Disclaimer: The anime series, Naruto belongs to Mashima Hiro and the video-game, Okami developed by Clover Studios.

Written By: Moon's Phantom.

Rating: Ages fifteen and up.

Warning: Gore, violence, crude language and death.

Setting: Alternate Universe.


The Struggles

Book One: Awakening


Chapter Six: Mukuro Kingyo

Outskirts of Fire Country

Land of Rivers

"It's a Mukuro Kingyo; a flying dead-fish that's said to be the spirit of a woman who committed suicide by throwing herself into the river. It's quite a-"

"Shut it, you fish-freak! No one asked you!" Ryujin exclaimed angrily, peering around his sister's frame to glare heatedly at the young man and practically growled when he received a sneer in response. The elder from yesterday seemed to snarl like a beast at their behaviour before whacking the both of them strongly on the head and was loudly cheered on by Kurama.

Would my family have acted like this? The pink-haired instructor contemplated, suddenly feeling a heavy burden come upon his shoulders and subconsciously began to stare at the ground, drawing the attention of his youngest student. She approached him slowly, her dark brows furrowing in uncertainty and silently stood next to him, slightly brushing against him. He turned in her direction and found himself soothed under her pale yet sympathetic gaze.

"Sensei, we need a plan. Its sunset already and the creature hasn't come back for its wings." Itachi stated and everyone's eye fixed onto the demon's detached limbs, still hanging on the far wall.

"Is there anything else you know about this demon, Shachimaru?" Sakura inquired, fixing Ryujin with a glare.

"Of course I do. If walking on the water's edge at sunset, the beast will rise and attack you. You're lucky if you even survive and it hates females or anything that looks like a girl." Shachimaru stated with a crackle; everyone turned to stare at the pink-haired male rather curiously. Bluntly ignoring them, he began to pace around and stroked at the masculine stubble growing on his chin.

"I have an idea, sensei!" Kurama exclaimed, an excited grin crossing his features. Itachi snickered in the background only to have Toyotoma squeal and latch onto one of his arms – the little Hyuuga observed in pity.

"What is it?"

"Why don't we use one the girls as bait and ambush the creature at sunset?"

"Wow, I really didn't expect that but yes, wonderful plan Kurama."Sakura praised and smiled in amusement when the boy puffed his chest in delight. "But who'll be the bait?"

Immediately, Ryujin pulled his sister from the Uchiha and shoved her behind him while Shachimaru tensed, also shifting towards the girl. They glared at the instructor daringly, bodies tense with anticipation and stance's wide – ready to fight even if they'd receive injuries in the process and knew that the ninja were stronger than them by miles. Yet they were willing to protect her at all costs – it made Hinata feel jealous when her instructor's emerald gaze turned to her but she was a ninja and it was job to protect their clients, not put them in harm's way.

"I'll d-do it, sensei."

Sakura practically glowed with pride when his youngest student volunteered herself and noted how awed her teammates seemed; she was always quiet and keeping to herself, always following or agreeing to what everyone else decided for her. She had just stepped from her comfort zone and taken a bold, determined step into the unknown – she was going to be great one day. Perhaps, she'd even surpass him and truthfully, he had been planning on dressing up Kurama as a girl.

She was afraid…and it was a terrible feeling.

She was at the moment doing something that she's never done before or been prepared for – she's hasn't trained to face a demon. Her father has pushed her to her limits and hasn't held back when training her either; she'd always end up cradling a broken limb or be covered almost everywhere with black bruises. He trained her blindfolded, put her up against a wild animal (much to her grandfather's disproval) and purposely left her to defend herself in the Forest of Death for a day. Her father hadn't ever apologized and merely told her that the world was cruel. He'd prepared for the life of a ninja but life as a ninja didn't mean finding real demons and facing them.

Trembling, she approached the river's edge and numbly watched the water lap at the sand surrounding it; she could feel the sand shift under her with each step she took and the pretty kimono she'd been dressed in dragged after her, leaving a trail to follow. Her team were situated in different places yet skilfully hidden and prepared. Once she managed to draw out the demon and lure it onto the bank, they'd attack.

"What a pretty girl…"

Looking up, Hinata saw the demon from earlier stepping closer to the bank in the shallows of the water and slowly started taking steps back – she could feel herself perspiring in terror.

"Why you're shaking like a leaf darling…come closer and let me comfort you." It hissed and suddenly launched itself into the air, towards her similar to how a hungry wolf would its prey.

Her two teammates leapt from their hiding places however the demon appended them by throwing large scales at them, Itachi's bloodline-limit activated and he managed to deflect them but Kurama was pinned against a far tree with a loud yelp. The boy ran forward, a kunai in hand and attempted to stab the creature in the neck. It barely dodged, earning a small cut and whacked him hard causing to him stumble then tried to stab him with another scale – Sakura quickly punched the creature, his fist coated in chakra and it flew hard into a rather tall rock before it could injure the boy. It hissed and glared at them, rising then to everyone's confusion charged at Kurama and glued itself to his form.

"It's molesting me! Help! Its hideous and it's breathe stinks!"

Both Itachi and Sakura paused unsure of how to proceed practically when it started flashing red, reminding them of a bomb. Thinking fast, the tiny Hyuuga raced forward while snatching her teammate's kunai and pushed it deep into creature's back – it howled in pain and temporarily let go of the red-head, giving Sakura a chance to grab it and twist its head sharply. Hinata flinched at the loud crack and they all watched as it fell to the ground, dark liquid leaking from its mouth.

"Yay!"

The group stiffened at loud cheer and froze in shock when people began filtering onto the bank. A few men started building a large fire-pit and some were unfolding tables, woman walked in either carrying trays of food or children. Shachimaru and another young man lifted the beast then placed it on a pike and settled it over the already roaring fire to roast. Their client and his rich wards walked over to them, dragging them to sit near the dancing flame with them.

"Thank you, thank you so much!" Urashima cried, grabbing both Hinata's and Sakura's hands, shaking them wildly. They slowly recovered from their shock, smiling at the relived elder and Itachi was awoken from his own shock when Toyotoma jumped at him and began squeezing his neck – her brother rushed forward to pull her off while screaming over-protective threats. Quietly Shachimaru approached Kurama, bringing medical tools with him and helped him from the tree.

"You are brave, the creature was about to explode." The young man stated, harshly pulling the scales from the boy's flesh.

"B-but it would die itself!?"

"It's was suicidal, they're quite common demons. I want to thank you and compliment you on your ability to share, I would never be able to do that with my intended."

"Intended?"

"Yes, Toyotoma is my future bride. She just doesn't know how lucky she is yet."

"But you're letting her throw herself at my stuck-up teammate."

"She is too young to grasp the concept of marriage and there is nothing I can do until then. I also have to get through her brother first; I'm surprised the girl has allowed my bride to cling to him."

"What girl?"

"The Hyuuga."

"Hinata…they're not dating."

"She is just yours then?"

Bursting into laughter, he rolled away from the young man and covered himself in sand – Shachimaru impatiently waited for him to finish and raised an eyebrow at the boy once he was done.

"No. Ha…Hinata and I…huh, funny."

"Pity, some tourists the other day were speaking of her and she is rather pretty." Shachimaru said, cleaning the boy's last wound and almost laughed when he got his full his attention. "They made a bet on who would be the strongest – you or her or that other teammate of yours. They were also searching for a chakra demon, never heard of it and mentioned something about a "messenger being the key."

"What did they look like?"

"They wore black cloaks with red clouds and straw hats that hid their faces. The one wasn't wearing his through; he had pale eyes like your teammate and dark long hair, also had a green tattoo on his forehead although I only saw for few seconds. He was re-bandaging it."

"Oh, thank you."

"Let's go join the feast, my friend." Shachimaru suggested, clapping the boy loudly on the back and herded him toward his team. Frowning, he seated himself next to his female teammate and watched her in the corner of his eye, thoughts circling around her. Hyuuga Neji was the one who killed the whole clan, every signal one of them…but here she was. She had a nightmare and a bad one – he's causing her pain. Not that she remembers.

His grey eyes watched as she silently laughed at their something instructor said, she looks better when she smiles…and scowled when she caught him staring then turned away.


A/N

Naruto Characters: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Itachi, Hyuuga Neji and Hyuuga Hinata.

Original Characters: Ryujin, Urashima, Toyotoma and Wakwu.

Okami Characters: Orca/Shachimaru and Okami Amaterasu.

?: Uzumaki Kurama.

For those who haven't played Okami: this fish-demon normally once it's health meter is in the red, climbs on Amaterasu's back and attempts to explode like a bomb, also killing itself.

Thank You!