"Beyond Hearts and Minds"
by XyoushaX
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?
I am sorry if this disappoints the readers, but I might not be as fast as I was in "Dimensional Exchanges." It's just that my grades come before writing fanfiction. (I'm taking a January-term course now: Intensive Beginner's Latin.)
Plus, the average of words in this fic is a lot larger than DE, so it takes a bit more time. I'm writing this to improve my writing skills. This is just for fun.
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"Quotations"
'Inner Thoughts'
(( Flashback ))
-Writing-
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Chapter 4: Threats and Attacks
A cloud of dust burst forth in front of the shrine. "Hinataaaa!"
A muffled squeak sounded out from Hinata as she found herself squeezed by none other than Uzumaki Naruto. The Byakugan-user had known he was running towards her — but she had not expected such a tight embrace from him. She was nearly winded in his grasp.
'Damn, I was so worried.' The young man's nose touched close to her ear, burrowing into her dark-blue hair. 'And her hair smells like flowers...'
Hinata's face burned crimson. She and Naruto had only been on casual dates for a few weeks. They had been doing things together as friends for a longer time, but even now there was nothing serious. Or at least, it was supposed to be nothing serious.
"Na-Naruto-kun, you don't have to worry about me so much," she whispered.
Many people were staring at Naruto's public display of affection.
"Naruto-kun," Hinata repeated, this time in a more urgent manner, "if anybody sees us like this and reports it to my father, wrong ideas might — eep!"
Hinata never got a chance to finish her sentence, for Naruto had lifted her up by the waist and spun her around in the air. "Who cares what he thinks?" Naruto laughed. "If anything, your father should be glad you're safe! I sure am!" He set her right back down. A mischevious, fox-like grin spread on his face, which made him incredibly handsome in Hinata's opinion.
Embarrassed with the attention, Hinata turned her face away to avoid looking directly in his wonderful blue eyes. As she turned her head, she saw a few priestesses nearby give her sly looks, as if calling 'You go girl!' to her. Hinata shook her head vigorously in denial.
Yes, Hinata loved Naruto's company. But right now he was embarrassing himself in the shrine area. If he kept up this pace of gleeful shouting, he'd probably get thrown out for disturbing the peace. That would erase all the romanticism; he needed to calm down.
"Um, Naruto-kun, there's a pond I want you to see," the kunichi said quietly, tugging on his sleeve. "You should see it... It's really beautiful."
"Of course!"
Naruto allowed Hinata to pull him around the building, and lead him towards a simple pond. A small, red bridge complemented the water and the green lily pads. The pair walked on the wooden structure.
"Hey, look!" Naruto pointed at the water. Two carp lazily swam underneath them. "They're pretty, don't you think?" Of course, he thought in his mind, they couldn't really compare with the young lady next to him.
Hinata stepped up, and leaned over the bridge. The fish in the pond, white carp with red spots, were indeed beautiful. In their own slow, floating way, they added a bit of graceful motion to the still garden.
Hinata noticed how close by Naruto was. But as heartwarming as it was, she felt something amiss. Only moments ago, he had displayed loud enthusiasm. It was so awkward, at least in Hinata's own mind, to see him so quiet now.
She still had the crush she had on him years ago in the Ninja Academy. And it only seemed to grow over time, even when he had been gone on his training trip with Jiraiya. Yes, there were many nice boys in Konohagakure, but few of them were as mature as Naruto in qualities such as courage, honesty, and determination.
Hinata knew that Naruto now considered her a close friend — they had been doing small things like training in the morning, and eating lunch together. He even took it upon himself to ask (well, more like volunteer) to accompany her to public events.
(( "Hinata, are ya' going to the summer festival?"
Hinata gulped. "Uh, um... No, not this year."
Naruto blinked. "Why not?" He crept up to her, raising hanging hands like a ghost. "It's gonna be fun! There's even going to be a walk through the graveyard..." He made an impression of a ghoul's face. However well-intended, it was a poor attempt; he looked more like a clown than a monster.
Hinata giggled a bit. "No. I'm not going because... I really don't feel like it. I'd feel alone in the crowd."
It was a depressing afterthought that it probably would not make much difference in her happiness, whether she went or not. She also felt alone in the Hyuuga estate. The festival might be a good change for her — but she would be scolded by the family if she tried to go by herself.
"Alone in the crowd?" said Naruto.
Hinata rubbed her face. She gave a weak smile. "I'm sorry. I guess that sounds odd."
Naruto shook his head. "No. It doesn't sound odd at all." He seemed to recognize the look in Hinata's pale, lavender eyes. It was by far not the terror she had shown when Neji had publicly interrogated her, but it was the same insecurity, the same sadness.
Hinata realized that Naruto was calculating on her predicament. And it was embarrassing: the reason why she was not attending was that nobody had asked her accompaniment, not even as a friend. And Hinata certainly could not go to the festival on her own. Her family watched over her like a hawk. Naruto was much more free in this matter than she was. And Hinata would never ask for an escort from the family — the last thing she wanted to do was to put extra obligation onto a relative, just because she was part of the main family. It was some sort of obsession of Hinata, not to cause others trouble.
What Naruto suggested next was both relieving and shocking to Hinata.
"Hinata... could you come with me to the festival?" ))
Hinata smiled weakly at the memory. That had been one of the most wonderful festivals she had ever attended. The graveyard walk was not really a bore as she had expected. Sure, she knew exactly what would pop up when and where, the Byakugan-user she was, but Naruto kept holding her hand, just in case she felt queasy with the crazy props of fake, severed heads and the pale costumes of volunteers posing as ghouls. Holding his hand, she remembered, had made her feel a lot warmer than the chill that a horror-stroll was intended to bring in the hot and humid summer.
Now, the girl swallowed with a dry throat. Some part of her was scared. She was scared that she and Naruto would just remain friends. The boy was so honest to people; bluntly at times. Sure, she could give that extra push by telling him her true feelings. But what if he did not want that? Hinata did not want to gamble their friendship for something that was only a possibility.
She would never know if she did not try. In a burst of courage, Hinata scooted up next to Naruto, and leaned her head on his shoulder.
Naruto tensed at the gesture — but it was only for a split-second. The youth relaxed, and placed his arm comfortably around Hinata. This made the girl snuggle closer to him in bliss.
Then Naruto remembered why he was here in the first place. He gulped. Well, Tsunade did him a favor by putting him on the backup team, so he might as well not let it go to waste. Naruto neared his mouth towards Hinata's ear. He had been trying to do this for weeks, but he never worked up the nerve. Now it seemed like it was bursting out of him.
"Hinata, I want to ask you something," he whispered. "Is it okay if... um..."
Hinata glanced up at Naruto. "Yes, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto stared in Hinata's pale lavender eyes. Good God, he could look in them forever. He had to ask her if he could, just possibly, have the honor of being called her boyfriend. Right here and right now.
Naruto knew perfectly well that speaking was not too complicated a task in itself. It was plainly obvious how he felt about Hinata. He could barely sleep in recent days because of the recent attack on her squad. So why didn't the words come out?
"Hinata-chan." He swallowed to clear his throat. "Is it okay if you become my girlfriend? Officially?"
He felt Hinata stiffen on his shoulder with the word girlfriend.
Naruto's heart began to sink with the awkward silence. He should have known. It was ridiculous in a social perspective. He and Hinata had only been training, eating lunch, and other small things together in a platonic manner. Because of their schedules as select chuunin, and Naruto studying with Sasuke for promotion, he barely saw Hinata anymore. The Hyuuga heiress, be his girlfriend? Bah!
Naruto swallowed the pain. Even when he was going on seventeen, there were times when he wanted to cry. "I mean, I understand perfectly if you..."
This time around, Naruto found himself in a tight embrace.
The blond chuunin was totally confused. "Hinata-chan?" Naruto couldn't see her face: it was hidden within his shirt.
A high-pitched and muffled sound came out from the dark-haired kunoichi, along the lines of "mmmpf."
Naruto blinked. "What?"
She looked up. "Yes!" Hinata said breathlessly. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes shone. A mixture of happiness, embarrassment, and disbelief brightened her smile. "I...I... would love to be your girlfriend, Naruto-kun."
It was Naruto's turn to color. "Really?" he squeaked, rivaling the voice of his newly-made girlfriend.
"Really!" Hinata repeated, now more loudly than ever. Her arms squeezed around him in a tender hug.
One of her hands trailed up Naruto's well-built torso, and then hesitantly touched his reddening cheek.
Naruto's blue eyes shot open at what Hinata did next.
Sasuke crossed his arms. He sat on the ground, his back leaning against a boulder. Why did Naruto have to take so long?
It was not his fault that Naruto had been silent on needing 'alone' time with Hinata. In Sasuke's personal and professional opinion, this was a retrieval mission of wounded shinobi — nothing else. His hyperactive teammate and the Hyuuga heiress could have done their business once they got back to Konohagakure. But no: Naruto, after experiencing the slightest possibility that Hinata could have died, was too antsy to find her, and then do his official confession and all that.
Luckily, Sakura had recognized earlier just what Naruto's nervous gait (and maddening dash) towards the shrine had meant. Before Sasuke could walk in to ruin the moment with his stiff demeanor, the kunoichi had managed to stop him. Actually, 'stop' was a lighter term — it was more like Sakura grasped the back of Sasuke's shirt, and gave him a world-class lurch of the neck.
Sakura observed the dark-haired ninja brooding on the steps of the temple. "Are you still mad that I yanked back your collar?"
Sasuke did not answer. He had rebuilt his tough exterior towards Sakura. A small part of his pride had been wounded when she hadvslighted him the previous evening. He also did not want her to worry about him. Well, maybe a little bit, but still.
Sakura sighed. Well, if there was a time to say it, it was now. "If you want to know about the Kanashibari: I learned it from my dad."
Sasuke digested this sudden information. He looked up, and noticed that she was not directly looking at him.
"Thank you for saving me from that creep." A faint smile traced Sakura's lips. "I was angry and stupid last night, I'm sorry. You're a good friend, Sasuke."
Sasuke nearly snorted in bitterness with that last comment. He did not deserve to be called a friend, much less a good one. Yet he felt a sort of relief that she considered him as such.
"Well, I guess I have no reason to stay here," Sakura said. "See you later." She went in the opposite direction, towards the living quarters of the shrine.
Sasuke similarly got up. He decided that Naruto had to be done with... whatever he was doing. The dark-haired chuunin walked around the boulder, and through the garden towards the pond.
And then he saw Naruto and Hinata — oh gods — kissing. It was rather revolting to the stoic Uchiha. One simply did not have a make-out session in a public shrine (even though very few people were around at this time of day). Plus, Sasuke had never observed any other couple kiss, except for very brief instances of memory regarding his parents.
The couple immediately pulled away from each other at Sasuke's presence. Hinata blushed like a schoolgirl. "I— I have to look after the patients," she said hurriedly. "I'll see you later, Naruto-kun..."
Naruto smiled as she scuffled off towards the main building. 'She's so cute when she's embarrassed!' He then turned to his best friend, and shot him a glare of death. "What is it?" Naruto asked, his voice half-official and half-damning.
"It's our turn for guard-duty, right now," Sasuke intoned. "I was going to warn you ahead of time, but you seemed busy." A piece of annoyance (dare one call it envy?) simmered within Sasuke. Mind you, he was not jealous for Hinata (and certainly not for Naruto), but the couple had something... interesting. The scene made Sasuke wonder what it would be like, having someone to adore him, and love him no matter what kind of failure he was.
It was food for thought. Sasuke could admit that.
- To the Fifth Hokage,
We express outrage at the recent self-centered and dangerous moves you have displayed. Not only do you and a few other Kage insist to continue the Chuunin exams in Konohagakure, you have the nerve to revive the cross-border ninja groups as well. Quite frankly, these efforts have been failures of the past. Not only is this a publicity stunt, it is a dangerous move for all ninja villages, as the daimyō will not trust ninja if we unite in any shape or form. If you fear for the safety of your village, as well as the safety of the various daimyō of the country, cancel the Chuunin Exams immediately. If you do not, you will regret it. -
Tsunade snorted as she laid the letter aside. That was the tenth threatening letter the office received this week. Many of the other letters were rants of purile insults, even ad hominem attacks of why a medical ninja got to become Hokage. She would so love to give them a pounding of a lifetime, to show what exactly a medic-nin could do.
The message was actually one of the more intelligent letters. Save the comment of calling Konoha a 'peace-idiot village', and the obvious threat at the end, Tsunade could understand the writer's perspective. It was a good point: the international ninja-effort was a risky business. But it was only because of the recent uprising near the Hidden Rain Village that Tsunade asked the other Kage to help her in it.
There had been increased incidents of Ame-nin leaving their posts. Rumors flew about the rebellion, that the feudal lords in the vicinity were growing mad, ordering strange and impossible missions. There were even whispers that citizens were vanishing.
Some of the torn soldiers from the Rain had come to the Leaf, seeking partial refuge. Yes, partial. They wanted the protection of an official ninja village, and then afterwards go back to their country when it was sane again. It was not only the Leaf: a few other villages, even as far as the Sand, were receiving Ame-nin. If the Ame-nin were not accepted in the villages — well, they usually had to scrape a living in the country, doing missions solo, usually as missing-nin. In turn, jounin and ANBU of the stable ninja villages received increases in missions, but not necessarily increases in pay.
The best thing that Tsunade could do was to put the inexperienced Ame-nin in the exams, representing their own village. If they could just prove that their younger generation still held promise, the daimyō would put some faith into the village and invest in it. Some of the things about the Rain did not suite Tsunade's tastes, but she was not willing to be responsible for the annihilation of a whole village.
Thus, what she and the other Kage had agreed upon was to put in mixed groups. They had to select their own genin carefully, the hardiest and most able to defend themselves, should their comrades decide to attack them.
Tsunade looked at the list of five Leaf genin she selected for the program. One was Haruno Sakura, her own student. The pink-haired kunoichi worked well with others. She was a superb medical ninja, something that was a demand in all ninja villages. And she could protect herself. Sakura had the taijutsu from her and Lee, plus a little of genjutsu from her father.
The Hokage smiled. 'Make us proud, Sakura.'
Sasuke and Naruto ran to their assigned area, jumping over the rooftops and into the forest. "The first one who touches so much as a leaf loses!" Naruto challenged.
Sasuke grumbled at Naruto's attempts for another dual. "How do you measure something like that?" he asked. "It's pointless."
Naruto snorted. "It's a stealth-practice, asshole. You know perfectly well that a shinobi has to move along with the terrain. If you fly into a swarm of branches, your enemy will immediately locate you."
Sasuke eyed a dark spot in an upcoming tree. "Like those coming up?"
"Yes, exactly — HOLY SHIT!"
The mass that Naruto and Sasuke initially had thought of as a clumb of branches, was in reality a web of dark-purple thorns. It was an enormous ball of sticks and needles. It stank of vile aura.
Naruto's body was going too fast through the air, so he could not stop himself entirely. Instead, he grabbed a hold of a sturdy branch, and swung himself up, letting the momentum carry him up and around.
Naruto stood up from the branch, and eyed the collection of thorns. "What is that thing?"
He had a bad feeling about it, especially when Kyuubi was hissing in his cell.
'BOY, that thing you see — go inside and kill it! KILL IT!'
Naruto blinked. 'Why? What is it?' he mentally asked the fox-demon. 'What does it do?'
'Look at your mere fleas of comrades, see what's happening to them.'
Comrades? Naruto focused on the hanging cluster of black branches: there were the two chuunin whom he and Sasuke were supposed to change posts with. The enormous thorns twisted around their unconscious bodies.
'What the hell is this?' Sasuke focused a bit of chakra into his eyes. The onyx changed into red with three black teardrops. With his Sharingan, the young ninja scanned his colleagues trapped in the mess. The branches had chakra emitting from them. The chakra's color was an eerie ivory-white, dwarfing the wisps of blue aura that escaped the shinobi's bodies. Well, at least the ninja were still alive. It did not seem like the branches were draining aura from them. Yet Sasuke still had no idea what the mass was. It looked like a cross between a hornet's nest and a large thorn bush.
"Don't touch it, Naruto," Sasuke said. "It has immense chakra."
"Well, duh. I know that just by feeling the air." Naruto glanced at his unconscious colleagues — damn, if only he and Sasuke came sooner. "But how are we going to save them?" he asked frantically.
Naruto looked into the nest of thorns. Something appeared underneath the dark-purple branches.
He realized that it was an eye. A very large, single, eye. Naruto dropped his jaw in shock.
'You IDIOT!' Kyuubi roared. 'Kill it before the eggs hatch!'
Naruto snapped back to the present. "EGGS?" he asked in a hoarse whisper.
Sasuke instinctively drew out a kunai and threw it at the center of the mass. The eye blinked away out of sight. The weapon passed through, and stopped with the cracking sounds of branches. No spurt of blood appeared. The eye appeared again; the kunai itself was still lodged in the center.
A shiver went down Sasuke's spine. This was not human. It was not even remotely animal.
A sharp twig suddenly appeared to Sasuke's side, right out of his blind angle. It's knife-like point glistened, ready to take its next victim.
"Sasuke!" Naruto leapt from his spot, and shoved the teenager out of the path of the incoming spear. The blonde's push and irritating voice yanked the raven-haired ninja from his momentary lapse. The two attached themselves to a nearby tree with chakra in their hands and feet. "What are you doing, Bastard, freezing like that?"
"Shut up!" Sasuke snarled. "Let me think about this situation!" He and Naruto disappeared from their spot, avoiding another purple-black spear. Ivory aura hissed at the point of contact on the tree, eating away at the bark and raw wood.
"Duh, we've got to destroy that thing!" Naruto shouted. "But first we've got to get those two out of the —"
The web of branches loosened unexpectedly. The thorns gave way, bloodying the two chuunin nesting in the mass, and finally letting them go. Well, that certainly solved the dilemma of freeing their teammates. The only problem was that at the rate they were hurtling toward the ground, they would probably get crushed.
The bodies stopped mid-fall. They bounced upward. Soon, the two chuunin were suspended in the air.
Sasuke growled as he held onto the strings. The weight of two unconscious people really could make a simple tool like a string dig into one's palms. He slowly began to walk in and around the branches with chakra in his feet, tying the wires around so that the two unconscious men would not drop.
"Nice catch, Sasuke!" Naruto then shot his face towards the ball of thorns, the large eye glistening. "Now to kill this thing before it hatches, or whatever."
The monster inside of the mass turned its vision to the ground, directly away from Naruto. Its slimy eye widened — from fear or from shock, the boy could not tell. But it was an opening. Naruto's hand opened to reveal a small ball of chakra. He had been powering it up for the past minute or so; it was so concentrated that it could bite through anything.
The blond shinobi snarled as he jumped from the tree trunk, towards the cluster of thorns. It was the eyeball he had to aim at. "Rasengan!"
The strange creature then realized the dangerous predicament it was in. It willed a set of thorns to cover itself as protection — but Naruto's attack simply ripped through, branches and eyeball, like a hot knife through butter. A glob of disgusting material burst around Naruto's hand.
Sakura walked down the moss-covered steps. Her last shift had ended ten minutes ago. Now was the time for enjoying the scenery.
She had been quite busy throughout the day, running around with rolls of bandages like some madwoman. She even had to pull a few ninja out of a comatose state; they had gone in some odd type of shock during the attack. She had to constantly 'borrow' Hinata's medical creams, and a few of the shrine maidens supplied the team with fresh herbs. When the medical team had stabilized everyone, it was already late in the evening.
It was a blessing that the miko of the Shinto shrine were willing to house them and their injured colleagues for a couple of nights. The inns in the vicinity were full because of the long party at the daimyo's house. Sure, it might only have been because the miko wanted some attention from good-looking males (a certain handsome blond with a dark knight attracted good attention), but anything that reduced expenses for Konohagakure was good for the mission. For return payment to the shrine, the ninja agreed to patrol the area around the shrine as well as the daimyo's property.
Sakura was not part of the official patrol, but that did not bar her from exploring the area a bit. The half-greened, half-stone road was very comfortable to walk on. The quaint Jizou statues lined up to the side of the road, watching over those passing by.
Sakura bend over to the small statue, and tightened the red scarf it had around it. Her fingers brushed the stone material.
Sakura realized that the statue was moving.
Not only that, the ground was shaking. 'An earthquake?' Sakura thought. 'No… Earthquakes usually occur with one loud shake, and the smaller tremors come afterwards. Is there a giant animal in the vicinity?'
Sakura knelt down, and touched the stone steps. They were still. The vibrations were already gone. The kunoichi looked around. What had caused that?
The girl heard some distant calls in the forest.
A brief touch on Sakura's shoulder made her freeze. There was someone behind her.
Her eyes turned wide. How could she not have sensed the stranger? Sakura had an innate ability for not only controlling chakra, but also identifying different types. But in her personal musing, she had totally forgotten about her surroundings, including the drifting of life aura throughout the atmosphere.
Sakura turned her head to get a better glimpse of the person. He was completely covered in a black cloak, hiding his neck and almost his entire body. The man wore a weather-beaten straw hat, tilting it to hide his face. He was a master at stealth, quiet as night.
"Is there something I can help you with?" Sakura asked politely. Just because her outer and inner selves seemed to have fused together long ago, did not mean she had to act like a bitch. In fact, it was her duty as a kunoichi to blend into social settings. It was obvious in other villages and cities that she was not a local resident (green eyes and a flowery mop of pink hair was something exotic), but most people usually received a mature young woman with kindness and respect. Sakura did her best to return it. As anybody in espionage knew, good manners, along with an informed and fully alert mind, could haul in stacks of juicy information.
But the stranger in black, standing behind her, said nothing in return. He only shook his head, lightly setting off the wind chimes attached to his straw hat.
Sakura shivered. This man was not what he seemed. His entire demeanor had an eerie feel. She decided that this was a good time to walk away. Her heel rose slightly from the ground.
The stranger raised his straw hat. Two orbs revealed themselves to Sakura, and imprinted themselves in her vision. They were dark, and very difficult to read. Without her knowing it, Sakura found herself studying them intently, like some ancient book. But like many intricate books, there was a risk attached in reading it: either get completely enthralled in it, or turn bored enough to make one fall asleep. Even on a beautiful afternoon such as this.
Sleep. It was a nice thing, as Sakura thought about it. The stranger's eyes were mysterious. What color were they? Wait, why would she want to know that in the first place?
Sleep.
Sakura realized she could not move.
Her psyche snapped into battle mode. 'Genjutsu?' she thought it alarm. There was an entrapment taking over her mind. It had to do something with the stranger's eyes; that much she could guess. Sakura closed her own eyes, and willed her body to escape the hypnotic spell. She willed her normal stream of chakra to halt.
Sleep. It's so nice, a voice coaxed.
'I will do no such thing!' Sakura shouted mentally, her chakra coursing through veins once more. Her emerald eyes snapped open, seeing clearly. Sakura avoided looking at the man's face, especially his hypnotizing eyes. She backed away in quick, careful steps, her body loosening from the paralysis. The stranger was dangerous. She could not possibly fight him alone. Were he a professional assassin, she would need backup.
Escaping was the wisest choice for the moment.
If only she had enough time to do it.
What happened next was a blur. The stranger appeared in front of Sakura almost instantaneously. He raised a pale hand, and gave a hammer-like tap on her forehead, hitai-ate and all. It had only been his finger, but he nailed it right. The tight force of the blow made the kunoichi stagger back and fall on her rear end.
This embarrassed Sakura, that some weirdo in a black cloak could sneak up on her like that and insultingly flick her on the forehead, as if she were a child being reprimanded. She wondered what was going through his brain: one moment it seemed like he was trying to kill her, the next moment, it looked like he was teasing her.
Sakura reached up to touch the Konoha hitae-ate that had protected her from a worse blow. But instead of steel, her fingers met smooth skin. A sudden gasp escaped her lips as she looked up.
The man's hand tightly held Sakura's hitae-ate. His nails were painted in a dark purple, and a ring laced a long finger.
Sakura suddenly forgot her fear. "Hey!" It did not matter to her at the moment that this oddity tried to hypnotize her, made her fall back just by the movement of his wrist, and stole her hitae-ate without her even sensing it. That hitae-ate was hers. "Give that back!"
"What is this to you?" he asked, holding up the headband. The stranger lowered his head again, veiling his face underneath the straw hat. His thumb rubbed the Konoha symbol engraved on the steel plate. "This is a piece of metal. Nothing more." The man threw the hitae-ate at Sakura's feet, as if it were some piece of trash.
"Asshole," Sakura muttered under her breath as she bent over to pick it up. So the man had no intention of hurting her. He was only a bully.
Taking this opportunity, the man closed his eyes in concentration. He had to be quick and efficient in this. The nearby demon attack provided a distraction, enough time for him to reach this pink-haired girl. If she died as a result — well, too bad for her that she was not up to par with the standards. She already had a couple points off for letting her guard down.
As Sakura raised herself up, her green eyes caught something strange. She saw two dots with red and black swirls. They literally sucked out the environment. Everything in her vision melted into darkness.
An overwhelming sense of dread washed over her.
Sakura heard a terrified scream break the peace. Little did she realize that it was her own voice.
Notes:
If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.
