Disclaimer: No I do not own Naruto.

Wings of the White Angel

Chapter 16: Heart's Blade

Yurei smiled slightly. "You want to see? I suppose it would be alright, since you seem like the kind of person to acknowledge fine art." Smacking the underside of the bundle, he knocked both of Pride's katana away and took a few steps back. "Ayumi, please keep an eye on Aiko-sensei."

Ayumi ran over and started to drag Aiko away from the street and towards an alley. "Won't you need help? He just took her out…"

"No…I'll be okay." Yurei tugged on the wrappings of the bundle and it started to loosen. "In fact…I'm kind of curious just how powerful you really think you are." As the wrappings gathered at his feet, the item was revealed. It was a long straight sword with a black body. The hilt and guard both were grey-black and plain. It stood a little taller than half of Yurei's body. "Let's go, Kage Kifuijin. We've got see which one has the better blade."

Pride narrowed his eyes and lifted his shadow katana to point at Yurei. "Don't get smug with me, you little punk. If you're a student under Aiko, then what hope do you have against me if I defeated her easily?"

Yurei grasped the hilt of his sword and pulled it out of the ground. Though the weapon looked like it weighed a lot, he mimicked Pride's action easily. "Aiko-sensei is a strong fighter. Her abilities to create illusions are exceptional. But her physical attack powers are rather weak. So all in all, I can't say that I'm that weak compared to her in the close-range department. Of course, that's just my opinion."

"You're a Genin and you want to pick a fight with me? You have some real guts…that's for sure." Lifting the katana, Pride charged right at Yurei. "Die!"

Yurei snapped the thick sword blade back and stopped the first attack from Pride, but it left his arms tingling from the force. ("He's incredibly powerful…those arms hide the strength of a titan.") Stumbling back, he tried to perform a feint with the blade but was forced to defend as another blow slammed into the blade of his sword. ("Maybe I spoke too…")

Pride's hand shot out and slapped the flat side of the sword, sending it out of Yurei's hand and into the air in a wild spin. "You challenged me to a sword fight? How stupid are you?"

Yurei felt the weapon's arc, and grimaced. ("He's far too strong…far too strong…but I have to try.") Backing up slowly, he felt out for the exact location of his sword while keeping himself ready to dodge Pride's attack. ("Where are you?")

Pride followed calmly, not even in a stance. "You actually wanted to fight me with a sword? At your level?" His eyes let out a golden glow. "Such an insult to the fighting prowess of a true warrior…I'll kill you with extreme prejudice." He disappeared and appeared ten feet away from Yurei in the opposite direction. "Tell me, have you ever heard of the delayed reaction cut technique? It's where someone cuts a target and then stops the force of the cut with their chakra. A skilled warrior can keep the delay going for as long as they wish." He turned to look at Yurei's back. "In one moment I can kill you. All it takes is my will to do so…"

Yurei felt a drop of sweat slide down his cheek. ("I…I don't know…what to do. His strength is beyond what I expected…") Slowly, he turned to face Pride with the strongest fake smirk on his face. ("I can bluff, but if what he said is true…I'm already dead.")

Pride sneered. "You have a look on your face like you might want to say something…well then speak up. I want to hear what your last words are."

"My last word would have to be something worth saying. Of course…" Yurei's smirk broke into a bit of an amused smile. "I'm not ready to say that word yet."

"Is that so?" Pride tapped the blade of his katana against the ground. "Then let me ask you a question. Why would you jump out and try to protect this pitiful excuse of a human being?"

"Because she isn't pitiful…not like you are. She still has her soul…" Yurei closed his eyes. "I don't accept that you are very strong. After all, if you were so strong then you would be able to defeat Hokage-sama."

Pride snarled darkly. "You would dare to chastise me for such a thing? Well then…your life ends here." He let the chakra from his cut go.

Yurei clutched at his chest, and blood started to stain his shirt. ("I…I…I can't fail yet…I can't let myself be defeated…") He clenched his fist as tightly as possible. ("I can stop it…I can!") Then the blood stain stopped growing.

Pride frowned and tilted his head to the side. ("Surprisingly, he managed to negate my delayed cut. That makes him slightly amusing…but he still dared to chastise me for having to run from the Hokage.") He lifted the katana up and bent at the knees. "Good bye forever…good bye…"

"Good bye comes when two people plan on seeing each other again." Yurei clenched his fist even tighter. "Do you plan on coming back from the dead?"

"You're good at keeping your cool, but you know the truth about this situation. You…" Pride appeared in front of Yurei, kneeing him right in the gut. "Are…" He appeared behind Yurei, and slammed the butt of his sword's hilt into the back of the boy's head. "Beaten!" He slashed the weapon's blade through Yurei, not in the least surprised to see two pieces of wood crash to the ground instead of bloody body parts. ("Replacement techniques won't save you from me…") A small smile crossed his face. ("I can sense you…I can tell where you are.")

Twenty feet away, Yurei grasped the hilt of his sword and wrenched it free, staring at the blade for a few moments. ("Is it possible…that after all I've worked for…you still aren't strong enough to match an opponent? Am I really that weak of a soul? Grandfather, you were wrong…")

"They say that the strongest Heart Rods are those that seem to reject their users at first. Most are agreeable to begin with…"

Yurei's eyes hardened. ("I worked so hard to make you accept me…Shadow Lady. Why are you unable to defeat this enemy? I thought that when the time was right, we'd work like a team and destroy whoever threatened our friends and family. Was I wrong?")

Pride coughed sharply. "Have you forgotten about me so quickly? Then let me remind you I'm here!"

Yurei growled and turned, his blade connecting with the blade of the shadow katana. Sparks came from both blades as the wielders pushed against each other with all of their might. ("This is my chance…my chance…")

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"Hey grandpa!" Yurei, only five years old, ran over to his grandfather's normal place of rest during the day, which was an old chair located right on the porch of their home. "Can you tell me the story about the Heart Rods? I love that story…"

"Of course…" Yurei's grandfather cleared his throat. "But first, bring yours out."

Yurei placed his hand over his heart and a faint light came from his palm. When he drew his hand away he was holding a black steel rod about the size of a battery. "Here it is…"

Yurei's grandfather grasped it and held it up in front of his eyes. "Long ago, the Akurei family came across a rare vein of mineral within a mine. Taking their great knowledge of weapon forging, they tried to make a sword out of the mineral. What they got was a weapon that became sentient, nearly killing all of the members of the clan. Luckily they disabled it before things had gotten out of hand. As they mulled over the mistake, a young boy," he smiled and patted Yurei's hair down. "About your age actually, found a piece of the mineral and kept it close to his heart as a memento. The mineral formed into a small metal rod known as a Heart Rod over time."

Yurei looked at his own, which still rested in his grandfather's hand. "Is it true that the Heart Rods are able to think and feel on their own?"

"Of course…they are living creatures. Every Akurei member, when they were born, had a small piece of the special mineral found so many centuries ago placed into their heart. It learns their mind, and some say even begins to mimic their soul. Then when the rod is complete, it comes out of their heart and remains by their side forever."

Yurei pouted. "But why can't I hear my rod at all?"

"It doesn't normally speak in words…" Yurei's grandfather chuckled. "Of course, there are always exceptions. Some say that the strongest Heart Rods are those that oppose their wielders once they gain sentience. For now, your Heart Rod simply doesn't possess the energy to respond to you."

"Oh…well, when will it be able to?"

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("All in due time, my child…all in due time…") Yurei repeated the words his grandfather had spoken, and then pushed as hard as he could against the forceful blade of Pride. But he was sliding backwards, unable to stop himself. ("Yet it never was that way, was it? Shadow Lady never truly accepted me…")

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Yurei roared out and snapped a small grey-handled dagger around in his family's backyard. He was now eight. ("I will surpass the power of my father. I'll gain a true affinity with my Heart Rod…") Over the last three years, his rod had decided upon what its form would become. In the end it chose a blade, and over those last few years had slowly transformed into a dagger. But from its shape and chakra, Yurei's father had assumed that by the time it would be done that it'd be a sword.

("And yet I still don't know the name of my rod. It refuses to speak to me. I'll break your dislike of me through hard work…I will!") Yurei moved like a dancer across the grounds, snapping the weapon in beautiful formations. ("I…I want to meet you. I want to know who you are.")

His grandfather had always told him that his Heart Rod was grey-black to represent his great talent with shadow techniques…and because of other reasons that he refused to ever speak of. ("And yet if that's true…why won't it talk to me? Is it possible that it's so strong it thinks that it doesn't need me?")

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("Then one day it spoke to me…if for a fleeting moment.") Yurei pushed back, but knew he wasn't going to be able to overcome Pride's awesome skill. ("My name is Kage Kifuijin is what it said, in a female voice. It is Shadow Lady…") And yet the rod never spoke to him again. It grew into an enormous blade of incredible toughness, but it refused to 'say' anything more to him. ("I always envisioned that you were like a sleeping princess waiting for that kiss from the prince to wake you up. I thought that kiss needed to be the perfect battle against a strong opponent…but now I know I'm wrong. Nothing I can do will wake you up, will it?")

Pride shoved roughly, knocking Yurei off his feet. "You're finished."

"Not yet!" Yurei did a back-flip, and then as soon as his feet touched the ground again he charged, connecting blades once more with the Sin. "I'll stop you!"

"Will you?" Pride's free hand made a little motion and another katana appeared in it. "Then let's test that bravery of yours with this." He snapped the blade of the new weapon toward Yurei's head.

"Son of a…" Letting go of Shadow Lady's hilt, he broke into another wave of back-flips. At the last one he pushed off the ground and moved his hands as quickly as he could. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" When he landed on the ground, there was ten of him.

Pride kicked Shadow Lady up and caught it, dispelling his second katana and favoring Yurei's weapon instead. "Very heavy looking, but actually incredibly light. It's amazing that such a mediocre swordsman could own such a fine weapon. You called her Shadow Lady? Even better…I'm sure she'll love to be wielded by the master of the Shadow Moon sword style."

Yurei growled and all ten of him drew a kunai. "Let's go!" Then they all charged.

"You're so naïve…" Pride pointed his katana at them all. "Kage Tsuki no Mai!" Then there were eleven of him, as ten copies of himself appeared behind each Yurei and slashed gently. Nine of the replications disappeared in a burst of white smoke, while the real Yurei crashed to the ground with blood spurting from his back.

("He…he defeated my Shadow Replication technique like it was nothing.") Yurei slowly stood up, and his eyes widened as he saw Pride standing over him.

"It's a day of ironies…struck down by one's own sword." Pride snapped Shadow Lady and then swung it down at Yurei impossibly fast.

Yurei watched the blade come a few inches from his nose, and then it stopped.

Pride blinked in surprise, his arm shuddering in strain as it tried to force the blade to move. ("I'm being resisted by a…sword?")

Yurei kicked up and disarmed Yurei, catching the hilt of his weapon and rolling away with it.

Pride didn't really care. Something was off about that weapon. ("The damned sword actually resisted me…what kind of trickery was that?")

Yurei now was a few feet from Pride, and his nerve was shot. ("I can't win…I'm…I'm…") Then he did the unthinkable…he turned and ran as fast as he could.

Pride looked disgusted. "So that's it, hmmm? I was expecting a little more than such a lackluster performance and then no ending to top it off? No…I want my money back. And I'll extract it from your body." He moved like a shadow, running alongside Yurei casually. Without a word he grabbed Yurei's collar and pulled the boy to the ground, where he kicked him once in the shoulder. "I…am sickened to think that anyone who wanted to be a ninja would run in such a fashion…"

Yurei stared at the ground, his eyes wide in shock. ("I'm running…why would I run? Why would I ever want to run?") He tried to stand, but was forced to the ground by a kick to the ribs.

"You don't deserve to stand up…you don't deserve anything. I can't believe I was planning on taking you seriously too…" Pride spat onto the back of Yurei's neck. "Disgusting little weakling…"

"Some have said that the kiss is a purpose in itself." Yurei's grandfather smiled warmly. "Perhaps when you understand that, you'll understand your heart…and your rod."

("The kiss is a purpose in itself?") Yurei's fingers dug into the earth, creating troughs. ("Is that it? Was that always it?") He disappeared and appeared a few feet away from Pride, standing and facing away this time. Shadow Lady was held in his hand tightly, and his eyes were calm again.

"Do you think I'll actually give you the chance to make a total ass of yourself again?" Pride formed another shadow katana. "Think again…"

Yurei closed his eyes. "My purpose is to protect those I care about…my teammates…my family. I am Yurei Akurei…I am that purpose. I am the guardian…that is what I want from you. Heart within my heart…open your eyes!" The blade of Shadow Lady hummed for a moment, and then cracks began to appear along its frame.

Pride snarled coldly. "Don't treat me like I'm nothing, you little…"

Shadow Lady shattered, leaving a small glowing crystal in Yurei's hand. "Your name is Shadow Lady…or that is what I thought." His eyes remained closed, seeming to drink in some unheard sound. "I've had it wrong all of these years…" His eyes opened and locked onto Pride's. "Strike in darkness…see in darkness…awaken in darkness…" The rod shone brighter and brighter. "Kage Megami!" All around him, the earth exploded and created a huge cloud of dust that obscured the view of him.

Pride narrowed his eyes…and then snarled as the cloud cleared. ("His sword changed?")

The weapon Yurei now held was a rapier, but its body was big enough that he could hold it with two hands if he wished. His eyes looked down at the sword's new body…and then looked up at Pride calmly.

Pride snapped up his katana to point at Yurei. "So you think that with a new sword you can win this fight? Shadow Goddess…pitiful…" He smirked coldly. "Are you ready for round two?"

"You asked me about what my last words would be…" Yurei's muscles tightened. "It would be that you pray for forgiveness."

"Pray?" Pride opened his mouth to ask what the hell the boy was talking about, but Yurei was already moving.

Yurei snapped Shadow Goddess up into the air, holding it with both hands. ("I understand grandfather…I understand and plan on using that knowledge right now!") "Kage Mangetsu!" As the weapon fell, it shimmered in the night. And then the world burned, sending a giant wave of white energy to swallow up Pride.

To be continued…