A/N: Thanks to Radkoko for betaing for me. Any errors or mistakes are probably things I didn't catch when I was doing last minute changes before posting. Hope you enjoy this chapter and leave me a review or comment it's appreciated and helps me when I'm writing.

Changing Tides

Chapter 8

Part 1: Me Against You

The room was dark.

There was a faint light coming from the only entrance to the room but that was it. It was not enough to light up the room but, it did give the man inside the ability to barely see his surroundings, well the floor of his surroundings anyway. The light was a dim neon color that could only come from a florescent bulb. It would slowly give out every now and then bathing the room completely in darkness only to turn on once again.

The only sound was the dim buzzing that accompanied the light outside and even then he could barely hear it. That sound was probably the only thing that gave him something to focus on so that he could keep his mind sharp. There was not much else to hear unless you counted the bindings on his wrist that rattled every time he moved an inch.

The man was on his feet; his wrist encased in manacles and hung on a hook that extended from the ceiling. He was able to touch the ground so it wasn't as uncomfortable as it could have been. His arms were stretched out so that he felt a small amount of pain but he didn't feel like his arms were going to be pulled from their sockets. Being in this position was a mild annoyance to him. He could tolerate it though as he was trained for things like this.

He looked up and could barely make out a long metal rod that was holding the hook in position. It was a strong metal and even if he tried to swing the rod would not budge an inch. He tried it several times hoping to gain enough momentum to free his self by slipping the chain off the hook. After the tenth attempt he realized it was a futile effort as the hook was curved enough that if he hadn't tried to unhook himself he could have sworn that it was a ring. Whoever built this cell did not want their prisoner to escape.

Grunting a bit, he pulled down with as much weight as he could afford hoping to make the hook come down at least another inch so he could rest the soles of his feet against the concrete floor. This also proved to be a futile effort as all it did was hurt his arms and give him the sensation that they were coming out of their sockets.

He pulled his hands apart and heard the rattle of the chains that kept him from bringing his arms down and resting them at his side. It wasn't very long but it was a bit more comfortable then the charka rope he was bound in when he first entered this village.

His dark eyes looked around his prison again and he saw nothing in his field of vision the shadows only served to make the room look bigger. Looking in the direction the door was he let his eyes wander down again to the little bit of light coming through it.

He wished they would do something, anything to him so that he wouldn't be here in this eternal silence that was slowly driving his already fragile mind off the deep end. To some, this would be considered a mixed blessing since they weren't in here and trying to extract information out of him like most men in his situation would have to endure. He knew that was one of the tactics an interrogator used to try and break down their prisoner's will. Bathe them in darkness and if the ninja was weak minded they would start talking to themselves and crack as soon as anybody came in. It was one of the things that separated some of the lower ranks from the higher ones. Fear of darkness was not a new fear to anyone, but being able to keep your cool and mind while in a situation tended to make you a bit more resilient to what they were going to do to you later. At least some would become more resilient. He knew of others who would break as soon as someone entered and began to question them.

The light flickered off and bathed him into darkness once more and he tried once again to gain momentum to try and swing his self off the hook that he was placed on. He growled as again he was stopped by whatever ridges were placed on the hooks to slow him down and make him immobile. He shook the chains for a second hearing them rattle reminding him of the situation he was currently in.

Taking a deep breath he tried to calm himself down as he was starting to get worked up over nothing. The silence was a good thing he rationalized. This meant they weren't here prodding his mind and calling him by that name. They were not filling his head with lies about him belonging to this village. No one was here asking him why his allegiance shifted from Konoha to Kiri. No one was here asking him what happened on his mission when he left here all those months ago.

His thoughts came to a crashing halt.

'Mission when I left here.' He turned the thought over in his head and realized it made no sense at all. The last mission he could recall was the one where he was assigned to kill Misato and that wasn't too long ago. There was no way he could have been on a mission from this village if he couldn't recall a single thing from before that. He only had his instinct to go by and that was pointing to them all being liars.

Yet, one thing didn't make sense.

He took another deep breath and closed his eyes staring at the darkness behind his eyelids. The simple fact was, he was alive, granted he was breathing in the stagnate air of this cell, but he was breathing. That is what didn't make sense to him at all. Most ninjas tended to kill their target or find some way to incapacitate them long enough to get them to their own village. Then they would wake them up in some of the most harmful and effective ways possible. One of them being the situation he was currently in.

Opening his eyes he looked back at the light under the cell door. He knew several different techniques that could be used to put someone out of action for anything from minutes to days to weeks. He heard of several members of his village's ninjas being able to keep some people under for months at a time by slowing their heart rate to an almost standstill. The silver haired man, Kakashi, should have known several ways to keep him under and unconscious. He was in Mist's Bingo Book for a quite a few reasons and it was part of his reputation him that he knew over thousand jutsus. He had to at least know one way to knock out a prisoner for the trip back to this village. The question was why he didn't use it?

To be honest when he woke up over the silver man's shoulder he was surprised to be carried almost gently. Granted it wasn't the gentlest way to carry someone but it wasn't as rough as it could have been. He felt the smooth gliding that could only come from years of being a ninja and was surprised to notice that he was carried firm enough to not be dropped but not constricting as if he was a prisoner. He was almost carried like he was an injured friend.

If he remembered well he could recall how startled he was to be over someone's shoulder but he wasn't as afraid as he should have been. He felt a strange sense of comfort that he shouldn't have felt with an enemy. The thought that he felt comfortable around those three when he first woke up was not what he had planned. It was those thoughts that kept him from opening his eyes completely and letting anyone know he was awake. He knew that they had a seal on him; he could still feel the lingering traces of some force that was applied to his hand. He couldn't have anything like that happening so it was with some resistance that he drove his knee into the man's sternum and started their whole episode that lead him here back to this village and presently into this cell.

The sounds of something shuffling across the ground had the man looking at the door. At the current moment it sounded far away barely audible over the buzz of that light outside. The sound was slowly getting louder letting him know they were getting closer and he had to wonder about the layout of where he was. He wondered if there were other cells like this around and if they were heading to one or was someone finally coming to take care of him. Either way it didn't matter it's not like he had much of a choice in their decision. He was just another prisoner to them and he had no say in when someone was going to see him. He also wondered if whoever was coming to do whatever to him was a ninja. Those sounds were not something a ninja made they tended to be silent and stealthy, unless it was another tactic to try and break a prisoner.

The sounds of shuffling stopped right outside his cell before what sounded like keys were being jingled. The rattling sound was heard for a few moments as whoever it was tried to find the right key to this door. The tumblers made soft clicking sounds as the key was inserted into the lock and turned. The lock clicked into an unlocked position sounding very loud in the quiet cell where he was kept. He knew that is was just his mind making it sound so loud but even he had to suppress a wince as his ears rang a little bit. The sound of a handle being turned and he saw a slim column of light as the cell door was slowly being opened.

Closing his eyes from the incoming light he had to wince as it his eyes despite his efforts. He knew that going from darkness to light was a quick way to go blind but even the softness of the neon light outside didn't stop the stinging of the sensation.

He saw an image of a burly man with scars across his face in his mind's eye. The man was wearing Konoha's headband proudly on his head. He saw a quick grin aimed in his direction and Aikido had to wonder where this image came from unbidden. He shook his head to quickly get rid of the image.

Squinting slightly as he opened his eyes he did a quick appraisal of the person who stood in the doorway. It was a tall man, probably taller than him, with blonde hair that was slicked back with gel. The man's eyes were a red color and those eyes were narrowed as they looked at him. He was wearing what looked like leather pants that were tucked into booted feet as well as a long leather jacket that was kept open to show the black vest underneath. In his left hand, which he noticed was gloved; he held the skeleton key that he just used to open the door.

"Hope I didn't interrupt any of your mundane thinking." The voice was deep and held a dark tone with a bit of an accent to it. One he wasn't sure he ever heard before.

The man moved his right hand and he hit a switch on the wall. It bathed the room in yellowish light and again Aikido found himself having to close his eyes from the bright shine of the bulb this time it was a lot harder to get out of his eyes as it was in his cell.

He heard a chuckle and knew it was probably the man laughing at his discomfort. He heard the sound of the man's boots hitting the floor as he walked in a few feet and closed the door behind him. The metal door gave a screech as it was once again closed.

Opening his eyes again he almost jumped back when he realized the other man was just inches away from his face staring at him with red eyes that almost seemed to glow in the light.

"You know," the man started as he began to walk around him like a predator analyzing its prey, "I don't see what's so special about you." He said as he left the man's vision completely now standing behind the captive. He allowed his eyes to take over everything once quickly before he moved clockwise again till he was standing back in front of the man.

"You see our head of T & I was startled to hear that you were here."

Ibiki the name was supplied by his mind and he had to wonder where it came from. He didn't know anybody named Ibiki and the only person he knew that was head of T&I was named Serif and he was back in Kiri probably doing the same thing that the man before him was most likely going to start soon.

"To be honest almost everyone was confused what to do with you." the blonde haired man went on. His eyes staring straight into Aikido's, never wavering although they were slightly narrowed. "Half of them wanted to release you and the other half wanted the pleasure of doing this to you themselves." The man took a step back. "They were all eliminated from the possible chance of this session. You know the rules about torturing those you know."

Aikido's eyes widened a fraction at the words of the man. He didn't have any friends here, not the head of T&I and not anyone at all. How could they keep saying these kinds of things to him and maintain a straight face. This was probably one of those routines to get him to open up to integration and he knew that no matter what they said he had to keep his tongue in his mouth and not tell them anything.

"Now now, don't make those faces. You see I'm very good at what I do." The man said moving his hand under his coat and to the back of his pants from the look at it. In a second he pulled out a kunai the light glinting off the steel as he slowly turned it from side to side.

The man moved close to him again and grabbed the bottom of his shirt. He brought the kunai under the material and began to cut it vertically. The small holes from the fishnet made it quite easy to cut almost giving him the impression the man was cutting through butter. When the man reached the collar he quickly pulled the kunai back and waved it for a second before ripping the cloth off the man with his free hand. It gave a loud rip as the rest of the seams were forcibly stretched to breaking. He felt the material pull against his skin as it was bent in a direction it wasn't supposed to before he heard more rips and the telltale sign of his shirt being destroyed. When the man was done he dropped the cloth to the floor and started at it in disinterest for a moment before turning to look back at him.

Again the interrogator began to walk around him look him up and down stopping at his back before placing a gloved hand over the wound he had acquired not that long ago. The man ran a gloved hand up and placed it where he knew the other scar that decorated his back was. The old wound he caught glimpses of but never really quite knew how he got it.

"So this is the legendary wound you got from defending that brat." The man muttered more to himself then to the person who's back he was touching

"It seems you have been injured though in almost the same spot how befitting. I heard he was one of the ones to bring you back here." The man ran his gloved hand down to where the flesh was still trying to mend its self from where the Water Burst Shuriken tore into his flesh. He almost expected the man to press a hand against the wound causing him pain and trying to make him scream out.

When he felt the cool feeling of healing charka pouring into his skin he almost had to turn around and ask the man what he was doing. He held his tongue though. It would not to do question the man. He was already surprised that the man had revealed a lot to him so far without really saying anything at all.

His hair was pulled down harshly and he had to look up into red eyes of the man who had just healed his wound.

"Don't mistake what I did for kindness." The voice said low and sinisterly that he had to suppress a shudder. The man pulled Aikido's hair down harder and he had to wince at pain in his skull from the pulling. "I rather you not be harmed before we had the proper chance to discuss things." The man said before he released the Aikido's hair pushing him forward slight to bump his chin into his chest. The blonde walked back in front of him and held the kunai again.

In an instant he was in front of Aikido and cutting into his skin. He kept his jaw clenched as he felt the pain of the kunai in his chest. It wasn't hitting anything vital at all it just seemed to be cutting away at flesh and muscle of his chest. He felt the blood running down his chest and kept his breathing as steady as he could. No need to get worked up over it. Nothing was being broken and he knew that the man could inflict a lot more damage to him then just cutting his skin. He did allow himself to relax a bit when the man finished.

He felt the cooling effect of healing chakra and had to look down to see just what the man did. In the center of his chest were four curved lines that he instantly remembered from his headband. The man had just carved into his chest his village's symbol and healed it to where it scabbed over lightly.

"It wouldn't do to have you forget where you are from now would it?" The man questioned as he once again reached behind his back this time pulling out a black bandanna. The blonde walked behind him again as he unfurled it and in a second his head was yanked back as the bandanna was forced into his mouth and roughly tied tightly at the back of his head. He almost muffled a sound but he realized that is probably what the man wanted and why he chose this tactic.

"Wouldn't want you to bite off your tongue on me now would we?" Aikido could swear this time that the man's eyes did glow.

Aikido could already start to smell the scent of the blood on his chest and knew that before this man was done he would smell a lot more of it.

Manicured nails drummed on the desk as the woman held her head in one hand. She gazed at the three men gathered in her office and wondered what they could have all been around for. From the fact that three of them were in her office and not turning up missing had her smiling internally since she knew that they would be able to take care of any threat.

With a sigh she took her head off her hand and leaned forward on her desk interlacing fingers together she placed her chin on top of them, as she looked them all over once again.

Sasuke was looking out a window as if he rather be anywhere but here. Naruto wasn't his usual bubbly self and chose instead to look at the tiles in her office. Kakashi had his book out but instead of that slouched over position he was standing up straight and she could see his eye wasn't really reading what was in front of him if him being on the same page for minutes now was any indication.

She knew after this she was going to need a drink. Hell she was tempted to have a drink now and she didn't even know why.

"Speak." She said loudly enough for them all to stop what they were doing and look at her.

Not a single word was spoken and this caught her interest in an instant. Most times when she told them to speak someone would start rambling about something, anything, just so they could get her attention. Just the simple fact that no one was speaking told her this was probably worse then what she originally thought it was.

"Fine." she muttered. She cast her gaze on Kakashi and narrowed her eyes at him. Making a come here motion with her left hand she pointed to a spot in front of her desk and growled.

The silver haired man slowly made his way to the front of her desk and gave her a blank look as he tucked away his favorite orange book. He tilted his head to the side as if asking her what she wanted and Tsunade knew that it was just something to piss her off even more. The man had the nerve to scratch the back of his head as if he was nervous but she wasn't buying it.

"Report." was uttered in no a bullshit voice. That voice was enough to make Naruto snap to attention and even Sasuke with his already perfect postured stoop up straighter. The silver haired man didn't change much if anything this made him fall back into his usual slouch that she was more used to seeing when he was in the village.

"Jounin Hatake Kakashi reporting-"

"I already know that!" she yelled at the man as he started his report in the most infuriating way possible. She knew the mission number rank and the likes of it. She was the one who assigned it to the man and his team and knew that it was his way of pissing her off.

"Start with mission specifications and go from there." she said through gritted teeth

"The mission specifications were to proceed to the village of the Mist under the guise of tourist and figure out why Konoha's ninjas had suddenly been disappearing. Since the village would be having a festival where they would allow almost in one in it was the best time to infiltrate."

"A little more than a week ago we set out for Kiri. The trip to the harbor was uneventful and it didn't take much time at all to get there. We stayed in a hotel for the night and boarded a ship in the morning. There wasn't anything unexpected about the trip although there was this irritating kid who kept asking me why I wore a mask and wouldn't leave me alone for the entire trip."

The silver haired mans eye seemed to narrow a bit as he thought of that young child who kept insisting he was a ninja cause he chose to keep his mask on while being undercover. He knew he could have probably transformed with a jutsu and not wore his mask but, without it he felt naked and he rather wear it then not. Masks weren't uncommon in the ninja world.

"When we left the ship we were greeted by four mist ninja. They really didn't care who we were or what we were doing there it seemed as long as we made no commotion or disturbed the festivities they said it was ok." The man closed his eye for a second before opening it back up and continuing his report. "As we entered the village gates I felt a familiar chakra. I didn't know who it belonged to but I knew I felt it before. I could tell it was one of ours. When I tried to search for it, it disappeared before I had a chance to locate it. "

"Wait, you felt his chakra and didn't care to let us know it?" The blonde said fist at his side clenching in anger. "If you would have told us earlier maybe we could have all been able to look for him!"

"Look for whom?" Tsunade asked curiously.

They shared a look and she saw Naruto started to fidget.

"I'll ask again. Look for whom?" she said through gritted teeth. It seems that they were all trying to give her the run around and it was slowly working on her nerves.

"It was one of our ninjas." Kakashi answered but the way he said it was cryptic.

"Well that is good news did you find him?" she asked her bad mood disappearing in light of what was just said. If they found at least one of the ninjas who had gone missing it meant that there was hope that the other ones were still alive somewhere and their families would be overjoyed.

She looked behind Kakashi and saw Sasuke and Naruto share a look and the blonde wincing.

The silver haired man looked at her with a blank expression.

"As I said it was brief and we were being guided by mist ninja I couldn't exactly break away from the group to go wondering after a chakra signature I thought I felt. It was only for a brief second then it was gone. We stayed there for the night and then continued with our mission. We split up to try and see if we could find anything suspicious. I ended up in a little tavern and over heard two people talking about a ninja who just killed a traitor in their bingo book." Kakashi closed his eyes trying to remember the words of the conversation and omitting the unimportant parts of it. "The man was mad about not being able to kill the woman and mentioned something about turning people into husks of skin. That was all I was able to gather from them but it seemed that whatever they were talking about kept the man upset. They also mentioned a new ninja joining their ranks in the past year."

"Well you said you split up what happened to the two of you." She looked in Sasuke's direction.

"I happened to stumble upon a concert they seemed to be having. I cannot say that what I got was anywhere near what Kakashi obtained. The only thing that really happened was a women was speaking to me about," He had to fight down a blush as he thought back to what that woman said. "how she saw me with Kakashi and Naruto." He thought it was best to go ahead and avoid what the women truly talked about since it wasn't important to the mission and he didn't want to deal with his feelings for the blonde just yet. "It was rather weird that she saw me with them, I couldn't sense any chakra from her at all and when I was leaving she took the stage I think she was a singer or something."

The blonde stepped forward and wrung his hands together as he knew it was his turn to tell his own story of what happened when they split up. He locked eyes with the other blonde before he began.

"I went to some area called La. Yeah that's it two letters long what kind of district is only two letters longs I mean come on! What is wrong with who-"

"Naruto, you're rambling." Tsunade interjected.

"Sorry." He said hastily as he tried to organize his thoughts on what he wanted to say. He decided since no one else spoke of it he would have to it was part of his report. He shot the dark haired teen a look wondering why he didn't do it but then he realized that he only saw him after he did. He also wondered if the chakra Kakashi was talking about was Iruka's.

"I was walking minding my own business when some guy pushed me. I almost got into a fight with him about me watching where I was going but I was trying to keep a low profile. If I wasn't I would have totally kicked his ass. Anyway, this guy comes and helps me out his name was Serif. He treated me to ramen and that was pretty much it."

"Is that all?" The leader asked.

"There is one other thing, I saw Iruka. At least I thought it was him I wasn't sure so I sought out the first person I could find and when I found Sasuke we were both sure that it was him."

"He approached me shortly after the concert and I noticed him as well I wasn't too sure since he had his hair was down but the scar on his face made me strongly believe it was him." Sasuke said

"I met up with the two of them and confirmed that I also saw him. I change the mission to find and pursue him. It seemed that he knew we were behind him because he led us out of the village and into the forest surrounding it before he stopped into a clearing." Kakashi continued with what happened on the mission.

"What did he say?" Tsunade was not curious this mission wasn't like any she heard before and she heard quite a lot of mission reports. Ninjas that went missing didn't turn up a year later unless they were rogue.

She paled at her thought.

"He stood there waiting for us to approach him. Naruto tried run and hug him but he ended up hugging a tree and almost had a weapon lodged into his head. He asked who we were."

"I called him Iruka-sensei but he only seemed to get angry at that and straight out attacked us." The blonde teen uttered closing his eyes tightly as he replayed what happened in his mind. "He admitted that he. . . that he. . ."

"That he was the one who killed all the other ninja." Sasuke finished for the blonde who was now shaking and blinking back tears.

"WHAT!" she yelled getting up from her chair with such force that she knocked it back.

"He openly admitted he killed every single one of our ninjas who set foot in the village. He also said that his name wasn't Iruka it was Aikido. He attacked us all with clones but we were able to kill them off." Kakashi continued the report.

"Was he under control? Was it a disguise? Could you break the control? Was it a Genjutsu" The woman rapidly fired off her questions hoping that what he was saying wasn't true.

"He wore their headband around his neck. I checked to see if there was any nearby chakra but there was no trace of a controller. The only person there was him and he was trying to kill us."

The woman slumped her energy leaving her. She was upset that she lost a good ninja and if she was right they probably killed him off.

"Someone attacked Naruto. He protected him with his abilities and passed out. I was able to tie him up with chakra rope and we brought him back."

She sighed in relief if he was back that means mist wouldn't have gotten his-

"Wait you said he asked who you were?" she asked cautiously not sure if she heard right the first time.

"Yes he asked us who we were before he attacked us. It seems he doesn't remember who he is." Kakashi reiterated

"Memory Loss?" she placed a hand on the desk leaning over it slightly to stare into Kakashi's eye.

"I don't know. Sometimes he seems to have a bit of his memory and other times he seems to be completely Aikido."

"When he saved me he called me by my name before passing out," Naruto said.

"On the way back he spoke of my betrayal. He said he didn't know anything about me but he was able to recall exactly what happened the night I left the village." The black haired teen didn't like to bring up his betrayal at all and rather it stay buried, yet he knew in a moment like this that important fact could save or kill the man who was in jail currently.

"He also called me by my name before reaching over to try and steal my book. When I pulled it away from him he stared at me for a second then looked confused and then he went silent." Kakashi added.

"So we're not sure if he has his memory or not? He shows signs of it once in a while yet other times he is this Aikido person?" she wanted to get everything right so she could figure out what was going on.

"Where is he now?"

"T&I he was taken there as soon as we got back and let him know that he had to be locked up."

"Shit!" she shouted as she walked from behind her desk and hastily out the door.

"This sucks we got Iruka back and it only raises more questions." Naruto stated as the woman left the room.

Aikido jumped back the best he could to avoid the sharp blade that the blonde wielded. It was a longer and sharper then a kunai and already had drops his blood running down it.

He was cut in dozens of places all over his body but none of it was anything life threatening. He felt the man was drawing whatever he wanted to do, out as long as he could.

A quick slash upwards while he wasn't paying attention and a line of his blood painted the floor. He grunted into the bandanna trying the best he could to keep it quiet. When he saw the man smirk he realized that he failed in his endeavor.

"So you do have a voice," he said. Spinning the blade in his hand he swung it again this time cutting Aikido horizontally across the stomach. More blood fell to the floor but this time he held back any sound from escaping

Aikido didn't like the way that this man was acting. He was strange and his antics weren't what he knew about. If it was someone else they would have proceeded to ask him a few questions for him to answer. This man seemed to want him to sufferer and he had to wonder if he was one of the people who he said he wasn't apart.

Biting the gag in his mouth as another cut was formed he tried to think of a happy place. He needed a place where he knew that this pain wouldn't be able to hurt him. It was the only thing he could do to make sure he didn't give this man the satisfaction of hearing his voice. With what the man said last it seemed that he just wanted him to scream and moan or something before he let up or made the sound escapes him more. He knew that he had to just get through this till the man got bored and moved on with what he was doing.

Hearing the sounds of what could only be heels on the floor he turned his head slightly wondering if it was only his imagination. When the man quickly undid the bandanna around his head he knew that it had to be someone big if they were coming. The sounds of a knock his cell door and the man turned around suddenly proceeding to open it as quickly as he could.

The woman standing on the other side was tall and blonde. When she looked at him with her brown eyes she saw them widen for a second before they narrowed and turned towards the blonde.

"What are you doing?" she said in a low voice that Aikido could barely pick up

"It's custom to do this to all captured ninja." The blonde man replied as he stood at attention in front of his superior

"Since when do we do it to one of our own?"

"When does one of our own come into our village with his hands tied and a mist headband around his neck?" The blonde man questioned her.

"What did you say?" she asked not hearing about that little detail.

"He was brought in with a mist headband around his neck. As well as having his hands tied and his chakra sealed."

Walking further into the room Tsunade made a face as she smelt the blood in the air. She saw lines of it on the floor and saw the blood on Iruka's skin and realized that maybe it was as bad as she thought. She knew most of the wounds weren't aimed for anything serious but it still didn't stop her from going over him with the eye of a medic nin. Moving forward so that she was in front of the tied up man she looked him in the eyes. In them she saw almost nothing, which was surprising. When she walked in the room she could have thought she saw a familiar spark of knowledge in his eyes.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked softly. The man in front of her just seemed to glare at her eyes narrowed in distaste before he looked away to the wall in the far sides of the room somewhere.

"Look at me when I am talking to you." She reached out and took his face in between her hand moving it so he was back to looking at her. His eyes narrowed more and he bit her in between the thumb and pointer finger. She retracted her hand quickly inspecting it to see if he drew blood and was glad when she noticed not a single trace of it just some teeth marks.

"How dare you." The blonde man said his low voiced outraged as he witnessed the scene. Taking out that blade again and driving it through the brown haired man's side.

Aikido not expecting this pain grunted loudly as the blade probably hit something vital inside him. He was almost amazed at with what he did to the blonde woman how the man reacted. He must have done something really bad for the man to react the way he did.

"Takeshi!" the woman yelled.

The blonde man pulled out the blade and turned to the woman not looking the least bit disturbed by her yelling at him.

"Leave us." She ordered simply.

The man looked like he wanted to argue with her but instead he just nodded once and walked right to the door. Looking at her one more time she nodded and he left without a sound closing the door tightly as he left.

Approaching Aikido she looked at the wound that was freshly made. Blood was pouring down his leg and what was left of his pants but the man didn't seem to hit anything vital. Calling up her chakra she healed the wound letting it close before taking her hand away. She still didn't know what he was doing here but she didn't want any of her ninja to be injured. Even if it was only closing up a wound.

"Iruka," she started "what happened to you?" Looking him in the eyes she wanted to see if she could get an honest answerer out of him.

"That isn't my name." Aikido responded almost angry. Here was another person who called him by that name.

"Then what is your name?" Tsunade asked curious about who this man thought he was.

"It doesn't matter, does it?" He wriggled in his binding a second. "If you're expecting me to thank you for getting rid of that man don't worry, I won't. I didn't need you to heal me either."

"What do you mean you didn't need me to heal you?"

"You're just like that man. You'll say something about me being from here and how I saved someone, heal me, and then try to make me believe I have friends in this village."

"You do have friends this village. Dozens of them actually don't you remember?"

"I have no friends here!" He yelled at her the sounds of the chains on his wrist making sounds as he tried to dive at her to make her shut up.

"Iruka, what is wrong with you?" She asked again.

"That isn't my name! Stop calling me that!" He yelled loudly again trying to move his hands so he could strangle the woman who was before him. That name did what it usually did, fill him with pain doubt and other emotions he didn't want to deal with at the moment. So he did the only thing he could he spat in her face.

The appalled look on the blonde's face made him want to laugh. He kept his laughter to himself thought as he watched her rub the spit off her cheek. Her face turned completely red and she backhanded him the next second with the same hand she just used to wipe away the spit. When he righted himself she saw that he had a split lip.

"Do you know who I am?" She yelled furiously.

"A bitch?" he asked without the slightest hint of remorse.

Driving her fist hard into his stomach she clenched her teeth. Ally or not no one was allowed to talk to her like that and she would make sure that he learned his lesson.

Letting out a wheezing cough as the air was driven out of his lungs he fell forward the only things keeping him up were the chains encasing his wrist.

"Hitting me won't make you any less of a bitch." he spat out while trying to regain his breath.

"Watch it Brat." she warned cracking her knuckles knowing that she would probably end up using her fist again if his insolence kept up. She would say that Iruka wouldn't act like this but the man before her wasn't acting anything like the kind hearted teacher she knew. He was acting like a completely different person, exactly as they as they had said he was earlier. She didn't know who this man but something told her he didn't know who he was either.

"I will ask again, do you know who I am?" this time he shook his head instead of mouthing off to her. So she figured out he could learn his lesson.

"I'm the Hokage of this village, and you will not talk to me like that again." She stated simply watching for any flicker of emotion on his face.

Holding back a scathing response he allowed himself to look her over. She looked a little too young to be leading a village full of ninja. She was blonde and seemed to know some medical jutsu since she healed his wound. Not the same way that Takeshi seemed to heal the mark over his back but completely. He didn't feel any of the pain there anymore and he was almost thankful for that.

"Well excuse me for not bowing to you but as you can see I am a tied up at the moment." He said ratting his chains.

Gritting her teeth she moved closer to the man the placing her hand over his head. Her hands were enveloped in healing chakra glowing green as she looked for any signs of injury on his head.

"What are you doing?"

"Shut up." She hissed and looked for anything that could have caused him to lose his memory. Knowing how long he has been gone she knew that it was a long shot. It was one she was willing to take though.

Aikido kept his mouth shut as she did what it was she wanted to do. When she pulled her hands away frowning he knew that she didn't find what she was looking for. She gave him a look and walked out of the room after that.

Outside Tsunade closed the door and leaned back against it. She couldn't find traces of any swelling or bruising that would have let her know that he lost him memory in a combat. She swore that she knew that real him was in him somewhere if that one second told her anything

Sighing she started to form ideas and think of the paperwork she would need to make sure that he wasn't touched but she knew that she could only hold off standard T&I protocol for a while even if she was the kage. The elders would have her head if they found her protecting a traitor and she just hopped that they didn't find out before she wanted them to. She just knew Takeshi was ready to go back torturing the man.

Kato's fist clenched as he realized that something probably did happen to his nephew. It had been several days and there was still no word of him. A few of his Anbu didn't even report back to him as they were still in their search for the missing ninja. He knew that they were trying their best but that didn't stop him from worrying. His only remaining family member was gone and he felt the pain of loss again. He knew that he couldn't lose hope but in this instant it was gone.

The man sighed and unclenched his fist as he looked down at the paperwork on his desk. It was mostly reports about suspicious activities that went on during the festival. He knew they shouldn't allow people into their village but it became such a tradition he didn't dare change it. Some of his ninjas went on high alert during the festival pointing out everything foreigners did. Some slacked off and didn't seem to care and just enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the over crowded streets basking in temporary happiness and not the usual melancholy of death that usually followed them around. He knew that this is what his village needed the downtime for relaxing.

He should have spent time with his family though, granted it only consisted of him and his nephew but that was still family. They were all the other had at the moment and he couldn't help but feel like a failure. If he wouldn't have been so caught up with what was going on in the village he knew he could have prevented anything that could have happened. He knew his nephew wasn't weak but it still did not stop him from wanting to know what cause him to go missing. He swore that whatever caused the man's disappearance was going to be ripped apart by his own damn hands.

He shook his head trying to clear his thoughts and stared down at the first sheet in the pile and quickly skimmed over it. As expected it was nothing of interest just a report about some kid who almost caused a fight in one of the subsections of the village. Looking over it he saw that it was resolved by Serif which he found odd, but didn't question it. His head of T&I was a bit more happy then most people would care to see but he knew that the man could become exceedingly cold when it came to his line of work. If he didn't know better he could swear that the man was two different people.

A soft knock was heard before a second later the door was opened Kato looked up from where he was sitting scanning reports and he growled. He didn't like to be interrupted even if it was something as boring as going over reports himself.

"Come in." he said through gritted teeth. He was still angry over the fact that his nephew was missing and knew that he couldn't take it out on his secretary no matter how pissed off he was.

"A woman and her child are seeking an audience to speak with you." The secretary said simply gauging his leader's reaction.

Kato's fist clenched again as he didn't feel the mood to humor anybody with his current attitude and was about to tell the man that exact reasoning when they spoke up again.

"They said they had some information which is important to you."

Kato's eyes narrowed as he thought of what kind of information anyone could give him that he would find important.

"Did they tell you what it was?" he asked now curious about what it could be.

"No, they said that they would only talk to you about it sir."

Eyes still narrowed and his jaw clenched as he nodded to the man and watched as he left. If the person didn't give him anything of value he would have them tossed into a cell or give them a session with Serif. It would be a lot better than him flaying them alive on the spot. He didn't like to waste time and didn't care for other people wasting his time even if he was the leader.

Seconds later he heard his door open and two people entered his office. One was a tall woman who seemed to be pushing a small girl of about ten in front of her. The woman didn't seem afraid of him and seemed more concerned about the girl though.

The little girl had tears trailing down her cheeks and in her hand seems to be fragments of something that was once made of ice. The ice shards seemed to gleam in the light of the room.

"What are you here for?" his voice echoed in the large room.

"It's not me who has something to tell you." The woman stated as she pushed her daughter a little further ahead of her.

The Mizukage recognized the young girl as the kid that Aikido used his blood limit for. He looked into her hands and saw that the shards were slowly melting. If he was right-

"It broke." The little girl said meekly as she looked at the man in front of her.

"What did?" Kato said raising an eyebrow at the girl.

"H...he made a rose for me and it broke." The girl said casting her eyes back down to what was in her hands and letting tears fall once again as she saw the shards melting.

"Exactly what happened?" he questioned her softly not wanting to scare the girl more then he needed to.

"I was staring at it and it broke right in front of me." Yari said in her tearful voice.

"Can you tell me anything that happened before it broke?" he continued trying to pull what he could from the little girl. If his hunch was right she was probably the last one to see him before his disappearance.

"He was escorting me through the festival and then mom came and picked me up. When I got home I started at it like I usually do and then it just shattered." She spoke with a tearful voice.

"Hey listen," The Mizukage spoke as softly as he could. "I need you to think back was there anything wrong with him before you left with your mother?"

Yari closed her eyes and though back a few days ago. She tried to see everything like her teacher taught her to but realized it wasn't as easy as her teacher made it seem. Then again her sensei said being a ninja wasn't something one became overnight.

Opening her eyes she looked at the leader of the village. "There were some people following him. One of them had blonde hair and" She shook her head losing the image she made. "I'm sorry that is all I can remember."

"The other two had black hair. One was styled in back oddly and the others hair seemed to defy gravity" The woman interjected for her daughter. She caught a better glance at the men who were following the ninja.

The man's gaze switched from her daughter to her in an instant.

"Did they have anything else that you could recall?" he needed to know what else she could tell him.

"One was older and the other two seemed to be teenagers. The older wore an eye patch over his left eye. There was some charka coming off of him but I couldn't tell what it was. It was probably the chakra from a minor transformation." The woman answered quickly used to being grilled for answers.

Kato nodded at her and tucked the information away. He walked back around his desk and looked at the first report there again. A blonde haired foreigner-

"Have you ever seen any of them in the village before?" he asked staring down at the report. If his hunch was right he needed to get Serif in here as soon as possible.

"No sir." She responded.

"Where is Aikido?" the youngest in the room inquired.

"He's been missing for a few days." He spoke with without the barest trace of emotion in his voice. With how he felt at the moment he didn't think it was entirely possible.

"What!" The little girl yelled as new tears started to come to her eyes. She turned them to her mother. "He's lying right mom, tell me he's lying."

"I think it's best if you take her home." He commanded as he sat back down in his chair.

"Mommy where is Aikido?" The little girl's voice was heard from the hallway as she taken out of his office. He sighed as he felt the same way she did angry and scared but unlike her he wasn't allowed to cry. He had to find his nephew and get him home where he belonged.

"Anemone!" he yelled the instant his doors closed and a second later a female Anbu member who had a mask with floral markings appeared. "Go get Serif." He ordered. The woman tilted her head to the side almost questioning him. He responded to the unasked question "No he isn't in trouble but he is needed here now." As soon as the words left his lips she disappeared in the swirls of water vapors.

As soon as Anemone's charka was gone another new chakra was felt and in an instant he was on alert thinking it was an attack. He was relieved to see a porcelain mask and arms bared with the swirl of an Anbu tattoo.

"Eel, what do you have to report?" he asked letting his guard drop down slightly in the presence of the lanky man.

The man in question reached underneath his cloak and pulled out a tattered kimono the bottom of it had waves on it and he realized it was the one someone had sent to his nephew. It wasn't as pristine as it once was. The blue was filthy with dirt and the edges of it were frayed. What was once something beautiful to look at looked like the person wearing it was attacked and dragged off.

The man stared at it.

"Where did you find this at?" Kato looked at the cloth still being held out and closed his eyes before looking back into the hidden ones of eel.

"I found it a few miles outside of the village. It was partially buried as if someone knew what we were looking for." Eel answered his voice deep as he waited for another question to be asked.

"Buried? You mean someone tampered with something like this and didn't report it?" he uttered as anger slowly started to creep into his voice.

"Correct sir." The man confirmed.

"What area was it in when you found it? Do you know who was patrolling that area before you?" he yelled out as his anger got the best of him. Someone was trying to keep secrets from him in his own village something which affected him directly he felt he had the right to be pissed off.

Before any of Kato's questions could be answered the sound a teleportation jutsu was heard and this time two water vapors appeared. One was Anemone the other was the tall blonde man Serif.

"You asked for me sir." The blonde said respectfully.

"What can you tell me about this foreigner?" he said as he picked up the piece of paper and handed it to the blonde. Green eyes scanned the page quickly to see what the man was talking about before he nodded and handed it back.

"His name is Naruto and he is from fire country. He almost got into a fight with Loki who is currently behind bars again." He cut himself off before he mentioned that the kid's favorite food was ramen.

"Did you see Aikido at anytime?" he questioned.

"I think I saw him briefly when I was leaving." The blonde furrowed his brows in confusion. "Is something wrong?"

"Aikido has been missing for a few days." He pointed to where Eel was standing holding a kimono.

"Have you-"

"Don't you think I already done that!" Kato said as he searched his drawers. Finding what he wanted he pulled out a scroll unraveling it he looked over the names written on it. Running a finger across several of them he waited.

In a few seconds chakra flared and three men were kneeling before him arm across their chest and their head bowed down.

"You summoned." The three Anbu agents said in unison.

"You five," he directed a stare at Anemone then one to Eel. "Are you come with me we are going to Konoha."

"Sir if you don't mind me asking how can you be so sure that the kid was involved in Aikido's disappearance?" Serif questioned.

"He was following Aikido at the festival. The little girl and her mother told me and if my hunch is right they probably took him there. I will see to it that he personally is brought back home safely." the man walked from around his desk the scroll with the names on it disappearing into a hidden place only he had access to. Throwing the doors to his office he made to storm out when he was met by an elder who looked shocked at being caught with his ear to the door.

"Lord Mizukage you can't just leave you have a entire village to take care of!" the elder cried out as he ran in front of the Kage hoping that he would be able to persuade the man to stay and not follow on his foolish journey.

"You deal with it!" The man yelled as he made his way his way past the elder.

Instead of looking miffed the elder looked pleased with what the leader had said. He knew that the other elders could help to control the village but maybe this is what he needed to persuade the others to appoint someone else as leader. Someone else they could control a lot easier then the explosive man.

That simple thought caused a smile to light up his face and he turned to go to the room where council meetings were held already planning on what to say to convince them and what proof he could provide.

'How long have I been here?' the prisoner wondered. Without any windows or light it was hard to tell when one day ended and another day began. The only thing that could pass for time was when some woman came in and force-fed him something that tasted horrible. He knew it wasn't anywhere near as good as it should be but it was enough to keep him alive. She had come three times so he assumed three days had passed.

He began to wonder what was worse. Being here alone in the cell or having either of the blondes in here with him. The woman was fun to rile up all he had to do was call her a name and threaten her. It seemed she was cautious to enough to heal him though so she wouldn't try to seriously harm him. This wasn't that much of a surprise if he thought about it higher ups didn't like to get their hands dirty and he assumed that she was one of those people. She probably thought she was too good to dirty her hands. Then again if she was why did she heal him? It wasn't as bad as it looked but still she approached him and healed his wound.

He wondered what he said that made her leave though she seemed to make a hasty exit.

The man though seemed to be in a different state of mind. He liked to inflict pain, yet it seemed he didn't want to seriously harm him. He knew that the man was bound to know ways to really disable an opponent but he supposed that the fun wasn't in making him hurt too much, it was making him scream. He was glad that he had yet to really scream though. The most he did was yell at the blonde woman who again left him alone. The man didn't seem worth his time to even argue with or let alone speak with. The woman on the other hand he felt some kind of connection with.

Why was it every time he met someone from this village he felt some kind of connection. It made absolutely no sense at all to him why was this happening to him. He should have told those three he didn't know who they were talking about and left it alone.

He had to laugh at that thought.

They wouldn't have left him alone. None of the others did which is why he had to get rid of them. Some of them chose to follow him back into the village corner him and force him to listen that is how it always went. So he cut out chitchat and just killed them if they called him by that name.

Hearing the telltale sign of his door being opened he hoped it was that girl again. He was feeling a bit hungry and would rather her come since she just fed him and left as quickly as she could. She seemed to almost be ashamed to see the man in the chains. He didn't know if he had the mental power to really fight off another batch of questions or have that blonde man cut into his body again.

When the door was opened he was disappointed to find Takeshi looking at him with sunglasses on his face. Reaching up he took off the pair folding them and putting them in his vest pocket. In his left hand he was carrying a leather bag. Aikido stared at it for a few moments wondering what could possibly be in it.

Takeshi moved dropped the bag on the floor by the door and walked to him. Taking Aikido's face was between leather coated fingers his face was moved in the direction of the blonde. Without the man's glasses he could see his red eyes again and he shivered.

"You know," he said as he squeezed Aikido's face a bit harder. "I should thank you for saying what you did to her." The man almost smiled at him. He knew it that a smiling interrogator was not something to be joyful for. "I had plenty of time to think of what to do with you. I also had a little treat made for you."

The blonde released his face as he turned towards the bag he left on the floor he tilted his head to the side debating what he should do before he turned back towards the brunette. He punched Aikido in the stomach and pulled his hair back so again he was looking into red eyes.

"You see, I can hurt you, but that won't get me what I want if you don't talk. So we have to find some other ways." The blonde let go of the man's hair as he turned and walked towards the bag. Opening it he pulled out a vial filled with some yellowish liquid. He placed it on a table that Aikido didn't notice until now; he also pulled out a black case, which he again put on the table. Looking back into the bag Takeshi pulled out another black case and then he turned to look at his prisoner. He smirked for a second before reaching for the vial and first black case.

Inside the case were several senbon needles all line up and looking pristine. The man took the vial and opened it before dipping an end quickly in the yellow liquid. When he was done he threw it at Aikido, the projectile hitting him in his shoulder.

Aikido had to grit his teeth as a burning pain came over him. His shoulder felt like it was on fire and he wanted to do anything to put it out. His already tired arms felt even worse as seconds ticked by. He thrashed for a good minute before the pain finally went away.

"Nice isn't it" The man asked, taking the vial of the liquid with him as he walked towards the bound man. When he reached him he looked him once over before his eyes landed on a on his chest. The area he was looking at was where he carved his village's symbol into him. Taking the vial he poured a little bit of the liquid on the wound.

Aikido's eyes rolled back into his head as he fought to try and stop the burning sensation again. This time thought it was different instead of just burning it felt like his skin was trying to rip itself open. When the pain finally faded he opened his eyes to stare at the blonde who was smirking.

"Amazing, no?" walking back to the table he opened both cases showing that they were both full of senbon. Taking ten of them out he proceeded to dip them in the liquid. When he was done he launched them all at the brunette.

When the poison coated senbon needles struck him he saw white. Aikido was pretty sure he blacked out since the next thing that happened was he was being woken up by a bucket of water being dumped onto him.

"Disappointing," Takeshi said as he went back to his needles again this time pulling one out and throwing it. The needle struck his chest and he shook in pain as the toxin worked its way though his body.

Aikido cried out as he felt the familiar pain course through his body and wished he had access to his chakra. When he looked down he saw that the water below him was solidifying. Instantly he wondered what was going on and looked towards his hands. The blood seal was slowly being washed away allowing him once again to access his chakra. He smirked softly to himself as he called for the water to go up his back and slowly make its way to his cuffs. He had to be careful though he didn't want the man to get any wiser, if he saw the water moving he might realize what he did by accident.

Another needle was thrown and Aikido cried out again. He had to get out of here fast he didn't know how much he could take since those needles hurt like hell. The man though seemed none the wiser and all he wanted was for the man in chains to cry out and yell and since he was doing just that since he started using these needles he knew that the man was enjoying himself.

When the next needle was launched Aikido had the water solidify around the chain breaking them as he moved to the left dodging out of the way of the needle. The expression on the man's face wasn't fear it seemed to be interested.

"How did you get free?" he questioned calmly.

Aikido kept his face calm as willed the water to slowly move across the ground. He looked at the man who turned and placed the vial back on the table almost as if he was afraid of it breaking.

Takeshi reached under his coat and took out two kunai that he threw at Aikido. Moving the barest amount of spaced he needed to avoid the attack he stayed in his position and waited. The attacker looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Not going to take revenge?" Takeshi questioned as he moved into a fighting stance slowly getting ready to defend himself from the incoming attack.

Aikido let his eyes flicker down for a second as he watched the water slowly circle around the man's feet. When he saw that it was already underneath him he smirked slightly.

That smirk set the man on edge and he tried to go back when he realized he was stuck. He looked down and noticed the water slowly freezing as it started to curl and circle around his body. He tried to move once but as soon as he tried he felt his balance faltering instead of sacrificing it he put his hands down to his sides knowing that his lack of attention was what allowed him to be caught in the prisoners trap.

"I see," Takeshi said as the water and ice spun up and encased his arms. When it was reached his shoulders it suddenly stopped and he knew his life was in the prisoner's hand.

Aikido walked to the table and picked up the vial with that horrible yellow liquid in it. Letting it drop to the floor he watched as it mixed with water changing the color slightly. It moved in the direction of the prisoner and into the block of ice. The man showed no real fear as he watched it crawl and mix with water. Rolling his shoulders back slightly Aikido brought his hands up and made a few hand seals.

Takeshi watched as he made his seals and when he felt the first bit of ice pierce his skin he felt the urge to laugh. His own medicine was literally turned against him.

Aikido unleashed his fury the ice prison shooting dozens of ice spikes into the man mixed with his own vial of toxins. He wasn't sure if he should be surprised or not when floor was slowly being stained with blood and yet the man didn't scream.

End of Chapter 8 Part 1

So yeah this story is about the length of a novel. I just realized that not too long ago. I just hope that it is a good novel. Wish me luck on an original story I am writing. I hope that it will be as good of a story as CT is. If you're curious about what that project is feel free to ask I like talking about it. Review please **gives puppy eyes**. Next chapter of CT coming when it comes.