Disclaimer: The author does not posess Naruto or Natsume in any way, shape or form. Hashtag firstworldproblems.
Natsume's Book of Ninja
or The Longest Journey Home
]Volume 01: The Season of Vanishing
]Prologue
[I]
Natsume had never run harder in his entire life. Oh let there be no doubt, he had run himself ragged many – many – times in the past. But never like this.
"Hold on, stay with me Sensei! Just a little bit further!"
Ribbons of light made slanted pillars through the canopy above onto the unbeaten forest path. He was mindlessly dashing past dozens of copses of trees, seeking the safety of civilization after what he had been put through. The late morning chill stung deep inside his chest with every ragged breath coming in to revitalize his overtaxed body, pushing past limits he didn't ever dare test. His panting was evident that he was close to lathered but pushing on with a fuel called desperation. He ignored every new source of pain discouraging his forward momentum, tears included, as they were ripped from his face by the beating wind.
"Don't worry, I'll get you the help you need. You'll be better in no time. Everything can go back to normal!"
His legs -below the knee- had gone numb at some point he didn't remember. There was no possible way to measure time in this forest. Only the changes in his body's well-being could provide some sense of the passing of time, but that did not bring him any comfort. Increasing the distance from the threat may have been the goal, but arrival to safe haven was one as well.
"This is wrong. Why haven't I reached a road or a town by now? This mountain wasn't completely isolated!"
As things stood, the situation was growing more dire. Progress was measured in acceptable changes of circumstance, anticipated by the desired party, yet none were presenting themselves. This made the cramp in Natsume's abdomen grow worse. There must have been a reason that his continual journey with the sun on his right shoulder (or East) wasn't bringing him any closer to safety; to any form of marker placed by man to assure him "You are safe now."
He was in the foothills of the Eastern Mountains. Home to the Matoba clan's family compound, where he was subjected to a... lengthy stay. He had been there once before and escaped both Matoba and those spirit's hunting after the Book of Friends. He had made sure to look at a map in the event he would ever find himself back at that compound. Just half a kilometer east of that place was a dirt road back to a city route, then another 3 kilometers to any civilization that could afford to aid him.
He could have passed that dirt road over 5 times by this point.
Things would have been so much simpler like when he had friends that could drop everything to come to his aid. Those had been better times; when the friends of otherwordly origin came to his rescue with scythes and banners. Hinoe had been especially sinister that day. It was a herculean task to bring her down from battle-mode once she was ready to shed spirit or human blood for him. The Middle Class Ogre and Ox were shouting taunts at those white-maned monkey-masked spirits just scrapping for a fight. What sealed the deal was Misuzu arriving with said monkey spirits' leader. Leaving afteward was just a matter of convenience. Then they had all departed through the sky together.
Together.
"Why did it have to be like this?"
When word first reached him from his captor that his friend's were "preoccupied," it had been the first time he had thought he would never see his freedom again. Exorcists had many paths to the same ends at their disposal for "preoccupying" spirits. The next blow came when he was shown how.
Misuzu, the indomitable horse spirit who made his home along a river in Natsume's hometown, was strung up in a forest grove surrounded by conifers trailing hundreds of talisman-laced ropes, woven together into the world's largest imitation beehive, suspended off the ground so that the spirit had no chance of drawing on the earth's strength to break his seal.
Hinoe had been imprisoned in a clear glass jar. It only took until she screamed the first time, when her jar was placed over a flaming bowl filled with warding salts, for Natsume to plunge a ceremonial dagger into some spirit he didn't know, sending it back to nature in its undisturbed form. There was nothing else in the world like the sound of its screaming. A shrieking from the knowledge that its timeless life -taken for granted- was abruptly ending. This was the screaming that he inflicted. His hands shook for 3 days.
No sleep.
Hinoe sang to him when that man wasn't around, just to help the shaking lessen even a little. Even with her future robbed from her she still had cared enough to make him feel a little less like a monster. The tears replaced the shaking instead. What did she do to deserve the misfortune of his friendship?
The Middle Class Ogre and Ox were held in simple iron cages sealed by talismans, until-No! Now was not the time to remember. Right then, what he held his in arms had to come first.
Nyanko-sensei...
The young man's eyes widened as he slid to a halt along a row of bushes that strafed another forest path ahead. Loudly going about their search for him beyond the shrubbery were three tall and gangly shiki. They wore their usual white porcelain masks that afforded only 2 eyeholes for the eyes they did not possess upon their uniformly dark, syrupy bodies. White ceremonial robes adorned their thin, yet indistinct forms. In all of their hands they held unkind instruments for disciplining their prey: scythes, though obviously not intended for any fields of wheat in a remote mountain range. Their only crop would be blood. Their only design, pain. Natsume had to avoid them at all costs.
He winced, caressing the dull ache behind his forehead with his only free hand. Memories were returning unbidden or solicited.
[II]
"Most times, spirits are fickle existences, you see," he explained in his calm, collected manner, giving Natsume a gentle smile filled with unknown meaning as he explained, "They don't posess nearly the same level of reason and analysis that human's take for granted. As such they can be distracted sufficiently to allow you time to retreat and regroup, should the need arise."
He demonstrated by taking the rock in his hand that wasn't holding his distinct parasol, leaning back, then jolting forward in an elegant arc, releasing the stone midswing. The rock flew true then clacked irritably off a tree, and on the other side of a clearing a short goat spirit – no taller than Natsume's knee in height – stood up fully in a panic, turned to the source of the rock's impact and with an angry keen crashed through a bush on the far end, dashing after the disturbance that dared upset it.
"Should you ever be separated from your instruments, a rock can afford you all the protection you need, see?" Matoba-san finished, his smile reaching up to his one exposed eye, as he took Natsume's silence as his queue to turn and issue his firm command.
"We're leaving."
Natsume realized that should he ever need this knowledge in the future he would have to hold some form of gratitude over learning this in the first place. The thought made his stomach turn, as the hands of the shiki behind gripped his shoulders to guide him back to his prison cell.
[III]
Gathering two stones from the forest floor, dense with old leaves, Natsume carefully sneaked his way to a wide tree nestled among the foliage. He took one last peak to make sure the shiki were still in the clearing together, or else this plan might back-fire. It was time to find out if he could use his compulsory training to turn it against his captors and win his freedom.
Confirming their position, Natsume nodded to himself and crept back to the opposite end of the tree he was strafing. Now to just find the right target for his decoy... there! He spread his legs for the leverage his arms needed, rotated just so to wind up his pitch, then released the first rock in a long, hanging arc. Wasting no time, he used his same arm to fling the second rock with a back hand, hoping this plan would work.
His worries were answered quickly, when the second rock struck low at bushes aimed across the clearing. Only a beat afterward, his first rock's commotion was heard deeper beyond the second's position. So far the mechanics of his plan came together cleanly, but this wasn't done until the results were also accounted for.
Natsume held his breathe. 'Please work!'
Without a moments hesitation, the simple yet dangerous shiki materialized at the affected bush where Natsume struck. Quickly, they broke through the shrubbery and gave chase to the phantom he had managed to create with 2 simple rocks. His heart felt a crushing weight lift from seeing them vanish beyond the treeline.
It had been one of many lessons that had been beaten into him little-by-little, and to say that he was grateful of its results would have been an unwelcome compromise; an admission that Matoba-san was right. Was it right to hold gratitude that a lesson you learned from someone -whom forced you to perform many cruelties- aided in your escape?
This moral quandary had to wait. Nyanko-sensei wasn't breathing as strongly as earlier. There wasn't much time now.
Letting go of the breathe he was holding, he released his tense grip from the tree to make his escape, just as careful not to undo his success with loud foot steps. His progress at backpedaling gently was interrupted when he bumped into a solid mass behind him. The split second it took Natsume to remember that there wasn't a tree that close to the one he was relying on was all it took for his blood to freeze, his heart to skip, and his entire body to jump away with a spin toward his company.
As quick as he was, this other presence had not waited for a reaction and was inside his guard as realization struck. Natsume felt a strong grip take his only free hand and pull him to the side, knowing he could not afford to drop his furry burden in the other. With a following motion, Natsume felt a foot sweep him once off-balance, sending him to the forest floor with a gasp; his eyes clenched tight.
"My, my, Natsume-kun. I'm not sure whether to be proud or disappointed right now."
Natsume's eyes burst open again. Fresh waves of the ever-present feeling he knew when around that voice returned to shackle him. His heart hammered loudly, as again he was forced to raise his sight to the man responsible for his captivity over the past many months.
"If it weren't for the commotion at the compound that let you slip away, I would think you were actually trying to accept your station by reviewing what you've learned."
Matoba Seiji.
Gracefully, he knelt down to Natsume's level, one hand still gripping the blonde's forearm tightly, the other extended under his chin to lift it; to make their eyes meet again only after the younger man averted his gaze from instinctual revulsion. His body did what his heart could not, and it filled him with shame.
"I'm so glad I caught up to you when I did. When I saw those warding barriers broken, I feared you would be lost to a spirit realm for eternity. It is why our clan sealed them from long ago. Though now that I look around I'm finding difficulty in matching their concern."
Natsume Takashi's mind was reeling. After all that mayhem which reduced the clan compound to panic, after making it this far, and looking like he was home-free. After all the months of denigrating, soul-crushing, sorrow-filled exorcist training, was he merely going to return to his familiar prison out of habit, because the fight had been taken from him? After all those deeds done in the name of cowardice? After the suffering he caused to scores of undeserving spirits? To his own friends? To Nyanko-sensei?
What had been the point?
"Your friend does not appear to have much time remaining? Why don't you bring him back and we can give him proper care. It'd be an awful misfortune to allow such a potent and powerful spirit to simply die. Though, I am partially to blame for his current state. It only seems right that I make amends don't you think?"
Natsume opened his mouth, but choked back on the automatic response that his captor had been hoping to hear. The glint in the dark-haired man's eye compelling him to fight back on this conditioned response. Matoba's words were sounding attractive as he contemplated the alternatives against his wishes. What could he possibly do for his mentor now than an entire exorcist clan could not? What possible care could he be sure to give this stubborn cat guardian? Was that even a possibility any longer?
No matter what he thought, it all came back to compliance.
But then there was the underlying issue in this attraction. Was the many nights of imprisonment doing the thinking for him by virtue of habit? When had he become so detached?
"How about it, Natsume-kun? Shall we return to the compound together and put this whole mess behind us?"
Natsume broke his stare with Matoba and lowered his gaze to his longtime mentor and dare-he-say friend (for what enemy would fly to your rescue then take arrows for your sake?). He had no reassurances to comfort him. To comfort himself, too, if he were honest. This was how far desperation could carry him, and it failed the young man.
Failed his most precious person.
The weariness had caught up with him, no doubt hitching a ride with Matoba-san as if it was motivated by irony alone. Natsume just couldn't raise an arm to protest any longer. Or summon the strength to rise and continue running. Running wouldn't save him now, Matoba-san would see to it, and those shiki would return when they finally realized there was no trail to follow. Even with the mightiest luck to aid him, how far would he get before being caught again, and how much less lenient would his captor be then?
A peculiar question nagged at him now: Why was he still looking for a way to escape?
Words that did not belong to him floated up from beneath the dull grey of a still pond deep inside. Something he locked away, buried, then forgot, but not entirely his own. He gazed upon the beginnings of a shapeless form, outlined in a pale glow, accompanied by a soft thrum; rising, falling, in, out, high, low, present, hidden.
You came this far already.
Again, it changed, coalescing further. Vines grew from this softly glowing mass, spiraling, coiling ever outward. An excited blue substance eagerly climbed the vines with their vital essence. Natsume could feel a burning sensation, as if in response to this growing idealization, yet it did not cause him to cry out in pain.
"I..."
Why did this mighty creature now lying weakly in your hands go through so much danger if he didn't think you were worth saving?
The spirals and coils of vines became linked, and where they connected burned the most. There appeared to be no sensible pattern to draw from the paths orbiting the central mass any longer, yet they moved and grew with alien purpose.
"What I want is..."
Get up.
The weariness that had taken hold was no longer present. He wasn't sure when because he would not dare take his eyes from what he was witnessing. The seemingly chaotic bramble unfurled, and what looked like aimless chaos took a familiar bipedal shape.
A man.
"For... for you..."
For the sake of everyone that risked their lives, no, their eternal existences for you, get up!
The form of a man, written from the growing blue light of a formless center, swirling out in coils and vines, taking up the burden of arms, legs, head, and heart rose up, inspiring the water to bubble and steam with unconstrained anticipation.
"For you-!"
GET UP! NOW!
It came to the surface, and waited -with the patience of a mountain- for Natsume to meet it half way and fulfill his obligation to this rising spirit. There was no more time or reason to doubt himself. He dove forward and crashed into the surface, the burning fire reaching a furious peak. These two existences became one whole, and fully formed the individual Natsume Takashi once again.
"For you to get your hands off of me!"
[III]
The young man batted Matoba's hand away, causing the older exorcist's eyes to widen in surprise. He stepped back as if burned, momentarily shocked by the sudden turn in behavior. No more bravado to paint the one-sided conversation he was leading.
The Master and Pupil stared one-another down for what felt like minutes before, one of the two found the wherewithal to speak.
"I'm finished with your lessons, Matoba-san," Natsume spat, "I'm done with locking my heart away and obeying my body. I'm done capitulating to your threats and scare tactics. I'm done listening to the innocent and undeserving suffer because of my cowardice. Most of all, and you can blame only yourself if you didn't see this coming, I'm done with you!"
Matoba's petrified form had at some point begun shaking, from which emotion he could not remember, as he was required to master all of them since he was old enough to walk. Regardless it made him want to do things unlike himself. Reaching back to his past experiences, he wrapped them around this burning sensation to extinguish their fire before it guided him. This wouldn't do. He had a pupil to reclaim. And slowly, he calmed down.
It was evident he had not foreseen such an outburst, after so much time conditioning him into obedience. This was deeply troubling for his future plans and he would have to adjust accordingly when they returned. There could be no more lenience, he concluded, and his faced mirrored this, losing all warmth; replaced by cold regard.
"That is very unfortunate, Natsume-kun," Matoba said levelly, slipping a hand into his robes as Natsume tensed for whatever he had in mind. This made him smile. The plummet from defiance -in one's opponent- to meak surrender was among the most satisfying pleasures in his uncommon life.
Matoba whipped his concealed hand back out from his robes and trailing his pinched fingers was a long chain of shikigami, linked at the hands and feet. It snaked under a life of its own, and quickly encroached on Natsume's space. The young blonde jumped backward in reaction with a shout of surprise, too late, while the empowered paper arrested his movements.
Matoba tisked aloud as he formed a single-handed seal with only his index and middle fingers jutting out together. With a delicate gesture combining a swirl followed by a sweep to the side, Natsume's legs were wrapped together, then he was appropriately swept off his feet with a yelp. He moved in to teach his wayward pupil a strict lesson.
"So much unfounded confidence," he sighed, arriving over Natsume, fixing him with an uninvested leer, then dropping that same leer to the still cat next to his pupil. He knelt down and took the furry creature into his arms.
"Wait... what are you doing?" Natsume demanded from the ground, eyes wide and shaking. Matoba's cheerful and serene smile returned as he took several steps back.
"It seems I have made a breakthrough in your training, Natsume-kun," Matoba answered, slipping a hand back into his robe again, "for it seems I am no longer required to hold an interest in your mental well-being. We'll see your results double if not more, and I know just the perfect way to get us started."
Matoba pulled out a familiar instrument for his unruly student to look at, remember the glint of its reflective surface, and then show his necessary reaction at where this was going.
"Don't do it," Natsume begged, his voice quivering, "you've taken so much from me. Don't take one of the last good things in my life away!"
"But don't you see?" Matoba asked in surprise, "In order for you to achieve the pinnacle of your potential, you must be born again, and in order for you to be reborn you must lose everything you are, and so to lose everything you are, I must start with this creature you treasure. It really is for the best," he finished, sighing.
Matoba turned his attention back to the spirit cat in his arms, the ceremonial knife hanging over a spot on his torso, and where his heart was certain to be beating.
"No! Stop! ... I... I won't let you..."
Matoba would have most certainly completed his act of cruelty if it weren't for the sudden change in Natsume's tone, and he looked up in time to see another color momentarily flash across his student's eyes.
V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V
From deep inside, at the center, the warmth of the living blue essence burst forth from all points fed by the vines throughout his body. Power like he had never known waited on his word -his will- to drive away that which he rejected most completely; utterly, universally, in totality. Words he did not understand controlling his mouth for him, as they fought to be spoken aloud.
V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V
"SH&#!% T#*&()"
-Was all Matoba could make of the guttural noises Natsume had uttered, and then the air itself came to life and struck his entire body, forcing him to drop his ransom and ceremonial knife. He went airborne for a fraction of a second, and landed hard enough for the impact to force the air from his lungs. Pinpricks of light flashed across his eyes in dots, no doubt caused by the sudden interruption of blood flow.
Matoba suddenly realized that he had a contingency on hand. Whatever that was had to be contained if he was going to bring his student back, so he scrambled back to his knees to in preparation when his plans were interrupted a second time by a desperate cry.
Natsume barreled right into his stunned teacher as they both returned to the forest floor. Rather than be shocked or flustered, Matoba realized his student was still full of surprises, and his attempt to sacrifice the cat was enough to bring this new plateau to the surface. What an amazing young man!
Quickly he noted his younger student desperately holding him by the arms, the shikigami no longer there; most definitely destroyed from whatever Natsume-kun had done. His eyes were shut tight with effort, trying to restrain his teacher from any further provocations. Potent, his powers may have been, but a fighter he was not. With barely restrained glee, Matoba reached across from his right to Natsume's opposite arm, clamped down on his wrist and pulled while rotating the young man off balance and reversing positions with him.
Now on top, Matoba grinned madly, knowing his victory was at hand. A thousand thoughts came to him for what to try next to get a reaction from this anomaly in human form as his hands latched onto the struggling boy's neck. Natsume choked while Matoba increased the pressure; not too much or instead of rendering unconscious he would kill his most prized possession. Now seemed like as a good a time as any to share a few parting thoughts with his student before he fell under.
"Oh Natsume-kun, you really are fascinating! I take back my disappointment. My home may have been invaded and put in jeopardy, but in trade I now have an entire world of possibilities to draw from your gift!" He said with barely contained elation.
"First I'll finish what I started with your cat," Matoba continued unabated, his own voice quivering from the excitement while his student continued to struggle, feeling his efforts weaken, "Then we'll move on to that tree spirit you value so highly. And if the results are promising, we'll recapture that river spirit again and-"
Matoba's thoughts were cut short when he felt a strange pressure over the bandages covering his right eye. Before he could slow down his reverie to examine this new sensation, his unasked question was answered when he felt light come through those bandages, striking his right eye. Now fully aware of just what was happening, Matoba opened his right eye just as widely as his left, with only the time to replace his joy with surprise and then regret.
Perhaps he had trained Natsume-kun a little too well.
[IV]
Natsume gasped deeply -still clutching the cloth bindings- when Matoba's hands were freed, sucking in the sweet air like it was his first time breathing. That sweetness, however, did not last. Something edging on metallic stirred into the air, and soon grew pungent, then completely foul.
Too distracted from his condition to orient himself, Natsume felt Matoba scramble off of him in a series of frantic jerks, which sent him further away; still too disoriented to make sense of his teacher's rasping breathe. So he decided on the best course of action while there was still time and rolled onto his feet, stood up, and ran for Nyanko-sensei.
The young pupil to Matoba stumbled into a kneeling position, not fully recovered from all the repeated shocks he had gone through since fleeing the Matoba clan compound, but nevertheless wrapped his arms around his friend and guardian, holding him close. By an act of heaven, Nyanko-sensei was still breathing, and Natsume heaved a sigh of relief, tears pooling just under his eyelids. He readied himself to run once again.
Those intentions came to a halt when the screaming started.
Natsume suddenly remembered the air had turned foul, and now a cacophony of noises had accompanied the smells to overwhelm his senses. It felt like something with a grudge had skittered into every orifice in his head, and he gagged on his bile in response. His exhaustion returned double-fold. Shivering from this unfamiliar noise coming from his teacher, he turned despite his fear to learn what could cause Matoba-san to cry out like this, and his eyes met with the answer.
Malevolence embodied.
Billows of black cloud hung in the air, so dark that Natsume could not see through to the other side. From the periphery of these impure gases, shadows wove in and out from the cover that the clouds offered, trailing smoke. He could see rows and rows of legs squirm in succession across a long tubular body, writhing around as if fighting for room to hide from sight in the thick of the miasma. In frequent bursts, flashes of light would penetrate through the darkest portions of the cloud drawing outlines that only strengthened the fear in Natsume's legs. Snapping appendages, twisting flagella, clattering mandibles, there seemed to be no beginning or end to this being.
All of these constituent horrors moved with the same purpose, converging on Matoba-san's right eye as he held both hands over the demon's target, and seemingly losing. The blood pouring down his face beneath his hands was all the evidence required. The exorcist howled again at a fresh wave of effort by the creature pushing against the openings in his hands.
The sight made the bile in Natsume's throat climb higher, and he covered his mouth to fight down the urge, yet failing to shut out the senses contributing to his worsening condition. However, it wasn't the sight of such a horrifying creature that kept him paralyzed in place. Nor was it the putrid smell that offered no comfort to his roiling stomach. Or the sound of agony that came from his past tormentor. No, it was something much simpler: the simple act of knowing.
Natsume understood.
This was the creature that a Matoba clan ancestor had betrayed in exchange for his right eye. This was the youkai that was denied its payment, and so in turn cursed every member of the family which earned its grudge. This was the creature that terrorized every Matoba clan member, making them fear for their eye should anything happen to the warding ribbons wrapped around their head. And this was the creature that HE had unleashed on his teacher.
That final thought brought him back to the present, and he gazed down on his let hand which still held those warding ribbons, realizing just how far he had gone to win his freedom. It didn't bring him any measure of relief, only shame.
He had to run.
As he turned away, he stopped again and gasped when a spike of pain was driven into his skull behind his eyes. He grunted through the pain, as a dull ringing joined the fire in his head. He could see his vision change before his eyes, and everything around him took on an otherwordly glow. Perhaps a side-effect of this creature's curse singularly dedicated to the consumption of eyes? Was it going to stop with Matoba-san? Natsume could not afford to find out, so he ran.
Just as he cleared a drop in the terrain, fording a dried stream bed a voice chased after him with a faint echo, "This isn't over Natsume Takashi!"
Natsume huffed and gasped, doing his best to ignore Matoba-san's parting threat.
"I'll find you again. I will not share your gift with anyone else in the world! It was meant to do great things! So run all you want, because I'm not going to stop chasing you!"
This only caused Natsume to run even faster, continually moving in and out of the path of the maples and birches in this seemingly endless forest. He kicked up gouts of leaves, twigs and dirt while his feet repeatedly beat the ground hard in his desperate attempt at freedom.
The strange din cast over his vision did not fade. Everything in motion around him held an after-image like a camera with delayed exposure played back on a monitor. The trees still glowed their effervescent hue, and where leaves glided down their light dimmed when trickles of that same light broke off from their surfaces. He hoped that this was not permanent.
Down, down and down some more his path winded. How much farther until he could get Nyanko-sensei help? How much more until he could finally rest? How much longer before he could see his family and friends again? Would they still welcome him back? Could they go back to how things were before?
Would they recognize what he had become?
Would they know?
"Gyah!" Natsume cried, when a low-hanging frond of branches lashed his face. He returned his attention to the path he was taking, berating himself for letting his mind wander at such a critical time.
Behind him a loud shuffle of leaves and foliage caught his notice. He shot a glance over his shoulder, eyes widening in shock to see he was being pursued once again by Matoba's persistent and gangly shiki. Their heads swayed and bobbed carelessly while the dark holes in their masks gazed unnervingly back into his own eyes.
Natsume redoubled his efforts. The forest floor was evening out now. The trees were standing further apart. Fewer bushes were obstructing his forward progress, but that was also the problem as it wasn't obstructing those dangerous servant's of the Matoba clan either. The problems were piling on.
Natsume's breath was rasping now. The numbness in his legs returned full-force. He wasn't sure he could make his feet bend any longer, which in turn came with the danger that he was no longer running at his best, which lead to the sound of those damned shiki's footsteps growing louder and louder. If something didn't happen soon, he was going to be lost.
"Help! Somebody!" Natsume shouted. After all he had done to get away, after everything he had been through, suffered, he was going to -at the very least- try to fight the inevitable for as long as he could -remote wilderness or not. He came upon another clearing, large enough to fit many dozens of people when it happened.
"Help! Help, I-wah!" The young man took a hard fall to the earth after losing his footing. His faced clipped the ground rendering his senses useless from the pain of having his nose broken. Nyanko-sensei bounced from his grip and rolled a considerable distance away to a stop.
Driven by a last burst of adrenaline, Natsume pushed off the ground to reach his downed mentor, but ungentle arms grabbed his shoulders and crashed into him, sending him back to the ground. He exhaled sharply upon impact, gasping to remain conscious, yet knowing they had caught up.
He was pinned from on top, the emotionless shiki absently leering at him from behind, while he looked up to see the two other servants step past him and stop over the still form of Nyanko-sensei. The two demonic vessels looked at one-another as if deciding on something, then coming to what could only be seen as an agreeing gesture raised their scythes high together.
Natsume's blood went cold. One final effort filled his lungs in desperation.
"No! Stop! Leave him alone! Sensei! Sense~ei!
Just as quickly as the words left his mouth, Natsume heard a distinct whistle pass over his head, followed neatly by a flash of silver passing across the middle of the scythes. This did not stop the two youkai from swinging the handles of their respective weapons downwards, but what was strange was the top halves did not follow, but rather flung impotently in their own directions from the force of the swinging motion. The two shiki shuddered in surprise when the result they expected didn't come, raising their -now- cut-down scythes to investigate what happened.
Natsume's mouth hung open in disbelief, his heart fluttering with the embers of a new hope, "What was-"
"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" A new voice screamed, followed swiftly by an explosion of smoke, and then the ground rumbled as with the sound of countless feet charged into the clearing. A whoop of identical voices shouted their outrage, filling the grove with their battle cry.
Immediately, the shiki that pinned Natsume down was struck from some unseen impact overhead. The body of that gangly creature didn't just land off to his right however, no. It landed, then skipped like a stone over a calm pond, bouncing head over heel until it struck a tree hard, and landed in a crumpled pile.
He was at a bad angle, but from what Natsume saw, many feet raced past him bearing down on the two shiki that stood over Nyanko-sensei. Those feet were covered in blue open-toed sandals. The leggings were orange, a bundle of gauze wrapped around one leg, with a holster strapped over the top. Higher up, an orange puffer jacket with different sorts of flair for design; a red swirl in the center, blue epaulets, white raised collar. And on top the shocking blonde hair exploded outward in all directions.
A multitude of these identical young... men, man? He wasn't sure any longer. They dove at Natsume's former pursuers with reckless abandon, ignoring their panicked flailing, and delivering punches and kicks to any part that presented itself to these seemingly endless... clones.
The two dark and ichorous servants were pummeled completely, driven further and further away, eventually getting buried in two separate and generous dog-piles. The shouting only became more spirited.
This was unbelievable.
"Who..." Natsume struggled to convey, but his attention was forced to change direction.
A pair of hands gently squeezed his shoulders, and turned him over. "Shh," a gentle voice hushed, "It's okay. You're alright now. Try not to move."
The scenery spun sideways for him, as his exhaustion was finally permitted to work. Natsume's eyes became heavy, making it difficult to focus, but he held on for as long as possible. He had to know who these people were coming to his and Sensei's rescue.
Leaning over him was a young woman with soft features looking right back into his eyes. She had long dark hair and parted bangs that let a generous portion drape across the sides of her face. Her eyes were two pools of ink set gently beneath calm delicate brows. She had a small rounded nose, and delicate lips crooked in a tiny smile that made him want to trust her. Noticing lastly, this woman holding him wore a black choker around her neck, and a short sleeved kimono with red trim. She was the portrait of serenity. It almost made him want to weep for shame, being saved by such a kind person.
His feelings could wait. Once again he had to put himself second. Weariness could take him at any second. The heaviness in his head grew exponentially, tugging harder at his eyes. He weakly lifted his right hand and pointed off toward the grassy floor where his spirit mentor lay.
"Please," Natsume's voice cracked. His strength was leaving, "He's dying... lost blood. Arr... ows..."
With his final word spoken he slipped into darkness.
[V]
Haku watched with concern as the young man sighed into unconsciousness, his arm dropping awkwardly back to the ground, head lolled back. She quickly laid him back onto the grass and felt for a pulse against his neck. Sure enough it throbbed back against her fingers. She exhaled easy at this knowledge.
Soon enough her other company had gained her attention, "Hey, Haku! Is he okay?"
"Naruto-san," the young woman responded, wondering how his fight turned out, "Are they defeated?"
The young blonde ninja's eyes squinted shut, and a wide smile plastered his face. He threw an enthusiastic thumbs up her way.
"No problems over hear! Where Uzumaki Naruto goes, trouble cowers before him 'ttebayo!"
Haku managed a polite smile for him, amused if nothing else at his surefire confidence despite having rushed at what were possibly demons to save this strangely dressed young man and stranger-still pudgy feline companion. Anyone that could handle that without hesitation deserved her respect. Perhaps he could manage Hokage like he claimed.
"Well you were very impressive," she congratulated, "making that many copies of yourself to fight couldn't have been easy."
This got the blonde kid to blush embarrassed and rub the back of his head. They were interrupted by a hissing sound and turned to see what it was.
Her battle instincts kicking in, Haku noticed those three mysterious beings letting off smoke, or what passed for the substance, rising from their motionless bodies. It was as if they were deflating from the inside out. Their clothing sunk into the cavities forming underneath, and the masks slid uselessly off to one side, eventually leaving nothing remaining but the articles alone. Whatever they had been, she hoped there were none more.
The threat removed, she could turn her attention to what the blonde man had begged of her.
Quickly, she bent her knees and rose, making her way toward the furry creature laying quietly in the grass. It was just as the young man had said, he was dying, as evidenced by the 3 arrow wounds along his neckline and torso.
Stepping over to join her, Naruto asked, "That poor cat. Is there something we can do for him?"
Gingerly, she pressed several fingers along the edges of one wound, gaining a weak jolt from the cat. There was still hope, and she knew what to do next.
"Naruto-san, do you remember seeing some bamboo shoots nearby?"
The younger blonde blinked at the question but didn't hesitate to respond, "Yeah, now that you mention I did see some? What do you need menma for? Oh! Will feeding him ramen somehow restore his health?!"
Haku repressed a sigh. Of all the times to be thinking of food. "No, Naruto-san, the reason I was asking is because they should still be sprouting their red berries. Can you collect a few handfuls for this poor creature?"
Without missing a beat, he shouted, "Sure thing! I'll get you so many berries you could take a swim in them! I'll be back before you know it!"
"Then I'm counting on you," Haku called after the vanishing young ninja. There was no time to waste. She pulled out bandages from a pouch in her basket, along with sterile pads and her water cantine to clean the wounds. The more she could get done quickly, the higher the chances of getting more questions answered.
And she had so many questions for this stranger that brought trouble with him so near to her home. No doubt there was an incredible story behind these events. She already saw the potential of one of her target's ninja bodyguard. Getting advanced intel on your opponents was always welcome, but a young man chased by demons? She wondered if it was serendipity that permitted her to meet an enemy and a possibly more dangerous stranger on the same morning, then what more could happen from here?
For the moment she continued to work. This injured cat wasn't going to heal itself. She just hoped her efforts would be enough.
-Continued-
Author's Notes:
I swear to God I did not try to release this on Christmas. It just turned out that way! I originally started this draft on Wednesday last week, but family decided to celebrate Christmas last Saturday, delaying me 3 days. I'm completely fine with getting my presents earlier, but this is kinda feeling like history repeating itself as I write a half hour into this holiday.
So then, on to business.
Thank you for taking interest in my story. This story was inspired originally by the odd coincidence of Nyanko-sensei being named Madara. I originally pondered on this revelation several years ago and asked myself, "Self? Where did I place my disposable tupperware?" Then I asked myself if there was a story to be told here. :P
The biggest challenge in this is getting the tone right between these different fictional universes. Natsume Yuujinchou contained lots of peril, but was never about combat itself, whereas Naruto was about all of that, from conflict to the mundane. So this will be an experiment in comprimise I guess.
Anyway, if you stuck with me this far, I have no choice but to continue writing. Hope to hear from all of you in the reviews, and look forward to the next chapter.
Until next time...
Draft: 1.1
Edited by Zelosh, thanks little brother. :)