By RequiemofDementia
Chapter Five: Hitomi Legacy
Neji's eyes widened in shock, as Airen did not speak. Instead, the cry that came from her lips was very inhuman. The cry of a soulful bird filled the air about them.
Chie looked a little troubled at this, as Riki groaned. "She's lost it…"
Neji too looked shocked, as Airen's eyes once again met his own. Within them burned a determination that he had not seen there before. He took the last step towards her, his hand raising, and connecting with her chest once again.
Airen staggered back, but did not fall. Her eyes remained on Neji, and his eyes upon her. "You should be dead," he whispered.
The only reply he received was a hand motion. Airen's hands came together, steepled, once again. Neji looked baffled, as she began to run through the hand symbols again. "You cannot…"
Her fingers touched her chest once again, and then Airen straightened, wiping blood from the corner of her mouth. "I guess I can."
Neji growled out, as he came again, his anger and frustration clear. His hands were swift, but this time, Airen was faster. Her hands flew through another jutsu, and as Neji reached her, his feet were engulfed in flame.
He leapt back, startled, but Airen did not let up. As Neji was putting out the fire, he looked up, four Airen walking towards him now. "This is not possible!" The Airens reached him, all of them attacking at once. Neji was faster. His hand to hand technique was too great for Airen, each of them receiving a powerful blow to their torso. And all of them exploded in puffs of smoke. The real Airen was not hiding among them!
He felt the two senbon digging into his skin as he tried to spin. Another two, across his chest. His eyes met Airen, who stood calmly, her hands behind herself, like a girl with a secret.
Neji staggered forward, and she released her senbon again, no longer a pair, but a seemingly unending tirade. They sailed through the air towards Neji.
And he was enveloped in swirling chakra, battering the needles aside effortlessly. Airen's eyes widened as she saw this.
Neji smiled softly, as he began to advance once more. Another hail of needles, and another swirl of chakra. "You cannot touch me, Hitomi." In reply, another hail of needles, and another swirl of chakra. Neji just laughed.
As he drew closer, his defense protected him from three more needle attacks. "Don't you see, it is pointless?"
Airen simply smiled, and then stepped up to Neji. His eyes widened. To both him and Airen, everything seemed to be in slow motion. Her heel met the grass, and then her body shifted, butting the weight upon that leg. The chakra began to swirl.
What Neji did not realize, however, was that Airen's attacks were not pointless. She had used them to study his defense. As his chakra began to swirl about him, Airen's chakra began to swirl as well. Exactly the same amount of energy, spinning in exactly the opposite direction. Neji's eyes went wide, as Airen stepped up to him, casually curling her arms around his shoulders. Her lips met his cheek, and he heard her whispered words. "This is what I think of your Fate." Then he felt the explosion of pain, as her knee connected with his groin.
As Neji fell to the ground, the head of the Hyuuga household leapt to his feet. Airen looked towards him, as he raised his hands, the other members of the Hyuuga present already racing across the clearing towards her. They were not about to let the Hitomi live. As they raced towards her, she took her fighting stance once more, prepared to defend herself with the same defense Neji had used against her.
The first one to reach her raised his fist, enveloped in the power of his chakra. It came forward quickly. And a wall of pure chakra formed between them, the fist connecting with it firmly and the sound of bones breaking reaching Airen's ears.
As the Hyuuga stepped back quickly, eyes wide in pain, Shinzui landed on the ground before his sister. For the first time, his long hair was back, and his forehead could be seen. A strange object sat embedded in his forehead, a bright pearl blazing with chakra energy. "Enough!"
The Hyuuga all came at him quickly, lashing out with hands and fists. The Hokage was already racing up to defend the two Hitomi. She was not going to make it.
And yet, even the Hyuuga's chakra enhanced attacks could not touch Shinzui. As they came in, blazing walls of chakra formed in his defense. They could not beat their way through them, as blow after blow rained down. The Hyuuga dropped back quickly, to reconsider their strategy.
And that was when they heard the gasp. Neji's eyes were wide, focused not upon Shinzui, but his tenketsu. "What is it?" one of them asked.
"Hi… His tenketsu…" To Neji's Byakugen, his tenketsu were visible. An interconnecting flow of chakra and chakra points through his body. What scared Neji, however, was that Shinzui was connected to tenketsu outside his body, through the blazing orb on his forehead.
Neji staggered backwards, and at that moment, the Hokage arrived.
The Hyuuga were long gone, sent away by the Hokage, for her to deal with when she had the time. Probably, when she was less angry. Instead, she now faced Shinzui and Airen, her voice soft as she questioned them.
"What is the Hitomi bloodline ability?"
Shinzui straightened slowly, his hand still slowly brushing through his sister's hair. She had won the fight, and had come through practically unharmed, after all of her healing, but she had used a great amount of chakra. She was, to put it simply, exhausted. "The Hitomi have a special affiliation with animals."
The Hokage raised one of her eyebrows. "That does not explain…" Her finger raised, pointing at the unnatural orb upon his forehead.
Shinzui's free hand came up slowly, brushing his hair back into concealing it. "That is called the rasa. When the celestial dragons, long ago, roamed these lands, their connection to the chakra of the universe was through the rasa."
Her eyes widened slowly. "Your animal affiliation is a dragon?"
His head nodding slowly, Shinzui spoke faintly. "The genius of the Hitomi family are linked to animals and beasts of legend."
Gesturing to the young, sleeping girl that Shinzui watched after, Tsunade asked what her animal was.
His eyes meeting hers, Shinzui shrugged. "Honestly, I do not know. A bird, clearly, perhaps an eagle. In time, when her connection is fully developed, it will become more apparent."
Tsunade looked towards Airen, and nodded slowly. With the skilled healing power that the girl had shown, it would be interesting to learn what bird she was connected to.
Author's notes.
Here we have the first real explaination of the Hitomi ability, which I wanted to be cool. I think it came out cool. What do you think? Or, am I still going to only have two reviews? Damn you people! When I say R&R it means read AND REVIEW!
And, we have Neji being beaten. For all you Neji fans out there, I am sorry. For all the non Neji fans out there, enjoy. :D