I held my' stomach and tried (unsuccessfully) to quit laughing so that I might be able to breath. A few feet away from where I lay, two of my' best friends, (Who also happen to be sisters) Alex, and Tessa rolled on the floor in a similar state of hysterics.
"I can't believe he said that to you." Alex, the younger of the two, gasped once she had the breath.
"I can!" Tessa said wryly. "That jerk Vance is always hitting on half the girls at school!"
Alex grinned. "Way to tell him off Kara. You go girl!"
I grinned back at her. "I couldn't let you have all the fun Alex! After the way you yelled at him last week." I threw back my' head and laughed at the memory.
"Well he deserved all he got, the jerk!" Alex exclaimed. Her face was red with rage. "I'd have liked to use a few of my' karate moves on him that time. To bad our' teacher doesn't go for brawls in class."
"By the way Kara, how is your' Japanese going?" Tessa inquired through her' laughter.
"Totemo yoku, domo. (Very well, thanks.)" I replied with a smile. The two of them applauded.
The three of us are studying Japanese.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Tessa exclaimed. "Look what I got from the Library!"
She reached into her' backpack and pulled out a book.
"NARUTO!!" the Alex and I exclaimed in excitement.
The three of us have been reading the Naruto series for some time. We all love it and we rarely- NO, scratch that. We NEVER get tired of talking about it. Not that we're fan-girls or anything. Cause believe me, we're NOT! We just really love the series.
"Oh awesome!" Alex exclaimed.
"Don't you guys sometimes wish that you could live as a ninja?" Tessa asked.
Alex and I nodded. Both of us knew how she felt.
We all looked at each other and grinned. Each of knew what was going threw the others' head without even asking. We all knew that the others would love that; it was something we all shared.
"It's too bad that ninjas no longer exist." Tessa said.
"If they did, we'd be three of the best ninja that ever lived!" Alex exclaimed.
The three of us laughed and slapped high-fives.
"Giiiirrrls! I want lights out in ten minutes. You've got school tomorrow. Understand?"
"Yes Mom!" I shouted. We got up and headed to the bathroom.
We walked inside and, suddenly, I began to feel sort of strange. The room seemed to be fading before my' eyes and I was suddenly surrounded by flashes and bright colors!
I heard Tessa's startled gasp and Alex's "What the heck?!" Then everything went black.
I opened my' eyes and immediately snapped them shut again as bright sunlight slanted into my' eyes, temporarily blinding me.
A startled shout of, "What the heck?! What is this?!" startled me into reopening them.
Alex was awake, her' head whipping from side-to-side in confusion. "Is this somebody's idea of a joke?" She yelled. "Cause it's NOT funny! I-" She was cut off buy Tessa's hand covering her' mouth, muffling Alex's tirade of rage.
"Would you hush up already?!" Tessa whispered fiercely. "Here we are, all alone in the middle of an unknown forest- who knows what kinds of wild beasts live in here- and you sit there screaming your' head off and alerting everything that has ears that we are here!"
Alex fell silent.
I stood up and looked about in confusion. As Tessa had said, they were in the middle of a forest. A small spring trickled through the clearing in which they lay. "What happened?" I breathed.
Alex and Tessa who had risen and now stood alongside me shook their' heads. All three of us were at a loss to explain what had happened.
"What was the last thing that you remember?" Tessa asked.
"We went into the bathroom, everything began to fade away, then I was surrounded by bright flashes and colors, and then everything went black." I recalled.
"It was the same for me." Alex put in.
Tessa nodded in agreement. "Me too."
Still looking around, I spotted three, large trunks lying on the ground near where we had first awakened.
"What?" Alex asked, noticing my' look.
I stepped over to the first of the three trunks and lifted the lid. The first thing that I saw was what appeared to be a heap of black cloth. Lifting it out I realized that it was clothing. (Really unusual clothing.) Seeing this, Alex quickly walked over to the second trunk and threw the lid up. More clothes. Tessa, who had opened the third trunk, reported the same thing.
They both looked at me in silent question.
"Well," Tessa finally said. "I don't know about you guys but I'm going to change. I'd rather not have to run threw a forest in just my' PJs!"
We split up, each going behind a separate tree to change. I laid out the cloth contents of my' trunk and smiled. My' clothes were almost all black, which was fine with me. (I'm not an emo or anything, but I wear black quite a bit because: 1) It goes well with anything. 2) It's simple. 3) It's a good color on me.
The blouse was a black short-sleeved kimono that cut off half way between the hips and the knees. It was trimmed with a thin white edging and a dark scarlet sash. It was to be worn over a long sleeved shirt of black fishnet. The black pants were flexible and tight fitting, flaring ever so slightly at the ends. There was also a pair of black, fingerless gloves and some metal hand guards. Finally, there was a hood and facemask. Once I had put on everything except the hood and facemask, I returned to the clearing with my' friends.
"Whoa!" Alex exclaimed. "Look at us! We look like ninja!"
It was true. Alex wore a tight fitting black vest over a long sleeved shirt of red fishnet. Her' fingerless gloves, with the metal hand guards, extended to just above her' elbows, and she wore the same type of pants as I did, except that they did not flare at the ends. She held her' facemask and hood in her' hand.
Tessa wore a cropped sleeved, dark red shirt with a black hamaka (A sort of wide sash that cinches at the waist) and a pair of black Capri's. She wore deep, burgundy arm warmers under her' fingerless black gloves, some metal hand guards and black, netted socks. She too held a facemask and hood. What was really weird was that each one of us looked as though our' clothing had been made especially for us.
We grinned at one another. "I always knew we'd look good as ninja!" Tessa said.
I turned and reopened the trunk in order to put my' PJs inside it. But what I saw surprised me. "Hey guys!" I called. Alex and Tessa came up behind me. "Is it just my' imagination, or wasn't this trunk just empty?"
Alex and Tessa quickly opened their' trunks. Inside each trunk lay a pair of ninja sandals, a belt, and a roll of bandages.
After putting on these additions to our' apparel, and bandaging their' legs, we opened the trunks one last time. This time the bottom of each trunk was covered with weapons.
"Whoa!" we breathed in unison. There were shuriken and kunai of every size. As well as daggers, scrolls three shinobigatanas (A short, strait sword) and three, katanas (long, curved swords.)
Beneath all the weapons the each of us found a Hitai-ate headband.
"The markings on these are really strange." Alex commented. "I've never seen anything like them before."
We strapped belts, and armbands loaded with kunai and shuriken, and daggers on to their' legs using leg bands. Tessa and I attached our' swords and shinobigatanas to our' belts, while Alex strapped hers to her' back in an X shape. We couldn't help but marvel at the exquisite craftsmanship of the longer swords. The sun glinted of the polished, razor sharp blades, and the hilts were magnificent. Each one was of sterling silver and studded with jewels; Alex's with rubies, Tessa's with emeralds, and mine' with sapphires.
"Well I guess that about does it." Alex mused as she fingered the Hitai-ate which had been tied around her' waist. (Tessa had hers' on her' forehead and I had fastened mine' about my' neck.) "I don't know about the rest of you but I think we should try to find away out of this forest."
I nodded and said, "Yeah we need to figure out where we are and then maybe we can find a way to get back ho-"
I was cut off when Tessa shouted, "Look!" She was pointing to the trunks. I turned and was shocked to see that the trunks had begun to glow brightly and were now shrinking. They continued to shrink and then disappeared with a flash of light. In their' places lay three leather strings. A gem hung on each: a ruby, an emerald, and a sapphire.
I knelt and picked up the one with the sapphire. The stone was the size of a quarter, and glittered in the sunlight. I smiled and slipped it over her' head.
Tessa picked up the emerald one and Alex took the one with the ruby.
"Wow!" Alex breathed. "I wonder what these are for."
Tessa and I shrugged in bewilderment. "I'm wondering a lot of things right now." I said.
"We should really try to find out where the heck we are." Tessa reminded us. "And I think it would be a good idea if we wore our' hoods and masks. You never know who might be in here and we were obviously given these things for a reason so I for one am going to use them." She pulled the mask and hood over her' face and Alex and I followed her' example.
"Arrraaagh!" an angry shout shattered the early morning stillness.
"Tenten, must you always yell so loudly?" I asked.
"Gomen Shika. Lee is driving me nuts. He won't quite whining about not having a girlfriend!" Tenten replied.
"Oh Lee." I sighed. "Stop being so troublesome."
"I can't help it Shika." Lee replied. "If I had a girl I'd-"
"You'd protect her' with your' life!" I recited along with everyone else. "We know Lee."
Lee sighed. "If only the girl I admire felt the same way about me as I do about her."
Neji, and Shino snorted while Kiba chuckled quietly.
Sakura, the short rosette haired girl, on whom Lee had a major crush, rolled her' eyes and smacked a hysterically laughing Naruto upside the head.
"What?" Naruto questioned, rubbing his' head.
She gave him a "you know what I mean" glare.
Ino and Tenten did their' best to stifle their' giggles.
Chouji pulled a small bag of potato chips out of his' pocket and began to cram them into his' mouth. As usual he was basically ignoring everyone else's squabbles.
"What's wrong Hinata?" Naruto asked.
The shy Hyuga girl with the short, sapphire blue hair looked troubled. "D-Do you g-guys s-sense anyt-thing unusual?" She asked.
Her' cousin, Hyuga Neji, nodded. "I thought I sensed an unfamiliar presence over that way." He motioned in the general direction of the forest.
Blond haired, Ino spoke up. "Maybe we ought to take a look."
The others nodded as if to say, 'Why not? It couldn't hurt.'
Our' group altered it's course and proceeded to follow Hinata and Neji into the forest.
Five minutes later, Hinata spoke saying, "I t-think there is m-more than just-t one. I'm s-sensing the p-presence of at l-least t-two… m-maybe t-three people.
"It's three." Neji confirmed. "Whoever they are, they're somewhere close by."
Suddenly Akamaru let out a short bark and, leaping down from Kiba's arms, dashed off into the forest.
"Akamaru!" Kiba shouted after him. "He must have picked up their' scent!"
Everyone broke into a run, crashing ungracefully through the forest.
Without warning, Tenten and Lee, who were in the lead, came to a sudden halt. The rest of us crashed into them from behind. The force of the collision sent everyone sprawling.
When we had finally managed to untangle our' selves, we looked up to see three masked Kunoichis standing in a clearing. One of them held Akamaru in her' arms. They stared at us cautiously.
Finally Naruto broke the silence with, "Konichi wa! Welcome to Konoha, the Village Hidden in Leaves. My' name is Naruto and I'm going to be Hokage one day! Believe it! Who are you?"
Tessa, Alex and I stared at the loud, blond ninja in shock. NARUTO!! I thought. Did he just say his' name was Naruto? And didn't he just welcome us to Konoha? But that can't be. Konoha doesn't exist and neither does Naruto. They're just things in a book. They're not real…or at least…not in our' world. NO WAY! Could it be that the three of us have been transported to another world?? No, that's impossible…isn't it?? I glanced over at Alex and Tessa saw that they were thinking the exact same thing.
Naruto cleared his' throat. "Well?"
Well what? I wondered. Had I missed something?
"Are you going to tell us who you are, or what?" he prodded.
Tessa, Alex, and I looked at one another in panick, and then Tessa said, "Taeko desu."
Alex smiled underneath her' mask and said, "Yoshii desu."
My' thoughts whirled about frantically in my' head as I tried to think of a suitable name. Female Japanese names, ummm…Jiisun? No…Hirama?nope…Zika? Not bad… ummm... How about... Rika? Yep, that'll do!
"Rika desu." I said.
"Wow! Great to meet you!" The hyperactive blond exclaimed. "This is Sakura, and that's Lee, and there's Tenten and Shikamaru, and…" he began introducing all of his' companions.
Of course, we already knew who everyone was, but we said nothing and pretended that we knew no one.
"It's great to meet you!" Ino exclaimed. "I absolutely love what you're wearing!" "
"Arigato, Ino chan." Alex said with a smile.
I studied the three strange ninja.
The taller one had deep black eyes, while the middle one had bright blue eyes. The shortest of the three also had blue eyes, but hers' were a much lighter shade and were covered with an unusual silver sheen. I could not tell their' hair color because of their' hoods.
"Wow, don't you just love their' clothes Sakura?" Ino whispered in my' ear.
"Hai Ino chan." I replied. I had to admit, they were flawless in the clothes department.
"Where are you from?" I asked. The markings on their' Hitai-ates were unfamiliar to me which was odd as I knew the symbols of most of the villages.
The three of us exchanged glances. Why had Sakura had to ask that of all things? What could we say that wouldn't get us extremely in over our' heads?
Then Tessa, or Taeko, said. "We are from a long ways away. The Village hidden in Frost."
"I've never heard of that village." Neji said.
"It's a rather small village, located high up in the mountains." I said. Of course we were totally winging it, but thus far it seemed to be working, and the fact that they had asked indicated that they did not recognize the markings on our' headbands either.
"I see." Sakura said. "So what are you doing in Konoha?"
I quickly came up with a story that I hoped would pass at least for a while. "Our' village was attacked and we had to make sure that a certain person was not taken captive. After seeing that the said person was delivered to a safe place we set out to The Village Hidden in Grass to find my' uncle who supposedly lives there. We were able to get a ride on a farmer's cart, and we must have fallen asleep. The next thing we knew we woke up in the middle of the forest. Don't ask me how." I was surprised at my' own ability to lie so convincingly. I didn't lie at home.
"You must have been sleeping pretty deeply in order for him to have gotten you off his' cart without any of you knowing."
I shrugged. "Well, you can't blame people for sleeping deeply when it's their' first rest in four days."
Alex picked up the story and rolled with it. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted that farmer to take us to grass. He was entirely too merry if you ask me; I could have sworn I smelled the stench of sake on his' breath."
"Well why didn't you mention that before we accepted his' offer?" Tessa asked in affected irritation. "You could have saved us a lot of trouble."
Alex shrugged "Gomen Onee san."
"Oh, you're sisters?" Tenten asked.
"Yep, all three of us." Alex replied.
Actually I'm just their' friend, but I figured that Alex thought it might be better if they thought all of us were sisters. I was sort of glad. We didn't know what had happened to us or how we were ever supposed to get back home and it felt good to be included in as a sister; we had always been like sisters anyway.
"W-Well I t-take it-t you don-t have any-wh-where t-to s-stay?" stuttered a soft voice from the back of the group. Although I couldn't see her, I knew immediately who it was.
"Lady Hinata, was it?" I asked. (Just to make certain)
"O-oh y-you can j-jus-st call m-me Hinata." She said stepping forward.
"Very well Hinata. In answer to your' question, no, I'm afraid we don't have a place to stay." I replied.
Hinata glanced over at Neji, a question in her' eyes. Neji shrugged as if to say, how should I know?
Hinata hesitated. She seemed to be trying to make a decision on something. Then she looked up and said, "W-Well why d-don't-t the t-three of y-you come s-stay at m-my' hous-se?" She suggested.
"Oh that's very kind of you Hinata, but we wouldn't want to impose." Tessa said.
"Oh it-t would-n't b-be any t-trou-ble. W-we hav-e lots-s of r-room-m."
"Tessa smiled beneath her' mask. "Well, we would be bakas to refuse soooo… thank you Hinata."
Hinata smiled. "F-Fol-low m-me." She said.
Alex, Tessa and I said goodbye to the others and followed her and Neji to the Hyuga compound.
"Okay guys, we need to figure some things out." Tessa said.
The three of us were sitting on one of the three beds in the room. Hinata had offered to let us each have our' own room, but we had said we preferred to stay together, so now we were in an extremely large room that had three, large, four poster beds, a huge closet filled with clothes (Hinata told us we could use what we wanted of the clothes) and an adjoining bathroom.
"You've got that right!" Alex exclaimed. "I mean, what happens if we happen to be apart and someone asks us a question and we have to make up something, then later another of us is asked the same question and they answer the question differently than the first person? That could get us all in big trouble."
"Alex is right." I agreed.
"Okay, first of all we have to start calling each other by the names we gave Naruto."
I nodded. "Right and we have to figure out a convincing family line and background."
"Well the story you gave was pretty good, but we need to decide what clan we are of and if we have a family or what." Alex said.
"How about we don't have a family, say our' parents died during a fever epidemic and we grew up living with one of our' mother's old friends." Tessa suggested.
"Sounds good." Alex mused. "What about the name of our' clan?"
We were all silent for a moment, wracking our' brains for a clan that would be believable.
"How about the Mekyu clan?" Tessa said after a minute.
Mekyu clan? I glanced at Alex. She looked just as bewildered as I felt. "What clan is that?"
"It's a very old clan, there are not many members of it left, but it is still a very respectable lineage."
"Hmmm…Sounds good I guess." I said.
Alex nodded in agreement.
"There's another thing." I said. "Each of us is wearing a Hitai-ate. That is the mark of a shinobi. They're going to expect us to be able to fight like ninja."
Tessa gasped. "Oh my' gosh, that's right! Even with our' Karate training, we won't be anywhere near up to standard."
"What are we going to do?" Alex asked.
I thought a minute then a thought struck me and I said, "Listen, We couldn't do jutsus or anything like that in our' world, but maybe since we're in the 'Naruto' world we could do it." "Of course," I mused, "we would be way behind in the experience department."
"But how do we know if we can do it?" Alex asked. "We need to find out for sure what we can and cannot do without letting anyone find out what we're doing."
"Maybe we can sneak out at night and practice." I suggested.
"I guess we'll have to." Tessa replied.
I nodded. "Alright then, I'll set the alarm clock for… shall we say eleven?"
"Make it eleven-thirty. We want to make sure everyone's asleep." Alex said.
"Okay, eleven-thirty. Now let's turn in so that maybe we can get at least a few hours of sleep tonight."
Beep… Beep… Beep…
I turned over in bad and glanced at the alarm clock; it read, 'eleven thirty one'.
I switched off the alarm and dragged my' self out of the warm bed.
On the other side of the room Tessa and Alex did the same. None of us had bothered to undress before going to bed, so now all we had to do was to slip on our shoes, belts, hoods and masks.
Tessa unlocked the window, and pulled gently on it. Much to our' relief it slid up soundlessly.
Alex locked the door to our' room, and we slipped out onto the ledge. It was about a seven-foot drop to the ground and we jumped down carefully.
Then, taking care to be as silent as possible, we made our' way to the Hyuga training grounds.
"Okay… so where should we start?" I asked after we had warmed up with some stretches. (An old habit from Karate class.)
Alex spoke up. "We need to know our' boundaries and our' limitations." She reminded us. "I think we should start by trying to manipulate our' chakura."
Tessa nodded. "I'd say it's time for some tree climbing." She stated.
"Alright then," I said walking over to a tree. "Everyone pick a tree."
Tessa and Alex stood before their' chosen trees, and the three of us folded our' hands into the sign that Naruto had used in the manga.
I closed my' eyes and concentrated, trying to focus the chakura (if I had any) to the soles of my' feet.
Nothing.
I tried again focusing harder this time… I could feel something! I really could! It was an odd, tingly sensation.
I focused it down to the soles of my' feet. When I thought I had enough, I took off running towards the tree. I focused on making the connection between the bark and my' feet. My' eyes were closed so I wasn't sure how close I was to the tree. Eye decided to open one eye, and was shocked and delighted to find my' self already twenty feet up in the air!
I slowed to a halt and sat dawn on a branch. I was at least forty feet up by now. It's a good thing I'm not too bothered by heights!
I looked over to see that Tessa and Alex had also made it up the tree. Tessa, like my' self was sitting on a branch, while Alex hung upside down from one.
"Yahoo!" Alex exclaimed. "This is awesome!"
Tessa and I laughed and nodded.
We returned to the ground and Tessa suggested that we try walking on water. "I saw a pond a little ways back." She said.
When we reached the pond the three of us got ready to try the exercise.
I glanced down at my' sapphire necklace. "Maybe we should take these off before we try." I suggested. "We wouldn't want to drop them in the water."
Tessa and Alex agreed with me and we quickly hung the necklaces from a tree branch. I walked over to the shallow part of the pond and, focusing my' chakura on the soles of my' feet, I stepped onto the water.
I sank immediately. I stepped back onto the bank and tried again. The results were the same.
Tessa and Alex tried and failed to perform the exercises as well.
"I don't understand!" Tessa exclaimed two hours later. "We were able to complete the tree climbing exercise the first time. Why can't we figure out this one?"
Alex and I just shook our' heads.
Suddenly I thought I heard a voice. "The gems!"
"Did either of you hear something?" I asked.
Tessa nodded I thought so, but it was so quiet that I assumed it was the wind.
Alex looked at us as if we were out of our' minds. "What voice? I didn't hear anything."
I placed my' forefinger to my' lips as a signal to be silent. For a moment all that could be heard was our' breathing, and the rustle of the night breeze blowing threw the trees. Then I heard it again more distinctly this time, "The gems!" It whispered.
I glanced at the others and saw by the stunned looks on their' faces that they too had heard it.
"You must use the gems. It was a strange, haunting voice; It was beautiful melodious voice, but overflowing with sorrow. Its' tone carried a sadness so terrible that it brought tears to your' eyes. It was sent shivers up my' spine.
"Whose there?" Tessa called out in a low voice. I could see that she found the whole thing just as unsettling as I did. "Who is there?" Tessa repeated.
For a moment there was nothing, then the voice spoke again saying, "It is I."
"And who are you?" Alex demanded.
"My' name is not important. I am a messenger." The unknown voice replied.
"A messenger from whom?" I asked.
"That and all other things will be explained when the time is right."The voice said.
"And…when will that be?" Alex inquired.
"It is not for you to know." The voice said.
"If you will not tell us your' name, then at least show your' self." Tessa insisted.
There was another long moment of silence. Then the voice spoke again. "As you wish…"
We waited, but no one appeared. Suddenly Alex gripped my' arm so hard I thought it would break. I turned to her and saw the shocked expression on her' face.
I followed her' gaze and then I saw what it was that had caused the look on her' face.
There, directly to the right of us (at the base of the tree where we had hung our' necklaces) a strange vapor the color of deep crimson had filled the air. it slowly condensed until it formed a rather eerie looking figure.
The glowing figure was that of someone wearing a long cloak, much akin to that of the grim reaper, except that it was that same crimson color. A hood completely concealed the face of the person. Perhaps the strangest thing about the scarlet form was the fact that it was translucent. The three of us could see right through it.
All in all, the figure gave a very creepy impression.
"Hello Kara, Tessa, Alex." The figure nodded to each of us in turn.
"How do you know our' names?" Alex demanded.
The 'messenger', as he was called, let lose a sinister chuckle. It was disturbing to say the least. "Believe me Alex, I know far more about you than that." None of us doubted him.
"What do you want?" I inquired.
"Fear not." He said. (It was rather difficult to comply under the circumstances.) "I do not mean you any harm. I have been sent to help you."
"Help us with what?" Tessa asked.
"Primarily with fulfilling your' purpose here." The Messenger replied.
"And what is our' purpose?" I asked.
"All will be explained in due time." He replied.
"Is that your' way of telling us we're not supposed to know?" Alex asked.
"You could say that." Came the vague reply.
Tessa rolled her' eyes. "Great!"
"Well, are you going to tell us anything that will help us out, or what?" I asked. This Messenger guy (I could tell by the voice that it was a guy) was really creeping me out.
The Messenger gestured to our' necklaces that hung side by side on the branch behind him. "You must use the gems." He stated. "When you wear them, the gems will multiply your' strength, and chakura control. They will increase your' abilities to where they would be if you had been training your' whole life. With them you will be able to pass as ninja." He paused. "What lineage did you decide upon?"
Tessa spoke. "We thought that the Mekyu clan would be a good choice."
The hood moved up and down in a nod of approval. "Yes… it is a very good choice. The Mekyu are a powerful people, and a very respectable clan." He mused. Then as an after thought, he added. "Plus their' kekkei genkai is a strong weapon."
"Wait!" Tessa exclaimed. "Did you just say that they have a kekkei genkai? I didn't know that."
"Indeed they have a very powerful kekkei genkai, called the Kaaroye." He replied.
"But we don't have that ability!" Tessa said.
"Then I'll just have to give it to you." He said in what sounded like an amused voice.
"What?!" The three of us exclaimed in unison.
The messenger motioned to me. "Come forward." He instructed. I did, and he took my' sapphire necklace from the branch and slipped it over my' head. Then laid a hand on my' shoulder. His' hand was colder than the coldest ice. It seemed to numb my' entire shoulder.
He folded his other hand into an unfamiliar sign. "Kaaroye ikai!" He exclaimed.
Suddenly I began to shake uncontrollably. Tessa and Alex yelled at the Messenger; demanding to know what he had done to me.
I felt chakura flooding my' body. The tingly feeling was now back at fifty times what it had been. I fell to the ground, and lay there trembling, unable to move. My' limbs refused to respond to the messages my' brain sent. Suddenly it was as though something inside of me exploded. I lurched forward and then the trembling ceased. I found that I was able to move once more, and shakily got to my' feet.
"Now, activate your' kekkei genkai." The Messenger instructed.
"You mean that she has it now?" Alex asked.
The messenger nodded.
"But… what sign should I use for it?" I asked.
"The signs will come to you. Focus, and let your' soul show you the signs." He instructed.
I closed my' eyes and it was as though I had been doing it my' entire life. My' hands formed three, intricate signs and I said, "Kaaroye!"
I felt chakura rushing threw me. Then it subsided and I opened my' eyes. Tessa and Alex gasped.
It was so strange, it was as though I could see their' thoughts. I could also see threw them, sort of like X-ray vision.
Suddenly I saw- or rather I sensed, as the he had not actually moved yet- that the Messenger was going to attack me. He was quicker than light its' self, but thanks to my' weird vision I had seen it coming. I sidestepped just as he lunged at me, a kunai in his hand. Spinning around I grasped his' arm and brought my' hand down hard upon it. A resounding CRACK!! echoed through the forest as the bone snapped in two.
I jumped back, shocked at what I had done. "Are you…okay?" I asked. How had I done that? I figured it must have been the necklace.
Surprisingly, the messenger did not seem to be hurt, in fact he was laughing! With one hand he formed another sign. His' injured arm began to glow a pale green. When the glow died down I was surprised, and relieved to see that his' arm now appeared to be as good as new.
He turned to me. "Well done Kara!"
My' relief now turned to anger. "Why did you try to attack me!" I demanded.
"To test your' skills." He replied. "Your' Kaaroye is perfect."
"Wow Kara, You should look at your' eyes. They look…freaky!" Alex exclaimed.
I walked over to the edge of the pond and looked down at my' reflection. Whoa!
The base of my' eyes were a neon yellow-green color with a jet black ring about one millimeter wide where the iris would have been. The pupils were vivid silver, and in the shape of a three pointed star. It was almost too intense to look at.
"Yikes!" I breathed. I deactivated my' Kaaroye, and turned back to the others.
The Messenger now turned to Tessa and Alex. "Would you like to have the Kaaroye too?"
"Well I don't really have a choice as we're supposed to be sisters." Tessa replied as she stepped forward…
Ten minutes later all three of us had the kekkei genkai of the Mekyu clan.
The Messenger walked back to the place he had first appeared. "For now I must leave you." He said. "We will meet again…" then he began disintegrate back into the strange crimson vapor. It grew thinner and thinner and then it disappeared entirely.
Tessa, Alex and I exchanged glances. "Well!" Tessa said. "This has certainly been one heck of a day!"
"I'll say!" Alex exclaimed. "I wouldn't be surprised if I wake up tomorrow and find a three dragons waiting outside our' window!"
Tessa and I burst out laughing. "Come on guys." I said. "There's less than an hour till dawn. We want to be back in our' room before Hinata comes."
Tessa nodded. "And remember girls, as of tomorrow, I'm Taeko, Kara is Rika, and Alex is Yoshii."
Alex and I grinned at one another. "You've got it Onee chan!"
Hey everyone!
I'm dedicating this story to two of my' best friends: Brainiac5 and Child of Storms.
You two are awesome!
So just to go a little more into detail about the Kaaroye, It allows the user to read peoples thoughts and feelings, to see threw anything solid, and to see things happen before they actually happen. (Thus the whole "attack by the Messenger" thingy.) It also alows people to see threw genjutsus. But that isn't discussed untill later in the story.
So what did you think?
I'm not updating untill I get at least five reviews! (No flames please.)
Mata Kondo, (Until next time,)
Yaruhi