Twist Of Fate

Akuma chuckled at that. "Dangerous? Of course it is. The written part is just to see if they are mentally and emotionally ready for the responsibility of Chunin rank. The 'survival/mission' part is to test their ability to effectively use the resources given to them, and test their ability to get a mission done AND whether they can be trusted with sensitive information or packages. The combat part is to test their skills, but also to see how they use them, and whether they think during battle or just rush in blindly. There are sometimes accidents during the third stage, though the proctor tries to call the fights when it's obvious that one side is the winner. During the second stage, however..."

Adell was smart enough to put two and two together and frowned a bit. "..I see.." He didn't really have anything to say to that but it made him think about things. This place wasn't just a different country; it might as well have been another world. The laws were different, the culture was different and some of it wasn't all that pleasant.

"..How often are these test done?" Reizo was withholding judgment of things until he knew more but the life style here..it depressed him with the implications.

Akuma crossed his arms a bit. "Every six months. Where it is held is cycled between the five major villages. The one held in Konoha is always the one with the least deaths, as it's always the safest of the five. Konoha is far less brutal than the other villages, yet is the most powerful. It's what I like about it, partially."

"So how did this place end up as it did?" Garnet finally spoke up. "From even the little bit I gathered it seems most of the economy is built off the military industrial complex, except using Ninja instead of conventional troops. There's heavy flaws with that, but its been known to happen. I doubt this land is poor in resources from what little I've seen, but I could be wrong. There has to be a reason it developed and ended up stuck in this current state."

Perhaps it was somewhat like the Middle East, countless years of conflict and problems that there was no easy answer or solution to it all.

* *

Diana got herself ready for her first date with Lucas, looking herself over in the mirror. The clothing she wore were very simple. A white t shirt that had "AC-DC" on it and some blue jeans. She wore no make up and she didn't put anything else on save perhaps just a slight bit of perfume. Despite not dressing up a lot, there was a odd amount of charm in Diana just wearing some casual clothes outside the ones she had before. She looked in the mirror.

Am I attractive?

She had been told before, not too often where she grew up but she always wondered if she was desirable to other men. When her and Hina showered together, there was barely a scar on her body and she was more..gifted in other areas. Diana had various scars on her body, usually hidden by her clothes and some uglier then others. As a warrior and fighter they were a sense of pride, but as a woman she couldn't help but think maybe they made her slightly less attractice then some.

Shaking the thoughts away, she finished up and headed down stairs where Lucas would likely be waiting for her.

Akuma again shrugged. "This is how things are. The Elemental Nations have always been at war with each other, including three wars involved every nation. The Third War was the last though. Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, put an end to that war himself. Unfortunately, the Fourth is absolutely hated by the Earth Shinobi. They were hellbent on razing Konoha to the ground, and he wiped out their army single-handed. And, as is the 'beauty' of war, everyone views it differently. Some see him as a savior, some as a fierce warrior... and some see him as a brutal murderer. It's all perspective. Anyway, since that war was ended, there haven't been anymore. It's been... eh, twenty years maybe, since then." He then chuckled.

"As for the economy... the Hidden Village is not the capital of the Land of Fire, or even the economic center. It's essentially a military base. The Land of Fire is run by the Daimyo, the Hokage is basically the leader of the military. The Elemental Nations all make money in the same ways that the outside world does, they just also happen to have shinobi running missions as well, raking in a large amount of money. The Hidden Villages are just that, villages. With schools, restaurants, parks, and so on. The shinboi are not the only people living here, and the village is run not only by the Kage, but by a council composed of the heads of shinobi clans, as well as civilians."

~~~~~

When Diana came downstairs, it would be to see Lucas pacing in front of the couch, being watched by a highly amused, though oddly sad looking, Lacey. "Lucas, calm down."

"Calm down? How the hell can I calm down? I'm going on a date with... with Diana.... what if it goes bad?"

"It won't go bad."

"But what if it does!?"

"Then you try again. I've seen how you look at her, I know you care for her deeply... and I'm sure she feels the same. Just... calm. Everything will be okay." Lacey smiled kindly, and Lucas sighed, running a hand through his hair. It's length was was usually pulled into a ponytail, and tonight was no different. Tonight however, he was wearing slightly nicer clothes, but still casual.

"...But what if she has a horrible time? What if she decides she doesn't like me like that? Maybe I'll become a monk, and travel the world, warning young men not to make fools of themselves by dating women that are way out of their league..." His question went unanswered, as Lacey was stifling a giggle, having seen Diana coming, and knowing she'd heard all of that.

Garnet listened to everything Akuma had to say something. "I noticed something since I cam here and was curious. Do the Elemental Nations have trade with the outside world at all? Despite being a 'village' the technology here isn't exactly horribly behind what you'd find back at our home."

* *

Hina was humming softly to herself as Diana came out of the bathroom. "Are you ready?

"I am, though I am nervous." Diana admitted. "Let's get this done." Hina gave her a resasrruing squeeze on the arm and both of the young women headed down stairs where Lucas and Lacey were talking. Towards the end of it, she heard it and the Arc Angel found herself amused.

"I doubt that." Diana said, smiling a bit. "You look nice today Lucas. I..hope I look all right as well." The last part she seemed just slightly unsure, which wasn't like herself.

Akuma thought on that. "I... don't think so. We have headsets and communicators, security camera's, movies... and then that freak Orochimaru has his rare technology. I don't really know where it came from, but we have researchers and the like who make these things. Everywhere else, we are pretty much stuck in the feudal era."

~~~~~

Lucas simply clammed up, staring at Diana with wide eyes. Lacey watched with brief amusement, before elbowing Lucas lightly. "Say something, silly."

"B-Beautiful..." He was blushing rather badly, and Lacey just laughed at him a bit.

"Sorry, Diana. Lucas is... well, he's like that. I think you could be wearing a cardboard box and he'd still call you beautiful, just because it's you. It's how he is... he can be a real hard-head, but when it comes to matters of the heart and such, he's.... kind of pure, you know?"

"I see." Garnet left it at that, her curiosuity for the moment satisfied. She was curious of the building they would be staying at and she was at the moment trying not get distracted. That was to say let her mind wander and worry about Sydney and Rozalin being hurt. If she did, she wouldn't be able to focus for what needed to be done or get the needed sleep.

* *

Diana, blushing a bit smiled. "..Okay." She gently offered her hand. "I'm new to this so we can stumble together. I'm ready when you are, okay?"

Hina just watched the scene and smiled warmly, whispering to Lacey. "They're cute together."

Akuma finally led them to a rather nice hotel, and then turned to the others. "Alright, what are the sleeping arrangements? I want to know how many rooms to get."

~~~~~

Lucas smiled shyly, and took Diana's hand. "Y-yeah... s-so, um... let's go..." He led her out the door, and Lacey sighed softly once they were gone.

"Cute together... I guess they are. So long as they are happy, that's what matters."

The room arrangements were a bit simple. Kieth wanted a room with Ignis, and Garnet with Tomoya. Pretty much every once else who wasn't with someone(or didn't want to share) were fine with getting their own room. A very small part of Reizo was just slightly envious of the couples, it was something he didn't have but he hadn't given it much thought before. It was put into the back of his mind however, there were more important things to deal with.

* *

Hina was far from stupid, and she could tell something was bothering Lacey. She had an idea but wasn't really sure. "..Lacey, is there something wrong? I know I'm not good with relationship things because I've never been in one but I'd like to help. And..we'll, you just seem a bit sad about the Lucas and Lacey dating thing."

Akuma nodded, getting the needed rooms, after checking with the people that were sharing to see if they wanted two beds or one in the room. Once it was all sorted out, he sighed. "Alright then. So, anyone who's going to bed now, go ahead. I'm going to wander the village a bit, personally. Anyone who wants to join me is free to." Tomoya chose to go to the room he was sharing with Garnet. Tomoyo and Kyou, having decided to share a room, also went off to bed. Chad and Uryu were sharing. Aki had asked for his own room, but for two beds, for when Emina showed up. Ichigo and Orihime, however, chose to join Akuma.

Orihime was just curious, but Ichigo was restless. Ichigo and Tomoya were both very stressed by this, and while stress made Tomoya want to hole up somewhere, it made Ichigo need to move around.

~~~~~

Lacey blinked, looking at Hina in surprise, then sighed. "Hina, me and Lucas... we've always been together, you know? Our parents... they weren't bad parents, and they loved us, but they just... didn't know how to raise kids. So we sort of raised each other, though I'm older. After our parents died... it was sad, but it didn't change things much, since we'd already basically had only eachother..."

Levante had decided to stay around, Adell went off to bed for now as did Kieth didn't particularly care. He wanted the same room with Ignis, though at the moment he'd go with her to rest. Reizo decided to stay around for a bit long as well, as did Emanulle. Garnet went with Tomoya.

"I've been wandering..just who is this Naruto?" Levante asked, having heard about them but haven't seen them just yet.

* *

"I..understand." Hina finally said after a long moment. "Diana came to the temple but she was alone and scared. She didn't have anyone, her family was killed by hunters. You see..she didn't know her biological parents. She was adopted by a old human woman, along with a Dhampir boy, and a demon boy. They were both killed by hunters, and the woman died of a broken heart not too long after."

The demi goddess normally wouldn't divulge that information to anyone, but she and Diana trusted Lacey. She was a precious person now. "She ran away from that place after, and she ended up at the temple. She was bitter, alone and scared when she came. She wouldn't let anyone close to her.."

Hina thought back during those days. "But somehow, I saw through it and I wanted to be her friend. Once I gained her trust, we were practically inseparable. She's like my sister. She might seem a bit distant and cold if you don't know her, but she's one of the warmest people you'll meet once you get to know her." Here, she decided to finish off her point. "I understand, because when you've been with someone like that through thick and thin, you almost..get possessive of them. Almost as if they're growing away from you.."

"All our family will eventually grow older and move apart. Have families and lives of our own..but even if Lucas does and has a family of his own one day, you'll always be his big sister. Just like I'll always be Diana's little sister. We can't stop it, but it doesn't mean we are any less important. It just takes some getting used to."

She patted Lacey on the shoulder, smiling warmly. "So if nothing else, that won't change."

It was surprising the large amount of wisdom was in that little head of hers when she bothered, despite being naive at times.

Akuma paused at that. "Ever heard of the Kyuubi? The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox?"

~~~~~

Lacey smiled softly. While Hina didn't know exactly what Lacey's problem was, her words helped. It wasn't simply possessiveness... but nobody needed to know that, she supposed. SO long as Lucas was happy, she'd just have to deal with it, because she refused to put her own feelings before his. "...Thank you, Hina."

Reizo shook his head, and Emanulle remained silent he didn't know. The only person present who did was Levante.

Levante nodded. "Yes, actually. I know they're related to the current head of the Fox Demon Clan. Unfortunately, they went rogue. I don't know the details."

* *
Hina smiled warmly again. "No problem. For now, I think we could just relax and enjoy each others company. I don't really have much else in mind right now." She shrugged a bit. "..There was never much to do back at the temple so we had make up stuff as we went."

Akuma nodded at that. "Yep. Well, here in the Elemental Nations, he was seen as a bit of a natural disaster. WHere he showed up, whatever was there, wasn't anymore. Until, that is, he was controlled by the powerful abilities of Madara Uchiha. Madara controlled the Kyuubi's mind, using him as a weapon to fight his rival, Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage of Konoha. Not only did Hashirama defeat Madara, his wife Mito took it upon herself to seal the Kyuubi inside herself. I've learned that the Uzumaki clan, distantly related to the Senju, have always been amazing with sealing techniques. Anyway, she became the first Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi."

"Eventually, however, in her later years, a new host was needed, since she would die eventually, despite the Uzumaki's being rather long lived. So, a new Uzumaki was chosen; Kushina. Eventually, Kushina met and married Minato Namikaze, and Minato became the Fourth Hokage. Not sure if that was before or after their marriage. Either way, they had a son. Unfortunately, going through childbirth weakened the seal. Normally, they could keep it stabilized, like was done during the time of Mito giving birth. However, a man claiming to be Madara interfered. He managed to use Minato's newborn son to distract him long enough to kidnap Kushina, and forcibly extract the Kyuubi from her, nearly killing her. He then set the Kyuubi loose on Konoha." He paused, rubbing his chin.

"Minato and Kushina... they made a decision then. They had to seal the Kyuubi again, but they needed to protect the village from future threats by that man. So, they modified the seal a bit, and sealed the Kyuubi within their son. They set it up so that he could use the Kyuubi's chakra for himself, however. Also, as both of them were dying from injuries sustained from the Kyuubi, they sealed a bit of themselves in the seal was well. From then on, Kushina would help restrain the Kyuubi with her special chakra, and Minato would stand guard over the seal, so to speak. Their son, of course, was Naruto."

"By the way, if you are wondering how I know all this, it's because Naruto told me. He found out about all this not too long ago... his mother told him."

~~~~~

Lacey sighed, and nodded. "Yes, you're right. Why don't we watch a movie? I know there are still plenty you haven't seen, and we have a large collection...."

The other three listened in silence, it was finally Emanulle who actually spoke up first about this. "You sure its all right telling us all this? It seems rather personal for just strangers."

* *

Hina smiled slightly at that and went to go sit down. Lacey was hurting, but she would be fine given enough time. She was a lot stronger then she thought she was, it just wouldn't happen over night.

(we could just skip these two for now)

Akuma chuckled. "If you knew Naruto, you wouldn't worry. He want's people to understand him.. he could also make friends with anyone if he wants, I'd think. He's something special, I'll give him that."

If that's how Naruto saw it, then Emanulle couldn't fault Akuma telling all that information even if it was a bit on the personal side for strangers. Levante didn't comment and neither did Reizo, the former had a slight air of heavy thought about him.

Eventually, it was about time to call the tour a day, the three men returning to the hotel to get some rest. In Levante's case, he would be staying up a bit longer before then.

* *

Around the next morning, Kieth woke up earlier then normal. Usually he would be sleeping more but he was unable too, as there were things on his mind. Up to including about Sydney to Ignis' problem that seemed to be getting worse. It was starting to stress the young man out over all. His feelings for Ignis had only grown, to the point he could honestly say he loved the young demon hunter.

But stressing over it wasn't going to do any good, he needed to think. Problem was he couldn't think of anything.

Kieth gently kissed the sleeping Ignis on the forehead, then went to get ready for the day. The earlier risers(like Garnet) would be up and about by now. Emanulle and Reizo were already up and eating breakfast.