Chapter 8: It Must Be Done! Scarring Sacrifices!

Senko continues to run through the forests of Konoha as she recalls that fateful day when her superior lost his life.

-Flashback-

When the dust has settled, Wazashi looks in horror at the scene before him. Senko, Makoto, and Shiro were all lying down in the dirt, badly beaten and injured beyond compare. He thought they had died until he saw their chests rising and falling.

"Thank goodness," he exclaims in relief. "They're still alive."

He glances over to the huge crater and spots Kagerou coming out of it. Thinking fast, he rushes over to the fallen chuunins and takes them out of harm's way. Setting them down in a clear space, he turns to face Kagerou.

"It's about time I got myself a challenge," laughs Kagerou as he approaches the green-haired jounin.

"Your reign of terror ends now!" declares Wazashi as he began collecting Chakra into his left hand. "This is something a fellow ninja once taught me."

Kagerou smiles as he watches the man try to beat him with a technique he's not familiar with.

"Raikiri!" yells out Wazashi. "Lightening Edge!"

He ran at the young jounin, dragging his Chakra-filled hand which sparked with bright, blue light. Once upon Kagerou, Wazashi thrusts it into the young man's chest, the Chakra surging everywhere. Kagerou screams out in pain as Wazashi forces his attack into the young man's body. Kagerou flies back from the force of the attack and lands on his back six feet away. Wazashi watches as the young man slowly got up to his feet.

"Heh, that's new," chuckles Kagerou.

"You haven't seen my best technique yet," retorts Wazashi.

He began doing some hand seals, which summons the dreadful Shinigami (God of Death) as a translucent being holding a mysterious body-shaped Chakra. Kagerou looks at the anomaly fearfully as Wazashi ran up to him and grabs hold of the young man's shoulder. Kagerou watches in horror as Shinigami thrusts his hand into the Chakra figure and comes out of Wazashi's stomach. The hand then went into Kagerou's body and slowly began dragging out something.

"What is this?" Kagerou demanded.

"Shiki Fujin!" cries out Wazashi. "Corpse Demon Seal Exhaustion!"

"What the hell?" exclaims the surprised Kagerou, feeling the hand in his body.

"What do you think of it?" chuckles Wazashi. "This technique seals a soul inside of me at the price of my own life as well as the target. Guess who's my target."

"You bastard!" spat Kagerou.

Wazashi grunts and groans as he uses his Chakra to pull out Kagerou's soul. When Kagerou sees half of his soul coming out, he started desperately using his Chakra to pull it back in. The tug-of-war of Kagerou's soul went on for several minutes, which seemed like forever. Suddenly, Kagerou's soul began inching its way back into its owner's body.

"It would seem that youth has a big role in his fight," chuckles Kagerou as he pulls the rest of his soul back into him.

"If I can't have your soul," began Wazashi. "Then I'll just take another."

Kagerou's eyes widen in horror as Shinigami's hand began pulling out the dark tora no youkai inside of him.

"No!" he exclaims.

Senko stirs weakly and opens her eyes to see two figures battling each other. Sitting up, she slowly began remembering what was going on. She looks to her sides to see her teammates and friends unconscious and not moving.

"Makoto-kun! Shiro!" she cries out as she shakes them awake.

"S-senko-chan?" exclaims Makoto as he got up along with Shiro.

"Ow, my head," notes Shiro.

All three of them turn to see their sensei, Wazashi, battle Kagerou. Shiro notices the transparent figure of Shinigami and cries out in fear.

"What the hell is that?" he yells, pointing at the ghost.

"What's going on?" wonders Makoto.

"I don't know," answers Senko.

The tiger spirit roars fiercefully as the demonic hand pulls it free of its human body.

"Nooo!" screams Kagerou as Wazashi fell back weak and exhausted.

The dark tiger spirit was sealed into the green-haired jounin's stomach and the five element seal appears on his body. Kagerou stumbles back from the force but manages to balance himself out. He walks over to the dying Wazashi and glares down angrily at him.

"You think you've won?" he asks him. "YOU THINK YOU'VE WON?"

Kagerou began performing hand seals as the three chuunins looked on helplessly.

"Katon: Faiawooru no Jutsu!" he screams out. "Fire Release: Firewall Technique!"

Makoto, Senko, and Shiro could do nothing but watch the dreadful fire technique rush out at them at full speed. They were too weak to run away or fight back. Suddenly, Makoto makes a last minute decision.

"Senko-chan!" he cries out, jumping over her body as Shiro screams.

The fiery attack engulfs everything within a half-mile radius of Kagerou. When the smoke cleared and the dust settled, the village of Kouen was nothing more than a huge crater. Once done, Kagerou weakly wanders off to heal himself. Senko opens her eyes to see the face of her best friend Makoto on top of her.

"Makoto-kun?" she says, gently pushing the boy off of her. "Makoto-kun?"

The boy remained silent and his body limp, his dark brown hair falling over his face.

"Makoto-kun!" she nearly screams.

Suddenly, Makoto's eyes began stirring and opens up slightly.

"Senko?" he groans, turning his head to look at her. "What happened?"

"Kagerou destroyed everything," answers Senko. "We're all that's left."

"Where's Shiro? And Wazashi-sensei?" he asks.

The two of them sat up and scanned the area in search of life. A few feet away from them, Shiro laid on his side, not moving at all.

"Shiro!" they cried out, running to their fallen comrade.

Makoto takes his index and middle finger and feels the boy's neck. He pulls back sadly upon feeling no pulse at all. Senko looks at him hopefully but her eyes fill with sadness when he shakes his head. Getting up, they walked over to their superior, who lays just as motionless as their comrade. Fortunately, he was still alive and breathing.

"Makoto; Senko," the jounin groans. "Where's Shiro?"

"Shiro's dead," replies Makoto.

"I see," responds Wazashi mournfully.

He began coughing up blood.

"Wazashi-sensei!" exclaims Senko.

"It looks like I won't be your sensei for long," gasps Wazashi. "I used the forbidden technique Shiki Fujin in order to remove Kagerou's dark tora no youkai. But in exchange, I had to sacrifice my own life."

"No, you can't leave us!" yelled out Senko.

"Gomen-nasai, Senko, Makoto," apologizes Wazashi. "If only things had turned out better…"

The two chuunins watch as their superior takes his final breath and dies before their eyes.

"Wazashi-sensei," exclaims Makoto.

Suddenly, he too began coughing up blood.

"No! Not you too Makoto-kun!" cries out Senko.

"I'm so sorry, Senko-chan," apologizes Makoto. "I used my body as a shield to protect you from Kagerou's attack. I guess I wasn't strong enough."

"No, Makoto-kun," responds Senko, tears welling up in her eyes. "You're the strongest person I know. Even stronger than me. Please don't leave me!"

"Don't be sad, Senko-chan," said Makoto. "I'll always be with you, whether you see me or not."

-End of flashback-

Senko lands in a clearing and looks down at the ground as the sunlight beams down on her back. The grass at her feet were suddenly greeted by salty drops of water as tears rained down from the kunoichi's eyes.

"Makoto-kun!" she cries out. "I miss you so much!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Katon: Faiawooru no Jutsu (Fire Release: Firewall Technique) is a jutsu I made up. If it appears in Naruto later, it's strictly coincidental. All Naruto techniques referenced from Wikipedia search for Naruto jutsu.