8 years ago
"Katana. Katana! Wake up!"
Katana opened her eyes. "What is it, mother?"
"Go wake your sister up. Hurry!"
Katana got out of bed and her eyes were drawn to the window. A fair distance away, she saw a huge tiger with three lashing tails walking towards the village. She ran to her sisters room and shook her.
"Sister! Wake up! Wake up!"
Her sister rolled over and blinked her eyes open. "What is it, Katana. Trying to sleep." She closed her eyes again.
"Wake up!" Katana said, sounding scared. "You have to wake up!"
Her sister sighed and sat up. "Why? What's the problem?"
"There's this giant tiger thing with three tails and it has big red eyes and these really big claws and-"
"Katana, slow down," her sister yawned. "What's with this tiger thing?"
"It's coming to the village!" Katana cried. "And mother is really scared!"
"Okay, that's not good!" she said and jumped up.
Their mother rushed in. "Come on, children. We have to get out of here!"
Katana and her sister ran after their mother out of the house and they met with their father.
Katana's sister looked up at the tiger that was now just upon the village. People were running around, screaming, some ninja's of the village ran over to try and fight the tiger but they were knocked away like flies. "That's one huge cat," Katana's sister remarked.
"There's no time to admire it!" her father growled, glaring at her. Katana's sister and their father never really got along. He grasped a kunai in his hand. "I have to go."
Katana's mother nodded and looked at their children. "We both do." She gripped onto a kunai in one hand and twirled a shuriken on one finger on the other hand.
"Be careful," Katana heard her sister say. Her sister was older by five months and she was very strong and brave.
"Take care of your sister," their mother said.
"I will mother," she replied.
"Katana, you make sure that the two of you get out of this village," their father said. "Don't let your sister try and come back."
"Of course," Katana said, her voice shaky.
They watched their parents run towards the giant beast. Katana grabbed her sisters' arm and dragged her gaze away from the giant tiger. "Sister, we have to go."
Her sister pulled her to her and gave her a hug. "It's okay, Katana. It'll be okay."
Her sister let her go and they ran together through the village. But one problem, the giant tiger appeared in front of the only exit to the village, meaning no one could escape.
The tiger swung its massive paw and nearly all the villagers were thrown.
Katana saw her parents run passed her and they went for the tiger. All the villagers were dead in seconds flat, only the ninja's, Katana and her sister were alive.
Katana and her sister watched the ninja's attempting to fight the tiger. "Sister, what do we do?"
"I don't know, Katana. The only way out of the village is blocked," her sister replied.
Katana was shaking violently and holding onto her sisters' arm with fear. She felt her sister tense up when they saw their parents get thrown away by the tiger. Their mother landed beside them and Katana ran over to her, tears falling out of her eyes. Her sister just stood there, glaring at the tiger, fists clenched. She could hear Katana crying as their mother died, and she watched her father run back to the monster, he was the only ninja left.
The tiger threw its head down and before Katana's father could move, half of his body was bitten off. He was killed.
Katana looked at her sister, her sister was looking up at the tiger, and the tiger was looking back down at her.
It started walking towards her and she started walking towards it, blue Chakra starting to form in her hand.
"Sister, no-"
"It's okay, Katana," her sister replied. "I'll distract it. Meanwhile, you get out of here."
Katana watched her sister continue walking to the tiger, she was scared, she knew her sister wasn't strong enough to take it down, and neither was she. But she knew her sister would die trying to save her!
Suddenly, the blue ball of Chakra in her sisters' hand disappeared when the tigers' red eyes beamed into her sister and it opened its mouth, ready to bite her body in two.
The jaws came down and Katana's sister stood her ground.
Katana got up and ran in front of her sister, holding one arm up. "ARMATO SUMORATA!!!!!!!"
A blue-green-aqua ball of Chakra formed in Katana's hand and expanded to be so big that the blast sent her sister flying backwards. The tiger roared when the blast struck it and it fell to the ground.
Katana fell to one knee and the Chakra went away. She was breathing heavily and she watched the tiger slowly die.
When she was sure it was dead, she stood up and turned around smiling. "Did you see that sister-" She blinked, her sister was nowhere to be seen. "Sister? SISTER!!!!!!"
She looked around and listened, but there was no sight nor sound of her sister.
"Did I...... did I just kill my own sister?" she murmured to herself. "Oh, please no!" Tears welled up in her eyes. "NNNNOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
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She shook her head and tears ran down her face. Her sister was dead, and it was because of her! She turned and ran to the entrance to the village, passed the tiger and passed the village gates. The whole Kasuma Clan was destroyed, and she was the only survivor.
Katana shook her head and tears scattered everywhere. She head her scream echo in her head. But one thing was on her mind. Something about Kaya was strange, the way she talked about her village being destroyed, the same beast that did it, being separated from her sister. It sounded so much like what she went through. She felt sorry for Kaya, having to go through what she did. She felt even more sorry for Kaya for losing her sister after she saved her life. Katana knew what it was like to lose a sister. And she still blamed herself for her sisters' death.
She sighed and walked into her house. She went upstairs and fell onto her bed. It was 6:30, in half an hour she would need to get up and go to the Academy to get put on a squad.
She shrugged and closed her eyes, instantly falling asleep.
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"Katana. Katana get up already!"
Katana opened one eye and looked at her friend Shikamaru. "What?"
"We have to get to the Academy remember?" Shikamaru said. "You can't sleep all day."
Katana murmured a protest and closed her eye again, trying to fall back asleep.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder.
"What the hell are you doing?" Katana grumbled.
"Taking you to the Academy because you wouldn't get up," he answered and walked out into the village and over to the Academy with her on his shoulder. Katana tried falling asleep several times but he shrugged his shoulder to stop her from sleeping.
Shikamaru walked into the Academy and everyone blinked when he came into the classroom. Naruto laughed. He put Katana in her seat next to Kiba and went to sit in his place beside Ino.
Katana rested her head on the desk in front of her and Kiba looked at her. "Are you okay?"
"Sleepy," Katana replied and closed her eyes.
"How much sleep did you get last night?"
"Half an hour, this morning. When I got home."
"Where were you all night then?"
"In the forest, training before being put on a squad."
Kiba was about to say something else but Katana put a hand over his mouth. "Trying to sleep, be quiet," she mumbled.
"Katana!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Katana shot right up, wide awake, blinking at Iruka. "Yes!?"
"Sleeping is for night time, not during the day," Iruka growled.
Katana nodded. "Sorry Iruka-sensei!"
Iruka sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you all what squad you'll be put on."
Katana listened as the list was read out.
"Squad 7. Naruto Uzumaki. Sakura Haruno."
Naruto smiled. "YEAH!!"
Sakura dropped her head.
"And Sasuke Uchiha."
Sakura smiled. "YEAH!!"
Naruto dropped his head.
Katana laughed.
"Squad 8. You will be a four man team because there is one extra student in the class."
The class looked at each other.
"Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, Katana Kasuma," Iruka said. "And the last member is Kiba Inuzuka."
Katana was stunned for some reason. Me with Kiba!?!?! She thought and without noticing, fell back in her seat and bumped her head on the ground.
She blinked open her eyes and saw lots of people looking down at her. Crouched beside her was Kiba. "Idiot, why did you fall off your seat?"
"Don't blame me," Katana said and sat up, holding the back of her head. Kiba helped her stand up and she punched him lightly on the shoulder. "And I'm not an idiot! You are!"
"Well I didn't fall of my seat now did I?" Kiba teased.
"Shut up! It was an accident!"
"Right-e-o, you keep telling yourself that," Kiba smiled and sat back down in his seat.
"I will, oh and Kiba?"
He looked at her. "Yeah, what?"
Katana made hand-signs. "Clone Jutsu!"
Kiba's eyes widened as a clone of Katana tackled him off his seat and onto the ground. Akamaru jumped into Katana's arms and she patted him. "Hello sweaty."
"What was that for!?" Kiba growled with a laugh and the clone disappeared.
"For calling me an idiot," Katana smiled and sat in her seat.
"So I call you an idiot and you send a clone to tackle me!?!?!"
Katana looked deep in thought. "Yep."
"Okay, okay!" Iruka said and read out squad 9. "Squad 10. Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara."
When the squads were finished, everyone was let out for lunch. After lunch they would all meet their squad leaders.
Katana was walking away from the Academy. "Yo, Katana!"
She turned around and saw Kiba, Shino and Hinata. She stopped and waited for them. "What's up?"
"We just thought that, considering we're on the same squad, that we could have lunch together," Hinata said quietly.
Akamaru barked.
Katana smiled. "That'd be nice."
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"Kaya! Oh jeez, where is she now!?"
Pain and nearly the rest of the Akatsuki were looking around the Waterfall Cave.
"Maybe she went for a walk," Deidara replied, he was confused. Kaya had said she would rest all day, but it was noon and she was gone.
Pain sighed. "Itachi, Kisame, go look for her."
"Uh..... Pain?" Kisame said.
"What is it?"
"Itachi's not here."
"Where is he!?"
Kisame shrugged.
"Well go look for him!" Pain snapped. "Deidara, go look for Kaya on your clay bird and Hidan, go look for her in the forest."
All three of them nodded and took off out of the cave.
Pain walked around the cave, looking stressed. "I told her to rest all day!"
"Maybe she went to train," Tobi said.
"But I told her to rest!"
"You know she doesn't do everything we tell her to do," Kakuzu reminded him.
"Yes, but she was so exhausted. I thought she'd take a break because she had been training all night!!!"
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"Alright, give me a break already!"
"Fine."
Kaya stood up and helped Itachi to get up, he was covered in dirt. He brushed it off and Kaya sat down, tired.
"You know you shouldn't push yourself," Itachi said.
"I know," Kaya replied. "But I don't want to waste anymore time acting like a two year old. I want to get stronger and become an S-rank ninja like you and the others."
Itachi crouched down. "That means you have lots of training to do."
Kaya nodded. "So it's best I start now instead of later."
Itachi sighed. "When did you get like this?"
"Last night," Kaya said and thought to herself. When I was training with Katana. She's strong and for some reason, she made me feel as if I needed to get stronger.
Itachi sighed and Kaya stood up. "Let's keep training!" she said.
He stood up to and put a hand on her shoulder. "You've trained enough. You shouldn't have even convinced me to come out here with you to help you train."
"Well it was that or go alone," she smiled and got ready to fight. "Come on. One more fight and then we'll go back."
Itachi looked at her. She had dirt all over her face and she was breathing hard, but she showed determination in her eyes. He shrugged and got ready to fight her, but then he noticed she started wobbling on her legs.
Before he could say anything, she ran at him. All he had to do was put his arms out and catch her as she lost her balance and fell. "That's enough, kid," he said.
"But...." Kaya murmured and when she tried to stand up, her legs gave way and she fell on her knees.
Itachi picked her up. "You've trained too much."
"No I haven't," Kaya replied.
"Stop arguing and accept the fact that you've pushed your body to its limits," Itachi said.
Kaya mumbled something but eventually, her eyes became heavy and she closed them, falling asleep with her head on his shoulder.
He looked at her and shook his head. "Pain won't be happy," he murmured.
"Itachi!"
Itachi turned around and saw Hidan. "I take it you were looking for her?" Itachi said, nodding to Kaya.
Hidan nodded. "Pain got worried, and stressed."
"Sorry," Itachi replied. "She asked me to take her out and train her."
Hidan looked at her. "She over did it as usual, I see."
"Yeah, she was going to fight me again, but her legs couldn't hold her up anymore. I'll take her back to the Waterfall Cave."
Hidan nodded. "I'll go find Deidara and Kisame. They came out looking for the both of you."
Itachi shook his head and ran off.
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"Itachi, where have you been?! And what the hell happened to Kaya this time!?!?" Pain growled.
"Sorry Pain," Itachi said. "But Kaya insisted that I train her for a little while."
Pain shook his head with anger and looked at Kaya. "She's had a change of mind for some reason. She's changed."
"Yeah, since last night," Itachi said and turned his head when Hidan, Kisame and Deidara came back. "Deidara? Did you notice a change in Kaya when she was training with you last night?"
Deidara froze. "Uh... not really. She just wanted to train really hard."
"I wonder what made her train until she couldn't stand anymore," Hidan said.
Itachi shrugged. "What ever it was, it's only half good."
"What do you mean only half good?" Kakuzu said. "This is really good because she's training harder now."
"The bad thing about it is that she's training too hard," Konan said, walking over to Itachi and put her hand on Kaya's forehead. "She even has a temperature."
Everyone looked at Konan. Was she serious?!
"Will she be okay?" Sasori asked, walking over and checking Kaya's temperature himself.
"I think so," Konan smiled. "She just needs a few herbs, some rest and she'll be fine."
"I am fine," Kaya said, opening her eyes and lifting her head up, but suddenly held her head. "Ow."
Konan smiled. "You don't need to act brave. I'll go get you some herbs and I'll be back."
Kaya nodded without complaint and rested her head on Itachi's shoulder again. Konan left the cave and took off in search of herbs.
"Looks like she'll have to stay here while we invade that village tonight," Zetsu said.
"Probably," Pain sighed.
"I could manage it," Kaya murmured.
Pain sighed. "Fine, okay. If you're feeling better by then. But not too much fighting and killing."
Kaya nodded and smiled. "Oh and Itachi?"
"Yeah?"
"You can put me down now, I think I can stand on my own now."
Itachi put her down and she stood on her feet for a few seconds. Then she stumbled and Sasori quickly helped her regain balance. "Come on, kid. You need rest."
Sasori put Kaya on his back and took her to the end of the cave. He put her down and she sat with her back against the wall. "Thanks, Sasori," she smiled.
Sasori nodded and put a hand on her forehead again to check her temperature. He quickly drew back. "Pain!"
Pain ran over to them and crouched down beside them. "What's wrong?!"
"Her temperature is way too high!"
Pain looked at Kaya, she suddenly looked like she could barely breathe, gripping her cloak where her heart was, sweat dripping down her face, her eyes half closed. He put a hand on her forehead and drew back just as Sasori did. "She's over done it and her body can't handle it."
"What should we do?" Deidara asked as he and the others ran over.
"I don't know," Pain admitted. "Only Konan is good with healing."
"I'll go find her," Hidan said and ran out of the cave with his lightning speed, just like Kaya.
"Ah!!"
Everyone turned back to Kaya, her whole body was shaking and the hand over her heart was clenched so tight, her palm was bleeding, her other hand was on the ground, clenched tightly, a bit of blood from the palm.
"Kaya, it's okay. Hidan when to get Konan," Deidara said.
Kaya didn't reply, she was in too much pain. Suddenly, the hand that was on the ground moved to her neck as she started to cough, it sounded terrible.
Hidan came running back in with Konan on his back. She jumped off of his back and ran over to Kaya, the others moved back to give her space. "What happened!?" Konan demanded.
"I put her down and checked her temperature and she suddenly became like this," Sasori replied.
Kaya moved to her side and was on her hands and knees, coughing.
"Is she coughing up blood!?" Deidara exclaimed.
"Yes," Konan replied. "Her body is having trouble adapting to the sudden increase of training she's been doing."
"What does that mean?" Pain asked.
"It means if she continues to train this hard all the time she's going to die!"
Everyone stood frozen.
"She won't die now will she?!?!?!" Deidara asked.
Konan shook her head. "But I still need to get those herbs."
"So what do we do until then?" Hidan asked.
"You can't do anything," Konan replied. "She'll only settle down once she gets the herbs."
"So you're saying she has to be like this until you get back?!" Pain said.
Konan nodded and turned to Hidan. "You're the fastest, besides Kaya. I'll need your help if we want to be quick to help her."
Hidan nodded and put Konan on his back.
"We'll be back soon," Konan replied. "Just make sure she tries to stay still. Ger her some water, she'll need it."
Hidan took off and Deidara went and got some water for Kaya. He came back and Kaya was leaning against the wall again, trying to breathe. He crouched beside her and offered her the water. "Kaya, come on, take this."
Kaya looked at it and shook her head.
"Kaya, you need to drink some water," Deidara insisted.
"I.......... can't!" Kaya managed to say and gripped her cloak near her heart. Deidara and the others watched as she started coughing again. She put a hand over her mouth and they all saw more blood.
Sasori looked towards the cave entrance. Oh, Konan. Please hurry. She's not coping. He thought.
Kaya looked at her friends but they were suddenly gone. She was seeing something else, something that happened eight years ago.
