A/N: Sorry about the wait for this chapter. Honestly, I got caught up in a new, Naruto-centric story that I've been working on. A story which I must say that I'm absolutely loving (grins) For more information on that, see me profile--they story's called Failing Twilight. Anyways, I've also added a list of the characters' ages and the setting of the chapter just above this story. I realize that with all the different time jumps the ages get a bit confusing, so that should help. Please read, review, and enjoy! Ja ne!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or Naruto. Kiara is owned by Yusuke'sSister.
Claimer: I do own the plot line, the Kuro Tournament, Kristy, Jason, Jessica, Chris, Bashere, and anything else related to them.
(1) - Nibi no Nekomata "two tailed forked cat". A nekomata is a cat from Japanese folklore with supernatural abilities generally related to healing and controlling corpses.
(2) - Otouto means little brother.
(3) - Akatsuki means "dawn" but translates literally to "red moon" (aka means red and tsuki means moon). That's what Itachi is referring to.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
'Telepathy'
Jinchuuriki - Youkai name - # of Tails - Youkai type
Yugito - Azami - two/Nibi - cat
Sasori - Kenta - four/Yonbi - scorpion
Itachi - Tasuki - six/Rokubi - weasel
Deidara - Sadao - seven/Shichibi - badger
unknown - Nobuo - eight/Hachibi - unknown
Ages
Kristy - 18
Itachi - 14
Deidara - 16
Sasori - 20
Yugito - 9
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Under A Bloody Moon
Chapter 9
The Organization
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Outside Cloud Village, June, 1 Year SA (Since Arrival)
"She wants to talk to you," Yugito said, and I jumped in surprise as two voices--one Yugito's and the other an older, deeper, feminine one--came from her mouth.
Yugito blinked and suddenly her golden eyes changed. The whites disappeared, leaving only gold and the pupils became tall and slitted.
'Like an animal's...' I realized as I stared at her with wide eyes.
"Greetings, my Lord," Yugito said, this time with only the older voice.
I jerked back, my eyes widening even further. "Excuse me?" I gaped. "How--?! When--...Huh..?"
Yugito bowed at the waist. "I am Azami," she said. "I am the Nibi no Nekomata(1) of the Biju."
Again I blinked, though this time because all of the pieces fell into place. "...Oh!" I exclaimed. "Yugito's another of the Jinchuuriki! But...how did you recognize me?"
Yugito's mouth curled into a small smirk that looked decidedly out of place on a little girl's mouth. In fact, her whole expression looked pretty odd. At least now I knew why her eyes had changed to what they had; Azami was a neko youkai.
"Illusions such as the one that was covering you may trick the feeble minds of feeble humans, but do not work on youkai. We see it simply as energy, not as something else. And besides, the Mark was not meant to be hidden."
As she spoke my hand unconsciously lifted to brush against the large kanji that took up the left side of my face. Azami's statement made so much sense to me that I wondered why I hadn't realized it earlier. Youkai's brains were different from humans' brains, after all; they were two entirely different species. And besides, if illusions had worked so easily then Bashere would have used them a lot more often, being a psychic youkai and all. A shiver ran down my spine; thank Kami a person with that kind of power doesn't actually exist.
"So, umm, you were the first of the Biju to be sent here, right?"
Yugito's gaze narrowed. "First?" she asked sharply. My eyes widened once again. Crap, she didn't know about what'd happened. Doubtless she believed that Bashere had easily been taken care of and that I'd become the Battle Lord through some other series of events.
"Um, yeah," I replied while scratching the back of my head awkwardly. "Almost all of the other Biju were sent here through Bashere's trickery. I still don't know about what happened to Nobuo or Rokuro though."
Yugito's face twisted into a mixture of fury and concern. "Damn bastard!" Azami hissed. "Vile little cockroach!" She continued to glare into space for a few seconds before her expression faded into a frown. "Unfortunately this child is unable to channel my youki like this for very long. We shall have to finish this conversation at a later date."
With that rather abrupt farewell, the youki aura around Yugito faded and her eyes changed back to looking more human-like. Yugito blinked several times in rapid succession, as if regaining her bearings, and then smiled happily up at me.
"So I can come with you, right?" she asked.
The question caught me by surprise. Of course I'd been hoping that she'd come back to the Valley--I was trying to gather all the Biju, after all--but I hadn't expected her to be the one to bring it up.
"Er, well sure, I guess," I said awkwardly. "Are you sure you'd like to though? I mean, you'll have to leave your Village and you won't be able to become an official kunoichi..."
Yugito shrugged lightly. "They don't like me very much there, so it's okay. Besides, I want to go with you anyway, nee-chan!" she said while pouting cutely.
I felt myself melting there. "Oh, all right then. And I'm sure that the others and I will be able to help you become an official kunoichi anyway, if not an unofficial one. Oh! That reminds me! You'll have to meet the rest of my friends; they're all Jinchuuriki like you!"
Yugito stared at me with wide, innocent eyes. "Really?!" she asked. "Even Itachi-san?"
"Even Itachi," I agreed with a chuckle. "Speaking of which, we should probably catch up to him..." Suddenly my grin widened. "Say, Yugito-chan, how'd you like to go really, really fast?"
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The Valley, June, 1 Year SA
Yugito easily adapted to life with me and the other Jinchuuriki. Though Sasori was pretty annoyed to have a kid running around and Itachi was just indifferent, Deidara had apparently adopted himself as her older brother--and considering their similar pale hair and eyes, it wasn't really a far throw. The two of them were twin balls of energy and were hell to deal with when they were hyper.
Before very long I realized that I did indeed need to finish my conversation with Yugito's youkai and that I should also touch base again with Tasuki to let him know who I'd found. With this in mind, one day I dragged Itachi and Yugito to a sunny meditation room in the back of the house.
"This will only take a minute you two," I said. I shifted my gaze onto Itachi as we stopped in the middle of the traditional-style room. "You of all people should know, otouto(2), that time passes differently in the mind. And I promise that you won't even feel a thing, Yugito-chan."
Itachi scowled at me for the endearment, but didn't say a word against it as we sat on the floor. I grinned at the two shinobi--well, one shinobi, one shinobi-in-training--and then closed my eyes. I spread out my youki then, ready to try something I'd never done before and that I wasn't even sure would work: I was going to briefly connect Itachi and Yugito's minds so that Tasuki, Azami, and I could all talk together--kind of like three-way-calling, but in person.
With a gentle tug I found myself in...Well, someone's mind; I wasn't sure which. Considering as there was a set of metal bars to my left and to my right while there were stone walls before and behind me, it was probably a mixture of both Itachi and Yugito's. I also was not alone in the strange room. By some twist of fate I had indeed managed to pull both Tasuki and Azami in with me.
Azami, as it turned out, was indeed a neko youkai. Or at least I assumed so from the black cat ears and the two cat tails that she had. Her hair was a fiery red and fell in waves down her back and her eyes were the stunning slit liquid gold that I'd seen when I first met her. She also had a tall shapely figure that fit securely into the tight, traditional kimono that she wore. The very way she stood screamed seductress.
"Azami?" Tasuki asked while staring in shock.
She too looked surprised. "Tasuki? What the--" she spluttered while her head swiveled back and forth between Tasuki and I, clearly very confused.
Tasuki was the first one to regain his composure. With one eyebrow raised in inquiry and his arms crossed firmly over his chest, he turned to look at me.
"Let me guess," he said dryly, "You had something to do with this."
I smirked at the other two youkai. "You bet. I found Azami about a week ago and needed to speak with both of you and so, voila! Here we are."
Tasuki's eyebrow was still raised. "Shouldn't you be speaking to Sadao instead of me?" he questioned. "He's the highest ranking of us Biju after all."
"Please," I replied with an undignified snort. "Sadao hates my guts, for whatever reason. He's actually a lot like Sasori, now that I think about it--it's ironic that Sadao isn't sealed into him instead of Deidara. At least Sasori's fairly civil with me though."
This time it was Azami who quirked an eyebrow. "Surely Sadao can't be all that bad," she commented. "Sure, he's always been a bit of a jackass, but then badger youkai are notorious for being fowl tempered. Sadao is actually pretty calm for his race. So it's either that or you've managed to do something to really piss him off."
"But I haven't done anything!" I protested loudly. "I've only spoken to him once and right off the bat he was pissy with me; he even tried to attack me before I even saw him!"
"Seems to me like you two just rub each other the wrong way," Tasuki chuckled. "I'm sure that it's just your more playful wolf nature conflicting with his badger side."
I shrugged uncomfortably. "Well anyway, the reason I came here was so that we can put this story together a bit better. Now that I'm all settled here in this world I can focus most of my attention on gather up the rest of the Biju--there should only be two more now. If I can learn more about them I'll know better what to look for in their Jinchuuriki."
Tasuki studied me silently for a minute. "You're really about this aren't you? About helping us?"
"Yes," I answered with a resolute nod. "I am. You worked with the last true Battle Lord after all, right? Then it's only right that I get you back to the Makai. Plus, I can't imagine what it must be like for your Jinchuuriki, to be shunned as they are..." I sighed. "So yeah, I'm serious."
"Then we will help you. We will train you so that you will be better able to deal with any obstacles that come your way."
Azami and I gaped at the weasel youkai. "You'll what?!" we exclaimed simultaneously.
"We," Tasuki repeated while glanced over at Azami, "Will train you."
"I-- you-- I mean, I-- ...Thank you," I finished softly.
"You're quite lucky Kristy-sama," Azami said with a smirk once she'd calmed down, "To be trained by the Biju. No one else has ever had such an honor and we've been around for quite some time. After all, Rokuro-sama was the last one to win the Kuro Tournament before it was banned."
My eyes widened in shock. "Are you trying to tell me that Rokuro was the Battle Lord for over a thousand years?!"
"Is that really so surprising?" Tasuki asked with a smirk. "We've told you that he was very strong." He waved his hand dismissively. "But that does not matter. For the time being we need to focus on the rest of the Biju. Besides Nobuo, the remaining two are Hiroshi, a shark youkai, and Mikio, a wolf youkai..."
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The Valley, July, 1 Year SA
"Yes!"
"No."
"Yes!"
"No."
"Yes!"
"NO, dammit!" I yelled suddenly while banging my hand on the table beneath me. Deidara jumped in surprise at my outburst despite the fact that he knew very well that he was annoying me from my twitching eye. He was not to be deterred however, and leaned over the dining table that the two of us were sitting at--me working with several scrolls laid out before me and him there just to pester me--to look me in the eye.
"Yes."
I threw up my hands in annoyance and groaned, "You're impossible, Deidara! We're not going to form an organization."
The quiet pattering of a pair of feet signified Yugito's entrance in the room. She yawned cutely while kneeling at the table and reaching for some of the breakfast that was laid out there.
"Organization?" the nine year old asked curiously. Itachi and Sasori, who were sitting in the conjoining living room and playing a game of Go, glanced up to see how I would handle this.
I let out a sigh and rested my chin in my hand. "For the past few months Deidara's been determined to get us to form an organization. For whatever reason he just won't give the idea up!"
Yugito titled her head to the side and a smile came to her face. "I think that that's great idea!" she said brightly while my draw dropped in shock. "Why can't we?"
I spluttered while attempting to come up with something to say. Deidara was quick to move over to Yugito and they both looked up at me with pouts and the feared "puppy eyes", looking disturbingly alike.
"Please," they said in union.
"But it'll draw attention..." I protested lamely, trailing off. I looked to Itachi and Sasori for support but Sasori just smirked at me, highly amused by my situation.
Itachi shrugged helplessly and shot me an apologizing look. "It's not like we wouldn't attract attention eventually," he said. "And it could help with find the rest of the Jinchuuriki."
"Traitor!" I wailed. I was set on running from the room, but as soon as my eyes landed on the pleading Yugito and Deidara again I felt my resolve beginning to crumble. Finally I threw my hands up into the air again and gave in. "Fine! We'll form a damn organization!"
Instantly Deidara and Yugito cheered and hugged each other happily. "Thanks Yugito-chan!" Deidara exclaimed. "I've been trying forever to get Kristy-chan to agree!" The blonde looked down thoughtfully. "Now we just need a name..."
The next few minutes were spent bouncing names off of each other, trying to find one that would fit. Surprisingly, Itachi eventually spoke up.
"What about...Akatsuki?" he asked hesitantly.
I furrowed my brow. "Dawn? That's a cool name, but I don't quite see how it fits."
"Not dawn," the Uchiha replied. "Red moon(3). Remember the night when I first met you? The moon was red, which is incredibly rare. It just seems like some sort of a sign..." Itachi shrugged uncomfortably.
Almost as soon as Itachi finished speaking I remembered something that shocked me.
--Flashback--
I continue down the hall then at a brisk pace, knowing that I had wasted enough time admiring my mind. My halls were comparatively short compared to Mr. Rawls, but then he had lived hundred of years more than me, so it wasn't really all that surprising. None the less, it was only a good thing in this case, since I soon found myself at the end of the hall in front of the door to my Youkai Room. This door, while larger than the rest, still looks basically the same as the memory ones. It does seem to be a slightly darker shade of black, but I suppose that that is just because of the door's importance. Shrugging off my pointless observations, I reach out to the handle and yank the door open before stepping inside.
Like in all other youkai minds, I find myself standing before the floating objects that represent abilities. The first four that really stand out are obviously symbols for my blood: a floating flame for fire, the purple eye for psychic, a howling wolf's head for my ookami blood, and, strangely enough, a shapeless black blob for shadows. The blob was constantly shifting around and seemed to be made of the same stuff as the walls, though it was pure black. Next to these for were a katana, a shoe, a human face, and...a red moon.
--End Flashback--
What could this mean? Had that been some premonition or something? I'd never been able to figure out what the moon stood for, and it seemed to far of a stretch so say that the symbol and my coming to this world under a bloody red moon were just a coincidence. Maybe, just maybe, the moon was there to represent what I was going through now.
"That's perfect!" I exclaimed, happy with my new realization. "Akatsuki. That's what we'll call ourselves!"
Deidara walked over to me and slung an arm over my shoulders. "See?" he said with a grin. "This is going to work out perfectly. Now we just need outfits."
I stared at the blonde incredulously. "Outfits?"
"Yeah, outfits. All the cool organizations have them."
"No way in hell," I said in horror. "We are not going to have outfits!"
"Yes!"
"No."
"Yes!"
"No."
"Yes!"
"NO!"