Chapter 3: Training
Konan isn't sure what to make of her current situation. She remembers her battle with Madara in order to protect Nagato's body and to make sure that he couldn't be a threat to Naruto and his dreams of true peace. She remembers almost succeeding in killing him only to fail when he used Izanagi, a forbidden jutsu of the Uchiha that allows them to rewrite reality. She remembers being captured by him and his attempt to extract the information from her through use of a genjutsu and The Voice offering her a way out in exchange for her aid with the Grand Order. For the sake of Yahiko, Nagato, her sensei, and Naruto's dream of true peace, she accepted; as their pillar she would do anything to support them. It may be the universe playing a cosmic joke on her, but she finds it fitting that this Grand Order is in fact a Quest to stop humanity's extinction.
Hearing the sound of footsteps approaching, Konan turns to face the newcomer, her sensei's teammate.
"It's beautiful isn't it." says Tsunade as she looks out across the city of Tokyo from the rooftop of Ramiel's manor. "The sun rising on a peaceful morning."
"Yes." answers Konan as she looks away from the woman and towards the city. "This must be what Yahiko saw when he envisioned a peaceful world." she says more to herself than the woman.
"You're not the Konan from my world." the words come out more as a statement as opposed to a question. "In my world you died at the hands of Obito and the world was embroiled in the Fourth Shinobi World War." clarifies Tsunade.
Alarmed at the mention of a fourth shinobi world war, Konan can't help but think of one thing. "Naruto failed?" she asks, earning a puzzled look from Tsunade before she quickly catches onto what the Angel of Ame means.
"Oh no, the war isn't between the different nations. It's a war between the living and the dead under Obito and Madara's control. All nations have placed their differences aside for the sole purpose of defeating the enemy. Optimistically speaking, this could be the first step to achieving true peace." explains Tsunade.
"That's good." says Konan as a peaceful silence falls over them. "Who is Obito?" asks Konan after a few moments of silence.
"He's a Konoha shinobi that was supposed to be dead." answers Tsunade with a heavy sigh.
"All roads lead to Konoha it seems." says Konan with a whisper that Tsunade barely catches, causing her to slightly wince.
"It seems so." she says with a whisper of her own as they peacefully watch the sunrise.
They stay like this for a few minutes before another set of footsteps approaches them.
"Breakfast is ready." says Karin's voice, causing them to turn towards her. "Ramiel made food for everybody."
"So our host finally detangled himself from that possessive woman long enough to do something productive. I wonder who he's going to try to woo next?" says Tsunade teasingly as she wiggles her eyebrows at Karin.
"It would seem so." answers Konan while she completely ignores Tsunade's second question.
"Say Karin, what do you think about him?" she asks the red head.
"Wh…what do you mean?" stutters the woman with a slight blush.
"Oh, don't give me that. I saw how you were sending googly eyes at his muscles while he was meditating this morning." teases Tsunade. "Are you going to try your hand at getting him to bed next? He definitely seems like the easy type." she continues to tease with a smirk, causing the younger woman's face to go from slight blush to full on tomato red.
"Lady Tsunade! Please don't say things like that." loudly admonishes Karin. "Besides, I don't like him like that. It's just that shinobies don't tend to have such defined muscles ok." she adds with a whisper that makes Tsunade laugh and causes Konan to smile gently at her.
The Angel of Ame remembers her own experience with falling in love. Similar to most it had started with physical attraction, but that had not been what made fall in love with Yahiko, it had only started it. While those had been very dangerous and trying times, they had also been some of the best times of her life. Before she can fall deeper into her memories, Konan is shaken from her thoughts by Tsunade.
"Come on, let's see what the little playboy made. Although I do hope that his cooking is better than his seduction skills." says the Kage as she gracefully hops down from the roof and onto the balcony below with Karin and Konan following closely behind.
Making their way to the dining room, the trio make light conversation by comparing the world they each came from. Karin comes from a future where Naruto has succeeded with bringing true peace, although there is unfortunately still an incoming threat in the form of aliens. Having proof of Naruto's success in front of her makes Konan feel as if a weight has been lifted from her shoulders while at the same time making her feel lost.
To think that it is a war along with Naruto's overwhelming power that brings about true peace gives her a feeling of uncertainty for her world. She doesn't want the people of her world to have to go through the Fourth Shinobi World War in order for true peace to be achieved.
Walking into the dining room, the group finds that they are the last to arrive as Ramiel goes about bringing in the food while Mei and Esdeath help by setting up the table. Sitting around the table are the others who have formed a single group around the table to converse on the differences of their worlds. Emma Frost, Susan Storm, Natasha, and Dinah seem quite baffled at the existence of Hancock's world while Hancock and Raven attempt to wrap their heads around worlds where superheroes and supervillains exist.
"You're here, good. Take a seat, we'll get started soon." says their host as he places a bowl of rice on the table.
Taking a seat at the table and leaving the three seats at the head open, the shinobis join the others in their conversation.
"Shinobis in your world are completely different from the ones I'm used to, and I'm honestly glad for that." comments Dinah after Karin had explained the concept of shinobis to her. "I wouldn't want to have to deal with a League of Assassins with your capabilities." she clarifies.
"League of Assassin?" questions Natasha with a raised eyebrow.
"Cult of ninjas run by an old man centuries old who believes that it's their right to dictate the status quo of the world." explains Dinah.
"Can you get anymore cliche." says Emma with a roll of her eyes. "We have a few groups like that on my Earth."
"So do we." says Raven and Susan simultaneously causing them to look at one another before Susan nods at Raven.
"Except ours isn't a group of ninjas, but a group of fools who keep committing the same mistakes over and over." explains Raven. "The man leading them has been fighting the same opponent for centuries and every generation he makes the same mistakes. I can already see history repeating itself with the latest generation." she says.
"Interesting. Mine is a group of superspies run by a cynical and paranoid pirate." describes Susan with obvious distaste.
Natasha, who had been taking a sip of water while listening, chokes on her drink and almost spits it back out before catching herself and swallowing "Are you talking about SHIELD?" she asks in between coughs.
"Oh, there's one on your Earth too?" asks Susan with sympathy.
"I think that we all have our version of such an organisation." says Emma, earning nods from everyone except for the shinobies. "Are you saying that you don't have one?" asks Emma after seeing their lack of a reaction.
"Other than our ANBU who are our special forces for specific missions, no." says Tsunade, causing Karin to choke on her drink. Unlike Natasha however she isn't able to completely stop herself from spitting some out. "Do you have something to say, Karin?" asks Tsunade.
"Did you forget about Danzo and his Root?" asks the redhead in between coughs.
"Danzo's Root was disbanded before I came into office." refutes Tsunade.
"No it wasn't. He just made people think that it was by destroying every record of it. I don't even think that Lord Third knew that he disobeyed his orders." refutes Karin. "How do you not know…Oh right, you're the past Tsunade from a different world."
"Karin. Explanation, now." orders Tsunade.
"Right, so basically Danzo used Root to commit tons of atrocious acts in the name of Konoha without anyone knowing. He helped fund and hide Orochimaru's research, and was even the one behind the Uchiha Massacre." informs Karin.
Despite Tsunade's silence, everyone can see that she is furious and refraining herself from hitting the table. Not able to control herself anymore, she gets up and makes her way to a wall before shattering it completely with a punch. "That decrepit old man! If he wasn't dead already I'd wring his goddamned neck!" she exclaims.
"I take it that the Uchiha Massacre was a major event." comments Hancock.
"Yes. In one night every member of the Uchiha clan, except for one, was killed in their sleep by the heir. That one event severely weakened Konoha almost to the point of the other shinobi villages feeling certain that they'd be able to take Konoha on in a war." she explains.
"Everyone? Why?" asks a horrified Susan.
"The Uchiha were planning a coup because they felt that they were being mistreated by the village. Lord Third wanted to use a genjutsu to convince them otherwise, but Danzo had other plans. He convinced the heir, Itachi, to kill his clan in exchange for the life of his brother."
"Considering what you've told us about Danzo, I cannot help but think that he would fit in quite well with the World Government." says Hancock, earning nods of agreement from the rest.
Before the conversation can continue however Ramiel walks in with the final dish "Alright, that's enough morbid topics for now. You can all compare notes about your organisations later." he says as he removes his apron and hangs it on the back of his chair while Mei, Esdeath, and Tsunade return to take their seats.
"You look good in an apron." says Emma, and Konan isn't sure whether she's just teasing him or not.
"Why thank you, are you perhaps looking for a house husband?" teases Ramiel as he extinguishes his cigarette.
"More like a boytoy to do my bidding. Besides, I don't trust you to cook for me everyday." answers Emma.
"Are you doubting my cooking skills?" asks their host challengingly.
"If you are speaking on the Faerie Feast perk that you obtained, then I would love to inform you that a perk given to you by a nigh-omnipotent being does not count as a skill." refutes Emma.
"Ah, but that's the beauty of this meal; I did not make use of the perk at all. This is one hundred percent me." he tells her as he sits down. "Now, since you all seem so eager to try the food, dig in." he says.
Without hesitating every one begins to eat their meal, a traditional japanese breakfast consisting of steamed rice, miso soup, grilled fish, and a variety of vegetable side dishes.
Quickly a hush falls over the dining room and Konan can understand why. The food is absolutely delicious. For Konan this is the best meal she's ever had, and judging by the reactions of many others the feeling is mutual.
"Delicious, but not the best that I've ever had. It seems that I was wrong, you can do more than think with your lower half." compliments Emma. "Although that only elevates you above the lowest of the prospects that I would consider for coupling."
"Please Emma, you and I both know that most of those 'prospects' are absolutely worthless in anything that doesn't involve flaunting their wealth." says Ramiel with a roll of his eyes.
"It seems that you have some experience with the circles that I must frequent, although I don't remember you claiming to come from a high class family." she comments.
"That's right, my introduction last night was pretty lackluster. Allow me to make a more formal introduction." he says as he looks around the table. "My name is Ramiel Prince, first child Aurelia Prince, Head of the Prince Family. In terms of standing, the Prince family would be akin to the Animusphere family in this world."
"So your family ran an organisation tasked with saving humanity from extinction." commented Natasha.
"More or less. It wasn't to the same extent as Chaldeas, but The Order was tasked with slaying anything that threatened humanity. It could be something as simple as hunting down vampire wraiths threatening to overrun a city or an evil dragon that has awakened after centuries of slumber." explains Ramiel.
"You must have been quite famous with the ladies back home." comments Hancock.
"Hahaha, no. Not really." he answers with a laugh. "For the first decade or so I was bedridden until my siblings helped me get better. Afterwards I was more interested in learning how to fight than play their stupid political games, painting me in a negative light."
"I would hope that it was a lack of interest as opposed to the lack of mental acumen to keep up. I would very much hate for our leader to be a complete brute." comments Emma.
Glaring at Emma, Esdeath decides to finally speak "For someone who claims to be a simple businesswoman, you do love to aggravate your betters."
"My betters? I see no such person here." replies the blonde.
"Arrogant, blind, and completely useless in a battle, it's a miracle that you've survived to adulthood. Then again, I wouldn't put it past you to lead your underlings to their death while you scurry away like the rat you are." says the general.
"You dare!" exclaims Emma as she slams her hand on the table and explosively stands up. "I will fry your brain and then we'll see who's useless." she says with a snarl.
"Oh, did I-" "Enough." commands Ramiel. "If you two want to tear each other apart you can do it in the training room. Right now we are eating, so sit down and finish your meal."
Emma looks at Esdeath with a livid expression before turning to Ramiel, her thoughts war within her head for a few seconds before she ultimately decides to sit down.
"Why do you let her speak to you that way?" asks Esdeath loud enough for all to hear.
"Because her words don't bother me. I've heard her exact same words throughout my life. First it was Ramiel the Useless when I was bedridden, then Ramiel the Brute once I was capable of leaving my bed." he says casually, causing Emma to slightly wince, a wince that quite a few of them noticed.
"Of course there was also Ramiel the Unbothered, but that was mainly from my father." he adds with a chuckle.
"You don't like your dad." comments Dinah.
"What gave it away?" asks Ramiel.
"It was an uneducated guess based on your avoidance to mention him. Even when you introduced yourself earlier, you named your mother but never mentioned your father." explains the woman.
"You're right, I don't like him. He was a completely selfish jerk." says the host before focusing on his meal.
The rest of the breakfast is spent on light conversation as the group slowly gets to know one another. Konan can already see smaller groups forming within, yet she herself has no idea where she fits in at all.
Her relationship with her fellow shinobis isn't exactly the best, especially when it comes to the Mizukage. Knowing only battle for most of her life makes it difficult to identify with any members from the superhero worlds, save perhaps Natasha. Hancock seems content with observing everything while seemingly making a plan of some form, and Raven is still eyeing their host suspiciously as if he may assault them sometime soon.
This group is almost as volatile as Nagato's incarnation of the Akatsuki and that's worrying.
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Raven is willing to admit that her actions yesterday were hasty. She had woken up in an unfamiliar building next to an unknown man that made her senses scream danger and had made her skin crawl in a similar fashion as Salem; as such she did what she always does when she feels endangered, threaten the one responsible into submission until she no longer feels endangered.
Her plan fell apart as soon as he awoke and looked at her with those crimson red eyes, eyes that remind her far too much of Salem. She had frozen in shock for a few seconds as he patted himself down looking for his medicine. The fact that he did not see her as a threat and that she felt that her blade would break had she tried to actually stab him in the throat with it did not help her state of mind at all. By the time he had answered her she did not want to be in the same room as him and swiftly left before she truly did something stupid.
Thanks to the past few hours and the conversation during breakfast she knows that he and Salem are very different from each; should they meet she's sure that Ramiel would try his very best to remove Salem's head from her shoulders. Yet why is it that she can't look him in the eyes? No matter how much she tries she can't help but compare them to Salem, and just the thought of the Queen of the Grimm makes her heart freeze. Even now as he explains to the others how she will unlock their auras and what that entails, she can't look him in the eyes. And as she averts her gaze away from his eyes she can't help but wonder whether or not Qrow and the others had been right, perhaps she really is scared of Salem.
Before that train of thought can take root in her mind she's shaken from her thoughts by her host's voice.
"Alright Raven, I'll leave the rest to you." he says.
"Fine." she says as everyone's attention turns to her. "Normally to unlock one's aura you would have to do it yourself, but since we don't have the time I'll be unlocking your auras for you. So who's first?" she asks.
Before any of the others can answer, Ramiel steps forward with a lazy grin on his face and a cigarette in his mouth. Averting her gaze away from his eyes, Raven places her hand on his chest and reaches inside him with her aura and brushes his soul with it only to quickly retract it as she feels the predatory gaze of a beast.
"Are you alright? You look a bit pale." says her host with a worried gaze.
Calming her labored breathing, Raven returns to the task at hand "I'm fine." she answers him.
"Don't push yourself." he says gently even as she pushes her aura into him.
Reaching out to his soul with her aura, she once again feels the predatory gaze coming from it. Knowing what she knows about him, Raven wagers that the predatory feeling is his dragon aspect studying her. Steeling her resolve, Raven gently touches his soul and begins to slowly coax it outwards. The process goes along in a timely fashion, but due to the massive aura reserves that Ramiel has, she wagers it will take her longer than normal and will make her too tired to unlock more than one or two more of their companion's depending on their reserves.
"Ah, this must be Soul Talent kicking in." says Ramiel, causing her to look at his eyes before quickly averting her gaze. "I can feel how you're unlocking my aura and replicate it for myself." he says as his soul seems to come alive and his aura explodes outwards in a swirl of crimson.
"That's a rush." comments their host as his crimson aura's appearance slowly decreases in size until it covers his body like a tight bodysuit and disappears from the naked eyes.
Employing her Iaido skills, Raven draws her odashi and slashes at Ramiel's arm only for the damage to be completely negated by a translucent crimson barrier.
"Congratulations, it worked." she says as she sheathes her blade while ignoring Esdeath's glare that promises her pain.
"You can rest now, I can unlock everyone else's aura." he tells her.
"Don't be stupid. Unlocking someone else's aura requires a considerable amount of training…" "Which I can replicate thanks to Soul Talent as well having experience with souls. Trust me, I've dealt with the soul of a bloodthirsty and horny dragon when I was around thirteen years old, I've got this." says Ramiel, cutting off Raven's protest.
"Don't say I didn't warn you." replies Raven as she steps back to watch him work.
To her surprise not only does he succeed in unlocking their aura's, but he also does so and is still able to stand afterwards.
"Now that everyone's aura has been unlocked, we can get to the actual combat portion of the training. We'll split into pairs for spars. Anything goes except for killing, crippling or any injury that can't be healed in a few hours." he says.
The announcement of spars causes the atmosphere in the training to become charged and Raven completely understands why. While their host is the only one filled with a lust for battle, the majority of them are extremely skilled warriors; you don't reach a level like theirs without taking some form of enjoyment from pitting yourself against other skilled warriors.
While the likes of Karen, Susan, and Emma aren't exactly the most thrilled, they pair off all the same. Raven however pays neither them nor anyone else any mind as she makes her way to her target.
"You came of your own volition, you are more courageous than I gave you credit." says Esdeath as they draw their blades and face one another.
"We never finished our fight." Raven simply answers.
"Yes. Just the thought of it excites me." replies Esdeath with a grin.
"You won't have your lover to stop me from beating you." Raven tells her.
"Don't worry, my beloved knows not to interfere." says Esdeath as the temperature begins to plummet in the room.
Summoning her Maiden powers, Raven accepts her challenge. "Good." she says as launches herself towards the madwoman.
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