Rules of The Curse

"… Ten… Eleven… Twelve…" Namine counted each swing. She had a wooden sword and was currently practicing her swings. Namine couldn't fight with a real weapon yet. She barely fought her whole life. All her friends who were swordmen (which were about 90% of her friends) told her she had to start out with a wooden sword. She had to build up muscle. And build up muscle memory.

Roxas and Xion were her closest friends, but they couldn't help her with this. They were born with Sora's skills, so they didn't know how to train from basics.

"… Ninety-eight… Ninety-nine…" Namine gasped as sweat ran down her face, "One-hundred!" She was finally done with her set. She sat down on a bench. Her arms were killing her, she wasn't used to training yet. But, she wasn't going to complain.

Ever since she saw Naruto's memories, she decided to train as hard as she could, so she could get strong as fast as she could. The image of Naruto's being stabbed by Sasuke, haunted Namine. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Naruto dangling in the air as Sasuke's electrical charged hand hung him.

And that was when they were twelve!

Namine was Sixteen (Even though she was technically born two years ago). She had to catch up to Naruto's level, or Kairi's level.

Namine wanted to be there. She wanted to protect her siblings from the Akatsuki, and she certainly wanted to help Kairi show Sasuke what happens when you threaten their brother. If he had any connection to Sora, Namine would have shattered his memories until he was a broken husk on the ground just like-… No! No!

Namine took in a deep breath. She wouldn't do that. Even if she could. She promised herself she'd never do that again. No matter how much she'd come to hate someone, she would never manipulate memories again!

"Namine," Xion approached and sat on the bench next to her, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Namine said, "My arms hurt though."

"I guess that does happen," Xion said, she looked down nervously before speaking again, "Namine, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Namine looked at Xion, "About what?"

"Well," Xion began, "We noticed that you've been in a good mood recently. We're glad, Roxas and I want you to be happy, you deserve it. But we don't know why you aren't telling us."

Namine stiffened a little. She then looked down she didn't know what to say. She couldn't lie to Xion.

"Namine, you know you can tell us anything."

"I don't know…" Namine trailed off for a second, "… if you'll understand."

"Let me try," Xion gently encouraged.

Namine played with her hands for a few minutes. Trying to gather herself, "The night of my dive… something happened, I met someone," A smile began to spread on her face, "I-I," Namine's voice faltered, "I m-met… I… met… my Mom… for the first time."

"Your…" Xion questioned, "Namine… you don't have…" Xion trailed off, not sure she wanted to finish that.

"The night, Naruto and Kairi were born," Namine started to explain, "Their parents put their chakra into their seals. So when they were older, they could meet them, talk to them. Apparently, some of the chakra, got into me," Namine explained, "I saw… her…"

Kairi's Mom, Xion realized.

"We talked…" Namine trembled, it wasn't from fear though, "She was… so nice and… she was so interested in m-me. I cal-called her Mrs. Uzumaki at first… Then, s-she told me," Namine was smiling, trembling, now she was crying, "She t-told me… I could call her, 'mom.'" Namine couldn't stop her joy, "She-she said… I wasn't Kairi, but I-I was… I was still her daughter. So, I called her 'Mom,' over and over again. While she hugged me and… It felt so nice… The terrible things… that happened to me… the memories, don't hurt as much as they used to," Namine finally looked at Xion, "I… I've never been so happy."

Xion looked perplexed. Namine did look happy, but her reaction made Xion worry.

"I'm glad for you Namine, but why…"

"They called me a mistake," Namine said, "They said, I wasn't a good Nobody. That no one would care if I would disappear because I didn't exist."

Xion frowned, placing a hand on Namine's shoulder, "I get it. Saix said the same thing to me."

"You had Roxas and Axel," Namine reminded, "You had someone who cared about you help you through that. I had no one."

Xion then thought about it. Yeah, she did have Roxas and Axel. But Namine? When she was at the castle, when she spent a year trying to fix Sora's memory; did she have anyone? Xion didn't remember much of Marluxia and Larxene, but she did hear they weren't pleasant company and Axel was only there on mission. Namine was stuck with DIZ and he was worse. There was Riku, but Riku had other things going on.

Xion then realized, just how lonely Namine was and just how much having Mom, meant to her. Still…

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"I… I felt guilty," Namine confessed.

"About what?"

"I have a mother, but you and Roxas… don't."

"That's it?" Xion asked. Namine looked nervous. Xion gave her a gentle smile, "Namine, you're right, I always had Roxas and Axel. I always wanted to be with them, and I still do. I see them as my family, I never needed a Mom or Dad. You have nothing to feel guilty about," Xion assured.

Namine seemed to relax. Good, cleared that up.

"So, was it just… her?" Xion had no idea how to address Kairi's parents.

"Yeah," Namine said, "Kairi said, that the seal was designed so she'd have more time with Mom than…" Namine didn't want to presume Minato would accept her as his daughter like Kushina, "than she got with him. I don't know if his chakra is in me either."

"Well I can't help you with that," Xion reminded, "I may look like Kairi, but I'm Sora's Replica. I don't have any of this chakra stuff. But I can help you with sword training."

"I'd welcome that," Namine said, "But I need to have a break."

"You sure?" Of course, Xion didn't want to push Namine, but, "We may not have that time."

"I know," Namine said, "Merlin has already offered to train me at the forest."

"Still, you're starting from square one."

"What choice do I have?" Namine asked.

"Well, why don't you just alter your memories?" Xion asked, "You could make it so you have the skill from one of our friends. You did that with me, it's how I can fight like Sora."

"You were also built to adapt to Sora's skills," Namine reminded, "Your body became stronger as you copied Sora's skills. That won't work with me. Even if I used my powers to copy someone's skills, I wouldn't have the strength to pull them off." And honestly, Namine didn't want to copy anyone. She wanted her own way of fighting. She just hoped she had enough time to find it, her way.

%%%%

With a final slash, the Large Body was destroyed. Kairi gasped, that was the last of that batch.

"Great job," Jiraya applauded, Kairi shot him a glare. She still didn't see him helping. She focused on locating more Heartless, or more people. One or the other. Kairi recently discovered; she could sense the Heartless with her sensory skill. She didn't think the Heartless had chakra, no it was the darkness she was sensing. Was her magic influencing her sensory skill or was it the other way around?

Either way this would help her look for the Akatsuki as soon as she figured out how to ditch Jiraya. If Kairi could use the Shadow Clone Jutsu. She'd run and let the clone fool him for a while. She knew Jiraya was easily distracted by girls, but Kairi could not do that to her gender. Besides, it seemed Jiraya was actually following through with the task of watching her for once.

Why is he taking his job seriously now?

"Okay," Jiraya said, "Where to now?"

Kairi could sense a cluster of chakras. Maybe it was a nearby town. She didn't sense any Heartless though. Wait, maybe she didn't need the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

"Oh boy," Kairi made herself sound worried.

"What?"

"There's a huge wave of Heartless," Kairi said, "They're about to attack a bunch of chakras. I think it's a town," Kairi bit her lip, "There's no way I can wipe them all out in time."

"I see," Jiraya said, "Alright I'll help you on this one."

Kairi nodded, "I hope you're ready. It's not as easy as I make this look."

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Jiraya posed, "I am the Great Toad Sage!"

Kairi had to stifle a smile at his ridiculous behavior.

"We'll need to split up," Kairi said, "Head straight that way, that's where the horde begins."

"Alright," Jiraya said, "We'll meet up in the middle after we wipe them out."

"Good luck to you," Kairi said. Then they bolted.

Jiraya ran straight ahead. He needed to find the Heartless before it was too-…

His train of thought came to an end when he reached the town. It was full of people, just going out their day, but there were no Heartless.

It took Jiraya a second to realize that he was duped.

"Kairi!" He ran back to where he last saw her, "Where are you, you little-…" He slipped on ice and landed on the ground. He slid across the ground that was incased unnaturally in ice. He then looked up to see a block of ice with a message carved into it.

See Ya!

Jiraya felt irritation give way to anger. His hands grasped the ice with vigor as he ground out, "Just wait until I get my hands on you Kairi!"

%%%%%

"Dammit," Shikamaru dodged another attack from the Heartless. It was just their luck that his and Asuma's team had run into Neo-Shadows.

According to the notes, they were stronger than normal shadows, and they could merge into the ground. Luckily their attack patterns weren't hard to deduce. They managed to dwindle their numbers down with carefully timed attacks. That didn't make Shikamaru feel less uneasy.

He caught one of the Neo shadows about to attack Asuma-Sensei from his blind spot.

"Sensei!" Shikamaru shouted. Just as Asuma turned, a blur of pink shot past Shikamaru. Then in an instant, the Heartless was destroyed. The team of ninjas were stunned when they saw who it was standing there, Keyblade drawn.

"Are you okay?" Kairi asked.

"Uh- Yeah," Asuma said.

Shikamaru looked at the petite girl. He never saw Kairi fight before. He honestly thought Sakura was exaggerating, but he didn't even sense her coming. And from the look of his current teammates faces, neither did they.

"Kairi," Shikamaru focused, "What are you doing here?"

"My mission," Kairi answered, "I'm fighting the Heartless that have started surfacing again. I've followed the Heartless that are stronger. That will take me to what's been drawing them in."

"The Boss?"

"No," Kairi said looking down uneasy, "I don't think it's a boss this time. I think they're drawn to two members of the Akatsuki that are here."

Kairi saw how they exchanged looks. They were surprised, but not shocked, "You already know they're here," Kairi realized.

"Our mission, is to find them," Asuma confirmed.

"Why would the Heartless be attracted to them?" Shikamaru asked.

"The Heartless are drawn to the darkness in peoples hearts. The greater the darkness, the more Heartless come. The stronger ones tend to be around them, so I've located the stronger Heartless," Kairi looked toward where she killed the last one, "Neo-Shadows. They don't show up every day."

"I see," Asuma took in the information Kairi shared, "That means we picked the right Collection Office."

"What's a Collection Office?" Kairi asked.

"A place where bounty hunters take their dead targets to collect the reward," Asuma explained.

Kairi had to suppress the urge to vomit. There were places like that?

"Alright, so we did pick the right location. We should go over the plan again," Shikamaru said.

"What's the plan?" Kairi asked. Everyone then looked at her. Kairi knew those looks, she sighed. When Asuma opened his mouth, Kairi raised her hand stopping him, "Save it! I'm going with you. My mission is to stop the Heartless, and the Heartless are attracted to the Akatsuki. Taking them down will complete my mission and we don't have time to argue!"

Shikamaru sighed, Naruto was going to let him have it later, "What a drag. Fine, but you're still the Akatsuki's target. Not to mention we don't know the full extent of your abilities. The best position for you is reserve. Stay back and watch," Shikamaru explained, "We already have a strategy, and you said it yourself we don't have time to change it."

Kairi sighed, "So, I'm on the bench… Fine, but if I see a problem, I'm stepping in."

Shikamaru internally sighed in relief.

%%%%%

Kairi hid behind the corner of the building, suppressing her chakra so it wouldn't be noticed. She carefully peeked behind the corner of the building.

The building looked like a rest stop, but according to Asuma, it was actually a Collection Office. The real office was hidden in the Men's Restroom… gross.

Sitting on the steps of the entrance, was a man wearing an Akatsuki robe. He looked young, in his mid-twenties. He had slicked back gray hair. The most eye-catching thing about him, was his weapon. A large scythe with three red blades was on his back.

He matched the description the monk gave her. Kairi glowered at him. She wanted to run out there and take him down; make him pay for what he did, but Shikamaru and his team were there first so, she agreed to let them try it their way.

So, Kairi decided to watch. She would watch this fight and watch the enemy and learn their weaknesses.

It started before Kairi even realized. Asuma was the first to attack. The Akatsuki threw his scythe. His weapon was attached to a long metal cable, so when he threw it, it deflected the shuriken Asuma threw at him.

Then the Akatsuki directed the scythe towards Asuma. He quickly dodged and the large weapon was embedded into the ground next to him. Shikamaru, who was on the roof, used his shadow possession to hold the Akatsuki while the remaining two members of the team appeared on both sides and ran through him with the two swords.

Kairi winced at the brutal sight. Maybe they didn't need her help after all.

"Ouch that hurts."

Kairi's eyes widened. He was alive! Not only that but he was acting like being stabbed by two swords wasn't a big deal.

"Who are you people?" The Akatsuki asked annoyed.

"What the hell?"

"We both hit his vital spots."

"Quit sticking it in like that," The scythe wielder said, "Knock it off I said that hurts."

"What, is he immortal?"

"Isn't that obvious you fool? Now, once again, who are you people?"

Kairi was shocked and so were the ninja team. Now she knew it was smart to let them go first. The Keyblade was powerful but not powerful enough to kill someone who was immortal.

Hades a God from Olympus was defeated by Sora three times. He attacked with a Keyblade three times (well four, Aqua fought him in the past) and he was still alive.

However, this Akatsuki was clearly no God. He was alive but still captured.

Kairi was knocked out of her train of thought by an explosion. Shikamaru quickly escaped the giant cloud of dust as he was chased by another member of the Akatsuki wearing a mask. Asuma quickly got between them, weapons drawn.

"Kotetsu, Isumo, retreat!"

The two ninjas withdrew from the immortal Akatsuki and went to Shikamaru's side.

"The fellow in front," the new Akatsuki realized, "Well, well, for once you struck gold Hidan."

Hidan pulled his scythe free from the ground and yanked it towards him with his cable, "Kakazu, just stay out of this alright. I want these three for my ritual. You can have them after."

Kairi narrowed her eyes. Hidan and Kakazu; that was their names. She looked back to Shikamaru and his team. She felt worried, their initial plan failed. Never did she think a member of the Akatsuki was immortal. Shikamaru's team was a team of four. Four against two, Kairi wouldn't had been concerned if the Akatsuki was normal.

Kairi wondered if she should step in but decided against it. She promised only to step in if it got bad. It was tense, but not bad yet. If worse came to worse, Kairi would try to get their attention. Shikamaru was right, she was their target. If she got their attention and ran, odds were at least one of them would chase after her. That would reduce their enemy by one.

"Very well," Kakazu growled, "Don't get careless, or you're dead."

If Kairi wasn't worried, she'd laugh. Hidan couldn't die.

"Not that again," Hidan snapped, "Knock it off, will you!" Hidan started to use his foot so smear his blood on the ground, creating a symbol. Kairi braced herself, no good ever came from drawing blood circles in the ground, "Believe me I wish someone would kill me. But that's not possible."

"Don't you guys get it?" Asuma suddenly shouted, "It's the only move we got."

Kairi looked at them. Sounded like they were just as worried as she was. Kairi needed to get into a better position. She was too far, if she needed to attack, she'd be open if she just ran out.

Deciding to get closer, she used flow motion to get onto the roof, and quietly and slowly crept closer. She kept her chakra masked the entire time. She would wait for her chance. She had the element of surprise. She was going to use it to the best of her ability.

%%%%%%

Sakura watched Naruto train. Her fight with Kairi was still fresh in her mind.

I DON'T HAVE TO GIVE THE BOY WHO TRIED TO KILL MY BROTHER, A CHANCE!

Sakura sighed. She wasn't blind, she knew what Sasuke was doing was wrong. She just wished Kairi did have to say it like that. Maybe if she met Sasuke when they were kids she would understand. She didn't think Kairi would love Sasuke like she did, Kairi's type was clearly not cool and handsome, but maybe she'd like him as a friend.

Kairi told her that she was going to help them save Sasuke, but Sakura didn't feel better. Maybe it was the upset look on Kairi's face when she said it.

"Sakura," Sai approached her.

"Hello Sai," Sakura sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, Kairi and I fought earlier."

"Really?" Sai asked surprised, "You get along so well."

"I don't know what happened," Sakura tried to recall what got Kairi so upset, "I mentioned Sasuke and she just started screaming."

"She screamed because of Sasuke?"

"She said things like, he wasn't worth anything and that he was a traitor," Sakura recalled.

"I see, how hard did you hit her?" Sai asked.

"What? I didn't hit her, why would you think that?" Sakura asked.

Sai looked mildly confused, "Because when I called Sasuke a traitor, you hit me, remember."

Sakura then recalled their first mission together. That was right, Sai said he wasn't a traitor like Sasuke. And Sakura clocked him for it. She remembered being so angry at Sai when he said that. Sakura remembered when Kairi called him a traitor. When she said that, she looked close to tears.

Sasuke stabbed Naruto through the chest with the Chidori!

He abandoned you and this village, his friends, his home!

Sakura was silent when she finally realized. Kairi wasn't upset with them… she was upset for them. To her Sasuke was a traitor because he hurt them, because they told her he hurt them.

"Kairi said that… because of what we told her," Sakura said, "She said that because she cares about us, not because someone told her to just reject Sasuke."

"Hm… I see."

%%%%%

Kairi watched Asuma fight Hidan. Hidan's tethered scythe gave him a longer reach, but Shikamaru was helping. His shadow chased after Hidan. The Akatsuki couldn't stand still long enough, or he'd get captured again.

Kakazu stayed where he was. Apparently, he really was just going to let Hidan handle this on his own for the time being. That didn't mean Kairi was going to keep an eye on him.

After Hidan tried to go after Shikamaru, Asuma got his attention again. He swung his scythe back at Asuma. For a second Kairi thought Asuma was stabbed through the face, but that was the case. Asuma blocked the weapon with his daggers, but one of the red blades did scratch him.

When Hidan pulled his scythe back to him, he licked the blood off the blade. Kairi cringed. Why were these people so creepy?

"Burning ash," Asuma then breathed out a plume of ash. Kairi learned that most ninjas could breathe their chakra natures out for an attack. Kairi might had been interested in learning that if she had fire nature chakra, but she had water. And that didn't sound attractive.

She saw Hidan run back to his blood circle, that was in the middle of the ash cloud. Kairi frowned, sure he was immortal, but he made it clear he could still feel pain. Why wasn't he running?

There was a click from Asuma's mouth and the ash cloud caught on fire. The result was an explosion that engulfed Hidan.

When the smoke cleared, it revealed Hidan was alive, but… His body went through some kind of transformation. Part of his coat burned away to reveal that his body turned pitch black. While white bone like lines covered his body. He looked like someone painted a skeleton on him.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Hidan asked.

Kairi looked towards Asuma when she heard him drop his knife. Her eyes widened when she saw his arm was burned. Like he was the one caught in that explosion instead of him. That couldn't be right, Kairi saw that he was a good distance away from the explosion, he shouldn't have gotten any backburn.

Hidan then laughed maniacally, "All the preparations had been completed," he pulled something out of his cloak, "Now you and I will share in the ultimate pain," the object extended into a large spike.

Asuma quickly got his weapon ready. He infused chakra into his knife, extending it, ready to attack the enemy.

Asuma charged toward Hidan. Before he reached him, Hidan took the spike and stabbed his own leg.

In an instant, Asuma fell onto the ground. Kairi looked him over and saw his leg was bleeding badly, like Hidan stabbed him instead.

Kairi looked at Hidan confused. What was going on?

"Hurts huh?" Hidan laughed again, "And I didn't even hit a vital spot, but that kind of pain is the best!"

While Hidan continued his ranting Kairi tried to figure out what was going on. Hidan stabbed his own leg and Asuma fell, because he was injured in the same spot. Before that, Asuma got burned when Hidan got burned. Somehow Hidan had turned himself into a living voodoo doll.

Kairi didn't know much about jutsu's but she had some knowledge of voodoo. When Merlin trained her, he taught her about dangerous black magic, and how to counter and defend against it.

Voodoo, for a voodoo curse to work you needed something from the person you're cursing. A belonging, or better yet a part of their body, like hair, or a toenail, or blood.

Kairi realized that was why Hidan licked his blood. That was the link to Asuma. Now he was trapped in a body link curse.

This was bad, Kairi wanted to help, but didn't know how. Getting the blood out of Hidan was too late by this point and attacking Hidan would only hurt Asuma. And Hidan was immortal, that must had been reason why. He somehow made himself immortal for this… Voodoo Jutsu!

"Where do you want to feel pain next?" Hidan laughed as he pointed at random spots on his body, "Here? What about here that would be fun," then he pointed it at his chest, "Or maybe we should just end it already, well?"

Kairi paled, Hidan was going to stab himself through the chest, he was going to kill Asuma.

Just as he was about to impale himself. He stopped. Shadows wrapped around his body, halting him. The spike was an inch from his chest.

Kairi sighed in relief. That scared ten years off her life.

"You think," Hidan grunted, "You can stop me."

He was starting to move again, but not enough to hurt himself. Kairi could feel herself panicking, but forced it down. She needed to find a way out of this. She didn't know the sleep spell and if she used blizzard to freeze Hidan, it might kill Asuma.

Think Kairi! There has to be something you can do.

He swallowed the blood, that made him a living voodoo doll. Any attack he got his cursed victim would feel as well.

"Every jutsu has it's limitations," Kairi heard Shikamaru say, "There's always a loophole. We just have to calm down and analyze him."

That was right. Kairi remembered Merlin saying something similar.

Voodoo is a vicious form of magic, but it has it's limitations. It has rules that must be followed at all times, or the curse won't work.

Rules, rules, what were the rules. His body is immortal, he licked the blood, he drew the circle. The circle! That was something Kairi had forgotten in her panic.

Hidan strained against the shadows, while Shikamaru was wrestling with his shadows. Kairi needed to think fast.

"If this is going to drag on, I can help," Kakazu offered. Kairi and the shinobi flinched at the concept, "Can't let a cash cow get away."

"I told you to stay out of it didn't I?" Hidan barked, "Now butt out! I don't need your help."

Kakazu just growled. He didn't get involved. Kairi didn't think that would be the case forever, she needed to keep him in mind as well.

She looked back at the circle and started to remember. Right after Hidan licked the blood, he ran to that circle and hadn't moved from that spot since. Kairi assumed it was because he didn't have to, he could inflict attacks by hurting himself, but maybe that wasn't the only case. Hidan acted like a freak but he made sure he was prepared.

Suddenly the shadow jutsu changed. Shikamaru's shadow was still attached to his, but when Shikamaru took a step back, so did Hidan.

"That shadow jutsu, it forces the victim to mimic the castor's actions huh," Kakazu observed.

Of course, Shikamaru figured it out. He was slowly getting him out of the circle. As long as Hidan stood on it, the curse was in effect

Kairi then summoned her Keyblade, she came up with another possibility, one that was worth the risk. She threw her Keyblade from the roof. It didn't hit Hidan, instead it plowed through the ground, right through the circle.

"What the hell was that?" Hidan ground out.

"Key shaped sword?" Kakazu asked.

Shikamaru flinched. What was Kairi thinking, she missed and, it only hit the circle and… wait, maybe that was it. Maybe if the circle was broken it would also stop the jutsu.

"Asuma!" Shikamaru called. Understanding, what Shikamaru and Kairi were doing, Asuma threw a shuriken at Hidan. It cut his ear, a non-fatal wound, just in case. Asuma felt no pain in his ear. Kairi's theory worked.

When it was proven Asuma was finally safe. Kairi teleported to her Keyblade, right next to Hidan. Then before she could change her mind. She grabbed her Keyblade and sent a single slash through Hidan's neck. The next thing she heard, was his head hitting the ground.

I can't believe Shikamaru didn't even consider breaking the circle. I'm pretty sure that would have saved Asuma.

When I write these chapters, I think of songs. For example when I imagine Sora and Naruto fighting over Kairi, I think of either the song Rude, or Check Yes Juliet.

When I imagine Sora fighting for Kairi, I imagine Angel with a Shotgun

Today was The King is Dead but the Queen is Alive, by Pink

For those who read Lost Heart, I need you to vote in the poll. You need to go on the Fanfiction Website on the computer for that. You'll find it on my profile. Please use that to vote, if not, Dominatrix Kairi will hunt you down and torture you.

Have you ever reread something you wrote and thought to yourself, "What the hell was I thinking?" Well I have. I'll be doing some editing in the early chapters of Protecting Family. I won't be changing the story, just polishing it.