Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Prologue – Arc 2: The Daitengu

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Chapter 21 – The Mermaid Prophet

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Atop of mount Sojo, Sasuke is helping the other members of Karasu to get up. Tsubai Minamoto is sitting alone on the ground, where Sojobo sent him flying earlier. In his mind, he hears the voice of two tengu, Tentoki and Daikoku. The oldest and the youngest, Light and Darkness. Tsubai is curious about the link between their two Kekkei Genkai, and his abilities.

"So, Tentoki, does carrying two tengu at once affect my body in any bad way?" he asks.

"… No. We are created to fit in a Minamoto's body." answers Tentoki. "Most people would die from having to bear only one of us. You, as the main heir of the lineage, should be able to contain even all of us, except Sojobo himself of course."

"Wait… So how were Tokiwa, Shibata and all the others not dead? They're not from my clan, are they?"

"They didn't all survive." explains the white tengu. "Sojobo first tried to give the tengu to other people, but most of them died. The yamabushi you know are just the last ones. And they only survived because the tengu were put as empty shells in them first. As the tengu grew, their body adapted to bear them, and vice-versa. They simply were lucky to survive this process."

"Whatever!" says Daikoku who wants to focus back on what happened last. "The Daitengu just ran away with Shibata. Did he just make a mistake? He won't get anything from him."

"You're right. He must have been too much taken by the fight and didn't realize that I was pased on to a new host. But now… Shibata…" answer Tentoki, saddened by his thoughts.

Suddenly, the Daitengu's voice can be heard in Tsubai's mind. He's using the Mind Transmission Jutsu to speak to another mind connected to his.

"That's right. Tentoki. I took care of him, finally. And so, you really are in Tsubai now…"

"Is that Sojobo's voice?" asks Daikoku, on his guards.

"Do not worry, Daikoku. I won't come after you three." says Sojobo. "On the contrary, I can now consider you safe. The Uchiha won't kill you, and nobody will as long as you're by his sides. So the two of you, Daikoku, Tentoki, you'll live. I can just quietly wait for my revival."

After these words, the voice isn't heard again. Tsubai just makes a perplex face and turns to Tentoki, who's trying to remain, calm and to think straight, despite the news of his second host's death.

"Tentoki… This wasn't planned was it?"

"… It couldn't have been… I'm really an idiot." complains Tentoki. "This is my fault. We should have made it so at least I keep knowledge of the whole plan. How could I not consider the obvious need for a back-up plan?"

"Stop crying about it." says Daikoku. "It's not your fault. It's Sasuke who didn't kill him in time, right? I'm pretty sure plan was to have Sojobo killed right now, but the Uchiha failed at his job."

"No. He escaped thanks to Ryutoki's powers, but Shibata and I were supposed to kill Chuji before his tengu's rebirth." argues Tentoki. "We failed. A rebirth this early, it wasn't planned."

"When was Ryutoki supposed to come back to life then?" asks Tsubai.

"Sojobo said…" Tentoki stops as he realizes that he's been using information given by the enemy all along, and has probably been tricked into believing them. "So he didn't trust any of us since the beginning…"

"What do you mean?" asks Daikoku.

"He must have lied. Ryutoki was supposed to come back in about a week. Sojobo gave Shibata a false time limit on purpose. But this could mean that we don't even have two weeks left."

"The hell?" yells Tsubai. "So the Daitengu could reach his goal at any time? What should we do then?"

"There's one solution that will work for sure." Tentoki turns to Tsubai. "You have to kill as much of us as possible."

"That would work, but there's one small detail." answers Tsubai. "I didn't work my ass off to spare you all until now just to end up killing you myself."

"You should still remain prepared for this scenario." says Tentoki. "For now, you can at least assemble as much of us in your body. Ritoru is passed out a bit further down the mountain and he has Kasha. Go take her now."

Tsubai stands up and uses his Koton for the first time to run down the mountain. He follows Tentoki's directions to find Ritoru. Sasuke, who just saw him light up and run away, concentrates to feel his friend's chakra moving. He's not going too far away. The Uchiha turns to everyone ready to go. They'll just go after Tsubai by foot.

Tsubai reaches the forest where three yamabushi had a battle earlier. He stops, surprised by his own speed, and looks around to find Ritoru. He's here, but being dragged on the floor by Tokiwa who's walking away from the place. Tsubai stands still and quiet with an even more surprised face and panics when she notices him. Daikoku sighs, and Tentoki just doesn't understand.

"I don't get it. It's just Tokiwa. Are you afraid of her?" asks the white Tengu.

"Not at all." answers Daikoku. "This idiot is just obsesses over this girl, for some reason."

"Is this for real?" adds Tentoki,

"Guys, can you shut up?" says Tsubai. "What should we… what should I say?"

"Dunno, You just told us to shut up, so nothing I guess." says Daikoku.

"Seriously, just ask what she's doing." answers Tentoki.

Tsubai looks at the tall black haired woman who looks at him too, both with a surprised and shy look. Tokiwa goes first.

"Is that you, Tsubai?" she says.

"Did she just simply call me by my name? Like we know each other?" thinks Tsubai, after just these few words. He quickly thinks of an answer.

"Um… Um. And you?" he says, not thinking enough.

"What? I'm Tokiwa, the girl you saved from Moritaka's feather rain… The one who swims in the ground, remember?"

"Yes. I know… Um I was asking, What are you doing here?" asks Tsubai, still in inner-panic.

"Me? I'm… going away… Lord Sojobo told us to all run away, so I'm leaving but, I found Ritoru like this. I'm trying to get him out of here,… You know, to save Kasha, his tengu."

"Oh Right? That's great! Actually, I'm here for the same reason."

"Is that so? So we're allies now. That sounds great."

"Oh Does it? Yeah it damn does." exclaims Tsubai, oddly lightened up by Tokiwa's friendliness

"It Damn does?" asks the black haired woman, curious about this vocabulary.

"Damn yes." answers Tsubai.

"… Well… Should I join your little group too, like Shibata did?"

"Uh…" Tsubai changes look when she mentions Shibata. He and his tengu are the only ones aware now. "Ah yes, Shibata didn't actually join Karasu. We're just allies."

"Well I can do the same. Should I stay with you or should I join Shibata?" she asks and resumes before Tsubai answers. "Nevermind. I don't even want to kill Sojobo. I just want the tengu to be safe. They don't deserve this."

Daikoku, looks at Tsubai, who looks at Tentoki. These last words almost seduced the caped tengu. Tentoki remains silent and thinks of Shibata and Kiri. Tsubai sees him and decides to directly tell the truth to Tokiwa.

"Tokiwa… I'm sorry but, Shibata just died." he says with a saddened face. "Sojobo killed him."

"What? That's impossible… He's a yamabushi. Sojobo wouldn't kill him."

"Tentoki is with me. Shibata gave him to me a few minutes before Sojobo ran away. Sasuke failed to kill him, and he took Shibata with him, thinking he'd get Tentoki from him. But he didn't, so…"

Tokiwa lets go off Ritoru's collar and falls to her knees, bringing her hands to her head. Tsubai goes to sit next to her on the ground. He raises his hands to hold her arms, but stops, thinking they don't know each other enough. She puts her own hands down, and looks at him.

"I… knew this would happen. He couldn't have survived…" she says. "Tell me at least what happened to Chuji."

"His tengu came back to life, but he was killed by Sojobo too…" he quickly explains. "So you and Shibata… you were supposed to kill Chuji?"

"We were both ninjas from Kiri." she tells. "Mei-sensei sent us to find and kill Chuji, an S rank mercenary. We were 8 ninjas sent. Chuji killed 2 of us. Our battle, close to an end, was interrupted by who this mountain belongs to, Sojobo. 4 more of us died when Sojobo tried to give them a tengu, but Shibata and I survived. Sojobo kinda saved our lives, and had Chuji on a leash."

"So you and Shibata knew each other for a long time." asks Tsubai.

"We were together at the academy. I still remember us as kids, with Chojuro always being the top kid."

"Well, I am not a ninja. I'm not even a fighter. I just learned about Daikoku a week or two ago and…"

"I know." she interrupts him. "Sojobo spoke a lot about you. So I feel like I've known you for months… About that, What's about that crush you have on me?"

"What?" asks Tsubai, who then, in his inner world, looks at Daikoku and Tentoki. "What?"

"What?" answers Daikoku.

Tentoki doesn't say anything. Tsubai just makes an unsettled and shy face. He doesn't know what to say, so he doesn't say anything. He's even more unsettled when Tokiwa poses her hand on his on the ground.

"It's just to connect our minds." she says, so he doesn't get the wrong idea.

They both close their eyes and become able to see the tengu in each other's minds. Tsubai sees Amabie swimming around in the ground. Tokiwa sees Tentoki sitting down with his tail moving behind him, and Daikoku hidden behind Tsubai.

"So this is the big white lizard and the floating skull." says Amabie when she sees her two siblings.

"And so this is the damn blue fish girl I never heard of." says Daikoku, to provoke her.

"And this is the 2 meters tall idiot who fell in love with my yamabushi." she adds when she sees Tsubai.

"Ow woh woh woh! Calm down blue girl. This is damn rude to say this way." answers Tsubai. "You really make it sound like I'm a damn creep."

"When did you start damning around again?" asks Daikoku, who noticed the return of Tsubai's favorite world.

"I'm flattered, really." says Tokiwa, like she's been seduced only by the fact that she's loved. "You fell in love with me and Amabie didn't even mess around with the mermaid's voice this time."

"I'm not in love… Ok I am." admits Tsubai, in an upset tone. "Whatever! What are you gonna do now that you're free?"

"Um… I'll probably go back home in Kiri. I miss the village. I'm sure you'd love it. Your personality would fit this place so much."

"You mean I should live there? It's true that my sister already took my dad's place, but still. I'm not sure I can run away like that."

"Why not? Sorry, I mean I just suggested this idea. I'm not asking you to come and live there."

"Maybe later."

"Later? To grow old, have a family, and die of old age? A hidden village isn't the best place for this."

"Me? Have kids? Every clan heir has kids, but me? I would be a terrible father."

"So what? Then you just need to find a good mother."

"Are you a good mother?" asks Tsubai. "I'm joking! I shouldn't say this like that. I'm asking for forgiveness, Please forgive me!"

"Calm down, it's okay…" answers Tokiwa, with a slight smile on her face. After a short pause, she adds "If I had a kid, I would name him something like Ushiwakamaru, or just Wakamaru. Or Yoshitsune."

"…" Tsubai doesn't say anything, trying to think of how he'd name a kid.

"If it's a girl, it would be Yoshinari." adds Tokiwa

"It's way too complicated, way too damn elaborated." he comments on her ideas. "Why would you want to give him a name so hard to spell? I'd just call him Takeshi, like everyone. If I ever forget his damn name, I'll just have to try the most popular name ever, and Bingo…"

"Dudes! Can I just mention the almost dead cat-boy next to you." says Daikoku to break the chemistry.

"Ah yes, I totally forgot." says Tsubai.

Both of them let their hands go and come back to reality. Ritoru is still lying unconscious next to them. They look at the mercenary who lost a leg and some teeth in his last fight, and then back at each other.

"Maybe I should… take Kasha in my body?" says Tsubai.

"You probably should. I couldn't. One is already the limit for me." answers Tokiwa.

Tsubai performs a simple series of hand seals and holds Ritoru's chest to absorb the tengu inside of him. He sees a small half-feline, half-human person appear in his mind. Kasha jumps around, and comes face to face with Tsubai. Only looking at him for a few seconds.

"Yeah, you look nicer than Ritoru." she says before turning around to see Daikoku and Tentoki. "And I have friends there!"

"… I miss being lonely." says Daikoku who's seeing a third tengu come invade his host's mind space.

Tokiwa takes Tsubai's hand and helps him to stand up. Keeping their hands held together, they stand looking at each other silently without saying anything. Tsubai steps back first and takes Ritoru's body. He hides it in a nearby bush to make sure he can wake up safely later. Then, he turns back to Tokiwa. As he calmly walks nearer to her, someone interrupts them.

"Finally found you." says someone behind them.

Tsubai turns around, expecting to see Sasuke, or someone from Konoha, but instead he sees two men. They wear a Konoha uniform, but with a scarf wearing the daimyo's symbol attached to the belt. They are ninjas from the capital.

"Yeah cool. What do you damn want from me?" he asks, not aware of his criminal condition.

"You're a wanted criminal." simply says one of the ninjas. "Lord Daimyo wants you executed at the capital for Sir Riku Minamoto's murder."

Tsubai makes a shocked face and turns to see Tokiwa who does the same. Neither of them understands what's happening.

"And who's this woman?" asks one of the ninjas.

Tokiwa, startled by the question, widely opens her eyes, and inhales to answer. Tsubai. Not sure of what's happening, doesn't want her to get involved in any way, and hurries to give a random answer before she can do it herself.

"She's just a hooker I met earlier." he says, impulsively.

In reaction to this absurd answer, Tokiwa immediately slaps him.

"Ouch! It hurts." says Tsubai. "But I deserved it."

"I'm Tokiwa, just a villager from Ryuka." she now answers for herself. "I know Lord Tsubai as the leader's son. I had no idea he was accused of such thing. However, I did hear about it, but I think Moritaka Minamoto, the leader's brother…"

"LALALA! Don't mind what she says." says Tsubai to interrupt, wanting her to stay out of this. "She's, like, high on drugs right now. It's just her natural chill and beauty that hide it."

The two ninjas look at each other dumbly, finding it hard to believe that this goofy man is a murderer. The ninja who didn't speak then turns to keep an eye on Tsubai and notices someone behind the two tall black heads. Sasuke Uchiha comes from the mountain alone and walks toward them. He gets closer and engages dialogue with them.

"Ninjas from the capital?" he says. "I guess you're here to get Tsubai as the Daimyo ordered."

"You know about something I should know?" asks Tsubai.

"Uchiha Sasuke, does your presence and affiliation to Tsubai mean that you are his associate." asks the one ninja who speaks.

"You'd better hope I'm not." frankly answers Sasuke. "Else, I'd have to disappoint the Daimyo on your mission's outcome."

Sasuke walks forward and stops when he's between the ninjas and Tsubai. He didn't plan them finding him so fast. He didn't even consider them as the slightest threat. But now they're here and he has to do with it. He stares at the two ninjas, and then at Tsubai with Tokiwa.

He thinks of Sojobo. Currently they don't know how to find him again and Shibata has vanished. It's safe to assume he's dead since Tsubai used his tengu's speed earlier. Sojobo is certainly too wounded to attempt anything, but one thing is sure: even injured, he won't let Tsubai die. If Tsubai's life is at stake, he'll be forced to stop hiding and take action. Sasuke looks at the two ninjas and then at Tsubai again, right in the eyes. Tsubai looks at him, full of trust but unsettled.

Sharingan

He uses a genjutsu to trap Tsubai in an endless dream. Tsubai faints and falls in Tokiwa's arms. Sasuke turns to the two ninjas and nods his head to tell them that they can proceed. Glad they could avoid a confrontation, they step forward and take their target with them. As they seal his body, Sasuke looks at Tokiwa and hopes that Sojobo is seeing him through her and her tengu. He asks for an essential information to the ninjas.

"When will this execution take place?" he asks, gently, to not awake any suspicion.

"If we account for the time before we get back to the capital… I'd say two days." answers one of them. "Anyway, thank you for your cooperation, Uchiha."

The two ninjas walk away and leave the place with Tsubai, satisfied. Sasuke thinks for a moment. He's trying to think of a plan. Tokiwa just angrily stares at him. She doesn't understand why he just gave his friend away. She's mad, but doesn't do anything, as she knows lifting a hand on this man is hopeless. The rest of Karasu arrives on the place and joins Sasuke's side. Not finding Tsubai here, they all look at each other confused.

"Tsubai will be executed in two days, and Sojobo will have to save him." explains Sasuke to his teammates. "This is a perfect opportunity."

"What did you just say?" asks someone else, behind Sasuke.

Naruto Uzumaki lands on a branch next to his Uchiha friend. He looks at everyone who's there, and back at Sasuke. He arrived too late, but finally found Sasuke as he was asked to by the Hokage. Sasuke stares back at him and thinks.

"Naruto, right on time." he says.

"Right on time for what?" asks the jinchuriki.

"Are you still low on power?" adds Sasuke, who has an attack plan building up in his mind.

"I have never been low on power. But I know how to be mega high on power!" he confidently says, remembering his discussion with Killer Bee and Gyuki.

"You do? I guess Kakashi sent you to find me because I didn't answer his messages."

Naruto jumps down the tree and gets closer to his friend. Kobo, Minaa, Z and Sana all look at the 4th ninja war's hero come toward them with sparkling eyes.

"Are you the Naruto Uzumaki from the fourth war?" asks Minaa with an excited voice.

"WWHHAATT?" screams Naruto when he sees the kumo-nin almost completely naked, wearing only torn apart underwear. "SASUKE, What have you been up to? Does Sakura know this?"

"Dude I'm just a girl." annoyingly answers Minaa. "You didn't say anything when any of the two Madaras ended shirtless on the battlefield."

"We Were On A Battelfield." complains Naruto

"Well we were in a battle too a few moments ago."

"Yeah?… What happened?" Naruto asks, suddenly serious and focused again.

"Naruto, since you're here, you'll help me." says Sasuke. "There's someone I have to kill, and he may be too strong for me alone now." Sasuke turns to Tokiwa and addresses to Sojobo. "It's us, Karasu, one of the yamabushi and Naruto, to take you down."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" says Tokiwa, not aware that the Daitengu can see through her.

"Is she the one you're after?" asks Naruto about Tokiwa, confused.

Sasuke turns to Naruto, thinking that he'll have a lot to explain to him. For now, the first thing to do is tell about their next move to everyone. But first. He has to make sure Sojobo doesn't hear it.

"You, the yamabushi. Go away." he says to Tokiwa. "I don't want the Daitengu to hear us, so you need to leave."

"Excuse me? What's the link between these two things?" questions Amabie's yamabushi, lost.

"Leave now." says Sasuke, ignoring her question. "Or just let me…"

Sharingan

Before he finishes his sentence, and eager to have her gone, Sasuke uses another Genjutsu with his right eye on her. Tokiwa, taken by surprise, freezes standing and goes unconscious, unable to hear, see or feel anything that surrounds her. Everyone looks at her trapped. Naruto gets startled by Sasuke's brutality, but eases himself, as he knows his friend will free her as soon as they're gone. Sasuke then turns to Naruto and Karasu.

"Our enemy is the Daitengu." he says. "A being that can use the powers of every other tengu at once. This includes using chakra wings resembling those of my Susanoo, swimming in the ground, manipulating light, mud, Jinton, and shooting chakra orbs like the biju do. Additionally he also has all of Tsubai's abilities."

"So he can stop time, use dark chakra and steal memories?" asks Naruto, still a bit lost. "That's a lot of powers. And is Jinton the thing of the old Onoki?"

"Yes it is." answers Kobo, determined to bring some positive vibes to Sasuke's speech. "But he's weak right now. We have a time limit to kill him. Passed this date, he'll evolve and take a stronger form. I think there' something like 2 weeks before he does."

"Sasuke. This kid kinda looks like… Forget it." says Naruto after who saw the similarities between this young Kiri-nin and the Uchiha.

"I'll explain this later." answers Sasuke. "Now Tsubai's in prison for his dad's murder."

"But he didn't do it, right?"

"He didn't." answers Z. "Another person, working for the Daitengu, did."

"You really assembled all a little team." comments Naruto, glad to see uniforms from all around the continent. "That's good…"

Sasuke waits to get everyone's focus back.

"Tsubai is planned to be executed at the capital in two days. The daitengu needs the tengu alive to keep their powers, so he'll come to save Tsubai. That's when we'll get him."

"At the capital? Don't you think it would be dangerous?" exclaims Kurama's jinchuriki.

"No. Because we won't be in the capital. I have a solution to make sure the enemy won't run away, but it will costs me a lot of chakra. Fortunately, with you by my side, I won't have to worry about chakra."

"You really seem ready to go. I guess you already failed many times, is it?"

Sasuke doesn't answer, but Sana does, since she feels like she's the only one who still didn't say anything.

"You guessed right… Also Sasuke forgot to mention that we have two more allies, the samurai and the icy woman. At least one of them should come back."

"Naruto, We should leave for the capital right now. We have two days to plan an attack and give you every information you need."

"Welcome to Karasu!" says Sana to Naruto.

Naruto thinks of the name she just said. Karasu, the crow. He turns to Sasuke.

"The crow… Is that for…"

"Yes." swiftly answers Sasuke, preventing Naruto from telling his guess out loud.

Naruto doesn't say anything more. He just smiles at Sasuke, turns to everyone and stares at the two kumo-nin that he, for a moment, feels like he's seen before. On the battlefield, they must have been among the surviving members of the alliance, to whom he passed the Kurama mantle against the Juubi. He and everyone follow Sasuke. He's just eager to learn about all the details.

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End of Chapter 21 – Next Chapter: The Capital