation and confusion and I huff, “ Just studying you. You can tell a lot about someone by his or her mannerisms and body language. Now…do you still want to learn something?”

“ I guess…” Sakura trails off as I toss her a few senbon from my pocket.

“ Now, using senbon in combat is very tricky, so until you have pinpoint accuracy I can’t show you anything worthwhile. Since you are a medical ninja senbon could be great use to you when treating a patient to have them remain still. I’ll show you a few points that are essential.” I explain to her as I make a clone. My clone lies down on the ground beside me and I grab 3 of my senbon and I insert them in various spots across the body. 2 in the neck and 1 in the chest for your basic paralysis and slowed blood flow.

“ Make your own clone and copy those spots, and remember them. Pay close attention to how deep each senbon is in and the angle. Any mess ups can result in death or the patient being permanently injured.” I warn as Sakura makes her own clone and slowly proceeds to copy me.

We do the same process for about 2 hours until she is finally memorizing the spots and intricacies, I think it’s time for one final lesson. I stand up and dispel my pincushion clone and Sakura asks me, “ Are we done Gatsuuga?”

“ Not quite…I have one more technique I want to show you, but this isn’t with senbon.” I ominously state as Sakura dispels her clone and stands up to face me.

“ What are you talking about exactly?”

“ I’ve noticed you get your strength and power in physical attacks from your chakra control and focus, so I want to show you a similar technique that I possess.”

“ How does it work?”

“ Very simple. Just like yours you focus chakra in your hand, but instead of concentrating into a hit, you transfer you chakra directly into your enemies chakra network on contact.”

“ So this is just the same as using medical ninjutsu to heal another, right?”

“ Wrong. Medical ninjutsu is external chakra distribution, while mine is internal. Now this jutsu can be used two ways in your case. You can use this to heal internal organs of patients…or you can completely destroy your enemies chakra system in one touch.” I state proudly as I cross my arms.

“ Alright, but how will you show me?” Sakura asks. I think to myself for a moment about this. The best way to know how it works is to experience it, so I’ll just use very little power.

I walk over to Sakura and tell her, “ Hold still. This won’t hurt…much.” I finish and I quickly jab her in the stomach and her eyes go wide.

“ Wha-what is happening? My body is starting to feel numb and burn…what did you do?” Sakura questions frantically as she struggles to maintain a defensive stance.

“ Just what I was talking about. Something is unique about my chakra in that it’s incompatible with just about everyone, meaning if I attempted medical ninjutsu, the person would die once I began to operate. All I did was plant a small amount of my own chakra into you and it’s disrupting your overall chakra network. There are no drawbacks to this technique besides not planting too much chakra in a target, so knowing the lethal dose is very important.” I explain and Sakura is still wearing a mask of grimace.

“ I see…when does it wear off?”

“ With that small amount, probably another 30 seconds. Anyways, try ejecting your chakra into others like so. It should be of use to you, and if you do enjoy using it and get good enough I may teach you a secret technique.”

“ What is it?”

“ Once your chakra is in another target I still have some control over it. I’m unsure if this is an unknown kekkei genkai or just something unique, but I can have my chakra when within someone eat at them from the inside out. Maybe in your case heal them from the inside out. It’s up to you.”

“ Thank you Gatsuuga-san.” Sakura says to me with a bow. I managed to keep my cool and not murder her for an entire 2 plus hours. This is a new personal record for me not wanting to kill someone, so I may have to ask Hayai to give me a ribbon or something for being “good”.

“ It’s ok, you’re less of a pain than Naruto. If he was left with me instead of you I may have turned him into my own personal pincushion.”

Sakura’s face goes a little pale when she realizes I’m completely serious and says, “ Maybe we should go look for Hayai and Naruto?”

“ Fine. They went north earlier, so let’s go.” I answer and Sakura leads the way into the woods as we search to regroup with our team. Hopefully the kids won’t get too down tomorrow when we look over Tenshi Bridge. It’s doubtful we find anything so teaching them a thing or two was the only real progress that could have been made at this point.

-Catching Up

(Hayai's POV)

After we split up I took Naruto into a remote part of the forest so we could train as well as talk. There are a few things I want to ask him concerning his skill and the nine-tailed fox.

"Where are we going?" Naruto loudly asks.

"Somewhere quiet, so you be quiet too."

"Hmph."

We make it into a clearing which seems peaceful enough. Just us and nature. I tell Naruto to take a seat. "For now we'll do some meditating, get in touch with nature." I explain.

"What?! I thought you were gonna show me something cool." He huffs.

"I will soon but for now we will meditate. Relax and calm your brain especially after yesterday."

"But why?!"

"Kid, will you just do it? I learned this in the asylum it really helped me get back to normal."

"Why should I take advice from you then?! You're insane!"

With that last comment I use my grass binding jutsu to tie him up as well as cover his mouth. This kid really needs to learn to respect his higher ups. After struggling for a bit he finally gives up and sits there with his eyes closed. I notice he relaxes so I undo the jutsu and to my surprise he remains silent and meditates. Several minutes pass and I drop my arms and place my hands on my knees.

"So." I start.

"So...?" Naruto trails off.

"So how long have you had the Nine-Tails inside of you?"

"Ever since I can remember...Why do you ask?"

"Your anger seems to ignite it. Do you have problems controlling it?"

"Yeah, sometimes. I've had better control with it though, Jirayia's training really helped."

"Oh you trained under Jirayia?"

"Yeah! For about three years."

"I see, well that's good. Now how about I teach you a thing or two?"

"Now that's more like it! What are you going to show me?"

"Lets see...I could teach you basic earth style. I don't know much else."

"A new jutsu? Sweet!"

"Ok, I'll teach you my grass binding jutsu."

I walk Naruto through the steps of performing earth style which requires a strong connection with nature since you are using the earth itself. His chakra nature isn't earth from what I can see but his hard work and determination pulls through. By the afternoon he has the jutsu down and jumps around like a child.

I smile, "Very good work Naruto."

He grins widely, "Thanks!"

"Lets get back to Gatsuuga and Sakura, heavens knows what traumatic experience he's put her through."

We tread through the forest for a good few minutes before the camp site comes into view. I see Gatsuuga and Sakura practicing what looks like acupuncture. I didn't know Gatsuuga was into that but hey whatever floats your boat.

"Hey guys whats up?" I ask after walking through a bush with Naruto.

"Nothing much just showing Sakura some medical skills."

"I was wondering what you were doing, anyways what are we going to do about our mission? We have absolutely zero leads."

"Well I for one don't want to abandon the mission and come on Hayai we've gotten answers with zero leads before, remember?"

"Heh don't remind me."

"Ok let's think about this...Orochimaru was pretty quick to appear correct? That must mean the hideout is near. Maybe if we do some snooping around, we can find it."

"We have to! If we give up now we'll never find Sasuke!" Naruto blurts.

"Who's this Sasuke guy you keep freaking out about?" Gatsuuga questions.

"Our long lost comrade...Sasuke Uchiha. He deserted the village to gain power from Orochimaru."

"So if he left on his own will then why are you wasting your time chasing him?"

"You take that back! Our bond remains strong! I'll never give up on bringing him back!"

"You really think that reasoning with him will convince him? From what it seems, he's engulfed in darkness, I don't think you can help."

"You don't understand and you'll never understand! He's our comrade and our friend and belongs back in the village!" Naruto roars before storming off.

Sakura chimes in, "I'm sorry...He gets so riled up about Sasuke and I can understand where he's coming from. We we're all so close so it's just...it's just so heartbreaking for him not to be with us."

"Gatsuuga...We can't deny them a chance to find their friend. If we don't find him then we don't find him, and if we do, well then there's a chance to bring him back." I calmly say to Gatsuuga.

"I guess you're right I was just pointing out the truth. Well let's go and try to find anything we can."

Before packing up our supplies I go to find Naruto. I search around the area before I find him off by himself, meditating. Hey looks like he learned something.

"Naruto, you ready to go."

He sighs, "Yeah..."

"You alright?"

"I'm fine...Nobody understands what it's like to lose a comrade like that."

"I can't say I understand, but I will help you find him. If what you say is true and your bond remains then Gatsuuga and I will help." I say as I reach out my hand to help Naruto up.

He lightens up, "Thanks. Now lets go find Sasuke!"

We head back to the camp site and pack up all the important things and head back out. We cross Tenshi bridge and plunge into the forest on the other side. Nothing seems out of the ordinary besides the destruction that Naruto and Orochimaru caused. I can't sense any chakra or anything of the sort and nothing that spells "Hideout". The forest seems to stretch on forever and I swear we cover every square inch of it with nothing to find. After hours of searching we come to a stop and set our things down to rest. I look around at everyone's faces and at this point they seems defeated, well not Gatsuuga but Sakura and Naruto sure do. Not sure what we're supposed to do now.

"Dammit I wish your dogs worked earlier Hayai..." Gatsuuga says.

"Yeah me too, we could give it another go if you want, maybe if we're closer they can pick up on it?"

"Might as well. We have nothing else to work with."

Again, I summon my bloodhound and he walks over to Sakura who doesn't care that the dog is sniffing her this time. After he sniffs her the hound sits there for a second before turning to me and saying, "I think I got something."

We all shoot up from the ground simultaneously with surprised looks on our faces. With no time to waste I toss my hound a treat and motion for him to lead the way. The dog sniffs the air and then using it's body, points north west and takes off that way and of course, we follow him. Through leafy green and miles of trees we follow my hound through it all. Finally after several minutes of playing follow the leader with a dog we come to a narrow path that steers off the main one.

The dog stops and turns to us, "Just follow this path and you will find it."

I throw him another treat, "Good job and thanks." I say before un-summoning the pooch.

Gatsuuga turns to all of us, "So are you all ready? We're going into the lair of Orochimaru so we'll have to be on high alert and I'm not kidding around here."

We all slowly nod and press on down the path that leads to the hideout. The path contains dead trees and other dead vegetation providing a nice ol creepy aurora that I enjoy oh so much. I can't wait to get inside.

Bitter Tensions

(Gatsuuga’s P.O.V)

Since we caught a path to follow about an hour ago, everyone has been quite focused and quiet, which I’ve personally enjoyed. I can see up ahead the path opens up to an open ravine type of geography, so I give a hand signal to the rest of the group to slow down.

As we exit the path, the landscape reveals a large kind of badlands with a few pillars jutting out of the earth and Hayai says, “ This is the end of the path. Let me scope the area.” As he runs on ahead while Sakura and Naruto take a short break.

“ You two haven’t been very talkative lately, have you?” I inquire only to be met with faces of determination.

“ This is very important to us, you must certainly know what it’s like to have a bond with teammates, right Gatsuuga-san?” Sakura replies back and color drains from my face slightly, and they seem to notice and Naruto asks me, “ What is it?”

“ Let’s just say I have a bad history with teammates. Hayai has been the only close and reliable teammate I’ve really had.” I honestly reply as I take a seat on a nearby rock.

“ What do you mean by that?” Naruto now curious and anxiously asks.

I chuckle under my breathe to myself and say, “ My past isn’t a pretty one, but since your so curious here’s my brief history of teammates. During my Chunin Exam, I had to face one my genin teammates to pass, and to pass someone must die. This was in Kiri just has the Blood Mist regime came into power. Another was a P.I Jounin like myself whom I was particularly close with, but he betrayed me and I ended his wretched life. I won’t go into detail. Add all the people I’ve killed and tortured, I’m a walking mental hazard according to everyone else.”

It takes a few moments for both of them to take that in, and Sakura cautiously asks, “ Ummm, why are you still doing these things if you’ve been put through so much?”

“ Ahh, but you see this is all I know. It takes some getting used to, but you do get used to it, and soon enough you begin to accept it as a part of yourself. I would do something more productive if I could, but this is what I’m meant to do, plus no normal business is going to want to pay someone who’s extremely skilled in skinning people alive. Just saying.” I explain and now both of the kids are looking at me like I grew three heads, with a of what may be pity. Typical.

After my talking and a brief awkward silence Hayai returns slightly out of breathe and manages to say, “ K, so Orochimaru’s hideout appears to be a huge underground tunnel system. I scoped out as much as I could while remaining undetected with my earth style jutsu, but it could takes us several hours to locate anything, maybe a days.”

“ It doesn’t matter! We’ll still find Orochimaru and get back Sasuke.” Naruto shouts and I frown a little bit at the kid’s enthusiasm.

“ What’s wrong Gatsuuga?” Hayai questions and I respond, “ I don’t believe we should go in there.” And both Naruto, mainly Naruto, and Sakura shout at me outraged.

“ Are you kidding me!? After coming all this way you just want to give up?” Naruto shouts aggressively right in my face and Sakura nods as Hayai adds on, “ I think he’s right. We’ve come all this way, so why stop?”

“ We stop because it was just the mission to find the hideout. Going inside there is fucking suicide in my opinion. First off, you have that snake bastard on his home turf with who knows what traps and minions around. Second, just like you said earlier Hayai, it’s a maze and you’re the only one who can use earth style effectively. Am I the only one thinking clearly here?” I argue, but I don’t think I’m winning them over.

“ But Sasuke’s in there!” Naruto yells at me and know I’m starting to lose my temper a bit.

“ Why should I care? Anyone who is willingly around Orochimaru is more insane than Hayai and I combined. We have no reason to go in there, and I won’t let you.” I yell at Naruto as I walk over to the middle of the road facing the group so no one can pass me, with the badlands at my back.

“ You take that back!” Naruto screams at me as Hayai shakes his head. Looks like Naruto is regressing in his training from with Hayai by his reaction.

“ Naruto, it isn’t your decision. Gatsuuga is captain and what he says goes.” Hayai says trying to reason with the boy.

“ We understand that, but can you try to understand what we feel?” Sakura pleas to Hayai and I.

“ I’m not taking us on an unneccary suicide mission. Hayai and myself are exceptionally skilled in this sort of thing, but you two are novices at best. We’ve completed our mission by finding his whereabouts. Now, I assume Tsunade will want to raid this hideout soon, and your welcome to join up with that squad when the time comes, but not now.” I reason, as I see Sakura understands my point while Naruto is still glaring at me while clenching his fists.

“ Fine.” Grunts Naruto has he crosses his arms and turns his back on me. Hayai lets out a deep breathe since I think he expected us to fight, which I was slightly worried about. In a real fight Naruto doesn’t stand a chance against someone like me, unless he losses his cool and uses the Kyuubi’s cloak.

We begin our way back to the village and neither Sakura or Naruto is really making eye contact with me, let alone conversation, which is understandable. I really don’t care that their mad at me to be honest. I almost did side with them in infiltrating the underground fortress, but two major factors convinced me not to. The first is Naruto is too strongly emotionally attached to the whole idea, which jeopardizes the mission alone right there. Second is that this Sasuke fellow to my knowledge is there of free will. It would be one thing if he’s a prisoner, but someone in league with Orochimaru like that is probably not going to want to go with us, causing more drama and danger.

At dusk we stop in a clearing near a river stream and we begin to setup camp silently, and I can still sense the careful tension in the air. I help Sakura setup the tents as Hayai and Naruto prepare some food for all of us and Sakura whispers to me, “ I understand where you’re coming from, but to Naruto this is his best friend and rival. He gets very emotional about it.”

“ I can see that, and thanks for seeing my point of view.” I mutter back as I hear Hayai shout that the fish is ready to be eaten.

Sakura and I walk over to the decent size fire that gives off a bright illumination to the now dark sky, and Hayai hands each of us a small fish on a skewer.

“ Fresh from the stream.” Hayai states, as he takes his own, and sits down on the ground. We all form a circle around the fire with Hayai to my left and Sakura to my right, with Naruto across from me staring me down with frustrated intent.

As we all munch on our meals respectively I break the silence and propose to Naruto, “ Hey kid, listen. I know your pretty peeved about my decision, and since I’m such a nice guy I’ll give you one chance to change my mind, if your up for it.”

“ I’m listening, so what is it?” Naruto quietly replies in a serious tone.

“ Beat me in a fight, and we’ll go invade Orochimaru’s hideout tomorrow morning and find Sasuke, just like you want. If I win, you keep your mouth shut for the rest of the trip back to Konoha. Just one rule though, only taijutsu and weapons.” I offer with a smirk on my face, and I can see Naruto’s eyes light up.

“ You are so going down!” Naruto exclaims as he hops up to his feet quickly. I look over to Hayai who is looking at Naruto with pity for his apparent stupidity, and chuckle to myself as I slowly rise to my feet.

“ Alright. We’ll do it right here. First one unable to fight back goes unconscious or dies losses. I’ll try not to kill you, so when I have you pinned down try not to squirm too much, ok?” I taunt as I drop into my fighting as I pull out a few poison dipped senbon from my weapon pouch.

Naruto charges at me by jumping over the fire and throws a few kunai at me which I cancel out with my own senbon, and as he is about to punch my I deliver a firm front kick to his clavicle knocking him straight onto his back and landing on the ground with a loud thud.

Naruto scrambles to sweep my legs while on his back, but I hop backwards out of his range and throw a few more senbon at him, which he rolls away from. I look around to see Hayai and Sakura have already moved to the edge of the campground to see us duke it out, but I plan to make this short.

This time I charge Naruto leading with a few senbon, which he dodges ever so slightly and he closes in on me and delivers a punch to my gut that knocks me back a bit, but at a cost. One of the senbon I threw grazed his left hand from the small cut I can see. Not a vital, but it should work nonetheless.

I charge Naruto again and he goes to block me with his left arm, but he is severally too slow as I nail him with a couple of punches finished off with a swift knee knocking him onto his side.

I see his left arm is already starting to have muscle spasms as his face is going red trying to use his own will power to keep his body under his command. My poison dipped senbon are meant to cripple foes through muscle spasms and inability to channel chakra, eventually to temporary paralysis to the afflicted region.

I swiftly throw two ore senbon for good measure into each of his thighs away from and vital areas as Naruto sits up to try and tank the senbon out and get to his feet. He manages to shakily get to his feet, but immediately collapses back down onto the ground as I walk towards him.

“ That poison isn't lethal, but is quite fast acting, and is great for immobilizing enemies even if I don’t hit a vital. You’ll regain full control by morning.” I state as I walk towards my tent for bed as Sakura goes over to aid Naruto and help into bed.

Before I reach my tent Hayai comes behind me and asks, “ Was that really necessary, Gatsuuga?”

“ Absolutely. He felt cheated that he didn't have a shot at getting his friend back, so I gave him one. At least now he can’t argue that he didn't have any say about going back, and I think both of us needed to blow of some steam.” I admit as I enter my tent for some much needed rest.

“ Well you didn't have to humiliate the kid Gatsuuga, you could have at least kept it close for his sake.” Hayai counters before leaving off to his own tent. I had no intentions of losing to him, and I’m not going to be taking unneeded risks since I just got out of prison. I want to enjoy my time on the outside for a little bit longer before I go breaking rules and engaging in risky situations again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~````

-Relapse

(Hayai's POV)

After the little fight between Naruto and Gatsuuga I couldn't help but feel bad for the blonde. He had his hopes up so high and we didn't even end up going into the hideout. I couldn't argue with Gatsuuga's choice though, first, he is the captain, and second, I agreed with him on his decision. That place would've been a death trap especially with that snake freak lurking around. Man that guy is...I don't even have words to describe him.

We continue our way to the village with the kids having a bummed look on their face. They'll have to get over it eventually though. It's not the last time they'll have a chance to save their friend. Though I doubt it's possible, anyone who has the right mind to go to Orochimaru on their own freewill must be insane.

"Hey, quit with the depressed look guys. It's beginning to piss me off. Just because you didn't get your way means you have to show it." Gatsuuga says.

"Tch. Like you would know what it's like to lose a close comrade." Sakura replies.

"Ha! Do you know what it's like to KILL your own comrade?"

After that both the kids change to a neutral expression and keep quiet for the remainder of the trip. Gatsuuga smirks at his own comment but I know it kind of torments him on the inside. No one could escape the torment of killing your own comrade...especially if he's your friend too...

At last the gates come into sight and I sigh at the safeness of the village. We pass by the guards and stop in the middle of the path.

"You kids can go along now, Hayai and I will go submit the mission report." Gatsuuga says.

They reply by trudging off in a random location before the disappear behind some buildings. Gatsuuga turns to me and motions to head for the Hokage building. I follow him through the village before we arrive at the humongous red building. After passing through the front desk and what not we arrive before Tsunade.

"So how did it go?" Tsunade says in a calm voice.

"I would say ok...but that's a bit of an understatement." Gatsuuga responds.

"What do you mean?"

"Well...First of all, we were compromised. Then Orochimaru appeared and taunted Naruto to which he responded by...well...lets just say the nine tails is pretty freaky..."

"Oh my..."

"No casualties though. Which I suppose is a good thing. We also discovered Orochimaru's hideout which I marked here on a map. We decided not to infiltrate since it may contain traps of all sorts as well as Orochimaru who is beyond dangerous."

"I see. I commend you on your decision. It's better if we gather a team to properly attack. Also, any news on Sasuke?"

"We knew he was in there but again decided not to put ourselves in harm's way."

"Very well."

Gatsuuga and I turn around when Tsunade speaks up, "One more thing..."

We both turn around, "What is it?" I ask.

"You both will be reinstated for the P.I unit." She says with a grin.

With no correct way to respond we both nod simultaneously and exit the office. After aimlessly wandering around the village we both come to a stop and look at each other. Each of us reading each other's face perfect. I know what he's thinking and he knows what I'm thinking, so I decide to break the silence first.

"I...I don't know if I...If I can go back Gatsuuga..." I sheepishly say.

"I know how you feel friend...It's rough just dwelling on it. I'll have to think it over. It's just that...It's what were best at you know? I can't imagine what else I could possibly do in this boring village. Solving mysteries was my life for the longest time and without it it's like there's a void in me."

"Heh. I've never heard you vent like that before."

"I'm just explaining you dolt."

"Haha. I guess I'll have to think about it to..."

"I agree. Lets go home and sleep on it, what do you say?"

"Fine by me. Wanna grab a bite first?"

"Sure."

After getting a bite to eat we head back to my apartment. We each literally crash on our respective sleeping areas and pass out immediately. After such an exhausting mission, it's nice to get a good night's rest that I know we'll both appreciate.


~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

Darkness. Purplish clouds loom over head as blood rains from them in a torrential storm straight out of hell itself. The clouds split apart to reveal a familiar face of a monster. One that I've seen before, one that's harmed me in the past and has left me scarred for life. I turn around and take off sprinting, attempting to escape the freakish face. As I turn a corner I run into a woman with her back turned. I bounce off and fall on my butt, not even budging her. After rubbing my head I look up to see her turn around with her hair covering her face. An invisible force moves her hair apart revealing a crone like face with teeth as sharp as a kunai and eyes as red as the devil himself. My heart leaps out of my throat before I scramble to my feet and take off running in the opposite direction.

The wind picks up and swirls around the dirt with even more force. Eventually the blood twists itself to form a hurricane that heads straight for me. It's hopeless trying to escape as the tornado lifts me up off my feet and tosses me into the air. It brings me face to face with that wretched demon that wrecked havoc on my psychological being long ago and I finally realize...

That beast...

Those eyes...

Those claws...

The little girl...

The innocence of it all...

I can't escape it...

Hoshi...

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

I shoot up from my bed, covered in sweat, breathing heavily and screaming. Gatsuuga runs up into my room with a kunai in his hand looking around for the unknown attacker. I pant heavily and begin trembling in my covers still in a cold sweat with adrenaline coursing throughout my veins. Eventually I calm down and come back to reality.

"Hayai are you all right?!" Gatsuuga yells.

"I...I...I don't know! I thought the nightmares stopped! I thought it was all gone!"

"Calm down man. Get a hold of yourself!"

I slow down my breathing and eventually slump down in my bed almost lifeless. My eyes feel bloodshot and my body feels fatigued beyond belief.

"Gatsuuga...I don't think I can go back to doing private investigation..."

"Rgh. I can't argue with your decision but you have to. I won't be able to work with anyone else normally. And come on, it can't be as bad as last time Hayai."

"I...I don't know."

"Look. Please consider it. We'll talk about it tomorrow morning with the Hokage and see if we can give you a few more days to think about it."

I sigh, "Ok..."

"Get some rest, your going to be tired as hell tomorrow."

"Yeah..."

Gatsuuga leaves and closes the door behind him leaving me in the dark. I don't fall asleep for the next two hours. The next morning I awaken feeling drained of energy. Not even coffee is enough to wake me up and I just feel completely dead on the inside. Even Gatsuuga notices and he just shakes his head at me. At about ten o clock we head back to the Hokage's office to discuss things with her.

"Hayai, you look like you've been through hell. What happened?" Tsunade questions.

"I had a night tremor last night...A relapse you could say..."

"Hmm. Do you think you can preform a mission as a P.I?"

"I don't know exactly..."

"My lord, I think he needs a few more days to consider this. Even though it's been forever since our last mission, it probably still haunts him." Gatsuuga puts.

"I see. Very well then I'll give you a few more days. In other news, I've decided to add two more recruits to the sector seeing as you two were the only ones in it."

"Recruits eh? Who are they?"

Out of the door appears two chuunin I recognize as Shikamaru and Sai. These are our new recruits? I was expecting a little bit more...firepower.

"Hello Lady Tsunade." Shikamaru lazily says.

"Hello. Shikamaru, Sai, these are your new teammates for now. Your officially part of the P.I unit of the leaf village."

"Hello." Gatsuuga greets.

"Hey." Shikamaru responds.

The pale one remains silent...Something about him throws me off though and I don't know what it is.

"My name is Gatsuuga Hyouro and this is Hayai Sutoraiki."

"Nice to meet you both." I say.

"I'll let you think over your decision before I give you the actual mission objective. We don't want you having cold feet when your needed." Tsunade says to me.

"I'll get back to you as soon as possible...It's just that the last mission really...scarred me." I tell her.

"I understand. You all are dismissed."

We all exit the building and stand around awkwardly before I speak up.

"Hey uh I think I need some time to think about this alone. I'll catch up with you later."

"Fine by me. Just hurry up and make a decision already."

I walk off leaving Gatsuuga with the new recruits. Without really thinking about where I'm going I mindlessly wander around the village completely focused on my thoughts. Can I really handle going on another mission like that? Then again, it can't be as bad as last time. Can it? I mean the chances of that are really slim, we just got the luck of the draw...If you could call it luck.

After about two...or is it three hours? I don't know I lost track of time, I finally make up my mind and go to find Gatsuuga and the other two. Hopefully they respect my decision...