Disclaimer: No I do not own Naruto

Wings of the White Angel

Chapter 10: Awakened Blood; The Mysterious Demon

"You killed my apprentice's fiancé…" Hatake Kakashi met Pride's eyes with both his normal eye and the eye that reflected the power of the Sharingan bloodline limit. "And your future is death. Raikiri!" Cupping his right hand, Kakashi growled out as lightning developed within his palm.

("I didn't even see him perform the seals…") Pride stepped back, unable to take his eye off of that single Sharingan-strengthened orb. ("I must retreat…I have to run…this is too much for even me…")

Kakashi bowed his head. "May you find peace in death, coward!" Charging, he extended his hand out and drove the lightning ball right into Pride's chest in the blink of an eye.

Smoke was kicked up in front of his face, and Kakashi was forced to leapt back a few steps. ("Something's wrong…that attack didn't connect.") As the smoke cleared, he realized why.

Standing where Pride had been was a giant bald-headed man in black robes. He had one huge hand up, and it was smoldering.

"So you stopped my Lightning Edge with your hand?" Kakashi disliked the fact that there was anyone capable of doing that. "So…who are you?"

"I am Sloth…" The man glanced behind him. "Envy…what is Pride's condition?"

"He is fine…" Another much shorter bald-headed man stood up and looked over at Kakashi. "You're taking a risk by coming out into the open, Hokage."

"Am I?" Kakashi's Sharingan nearly burned holes through both men at once with its intense stare. "If Pride is any gauge of your group's power, then I can take up to four of you at once at my maximum."

Envy growled and looked up at Sloth. "As much as I'd like to tear that Sharingan right out of his skull…we have to go for now. Pride went against the orders of Death, and our orders are to bring him back as soon as we can." He turned to look at Kakashi. "Perhaps next time, Hokage-sama." All three of them disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.

Kakashi sighed and lowered his forehead protector down over his Sharingan again. "Every once in a while I wonder why I ever took the title…" Turning, he looked over at the fallen Kai. "Well, let's make sure you live to see another sunrise."

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Kin's lips curled up into a dark smile. "Kurohakai Sabaku!" The aura settled down around him. "So child, you made a mistake…reaching for the sun and finding nothing but ash." His eyes lifted to meet Hate's, the irises now a molten red. "And now…" His pupils contracted to slits, and a bright crimson light came from his chest. "Not only have you given me free reign over your body…but I get this strange source of dark energy to play with. I'm not sure what technique you were trying to use, but it doesn't matter." His arms lifted up and he slid into a strange Taijutsu stance. "As for you…I want to see what you can really do…"

Hate tilted his head to the side. "What I can really do?"

"Oh yes…I want your full strength…I want to feel alive again!" Kin charged, disappearing and appearing a few inches behind Hate. "Tell me, what does your blood taste like?"

Hate started to turn his head to try and look at Kin. Looking behind him, he blinked in surprise to find no one there.

"What are you looking at?" Kin asked calmly, now standing in front of him. "Were you expecting to keep up with me in your current state?"

"My current state?" Hate blinked a couple of times. "What are you talking about?"

He snickered and closed his eyes, looking thoughtful. "So now you decide to play dumb? Then let me draw it out of you!" The next half-second later his fist crashed into Hate's cheek and sent the small boy flying backwards into a boulder, breaking the huge hunk of stone in half. "Well? Where's the power I know you have?"

Hate stood up, unharmed. "What power are you talking about?"

Kin's amused expression disappeared. "I see…so you don't know about it? Your endurance exists to protect you from it then." His upper lip curled to reveal a pair of slightly elongated canine teeth. "Let's break your endurance." He disappeared and appeared behind Hate, landing a trio of heavy haymakers to the back of the boy's head. Then he was in front of the lurching boy, driving a knee into his kidney while punching him in both sides at the same time. To finish the combo Kin's forehead crashed down onto Hate's nose at full speed.

Hate stumbled back, eyes wide at the ferocity of that combo that had been used against him. It didn't hurt him, but such an attack… ("It was reckless…incredibly reckless…")

Kin frowned. "Again." He appeared in a sliding position at Hate's feet, his foot snapping up and striking the boy in the stomach, pushing him a couple of feet into the air. Pushing off with his hands, Kin flew up and latched his legs around Hate's head roughly. Twisting in mid-air he came down using his opponent's head like a pillow to cushion the landing.

The force caused Hate to bounce a little, and Kin dismounted at that point. The moment his feet touched the ground he drove his knee at full strength into the small now upside-down boy's gut, propelling him into another boulder. Running in, Kin struck a roundhouse kick on the side of Hate's head and followed up with a shoulder strike into the boulder. Each blow shook the earth with its ferocity.

Hate had a little trouble breathing with Kin's shoulder crushing him against the boulder, but it still didn't hurt.

A low growl came from Kin's mouth, and as time caught up to him his hair, which had been behind him like a cape, began to fall around his face. A few strands of the green hair dropped over his right eye. "Screw this…it's time to die!" Breaking into a series of back-flips, Kin got some distance between himself and his impossible to harm target. "Kurohakai Sabaku!" The black aura appeared again, and Kin's hair turned jet black. "Feel the full power of the Black Destruction Desert!"

An explosion shook the surrounding area as Hate was sent straight through numerous boulders. But what was even more damaging was the shockwave from the actual blow as it caught up to him. The pressure actually started to make his head feel a little pressed.

Kin snarled deeper, his canine teeth longer than before. "Kurohakai Rendan!" Letting out a savage roar, he charged at Hate full speed.

Hate's head began to turn, already predicting the simple flanking maneuver Kin would use.

This time Kin's feet left the ground ten feet from his target, and he straightened out like a spear. Arms barred in front of him he drove both of his elbows into Hate at full strength and sent both of them into a insane roll backwards. Grabbing the much smaller feet of his enemy, Kin let the roll lose power before forcefully coming out of it. Using the momentum that was still pushing against him, he began to spin on his heels and took Hate, by the feet, along for the ride.

As the human tornado that was Kin moved down the path, its edges (Hate's head) clipped a few boulders on the way down, tearing out huge chunks of rock. Finally the spin broke down and Kin went into the third step of the combo. Letting go of one of Hate's legs, he turned his opponent into a human missile that was heading back up the way they had come.

Hate had his eyes closed, as the rocks did tend to get some grit in his eyes. It was uncomfortable. As his straightened out body shot back up the path, he felt a prescense right below him. Tilting his head and opening his eyes, he saw Kin running right beneath him. Then Kin was gone.

Kin charged up the path at full speed, skidding to a stop and reversing his direction to send himself towards Hate. When they were a few feet apart he pushed off the ground and smashed his knee into the top of Hate's skull, instantly eliminating the momentum that was moving the boy back up the trail.

Eribisumaru stared at the sight in awe, because now he was finally able to see them both clearly. They hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity...

Kin's cupped fists struck Hate right in the face full force, sending the boy a foot down to touch the earth at around seventy miles an hour. Kin touched feet to the earth and grabbed Hate by the throat, hefting the boy up to eye level. He could see the stunned look in Hate's eyes, and knew it was because of the Black Desert Combo's dizzying speed. "Remember when I asked you what your blood tasted like?"

"My…" Hate tried to finish the sentence, but was still mentally shaken by the numerous directions his body had been taken in through such a short amount of time.

"That's right…your blood." Kin licked his lips and bit down full force onto the exposed section of Hate's neck.

Eribisumaru clutched at his ears as Hate screamed in complete pain.

Kin roughly removed his canines from Hate's shoulder muscles with a sharp tug. Licking his tongue along his blood-stained lips, he growled in content. "Such untainted purity in your soul…surprising really…but so tasty."

Hate continued to scream. This was the first time he had ever bled. His now wild pale eyes looked down at his shoulder and saw the rivers of blood running down his arm. For a moment it looked like he was about to mentally break down…and then his eyes and hair exploded into blood red radiance.

Kin sneered in delight. "That's…" The rest of his sentence was cut off as a fist crashed into his cheek with such strength that he was actually force to let go. His lip split open and his jawbone rattled from the force. Stumbling back, he smiled through every second of pain. "It's what I wanted…to feel alive…"

"I'll kill you!" Hate roared in rage and charged, his fist hurtling towards Kin's head like a tiny wrecking ball.

Kin watched its approach with a look that said he didn't care whether he got hit or not. ("To feel alive again…to feel alive!")

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Aiko kept her back pressed against a nearby boulder, listening to the earth-shattering sounds of fists crashing against flesh only ten feet away from her. ("That chakra…it's familiar. Though it is tainted by something I've never felt before, the chakra at the middle of the dark storm I sense is…") Then an image flashed into her mind.

"Foolish mortals…" The held form struggled against the glowing blue net that held it restricted against the foolish male. "I will break free and…"

She clenched her fist so tightly the bones in her hand nearly shattered. ("But how? How could that be possible? It's…it isn't possible...it's Kin. How would they…")

"According to the report, the thief refused to tell us where the jewel had gone. A young boy, Kin Watanabe, was found at the scene. Apparently he had been the one to beat the thief, all to retrieve a necklace of his own." Haru sighed and tossed the report down onto the table in front of him. "The chain for the jewel was found around his neck, but the jewel was nowhere in sight."

"From what I heard the necklaces that were the boy's and the missing one were similar…is it possible that…"

"No. They are similar, but there are obvious differences in just the cut of the jewel and the designs of the jewel holder." Haru rubbed his chin. "Kin was unconscious, but we had one of our best medical ninjas who was in Konoha check his body for it. However, because of how the jewel healed injuries…if it had somehow gotten into his body through an injury…"

"You don't think…"

"There was a scar reported in between his ribs."

Aiko punched the ground once. ("Damn it all! It was right in front of me…somehow the jewel had gotten into one of his wounds and when it healed the wound it connected to his body's chakra. He's been carrying the sealed demon in him these last few days…") If the seal had been ruptured badly enough, then the demon would be able to take over Kin's body. ("I…I have to seal him again! If I…")

Pain shot up her arm. ("I can't. I'm only at twenty percent power, which means that there is no way for me to perform the sealing technique, even if I burned my life to do it.") She was helpless. Both of these clashing forces were not as strong as her when she was at full power, but Pride's Shadow Moon Shield had sucked up too much of her energy. ("They'd kill me. I need to think of a…")

A hand dropped down onto her shoulder. "Aiko, Yurei is with Kai. Go and make sure that the client is okay."

She barely was surprised that Kakashi had been able to sneak up on her so easily. "Alright…but what about…"

Though he knew that she couldn't see his facial expressions, Kakashi smiled from underneath his lower face mask. "Don't worry. I'll make sure no one gets hurt beyond what is necessary."

"But what if what is necessary…" Aiko let that hang in the air and disappeared.

Kakashi could feel the clashing chakra sources. One sent little shivers down his spine because of how dark it was. ("It's like Orochimaru's chakra almost. But something about it is far more supernatural than that.") Lifting up his forehead protector to reveal his Sharingan eye, the sixth Hokage hopped over the boulder to see what the situation was.

Both Hate and Kin had their faces only a few inches apart. Their hands were clasped and they were pushing against each other as hard as they could.

Kakashi slowly walked towards them. "Hey hey, how about you boys calm down?"

Kin's eyes glanced over at the speaking human…and growled. "Hokage…you would dare to speak to…" His loss of attention to his current opponent gave Hate the opportunity to punch him in the jaw and send him sliding backwards.

Kakashi locked onto the first target. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A shadow replication appeared next to him. It charged towards Hate even while he made the seals for his next technique. This one would be dangerous if used at full power, but he only planned on using it at half power. ("If I don't hit the right spot though, I'll burn a lot of chakra for nothing.")

The replication snapped its foot out and stopped Hate with a knee to the stomach. Grabbing the boy by the shoulders, it looked him eye to eye.

Hate stared at the strange and beautiful stars on the Sharingan eye for a few moments…and then passed out.

The replication started to set Hate down on the ground, but blew apart as Kin tackled it full force. "You meddling…"

("He's fast…") Kakashi's hand lit up with red-orange flames. "Fuuinjutsu Shien Fuuijin!" ("But speed won't stop me!") Charging, Kakashi locked his focus fully on Kin's body. "Forgive me, but this will hurt Kin!"

"You won't be able to…" Kin growled in surprised as a pair of arms locked his head and a pair of legs locked his hips. ("Another shadow replication!")

"Seal!" Kakashi slammed his palm against the center of Kin's chest. The fire died out after a moment, and Kin had gone silent.

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Aiko had carried Eribisumaru on her back the rest of the way, wishing to get him to the town as soon as possible. She was already on her way back, and praying that no one was hurt. ("That monster had harmed enough people already…") As she reached the site where Kin and Hate had been, she breathed a sigh of relief at what she felt. ("It's okay…it's okay…") Repeating that to herself like a mantra, she dropped down onto the path. "It's okay, right?"

Kakashi nodded, his back up against a boulder. "Yes, I placed a support seal around the jewel. It's completely locked in place though, which will be a problem. We can't remove it without probably taking out most of his body with it." Lowering the forehead protector back over his eye, a solemn tone entered his voice. "What worries me though is the power the demon had. The seal was damaged by two percent. It shouldn't have been that strong."

"I know. I felt the power too. It was so angry…so cold…" Aiko shivered at the memory of it. "What is it though?"

"I'm not sure." Kakashi looked over at the unconscious Kin. "But we'll have to find out. For now, the mission is complete though."

"Yeah…" Aiko felt disappointment though, because she hadn't been able to kill him. ("I wasn't even a challenge for him…I'm sorry.")

Kakashi stood up and slung Kin over his shoulder. "Aiko. Don't blame yourself for what happened."

"I'm not…I'm blaming him…" Her memories burned with images of those yellow eyes and that gray hair. "I'll kill him. I will train hard and kill him."

Kakashi was gone already.

To be continued…