Kitsune Legends
Okay I just realized that we have no homework during testing. -sweat drops- Oops. Well anyways I'm sorry for the delay. -looks at reviews- None? I could have sworn I'd get at least a small comment unless I blew you guys away with too much action...o.0. Oh well, ..
Key: "Regular Talking"
'Thinking'
'Demons thinking to their vessels'
EDITED!
Phase Two: Hidden Truths
"...Chisio Aiyoku..." A small female voice whispered.
Mikiko's eyes fluttered open to see a white ceiling. She sniffed the air and grimaced slightly. It smelled like medicine. She turned her head towards the direction of the voices to see a blue screen separating them.
"'Blood Lust'...hmm. What does it do?" Another familiar voice. 'Riku...?'
"It absorbs the blood of it's enemies and uses it against them."
Katsu snatched the screen and pulled it open, temporarily blinding his youngest student as the sunlight hit her. Mikiko tried to move her hand to block it but realized that she couldn't feel her arm.
"I...can't move..." Next to her bed, a certain sensei laughed as she pointed out the obvious.
"Well that's what happens when get distracted while fighting...don't let your opponent mess with your head, Miko-chan..." She gasped, suddenly remembering that tone of voice.
Flashback
"Y-You have the silver kunai?" she choked out. He laughed and took them out. Narrowing her purple eyes, she glared. "What do you want from me?" He stroked his chin with his free hand. "Hmm...well, you have a choice. You either get the silver kunai from me and I get to play around with your teammates some more...or you save your teammates and I get to keep this little knife...it's your choice...Miko-chan..."
End flashback
Miko sat up quickly, instantly regretting it. Pain shot through her upper body. She groaned and rested her head against the bed's headboard, closing her eyes. Across her on another bed, Riku snickered.
"So, the great Mikiko actually got distracted in battle? May I ask who I should worship for this amazing feat?"A very smug grin was plastered on his face.
Mikiko opened her deep purple eyes to glare daggers at her teammate, who just shrugged. Her gaze moved towards the jounin sensei next to her. "I don't know, you should ask Katsu-sensei whther or not he wants a stalker..." Riku blinked and stared at their sensei.
On the bed next to him, Tsuki began to wake up to listen to the conversation. With great effort, she turned her head towards her sensei, sleepy eyes barely focusing on his grinning face.
"Ha. So you were conscious to see my face huh?" She nodded. "Yes, it was me who attacked you all." Riku growled while Tsuki frowned slightly.
"You're lucky Katsu-sensei...if my body wasn't completely numb, I would slap you," muttered Tsuki. Riku nodded in agreement.
"Why did you attack us like that, sensei?" asked Riku.
Katsu's grin became wider. "To teach you all something. Now...what was the purpose of this test?"
"To survive a tornado from drilling through your stomach?" suggested Riku. Tsuki sweat dropped.
"No. Think harder to how you fought your different opponents." All three of his students stayed silent. Tsuki spoke up first, not liking the silence.
"Well...I had to dodge a lot of fireballs and use some jutsus..." Katsu nodded for her to go on. "So I guess you were testing me on evasion and ninjutsu use?"
He smiled. "Bingo!" Riku began to catch onto his methods.
"So...my test was on chakra control and tactics, right?"
"Correct. You had to be able to successfully evade attacks in middair and control your chakra enough to cling to walls." He turned towards Mikiko, who had kept her silence. "Mikiko-chan...your test was the most important. There was a reason I made you take that particular tunnel towards me. Please tell your teammates what you did." She sighed.
"My tunnel led to a maze, but it was really just a genjutsu. That tested my understanding of genjutsu. When I shattered it, I was at a dead end and had to investigate and found a kanji. That tested my ability to 'See through deception'. I used my blood to open it's seal and found Katsu-sensei," she nodded her head in his direction, "He was controlling the monsters attacking you using shadow clones through some sort of mirror...and he and his clones were wearing masks, so I didn't know it was him until the very last moment."
Tsuki's eye twitched as he remembered the snake's taunts. She had one thought in her head now: Revenge. Mikiko continued, not noticing the small amount of killer intent aimed towards their sensei.
"I saw the clones attacking you two and tried to destroy them, but the real Katsu-sensei stopped me and we fought. In the middle of the fight, he showed me that he had the 2 silver kunai that we were supposed to retrieve. He gave me a choice between saving you two or passing the test." Riku rolled his eyes. 'She probably chose the kunai over us, seeing as how she wants to get "revenge" on people and get more power...'
"I chose to save you two." He gaped.
"R-Really?" Raising a brow, Miko nodded. His eyes started to water as he sniffled. "You do care!" Mikiko started to laugh nervously as Riku's eyes began to sparkle.
"Ahhm...of course, you're my teammate." At this, Riku dropped his head in shame. 'She only likes me as a teammate...'
Katsu cut through the uncomfortable silence. "So, what do you think was the purpose of your test, Mikiko?"
She held her head up confidently.
"Self-sacrifice. You wanted me to be able to give up what I have or what I can get for the sake of my teammates."
Katsu grinned. 'Smart group of kids I have...I gotta rub it in Reiko's face later...' "But why did I make you take that particular tunnel to fight me?" She stayed silent, frowning. The others stayed quiet as well. Katsu explained it to them.
"You said when we first met that your dream was to kill some people. That means that you don't have enough power to kill them now, and you want to become stronger." Miko glared, urging him to get to the point. "You can't get stronger if you can't even become a Genin. Which means that with that hard decision I gave you, I wanted to see if you were willing to give up your dream to save lives. To save the lives of your teammates; your friends; your family." He paused for a dramatic effect.
"If you are willing to give up your loved ones for power, then you don't deserve it."
Riku and Tsuki's eyes widened as they gained a new respect for their sensei. Mikiko sighed and looked down at her sheets. 'But I was close to choosing the kunai over them...' Katsu seemed to know what she was thinking, for he said, "And because you chose your teammates, you pass this part of the test; all of you."
Immediately, Tsuki jumped right out of her hospital bed and hopped around shouting "YES YES YES!" Riku laughed at her antics and out of happiness. Mikiko let out a breath of relief, then realized a few things. She stared at Tsuki, raising a brow.
"Hey...Tsuki."
"YES YES YES!"
"TSUKI!"
"YES YES YES! We passed!"
"TSU KI -NEE -SA MA!" Miko yelled, punctuating each syllable.
Tsuki stopped hopping around to stare at her sister. "What?"
"You're not supposed to be able to move like that yet you know...you should rest your body, nee-sama." Tsuki laughed nervously before sitting back down on her bed.
Riku however had stopped laughing after Miko mentioned her sudden energy. 'How can she do that? She was suffering from chakra exhaustion. It's only been one damn day and I can't even lift a finger yet!' He cursed inwardly. 'Something isn't right...' Mikiko noticed his suspicious looks and frowned.
"Katsu-sensei. You said that we only passed a part of the test. That means that we have more to do." He nodded, then looked at Riku. "This is a test of trust and bravery. It will require all of you to be open-minded and think for yourself." All of them became quiet and attentive, hanging on his every word. The black spiky haired Jounin turned towards his only male student.
"Riku, what do you know of the tailed demons and of Konoha's Kyuubi?" Mikiko and Tsuki shared a knowing look.
'Is it time yet?' A voice echoed through Mikiko's head. A growling animal-like voice in her mind. 'Yes.'Riku thought back for a little before answering in an unsure voice.
"Well...the Kyuubi was one of the tailed demons. There were nine of them, I think. Each of them with a different number of tails out of nine. Kyuubi was the nine-tailed fox, and was rumored to be the strongest." Inside Mikiko's mind, the voice growled at this so-called rumor.
"One day around 30 years ago, the Kyuubi attacked the village of Konoha, killing many. Their fourth Hokage, Kazama Arashi I think, managed to kill it by sacrificing his life." Tsuki scoffed and was about to say something, but was silenced by a look from her sister.
"Right," said Katsu casually, "Riku, did you know that tailed demons, or bijuu, can also be sealed into people?" He shook his head, eyes wide.
"These 'demon vessels' are called jinchuuriki. And...currently, there are two of them residing in this town. Would you care to guess who?" Riku gasped, but otherwise didn't even try to guess.
"Us." He flicked his gaze over to Tsuki, mouth hanging open.
"Err...can you repeat that?" She frowned.
"The jinchuuriki. They're me and Mikiko."
Riku's head began to spin as he thought about the rumors of the demons and his teammates. He clutched his head in his hands in frustration. 'But...the tailed demons are said to be evil. So does that mean Tsuki-chan and Mikiko-chan are evil? No. They don't act like that, unless they were faking it. Kaa-san always thought that the demons and everything that had to do with them were evil. She's a good person, but should I listen to her?'
"Riku, think for yourself and don't listen to those rumors and what other people tell you." sighed out Miko, who had until then kept her silence and stared out the window. Now, she was looking at him with those sad amethyst eyes. Her gaze sent apang of guilt through heart.
'She's...she's right. I have to break free from the control others have from me...' Finally, he tore his gaze away from hers as he stared at his bed sheets. Tsuki spoke in a sad voice as she saw that Miko had nothing else to say to him.
"Now that you know this...what do you think of us?"
Riku bit his lip, thinking over this new information in his head, which was furiously working overtime to figure out an answer to that question. "I..." he began. All eyes were on him as he continued.
"I think that it doesn't matter that you are both jinchuu-whatever. You are still Tsuki-chan, and you are still Mikiko-chan," he looked at each girl as he said their names. Both started smiling. "You are still my teammates."
Katsu grinned proudly at Riku. "Good job Riku. And with that, you have all passed my test and are now officially Genin. I'm proud of you all," he said finally. Tsuki's smile became bigger, and Riku let out his breathe as the tension in the room lifted. Then, something tugged at him in the back of his mind.
"Say...which demons are inside of you both anyways?" Mikiko smirked.
"Classified information Riku-kun, sorry. You'll find out later anyways."
Disgruntled, he sunk back into his bed as the twins got up, stretching. They seemed to be healthy enough to walk again, despite their injuries. Katsu got up as well, saying something about getting well soon and then left. The twins began to do the same.
"See ya later Riku-kun," said Tsuki, all her energy seemed to come back to her. Miko just nodded a good-bye before leading them both out of the room. After the door closed, Riku buried his head into his pillow. A thought struck him.
"Wait...Mikiko called me Riku-kun..."
End chapter
Ahh...it feels nice to type fanfictions again. Anyways, I'm really sorry if this came out later than expected, but I...just...couldn't really think of a way to begin the chapter. After that, my fingers just flew across the keyboard, xD. If anybody has any questions, comments, or whatever, please review! Even if you don't...review review review! Lol.