The Dark Side of Akatsuki. Chapter 10

"We didn't move at all from our heading, or at least not any time recently." Robin said, descending to the lower deck to join her. Nami eyed the approaching woman cautiously, but right now she really needed the input.

"The Log Pose jumped a hundred and thirty-four degrees."

"Jumped? It wasn't gradual?" The dark haired woman asked.

"No, it flicked off-course suddenly, like we had just spun in place. I don't know why it would do that."

"There's a number of possibilities," Robin suggested, "Though none are likely to be good news."

Nami grit her teeth. "Wonderful. How so?"

"The Log Pose connects us from one island to another by attuning itself to each island's individual magnetic field. From that point it tries to pull itself to the next node located along the line of force."

Nami nodded. Knowing a few things about magnets and compasses, something had always bothered her about that explanation, but it did have the benefit of being an explanation that worked. She let Robin continue.

"Outside of the strong field of an island, a Log Pose should have an incredible resistance to being changed. It certainly isn't normal for this to happen. This disturbance could be either natural or artificial, and I suppose it's important we find out which it is."

See, this is why Nami had been so glad to have Robin come aboard. She couldn't understand why the others had been so afraid of her. Finally, someone sane on this ship!

"Artificial?" Nami asked, worry etched in her face, "You think someone might have done this to us?"

"Perhaps. I don't know of any ways to disrupt the magnetic routes between the islands, but that doesn't mean there aren't any."

"But it could be natural? A new island rising in our route? Or an island from a different route changing lanes through the Grand Line somehow?"

Robin shrugged, smiling. "It would be a once-in-a-lifetime event, certainly. Still, it doesn't really matter for our next course of action, does it?"

Nami sighed. "You're right."

They didn't have any choice, after all. No one on board had an Eternal Pose that would be guaranteed to bring them to the safety of a particular island.

The only options were following the Log Pose, or dying out at sea.

-Present-

-Konoha-

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Third Hokage of Konoha, stared at the scroll unfurled in front of him, brow furrowed. This unusual missive had arrived from Iwagakure just this morning. Sharing intelligence was a rare sign of goodwill, but this time Hiruzen guessed that the old Tsuchikage just hadn't known what to do with it.

If so, he was in good company there. Hiruzen massaged his forehead, feeling the beginnings of a headache. That old badger had never been very welcoming to outsiders, and it was just as possible he'd sent this along to give Hiruzen a hard time. It read:

Magnetic field of the island dramatically adjusted.

Relic of the Sage facilitated shift.

Outcome/Purpose Unclear.

Akatsuki sighted in area, suspect involvement.

HAVE FUN, THEY'RE HEADED YOUR WAY

The last line was written with a different handwriting. Hiruzen had a very bad feeling about this. A terrible premonition, indeed. Though he couldn't imagine what the purpose of initiating such an event would be, this was, quite simply, not something anyone just did on a whim. This struck him as the opening move in a game he wasn't even aware he was supposed to be playing. Or, worse yet, a closing move to a game that had already been decided.

Konoha had no one that was nearly as sensitive to such disturbances as certain individuals in Earth, but his agents had already confirmed that something had definitely changed. The strength of the background magnetic field had increased drastically, and instruments were still recording significant changes around the clock.

Akatsuki involvement was also never a good sign. Once, Akatsuki had been a reasonably effective paramilitary group inside the Country of Rain for some years, but had been totally crushed by Hanzo the Salamander. Then, mysteriously, they rose again with a different modus operandi. Intelligence on this revived group was still light, but his impression was that the group of deadly S-rank missing-nin were completely unrelated to the original band of fighters that had fought in the Country of Rain many years back. It was an odd choice, but for some unknown reason this group had taken their name and attire. He supposed it had deflected suspicion for some time, so if that was the objective then it had worked well enough.

Now, Akatsuki's motives were nebulous at best.

The Hokage sighed, leaning back and resting his old bones. He really was getting too old for this. He had already been getting too old for this when he'd retired for the first time nearly two decades ago. He was more than seventy years old now, after all. Still, the new generation was growing so promising, and might be ready if he just held on for a little bit longer. Hiruzen stood up, creaking slightly. Besides raising the alert level in the area near Earth he could deal with this issue in the morning. For now, he had an appointment with the medical teams. It really was crucial to keep himself in top shape at such a critical time.

The Third Hokage of Konoha walked through the door and locked it shut behind him.

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