Third-Person POV

"Grief-sama, you've been summoned to a Gathering."

Yusuke Honoo looked up from his study room at the shinobi lackey, clad all in black, perched at the sill of his window. "Another one? Didn't we already have one just earlier this week?"

"This one is an emergency, sir," the lackey replied, "and your presence specifically is required."

Yusuke put down the put book he was reading and sighed. "Ah, so be it. But I wonder what the problem is..."

He walked towards a flat circle on the floor and as soon as he stood on it, a terminal of some sort shot out from under. He then formed a hand seal with his right hand and his body became as still as a tree as he was transported.

A moment later, Yusuke was in a deep dark tunnel, lit only by candles on the wall. He then started walking along the tunnel as it wound around.

Eventually, he came upon a woman with medium-length bob-cut hair that was magenta in colour and wore glasses over a pair of blue eyes. She stared at him with concern.

Yusuke nodded at her in greetings. "Toren Uematsu."

"Yusuke," she spoke, "he is not pleased."

Yusuke blinked. "What do you mean? Who's not pleased?"

She walked on ahead of him, not answering.

"Do you mean Despair-sama?" he called after her. "Could you also tell me what the reason behind this Gathering is?"

She still did not answer.

I wonder what it was I did, he thought, walking close behind her. I can't recall ever having done anything to anyone. Ryuun and Zutsumi had better not have gotten into any trouble.

The two of them came into a large circular chamber, supported by huge pillars, with other tunnelways leading into it as well. There were then torches that hung from the porous ceiling, lighting the whole chamber up.

There were already two individuals there when Yusuke and Toren arrived. One was leaning against the wall, arms crossed in apparent deep contemplation and another was seated on a huge throne at the far back of the centre, his entire body eclipsed in shadow.

The one leaning against the wall looked up. When he saw Yusuke he walked out into the light.

"You're in deep s#!&, Yusuke," said the man.

"Hello to you, too, Akio."

Akio was a tall, well-built man with light brown hair styled in a tall cowlick. His most prominent feature was that there was a large, prominent scar where his left eye should be while the right was still intact and red in colour.

Yusuke himself had unruly and messy salmon pink hair held together with a makeshift headband and dark almond-shaped eyes. One trait of his is that he wore a pair of earrings with a red, shining sun imprinted on them.

"I take it you know the reason for this Gathering, do you?" Yusuke asked. "Toren has refused to say anything."

Akio looked fondly at Yusuke. "You're two Sho, Ryuun Kitto and Zutsumi Ginchiyo, were foiled by Leaf ninja and taken into custody by the Waterfall."

Yusuke's eyes widened but then relaxed again. "Is that so?"

"What's more, they failed to kill the Princess of the Tsuchigumo Village as they were assigned to."

Yusuke closed his eyes again. "Oh, dear..."

"It seems 'Fear' and 'Apathy' will not be able to attend," Toren announced, "however, both are aware of the dilemma and know how to proceed."

"Very well, then. Tell them to boost their security as well."

The man on the throne's voice carried with it the aura of death and destruction.

"Yusuke Honoo. Grief. Do you know why you, specifically, have been called here?" Through darkness, a pair of deep, malicious purple eyes gazed at him with unfettered inhibition.

Yusuke proceeded with as much elegance as he could under such a tense situation. "I do now, and I vehemently apologize on behalf of those two cretins! I intend to make up for the failure myself. As for when they get interrogated I wholeheartedly can say that those two will not say a word." His expression turned slightly dark. "They would die before giving away even a flake of information."

Despair remained indifferent. "If your Sho should die.."

"I am well aware of the consequences, Despair-sama," Yusuke bowed. "And will take full responsibility."

"Regardless," Akio piped in, "this could blow our cover. I suggest we no longer do any risky missions. If we keep on working from the shadows we could turn this society on their heads without them ever knowing."

"No."

Akio froze up. "No?"

"Despite the setback, this is actually just what we needed," the shadowy man stood up from his throne, revealing his height. "If we keep on operating in the darkness, the world will never come to know our name. The captivity of Ryuun and Zutsumi is just what we needed to kickstart things. From now on, we'll be performing greater feats in the light."

Yusuke sweatdropped. I understand he wants to show our might, he thought, but this might be taking things a tad bit too far too soon...

Despair turned to Akio. "What and when is the next international event?"

"In a month or two, the Leaf Village will be conducting the Chunin Selection Exams. They've also invited the Sand and Cloud Villages to participate."

"A timelessly competitive event," Toren realized, "with three of the most powerful ninja villages hosting it is bound to attract viewers across the world."

"But what do we plan to do about that?" Yusuke asked.

"Kill the Hokage."

Yusuke became surprised. "What?"

"Or, rather, attempt to," Despair corrected himself.

"Ha, I didn't know you could crack jokes, Despair-sama!" Akio commented.

"What do you mean 'attempt'?" asked Toren.

"As of now, killing the Hokage outright would throw the ninja world into upheaval too quickly. We would be exposed far too soon and be registered as an international threat, had we also killed any other ninja there from the Sand or Cloud. 'Attempting' to kill the Hokage and only the Hokage would put them on high-alert and at most register us as only a national threat. It would be on the same level as outright killing a high-level ninja such as a well-known jonin."

Yusuke nodded. "I see, but who would be best suited for a such a high-risked mission?"

"LEAVE IT TO ME," an impertinent voice called out.

From above dropped a man with a lean figure. He had his long raven black tied into a tight pony tail that somewhat resembled a chonmage and his eyes were of a navy blue colour and had white peach-shaped pupils. Embedded onto his back were also six strange cylindrical-objects.

Has he been up there this whole time?! Yusuke wondered.

"Momotaro," Despair addressed him, "Why you?"

"None of you should have to expend more energy than you need to," he said. "You're all the 'Six Paths', after all. Besides, I think it's high-time I show my worth again."

"So, what, we entrust it to you?" Akio questioned. "You recall it was two Sho that had failed the last mission and put us into this predicament, right?"

"With all due respect, Regret-sama, don't lump me in with those sacks of failures" Momotaro grinned, "I'm the second Sho of Despair, aren't I? I'll get the job done, and I'll come back."

Yusuke made a tick sound. "All bark and no bite, are we?"

Momotaro looked haphazardly at Yusuke, knowing full well what he did. Then, with one great jump, leaped onto the upper level of the chamber.

"The Leaf Village, right?" he asked. "I'll head over there right now, scout the area and whereabouts."

"Hold on, Momotaro!!" Toren called after him. "Don't be so im--"

Despair placed a hand on her shoulder. "Leave him. He has his own way of operating. All the Sho do. If their way should fail them, then it just means their style was never supreme. If Momotaro fails then he is no different from Ryuun and Zutsumi." He looked right at Yusuke, then walked back to his chair. "Yusuke, to make up for your Sho's failure in their mission you and Akio will assemble an entourage of Soldiers along with your two Sho, Akio, and set up a base in the northern regions of the Land of Fire. Be sure to have security well-extended across the perimeter."

Akio raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

Despair's shadow deepened. "No questions asked. Just do as I say."

Akio backed off.

"None of you should forget the reason why you all joined. It's not for ourselves or anyone here, or even for the betterment of this society. But for all those who come after."

Toren, Akio and Yusuke bowed. "Sir!!" they cried.

"Dismissed."

Akio and Yusuke then left the chamber together, while Toren stayed beside Despair.

"Yeah, he definitely called you out there," Akio grinned at Yusuke.

"Shut up."

"Anyway, can you think of any reason why he would send us all the way out into the north of the Land of Fire?"

"Who truly can guess the interworkings of our leader?" Then a thought came into his mind. "Except, maybe, for Toren. But if I had to say, it would most likely be to secure a position that will become disclosed to either a series of fortunate or unfortunate events. As if some sort of chain of fate will weave its way through many destinies and futures up to our very point and role in the story. That's my interpretation, at least."

The two of them had been walking through an especially deep tunnel until a bright light shone at the end of the way. Upon reaching, they came out to a wide valley that was surrounded by cloudy mountains. The tunnel behind them was in fact like a mole's passageway as they stood in a huge plateau with several of those hole passageways around it like tiny dots on an anthill.

Yusuke shivered, gripping his vest tighter around him. "I never did like this location. Too cold up here!"

"Hey," Akio started, "I know you said you were confident in your Sho not spilling the beans, but now that we're no longer in front of Despair I want you to be frank." He looked at Yusuke with his one undamaged eye. "How do you know those two would die for the cause? If they won't betray us?"

Yusuke looked back out at the valley. "Despair-sama isn't aware of how deep my relationship with them is. So he couldn't say for sure if I was truly telling the truth or not, but he had no grounds to really accuse me either, and who can blame him? This whole group is not built upon friendship and we don't necessarily have control over our Sho, only what rank they go up in.

"The truth is I have known those two for quite some time. Zutsumi came to me after having betrayed his village and killed their leader, believing that what they stood for went against the code of what his clan taught him. So when he became enlisted in this, he was so enthralled by our ideals and how they paralleled his that he swore fealty on the spot, even going as far as to make a blood oath to me. As far as I could tell, his loyalty knew no end. As for Ryuun...

"Ryuun was a special case. I encountered him as he had tried to assassinate me - presumably for goods - during a mission I was on. He was a starving, half-dead child. I took him in and nursed him back to health, but not without consequences, as he tried to kill me several times. But the more he became exposed to this order, the more I could see his heart starting to change. He one day came up to me and asked: 'Do you all work together because you care about each other?" to which I replied: 'No, we work together because we've all started something that we want to see finished.' I must have said the right thing because afterward, he had completely joined."

Yusuke took a breath. "I suppose what I'm trying to say is, I have no idea if they'll betray us or not, I don't possess the Mind-Body Switch Technique. I can't enter their heads. But, what I do know is this: both were highly devoted to this cause. Whatever decision they make, it'll be from having followed the desires of the deepest and darkest part of their being."

Akio had suddenly vanished, leaving behind the words: "You're a strange one, Yusuke Honoo. I'll contact you in due time."

Yusuke smiled. "Says the kasa-bake*."

Toren looked at Despair as he rubbed his forehead.

"You've been stressed," she said.

"My well-being is not what matters now," Despair gruffed.

"Have you had trouble controlling 'it' recently?" she asked.

"No, that's not it." He looked up towards the ceiling of the chamber, watching the torches flicker against the shadow, keeping the light going. "Have you felt it, Sorrow?"

Toren's expression showed confusion. "Come again? Felt what?"

"The tides of change," he replied. "This world is changing once more. There are things that are moving unseen, things that are working to fabricate an existence that will either serve as the be-all or the end-all. It can't be said how things will turn out, but one thing is certain..."

He gazed forward with eyes that could almost see a path. "Nothing will be the same."