THE REASON TO FIGHT
A Naruto fic by: climax
Disclaimer: My name is the one that is sticking at Naruto mangas if I own Naruto, not Masashi-sensei. And Naruto will be MUCH cuter.
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Summary: Naruto was back from his capture. The kyuubi was gone and left him as a weak vessel. How will he deal with it?
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Scroll 01: The Mystery of Naruto's Birth
It was a week after Naruto's capture. Tsunade had mobilized all ninja available in search of him including Sakura. The pink haired shinobi was combing a forest near the border of Konoha's region. She had checked it three times but she couldn't stop hoping if Naruto would pop up and shouting that he was hungry and ready to prey on many bowls of ramen. But that hope had been remaining as dream. No one, even the best search team, found any sign of that blonde whereabouts.
After a while she decided to rest for a while. She sat on the floor of grass somewhere in the dense forest. She was going to eat her lunch (odango, yummy!) when a sound of leaf rustle came. She went alert. Was it an enemy? A friend? Or maybe… Naruto? Either way, she prepared her weapon in case it was neither friend nor Naruto.
But none of her expectations were right. It was a small fox kit. It came out from the bushes and stared Sakura with huge, curious eyes. After made sure the fox was not a genjutsu, she let out a relieved sigh and lower her weapon.
"You shouldn't startle me like that. What if I attacked you?" she said. Then she felt it was stupid to talk to an innocent animal that would never understand her. She decided to sit, ignore the fox, and enjoy her lunch.
A few minutes later, she looked back to where the fox sat or… had been sitting. It continuously stared Sakura with cute, round eyes as if it was asking something. "What are you looking at?" Then Sakura realized that it was not her that was stared. The sweet dumplings of her lunch were the one.
She sighed. "Fine. There." She placed a stick of dumplings on the earth, some meters from her place. Then she pretended to give her attention to her lunch. In the corner of her eyes, she watched the fox kit moved towards the dumpling slowly, unsurely, or shyly. Then the fox decided to grab the dumplings by its tiny fangs and vanished to the bushes.
Sakura smiled. The fox reminded her of someone. But before she could decide who, another sound interrupted her thought. This time it was a green haired boy with black blindfold on his eyes. He carried a large bow that was nearly as tall as him. His black, sleeveless shirt was paired with a pair of grey shorts and black fingerless gloves. His large blue scarf —that was decorated with an iron plate with Konoha's symbol— almost reached the ground.
Sakura's eyes were used to that attire and she saw no genjutsu so she felt it was no use to pull a weapon.
"You found something?" the boy asked.
"The forest is green as always, a fox kit that want my lunch, and you," Sakura said with a bored tone. It was better than said nothing.
"That's not funny," said the boy plainly.
"Who said it is?" asked Sakura. "How about you Mr. Ice-Cube?"
"My name is Rhaera. R-H-A-E-R-A, not Ice-cube," the boy named Rhaera protested with his plain tone.
Knowing it was 'no', Sakura swallowed her last dumpling then stood up. "I'm going for another stroll. Who knows he would pop up from one of the bushes and—"
A rustle of bushes' leaf interrupted Sakura (again). They all turned and saw a blonde came out of the bushes. Not long the blonde fainted. It didn't take a genius to realize who it was.
Shocked, Sakura unconsciously finished her sentence…
"—fainted."
…before screaming…
"NARUTO!"
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Sakura was squeezing her fingers worriedly and impatiently. She and Rhaera without second thought barged into Tsunade's office with Naruto in tow and screamed hysterically (though Rhaera was not) for Tsunade to help the blonde. The result of that thoughtless act was a nearly buried by paper Tsunade. The poor Hokage was doing her paperwork when Sakura and the archer suddenly enter her office without a knock. But the Hokage didn't have the heart to angry when she saw Sakura's mixture of happiness, worried, and pleading face not to mention seeing Naruto.
And here she was, waiting for Tsunade to finish her check on Naruto. She was worried if Naruto's life in danger or something. Rhaera was gone in order to tell everyone that knows Naruto.
"Sakura!"
Iruka's voice called her name. She turned to see Iruka came with Kakashi, Hinata, Ino, and the others. Rhaera was the last.
"I :gasp: heard from Rhaera :gasp: that Naruto was found. Where is he?" gasped Iruka. From the looks of it, it seemed that he did some D class mission before Rhaera came.
"Sakura-san, is Naruto-kun all right?" asked Hinata when Sakura didn't answer Iruka's question.
Sakura bit her lip. She was nearly crying. She already lost Sasuke and she didn't want to lose Naruto. True that she likes Sasuke better than Naruto but still… she didn't want to lose the teammate that has gone through happy and sad. She, Sasuke, and Naruto were like brothers and sister with Kakashi as their parent. She neither had brother nor sister. So Naruto and Sasuke had become her brothers. Come on! You are a ninja! You are not supposed to reveal your emotion, let alone crying! She told herself.
"He…" she began. "He is in the room before the door beside me. Tsunade is checking him. I…" she gulped. "…don't know how he is or is he going to be all right…"
Iruka's and the others face were in the mixture of relieved, confused, and worried. They didn't know if they should jump for joy of Naruto's return or worried for his not-so-well being. As if on cue, Tsunade came out of the room and sighed tiredly. They immediately surrounded the female Hokage and gave her a rain of questions.
"Tsunade-sama! How is Naruto? Is he okay? Or will he be okay?" Iruka was the first who bombarded her with questions. The rest were either eyeing her questioningly or did the same as Iruka.
Rhaera saved Tsunade by coughed softly. He was the only one who didn't surround Tsunade. But Tsunade could tell that he was worried too. "Naruto is going to be okay." All of them (except Rhaera and Tsunade) sighed with relief. "But he is still weak. I don't want all of you enter the room for now. You all are to leave until tomorrow. Iruka and Kakashi…" she turned to the two adult shinobi. "I want to have words with you two, privately."
Iruka and Kakashi followed Tsunade to her office. After the door closed, Tsunade ordered them to sit in front of her desk meanwhile herself sat behind her desk, facing them with miserable expression.
"What are you going to tell us, Hokage-sama?" asked Kakashi.
The Hokage closed her eyes. Should she tell them? Even she didn't, they would figure it sooner or later. But… how will she tell them?
"Is the Kyuubi—?" Kakashi didn't need to continue.
Tsunade nodded. "Yes. As we have been afraid of, the seal is gone from Naruto's stomach. Even I tried my best like covering the other kids' identity as chuunin to guard him in chuunin exam." That's right. Sakura and the others were chuunin already —some of them even jounin— but Tsunade commanded them to sneak into the chuunin exam as genin. She told them it was to watch the progress of the exam but the truth was totally different. "But that's not I want to tell you."
"Then what?" asked Iruka impatiently.
"I'm afraid…" she gulped, "Naruto can't obtain his dream…"
Of course, Iruka was angry and confused. "Why? Isn't the Kyuubi gone now? It should be easier for him to be Hokage without people afraid of him!" he said as he stood up.
Kakashi placed a hand on Iruka's shoulder. "Iruka calm down! She isn't finished yet!" Iruka strained his anger though his heart told him to scream as loud as possible to Tsunade. "Good, now sit." Iruka complied.
"You may right, but as you know, the demon fox is both blessing and curse for Naruto." She placed her arms under her chin to support her head and eyed the chuunin and jounin in front of her.
"What are you trying to tell us?" asked Kakashi suspiciously.
She licked her dry lips. "There is… another truth behind Naruto's birth…" it was very hard to let the words slipped from her lips. Her heart was still battling between tell them or not. But she decided it was now or never.
"What could it be?" asked Iruka.
Suddenly, the papers she hated on her desk were the most interesting thing in the world so she stared them. "I… was in that place… when Naruto's mother bore him. In fact, I was the obstetrician. When he came to the world I was…" her voice became hoarse. "…so happy. He was a cute baby. Blonde and silky hair, beautiful blue eyes… just like his father's…"
Kakashi and Iruka became silent. It wasn't everyday to see a Hokage telling a story that had deeply engraved itself on her memory.
She smiled sadly and dreamily. "Back then, I didn't know what kind of fate that was waiting for him. What concerned me was there and then. I hoped he was a healthy baby with no physical defect, knowing how strong his father and how beautiful his mother. But I was wrong…"
"What happened?" asked Iruka frightenedly.
"His body was suffering a strange fragileness."
Kakashi and Iruka were confused. They looked at each other before asking, "What do you mean?"
"I mean, he was very weak. You have to hold him gently or you would bruise him. Let alone if he fell. I was afraid if he was easily sick too. I was very frustrated. I've never seen such strange symptoms so I didn't know how I should deal it. I even gave up hope. There's no way he could live with such a weak body. It was a two percent possibility he would live," she said as she looked down, letting her bangs hid her eyes.
"Then, how could he—?" asked Iruka.
"Live until now? When I told his father about this, he was very shocked. But how could he got that crazy idea, I'd never know…"
"He offered Naruto as the Kyuubi container, didn't he?" asked Kakashi. His tone was colder than he was mean to.
Tsunade nodded. "He said that there was a big chance that the Kyuubi would make his son's life much longer, judging how big its chakra. I tried to stop him saying that there was no way that Naruto could bear such a big amount of chakra. He was a baby, with such a weak body too. But he cockily said that he is a genius and because of that I didn't need to worry. And he…" this was the hardest part, "said that he wouldn't let his son die before seeing Konoha, the village he loved so much."
Tsunade would cry if she wasn't one of the three Sannin or Hokage. Remembering all of the late people's last moment was always painful. She knew it very well since she was a medical ninja. The people she couldn't save have many kinds of expression. Some smiled peacefully, some had submit to their fate, some in pain, some in sadness, and many other expression. She envied how could Naruto's father smiled cockily as if he wasn't going to face the danger that would bring him to his death.
"Then, the Kyuubi was sealed. I checked his health and I found that he was as healthy as a normal human could be. I felt… many things— happy, satisfied, and many other things," said Tsunade. She stopped when Kakashi raised his hand. She nodded to allow the jounin asked his question.
"If I didn't mistaken, at that time you were missing, right? How could you be there?" asked the jounin. Iruka's eyes widened. How could he miss that fact?
Tsunade smiled sadly and groggily. "Well, you know how full of surprise Naruto and his father are… that man managed to find me."
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "You are hiding something."
Tsunade's eyes suddenly became sharp. "You are not allowed to let a word from here slipped out of your mind or this room. You got that?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama," answered the two men at the same time.
"You may leave."
The two men left the office. Tsunade sighed tiredly and plopped to her chair. Unknown by them, there was an unwanted guest that had been eavesdropping to them from the beginning.
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"Are you sure of this?" asked Rhaera to a little girl looked around eight, with glowing green body. Sure she was no human. They were on the hospital roof so no one could hear them.
"Of course! I've heard it with my own ears, there is no mistake!" exclaimed the girl.
Rhaera sighed. "The advantage being a soul, eh? Won't be noticed by anybody unless he is an onmyouji…"
She stared Rhaera with filthy look. "I take that as a compliment…"
But she was ignored by Rhaera who was deeply thinking something. After a moment, he began to talk.
"Akaki, I need you to bring me—" he whispered the rest to Akaki's ear. Akaki's green eyes widened. She stared at Rhaera, wondered if the boy's brain had grown tentacles.
"WHAT! That's — that's — that's… IMPOSSIBLE! I can't and WON'T do that! Not now, not in the rest of my life!" she screamed.
Rhaera took a deep breath to calm him self. "Akaki, I need that thing now. Bring it to me or I'll seal you."
Akaki was more frightened than ever now. "Bu—but! You KNOW it's impossible to even touch it! Judging from how secure it's guarded…"
"That's why," Rhaera took something from his right ear and gave it to Akaki. It was a black rectangular earring that was hidden behind his bangs. "You'll need this."
"What kind of skill an earring has to guard me?" Akaki whined.
If Rhaera had take off his blindfold, his eyes would look sharp. "Don't question your master. If you were interrogated, tell them that I'm the one who is responsible. You are free to blame me."
Akaki still looked unsure. "Really?" she asked hopefully and worriedly.
Rhaera finally snapped. "What are you waiting for? Go!"
She grumbled. "Fine." And she flew off to the sky, for the sake of her work.
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Naruto opened his eyes. His eyes felt heavy and it was a bit hard to open it. But he managed to open it. He heard some voices from his sides. It sounded so distant.
"…Hey! He is awake!"
"Shh!"
"Can Akamaru lick him so he will awake?"
SMACK!
"Ow! Hey! That's the way Akamaru wake me!"
"Do you think it would work to Naruto!"
"Well…"
Finally, Naruto managed to fully open his eyes. His vision was a bit blurry. But soon, he saw that it was Ino and Kiba that had been arguing.
"Afternoon, sleeping beauty! How do you feel?" asked Kiba cheerfully.
Another smack was received from Ino. "Keep your voice down! Sakura is sleeping!"
Kiba rubbed his head while whining, "How could I keep my voice down when you are keeping smacking me?"
"Woof!" Akamaru barked, agree with his master. The dog was in his master's jacket so the smack from Ino kept landing on Kiba's head.
"Ignore him. Do you want to drink something?" asked Ino in a sweet voice, different from the one she used to scold Kiba.
Realizing that his throat was dry, Naruto nodded slightly. Ino quickly took a glass of water and helped Naruto to drink it. Naruto drank slowly but surely. His throat felt good when the water flowed through his mouth to his stomach. He managed to finish half of the glass before he thought it was enough. Ino got this and took her hand with the glass off from Naruto.
"Where… am I?" it was the first question that came up to his mind.
"One of the hospital bedrooms," answered Kiba. "You had been sleeping peacefully in half and two days, while we were worried for your well being."
"I'm sorry," said Naruto.
"Hey, don't say sorry to me. I don't need it. You should apologize to Sakura," said Kiba with a bored tone.
Ino nodded. "I agree with him, for once. Sakura has been watching for you since Tsunade allowed us to visit you and that was yesterday morning. She would stay awake with dark circles on her eyes now if I didn't tell her to take a nap."
Now Naruto looked guiltier than ever. Then Ino decided to change the topic.
"By the way, how are you feeling?" she asked.
"Uumm… tired." Naruto said simply.
"Only that?" Kiba asked unbelievably. "You should feel relieved or something! You were being kidnapped by some err… weird and surely bad guy and you survived! If you were unlucky, you could die!"
"Kiba!" hissed Ino sharply, with both tone and eyes.
"It's okay. He is right. Maybe I'm too tired to feel relieved," said Naruto with a slight smile.
Kiba looked at him as if Naruto has done something impossible. "That's not like you."
"Huh?" asked Naruto.
"To be forgiving, I mean…" Kiba continued.
"He is right. What's wrong with you, Naruto? Do you feel sick?" asked Ino worriedly. The last thing she wanted was an already worried Sakura to be worried more.
"I don't know. I don't feel sick. I just feel tired but not sleepy. Nothing else," the blonde said.
Before Ino or Kiba could say something, they heard a groan from one of the room chairs. It was Sakura. She had been sleeping on the chair and Naruto took no notice. Her neck must be feeling sore, judging from her sleeping position.
"Nggh… what's happening?" she asked groggily as her hand rubbed her eyes to shake off the remnants of her sleep.
"Sakura! Sweet news! Naruto has awakened!" she said with a style that was similar to an angel telling the people that God is coming.
"Oohh…" she said. Her mind still didn't aware. When her memories showered back and Ino's sentences sank to her mind, she suddenly stood up, nearly knocking her chair. "WHAT!" her eyes darted and then fell on the laying figure on the bed that was blinking his eyes, staring at her with a slight smile of nervousness.
"Naruto! You are awake!" Sakura squealed as she ran towards the blonde, managing give the boy a deadly hug, which was luckily for the blonde, stopped by Tsunade, who suddenly appeared from no where and 'touched' Sakura's forehead to stop the girl's move.
"Where is Rhaera?" asked Tsunade.
"How should I know?" said Sakura almost rudely. She knew better not to make Tsunade angry.
"He is at the roof maybe. He's somehow fallen in love of roofs," said Kiba.
"Then go and get him. Ino and Sakura, you two call Iruka, Kakashi, Hinata, and the other chuunin to here. I want to talk about something important," commanded Tsunade.
"Roger," said Kiba.
"Yes, Tsunade-sama," replied the two youngest kunoichi and all of them went out of the room.
"The other chuunin?" asked Naruto with a confused tone. Oh yes, he didn't know yet, thought Tsunade.
The fifth Hokage took a sit where it was the one Ino sat previously. Then looked at Naruto intently as if she looked quite hard to him, she would know how bad or good Naruto's condition was.
"How do you feel?" she asked.
"Tired." Naruto answered with the same answer he gave to Ino and Kiba.
Tsunade sighed. Her expression told that she was expecting this kind of answer. But instead of questioning that, he asked another question.
"Tsunade-baba, what do you mean with 'the other chuunin'?" asked Naruto.
Tsunade looked at him with a look that was saying 'this is what I fear'. "I mean, Sakura and the others."
Naruto looked very shocked. "They are… chuunin? Even thick-brows and that archer?"
Tsunade knew that he asked about Lee and Rhaera. She nodded.
"Then why—?" asked Naruto. He didn't have either the courage or power to say it. How could many chuunin participate again in the chuunin exam? And why?
"I know what you are meaning. I did it. It was mean to guard you. But at the end it's a fail attempt, right?" she said as she smiled a losing smile.
Naruto looked as if the world was going to end tomorrow. "Then they know that I—"
He was interrupted by Tsunade's shook of head. "No. I didn't tell them. I told them that they were going to participate for the chuunin exam to watch the progress. I slip no words about you." Naruto sighed with relieve. "But…" she continued, "Maybe sooner or later, we have to."
As if it was set perfectly by a scenario, right after Tsunade finished her sentence Kiba barged into the room, nearly dragging a green haired archer.
"Here. I bring your order. Satisfied?" Kiba asked rudely. It seemed that he had a hard time to bring Rhaera here. But he said nothing about that meanwhile Rhaera remained expressionless.
Tsunade smiled. "Good. Now all we have to do is to wait for Sakura and the others."
They didn't have to wait long. Sakura and Ino back with Iruka, Kakashi, Hinata, Lee, and the other friends. They all have the same expression of confusion on their face. Why the fifth Hokage called them to assemble in Naruto's room? Tsunade owed some explanation to them.
Tsunade clapped her hands. "Ok. Now that you all here, I think you can begin explaining, Rhaera."
That, startled everybody especially Rhaera. But the archer seemed to expect it so he calmed down faster than the others.
"Which one?" he plainly asked to Tsunade.
"Everything. You can begin with what's the meaning of the onmyouji you mentioned to the kidnapper," Tsunade answered.
Everybody stared at Rhaera, waiting for an answer. Feeling that stare, Rhaera wasted no time to think if he was going to tell them or not. Oh well, they would need to know anyway.
"As I said in the chuunin exam, an onmyouji is a practitioner of soul and nature art. Everything about soul and nature are studied by an onmyouji. The most important requirement to be an onmyouji cadet is the ability of hearing, seeing, or sensing soul. If you didn't have one of those abilities, you can't be an onmyouji. Well, that's the short definition of onmyouji," said Rhaera.
"Then… what's the duty of this onmyouji person? I mean, like we ninjas, they should have some jobs or duties…" asked Tsunade.
Rhaera nodded. "Yes, we have. Mainly, our duties are escorting died people's spirits, sending stray demons back to hell, calming souls that aren't rest in peace, and the most important, try to balance the connection between human, soul, demon, and nature. All of those duties I mentioned earlier are included in our duty to serve the God."
Tsunade nodded in understanding. "I got it. So, who is the one that kidnapped Naruto?"
"I don't know him. But maybe he's one of the…" suddenly Rhaera hissed and clutched his head. "Shit! My memories are still foggy!"
"The rebels of Reigakure(1)…"
"Yes that's right! Uh— what the—?" Rhaera trailed off as he turned to face the speaker. Everybody did the same thing. They all surprised that it was Naruto who spoke the words.
"N-Naruto, how could you—?" gasped Sakura.
"I overheard them. They were talking something about attacking the Reigakure village using the Kyuubi," Naruto said.
Neji, who had been silent, suddenly shouted, "Wait a minute! Isn't the Kyuubi already dead! How could they use a dead demon to attack a village?"
Tsunade and Naruto's face paled. This was what they feared. Tsunade looked at Naruto, asking if she could tell them. Naruto had no choice but nodded. They needed to know and they'd figure it out eventually anyway. "The Kyuubi is never dead," said Tsunade.
"WHAT?" everybody except Tsunade, Naruto, Iruka, Kakashi and Rhaera (who appeared already knew this) exclaimed.
"If it's still alive, where has it been? And what it had been doing?" asked a very surprised Lee.
"It's sealed. I mean, it was…" replied Tsunade.
"Where?" asked Ino.
"In me," Naruto answered shortly.
Almost everybody stared at him with disbelief.
"Come on, Naruto. Don't be joking. This isn't the time," said Kiba as he waved his hand.
But Kiba didn't notice the determination in Naruto's eyes. "I'm not joking. Do you think why I'm kidnapped? Do you think why the adults hate me?"
"Uuhh…" Kiba found no answer that was more match than the fact that Naruto was the Kyuubi bearer.
"Then, now the Kyuubi is…" Lee trailed off.
"As you expected, right in their hands," said Tsunade.
"You gotta be kidding," hissed Kiba.
"What for in this kind of situation?" asked Tsunade.
Everybody fell silent. They didn't know what to do next. Judging from the situation, the worst thing they could expect was the Kyuubi attacked the village or another. Of course they had to stop it, but how?
"What are we going to do? Tell the village that nightmare is back?" asked Kakashi.
Tsunade shook her head. "No, that's a bad idea. The last thing I want is the villagers panicking and go out from this village, leave Konoha defenseless. That's what the foe villages exactly want."
"There is no safe place when the Kyuubi is around…" said Iruka. Everybody looked at him with a disappointed looks but had no choice because what he said was right.
"We end this conversation now. You guys…" Tsunade stared all the faces. "…must keep this conversation as a secret. Any leaked information and you guys are the ones I question firstly. Understand?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama," replied everybody. Then they started to leave. Rhaera, who was the closest to the door, was the first one that left the room. But before he could leave the room completely, Hinata, who had been silent through the conversation, stopped him.
"Wait! Rhaera-san!"
Rhaera stopped just at the door. "What?" he asked, turning his head to Hinata
"Anoo… you said that onmyouji is a practitioner of the soul and nature art, right? And you are an onmyouji, right?" asked Hinata.
"Yes, for both of the questions."
"Then…" she nervously stared at Rhaera. "…you can… bring dead people's soul to here… right?"
That question had a big influence for everybody. Tsunade quickly turned her head to Rhaera with startled look, Iruka's eyes widen, Kakashi's Icha-Icha Tactics book dropped from his grasp, Neji with disbelief look at Hinata, and many other reactions.
Rhaera was silent for a moment. Then he answered, "Yes, I can."
Hinata's eyes looked hopeful. "Then—!"
"But not that easy," Rhaera continued.
Hinata looked disappointed. "Why?" she asked.
"To call it is an easy thing but to maintain it in this world is a troublesome thing. I need a medium to maintain a called soul," explained the archer.
"What is… a medium?" asked Hinata.
"A person who has a body that is strong enough to bear two souls in his or her body. Medium is very rare. Even in Reigakure," explained Rhaera.
"Then why don't you use your own body?" asked Kiba.
"It is tiring to maintain two souls in a body. Your body won't last long, except in Naruto's case, the Kyuubi is a soul was sealed since he was baby so there was no refusing act from the body. It's because when someone is still a baby, the body is still pure and easy to adapt. Besides, a dead soul that obtained a body often refuses to go back. It's quite a hassle to send it back. Although Reigakure is a village that specialized themselves in soul and nature art, the act of dead soul calling is rarely done," explained Rhaera. He thought it was enough and he left before anybody could say anything.
In a different place, a place that looked like a library, Akaki crouched (it was more like floating) carefully and silently between the large book shelves. She truly didn't want to do this, but a master's order couldn't be denied easily. In another people's eyes, sneaking into this restricted part of… well she better forget this place's name, was no less than suicide. But it was a miracle at the first place of how she could sneak this far without being caught. But it seemed her luck ended here. The thing she mean to bring was in somewhere behind a large marble door in front of her, which it was sealed.
"Oh yes, I forgot to ask him of HOW can I open the seal. Very smart Akaki, very smart…" she scolded herself. Then she remembered Rhaera's words. She took out the black and rectangular shaped earring and stared at it intently.
You'll need this.
The boy's words echoed in her mind.
"But what for?" she wondered out loud. Then she sighed tiredly and landed herself on the library's floor, hands touching the floor. "Uhh… why I have to have a careless and ignorant master like him?" she whined. Then her thoughts wandered to his brother. "What will Hakai nii-san does if he was me?" she asked to herself. Unknown by her, the earring started to glow slightly and its black color started to spread on the green floor, towards the door. Akaki didn't notice it until she heard a soft click that sounded like a key is being unlocked. She lifted her head and seeing the door slowly but surely opening. She tried to speak something but no words came out from her mouth, made her looking like a gaping goldfish. After the door stopped moving and opened widely, she finally got her tongue back.
"It… opens…" she sighed in awe. After a moment she shook her head, reminding herself that the faster she get out of this restricted place, the better it was. She had no time to admire something, she could ask Rhaera later.
She entered a round room with book shelves on its wall. Her eyes wandered to search the thing.
"Black scroll…black scroll… Aha! Gotcha!" she exclaimed softly when she found the scroll. She went to the shelf where it was and took it. She shoved it to her small bag and left the library. She was at the border of the danger zone (the library was somewhere in this area) when she heard the alarm. It was a traditional alarm that used a large bell but it set the entire village on guard.
She gulped. They knew that the scroll was gone from its place. She better got out of the village before she couldn't. She flied quickly but not too quick to avoid attention. People in shikifuku (Japanese onmyouji's clothes that's used in a ritual) and heian period like clothes(2) with their spirit companion were running pass her, towards the place she had been before. She became very scared. What if she was caught? But she knew better not to panic. She was nearly screamed in happiness when she reached the border of the village and miraculously passed it. When she was far enough, she sighed happily.
"Haahhh… that was close!"
"What do you mean by 'close'?" came a voice from behind her.
Akaki froze. Her face would pale if she was a human. She gulped and turned her head. Her worst nightmare was right behind her. A troop of onmyouji, itako, miko, and other kinds of 'spirit tamer' with cold and suspicious expression their face, staring at her.
Holy Uzume Mother of land, help me… whined Akaki mentally.
The speaker was a black haired man with green eyes. "Answer me, spirit!" he shouted. But instead of replying, Akaki went back slowly. She was too scared to answer.
"Don't move! Or we'll seal you!" yelled the man again. Akaki stopped. But still didn't answer the question.
"Well then, I change the question since you won't answer it. How could you enter the sealed room?" the onmyouji asked.
Akaki was still too afraid to answer.
"Answer me!" the man became impatient.
"Wh-why would you want to know anyway!" Akaki finally got her voice back, slightly annoyed by the onmyouji.
"Totally clueless aren't you? Because only a Reigakure's Reikage that could enter the room!"
Akaki's bag fell from her grip.
………………………………………………
Ended on: March 20th 2005
Well, that's it! Hope you like it! After reading this, don't forget to review so I could know if people like my story or not. It's an AU anyway.
Glossary:
(1) Soul village
(2) Heian period clothes: Junihito — for court women, Noshi — for court men, Bukan-Sokutai — for court warriors, Uneme — for Lady in Waiting, Suikan — for hunters, Kazami — warm weather clothes for court women. For the rest of information could be seen in web(dot)mit(dot)edu/jpnet/kimono/
Hope this information could be useful while reading my or another's stories. BTW, this is a very future NaruHina.