Chapter 6: Kagerou
"So there's a human soul inside my body…" Moriko made a face as she pulled down her shirt.
"Before you try to flood me with your questions, I'll explain first." Kagerou took a deep breath. "I created the Bijuu." Moriko flinched.
"What?"
"To make things clear, let's start from the very beginning." Moriko crossed her arms in her chest and waited anxiously for Kagerou to continue. "The Shodai Hokage and the Nidaime are my cousins. The First Hokage's power is known to be able to control the powers of the Bijuu. That's because his cousin was the creator. I knew how to tame them and of course I knew I had to pass that knowledge to someone."
"I created them to protect Konoha and the neighboring countries. Things were just fine when the bijuus were still quite young, when they were still under my control. But then things got out of hand and the matured bijuus became beasts that destroyed everything. It was a big, shameful failure and trouble on my part."
"I thought you said you can tame them."
"I can but it's not that easy specially when they all become like that at the same time. But I had the First Hokage help me so… we were able to subdue the Bijuu's destructive actions somehow."
"Somehow…" Moriko echoed.
"Yeah, we weren't able to completely put them under control but at least the lands were safe for the time being."
"Time being? So you're saying that they're gonna move again not long after 'taming' them?" Moriko placed her index finger on her cheek as she slightly tilted her head to one side.
"Yeah. You know that incident with the Kyuubi and that Naruto kid, right?" Moriko nodded. "It was sooner or later than that that those creatures started to go on a rampage again."
"I see… so then, how come I've never heard about you in our history?"
"Ah, that's because it'll ruin the Hokage's name and reputation. Something like that is more troublesome than most people think." Kagerou answered casually. Moriko made a face.
"Aren't you bothered that your existence have been wiped off?"
"Well… it does but not that much. I'd rather be in the shadows than become an infamous kunoichi known as the creator of the Bijuus which caused natural destruction and war between countries."
"You're right." Moriko mentally sweat dropped. "Hey, don't you have any intention of showing yourself?" There was a few seconds of awkward silence before Moriko sighed inwardly. She blinked as a sudden speck of light appeared in front of her face. "What the—" The speck of light slowly grew and started to take shape that of a human body. Moriko eyes widened at the being in front of her. Before her stood a white haired and blue eyed young woman.
"No, no you can't be Kagerou. You're too beautiful." Moriko waved her dismissively.
"I'm flattered but there can only be one Kagerou." Kagerou put a hand on her waist with a grin. Moriko stared at her in awe but with a mixed look of constipation. Kagerou frowned. "What's that ugly look in your face?"
Moriko shook her head and waved her hand. "No, no it can't be."
"You can stare at me with envious eyes later. Let's continue where we left off." Moriko huffed then nodded.
"So the things you said earlier, how is it related to me?"
"Eventually I became old and my days were counted. The Hokage got worried that after the both of us die, no one will be able to stop the Bijuus without thousands of life being sacrificed. So together, we made the Hisa seal." Kagerou twirled her hair then looked at Moriko.
"But I wasn't born yet at that time."
"I know. Your female ancestor was my first body. I am passed down to a different body once a new generation is born."
"I see…" Moriko nodded as she grasped all the information she heard. "You can't afford to disappear after all, as long as those Bijuus are still considered dangerous." Kagerou nodded. "But then… why didn't you just pass down your knowledge of taming them?"
"I couldn't trust anyone. We were in the middle of a war, if I passed it on to the wrong person who knows what will happen?" Kagerou snapped her fingers and gave Moriko a wink. "Here's a little fact: Kagerou's soul is passed on to different people but they can grow with a different personality and appearance."
"So you're like… Kagerou's reincarnation?" Moriko asked with interest.
"Mhm. I know everything the original Kagerou knows and I can do anything that she can do. I'm still Kagerou but born with a different personality and appearance." Moriko scratched her head.
"That's kinda confusing but that's like saying starting out a new life, right? When you get tired of your old self, you try to do something that will turn you into a new person. Like getting a surgery or something." Moriko grinned.
"Yeah, I guess you can say that." Kagerou laughed.
"Question! Why is it on my chest?" Moriko asked as she peered under her shirt.
"Well… I thought, since I was originally a human as well, it'd be easier for us to be connected to each other. The brain is the mastermind of our body but it's the heart that feels. Your emotions are my emotions and vice versa. So whatever you feel, I feel it as well. Physically and emotionally that is. Understanding my host is important for me so we can easily combine our strengths."
"You said earlier that the seal only appeared now because you've just awakened. What exactly wakes you up?" Kagerou looked at her with a childish annoyed look.
"You sure ask a lot of questions."
"I can't help it if I'm curious. I'm your body after all, I have the right to know." Kagerou rolled her eyes.
"There's no exact time to when I'm awakened but from what I've observed from my previous hosts, there are many ways. It can be due to the hosts' strong emotion that I myself can feel. An encounter with one of the Bijuu disrupts my sleep. There're also chances when the hosts find me in their subconscious but even without those I can still wake up by myself when the right time comes."
"Did you know what's going on in the outside world when you were sleep?"
"Yes, even in my sleep I see what the host sees. It's like watching a movie." Moriko opened her mouth to speak but was cut off when Kagerou spoke again. "You've asked too much, it's my turn now." Moriko sat down and listened intently to what she had to say. "What do you think woke me up?" Moriko frowned.
"I wanted to ask you that. I'm not exactly sure but when you said emotions I thought it had something to do with this person who kept stirring up my mind." Kagerou raised an eyebrow.
"Who is this person?" Kagerou crouched and looked at Moriko with a serious expression. "It's that oto nin, if I remember clearly, his name was Sakon."
"I knew it."
"I keep having this weird dream of a younger me and another boy. Up until I met him, the boy was always a blur. But now it's become a little clearer, I could see some resemblance between him and the boy. They both have grayish hair and pale skin. But the boy didn't have a head at his back."
"Anything else?"
"Well I can't accurately say that he's the boy in my dream. And… even it was him, it's just a dream--"
"--That feels like reality." Kagerou finished the sentence for her.
"Yeah… I want to know what that dream is trying to tell me. I want to know why it feels like it's a missing piece of my life." Moriko sighed. "I kept wondering if those dreams were actually an important part of my past that I've already forgotten." Moriko looked down and twiddled her fingers. "But if they were so important why did I forget?" Kagerou blinked at her then placed a hand on her head.
"Do you think you know that Sakon kid for real?"
"Well… he gives off a very familiar feeling. It's like déjà vu." Moriko sighed with a doubtful smile. "But someone like him can't possibly be linked to me, right? He's not my type after all." Kagerou raised an eyebrow.
"What are you saying?"
"I had this flashback and I said there that I liked the boy. I can't possibly be attracted to someone like him. He can't be the boy. The guy wears green lipstick! " Kagerou snorted and smacked Moriko's back with her hand.
"No way! You like him?" Kagerou suddenly went into fits of laughter until she could no longer breathe. Moriko gave her a perplexed look.
"Why are you saying something like that as if you know him?"
"Ah—" Kagerou quickly stopped laughing and avoided eye contact with Moriko. "I was just surprised because uh… you said he wears green lipstick. I just thought it's funny." Kagerou laughned nervously.
"Are you hiding something?"
"Huh? No, why would I? Do you think a beautiful face like mine would lie?" Kagerou pointed at her face with a wide grin. Moriko stared at her blankly.
"Yeah. Beautiful women are deceitful."
"Ah well… back to our topic. You said something a while ago about your past memories?" Moriko looked down.
"My memories before I met Tsunade-ane are completely wiped out. I don't remember anything."
"Nothing at all?"
"Nothing. That's why I keep thinking those dreams may be real after all. But… I can't be so sure of that can I? Hey, wait." Kagerou blinked. "You said you can see the outside world even when you're sleeping right?"
"Not everything. Even though we have one body, we're still two different individuals. Sometimes there are things that I don't see. Ah, like privacy for example. Your subconscious mind puts a wall between us so that I wouldn't see your body. Or something like that." Kagerou attempted to get the question out of her mind.
"What? I don't get it."
"Uh… you know you shouldn't push yourself. I mean, even I can't remember my own childhood memories and sometimes I just remember them all of a sudden." Kagerou smiled nervously at her.
"Of course you wouldn't. You're probably more than 100 years old." Kagerou stared at her, lost for words. Suddenly they heard a voice from the outside.
"Found you…" The voice said in a singsong, menacing way.
Moriko turned her head to side then to Kagerou. "Did you hear that?" Kagerou nodded as Moriko stood up quickly. "It must be the enemy. They've caught up already."
"Better wake up then." Kagerou said as she pat Moriko's shoulder.
"Will you… lend me your strength?" Moriko asked politely.
"No way." Kagerou spat back quickly in a casual manner.
"What?"
"I will if you need it though." Kagerou grinned and disappeared
Moriko opened her eyes and found herself slumped on a tree branch. She blinked a few times before she could see her surroundings clearly. She stood up slowly but carefully while rubbing her eyes.
"Yo." Moriko turned around quickly and saw her pursuer standing lazily on another offshoot with a wide smirk. Moriko knew it was the more active brother, Sakon, because she remembered that he was the one who wore the red beaded necklace. "Oi, don't you think it's a little dangerous dozing off in the middle of a battle?" Sakon sneered at Moriko.
"You sure like to talk a lot, don't you?" Sakon frowned. "I hate talkative men. They're pathetic." Moriko grew her hair as a strong gust of wind rustled the leaves hovering over them. Several blue streaks ran down her black tresses while she prepared herself in a fighting stance. "Let's finish this quickly alright? I want to catch up with my teammates." Moriko flipped her hair over her shoulder and stared directly into Sakon's eyes.
"Okay, okay. But don't faint or else it'll be boring." Sakon chuckled maniacally, black squiggles covering his pale skin.
"Hmph."
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Rewritten: May 8, 08
This was hella hard to rewrite. Comments are… love? xD