"Thats the last jutsu. Thats all we know, and all Koumei taught us," Sora explained lazily. Kawa was eating lunch in the soft spring sunshine as Kasei, now almost fully recovered, and Genma practiced Yabane no Jutsu, the feather arrows technique. Kawa insisted on doing as Koumei had told her to do, and finished the two leaf-nin's training. They were all on the same level now.
"Take a break and eat some lunch, the food's going cold, Sora," said Kawa, still eating.
"It's not like you helped with the training!" he retorted, shuffling over to the patch of sunlight and plopping down bedide her, laying back in the grass with a sandwich. He was soon joined by Genma and Kasei.
"So, when is this war gonna start? I'm getting bored," said Sora through a mouthful of sandwich.
"Dunno," replied Genma, grabbing a sandwich for himself.
"I wonder what we're supposed to do. Sora and I are from different villages, and if they are involved we will have to fight for them. Although our contract says we are to do as Koumei says until she gives us permission to leave, I think out Kage's will overrule that in case of a battle..." Kawa finished off her sandwich, sighing.
"This whole thing is getting way too confusing for me," she said, looking up at the sun. I don't know what we'll do if the Sound and the Akatsuki attack... we might not be able to force them back if they do. We need Koumei...
Koumei tore through the village, across the rooftops at a breakneck speed. There were ranks of ninja chasing her in the moonlight, and she stopped every once and a while to cast a jutsu and slow them, If she could just get past the border to Konoha, then she would be homefree. But the border to the fire country was miles away, and even if she managed to avoid injury, it would take her two days at least to reach it.
A large spike shot up from the ground to her left and she dodged it just as another five shot up in front of her. She jumped easily over them, but she was worried. They were not aiming to kill, they were trying to tire her out. She could see the shimmering barrier that surrounded the village and she prepared her chakra.
Before she could reach it, however, a group of Sound-nin appeared in front of her, and as she skidded to a halt, the ninja behind her formed a circle. Dammit. No choice, I've got to...
She quickly bit her thumb and plunged her hand into the rooftop, forcing as much chakra into it as her body would allow. Electric whips of chakra crackled in a wide circle around her momentarily, before a large white form shot out of the ground in a puff of light grey smoke. The summoned griffin was gigantic, its wings easily stretching over sixty feet, and although it landed lightly on the shingled rooftops, they almost gave way, sending clay plates flying into the air.
"Kamikaze-sama! Please buy me time to escape!" yelled Koumei, kneeling and lowering her head in submission. The giant white griffin, acknowledged her with a nod and a small bow, before turning and plunging into the ninja ranks. Koumei went for the nearest opening, running full-force into what appeared to be a solid wall.
But as she neared it, it shimmered and disolved as she pushed chakra to her feet and leapt into the early morning. She closed her eyes at the sudden light change, because althought the sun had not fully risen, it was still much brighter than the inside of the village.
She landed lightly on the surface of a lake, sinking an inch before rising again. The noise from the inside of the Hidden Moon was nonexistent, and only the singing of early birds reached her ears. Mist hung thinly over the lake, as she ran to the edge.
The Hidden Moon was just that, hidden. If you looked at it at any other time than in the moonlight, all you could see was a small rock in the middle of a lake. The lake was surrounded by forests, and then dropped off in cliffs on all sides before rising again, creating deep ravines. Koumei paused to look behind her for a moment, until the air in the middle of the lake shimmered and the white griffin, Kamikaze, the lord of all the other griffins, burst from the Hidden Moon, carrying the Tsukikage himself in his beak.
But he was followed by the rest of the ninja, around three-hundred by now, and the white griffin took one more swipe at them, killing a few, before flying up and disappearing in a puff of smoke. Koumei ran.
He thought I had already left... dammit, they've seen me. Koumei tore through the forest, branches whipping across her face along with her loose hair. She quickly took to the trees, jumping from branch to branch quickly, but the sounds of pursuit did not grow quieter. As she chanced a look behind her, she lost her balance and almost fell off of a branch. Luckily she managed to snag it with one hand, while keeping her other hand around the sac of scrolls. She managed a curse under her breath before the ninja were upon her.
Someone yelled something as she tried to run, and a shrill note peirced the morning air. Before Koumei could push forward more, four large black dragon-like monsters appeared in front of her, one on each branch. Shit, she thought, glancing behind her and spotting Kaitahi bringing up her flute. She threw a kunai, managing to hit the red-haired Sound-nin's flute and one of the four dragons disappeared. But the kunoichi recovered her concentration quickly and began to play.
I've got no time for this... "Umou no Eimen!" Bird, snake, tiger, tiger, dog, horse, rabbit, bird, bird...
Koumei jumped forward, right over the dragon demons' heads as feathers began to fall fom everywhere. One of them landed on a demon, and burned deep into it's body as it shrieked in pain. The three demons thrashed about as Koumei quickly escaped towards the ravines surrounding the forest.
As she broke through the tree cover and skidded to a halt, she realized she was trapped. She needed wings to get across, and she could neither release her new wings, and she could barely use them. The shrieks behind her stopped and the sounds of her persuers neared. No way in Hell am I giving up now. She tore off her Akatsuki robe and gripped along with the sac as she turned and ran.
She clutched her bag of scrolls and jumped, holding her arms out and squeezing her eyes shut as her stomach sank with the freefall. Release! Release Goddammit!!! She forced chakra over her seal, feeling it give way a little. Hurry up! Opening her eyes, she noticed the stoney ground fast approaching. I'm not going to die here! RELEASE!!!
Two black and red leathery wings shot out from between her shoulder blades, and although it did not hurt very much, blood still flew in front of her. She flapped down hard over and over, forcing her body upwards with incredible difficulty. Her wing muscles began to stiffin in exaughst as she reached the halfway point and she faltered, falling a few feet before getting back on track. Cold dark blood dripped slowly from her shoulders as her breathing sped up and her forehead beaded with sweat under her Moon-nin bandana.
She reached the top with a final downstroke, and caught the ledge of the ravine with her right hand, dangling for a moment before pulling herself up. She sat hunched over, gasping for a moment, before drawing her wings in again. Unlike her normal ones which could sustain themselves without chakra, these required a constant flow and it drained her to use them at all.
Koumei looked back across the ravine and saw no one. They were wasting no time in finding a way across. She sighed and stood, closing her eyes for a moment before running again.
It didn't take long for her to slow down though, she was just too sleepy. She sat down for a moment in a patch of shade. The sun was now fully up, and the forest cast shades of green over the ground and cast shadows from the budding branches.
"How can there be so many birds around, singing so happily at a time like this?" she whispered to herself. There was a croak from above, and Kuro floated down from the sky, landing on a nearby branch.
"They're that close, huh?" she asked, looking back into the dense forest. She thought about her choices for a moment, before re-opening her thumb and summoning another griffin. This time, it was a medium sized, flame coloured griffin named Akaihane. She looks just like Kasei's form...
Koumei bowed slightly. "Akaihane-sama, I have a favour to ask of you," she said lifting her head.
Akaihane looked her over, before bowing slightly, "very well, what is it?"
"If you will... can you please fly me to the border of the fire country?"
The flaming griffin nodded and kneeled down as Koumei hopped lightly onto her back, gently grabbing handfuls of red feather and fur. The griffin crouched lower, before springing into the air with amazing speed.
Akaihane glided in a slow circle once, before dashing the their left, becoming a blur of reds and oranges. Koumei huddled low, burying her face into the soft feathers on the griffin's neck. They would arrive in less than an hour at this speed, leaving the Missing-nin far behind.
Koumei watched as the red griffin disappeared in a puff of smoke. She hadn't expected escaping to be so incredibly easy. Orochimaru could have stopped her had he really wanted to. She sighed, looking ahead. Konoha wa a half-hours walk.
There was a soft breeze, and as Koumei walked towards the village lost in thought, her hair blew across her face. She realized she was still clutching her Akatsuki robe in her hand along with the bag, and she draped over her shoulders, not bothering to put her arms through properly. Her katana rubbed annoyingly against her body, and she shifted it before continuing on.
Kuro landed silently on her shoulder as she slowly moved towards the village, still lost in thought. She arrived at one of the training fields, looking around for the other Wing-nin, but finding none. She was about to continue on, when she heard laughing a little ways off, and moving away from her.
She slowly walked towards it, gaining slowly and brushing some of her dark brown hair out of her face. She stopped when she saw her camrades, happily walking away from her. Kawa was laughing at something Sora had said and Genma was talking to her. Koumei's shoulders sank when she saw Kasei, walking slowly behind them with his head hung low, looking at his feet. Kawa turned and asked him something, and he looked up, smiling and nodding before dropping his head again.
But before Kawa turned back, she spotted Koumei standing alone with the breeze blowing her hair messily across her sad face. The moon head protector which she wore bandana style over her head glinted in the sunlight, a deep slash running through the middle.
Kawa stopped and turned fully, her smile fading as the others continued on. "Koumei?"
The other three Wing-nin turned at the mention of her name, shocked to see the Akatsuki standing only a few meters away. There was silence. Kuro cawed and flew off her shoulder, into the sky and disappearing.
"I'm sorry I couldn't get out faster," said Koumei quietly, dropping her eyes.
"What happened? Why are you wearing Akatsuki robes? Are you still with them?" asked Kasei, taking a step forward.
"No! I was never really with them! Please don't think that," she said, turning slightly. Kawa stepped forward and stopped again, unsure of whether to proceed or not. "Tell us the truth about you. You can't gain people's trust by lying to them."
"I..." Koumei turned away, her back to them. "Fine. But Orochimaru... I'll probably remember if I tell you... But there will not be much feeling behind it. He stole that from me." Koumei coughed lightly and brushed more dark strands from her face, before telling them the truth.