The Beginning of the End [Part I] [ReadOnly]

[Aka]

"Looks like rain..." a deep, dark, raspy voice called from the corner of an empty, gray room. The walls were painted gray, the floor was an obsidian black, as was the ceiling, and there was one large window facing the north. So, once can already guess that not much sunlight entered the empty crevice in the top of the secondary administration building, overlooking the Raikage's own office building. In front on the window stood aka, her red garments being the only explosion color in the drab room. Her hands were on the shallow window sill, and her long, claw-like fingernails were tapping some tune only known to her, playing like a broken record in her warped mind. It seemed to bring a smile to her face, the rain, that is.

"Excellent. Now I can watch the lightning manifest in all of it's glory. If I were Raikage--"

"But you are not." The raspy old voice called out behind her. Whoever the man was, he was sitting in a standard wheelchair with his head veiled by a white, thin sheet. "And you must remember that. You live to serve the Raikage."

"Yes. For Raikage and country," she answered. "But, all I was going to say was, if I were Raikage, I would make sure the village was always blanketed by these majestic dark clouds and the lightning was perpetual. Are we not Kumogakure no Sato?" She said with a slight chuckle before turning slowly to face the man.

"We are, princess. But remember who you are and whose you are.

Aka's look became grave at those words. It was something she had heard all to often, and they choked her like two invisible hands squeezing around her thin neck. "Yes, I remember. How can I forget with you reminding me every few seconds."

"Your stubbornness will be your demise, my dear," the dusty gray voice sputtered out.

"My demise? Please. There is no such thing."

[Aka]

The ancient voice behind her spouted what sounded like a slight chuckle at her words. If Aka did not know better, she would have even thought dust would have spewed forth from the labored laugh. “What? Do I amuse you, old man?” He raised his hand abruptly as if to silence her. Aka, who normally would not be silenced by anyone, fixed her gaze on the man, knowing he was about to speak now. “There is nothing amusing about you, my dear Aka, at least not to the untrained eye. That would, indeed, lower your credibility as the ruthless kunoichi you are. You must remember, fear garners respect.

The girl turned back to the window and leaned her palms on the thick sill. Her nose was almost touching the cold glass. “Fear. Pah. Terror is more to my liking. There are people who fear the Raikage. I want much more than that. I want pure, unadulterated dread seeping through every fearful gaze of every shinobi in the village, no-- IN THE WORLD! [cue lighting]

Her face looked utterly sinister in the shadows cast by the forks of lightning spewing forth from the sky. The old man could not see her face, but he certainly knew enough about her to know what expression was pasted there. “My malevolent little Oyster. You must not get ahead of yourself. There will be time for your reign of terror so be spread across the land, but first and foremost, remember you--”

“--serve the Raikage. Of course, Taishaku-sama. I remember everything you taught me. You don‘t have to worry.”

It was strange, really. Just as abruptly as the lightning had started...it ceased.

“Good.” the voice responded, much more grave now than before. “Because now it begins...”

[Aka]

The old man clapped his hands together, formed a few hand seals, and and a perfectly cubic chunk of the floor rose in front in him like a small table. Then, he proceeded to pull some papers from a manila folder stashed in the side of his wheelchair. "Hn. Is this what you were hinting about these last few days?" she asked in a tone that did not sound one bit curious. But, in truth, her curiosity was peaking with every artifact he pulled from the folder.

"Look at these," he grunted. "Learn them. Know them from front to back, every word. For when you begin this side mission, these contents will be destroyed."

"Ooh, sounds intriguing." The kunoichi had always found secrets and power seductive, and the thought of having more of both teased her. Her thin fingers spread the contents across the table in a fanned position, and she pulled the first paper from the top of the stack. "A map? This looks like a map of--"

"--Iwagakure no Sato? Yes. You're right. But the treasure we seek does not lie within the village walls. No, that would be too risky. Who in their right mind would try and infiltrate another village with whom we have no bad blood."

"Right mind? I'd crush those little maggots into the earth they worship so much," she spat.

"Focus, my dear Red Oyster. That would not be beneficial to us in the end." The man pulled another map, this one much more detailed, and much more focused on a place outside of the city. "The treasure we seek is here."

[Aka]

“Jouheki Gai.” Aka hissed, an evil smile curving upon her lips. “How nostalgic.”

Before her was a map of the large village in the heart of Tsuchi no Kuni. As a genin, she knew of that place all too well, since it was one of the first places she had been on the main continent. Kumo genin were not as privileged to receive missions outside of Kaminari no Kuni because of the length of time of travel and the shaky alliances that Kumo has had in the past, but this particular team had taken on the task of surveying the area for the Raikage’s own personal purposes.

“The village itself revolves around a massive castle that stands tall at the head of the village. The castle is deserted, and is now only viewed as a landmark. This is where you will find the scroll.” Her invalid sensei said in a low, rumbling whisper.

“Scroll?” she asked, even more drawn to the location by the thought of some valuable treasure. “It must be worth a fortune. Or it must lead to something else that’s worth a fortune, for that matter.”

“Yes, my dear. Now you’re getting it. This castle has been viewed as a landmark for so many years that they hid here.

“They? You know, never mind. I’m sure if you want me to know, you’ll enlighten me, sensei.”

“You know me well,” he chuckled. “At any rate, the background information on this scroll is unimportant at the moment. What is important is that you find it first.”

“First? You mean others know of it’s existence?”

“Only a few,” he began. “There were 5 of us who kept the ancient secret from each village, but two of my colleagues are dead. You see, we had known of it since we met in the chunin exams. Then, not too many years later, the village of Chiri was for--”

“No offense, sensei--” Aka interjected loudly with her arms folded, and with a tone that was less than impressed. “But can we get to the good part? I really don’t want to hear a little sob story about your genin years. You can send me the file and I’ll read it on my spare time.” Her voice was sharp and biting, but there was a hint of playfulness surrounding it. Though, her sensei knew her well, and knew that it was all a part of Aka’s impatient, power hungry persona. “You will have to learn patience, Aka-chan. If you do not, it will be the undoing of all of your training. You will never gain power with such disdain for details.”

Aka silenced herself, then went to sit down. As she did, her sensei nodded, and a block of the floor in the shape of a chair formed under her, and she connected with her newly made throne. “Continue.”

“As I was saying, a new village was forming in those days, and -- to make a long story short -- a faction was on the rise in the village who had gained knowledge about the scrolls. How they gained this knowledge was unknown to me and my colleagues, but we were convinced that we had to hide them. For years their existence had faded from fact to fiction, then to legend, and finally to a myth. Eventually, since the unrest in the last few years, their existence is all but speculation. Many of these young leaders know nothing of their existence.”

Aka yawned a bit, then shifted in her seat. “So, why are you trying to unearth these scrolls now, sensei? I mean, if they are so powerful and dangerous, don’t you think my hands are the last ones they should be in?” She laughed a bit, (it was kind of unsettling, really, and probably longer than it should have been) then placed her hand on her forehead as she caught her breath.

“Because, my dear, I have information that has led me to believe that one of the scrolls have been found. You see, as I said before, there were five of us sworn to keep the secret. One has died in his old age, and the other was recently reported murdered in Hi no Kuni...”

“I KNEW IT.” She spat, standing from her seat suddenly. “Those snakes from Konoha have something to do with this--”

“It is possible, but unlikely. But, the scroll that was once there was not recovered with his body, thus I believe it is only a matter of time before the others are found. This particular area in Tsuchi no Kuni is where my scroll was hidden, and I need you, the most ruthless ninja in Kumo, to bring it back to me. You must collect them all.”

Aka walked back over to the makeshift desk and picked up the map, “No problem at all, sensei. I shall bring you your scroll...” and she headed out the door of the tiny dark room.

“AKA.” The feeble old voice had changed into a much more venomous growl. She had stopped in her tracks, her back still to the man, standing in the open doorway. Truth is, the thought of keeping the scroll for herself had crossed her mind. “Don’t deviate from the plan. This scroll is not to be taken lightly. And if you betray me--” Then, just as alarmingly as he had called her name, the lightning began to flash brightly and the thunder seemed to resonate from inside the room. “--you won’t live to tell the tale.”

The princess stayed calm, cool, her back still to her sensei. “Of course not, sensei. Of course not. If I don’t have you, then who do I have? Tee...hee.” With that, she headed down the hall to gather her team.

[ E N D ?

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Next Episode: Begining of the End Part II: Castle’s Destruction!