Chapter 31 - Right of Passage

Ekyt looked sideways to the Grass coalition. He could have left them now- he had both scrolls. If everyone was tied up in one place, it was an easy victory for him. But these Grass Ninja had come to his rescue. The least he could do was even up the odds before he left. But something didn’t seem right. Better to play it safe…

“So you’re the Leaf guy everyone’s talking about…Well, best of luck. I guess we’re allies, for now, but it’s not gonna last once we’ve ruined these guys,” said the Grass ninja who seemed to be in charge.

“Fair enough. I owe you one for helping me. Besides, I don’t think any of us will object to less competition,” Ekyt replied, taking up a guard stance.

“Exactly what I was thinking!” said a Grass Ninja Ekyt hadn’t noticed. The guy seemed to grow up from the ground. He put a kunai to Ekyt’s neck from behind. “What a fool. There are no allies in the chunin exams! You should die just for that!”

Ekyt disappeared. The Grass Ninja had captured a plain old clone. When his hand passed through Ekyt, he realized he had been duped.

“Damn it! Damn it, that stupid Leaf retard!” the Grass Ninja cursed, throwing his kunai down.

“Stop it, Kirouko. We ALL failed to catch this plot. AND we killed one of our own…too realistic. This guy isn’t genin-level…fortunately, neither are we!”

One by one, Appearance Shift Jutsus melted away, revealing a group of twelve Sound Ninja.

“The others were so easy to kill, I can’t believe this one fooled us! We’re all chunin or higher…damn it. Lord Orochimaru won’t be pleased with us…he told us to deliver this guy to him, dead or alive. Now we’ll have to wait until the next round of the exams! We’ll kill him and make it look accidental, or hit him with a genjutsu…”

Ekyt landed a few feet away, crouched in a combat position. “I don’t think it’ll work that way. I was on to you guys from the start…” Ekyt straightened up, pulling a fan out from his scroll. It was small, nothing like Temari’s. But it had a nasty little trick buried in it.

“Yeah? And how did you guess this one, genius?”

Ryouko flipped open the fan. “It was strange that all of us found each other so quickly. If I ran into one team, it would have been accident. But the forest is huge, and for so few people to all ‘find’ each other…it reeked of a trap. That, and your genjutsu is sad. You couldn’t have fooled one of our academy students with your weak Transformation Jutsus.”

“That’s it, we’re killing this bastard right here!” one hot-tempered chunin shouted, charging. Ryouko sliced with his fan multiple times. It’s metal pleats were razor-sharp, and cut the chunin to shreds. Not enough to kill him, but he was out of the fight.

“You’re even dumber if you thought I’d come back alone. I held you at bay long enough to prove I’m worthy of chunin level. But this represents a threat to the Leaf Village, and I can’t, in good conscience, let you idiots walk freely anymore.”

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh- TOK!

Three exam proctors, one Tokubetsu Jonin, and one ANBU agent landed next to Ryouko. Genma, Raina, Anko, Ibikki, and the masked ANBU agent were an imposing sight, even to the twelve high-ranked Sound agents. Everyone braced themselves for a fight.

Ryouko knelt down, as if he was tired. In reality, he was maintaining a genjutsu to create an opening for the jonin to attack.

Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Jutsu! Ryouko thought, one knee, one hand forming a tiger handsign. The genjutsu hit, stunning the Sound Shinobi. That gave everyone the opportunity to attack. Ryouko had every intention of joining in, but Ibikki held him back.

“Your job is done here. Go inform Lady Hokage that you were correct, and wait for her instructions,” Ibikki ordered gruffly. Ryouko knew better than to argue.

“Understood,” Ryouko murmured, even as he used the Body Flicker Jutsu to get a move on to Tsunade’s office.

“Good kid…Shame I couldn’t tell him why he was being pulled out. It’s better that Tsunade tells him, I guess…it’s not every day your only student goes missing…”

--

“He’s WHAT?!” Ekyt practically shouted, pacing around Tsunade’s office, his now ever-present chakra cigarette dangling from his mouth. “I’m going to find him, this can’t happen!”

Tsunade didn’t try to stop him this time. “Listen to me- In all it’s wisdom, the Leaf Village and it’s proctors have declared you worthy of chunin rank. Before you go, we all want to see it with our own eyes- the time you finally take this vest. (Tsunade handed Ekyt a vest, even patting him on the shoulder, at which point the cigarette clenched tighter between his teeth so he didn’t drop it in shock) Go with our blessing and save him.”

Ekyt gave a grave nod. “I’ll drag him back. He can’t know what he’s doing, he would never make this decision on his own…”

“Ekyt…Happy Birthday,” Tsunade called to him just as he was leaving the room. Ekyt stopped, but a smile played on his lips.

“Thank you, My Lady.”

Ekyt jumped out the window, darting across the rooftops of the Leaf Village, heading for Tanzaku town.

“Sakura…go to Naruto. He’ll try to stop Ekyt- your job is to stop Naruto from interfering. That, and you and him could use a little time, I’m sure. God knows when you’ll get another chance like this. So, go on,” Tsunade flicked her hand, hiding a smile as her apprentice practically ran from the room in excitement. Shizune smiled at Sakura going to meet Naruto, but then her face turned grim.

“My Lady…what happened to Yuushi? I mean, what do you think happened to make him to do this…It’s just not like him!”

Tsunade sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Shizune, I’m not going to lie- I think this is Orochimaru’s doing. I just have a sense when it comes to that snake bastard…I think he’s up to something…Shikamaru- You, Choji, and Ino go, and tell me just what goes on- but do not interfere. The last thing we need is Ekyt going off on his own at this point. Only intervene if Ekyt is sure to die- understand?”

--

Yuushi walked to the spot the letter said. Knowing he was early, he checked out the landscape, in case of an attack. He saw where to hide, and where people COULD be hidden, in case of an ambush. Strong trees, weak trees, tall weeds…Yuushi took all that in. Satisfied, Yuushi sat down to compose a poem. He didn’t know a thing about poetry, really, so he just kind of made up words and strung them together in different ways until they sounded good. Today, he came up with:


The dreamer lies in wait,
Nighttime a symphony of torture,
The day filled with hope.
The longing burns inside the dreamer.
Soon, that desire turns him into the warrior.
The warrior will not let go.


Yuushi didn’t quite understand what he wrote, but he thought is sounded good- dramatic and powerful. That was all he wanted. Now calmed, Yuushi closed his eyes, taking in the sounds of the nature that surrounded him, secure in the knowledge that his mother would be coming.

-

“What a fool! He doesn’t know what his mother looks like. Kabuto, describe the boy to me…” Orochimaru, a shell of his former self in this husk of a body. The Third had sealed this body’s original soul when he performed the Reaper Death Seal. That left Orochimaru room to take over, just like before. But without that soul, he inherited all that body’s injuries and limitations. This body also suffered from the effects of the curse Sarutobi had put on him.

Kabuto pushed his glasses up. “Black hair- long, near his shoulders. He’s slim, and very pale. His blind eye indicates a genetic weakness that usually skips a generation…his eye color is black, suggesting that ‘black’ is the dominant color for his family…”

Orochimaru smirked nastily. “I trust you, then, to transform into this poor boy’s mother. Take your best guess…in the mean time, it will take almost all of my chakra to perform a Cursed Earth Seal…but the boy will be worth it…”

Kabuto turned around, a question ready to go. “Why him, Lord Orochimaru? He isn’t strong, he doesn’t have a kekkai-genkai, at least not one that’s apparent….so, why this unassuming, even weak, boy?”

Orochimaru sucked in his breath- this hurt so damn much! He spoke in a hiss when his strength returned:

“Because of what he means to the Leaf Village. Particularly those who have taught him. It gives me a psychological advantage over those who have gotten to know him- and that group is the same one as Sasuke…can you imagine the despair they’ll feel, losing ANOTHER comrade to my influence? It will be…pleasant. At least for us.”

--

Naruto was near panic in his hotel room. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a knock on the door.

“Yeah?! Oh…hey, Sakura!”

Ekyt excused himself and walked into the room. Naruto and Sakura were currently doing the hug and kiss thing, and Ekyt didn’t need to see that right now. After allotting enough time for that, Ekyt spoke up.

“Any idea where he went?”

Naruto closed his eyes, thinking hard. “He mentioned a letter…but I don’t know-”

“A letter! No, this is going to destroy him! That letter…it was from his mother…but it’s a fake. I’m sure of it. When he finds out she really IS dead, it’s going to ruin his psyche. I’ve got to stop this! Damn it!” Ekyt hurried out of the room.

Naruto and Sakura watched, noting where Ekyt was going.

“So, uh, everything been okay?” Naruto said carefully, kind of flinching, expecting to get hit. He wasn’t used to Sakura being so gentle with him.

“Yeah…just work, you know? But I’m enjoying it. How’s your training going?”

--

Ekyt looked back at the hotel, watching his clone race the other way. Sorry…but this is beyond personal now. I can’t let anyone interfere. I’ve got to think, more importantly…who would trick Yuushi? Who would have the motive? I guess anyone who hates me…but what this round-about plot to kidnap, or kill, or whatever? Couldn’t they have just slain him, then come for me? this doesn’t make any sense, I need more information. Thankfully, Yuushi told me about this letter…I warned him, but I didn’t have the heart to TELL him it was fake…That’s not even the most important thing now…I need to know who sent it…and why…

--

Yuushi heard someone approaching long before they reached him. This person moved lightly, as if a child, or a female. They weren’t making any attempt to camoflague their movements. They weren’t hiding…

A trap? No, too obvious to be a trap…is this really it? My mother…No, I can’t presume. Better safe than sorry.

Yuushi spun around, his sword drawn. But when he turned, he saw a face so close to his own that there was no doubt in his mind. This was his mother. It had to be. The face, the eyes, the hair…it had to be her. There was no way it could be anyone else.

“Yuushi…” came the gentle voice. “Yuushi-kun…it’s so good to see you! You’ve really grown strong, I can tell! So much that I’ve brought someone to meet you…someone special, and very close to me…”

Kabuto ended the jutsu just as Orochimaru’s mouth hit Yuushi’s shoulder. Yuushi cried out in pain and surprise.

“Welcome home…Yuushi,” Orochimaru said happily, before breaking into laughter.

-

Ekyt watched from the bushes once he heard Orochimaru’s sickening laughter. When he saw Yuushi, he felt his heart snap. A boy with a gentle heart who deserves so much better than this…now his freedom has been stolen…I can’t let this happen, there’s still time! I can’t do anything about the curse mark without hurting him, and at his age…killing him. No, I won’t do it. But I’ve got to stop him from becoming Orochimaru’s next pawn! Or worse…his body!

Ekyt tore through the bushes, letting a kunai fly toward Orochimaru. Kabuto knocked it down with a kunai of his own.

“Well, you DID come! But it’s too late, he belongs to Lord Orochimaru now,” Kabuto said, watching Yuushi writhe in pain on the ground. Kabuto pushed back on Ekyt’s kunai, knowing Ekyt’s full attention wasn’t on him. It was distributed between three people. With a distraction like that, Kabuto was sure he could he win relatively easily.

“No…this fight…is mine!” Yuushi declared, holding his sword in a guard. He was on his feet already. This stunned everyone.

“The curse mark took to him incredibly quickly…perhaps there’s more to this boy than meets the eye…” Orochimaru wondered aloud. “But, it’s HIS sensei…let them hash this out, Kabuto, there’s no rush for us.”

Ekyt kicked away from Kabuto, not believing this.

“Yuushi…why would you…” he said, his tone questioning.

“Because, sensei, I needed to become stronger than you- my last right of passage, to surpass my teacher. On your guard, sensei!” Yuushi shouted, rushing in.

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