20 2/2

"But that's not what I believe. So to me, what you're saying isn't true," Raphael responded. When she just looked at him in confusion and annoyance, he sighed. "Let's try something that might be easier for you to understand…Minato Namikaze was a monster and mass murderer."

Kiseki glared at him, rising to her feet. "He was a hero to Konoha, who sacrificed his life to save us from the Kyuubi!" She practically shouted.

"But that's not what Iwa or Kumo would believe, is it?" Anko asked her, making Kiseki pause. "He slaughtered hundreds of their troops with the Hiraishin. So tell me…who is telling the truth, you or them?"

Kiseki opened her mouth, before blinking and closing it. She thought for a few moments. "I guess…both?" She asked.

"Or neither," Raphael said to her, standing. "That is what the first part of the Creed is teaching us. Things that one person accepts at truths, another person will claim are falsehoods. Rules and laws in one town or country may not exist in another. Religious beliefs, political beliefs, social beliefs, all these things are not facts or truths, but simply constructs that some people create and put their faith in, and that others deny in favor of other beliefs or truths," Raphael said. "The Creed teaches us that we must open our eyes to this, and realize that this is the only truth in the world."

"But…how can it be true if nothing is true?" Kiseki asked, blinking in confusion.

Raphael chuckled, nodding in approval. "I'm glad you asked that. It fits into the ironies of the Assassins. Yes, how can this statement be true, if our very creed states that nothing is true? Because there are those who disagree with it, and thus, it cannot be true. By its own definition, it is merely an opinion that we Assassins hold onto. And yet…it is an opinion with evidence to support it, is it not?" He asked.

Kiseki slowly nodded. "I guess it is. So…what about the second part? Everything is permitted? What does that mean?"

"It means exactly what it means," Anko said. "If you wanted to, you could walk out of here now and steal money from a store, and who or what would stop you?"

"But those things are illegal," Kiseki said in response, as Raphael and Anko nodded.

"Yes they are. Made illegal by laws that we've already established are not universally true, and while acceptable here, are not acceptable elsewhere," Raphael said. "But it is merely words on a piece of paper. They do not stop you from committing the crimes. Only you are stopping yourself from committing them. Why?"

"Because I would be arrested and thrown into jail," she said.

"Exactly. Because your choices have consequences. That is the point of the second part of the Creed. It is teaching you not to do whatever you like, but to understand that every choice you make will have consequences, and that you must be ready to accept the consequences of those actions. The Creed, in its entirety, is not teaching us to be free and act rashly…it is teaching us to be wise. It teaches us to not to give into the illusions of control and society enforced by men in power, and it teaches us to consider the consequences of our choices before we make them, and to be ready to accept those consequences when we do make them. The Creed is a philosophy that is the beginning of wisdom."

The young Uchiha woman slowly nodded. "I think I understand now. At least…I get the Creed. But….what about these …Templars was it? Didn't you say they had a similar goal to the Assassins?"

The young Assassin mentor chuckled softly. "Well, yes and no," he said. "Like the Assassins, the Templar Order wanted peace, for all mankind. In that aspect, our goals were similar. The difference though, was in what kind of peace. The Assassins sought to achieve peace through people finally setting aside their fears, prejudice, and hatred, and getting to know their neighbors, so that they might live together in peace, a naïve idea perhaps, given the very natures of humans. But the Templars…they felt that peace could only be obtained at the point of a sword, and by brainwashing all mankind. They sought to find a way to strip mankind of their freedom, their will, even their very souls, and that they would ensure peace through subjugation. What's worse is they could not even see the hypocrisy of their goal and methods. Where we Assassins embrace the ironies and even the hypocrisy of our beliefs, the Templars ignore them. They sought to overthrow the monarchies and governments, believing them to be corrupt and ineffectual, only to replace it another monarchy, with themselves in power. They claim that is what's best for humanity, yet they only seek power for themselves. That is where the hypocrisy lies."

Kiseki slowly nodded in understanding. "I think I understand," she said softly.

"So the question now is…what do you think?" Raphael asked her. "Do you think you could be an Assassin?"

Kiseki let out a breath, as she stood and paced. "I…am not sure," she said. "You're asking me to commit myself to a group that kills people, and could make me have to choose between Konoha and this Brotherhood. And yet…the work you do sounds like it's helping a lot of people. I…would like time to think on this, if you don't mind," she said.

"I understand, Kiseki-san," Raphael said. "But to clarify…we would never ask you to choose between us and Konoha. Every member of the Brotherhood can choose to leave us, so long as they swear to never betray us. It would be your choice," Raphael said, before handing her a piece of paper. "When you make your decision, come find me here. Anko, please escort her back to the market."

Anko nodded to him, as she held up the blindfold again. "Sorry," she said, as she tied it around Kiseki's head and led her out of the building. Anko soon had teleported them back to the market, where she removed the blindfold. "I do hope you'll join us," she said. "We could use the help…and I think you can too."

Kiseki nodded softly. "I understand…and I'll consider it. I promise," she said, before she turned and headed off.

Anko smiled as she turned and headed off back towards the warehouse on foot. As she did, she couldn't help but think about Raphael, which caused her to pause and blush slightly.

She didn't know why, but recently, she had begun to see Raphael differently. She would admit that he was attractive, in a weird, sort of exotic way. He didn't exactly look, or sound, like the men of the village, which wasn't really that weird considering he came from another world entirely, or reality, or whatever. But there was more to it than that. He was witty, he was sweet and charming, but also, he was…well, dangerous. During some of their missions together when she was still an assassin trainee, she had watched him fight bandits. He went from the charming, witty, friendly man she usually saw, and became a cold, efficient killer.

And a part of her…well a part of her liked that. She liked seeing that he was both a charming individual, and a deadly warrior. A part of her found it attractive.

And yet…another part of her feared these feelings. She had opened her heart once, to her mentor. She had adored Orochimaru, had seen him as a father figure. She would have killed or died for him. And he had used her, betrayed her, and tossed her aside like she was nothing. And so a part of her was afraid of opening herself up to anyone like that again.

She shook her head, clearing these thoughts. It didn't matter anyways. Raphael had shown no signs of attraction towards her, only friendship. And she was happy with that. She started to head off, mentally reminding herself that she was supposed to take Hinata to Ganzo's later that day to see if he had weapons she might feel comfortable learning how to use. She hummed happily as she headed off, feeling cheerful for some reason, and unconsciously skipping a bit.

Kumo

A the Raikage growled softly, pumping iron as he sat at his desk in the Raikage's office at Kumo. He grunted as he kept it up, trying to distract himself.

It had been a little over two years since Yugito Nii had defected from Kumo. Two years since Kosui Atami had been assassinated, and his plans for acquiring the Byakugan had disappeared. And A still felt the sting of humiliation at what had happened.

It hadn't taken his shinobi long to discover who the traitor was. A had given an order for all shinobi to be fully mobilized, and when she didn't report in, a team had been sent to her apartment to investigate. They had returned with a note in which Yugito stated she could not stand to serve a village that had so willingly slaughtered her parents to try and control her and the Nibi within. She had stated her intent to defect, though she didn't reveal which village she was defecting to. However, it was rather obvious which one it was: Konoha.

A had a small amount of respect for Sarutobi, seeing the assassination as a clear strike back for the Hyuuga Incident, especially the timing of the assassination to coincide with the three year anniversary of the incident. That respect though was buried under the rage he had felt at not only losing Yugito and the Nibi to Konoha, but also losing a valuable strategist and his information. He had been more than ready to march to Konoha and burn the village to the ground. However, he had offered Konoha a chance to return her first, sending a message demanding her return and the head of the one who had killed Kosui.

Konoha's reply had returned swiftly, in which Sarutobi hinted at the knowledge of Kumo's operations regarding both Kiri and Iwa, which made A back down. If Konoha revealed that information, Kumo would find itself being attacked at least by Iwa, while Konoha probably sat back and watched or harassed them in the south as Iwa struck them in the west. A had bitterly backed down, though he swore he'd get his revenge on Konoha.

Now, he just growled in annoyance, placing his weights back onto their rack, making his desk groan in protest. As he did, his secretary Mabui entered. The white haired, dark skinned young woman set a file on his desk.

"Raikage-sama, a report just came in," she said softly. "Apparently, one of our civilian spies in Konoha has managed to send a report regarding the Hyuuga Heiress you attempted to kidnap six years ago. She has apparently been banished from her clan, and is now in the care of one Anko Mitarashi."

A blinked in surprise, opening the file. "I see then. But I take it she was sealed?" He asked.

"He didn't see her being banished, but he talked to a few people who did see her being thrown from the compound. They talked about her having a strange seal on her head. They described it as the Hyuuga Emblem on her forehead, with four lines coming off it diagonally and two more extending from the sides. It is somewhat different from the Cursed Seal in appearance, so it's possible it's different in functionality as well," she said. "Though we can't be sure without studying it."

"I see then…this could be quite useful," he said. "Have our spy monitor her. If we can, we'll snatch her up, and try to study this new seal, see if it's weaker than the Cursed Seal. And if all else fails, we could try to convince her to serve us, considering her own clan threw her out," he said.

Mabui nodded, bowing. "At once Raikage-sama," she said, before heading off. A just smiled a bit, feeling better. It seemed an opportunity for revenge had just appeared. And it would be an excellent one indeed.

Konoha, that afternoon

Ganzo grinned as he sat at his counter, polishing up a somewhat strange looking weapon. It was about two and a half feet long, consisting of a curved blade that was about a foot in length, with a metal hilt that was also a foot and a half long, and was rather thick looking, with a flat cap where the pommel would be. The weapon also had a circular cross guard, similar to the tsuba found on most katana and such.

He glanced up, hearing the bell on the door ring. He grinned as he saw Anko and Hinata enter. "Ahhh, just the two people I wanted to see," he said, setting the strange weapon down. "Here to pick up your order?" He asked Anko, who nodded.

"Yep. Though I also brought Hinata along to see if she found any weapons she liked or felt comfortable with," she said, as Hinata was slowly looking around.

"Ahhh, perfect, actually! I have a couple weapons I'd like to offer," he said, heading to the back. "Just one moment!"

Hinata blinked in surprise, glancing at the back as Ganzo soon came out, carrying a wrapped bundle and a case. "Here we are," he said, setting them both on the counter with the weapon he had been polishing. "First, for you Anko-san," he said, unwrapping the bundle. Anko grinned gleefully as she moved forward.

Laying on the counter were a pair of strange short blades. The weapons were curved one hundred and eighty degrees from their handles, making the blades parallel to the grips. Each blade had a cutting edge along one side, with serrated edges along the sharply curved portion of the blade. The handles were wrapped in brown cloth, with snake heads on the bottom of each grip, and the Assassin's emblem right above the handles on the blade. (2)

"I have to say, these were quite interesting to make," Ganzo said. "It was tough finding a way to curve the blade to such a degree without sacrificing the strength of the metal. The serrated edges there can be used to catch enemy's weapons, though I suggest you not try that on a katana or anything heavier, as they might shear right through the blade. And of course, can't forget this," he said, placing a pair of leather sheathes on the counter with them. "They fit right on your belt, so you can easily draw them from your sides."

Anko just nodded gleefully, handing over a wad of bills before taking the two sheathes and attaching them to her belt. She slowly picked up the blades and gripped them, slowly turning and examining them. "Hmmm…feels good," she said, testing the weight and movement.

Ganzo smiled as he turned his attention to Hinata. "Now you…well when Anko first brought you in, I have to say I was overjoyed. I've been waiting years to talk to a Hyuuga about some weapons I think would be perfect for them, but they're always so close minded, using only standard shinobi tools and nothing more. But you…you're not bound to their rules, are you?" He asked.

Hinata shook her head. "N-No sir," she said, feeling a bit nervous. Ganzo just clapped his hands.

"Excellent!" He said, gripping the case and opening it. Hinata blinked as she looked inside.

Inside were what appeared to be three bars of metal, two of them folded over onto a third one which had a leather grip around the center of it. Next to them was what appeared to be a leather belt with a sheathe of some type attached to it. Ganzo pointed to the metal bars. "Grab it by the grip, and hold it so the other two bars are facing away from you," he said.

Hinata slowly did so, holding the strange contraption. As she did, she noticed a small button right above the leather grip. Ganzo grinned as he saw her eye it. "Press it," he said.

"O-Okay," Hinata said, as she slowly did so. Almost immediately, the two folded metal bars shot out with a snapping sound as they clicked into place on either side of the metal bar she was gripping. As they did, they unfurled a thick string that became taut when the two bars snapped into place. Hinata suddenly found herself holding what appeared to be a bow that curved inwards at the grip she was holding, and then bulged out before curving back into the traditional bow shaped, though the tips at the ends were curved forward as well.

Ganzo nodded appreciatively. "That, my dear, is a recurve bow. It's a bow design that allows you to fire an arrow farther and harder than normal bows of the same size. Its small size also allows it to be used in cramped areas that you can't use a larger bow in. I also designed it to be collapsible, which makes it far easier to carry. All you need to do is press that button again and it'll collapse back into its previous form."

Hinata did so, and the bow collapsed again, as Ganzo smiled. "I always have been so disappointed the Hyuuga have never chosen to try their hands at weapons. I understand they have great dexterity that is necessary to use the Jyuuken, and their Byakugan gives them telescopic sight, which would make them natural marksmen with a bow. But that is why I'd like to offer you a chance to use it, to see if my belief is correct."

"I-I can't use this. I-It's too big," she said, looking it over. Indeed, the bow was four feet long when unfolded, and was almost as tall as Hinata was.

"Ahhh, thought of that too," Ganzo said, going back behind him and returning with a smaller bow, quiver, and a scroll. "This is a training bow, with training arrows and a training manual on using a bow. You can train with this bow until you grow tall and strong enough to use the recurve. Oh, before I forget, instead of there being a quiver for the bows arrows, they're located in the grip of the bow here," he said, showing her a storage seal. "Had to hire someone to inscribe that seal into the grip. All you do is channel chakra in, and a new arrow will pop out."

Hinata stared at it all, blinking. "I…I guess it wouldn't hurt to try," she said, as Ganzo beamed.

"Excellent! Now, I'd like to show you another weapon. This one I actually just finished, and I came up with it after you visited here last time," he said, setting all the bow equipment on the counter, and picking up the strange sword he had been polishing earlier. "Here we are. It looks like a simple short sword, yes? But in fact…it's much deadliest then that," he said, as he pressed another button on the hilt of the sword. And suddenly the hilt extended from either direction from where he was gripping it, transforming into roughly six foot polearm. Anko recognized it as a naginata, a staff weapon wielded by samurai warriors.

Ganzo smiled at her. "Now again, I realize this weapon is rather large for you in its current form. But if you like it, you'll grow into it. Both this and the short sword are very fast, agile weapons, and with its ability to shrink into a sword, you can use it in close quarters combat. All you need to do is press the button here near this grip, and it'll transform back again," he said, demonstrating. "Now I've got some manuals for kenjutsu and bojutsu here, so you can learn both arts as well, to handle both styles you can use with the weapon."

Anko just ginned as she came over. "Quite a lot here. You're being rather generous," she said, as Hinata slowly inspected the naginata, yelping a bit when she hit the button and caused it to retract into its sword form again.

"I'm always generous when it comes to my specialty weapons. Unique weapons like these should be shared with those who will get the most use out of them. And of course, the sword comes with a sheathe as well, for easy carrying," he said, adding another accessory to the small pile of items on the counter. "Besides, the act of making specialty weapons is enough of a reward to offset the lower earnings."

Hinata glanced up at Anko, unsure. "A-Anko nee-chan, what do you think?" she asked. "I…I'm not sure about all this."

"Well Hinata, I think you should take him up on the offer. If you do end up liking them, then you can train and grow into them. And if you don't, well we have a good place they can go," she said, referring to the armory at their warehouse hideout. It was mostly bare at the moment, but Raphael had plans to stock it with some generic weapons for future recruits and assassins to supply themselves with.

Hinata glanced at the sword in her hand, before nodding. "I'll take it," she said. "A-and the bow."

"Excellent! And since you're the first one trying these out, I'll even sell all this to you at a discount," she said, which made Anko happy since she was a bit leery at the cost of all this equipment. Ganzo meanwhile took the sword and placed it in its sheathe before wrapping it up, and then secured the bow back in its case as well. He ran up the price for it, and Anko paid for it all, handing the manuals to Hinata. "Now, if you do use them, please let me know how they are. I'd love to maybe make more, and improve on them if possible," he said.

Hinata just nodded, as Anko grinned. "Well this was an excellent visit. Thank you so much Ganzo!" she said.

Ganzo smiled. "Anytime! Please come back soon!" He said, waving as the two left, sighing happily. He enjoyed sharing his skill with others.

Across town, Kiseki was slowly walking towards the Uchiha Clan head's house. When she had awakened in the hospital, Mikoto had been informed of her status, and had come to visit her. She had always considered Kiseki to be like a daughter to her, and now she wanted to comfort the girl. She had told Kiseki she was free to come to talk to her at anytime.

Now, Kiseki felt that she needed to speak to Mikoto about this. She wouldn't reveal the Assassins, but she could still Mikoto's advice. She slowly stopped outside the door, and pressed chakra into the buzzer seal on the door frame, causing a buzzing noise to echo through the house.

Within a few moments, the door opened and a somewhat frazzled Mikoto blinked. "Oh Kiseki! Please, come in," she said, moving to one side.

Kiseki bit her lip, seeing Mikoto's harried appearance. "I can come back later, Mikoto-sama," she said softly, only for Mikoto to shake her head.

"No no, it's fine," she said with a smile, as Kiseki slowly removed her sandals before entering the house. Mikoto closed the door and turned to her. "So what can I do for you Kiseki?" She asked.

"I…I need your advice on something," she said, causing Mikoto to blink.

"Oh? What exactly?" She asked, as they moved to the living room.

As the pair of them sat down, Kiseki gathered her thoughts. Finally, she opened her mouth. "I...I've been offered a position in a group. I…if I join them…I could do a lot to help a lot of people. But…this group has to do some dark things. Things I find myself…questioning," she said.

Mikoto watched her quietly. "Kiseki…as a jounin, you know shinobi are often called upon to do things we all find ourselves questioning. Dark, sometimes immoral things. The question you should be asking yourself is this: does the help you can offer people perhaps outweigh the actions you might need to take?"

Kiseki looked up at her. "I…when they talked to me…it sounds like it did. And they've told me that I can leave at anytime, so long as I don't betray them. But I…I'm just not sure."

Mikoto gently leaned over, touching her shoulder. "I'm not sure I can give you what you really want Kiseki. You're looking for an answer to the choice before you. All I can give you is this advice: follow your heart and your instincts. They'll lead you to the correct choice."

Kiseki smiled a bit at that, nodding. "T-Thank you, Mikoto-sama," she said.

"Please Kiseki…just Mikoto will be fine," she said. "You were going to be my daughter-in-law, and…I…." she trailed off, looking down a bit, as tears started to form in her eyes.

Kiseki felt her heart ache, as she slowly moved next to Mikoto and hugged her. "I'm sorry, Mikoto," she whispered quietly, as the woman began to sob a bit.

"I-I just don't get…w-why did he do it? Why?" she sobbed out. "H-He seemed so happy…how could…how could he do this?"

Kiseki felt her heart ache at that. She wanted to tell Mikoto the truth, but she couldn't. Not now, not yet at least. All she could do was keep holding the sobbing woman, and letting her cry.

As she did, she couldn't help but think about what had happened. The Uchiha who had died, all of them were planning to plunge the village into a civil war, and take over the village. It would have cost hundreds if not thousands of lives, and more would have died when other villages attacked a severely weakened Konoha in the aftermath. The assassins…working with the Hokage, they had lessened the bloodshed to only the conspirators within the clan, and saved countless lives in the process. Perhaps…if they had moved sooner, Itachi wouldn't have needed to pose as a traitor.

Kiseki looked down at Mikoto, who was starting to calm down. And as she did, she felt like she had her answer. Nodding softly, she held Mikoto close, knowing her answer for Raphael.

That evening

Yugito nervously bit her lip, checking her appearance in the mirror for the umpteenth time. Her hair, rather than its usual low braid, was now put up in a high pony tail, and she had applied lights amount of makeup to her face. She glanced at her outfit, which consisted of a light purple off the shoulder top with long sleeves, and a knee length white skirt with heeled boots.

She adjusted her skirt again, only to hear a soft chuckle in her head. "You look perfect kitten. Stop fretting," Matatabi said, while Yugito hung her head.

"Uugghhh, I'm just so nervous. I've never done something like this before," she said, wringing her hands. The Nibi giggled a bit, seeing the usually calm Yugito so flustered and nervous.

Both were interrupted by a knock on the apartment door, which made Yugito tremble in excitement and anxiety. She took a deep breath, approaching the door, and opening it.

Iruka stood there, smiling nervously. He was wearing a pair of black slacks and jacket over a white button down shirt that had the top button unbutton, along with a pair of black dress shoes. His hair was in its usual pineapple style ponytail, though he was minus his headband.

He blinked, blushing when he saw her. "Wow, Yugito you…you look incredible," he said, causing her to blush, but smile.

"Thanks. S-so do you," she said with a smile. "So, shall we get going?" She asked.

Iruka smiled and offered her his arm, causing her to giggle a bit. "Such a gentleman," she said, taking it even as he blushed, and they started to walk off.

As they walked, Yugito glanced around. "You know…I've lived here for three years now…and I still can't believe how different Konoha and Kumo are," she said quietly.

He glanced over her at her, eyebrow raised. "Oh? How so?" He asked.

"Well there's the obvious, what with Kumo being built up within a mountain range. It's pretty hard to find the village unless you know where exactly to look for it. But I think the real difference is…how free this village feels," she said.

When she saw Iruka's look of confusion, Yugito decided to elaborate. "The village is very militaristic. Almost the entirety of the village is dedicated to training, arming, and servicing the shinobi of the village. There's a civilian population, but there are far fewer civilian based business in Kumo then here in Konoha. The rest of the village is geared towards supporting the shinobi of the village. Here though…if it wasn't for the massive wall and the shinobi everywhere, you'd think this was a civilian town almost," she said.

Iruka chuckled softly. "I suppose that's true. I think that was part of Shodai-sama's dream, that the village would be a place where shinobi and civilians could live and work together, rather then it be a fortress for shinobi to use to strike out at enemies. He originally founded the village in hopes of making it a peaceful place for shinobi to gather and train."

"If not for the other villages out there, I'd say he succeeded," she said with a smile. "But enough about that. This is a dinner date, so let's enjoy ourselves."

Iruka just nodded in agreement, blushing at her dinner date comment, as they headed towards the commercial district of Konoha.

Raphael meanwhile was quietly sitting in his apartment, reading a book called The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja, which had been written by Jiraiya, the famous Toad Sage of the sannin, the students of Hiruzen Sarutobi. The man was a rather famous author for his hentai book series known as Icha Icha.

He smiled though, enjoying this book far more. It was his first written work, and his only non hentai piece of work. Probably why he enjoyed it so much.

He was torn from his reading by a knock on the door, making him look up. Sighing he placed a bookmark in the book to keep his place, and got up, going to the door. He opened the door, only to blink in surprise. "Kiseki-san, how can I help you?" He asked.

Kiseki looked at him, before nodding. "I accept your offer," she said.

Raphael grinned as he stepped to one side. "Then come inside. We have much to discuss," he said.

Kiseki nodded as she stepped inside, ready to start this new path in her life.

And chapter. Well I think this could be better, but I'm not sure how. Hopefully you all enjoyed it.

So, with this chapter done, I'm FINALLY ready to get my butt in gear and get this fanfic into the canon era. I tell you, I don't know what happened. I had planned to be in canon era like ten chapters ago, but somehow this fanfic got away from me. Oh well, you all have enjoyed it so far, so who am I to complain?

With that said, I'll see you all next chapter, and again, if you're interested please check out my newest fanfic, A Simple Mission.

And again, if you're interested in lovinaelita's challenge, please contact them about it.

Lastly, big thanks again to Bill Alain and Kyuubi123, my excellent beta's.

1. Relevant information to the Assassins, as told/interpreted by Raphael/myself can be found in chapters 5-8 of this fanfic. As well as this one.

2. Yes, these are similar to Riddick's ulaks, except with the changes in appearance I added.