Hundreds of thousands of apologies for making you all wait, for these reasons: life, getting my brain cleared again for enough speed - but then it began again and is still ongoing - and finishing "Written in the Stars" as well as a couple others from Halloween at last, though one remains. Now this tale has my full attention to the end along with a new one that will go up soon. :D
Chapter title inspired by the movie "On Dangerous Ground" (1951) - title only, having never seen the movie and just found it on TCM while strolling for something potentially good to watch.
In spite of everything going on, hope everyone is gonna have a Merry Xmas. :3
Chapter Thirteen
Guardian of Dangerous Grounds
Jiraiya truly outdid himself with this, she admitted. She found herself wanting MORE, and with a beam, he knew she'd ask.
"I feel like we've really begun clicking, Kaguya. Almost a year's been long enough, hasn't it? These things really do happen to all of us. It's the first I've been happier in a long time..."
He was at the stove when he was chatting, and she was helping with more of the personalized seasoning, so because her back faced him, her lip curled and her teeth clenched together. She'd lived eons longer than him; emotions were nothing but a mess and could not be controlled. These ants thought just like she was right now, one of the few things she confessed they had in common. At one time, it'd been wonderful to behold.
"...as am I," Kaguya found herself saying against her wishes, just to make him happy. She smirked at his response.
"Well, what do you know? Who would have thought, huh? Although, if you prefer being just friends, then I won't mind at all - but whatcha say about..." His voice dropped then and there, and it happened faster than she should have processed: his body pressed up against hers, his breath hot on her earlobe. The sensations made her shudder, though it wasn't enough to make her disgusted. "...friends with benefits?"
"Friends with benefits"...that meant intimacy as long as it didn't evolve into anything romantic. Though, as she'd done her research into that area, she learned several would succumb to the weak heart. She refused to take that chance, but on the other hand, she hadn't done anything like he was implying in a long time.
"And where would it go from there if I say yes?" Not that I have decided yet.
He chuckled. "I'd like to go with the flow and see what happens. At my age, there's less worry for anything anymore - only Tsunade was much more stuck-up than me except for the drinks she'd have at the end of the day, anytime and anywhere." He halted then and there, pulling back at the mention of his missing wife. "Damn it, I realized just now that I never...got over her. I don't even know where she is; for all I know, she might pop up and I never see it coming. I'd feel like I'm betraying her."
Hearing him say that brought forth a slight flinch, unseen by him. All the more to stir up that feeling of guilt and pity within herself. She'd taken the woman from him, granted Naru's rage was anything to go by. Even if she did "repent", it was too late.
She made the resolution: she would absolutely follow through on erasing this man's memory as well as his friend's, and after she settled things with those five, she'd do the same. She'd been cruel enough as it was.
"Perhaps wait a little longer, like a few months. If she comes back, she'll never have to know what took place between us. No doubt that everyone believed she'd been dead," Kaguya said, turning around and locking eyes with him. "She might understand. I'll be perfectly all right regardless of the outcome." Jiraiya's face lit up then and there.
This being settled, he wasted no time moving on to a new subject to lighten the mood once again: Naru would want her favorite ramen as well as whatever Kaguya should get her this time. Almost like a mother giving her child a present, and it was enough to spark the memories of herself and her sons before they rebelled against her.
Kaguya was unable to stop the tears burning her eyes.
~o~
"Where the hell are you taking us?" Naru demanded of the woman who led them through the forest. "Is this -"
She was always the one more on edge than the rest of them, which was enough to fray anyone's nerves. And it was the woman leading them to coolly tell her to calm down. "It's nothing to just leap into. I know just as well as you do that Hagoromo doesn't have much time, and neither does the world. But first comes a process and a test to undertake. It won't be handed to you as easily as a free present."
The lake and surrounding mountains had grown smaller and smaller in the view as the group descended into the woods. And with each footstep taken, it became evident the group would arrive into another clearing - where there was an impressive tower of rocks going to what looked like a meeting place. Gaara loved what he was seeing; he never thought he'd ever appreciate such beauty which Suna didn't have other than water for survival and few oases. This Lady Mei took note of and glanced his way curiously, a slight smile on her lush lips.
"Here beauty and nature remain untouched by industrial civilization. I know for a fact where you come from has been kind to several spots if not everywhere."
Some things man relies on and works to improve because it's our necessity - but we understand.
"My village is just behind the watchtower and within the mountains, but we will not go straight to my home. It's unnecessary, and granted I am chief and protector, no harm will befall. But after your visit, it's essential its secrets remain with the five of you," Mei told them all, not looking at them directly but reaching behind herself for her pole-arm as a threatening emphasis.
"What would happen if this leaked out?" Sasuke had to ask, raising an eyebrow, and this caused her to look over her shoulder with a poker face that sent chills up the spine.
"You might have been trained by Hagoromo, but you'll underestimate what my people and I can do: destroy any property you hold dear if not the people you cherish, or we could keep you imprisoned after Kaguya is destroyed."
And from her tone, she meant business.
Gaara's heart pounded a little, and he was sure the others' did, too. Naru looked like she was gonna fly into an explosive rage at the threat, gripping Sasuke's hand into hers; the man himself narrowed his eyes as did Neji. And Hinata, for the beastliness she unleashed against the White Zetsu not long ago, looked like she was trying not to cry. Gaara had to reach for her hand himself, rubbing the back gently with his thumb. Seeing all of this, Mei smirked and continued leading the way.
"You owe us a possible explanation as to how Kaguya and the Shinju Tree might have gotten free and fell from the moon," Neji stated icily. She might be aiding them, but because of her calm hostility and the threat to keep them in line, theirs was warranted.
By this time, they'd gotten to the base of the tower of earth, there being a natural staircase for them to climb; there were rocks for them to grab as well as step on. "You know Hagoromo's brother, Hamura, guarded the Gedo Statue - the husk of the ten-tailed monster their mother transformed into to fight them - until his death. By that time, it fell to the earth barely a decade ago. It's possible that either Black Zetsu, Kaguya's will from her own body just before she was shut away, killed him or that he simply passed on."
In other words, she knew no more than the Sage of Six Paths did, only that Kaguya was here and had to be stopped.
The fact Black Zetsu had been skulking about all this time behind everyone's backs...how could you explain that? It was like a secret worm lurking beneath the earth and unexpectedly coming out. That parasite would pay along with his "mother".
"Follow me around, this way." Mei directed them around the tower, where there was a clearing between the forest and the mountains to their west. Her village lay to the east. This baffled all of them; why would they not climb the staircase above their heads? When asked this, she answered. "Because the path to the Great Power is this way - and the test awaiting all of you. You will harness the skills you have already, and if the guardian deems you worthy, those abilities shall be enhanced and more in order to defeat Kaguya Oosutsuki and stop the Infinite Tsukuyomi from being cast upon the world."
~o~
And they say no one really survived in past times to reach the Great Power. I say we will do it, thanks to Hagoromo.
Sasuke could only hope he wasn't being too arrogant, but they had no time for second guessing.
He and his friends were still in their ninja gear even now, since leaving Konoha behind, not that it was a problem in itself. All six of them, including Lady Mei who was still in the lead, rushed through the forest at great speed, just as the morning was growing late to the early afternoon hours.
Time was running out, but stressing would make it worse. And they were almost there...
Here they were in a much deeper part, where the trees entwined into each other, the uneven ground soft but firm, random rocks here and there, and there seemed to be no sign of wildlife. It reminded Sasuke and the rest of them of a similar great forest back home, which dated back to the feudal times and continued to leave the mark even now, granted the country had one of the highest rates of suicide across the globe. And the spirits of the dead who took their own lives said to dwell there. "This place seems to go on forever," Neji noted, "that even my Byakugan can't detect the end at the moment."
"Mine, either," Hinata agreed, panting for breath. "But we got to keep moving, for Hagoromo and everyone else -"
The sun broke down through the tops, but other than that, the trees were all so close together that no rush of wind penetrated. No one denied how eerie it was - and it was no wonder a normal folk could be scared to come through here with this knowledge, if the "Forest of Death" was anything to go by.
Just like this gruesome site, which is just like what we saw when we first came here. But it seems to only be one great animal...
"Another damned graveyard we've come to," Naru grumbled. "Wonder what the heck this is now. Want to know, guys?"
Gaara made a noise which might be a snort. "Not sure I want to yet. Just as I'd rather not know what happened to it, like the others. But where is this guardian?"
So, here they were: a great, gnarled tree which resembled the Celtic Tree of Life in several aspects - but below was what looked like a smooth carving into the heart of the base. The image was of nine circles altogether in three rows, within a square within a circle and scripted with ancient writing no one without the Sharingan and Byakugan could read. The terrain had gotten much higher than before, the roots breaking through soil and out again treacherously. It was too quiet now that they were in the heart of the forest, according to Mei who answered Gaara's question. "He's here, but keep your guard up." And just like that, she leaped over their heads, going into an overhead tree branch and leaving them alone now that she'd brought them here.
"And leaves us here because we can handle this - WHAT THE FREAKING HELL?!" Naru shouted just as the most freakish thing, just as freaky as the White Zetsu, occurred in the form of the bones scattered around the five of them. As it transpired, Sasuke was certain his reaction mirrored everyone else's in the slacked jaw department.
Every single one of the bones elevated by invisible strings and made their way to be well above their heads. Everything from ribs, femurs and thighbones, the forearms and such down to the hands and feet - finally the elongated tail and skull head which was far from being human.
Based on the wide eye sockets, elongated jawbones and two frontal fangs...it was a simian. A giant monkey skeleton as tall as eight stories protected this tree and its secrets.
It screeched without words when it rested its "eyes" on the team.
It was time to take it on with everything they had. Exactly what they were here for.
Gaara unleashed first his drizzling sand right after enveloping the great beast in a great bind of sand at the ankles - preventing the feet from coming undone for an escape - but when it amazingly broke out of the hold to everyone's shock, the sand scattering into pieces, the lumps of sand from the cloud formed made way for every blind spot there was, doing the job of taking the bones apart again.
They scattered around only to arise and reform into the creature, which was enraged to no ends and charged them...going straight for Hinata who put on a hell of an act as the freaked out, helpless damsel who fell into a deep cave of over-sized roots. The bone-monkey roared and raised its mighty paw to strike her, making her one with the earth she was "trapped" in, but Naru was ready with the Rasengan in hand to attack from behind - actually, her Rasenshuriken, as it was much bigger and would blow the thing to pieces...
...but it just kept rebuilding itself, and Hinata's powerful Twin Lion Fists did the trick only temporarily. This damned thing is unstoppable! What the hell are we going to do if we can't destroy it?!
It went after Neji, swinging its powerful tail in his direction, Sasuke joining with Chidori crackling in his palm, but when the Hyuuga tried out a secret trick that he used to emit chakra from everywhere in and around his body - creating a protective shield as he spun round and round with everything he had - that tail came crashing down and wound up being shattered into pieces. This was Sasuke's chance to electrocute it after running his fist through the rear of its chest plate, leaping back and weaving the fireball signs to unleash the flames through his lips.
Sasuke had to hiss and curse under his breath, but it seemed the fire stunted the guardian, sending it howling in an unholy form of agony, collapsing to the ground and laying there, engulfed in the flames which carried on for a good while.
"What the goddamned hell?" Naru growled when they surrounded it on all sides. "Why can't we kill this thing? It's been cursed since this tree's been standing, but there's GOTTA be a weakness!"
"It's resistant to even the strongest amount of sand," Gaara agreed, arms folded across his chest. "I couldn't work alone, nor could two of each of us together. Which means..."
Yeah, it makes sense...all of us should attack as one. Destroy the bones so that they never get back up again. We've come too far to lose everything.
They were right here in front of this holding of the greatest source of power in the world and perhaps the entire universe. It had been made a long time ago by Hagoromo and his brother themselves, keying off to start with a small amount of chakra sealed within so that it would increase over time, leading to what it was now.
And the Avenger Knights would earn it for a great purpose that would save this planet which did NOT belong to parasites like Kaguya Oosutsuki.
Sasuke had Chidori ready once again, Naru her Rasengan, Neji and Hinata their Byakugan and combined monstrous strength, and Gaara his great expanses of sand - and on either side did they jump towards the bones which were still weakened enough and singed, the smell like charred wood to their nostrils.
Above their heads, Mei remained in place, smirking and chuckling as she savored the show with pride.
The forest the Knights and Mei race through was based off Aokigahara, a Japanese forest northwestern of Mt. Fuji. It is nicknamed the "Suicide Forest" because of its history of sepukku committed by samurai (ritualistic, honorable suicide). To this day, I wonder why the hell suicide was ever the only way to take responsibility for one's actions. Suicide for everything to avoid something or someone you hate. No wonder there are so many legends of restless spirits, or Yūrei.
Today, the Suicide Forest itself has signs on some trails to urge visitors contemplating taking their own lives to think about their families, as a means to combat, and also to contact a suicide prevention group.
The wait worth it, REVIEW THIS PRIDE OF MINE IN LOTS OF FABULOUS FEEDBACK. :'D And Merry Christmas to all!