[10]
8:09 A.M. ~
"Mm! Uh!" Minato groaned.
He turned on his side, and wiped his forehead. He squeezed his eyes shut, but then he finally opened them to see his wife sitting in a chair next to the bed.
"You're sweating again," Kushina said.
She leaned forward in her ivory Le Tresor Silk Gown; she dabbed his forehead with a squeezed wet cloth.
"Mm," Minato sat up straight and pulled back the covers.
The dark aftermath of Jiemma's attack was plastered on his stomach. The scabs healed over the skin, the imprint of Jiemma's fist, and the circle crescent. He ran his fingers across the mark, and looked up at his wife.
"I hate the fact that I haven't been able to really sleep the last few nights," He said.
"Is it still bothering you?" Kushina stood up from the chair and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Sometimes, I wasn't ready for that attack. I couldn't even measure or even think about what it would do," he said wrapping his arm around her butt.
"I take it as a blessing," she said.
"Because I'm still breathing?" he said.
"Yes," she playfully smacked his face.
"Alright, alright," he said.
"I could have lost you that night. I already lost my heart once, but twice? I couldn't handle that," she sniffed.
He scooted closer and kissed her exposed leg, "Is there a third part of your heart?"
"Yep, and that part is in the other rooms of this house occupied by those beautiful dragon slayers," she said, patting her leg.
Minato smiled, laid back on his pillow, and used his arm to open a drawer next to the bed. He pulled out a small stack of papers. The word ADOPTION was printed at the top.
"So, when should we sign these?" he asked.
"We have to have a home inspection first, and all this other crap and.." her voice trailed off.
"Forget about all of that, are we going through with adopting these children as our own?" he asked.
She smiled down at him, and sniffed. She took the papers from him gently, and held them to her heart.
"Yes,"
He smiled, and leaned up to kiss her. She leaned in too until they heard a knock at the door. They jumped as Minato slid the papers back into the drawer as it opened.
"Minato?" Natsu questioned.
The slayers opened the door wider and smiled when they saw Minato.
"Hey, are you feeling better?" Sting asked.
Minato nodded, "Come on in here," he waved them in.
Wendy rushed in and climbed on the bed. She crawled over and cuddled up into Minato's arm as Gajeel and Rouge circled around to Kushina. She wrapped her arms around the boys who sat down as Sting and Natsu sat next to Minato on the bed.
"Is the mark still there?" Sting asked.
"Yeah, sorry punk has a lot of power," Minato said.
"Hmm," Natsu chuckled, "Jiemma was never a push over,"
"What is his problem?" Kushina asked.
"He's Mard's ward, lackey, bitch," Gajeel said, making them all laugh.
"Well whoever he is, he'll feel my wrath soon enough," Kushina warned.
"Kushina," Wendy tried.
"Mmhmm, Wendy don't underestimate your mother. Once, she's mad, it's like a tsunami of pain flooding in," Minato said.
"Oh hush," Kushina giggled.
The door rang from down stairs. Natsu stood up from the bed and hurried down. He wrapped his fingers around the knob and pulled the door open.
"Konohamaru, Hashirama, hey what are you doing here?" he questioned.
He moved back letting them in.
"Hey, uh how's Minato doing?" Konohamaru asked.
"He's okay, better." Natsu said.
"Minato is a strong man, I normally aspect him to bounce back from this," Hashirama said.
"Well, it's a new magic that he doesn't recognize," Natsu defended, crossing his arms.
Konohamaru pulled Natsu to the side by his shoulder.
"He's here with you?" Natsu asked.
"Yeah, uh stayed with my dad the last few nights after the opening of your mother's restaurant," Konohamaru explained.
Natsu nodded to him, "Is that okay with you?" he asked.
"Yeah, yeah. Been awhile since I've spent time with my dad anyway," Konohamaru shrugged.
"That's good," Natsu nodded.
"Natsu," Hashirama called.
Natsu circled around his friend and crossed his arms in front of him.
"This guy, Jiemma. What's he like? Does he work with Mard?" the man asked.
"Yeah he works with him. He's just as evil," the dragon slayers responded.
Hashirama nodded, "Okay, um I'm gonna look into this. See what he's about," he said.
"Why?" Natsu asked.
"Because he attacked and hurt my good friend. And threatens my friend's children," Hashirama answered.
Natsu's face softened, and he rubbed his arm.
"Natsu, do you know anything else that can help?"
"Not really, Jiemma is very private," Natsu said.
Hashirama nodded, "Alright, Konohamaru come on. I'll drop you off at school,"
"Okay," Konohamaru said, "See ya at school?"
Natsu nodded at him.
10:45 A.M. ~
Gajeel shut his locker door, and sighed.
"You alright?" Konohamaru asked, walking up.
"Hey man," Gajeel said, "Yeah, just thinking of Jiemma and all his bull crap. Thinking that maybe that other guy is involved too,"
"Other guy? Not Mard?" Konohamaru asked.
"There's this other guy, who just betrays his own kind. He's a dragon slayer like my siblings and I. But he hates dragons," Gajeel explained.
"Well, isn't that what a dragon slayer is suppose to do? Slay the dragons?" Konohamaru asked.
"You sound like your dad," Gajeel said.
"I'm not trying to be a dick about it, but isn't that the case?" Konohamaru asked.
"Technically yeah, but we never had an issue with any dragon in our youths. So I didn't see a need for him to be like that," Gajeel said.
"What's his name?" Konohamaru asked.
"Konohamaru?" a sweet voice came from behind him.
He turned around to see Cana behind him. She looked crazy sexy in her Venus denim jumpsuit, matched with LC Lauren Conrad Rosehip Women's Ankle Boots.
"Shall I leave you two be?" Gajeel teased.
Konohamaru rolled his eyes at his friend, and turned to the beauty.
"Hi Cana," He said.
"Hi, um are you performing at Kushina's place again?" she asked, "Any time soon?"
"Yeah, um maybe," he answered, "I didn't realize you liked my set?"
"Yeah, your voice is very soulful and," she sighed, "sexy,"
Konohamaru smiled evilly, as Gajeel smacked his back a bit. Cana pushed her hair behind her ear in the classic flirty girl way. Gajeel looked over his shoulder towards Jellal and his twin brother, Mystogan walking down the hallway. Mystogan's face was bandaged, but a slight imprint of claw marks were visible.
"Hey hey uh I'm sorry to interrupt, but uh what happened to that guy?" Gajeel pointed to Mystogan.
Cana turned around and noticed, "Mystogan. I think he got into a pretty physical fight with a relative," she said.
"His brother?" Konohamaru asked.
"Nah, I think it's their cousin. He's a real ass," Cana explained.
"Who's their cousin?" Konohamaru asked.
"No, but he has some divine power to destroy. It's all he talks about," Cana explained.
Gajeel raised his chin to that.
Hisui opened her locker in her Bohemian Animal Print Black Cutout Shoulder Blouse, Ripped Bleach Wash Skinny Jeans, and brown High-Cut Suede Stiletto Heel Zipper Pumps. She pulled her blue and black Tote Shoulder Crossbody Bag with Long Strap. She pushed back her green hair and touched her neck.
"Hey," someone said, walking up to her.
She turned and smiled once she saw Sakura standing there. Sakura looked stellar in her Venus OMBRE JUMPSUIT and her hunter green High Heel pointed toe Booties.
"Hi," Hisui smiled.
Sakura leaned on the metal and pushed back her light pink hair. Hisui closed her locker and leaned her shoulder on the locker.
"How've you been?" Sakura questioned.
"I'm good, I was hoping I'd run into you again," Hisui smiled.
"Really?" Sakura giggled.
"Yeah, like after the opening and all it was nice to just talk to someone on the same level as me," Hisui said.
"Is your family still giving you the cold shoulder?" Sakura shrugged.
"Yep, they don't accept anything different. They want the perfect family, and any imperfection is a 'no'. Thanks to my cousin," Hisui said.
"Lucy's brother, right?" Sakura said.
"Yeah, he ruined everything because I wasn't ready to come out of the closet," Hisui ran her hand to the back of her neck.
"Well maybe it can be better," Sakura suggested.
"How so?" Hisui raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I was going to see a great story reading this weekend. If you'd like to come with me?" Sakura asked.
Hisui smiled brightly and motioned at Sakura's purple Venus EMBELLISHED CROSSBODY bag. Sakura handed her bag over to her, and Hisui reached in for Sakura's phone.
1:24 P.M. ~
Gym class started, the students were pumped, and frustrations were all on max.
"Alright, Sting. You're up first with Gaara," said Makarov.
Sting adjusted his baggy, black basketball shorts and stepped up on the platform. Facing opposite of Gaara. The young red-head male stared at Sting with intense eyes. Sting shook out his arms as Gaara stepped forward. Sand trickled out of his backpack and jerked forward to Sting like blades.
Sting powered up his light magic straight to his hands. He punched each sand dart out of the way, and ran at Gaara. Gaara took a step back, readying himself. More sand trickled out of his bag towards Sting and sounded the floor around him.
Sting paused and squinted his eyes. Sand attacks. He won't move, I gotta get closer.
Sting formed a white ball in his hands and fired it right at Gaara. When along came three more. Gaara moved his arms around making his sand surround each white ball and squeeze it. The sand crushed the light, but the light shined so bright that Gaara didn't even notice Sting throwing a kick at him.
"Ah!" Gaara jumped.
He dodged the kick from Sting. He used that light to blind me for a second. Smart.
They kicked at each other, blocked a few combat moves, and flipped each other a few times. Sting flipped Gaara around so he was on his back. And Sting was on top. Gaara's face turned deeply red, and Sting smirked.
Gaara slapped his hands on the mat, and a handful of sand surrounded Sting's body lifting him into the sky. Rogue, Gajeel, and Natsu jumped for their brother. Sting's body shot straight to the sky and the sand molded itself into a ball. Two sand arms stretched out from the ground with the claws of Shukaku. They mashed the ball together into pieces.
"STING!" the slayers shouted.
Gaara quickly stood up, panicking that if his attack was too severe. Suddenly, around the sand came that shining light again. Sting appeared and fell straight to the floor. He held his stomach with his arm, and was breathing heavily. He slowly turned on his side, and pushed his body up to stand up.
"Sting!" Rogue shouted.
Sting stood straight up, fixing his posture, and held his stomach with his arm. Gaara stared at him again as Sting did one deep...gulp. Natsu raised an eyebrow.
"Roar...of...th...the...WHITE DRAGON!" he bellowed.
He opened his mouth wide, and his scorching light shot from his throat. Gaara quickly formed his sand ball to block out the roar, but the blast evaporated the ball. Smacking Gaara against the wall, and taking the rest of the attack.
"Gaara!" shouted the ninjas.
Gaara coughed to the ground, his body shook in vibration, and his breathing was rapid. Sting collapsed to his knees, breathing just as heavily.
"Sorry," Gaara looked up at him, "Had to get you back," Sting said.
He gripped his stomach again with his arm as his brother surrounded him. Gaara collapsed as Sasuke, Kiba, and others surrounded him.
"Gaara you alright?" Neji asked.
"Yeah, that light roar felt like blades going through my body," he shakingly answered, "What kind of power do they have?"
The ninjas turned to the slayers who wrapped Sting's arms around their necks.
"Gaara, why didn't you just use one of Shukaku's attacks?" Sasuke asked.
"They told me not to do that, and besides something about them. I think they'd just absorb it," Gaara explained.
"Especially him," Sai pointed straight to Natsu.
6:56 P.M. ~
Kushina crossed her legs in her white Cyber Monday Elegant Color Block V-Neckline Maxi X-line Dress. She spread out sheets of paper across one of her golden circle tables. She looked up just as Mito walked over in a pink Ambreus Bohemia V Neck Long Sleeve Ruffled maxi dress. Mito sat down next to her sister.
"Is Minato okay?" Mito asked.
"Yeah, but I need to discuss some things with people I trust, tonight," Kushina answered.
Mito nodded. Kushina then looked up at Jiraiya, Madara, Hashirama, and Mei walking down the steps. Mito adjusted herself as Mei sat down next to her. The men took the other seats.
"What's up?" Hashirama asked.
"Hang on, one more," Kushina said.
She slid each of them a document for them to look over. They all scanned it over until Mito looked up from the sheet.
"Gildarts," she said.
Everyone turned around towards the front steps where Gildarts walked down and waved his hand.
"I know we are in a new town and all, but the only person I trust here, adult wise. Is Gildarts," Kushina explained.
He took a seat next to Hashirama and turned his pupils to Mito, "Hi Mito,"
She stared at him, with the sides of her lips curving into a small smile.
"Can... can we get back to why we are here?" Hashirama asked quickly.
Madara glared at him.
"So okay, according to these documents. You recorded everything the dragon slayers have told you about Mard and now this Jiemma fellow?" Jiraiya held the sheet in his hand.
"Yes, these men; Mard and now Jiemma have been attacking my kids. And now my husband. I was not joking when I made my threat." She warned.
"Why do you think they are so determined for them?" Mito asked.
Kushina rose her chin turning to her sister, "You care?"
"I know I wasn't the nicest when it came to them but to see these attacks and how bad these guys are after attacking Minato, it's just...we have to do something. And I don't mean just legally," Mito explained.
"I'm not sending my kids to the battle field," Kushina snapped.
"Even if that's best?" Madara questioned.
"What?"
"The dragon slayers are probably on the same level as the tailed beasts are. If they fight, they could get rid of Mard and that Jiemma guy, maybe even more. You can't keep them caged in," he explained.
"I'm not sending them to the battle field! They'll-"
"Okay before we go into that, I rather not send any children to any battle fields but people will come for their powers cause their strong. The dragon slayers will probably be in more danger down the road. It's an ancient that no one knows anything about," Jiraiya interrupted.
"We can't..keep discussing this stuff without Minato," Hashirama interrupted.
Kushina sighed, putting her head down, and wiping her eyes.
"Kushina," Mito tried.
She sniffed, "I'm sorry, my husband almost died, my children could possibly be taken away from me again, I can't...," she got up quickly and walked away.
Everyone followed except Hashirama and Madara. They looked around the room and Hashirama broke the silence.
"You wanna talk to me?"
"About what?"
"You wouldn't look at me today," Hashirama said.
"I'm dealing with my brother coming and throwing a rage right now so I can't talk much," Madara said getting up from the table.
"Madara," Hashirama tried.
~ Gym Class
Rogue was in the middle of his battle with Sasuke. Both were panting, but close to winning their fight. Sasuke rose from the ground and ran directly at Rogue. Rogue punched his fists into the ground making shadow, snake looking creatures move in the ground underneath Sasuke.
Sasuke pulled his Chidori covered blade and sliced each creature away from him. Rogue braced for the attack and when Sasuke grabbed him, Rogue kicked him over his body. Sasuke caught his feet as he put his sword away. He formed a Chidori in his hands.
I can't let that touch me.
Sasuke aimed for him but Rogue grabbed Sasuke's wrists as his shadow magic surrounded them both. Sasuke met Rogue's eyes, same amount of dark as his. Sasuke blocked the shadows from his brain and slammed Rogue down on the ground with the Chidori almost touching his face.
"Gotcha," he said.
Neji watched from the side with a mean look on his face.
Rogue stared up at Sasuke, and his cheeks swelled up. Sasuke's eyes rose in shock as he quickly backed up. Rogue opened his mouth to a powerful roar.
"ROAR OF THE SHADOW DRAGON!" Rogue bellowed.
It blasted straight to the ceiling and blew out a hole with debris falling down. Rogue rolled out of the way and Sasuke straightened up.
"Sorry," Rogue said making the class laugh.
"Sasuke, note to self don't get that close to a dragon's mouth unless you want to be obliterated by their roars. And Rogue watch the aim please!" Gildarts said.
Both boys chuckled and shook hands.
"You could of knocked me to a K.O. with that roar," Sasuke said.
"Yeah that's why I wanted to keep that spiky ball of yours away from me," Rogue responded.
"Not the only balls I have," Sasuke said with a smirk.
"Cheeky," Rogue smirked back.
Neji rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. After class, Rogue showered off in the locker room, and stepped out of the shower with a towel around his waist.
"Rogue," a voice called out.
It wasn't his brothers, so he turned around slowly.
"Hey," Haku said.
"Hey Haku, what's up?" Rogue questioned.
"You were great today in gym," Haku said.
Rogue smiled, "Thanks, did you wanna talk about more of-"
"Can we...can we not talk about that...now," Haku pleaded.
"What do you wanna talk about?" Rogue asked.
"Uh," Haku stuttered for a moment.
Rogue stepped closer and gently lifted Haku's chin, "Can I take a guess?"
"Just one," Haku said.
Rogue leaned closer, turned his head and pressed his lips on Haku's. Haku pressed his hands-on Rogue's bare chest and deepened the kiss. Rogue wrapped his arm around Haku's waist in a protective hold.
"Gaara?" Shikamaru questioned, "What's up?"
Gaara looked up from his lunch tray and shook his head, "I can feel something, something kind of weird,"
"What do you mean?" Kiba asked.
"I feel Shukaku in Konoha, he says that cars keep going in and out of the town. Why would anyone be there? It's supposed to be desiccated why are people still there," Gaara stated.
Kiba turned to Shikamaru who gave him a nod.
"You're not thinking,"
"They never found real DNA,"
"You're saying...," Kiba's voice trailed off.
"Something is still there,"