Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.
A/N: Does anybody even read this part? Because if you don't, then you can miss out on some important stuff vital for the plot. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews for the 20th chapter; they were very encouraging! Now for some questions- it seems I'm not always very clear...
Questions:
Q- Where's Naruto and Sasuke?
A- Lots of people asked this one... This is after Naruto and Sasuke's fight, so Naruto is off with ero-sennin Jiraiya, and Sasuke is being a jerk at Orochimaru's village. Yeah, yeah... if you haven't worked out I don't like Sasuke already, now you know. Heh, I give him a bad rapt in my other fic up...
Q- Longer chapters?
A- At the moment I've got a set word limit of 3000 words for the main body of the chapter. Sometimes it'll vary, depending on what's happening at that time because I've written the story as one big one, and then I just cut and paste into a template for the fic. But anyway, I guess I'll try and do longer chapters with all the heightening action coming.
Questions for the characters!
Q- Sora, what did you see in Yume's mind that scared you so much?
Sora- -shudder- Pink... so much pink... And she was imaging how I'd look in it! Nooo!
Q- Yanagi, when are you going to stop kidding yourself and admit you like Sora?
Yanagi- Whaaat! What kind of question is that? Me like that childish, blue-haired, mind-reading, little dork! Well... I mean, he's okay for a dork, but still!
Q- Team Omega and Delta, who do you wish to fight later in the exam?
Kita- Hmm, I'm not all that sure... anyone is good, I suppose, as long as they're a good opponent.
Yanagi- Yume! I want to kick her butt! And it's not because I like Sora! It's... uh, because her fashion sense is atrocious!
Sora- I'm happy with anyone, but I would like to fight Tansei...
Tansei- Those guys from the Hidden Cloud looked like interesting opponents. I want to see what skills they have,
Yume- Oh, I'd like to fight one of those three girls with the pretty rose sashes! I want to ask them how they got those roses to be such a lovely pink colour!
Jieichou- Nobody really interests me much... I'll just fight whoever fate gives me. I won't lose though.
Thank you for those questions! If anyone has anymore, please ask away! But for now, onto the story!
Chapter 21: Cat and Dog
Later...
Kita opened her purple eyes slowly. As usual, whenever she either fell asleep or unconscious, she was back in her normal form. She sat up on her haunches and shook her head. There were several bandages on her body, a little blood soaking through them. She looked around, noticing the Sand Siblings had left.
"Kankuro-san and Temari-san said you'd be out for a while," commented Sora from beside her.
"Where'd they go off to?" asked Kita hazily, transforming back into her human self.
"Dunno, they just took off..." Yanagi grumbled.
Kita sighed.
There was a short silence before Sora spoke up. His voice was cold.
"You lied to us, Kita."
Kita flinched and looked up at the blue haired boy. His dark orange eyes were serious. Kita looked back at the ground.
"You said you couldn't get rid of those cat ears. But I saw what happened just before. I think it is only right you tell us what's going on. That light... That was your advanced bloodline, wasn't it?" He stared down at her, his arms crossed.
Kita's ears drooped. "Yes... it was, and yes, I'm able to become fully human... but, there are consequences."
"Uh, question..." interrupted Yanagi, looking a little steamed and confused at the same time. "Nobody has ever exactly told me what the Mitsukai bloodline is."
Sora answered for Kita. "It's called a 'Mastery of Light', the ability to take light and solidify it to the user's will. It's one of Iwagakure's most revered bloodlines, but the ability has weaknesses."
"I'm pretty much hopeless without a strong light source," Kita whispered. "And, I lose my Nekomusume abilities whenever I turn human. I keep the ears because they allow me to use my Nekomusume power, but also, they're the only thing that's stopping my own bloodline from killing me. I'm even lucky that I'm alive at the moment..."
Flashback- around four months ago...
"Again, are you sure about this, Kita?" Temari shifted her fan so it sat more comfortably.
The feline before the teenager nodded her head. "Yes, there'd be no point returning to my village otherwise."
"Alright, I suppose." She put her hands on her hips and looked the cat over. It had been around two months ago that she had met this strange creature that claimed to be a human.
Her little brother Gaara had come home one day saying he had brought a cat with him. At first she had thought Gaara had taken up a hobby of bringing in stray animals... that was until she saw the panther-sized feline. And then the animal started to speak! She had barely kept herself from blowing it out the door with her fan in her shock.
After a few minutes of explanation from her brother, she finally understood; the cat was actually a lot like Gaara, having the bijuu known as the Nibi inside her. When the explanations were done, Gaara had made them promise not to breathe a word of it to anyone, under threat of death. Temari had actually been surprised by her little brother with that one. He had changed a lot since meeting that Uzumaki Naruto boy, and normally the new threat was being buried in the desert up to their necks for a week. But threatening them with death... there was obviously something special to Gaara about that cat-girl if it warranted that old threat.
The two months before this had definitely been a lot more stranger since that kitty had turned up. Somehow, Kita had become like a little sister to her and Kankuro. And Gaara... She had noticed a definite change in him as well; he didn't seem so lonely anymore. Kita accompanied him a lot during the night, staying close to his side. The two didn't talk very much, but it was obvious to Temari that something was up between them.
Temari wiped the sweat from her brow. The four of them were out in the desert, under the heat of the merciless sun. They had picked this spot because it was just far enough to be out of the reach of any patrols from Sunagakure. The last thing they needed was Kita being discovered and then all of them having to go in for interrogation.
She glanced beside her to her siblings, wondering what was on their minds. Kankuro looked like he was boiling in his black outfit; his purple face paint was starting to a flake a little. As for Gaara... he was lucky, using his sand as a kind of umbrella. His eyes were a little different today though. He kept his eyes on Kita for the most part, a concerned glint in them. His gaze turned upwards to Temari, having noticed her watch on his. After a moment, his eyes slid away, to look towards the horizon instead.
"Are you sure nothing's going to happen, Kita-chan?" Kankuro shifted uncomfortably before taking a sip of water from a canteen at his side.
Kita gave an audible sigh. "Yes, I'm pretty sure..." she waited a moment before she spoke again. "Okay, I'm ready to try."
Temari stepped back, along with Kankuro. Gaara held his place, his eyes wandering back to Kita.
A burst of chakra around the feline signalled the start. Temari watched as Kita's fur seemed to ripple and melt before them. It was almost like someone had undone a hidden zipper on the back of the cat and a human was emerging out of it. The girl before them had long silvery hair with a purple sheen to it and fair skin. Temari gave an inner sigh of relief as she noticed Kita had clothes on. She had been worried about her 'little sister' before with the issue of clothes. Temari took note that the clothes would need replacing though; Kita's shirt had a large hole in the front, and also the back...
The last traces of Kita's feline self disappeared; her ears became small, neat human ones.
Kita laughed joyfully, staring down at her hands as she wiggled her fingers. "It worked!"
Temari smiled- so here was the true form of that cat that her brother had brought home all those two months ago...
Suddenly, there was a flash of golden light beside Kita. The girl stopped laughing and put her hand to her face. When she took her hand away from her cheek, there was blood on it.
"What was that?" asked Temari, walking over.
There was another flash of gold light. Kita gave a yelp as a cut appeared along her arm. The girl's eyes were wide. Her head snapped towards the approaching Temari. "Don't come any closer!" Her voice sounded fearful. Another flash of light, and another cut appeared on her jaw.
Temari stopped, her own eyes growing wide as more flashes of light appeared. They came faster and faster around Kita, almost covering her from sight.
That's when the screams began...
Blood splattered out from in-between the gaps of light. Kita's cries of pain and terror were horrible from inside the ever-moving walls of light. The air seemed to become dark around them, like the walls were sucking the very light out of the sky.
"Kita!" yelled Temari, not sure what to do.
"Stay back!" shouted Kankuro, taking out a summoning scroll. A hand made out of sand slapped it away. Kankuro looked up, angered. "Gaara! Why'd you do that!"
"Your puppets won't help here," replied Gaara, keeping calm. He had already started his work; both of his hands were on the ground, commanding the sand inside the golden walls to rise up and cover Kita to protect her...
It worked- the screams ended. The sky instantly became lighter as the golden wall scattered into nothingness, leaving a formless statue in the middle. Gaara's calmness was broken as he slowly approached the statue. His hand shook slightly as he pushed the sand away from Kita's face.
Temari gave a stifled gasp. The thing Gaara had just uncovered didn't at all look human. It was more like a bloody pulp. Kita's hair was completely stained red with blood. Somehow, Kita's ears had reverted back into cat ears.
Kita gasped for air, though from her breaths, it sounded like there was blood in her lungs with the gurgling that came from them. The girl's mouth tried to speak, but only a murmur came from it. "Thank you..." she mouthed. Her misty purple eyes were blank as they stared ahead... Her head collapsed forward, thick globs of blood and saliva dripping from her mouth onto Gaara's sand.
Stage 2- success... A faint chuckle hissed in the back of Kita's mind.
Gaara's hand fell limp by his side, the smell of blood filled his nostrils. In his chest, he felt as though his heart was being squeezed as he looked at the girl wrapped in his sand. As he watched, she slowly turned back into the true creature she was, though she looked none the better. He gave a desperate look at his siblings. "We need to get her back to Sunagakure."
Back in real time...
"If I use my 'Mastery of Light', I'll only end up killing myself, and maybe even you guys as well." Kita clutched at the bottom of her shirt. "I don't want that to happen..."
"But... when did this happen? When did you activate it?" asked Yanagi.
"I don't know. I can only think that it was between the split seconds when I came back to life and was turned into a cat." The cat-eared girl responded. She looked up at Sora. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't tell you because I didn't want to worry you."
Sora gave her a troubled look, then a nod. "It's okay... Anyway, now isn't the time. We've got to find a way across that lake."
Yanagi flipped back her hair. "It'll be tough since we don't know much about water jutsu. We're just gonna have to run for it."
"Mist nin are known for their sword skills," said Kita, standing up. "We only saw one as well, which troubles me."
"The other two must be back up," Sora tapped his finger to his chin. "That wave jutsu would have taken a bit of chakra to perform, so doubtless the other two are hiding in wait to jump out when a team makes it past their first line of defence while the wave person is resting."
In the distance, the trio heard a large watery crash and a rumble. Kita's ears picked up the sounds of yelling. They turned their necks towards the sound.
"Another wave?" asked Yanagi.
"Let's go, this could be our chance." Kita waved an urgent hand at them and started running.
A few minutes earlier with Team G2...
Shuuki gave a low whistle as Team G2 emerged out of the forest onto the shore. "Big lake- looks like we're walking then." He ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair and started forward.
"Wait a sec, Shuuki." Rindou pulled him back by his shirt collar then put her hands on her hips. She looked worried. "Something's not right. It's dangerous to go out into such an open area."
"Strange..." Araiki inspected a tree trunk. It was completely wet, as were all the other trees around it. He sniffed at the air as well. "I smell cat for some reason."
"Smell cat?" repeated Rindou, walking over to him and pulling Shuuki as well. "I didn't see any cat-users when the groups were assembled. I saw a dog-user, but that's it."
Shuuki pulled himself away from Rindou's grip and rubbed the back of his neck. "I think I might know. When we were walking to the gates the Grass Sisters jumped this girl who had cat ears."
"They'd jump on anything that sported a cute accessory," grumbled Rindou.
"It wasn't a headpiece, they were real!" The blonde haired boy frowned.
Araiki looked thoughtful as he gazed around. Cat ears... Yeah, I saw her too. I don't know why, but I wish I could meet her and find out about that. There was an amused snickering in the back of his mind. Araiki's brow twitched. What is it? he asked.
Nothing... But a cat- how very interesting. I thought you'd hate them as much as me. Heh heh... anyway, nice lake... Wish I could destroy it and take its power.
Whatever... Houkou...
Eh, don't talk to me like that brat. You're lucky I even let you live!
"Araiki!"
The brown-haired boy turned around to Rindou. She was looking out to the lake, where a large wave was roaring towards them.
"Araiki, do something!" Shuuki yelled.
"Doton; Doroku Gaeshi!" Araiki pushed into the ground and a large square of rock was pulled up over the team.
The wave crashed down onto the stone barrier while the team sheltered underneath. Water flowed over the top and spilled over, now harmless.
Shuuki and Rindou gave a sigh of relief. "That was a close one," they said together, before opening their eyes and seeing they were clutching onto each other.
"Get off, pervert!" Rindou pushed the blonde boy off of her chest and into the rocky slab as it started to disappear back into the ground.
"Ow... But I didn't mean-" Shuuki rubbed his head.
"Yeah, right!" Rindou exclaimed angrily.
Araiki took a breath, relieved. He froze up as his nose picked up the faint scent of cat once more. Three intruders... From their smell, he could tell they had stopped. Araiki took out a kunai and turned towards the forest. "Come on out, are you behind that wave jutsu that just happened?"
Shuuki and Rindou stopped arguing and turned and pulled out kunai as well.
There was no response for a moment. Araiki growled and aimed his kunai at where he smelt the intruders. He threw it into the bushes.
"Ouch, you elbowed me in the face, Kita! Wha? Hey, that nearly got me!" exclaimed an irritated female's voice.
The bushes rustled again, this time a girl with silver hair came out, the kunai Araiki had thrown hanging off her fingers. Her cat-ears twitched slightly as she saw Araiki. The two of them stared at each other with wide eyes for a second before pointing at each other.
"It's you!"
A blue haired boy and a black haired girl rubbing her cheek popped out of the bushes as well with confused looks on their faces. Shuuki and Rindou glanced at them before looking back at their team mate and the cat-eared girl. However, they had the same confused expression as the other two.
Rindou tapped Araiki on the shoulder. "Uh, do you know this girl?"
"No," the boy with the collar shook his head. "But she was here earlier. Weren't you?"
The girl frowned lightly. Her eyes flickered to beside Araiki's head and the hand with his kunai in it twitched. Araiki tensed up.
"You better get down now," said the girl, throwing the kunai so that it flew right beside his face.
Araiki moved just in time. He heard it whiz past his ear. Then he heard a sound of slicing, then a splash behind him. He turned to see a Mist genin with a Da Dao sword land on the water. The dark grey-haired teen gave a growl of annoyance at the group, his jet-black eyes glaring. He wiped some blood off of his cheek.
The water next to him began to bubble and an older girl rose up from below. The creamy-white haired genin put a hand on her hip, and resettled her other hand on the pronged spear she was carrying. Her dark violet eyes flickered from the group of people on the shore across to her team mate. "Why haven't you gotten rid of them yet, Kaiteimaru-chan?"
"That cat-eared freak threw a kunai at me before I was able to slash that brown-haired kid's head off, Kaisui-san," grumbled the one called Kaiteimaru. His nose wrinkled at the '-chan' she put on the end of his name.
"That's no reason, you should have been done by now," hissed the older girl.
"But there's a lot of them as well. And they deflected Araumi-san's 'Atsuryokuha'," The younger genin argued back weakly.
"You're pathetic," Kaisui replied, her tone of voice dripped with disgust.
Kaiteimaru's shoulders dropped a little.
Kita looked at them, and recognised them from before when she was picking out the stronger looking teams. This girl certainly had a mean streak. She didn't seem to respect her team mate as well.
The water bubbled again and another Mist genin rose out of the water. He looked just like the girl, with cream-white hair and violet eyes, though a little younger. He held two double-bladed knives in his hands. He looked over Kita and Araiki's teams. "How strange, a Grass team and a Stone team, together on the shore. And what were you guys doing?"
"None of your business, that's for sure!" Rindou shouted at him. "We don't even know those kids!"
"Oh, sure you don't," scoffed the girl, Kaisui. "Then what are you doing here? Trading information, a romantic encounter? I saw you hugging that boy beside you a few minutes ago."
Rindou's jaw dropped open. "You're kidding me! You're deluded! Isn't she right, Shuuki!"
Shuuki could only blush horribly.
Kita walked a few steps so she was just behind Araiki's right shoulder. She started to whisper to him while the Mist team were talking. "You're Araiki, right? I saw your scroll."
"There's not much info on it, and I'm not giving any more of it away," the collared-boy responded quietly with a low growl.
"I don't need your info, not now that I know who you really are," Kita leaned in closer. "Genno Araiki, vessel of the Gobi bijuu, Houkou."
Araiki's eyes widened momentarily. His fist tightened. "How... how do you know that?"
"You and I are the same," Kita whispered, keeping her eyes on the Mist nin's conversation-turned argument with Rindou. "Five tails... two tails... we both have something in common. And I'm here to protect you, and warn you that there's a danger coming for all of us. And we'll need to cooperate if we're to stay alive. Got it?"
A/N: Yup, that's right! Araiki is the jinchuuriki of Houkou, the five tailed dog. I'll put a little info about it. I think I did that before... but here's some more detailed stuff. Oh, and who's finally happy to learn what Kita's bloodline is? Phew, took me long enough to put it in! Yay! Next chapter- Team Omega and Team G2 faces off again Team Breakwater!
Bijuu Factfile:
Houkou, or the Gobi, is a five tailed beast demon that resembles a dog. It has white fur, and each of its tails contains a specific elemental power- water, fire, earth, air, and lightning. When used all together, they create an earthquake. Houkou will destroy nature for its own gain. Its strength ranking is 3rd and chakra ranking is 5th. Houkou is considered to be the 'God of Illusion', and lives within a giant tree, where it can recover. It once formed an alliance with the Nekomata and attacked the Kyuubi, however, it received a wound from the battle and retreated back to its tree to heal.
Jutsu used:
Doton; Doroku Gaeshi (Earth release; Earth Shore Return)(Ninjutsu) (Earth Element) (C rank) Used by Jiroubou in the manga. This jutsu creates a large stone slab out of the ground to protect the user against attacks.
Suiton; Atsuryokuha no jutsu (Water Release; Pressure Wave) (Ninjutsu) (Water Element) (C rank) A water jutsu that creates a small tsunami that contains chakra to make its impact greater. Created by the Arainami clan from the Mist- a clan that specialises in powerful water jutsus.
About the Names:
Mist-
Team Breakwater-
Kaiteimaru- Kaitei means 'Bottom of the Ocean'. He gets picked on by the others, poor guy.
Arainumi Araumi- Kaisui's younger brother, his name means 'Wild Waves, Rough Sea'.
Arainumi Kaisui- Araumi's older sister, her name means 'Wild Waves, Ocean Water'.
Lots of action, coming up next! Please leave a review!