Ok, I have to get this chappie up before I have to go to this labor day party tomorrow. I always write my best during the morning or during the night for some odd reason, never in between. It just won't work that way. Thanks for your reviews guys! I'm gonna time myself for the first time on this. It's currently 10:00…and…I'm off! types vigorously
Chapter 10
Discovered: History is repeating itself!
All heads turned towards the source of the voice. At seeing whom this was, Sakura's eyes immediately widened.
"Ak-Akio?" she exclaimed, jaw dropped open. Out of the dark alleyway came Akio, followed be Kiba, Lee, Shino and Chouji.
"That is correct, Miss Haruno," Akio greeted. "I was wondering when this would finally happen. We have been waiting quite some time." The girls as well as the guys were dumbfounded.
"We…you guys too?" Ino pointed at the boys behind Akio. They smirked and nodded.
"I had my suspicions when I first saw your 'tattoo'," Akio began to walk back and forth as the boys behind him took to leaning against the wall. Well, Chouji sat down, pulled out a bag of chips and took to his chowing down. "So I consulted Kiba here, who then informed me that you all held tattoos." He gestured towards Kiba, who nodded. All the girls looked at Kiba. He gave them a look that told them this would all be explained momentarily. "It was then that I grew very skeptical. When I found the state of the cafeteria, I knew right away it was true. It has in fact happened." Akio closed his eyes and nodded. The girls were still confused.
"Yeah we have established this," began Tenten. "But you said you could tell us what 'it' is…" Akio awoke from his apparent daydream.
"Oh yes," he suddenly took up a stern expression. "All of this must be explained to you right away, now that prophecy is fulfilled…or at least the significant portion." The girls groaned in their heads. They had had their share of confusing events for one day, and now this was happening.
"Well, it looks like something fairly 'significant' happened here too…" Kiba said seductively as he raised an eyebrow. He looked from the boys to the girls.
"Huh…?" the guys all looked down at their torn open shirts. They all immediately flushed crimson.
"Oh, um…hehe…it's like this…" Naruto scratched the back of his head as he tried to conjure up an excuse.
"Kidding dude, I know," Kiba chuckled as he patted Naruto on the shoulder. The boys sighed in relief.
"You mean…you know about our marks?" Shikamaru asked befuddled.
"We've known about all of the marks for a very long time." Shino said quietly as he stepped forth. "We just didn't know to whom they belonged until you all came to this school." The guys and girls shared a look as they questioned each other.
"But you said you were here for years!" Ino told Shikamaru, recalling the moment when he helped her fend off the hair pulling idiots.
"I lied." Shikamaru shrugged simply. "Isn't that what we all have been doing from the moment we met?" at this, everyone looked at the ground. They all knew he was right.
"Looks like we all learned something new about one another today," broke in Akio. "Tell you what, before I go into 'it', why don't we all introduce ourselves for real this time," he said looked at everyone. "For real," he emphasized. They all knew very well what he meant.
"As troublesome as it is, I will go first," sighed Shikamaru. "I am Shikamaru Nara, I am a Sentinel of the prophecy and I hold the seal of The Flame." Everyone nodded, and so the chain reaction went on. Neji came forward.
"I am Neji Hyuuga, also a Sentinel of the prophecy and I hold the seal of The Earth." Tenten lifted her head and looked at his seal again. She smiled.
"I am Naruto Uzamaki!" Naruto leapt forward and pumped his fist into the air. "As a Sentinel of the prophecy, I bare…" He did a back flip. "THE SEAL OF THE WATER! (AN: don't ask why I gave Naruto water of all things, I honestly don't know)" After a slightly prolonged silence following Naruto's little presentation, Sasuke made a noise.
"Hn. Sasuke Uchiha. Sentinel. Holder of the seal of The Wind." He was quite direct. He remained still and eyes closed. With a slight nod, Sakura continued the chain.
"I am Sakura Haruno and I am a Chosen One of the prophecy. I too bare the seal of The Wind," Sakura said as she bowed her head to all of them. They nodded.
"I am Ino Yamanaka, also a Chosen One," Ino continued. "Like Shikamaru, I am a holder of the seal of The Flame." Shikamaru smirked as he looked up at her. That sure wasn't hard to figure out after the little lunchtime incident.
"Tenten!" Tenten chirped, twirling a random kunai in her two fingers, which basically explained a whole part of her persona. "I am a Chosen One of the prophecy, holder of the seal of The Earth," she proudly stated as she tucked the kunai in her pouch. It was now Hinata's turn.
"I am Hinata Hyuuga." Hinata said to the floor quietly, afraid to meet anyone's eye, Neji's in particular. "I am a Chosen One like my friends, and hold the seal of The Water."
"Wait a second…" Naruto looked from Hinata to Neji. "I should have seen it before!" he pointed at both of them, pointedly at their crystal clear eyes. "YOU TWO ARE RELATED!" Naruto shouted clearly, as if ensuring that the statement would reach the heavens. There was a pause.
"No duh, Naruto," Sasuke punched Naruto in the arm. Everyone sweat dropped anime-style.
"So, still alive are you Hinata?" Neji leaned against the alleyway wall. Hinata finally got up the courage to meet his eyes.
"Yes…alive and well my cousin. I am glad to see that you are the same." She bowed her head politely. He nodded back.
"Too bad we're the only ones left." Neji closed his eyes and looked down. Hinata did the same.
"Yes…" Hinata whispered. "It is a shame." Everyone was quite bewildered by this small interaction, but the chain of introduction was not yet finished.
"As you all know, I am Kiba Inuzuka!" Kiba said happily, hitching a thumb towards himself. "I'm a member of The Fellowship, and possess no seal whatsoever!" Everyone smiled. Kiba always had a way of lightening the mood.
"I am Rock Lee!" Lee stepped forward, striking the nice guy pose. He looked at Sakura. "I too am part of the prophecy's Fellowship, and hold no seal." He winked. As slightly creeped as she was, Sakura smiled back.
"Shino Aburame. Ditto."
"Chouji Akimichi…chomp chomp chomp…Fellowship…chomp chomp chomp…no seal…chomp" Though Chouji was chewing messily, some chips falling from his mouth as he spoke, his speech was still readable and the people in the alleyway all nodded. After the introductions of the teenagers were made, everyone looked at Akio.
"Right…and I am Akio. Algebra teacher to Konoha High, the Chief Informer to the prophecy." He held open his arms in a grand manner. All the teens, excluding the fellowship were surprised to hear this.
"But how come you were not in the prophecy?" Tenten asked him. Akio looked at her.
"You have not failed to mention to these boys that you only received a mere half of the prophecy, have you?" he asked Tenten, stroking his chin. Tenten shook her head. "Then I will have you know now that the Chief Informer is only mentioned in the second half. The half you boys and girls never received. The half I have right here." Akio then reached into his pocket and revealed a parchment scroll that looked like it had been carelessly torn from another half. A gasp was taken in at the sight.
"Wait a minute…" Sasuke stepped in. "So if Kiroku and Rin only gave us the first half, then that means…there was something in the second half they did not want us to know about?"
"Well decrypted Mr. Uchiha," Akio said, smiling. "I see you have not been completely inattentive during my morning brain teasers. And yes, your former masters did not want you kids having knowledge of your true fates, or me, which is why they only gave you one half of the prophecy. They most likely felt if you did not know the second half, you would not attempt pursuing it." Sakura, who had been pacing back and forth as she listened, stopped.
"Well, now that we have a hold of the rest of it, may you read it to us do we can find out what our true destiny is…and what the heck this day has been all about?" Sakura asked, taking care of the question that had been looming in the backs of all of their minds ever since bell one.
Akio smiled, as if he had been waiting for the day he would finally get to do this. "Of course," he said, as he unrolled the prophecy. He cleared his throat and began to read.
"As new identities are discovered,
The next book is removed from the shelf
And after some things are made clear
The Chief Informer reveals himself.
He then explains their futures
Or rather, their pasts,
But even when they believe they are safe
The security never lasts
The enemies are at work
Striking when least expected
And just when the pieces come together
Our heroes are detected
The three forces work together
Battling with strength and tact
Though a loss is made
They then discover a fact
The forces think of their destinies
And what it is they must do
As reincarnates of previous saviors
The Chosen Ones become true"
The teens took a moment to think on what they just heard.
Tenten bit her thumbnail. Just when they think they are safe…the security never lasts? Striking when least expected…She looked around. She slipped her hand into her weapon pouch, poised to grab a kunai if any unwanted visitors were to drop in. She wasn't about to give up, not after everything they had discovered.
Sakura bit her lip. Our heroes are detected? She looked at her friends and newfound friends. She could not imagine if she lost any of them, even Akio. After today, she realized they all had too much to live for to die just yet.
Ino braided a strand of her hair, a habit she always took to when she was deep in thought or worry. The complex weaving that seemed to go on and on, never achieving perfection. It reminded her a lot of her own life. The three forces work together, battling with strength and tact. Ino feared this particular quote. The only time she or her friends could achieve strength or tact was when they broke the power of their seals, which was highly dangerous. But then…was that what the prophecy wanted them to do? Rin would have sealed them for that purpose alone, and Rin's version of their fate and the prophecy's version of their fate were two very different things. Ino continued to ponder this thought.
Hinata began to shudder. She could feel herself go weak at her knees. She never expected to have to take on such a challenge as the prophecy was stating she would. Though a loss is made, they then discover a fact. Hinata did not want to loose anyone. She did not want to see anyone die again. She did not want to see her loved ones get wiped out as half her clan was by…well, half her clan. She could not bear to go through that sorrow again. Whatever this fact was, she did not care. All she could think about was her friends.
As cheesy as it is, the girls could sense the worry radiating off each other, as they had known each other so long they could feel one another's feelings. They all looked at one another. Just those looks told each of them that no matter what happened, they would face it together. Life or death, they'd go together (AN: Chang chang! Changity-chang she-bop! We'll always be together, wah-ooooh YEAH! Sorry…had to add that little Grease relation. Sorry that I ruined the mood.)
The same part of the prophecy echoed off in all of their heads at once. The forces think of their destinies, and what they must do. As reincarnates of saviors, the Chosen Ones become true.
Akio had noticed the worry gliding along the faces of everyone, including the boy's, who's minds had gone almost blank. They were taken so off guard that they had no clue how to react, not even Naruto.
"Allow me to clear this up for you guys," Akio said lightly, respecting how they were probably taking it. He preferred to lay it on gently. "Before you guys…there were others." This very well did not clear things up for them, and Akio could see this in their facial expressions. "By that I mean you knew each other before. In a previous life." They all yanked their heads up.
"That would explain why we all felt like we knew one another…though we had never met?" Naruto asked. Akio nodded.
"That is correct. You see you are all reincarnates of the previous forces. In terms of you girls," Akio looked at the girls. "You are reincarnates of the saviors Inoa, Sakaria, Tensha and Hinalia." The girls all looked at each other. They could each immediately tell who they were based on the similarity of the names. As the girls let this soak in, Akio moved onto the boys. "And you boys, the sentinels, are reincarnates of the fine protectors Shikaru, Sasuraku, Nejero and Naratu." The boys cringed at their previous names, but were still just a surprised as the girls were. They were speechless.
"And…and what about your names?" Hinata pointed at the fellowship. Kiba widened his eyes.
"Oh, us?" he shrugged. "Ours are the same."
"WHAT?" the Chosen Ones and Sentinels chorused. The boys of the fellowship covered their ears.
"Please do not shout!" Lee said over the noise. "It is not like we wrote the prophecy! It is just how it unraveled! If we expect to get through this, we must try to cooperate!" At Lee's words, everyone instantly calmed down, seeing as it was stupid to go crazy over such a little thing.
"We won't have to worry about these guys!" Kiba winked and gestured towards the other group of guys and girls. "Looks like they have cooperated quite a lot already." They all blushed and shoved Kiba, as he chuckled. He almost loved how easy it was to set them off. He hoped it would come in help in battle.
"Guys!" Akio shouted to them. They had almost forgotten that he was not finished explaining to them the prophecy. "We're not done here!" They all sighed and gathered around him again.
"Well you see, the previous saviors fought against the enemies of the prophecy some hundred years ago," he explained to them. "They could not seal evil completely, as it's powers were far too wicked and powerful, but managed to seal it for a matter of time…and at the expense of their lives. However, they had been prepared for such a situation and had created a prophecy. Before their ends, they declared that in a century or so, they would be reborn, and their younger, fresher reincarnations would surely finish the enemies once and for all. Unfortunately, no short cut goes unpunished…if they were to reincarnate themselves through the prophecy, they would also have to reincarnate the enemies. Regardless of the precautions, they did so, confident that them, with the help of their friends reincarnations, would fulfill the destiny they had long since left behind. And so here we are now." Akio finished, as if speaking all in one breath. Like many times that day, the teens fell into silent confusion, this time even the fellowship.
"So you mean to say…history is repeating itself?" asked Sakura in a quivering voice.
"Exactly," nodded Akio. "And it is up to us to stop it in its tracks."
It's…finally…up! This took me till one in the morning to finish! I'm so serious, right now, the clock says 1:00 AM. Weird, it didn't feel like three hours. You guys better review this! Eek…I guess I'm just cranky, I'm sorry! That chapter took much thinking. I'm SO sorry there wasn't any romance in this chapter, but I had to finish up the destiny stuff before I could fit that in. Don't worry. I will not leave romance in the dust! I cannot stand single-genre stories, and romance/action had always kept my blood going so I hope the same thing would work for this story. I really hope you guys like it so far!
