ch 17

Senjii strolled down the main street, marveling at how the village looked. Just a few short months ago, they had been sitting around a campfire planning what materials they needed. Now they had citizens, and stores and homes and the glistening white tower in the center of the village.

He smiled happily, Naruto's dream had come true. He knew off in the small forest behind the tower that Naruto was training with the toads, but Nagi was somewhere in town and Senjii needed someone to spar with.

A small boy ran across his path laughing as another boy in a mask chased him. Senjii smiled, but then a memory came back, startling him. The memory of the demons in the alleyway they had faced months ago came flooding back like a nightmare and he stopped dead in his tracks. The parting words of that demon Ji-Hoon crossed his mind.

Senjii turned on his heels and went looking for Mabry.

Mabry was in the supply warehouse taking inventory, a job he hated. He scowled but did it grudgingly, checking to see what items he needed to order.

Senjii knocked on the door, "Hey Mabry, busy?"

Mabry just grunted at him.

With a smile, Senjii walked in. "I need to talk to you about something. Remember that demon Ji-Hoon?"

Mabry stopped what he was doing and looked up. "Yes. Why?"

"Well do you also remember his promise to be back? And do you also remember the toothpick you gave me to defend myself with last time?" Senjii asked

Mabry smiled. "Yes, I remember those things, what do you want Senjii?"

"Well just one thing. It's likely that on another mission we will run into him or his monster squad again. I will NOT face them with a butter knife in my hands. I want a real weapon." Senjii said resolutely.

Mabry nodded. "OK, well then you want either the Kusanagi which I believe is owned by a fairly horrible ninja called Orochimaru, heard of him?"

"Ah, yes. Naruto has spoken of him, and I've heard of him before."

"Good, you won't be getting that one anytime soon. But there are a few swords out there that might suit your purpose. The world is a big place you know. I think…yes…the best place for you to start is with the names Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, and to talk to our resident den of thieves." Mabry said, going back to his work.

Senjii left excitedly to hunt down Ali.

Nagi scowled and bit into the piece of straw in between his teeth. He watched the classes going on across the field, seeing the two groups of children. Those who had made it to the second chamber – and they were few – and those still figuring out the balance that was required to pass the first chamber.

He glanced across in the other direction and saw Senjii walking over.

"Hey Nagi, what you planning to do today?" Senjii asked.

Nagi grinned back, "Something fun I hope."

Senjii and Nagi found Ali in his Guild house preparing for their ceremony later that week. Most of the clan had arrived although some were out getting items they needed. The place was looking fantastic Senjii thought, nudging Nagi to look at the carving that Guerrera had done and was now over the entrance.

"Hey Ali, can I ask you something?" Senjii said walking closer. Ali looked up annoyed at the interruption in the planning. He was enjoying himself in something frivolous for the first time in his life, and his men were fully into it too.

"Just a minute Senjii." Ali looked over at one of his men. "Suresh, what about the balloons? Did you get the red ones?"

The man frowned. "Leader, no disrespect, but is red really the way we want to go? It would really clash with the green tapestry. I was thinking a golden color."

Ali slammed his fist into his desk. "I said Red! Every time we rob a noble's house or crash a party, the rich always have red balloons. Are we not deserving of red balloons, in this our new home? Do you, Suresh, think the Spirit Wolf Clan is not worthy of red balloons?"

Senjii and Nagi watched humorously at the exchange. Ali sure was taking this seriously.

"Now, what did you guys want?" Ali said, turning his attention back to them as Suresh sulked off indignantly, whispering foreign words to Nagi and Senjii, although Nagi was sure he heard the word prima donna in there somewhere.

"Have you ever heard of the names Gan Jiang and Mo Ye?" Senjii asked.

Ali's eyes flashed and a grin spread across his face. "The legendary twin swords? Of course I know the story."

Nagi looked puzzled, "I've never heard of them."

"That's because you are not a weapon user." Ali replied. "Any swordsman worthy of the name knows of the Gan Jiang and Mo Ye swords. Centuries ago, in a time and land long forgotten, a swordsmith couple was asked by their King to forge a pair of swords for him. These smiths were artists in their work; their names were Gan Jiang and Mo Ye. It is said that they used human energy, Qi, to power their blast furnace to melt the steel but it was insufficient for the swords they desired to make. Mo Ye sacrificed herself to increase human Qi by throwing herself into the furnace. The desired result was achieved after three years and the two swords were named after the couple. Gan Jiang kept the Gan jiang Sword for himself and presented the Mo Ye Sword to the king. The king was angered when he discovered the truth and he had Gan Jiang killed. Their son Chi was eager to avenge his father and he sought the Gan Jiang Sword. At the same time, the king dreamt about a youth wanting to kill him and he placed a bounty on the youth's head. Chi was indignant and so filled with anguish that he started crying during his quest for revenge. Chi met an assassin and he told the assassin his story before committing suicide. The assassin was moved and decided to help Chi fulfill his quest. The assassin brought Chi's severed head and the Gan Jiang Sword to meet the king, who was overjoyed. The assassin asked the king to have Chi's head boiled and he told the king that he needed to take a closer look in order for the head to decompose faster. The king heeded the assassin's words and the assassin seized the opportunity to decapitate the king and throw his head into the boiling water. The assassin then committed suicide by self-beheading and his head fell into the boiling water too. The heads were burnt until the features were no longer recognizable, and they were buried together. The grave was called "Tomb of Three Kings". The swords were buried along with them."

Nagi looked wide eyed at conclusion of Ali's story. "So what's so special about these swords then? Because they're made from Qi?"

Senjii shook his head. "Not just that. The lives sacrificed for the blades have made them instruments of death themselves. It is said that if the wielder of the swords came upon the Creator of the World on his journey, even He would be cut."

"Ohhh." Nagi finally understood. "You want them in case we have to fight that Ji-Hoon guy again."

Senjii grinned and looked back at Ali. "So any clues on where the Tomb of Three Kings is?"

Ali scowled and pointed down the corridor. "First room on the left is where we're storing all the scrolls that we've…accumulated…over the years. There are many. I think I did read one that contained an old map of the old lands. It is somewhere to start." He squinted his eyes. "However, don't think I'm helping you just because we live in the same village."

Senjii looked at Ali intently. "Fifty percent."

Ali nodded. "Done. And I will send two of my clan as well."

Senji agreed and walked down the corridor with Nagi close behind.

"Fifty percent of what?" Nagi asked curiously.

"The King was said to be one of the richest in History. If we find that Tomb, there will be a lot of gold." Senjii said, opening the door to find a room piled high with scrolls and parchments.

Nagi looked at the stack before them and sighed. "This is NOT the fun day I had pictured."

Middle of Nowhere

Kakashi looked up at the cloudy sky. A thunderous crack and a gust of cold wind blew at his face. Something felt…off. He looked back, the convoy was rolling on. It had been an uneventful week of traveling since the bandit raid. According to his estimate, they had another two weeks before they hit the border of Wind Country.

Hiroka and Sakura flanked either side of the Prince's coach. Calamity had taken to spending time with the Prince's son, teaching him how to make and shoot real arrows. Kakashi thought her to be a good teacher, the boy had excellent aim. But today, she sat on top the wagon directly behind the Prince's coach. This gave her a better vantage point on any attacks on the convoy.

Kakashi himself had on a coat with a hood to shield himself from the rain, also to not give away that he was a ninja protecting the caravan. This way he looked like a normal guard, just slightly ahead and to the left of the wagons.

The rain started to fall, whipping at them in blinding sheets. Kakashi knew it was coming, because it was when he would have attacked. Three figures burst from the tree line and raced towards the Prince's wagon.

Arrows zipped at them, Calamity firing rapid fire at them. Shockingly none hit, the attackers dodging, ducking and weaving and never missing a step towards the caravan. Kakashi instantly recognized that they were Ninja from their movements, not just ordinary bandits. This was no robbery, this was an assassination attempt.

Asuma swore violently. The three chunnin Danzo had assigned to him had been a pain in the ass for the entire trip. Their unswerving loyalty to Danzo had made conversations near impossible. He had kept to himself for the entire trip, sleeping apart when they stopped to rest at night. They had gone ahead without him, wanting the glory of killing the prince for themselves in order to impress Danzo.

He had caught up to them just as they left the trees. He saw the wagons, the archer on top, and a female warrior on the side closest to the attack. There was probably one on the far side as well. From the side of his eyes, he saw a figure start to move to intercept the chunnin. He glanced at him through the rain, not making out much, but his senses told him it was a formidable opponent. As much as Asuma hated Danzo, this was a job that Konoha had accepted. He unsheathed his chakra blades and leapt into the rain.

Kakashi saw a fourth shadow leap from the forest, this one heading to cut off his own interception of the three ninja. He stopped in his tracks and focused on this enemy, having a feeling that this one was the most powerful. He had to trust the girls to handle the three ninja.

He formed a few quick seals, and used the massive rain sheets to form a water dragon, sending it after the newest attacker. To his credit the ninja dodged it well, and sliced the dragon's head off with his blades, killing the jutsu.

The ninja rushed towards Kakashi who palmed his kunai and move to meet the ninja.

Hiroka saw that Calamity's arrows were not finding their target and took her defensive stance. These were ninja, not bandits, so she'd be hard pressed. She felt a thud in the ground and realized Sakura had landed next to her having jumped over the wagon.

Another thump and Calamity landed on top the wagon, notching more arrows to her bow.

"OK girls, let's kill these guys!" Calamity shouted over the rain.

A bolt of lightning struck the ground not far and that was the cue for Sakura and Hiroka to lunge forward. Calamity exhaled and fired five arrows off her bow at once, hand working the string in a blur, firing off another five a second later.

The ninja blocked the first volley, but the second managed to catch one in the thigh as he leapt out of the way. At the closer ranger, the arrows were going impossibly fast, almost too fast to dodge. The ninja who was hit fell to one knee and swore violently. One of the unharmed ninja made a hand sign and sent a fireball racing towards the wagon and Calamity.

Hiroka twisted and turned her cloth, catching the fireball in the folds of cloth, she spun and twirled in mid air, and using her chakra enhanced cloth as a slingshot fired the same fireball back towards the ninja, the rain sizzling as it cut a path of steam through the torrent. He made another hand sign and swapped places with a block of wood.

The second unharmed ninja came at Sakura with a pair of batons. He turned and twisted, swinging the two metal pipes at her head and ribs. She had forward momentum as she was running towards him so she just slid to her knees and leaned backwards, sliding under his swings. She raised herself to one knee as he came around again ready to swing. She threw a punch, her Futae no Kiwami hitting him a glancing blow, but still enough to make him drop one of the batons and spin around.

He went with the spin and hit Sakura across her ribs with his baton. She let out a yell of pain and clutched her side, both of them leaping backwards to get ready for another attack.

Calamity swore violently. The one ninja she had hit was back up having pulled the arrow out of his leg. She saw Hiroka and Sakura engage their enemy but she had no time to worry about them. She dropped the large bow and pulled out her twin small crossbows. She had built them herself a long time ago, designed to automatically load up to fifty bolts each, it was her favorite weapon for closer range, rapid fire. She aimed at the ninja and fired, the first bolt sailing through the air as the next clicked into place.

The ninja swapped out with a wooden log and came rushing back towards the wagons from a slightly different angle. Calamity swiveled in his direction and fired again, another five shots each. The ninja ducked under them and kept coming.

Calamity looked at the direction he was attacking from and smiled. Fate seemed to be on her side, the wind was blowing from behind her, towards him with a lot of force. A quick glance around and she saw what she was looking for. A small jug of wine the wagon driver seemed to be using frequently; she had seen him drinking from it the day before and stash it above the canopy.

She holstered one of her mini crossbows and loaded the second, lighting the arrowhead and praying the rain didn't douse it before it did its job. She kicked the jug towards the attacking ninja and shot it with the bolt as it got close, shattering the clay receptacle. Its liquid contents splashed out, the wind blowing it towards the attacking ninja, the fire bolt catching the alcohol and turning it into a sheet of fire that in a blink of an eye engulfed the Ninja. He screamed as the flaming contents burned his face and he swiped at it with his hands to douse it.

He never got the chance.

Calamity fired five more crossbow bolts into his chest while he was distracted, silencing his screams. She turned to see how her friends were doing, hearing the screams of battle over the pounding rain.

Hiroka swirled in midair, barely dodging a brace of Shuriken. Her opponent was very skilled in the use of Fire jutsu and shuriken throwing, and he had a nasty habit of combining the two in attacks. Her special scarf was resistant to flame attacks, but even so, it was starting to smell a bit singed. The rain also made it harder for her to manipulate it as it was becoming waterlogged.

She landed in the mud, almost losing her footing. The ninja smirked and sent another fireball at her, quickly also sending three shuriken flying behind the fireball as a secondary attack.

Hiroka was having quite enough of this. She planted her feet down firm and remembered a lesson her father had taught her when she was very little. One of the most basic tactics anyone ever learned. The strongest defense is a good offense.

She twirled the cloth into a tight spin and funneled it to catch the fireball in a wide net. The ninja did not see when she let go the cloth and dove under the fireball and shuriken and got within two feet of him. He barely had time to register as she stood in a stance and began going through a series of finger punches and palm thrusts against his chest.

He did feel it though when his heart exploded in his chest.

As he fell to the ground, a panting Hiroka noticed for the first time the headband this ninja was wearing. Uttering a sharp curse, she glanced towards Sakura.

The baton wielder swung for Sakura's head with enough force to separate it from her shoulders. She ducked instead of blocking. She had made the mistake of blocking one of his attacks and had what she was sure was a broken left forearm to show for it. She kept her distance though, watching for an opening. They both had one useless arm now, and the fight was getting desperate.

The ninja lunged forward, using the baton like a spear. Sakura ducked and tried a punch. He twirled the baton around his forearm and pushed her punch down with the tip. She stepped in, trying to swipe at his feet with her front leg. He raised the leg and kicked out, trying to break her knee. She bent to the left, avoiding the kick, and coming around with her back foot in a tornado kick to his midsection that connected solidly.

He stumbled backwards and that was all the opening Sakura needed. She rushed forward. He swung the baton at her midsection, aiming for the damaged ribs. She sacrificed her broken left forearm again and felt the sharp mind numbing pain as he hit her already broken bones, but it was not enough to stop her. Her fist aimed directly at his face, her eyes finally registered the symbol on his forehead protector. A Leaf! Konoha! It was too late though and her fist connected with all the force she could muster. His head exploded in shards of bone and brain matter, his body freezing for a second then collapsing in the mud.

"A Leaf! Konoha!" Sakura cried out, falling to her knees, Hiroka and Calamity rushing to her side.

Kakashi locked blades with the ninja for the barest of seconds before recognizing the weapons in the man's hands and immediately did a kawarimi with a log. Asuma's chakra blades cut right though the Kunai Kakashi was wielding a split second earlier as if it was butter.

"Asuma!" Kakashi shouted, throwing off his raincoat. He stood a short distance away and watched as the Konoha nin turned around and lowered his blades.

"Kakashi?" he said incredulously. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Tengoku

Naruto stretched as he exited the tower. He'd been sitting as still as possible for the past few weeks, and the toads said he had made enough progress that he could take a break. He could feel the Natural Energy enough to not let it turn him into a frog and his body into stone. That was a prospect he was NOT interested in. So Naruto had to decide what to do on his day off. He looked around, and the place seemed…busy!

The streets were bustling with people and a few of his clones here and there. Shops were open, people were walking and laughing, children were playing in the streets. He heard strong laughter coming from a noodle stand as members of their resident guild of thieves talked about their ceremony later that night.

Naruto grinned. Everyone seemed really…happy. He walked down by the schoolyard and saw Guerrera teaching a class. He waved and saw the man smile. Naruto wondered what his face looked like under that mask.

He glanced over at the training field and saw that a few students were still trying to cross the first chamber. Naruto walked over upon seeing a familiar face in the last few.

"Hey Inari." Naruto called out. "What you doing?"

"He's joining the class Naruto. Do not disturb him. He needs to realize he's over thinking his steps and just let it flow." Tenchi said from Naruto's left. "He enrolled a few days ago."

Naruto saw Inari make two successful steps on the logs then slip and fall in. He frowned thoughtfully, wondering how he could help. Inari climbed out soaking wet and joined the back of the line. Naruto smiled, he knew how he could help.

"Hey Inari! Aren't you from Wave Country? Don't they have water where you're from? You look silly!" Naruto said laughing.

Tenchi scowled and moved to say something but was cut off.

"Oh yeah! Baka! I'll show you!" Inari shouted back and took to the water like a jet, anger fueling his legs as he ran from log to log and landed safely on the other side. He stood there a moment, shocked at his success, realizing what he was doing wrong.

Naruto laughed. "Good job little brother! Now get going to the second chamber!" He said with a big grin and a thumbs up. Inari laughed and walked over to the second chamber to the cheers of his new classmates.

Naruto nodded at a smiling Tenchi and headed down to where he knew Yoshi was installing the new gates. He had insisted no one else could help him, not even Naruto's clones. A wrong touch would spoil the Heavenstone material until its set in place.

On his way he spotted the Spirit Wolf Guild, decked out elaborately in ribbons, flags and lights. All in preparation for tonight. He could smell the feast that was being cooked, and yearned to go inside to sneak a bite. But he wasn't sure he could steal from a master thief without being noticed. He'd try later after he talked to Yoshi, he promised himself with a grin.

Naruto found Yoshi using a weird system of huge levers, cables, ropes and wheels to lower the left side of the elaborate gate into place. Yoshi was holding ropes with both hands, and one foot. Huge magnifying glasses on his head, tongue sticking out the side of his mouth as he pulled and pushed, lowering the gate into place. As it snapped into position, the material of the gate shimmered and let loose a hum.

Yoshi released the ropes and panted. "Whew! Finally! One down! Hey Naruto. Did you hear that? That hum? I call that Heavenstone Harmonics. It happens when a lot of my heavenstone touches the clouds."

Naruto was fascinated. "Why does it do that?"

Yoshi was gathering up his ropes and attaching them to the gate. "Huh? Oh... No idea." He replied without even looking up. "Have you seen my Felangie? Size three quarters of a millimeter? I'm missing that from my kit."

Naruto shook his head. He marveled at the ornate gate. Guerrera had designed a beautiful mold that Yoshi had used to cast the Heavenstone gates. It was beautiful, and shimmered in the sunlight. It's odd material reflecting and refracting light creating almost a rainbow effect.

"Yoshi," Naruto asked. "You are coming to the Guild feast tonight right?"

Yoshi nodded. "Yes yes. Societal interactions are important in order to maintain good working relationships with citizenry."

Naruto cocked his head quizzically. "What?"

Yoshi straightened up. "You think I should put a doorbell?"

"What?" Naruto replied.

"In case someone comes calling and no one's near the gate. How would we know they're here? Maybe a nice doorbell?" Yoshi asked.

Naruto thought about is for a few seconds. "I suppose a bell would be OK."

Yoshi looked at Naruto. "That's a great idea! A bell! How on earth did you think of that? It makes sense you know, just in case someone comes." He went back to attaching his ropes and cables to the other side of the gate.

Naruto looked at him for a few seconds and then laughed. "Yoshi, I'm real glad you crashed into our tower. See you later!" he walked back to the Spirit Wolf Guild, waving to the inventor who smiled back happily.

Senjii and Nagi sat at a table in the scroll room looking over a scroll. Ali had come in to talk to them about what they had found.

"Yes. This is the old language. This is the map of the old country." Ali confirmed.

Nagi nodded. He pulled out a journal they had found and read a passage. "…and we came across a stone tablet with three skulls engraved on it. Upon the heads of the skulls were gold adorned crowns. My men took then pried the gold from the stone, the jewels would be traded for food at the nearest outpost. But we're a week's ride east still from Abydos."

Nagi looked up. "From other scrolls that we have found, that symbol has to be the Tomb of the Three Kings. And we have a general idea."

Senjii pointed at the Map. "There, what does this say Ali?"

Ali smiled. "That says Abydos. You've found the location of the lost city of Abydos. You do realize though where this is in current time's right?"

Senjii nodded. He pulled out another map, a current one of the world and laid it over the older scroll.

"We don't have a choice. This is where we need to start looking," Senjii said with a smile.

Nagi cleared his throat. "Guys, listen to this." He continued reading from the old journal. "..My men are dying one by one. Something comes for them at night. Rumors of a curse are all over the encampment. Our horses are all dead with no explanation. Their bodies are turning a sickly green color. I am not sure what to do. I hope we make it to Abydos."

Nagi looked up. "What do you think about that?"

Senjii smiled. "I think it makes it a bit more exciting. What about you?"

Nagi and Ali laughed. "Agreed," they said in unison.

"Think Naruto would come?" Senjii asked.

"Cumf werr?" Naruto's head peeked into the room, his mouth stuffed with an éclair.

Ali looked at him and his face lost its smile. "Is that one of our desserts in your mouth for our celebration feast later Naruto?"

Naruto gulped and disappeared around the corner, Ali ran out the door after him. "You will give that back immediately! I have a very specific head count to desert ratio!" He said, screaming after him down the hallways of the Guild and out into the front yard.

Nagi smirked. "Yeah Naruto would come if he could. We'll ask Jiraiya if it's OK tomorrow. Tonight though, we feast! Tomorrow we head for the city of Sunagakure!"

Tsunade sighed in relief as a young girl successfully identified all the organs in a toad. She was starting with a small class, some older citizens and young children. Less than ten. But still, it was a start to her medical trainees.

They all stared at the dissected frogs in front of them a little squeamishly. Tsunade frowned at that. I need to break them of their sensitive stomachs. Medicine is no place for that foolishness.

This basic biology lesson was going well. These students had if not an aptitude, at least a willingness to learn, and that Tsunade could work with.

She saw Naruto walk past her hospital happily, popping chocolate éclairs into his mouth. She smiled sadly. No one had told him as yet what had happened in Konoha. He didn't know about the war with Iwagakure and the state of affairs back home. She wondered idly for a second if it would bother him, but she shook that thought away. Naruto cared for his friends, and many of his friends still lived in Konoha. He would be worried. But they had specific instructions from Ma and Pa toad not to disrupt his focus while he was training.

She heard a sound like a clear crystal bell ring through the village and an arc of light that spread through the streets. It was gone in a second, followed by a shout of "Eureka!"

The villagers who had looked concerned a second earlier just smiled and went back about their day. Tsunade scoffed and turned back to her class.

Middle of Nowhere

Asuma sat around the campfire with Kakashi, Sakura and the two girls that Sakura introduced as her teammates. The two girls watched him suspiciously, which he supposed he would do in their position. They did indeed seem to be a formidable team, dispatching the three chunnin that had accompanied him on this disastrous mission.

He continued his story. "…So I woke up and discovered they had left without me. I caught up to them just as they attacked. We made fast time getting here in a couple weeks, full speed, very little rest. We had to intercept you before you reached the Wind Country border or our mission would stand little chance for success."

Kakashi nodded. "It makes sense. So Danzo has declared himself a Conquering Emperor?"

Asumo nodded and sipped his tea. "Yes. Ninja loyal to him have been growing. He's recruiting power hungry nin from within the Iwagakure ranks as well. He's definitely building back his army, but it would probably be another year or two before he's at full strength. We lost a lot of ninja in that battle."

Sakura wanted to cry, scream, and yell. She was both angry and saddened by what had happened to her home in just one year's time.

"When you left, you just told us you were goin…" Asuma began, but Kakashi cut him off.

"Now's not the time to speak of such things. What do you think you will do now?" Kakashi asked. The girls noticed the odd exchange but said nothing.

Asuma shrugged. "Well the mission failed. The prince will enter Wind Country in a few days so there is no more chance for an 'easy' assassination. From Wind they go to Lightning, then I understand that he intends to hire Konoha as his bodyguards on the last leg of his trip. But that will be a few months from now, and the political climate may have changed. Danzo may not want to kill him or may even accept the pay to protect him then kill him. There is nothing we can do about that."

"No way." Sakura shook her head. "We won't allow it."

Calamity nodded as well. "We'll just have to protect them from Konoha until they reach their home. We'd never allow Danzo to kill the Prince or his son."

"I'm very happy to hear you say that." The Prince walked over, his girth swaying a little from side to side. "If what you say is true, and your Hokage was hired by a courtesan from my land, then we need to get home sooner rather than later. My father would know what to do about it. I am sorry to say this, but it would be best if once we enter Wind Country we head for the nearest Port and sail home. I will pay you to continue as our bodyguards until we reach home."

Hiroka looked at him intently. "You do realize that if your own people hired someone to kill you, then something bad might be waiting for you back home?"

"Nonsense!" The Prince said dismissively. "My father, the King, would never allow it. We will make the sailing arrangements. This has been a horrible trip. We didn't get to do any shopping at all. But I won't endanger my son with these assassination attempts." He turned to go. "You know, my servants are whispering your names now girls. They saw your fight today. They are calling you both Celestial Beauties from Heaven and Demon Bitches from Hell. You were indeed frightful."

He walked back to the main encampment where his son stood waiting.

Calamity laughed. "Well the boys can call themselves Archangels all they like, we're the Demon Bitches! Hahahaha!" Hiroka too laughed. Sakura looked dismayed.

"But but! They also called us Celestial Beauties? Can't we stick with that?" Sakura asked plaintively.

"No!" Hiroka responded happily. "This will strike more fear in people. It's fantastic!"

Kakashi sighed and smiled beneath his mask. Calamity grinned at him and winked, causing him to blush for the briefest of seconds.

Asuma sipped his tea, pondering his situation. "I have…commitments in Konoha. I agree that this village you speak of sounds wonderful Kakashi. But Konoha is my home as much as it is yours. I must go back."

Kakashi nodded. "Yes. I understand. It is likely that Danzo will punish you."

Asuma scoffed. "A few months in the jails will be pretty restful." He looked up at Kakashi over his tea who gave him the slightest of nods. Asuma looked back down at his tea.

"You girls are strong. I didn't see the fight but I saw the results. You are a good team." Asuma said quietly.

Hiroka, Sakura, and Calamity all smiled.

"Sensei," Sakura asked. "Would you tell Ino that I'm alright?"

Asuma nodded and put his tea down. "I will. Now tell me more about this village of yours. I won't leave until morning and I'd like to know all about it."

Tengoku

Fireworks lit up the night sky over Tengoku. The crowd clapped appreciatively and cheered as more roared into the night, bursting into explosions of color. A trio of Ali's thieves were drumming away, one with small hand symbols, one with his hands on a large drum around his neck, the other with two sticks on a smaller drum around his neck. The beat was intoxicating and exciting.

Confetti and streamers flew everywhere. Music filled the street outside the Thieves Guild. Ali was decked out in an elaborate suit that had as many ornate jewels on it as any rich merchant could dream of. (It was in fact stolen from one such merchant).

Naruto wore his white suit for the occasion on the insistence of Tenchi and Tsunade. Citizens smiled at him and shook his hand, thanking him profusely for their new lives and happiness. Naruto was bewildered as to what to do about all the gratitude and attention.

Ali cleared his throat. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Brothers and Sisters!" The crowd quieted down as Ali stood on a small stage he had erected next to the entryway of his Guild House.

"Tonight we mark the opening of our new home! As is the custom of my people, all neighbors must be welcomed into the home as if they are family. From tonight onwards, you are my family. You are OUR family. The Brotherhood of the Spirit Wolf recognizes the people of Tengoku as our brothers and sisters."

The crowd cheered and spurned him on. Ali was grinning at the reception from the citizens. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought his clan would be this accepted.

"We welcome you into our home! In the name of Kali the Warrior Goddess, our Patron and our Guide, come inside! Share our food and wine! Welcome to the House of the Brotherhood!" He bellowed, with fireworks timed to go off exactly as he finished the speech. They went off with a bang, showering red sparks on the crowd. Ali smiled widely

"Thank goodness they fired those in time," Mabry said to Tenchi. "I hear he threatened death to any Clan Member who mistimed their cue or failed in their assignment."

Tenchi laughed and joined the surge as the crowd entered the building, heading for the banquet tables on the back lawn.