She lost herself to the world. Only to be replaced by herself, but only different. She forgot who she was, as did everyone else. The shadows of the past will always return, one way or another. But when?
fumikomu ze akuseru kakehiki wa nai sa sou dayo
yoru wo nukeru
nejikomu sa saigo ni sashihiki zero sa sou dayo
hibi wo kezuru
kokoro wo sotto hiraite gyutto hiki yosetara
todoku yo kitto tsutau yo motto sa aa!
iki isoide shiboritotte
motsureru ashi dakedo mae yori zutto sou tooku he
ubaitotte tsukandatte
kimi janai nara imi wa nai no sa
dakara haruka kanata
Naruto
Beyond What You See
Chapter Four
Sparrow, Part Two:
Flight of the Phoenix
It was that dream again…
It felt so strange, to have this dream twice in a row…I never had The Dream twice in a row, not before at least. The strangest part of it was…that I was actually conscious this time. I could see the images of my dream flashing in front of me, but I wasn't able to do anything…It just kept going.
I could see the Phoenix fighting a monster…Protecting me…He always protects me…
And I am but a small Sparrow…Weak…Tiny…Unhelpful…
It was the same dream, the same way it occurred, or at least that's how it appeared to me…
I knew the outcome. I knew the ending. It still makes me sad. This is it. This is the time when I must say my final goodbyes…To Phoenix…Oh Phoenix…
"Kouryuu!" A twenty year old male came up to him. They were in a deep cavern, made to look like an apartment of sorts. All in all, it was actually quite homely, but devoid of anything personal. The twenty-something year old had eyes of gold and hair of shocking lightning yellow.
Kouryuu turned his emotionless eyes upon him. He sat upon the couch, watching some useless ad for clothes he wasn't even interested in. He just simply didn't care.
"What do you think you are doing!?" The man ranted. "Stand to attention!" He shouted to them all.
Up in a higher niche in the tall cavern walls was a young girl, only about twelve or thirteen. She had eyes of silver and white gold hair. The other was a fifteen year old female. Her eyes were white with a green tinge, and her hair was white as well.
"Kouryuu!" The man shouted in order, "Shugoryuu! Hiryuuu!"
Kouryuu stood in front of the man, followed by the white eyed, and then the silver one.
"Yes Ryuuza Sensei!" The three shouted in unison. They stood straight, like soldiers.
"Status report."
"While I was scouting, there was no one." Shugoryuu stated.
Hiryuu nodded, "I concur."
They all turned to Kouryuu, who answered in a monotone voice, "I had a few complications while getting up the mountain. Nothing to be serious about."
"And they were!?" Ryuuza continued.
"Well, early in the morning, there was a girl training. I had to avoid being seen, so I shot a sleep drought in the form of a dart into her. And after that, I reached the base of the mountains and decided to take a nap. Figuring out where to stick that first girl really was a hard decision. When I woke up, it was already late in the afternoon, so I hurried on up the mountain, where I was confronted by a second girl. Now this one proved to be much more of a fight; seems she already knew that we were camping up here. I fought her for awhile, but she eventually fled. Then I got here, sat down, turned the T.V. on, and that was that."
"And what was your flaw?" Ryuuza asked.
Kouryuu shrugged, "Dunno. Why don't you tell me?"
"The two girls: Why didn't you get rid of either of them!?"
"Didn't feel like it." Kouryuu answered simply.
"You little brat!" Ryuuza swung an arm, laden with golden thunder, at Kouryuu's head.
"No!" Hiryuu clamped her eyes shut, her hands flying to her face.
In a blinding flash, sparks bound off the walls of the cavern. Kouryuu, who had only moved enough to grab hold of Ryuuza's arm, stood glaring at him, the only emotion in his eyes that he ever showed when the time came up.
"Don't do that again." Kouryuu continued in his monotone. "I warned you when I first met you not to get me angry. I guess that wasn't enough. Perhaps I should snap you arm." As a demonstration, using his free hand, Kouryuu took hold of Ryuuza's pinky, bending it back effortlessly, a crack resounding across the walls, followed by wails of agony.
"Kouryuu!" Shugoryuu said sternly.
Kouryuu let Ryuuza's hand go, where he pulled away, cradling his broken finger.
"What're you doing!? The Master will be furious!"
"I warned him." Kouryuu stated simply. He turned on his heels, eyes devoid of emotion again, and sat back on the couch. "Aw, you made me miss my commercial…"
Yuuha stared worriedly out of her window on the second story of her home. She'd been home from practice for awhile now, and still she stared out the window. She did this right after she got home, not even bothering to go and eat.
"Yuuha?" Ino peered into the open door. "Are you still staring out that window?" Yuuha nodded. "What's up? What're you looking at?" Ino checked, seeing the large mountains. "I know that they're pretty, Yuuha, but Dad just took us up there a week ago. He's not going to want to go anytime soon." Yuuha only continued to stare. "Yuuha, you're starting to worry me. What's up?"
"Something's wrong." Yuuha finally said. "Something's wrong up in the mountains. I can feel it."
Ino stared questioningly at her sister. What was she talking about?
Marise was thrown backwards, his back crashing into a tree. Tsukurite smiled gleefully at him, "Wasn't that fun!"
Tenten ran forwards, throwing kunai at Tsukurite. They stabbed into her arms and legs, only to Tenten's surprise, they didn't harm her. They simply pushed out, clattering noisily to the ground. There were scratches where they'd gone in, but nothing else. Tenten's eyes went wide; was that possible?
"Tenten! Watch out!" Lee landed in front of her, blocking with his arms the attack Satsugaisha ensued.
"Thanks Lee!" Tenten exclaimed, tossing shuriken this time. They landed on Satsugaisha's arms, but unlike Tsukurite, they stuck and bled.
'So it's just this short haired one who can heal instantly.' Marise observed, standing from where he'd fallen.
A little ways away, Neji continued to attack Shingakushi. He continued to dodge, but just barely. Neji mostly landed his hits, but not in the spots he wanted.
Shujin had long since broken from his binds, and was currently battling both Takumi and Guy.
Shujin flipped backwards as Guy kicked out at him, jumping to the side as Takumi attempted to recapture him with his Root Tangle Jutsu.
"You're going to have to do better than that!" Shujin taunted, almost playfully throwing five kunai each at his two opponents.
They dodged, but at the last moment, Guy was grazed on the leg by one of the kunai. It immediately began to sting, throbbing with the almost unbearable pain. Guy actually winced.
"What is it?" Takumi asked when Guy didn't move.
"It's my leg. The kunai must be dipped in poison or something."
"Well?" Kakashi pushed. The two boys remained silent. What could they say? They didn't know what happened either. "Are any of you going to speak?"
"But we don't know what happened." Ryunosuke finally answered.
"Really." Kakashi said disbelievingly. "You don't know anything about it."
Ryunosuke shook his head, "No, Kakashi Sensei."
Sighing, Kakashi walked to them, "Then I suppose we should at least bring her to the hospital. Come on then."
Sasuke stood, carrying Khatereh. He and Ryunosuke followed Kakashi into the town.
"I'll always be here for you." He had said. "You needn't worry about that!"
Umika scoffed lightly, a dead look in her eyes with a soft, reminiscing grin on her face. She sat upon the roof of her home, her legs hanging off the edge of the building. The moon had already risen, and the streets of Konoha were illuminated with colorful lanterns.
"You said that…" Umika whispered, a single tear rolling down her cheek, "But you aren't. You promised…But I guess dad was right…Promises were meant to be broken…"
Umika scoffed again, looking over towards the mountain sky. Why did this happen? Why did it always have to happen!?
"Damn…you…Brother…" Umika said, her eyes slipping closed. She swayed in the spot for a bit before falling forward. She felt the air rushing about her and knew the ground was coming, but she didn't feel like stopping it.
The air currents suddenly blew upwards, holding Umika up, but still gentle at the same time. She was on her stomach, staring down at the one who had saved her.
"You know, it's not wise to fall from three story buildings." A girl's voice, airy and somehow still filled with a calm sort of wisdom, spoke. She rose so that, with her head tilted slightly, she could see into Umika's eyes. This girl's eyes were purple, a beautiful rich dark purple, with purple black hair. Her skin tone was that of a pale girl who'd gotten a small tan. She wore a blue skirt with a dark purple shirt. The shirt had one long sleeve and the other being a noodle strap.
Umika vaguely recognized the girl; she was one of the other Genin who'd graduated this year. "You…You are?"
"Chikaze." She answered. "Chikaze Shimizu."
"Why'd you catch me? How did you catch me?"
"With the wind." Chikaze swirled a finger in the air, the wind entwining around it before disappearing. "And I caught you because you were about to smash head first into the floor."
"I would've caught myself in time."
"Yeah, to kiss the ground." Chikaze retorted. "You really ought to be more careful, Umika."
Umika nearly glared at the girl, but kept her temper down at the last moment, "I don't need you to tell me that, Chikaze."
Mei Lan sat on the branch of a tall tree; it was night, and her body was extremely cold and stiff, almost like she were dead. Tears were nearly in her eyes. She couldn't find him. She couldn't, absolutely couldn't. No matter how far she extended her reach, neither her Shokubutsu nor Kusabana could locate him. She knew he was in Konoha, but it would be dangerous for her to go near the village at such a fragile time.
Mei Lan closed her eyes, letting her energy flow from her. She concentrated on the image she'd seen long ago. Her energy was depleted, her mind was practically numb, and her heart was heavy and sinking. She was near a collapse: mental, emotional, and physical.
Finally it came. The dams broke and tears fell from her cheeks. She was exhausted from the overuse of her Gengo no Etai. The tears ran down her cheeks, hand rising to wipe them away, only to be replaced by more.
'I can't find him.' Her mind kept saying, 'I have to find him! But I can't…I feel so weak…'
Falling forward, she was even too tired to react. When it finally registered, something else occurred. Strong, soft arms encased her cold, exhausted body. On this strangely cold night, he was wearing that large coat jacket of his, the black one with red clouds, and it was buttoned up. But, strangely, Mei Lan felt safe in Itachi's arms.
He gave her that soft, fatherly look again, "Hello." He whispered.
"M-Master Itachi…" Mei Lan whispered, her tears beginning to lessen, but still flowing.
"Tired?" Itachi asked. He felt how cold and stiff she was and frowned, "Don't overwork yourself." He added sternly. He unbuttoned his coat and placed her inside, cradling her small frame. "Come along, then."
Itachi turned, walking towards the small home he'd found to use for now. A short distance away, Itachi turned, walking down an almost unnoticeable path to some hot springs.
Itachi gently sat her down on the ground and looked at her. "Don't do that again. If you need rest, then just say so. I'd rather you rest and continue with your work later than a complete collapse like now."
"Y-Yes, Master Itachi."
Itachi began to undress the girl. Although Mei Lan blushed, she did not pull away or stop him. He continued until she was naked, gently lowering her into the spring as a father would do to his child.
Mei Lan's muscles began to relax and loosen. By now her tears had completely dried up.
Itachi moved, finding the soaps and water ladles everyone in the house used for their baths. He scooped water into the ladle, gently pouring it down Mei Lan's head. Itachi then began to pour the herbal hair wash into her hair, as to not harm the environment. After he finished rubbing it in, he washed his hands and stood.
"I'll have either Shu Yu or Lacaena come help you finish."
As Itachi edged away, Mei Lan whispered, "Thank you, Fa–" Then she caught herself, "Thank you, Master Itachi…"
We cannot go back to the past…No matter how much we want to. Once the sands slip from between your fingers, they fly away in the wind, and there is no possible way to retrieve them…
Khatereh stirred in her dreams.
You are not Khatereh…You are someone else. In fact, that is not your real name. But what made all of them forget? What made you yourself forget? Is there any reasonable answer to such a question?…
She stood at the edge of a lake, its waters an inky blue black. Shadows were cast all around, and Khatereh couldn't see clearly. It was like rain, the shadows, the way the obscured everything, only there was no wetness. In the shadows, something stirred; two things to be precise. They suddenly broke away from the shadows, the two figures.
The larger one appeared to be some sort of animal, nine things behind waving about in invisible wind. The other appeared to be a person. Their eyes were closed, so they appeared to be nothing but black figures.
In unison, the two opened their eyes. The animal had thunder gold ones while the person had orange gold ones. They pierced straight through Khatereh. Suddenly, a flood of unbearable pain washed over her, like the river had rose and crashed full force down upon her and only her…
In the hospital, Khatereh flailed her arms in her unconscious state. Her face was distressed and looked close to screaming. The pain! It was too much!
"Khatereh!" Sasuke flung his arms around her, holding her tight so she wouldn't hurt herself in her flails. "It's okay! Calm down!"
Khatereh's eyes snapped open, her breathing fast, "Sasuke!?"
"I'm here." Sasuke whispered.
Khatereh sighed, her tense shoulders relaxing.
"I knew this wasn't a good idea!" The nurse rushed in. What she was talking about was Sasuke being in her patient's room. She had demanded they, Kakashi, Ryunosuke, and Sasuke, wait in the Waiting Room. However, Sasuke had threatened to slowly tear her arms off she didn't allow him to stay. Although she was a trained Medic Nin, she could see how concerned he was over Khatereh, and, against her better judgement, decided to let him stay inside. "I want you out of here, now!"
"No, I want you to get out!" Khatereh snapped irritated.
"Oh, I'm sure you don't mean that. I know how traumatizing it must be to suddenly wake up in a hospital room."
"I said get out!" Khatereh snapped again, drawing sharp senbon from her hair, tossing them at the nurse. With a dignified squeak, the nurse quickly leaves the room, slamming the door in her haste. The senbon landed in the door, sinking deep with the force Khatereh had thrown them with.
Sasuke sat back in the chair beside her bed, sighing.
"Khatereh." Kakashi enters the room. "I need a word with you. Alone."
Sasuke glared at Kakashi, about to protest to Kakashi's less than friendly request. But, Khatereh briefly glances at him. Nodding in understanding, Sasuke leaves to join Ryunosuke outside.
Kakashi took Sasuke's now vacant seat, watching her slowly. Khatereh simply stares blankly at her hands, folded neatly on the crisp white sheets of the hospital.
"Care to explain something?" Kakashi asked.
"Explain what." Khatereh said, not looking away.
"What's been going on lately? You know, as team Sensei we have to discuss these things. Don't want to keep me in the shadows, do you?"
The word "shadows" made Khatereh's eyes widen as she remembered her dream and the strange figures. She felt her resolve crumble and she began to explain, "A few weeks after Tetsuya vouched to Fifth Hokage Tsunade for me, I met a strange boy. Up until now, he'd never spoken to me before. We fought a couple times, and I finally figured out that their must be more of his kind. Their hide out is somewhere up in the mountains. They're stronger than they appear, and it's been weakening me." Khatereh laid back down, looking out the window at the night sky, the moon directly shining through. She closed her eyes, and then opened them right after. "When the Presentation took effect, that night Sasuke, Ryunosuke, and I were attacked by a group of three. The next day, Primroses were all over the area. After that, I followed that strange boy again. That's why I wasn't there for practice. He caught on to me, and we fought."
"The burns?"
"A result of our battle."
Kakashi paused, taking in what Khatereh had said. Then he began again, "And the others?"
"By now they've probably moved."
"I see." Kakashi said.
Neji struck the boy again. Neji was beginning to get suspicious. Things were strange; no matter how many times he struck him, Shingakushi kept moving. He never once seemed to hesitate or fatigue. Neji was the one landing all his hits, and yet he was the one feeling tired. His breath was heaving now, something that rarely did he do.
Neji struck him in the chest, a little too right of his heart. There! That was sure to slow his opponent down. But no; Shingakushi continued to move. Neji's eyes widened, and his legs suddenly buckled. They loosened the next moment, though. What was going on?
Neji suddenly felt himself flying. Shingakushi struck upwards with his fist, connecting with Neji's lower jaw. Then he struck him in the right cheek, then the left, and finally Shingakushi's leg connected with Neji's waist.
Neji flew backwards, stunned.
"Neji!" Takumi left Guy's side, leaping to catch the young Hyuuga. He let him drop slowly, "Be careful." Then he went back to fighting Shujin with Guy.
Lies…The opponent is deceitful…He does not reveal himself…He won't reveal himself…But…Oh, Phoenix…You'll realize too late…
And I, Sparrow…Can do nothing…But lay here and wait for the end.
Sakura walked across the street and just in time to see Naruto swallow a whole bowl of ramen in one gulp while Iruka heartily laughed.
"Ooh, that's disgusting…" Sakura said, "I don't even know why you invited me to come tonight. I wish mom hadn't said yes…"
"But it's so good!" Naruto shouted. "Here!" Naruto offered Sakura a bowl. Sighing, she sat next to Naruto and accepted the bowl.
'Yuuha wasn't the only one feeling something wrong.' Amaterasu thought, sitting in the living room of her home. She shared it Takumi as they were old friends, and it was rather large as well. 'Takumi should've been home by now…He'd never stay out this late, not to train students.'
A knock came at the door. Amaterasu answered it to face a distraught Tetsuya. Amaterasu fought a blush down before asking, "Hey, Tetsuya."
"Amaya," He said, using the nickname her friends had given her. "Is Takumi back just yet?"
Amaterasu shook her head. "No. Worried about him too?"
"He's only sixteen." Tetsuya stated. He dug into his pocket, finding the dart wrapped in a thick cloth that Yukika had given him after practice. "Know anything about this?"
Amaterasu took the dart. She led Tetsuya inside and went to a desk in the living room. She set the dart down and began to examine it.
"It's for sleeping. Why?"
"This morning, Yukika was shot with it by someone." Tetsuya stated. "She was training a bit more before practice when someone snuck up on her."
Amaterasu looked even more concerned, "You don't think…That maybe this is connected to Takumi staying out late, is it?"
Tetsuya put a hand to his chin, "Where'd you last see him?"
"This morning. He told me he was bringing his team up to the mountains."
"Let's go." Tetsuya said bluntly. "He may be in trouble."
Gaara sat on a large tree branch, his head on his folded arms against the trunk of the tree. He was still afraid of sleeping, lest the Shukaku break loose and reveal he hadn't left Konoha. But even if he were not asleep, the memories kept flooding in. They just kept coming. Never stopping.
Gaara landed from his jump off the tree. He wandered around a bit, finding the strings of training grounds in Konoha. His feet carried him to a specific one, one that brought back a whole flood of memory.
It was Team 7's training grounds, still covered in Primroses. Looking at the delicate flowers, memories of finding flowers flooded back to him. He remembered when he was young, on multiple occasions, flowers would suddenly appear for him, like the rose in one of his previous memories. They were always beautiful and always seemed to extend to him, as if the flower simply blossomed for him and only him.
And still today, even after remembering the flowers, Gaara couldn't understand it. He couldn't understand why the flowers were always around him before. But they weren't…At least, not anymore…
It saddened him.
Neji couldn't comprehend it. But he had to keep going, had to keep attacking. His muscles had begun to strain, tired from what seemed like hours of fighting.
"Don't tell me you're getting tired already." Shingakushi smirked before chuckling.
Neji's breath heaved heavily. His vision was beginning to blur; where had all his strength gone? Neji's eyes widened as he watched Shingakushi sink into a strange fighting stance. His movements were slow, but precise, while at the same time too fast to dodge.
In my dreams…Sparrow is defenseless…
In my dreams…Sparrow can't do a thing…
In my dreams…Phoenix protects Sparrow…
In my dreams…Phoenix takes care of Sparrow…
In my dreams…Sparrow is attacked…
In my dreams…Phoenix protects…
In my dreams Phoenix is deceived by the opponent.
In my dreams Phoenix dies because of Sparrow.
Tears ran down her cheeks as Yanagi slowly regained true consciousness, but she was still dazed. If she didn't feel so weak, she would be sobbing. She knew the outcome, she knew it already. It was inevitable.
In my dreams Phoenix dies because of Sparrow.
Anger swept over the young Hyuuga. "But this isn't my dream!" Yanagi suddenly screamed. From out of nowhere, strength was found. From out of nowhere, her muscles began to move, carrying her forward as she ran to her brother.
Shingakushi made for his final attack, the one that should deliver a fatal blow. His hand straight, Shingakushi pulled back for added measures of force. Neji was frozen in his spot, muscles too tired to move.
Shingakushi thrust forwards, his chakra releasing.
Blood splattered across the floor although no open wound was made.
For a moment, the entire world froze. Everything stood on end. The world silenced, not allowing any sound whatsoever. Desperate cries went without a noise. Then the world began to move again, everything almost at once, as if rushed to catch up with the lost time.
Yanagi fell as Marise shouted, "Yanagi!!"
Neji moved forward, catching his fallen sister before she hit the ground.
Shujin slashed Takumi across the chest with a kunai. It wasn't deep or fatal, but it was enough to throw him backwards into Guy and almost unconscious.
"Shujin!" A voice ripped through the night air.
From out of nowhere, Amaterasu landed directly in front of Shujin. Water exploded from her feet, thrown upwards with the power that they came. Suddenly, the water swirled with an unseen force in beautiful arcs, like a whirlpool, straight up.
Amaterasu's chakra threw Shujin back, "Get away from here, Shujin. Run like the coward you have always been."
Shujin's eyes were suddenly filled with fear, "A-Amaterasu! Tetsuya!"
"Life's a lot easier when you're attacking those smaller than you, isn't it." Tetsuya said, glaring.
Shujin's eyes opened wide, jumping back in remembrance barely in time to not be grabbed by the shadows. He turned, running from them, frantic to get away. His students, puzzled, went with him.
The water ceased to swirl, and before any of it could reach the ground, disappeared.
"Takumi," Tetsuya began to inspect his wound.
"You really ought to be more careful." Amaterasu said in amusement.
"Yanagi!" Neji shouted to his sister.
She looked up at him with weak darkened eyes. 'I have to tell him…' Yanagi thought. 'The dream…he has to know…'
"Yanagi, why did you do that?" It didn't seem possible, but here it was. Tears began to form in Neji's eyes; was Yanagi going to die!? "Yanagi, answer me. Why did you do that!?"
She opened her mouth, but blood came up instead of sound. She struggled to stay conscious; she had to tell him.
"Yanagi?" Neji whispered gently.
"N-Neji…" Yanagi whispered. "M-my dream…"
"It can wait later."
"I…I did it because… It was in my dreams…" With that, Yanagi's eyes closed and her body lay lifeless.
Neji froze again. In her dreams? What was in her dreams? The battle? Her death? What? What did she mean?
A little away, Amaterasu suddenly saw them, as well as Tetsuya and Takumi. In unison, their eyes shot open: "Yanagi!"
To Be Continued...