Otsutsuki (Book 2 of the Aftermath Series)

Part 1: The Benefactor

First and foremost, if you are confused this book is the second in a series. To understand this book you will need to read the first one. It can be found on my page. It's called: "Aftermath (Kakashi Hatake)" 

Enjoy the story! Leave a comment and vote if you like it!

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My blade sliced through the neck of the guard silently. I caught his body as it started to fall and pulled it into a nearby closet and closed the door behind me. Turning around I watched Jiraiya take out the other guard on the other end of the hall. He tucked the body into the corner and placed a genjutsu over it to make it look like there was nothing there. We made eye contact and he gestured to the the door behind me. I looked at the door for several long minutes, thinking about all that has happened since I parted ways with Kakashi. 

The first month after Kakashi left me was basically just Jiraiya running in circles. We managed to fend off two more attempts at capturing me. The second one was rough, it turned out the two shinobi who had decided to capture me were skilled Ninja that had defected from Iwagakure. I was injured as well as Jiraiya in that battle but we still won. The second month I got a lead on someone who had turned down an offer from the Benefactor. He didn't know much but he did confirm his appearance. He also gave us the name of his partner who had decided to take up the offer. We spent the third and fourth month away tracking this guy down. When we found him he was cut down right before us in a bit of bad luck on our part. His killer was a group of hunter nin from Iwagakure. They told us, though reluctantly, that they had recently found out he was meeting regularly with a man who fit the description of the Benefactor in a hut somewhere along the coast of Waterfall Country. It took us another month to reach the location given we were in Tea Country at the time. When we arrived we found the place abandoned and asked around the villages in the area. There we were attacked by yet another person attempting to capture me. Only this guy was different. Upon closer examination, with the help of some torturous methods I hope Jiraiya never uses in front of me again, he let it slip that he had been the one in charge of following me and sending my location to the Benefactor. 

Six months after Kakashi went home I found the Benefactor. I had contemplated sending for reinforcements but the Benefactor had proved to be someone who can disappear at a moments notice. It was only today that we finally gained confirmation of his location. A base hidden almost entirely in a mountain in The Land of Wind. We had notified the Hokage but our letter will likely arrive after we have ended this. The compound was difficult to break into. I had been practicing my sensory skills and Jiraiya had admitted that he had never seen anyone, even the Hyuuga with vision like my 'other eye'. It came in handy when I was able to describe the layout of the compound and the room in which we would find the one we were searching for. The next step was to take out any and all guards in the building. It was hard for me to justify killing almost two hundred men but knew that if a single person survived who knew the Benefactor had been killed/captured then we were running the risk of a copycat arising to take his place. 

That leads me to now. Standing on the other side of the door as the Benefactor. He was waiting for me, I could see that he was sitting at his desk with his masked face looking at the door. I learned that my 'other eye' works a lot better when my eyes are actually open, it also makes my eyes glow an unnatural green and my pupil begins taking over my iris, much like the sun. Jiraiya also said he had never seen anything like that. Deciding not to waste any more time I opened up the door and entered the room. It was unsurprising to find the masked man sitting at a wooden desk, papers in different stacks littered the desk like he was in here paying bills or something. "Hello." He greeted me. "Why don't you have a seat?" He was surprisingly calm but I decided to play along. I pulled up a chair from a table that took up the other half of the room. "Why don't you pull up one for your friend as well." He said casually and I pulled another one up beside me while Jiraiya stepped in the door. Originally he was going to wait outside but, we had both decided over our time interrogating that sometimes the best way to get answers is to play their game. 

"Master Jiraiya is it?" The masked man asked as he gestured for us to have a seat. We both sat down. "Yes." Jiraiya said and the man nodded. "It's nice to finally meet you. You have been an unsuspected difficulty in my plan." He spoke so casually as if we were all friends that hadn't seen each other in a long time. "No worries. Let's move on to why you are here." He said as if we would be worried that he would be mad about Jiraiya's presence in my life. "You really are just like he said. Will you take your mask off for me? I would like to see your face if you would allow me the pleasure." I looked over at Jiraiya and he nodded once so I uneasily took off my ANBU mask. Since it was now winter I had replaced the cloth mask I borrowed/stole from Kakashi with my normal one, which is basically an ANBU mask but a cheaper made clay and differently shaped feature. This meant that I was now barefaced and my glowing eyes were in full view. "Lovely. He never mentioned a dojutsu, what a surprise." He said almost sounding giddy like a child. 

"Moving on. I believe you are here about the bounty I have placed on your head. Did you know that you were the first of my targets to actually come to me?" He asked and I remembered something Jiraiya once said to me while we were working out the puzzle before hand. He said, "It's likely that he does this for many high profile cases. We were just the firsts to catch on. It's likely he has clients per se and instead of publicly advertising the price they have on someone's head they have this quy come in and professionals. That way whoever they want dead or alive is captured or killed immediately and not by some amateurs that are lured in by  the promise of a big payout. This means he get's the real reward and pays the professional just enough to keep them satisfied and they never know the difference. He's a puppet-master." I now realize that this is no longer a theory. This guy is a puppet-master.