Yo, peeps. It's me again. Argh, school and projects…shit. But I'm trying to update this so yeah…..
Looking at a few pennames I was wondering why you chose the name, like for instance my name 'Redflash's Legacy'. I chose this name because I like the Yellow Flash and I was thinking of his legacy, cough Naruto cough, but I liked red better than yellow so I subbed it in and viola! Redflash's Legacy! If you're bored, tell me why you chose your name, was it just a random name or was it an existing thing? Oh, my penname is also my e-mail address too.
School work and projects and crud are piling up… I feel your pain Vladimer! I shall wait patiently until you update, be it at the end of time or whatever! Good luck to thee in thy quest to conquer any man and woman's enemy! Homework and/or work!
One random occurrence when I was getting e-mails about alerts, faves and reviews was that I was totally ecstatic when other Naruto/Negima authors were watching and reading my fic! Especially Asha'man of Fire, sunwraith, weixuan18, and Vladimer! Yeah, you might think that I am totally weird after reading this but…
Anyway! On to the story!
Disclaimer: Yeah, still don't own anything.
Dreaming Wide Awake
Chapter 2: Dreams
"So…" Naruto started slowly. "She's in Kyoto. Right now."
He was standing across the desk of the dean of Mahora Campus. Old Man Konoe. He was nodding his head.
"That is correct, Naruto-kun…Her teacher had specifically asked for the class to take a well deserved trip to Kyoto."
Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose. "Of all the days, Takamichi chooses now to have the girls go on a field trip? When I get my hands on him…"
"Get your hands on who, Naruto-kun?" A voice said from behind him.
Naruto glanced back before continuing to rant. "Oh, hi, Takamichi. As I was saying, when I get my hands on Tak-" He whipped his head around again. "Takamichi?…If you're here then who's with Mana and her class?"
The dean coughed into his hands. "Allow me to explain, Naruto-kun…"
A ten year old teacher/mage in training was in charge of a class of rowdy girls on a trip to Kyoto. And he had to get an important letter to the head of another magic association there and there were bad people who would be looking to prevent it and possibly try to kidnap a certain dean's granddaughter all the while…great…just great. He knew that he was getting involved one way or another. And he was right when the Dean had told him to go to Kyoto as a back up and see to it that they return safely before the Dean would give him some other assignment or job. He thought about what the Dean had said during their meeting. He said:
"Mana-kun isn't the only one who can take out demons if the situation called for it…"
That very thought made him shiver. This ten year old has his career cut out for him if he's teaching a class of mostly magically aware students.
"Better get going…" He boarded the train and got a seat. He leaned against the window. "I wonder if Mana is mad?"
An ominous feeling made him shiver.
"This is dull." Naruto complained as he stood on the rooftops of the Kyoto buildings. He had arrived in Kyoto a day ago and had checked himself into a different inn. He had tailed the class of 3-A and their teacher Negi Springfield for the majority of the day. Strangely, none of the girls saw or noticed him.
He sighed as he saw Mana enter a shrine. Same old Mana. Watching her from afar brought his thoughts to the past two years he spent in the magical world. He had a promise to fulfill for a certain person and he had to resolve other certain problems that caused his two year absence. Though looking back now, he only told Mana that he would return soon. He never promised it.
It brought back memories of his childhood being back in the magical world again. He thought back on his time with Daisuke-sensei and looked back toward Mana's location. Maybe, just maybe…
Naruto sighed as rested his hand on his cheek.
"Ripples form on the water's surface…the wandering soul knows no rest, eh, sensei?" Naruto whispered, his eyes half-lidded as he stared out into the distance. He noticed that the groups seemed to moving and so he too made his move. But before disappearing into the shadows, his last words echoed through the air and was carried on by the wind.
"But…there is no hate…only joy…"
"But…there is no hate…only joy…"
Mana's head whipped around as she heard those words. It was barely a whisper, but she caught it. Her eyes moved to the roofs of the surrounding buildings. That voice… it sounded so familiar.
'I could've sworn that it was coming from up there…' She thought to herself. She hesitated before turning around and following after her classmates. Following her teacher and classmates her eyes would dart all around to find the source of the voice. She couldn't find it.
"There is no hate, only joy." Mana repeated softly as to not alert her classmates. "Now, where have I heard that before?"
Naruto stepped out of the shadows. "…Maybe I should stop talking to myself…nah."
"Hm…I guess that I should continue to tail them, or maybe-" He stopped as he stared into the window of a certain store.
"Oh my…what beauty…" He ran into the store and left a trail of dust behind him.
His hands feeling the softness underneath. "Such coarse, black hair…so soft…so soft…" His voice trailed off.
"Um, sir?" Naruto heard behind him. He turned and saw a store clerk.
"May I ask what you are doing?" He asked Naruto. It was rather odd seeing someone rushing into the pet store and grabbing hold of one of your finest species of cats and cuddling it and murmuring random things.
Naruto continued to pet the small creature before sheepishly answering. "Ah…I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist…she is such a lovely thing." He held the black colored cat by its front legs.
"I see, sir. Would you like to purchase her?"
Naruto sighed as he placed her back onto her scratching post. "I'm afraid I cannot right now. Maybe later…so do keep her under good care." He walked to the door before pausing.
"Sorry about the sudden intrusion."
"No problem, sir, this is a store."
"Indeed…"
"Now where are they?" Naruto asked himself. After spending the past few hours walking aimlessly in the park since his charges were having dinner and doing whatever they would do in their hotel rooms, he was creeping up slowly to the inn. That was not the problem.
The problem was that he could hear several strange and loud noises coming from the inn. And because he was as sharp as a tack, he knew something was up. Already on the roofs, he snuck a look in to the lobby to see the Negi kid saying something before being tripped by a short girl sipping a juice box into a different girl who was blushing in front of him. Their lips met before they broke apart.
Naruto's mouth formed a smile. "Ah…young love." It was short lived when Nitsuta (Nitta?) had caught them and a bunch of other girls who were out of bed playing some game or something from Naruto's limited skill to somewhat read lips. He laughed as Nitsuta forced them to sit seiza style in the lobby. He also happened to notice that Mana was not among them.
"That looked fun…I wish I could've joined, but now's not the time to reveal myself…" He pulled the hood of his jacket over his head which conveniently hid most of his face because of the shadow it formed. He silently slipped away to patrol the night.
"The moon's beauty outshines all others…Even as it wanes it will begin a new cycle and be reborn amidst the darkness to once again shed light upon the dark." Naruto contemplated as he stared at the waning moon. He stood on the roof of a building as he watched the inn. "Hm, it's almost similar to a phoenix."
Nights like these reminded him of the night that he came upon Mana and a dead Daisuke. Maybe, just maybe if he were fast enough, he could've saved him. There was always a little voice in his head that told him that he could avenge Daisuke by killing the ones who sent the monsters there, but he understood that revenge was not the answer. The voice did have a point because it was rather fishy that other high leveled demons happened to be strolling by and attacked the two when they were exterminating other demons.
His thoughts cut short as he dashed away from his location. A freshly fired bullet hole remained where he stood. Luckily his hood was still on, so his assailant didn't know who he was. He stared to another building and noticed a familiar figure holding a rifle. He smirked. Mana-chan…
"Who are you and why are you snooping around here?" Mana demanded.
Hearing her voice again was like sweet nectar to his ears. 'Time to play the part.' He thought.
"Oh? And who are you? Kyoto's guard dog?" Naruto spoke, thankfully she didn't seem to recognize his voice.
Her answer was to fire warning shots at his feet. His smirk only enlarged as he walked toward her. He extended his hands and two hidden blades shot out from within his vambraces under his sleeves.
'Let's see how much you've grown, Mana-chan.' He thought as he ran toward her, aiming mainly for her arms and legs.
She took out two familiar black guns and deflected his blade with the barrel. Steel met steel as their weapons clashed. He felt her hand sliding up to try and remove his hood but he swiftly jumped back.
She didn't leave him time to recover as she fired shot after shot. Performing a back flip into the air, Naruto ran up the side of another adjacent building and used his momentum to push off and poised his blades to strike. Seeing the impending danger, she shoulder rolled out of the way as his blade met the roof top.
Naruto commended her on her quick thinking, most people would be too surprised seeing a man with blades flying at you to react. He moved to get up and continue their battle but…his right blade was stuck in the tiles of the roof.
"…shit."
Mana happened to notice his dilemma and started shooting at him again. It was an amusing sight though the two were battle seeing as the hooded Naruto's body and feet were flailing and jumping about trying to avoid the bullets. It almost looked like some odd dance.
"Hmph, you have no where else to run or dodge now." She moved closed and cocked her gun, preparing to fire the finishing blow.
Before she could, he pressed his right hand against the roof though his blade was still embedded, and supported his body up with the help of his left hand too and kicked the guns away from Mana's grasp and kicked her in the head. His legs held her in a lock and flipped her over. Her back caused a loud smack to be heard and he knew she was knocked out from the kick to the head and would stay like that for a while. His legs let go and he used them as leverage to get the blade out.
He made the blades retract before flexing his hand, saying, "Man, I've got to reconsider using that aerial technique…" He looked to Mana's prone form. "Well, I better get her inside." Bending over, Naruto retrieved her guns.
He took off his hood and his face felt the cold sting of the night as he picked Mana up bridal style and held her in his arms and made his way off the roof and toward the inn and to the lobby. He rethought the idea since that was where the kids were sitting seiza style and would probably be woken up if he briskly walked by. If memory served him correct, the ones she was in a group with and most likely shares a room with are in the lobby, so it was safe to enter the room…via window.
And through the window he went, unlocked of course. Naruto gently placed her in the futon. He check her head for bruises or bumps from his kick but he found none because he only aimed to knock her out.
He moved his hand and soothingly caressed her cheeks. Though unconscious she turned her head and moved into his hands even more. She felt so warm in contrast to his chilled hands. He retracted his hands and took out her guns. Slipping them under the pillow her head rested on because he knew for a fact that she slept with them there in case of emergencies, his eyes landed on a certain golden case.
"After these two years, she still kept the case."
Naruto's eyes narrowed at the clock, the time signaled his time to depart. He looked at Mana again. His eyes relaxed as he leaned over her and placed a warm, soft kiss on her forehead.
He walked to the window and replaced his hood. He looked back.
"See you, Mana-chan." He let go and descended down.
After he left, Mana started to toss and turn as dreams of Naruto assaulted her mind.
She was standing in a meadow with a large Sakura tree in the distance. Turning in a circle to take in her surroundings, she noticed a person beckoning to her. Her eyes widened as the features of the figure set in. Naruto…
She ran toward him. As she got closer, he had one hand extended out, expecting her to catch his hand. She reached out to him but as she touched his hand, he became a wisp of white smoke. It slipped through her fingers and started to disperse, seemingly taking her heart with it.
She shielded her eyes as the meadow started to disappear. It was replaced with a land full of darkness. No light, no hope. She picked up some kind of movement and sure enough, she saw Naruto's back as he ran past her. He was surrounded by an eerie white aura that contradicted the dark. Her legs pushed off after him and he seemed to get further and further away, the darkness swallowing him up.
Her foot caught on something and she fell to the floor. Her outstretched hand fell helplessly as she realized that he was no longer there. Mana rolled on her back as she closed her eyes. She lie in the everlasting darkness until she felt something on her hand.
Her eyes opened slowly because of the stream of light she felt hitting her eyelids. She realized that she was no longer in the place of darkness but she was lying on a beach. The sun was setting and streaks of orange highlighted the skies, its warmth enveloped her. What surprised her the most was that the one she was chasing in the darkness was lying right beside her. His eyes were closed, his face looking peaceful and his hands were on top of hers. Her eyes traced over the details on his face.
She returned her gaze to the skies and a single thought went through her mind. 'Please…Let this be real.'
It was just so…surreal. Mana's eyes closed as she and Naruto lay on the beach, hoping that this wasn't a dream and that they were reunited again.
It all came to a sudden end as she felt her body falling and going further down. Eyes half open, she saw that she had fallen through the water. Her body felt weightless as she sank down. A black platform could be seen about to meet her in her fall. She felt her body rotate as her feet safely touched the platform.
Her eyes fully open, her hazel eyes swept the scene but all she could see was darkness, like before. Suddenly, she felt the platform beneath her change, her hands flew up to her face as light erupted from the platform and doves flew from the bright source of light. Her hands fell to her side as she saw the beautiful sight of a thousand doves circled about, so full of grace.
"Mana-chan!" She heard. Her body turned as she looked behind her.
And truly, amidst the doves, she noticed that Naruto stood there, his arms wide open, this time he was fully awake and didn't seem to be looking like he would leave. Mana shot toward him, the doves that rested in her path, flew abruptly away to avoid being trampled.
She jumped into his embrace. The feeling of his strong, warm arms holding her protectively made her feel secure. Her arms clutched him desperately. She wasn't going to let him go again. If the first three times he left, she made sure of one thing here: She wouldn't let him leave her again.
She peered at his face again. This time she lifted her hand to his face. Her fingers trailing over every detail of his face that she had observed before and committed them to her memory. He smiled at her.
Her hands moved away from his face and she gazed at him at his cerulean eyes that she always thought of, dreamt of, her eyes finally landing on his lips. She didn't know why but they seemed to entice her and draw her in.
Mana inched toward him as he too leaned in. She slowly closed her eyes, their lips were mere centimeters apart. She could feel his hot breath on her lips. She longed to feel him, to hold him…to call him hers.
She could almost feel his lips on h-
"Mana-san! Wakey wakey!" She heard her classmate's voice as she was flung back into reality.
She growled and rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she glared at her group mates. They went down to eat first as they left her to change. Grabbing her clothes for the day she went into the bathroom and started to discard her clothes. Turning on the shower she stepped in as the hot water sprayed her. She stood still as the water ran over her body. Her mind replaying the dream she had.
Why did she have that dream? They say that dreams are the flowers that bloom in your heart, but could this be how she truly felt about him deep in her heart? If that was true, then why now? Why now when he was…gone. Was her subconscious sending her messages to mock her about what could have been if she had told him to say. Why was she so stupid to let him go?
Mana gasped as she recalled that day. Something was off by the way he looked at her, hugged her and told her goodbye. The sight of his eyes as they tried to give her a silent message. How could she have been so foolish not to notice?
She felt anger swell in her for not seeing it and toward the Dean. He knew. When she got back, the Dean would get a piece of her mind, she would make sure of that. Finishing her shower, she slowly wiped herself off and got dressed. Her anger had not subsided as she went to make her futon. She ended up grabbing the pillow, tearing it and throwing it at the wall. A slight gleam caught her eye.
Her guns were laying where her pillow originally was.
"How did they…?" The events of last night caught up to her as she finally noticed a slight pain in the back of her head. The way the man moved seemed very familiar to her. He also seemed to have no malice as he stood watch over the inn. Rubbing her head, she grabbed her guns, wanting to let off some steam and placed them in her disguise guitar case. After breakfast of course and contemplating the dream again.
"I swore I saw Naruto standing over me last night." Mana muttered as she walked out.
Mana silently ate her breakfast as her classmates were making a fuss with Nodoka-san about her pactio card from last night. She paused as she still thought about her dream. Did she like him? Of course. Did she think of him as something more? She didn't know. She shook her head trying to shake the thoughts away, he wasn't here anymore, so there's no point in thinking about it. She let out a sigh of frustration as she continued to think about it. The answers to her questions only served to make her more confused.
"What's wrong Mana-san?" Mana looked up to she Konoka Konoe looking at her in worry. Setsuna Sakurazaki stood next to her.
"It is nothing, Konoe-dono." Mana stated simply as she sipped her tea.
"…Are you having boy troubles, Mana-san?" Konoka giggled as Mana spit out her tea.
Wiping her mouth, Mana paused before answering, "No, Konoe-dono." 'I'm only having dreams of nearly kissing a guy I don't, maybe, kind of like who is no longer here.' She thought.
"Oh, so you are having boy troubles." Konoka smiled as she sat down and grabbed Mana's hands to do palm reading, Mana glared at her.
"Tatsumiya-san is having boy troubles…?" She heard Setsuna whisper to herself. She threw a glare at her as Setsuna scratched her head.
"Did I say that out loud?" Mana's glare answered her.
Konoka inspected Mana's hand closely.
"Hm…your palm tells me that you having been having vivid dreams about the memories of you and a boy you knew for a while, correct?" Konoka asked her. Seeing no point in lying, Mana hesitantly nodded.
"And…you had an actual dream about him…and you, together last night, right?" She asked again. This time Mana looked at her in shock and surprise as she nailed it.
"Ara, Mana-san, but that isn't the problem is it?" Konoka wagged her finger as she leaned in closer. "The problem is that he left didn't he?"
Mana looked to the ceiling. She stood up from the table. "I seem to have lost my appetite. I bid you good day, Konoe-dono, Sakurazaki-san." Mana bowed to them as she left.
Konoka didn't seem to be bothered as Setsuna tried to call for her to come back. "T-Tatsumiya-san!"
Instead, Konoka stood and ran after Mana, Setsuna stood there in confusion. Konoka laid a hand on Mana, who stopped.
"Hold on, Mana-san. There is one final thing I want to mention."
"I do not mean any form of disrespect, Konoe-dono, but I do not want to discuss this matter any longer." She just felt that it was too painful to hear this, especially from another person.
The girl in front of her only offered a look that told of only good news.
"Please hear me out, Tatsumiya-san…"
Mana sighed in defeat as she stood still, signaling that she was waiting to hear what she had to say.
She beamed as she took hold of Mana's hand.
"That boy in your dreams…he's still out there somewhere, waiting for you. He's not dead like you think." With that she walked off with Setsuna in tow.
Mana stood there passive on the outside but completely dumbstruck on the inside. How could she have known such a thing? How could she have known about her dreams and thoughts?
She stood there for a good while, thinking about Konoka's words.
"Kono-chan…"
"Hm, Se-chan?"
"How did you know about…all the things you said to Tatsumiya-san?"
Konoka put a finger to her chin and looked thoughtful for a moment. "I honestly don't know, Se-chan. I admit that I saw her look a bit more off than usual, but something told me to talk to her and when I did, it was like I could read her like a book…"
Setsuna looked at her as she provided the explanation. 'Could this be Kono-chan's power manifesting itself in another form?' She thought to herself.
Konoka's eyes lit up. "Oh! There's Asuna and the rest!" She dragged Setsuna with her, who was blushing at the sudden contact.
She waved her hands. "Hey, Asuna!" Asuna looked surprised as she looked to Setsuna who was crying anime tears.
"I'm sorry, Asuna, I couldn't leave her." She whispered.
"Well, I can't seem to shake off these guys either." Asuna answered back as she pointed behind her to the other girls. And so went their (canon) adventure.
A certain blonde was standing in an auto shop as he watched his motorcycle getting a tune up. Hey, there was an auto shop nearby so he would be crazy not to stop in.
He stood against the wall. He had quite an interesting dream this morning, after dozing off. He had a dream about Mana and him, about them and what they could have been. It was so unreal, which it was, but he wanted to live in that moment forever, next to her. But sadly when he opened his eyes, he realized that it was just a dream. A sick, mocking dream.
He chose to change the subject of his thoughts as he felt a strange disturbance in the air.
Something big was going to happen. And it was going to happen tonight.
Sweat rolled off her skin, as she shot bullet after bullet at an unsuspecting tree in a secluded forest somewhere.
Konoka's words rang loud and clear in her head.
"That boy in your dreams…he's still out there somewhere, waiting for you. He's not dead like you think."
If that was true then she was somewhat relieved but it also made her even more angry. If he was alive then where was he for the last 2 years? Shooting the crud out of the trees was a great way of blowing off steam. If only making her slightly less angry.
She lowered the gun and took out a new magazine. Replacing the old magazine with the new one she continued her shooting rampage. After ten minutes, the tree finally collapsed from the rapid abuse. Mana huffed and turned to another tree and continued to blow off steam.
She kept going at it until virtually all the trees were littered with holes and half of them had ripped in two. Maybe she was the reason that the planets was becoming polluted. Catching her breath, she sat down and leaned against a tree that was still standing. She was less angry now, so now was the time to rest and think.
She had actually been thinking about these things for awhile now but they seemed to come back stronger each time her thoughts turned to him. They were just thoughts, right? And here she was, making a big deal out of it because someone told her something that was most likely false. Over the span of her life, she knew that most things people say could not be trusted.
Maybe. Maybe the reason that she wants to believed Konoka is because deep down…she longed for it to be true, even if it may not be true. And she was being foolish now. And that would lead to certain death in her line of duty.
"I'm being stupid." Mana grumbled. She kept telling herself that he was gone and nothing could bring him back, that's why he never sent word back. She began to nod off.
Mana opened her eyes to see herself in the same position before in her dream. In Naruto's arms, but this time they just stood there wrapped around each other as time froze. His chin rested on her head as she pressed he head against his chest.
"Was before a dream? Or…is this a dream?…I can't seem to tell fantasy from reality anymore…but I want to believe that this moment is…real."
She felt him move his jaw as he spoke something incoherent. She looked up at him. He was uttering words that she could not understand. When he finished mouthing things to her, he smiled and started to glow. He started to turn into specks of light, slipping threw her fingers. It circled her as she followed it with her gaze. The scene re-transformed to the beach from before. The ball of light was still in front of her before it combusted and burst. She held her hands out as she felt the drops of light landed on her hands. They were full of warmth, like he was. Her thoughts interrupted by a sudden voice.
"It's time for you to wake up."
The sun had started to set before Mana had realized that she had been asleep for a while. She sat up and ran a hand through her ebony hair.
"What was that dream?"
"And…what was that voice?" She looked to the horizon for the answer, but all she got back was cold silence.
She took her time as she walked back to the inn, her guitar case slung over her shoulder. She walked in to the lobby to see that her group mates, whom she ditched, was also walking in. Perfect. She continued to walk as the class president, Ayaka Yukihiro, scolded them for being late. Noticing Kaede Nagase, her ninja rival, was on the phone with someone, she walked to where she and Ku Fei were.
"-you need us to pull your butts from the fire. Am I right, Baka Leader?" She heard Kaede say to whoever was on the other end of the phone.
It sounded urgent, so Mana asked, "What's up, Kaede?"
To her side, Ku Fei had a finger to her mouth as she wore a puzzled expression. "Aru?"
"It costs that much for a tune up?" Naruto mumbled and grumbled to himself as he held the receipt up from the auto shop. The sun had already set and the sky was colored black as night began to fall. He remembered the first time ever getting on a motorcycle, or any kind of machine for that matter. He smiled as he remembered how he used to think cars were metal monsters bent on eating everything in its path. He crumpled up the paper and threw it over his back.
"Now…" Naruto tapped his chin. "Where to next?…"
There was a burst of demonic energy coming from far north. He wasted no time as he mounted his motorcycle, started it up and accelerated toward the source. Time for some epic demon ass-whooping.
"It's not like you to have such a hard time of it…" Asuna and Setsuna looked shocked as they saw Mana and Ku Fei stepping out. Mana was holding a rifle and Ku Fei…looked surprisingly happy.
"T-Tatsumiya-san!"
Mana smirked. "I'll put this on your tab, Setsuna. Now go save Konoe-dono and Negi-sensei, we got this…" The stood there speechless.
Mana got down low and shot several bullets at the gathered demons. They answered by closing the distance between them. Ku Fei took up a stance as Mana stood calmly.
"Your rifle's no good at close range." One of the demons said.
Mana's smirk widened as she kicked the guitar case at her feet. It opened and two shining, black guns shot up. She caught it gracefully as her hands blurred, bullets raining on the unsuspecting demons.
Many demons fell by her hand as she paused, gunpowder and smoke covering the field. She turned to Ku Fei.
"Ku, I just need you to handle the weak ones, okay?"
"Oh! You mock me!" Ku started. "Do not underestimate the power of Chinese martial arts!" Ku stated as demons crept up on her. She did a 180 and started to beat them all up.
"Is no one left for fighting?" Ku Fei asked as she grinned at the fallen monsters.
Mana held the smirk on her face as she said, "Don't get cocky, kid." The last part she said a bit quietly. A moment of silence as a roar echoed through the air.
Mana, Ku, Setsuna, Asuna, and the other demons looked up to see a pillar of light and a large demon-like being materializing into existence. Mana's eyes narrowed. She shot a few more demons and looked to see that Setsuna and Asuna was still here.
"Setsuna, Kagurazaka-san! Go save them! I told you we got this!" Mana hollered to them. Setsuna looked uncertain but a slight incline of the head from Mana told her that she could leave the monsters in their hands.
Setsuna nodded back and rushed. "Thank you! C'mon, Asuna-san!" They took off. Mana was able to see that someone was about to pursue them so she shot at the blurring figure. She heard the bullets being deflected and when the smoke cleared she saw a girl dressed in a frilly dress holding a katana and a kodachi.
"Aw…Sempai got away." The girl Tsukuyomi said before turning back to Mana and Ku Fei. "Shinmei style can't be countered with projectile weapons…"
"I know…" Mana stated as the other demons charged. Tsukuyomi stayed put. Ku and Mana fought off the demons, each handling their own large numbers of demons. They fought them off before Tsukuyomi decided to strike.
"Mana-san!" Ku Fei exclaimed.
Mana lifted her head to see Tsukuyomi hovering above her, her blades poised to strike. Mana tried to get her gun up in time, but before she could, she saw Tsukuyomi move back and block the bullets that were sent at her from above.
Mana raised her head. The same figure from before was standing at the top one of the taller trees. Even from the distance, she could see one of his hands moving to his other hand where gun smoke was coming out of and flipping a switch of sorts.
"Hm?" Tsukuyomi pondered as she saw the strange figure. Even the other demons paused to see what had happened.
The figure kicked off the tree and leaped, spreading his arms like an eagle. As he got closer to the ground he thrust his left hand toward Tsukuyomi, a blade protruding from his sleeve. She deflected the blade as he made contact with her.
They jumped away from each other. A leaf fell from a tree and the moment it hit the ground, they strike at each other. The others around them continued their fight. They blocked each others strikes with precision and evaded all attempts of attack. His wrist blade against her dual blades. They held each other in a lock as Tsukuyomi smiled.
"You are strong, Hoody-san. I've also never met anyone who used a hidden blade before and it seems that we're evenly matched."
Naruto grinned under his hood. "Thank you." He replied. "But…we're not quite evenly matched."
A sudden gash appeared on Tsukuyomi's arm. They let go. Her hand went to her other arm as she felt the warm blood seeping through her clothes and hand.
"How?"
Naruto held up his right hand to show her his other hidden blade, which was covered in blood. Her blood.
"Ah…so you had another hidden blade…Well, let's keep going."
They continued their fight, landing blows here and there once in a while. Mana and Ku were subduing the surrounding demons. All of them went at it for what seemed like hours that could have been just minutes. A large explosion was heard and the pillar of light dispersed. All battles ceased as the breaking of the pillar signified the end of the battle.
There were only a few demons left from the horde of 150 at the beginning. Mana and Ku only suffered a few cuts and their clothes were slightly torn. Naruto suffered only a wound on his side and minor cut on his cheek though it was not noticeable since his hood was still intact, his jacket had a few cuts and tears here and there. Tsukuyomi's dress was ripped from most of the waist down. She held the gash on her arm.
"Seems it's finally over…" One of the demon who's arm was missing said. "Your win, guys. You want we should keep going?"
Mana offered a slight smile as she held her gun up in truce. "We're only hired guns, ourselves. If you all pull back, our job here is done."
"What about you, sword of Shinmei-Ryu?"
Tsukuyomi looked confused. "Well…I guess I'm done here…but I wished I could have fought with Sempai more." Her look of confusion turned to a look of content. "I think I'll go home, too." She looked to the hooded Naruto. "And Hoody-san, it was fun fighting you! Please send my regards to Setsuna-sempai."
She and the remaining demons started to leave. One of them saying to them,
"We really had a laugh, didn't we. Tell you what, next time the beer's on us."
"Hmph, sure, if we all weren't minors." Mana replied. 'Though I'm only about 3 years from being the legal age to drink…' She thought. Her eyes widened as she remembered about the hooded man who came to help. She looked around and saw that he was no longer there. Her hand went to the cut on her arm. For one moment when he had descended in front of her, his eyes looked just like Naruto's. She shook her head. 'Here I go again with this…'
"C'mon, Ku. Let's go see how the others faired."
"…his condition is critical."
This was the scene that she and Ku came upon. Negi-sensei was slowly being petrified by that Fate kid's spell. And it seemed like no one could do anything about it. Not even Evangeline. Mana looked into her small pouch to see if she had any potions. She didn't.
"Perhaps, I can help." They all turned to see a figure wearing a torn black and white jacket approaching them, his hood on his head. Most of them took up a defensive stance. Eva stood off to the side before her eyes became saucers.
"Y-You're!-"
The figure stopped her be placing a finger to his lips. "I mean you no harm. I…merely wish to help him." None of them budged. He sighed.
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small bottle filled with a bluish-purple substance. He put the bottle as close on the ground near them as he could before stepping away and creating distance and putting his hands up to show he truly meant no harm.
"It is a healing potion…" He explained. "If you use it, it'll both heal him and stop the petrification process…"
"…He's telling the truth." Eva stated as she crossed her arms. "That's the only thing here that can help the boya now…" She continued to assure them. "You can also tell that it's authentic because of the slight shimmer the liquid has…"
"It better be authentic…the guy who sold me it damn near hustled it from me." They heard the hooded man say. They all seemed to have agreed as Konoka wearily reached for it and brought it over to Negi.
Uncorking the bottle, she tipped it so the fluid flowed into Negi's mouth. He gulped it all down. The affect was immediate. The places of his body that had turned to stone were reverting back. They all held their breath before Negi slowly opened his eyes.
"Konoka-san? Everyone…you're alright." All the girls, excluding Eva, cheered because he was just fine now. Negi looked around at his friends before he looked at the man who was a few paces from the group.
"W-Who are you?" Negi asked as his hand inched toward his staff. Everyone else turned to him. He placed his hands down seeing as the potion did its work. Eva still stood passively as she waited for him to reveal his identity.
His hands moved up to his hood. He pulled it down in one swift motion to reveal his spiky blonde hair, his cerulean eyes, and the whisker marks on his cheeks.
"I…am Naruto Namikaze… Pleasure to meet you all." His gaze rested on Mana.
Mana gasped. It couldn't be… She walked toward him. Her hands, lightly shaking, as she touched his face. Was she dreaming all over again? Was this a repeat of what she had dreamed last night? He felt so real, but so did the dream before.
As if reading her thoughts, he put his hand over hers which was still moving over his face.
"This is real…I'm really back…Mana-chan"
The others who were observing the scene remained quiet, seeing that Mana had a past with whoever the young man was. They continued to watch silently.
Mana could feel real tears swelling in her eyes as she brought her hands up to embrace him. Like in her dream, she held onto him and she wouldn't let him go again. Naruto brought his hands up and held her protectively. Like the dream. The way they stood now, in each others arm made her feel complete once again. The fact that this was real made it all the better.
She buried her face into his shoulder as her surroundings seemed to melt away. She didn't care that the others were watching, all she cared about was that she was here, in his arms, that's all that mattered to her now. She felt the tears beginning to fall and seep into his jacket.
Tears of all the pain he caused her and tears of happiness that now he was back all came out as Naruto patted her on the back. He made soothing sounds as she continued to sob into his shoulder. They held each other as fresh sakura petals began to fall, the fragrance enveloping them like an illusion. The moon seemed to stop its orbit to watch over the two.
Naruto held her tighter when he felt her start to become overwhelmed. He was starting to tear up too as his suppressed feelings were coming out too. He slowly closed his eyes and prayed that when he opened his eyes again, that it wouldn't just be a dream. He smiled as he ran his hand through Mana's hair. Though there will be many hardships down the road…they can at least enjoy this moment right here.
A wolf can be heard, howling to the moon. Sending its own private message to the moon as the two remained still there. And they would stay like that for a while.
Whoot! It is like 7 in the morning! I had to post this now! So yeah, Assassin's Creed and stuff. I forgot my train of thought and its almost time for me to leave for school, so forgive me if you see any mistakes! Oh! I almost forgot! My birthday is on November 18th, so remember to wish me a happy birthday if you want! Thank you!
Redflash's Legacy