Katsuko Moto - j8cob

[j8cob]

Training with Dad
The Moto family bonding...

Two Weeks into Timeskip

SPOILER: Click to show

Dragon Lotus Training Facility #02
Location: Classified

The wall cracked and concrete shards flew from underneath Katsuko's fist. A narrow dodge on Jinkama's part, but the older man still had it in him to avoid a blow like that. Taking advantage of Katsuko's outstretched arm, Jinkama placed one foot against the wall, beneath Katsuko's fist, and grabbed the boy's arm with both of his own hands. At the same time as he pushed off the wall with his foot, Jinkama swung his son the other direction, smashing him into the concrete as he escaped. A powerful impact, one can imagine coming from Jinkama, but it seemed to do little to faze Katsuko. "You seem slower and slower every day old man," Katsuko taunted as he launched himself forward from the wall.

The two were the sole occupants of a large, concrete room filled with thick pillars of the same stuff. The lights along the walls created an intricate web of shadows among the pillars, particularly toward the center of the room. There was a single, iron door on one wall directly in it's center. But other than that, there was nothing that stood out in the room. Aside from the two occupants inside. Katsuko had caught up with his father quickly enough. As fast as Jinkama is, Katsuko was almost able to match him, and his strategy of darting around pillars only benefitted Katsuko. The older man took a tight turn around a pillar, just in time to avoid a strike from his son. Katsuko's foot connected with the corner of the pillar, removing a chunk of it and spraying small shards just behind Jinkama. The teenager didn't seem to be fazed by this.

"You need to stop hitting the concrete, boy," Jinkama taunted his son, before sending a kick in his direction while he was still recovering from his own attempt. But Katsuko was quick. He brought his right arm down, blocking the kick. But the force of the blow knocked Katsuko backwards, giving Jinkama some breathing room again. "Just sit still a second," Katsuko retorted, landing against one of the pillars and clinging to it by using his chakra. This surprised Jinkama, as Katsuko began to run up the pillar. The old man paused a moment, but realized what was happening fairly quickly. As Katsuko launched towards Jinkama from close to the ceiling, Jinkama darted around another pillar. Just in the nick of time, with how much speed Katsuko had.

Large cracks appeared underneath Katsuko's foot when he finally touched down. His miss was rather narrow, and this brought a smirk to his face. But as he began to recover from the impact, he turned his head just in time to see his father's fist approaching. As fast as he was, he couldn't manage to bring his arms up in time, and got to feel the force of the blow firsthand. Katsuko seemed to almost bounce off Jinkama's fist, flying through the air several meters before hitting the ground and skidding a bit. However, the boy jumped up and landed on his feet, coming to a halt. He brushed his left hand over his cheek, feeling where he was hit. "That all you got? Gonna have to hit me harder than that if you want to leave an impression," Katsuko taunted, his irises becoming an even more vivid shade of green than they already were. This remark earned a smirk from Jinkama.

Katsuko stood up straight and closed his eyes. This puzzled Jinkama for a moment, before he realized what Katsuko was doing. As the boy put his right hand in front of himself, forming the Seal of Confrontation, Jinkama darted forward. "Do you really expect me to let you do that?" Jinkama taunted, closing the gap with impressive speed and planting his right foot into Katsuko's abdomen. But as the boy began to recoil around Jinkama's outstretched foot, his arms suddenly shot down and grabbed the leg. Katsuko's eyes opened up and a smirk formed on his face. "Not really," he snarked, before swinging his father around.

With surprising force, Katsuko smashed Jinkama into a nearby pillar, causing cracks to form from the impact. This made Jinkama wince, but as Katsuko began to swing the other way to bring his father into another pillar, Jinkama spun over Katsuko's arms. This brought his free leg across, kicking Katsuko in the face. However, this only dazed Katsuko for a moment. But a moment was all Jinkama needed. Using his weight, Jinkama managed to reach the ground, using his chakra to ensure he had a grip on the smooth concrete. Katsuko detected what was about to come, and let go of his father's leg. But that wasn't going to work. Jinkama wrapped his feet and ankles around Katsuko's neck the moment he let go, and it was over from there.

Jinkama made a full cartwheel, swinging Katsuko over his head and slamming his son into the floor head first. If the earlier blows did little to stop him, this clearly caused him pain. Jinkama was quickly on his feet, but Katsuko remained on his hands and knees for a moment longer. This concerned his father, and thus he took a silent pause. "You okay, Kat?" Jinkama finally asked, concern clear in his voice. As if snapped out of a daze, Katsuko shook his head and stood back up. His irises were red, but he didn't seem particularly changed from the blow. "I'm fine. I was just a bit dizzy for a second," Katsuko responded, before asserting a fighting stance. But his father didn't seem like he was going to continue.

"I think that's enough for today," Jinkama told him before beginning to walk over to Katsuko. This seemed to displease Katsuko. "Why? I said I'm fine. I can keep going," he began to complain, but Jinkama raised a hand to silence him. "If we continue, one of us is going to get hurt. I'm getting old and I don't want you over exerting yourself." Jinkama now walked past Katsuko, on his way to the door leading out. But Katsuko remained in his place for a moment longer, before following his father exactly ten steps behind. But as Jinkama reached the door and opened it, Katsuko spoke up again. "Hey, Dad. Why don't you go all out next time? I've never seen that," he suggested, making his father pause.

"Like I said: I'm getting old. I don't need to over exert myself either. I've got enough of a time limit, so I don't need to go shortening my lifespan further," he explained, before walking through the door, leaving it open. Katsuko quickly followed, leaving it open behind himself as well. "Come on. It can't be all that straining on you. You're still going strong despite everything, so I know it's not so bad," Katsuko argued, which made Jinkama turn around. "No, you're right. It's not so bad on it's own. But I have no doubt you mean to fight me like that, which not only is dangerous for you, but for me at that point." This made Katsuko pause, but he quickly recomposed himself. In fact, he seemed somewhat mad now.

"That's what this is, isn't it? You think that I'm not good enough," Katsuko accused. This only made Jinkama sigh in disappointment. "I know how adamant you are about your goal, Katsuko, but there is a line. Can we not just relax a bit? Have a father and son bonding?" Jinkama tried to appeal, but this clearly didn't work. "Oh, I see how it is. Now you want to spend time with me. You sure you aren't going to disappear for a while instead?" This remark stung, and Jinkama had to pause for a second. "Katsuko, you know that I was there for most of your childhood. I only left on Dragon Lotus matters very rarely. I was there for you, so don't pull this with me." "Yeah, but you weren't there when I needed you most."

This created a total silence between the two for a moment, but Katsuko soon continued. "You were gone often enough, Dad. And when you finally left us? You know that wasn't easy for anyone. A year is a long time. It makes all our time we had spent together seem... fake," Katsuko explained. His father remained silent a moment longer, before finally responding. "You know that I had to do what I had to do. You know this better than most everyone else. I can never apologize enough to you, your mother, and your cousin. But taking this out on me won't make anything easier," Jinkama tried to explain, but Katsuko was having none of it. "You want some father-son bonding? Let's fight then. No holds barred. That's something I'd enjoy."

The older man shook his head at first, bringing his hand to his temple. But rather than argue it, Jinkama began to walk past Katsuko back into the large concrete room. "You know what, Katsuko? If this is what you want, why the fuck not," Jinkama spoke, his voice clearly irritated. Katsuko picked that up in his voice, but didn't feel guilty enough to overcome his desire to do this. He wanted to gauge exactly what he would have to be passing up. The teenager closed the door behind himself and the two walked to the center of the room. Once there, Jinkama turned around and faced Katsuko. "I won't hold back, just like you asked." This only made Katsuko make the Seal of Confrontation and close his eyes. "Finally."

Five seconds passed and Katsuko opened his eyes. Immediately, he looked into his father's eyes and began to steal chakra. However, before he could drain too much of Jinkama's reserves, his father suddenly shot forward. The very ground underneath Jinkama cracked where he stepped, from the chakra he was exerting. Katsuko had finished entering his Total Consumption mode, but he still wasn't fast enough. Jinkama's fist connected with Katsuko's midsection, sending the teenager flying. However, as soon as he landed on his feet, Jinkama was already there. Katsuko could feel a Killing Intent radiating from his father, and he began to realize the magnitude of what he was going against. Katsuko managed to use his boost to move his hands in time to block the next strike, but that didn't help much. Jinkama brought his fist into Katsuko's crossed arms, but he continued with the motion. This slammed Katsuko into a concrete pillar. Though, saying he was slammed into it is a bit of an understatement.

After crashing entirely through the solid concrete pillar, Katsuko was slammed into the one behind it. He could feel his back was in pain from the power of that attack. But before he could counterattack, he already saw the room begin to light up. From Jinkama's direction came a massive fireball in the shape of a dragon's head. Thanks to Total Consumption, Katsuko had enough speed to roll out of the way of the attack, letting the flames crash into the cracked pillar. But even with his speed right now, it was somewhat close. "This isn't so-" Katsuko began to taunt, before feeling the ground beneath him start to shake. A pillar of stone burst through the concrete underneath Katsuko. The teenager rolled out of the way in time to avoid it, but as he began to recover, a pillar of stone erupted from the already growing pillar, this time horizontally. The rock hit Katsuko directly in his chest and began to push him back, smashing him into a concrete pillar.

The power behind every blow was surprising to Katsuko. He knew his father was strong. But... each and every strike actually hurt now. And not just a little hurt. A lot of hurt. Before he could get crushed, Katsuko brought the bottom of his fist across the stone pillar pinning him to the concrete. It was easily shattered by his own strength, freeing him. But before he could do anything else, the concrete pillar behind him was shattered. And from the spraying bits of it, Jinkama emerged. One hand outstretched for Katsuko. The other wielding a sword. It was at this point that Katsuko realized how serious this was. As Jinkama's hand grabbed Katsuko's neck, the teenager had the sense to withdraw his steel knuckles from his pockets. And just in time, too. Jinkama smashed his son into another pillar, before throwing him through the air. And as Katsuko flew, Jinkama threw his sword after him.

The boy already expected the sword to be animated, as per his father's signature technique. So as the blade began to make rapid slashes at Katsuko, the boy used his own speed to block every attempt. But the sword was relentless. And to make matters worse, Jinkama formed a rapid series of handseals. As Katsuko went at it with the sword, Jinkama spewed another dragon-head shaped fireball in their direction. To avoid this, Katsuko dodged around a pillar again, causing the fireball to fly past harmlessly. But he could still feel the heat from it. And that sword was ever relentless.

Jinkama began to move in again, and Katsuko decided to try and take the offensive. Katsuko smashed the sword into a nearby pillar and held it still for a second, before bringing his hands back and forming several handseals. The sword immediately tried to stab at him, but he was fast enough to complete the series and still block the incoming strike. In direct relation with the handseals performed, a dragon of stone erupted from the concrete beneath Katsuko and launched itself at the approaching Jinkama. Though the stone dragon was large, large enough to destroy concrete pillars on both sides of it along it's path, Jinkama did nothing to dodge it.

Rather, the older man went straight through it. The stone dragon shattered against Jinkama's fist, ceasing it's animation. And while Katsuko was busy with the sword, he could still hear his technique's failure. He knew he had lost at this point, but he wasn't giving up. Though, he didn't really have to. Jinkama attacked Katsuko from behind while the blade kept him occupied from the front. And, of course, the teenager wasn't able to match both. Every punch and kick, every slice of the blade. Katsuko felt it. This lasted for a brief two seconds before Katsuko finally managed to defend himself. And, much to Jinkama's surprise, it turned out quite effective.

Katsuko reached out and grabbed the blade by the hilt with his left hand, virtually stopping it, before swinging backwards with his right fist. Despite not seeing Jinkama, the strike connected with his father's midsection. And much like his father, Katsuko had some power behind it. The blow sent Jinkama spinning into a concrete pillar, the impact alone cracking it like a spider web. But despite the step forward, it wasn't enough. Jinkama recovered quickly, and the sword in Katsuko's hands began to prove to be quite challenging to hold back. Add the various cuts all over Katsuko's body now, plus the numerous impacts he had taken, he could feel that his body was slowly shutting down on him.

"I have to admit, any normal person would be dead by now," Jinkama said, making the sword cease attacking Katsuko on queue. Realizing that it was over, Katsuko immediately fell to his knees and his glow of chakra vanished. Though every cut was bleeding, none of them were particularly deep or threatening. But it was the damage he had received from the blunt attacks that he was still feeling. "I understand that you've had to grow up thinking you have my shoes to fill, but when I tell you that I'm holding back, it really is for your own good," Jinkama continued, walking in front of his son. One hand was on his side, where Katsuko had hit him. But he held his other out, to help Katsuko to his feet.

Katsuko remained on the floor a moment longer, before accepting the hand. Jinkama pulled him up to his feet, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I am impressed, Katsuko. I don't say that to humor you or because it sounds nice. I say that because I can see everyday you coming closer and closer to your goal," Jinkama explained, giving Katsuko a bit of a smile. Before his son could speak up, Jinkama began coughing rather violently. This immediately made Katsuko feel guilty. "I'm sorry, Dad," Katsuko spoke up, his voice a little over a mumble. "What are you sorry about? You're the one that got hurt worse," Jinkama answered, before looking at his son with a sly grin.

At this point, Katsuko couldn't help but grin himself. How could his father be so positive? Even after the mean things he said earlier. Just total forgiveness? "Whatever. I'm perfectly fine," Katsuko retorted, clearly being a bit playful. Though to prove a point, Jinkama let go of Katsuko's shoulder and the teenager immediately began to wobble. However, he still managed to stand. "I told you." The red haired man bursted out laughing now, and motioned for Katsuko to follow him. "You certainly did. If I knew you could take an ass kicking this well, I would've started beating you up years ago," Jinkama joked as the two left the large room. "Oh ha ha, Dad. You're hilarious."

When the two exited the giant training room, it looked rather torn up despite being all concrete. Katsuko noticed that before he shut the door behind himself. With the memory of his fight fresh, the sound of his father laughing ahead of him, and the view of a battle-worn training facility behind him... Katsuko couldn't help but smile. This is what I've always wanted.

[j8cob]

Headstones
Seven Months into Timeskip

The evening sun cast a shade of pink and orange across the sky, and a light breeze stirred the neatly trimmed grass. The day was calm, and soon coming to a close. The Konoha cemetary was a peaceful place. Many headstones stood from the grass, some more ornate than others. Many of them stood over the body of a shinobi, and held something to honor the man or woman it represented. One headstone in particular was larger than most. It was surrounded by flowers of all kinds and colors, and the headstone itself had a carving of angel wings across the center. The top read "Jinkama Moto, the Guardian Angel of Konoha."

Across from this headstone, the son of Jinkama Moto was sitting down, leaning against the back of another headstone. Katsuko's irises were a dark shade of violet, and they looked at the headstone with intensity. In his hand was an empty glass bottle. But despite the obviousness of Katsuko's despair and sadness, there was no signs of any tears ever having been on his face. He remained quiet as he simply stared at the name before him. If someone were to approach him now, it would be evident that he had been there for a long time.

There was a noise to Katsuko's side, but he continued staring forward. "Where the fuck were you?" he said, before looking to his left. There was nothing there. But soon, the air seemed to distort. Something previously invisible was now easy to see. A large chameleon, significantly larger than Katsuko. "Don't you talk to me like that, boy. What is the matter with you?" the giant lizard said, before his long tail snapped around and removed the bottle from Katsuko's hand.

"Drinking, are we? You know your father wouldn't-" he began to lecture, but Katsuko cut him off. "Don't you tell me about my father." he commanded, his voice not only hostile, but surprisingly powerful. This made the lizard pause. He opened his mouth to speak again, but Katsuko spoke before him. "Where have you been? You weren't there. You didn't even go to the damn funeral," Katsuko complained, now looking back toward the grave.

This seemed to offend the large chameleon. "You think I didn't want to be there for him!? I have known your father for twenty years and have worked with him just as long. Of course I wanted to be there, but I can't just magically appear there, dumbass. I came as soon as I heard the news..." Katsuko shot a glance toward the chameleon. It was evident that his irises were red now. "Well, you missed it. You missed all of it. Good job hurrying over here."

"I already warned you about your attitude, boy. Knock your shit off before I-" Katsuko jumped to his feet at this. "Before you what, Osamu!? Before you hurt me!? Fucking do it then, I dare you." This created a silence, and the wind picked up for a moment. The two stared at each other intensely for a moment. "Settle your ass down. I promised myself long ago not to beat the shit out of drunk people, so sit down and listen for a moment," the chameleon said, before swinging his tail out and tripping Katsuko up.

The teenager landed on his butt, but didn't make any complaints. He remained sitting, and even leaned against the headstone behind him again. "I know you're going through a hard time right now. I knew your father very well myself, but I can't imagine how you're feeling right now-" "You can't." Osamu stopped a moment to shoot Katsuko a glare, before continuing. "Jinkama made me promise something. That if he passed too soon, I would train you in the way I trained him. Clearly..."

Katsuko looked back over to the headstone with his father's name. His irises still burned red, and his expression didn't change. "And how do you plan on going about that? I'm not an ugly lizard like you, and Dad already taught me how to use his secret technique and how to use my eyes. There's nothing you can do for me now, Osamu. So why don't you just vanish again or something?" The words were harsh, and seemed to sting the giant lizard again.

"Listen here, Katsuko," he began. "You have two choices here. You can keep being an ignorant bastard and dig yourself a hole that will only be filled by anger and hate, and all of it toward yourself. Or... you can man up a bit and accept the truth. I know it's difficult, but you're being self-destructive on a new level." Katsuko looked up at the lizard again. Another silence. Katsuko let out a sigh, but his appearance didn't seem to show he was any less angry than before.

"So what? I know the truth. Dad is dead. He's never coming back, I'm never seeing him again. I know that already. It's over," Katsuko responded. Rather quickly, as if he was expecting that, Osamu continued. "But the dream is not." Immediately, Katsuko seemed to grow angrier. "You ever wonder how your father became so strong or did you only think of how to become strong yourself?" This made Katsuko think, and Osamu realized that by appealing to his nature this may work out better.

"When your father was younger, he spent very little time living his life. He was either training or going on missions. When he wasn't doing either of those, he was courting your mother. He didn't rest, he didn't relax. His determination to match his teammates and sensei drove him to me. Your determination seems to have led down the same road." Katsuko spoke up now. "What's the point of your story? What are you trying to say?" The giant chameleon scoffed. "If you ever want to follow in your father's footsteps, you're going to have to go through me like he did. You need my training, boy. And I promised your father that I would give it to you."

The wind picked up again, this time making a bit of noise with it. Katsuko's fierce expression seemed to soften a bit, but by no extent did it show him calming down. "I don't need your help. I don't need anyone's help. I can do this on my own," he said, before looking back at the grave before him. "Oh really now?" Osamu began, taking a tone with attitude. "So how do you plan on getting your hands on the Drink of the Ancients?" This got Katsuko's attention again.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" he asked, curious as he had never heard anything like that before. "Oh, you didn't know? The Drink of the Ancients is a powerful serum. Those that drink it become much powerful and are given more focus. Only the strong can drink it, so the strong become stronger. Your father drank it..." Osamu had the chameleon equivalent of a grin on his face now. He knew he had Katsuko now. The Grand Chameleon wished he didn't have to deal with Jinkama's drunk kid, but he made a promise.

Katsuko looked at him for a moment and thought about it. "So where can I find this drink?" he asked, picking himself up from the ground again. "I can't tell you that. Not unless you agree to my training. And besides, there's more to the drink than just drinking it. There's a ritual, a procedure." The two glared at each other for a moment, before Katsuko looked back at the headstone. "... You think that... Fine. Fine, I'll accept your training." Katsuko began to walk away, and the large chameleon began to follow him.

"Our training starts tomorrow. I just need to go home and grab some things, maybe invite Hana along or something." "Whoa whoa whoa, Katsuko. Don't you think you can put this off for a while? Your family needs you right now, and you need your family." With his suggestion, Katsuko turned around and stared into the Grand Chameleon's eyes. His expression was the fiercest one yet, and his irises burned a bright red. Almost glowing. "Don't tell me what I need." His voice was dark, and almost layered with anger and hatred. Osamu also felt a wave of rage from the boy. Just like Jinkama used to be able to do.

After a staredown and silence, Katsuko turned around again and continued walking. "I'll meet you at the gate in two hours. You can take me where we have to go for this training. And we won't be slow about it." The two reached the gate to the cemetery, and Katsuko turned around. "Don't bother telling anyone. I don't want to waste any time." "Katsuko, you need to calm down. I'll take you there tonight, but you really need to adjust your attitude."

With a scoff, Katsuko turned his back to the Grand Chameleon and opened the gate. But Osamu's voice continued behind him. "If you keep this up, you'll lose more than your father." When Katsuko turned around, totally prepared to yell at the lizard, he saw there was nothing there. Whether he turned invisible or just stealthily and speedily exited, Katsuko did not know. But his words still echoed in his mind. With a glare at the spot Osamu was standing, decided he had enough for today. With angry haste, Katsuko spun around and slammed the gate closed behind him. He had plans now and wasn't going to waste his time thinking.

[j8cob]

Just a typical night...
Ten Months into Timeskip

"And man, you should've seen the look on her face when I pulled my knife out," the man said, thrusting his kunai knife forward for a visual of what he had performed earlier. This earned a chorus of laughter around the campfire. Four men sat around a campfire, hidden in a thicket of trees. "I swear, they get easier and easier the more we do this," another spoke. This one seemed taller than the other three and had white hair, whereas the first was bulkier and shorter with no hair at all.

The other two men around the campfire were about the same height and both wore dark robes, one with the hood up. But even then, it was evident that those two were identical twins, with the only notable difference being one had a scar under the left eye and the other had long hair (and a hood on). The one with a scar spoke up next. "That doesn't mean we should let our guard down. Having fun is great and all, but remember that it is also business. We don't need any screw-ups, understood?" The other two men lost the smiles that were formerly on their faces and both responded with a "yes sir."

The small party then went about their fun again, continuing funny stories of previous victims of their banditry. Each story grew more outlandish than the previous, and while all four of them found entertainment, the one with a scar was the only one that did not share any stories. "Today was a good day, gentlemen," the long haired twin spoke up, standing up from his seat and lifting up a bottle of beer. The other three did the same. "Cheers!" As all four began to sit back down again, a voice sounded from a tree above them.

"What's so good about today?" All four men jumped to their feet and looked up. Above them was a large figure, silhouetted against the moon. He wore a black cloak with the hood up. "Who the hell are you!?" the short, bulky one shouted at him, clenching a fist tight as he did so. A scoff was heard from the figure above them. "Does it really matter? None of you will ever hear the name again..."

Rather than continuing this conversation, the tall man suddenly threw a kunai knife with an exploding tag at the figure. It landed on the branch he stood on, before detonating in a fiery explosion. As the smoke cleared, it was pure luck that the forest did not catch on fire. But the figure was gone. "So much for that fool," he spoke with a chuckle. "Yeah, sneaking up on us like that. He deserved it." "I think you missed."

All four turned around again. The figure was behind them on the ground. With the light of the campfire, it revealed a pair of green eyes under the cloak. "I didn't know you were all so impatient. Normally, the way it goes is that we have passive-aggressive small talk first, and then we-" He was cut short by the sudden charge by the shortest one, now weilding a sword. "But you don't want to follow the plan."

A swing of the sword brought a narrow miss toward the figure's neck, almost decapitating him. But it cut parts of the hood, allowing it to fall back from the motion of the dodge. It revealed a teenage face with sharp, masculine features and recognizable orange hair. Katsuko Moto. "He's just a boy," the man with a scar remarked. Before the sword-wielding bandit could swing again, Katsuko brought his knee up into the man's gut, sending him flying backwards until he crashed into a tree, creating an awful crashing sound and cracking the tree trunk.

"Well, my mission was to bring back... you two," Katsuko said, before raising his hand and pointing with two fingers. One at each twin. "But the terms were dead or alive. And nothing was said about any goons." As Katsuko began to assert a fighting stance, the hooded twin spoke up. "If you want to get to the Happoku twins, you have to get through our men first!" The tall man jumped forward, and the recently recovered short one also prepared to fight. But much to Katsuko's surprise, there was more than just four men.



He suddenly found himself surrounded on all sides. Men of various sizes and shapes, all prepared to fight. The teenager couldn't help but wonder where they were all hidden, but deduced they were camped nearby but separately from their bosses. The commotion brought them to the campfire. With a sigh, Katsuko looked at the ground. But when he looked back up at the twins, he had a smile. "I don't want to waste my time with small fry. This mission was supposed to be difficult but so far I am feeling as if I was being lied to," Katsuko taunted. The twins seemed offended, and the hooded one began to scowl. "Tough talk for one boy." Then the other gave the command. "Dispose of this shinobi."

The two men by the campfire stayed by the twins, but the other men all moved in for the kill. Katsuko reckoned there were about a dozen. As the nearest two closed in, a smirk formed on Katsuko's face. He grabbed his cloak, and with perfect timing he threw it off, directly at the faces of the two nearest bandits. This caused them to stumble a bit and struggle to remove it. It also revealed that Katsuko wore no shirt underneath. He had jet black pants with pouches built in for his tools. His muscular body was exposed, also revealing the nasty scar that went above his heart and all the way over his shoulder. A reminder of his first near-death encounter.

The next bandit tried to swing at Katsuko with an axe. The teenager didn't even let him swing it entirely, putting one hand on the handle and placing the other on the man's midsection. With one rotation, he spun around and tossed the bandit at the two that were already struggling with Katsuko's cloak. In the process, he still held onto the axe, and spun it around it his hand to hold it backwards. A man with a half mask came at him with a kunai in each hand. Katsuko jumped up and slammed the axe down, bringing the back of the axe head into the man's back. The force of the impact smashed the axe's handle and created cracks on the ground where the bandit landed. He was not exactly dead, but that injury would kill him in a moment or two.

With the handle still in hand, Katsuko tossed it down and swung around. Two bandits were behind him, holding a net between them. Rather than dodge it, Katsuko grabbed the net itself, prepared to use it against them. As soon as he touched it, one of them shouted "Now!" and the net suddenly became electrified. This earned a wince, but Katsuko seemed otherwise unharmed. With surprising speed, Katsuko spun around again, this time slamming the two into a nearby tree with a bone-crunching sound. As soon as they hit, the net lost it's power. Katsuko then threw the net up, letting it land on a branch for potential use later. By now, the three shinobi he had incapacitated with the cloak were recovered, and the bandits that didn't get a chance to get him all regrouped.

Four of them began forming handseals. In unison, they shouted "Combination Technique: Electric Tide!" Katsuko jumped off the ground as two of them began to spew water while the other two sent bolts of electricity toward both the water and Katsuko himself. The lightning bolts missed and struck a tree, but the incoming wave that was crashing through trees was certainly electrified. Katsuko himself formed several handseals, before landing on the ground. From the view of the bandits, it appeared as if the wave crashed into Katsuko, and they began to smirk. But behind them, four holes suddenly appeared and four shadow clones of Katsuko popped out. By the time they turned around, it was already too late. Each clone sent out a devastating punch or kick to a vital area, and all four were sent flying, each crashing into the tree or ground and not moving afterwards.

The four clones, however, were all caught in a massive fireball, spewed by one of the remaining bandits. Once they all disappeared, the real Katsuko jumped out of the ground at the man's feet. "I didn't expect this many bandits in one group, but what's even more surprising..." he began, before headbutting the man. Just as he was sent flying backwards, Katsuko reached out and grabbed his leg before he could get too far, and swung him around. He did not let go, and slammed the man into two more bandits full force. All three of the bandits involved were incapacitated after that, leaving one more. "How weak you all are." The last one tried forming handseals, but Katsuko was quicker. He dashed forward in the blink of an eye and planted his fist into the man's temple. A punch like that was invariably and instantly fatal.

As the last corpse flew past the four standing by the campfire, the moon disappeared behind some clouds. "So much for that plan, huh?" Katsuko said, standing up straight in a relaxed pose as he looked at the last four men. This taunt seemed to irritate all four of them, and the tall one lashed out first. "Who the hell are you!? This earned a chuckle from Katsuko. He lifted his finger, before pointing it at his right eye. From the light of the fire, they could all easily see it happen. The green irises changed color to a vibrant violet. "I am Katsuko Moto." As soon as he said his name, the color changed back to green, and Katsuko flashed a cocky grin.

"I know that name," the short haired twin spoke up. "His surname is that of Jinkama Moto. Now that I think about it, he looks kind of like him. This must be his son. Watch out for that secret blade technique." This made Katsuko start to laugh. "Oh, don't kid yourselves. None of you stand a chance here. Did you not just see how effortlessly I destroyed your comrades?" This time, the hooded twin spoke up. "Those were not our comrades. Those were our minions. These are our comrades." The other two men took a fighting stance now.

Katsuko let out a loud, obnoxious yawn now, catching all four of them off guard. "Sorry about that. Haven't slept in a while, and I'm not saying this isn't exciting or anything but..." The short man began to charge forward now, and Katsuko performed some handseals before biting his thumb. Recognizing the summoning technique, the man backed off quickly as Katsuko slammed his hand against the ground. In a brilliant poof of smoke, Katsuko summoned... a house cat. In front of Katsuko was a white cat, standing on all four legs in a pose as if it could fight.

Of the four men opposing them, the one with a scar began to laugh. He laughed very hard, in fact, almost falling over. "This!? This is what you summon to take on the Happoku twins? Oh my lord, kid, you think you're something, don't ya?" A smirk formed on Katsuko's face. "Hana," he began speaking to the cat. "Show me what your training has gotten you. Take care of the tall, funny looking one and the fat one." In response to this, as it wasn't whispered, the short one immediately responded "Hey! I'm not fat you asshole brat!"

But as soon as he finished yelling at Katsuko, there was another puff of smoke from the house cat. Only this time, before it could clear, something dashed from the smoke. It was so fast, it was almost invisible. This caught the two men off guard, and before either could get into a blocking stance, Hana was upon the tall one. Once she was visible to them, they were astounded that there was now a short, feline human attacking them. But it soon became apparent that the claws on the ends of her fingertips weren't toys. She began a high speed hit-and-run attack on the two men, slashing at their faces and bodies with her claws. The small woman was so fast, they didn't have a chance to get block any of the attacks, or even return an attack.

They were both cut up, but both still standing. Hana finally stopped the hit-and-run and jumped up to kick the tall one in the face. As he was reeling back from the blow, her tail reached out and wrapped around his neck. In a display of her flexibility and prowess, Hana performed a backflip, swinging the man over her and releasing him at just the right time. That is, the right time to send him flying toward Katsuko. As his impending death closed in on the force of Katsuko's fist, a pillar of stone shot out of the earth, smashing into Katsuko and pushing him away from the flying man. Both the tall man and Katsuko ended up landing on their feet just fine. The culprit of the saving move was the hooded twin, who had his hands on the ground. More pillars of stone began shooting out of the ground at high speed, forcing Katsuko to keep running and flipping past them.

While the tall man turned his attention back to Hana, she was already attacking the short man. The short man had a sword, but every time he would swing it, Hana's small frame and incredible agility allowed for an easy dodge. And with each dodge, she would reward him with a slash from her claws. As the tall man began to run to assist his friend, everyone heard Katsuko shout. "Just hurry it up and go for the eyes, damnit!" Recognizing the immediate danger, the short man began to plead to Hana. "No no no nononono!!" But it was too late. One well placed slash, and the short man was robbed of his vision in a bloody fashion.

He stumbled backwards, frightened by the pain and lack of sight. "Gimi!" the tall man shouted, before unveiling his next tactic for handling Hana. He held a handful of shuriken, and all of them were wrapped by a small exploding tag. He threw them all at once in a scatter in Hana's direction. She looked confused, unable to see the tags attached to the shuriken and wondering why his aim was so bad. But when the first one went off, she realized what was going on. Within a full second, all the shuriken detonated, and combined created an explosion like that of an exploding kunai. But before the dust could even settle, Hana's blur appeared behind the tall man. "You missed me~." Before he could turn around, Hana jumped onto his back and plunged her claws between his ribs, into his lungs.

With a final gasp for air, he fell to the ground. Not to let the man die slowly, she removed her claws, and stabbed again. And again. And again. Until she knew that he was dead. Looking up, she saw that the hooded twin still had his hands on the ground, to keep Katsuko at a distance, while the other twin was helping the freshly eye-less comrade stay standing. Before Hana could move again, a large chunk of stone flew past her from behind, slamming into the blinded man. Katsuko had punched one of the stone pillars and sent a chunk of it into his enemies. With the size of the chunk and speed of the impact, everyone knew that man was no longer living.

"So you've killed all our men," the twin with a scar said, standing next to his brother. "You would like us to tremble in fear and give up. To be incapable of standing against you now that we've seen what you can do. But-" In the middle of the incoming speech, Katsuko interrupted while he continued dodging stone pillars shooting out of the ground. "I haven't shown you what I can do." This earned a scowl, but before either twin could act, Katsuko punched another pillar and sent it flying at the twin creating them. He was forced to move, and it thus ended his technique. As the two brothers regrouped and stood side by side, Katsuko landed next to Hana.

"Good work, Hana. I'm impressed with how quickly you took them out. Unfortunately, I had to give you a little reminder, but other than that you did perfectly," Katsuko complemented her, earning a wide smile from the small woman. "Thank you Katsuko-kun! Want me to help with these guys too?" With this, Katsuko chuckled and shook his head. "Normally I would say yes, but I think they don't understand who I am yet." Katsuko looked down for a second, before looking back up directly at the twins. His irises were now red, and he had a sinister grin. "So I must teach them."

"The only thing that will be taught is why you don't fight the Happoku brothers!" the scarred one shouted, before forming a series of handseals. While his twin also formed seals, Katsuko dashed forward and Hana jumped back to a safe watching distance. Black lightning began cracking through the air around the scarred twin, before shooting toward Katsuko in the shape of large arrows fired from an imaginary bow. But before Katsuko could dodge, stone shot from the earth and wrapped themselves around Katsuko's limbs. "Die!" the hooded twin shouted.

Before the black lightning could reach Katsuko, he thrust his arms forward. Even the thick rock holding them was shattered, and then Katsuko did the same thing with his legs. In the nick of time, Katsuko evaded the black lightning. The black lightning arrows crashed into the pile of rocks where Katsuko was just before, destroying the rubble even further and causing a sort of explosion of power. "Black lightning, huh. I've never seen that before," Katsuko mentioned out loud, before performing some handseals of his own. Upon slamming his hands against the ground, a stone dragon erupted from the ground and shot toward the twins. However, the scarred twin's arm covered itself in black lightning, and he dashed toward the dragon with his fist outstretched.

The lightning attack easily destroyed the stone dragon, but this left the man vulnerable and closer to Katsuko. The teenager dashed in with his leg already poised to deliver a fatal kick, but a thick stone wall erupted from the ground between the man and Katsuko. This didn't faze the orange haired teen, and he slammed his foot into the wall. It cracked, and for a moment looked like it would hold, but soon it shattered into many pieces and Katsuko's foot went through. But in that split-second delay the wall caused, it appeared that the twin had moved out of the way and dodged the kick.

Once Katsuko recovered, he found the twins standing next to each other again. "I'll admit the two of you are annoying, but if you keep this up I'll take your heads back rather than the two of you in handcuffs," Katsuko threatened. "You weren't planning on killing us all along?" the hooded one asked sarcastically, to which Katsuko responded seriously. "Nah, I took the mission already planning to kill whoever it was that I was targetting." Suddenly, the air seemed to become denser.

They could feel Katsuko's rage. "I guess that was mean of me to lie to you, but oh well. I'm going to kill you now." This statement earned a scowl from the two men, but before either could react further, Katsuko brought his right hand in front of his chest, forming the Seal of Confrontation. As well, he closed his eyes. This was puzzling to them, but the twins quickly figured out something was going to happen in relation to his eyes. "Don't look into his eyes! He must be preparing some sort of do-"

Katsuko's eyes shot open, and the red irises were now visibly glowing. The scarred twin saw this, and immediately felt something wrong. His chakra began to vanish at an incredibly dangerous pace. His twin seemed to have suffered the same fate, and both quickly looked away. But they were too late to avoid the massive chakra loss. And from their opponent, chakra began to radiate and the earth beneath him began to crack. "Dojutsu, yes." A cocky grin formed on his face. The twins looked at each other, before nodding and looking back toward Katsuko, this time avoiding his eyes.

They both began to form handseals, but before they could finish, Katsuko vanished in a blur. And the shirtless teenager reappeared between them, already airborne with his legs brought in. And upon his reappearance, the twins tried to move out of the way, but neither was fast enough. Katsuko's legs shot out to both sides, kicking them both. The hooded one took the blow to the head, since he crouched down to jump, but the scarred one took it to the chest.

The twins went flying in opposite directions, with the scarred one crashing through a tree. The trunk fell sideways, so he was not crushed to death while he lay on the ground helplessly. He could feel that most of his ribs on his right side were broken, and he couldn't hardly breathe. After a brief moment, he coughed up some blood. With extreme effort, he propped himself up on one elbow to see his brother far away. The hooded twin wasn't moving at all, and appeared to not be breathing.

"So..." he heard above him. Looking up, Katsuko was standing overhead, looking down on the man. "Fine, fine! Konoha can have me! I surrender!" he declared, almost pleading for his life. This brought a smirk to Katsuko's face, and he crouched down to get closer to the man. "I'm not here on behalf of Konohagakure. Do you see a Leaf headband or anything?" he said, a tone of amusement in his voice. As if the man just saw a plot twist in a movie, he realized that Katsuko indeed wore no clothing that would give away his allegience.

"But... then... who do you work for? What did we do? We specifically avoided taking anything too fancy or anything that would grab too much attention," he said, now falling off his elbow and looking straight up at the treetops. "You see, in one of your recent operations, you managed to steal a few things that were fairly important to some people you wouldn't want to upset. Odds are you never even realized what you all stole, but my task is to kill all of you and return what belongs to us." "Wait, wait! I can tell you where our loot is if you spare me and my brother."

"No need. I already know where it is. I decided to simply take care of the people guarding it first. And by the way, your brother is dead," Katsuko explained, before looking over to the body in the distance. While the man before him began to shake in shock, Hana finally walked over and was now standing above him too. "So that just leaves you." Before another word of protest could be made, Katsuko grabbed the man by the throat with an iron grip. Without even moving his wrist to snap the neck, he squeezed very hard. And then, it was audible. The sound of the man's vertebrae being crushed.

With one final wheezing sound, the life left the man's body, with his eyes open staring at the stars. "What are we going to do about the bodies?" Hana asked immediately as Katsuko stood up. His irises were no longer glowing, and were even a blue color now. "We can just leave them here. Feed the forest animals or something. If they wanted their bodies treated with honor, they wouldn't have stooped so low as they did." The two walked over to the larger mass of bodies, and Katsuko retrieved his cloak from it.

"They cut my hood. It won't stay up now. I don't want to go through the pain of getting a new one, so I think I can ask Mom to sew it up. Goes to show that I need to spend less time on the bravado," Katsuko said to Hana with a chuckle, before putting the cloak on. It seemed in great condition earlier, but it was a bit dirty now. And the damage to the hood was new. "You don't really need it for missions like this though, do you? If you really wanted to keep your identity hidden, you should wear a mask like he does. That does a good job," Hana suggested as Katsuko began walking through the trees.

Nearby was a large wagon, and Katsuko began to rummage through it. "That is true. But I kind of like the cloak. It makes me feel more dangerous. Ominous, or something like that," Katsuko confessed, before tossing an expensive looking lamp out onto the ground where it shattered. "You do look a bit more threatening with it. But I think if you're going to go like that, you should get tattoos or something. The ugly scar is tough looking but it seems like it would be rather anti-climactic when you take the cloak off.

Katsuko stuck his head out of the wagon now. "I don't want to cover my body in tattoos. That seems like it might backfire. Aside from the Seal, I'm good. Like, maybe a tattoo here or there or something, but I don't think overdoing it will work the way I want it," he said, before going back to searching. Hana shrugged at this. "Suit yourself. I still think you should ditch the-" Hana began, before Katsuko let out a shout of exclaimation. "Found it!"

When he jumped out of the wagon, Katsuko was holding a book and a scroll. "What are those?" To this, Katsuko shrugged his shoulders. "No idea. Not sure if I'm allowed to open them and find out. Just know that Dragon wants them, and before he could get his hands on them they were reported stolen. That's why we came here. And I assume it's important stuff, because I was told to kill the bandits in case any of them read this." With that brief explanation, Katsuko handed them to Hana. While he began to perform some handseals and place his hand on the ground, he noticed Hana begin to open the scroll.

"Hey, don't open them." As if she just got caught doing something embarassing, Hana acted startled and immediately stopped trying to read the content of the scroll. A black rose formed at the spot Katsuko placed his hand, and he picked it up. A black sphere began to form around the two. "I want to know what it is though, Katsukoooo..." Hana began to whine, which Katsuko chuckled about. "Perhaps there are some things better worth not knowing." With his final words, the sphere closed on itself and vanished, leaving no trace of the two having been there. Aside from the many bodies scattered about nearby and the broken lamp on the ground.

[j8cob]

Katsuko and Hana's Adventure

Part I: A Trip Through Time
Who is Hana? And what is Katsuko planning?
Eight Months into Timeskip

The man crashed to the floor, bouncing off the wood briefly before skidding to a stop a meter away from the impact point. Katsuko stood up straight after that and looked across the Academy classroom. The jonin on the ground picked himself up and grabbed his chest. "And that, students, is... is how you get out of a grapple. Thank you, Katsuko Moto, for helping me demonstrate today," he spoke, before walking up the teenager. "No problem. Anything to help," he responded. The kids sitting in the classroom were varied, from what he could tell. Some seemed disinterested in the display, while others looked on in awe. Katsuko imagined those were the ones who held a passion toward becoming a shinobi. The thought made him smile as he took his leave. On the way to the door, he heard the instructor continue. "Now... Shota! You come down here and try to replicate what you learned." With that, Katsuko closed the door behind him and made his way out of the building. His smile slowly fading as he walked.

The teenager walked across Konoha. He still wore his ninja clothes, minus the flak jacket. Hana still had that. But the young jonin seemed less like he was going anywhere. More like he was lost. Katsuko stopped into a ramen shop that had no other customers. "What can I get for ya?" the owner asked, leaning on the bar. However, Katsuko simply stared downwards silently. After a pause, he spoke up. "What am I doing with my life?" he spoke aloud, though it seemed to not be directed to the man. "Uh, I don't think I can help you much there. Maybe you just need to relax a bit, kid. Take things slow and easy." This made him shake his head. "No, no. It's that I have nothing to do..." After another pause, Katsuko finally looked up. "Just serve me whatever you want. Give me a surprise..."

---

Night was slowly descending over the village. The evening sun cast an orange and pink glare across the sky, a view that was impressive from where Katsuko sat. The teenager was on top of the Hokage Monument, looking over the village. Though, he sat quite close to the edge, directly above the head of Daisuke Uchiha. "I miss you..." he mumbled, looking at the horizon. He knew he had to move on, and was trying his best. But the problem he ran into: he had nothing to move on to. He had no more goals, no more objectives. No milestones to reach. My life is empty, he thought to himself, before looking over at the Academy. He could remember when he was a little kid, and when he attended that Academy himself. It felt so long ago to him.

While he was reminiscing, there was a puff of smoke to his right, causing him to jump in surprise. However, he saw it was only Hana. The white hair gave it away first, like always. "You scared me there," Katsuko remarked, settling himself down again. The woman frowned and sat down next to him. "I didn't know you could be scared, Katsuko," Hana told him. This earned a scoff from Katsuko. "Neither did I." With this, Hana silenced herself and looked over the village. "You've been awful depressed lately." "No I have not." Hana didn't seem to be tolerating his lies.

"Ever since Jin died. First you were very angry, then sad. And now it's gloomy and depressing." Katsuko looked over his shoulder at the young woman. "Is this supposed to be helping?" he asked, sarcasm evident in his tone. "You need to do something! That's all. To get your blood pumping and your heart racing. What happened to the Kat that was always looking for a challenge?" There was a brief pause between the two as the wind picked up, gently moving Hana's hair around. "That Kat is gone. There's no point anymore, Hana." His words were depressing, and as he looked back over the village, Hana also turned her gaze forward. There was a silence between the two for a few minutes as they watched the sun descend and the sky turn darker.

Then Hana suddenly jumped to her feet, right as soon as stars began to show in the sky. "Let's go on an adventure!" This earned an exasperated sigh from Katsuko. "An adventure?" "Yeah. Let's just go somewhere. Travel the world. See something new. A few things new. Meet new people. Doesn't it sound like fun?" Hana pitched, getting Katsuko to look over at her. "Not really, no. I think I'd rather sulk at home than on the other side of the world." Without skipping a beat, Hana continued. "Well that's too bad because we're going."

"Ugh..." Katsuko vented, as Hana grabbed his hand and pulled him up, attempting to force him to his feet. "Where do you even plan for us to go? Wandering in the wilderness probably never cheered anyone up in the history of forever." With this, he finally decided to stand up, so Hana let him go. "Well, we can start by going to the place I would always go whenever I felt sad and alone," Hana began, already walking away from the Hokage Monument. For some reason, Katsuko had never imagined Hana as ever being sad or lonely. Even when he met her, she seemed rather upbeat about being homeless. And like that, he no longer felt like resisting her will. "Okay, okay... Where is this place?"

Hana turned around and flashed Katsuko a victorious smirk. "It's kinda far away-ish. I don't really know how to describe where it is, but I remember the way there. I would tell you what it's like, but I don't want to spoil it for you," she explained, beckoning Katsuko to follow her. The young jonin began walking, taking a pace to match hers and walk side-by-side. "Don't worry, I don't think you'd be spoiling much for me," he responded, his voice still depressed. "All I can say is that whenever I'm there... it doesn't matter what has happened or what is going on... I always feel safe and at home." Katsuko could judge by her voice and the way she talked about it that this place was important to her. With a sigh, he looked ahead as the two were walking. I doubt anything will improve. But I'll just do this for her. Can't kill me, I suppose.

---

The rain was pouring down on the two. While it didn't seem to bother either of them, Hana made a point to hide her long hair behind her stolen flak jacket to try and keep it from being drenched. Katsuko and Hana were walking down a dirt road, which was more or less mud at this point, in the middle of a forest. "Are you sure you know where we're going?" Katsuko spoke up, over the rain. Hana nodded. "We're going the right way. It should be up ahead. I recognize that tree," Hana explained, before pointing forward. Up ahead, there was a large, twisted tree. It looked abnormal compared to all the other trees around, sticking out like a sore thumb. Having no way to dispute her, Katsuko kept quiet and continued walking through the mud.

The two reached the large tree and Hana turned away from the road. "Where are you going now?" Katsuko asked, stopping in his tracks. "It's this way. We have to go through the trees to get to it." With a sigh, Katsuko resumed following Hana. Though, he was somewhat glad. The grass beneath their feet was nicer than mud, and the trees overhead did a good enough job at protecting them from the rainfall. "Is it outdoors? Because I think we made a poor choice in deciding when to travel," Katsuko asked, looking around for anything out of place to try and spot this special place quickly.

"I think there is no better when for this," Hana mumbled as the two went forward. "What was that?" "It isn't outdoors. Bothered by the rain?" This made Katsuko scoff. "I'm fine. I simply would rather not get pneumonia and die out here." Once again, his depressing words. Hana frowned with that and looked back at Katsuko. "Stop talking about death and dying so much, Kat. It's concerning me." Katsuko stopped walking and looked right at Hana. There was a silence between the two for a moment, before Katsuko kept walking. After another few minutes of walking, Hana suddenly got excited. "Here it is! Katsuko!" Hana went running forward, ahead of Katsuko, and stopped next to it.

A tree. The teenager sighed and rubbed his temple. "You dragged me all the way out here... to show me a tree?" Katsuko asked, finally catching up with Hana. The two stood in front of an oak tree. It was not particularly large, though it did have claw marks etched deep into it's bark. As per Katsuko's guess: from Hana in the past. "It's not the tree, Kat~" Hana walked forward, stopping next to the tree and leaning against it. With a smirk, she stood upright and proceeded to walk backwards, making eye contact with Katsuko the entire time. After three steps, Hana suddenly vanished.

"Hana!" Katsuko called out, running up to the tree and looking at the last place he saw Hana. Then he heard her giggling. Confused, Katsuko slowly approached. He couldn't see Hana, only the forest around him. As he reached the spot where Hana vanished, he felt a strange sensation as if he walked through something. And suddenly, Hana reappeared in front of him. This caught him by surprise as well, but behind her was no longer the forest. Rather, there was a large temple instead of trees. It looked unkept, and had moss and vines growing all over it. "What the..." "I told you. Come on," she told him, before skipping over to the large entrance and beckoning Katsuko to follow.

Both confused and wary, Katsuko followed Hana into the stone temple. Katsuko could tell it was an ancient structure, and it appeared that it was covered in old etchings. Various depictions of some ancient events. From what the teen could gather, this was once a holy temple. But as the two journeyed inside, Katsuko found the place to have something strange about it. To the contrary, Hana up ahead seemed right at home, skipping happily along toward the centermost chamber of the temple. Once there, they found it was fairly dark from a lack of light source, but was still relatively easy to see in. It was a large hall, that must've been quite grand at some point in the past.

"It was here that I have my last memory," Hana said, catching Katsuko's attention. As she continued, he noticed large claw marks on the back wall. Far bigger than Hana could be capable of. "I woke up in this room, and that's that. No recollection of anything before that, except every now and then I get a name or a face." When Katsuko looked back down toward Hana, he could see something different in her eyes. The kind of look he has seen in many others, but not once in the past two years in her. He could see that she had a dream. Perhaps it was to learn what her life was like before she lost her memory? At that thought, Katsuko began to wonder. "How long ago was that? When you woke up here, that is?"

After a thoughtful pause, Hana shrugged. "It feels like a long time ago. I remember I spent some time looking around for any clues about who I was or what was going on. But I couldn't find anything or remember anything. It was lonely at first, but at the same time it wasn't. It just... felt like home," Hana explained, turning around and looking at the large claw marks. "Did you make those?" "Not that I remember. Besides, it seems way too big." For emphasis, Hana walked up to the wall and put her hand up to it. Not only was her hand vastly smaller than the claw marks, she could barely reach them on the wall.

Katsuko thought for a second. This wasn't exactly making him feel better, but now he was more interested in Hana's past. She had become like family to him, and he didn't know much about her. In all fairness, she didn't know much about herself. But perhaps he could help with that. "You couldn't find anything to help you before?" Katsuko asked, walking across the stone floor toward Hana. "Nope. Nothing. I checked the whole place. It was deserted in all it's entirety. No food either, in case you were-" Hana began, before a loud click sound stopped her. Katsuko looked down at his feet. He had stepped on a stone and pushed it into the floor, making that sound. He just set off a trap.

In pure instinct, Katsuko and Hana jumped away from the floor, clinging to opposite walls. But to their surprise, nothing happened. "That's weird," Hana noted aloud. Katsuko looked back towards her and wondered how she never found that before. But the odds were that she was too light to set off whatever he just did. After a moment, just when the two began to think nothing would happen, the floor began to shift. The stones all began moving to the side, revealing a staircase descending underground with a light at the bottom what appeared to be several stories down. "Are you sure you searched the whole place?" Katsuko asked, earning a light chuckle from Hana. But Katsuko could tell the laugh was forced. She was far more interested in the hidden stairs.

The two jumped back down to the floor and stood at the top of the stairs. Katsuko looked over at Hana next to him, and saw that her attention was entirely captured by the light at the end of the stairs. Without a word, she began walking down the stairs at a fast pace. In suit, Katsuko followed a bit behind her. As they went down the dark stairs and approached the lit hallway at the bottom, Katsuko noticed that the strange carvings were still on the walls. By the time they were at the bottom, Katsuko could see that the hallway had two doors and Hana was heading for the nearest. But as she walked toward the doorway, Katsuko noticed the source of light. There were lit torches along the hallway. "Hana," Katsuko whispered, before dashing forward.

Before Hana could look into the doorway, Katsuko appeared behind her. In one quick move, he grabbed her with one hand on her waist and one over her mouth before spinning back and hiding against the wall. This took her off guard, and she seemed to be a bit scared now. "We aren't alone," Katsuko whispered to her again, before releasing her. As if snapping out of a daze, Hana took a serious look and nodded before standing behind Katsuko. With stealth now on their side, Katsuko leaned and looked around the doorway with his right eye. Inside was a long hallway with many more carvings across the walls. But also, there were people.

Four men in total, all wearing Sunagakure clothing. One appeared to be examining the wall with another watching over him, while the other two were just sitting on boxes having some sort of drink. With that, Katsuko retreated a bit and faced Hana. "Four men. They appear to be some sort of... dig team. Like an archeologist group or something," Katsuko whispered to her. "What is an archeologist?" "Someone who studies old things." With that out of the way, Katsuko leaned back over to get another look. But this time, it seemed that one of the men sitting on the boxes saw him. "Hey! Who's over there?" he said, causing the other one to stand up. As well, the two by the wall looked over.

With the jig up, Katsuko stood out in the open for them to see. They could tell he was of Konoha origin. "What are you all doing in the Land of Fire?" Katsuko asked in a demanding tone. The man examining the wall now spoke up. "We aren't here for any trouble, boy. My name is Shinji, of the Archeological Squad. We mean no harm," he explained, now standing up. Katsuko eyed him closely, his green eyes looking him up and down. "You didn't answer my question." With a chuckle, the Suna nin continued. "We are here to examine these ruins for historical documentation, of course. After all, I am an archeologist." Katsuko frowned at his words.

For these men to be so far out of their homeland, they must have more motivation than just the name of science. They wanted something, and they believed it was here. Katsuko looked over his shoulder at Hana, before looking back at the men. They hadn't seen Hana yet. "I don't believe you," Katsuko said rather bluntly, now walking into the hallway. The man next to Shinji stood up menacingly, like some sort of bodyguard, but Shinji quickly reacted. "Calm down! We are friendly here. We don't want to start a fight. Especially not in here," Shinji explained, now walking away from the wall to talk to Katsuko face to face.

"Are you familiar with the old tale of the Cat Princess?" he started. This didn't ring any bells to Katsuko, so he shook his head. "Hundreds of years ago, there was a band of thieves that preyed solely upon travelling shinobi. As you can guess, this meant they were quite skilled. Their leader was nicknamed the Cat Princess because of her feline appearance and abilities. She was a powerful being, able to change form into various cats. This temple was once, long ago, a site for an ancient religion. But because it was abandoned, the Cat Princess and her gang of thieves turned it into their home. Rumor has it that they stored all the things they stole somewhere in here. After finding the trap door, we thought it would be here. But so far... nothing."

The archeologist seemed like he was going to speak again, but suddenly stopped and looked past Katsuko. Hana had stepped into view, clearly having heard the story. Katsuko looked over his shoulder at her, into her eyes. He couldn't quite describe the look she had. But he knew that she was thinking the same thing she was. That this Cat Princess thief was probably her. And Shinji seemed to think the same thing. "Who are you, miss?" he asked politely. Hana took a few steps into the hallway without a word. She continued walking until she was at Katsuko's side. "My name is Hana." This didn't seem to be the answer he expected. "How old are you, Hana?" At this point, both Hana and Katsuko could tell where this was going. Shinji wanted Hana to confirm her identity. "What does it matter? Don't worry about it. She's here with me," Katsuko said, before looking at the other three men in the hallway.

With a nod, Shinji looked back toward Hana. "So it is her..." he mumbled, but Katsuko and Hana could hear him. "So what if it is? Anyways, back to business..." Katsuko said, putting his hand on Shinji's shoulder and forcing him to look back at Katsuko. The bodyguard didn't seem to like that, and shifted forward menacingly. "Do you have permission to be here? I haven't heard any news about Suna nin moving into our borders for any operation." There was a silence across the hallway. The two men by the boxes looked at each other for a moment. "Uh... Okay, listen, we aren't here officially per se... But we really do mean no harm. We just want to find the hidden treasure. And I can see that you have found the Cat Princess yourself, which can be really helpful."

Katsuko looked into this man's eyes with a deep stare. "Helpful?" Shinji was beginning to feel threatened. He gently shoved Katsuko's hand from his shoulder and took a step back. "Yes, perhaps she can help us find all the valuables she stole." At this point, Hana piped up again. "I never stole anything!" she claimed, placing one foot closer in as threatening of a manner as she could. She was clearly offended. "But you see, you did. Not only that, but you built a nasty reputation of killing shinobi."

This created an instant pause, and Katsuko looked down at Hana. There was no way she could've been like that. Even with amnesia, she is way too different now to be some murderous thief. And Hana seemed to be paused for the same reason. "You were pretty powerful, you know. I mean, look at you... eternal youth. If only normal humans could unlock that secret..." While Katsuko and Hana were looking at each other, they heard a noise. Upon looking up, Katsuko saw the bodyguard figure move in to stab Katsuko with a kunai knife while the other two ran to try and capture Hana. Immediately, Katsuko's irises turned red.

He grabbed the hand holding the kunai knife, stopping the attack from the bodyguard. The man seemed surprised at Katsuko's speed and power, before being promptly struck in the chest by Katsuko's other fist. And since he had the man by the arm, Katsuko continued to pummel him with punches to the abdomen and chest until he collapsed on the floor. The two men that tried to catch Hana found no luck. Upon forming handseals, Hana vanished. At her speed, she was just a blur shooting past them. And while they were distracted to try and find a way to get past her insane speed, Katsuko ran at the two. With both arms stretched out wide, Katsuko ran the inside of his elbows into their necks, before forcing his arms forward. This threw both men backwards, where they eventually hit the ground and bounced a few times. By the time they skidded to a halt, Katsuko was upon them again. With a fist in each face, he smashed them both into the ground. They were done.

Katsuko turned around and saw Shinji running for the stairs. Before he could get too far, Katsuko was upon him too. Grabbing the man by the back of his collar, Katsuko threw him back down the stair where he crashed into the wall at the bottom. "You fucked up, Shinji," Katsuko said, running back down the stairs. As Shinji got to his feet, Katsuko grabbed him by his clothes and slammed him against the wall. "So you thought you can come into my country, kidnap my family, and steal treasure that doesn't belong to your nation?" "Now now. Think about it for a second. If we can run some tests on her, perhaps we can figure out her abilities. Doesn't that sound good to you? Wouldn't you want eternal youth?" Katsuko paused for a second.

"Then why did you try to kidnap her? It seems to me that these tests you speak of... nobody would want to undergo them voluntarily." The man let out a nervous chuckle with this. "Not exactly nice, so to speak. But a benefit to the entire human race!" Katsuko looked over his shoulder. Hana had reappeared next to him, watching the event unfold. "It doesn't matter. That isn't happening." Katsuko raised a fist back, poised to finish him off. "Wait!" Hana called out, making Katsuko stop. He lowered his fist, curious what she could want from him. Hana walked up to the two and looked Shinji in the eyes. "What was my name?" she asked, catching Katsuko off guard.

Shinji smirked a bit. He seemed to feel as if Hana could be his saving grace from Katsuko's wrath. "I believe your real name was Hime. Hime, the Cat Princess." This made Hana pause and look down at her hands. The look in her eyes suggested that she was starting to remember. Perhaps her name was the key. Katsuko figured she was slowly getting it all back. A small smile formed on his face, before he looked back toward Shinji. "Can you let me go, now?" Katsuko stared him directly in the eyes, before releasing his grip on him. "You are to go back to Sunagakure and never come here again. You will explain the death of your comrades as... poor decisions." As the man bowed his head in gratitude and began to flee for the stairs, Hana clenched her hands into fists, before releasing them again. It was all coming back to her...

Before Shinji could even reach the first step, Katsuko heard the sound of slashing behind him. Upon turning around, it seemed that Hana attacked Shinji with a quick slash. However, Katsuko noticed something different. She had a different look in her eyes. And what's more, her claws had chakra glowing around them to increase their length. As Shinji's corpse fell onto the stairs, leaking blood onto them, Hana turned to Katsuko and ran at him. This clearly shocked Katsuko, and he barely got his hand up in time to grab Hana's wrist. Her chakra claws stopped mere centimeters from his throat. When she brought around her other hand for another attack, Katsuko whipped his arm to the side and threw her away from him. As she landed on her hands and feet, Katsuko called out to her.

"What is the matter with you!?" he shouted, but he got no response back. Instead, Hana charged at him again, with her renowned speed. Katsuko jumped up the stairs and dodged her slash, but already realized that this would be a problem. He didn't want to hurt her, but she was faster than he was and her new claws were much more deadly. "Hana! It's me, Katsuko!" he tried again. This time, however, Hana charged forward and jumped onto him. She placed her feet on his chest and her hands on his shoulders. "I am not Hana! I am Hime!" she shouted at him. Katsuko could also note that her voice sounded different. Before he could try again, she let go with her hands and kicked off of him while crossing her arms. This slashed his face and sent him into the stairs.

For a normal human, that could've potentially killed someone if their head struck the stairs wrong. But Katsuko shook the attack off. He was surprised. Surprised that she would hurt him. "You are Hana! You aren't this," Katsuko said, before Hana came back for another attack. From what he could tell, it seemed that by remembering her distant past, she forgot about everything that had happened over the past few years. "I just said my name is-" "Hana." Before Hana could swing and slash at Katsuko again, he jumped forward and tackled her. The two flew down the stairs, before Katsuko rotated so he would crash at the bottom rather than her. He still didn't want to hurt Hana. After a quick struggle, Katsuko's superior strength pinned her down.

"Think for a moment, Hana. Remember all the good times we've had together? You told me the other day you wanted to go on an adventure. That's why we're here," Katsuko tried telling her. But she didn't seem to be listening. She was more focused on trying to struggle her way out of Katsuko's grip. "I'm here because I live here. You're here because you want to steal what's mine," Hana retorted, before making a hissing sound at Katsuko. Despite having heard her hiss before, it seemed to shock him. "Calm down. You brought me here. You said this place makes you feel better because you wanted to cheer me up. You were tired of me being so sad after my dad..." Katsuko paused mid sentence. He couldn't bring himself to talk about his father just yet. And Hana took advantage of this pause.

She managed to get one of her legs free and place her foot on Katsuko's abdomen. With surprising strength, strength he hadn't seen from her before, she kicked Katsuko off of her and jumped back to her feet. The teenager recovered quickly, and as he jumped to his feet, he saw something from behind Hana. The shinobi from earlier that tried to stab him was back up, and he grabbed both of Hana's arms from behind. "Let me go you pestilent human!" she immediately began protesting, struggling to get out of his grip. But the man wasn't letting go. Two chakra arms came from the man's back, and their hands began to form handseals. This was strange to Katsuko, and he soon figured out what it did. Chakra chains shot out from the ground and wrapped around Hana, bringing her back to the floor and keeping her there good. But judging by the "oof" sound she made from hitting the floor, it wasn't a pleasant impact.

"Hana!" Katsuko shouted, before charging forward. The man stretched out an arm to catch Katsuko's fist, all the while the chakra arms on his back were at work producing another jutsu. But when Katsuko's fist impacted the other man's palm, he immediately realized how bad of an idea it was to block Katsuko's attack. He let out a shout of pain as his entire forearm was shattered, and before he could finish whatever jutsu he was planning, Katsuko spun around and kicked him in the side of the head. This sent him flying down the hallway and crashing into the wall. The chakra arms faded away once he fell to the floor and the man was motionless. The chakra chains, however, were still there holding Hana to the ground.

Without even hesitating, Katsuko ran to her side and began pulling at the chakra chains. Trying to break them. But it wasn't working. They were much stronger than regular chains. "Why are you doing this?" Hana asked, confused why this human was so intent on defying her and now helping her. "You're family now, Hana, and I'm not going to just let you forget all of that." This made her pause and look up at the ceiling. Katsuko removed one of his steel knuckles and put it on, before pulling back his fist. He was a little worried, because he really didn't want to hit Hana now. But his fist shot forward.

Where it impacted with the chakra chains, it shattered into many tiny pieces. And with a few links broken, the rest loosened up. And Hana wiggled free. Katsuko assumed that it wasn't over, and that she still couldn't remember him. To his surprise, when she got up, she didn't try to run or to attack him. She start looking at her hands. Katsuko didn't say a word. He didn't want to risk saying something stupid and making her attempt at remembering fail. The look in her eyes determined that she was trying hard to figure out what was real. Whatever made her lose her memory did a good job at messing with her head, because she looked incredibly confused. After a moment of silence, she looked up to Katsuko. His irises were violet.

Hana's face seemed to turn to one of sorrow now. The chakra claws vanished and tears began to form in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Katsuko," she said, her voice sounding like it normally did. A smile formed on Katsuko's face. "It's fine. You don't have to be sorry. I'm perfectly fine." Her tears had now turned to sobbing. "Not that. I'm sorry for all the things I've done. I was horrible. I can remember it all now. I killed so many people." The teenager stood up now and walked over to Hana. He wasn't quite sure how to handle this now. Considering that she has killed several people in her time with him, and seemed totally unfazed by it, it must be something to break her down like this.

In a move that one wouldn't consider typical of Katsuko, he embraced Hana in a hug. "It's okay. That was long ago. You are different now. Better. That wasn't you..." With that, he loosened his grip. Hana seemed surprised at this. Katsuko had never hugged her before. "But..." "No buts. C'mon. You have done so much to help me in the past, so I guess it's my turn to help you. We still have an adventure to finish, ya know?" At these words, Hana looked up to Katsuko. His eyes were no longer violet, but instead green. For some reason, this seemed to cheer her up. She giggled a bit, before wiping the tears out of her eyes. "You're right. We do have an adventure. You promised."

Katsuko's first instinct was to correct her. He never promised to do this, she just forced him to go anyways. But he bit his tongue and smiled. "I'm the one that's sad, remember? So cheer up. I just thought of somewhere we can go next." Katsuko began walking up the stairs now, stepping over Shinji's body. After a pause and one last wipe of her face, Hana smiled and caught up to him. "Where to? Oh, and I think I should fix your face. The cuts, I mean. On your face..." Hana said, beginning to trail off as she realized how odd her sentence sounded. This just earned a laugh from Katsuko. "We are going to go to the Land of Snow. You've never been there before, I imagine, so you might just enjoy it."

[j8cob]

Katsuko and Hana's Adventure
Part II: The Unexpected Battle
Who can match Katsuko's power? A true test of might!
Eight Months into Timeskip

Katsuko had one word to describe the boat ride: freezing. It was cold. He would describe it with extra profanity, even. Presently, Katsuko stood near the bow of the ferry. It was a large boat, obviously designed for getting people back and forth from the Land of Iron and the Land of Snow. Several boats had to be taken, to hop from one island to the next on the way to the main body of the country. Over the open water, Katsuko found it got particularly cold and he had not prepared the proper clothing for the trip.

On the other hand, Hana seemed to be enjoying the boat ride. This baffled Katsuko, as she was just as unprepared as he was, and her smaller body should make her more susceptible to the effects of the cold. Even now, she was running around deck of the boat. After all, she didn't like being cramped and having limited space. While Katsuko held his arms across his chest tightly in an attempt to prevent hypothermia, Hana ran up to him from the other end of the deck, almost tripping several other passengers along the way.

"The captain says we're almost there," Hana announced once she was there. Katsuko nodded in understanding, not wanting to risk talking and sound stupid from his chattering teeth. "This is so cool. I had never seen snow before the first island, and soon we will be surrouned by it. It's so cold! But so awesome!" Once again, Katusko nodded in a sort of agreement, before she took off in a run again. He had to chuckle at her silliness, but he settled down quickly enough.

In his silence and time alone at the bow, he had been reflecting on the past few months. A lot had happened. Perhaps he needed some sort of vacation, similar to the 'adventure' that Hana suggested. It helped at keeping his mind away from his father, but it didn't work entirely. Every now and then, his thoughts would drift back to his family. At least this time, before he took off, he let everyone know that he was leaving and would be back soon. Perhaps soon was a bit of an exaggeration now, but he didn't initially plan on travelling the world. That was more for Hana, considering how much she has gone through. Without a word of complaint.

Katsuko turned around and faced forward. On the horizon, he could begin to see land. Of course, it was covered in snow. The view was interesting, but his thoughts were elsewhere. In a way, Katsuko realized he admired Hana. That she could maintain such a generally upbeat dispostion. Sure, she's had her moments of weakness, but for the most part she was the same girl running up and down the boat right now. Before that train of thought could continue, Katsuko felt an impact on his back and Hana's arms wrapped around his neck. Unintentionally tightly.

"Look! Katsuko! I can see it!" she announced, pointing forwards. However, one arm was still pressed tight against Katsuko's throat, cutting off his air. While he struggled for a moment to breathe, Hana began to wonder why he didn't respond yet. Finally, he removed her arm from his neck and took a dramatically deep breath. "Almost there, and that much closer to getting our hands on warmer clothes..."

---

The two exited the clothing store, now dressed in more appropriate clothes. Katsuko no longer suffered to the cold, wearing a large coat and thick boots over his usual clothes. Hana, on the other hand, simply donned a grey cloak over her clothes. Katsuko tried to persuade her to get something warmer, but she insisted. For some insane reason, she liked the cold. Even after learning about Hana's true past, this was the most incredible thing about her, in Katsuko's eyes. After adjusting his Leaf headband, Katsuko turned to Hana.

"So here we are, in the Land of Snow," Katsuko began, a smirk on his face. Judging by his tone and the blue color of his irises, Hana figured he was in a good mood right. This made her smile right away. "So what do you want to do first?" Hana placed her hand under her chin and cocked her head sideways. Clearly, she was thinking hard. Katsuko was also thinking hard; thinking hard about what the hell they could even do in the Land of Snow. "I'm hungry. Let's get some food first. Then... Then! Then we can build a giant snowman!" Hana suggested with enthusiasm, earning a chuckle from Katsuko.

The two began walking down the street now. It wasn't as busy as Konoha, but the natives still all went about their business. Some stopped to see the Konoha shinobi walk down the street. "I'm hungry too. And a warm drink couldn't hurt. Let's see..." Katsuko tapped on the shoulder of a young woman that was walking the other way. This got her attention. "Excuse me miss. Would you know where a good place to eat would be?" After determining that he was a foreigner, the woman smiled. "Down this street a little ways is a tavern. Sorry, but the good restaurants are all in the capital, but it still has good food despite the atmosphere." Katsuko turned to Hana and shrugged, before smiling back to the woman. "Thank you."

Katsuko and Hana continued walking down the street, quickly being able to spot the tavern up ahead. "Well, here's the food," Katsuko said with a chuckle. He himself was hungry, so the idea of eating something warm lit him up. Hana had been lit up since they first got on the boat, so he couldn't tell if she was any more excited than her new usual. However, as soon as the two entered the building, Katsuko frowned. The place was packed. There were people everywhere, all making noise. Perhaps the reason the streets weren't packed was because all the towns drunks were here. With a sigh, Katsuko led Hana, whom seemed to not mind all the noise, inside.

The two saw there were no seats available at any of the tables or booths. But just before he gave up hope, two men walked away from the bar, leaving their stools open. Katsuko took advantage of the opportunity and he and Hana sat down at the bar. "You look a bit young to be drinkin', boy," the bartender said, catching Katsuko's attention. "I'm not here for alcohol. We just wanted some food and something warm to drink," Katsuko said, having to raise his voice over the noise throughout the tavern.

This earned a chuckle from the bartender. He seemed to be a slightly older man. Someone that could be described as 'seasoned.' And he seemed to find these two foreigners amusing. "Sure thing. I'll get you two some hot coffee and get your orders in a minute." Before Katsuko could correct him about the coffee, the bartender moved away. Not wishing to yell to get him back, Katsuko just sighed and looked around. Hana was already looking around, but she seemed more interested in what was going on. Katsuko seemed more annoyed in what was going on.

Before the bartender could return, Katsuko felt a hand fall on his shoulder as a drunk patron moved up to the counter. "Do you have an... any cash ya can spare?" he asked, with a hiccup in the middle of his sentence. Katsuko quickly shoved the man's hand off his shoulder and looked away. He didn't want to deal with this guy. But the man was persistent, and this time forced Katsuko to look at him by pulling back on his shoulder. "Ignorin' people is rude, ya know." "I don't have any money to spare. Now get your hands off of me," Katsuko said, before once again pushing his hand off his shoulder.

As Katsuko turned back toward the bar, the drunk man seemed furious. With Katsuko's back turned to him and the bartender arriving again, he began to aim a punch. Just as Katsuko picked up his coffee, after getting over the fact his only option was coffee, the man struck the back of Katsuko's head. This caused him to lean forward a bit and slam his face into his glass, shattering the glass in his hand and making a mess. The noise around him quieted down a bit, as enough people heard glass shatter and drinks spill to wonder what was going on.

"Uh-oh..." Hana murmered, before giggling a bit. Katsuko was not in such a laughing mood. When he turned around, his irises were now red. The drunk man noticed the change in color, and seemed confused. "You fucked up, buddy," Katsuko said, before jumping from his seat and punching the man in the face. Not too hard, as Katsuko didn't want to kill him. Just knock him out. As he hit the floor, another man jumped up. "Hey, you can't just go punchin' people!" he shouted at Katsuko, walking forward with his fist pulled back. Clearly, he was the drunk guy's friend and just as drunk as he was.

With a little hop, Katsuko planted a spinning kick into the man's chest, sending him flying backwards. He crashed into a group of men huddled around a table that appeared to be having a drinking game. With this interruption, they seemed to be displeased. But rather than to have the sense to go after Katsuko, they began to take their anger out of the man that crashed into them. The first guy Katsuko hit began to wake up, and saw his friend being pummeled on the other side of the tavern. "Oi!" he shouted, before sloppily getting to his feet and running over to the group.

Surely enough, the place began to erupt into a large, unorganized battle royale. This was a barfight if Katsuko ever saw one. "This place is a madhouse," Katsuko said to Hana, before sitting back down and looking back toward the bartender. And judging by his reaction, this event was not such a rare occurance. Before Katsuko could order food, a stray chair crashed into Katsuko. He turned around to see no culprit, determining that it must've been thrown at random. "This place is fun," Hana remarked with a chuckle, earning a glare from Katsuko. "This isn't fun, this is crazy," he responded, before once again trying to order food.

And once again, he felt someone punch the back of his head. Without even turning around, Katsuko's fist shot backwards, punching the man in the groin. As he fell to the ground, almost ready to burst into tears, Katsuko turned around and stood up. "Enough!" he shouted over all the noise, creating a halt to the chaotic fighting. Everyone stopped and looked at him, some even in the position of preparing a punch or something. "Thank you." With that, Katsuko sat back down. He half expected someone to interrupt him before he could order, so he paused a moment to see if anyone would. With the coast clear, he opened his mouth to request food.

"Who made a foreigner like you in charge?" Katsuko let out a frustrated groan before turning around. There were three men behind him, uncomfortably close. "No one did. I just want some peace and quiet for a little bit so I can enjoy my meal. So if you would be so kind, back the fuck up." They didn't seem to like Katsuko's attitude. "Why should I listen to a kid like you?" the man in the middle said, sharply poking Katsuko in the chest with his right forefinger.

But before he could retract it, Katsuko grabbed the outstretched hand and twisted the arm around. This forced the man into an awkward position. Katsuko then kicked him in the side, sending him falling into a nearby table. His two friends tried to grab Katsuko, but he jumped up, taking them along with him. In the air, Katsuko spun around and tossed both on the ground. By the time he landed himself, the first one was getting up again. But a well placed punch to the jaw sent him spiralling backwards across the tavern, crashing through the front door and out into the snow-covered street. After that display, his two friends started to crawl away from Katsuko to safety.

"Anyone else!?" Katsuko shouted, clearly enfuriated by recent events. After looking everyone in the eyes, and seeing nobody else had the courage to fight him, he sat back down and let out a sigh of relief. "You're getting really worked up," Hana noted. "Let's just get our meals and leave." Katsuko nodded his head in agreement, but before he could order he felt a tap on his shoulder. "For fuck's sake! What now!?"

When Katsuko turned around, he saw something unexpected. Behind him was an old man, wearing ornate green robes with gold trim. The man didn't seem drunk or hostile, so Katsuko was taken a bit off guard. As well, he looked familiar, but Katsuko couldn't recognize the face. "Easy there, lad," the old man said with a laugh. Something about this geezer made Katsuko feel a bit better. He seemd so light hearted, and he barely started talking. "I'm not here to bother ya. I was walking down the street and couldn't help but notice a man come flying out that door. Everyone pointed at you once you turned around." Katsuko had a look of irritation and looked past the old man.

"I see you're a Konoha shinobi. A long way from home, ain't ya?" Katsuko looked back at the old man. His irises were still red. "I needed a vacation," Katsuko said, somewhat sarcastically. But it seemed the old man didn't comprehend that, and burst out laughing. It was a little awkward for Katsuko, and he gave Hana a confused glance. She only shrugged in return. "Oh, boy, you're funny. Mind if I take a seat?" Katsuko shrugged and turned back toward the bar. Since the barfight got most the people in the room involved, the seats along the bar had opened up, and the old man sat next to Katsuko.

"Oh, forgive my manners. I never introduced myself. My name is Waki Sanosuke. Like you, I am also a shinobi, and I also came here for a sort of vacation," the old man introduced himself. At this point, Katsuko realized he definitely heard the name before. "You're from Kumogakure, aren't you?" Katsuko asked, now turning his head to face Waki. With a chuckle, Waki pulled up the left sleeve of his robe. The Cloud symbol was tattooed on his arm. "I am actually the jonin commander."

Suddenly, something inside Katsuko clicked. He knew it all too well. A sudden urge to fight swept over him. He now knew he was sitting next to someone very strong, and was itching to test himself. But, while his instincts were gearing him up for a fight, his heart was telling him otherwise. He wanted to fight Waki, but at the same time, he didn't really want to. In fact, a feeling of depression began to sweep back over him again. But before it could get him too hard, Waki spoke up again. "You seem to have forgotten your manners too. You never introduced yourself." When Katsuko looked back at Waki, his irises were no longer red. They were violet now, and Waki noticed.

"My name is Katsuko Moto." While Waki processed this, from behind Katsuko, Hana decided to also pipe in. "And my name is Hana." Waki began chuckling at the words of these two. "Nice to meet you two. Your name is familiar, my boy. Would you happen to be related to Jinkama Moto?" There was a silence now. His father's name stung him. "My father..." Realizing the change in mood, Waki straightened up a bit. "I heard he was a great man. I'm sorry for your loss."

Katsuko didn't know how to respond to someone's condolences. So he simply shrugged. Hana, on the other hand, was a bit more talkative right now. "You see, Katsuko and I are going on an adventure right now," she began to explain. This already amused Waki. "It's been pretty good so far. We had some bumps along the way, and he's been depressed for most of the journey, but I've been trying to cheer him up. Would you want to help me with that?" Upon hearing Hana suggest to Waki to cheer him up, Katsuko knew that she was going to suggest they fight. Part of him got excited, and the other part dreaded it. He wanted to fight, but he was afraid of his dream.

"Of course I would. How can I help cheer up ol' frowney face over here?" Waki asked with a chuckle. Hana also laughed, seemingly amused with his bad joke. But Katsuko pretended to ignore the two of them. "He really loves to fight people, but lately he hasn't been himself. Maybe you two can fight. If you're jonin commander, you're probably pretty strong aren't you?" "Why, yes I am. How about it my boy? Want to go outside and have a little spar?" Katsuko let out a sigh and sat upright, facing Waki. "I'm sorry old man, but I'm just not feeling it today." This disappointed both Hana and Waki, but neither seemed to give up.

"What's the matter? Afraid I'm gonna hurt ya?" Waki taunted, but it seemed to not work. "Not really, no." So Hana tried to change his mind. "C'mon, Katsuko. You don't get a chance to fight someone this strong all that often." "I know, I know." After these failed attempts, Hana and Waki exchanged a glance, and then the two began to grin devilishly. Before Katsuko could tell what they were up to, they both grabbed an arm and lifted him off his seat.

Though surprised, Katsuko didn't exactly resist as they literally dragged him outside. After all, struggling would be giving in to them and fighting. As well, it would be giving in to his instincts, and he didn't want that either. Once the three were out of tavern, they stood Katsuko upright again. "You're already outside now. C'mon, do it!" Katsuko looked at Hana, before looking at Waki. Before he could curb his instincts, he opened his mouth. "I dunno. I don't want to be seen beating up an old man." With his fighting words, Hana began to make a wide smile. What am I doing? Katsuko thought to himself, examining the smirk on Waki's face. "Seems like you're more in the spirit now. Let us battle!"

Before Katsuko could salvage this and avoid a fight, Waki let out an open hand strike to Katsuko's chest. Much to the teenager's surprise, there was a lot of power behind it. Though it didn't hurt Katsuko, it sent him flying backwards, before he crashed into the snowy street and bounced several times. After a few bounces, he landed on his feet and skidded to a halt. Holy shit, he's strong, Katsuko thought, taking a few heavy breaths. But as he realized that he was now over twenty meters away from where he was struck, an exhilirating rush began to consume him. His irises began to turn green, even as he fought the urge to fight. But he couldn't resist. "It's on!"

Hana jumped up and let out a shout of joy, and Waki also smiled. He looked at Hana and gave her a wink, before dashing forward at Katsuko. As the two were in the middle of a street, many passerby had stopped and looked on. As the old man approached at startling speed, Katsuko dashed forward as well with his fist pulled back. When the two met, he swung forward, not at full force though as he didn't know how tough the man was. But it was a blow that would make Waki hurt if it hit.

And to Katsuko's surprise, Waki blocked the punch by letting it collide into his open palm. The shocking part was that the blow didn't destroy the bones in his arm. "You sure pack a punch, boy," Waki said, before swinging his leg around to kick Katsuko in the side. But before the foot could make it, Katsuko brought his other arm down and blocked it. This brought a grin to both their faces. This was an interesting match. "Skilled in taijutsu, I see," Katsuko commented. "Looks like you are too."

Everyone in the street looked amazed now. The two began to exchange high speed blows with each other. They were almost a blur as they would match each other punch for punch, kick for kick. What wasn't blocked was dodged, and neither took any damage from this exchange. Hana looked on, totally impressed. They had found, by pure luck, an opponent for Katsuko that was able to match his skill in taijutsu. After a moment of this display, the two jumped back from each other, giving each other their space. "I have never seen someone like you before," Waki stated with a grin. "I have never seen anyone that can match me in taijutsu before." The two exchanged smirks, before dashing forward again.

This time, Katsuko tried it differently. He moved sideways once they began to clash, and tried to catch Waki off guard with a spinning kick rather than a punch. But the old man was just as fast as Katsuko, if not faster, and managed to block the kick. In fact, he even grabbed Katsuko's leg and attempted to hold him still so he could return a kick. But Katsuko's other leg swept around, tripping Waki from his ankles. Before either could hit the ground, they both kicked off each other and went skidding through the snow in opposite directions. They jumped to their feet at the same time.

I feel so alive, Katsuko thought, bringing his fists up in a fighting stance. Almost as if Waki could read his thoughts, he began to speak again. "Having fun yet?" Katsuko began laughing at that. "Oh yeah. Oh yeah!" Before Katsuko could launch another offensive, Waki continued. "Do you want me to go all out now?" Though Waki asked the question like it was a joke, that it was obvious he was far more powerful than Katsuko. But the teenager took it seriously. "Yes. Do it. Show me what you can do."

"Well, to do that, we're going to have to go somewhere out of town. For safety reasons," Waki said. Katsuko grinned and dashed forward. Waki prepared for an attack, but Katsuko ran past him, before turning around just as he passed Waki. "Let me help with that," Katsuko said, before bringing his fist in an uppercut at full power. Wake quickly turned around, bringing his arms in to block the attack. Which was good for him, because a blow like that was dangerous and Katsuko was too close to dodge. The impact against Waki's arms sent him flying backwards. Very far backwards.

While Waki was still in the air, Katsuko began running down the street after him. Though he wasn't knocked all the way out of town, Waki was thoroughly impressed by the power of the blow. He landed on his feet and skidded to a halt in the snow, almost out of town. But rather than continue to fight, he began running in the same direction as Katsuko, though he was further ahead. Realizing they were changing venue, Hana decided to run and catch up with the two.

They ran to the nearest clearing, as the town was surrounded by snowy trees. Here, they were far enough away. Upon turning around, Waki saw that Katsuko was heading straight for him. "You have proven to be pretty strong, Katsuko Moto," Waki began, before closing his eyes. Upon seeing this, Katsuko stopped himself. Something was happening to Waki. Fur as white as the hair on his head began growing on his arms, with little tufts being revealed under the sleeves of his robes. As well, his face started to appear more like that of an ape. "So I will honor your strength by showing you mine." When he opened his eyes, they were different. And upon him opening them, Katsuko felt a wave of power sweep through the trees, knocking the snow out of the leaves.

Hana now arrived in the clearing and could see Waki too. As he ripped off his robes and let them fall in the snow, it seemed that most of his body was covered in this fur, except for the front of his torso and face. "I will show you my Sage Mode." Katsuko seemed daunted for a bit, before smirking again. "And I will show you my true power." Katsuko ripped off his coat as well, before closing his eyes and forming the Seal of Confrontation. When he opened them again, his irises were now red and glowing. And immediately, Waki felt a large portion of his chakra get drained. He looked away and realized that it was by eye contact with Katsuko that he could steal the chakra. "I will show you my dojutsu."

Waki chuckled at this. "Chakra absoprtion, huh. Borrowing your opponent's power to use it against them. Clever," he said, before launching himself at Katsuko. However, even with Katsuko's now heightened abilities, he couldn't keep up. Waki's foot planted itself firmly in Katsuko's chest, sending him flying backwards. He crashed through several dozen trees, before landing on his feet. This is intense! Katsuko thought, before charging forward over the fallen trees. His fist connected with Waki's arms, and the ground around them began to shatter from the power. This created a large crater underneath the two, and the snow that was in it was sent flying into the air before it began drifting down again. Almost like it was snowing. This display was awe inspiring to Hana. "Go Katsukoooo!" she cheered, pumping a fist in the air for emphasis.

Katsuko noticed that Waki was able to fight Katsuko so closely without looking into his eyes. That would be a problem, because this new Sage Mode seemed very powerful. Katsuko brought his fist back from Waki and tried to send a kick to his side instead. But Waki was too fast and caught Katsuko's leg. Before Katsuko could spin his other leg around and kick the old man in the face, Waki spun around and threw Katsuko at the side of the crater they were in. With tremendous force, Katsuko crashed into the earth, destroying the ground where he hit and knocking over two nearby trees from the impact. With surprising speed and enthusiasm, Katsuko jumped to his feet.

Waki began laughing now. "How on Earth can you be so energetic after two blows like that! You are insane! Katsuko smiled now. He felt proud of himself. Proud of his power. His opponent, a powerful one at that, just acknowledged his ability. "That's my secret," Katsuko said, his smile changing to a devilish grin. "I am insane." Before Katsuko could shoot forward like a bullet, Waki beat him to it. The old man was now in his face, and he sent a fist toward Katsuko's jaw. At his speed, Katsuko was unable to block in time. But much to his surprise, Waki's fist stopped just short of contacting Katsuko's face. He was puzzled before a split-second, before it hit him.

The force of the punch, even though it was pulled, reached Katsuko. And it hit hard. The blast sent Katsuko spinning into the trees, crashing through several trunks before finally landing on his feet on another trunk. Cracks appeared in the wood underneath where his feet landed. "You're pretty powerful, old man!" Katsuko shouted, before launching off the tree. As he flew through the air, he continued. "I haven't been pushed this hard in a long time! This is the most fun I've had in months!" A grin formed on Waki's face. Once again, he looked back at Hana. She was smiling, and if he couldn't tell any better, she seemed to have tears in her eyes. But as Waki looked back toward Katsuko, he found that he had underestimated his foe's speed.

The orange haired teenager planted his fist directly into Waki's chest. This sent the old man flying backwards from the force, crashing through many trees before landing on his feet and skidding to a halt. He took a second to take a deep breath after that. "Almost knocked the wind out of me," he said to himself, before looking up with a grin. "If this is what you find fun, let's keep dancing!" Waki shot forward and met Katsuko again, and the two began another high-speed exhange of punches and kicks. Matching each other punch for punch, kick for kick...

---

The whole forest seemed to have been destroyed. Many trees were no longer standing, and the landscape now contained several craters across it, though none as large as the initial crater. Speaking of, Waki and Katsuko were at the base of the largest crater. Katsuko looked incredibly tired and worn out, but determination still burned in his eyes and a grin was still on his face. It could be noted that his eyes were no logner glowing, so he wasn't using his dojutsu. Waki, on the other hand, seemed a lot less tired. Though he was no longer in Sage Mode, having run out of the Sage Chakra for it a while ago, he was still in good condition.

"You put up a good fight, my boy," Waki said, before chuckling a bit. Katsuko raised his fists into a fighting stance again. "I'm not done." The two paused at this, and Waki shook his head. "You're almost out of chakra, and you look as tired as a dog. If I hit you again, you might not laugh it off so easily. Your heart is not done, but your body is." Katsuko thought about those words for a second, slightly lowering his guard. But he quickly decided to ignore them and charged forward at Waki again. However, he only made it two steps before he began to fall.

Before he could hit the ground, Hana ran to his side and caught him. Waki was impressed at the small woman's speed, noting that she was faster than he was. "Maybe..." Katsuko began, with a chuckle, "You are right on this one." As Hana helped him stand upright, Waki thrust his hand forward. At first it made Katsuko flinch, but he soon realized that Waki was holding his hand out to shake hands. "In my years, I have met few young men or women with the spirit you have. You possess strength, that much is clear. But what you may not see, but I certainly do, is that you have a burning will. Could it be that Will of Fire that I've heard about?"

Katsuko smiled, and accepted the handshake. When the two's hands met, it was almost as if a thundering boom echoed across the battlefield. "No. That's not the Will of Fire. That will..." Katsuko closed his eyes for a moment, but when he opened them, his irises were an intense violet. "That is the will of my father." Waki smirked with these words, and the two ended the handshake. "Your father was a powerful man. It only makes sense you would inherit such strength of the soul." The teenager chuckled, and looked down to Hana. She let go of him and he stood up on his own. "Can we call this a draw?"

---

The party had returned to the tavern. It was much emptier than before, and Katsuko and Hana finally got something to eat and drink. The three sat at a table now, and seemed to be having a good time. "You two are a riot," Waki said after finishing laughing. "We didn't even do anything..." Katsuko mumbled as he took a sip of his coffee. Hana only giggled at the two. Her plate was already empty, and so was Katsuko's, but its seemed that Waki was a slow eater. "You see, I came to the Land of Snow to visit an old friend. For the good times. But I haven't even made it to the capital yet and I've already run into you lot. And I do have to say, I have enjoyed myself today."

The old man took a sip of his tea, finally finishing the cup and setting it down. "You are an exceptional child, Katsuko. I could tell you've worked long and hard to get where you are, and your passion is inspiring. But alas..." Waki now stood up from the table. Evidently, it was time for him to get moving. "I must be leaving you two now. If I want to keep my schedule, that is." Katsuko smiled and stood up and held his hand out. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Waki Sanosuke. Or would you prefer it if I called you old man?" This earned some laughter from Waki, and he accepted the handshake. "Only if I can keep calling you boy, Katsuko Moto."

Hana jumped to her feet now, to say goodbye to Waki. "Bye-bye Waki," she said, also holding her hand out for a handshake. This display cracked Waki up, but he shook her hand anyways. It was apparent that she was mimicking Katsuko, in a way. "You keep looking after him, Hana," Waki said. With a wide grin, Hana nodded in agreement. With the farewells given, Waki exited the tavern, leaving Katsuko and Hana to themselves again.

"How ya feeling?" she asked. Katsuko let out a chuckle and looked over to her. "Tired. I feel like I should take a nap or something. And it's not even night yet. That fight wore me out." This earned some giggling from Hana. "What's so funny?" Another stiffled giggle, and Hana looked away from Katsuko. "You lost," Hana let out between giggles, before finally bursting out in laughter. This earned an annoyed look from Katsuko, but he too began to smile after a moment. "You win some, you lose some."

With that, he finished off his coffee and set the mug down. "You enjoying this adventure so far? It seems to me that most of the physical activity going on since we left has come from me," Katsuko said, getting a scoff from Hana. "I am enjoying myself, actually. But the point of this is so you can enjoy yourself. To have fun. To get you going again! To bring back the old Katsuko." Upon her mentioning that, the smile left Katsuko's face. "Oh yeah..." Realizing her mistake of bringing his old dream back up, and by extension his father, Hana looked sad. But rather quickly, she looked determined.

"Hey! Quit pouting. We don't have any time for pouting," she commanded. This earned a light chuckle from Katsuko. "I'm not pouting. I'm just tired. I think I'm gonna rent a room here for the night, then we can travel to the capital or something. Er... then we can build that giant snowman you wanted." As if she was excited that Katsuko remembered that, a smile brightened Hana's face. "Alright! So I think I have tomorrow all planned out."

Hana whipped out a long piece of paper and a pen and began writing things down. "First we're gonna get some breakfast. Make sure you have enough coffee for the day. Then after that, we have to go and get our clothes cleaned. Once that is done, we can move on to the snowman, and after that..." Hana began listing off, speaking very fast and nonstop. With a tired groan, Katsuko rested his head on the table while Hana continued explaining the plan for tomorrow. But despite the seemingly endless list of things that he didn't exactly find fun, Katsuko smiled to himself and closed his eyes. Pretty soon, Hana noticed that Katsuko was asleep, with his head on the table. She giggled a bit, and patted his head. No reaction. So with that, she decided to leave him. "I'll finish telling you the list tomorrow."

[j8cob]

Katsuko and Hana's Adventure
Part III: The Thousand Strong Army
What happens when indomitable will meets overwhelming odds? Clash in the Star Village!
Eight Months into Timeskip

Katsuko's fist shot forward, stopping mere inches away from the bark of the tree. Like all his previous attempts, nothing happened. This earned a brief scowl, before his face returned to a serious expression. "Just give it up for now, Katsukooo," Hana pleaded from behind the teenager. The two were in a forest, no longer surrounded by snow or dressed for the cold. Katsuko had a large backpack strapped to his back, showing that the two had been trekking for a while. With a sigh, Katsuko resigned himself from his fighting stance. "I want to be able to do what that old man did. It makes no sense. He must've used chakra in some way, because simply pulling the punch doesn't do anything," Katsuko said, beginning to rant before Hana placed her hand over his mouth.

"We are not training, silly! We are having an adventure and our next stop is so close, so let's just do that for now. Maybe we can fit some time for training in while we are there," Hana told him. Though his mouth was covered, Katsuko's eyes did a good enough job of displaying irritation. Surprisingly gently, he removed her hand from his face. "Fine, fine. I wish you would tell me what is so special about the Hidden Star Village. From what I know, it's just a bum shinobi village. I fail to see the fun in that." As the two began walking along again, Hana started skipping.

"Well, since we're so close I guess I can tell you," she started. "Every year, the Hidden Star Village has an awesome festival. They've been keeping that tradition for a long time. It's really cool. They will have games, and food, and music, and dancing, and ooooh it just seems so fun!" Her last few words had escalated in volume to almost a shriek, and seemed to bother Katsuko's ability to hear for a moment. "So a festival." Hana turned around with that. "A fun festival." With that, the two began walking again. Though Hana had a spring in her step, Katsuko was still preoccupied with the idea behind that strike.

The two continued on like this for a while longer, and they soon found the trees led to a large open gate. But as Hana began to run forward, both her and Katsuko noticed something. The village seemed almost deserted. There was certainly no signs of a festival going on throughout the village. In fact, it was eerily quiet too. "Some festival this is," Katsuko remarked sarcastically as the two walked through the village. Though there were no citizens walking about, Katsuko could see that the village wasn't abandoned. The occasional closing of a window or the appearance of someone at a doorway proved that there was indeed a population here. "I don't think this place has had any amount of fun for a while."

"Something is wrong." Despite the obviousness of her statement, Katsuko said nothing. The two carried on for a while until they found a park. It too had no people around. "This is just creepy. Like something out of fiction. Let's just go," Katsuko suggested, stopping and looking down at Hana. She had an expression that revealed she was thinking hard. Undoubtedly trying to figure out what was going on here. Unlike Hana, Katsuko didn't particularly care. "There's nothing for us here, and if we go bothering the locals we probably won't be welcome either."

"You're right about that," a voice from behind the two sounded. Upon turning around, Katsuko and Hana saw a man. He wasn't exactly tall, but his slenderness gave him the illusion of height. He also wore strange clothes, though most were darkly colored except for his headband. It bore no symbol of a village, but its cloth was a vivid green. "I see you foreigners have noticed the absence of life in this village. Do you want to know why?" Without skipping a beat, Katsuko replied simply. "No." This seemed to displease both the man and Hana. "What happened here?" The man shrugged and began walking toward the two.

"Some weeks ago, this big group of bandits came around. Only they weren't bandits, they were all shinobi. Former shinobi of the Star Village that had banded together. There are quite a lot of them, you know. What happened was that a few years ago, the village lost a lot of money, and as such many shinobi couldn't find work. After several years, their anger grew to boiling point and they decided to take over the Star Village. They run it like before, only all the real profit now goes to shinobi-turned-bandits," the man explained as he walked. He stopped walking the same time he stopped talking, leaving him just a few meters from Katsuko and Hana.

Hana had an expression of understanding, but Katsuko seemed indifferent. "So you're one of those bandits," Katsuko stated, startling both Hana and the strangely dressed man. But he began to grin after that. "You figured me out quite easily. You must be pretty intelli-" "You dress way too stupid to be a normal person." This created an awkward silence, before the man let out a sigh. "Well I guess my sense of fashion might not be the best but you don't have to be so harsh." His reaction earned a chuckle from Hana, but Katsuko's expression never changed. "Why are all the people afraid?"

This created another pause. And it seemed to displease the man. "Because sometimes they don't remember who is in charge around here and need to be reminded of who is protecting them." His tone seemed almost threatening. "Not very good protectors, then. If they don't feel safe, then something is wrong in this equation." Katsuko's words only seemed to anger this man now. "Anyways, I noticed you two were wandering about and felt it to be sporting of me to warn you of where you stand. Obviously you are welcome, but don't expect any of us to be hospitable, especially with that attitude of yours. Watch yourself while you're here, or you might get hurt."

The two locked eyes in a fierce stare for a moment, before Hana broke the silence and the tension. "Why aren't the people holding the Festival of the Stars?" This made the strange man start laughing, and he continued laughing as he walked away. "It's a waste of money, so we banned that practice," he said, almost as parting words since he broke into laughter again after that and continued to walk away. This made Hana a bit upset, and she looked up to Katsuko. "What are we going to do now?" Katsuko was silent for a moment, but a smirk formed on his face as he looked down to Hana. "We are going to stay the night. And tomorrow, we are going to visit these bandit guys and have a little... talk." Katsuko began to chuckle after that, but it took Hana a moment to understand what he was suggesting.

The two walked the opposite direction as the strangely dressed man. "So you're going to-" Before Hana could finish, Katsuko placed his hand over her mouth and wagged a finger at her. "Let us not talk about that here. You never know who might be listening in on our private conversations," Katsuko said, though his tone suggested that he was using a generic statement intentionally to mock the fact that bandits may be around. Hana understood what he meant quickly enough and nodded, and thus Katsuko released her. "Let's just find an inn. I think we need a little more perspective on this situation than the one we were just given. And more details."

The two walked silently a bit longer, before they found a building with a sign above the door claiming it to be an inn. Katsuko walked toward it and knocked on the door. After a moment, it cracked open and an old man's face appeared through the crack. "We are looking for a place to stay tonight. You willing to do business?" Katsuko asked, crossing his arms and standing upright. Seeing that Katsuko and Hana weren't bandits, the man opened the door completely. "Yes. Come in, come in." The two entered and found the place pretty empty. The only other person there was an old lady, probably this man's wife. "Nice day outside, isn't it?" Katsuko said, offering conversation. Except the old couple seemed to be more interested in finding the two a room key.

"Who are those bandit guys?" Hana asked rather bluntly, catching everyone's attention. With a sigh, the old man began to explain. "They used to be shinobi that worked for the Star Village. But now, they have taken over. There are a thousand of them, so the shinobi that remained loyal stood no chance." With this brief detail, Katsuko and Hana's eyes widened. "A thousand?" Katsuko asked, clearly skeptical of the claim. After all, he and Hana had walked all over the Star Village and only found one. "Aye, a thousand. The vast majority of the Star Village's shinobi. In this way, our standing with the rest of the world has remained the same, but within our own walls... everything is different."

There was a silence around the room now. Katsuko examined the elderly couple, as both seemed to be reminiscing. Probably about the time before the bandits. "This sucks," Hana pouted, sitting down on a bench along the wall. Katsuko remained standing, and took one quick glance around the room. "If those bandits were to vanish tomorrow, would the village be able to put on that festival? The, uh... Festival of... Festival of Stars, right?" Katsuko spoke up, surprising everyone in the room. The old lady chuckled a bit, but the old man sighed. "If only it were that simple." Katsuko looked over his shoulder at Hana and gave her a smirk. Before she could react, he also gave her a thumbs up. "Looks like we'll be having that festival after all."

"What do you mean?" the old man asked, now approaching Katsuko with a room key. As the teenager took it and began to rummage through his bag for money, he explained. "I'll go take care of them tomorrow. We came here for a festival, and we'll get one." He handed the man some money, but he didn't immediately take it. "Now hold on a minute youngin', I wasn't exaggerating about a thousand bandits. You seem to be a shinobi yourself, but that's a foolish idea so far." Katsuko shrugged. "I don't need to defeat all of them. Just enough of them." His response seemed to concern the old man, and he took the money and walked back behind the counter to his wife.

"So we're gonna have a fight?" Hana asked, bouncing over to Katsuko with energy. "No, just me. You will stay out of it." This immediately puzzled Hana, and she seemed hurt by the command. "But why?" Katsuko stood upright again, giving Hana an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, but I don't want you to get hurt by my new technique. I would prefer if you stayed out of this one. But next time I'll let you join in. I promise," Katsuko explained. Though this confirmed to Hana that Katsuko wasn't just being mean, she was still disappointed. With a resigning sigh, she nodded her head and the two went to their room.

---

The midday sun shone brightly over the Star Village. Like the day before, it was seemingly devoid of life. Except Katsuko and Hana were walking down one of the streets. Ahead of them was the largest building in the village, where Katsuko presumed the most important bandits would be residing. His guess seemed fairly accurate, for the closer he got to the mansion the more shinobi he noticed. There were men and women of varying ages standing on roofs, leaning against walls, looking out open windows. And as Katsuko and Hana passed them, they would begin to follow the two. It was rather strange to Hana, and she made that clear in her expressions. But Katsuko almost seemed to not even notice.

"You two seem pretty stupid," the man from yesterday said. He appeared down the road ahead. And with him, it was now evident that Katsuko and Hana were surrounded on all sides. Though they couldn't possibly count, Katsuko figured that there were easily hundreds of shinobi around him. He couldn't resist chuckling, which the strange man noticed. "You think dying is funny? I warned you two yesterday, but now you've walked into the lion's den." Katsuko made a motion with his hand to the side, and Hana began to back up. Though she dared not stray too far from Katsuko, as there were shinobi in every direction and some weren't all that far away. "Unfortunately, you and I have conflicting goals. I want a festival, and you don't. For that reason and that reason alone, I am going to have to defeat you all."

There was a moment of silence, before the sound of hundreds of men and women bursting out into laughter swept the area. "You are trying to die! We are all trained shinobi. And we aren't scrubs, either. Though we all vary in skill, most of us are jonin class. And me, I'm above even that. You really don't underst-" The strange man stopped talking, as Katsuko closed his eyes and made the Seal of Confrontation. This confused him for a moment, but an angry expression came over the man's face. "Fine! If you really want to die, then so be it." He turned around and began to walk away. The crowd behind him moved to the side to give him a path to leave, but they all faced Katsuko. Without opening his eyes, Katsuko formed the Tiger handseal. This was new to Hana, and she realized he was performing a new technique.

He must be pretty confident he can do this. I'm not sure if even Keiko would be able to take these people on. But this also means it is time for me to go, because he said... Hana thought, but she didn't quite finish it. With one rapid movement, Katsuko brought his arm across and ripped off his shirt. This exposed his muscular chest and arms, as well as the large scar that run over his left shoulder. When Katsuko opened his eyes, they were red and they were glowing. But on top of that, small black dots began to appear all over his exposed skin. These black dots began to expand, becoming the shape of eyes. They appeared as if they were drawn onto his skin, and the eyes were first just black and white. But after they were finished forming, their irises also suddenly turned red. And then it hit her.

The hundreds of shinobi that were looking at Katsuko all felt it. Hana looked away, because she knew what was happening. A large portion of her chakra was just stolen. But most of these other shinobi didn't immediately realize that Katsuko was taking their chakra. And while his body was overloading on all the new power, chakra began radiating from his body. The ground beneath his feet began to crack, and after two full seconds the radiating chakra became more intense. "The more opponents I fight, the stronger this secret technique becomes," Katsuko said, looking at as many shinobi as he could. At this point, they all began to charge him. It was now going to be overkill, so it would seem. Many moved in for close combat, and many others were performing handseals. But it was clear that all attacks were going to be directed at the orange-haired teenager in the middle of the street.

But before a single attack could hit him, someone fell. One of the shinobi that was near Katsuko finally ran out of chakra from looking at the boy, which caused him to pass out. As if it started a chain reaction, dozens of shinobi began to pass out mid-attack. It took a moment longer, but someone finally shouted it. "He's stealing our chakra!" But it was too late. The chakra radiating from Katsuko was very intense now, reaching out nearly a meter in every direction. He had too much chakra to use, since he was stealing it from so many people at once, which caused the chakra to radiate from his body. "Bingo. Hana, run." With this command, the small cat-woman bolted through the diminishing crowd. Despite the situation, many shinobi continued falling victim to Katsuko's technique. Hundreds, in a matter of seconds.

The vast majority of the shinobi that had started to attack had passed out from loss of chakra. But those that remained, which was still very many, had figured out to not look at Katsuko's eyes or the eye tattoos across his body. They were the ones that Katsuko would have to defeat. Just enough Katsuko thought to himself with a smirk. A shinobi tried to slice at Katsuko with a katana, but the teenager was having none of it. Katsuko's impressive speed was boosted significantly from all the chakra he stole over the past few seconds, and his dodge made him invisible to the naked eye. But that was just from his speed. He reappeared next to the shinobi, planting his knee into the man's abdomen. His body lurched around Katsuko's leg, before being shot off like a bullet. This man crashed into several other shinobi on his flight path, and at his velocity it took them out too. He probably wouldn't survive that, but those he collided into were only knocked out. After plowing through the crowd, the man crashed into a building, sending rubble and debris into the air along with a small dust cloud.

The power and speed of that one move more than impressed the shinobi that surrounded Katsuko. But they weren't afraid. Not yet. A bolt of lightning cracked through the air toward Katsuko, but the boy disappeared in a blur again. This time, he reappeared in front of another group of shinobi that were approaching. He reached out and grabbed a shinobi in each hand, both women. In one fluid motion, he spun around and threw one at the roof that several shinobi were standing on, and continued with the spin to throw the other at another roof. Both crashed into their targets with enough force to entirely destroy each roof, taking out the shinobi on them. Though Hana was running away, she could hear the sound of buildings crashing down. I wish I could stay and see how this is going...

Katsuko's power was too much for the shinobi. Those that managed to not lose all their chakra still lost most, and it was Katsuko that got all that chakra. The power of hundreds of people kept him going. The remainder just couldn't handle that. Not even one by one, but groups at a time, Katsuko defeated the shinobi. The ones that tried to keep him at range found that Katsuko was fast enough to dodge all their attacks at once and close the distance before they could try again. Those that tried to use swords or their fists found their weapon of choice broken and their unconscious body sent flying. This fight lasted for several minutes, and a few more buildings were wrecked in the process. But by the end of it, Katsuko found himself standing in the middle of a crowd of unconscious and dead shinobi. As the dust began to settle, Katsuko smirked. "Like I said, the more of you there are, the more effective that technique," Katsuko said, knowing full well that nobody would hear that.

"I am impressed. For a fool, you managed to perform quite a feat. That is some technique you have there, but you say that it is more effective with more opponents. So how well does it work on only one?" Katsuko looked back toward the mansion. He assumed that the strange man was in the crowd of shinobi that he defeated, but as he was too focused on combat he couldn't remember if he did. But upon looking at this man, Katsuko found that the strange man was looking right at him. But he wasn't passing out, nor could Katsuko feel that he was stealing his chakra. Chikaroatoshi wasn't working on this guy? "If it's just you, I think I'll be doing just fine," Katsuko said, asserting a fighting stance. This made the strange man chuckle. "Tough talk, but I already told you that I am above their level." The man slowly withdrew a strange looking kunai knife. It had the handle like normal, but the blade was far skinnier than a typical kunai. It looked almost like a mix of a kunai and a senbon needle.

"That toothpick won't save you, weirdo," Katsuko said, before charging forward. He shot off like a bullet, at a speed that could not be seen by the untrained eye. But before his fist could connect with this man's face, he felt a sharp pain in his hand. The man had ducked below the punch and brought the knife up, stabbing it through Katsuko's fist. Since the two were so close now, Katsuko looked directly into the man's eyes. To start, he somehow wasn't affected by Chikaroatoshi. Then he was fast enough to dodge Katsuko's attack and counter it. There was something about this guy that made Katsuko worried. And then he saw it.

This man was blind.

Now that he was so close to him, he could see it in his eyes. The lack of color, the lack of focus. This man couldn't see. That was how the Chikaroatoshi secret technique did nothing to him. But how was he able to...? The split-second seemed to be over, and the man pulled his knife out of Katsuko's hand and lunged forward. He brought it up in an attempt to stab it through Katsuko's neck, but the teenager dodged to the side and sent a kick to go with it. But the man was still fast enough to dodge it, leaning so far back that he was only as tall as his knees. But as he began to right himself, now behind Katsuko's outstretched leg, he swiped his blade across Katsuko's other leg, splattering blood on the ground. A blow that would cripple a normal person.

It did make Katsuko stumble, but he kept his balance. In fact, he curled his outstretched leg inward, to kick the man in the back of the head with his heel. But this time, the man jumped away behind Katsuko. The moment to breathe was appreciated and Katsuko jumped away as well. "You're blind!" he remarked first, which earned a chuckle. "Yes, it took you a while. I have always been blind. I was born without my sight. But that gives me a lot to use with my other senses. I am guessing by the sound of it that your technique was some sort of dojutsu that required eye contact. You sounded a bit disappointed with your breathing when we started fighting. Katsuko was puzzled. How could he tell his emotions by the sound of his breath? "Bullshit."

"But you see, I'm not kidding. I go by the name of Moujin in the Bingo Book. My senses combined with my affinity for combat have earned me a seat in the pages of the S ranked," the man said. Katsuko's eyes widened a bit, but he quickly regained focus. He didn't have a Bingo Book, so he couldn't say that he was being lied to. "You might be dangerous, but you can't defeat me," Katsuko said, before charging again. This made Moujin chuckle. "I'm sorry kid, but many people before have said the same thing. They think that they can beat me because I cannot see. But that made no difference in the end." Like Katsuko, he shot forward like a bullet. The two were blurs, exchanging blows. But this man seemed just that much faster than Katsuko. Blood began to splatter on the ground as every slash and stab of the knife met Katsuko's body.

But none of Katsuko's punches or kickes met their target. He would dodge or parry every one of them. And at the speed they were going, Katsuko was absolutely baffled that he could do that. Without seeing! Katsuko finally kicked the ground, causing the nearby area to quake as a large crater formed from the impact. The power of the blow sent the blind man back a ways, giving Katsuko a moment to catch his breath. He was covered in cuts and stab wounds now, and blood was leaking all over the ground. The chakra that had been radiating so intensely before was almost gone now, but there was still that aura. "This is a sick joke. You can't seriously be blind and do all this. That's impossible. This kind of damage cannot be done by someone like you." The strangely dressed man began laughing again. "You really are stupid. I already said it, kid. I'm too powerful for you. You have some skill, I'll give you that, but not enough. I mean... let us go by your logic for a moment... you can't even handle a blind man."

Katsuko formed the clone handseal, and a dozen Katsuko clones now surrounded him. "Have it your way. If my power isn't good enough as it is, how about that times twelve?" With that, all dozen shadow clones charged forward at Moujin, making sure to come from different angles. He was entirely surrounded, and each clone was poised for a different kind of strike each. But as they got closer, the blind man sighed. "Ransha no jutsu." There was a blinding flash of light, and the blind man dashed forward. He moved so fast, Katsuko couldn't even see what he did. But as the man began to relax out of his stance, the dozen clones behind him all disappeared in a puff of smoke. Now Katsuko was beginning to feel nervous. "How the...?" "One of my special techniques. Unfortunately for you, I can move faster than the speed of light."

He knew that was an exaggeration, but Katsuko was concerned now. This man was too fast to hit, and too skilled to outsmart. On top of that, he was doing damage. Of course, Katsuko could take his wounds so far, despite the severity. But at this rate... Katsuko gulped. For the first time in a long time, the concept of him dying went through his head. I don't want to die, Katsuko thought to himself, before making a scowl. "Let's see if your speed of light can hold up to me. I only need to hit you once and it's all-" Katsuko couldn't finish, because he felt a surging pain all over his body. The eye tattoos began to vanish, and his own eyes were no longer glowing. In fact, he just realized that the chakra aura he had was gone. He had no more of the chakra he stole from the other shinobi.

"I didn't even do anything yet and you don't sound like you're doing so well," Moujin taunted. This made Katsuko angry, and he charged forward anyways. But without his boosted speed, the difference between the two was even more obvious. The man put his blade directly through Katsuko's chest, having evaded his strike in one fluid motion. "Darn. I missed your heart," he mumbled. but Katsuko reached across and tried to grab him by the hand. Rather, he barely missed Moujin's hand. The man, in order to ensure his own safety, let go of the kunai knife so his hand wouldn't be slowed down enough to be caught. This meant that Katsuko unintentionally grabbed the kunai knife by the handle, which from the force of that caused it to move slightly and earned a grunt of pain. As the man jumped back, Katsuko pulled the blade out of his chest by himself.

There was a silence, but the two heard a noise in the distance. Or at any rate, Katsuko did. Moujin must've heard it long before Katsuko. "You're a tough one. That should have been fatal." Katsuko spit out some blood on the ground and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. "I'm hard to kill." This brought a smirk to the blind man's face. But before the two could converse any further, Hana appeared in a blur. Using her amazing speed, she tried to sucker punch the blind man. Or at any rate, using an element of speed and surprise to cut him open with her claws. But the blind man jumped up and avoiding her slash, while also bringing his leg up and kicking Hana across the face. As she flew back a few meters, Katsuko instinctively shouted for her. "Hana!" As he rushed to her side, the blind man moved in and brought his fist into Katsuko's neck, stunning him.

While Katsuko fell to his knees and began coughing, trying to regain his ability to breathe, the blind man picked up his knife that Katsuko just dropped. "You see, I can kill you right now," he began, standing upright. "But there is a large crowd of people approaching. My record in the Bingo Book is clean, for the most part. If I was witnessed killing you, that would be a bad mark. Especially since you are Konoha." Even though Katsuko was still struggling to breathe, he wondered how this man could tell he was from Konoha without his vision. "And if I killed all the witnesses, someone would fill in the blanks and I would be marked for genocide. That is even worse. I like not having a bounty on my head, so you get to live." The blind man wiped the blood from the blade off on Katsuko's shoulder, before sheathing it. "Since it seems you have defeated my army, I have no reason to be here any longer. The other shinobi will surely come back before this lot can fully recover, and that is a fight we can no longer win thanks to you."

While Moujin was talking, Katsuko finally was able to breathe again and ran toward Hana. She was now picking herself up off the ground, albeit a bit slowly. Though she was fast and dangerous, Katsuko knew that she was fragile. She wouldn't be able to take another hit like that. After picking her up in his arms, Katsuko turned to face the blind man. But he was already gone, without a trace. As predicted, all the villagers appeared down the street in a thick crowd that blocked the entire street. There were even more civilians now than there were fallen shinobi. At first, they stopped, absolutely shocked at what they saw. But before anything was even said, they all began shouting in joy. Hats were thrown in the air, unconscious shinobi were beaten further, and people rushed to thank Katsuko and Hana.

---

It was now a few days later. The night time sky was lit up by all the bright lights and the sound of music flowed across the streets. The Festival of the Stars. Every once in a while, the sound of fireworks would overtake the village, but it would be fleeting. Katsuko and Hana sat at a table at the park they found on the first day. There were children running about on the playthings, and their parents watched with carefree smiles. Not too far away, there was a bland playing lively traditional music. Katsuko and Hana were even dressed like the locals, wearing plenty of gold and red clothes. Underneath Katsuko's clothes, however, were plenty of bandages, and they would occasionally be visible whenver he shifted.

Hana seemed to be having a great time, but Katsuko seemed preoccupied. After Hana took a drink from her cup of tea, she noticed Katsuko's expression and gave him a smack on the arm. "Not this again. You're supposed to be having fun," Hana told him. Katsuko smiled for a moment, but his expression became serious. "I'm sorry. I've just been thinking. This is fun and all, but that blind guy... I need to report to Dragon about him. I have never been outclassed like that before, and at first I was boosted by the chakra of his goons. I'm sure he would want to know about this guy." Hana frowned at these words, but a smile formed on her face. "Maybe he can be your rival or something."

"My rival? He wants to kill me. Rivals don't want to kill each other, just to beat each other. I think I just put myself as number one on his shit-list," Katsuko said, chuckling at the end and taking a sip of his tea. Just across the park, some children set off a rocket. It shot into the night sky and blew up into the shape of a star. "He's dangerous. We have to watch out for this man. I want to have fun, but I can't get him out of my head," Katsuko continued after looking away from the fireworks. His expression of desiring to have fun brought a smile to Hana's face. "Then let's have fun! I want to play some fireworks. Katsukooooo! Let's go play with fireworks!" The small woman jumped to her feet and grabbed Katsuko by the arm. With surprising strength, clearly from her desire to have fun, she yanked Katsuko to his feet and tried to run with him.

That plan didn't work. Hana was mostly running in place, as Katsuko simply walked calmly while she tugged to speed him up. The two eventually made their way to a fireworks stand, and without even paying they were given some to use. After all, these people were under the impression that Katsuko and Hana had defeated the one thousand shinobi that had been oppressing them. But in realtiy, and especially in the back of Katsuko's mind, they didn't defeat all of them. There was one. And that one bothered Katsuko to no end. Is this fear? No, it can't be. I don't fear anything anymore. My worst fear had already happened, so I have nothing left to fear. Especially not just one man. One man...

[j8cob]

Katsuko and Hana's Adventure
Part IV: Pause
A darkness still looms over Katsuko. What will Hana do?
Nine Months into Timeskip

The journey across the Land of Earth was rather uneventful. Despite what he may claim, Katsuko walked with paranoia. But he walked nonetheless. Presently, Katsuko and Hana were just outside the Hidden Grass Village. The orange-haired teenager not only had the large backpack across his back, but Hana was sitting on his shoulders. The road that led up to the front gate was lined with apple trees, and Hana couldn't resist plucking a few. And with Katsuko's height, he made a perfect seat to do so with minimal effort. "These are good, have one," Hana told Katsuko after taking a bite of her apple, before offering a fresh one to her ride. "If I let go of your legs to grab the apple, you'll lose your balance again," Katsuko told her. To compromise this, Hana leaned forward and placed the apple in Katsuko's mouth.

Though this earned a look of displeasure, Katsuko got over it quickly enough and chuckled. He dared not bite down, because the apple would fall and be wasted. So he simply continued on with the apple in his mouth. He couldn't help but think of how silly he looked, but since he was humoring Hana he didn't care much. That is, until the two passed two young women walking the other direction. They stared at Katsuko and Hana for a moment as they passed, but Katsuko could hear them giggling once they were behind him. In an impulse fueled by frustration, Katsuko let go of one of Hana's legs to reach for the apple and remove it from his face. In turn, Hana began to fall backwards, letting out a yelp of surprise. But before she could fall, Katsuko caught her leg, still managing to hold the apple as well.

At this point, Hana was back-to-back with Katsuko. Only she was upside down, and her long hair was now dragging across the ground. "I thought you weren't going to let go," Hana said, her voice sounding somewhat amused. Katsuko sighed. "Sorry, but hey... you didn't fall." With that out of the way, Hana lifted herself up and was sitting upright again on Katsuko's shoulders. "You enjoying the view up there?" "Huh?" Katsuko began chuckling now. "The apple trees are behind us now, but you haven't asked to be let down. I take it you like being tall for once?" As Katsuko began laughing, Hana gave him a sharp whack to the side of his head.

The two were under the gate now, and Katsuko released Hana so she could walk again. With his hands free, Katsuko finally got to eat the fruit in his hands. But he found the apple to be less tasty than Hana claimed. "So here we are. Our final stop before we head home... Let's get food first." "You read my mind." The two began chuckling, before recomposing themselves and walking forward. The village was bustling, that was for sure. They had to dodge random pedestrians as they navigated through the crowds. At one point, Katsuko lost track of Hana. After all, she was short enough to hide in a crowd, whether she wanted to or not. But the two persevered and eventually found a place to retreat.

It was a nice restaurant. Katsuko let out a sigh of relief. "This is probably the best place we've found over the past few weeks," Katsuko said, earning a light chuckle from Hana. "Peaceful, I guess. But I still liked that Festival of the Stars a lot." The two found an empty table and took a seat. After a moment, a waiter approached to take their orders. "Oh, this place is fancy," Katsuko remarked with a chuckle. The thought of whether he could afford to eat here crossed his mind, but he disregarded it rather quickly. The mention of fanciness seemed to irritate the waiter, but he said nothing of it. "Steak. Any kind, I don't care. Just make sure there is a lot of it." "I'll have... hmm... uh... hmm... oh, I'll have the salmon please."

---

By the time the two finished eating, they had racked up quite a bill. Katsuko didn't realize this until it was too late. While the two relaxed in their seats, both more full than they had ever been on their adventure, the waiter returned with the dreaded piece of paper. Upon reading it, Katsuko startled upright. "Uh... I don't have enough... Hold on..." Katsuko rummaged through the backpack he set down and withdrew a wallet. It had cash in it, and Katsuko gave all of it to the waiter. But it wasn't enough. The man gave Katsuko a dangerous glare, which earned a nervous smile from the teenager. "Sir, this won't cover the bill," the waiter said, unsurprisingly. The teenager let his head fall on the table, before letting out a grunt of displeasure. "What do I have to do to call it even?"

In only five minutes, Katsuko was dressed much nicer. He was wearing the same uniform the waiter wore, and was performing the same job. While he took orders, a task that he found difficulty with, Hana remained at the table they had dined at before. Every time Katsuko passed her, they exchanged some words before he got back to working. This sucks. I wanted to get away from all the action for a while, but I didn't want to get this boring and lame, Katsuko thought to himself as he went back to the kitchen. On his trip to deliver someone's meal, someone barged in the front door. An older man, likely in his forties or so, burst in through the door. It was clear that this man was drunk. Not too far behind him, his young son followed, desperately trying to restrain him.

"Why'd you assholes have to fire me the day before my son's birthday?!" the man shouted, seemingly at no one in particular. Another waiter was closer to the man, and joined in with the man's son in trying to calm him down and get him to leave, but it wasn't working. "I worked here for fifteen years and this is my thanks? You should apologize to my boy right now!" The kid, who seemed to be about twelve, grabbed his dad's arm. "C'mon, let's just go home." But this display did nothing. With a sigh, Katsuko decided to go and take care of this problem himself.

"Listen, you drunk," Katsuko said, walking over to the scene. The other waiter's face seemed to show that he predicted this encounter going bad. "You're disturbing the customers so can you take your problems elsewhere?" This only seemed to enrage the man. "Who is this guy? Have you already replaced me with some punk? In one day!?" Katsuko let out another sigh. "This is your last warning. Listen to your son and leave." This time, without a word, the man lunged toward Katsuko. Though it appeared that he wasn't exactly going to attack, just try to threaten him, Katsuko was having none of it. While maintaining his balance and holding a platter of food in one hand, Katsuko's leg shot upward and planted his foot in the man's face.

Not a single bit of food fell from the platter, but the man fell backwards a meter and landed on his back. "Dad!" the boy shouted, getting on his knees to see if his father was okay. Katsuko looked across the restaurant at Hana, who only shrugged in return. But as he turned around to deliver his orders, the boy started talking to him. "Why did you have to be such a jerk?" This made Katsuko pause and turn around. "Me?" "Yeah you! Meanie." This was getting irritating. "Watch it, kid. Now help the kind man remove your father from the building." The boy seemed to throw a minor fit, before stomping his foot on the ground. "I know my father isn't the best man, but he is a good man and you can't just treat him like trash!" Katsuko shook his head and started walking away.

"How would you like it if you had to watch your father get hurt!" This made Katsuko freeze. The platter of food in his hand seemed to lose balance, and all the dishes fell to the floor with a crash. Already, all eyes in the restaurant were on this scene, but now it seemed very quiet. Hana jumped to her feet as she realized how badly this could go. In one quick motion, Katsuko turned around and grabbed the kid by the collar of his shirt, lifting him into the air. His feet kicked around helplessly. "Listen here, you little shit," Katsuko said, staring into the boy's eyes. His irises were red, and his expression was already fierce enough to be terrifying. The boy was clearly scared out of his wits by this.

"Kat, put him down," Hana pleaded, now standing beside Katsuko. She placed her hands on his right arm, trying to use her strength to force him to set the kid down. But his arms didn't budge. "I have had to watch more than just that. I had to sit and watch as my father slowly died right in front of my eyes. Near the end, every breath he took was a breath of pain. And I had to stand by and do nothing because there was nothing I could do." The boy's face seemed to shift from terror to something more understanding. Perhaps there was something more to the mean teenager that lifted him up. "Even at the bitter end, I held his hand as he took his last breath. I had to console my mother, because she was already crying and it was only worse after that. So you shut your fucking mouth about your father."

With this lecture now over, Katsuko let go of the kid. He wobbled a bit as his feet hit the floor, but he kept his balance. By now, the boy's father regained consciousness and was starting to pick himself up. "Wha-... What happened?" Rather suddenly, the boy grabbed his father in an embrace. And all the while, Katsuko looked at the two with spite. Hana saw this and gave Katsuko a little nudge, getting his attention. When he looked over at her, she shook her head and pulled Katsuko away from the others. "Are you okay?" "I'm fine. That kid just needed to learn a lesson." But Hana wasn't buying his story. Before they could continue, an old overweight man barged in from the kitchen. It was the manager.

After taking a look around, his eyes settled on the waiter by the kid and his father, whom were now exiting the restaurant. But the waiter quickly pointed over to Katsuko. "You!" he shouted in a fury, pointing at Katsuko. "Get OOOUUUTTTT!!" Katsuko's eyes had been red this whole time, and this did nothing to improve his mood. The teenager unbuttoned his uniform, took it off and set it on a table, and promptly flipped the manager off. As he and Hana left the restaurant, Hana grabbed their backpack. Once outside, Hana put the backpack on herself. "That wasn't good," Hana said, trying to start a conversation, but Katsuko remained quiet. Scarily quiet. "I know you are upset right now, Katsuko."

This got Katsuko to stop. "I said I'm fine. Gimme the backpack," Katsuko said. Hana took the backpack off and handed it to Katsuko, and he put it on. Apparently, even in his rage, he was considerate enough to carry the bag that weighed more than Hana rather than let her carry it. "You need to stop that." This surprised Katsuko. "Stop threatening kids?" "No, stop lying. You're allowed to have emotions, ya know. You can be honest with me. What's the worst that could happen if you opened up every once in a while?" This created a silence, before Katsuko simply began walking away. This shocked Hana, and she took a second to catch up with him. "Hey, Katsuko. I'm being serious here. I know you're upset because of your father and I just want to let you know... I'm here for you." This made Katsuko stop, and he looked down to Hana.

"Thank you, Hana," was all he said, before walking again. The small woman let out a sigh. This was probably all she was going to get out of him, so she accepted it. The two continued walking until they found what appeared to be the town square. It was even busier than the rest of the village, and the two had to squeeze past the crowd of people. Eventually they found a bench and Katsuko set the backpack down and sat on it. This surprised Hana, and she sat down next to him. "Tired?" Katsuko shook his head. "I just feel like I need to blow off some steam right now, but that would be a bad idea at the moment. So I'm just sitting down and trying to calm down." Hana smiled. This was a good start. And it was something unusual of Katsuko.

The two sat there silently for a while. It felt like an eternity to Katsuko, but in reality it was only ten minutes. He took a look around the crowd. He recognized not a single face. That made sense, as he had never been to this village before. Then he looked next to him, at Hana. She was staring up at him, patiently awaiting something from him. "I think I'm feeling a bit better now," Katsuko said, figuring that was what she wanted to hear. Rather quickly, faster than Katsuko could do anything about it, Hana wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug. This shocked him for a moment, but he recovered quickly and looked down at her again. "What are you doing?" "Trying to make you feel better." The meaning behind it made Katsuko feel warm. Though he hated being hugged, he had never thought about it like that before. And the fact that she cared enough to try was what meant something to him.

But she still was hugging him. "Okay, that's enough," Katsuko said with a light chuckle, before wriggling himself free. "Thanks, Hana. That helped." This earned a wide smile from Hana, and she jumped to her feet. "Alright! Now we can move on to the next thing on our to-do list." The small woman removed piece of paper from her breasts, absolutely bafflling Katsuko. "Where the hell do you keep getting paper and where the hell do you find the time to write all this down without me noticing!?"

---

Night had descended over the Hidden Grass Village. Katsuko and Hana had rented a room earlier. Hana was in her cat form now, curled up on the sheets next to Katsuko. The orange-haired teenager was laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling while he petted Hana with one hand. Even though she was asleep, it had become more of a natural motion to stroke the cat while he was trying to fall asleep himself. The room was dark, but his eyes had already adjusted to the darkness. He continued staring at the ceiling noiselessly, before closing his eyes and trying to sleep again. But every time he closed his eyes, he could see his father. Blood dripping from his mouth, making a dreaded wheezing noise with every breath. Katsuko's eyes shot open, and then his eyes widened in terror.

Sitting next to him on the bed was the blind man from the Hidden Star Village. Only this time, he was wearing orange and pink clothes with a strange black hat that was a bit crooked. His strange knife was held to Katsuko's throat. "Shhhh," he commanded, keeping his voice low. Katsuko dared not move, and apparently he wasn't allowed to raise his voice either. "How did you...?" "Find you? That was easy. You two weren't exactly covering your tracks or staying hidden. Or did you mean how I snuck up on you? That I cannot reveal." Katsuko gulped, and even that motion alone let his neck feel the steel of the blade before it. It was that close. "So let me guess," Katsuko began. "You're going to avenge your men I took out and kill me."

The blind man chuckled quietly at that. "What, them? They were nothing. Just playthings. Think of it like a personal project of mine. Though I was upset you ruined my little project, I started thinking about it and realized something..." The blind man looked away from Katsuko, though technically it didn't really matter where he was looking. "You are Katsuko Moto." This surprised Katsuko. "How can you tell without having ever met me before or being able to see me?" This earned another chuckle. "Your chakra is like that of Jinkama Moto, and he only had one son. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together..." The knife above Katsuko's neck started to glide across it, making Katsuko a bit more nervous.

"So I was thinking about it. Your father had caused me a lot of trouble back in the day, but he's already kicked the bucket. However, I had never thought about you before... Let me explain. A long time ago, I used to work as a sort of mercenary. Whichever village was willing to pay me the most, I was loyal to. For a while, it was Konoha where my loyalties lay. But around that time, your father started becoming a little superstar and my services were no longer required. That is, until the War," the blind man explained. As soon as he mentioned the Shinobi World War, the blade stopped moving. "Of course I can't give you any details, but let's just say that one thing leads to another and your father and I were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Of course, what does any of this have to do with you, you might ask..."

"You are going to tell me everything you know about Dragon Lotus." This made Katsuko let out a brief gasp. But his expression turned stern after that. "I don't know what you're talking about." The blade pressed against Katsuko's throat now. "You have the Dragon Seal. Your father led the group... Two and two, boy..." Katsuko wondered how he was able to figure all of this out, but the pause was only brief. "Well, assuming I knew anything, you should already know I can't tell you anything. You'll just have to kill me, I guess." This made the blind man frown, and he looked back at Katsuko. "Pity. But you aren't getting off the hook that easy." He let off some pressure with the blade, and Katsuko took a deep breath with his new freedom.

"You won't tell me anything, I suppose, but you will still be giving me information. You see, I-" Before he could continue, Katsuko interrupted him. "Hold on. Who are you, anyways? How do you even know about Dragon Lotus? I mean... Explain." The blind man sighed at his words. "I cannot tell you any of that. I already said before, my nickname is Moujin. But that is all you get. Just assume that I've been around a while and that I've seen some things." He began chuckling at his last joke, which made Katsuko feel a bit awkward and nervous. But he stopped after a moment. "Anyways, you won't remember any of this. I'll be putting you to sleep now. You're going to need your beauty sleep, after all." This puzzled Katsuko, before the man's other hand shot forward and covered Katsuko's face. "Moushin no jutsu..."

---

Katsuko startled awake, shooting upright in a cold sweat. The room was bright from the morning light. His sudden motion startled the sleeping cat next to him, and she jumped up onto all four paws in a panic. Katsuko grabbed his head and slouched forward. In a puff of smoke, Hana transformed back into a human. Ironically, she wore night clothes. "You alright Katsuko? she asked, placing a hand on his forehead to feel his temperature. "I'm fine. I just had a bad dream is all." With this, Katsuko sat upright and let out an exasperated sigh. He couldn't remember his dream, but he could feel that something bad had happened. "I think I had a dream about that blind guy..." Katsuko shook his head a few times, before getting out of the bed.

"Are you scared of him?" Hana asked innocently, but even that question earned a glare. "Of course not. I fear no man," Katsuko said with pride. Hana looked into his eyes for a moment, before motioning to her own with her finger. This puzzled Katsuko, but when he got the hint he looked at the mirror across the room. He could see that his irises were grey. This made him scowl. "It'll be okay in the end, don't worry about it," Hana said, standing up on the bed. Her words surprised Katsuko, and he turned to look at her. "If that man shows up again, I'll help you fight him. I think it's about my turn to protect you for once. Her behavior seemed strange to Katsuko. This level of concern she has been having lately...

"You're worried about me, aren't you?" Katsuko asked her, now turning to entirely face her. Since she was standing on the bed, she matched Katsuko's height. "Of course I'm worried about you, Kat. I told you before: you haven't been the same since your father died and I want Katsuko back. I can see you're doing much better now than when we started this adventure, but your outburst yesterday makes me wonder if you really are doing better or just getting better at hiding it." This created a silence in the room. Somewhere outside, a cart must've fallen over because the sound of wood and glass crashing could be heard. "I don't like going about my emotions. I don't see any point in it."

Hana jumped off the bed now and stood directly in front of Katsuko. "It's so you can get it out. It's like... It's like venting in a way. You're used to venting with your fists, but you should learn to vent with your words too." This made Katsuko chuckle. "I'm serious. It's better that way. By just getting angry and hitting things, you only calm yourself down. You don't actually improve anything. You just keep things from getting worse. But you need to improve!" The teenager thought about it for a moment. "If I ever feel the need to talk to someone about my feelings, you'll be the first one I go to, Hana," Katsuko said, turning away from her to open up the backpack for some clothes.

"I still feel like you aren't taking it seriously." This made Katsuko pause. He glanced over at the mirror and saw that his irises were purple now. But also his expression seemed strange. It was something serious, but at the same time it was unfamiliar. "I'm sorry, Hana. But I'm serious this time. If I ever feel like I can't handle myself, I'll come to you." Though this was what Hana wanted to hear, she couldn't help but frown at his words. It made her sad to see Katsuko sad. "Good. I'll always be here for you if you need it. After all you've done for me, it's the least I can do for you." Katsuko stood back up, holding his clothes in his hands. Hana turned around as Katsuko began to change. "Have I really done that much for you?"

This question seemed to catch Hana off guard, and she her head around to look at Katsuko. He was putting on the last article of clothing when she looked, which was his shirt. "Of course you have. You gave me a home, a family. You've been training me and you spend time with me. Heck, you even give me fancy food once in a while. You've saved my life a couple of times, and you've shown to me that you care time and time again." There was a pause between the two as they looked at each other. "I was all alone for a long time, Katsuko. I didn't have any family and nobody wanted to be my friend. I am kinda weird sometimes and I do weird things and I look a bit weird, I guess. But you weren't like that. I mean, at first you acted like I annoyed you but I saw that didn't last very long. And despite what some of the others said about you, that you can be really mean, you were never mean to me." Another pause.

"You even prioritized me over yourself several times. Even during this adventure, when I attacked you. You didn't lash out at me, you tried to help me. And you succeeded. Even though I was trying to help you, and by some twist of fate I ended up trying to kill you, you still were more worried about me. And that made me feel bad because you can make me feel so good but it seems that I can't help you at all now that you need it most." Hana let out a sob, and wiped away some tears that were starting to form in her eyes. Katsuko had never seen her like this before. He had never really thought about their relationship like that. Everything he did when it came to her, he never even thought about. It was all reflexive or instinct. Perhaps it was selfish to never consider how she felt about things. But it seemed that she viewed Katsuko in a positive light.

The orange-haired teenager took a few steps toward Hana and embraced her in a hug. This surprised her, and there was a silence around the room. Whatever noise that may have been coming in from outside, neither Katsuko nor Hana could hear it. "You do enough for me simply by staying at my side," Katsuko told her, not yet letting go. "You don't have to worry about repaying me or anything like that. I don't do anything for you because I feel obliged to. I do it because I want to. You can be pretty hyperactive and annoying sometimes, but that's what makes you... you. I'm not good with this emotional talking thing, but just remember: you don't owe me anything." With that, Katsuko released her and stood upright. Hana had a smile on her face now.

"Well, I don't do things because I feel I owe you. I do this because I want to do it for you. That's why we're here. The adventure," Hana said, before chuckling a bit. If Katsuko didn't know any better, it would appear that Hana was still getting over the shock of Katsuko going out of his way to give her a hug. "You aren't good at letting out your emotions." With that, Hana started laughing, earning an irritated expression from Katsuko. "But it's a good start!" Katsuko threw some clothes at Hana from the backpack now, and turned his back to her to allow her to change as well. "If you keep talking like that, you're going to scare me away from letting things out." Katsuko chuckled now, but Hana didn't have a response to that. Yet.

While Katsuko still had his back to her, thinking she was still changing clothes, Hana took the opportunity to reach over onto the bed and grab a pillow. With Katsuko sitting still, she took a moment to position herself on the bed before jumping up and smacking him in the back of his head with it. Though this startled him, it did no damage in the least. It was a pillow, and he was Katsuko. "No! That was a good start and we will continue working on it as time goes on," Hana stated in a matter-of-fact tone. This made Katsuko chuckle a bit, before turning around to see the pillow-wielding woman. "Alright, alright. But not today. I think I've had enough emotions going on today and I've only been awake five minutes." Hana resigned this as fair and threw the pillow back onto the bed.

"I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. Only... we are out of money now..." This made the two sigh at the same exact time. "Good thing I prepared for this very situation!" Hana exclaimed, before turning to face Katsuko. "We can go fishing for our food." There was an awkward pause after that. "Uh, I don't think fish makes for a very good breakfast, Hana..." Katsuko said, rubbing the back of his head while he had an awkward smile. This made Hana chuckle, and she stood upright and crossed her arms over her chest. "Not that kind of fishing, Katsukoooo..."

---

The two sat on a rooftop with their feet dangling over the edge. Both had an intense focus on their target. Beneath them was a fruit stand. In their hands were rudimentary fishing poles. The general idea was to try and stab the hook into a soft fruit whenever the vendor wasn't looking. But this proved to be very difficult, as well as requiring a lot of stealth and control. Several times already, Katsuko has nearly hooked the roof itself by pulling back so hard and sending the line backwards in an attempt to avoid detection. "You sure this will work? We've been trying for a while now and I'm starving," Katsuko complained, earning a light smack from Hana. "Not so loud, the man might hear us."

"And this will totally work. We just have to get a little sideways motion when we pull up..." The two lowered their lines again, as the vendor was distracted by his wife in conversation. Katsuko's hook managed to stab into a pear, and the teenager yanked it upward. With a victorious smirk, he caught the fruit and showed it to Hana. "Hey, you were right. This does work. And it's kinda fun. Here, you can have this one." Katsuko offered Hana the fruit, which she took in one hand and immediately began to eat. Without wasting time, the two made another attempt while the vendor was still talking. Once again, Katsuko got another pear. The two began laughing as they sat on the roof, eating their fruit.

Once they were done, Katsuko looked at Hana. "We need something more than just pears... Let's try to get a watermelon." "A watermelon? I don't think that will work so well..." "Of course it will. You and I just have to hook the same watermelon from opposite ends. The hooking it part will be difficult, but if we can do it then we will have ourselves a real fruit." With this plan laid out, the two moved to put it in motion. They first had to patiently wait for the man to get distracted again. It took a long time, but his kid seemed to want something and his attention was drawn away. In unison, Katsuko and Hana let their lines descend and they tried to hook the biggest watermelon at the stand. But it was to no avail. In fact, they almost got their lines tangled up in the process.

Finally, the lines did get tangled. But as they tried to pull them back up, the vendor saw what was going on. In his fury, he grabbed the two lines and yanked down. This totally surprised Katsuko and Hana, and they were pulled off the roof. Hana's tail managed to grab their backpack just in time as they crashed down onto the fruit stand. In the confusion, Katsuko jumped up to his feet first and helped Hana up. They had to get out of there. "We're leaving!" Katsuko put the backpack on and began to run through the crowd. As he burst out onto the other side of the mass of people, Hana reappeared next to him. Only in her hands she was carrying the watermelon they tried to hook earlier. As the two bolted across the village Katsuko couldn't help but smile. After all, the two were getting into mischief together. And all before nine o' clock.

[j8cob]

Katsuko and Hana's Adventure
Part V: Meteor
The duo return to Konoha! The last day of the adventure!
Nine Months into Timeskip

The road ahead was straight and empty. In the far distance, the main gate to Konohagakure could be seen. Katsuko and Hana stood side by side, facing the village they called home. Their adventure had taken four weeks, nearly a month. From a distance, it appeared that nothing had changed in Konoha in that time. But for Katsuko and Hana, things were different. Things were better. The two had stopped in the middle of the road, and a silence had taken over them. The adventure was almost over. They both reflected on it. The positives, the negatives, the experience in general. It was almost bittersweet that they had to return.

"Hey, Hana," Katsuko said first, making the small woman snap out of what appeared to be a daze. "I have an idea. How about we have a race. You're pretty fast, but so am I. And after all, I trained you. So why don't we see who is the faster between us?" Katsuko had a fun grin on his face, which Hana could not resist returning. "Normally I am humble, Kat. But I was fast before you trained me. You may have been able to catch me once upon a time, but I am the fastest." An air of competition had been established.

Katsuko put his fingertips on the ground and stretched one of his legs behind him, with his toes barely on the ground. In this sprinting stance, his large body appeared even more muscular and imposing. His eyes were even glowing green. Next to him, the much smaller Hana also took a similar pose. Her smaller body seemed more elegant in her position, and her long white hair trailed down her back without touching the ground. If she didn't have her tail concealed under her clothes, she would look as feline as humanly possible. A confident grin was on Katsuko's face, as he kept his eyes forward. Hana simply wore a genuine smile.

In an instant, the two were off. No words to announce the start were needed. As the two took off, it almost seemed like a sonic boom shook the road and the surrounding trees. Katsuko shot forward in a blur, and with every step he took a plume of dust shot toward the sky. This essentially created a thin but tall wall of dust behind him, almost like a tail. Hana, conversely, seemed to have vanished entirely. The only thing revealing her existence was the wind trail that she left behind, which was so powerful it removed all the leaves from the trees on her side of the road. The scattering leaves and the massive dust trail made a sight to behold for this test of pure speed.

As impressive of a display of skill this was, it was very brief. The distant Konohagakure quickly drew nearer at their speeds, and within five seconds of the beginning it had ended. Underneath the main gate, Hana stood victoriously. A hundred meters behind her, Katsuko was laying face-down on the ground. During the race, he saw her reach the gate and simply gave up, which consisted of him falling forward and skidding to a halt on his face. "Woo hoo! I told you Katsukooooo! You may be strong but I am fast!" she shouted back to Katsuko, who now began picking himself up off the ground. "Damn," he muttered, now standing on his feet. He could see Hana ahead, and at first he frowned at his loss. But it turned into a smile.

She didn't use her full speed to avoid embarassing me, Katsuko thought to himself, a sort of reassurance. He knew Hana was faster the whole time, and he also knew that if she was really trying the margin between them would be even greater. Katsuko walked the last stretch at a casual pace while Hana continued her own personal celebration at the gate. The two had an audience, despite what they thought, and though nobody cheered they all stared in amazement at the one who won that amazing display of speed. Once Katsuko caught up, the onlookers continued about their business. "I told you so."

This only made Katsuko smile. "Fine, fine. I guess that settles it. Oh well, at least I have my dashing good looks and my strength that cannot be matched," Katsuko taunted, earning an expression of irritation. "You just lost a challenge that you made yourself! I don't think you're the one that gets to gloat." "Okay, fine. I'll stop." Despite his words, Hana gave him a quick jab to his midsection. This did nothing to faze him, and the two even started laughing about the whole event. "That was fun though. I regret no-"

"Katsuko!!!"

Before the orange-haired teenager could react to the shouting, a foot connected with his face and sent him spiralling down the road. Standing where he stood was now Keiko Moto, with her irises red as can be. "You said you would be gone for a few days, not a few weeks you fucking moron!" As Katsuko picked himself up off the ground again, this time rubbing his face, and he shot his cousin a glare. "Plans change," Katsuko mumbled, perfectly aware that Keiko couldn't hear him. "Hi Keiko," Hana greeted, prompting Keiko to sigh and relax somewhat. "Hi, Hana."

Now Katsuko walked back to his cousin and his cat. "Glad to see you too. How are you feeling?" Katsuko asked, dusting himself off as he spoke. His words surprised Keiko. Or rather, the lack of hostility considering she just kicked him. "I'm doing fine. I've worked off the baby fat and that's kept me from entirely losing my temper," she said. Before Katsuko could respond, Keiko stood at attention like she just remembered something. "Oh, I almost forgot! You have good timing, because Grandpa has called for a clan meeting. Everyone is supposed to be in attendence, even me. I was just on my way over to his house."

This seemed to surprise both Hana and Katsuko. "A meeting?" he asked, his voice just as surprised as he looked. "Has that ever been done before?" This made Keiko pause. "That last meeting was when my father died. You weren't alive then, so the last one had to have been seventeen years ago." Katsuko felt a bit bad for making Keiko think about her parents. As much as he enjoyed making her life difficult, he stayed away from a few things. That was one of them. "Well I guess we better get going," Katsuko said, shrugging his shoulders.

Before the party could begin walking to the meeting, Keiko jumped up and gave Katsuko another kick across the face. This time, he stayed standing from the blow. "What the fuck was that one for!?" Katsuko shouted, his irises now proving that he was angry. With equal volume and anger, Keiko began yelling back at him. "For making us all worry again! The only reason we didn't go looking for you was because we knew that Hana was with you, because she told Akira before you left." With this, Katsuko gave Hana a glance. The short woman had a wide, suspicious smile. But it only made Katsuko grin. "If you keep kicking me in the face, I'm going to kick you in the face." "Fine, would you prefer if I kicked you in the balls, asshole?"

---

The room was well lit and spacious. Nine people sat in a circle, in a very formal fashion. The one nearest the door was Keiko, and to her left was Hana. From there, it was Katsuko, his mother Akira, and then his grandfather. Gotoro Moto, Katsuko's grandfather and the clan leader, was an old man, but he was a large man. Easily bigger than Jinkama was, and he held the appearance that once upon a time he was very bulky and muscular but has since grown fat along with his age. Beside him was Katsuko's grandmother, Akane, and then his twin uncles Daiki and Ichiro. The last one, to Keiko's right, was Ichiro's wife Kimiko. These were the nine members that composed the smallest clan in Konohagakure: the Moto clan.

"I see you didn't bring my great-granddaughter," Gotoro spoke, obviously in reference to Keiko. This earned a look of irritation. "I didn't think you would want Aimi here at the meeting, considering she is officially in the Hon clan. I'm honestly surprised I was invited since I'm also technically a Hon now." A scoff from the eldest. "I invited you here despite that because your opinion is still valued. Anyways, we are all here today to discuss something important. We need to figure out who the next clan leader will be."

There was a silence around the room. It had long been acknowledged, for forty years to be precise, that Jinkama was to inherit the position once Gotoro was incapable. "Since Jin is no longer with us, we must decide who will inherit the responsibility. Normally, it would go to Ichiro, as he is the next eldest, but due to our ages that might not be for the best. Especially considering Ichiro and Kimiko's difficulty in bearing a child." The room was quiet when he finished speaking. "Gotoro and I are getting very old, so a successor needs to be chosen now. In fact, I think they will be inaugurated immediately," Akane spoke, breaking the silence.

"We can acknowledge that Keiko is the strongest, but she isn't elligible anymore, due to marrying into another clan," Gotoro said. This brought a smirk to Keiko's face at the exact same time it brought a frown to Katsuko's. "Daiki, like Ichiro, has no line to follow him. And Akira is also advancing in age. This leaves us with only one real choice..." All eyes in the room fell on Katsuko now. "That is, unless someone can come up with a better plan." Without hesitation, Keiko spoke up. "I think uncle Ichiro should be given the title. He can still have a child, and though he is getting older that also makes him wiser than some teenager."

It seemed that Ichiro was about to speak up, to voice that he believed Katsuko should inherit the title. But Katsuko spoke up first. "I can do it." He had a look of determination on his face, and his irises were a passionate violet. "I am responsible enough and I am strong enough to lead our clan. If it is what Dad would have wanted, I can do it." There was a pause, as Gotoro and Katsuko locked eyes. "Well, I guess that settles that. Katsuko Moto, you are now given the title your father was supposed to have: 4th Generation Moto Head." The orange-haired teenager bowed his head in respect toward his grandfather.

"Now wait a second," Keiko spoke up, once Katsuko sat upright. "I know I'm technically not in the clan anymore, but it's still in my name and in my blood. I don't feel comfortable with Katsuko as the leader. He's the youngest Moto, and he isn't even the strongest or the smartest to make up for it. I think-" "I am the strongest." This created a pause, and there was immediately tension. "Maybe in physical strength, but not overall ability and skill." "I know what I meant. Quit thinking so highly of yourself, Keiko. Remember our last fight? I won. Me, not you. For the first time, I defeated you. And you ran me through with your sword so you can't lie and say you weren't trying." This seemed to infuriate the young woman.

A scowl formed on her face. "I was holding back because I didn't want to hurt anyone that was watching us, idiot! And that is besides the point. I'm still the most powerful in the room, so I think my opinion matters here. Your skill aside, I don't think you're responsible enough to have a hand in our fate." Katsuko clenched his fists now. "You just don't want me to be seen as your superior." This created a pause in the room, and Keiko seemed to look flushed. Like a secret just got out. "Is that true, Keiko?" Gotoro asked, leaning forward a bit. "I don't think we need to be getting into this here," Daiki spoke up.

This seemed to ease the mood a bit. With a sigh, Keiko relaxed. "It's true, I don't like the idea of Katsuko being better than me. I'm brave enough to admit that." At this point, Akira spoke up. "We need to settle what it is between you two. Right now. Something is going on that is deeper than just a sibling rivalry," Akira said. This earned a nod from everyone, but Katsuko and Keiko. "Wise as ever, Akira." "Indeed. You two are my only grandchildren and your bickering will bring shame on us all. Before the sun goes down today, you both need to settle your differences." This displeased both Katsuko and Keiko, but neither showed it. "Yes, Grandpa." "Yes, Grandpa." The two spoke in unison, also giving a polite bow.

As they sat upright, they both looked at each other. Since Hana sat between them, she decided to lean back a bit so as to not get between them too much. "Why are you always so mean to me?" Katsuko said first, rather bluntly. It was clear that he wanted to get this over with and wasn't going to dance around the subject. "Don't think you're so special, I'm mean to everyone... But I know what you're saying. You think that I am harder on you than everyone else, but that's not true-" Katsuko quickly interrupted her. "Don't lie. That is exactly it." Akira gave Katsuko a light tap on the shoulder. "Try not to interrupt your cousin." He gave her a nod, before looking back at Keiko.

Keiko looked pissed. She seemed that she was barely containing herself. "Fine. Yeah, I might be a bit worse with you, but what of it? You aren't exactly kind to me either, Katsuko." A frown formed on Katsuko's face. "I don't kick you in the face, for starters." "Fuck you, you know why I did that." "That doesn't justify it. You just look for excuses to take your anger out on me. Why? What did I ever do to you?" Keiko's anger boiled over at this point, and she stood up. This earned a gasp from her grandmother. "You got to grow up with your parents and you took their love and attention away from me every chance you got!" With that outburst, Keiko turned around and stormed out the door, slamming it closed behind her.

Her response seemed to surprise everyone there, especially Katsuko. "What?" "I think I get it," Akira spoke up, catching everyone's attention. "Keiko had been living with us for a month before you were born, Katsuko. After her mother stopped taking care of her, we took her in. Since her mother died the day before you were born, Keiko had no choice but to live with us. We came to be mother and father figures for her. When you were a baby, you two got along just fine. But as you grew older and demanded more attention, something natural for a child, Keiko probably began to feel left out. Though your father and I spent a lot of time with her, we still spent more time with you. Even though you are both grown up now, she still harbors that jealousy and doesn't understand that Jin and I love her like a daughter."

Katsuko let out a sigh. That seemed to cut the remaining tension in the room. "Should I go and talk with her?" Before Akira could nod her head, Gotoro spoke up. "You better, Katsuko. She's like a sister to you, even if she's tempermental and violent. Besides, my command about fixing your problems before sundown still stands." Katsuko let out another sigh, before standing up from his seat. This prompted everyone to begin standing up, indicating that the meeting was pretty much over. "I guess I'll go fix things. C'mon, Hana. I might need your help a bit."

---

Keiko sat atop the Hokage Monument, looking out over the village. The sun was high in the sky, as it was still early in the afternoon. The young woman had always come here to cool off when she was younger. It wasn't the view or the breeze that did it. In fact, she never could really remember why she went here of all places. But it was her own personal tradition. While the young mother stared out over the village, she heard the sound of footsteps behind her. "How did you know I'm here?" Keiko asked, not bothering to look at who approached.

"I was suspecting someone else, actually." This surprised Keiko, as the voice was unfamiliar and unexpected. When she whipped her head around to see who it was, a hand landed over her face and everything went black. She woke up after what seemed to be a few moments, as the sun appeared to be in the same position in the sky as she last remembered. Keiko now had the strange sensation that she was dreaming, and she couldn't remember the event that just happened. While she struggled to figure out what was going on, she heard footsteps approaching.

"Keiko, let's talk," Katsuko said, walking up to her. She didn't respond immediately, as she was still getting her bearings. As such, Katsuko sat down next to her, and Hana sat down next to him. "I talked with Mom a bit and realized what is wrong here. She thought it was that you're jealous of our childhoods, but I know better than that. You're angry with me in particular because you don't see." "Don't see what? I can see that you're an asshole. A blind person could see that." "I'm trying to be nice here! Ahem, anyways... You don't see that Mom and Dad love you like a daughter and that I love you like a sister."

This created a silence now that was only disturbed by a faint breeze. "You think that we look at you differently because you don't come directly from our line. Like we hold something against you because my mother didn't give birth to you. But look at it this way... Mom and Dad looked at you the way you look at Lilia." Keiko stared at Katsuko for a moment, before giving him a shove with her left hand. "I guess that could be it. When did you get so wise and caring?" This prompted a chuckle from Katsuko. "I'm neither wise nor caring. I'm an asshole, remember? I'm just good at solving problems. It just took me a long time to realize that we had one. I got so used to you being violent." This caused all three to laugh for a moment.

Once that died down, Keiko let out a sigh. "I'm sorry for being so mean to you all these years. I can't promise that I'll stop, because I can admit that I'm not exactly a nice person, but I can apologize for what I've done so far. Is it possible that I can apologize for the future?" "Fuck no. Just be nice, damn." Katsuko started laughing now, prompting Keiko to give him a sharp smack across the side of his head. And that made Hana laugh. "Smartass. Just accept my apology." "I do, I do. No need to break your hand hitting me. You might need it later to hit Hiron or something." This earned another sharp smack, but Katsuko didn't mind. There was no spite in her strikes, so he didn't care.

---

The night sky wasn't accompanied by the moon, casting darkness over the Moto Estate. But the lack of a moon and clouds made the night sky full of stars. With all the lights out at the Estate, it was difficult to see even with the infinite stars occupying the sky. On the dock that extended toward the lake, Katsuko and Hana sat. Their eyes had since adjusted to the darkness, allowing them to see somewhat well. Well, that was how it was for Katsuko. Hana's cat-like abilities included being able to see perfectly at night, so nothing was different for her.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Hana asked, breaking the silence. Katsuko thought about it for a moment, before smiling. "I guess all in all it was fun. It seems that you were right in the end." "Of course I was right. I'm always right." "Nuh-uh. Not at all. But this one time you definitely were." Hana giggled a bit, before sighing. "After all that travelling, we get to sleep in a familiar bed. In a familiar place. It feels weird now." There was another silence between them.

Before more words could be spoken, the two saw lights appear in the sky. "Oh!" Hana shouted, jumping up. Her tail wasn't tucked under her shirt, and it smacked Katsuko in the back of the head as it darted around in an excited fashion. "It's a meteor shower! How beautiful!" Katsuko looked up at the display. The lights were very distant and didn't seem to be moving much, but they were slowly getting brighter. "That's a sign of something." At Hana's words, Katsuko looked away from the shooting stars and looked up at the young cat woman. "A sign for what?" "I don't know, but something good."

He kept his eyes on Hana for a moment. Even in the relative darkness of the moonless sky, he could see the passion in her eyes. Something about this seemed to strike her as amazing. Katsuko looked back at the meteor shower and thought about it. Sure, it was cool. But not exactly awe-inspiring. As well, he wasn't superstitious and didn't see anything as a sign. "The meteors are coming toward us," Katsuko said, finally realizing why the lights seemed so strange in comparison to everything he had heard about meteor showers. This earned a gasp of excitement from Hana. "That's even better!"

"Okay, you aren't telling me something. Why is this so fascinating to you? You're hundreds of years old so I'm pretty sure you've seen these before." This created a silence, and Hana finally looked away from the lights in the sky. "Huh?" Katsuko let out a sigh. "You're acting a little too excited over some shooting stars. What aren't you telling me?" Hana sat back down next to Katsuko now. "It means that my wish will come true." This shocked Katsuko. "You actual-... What was your wish?" Hana gave him a light shove, which nearly put him in the water.

"If I told you, it wouldn't come true. Didn't you make a wish also?" This created a silence, before Katsuko looked back up at the meteor shower. "Of course I did," he claimed. Though that was a lie, as he didn't believe in superstition like that, Katsuko decided it couldn't hurt to go along with Hana. "Why aren't you so excited then?" Now Katsuko felt like he just got caught in his lie. He looked down at the water. He could see his own reflection, before noticing all the stars. Then he could see the reflection of the lights. He looked back up at Hana, to find her staring at him, waiting patiently for an answer. He could see compassion in her eyes. A smile started to form on his face.

Katsuko placed his hands on the dock and leaned back a bit, to look back at the meteor shower. "It already came true. That's why." This earned a gasp of shock. "Really? What was it?" Katsuko kept smiling as he looked at the falling lights. It appeared that more and more kept appearing and vanishing while they conversed, for there were more lights than there were a moment ago. "To know what I will do next." This seemed to confuse Hana, and she looked back up at the meteors. "You keep being vague. What are you going to do next?"

"I'm going to help people that have lost hope." Hana looked back at Katsuko. He was still smiling. "Everyone has something that they hold on to dearly, and if they lose it they lose all hope for themselves. It creates a void where there was once warmth and affection. You helped me out of that. Now I'm going to help others out of that. I'm not saying I'm going to become a saint, but I won't just let people suffer. Dad died over a month ago, almost two now. It's about time Konoha got someone back to protect it and keep hope alive." A smile began to form on Hana's face.

She leaned her head on Katsuko's shoulder now, looking up at the meteor shower. "So I did actually help you." "I told you before that you did. You thought I was lying?" "To be honest, yes. You go to lengths to protect me and do things for me, so it wouldn't be surprising if you lied to make me feel better." Katsuko's smile changed into a grin. "I guess when you put it that way... but I was telling the truth." The two were silent again, simply staring up into the night sky. But then Katsuko noticed something, and he gently removed Hana's head from his shoulder.

"Look at that. One of them hasn't burnt up yet." Hana looked up. One of the lights was coming toward them, though it was a long way off. "I bet that will land right in the lake." At the mention of this idea, Hana jumped to her feet. "I don't want to get splashed!" This made Katsuko laugh, and he too got to his feet. "But that will be so cool if it does. I've never seen a meteor land before." As the light got larger, Hana slowly began backing up down the dock. Then Katsuko realized something. "It might not be going toward the lake... It might be going toward the house."

Both of them looked over their shoulder at the dark mansion behind them. All the lights were out, since Katsuko's mother had already gone to bed. "That can be bad." "I'm going to hit it." Hana snapped her attention toward Katsuko. "What?" "I'm going to hit the meteor. I can't let it hit the house. So I'm going to time it right and hit it out of the sky." "That sounds dangerous. You're gonna hurt yourself." "Not at all. It's just a flaming rock going really fast. All I have to do is hit it in a different direction so it doesn't damage anything. I'll be fine. Watch." Katsuko jumped back off the dock now, before jumping up onto the roof of the mansion. Hana remained on the dock, watching first Katsuko, and then the incoming meteor.

Katsuko gauged that the rock had to be fairly small, less than a meter across. But it was going very fast and would have a lot of force behind it. The light coming from the meteor was now bright enough to light up the Estate somewhat. Hana could even hear the sound of the flames by now. A smirk formed on Katsuko's face. "Piece... of..." Katsuko jumped up, launching himself toward the meteor. He noticed that his guess was fairly accurate, and that it was even smaller than he expected. Katsuko brought his leg across, planting the top of his foot along the flaming surface of the rock. The power of the impact sent the rock shooting almost straight down, launching it directly into the lake.

This created a large splash, and since Hana was still on the dock resulted in a large quantity of water hitting her. First she let out a surprised yelp, before she began shouting. "Katsuko! Why did you send it here!?" But Katsuko was paying less attention to Hana's yelling, as he noticed that his pant leg had caught on fire. "You could've hit it anywhere else! I hate water!" Her yelling was interrupted by another yelp of surprise as Katsuko himself landed in the water, creating another splash that also got her. As Katsuko resurfaced, he began laughing. "That was great!" "That was not great! I'm all wet now! I hate water!" Hana ran off the dock now, as a precaution of anything else splashing her.

As Katsuko climbed out of the water using his chakra to stand on it, a light turned on at the house and Akira opened a window. "What are you two yelling about so late at night!?" she called out to them. "Katsuko splashed me with water!" "I saved the house!" With an annoyed sigh, Akira closed her eyes and leaned on the window sill. "Either go to bed or enjoy the meteor shower quietly!" With that, she closed the window, and a moment later the light turned off. With that whole event, both Katsuko and Hana forgot about the lights in the sky. At the same time, they both looked up to see the shooting stars. Katsuko stood on the dock and Hana just off of it. "I think I'll stay out here and keep watching them."

He sat back down at the edge of the dock. Hana contemplated it for a moment, before resigning herself and sitting next to Katsuko. The two were quiet for a moment, before Hana entirely shoved Katusko into the water. When he resurfaced, he had to suppress a smile. "What was that for? I already fell in the water and was already more soaked than you." "Because you deserve it for- no no no no!" Katsuko grabbed Hana by the foot and yanked her in the water with a splash. While he was laughing, Hana resurfaced and grabbed Katsuko's head, before forcing it under water. "I should've wished that there was a way that I could soak you more than just submerging you." Katsuko struggled free and jumped up onto the dock, before helping Hana out of the water. "Call it even?"

"No. I'm going to sit here mad at you for the next few minutes." Hana sat down on the dock, making a sploshing noise from her wet clothes. She crossed her arms and looked away from Katsuko, dramatizing how upset she is. This made the teenager chuckle, before sitting down next to her and looking up at the shooting stars. The silence lasted, and after a moment, Hana seemed to get over her anger at Katsuko and relaxed. "It's late, huh," she said after a few minutes, right before letting out a yawn. "You can go to bed if you want. I'm enjoying myself out here." "No no, I'm not tired. I was just pointing that out." Katsuko chuckled a bit, and Hana rested her head on his shoulder again. The lights began slowing down now, and Katsuko let out a sigh. When he looked over at Hana, he saw she was already asleep. "I knew you had to be tired."

The teenager looked up at the meteor shower. He watched as the lights began slowing down, until they all finally disappeared. It was over. I guess today was a fitting end to our little adventure, Katsuko thought to himself, before looking down at the lake. I see things differently now. I think I see things better than I did before. I used to see Dad as an idol, as something larger than life that one day I could be a part of. But now, I see him as a man. He did all that he could to protect what he held dear. It makes sense now. He always said that love was the most powerful weapon. I just never listened. Katsuko looked over to Hana next to him. Gently he picked her up, taking care not to wake her up as they went back to the house.

That means that I was wrong this whole time. He spent months, his final months, doing everything he could so that the ones that loved him wouldn't feel pain. I guess that only made it worse once he actually died. Many people outside the village say bad things about him, and perhaps they are true in a sense. But in my reality, he was a saint. Not a legend, a saint. That's why it hurt so much. He was my father and my protector. Now... Now it's up to me. We can't rely on him anymore, and perhaps that was what he was trying to get across. I won't let Dad's death be in vain. I will be the protector. I will give strength to those that need it. That's what he was grooming me for all along.

So I will make my father proud.

[j8cob]

The Protector
14 Months into Timeskip

The sun shone bright, with the occasional cloud drifting by. It was still morning, so the day was yet to warm up. Most everyone would agree that the capital of the River Country, the city of Tani, was having lovely weather today. In fact, the streets were already bustling with life. After all, it was a large city and everyone had something to do. The city had a hill that overlooked it, and atop that hill was that Yamada mansion. The leader of the River Country, Sanada Yamada, lived there with his family and servants. He had three children: two sons and a daughter, the daughter being the youngest. Her name was Sayuri Yamada.

The girl was young, only nine years old, but she was well educated already. After all, she lived in a political family. Intelligent among her peers, but she was on the frail side. Sayuri was skinny, even for a little girl, but she was of an average height. Unlike her parents, whom both had black hair, she had a vivid violet hair that matched her green eyes perfectly. She was always dressed fashionably, even though it was a rarity that her parents let her be seen in public. Sayuri was weak, and it didn't take much to get her sick or hurt. The girl was painfully aware of her frailty, and treated it as her biggest embarassment. Especially when compared to her elder brothers, whom were both healthy young boys approaching teenhood. Though it was more likely that one of them would become the next leader of the country, they were allowed to enjoy their youth. Sayuri wasn't physically able to.

On this day in particular, Sayuri found herself waking up late. As she sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes, she could see her bedroom was flooded with sunlight from the windows. Someone had opened the curtains, but Sayuri must've slept through it. The girl looked over to her side at the clock and saw that it was almost ten o' clock. Normal children might jump out of bed after realizing how late it was, but Sayuri let out a sigh, before casually scooting out from under her covers and onto her feet. She didn't need a servant to change out of her pink night gown into her school clothes.

It was an irony that she wore a uniform, considering that she stayed home for her education. One of the servants, Sayuri called her Ms. Maki, taught her everyday in one of the many rooms of the Yamada mansion. Though her mother would always scold Sayuri for skipping breakfast, and she would always say that Sayuri needed the nutrition, the little girl didn't feel hungry sometimes. And since she was late to 'class' today, she had an excuse not to eat. But the young girl was puzzled that nobody woke her up. The servants weren't allowed to, which meant that both her parents were out of the house. Possibly even her brothers too.

The house wasn't deserted, as Sayuri passed a servant cleaning a bannister as she went down the stairs. The servants had long given up on trying to socialize with Sayuri, as she would rarely return casual greetings. Not so much out of shyness, since she has known these people her entire life, but more of her introversion. Sayuri always preferred to be by herself, or in the company of her parents. Sometimes she would be able to enjoy herself around her brothers, but they would usually try to get her to join them in a game and she wouldn't be allowed to, resulting in an awkwardness she would rather avoid.

As the young girl stepped into her 'classroom', she saw all the curtains had been drawn open. Considering this room in particular had many windows, this made the room too bright for Sayuri and she had to look away for a moment. "Good morning, Sayuri-chan," a young, bespectacled woman greeted. As Sayuri was able to see clearly now, she saw the room had only one large table in it with several chairs around it. The woman on the other side of the room was leaning against the wall between two windows. "Good morning Maki-san," the young girl returned, before stepping into the room and closing the door behind herself.

"I take it you slept well?" the servant asked, keeping a light-hearted tone rather than a scolding one. "Not really. It took me a long time to follow sleep, and then I had a weird dream," Sayuri explained, before gently sitting down in one of the chairs. There was already a book in front of her, titled The Art of War. It seemed today was going to be a history class. "Where did mother and father go?" Ms. Maki sat down in the chair opposite Sayuri. "Your father has a meeting in another city tomorrow, so he took your brothers along to get them used to travel. Your mother left a while ago with Akane and Chika to buy ingredients for dinner tonight." Accepting this information, Sayuri gave a light nod and looked at her book.

"Will I be in trouble for coming late?" The young woman smiled innocently. "Of course not, Sayuri-chan. We'll keep that a secret between you and me." In Sayuri's opinion, Ms. Maki was her only friend. Sure, her brothers might count but they were siblings. Considering that Sayuri was rarely around others her age, she came to befriend her teacher over the past few years. Maki was practically family to her, despite the obvious difference in social status. "Thanks, Maki-san. Is this book to practice literature or to study history?" "It's a history lesson today. Don't worry, it's a big book but it isn't as bad as it looks. I wouldn't make you read anything bad, would I?" This prompted a giggle from Sayuri.

She flipped through the book first, to get a sort of feel for it. Though she didn't read anything while she did so, it became a habit of hers whenever she was presented with new material to read. "Originally, the lesson today was going to be in mathematics, but your father insisted I teach you this instead. Since your brothers are joining him in a political mission, he wanted you to get some sort of political education." Sayuri sighed, and her mood seemed to have decayed a bit. "Oh..." Suddenly, she found that she lost interest in the book and closed it, before looking up at Maki's smiling face. "Why would father want me to learn about war?"

This created an awkward silence in the room. Because of this, Sayuri began to feel uncomfortable, like she knew she was going to hear something she wouldn't want to. "Well," Maki began, starting slowly as she tried to figure out how to word things. "Sometimes in the world, bad things happen between countries. This can lead to wars, which nobody wants. Since one day you may be leading this country, your father wants you to start learning about how wars come to be. This is only basic knowledge, but when you're older you'll learn more about it."

"If no one wants war, why do people go to war?" This created another pause. Maki let out a sigh and closed her eyes. "I wish I could say, Sayuri-chan. I suppose it is different for everyone. Not all people want peace, and not all people are willing to take hits." Sayuri looked out one of the windows behind Maki as the young woman opened her eyes. "It is a touchy subject, I know, but your father wants to get you started young. You're more intelligent than your brothers so it may work to your advantage."

It was well known within the household that Sanada had not chosen his successor. Among his children, any one of them could be the next leader. Though the only people that seem to care about this are the servants and politicians. Sayuri and brothers do not particularly mind the air of competition. To them, there is no competetition. They are all just growing up and doing as they're told. "I see..." This created another pause as Sayuri looked toward the floor. She seemed to be lost in thought, but with her serious expression it worried Maki.

A frown formed on the young woman's face. "Since we are already late, let's start with the lesson, yes?" This got Sayuri's attentiion, and the girl sat upright and placed her hands on the book. Maki withdrew a smaller version of the book from one of her pockets and opened it up. "Alright, open your book to page forty-six." Sayuri did as she was instructed, finding the page opposite had a picture of a marketplace. "Now, first we will talk about the fundamental causes of war. Throughout history, the most common reasons had changed with the times. Long ago wars would be fought over things such as food and water, but in more modern times they are fought over territory and ideals. We'll start with the older times and then we-"

Maki was interrupted by the sound of crashing glass. Behind her, six men jumped through six windows, spraying small shards of glass that stopped just before the table. Though Maki had her back to the intruders, Sayuri could see them all. Time seemed to slow down for her as fear began to grip her. All six men were still airborne, just reaching the ground in perfect synchronization. They all looked scary, at least to Sayuri. One of them had his eyes directly on her, which bothered her the most. But as Sayuri's eyes drifted toward Maki in front of her and time was slowly starting to return to it's normal speed, she could see anger behind those glasses. Just as the six men reached the glass covered floor, Maki stood up from her seat.

"Run." It was a simple command, but Sayuri didn't obey it. She was riveted to her seat, finding herself unable to move. The woman before her turned around to face the incoming threat. "Die!" one of the men shouted, thrusting a ninjato at Maki. The vulgarity and darkness of the man's voice further terrified Sayuri, and she now managed to find the courage to stand up from her chair. But as the blade approached Maki, the young woman's left arm shot up at a speed Sayuri had never seen, using the palm against the flat side of the blade to push it out of the way. This confused the attacker, and as he was losing his balance, Maki's other hand shot forward and slammed the base of her palm against his forehead.

The attacker stumbled backwards and Maki took his sword as he fell. Two more men closed in on Maki, taking two different flanks, while the other three ran past. One even jumped over the table, to reach Sayuri. But the girl stood still, even in the face of this danger. But before the airborne man could catch her, Maki threw the blade and it stabbed through the man's back and out his chest. For the first time in a very long time, Sayuri saw blood. And she saw a lot of it. The man let out a grunt before flying over Sayuri and crashing into the wall on the other side of the room, leaving marks of blood on it.

The two that closed in on Maki tried to attack her with kunai knives, but the young woman performed a spinning jump, avoiding the dangerous situation. While she was in the air, she withdrew four senbon needles from underneath her skirt and tossed them at her attackers. Two of them entered one's neck, incapacitating him, but only one struck the other in the shoulder. This left four intruders. The one that Maki had knocked over a moment before jumped up and slammed his fist into the young woman's side, earning a grunt of pain. Upon seeing this, combined with the two that were still advancing on Sayuri herself, the girl finally started to come to her senses.

In all of a few seconds, her day had gone from normal to awful and terrifying. She let out a loud scream of terror now, which caught Maki's attention. As if spurred on by a new motivation, Maki kicked the man that just punched her and performed several handseals. The two men that were about to grab Sayuri, who was still screaming, were suddenly impaled by lightning bolts. One through the chest, one through the head. This did nothing to calm Sayuri, and the girl actually lost her balance and fell backwards onto her rear, right between the two bloody bodies.

As Maki began to recover and prepare an attack on the last two men, a sudden silence took the room. A blade protruded from Maki's chest, and the sight of that was enough to silence Sayuri. Another man had appeared and taken the liberty of killing the servant. Sayuri looked into Maki's eyes. She could see on the other side of the glasses that Maki felt regret. That she had failed Sayuri. And the last look into her eyes revealed to Maki that Sayuri's peace of mind was shattered entirely. The blade was withdrawn from the young woman's body before it was kicked over by the man behind her. He was taller than the others, and seemed more menacing due to a large scar that ran across his face.

"We should've expected the servant would be a shinobi," he stated rather calmly, before looking up to Sayuri. The girl was frozen still, and her mind was racing over everything that just happened. It couldn't have been twenty seconds ago, possibly even fifteen that she was sitting there, calm as can be, preparing to learn something about politics. Now her only friend was slain before her eyes and she was in a bloody mess of a room now, trapped with three evil men that could have no good intention for her. "Maki!" Sayuri finally shouted, finding some courage and running forward. The table blocked her view of Maki's body, and she tried to run around it to the side of her friend, but one of the men grabbed her before she could pass the table.

As soon as she was touched, Sayuri began screaming again. "She's loud, we need to do something," the man that wasn't holding her suggested. The same one Maki had hit twice. "Stop! Be careful with her, she's a weak little girl. We don't want to accidentally kill her. Here." The man withdrew a piece of paper with some kanji on it. Though Sayuri had never seen it before, nor could she hardly see it now as she was struggling to break free of the man's grip, to no avail, it was a chakra suppression tag. The big man casually walked toward the struggling girl and placed it over her forehead. Instantly, Sayuri felt light headed and dizzy, and the world began to spin around her before she was consumed by darkness.

---

As Sayuri began to wake up, she felt a pain in both her arms. The first thing she did was examine where she was. It took her a moment to gain her bearings, but she realized that she was in a cage that was too small for her to stand up. Outside the cage, she was in some sort of outdoors compound. She could see walls nearby and a door, but there was no ceiling and she could see the night sky. Her arms began to hurt again, and Sayuri rolled one of her sleeves up to see that her arms had bruised from where the man that caught her grabbed her. She looked around again and this time noticed the campfire nearby and saw that she was alone.

That wasn't a dream, she realized, now beginning to panic. Images flashed through her mind of the armed men that broke into the classroom. She could remember the blood, mostly. There was more of it than she had ever seen. And then she remembered Maki. "Maki! Maki!" Sayuri began calling out. Deep down inside, she knew the truth and knew it was in vain. There was no way she could have survived that attack, as the chest was where the heart was. But something inside her compelled her to call out for her. To call out for safety, for someone to save her. "Maki!"

Sayuri was startled when the door nearby slammed open, revealing the man from earlier that Maki had hit. In the light of the campfire, his features seemed uglier. But only now did Sayuri pick up the details, such as his twisted nose, his bruised forehead, and his blonde hair. "Would you shut up, kid? Or do you want to take a beating?" Upon hearing his voice, Sayuri gulped back some fear. The terror began to set in, and she felt like screaming. But now she was afraid that if she screamed they would hurt her. She curled her knees up to her chest and held onto her legs now.

"W-w-where's M-m-maki?" she managed to stutter out, overcoming her fear enough to try and find the answer to her current problem. The man started laughing. "That woman from the Yamada mansion? We killed her. You saw it yourself." Sayuri must've made an extreme expression of horror, because the man started laughing again after looking at her face. "She was a tough one, but now she's just as tough as every other corpse in history." As the man began to walk away, Sayuri remembered that they were going to be learning history that day. Or was it earlier this day? She had no idea how long ago all that happened. She didn't know if any other servants were hurt or if anyone even knew what happened to her. She didn't know where she was or if anyone would ever find her.

Corrupting thoughts like these flooded her head, and the girl started sobbing. The man stopped right at the door, having heard her crying. "Cheer up, girlie. Your daddy might be able to save you. If he meets our demands, you can live the rest of your life peacefully and never have to see us again. Don't think too much of what might happen if he doesn't meet our demands..." A sly grin formed on his face, before he finally exited the area. There was a brief pause, before Sayuri began crying again, only this time more intense. The thought of never leaving this place of horrible people had crossed her mind and made things worse.

Then Sayuri got quiet again. What if they kill me like they killed Maki? she thought, bringing one hand up to wipe some tears out of her eyes. No, they wouldn't. They have me as a hostage. They... they want something from father. They need me to get it. They wouldn't kill me. Sayuri finished wiping her tears and began rubbing the bruises on her arms. They will hurt me though. I don't want them to hurt me. I don't like pain. A few more sobs escaped Sayuri, but she wiped her eyes quickly and looked over at the fire. How long will I be here?

Almost as if her thoughts were being read, the door opened again. This time, it was the big man that killed Maki. He held a plate of food in one of his hands and he sat down on the dirt next to Sayuri's cage. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Daichi Ueda," he said, keeping a calm tone. With his free hand, he withdrew a key and opened the door to her cage, before setting the plate of food before Sayuri. It had some sort of meat on it and a potato next to the meat. No utensils. Though Sayuri didn't move an inch, Daichi quickly closed the door to the cage and locked it again. "Your father has the power to release my brother from prison and clear his name. In case you were wondering why we kidnapped you." Sayuri continued to stare at him silently, despite how red her eyes were from crying.

"You might hate me right now, but you are young and privileged. You don't understand the hardships some people have to endure. The events that can lead a man to such desperation as to kidnapping a little girl. You might one day when you're older, but I expect nothing of you now." The silence continued. "I also came here to set some ground rules for you. You don't have to be silent like you are now, but no more of that screeching. I don't think you know how loud you are. And don't give any of my men any trouble. If you behave, we might let you out of your cage more often than to just use the bathroom. We don't know how long you will be here, and we want this to be as quick as possible, just like you. Let us all try to get along."

"Why did you kill her?" This surprised Daichi. "The servant? She was in the way, and she killed several of my men." Was that his only reason? Did he not care that she was Sayuri's only friend? That she had been taking care of Sayuri since she was a toddler? The young girl looked away from the man to look at the food before her, before looking at the fire. "I suggest you eat what we give you, because even though it isn't the high class food you're used to you won't be getting anything else." Daichi stood up now, and looked to the sky. "If all goes well, we will all leave each other happy. I will be happy to have my brother back, my men will be happy to be paid, and you will be happy to never see us again."

He started to leave now. Sayuri continued looking at the flames. "But she will never be back," the girl mumbled, prompting Daichi to stop. "What was that?" "She will never come back. She's gone forever." This earned a scoff from Daichi, and that caught Sayuri's attention. "Many people die every day. We live in a cruel world where sometimes blood has to be spilled. Those three men that your servant killed will never come back. Death happens. You get used to it." With those final words, Daichi exited and closed the door behind himself, leaving Sayuri alone. "But I don't want to get used to it..." Sayuri began sobbing again, but she controlled herself to keep herself from crying entirely. She didn't want to find out what they would do if she broke the rules.

---

The sun was shining bright today. But Sayuri found no solace in it. Her clothes were dirty and her hair was tangled. She had kept count, and determined that she had been captive for a week now. It was terrible. She didn't know how to describe her feelings toward it. Perhaps it was what hatred feels like? Every time the evil men touched her, they were harsh and would leave bruises. Even though the man in charge would yell at them, it always happened. Just the night before, one of the men got drunk and tried talking to Sayuri. Only she didn't want to talk, and he lashed out in anger and slapped her across the face. The pain was terrible, and she presently had a black eye for it. But the brutality at which he was beaten by Daichi startled her more. This place wasn't just scary and mean, it was savage.

The silence was broken when the door opened. Four men walked in, followed by Daichi. The all stood around the cage, and Daichi crouched down before Sayuri. "I'm afraid I have bad news, Yamada," he said, closing his eyes and shaking his head. Despite the calmness of his voice, terror began to spread across Sayuri's body. "We are still yet to get a response from your father. So either this means that he doesn't love you or he is trying to stall us. Both of those aren't very good, don't you agree?" Sayuri's mind was racing now. She was trying to figure out what he was going to do, because every fiber of her being told her that she needed to escape. Something bad was going to happen.

"We need to get his attention then. So, I'm sorry to say this but we will be borrowing two of your fingers." Panic began to spread across her body now, and Sayuri crawled as far back from the door to the cage as possible. This made a few of the men start laughing, but not Daichi. "No, don't, please," she began pleading, her voice sounding coarse from fear. "I'm sorry, but that's just the way it has to be. You'll learn one day." Daichi stood up now and began to leave, prompting the remaining four men to open the cage. Now Sayuri began screaming again. "No! Don't! No!" This was both amusing to them as it was annoying, due to the intensity and volume of her distress.

Her struggle was to no avail and one of the men yanked her out of the cage. She could already feel that her leg would bruise where he grabbed her. Unlike how she used to be, a patient, mild-tempered girl, Sayuri was now a screaming mess. She was swinging her arms and legs in a feeble attempt to escape her fate. Though that amused the three that weren't restraining her, it was annoying to the one that was. He pulled her out of the cage and tried to pin her to the ground, but Sayuri kept screaming. "Shut up!" he shouted, before bringing his hand across her face. This hit the bruise that was already there from the night before, and made the pain even worse.

But it seemed to do the trick. Sayuri silenced her cries and looked up at the sky. She was paralyzed in fear and hyperventilating. One of the men, the ugly blonde one, brandished a large knife and kneeled down next to Sayuri. On her other side, one of the men had some cloth to serve as a bandage. "Now sit still for me," the one with the knife said, his voice sounding more twisted than before. Almost to the complete opposite effect, Sayuri began shouting again, though she significantly reduced her squirming. "Please! Please!" The man began chuckling now. "Oh, I do please. I would look away if I were you..." The knife began moving down slowly, and Sayuri's eyes widened in a panic. Though she continued squirming, she turned her head to the side, looking back at the cage. She closed her eyes and let out on last scream, anticipating the pain to come.

However, the pain didn't come. Sayuri opened her eyes and turned to look at the man that was holding the knife. Only he wasn't there anymore. As she was turning her head, she could see the man against the wall, with many cracks across it, slouched over. Standing where he was crouched was someone unfamiliar to Sayuri. He was facing away, so she couldn't see his features, but she could see that he had orange hair. She then figured out that this person was here to rescue her, and she couldn't hear him attack the man over her own screaming. The other three men were all standing up now, releasing Sayuri. But the girl remained on the ground, unsure of her safety.

One of the men that had been holding her legs lunged toward the newcomer with his fist pulled back, but the orange-haired person caught the fist. The man let out a scream of pain as his fist was crushed, before the newcomer used him like a weapon and swung him all the way around, knocking over the other two before letting go of the fist and sending him crashing into the opposite wall. In his rotation, Sayuri caught a look of his face. It turned out, the person saving her looked like he was only a teenager. And he wore a strange headband that had a metal plate on it with a symbol of a leaf on it. A shinobi of the Leaf.

The orange-haired teenager stood up to full height, revealing that he was actually on the large side. Sayuri began to sit up from the ground now, and she finally saw the knife laying on the ground next to her left hand. When she looked up to her savior again, he was gone. Sayuri felt her hair blow around like a breeze went past her, and she turned her head to look over her shoulder. The Konoha shinobi had run past her just as she looked at the knife and was presently finishing off the bandits. He brought his knee up into one of them, who fell over grabbing his abdomen afterwards and collapsed silently, before striking another in the jaw and sending him flying across the enclosed area where he went face first into a wall, leaving bloody cracks at the impact point. All four men were done.

"Are you hurt?" the teenager asked, now stooping down next to Sayuri. At first she flinched, a sort of reflex by this point, but when she realized he wasn't going to harm her she shook her head. She could feel pain all over her body, and she could probably find plenty of bruises to go with it. And her black eye was easy to see already. "You stay here a moment longer, okay? I'll go take care of the bad people." His voice was surpisingly soothing, despite being masculine. It made her feel like she was finally safe. But as the orange-haired teen stood up and ran to the door, slamming into it with his shoulder and entirely knocking it down, Sayuri began to get onto her feet.

Who is he? How did he find me? Sayuri began to wonder, slowly walking over to the destroyed door. Though it was against what the teen had just asked, she was curious. Already she could hear the sounds of combat, and that scared her a lot. But something compelled her to move her feet and head toward the doorway. Once she reached the doorway, she carefully peered around it. It led to a larger walled area in the compound that seemed to be the main courtyard before a house, and there were presently several bodies already. In fact, Sayuri noticed there was one right at her feet by the fallen door. She moved her foot a bit further away from it, before returning her attention to the fighting before her.

One of the men, one she hadn't seen before, tried to stab the teenager with a long sword. But the teen used the side of his hand to direct the blade past himself, before bringing his other hand in and jabbing at him with his pinky finger out. However, once his finger struck the man in the chest, Sayuri could feel a powerful reverbration and the man shouted in pain, blood spraying from his mouth. He flew backwards several meters and landed on his back, unmoving. With only one finger, she thought, still silently watching the fight. Another unfamiliar bandit tried to launch a fireball at the teenager, but he dodged sideways at impressive speed, letting it crash into the ground harmlessly. As the man tried to form more handseals, the Konoha shinobi charged forward and headbutted the man.

Sayuri heard a horrific cracking sound and winced, but still saw the man fall down. The last one there threw a hatchet at the teenager. But it was a bad move, as the orange-haired shinobi spun around it, sticking his hand out and catching it as he did so. As he finished rotating, he released the hatchet, sending it flying back to it's owner. Sayuri looked away just in time to hear the sound of the impact, and then the sound of a body hitting the ground afterwards. When she looked back, the man that just died had fallen behind a rock and she couldn't see his upper half. But his legs were unmoving. Sensing no further danger, Sayuri moved into the center of the doorway, so the shinobi would clearly see her. She still felt weary and in pain, but she felt safe. Thinking about it, she didn't know exactly what she felt at the moment.

"If I can't free my brother, than I shall avenge him!" Sayuri looked to her right. Daichi rapidly approached, wielding the ninjato he used to slay Mika. Blood was trickling down his forehead, indicating that he had already been dispatched by the leaf shinobi before Sayuri started watching, but he was still capable of fighting. The man charged the little girl, the blade poised to kill. Fear flashed through her eyes and she was frozen in place, her eyes on the incoming blade. Time began to slow down as he approached. He was no so close, Sayuri could smell his blood. Or perhaps it was just the overall smell of the blood that was already spilled? The blade drew ever closer in this time-distorted world, and Sayuri realized she was about to die. She closed her eyes tightly and clenched her fists.

Blood splattered on her face, and she opened her eyes. The tip of the blade was mere inches from her chest, and it was dripping with blood. Looking a bit further down the blade, she saw that it had stabbed through a hand. Following up the arm it was attached to, she realized that the leaf shinobi had put his hand in the way and somehow was able to stop the blade. His hand was in a fist, with the blade between the middle two fingers, so he had to have stopped it by applying pressure like that. Sayuri felt her knees grow weak and she lost her balance, falling onto her rear. "No you won't," the leaf shinobi said to Daichi, rather casually. In fact, he almost seemed like he didn't even notice his hand was stabbed through.

Before Daichi could say anything, as his face suggested that he had the grim realization of defeat, the shinobi brought one of his legs around and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying backwards. This pulled the sword back through his hand, leaving a bloody wound where it was impaled. Just as Daichi crashed into the house wall, leaving cracks on the impact, the teenager was upon him with his bloody fist pulled back. With a final, powerful blow, he punched the man entirely through the wall. Sayuri simply sat there amazed. Amazed she was alive, amazed she was rescued, amazed at the combat display, amazed at the loss of life. With all the enemies taken care of, the teenager let out a sigh and turned around to face Sayuri.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Sayuri noticed his irises were red, and she could've sworn they were green before. This made her wary, and she remained silent. The teenager approached her, before crouching down to bring his eyes to about her level. He gently placed his hand under her chin, making her flinch at first, before moving her face to the side to get a better view of her injuries. "We need to get you fixed up. Here," he said, before moving to pick her up. But Sayuri let out a small yelp and moved away. "I... I bruise easily," she confessed, the first time she had spoken to her savior. This made him stop, and he began to think.

"How did you find me?" This made the teenager stop thinking, and a small grin formed on his face. "I spent the past two days tracking down the people that took you. They were a bit clever, but not clever enough." He snapped his fingers and turned around, facing his back toward Sayuri. "I can carry you home like this." Sayuri thought about it for a moment, staring at the back of the shinobi's head. "Be careful, please," she relented, slowly getting to her feet and walking over to the shinobi. Since he was so low, she was able to put her arms over his shoulders and lock them just below his neck, before giving herself a final hop onto his back. Once she was there, his hands came up and caught her legs. For the first time in a week, she hadn't been hurt by human contact.

With Sayuri secured, the orange-haired shinobi stood up to full height. In the back of her mind, the height change reminded her of her father. "Who are you?" she finally asked. The teenager looked over his shoulder at her, a smile evident on his face. "You can call me Katsuko Moto. Sayuri Yamada, right?" She nodded a confirmation, and Katsuko looked forward. However, before they could go, Katsuko jumped to the side with startling speed. Sayuri even let out a yelp of surprise. A pillar of stone shot out underneath where they were standing. Katsuko spun around to face the house. Sayuri was beginning to feel like it was a mistake to jump onto his back, because he was moving too fast for her taste so far. Standing in the house, visible through the massive hole in the wall, was Daichi.

"Die!" The word brought back painful memories to Sayuri. But before she could lament, Katsuko shot forward like a bullet. Despite his speed, the ride wasn't very bumpy for Sayuri. But it was terrifying nonetheless. Katsuko brought his leg across, kicking the man in his neck. Daichi made a strange noise, and Sayuri looked away, using Katsuko's head to hide from Daichi. But when Katsuko stopped, she heard the thud of him hitting the floor. As she began to look again, Katsuko spoke up. "Don't look." Sayuri looked away again, before she felt Katsuko perform a stomp. Sayuri didn't want to look now, because the stomp sounded gruesome.

Wasting no time, Katsuko exited the building and stood back in the courtyard. "Now I'll get you home safe and sound. We'll be back at Tani before nightfall." This was it. She was saved. It was finally over. The whole painful ordeal. As Katsuko began to run forward, notably slower than when he was in combat, Sayuri let out a sigh. "Thank you, Katsuko-kun," she said, her voice rather quiet. Though it sounded more like normal, as the fear was no longer present. "Everything will be okay. You earned the right to relax, so go ahead and relax." A small smile formed on Sayuri's face, and she gave one final look toward the compound she was kept at. I'm safe.

The girl looked down at Katsuko's hand holding her leg, the one that had been impaled. She could feel his warm blood. "I'm sorry about your hand. I should have listened to you earlier." She not only heard but could feel Katsuko chuckle a bit. "It was nothing. A small price to pay." His words and his confidence surprised Sayuri, and she looked up at the back of his head. "Doesn't it hurt?" "Nothing I can't handle. I would be lying if I said it didn't, but pain is something that I can deal with if there are more important things." Sayuri looked back down at his bleeding hand, before looking at a bruise on her forearm. "You're strong, aren't you?" she asked. The question seemed silly after she said it, but the teenager didn't laugh.

"I am strong so others don't have to be." His answer shocked her, and she looked looked back up at his head. "I have been weak my entire life. It's a miracle none of my bones were broken back there," Sayuri confessed. "That doesn't make you weak." This answer also shocked her. "Being frail doesn't mean you can't be strong. After the past week, you will see that you are much stronger now than you were before, even if you're still frail." Sayuri looked down in shame now, embarassed by the conversation. But Katsuko didn't notice. "What makes someone strong is their will, not their body."

Now it made sense. The girl continued looking down, noticing how fast the two were actually travelling. "They killed my best friend," she also confessed. This made Katsuko stop running entirely, but he slowed down into it so as not to scare Sayuri by suddenly stopping. "I have lost loved ones before. You never will get used to it, and it will hurt every time it happens. But what you have to do is think about what they would have wanted. And slowly you will be able to recover." His words seemed surprisingly passionate, but then Katsuko began running again. "Did my father send you?" "Yes. Once he learned of your kidnapping, he expended every resource he could to find you. Including asking Konohagakure for help. I volunteered from there."

The two were silent for a while, before Sayuri spoke up again. "Why did you volunteer? How much are you getting paid?" Sayuri felt Katsuko chuckle again. "I'm not. I heard that a little girl was kidnapped by notorious bandits. I didn't like the sound of that. There are a lot of things wrong in this world, and I may very well be one of them, but there is still goodness. To protect others is like that, especially the innocent and the helpless. I couldn't just walk home knowing what your fate could have been." Sayuri looked down in embarassment. "So it is because I can't help myself." "There's no shame in that. That's the reason I am a shinobi: to help people that can't help themselves. I will be as strong as I need to be so others don't have to be."

Sayuri looked at the back of Katsuko's head before blushing and looking away. "Everyone helps me. I never really liked it, but today is different." A light chuckle escaped Katsuko. "Then you can use this as motivation. To have a stronger will." A small smile formed on Sayuri's lips. "I feel like I'm waking up from a horrible dream, yet I'm so tired." There was a bit of a pause in the conversaton now. "If you're really tired and just want to get home, I can get us there faster." Sayuri thought about it for a moment. "No, I like talking to you. I've never met anyone like you before, but I guess I haven't met very many people..." Katsuko looked over his shoulder at Sayuri, surprising her a bit with his smile. "You will never meet anyone like me," he told her, with a wide grin on his face.

---

The sun was setting over the capital of the River Country. The city of Tani looked the same as it did a week ago, only it felt different to Sayuri. The orange and pink sky over her house felt different than before. She couldn't tell what it was she felt, but she guessed it was comfort and security. Something she had taken for granted her entire life. As Katsuko approached the front doors, they burst open and Sanada Yamada came running out. Upon seeing his daughter's face, tears began to well up in his eyes. Before words were even exchanged, Katsuko stopped and knelt down, allowing Sayuri to stand on her own two feet. To which she immediately ran to her father.

"Father!" she cried as she was embraced by his hug. While the reunion was going on before him, Katsuko stood back up and smiled. "Are you okay? You look like you've been hurt. What did they do to you?" Sayuri thought about it for a moment before answering. "I'm fine, father." This surprised both Katsuko as well as Sanada, considering both know of her frailty and she had obvious damage. The smile on Katsuko's face turned to a grin. "Are you sure?" "I'll be okay in a few days." Now, Sayuri looked back at her savior.

She saw that he appeared to be lost in thought, or zoning out in some way. Katsuko appeared to be reflecting on memories of his own, while seeing Sayuri interact with her father. "This is Katsuko Moto. He saved me and protected me," she introduced, snapping Katsuko out of his daze. He stretched a hand forward and shook hands with her father. He couldn't help but note that this man was probably the highest-ranking person in society that he has ever shaken hands with. Before they could converse, Sayuri's mother and two brothers came rushing from the house, followed by several servants.

It was a large, happy reunion. Katsuko took a few steps back and started admiring the view over Tani, to give the family a bit of their own sort of privacy. Once the reunion seemed about over, someone else appeared at the door. And the speed at which Sayuri noticed her was astonishing. "Maki-san!" Sayuri ran forward and embraced the woman in a hug, earning a bit of a wince while she did so. Though she was walking on her own, some of the bandages over her chest were visible as she knelt down to hug Sayuri. "You're alive!" "I'm glad to see you too, Sayuri-chan." After embracing the woman she thought died, her best friend she thought she lost, Sayuri turned around to see Katsuko walking away.

"Wait!" she called out to him, making him stop and turn halfway to look back. "Aren't you going to stay?" Behind Sayuri, her family stood watching Katsuko. They seemed rather welcoming, but Katusko shook his head. "You're finally home. You should spend as much time with your loved ones as you can. I don't need to be interrupting any of that." Though this made Sayuri sad, she saw that he was smiling. And this time, she can definitely see that his eyes change color, because they were violet now. "Are you sure, young man? I want to reward you for all you've done, so the least I can do is let you stay the night in a guest room." Once again, Katsuko shook his head. "I don't need a reward, sir. I'm just doing my job. I'm just a protector of good is all."

Tears began to form in Sayuri's eyes, but she wore a smile on her lips. "I'll never forget you, Katsuko-kun," she said, before wiping some of the tears from her eyes. This made the teenager lose his smile for a moment, but it returned once he saw her smile. "Don't worry about that. I'll always be around." He looked over at Maki now, and the young woman mouthed the words "thank you" toward him. "While I have to go home to take care of my mom now, I can come back to visit in the future. Promise me you'll stay out of trouble until then?" This made Sayuri giggle a bit, before she stood up straight. "I promise."

[j8cob]

The Next Level
15 Months into Timeskip

SPOILER: Click to show

The morning sun cast an orange glare across the dark blue sky. The dawn broke over the Moto Estate, and it was already alive. Inside the dojo, Katsuko sat with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. While he meditated, Hana was to his right trying to lift something. It was a large steel rod, over twice as long as Katsuko is tall. One half of the rod had three large metal balls, so large they took up the entire half. And the thing was so heavy, Hana found that she couldn't even get it to budge. While she noisily struggled, Katsuko finally let out a sigh. "I don't think you are ready to use Saihyousen," Katsuko said, before opening his eyes.

As he stood up, Hana gave up trying and started to pout. "I know I'm not strong, but I want to get stronger too. I can't rely on my pure speed, just like you can't rely on your pure strength," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I know. That is why I've been training to get faster. But I didn't start by trying to outspeed you." "I'm pretty sure you did. And you-" "Lost." Katsuko walked over and grabbed the metal rod. The rod part was just as long as Katsuko, but even with the weight of the giant steel device, Katsuko lifted it with one hand and swung it around to rest it on his shoulder. The dojo had a high ceiling, luckily.

"My training has gotten too dull. My progress has slowed down significantly." Katsuko began to walk to the other side of the dojo, where all the equipment was at. Hana followed behind him. "So what are you going to do? There is still some progress, right?" Katsuko chuckled a bit, before setting Saihyousen on the ground gently. "I'm going to step my training up. Yours, too. We will be going to the next level if we want to truly improve." He turned around and flashed Hana a smile. "Well, what is the next level?"

Without responding, Katsuko picked up a thick iron bar and tossed it to Hana. She caught it, but immediately after felt the weight and her arms dropped. She almost dropped the bar, but held on. Barely. "Th-this... is... t-too..." she stuttered out, trying to lift it up to her chest height. "We can't be taking it slowly anymore. To make progress quickly, we must try harder." The teenager turned around, holding up a piece of paper with kanji on it. "What is... that?" Katsuko grinned nervously. "This is a chakra suppression tag. If you put it on someone, it hinders their chakra system. Well, it typically it will knock someone unconscious within a few seconds and keep them from using their chakra. I'm going to put it on and train like that."

This made Hana drop the bar, which barely missed her feet. "Isn't that dangerous?" she asked, now concerned for Katsuko. "At first it might be. I don't know if it will even work. But most of my crazy ideas work." Before Hana could stop him, he placed the tag on his chest. At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then Hana noticed Katsuko start to wobble. "Katsuko!" Before he could fall, he suddenly brought his left foot to his side and stopped himself. He regained his balance before he could fall. Sweat began forming on his brow already. "This is more difficult... than I thought," Katsuko said, a pained grin on his face. It was clear that he was struggling, which made Hana worried. "This is even better than I hoped!"

Katsuko turned back and reached for Saihyousen. However, when he grabbed it with one hand, he found himself unable to make it budge. "You're going to hurt yourself Katsuko. Maybe you can tone it down a bit for now. There is still progress to be made without going too crazy, right?" But Katsuko shook his head. "This is better. I can feel this is pushing my limits further. The longer I can keep this up, the greater the effect will be. I cannot pass out!" Katsuko placed both hands on the rod now, planting his feet firmly too. With a pained grunt, he began struggling to lift the insanely heavy weapon. "This will make me stronger! This will make me faster!" The giant weapon began to move now, slowly lifting from the ground.

Hana let out a gasp of shock as Katsuko began shouting. It was like a primal struggle. His eyes were even burning such an intense green, they seemed to be glowing even though he wasn't using a dojutsu. "Hyaaah!!!" Katsuko lifted the massive weapon above his head now. His legs seemed to be shaking and his sweat was very visible. His teeth were clenched and he seemed to have his head bowed slightly. "I will break my limits!" he shouted. A smile formed on Hana's face, like she was now fully able to admire Katsuko's determination. But then Katsuko suddenly wavered and began wobbling. The massive weapon slipped from his hands, crashing to the floor and smashing through it where it landed. Katsuko himself began to fall forward, and Hana realized that he had lost consciousness.

Before he could hit the ground, Hana caught him and sat him down, prompty ripping the tag from his chest. "Katsuko! Wake up!" she shouted, getting no response. Instinctively, she gave him a hard slap across the face, and that seemed to make him stir. "Wha-?" he mumbled, slowly waking up. As he sat up, he began rubbing his head. "You passed out. You over-exerted yourself with the chakra... thingy." Katsuko looked over his shoulder at the steel weapon that crashed through the floor. This made him frown. He would have to fix the hole in the floor later. "So I couldn't do it..."

Katsuko stood up now, before stretching his hand out to Hana. "Give it back. I want to try again." Hana grabbed it in both hands now. "No! You're going to get hurt and I know it. You have no idea how to pace yourself or anything. I'm not going to do this." Katsuko kept his hand outstretched, waiting for her. "I'm not going to try lifting Saihyousen again. This time, I'm going to run." This made Hana waver, and Katsuko moved in quickly. He snatched the tag out of her hands and placed it on his chest again. Hana jumped to her feet in protest and Katsuko took a step back. "Wait..."

The teenager asserted a sprinting stance, pointed toward the door. "Can you please run alongside me to help track my progress?" he asked Hana, surprising her. "I will run with you to keep you from getting hurt." "That works too. I'm going to go full speed now." Katsuko shot forward. Except the proper word to describe it wouldn't be "shot forward." More like "he began running." His usual speed was far beyond his present speed, and Katsuko noticed immediately. It was also straining to run even that fast, with each step being a great effort. Hana, beside him, only seemed like she was jogging to keep up as the two ran out the door onto the property.

"This... is... nothing," Katsuko managed to get out, sounding incredibly strained. "It doesn't look that way. How slow you're going, a genin could outspeed you," Hana said rather quickly, intentionally taunting him. A scowl formed on his face first, but then it turned into a smirk. Hana noticed Katsuko begin to pull forward, moving somewhat faster. "I will train like this... until I... can catch you." This made Hana chuckle. Though she was faster than Katsuko, even when he is at full capacity, he always has been able to catch her. She wins in sprints, but if she tried to get crafty it would fail. And his stamina... she couldn't run as long as he could. "You never will." When Katsuko looked over at her, she stuck out her tongue. This made him grin, before looking ahead.

---

The sun was setting now, casting its orange glare across the blue sky. Katsuko slowly walked into the dojo. He was tired, far more tired than he has been in a long time. Once Katsuko walked in, he saw his mother trying to move Saihyousen from its place in the floor. "You're gonna hurt yourself, Mom," Katsuko said, earning a sigh from his mother. "I told you before not to drop this thing." "I know, it was an accident. I'll fix the hole tomorrow." Now Akira turned around, noticing the tag on Katsuko's chest. "Why do you have that on? What were you up to?" she asked, pointing at the chakra suppression tag.

Her son smirked, before removing it. After taking a deep breath and stretching his arms, he smiled. "I was training. Don't worry about my health. Hana was with me, so nothing bad would've happened." Katsuko walked over to his mother, before grabbing Saihyousen with one hand and lifting it from the floor. This time, with care, he set it gently on the wooden floor. In this manner, it wouldn't fall through. "You need to start worrying about your health, not me. Training is important to you, but if you overdo it, you'll only hurt yourself." This made Katsuko chuckle.

"Thank you, Mom. But I'll be fine. I can handle my training," he assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving her a smile. This didn't seem to help her much, but she let out a sigh and simply accepted his stubborness. "You better not be lying to me. By the way, dinner will be ready in ten minutes. I came out to get you and I find a hole in your father's dojo. You will fix it tomorrow." Her final demand was eerily threatening, and forced Katsuko to gulp back some fear of his mother. "Of course!" Katsuko placed the tag on the shelf against the wall and followed his mother out of the dojo. He knew that Hana had already gone to the house. It was a long, exhausting day. But it put a smile on Katsuko's face. I have a challenge again.