Chapter 11: A Demon's Smile

Ayato POV

We have been searching for a week. Mushi estimated that the two of them had about a four days head start. She had been tracking them down using burnt plants and broken branches, along with other clues. We had met up with the other parties, giving us a total of 25. Mushi guessed that we should catch them in a day of two.

I was sitting by the fire after everyone else had gone to sleep. It was hard to sleep with Seibyo in trouble. I never noticed, until now, that he was always nearby in the temple. I miss him.

I jumped as something touched my shoulder. Turning around, I saw Shai cowering behind me.

"Do you need something?"

"N-no. I-I was m-making s-sure that y-y-you were a-alright. A-are y-you?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Y-You're l-l-lying."

"No I'm not.

"Y-You a-are."

"No, I'm not!" I realized that I had started shouting. Shai was backing away. "I'm sorry. I was lying."

Shai said nothing. She just sat down next to me. "W-would y-you like t-to talk a-about it?"

"I am worried about Seibyo. I miss him."

"I-is he I-Important to y-you?"

"I guess so."

"Pl-please tell M-my w-why."

I didn't hesitate in answering, "My father did not care about me. He was only concerned about my training, not me. I hardly saw him unless it involved my training. I am an only child. I only had my mom. She cared for me and was the only person who cared for me. That was, until I met Seibyo. He made sure that I was fed and we'll rested. Sometimes, he put me in my bed after I fell asleep at my desk. It was nice to have somebody like Seibyo. He is probably my only friend. But now he is in danger, and I couldn't help him. I feel so useless! If he gets hurt or worse, it would be my fault for not staying behind! It is my fault this happened! My fa-"

Shai hugged me. I was so surprised that I stopped talking. "This I-is not y-your fault. Y-you had no i-idea this w-would happen. Don't blame y-yourself. Seibyo would not w-want you t-to."

I calmed down. Once I did, I started to cry. It was something I hadn't done in a long time.

"It's okay. You're okay." She pulled back and looked me in the face. "Do you feel better now?"

I nodded, wiping away tears. "Yes. Thanks, Shai." Suddenly, I was overcome with exhaustion.

"You have hardly slept in over a week. Get some rest."

"Okay." She guided me to my tent. I collapsed in to my sleeping bag.

"Good night."

I closed my eyes as she said, "Sleep well, Ayato."

The next day…

I woke up with the trees zipping by. Confused, I tried to sit up. The party was jumping from branch to branch, but I don't remember heading off. Actually I don't remember ever waking up before now.

"Well, someone finally woke up."

Looking down, I saw Joki's face smiling at me. It was then that I realized that I was riding on his back.

"Why am I-"

"We decided it would be better to let you sleep as much as possible. Shai was worried about you."

"I'm sorry. I could travel on my own."

"Don't try it. You still need more sleep. Don't worry. I am perfectly fine."

"Oh, thank you."

"No problem." After another minute, he said, "I saw you and Shai last night."

"You did? Are you worried about something?"

"Not at all. Actually, I'm glad she talked to you. She needs to get to know the others."

"She really helped me last night. I can't believe how much I opened up to her."

"Shai has that affect on people. She may be shy, no pun intended, but you could talk to her about anything. She is always ready to help."

"Tell her I said thank you."

"No problem. Also, let me know if you ever need help, okay?"

"Thanks, Joki." I yawned loudly.

"You should get more sleep. I've got you covered."

Muttering my thanks, I drifted back to sleep.

The next day…

I was moving on my own again. Mushi said that we were getting close to Seibyo. As we continued, I picked up the feeling of Seibyo's chakra. It took me by surprise. The signal was so weak compared to usual. Unlike the usual chakra that felt like a raging fire, it was more of a fading ember. Also, I sensed the pursuer's chakra. It felt warped and twisted. It left a sore taste in the back of my throat.

I told B of the chakra signals. As I said that, we saw smoke rising a distance off. B turned to me. "Go on ahead. Seibyo seems to be in trouble. He needs help now. Go on, we'll catch up."

Nodding, I channeled my chakra. As I did, the world seemed to blur by. I covered the distance in under a minute. Slowing down, I finally stopped at a small clearing. I saw Seibyo and the attacker. The clearing had several burnt patches and several craters. Seibyo looked like he was about to collapse. He could hardly stand, his clothes had several burns and tears, and he had cuts and bruises on his exposed skin. His fingernail claws were dull, and several were broken. The other person was different. His clothes had far fewer tears and burns, mostly on the sleeves of his jacket and shirt. His skin, however, was unharmed. He seemed to have plenty of strength to keep fighting. Before he could move, I leapt in front of his path.

Surprised, the attacker jumped back. He landed on the branch of a tree. He spoke as if this was an everyday event, "Well, looks like one of your friends showed up. I'm surprised. I thought they would be left far behind. Oh well."

Before I could say anything, Seibyo fell onto his knee. I went to his side.

"Seibyo, we came to help you."

"Get out of here."

Surprised, I stared at him not understanding. "Seibyo, what do you mean? I came to help you!"

"Get out of here, Ayato!" He turned his uncovered eye on my. "This is not an enemy you can face! Run while you can!"

"No way! I'm staying to help."

"I'm not asking! Run back to the others!

"Are you two done yet?" I turned to look at the figure in the tree. "Your reunion is touching, but your blabbering is no fun." He was picking leaves, and rolling them between his thumb and two fingers on his right hand.

I took a few steps forward to face him. "You're the one that did this to Seibyo?"

"Not that hard to figure out, genius."

Barely containing my anger, I called, "Come down here! You'll have to fight me to get to Seibyo! And I'll make you pay for what you did!"

He smiled and jumped to the ground. "Now this is starting to be fun! You get the first shot."

"Ayato, no!" I charged making the boar handsign. "Swift Release: Shadowless Flight!" My body blurred into nothing. Moving at inhuman speeds in a frenzy, I struck Seibyo's attacker at all angles. Sliding away from him to a stop, I was shocked. He was completely unfazed by the attack. Feeling pain in my hands, I looked to see my knuckles torn and bleeding.

"H-how did he-"

"Look out!"

The enemy charged at me ready to punch. I dodged the first one. I was so disoriented, I wasn't able to use swift release. He swung at me with his left hand. I dodged. He swung with his right. I leaned back from the blow. As the fist swiped past, he opened his hand. A few dozens leaves flew out around me.

"What the-"

"Run!" Seibyo howled.

Smiling, the attacker made the sign of confrontation and shouted, "Boom!"

In an instant, the leaves exploded. I was thrown to the ground a distance away, unable to move. The guy hovered over me.

"How did you-"

"That was my Explosion Release. I can transfer my chakra into an object, and cause it to explode. Even small objects can pack powerful punches. With all those leaves, you should be done. Too bad. I expected this to be more fun."

As he said it, my vision blurred. The last thing I saw was his menacing smile looking down on me. As my vision blurred, the face twisted and morphed. I don't know why, but that smile sent shivers to my bones. This is a monster right here. Someone that can smile by causing pain to others. A true demon.

Seibyo POV

'Damn it! I told him to run!'

My strength was fading, and I fell onto my hands and knees. The attacker moved towards Ayato's unconscious form.

"Leave… him… alone." My voice was weak and cracked.

The monster turned towards me. Smiling, he picked up Ayato and slung him over his shoulder. "How are you going to stop me? You're running on fumes, and you can't even stand. You have no chance to fight me."

I knew he was right, but I had to try. Struggling to my feet, my knees gave out. I fell flat on the ground. The attacker took a few steps towards me. Then, he started talking, "You know, you cost me a lot of fun. I wasted most of my energy on you, so I was sluggish when fighting this boy. I had to end him quickly to avoid defeat. Oh well, it saved me time."

"Saved you… time?"

His smiled turned into a smirk. "The plan was to attack Ayato eventually, but you were the first target. Now, I can kill two birds with one stone."

"You'll… pay if you… do anything to him."

The guy sighed. He took something out of his pocket. Stretching out his hand, I saw about half a dozen leaves.

"These are leaves I did not detonate. Even though leaves are small, they can hold decent amounts of Chakra. These leaves were closest to Ayato's head. If these had blown up, the results could have been much worse. I only detonated leaves that would knock him out. If I went through all that trouble, why would I kill him?"

Glaring at him, I spoke with my weakened voice, "What do… you want with… us?"

"Ugh! Not the questions again! Why do you have to ruin my fun today? Let's just get going!" He started walking towards me again. I could not move to get away. As he got closer, he started to outstretch his hand.

Before he got any closer, I heard, "Wind Release Slash!"The attacker jumped away before the blade of wind slashed his hand. Jumping in between us was Jaku.

"J…Jaku."

She glared at me over her shoulder. "What were you thinking!? Do you know how worried I was when you disappeared!? If you ever do this again, you will live to regret it!"

"Are you mad at me for getting attacked by this guy?"

"What do you think?"

"That is crazy!"

"No, running away from this guy without thinking of finding us was crazy!"

Staying quiet for a second, I finally said, "It's good to see you again."

Her anger melting away, she said, "Same here." She looked back towards the attacker. "Give Ayato to me! Now!"

He just smirked. "Make me. You can't stop me alone."

As he said that, Mushi and Ogoi jumped to Jaku's side.

"You were saying?"

His smile vanishing, he said, "I can't fight all three of you in this condition. Damn it!" He leapt up into the trees.

Ogoi started to move forward, but the stranger's voice stopped him. "Stop right there! I chased Seibyo to this forest for a reason. I set explosion tags and traps all over the place before hand. You'll die if you try to chase me. Too bad." He leapt away from sight.

"Wait!" Before Ogoi moved, Jaku stopped him.

"He's right. If we chase him carelessly, we'll only find trouble. We have over situations at hand."

At this she moved to me, and turned me over. I said, "You better patch me up. I need it."

"That's obvious."

"Make sure to not cause any trouble to my body, okay?"

She made a disgusted gesture. "Who do you think you're talking too? You're in my capable hands." With this, I gave way to exhaustion, and blacked out.