Little Alice

Attack on Titan: Corruption and Oppression

Childish.

She thought while she continued to eat her stew in peace. Finally after some time Mika had managed to find some peaceful place after all. The food wasn't that bad in her opinion and she had only looked up from it when she had heard the trouble stirring up. Luckily an officer had put down the ruckus with a scolding. Not particular caring for it, as she wasn't part of that group, she continued to finish her dinner. When the others started to head back to their cabin, Mika started to socialize with some girls. It wouldn't hurt to become friendly with some other girls for now. Keeping up her act until she was under the sheets, Mika thought about today.

It hadn't went that bad in her opinion. She had made some ground and probably came over as a friendly person who also enjoyed some peace now and then, most during during. Or maybe she hadn't yet established that. But there was enough time to do so. Not really fretting over it, Mika listened to the soft whispers of some girls that spoke with each other. Probably friends of each other or people who could get along on already day one. Closing her eyes, Mika decided to ignore them.

Just need to... focus on my ... goal.

Naruto : The Rise of The New Generations

A little game,
Asking questions to the ''key''.

A collab between Fieryfly, Gerontis and Alice.

Summary :
With Midori having been taken by Asami, who has some plans with Midori for her own as calling her the ''key'' for her questions. This collab can be considered as a nice and lovely interview between the two.~

Interviewing~

''Wake up, little birdy.'' Asami was crouched in front of Midori, who had been placed in a seat. They were this time in the living room of Asami's house. The woman had first thought to relive some memories with Midori to take her to a more barren room, but the comfortable looking living room was good enough. A smile was appearing on the lips of the woman as she rose up from her previous stance.

Slowly Midori blinked. Dazed she tried to really wake up and tried to collect her thoughts. What happened? She had been running, but it had been so so heavy all of a sudden like her legs were made out of jelly. Gyuki had been pulling her. Pulling her.. away from Deidara! Midori shot up only to find that she was no longer on the street. Instead she was in one of her nightmares apparantly because she was in a room and only Asami was around. Sure, the room wasn't dark and nasty, but the rest was just the same. It was probably just a ploy to make her feel better anyway. With frightened eyes Midori locked her gaze with Asami. No... She thought. She was not having this nightmare again. That was in the past. "No." She said out loud, trying to wake herself up. "No. No. No!"

''Calm down.'' Asami instructed. Placing her fists at her hips, she looked with an irritated frown in Midori's direction. ''You act like we are playing the previous game again. For crying out loud, I am your sensei. At least greet me with a hi or something.'' Asami told Midori as she would then sit down next to the girl. ''That and I highly advice to not get too excited. I gave you the antidote and you should be able to recover, but still might be a good thing to not jump and scream around. Guests don't usually do that kind of things.''

Calm down. Probably the two words that would make the less sense to Midori now. Calm down? In a nightmare like this? Not a option. Though the possibility of this being a nightmare were slowly decreasing. It was too real and the details made way too much sense. "You... are not my sensei." Midori said. Her voice was shaking. As Asami sat down next to her she scooted over as far away from the woman was possible. "Raspberry-sensei is my sensei." She continued.

''Is he now? What odd.'' Asami politely said. ''From what I know for certain is that he isn't even in Kumogakure anymore. On a special mission on the orders of the Raikage. So,'' The polite and sweet tone were suddenly gone as Asami shot Midori a glare. ''Better watch your mouth, brat. My patience is already on a low level. I am not threatening you or restraining you, but things can change quite fast if you keep it up.'' She kept the glare for another brief second as she then sighed and rubbed her forehead. ''Just forget everything what my cousin told you. I am not here to hurt or make an advantage of you. Got it? This is simply what I am going to do with each member of Team 13, as I am assigned to watch over you while Natsuki isn't able.''

"So he is still my sensei. You are just temporal." Midori muttered. Asami's words confused her and frightened her more. This was not threatening, then what was? Who was her cousin? And what was she going to do to her team? Take advantage of them? She didn't get it. Not all. But if she was going to do something to her team... Midori knew that she could not let that happen. How she was going to prevent it however she didn't know. It was so hard to think clearly when fear coursed through your veins. People said that it could save you, but now it was only clouding her thoughts. "He will come back." She said decisively. "He will and then you will be gone."

''Not really.'' Asami tried to keep herself calm, but Midori was already pushing the limit of what Asami could endure from a brat like Midori. ''I will be still around. Somebody needs to watch over you, after all.'' Asami said. ''Like it or not, but I think we already talked about this and I am not a fan of repeating things all over again. Unless you are longing for the time to be in the sheltered room again? I can arrange that. If not, then just stay calm and stop acting like a brat. We are here cause we're on the same team. If you think or even believe that you're going to be the only member who is going through this, then you're dead wrong.'' Pausing, Asami wanted to wait to be sure that she wasn't going too fast for Midori. In a way that the girl's fear would twist the words and thus cause her to become more rebellious or annoying. Both traits that would rather cause Asami to try to strangle Midori instead of staying calm. ''Would you like to eat or drink something?''

On the same team? Since when were Asami and Midori ever on the same team? Also going through what? Going through fear of the woman before her? Or before interogating? "No." She said in response to the last question. "What do you want?" Somehow she dreaded to ask that question because she was sure that she didn't like the answer. "And what are you going to do to Raspberry's team?" The use of the name was intentional. Somehow she felt it necessary to defend her sensei.

For a moment, Asami almost snapped at the girl. Was she really trying to cause a fit between them? But the answers, that was Asami's goal. She had just to keep herself calm and get a way to drag the answers out of Midori. Violence wasn't going to work, not for the long term period. ''I want to have a talk with each member of Team 13. It has been some time ever since that we last talked and with me being the replacer of Natsuki, I wanted to have a kind of meeting.'' She explained. ''Mostly cause I always had led teams of mature and experienced shinobi and not a pack of genins.'' In her mind Asami had added a certain sentence to it, but she would however not start to offend Midori. ''You're the first one that will have a meeting with me. Its very simple. You may ask me a question, to which I have to answer. Then I am allowed to ask you a question back. If I refuse to answer a question, that allows you to refuse one as well. If you cooperate it will be over before you know it.''

This sounded way too much like a trap. What would Asami possibly want to know of her? Midori didn't want to know anything about the woman. She wanted her to disappear and never come back. Besides if she just wanted to talk then why did she go through the trouble of bringing her here in this manner. It made no sense. She could just have asked. Midori would still have said no, but it was the idea that counted. "I don't want to know anything." She said, shrinking away from Asami. "I want to go home."

Asami stayed silent. While she seemed calm, she was almost at her boiling point. Raising her left hand to place it against her face, the woman let out a sigh. ''And this a chuunin.'' Asami mumbled. She really wanted to strangle that little neck now, but the answers. They were vital for the last part. ''Seeing that you can't understand this then, let me phrase it differently.'' Asami removed her hand as she looked with a serious expression in Midori's direction. ''Right now, you're part of the team that is being put under my leadership. I don't care if it is temporary or not. I don't care for that you don't like me, but with being the sensei, it means I need to do some things. Like trying to lead you rabble. So, that said, think wisely. Cause else I can just talk to the Raikage and make it clear that the team can't function together. That will mean that either a demotion or the team will be torn apart.'' Her tone wasn't set to threaten Midori, but Asami clearly meant every word she said. ''Even a jinchuriki won't get the privilige to argue against a report that says such things. Now, calm down and stop acting like a brat. Like it or not, we are going to have this kind of meeting and that is it. I have more important things to do than to explain it over and over again.''

Midori's fingers dug in the fabric of the seat she was sitting in. Her eyes were cast away from the woman and found themselves looking at the carpet. It was not a pretty carpet, she decided. Everything in this house was stupid. "Okay." She said in a small voice. She didn't want her team torn apart. She liked Deidara and Reyna. "And Jinchuuriki's don't get priviliges at all. They only get restrains." She muttered to no one in particular.

While having heard what Midori said, Asami decide to not pay attention to it. It didn't contribute to what she wanted to find out. If Midori thought she had no influence or priviliges, then that was her deal or problem. ''Good. Now, my first question is a rather simple one.'' Asami lowered the serious tone a bit, wanting to make it a bit more polite. Not that she actually cared for Midori's opinion, but if she could get more cooperation due it, she was willing to do so. ''What is your opinion on the Eight Tails?''

Midori shifted in her seat totally aware that, of course, Gyuki would be listening to what she was saying. She didn't like it that Asami called him the Eight Tails. His name was Gyuki, just like her name was Midori. "He is nice. I mean we disagree sometimes, but... he listens." There was a clear subtext in that sentence as Midori shot a glare towards Asami. "And you should call him by his name and not by his... I don't know, gained title or something. He is not a thing. Can I go now?"[/font]

[b]''No.'' Asami answered. Noticing the glare, the woman further raised her eyebrows in return. Staying silent for a moment or two, Asami decided to ask her second question. It was quite the change to hear she thought the Eight Tails was nice, while the previous time when Asami had been there that the two weren't on any friendly ground. Or was it possibly that Midori was lying right now? Just wanting to say what Asami want to hear? Brats these days. ''So you talk now more often with him? I am glad to hear that. How does that go?''

"That are two questions. You are not playing by your own rules." Midori said. She didn't want to be here and she didn't want to give stupid answers. She just wanted to get away. "So I don't need to answer that." Her voice was less strong than she wanted when she said that. The fear that the woman might do something again now that she had refused her a reply was strong.

''You don't?'' Asami softly mumbled. It happened faster than one could likely expect. A kunai, right between Midori's eyes. Spilling blood over the couch and over the carpet. Then the beating, but Asami quickly focused. There wasn't a kunai between Midori's eyes and no blood spilled. Yet. Trying to keep herself under control to not lose all of her patience, the woman sighed and closed her eyes. Either Midori was really trying out how far she could go or trying to be a smartass. Both that Asami wouldn't like at this moment. ''My bad then. You still can ask a question back, if we are going to follow the rules strictly.''

Asami looked like she wanted to murder her and Midori shrunk back in the seat. Her eyes shot around the house. She had to get out somehow. With one hand, the one that was hidden from Asami's view because of the way they were sitting, moved to her pouch. She had to warn Deidara. He said, he had promised, to help her if Asami would do something again. He would come, right? She would only have to use that scroll. "Why didn't you just invite me over for questions instead of, you know, drugging me and all?" Her voice sounded high pitched now. That was stupid.

She was trying something. But Asami would let her. There wasn't much that could help her now. ''That is very simple. I noticed that though you three seem to claim to be friends, your teamwork is very sloppy. Two of the three got poisoned and that leaves that only one is capable of doing anything about the situation. Instead of coordination and planning on how to work together, you all just decided to send that single person after the antidote. Even wasting chakra by trying to halt the poison like with a mist or trying to further waste chakra by making a clone in order to help the person who is sent away.'' Asami explained. She had to force herself to not sound amused or with any mocking tone to reveal how she thought about Team 13's teamwork. ''In the heat of a moment, a team compromised of one inexperienced genin, one experienced one and a chuunin, I expected better. Unless you want to tell me now that your sensei never did a good with that, be my guest. If you three would have thought any better, this could have been prevented. In a real situation all of the three of you would be dead. You had sent a fellow team member into a potential ambush and let another waste chakra like that.'' Still keeping her tone calm and a bit polite, Asami paused. Not for Midori, but for herself. She had managed to not send a rhetorical question in Midori's direction, cause apperantly Midori would use that against her. ''Besides, would you have come if I would have asked you?''

Midori's hands formed into fists. She had no right to talk about her team like that, nor about her sensei. Raspberry-sensei was the best sensei ever, after Nobushige-sensei, of course. But Nobushige-sensei was dead and not around anymore to kick Asami's ass. He would have, Midori knew. He would have protected her just like with that Tailed Beast Bomb. Why wasn't Natsuki here to protect her now, she wondered suddenly. Where did he have to go? "My team is great." She mumbled even though Asami would not agree of course, because she did have a valid point. They may not have chosen the best way of action. But didn't it matter that they had tried? Weren't they allowed to make mistakes? Wasn't that what training was for? Midori didn't ask any of these questions knowing full well that Asami would only make fun of her for that and Midori was absolutely done with being the subject of hilarity. "No." She replied truthfully to the question. "Not on my own. But I would if the rest had come with me." She steadied her gaze again on Asami. "Why are you so interested in G- the Eight Tails even though you already know... how to use him?" She asked the woman, her eyes dark.

Slowly a smile started to form on Asami's lips as Midori asked her question. It was a great temptation to not throw some mockery in Midori's direction in order to answer the question. She thought it was very clear on how the situation was or maybe Midori wasn't aware of some details. That would be a kind of a laugh for Asami. A jinchuriki who had managed to bond with her beast, but yet not learn how their chakra worked? Asami had first anticipated that Midori would know more. This meant thus that she knew less, something Asami did want to make fun of. Yet, she couldn't. Not now. ''I am interested cause I want to prevent another attack on Kumogakure. We are both very aware on how powerful a Tailed Beast is and how little people know about them. I am not going to put up a nice story on how I regard them, but it is pretty clear that we need to take measures in order to learn how they function and work in order to protect every person in the Cloud. That and I can't use him, cause I am not his host nor can I perfectly puppeteer your movements and will.'' Asami answered, while a thought came up. It would be easy if I only could, damn annoying.. Deciding to ask something back, Asami lowered her eyebrows as she looked with a more neutral expression. ''In what kind of ways can you use his powers?''

Using Gyuki would prevent another attack on Kumogakure? That didn't make much sense. Using Gyuki would most likely stop an ongoing attack yes, but prevent one? Midori didn't see how that would work. A Tailed Beast was not a thing that prevented others. It was a full out mass destruction weapon, or well, it could be that. Midori's fingers had found the scroll now and she was slowly pulling it out of her pocket. She would only have to open it and do... something. It would work. She wondered if she could lie to Asami about the things she could do, but that was probably terribly unwise. Still she didn't need to spill everything, right? "I can use some Ink Release things." She admitted. "But it is really hard and I have to concentrate a lot... That is it." Technically she hadn't gained more abilities of Gyuki. There was more chakra of course, but Asami already knew that, and there was transferring Gyuki to the clone, but as far as Midori knew, Asami didn't know anything about that. She frowned as the thought of her next question. Her mind refused to work properly which annoyed her. "Why does Deidara hate you so much?" She asked, only able to think of Deidara now because of the scroll in her hand.

At first Asami wanted to inform that Midori shouldn't keep anything hidden. Or anything funny, cause Michi had kept updated on almost everything that Midori had done. But before she could say anything, Midori asked something that Asami hadn't expected. Yet it was very simple to answer, Asami found it a bit disturbing to talk about it. Looking away, Asami started to answer the question. ''That is because I broke a promise to prevent that he would see what a battlefield is. To endure something that could scare him, but worse. Get him killed. Deidara resent me now cause I didn't take him on a march and kill the ones that one had Kumogakure suppressed. All because I wanted to protect him.'' Asami said with a bitter tone. She didn't think that Midori would understand. Deidara clearly didn't see or want to see the truth, so why would that girl see it? ''And think very well of your future answers. I already know that you can pass control to your Beast. Michi informed about a lot of what you have been up to. Like a certain scroll. Think very well of what you're going to do and say, cause the more you will keep things hidden or lie, the more I will tear the team apart.'' Asami turned her head to glare at Midori. Looking displeased, the young woman scoffed. ''Now my turn. What is the condition of the seal that kept the Eight Tails first at bay?''

Midori's hand froze as she tried to pry to scroll open. How... Asami had been stalking her all along? Then why all the questions? She already knew the answers to them anyway. Was this just a test to see if she was truthful? Her hand released the scroll as she stared to Asami. Why? Why was everything going so wrong? Being a Jinchuuriki had been absolutely fine until Asami came and messed everything up. Now it was all broken and shattered. She almost forgot to think about the part where Asami told her about Deidara. It didn't sound like she had done a bad thing really, but Asami was totally evil so there must be something behind it. Midori didn't want to be able to agree with anything the woman said.

The question confused her. "I... I don't understand." She said in a panicked voice. She wanted to answer, she didn't want anything to happen, but she didn't get it. "The condition of the seal? What does that mean? The first seal that the Raikage placed? Wasn't it faulty?"

''One question. With you not answering when I asked more than one, you wasted that one.'' Asami answered. She smirked as she had fun with countering Midori's question as simple as that. Certainly when the answer was quite simple. Though then Asami would have to explain some deed of her. That would be a dull and annoying thing to do. ''I think I know the answer already. You can use some powers of the Tailed beast that is sealed inside you. You aren't dead, which means that he is still there inside you and top of all, I am not stupid to believe a clone of ink would volunteer punch Deidara away. A friend you either care for or pretend to care for. And the last thing is what I doubt, so I will go with the first.'' After stating that, Asami looked more serious. ''Taking all the pieces together, I think it is pretty safe to conclude that you opened the seal and in some kind of way managed to stay alive. Or being kept alive. The only question now is who opened the seal?''

That was not fair. Asami had asked a question Midori didn't understand so how would she have been able to answer it correctly. It was not the same as when Asami had asked two questions. Midori frowned when the woman continued. Wouldn't she knew who had done that if she had been tracking her and following her around everywhere? Or was this a trick question again to see if she was answering truthfully? Her head hurt from all the double layers that had appeared. "I did." She replied. "With the help of Raspberry-sensei. Wouldn't you already know that if you shadowed me"

''No, cause that was when I and many other risked our lives to fight those soldiers. It must have been back then when Natsuki was still leading the team, cause I was too busy with leading forces. Michi wasn't then around to spy on you.'' Asami answered. So it was Natsuki, huh? Of course, that annoying prick had managed to help open the seal that Asami first pad reinforced in order to make sure Midori couldn't use much of the Eight Tails powers. Combining that news with what she already knew, it was pretty clear that she had to do something. Though Natsuki would be somebody she would deal later with. Maybe she should try to limit his influence on Midori? Not that she figured it would be easy, but maybe if she could find a certain way to do so. ''How many people know that your seal is open?''

"No one. Well except me and you and Raspberry-sensei..." Midori paused for a second and then added "and possibly my mom..." to the list. She didn't believe Asami when she said she hadn't been following her back then. Everything seemed to be a lie anyway. Did she have any privacy left? What if she was with Ryo? Was Asami spying on him as well then? Suddenly Midori wanted Ryo to be here. He would fix everything. He was strong. He was an ANBU now. She bit her lip. "So why didn't you keep me here if so many people risked their lives to die for Kumo?" She asked then.

''Cause it was pretty clear you weren't stable. Unstable jinchuriki's are a threat to everybody. Even without that seal first been set as what we can see as a time bomb, you fail to see some reasons and cling to your own beliefs. Childish ones, but ones that haven't helped you any further.'' Asami bluntly said. She shrugged as she shook her head lightly. ''I mean, you're probably thinking like Deidara. That I am lying and using my position for my own goals. Failing to see that I am doing what most are doing. Protecting the Cloud, their home and families.'' Pausing, Asami looked away for a moment. She thought about her next question. It wasn't really a question, but she would need to say it in an asking manner, cause else Midori would likely say that wasn't part of their little game. What a nuisance. ''Set aside from that I find your way of behaving and acting rather childish, as you uphold the rank of a chuunin, I will ask a question now. Who of these people are the dearest to you? Cause lets be honest. If everybody just know about you being a jinchuriki, it can involve some risk. Not something I can let happen, so answer the question. Natsuki or your mother, who is more precious to you?''

That was an unfair question. Midori wondered if there was a correct answer for that, one that Asami wanted to hear. How could she choose between two people that she really liked? Asami may call her childish, but Midori herself believed that she had grown significantly over the past 2 years. Childish, sure, she was that sometimes, but things had changed and being childish was no longer needed as a shield to protect herself from the outside world. She had friends now, people she loved. She couldn't chose between them. Yet, Midori knew that Asami didn't want that answer. "Both are precious, but... I would save my mother first because I know my sensei can take care of himself. My mom cannot." She said. "Doesn't everyone know about me since you told them?" She returned a question.

''There is a big difference in between that knowing you're the host and that you have opened the seal. Thing is that with a seal, people don't have to fear that the beast isn't being more free than it should be. Know what would happen if everybody would think that you opened a seal and thus create an opening for a Tailed Beast to have more freedom? I doubt that they will still look so kindly on you.'' Asami explained, her smirk coming back. It was kind of an ironic thing. She was regarded as the savior of Kumogakure, not liking it at all. Yet if she would go and reveal or let it be known she had opened the seal, thus opening what many would see as their only protection against the wrath of the Eight Tails, it would likely make the public opinion shift. Something that Asami hadn't planned, but it worked out great now. ''How much do you know about Bijuu chakra?''

These questions were so random. They didn't follow each other in any logical way. First she wanted to know who was dearest to her and now they were back with the Bijuu chakra. Did Asami know that Gyuki had told about it? Was she present when they were taking a hike? Midori fidgeted with the fabric of the seat. The longer this whole deal took the more paranoia she seemed to become. The only thing she could remember now was... "It let's me grow horns..." She mumbled recreating the awful joke Gyuki had pulled on her. Her hands went to her hair again, like she had done back then. "And does some other stuff. Heals me quicker." She shifted again in her seat. "Why did you want to know who was more precious?" She asked returning to the previous subject.

''So I know who I should kill in case that you really mess things up. Probably will do both, seeing that your answer was still vague.'' Asami answered. ''Like when I would be at the end of my patience. I am not allowed to kill you, but I can now bring up a very valid reason why both your mother and old sensei are a threat to your health and safety. Can't let people talk about your open seal, can we? That would probably cause people to distrust or even resent you.'' There was a clear tone of amusement in Asami's voice, making it unlcear if she really meant her words or was trying Midori now out. But the answers she had given so far had confirmed most of the research that Genmyou had conducted. And by bringing that information together, Asami knew what she could have some faith in and what not. ''Think that was enough for now. You can grow a pair of horns on the way out. Maybe even drop by Deidara and write him- Oh wait, you could do that right now. Hahahahaha.'' Laughing about her own joke, Asami looked with a pleased look in Midori's direction. ''Alright, now piss ant. I have what I wanted to know. So either ask one question or run away.'' Dropping her calm and polite act, Asami felt really good. Not much for threatening and the mocking, but for that she had her answers. The pieces were together and now the only thing that she should do was to further conduct research on her own.

"You... you can't... You can't do that.." Midori stuttered. "You can't... You can't... You are not allowed... My mom is not... She can't... I mean sensei can but she... You... No!" Midori raised from her chair so quickly that she almost toppled over and had to regain her bearings. "No, no, no... You can't do that. I won't let you." She took backwards steps away from Asami.

Hearing a loud snort in her mind, louder than the current whispers of fear, Gyuki slowly opened his eyes half. He had been patiently waiting and let Midori handle the situation. Though he kept a close watch if there wouldn't be any real threat or attack. Only then he would jump up. But the more he listened to the conversation, the more he could understand what was going on. Midori. The loud, booming voice sounded through her mind as the beast pulled her back in. In front of her, the huge beast was still laying down on his stomach as he stared at her. Get yourself together. Panicking now will only do more damage. That and it is annoying me! The beast produced his growl at the end of his line. But he was thinking. It was clear that the woman Asami had used Midori to get answers. Only at some points it didn't make any sense. If she had spied on them, why would she then ask some questions while admitting that she had watched over them? Unless she needed them to confirm something. Listen, I don't know what the deal is and I frankly care less about any others, but if you panic and do something stupid, you're going to make it worse. Let's just choose the second option. Walking away that is... Annoyed, the beast snorted. Running away from a threat? What a disgrace. But rather being disgraced, so that Midori wouldn't be harmed.

Gyuki! Gyuki was there to help her. Of course he was, how could she forget. He had said that he would help her even if, maybe especialy when, there was no one else. Standing before him, something that used to be so terrifying back then, was actually calming now. Panicking would do more damage, he was right. She had to calm down, but how could she with Asami threatening to kill her mother like that. She would have to guard her mom, do something to keep her safe. But that would have to wait until she got out of this awful house, away from this awful person. So she had to walk away. No more questions, no more answers. Midori tried to steady her breath. "No more questions." She repeated her thoughts. "And you will not kill my mother." With as much courage as she could muster Midori stepped past Asami to the door. As the pull of freedom became bigger her steps became faster. Outside things would be better, she thought, until she remembered that Asami was spying on her every move. Somehow she would have to get rid of that.

A rather sudden change seemed to have happened. Asami would only smile when Midori talked. With the young girl now gone, Asami thought about their conversation. With the confirmation, Asami could further try to investigate of Bijuu chakra. It would be easier now. Only she wondered what use now Team 13 had for her research. It was a bit annoying that she couldn't just shove the team on sombody else his lead. Natsuki was still gone on his mission, so she doubted that it would look good if she would just resign from the team without a proper reason. That would be not great for her plans.

Naruto : The Rise of The New Generations

Mika Hayashi
Kirigakure Jounin, team 14.

Mika stared at Haruhi for a second. A very brief second. Turning around, she gestured that Haruhi should follow her. ''An important mission. We're needed to group at the docks. By now the others would likely get a message as well.'' Mika answered, walking with a steady pace away. She could still feel some of the wounds aching with pain and in a normal situation, she would scold herself for going on a mission like this. It wasn't the condition to go on an operation that she was assigned on. But not going and letting Haruhi face that terror alone? The terror she knew that was planned? No. Mika hadn't die yet and thus was forced to continue to do what she could do. Not any longer to repay for her sins in the past, she would try to atone for it with her life now.

Not that she deemed that much that Mika thought it would absolve her past crimes just because she took care of somebody now. That was both arrogant and ignorant. It would wash away the crimes and horrible things she had committed. Even while she had been ordered to do so, she was the one who had often wielded the weapon that killed a person. That had sliced a throat. Gritting her teeth, Mika wondered if she was really going soft. Laughable. Going soft was the last thing she would do. However, the mere thought of Haruhi being in danger..

''I want that you won't spill a single word about last night. To nobody. Even if the Mizukage orders it you... Just say you know nothing. We will talk later about it. After the mission. I promise.'' Mika said, with a firm voice, still walking towards the docks. For a moment she was glad that they were in Kirigakure. The light mist that was present this early? It was a blessing. The longer she would have to see the escort and whole group that would be there for the mission, the better in Mika's opinion.

Attack on Titan: Corruption and Oppression

Mika Smyth

Finally! The boy moved and thus, Mika was able to get her share of food. Looking at it, she wasn't really eager for it. Not that she could or was picky, but it reminded her of the food of the orphanage. Something that caused her to think to the place she wanted to avoid. With her plate filled with some food, Mika sighed. She could now find a place where she could sit down and relax a bit. Though she wasn't sure if she could really relax. With so many people, she couldn't find a place where she could sit down and enjoy the food. It caused her to almost look a bit sour, wanting a place of her own to eat.

With almost no free table, Mika sighed again. Just her luck. No place to sit down and enjoy some peace and calm. If she could find one of those two girls from earlier, maybe she could try to start bonding. That could be useful for later. And to prevent some stranger to sit next to and requiring her to be nice. With the prospect that it could either be in vain, not seeing the person that much, or result in backfire, if she would be more rude with a stranger. Such a problem. Such a drag and pain. Walking to a place, Mika felt something. She had a bad feeling somehow. Looking at the food, she though about it. Probably the food, yes. Probably just the food...

Naruto : The Rise of The New Generations

Flashback.
The briefing passed on.

A grim word about the mission.
Time : Just before Hayate and Kiyomi actually went to the gathering point of both team 2 and 7.

summary :
With Hayate being more introduced into the Dragon Lotus, he is being briefed by Kiyomi personally about the coming mission.

A grim word.

Waiting on the special spot, Kiyomi looked at her right and then at her left. She was disguised as Kelly, leaning against a wall with her arms crossed out front of her. She had made sure that Hayate would receive her special note. Her mind was however still at the briefing of the coming mission. It would be an official mission for both Konohagakure as for Dragon Lotus. But the things she knew that were coming. It was just disgusting! Trying to keep herself cool, she would wait until Hayate- no, Lars would arrive on their meeting place.

Making his way towards their meeting place, Hayate felt weird about having to be in disguise once again. He understood the necessity however, and for now he would just have to put up with being Lars. It did not take him too long to get to the place, and after a short time he caught sight of Kiy--Kelly... A brief twinge of frustration hit him but he shrugged it off before walking towards her, smiling. "Kelly-chan! It is good to see you."

Turning her head to look at the disguised Lars, Kiyomi had a tough time to stay in act. She smiled while pressing herself from the wall. Smiling as well, she walked towards him and placed a kiss on his cheek. The first sign of trouble. ''Lars! Come, I am so thirsty! Lets have a drink. On me!'' Pulling him by an arm, Kiyomi made herself look very happy. But still, the dark thoughts of before kept circelling inside her mind. Knowing a place where they could talk in peace without anybody eavesdropping on them, she hoped that Hayate would be able to bear the briefing. If he wouldn't be able to take it, she had no hopes others would.

His eyes very briefly grew quite sharp, before he snapped back into character. Allowing Kiyomi to lead him along, Hayate tried to look happy. Something was clearly awry, but he had no idea what. He would wait for now however, knowing that Kiyomi would inform him of whatever information he needed to know soon enough... or, at least he hoped. It didn't take that long before they were there. It was a small pub in a small alley. Just the typical place where two could talk about shady stuff. Actually, the owner was an aquintance, so to say. Opening the door, Kiyomi nodded only to the man behind the bar. Nodding back the man continued to whistle loudly as cleaning glasses. Though nobody was present in the bar, Kiyomi kept leading Hayate to a table at the back.

''Sorry for the secrecy. But I have to brief you in. Dragon can't do it, because of some security reasons. As long you don't have the mark, you're not allowed to see him.'' Kiyomi said, feeling still guilty that Hayate was getting dragged more and more into the underground world of Dragon Lotus and everything it had do with it. ''I want to say sorry in advance, Lars. I mean Hayate.'' She said, a sad smile appearing on her lips.

"You have nothing to apologize for Ke--" He hesitated for a moment, before realizing that she had used his real name as well. "-Kiyomi. I made the decision to follow you did I not? And I understand a thing or two about secrets, so please don't feel guilty about any of this. I've already told you I am here for the long haul, and everything that comes with it." Hayate paused again, she had mentioned a briefing and he was a little curious as to what she had in mind. Judging from the way she was acting, it wasn't anything too pleasant. "So what kind of trouble are we getting into now?" He said, trying to keep his tone semi-lighthearted.

Leaning back, she would make an irritated look on her face. ''More than last time. This is something that was long time a highly classified secret. Most of the top don't even know or remember it anymore. Hell, I would give up my bank acount to bet that only a very small group that isn't involved with the underground know about it.'' Kiyomi told him with a grim tone. Finally she could show that she was really troubled. ''We are sent on a mission that serves as cover. There have been some disturbance around an old bunker. As one united team we need to purge it from rogues. That is the official briefing everybody will get. However,'' Kiyomi paused. ''Remember those douchebags we fought down south? Guess who's base we are going to waltz in.''

Hearing mention of their mission to the south, Hayate inwardly cursed. That mission had been incredibly dangerous, and both Kiyomi and he had been quite seriously injured. Though so much good had come out of that mission, it still left a bad taste in his mouth. "Why do I get the feeling this isn't going to be as easy as it sounds?" He said finally. Even now he was a little worried as to what laid ahead.

''When is it ever?'' She said with the clear amusment as sarcasm in her voice. ''There is however something else. That place... Don't think poorly, but..'' Kiyomi became silent as she lowered her head. ''During the reign of the Second and Third Hokage, there were some grim situations and times. The Great War could be a reason, but it seems it was even done before the Great War. We're going to a place...'' Kiyomi bite her lower lip.

''Where they conducted research on living people.''

His eyes widening with shock, Hayate tried to process what she had just said. "What... what kind of research? And who performed it?" He was still a little confused, but it sounded disturbing. Hayate was getting strange images of weird laboratories and people being put into strange contraptions. Shaking his head to clear it, he locked eyes with Kiyomi, waiting to hear her response.

''Research on turning people into weapons. Much like how I and some others are.'' Kiyomi calmly said. She had still a disgusted look on her face as she spoke about it, but she wasn't angry. As a Jinchuriki, she could even understand it better. The reason why both the Second and Third Hokage had done such a thing. But it wasn't only them. ''I will not go on about the history lesson I had gained, but it were volunteer medical nin from Konohagakure. People who fully knew what they were doing.'' Kiyomi told Hayate. ''It continued for some time, until the Third Hokage closed it off. The cutting edge that the secret research gave was too small. If this would ever leak out, there would be some civil unrest. That would need to be put down for the greater good.'' Kiyomi paused. ''It is actually.. understandable. They even took children for the research, Hayate. People who were younger than us. Those who had hopes and dreams. Only to serve to make the technology and understanding to be common knowledge now.''

His stomach began knotting as Kiyomi spoke. A wave of disgust passed over him briefly, but he continued listening intently. Hayate's voice grew a strange, bitterly cold tone that he himself was unfamiliar with. "You are not just a weapon Kiyomi..." He wanted to say more, but a cold rage was growing in him. There was a reason why he hated people, and this was just one such example. Gritting his teeth, Hayate managed to calm himself. "I...understand the desire to create the perfect weapon... To craft something so strong that you can protect the ones you care about with it... But people should never be used for those goals... Innocent people... Only a scumbag would sacrifice a child... Only a true monster would put one in harm's way." His eyes were dark, darker than he could remember them getting before.

''You're a real naive and dumb person at times like this.'' Kiyomi slowly said. Like him, her eyes had turn darker. Even with the disguise of Kelly, it was pretty clear she was near a boiling point. But it wasn't because of Hayate's opinion. It was more because of the history. The dark secrets of the Hokages. ''As much as I like to deny it, I am a weapon. Shinobi themselves are a weapon. Denying it will lead to projects like that. To the desire of creating a weapon, so that ''shinobi'' won't have to be that weapon.'' Kiyomi started to explain. Sighing, she lowered her head a bit. ''I almost attacked.... I lost my control almost. Hearing that other people had to vanish for what makes our lifes more comfortable. It not only happened here. According to the information, it happened everywhere. There is still even.... information that... that.. It goes on in the Wind Country.'' Kiyomi said. She clenched her right hand into a fist. Narrowing her eyes, she continued. ''It doesn't matter what we think. It happened and I can understand it. In fact, I would have done the same. Innocent lives were lost, but in gain-'' Kiyomi stopped suddenly. Her shoulders trembled. ''Sorry. But as I was saying it happened, but not in this country anymore.'' Kiyomi told him.

Lost in his thoughts for a long moment, Hayate did not know what to say, or rather, he did not know how to say what he wanted to without getting angry. Looking away, his eyes remained dark and cloudy. Thoughts raced through his head, so many things that he wanted to say... ''Like I said, naive and dumb. Getting angry over it, won't do you any good. You realize that people like you are the same? You're a weapon too by definition.'' Kiyomi said. She noticed how Hayate looked and knew him well enough that he was thinking about some things. ''If you have something to say about it. Do it now. If you do it there, then know I need to silence you. One way or another.'' Kiyomi said, with a very serious tone.

Shaking his head slowly, Hayate felt lost. Slowly, he let his anger fade before looking back up at Kiyomi. His eyes no longer contained the same anger in them, this time... they held only sadness. "You misunderstand what I am saying Kiyomi-chan... Call me a naive fool all you want. I would rather accept my place as that then willingly sacrifice the life of another for the chance, the possible chance to learn some small thing. But!" He paused slightly, staring straight at her. "But, I am not arguing with the desire to protect those that you care about, whatever the cost... As much as I can pretend to sit here and preach about how evil sacrificing someone else for another is, I... I know that there are moments where... put in the same spot..." Again the spark of sadness, "...I would sacrifice whatever and whoever I had to, to keep those I love safe..." Looking down, he was unable to meet her eyes. "Just doesn't mean I have to like it is all..." He muttered quietly.

''Finally. I was wondering when you would just speak back. I have been waiting for some time until you had some damn guts to speak like that.'' Her tone sounded a bit more happy. There was still a sad smile on her face present, but her tone made it clear she wasn't probably going to call him naive or stupid anymore. ''Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. However, there is little good or evil in this world. Even this sacrifice and research that we both disagreed on, has managed to save hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent lives. The Decade of Peace was made by the blood of the innocent to preserve the same innocent blood of others.'' Kiyomi paused. ''That being said, it doesn't mean there ain't blood on the hands of the past leaders and higher ups. But from what I understand is that there was not much of a real other choice. The idea seems to be unreal, but imagine a world where such research didn't happen. The only other way how people strive forward in such a pace is through war. Imagine that we would do no such evil. It would be replaced by other evil. If not war, then something else. It is naive to say different ,cause human will strife to improve their own situation.'' She sounded like she was going a bit hysterical. Even a smirk was growing on her lips and weird look on her face made it almost like she was going crazy. ''It is pitiful that humans are like this, isn't it? Pitiful and damn sad.'' Pausing Kiyomi sighed and lowered her head. There came a bit of silence.

''So don't judge too harshly yet. Just know that it happened and accept it. Only thing we can do is becoming Hokage together.'' Kiyomi leaned forward as she placed both hands on of his. ''I know that we have different views on this, but trust me. I don't want this to happen either.'' Looking up the smirk and weird look in her eyes was gone. There was a much darker look in her eyes, but also a small glint. A glint that only showed when she was really happy about something. ''But if you would help me to get there and be there, I think you can do something about this. To ensure that we can find a way to prevent this kind of evil to rise ever up again. Maybe even finding a solution for it.''

A long pause followed... Hayate stared straight into Kiyomi's eyes, not saying a word. He was... well he wasn't sure exactly what he was feeling at the moment. But as the pause went on, a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Hayate realized that this was something he wanted more than anything in the world. The chance to be by the one he cared for most in the world, as she followed her destiny. "I... I would be honoured Kiyomi-chan... I have already told you I would follow you anywhere, but to hear... to hear that you think I may actually be able to help you in your goals... I would want nothing more." His head cocked to the side as he looked at her. The sadness was gone from his eyes, and in its place was... contentment? Hayate understood what she was saying, and he understood the unfortunate history that had led them to where they were now. Had he been in the same position... he wasn't sure whether or not he would have made the same decision, but the idea of being able to help change the future, to help shape a brighter one, it brought him great joy. And the chance to do so beside Kiyomi... well... That made everything even better.

"I truly believe that you can change this world Kiyomi. And I think that you should... I am sorry, if some of my opinions appear naive, and if I sometimes sound like an idealistic fool... I just, I just think that there is another way sometimes. A way that is not necessarily as easy, and not entirely without sacrifice, but a way that can nevertheless achieve the same results." He smiled slightly, a smile that didn't entirely feel true. But he squeezed both of her hands to let her know that he was truly happy in that moment. Despite everything around them, he was happy.

Staring at their hands, she was smiling. But it was unlike his, a sad smile. His words made her feel better. They really did. But they also caused some pain. She called him naive, but she was the one that was truly naive. She had always used the reason she would make changes when she would become the next Hokage. Now when she was finally being prepared for that, she was learning every day that she wouldn't make any change. She would do things she would despise. Why? Cause it would be the way she prefered. The way to a more bright future for the later generations of the people she cared for. ''I know, Hayate. I know.'' Kiyomi said. Taking a deep breath, she sighed out loud. They had been off track. Though she wanted to talk about this, it wasn't the main reason for this secretive meeting.

''There is something else. I want you to have something.'' Slowly pulling a hand back, Kiyomi reached for something in her pocket. Pulling out a folded paper, she started to blush. More than usual. ''I-Its is something I thought you would like to have. I-I... I hope you like it.'' Placing the folded paper on the table, she shoved it towards him as she stared at this hands. Thoughts about how he would react to it were running through her head. She really liked the sketch that Katsu had made for her. But the point was, what did Hayate thought about it?

Reaching out, Hayate took the paper. Unfolding it he looked at it for a long moment. His expression remained neutral, but on the inside Hayate was feeling a surge of emotions. "It... it's..." Looking up at Kiyomi, he realized just how well the picture captured her likeness. His face was deadly serious as he asked, "Can... can I keep this Kiyomi-chan?" Looking back to the drawing he gripped the paper tighter. He couldn't quite explain why, but it felt like something incredibly special, something he didn't want to give up. Hayate could feel a few tears welling up behind his eyelids for reasons he couldn't fathom. "It is beautiful..." He said softly, his voice barely audible.

Her cheeks started to fluster more with the reddish tint as he told her that he found it beautiful. For a moment, she wasn't sure what to say. ''Of course you can, jerk.'' She mumbled. Kiyomi didn't want to ruin the moment, but she didn't know anything else to say. Staring once more at his hands, she tried to say something else. But the moment wouldn't let her. He found it beautiful. That meant he also thought she looked beautiful, didn't he? ''I also want to talk about us. The rule that is there that we can't be together... and this talk about sacrifices. I am going to make one.'' She paused. ''I love you and care about you. But I am not going to put you in danger. For that, I am going to openly put somebody else in danger. I know you wouldn't agree, but... wouldn't you do the same in my shoes?''

Silently folding the paper after one last look, and placing it within the folds of his jacket, Hayate looked back up at Kiyomi. As she called him a jerk he couldn't help but smile a little. The picture meant a lot. With everything that was going on, amidst all the chaos and during the times he was forced to stay away from Kiyomi, he would have something to remind him of her... Something to keep him rooted. It... it was relieving in a way.

Hayate listened to Kiyomi as she continued, her words growing more serious. When she asked him the last question, his eyes darkened slightly, and he responded without any hesitance. "In a heartbeat. If it were you... there wouldn't even be a question." A small part of him felt like that answer was somehow morally wrong, something that he should have had a harder time answering... But as Hayate stared into Kiyomi's eyes, he knew the truth. The truth that he would sacrifice the world and everything in it if it meant keeping her safe.

''That is what I wanted to know.'' Kiyomi said. Knowing that they should be going, she didn't want to. Even while disguised and hiding like some runaway criminals, Kiyomi enjoyed her time with Hayate. Maybe more than anything. It wasn't even that bad what they had been talking about. They were just together and she didn't had to hide away her feelings. But there was one more thing she wanted to talk with him about. Something that he wouldn't like either. ''I ate apple pie today. When I noticed I was alone, I-I... ate some apple pie.'' She told him.

Nodding his head ever so slightly as she confirmed what he had said, Hayate hoped that they wouldn't have to leave soon. Looking around the room, he once again wished that they didn't have to hide in such secrecy. He hated so much about secrets, his clan was just such an example of how they could break things apart. Turning back to Kiyomi, those feelings faded away. He was about to say something else, to try and lift the mood, when Kiyomi spoke again. Hayate stared at her for a moment, his eyes growing sad. There wasn't much time to waste. Reaching out with one hand, he clasped her hand in his own and gently squeezed. Reaching within his jacket, Hayate pulled out a handkerchief and slowly passed it over to Kiyomi. "We should go somewhere quieter... Somewhere we can be alone. Unless, unless here is okay too?" Hayate was concerned. He knew just how much Kiyomi wanted to keep her illness a secret, and if she was about to have an attack he wanted to get her somewhere where people wouldn't see it, but at the same time, he didn't want to move her if it would make things worse. Not only that, the fact that she had purposely eaten apple pie... That was a whole other matter that he understood, and yet still wanted to talk to her about.

''I am fine, Hayate. I am now. It will take hours before it will happen anyways.'' Kiyomi told him. ''I-I... I don't care anymore. I woke up this morning and decided that I don't care anymore. It isn't in the state that it is dangerous, but I don't care. I have always managed to beat the odds, but now this? I am not going to let this rule my life.'' She told him. Sqeeuzing in his hands, she accidently would sqeeuze harder than intended to. ''I just want you to know that it isn't because I don't take the medicines. I do take them on time, but I-I... I don't want to let it rule my life. It is so small, but yet so much of a bother. I can't enjoy the food that Hiron cooks for everybody at home. I can't go out with friends to restaurants or have dinner at somebody else their home. I just can't, cause of that messed up part in me. I miss it.'' She didn't want to sound or act sad. Her voice was angry in fact. She was angry, but she wouldn't do anything stupid. She had already done enough stupid things for today. ''I thought you would just want to be warned in advance... I don't want you to think badly, like refusing the medicines I get.''

There were many emotions that he should have felt at that moment. Many reasons that he should have felt saddened, hurt, guilty... But instead, despite all that... Hayate smiled. Slowly pocketing the handkerchief, he never once took his eyes off Kiyomi's. Though his hand hurt a little from when she had gripped it so tightly, Hayate ignored the pain and continued holding her hand. "You amaze me more and more, each and every day with just how strong you are Kiyomi-chan. You... who shoulders so much... who harbours so much pain... You never stop fighting. Never give up on staying true to yourself. I... I am in awe of you Kiyomi. I want you to know that from the bottom of my heart I will do everything that I possibly can to help you fight this, and I truly wish that you never had to deal with this... You could never make me think badly of you for this Kiyomi." Hayate paused. Reaching out with one hand he gently brushed away a strand of loose hair that had fallen in her face. "Promise me that you will always stay true to yourself, and I will forever promise to never be disappointed in that. I... I can't pretend to know how it feels, how it feels to have so much taken from you... But if there is something, anything that you can do to make yourself a little happier... to make things easier... Then how could you ever expect me to judge you for doing them?"

''I.. I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I am disappointing everybody. It is just that I think like.... a naive person at times.'' She said back. Staying silent for a moment, she decided that it was time. ''We will talk later about this. I just wanted to let you know what is coming. I-I... am glad that it is you, Hayate. I seriously am.'' Kiyomi said as she flashed a rather sad smile in his direction. ''One day and we can be together. But for now we need to go. I think you should head to the meeting place. Did you received the note from Ezuri?''

Quietly nodding as she spoke, Hayate also let out a small smile. "I know Kiyomi-chan. I am just happy that it is you as well... I don't know what I would do..." Shaking his head for a moment to get off the topic that only brought pain at the moment, Hayate met her eyes once again. "Sorry, I did indeed receive the note from Ezuri, but I decided to act on the one I found of yours first. It seemed more important."

Kiyomi shook her head lightly. ''That is okay. I am glad you did that. But we can better prevent from arriving at the same time there. I want to prevent any funny ideas. And seems that people do keep getting them. You will head towards the meeting place directly while I shall pick up Leo.'' Kiyomi told him. ''I have kind of spend little attention and time on Leo. I bet he must be a bit lonely on his own.''' Kiyomi mumbled. Slowly pulling her hands back, she flashed a more warm smile towards Hayate. ''Also, I am going to say it now. Just to prepare you, but you will become the second in command for this mission. Even while there is a friend of me joining, who is a specialized Jounin, I am going to pick you.''

Feeling a pang of sadness at the mention of Leo, Hayate wanted to say something, but instead held his tongue. His eyes widened with surprise when she mentioned that she wanted him as second in command. Blinking several times, he remained silent. "Are... are you sure Kiyomi-chan? I... Do you honestly think I am capable?" It wasn't her opinion he doubted, not that at all. But he did doubt himself, something that he consistently found himself doing. Especially when she said that she was bringing along a specialized jounin... What could Hayate possibly offer that a jounin would not instantly be able to beat. He was honoured of course... Honoured to the point of disbelief. But Hayate still wasn't sure if he was qualified.

''No, that is the reason why.'' Kiyomi said, sounding amused. A smirk started to creep on her lips. ''I will need a right hand that can also lead others. Though I can't let it happen that this mission becomes a mess, I might need the extra challenge to keep me cautious. If you would be the second in command, we have to be honest.'' The smirk vanished as the eyes of Kiyomi became darker. There was even a sudden cold breeze passing by, while no window nor door had been opened. ''If something would happen to you, I wouldn't accept it.''

Slowly, his eyes shrunk from the size of saucers back to their normal size. Nodding his head, Hayate understood what she was saying. Looking back at Kiyomi, he met her gaze with equal intensity. "Then you need to know that it will be the same for me. So let's both make sure we get out of this thing safely, okay?" Hayate's tone was deadly serious, and he wanted to make sure that they understood each other. Once the mission started... There wouldn't be a chance to discuss things. He had the feeling this was going to be an incredibly difficult challenge.

She scoffed as well raising her chin a bit up. ''As if I was planning to let this have another outcome. The only one who may hurt you is me. I know that the world doesn't know that yet, but I am sure as hell going to make that clear.'' Kiyomi told him on a serious tone. But she was trying to lighten the mood again. It just went like that. They went from sad to sweet and shifting to almost every direction. But she loved it. Rising up from her chair, she looked at the door. ''I am going to fetch Leo.''

Grinning from ear to ear as Kiyomi stood, Hayate felt a surge of happiness. He would never in any way refer to his and Kyomi's relationship as normal by any means, but he wouldn't have it any other way. What they had worked, and it matched them perfectly. Standing as well, Hayate moved a little away from the table, and slightly closer to Kiyomi. "I suppose I should get to the training field... And Kiyomi-chan..." He gently grabbed one of her hands and squeezed. "Thank you."

''Oi. What did I told about thanking me while I did nothing?'' She asked, almost sounding irritated. But she softly sqeeuzed back. ''See you there.'' Planting a kiss on his cheek, she winked at him before walking already towards the door. The bartender was still whistling and cleaning glasses. ''Good day miss.'' Not turning around, Kiyomi raised her left hand as a greeting back. ''You too.'' With that, she opened the door and would walk towards the direction of where Leo and previously Yumi lived.

Turning to watch her leave, Hayate felt a flush of warmth. He waited for a while longer before he too made his way towards the door. Things were going to get interesting from here on out.

After having made some distance, the transformation went off smoothly. Not like a poof of smoke, but like it was some reflection. Now Kiyomi was walking around like she was dressed. Her bandanna, together with her jounin garb, donned on. Sighing, she shoved her hands into the pockets of her pants. It did came to note that she did that more often. It made her think of two others who she had seen doing that a lot. A smirk crept up as she would pull out one of her hands. Holding something in her hand, she would unwrap the lollipop before placing it in her mouth. Maybe by now, Hayate would discover the lollipop she had stealthy placed in his pocket. Looking up to the sky, she knew that the time wasn't there to think a time of peace and joy was coming. But she couldn't help it. She felt quite happy.

Naruto : The Rise of The New Generations

Watch out for what you see!
Cause sometimes it is even scarier than what is seems to be.

A collab between Chromehound and Alice.

Summary :
Hayate and Kiyomi continue their path down as they try to complete their mission. After the rather comical way down the stairs, they continue but discover something that is probably for a reason that deep down underground, kept away from the outside world.

Monsters?

An involuntary shiver travelled down Hayate's spine at the mention of the creatures. Looking back at Kiyomi he wasn't sure whether or not he should ask the question he had on his mind. Seeing as he was probably in enough trouble already, Hayate decided to go ahead with it. "Is this what you meant by the experiments?" He felt like the question was probably unnecessary, but it would at least help explain some things.

She still stared to the stairs above. She could sense some small things. Probably some of those weird creatures. Slowly she glanced at Hayate. ''Most likely. Though I get the idea that this was just the top of the iceberg.'' Turning her head to look at the stairs that would lead deeper down, Kiyomi narrowed her eyes. It was something she wouldn't need to say, but she still did so. ''And I get the feeling something far worse is waiting for us. Best is if we finish it and erase it before Team 7 decides to come down. I am not sure if it is possible, but Ken-senpai has this ability to track killing intent. With all those nasty buggers, I hope he doesn't decide to check it out.''

Realization dawning on him, Hayate nodded. They would need to move quickly if that was the case. Turning back to face the way down, Hayate hesitated and then reached down, picking up Samehada and gently placing the sword on his back again. Giving the sentient blade a few quick pats, he looked back to Kiyomi. "So uh... shall we walk, or...?"

Again, Kiyomi shot a glare in his direction. ''Do you even need to ask?'' She said, with a serious tone as she would walk down the stairs. Sighing, she glanced in his direction once more. ''Next time, I want a fair warning. I don't like surprises like trying to escape a horde of weird savage creatures that try to maim at us, while you try to slide us down into what ever awaits us.'' Kiyomi turned her head back and then came to a halt. There was something that caused her to feel very wary. In the distance, there was some light. Very weak, but it was there. ''I guess we are being expected.'' Kiyomi mumbled as she stared at the faint light. It probably meant they were almost down. Still, she somehow had the feeling she would rather head back up and kill those weird creatures one by one than to go down and see what was waiting for them.

Thankful for the mask that hid his grin, Hayate tried not to chuckle as Kiyomi brought up their sudden slide down the stairs. Following her down, he almost didn't notice her stop. Holding himself back from running into her, Hayate tried to see what had made her stop. In the distance, he thought he could make out a very dim source of light. His eyes weren't as good as Kiyomi's and so he couldn't be certain, but Hayate felt another small shiver run down his spine. In response, he could feel Samehada shift ever so slightly on his back. "Well... shall we get this over with then?" His voice was quiet, and held a twinge of nervousness.

''I actually want you to wait here, but right now it seems we have little choice. You're kind of not that great in the dark. Not without any help.'' Kiyomi bluntly stated as she shared her thoughts. With the appearance of the light, she however kept her voice low. ''Though I can use more destructive techniques without an ally at my side, I can't have it that you get overwhelmed in the dark by those creatures we encountered earlier. Certainly not when your teamwork with Sharky is weak. Though that isn't really your fault.'' She became silent as she pondered on their choices. With the steel stairs, he couldn't use his earth release to move through the ground. And for some reason she suspected that it was made on purpose to counter Earth Release users. Not to mention lightning. Though it was conductive as she had noticed earlier, it also grounded the lighnting that a wide range attack was reduced in effectiveness. Analyzing further how everything had been, Kiyomi sighed. ''Though I really am trying to figure out how we can do this without doing what they want us to do, I think there is no escaping this. Are you ready?'' Kiyomi asked, looking briefly with a worried look in his direction.

"Sheesh... Make a guy feel useful." Hayate said, crossing his arms and pouting slightly. Though he was slightly bothered at Kiyomi's remarks, he also understood that she was correct. Didn't mean he had to like it though. Letting out a loud sigh, Hayate pondered what to do. "If we want to avoid doing what they want us to do, then we're gonna have to do the unexpected." Pausing for a moment as he realized just how stupidly obivous what he'd just said was, Hayate looked out over the staircase. "What I mean is that we should find a way to use what we can do to our advantage. Something that they couldn't possibly have forseen."

Patting his shoulder, Kiyomi shook her head lightly. ''You're quite useful. I will know who to call when I want to make a slide.'' She told him, but became serious a second later. Though she understood what Hayate meant, she wasn't so sure about that. She already had made a name for herself. Often that meant people were aware of some of her abilities, which was a pain when she had to face a strong opponent. ''I really doubt they will be able to predict anything, but even though they must have some intel on me, I think you're pretty safe.'' She paused. Giggling, she softly bumped his shoulder. ''You can even see yourself as my secret weapon. How about that?''

Muttering under his breath, Hayate pretended to still be upset, but he couldn't hide his growing smile. "If you say so Kiyomi-sama, I will do whatever I can." He hoped that they were ready to face whatever lay ahead. As they continued down the stairs, his thoughts briefly flashed back to that mission from before. They had gone up against some serious odds then and prevailed. Hopefully this worked out too.

Placing her foot on the ground, Kiyomi almost wanted to curse out loud. Steel, again. This was starting to get on her nerves. Then again, it could work in their advantage. Walking towards the wall, Kiyomi placed her left hand against it. It wasn't as rough as earth would be, so she was sure it was also from steel. That would give Hayate some more playground. Finding that thought quite amusing, she also figured it would allow her some advantage. Only problem she could think off was Hayate. If there was one person she didn't want to see her using Matatabi's chakra, it was him. It made her feel weird and distant from him whenever she used it. ''Here we go then.'' Kiyomi whispered as she would walk towards the corner. Walking around the corner, she noticed that the hall would lead to a room where the room was lightened by several torches. ''And of course, the person who designed this couldn't make it less spooky. A window would be great.'' Kiyomi muttered underneath her breath, something Hayate would be able to pick up through the earphone communicator.

The fact that there was so much steel around actually filled Hayate with a strange feeling. He couldn't move through it the same as he could through earth, that much was true, but he could definitely use his surroundings to their advantage. Running one hand along the wall as they walked, Hayate let a little of his chakra flow into it, 'tasting' the metal. Interesting... He thought to himself, pulling his hand away. Hearing Kiyomi's comment, he turned towards her, smiling behind his mask. "Hey, at least we finally have some better light."

''And... the smell is gone.'' Kiyomi noticed. The stench from before was completely gone. Whatever was done here, kept those creatures from before away. Something she found worrying. Walking into the room, it also seemed more clean. Little to no dust and no broken furniture or piles of bones. Somebody or something was here. Or at least close by. She was sure of it. Yet, she couldn't pick up any signal or sense of anything or anybody. That was what made her anxious. Continue to walk further into the room, Kiyomi looked around. Nothing special to be seen. Only that they had two routes they could take. Either continue straight forward or head to the left. ''Seems we need to pick a route.'' Thinking of something, she glanced at Hayate. ''Seeing you don't want to be useless, I suggest you decide a direction.''

Regretting his decision to speak earlier, Hayate hesitated. Reaching behind his back he withdrew Samehada. Holding the sentient blade out in front of him, Hayate decided to use the blade as an easy way out of choosing. Aiming Samehada toward the route straight ahead first, Hayate waited for a response. After a few moments of nothing, he slowly moved the blade to the left. Almost instantly he could feel Samehada shifting, almost as if the blade was searching for somthing, sniffing... Hayate could feel the bandaged weapon began shivering eagerly, and so he glanced over at Kiyomi, one eyebrow raised. "I guess we should go this way."

''See. You can use something useful.~'' Kiyomi said as she would walk a bit faster in order to stay in front. While she tried to look relaxed and calm, she felt out of place. And yet, not. It was hard to explain, but the best word was probably weird. She just felt weird being here. As she and Hayate would continue to walk left, the ground started to tremble. Turning around, Kiyomi saw how the path behind them closed. A wall of steel made it clear that somebody or something caused them to be unable to turn around. Quite stubborn, Kiyomi decided to walk back. ''Like if... Keep your distance.'' She instructed Hayate as she would clench her right hand into a fist. Lightning started to create the familiar menacing sound as Kiyomi would use her Sparkle to enhance her punch. But as her fist slammed against the wall, no damage was done. Not even a dent. Surprised by this, Kiyomi quickly made a short leap backwards. ''That is really odd.'' The wall hadn't even trembled or showed any sign that she had done something, while her technique was classified as an A ranked technique. One that she had perfected. ''Guess I am now the one that is being useless.'' Kiyomi sighed. Turning to Hayate, she frowned. ''Before we move on, lets make one deal. Like that time, if something happens to me. Find a way out. No questions or buts, just that.'' She looked at the room that was at the end of the hallway they were in. There were still torches that illuminated the place. ''In return, no limits.''

Waiting as Kiyomi took her turn trying to destroy the wall that blocked them off, Hayate was curious. As she moved backwards, he walked past her, towards the wall. Reaching out with one hand, Hayate placed it against the wall. Letting his chakra flow into the metal he attempted to create an opening. After a moment he stepped back, puzzled. He had felt the area beneath his hand moving, doing what he had wanted, but... something about the structure of the wall was blocking him from manipulating the whole thing. Turning back to Kiyomi, he shrugged. Wanting to interrupt her and refuse when she told him to leave if anything happened, he realized that it would be pointless to argue. If it came down to it, he wasn't going to leave her side regardless of what was said, so instead he simply nodded his temporary agreement. Cracking his knuckles as she mentioned that they would have no limits this time, Hayate smiled behind the mask. "I like the sound of that."

While they had their facemasks still up, a slight grin was appearing on Kiyomi's lips. Turning around she would continue to walk out of the hallway. ''I know that. Just don't steal all the glory from me.'' She said, trying to keep the light mood in it. Normally she wouldn't want one of them to joke around, but it was clear that this was a mission like never before. There were factors known to them and so many unkown that she wasn't sure if this was a true village mission or more a Dragon Lotus operation that used Konohagakure as a cover. Not that it made a difference for her. Walking into the room, it was quite huge. Yet there was enough light to see that it was really empty. Except for one big kanji in the center. ''What to make of that..'' Kiyomi mumbled, but not moving towards it.



The meaning of the kanji was a bit weird in her opinion. But it made sense with the wall that kept them from moving back. So Kiyomi was suspecting more things like that. Taking a step, she looked above them. But nothing was there. Yet, she could sense something. It wasn't smell or anything with her heightened senses. ''Can you sense that too?'' She asked, though knowing better than to ask if Hayate could sense something. But she also wasn't a sensory type with chakra, yet it felt as something or somebody was watching them.

Something did indeed feel 'off' in this room, but Hayate couldn't place it. He could feel Samehada still shivering on his back as he looked around the large chamber. "I'm not quite sure what I sense to be honest.... But something doesn't feel right." He kept his guard up, if they were going to be attacked, he hoped that they would at least have some form of warning. Otherwise things could get ugly fast.

''And here I thought we could become friends.~'' Coming to an abrupt halt, Kiyomi quickly turned around. In her right hand she had already a kunai ready to either slash or throw at who ever spoke to them. But there was nothing behind them. Quickly her head looked to the right and whiped to the left to see where somebody was who could be source of the voice. ''My my, already hostile. You sure are a rude little girl.''' This caused a twitch at Kiyomi's right eye, but she didn't say anything in return. It was evident that they weren't alone. Turning back to see if she could find somebody there, a person stood in the hallway. But without any torches nearby the said person, she couldn't see any detailed features. Just that the person was a bit taller than Hayate. ''I hope you both are nice to talk with. It is kind of lonely if you spend quite some time here.~'' The annoying voice made Kiyomi want to make a sneerful comment back, until she realized something. The voice didn't talk to them as it seemed that it was inside her mind. Flipping her kunai to hold it in an icepick (reversed) manner, Kiyomi took a light fighting stance. Walking into the light, the person was a middle aged man with short chessnut brown hair. A polite smile and rather thick eyebrows were the most noticable features of his face. But as the man walked forward, a steel wall appeared behind him. Closing them three together in the room. Instantly, Kiyomi wasn't worried only about their opponent. But also about the amount of air. Though the room was quite large, she wondered if air would become a problem.

Hearing the voice, Hayate had reached into his jacket, ready to pull out several kunai, but something made him hesitate. Turning, he saw nothing. Withdrawing his hand from his coat, Hayate looked around instead, finally spotting the figure in the hall. Everytime the man spoke, Hayate felt a small chill run through him. He realized, upon seeing the man's face, that the voice was coming from inside their heads, rather than the man actually speaking. The thought confusing him for a moment, Hayate stepped forwards. "Who are you?" He asked, his tone remaining neutral. The room was now sealed off, and Hayate realized that they were in a potentially, very dangerous situation.

The man tilted his head to the right. ''See, he has manners. My name is however not that great. I hope you don't-'' The sentence wouldn't be finished as the man had to dive to the right. Several shuriken slammed against the wall behind the man. Her left arm still swept to the side, Kiyomi glared in the man's direction. She was trying to find out how they could just beat him. Not really interested in making some iddle banter with the strange figure. ''How very rude! It is not polite to attack without any warning. I haven't even shown you two who I really am. Buuuut.'' The man turned his attention to Hayate. The smile quickly changed into a more wicked version as the man slowly leaned a bit forewards. ''My name is Change. This is my space. And it has been ages since I had some real visitors!'' The voice wasn't calm and friendly anymore, but sounded more like an aggresive and very excited one. ''Defensive tactic.'' Kiyomi instructed as she would try to watch what was going on. It was strange enough that the man's lips didn't move, yet they could hear him inside their mind. By now the eerie feeling that something bad was going to happen started to grow. ''I get the feeling that this will be a bit familiar with.... another weapon. How delightful to meet somebody like me!'' This caused Kiyomi's eyes to widen as she had a hunch what the man meant. ''What the..''

Moving back quickly, Hayate still hadn't drawn a weapon. His eyes never left the strange man's face. "Then why don't you show us Change-san?" Hayate asked, his tone still neutral, but his entire body alert. One hand stayed at his side, next to the pouch that carried his clan's alloy, while the other hand was held a little out in front of himself. He knew that Kiyomi would probably chastize him for talking later, but for now he was hoping to distract the man long enough for them to find a weakness.

''Ah ah! Such a nice boy. I am going to ask him if I may keep you alive! Yes! For some time. My appetite is sometimes a bit dangerous, but I like you! I do like you.'' The person's wicked grin grew even wider. For some reason, Kiyomi started to resent the person already before the fight had really started. Then she noticed that there were cracks showing up. His skin was crumbling, but why? Before she could say something to warn Hayate, it somehow started to speed up. Quickly the body of the man started to take a shift in form, becoming larger and not something one could call human. It had the body of a lion, but there were some other parts that made no sense to Kiyomi. The tail was a snake and there was a goat head on the back of the beast. ''See? We are the same! I smell it. You're not human either, are you?'' The big creature stared in Kiyomi's direction. Lowering her stance, Kiyomi narrowed her eyes as she decided to talk back. ''You can smell it?'' She asked, though her tone was soft. The beast growled, producing a very low and threatening sound. ''Oh yes, I can smell it. Something quite... sinister. Makes me wonder, what is your true form?''

Normally a question like that was enough for Kiyomi to either sneer or lung at the person who would even dare to ask her such a thing. Instead, Kiyomi's left hand went up to her face mask. Lowering down the piece of cloth, she revealed the curled down lips of hers. ''My true form?'' Without a warning, she threw the kunai as fast as she could towards the right eye of the beast. ''You will get that answer soon enough.'' She sneered. Though the kunai was coming at a fast speed towards the head of the beast, it moved with a surprising grace as it dodged the projectile.

Watching the man shift forms, Hayate's only outward sign that he noticed the change was the raising of a single eyebrow. Fitting name... He thought to himself, dipping one hand into his pouch. Allowing the metal to flow across his body, Hayate pulled Samehada from his back. He could feel the sentient blade shivering excitedly. He sent a single glance in Kiyomi's direction as the man mentioned her true form. Hayate had a brief idea of what the man was talking about, but he shook the thought from his mind. Kiyomi wasn't like this... this thing. She wasn't a monster, no matter how much she sometimes thought she was. "Who made you like this Change-san?" He suddenly called out, turning his attention back towards the strange creature in front of him. Though Change's new form was disturbing, Hayate's tone showed no sign of his distaste for the creature.

''Don't let yourself be distracted.'' Kiyomi told Hayate. She had still her focus on the beast that lowered its front as the big eyes stared in their direction. The weird creature didn't blink and that made Kiyomi believe that the most part was really of a lion, a bit cat. Meaning that it had also some good eyesight, probably able to match hers when she would use a bit of Mata-sama's chakra. She was only wondering if the serpent snake and goat head were capable off. ''He made me. Or rather us. We are happy though. We serve a purpose. Like all weapons do.'' Kiyomi slightly lowered her head. ''You're really pissing me off right now.'' She whispered. A flicker of lightning flashed around her right hand. Looking up, she glared at the beast with a very angry look in her eyes. ''Imply that one more time and I am going to crush your neck and shove that tail inside you.'' Threatening the beast, her tone was however calm. ''Angry? He says that weapons shouldn't have emotions. Emotions are bad. Weapons should be things that are there to serve. Or are you a weapon that isn't a good one?'' The question seemed to only anger Kiyomi more. It was also frustrating her to no end that the voice of the creature kept sounding inside their mind. That and apparently it had some sensory abilities. Weaving several handsignals, Kiyomi would prepare for her first attack.

All this talk about 'weapons' was beginning to frustrate Hayate. He hated that they lived in a world where it was viewed as a necessity to have the strongest 'weapon.' the best soldier... Allowing more of his chakra to flow into the steel around his feet, Hayate had a plan. But it was going to take a bit of time... "If emotions are bad Change-san, how can you allow yourself to feel happiness? Excitement? Doesn't that contradict what you've been told?" He continued trying to get the creatures attention. So far it seemed more interested in Kiyomi, and it was obviously aware that she could do more damage. If Hayate could just get it to focus on him for long enough...

At first Kiyomi wanted to test the beast out with using one of her two fire techniques, but just before she would blow out the fire in the direction of the beast, she halted her movements. Hearing Hayate, she decided to change the course of actions. Calming down her chakra, she would crouch and place her right hand at the floor. Though she really wasn't a big fan that Hayate was talking with that thing, she realized something. The question of Hayate caused the beast to grin. The big teeth and cannines were revealed as Change did so. ''That is normal for a weapon. Excitment is something that is natural for those who are born for fighting and killing. I don't however get angry like some other weapons.'' The tone took a more mocking form, clearly meant towards Kiyomi. ''Can you feel fear?'' The question was suddenly asked and Kiyomi sounded even more calm than before. ''What do you mean?''

The question seemed to surprise and confuse the big creature. Or maybe it was that it hadn't expected Kiyomi to be so calm. ''If you can feel fear. That is all I need to know.'' There was a brief second of silence before they both would hear a laugh inside their mind. Now that the beast understood what Kiyomi meant, the eyes of the creature narrowed in delight as they kept staring towards the two. ''A weapon that fears isn't worth to be used.'' The answer caused Kiyomi to lower her head. ''Good.' She muttered.

"Do you not wish for more though?" Hayate asked quietly. Cocking his head to the side, he observed Change for a long moment. "You are clearly a powerful, impressive being. Have you never wanted to feel anything more than just excitement?" The question made Kiyomi to glance at Hayate, but she stayed put. Though the beast didn't seem to be surprised or confused now. The serpent head seemed to narrow its eyes as it focused on Hayate. ''Feel more? Wish?'' The creature stayed quiet for a bit. ''Such talk. You're truly a human. Why would one wish for more? The continoues craving and desiring for more would only bring discord in one's life. I am made for a purpose and a purpose I will serve. Why would I wish for more than I was made for? It is useless to desire for things when you're life is already complete.'' The grin was wiped away from the creature's muzzle. It lowered its body again.

Nodding his head slowly, Hayate looked up, trying to meet the beast's gaze. "How long have you been down here Change-san? You mentioned before that you haven't had visitors in a long time. You seemed like you wished to talk before." His tone was curious. He didn't need much longer...

''He doesn't let me go outside, but that is fine. I am made to guard this place, I am an important weapon.'' The beast replied back as the grin was now completely gone. It stomped his left claw at the ground. With the ground trembling a bit, it was evident that the creature possesed quite some physical strength. ''Are you stupid? You're even ruder than she is. Do you think you can be a match for me? Worse, do you intend to use such dirty tactics while I was genuinely interested in our talk? Rude, you are.'' The snake head seemed to have something in its mouth as the cheeks expanded a bit. Kiyomi narrowed her eyes, until she realized what was bound to happen. Turning towards Hayate, she quickly started to rapidly weave a streak of handseals.

The snake head suddenly spitted something green towards Hayate. It seemed like it was something nasty as it made a weird sound as it was heading towards Hayate. Before Hayate had a chance to move, he was being pulled a bit back. Just enough to not be hit by the venom that landed on the ground. Having her arm stretched out, Kiyomi was still in place. Venom. That is why I dislike snakes. Nasty creatures. Kiyomi thought, relieved that her technique made it in time. Turning her attention back, Kiyomi realized that it was going to be difficult on tricking the beast. It could apparently sense, smell or see chakra. It even noticed Matatabi inside of her, so it made some sense. Only which part was able to do that?

Surprised at the sudden pull, Hayate glanced over his shoulder towards Kiyomi. His brows furrowed briefly before turning back to the creature in front of him. Gritting his teeth, he grew frustrated. "You speak of being rude and yet it is you who attacked me first! Have I made a move against you?" Hayate knew that the beast likely had detected his manipulation of chakra, but without knowing exactly how potent its sensory abilities were, he couldn't be certain whether or not Change could discern if the manipulation was for an attack or simple defence. "I said before that you were an impressive being Change-san, I have taken measures to keep myself safe, but I would not be fool enough to think I could be a match for you." It wasn't a lie, not exactly. Hayate still hoped that he could speak to the creature for at least a little longer, if this thing fell apart, he was going to have to change his plans rapidly.

''Telling somebody a lie and doing something sneaky is very rude! I merely do what I should do in the first place. He won't like it.'' The beast replied, sounding amused. The snake head's cheeks again expanded a bit, but the part of the beast didn't attack yet. ''And if you're not a match. Then lower your guard. I will keep you here for some time. A real human. I like the idea.'' However, before Hayate would be able to reply, Kiyomi spoke. ''Back off now, piece of shit.'' She was getting more and more irritated by the being in front of them. More because it seemed it wanted Hayate. ''Seems he is able to sense or perceive chakra in some manner. That and he is in our mind. However, that only happened once we were in this room. I imagine it has to do with sight. Lets just deal with him and continue to clear this place.'' Kiyomi told Hayate. She didn't bother with keeping her voice low as she suspected that it wouldn't really help against a foe that somehow was in their mind.

Without looking back at Kiyomi, he responded. "Understood." Keeping his eyes on the beast in front of him, Hayate let out a loud sigh. "I am sorry that I cannot take you up on that offer Change-san, but I too have a master that I am beholden to. I trust that you can understand." Taking a single step backwards, Hayate placed his hands together, forming single seal. "Sorry Change-san. If only it were different circumstances..." With one smooth movement, Hayate slammed both of his hands onto the steel floor. A wave of his chakra surged through the metal and headed towards the lights on the wall. Concentrating heavily, Hayate manipulated the metal in the torches so that they suddenly sealed off, cutting off all light in the room.

With the lights out, both Kiyomi as Change were surprised. Kiyomi was surprised for a moment, but understood what Hayate had done. Though it was hard that they couldn't see the creature, she was sure they had the advantage now. The big size meant that it was an easier target for them. Running to the right, Kiyomi started to weave handsignals. Knowing that most of her techniques would illuminate the surroundings, she wanted to keep herself at a distance with Hayate. If she could keep the beast's attention at her, he could hopefully sneak upon the beast. ''Fire Style : Great Fireball Technique.'' Spitting out a large ball of fire, the blazing fire was heading towards the scent and sound she sensed. With the fire briefly lighten up what was on its path, she could see that the beast jumped left to dodge it.

A low and deep growl was produced from out of the throat of the creature, which seemed to confirm the theory that he couldn't speak or be present in their mind if he couldn't see them. However, Samehada would shiver as something was heading towards Hayate. The snake head spitted out another salvo of venom towards Hayate.

Feeling the sentient blade shiver, Hayate pulled it from his back in one smooth motion, holding it in front of himself to block what he assumed was an incoming attack. As the venom hit Samehada, the blade greedily absorbed the chakra, negating the attack. Moving from his position, Hayate remained as silent as he could. Using his metal manipulation, he pulled some of the steel from the floor until it covered part of his body. He could feel vibrations through the metal, sensing the rough whereabouts of both Kiyomi and Change. Holding Samehada in front of him, Hayate was prepared for any incoming attack. Sharky would warn him if Change used any techniques towards him, and he would be able to tell through the vibrations in the metal if the beast moved closer.

While Kiyomi wanted to attack, she had caught the scent of something else. Realizing that Change had spitted out venom towards Hayate, she was relieved to hear something that resembled Samehada. But it was worrying her. The lights were out, so how could that thing still attack and aim pinpoint? Though she suspected it had heightened senses, much like her, it wouldn't allow such pin point aiming. ''Seems he can still see us. I know for certain a lion and goat can't see in the dark, but does that count for snakes?'' Kiyomi whispered through the communicator. If it was true that snakes could see in the dark, it would be a bit problematic, cause then they were not longer the ones who had the advantage. Hearing and detecting something coming towards her, Kiyomi quickly made a few back flips. The creature had lashed out with one of his claws, trying to sweep her away. ''Damnit.'' Muttering, she tried to analyze the situation in order to come up with a way how they could drive the creature back.

Cursing to himself, Hayate came to a brief realization... Something that he should have known from before. "Snakes can see heat sources. We will need to take care of that head if we hope to use the advantage of darkness... Sorry Kiyomi-sama, I should have remembered that before turning out the lights..." Replying through the communicator, Hayate realized that it was too late now to make any changes to what he had done. They would just have to find another way to take the beast out.

''Snakes are stupid. That you even... Tch.'' She said, irritated. More of the fact that she felt a bit useless. Hayate could manipulate the surrounding and all she could do was using techniques that would give the creature the ability to see them with his other eyes. That he hadn't spoken to them yet meant that probably the eyes of the lion head or goat was the one who caused the speech inside their mind. Placing her left hand over her face, Kiyomi realized that in order to draw the attention of their opponent and getting close by, meant that she would need to use Matatabi's chakra. Quite frustrated, she tried to quickly consider other options. Though she had no trouble when somebody would see her using his chakra, it made her feel strange and alienated when Hayate was nearby. ''If there is one who is sorry, I think it is me.'' The left eye of Kiyomi started to shift from color, going from green to yellow. The change in color alone made the scales of Samehada starting to shiver. Running towards the creature, Kiyomi pulled out a kunai as she would try to be cautious of what the beast would do.

Growling the creature lashed out again with a claw, trying to crush Kiyomi with a quick pound. Dodging the move with a quick dodge roll to the right, Kiyomi tried to keep moving forward in order to get close and preventing it from attacking Hayate.

Feeling the sentient blade shiver, Hayate at first thought that there was another attack incoming, it felt different however and after a few moments of nothing, Hayate realized that something else must have happened to get the blade excited. He could feel the vibrations through the metal as the beast clashed with Kiyomi. Reaching out with one hand, Hayate made contact with the steel from the floor, sending more of his chakra flowing through it. He tried to focus on the area around the large creature, if he could get it in one position he might be able to bind it using the metal... Furrowing his brow, Hayate had to concentrate hard. Neither the beast, nor Kiyomi, were staying in one position for long. Focusing on the area around Change, Hayate began manipulating the metal, shifting it into a more liquid-like state. Slowly, the metal would begin moving up the creature's legs, becoming solid as it continued to make its way up the creature.

With the move of Hayate, the beast kept trying to keep itself free from getting restrained. However, it was also trying to keep driving Kiyomi back who was closing in on him. Dodging another attack, Kiyomi made a quick slash with her kunai. The weapon sliced through the skin and flesh of the beast, causing it to focus again on Kiyomi as it couldn't focus on both the manipulated metal as the girl who kept using fast movement and agility to attack him. ''And do you feel it? Well? Do you?'' Asking the question out loud with a mocking tone, Kiyomi hoped to keep the attention of the beast on her. Now that the movements were slowly getting restrained, the beast wouldn't likely dodge her next move. Skidding to a halt, Kiyomi flicked her left wrist, causing a stream of lightning to appear at a high speed. ''Nice, ain't it? Fear.'' She hissed, trying to lift her arm in order to slash the beast with her lightning. Only before she could make the move, she was blown backwards by a rather strange sound. One that was deafening and released a pressure of air that pushed her back. The sound seemed to be a rather high pitched one that could be compared to when one would hear an explosion from nearby. Sliding on her back, over the ground, Kiyomi flinched as she trembled. ''Bastard...''

Hearing the strange sound, Hayate felt a sudden wave of pressure that would have pushed him back further had he not been rooted to the ground with the steel. He could feel the vibrations of Kiyomi hitting the floor some distance away. His eyes narrowing in anger, Hayate raised a portion of the floor in front of Kiyomi, creating a temporary steel shield that would block against the creature's attack. Cursing to himself again, Hayate renewed his efforts to spread more of the metal across the beast's body. Struggling slightly, Hayate could feel the strain of concentrating. This was going to take some time... He only hoped that it would buy Kiyomi enough time to take this creature out.

With Kiyomi being driven away, the beast focused again on trying to keep itself freed from Hayate's technique. Struggling against the metal, the beast growled as the body kept struggling. The snake head spitted out another salvo in Hayate's direction, trying to drive the boy back so that he couldn't focus anymore on trying to restrain the beast. Kiyomi was trying to get up, but she quite surprised by the sudden strange sound and air gust that it had produced. It wasn't something she could link with a sound that lion made. So it was probably the abilty of the goat head. Now Kiyomi was starting to develop a dislike for goats too if they really made such an annoying sound. Getting up, she felt a bit dizy and still couldn't hear proper. Struggling to keep standing, she almost fell forwards, causing her to lift her arms. Feeling the wall Hayate made, it costed her a second to realize what probably happened. Slowly the iris in both her eyes became slitted as she realized that her student was protecting her. ''I am so going to shove both those parts down his throat.'' She whispered angry, trying to wait until she would get her hearing back.

Samehada shivered as the beast launched more venom towards Hayate. Cursing out loud, he swung the blade around with one hand, getting it in front of himself just in time to block the incoming attack. With an excited twitch, Samehada devoured the chakra and shivered again, clearly pleased. Hayate's concentration had been temporarily broken and the technique was weakened. Raising a small steel wall in front of himself, Hayate tried to refocus on covering the beast. He had to keep it away from Kiyomi...

As the creature noticed that the metal wasn't being manipulated, it quickly broke free as it charged towards Hayate. Producing a low growl, it tried to lung towards Hayate, wanting to finish him first off. Samehada started to stop shivered as it would move his scales go from a defensive to a more offensive stance, so that it would shave the enemy better. But while the beast managed to close in to Hayate, lightning started to crackle through the air as it moved fast over the metal ground towards the beast. This caused the creature to quickly halt its advancement as the lightning created a straight line between Hayate and Change. Glaring, Kiyomi sat crounched while having both her hands at the ground. Gathering more lightning, she was about to launch another attack towards their foe.

Hearing the beast charging towards him, Hayate cursed. This was bad. Preparing to defend himself, the sudden surge of lightning surprised him. His eyes widening, Hayate glanced over to Kiyomi, catching her in the glare of the lightning. Pulling out several shuriken, Hayate overcharged them and sent them flying towards Change, causing them to explode as they neared the creature. As the explosions went off, Hayate moved backwards quickly, keeping Samehada held in front of himself.

The lightning and the shuriken. Change roared when the shuriken exploded as the dust would take the sight of the beast. Squinting her eyes to try to see any movement, Kiyomi moved her hands together to weave some handsignals. ''Hayate, move to my back. I want you to prepare some unstable projectiles.'' She told him as she caught the scent of the strange beast. He was on the other half of the field. The growling, his claws scratching against the metal ground and the stench were all that gave him away. Moulding her chakra, Kiyomi was planning to finish him in a rather unpleasant way.

Without hesitating, Hayate moved into position behind Kiyomi. He sheathed Samehada on his back and reached into his jacket, grabbing several projectiles. Flowing his chakra into the weapons, Hayate moulded the alloy into an unstable mixture. A slight shift in his stance, with the projectiles held at the ready, was the only indication that he needed to give to Kiyomi.

Holding the last handsignal, the Tiger, Kiyomi thought she had seen the beast. ''Now.'' After that, she would take a deep breath. Already feeling the wild and strong chakra at the ready, she would not hold back any longer. Though she was a bit afraid of what would be the effect, she wanted to be done with Change. Spitting out a big column of blue fire towards the other end of the room, she kept the fire going, hoping that the explosions of Hayate's projectiles would expand the deadly inferno to incinerate that annoying creature to death.

Launching the projectiles the instant Kiyomi gave the order, Hayate watched them sail towards their destination. The streaming blue fire was impressive, and Hayate found himself in awe of Kiyomi's skill yet again. Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he bent to the floor, placing his hands against the steel. The blue flames had illuminated their target, and so Hayate simply had to flow his chakra in the right direction. Using the steel of the floor, Hayate pooled a large amount of it around the massive creature. As the blue fire surged forwards, Hayate sent spikes of metal through the ground at Change's feet. Purposely keeping the spikes in a more liquid state, Hayate intended for the metal to become superheated by the blue flames, causing the metal to become molten hot. The sheer amount of concentration required meant that Hayate could not keep up the attack for long, and he only managed to send forth a few of his liquid metal spikes. He hoped that they would at least slow the beast down.

It worked. The explosions caused the fire to expand and she had caught a glimps of their foe. The big creature tried to stay out of the reach of the deadly flames, as the heat was something one couldn't ignore. With the explosions, the fire wasn't being pushed back. The heat and gust made the blue fire expand towards it, thus growing broader and easier to cover the other side of the field. A pitched scream was produced, but Kiyomi couldn't see if the creature was being hit or if it was mere out of fear. Staring at the scene in front of them, she clenched her left hand in a fist. The fire kept going for some time before it would go down. As it slowly faded, she could see the burnt remains of Change. Spikes had penetrated some parts of his body as the blue flames had done the rest. The stench of burnt hair and flesh was quite noticable. That and the air. Trying not to breath too much, Kiyomi figured out that the blue fire would use a lot more oxygen than normal fire. Looking around, she had an idea again. Pulling out several shuriken, she aimed them at the sealed entrance on Change's side. The metal would be probably hot and even with being reinforced by some seal, near melting. Pouring lightning chakra on the shuriken, she threw them towards the door. Like normal, they went through the sealed metal wall that had sealed them from going on. With a new supply of oxygen. ''Hey... how are you?'' Kiyomi asked, but her eyes still at the crumbling sealed part. It was high unlikely that somebody didn't hear that noise. At least, those who were close by.

Standing back to his full height, Hayate was thankful for the mask that covered the lower half of his face. It managed to filter out some of the stentch, but even it was only capable of so much. Staring at he carnage in front of them for a long moment, Hayate remained silent. A part of him pitied the creature. It had only done what it was instructed, something Hayate understood all to well. Realizing that he had not yet responded to Kiyomi, he turned his head to face her. "I am okay Kiyomi-sama. Your blue fire... it... it is strangely beautiful..." Hayate realized that his statement probably sounded a little odd, especially considering the damage it had just wreaked, but he found himself mesmerized with the unique flames.

Hayate's words didn't get a reply at first. Kiyomi stared at the entrance, but then she slowly looked at the dead creature. She wanted to get closer, but the metal on the other side of the field was still hot. Stepping on some hot metal wasn't something she found a fun thing to do. ''It isn't mine.'' She calmly replied. Yes, she had moulded the chakra and used it, but she didn't consider it hers. The left eye started to show signs again, as the pupils became normal and both her eyes became green again. Though even with the light, created by some remains of the blue fire, Kiyomi looked with a dark stare at the body of the creature. ''How is your chakra reserve?'' Turning her attention away from their dead opponent, she threw a worried glance in Hayate's direction.

Hearing her words, Hayate simply nodded to himself. He understood what she was saying, but it didn't change his opinion. When Kiyomi asked him about his reserves, he took a moment to check himself. Surprisingly he still felt quite good. He had been using as little chakra as possible when manipulating the metal in the floor, and although he had used a fair bit up, his reserves were still holding up quite well. Looking back at Kiyomi, Hayate met her eyes, speaking calmly. "I am good to continue for quite some time. So far I have not used as much as I thought I would need to, even with the... stairs incident... I don't foresee it becoming a problem unless we encounter something far worse than what we have so far..." Realizing that that was entirely possible, Hayate was still comfortable that he held enough reserves to handle himself without putting Kiyomi at risk.

Keeping her eyes locked on his, there was clearly some doubt to be seen in the eyes of Kiyomi. But she decided to trust him on his words, looking back to the corpse of Change. Walking slowly to the edge of the field, where the metal was hot, Kiyomi stared at the body. She wanted to be sure that it was dead. Though it looked and smelled dead, she wanted to be certain. Too many times, she had experienced opponents who faked their death and then became more problematic. ''I have never seen such a thing. What is it?'' She whispered through her communicator. It looked like one crazy mix of creatures together. At least, now it didn't. But before she had decided to cremate it the current state.

Stepping up beside Kiyomi, Hayate flowed a little bit of chakra into the metal around their feet, allowing the metal to cool enough so that it was no longer uncomfortable. "I wish I could say... it looks like somebody wanted to take the best parts of too many powerful things and tried to glue them together..." He let his words trail off, unsure of what to say. He found the creature to be equal parts disturbing as it was interesting. Looking down at what was left, all he felt was pity.

Waiting till Hayate was done, Kiyomi kept staring at the corpse. ''Yes, that is what I was thinking too. Now I get it why this was kept in the dark. Just like those little creatures back then. They also had something human, yet..'' Kiyomi stopped. So this was what they were trying to make? Humanoid weapons? Were they like this or maybe they were designed to look like mere humans or something humanoid? Pondering on the questions, Kiyomi shrugged them mentally away. Little did it matter. They had to go further and make sure that who ever was still there, would be dead at the end of the day. ''I want to examine his.. its body. Can you cool down the metal up till there?''

Nodding, Hayate moved forwards, continuously allowing a small amount of his chakra to flow out around him, cooling the metal surrounding him. As he grew close to the corpse, Hayate knelt down and placed his hands on the metal floor. Spreading his chakra out a little faster this way, he allowed the metal surrounding the creature to cool back to a comfortable temperature. "It is done." He said, standing once again and stepping back to allow Kiyomi room. Crossing his arms, Hayate observed with a strange sense of fascination.

Moving closer to the corpse, Kiyomi stayed silent as she kept staring at it. It was really weird. Even though it was burnt, she could see the difference between the different body parts. Lightning crackled through air as she raised slowly her right hand. Striking the body with her hand, Kiyomi expanded the lightning in order to break the body down as the lightning would do its work. After a minute it could be seen that more parts were slowly starting to break down into dust. After five minutes, there was a pile of ash left. Dusting off her hand, Kiyomi glanced at the only way that was open. The way where Change had came from. ''Lets continue..''

Watching Kiyomi's lightning break down what was left of Change's corpse, Hayate marveled at the lightning's power. It didn't take long for everything to break down into dust and ash, and then they were left alone in the room. Nodding his head in response to Kiyomi, Hayate began making his way towards the exit. "Kiyomi... Change kept mentioning his master. But I thought this place had been decommissioned for a long time? So does that mean that someone has been working here all this time without doing it for the Leaf?"

The question made Kiyomi look back at Hayate. They had their own briefing before they had met the team. ''Yes. And seeing what the result is, I suspect that the person is still trying to make more. Or now that we are this deep in his or her den, tries to protect the work from us.'' Kiyomi calmly answered the question as she turned around. Slowly she placed her left hand at the top of her head, feeling Hiron's bandanna. Moving her hand back to her neck, Kiyomi sighed. ''I wonder how many had suffered to create such a thing.'' She mumbled, starting to walk.

"I was afraid of that," Hayate said quietly, placing both hands in his pockets. It wasn't really fear that was bothering him now though. Hayate still wasn't sure how he felt about the fact that the Leaf had not only known about these experiments, but they had actually wanted them done. He understood the reason, but still... All that pain... all that suffering, was it really worth it? Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Hayate set his sights on the path ahead. They would cleanse this place and maybe then, after everything settled, the poor souls that had been trapped inside for far too long, would finally get to rest.

Naruto : The Rise of The New Generations

We do. Fox dropped Rai, so I have room fit for another student. And Alternathan, mind changing the Ninjutsu expert with something that comes down to the line of that he has a talent/knack for it? A starting genin that is a ninjutsu expert may be a bit off.

Once that is changed, I accept it.

Naruto : The Rise of The New Generations

The road down.
Down into the dark.

A collab between Chromehound and Alice.

Summary ;
In the previous collab it was said that Kiyomi chose to split up team 2 and 7. With only her and Hayate heading down into the unknown of the abbandonded bunker, they have their own fair share of troubles when they try to search the place for any signals that there are troublemakers. (Warning : Funny parts are in the collab. With some inside jokes.)

Down for it?

It was still dark, even with the lightning shedding some light around them. The room was mostly empty, aside from the dust and other dirt Kiyomi barely cared for. ''Stick close to me.'' Kiyomi said. Though it was unusual that she would give such a full order, that also seemed out of place, it was a mere signal. Now that they were alone, she had only need to watch over Hayate. Though it was in theory easier to watch over a genin that had shown his worth before, Kiyomi was still not sure about if she should let him come with her. Not that she would let him stand alone in the dark either. ''Seems that it is deserted. Or rather... looks like it.'' Kiyomi whispered, as she would increase the chakra in the lightning in her left hand. It would shine more light as she would walk towards the hall entrance. With the increased light, she could see that the floor went from stone to metal. That made her ponder briefly, but she decided to just keep on going.

Nodding, Hayate stepped up next to Kiyomi, keeping an eye on their surroundings. Thanks to Kiyomi's light, he could make things out a little easier now. The shadows cast by the flickering lightning kept him uneasy, and his eyes constantly searched for any source of movement. Hayate's hand briefly travelled up to the large hilt of the sentient blade. Gripping it loosely, the sword made no attempt to move. Allowing a small amount of his chakra to flow into the blade, Hayate was met with a light shiver in response. Smiling briefly, he withdrew his hand from the hilt and continued forwards.

It seemed they entered a bigger room. Coming to a halt, Kiyomi looked to her right and left. It was like they were standing on the edge of complete darkness. It brought up the memories, those who made her feel a cold breeze. Though she figured out that there was no such thing as a breeze in here. Just fear. Clenching her right hand into a fist, Kiyomi narrowed her eyes. Once she had slipped her self control and showed Hayate a side she resented. Now it was serious. ''One second.'' Raising her left hand, Kiyomi stretched the hand forwards as the lightning surged forwards. Revealing more, she was surprised. It was a staircase that was going further down. Due the limits of the light of the lightning, it made it look like they were going to enter a dark pit. Not a very pleasant idea. Letting the lightning fade, to what it was before, Kiyomi turned to her right to head to the stairs. ''Are you okay?'' Kiyomi asked, standing near the stairs, but not yet making a step to go down.

Stopping inside the room, Hayate noticed just how dark everything had become. It reminded him briefly of that time in the tunnel... Glancing to his left, he could see Kiyomi's hand clenched. Fighting the urge to reach out and hold it, Hayate knew that now was not the time. He watched as she sent lightning flying forth, illuminating the way ahead briefly. Following Kiyomi over to the stairs he too stopped at the top. Turning to look at her for a long moment, he wondered how to properly respond to that question. "I am, Kiyomi-sama... And you? This place... It feels off..." He didn't know how to explain what he meant, but he assumed that she would understand.

She stared at the darkness. ''Indeed it does. But no time to waver or turn around.'' She said with a firm voice as like Hayate was the one who was feeling very nervous now at the moment. If there was only something like off wood that they could use to set on fire. Using her lightning like this was something she could keep up for quite a long time, simple work for her, but she didn't want to burn through chakra. Even while she had a huge reserve thanks to Matatabi. Though that didn't mean she could just waste a lot of chakra and never worry about it. Taking a few steps down, Kiyomi would walk in a slow pace. She was wary as well, knowing fully well that the place wasn't abandoned.

Following Kiyomi out onto the stairs, Hayate wished that he could be more useful at providing some sort of light so that they could see better. Thinking for a long moment, he reached with one hand into his pouch that contained his clan's alloy. Withdrawing a small amount of the metal inside, he formed a long metal rod that had a sort of cup at the end. Ripping off a piece of his tunic, he placed it in the hollowed out end of the metal 'torch' he had just made. Pulling out his lighter, Hayate reached up and lit the piece of tunic on fire. Holding it out in front of himself, Hayate was happy with the amount of light it created. It wasn't a large amount, but it would make do for now. Smiling at Kiyomi, he raised the torch a little, casting more light on their surroundings.

Kiyomi shot a look at Hayate as she would let the lightning fade away. Sighing, she would looke where she was walking again. ''Stop reading my mind.'' She muttered, though a smile came on her lips. Concealed by the face mask that covered the lower part of her face, she didn't mind to smile even if he wouldn't see it. She had a feeling that he knew it. Continue to walk down the stairs, Kiyomi wasn't sure how far they had went down. Glancing up, it seemed that the annoying darkness was just every where. The place was really getting on her nerves. ''Lets try something out. It is kind of clear they are expecting us.'' She told Hayate, walking to the side of the stairs. Leaning over the rail, Kiyomi opened her right hand. Forming her Sparkle Technique, she would throw the lightning formed ball down. Looking how the object became smaller, she wasn't sure how long they had to keep walking down these stairs. But by the looks of it, it was still some distance. ''If I will ever find the designer of this place...'' Kiyomi whispered as she would continue to walk down the stairs.

Grinning even wider behind his own mask, Hayate momentarily forgot about the grim place that they found themselves in. Leaning over the stairs to watch Kiyomi's Sparkle fall, he marvelled at just how far down the stairs travelled. Sighing out loud, he realized that they had a long way to go. It wasn't that Hayate considered the trek to be a lot of work, far from it actually, but he hated the suspense of knowing that they could be attacked at any time. Continuing to move, Hayate held the light up high. He had the Hokage Apprentice at his side, and a sentient sword on his back... What could get in their way?

Seconds. Minutes. Half hours or full hours. It seemed there was no end. That they would forever walk the damn stairs down. Kiyomi was tempted to test out again how high they were, but it wouldn't solve anything. If it would show that they had a long way to go, it would probably be just frustrating. And the more time passed, the more Kiyomi grew restless. She wanted to just run down, but the feeling that the enemy was waiting for them prevented her from doing something rash as that. Were she alone, she would probably would have done such a thing, but with Hayate around? No chance. ''Sorry.'' Kiyomi mumbled through the earphone communicator.

The light from the small fire was beginning to grow smaller and Hayate ripped another piece from his tunic, adding it to the flames. They had been walking for ages, but Hayate had no clue how far they had truly gone. Hearing Kiyomi's voice, Hayate was brought out of his thoughts. "For what?" He asked, a little surprised. She threw a him a glance. ''Dragging you into this.'' She looked at where they were heading again. ''If it weren't for me, you would be a normal Leaf shinobi. Not a recruit for some secret organization.'' She sighed as she didn't want to sound like she was feeling guilty about it. It were orders and she had never asked for it. But yet it felt it was her fault that Hayate had been dragged into it. ''Though if I have to be selfish, I am glad it is you that is walking this eerie place next to me.''

"Heh." Hayate said, with a neutral tone. Saying nothing for a moment, he moved so that he was a little closer to Kiyomi. "I wouldn't have it any other way." Hayate didn't ever want Kiyomi to feel like she had done something wrong. He may not have been a huge fan of being dragged into this secret organization, but the decision had been made, and they were stuck with it... together. Though the smile was concealed, she made it clear she was grateful for his words. ''Naive jerk.'' She mumbled as she shook her head lightly. For a moment, she wanted to walk closer to Hayate. Even though she resented and fear the darkness, it was also comforting. Nobody was around to ask her for training. Or saying that they would one day surpass her or anything else that kept happening these last weeks. But at least they were kind of alone together now. Nobody that would say anything if she would his hand or hug him. Nobody that would judge her or him. Just when she wanted to say something, Kiyomi stopped. Looking over her shoulder, she swore that she had caught sense of something. ''Obvious as it may be, we are not alone.'' Placing her right hand near her kunai pouch, Kiyomi caught sense of something else. In front of them. And now at their back. It wasn't the foul stench of before. It was something else. ''This is getting odd.'' She muttered, wondering if it was a genjutsu. No, if it was a genjutsu it would trigger Matatabi to send a surge of chakra into her system or alarm Samehada to get Hayate out of it. Pulling out a kunai, Kiyomi wished that they had more light to work with. ''Cover some of your body with metal.'' Kiyomi ordered with a stern voice. Something or somebody was coming closer.

Feeling Samehada shiver slightly on his back, Hayate was already alerted when Kiyomi spoke. Allowing the metal to slide across his body, Hayate began feeding a little more chakra to Samehada. He had an idea, but he wasn't sure how well it would work. "Kiyomi-sama, which way is it coming from? I have a plan, but I'm not sure that you'll like it." Hayate spoke quietly through the communicator, already preparing himself.

''To be honest. No clue.'' She turned around, thus going back to back with Hayate. Whatever was near them it was apparently in different places. Or maybe it were multiple targets approaching them. For a moment Kiyomi was considering to using her lightning to make the steel staircase conduct her attack. But Hayate was there, so she couldn't do it without harming in the process. For a moment, Kiyomi thought about going back. Was it going to be her mistake if Hayate would get wounded? Gritting her teeth, she blamed the darkness for making her think what she considered weak. Hayate was a fine genin, so he wouldn't be wounded that easily. Then she saw something. Readying her kunai, Kiyomi stopped as her eyes widened for a moment. A kind of child came out of the darkness. With a very pale skin and big eyes, it stared at them. There was something disgusting about the little child, yet human. It took another step towards them. However, it would be the last action of it. A kunai splitted the skull as it impaled the head of the little being. ''Sneaking on me like that. Brats.'' Kiyomi muttered. As the little being fell on her back, dead, some screams were heard. ''And there is the rest. I doubt that they are... human. They don't smell or sound like it.'' Pulling out another kunai, Kiyomi would ready herself. Sounds of people running towards them from both directions were clearly heard. Laughs, grunting and other manical sounds were produced as the group would come charging towards the two Leaf shinobi.

Like the first one, it looked like a horde of children that had the same features. But some screamed with their mouths open, revealing longer canines and sharp looking claws instead of hands. Like they were half human and half something else. ''Disgusting little..'' Lightning surged through the air as Kiyomi would use the kunai as conductor to use her Piercing Sparkle to keep driving their attackers that came from her direction, up the stairs.

Hearing the noises coming from all around him, Hayate realized that he didn't have much time. "Kiyomi-sama, this may sound strange, but when I say it, I will need you to get on my back." Without waiting for a response, Hayate pulled Samehada out and held it in front of him. Kneeling, he placed one hand against the metal stairs. This was going to take a lot of focus. Shutting out the sounds around him, Hayate trusted Kiyomi to take care of anything that came too close. As he knelt, he let his chakra flow into the metal stairs, manipulating them and slowly changing their shape. Grunting with the effort, Hayate finally managed to succeed in his task. The stairs suddenly began shifting into a long, winding metal slide. Laying down, Hayate shouted, "Now!" Hoping that Kiyomi would know what to do, before pushing off with some force. He began sliding with speed, holding Samehada in front of himself to defend against oncoming attacks, as they would gain distance, their speed would grow even more.

''Wait, wait, wait! EEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH?!!!!!'' Kiyomi was busy with driving the small horde back. Her lightning caused them to become kind of frenzy, but they didn't come closer when Kiyomi killed more of them. While Kiyomi had just looked over her shoulder to see what Hayate was doing and planning, she felt something wrapping around her waist. ''No! No! EEEEHH?!!!'' Surprised and kind of thinking Hayate was planning on jumping, Kiyomi felt more confused as it seemed that Samehada used his extendable hilt to lift Kiyomi up. Dropping the kunai out of reflex, Kiyomi wrapped her arms around Hayate's back as she was for some moments very confused on what was going on. Hayate didn't jump and the they were sliding? Only then she caught on what Hayate had been planning. ''Damn you, dumbass!'' Scolding Hayate, Kiyomi released one arm as she would wrap her legs around him, releasing her right arm around him. Hope this works. Pulling out three shuriken, Kiyomi infused them with lightning chakra. Due their weight, they went faster down the stairs than the weird small creatures, so she had just to make a kind of blockade. Throwing the shuriken, the projectiles would conduct the lightning of the staircase, shocking some of the weird creatures as well. Wrapping her right arm around his neck, Kiyomi puffed. ''Crazy. This is just crazy.''

Had he not been so intently focused on steering them accurately down the winding slide, Hayate probably would have laughed. He could see more of the strange creatures falling, or being pushed out of their way as Kiyomi attacked them. Calling back over his shoulder, Hayate's voice held a slightly amused tone. "By the way, I'm not sure when we're supposed to get off this crazy thing, so if you could give me a little advanced warning if you suddenly see a wall coming up, that would be nice!" Turning his attention back to the task at hand, Hayate hoped that his tactic would work. So far they seemed to have caught the creatures by surprise, and they were moving too fast for any of them to catch. But Hayate didn't know what these things were capable of, and quite frankly he didn't care to stay around and find out.

Kiyomi glared in his direction. ''What do you mean with that? Cause I can see better, doesn't mean I have to do that, you know?!'' She started to complain. Not that she wouldn't do it, but it was more like that the whole sudden shift of Hayate's action had surprised her. Giving rise that she acted like that on a serious mission like they were on now. Focusing on their path in front of them, Kiyomi tried to not be distracted by the strange beings. She didn't question herself what they were or where they came from. They were a nuisance and just had to get out of their way or die. ''Can't you slow us down? '' She asked, still seeing no end to it.

Hearing Kiyomi's request, Hayate thought about replying, but instead decided just to act. Forming a few spikes in the metal armour beneath him, he used them to dig into the metal slide, slowing them ever so slightly. "The more I slow us down, the easier it will be for those things to catch up to us." He finally stated, still travelling at high speeds. Hayate hoped the end was coming up soon, the further they went down into this dark pit, the further they would have to travel to get out. And they were getting further and further from Kensuke and the rest of Team 7. Not that it made much of a difference now, but it would be nice knowing that they would have backup available if it became absolutely necessary. Right now it was looking like the prospect of backup was a diminishing idea. The speed that they were travelling at was causing the flames from the hand-made torch to start fading once again, Hayate hoped that it wouldn't go out completely before they reached their destination.

''Got it. I got it.'' She mumbled. Extering more force with her legs to be sure she wouldn't fall from his back, Kiyomi took a deep breath in. Releasing his neck, she would let herself hang backwards. It was strange to see it the world was upside down. The small creatures were there and one was about to jump at Kiyomi, wanting to plant his claw in her face. Just at that moment Kiyomi had finished the handsignal streak. ''Fire Release.. Great Fire Ball Technique!'' Spitting out a big fireball towards their back, the fire would make short work of the annoying pests. After being sure that their back was at least cleared out for now, Kiyomi would place her hands at his shoulders to pull herself up again. ''I am never going down a staircase with you again!'' She mumbled.

Grinning from ear to ear beneath the mask, Hayate continued their crazed descent. His grin faded however, as he saw a group of the creatures ahead that had managed to cling to the railing when the stairs had turned into a slide. They were grouping up, preparing to leap-- Hayate quickly poured more chakra into the metal, causing the path directly ahead of them to raise up slightly, forming a sort of ramp. "This is gonna hurt..." He muttered to himself as they rocketed towards the ramp with speed. Hitting the incline, the pair of them shot out into open space, travelling well over the heads of the small creatures. Time seemed to slow as Hayate shouted out, "Hold on!" Preparing himself for the rough landing, Hayate looked down to see the creatures leaping up, attempting to claw at them. They were out of range however, and before he could say anything more, they landed--hard. Letting out a loud "Ooof!" Hayate grimaced, and they continued to plummet down the slide.

''Wait! Wait! Waaaaiiit!'' Kiyomi tried to stop him as she would hold him in a tighter grip. Her eyes widened when they were in the air as time seemed to slow down. Looking down, she could see some of the disgusting creatures. One of the moments she cursed herself for being able to have heightened senses. Seeing every nasty detail of their ugly features, Kiyomi felt her stomach twisting before she landed. It forced her to release Hayate. ''Tch!'' Rolling down, Kiyomi tried to get on her feet, but due being worried over Hayate, she lost focus and fell on her back again. Shit... Trying to catch a glimps of Hayate, Kiyomi's right hand already went to her kunai pouch.

Feeling the sudden difference in weight as Kiyomi fell off, Hayate tried to turn and see where she ended up. Catching himself slightly, Hayate was thrown onto his back and began sliding a little more out of control. Cursing loudly to himself, Hayate caused the metal spikes to dig in hard, slowing him and allowing himself to gain control of the slide once again. Turning his attention to the sentient blade he still carried, Hayate attempted to speak to it. "Go get her Samehada, get Kiyomi!" There was a brief pause as it seemed the blade understood him and then-- it simply grunted and shivered in Hayate's hand, seemingly oblivious to the command. Cursing again, Hayate tried to remember how the blade worked. Slowing himself to a stop, Hayate had completely lost sight of Kiyomi. Concentrating, he seemed to remember Kiyomi using a series of whistles to control the sentient blade. Furrowing his brow, Hayate pursed his lips together and blew... Only to make a strange noise that was nowhere near a whistle. Cursing to himself again, Hayate tried to remember how Kiyomi had done it. Forming a small 'o' with his lips, Hayate blew again, this time emitting a sound that was a lot closer to a whistle. Hearing the tone, Samehada began shivering excitedly in his hand. Making the sound again, louder this time, the blade leapt from Hayate's hand and began making it's way up the slide, back towards where Kiyomi was. Hayate smiled to himself, relieved that it had worked. And then he heard the sounds from behind him. Turning he saw three more of the creatures making their way up the slide towards him. Crap...

Where was he? Kiyomi managed to stay calm. Sliding down the stairs, Kiyomi thought about a way to halt herself. Pulling out a kunai, she quickly plunged the weapon into the staircase. Only lightly pouring lightning chakra around the blade, she managed to stick it in the staircase to keep herself from sliding. Sighing, she looked around her. The darkness was there, but she was more worried about Hayate. ''Eehh?'' She looked up and squinted her eyes. Something was coming towards her. Her left hand opened already, but only a scream was produced.

Slithering upwards again, Samehada moved slower as it made his way back to the boy he had to serve. If he had understood it alright, he had to eat Kiyomi. A strange order, but at least both master as the boy couldn't complain. He had done his task after all! He was probably going to be petted by Kiyomi. Maybe a whole day? A whole week? The sentient blade kept slithering down the stairs back to Hayate. While there some sounds coming fron the inside of the shark. Mostly curses.

The final creature's head exploded in a shower of viscera, as Hayate's unstable kunai set off. Staying silent for a moment, he was relieved to hear no further signs of movement until-- A sound from behind him made Hayate whip around, another kunai already in his hand. Lowering the kunai, Hayate stared at the strange sight before him. Samehada was making his way back towards him, looking every bit like an eager dog returning a ball to its master. Only... Kiyomi was nowhere in sight. Furrowing his brow, Hayate stood still as the sentient blade returned to him. Reaching out a hand, Hayate placed it gently on the bandaged blade. "Where is Kiyomi?" He asked, concern filling his voice. He could hear something strange... almost like a muffled voice. Staring down, a look of puzzlement on his face, Hayate's eyes suddenly widened. "Sharky... Did you..?"

The sentient blade shivered as the muffled sound became louder. It sounded like somebody was actually angry. ''I... you're... done for..'' That were the only words that seemed to reach outside. While the muffled voice kept going on, it was noticable that Samehada was moving a bit. Like something made him tremble. But the greatsword however would stick to Hayate. Orders were orders in the simple mind of the sword. And if he would follow his orders, he would get patted in a nice manner. He liked to received that kind of attention.

Lifting his hand from the bandaged blade, Hayate realized with dawning horror what had happened. His face paled as he wondered how to respond. "Uh..." Staring down at the sentient sword again, Hayate spoke through the communicator. "Just... um... just a second Kiyomi-sama, I will try and get you out... somehow." Wondering whether or not he should whistle again, Hayate hesitated, not wanting to make the situation worse. "Spit her out Sharky!" He finally said, his voice as serious as possible, hoping Samehada understood.

It became quiet. Like really quiet. The voice became silent as the sentient blade also stayed silent. Then the mouth of the sentient blade curled up, revealing the many sharp triangular teeth that give it more of a shark look. But the grin, as it looked like it, was only brief. The lips curled down as the blade seemed to make a kind of coughing sound. Afterwards it would open its mouth on which a gloved hand quickly stretched out. ''You....'' Kiyomi muttered as she would climb out of the mouth. Mumbling curses, she didn't look that happy. Her hair was a mess and her lips were curled down. If it wasn't bad enough that she wasn't in a happy mood, there was a slight rise of killing intent. Just a tiny bit, but enough to give a clear warning. ''Never ever do that again, got me?'' She straighten her back as she would try to dust her clothes off. Though Samehada didn't really produce much saliva, it seemed that Kiyomi wasn't that keen on being eaten whole by the greatsword. ''Else I will make you stay in there for days.'' Mumbling the threat, she would flex her fingers and then stretch her arms.

Watching Kiyomi emerge from the shark blade with a mixture of horror and curiosity, Hayate stood back. There was a moment of silence as she raised the level of killing intent and threatened him. And then... Hayate let out a brief burst of laughter. Reaching his hand up to his mouth as quickly as he could, he attempted to cover it before the sound could come out. He failed... Holding his hand over his mouth, Hayate fought back the waves of laughter that threatened to spill through him. Finally managing to bring himself under some semblence of control, Hayate lowered the hand a little. "I... uh... Sorry Kiyomi-sama... I don't really know how he works yet..." Gesturing with his free hand towards the sentient blade, Hayate realized it was a poor excuse. His eyes quickly glanced at Samehada, who seemed entirely content, before choking back another wave of laughter.

Getting up, Kiyomi tried to fix her hair. The bangs that were usually covering her her face were even now more in the way. Irritated, she decided to make one ponytail while she shot Hayate a deadly glare. ''I experienced that yes.'' She replied, still tying her hair together in one ponytail. Once she was done with that, she glanced at the sentient blade. But instead of cursing the greatsword, she looked back up. ''But on a more serious matter. What the devil were those things? They looked human but...'' Kiyomi became silent.

Naruto : The Rise of The New Generations

Taking effect!
While one gets knocked out,
Another gets a key.

Seems like a fair trade.~

A small collab between Gerontis, Mr Nim and Little Alice.

Summary :
Deidara and Midori still struggle against the poison. While Asami has been called to meet with the Raikage, she won't let this chance slip by.

A little walk?~

Gyuki was more and more getting annoyed with the whole deal of dragging Deidara. He was being a burden and annoying. If Midori didn't want to listen, then he would force her. Cause he was already feeling how the clone he was controlling to grow weaker with each passing second. The same counted for Midori. The whole body was starting to suffer under the effects of the poison. With a quick shove, the ink clone would push Midori away from Deidara. Not paying attention to the boy, Gyuki would grab Midori's wrist. Not in a friendly fashion, but there was no time for that. Supporting her, Gyuki would send her a telepathic message. ''Listen up. I told you, he is dead weight. Leave him, he will not die.'' Though Gyuki had something else he would love to add to his message, he kept it for himself. Midori tried at first to resist, cause she didn't want to leave Deidara behind. What kind of friend would leave their friends behind? But we made a pact! You wouldn't hurt my- Gyuki suddenly interupted her, with a friendly tone in his deep voice. Did I hurt him? I simply shoved you and not him. The pact was about your friends, but it never entitled you. This surprised Midori as she thought that Gyuki actually liked her. Dragging Midori out of the pesky mist, that was more of a nuisance than helpful in Gyuki's opinion, he would seek for an alley. Somewhere to hide and try to find a proper solution for the situation they were in now.

Watching as Midori's clone pushed her out of the way, Deidara wondered what was going on as the two seemingly just stared at each other for a moment before the clone dragged Midori out of the mist and moved away from his sight. Sighing, he realised that as long as the clone was controlled by the Hachibi, he is not going to get a chance to stay close to his teammate. He then gave a glance at the other direction, wondering how Renya was doing, before rubbing his eyes. Even with the mist, his eye sight was getting more blurred and he moved to lean against a wall to stable himself. Shaking his head a bit, he used the wall to straighten himself and then begun walking in the direction his clone and Renya headed. Only a couple of moments later he collapsed on the ground, unconcious due to foolishly using his clone jutsu and mist jutsu without thinking about his chakra reserves. The mist around him faded away, and he was left on the ground, breathing heavily but not responding to anything around him.

Typical. That was how Asami's shadow clone thought about it. Looking down on the mist, as she figured already it was Deidara's, the clone would just stay put. Another was waiting. And both were looking like ANBU, due the transformation technique. Deidara had given a perfect reason why two ANBU nearby would take a look. A slight twisted smile crept on the lips the young woman. Getting up, she looked down as the mist started to fade away. That and the precious key was now out of it. Not that she thought that Deidara's mist would be harmful to her. But it would work better this way. The shadow clone that had been looking down on the scene, on top of rooftop, dropped to the street level as she would act like she would check out on Deidara. In truth, it was just an act. The other clone was waiting to spring the trap on Midori and her clone. The fact that the ink clone was able to resist the poison longer, as she was supporting the real Midori now, made it clear. There was no doubt or this was the Eight Tailed Beast in control. For Asami this was very interesting. With the knowledge she had, she never would have thought that this was possible. But after some moments, she could think of how it was actually possible. Which was good for her research. Soon.~ The clone thought, still waiting to take them both with her.

An alley, finally. Continue to drag Midori to it, Gyuki wasn't sure how long the clone would hold. Not that there was something wrong with the chakra reserve, but it was just that it was becoming more and more. Panting, the ink clone would collapse. Gyuki cursed as he felt how Midori was also slipping away. He was trying to pour more chakra into the body of the girl, but he couldn't make a clone. Unless he would try to take over Midori. But with her current condition? It would only make things worse. This is bad. He thought to himself, trying to figure a way out of this mess.

''Adorable.~'' The ANBU that had spoken stood at the entrance of the alley. With the light at her back, it was a bit hard to look up to the masked person. Her hands on her hips, the disguised clone of Asami walked towards Midori that was slowly suffering under the effects of the poison. Kneeling near the girl, the ANBU would remove her mask. Revealing a sly grin from Asami. ''Heeeeey there. Missed me?'' Asami said. Then without any signal or warning, Asami's right hand was formed into a fist and slammed against the girls head. Not just because of out of pure sadism, but to make sure Midori wouldn't make any trouble. Besides, Michi had reported Asami on how Midori and Deidara had talked about her. She wouldn't likely find this treatment a big surprise. Picking up the body, the clone had already shoved the mask back in place. It was now time to make sure she had her precious ''key'' safe and hidden away. After hearing that the Three Tails was kidnapped, Asami didn't want to risk losing Midori was well. That would be a pain for her research.

Naruto : The Rise of The New Generations

LillyDove said
It's early, normally I would not say anything but I think that you are really being a bit harsh in viewing his CS. And it is coming across like you don't want his character or rather you don't want him to have another character. If so, why? This harshness is kind of annoying, and this early in the morning I don't filter what I say, so maybe keep that in mind when you reply?Thanks so much. :P

It wasn't meant to be harsh. I could be way harsher with reviewing to be fair. I review by pointing things out and asking for either details or some changes. It may look like that, but I am keen on not using strong words or anything that could give the image that it was a harsh review. Maybe it came over like that due the lot of things I questioned and requested to changed, but that is merely cause it would be wrong to just think ''I already have asked five things to be changed, I will let this one slide''. That would give him some hard time when another GM notices his Cs has some faults and make me look like a bad reviewer, due being overly nice.

Another note is that a reviewer needs to be objective and not subjective. This means that even though having nothing against Alternathan, I can't bypass things. It would be unfair to everybody else, including him.