Returning back to base.

"Stupid mountains... I hate going up or down them... Always such a pain in the back... Literally." She had another candy of some sort in her mouth. This time it was bubble gum. She enjoyed chewing on it when she was on a long walk of some sort. This one was indeed a long walk and almost at its end. She was nearing the Syndicate HQ deep within thick forest.

She was finally within viewing distance of the fortress walls. The walls where made of very sturdy and hard wood. Behind that wall it was enforced by a smaller wall made of stone. There were voices being shouted and such. It was obvious that she had been seen already by the guards that were placed on top of the walls. Their eyes were as sharp as ever. Which was good for keeping unwanted people away.

She approached the walls within no time at all. The guards noticed that she wasn't a threat and in fact their leader. Upon her approaching the gate the two front guards gave a quick salute before the gate opened. She ventured into the walls. Inside there were makeshift buildings that served as houses and buildings. Of course the quality has increased around 10 fold since she became leader.

She continued venturing forward towards the middle of the rogue town. In the middle was a hill of some sort... More like a mound than a hill you would guess. She reached the mound and reached forward. Her hand disappeared into the mound with no effort at all. She then moved forward until her whole body was inside the mound. It was the entrance to the underground fortress where the Syndicate decided what should be the next step.

Compared to the town outside the walls were solid and well lit. Everything seemed clean and nice... It was almost like a step into another world. Kyra mindlessly wandered down the halls towards her room. After around 15 minutes of walking threw the maze she finally reached it.There were two guards stationed there and both saluted her as she approached. "There is someone I am expecting. I want you to inform all the guards and allow him to enter. Also assign a guide to him to show him his way to me." She gave a quick description of Gamma before she vanished into her room and the guard ran down the hallway to give out the information.

She had assigned Calinitz to a few very special missions and was wondering how he was doing on them. She had hoped he wouldn't fail the first couple. She decided to disregard the thought for now and pulled out a book from her bookshelf in her room. The room was a decent sized room maybe 70 distance between each all. Her bed laid in the far corner and the rest of her room was covered with all sorts of things that she had been researching. Bookshelves everywhere a few tables with books piled high. She looked over her mess of a room. "I should really clean this up... Meh... Some other time." She sat down and opened her book continuing her research on the five crystals before she left to seek Gamma out.

Gamma had made his way back to his shelter, still thinking about the proposition the woman had gave him earlier. Questions unendingly filled his mind. Who was that woman? What secret about his clan did she have to tell him? What was this "organization" she spoke of? These questions raged on, and Gamma futilely attempted to answer each one. When in actuality, he and especially the woman both knew that if he wanted any chance at knowing the answers to any of this, he'd have to come to her. Gamma rolled his eyes at this realization, but he had to admit that she had him between a rock and a hard place. He knew he had to figure out what she exactly knew about the clan. There were things that his mother and grandmother didn't want to tell him, hell, even Gokudera didn't want to tell him certain things about the clan. Gamma knew these "certain things" were most likely what lead to the downfall of the Akutabi clan. If she knew about this, it was mandatory he find out. He still wasn't keen on working for her though. He though of himself as a free spirit, willing himself were he pleased. Maybe he'd trick her with the promise of working for her and then get the information and escape some kind of way. Gamma slowly stood up and smirked at this idea. He remembered the exact place the woman told him to meet her at. He began to form his hand signs at a slow pace as well, wondering to himself if he was making the right decision with each kata being formed. "Flames of Teleportation...." As he said this, soft flames began to envelope his body. Wrapping around him, and then melding with his body, forming him into a complete flame. As it did this, his body began to raise upwards. Soon shooting forward and dispersing within the air.

What felt like seconds went forward and Gamma's flame enveloped body appeared above the air of what Gamma could only describe as a "fortress". They seemed to be made out of a strong dense type of wood. Though, while Gamma was sight-seeing, it appeared some others had sighted him as well. An arrow flew past Gamma's head. Gamma was a bit shocked by this, but since he was still in his complete mode of flame, the arrow would have passed through his head if he had been hit, but getting shot in the head isn't very admirable, even if it doesn't affect you. "What the hell...She invited me here, why are guards firing at me?" While saying this he dispersed his teleportation jutsu, causing him to fall from the sky, he extending his hand out and grabbing the branch of a nearby tree. He then swung his body forward, flipping himself up and over the branch and towards whoever had fired the arrow at him. It appeared that the woman had set a trap for him. Gamma became pissed off with this thought. He had idiotically followed her and now his reward was being given to him. Hopefully, he'd live through this to even take any lessons from this event.

Gamma's body continued to fly forward, and the arrows of what appeared to be a guard continued to fly towards him. Gamma was very acrobatic, so he was able to move his body fluently while traveling through the air, allowing him to gracefully dodge the arrows and get closer to the guard. Gamma soon got into striking distance and began to turn his torso, his legs following suit. He was now spinning like a top and his right leg was aimed for the head of the guard. It seemed that this action caught the man off guard, and he stopped firing arrows, just long enough for Gamma's attack to connect. His foot slammed into the side of the guards facing, causing him to fly away before crashing into the dense wood of the fortress. Gamma was prepared to do the same to two other guards that were also stationed there before he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. Before Gamma could react by killing the man, he began to speak. "You're Gamma Akutabi, no?" Gamma had a confused look on his face, but he replied. "Yea...I am...and who are you?" The man took a step back and began to bow. "I'm but a servant, my name is not important. Though you are. My master has willed that you meet her within her chambers, it seems she has important matters to discuss with you." Gamma sighed as he heard the man, it seemed that it wasn't a trap. But he still wondered something. "So...why did this guy attack me?" Gamma motioned towards the man who was now laying unconscious on the ground, having fallen out of the crater his body created when slammed into the wall. The man remained in his bowed position as he spoke. "Every guard was informed of your arrival. It appears this guard just got a bit jumpy and attacked anything he saw moving within the woods." The man began to chuckle a bit before standing upwards and looking at Gamma. "Normally, we would punish him for such ignorant behavior, but it seems you've done that for us. Now, we should be making our way into the compound, the master is waiting." Gamma nodded and began to follow the man within the compound.

The two made their way inside of the fortress only to be greeted my immensely large buildings and houses. Many people hustled and bustled about. It seemed that this place was also a large community in itself. This "organization" was much larger than Gamma had imagined at first. He continued to follow the man until they came upon a large mound of what appeared to be dirt. The man then walked towards the mound and reached his hand into it. His hand disappeared into the mound, much to Gammas surprise. The man then began to walk forward, his entire body disappearing into the mound. Gamma waited for a few minutes after this, wondering what he was supposed to do. Was he supposed to follow? Or was he supposed to just wait there? The mans hand then appeared back out of the mound, motioning Gamma to do the same as he had done earlier. Gamma placed his hand into the mound, it disappeared, the same as before. He then began to move forward and walked through it entirely.

The two continued on there way until they came up to what appeared to be an undergound entrance. This was as immense as the entrance above ground. It appeared to be a secret underground fortress in itself. It was well lit, but the walls seemed to curve and turn every which way. "Sir, this entrance to the underground base and to the master's quarters are guarded with the use of a maze. Those who do not know the way are damned to wander its passages until death..." Gamma slightly laughed, "Well, that's nice to know...hopefully you know the way, right?" The man nodded and began to walk forward, Gamma quickly following behind. The two walked for what seemed to go on about 15 minutes. Gamma was surprised by this time, this man knew exactly where he was going and it took this long to get there. Though, he couldn't really be that surprised. This place was huge, it makes sense it would take that long. The man and Gamma finally came across a large doorway, two strong looking guards were taking watch. He man walked forward and began to speak to them. The two guards nodded and began to push the doorway open. The man then waved his hand forward, motioning Gamma to walk inside. Gamma walked up only to be bowed to by the two guards before making his way in. After walking in, the two guards instantly slammed the doors shut.

Gamma began to look around the room. It was a pretty large sized room. There was bed in the corner of the room, and all over the room there were books, scrolls, and all types of papers and such. It was very messy. Gamma continued to look around until something caught his eye. It was the woman, and she was seated in her chair, reading a book. It seemed that she was too entranced by her book to notice him come in, or maybe she did notice and had decided not to acknowledge him. Either way, he was there and he wanted answers, but he went against the rude notion of just saying, "Hey! Im here so tell me what I want to know!!!" Gamma looked forward and put a smile upon his face. "Nice place you got here."

She heard the guards before Gamma even entered the room. He walked into her chambers and looked around then made a comment. She decided to finish her page before answering him. Silence passed for thirty seconds before she marked her page and closed her book. She looked up at Gamma and looked over him with a warm smile. "Welcome, I knew you would come eventually." She paused for a second. "Now... I assume you want to know what I talked about earlier." She paused again putting down her book. "Your clan is dying. You are one the few ones left. As a side note... Gokudera and your grandmother have passed away in this conflict."

She looked over Gamma before continuing. "The people who are doing this... Are none other your very own clan. Tensions have sparked between having a new head for the clan. They quickly escalated into an internal war. Eventually the villages became tired of this war as it constantly got innocent bystanders involved. Soon after many of the clan became exiled. The villages believed it not to be worth it to keep keep who constantly brought them trouble. Due to all these events many of your clan has perished and are becoming a rare find."

She looked away for a moment. "If you want revenge again the villages and the people who killed your grandmother and Gokudera. I can provide you with shelter and food... The catch is... I want you to aide me as well. Our goals are around the same but with slight differences. Also... Your mother still lives. She was exiled though. Thrown out into the wilderness." She looked over to Gamma again and held up a piece of paper that seemed to be a map. "This map has the location of where your mother is currently staying. I can also give you this if you helped me."

She walked over to about 7 feet in front of Gamma and held out the map. "Now if you wish to take up my offer... Take this map. Be warned... the organization is not very forgiving if you betray us. BUT! If you do join us you have much to be gained. As I always need strong people to achieve my goal. Also... After you see your mother. I have a very important assignment for you. Of course this is if you want to see your mother or join us all together." She didn't want to give him the information that if he turned down the offer he will be killed as to knowing the location of the base. Even if he managed to escape he will be hunted.

But in the end she knew he wouldn't deny her offer. This provided him with a chance at revenge. A chance to strike back at that saw his clan not worth protecting. She even was willing to give him a map to his mother. On top of which a high ranking position within her group. Even food, drink, and a warm place to stay. Her offer greatly out weighed the negative in her mind. She just stood there looking at him with a smile.

Her other arm that wasn't holding the map was glowing very slightly. She was prepared if he was going to make a hostile move. She had completed her technique upon watching him in the earlier battle in the mountain. Well... It wasn't exactly complete complete. But it was enough to make the contract with the greater demon of hell... Eligos. Upon their contract she was given a gift...

Gamma looked at the woman. Through every word that she spoke almost every emotion known to man came to him. Yet, rage, anger, and sadness were the ones that were most prevalent. How could this have happened? In the four years that he had been isolated, could things really have escalated so far? As he thought about this, he began to feel guilty. As if him leaving to go train was the cause of all of this. Before he had gone, no such violence had taken place, and now all of a sudden it was being revealed to him that his Grandmother and Gokudera, both extremely powerful ninja, were now dead. Gamma could feel tears welling up, but he pushed them back, trying to show as little emotion as he could in front of her, but under the circumstances this was proving difficult to do. He continued to listen to her, and after revealing to him what was indeed happening to his clan, she gave him a proposition and some information about his mother. She stood about a couple of feet from him, holding the map to him. It seemed that even though she was entrusting him with this information she still held caution. She was right to do so, his initial plan was to gain this information and escape with it. But now hearing what he had heard and feeling the emotions that he had felt, thoughts of vengeance barreled through his mind like a runaway train.

He looked her over once more and sighed. Once again she had him basically made his decision for him. These outcomes were really beginning to get to him, but there was nothing he could do about it now. All he could do was try and turn this grievous situation into a lighter one, and that would start with him accepting this offer and saving his mother. Though, for him to accept this offer he'd have to trust this woman at face value, how could he really believe what she was saying was true. Gamma looked at the woman once more before speaking. "I'll accept this offer on two conditions. The first, I want you to dispatch some of your guards to pick up my mother. Make sure no harm comes to her, and if it does I'll be sure to take out all the anger I've built up from talking to you and take it out on this place....Second, I'd like for you to extend the same benefits you're offering me to her as well. Shelter and nourishment, that's all I ask..." Gamma looked at her to show that he was done talking when another thought crossed his mind. "By the way...you said this whole conflict started because a new head was elected for the Akutabi clan...do you have any information as to who that is?"

"Very well... I will accept those conditions." She took the map and placed it on the table near by. She then pulled out a piece of paper near by and wrote down somethings before folding it and placing the official syndicate leader seal on it. "This will be given to two of our strongest guards. The orders placed on it are to guide and guard her till they return to this location. It also mentions giving her a house new the middle of town. All provisions given to her will be free as well."

She picked up the note and walked past Gamma handing it to one of the guards outside the room. She closed the door and looked back over to Gamma and laughed. "The answer to the second question is... You are the head. The mountain training wasn't a simple training method. It was a right of passage to chose the next head of your clan. Your the only one who made it this time around. Making you the new head of your clan. Congrats." She returned to the table she was at earlier.

"Many people of the clan were in disapproval of you being the new head and factions began to rise to fight against the decision. Thus escalating into a much bigger conflict creating chaos throughout your clan. In the end it lead to the clan mainly self destructing." She looked around the room till she spotted a scroll on another table that wasn't too far away. She walked over to it and picked it up. "If you think about it... It is almost your fault so much chaos was spread." She paused. "But I guess you can't really blame yourself since I doubt you even knew it was the right of passage. They tend to keep it secret until the said person actually comes back."

"The reason why the person becomes the head is because of their control. Surviving four years in the harsh climate of the mountains... Adapting to the climate is a very difficult thing. Most die within a year. But lucky you... You lived all 4 years adapting and grasping the complete concept of your bloodline. Impressive nonetheless." She handed him the scroll. "Inside this scroll explains the conflicts which took place more in detail. Take it as an added bonus." She reached into her bag and pulled out a letter and also handed it to him. "This is your first assignment. You don't have to take it now. I will let you reunite with your mother. As a side note... Do not! Do not! Tell anyone who you work for or even remotely get close to it. As we work in the shadows. Breaking this rule or releasing our location without a good reason can be punishable by death."

"Also all your expenses will be paid by us as long as you keep it within normal bounds. The other rules and information will be explained to you by the guide as he shows you the way out. If there is anything else you want to know or hear. Ask me now." She crossed her arms and remembered something she forgot to mention to him earlier. "Ahh... While you are here you will have a room in the underground fortress. I highly recommend you remember the passage ways quickly. We have had people die from being lost before. So for the first two weeks we will have a guide assigned to you. Walking down a wrong path can lead to a trap activating." She laughed. "We really look down upon intruders and the like."

Gamma nodded in thanks as she agreed to his conditions under which he would join their Organization. He listened to her a bit then she finally came to answer his question as to who the new head of the clan was. Though Gamma was surprised he couldn't honestly say that he was all too shocked by this revelation. All the pieces of the puzzle fit together after this though. The reason his father was trying to reunite the clan was not just because he wished for them to regain the glory they previously had, but he was their leader after all. This made the fact that he was killed more for a political reason than anything. The rival factions must not have agreed with the fact that he was now named the head and went after him. This also meant that while Gamma was in seclusion and being named the next head, those close to him were being targeted since he himself couldn't be found. A tinge of regret filled his heart. As this woman had so blatantly spelled out, in a way it was his fault that so much of this bloodshed had been caused. But how could he have known that his training was actually a test to see if he was worthy to lead the clan? While he was extremely saddened about the circumstances surrounding everything, he held his composure. Ninja were never to show emotion, and he wouldn't start now.

His grandmother and Gokudera died for a purpose and he'd make sure that that purpose was fulfilled. The training on the mountain had made him stronger. Stronger than words could describe. He'd use his new found power and control of his abilities to finish what his father started, even if he had to go down what seemed a slight path of darkness to do so. The woman continued to speak, explaining to him the rules of the orginization to which Gamma nodded, motioning that he understood all that she asked and demanded of him. She then asked him if he had any questions. Gamma thought about it for a bit before wondering something simple. It was obvious that this woman knew more about him than Gamma even knew about himself, but he knew nothing of her. He decided to start off with one simple question. "Hmm, I never caught your name."

"Hmm? People just call me Kyra." She took the letter she picked up earlier that held Gamma's first assignment. "Here is your first assignment. By the time you return your mother should be here and bother your quarters should be ready." She held out the letter to him. "The guide that showed you in earlier should show you to your quarters. Though.... It may not be ready just yet. You are welcome to see it of course." She walked back and picked up the book she was reading from when he entered. "Your quarters should be the same size as mine. Since you are now a trusted leader of the syndicate. Feel free to decorate it as you please." she moved to the nearest desk and sat down.

"Ahh! Before you go. Any provisions or items you may need for that mission are stored in a warehouse. Please take what you need." With that she opened up her book and almost began reading. "Also return the object once you complete it. This first mission isn't an easy one, but I trust you can complete it. Once you come back from completing that one you will be given a partner with someone else from the Syndicate. He is also a leader of equal rank of hierarchy in the syndicate. I will assign the mission upon your return." With that she finally began to read her book again.


Mission will be listed in the mission section.