Hello everyone, thank you for reading this story! I both enjoyed and hated writing this chapter, I hope you'll like it
If anyone is a Slam Dunk fan as I am, I have also included a Sakuragi-style insult and I realized it only upon revision :)
""Hey, guess what… I didn't die." By the look Kakashi gave her, what she had thought was a pretty badass line (she had actually rehearsed it on the path from her house to Kakashi's) was actually a lame greeting. She pouted, annoyed by the apparent lack of enthusiasm shown by the grey-haired ninja. "Oh come on, I've been away for two weeks! Don't pretend you weren't a teeny tiny bit worried about me!" Kakashi raised his only visible eyebrow. "Nah, you're like a bad penny. You always turn up." Asuka looked at him, dumbfounded, her jaw dropped. "What would that mean, uh?" He gripped her wrist and gently shoved her inside, closed the door and pushed her back against it, then pulled down his mask. "You're strong, idiot. You won't die that easily," he said, then kissed her.
Asuka and Kakashi had been dating for almost two years, even though neither of them had neither officially said that word nor talked about their relationship. They had accepted its natural development and neither of them felt the need for labels such as boyfriend and girlfriend. Both felt as if those words were too superficial, and that they did not describe their level of understanding and intimacy. Of course, they did what lovers do, but they also trained together, fought together and shared their main ideal, protecting the village. Also, neither of them liked other people to meddle with their lives, so they hadn't told anyone about them. Or rather, if they were asked, they wouldn't deny anything, but they would not actively talk about it. Asuma, in particular, liked to tease his little sister. "So, how are things going between you and Kakashi?" He would ask. "What things?" She would reply. "Oh, I don't know, sex?" Asuka would sigh. "Why do you want to know things like that about your pure, innocent sister?" He would snort. "Yeah, pure and innocent." Then she would make a snarky comment about his crush on Kurenai, his smoking habit or how ridicule his teenager beard was, and he would give up trying to get information out of her. He would go to Kakashi, even though he knew his friend would only sigh and tell him to mind his own business.
It was the beginning of September. In a few days, Kakashi would turn eighteen. Asuka wanted to give him a nice present, but lately she had been almost continuously on missions, so she still hadn't had time to search for an appropriate gift. Well, her dirty teenage mind suggested her many things he would like ('I still have to buy those lace panties I saw the other day before leaving,' she absent-mindedly thought) but she wanted to give him something meaningful for him as a shinobi. She was currently coming home from a mission with her three anbu teammates. They had safely escorted the fire daimyo's daughter to the Land of Sand, where she would be married to a local nobleman. "Say, Tora-taichou," she called her oldest teammate, who wore a tiger mask. He turned to her, as they continued running. "What do you think would be a great gift for a Shinobi?" Tora scoffed. "Nobody can beat Obito, you know? He gave him the Sharingan." Asuka almost tripped on a branch. "What do you mean?" She asked, playing dumb. "I mean that Kakashi has already received the perfect gift a shinobi would desire, Saru-san." Asuka's monkey mask was hiding her frown. He was right, Kakashi was a natural genius ninja, and he also had acquired one of the most powerful blood limit abilities. "I bet you have already given him a special gift Obito didn't have, uh?" The idiot in the fox mask asked her. She could feel the idiotic wiggle of his eyebrows behind the mask. "Shut up, baka Kitsune. And by the way," she added, "why do you assume it's a present for Kakashi?" She heard the girl in the crane mask, running just behind her, repress a laughter. Asuka was exasperated. Why couldn't they give her a rest? She just wanted a suggestion. "Anyway, Saru-san, there's this book you might find interesting," her captain finally said.
"Hello old man! I'd like to buy 'The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja', please! Oh, and wrap it up in a nice paper, it's a present!" The kunoichi made her entrance into Konoha bookshop. She ignored the annoyed look of the 30-year-old clerk she had just addressed to as 'old man' and walked to an acquaintance of hers, who was quietly reading in a corner. "Hey, Ebisu, long time no see!" The boy gave a start and quickly closed the book he held in his hands. "Oh, h-hi, Asuka-san… Long time no see, indeed. H-How are you?" He then threw the book on the counter and screamed at the clerk. "That one's ok, Marui-san, I'll take it! Please wrap it up for me!" Asuka looked at him curiously. "What were you reading?" She asked him suspiciously. "You look nervous." The boy put his hands in front of him. "No, of course not! It was just a ridiculous horror story! Do you like horror stories, Asuka-san?" Her mouth scrunched, and she shook her head. She saw ghosts almost every day, no need to read about them, too. "Here you are," the clerk said, handing Asuka and Ebisu their respective books. They both paid and parted ways.
"Happy birthday, Kakashi!" The boy eyed the package Asuka was handing to him, then his gaze moved to her face. They had just finished eating ramen to celebrate the ninja's birthday and were now sitting on a bench in the park. It was dark, and quiet. "You didn't have to give me a present, you know… you already paid for my ramen…" She huffed. "Oh, come on! Open it!" The wrapping paper was of a nice red hue, and the book was elegantly covered. Yes, Kakashi could perfectly tell it was a book. He could feel the thickness of the cover and the side, and the light gap between the cover and the pages. And, of course, Asuka had already spoiled it. "I was told it's the must have for a ninja! An exciting adventure of a young boy who grows to be a great Shinobi!" Kakashi sighed. "Can I open it, or do you want to tell me how it ends, too?" She closed her mouth. "Oh, sorry." He scoffed, then proceeded to open the package. Strange. From the cover and the title, it didn't seem the kind of book Asuka had summarized. "Icha Icha Paradise," Kakashi read out loud. "What does it even mean?" Asuka tore the book away from Kakashi's hands and looked at its cover. "That idiot old man gave me the wrong book! I bet he confused my package with Ebisu's…" she leafed through the pages and blushed. "Horror story my ass! This is a dirty book!" She exclaimed, then turned to the boy. "I'm so sorry, Kakashi, that's not what I intended to give you! The book I bought is called 'The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja' and it's an adventure story!" She felt very embarrassed. "I swear I'm going to the bookstore tomorrow and have it changed!" She was evidently very disappointed. Kakashi gently put his hand on her thigh. "It's ok, Asuka. I have already read that book. Minato-sensei made me." Asuka's mouth formed a silent 'oh', and she looked down. Yes, of course, how to add insult to the injury. Not only had she got the wrong book, but the one she had chosen, he had already read it. Way to go, original ideas. He passed an arm around her shoulder and pulled her towards him. "It's ok, seriously. I'm glad you even thought about giving me a present in the first place. Besides," he added, snatching the book from her hands and briefly flipping through it, "this might be interesting. I think I'll keep it." He looked at her, his only visible eye closed in a gentle smile. Asuka smiled back, leaned in and kissed his lips through his mask. "I have another present for you," she whispered in his ear, "but it's underneath my skirt. Do you want to open it?" She asked, her tone flirtatious. "Now that's a true eighteenth birthday. Let's go." He said, tightening her grip around her figure, standing up with her and heading towards his house at a hurried pace, spurred by her giggling.
"What are your thoughts about this, Asuka?" the girl clenched her teeth, trying hard not to vomit all over the floor. Besides the gruesome scene in front of their eyes, the stench was hideous. "No ninja could have done this, Shikaku-taichou. These bodies have been… chewed." She looked away, at the structure of the building they were in. Or at least, what was left standing. "Look at those metal ridges, there. There seem to be… indentations in it, like… fangs maybe?" Anzo, the third shinobi in their team, followed her gaze. "Could it be a wild animal?" Shikaku shook his head. "Not even the Kyuubi had done such a disaster in Konoha. There's no way this can be the work of a wild animal." He glanced at his teammate from the anbu, her monkey mask worn on the side of her head. She was nodding. She pointed with her finger at the back of the monastery. There was a black strip in the forest, a path on which, apparently, all the trees and animals had died and were already rotting. "I'm thinking, more like an oni."
They had sent a message to Konoha, to briefly explain the situation and request for support, but they had decided to proceed, nonetheless. Whatever it was that had caused such destruction, it wouldn't have stopped and waited for them. They needed to keep moving. Upon further investigation in the monastery, they had found a broken jar that emitted an intensely evil chakra. Something must have been sealed there and set free.
An oni. The thought was causing contrasting feelings in Asuka. She had never seen one, and her reckless side was screaming with excitement at the thought. On the other hand, she was also genuinely afraid for her and her teammates' lives. The scene they had been presented with when they had arrived at the monastery flashed through her mind. 'Naruto, I played with him until he was asleep. Dad and aniki, I hugged them both. Asuma, I punched that idiot face. Kakashi, I kissed him before leaving. Ok, no regrets if I were to die.' She sighed. "I would like to live at least until next week, but whatever," she said. Shikaku looked at her questioningly. "November 10th. I'm turning eighteen." He patted his shoulder. "Don't feel compelled to solve the problem just because it might be your field. If you feel it's too much, we'll retreat and think about a strategy. After all, our mission is mainly to investigate, ok?" She nodded. "Also," he continued, "I can't afford to die, too. I have a wife and a young kid to support, you know? She would seriously curse my dead soul if she knew I died on the job leaving her alone with Shikamaru, and I wouldn't find peace even in the afterlife," he joked. She chuckled. 'Maybe I could try my new jutsu… this could be interesting.' Something inside her stirred with adrenaline.
"Oh fucking holy crap," Asuka muttered. They had arrived at a village following the death path left by the creature, and were now the unwilling spectators to a horrifying scene. The monster in front of them was huge, like a three-story building, had a roughly feminine body, but it also had a beastly head, with a long nose similar to that of a tengu, long ears and huge fangs. It was happily chewing on some villagers and what seemed like wooden pillars. Asuka had never seen anything like that before. The three ninjas tried to attack it, but it wasn't effective. It didn't even flinch when a kunai stuck into its leg, she just flicked it away as if it was a bug, but the monster's gaze fell on the place the shinobi were hiding, and as its mouth opened, Asuka suddenly remembered a scroll she had once read. "Oh crap… RUN!" She screamed to her teammates, while a powerful wave of water intertwined with black chakra was released from the monster's mouth. They took shelter in a cave nearby, leaving the monster there to keep feeding on villagers. "What was that? Suiton?" Shikaku asked, incredulous. From what Asuka had told them, an oni shouldn't have nature chakra transformation. "Are you ok?" Anzo put a hand on the girl's back, as she was trembling. "That's not an oni… I only read about it in an ancient scroll at home, but there's no doubt it's her… Amanozako-hime, the demon goddess." Her trembling increased, as she looked at Shikaku. "I must have her!" She exclaimed, excitedly. The man frowned. "You mean 'have' as in sealing that thing for summoning?" She nodded, and his frown got deeper. "That's idiotic. You'd only get yourself killed." Her gaze hardened. "Would you rather be killed not doing anything?" She asked him, and he sighed. "I'd rather retreat for now and work on a strategy to tackle her. She's way too strong for you to seal it." She kept staring at him, and he continued. "You'd need a jutsu like the one the Fourth used to seal the Kyuubi. Frankly speaking, you might be expert at fuuinjutsu, but Minato was the Hokage. And he still died." She bit her lip. "I'm certainly not planning on kamikazeing, taichou. But if we don't do anything, she will keep on slaughtering whatever crosses her path. I say we have a possibility to defeat her, but we must act now. I believe it was her that was sealed in that jar, so it's likely she still isn't at her peak condition. We must do something before it's too late." She gave him a hard look. "I developed a sealing jutsu that could work. I just need a little support." Shikaku stared gravely at her eyes. She had a point. He glanced at Anzo, who nodded briefly. "I already know it's going to be troublesome. What kind of support were you thinking about?"
It seemed Asuka was right about the demon; its water chakra nature rendered it weak against earth-based attacks. Asuka and Anzo had simultaneously attacked her with an earth wall jutsu and doton, succeeding in taking her by surprise. The monstrous creature was now trapped inside a giant earth prison that the kunoichi had produced. The sounds it made were piercing Shikaku's eardrums, bit he needed to focus. The moment it would break free from its prison, which, judging by the creaks on the surface, would soon arrive, he would block it. Asuka was now in front of the boulder, and she was waiting as well. Then, suddenly, the earth wall collapsed, and the creature emerged from within, growling and frantically scanning its surrounding searching for whomever had imprisoned it. As soon as it saw Asuka, it threw herself on her, but Shikaku's reflexes had been fast enough. The demon's high-pitched scream resonated through the forest, frustrated by its immobility. Asuka, in the meantime, had not lost any time; she had already performed a seal sequence, and was now chanting a mantra, that seemed to have a binding effect on the monster. Shikaku was sweating profusely; his binding jutsu's time limit was usually not shorter than fifteen minutes, however, blocking such an evil and huge creature was taking its toll on the man's stamina. Luckily, just as he was about to reach his limit, Asuka ended the sealing formula, and the creature was sucked inside the kunoichi's body. She staggered, and both Anzo and Shikaku were by her side in an instant. "Are you all right, Asuka? I thought you would seal it inside a scroll, not inside your body! Are you crazy?" She gave him a tired, yet playful look. "Heh, taichou, but that wouldn't have worked. She would have broken free. Now, unless I set her free on my own will, she's bound inside me. If I die, it dies with me." The older ninja swallowed the lump in his throat. That girl had been remarkable. He smirked. "You're truly the Third's daughter. Good job." She smiled at him. "I did it for you, you know. I didn't want your wife to be mad at you."
Anzo helped her back to her feet. "Can you move?" He asked. She closed her eyes, assessing her condition. She was exhausted. She took off her flak jacket and pulled up the hem of her shirt. The seal was there on her abdomen, bright blue in colour. She rested a hand on it and felt the two chakras that now flew inside of her. It was an odd sensation. Even though she had already tried it on other spirits, she had always felt better afterwards, in comparison to the shitty state she was in now. But then again, Amanozako was a truly frightening creature. She imagined her body would just need a longer time to adapt itself to its new guest. "I can walk, but I'm too tired to run now." Anzo nodded and waited for Shikaku's orders. "We aren't in a hurry, now. We can take it slowly, then accelerate our pace when you feel better."
The problem, though, was that Asuka wouldn't feel better. After a few hours, she was still feeling exhausted, and a nasty sensation was crawling in her guts. She was holding her teammates back. They should have gone back to the monastery to conduct further investigation, such as discovering who the fuck in their right mind would set a demon free, but Shikaku decided to go back to Konoha out of worry about her. She was stumbling after the older ninja, when she first heard her voice. 'How nice would it be to cut his throat and drink his blood, Princess?' She halted, gasping. 'And the one behind you… I would first tear off his legs and chew them to the bone, then his arms, and then I would lick his bloodied joints rejoicing in his pained cries…' It was a screeching voice, high pitched and creaking, like that of an old woman. Her blood froze in her veins, and she collapsed. Her teammates immediately ran by her side, exchanging worried glances. "We'd better hurry. Anzo, carry her on your back. We're running." Shikaku ordered. The other ninja nodded and grabbed Asuka's wrist, passing his arm around her waist. "… off…" Anzo frowned. "Asuka, what's wrong?" "Get… off… I said… GET OFF OF ME!" The girl screamed. At that moment, a black chakra wave threw Anzo against a tree trunk; Asuka stared at her teammate grunting on the ground. Her eyes widened in fear, a frightening laughter resounding in her ears. Her mind went blank as she felt her legs spring forward.
When she came to, she became aware of having both her hands and feet tied. She was leaning against a tree trunk, while Shikaku and Anzo were setting up camp for the night. The sun was setting. How long had she been unconscious? "Konoha's still some hours ahead of us if we go there walking," Shikaku said. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but we needed to carry you, and you haven't been that collaborative in the last few hours. Asuka looked confusedly at her captain, then glanced at the ropes binding her limbs. Chakra binding seals were drawn in blood on them. She frowned. "What happened?" She asked. The last thing she remembered were the words Amanozako told her about killing the two men. "What have I done?" She insisted. "It's ok," Shikaku said, focused on cooking fish in the fire in front of him. "It's just a precaution." She then looked at Anzo, who was laying down their sleeping bags. "What happened to your arm?" She asked, seeing as it was completely bandaged. He looked at her, then averted her gaze. "It's ok, nothing major." He said, and Asuka knew it was a lie. The bandages were already blood-stained, he was sweating profusely, and it seemed as though he was running a fever. 'If you wanna know that badly, Princess, his flesh is indeed good. We had almost taken a big chunk of his biceps when your hideous captain blocked us,' Amanozako growled, and Asuka felt a heavy weight forming in her chest, as tears were brimming in her eyes. "Was it… really me? Did I really tried to eat you?" She whined. Shikaku's heart clenched. That girl was indeed a kunoichi, but she was nonetheless still a 17-year old child, and seeing her bound up like that, eyes brimming with tears and her broken expression, was a really disturbing sight for him, having become father himself just a couple of years before. "It wasn't you, don't blame yourself," Anzo said. She had been so stupid. She should have listened to Shikaku-taichou and retreat as soon as they had seen Amanozako. Instead she had convinced the man they should have taken care of her, following her selfish desire to seal her to gain power. Now she had become a threat to her own team, truly wonderful. She thought of a different solution from the only one that came to her mind, but failed. "Kill me," she said to Shikaku. He stared back at her. "Don't be a fool, Asuka." She wiggled, feeling constrained by the ropes and the chakra binding seals. "Why? It was all my fault! I am a threat now to you, to the village! You can't bring me back to Konoha! What if she takes over again there?" The man looked sternly at her and sighed. "Look at your stomach, Asuka," Anzo exhaled tiredly, as he sat leaning his back against a tree. She looked down at her body and startled, seeing how her shirt was stained in dark red. She wasn't feeling any pain. Her eyes shot back to her captain. "I'm sorry, Asuka. I slashed you earlier in order to confirm my theory." The girl looked at him, confused. "That demon won't let you die, unless you set it free. You said so yourself. If you die, it dies." Her heart was beating faster. 'He's smart, that hideous man, Princess,' Amanozako giggled from within her.
"Shikaku!" The shinobi looked at the source of the voice. Four ANBU ninjas were approaching, and gracefully landed beside the captain. "We are the support team, as you requested." They took a look around them and startled. One of the ninjas had already crouched down next to Asuka. "What happened here? Asuka-chan, are you ok?" She took off her mask; it was her sister-in-law. "Oh, hey Mira. Yeah, it's a long story…" Asuka said, trying to sound fine. "She must be brought back to the village as soon as possible and be seen by someone from the Hida clan," Shikaku said. The Hida clan was her mother's clan. They could possibly offer a solution regarding her predicament. "Anzo must see a doctor, too. His arm is damaged pretty badly…" The other ninjas nodded. One of them, a tall girl with a boar mask, offered to use her space-time ninjutsu to precede the party to Konoha and warn the Hokage and the hospital. At Shikaku's nod, she disappeared. The two ANBU males carried Asuka and Anzo on their backs, and the group started running back to the village. "What happened here, Shikaku? We thought we'd be supporting you investigating on a slaughter. Who did this to you?" Mira asked. The man avoided her question. "I'm sorry, but I still haven't understood that myself," he lied. "I'll need to speak to the Hokage first." Asuka, feeling protected by the man, buried her head in the back of the ninja who had been carrying her. 'I'll sleep for a while, Princess, but do not fear. I'll be back to you as soon as you think you're fine.' Asuka clenched her jaw. 'Remember, Princess. Amanozako's the demon goddess. I will have you release me, one way or another.' The girl's breathing accelerated. 'Just accept the fact you're sealed within me,' she managed to reply, earning a sinister chuckle from the spirit. 'Try and tame me, if you want; if you fail, I'll make your life so miserable that you'll set me free just to be able to kill yourself, Princess.'
That honorific had never sounded more mocking in her ears.
Kakashi was sleeping when he heard his dogs growl. He used his Sharingan to scan his surroundings. A ninja was approaching his house. That chakra signature… Asuka. He frowned as his dogs were still growling. Something was not right. He opened the door just as she was about to knock. His dogs were behind him, baring their fangs at the kunoichi. He was ready to create a raikiri, just in case, but one look at Asuka's face was enough to make him falter. She was extremely pale and had dark circles around her eyes. These were puffy and red, as if she had cried. "Asuka… What's wrong?" he asked, extending his arm to touch her head. His hand gently stroked her hair and cupped her cheek. Her skin was extremely cold, but she leaned in his hand, sighing. Then she painfully looked at his dogs, still growling behind him. Her eyes settled on his. "Could we talk for a while?" His stomach clenched. He closed the door behind him, gripping a cloak from the coat rack and putting it around the girl's shoulder. "Thanks," she whispered. They walked to the park and sat on a bench there. "What happened to your chakra? Something's different." She nodded. "It's… messed up," she bit her lips, as if she was unsure on what to say. "You've seen your dogs, how they reacted to my presence. I couldn't even get closer to Naruto without having the Kyuubi's chakra react." Kakashi eyed her. "What happened?" She held her cloak tight around her. She probably couldn't tell him about whatever happened during her mission. Classified information. "I was arrogant and I failed my mission. I put my teammates' lives in danger. Now I must atone for it." Kakashi didn't like where her words were heading to, but he didn't say anything. Asuka looked at the moon, shining above them. "Kakashi, do you remember what I told you the first time I came to your house? About the Hokage?" He scoffed. "You mean when you tried to kill me?" He heard her giggle, and somehow he felt relieved. "The Hokage is the best shinobi among us, and we must follow his decisions even if we don't accept them, as they are taken for the well-being of the village, something like that," he said. She looked at him, smiling sadly and nodding. "Don't forget that." She kissed him through his mask. She then stood up, facing away from him. "Thank you for these years, Kakashi." She then turned around and faced him. Her eyes were watery, but she was still smiling. "I'm leaving on a mission tonight. I might be gone for a while."