The Next Shinobi, Chapter 7: An Act of God
I could feel everyone's eyes burning into me as I ate my noodles around the campfire. I sighed and put down my bowl. "What are you all staring at?"
"Nothing, nothing," Kakashi-Sensei said quickly, returning his attention to his food.
"Are you sure you're all right?" Reina asked with a mouthful of noodles.
I raised my brow at her. "Do you actually care?"
She shrugged. "It's just that it could've been really bad if we - well, you - didn't put those girls down. You didn't do anything wrong."
I smiled. She seemed surprisingly genuine for the first time since I met her, it was a refreshing change of pace.
"You all did great today," Kakashi-Sensei chimed in. The pride and approval in his tone spread a huge grin across my face. "I'm very proud of you."
The rest of dinner was spent in a comfortable silence, Reina falling asleep quickly as usual with Kakashi-Sensei following soon after. The crackling of the fire was accompanied by the soothing chirps of the summer crickets as Kai and I sat in silence. "You were awesome today," I finally said, looking into the star-filled sky as I spoke. "I couldn't have brought those two down without you."
He chuckled softly. "Yeah, don't mention it,"
It was quiet for a minute before he continued. "Reina was right, you didn't do anything wrong."
"I know," I sighed. "I just never thought killing someone would be this hard."
"It'll get easier," Kai said faintly; it actually seemed like he was trying to comfort me. "It's kill or be killed out here and this is how things have to end."
"And how do you know so much about this?" I wondered, looking at him for the first time.
"I just do," - was his answer. We were quiet again as he stared into the fire, a few of his bandages soaked through with blood. "We should change your bandages,"
He shrugged apathetically. "It can wait until the morning,"
"They'll get infected," I said as I got out the first-aid kit and scooted closer to him. "Just relax and let me change them."
"I'm fine," he assured me through tight lips, scooting away from me.
"Would you stop being so stubborn and let me change them?" I insisted as I reached out for the bloody bandage that graced his bicep.
His hand grabbed my wrist just as my index finger brushed his arm. "Hikari, I'm fine," he repeated. His eyes were gentle as he held my gaze for a few long seconds. This was the first time he'd called me Hikari since we met when we were five years old and he sounded almost sweet as he spoke. "You've done enough today."
I took my hand back and opened the kit. "Kai, please, just let me change them."
He sighed heavily and reluctantly held out his arm. I smiled in a silent victory as I carefully unwrapped the used bandage around his bicep. The cut was so deep I could see his muscles tense from my touch; it seemed like he was trying to restrain himself. I ignored it and assumed he was still in a great deal of pain. "She got you good,"
"She got you good, too," Kai murmured, brushing my hair away from my jaw. Chizuko's kick to the face left an ugly purpling bruise that extended from my chin to my ear, it still throbbed when I thought about it.
I smiled shortly and subtly moved away from his touch. "She got you a lot better," I said as I rewrapped the wound and turned my attention to the gauze pad on his cheek. It was also damp with blood. "May I?" I asked carefully, reaching for the tape that held the pad on his skin.
He nodded and lifted his head. I gingerly peeled the pad from his cheek, the shallow cut red with irritation and obviously still sore by the way he flinched when I dabbed some healing ointment on it. "Sorry," I apologized as I taped another gauze pad over the cut.
"Thanks," he said almost inaudibly, casting me a glancing smile.
I nodded and packed up the kit, reclaiming my spot on the grass. "You going to sleep?" Kai asked abruptly.
I shook my head; I was too afraid to sleep, I could barely close my eyes without being haunted by those lifeless onyx irises that were forever ingrained in my memory.
"Found you," a man growled as he emerged from the surrounding forest, accompanied by an snarling gray wolf. He wore what looked like wolf fur and sported huge claws and a long dark ponytail that doubled as a tail.
"Who the hell are you?" Kai demanded, instinctively pulling out his shuriken stars. In the blink of an eye, two more men appeared and bound Kakashi-Sensei and Reina so they couldn't move. They also brought wolves to discourage them from trying to escape.
"The name's Taro," the man replied, his eyes fixed on me. "And I'm here to avenge my younger sister, Mari, the girl you murdered."
My blood instantly ran ice cold when those words registered in my mind. Taro glared darkly at me, his irises exactly matching those of Mari, as his lips peeled back in a fierce growl. I could feel the anger and sorrow roll off of him in waves, swirling together into a monsoon of blood lust and rage.
"How'd you manage to find us?" Kai asked, slowly getting into fighting position.
"I could smell Mari's blood all over her," - he pointed at me - "Mari and I also came from a small clan in the Hidden Mist that descended from wolves, giving all of us a special ability; we can exchange memories and emotions. This morning, I received Mari's last moments, all of them littered with images of her!"
Without warning, Kakashi's body bursted into a cloud of smoke while Kai threw his shuriken stars at Reina, slicing the rope. Kakashi appeared behind one of the men and knocked him out cold with a single blow, sending everyone into an all-out brawl. Taro sprinted past Kai and threw a hard kick that I barely dodged. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the wolves tackle Kai just as he was about to blow them away with his fireball jutsu.
"You'd better start paying attention!" Taro yelled as he darted past me, a sharp pain coursing through my shoulder. He smirked in satisfaction and crackled his knuckles, his sharp claws coated with blood. In a split second, he ran past again and left more deep cuts all over my body. In the matter of a minute, thin streams of blood drizzled down my arms and legs. My entire body was frozen, the fact that Mari's death was coming back to haunt me was too much for my brain to handle, it wouldn't tell any of my body parts of move - I couldn't even defend myself against this guy. "You're not nearly as strong as you appeared when you slit my sister's throat," Taro grinned devilishly. He was way too fast for me to even attempt to keep up with his attacks and with Mari's death fueling his resolve, he was one hundred times more focused on killing me than I was on even hurting him. I braced myself as he came in for the kill.
"Wind style, dance of blades!" Reina said from behind me. Sharp blades of wind fired at Taro, knocking him backward and cutting him up almost as badly as I was. "C'mon, Uzumaki, fight!" she urged before being mauled by one of the wolves.
"Stupid child," Taro spat as he got to his feet and headed straight for Reina, kicking me out of the way as he did. I wobbled to my feet as he lifted Reina up by her hair so she was dangling in front of him. "Want to play, little girl?"
This is my chance. "Yeah," I replied, performing my hand signs rapidly. "Let's play! Water style, mouth of the serpent!" I smirked, the serpent hitting his body through two tree trunks before it finally receded. Reina fell to the ground with a thud, the wolf coming back for more. She grabbed it by its leg and threw it as hard as she could over toward Kai who torched all three of them with his jutsu.
"You little brat!" Taro thundered, charging at me full-speed. Just as his fist came in contact with my face, my body dropped to the ground in a puddle. "You think your pathetic clones will save you?" he laughed, whirling around in search of the real me.
"Up here," I sang from my seat on a tree branch. "Come and get some."
Taro let out another ferocious roar as he charged for me. Kai smirked as he slid out in front of the tree, his final hand sign complete. "Fire style, phoenix flower jutsu!"
The flames spiraled toward Taro and completely consumed him. Another loud roar tore through the air as his figure disintegrated into the hungry flames. We all panted heavily and watched as the flames died, nothing but a pile of burnt fur left of Taro and his wolves. I sighed in relief and jumped down from the branch. "Thanks," I mumbled to Kai before falling to my knees. The pain from the countless cuts hit me like a tidal wave, blood still leaking from the numerous wounds.
"We need to get out of here before anyone else decides to join the party," Kai said as he took my arm and wrapped it around his shoulders to help me walk.
"Alright, let's move," Kakashi-Sensei agreed, taking Reina on his back. She was hurt a lot worse than she seemed; her entire right arm was torn up and bloody from the wolf attack and she had some puncture wounds from its sharp canines. I was shocked that she built up the strength to throw it like she did.
"You're willingly helping me?" I laughed weakly as we headed into the forest to find a new campsite for the rest of the night. "It must be an act of God."
Kai chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Shut up,"
"You know, you're an amazing fighter," I whispered so only he could hear. "I'm really glad you're on my team."
He seemed taken aback for a minute or two. "You are too and if you tell anyone about this, I'll personally murder you," he warned, a half smile playing with the corners of his mouth.
"Same to you," I smiled before finally being dragged under by unconsciousness.
