CHAPTER 9: White Mage
Kira ran towards his powerful opponent and withdrew his kunai just in time to block Siegel's katana from slashing into him. Siegel withdrew backwards and pierce the blade he's holding into the ground, unleashing an attack from the ground. Kira got surprised and jumped backwards, as quickly and as high as possible, barely managing to avoid the attack. Beads of sweat flowed down his cheeks as he was caught completely off guard by the power of his enemy.
"Kira …" Lacus started to feel really nervous and was afraid that the worst may happen.
"This doesn't look good" Kira thought as he stared at Siegel "I didn't expect that his attack would be earth-based. If this continues, there's a high possibility that I won't be able to leave this place alive"
Siegel looked at the stranger as if he could read Kira's mind "It's not too late to back out"
"What are you talking about?"
"I could tell that you're beginning to feel afraid of me, after finding out that my attacks are earth-based"
Shinn and Stellar were watching nearby, ensuring that no one is watching them.
"Shinn, Stellar can sense that something bad is going to happen"
"Me too Stellar, I doubt that Kira could survive if he continues this battle, after all, Hokage-sama's attacks are so powerful that the one that he used just now. I've seen Hokage-sama's powers before when I was younger, and that attack he used shows that he's just warming up, but Kira on the other hand had just only managed to dodge the attack barely and was lucky to do so. That attack could mean serious injuries"
Stellar looked at him, stunned "What do Shinn think Shinn and Stellar would do?"
Shinn paused as Kira and Siegel engaged into a battle once again "I guess we should go look for Kira's friends"
"Huh? Kira's friends? But we never seen them before, how could we …"
"If they found out about Kira's absence, they should be looking for him right now and we might run into them. That's the best solution I can think of right now"
They both nodded to each other and disappeared into the woods.
At the other end of the woods, near Koga village
Two shadows were seemed running into the woods.
"How could you just tell and leave him like that?!"
"I thought that he should be the first one to tell, but I never thought that things would turn out like this!"
"Athrun!"
"Look, I'm sorry alright?! Now all we have to do is to concentrate on finding him first"
"Fine! If anything bad happens to my brother, I'll hold you responsible"
"Okok, whatever Cagalli, let's go!"
Back at the battle scene
Kira was loosing his breath fast; he had never fought an opponent as powerful as Lacus' father. Barely 15 minutes had past and he was already sustaining deep injuries at his right shoulder and left leg. Lacus was watching still and felt as if she was totally useless, being able to stand there and continue watching her father slowly kill the man she deeply loved. Tears were flowing down her face like an endless river as thoughts about Kira dying before her filled her mind.
"You can't win, I'm sure you know that" Siegel stopped his attacks and looked at the young man with the mask. Kira was already starting to lose his strength and he couldn't even manage to stand.
"This is your final warning. Leave now or you shall die here"
Kira was too weak even to look at the Hokage, but he gathered the remaining strength he had left and gave his opponent a firm look. "Like I told you … I'm not going to leave without Lacus … … Even if it's going to cost me my life"
Lacus looked at Kira as he smiled at her weakly beneath the mask he was wearing, and shook her head, telling him not to choose death. Kira closed his eyes and opened them as Siegel spoke again.
"Then, I shall then grant your wish!" He tightened his grip on the katana and ran towards Kira to deliver the final blow. Lacus looked in horror and without thinking, she ran in the middle of the two men and grabbed the blade of her father's katana with her hands before her father swing it down on Kira. Her father watched her, surprised as her hands started to bleed.
"Lacus …" Kira spoke softly and weakly.
Lacus looked into her father's eyes "Father, please no! Please spare his life"
"Why? Why are you doing this for the enemy?"
"I … Because I …" Lacus wasn't sure if she should tell her father the truth, and at the same time, those were the last words Kira heard when he fell flat onto the ground, being knocked out by the tremendous pain he had been experiencing. Lacus turned round to look at him when another thick layer of smoke came clouding her view. The area was filled with smoke and she was knocked out from the back before she was about to say "Kira?".
At a cave
Lacus woke up from unconsciousness by some voices outside the cave she was in and noticed that her hand has been bandaged. She sat up slowly and looked around her, noticing Kira some distance away from her.
"Kira!" She shouted without thinking and ran to his side. Kira was unconscious and his wounds were pretty badly bandaged with some white cloth. Later she noticed four shadows coming into view and found out that two of them were people whom she knew.
"Shinn? Stellar? Why are you guys here?"
Stellar kneeled down beside her "Stellar glad that Lacus is alright"
"Ya, and does it hurt? Your wounds? I didn't mean to knock you out that hard"
"It's ok, Shinn" Lacus diverted her attention to the other two people whom she did not recognize "And you guys are?"
"I'm Athrun Zala, a good friend of Kira's, and this is Cagalli, Kira's sister"
"Nice to meet you, so I suppose that you guys are the ones who saved us"
"Well, it's not really our credit" said Cagalli "Thanks to Shinn and Stellar for leading us to the both of you"
Lacus smiled at them and looked down at Kira.
"Is he alright?"
There was silence and after some time, Athrun spoke "Well, he doesn't really look good"
Everybody started to feel depressed.
"Stellar says that it's best if Kira is brought to a doctor"
"But how Stellar? Where can we bring him to see a doctor?"
"I think it's best that we head to Euphoria and get a doctor there"
"But Cagalli, it's going to take us at least 2, 3 days to get there and I don't know if Kira can hang on for that long"
"We have no choice; it's better than staying here and wait for my brother to die!"
"Cagalli's right" Everyone looked at Lacus. "We have to try and hopefully it'll work out fine"
"So that's settled then" Shinn said "I guess its best that we set out tonight"
Everyone agree and the four of them left the cave to get some food and water. Lacus stayed behind to look after Kira. She removed one of the bandages and looked at his wound at the shoulder. Gently, she touched it and she realized that Kira has become conscious.
"Kira"
Kira opened his eyes slightly. "La … Lacus?"
Lacus smiled with tears flowing down her cheeks "I'm glad" She then buried her face onto him "I'm glad that you're still alive"
Kira smiled and placed his hand weakly onto her head "I thought … I was going to die … And won't be able to see you anymore" Lacus looked at him. "But I'm also glad that … that day hasn't come yet"
Kira shut his eyes and moved his left hand over his shoulder wound.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have touched it" Lacus replied in a hurry and Kira shook his head.
"It's not your fault … It's just that … I can't believe … I managed to escape death … with such wounds"
Lacus stared at his wounds and then into his eyes. Kira smiled at her and closed his eyes once again.
"Kira? Kira?!" Lacus started to panic "Please … Kira … Please no!"
Athrun, Cagalli, Shinn and Stellar heard her voice and rushed into the cave, only to see Lacus crying.
"What is it Lacus?" Cagalli went forth to ask her but Lacus paid no attention to her.
"Kira! Kira, please don't die!"
Everyone was dumbfounded upon hearing Lacus' words. Lacus placed her hands over Kira's shoulder wounds and spoke as she cried.
"If there's anything I could do … In exchange for his life … I would gladly do so … Please, just don't let him die" After that, she buried her face onto Kira's body and continued to cry her heart out.
Everyone stood in silence, not knowing what they should do when a ray of white light suddenly glowed in the cave. Athrun, Cagalli, Shinn and Stellar watched in amazement when that ray of light slowly healed Kira's shoulder wounds but Lacus didn't seem to realize what was happening as she continued crying.
"La … Lacus?"
Lacus looked at Shinn without realizing what was happening. "What is it Shinn?" Shinn did not spoke but continuously stared in the direction of the white light. Lacus turned to face Kira and understood why her friends looked so shocked. Kira's wound had started to heal and after awhile, the light went off and the wound had completely disappeared when Lacus removed her hands.
Cagalli stared at Lacus with her mouth wide open. "How … How did you do that?!"
Lacus looked at her hands. "I don't know"
"Could it be?"
"What is it Athrun?"
"Cagalli … I was wondering, ever since we found out that Lacus is the princess of the Iga village, why she does not possess any shinobi powers"
"You mean that … that light is her powers?"
"Yes, that should be it" Athrun smiled at his friends and put his hands into his pockets "I guess that we have a white mage among us"
Lacus felt her spirit lightened that she had some powers after all. After all the things that Kira had done for her, she was now able to do something for him in return. Shinn and Cagalli quickly removed all bandages on Kira for Lacus to heal him and it took some time for Lacus to be able to harness her new powers.
The next morning
The sunlight shone onto Kira's face as he woke up from his long sleep. He sat up and was surprised that all his wounds had completely healed. He looked around for Lacus and spotted her outside the cave cleaning up the mess that the group made the night before.
"Lacus"
"Kira!"
She ran towards him and instead of hugging him, she fell onto him. Kira quickly grabbed her before she fell onto the ground.
"Lacus! What's wrong?"
Lacus simply opened her eyes and smiled at him, trying her best to sit up herself as the group returned with some hunted animals and water. Everyone was pleased that Kira was alright already.
"You better thank her Kira" Athrun told him as Stellar helped Lacus into the cave to rest "She stayed up all night healing all your wounds"
"Healing all my wounds? What do you mean?"
"Last night, something happened that made us understand that pink princess better. I guess you don't know but she possess the power to heal"
"A healing ninja? I've never met one of those before"
"Me neither, but what I saw last night told me that they're an amazing group of shinobi"
Kira nodded and headed into the cave to see how Lacus was doing.
At the Iga village
Siegel was frustrated with himself for not being able to save his daughter. He recalled the time when the thick cloud of smoke irritated his respiratory systems and he wasn't able to breathe normally, allowing the enemy to escape. He believed that his daughter was kidnapped by some other Koga shinobi that came to take his daughter and that kid (Kira, in his point of view) away. Yunna entered his room just as he was ordering people out of his room.
"Hokage-sama"
Siegel turned to look at Yunna and calms himself down.
"I'm sure you're disappointed over what happened"
"Yes sir …" Yunna answered as politely as he could.
"I would like you to find out who the young Koga shinobi who fought with me yesterday was, and what he's planning to do with my daughter"
"As you wish, Hokage-sama, I'll get into the matter right away"
Yunna bowed and left the room, leaving Siegel staring into the morning sky. He closed his eyes and only one thing surfaced in his mind.
"I guess … that it's about time that we settle our scores once and for all … Lenore Zala!"
Oh no ... as I looked back ... it's been really a long time since I last posted ... SO SORRY!!!!
I've spent the past few week pondering over the entire story I wished to create and I finally gotten it out. Unfortunately the problen now is with all the typing. School has started and there're many things to do, so I shall try and get the rest of the chapters up. In advance, I would like to inform readers that I can't describe fighting scenes very well, so bear with me if you find it quite hard to understand the battle scenes.
In the previews, one of the readers actually asked me if the shinobi in this story of mine have the abilities as those in the anime Naruto. I indeed took some details from Naruto but not the abilities area. It may sound quite weird but in this story, as you might have realised after reading this chapter, each and every shinobi actually specialised in a particular field or element of attacks. In this particular chapter, you would have found out that Siegel specialises in earth-based attacks while Lacus specialises in healing abilities. The field or element that the other characters specialise in will be revealed in further chapters ... so stay tuned!
PS: You will get to see more of the other couples in action, aside from Kira and Lacus, in the futher chapters as I had 1 or 2 chapters prepared for all but the main couple.
