Zohakuten and Kagura started running their game on the people in the small village. The trick was simple, Kagura would walk up to a stall or some unsuspecting victim and would use her beauty to distract them, and in the time, they were distracted, Zohakuten would swoop in and steal whatever he could manage to lift in the few seconds that he had free.
For hours they would wash and repeat this process.
For Zohakuten, he was already used to stealing as he had to learn with Bankotsu to bring home food and money.
But for Kagura, this was her first time helping Zohakuten steal.
But despite that fact, Zohakuten actually found it easier with Kagura helping.
Zohakuten laid in wait, in the shadows of the small market, and the moment, he was given the signal from Kagura, Zohakuten would swoop in and take his prize, a few chickens from a vendor that sold raw poultry.
' Here we go, she's approaching him.' Zohakuten watched as Kagura walked up to the man behind the stall and called out to him.
Seeing the young lady, the man naturally left his stall for just a moment to see what it was she wanted.
Seeing his opportunity, Zohakuten quickly ran up to the stall and started chucking multiple pieces of chicken into his pockets.
" Hey, mister, someone's messing with your food." Kagura said to the man, she purposefully gave up Zohakuten, so that the man wouldn't be suspicious about her or her motives for calling out to him.
" Huh?" The man grumbled. When he turned around, he saw Zohakuten running away from his stand with something in his hands. " Hey! Get back here you little punk! Thanks sweetie." The man said to Kagura, he then turned and ran straight after Zohakuten.
Zohakuten was used to running with his hands full at this point. So, when he saw that the man was chasing after him, he didn't panic. He quickly started ducking in and out of the small alleyways. Diving over boxes and jumping onto walls. ' Good job, Kagura. Now, I just need to lose this guy, and we're in the home clear.'
" Hey.... Get... Back here!" The man shouted. He tried chasing after the little boy, but no matter how fast or how hard he ran, Zohakuten just continued to gain distance on him, until finally Zohakuten lost him, by jumping onto a nearby rooftop.
" Hey?! Where did he go?"
Zohakuten watched from above as the old man continued running around looking for him. " And Jackpot." Zohakuten muttered. He hopped down from the roof and started running in the opposite direction of the vendor, towards the intended meeting location, that Zohakuten and Kagura had set up.
It took him a few minutes to run to the edge of town, where Kagura was waiting, but eventually he did arrive.
The meeting spit was a small dark alleyway, hidden behind some of the older and dirtier parts of the town.
Once there, Zohakuten crouched down low and started to call out for Kagura.
" Kagura... Hey Kagura, where are you?" Zohakuten muttered in a voice just barely above a whisper.
There was some shuffling behind some old boxes and trash, and then a moment later, Kagura came strolling out.
" Hey, you had me worried there for a second." Zohakuten told the girl.
" Why? I told you I knew what I was doing." Kagura responded proudly. " Have some faith in your little sister."
Zohakuten huffed a breath of frustration. " I do, but this part of the job is better for Bankotsu and I to handle. You're better at making money, not stealing it."
" It made it easier, didn't?"
" Kagura, easier isn't always better. You know that." Zohakuten chided the girl.
" True, but in this case, it allowed the boys to have fun, which is something important for kids their age." Kagura told the boy.
" Fun is nice for those who can afford it. We can't always just act on our emotions." Zohakuten told the girl. " I let you come along, this time. But from now on, you'll do honest work. Cook and clean where you can. Let us handle the dangerous stuff."
" You know, you don't always have to take on the hard things alone, Ten-Ten. It's my job as their big sister to protect them, too, ya know."
" Yeah, I know. But still, sometimes you have to do the things you don't like, just to survive."
" I know..." Zohakuten muttered. " Come on, let's head back to the shelter. The others should be there by now." Zohakuten told the young girl.
.........
It was a long walk to the edge of town for Zohakuten and Kagura. Even if they did get away, they did still need to be careful not to get caught from the store owner they stole from.
But eventually, they did manage to get back to their little shelter safe and sound.
It was another abandoned part of the town, that had been devastated in a pirate attack in the past. And while almost all of the residents had moved out, Zohakuten and his siblings still managed to find shelter amongst the crumbling buildings and the burnt and moldy rubble.
" Janten! Manten! Ban-Ban! We're back!" Kagura shouted.
The two small children came running out into the street and hugged the older girl. Following close behind them was bankotsu, who had scuff marks on his clothes.
" Bankotsu, what happened?" Zohakuten asked the boy.
" Nothing much. Just a problem with some old men. Nothing to worry about, I took care of them." Bankotsu told the boy.
" Bankotsu, you know we need to stay hidden. It won't be long until we need to move again. And the less enemies we have when we need to move on to the next town, the better off we'll be." Zohakuten explained to the boy.
" What do you want me to do? He was upset that Manten ran into him. I wasn't gonna let that guy hurt my baby brother."
" I understand. Did you at least make sure, you weren't followed?"
" Of course, they ran off after getting beat up. I doubt they wanted to follow us." Bankotsu replied.
" Alright. Then it should be fine for now." Zohakuten spoke. " Here... All of you, get ready to eat." Zohakuten reached into his pocket and pulled out the many pieces of chicken and placed it down into a pile on a piece of cloth on the ground.
" Chicken tonight? Lucky." Bankotsu grumbled.
" Yeah! Too bad we didn't have time to grab anything else. But Zohakuten really took his time with this one." Kagura explained.
" I had to make sure, you were still fine. You're not used...."
" Calm down, Zohakuten. I'm only kidding." Kagura stated. She laughed at Zohakuten's frustration and kissed the boy on his cheek.
" Right." Zohakuten muttered. " Give me one second to get a fire started." Zohakuten spoke. He started breaking off pieces of the already destroyed wood and put them in a pile together.
" I'll help." Bankotsu told the boy.
" Sure, just hold it steady." Zohakuten said to Bankotsu, referring to the piece of wood that Zohakuten needed to use as mortar to light the fire.
Bankotsu grabbed hold of the wood and kept it firmly planted in one spot, while Zohakuten furiously spun a smaller piece of wood against the bigger piece.
It took some time, but eventually the two boys managed to get the fire going.
With some pieces of wood, the boys placed multiple pieces of chicken over the fire and watched as they all slowly started cooking.
After some time, the food was slowly doled out to each of them. four pieces to Manten and Janten each. Three to Kagura. Two to Bankotsu, leaving only one to Zohakuten.
Which is how Zohakuten preferred it. And though Kagura would argue that Zohakuten needed to eat, he always refused anything that Kagura would offer him. Telling her that she would need it more and that he was fine.
Zohakuten, watched as Manten and Janten played around while Bankotsu rested.
The older brother enjoyed these brief moments of respite, even if he didn't say it aloud.
Things were going good for the small band of children, despite being so young and alone, they made it work. However, during the night all of that would change, as a tragic accident would occur that would change the lives of these kids forever.
After laying the two youngest to sleep on old cots made up of dirty carpets and blankets, Zohakuten took watch, while Bankotsu and Kagura would sleep in rotations.
" Zohakuten, you need to sleep too." Kagura told the boy.
" I'll be fine on the first watch. I'll wake Bankotsu up in a few hours. For now, just go to sleep." Zohakuten told the girl.
" But."
" Kagura! Sometimes you have to listen to your older brother." Zohakuten told the girl.
Kagura hung her head in silence. It was rare that Zohakuten raised his voice at her. But when he did, she knew that any further arguing was pointless.
Kagura nodded her head, and prepared to climb down from the top of the building they were sitting on. However, just as she was getting down, a sudden bright light was flung into the sky, which drew the attention of both Zohakuten and Kagura.
" What is that?" Kagura asked.
Zohakuten, wasn't sure himself. It wasn't until the object grew closer and he could hear the whizzing in the air, that Zohakuten could identify the flying object.
" It's an arrow, get down!" Zohakuten shouted. He jumped at Kagura and pushed her down to the ground.
The arrow struck the roof of the building they were sitting on and slowly the fire started spreading. But that wasn't the worst of it. Soon afterwards, another arrow was fired, and then another, and another and another and another, to the point there were multiple arrows filling the sky.
Zohakuten turned to Kagura and picked her up off the ground. " Come on, we need to get the boys and go." Zohakuten told the girl.
" Who's shooting at us?"
" I don't know." Zohakuten replied.
" Are they shooting at us?"
" I do not know. But I don't want to stick around to find out." Zohakuten told the girl.
At the border of the old town, a group of about twenty soldiers fired off a volley of arrows, that were on fire, into the old section of town.
" You sure, this is where you saw them go?" One man asked.
" Yeah... I'm sure of it. I followed those brats here earlier. Gonna get that brat back for breaking my nose."
The soldiers were here to get revenge on Bankotsu for attacking three of their men earlier. And though Bankotsu had been careful coming back, one of the men spotted him and followed him and his family back to their hideout.
" Keep'em going. We'll burn the entire old town down and smoke those kids out." The man with the broken nose exclaimed. He was hell bent on getting revenge even if it meant killing a bunch of kids to do it.
They all released another volley of flaming arrows into the old town, making the flames that were growing, spread even faster.
Zohakuten and Kagura quickly grabbed Bankotsu and the others and started running for the rear exit of the old town which led out into a small forest. However, when they got there they discovered the fire had already spread around to that side.
" Oh np! The paths blocked by fire! What do we do now?" Bankotsu asked.
" We go back the other way." Zohakuten stated. He quickly turned around with Manten and Janten and started running back towards the front of the old town.
The five kids continued running as arrows rained down all around them.
" Run faster. We're almost at the exit." Zohakuten shouted.
Bankotsu and Kagura followed behind the boy as quickly as they could, but as they ran, and the smoke filled the air, it became harder for them to breathe.
" Bankotsu, I can't... I can't breathe." Kagura said to the boy.
" Just keep moving! We can't stop." Bankotsu yelled.
" Bankotsu, Take Manten and Janten." Zohakuten told the boy. He stopped for just a moment to hand over the two younger siblings, so he could carry Kagura the rest of the way.
" Right." Bankotsu quickly grabbed Manten and Janten and tucked them both close to his chest.
Zohakuten turned to reach for Kagura, but before the boy could grab the young lady, the sound of something whizzing past his face.
The world turned black and white for Zohakuten. Just as he was reaching for his sister's hand to take her entire being just dropped.
Bankotsu and Zohakuten both looked on in horror, as Kagura dropped to the ground.
" Hey, Kagura! Kagura get up!" Bankotsu shouted. Pain and fear rippled across his face. " Zohakuten..."
Zohakuten was quiet. His body trembled with anger. The boy's frame shook and rippled in rage. Zohakuten watched as the blood flowed out of Kagura's body, and the light of her eyes vanished.
" Zohaku...ten?" Bankotsu muttered.
There was a pregnant silence one moment, and then the next an ominous wind started to build up around Zohakuten.
" Come on... Let's go." Zohakuten muttered. He reached down and grabbed Kagura, lifting her up off the ground and carrying her in his arms.
" Zohakuten, come on. We have to hurry!"
Knowing that they didn't have time to mourn, the two boys continued running until finally they came upon the entrance to the old town, when they saw the men firing arrows, they came to a stop.
" Hey, look who it is? The brats multiplied."
" This guy." Bankotsu muttered. He immediately recognized the men in front of him. It was hard not to. He had just seen them earlier.
" Remember me punk? Remember how you broke my nose? Consider this payback."
" Payback?" Zohakuten muttered. " This is payback for a broken nose? My sister...." Bankotsu, take the boys and go." Zohakuten placed Kagura down and jumped at the soldiers, swinging wildly like a demon possessed.
And while it was impressive, that he could fight against people two to three times his size, he quickly found himself being overwhelmed.
" Manten, Janten. Get down." Bankotsu whispered. He placed the two boys down on the ground and looked them in the eyes. " Get out of here, alright. Find somewhere, hide, and we'll come get in you morning alright? You remember our hiding spots? Go to one of them and wait."
" But brother."
" No time for arguments. Just trust your big brothers. We'll keep you safe." Bankotsu told the boys. Bankotsu smiled at the boys, and gave them both a hug, before turning and running to help Zohakuten.
" Hey, ass holes!" Bankotsu shouted gaining the attention of the men, beating Zohakuten. He jumped up and kicked the man, whose nose he broke earlier, right in his nose again, breaking it.
" Gah! Get that little shit! Get him!"
" Come on, you bastards! Come on!" Bankotsu shouted.
He and Zohakuten fought hard against this group of men. But it didn't take long, before the two of them were subdued.
Zohakuten was tied up with his arms strapped to a wooden post, and Bankotsu had been hog tied and muzzled.
..............
" Ahhhh! That feels so good. You know. You little brats were quite a problem. But now, look at ya."
" What should we do with them now?"
" Who cares?"
" Just throw them into the fire." One soldier recommended.
" Or cut their fingers off and feed it to them."
One of the men approached the two boys, with his sword. " Hey brat? What do you think?" He asked.
Zohakuten and Bankotsu stared up at the man, in silence. Their rage never ending, their fury. If looks could kill then they would all certainly be dead.
[ Naruto ost-Darkness.]
' How? How did this happen?' Zohakuten asked himself. ' Why does the world hate us so? Why does it want us dead so badly? Why god? Why are you punishing us like this? What did we ever do to deserve this?' Zohakuten started thinking about to his early years, when he was just a child. When he and his sister were still together, when his parents were alive, when Bankotsu and Manten, and Janten were all born. Those happy memories were what helped him push forward. But now, it was like glass, and it all was going to be shattered. ' I prayed to you every night. Devoted and proud. But no matter what I've done, you always took from us. You god... You've turned your back on us.' Zohakuten started to cry.
" Hahahaha! Look. The brats crying." The man pointed out Zohakuten's tears, and all of the other men broke out into a chorus of laughter and started pointing at the boy.
Bankotsu, looked at his brother's red face and screamed at the men holding them. He hated seeing his family hurt more than anything else.
Zohakuten turned his gaze to the moon above. Part of him, hoped that god would come down and whisk him and his brother away. But as he sat there being bathed in the light of the moon, he slowly accepted that no one was coming. And that right here, right now the moon and his brother were the only ones he had left.
' And if that's the case.' " HaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Zohakuten's rage flowed freely. ' If that's the case, then I will turn my back on the heavens themselves. I will not die here! I can't die! do you hear me! God! Not until I destroy this world of yours!' A whirlwind of energy, erupted from Zohakuten.
* Doom!
Slowly the laughter of the men started to die out, and in a moment ten of them dropped to the ground, unconscious.
" Hey?! Hey What happened?!"
" They all just passed out!"
" What was that?!"
The leader of the group looked at Zohakuten screaming on the ground and kicked him in his face. " What did you do, punk?" He asked.
Zohakuten responded by simply screaming at him.
' I'll do anything... Just to kill these men! Anything! ANYTHING!!!!'
" Kill that kid! Hurry! Before he does something else!" One man shouted.
The leader grabbed his blade from its sheath and raised it over Zohakuten's head. " Die, you miserable little brat."
Zohakuten watched as the blade came down to his face. He was sure it was over, so he closed his eyes, and accepted his fate.
But strangely enough, the pain never came. Why wasn't he dead yet? There was no way this man, so bent on killing him, would stop. So, what happened? That's what Zohakuten asked himself.
When he opened his eyes, he saw a man standing in front of him. A man he hadn't seen before, dressed in baggy black clothing, with short black hair, and staff that was larger than anything he had ever seen before.
" Well, hello boy. What is your name?" The man asked.
Behind the man, there was a shout of panic.
Zohakuten looked past the man and saw the man, who was going to kill him, with his head smashed in completely.
" Oh him? Don't worry. He's not going to hurt you anymore." The man said to Zohakuten. " Tell me, young man, what is your name?" The man asked.
" Zo.... Zohakuten."
" Well, It sure is beautiful tonight, isn't it, Zohakuten? The full moon is always a spectacle to see. It's a good thing, I came to see it, or else I might not have found you. So, I guess you could say that the moon was a miracle for you. Tell me, where did you learn to do what you just did?" He asked, referring to the energy he unleashed before.
" I... I don't know what you're talking about." Zohakuten told the man.
" I see." The man spoke. ' He doesn't know what he's done. Something this traumatic must have awoken his spirit. In that case.' " Well, Zohakuten... My name is Terris. And I'm a pirate. Tell me, Zohakuten. What is it you want to do now? I could leave you here to burn. Or you could come with me. Tell me quickly what it is, you want to do." Terris told the boy.
" I... I want to destroy this world. I want to drag those that sit in heaven down to this world and make them pay for everything they've ever done to my family. I want god to see me destroy his creations, the same way he's tried to destroy us!" Zohakuten shouted.
Terris smiled maliciously. " Yes... That's my boy."
" Kill that guy!"
" Kill him, hurry!"
Terris turned around and with a simple look from his eyes, he slammed the remaining men, with his conquerors haki. Knocking them all out.
Zohakuten and Bankotsu, sat on the ground, watching in shock as all of the men suddenly passed out without Terris even moving a finger.
" Did you see, that Zohakuten? That was conqueror's haki. Only a few brave people in this world are born with this gift. I was born with it. And now, you have it too. It means you're one of us now kid. One of the few great men, who will one day stand above all others as a supreme king." Terris ripped the ropes tied around Zohakuten and bankotsu clean off. " Stand, the two of you. We have much to do."
Zohakuten and Bankotsu took Kagura's body and with Terris' help they quickly tracked down Manten and Janten, who were hiding nearby.
It was a painful experience, burying their sister. But right then and there on her grave, the four boys made a promise, that they would get stronger, and that one day when they were older, they would make the world pay for all the pain that had been inflicted on them.
And so, with hearts full of hate and sadness, they set out onto the sea with Terris, and became members of the Terra Firma pirates. Zohakuten adopted the moniker Moonlight, after the light of the moon, being his only comfort in his last moments, or what were supposed to be. And Bankotsu adopted the nickname the Thunder Dragon. Not because of his devil fruit, but because of the way he shouted at his enemies and bit at them.
...................
Bankotsu snapped back to the present, staring him right in the face was the Marine he had been fighting.
" Waaaaaaaaaaah! I cannot lose!" Bankotsu screamed.
" bankotsu..." Zohakuten muttered.
' Whoa! His strength just increased. he's getting stronger!' Markus remarked.
" Not good." Goenma muttered.
The combined attacks of the four men, started to collapse and shortly after it engulfed all four of them. As the massive explosion rocked the island, everyone else nearby immediately started trying to run away.
" Get back! Retreat! Retreat!" Dalmatian yelled.
The Marine forces being led by Dalmatian and Momonga quickly started drawing back, as did Norin.
Unfortunately, Vyper was partially caught in the blast, burning half of his tail, up to his stomach.
The city of cream was destroyed in one large blast. A single smoke cloud filled the air. The city that once stood proudly as a bastion of the north had been reduced to a smoldering crater. There was nothing left.