Chapter Six
Ayane's True Self
We started out as soon as we could. The sun was shining brightly and the birds were singing cheerfully. But now was not the time to admire the weather. Sutaru had been kidnapped, and Kitsuchi and I were going to save her this time. I walked slowly beside Ryuunosuke-sensei. He kept glancing down at me every few minutes, but whenever I returned his stare he looked away.
"Am I making you uncomfortable sensei?" I asked. He suddenly looked down at me.
"N-no it's just hard to see you like this." He replied. I sighed.
"If I make you uncomfortable you can tell me. My seclusion makes many people uncomfortable, and I have threatened to kill you more then once now, and I'm very sure Kitsuchi and Sutaru explained what happens when I say I will." He nodded.
"You haven't killed me yet though, so I suppose that's a good thing." Ryuunosuke-sensei said trying to lighten the mood.
"The reason I haven't killed you yet is because I threatened to kill you for two different reasons. If the reason had been the same then we would not be walking beside each other right at this very moment." Ryuunosuke-sensei stared at me shocked and stopped walking. I continued on and was soon walking beside Konomaru, the ninja who promised to help us get Sutaru back with his brigade. He looked down at me and when I looked at him he smiled.
"That transformation is very impressive." I looked down at myself. I had been chosen to transform into a clone of the princess so we wouldn't have to worry about the real princess Kuroda getting in the way.
"Yes, I try to do my best." I replied in a monotone voice. We suddenly stopped and two ninja of Konomaru's brigade appeared in front of us.
"Sir, we scouted ahead and couldn't find the captors anywhere."
"Are you positive?"
"Yes sir."
"I see, good work." The two ninja nodded and Konomaru turned to Kitsuchi, Ryuunosuke-sensei and the rest of his brigade.
"They haven't arrived yet." Ryuunosuke-sensei sighed.
"Then what should our next move be?"
"At this time the only thing we can do is keep at least two men on watch until they arrive." Ryuunosuke-sensei nodded.
"I suppose you're right. Looks like we're going to have to just sit here and wait." I looked up at him and he slowly shook his head. I slowly walked over to a tree and sat underneath it. Kistuchi joined me.
"Are you ok Ayane?"
"Yes, I'm fine." I replied. I picked up a small twig lying beside me and began to slowly break it into little pieces.
"Are you sure?" She asked slightly worried.
"I'm fine Kitsuchi, please stop asking." I replied again breaking the twig into smaller and smaller pieces wondering what was the best way to completely destroy those monsters.
-Sutaru-
I took a deep breath and the smell of cold, wet stone filled my nostrils. I slowly opened my eyes and found myself in a dark cave. My wrists and ankles were bound and I had something tied around my mouth.
"Well, well, well, looks like she's awake." A deep voice sounded out. I recognized this voice, but couldn't quite place who it was. Suddenly a rush of memories appeared in my mind and everything came back to me. I began to struggle slightly.
"And she's still trying to fight her way out." I recognized the voice of Atsuto. I tried to say something but my voice was muffled by the cloth.
"Take that stupid cloth off, there really isn't any need for it. No one's going to hear her." Heisuke demanded. I felt warm hands on my face and the cloth slowly came away.
"So, what did you want to say?" Atsuto asked. I glared at him.
"Where the hell are we?" I asked.
"In a cave." Heisuke replied.
"Yeah, I think I kinda got that when I noticed all the rocks." The three ninja laughed.
"I like this one, she doesn't seem to have any fear in her at all." Atsuto said darkly.
"Yes, but if she's not careful she's going to get herself hurt." I felt a cold blade fly by me and felt the warmth of my blood trickle down my left cheek. I glared at the figure who had cut me. He smiled darkly down at me.
"Screw you." I said coldly. His smile quickly disappeared and I felt a warm hand quickly slap me across the face. I heard a faint laugh from the one called Souji but I stayed firm. I didn't cry out, I didn't even whimper. I had already been through too much pain to care. I slowly turned back to look at him, fury raging in my eyes.
"Deruku, if you keep that up you're going to mark that pretty face." I felt Atsuto come close to me. He bent down to my height and put his index finger under my chin. He lifted my head up and turned it from side to side. He gazed at the cut on my cheek and the red mark on the other.
"I hope this doesn't scar, it'll completely ruin you."
"Well, it seems Atsuto has taken a liking to our little hostage." Souji said. I glared at him and then turned back to Atusto. He was still gazing at my wound. I pulled my head away.
"Don't touch me."
"What's wrong, do I make you nervous?" He smiled darkly.
"As soon as I get out of here, I'm going to have so much fun watching you die by my hand." I replied darkly. He looked at me and continued to smile. He slowly stood back up.
"And I'm going to have fun watching you try, my pretty princess." He walked away and out of sight. I sighed. It took awhile before my heart beat returned to a normal pace. We would be leaving soon and I couldn't wait until I could fight again with Kitsuchi and Ayane.
-Ayane-
"Sir Konomaru!" One of the two ninja on watch came running over to us.
"Yes, what is it?!"
"They've arrived and they have the girl with them." Kitsuchi and I quickly jumped to our feet.
"Was there anyone else with them?"
"No, just the girl and four other ninja, we couldn't see any reinforcements."
"I see, good work." The ninja nodded and disappeared. Konomaru turned to look at us.
"So are we ready to execute the plan?" Ryuunosuke-sensei asked. Konomaru nodded.
"Yes, but there's something about this that I don't like. Why didn't they bring any reinforcements with them? It's not like Ebiru's men to head into a fight without some kind of backup."
"Maybe they aren't alone." Kistuchi said. Konomaru turned to look at her.
"My men are some of the greatest fighters and trackers in our village, they would have noticed if anyone else was there."
"Yes, but what if their fighters and trackers are just as good? They could easily hide themselves as well as your men could." Konomaru nodded.
"I suppose that's true. We will still continue with the plan and have my men close by just incase things decide to take a turn for the worse."
"Things aren't going to take a 'turn for the worse' and I'm going to make sure of it." I told him. He stared at me shocked but didn't say anything else.
We slowly headed towards the clearing. Konomaru figured the slower we headed there the less chance of the other ninja panicking and doing something they'd regret. We soon made it to the clearing. The three ninja were standing above Sutaru. I felt something inside pull me towards her, but I stayed beside Ryuunosuke-sensei. She looked up at me and made a questioning face. I quickly made a small notion to make sure she knew to keep quiet and she didn't say a word. I looked up at the three ninja and could finally see them clearly.
The ninja I had fought, Heisuke, was the tallest of the four and looked about thrity years old. His black hair was tied back in a long ponytail. He had a mid-part that fell to the left and right of his face and went down just past his chin. It reminded me a little of Sasuke, but I quickly erased the thought. His dark, amber eyes reflected his hatred for the other village. He had a single scar going from above his left eye down just past his nose. He was wearing a black sweater and baggy black pants. He had bandages around his wrists and had a long kunai with chain strapped to his left side.
The ninja Kitsuchi had fought, Souji, was the shortest of the group but looked around twenty-five years old. His light brown hair was short and spiked in the front. His bright blue eyes were luminous and very observant. He was wearing a skin-tight, white t-shirt and black baggy pants. He had the tattoo of a dragon going from the top of his right arm to the tip of his middle finger. He had black sweat-bands around both wrists and he was holding a single sword that had small ridges sticking out of it. He smiled darkly at us.
Atsuto, the ninja who had attempted to take the princess, was only a few inches shorter then Heisuke but looked like he could only be eighteen. His dark blue hair was short and spiked, except for his bangs which fell over his left eye and went past his chin. His bright green eyes followed us but he continued to glance down at Sutaru. He was wearing a black "V" neck shirt. The collar of the shirt opened down near his stomach and his chest was visible. He was wearing black pants that opened up at the bottom and had a red sash tied around his waist. He was holding very long elbow blades and smiled darkly when he noticed me glancing down at them.
The last ninja was about an inch shorter then Heisuke and was easily forty years old. His bleach blonde hair was short and slicked back, except for a few small strands that fell over his forehead. His red eyes were glowing against his pale skin. He had one scar on his left cheek, and a second one on his right. He wore a baggy, black body suit that had red streaks on it. He had a wide and long katana tied to his side with a red belt. He stared at us darkly and had no emotions on his face. We continued to walk forward until he put his hand up asking us to stop. We did as he commanded.
"We see you have brought us the princess." He said darkly.
"And it's good to see that the hostage is in one piece." Konomaru replied. I stared at her and had to disagree, though it was only faint I could see a cut across her left cheek and the signs that she had been slapped on her right.
"So are you the only ones here?" He asked.
"Yes. Are you the only ones?" Konomaru asked them.
"Yes we are. Now hand over the princess and we'll be glad to give back our little hostage." Atsuto looked at the ninja with a questioning look and the ninja just made a face telling him to back down. Right away I knew that they weren't planning on giving her back.
"Wait, where's the other girl?" Heisuke suddenly asked.
"Which other girl?" Konomaru asked.
"The other one with the dark brown eyes. She's not here."
"We left her back at the castle to watch over the princess Kuroda and king Roninu." Ryuunosuke-sensei quickly replied.
"Do you mistrust us that much?" The unknown ninja asked. Konomaru just glared at him, giving him an understandable answer. The unknown ninja sighed.
"Yes, yes we feel the same way, now hand over the princess." Konomaru grabbed my arm and began to slowly walk forward. I walked beside him when suddenly Atsuto grabbed Sutaru and jumped back.
"Atsuto what the hell are you doing?!" The unknown ninja demanded.
"That's not the princess!" He yelled back.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, trying to put as much emotion in my voice as I could.
"That's not her. The way she walks is different from the princess. The princess glides when she walks and has a habit of putting one foot in front of the other as if she was walking a line. The real princess also always starts walking with the left foot, looks down at her feet and counts three steps before looking back up. Whoever that is hasn't done any of that. It's an imposter." The three other ninja jumped back. I had to give Atsuto some credit, his powers of observation were almost as good as Sutaru's.
"Well, if that's not the real princess, then who the hell is it?" Souji asked. I looked at Ryuunosuke-sensei and he nodded. I quickly transformed back into my normal self. They stared at me completely shocked.
"What are you trying to do Konomaru? Are you trying to make fools of us?!" The ninja demanded. Konomaru glared at him and he glared back.
"Fine then, if you like to play games, then let's play." The ninja said darkly. Suddenly ninja began to jump out at us. Soon we were surrounded by at least thirty other ninja. I ran over to Kitsuchi and we stood back to back.
"How are we going to get Sutaru now?" I asked.
"I'm not sure, we need to think of something." I nodded. The ninja laughed as they looked at us.
"Screw this! Come on out and join the fun!" Konomaru yelled. Soon his men all flew out from the trees and each of them jumped on the other ninja. Soon, small battles were all around us. The entire time I was thinking of how to get Sutaru back.
"Kitsuchi?"
"Yeah?"
"I have a feeling that the only way we can get Sutaru back, is if we somehow separate her from those other ninja." Kitsuchi looked over in their direction and nodded her head.
"Alright, let's go." I nodded and together we managed to make our way over to where Sutaru was without using up any energy. We stood in front of the four ninja and Sutaru.
"Aww, if it isn't princess's little friends." Atsuto said. We glared at them.
"Give us Sutaru back." We demanded.
"Or what? You'll completely destroy us like you did last time?" Souji asked sarcastically. I glared at Souji.
"Wait, something's different about her." Heisuke pointed out while staring at me.
"About who? Blondie over there?" Atsuto asked.
"Deruku, look into her eyes. What do you see?" The unknown ninja, Deruku, stared at me and his eyes grew wide with wonder. Souji and Atsuto did the same and their eyes grew wide as well. I only stared at them, wondering what they were looking at.
"Your eyes reflect nothing, except for an undying wish to see us all die." Deruku stated. I stared at him wondering how he had seen all that from just looking into my eyes.
"I don't care what you can see, just give us back Sutaru." I demanded.
"And what are two little girls like you going to do if we don't? You're clearly outnumbered." Souji stated. Suddenly Ryuunosuke-sensei jumped to stand between me and Kitsuchi.
"Don't forget, you've also got me to worry about." Deruku sighed.
"Alright then, if you want a fight, you've got one. Souji, take out that girl with the silver eyes, Atsuto take the girl and get out of here. Heisuke, take out Blondie and I'll take care of him. The other ninja nodded and soon we were all in our own battles. I tried to run after Sutaru, but my way was quickly blocked by Heisuke. I unsheathed both my wrist blades and ran at Heisuke. There was no way anyone was going to stop me from saving her this time.
I ran at Heisuke and he quickly dodged the attack. I ran at him again and again but every time he dodged the attack without following up with a hit.
"If you keep running at me like that you're never going to defeat me." He finally said.
"Says who?" I asked.
"Well I figured after the first couple of tries you would have figured it out." I glared at him.
"I just want my friend back."
"And all I want is peace, but it doesn't seem like either of us is going to get what we want."
"Wait, what do you mean you want peace?" I asked.
"Fighting to me is such a trivial thing. I would personally just like to leave and go home to read, but I unfortunately can't. I joined to fight in this war because I thought I could do something for my village, but I was wrong. The war has only made the village worse, which is why I'm also fighting so hard to get the princess. If taking the princess will bring peace, then I'll be happy to do it." I stared at him.
"There are many ways to end a war that don't end with someone being taken from their home for ransom money."
"You are right, of course, but I'm afraid the world isn't quite that easy. Neither side is about to give up and I have a feeling that this war will never end until one side's leader dies." I sighed.
"Killing someone to solve a problem isn't always my favourite thing to do, but if I have to, I will." Heisuke stared at me.
"You have changed from when we first met. You've become so cold and emotionless. What happened?" He asked curiously.
"That is none of your business." Heisuke smiled.
"Yes, how rude of me to impose, now, shall we continue?" I nodded and Heisuke jumped at me. I took a deep breath and dodged the attack. Heisuke was right, it was easier to fight when I was calm and not running at him constantly. It was like my mother always used to say, "sometimes a good defense is the best offense". Heisuke unhooked his kunai with chain and we stood staring at each other. He threw the chain at me. I quickly put my hand up and the chain wrapped around it. I looked up at him and he smiled darkly before pulling the chain. I flew forward. He pulled the chain up and I went with it, before he smashed me into the ground behind him. I slowly stood back up and quickly undid the chain. He pulled it back and spun it around his head.
"You're going to have to do better than that if you want to beat me." He stated. He threw the chain at me again, but this time I put both arms up and made an "X" shape with them. The chain wrapped around them and I smiled darkly at him. Before he could react I pulled at the chain. He was suddenly lifted off his feet and I spun him around before undoing the chain and throwing him into a nearby tree. He crashed into the bottom of it and cracked the trunk. He looked up at me and smiled as blood began to fall down his chin.
"Impressive."
"There's more where that came from." I told him. He smiled again, stood and wiped away the blood.
"Well then, show me." He stated before running at me again.
-Kitsuchi-
Both my crescent moon blades were drawn and my enemy still wasn't dead yet. This was quickly becoming very irritating. We stared at each other, both of us panting from the effort. I had some bruises and cuts along my arms and legs, as did he. Our skills as swordsmen were evenly matched.
"You're pretty good, for a girl." Souji suddenly said.
"You're not so bad yourself, for an old man."
"'Old man'? I'm only twenty-three!"
"That's still eleven years older than me." I said smiling darkly. He glared at me.
"I think it's about time I teach a little brat like you to respect your elders."
"Bring it on grandpa!" Souji jumped at me and I dodged the attack. I suddenly tensed as pain ran down my left arm. I looked down at it to find blood pouring profusely from it. I had a large gash just under my left shoulder. I looked up and Souji smiled. That's when I noticed it. The ridges on his blade somehow grew. Then I noticed the blue glow emitting from them. Souji looked at my shocked face and smiled.
"This blade, Soujin as I like to call it, is a family heirloom. Every first born son in my family receives this blade from his father and then passes this blade down and so on. The glow you see is my chakra. I push it from my hand through the blade and use the chakra to push the ridges out and make them longer and sharper. Pretty neat trick, don't you think?"
"Impressive, but you see, trick or not no one's ever beaten me in a sword fight before."
"Really? Well then show me what you've got!"
"Sorry, but you're not good enough to handle my true power. If worse comes to worse I'll have to show you my secret trick." I said with a smirk.
"Really? What's your special trick?" Souji asked with complete interest. I pulled my finger across my lips.
"Sorry, but I'll never tell."
"Too bad, I really wanted to see it." Souji said with a baby voice and a fake sad expression. I smirked and quickly jumped at Souji. Just like I predicted, he dodged the attack. I quickly jumped up, turned, sheathed my sword, and threw six shuriken at him before unsheathing my swords again and landing gracefully behind him. Three of my shuriken hit their target. One hit the right arm, one hit the left ankle, and the last hit the right shoulder. Souji cringed in pain as he pulled them out. He slowly stood up straight and glared darkly at me. I put my right hand up and beckoned him to come. His stare became deadly and he jumped at me again. Our swords clashed in mid-air and I had to turn every second to block his next attack. His speed was incredible and it was hard to keep up with his normal blade and the ridges at the same time. Finally I found an opening and struck out. I missed my target, but it gave me the chance to jump away.
I stood, panting, as Souji turned to face me. The deathly glare was gone but I could still see the lust for my death in his eyes. I lifted my blades up in a defensive stance, and he did the same with his Soujin. We stared at each other for a quick second, before jumping at each other again.
-Sutaru-
Atsuto had carried me quite far from the clearing before he stopped. I could still hear the clash of Kitsuchi's blades, but it was very faint. Atsuto continued to run and I realized that if I didn't do anything, no one would ever be able to find me again. I lifted up my arms and swung them around, hitting Atsuto in the face. He went to the side, dropped me, and crashed into a tree. He was slightly dazed and I calculated that I had twelve seconds before he would come back to his senses. I took this chance to escape. I crawled over to him and quickly grabbed one of his kunai. It took me three quick movements to cut the ropes around my arms and another three to cut the ropes around my ankles. By the time I was done and had stood Atsuto was already standing. He glared at me.
"There's no way I'm going to let you go back to them, you belong to me now, Deruku promised."
"I don't really care. I'm going back to my friends and if you get in my way I will have to kill you." Atsuto laughed.
"Like I said before, I can't wait to see you try princess." I smiled darkly and jumped at him. He dodged my attack, but not before I managed to grab my carrying case that he had attached to his left leg. I quickly attached it to myself just as Atsuto recovered. He jumped at me with great speed and punched me in the face. I flew backwards but flipped in the air and landed on my feet. I ran at Atsuto and pulled out six shuriken. Before I reached him I threw the shuriken straight at him. He dodged the attack, which I planned him to, and used the gap between the two of us to head back to the clearing. By the time he had realized what I was doing, I was already half-way back. He was following behind and catching up. I threw kunai and shuriken at him, but he still managed to keep pace with me.
I finally decided that the only thing I could do was try a fire ball jutsu, after all, I had seen Kitsuchi do it thousands of times before, why shouldn't I give it a try? I wasn't expecting it to do much, but it would at least create a larger gap between us. I turned and did the hand signs: hebi, o-hitsuji, saru, ousu-buta, uma, and finally tora.
"Fire Style, Fire Ball Jutsu!" To my surprise a fairly large fire ball emitted from my mouth. Atsuto had to jump back to dodge the attack, which gave me more time to escape, and created a large gap between us. I heard him scream out with rage but continued to run. Finally I could see the opening that led to the clearing, a couple more steps and I could finally be rejoined with Kitsuchi and Ayane. The light filled my eyes and I ran out into the open clearing. I looked around and finally caught sight of Kitsuchi and Ayane.
"Kistuchi, Ayane!" I screamed. They pushed back their enemies and stared at me. Kitsuchi smiled brightly and Ayane stared blankly at me. I ran towards them and they completely ignored their opponents and ran at me. We embraced in a warm hug and didn't want to let go ever again. Suddenly we heard a scream of rage and the three of us turned so that we were back to back. We prepared ourselves for attack in unison and were soon acting like nothing had changed.
-Ayane-
All three of us glared at our opponents who stood around us.
"It seems princess escaped." Heisuke commented.
"Yeah, what happened Atsuto, you were supposed to watch her." Souji complained.
"Don't worry about it, she may have gotten away from me once, but there's no way I'm going to let it happen again. Princess is mine and no one else can have her." Atsuto threw me and Kitsuchi a death glared and right away I knew that this guy was completely insane. We continued to glare at each other when a thought struck me.
"Sutaru?" Sutaru smiled.
"Kitsuchi?" Kitsuchi's smiled brightly.
"Hell yes." I nodded and ran forward. Thinking I was coming for him Heisuke stood in a defensive stance. Before I reached him I quickly turned around and put my hands together to make a tight cup. Kitsuchi was right behind me and jumped up into my hands. I quickly threw her up as hard as I could. She turned in mid-air while making the hand signs. Hebi, o-hitsuji, saru, ousu-buta, uma, and tora.
"Fire Style! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Suddenly small bursts of fire came from Kitsuchi. She aimed them right at Sutaru. Sutaru quickly made her barrier and the small fire balls ricocheted off it and at our enemies. Heisuke and Atsuto were fast enough to dodge the attack, but Souji wasn't so lucky. The fire balls aimed at him hit dead on. He fell to the ground on one knee and cringed in pain. Burn marks covered his skin where he had been hit.
"Damn it!" He screamed. Kitsuchi landed beside Sutaru and I ran back to stand beside them. I stood in the middle with Kitsuchi on my right and Sutaru on my left. I managed to smile with them.
"Together we stand and together we fight." Kitsuchi began.
"Together we live and together we win." I continued.
"Together we lose and together we die." Sutaru finished.
"That is our nindo, our ninja way!" We finished in unison. Before anyone could say anything else we separated. I ran straight ahead, Sutaru took the left, and Kitsuchi took the right. I ran at Heisuke and before he could react I jumped over him and continued to run. Kitsuchi had already made it to her position. I jumped at her and she caught me by the ankles. She quickly spun me around once and threw me back at Heisuke. I put my fist out and punched him as hard as I could. He flew back and collided with Atsuto whose view had been blocked by Sutaru. Sutaru ran over to us and we took up our positions from before. Heisuke and Atsuto stood back up and glared at us.
"Alone we are strong, but together we are unbeatable." We said in unison again. Kitsuchi smiled brightly and jumped in front of me and Sutaru. She made the same hand signs again.
"Fire style! Fire Ball Jutsu!" She surrounded us in flame.
"What the hell?! Are they insane?!" We heard Souji yell. I looked at Sutaru and she smiled. Together we left the fire shield and ran at Heisuke and Atsuto. They tried to block our attack, but were unsuccessful. I punched Heisuke and Sutaru kicked Atsuto. They flew and collided with each other again. We ran towards the two of them and suddenly Souji flew over to hit Atsuto and Heisuke. We smiled as Kitsuchi ran towards the small group we had formed. We headed towards them then jumped, flipped in the air, pulled out six shuriken each, and threw them at the three men. We landed opposite each other and waited. Heisuke was the first to stand. All six of my shuriken had hit him and he slowly pulled each of them out. Atsuto was the second to stand. Four of Sutaru's shuriken had hit him and he pulled them out. Souji was the last to stand and he had five of Kitsuchi's shuriken sticking out of him. It took him longer, but he managed to pull them out.
"Are we sure these are the same girls we fought the other night?" Souji asked.
"Yes, together they seem to be a very formidable team. Quite impressive."
"Forget getting the princess, if we were to bring these three back we could make them get the money for us."
"And what makes you think we'd do what you said?" I asked coldly.
"You obviously won't, but with a little torture that can all be changed." Heisuke replied darkly.
"Sorry, but you're going to have to kill us before we come back with you willingly." Kitsuchi said with a dark glare.
"Well then if you insist, I suppose we have no other choice." The three ninja stepped forward and stood beside each other.
"Together you're strong, but if we break that, then we break the team." Atsuto said darkly. Sutaru, Kitsuchi and I braced ourselves for an attack. When nothing happened we slowly let our guards down. Suddenly Heisuke pulled out what looked like a whistle. He blew it but no sound came out. We looked around.
"That was it?" Sutaru asked. Suddenly we heard large footsteps heading towards us. We looked around wondering where they had come from. Suddenly six large men appeared out of the trees. They were giants, at least seven feet tall with muscles bulging from every part of their bodies.
"Who the hell are they?!" Kitsuchi demanded.
"These are the Muantetsu. They are humans like you and me, but they are genetically altered. They are the king's new weapons and they were going to be used soon to finally destroy the southern village. I figure now is a better time then any to test them out."
"Using humans for experiments like this is…completely disgusting."
"You can judge them all you want, but they'll be the ones who will send you three to an early grave."
"No, not princess! You all promised you'd leave her alone!" Atsuto complained. He sounded like a five year old talking about his favourite toy. Heisuke sighed.
"Fine, don't kill princess. Just brutally injure her for now." The six Muantetsu nodded that they understood and ran at us. The ground shook with each footstep. Sutaru, Kitsuchi, and I jumped back as they came at us. Kitsuchi turned on one of them and slashed it with one of her crescent moon blades. The Muantetsu screamed out in pain and bled blue-green blood. Kitsuchi waited. The Muantetsu slowly stood back up and lunged at her. She managed to dodge him but not before he grabbed her ankle. He threw her hard and she hit a tree on the other side of the clearing.
"Kitsuchi!" I heard Sutaru yell. She suddenly glared darkly at the Muantetsu and lunged at it. She pulled out a kunai and jumped all over it. By the time she was done the Muantetsu fell defeated. She headed for the next one but it grabbed her before she could do anything and threw her. She landed beside Kitsuchi.
"Sutaru!" I screamed. I looked up as five of the Muantetsu stepped towards me. I felt the anger begin to boil inside me.
"No one…hurts my friends." I breathed through clenched teeth. Before anyone could speak I lunged at them. I unsheathed my wrist blades and jumped up. I fell, head first, on the first Muantetsu. I dug my wrist blades into his shoulders. He yelled out in pain and I completely ignored him. I threw myself forward and at the same time threw down the Muantetsu. I heard a crack as his neck broke on impact. I turned to the next one. I ran at him and brought my wrist blade up, slicing him down the middle. He stumbled back and I finished the blow by beheading him. The lifeless body fell and the head rolled away. I turned to the third and finished him quickly with a straight stab to the stomach. I pulled my wrist blade out to the left and the blood poured profusely from the large wound. The fourth stood completely still. I smirked and ran at him, digging my wrist blade into his throat. He fell back without even a gasp. I turned to find the fifth one and he took a few cautious steps back. I smiled darkly and lunged myself at it. It tried to run but I jumped up, grabbed his head between my thighs, twisted him sideways, and flipped him to the side. His head was turned and faced the other way, the neck broken.
I flipped back and took a fighting stance with a circle of Muantetsu bodies surrounding me. Their blood stained the ground and their bodies stayed motionless, completely destroyed and unable to get back up again. I turned to see Kitsuchi, Sutaru, Ryuunosuke-sensei, Konomaru, Souji, Atsuto, Deruku, Heisuke, and all the other men around staring at me wide-eyed.
"Ayane…that was…I mean…" Sutaru couldn't string together her sentence properly.
"What the hell Ayane?! Where did that come from?! And why didn't you leave me any?! Damn it!" Kitsuchi stamped her feet in anger.
"I-impossible. Those Muantetsu are indestructible. It's hard to defeat one, let alone five at once!"
"They hurt my friends, and that is something that I can never forgive." I said calmly. Heisuke stared at me completely taken aback. It was obvious he couldn't believe that I had just killed five of his precious Muantetsu without even breaking a sweat, and the fact that I was so calm perplexed him further.
"This is getting ridiculous, let's just get this over with! Heisuke you obviously need to teach those idiots some skills before they can face ninja but for now let's just kill these brats and go home!" Souji yelled out. Heisuke suddenly snapped out of his zone and glared at me.
"Five long years of pain-staking research, only to be wasted on a single fight and against such a small opponent. This is unforgivable, and I will make you pay." Heisuke glared darkly and lunged at me. I dodged his attack but not before he stopped himself, turned on his hands, and kicked me back. I flipped and landed on the ground. I lunged myself at him and we began to fight close-combat. My wrist blades against his kunai with chain. This was a fight to the end, and only one of us would be coming out of it alive.
-Kitsuchi-
I still couldn't get over what Ayane had done. I had never seen her react like that before. She must be deep in her seclusion or else she wouldn't have gone that far. I watched as she fought with Heisuke, when I sensed something coming towards me. I jumped back and blocked an attack just as Souji appeared. His Soujin clashed with my crescent moon blades and we glared at each other. I pushed him back and pulled my second blade up. He jumped back, but not before my blade caught his shirt and sliced it open. He flipped back and glared at me.
"Lucky shot." He spat.
"If that was to be a lucky shot then it would have killed you." I replied. He lunged at me again and I blocked his attack. His wounds were hurting him, I could see it in the way he fought me now. His confidence was gone and he was merely fighting to defend himself and his comrades. I lashed out at him and managed to gain some fair ground. He didn't falter, though he knew he was losing. He fought back as hard as he could andI pitied him. I could see the sadness in his eyes as he realized that he would not be coming home from this fight and it saddened me more. I fought as hard as I could, knowing that if I faltered even once he would notice and push himself even farther to win. I pushed him back and jumped about three feet away from him.
"Why are you doing this?!" I demanded. He stared at me.
"What are you talking about?"
"Why are you fighting? You're already badly injured, why don't you just give up?"
"Because, I can't do that. I promised my father when he died that I would fight until the end to avenge him, and I'm not about to break that promise. My father meant everything to me and when he died it was like a piece of me went with him. I won't give up, not until that piece of me is restored!" He lunged at me again and I blocked the attack again. Tears began to fall from his eyes as he beat down on my blades. He suddenly bent down and swung his sword. The tip made contact with my stomach and caused a large cut across it. I held the wound as the blood poured out of it. He turned and came at me again. I knew that if I wanted to win this fight I would have no choice but to kill him. His eyes burned with the desire to see me die and I cringed beneath them. I managed to escape his next attack and jumped back. The blood was still pouring from my wound and I felt my eyes turn violet at the smell of it. I had to finish this quickly. He lunged at me again.
"My father died because of that bastard that you're fighting for! I will make you pay, all of you! Die! Die! Die!" He screamed as he beat down on my blades again. I suddenly became angry and jumped to the side. He turned to face me again and before he could lunge I jumped at him and stabbed my blade through his chest. He fell back and twitched slightly. I bent over him and he looked up at me. Tears were falling down his face. He tried to get up again but cringed as pain flowed through his body. He laid back and sighed. Realizing that he was going to die he looked up at me.
"So this is what it feels like to die. I always wondered if it would hurt this much." He coughed up some blood.
"I'm so sorry." I told him. Tears stung the corners of my eyes.
"Father are you proud of me? I wasn't able to avenge you and…I'm…sorry." He coughed up more blood.
"You're father…is very proud of you…I know it. You don't have to apologize for anything." I told him. He smiled.
"I suppose not. My father always did say it was better to forgive and forget. I wonder if I'll see him when I die."
"I know you will."
"Can you do something for me?"
"What?"
"Can you please take the Soujin? I have no son to hand it down to and you're the one who defeated me, so I suppose it belongs to you now."
"But, you can't give this to me." He shook his head.
"You're the only one who can have it. Take it and please take good care of it." I slowly picked up the blade and nodded.
"I'll protect it with my life." He smiled.
"I have a feeling that you will." The tears were now falling down my face. He smiled.
"Huh, who would have thought a girl like you would cry for a person like me." He smiled and I smiled back.
"Well, I've always been kind of soft like that." He laughed but stopped as it caused him more pain. He coughed up more blood.
"Too bad though."
"What do you mean?"
"I never got to see your special trick." I smiled.
"Sorry I didn't show you."
"No big deal. Just, could you tell me what it is?" I nodded and leaned over him. I whispered the trick into his ear and he smiled.
"So that's it. That's pretty awesome." I smiled.
"Yeah I guess you could say that." He coughed up more blood, but suddenly smiled.
"I don't believe it."
"What?" I asked.
"That piece of me I thought I had lost is back. It's like I'm finally whole again." I nodded.
"I'm happy you found it." He smiled.
"So am I…it feels good…to be whole…again…" He trailed off and his eyes lost their pallor. I clenched my fists and the tears fell from my eyes and landed on my hands. It wasn't fair. Why did he have to die?! He was just trying to avenge his father's death. I hated how my only choice was to kill him. I looked down at his sword and wiped away my tears. I will keep my promise and I will protect this blade with my life. You can count on me Souji, I promise you that. I closed his eyelids and stood. I looked over and saw that everyone was still trapped in their own fight. I didn't want to get in the way of Sutaru and Ayane's fights, so I ran to join the huge mess in the middle of the clearing, wondering how many other people would have to die until this was over.
-Sutaru-
I glared at Atsuto and he glared back at me. His arm was bleeding and I had a small trickle of blood falling down my chin. I wiped it away.
"How much longer are you willing to fight me?" I asked him.
"As long as it takes until you are mine."
"But I'll never be yours! What part of that do you not understand?!"
"Shut up! You are mine! You're mine and no one else's!" Suddenly he lunged at me again. I dodged his attack but just barely. His elbow blade just missed my nose and cut off a few strands of my hair. They slowly fell to the ground and I glared at him.
"No one touches my hair." I said through clenched teeth. He smiled. This time I lunged at him and pulled out my kunai. I struck out at him and he dodged my attack. He grabbed my hand and flipped me over his back. I landed on the ground and had the wind knocked out of me. I gasped for breath and he bent down and held his face just above mine.
"How does it feel when it seems like you have no hope in winning?" He asked me. I screamed and tried to punch him in the face. He dodged it and jumped backwards. He laughed.
"You know princess you're very cute when you're angry."
"Screw you!" He laughed again.
"Your anger is quite amusing, come on, say something else." I glared at him.
"Forget this." I lunged at him again but before reaching him I stopped myself, flipped over him, and sliced him across the back. He yelled out in pain. I jumped back and he glared at me.
"That…wasn't very…nice princess." He said.
"I was never really good at being nice." I replied and smirked.
"Then I'll just have to fix that." He whispered before lunging at me again. I dodged as many attacks as I could. Suddenly he lunged out at me and his elbow blade stabbed through my left shoulder. If I had been any slower he would have hit my heart. I screamed out in pain. He dug the blade in further. Every time I cringed in pain and screamed.
"Yes, keep screaming, your pain is quite amusing." He laughed. I looked up at him. His eyes were dark and completely wild. I had to get out of this and finish the fight soon or he was going to kill me. I took in a deep breath and grabbed his blade. I slowly started to push it back. He tried to dig his blade in deeper but I still managed to push it forward.
"No, what are you doing? Stop it!" He yelled. I ignored his cries and soon pulled the blade out. I quickly jumped back. My shoulder and hands were bleeding but I had more important things to worry about. I put my hands up and began to focus my genjutsu. I put my hands together to form the hand sign of my clan. All five fingers on my right hand stayed extended while my left hand closed over it making half of the hebi hand sign. The sign I was named after. Sutaru Sunake. The Star Snake of the Sunake clan. I smiled and opened my eyes. I suddenly began to teleport around him. Stopping every so often to see the look on his face.
"W-what are you doing? Stop it princess, I don't like this game anymore!"
"This game of yours is about to come to and end." I replied. I slowly pulled out my kunai and cut him every time I passed. Finally he fell to the ground with gashes all over his body, the fatal attack a stab to the chest. I released the sign and stood above him.
"So, princess has some skill of her own after all." He coughed as blood filled his mouth.
"Yes, and consider yourself lucky, most people never see that skill." He smiled.
"Is that your present to me then princess? The last thing I'll remember of you before I die?"
"I guess if you want to think of it that way then fine. I can't refuse a dying man's last wish." He smiled.
"Too bad it has to end like this. Oh well, I suppose that's how it's meant to be."
"Yes I guess so." He coughed up more blood.
"Well, I guess this is good-bye princess…see you…in the…afterlife." With his final words he died. I sighed and turned to walk away. I hated having to kill people, but when I had no other choice, I couldn't stop myself.
-Ayane-
Heisuke and I glared at each other. I had a few small cuts on my arms and torso, while he had many larger cuts all over his body.
"How did you become so powerful? When we fought for the first time you had maybe a quarter of the skill you have now."
"When a friend gets kidnapped people change and will do whatever it takes to get them back." I replied. He smiled.
"I see, so all of this is because we took your precious friend? I wonder what you'd be like if we killed them both instead." I glared at him.
"Even try it, and I'll kill you before you can draw your weapon." I said darkly. He smiled again.
"Really? Then how about we test this theory?" Suddenly he jumped to the side and ran from the fight.
"Damn it!" I yelled before running after him. Heisuke was fast and I had trouble catching up. Suddenly I looked up to see his target, Sutaru. I tensed and ran as fast as I could. He lunged out at her and everything after that seemed to move in slow motion. I heard Sutaru yell out, a sickening slicing sound, and it wasn't until I felt the pain run through my body did I realize that I had been stabbed. I looked to the side to see the stab wound in my right shoulder. I stared up at him.
"Well, well, well, aren't we noble." He laughed.
"S-Sutaru, are you ok?" I asked.
"A-Ayane, why did you…?"
"Because, I don't know if I'd be able to survive if you, or Kitsuchi, were to be killed, especially by him." I said. I glared up at him and his smile quickly faded. I quickly brought my fist up and punched Heisuke in the face. He flew back and I followed, his kunai with chain still sticking out of my shoulder. I ran ahead of him before he hit the ground and kicked him. He flew in the other direction and I followed. I stopped before him again, ripped the kunai with chain out of my shoulder, and lashed out at him. I cut his back and then kicked him again on the wound.
I went back and forth, doing more damage every time. Finally I allowed him to fall. He tried to get back up and his entire body was shaking. He coughed up blood. I went over to him and put my foot on his wind pipe, pressing down slightly. He coughed.
"Now how does it feel? To realize that your death is only mere minutes away? The major question now is how should I kill you? Should I crush your wind pipe and kill you quickly? Or should I slowly add more pressure and make you suffer first?" I asked. He stared up at me.
"If you're going to kill me, then get it over with. I could care less how you do it." He said glaring up at me. I smiled.
"If you insist." I was about to crush his wind pipe when I felt a strike of pain come over me. I bent over and coughed up blood. I looked up and saw what had happened. While I was speaking, Heisuke was slowly pulling his kunai with chain over to him. Just when I was about to kill him he managed to get it into his hand and cut me with it. The gash went from the top of my right shoulder, down to my left hip. Blood poured from the wound and the area around me began to dim slightly. I glared at him and he smiled triumphantly.
"You may kill me now, but I doubt it will be long before I see you again." He began to laugh and I glared darkly at him.
"You bastard!" I managed to lift myself off the ground and stood over him. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him up. I flipped him over me and threw him as hard as I could. He flew and hit a tree. I ran forward and unsheathed my wrist blades again. I stood above him and continued to stab him, over and over again. His blood splashed up and stained my face. I wanted to stop, I knew he was dead, but I couldn't bring myself to.
Finally I managed to pull myself away. His body was covered with blood and he sat lifeless in front of me. I stared down at my hands. They were shaking violently and had blood all over them. I slowly stood, but fell down in one knee as pain shot through my back. Blood was still falling from the wound and I coughed up more blood. I knew I had to get back to the others, or I was going to die. I slowly stood up and began to walk forward. Slowly I made it closer and closer to the middle of the clearing. Every move I made hurt and I coughed up more and more blood. The area was becoming dimmer and dimmer as I went. Soon I could see blurs ahead of me. I fell to my knees but never stopped moving.
"K-Kitsuchi…S-Sutaru…" I breathed. Suddenly I could hear voices though they sounded distant.
"Ayane? Ayane! Sutaru hurry and get over here! Ayane? Ayane can you hear me?! Please answer me." I opened my mouth to answer but could only manage to cough up more blood.
"Ayane? Kitsuchi what the hell happened?!"
"I don't know! Ayane? Ayane please stay with us!" I began to lose strength in my arms and legs and collapsed on the ground. The voices became more hysterical and scared.
"H-he's dead…" I breathed.
"What?" I heard a voice ask.
"H-he's dead, and I-I killed him…"
-Kitsuchi-
I stared down at Ayane's body. The wound across her back was deep and bleeding. I looked at Sutaru. Her eyes had filled with tears like mine had.
"H-he's dead, and I-I killed him…" I looked at Ayane. Her eyes were now closed. I panicked and quickly checked her pulse. Her heart was still beating, but was growing fainter with every passing second.
"We have to stop the wound from bleeding. She's already lost too much blood." Sutaru quickly said. I nodded and fumbled with my carrying case. I soon had bandages in my hand and we began to cover the wound. Blood quickly stained the bandages but we soon managed to stop the bleeding. We slowly turned Ayane over. Her face was completely blank and I continually checked her pulse to make sure she was still alive.
"What are we going to do? We have to help Ryuunosuke-sensei but we need to watch Ayane." Sutaru asked. I clenched my fists and anger began to boil inside me.
"You watch Ayane, I'm going to put a stop to this here and now." I slowly stood up and walked to the middle of the field. There was a line on the left of the enemy, and another line on the right of the allies. I walked right out into the middle.
"Dark Kitty are you insane?! Get out of the way!" I ignored Ryuunosuke-sensei and glared at Deruku.
"I'm going to make you all pay." I whispered under my breath. My eyes were glowing violet and the fire flared in them. I quickly made the hand signs. Hebi, o-hitsuji, saru, ousu-buta, uma, tora, nezumi (rat), usagi (hare), o-ushi (ox), tori (bird), inu (dog), tora, hebi, and ryu (dragon). I opened my eyes and felt the heat encase my body.
"Secret Jutsu, Poro Roco!" Suddenly the flames burst from me. I put my arms out to the side and felt them wash over me. The waves of flames quickly engulfed the other side. I listened to the screams as the men slowly burned alive. I looked up to see that Deruku had jumped away and avoided the attack. I smiled. I had the perfect thing in mind for him. When I felt the time was right I released the jutsu and the flames quickly disappeared. All that was left was a giant burn mark and the completely charred corpses of the enemy men. Deruku jumped back down and stared in disbelief at the damage I had caused. I glared at him. He turned to leave but a barrier suddenly surrounded him. I looked over to see Sutaru glaring darkly at Deruku. I looked at Ayane. She was still not awake and at this point I wasn't sure if she was still alive or not. I looked back at Deruku and made hand signs for my next jutsu. Inu, saru, tori, uma, nezumi, o-ushi, hebi, ousu-buta, ryu, uma, tori, inu, tora.
"Secret Jutsu, Frozen Acid Jutsu!" Sutaru opened a small hole big enough for the mist to enter through. I controlled the mist and forced it into the barrier. I watched as Deruku slowly disappeared from sight in the mist. Suddenly he jumped at the barrier and desperately tried to claw his way out. He held his throat and his eyes bulged. He suddenly fell backwards. I closed my eyes and after about five minutes opened them again.
"Sutaru you can lift the barrier." Sutaru nodded and the barrier disappeared along with the rest of the mist. Everyone looked over to see the corpse of Deruku lying on the ground. His hands still were covering his throat and it looked like he had gone through a lot of suffering. His entire body was frozen and I glared maliciously down at it. I stepped forward and crushed the torso with my foot. The entire body shattered, leaving nothing but the head. I turned to face Konomaru.
"Take the head and let anyone know that if they ever even consider kidnapping the princess again, that the same fate will befall them." Konomaru swallowed and nodded. I turned back to face Sutaru and ran over to her. Ryuunosuke-sensei quickly followed.
"Kitsuchi what the hell was that?! A girl your age shouldn't even be considering killing someone unconditionally like that. It's just not right."
"And neither is what they did to Ayane!" I yelled at him. He looked at me confused.
"What do you mean?" He asked. I moved aside and walked over to Ayane's wounded body. Ryuunosuke-sensei stared down at her completely shocked.
"Is she…is she still…?"
"Yes she's still alive, but her heartbeat grows fainter every second. We have to get her back to the village, and soon." Sutaru instructed.
"But, who did this to her?"
"Heisuke probably, he was her opponent." I replied.
"Well, where is he?" Sutaru and I shrugged our shoulders. Suddenly we heard a yell and looked up. Ryuunosuke-sensei ordered one of the men to stay by Ayane and watch over her. We quickly ran over to the source of the yell and our eyes grew wide. We found Heisuke's body, and it was completely mutilated. He had stab wounds all over his body including his torso, arms, legs, and head. We stared down at it and couldn't even speak. What Ayane had done to the Muantetsu was bad, but this, this was just terrible. Ryuunosuke-sensei put his hands on me and Sutaru's shoulders and pushed us away. Even though I could no longer see it, the image stayed in my head as I walked over to Ayane's wounded body. I looked at her face and found it odd that she seemed completely calm. I never thought seclusion would change her as much as it did. I can only hope that we can get our Ayane back, that this won't change the way things used to be, and I hope that Ayane never has to show her true self ever again.