39 Chapter 39 : The W

Esketit.

I really need to stop saying that.

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"Why would you erupt a volcano on a town?" Kakashi tried to stay rational about this. Nothing great would come from getting worked up.

"Well. Maybe I just wanted to play. Hmhmhmhm. Why don't we play some more." Mei inched forward. Kakashi searched. Sharingan blaring. There had to be some weakness. Some small crack in her fighting style that could give him the advantage. Wait.

Kakashi stared into Mei's face with concentration. The center of her forehead was dark. Not complexion, but the chakra contained, swirling around her temple. If he didn't have the sharingan, he wouldn't have notice. The dot of devilish chakra on her head was minuscule.

"might as well try this" Kakashi rared back and waited.

Mei charged at him. Kakashi flexed his left eye, swirling into something new.

"Kamui!" Kakashi charged against her. He warped her weapon into his dimensional jutsu. It was gone, but Mei didn't stop her charge. Kakashi met her head on, not focusing to much on defending himself. He focused himself. He needed every piece of concentration for this. Kakashi swirled his eye once more. He fluxed away the tiny bit of chakra in her head. Careful not to make her head disappear also.

Mei slumped to the ground, covering her forehead. "What.....ah. This hurts." She complained while Kakashi fell to the ground. He overdid it. Blood trickled from his now closed eye. He heaved through his mask.

Mei looked around. "Wh...what...where am I?"

She gazed at Kakashi, who was on the verge of passing out.

"Who are you?"

Rei crossed the river, still holding the hand of the girl. She didn't look to hot either. Her limp was obvious. "Rei." Kakashi managed to say. "Good job."

The little girl was returned to her parents, they thanked Rei and Kakashi tremendously, but they didn't really care. It was just another day. Rei eventually brought the prisoners back across the river. The villagers marveled in her skill. No one had even seen anything like this since the Uzumaki weren't really around. Mei didn't remember anything, so Kakashi named this a mission for Inoichi to find out. To probe her mind and find information. She willingly surrendered herself to Rei's prison.

When everything was said and done, the villagers regrouped, helped each other out, pitched camps, rebuilt. It was a start, but the damage was done. When Mei was awakened from her 'state of mind' the volcano ceased. The people were angry at the Mist group. Traveling by the cages at night just to throw stones and whatnot. A few Leaf Squads came by and away they went. Kakashi and Rei apologized to the mayor, since apparently this was their fault, but he was understanding. He knew they were good people and It was rare to see that from a ninja. Doing something for the people.

Kakashi and Rei chose to leave. Rei helped rebuild for a few days while Kakashi recovered from exhaustion, but insisted since there was a chance of retaliation. They limped through the narrow road into the opposing forest while everyone watched. Rei felt better than ever and Kakashi noticed.

"Something good happen Rei?"

"Hmh." She smiled from ear to ear. "I found it!"

Kakashi gave her a believing eye smile. "That's great." He began to see an outline of Kushina from his student with a touch of his sensei. He stared into the sky.

"I promise to help her become the greatest ninja she can Ms. Kushina, sensei." He thought.

"So." Kakashi pulled his book out. "Tell me about your fight."

Rei immediately began blabbering without stopping. Details and even things not even related to her fight spewed from her mouth. Kakashi could only listen and smile, walking side by side with his student, on to bigger and better things.

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On the other side of the Land of Fire....

Kenji held his arms behind his head, pondering on Jiraiya's words.

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Flashback. bruh

Once more. Kenji practiced his new technique.

"Not bad Kenji. Your almost better than the Hokage himself." Jiraiya laughed.

"Hey, old man."

"Whats wrong?"

"Why did you want me to stay in that village? You had us stay there for a year, and never asked me what I learned or why, like you said."

"Hmmm. Lets see. Well what do YOU think that was about. What did you notice about everyone?"

Kenji sat next to the man. " I don't know. I guess the villagers. The way they interacted. It was like everyone was family."

"and?" Jiraiya smiled.

"And they even treated us like family. Even though we were strangers."

"Exactly. The point of our stay was so you could see how everyone relies on each other to survive. Even as ninja, we have to rely on our medical ninja to heal wounds, our trackers to locate the enemy, our teammates... to survive. We wouldn't have survived this long if we didn't. So don't close off your doors. Rely on your mother, your teacher.....your family."

Kenji nodded. He understood Jiraiya. He had been closing a few doors lately.

"And once again, everyone relies on ninja, children look up to them, they are eyed by everyone in the village, so figure out what that means to you. What do you want to be remembered by? Think about it."

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"Alright, we're almost there."

"Where are we even going?" Kenji didn't even know.

"We're going to meet the man that'll teach you some things. You two are similar in many ways, so he's definitely the most qualified."

Kenji just went with it. He enjoyed the quiet breeze that bounced from the trees. It reminded him of simpler times. He followed Jiraiya for a few more days and came through a thicket that opened up into a cliff side. The ocean crashed beneath the cliff. A man in a black robe sat on the peak of a rock, watching the amazing view. Kenji was shaking in his shoes. This man's chakra was insane.

JIraiya grabbed his arm and leaned in. " This is where we part ways kid. I'll be in the village when you return. I hope you figure out your answer." He smiled.

Kenji was a little sad. He became fond of this man over the days, but he nodded and Jiraiya disappeared.

Kenji stood there for a minute. His 'new sensei' didn't even move. Kenji exhaled with annoyance. but also let out his fear. He approached the man. His chakra was insane, but also....familiar....similar to his own. And Sasuke's.

Kenji caught a glimpse of his face and he say two sharingan eyes. No way. His battle instinct kicked in as he backed away and grabbed his sword.

"So, you must be my cousin Kenji, right?"

Kenji would know this man anywhere. Sasuke had made sure to tell him everything about this man.

"And you're Itachi, right?"

"Yes, before we fight, why don't you sit down and I'll tell you the whole story." Itachi patted the rock beside him.

Kenji didn't move at all until Itachi turned his head toward his cousin. "The part that Sasuke doesn't know."

The part Sasuke didn't know? What was he trying to pull? He was wary, but nothing would come from just standing there. And why would Jiraiya send him to Itachi anyway. He bought it. Kenji sheathed his sword and sat down.

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There's no way Kenji could believe this. Itachi was still loyal to the leaf? The massacre was actually a mission? He infiltrated the Akatsuki? What the hell???

It took a few hours for his story to set it. After that, Itachi had to ask about Sasuke. He figured Kenji and his brother were pretty close.

Itachi was content with how his brother turned out, but he still hated himself. Kenji finally realized, Jiraiya was right. This man had to kill his whole family for the good of the village. Kenji felt insignificant with his struggle, but he told Itachi anyway. The two guys sympathized with each other. When daylight was over, they were still exchanging stories of pain and struggle. Kenji felt good to talk with someone like this. Kakashi sort of knew his pain, but Itachi was on a whole other level. Kenji was at least appreciative that there were many other like him.

"Oh, let me see your mangekyo. I was told you have it." Itachi smiled. "You have the same one as me. This will work out even better it seems.

Kenji was confused, but another question popped into his head. "Wait, why isn't Sasuke here? He would benefit as well. Right?"

Itachi saddened. "I'm not. I'm not prepared for that yet. I wanted him to get as strong as he can first, on his own. And you can always teach him what I teach you."

Kenji didn't really care. Oh well. Made sense to him. But one thing he didn't like. "I don't really care what you do, but don't make excuses for it. You're just hurting yourself more then."

"You're right." Itachi figured he'd say something like that. He told himself the same thing that night he left.

"Well. Let's get some sleep. We'll start tomorrow."

"Alright." Despite his endless nightmares during the night, they didn't affect Kenji that night. Only because he couldn't sleep from excitement. His own family member, was teaching him. He could hardly wait.

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You knew it was coming. (Fourth wall break). But it's time for the time skip. Yeet.

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Sasuke and Rei appeared at the front gate of Konoha after two and a half years. Grown up and more powerful than ever, their classmates welcomed them. The academy friends they had were now genin, some chunin. Everyone was excited to see Kenji again. The thought of how much team 7 had changed was scary, but he didn't show. Aya was worried. Maybe the Leaf should send someone to get him. Rei just wanted to see him. Over her two years with Kakashi, Kenji increased in her thoughts. She didn't know why, but she was curious how he had changed. Sasuke wanted to spar with his cousin. Kakashi hoped he was still in his right mind. Everyone bombarded Jiraiya when he returned. Where is Kenji? Why isn't he with you? Just to fight them off, he just told them Kenji was occupied, still training. Nevertheless, the Hokage was pleased at their progress, since the information they received from Mei long ago was a critical turning point. The tension between the Ninja villages was growing, while the thread holding them together was beginning to break. Armies were mobilizing. Egos were bigger. There was no doubt, war was on the horizon. And Minato hardly knew why.

Shortly when Rei returned, Aya visited her. "Hi Rei. I found something that you need to see it."

"Ok. what?"

"Look."

Aya handed her the bingo book. The encyclopedia of dangerous ninja from all the villages. Aya had turned to the Hidden leaf and what Rei saw made her smile. But also filled her with fear.

Three profiles. Codenamed, The Wizard, The Warden, And The Wraith.

Looks like they stirred up more trouble than they thought.

Rei stared at her teammates page. "Kenji, please hurry back."

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