On the Move: Otonami's Search

A Partner's Help
Otonami was walking around, sighing all the way. His blue waistcoat and his pants were blowing to the left as the wind was blowing towards the east. I'm going south...I'm leaving Konoha for a few months now, please excuse me Hokage. Otonami wrote as he was on the road and having a pen. Then, he started to think just before he was going to wrap up the letter. It's...a sibling thing...I know, you're trying to know of what I mean...but I've got no time. Otonami writes. Satisfied, he wraps it up, looks at the bird that was perched at the branch of a tree, blankly staring at him. "Here, send this to the Hokage." Otonami mutters as he attaches it to the bird. Before he could see the bird go into flight, Otonami walks away abruptly, with no farewells.

Zip.

Zip.

Zip.

A black blur rushed through the trees. It disturbed several bushels of leaves as it passed by. Its footsteps came in a silent matter, as it moved, and anyone who wasn't a shinobi would've thought a ghost was passing over.

Fortunately, it wasn't.

Otonami puts his left hand on the hilt of his sword, and suddenly, he swiftly takes out the sapphire sword from his scabbard and points it right at where the footsteps were just going to come.

The figure leaped!

He gracefully landed on its feet, a fair distance behind the other shinobi. Standing up straight, he turned around, its crimson eyes staring at him. "Yo." He said, with a familiar laziness in his tone.

Otonami still pointed his sword at the shinobi. "Feh...you're here..." Otonami mutters and he sheathes his swords and walks off his original path of where he was supposed to go.

A scoff of his own came from the stranger, as he moved his footsteps forward, putting his hands on his pockets. "Is that anyway to greet an old friend?" He asked humorously.

"You know, I've been like this for the last year ever since I killed my father." Otonami hastily says as he looks back to see Ryuka Uchiha. "I mean...that's no way to sneak up your old friend." Otonami says as he stops and his two scabbards gleamed under the sunset.

"Sorry. I wasn't intending to meet up with you again." Ryuka apologized, scratching the back of his head, until his Sharingan eyes fell on the scabbards. "I see you've switched weapons. What happened to your Sonic Blades?" He asked.

"Oh, yeah, the Sonic Blades. I apparently don't need them for this kind of trip, also, they're in repair. Apparently, someone broke them." Otonami says. "You haven't changed much..."

"Thank you." Ryuka folded his arms across his chest, closing one eye. "Mind if I ask what kind of trip you're taking?"

Otonami remained silent for a bit. There was dead silence for at least 10 seconds. Then, Otonami turns his back at Ryuka and walks away again towards his path. "I'm not in the mood to talk about it..." Otonami was the faint reply Ryuka hears.

Ryuka fell silent. But he still followed, although at a more sullen pace. "May I help out?" He asked quietly. "It's the least I could do, after what you did to help me bring Kyashi back...."

Otonami stops again and looks down. "Well, you did help kill my father..." Otonami says, and shivers at the image of his father. "Helping you for Kyashi was the payback for that." Otonami mutters. "But...your my friend, and I like that." Otonami says as he looks up at Ryuka. "Fine...I'll tell you along the way, but, I want you to keep it secret until we find the person that I'm searching for." Otonami says and he starts walking again.

"My lips are sealed." The Uchiha's tone was honest. "Until we find whoever it is, anyway...."

After for a pretty long time for being Ryuka's friends, Otonami smirks after so long from seeing him. "My sister..." The words escaped from Otonami's mouth.

Ryuka's onyx eyes widened slightly out of surprise. "You? Have a sister?" He asked slowly, amazed.

"I was surprised too by the fact, but, it seems like my sister has been at Konoha for at least 10 years, without me noticing." Otonami says. "You're wondering of how this happened...aren't you?" Otonami asks as they continued to walk and the sun started to set a little more.

"Yep. You read my mind too well."

Otonami laughs quietly and a little. "I don't want anyone to hear." Otonami says. "Well, except you of course." Otonami says as he looks behind him to look at Ryuka, and then looks down the path. "Let's stop for camping, and I'll tell you after we set up some kind of barrier or jutsu that could envelop us and prevent people from hearing us." Otonami says, but still continued to walk.

Ryuka nodded. "Fair enough." His footsteps seemed to become quieter, as he continued to walk.

1 Hour Later

"Yes, I know, I said soon..." Otonami says quietly as it was late in the dark. "We'll stop here then." Otonami says as he finally stops walking.

Ryuka immediately looked around, checking for anything that might interfere with the setup of camp. "Took you long enough...." He muttered.

"Sorry, I had to get away from Konoha as far as I can. Which is why I went in awkward directions. I don't want anyone to interfere." Otonami says as he sits down on the grass and looks at the ground to see some shreds of newspaper.

Just as Otonami looked at the shreds of newspaper, he immediately snatches it and starts reading through it. "What the hell..." Otonami mutters as he starts to count. He then throws away the newspaper and starts to groan as he looks at the fire Ryuka setted up.

"What's up?" Ryuka turned away from the fire for a moment, turning to stare over at his distressed friend. "You seem out of it."

"Feh...you realized that I'm wanted in three areas. Let's see, the Otogakure, Tsuchigakure, and Amegakure. My previous bounty was at 500,000,000." Otonami says quietly. "Feh, it seems like that my bounty has been multiplied by 10 times." Otonami says as he digs back of where the newspaper was and Otonami shows him the new bounty.

"And that's supposed to scare me, Sokudo?" Ryuka cocked an eyebrow, as he eyed the paper's contents. "Just because you're all famous in the black book now?"

"No...it means that I'm a targeted man in Amegakure, and that's where my sister is." Otonami hastily says as he rips up the newspaper. "I'm not happy about it..." Otonami mutters.

"Hmm...." Ryuka put a hand to his chin, looking down at the ground thoughtfully. "Is she a prisoner there? Under house arrest? Or is she just living there like any ordinary villager?"

"From the looks of that letter, I think she's just an ordinary villager, disguising as one. Hopefully, she doesn't get caught." Otonami mutters. He then gets out his sleeping bag. "Don't you have one?" Otonami asks as he lays his out.

The Uchiha merely put his hands behind his head, lying on his back. "I didn't prefer to bring it." He replied.

"Whatever..." Otonami mutters and he lies down on his sleeping bag. "So...you set up that barrier? I only know how to break barriers." Otonami says as he looks up at Ryuka.

"Oh....right." Ryuka quickly got up again on his feet, spreading out his arms and crouching low to the ground. Immediately, a burst of lightning expelled from his body, expanding quickly around them, stopping to a certain and sizable extent.

"There. Whoever tries to come in will get a...very nasty shock." With that, he lay back down, putting his hands behind his head.

"Hopefully that's a barrier in which no one can hear." Otonami says as he lies down again on his sleeping bag. "While you construct another barrier that makes us invisible and without anyone hearing us within earshot, I'm just wonder, why and how did you get here?" Otonami asks.

Ryuka didn't bother to move from his spot. "First off, I can't do that. Secondly, now of my departure from Konoha, I'm a bit of a wanderer now. I guess I just happened to come across you."

"Okay...I guess we'll have to kill whoever hears us..." Otonami said in a satirical tone. "Of course, that's your job since there seems to be a demon inside you." Otonami says facing the other way. "I had one hell of an adventure."

Ryuka rolled his eyes, although he knew that Otonami couldn't see him. "Gee, thanks." He muttered sarcastically. "And what kind of adventure did you have?" His eyes looked lazily over towards his comrade.

"Unless, of course, it's none of my business."

"Well, I have to tell you about my sister, don't I? I mean, there wouldn't be any point of you coming here." Otonami says as he faces Ryuka again. "Got any food?" Otonami asks as he gets up and gets his bag.

"Yeah. It's in my bag." Ryuka replies.

"Feh..." Otonami got out some sushi and rice from his bag and sat next to the fire. He then starts eating the rice and sushi while waiting for Ryuka.

Ryuka closed his eyes in a seemingly exasperated manner. "I ate before I got here." He said dismissively, with a wave of his hand.

"Hmm..." Otonami just says as he was lost in deep thought through the fire and eating at the same time. ''I'm coming, Hanatte. Just wait for 2 days...'' Otonami thought as he was eating. Just as he was halfway from eating his sushi, Otonami just looks blankly at his food. Then, he kicks them away and through the barrier as some animals immediately came to eat them. What the hell is going on with me...I have an outreagous bounty, I seem really pissed and serious than my other few years...it seems like I have no fun anymore. Otonami then goes to his bag and went to his sleeping bag, but just sat on it.

One of Ryuka's eyes was open, and the other was closed, looking over at his partner. He couldn't help but be a bit surprised at Otonami's behavior. "You seem awfully tense." He commented quietly. "Does your sister mean that much to you?"

"Yeah..." Otonami quietly says. "I mean, wouldn't you care for your sister or brother? Except..." Otonami suddenly had a flashback when Hanatte slashed right through her when he was at the different realm and he suddenly felt pain immediately of a single cut. "''The feeling of agony is painful. This type of feeling will succumb you and kill you. Remember that..." ''Otonami keeps on going back the words ever since. Then he thinks of another flashback when Merlina was talking to him. ''"If a person that was very close to you died, what would you do?" ''Merlina asks Otonami while on their way towards Avalon Castle. "The thing is...I don't really have anyone that's close to me that much..." Otonami replied as he looked down on the ground. "Just friends..." Otonami still looked at the fire, seeing it's dancing on the top and the sparks flying off. "I think it's about time that I told you about my sister." Otonami says after a few minutes as he looks at Ryuka.

Ryuka's expressioned softened. But he once again pushed himself up, this time to a sitting position, and his gaze met Otonami's, in order to show that he was listening.

"One day, when I came back from your fight against Seireitou, I got really pissed at him for trying to kill his own student. Then, I realized, a book came for delivery that I was wanting to read. So, once I got home, the book was there and I read it first thing." Otonami says and he starts to close his eyes. "While I was reading, the book suddenly glowed light blue, and, I was suddenly put in the book. It seems that some kind of spell dragged me there, and a magician girl, whose name is Merlina, brought me here."

Otonami then continues. "Then, I hear of a possessed king in this area, and yet, I was summoned to destroy that king. So, with these two swords." Otonami then takes out both of his swords from his belt and puts it right in front of him. "Kyuusoku and Raigia, I killed that evil spirit. But, during that adventure, I met up with my sister, who used an alias name called Katelyn. I was supposed to verse her in order to know of how to defeat the king. This may sound surprising to you, but I lost. She used some kind of ability in which it uses feelings against you. After the fight, I found ninja clothes on her room by accident. Then, that's when I learned that she was my sister." Otonami says. Then, Otonami went on about how Hanatte was her sister.

Ryuka nodded slowly. "So, let me get this straight. Since her parents couldn't decide on her name, and circumstances allowed the mother to choose.... the father, basically, went on a hissy fit and took it all out on Hanatte." He rolled his eyes. "Sounds like someone needs counseling...."

"It wasn't really like that, Ryuka." Otonami says. "Ever since I've escaped from my parents 3 years before she was borned, he's been keeping a secured idiot." Otonami says. Otonami then holds up his Kyuusoku and unsheathes it, and starts the examining the colorful, gleaming, sapphire-blue, sharp sword.

Ryuka scratched the back of his head. "Oh....that makes sense." He muttered.

"I never knew she was that strong..." Otonami says as he lies down on his sleeping bag. "You know, I have a pretty good sister...she's strong, beautiful, and yet easy-to-handle person. I just like those people, I've always wondered of what it's like to have a sister or brother." Otonami says as he looks up.

"Heh." Ryuka's face gained a Naruto-like grin. "Maybe once you meet Hanatte, you'll get your chance." He said encouragingly.

"I already got my chance for 6 months. I've already got the feeling." Otonami says. He then holds out his hand. "But, I want to thank you for helping me." Otonami says and he a smile perks up a little.

Ryuka couldn't help but put on a smile of his own, as he extended his own hand to shake with Otonami's. "Don't mention it. It's what friends do."\

"Well, I guess we need to sleep." Otonami said in a joking matter and quickly put away his own hand and brought up the sleeping bag over him and started to fall dead sleep. I wonder...if the old me is just better...I can have a combination of both I guess... Otonami thought.

After letting go, Ryuka turned back onto his side, slowly closing his eyes. The smile faded, as he drifted off to sleep.

Advancing Towards Amegakure
The next day, Otonami wakes up from his sleeping bag. Otonami looks to his right to see Ryuka still sleeping. What kind of a dream was that...it felt pretty bad. Otonami then thinks of his dream in which he saw Hanatte being surrounded by flames and covered in dark energy. Otonami then shakes his head and tries to ignore the thoughts. "I have to think of what we do when we get to Amegakure." Otonami mutters.

Ryuka yawned, slowly opening his eyes and settling himself to a sitting position from the ground. His sleepy eyes looked over at Otonami, as he slowly got up. "Good mornin'." He muttered, stretching out a bit.

To Ryuka's surprise, Otonami wasn't there at his sleeping bag. A set of footprints were from the sleeping bag as they went to another part of the forest.

Ryuka blinked, but simply got up and followed the footsteps. He grinned inwardly. "Looks like Otonami's went ahead with out me, that thoughtless moron...."

"RASENGAN!" Someone shouted and Ryuka was suddenly blasted out by a wave of chakra just as he was going towards a tree. Suddenly, the tree immediately breaks as it was grinded through by a ball of chakra. The tree branch then falls on the other side. Otonami then draws out his two swords and puts himself in a stance. "Two Sword Style..." Otonami mutters and just when the tree falls, Otonami then immediately slashes it like an X and the tree avoids hitting Otonami. "Wolf's Fangs..." Otonami mutters just as the four pieces of the trees was around his sides.

"...." Ryuka pulled himself to his feet, staring incredulously. He blinked twice, looking over at Otonami. "Otonami...."

"Hmm?" Otonami looks at Ryuka. "Oh...didn't expect you to wake up early." Otonami mutters. He then walks past him and whispers into his ear. "We have to work on of how to infiltrate." Otonami just says and he goes back to his campsite.

Ryuka scratched his head, but got up again, cocking his neck from side to side. "That would depend on the concentration of defense around Amegakure." He commented, folding his arms across his chest, as he followed.

"Well, I was thinking of acting as villagers..." Otonami says as he looks behind him to see Ryuka. "I think you aren't known around Amegakure, so, it's a good idea to turn off your Sharingan. Me?" Otonami scoffs and he goes to his sleeping bag and starts wrapping it up. "With that huge ****ing bounty, I obviously have to disguise as someone." Otonami mutters.

"Well, then, it's more simpler for me, then." Ryuka shrugged. "I can simply go in, not activating my Sharingan, and no one will suspect a thing. Now, all we need to do is find you a disguise..."

3 Hours Later at Amegakure

"OOMPH!" A guard suddenly says as Otonami brought both of them down. Otonami then looks at one of them, then, he does three hand seals and transforms into one of them. "That was simple..." Otonami says as he turns toward Ryuka.

"Now, then..." Ryuka put his finger on his chin. "You know any possible and specific places of where she could be?" He asked.

"No...I don't..." Otonami replied as they got in. "She sent me a letter back at the camp while you were asleep by a bird. (I don't know of how the bird knew where I was...) It did say that she was staying at a hotel, village. She wasn't specific, but, she did say that she was safe." Otonami says as they started walking.

"Hmmm...." Ryuka muttered. "In that case, we should look for a hotel that would accomodate in a secluded area. What do you think?"

"Split up then..." Otonami mutters and he runs off to one side of the tall buildings.

"Right." Ryuka, following his movements, headed off in the direction of the other.

Out in the distance, Hanatte was on a room at a small building. I think he's here right now... Hanatte thought. Packing up her two bags, she immediately then goes out the building. Just as she went out, someone else in a black cloak also went out. ''I don't think that's Otonami. ''She thought and she started to run, and at the same time, the cloaked man also ran after her. ''Crap! I'm already detected!'' And she suddenly used her Kekkei Genkai and ran off with a golden flash.

"Get her! She's the girl who was part of the ritual!" The man shouted as everyone went to turn on him. Suddenly, five Amegakure ninjas appeared and started to trail Hanatte.

Ryuka groaned, slapping a hand to his forehead. "I am never going to find anything at this rate... what a friggin' hassle--"

Then, he heard the sounds of footsteps, accompanied by shouts of orders. A smile of realization came across his face, as he started to pick up his speed, sensing Otonami's presence nearby.

"Who the hell?" Otonami suddenly mutters as he heard shouting. ''Girl...part of ritual? I think that's her...'' Otonami thought and he ran towards the same direction. Just as he was going to make a turn, he suddenly bumps into Ryuka again and they hit the floor.

"Guh!" Ryuka fell on his back, but he turned around on his stomach, pulling himself up and running to his heels, pursuing them once more. "Sorry!" He called back, although knowing Otonami was going just as fast as he was.

"Same thing happening as in Kumogakure, huh..." Otonami mutters as he did catch up. "So...you heard that?" Otonami asks as he does three hand seals and reverted back to his own self.

"Sure did." Ryuka nodded, keeping his eyes focused in front of him. "With that super speed, you can bet that's your sis, all right...."

"Yeah...she doesn't use her Kekkei Genkai that much though..." Otonami mutters as they were just going to turn on an alley when a golden flash immediately passes them. After a few seconds, five more Amegakure ninjas come, trailing the light.

Immediately, Ryuka turned on his heel, in hot pursuit of the mass of Ame-nin. However, he kept a certain distance away from them, as to not give himself away. "What did they mean by, ritual?" He thought, eyes narrowing.

"Crap, the ritual...have to get out of here before they start it." Otonami mutters as he rushed at the Amegakure ninjas and went right in front of them. Before they could react, Otonami unsheathes his blue sword and immediately wounds one on the chest.

Ryuka followed suit, "teleporting" right in the midst of the Ame-nin. Immediately, he spread his arms out to his sides, lowering his head as he muttered two words:

"Raitama Nagashi."

A burst of electricity, in the form of lightning, erupted from his body, zapping and electrocuting the entire group in one shot. The perfect way to take down a group of enemies, he believed.

Before the fourth one was down, Otonami, taking out his yellow sword, suddenly jolts in electricity and shoots a spark of lightning at the fourth one before Ryuka's Raitama Nagashi could hit. "Too late, I think my move is a little faster." Otonami says as he sheathes both of his swords.

Before Ryuka could say anything, someone was right behind them. "You should watch of where you're going..." Otonami immeidately turns around, but, before he could see who it is, Ryuka and Otonami were immediately blasted off. "What the..." Otonami gets up and looks at the person who knocked them. It was a simple Akatsuki.

"Nnnh!" Ryuka gasped, landing painfully on his back. He pulled himself back up into a crouching stance, eyes widening when they landed on the Akatsuki cloak. After a few seconds, they narrowed again.

"Of course." He muttered. "This is Akatsuki's hideout, after all..."

"Now die..." The Akatsuki holds up his hand and a burst of lightning comes out from his hands. Before his move was delivered, there was someone behind him. "Sotto: Shining Blade." The Akatsuki immediately grunts, and the electricity in his hands were immediately gone. He looks behind him and groans. Suddenly, a slash emanated in his front and he drops dead. On his black was a huge, burnt slash. Behind him was Hanatte whose sword was glowing white and bright, looking down at the Akatsuki as she was going to sheathe her sword.

"...." The Uchiha remained silent for a moment, then allowed a "hn" of content pass his lips, before he slowly got up on his feet. "You all right, Otonami?"

"Yes..." Otonami says just as he was going to get up. "I was going to kill him with a simple move, but, it seems like someone did the job." Otonami eyes Hanatte as she just sheathed her sword. ''She hasn't changed much...that's good. ''Otonami thought as he pats his legs of dust.

Ryuka folded his arms across his chest. Although his body was facing Hanette, his eyes were on Otonami, waiting for a proper greeting between them first before he introduced himself.

Otonami then stands up and goes in front of Hanatte. She was silent at first and so was Otonami. Dead Silence for 10 seconds...then...

"WHY DID YOU END UP HERE!?" Otonami shouts at Hanatte.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN!? THIS STUPID RITUAL ENDED UP ME HERE!" Hanatte shouted back and the two siblings started to argue.

Ryuka curled his mouth skeptically. "Of course. Siblings have to fight..." He cleared his throat, in order to get both of their attention. "Ahem...."

Otonami and Hanatte then stops and all look at Ryuka and both say at the same time. "WHAT!?" Both glaring at Ryuka.

"I know you all have a lot to argue about...." Ryuka explained hesitantly, scratching his cheek with one finger and putting on a Sai-like smile. "But, I doubt that this would be the best time to discuss it all...."

Otonami and Hanatte look to their right and see at least 50 people of Amegakure ninjas running towards them. "Good point..." Otonami mutters and he pulls out Kyuusoku. "I guess we can start slaughtering..." Hanatte says just after Otonami and unsheathes her sword.

Ryuka unsheathed his own blade, flipping it elegantly before stabbing it into the ground. Another burst of lightning erupted from it, spreading through the ground and connecting with their enemies head-on, stopping their defenses for a moment.

Otonami then pulls out Raigia and puts both swords behind his right arm, while Hanatte when to rush towards the group. "Sotto: Beam." Her sword suddenly turns blue and it was humming. She then easily cuts through the opponent's like cutting a simple branch. "Two Sword Style: Tiger Trap!" Suddenly, Otonami was gone in a flash of light and was immediately behind behind the group. Suddenly, blood immediately spills out through the row in which Otonami went through.

Ryuka immediately followed suit, aiming for and slashing the throats of any survivors. They fell down to the ground, either headless, or choking on their own blood. Blood sprayed onto the ground, as the three continued their merciless onslaught.

One dying Ame-nin, on his stomach, desperately tried to crawl away, in an attempt to flee. But he was instantly stopped when Ryuka's sword pierced through his skull to his chin, ending his life instantly. The Uchiha pulled it out, and slowly sheathed it once more.

"So pointless..." He mused.

Otonami and Hanatte sheathed their swords too just as Ryuka slaughtered the last one. "Well then, there's going to be more as they call reinforcements." Otonami says and motions Ryuka and Hanatte to follow them. But, Hanatte went on a different way. "Unlike you Otonami, I've been here in this hellfire for 3 days, I know where the quickest exit is." Hanatte says uses her ninja speed to run off.

Ryuka put on his lazy-eye expression, but he took off after Hanatte, anyway, his feet pounding the ground. "By all means, lead the way out, Hanatte-san." He said politely.

Otonami just looks at the path that he was going, shrugs, and follows Hanatte. "Where are we going then?" Otonami asks as he follows Hanatte's tracks and towards the street.

"If we want to get out, then, we have to find the border to get out. Of course, in your case, going North when we're mostly in the South is your sense of direction. So, we obviously go South on a less busier place. But, expect this, we're going to meet up with enemies." Hanatte says and she goes through alleys in which they get messier and much less crowded.

Ryuka leaped over a trash can, still hot on Hanette's heels. "What kind of enemies?" He asked. "More Amegakure nin?"

Hanatte turns to look at Ryuka. "Akatsuki...and more ninjas." Otonami then looks at Ryuka, and Otonami felt nervous a bit. "We have to bust out somehow." Otonami mutters.

"We have to keep running." The Uchiha said. "Stopping and fighting directly every time we encouter an enemy is going to be pointless. If we do see anyone, we cut straight through them."

"Easier said than done!" Otonami immediately says as he pulls out his Kyuusoku and slices up two Amegakure nins that were just trailing them.

"I stand by what I said." Ryuka didn't take his eyes off of the front of him, which Hanette was occupying.

"Whatever..." Otonami quietly says as he looks around him. Why only two ninjas? Otonami thought.

"We're almost there!" Hanatte shouts just as they saw the end of the alley. A blinding light was covering them as they immediately go through it.

"What the..." Hanatte mutters just as she was at the end of the alley. Right in front of the trio group was a huge wall in which it was impossible to climb through. Looking left and right, Hanatte found out that it was endless. "Didn't you two go through this city by just walking through the border?" Hanatte asked as she turned around.

Ryuka immediately searched the walls for any way to scale the barricade, but it proved useless. "Yeah. But why don't we simply use chakra to climb it? It looks like a normal wall..." He replied, pressing his left foot on the wall.

"I know you're an Uchiha. Look at the walls with your Sharingan." Hanatte says as she looks back. "This is chakra proof stuff, and, it's also composed of chakra." Hanatte says. Otonami looks behind him and to the left and right, "Um...guys..."

He did so with said Sharingan. "Oh."

Although clearly not to the extent of the Byakugan, he could clearly see the mass of chakra in front of him. He took his foot back down, deactivating his Sharingan and turned back around. "Never mind."

Just as Ryuka looked back, he sees a group of Amegakure ninjas and one Akatsuki. Otonami then looks to his right and left and sees another huge group of Amegakure ninjas. Hanatte immediately notices this and the three of them faces one group on three sides. "We're surrounded...that's why the two ninjas were sent." Otonami mutters as he pulls out both of his swords.

"Scouting teams..." Ryuka thought, frowning as the crimson-and-black pattern bubbling up to his eyes once again. A cold glare was reflected from them, as he stared at each of every one of them.

"We'll make this as simple as possible." He said calmly, although his tone was laced with a killing intent. "You can either get out of the way, or we can kill you all. I'm fine either way."

"I don't think these ninjas are ordinary. Especially that Akatsuki." Hanatte says as she points at the Akatsuki. "Hmm...I think that I can use my sword as a beam to cut through the walls." Hanatte says and she pulls out her sword. "You two can work on the groups of people and protect me at the same time, I'll work on the wall."

Immediately after she said so, Ryuka's eyes switched to that of the pinwheel, and his eyes shed a tear of blood, dropping onto the ground. Instantly, a mass of black and unholy flames enveloped the large grouping of Ame-nin in his vision.

''Not now! ''Otonami thought as he took the left side and starts fighting. Just as he brought up his sword to hit them, the Ame-nins immediately brought out their sword and starts blocking Otonami's attacks. ''What!? They can block my complex moves! ''Otonami thought just as he started to do complex movements to hit them.

The group that Ryuka hit suddenly jumps, and only 3 or 4 were hit. The Akatsuki person as well jumps and lands right in front of Ryuka. "Mangekyou Sharingan, huh...well, what a waste." The Akatsuki said as he drew out his blade. It was immensely black and had an intense sharp blade on it. \

Hanatte immediately goes towards the wall and unsheathes her sword. "Sotto: Beam." Her sword suddenly turns into a low humming, blue sword again and Hanatte starts to cut through the wall in a huge circle-like motion. To her surprise, it was going really slowly. "Cover me!" She shouts just as the right group was running towards them.

"Shit...." Ryuka muttered, his Sharingan returning to its three-tomoe state. He unsheathed his own blade, pulling it in a defensive position. "He avoided Amaterasu...this guy's somethin' else..."

''Damn it! I have to use this!'' Otonami thought just as he was blocking 12 swords with just two swords. "Two Sword Style: Dragon Twister!" Otonami shouts and with immense force, Otonami spins around wildly and everyone within range of his twister were suddenly sent up into the air with couple of random slashes on their chest. 12 people then hit on the floor. Otonami looks beyond them and sees 6 more people. "Who's next to die?" Otonami says as he points his sword at them.

Hanatte was still making a circle, but, she was making slow progress. Just then, 18 people from the right side of the group rushed towards Hanatte. Immediately Hanatte let's go of her progress towards the wall. If I let go for one minute, the wall will re-form itself! Hanatte thought and she started to fight through the charging ninjas. To their surprise, their swords immediately melted once in contact with Hanatte's sword. "It's a beam sword, no surprise to that." She says and she cuts through half of them. The 9 then advance towards Otonami and Hanatte went back to work.

"Are you ready?" The cloaked Akatsuki person said as black energy suddenly went through the sword.

This time, Ryuka acted instinctively. With a few steps, he had managed to get under his cloaked opponent's guard, thrusting his sword and stabbing it into the man's heart. "Don't talk." He replied. "Just die."

The cloaked Akatsuki smirked as instead of stabbing into his heart, the sword was immediately there like it wasn't there before. "Is that the best you got?" The man taunted. Suddenly, his other hand, covered in dark energy, grabbed Ryuka by the throat.

Otonami looks behind him to see the 9 people. "Oh, more?" Otonami groans at the thought. "Screw it, I'll just use this." Otonami mutters as he pulls out the green star crystal and jumps over the 6 people that were in front of him. Just then, Otonami immediately inserts the green star crystal into one of the marks into the sword's hilt. The sword then glows green all of a sudden. "Ready?" Otonami asks.

"AAH!" Ryuka let out a strangled gasp, as the man's hand gripped his throat tightly, choking off his air. "He's fast to react. Clearly an expert swordsman. Can't be Kisame, though, he wields Samehada..."

With one leg, he thrust it into the man's exposed stomach, forcing him off. Then, he followed up with a flurry of one-handed accurate strikes aimed for his throat, stepping forwards everytime he did so.

Before Ryuka could do so, suddenly a flashback immediately abrupt through his mind. Suddenly, he saw images of Kyashi's defection, and the old past of seeing Itachi ready to slaughter him. The cloaked man simply laughed as he saw Ryuka in agony.

"Aaaah!" Ryuka staggered back, clutching half of his face with one hand. His gritted teeth chattered slightly, and his uncovered eye widened out of shock. The blade tip dropped to the floor.

"Illusions, too?" He wondered idly if he was facing Madara himself now. The lack of hand signs to perform the genjutsu was clear, and the only other way he knew of was by the Sharingan... unless...

"It's that dark energy..." Ryuka's crimson eye fell on his opponent's blade. It continued to spark with the unknown power. "Transmission through physical contact... I'd better be careful now." He settled back into a defensive stance, narrowing his eyes.

The cloaked man kept on laughing. "You see, I can transmit memories of illusion that you had faced through this dark energy that's in my hand." He said. "I can also interrupt your feelings as well, but, I give you such agony that I can easily kill you until you're weak. Just by going through your sub-consciousness mind." He says. Then, he holds up his blade at Ryuka.

Hanatte heard that in the distance and was surprised and almost let go of her blade. That's kind of like my ability! She thought as she re-focused on cutting the wall. She was almost a half done.

Otonami brings out his Raigia and crosses both of his arms. "Two Sword Style: Hawk Wave!" Otonami shouts and he unleashes his arms and two gusts of wind immediately blows past the remaining part of the group.

"Don't try and scare me." Ryuka deduced calmly, gripping the hilt of his blade tightly with one hand. "Clearly, you need physical contact for it to work. Otherwise, you wouldn't have gone through the trouble of choking me." He raised his sword and pointed it at his opponent's.

"Although, I must say..." He put on a small grin. "Your abilities are most impressive so far...I could usually laugh off illusions like that."

"Hmph...you think so?" The Akatsuki man suddenly says and suddenly, the dark energy spurted right out like a laser and was aiming at Ryuka.

This time, Ryuka didn't dodge, allowing for the lazer to pierce straight through his chest.

But, instead of falling to the ground, he dissipated into a murder of crows, surrounding the man and completely barring him from sight of anything else.

"Well...you're pretty stupid. Either way, even if mine does hit a clone, substitution, or this technique. You will still feel memories..." The cloaked man said. Suddenly, Ryuka saw more images. Defection of Sasuke, Kyashi trying to kill him, and the death of his parents.

This time, Ryuka was able to restrain himself, leaping into the flock of crows. "That's just it." He whispered. "That's all they are...."

Behind the cloaked enemy, the flock opened a gap in their hole slightly, just enough for the Uchiha to zip through and get behind him, thrusting his sword straight for the exposed spine.

"Memories."

Akatsuki was shocked just as he looks behind him. He immediately dodges but the blade thrust was too fast, so, his arm gets a wound. The Akatsuki brings his dark energy from his other hand and touches Ryuka three times quickly. He then does a blackflip and touches his arm in agony. He then starts laughing again.

Just as Ryuka landed, he started to see even more agonizing illusions, but, they were even memories that he had never seen. He saw Seireitou immediately pushing him away and heard him say: "You're not my friend anymore...", Kyashi immediately walks away from Ryuka, "We're divorced..." she quietly says, and then, there was Otonami who punched him. "Get out of my face..." He says and spits at Ryuka.

Now, Ryuka clutched his head in pain with his free hand, shutting his eyes. "DAMN IT!" He thought, staggering back again, the flashbacks practically eating away at his mind now. Roughly, he glared at the Akatsuki, Sharingan spinning, as the pain slowly faded away, along with the merciless images.

"Now...with you wide-opened...I can easily kill you with more burden images." The Akatsuki said as he was right in front of him. "You know...pain...is the most relevated way...it can be the most rough way..." He then smiles. "And...it can be the death of everyone..." He then raises two hands over him, with immense energy and was going to smack him with it.

The Uchiha fell on his butt, and could only stare in pain, one eye shut. "That's just great" He thought sarcastically, not blinking. "I REALLY hope Otonami sees my plight now...

It's as if his thoughts answered him, Otonami immediately pushes Ryuka out of the way and instead, the Akatsuki pushes down Otonami to the floor. "Gah!" Otonami shouts.

Hanatte then looks behind him and gasps. "OTONAMI!" She shouts as she was almost done. Survive...survive...

The cloaked man laughs as he saw Otonami suddenly writhing in pain. "Fool...saving your friend for that matter?" He starts to laugh more. "I see that you have more painful memories than this guy here...well, it seems like this is going to be fun."

"Sorry, then."

A sword blade pierced through his chest before he could get another word out, straight through the heart. Just behind him, Ryuka panted heavily, swaggering slightly, but he smirked.

"Fun time is over for you." He breathed.

The Akatsuki, turns around slowly and his cloak fell. He was a man that had black hair, normal eyes, and an evil-looking face. But, now that Ryuka stabbed him, he looks at Ryuka wide-eyed and he holds up his right arm that still full of dark energy and ready touch Ryuka's hand "Damn you...bas...tard...". He immediately falls just as Ryuka takes out the sword and the hand misses. The dark energy was immediately gone from his hands and he lays wide-eyed.

Just as Ryuka killed the Akatsuki, Hanatte finishes the circle. "Come on, let's go!" She says but looks at Otonami who was still writhing in pain. "Oh no..."

Otonami had his eyes closed and was seeing repeated images of his past and his father torturing him. ''Why...WHY!? ''Otonami thought as he goes through the same images over and over. I'd rather...have...Ryuka's past...

Ryuka, despite his own aching migrane, quickly sprinted over to Otonami and kneeled over here. He quickly looked back over to Hanatte, the seriousness in his eyes evident. "Hanatte-san!" He called. "Get over here, quick!"

Hanatte immediately went towards Otonami. Oh no...that man, he must've went full power on that... Hanatte thought and she looks at Ryuka, then looks out the street and the dead Akatsuki. "We have to get out of here..." Hanatte mutters. "I hear more reinforcements." She then looks at Ryuka again. "Can you carry him? I'm going to do something." She says.

"Yeah. I can manage." Ryuka's Sharingan deactivated, and he bent over, slinging the writhing Otonami over his shoulder gently. His migrane was starting to fade, the lessening pain allowing him to regain focus once again. "Lead the way."

"Okay..." Hanatte immediately draws out her sword again. "Sotto: Fiery Blaze." She says and her sword immediately turns into a yellow blaze that felt like fire. Hanatte goes through the circle with Ryuka and immediately shoots it at the wall. The result was spontaneous, the wall suddenly crumbled and it immediately caves in the circle that Hanatte made, making more of a mess than last time. "Let's go..." Hanatte said as they blazing pattern started to harden and Hanatte sheathes her sword and runs.

Grief and Sorrow, The Mind Battle
Ryuka forced his footsteps forward, pursuing Hanatte. His legs burned as he sprinted at a fast pace, not bothering to look back. A scowl and narrowed eyes were on his face, expressing anger and annoyance at Otonami's intervention.

When he recovered, the Sokudo was going to have his head served to him on a platter.

"We're far away now..." Hanatte said. She then abruptly takes Otonami from Ryuka. I thought he got rid of images for his father... Hanatte thought and she looks painfully at Otonami. She then faces the Uchiha. "Ryuka, isn't it?" Hanatte asks.

"Hm?" Ryuka looked at her in a mixture of surprise and confusion. "That's me. How'd you guess?" He asked.

"Your name is obviously known around Amegakure, when I first saw you, I knew it was you. I think you have a wanted poster at Amegakure of 6,000,000,000 yen. It's kind of obvious..." Hanatte says. She looks at Otonami again and still see him writhing. "Tell me...what kind of feeling Otonami would be in..." She asked Ryuka, even though she knew of what it is. She then puts Otonami near a tree to lean on.

"Let's see..." Ryuka frowned, narrowing his eyes at Otonami. "Severe headaches, and psychological trauma.... it's the worst he can expect."

"I mean, emotion feeling type." Hanatte says as he draws out her sword.

"It depends on what kind of flashback he's experiencing, although from the looks of things.... I'd pretty much say anger, grief, sadness, sorrow.... whatever bad feeling you have, he's probably got it." Ryuka muttered, fodling his arms across his chest.

"Sorrow and grief is more like it. But...grief will be better to use..." Hanatte then goes up to Otonami and then whispers into his years. "Prepare yourself, Otonami. You cannot let this agony and grief get into you. So...with this sword." Hanatte then moves the sword a little. "I'm going to release it as much as I can, and, you're going to fight it off. See if you can do it though." Hanatte then moves away and raises her sword. "Otonami, if you can hear me! You're going to face through many pains and sorrow through your life, and you're going to fight them all!" She shouts.

Ryuka's frown softened. "What the hell is she doing?" He thought incredulously, watching her intently.

Hanatte then puts her sword in front of her and closes her eyes. "affectus patientia ut is est causa ut is inimicus has been causa per immense deprivation. Is alio mos vado per a porro poena of patientia." She whispers out loud. She suddenly opens her eyes. "Sotto: Grieving" She says and her sword suddenly turns black. Immediately Hanatte does a little cut at Otonami's stomach and Otonami starts to groan even more.

Otonami then starts on the floor, suddenly murming stuff. I think I overdid it...but, it's the only way... Hanatte thought as she sheathed her sword.

After a moment of silence, Ryuka finally broke it, as he eyed the cut she made on Otonami's stomach. "What did you do?" He asked quietly, unfolding his arms.

"I unleashed his grief to the maximum point...if he fights it and wins, he should be normal. If he loses...he might die." She says quietly. Before Ryuka could intervene, Hanatte interrupted. "I know, what kind of sister am I? But...he should've gotten rid of his memories of his father a long time ago." She says as she watched Otonami moving rigorously.

Ryuka remained silent for a minute more, as he watched the brother Sokudo struggle now. His expression was one of sympathy, as he watched the internal battle rage between him and his own emotions. "....I understand, Hanatte-san." He whispered. "It was the only thing you could do for him."

Hanatte looks at Otonami as he was suddenly staying still, and wriths again. With a worried expression, Hanatte looks at Ryuka. "Are you able to somehow look through Otonami's mind?" Hanatte asks. "And let me go with you..."

Ryuka smiled at her, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "My Sharingan allows me to see into the minds of others. Normally, I can only go alone. But if you wish to see as well, you're gonna have to put your hand on my shoulder as I do so. It only works through physical contact."

"Ok..." Hanatte says and she immediately touches her shoulder and closes her eyes.

"Now, then." Ryuka turned his eyes towards Otonami. He reached out with one hand, holding the man still. His Sharingan gazed into the closed pupils, and they glowed spinning wildly. The world around him began to disappear, and fade into black, as they headed towards their destination...

Save Yourself
Hanatte and Ryuka were immediately set into an unknown location. "What the...where in a dark hallway?" Hanatte wonders. Just then, she saw Otonami on the floor. Before she could say anything, Otonami was getting up.

Where…am I? Otonami thought and he opens his eyes as he was suddenly at a dark room looking at a mirror. What is this? Just as he approached from the dark in which there was a window to deem light, Otonami’s reflection was shown. But, it wasn’t his own reflection, but his father. “Look at me…” The mirror says.

Suddenly, Otonami went through images of his past again, but they were fast and scary. The torture, the pain, the sorrow, all of the misery of his life’s cause. He then hears his father’s voice again. “So weak…so…vulnerable…” He heard his father’s voice again. The fast images stopped and his sinister father was looking him evilly and he does five hand seals.

The fast images went through again. And Otonami starts to close his eyes. Why…am I so weak…why… Otonami drops to his knees as he tries to keep his eyes open. “You’re a fool, Otonami…there’s no point in even looking at you…” The voice says again and Otonami immediately sees the last image in which his father suddenly was going to shoot out a white burst of energy. Otonami just sees him hopeless.

"Whoa..." Hanatte just said as she looks at the fast images and saw Otonami's depression.

Ryuka remained silent, his expression unreadable, as he crouched beside Hanatte's standing form, observing the motions take place.

"Grr...OTONAMI, HEAR ME!" Hanatte shouts and she drags along with Ryuka to run to him. Just as she was going to approach him, a barrier suddenly stopped her. "OTONAMI!" She shouts

Otonami looks around as he thought he heard someone. "Hanatte?" Otonami says weakly.

"DON'T GIVE IN, YOU IDIOT!" Hanatte shouts. "YOU CAN'T LET THIS AGONY AND GRIEF SUCCUMB YOU AND KILL YOU! YOU CAN'T! SO, STAND UP! SHOW WHO'S THE BEST AROUND HERE!" Hanatte shouts again.

"But...my father..." Otonami says weakly again.

"Don't be foolish, Sokudo." Ryuka said. "What about your father? You had more than enough strength to beat him before. And I know you're much stronger than you were before."

His crimson eyes narrowed. "Don't let yourself become weak in his presence. Fight it! Fight him!" He said forcefully, with a vicious encouragement.

"COME ON!!!" Hanatte shouts. "YOU CAN'T LET THIS KILL YOU!!! THINK OF HAPPY THOUGHTS!" Just as she said it, she slapped her head. "Why couldn't I think of it? Happiness is the key to everything!" Hanatte said to Ryuka. "THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS! THINK OF WHAT WE HAD WITH EACH OTHER, THINK OF THE FUN YOU HAD WITH RYUKA! THINK OF EVERYTHING THAT WAS HAPPY!" Hanatte shouts.

Otonami's eyes immediately widens. Of course...why couldn't I think of it...Hanatte and Ryuka are right...I can fight against him! Otonami thought and with that, he thought of the livest thing he could think of.

Fast images were immediately in display again, and this time, they weren't scary or torturing, but...live and happy. Otonami went through rows and rows of happy thoughts, the battle with Ryuka, the battle with Indo, the laughs with all of his friends, Hanatte's laughter, Merlina, and last of all...his mother. "Your the weak one..." Otonami says as his father was about to blast off the energy. "And...you'll never have a life...no family...and your such a jerk...I hope that you torture in hell...and...I feel sorry for you..." Otonami says.

More fast images suddenly came and Otonami had complete control over them as he starts to see happy images and scary ones at the same time. At the same time, Hanatte and Ryuka could see Otonami immediately smashing the mirror with 3 punches. More fast images began to came, Otonami's father suddenly disappearing in a whisp and shouting. Then, it all ended, and, the final image could see Hanatte, Otonami's mother, Indo, Ryuka, Kyashi, Boushi, Shikamaru, all of his Konoha friends grouped into one spot, smiling at Otonami.

Suddenly, before everyone knew it, Hanatte and Ryuka were immediately blasted out and Hanatte immediately removes contact from Ryuka's shoulder and starts breathing heavily. Looking up, she could see Otonami fine, wide-eyed, and breathing hard too, putting his hand on his chest. "What the...crap...just happened?" Otonami wondered.

Ryuka shut his eyes, deactivating his Sharingan. He removed his hand from Otonami's head, placing it onto his own forehead and massaging his temples. He frowned in exasperation, as he looked over at Hanatte.

"I'm going to be frank, Hanatte-san..." He said. "That was the corniest thing you ever said today."

Ryuka immediately gets a punch from Hanatte. "Oh shut up...at least it helped him..." She mutters as she goes to Otonami. "Well...at least you survived..." She mutters as she held out her hand to help Otonami up.

"Yeah...I don't think...that I remember my father that much now..." Otonami says as he grabs onto Hanatte's hand and gets up. "Thanks...sis..." Otonami says.

"No problem..." Hanatte says and she gives a lovely smile at him. The two then embrace each other.

Ryuka couldn't help but smile warmly, squinting his eyes shut. "How touching..."

Otonami and Hanatte then released each other and they all look at Ryuka. "Shouldn't we go back to Konoha?" Otonami asks as he picks up his weapons and his bag. Hanatte does the same.

Ryuka's smile faded, and he nodded. "You're going back?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow. "I'd thought with all of that money on your head, you'd be in trouble at Konoha, too."

"Didn't I say I'm only wanted at Tsuchigakure, Otogakure, and that hellplace." Otonami pointing at the distance of where Amegakure was. "Possibly Kumogakure, but I don't know." Otonami says as he went to walk back.

"Che..." Ryuka closed one eye and stared at Otonami with the other, walking with him. "If you say so."

Talking at Konoha
Otonami was on the top of the Hokage Monuments. He relaxes himself by lying down on the rocks itself. It's kind of scary to think that this whole land was going to explode by just a couple of paper bombs. Otonami thought when he remembered the threat of the landslide for the Hokage Monuments. Otonami simply shrugs and tries to forget the thought.

"Hey! Otonami!" A female voice rang out from behind him.

Otonami looks behind him and sees a familiar face. "Oh...haven't seen you for a long time..." Otonami says as he looks down on the Hokage Monument. "So...are you here for Ryuka?!" Otonami asks out loud.

The blonde blinked, dumbfounded at Otonami's sudden outburst. The sleeping child in her arm was unstirred. "What do you mean? He's behind me."

"Correction." The Uchiha re-appeared right beside her, in a crouching position, as he stood up and folded his arms across his chest. "I'm beside you."

Otonami notices the ring immediately. "Well...I must've missed a lot when I haven't been with you guys." Otonami says. He suddenly then returns to resting on the monument.

"More friends, huh." Hanatte said as she came out from a tree at the top of Konoha and got a couple of fruits. "Well, got most of the good ones." She says as she went to rest beside Otonami.

"Hm?" Kyashi looked over at the new arrival, surprised. "A friend of yours, Otonami?"

Otonami just glanced at Hanatte. "Think I should introduce you? Again?" Otonami asks. Hanatte groans as she was asked by many ninjas of who she was and why she's with Otonami. "I'm kind of tired being asked by everyone..." Hanatte mutters.

"I'll take that as a no?" Otonami asks. The non-reply from the both of them was irritating Kyashi now. She switched glances at both of the siblings, before finally sighing.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Actually...." Ryuka interrupted, nodding his head in the direction of Hanatte. "She's his sister, Hannatte Sokudo."