Disclaimer: No I do not own Naruto.

Wings of the White Angel

Chapter 12: New Team Eight

"Oh, he's still asleep?" Ayumi sighed. "Well thank you very much. Please let me know when he is awake." Turning away from the window of the hospital floor, she went over and had a seat. ("Why can't I just hang out with Kakashi-sama until this guy wakes up?")

"Explain to me again why I have to wait here for the mediocrity to wake up?" Kai closed his eyes and rested his back fully against his seat on the bench. "There's no point to it. I could use this time to train."

"Because Kai, he's your teammate." Yurei glared from his seat across the room. "So how about you just take this time to reflect on what training you're going to do. I think all three of us figured out that our current skills aren't going to be enough if we meet those three nutcases again."

Ayumi glanced between the two of them and broke down into helpless laughter. It was so bad she nearly fell out of her seat.

Both boys turned to glare at her.

"I'm sorry…" She tried to stop the laughter and couldn't.

Kai tried to control his anger, but leapt to his feet. "What's so funny?"

Yurei started to laugh too.

"And what are you laughing at, shadow loser?" Kai's eyebrows started to twitch rapidly. "Well?"

Ayumi finally brought her laughter under control. "I'm laughing because both of you are so funny. It was your first mission and you're already talking about improving yourselves like there was anything you could have done if you had been a little stronger."

"What?" Kai spoke quietly through clenched teeth. "How do you know that? And more importantly, what business of it is yours?"

"It's my business because I'm going to be saving your lives during your missions, Kai Otogi." Ayumi stood up and offered a hand to him. "Ayumi Nakashima, the new medical ninja for Team Eight."

"Says who?" Kai glared at her once more and looked away.

"Says one of the greatest ninjas in the world." Ayumi held up a piece of paper and forced his head to turn around and look at it. "Kakashi-sama has instructed me to join your team for now. I'm supposed to make sure that all of you will be alright on missions."

Kai scoffed and turned away. "Fine, just keep out of my way."

"I'd be glad to. Next time you have a horrible injury, I'll just pass you by." Ayumi looked over at Yurei. "Why were you laughing? Don't tell me that someone with a sense of humor is on the same team as the great let-down right there." She pointed at Kai for emphasis.

"You could say that." Yurei chuckled. "We are taking this too badly. Next time we fight them, we'll win with ease."

"There's the attitude that gets things done." Ayumi gave him a thumbs-up. "I'm glad you're on this team, Yurei-san."

Yurei shrugged and stood up. "It's no problem." But deep in his heart he knew what was next on his list of things to do today. ("It's amazing…but I already have to start bringing it along. Who knows though, maybe I won't need to use it.")

Ayumi turned around to look at Kai. "As for you…"

After giving her another glare, Kai looked over at a nearby window. "Just leave me alone. Why the Hokage would assign us an annoying harpy of a girl like you is beyond me." A few seconds later he was crushed face-first on the ground under one of the wooden benches, which had been thrown at him.

Yurei stared at Ayumi in a mix of horror and awe. ("She's fast…")

"So anyway, where's Aiko-sama?" Ayumi looked around the waiting room, ignoring the looks of confusion everyone else was sending her.

"She…" Yurei nearly leapt through the ceiling as he felt a touch on his shoulder.

Aiko, a smile on her face, was sitting in his seat. "I see that Kai has already met Ayumi. How have you been dear? Still keeping Kakashi on his toes?"

"I've been great! And of course!" Ayumi flashed the victory sign. "Every day for the last six months I've glomped him at least once!" Both of them shared a laugh at that.

Yurei just stared at both of them like they were insane. ("What's…a glomp?")

Kai stood up slowly, rubbing the back of his head. However, he apparently learned what would happen if he insulted Ayumi, so he wisely kept his mouth shut. ("I'll kill her when she's not near something that can be thrown.")

A nurse walked into the waiting room. "Excuse me; he's awake now if you want to see him."

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Kin heard the door to his room open and grinned. "Hey guys, how's it…" His sentence died in his throat as Ayumi was the first to walk in. "Do I know you?"

Ayumi smiled and bowed her head to him. "Ayumi Nakashima, the newest member to Team Eight, pleasure to meet you Kin."

Kin smiled in understanding. "I see. Pleasure to meet you."

The door opened more and Yurei walked in next. "Hey man, how are you? Apparently you got the living snot beaten out of you."

"Eh…I guess so." Kin blushed brightly. "I fought him off though…"

Aiko walked in next. "Hey Kin." Something about the tone of her voice was a mix of interest and anger.

"Hi…" Kin stared at her, confused by her reaction. "What's the problem?"

"Nothing at all." She took a seat in a chair near the door. "Yeah…nothing at all."

When no one else came in Kin rolled his eyes. "So I assume Kai went home?"

"I'm right here." Slowly the boy walked in, giving Ayumi a wide berth. "I just am making sure that no more benches are coming my way."

Kin grinned. "So…what exactly did you do? It must have been pretty bad."

"None of your business."

Yurei's eyes widened in realization of something. "Hey Kin?"

"Yes?" Kin looked over at his teammate. "Is something the matter?"

"Well…." Yurei frowned, not sure how to word his question. "Is there a mirror in the room?" When Kin pointed at the mirror near his bed, Yurei picked it up and held it right in front of his teammate's face.

Kin blinked at his reflection. "………"

Ayumi leaned in and looked at his face closely. "Is something different?"

"Yes…there is…" Kin looked at his cheeks, where there were thin blue eyes right under his eyes, at the top of his cheeks. His pupils were also slotted, like Yurei's always were. "What in the…"

Aiko stood up and brushed herself off. "Yurei, Ayumi, Kai…please go outside for a minute. I need to speak with Kin in private."

They all nodded and filed out.

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Kin looked down at his bed sheets. "A demon? Are you…you're joking."

"No. I am dead serious." Aiko stood up. "I apologize for having to tell you it in this way, but you must know. Kakashi told me not to inform you yet, but I cannot risk you meeting Pride himself and trying to activate the Black Destruction Desert again. Apparently it cracked the seal that holds the demon in place. Doing it again might have repercussions that none of us can fathom. So please…"

Kin closed his eyes. "No more, please. I understand…"

She slammed her fist down onto the railing of his bed. "Apparently you don't understand, because this is a…" Kin's fist snapped a few inches from her face. Though she could have countered the mock attack, she didn't because she knew he didn't mean to hit her.

His eyes were open and burned with a dark fire that reflected pain. "Do you think…that I…know nothing of danger? I've lived every day of my life knowing that somewhere within me is a darkness that is capable of destroying everything…do you understand that? So please, let me try to forget what I've got within me…if just for a little while."

She silently stood up. "I will continue to train you as a member of my team. However, if at any point you lose control and the demon emerges, I'll kill you without a moment's hesitation. You understand?"

"Yes." Kin slid out of bed, his new eyes glaring at her forehead protector. "Never again…I will never let it defeat me. I've promised that I will master the Radiant Paradise, and therefore I'll overcome this new hindrance."

She turned and walked out. Ayumi's head poked in a few moments later. "What was all the yelling about?"

Kin smiled warmly. "Nothing at all. So, what would you like to talk about?"

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It had been a few hours since they had gone to visit Kin in the hospital, and finally Kai had gotten away from all of them. He was in his backyard now, and was training like his life depended on it. ("I must get stronger…I must defeat him!") Kicking his leg out as hard as he could, he felt the sweat drip down his face. ("I will destroy him…with my arms and legs. I will destroy him with my techniques. I will destroy him with everything I have! Pride…I'll crush you!") His father had always told him that he was special. That the whole world would be after him. But he wasn't alone…he had help to protect him. ("And when the time would come, the help would show itself to me. Father, what were you talking about? What help will come?")

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Yurei bowed to the shrine in his backyard. ("Father...I may have to unleash it soon. From this point onwards in my missions I will carry it with me, though I know you told me only to use it in dangerous situations. This is dangerous though, the people after us will stop at nothing to get what Kin has. As such…I must apologize in advance if I bring it out. The heritage of our family may see use. But if that is the case, I will use Kage Kifuijin with the respect it deserves.")

Stepping back, he focused his eyes on the full moon. ("Burning so brightly in the sky…you don't believe that there is anything wrong with the human race, do you? Yet there are evil men who wish bad things for those I have promised to keep safe. So I will train, because if they want Kin so badly…they'll have to get through me first.")

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Because he was still in his hospital bed, Kin could only do one type of training at the moment. His hands moved at nearly blur speeds. ("Focus…don't stray from the path…like the water…")

Ayumi, who was supposed to stay in his room and keep an eye out for strange behavior, watched as a thin layer of blue chakra began to shimmer around the boy's form. ("Incredible…is this the White Wind Angel?")

Kin moved with all of his effort, trying to support the Blue Water Dolphin as long as possible. ("Just a little…") Then he lost it, and his hand speeds returned to normal. ("It's too much…I don't have the focus for it…") Then the image of Aiko telling him that she would kill him if she had to came into his head. "No! I will succeed at this!" Snapping his hands up, he began the seals again. "Suiton; Aumizu Iruka no Jutsu!"

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Aiko felt the sweat drip down her face. Her forehead protector had been knocked off already, and blood dripped down over her eyes. "Again!"

"Are you…" The operator of the level S test machinery couldn't believe she could stand with the injuries she had.

"I said again!" Aiko snapped her milky eyes to aim at him. "Do it!"

Sighing, he pulled the activation lever. "Alright, as you wish." A hum came from the empty steel room that she was in, while he was separated from her by a thick window that overlooked the training area from the control room. Then all at once the room came alive, the floor splitting into plates and moving crazily around. Seconds later metal needles and shurikens were shot out of different points in the walls. All of them were made to chase chakra sources.

Aiko moved as quickly as she could, ignoring the pain the needles gave her and focusing on the shurikens. ("Hikarigan!") Her empty eyes shimmered prismatic and she kept moving, throwing kunai and shuriken at an equal rate to the number leaving the walls. ("I will avenge you Kane! Pride…I will kill you! You should have known not to kill the man I loved, because now I'll bury you right next to him!")

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Pride closed his eyes. "Tell me Pain, what is the status of our target?"

"It is still within Konoha sir. As per the orders of the Kemukage, we are not to attempt to capture the target until they have moved closer to the Country of Lightning's borders. However, at the moment Kemukage has mobilized his political puppets to put Team Eight in a situation that would accomplish that very task."

"Excellent. Inform me when they arrive. Until then, I will be training myself as much as possible." Pride held up his two shadow katana. "By the time I am done, the Shadow Moon fighting style will be complete."

Pain bowed his head once more and disappeared.

Pride smiled slightly to himself. ("Aiko…get stronger for me. Next time we fight, I want to be the one fighting for my life against you. That is exactly why I killed Kane…for no other purpose than to force you to fight me. They said that you were the weakest of your class, but I want to know the truth. So please, get stronger. Next time we meet, it will end between us.")

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Kakashi looked out at the full moon from his seat on the roof of the Konoha town hall. ("There's never a dull time in Konoha, is there? Well, I'll start sending Team Eight on missions the day after tommorow. This will hopefully teach them teamwork. I won't be able to protect them from Pride, and he is still after them. So I will have to hope that each of their special talents can be put to use against him.")

("Aiko, with her abilities to see through illusions by not seeing. However, she'll have to learn how to fight physically to defeat an opponent like Pride, who is immune to most Genjutsu.")

("Kin…he must learn about this Radian Paradise soon. Running fast won't be enough to beat the true power that he faces.")

("Kai must control his emotions. In so many ways he reminds me of Sasuke, but by no means is he near the boy's strength level. He must find his purpose.")

("Yurei has something hidden…it's something he won't use until he has to. Like a shark swimming under the surface of the water, he is waiting for his opportunity to strike.")

("Ayumi's healing powers will of great use…") Kakashi sweat-dropped. "Are you going to let me go yet, Ayumi? And aren't you supposed to be watching Kin at the moment?"

Ayumi grinned and held her glomp tight on Kakashi. "I left a replication to watch him for a minute while I came out to say goodnight."

Sighing, Kakashi looked up at the full moon again. ("Maybe one of these days she'll forget…then again…")

To be continued…