So... I re-read my last chapters and I realized, that it's kind of difficult to follow parallel events if I just write them down like this. I realized it, when Yato and Tayuya fought against Paku and Seydo. The change of scenes was too abrupt and kind of arbitrary so I decided to make it clearer by using the tripple x's!
Have fun with this one ^^
Tayuya closed her eyes while her head was still resting on Yato's shoulders. He's comfortably warm! She thought.
"Shall we head home? It's getting cold and we have to bring the result of your little shopping ecstasy home too.", Yato asked with a smile on his face.
I think this is the first time I see him smile. The young Kunoichi chuckled. She gently nods at his question.
"All right then!", Yato got up and took the whole purchase. Five bags full of clothes, one bag filled only with goodies and the two giant teddy bears. He could take all the bags in one hand, and he packed the two teddy bears under his arms. His artificial volume in width has probably quadrupled.
"I could help you, smart ass!", suggested Tayuya.
"Oh what, I'm fine.", answered the young Ganan.
"Do not think that you will rise in my favor just because you are doing some supposed gentlemanly actions!", she teased. The two made their way out of the village and talked a little about the previous events. Tayuya had the feeling of a harmonious life for the first time and her trip through the various clothing stores cost Yato almost the entire reward for the mission. Perhaps two minutes away from the village, Yato pauses and drops the shopping bags.
"Tayuya!" He warned.
"Huh?" She hooed in disbelief. Before she could even think about what Yato would have meant, a man steps out of the shadows a few steps in front of them. He was bare-chested and muscled, wearing simple brown jute trousers and ordinary ninja sandals.
"Look, look, who do we have there? Aren't you cute?" Asks the guy mockingly.
"What do you want from us?" Asks Yato in his cold voice.
"Oh, no, how romantic! He plays the protector!", The stranger artificially raised his pitch and almost turned into light singing. Yato closed his eyes and shot chakra through his legs. This leads itself in millions of cable-shaped strands through the ground and allows the young Ganan to scan his entire surroundings within a radius of just under a kilometer.
One ... two ... three ... three, They're three. The guy in front of us and two figures who are marching towards us in a staggering walk. I'll take care of them first! In his head he said: Doton: Chikyū no ashikase! He secretly formed the hand signs behind his back. The two drunken men were still hiding in the shadows behind Yato and Tayuya. Also, they still were a few meters away from them.
The earth under the legs of the drunks now firmly gripped the ankles of the two and were no longer able to come closer, so that Yato could take care of the guy in front of them. The stranger in front of the two now stepped completely out of the shadows. His head tossed long hair roughly ending just under his chin. The ends of the hair turned into swift curls. There were a few stubbles on his chin. An X-scar adorned his right cheek.
"If I were you, I wouldn't play the strong guy here and hand over your little friend to me voluntarily," the man warned.
"If so, we should surrender, I guess?" Tayuya scoffed.
"You have a big mouth, for not even being of legal age, girl!", The stranger drew his sword and held it to her chin. Not really scared, but slightly panicked, she looks over at her companion. Yato tapped her shoulder twice, which calmed her down a bit.
"You can take her.", said the young Ganan suddenly with a cheeky grin on his face, which he hid behind a hand.
"Are you fucking serious, you filthy, disgraceful wimp?", The red-haired girl cooked angrily, ready to kill everything in the immediate vicinity just by eye contact.
"HAHAHAH!" Laughed the man. Knowing that he had to expect no resistance from Yato, the strange man started to approach the Kunoichi!
"Eh, don't think I'm not kicking your ass, Hedge Bum!", Tayuya cursed. With the next step that the man took, the former sound had enough, and she was about to uppercut him, but the man blocked, however. Damn it, I don't have my flute with me! She was annoyed about herself. Her eyes widened when a fist suddenly struck the unknown man from the left and pounded the muscular stranger against a tree a few meters aside.
"I hope you didn't think for a second that I would really hand you over!" Said Yato and gave her a cool look.
"Pff, asshole!", she hissed angrily and a little bit offended.
"What do you think you are, you adolescent? I'm the mighty Demon Blade! You don't know what you just got yourself into, you little shit!"
"PFFFHAHAHAHHAHA!", Tayuyas bursted out in laugher, "ThE aLl MiGhTy DeMoN bLaDe!", she imitated ironically. Demon Blade was furious because the young Ganan didn't keep his word and the little Kunoichi wouldn't stop laughing at him. "That's the most ridiculous name I've ever heard! The man now ragefully ran at Yato, his blade aiming onto Yatos head.
Chikaidesu! Yato struck the sword with retracted fingers and open palm, and got the enemy blade pulverized. Through the splinters that reflected the full moon light, the self-styled Demon Blade peered into the Sharingan of the Ganan. A malicious smile slipped from the Nukenin. From the leftover handle of his sword shot a flame, resembling a blade out of fire.
Yato nudged his partner lightly so that she stumbled back a few steps and escaped the momentum of the flame blade. As a result, he was no longer able to evade the attack.
*Clang*
There was only brief listening to the sound of a blade cutting through flesh. Tayuya's eyes widened to the maximum. Her training partner has just been beheaded in front of her, and that's only because he preferred to save her. A few droplets of blood flew onto her face
"Stupid fools!", the man curses, "That's what happens if you stand in the way of the mighty Demon Blade! And now to you girl! You will now take off every piece of clothing on your body...", he began to explain. What he and no one else noticed was that Yato's body had meanwhile completely turned into a pool of blood. This laugh moved slowly, inconspicuously and noiselessly towards the cheeky attacker, while he was talking and focusing his gaze on the red-haired Kunoichi, "And then you will do what I want! You will not object, otherwise you will end up just like your weakling of a friend!"
"I don't even think about it, you son of a bitch!", Tayuya snapped back. Furthermore, unnoticed, the large pool of blood began to bulge. Demon Blade now points his blade at his female victim.
"Now listen! The mighty Demon Blade doesn't repeat himself!", The man raised his voice energetically, "But because I'm in a particularly good mood today, I'll explain it to you again! You will undress and-", one more time before the man who calls himself in the third person could finish his sentence, the bulge of blood shot up and clutched the fiery sword. Tayuya's face turned pale with disgust, while Demon Blade just watched in shock. The blood took the shape of Yato, except that his legs were no longer legs, but a waterfall of blood. Demon Blade's sword pierced the spot that is supposed to be the tummy of the young Ganan. What's happening? And where are the other two idiots? The topless man wondered.
"Tayuya will do nothing, you monkey!", Yato started to get insulting. Demon Blade takes a deep breath and air collects in his lungs, that mixes with Chakra.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu", a large, flaming bullet shot at the blood copy of Yato. The breeze blows her hair on Tayuya's face, and the build-up of steam makes it difficult to see what's going on. Yato shot out of the mist with a flashing, blue sphere in his right hand.
"Raikiri!" Since Demon Blade had a difficult view due to the fog, he saw Yato too late and could no longer avoid it. The cutting lightning from the former Konohanin goes straight through the muscular night owl's chest.
"How is that even possible?", asked the ailing Demon Blade.
"You were so busy with your smug gossip that you didn't even notice that I used finger signs before your blade cut my neck!", a clueless look graced the man's face, "This is a secret jutsu, which I developed by myself some time ago! It enables me to change my shape, it enables me to switch between blood form and real-physical form. It is certainly not the most attractive jutsu, but it has always been successful so far! ", explained the young Ganan. He withdrew his hand from the body of the increasingly lifeless Demon Blade. "We don't have to worry about the other two anymore, I think ... Let's go!", He finally suggested. He picked up the teddy bears, brushed the dirt off them a little, and then took the shopping bags. He started walking but didn't notice that Tayuya wasn't following him directly. She hated that it was getting too much for her now and tears were running down her face. She hit the tree next to her with her right fist.
Damned! Why was I so weak? It's inacceptable for me that I stand here and let him save me! She was utterly angry with herself. Yato suddenly appeared behind her.
In a warm voice that would speak directly to anyone's heart, he said: "It's okay, Tayuya! Don't hang on to it, you are the strongest woman I have ever seen!" His comforting words did not resonate with the redhead.
"Oh, shut up!" She cursed back and went forward with her eyes downcast. Yato looked after her in disbelief.
As soon as they had reached the hiding place of the legendary Atsuka, Tayuya stormed into their room.
"Oh, hey, back home agai-, huh?", Tayuya didn't answer. Even less, she ignored her teacher at all, but just ran past him. A few, isolated tears followed her through the air, which Kagame could see. Moments later, Yato was standing on the doorstep. "What did you do to her? Did you steal all the prizes at the booth competitions because you always had to be better?", the Sensei laughed embarrassed.
"I saved her life...", Yato dryly replied.
"Yes, of course, then I would be sad too!", Kagame countered him sarcastically.
xXx
The Kunoichi slammed the door behind her and locked it. Then she threw herself on the common bed and buried her face in the pillow. What she didn't notice in her retreat was that it was Yato's pillow. I am weak! I am so God damn weak! Everything that Master Orochimaru taught me... I am a disgrace for him and for all of Otogakure! What is wrong with me? I never withdrew from a fight, no matter how hopeless it seemed! The chain of reproaches to herself widened with every thought she could possibly catch.
xXx
"Seriously now, what's going on here?", Kagame asked his student while the two of them were on the stairs and walking towards the kitchen.
"As we were leaving the fair, we were attacked by a guy who called himself Demon Blade...", Yato began to explain.
"What a stupid name ...", commented the teacher.
"Then he cut my throat, which I didn't mind, because I used a secret jutsu beforehand...", Kagame nods attentively, "... and when I finished off this weirdo, she started crying because she felt weak."
"I see ...", said Kagame understandingly. "It is now up to you to rebuild her! She is a wonderful woman and especially strong!", now Yato nodded with a slight smile. Kagame was preparing fresh jasmine tea and placed a cup on the table for his student, another in his own hand.
"I know!" Yato looked around the kitchen and for the first time notices a few pictures of his coach with a woman. Red, long hair up to the shoulders, a tied braid at the back of the head and a smile that made your heart blossom, even though it is only a picture. "May I ask you something, Kagame-sensei?"
"Tell me!"
"Who is the woman in these pictures and where is she?" Yato asked curiously.
"Well ...", Kagame's tone changed a little to gloomy, "That was my wife, Miraki. I loved her more than anything!"
"What happened to her?"
"Well ...", the teacher hesitated a little, but didn't want to hide anything from his student, "About four years ago, I accepted a student, his name was Souchi Raiga.", Yato's eyes widened out of shock. This did not escape the sensei: "What is it? You look so surprised?"
"I know exactly who Raiga is!", the young Ganan replied completely aghast.
"You know him?", asked his teacher.
"Yes ... Let me stretch out, Kagame-sensei.", Kagame nodded curiously, "I was banished from Konohagakure at the age of ten. Because my visual abilities seem to be very special, I was visited by a monk only a short time later. This then brought me to an abandoned shrine in the middle of Tsuchi no Kuní, the Land of the Earth and gathered three other people besides me. All of them are endowed with special visual abilities. This monk wanted to use the power of these abilities to create peace in the world.", even if Kagame couldn't believe what Yato was saying, he didn't make a face, "I realized very early that his ideas about peace were wrong because they were based on lust for power and manipulation, and I soon got out. He called this ring 'The Keepers of the Stars'. "
"What a strange union is it supposed to be!", in Kagame the skepticism grew.
"The association is actually a criminal syndicate with fanatically deluded motives, but each of them is dangerous. Every member, except the monk himself, had a visual jutsu, which is structured on a Tomoe basis, just like the Sharingan. Tukurome, the guardian of the north, with the one-tomoed Doujutsu. He can cast every jutsu based on elements through his eyes. Sakai, the guardian of the south has the three-tomoed Doujutsu, which is only able to conjure up spells, seals and curses through visual power. Miku, the guardian of the West, has the four tomored eyes. He is able to create any kinds of genjutsus through his eyes, even more misleading than those of the Mangekyou Sharingan."
"That means your Ganan Kekkei Genkai is the eye of the two Tomoes?", asked Kagame.
"Yes, exactly ...", a moment of silence fell between the two, the distrust was literally written on Kagame's face: "Kagame-sensei!", Yato began to speak warmly, "I can assure you that I have no similar intentions. For me you are a role model, and I would not forgive myself if something happened to you!"
"Now take it easy, boy! I'm not an easy shot. My wife was not a ninja and therefore an easy victim.", the teacher explained to his student.
"Why did you train Raiga back then?", asked Yato.
"You know... a wise, elderly scholar in Shizugakure prophesied something to me some time ago: Namely, that one day I will train a student who will decisively bring peace to this ninja world. I thought it could be Raiga... but he has never been seen again since my wife's murder... ", dead silence pervaded the room.
"Kagame-sensei?", Yato asked a few moments later.
"Hm?"
"I'm sorry for what happened to your wife. I'm sorry that I asked and I'm sorry that I didn't tell you beforehand. I beg your forgiveness!" Yato bowed his body over his part of the table. Tears dripped from his face onto the table.
"Calm yourself, my little one!", the Atsuka calmed his pupil. Suddenly painful screams pierced through the bedroom walls.
The two jumped up in horror. They knew immediately where the screams were coming from. Yato sprinted to the bedroom door. He tried to open it, but it was locked. "Tayuya? Are you ok?", He asked his partner panicked. He got no answer. Shortly afterwards he bangs on the door again: "Tayuya? Let me in!"
"AAAAAAAAARG!", Tayuya's voice became shrillier and more painful. Her screams set the eardrums of the two concerned people present in uncomfortable vibrations. Although the pain was devouring her from her neck, she did not want to call for help. Yato takes two steps and throws his full weight against the door.
*Bang*
With full weight, Yato's shoulder forward slams onto the bedroom floor, the door beneath him. He jumped up and noticed the orange glow on Tayuya's neck. The curse mark. I guess it's causing trouble. The young teenager jumps onto the bed and shook Tayuya a little.
"Hey, are you ok?" He tried to address her again. The red-haired girl didn't even notice her partner because of the pain.
"What's going on?" Kagame asked worriedly.
"Orochimaru's curse mark ... it seems to have activated or something like that...", Yato brainstormed.
"We should get her to a hospital as soon as possible!", suggested the teacher hurriedly.
"That is pointless! This is Orochimaru's curse mark. Only he could undo it.", the former Konohanin intervened.
"And what do we do now?", asked Kagame haphazardly.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARG!" The girl screeched. The two men covered their ears protectively. Tayuya buries her nails into the bed.
"I have to try to write a seal myself, which either curbs the effect, annuls it or completely removes the seal. I consider the latter to be impossible, as I don't know Orochimaru's original, and I won't get it deciphered quickly...", the young Ganan thought.
"Yeah, what are you waiting for then?" His teacher scolded.
"It's not entirely safe ... That worries me!"
"Do we have a choice?" Asks the teacher.
"I'm afraid not.", Yato forms the Ram sign and conjures up a scroll. His partner's painful screams made it difficult for him to concentrate. Again, and again Yato looks at Orochimaru's curse mark, then writes something on the scroll. Then his gaze wanders back to his comrade's neck, then back to the scroll. After ten minutes of back and forth, he was ready to apply the seal. Again, he formed the Ram sign and shouted, "Apply!"
The writing from the paper danced through the air before it shot at Tayuya's curse spot. Tayuya fell asleep immediately.
"Did you make it?" Kagame asked worriedly. Yato checked briefly whether his teammate still had a pulse...
"I think so!", the two were relieved. Later that evening: Kagame went to bed after a few sips of sake. For Yato, it was one of those nights when he knew he wouldn't catch any sleep. The Tayuya thing would reinforce that fact. His mind revolved around the girl and what had happened earlier. On nights like this he would always lie down in the top of a tree and smoke a cigarette. Even if he wasn't a fan of smoking, the cigarette often gave him rest on such evenings, at least physically. But since he was no longer sleeping in the wilderness, he lay down on the roof of the training accommodation and whiffed to himself there. He would have liked to lie in bed with Tayuya, since she was sunk in pain. He finds this kind of spiritual support extremely important. However, he thought it might be better to leave her to herself and not to impose any further. She had obviously sought distance beforehand.
Tayuya was still asleep. "Who do we have here!" Asked a familiar voice. Tayuya found herself surrounded by darkness. A huge image of Orochimaru's eyes appeared before her eyes. "You failed! You are so weak!" Scolded the snake master.
"I'm sorry, Orochimaru-sama!", She apologized, "I'll make it up to you!"
"You are weak! Weak! Just as weak as your parents were back then!", Tayuya couldn't believe what she had just heard.
"My parents?" She asked.
"I will send you over to them in the afterlife!", Orochimaru raised his voice and let his vicious laugh echo through the void! Out of the blue snakes were clutching Tayuya's body and before one was about to bite her face, she awoke from her dream.
She straightened up in shock. Her head drowned in sweat, her breathing heavy, her eyes wide. Is that possible? Does this guy know my parents? What happened anyway? She looked across the empty room. Her companion was not at her side. She grabbed the back of her neck where the curse mark was. When she touched it, she noticed that it was still very hot. Suddenly she remembered fleeting images of Yato and Kagame rushing into the room and trying to shake her. When she looked to her right, she saw that only remnants of the door were on the hanger. Much of the door was in a small heap next to the door frame. One of the two must have at least tried to clean up something. Then she remembered what had happened. How this Demon Blade attacked them both and beheaded Yato. Tayuya got up and took the few steps to the bathroom to look into the mirror. Under her eyes she could still see the reddened skin that came from the repeated blurring of the tears. The little splatter of blood from the cut through Yato's throat was still on her cheek. Her hair was a little disheveled and stuck out at all sorts of ends. She didn't want to take a shower, because that would wake up the others. So, she did a lick and a promise over the sink. She straightened her hair and rumbled her old tunic and light purple rope belt from the far corner of the closet. She had planned on going back at Orochimaru and confront him. However, she was annoyed by getting helped constantly, so she decided to leave Kagame and Yato. She was annoyed by Yato's heroism anyway. She crept quietly through the corridor on the upper floor, and she could also go down the stairs silently. All of this went unnoticed by Kagame. Once in the hall she only had to make the way to the door, once across. But a few steps in front of the door she recognized a silhouette.
"Where are you going?", asked a cold voice.
"What do you want from me again?", she answered the voice angrily.
"Don't you remember what happened the last time you left alone?", warned the voice, which she could now clearly assign to the young Ganan.
Tomore and Omoha held her in a headlock. She was unable to move freely. Idemaru started to laugh. (…) "Don't act brave, I know you're scared as hell!", he (Idemaru) said with a dark voice, nearly emotionless. (…) With a quick motion he grabs her wrist to counter her assault and sent his right fist into her stomach. Tayuya had to cough out some blood. His blow was so strong, that she collapses again. (…) Before she could finish her sentence, her face was hit by a hard kick, sending her several meters backwards. (…) The last strike caused a laceration on her forehead. The blood was dripping all over the right part of her face. She was unable to move, due to the fact, that her recovery was still in progress. (..) But before she could stand on her feet again, the man landed another punch to her tummy. She practically was squeezed between the tree in her back, in which she impacted a few moments before, and Idemarus fist.
"Yes, I still remember exactly, save yourself wallowing in heroism, you won't achieve anything with it!", she scolded him stone-faced.
"Tayuya ... I don't know why you think that. I never tried to play the hero on purpose, and I never wanted to achieve anything! I just want ... I want to understand your decision.", Yato began to tear.
"I don't owe you an explanation!", Tayuya looked surprisingly emotionless.
"You don't and I won't stop you either-"
"Then don't get in my way and let me go!" Demanded the redhead.
"What's your plan? I don't want to know more ...", Yato is now crying openly, but without his tone or demeanor changing.
"If you want to know exactly, I'll go back to Orochimaru and confront him. He talked to me in a dream through his curse mark and he probably knew my parents. I want to know everything about them to find out who I really am!", said Tayuya resolutely.
"And you think it will work?"
"I know your opinion and I don't care!", as ice-cold as Tayuya seemed, it was still difficult for her to be so dismissive to someone who only wished her the best from the start. "I don't owe you anything just because you healed me or whatever. And save your cries, don't be such a sissy! I don't even know what you want from me or why you're so out for me keep company, but I'm a stranger to you and I have no meaning in your life! So, save your words ... " In Yato, his whole world was breaking up inside, even if he would do everything to get his partner to stay with him keep.
"Let me at least teach you a few jutsus so that you can defend yourself in front of Orochimaru.", He suggested to her.
"What do you wanna teach me? I don't have a great Sharingan like you!" Yato took a piece of paper from his ninja bag. Tayuya hooed at the sight. What does he want with the piece of paper? she wondered.
"Take this piece of paper in your hand and let your chakra flow through it..."
"Yato, I really don't have a nerve for it now!"
"Try it!" He persisted. Since Tayuya actually liked him, but suppressed all kinds of emotions at the moment, she thought that she was doing him this last favor.
"All right ...", she tore the piece of paper from his hand and concentrated her chakra flow. The sheet of paper went burnt in her fingers. "Wow...", she marveled.
"Your element affinity is the Katon ... Based on this I could teach you a lot of jutsus!", Yato tried to convince her.
Even if Yato had piqued her interest and she found it slightly astonishing, her decision was made. "Let it be!"
"So… this is it?", Yato asked one last time. Tayuya nodded at him, meanwhile a tiny bit of sadness could be seen on her face. "Then goodbye... I won't follow you this time!", Tayuya gave only a quiet nod.
What is wrong with me? Why is it so difficult for me to say goodbye to a stranger? Since when I have been so effeminate? She thought quietly. Tayuya gave her partner her fist goodbye, Yato fistbumped.
She thought that now she could take the last steps to the door and walk into her longed-for freedom. Step by step she approached the door. When she was about to walk past Yato, an entwined arm grabbed her left shoulder. Yato hugged her heartily and the flow of tears in his face intensified. Tayuya hadn't expected this reaction and the shock expression on her was clearly visible. Now she also wrenched her tears but was able to hold back most of them and only a very few tears left her eyes. "Tayuya ... Even if we didn't know each other for long, I can assure you that you were by no means insignificant to me. Even if we part ways here, I want to give you these last words on the way: You are strong! You are really strong! Remember your determination and stamina during the training fight with Kagame-semsei. You are ahead of me when it comes to that. I've done everything in my power for you and I would do it again anytime! "
Is this some sort of confession of love? Is he going completely nuts this time? Tayuya could not think clearly. Everything was so overwhelming. She was just confused, also by her own feelings, because she actually didn't want to go either, but had the feeling that it was important to her. What's wrong with me? Why can't I say anything? As much as she hated it, she had to admit that right now she wished that Yato wouldn't stop hugging her. However, Yato's grip slackened a little and he gradually let her out of his arms.
"I hope to see you again soon!", he wiped the tears from his face and gave her a smile. Whereupon she couldn't hold back a small smile either. She opened the door and went outside. One last exchange of looks as she stepped out the door and then she took the first steps into her supposed freedom. Yato closed the door behind her and stood motionless for a moment. His eyes looked onto the floor. Silence and emptiness pervaded the room and his thoughts. He had never felt so empty before.
Tayuya stopped... Maybe five paces from the door. My feet don't move anymore. What's the matter with me? Slowly the profundity that pervaded the last few moments turned into a playfully-ish infuriation: AAAAAAAH, DAMN! I HATE THAT GUY! YOU HEAR ME?! YOU SMART ASS MIND READER TYPE OF SHIT, I HATE YOU! YOU AND YOUR FUCKING SHARINGAN! She swore loudly in her head. She thundered open the door behind her and found a confused Yato. Before he could understand what was happening or before he could put on a happy smile, Tayuya slapped him in the face. "This is not over yet, you freak!", she cursed and stomped up the stairs towards the bedroom in resignation. Yato followed her every step of the way and was relieved to the core, even if he could have done without her blow.
"What kind of commotion is it out here?", Kagame asked angrily. He was standing in front of his bedroom door in a light blue striped pajama...