Hello again all, I'm back again to answer a few questions I was posed in a review and to thank my newest reviewers, ChicFreakSistaFierce and xDarakuxShitaxTenshix
To SasoLOVE111, I seem to of forgotten to slip in somewhere what my OC Saitou looks like. I have a habit of doing that in a 1st person perspective story. His skin is a very light tan, he also has shoulder blade length hair that he keeps back in a ponytail with large loose strands in the front. His eyes are black, with a chiseled jaw (only really visible when his mask is off.) Which brings me to your other question.
He will not be a Kakashi type guy who NEVER takes off his mask – I wonder if he washes it at all? Saitou only wears it while he's in his "ninja outfit". If he's in civilian clothing he won't wear it. He also has no problem removing it when he's in his ninja gear either. There will be an example of this later in the chapter.
To ChicFreakSistaFierce – Thanks for fav'ing me! I'm very glad to get another reader!
To xDarakuxShitaxTenshix – I'm glad you like my fic, and hope you enjoy this chapter too!
As a side note, before I being the chapter I gotta say – it's sometimes intimidating how well a lot of authors on this website write. I'll read a story that has like a good 2000 reviews and I'll get not only inspired but discouraged by how amazing they are. Well, that's what practice is for right?
Enough of my drabbing, onto the good stuff.
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The hallways of the complex were full of civilians and militia alike, the smell of death and filth hung heavily in the air like a choking miasma. Violent coughing, pain filled groans and the crying of scared children echoed throughout the complex. I could feel Sakura's want to stop and try to relieve the pain of these people, but there were too many and she had to save her chakra for the upcoming battle. I felt sorry for her, being a doctor and not being able to help someone in pain must be horrible.
Most of the men and women we passed were all covered in dirty and bloody bandages. The unlucky ones were missing appendages and other important body parts. I was sure some of the people slumped against the wall or floor were dead. They all would look up too, as we passed by. I could feel some pride in my heart as I saw them zero in on my Konoha hitai-ate that I equipped to my scarf. I could hear hushed whispers dart between them, all feeling a surge of renewed vigor and hope. The ninja from Konohagakure were here. Even with these mild to grievous injuries and air of hopelessness, many of the militia and civilians began to put on hard, determined faces. All of them ready to fight again for their home.
Sakura and I had been led into a small waiting room, which at one time might have been used to entertain guests. Now, it housed various weapons held by wooden racks. I could also see faint blood stains on the floor and walls, there must have been a battle here for that type of spread. I could even smell a faint hint of the coppery blood. Being in this line of work, it's a smell one becomes used to.
The worst part of this room to me was the lighting. Blood had spilled and caked onto the three medium round windows, causing the sunlight to come in partially red, making the room an eerie orange. It certainly completed the atmosphere of the experience up to this point. I half-wondered if we had actually left our plane and trespassed into a hellish realm.
I looked over to Sakura, I could only guess she might be thinking the same things I was. Her face was mostly neutral, but by the way her lip twitched and her eyes quickly darted from areas in the room to her knees, I guess she wasn't used to this type of thing. It didn't surprise me, Konoha had a reputation for never exposing it's younger ninja to these types of things.
My mouth fell to a grimace as I recalled some of the more gruesome missions I had been on in my career. I'm starting to see the wisdom behind Konoha's reluctance to send young ninjas to bloodbaths. I'll be lucky to get to old age without some severe mental disorder.
"Saitou-sempai, are you alright? You seem to be thinking about something unpleasant."
I looked up towards Sakura, who had her head slightly tilted. I just smiled at her through my mask and shook my head. "I'm fine, thank you for your concern though." Then, a thought crossed my mind as I shifted from the normal kneeling positing to sitting on my rear and crossing my legs. "Also Sakura-san, there's no need to call me sempai, I might be a Jonin but. . ." I trailed off, wondering if what I was about to say next might be foolish.
"But what?" she asked, her curiosity evident in her tone. I swear I even saw a ghost of smile.
I coughed into my hand and hoped that the heat rising to my cheeks was properly protected from view by my mask. "Well. . . I was kinda hoping we could, um . . . be friends?" I was mentally kicking myself the entire time I spoke. I was talking much the way a new academy student would throw kunai: Clumsy and awkward.
Her curious expression soon turned into one of surprise, while I didn't peg it as a bad thing necessarily, I could feel my body heat up as I started to sweat. I felt my palms start to get clammy and I had to resist the urge to rip off my gloves so I could get some air on them. There wasn't a clock in the room, but as I looked into her eyes I could clearly make one out.
She opened her mouth and began to say something when the sliding door behind me crashed open. It made us both jump and myself curse as I rolled to the left and spun mid-roll to greet the intruder with a kunai gripped tightly in my grasp. I was about to let it fly when I saw it was a man of average height clad in bright samurai armor.
"Good reflexes! I would expect nothing less from shinobi of Konohagakure." The man spoke with a joking tone, not realizing the danger of sneaking up on a ninja. We don't pride ourselves on that, but what we do however is killing anyone who does.
I let out a annoying sigh as I holstered my kunai, both annoyed at myself for getting snuck up on and for him for interrupting what Sakura was going to say.
The samurai strode into the room with long strides and spoke as he sat on the right side of the small table we'd been at. "I'm glad you got here when you did, I was starting to dread that Konoha wouldn't send aid." He spoke with a raised, jovial voice, seeming to either be ignorant or defiant of his situation.
Now that I wasn't afraid for my life, I was able to get a closer look at the man. He was balding, his only black hair being around his head and he let it grow loose and wild where it reached his shoulders. A ridiculous hairstyle normally, but it rather fit him I suppose. He had a mustache and medium goatee that framed his smirking face. Both were carefully trimmed and groomed. His face was wrinkled but his black eyes betrayed his age. They brightly flamed in the orange glow, making him look younger alone.
His armor was polished brilliantly, it sparkled and shone in the sunlight. At his side, he wore a katana and wakazashi, both with red grips and gold pommels, leading down to golden handle guards nestled in black sheaths.
Sakura bowed to the samurai and spoke in a professional tone. "Please forgive us . . ." she trailed off, looking towards the man expectantly.
The samurai slapped his forehead, berating himself and smiled at her. "Forgive me, it was rude of me to not introduce myself, I am Nagato Migazuchi! Magistrate and commander of this town."
She smiled and bowed again to him, "I am Sakura Haruno, this is my partner Saitou Kiryu." I was happy she refereed to me as an equal, rather than superior.
I bowed my head, looking towards Nagato. "It's a pleasure to meet you Migazuchi-sama."
"Come now, we'll be comrades-in-arms soon! I will never allow any men fighting with me to refer to me as such! Call me Nagato." He spoke, his smile never leaving his face.
I had to admit, it was infectious as I smiled back secretly through my mask.
Sakura too seemed to have caught his virus as she laughed, "As I was saying Nagato, we're sorry about taking so long with accepting this mission. We get so many at times that some are accidentally pushed aside."
I looked towards her, actually impressed with her reason. She gave me a quick glance to make sure I understood and I nodded quickly back. It would be bad if we started telling people that Konoha was undermanned and stretched thin. Who knows who's listening in, that information might fall on the wrong ears and spark an invasion.
Nagato nodded, leaning towards her. "That's alright, the important thing is that you arrived before we all became spider food."
I mentally laughed as I noted not only this man's unending cheerfulness, but my female companion's face as she grimaced at his words.
"That being said," he spoke, his face turning semi-serious, "We have only one assault left in us. Should they attack again and you fail, I have no doubt they'd be able to overrun and kill us."
"I don't think that's a problem you have to worry about Nagato, we'll kill these pests. Right Sakura-san?" I asked, punching my right fist into the other palm.
Sakura smiled confidently at me and nodded.
"Confidence is commendable, but do not let it cloud your vision." Nagato lectured, his eyes jaded. "It will take more than a big boot and a paper towel to kill these things. We've only managed to injure a few of the beasts ourselves. Their hides are as thick as a man's arm and strong like steel."
"What can you tell us about these things?" I asked, wanting as much intel on our enemy as I could get.
Nagato frowned, as he looked down at the table. "They are . . . hard to describe. They are unlike anything I've ever seen before in my time." He paused, taking the time to look between us. "These beasts are the size of a horse, I've seen them overwhelm a soldier instantly and drain him of his blood in seconds."
I saw Sakura shiver for a moment but quickly stopped herself. I had to repress the urge myself, the idea of it was somewhat frightening.
"The poison they excrete from their fangs is extremely deadly. I've seen all the stages of it."
Sakura looked up, intrigued, and leaned forward. "Tell me what the victim goes through. I'm a medical ninja, if you can describe to me the steps, I might be able to discern what type of venom it is and develop an antidote."
"A medical ninja? Your village is wise to send you here then." He looked towards me, his face clearly worried for me. "If you are poisoned, I pray to Kami you'll be able to be treated quickly. Or, be able to retain enough willpower to kill yourself."
"Glad to know I'd suffer a painless death. . ." I muttered to myself darkly. This man had a way with words. . .
I looked over to Sakura and was almost surprised at how intense her look was as she pulled out a pen an paper from her pack. She clearly was serious about her being a medical ninja.
"The first stage which happens almost immediately after being bit," he started, looking back over at Sakura, "is a complete shock to the victim's nervous system. They'll lose all motor control and start to hallucinate. I've seen some victims even start to scream out what they see."
Sakura was hanging onto his every word as she copied down word for word what he said.
"Then, after about twenty to thirty seconds later, the victim stops breathing and dies of suffocation."
I grimaced, hearing the time lapse between initial injection of the venom and death. "So you basically have less than a minute to be cured after being bit?" I asked, hoping he might of left out a step or two.
Nagato just nodded. "All it takes is a scratch. Almost our entire village was wiped out in the first attack because of this." I could tell as he thought about his village being massacred, he went in between grief and anger. From the bottom of my heart, I truly felt sorry for the man.
"Strange," Sakura started, getting our attention, "I know what kind of venom this is. It's a neurotoxin derived from the taipon snake."
"Snake venom? Why would a spider have that?" I asked, slightly wondering if she knew what she was talking about. Otherwise, the implications of such a thing could only mean these spiders weren't natural.
She nodded her face mirroring my thoughts. "Yes, the snake in question lives in the forest of death. Tsunade-shicho has trained me rather extensively on snake venoms, the way they kill and how to counter it."
"Excellent! So you can create an antidote?" Nagato almost yelled, leaning towards her exuberantly. Judging by the look on her face, she was about to wipe his smile off quick.
"Not unless you have a well stocked herbal supply," she started, watching Nagato sit back down with a sigh. "The plants I need are only grown high in the mountains in Yukigakure."
"So it's hopeless?"
She shook her head slowly, "Not exactly. . . there is one other way – but I'm not sure I can pull it off." She said quickly, to stop Nagato and myself from becoming too hopeful. "There's a medical jutsu that allows one to pull venom from the body by extracting it straight through the blood veins and through the pores of the body. The thing is that it requires an insane amount of control, if I were to use too much chakra I could easily rupture the area I'm trying to extract. I've only ever seen Tsunade-shicho do it. She also told me to try the jutsu if there was no other way, even for her it can be difficult. . ." she trailed off, looking down at the ground.
The room grew silent as we all fully digested the problems this mission was starting to throw our way. Even Nagato, who seemed eternally optimistic when he first entered the room was now downcast. Morale was low, I had to do something. "Well then, all that means is that we have to focus on not getting hit." Easier said than done.
Sakura's face seemed to reflect that, but Nagato laughed, seeming to get out of his funk. "You remind me of my son, more courage than brains!" with that he broke off into a large laugh; even Sakura was giggling. Jerks.
Before we had anymore time to continue our banter, an unholy and high pitched wail penetrated the compound and froze the soul's of anyone within earshot. We all stood, looking around in confusion. It didn't take long for screams to begin outside, they were coming from the front gate!
"That sounded like one of the monsters who attacked the village!" Nagato yelled, ripping his katana from it's wooden sheath.
"Sakura! Stay here!" I ordered as I went to the window, intent to discover the cause of the wailing.
"What? Why?" she asked, moving with me.
I spun around to meet her eyes, trying to convey in my own that I wasn't in any mood to argue with her. I didn't want to pull the rank card, but it looks like I would have to. "We've yet to encounter one of these things. If it proves too strong for me and gets me with it's venom, your the only person who can cure it, or return to Konoha for reinforcements!" I yelled, startling her.
I watched as her mouth twitched into a snarl but quickly set back into place. "Fine, I'll stay here and protect Nagato."
I nodded back to her and turned again, throwing open the window and leaping out into the courtyard below. I tucked and rolled as I landed, not stopping for a moment as I ran straight for the gate where the sounds of slaughter grew louder. Screams coming from dying men could clearly be heard, along with the battle cry of one of those things. Anticipation grew in my heart as I both dreaded and welcomed the chance to battle whatever the hell I was about to encounter. A final wall ahead of me separated myself and the front gate. With a quick chakra surge to my legs, I pushed off my planted foot and felt myself leap high into the air to be greeted by the sight of three bloody corpses and a monstrosity that could only be forged in a nightmare.
Even moving the way I was, I could clearly see the grotesque features of the spider demon. It was black as night, hair covering it's entire carapiece. With it's six legs extended it would easily be a long as twelve feet. It's six eyes were all blood red as it's deadly fangs continuously plunged and ripped away flesh from it's victim, the screaming fading away into a gurgle as he died a horrible death.
I landed a good ten feet away from the creature, my eyes never leaving it's. My appearance drew the beasts attention away from it's kill and straight to me, where I swore I saw the red glow focus onto me. I felt beads of sweat start to collect at my temple as I was affected by primal fear down to my core. I swallowed it as best I could however, knowing that any hesitation or doubt could lead to my death. My hand flashed to Izayoi and pulled it free of it's scabbard, the loud sound of it's cry ringing through the area.
The spider began to click it's fangs together, as to threaten me with certain death. It slowly stepped over a few feet to the left, as to better situate itself to strike.
I took a deep breath as I calmed myself and started to shut out all other sounds and feelings. The sounds of the panicked villagers lulled away. The glare from the sun grew dim. The feeling of the wind and the smell of the putrid village became more clear as I tuned into my senses. Now, all I could hear was the sound of my own breathing and the clicking of the spider's fangs.
The only warning I got for it's attack was a tensing of it's frame and a split second later it launched itself forward at an amazing speed I could barely keep up with. I was however, to the dismay of my attacker, able to jump forward to the ground and roll under the abnormal spider as it soared harmlessly overhead. Coming out of my roll, I turned back towards it with my sword held at my side. I tightly gripped it as I waited for the next attack.
The spider screamed another cry, displeased I was able to avoid it. Much like an enraged fighter, it leaped again without thinking. This time, I had a plan. At the last possible second I ducked the attack and held my sword straight up with the handle near my head. Bracing Izayoi with my left hand against the lower back of the blade, I grunted as I held on with all my might as the beast met steel. It's own forceful jump propelled itself across my katana and cut most of the thing in half. The thorax of the beast was too large for my sword to completely cleave, but it was dead before it even reached that part.
The corpse of the demon flew another good foot before landing with a wet, sick thud and rolled another five feet before it's legs twitched a few times and curled inwards.
I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding and wiped my forehead with the back of my gauntlet. I had killed the thing. I chided myself however, as I quickly tuned again to the sounds around me. I couldn't relax yet, there could be more. But, only the frantic sounds of the house behind me were all the penetrated my field of hearing.
Falling out of my battle stance, I looked down at Izayoi and scrunched my nose in disgust as I saw both the thing's foul blood and some yellow silk sticking to her. I must of ruptured the sack that held the material. I could also feel some blood trickling down my skull and my shoulders. I knew I wasn't injured, so I shuddered at having it's blood on me. Sure, I've had human blood splattered onto me before, but at least it didn't stink like rotten meat or come from a disgusting species.
"Saitou-san!" I heard behind me, it was a collective yell of villagers and the two people I was familiar with. Turning, I offered a simple wave and hidden smile.
"Kami's beard! You slew the fiend!" Nagato yelled, running to me, his eyes glued onto the spider. I almost wanted to laugh at his antics and shock.
"If it breathes, it bleeds and dies like everything else." I replied, feeling a nice shot of pride get injected into my ego. I knew it was bad to get used to it, but not so bad to enjoy it.
I could hear the shocked gasps of the villagers behind me as well, along with – what I had to guess – whispers of gratitude to the Konoha shinobi.
"You killed it with your sword I take it?" Nagato asked, eying the large gash that cleanly cut the beast down it's midsection. After seeing my nod he took a closer look at my sword in wonder. "What is it forged from? My militia uses spears crafted from the finest steel, but it couldn't pierce the things.
I looked down at Izayoi and shrugged, then turning it upside down in my grasp I slammed the tip through the concrete and into the ground, shocking the magistrate. "This sword has been passed down through my family for generations. My father told me that at one time we had a family scroll that listed all the sword bearers in the past." I said, kneeling down to the sword, gaining the interesting looks of everyone present. " It was lost in a fire, during my great grandfather's time, but it's rumored that this sword was forged hundreds of years ago." I gently placed my right hand along the handled and stroked it once, remembering the stories my parents used to tell me. The courtyard seemed to grow silent as all ears were given to me."The legend, however states that it was forged even longer ago than that."
"They say that thousands years ago, before ninja and even recorded history, a great and terrible dragon, Gouyokuryu, rampaged the lands, killing and burning the land indiscriminately. The people of the land begged and prayed to the Goddess Amaterasu to slay the beast. Hearing the heartfelt cries of her people, she commanded Raijin, the god of thunder, to descend from heaven to slay the dreaded dragon."
As I spoke, I could start to hear my father's deep voice overlap my own in my head. I had been told this legend hundreds of times, and I loved it more each time I heard it. "Raijin found Gouyokuryu fighting a single human male, who stood no chance against the beast, but fought bravely for his village. Raijin intervened before the killing blow could be landed on the young warrior and fought a terrible battle with Gouyokuryu that lasted days. At the end of it, Raijin stood over the defeated dragon and plunged his sword through it's head to finish it off."
"But, that's not the end. So moved was the God by the humans strength, cunning, and valor in battle, he tore from the dragons mouth a gigantic fang and returned to heaven with it. There, he was said to forge this, Izayoi, and returned to earth to grant the human the weapon of a god." As I trailed off, I quickly went through a special set of hand signs, ending with dragon. Thrusting my hand out, I grasped Izayoi and I felt chakra rush into the blade and ignited it with lightning that danced around the blade, destroying any clinging silk and blood.
Holding the crackling, clean blade in front of me I looked into Nagato's eyes and smiled. Then, mentally I dismissed the flow of chakra to the blade and the lightning ceased. I returned the blade back to it's sheath and crossed my arms. "Or, that's how the legend goes anyways. It's a nice tale."
"Your ancestor was the human wasn't he?" I heard a familiar female voice ask. I looked over and saw Sakura descending the stairs, with an interested look on her face.
"Yes, if the legend is true."
Nagato snorted and slapped my back, making me grunt. "Regardless if the legend is real or not, someone has finally spilled the blood of one of those dammed beasts!"
Then, from the house cheers began to rise over the crowd. "The ninjas from Konoha are going to save us!" They yelled.
Both Sakura and myself just meekly blushed and I scratched the back of my head. I could only hope that we wouldn't disappoint them. If we did. . . well I didn't want to think of the consequences as I looked over the tired, but hopeful wounded villagers. They looked so much happier than before when we first arrived. It made me feel truly good about myself and being a ninja. Being able to help and give people this sort of hope was beyond words or reward.
"Saitou-san," I heard Sakura call, garnering my attention, "good job taking that thing down." She praised me with a sweet smile.
All my earlier advances in getting past my bashfulness was shattered there and then as I noticed how amazingly cute she could be when she did that. "I-I . . . uhm . . ." I sputtered out feeling more and more heat rise to my face as I continued to embarrass myself.
"But," she started again, her voice switching to a deadly one that scared me, "Please don't leave me behind again, I'm not some dead-weight kunoichi that can't fight."
Ah, that. I didn't think ahead when I told her to stay behind. I'm not surprised she was angry with me. "I'm sorry Sakura-san, but I – " I started.
"Is it because I'm a girl?" she blurted out, interrupting me. Judging by how she had her fists balled up and on her hips, she was angry. Not to mention her eyes seemed to be attempting to immolate my soul.
"Wha-? No! It's not that at all! I just –!" I was interrupted again by howling laughter coming from Nagato and the villagers who were obviously enjoying our banter.
"Chauvinist!" she yelled out, her cheeks red, probably embarrassed by the crowds laughter. Then, she stomped off into the complex, the steam almost visible from her ears.
But, to me the crowd's laughter was the furthest thing in my mind. Echoing off the walls of my head was her hurtful insult repeating over and over again, louder each time. It was like some horrible genjutsu that I couldn't escape as I stood paralyzed by it. I was somewhat returned back to earth by a slap to my back.
"Well, that's women for you. Easily controlled by rage and misunderstandings." Nagato laughed.
I just shook my head not wanting to even think ill towards any woman, especially Sakura, after taking the blunt of her wrath; misguided as it was.
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Whoo, another chapter done! Sorry for the long wait, but in between work and a bad case of writers block (video games don't help either . . .) I wanted to take my time and not rush this chapter.
For this chapter, I used my friend the internet and researched spider anatomy. * shudders heavily * I'm a violent arachnaphobic. I kill any spider on sight. It was also really fun to "invent" the legend about Izayoi and Saitou's ancestors. And before anyone asks, no he is not a demi-god or anything like that.
Sorry, just used to people freaking out on over powered OC's. I took the names from Shinto mythology, except for Gouyokuryu which is name I made. It means Greed Dragon. Gouyoku being greed and Ryu being dragon.
As a final note, I have to say I'm rather surprised at how my only reviewers have been female. I wonder if that's because of Sakura? I noticed she's very popular with girls. Not that it's a bad thing of course, I think it's rather cool, seeing as how I want to become a action/romance novelist. Also, to save my own skin the aforementioned comment made by Nagato is not shared by the author of this story. I'm not so eager to part with my head to say or think something like that with females reading my story.
Peace out till the next chapter!