The Great Shinobi Empires of Jihopan (Naruto Quest, AU Canon)

Not wanting to pry too deep into why Sozen left the Leaf, you decided to ask a lighter question. "So, how did you meet Pakura? Marrying one of the Hellfire Twins is impressive, hell it caused an uproar within the Sand Empire if I remember correctly."

'Heh...y-yeah," Sozen muttered with a small smile, his cheeks reddening. "Well, it was after my escape from the Leaf. I managed to reach the desert of the Sand Empire but I was out of resources. No food, water, even the clothes on my back were in tatters. I truly thought I would die in the desert. But as luck would have it, Pakura and a few other shinobi were out on patrol and they found me. I think she said they were gonna imprison me to make sure I wasn't a spy, but shortly after that a squad from the Leaf had caught up."

You nodded, heavily invested in Sozen's story. After taking a deep breath, Sozen continued, "The Leaf demanded them to hand me over, but Pakura refused. She later told me that I looked so helpless, she couldn't just leave me to die. Heh...yeah, that's me. Always helpless. Anyway, they began to fight. But the Sand shinobi quickly lost, the Leaf shinobi only having some minimal losses. Pakura was the only survivor and she was close to death...these strangers fighting for me...I decided I couldn't let her die. Not for my worthless life."

"Don't tell me you managed to...fight off an entire group alone while nearly dead!" you exclaimed before cringing as pain throbbed throughout your body.

"Of course not. It was by sheer misfortune that...she appeared," Sozen sighed. "My sister, Ibuki, had been tracking me as well, and just caught up. Her appearing was...well. Ibuki was never the most stable and me leaving didn't really help. She interrogated me, asking why I left and such. When I gave her an honest answer she...became infuriated and blindly slaughtered her allies."

"Why the hell she do that?" you asked after another surge of pain.

"I don't know. With Ibuki...I've never known how she saw the world. But luckily in her rage, I managed to catch her in a genjutsu and put her to sleep. Then I took Pakura and ran. Pakura was still conscious enough to know of a small, hidden town where we could hide and heal. We were both on the verge of death when we collapsed near the outskirts where some of the villagers found us and graciously took us in. They weren't shinobi and their resources were scarce, so it took a very long time for us to heal. Thankfully the Leaf seemed to have call off the hunt at that point, I was probably a lost cause to them."

Sozen stretched and put some meat on the spit before going back to his story, "in that month, Pakura and I...talked. We talked a bunch. I learned about her, she learned about me and I suppose the sparks flew! Heh...but yeah. After that special month, Pakura and I were firmly in love. That's why it caused such an uproar when Pakura came back to the Sand. A famous kunoichi vanishing and thought dead after a mission gone wrong coming back holding hands with an Uchiha? An Uchiha who by all rights could have been a spy or assassin?"

"Yeah, that makes sense..." you muttered.

"So...yeah! That's how Pakura and I met. Probably not the most romantic way but fate has its way of working out," Sozen chuckled. You chuckled to yourself, but you were beginning to feel exhausted. You told Sozen this and he nodded. "Alright, just rest as much as you can. It was good talking to you, Nou."

"Same," you sighed as you laid your head back on the mound of earth. Thankfully, dinner was soon finished and having a warm meal helped ease your discomfort. Eventually everyone except you and Sasori (who was taking watch for the night) fell asleep. You didn't feel like talking to him yet, so you just ignored him and tried to keep yourself up.

---

Another grueling day of travel was settling down. It was much like the first, quiet, awkward, and exhausting. As the sun began to set, Sozen set you down and prepared to make camp, but Sasori eyed him angrily.

"What are you doing, Uchiha? The village is only half a day's travel away. We can make it if we keep on going. Hurry it up," Sasori coldly said.

"We can't!" Sozen shot back. "Nou can't continue for now, she is way too exhausted!"

"Then you are torturing Saito by delaying her treatment," Sasori responded.

"I would rather be out of this god-forsaken desert," Shigetaka monotonously added, while Suguru merely nodded with his father's wishes.

Well? What do you think of this?

[] You want to be cured as soon as possible, tell Sozen you are strong enough to reach the Sand.

[] You need the rest, you can't stand any more travel right now.

"I want to...be cured as soon as possible. Sozen...please, I can take it," you coughed.

"A fine decision, Saito," Sasori said. Suddenly out from his robe he pulled out syringe filled with a clear liquid and moved over to you.

"What is that?" Sozen asked, eyeing Sasori suspiciously.

"The antidote for my poison," Sasori coldly replied. Sozen gasped while an anger burned up within your body.

"You had...that the entire...time?!" you painfully spat out.

"Of course. On the very rare chance I would be inflicted with my poison, I would be an idiot if I could not cure myself," Sasori calmly said. You wanted to yell at him more, but the only yell than rang out was when Sasori stabbed you with the syringe. "I merely waited until I felt we were a safe enough distance to the village."

"You're a monster! You were torturing Nou for no reason!" Sozen cried out, pointing at Sasori.

"I did have a reason, I wanted to get home as fast as possible. So I put a time limit on Saito's life. It worked splendidly." Sasori replied without an ounce of remorse. "Plus, if Saito wanted to waste my time further, then she deserved another day of my poison."

You wanted to curse Sasori out, but as the antidote began to work, you began to regain some feeling within your body, and the constant pain began to dull. You were simply too relieved to argue at this point. You just looked at Sozen and whispered, "Let's just...get home..."

"Tch...fine..." Sozen said, sounding rather defeated. Sasori gave an arrogant scoff of victory as he turned around and shuffled away. Sozen made sure you were properly adjusted on his back before moving forward. The journey this time went rather smoothly, but as the cliffs that surrounded the capital of the Sand Empire came in view, you began coughing violently.

"Nou, are you alright?" Sozen asked. You answered with more coughs and gasping breaths. You tried your best to answer, but all you could manage was a painful wheeze.

"No...! My illness...its acting up again...! Did I...push myself too hard...?" you thought between the coughing fits. It got so bad that you actually coughed up blood on Sozen's shoulder.

"Nou! We're right here, don't worry! I'll get you to the hospital!" Sozen exclaimed, rushing forward ahead of everybody. Your vision went dark as you coughed more and more. You tried to keep consciousness, but after a few agonizing seconds, you blacked out...

---

Congratulations! You completed the Prologue! Choose one reward!

[] 1+ Extra Life (So you will have 4 continues in the next arc instead of 3 should you die.)

[] Relationship Boost to anyone on Nou's relationship list.
-[] Write In who gets the boost
-[] Save the boost for later

[] A free pass. This pass allows you to safely get through one vote of your choice with no negative consequences, but no positive ones either.

[] During a fight, you can choose to gain some sort of advantage in battle. Can only be used once.

[] Mystery Box!

You have opened the Mystery Box!

From a foreign land, a traveler carries a seed of death which shall take root within your home...
---

Your eyes opened what felt like seconds later, but now you were laying on a bed, an oxygen mask strapped to your face, and the sterile whiteness of the walls told you that you were in a hospital room. Your throat was very sore, your chest hurt, and there were still pinpricks of pain all over your body from Sasori's poison, but overall you felt that you were okay.

"Nou, you're up!" a familiar voice said. Slowly turning your head, you saw it belonged to Fumi. Right next to her was Shotetsu, who had a relieved smile on his face.

"Thank goodness," Shotetsu sighed, running a hand through his shaggy dark blue hair. "How are you feeling, Nou?"

"Sore but okay," you croaked back. You took off the oxygen mask and sat up. "Water, please?"

Fumi nodded, quickly went out of the room, and came back with a glass of water. You drank it all in two long gulps, the cold, clear water soothing your sore throat. "Thank you, Fumi," you muttered.

"I saw the report Sozen sent us. You went above the call the duty by risking yourself for an alliance with another empire, Nou," Shotetsu gratefully said, bowing his head. "But please, you need to be more careful about letting Shukaku do as he pleases."

"Sorry, I just couldn't afford to lose and-"

"It all worked out in the end, I'm just saying be careful," Shotetsu interjected with a soft smile.

"Yeah, I also heard what that bastard Sasori did to you," Fumi grumbled. "Shotetsu-sensei told me they're punishing him but...I still wanna get my hands on him!"

"Calm yourself, Fumi. We are taking care of it," Shotetsu firmly said, making Fumi sigh and calm down.

"How long was I out?" you asked.

"A few days. Has that demon tried to talk to you at all?" Fumi replied, crossing her arms.

"Surprisingly, no. It was like I blinked and suddenly I was here. Probably was too out of it to even see Shukaku," you said, thankful you didn't have to deal with the lewd demon's antics.

"I'm glad you're okay, Nou. Thankfully one of the few times I managed to get away from work was when you woke up," Shotetsu chuckled. "By the way, due to your outstanding work, I'm giving you a few days off after you get out of the hospital. Sadly I have to go now, but if you need me, you know where to find me."

"Thank you, Shotetsu-sensei," you gratefully said, waving goodbye as he left the room.

"Hell of a week for you, huh? Capturing that Kamizuru kid and then making ties with the Frost Empire. That'll really stick it to the Rock Empire!" Fumi said with a large grin.

"Guess when you put it like that, heh," you said with a small smile of your own. You slowly laid back down, almost relishing in not being numb anymore! "So, how long you stuck with me for, Fumi?"

"I managed to get today and tomorrow off, thankfully. So, I'll be around if you need me," Fumi answered.

"Hm, that's good. Sorry though, I don't think the hospital will let us get those drinks we promised though," you cheekily said.

"And I was so looking forward to it!" Fumi exclaimed jokingly, causing you both to laugh. Soon everything went silent and you closed your eyes. It was nice to simply relax and laugh. "So, what are you gonna do when you get out of here?"

"I haven't really thought of that yet. Hm..." you muttered.

What will you do after you get out of the hospital?

[] Go find Sozen and thank him for helping you. He is basically the only reason you're alive now.

[] Go find Sasori and chew him out! Or kick his ass! Whatever happens first!

[] You'll finally get those drinks with Fumi!

[] You're curious about Shigetaka and Suguru, perhaps you can find them.

[] You just wanna go home and rest.

[] Write In.

"I'll probably go find Sozen and thank him, he's the only reason I'm alive," you answered.

"Sounds like a plan. He did visit before, but you were still out cold," Fumi replied.

"Heh, sounds like him," you chuckled, scratching the back of your head.

"Aw, do you have a crush on him?" Fumi teased, giving you a coy smile.

"Nah. Even if I did, I don't think I could tear him away from Pakura! He's over the moon for her," you confidently replied.

"Yeah, yeah. By the way, when you go there, tell Aiko I said hello. I haven't seen her since our last mission," Fumi requested, crossing her arms.

"Sure, no problem," you replied. It had been a long time since you had seen Aiko. Aiko was formerly a genin under Fumi's guidance and she was a bright girl. You were interested in seeing how she had grown since you last saw her! You and Fumi talked for awhile until visiting hours were over, so Fumi said goodbye and left, leaving you to rest for the night.

---

The next day, you were released from the hospital after a few tests from the doctor. The first thing you did was go get something good to eat to wash the bland hospital food out of your mouth. After that, you went home, took a much needed shower, and then dressed in casual clothes seeing how you were off the clock for a few days. Then you flew over to Sozen's house and knocked on his door. After a moment, the door opened just a crack, showing an eye.

"Who are you?" a voice asked, sounding rather exhausted.

"I'm Nou, I wanted to thank Sozen for helping me on our last mission," you replied. The door opened to reveal a pale and sickly looking man with extremely long and stringy white hair that ended with lavender colored tips. He wore a large and warm looking robe that covered his figure, but going by how thin his arms were, you could assume this guy was as skinny as a rail.

"So you're the one who my dad was talking about..." the man said, his eyes narrowing. "I'll leave a message then-"

"Hm? Who is it, Atsutane?" another voice asked, revealing a woman who was slightly shorter than the man. In contrast to the man, the woman had black hair with two dark green bangs framing her face, and twin-tails going down her shoulders, turning green at the tips. You smiled as you saw Aiko's face light up. "Oh, Nou! It's been so long"

Aiko darted past her brother to give you a quick hug, which you returned. She let go and you said, "yeah, much too long! So, you're Atsutane, huh?"

"...Sure," Atsutane muttered.

"Oh please come on in! mom and dad are out shopping for dinner! Dad kept on talking about how you defeated a powerful ninja by yourself!" Aiko excitedly said, pulling you by the hand into the house. Atsutane sighed and got out of the way as Aiko guided you into the living room, sitting you down on a comfy couch. Aiko took a seat on another couch across from you, gesturing to a bowl of fruit on the coffee table. Atsutane joined Aiko shortly afterward, wheezing as he plopped down next to her, crossing his arms.

"First things first, Fumi told me to say hello to you," you said to Aiko.

"Aw. I should really make some time to see Fumi-sensei, but its just been so busy. Gosh..." Aiko sighed. "Well if you see her before I do, tell her I said hello back!"

"Gotcha," you replied. You noticed Atsutane was glaring at you, but you brushed it off, used to odd glares as part of being a Jinchuriki. Sozen's kids weren't who you exactly expected to see, but it seemed like Sozen and Pakura will be along soon enough.

What will you do?

[] Ask Aiko how she's been doing, it has been awhile since you've last seen her!

[] Nip this in the bud, ask Atsutane what's going on. He hasn't taken his eyes off you the second you got here...

[] Wait until someone else talks. You were just here to thank Sozen, honestly...

[] Write In.