Her Fate In My Hands
A/N: Hello, everyone! Thank you to those of you who reviewed! Last time; Kabuto left and Aiko is a little upset about that, but now Orochimaru has her in his sights. Now she must face Shu, who wants to avenge his teammates, but the demon inside Aiko wants to finish off Shu. How can Aiko fight Shu and the demon at the same time?
Chapter 7: Two on One
Aiko took the first punch and staggered for a moment. She could tell he wasn't using all of his strength, frightened to unleash her inner demon. She sighed and looked at him with sad eyes.
"Look...I know how you feel," she said. "But is that all the effort you'll put into this fight to avenge your teammates? Come at me with all you have. I'm stilling giving you the first shots without me blocking you. So, go on." He was silent for a moment.
"Why do you care?" he asked, anger layering his voice. "You're the one that killed them!"
"I didn't mean to. It just happened. Now, are you going to keep talking or are you going to attack me? You may want to put some more effort into this."
"I'm just getting warmed up!" Shu shouted, as he came at her again. This time he punched her upright the jaw and then kicked her in the gut, sending her to the floor. He brought his heel down on her, but she moved out of the way. She was now going to defend herself, after already keeping her promise with him getting the first shots at her. She put up her fists and they started to exchange and dodge blows. Kuro and Rai looked down at Aiko, noticing she was a little different. She wasn't afraid to hit another person unlike before when she actually hesitated. Rai thought that it was because the seal was showing and it brought out a braver side of her.
Aiko and Shu jumped away from each other to catch their breaths. Aiko wiped the blood away from the side of her mouth and got back into a fighting stance. Shu took a deep breath and also got into a fighting stance. Aiko was about tp attack when she felt a sharp pain in her stomach and dropped her stance. Shu looked at her with a questioning look.
"What's...happening?" she muttered.
"Let me out!" shouted a voice in Aiko's head. She closed her eyes in pain and held onto her stomach. Shu watched as Aiko fell to her knees in pain.
"What is happening to me?" Aiko asked herself.
"Let me out, you stupid girl! I am going to finish him off like his little friends!"
"W-What?"
"You are not familiar with what happened because I am the one that tried to kill them! I almost succeed, but that miserable friend of your stopped me! Now is my chance to destroy this man! So, let me out now!"
"No!" Aiko shouted, her hands over her ears. Shu looked at her, as did everyone else, but still kept his fighting stance. "The killing stops here. I will not let you kill anyone here, got that? No one!"
"You pitiful girl! You are sending yourself to your own death! He wants to kill you in return for what I did to his teammates. You have no choice but to kill him or be killed yourself. Which is it?"
"No..." Aiko trailed off. Shu was tired of her talking to someone he couldn't see and attacked her. The girl looked up and was able to jump away from him, but he grabbed her ankle and slung her to the other side of the room. She hit the wall and fell to the floor on her side. She gripped her ribs and winced as she stood from her landing spot. Her knees were shaking a little, but she was able to stand straight. He attacked once again, but Aiko had decided to fight back. She grabbed both of his fists and bent them back. He shouted in pain as he heard a crack come from his wrists. She kicked him in the stomach and heard and even larger and louder crack come from his wrists. He hit the wall on the other side of the room and landed on the floor on his butt. He got up, not using his hands. She had broken his wrists and he could not longer feel his hands. She got into a fighting stance, still feeling the demon in her trying to release itself. She was able to hold it off. Shu, on the other hand, was trying to think of a way to attack Aiko without using his hands. He would have to resort to kicks and dodges since his arms hands were useless and he didn't know how his arms would be of any help to him at this point. Shu ran towards her again and tried to sweep kick Aiko to make her fall over. She jumped over his leg, but when his leg came around again, she landed beside it and he was able to trip her. She was about to fall back, but he brought his leg up and kicked her in the side. This attack sent her to the ground again, but when she hit the floor, she gripped at the tiles and pushed herself back onto her feet. He brought his leg up into the air and then brought it back down, trying to hit her in the shoulder to make her fall to her knees. She grabbed his leg with one hand and placed her other hand under his shin. She flipped him over her back, but he landed on his feet in a bent down position. He jumped back at her and hit her in the lower back with his knee. She fell forward and landed on the ground on her stomach. Aiko shook her head as she sat up and Shu placed his foot on her back, pushing her back down. He grinned as she just lay there. She spat some blood out of her mouth and looked at Shu from the corner of her eye.
"You see what it like now...not having anyone else on your side and you have to fight on your own," Shu stated, still grinning. "You've had those two guys help you this whole time, but now that your on your own, you can't save anyone...not even yourself. I had to fight my way here after you killed my friends. Now, I will take revenge by killing you."
"Let me out now!" the demon demanded. Aiko shook her head again. "Are you going to let it end here? Here and now? You are weaker than I thought. You are never to show that you want death unless you truly do. And I know for a fact that you want to live. You want to see that man again. The man with the silver hair."
"Kabuto?"
"You want to live and see him again. I am not going to argue with you for much longer, but believe me when I tell you that you want to live. No matter how many times you say you want to die, you never really mean it. Now, let me out!" Aiko closed her eyes and saw Kabuto standing in the darkness. He smiled, but then vanished. She opened her eyes again, but they were blood red and her canine teeth were like fangs. Her nails were long and sharp. She was able to bring her arm back and grab Shu's ankle. He looked down at her in disbelief.
"Guess who came back to play?" Aiko said, a demonic voice layering her own. Her grip on his ankle tightened and they all heard a large cracking sound again. He closed his eyes in pain as Aiko threw Shu off of her and he landed on the ground. She got up and dusted herself off.
"Don't kill him!" Aiko pleaded.
"I won't kill him. I'll just break some more bones!" the demon said, licking her lips. She was able to break his forearms, ankles, and two of his ribs before the match was declared over with. The demon subsided and Aiko collapsed. Orochimaru, who had watched the entire fight, decided to take action. He used his jutsu and ended up next to Aiko and helped her up.
"Wh-Where is my sensei?" she asked. "I must speak to him."
"He's not here, but don't worry," said the man with long black hair. "I'll get you to the infirmary so you can be taken care of. You look so tired."
"No need for you to take her," said a man from the infirmary. "We'll take care of her." Not wanting to blow his cover, he handed Aiko over to the man and went back up onto the balcony. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.
"I wasn't able to get much, but I could feel the sadness is her. It is feeding the demon inside of her. As long as Kabuto is away from her, she will get stronger. Then what I have to do to get her to be on my side is very clear."
A/N: and now, this chapter comes to a close. In the next chapter:
Aiko is in the infirmary and is trying to get some rest when someone comes into her room. Who is it and why is he there?
See you next time in,
Chapter 8: Lessen My Sadness
