The History of Cho Hakkai

This is the history of Cho Hakkai. All knowledge here is stricktly out of character and knowing about Hakkai's past is very limited to several people. This history is currently written in his book of memories.

Chapter 1: The Beginning
Cho Hakkai started as a normal boy in the village of Oto. But, at the age of 5, his parents were murdered by demon thugs during a robbery. They went after his as well, but he was too fast for them. They said they would get him eventually. After he lost his parents, it felt like he was lost in the world which made him very miserable. He then was sent to an orphanage. After he got himself together, he left the orphanage and started a life anew. He was then with his girlfriend who also left the orphanage to be with him. One night while he was out, He came to notice his girlfriend was gone. He then found a note that said "We have her. We told you we would get you, signed the 100 eyed demon clan." After He read this, he took a sword and he went to her rescue. Hakkai was extremely aggravated. There, he killed every ninja their, even the ones that were too strong for him. But his love conquered all. At last, he found his Girlfriend. When he found her, he was so happy. He held her him his arms and sobbed. But then, she pushed him away. She then told him that the leader of the clan impregnated her. That she would give birth to the new 100 eyed demon that would destroy the earth. In doing so, she took his knife he used to murder all of the people of the 100 eyed demon clan and performed one more death. Her own. She sliced her throat, bleeding to death. Hakkai held her bloody corpse and cried for the woman he was in love with died. He saw her live, he saw her die. He left the clan tower and headed toward the village of Oto where he lived for one year. On the 1 year anniversary of his girlfriend’s death, there was a commotion at the village gate. Cho Hakkai went to the crowd and saw a boy, older than him, red hair, and a jacket, stumbling into the village. Hakkai took the boy to his house to recover from what had happened. When the boy woke up, Hakkai found out his name was Lyric and that his was attacked by his father and branded a traitor. Lyric and Hakkai soon became best of friends although their personalities crashed very badly. Hakkai and Lyric live in the same house as friends.

Chapter 2: The Curse
Hakkai lived with Lyric for a while. But then, his Jounin teacher died. This began an unhappy trail of events. The next person who died was his team mate Fudo Saka. Hakkai couldn't take the pain any longer. Hakkai took out a kunai knife and was about to kill himself to end all of his pain and suffering. But as he did, he saw a note on the table. He opened it and noticed Lyrics writing. Hakkai cried tears of both happiness and sadness. The letter was that Lyric had gone home to Konoha and lived with his father. Hakkai knew that his best friend would never come back. Hakkai fell on his knees and held himself as he cried and felt lonely in the world. Hakkai kept shaking his head. 5 people in his life had died already. Hakkai kept reading the note that was now covered in tears. In the bottom of the letter where the P.S. mark was, it said "Dude, keep smiling and don't die on me." Hakkai put away his kunai and the note was thrown in the trash. Hakkai made a promise to himself then and there that he would never kill himself and wouldn't ever die unless it was by old age. A few weeks later, Hakkai received message that Lyric was killed by his father and vise-versa. Hakkai went home and locked everything up and began to cry again. He knew that he had a curse on him. This curse killed anybody whom he got close too. He hated it. Hakkai always smiled when feeling bad, but this was worse. Hakkai said to himself, "6" because 6 people whom he had cared about so dearly had passes away. This had all started with the 100 eyed demon clan. Hakkai got up on his feet. "Those bustards started all of this. And I will end it." What no one knew is that Hakkai had let some of the members leave so he could be with his beloved. Hakkai went over to his mail and saw a letter regarding becoming and ANBU official in training. Hakkai nodded as he accepted the invite and became an ANBU in-training. When he waited for his ANBU teacher, he met his new team mate partner, Jinsei, a member of the famous Kaguya clan. Hakkai and Jinsei became good friends as the training went on. As soon as Hakkai met Jinsei, he promised himself that he would become stronger and always protect his new friend. That if anything would happen, he would take a bullet. Hakkai has somewhat become stronger since then and has more skilled. He had stumbled into a hidden shrine one day as he was about the village woods a day before his ANBU partner came home. He fell into the shrine which was somehow underground. There, he found a scroll. He went to his training the next day and found out that in the scroll, were the Panda summonings.

Chapter 3: Chuunin Exams
Cho Hakkai had learned the dragon summonings, something that would help him later in his life but also a good way of training. His friend Jinsei had seen his baby dragon, the first summoning of the set, and told Hakkai that he also had a summoning, that it was a frog. Hakkai smiled as he and Jinsei were now closer as friends since they could have a secret between the two. Hakkai then began to travel the village after his training session with his friend, Jinsei. HE ended up at the village fountain, a place where several newer shinobi gathered. There, he met a boy named Teikiatsu Reikoku, a young gennin that had come out of the academy not that long ago. This man had a hot head, but he had spunk. Reikoku's head got a little too big as he and Hakkai ended up in a battle. Hakkai ended up winning the battle and showing Reikoku the powers of people who will be going to the chuunin exam.

Despite his attempt to keep Reikoku in the village and train, he went to the chuunin exams after Hakkai and Jinsei. There, they met up and became Team Oto, the only ninja representing the village of sound. The first exam they pretty much breezed through. It was only a race and though they were the last team to finish, they still were not going to give up. The next exam they must have done was to cross a canyon using justu without touching the bottom. Again, a breeze. But then, the third exam came. This exam forced the shinobi to get a bell from a stag without harming it. Reikoku was able to grab the bell for the team, but other ninja were around them. Suna ninja came for the bell and without much notice, killed Reikoku in the mid of battle. Then, the battle separated into two separate battles. Hakkai guessed that Jinsei was not victorious. Hakkai had lost his battle and ended up in bad condition. He was given a scroll for his attempt but in the end, was not promoted to chuunin.

Hakkai and Jinsei returned to their village slowly with the body of their dead friend, Reikoku. Both of them felt as if they were going to die. The lost of their friend took a heavy toll on them and change them forever. They hadn’t known Reikoku for very long, but it seemed as if they knew him their whole lives.

Soon they came to the village of Oto, the village hidden in the sound. They entered and did not talk nor look at anyone in the eye or at them. The civilians just looked at the two ninja and gossiped as to what was in the white coffin that they were carrying. They had no idea who it was or what had happened. But the ninja who had been through this showed their respected to Jinsei and Hakkai and allowed them to go to their destination, the Kyoukage's tower. The boys came to the tower and entered. They carried the white coffin that had Reikoku's body in it up the stairs and entered the Kyoukage's office, where the Kage herself was. They had told her what had happened. It was hard for both of them. Hakkai had even cried because he couldn't stand the pain of losing another person in his life.

But the Kyoukage understood and she felt their pain. She gave both Jinsei and Hakkai a great big hug and told them that revenge would never help them. Hakkai agreed out loud, but in his mind he thought differently. She then had let go of the two. Jinsei then asked her if it was possible if Jinsei and Hakkai could possibly get a personal test from the Kage herself for the rank of chuunin. She agreed. Hakkai and Jinsei soon changed from their dull and sad expressions to that of a bright and happy smiley faces. They paid their respects to the Kage and then to Reikoku as they left the room.

Chapter 4: A New Oto Trio
That day Jinsei and Hakkai had gone their separate ways for the day. Jinsei had headed off to the Oto arena and Hakkai went out to do other things. But, but ended up at the arena. Hearing something going on, he went in. He saw Jinsei fight an old foe, Nidori, a person who had bested him in a battle before. But there was another person, a girl who had her clothes stained in blood. Hakkai introduced himself to her to find out her name was Kieto, a strong woman in the field of Genjustu. Hakkai and Kieto watched the battle between the two that was going on below and soon, Jinsei had bested his old foe by a land slide. Hakkai congratulated his friend and soon they were going their separate ways yet again.

Chapter 5: The Invasion
The next day Hakkai and Jinsei had made plans for training so that when they went to the Kyoukage, they would be even stronger than they were. They had met up but instead by themselves, another person joined them. It was Kieto, the person that Hakkai met the previous day. He had no objection for Kieto joining their little training session. So the three began their training. Even more of a shock came when Jinsei and Hakkai's old Jounin, Iso Tyr came into the scene and helped the team of 3 Oto ninja with their training. He had given them a physical endurance test by throwing a barrage of rocks at the team. They had ended the training by holding onto the Jounin's arms. Several times during the physical training session the members almost died, but they stuck together and made it through.

The next day would be the day that would take the hardest toll on the 3 gennin. The village was attacked by Kumo. A country that had seemed to be fine by itself and had seemed like it had no intention of attacking did. They went into the village by breaking down the gate into Oto and began to attack ninja that were in their way. The new Oto trio, made up of Jinsei, Kieto, and Hakkai entered battle with 9 strong ninja from the Cloud village. Though their hearts were strong and their heads were in the right place, their attempt to protect their village was futile. Hakkai himself almost was killed, but was helped by the Kyoukage. The Kyoukage had stopped the punch of one of the men who were going to finish Hakkai off. Hakkai was so happy that day because he knew that she would be able to fight with them. But she told the trio to not fight, but instead to help civilians get out. Hakkai didn't want to go. The Kyoukage was strong, yes that was true, but she couldn't handle so many of the opposing Kumo ninja on her own. But she said she would protect her village no matter what, and she kept to that promise. The trio did as she asked and helped several civilians out of the village and then fled themselves. Hakkai looked back at the village and promised to himself that he would kick Kumo out of the village that the honorable Kyoukage tried so hard to protect. He would become stronger and he would fight his way through and kill each Kumo ninja if needed. This was his home. This is where his life was, how dare they try to take it. The trio left Oto and went towards the Fumma village, a Village about 6 miles away from Oto where they stayed in hiding from the Kumo ninja.

Chapter 6: VAK
2 years had passed since the fateful day where Kumo took Oto. They had taken every other shinobi village as well. It was a depressing time for all shinobi that day. The Oto Trio had been in hiding during the two years, coming out of the house seldom. If they did, it was because they needed food or to pay bills.

Also, as the years changed, so did the Trio. Kieto had now become a Kaguya member, receiving her bones from Jinsei and having a surgery done in the house. It was quite grotesque from Hakkai's point of view, but there was another bond going on. Kieto and Jinsei were in love. They knew it, and Hakkai knew it. They became lovers and acted like a couple to terminate any suspicion that they were ninja. Hakkai assumed that this was just an excuse to get away with having sexual intercourse while Hakkai was near the room. In truth, Kieto suspected Hakkai of peeking at times, where is was actually his hamster Nibbles. All in all, Hakkai enjoyed living with the two rather than on his own. His life fell more enjoyable knowing that he had people to live with and people who cared about him. Hakkai enjoyed it, though he knew that Kieto and Jinsei were slowly changing.

Kieto had created the idea of a resistance against Kumo. It was a good idea but in reality they, by themselves, wouldn't be able to accomplish much due to the fact that they were still gennin, at max low powered Chuunin. Not many people would do anything to help them. But newbie’s came to work with them. But surprisingly, a soft tapping came at the door. There stood a man, older than anyone in the house and obviously stronger. Who was it? It was Resumo Brash, the leader of the actual resistance group against Kumo Called VAK, literally translating to Vocals Against Kumo. He asked Jinsei, Kieto, and Hakkai to join and to train the newer people so that they would help with the rebellion. The three agreed and began to train the gennin.

Then, one day, in the middle of a night, Hakkai and Jinsei met up in the kitchen. They hadn't really talked for a while due to the whole Kieto thing. Hakkai had seemed a little cold towards Kieto, but he had a reason to. It was his curse. The Curse that killed several people he knew and loved. There was only person though, only one being, who was able to dodge the curse somehow. It was Jinsei. That was why Hakkai had felt so close to Jinsei. Hakkai felt that Jinsei had a right to know what happened to him during his past. He took out the Book of Memories, an Item given to him after the Chuunin exams when Reikoku was murdered. Jinsei was shocked, as Hakkai expected, but that only allowed their friendship to stay strong, maybe even stronger.

Chatper 7: The day that the Bones Shattered
Hakkai's feeling of change had been correct. One day Kieto and Jinsei had set out to do the unthinkable. They were going to murder the new recruits to the Oto resistance. The blood that ran through their veins gave them their pride, their foolish pride and their new anger. They attacked the Oto gennin with an intent to kill them. But they made one mistake, putting up a flyer in the VAK headquarters for a fight. Brash found this and found Kieto and Jinsei fighting, or just Kieto. Brash took Kieto and killed her out of pure rage for an attempt to kill the new gennin. He was about to attack Jinsei when Hakkai came into the picture and yelled for Brash to stop. Hakkai convinced Brash along with what Jinsei said to allow him to keep his life, but his life wasn't welcomed in Oto. He was banished from the Rice Country and if he ever returned he would be killed. Hakkai was on the ground crying. His curse had taken effect on Kieto killing her. And it knew that Jinsei couldn't die, so it instead caused him to be banished. It wanted Hakkai to get mad and kill again, like he had done so long ago. Jinsei apologized to Hakkai though Hakkai told his friend that there was no need too. They would always be friends and they would meet again before they died. What amazed Hakkai was that Brash told Hakkai that he was free to go with Jinsei. but Hakkai couldn't willingly leave Oto, he had to stay. And so he did.

Chpater 8: She who felt pain as he did
Hakkai's heart felt heavy. I mean, anyone's heart would too if you had just lost the only two people who you had been with for the last two years were all of a sudden gone. Hakkai couldn't take the thought of his friends out of his mind. Hakkai wanted to just leave Oto. It was the center of all of his pain he was given. But he had to stay. He had to train the new gennin to make up for the loss of the two Chunnin. So he did. An attempt to train them in the field of strategy, something Hakkai was quite good at.

How did he do it? Hakkai played a game of chess against the gennin. They didn't understand what he was doing. They knew it was for strategy, but they didn't know that they would purposely lose one round. They in fact got quite angry with Hakkai and yelled at him. Hakkai responded to them as if the game of the chess were a real life battle. That each of the moves they made were an attack, a dodge, or anything else along those lines. He made his last round, the one where the gennin purposely lost, to show as if they were fighting someone of a much higher rank and wouldn't win against them. They deep down knew that they couldn't win, but they still tried to fight. Hakkai showed them that dying isn't worth it if someone's life are on the line or if they have something on the line. So they all asked him what they were supposed to do. Hakkai then flicked the king down and showed that he gave up. He was showing the gennin that giving up in a battle is sometimes the best way to go at something. A life is much more precious than a mission. They in truth didn't understand as much as Hakkai wanted them too. Maybe this wouldn't come back to bit them in the behind.

Several nights after his strategy training Hakkai was wondering the town in the night time. He felt that night was the best time to go about since the night would have the most trouble and thus having the most trouble, people would know not to go out. Hakkai soon saw and met up with Kia, a woman he had met briefly before he left for the Chuunin Exams. She seemed lost and hurt though her face said differently. Hakkai saw through her though, her eyes were the windows to her soul. He felt a common feeling with her. They both felt a pain that was too horrible to describe. So he allowed Kia to open up to him and allow her to cry in his arms so she would let go any pain. Zala though had interrupted their meeting and made Kia trust Hakkai less and left. The next day they met again and this time Hakkai began to show something to Kia he hadn't shown to anyone in a while. Love. He held her and he even kissed her. She was in shock and in truth, Hakkai literally told her he thought he loved her. She didn't know how to react. Hakkai knew this was going to happen. The meeting was over sooner than it had started. She left and Hakkai was left alone to not see her for a while.

Chpater 9: Fed Up
Hakkai soon became a little fed up with the resistance of Otogakure No Sato. He seemed to be the only person doing anything really. He didn't want to leave but staying in Oto was something that he couldn't do. There was so much pain he had experienced here. He came home after his first B ranked mission and went directly to Brash to talk to him. You see, his first B ranked mission was to kill someone by the name of Kishimoto. He along with Nidori had done so and Hakkai was covered in Kishimoto's blood. HE didn't even shower when he went to brash. When he was there he asked Brash if he could leave. Brash felt a little upset because Hakkai was leaving but he said yes either way. Hakkai was happy as he ran upstairs and grabbed his things. He left his house and looked back at it, but too his dismay, it would be his last time for a long time. Hakkai made several hand symbols and used his new technique he learned he teleported himself from Oto into the center of the village of Iwagakure no Sato. He then began to walk around aimlessly finding someone he could talk to about his training.

Chapter 10: Here We come Iwagakure no Sato
He found a girl named Nanese who he had asked to show him around somewhere. She took him to a massive home in the middle of a forest. Hakkai entered the massive dome and saw Alchem Sayoran, a man who he met long ago, during the chuunin exam where he good friend Reikoku had met the end of his life. He greeted him in a kind manner, but Syaoran went off on him. Apparently he had just been in an argument with his lover. But Hakkai saw someone he didn't know he would see. HE saw Kia, the woman who his heart belonged too. He smiled as they talked a little, but Hakkai looked into her soul. Through her eyes, he saw everything. Her personality changed, slowly becoming her old self. Hakkai was happy knowing about this but what he wasn't happy about was something else. She was in love. The same kind of love Hakkai was in, but it wasn't for him. It was for someone else. He didn't know who exactly, but having this knowledge hurt him deeply.

And so Hakkai stayed at the house of Nane, a person who oddly showed him respect and trust even though he was from Otogakure. Staying there he stayed in a separate room and the next day headed for the home of the Tsuchikage. Nane tagged along and he soon came and asked the Tsuchikage for training. He was denied. Hakkai became depressed but soon Nane showed him an area where they could train. They did and soon her cousin Doen was there and joined their training. From there, Hakkai went to the Tsuchikage's home again because of word of a new war going on.

Afterwards he talked to the Tsuchikage yet again. He asked about the Oto resistance because he had recently gotten a letter from a member of the resistance saying he was leaving. Hakkai learned that now the Oto resistance was gone, no longer there. IT was found by the Kumo people and everyone in there died. Hakkai taken hard by his heart went into the new war of Iwa, not caring whether or not he would live, or if he would die.

Chapter 11: The War of Iwagakure No Sato
The troops slowly walked into battle. Well, really they went to a camp and they were ambushed. Hakkai had been slowly thinking about the past events that had just recently occurred. His mind was simply just too busy for him to care about other things. But a loud explosion soon interrupted his train of thought as he soon came into battle with two thugs, one huge and one small. They both were difficult to fight, but Hakkai soon allowed his "truth" come out. The Truth Behind the Smile had come out as Hakkai murdered the two people who attempted to hurt him. He continued and ended up having to fight even more people. His sword was covered in the blood of others as well as his clothes and the snow around him. His opponents were all ninja from Yukigakure No Sato, the Village of Snow. Hakkai didn't allow himself to hold back, in fact he went and used his power to kill as many as people as possible, and some in the most brutal way, even cutting some in thirds or half, or allowing them to suffer to death as they bled. He only showed mercy to two people, who were younger people. He cut the hand off of one person, but that would only just get rid of his hand, we would be able to live. And the other one he simple knocked out.

chapter 12: Post War
But he was only mortal, and soon his body began to fall apart. As he was battling, his vision would come and go and he would begin to have headaches as his muscles became weak. He finished his battle with a person who's ability was strong in the field of Ninjustu, and Hakkai became the victor in the battle. But soon the Iwa forces knew that the Yuki Ninja were too great in Numbers to stay and fight so they left. Hakkai was forced to move with the group of people, even though he saw his love, Kia, captured by the enemy. Two stronger Iwa ninja forced Hakkai to leave Kia behind even though Hakkai struggled against them. They simply punched him in the stomach and soon he passed out.

He awoke several hours later. He was on the ground and lonely. He got up and looked around to see only 2 people, 2 Yuki Ninja. Hakkai was upset. He had been betrayed by the Iwa Ninja and left to die. Hakkai was directed to another Yuki camp where he would have a seal placed on him to block his chakra off. His strength left his body as he was thrown into a tent. He looked to see Kia. Hakkai's heart was please and happy. Even though she was obviously in pain and weak, she was safe. Hakkai would have cried knowing this, but he didn't. The next day Kia and Hakkai, and another Iwa ninja caught by the Yuki Village left for home. Hakkai's heart became heavy, but it made him happy. Hakkai knew what would happen once he came to Iwa, and his feelings needed to be told to Kia.

Chapter 12: And So Ends the Iwa War
Hakkai, with a new trio, left the camp of the Yuki ninja. The beginning of the walk was unbearable. None of the ninja talked to each other and there was a tension in the air that made them all uncomfortable. Hakkai only wanted to come home. Hakkai hated himself for coming into this war. IT wasn't because he killed people, but because of the reason he came into the war to begin with. To find a final resting place. Yes, he wanted to die. But apparently he wasn't allowed to die. Why wasn't he allowed to die yet? Why couldn't all of this misery just go away? All of these questions filled Hakkai's mind as the trio soon took rest once the sun went down.

Kia talked to Hakkai in the beginning of the night, but in the conversation Hakkai had told Kia what had happened to the Oto resistance. He knew that she could care less. But Hakkai had angered her by talking about how he had no one and how Kia couldn't ever understand that pain of loneliness. He knew that Kia did care about him and his well being, but Hakkai had lost his home. The last thing he was fighting for. Kia had a new place to call home, but she didn't see how Hakkai was taking all the pain. But seeing as how Hakkai usually didn't show his emotions, it was understandable. Kia became angry with Hakkai because he accused her of not loving her village and ended up going to sleep, though she just wanted to end the conversation right there and then.

The next morning Hakkai awoke to not see Kia. He got up and walked around attempting to find where she was, in fear that she was captured or something. She wasn't. He ended up finding her in nothing but her underwear washing her clothes. Again angry at Hakkai she told him to leave. Hakkai listened as he came back to the camp to find Kajiba awake. Apologizing, Hakkai and Kajiba began to develop a conversation by themselves. Hakkai talked about his sleepless nights where his bad memories came into his mind and created nightmares to stop him for a nights rest. Kajiba somehow managed to ask Hakkai about his past. Hakkai didn't know why, but he began to talk about the resistance. Originally, Kajiba wanted to know about both Hakkai and Kia and why they were in Iwa, but Hakkai could only answer for himself. He told Kajiba about Kieto and Jinsei, the only two people who were left in his family. He told Kajiba about how Kieto went insane and how she was murdered and how Jinsei was banished. But before Hakkai was able to continue, they were on their way again.

And so their walk went along again. They ended up in a village by nightfall and took rest at an inn. Kia had been eyeing a dress before they got to the inn and complained about how she had little money and couldn't afford to purchase the item. Hakkai remembered what it looked like and the next day he bought it for her. She thanked him, but soon a struggle would occur.

Two men entered the inn that they were staying at and began to mess up the place. Hakkai stepped in and battle one of the two men after punching the larger of the two men in the jaw. The smaller man was a good opponent, but a third man came into the picture and forced them to come with him and to cut it out. Hakkai offered to help the town, but no one wanted their help. No one needed them. They were fine as they were. Hakkai understood as he and the trio left again towards Iwa.

Chapter 14: The Inn accidents
Two men entered the inn that they were staying at and began to mess up the place. Hakkai stepped in and battle one of the two men after punching the larger of the two men in the jaw. The smaller man was a good opponent. Hakkai went into battle with this man unaware of the fact that the men was wearing armor and obviously had an advantage over Hakkai, even more so with Hakkai's chakra sealed. But a third man came into the picture and forced them to come with him and to cut it out. Hakkai giggled when the third man called the other two "wankers." He offered to help the town, but no one wanted their help. No one needed them. They were fine as they were. Hakkai understood as he and the trio left again towards Iwa.

The trio then soon saw Iwagakure no Sato in the distance. Everyone was happy. But something unfortunate happened. Kia began to cough. At first it seemed fine, but the cough progressed in sound and sickness to the point where Kia began to cough up blood. Hakkai ran to her side as her eyes lost all emotion and she passed out. Hakkai was able to catch her in his arms. His face showed compassion and worry. He didn't want Kia to die. Hakkai didn't know what to do so he did the only thing he knew. He took Kia and placed her onto his back as he and Kajiba sprinted to Iwagakure no Sato, which was a 4 hour walk from their current location. He didn't stop though through the whole sprint. His heart made the fire to burn to allow his body to keep going. His feelings for Kia.

Hakkai came into the village and stopped to look around. The area was horrible. There was blood everywhere. People laid dead. But there was one thing weird about the situation. There wasn't enough bodies to supply the amount of blood that stained the streets and the air. But Hakkai shook this out of his mind as he continued to run towards the hospital of Iwa. Once inside, he was able to get a bed for Kia and from there went with her to her room and stood there looking at her. Syaoran had entered. Hakkai didn't know how he knew where Kia was but asked Hakkai what happened. His tone said that he was blaming Hakkai for what happened. Hakkai told Syaoran that he didn't know what happened. HE also apologized to the Alchem saying that it was his fault that Kia was like this. Hakkai blamed himself for what happened to Kia. It was because he wasn't strong enough.

Kia soon began to talk and say it was cold. Hakkai did the only thing he could and took his jacket off to cover Kia with it. But another man came into the picture. Hakkai didn't know who this man was, but his anger was powerful. His anger was directed at Hakkai. Hakkai backed away from Kia, not from fear, but from curiosity. The man threw Hakkai's jacket off of Kia's body and warmed her with his breath. He then held her body close to his. Hakkai was jealous. But he looked into the eyes of the man and saw he looked at Kia the same way Hakkai did. Kia didn't react but Hakkai knew this was who Kia was in love with. Her heart belonged to this man.

Hakkai walked away and asked Syaoran to come with him. The two walked out of the room and Hakkai asked Syaoran about the current condition of the Tsuchikage. To Hakkai's distain, the Tsuchikage was murdered in the war. Hakkai knew it. Things could never do the way he wanted them too. He sighed as he then went away.

Chapter 15: The Note
Hakkai spent the next half hour writing on a piece of paper as Kia was being treated for her wound and illness. He needed to think thoroughly in what he was going to write. As the doctor who was treating Kia came out of the room, Hakkai finished the note and wrote on it after he folded it up "To: Kia." Hakkai sighed as he stood up and heard the good news that Kia was going to be fine. Hakkai was happy at this news as he walked over to Kajiba and handed him the note, telling him that he should give it to Kia and tell her to read it when she is alone. The note was for her and only her. She was the only one who was allowed to read it. Hakkai then smiled as he said his goodbyes to his new friend Kajiba and goodbye to Syaoran. As he left and became reunited to with his loveable hamster again, Nibbles, he set out to Kusa. But before he left, he remembered distinctly what the note said.

"Kia,

I am sorry that I wasn't able to stay in Iwa until you were awake. You see, I had to leave because I am going to go find the Oto resistance. I know, you really weren't fond of them but, I need them to take my home back from Kumo. I am sorry I couldn't protect you better seeing as how you became sick and all. I suppose that protecting you was yet another thing I couldn't do.

Well, I have trailed a bit into my own problems. Sorry. Back to what I was saying. Kia, if we do take Oto back from Kumo, you are not to come to Oto until someone comes to get you, if you wish to come anyway. I fear that if you do come, those in the resistance and those who know of you might attack and attempt to kill you because, well they are idiots. You and I both know that.

Stay in Iwa, Kia. You have a family here. A family who loves you. Something you wouldn't be able to get in Oto. Since I am running out of space I want to tell you something before I leave. You are a kind person. You take a strong impact on those who you meet. Never change who you are. And always fight for that man who has shown me through your eyes that you so desire for. Never give up on gaining his love. He might be wishing for your heart as well. I wish you a good future. I am happy I have met you and will never regret it...

Good bye until we meet again. I am sorry, if we meet again.

Sincerely, Cho Hakkai

Chapter 16: The Resistance Moved
Hakkai left Iwa with his heart crushed. But he knew that he must leave. His country was his priority. He left his country and while gone, his country’s resistance was crushed. It was his fault that VAK was destroyed and he knew it. But he couldn’t allow this to make his country’s resistance fall again. All he knew was that his country was somewhere else and since the grass country was the closest country from Iwa, Hakkai decided to start there.

Hakkai walked around grass country for a little bit but sense chakra being used. Hakkai thought that it could be NCIA ninja so he went over for a possible attempt to kill them. But all he saw was Daisuke Zala and another boy, both from the resistance. Hakkai grew angry at this site. Two members of the Oto resistance, possibly the last ones, were out in the open using justu and such on each other. Hakkai grabbed his bag and jumped down to the field and stopped the last attack and yelled at the two Gennin. Both of the Gennin apologized to Hakkai, but they didn’t understand the true threat that they made. It was obvious that the NCIA already knew that there was a resistance, but if they found out that Oto was in Kusa, then they could take out two birds in one stone.

Zala left to do his own thing as Hakkai and the other boy, who introduced himself as Raz, went to see the leader of the Kusa resistance. They became friendly with each other quite quickly as Raz had much respect for Hakkai and Hakkai being quite happy that there were people left in the resistance that didn’t die.

Hakkai met the resistance leader. He was a man with a round belly and red hair named Jinoubou. Hakkai showed his respect to the leader and asked him to take his seal that made him unable to use his chakra off. The leader did and so Hakkai took his time to recover.

Chapter 17: Betrayed Yet Again
Several Days after his unsealing, Hakkai was back to his full energy. Raz had asked before to become Hakkai’s student. Since he had already taught Zala the basics, he agreed to Raz. Because Raz was no wimp and was quite powerful enough already, Hakkai took him to do a B ranked mission. It was yet again an assassination mission. Hakkai didn’t mind since his life already meant a lot of killing. What could one more do?

And so they were on their way. The duo almost found their victim, but were stopped by a shadow with an angry voice. Hakkai raised his eyebrow at this. What did they do to make this person angry? Hanatarou, this man, told the duo that Daisuke Zala had left the resistance to join the NCIA. Obviously he suspected that Hakkai and Raz were also going to leave the resistance so their mission was changed to hunt down Daisuke Zala.

And so the duo left for Lorien with their appearances changed. They did meet up with Zala and encountered him in battle. But before they knew it, back up had come. Hakkai told his student to run because his student’s life was more important than his own. He was no match for the team. It was about 5 or so chuunin against him and a powerful summoning. He was able to, though, convince that Zala was a spy in the NCIA. So even though Hakkai fell, Zala fell as well. Hakkai was slightly conscious as he saw his other comrade, Kazuo Nidori, with the NCIA and taking his books. He wanted to say “how could you,” but didn’t have enough energy. All he felt was the heat from a fire justu on his body, burning him. And with that, the NCIA ninja left him to die. Hakkai slowly fell into a slumber.

Chapter 18: A Savior
The fire created smoke that caught the attention of someone in the forest, a woman. The woman came towards where the smoke was to satisfy her curiosity. All the woman saw were a burnt body obviously not a live and another body. She poked the other body. The body moved slightly and was obviously in pain. He lifted his head and pointed in a direction with his arm. “Help… him…” the person said in a weak voice. The woman was shocked that his man was alive and even talking so she rushed to where he pointed to see if there was another person. She saw a boy just as the other person said. He was also in a critical state. She rushed the two people to a hospital near her home. Her home was a village that isn’t well known or has any ninja.

So the two were hospitalized for their wounds. They were given skin grafts, several surgeries, and ointments and such to heal the burns and wounds they received. The two men were grateful. The older man had asked to see the woman to thank her. The younger boy was in the same room so both of them could thank her together. The woman came into the hospital. She introduced herself as Beppin. The two men introduced themselves as Hakkai and Raz.

Hakkai and Raz were forced to stay in the hospital to recover from their awesome wounds. The time they were there they stayed away from the topic of how they got their wounds, but Hakkai did tell Raz that Zala was dead. Raz was slightly delighted at this.

Hakkai, after several days, had a dream. It was a dream of the previous Kyoukage and he having a conversation. Hakkai apologized to her for what he did. But she didn't mind. She understood what he went through. But she did tell him that she wanted him to keep going. To not even think about the past. She wanted him to help bring Oto back to what it was. Hakkai agreed and soon woke up. "I will." Those were the words he only said.

But he did not dream again until he saw another person. It was Jinsei in his dream this time. Hakkai asked if Jinsei was dead. He said he was. Hakkai cried in his dream and in real life. Jinsei comforted Hakkai though because Jinsei knew how Hakkai felt. He placed his hand on Hakkai's shoulder and told him that even though he died, he would forever be with Hakkai, always looking over him. Hakkai said he didn't even know where his grave was. Jinsei smiled warmly and told Hakkai that he was in a grave marked with the name "Kazuki Jun'ichi" given to him by the Tsuchikage. He had to give up his name in order to stay in Iwa and fought in the war with Hakkai. He even saw Hakkai but died at the hands of a group of Yuki Ninja.

Hakkai slowly stopped crying. But not before Jinsei said one more thing. He told Hakkai that there was a gift for him in the old house in a secret compartment. It wasn't finished, but he knew that Hakkai would finish it for him. It was originally going to be a gift for when he was going to be a Chuunin, but he didn't have the time. He also said there was a note from Kieto there. Hakkai gave Jinsei a hug and then opened his eyes in real life to find out he was crying so badly, his bandages became wet and were needed to be redone.

After several months of being bedridden and gaining the muscle mass in their legs, the two men left the hospital with their strength back, though they wore bandages that covered most of their body. The parts that didn’t showed extensive burn wounds and healing skin.

Now back to most of their strength, they left the hospital to return to Kusa to help the resistance.

Chapter 19: The Return
Hakkai and Raz walked through a field into the Grass Country. They were heading towards Neirol to see if the Harakage could heal him and Raz. It was beautiful, the medow. They didn't speak much since there wasn't much to actually speak about. Walking, they came across a man who was dosing against a tree. Curious as to who this man was, Raz woke him up. Hakkai was shocked to see who this man was. It was Resumo Brash, the ex-leader of VAK. Hakkai was shocked as well as Brash was shocked to see them. Hakkai couldn't look at Brash. He had abandoned the resistance for his own personal reasons. He put himself before the resistance and because of that, they fell. It was his fault that the resistance fell. After a hug which was slightly awkward for Hakkai, Brash showed that he was glad that Hakkai and Raz were still alive. Hakkai felt the pain from what he did and admited to Brash that he didn't even feel that he deserved to be in Brash's presence. Raz was able to calm Hakkai and tell him that what he did wasn't wrong. The battle was still on and would always be.

They came to a cabin er... Shack... Shed? It was a building of some sort and in reality it wasn't a home, but it was somewhere with a roof and kitchen. Brash stayed in the building with Raz and Hakkai though he was a little worried about it. After Raz and Brash had trained for reasons beyond Hakkai, they all ate a wonderful meal. Hakkai and Raz were told of their next destination after they were done in Kusa. It was going to Iwagakure no Sato, one of the many places Hakkai dreaded. And with this, Raz and Hakkai were off.

Chapter 20: The Healing
Going to Lorien, they found Squeakers. He was upset when he heard that Raz was dead. With the reunion, Squeakers lead Hakkai and Raz back to a tent to where the Harakage was. Hakkai showed her the pain he and Raz were in and asked that she help. They were in truth at her mercy. Then the Harakage healed Hakkai and Raz as he, Raz, Squeakers, and Terrick left to go find Jinoubou in Lorien. Apperantly, he hadn't come back. This made them worry.

Chapter 21: The Hunt is On!
Hakkai and Raz removed their bandages as they left the tent. They were so happy. Their wounds were healed and they looked like normal people. Their muscles were back to their normal strength. They felt the wind against his face and they couldn't enjoy it less. They came to the forest gates and Hakkai stopped. Painful memories went back into his head. He almost died here. Here he was betrayed by not one, but two Oto Ninja. Hakkai couldn't stop though and went into the forest. Almost as soon as they got in, they were in total darkness. They couldn't see their hand waving in front of their face. The only light would be Squeaker's tail that glowed a powerful light. All they followed was his tail.

But it wasn't before long before they had their first test of the forest. They had to fight tree people... I kid you not. They had to fight tree people. They weren't easy. Hakkai hadn't used his chakra at all and he was expected to fight creatures that were easily their strength if not more. The battle was hard, and the fact that they were fighting in pitch black darkness wasn't exactly easy either. At first it seemed like they weren't going to win, but once Raz, Terrick, and Hakkai worked together, they were able to fend them off.

Next, the team went to the outside of the shrine, though it was still night time. The shrine they saw... It was totally amazing. Words cannot describe the beauty of it so I won't. It stood on top of a chunk of earth and above a never ending pit. One would fall forever until they hit the center of the earth. It was was scary.

And so Squeakers and the team went to the portal. Squeakers asked the Gobi to change his shape. Apparently Squeakers wasn't an actual squirrel, but instead a real person. A boy named Kaen. Hakkai secretly knew this since a talking animal was to farfetched to actually exist. The shapeshift caught everyone by surprise but everyone soon over this. Then Kaen explained to the four ninja that each of the pillars that surrounded them had a personal animal. What this animal ment no one really knew. Hakkai ended up getting a Chinese Dragon as his personal animal. Interesting.

And then a bridge showed up. They were allowed access into the shrine of the Gobi.

Chapter 22: The Tests
The ninja entered Gobi's shrine. It was huge. There was no denying this. The group entered the room after the first room, which was essentially darkness. The new room was quite a change. The room was bright. It was filled with food and skimply clothed women. The whole place looked like a paradise for any male in the world. Their mission was to find a door in this room. The door could be anywhere and the things around them were ment as a distraction. Hakkai looked everywhere around the room. There was a waterfall in the back of the room which is where Hakkai assumed the door would be, but Hakkai could not find it. It was his student, Raz, that had found the door behind the waterfall. Hakkai had taught his student well, dispite the fact that his student put himself in danger of being swallowed whole by a genjustu. With this new door found, the room turned dull and the group continued to the next room.

In the next room, Hakkai was in a genjustu.

Chapter 23: That Night
Hakkai sighed softly as he watched his student come back to his normal state. Seeing his student freak out wasn’t a pleasant sight to see. Hakkai worried for Raz since he had the least training in Genjustu that Hakkai knew of.

As Raz came to, the room began to change. It became dull. Nothing fancy about it at all. The women were gone. The fruits and tables had left. The walls and water fall even disappeared. The Gobi was an amazing beast. The moment they walked into the room they were under a genjustu. It could make things completely the opposite of what it actually was. Hakkai was undoubtedly impressed by his handy work.

Kaen spoke as the illusions slowly went away. Apparently the last time he was here the Genjustu were much stronger. Hakkai made a sigh of relief. Even though he wasn’t in the clear yet, he knew that he might have an easier time going through this mission.

As Kaen told Hakkai that they were only being tested, they entered the next room with their heads held up high. Almost immediately Hakkai was sent into another genjustu. The rest of his team were gone and it was only him. But, the genjustu wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t overly tempting. It was inviting.

It was a calm and silent meadow at the end of the day at dusk. The sky was an amazing mixture of purple, blue, orange, red, and yellow. It’s betty couldn’t even be captured by a photograph, painting, or words even. They could only go so far and never really truly capture the whole essence of nature. The sun was a wild orange as it set itself to the west to sleep for the night as the moon took over to watch over the earth. It seemed tired from working all day and helping out life on earth. It wasn’t bright and it wasn’t dim. It was a relaxed brightness that warmed the heart and soul as one closed their eyes. The grass underneath Hakkai’s feet was a vibrant green and healthy with life. By what Hakkai had guessed, it was the middle of the summer.

A slight breeze overcame this grass that chilled Hakkai’s body. He closed his eyes and spread out his arms to feel the wind, even though he knew this was all fake. Hakkai knew where he was. Yes, he knew it all too well. He was in the Rice Field Country yet again. He wasn’t in Oto. This place was too calm to be Oto. This was where Hakkai grew up so long ago. A smile came across his face as the meadow he was in brought back so many memories. He shook his head slightly. The Gobi was in his mind and searching through his memories. But… Why the memories of the good times?

Hakkai walked forward with little to no caution. He could fall into the pits below the temple and never come back. But for some reason, Hakkai didn’t think the Gobi would just up and kill him. No, that would be way too easy for the demon.

A small amount of time passed and Hakkai had arrived at a house. It was a small shack that was colored brown with wooden siding and windows that seemed to just want to drag you into the building. This was Hakkai’s home that he had lived in so many years ago with her.

He opened the door and there he saw a smaller version of himself, roughly 4 years younger then what he was now. A strong man who had so much to learn about life and the people who he loved. And there across from him was her, Kanan. She was the same age as him, slightly younger, and smiled like an angel. Her blonde hair glistened in the sunlight as it slowly became nighttime. It was tied in a braided ponytail that hung around his shoulders and went down the left side of her body. Her purple dress was neatly put on and she said up straight at the table. Hakkai was wearing a white long sleeved t-shirt with a pair of blue jeans. He wore his glasses like he does now and his hair was still the same style.It was only two of them. No parents. They had died long ago. Until recently, the two were in an orphanage. But they escaped with each other because they wanted to be with each other and the orphanage would not allow such a thing.

The two were talking about their day and how they loved each other.

“Oh think how nice it would be to get married.”

“Mm, I really like your hands. Your fingers are so long and pretty.”

“Or is it strange to call a man pretty?”

“I really like your hands Gonou.”

Young love was such a powerful thing. It made people crazy. It made people happy. Sometimes it made people sad or mad. It could do so much. It could even overcome the idea of incest. Yes. Incest. Hakkai and Kanan were brother and sister. But they nonetheless loved each other. Many people found this to be a disgusting relationship. Many people found it to be cute. But Hakkai and Kana didn’t care what other people thought. They were in love and that was all that mattered.

Hakkai laughed to himself softly as he sat down in a chair next to his younger self looking at his lover from long ago. Seeing Kanan made Hakkai warm and fuzzy inside. It had been so long since he had seen her or even remembered what she looked like that he’d almost forgot who she was. Painful memories are hard to block, but once you do they are difficult to have come back. They are never gone really. There is always that one part in there that can cause a chain reaction of memories.

In a split second, Hakkai was outside again. This time he was in town and walking with his younger self. His younger self didn’t notice him and Hakkai wouldn’t be able to talk to him. This was a memory, and his older self wasn’t in his past. Time traveling hadn’t been developed. The younger Hakkai had a bag of groceries in his arms and smiled brightly. He was happy. Who wouldn’t when you are in love? The older Hakkai smiled. He, just seeing how he used to be, couldn’t be happier. Here he was with the love of his life having the best time in the world. But Hakkai forgot. He forgot why this memory was so special. But he would soon find out.

Both of the Hakkais came to the shack. The younger one opened the door and said “Kanan, I’m home. Sorry I’m so late. There were these apples and they were to die fo..” The end part of for however was cut off as the younger Hakkai stood there in shock. His home had been raided and Kanan wasn’t anywhere in site. The older Hakkai blinked, and in an instant he was in the body of his younger self. However he could not control the body. He could not remember what was going to happen next. He was going to find out the hard way.

Hakkai ran out of the house and yelled, “Help! Help! Please someone help! Someone raided my house and now Kanan is gone!” A neighbor had heard Hakkai’s cries and walked over to him. Several other neighbors came out of their homes. They were all walking with their heads hung and obviously depressed. “What? What’s the matter? Where’s Kanan?” Hakkai demanded.

One of the neighbors came forward and looked Hakkai straight in the eyes. “A gang came here and began to destroy what we had. They wanted the most beautiful girl in the village and were going to anything to find her alive.”

Hakkai’s face slowly came to a realization. “No…”

“We had to give her up Gonou,” the neighbor said to Hakkai. “You don’t understand. They were going to take our daughter. They were working for Hyakugan Maoh, the terrible beast of a man.”

Hakkai’s face became serious and with a hint of death in his eyes. “So… You sacrificed Kanan?”

“It wasn’t a choice! Do you think I’d give up my own daughter? You two don’t have parents – you wouldn’t understand.”

Hakkai left without another word. He went into his house and came out with a sword. He walked past his neighbors who he had trusted and was betrayed by and went to where this Hyakugan Maoh was.

The Sound of Rain is Ringing in my Ears…

One… two… ten… twenty-five… sixty… One hundred… Five Hundred… Man after man had fallen to Hakkai’s blade. They weren’t powerful at all. They were all weak men who were intimidating by numbers. They weren’t even ninja. All they did was fall to the ground like the scum they were.

Hakkai jammed his sword into another man. “N-NO! Somebody… Hack,” the man said as blood came out of his mouth. “Who… Who the hell,” the man began as he tried to look at Hakkai who was now covered in the blood of those who he had slain. Hakkai took his sword out of the man and pushed him off of his body and forced him to the ground. They body, as it hit the ground, made a slump sound. It was, in truth, quite a gruesome scene. “I’m sorry Kanan…” Hakkai said to himself slowly becoming crazy. “Look, you always said you liked my hands. But now… I went and bathed them in blood.”

Another man came up to Hakkai to try and strike him down. “All of my people! You basterd…” He then took out an eye from his pocket. It was a real eye and seemed as if it was cut out of someone’s head. “Look at this! Do you see this? This was the right eye of my brother you son of a bitch!”

Hakkai looked at him with his face not changing. He spread his arms out wide and said to the man in a calm manner, “His eye… Is that what you wish? For my right eye?” Hakkai then reached for his right eye with his right hand and grabbed his eyeball and squeezed it as hard as he could. Blood began to pour down his face and onto his clothing. The man who had stopped Hakkai was scared. “Here you go,” Hakkai said. “Now my right eye is no long useable. Now, get out of my way or I’ll kill you.” The man didn’t listen, and he died at Hakkai’s blade. Number nine hundred and ninety nine.

The Ringing Won’t Stop… It’s Driving me Crazy

Hakkai came to a set of stairs that lead to the basement. Hakkai followed with hopes that he may find his beloved. He ran down the stairs not caring that his body was completely exhausted.

He came to the bottom of the steps. He was panting from the running he had just done. He placed his sword in it’s holster at his side and looked around. It seemed like some sort of cell for prisoners. Could this be it? Could this be where his love is?

“Kanan! Are you here?” Hakkai yelled.

“G… Gonou?” A faint voice was heard. It was that of a female and one that Hakkai instantantly recognized. He ran to the end of the basement and found there his love sitting in a cell.

“Kanan!” Hakkai yelled with enjoyment. His memory was still fuzzy. He had no remembrance of what was to yet happen. He went to the edge of the cell Kanan was being held in and got onto his knees. Kanan crawled over to him. She didn’t seem hurt… In fact she seemed just fine. Hakkai grabbed Kanan by her shoulders and gave a sigh of relief. “You’re alive. You’re really alive…”

“Gonou, your right eye… Why are you here?” Kanan asked him.

Hakkai put his arms through the bars and hugged Kanan close to his body. “I’m sorry Kanan… for everything.” Tears slowly emerged from his eyes. They were because he was upset, but because he was so happy to see that his love wasn’t harmed. “L… Let’s go home Kanan. I promise I’ll protect you.”

Kanan paused as she broke the hug and looked down at the ground. “Its… It’s too late. alright?” Hakkai was confused. His breath could still be heard as he breathed in a out from the running. “What?” Hakkai asked. Kanan then reached in as if she were to hug Hakkai again, but instead took his sword and walked backwards into the cell, just past that of Hakkai’s reach. “Kanan… What are you-“

Kanan stood up and looked like she had wings at that moment. She looked so beautiful. Tears slowly ran down her face as he took the knife up out away from her body. “I’m carrying his child…” She said with sadness in her voice. “The spawn of that… Beast is resting in my belly.” Hakkai opened his eyes as he realized what had happened. Hyakugan Maoh rapped her and impregnated her.

“That’s why,” she said with the knife now a full arms length away from her.

Hakkai grabbed onto the bars of the cell with his left hand as he stuck out his right hand forward. “No Kanan! It’s ok. We can get through this together! Please Kanan… Let’s go home!”

“Good-bye my love.” Kanan had streams of tears running down her eyes as she took the knife and stabbed herself in the stomach. She fell down forward and closer to the bars and into Hakkai’s arms. The blood from her stomach wound poured out and made a little puddle around her and Hakkai.

Kill Me… Somebody Kill Me…

Hakkai sat there crying his heart out. There was his lover, dead in his hands. She was killed by her own hands and right in front of him too. He couldn’t protect her. He wasn’t strong enough.

In the cell where the real Hakkai was, the body of Hakkai fell to his knee’s as his head went onto the ground with his arms wrapped around his body. He was crying too. His glasses fell off his face and landed onto the ground underneath him.

The sound of faint footsteps could be heard as Hakkai held his lover. “Oh… Did the woman die?” said a voice. It sounded like a man. “How very kind. She wasn’t forced to see her monster child.” The man stopped walking and stood behind Hakkai. “I’ve heard of you. From what I understand you are her brother, no?” The man began to cackle. It was irritating. “And to think your first woman was your sister. Is it really healthy for siblings to be doing such things?”

Hakkai turned around and looked at the man with death in his eyes. It was as if the grim reaper was in front of him. He was a short man with sky blue hair. He wore a Chinese tunic and was standing in a bowing stance with each of his hands in the opposite shirt sleeve. He had a nasty grin on his face that was seen less clearly with toothpicks in his mouth. His ears were pointed and he had one earring on his right ear. Hakkai then took his sword and attempted to strike the man.

He wasn’t fast enough as the man parried his attacked. “Oh my, what remarkable eyes you have,” The man said laughing with his irritating laugh. “I expect no less then from the man who killed all of my family.” The man then struck Hakkai’s stomach. Hakkai yelled out in pain as he fell to the ground going into the Fidel position. The man laughed. He was not like the other men. “Oh, it seems I went a bit deep.” The man then placed his hand on the wound and slowly healed it, but to just slow down the blood loss. Hakkai began to yell as his body healed. “Hahaha!” the man laughed as he showed great interest in Hakkai. “Yes! Tell me how it feels to be like one of us! The family that violated your woman!” Hakkai opened his eyes and in a split second he dug his whole hand into the side of the man. Hakkai removed it, along with an organ of the man and dropped it onto the floor. The man feel onto the ground and cursed Hakkai as he slowly died.

One Thousand...

Hakkai walked over to the cell where Kanan was and said, “My hands are stained red with blood… So many innocent lives… And yet I couldn’t protect you.”

The rain outside came down harder against the building as Hakkai sat there in a pool of blood looking at his hands.

Hakkai’s real body on the other hand continued to cry. His arms no longer hugged his body but instead he had his hands dig into his skull. The memory… That memory… He relived every second of it and yet it was so painful. Tears continued to pour of Hakkai’s eyes. The real Hakkai uttered only a small phrase which was difficult to understand with the tears and a frog in his throat. “I couldn’t protect her…”

And the Rain is still going…

Chapter 24: Eyes of the Enemy
The body of Hakkai remained crying. It couldn’t help itself. The mind of Hakkai on the other hand wasn’t crying anymore. His mind and body were separate. His body showed the feelings that one would usually feel. The mind of Hakkai though was at a moment of peace, though not a peace that one would wish for. It was one where you were smiling, but inside you eating yourself out. Where you know you didn’t do the right… Where you know you didn’t do what you could and for that you failed… You know that you cannot go back and now you will be in pain whenever this idea comes up.

Hakkai continued to look at his hands. The crimson that stains them… His hands were almost memorizing. Hakkai was smiling despite what had just happened. He still sat against the bars of the prison where his lover laid dead. The pool of her blood continued to spread through the floor and there Hakkai sat right in the pool. He sat with his right leg resting against the ground and his left knee up into the air to support his left arm. He could not see out of his right eye. It was too painful to even open it after what he willingly did to it. His wound hurt as well. Even though the man had healed and stopped the bleeding, the body was repairing itself which was a painful process. Hakkai shook his head. He had done so much to find that which he loved. He had killed so many just to get to her. And in the end, he failed to protect her. Her… His lover… The love they shared which many people found disgusting.

The eyes of Gobi then showed themselves and asked Hakkai if he would like the pain to end. All of this that was going on, so long as Hakkai went to Gobi's side, would end. Hakkai flat out denied the demon. Hakkai wouldn't give up what he fought so much for. Hakkai told the Gobi that no matter what he did there was no pain greater than what Hakkai had just relived. The Gobi tried to disprove Hakkai by showing a conversation between Raz and the Gobi saying that Raz would be willing to give into a demon so long as he got his way.

Hakkai told the Gobi the only way Hakkai would give him his answer was if Raz and he talked. And so the Gobi allowed it. Hakkai was sent to the library where Raz woke up. Raz, being his usual self, went around helping the others by using the technique Kai to release any genjustu that was on them. There was one problem. Raz didn't know Kai. Hakkai called the Gobi out on it and the Gobi became so furious that he attacked Hakkai. Hakkai had beat him at his own game.

Chapter 25: The Belly of the Beast
Everyone woke up from the genjustu and all the doors were opened. The Gobi wanted them to come to him. They all went to the end and up the stairs they went.

Clack… Clack… Clack… The silence that was in the air made Hakkai uneasy as the team walked up the marble stairs. They were nearing their final destination. All of this pain, the memories, hell even being set on fire, all of it was meant for them to be here. Hakkai was nervous. Had the Gobi planned this from when they entered Lorien the first time? Hakkai closed his eyes as he lifted each leg to go up the stairs. He needed to get out all forms of doubt from his body. This is the last part. They will soon be done. Jinoubou will be saved and then they will all be happy. That’s what it all usually is… a happy ending. It’s cliché, but nonetheless satisfying. But what if Gobi was playing this game as if it were chess? Just toying with the group until he had the perfect chance to kill them all with a single blow.

Hakkai’s attention had been caught though. He smelled something. It was pungent and powerful. It was… familiar. Hakkai opened his eyes wide as they approached the top of the steps. Oh how he wished he was wrong and how the scent he caught was just in his head. ‘Please… No… Not that…’ But Hakkai knew what it was. It had a distinct smell and no matter how hard you tried to ignore it, it will be there punching you in the face.

It was the smell of blood.

Hakkai hadn’t felt the chakra until after he knew the smell of blood. Maybe it was because Hakkai smelled the blood first and ignored everything else. As he went to the top of the stair he saw there nine people, all of whom were out cold. Seven of them were human and two were wolves. Hakkai looked around at the people. Each had an animal mark on them and in a sense resembled the animal in some way. They were all dressed in ANBU Black-ops attire. Hakkai knew that these were the people Jinoubou had as his protectors. They tried their best but sadly it wasn’t good enough.

They had tried to protect Jinoubou but it wasn't good enough. Kaen walked around and healed them as he told Raz and Hakkai to continue on. The two were afraid but nonetheless moved into the room of the beast.

The voice of Gobi spoke. It caught Hakkai’s attention and made him turn around to see a mass of green chakra gathering together in a spiraling wind. It took on the form of a human. Hakkai’s interest was peaked at this. Yes the Gobi had a massive amount of chakra, but to actually create a solid physical being made Hakkai baffled. The Gobi never ceased to amaze him.

The man that the Gobi became was an interesting one. His style of clothing was in good taste and went well with his body style. Hakkai looked at the man’s eyes that were obviously the side effect of having a demon inside of him. Hakkai wanted to applaud the Gobi for taking such an interesting form.

He spoke.

He spoke of the trade he wanted for Jinoubou. Hakkai assumed that there would need to be a trade of some sort. It was an inevitability. But the Gobi wanted something that was strange. He wanted their eyes. Of what use could their eyes be to a demon? And why are they so precious to begin with for the life of such a powerful man?

The Gobi moved to behind Raz. Hakkai was shocked at how fast he went. He was tempted to bring up his physical guard and defend incase of an attack. He remembered, though, that Kaen had told him that in no way should they engage in a fight with the Gobi because they will die. The Gobi then spoke of the Justu he had casted upon Jinoubou. It trapped his soul. Such an interesting concept. If you have their soul, you have that person.

And again the Gobi moved, this time behind Hakkai himself. Hakkai gasped when he heard the Gobi speak again. His eyes couldn’t follow the rapid pace the demon was going. Hakkai attempted to show that he wasn’t frightened, but it was impossible. They were in the room where the demon had a home field advantage.

The Gobi, being as cocky as he is, began to describe to the two Oto ninja the justu he was using. Balad of the Scale it was called. It slowly ripped the soul out of a person and for the Gobi, he would then consume it. He then continued to talk about why it’s called a scale. In order to free whoever is in it, there must be an equal “balance.” Now Gobi was the one who would make the balance. He would make what he wants on one side and he made the rules. He made it quite clear that if Hakkai and Raz wanted Jinoubou to live, they would have to give up their eyes.

But again the question came up in Hakkai’s mind. Why did he want their eyes? The Gobi was sure to make this specific. Apparently he didn’t want the eyes themselves. Hakkai was relieved at hearing this. He will borrow their sense of sight and just watch what Hakkai and Raz watch and see. His power could not go beyond his sacred grounds that he had been imprisoned in for seven hundred years. To be alone for such a long time… No wonder he was grumpy and had no sense of hospitality towards his house guests. To sweeten up the deal, the Gobi said he would even lend some of his power to Hakkai and Raz and to Raz he would lend his memories of the ages. Hakkai was a tad bit jealous of Raz. Such knowledge would be quite impossible to come across.

Hakkai and Raz would in a sense be the Gobi’s children. Hakkai felt a warm feeling by what the Gobi said. He was lonely. Hakkai knew the feeling. All he wanted was to see the outside again. Why wouldn’t anyone want that? The world is a magnificent place despite all the horrors that go on.

Raz then spoke. Hakkai listened intently to what his student said. He didn’t want the knowledge the Gobi had. Only to know where this Korin was. Hakkai smiled to himself as he listened to his student speak his heart out. This woman was more important to Raz than his own life. Oh how Hakkai wished he felt that way towards another woman again. He spoke of becoming the Kyoukage. Something which Hakkai had no doubt in. Whether he would be the Kyoukage in ten years, or even two years, Hakkai knew that Raz would be the Kyoukage eventually so long as he stayed on this path of his life. Raz then told the Gobi that’s all he wanted and if he were given that, it would be a deal. Hakkai agreed so long as he could help protect those close to him. And thus, Hakkai was given a seal on his arm to show that he was branded.

Within minutes, the team was back in Kusa and the attack to free Kusa was underway. Jinoubou and his gang transformed into the demon and killed all those who opposed him. With this, Raz and Hakkai were on their seperate ways. Before they split paths however, Hakkai gave Raz his book of memories. Hakkai wanted Raz to know what Hakkai had done. His past was something Raz wanted to know. Why deny him this?