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 Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 1:43 am
 A million roads, a million fears
A million suns, ten million years of uncertainty
I could speak a million lies, a million songs,
A million rights, a million wrongs in this balance of time But if there was a single truth, a single light
A single thought, a singular touch of grace
Then following this single point , this single flame,
The single haunted memory of your face
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Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 1:47 am
Chapter One
The Joint Academy of the Hidden Villages was different from almost every institution that came before it for many reasons, the main one being that the students didn’t leave after completing the gennin exams, or even the chunin exams, but after completing the special jonin exams.
Not to say that the students there were all on the path to become special jonin. Some did choose to leave after the gennin exams, choosing the old ways to progress. Others went into more civilian choices of life, taking apprenticeships in trade.
The ones that were left carried the dreams of the gokage that had fought in the Last Great Shinobi war, that one day the world of ninja would be replaced with a world of peace. Because of this, most of the students in the older classes, the very same children that were born during the end of the war, consisted of the Kage’s children, setting an example to their peers by pursuing their parent’s dreams.
Or at least that’s what Karasu was telling himself when he walked into the portal instead of eating breakfast with his younger brother and sister, who were squabbling again about some unknown insult as their mother slept on the table and his step-father tried to keep the peace.
In truth, he wasn’t sure exactly why he was still at school, when he passed the chunin exams, he had given consideration to leaving it, but opted to stay.
He passed through the portal and the crow on his shoulder yawned, and he shot it a glare before going to his class, trying not to think of the nightmares he had the night before, ones he was almost certain were memories of his father.
“So glad that they’re changing the world,” he muttered, “There won’t be anyone like you again.”
He liked the early morning quiet of the school, there wasn’t much disruption for him to get some reading done, he turned down the hall his class was on and then stopped.
Much disruption. Karasu sighed at seeing the two brunette girls stop the small pale girl with the red hair not drifting wildly around her face tied back in twin braids, Don’t those two ever get tired of this?
He stepped back and watched quietly, wincing as they blocked Chihiro’s way into the class, “Hey demon,” the older one said, “How come you’re always here so early?”
“What’s the matter? Can’t sleep?” the other said, both smirking as they each took out a bottle of soda, “How good is that defense of yours anyways?”
Come on Chi, crush them, he narrowed his eyes, wondering why she never retaliated against them. Haru and Sora usually pranked the girls later, but Chihiro never did anything when the two brats from Suna started in on her. They’re citizens of your dad’s town and all, but you can’t keep taking this.
One grabbed Chihiro’s arms and the other started to open the bottle when there was a loud caw, and all three girls looked to see him standing there.
“Oh, Karasu-kun,” the one holding Chihiro said, “Go away, this doesn’t concern you.”
“We’re just paying her back for the insult to our mothers,” the other said, “How’d they want such an ugly person in the first place is beyond me…”
Both blinked as Karasu stepped over to them, snatching the bottle away from them and then staring intently at them both, “Let her go and never bother her again,” he growled.
A second passed and both girls collapsed onto the ground.
“Your eyes,” Chihiro said quietly and he felt the peck of the crow’s beak on his ear.
He blinked, “What about them?” he said as he pinched his nose, trying to kill the headache that suddenly enveloped him.
She didn’t answer, instead grabbing his arm and running from the spot, “You’ll be expelled,” she breathed, “Karasu, don’t you realize that you just used a forbidden jutsu?”
It wasn’t until they reached the school roof that she stopped and he stared at her, “I… I did what?”
“Tsukuyomi,” she breathed, “I’m guessing at least, but your eyes were red and there was this weird black design in them,” she smiled, “Thanks for that, but I’m afraid that you just caused some more trouble.”
“At least start standing up for yourself. Why bother taking that sort of crap?”
She shrugged, “I guess because in my eyes, I’ve already won against them. Daddy chose Mama over Matsuri and Sari… not that he ever looked in their direction.”
“Wai… that’s why they bullied you?” he stared at her, “That makes no sense! Dum and Dee…”
“Please, that’s nothing. A ninja doesn’t get mad over small trifles,” she glanced at her watch, “Class will be starting soon, I’ll keep your secret, but maybe you should look into getting some training for it.”
“The only Uchiha left besides me can’t keep his mind for more than a second,” Karasu said grimly, “I’m on my own. Besides why should I train a forbidden technique anyways?”
“Because you used it without realizing it. Think of the damage I could do with my sand if I had done something similar,” Chihiro started back down the stairs, “At least with yours, they’re still alive.”
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“Hey did you hear?”
“Dango and Mochi were found unconscious outside the classroom? What happened?”
“Serves them right! They thought that they were so cool, but they bullied even the pre-kindergartner class!”
The whispers went on around the classroom, and Karasu tried to concentrate on his studies, “Hey did you see what happened?” he heard the twins ask Chihiro, “You’re always here so damn early.”
“I missed it,” she shrugged, “And do you idiots mind? I’m trying to listen to the teacher.”
“Not like you to lie Chi,” both chorused, and then they sat back, “Besides, not like we suspect you, none of their bones were crushed, and you don’t use poisons like Uncle Kankuro.”
“SABUKU!” a book flew towards Haru’s face and Sora caught it, as both flashed crooked smiles at their teacher, “PAY ATTENTION WHEN I’M SPEAKING!”
“Then stop being boring,” both yawned.
That caused the red-faced instructor to go into a rage, and Karasu sighed and turned to his book, looking up with the rest of the class as a knock came on the door.
“Come in,” the teacher bellowed, and then blinked as the slender woman with long raven hair pulled back in a ponytail entered the classroom, “Who are you?”
“I’m Meiro, the new school nurse,” she smiled, her hands in her lab coat pockets, “Don’t you remember that I started just this week?”
“Oh yes!” he narrowed his eyes, “Then did you find out what happened to those girls that had passed out?”
“Even though they weren’t in this class, I believe that I should check out the students here as well as their class,” she smiled, “So I’m requesting that all students of classes 1-A and 2-A come to my office immediately so that I can make sure that the cause was nothing contagious.”
“You’re saying it was the first signs of a possible epidemic?” the teacher panicked then turned to the class, “YOU HEARD HER! REPORT TO THE INFIRMARY!”
Karasu sighed, a small part of him grateful for the apparent lack of medical knowledge on the staff as he gathered his things and lined up with the rest of the class, not noticing that three of the students were lagging behind after they left.
Saisei was glaring at the woman, recognizing her from a Yule long ago…
And Haru and Sora stared in wonder, both of them recognizing her as well…
But from where they couldn’t say.
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 11:02 pm
Chapter Two
“We should just cut out,” Haru said as he placed his hands behind his head, “There’s no way that it’s an epidemic anyways.”
“Nah,” his brother said, “There’s something up,” he looked around, “Notice who’s in the other class, it’s not just a coincidence.”
Karasu looked up, not finding anything strange about the other class, it was the one that the two idiots that were bullying Chihiro were in anyway.
Except, he realized as he looked at the other students, it wasn’t. The nurse had called in the other class that were working on their chunin exams.
Did she make a mistake? he wondered as he stared at the other class, only blinking when he saw Hoshi jumping onto Sora’s back.
“You two had something to do with this didn’t ya?” she asked grinning.
“Not this time Ho-oh,” Sora held his hands up in defense, “This is all about those girls collapsing this morning.”
“Right now, you’re my main suspect,” Saisei snapped from where he was standing next to his brother, “Their class wasn’t the one called, and the nurse here reeks of chaos more than you do.”
“Hoshi does not reek,” Yuri said haughtily as she tried to pull her friend off of the younger twin’s back, “And if she was going to make someone collapse, there would be a bit more of a show of it.”
“There at least would be some hair dye and body paint involved,” Chain agreed as he stepped next to Karasu, “And she would have done it in front of everyone. Hell, didn’t we do that last week?”
“To the loudmouth in 3-A?” Hoshi asked grinning, “Yup,” she suddenly turned to Karasu, “What do you think happened to those girls?”
A long moment passed as he tried to decide whether or not the girl knew something or not before he finally shrugged, “They might just be anemic,” he said turning back to face the direction the line was heading, “No reason for all of this.”
The nurse called his name and he stepped forward to go into the examination room.
“Red wheels with black spokes, spinning the truth behind illusions…”
He glanced behind him, trying to figure out who it was that was saying those words in the sing-song voice.
“Uchiha?” Meiro asked gently, “Is everything alright?”
“Y…yes,” he said quietly before going into the office, “Everything’s fine.”
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Lunch break was as noisy as ever, with much of the gossip in the gardens surrounding the call to the infirmary for the older classes.
Karasu sat away from the other students as he always did, the crow that housed his father’s spirit sitting on a tree branch above them as he munched on one of his onigiri.
“Don’t tell me that’s all you brought,” Haru said as he and Sora sat next to the Uchiha, “With as pale as you were this morning, you need some more than that.”
“It’s enough,” Karasu shrugged, “Besides, not everyone can have a chef for a mother.”
“Sora and I have been cooking our own bento since we were four,” Chihiro said as she sat on the other side of her brothers, “How did it go for you?”
“Exactly the same way it went for everyone else,” he took another bite of his onigiri, “She found me in perfect health.”
“She told us that we had a cold and that she wanted to see us later,” the twins chorused as Chihiro pulled out a scroll and unfurled it, summoning up a veritable feast.
Karasu blinked, “A cold?” he couldn’t remember either ever really getting sick.
“Chihiro! Your youthfulness has shown through in your cooking!” Kano exclaimed as he joined them, sitting next to the blushing red-haired girl.
“Oh… no… I just…” she started, then coughed, “You idiots don’t really have a cold do you?”
“Nah,” they grinned, then Haru narrowed his eyes, “But she did want to see Sora later.”
“Guess everyone’s going to hear about it now,” the younger twin picked up his chopsticks and used it to grab one of the grilled pieces of beef, “She wanted to check my lungs to make sure that I can be eligible for the special jonin test.”
“You guys are lucky that you even get to take it,” a sudden voice said, and they looked up to see Hoshi hanging upside down from the same tree branch that Itachi was sitting on, “I’m not going to even be allowed to take the chunin exams, it’s so not fair.”
“Saisei and Odin took it,” Karasu pointed out, then turned back to Sora, “Your lungs?”
“Ask your mom,” he shrugged and leaned back against Haru, “She knows all about it. Guess she couldn’t not tell the medical staff here. Why can’t you take the exam Ho-oh? I thought you three were all ready for it.”
“Chain and Yuri still can. Some sort of new law passed by the daimyos,” she flipped down, sitting next to Karasu and taking one of the donburi from the layout, “It just happened too,” she said with a full mouth.
“It is so not fair!” Kano cried as he ate some curry.
“Hey, where are…” Karasu started, trying to change the subject.
“There you are!” Chain grinned as he sat next to her, “Hey, you guys brought enough food today!”
“So Karasu, are your eyes alright?” Hoshi asked as she took another bite, “Chi-kun told me all about it.”
He stared at her, “Chi…”
“Not me,” Chihiro pointed up to the crow, “Him.”
Hoshi nodded, “I won’t tell anyone though.”
“You just told them!” Karasu exclaimed as he pointed at the twins, Kano, and Chain, “And if Yuri asks about it…”
“We already knew,” the twins chorused, “It was completely obvious what happened,” they grinned, “You need to train it right?”
“I can help you with the training!” Kano said excitedly, then blinked in confusion, “Wait… what happened?” Chihiro whispered in his ear and he grinned, “Then I shall definitely help you as you defended Chi-chan’s youthfulness!”
He sighed, “Exactly how do you plan on doing that?”
“That’s why I was talking to Chi-kun,” Hoshi pointed out, “He said that since you were given those eyes, there’s a chance that you won’t suffer from the consequences of using it, but it’s still really dangerous to try. So I told him that if you did start losing vision that I’ll heal you.”
“Why the hell would you agree to that?” he snapped, “We barely ever talk, so why are you all…” he blinked as Hoshi stuffed a sweet bun into his mouth.
“You’re the one who never talks,” Haru pointed out, “We’ve been in the same class since pre-kindergarten and ever since that Yule seven years ago, you’ve been keeping things to yourself.”
“We’ve been talking to you for a long time, you just never noticed,” Sora added, “Probably never noticed how much your siblings look up to you.”
Chain nodded, “All Sachiko talks about in swords club… besides how she’s going to be the first swordswoman of the Mist… is how cool her big brother is.”
“Ryuuichi is the same way in garden club,” Yuri added as she walked up to them, Saisei and Odin right behind her, “And there’s been another incident.”
“And for once, I’m not suspecting you,” Saisei said as he glared at Hoshi and crossed his arms, “As much as I hate to say this…”
“We want to help too,” Odin interrupted him, “There are some strange things going on, and how the daimyos are acting about you, it‘s not fair.”
“No, what would be fair is if she were locked away in a dungeon and cleansed of all darkness,” Saisei grumbled, then cleared his throat, “We have reason to believe that the Aeons are attempting to rise up. That thing in the medical ward gave me some information regarding the matter.”
“It deals with you too,” Yuri said as she turned to Karasu, “Come on, you need to see this.”
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Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 7:45 am
Chapter Three
“What is that?” Chain whispered as he stared at the bloody mass with the other children.
Karasu knelt down, “Those are black feathers sticking out of the blood.”
“That’s not all,” Sora breathed, “Look at how it’s arranged,” he pointed to the floor.
The blood that was dripping from the wall was brushed in a careful circle, the black feathers laid down to form spokes on a wheel.
But to an Uchiha…
“It’s the same as what your eyes looked like,” Chihiro said bluntly, “Yuri, did you see who did this?”
The green haired girl shook her head, “I only saw it after it was done, I was coming from the greenhouse when I passed that by,” she turned to Karasu, “So I was right in thinking that it looked like that?”
“Chi-kun is afraid that you’re in danger Kara-kun,” Hoshi said as she hugged the crow, and blinked when Karasu snatched him from her, “He has a right to worry.”
“This is just a prank done by someone who saw,” he snorted, “I bet that’s even ketchup or something stupid like that.”
“No, it’s blood,” the twins chorused as they tasted it, “No mistaking that.”
Kano shivered, “This is just too frightening,” he said quietly, “As much as there is…”
“You seven, leave that alone!” Iruka’s voice said as he came over, “I had this hall roped off for a reason!”
“You know us,” Haru and Sora shrugged, “We can’t be kept out of anything.”
“Well, stay out of this!” Iruka snapped, “It’s bad enough that someone…” he looked around, “We can’t tell who the blood is from, so if you find someone hurt, report it to the office.”
“What does it look like to you Iruka-sensei?” Hoshi asked suddenly, and he blinked at her.
“It’s in the outline of a body,” he said with wonder in his voice, “Now go back to class,” he walked away then.
“Classes aren’t resuming until this afternoon,” Haru said, “And it’s not…”
“He’s under genjutsu?” Sora asked.
“More than likely,” Karasu sighed, then glanced at the sharingan painted on the floor, “It could even be coming from that pattern.”
“Would we not be affected as well then?” Kano asked suddenly.
The others stared at him, “We should be,” Yuri agreed, “Karasu, are you keeping us from falling in it’s spell?”
“I don’t even know how to do that,” he rubbed his chin, “If someone’s keeping us out of a genjutsu, then it’s not me, and I don’t know for what.”
“Obviously they want us to solve this,” Hoshi said cheerfully, “Look, there’s a footstep here.”
They looked on the floor where she was pointing a few meters away from the circle, “It is,” Chain exclaimed, “But who would go around the place barefoot?”
“That’s not all,” Chihiro pointed out, “Look at the toes, there’s one missing.”
They looked at each other, “So we’re looking for someone with a missing toe?” the twins chorused, “Shouldn’t be too hard.”
Karasu stared, “Not that hard at all,” he looked up at the others, “Remember what happened at the end of the war? My uncle regained his sanity in the midst of the last battle by stabbing his foot, cutting off one of his toes in the process.”
“He gave you the eyes,” Hoshi said quietly, causing the others to stare at her, “He knows that you have the sharingan. What if he’s the one trying to wake it up.”
“He doesn’t have the power to get in and out of this school unseen,” Sora placed his hands behind his head, “What if we’re the ones under the genjutsu?”
He walked away as they stared at him.
“But why?” Chain asked.
“It’s a test,” Yuri narrowed her eyes, “Someone’s…” she looked up at Haru, “Where’s he going anyways?”
“He has to see the nurse again,” he chewed the inside of his cheek, “Either the entire school is under a genjutsu and we’re not, or we’re the only ones that are. I’m not sure I like the choices.”
“Either way, I’ve got to figure out how to use my sharingan,” Karasu muttered, “Hoshi, I’m taking you up on that offer.”
“Wai… what offer?” Yuri whirled to him, “You’re not touching my…”
“It’s alright Ri-ri,” Hoshi smiled gently, “I already promised,” she took Karasu’s arm, “We better skip the rest of the day, I know a great place to hide.”
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Blue eyes opened to find himself in a dark room. Sitting up, he felt something hard and cool against his neck, some sort of collar. He rose his hand to touch it and felt a chain attached to it, which he followed to find his brother with a red metal collar around his neck. Slender fingers brushed against his sleeping twin’s cheek as his eyes darted around, trying to find some way out.
“Awake are you my pretty?” a lilting voice said as a woman with long black hair and bright amethyst eyes appeared in the room, her pale skin standing out in the darkness, “My beautiful Sora…” black gloved hands went to caress him and he shrank from her touch, stepping protectively in front of Haru.
“Who the hell are you? How did we get here?” Sora snapped.
“Oh my dearest, it pains me that you don‘t know.” the woman smiled sadly as she placed a kiss on his cheek, “Therefore, I look forward to hunting you in the waking world my sweet little fox.”
With those words, everything seemed to shatter into shards of glass and Sora felt himself falling as he struggled to keep hold of Haru.
He shot up in the bed, quickly looking around to find himself in the nurse’s station. “Well, it looks like the tests came back clear,” said the elderly grey haired nurse that normally worked in the office as she came back in to the room, “You have the go-ahead to take the special jonin exams, I’m not even sure how this was an issue in the first place.”
“It was that other nurse that saw us this morning, Meiro,” he whispered as he rubbed his head.
“I’m afraid that there’s no one who works here by that name,” she said as she sat down at the desk, “Perhaps you should rest some more.”
He looked up, narrowing his eyes as he tried to remember what the other nurse looked like, “No, I’m good to get back to class,” he said as he stood up and placed his clothing back on, “Thanks Motoshi-sensei,” he said as he left the room, leaning heavily against the wall for a long moment.
“Hey, how’d it turn out?” Haru asked from where he was sitting across the hall, and Sora turned to him, “It’s not…”
“No, I’m fine,” he smiled, “Hey, do you remember what the nurse that looked at us this morning looked like?”
“It was Motoshi-sensei wasn’t it?” the elder twin asked with wide eyes, “Why’d you ask?”
Sora sighed, shaking his head, “It’s not important. Hey, did you ever have…” his voice trailed off and he shrugged, “Nevermind, it can’t be important.”
“She gave you some of those weird drugs to knock you out huh?” Haru teased as he stood and wrapped his arms around his brother’s waist, “Those always mess with you. Remember that time you tried Dad’s jutsu instead?”
“Ugh, don’t remind me, I was loopy for weeks,” the younger twin groaned, smiling gently as Haru led him down the hall, “Worried that I’m going to trip?”
“I remembered exactly how loopy you get,” his brother retorted, “I let you go alone and you’re going to try flying off the school building.”
“Nah, I wouldn’t do that,” Sora grinned, “Besides, I was trying to get to the…” his voice trailed off.
“What?” Haru asked.
“The dream world…” Sora whispered, “I was actually trying to get into it that time, I was looking for someone…” he turned to his brother, “Hey, where’s Kaze this time of year?”
“It’s warm, so he could be anywhere,” he chewed his lip before dropping his voice to a whisper, “Koi, what’s this about?”
“I’m not sure,” Sora admitted sheepishly, “But I think someone is after us, and that maybe, just maybe, the answer to who and why lies in our dreams.”
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“Alright,” Hoshi said as she peered out of the branches, “There’s Sarutobi Aiko, the prettiest girl in the school,” she grinned at Karasu, “And that makes her the perfect test subject.”
“You’re kidding, right?” he growled, “The sharingan is a weapon, how the hell am I supposed to…”
“Because all weapons have another more practical purpose,” she argued, “Besides, she’s a master of genjutsu, so if you can get past her defenses and lay your own genjutsu on her…”
“Yeah, but exactly what illusion should I try?” he hissed, “The tsukuyomi is a torture device.”
She grinned mischievously, “You have a crush on her right?”
He stared at her, then covered his face with her palm, “No, just no. I’m not doing that.”
“Fine,” she puffed out her cheeks, “You know, I heard that Aiko doesn’t have a partner for the special jonin exams yet,” she rested her head on her hands, “Maybe you can just implant a suggestion that she come and ask you. Sounds simple enough right?”
“Almost too simple,” he sighed, “If I wanted her for a partner, I’ll just ask her myself.”
“Well there’s Momochi Shinsetsu,” Hoshi pointed to the effeminate boy sitting by himself, “Chain tells me that he’s really good in the sword club, but he really keeps to himself,” she grinned, “He’s cute too.”
“The boy that Kakashi-sensei raised? The one that was the first of the kids Mom created?” Karasu looked over at him, “I don’t want to place him under genjutsu.”
“Well, you have to practice on someone. And you do need to choose a partner before the end of the week,” she pointed out.
“I’ll ask Shinsetsu,” he said wisely, “Aiko isn’t as reliable as people think she is,” he nodded towards her, “Besides, she has a crush on someone else, everyone knows that.”
“Alright, but how are you going to train your sharingan?”
“The same way every other member of my family did, in the heat of battle.” he ruffled her hair, “Thanks Hoshi, but I’ve got to figure it out on my own.” He looked up to the crow sitting a few branches above them, “That’s what he told you anyways, isn’t it?”
She shrugged, “Maybe I like you, didja think about that?” she grinned, “The sword club finishes up their meeting around five. I bet if you were to bring him some mochi balls, he might even accept your offer.” With that she jumped out of the tree, then waved at him before running off, “Don’t be late!”
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Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 10:58 am
Chapter Four
“I thought you were skipping with Hoshi,” Chihiro commented when Karasu entered the classroom.
He shrugged as he went to his seat, folding his hands as he stared forward at the teacher.
“Practical exams are starting next week, each of you will be in teams of two and assigned a mission,” the teacher said as he wrote on the board, “The written exam will be taken prior to the assigned mission, and only those who pass that can go on to the practicals. Make sure that you chose a partner that you can count on, as each mission will be S-rank,” he turned to glare at some of the students, namely Haru and Sora, “There will be no room for error. You have until the end of this week to choose a partner. Starting Monday, we’ll give the written,” he cleared his throat, “Until then, you have free-study. I suggest you use that time to train your jutsu for the missions. Dismissed!”
“Wow,” the twins chorused, “We really should have just gone home.”
Karasu shot them a look, then turned as he saw some of the students leaving the class, “We could use this time to figure out who made that mess earlier,” he whispered.
“That was meant as a warning,” Haru frowned, “All of the students have been accounted for and Dum and Dee were found to be perfectly healthy. No one’s even investigating it now.”
“Iruka-sensei had no idea what we were talking about. It’s like it never happened.” Sora added, “We’ve got a lead we’re going to see if we can get any information out of, but there’s no telling whether or not it’ll be of any help.”
“Still,” Karasu frowned, “I bet that the real attack… if there is one… is going to happen on the test. It’s too much of a coincidence otherwise.”
“You better get a partner then,” they pointed out, “Otherwise you’ll have to wait some.”
He nodded, “Yeah, I guess I better,” he glanced up as he saw Shinsetsu get up from his seat in the back of the class and head out the door, “The sword club meets at the gym right?”
“The secondary one, the kinda run down dojo looking building,” Haru said, “Isn’t Sachiko in it? You never picked her up?”
“I really don’t have much to do with my siblings,” he said quietly as he stood, then blushed, “Uh… can you help me make some mochi balls?”
Sora grinned, “Trying to butter someone up?”
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“Listen up!” Suigetsu called as the students in the sword club knelt in front of him, “We still have some members missing before we can be called the seven swordsmen…”
“Six swordsmen and one swordswoman,” Sachiko corrected as she crossed her arms, “And he doesn’t have any tie to the Mist!” she exclaimed pointing at Chain, “You’re just including him because he can use four swords at once!”
“One day it’ll be six,” he grinned, “It’s going to be so cool!”
“We’ll call ourselves the Seven Sword Demons if we have to!” Suigetsu yelled at her, “And with the entire ninja nation banding together like a bunch of damn hippies, then we have to include people from other nations! It’s not like Momochi is from Kiri either!”
Juugo sighed from where he was sitting in the corner, “You’d think… just once… we can have club practice without the arguing or the plotting,” he grumbled.
“At least Momochi has one of the original swords!” Sachiko snapped, “Chain wouldn’t know what to do with one of them even if he did have it!”
“Um, actually,” Chain said quietly, “He gave me Fang and it’s partner a long time ago.”
“HE DID WHAT?!?!” she whirled to Suigetsu, “THAT WAS A NATIONAL TREASURE! HOW COULD…”
“Because he had talent!” he grinned, standing up, “HE’S THE PERFECT ADDITION TO OUR GROUP OF SWORD MASTERS!”
“How could you! Mother is going to be furious…” Sachiko started.
“We shouldn’t question our leader’s motives,” Shinsetsu said quietly, “I agree with the decision to include Chain,” he gestured to the mostly empty dojo, “It’s not like we have anyone else to join the Seven Sword Demons as it is.”
“That’s not the freaking point!” she exclaimed, “We’re supposed to be a Kiri tradition, not a mosh pit of…”
“I would actually agree with you… if you could actually beat Chain in a sword fight,” Suigetsu grinned, “Hell, he was able to hold his own against me when he only had two swords.”
The blond rubbed the back of his head, as he blushed, “Oh, no, that was just some luck on my part Sensei.”
“The point being is the wielders of the swords have got to be someone with talent!” the water nin cried, “Not just nin from Kiri, I’ll have to teach them the secrets of the swords myself anyways. If we can just get the last three members…”
“And then what?” Chain asked with wide eyes, “I mean, what will the Seven Swords Demons actually do?”
There was silence in the building as they looked at each other, “It’s not like there are any wars being fought,” Sachiko sighed, “We can’t be a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.”
“I’ll figure out something,” Suigetsu said, “We just need those last…”
The dojo door slid open, and they all turned in surprise to see Karasu peeking his head in.
“What are you doing here?” Sachiko asked with wide eyes, “You’ve never come to pick me up before!”
“Could you be interested in joining?” Suigetsu asked with hearts in his eyes, “Just sign the contract here and…”
“Actually, I was hoping that I could talk to Momochi-san if practice was over,” Karsu said quietly, “I apologize for interrupting,” he moved to leave.
“We were done anyways,” Shinsetsu said as he stood up, then bowed to Suigetsu, “Thank you for the practice, Sensei,” then bowed at Chain and Sachiko, “Kohai, I expect you both to practice hard for our next meeting.”
They both stood and bowed, “See you later Sempai,” Chain grinned, “Next time, I’ll beat you for sure!”
“No way,” Sachiko snorted, “I’ll end up with the second seat, not a bottomless stomach like you.”
They went to gather their things and Suigetsu sighed heavily as he leaned next to Juugo.
“For the last time,” he sipped his tea, “I’m not joining.”
“But I need just three more people,” Suigetsu whined, “I’m so close!”
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“I take it that you’re here to ask me to be your partner for the special jonin exams,” Shinsetsu said quietly as he gazed at Karasu, “The two you took the chunin exams with partnered with each other?”
“There really wasn’t any doubt about that,” Karasu shrugged, “Same with yours I take it?”
“Actually, they found other partners,” he chuckled lightly, then smiled, “I accept. You’re cute enough. Besides, there are some rumors about you that have got me intrigued.”
“Like what?” he asked.
“Like the one that says you talk to the crow that’s always around you,” he pointed up to the bird that was in the tree branches, “Or that your Uncle kidnapped you one Christmas and…”
“That one I can answer,” the Uchiha sighed, “He did. And that’s not a rumor, your adoptive dad told you that one.”
“Kakashi might have,” Shinsetsu shrugged, “He was the one who calmed your mother down enough so that Sasuke wouldn’t be a nice clay pot. But I wonder if those eyes he put in you came with any side effects,” he crossed his arms, “There’s one about you that you don’t play well with others. That one I want to see for myself. We become partners and we’ll have to rely on each other pretty heavily.”
“I know that you’re reliable enough. Sachiko won’t shut-up about how great a swords master her sempai is at the dinner table,” Karasu smirked, “I guess what we need to do now is settle on a training regime for the next few days.”
“Meet me here tomorrow morning before first bell,” Shinsetsu smiled, “And leave those mochi balls you’re hiding behind your back.”
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Haru and Sora looked into the bar, “Nope,” they sighed.
“It was a long shot anyways,” Haru pointed out, “He only comes a few times a year.”
“Still, I need to ask him,” Sora frowned, “I know that he helped with Chi’s nightmares.”
“Which wasn’t much, she still had them,” the elder twin placed his hands on the back of his head, “But I guess she can sleep, that’s a bit of help.”
“Yeah, but what if we had some dreams. I was five when I tried that stunt, and I remember that Kaze did do something,” the younger chewed the inside of his cheek, “But what?”
“No clue. I don’t remember any of my dreams,” he looked back into the bar, “Besides it might have been something to do with how we got the Mekagami skills. Uncle said it had to do with how Phoe healed Mama during that battle in the war, she used some of Sin’s power somehow. That’s enough to cause any number of nightmares.”
Sora shook his head, “The dreams seemed a lot older than that,” he said quietly, “But I can’t remember any from that time at all.”
Both looked up as the doors to the bar opened and a very sheepish looking Kaze entered the room with a rather miffed looking Hayato walking next to him, carrying their luggage.
“What happened this time?” Mira asked with wide eyes as her apprentices in the bar leaped over the counter to them.
“I kinda blew up the house,” Kaze laughed as he hugged Yuuko and Yuurei “There was this one little jutsu I was trying and it sent the whole place to another dimension.”
“Don’t even ask how,” Hayato grumbled as he pushed the snake tails out of the way, “Our usual room empty?”
“As always,” Mira smiled then turned to the twins, “Go get them some food and stop hanging in doorways,” she said as they stared blinking in surprise at white haired shinobi.
“Does it count as a wish?” Haru said nervously, “You wanted to talk to him...”
“This is too much of a coincidence,” Sora agreed, “We better be careful.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 2:44 am
Chapter Five
"I’m so glad that you have a partner Aniki,” the small brown haired girl said as she rolled out the dough, “I was worried that you couldn’t take the test,” she blushed, “And Karasu-senpai is really strong too. Everyone in my class is a little scared of him.”
“Your class is easily frightened Fuyuko-chan,” Shinsetsu smiled at her from where he was chopping the vegetables, “How is the medical training coming?”
“We’re practicing drawing blood this week,” she stopped and rubbed her arm, “On each other, but I managed to do it quickly and without bruising my patients.”
“Do you think you can take care of our fathers while I’m gone?” he asked gently, “I’m worried about leaving all of you.”
“Don’t be Aniki!” she exclaimed, “You’re looking for a precious person right! What if it’s Karasu-senpai and you let it slip by because you were worrying about all of us,” she pumped her fist in the air, “I’ll take care of our Otou-san, you go find the love of your life!”
“You’re so adorable,” Shinsetsu smiled as he ruffled her hair, “You find yours when it’s time alright,” he sighed as he picked up an apple to peel, “True love has to be the most amazing thing there is,” the door to the front room opened and Iruka came in followed by Kakashi, both smiling as they hugged and kissed each other, “Just look at how happy our Otou-san are!”
Fuyuko nodded, dreamily resting her head in her hands, “One day, I’ll have true love like that too.”
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Haru placed the cups in front of Hayato and Kaze as Sora brought out the food, “You two seem troubled,” the silver haired nin said as he glanced up at them, “Has something happened?”
Both twins looked at each other and then quickly sat down, “We need to ask about something that happened when we were little,” they said seriously.
He sipped his tea, “Shouldn’t you ask Mira about this?”
Sora shook his head, “We know that when Chi was four, you did something that eased her nightmares where she can get some sleep. We’re wondering if you did something similar for us.”
“When Sora tried that jutsu of his father’s?” Kaze raised an eyebrow, “And then climbed to the roof in his sleep?”
Both nodded and Hayato sighed, “Come on to our room later,” he looked at his companion, “You wanted to tell them for a long time, might as well now.”
“Just don’t tell your mother about this,” Kaze whispered, “It would break her heart.”
At that he stood and went upstairs, leaving Hayato to drink alone as he gave a worried glance to the white haired man, “I don’t know what it was that he saw,” he said, “But something was in your dream that night,” he turned to Haru and Sora, “So go find out so he can have that secret off of his chest and worry about something else,” he took a swig of his sake, “Like me for instance.”
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“What were you doing at the dojo?” Sachiko asked as she did the dishes, “You never came by there before, you didn’t even know senpai was in your class!”
Karasu shrugged as he dried them, handing them to Ryuuichi to put away, “I knew,” he said quietly, “He came to our class with Chi and Odin. And it’s not like I didn’t have a reason to talk to him.”
“It’s not fair! How can he be partners with you! He was going to be my partner!” she snapped, “Once we got the Seven Swords Demons going…”
“But you haven’t even taken the genin exam yet,” Ryuuichi pointed out, “And Karasu needs a partner so that he can finally graduate.”
“HE SHOULD HAVE LEFT SCHOOL WHEN HE PASSED THE CHUNIN EXAMS!” she yelled, breaking the plate in her hands, “And you! Stop being smug because the medical training students are exempt from the exams!”
“I wonder if that’s really a good idea,” Karasu said thoughtfully, “You might need the field experience that the exams provide. Sometimes I wonder if the way the school is set up is really the best.”
“This is the first year that the special jonin exams are being held right?” Ryuuichi asked, “The classes before yours left after the chunin exams.”
Karasu narrowed his eyes, “And there are a lot of children of Kages in the class. Kiri, Konoha, Suna, Danshoku… all of the kages there have at least one child taking the special jonin exam.”
“Big brother, you alright?” Sachiko asked, taken aback by the darkness that covered his face.
He gave Ryuuichi the towel, “I’m going to go get ready for my training tomorrow,” he said quietly as he walked out of the room, “I need to go look something up.”
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“It’s not going to work,” Yuri crossed her arms as she leaned on the doorway into the bathroom, “The proctors for the exam are going to see right through this.”
“I have to try,” Hoshi’s voice explained, “You two would be disqualified if you can’t find a third person to take the exam with anyway,” she peeked out, “Don’t you think it’s strange that they have it set up that you have to be a team for the chunin but for the special jonin you have to be a partner?” she asked thoughtfully, “It’s almost like they want to shorten the number of people able to take it.”
“That’s the idea,” Yuri huffed, then whirled to her brother, “I can’t believe that you’re just letting her do this! Go get our parents or something!”
“It was Tema-mama’s idea,” Hoshi pointed out as there was the noise of scissors snipping, “And Haru-daddy’s getting the paperwork for me. Daddy’s even going to give me a bit of extra so that I can get pass the more scrutinizing tests. Hey Chain, come here, I need to look at it again. Yuri, you think I should dye my hair?”
“Don’t you dare!” she snapped.
“Oh it’ll be better if I change my eye color instead,” she called, “Okay Chain, you’re going to be the judge. I’m drinking it now.”
“STOP HER!” Yuri whirled into the bathroom right as the now short haired Hoshi finished the contents of the bottle that was marked “For Emergencies Only.”
“Gah, that tasted horrible,” she coughed, “Like sweat socks and dog food.”
“I’m not even going to ask how you knew what those tasted like,” Chain said with wide eyes, “Hoshi!” he cried as her hands went to her throat and she fell to her knees.
He and his sister watched as her feminine frame turned masculine. Slowly onyx eyes opened, “It worked!” he said in a more boyish voice, “How’s that for never been tested before!”
“It’s more horrid than I imagined!” Yuri cried, “You’re so ugly as a boy!”
“I don’t know, he looks kinda cute,” Chain grinned, “You’re really delicate looking for a boy.”
“Figured that I might as well be a cute one,” he grinned, “Oh damn, I hope someone told Mama what we were doing.”
The answer to that came as the door to their room slammed opened, “Hoshiakari!” Phoenix yelped, “Please tell me that you…” she blinked as she saw the children, and covered her face with her palm, “Couldn’t you have dressed as a boy instead?” she muttered.
“They would have caught her,” Temari pointed out as she came into the room with her, “Pretty good looking Hoshi, you look just like your father there. Only cuter,” she grinned, “Here’s your paperwork ‘Hitorino Tsumi,’ it’s all in order, and I even got the Kazekage’s approval,” she tossed Hoshi the scroll, “Chain, better get him some clothes.”
“Even Gaara knew about this?” Phoenix sighed, “Wait… what’s with that name?!”
“Sin and Haru picked it out,” she giggled, leading the Eidolon out of the room, “You kids have a long day tomorrow, better get ready!”
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“You’ve worked with the river of death before right?” Kaze asked quietly of the two boys that were sitting on the floor across from him.
“Yeah,” Haru blinked, “The gated river right? We had to go with Sin to grab a bone at the first gate to make our specials. What about it?”
“You heard the story of how Mira was wounded in that battle during the war and that Phoenix revived her, with help from the Aeon Sin,” the silver haired shinobi crossed his arms, “The one that revealed the Eidolons existence to everyone there. Only a few knew that she had help, it‘s because normally she can heal completely without any assistance.”
“It’s how we got the Mekagami skills,” Sora shrugged, “So?”
“Mira was dead for almost an hour before Phoenix came,” Kaze whispered, “That’s why she needed help.”
Both twins stared at him, “But if Mama was dead for that long…”
“She was pregnant with us at the time, and from that scar we’ve seen…”
“You two were dead for almost the same amount of time,” he agreed, “I was following orders…” he hugged himself, “I didn’t want to…”
“Mama forgave you already!” Haru exclaimed, “And so did we! We’re here about that dream Sora had when he was a kid!”
He blinked and then nodded, “There was a woman in the dream, when I entered to grab you, she tried to stop me.”
“She called us her darling foxes didn’t she?” Sora whispered, “A pale woman right, with black hair?”
Kaze nodded, “And even with my powers, I had a hard time with her. She merely left without me defeating her, and I thought that was the end of it. I erased the dream,” he gazed at them, “You’re having it again?”
“We’ll take care of it,” Sora narrowed his eyes, “But did she say anything else, like who she was and what she wanted with us?”
“I sensed loneliness. And then there was a sense of familiarity she had with you, she knew exactly how to get into your dreams,” he rubbed the back of his head, “It’s not as easy as I make it look… but more importantly I saw something else then,” he looked hard at both, “Your souls are used.”
“Reincarnation you mean?” Haru asked.
He shook his head, “Not quite. The original ones that you were never really died, though they did disappear. I think Phoenix couldn’t retrieve your first souls and replaced them with whoever that woman was looking for.”
Both blinked, “Say what?”
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Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:35 pm
Chapter Six
Suigetsu sighed as he leaned back in his desk, staring up at the ceiling, “Why am I doing this again?” he muttered.
“Because they wouldn’t let you be in charge of the swords club if you didn’t have a legitimate job here,” Juugo said from where he was sitting at his desk on the other side of the room, “Besides, the teaching is good for you. You’re much more patient than you used to be.”
There was a knock on the door, and both adults glanced at each other. It was amazingly early in the morning, there shouldn’t have been any students in the academy.
“Enter,” Juugo said, then blinked as he saw Chain come in followed by the silver haired boy, “Mekagami, is everything alright?”
“Tsumi here needs to register for the exam,” he grinned, “He was in the desert with his tribe and needs it so he can be a guardian for them.”
The other boy held up a scroll, “Lord Kazekage approved me and all, and Iruka-sensei said that we had to talk to you since you’re the counselor.”
Juugo looked at both, “He’s Hoshi isn’t he?” he said flatly.
“He is?” Suigetsu stared at Tsumi, “But he’s not a girl!”
“I don’t know how she did it,” Tsumi opened his mouth, and closed it when Juugo glared at him, “I don’t want to know. Just give me the scroll and I’ll approve you.”
“Really?” Tsumi and Chain chorused, their eyes shining.
“If Chain can’t make it to special jonin, it would ruin Sui’s plans and I wouldn’t hear the end of it,” he sighed as he stamped the scroll, “How long is that transformation going to last anyways?”
“Um… I think about a month or two,” Tsumi said thoughtfully, “Is there anyway to repay you?”
“YOU!” Suigetsu exclaimed, pointing at Tsumi “Join the sword club!”
“But that’s Chain special place,” he said quietly, “Like garden club is Yuri’s.”
“I’ll think of something else,” Juugo glanced over at the water nin, “Stop melting, he’s not joining.”
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Haru blinked awake to find the spot where his twin slept next to him empty, “Koi?” he whispered, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he looked around the room.
A few minutes later he was dressed and climbing out the window to the roof, sighing as he found Sora sitting up there. “You always know,” the younger twin said as he hugged his knees, “You’re the one who stopped me back then.”
“I remember,” Haru sat down next to him, “But Dad found you too. He’s the one who carried you down off the Kazekage tower,” he placed his arm around Sora’s shoulder, “You’re not seriously worried about what Kaze said are you?”
“If what he said is true, then we’re not really…”
“Bull,” Haru pulled him closer, “Don’t overanalyze this. Dad and Mama are still our parents, no matter what. So what if we have a used soul, that just means that we’re really can’t be separated,” he grinned, “And there’s no real reason to worry about anything. Right here, right now, we’re the devilish Sabaku twins,” he nuzzled into Sora’s shoulder, “And I’m doing your job. Usually it’s you telling me I’m being stupid.”
“I will be soon enough,” a crooked smile formed on his lips as he leaned heavily against his brother, “I didn’t have any dreams last night.”
“You didn’t sleep last night,” Haru pointed out as he poked him, “Now get downstairs and make my bento.”
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Karasu stepped through the portal and sighed as he started walking down the hall to the training room where he was meeting Shinsetsu.
“You’re running a little late today,” the brunette said as he saw the Uchiha, “I was beginning to get worried.”
“I had a rough night. Sachiko’s a little miffed at me for choosing you as a partner,” Karasu shrugged as he took out the key for the room, “Ready to see the ocean?”
He opened the door, and Shinsetsu smiled at the sight of the beach and waves crashing against the shore, in the distance, he spied a chain of islands, “It always amazes me when I see the inside of the training rooms,” he sighed as he stepped onto the sands, “Is this what Kiri looks like?”
“Not really,” Karasu said as he followed the other boy inside, “These islands are supposed to be nothing but the wilderness. Kiri’s actually pretty developed right now,” he held up a scroll to the crow who took it and flew towards the islands, “We’re going after that,” he blinked at the sudden gust of cold air, and looked over to see the ice path that Shinsetsu summoned over the ocean, “It won’t be as easy once we reach the islands.”
“When is it ever?” he drew the cleaver from his back, “I’m willing to bet that the ocean is going to be just as dangerous.”
“You guessed it,” Karasu smirked as he stepped onto the ice, “They’ve brought in all of the wildlife from Mizu in here. Including all the sharks and the man-eating giant turtles.”
He walked past him, ignoring the wide-eyed stare that Shinsetsu was giving him.
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“I can’t believe that you did this,” Yuri growled as she slammed her locker shut, “Ho… Tsumi, how dare you try and come on to me right now?”
“I thought it might be fun,” Tsumi grinned, “It’s not like there’ll be any real difference, I’m still me.”
“No, you’re not,” the green haired girl snapped as she turned to him, “You’re ugly. And you know how much I hate men!”
“I thought that it wouldn’t matter,” he said quietly, “Ri-ri we’ve always been…”
“Don’t even call me that!” Yuri hissed, “I don’t care if you’re doing this so Chain and I can get chunin, you should have let us do it another way. Ho…” she closed her eyes, “Tsumi. This has to be the most selfish thing you’ve done. You’re not doing it for us, you’re doing it because you hate being told what you can’t do.”
With that she whirled away, leaving Tsumi blinking tears back as he hastily rubbed at his face.
“Man, she’s even more pissed than I thought she would be,” Chain commented as he stepped to his locker, “You okay?”
“She hates me,” he whispered, “Just because I’m a boy.”
“It’s Yuri, she’ll get over it,” Chain shrugged, “And she’s wrong, you are doing it for us, you do almost everything for us, with a very small part being because it’s fun,” he grinned, “So have some fun and show her that you really are still you,” he held out his hand, “Come on, guys can’t be seen crying in the hallway. I’ve got the key for the Taki training room, let’s go work on our skills.”
He nodded, “You’re just trying to get me to safety before Yuri’s fan club notices that she’s crying too.”
Chain rubbed the back of his head, “You saw that huh?” then sighed, “Damnit, Tsumi, she’s not going to budge on this. And we’ve got a week before we get sent on that mission. If she doesn’t…”
“It’ll be alright,” Tsumi promised, his hands clasped behind his back, “It just has to be.”
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A week later, the students were in assembly as they waited on Iruka to address them. “This is even more boring than class,” Haru sighed, “Couldn’t we have just gone to pick up our missions.”
“It’s the first time the special jonin exams are being done like this,” Sora pointed out, “You heard that we can apply for anbu internship wherever we want after this?”
“Not that you two would go anywhere but Suna,” Chihiro crossed her arms, “Kano and I are still discussing where we’re going to go for the internship.”
“It is just that your father is very youthful in defending your honor,” Kano said sheepishly, “I thought that perhaps Konoha would be a more prudent choice. Or we could go into the investigation division and go on normal missions instead.”
She smiled at him, “We’ll discuss it more on the mission,” she said gently, then looked over to Karasu, “What about you and Shinsetsu? You two decided on what you’re doing?”
He shrugged, “Right now, we’re just worrying about the test,” he looked over to where the ice nin was standing, “Our teamwork is almost perfect, so it should be a breeze.”
The speech done, Iruka called for the students taking the chunin and special jonin exams to group in their teams and proceed to the missions board.
“Be careful,” Chihiro said suddenly as they reached the line, and the others looked at her in surprise. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, “The missing nurse, the sharingan painted on the floor. All three of you are being gunned for,” she hissed at her brothers and Karasu, “So makes sure that you come back from your missions. And in one piece.”
“Chi, you worry too much,” Haru grinned.
“Nothing can get us,” Sora added, “You and Kano better come back in one piece too.”
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Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 12:10 am
Chapter Seven
Haru took the mission scroll from Iruka, “The client is waiting in Taki for you both,” the burnet said as he went back to his paperwork, missing the stunned face on both twins, “This mission will be taken with a back-up team that is taking the chunin exams as you’re the ones that will be testing them.”
“We weren’t told that part,” Sora said quietly, “Who set up the exam this way?”
Iruka looked up in surprise, “Your teacher didn’t tell you? It’s part of the special jonin exam. This is the first year that they’ve taken place like this, so it might have slipped his mind, but we’re also testing the ability to lead and teach.”
Both twins glanced at each other, “We meet the team here or in Taki?” Haru asked.
“Wait right there,” Iruka pointed to a room, “I’ll send in your team shortly.”
“One more question,” Sora shoved his hands in his pockets, “Who set up our exam like this?”
Iruka blinked, “It was…” he rubbed his head, “Now will you go on and wait?”
“How much you want to bet it’s going to be Hoshi’s team,” Sora muttered as he dragged his brother to the waiting room, “And Taki of all places.”
“Sin’s not involved,” Haru whispered back, “He would make it blatantly obvious if he were. This might even be a trap to draw him out. So what now?”
“We go and wait for our team and we carry out the mission,” the younger twin smirked, “We’re going to defeat this trap and find out who’s pulling the strings.”
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Karasu took the scroll, “An escort mission?”
“There aren’t enough chunin teams taking the exams for every partnership, so in your case, the client is a high ranking noble that has had numerous assassination attempts against their person,” Shikamaru yawned, “It’s troublesome, but both of you have had the highest marks in your classes and training exercises, so we’re sending you out to the Land of Tea to the Hana Resort where you’ll pick up the client and escort her back to her home in the capitol of Mizu. Information is in the scroll.”
Shinsetsu smiled as they turned away from the missions counter, “I’ve never been to Mizu before, this should be fun.”
“And we need to be real careful,” Karasu said, “There are some places in Mizu that are still against people with Kekkai Genki. Kiri’s not as bad as it used to be, but there are still witch hunts going on that Mom’s been working on stopping. Until we get a feel for the client, then we need to keep a very low profile.”
The crow on his shoulder cawed in agreement, and Shinsetsu took the scroll, “Who is our client?” he asked as he opened it, “Mizuno Kokoro… heard of her?”
“Heard of her?” Karasu stared at the ice ninja in shock, “Who hasn’t? She’s the Daimyo of Mizu’s only daughter. She’s the sweetheart of our country right now,” he chewed the inside of his cheek, “If someone’s targeting her, then more than likely they’re trying to start a war. I can bet that this mission was decided upon by our parents.”
Shinsetsu was silent for a moment then he stopped, “So our mission is not just escorting her, but finding out who is behind the attacks.”
“And I bet that’s just the start of it,” Karasu frowned as they stepped into the portal leading to Konoha.
Shikamaru sighed as he watched them leave, “Next,” he called, blinking as he saw Aiko step up, “You don’t have a partner, you were disqualified from the test.”
She smiled, leaning on the desk, “I refused everyone who asked. There’s only one person I want to be partners with. Come on, you’re still a chunin yourself, take it with me.”
“Troublesome,” he stared at her, “You’re making it hard to do my job.”
“Because I’m so pretty?” she teased.
“Because you’re blocking the line. There are other missions to pass out,” he yawned, “Go grab a seat and I’ll take you home when I’m done here.”
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“Why aren’t we surprised?” Haru and Sora chorused as Tsumi entered the room with Chain and Yuri behind him.
“Great, I have to take a mission with you two brats,” Yuri growled as she crossed her arms, “What is the stupid mission anyways?”
“Tsubasa,” Haru looked over at Tsumi, “We’ll be traveling there after meeting the client in Taki.”
His eyes widened, “Why does the name of that place make me want to run and hide?”
Sora held up the scroll, “A hundred years before we were born it was the site of a massacre. Now it’s called the ‘Cursed Temple.’ Our client wants us to retrieve something from deep within the ruins of the village.”
All three stared at the twins, “What aren’t you telling us?” Tsumi asked quietly.
“There already was something retrieved from deep within the ruins,” Haru folded his hands, “Twenty years ago Mama went in there under orders from Kei and retrieved Phoenix’s ruby. She never spoke of what happened in there.”
“All we do know is whatever it was got her out from under the crown’s control,” Sora finished, “She came out of the ruins, alive, but barely and then…” he chewed his lip, “She escaped from that life and ended up at Danshoku three months later. To this day she has nightmares of that place.”
“Even though it’s more of a trek, we’re going through the Suna portal to head to Taki, rather than leave from Konoha,” Haru said, “We need to get some information from your father.”
“But wouldn’t it make more sense to ask Auntie Mira?” Chain asked, “She’s the one who’s been there.”
The twins exchanged a look, “It’s best that she doesn’t know where we’re going,” they chorused, “We’re asking Hoshi’s father about Taki and Tsubasa.”
“Sin-daddy?” Yuri blinked, “But he’s been sealed in the Mekagami line for almost three hundred years, what would he know about it?”
“Tsubasa is almost due north of Taki, a day’s travel,” Sora pointed out, “And it lies in the center of a forest that is said to be cursed by the massacre at the temple.”
“You think Daddy had something to do with that massacre,” Tsumi whispered, “Or at least it was done to keep him from finding Mama’s ruby.”
“Bingo,” the twins winked, “So, you three ready? We’ve got a long journey ahead of us.”
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“I’ve never been to Konoha,” Karasu said quietly as they walked through the town, “It‘s a lot bigger than Kiri.”
Shinsetsu chuckled, “Strange isn’t it?” he took the Uchiha’s arm and pointed at the crow, “Your clan is from here, in fact, they were part of the founding members, and you’ve never set foot here. As for me, my father was one of Kiri’s famed Seven Swordsmen, and my ‘mother’ was one of the hidden kekkai genki users from Mizu,” he smiled sadly, “Neither of us have ever really been in our true home.”
“Home is where you make it,” Karasu pinched his cheek, “Don’t get all sentimental on me now, we’ve got a mission to do.”
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!” yelped a voice and both turned to see Sachiko pointing at them both from where she stood with a few other students from the academy, “AND WHY ARE YOU ACTING SO CLOSE!”
Sand hit her in the head and she whirled around to face Chihiro who was standing with her arms crossed, “Obviously they’re on a mission separate from ours.” the sand nin said quietly, “Now if you can’t concentrate on the task at hand, then I’ll just leave you here.”
“Chi-chan, do you not think that is a bit cruel?” Kano started, then shrank back at the glaring stare she shot him.
“We’re here to teach this group of children to be ninja,” she stated, “If they cannot focus on their training, then they will always be comparing themselves unfavorably to others,” she turned back to Sachiko, “If you set your goal so low, then how will you achieve greatness?”
The blue haired girl bowed her head. “Guess Chi and Kano got a training mission with those kids,” Shinsetsu whistled, “I guess they didn’t have a team taking the chunin exam for them either.”
“It suits their abilities,” Karasu mused, “Come on, you said it’s a far way to the Land of Tea ferry.”
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The five stepped through the Suna portal, “Just one question,” Yuri snapped, “How are we going to keep the fact that we’re here secret from everyone but Sin-daddy?”
“Because I got wind of what the mission was and decided to wait on you,” the dark man with long silver hair said from where he was leaning against the gate room’s doorway, “And it’s no coincidence that you were the one’s chosen either. This entire situation reeks.”
“What can you tell us about Tsubasa, Daddy?” Tsumi asked, “What happened there?”
“Two clans of Taki were the ones behind the massacre,” he crossed his arms, “From the blood that was shed there, they created what was called the Hero Water, that’s why there’s a price for it’s power.”
“But why do something like that?” Chain asked with wide eyes.
“Because the person that I was sealed in at the time mistook my interest in Tsubasa,” he closed his eyes, “He thought that I was interested in a priestess there, instead of the ruby that I saw around her neck. And because he ordered the clan to retrieve her, and because Tsubasa refused to hand one of the pure maidens intended for the Cleansing over, he decided to steal her away himself. So on the night of the ritual, he went to the temple,” he chuckled, “His controller went with him, a member of your namesake’s clan, to ensure that I didn’t get loose and destroy everything,” he narrowed his eyes, “When they arrived there, they found out just what the Cleansing was.”
“She was a sacrifice,” Haru stated.
“I didn’t even have to come out,” Sin shrugged, “The entire massacre was done by those two alone. And in a misguided attempt to atone for their crime, they converted the blood into the Hero Water for their village. They even saved the priestess, though she had dropped the ruby in the midst of the scuffle. It was another hundred years before it was found.”
“There’s more to this,” Sora looked at the others, “In those days entire villages vanished overnight, why would Tsubasa be cursed and not any of them.”
“The forest surrounding it grew almost overnight,” the Aeon pointed out, “There is the fact that the Cleansing Ritual was done to appease what the Temple called the Forbidden Oracle. I have no idea who or what that was; however, I do know this,” he glanced at the twins, “In the hundred years since, there was only one person who went into that forest and came out alive. If you cannot achieve the same feat with my child, then I will be adding your skeletons to my collection.”
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Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 12:57 pm
Chapter Eight
“She’s here?” Shinsetsu asked as the two looked up at the castle that was standing over the hot springs, “It’s a nice place.”
Karasu glanced down at the scroll, “There’s a code we have to give to pick her up, so let me do the talking.”
“So what’s she like?” the ice nin asked, “Since she’s your country’s sweetheart and all, is she exceptionally beautiful and kind or something like that?”
The Uchiha chuckled, “Nah, she’s just amazingly cute. She came to Kiri once or twice with her dad and he spoils her a bit rotten, but even then, she was pretty sweet. Even gave her lunch to some kids that were hard on thier luck,” he walked over the bridge leading to the castle gates, “Come on, you’ll see for yourself in a moment.” he stopped at the gate, looking at the guard on duty, “The waves crash against the sandy island in the distance.”
“But once the sand is gone, the island will disappear,” the guard answered, suddenly on full alert.
“Not so long as the sun and the rain love the goddess of the sea. Her blessing will save the island,” Karasu finished.
“So you’ve finally come,” the guard sighed, “She’s in this room and she’s been a bit melancholy. She thinks that her father abandoned her here.”
“She doesn’t realize the danger that she’s in?” Shinsetsu asked with wide eyes.
“We didn’t have the heart to tell her,” the guard said sadly, “She’s just so durn cute,” he buzzed them inside the castle.
Shinsetsu looked behind at the guard station, “A guy can get jealous over hearing how cute this princess is,” he huffed, “You don’t have a crush on her do you?”
He blinked as Karasu started laughing, “What?”
“You’ll understand when you see her,” the raven haired boy wiped a tear from his eye, “There’s nothing to be jealous of,” he assured the ice nin, “She’s cute and all, but you’ve got a lot more going for you.” stopping at the door with the same number on the card, he stopped and slid it through the lock.
The door opened and a little girl of about seven years of age with long light blue hair done intricately with ornaments and buns ran out and hugged them both, “You’ve come to take me to Papa!” she cried, “Thank you! Thank you!”
Karasu smirked at Shinsetsu, who was staring in shock at the small child in the formal kimonos, “For one, you’re not too young for my tastes,” he said, holding back a chuckle at the swordsman’s expense.
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“Well, the kids have all taken their missions,” Iruka said as he stood in front of the monitors that showed the different Kage, “And they departed three hours ago.”
“We’ll inform you when they report to us with the missions cleared,” Kakashi said from his position next to the brunet, “And we’ll give the fail or pass depending on how well they performed.”
“That sounds fair enough,” Yuko nodded, “Move for dismissal?”
“Seconded,” Naruto said, “I’m getting hungry.”
“You’d think that being made Hokage, you would be a bit more professional,” Kakashi teased as Naruto whined that this was one thing and ramen was another.
There were agreements from the other Kage, and one by one the screens went blank and Iruka bowed before turning back to his paperwork, not noticing that the Kaze screen was still on.
“When was the decision to change one of the missions made?” Gaara spoke quietly, “Their original mission was an escort of water traders in the desert here. Who brought the other mission of Taki and Tsubasa?”
Iruka turned in shock, “What…” then jumped as Kakashi took his arm, whirling him to face him as he pulled up his headband.
“It’s what you feared,” the silver haired nin sighed as the brunet fell asleep in his arms, “He was under genjutsu of some sort, but I can’t find a trace of who or what. I couldn’t find any records of the person placing the mission in the board either. Do you want us to call them back?”
“No,” Gaara folded his hands, “This is something that has been haunting Mira, and I’m curious as to what is there. Haru and Sora are strong enough to face whatever it is, and I’ve taken an extra precaution to ensure their safety.”
His screen turned to static as Kakashi glanced down at Iruka, “You’re going to have a massive headache when you get up,” he sighed, “I’ll see if Fuyuko has any medication.”
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“So this is the shrine for the Hero Water,” Sora said quietly as the five looked at it, “The ones that were slaughtered in Tsubasa were buried here?”
“That’s what Sin told us,” Haru sighed, “From the bodies, the tree grew,” he glanced over at Yuri, “Seems like your abilities were inherited from that priestess they took.”
She shrugged, “Where’s our client, they said to meet him here,” she shivered, “And how come we’re able to get this close to the sacred relic of Taki?”
“We were told to not be seen,” Haru crossed his arms, “But you’re right, there should be some sort of guard on this.”
“I asked them to go away for the time being,” a voice said and all five looked to see the burnet that was walking towards them, “If they knew that I had hired outsiders for this matter, even those that have ties to our home, then I would lose my position as leader of Taki.”
Haru and Sora exchanged a quick glance, “You’re Shibuki aren’t you?” they chorused, “What is it that you want us to get?”
“A hundred years ago there was a miracle to our village and a disaster to the village north of here,” Shibuki said quietly, “The two were connected, but it did establish once and for all that our village would be the main hidden village of this nation. However, now it seems that the tree that protects Taki is dying.”
Haru nodded to Yuri, who turned to the roots with glowing green hands, “It’s true,” she said after a moment, “The soil is eroding away and there’s an infection here that’s eating away at the tree itself. I’d give it a good month before it dies completely. And I can’t make any new growth until the infection is gone, it’d just delay the inevitable.”
“If the tree dies, then Taki will be exposed and a great calamity will overtake us,” Shibuki looked up, “This is my home, I can’t let that happen. But I was told that there is a way to avoid this, one that lies in the cursed forest of Tsubasa.”
“If you’re thinking of the god-stone, it was taken out a long time ago,” Tsumi spoke up, “Daddy said that he didn’t know much else that was there.”
“No, not that, a small vial of the Elixir of Cleansing,” Shibuki held out an old tome that Sora took, “There’s a description of it here, but it was made after a ritual and had the power to cure any disease that plagued the land. I’m certain that it has the power to save the tree.”
“Would there be any left?” Sora asked as he looked through the pages, “The village was destroyed a hundred years ago.”
“There has to be,” Shibuki whispered, his fist clenching, “It’s the only chance that we have…”
“Fine, we’ll go get it,” Haru sighed, “We’ll leave right away, but,” he smirked, “As payment we want access to the Mekagami vaults.”
“But…”
The twins patted Chain’s back, “He’s the last one, so shouldn’t he get a chance to look inside at his family history?” they chorused, before all five disappeared from the site, jumping back up through the caves and through the waterfall.
“I don’t like this,” Yuri called as they went into the trees, “Did you see his facial twitches? He didn’t come up with this idea on his own.”
“There was someone else in the caves,” Chain added, “I could smell the steel.”
“So danger no matter what happens on this mission,” Haru narrowed his eyes, “Sora, the first sign of trouble, we get them out and abort.”
His twin nodded in agreement, “We’re still not any closer to finding out who’s behind this, we’re just going deeper and deeper into this trap.”
Tsumi stopped suddenly and the others landed on branches near her, “See anything?” Chain asked.
He looked around, “I thought I felt something,” he said, “I guess not though, I can’t sense it anymore.”
“Let’s get going then,” Haru said, “But keep an eye and ear open. We’re more than likely being followed.” The five jumped away.
A moment later a black cloaked and robed man came out of the foliage, “They’re good,” he whispered, “But are they good enough?”
He disappeared, following after them.
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“Oh gosh, you’re so adorable!” Shinsetsu grinned, “Look Karasu, I think she’s ready for travel now.”
The Uchiha glanced over at the girl, now with short hair and wearing white shorts and a yellow top, “Kokoro-chan are you alright with your hair being cut?”
She grinned, “Papa might have a fit, but we’re going camping right? I like it like this,” she blinked, “One thing!” she ran to her dresser and pulled out a white bow, “Shin-nii-chan, can you put this in my hair?”
“Of course,” he smiled, “How are we leaving here without being seen?” he asked Karasu.
“You made sure that her hair was gathered and sealed so they can’t use it right?” he asked, and Shinsetsu nodded, “Alright, get the cloak, we’re going to walk out of here like normal.”
“We are?”
Karasu nodded, “After we clear the gates, we vanish into the forest. We’ll have to cross the ocean at another point once we start the trek to Mizu,” he rolled out a map, “We can cross here,” he pointed, “It’s not as wide between the land and your ice bridge can get us across.”
“Instead of taking the ferry shortcut from here, we’re going the long way,” Shinsetsu mused, “Then let’s cross here,” he pointed to the Wave Country, “From there we can get a boat and once we reach a certain point in the ocean, then I can sink it and then make the ice bridge. It would cover our tracks a bit better, and they may not suspect us taking such a roundabout way.”
“You have another reason for wanting to go there,” Karasu glanced up at him, “I know that’s where Kakashi fought your parents.”
“Maybe so, but my point remains,” Shinsetsu smiled, “Kokoro-chan, do you mind the extra travel time?”
She was looking at the map, and shook her head, “Can we go here too?” she asked pointing at Otafuku Gai, “There’s this place that has some really good cotton candy and treats!”
“The more roundabout, the better,” Karasu nodded, “So long as you don’t mind us leading them on a wild goose chase across the nations, then we can go wherever you want. We just need to have you back at the capitol in time for the Anniversary of Mizu.”
“That gives us about a month doesn’t it?” Shinsetsu asked, then blinked as Karasu threw a cloak at him and at Kokoro.
“Get ready you two. I’ll make the distraction while you get to the forest and catch up,” with that the Uchiha went to the door, “Wait for my signal before running.”
With that he was gone.
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Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 2:44 pm
Chapter Nine
Karasu walked to the guard desk, “You’re a different one than the one that let us in,” he commented dryly to the pink haired man, “I was hoping to check out without any difficulties.”
“What difficulties were you expecting sir? I assure you that the Hana Resort trains us to be the utmost in professionalism. Any needs that the other door clerk handled, I can as well.”
The raven haired youth shrugged, “Then I just need to pay for the room right? He had promised me a few things, but that doesn’t matter much,” he reached in his pocket for the room key, narrowing his eyes as he heard the scrap of metal against metal.
The crow flew from his shoulder as he drew out his kunai and crossed it with the sickle that was drawn by the other man, “So you’re not just some idiot kid like we were told,” the pink haired man hissed, “Mau! Find the princess!”
“You won’t find her so easily,” Karasu said as his eyes started to glow red and spin as ice started to spread around the room. He jumped back, landing in front of an ice mirror, “Tell your employer that not one ninja he sends will touch a hair on Kokoro-chan’s head.”
With that he disappeared into his own reflection as the mirrors and ice in the room shattered into dust.
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“I don’t like this,” Tsumi said as he nervously looked up at the imposing forest, “Even the Aeon blood in me is screaming to run away.”
“That just means that there is something worth protecting here,” Haru pointed out, “Yuri, are the trees completely closed off except for at this point?”
The green haired girl sighed as the vines returned to her hands, “Not even sunlight can get through,” she crossed her arms, “And even here, we’ll have to cut a path.”
“That’s what I’m here for!” Chain said happily as he drew his swords, “Just follow me!”
Sora whistled, “No fear huh? So you’re immune to the dark feeling in here?”
“I won’t forgive anything that scares Hoshi,” the blond grinned, “So if I can have revenge by getting us through here, it’s worth it.”
“I’m Tsumi for now, remember?” the silver haired boy kissed Chain’s cheek, “But thanks anyway.”
Yuri grabbed each of their shoulders and pulled them apart, “You two are not allowed to do anything while Hoshi’s a boy,” she growled, yelping when Haru and Sora pinched her ears.
“If you don’t want them to play together, then you need to give them something else to play with,” they chorused, then looked up at the other two, “Chain get started on that path. Tsumi help him out. Yuri, you’re using your vines to convince the trees to not grow back.”
“Hai!” the three exclaimed, and Tsumi pressed his hands together, pulling the black naginata out as he separated them, “Come on Chain, I bet we can get this cleared in no time!”
The two ran off, with Yuri following behind as she formed hand seals and vines poured from her fingers. Haru and Sora stared after them for a moment before stepping forward.
“You hear something?” the younger twin asked.
“A woman’s voice,” the elder answered, “I’m glad you heard it too.”
“But I can bet that none of those three did,” Sora glanced at Haru, “She’s after us specifically.”
“That’s good. Then no matter what happens, we can get them home,” he ran a hand through his hair, “Let’s concentrate on finding that damn elixir for now, then we can figure out what the hell is going on here.”
The trees closed behind them, preventing the cloaked man that was following them to enter the forest. He pulled back his hood to reveal the black hair and pale face, “Damnit!” he cursed, as he searched for a way inside the woods, then finally gave up and took out a wireless, “Kazekage-sama… I have some bad news.”
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“That was great!” Kokoro exclaimed as Shinsetsu carried her through the woods, “You can control ice Shin-nii-chan?”
“No time to be impressed now,” Karasu yelled as he jumped ahead of them, “Shinsetsu, we’re going to reach a shoreline in five minutes, make an ice bridge.”
“But that would take us into Kaze,” he said in confusion, “Why are we going there?”
“We need to leave the Land of Tea earlier than we thought, there’s a sanctuary a few miles away from the Kaze shore that we can hide in,” he glanced behind him, “And that place has the start of my mom’s old information network. We need to find out who these guys are.”
Both Kokoro and Shinsetsu stared at him, “But why Kara-nii-chan?” Kokoro asked finally.
“They weren’t hired to start a war,” he said darkly, “They were going to kill you and blame it on Kiri.”
“They were hired to start a war of a different sort then,” Shinsetsu corrected, “They want to sever the bond between the hidden villages and the countries that they serve.”
Karasu nodded, “And if that happens… I don’t want to think of the consequences.”
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Choujurro ran into the room, “Yuko! Turn on the radio!” he exclaimed.
She blinked, “I apologize for this gentlemen,” she said to the ninja that were in her room, and reached to turn the dial on.
“At five fourteen pm today, the Princess of the Land of Water, Mizuno Kokoro was forcibly taken from her room by two boys, one identified as being the son of the late Uchiha Itachi…”
THUNK.
“Uh, Yuko-sama?” Ao asked quietly, “You still have…”
“Send them away,” she said in a muffled voice from where her head had hit the desk, “And send word to the Capitol that the mission they have hired us for is being compromised.”
“Would it be advisable to try and send help to Karasu?” Choujurro said after he and Ao were left alone with her in the office.
“First go find my sister’s supply of sake. And I know you know where it is, you’re the one that hid it from him,” she turned to Ao, “We’re going to have to declare him an outlaw in this aren’t we?”
“I’m afraid that’s the most advisable course of action,” he sighed, “But we can still give some undercover support, provided he has the foresight to go to one of the sanctuaries that you have set up in your missing-nin days.”
“We can only hope,” she sighed, “Alright. Send a message to the Capitol. We’re officially making Karasu,” she clenched her fists, “…a missing nin.”
“Done Yuko-sama,” Ao took out a book, “Do you think that five million ryu is too high for a bounty? His father’s was…”
THUNK.
“Don’t take this so hard,” Choujurro patted her back, “I’m certain that he’s fine…”
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Chain put away his swords, “Looks like we don’t need to cut through anymore,” he said quietly as the five stared around the clearing with the old hunter’s path leading towards the center of the forest.
“Something made that path,” Haru pointed out, “Yuri, Tsumi, you two noticed anything?”
“It’s old, but it was recently traveled on,” Yuri said from where she was kneeling at the head of the path, “But the tracks here are confusing, I can’t tell if it was an animal or a human.”
“Neither and both,” Tsumi whispered from where he stood next to her, “We go deeper in here and some of us will never return.”
Sora clamped his hand on her shoulder, “You three will get out alright,” he said smiling, “Haru and I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“We’re not the ones that I’m worried about,” he said as he glanced up at the red-head, “That voice was calling for both of you,” ignoring the surprised look, he called over to the others, “The temple’s this way!”
“It’s getting dark too,” Haru glanced at his watch, then looked up at the sky, trying to see past the canopy of trees, “We’ll set up camp and head for it in the morning.”
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Mira was clearing tables when the door opened, “It’s way past closing time…” she started as she looked up, “Karasu? You haven’t been here since…”
“Can we crash, we’re in a bit of trouble,” he said as he hefted up the girl, “Shinsetsu used too much chakra and Kokoro…” he blinked as she went behind the bar and pulled a lever.
“I already heard the radio broadcast,” she said, “I set this up a long time ago in case I needed to hide some people. Kaze helped me set it up after the war.”
“Broadcast?” Shinsetsu asked sleepily, as a table moved and the floor opened up.
“You two are being accused of kidnapping the Princess,” she crossed her arms, “Yuko’s already sent me an encrypted message to set up my emergency room for you. Get some rest and regroup in the morning.”
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Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:45 pm
Chapter Ten
“Yuurei, tell Kaze to come and get the payment from me,” Mira said as she saw her apprentices out of the kitchen door, “You two make sure that those packages get delivered safely after that.”
“We’ll miss you,” Yuuko said sadly, “We had a lot of fun here.”
“Now, now, don’t get sad, think of it as your own franchise of my place. Besides, you both said that you wanted to travel with him again, so now you can make some money to keep you guys honest,” the fiery haired woman smiled at both of the snake-people, “You remember everything I thought you alright?”
Yuurei clenched her fists, “Stop talking like that! We’ll be back from the deliveries in no time!”
“Just make sure that you tell Kaze to get the payment from me,” Mira nodded as she heard the door at the front of the bar open and dropped her voice to a low whisper, “In about fifteen minutes or so.”
Both of them nodded and they slithered away as she went back into the kitchen and closed the door behind her, “We’re closed,” she called out to the front as she entered the bar, “I don’t even have guests in the inn tonight!”
“Then there’s no one to hear you scream,” the woman with purple hair in two triangular buns smirked as she grabbed Mira from behind, a knife to her throat.
“No reason to be nasty Mau,” the pink haired man said from where he was sitting at the center table, “You’re a barmaid right? Serve us something and then let’s sit down and talk about some kids that were seen coming inside earlier.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mira shrugged as Mau let her go and she grabbed a bottle of sake, “Lots of people come through here.”
Below them, in the secret room, Karasu looked up, motioning at Shinsetsu.
“They found us?” the ice nin whispered as he held Kokoro closer.
“I can’t tell, but something’s going on up there,” the dark haired boy hissed back.
“The two I’m talking about,” the pink haired man said as he motioned for Mira to sit down across from him as she sat down the bottle on the table, “One is the son of an old friend of yours. I figured that perhaps, given your history with her, you would be inclined to hide him.”
“You studied up on me?” Mira asked, her foot leaning against the post of the table as she rested her head on her hand, “I wouldn’t have done this if you have.”
Below both boys jumped as the wall seemed to move, “A secret passage?” Shinsetsu asked.
“I think Mira wants us to go this way,” Karasu frowned, “But why?”
“Because she’s going to stop the idiots following you,” a voice hissed and both jumped as Yuuko peeked into the room, “Hurry up and come on.”
Both nodded and picked up Kokoro and followed the snake-man, stopping when he pressed a lever and the door closed shut, “The tunnel goes on for a while,” Yuuko said, “Yuurei is meeting us after she delivers a message to Kaze-sama.”
“What do you mean by that?” Mau snapped, “Chu, she’s going to try something!”
“Our intel only shows that she’s just a lover of the Kazekage,” he shrugged, “What can she possibly do? Wait for him to get pissed off at us?”
Mira chuckled, “That’s only the first thing you would have found out if you actually had done the research, but I guess you’ve only been going through what Kiri has on me through Yuko.”
“You’re just a sleazy barmaid in a sleazy town,” Chu snorted, “There wasn’t anything to find out,” he looked over at Mau, “Learn to spot a bluff when you hear one.”
“Just one thing,” the fiery haired woman moved her foot off of the pole, “Just what do you want with that little girl?”
“You have seen them!” Mau exclaimed.
“We’re going to kill her,” Chu said, “Simple enough.”
“And knowing that, I’ll tell you the other thing you should have really found out before trying this,” Mira smirked, “I like playing with fire.”
With that the room exploded into flames.
Karasu turned as he felt the sudden heat, “What the hell was that?” he yelped.
Yuuko pulled him to keep going, “Mira-sensei’s buying some time for you guys. So hurry and get through here.”
“Exactly how is she buying us time!” Karasu exclaimed, “She doesn’t know me well enough for something like that!”
“Shut up and keep moving!” Yuuko snapped.
“He’s right,” Shinsetsu said as he hefted the sleeping Kokoro, “We’ve got to get her to safety, that’s our mission Kara-kun.”
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Karin stared at the tavern that was in flames, “Kanku…”
“Don’t you dare,” the puppet master said to the fiery haired woman, “If Mira’s in there, she’s the one that set it, you’re not going in there after her.”
“But Mom is…” she started, then turned her green eyes to the inferno, “And to think we came all this way to finally bring her to Sandy-daddy,” she fell to her knees, “It’s not fair!”
The door opened and disintegrated as a shadow came from the burning wreckage, “Damnit that stings,” muttered Mira as she stepped across the street to look back at the damage done, “And there goes my profit margins,” she sighed.
“And most of your clothing,” Kankuro said dryly as he pointed to the tatters that she had on, “Damn, even your hair got burnt. How much chakra did you use?”
“MOM!” Karin said happily as she hugged her, “You didn’t go all out! I’m so relieved!”
“I am too,” Kaze said as he stepped to them, “Though I’m going to miss this place. How long until you get it rebuilt?”
“Take your chakra and get going,” she held out her arm, “I’m thinking it was time for me to retire after all.”
“But Mom, your dream!” Karin pointed at the now dying embers, “And… what is he doing with that syringe!?”
“Yuuko and Yuurei know most of my recipes anyways,” Mira smiled at Kaze as he stuck it in her arm, “You guys should make a traveling bar. Become a band of wild gypsies and all that. You’ll make a killing telling fortunes,” she thought a moment, “Maybe some minstrels of a sorts. Sounds awfully romantic right?”
“That’s something you wanted to do,” he said as he extracted a yellow glowing substance from her, “But it was a nice dream to watch.”
“Take care…” her eyes closed as he removed the syringe from her arm, and she started to fall.
Kankuro caught her, “Come on Karin, we need to get back to Suna.”
“But…” she looked over at where Kaze was, “He’s gone!”
The puppet master hefted Mira over his shoulder, “Don’t worry about it,” he said quietly, “Right now the important thing is getting what she knows to Gaara. We just have to figure out how the hell to smuggle her in,” he reached into his scroll-case, “Luckily I always carry around an empty one,” he said as he flung it open.
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Haru turned over as he attempted to sleep, finally giving up and sitting up, glancing down at his brother who was curled around him, “Koi,” he whispered, brushing a strand of red hair from Sora’s face.
“So cute!” Tsumi giggled from where she and Chain were sitting down next to the fire and he turned bright red, “Chain, can you summon a bird skeleton?”
Haru breathed a sigh of relief as he heard Chain’s protest that he wasn’t that good at summoning any of the Mekagami skeletons, and he slowly stood, gently removing his twin as he looked to the fire, smiling as he saw the ring of skeletal birds flying around Tsumi’s head and Chain’s look of sheer awe. Glancing around to the bedroll on the other side of the fire, he saw Yuri’s head turned away from the two.
“Go to sleep you ugly boys!” she snapped, causing Chain and Tsumi to burst into laughter and crawl over to poke at her, “I mean it! Leave me alone!”
“Ri-ri, will you forgive me if I make Chain go around as a girl for a month?” Tsumi asked, “It’s an easy potion.”
“Only if you never do it again. And make him exceptionally feminine looking,” she growled.
“Do I get a choice in this?” Chain asked with wide eyes.
“NO!” Yuri snapped as she shot straight up, “YOU…” she blinked, “Where did Haru go?”
“Wha?” all three looked over to where the twins were sleeping to find the older twin gone.
Tsumi jumped to his feet, “Stay here,” he told them, “There’s someone in the forest,” he pulled out the naginata, “Someone I’ve met before.”
The two watched him go off into the woods, “Should we wake up Sora?” Chain asked his sister.
“I think so,” Yuri agreed as she got up, “Something very strange is going on…” she stopped, Chain running into her back, “Haru!” she called, seeing the older twin on the far side of the clearing, “Hey, what are you doing?” both she and her brother ran to him, “Hey, Haru!”
He was staring up at the trees, only slowly turning to look at them when they had reached him and pulled on his arm, “What is it?”
“We thought that you had wandered off somewhere!” Chain said, “But then Tsumi said that…” he stopped, “How come you didn’t answer us?”
“We were calling you and everything,” Yuri added, then pointed back at the camp, “It’s not that…” her voice trailed off, “Chain… where is the camp?”
“Sora was still there,” Haru said quietly.
“And Tsumi ran off into the woods,” Chain added, “What should we do? Where did everything go?”
Yuri was forming hand seals and kneeling on the ground, “We’re in exactly the same place that we were,” she narrowed her eyes, “But everything’s all different than it was a few minutes ago!”
There was a howling in the distance and the three backed closer together, “What should we do?” Chain asked.
Haru shook his head, “I’m lost without him,” he whispered, then clenched his fists, “We’ve got to find the others!” he exclaimed, “Sora’s still here, I just know it!” he looked around, “This way!” he yelled as he took off running, the two following quickly after him.
“Wait!” Yuri cried as something caught her foot, “Chain!”
He stopped, then started to run back to her, “Coming Ane!”
Both their eyes widened in horror as the trees seemed to move, “Don’t!” Yuri breathed, her hand reaching out to grasp her brother’s, “You can’t leave me…” The vines and bushes closed them off from each other, “I’m all alone,” she whispered.
The wind echoed her words, and she shivered as she stood, wildly looking around for something to use to find her bearings. She formed some hand seals, summoning vines.
“There she is!” a voice cried, “The Holy Maiden of the Cleansing!”
She turned, gasping as she saw the glowing skeletons that were coming towards her, stepping back and screaming as boney arms wrapped around her.
“Prepare for the sacrifice!” disembodied voices cried as she was carried away, her blue eyes wide with horror.
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Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 5:04 pm
Chapter Eleven
The council room of Suna was quiet as the Kazekage entered, “There’s news from Danshoku,” one member said cautiously, “The Yaoikage thought that you should know that there was a fire with no survivors.”
They pretended not to notice the white cat that walked at his feet, instead looking everywhere but at Gaara, knowing that what would happen next would be their own fault.
It was them that disallowed the marriage, even though she had followed the law and beat him in a fair match. Instead of welcoming a strong shinobi, they forbade her from entering their city, forbade him from leaving it again. The seven years of the two not even having contact with each other… it was all their fault.
But it was on the order of the Daimyo that they did it, they didn’t want to lose the one man that had pulled Suna from the poorhouse and the brink of destruction, was able to unite the shinobi in the war, and the threat of exile that the Daimyo used…
It was a risk that they couldn’t take. They kept quiet on the deal and found everything wrong that they could with the bar owner. The only one who fought against it, they had taken care of.
Now looking at the cold teal eyes, they wondered if he didn’t know all along.
“So she’s dead?” he asked quietly, and they pretended not to notice him twisting the glass ring on his left hand, “There’s no evidence that she had escaped?”
For once the council was silent, their heads bowed in shame. “I’m doing something that I should have done years ago,” he said, “The only thing that kept me from it was that I was certain that you had Suna’s best interests at heart. As of today, this council is dissolved. Collect your severance pay from Baki as you leave.”
There was no argument as he stood and swept out of the room, only the wonder at why they had allowed things to come this far.
It was all for Suna after all…
But was it really?
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Kankuro met Gaara outside his office, “Hey I got some good porn for you to look at,” he said, tossing him a scroll, “Better just wait to get to your room to destroy it, but I figured, why not try it? It’s been years right?”
There was a very brief smile, but only to those who knew him well enough to look for it, “How is Karin doing? She and Mira were very close.”
“She’s in shock mostly,” the puppet master sighed, “I’m going to see if I can cheer her up some, though I kinda suck at it.”
“You’re better than you think,” Gaara said quietly as he picked up the cat, “I knew as soon as Denka showed up at my desk what had happened,” he walked away, “I’ll more than likely destroy it as soon as I open it, but you did work hard on it for me.”
“That’s the spirit,” Kankuro patted his shoulder as he walked away, “I think I’m going to be working on something for the next few weeks after I talk to Karin.”
“That’s a dangerous project.”
“You dissolved the council right? You’re the only one that can prevent me from doing it, and I’m going to destroy the notes after it’s done.”
“I won’t stop you,” Gaara said quietly, “If you’ll excuse me,” sand surrounded him and he vanished from the hall only to reappear in his room, locking the door behind him before breaking the seal and unfurling the scroll.
“Ouch,” mumbled Mira as she rubbed her head, “Couldn’t you have aimed me at your bed?” she slowly got up, whistling as she looked around the cluttered room.
“That’s a bit hard to do, I only have a couch in here,” he said dryly, “And I haven’t even seen it in a few years. It’s somewhere beneath the books and scrolls.”
“I swear, I leave you alone for a little while,” she shook her head, “Alright Kankuro said that you needed some information, on what?”
“It’s about the mission Haru and Sora are undertaking,” he handed her a robe, “How big was the fire?”
She wrapped it around her, “Big enough to make me wonder why I’m able to stand. I already know that Karasu and his partner are being set-up on their mission, so what’s going on with our boys?”
“Not just them, Temari’s three are there too.”
“You’re stalling.”
He sighed in defeat and looked at her, “Tsubasa.”
Her knees buckled, “Wh…” she shook her head, “And you just let them go!?”
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“Ao, send messages to each of the Kages,” Yuko said as she looked at the reports from Danshoku and from the Land of Tea, “I’m calling a Summit.”
“Are you certain that’s wise?” he asked, “Right now the problem is merely a Kiri matter.”
Choujurro knocked on the door, “Yuko, a report from the academy,” he said quietly, and she looked up in alarm at the tone in his voice, “And Sachiko is back from her training… something happened there too.”
She was across the room in seconds, her eyes widening as she read the report, “Ao, I’m certain,” she growled, “Get those messages out, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the others hasn’t already.”
“Konoha already has,” Choujurro whispered, his fist clenching, “In addition to taking full responsibility for the interference during the exams.”
“Naruto’s going to get himself killed doing something like that,” Yuko frowned, “And this isn’t his fault, they’ve been waiting for years for this moment, something like this takes careful planning. What happened on Sachiko’s training?”
“One of her student teachers and a few of the other children were taken,” he held out a list, “It looks like the same people that took Ryuuichi and another medical student.”
“For a total of seven,” she frowned, “This isn’t right, look at these names and their homes,” she handed it to Ao, “There’s a pattern of a sorts there, but I can’t see it.”
He paled, “These cities that they’re from, it’s the same as the original seven jinchuuriki that the Akatsuki have killed to extract the bijuu. Normally this wouldn’t mean anything, but the first one,” he looked up at the other two, “She’s directly connected to the jinchuuriki of the ichibi.”
“You don’t think…” Choujuuro started.
“Our son is number three,” Yuko snapped, “I’m not taking any chances that it is.”
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“Gaara!” Temari called as she banged on the door, “There’s some more bad news!”
It opened a crack and he glared at her, “Is the world finally ending?”
“It might after you read this,” she said quietly as she handed him a small scroll, “Naruto’s calling a summit and taking the responsibility.”
He opened it up, his eyes widening at the wording there, “We’re going.”
“I’ll go get Kankuro then,” she said, “Are we killing him or trying to save him?”
“Believe it or not, saving him,” Gaara gave a wry smile, “This isn’t his fault. But the ones that are really responsible are going to wish that they’ve never done this in the first place.”
“Even if it’s the Daimyo?” Sin asked from where he was standing in the hall.
Both siblings looked at him, “Especially if it’s them,” the Kazekage said, “Someone is declaring war on the Hidden Villages, I want you and Haru to find out who.”
The Aeon shrugged, “I like the world in blood and violence, why should I?”
“Because your little Star is in the same trap as everyone else’s children,” Temari said with her hands on her hips.
“Not the same trap,” he crossed his arms, “Those five are in a trap of another sorts, completely safe from this current conflict. So again, I ask why?”
“Because I’ll seal Phoenix back up if you don’t,” Gaara walked away then, ignoring the look of shock on his sister’s face.
“Haru and I promised her that she wouldn’t…” Temari started.
“Then you better convince that one to go with Haru and find out who,” he said as he stopped long enough to look back towards them, “Don’t make me do something that I’ll regret in order to save my children.”
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Karasu blinked as he saw the sunlight, and helped Shinsetsu and Kokoro out of the tunnels, “Hey thanks,” he said turning to the snake-man, and stepped back as he saw the snowy haired man standing next to Yuuko and Yuurei.
“I’m your guide for the next few countries,” Kaze smiled, “Don’t worry, your trip has already been paid for, but we better hurry,” he raised his hand and a dark cart with flames surrounding it appeared with a hawk sitting holding the reins to unseen oxen, “Come on, get inside…”
“That’s really cool!” Kokoro shouted as she pointed at the cart, “It’s all dark and evil looking!”
“That’s for damn certain,” Shinsetsu and Karasu whispered under their breaths.
“Can we ride it? Can we?” she tugged on their sleeves, “Do you have any ice cream?” she asked Kaze.
“Well, there’s the stuff that Yuurei’s been making,” he grinned as he helped her onto the cart, “It smells good doesn’t it.”
“Doesn’t look like we have a choice does it?” Shinsetsu smiled as he took Karasu’s arm, “Let’s get going.”
“Fine, the princess is happy, so why the hell not,” the Uchiha shrugged as he got into the cart.
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Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 1:23 am
Chapter Twelve
Chihiro woke up alone in a dark cell, her hands chained above her head, “No sand,” she whispered as she looked around, “Alright then. How did they get me in here?”
She thought back, only remembering a flash bomb and someone grabbing her, somehow separating her from the gourd. She had fought back, but stopped when she saw that the genin hopefuls that she was training were also grabbed, that Kano was knocked unconscious. A promise was given, her life for theirs.
“Did they actually let them go, or was I as naïve an idiot as my brothers?” she wondered, her eyes searching for any clue of where she was, then stopping on the kanji etched in the door, “Ichibi. So that’s their plan. But why?”
Almost as if to answer her, the door opened and a boy with blond hair and wearing a priest’s robes came inside, “Akuma, mark this one,” he said to the woman with short black hair and wearing a red Chinese dress and black boots following him, “She is more than likely going to be the most successful of the sealings, her blood has already been prepared to receive the god of sand,” he poked Chihiro with a Shinto staff, “Look at the clarity in her eyes, she is just the one that we need to recreate the world.”
“Who are you?” she snapped.
Akuma moved to strike her, but she was stopped by a hand from the priest, “No my child, she is one of the vessels of the Gods, as such she must be revered,” he bent down to look Chihiro in the eyes, shocking her with the coldness in them, “I am Tenshi, a messenger of the one that will bring this world into eternal peace. And you are going to be one of the Gods that causes it to happen.”
“The bijuu aren’t exactly there to be controlled,” she pointed out, “People have tried and failed to use them as weapons in the past.”
He stood up laughing, “I have such high hopes for this one! Come Akuma, we must prepare for the first of the Gods to return to us!”
With that he left the room, the woman following him. Chihiro chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment before looking up at her chains, “Alright then,” she muttered, “Let’s see if I remember any of that foolishness that my idiot brothers taught me,” rising up a little, she managed to swing one of her braids into her hands, and biting her lip, pulled on the hair until she reached the pin on that side.
That done, she relaxed a little, working on the lock while she mentally went over how to escape from the cell and how to rescue the other children.
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Birds chirped in the forest as Sora sat up, “Haru?” he whispered looking around before realizing that he was completely alone, and not in the clearing that he was at last night, instead in another one, seemingly full of light.
“Awake are you my darling?” a voice said, and he turned to the pale woman with the long black hair that was sitting beneath a peach tree.
“Where’s my brother?” he demanded as he stood up, “What did you do to him?”
“I can never hurt one of my precious darlings,” she said as she reached up and plucked a peach from a low branch, “He’s on his way here and then our final game can begin.”
“What game?” he stared at her, “Your name is Meiro isn’t it?”
“You’re beginning to remember, those dreams are from your past. But that man was wrong, your souls weren’t replaced, I chose that woman to be your mother,” she took a bite of the fruit, “Both of you wanted to be reborn to a family full of love. When I saw how much she protected even what should have been an unwanted child, I knew that she was perfect. So I did what I always do, I made a deal with her,” she smiled, “So, were you happy with this life?”
“I’m still happy with this life,” he crossed his arms, “You’re the one that poisoned the tree in Taki, what are you getting out of this?”
“A chance to get my precious darlings back,” she shrugged, “In the end the choice can be yours, provided that you win our game.”
“Let the past die, I don’t know anything about you,” he covered his eyes as a wind picked up and she disappeared from sight.
“Is that so my darling? I wonder how you’ll feel at the end of the day when you and your brother have the power in your grasp to save those two children. Will you just throw it away? Or will you also make a deal with me?” Her voice faded with a light laughter.
“Sora!” Haru cried, and Sora for once didn’t feel joy at seeing his brother, simply a sense of dread.
He shook his head, chasing the fear away, “Here!” he called as he saw his brother running up the path, wondering when the place had changed back into a dark forest instead of a bright clearing. His eyes widened as he saw that the older twin was alone, “Where are the others?”
Haru stopped, turning behind him, “Chain and Yuri were right behind me,” he said quietly, “Crap, did I loose them?”
Sora clamped his hand on his twin’s shoulders, “Let’s find them,” his eyes turned the dull reflectionless silver of the Mekagami tribe, “Someone actually has the tracker on them, so that must be Yuri. This way.”
“How you figure it’s her?”
“She’s the only one that doesn’t have the skeletonian eyes,” he said as he blinked and his eyes returned to their normal blue, “That and there are an awful lot of bones right there. Looks like it’s the most interesting spot.”
“And if she’s there, then Chain and Tsumi are going to be close by,” Haru grinned, “Come on, let’s go see what she got herself into.”
Sora stared after his brother for a long moment, “I don’t think Hoshi is in any danger,” he whispered, not knowing why he thought that or why he used her real name instead of the alias she had chosen to go with the male body. Shaking his head again, he ran after his brother, “Hey! Wait up!”
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“Are you really happy with this?” Hoshi asked as she pointed her naginata at the woman, “They’ll refuse you.”
“Will they really?” Meiro sighed, “Then my darlings really are gone and I suppose I can resume my duties without any qualms.”
“Put the weapon away Hoshiakari,” the blond boy with bright red eyes said as he looked up from the book he was writing in, “If you kill her, then I don’t want to think of the paperwork that it’ll cause.”
“How very nice of you to think so well of me,” Meiro smiled sadly at him as Hoshi lowered her polearm, “Shi have you finally come to collect the souls trapped here?”
He glared at her, “And whose fault was it that they were trapped?” he returned to writing in the book, “Too many deaths are about to occur,” his eyes rose to Hoshi, “While this game is going on in Tsubasa, there is a game of a different sorts out in the waking world.”
“Why did you both call me?” she asked, looking from one to the other.
“Because it is time that us Scions prepare for the end of the world,” Meiro sighed, “My darlings fail this test and it could upset the balance of power just enough for the ninja villages to be completely destroyed. Of course that’s just my love for them speaking. The real danger is whether or not they can get that cure to Taki, hide what’s really hidden there,” she smirked, “Do you really think the hero water was the only treasure of that village? Why do you think that they too were given a holy weapon?”
“Holy weapon?” Hoshi blinked, “What do you mean by that?”
“Bijuu,” Shi wrote in his book, “Right now, there are a total of nine children missing. Six of those seven are very young, taken from the pre-kindergarten class. One is girl that you call cousin, and the last two are students undergoing medical training. Only seven of these children have been reported to the Kages, in such an order to practically spell it out.”
“But why even do that?” she asked, “Wouldn’t that put them on higher alert?”
“And what better way to ensure that the world does end,” Meiro said quietly, “Create the fifth Ninja war. Separate the villages from the countries. In the chaos that ensues, our Grandfather can finally be freed,” she laughed, “And if that happens, Shi here requires our services. I get to finish my long standing duties and you get to begin yours!”
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Ryuuichi woke up, finding himself in a strange medical facility, “Ryu-kun,” a voice whispered, and he turned to see Fuyuko kneeling over him with glowing chakra in her fingers as she examined his head, “Are you alright?”
“What happened?” he groaned, “Last I remember, we were staying late in the lab to try and catch up on our work and then everything went white.”
“There was a flash bomb and you jumped in front of me,” she said sadly, “Then these men came and brought us here,” she stood, holding a hand to help him up, “We’re in a laboratory of some sort, but I’m not sure why. There’s this sound of crying coming from the doors over there, but I can’t open it.”
He nodded, “Come on, we’re leaving,” he said as he took her hand, both stopping when they saw the woman in the red Chinese dress that stood in front of them.
“This one says that the two recruited for the purpose of bringing the Gods to mortal flesh prepare for the duties given to them,” she said in a low voice, “Tenshi-sama will bring the first of them to you. If you fail in the sealing, then this one will kill you along with the chosen vessel.”
“What sealing?” Ryuuichi demanded as he stepped in front of Fuyuko, “We’re just medical…”
“Aren’t you the one in the medical class that’s hailed the genius ahead of your time?” another voice asked, and both turned in shock to the blond priest, “Akuma, stop scaring them, we need all of their mental capability for the procedure,” he smiled at the two, “You both are going to be placing the Gods into the chosen ones, it’s a simple enough process.”
“What gods?” Fuyuko asked as she wrung her hands, “How will we do the operation if we don’t have all the information.”
“Of course, how silly of me,” he smiled, his black eyes almost shining with happiness, “The Gods are known to you as Bijuu. I forgot how normal people do not respect them anymore.”
Ryuuichi’s eyes widened, “But for that…”
“The girl behind you,” Tenshi’s eyes stopped sparkling and turned dead cold, “She’s the perfect sacrifice to the Gods, her heart is as pure as snow.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 5:25 pm
Chapter Thirteen
The walls and floors of this corridor of the palace of Kaze were made of the purest of black marble, reflecting an odd dark light as the soldiers led the seven maidens down the hallway.
Six of them were whispering in fear, they had heard rumors of this area from some of the older women in the harem, were told to avoid the rooms of the Queen-mother at all costs. The seventh stared forward, already having been in this area before, already having met the mysterious elderly lady that held so much power.
She resisted the urge to smirk, she was promised to share in that power, just pick out some other girls, and she would become first wife of the current daimyo, these quarters would become hers.
They stopped at the double doors made of a strange blood-red stone, and the soldiers opened them, ushering the girls inside before slamming the doors closed. The six girls looked in shock at the large empty tub in the center of the room, while the seventh stepped away from them, finding in the shadows the item that was left for her.
“The next part is easy,” the Queen-mother had whispered to her, “Simply fill the tub before I enter the chambers.”
“What are we supposed to be doing?” one of the girls asked, looking towards the others.
“Very simple,” the seventh said in a cool voice, as she raised the silver dagger to the girl’s throat, “Sacrifice yourself for my beauty,” a river of blood poured from the girl’s neck as she slashed across it, and she placed the body into one of the six strange apparatuses surrounding the tub.
Shockingly, the other five did not scream as she stepped towards them, their eyes were dilated as if under some sort of strange jutsu as they walked to her, allowing her to slit their throat and place them in the machinations.
“Well done my pretty,” a voice said as the elderly woman that was the Queen-mother came into the room from her quarters, “Everything is prepared for you, you’ve done so well in your lust for power,” the seventh smiled at the praise, not noticing that the silver dagger was taken from her hands, “In short, that makes you the perfect host.”
The girl’s eyes widened as the Queen-Mother raised the dagger and stabbed herself above the heart, diving her fingers into the wound and pulling out the blood, painting it on the girl.
A moment passed and then the girl started laughing as her body changed slightly, her hair became longer, her curves became more feminine. At the same time the old woman seemed to shrivel as she clung to the girl.
“No!” she cried, “Yokubou promised me eternal youth and beauty! You were supposed to sacrifice yourself for me!”
“Only the Gods are immortal fool,” the girl snapped as she slapped the woman away, “Now go back to your quarters and die in your sleep. The daimyo in his grief will choose one from his harem to wed and bring about an heir,” she laughed as she disrobed and stepped into the tub, “The duty of a woman! And with it I bind the men that cannot help but fall at my feet!”
“How very like you Sister,” a dark voice said and she turned quickly, her eyes widening as she saw Sin standing in the corner, “And just how long have you been hopping from host to host in this way?”
“I will not be bound by humans like the traitor you are dear Brother,” she hissed, “I choose the ones I occupy, and they give their all to me with just a simple promise of beauty and power. I even leave the ones that I discard alive,” she gestured at the elderly woman that was leaving the room, “For a time at least. She’ll die in about three days. The pining for my beauty always gets them in the end.”
“And if she doesn’t, you’ll use one of our youngest Sister’s poisons,” he narrowed his eyes, “What business do you have with Taki?”
“You should know Eldest,” she stepped into the blood, washing it over her face and hair, “You’re the one who hid the Black Mirror.”
“And exactly what makes you think that I’ll allow a petty little b***h like you get your hands on it?” he crossed his arms, “You will never lay eyes on it.”
She laughed, “Dear Brother, you are going to bring it to me. All that is going on in the world now is to my design, I’m tired of being the power behind the throne,” she stood, “I will bring this world to Father and he will grant me every wish that I have in gratitude. You forget. I know your weakness, all of us know your weakness. How long do you think that you can keep that precious ‘Little Star’ of yours out of trouble? Already the most Prideful of us have been dispatched to steal her away.”
He swept out of the room, ignoring her sinister laughter, “Very soon Brother, you’ll be crawling back to us, begging us to return you to our family!”
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“What’s the plan?” Shinsetsu asked Karasu as both looked at the map, “We can’t take Kokoro back if we’re the ones being blamed for the kidnapping.”
“It wasn’t just those two that came into Aunt Mira’s bar,” Karasu pointed out, “This is much bigger…” he looked over at the girl who was talking animatedly with Kaze as she ate some sweet dumplings, “What was she doing in the Land of Tea anyway? She should have never been allowed outside the palace at Mizu.”
“That is strange,” Shinsetsu agreed, “And she was alone too,” his eyes widened, “How are things with the royal family right now? And do you know why the Daimyo would take her into Kiri? Something’s not adding up.”
Karasu blinked, then looked up as the crow riding next to the strange hawk holding the reins cawed at him, “Shin… you’re right,” he whispered, then whirled to look at Kokoro, “And I have no idea how to ask her.”
“Wanna see something neat?” she suddenly chirped up to Kaze, “Look, look!” she clapped her hands and a flurry of snowflakes whirled in the cart as she held her hands apart and a little white rabbit seemingly made of ice hopped around her feet.
Karasu immediately looked at Shinsetsu, who held up his hands and shook his head, “Well that answers one question,” he stared at the girl, “But it opens up room for many, many more.”
“For starters, what is someone with my kekkei genki doing in the royal family of a country that massacred bloodline limits?” Shinsetsu said quietly.
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The shackles popped open and Chirio rubbed her wrists as she stood up, “Alright, that’s half of the battle,” she whispered, then looked to the door, “Now for the other half. I don’t have my sand,” she smirked, “But I didn’t train with Uncle Lee and Kano-kun for nothing.”
She stepped by the door, listening for anyone in the hall before she opened it, “Strange. There should be some sort of guard…” shrugging she opened it, surprised to find it unlocked, “Very strange.” she looked back to the shackles, “Perhaps they thought that was enough.”
She slipped into the hall, keeping low and listening for anyone else, “Where are the other prisoners?” she asked herself as she peeked into the cells, finding them empty, then looked up as she heard the sound of crying.
Taking some cautious steps, she went to the room at the end of the hall, cracking open the door to see the empty medical room beyond, “So this is where they plan to bring back Shukaku,” she muttered as she went into the room, “But where are they keeping…” she looked around, her eyes widening as she saw the strange statue with the seven open eyes, “That’s the same one as the Akatsuki had!” she yelped, “How did…”
“Akuma. Go restrain our vessel so that she can receive the blessings of the Gods,” the cold voice of Tenshi said as Chihiro whirled around to see the blond priest and dark haired woman standing behind her.
“This one will not fail you Master,” Akuma said as she stepped forward, pulling out a red staff with golden points.
Chihiro relaxed into a ready position, “I’m not just going to let you put that monster in me,” she snapped, then rushed forward, ducking beneath the staff as it swung at her and landing the first of her strikes.
For a few seconds, it almost seemed like she would win, but despite her training with Kano, she was not used to taijutsu and the woman was older and more experienced, her swings becoming quicker as she wore down the last of Chihiro’s defenses until the red-haired girl was panting on the floor with a golden blade at her neck.
“Very admirable attempt,” Tenshi said as he walked towards the two, “But without that gourd of sand, you’re pretty pathetic aren’t you,” he took the staff from Akuma, “Luckily I won’t need the medical genius for this first one,” he said, opening the pole, and taking out a syringe, “It’s time for your sacrifice my little demon.”
With a quick movement he stuck the syringe in Chihiro’s neck and slashed at Akuma’s body, her blood spilling out over the small girl.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 6:26 am
Chapter Fourteen
“Are you sure that this is a good idea?” Shinsetsu said with wide eyes as Kaze took a syringe out of Karasu’s arm.
“We need to find out what’s going on, and Kaze can find out easier than we can,” the Uchiha rubbed where the needle had been, “There’s just a price.”
“I would do this one for free, but Hayato wouldn’t let me hear the end of it,” the white haired man sheepishly said, “And for me to get there and back is going to take a lot,” he glanced over at the sleeping girl, “But that only leaves one of you…”
“I can handle it,” Shinsetsu assured him, “The information is important,” he chewed his lip as Karasu’s eyes grew heavy and the dark haired boy fell asleep next to Kokoro, “Where are we meeting you?”
“Keep going through these mountains, and I’ll find you three at the next full moon,” Kaze smiled, “That’s the good thing about me taking some of his chakra, it makes it easy to relocate you,” he ran a hand through his hair as he looked down at Karasu, “He’ll be fine by morning, but still, be careful,” with that he and the cart vanished into thin air.
Shinsetsu sat next to the fire, sighing as he placed his head in his hands, “I still don’t like this,” he muttered, preparing himself for a long watch, “Couldn’t we have gone with them?” The crow that traveled with Karasu landed on his shoulder and pecked his ear, “Fine, but even Kaze said that we had people hot on our trail.
At that Itachi flew up into the air, cawing and Shinsetsu glanced up, “They’ve already found us haven’t they?”
Nothing but the wind answered him, and he stood, reaching into his robes for the second of treasures that Kakashi had given him, the cracked mask that had belonged to Haku. “Well, guess it’s time I really went all out,” he whispered as he placed the mask on and formed hand seals, smiling to himself when the fire went out and Kokoro and Karasu disappeared into the ice mirrors he had summoned all throughout the small clearing.
Drawing Kubikiri Bouchou from it’s sheath, he turned to the north end of the clearing, waiting for the ones that were coming, “It can’t be helped, but I was hoping that Kara-kun wouldn’t see the reason we’re called ‘Sword Demons’ anytime soon,” he listened for Itachi’s call that they were coming.
A caw echoed in the forest and he leaned the sword on his shoulder as ice mirrors surrounded him.
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Chain ran through the forest, his eyes a dull reflectionless silver as he tried to search for his sister, “Who says I can’t work under pressure?” he grinned as he spotted the marker he placed on her and started heading towards it.
He stopped as he entered a clearing, narrowing his eyes as he drew his swords, “Whoever the hell you are, come out,” he called, seeing that he was surrounded by skeletons that weren’t quite human. Blinking, his eyes turned back to their normal emerald and he saw the strange beasts that came out of the shadows of the trees.
“You guys looked like something that Hoshi made up,” he said to the shambling large demon like creatures, “I think I remember her drawing a bunch of you guys when we were in preschool and scaring the heck out of Naruto-sensei with them,” he scratched his chin, “Now what was it she said about them…”
The oni stepped closer to him as he lowered his head in thought, almost on top of him when he grinned suddenly, “OH YEAH!”
Four swords flew out and he jumped out of the center of the oni, “She said that you guys were summoned with Aeon magics and bound by Eidolon powers, so whoever’s in charge of this place is like her!”
Electricity sparked in Fang and it’s twin and he dove back down into the fray, slicing at the demonic beasts as he juggled the four swords around him.
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Shinsetsu watched quietly as the men rushed into the clearing, the moon the only source of light as he stepped to meet them, easily swinging the large carving knife as he met the group.
Side-stepping one man’s swing, he disappeared into one of his mirrors, only to appear at the other side of the group, slashing at their bodies as blood splashed onto the white mask, disappearing and reappearing through the mirrors as he led the group into the center of the ice.
Once there, it was only a matter of staying in the mirrors, they would practically slaughter themselves.
From where he had been placed, Karasu slowly opened his eyes, rubbing his arms as he realized how cold he was, “Where…” he blinked when he saw the rectangle in front of him, his sharingan activating as he studied it, “Shinsetsu’s ice?” he asked surprised, then looked down to see Kokoro sleeping beside him, “Then he’s…” he stepped forward, blinking when he saw himself land in the clearing that smelt of blood and death.
Behind him the fire reappeared and next to it Kokoro, but he wasn’t looking in that direction, he was staring at the boy in front of him who was sheathing Kubikiri Bouchou and taking of a crimson stained mask, “Shinsetsu?”
“Kaze said that you wouldn’t wake up until morning,” he said as he slowly turned to the Uchiha, “You should go back to sleep and rest, I can handle the guard for the rest of the night.”
“What happened?” Karasu asked as he looked around at the bodies lying on the ground, “There were ten of them?”
“Twelve,” the ice nin said quietly, “Two of them were cut up into very small pieces. Whoever is after Kokoro isn’t fooling around,” he went to the fire, pulling Karasu to sit down with him, “And that’s why you paid Kaze right? So we can find out who and why. Now rest and recover that chakra of yours.”
The raven haired boy blinked at him, “Shin…” At the glare from the brown eyes, he smiled, “Fine, but tomorrow I keep watch while you rest.”
“Deal,” Shinsetsu said happily, all signs of the demon who had easily hacked through the enemy earlier completely gone.
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Chain sheathed the swords, whistling to himself as he stepped away from the bodies of the oni.
“So that’s why you guys are called Sword Demons,” Haru and Sora chorused from where they were sitting in one of the trees, “And here we were thinking that you needed our help.”
“Yuri’s up ahead, so she might,” the blond said as the twins jumped down into the clearing, “But I haven’t seen Tsumi…” a tanned arm looped over his shoulder and he looked to see Hoshi standing next to him, “Where did you come from?!”
“Not important,” she said, then looked at the twins, “I’ve got the vial. You two can go back to Taki,” she chewed her lip, “And take Chain with you, you don’t have to do Meiro’s test.”
“We can’t leave you in this forest alone,” Haru started.
Sora nodded, “Besides, we’re the ranking officers here. You two get back to Taki and we’ll meet you there.”
She shook her head, “You don’t understand, she…” Both of them placed a finger on her lips, and winked.
“It’s going to be alright Ho-oh,” they promised, “Besides, we want to know what’s going on. We’ll meet you in Taki tomorrow.”
“There’s something that you don’t know about her!” she exclaimed, “She’s…”
“Like you right?” Haru nodded at the bodies of oni, “This entire forest is her doing isn’t it?”
“Even so, she’s after us,” Sora sighed, “We’re not backing out because it’s too dangerous Ho-oh. Open one of your portals and get Chain out of here, that way we only have to worry about one of you guys.”
She stared at them for a long moment before nodding and swinging her naginata, “We’re not really going to…” Chain started as she grabbed the waistline of his pants and jumped into the small crack of light she created, “Hoshi!”
Haru and Sora were quiet as they watched the two disappear, “Think we should have gone instead?” the older twin asked.
“I want to know who she thinks we are,” the younger answered, “Besides, imagine how pissed Yuri will be when we rescue her.”
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Wake up.
Chihiro slowly opened her eyes at the voice, wondering where it came from, as she surveyed her surroundings, Damnit, I’m chained up again. she glanced up at the ceiling, chewing her lip at the mechanism that was holding the shackles around her wrist, If I can flip up there…
You have more important problems than getting out, haven’t you smelled it yet?
She froze, recognizing the dark voice as coming from inside her head, and almost as soon as she realized that she smelt the coppery scent that made her so hungry.
“No…” she whispered, “It can’t be.”
Oh, but it can. Incidentally, I’ve already took the liberty of going through your memories. We need to discuss your taste in men.
What the hell does that have to do with anything? She inwardly screamed at him as she examined her situation more closely, finding that her clothing was torn in half and the seal on her stomach painted in blood, Don’t think for a second that I’m going to let you roam free.
I gathered that already, you already have such control over the sand, so there is a lovely temptation here. Imagine the power…
No. Now shut-up so I can concentrate on getting us out of here, she swung up to the chain, looking around at the mechanism, There’s a pin here, but if I pull that out, we’ll crash down.
Not like you’ll actually get hurt.
Still no sand, she reminded the ichibi, wondering why the hell she was even acknowledging him, turning as she heard the voice below her, and seeing the blond priest speaking into a video camera, New plan. We’re going to swing and crash into him.
Oh, now there’s a little vindictive host I can grow to love.
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