Naruto: The Lost Phoenix

Chapter 42: Unexpected Reunion

Thinking that his past self would have laughed at him, Kai didn't mind the thought one bit as he hugged the first tree he'd seen in over a year. Though he thankfully resisted doing it to the others seeing as he was now entering a forest, a sure sign that he had finally left the Land of Lightning and had entered the Land of Frost. And while Kai thought that the heavy fog surrounding nearly everything was nostalgic as it reminded him of the earlier Naruto episodes, he also couldn't help but wonder if a giant sword would come spinning through the air at him without warning. But apparently his presence alone didn't warrant a surprise visit from one of the seven swordsmen of the mist, though Kai did at least find another surprise waiting for him when he stumbled across a familiar setting.

"Get out of the wagon and give us the keys to the safe." A man with a rough voice yelled. "And don't try anything or we'll kill you and loot the key off of your corpse!"

Watching the scene with wide eyes, Kai couldn't believe his luck as he saw that whoever was being robbed had their wagon stopped by several large boulders that blocked the road. Or at least, he hoped that he was lucky, seeing as this was the same tactic that the rogue ninja had used on his parent's wagon. And if this was really them... This time, Kai wasn't the defenseless kid he had been before.

"Boss, we've got company!" One of the men robbing the wagon seemed to have spotted Kai before two other men jumped on top of the boulder where the lookout had been stationed.

"It's just a brat." Another of the men scoffed, though Kai couldn't help but grin slightly as he would recognize their dark uniforms anywhere. By some miraculous stroke of luck, he'd found them.

"Beat it kid, unless you'd rather die!" The watchman shouted while the one that hadn't spoken yet just started laughing.

"What the heck are you wearing?! Did you find that in a museum?!" Another of the men laughed and Kai looked down at his outfit, feeling slightly offended that these men were joking about the armor that the phoenix had given him.

"What the heck is wrong with his eyes?" The second one that had spoken asked and the laughter immediately stopped as all of them drew kunai and prepared themselves. "Watch out, it may be some form of kekkei genkai!"

"Hey, I see three of you, but where are the others?" Kai asked as he started walking towards them while spinning his glaive slowing in his right hand.

"Others?" The watchman asked uncertainly.

"A year ago you were raiding wagons in the Land of Lightning, weren't you?" Kai asked before shaking his head. "Never mind, don't even try to deny it because I know it was you. So where are your friends?"

"A year..." The watchman asked curiously before he squinted through the fog and realization dawned on his face. "You're that travelling merchant's brat!"

"I was, but both of my parents died due to their imprisonment." Kai replied. "Now I'm going to ask you one more time before I still killing. Where are your friends?"

"H-he's just a brat!" the watchmen yelled. "Don't bother with his eyes, there's no way that he's stronger than us!"

"If anything, those eyes might be worth something." Another stated greedily.

"Come on." Kai encouraged them. "I'm not the same kid that you pushed around before."

With the three throwing a barrage of kunai at him, Kai easily stepped to the side in order to avoid them before he started running forward with his glaive at the ready. And while he'd thought that he might die from this encounter, Kai was astounded by the fact that the three of them seemed to move in slow motion as they attempted to engage him in taijutsu. None of them were nearly as fast as his glaive instructors had been and Kai easily tracked all of their movements, dodging or blocking all of their attacks with ease before cutting down two of them with one easy swing of his glaive.

"W-what are you?" The watchman asked, his limbs trembling as he looked at Kai in horror. Instead of replied, Kai simply walked towards his last target before the man turned and attempted to run away. Though he didn't get far seeing as Kai threw his kunai at the man's legs. And while the kunai did pierce the man's calf muscle and make him fall to the ground, Kai grumbled to himself, knowing now that he needed to practice his old skills some more seeing as he'd been aiming for the back of the knee.

"I'm not going to ask you again, so I'd answer this time if I were you." Kai asked in a threatening tone. "Where are your friends from before?"

"I- I don't know!" The man seemed to be crying as he turned around looked at Kai while clutching his leg. "We're all randomly grouped together for every assignment! None of us know where the others are!"

"Who does the grouping and where do they do it from?" Kai asked.

"It's a big-time corporate owner named Gato." The man whimpered as Kai pointed the glaive at him. "There's a big encampment of all of his hired security and ninja right at the border between the Lands of Frost and Lightning,  so that's where you'll probably find them all if they aren't out on assignment! That's all I know, I swear!"

"Alright, thanks for the information." Kai nodded once before moving forward and thrusting the tip of his glaive through the man's chest, making the whimpering immediately stop before the man closed his eyes and fell backwards. And while Kai thought that he should feel something after killing someone, he didn't... He couldn't explain it, but he hadn't felt anything when he'd killed the assassins that had tried to kill him back in Kumo either... There was something seriously wrong with him, wasn't there?

"You..." Kai turned around to see a terribly skinny man dressed in a long purple robe and a large red hat. And judging from how the wagon that had been in the process of being looted was empty of passengers, he guessed that this man was the wagon's owner.

"I'm sorry that you had to see that." Kai sighed as he walked forward. "Give me a moment and I'll help clear those boulders out of your way.

"You are my vision! My artwork come to life!" The man suddenly yelled, throwing Kai off guard as the man made a box with his fingers and looked through it at Kai like a film producer would.

"C- Come again?" Kai asked hesitantly.

"A wandering ninja whom everyone thinks is strange, traversing the countryside in search of revenge while accomplishing good deeds along the way! Heart-compelling, action packed and with a romance that anyone could appreciate! Truly art incarnate!"

"Are you okay?" Kai asked as the man had preformed several different poses with the span of a few seconds.

"We'll need a name for it! Help me come up with an awesome name!" The man now pointed at Kai expectantly.

"How about starting with your own first?!" Kai snapped in an attempt to drag the man out of his delusions.

"Oh, my name is Reko Canada, the greatest story-teller that this world will ever come to know!" The man slid down the boulder before reaching his hand out towards Kai. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"