"Going Home"

It was in the middle of the day when the two finished talking to each other, and Yamura decided to bring him to their home. The kid talked about him meeting his siblings in all but blood, to at least bring them joy.

Yamura had noticed that his Kazuki-nii and Fubuki-nee looked sad every time they got back from work, so he would always do his best to make them smile but it would only make them annoyed at him.

It was understandable that the two of them would feel that way, especially after having a hard day of work. He knows that since he used to carry heavy stuff back when he was 16 to make a little bit of money for his survival. But that quickly ended 2 years later when he decided to draft himself to the army. It wasn't a hard decision, at least for him.

He just wanted to feel something at the time, something to make him thrilled. So the army was an easy choice, because it's a place where you get paid to kill people legally.

But that's all in the past now. He's in a different world, a world full of magical things. Maybe after he traverses this world, he'll get to have a different meaning for himself. He knew that every person out there has a meaning to their lives, that's why they live everyday despite the hardship they face.

Even he, a murderer, had a meaning for his life. Murdering people left him with a thrill, a thrill as good as drugs. Though, he hasn't felt something like that ever since he came to this world. Something had changed inside him, and he doesn't know what.

He lowered his head a bit as the two of them walked through the forest, to dodge a tree branch.

And there was a very noticeable frown on his face as he asked his companion this, "Where are we going? Is the place you're staying at far?"

Yamura looked at him confused, and then said, "Oh, right, you had an amonsia!"

"Amnesia," He corrected him.

"Yeah, that! Anyway, the place we're going to is 2 hours away from here if we just walk. Sensei bought that house back when he was alive for some reason, and since Kazuki-nii remembered that, he decided to relocate us there," Yamura answered his question.

"Their deceased sensei was smart," He said in his thoughts, "Just by doing that, he managed to get a safe house in case something ever happened to him or to the children he was taking care of. But I guess he didn't notice that the whole village was against them before it was too late, considering the fact that he's dead."

30 Minutes later, as they were walking through the forest, they noticed a road in the distance.

Yamura pointed at it, and said, "If we follow this road, we will reach the next village in about an hour. I take this road every day to reach our previous house, so I know!"

Shoki then realized that the kid in front of him probably took this road alone almost every day in this month and walked about two hours to get to his previous home. It was dangerous, and if this little guy's siblings knew about it they'd be incredibly worried and rightfully angry. Even he was feeling a little bit worried for the little guy, and that's coming from him.

Looking at the long road ahead of him, he sighed. Instantaneously, some of the metal in his bag became a meter-long platform. The size was just enough for the both of them, though it is as thin as a paper since he didn't use all of his metal into making this. He still needs the spare metal for his own safety, in case anything happens on the way.

Yamura raised an eyebrow at the platform childishly, as he said, "What's this?"

Shoki walked on top of it, and replied with, "Get on. This should get us to our destination in a lot less than an hour. Just tell me to stop if you see that we're near the village."

Nodding, Yamura then walked on top of the platform curiously.

Just as Yamura was about to ask him about it, Shoki just said, "Hold tight."

Then they slowly floated 20 meters into the air, and the two children, with the younger one widening his eyes in fear as he grabbed onto the older one tightly, flew faster than an eagle.

Shoki indifferently looked on ahead, though he had a very thin veil of metal around his eyes. This thin metal protected his eyes from getting ruined, but Yamura had nothing like that so he had no choice but to close his eyes and pray to every god he knew.

In less than 10 minutes, they arrived 100 meters away from the village Shoki first saw. The platform suddenly stopped as he wielded it, and both of them almost fell down. Yamura didn't fall because he was holding the back of his shirt, but Shoki didn't fall because he had metal cuffs around his legs that connected to the platform itself.

As they slowly floated down, Yamura forced himself to jump down and ran to the nearby bushes to throw up all of the food he had eaten today.

Looking at this scene, the red-head didn't do anything as the metal platform went back to his bag.

He looked ahead, and saw the village gates. It was rather big for it to be just a village, though he couldn't help but frown when he saw 2 ninjas standing, or rather 'guarding', in front of the entrance of the village. They were wearing dark blue vests and forehead protectors that had 3 almost vertical lines engraved on them.

Two small pieces of metal flew from each other's different direction, and he stationed them near the ninjas. If they ever attack him, killing them would be easy. Once he passes through that entrance he will get those two metal pieces back to his bag but for now, it will stay there.

After throwing up, by a lot he might add, Yamura trudged towards the older one of them, and glared at him. Then, he said, "I'll never get on that thing, ever!"

Glancing at him, Shoki said, "Are you finished? Then let's go." Then he looked up at the sky, and added, "It looks like rain will be upon us soon. Getting to your house is our priority right now." And he needed to know how to get more metal. If he goes to that village, he'll most likely be surrounded by numerous strong ninjas. He held no delusion; he's weak, incredibly so. Even with his metal powers, he'll die if they found out he had this kind of ability.

Because it would be trivially easy for them to counter his attacks, considering the fact that they also had superpowers with the chakra they had according to Yamura.

These ninjas were trained since they were children to have larger stamina, stronger muscle, faster movements, and great reaction time. The only reason he was able to kill those ninjas back then was because he had the element of surprise with him.

But what if he didn't? What would've the battle have been like? Even if he had trained his body to its current peak condition, he's still in a child's body.

In short, what he's trying to say is that this is the enemy base; anything can happen. He's done infiltration missions in the past but they were mostly unsuccessful due to his rather erratic behavior at the time.

Now, he just has to be ready for whatever is coming for him in the near future.

Shaking his head, he sighed. He sometimes finds himself ridiculous for thinking like this. He, the greatest serial killer, is one of the most paranoid people in the world. That'll probably make him a laughing stock if word spreads about it. Though, that's the least of his concerns.

While Yamura was grumbling under his breath childishly, he continued to walk towards the gate. The two ninjas noticed him, and they smiled at them, or specifically at Yamura.

Brightening up, the 7-year old also returned the smile at the adults, and said, "Goro-san! Yomo-san! I'm back!"

"So he knows them?" Thought Shoki.

Yamura approached the two, and the one called 'Goro' fondled the kid's head, patting him, and said, "Hey kid, you returned early today."

"Mhmm, it's because I found Shoki!" Yamura said excitedly.

Raising an eyebrow and turning his eyes on the red haired child behind the kid, he said, "So he was alive? That's a miracle. Bloodline purges usually end with no survivors at all."

"Well, I told you! My aniki is really cool, isn't he? He flew us on the way here with his met- mmpff!" He was cut off when Shoki put his right hand over Yamura's mouth. He looked at his younger companion with a stink eye, but the two ninjas just laughed.

"Kid, you don't have to worry about us ratting you guys off. Mei Terumi owns this entire place, and anyone with a bloodline is welcome here. Even the Third Mizukage is afraid of her for her sheer strength along with her army of shinobi! So don't worry about it, this place is totally safe for you guys… as far as I know, at least," Yomo explained to him

"Mei Terumi? Wasn't that the red haired woman I met back then?" He thought to himself, wondering if this was fate or just a coincidence.

He gave them the so-called 'silent treatment', quietly gesturing to them to continue.

Noticing this, Goro said, "Ahem. I'm sorry, but since we have a law here that states you have to either show us your kekkei genkai, or tell us whether you have one or not. It is a requirement to enter the village. If you have a kekkai genkai, you are free to enter the village whenever you want but if you have none, you will be inspected by the anbu to see if you are a spy or not."

"So even a child has to undergo that process? They might be more paranoid than me… but even then, I can understand. Children in Afghanistan and Africa used to approach soldiers in a ploy to let our guard down, before detonating themselves into smithereens," thought Shoki.

'War is not like hell' his companions used to say to him. And the reason why? Because hell punishes the sinners but war destroys everything in its path. Though he never really cared for that because, why the hell does it matter?

He frowned for a bit before deciding to show them a bit of his power.

Slowly, the two shinobi watched as two pieces of metal came out behind them.

They would've been amazed if not for the fact that the metal pieces went inside the rather small bag around Shoki's waist. There and then, they realized, this kid could've killed them if he wanted to.

Narrowing his eyes, Goro readied himself, and said, "So from the very start, you were planning to kill us."

Shaking his head, Shoki just said, "I was making sure you two weren't my enemies, I've had rather bad encounters with several ninjas that I just don't trust you people. And it didn't help you two have the same headband as those ninjas. I was just being careful." It was logical, and it was so logical that even the two men themselves faltered a little because a child like him has become so accustomed to killing that it was only one of the few options he had.

They would've arrested the kid in front of them if they didn't remind themselves that this is the reason they fight in this horrible war; for children like Shoki to never experience something like this ever again. Naïve and futile as it was, it's still something they need to do as adults.

Sighing with a headache, Yomo just said, "Go into the village. We'll just report this to Lady Mei tomorrow so don't get in trouble there."

Raising an eyebrow, Shoki said in his thoughts, "They're awfully being lax here. If I ever found out that someone was plotting to kill me, I would've returned the favor by mutilating their body. Child or not. But these ninjas… they're surprisingly soft." Now he just sounded like a hypocrite because he certainly didn't mutilate Yamura earlier for trying to kill him.

"Let's go, Shoki. The house is just that way!" Yamura pointed somewhere, and he just followed him.

As they walked past a lot of people, he realized something.

Earlier Yamura called him "Aniki" but when talking to him, he just calls him "Shoki".

So he asked him, "You called me aniki earlier. Why?"

Without turning around as he walked step by step, he said, "I did? Oh yeah, I used to call you that. But when I first saw you, when we were talking, 'aniki' didn't come to my mind but just the thought, 'who are you?'." He happily walked on the street as he continued, "I don't know why though. Maybe Kazuki-nii and Fubuki-nee would know."

It boggled Shoki's mind. He had the body of the previous Shoki, and yet Yamura subconsciously knew he wasn't the 'Shoki' he knew. It was a strange feeling for some reason. It made his heart ache a bit. It hurt him. It was something he couldn't comprehend.

Walking in the middle of other people, as he continued to follow, he stared at Yamura. Then, he said in his thoughts, "Who are you to me? Who were you to Uzumaki Shoki?"

Moments later, they arrived in front of the house Yamura lived in. It was decent looking compared to the houses around it since most of the buildings here could be compared to the houses made in the Edo Period in Japan. He had studied enough about Japan so he knows its past quite well, and this entire place seems to copy almost everything about it.

The house in front of him has walls that were shaped to look like a circle, and the roof almost resembled the top head of a pineapple except it was straighter.

In front of it was a fence, and behind the fence was the front yard of the house. And there he could see an old man sweeping the floor. The old man stopped what he was doing when he noticed the two children that were entering the yard.

"Yamura-kun, you're back early. Hmm? Who's this? Is that you, Shoki?" The old man's emerald green eyes shined with sorrow, though it was quickly overshadowed by guilt. His cheap kosode waved around while he moved, and his face somehow grew older the more he stared at the red head.

"Who are you? And did I know you somehow?" Shoki asked, keeping his distance. He didn't know this man, and for all he knows, this elder could be an enemy.

The old man developed a confused look, when Yamura said, "Ah, Jii-chan, Shoki has amnesia, or something. He doesn't remember anything for some reason."

The old man held guilt in his eyes, though it was quickly hidden with another emotion as he said, "Ah, this is great. Fubuki-sama and Kazuki-sama are going to be overjoyed when they hear this news! They're inside the house, Yamura-kun, waiting for you."

Yamura's brain stopped processing for a moment before his face slowly turned as white as a sheet of paper.

"They're WHAT!!??" It was a scream that was heard everywhere in the current district, "Are you sure!?"

"Of course. I led them in, after all," The old man replied.

"I'm dead… I'm absolutely dead… Fubuki-nee is gonna kill me, I'm sure of it…" Yamura muttered, his panic being painted on his face.

On the sidelines, Shoki just watched this sight unfold in front of him. He then glanced at Yamura, and said, "Let's go inside. I want to know more about my previous self." That was a lie; he wanted to know more about Uzumaki Shoki. He wanted to know what he was like, and why Yamura was almost able to figure out he wasn't the Shoki he knew.

It was a strange feeling. Maybe the young Shoki's soul is still inside his body? Because it hurt him. That's the best he could describe it. It was like a knife slowly entering his heart, rotating and moving.

What causes this feeling is beyond him but he knew that he had to deal with this soon because it will get him killed someday.

Soon, Yamura managed to have the courage to enter the house. An ominous aura was leaking out of it, now that he got a better look at it.

He opened the door. The hallway leading to the living room was dimly lit, and Shoki felt like he was going into the enemy's base just like in Afghanistan when he sneaked into the enemy's camp all by himself and came out victorious.

He knew he could win this if a fight ever broke out.

Just as they were about to reach the living room, he saw a glimpse of a teenage girl and boy.

Long white hair, blue eyes, thin lips, oval shaped face, and a simple black shirt and grey shorts. It was a girl barely 15 years old, and she looked pissed when she saw Yamura.

And the other one, a boy, with black hair, red eyes, 5'9 in height, and pale skin. He just wore a grey t-shirt and brown shorts. He looked amiable but angry as well.

Looking at them, Shoki knew Yamura was in deep.

They were glaring at him as they stood up.

Laughing nervously, Yamura said, "H-Hehehe, I'm… home?"