Zi calmly walks out: "hello everyone. If you wandering why I'm doing the opening, it's because DuskStarDragon is too afraid to come out and talk to you guys. Personally, I don't blame her with the scarily music and threats; you guys are almost as bad as Zabuza. 'Sigh' anyway; I guess I have to do the thank you for the reviews thing now. Let's see, I have a shout out for Hiei's-Dark-Little-Phoenix and one for fennecfox03 (aren't you a reviewer for her other story about that fox) and a new one, Blood Blades and Demon Gates, welcome abroad. Well that's over with… how can she stand to do this every chapter… oh you guys still here? Opps. I do have one other announcement; Dusky wanted you all to know that part this chapter and the next will be from Zabuza's and Haku's point of view, just so you know. Apparently, I go a little crazy. So enjoy and see you next chapter." Zi calmly walks away.
Chapter Six
Day light was fading as we returned to the inn; Zabuza was still carrying me from his back even though I was loudly protesting.
"Ok…. you can put me down Now!" I tried to yell up at his ear, but he didn't say a word. "I'm fine. I can walk on my own…. Put me down no….. Ouch!" I yelled as I landed on my butt.
He turned around, "you said to put you down….," he smiled, "and I did."
I glare up at him, wanting to say or do something, but I knew it would be useless. Then again, I am in a good position to hit him in the nuts….. nah…... I thought to myself.
"Here," Haku put out his hand.
Willingly, I took it and he helped me up. Zabuza just shrugged his shoulder and started towards the inn.
"Hee," he giggled, "are you alright?"
I looked over at my injured shoulder, "I'll be alright…. thanks for asking. Unlike some People who aren't even Considerate enough to Ask!" I yelled to Zabuza, but he didn't pay attention.
"Come to our room and I'll fix up your arm," Haku gently pulled at my arm.
"No…. I'll do it myself," I turned to him with a smile, "thanks anyway."
We followed after Zabuza and went to our separate rooms for the night.
A sleepless hour later…….
I was lying on the bed, trying to sleep, but the pain in my shoulder prevented it from coming. Maybe I should take a walk or something, I thought as I got up. I gently opened the door and looked around to see if anyone heard me. Slowly and quietly, I walked down the hallway to the lobby area. There were still a few lights on in the sitting area, just enough to see where you were going. I sat down in one of the chairs and just let my eyes adjust to the dim light. So many thoughts were running through my head; about the last few weeks, today and the future. But the same questions kept popping up in my mind.
"Why am I still here? I don't like all this killing or running or Zabuza. Why do I stay when he hates me and insults me? Why do I put myself through this?" I questioned myself. "Why don't I just go home?" I had thought a lot about going back to the village lately; surely they would understand why I ran that night. "Why…" I reached for one of my gensens, "who's there?"
"I was never good at sneaking up," a voice came from the dark corner, "not exactly a good trait for a ninja, huh?"
A young man came from out of the darkness, "so, it's been awhile."
"Liang? Is… is that you?" I stood up.
"So you do remember me," he scratched his head as his cheeks turned red.
How could I forget the guy that sat behind me and pulled my hair at the ninja academy, I grumbled to myself.
"From that death glare you're giving me, it's a definite yes," he walked up to me.
"What do you want," I put up my gensens.
"To warn you," he put up his hands to show that he was unarmed.
"About….. about the….." I was trying remembering something, but I just couldn't think of it. "I'm sorry…. my memory is a little….. fuzzy."
Liang smiled gently, "its ok Zi. You've been through a lot the last six years, haven't you?"
I turned away from him; I couldn't answer his question. I really didn't know what happen to me over the last six years. Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I looked up at Liang.
"It's ok Zi," he patted me on the shoulder.
"No it's not… otherwise you wouldn't be here," I sat down on a chair.
Liang started to rub his forehead in frustration, "yes… that's true. Everything isn't alright." He took my hand, "Zi, you have to come with me, now. There's no time to explain, but we have to go." He began to tug on my arm.
"Ouch!" I pulled away from him; my shoulder still hurt from my injury. "What's wrong Liang!? Why are you so scared?"
"I said there's no time! COME ON," he pulled harder on my arm.
"LIANG! Let GO!" I screamed as I tried to pull my arm from his grip.
He wasn't letting go though. I knew I had to do something and fast. With a quick twist and kick, I managed to kick Liang into a wall. He landed with a hard thud and slowly slid down the wall.
"You were always so hard to control Zi," a different voice came from the limp body.
"It's you…. you're that leader of the ANBU…. the hunter squad," I stepped back in fear.
"So you still have some of your memories…. that's good," Liang stood up, "do you remember any of your training before you left… like how to take down a Kekkei Genkai? That's what you were trained for."
"Trained for? That's why you're so different from a regular missing-nin," a voice came for the top of the stairs.
"Momochi Zabuza… it would be a pleasure… if you were my target," the false Liang looked up at the Demon.
"Girl," Zabuza looked down at me, "is this a friend of your's?"
"N… n… no," I shook my head.
"Hmph, by the way he's making you shake, he must be from your village," Zabuza looked back to the false Liang.
"Yes, I am. I am Syaoran of the Special Ninja Hunting Squad of the Village Hidden in the Clouds and I am here to capture the missing-nin, Byunia Zi," Liang started towards me slowly.
"Not another step," a needle appeared at the false Liang's throat.
"Oh and here's the other prize I was suppose to find," he smiled.
"Haku…. Haku get OUT OF THERE," I screamed.
I saw everything happening in one motion, Zabuza jumping down, with sword drawn, the false Liang grabbing hold of Haku and myself leaping towards both of them. It was like I was seeing everything from outside my body. I watched myself pull out my gensens and throw them at Liang's head. He leaped up, taking Haku with him and disappeared.
"Where did he go?!" I heard Zabuza as he landed next to my body.
"Outside," I answered in a distant tone as I walked out the door.
Zabuza pushed pass me and looked around furiously.
"HAKU!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, but there was no answer. Turning around, he came up to me and grabbed me by the collar, "WHERE did he GO?!"
"Somewhere," I answered nonchalantly.
"Grr! You're NO help," he threw me aside.
My world was growing dark…. I felt…. I felt a strange power within…. it felt like that night my brother died.
Zabuza leaped up into the trees, leaving a dazed Zi on the ground. He didn't have time to waste on that girl; she was already causing enough problems.
Where did that Hunter go? Why couldn't Haku read his movements? Something aren't right," Zabuza thought to himself as he jumped from limb to limb.
"Lord Zabuza!" Haku's voice ran through the night; he sounded like he was in pain.
Zabuza stopped to see if he could tell where his voice was coming from. It was close and just below his current position. Cautiously, he jumped down to the ground, waiting for Haku to call out again.
Rustle… snap…
"Lord Zabuza?" Haku stumbled out of the bushes. He was holding his stomach in pain.
"Haku?! What did he do to you?" Zabuza came to his side.
"I think he preformed a seal of some sort," Haku said through heavy breaths.
A seal? There's no way that a mere seal could stop Haku, Zabuza thought to himself.
"So you do care for the boy. How interesting," a voice rang from above. "I always thought you would be the uncaring type; then again, you decide to take little Zi under your wing." A ninja in ANBU clothing appeared in front of Zabuza.
"Syaoran, was it? I wouldn't say that," Zabuza sneered, "she has her used, but after night and all the trouble she's caused, I can't allow her to live."
The ninja laughed, "Please, that girl is more powerful than you could ever be. The weakness of her mind and body are the only things that hold her back. But she won't have to worry about the soon enough," he snickered. "And your little consort there won't have to worry about you much longer either."
"What do you want with that worthless little girl?" Zabuza tried to keep the ANBU ninja talking while he prepared to make his move, "she has a hard time killing people, she doesn't listen to commands and she's weak."
"Hmph, I have to admit she wasn't the best student and maybe to gentle to be a true ninja," he started to circle, "but she was never meant to be a ninja."
"You… you were waiting," Haku heaved, "you were waiting for her body to develop and for her to be completely loyal, but her brother died and she left your village."
"You're so observant. Yes, her worthless brother, Ye, died and poor little Zi was left alone in the world, so she left before we could… well I won't ruin the surprise," Syaoran semi laughed.
Swoosh….
"Ack!" Syaoran grabbed his face; a trickle of blood ran down his cheek.
That seems a little familiar, Zabuza thought to himself.
"Take it back Syaoran," a familiar female voice came from Zabuza's side.
"Well you decided to show up and make my job a lot easier," Syaoran sneered at Zi, but she didn't seem to care.
"Take back what you said about Ye," she said again through her teeth.
"Make me," Syaoran smirked.
"Girl, take Haku and I'll finish him off," Zabuza started to move towards the ANBU ninja.
"Hold it," she held up her hand, "this one is mine….. you get Haku out of here."
Zabuza looked over at Zi, her eyes were glazed over and filled with a deep hate. This Syaoran must have done something real bad to her, he thought to himself.
"Alright, he's your's, but you better finish him off in ten minutes," Zabuza warned.
"He'll be dead in five," Zi stepped forward in an offensive position; her gensens ready for a fight.
Haku put his arm over Zabuza's shoulder and they jumped up into the safety of the trees. There was no way they were going to miss this fight. Haku always thought Zi could be a great fighter, but something was always holding her back. It was time to see what Zi could do on her own.
"So how shall we play," Zi began to circle Syaoran, "as I recall the last time we fought, you liked to go first."
"Well that would normally be the case," Syaoran pushed his Hitai-ate headband up revealing large scar across his forehead, "but we can see how that ended up."
Zi smirked, "true… so I'll go first!"
Folding up her gensens, Zi jumped towards Syaoran. The ANBU ninja gave a small laugh and disappeared out of sight.
"Won't work," Zi yelled.
With all her might she threw one of her gensens up into the trees.
"ARRGGG!" Syaoran fell to the ground; Zi gensen was imbedded deep in his chest.
"One minute," Zabuza whispered.
"You were always had the best aim in the Academy," Syaoran murmured. "Your deadly precision…. that night… it saved you, but it couldn't safe your brother or your sensei or your teammate. You failed that night to protect the ones you loved and," Syaoran stood up, pulling the gensen out of his chest, "it's going to fail tonight."
With surprising speed, Syaoran became a blur as he ran towards Zi. She just stood there, not moving, not even preparing for the attack.
"Zi! Get ou…," Haku was cut short by Zabuza's hand.
"Your emotions aren't allowing you to see her trap. Two minutes" Zabuza laughed.
Haku looked back down at the fight, Syaoran was just a few feet away from Zi and she still hadn't shown any sign that she was going to counter the attack. Syaoran made one final leap towards Zi, his hand glowing with a bluish light.
"He's using a seal… the one he used on me," Haku whispered to Zabuza, but Zabuza seemed more interested in the fight.
"Got you…. AGG," Syaoran suddenly stopped as several hands grabbed him. "Your… your doppelgangers! How… you didn't even make…"
"You forgot so soon? I don't need to make hand signs!" Zi began to snicker, "to bad for you… but at least you won't have to worry about remembering anything again. Zabuza," she looked up at him, "time?"
"Three minutes," Zabuza answered nonchalantly.
"Looks like I'm ahead of schedule," she shrugged her shoulders.
Turning back to the struggling Syaoran, she put up her gensen and pointed it at her temple. Syaoran's face changed from anger to pure fear. It was like he knew what was coming and it wasn't going to be pretty.
"Time for you to die," Zi plunged her folded gensen into Syaoran's temple.
His face twisted and contorted in pain then went pale; his last breath was expelled. Zi pulled the gensen from the lifeless body. Her face showed no emotion; it reminded Haku of how Zabuza looked when he was killing. She looked up at the pair; a small smile appeared on her face.
"Are you ok Haku?" she asked shyly.
Haku smiled, "I think I'll be alright."
"You are going to tell me about this aren't you?" Zabuza sounded annoyed.
"In the morning," she lazily yawned, "I'm too tired right now."
Zabuza jumped down, taking Haku with him and started after the Kunoichi. He wasn't going to bother her anymore that night; she had earned her right to remain silent for the time being. Good work Zi; I knew I was keeping you around for your hidden skills, Zabuza thought quietly to himself.
