(My first battle scene ... Sorry if it sucks apparently it doesnt. but Im sorry fi you think it sucks xD)
Disclaimer. I dont own Naruto but I own Subaki and Chiyoko. Yay xD
Also. Sorry this took so long to update. it took me maybe 2 weeks to write ti all and then Cassie two weeks to actually start betaing it XDD My appologies I did bug her about it. Really I did.
Naruto flung himself backwards as the twin sword blades made to slice at where his neck had just been. He jumped back again, landing with his feet and one hand glued to the trunk of a tree with chakra, as the two needles made contact with the bottom of the tree where he had been moments before. His free hand shook slightly with effort as he gripped the handle of a long bladed sword.
"Damn, woman! Are you trying to kill me?!" He shrieked at her from his position on the tree.
Subaki merely glanced up at him from her place in the middle of the clearing before frowning a bit and nodding slightly. "Yes, now stop using your chakra, you rely on it to much."
"I'm supposed to rely on it! I'm a ninja! Besides, there's no way I can beat you without it!" Naruto yelled, even though he did climb onto a branch so he wouldn't be supporting himself with his chakra.
Subaki scoffed playfully, "Naruto, there's no way you could beat me either way. I'm merely making you maneuver while fighting without it."
"Who cares about maneuvering? I want to be stronger!"
"I care, I refuse to teach you until I can be sure you won't just turn into some dumb brute."
Naruto stuck out his tongue at her as he pushed himself off the branch and towards her again. "Then tell me-" Naruto panted as his blade jerked in his hands when it made contact with hers. He swung his blade forward aimed at her unguarded middle before her sword came down and hit his away. "What's wrong with being a dumb brute?" Subaki's weapon yet again made him take a quick leap backwards as it came unexpectedly towards his midsection.
"Simple," she said, not even breathing hard, "dumb brutes take orders, strategists give them." She gracefully slid backwards as Naruto's foil made for her thigh. "Tell me Naruto, are you taking the orders or giving them?"
Naruto brought his blade down to slash her from shoulder to hip as she yet again stepped backwards out his swords reach. "Right now?" Naruto gasped as he lunged to the side to avoid her blade. "Right now it seems like-" He leaped back in the direction he had just come as her steel slashed to where he had just stood. "Seems like I'm taking them." He finished the sentence with a yell as he attacked her with renewed vigor, putting her in the defense, slashing and hacking at her even though he knew in all probability he wouldn't hit her. His wrist was suddenly wrenched as his blade was knocked across the clearing by her own.
One of her swords came to rest on his collarbone, against his throat, as she looked him in the eyes and asked, "Why?" Arching an eyebrow she removed her blade before continuing, "Why are you letting me push you around?"
Naruto shrugged his shoulders as he made his way to retrieve his sword, still panting. "You're too fast." Subaki watched him walk away with a frown plastered on her face before she turned and whipped one of her swords at his unprotected back. Naruto rolled to the side as soon as his mind registered the object flying towards him.
As he lay on the ground he looked over his shoulder at the sword, slightly waving and sticking out of a tree trunk. Looking back at Subaki with a questioning look he continued to pant. "Never turn your back again on an enemy." She explained quite simply. "I figured you would at least know that."
Naruto sighed as he stood slowly and, gripping the sword tightly, pulled it from its wooden imprisonment. "Well obviously I knew that. I thought you'd at least have the decency to let me get my weapon first though." He explained giving her a meaningful look.
Subaki chuckled. "Don't assume things. Come," she said, "again."
The days that passed were filled with ease and spontaneity. Some days they'd travel for hours on end, others barely at all. Subaki said it was because there was nowhere they needed to be. If you felt like walking you walked, if not, then you didn't, it was that simple. Some days they'd get up and train all day then lay down and falling an exhausted sleep for the night, others they'd walk only a few miles before stopping and squandering the day away with rest and contemplations.
Everyday when Naruto woke, Subaki would be making breakfast, though she never fully explained where she got it. They'd then sit and wait. Wait for one of them to make the first move, for one of them to decide what kind of day it would be. It was like chess. Sometimes Naruto would merely lunge are her with a fist, and they'd both know what kind of day it was. Sometimes one of them would get up and go bathe in a nearby creek, or lay back down to sleep more, and they'd both know the day would be for rest. Their days were decided on mere whims, actions based on no real thought, actions that held no consequences. It was as though time had to effect or sway upon their lives.
Then every night one of them would go out and hunt and then prepare dinner. They'd sit by the fire and speak in hushed tones as the sky behind them bled into darkness leaving only the light from their blaze for them to see by. It was a calm, comfortable sort of life. Where one had neither responsibilities nor expectations to live up to, where one was free to do as they pleased without fear of criticism or disapproval. Both knew it couldn't last forever. Nothing so ideal could last forever.
"Subaki?" Naruto asked as his eyes stayed glued to the flames of the fire, which danced and jumped before him.
"Hmm?" Came Subaki's answer, as she lay stretched out on her back watching the stars.
"Why were you alone?" Naruto asked with a pained voice, as though the question burned his throat on the way out.
Subaki shifted her gaze at him before returning it to the night sky. "I don't understand."
"Why were you alone when we first met? Don't you have a husband or a friend you traveled with before me, or something?"
Subaki sat up, leaning into her legs so she could hug her knees to her chest. "Why would you ask me this?" she whispered in a dejected tone.
Naruto shrugged. "You like people. Whenever we pass someone on the road you always smile at them and offer your help. You seem like the kind of person who relies on others for their own pleasure. You look happier since the day we met, even though you kept smiling at me that day your eyes were sad… They don't look as sad now. I just thought you seemed like the kind of person who would want people in their life." Naruto altered his glaze towards her and was surprised to see her face contorted with sorrow and grief.
"Am I truly that easy to read, Naruto?" Subaki whispered as she lifted her face to look at him. "Do I really look that wretched?"
Naruto looked away from her, guilt-ridden that he had caused her this pain. "Not really. I'm just a good judge of character. You like to see people happy. Why don't you have someone?"
"I… I had a lover once… A long time ago." Subaki's voice murmured in a broke tone. "He… He died. There was an accident. I have not taken another since."
Naruto looked back at her to see a small smile play on her lips though her eyes were still sad. "What was his name?" Naruto asked into the silence of the night.
"… Chiyoko…" Subaki murmured as the cheerless smile slowly grew. "He… He was the one who gave me my immortality," Subaki looked up at him as a few stray tears slid silently down her cheeks. "So we might spend eternity together."
Naruto stared at her as she returned her gaze to the fire. "What do you mean, gave you your immortality?"
"I was human once." Subaki's eyes glanced a look at his shocked face before continuing. "A very long time ago, I was human." She reached over to a pile of sticks that they had collected earlier then threw one on the fire.
"… Would you tell me?" Naruto asked in a hushed voice.
Subaki glanced over at him before bringing her palm to her face and rubbing her eye. She replaced her arm around her knee before nodding slowly. "It was long ago… When demons were more common and were not hidden from the common knowledge of people. We were not widely accepted among humans, though we were not mythical monsters either. I was born to a small village, small enough that it didn't need a name… Why would it if it didn't appear on any map? My parents were farmers… Simple people. Our farm was on the very edge of the great forest that surrounded the village. I remember as a child my parents would say 'Don't go in the forest, Jasoma, or the demons will eat you.'" Subaki smiled slightly as she reminisced of her childhood.
"Jasoma?" Naruto asked, looking at her.
Subaki looked at him, for perhaps the first time since her story began. "Yes… That was my name then, Jasoma."
Naruto looked as though he was about to ask something, but her raised hand stopped him. "As I grew into a young woman I grew to be one of the most appealing girls in the village. My hair was long, not as it is now, but to my shoulder blades. It was black… black like a raven. My skin was tanned from laboring in the sun, and my hands callused and strong. Many men had asked for my hand, but I never accepted. I did not love those men. As I grew I also outgrew my fear of the great forest, and one day wandered inward in search of herbs for my ill father. I walked for what seemed like hours… there was no path for me to follow since none of the villagers had ever ventured that deep into the forest. Dusk was falling and I wanted to hurry so I would be home in time for supper, there were noises all around me and I remembered the stories from my childhood and grew anxious. So I ran, and grew disoriented, the further I ran the more lost I became until I tripped over the roots of a mighty pine. As I lay in the dirt a sudden shadow loomed over me and I flung myself backwards in fear. But before me stood a man, not some great monster to devour me…" Subaki was smiling again.
"Chiyoko?" Naruto asked quietly, not wanting to startle her out of her thoughts.
Subaki smiled. "Yes, it was Chiyo… He was magnificent. It was he whom my appearance took after when I changed… His hair was like mine, though a shorter. His skin pale, and his eyes a brilliant gold. I must have looked so foolish lying in the dirt… But he only smiled and offered me his hand to help me up.
"He asked me what I was doing, so far from the village, so I told him of my ill father and how without him, my mother and myself would not be able to support ourselves. He smiled and said 'Return to your home, human, and all will be well again.' Then he showed me the means out of the forest and sent me on my way." Naruto shifted his eyes from her to the sky as he leaned back into the grass.
"So what happened afterwards? Was your father alright?"
Subaki glanced at him. "Oh yes, he was fine, just as Chiyo said he would be… But I couldn't help but wonder who he was. I remember how shocked I was when I realized he couldn't have been human." Subaki's eyes crinkled, as her smile grew larger. "Really, what human would address another one so? I wanted to meet him again, so the next day I returned to the forest, and before long found myself lost in the branches and bramble just as I had been before. I found him sitting by a quiet river after walking for some hours… He looked over at me as I attempted to hide in the bushes and smiled a bit before frowning and glancing at the forest around us…"
"Why? Was he afraid someone was watching?" Naruto asked in confusion.
Subaki laughed for the first time that evening. "No, Naruto! He was wondering why I wasn't dead! I'm sure I was one of the first humans to enter more than once and still be alive."
"Oh…" Naruto said blushing at bit at the obvious answer. "Well what happened?"
Subaki's laughter filled smile fled as her remorseful one returned. "We spoke… and we fell in love over time as I continued to return. He kept trying to make me leave… he kept telling me I wasn't safe. But I didn't care, so he stopped trying. We were lovers for near three years before I hit the age of twenty-one and my parents decided I should marry… I cried so hard that night that the sky cried with me."
"But you didn't! I mean… you married Chiyoko…right?"
Subaki looked over at him with eyes filled with kindness. "Sort of. I suppose that is what you would call it… We were married without ever being married. When I told him of my parents plan he grew angry, and said he would refuse to share me with another man. He… he wept then… because he could see me dying, whether or not I felt it. He offered to take me away from that place, to take me away and that we could never return. He said that he would make me a demon, and that no one, not even my parents, could force me to marry someone I did not love. That we could spend forever together." Subaki smiled again as she glanced at him. "Romantic, yes?"
"So you said yes." Naruto said, more as a statement than a question.
Subaki answered anyways. "Naturally… but I was hopelessly naïve then, and believed my parents would be happy for me… I told him I would meet him by the river, the one where she found him the second time, that night and we would leave. So… So I returned to my parent's home despite Chiyoko's warnings and told them everything, I told them of my love, and Chiyo's offer… and of Chiyo in general, how we had been lovers for near three years. My… my mother wouldn't look at me, she just sat there crying." Subaki's eyes glazed over with tears and resurfaced pains. "My father… He was yelling, though I can't remember what. All I remember was his fists as they rained on me… and when he threw me out into the cold of night as he disowned me…"
"So you changed your name?" Naruto looked at her in sadness and confusion.
Subaki looked at him with hardened eyes before they melted back into sadness. "They disowned me… I disowned them, what they had given me. That night, as I changed into what I am now, I burnt everything I had, everything that they had given me. Everything about me was new. The world around me seemed to change but yet stayed the same."
"Na… I don't get it…" Naruto frowned in bewilderment.
Subaki smiled. "It is beyond words. No mortal words can describe it because no mortal can experience it."
Naruto frowned at the answer… Well, no, he frowned at the excuse not to answer. "So what happened afterwards?"
"We were together for a long time…" Subaki stopped speaking.
"What… What about the accident you mentioned?"
For probably the first time since they met Subaki's eyes refused to meet his own. "… Perhaps we shall save that for another time, it is late, and we will need sleep. There are some people I wish for you to meet." Subaki lay down on her side with her back towards him, hiding her face from him. Naruto sat watching her silently heaving back for some time before lying down as well to sleep, contemplating all he had learned.
The next morning Naruto woke to the smell of fish, as he sat up and looked behind him he sat Subaki nursing a fire with four small fish on sticks leaning into it. She glanced up at him in acknowledgment of his waking before returning to her task. Neither spoke of the night before, for it wasn't exactly table talk.
"So, who are these people I'm meeting?" Naruto asked as he crouched on the other side of the fire from her.
"You will see soon enough." Subaki said as she shifted the fish over to a hotter part of the blaze.
"Pfft, you never tell me anything." Naruto scoffed as Subaki glanced up at him and smiled.
They left after breakfast, walking west all day with only small rests. They continued like this for seven days.
They were in a desert. A stinking, hot, dry desert. Lovely, just lovely.
Naruto wiped his face again as he began to pull himself up another sand dune. "Hey, are you sure we're not lost, Subaki? I mean, we've been here for a few hours now and I don't see anything." 'Except sand… Lots and lots of sand.' His brain commented as the sides of his feet grinding into the sand of his sandals. Naruto grimaced before kicking his leg out trying to dislodge the sand from his shoes. 'Stupid sand… How can Gaara live in a place like this?'
Just then they reached the top of the dune and Naruto stopped in shock. In the distance was a long black line… a caravan of people and animals alike, stretching for miles. "Who are they?" Naruto asked in wonder as he watched the line slowly shift forward.
Subaki glanced over her shoulder as she started down the dune. "Nomads, Naruto. They are nomads."
Ok. For my readers (fans??) (Cassie (beta) is frightened by the fact I may have fans)
Chiyoko – A child of a thousand generations
Chiyo – A thousand generations
(cool name, huh? (5 minutes later… note: his name is meant for a female... but I didn't notice until after I picked it, and I like it and its meaning way to much to change it now.))
Also. To quote my beta straight of MSN talking about how Subaki and Naruto live…
"that's how I feel at my Nanny's house... lol, you're never in a hurry there, you just do whatever you want and take your time doing it... I guess that's how it is with people over 60, like Subaki" Lol. She's silly XD I love her comparing her Nanny to Subaki XD Lo.. People over 60 xP She makes me laugh.
