He dodged every attack.

I couldn't get a blow on him. If my fist went left, he went right. If I went above, he went below.

But he never tried to hit me. He clearly saw his openings to attack and he had the skill to hit me enough times so that I couldn't stand.

But he didn't do anything.

It frustrated me quite a lot. In fact, I couldn't even focus after a while. I was just throwing my punches and kicks wildly, without thinking.

And soon enough, he began to quietly chuckle. Then he laughed just enough for it to echo. After a while he was cackling.

"You are too predictable, Hime-chan. Even though you're a taijutsu specialist. I thought you'd put up more of a fight."

"Shut up, Keijuu!"
Rubi swiveled his head around, as he was fighting Sasuke. "Don't speak to Ouji-sama like that!" he scolded me.

Sasuke laughed. "Look at your own opponent!" and he punched Rubi in the stomach.

I turned back to Keijuu. "I know what you want. You want me to give up so that you can have the Suitai no Hana! Well guess what? You can't fucking have it!"
Keijuu's smile turned into a frown. "Please. Stop with the vulgarity."
"Fuck you, you bastard! You're not my mother!"

Keijuu was in front of me in a second.

And in that second, I had pulled out my shuriken. "You gonna start fighting now?"
"It seems like I must teach our dear Hime-chan some manners."
The fight continued.

I turned as Naruko screamed out in pain.

"Ah, she's still fighting Momo."
Since Sasuke had defeated Rubi he decided to go help her. They seemed to be having a hard time with the little boy.

"Don't underestimate me, you little maggots!" he screamed in delight.

Naruto was still fighting Lulu, and they seemed to both have the upper hand and different times.

Keijuu chuckled. "See? You're friends are incompetent, Hime-chan. Why don't you just come back with us? It'll be just like old times!"

"Do not listen to what he says. He is a dirty liar." A wispy voice in her head said.

"Hello? Who's there?" I called out.

"I am your subconscious. I am called Hana. And I implore you, defeat Keijuu."
"You're my past life!"
"Yes I am. Now please, do as I say."
"Of course!"

"Good. First, take your hair down."

"Wait, what?"

"Just do it."
So I took my hair down, becoming anxious because of my memory of fighting Jiraiya with my hair down. I was beaten badly because he could grab me by my long locks.

"Why am I doing this?"

"You shall see."
"What're you doing?" he asked me.

"I am taking down my hair. What does it look like?"
"Okay, well, I guess you want your hair to be damaged."
"Now say, 'No worries. I'm cutting it all off right now.'"
"What? No I can't just cut my hair! This hair symbolizes my being in the Uzumaki clan!"
"There will not be an Uzumaki clan if you do not defeat Keijuu! I suggest you listen to someone with experience!"

"I won't fucking do it!"

"Here's a deal. If you cut your hair, I promise to take the Life Tracker out of you and unlock the Suitai no Hana."
I sighed and took my shuriken to my hair thrice, chopping off my hair in an extremely uneven pixie cut.

Keijuu almost choked on his spit. "Why did you do that?" he demanded hysterically.

I saw my opening and why Hana had made me do this. "Did he always have such an attachment to my-I mean our-hair?"

"Yes he did. It's a good way to shock him, since I did the exact same thing to him when I figured out he was only using me to get to the Suitai no Hana."
I pounced on the opening. Speeding toward him, I jumped, pushing him to the ground. I wrapped my legs around his waist, pushing down with all my might. With my shuriken at his throat, I decided I had the upper hand.

But I felt sharp pains enter my back. I twisted my arm and pulled out three kunai. Turning I saw that Rubi had gotten back up and was now aiding Keijuu against me.

Rubi then did something unexpected. He ran, grabbed me and threw me over his shoulder, ducking behind trees and hopping over bushes. When we had gotten deep into the forest, he stopped, setting me down. Bending on one knee he said, "I pledge my loyalty to only you princess."
"Reply, 'I humbly accept your service.'"

"I humbly accept your service. Now, help me get the Suitai no Hana out, Hana!"
"With pleasure."
Suddenly, I felt bile rise in my throat. But I couldn't prevent it from coming out. It was rising and rising and I felt dizzy and sick.

I blacked out.

A beautiful golden blonde girl with brown roots and red tips, who was no older than Sasuke, stood over me. Her eyes were the color of sleek wood and her lips the color of cherry blossoms.

"Hi there." She said.

I recognized this voice as the wispy voice in my head. Suddenly it all clicked.

"You're Hana! And…"
"Yes, I came out of your body. And by the way, the Life Tracker is out of you so you may activate the Suitai no Hana at will."
"How did you do it?"

"I simply used the powers given to me by the Great One. The Life Tracker was technically created by me. So I know how to take it out. Now please, activate the Suitai no Hana before it is too late."

"But...I don't know how to do that!"
"Well, just think about the Suitai no Hana and say whatever comes to mind."
We sat in silence as I closed my eyes and thought about the staff that was supposed to come out of my body.

Words tumbled out of my mouth.

"Great One, almighty spirit, hear my pleas and answer them! I wish for the help of the powers given to me by the Great One and Mother Earth! Guide and aid me on my quest, holy flower. I serve only you. Please, I beseech you."

I opened my eyes and looked up to see Hana glowing.

"If you say so, Princess of the Flower, lover of the earth. I shall guide you on your quest!" she said and bright light surrounded her.

Encasing me in the silver light, I saw nothing but flowers. "W-what's going on?"

"I'm the Suitai no Hana." she explained.
"Wait, seriously?"

"Yes, and I will aid you well!"
When the silver light disappeared, I was holding a large staff made of entangled vines with flowers blooming from the top in abundance.

I looked down to see that I was in a fairy outfit. I wore a plain green gown that fell to my knees. I no longer wore shoes, and flowers covered my hair and the puffy sleeves of my dress.

"This really is a shoujo manga!"

"No it's not. Now listen carefully. All you need to do is touch Keijuu's chest-where his heart would be-and say 'Bless your heart'."

"That' so shoujo manga-esque. Well anyway, I'll do it!"

I then turned to Rubi. "How strong is Keijuu?"
"He is equal to you when you are in this state."

I nodded at him and as I was about to turn around, I stopped.

Pausing, I leaned down to touch Rubi's cheek. I realized that I wasn't in control of my body, but Hana was.

"Now Rubi, bring those spirits up. We will win this battle."
Rubi looked at me incredulously and hugged me. "Thank you, Hana."
"What in the hell is happening now?"

"I said that to Rubi years ago, when I was fighting Keijuu for this exact same reason. Keijuu wants the Suitai no Hana at any cost. And because of his insatiable desire, we were all killed in the process during that battle."
"Oh my god!"
"Yes well, what I just told Rubi was what I said to him right after he had been stabbed in the chest by Momo."
"What?"

"Yes, that's another thing: don't underestimate Momo. Not only is he not actually a child, but he also is brainwashed."
"Huh? He's not a kid?"
"Um, no. Keijuu brainwashed him and then reverted his age to a child. He's actually the oldest among all of us. He's 18 going on 19."

"Seriously?"
"Yes. Now, are you ready to go?"

"Yes."
"Then let's move out."
With Rubi's hand in mine, I set out to defeat Keijuu once and for all.