What happens when you mix a term paper rough draft (on opera), Naruto episode 101, the rest of the Halloween candy, a fireplace, and a game of Go?
JaDErUst doesn't get anything done!
Let the ignore my homework 'cause it's only college party continue!!! (To be followed by the 'panic! I ignored my homework and it's college' party in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...)
Chapter 5: Oni Attack
The sun had just set when Gai said his goodbyes. Finally, Kakashi thought to himself, turning the page of his book. It was one thing for Gai to follow him around, challenging him to stupid contests, it was another for him to be hanging around his house all day babbling endlessly. Thank kami the man had remembered he was late for his team meeting. Although only Gai would think that his team would still be there after six hours... (Actually, Gai was right. Rock Lee was still waiting for him, although Ten-Ten and Neji had left five hours ago.)
Mitsuki made herself useful by cleaning the dinner dishes and the tea mugs before tidying the living room. Kakashi watched her out of the corner of his eye, silently amazed by the progress she was making. The apartment hadn't looked this clean since he'd first moved in. Satisfied with the progress she had made, Mitsuki sat down in a chair a puzzled look on her face. She was supposed to have done something today, but what? Grocery shopping could wait a day or two longer, the bathroom was on her 'things to do in the morning' list, they had already eaten dinner...
Gasping, she jumped to her feet feeling horrified that she had forgotten to meet up with Obito today. Running to the main hall she quickly put on her sandals, shouted 'I'm going!' to Kakashi, opened the door, and shrieked.
Standing on the other said was Kakashi, his arms crossed over his chest. He reached out and grabbed Mitsuki's shoulder, stopping her from falling on her rear. "Where are you going so late?" he asked, smiling disarmingly.
Mitsuki gaped at him, a hand over her heart. "H-How did you do that?" she asked looking from the living room entrance to Kakashi and back.
"Ninja," Kakashi said simply. "Now answer my question."
Mitsuki blinked up at him. "Really? I mean... I was going to go visit Nii-chan. I forgot I had promised to meet him today..."
Nii-chan? Kakashi thought to himself. Oh yeah, the man that Mitsuki-chan met... Wait a second... "You're supposed to meet him this late at night?" he asked dubiously, looking at his watch.
"Ano... I was supposed to come by three," Mitsuki admitted, flushing. "But I'm sure he's still there!"
"Where are you supposed to meet him?"
"The giant stone thing," Mitsuki replied. "The one where the top secret gennin bell trial takes place."
Bell trial? The only one who does the bell trial these days is me, Kakashi thought to himself. How does she know about it then? He glanced at his watch again. "The monument?"
Mitsuki nodded happily. "Hai."
"I doubt he's there," Kakashi said re-entering the apartment and shutting the door behind him. "The sun's already set and there's no lights at the monument at night. He probably went home."
Mitsuki frowned. "Honto ni?"1
Kakashi nodded. "Gomen, Mitsuki-chan. I'll bring you to the monument tomorrow though." He smiled at her brightly. "I'll bet he'll be there then."
Mitsuki sighed and nodded. "Hai, hai." Silently, she took off her sandals and returned to the living room. For some reason she thought Kakashi was wrong. She was sure that Obito-kun was still there... She sighed. Well, if he was there she hoped he wasn't too mad at her...
-
-
"'Nother?"
"Whys the hell snot?" Obito asked taking the offered bottle and taking a sip. Smiling he leaned back on the memorial and sighed happily. "Yo-You know, you're not halv bad, Mori."
The shinigami grinned, his face red. "Tanks man. You don't know how much dat means ta me."
Giggling, Obito drank some more of the sake, his head clouding more and more with every sip. Well, this really was a good end to the day, he realized. Mitsuki had never shown up, annoying and worrying him. So he'd been in a bad mood when Mori had shown up, the man's oath that he would send Obito to heaven infuriating him like nothing before. Yet, this time things had changed. Instead of going back to the netherworld as usual, Mori had stuck around, offering Obito sake. Thinking it was a trap, Obito had kicked the stuffing out of the shinigami twice more before settling down for a friendly drink.
"Waz so funny?" Fukai asked as Obito's giggles became hiccups of joy.
"Stuffing."
Laughing loudly the two spirits embraced each other before falling into a drunken silence. Mori Fukai took the bottle of sake from Obito and swallowed the rest of the clear liquid. Tossing the bottle aside he pulled another from his bag. "Mor?" he offered.
Obito grinned stupidly. "How man bottles do ya have in dat bag, Mori?"
Fukai grinned sheepishly. "Gotta have ten er twenty of 'em..."
Obito laughed. This was the most hilarious thing he'd ever heard. "Mori, yer betta not be gettin meh drunk ta come with ya," he slurred taking the bottle. "I'll kick yer ass if dat's it."
"Nah," Fukai said grabbing a bottle of his own. "Aye can't defate ya 'Bito. Yer a hard ass."
They both laughed hysterically at the word ass.
"'sides," Fukai added, wiping tears of mirth from his face and spilling sake all over his black ukata and hakama. "I'm sho drunk aye cann't evan figur where mah... mah..."
"Sword?"
Both laughed at the word sword.
"Yah!" Fukai said excitedly. He looked around puzzled. "Were'd mah sword go man?"
Obito shrugged. "Dunno. Da woods? I tink I kicked it dare when ya 'ttacked meh."
"Bastard!" Fukai shouted, punching Obito in the shoulder. Then he laughed hysterically. "Aye'm in such deep she-ate...."
Obito laughed with him, clutching his sides. "Yah man! Deep shit!" he agreed.
"Yes, yes," a deep and amused voice said from behind them. They turned to see a large creature hovering over them, it's claws bared and grinning toothily at them. "Deep shit."
Uchiha Obito and Mori Fukai stared up at the creature for a long moment, instantly sober. "Shit..."
-
-
Mother was cooking breakfast, Kakashi thought to himself, slowly awakening. He should get up and help her...
Mother's been dead for twenty years, a small voice whispered in the back of his mind.
Sitting up Kakashi realized that this was true. So who was cooking? He'd better get dressed and find out. Glancing down at himself the sleepy jounin realized that he was already in his usual outfit minus the vest.
...That was fast, he thought to himself, getting to his feet. Now to see who's in my apartment. I swear, if it's Gai again I'm just going to kill him... Can Gai even cook?
"Morning!" Mitsuki said happily as Kakashi entered the room. "I made breakfast Kakashi-san!"
Kakashi gazed at the grey eyed woman for a moment. Who was she again? Oh yeah, his A-rank mission. "Morning," he said sitting down. He blinked in surprise. The table was cleared and had a newspaper on it. Today's newspaper no less. That was different... "You got the paper."
Mitsuki glanced over her shoulder, a puzzled look on her face. "It was on the landing."
"Honto?"
"Yes!" she said cheerfully.
Kakashi pondered over this mystery for a moment (there had never been papers on the landing before...) before smelling the breakfast cooking again. "Ah, Mitsuki-chan, let me help you with that," he said rising.
"Oh no!" she protested. "I've got it! Besides, I have to do something to repay you for taking me in and fixing the wall for me..." She flushed slightly and turned back to her cooking. "Breakfast will be done in just a moment."
Nodding absently, Kakashi sat and unfolded the paper, beginning to read. According to this, Jiraiya had just been found non-guilty of the offense of 'peeking for the intent of perverted fantasies' in the Hidden Village of Lightning. (So that's why I haven't seen him for three months...) According to the article Jiraiya has insisted that his peeking had been 'for research purposes only' and had convinced the all male jury by giving them each their own copy of Makeout Violence volume 7.
That really was one of the best, Kakashi thought to himself setting the paper aside. Maybe he should read that one today at training?
"All done!" Mitsuki said brightly setting a steaming bowl of rice down before Kakashi. Next to that she placed a bowl containing a raw egg yolk, some tea, and the last of the smoked salmon that Kakashi had bought last week.
He stared at the meal before him for a long moment. "I have a rice cooker?"
Mitsuki blinked then smiled. "Yes. I found it under a pile of old newspapers and instant ramen wrappers," she said turning to clean the breakfast dishes.
"Oh." Kakashi poured the yolk over the rice, the heat quickly cooking the egg. "Itadakimasu."
Mitsuki glanced over her shoulder to see if Kakashi seemed to be liking his meal only to see the man re-covering his face, the food gone. "Goshisosamadeshita."
Mitsuki blinked, staring hard. Had he eaten the food or just inhaled it? Really she had thought that lunch and dinner yesterday had been flukes... Maybe not? "Ano... Kakashi-san, would you like some more to eat?"
Kakashi shook his head, patting his stomach. "No thanks. That was good by the way." He stood, stretching. "Would you like to go to the memorial now?"
Mitsuki nodded happily. "Hai! Just let me finish cleaning these."
Kakashi opened his mouth to tell her that leaving them was fine when there was a knock on the door. "Hmm, who could that be?" he muttered, heading towards the front door. He opened the door. "Ah, hello Anko. Wha-"
"Get a move on Hatake!" Anko shouted, smacking Kakashi on the back of the head. "Dammit, do you always have to be late?"
"Late?" Kakashi asked, rubbing the back of his head. He knew he was usually late to meet his team, but why would Anko be upset about that? "What are you talking about?"
"You didn't get the message?" At Kakashi's shake of the head Anko began swearing vehemently. "Someone was fighting last night by the memorial," she explained. "Tsunade called a meeting of the jounins to inspect the battle field."
Kakashi nodded, still confused to why that was needed. However, an order was an order...
"Kakashi-san, what's going on?" Mitsuki asked appearing in the entry way to the kitchen.
Kakashi thought for an instant. "Stay here," he ordered, sliding on his own sandals. "I'll be back soon."
"But Kakashi-san-"
"Stay," he ordered and shut the door firmly.
-
-
Mitsuki stared at the shut door feeling blank. Kakashi had ordered her to stay behind. He had ordered her to stay behind. He had ordered her....
He had no right to order anything!
She glared at the door, a deep anger bubbling up inside of her. How dare he? He was only a human, how dare he order her to do anything!
A small part of her screamed a protest as she put on her sandals. What are you doing? the voice demanded, sounding almost frantic. He's your host, you owe him so much!
Mitsuki slammed the apartment door shut behind her and locked it. She was going to visit Obito now come hell or high water. Ignoring the protesting, screaming voice inside of her she left the building and headed toward the gate of Konoha.
-
-
Kakashi stared what had been the memorial and training field in a sort of shock. How had this happened? Where the memorial had been there was instead a deep crater with scorched edges, water slowing filling up the inside. Fragments with carved names on them littered the area along with the sharp jagged spikes of broken trees. A somber looking Gai was holding the hilt of a broken sword that had been nearby. The blade had been covered in a deep red-black blood with thick white fur or hair tangled about the hilt. The blade had been cleanly broken about six inches from the hilt, leaving no hints to what had broken it. However, despite the blood that covered the sword, there was not a drop of blood to be found in the entire area.
"Thoughts anyone?" Tsunade asked, grimly looking about the assembled jounins.
"Nobody noticed anything?" Asuma asked, looking surprised. "There was this much destruction and nobody noticed it occuring?"
Tsunade nodded. "The guards didn't hear a peep. Whoever did this managed to do it completely silently."
"Whoever did this had malicious intent against Konoha," one man said, his face unknown to Kakashi. "Tentatively I would suggest the Nine-Tails as the culprit."
Kakashi fixed the man with a glare. "Naruto would never do this. He knows what the memorial is, he respects it."
"I did not suggest the boy," the man snapped. "I simply believe that the Nine-Tails may be breaking the seal. Perhaps this is a warning."
"The Fourth's seal will not break."
"Not unless someone purposely tries to break it..."
Tsunade held up her hand, stopping Kakashi voicing from his retort. "I don't believe that Naruto or the Nine-Tails is responsible for this," she stated clearly. "Besides, to talk of these things is forbidden."
The jounin were silent for a moment. "What of the sword?" Anko asked, eyeing the thing in Gai's hand. "Where was that found?"
"A meter beyond the tree line," Gai replied, holding the sword out for all to see.
"I've examined it briefly, it seems to be covered in blood of an unknown origin," Tsunade said.
"Meaning?"
"It's not human. The remaining chakra in it is too strange."
The man who had suggested that Naruto was the culprit opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. He had noticed the angry look both Tsunade and Kakashi had given him. "How is it strange?" he asked instead.
Tsunade sighed. She had been dreading this question. "There is no easy explanation," she finally said. "Simply, in most cases blood loses it's chakra once removed from the body in a matter of minutes. This blood on the other hand is full of chakra although it's been on the sword for hours."
Kakashi stood there for a long moment thinking carefully. "Could it be the kappa?" he asked quietly.
Tsunade nodded while the rest of the jounin looked puzzled. Kappa? What was Kakashi talking about? "It is possible," she said. "Someone could have stabbed the creature and it responded to the attack with one of it's own. However, that does not explain the hair around the hilt."
Kurenai opened her mouth to ask a question when a loud shriek interrupted her.
"What the..?" Tsunade muttered. As if responding to a silent command she and all the jounin vanished, heading in the direction that the scream had originated from.
-
-
"Stop it!" Mitsuki shouted, ducking behind a tree to avoid the giant club that raced towards her. She ducked as the club struck the tree, shattering the wood, an involuntary scream coming from her. Once bits of wood had stopped flying everywhere, she was back on her feet running from her horned pursuer.
"Stop?" a deep voice asked from her left. She screamed again as the creature attempted to grab her, his claws barely missing her arm.
A second oni carrying a thick rope attempted to trip her as she ran past him. "But we having so much fun!"
The club welding oni from before suddenly appeared before her. Mitsuki fell to the ground, the club passing over her and destroying three more trees in the process. "You screams sound nice," it sighed watching her get up and run again.
"Leave me alone!" Mitsuki shouted, heading towards the thickest part of the forest she could see. Soon she couldn't see the oni anymore nor hear them pursuing her so she ducked behind a thick tree and climbed up, finding a spot in the crook of two branches were she could sit and be concealed. Trying to calm herself down she brought her knees to her chin, burying her face into the soft fabric of her tunic. This never would have happened if she had listened to Kakashi, she realized trembling. Why hadn't she listened to him? She didn't really remember, she had just been so angry. He had treated her like a child by not telling her what was going on and... and... There was something else, although she couldn't put her finger on what it was. There was another reason why she had been so angry... But what?
Her breathing was too harsh, she realized taking a deep breath and holding it. However the sound continued. Oh no... Slowly she opened her eyes and lifted her face from her knees.
The rope oni grinned at her all his black teeth revealed. The wind slowly blew across his face blowing his jet black hair across his blue skin. It really was quite surreal... The oni smiling at the girl in the tree... The wind blowing in the background...
"Boo," the oni said shattering the moment.
Mitsuki shrieked and tried to get away from the large blue hand that was reaching towards her. In her panic she forgot where exactly she was and fell out of the tree, landing with a painful crunch at the base of the tree. Groaning, she slowly sat up, clutching her arm.
"Aww... You broke it Reakk." a deep voice said above her.
She looked up, horrified to see the remaining two oni there. The club one directly in front of her and the one with claws on her left. Forgeting her pain she tried to scramble away, stopping when the rope oni jumped from the tree, laughing.
"Scared you!" Reakk crowed jumping up and down, clutching his rope. He smiled at the fearful look in Mitsuki's eyes as she backed away from him. "Aww... You right Wrokk. Little birdie broke her wing."
The club welding oni set down his club, letting it lean against his side as he studied Mitsuki closely. "She it Mekk?" he asked, scratching his bright red hair. Lice and other bugs leapt from between his black fingers and he grinned showing his ivory teeth. "If not I get to eat. Right? Right?"
"Can't eat 'er," Mekk said studying her carefully. Nodding, his thick white hair fluttering in the breeze, his red lips pulled back in what had to be a smile. "That's her. That's her. Tie her up Reakk."
Reakk hooted in joy grabbing a shrieking Mitsuki and wrapping his thick rope around her. "Lots of souls! Lots of souls!" he cheered, stuffing a dirty rag in Mitsuki's mouth. "We'll get lots of souls for this one, right Mekk?"
Mekk nodded, sharpening his claws on a nearby rock. "Yup. Big reward. Lots of souls."
Wrokk frowned, lifting his club. "No fair, no fair. You said I could eat first person we saw's soul. She first person."
"She not reward," Mekk said, studying his nails carefully. "Now shut up. Your fault too slow to catch souls."
"They shinigami and dead ninja spirit!"
"Shinigami taste good," Mekk sighed happily. "Shut up Wrokk."
"Ninja good too!" Reakk said happy to be able to annoy a team mate. "Feel real good in belly! Wrokk stupid 'cause he so slow! Only wreak place! No get ninja or shinigami!"
"Ssssssshh!" Mekk hissed, cutting off Wrokk's complaint. "You hear?"
The three oni froze looking about. Wrokk grinned widely. "You smell?"
Reakk grinned at the both of them, his attention on a nearby tree. "You see?"
Nodding, the three oni's grins widened. "Food!" they shouted each running towards their own target. Startled voices shouted as Mekk and Reakk dove for their intended targets, one voice soon becoming screams as one of Mekk's claws glanced the target's side. Reakk cursed as his target vanished out from under his fingertips. Wrokk grinned, destroying half a dozen trees with a swing of his club. Searching through the wreckage eagerly, he frowned when he found nothing. Where food?
"HAH!" Gai shouted, landing on Wrokk's neck, knocking the oni to the ground. Quickly he leaped away, ready for the beast's counterattack.
Wrokk growled as he got back to his feet, glaring at the funny looking man. "Food! That hurt, Food!" he growled, hoisting his club to his shoulder.
"Food?" Gai scoffed, glaring at the creature. "I, Maito Gai the green beast of Konoha, is not food!"
Wrokk looked puzzled. "Not food?" he asked scratching his head. Turning he bounded off in search of a new target that would be turn out to be food.
Gai blinked. His enemy had retreated? Well good! He was escaping a world of pain this way! Turning he raced towards Anko and Asuma who where battling a great red beast with sharp claws.
A few meters away Tsunade punched the blue demon away from her, sending him flying headfirst through four trees. So what if he was three times her size? She would still beat him into a pulp!
Shaking off the damage like it was nothing, Reakk stood, baring his teeth at the cruel woman who had hurt him. "Pretty lady should not hurt Reakk," he growled. "Pretty lady making Reakk mad. Be good food and make Reakk belly feel good."
Tsunade glared at him, Kurenai and Shikamaru's father appearing at her side. "Think not," she said smiling and raced towards the oni fist extended.
Mitsuki screamed through her gag, panicked. They were never going to defeat the oni that way, she thought, trying to break out of her bonds. They were just annoying them! As she struggled a ninja was cut down by Mekk's claws and another was crushed by Wrokk's giant club. Everyone froze as the two oni stopped fighting and grabbed the bodies of their defeated foe, pulling something blue out of them and devouring it hungerly. Using this distraction, Reakk managed to grab Tsunade, pulling the woman towards him and opening his mouth. Tsunade yelled something vulgar and kicked the oni in the crotch causing him to yelp and release her, only to attack her with more ferocity a moment later.
Mitsuki stopped struggling a moment and tried to catch her breath. The gag Reakk had tied around her head was suffocating her. She would give anything to taste fresh air again...
"Don't scream," a familiar voice said from behind her. "It's only me."
Mitsuki turned a bit to see Kakashi kneeling by her, both eyes visible, trying to cut through the thick rope with a kunai. Thank kami, she thought to herself as he fought with the rope. She would be able to tell him how to defeat the oni and...
"The bird!" Mekk shouted. Ignoring the four ninja attacking him and pointing to Mitsuki and Kakashi. "He's freeing the bird!"
Growling the three oni ignored the ninja surrounding and charged Kakashi, murderous intent obvious in their eyes. Kakashi cursed and finished cutting through the rope, ripping it off Mitsuki and shoving her away. "Run!" he shouted, gather chakra in his hands for an attack.
Mitsuki ripped the gag from her mouth. "Kakashi-san!" she shouted, trying to tell him what to do.
"Run!" Kakashi shouted again, the chakra in his hand making a strange chirping noise. "You're in the way!"
"But Kakashi-san you have to..." she shrieked as arms grabbed her up, forcefully pulling her away from Kakashi and the oni's attack. Roaring in anger Mekk turned from his path and headed towards Mitsuki as Reakk and Wrokk continued towards Kakashi. Mitsuki looked up into her saviors face then punched his chin, forcing Gai to drop her. "Kakashi-san!" she screamed, trying to get away from Gai as he grabbed her again.
"He's fine Mitsuki!" Gai shouted, trying to get ahold of the fighting, biting girl. "He's got them. Now let's go!"
"He's not aiming right!" Mitsuki shouted, kicking Gai in the face. She screamed as Mekk reached them, Gai pulling her away from being captured again at the last moment and replacing her with a log.
Tsunade appeared and round house kicked the oni into the air before she grabbed Mitsuki by the front of the tunic. "What do you mean 'not aiming right!?'" she bellowed.
Kakashi's hand shot forward, aiming true at the Wrokk's heart. He would only be able to get the one creature, but maybe if he took that one down then... His hand seemed to hit hard steel and Kakashi's hand stopped moving. Eyes wide, Kakashi stared. His attack had barely broken skin, only a thin trickle of blood where there should have been a gaping wound. Everything stopped for a moment and Wrokk growled, raising his club. "Stupid bug!" he growled, bringing his club up and around. It struck Kakashi on the side and the silver haired jounin flew into the air, hitting a tree and laying still.
From beside him, Reakk giggled. "Stupid bug," he agreed eyeing the remaining shocked jounin. "Eat him later," he said as some of the jounin began to retreat and regroup. "Gotta catch rest of food."
-
-
Tsunade dragged the girl an appropriate distance away and threw her up against a tree, ignoring her shuddering sobs. "What the hell are those things!?" she bellowed, her face inches away from Mitsuki's.
"Th-They're o-oni," Mitsuki said between sobs. "E-evil, b-bad oni..."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "That's nice. Now how are we supposed to defeat them!? None of my attacks have gotten them for longer then a moment, and Kakashi's chidori barely scratched them!"
At Kakashi's name Mitsuki's began sobbing harder, ignoring the tightening of Tsunade's hand around her clothes. "Y-you h-have to a-aim," she sobbed, tears freely running down her cheeks, "f-for their e-eyes. A-and the b-back of t-their head."
Tsunade nodded, releasing the girl and letting her fall to her knees. Turning to the small group of ninja surrounding her she smiled warily. "Hear that? Pass it on to the others. Aim for the back of the head and the eyes!" she ordered. "Now go get those things and drive them from Konoha forever!"
"NO!" Mitsuki shouted, grabbing onto Tsunade's jacket. "You have to kill them!" she said, a strange sort of fear in her eyes. "They eat souls! If you don't kill them the souls of all the people who they've eaten will never be free!"
Tsunade stood there for a second before nodding. "Spread the news! Make sure everyone know where the vital areas are and that they're not allowed to escape alive!" Nodding the jounin vanished to tell their hidden comrades the news. Taking a moment, Tsunade gently pried Mitsuki's fingers from her jacket before patting the girl on the head. "Get her out of here Gai," she ordered, vanishing.
Gai nodded, reaching down to grab Mitsuki's arm. "Come on."
Mitsuki shook her head, no longer crying. "This is all my fault," she said quietly, staring into space. "I should have listened to Kakashi-san and stayed in the apartment." Eyes silently leaking tears she looked up at Gai. "Kakashi-san is dead because of me isn't he?"
Gai frowned listening carefully as the sound of battles resumed. "Kakashi is a ninja. He doesn't fear death."
Mitsuki shook her head softly. "It doesn't matter if he feared death," she muttered softly. "He's dead..."
Reaching down, Gai scooped the girl up in his arms. "I'll bring you to the hospital," he said turning to go.
"No," Mitsuki whispered, leaning her head against Gai's chest. "I need to see Kakashi..."
-
-
Tsunade kicked Mekk in the back of the head causing the oni to shout out in pain and collapse. Instantly, three ninjas were over him working together to severe his head from his body. Tsunade looked away from the grisly work and ran towards the next oni, the blinded Wrokk who (in his pain) was destroying anything and everything his club could reach. Timing the gap between swings carefully Asuma raced forward plunging a kunai in the back of the oni's head felling him instantly.
A small distance away Reakk was looking at the ninja surrounding him, clearly worried. Both of his comrades were dead, and while Reakk wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed he knew that wasn't good. So far he'd been able to avoid the ninja's attacks and protect his eyes, but with so many aiming for his vital areas one of them would hit him eventually. His only hope was escape, he realized finally.
Leaping into the air, Reakk managed to clear three rows of ninja before hearing a shout directly behind him. There was only a moment of pain for the oni before his spine was severed, the weapon driving straight into his brain. He stood only a moment longer before collapsing, a light blue mist rising from his body.
Hatake Kakashi slowly pulled his arm from the confines of the oni's body feeling only pain as he did so. Damn it. That had hurt. However, as the oni had raced away he had been closest to the creature and his chidori had been perfect for the job when it was aimed for the right spot. His body wracked with pain he collapsed a step away from the oni. Maybe he should have just stayed where he was... Breathing heavily, the pained jounin inspected the blue mist rising from the oni's corpse. What was that?
Kitaro (a jounin that Kakashi had seen eaten by the oni earlier in the battle) smiled at Kakashi for a moment before fading away, quickly followed by a swarm of people who he didn't recognize. All of them smiled or waved at him, silently thanking him for releasing them. A teenage boy gave him the thumbs up while two little girls gently peeked him on the cheek. An old grandmother embraced him, tears streaming down her cheeks and a man took his hand shaking it firmly. This can't be happening, Kakashi thought to himself, amazed. However, he could guess from the sound of awe the other jounin were making that the same thing was happening at each of the oni's corpses.
Finally the soul of a toddler came out and grinned shyly at him before vanishing away. Still puzzled over what had occurred, Kakashi struggled to rise before noticing one last soul emerging from the oni's body. A familiar face grinned at Kakashi, idiotic goggles still on his forehead as he waved. Kakashi stared and almost stopped breathing as his best friend emerged from the oni, shaking himself off and smiling.
"Obito..."
Obito looked down at him, smiling widely. "Kakashi... It's been a while hasn't it?"
"Un," Kakashi said swallowing heavily. "Obito, I-"
"You're sorry," Obito sighed rolling his eyes. "I know, I know. You've only been saying it every day since I died." He grinned again at his friend. "I know you feel guilty, but it's not your fault. I don't blame you, Kashi."
"Then why haven't you moved on?"
Obito grinned leaning over so his face was inches from Kakashi's. "'Cause you never moved on, baka na Kashi. I couldn't just leave you when you were all angst after all." He poked Kakashi on the nose, grinning. "So get over it."
Kakashi blinked. "You didn't go into the next world just because you had to tell me that?"
"Yup."
Kakshi smiled and sighed. Same old stupid Obito...
"Kakashi-san! Nii-chan!" a female voice shouted. They both turned to see Mitsuki racing towards them, a sheepish looking Gai apologizing to Tsunade.
"So that's where she is," Obito mused out loud. "I was beginning to think she was dead."
"She's staying with me," Kakashi said, turning back to his friend. "So you're Nii-chan, huh?"
Obito grinned at him. "That I am, you old dog. No wonder she never showed up, she picked up her punctuality from you!"
"I suppose..." Kakashi said smiling weakly.
Obito laughed then stopped, a thoughtful look on his face. "You know, I've never seen you without your mask..."
"Would... you like to?" Kakashi offered slowly. He never liked showing his face to anyone, but if Obito wanted it...
"Nah," Obito scoffed, smirking. "I'll go to heaven and tell Rin that it's true that you have fish lips," he said smiling. "She always thought you might..."
Kakashi smiled softly.
Obito sighed, starting to appear a bit more faint. "Kakashi..." he said softly, looking at his friend with pleading eyes.
Kakashi nodded, watching his friend slowly fade away. "Hai, Bito-kun."
Obito smiled widely. "Until later, Kashi-kun," he said slowly fading out of the world and passing into the next.
Kakashi smiled sadly. His friend really was gone again, he realized slowly. Strange, somehow Obito's second death hurt more then the first had...
"Kakashi-san!" Mitsuki cried, now close enough to touch the man. "You're okay!" she cried grabbing onto his arm and holding it tight. "De-demo... Obito-kun..."
Kakashi smiled at her, both of his eyes curving. "It's alright, Mitsuki-chan," he said feeling his heart slowly break apart. "He's gone to heaven."
Mitsuki nodded, the concern not leaving her eyes. "Hai," she said looking away. Suddenly smiling, she looked back at Kakashi pure joy filling her eyes. "Don't worry, he'll wait for you there."
Kakashi simply nodded. Mitsuki reached out for him and helped him lay down, his head on her lap. Closing his eyes, Kakashi sighed once before drifting off to sleep.
"See what did I tell you, Mitsuki-chan," Gai said, appearing behind them. "He's alive isn't he?"
"Depends on what you call alive," Mitsuki said frowning and stoking his hair. "He's all broken up inside..."
-
-
-
-
-
Alright... I'm tired so I'll make it quick The Shinigami was mostly based off of Bleach, a really good manga. The oni were edited in a way that suited my purpose. (Hey, oni are the most well known monster in Japanese folklore. Everyone changes them to meet their needs so why can't I?)
Yes, the shinigami's name ended up being Fukai Mori. I was bored and decided it might be funny to name him after my favorite anime song. Yes, the dead ninja that Kakashi saw the soul of was Kitaro. I got tired when I was writing this and the first thing that popped into my head was the Japanese new age singer. Buy a cd or two if you ever get the change. It's really good. One of his albums (I can't remember which... my favorite song on it is called Matsuri though) is the creation myth set to music. Good stuff Kitaro is...
If anyone has any other questions or concerns please review or e-mail me. I never check my e-mail, but you can rest assured that your e-mail will be deleted with the rest of my important mail when I actually do check it. And now since I have nothing better to add: Reviews!
Inuyasha-gal-97: It's not really tight so much as on guard, retreat, parry four, repost, miss, crossover retreat, beat attack lunge, miss, disengage, fail, parry one (Instructor: "I thought I told you not to use parry one, Jade." Me: "But it looks cooler."), lunge, and hit (Partner: "That's not on target." Me: "Depends on what you think of as target." Instructor: "Okay, you're only allowed to fence girls now.") Also, you know what I just realized? You've already reviewed four times. Domo arigato gozaimashita.
Dragon Man 180: Yup, I love folklore and mythology. If it paid, I would be majoring in it. I don't really think that Mitsuki's going to react much at all to Naruto, she'll probably think it's perfectly normal... Then again my characters do have a way of running away from me, so she may react differently then expected.
Kodomo: I don't mind random babbles. The only thing that really annoys me are pop-ups and why all my stupid programs designed to block them don't. I'd give you a cookie, but my friends just ate them all and the dorm ones really suck. Here's an idea though, if you ever have a couple hours free, a Go board, and M&Ms (or Reese's Pieces) play a game of Go with them, then eat all the candy after.
MoonSeaEarth: I really like your name. It reminds me of full moons and the Northern Lights by the lake... I like that...
And now I'm going to bed...