Yeah, I don't think my fanfic is going to agree with the manga anymore. o.o
Riku held the rolled up paper in his hand tightly, walking along the path. The map, oddly, hadn?t taken him to any other countries. In fact, he had only gone north of Konoha. He was at the Valley of End now, right along the border of Konoha and now desolated Otogakure, as well as an uncharted region. He stood atop Shodaime?s head, and was facing Madara?s.
Riku looked down at the map, unsure of where to go next. It showed him the same thing as before, saying only the words, ?Continue north to the valley of great battles.? He guessed that this must be the place, and now that he was here, he guessed that he?d have to let the map know that again.
Focusing his ice chakra to move through the map, Riku watched as the words slowly shifted their position until they made a new formation:
Riku thought for a moment, having been used to trying to decipher the meaning of the letter by now. He looked down for only a moment, and quickly understood, the map was telling him to go through the Sound Country, which was actually the Rice Field Country, but better known for its capitol?the Hidden Sound Village. It had been founded by Orochimaru many years ago, but he was dead now, with only a morphed Kabuto as evidence that he was ever in existence.
But the silently part, something about it troubled him, it must be telling him to stay out of sight and out of ear. Then again, it could simply be to make the riddle more interesting, but perhaps it was forewarning him of danger in the sound country.
He looked towards the north, the right side of Shodaime?s head, and walked towards it, and then jumped off of the statue of the 1st Hokage.
~
Maybe a bit more than an hour later, Riku found himself walking through a large rice field. The Sound Country was becoming peaceful, or more peaceful than it had been originally. He had heard of the Fuuma clan, who now helped to maintain the peace of the country
Suddenly, Riku felt himself come to an abrupt halt. There was someone here, following him... He turned, and saw nothing behind him, but he could hear a strange hissing sound. It was gradually increasing, as if it was nearing him. Riku?s hand dropped to Soul Eater.
Suddenly, he could hear the sound right behind him, sloping down the hill that he was on. He began to turn but suddenly, with no warning, something bursted from underneath the ground and rammed Riku with its large head, pushing him into the sky and backwards. He slammed on the ground with a thud, the fall even worse due to falling down the hill after being hit so high into the sky.
Rolling over and then standing on one knee, Riku stared wide-eyed at what he saw. A giant snake was in front of him, slowly moving its head and sticking its tongue out to hiss a few times. The snake was purple in color, its bottom part black. Its head seemed to have horns on it, and its eyes on the side of its head were green. Riku could see a figure on top of the giant snake. Riku sighed, more annoyed than angry that he could clearly see the Akatsuki cloak on the figure.
After the snake uncoiled itself, towering above Riku so much as to cast a large shadow on him and blot out the sun, it suddenly, without hesitation, rushed towards him, its mouth wide open, lashing out its neck and bringing its teeth, seeping with venom, down on him. Riku quickly jumped to the side and rolled to give himself an extra push just in case, just barely dodging the creature?s head, which was several times as large as he was.
As the snake darted past, lunging into the ground as it finished, the man in the Akatsuki robe on top of the giant snake jumped off of the side of it, landing right in front of Riku who was already out of breath. The man had white hair, though, like Kakashi, it wasn?t a result of age, as the man couldn?t have been out of his twenties. But his face... half of it was normal, but on its left side, the eye seemed oddly different, and part of the skin on that side seemed bleached white, as was his ear, and almost... scaly. Riku could see his hand coming out of the sleeve, and it, too, seemed to be made of scales, and was the same color as the other. Looking more closely, he noticed that the eyes were both different colors, one was a dark brown, while the other was a light yellowish green, almost like a snake?s eye.
The man eyed him curiously, ?Of all people, I find you??
Riku was a bit taken aback by the fact that he apparently knew who Riku was, but he did well to hide it, ?I see my reputation precedes me.?
Riku watched as the shoulders on the man?s Akatsuki uniform rose in a shrugging fashion, ?You do seem to keep evading Tenzu, no small feat, I must admit.?
Riku hoped to keep the conversation going for longer, as much to see what more information he could gain right now as to stall until... well, he wasn?t sure until what exactly, ?So I guess Tenzu?s still a bit shaken up and sent you to fetch me??
The man laughed, his voice not very deep at all, though not high-pitched either, ?No, no, I?m here for something much different than that,? he said, as his eyes went off in another direction, Riku took note that he was looking towards the Sound Village, ?Reclamation, you can say. Though I?m sure that no one would mind if I bring a little trophy along with me.?
Reclamation? Riku thought to himself. What was that all about?
Suddenly, interrupting his thoughts, the ground rumbled as the giant purple snake rushed from under the ground and back up, its tail lagging behind it at the bottom but the rest of it standing up straight with its neck slightly sticking out forward, towering behind the Akatsuki figure and over Riku.
?A bit of a snack Kabuto?? the giant snake said. Riku was slightly taken aback by its talking, but quickly remembered Shinru?s lessons about summoned creatures, part of it stating that some of them had the ability to speak.
Kabuto put his hand up, dismissingly, ?No, no, we?ll need him alive,? Kabuto said, then he turned his attention back to Riku, ?Tenzu told me you aren?t the type to just come along quietly, so let?s get on with it then, shall we??
Riku withdrew Soul Eater and held it firmly in his hand, making it slant across his body in a defensive position, ?Bring it.?
Kabuto smiled and stood for a moment, his hands slowly gaining a blue coating of chakra around them. And finally, when his hands were overflowing with chakra on the outside of them, he lunged forward, Manda swerving from left to right directly behind him.
~
?You?ve gotta be kidding me!? Deirous said, truly outraged.
Kakashi shrugged, ?Rules are rules. Raiden and Reina can keep their ranks as jounin and chuunin, but since you have no previous village alliances, you, my friend, are a genin.?
Once again, they were in the Hokage?s office, and the three had decided to keep themselves occupied, as well as their minds off of Riku which would only worry them, by picking up missions. Raiden and Reina, having already been taking missions for both Konoha as well as their own village, had no trouble with having approval to take a B ranked mission by themselves. Deirous, though... not so much.
?Ugh,? Deirous slapped his open palm on his face, ?So what do I do??
?Well... I suppose that we?ll start with placing you in a squad,? Kakashi said, ?Naruto seems eager to lead one. How about his squad??
Deirous shrugged, ?I guess...?
?Of course, Lee is just as eager to lead a squad, if you?d like?? Kakashi asked, more than slightly sarcastically.
Deirous looked over to Raiden for any answers as to who Lee is, and Raiden finally seemed to notice him staring and answered, ?Trust me, you do not want to be in his squad.?
Kakashi looked at the two, and decided the conversation was over, ?Well then, I guess it?s decided. Tomorrow, you meet Naruto in front of the village gates.?
Deirous had his hand stroking his forehead, annoyed at the entire thing, ?I actually miss the Raikage now.?
Following Words
Riku held the rolled up paper in his hand tightly, walking along the path. The map, oddly, hadn?t taken him to any other countries. In fact, he had only gone north of Konoha. He was at the Valley of End now, right along the border of Konoha and now desolated Otogakure, as well as an uncharted region. He stood atop Shodaime?s head, and was facing Madara?s.
Riku looked down at the map, unsure of where to go next. It showed him the same thing as before, saying only the words, ?Continue north to the valley of great battles.? He guessed that this must be the place, and now that he was here, he guessed that he?d have to let the map know that again.
Focusing his ice chakra to move through the map, Riku watched as the words slowly shifted their position until they made a new formation:
Silently walk through the Sound everlasting
Riku thought for a moment, having been used to trying to decipher the meaning of the letter by now. He looked down for only a moment, and quickly understood, the map was telling him to go through the Sound Country, which was actually the Rice Field Country, but better known for its capitol?the Hidden Sound Village. It had been founded by Orochimaru many years ago, but he was dead now, with only a morphed Kabuto as evidence that he was ever in existence.
But the silently part, something about it troubled him, it must be telling him to stay out of sight and out of ear. Then again, it could simply be to make the riddle more interesting, but perhaps it was forewarning him of danger in the sound country.
He looked towards the north, the right side of Shodaime?s head, and walked towards it, and then jumped off of the statue of the 1st Hokage.
~
Maybe a bit more than an hour later, Riku found himself walking through a large rice field. The Sound Country was becoming peaceful, or more peaceful than it had been originally. He had heard of the Fuuma clan, who now helped to maintain the peace of the country
Suddenly, Riku felt himself come to an abrupt halt. There was someone here, following him... He turned, and saw nothing behind him, but he could hear a strange hissing sound. It was gradually increasing, as if it was nearing him. Riku?s hand dropped to Soul Eater.
Suddenly, he could hear the sound right behind him, sloping down the hill that he was on. He began to turn but suddenly, with no warning, something bursted from underneath the ground and rammed Riku with its large head, pushing him into the sky and backwards. He slammed on the ground with a thud, the fall even worse due to falling down the hill after being hit so high into the sky.
Rolling over and then standing on one knee, Riku stared wide-eyed at what he saw. A giant snake was in front of him, slowly moving its head and sticking its tongue out to hiss a few times. The snake was purple in color, its bottom part black. Its head seemed to have horns on it, and its eyes on the side of its head were green. Riku could see a figure on top of the giant snake. Riku sighed, more annoyed than angry that he could clearly see the Akatsuki cloak on the figure.
After the snake uncoiled itself, towering above Riku so much as to cast a large shadow on him and blot out the sun, it suddenly, without hesitation, rushed towards him, its mouth wide open, lashing out its neck and bringing its teeth, seeping with venom, down on him. Riku quickly jumped to the side and rolled to give himself an extra push just in case, just barely dodging the creature?s head, which was several times as large as he was.
As the snake darted past, lunging into the ground as it finished, the man in the Akatsuki robe on top of the giant snake jumped off of the side of it, landing right in front of Riku who was already out of breath. The man had white hair, though, like Kakashi, it wasn?t a result of age, as the man couldn?t have been out of his twenties. But his face... half of it was normal, but on its left side, the eye seemed oddly different, and part of the skin on that side seemed bleached white, as was his ear, and almost... scaly. Riku could see his hand coming out of the sleeve, and it, too, seemed to be made of scales, and was the same color as the other. Looking more closely, he noticed that the eyes were both different colors, one was a dark brown, while the other was a light yellowish green, almost like a snake?s eye.
The man eyed him curiously, ?Of all people, I find you??
Riku was a bit taken aback by the fact that he apparently knew who Riku was, but he did well to hide it, ?I see my reputation precedes me.?
Riku watched as the shoulders on the man?s Akatsuki uniform rose in a shrugging fashion, ?You do seem to keep evading Tenzu, no small feat, I must admit.?
Riku hoped to keep the conversation going for longer, as much to see what more information he could gain right now as to stall until... well, he wasn?t sure until what exactly, ?So I guess Tenzu?s still a bit shaken up and sent you to fetch me??
The man laughed, his voice not very deep at all, though not high-pitched either, ?No, no, I?m here for something much different than that,? he said, as his eyes went off in another direction, Riku took note that he was looking towards the Sound Village, ?Reclamation, you can say. Though I?m sure that no one would mind if I bring a little trophy along with me.?
Reclamation? Riku thought to himself. What was that all about?
Suddenly, interrupting his thoughts, the ground rumbled as the giant purple snake rushed from under the ground and back up, its tail lagging behind it at the bottom but the rest of it standing up straight with its neck slightly sticking out forward, towering behind the Akatsuki figure and over Riku.
?A bit of a snack Kabuto?? the giant snake said. Riku was slightly taken aback by its talking, but quickly remembered Shinru?s lessons about summoned creatures, part of it stating that some of them had the ability to speak.
Kabuto put his hand up, dismissingly, ?No, no, we?ll need him alive,? Kabuto said, then he turned his attention back to Riku, ?Tenzu told me you aren?t the type to just come along quietly, so let?s get on with it then, shall we??
Riku withdrew Soul Eater and held it firmly in his hand, making it slant across his body in a defensive position, ?Bring it.?
Kabuto smiled and stood for a moment, his hands slowly gaining a blue coating of chakra around them. And finally, when his hands were overflowing with chakra on the outside of them, he lunged forward, Manda swerving from left to right directly behind him.
~
?You?ve gotta be kidding me!? Deirous said, truly outraged.
Kakashi shrugged, ?Rules are rules. Raiden and Reina can keep their ranks as jounin and chuunin, but since you have no previous village alliances, you, my friend, are a genin.?
Once again, they were in the Hokage?s office, and the three had decided to keep themselves occupied, as well as their minds off of Riku which would only worry them, by picking up missions. Raiden and Reina, having already been taking missions for both Konoha as well as their own village, had no trouble with having approval to take a B ranked mission by themselves. Deirous, though... not so much.
?Ugh,? Deirous slapped his open palm on his face, ?So what do I do??
?Well... I suppose that we?ll start with placing you in a squad,? Kakashi said, ?Naruto seems eager to lead one. How about his squad??
Deirous shrugged, ?I guess...?
?Of course, Lee is just as eager to lead a squad, if you?d like?? Kakashi asked, more than slightly sarcastically.
Deirous looked over to Raiden for any answers as to who Lee is, and Raiden finally seemed to notice him staring and answered, ?Trust me, you do not want to be in his squad.?
Kakashi looked at the two, and decided the conversation was over, ?Well then, I guess it?s decided. Tomorrow, you meet Naruto in front of the village gates.?
Deirous had his hand stroking his forehead, annoyed at the entire thing, ?I actually miss the Raikage now.?
