Memo
Hello there, rah I have officially decided that my three favourite bleach characters are Toushirou, Urahara and Rukia. Although I've only seen a bit so that could change, hehe, Toodles!
Chapter 11: Sluggish Snake, Foolish Frog.
Kianna
continued to look at the black fire with anxiety. She suddenly felt
her body become heavy and her eyelids droop. She fell backwards and,
luckily, was caught by Jiraiya. He looked at her semi-conscious form
with a proud gaze. She had done well, but she pushed herself so hard
that her mind and body were exhausted. Although she had suffered the
full extent of the mangekyon sharginhan, he knew she would recover.
He laid her down on the floor and examined the black fire surrounding
the hole. Naruto was, too, very curious and went to touch it.
"Dont
go near it!" Shouted Jiraiya in a panicked voice.
He
unleashed a scroll and began to write on it.
"Fuuinjustu
Fuukahouin!" The fire was sealed in the scroll, where it could
be kept safe.
The
wall began to disappear and a body emerged from its walls.
"Sasuke!"
Naruto ran toward the small helpless individual now slumped on the
floor. Jiraiya flung the now completely unconscious Kianna over his
shoulder, either that, or she had just decided to take a short nap.
The justu must have vanished because she fainted, just like her to
try and keep it going until she burns out
Jiraiya thought to himself. He looked at the distraught Naruto and
his unconscious friend. Sasuke had obviously not managed to conquer
his hatred and sorrow. Suddenly, a Kunai flew past them, embedding
itself in the wall. A figure ran and jumped in a kicking stance
,shouting,
"DYNAMIC ENTRY"
"Gai!" Yelled
Jiraiya before being greeted by Gai's foot, which decided the best
greeting would be smashing Jiraiya's face in. He went flying along
with Kianna, who was still on his shoulder. A priceless expression
appeared on Gai's face when he had realised who he had just kicked.
"I'm
sorry I hit you. I forgot my mirror. I used my forehead protector as
mirror but it was blurry and I mistook your rugged face for a foe."
Said a bashful Gai, he had a small dog on his shoulder with a bored
expression on its face. The very annoyed Jiraiya didn't feel like
forgiving him any time soon.
"Is that supposed to be an
apology?" He roared. He was about to say more, but then he
realised that his shoulder was vacant and Kianna's body was sprawled
on the floor. She was conscious again, but unable to move, and an
expression of pain was etched upon her face. The small dog jumped
onto the floor and looked at Kianna with that same expression.
"Ow...You call this reinforcement, Pakkun?" she
whimpered.
Jiraiya helped her sit up, Pukkan sat on her lap, and
Gai began to repeatedly apologize to Kianna.
"Don't worry
about it Gai..." said an exasperated Jiraiya "Just take
Sasuke to a medical squad. His arms and ribs are broken. Also, he
took psychological damage from an eye technique and was knocked
unconscious."
"What about Kianna?" He asked,
looking at her weakened form.
"She will stay with me. She has
also suffered from the same eye technique, but I trust her strength
and stamina enough to know she will recover on her own. I will take
her to a local hospital to have her shoulder wound looked
at."
"Ero-sennin, is Sasuke okay?" piped up a
concerned Naruto.
"It looks like he has taken heavy
psychological damage."
"Why? What did that bastard do
to Sasuke?" Naruto's fists clenched and fury flowed through his
veins. "I'm going to find those black coats and beat them up.
They want me right?! Then I'll go to them."
"Shut up!!
Even of you go to them now, you'll only get killed." Jiraiya
replied back, "You're weak!" Naruto shivered with rage and
took Jiraiya's words harshly. He remained quiet. Looking at Sasuke's
pathetic form.
"I'm sorry Gai" Continued Jiraiya, "I
should have helped Sasuke earlier."
"Kakashi was
affected by the same techniques as Sasuke and Kianna. He is
unconscious right now. We don't know when he will regain
consciousness." Gai solemny said.
"Kakashi-sensei?"
Naruto yelled, troubled that another person he cared for had been
hurt by these monsters. An awkward silence ensued as everyone
reflected on those that had been hurt. Kianna struggled to keep her
emotion intact and the tears pouring from her eyes. It was Gai that
broke the silence,
"When a student is injured, from the
bottom of my heart, I wish that she were here, the medical
specialist."
"That's why we're looking for her!"
replied Jiraiya. The three other ninja exclaimed in shock and looked
at the turtle hermit in surprise.
"Yes her...A Sannin, like
me, the healing specialist and the slug tamer. The woman with the
word 'Gamble' on her back, Tsunade-hime."
The
next few days went quick for Kianna. Most of the time she spend
clinging to Jiraiya's back when they were travelling, Pukkan walking
by their side, it seemed her legs didn't want to work. She had
wondered why this dog hadn't disappeared yet, she had given him
numerous instructions to do so, but the dog simply said that he would
stay. When they got to their wanted destination, Jiraiya got her arm
looked at and it was fixed quickly. She spent her time sleeping in
the hostel in the city, trying to recuperate her strength - Pakkun
always keeping her company. She kept having nightmares disturb her
sleep, of her family and their deaths, the same ones she had when
they were first murdered. At times she wound see a drunk Jiraiya fall
onto the bed. Naruto came to tell her that he was learning the
Rasengan, which she was pleased about, but most of the time she
slept. She managed to get up to have a few meals with Naruto to check
how he was doing, but, yes, most of the time she slept. Then one day,
Jiraiya came into the room, his expression one full of triumph.
"You
found her?" Kianna asked from her bed on the floor.
"Yes!"
He exclaimed full of glee. "She's in Tanzaku City, gambling
obviously. You feeling like a little trek?"
"Yea, I feel
so much better today"
"Still having the nightmares?"
She
nodded grimly, "But I'm sure they'll go eventually..." She
said uncertainly
Jiraiya and Kianna watched Naruto as he succeeded in the second task of the Rasengan. The explosion from the rubber ball was so fierce that Jiraiya had to catch Naruto and stop him going flying. Kianna was amazed that he got so far this quickly. They all set off to find Tsunade afterward, much to Naruto's annoyance, and this time Kianna was able to walk on her own. As they walked on, Jiraiya showed Naruto the third step to completing the Rasengan and he started to try immediately. They were soon at the city and had come into contact with Tsuanade. Naruto had made a bet with Tsunade that if he could master the Rasengan within a week, he could have the unique crystal around her neck. Kianna thought he didn't have a chance in hell, but tried to support him all the same.
Naruto
and Kianna both sat in their new hostel room. This time it had proper
beds, three in all. Kianna laid down on hers, exhausted from the
walking, she was still far from being fully recovered. As soon as she
hit the pillow, she was fast asleep. There was a meek knock at the
door and Naruto went to fetch it.
"I'm sorry to disturb you,
but I need to talk with you for a while. I don't want you to get the
wrong impression of Tsaunade-sama. Also, I need to tell you about the
necklace...
"Like I care for that old hag..."
"She
not the type of person you think she is!" Shizune
compassionately exclaimed, "Along time ago, she wasn't like
that. She was a kind person who loved her village. But she has
changed ever since she lost her hope, love and dream. That necklace
is all that remains, she shouldn't use it in a bet."
"I
don't care, she brought it up!"
"That isn't a normal
necklace you wear, everyone who wears it...dies." She explained
Tsunade's story and the tragedy she had faced. Unbeknownst to both of
them, Kianna had been woken by the talking and was listening in on
the conversation. Although, Jiraiya had already told her Tsunade's
story and, so, was familar with it already. After Naruto had heard
the story, he left without hestitation, wanting to train; Shizune was
left on the doorstep puzzled by his behaviour. Pakkun jumped from
your bed (he had been lying on it also eavesdropping) and grabbed the
bottom of Shizune's trousers to get her attention. He then ran,
jumped and landed on Kianna's stomache, causing her to sit straight
and yelp in surprise,
"Kianna-chan?!"
She looked up
at Shizune and smiled nervously scratching the back of her
head..
"Ummm...Hello Shinuze. Errr, how are you?"
"Were
you eavesdropping?"
"Well yes, but I know everything
about Tsunade. I did travel around with Jiraiya, you
know?"
"Did?"
"Enough small talk..."
Came another voice belonging to a small, very annoyed looking dog.
"Shizune, Kianna was injured a while ago; maybe you can help her
healing process." He remarked,
"I'll have a look."
It was the next morning and Kianna jumped out of bed with great enthusiasm. Shizune had done a great job on her and she felt even better, although she said that Kianna had to rest for a whole week otherwise she would make herself worse. A whole week She thought grimly It's so unfair! She decided to explore the town they were situated in and buy Shizune a present. Also, she decided to buy Pakkun some food since he was keeping her from getting lonely. Another day had soon past. Then another and another. Kianna saw no sign of Naruto, making her worried - she hoped the poor boy wasn't torturing himself by training too hard. She didn't worry about the absence of Jiraiya though, as he was probably 'sake' bonding with Tsunade, trying to get her to become Hokage. The night before the deadline Shizune stormed into the room, carrying an unconscious boy, waking a tired Kianna.
"How
is he?" asked Kianna, looking at the slightly intoxicated
Tsuanade.
"He has grown weak of severe exhaustion, and there
is a chakra burn on his hand. In this condition, he won't wake until
the day after tomorrow"
Shizune gasped.
"Tomorrow.
Please don't go tomorrow."
Kianna knew exactly what they
were talking about. During the brief times he was here, Jiraiya told
her everything he had found out. She watched as fight between student
and pupil ensued and ran over to help when Tsunade hit Shizune hard
in the stomach. She managed to heave Shizune into her bed and pull
the covers over her. She then sat on Naruto's bed, watching for any
sign of consciousness, slowly drifting off to sleep.
"Kianna,
get off me! KIANNA!"
She woke up with a start, and a thobbing
ear, cuffing Naruto around the head for being so obnoxious. Then,
when she had realised that the Naruto before her had completely
recovered, she pulled the little boy into a great big bear hug -
causing him to go a slight shade of pink. This commotion woke up
Shizune, who demanded to know the date and time.
"I recover
from most injuries after a night sleep." Naruto explained to the
two, "It's always been like that."
Must
be the power of the nine-tails
wondered Kianna, looking at the young boy with awe.
"Anyway,
where's that old hag. The deadline is today."
"Where you
successful with the technique?" Shizune asked
"It's not
complete yet, but I can still hope to get it right in front of
her."
Kianna giggled, causing Naruto to give her a quizzical
look.
"That's the Naruto spirit" She beamed ruffling his
hair. Shizune ran to the window, obviously wanting to catch Tsunade,
but was stopped by the sight of Jiraiya at the window.
"Geezzzz,
what have you done to yourself now?" scorned Kianna, jumping out
the window and observing Jiraiya's horrid state. Shizune and Naruto
soon followed her out of the window and they gathered round
Jiraiya,
"Damn that Tsuanade, she drugged my sake."
Jiraiya moaned, "I can't mold Chakra properly. On top of that,
my body is numb and I can't throw knives properly."
"Did
she deceive you with some perverted trick, you Ero-sennin?"
"Shut
up!"
Kianna couldn't help but giggle.
"Naruto"
She explained to him "Tsunade is a medical specialist and she
can only make a tasteless, odorless drug that works against
ninjas."
"I didn't expect her to poison me, even if I
was slightly drunk." Jiraiya's face was serious and angry.
Shizune had fetched some water to help Jiraiya recover,
"Hey
Shizune," He said determined, "you're going to tell me what
you guys talked about with Orochimaru, now!"
She held her
stomach, "Follow me, I will explain on the way."
They
stopped at the castle, well what used to look like a castle. The
walls had crumpled and the floor was desecrated.
"Woooo,
looks like Princess Tsunade got a bit wild here!" Exclaimed
Jiraiya. Tonton, a small pig which Kianna heavily disliked, found
Tsunade's coat sniffed it and ran in a certain direction - everyone
followed. Pakkun, who had situated himself on Kianna's shoulder,
couldn't help but feel slightly unwanted.
They
got there just in time. Kabuto was about to strike
Tsuande with a kunai, when Jiraiya threw a smoke bomb which threw him
off track (and also made a good entrance for the four of them.)
Kianna noticed the guy she saw at the Chuunin exams - so did Naruto.
"Ahhh, Kabuto-san?" yelled Naruto.
"Naruto-kun."
"I
see, you two know each other." Jiraiya smirked
"We took
the Chuunin Exams together. Why is Kabuto-san here?" He moved
forward, but an arm lashed out in front of him, stopping him from
going any further.
"Stay away from him, Naruto!" Kianna
said to him calmly
"Get out the way!" Tsunade pushed
Jiraiya out of the way and sent him flying. The pig which had been on
his shoulder fell on his face,"I'll defeat him." She tried
to punch and kick the grey haired boy with her unimaginable strength,
but to no avail. She managed to trap the boy between a rock and
herself, but when she went to punch him, he used a weapon more
effective than any kunai or shuriken.
He used his blood.
Tsunade
stood frozen to the spot. Kabuto had struck his hand with a kunai
causing the blood to splatter - including to splatter on Tsunade
herelf. She shivered and backed away, horrified that this substance
was on her.
"Dealing with two lengendary Sannin will be too
much trouble" He said, the light glinting of his glasses. "I'll
immobilise one for now" He punched her hard and Tsunade flew
into Shizune arms. Kianna stood there in shock, surprised that
Tsunade-sama could be defeated so easily. She felt a tug on her
jacket,
"Kianna, why is Kabuto fighting old woman Tsunade?"
He said, gesturing wildly. She didn't know how to answer him, to tell
him somebody he had known as good was, in fact, blacker than black.
Kabuto decided to answer for her,
"You're real slow at
noticing things, aren't you Naruto?" He chuckled, "That's
why you can't compete against Sasuke-kun."
"Look at his
forehead protector
closely Naruto..." Kianna remarked, not looking at his face.
"He's Orochimaru's subordinate..."
"Yes, I was a
spy." He smirked that evil smirk again,
"What are you
talking about? Tell me you're lying..."
"I wanted to
gather information from you, so I helped you in the Chuunin exmas and
I found out that you, Naruto, have no talent as a ninja." Kabuto
cruelly commented.
Kabtuo said many things that agitated Naruto,
and Naruto lost his temper, trying to strike Kabuto. He was thrown
into the arms of Shizune. He leapt away and took a blood
replenishment pill, then helped Orochimaru to fight.
"Eh?
Looks like the boss is going to fight?" Jiraiya observed the two
evil men "Shizune, you fight the guy with the glasses. Kianna,
you help me fight Orochimaru. Both our strengths are not to their
best, so it would be wise for both of us to fight." They both
nodded bleakly at the man and Kianna gulped.
"What about
me?" Naruto said in earnest
"You stay and guard Tsunade
and the pig."
"But I can fight -"
"No!"
Jiraiya interrupted "Glasses guy said it too. You are at a lower
level."
He was suddenly distracted by the glasses boy, who
made a movement to summoun Orochimaru's snake. Jiraiya started to
make hand signs quickly to summon the frog boss, but he summouned
something else, something rather distrubing.
Jiraiya,
Naruto and Kianna looked at it with shock.
"What's up?"
It said. They all looked in horror at the small frog, Gamakichi.
Orochimaru laughed at this and figured out that Jiraiya must have
been poisoned. At Orochimiaru's words Naruto got angry, trying a
summon of his own. However, he did not succeed either, summouning
Gamakichi's stupider brother, Gamatatsu. The two snake heads suddenly
dived and aimed for the group. One head went for Jiraiya and Kianna,
whilst the other went for the rest. The two heads smashed into the
ground causing earth and stone to fly everywhere and separate them.
Kianna managed to find Jiraiya and leapt onto his bit of earth. They
noticed one of the snakes clash it jaws around Naruto, but before
they could help him, they were confronted by Orochimaru. Kianna
unleashed her Sharinghan, ready to fight, and they both started to
perform the same hand seals.
"Doton Yomi Numa!(Earth
Element, Hell Swamp)" They both yelled and a Swamp appeared
trapping the two snakes. However, it was not big enough to submerge
them completely.
"Looks like we've both still handicapped
Kianna," he said to her, grimacing
"At least its trapped
them for now, it can't move."
"Lets' begin!" They
faced Orochimaru, whose neck began to stretch, and his teeth were
bared.
"Kianna get near me!" Shouted Jiraiya, fearing
the worst. He began to make numerous seals, "Ninpou Hari
Jizou!(Needle Guardian)" His white hair began to sharpen and
wrapped around him and Kianna. Orochimaru's foot collided with the
needle shield and it pierced his foot, which he used to pull the
shield down, managing to bite Jiraiya's neck.
"Damn it...My
technique isn't working either." Jiraiya mumbled, glad that
Orochimaru's technique had not worked.
"Although we all have
handicaps, can't you see the differance between us." Orochimaru
remarked, still clasped onto Jiraiya's neck. "You two should
just give up." He let go of Jiraiya's neck and the shield
softened, revealing Kianna underneath. She looked up concerned for
Jiraiya, his breathing had become heavy and he slopped forward
dangerously.
"Jiraiya-san, you used to be the insanity of the
village." Kianna looked up the other Sannin, listening to his
speech, "but now you're carrying children around and working for
the village. You've fallen. My ability to see some bodies talent is
top notch, and that kid is just ordinary. Even the Uchiha you have
taken under your wing was never 'gifted.'"
Kianna clenched
her teeth and gave Orochimaru best death stare she could. Jiraiya
smirked, "There's no fun in raising a genius kid that learns
fast."
"I see. You can't leave them alone because they
remind you of your old self."
Kianna tried to imagine Jiraiya
and Orchimaru looking young, but failed miserably.
"Naruto
cannot beat a competent Uchiha that can use the Sharinghan to its
full potential. A ninja can determine its strength by whether he can
master all the techniques in the world -"
"Wrong!"
Kianna piped up shocking Jiraiya, "A ninja is somebody who
stands and endures it. The talent of a ninja isn't his number of
techniques; it's to have the guts never to give up!"
"Yea"
Jiraiya continued for her, "Naruto has that!"
Orochimaru
laughed at him, "You are both fools!" His head jetted out
again, attacking Jiraiya and pushing him off the snakes.
"Jiraiya!"
Kianna yelled at the diminishing body as it headed for the
swamp.
"You better worry about yourself more..."
Ororchimaru said a sadistic smile on his face, his head aimed for her
and she took a large leap, quickly forming seals.
"Fire
Dragon-Jutsu" She yelled, spurting out a fire-dragon that aimed
for Orochimaru. He just managed to dodge the flames and he could
smell his singed hair. She landed again and Orochimaru tried to kick
her in the face. She caught his foot and slammed him down on the
snake skin, causing him to yelp in pain. She was in pain herself, as
her still unrecovered body protested being put under such stress. She
didn't let go of his leg and smashed his body into the ground once
more. She suddenly let go, swaying and Orochimaru kicked her in the
face. However, he could not remove his leg as the woman was melting,
turing into a sticky liquid that smothered his legs. It started to
spread and, in no time at all, was on his torso. The sannin hissed
and dispelled the illusion easily. He was quickly attacked by the
real Kianna, kunai in hand. He dodged her furious strikes and, with
anticipated glee, noticed the girl was waning. She paused, trying to
catch her breath - big mistake. Before she knew it, Orochimaru had
shot out his long tongue, wrapping it around her throat. She
struggled to breathe and felt her chakra becoming dangerously low. In
her hand she started to form the Chidori,
"If you don't let
go, then I'll rip your tongue in half." She spat at him. He
started to unravel his tongue, wanting to keep it fully intact. The
chidori still in her hand, she charged at the man, but his neck
stretched and bit her own neck. The chidori faded in her hand and he
kept a tight grip. As she felt the darkness consume her, she heard
Orochimaru's laughter fail and felt a pair of strong arms.
She
woke up with a start and immediately raised her hand to check her
neck. There was a horrid pain around her neck. Actually, her whole
body was in a lot of pain
"Don't worry," She heard
behind her, "that bite was just a bite, no nasty after-effects.
But you've pushed yourself too hard, and your recovering has
regressed." Kianna turned around; it was Shizune with an
unconscious Naruto by her side.
"Naruto!" Kianna yelled,
crawling to his side and taking him in her arms. Shizune smiled and
told her not to worry, explaining what had just happened. Kianna felt
the massive Chakras and turned again, her eyes were greeted by the
sight of three summouned bosses, along with the sannin. She watched
in awe as they fought and was relieved when it was finally over. She
slowly walked toward them, carrying Naruto in her arms. She saw how
tired and hurt they both were and started to become
concerned.
"Kianna!" Jiraiya cheered, "You're
awake!"
"Aye, you look awful, Ero-sennin!"
"Don't
call me that! Not after I saved you from Orochimaru. You should be
thanking me on your hands and knees."
"If you hadn't
been so bloody useless and got pushed off that bloody snake I
wouldn't have been in that position!"
"Disrespectful
Student!"
"Incompetent Ero-Sennin!"
"Don't
call me tha-"
They both suddenly stopped their little brawl
and looked at Tsunade, who was coughing violently. She looked the
worse out of all of them.
"The technique is starting to wear
off..." She mumbled to herself. She looked at the Naruto in
Kianna and smiled putting the necklace around his neck
"You
were never good at gambling, Tsunade." Jiraiya sighed. She
suddenly gasped and her skin came winkily and old. "Tsunade!"
Jiraiya exclaimed.
"It's not Tsunade anymore; call me...The
Fifth Hokage!"
An odd object just jumped onto Kianna's
shoulder,
"Where the hell did you run off to?" She
grumpily asked the dog.
"I don't do scary snakes and
sannins" The dog simply replied
"Coward!"
