Somehow, as Aki examined Hayato with her Byakugan, she morphed back to her Otsutsuki appearance.
"WHAT!?" Hattori shouted confused.
"Why did you change your appearance again? Listen, I don't know what are you examining at with your Byakugan, but change back to your human form again! What if a guard sees you?" Hattori warned Aki.He couldn't care less about Hayato. He was worried about her being seen in her true appearance.
She ignored him and and stared Hayato's fainted body for a few seconds.
" Oh my! He is bleeding internally! There is so much machinery into his body.I don't understand how his body works so I can't use medical ninjutsu. Yet there is something that I can try..."Aki though to herself, as sweat streamed through her forehead.
" You know what?I think Im gonna use the King of Hell." she exclaimed anxiously.
"The King of Hell? How much time do you have until of sight goes off?" he asked Aki, surprised by her previous statement.
"That's right! She can't use the Rinnengan while being in her human form!" Hattori thought.
"It doesn't matter how much time I have."
She clapped her hands and a monkey-like head, with an angry expression in it's face and a peculiar hat, emerged from the ground amidst dark flames. The head then opened it's mouth.
"T-toss him inside!" Aki ordered Hattori as she grunted in pain. A jet of blood spurted from her Rinnegan.
He tried to lift Hayato but it was futile.
"He is too fucking heavy dammit! Help me!" Hattori said, while the best he could do was to slightly move Hayato's body.
Aki grabbed Hayato, lifted him with no difficulty and tossed him inside the mouth.
Then the King of Hell descended into the earth and re-ascended a few seconds later. He spat Hayato, completely cured and descended into to the earth again.
"Wha-... " Hayato groaned confused and slowly got up.
"What the heck happened?I feel...better."he said, as the pain in his innards had literally gone away. Not only that, the fatigue caused by the multi-thousand year slumber disappeared as well.
He then took a look at Aki. Her Rinnengan started bleeding and it's color changed from the vibrant purple color to a lifeless, grey one. The same thing happened to her Byakugan.
" Y-you okay? "Hayato asked worried.
" It's... it's only natural.That's my limit ya know.Are YOU ok though? "she replied,panting from the intense pain.
"What do you mean by 'limit'? You are an Otsutsuki. Don't you possess huge chakra reserves that allow you to use your Rinnengan at a great extent?" he asked curiously.
She didn't answer immediately though.
"Well...It doesn't have to do with chakra" she spoke awkwardly. "... You might not believe it... "
"... But there is a seal into my optic nerves that disable my sight. I can only disable the seal a few times a per day.Yet you might ask 'Aki! How the heck did you get that seal?'.Well that's a preeeeeeeetty long story though."
Hayato then scratched his chin.He was sure that she was hiding something.He lifted his eyebrow and nailed his glare at her eye. Uncomfortable silence followed.
"Uhm... Now tell me. How do you feel? Did the King of Hell do his job correctly?" she asked, trying to break the silence.
"She summoned the King of Hell? To heal me? But how? I thought that he could heal only the Rinnengan user. But... Her Rinnengan had tomoe, meaning that she possesses an exclusive ability.The high-speed chakra rods and her instant teleportation could be. I wonder if the her King of Hell can heal anyone beyond her.
Why the hell can't a pure-blooded Otsutsuki remove a simple seal that dissables a sense. That...seems kinda fishy. " Hayato thought as he stared at her confused.
" Splendid!Im going to take your silence as a yes! "she spoke eagerly and grinned widely, revealing her slightly pointed canines.
" Now just head to that room over there.Me and Hattori-kun will join ya a bit later. "she pointed at a specific door.
" But I have que-"
" Just go. I'm gonna answer them later."she said in a hurry,since he heard the voices of the guards coming from the main gate.
Yet, just when Hayato turned around and showed his back, Aki and Hattori witnessed a specific characteristic on him. A... scar perhaps that stretched from his neck to his back, a scar that couldn't be specified from which weapon or jutsu was inflicted. It was similar to the shape of a tree.
Aki narrowed her eyes, since she knew that it wasn't an ordinary scar. As her vision slowly faded away,a thought passed through her mind.
"So... this is were it's located, huh?"
______
"What the hell was that chit-chat? Just go to your human form before anyone sees you! " Hattori warned Aki once again after Hayato left.
"Damn I don't even remember staying in my original for that long." she sighed and shifted back to her human form.
"My goodness! Just imagine how many questions he will ask. My head hurts just by thinking of'em." Hattori said and scratched his head.
"We can extract information from him as well. This man bears a Karma!" she replied.
He then raised his head and looked at the sky with an expression of satisfaction,grinning slightly.
"Never in my 45 years of life I had seen a 'devil' that can talk. This man is jackpot!" Hattori grinned, thinking about how his social status would rise if everyone knew that he found a devil that speaks.
"Indeed"...
Hayato was waiting inside a plain room, sitting in on the tatami. There was also a world map hanging on the wall, picturing a geopolitical situation completely different than the one back in his day.Kingdoms, republics, shogunates, empires, sultanates, khanates. Bizzare words he had never seen before. Yet surprisingly, the writing system remained completely unchanged.
What drew his attention was the fact that on the map, a particular section, the section were previously Amegakure was had nothing on it. It was labeled as "Uncharted Territory".
"Hm, strange. Everything around around the ex-Amegakure is mapped. But why isn't this particular territory not mapped?" Hayato wondered.
According to the map, the country were it used to have the name "Fire country" was now named "Phoenix Country". It's borders were a bit smaller than the Fire country. Hayato scanned the map with his Sharingan and saved it to his memory.
Then suddenly Aki, changed to her human appearance and Hattori, holding a teapot and three bowls, entered the room.
"Sorry we are late, Hayato-kun. Now let's just begin our interesting conversation, shall we?" said Aki and sat down to the tatami with Hattori.
"Kun? Acting all friendly and all to bait me into accepting your offers." Hayato thought slightly annoyed and suspiciously, as he once again raised an eyebrow.
Hattori tried to offer some tea to Hayato but he objectively refused.
"Okay now let's begin. To be honest, I knew from the beginning that the 'devil' we encountered was not normal since I could sense chakra. No 'devil' possesses a chakra pathway system.
When the incident on the walls happened, Hattori came in the palace and told me everything, after he imprisoned you in the military camp of course. The fact that he described me that you were sentient, your characteristics and your Sharingan intrigued me. 'Could it be him? No, it was confirmed that he was dead.' I thought.
But then you came into my palace and I couldn't believe my eyes! Theeeen... Ya know... The fight happened and we are here! "she explained.
"Wait wait wait wait. Hol'the fuck up. Why the hell you and everyone else call me devil. What do you mean by that? "asked Hayato curiously.
" Well, to put it simply, devils are something like zombies... I suppose.I theorize that they are humans from your era, hence the metallic parts on their horrifically altered bodies.Perhaps... Hattori and the soldiers had mistaken you for one...
I do not know neither how they got 'ressurected' nor why. When we tried to examine some those monsters they got insanely violent and even wounded some of our soldiers.So, I gave the order to execute them."Aki paused and sipped a bit of her tea.
" That's why you probably saw mutilated bodies in the underground room that Hattori tried to lock you. Then we tried another method. We sent our cavalry to tail those monsters in order to learn where the heck they were heading at but...none of our cavalrymen got back. "she shrugged and continued afterwards.
"Now it makes kinda sense. But still, how do those 'devils' get ressurected? " Hayato thought, as he was intrigued by that "devil" thing.
"Now Aki, let me ask another question. Why the heck is there an Otsutsuki the head of a human settlement?"
Aki seemed a bit shocked when she heard Hayato's question.Yet deep inside, she was expecting it.
"W-What? I literally told you about violent biomechanical zombies that originate from your era and that's how y-"
"Do not avoid my question!" Hayato interrupted, with a dead-serious tone in his voice.
Aki then sighed and her expression changed again. She had a melancholic look on her face and didn't answer his question immediately.
"H-Hattori-kun, is it okay to tell him just a small fraction of the story?" she asked as she tried to not burst into tears.
"Go on..." he replied monotonously.
"Well...It begun several hundreds years ago..."
Aki then paused for a bit and glimpsed at Hayato. She noticed how emerged into her "story" he already was. And then suddenly,instead of tears, she bursted into laughing.
"Why the heck are you laughing?" Hayato asked, visibly confused.
"Did you honestly think that I will tell you my backstory, stupid robot man?" she answered and continued to laugh, squealing like a pig. Hattori couldn't help it and laughed as well.
"WHAT?" Hayato shouted furiously.
"Well jokes aside now, facts about my personal life contains important information, crucial for my life and the village.Again,did you honestly think that I would give to you, a random guy whose name and some of his past actions are the only things that I know about him,information of high value?"she said, trying to reason with him.
".Describes her personal story as 'valuable and important' information. I can't stand her attitude cocky attitude " Hayato thought as he started losing his temper and a vein popped on his forehead.
"And that's why I'm going to set a deal with ya." she said eagerly.
"Let me explain.For a few months now a group of highly organized pirates has been raiding and sacking our coastal provinces.Our country was on a war with a neighboring country and our army is exhausted l, both mentally and materially. Thus, our army cannot deal with them."
"Seriously? That's all? Pirates?" Hayato asked disappointed as his anger cooled down.
"Wait. It's not just that." she said. "You will also give me information about your Karma seal ."
"WHAT?!" he shouted once again.
"LIKE HELL IM GONNA DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT, YOU ALIEN PIECE OF SHIT!" he rudely screamed at her.
"WHY THE FUCK DONT YOU DEAL BY YOURSELF WITH THE PIRATES!?" he continued and then got up.
"ALSO WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY KNOWING SOME OF MY PAST ACTIONS?! EXPLAIN DAMN IT!" Hayato continued shouting, pointing at her.This outburst of vulgar characterizations was definitely out of character of him.
Aki didn't flinch by Hayato's statement and retained her calm attitude. She was about to continue talking but then Hattori got up a well and grabbed Hayato from his ponytail.
"WATCH YOUR TONGUE YOU PIECE OF RUSTED SCRAP. YOU DON'T KNOW WITH WHOM YOU HAVE TO MESS WITH." he also shouted, while unsheathing his tanto knife that was strapped at the sash around his waist and held it near at Hayato's eyes.
"Hattori, shut the fuck up and put yer ass on the tatami right now!Same goes with'cha, Hayato."she calmly scolded him as she desperately tried to hold her temper.A vein eas noticeable on her forehead.
" Y-Yes ma'am."Hattori replied with fear and both him and Hayato sat down.
Then Hayato's Karma seal started aching. A lot.She noticed it by his expression on his face.
" Hehehehe, don't tell me?Does the Karma hurt? Hmmmm... perhaps you said something that that irritated them."Aki teased Hayato.
He did not answer, as his frustration continued to flare up.
" Now let me explain what will YOU gain. Firstly, we can provide you with the best of equipment you can find in the countr-, no the world. Swords, spears,knifes, muskets, kunais, shuriken and armor. Though I definitely don't think you will need the last one... "Aki said.
"What? Kunais and shuriken? Does that mean that shinobi still exist? "Hayato thought.However, her offer didn't enthused him, a pretty logical thought if someone took into consideration that Hayato should give away a ton of information. Also, her tone in her voice reminded him of those telemarketing tv anchors, something that made him doubt about the equipment she could offer.
"Secondly - and the most cheasy part-I will give ya whatever info you want about the current situation on the world.
Ya want to know what the Otsutsukis are doing right now? Maybe life story and how I got here?Or you want to know what happened all those 3000 years? When you finish your job I will be an open book. "
" Sooo deal? "she asked and offered her hand.
" Maybe... "he excalimed very hesitantly.Her last offer waa definitely a jackpot, but he didn't want anyone to know about his Karma.
" It's either a yes or yes. "she said.
Hayato didn't answer immediately and thought of her proposal for a few seconds.What would the person that embedded the Karma seal do? What would they do if Hayato was the parasyte and they were the host.
" Fuck it. Deal."
" M'kay then! "
Then Aki quickly tapped Hayato's hand with her index finger. A golden seal appeared on Hayato's pitch-black metallic hand, writing 'DEAL' in kanji.
" Seriously? Did you honestly have to do that? " Hattori asked.
" Of course Hattori-kun. Important deals like that shouldn't stay just on words. Words perish,scripts don't.Also with this seal I can track you in case you get into serious trouble. " Aki answered.
" Serious trouble? What does she mean? "Hayato thought curiously, as the possibility of him using his sage mode again passed through his mind.
"Sooo uhmm can I do that 'gear up' you mentioned earlier Aki? Y'know all those weapons you mentioned earlier."
"Oh of course!" she energetically replied.
Aki then took a paper out of her pocket and unfolded it. She gave it to Hayato. She also took a golden coin out of her pocket and handed it to him as well.
"Here's the map of the city. The little arrow is were we are, the red dot is the royal blacksmith and the green one is where a tailor is.
I mean look at you, how can you show yourself on the battlefield by just wearing those rugged black pants. If ya gonna slice someone's throat at least do it with style. "Aki joked.
" With this coin you will be able to buy anything in the village. "she also added.
"Oh and before you leave..."
Aki quickly raised her hand and... slapped him.
"... That's for your insult before.The term 'celestial being' would be more preferable than the word 'alien'...You speciecist piece of shit. "she exclaimed calmly,giving him a payback about his last characterizations.
He didn't reply though and immediately got up.He stared down on her, with a evidently irritated and bothered look in his face. Without saying a word, he raised his hand and quickly gave her a taste of metal on her cheek.
Without even flinching, without even saying a word, Hayato nonchalantly headed towards the door. Aki was definitely shocked by Hayato's gesture.
"I'd like to clarify something, Aki" he abruptly turned towards her with a serious expression.
"Just because I'm a shinobi and expandable doesn't mean that I will tolerate your bullshit."
As he exited the room and closed the door with great irritation, he said something to himself, loudly enough to he heard from inside the room.
"Alas to the leaders that can't conceive the fact that they rule over living beings."
_____
Before Aki could even open her mouth and speak ,she noticed Hattori's dissapointed expression nailed on her.
"Your such a retard sometimes. This was totally unecessary." he said.
Aki didn't reply and awkwardly scratched her head.
"Also, another thing that I didn't like." Hattori continued, finally finding a chance to express his opinions. Hayato's presence seemed to make him uncomfortable.
". You could at least provide him with some basic geographical and historical info.I see no problem in doing that."
She then laughed,like Hattori dropped the joke of the year.
"Hattori, you fool. There is a reason why I didn't provide him with info. By going on this mission he will probably learn much more about the current situation on the world than I could ever tell him right now.It's better experiencing something than learning about it from a book or another person, ya know. "she explained thoroughly.
" Still, you didn't even ask him how old was he, what's his likes and dislikes,about his past, his family.Standard questions you do when you meet a person. I mean he might have that weird metal body but he still has a human brain and consciousness. You treated him like a tool!I don't particularly like him but at least don't make yourself look like an asshole "Hattori complained.
" Oohh come on now, you are definitely exaggerating. He will be fine.Being treated like a tool is part of his profession anyway."Aki replied, while she didn't expect such complains from Hattori, someone that desperately waited to see Hayato in chains, verbally attacked him and even pointed a knife at him.
Perhaps, he viewed Hayato as a valuable tool as well, a tool that shouldn't be damaged at all costs...
_____
Meanwhile, Hayato was walking down the main street of Satsuma. He replaced his metallic parts with ordinary organic using the transformation jutsu. His Karma seal was still aching though.
" Okay, Okay.Im sorry about the bad slur I used before, it slipped me. She was annoying you know.She didn't even ask me standard questions that you do when you meet a person. And furthermore I will also not let her get information about you. Whatever happened will stay between us. Now let's focus on that mission. "
And so, the pain faded away, but the gruesome memories engraved deeply in his mind did not.Whenever Hayato Uchiha lied eyes on his Karma, one particular memory replayed over and over again in his memory.
It was a supposedly happy day that was stained with blood...
______
Fear...
Despair...
Anger...
Those were the feelings that could describe that day, the first day of the end of the shinobi era. Hayato remembered himself lying on his knees, his completely unorganized deep breaths,tears uncontrollably flowing on his cheeks. This state of pure mental chaos was the result of an unrelenting rage. His tears fell not on the ground but on a woman's body, who appeared to let out her final breaths.
He placed his trembling left hand on her pale cheek, desperately awaiting for the smallest respond that could signify life.
"Please... don't." those were the only words that he could form, as adrenaline was still pumping in his body. Suddenly, the woman moved her right eye and gazed at him, as the right one had been gauged out.
Hayato gasped upon noticing her response, yet he still couldn't even form a full sentence. The fire around them was burning hotter and hotter, while the bodies of the Otsutsuki grunts that were burned, electrocuted, torn and slashed apart by Hayato during his blind rage where slowly turning into stone.
Regardless of her horrible condition, a slight grin was shaped in the woman's full-of-wounds face. She raised her arm that was soaked in blood and caressed Hayato's metallic cheek, of which the skin had been peeled off, revealing his metallic skull.
"I... I know this day was supposed to be different. It would be the happiest day of our lives...But..." the woman spoke with a sweet voice, but the blood crawling in her throat interrupted her. She spat a splatter of blood, an act which made Hayato's full-of-terror eyes wet.
" I can't...I can't watch this anymore! "Hayato murmured and wiped his tears that were mixed with blood.
" Happy or sad day, it doesn't matter... The result is the same." the woman finally continued when she slightly regained her strength. Hayato's eyes widened in shock upon hearing the final words.
"W-What do you mean?" he asked with his unstable voice.
"Today we were supposed to become one. However... You must finish me off!" she gave off an answer, an answer that Hayato definitely didn't expect. He gritted his teeth and pursed his lips in pure rage, turning sharply his head in order to glance at the Otsutsuki bodies. The woman then turned his head towards her.
" Please...I...I can't suffer any longer. You must kill me!"
"I CAN'T!" Hayato cried, in a voice that sounded like a blood-curdling scream.
"But we will be together, forever!P-" and another cough of blood interrupted her, making her suffering more profound. Hayato, with his heart ready to explode, he grabbed a kunai and streamed lightning through it. He then placed it on her throat and released an electrical pulse, instantly shutting off her brain and...her life as well.
He blankly stared at her body for minutes. No emotions, no sadness or fear, pure emptiness,as if Hayato died with her as well.He just gazed at his other half's body that slowly turned into stone.
Yet the sheer coldness of the moment was shut down by a moment of hope. Everything froze.
"Time has... stopped?" Hayato questioned as everything around him became motionless.
"I knew that you wouldn't doubt me."and mysteriously, the woman's voice resounded behind him, even though she was supposedly dead. Hayato couldn't move, however he didn't feel the urge to do it in order check.He was sure that it was her but, he was also very baffled. He undoubtedly finished her off a few minutes before.
He felt her arms around his neck, her head right besides his head.
"Now, nothing can set us apart, not even death. Now, I'll always be with you, no matter what." she exclaimed with a calm voice and upon finishing those words she placed a firm kiss on his right shoulder.
"Now I can always protect you, sheltered withing you..." and then she vanished and time restarted again. Hayato felt... different? As if all that pain and agony that terrorized him until now... disappeared. Yet, he sensed the biggest change coming from his torso. He hastily took off his jacket and looked on his shoulder, discovering a Karma seal.
This moment of clarity was interrupted by the dozen footsteps of reinforcements. Hayato, of course, not only was enraged by the fact that they had the nerve to show their faces after what they did to his other half, but also from their persistence, from their delusional belief that they had the chance to take him down after their actions.
And then,without even having time to process the fact that not only she didn't die but she from now and on would always be with him, Hayato Uchiha tore off the rest of his face and fully revealed the metallic skeletal face,as an act of human-no- bestial rage.
He charged towards them, as the Otsutsuki reinforcements erected crimson weapons from their hands.
"YOU SPINELESS PIECES OF ALIEN SHIT!" he screamed from the top of of his lungs, charging forwards with no sense of fear or stress.His skeletal face showed emotion anyway, only the glowing Sharingan eyes nailed upon the enemy.
"FACE MORTALITY!" and with a final roar, his vocal cords collapsed and engulfed himself in a cloak of red lightning and unleashed a suicidal onslaught...
That was as far as he could remember from that dark day. He preferred to not reminisce those moments, yet this day always reminded him the undeniable truth that the Otsutsuki, no matter how divine or noble they might appear, understand only the way of violence.
TO BE CONTINUED...