I am so sorry this took so long! I got way too distracted. :"D
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! MASASHI KISHIMOTO DOES! I also do not own any of the OCs introduced within the fan fiction, except the following:
Tsukuyomi Clan
Nero
Ikiteiru Kage
Mushishokan Gatsuki
Uzumaki Kaede
A/N: Ruriko's POV at the beginning~
Chapter Thirty: The Weak Are Meat, The Strong Eat! Akira's a Pervert…
"You're kind of screwed." Gatsuki stated, shrugging as he held out his arms, palms facing up. As soon as he did, a huge cloud of lunar moths floated from his palms into a huge flurry overhead. I stared. Holy crap, that's a lot of bugs! I grimaced. Roku blinked, his eyes wide as he pointed.
"Pretty!" He proclaimed.
"Not now, Roku!" I cried and pushed him back a little. Sasuke glared and unsheathed his sword.
"The rest of you head down the path. We just need to cross the border into the next country!" He ordered.
"What? No way," I protested, "We can't leave you here to fight him again!"
"You're still weak from your battle with Kotaro, now get your ass out of here!" Sasuke barked and surprised me, by slashing his sword at me, making me leap back. I glared, then looked at Roku.
"Go with the other people, Roku… Uh, I would say take care of them, but you'd probably do a matter job taking care of them." I muttered.
"Shut up!" Suigetsu protested. I rolled my eyes, then nudged Roku, who whined a little, but eventually nodded and left. Sasuke glared at me in annoyance. I swung my hand out toward the cloud of moths.
"Sorry, Sasuke, but I owe you one for saving me from Kotaro. And not to mention, if this guy uses that Genjutsu on you again, you'll be blind and by yourself." I told him. Sasuke frowned. I made a hand sign and lightening burst from my palm, slicing through a group of moths, tearing them to shreds. Gatsuki looked up calmly as the moth's little bodies fluttered to the snow. He glanced at me.
"That wasn't very nice… I take it you're one of those orphans too, hm? No parents to teach you left from right?" He asked with a bored sigh.
"Shut up!" I snapped. Sasuke took his chance and started up his chidori, aiming it at him. Gatsuki didn't move at all to get out of the way. In fact, he stood still, his hands in a hand sign.
"Summoning Jutsu! Kirei!" He slammed his palms together, his pinkies downwards and in a burst of smoke, Sasuke's chidori pierced the body of a huge ass lunar moth. Sasuke winced and tore his hand back, stumbling. The moth's huge wings stretched to reveal beautiful white patterns. The moth gave a quiet groan of pain.
"Aahh, Gatsuki," She murmured, "You treat your summonings so cruelly…" She fluttered up into the air, hovering now as blood fell from her wounded body, splashing on the ground. Gatsuki rolled his eyes.
"You don't get it as bad as your brother," He told her, then looked at Sasuke, closing his eyes in a smile, "Fail. I think you'd have learnt that the last time we fought."
"And you'd think that you'd pay more attention to both opponents!" I yelled, my hand in a hand sign as I thrust my hand out to set off a lightening jutsu, but nothing happened. I blinked and glared at Gatsuki, who looked at me out the corner of his eye.
"You're right. I didn't forget you… You're too noisy to forget… I just need to hold you two still for a second," He started weaving hand signs, glancing up at Kirei, "Kirei, go find the others that escaped. Capture them until I can arrive."
"Yes, Gatsuki-sama." Kirei whispered and fluttered off. Gatsuki finished his hand signs and brought his hands out, his fingers curled.
"Summoning! Vampire Moths!" Purplish black moths shot forth, tons of them about the side of my pinkie finger. The first one that hit me, bit down sharply on my cheek. I swung my hand up, smacking it off, only to be completely surrounded. Shit.
I felt their little mouths biting into my skin, ripping at it. I gritted my teeth. Two could play at that game. I opened my mouth and sucked in a deep breath, taking in three moths and crashing my teeth down on them.
"That's gross." Gatsuki commented.
"Ugh! They taste disgusting!" I whined, but I kept biting at them. Meanwhile, Sasuke used that lightening move, electricity crackling in the around him and destroying the moths so they fell to the snow. By the time the little moths were gone, Gatsuki was making more hand signs.
"Not bad. Try this. Summoning- Earth Style! Earth Shaking Palm!" He slammed his hands into the ground quickly, having gotten Sasuke and I prepared for another summoning. He tricked us, damn it! The earth at our feet shook and tore apart, rocks being brought up from the cracks in the earth. Snow piled in and shook, catching our feet. Sasuke shot up first, landing on a tree branch. I pushed off the ground and did a flip, catching a branch and flipping against before I landed on another branch.
Gatsuki glanced at both of us out the corner of his eyes before looking ahead and smiling behind his bandana.
"Very good. Now let's see how you can get out of this one." He made hand signs slowly, but began to speed up quickly. Sasuke cursed and leapt back.
"Ruriko! Those are the hand signs he used for the Genjutsu that he used on me! Cover your eyes!" He yelled. I immediately snapped my eyes shut, listening to an odd sound that rang through the air. It was like… The gentle fluttering of a thousand wings, moth wings.
It was almost hypnotic and I could feel the soft feathery wings touching my face and skin, no biting. I made quick hand signs, then a final one.
"Release!" I dared to open my eyes. It worked. The lilac colored moths disappeared in little puffs. I looked up at Sasuke, who had done the same, but was knocked back onto the snow. He sat up quickly just in time for Gatsuki to make another hand sign, thrusting his hand out.
"Earth Style. Eternal Imprisonment… Fit for a criminal." He added, giving another gentle smile. Sasuke went to get up, but jagged rocks shot from the ground and began to swirl around him, intent on locking him up forever.
"Sasuke!" I bolted from my position, going right at Gatsuki in hopes of stopping the jutsu. I slammed my fist right into Gatsuki's jaw, sending him skidding through the snow. I looked up in time to see the rocks gather around Sasuke like a box. I winced, cursing.
"He won't stay in there for long," Gatsuki said calmly, sitting up as he reached under his bandana to wipe his mouth, "He'll do what he did last time when I tried to trap him… Then he'll come at me and try and use chidori, just like he did last time… Then I'm going to summon my best offensive summoning and knock him back. It's child's play." I glared at him.
"Shut up! You act pretty high and noble when you don't do anything, but call for help!" I snarled. Gatsuki looked up at me, leaning back on the palms of his hands in the snow and giving me a bored look with pale green eyes.
"Hm, I know I'm high and noble. I'm wiser than you are. A girl of what? Thirteen?"
"Sixteen, asshead!"
"Sixteen. And my name is Gatsuki. What kind of insult is asshead?"
"Shut up!" I barked and just as I said it, the ground shook slightly and I whipped around to look at the prison of earth that encaged Sasuke. But not for long because it exploded in a flurry of rubble and smoke. I heard the loud screeching of chidori, my eyes widening.
Sasuke burst from the prison, looking nothing like he did before. His skin had darkened, his hair longer and bluer, the whites of his eyes black with Sharingan glowing in the center. Huge jagged, hand-like wings jutted from his back, spewing bits of his shirt out, a black star-like symbol spread across his face. I stumbled a little from the shaking of the earth, falling on my ass. And just as Gatsuki said, Sasuke went at him with chidori in his fist, glowing and shrieking loudly.
"And this is the best part." Gatsuki smirked, swinging his hands into a hand sign. I gasped.
"Sasuke, don't!" I protested, but it was too late. Sasuke was only a couple feet away before his chidori crashed into what looked like a huge mouth. I scrambled back, wincing as I watched Sasuke reel back in shock. As the smoke from the summoning cleared, it reveal a huge black moth with white beautiful designs, but it's mouth was full of jagged teeth, it's eyes red.
"Hyahahaha! You're screwed, brat! Your jutsu's in the hole!" It roared victoriously and it slammed its legs down. The entire planet felt like it shook. I felt dizzy as I scrambled to my feet, shooting up and grabbing a tree branch. Sasuke managed to use his wings to push himself back across the ground before getting to his feet, glaring daggers at the moth.
"Meet Hakai. My favorite of all summonings… Unfortunately, he's got the mind of a teenager." Gatsuki added under his breath.
"Shut up, Gatsuki," Hakai roared, "I got this! These runts are mine! Die, maggots!" Hakai reared up again, opening his mouth wide and bringing it down toward Sasuke, who managed to dart out of the way before whipping around and shooting up at him, sword in hand.
He managed to attack Hakai's face, making the moth roar out a stream of swear words. I saw blood splattering, telling me that Sasuke had cut open one of his bulging red eyes. I winced, then glanced at Gatsuki, watching the scene by tilting his head back as if he were star gazing. He didn't care that his summoning's blood was practically raining down on us, staining the snow and everything else. I gritted my teeth and shot off my feet, running at Gatsuki, who jerked his head at me.
I swung my foot around and kicked him in the face, knocking him through the line layer of snow and blood. Gatsuki winced a little and went to get up, but I kicked him in the face again, slamming his head into the ground. He gasped, blood staining his bandana. He narrowed his eyes and went to make a hand sign, but I lunged forward and bit down on his hand.
"Ugh!" Gatsuki gasped in pain, his eyes going wide. I bit down as hard as I could, sucking at the skin to move the process along. Then it happened. My teeth hit bone and I bit down harder, feeling the tips of my canine teeth piece it. Gatsuki gasped again, this time yelling.
"HAKAI!" He yelled. The giant moth that was now missing a giant eye as well as chunks of flesh whipped around, his single eye widening.
"Gatsuki!"
"Ruriko, keep doing that!" Sasuke yelled at me from above and started up chidori one last time. It slammed into Hakai's head as soon as my teeth cut clean through Gatsuki's bone.
Damn it, Sasuke!
I jerked away, taking Gatsuki's hand with me. Gatsuki howled, the first loud sound I heard him make. He tore backwards, holding his blood spurting wrist to his gut, wincing.
I immediately spat his hand out on the ground, still having some flesh in my mouth as I swallowed it. Gatsuki's eye was twitching in pain as he scrambled to his feet.
"Hakai! We're finished here!" He barked and made a hand sign with his free hand, causing the bloodied, defeated summoning to disappear in a huge puff of smoke. Gatsuki whipped around and shot off as fast as he could, leaving behind a puddle of blood. I winced a little, holding my mouth. Damn, that hurt my teeth…
I turned as Sasuke landed on the ground, looking thoroughly exhausted, breathing hard. His skin was slowly returning to normal as well as his eyes. He was shaking, though, as if he wasn't going to stand for long, so I caught him quickly.
"What the hell was that…?" I managed as the wings vanished. Sasuke leaned on me, panting.
"Nothing… Forget it… Agh…"
"What? Did whatever just happen wipe you out that much?"
"Kind of… Sort of… Not really…" His voice trailed as he went limp. I sighed. Great. More carrying duty for me. Man, this sucked. I pulled Sasuke up into my arms the best I could before shooting off to find the others.
Akira's POV
I leaned on the railing of the boat, frowning to myself as it chugged along the dark, murky waters. It got this odd, unsettled feeling about floating along it, though. Like someone was watching us from underneath it's dark surface. I glanced down, frowning a little more.
"What's so interesting?" A voice asked. I jumped and looked up to find Kasumi watching me, a light smile on her face. I beamed back, my worries dying right away.
"Hahaha, nothing. It's just really dark water." I replied. Kasumi peered over, then stepped away from it a little, laughing lightly.
"It's creepy. Kind of like someone's in there." She answered. I blinked, then smiled.
"That's what I felt like… So, did you talk to the other passengers?" I asked, curiously cocking my head. Kasumi sighed and leaned on the railing beside me.
"Yea… They said they saw a group similar to one we're looking for get on a boat a couple hours ago. This means we're probably about a day behind them." She replied. I frowned.
"I see… That's a bit much, so we'll have to move faster when we touch land." I said to her. She nodded, averting her eyes.
"I just hope nothing Ryuuko said is true… I couldn't sleep earlier because it was bothering me."
"Same here… It's best to try and push it out of your head while you can, I guess. Let's just focus on one thing at a time. Like finding them first." I pointed out. Kasumi pushed off the rails, folding her arms over her chest.
"I guess so." She murmured. I grinned and threw my arms around her, hugging her from behind making her let out a little yelp.
"Ne, Kasumi~ After this is all over, how about that date, eh? I promise to buy you a lovely dinner and anything else you want~" I cooed, putting my head on her left shoulder. Her eye twitched, so did the corner of her mouth. She looked like she was restraining something and I could only guess it was emotion.
"You think three years will change my mind?" She asked, closing her eyes, but not pushing me back, which made me grin some more, holding her tighter.
"How about three dates?" I tried. Kasumi twitched.
"You pervert." She accused.
"Hey, no cuddle fests on the boat!" Osamu yelled from across the deck. I pouted, looking up at him without letting go of Kasumi.
"You're just jealous that you have no one to hang onto." I taunted. Osamu twitched.
"Shut up, asshead."
"Isn't that Ruriko's insult?" Nero asked from beside him, raising a eyebrow. Osamu went pink and smacked his forehead.
"I didn't mean… Er, it just came out… Shut up!" He snapped in Nero's face. Nero just puffed some smoke in his face before looking the other way. Osamu coughed and hacked for air, his face turning a little green.
"Ugh," Daisuke whined from his spot at the bow, "Stop talking about cuddling… I already missed Sora enough as it was!"
"All the better," I replied, "So when you see her, you can give her a big hug and a bunch of kisses and-"
"Akira, I think your gayness is showing." Osamu taunted. I went pink, glaring at him.
"Oh shut up! I am not gay!" I protested. To prove it, I hugged Kasumi tighter, making her yelp a little.
"Akira!" She tried, but she still wasn't trying to pull away and that brought back my grin.
"How did we even get on this topic?" Kin asked, sitting on top of the little cabin at the center of the boat.
"I'm staying out of it." Ryuuko said, leaning on the wall of the cabin, shaking his head.
"Hmph." Was my response as I nuzzled Kasumi with a grin. I was pleased to find a pink blush crossing her face now.
"A-Akira, quit it! People are gonna get the wrong idea!" She protested nervously. I chuckled.
"I think it's a good idea!" I snickered.
"Akira, people are you going to arrest you for being a pervert." Nero accused, flicking his cigarette over the edge of the boat. I rolled my eyes and finally Kasumi jumped away, brushing herself off and huffing.
"You're all terrible… Hey, what the hell is that?" She demanded, thrusting her finger forward. We all jumped, alert now as we followed her gaze. As we looked up, we saw the port up ahead… In flames.
"Shit," I cursed, "Well, looks like someone's leaving a path of destruction in their wake."
"Do you think it was Sasuke's group or Kotaro?" Kasumi asked, her tone awed. I frowned.
"I don't know, but we need to get over there and help them. Now." I commanded.
"Right." Nero agreed. We didn't even bother for the boat to dock since we jumped off and landed on the surface of the water, sprinting across the water at top speed. We could feel the heat of the flames being just a few feet away from the dock.
"Ryuuko!" I ordered.
"On it." Ryuuko started making hand signs quickly, the rest of us standing back as he brought up a wave of dark water, thrusting it forward at the village. Most of the fire went out. The rest of us bolted forward.
Looks like we were going to fall behind schedule, again. Damn it, Ruriko, I'd wish you'd stay in one place…
Ruriko's POV
I had to let Juugo carry Sasuke because he was just too heavy for me and I had to carry Roku on my back as we leapt over the border, zooming off through the trees. Thankfully the temperature was becoming warmer so we could ditch out cloaks. Suigetsu was the one who rejoiced the most.
"FINALLY! I fucking hated that!" He yelled.
"Just like we hate you." Karin muttered.
"Shut up, bitch!"
"Dickhead!"
"For the love of gods!" I shouted, my eye twitching. Roku giggled behind me and held on tighter as we hopped over a stream that led to a little waterfall. Suigetsu and Karin kept arguing, though, until Sasuke woke up when we finally stopped for another break since Suigetsu was thirsty.
"Ugh," Sasuke muttered, holding the side of his head, "I feel like I was just knocked in the head."
"You fought a giant moth. I would think you'd have a headache." I responded dryly, sitting down beside him with Roku hopping into my lap. Sasuke blinked, then frowned, studying me tiredly.
"… What happened?"
"You passed out… After using whatever you used back there. What the hell was that?" I demanded. Sasuke ignored me, jerking his head the other way with a scowl on his face. I scowled.
"Well, your welcome for not leaving you behind to get killed, asshead."
"If you use that insult one more time, I'm going to kill you."
"ASSHEAD. ASSHEAD." I started to chant, but Roku suddenly wailed, making me yelp as he pointed frantically in the direction we had come.
"Na! Na!"
"Shut him up! He did that earlier when you guys were off fighting!" Suigetsu barked angrily, getting to his feet like he was going hit Roku. I glared at him.
"Wait," Karin said before I could start in on him, "I think he senses something…! I can feel chakra moving in our direction." Sasuke jerked his head up.
"How many?" He demanded. Karin was on her feet now, her eyes narrowed behind her glasses as she adjusted them.
"One, two… Three… There's seven of them. One of them has similar chakra to you." She glanced at me. I blinked, confused.
"Me?" I asked. Who had chakra similar to mine? Sasuke glared at me.
"If this is another trick…" He warned. I glared at him.
"Shut up, asshead! If it was a trick, then I wouldn't be surprised!" I snarled.
"Who's to say you aren't faking it?" Suigetsu mocked. I rolled my eyes.
"Who's to say you're not faking to be loyal to Sasuke?" I demanded. Suigetsu twitched. Sasuke got to his feet, scowling.
"That's it. Shut up. We're out of here. We don't have time for this. Let's go."
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A/N: The first part of the title I take no credit for. It's Kisame's favorite saying and I thought it fit. o3o And… Yea, Akira is a pervert. ;D Sorry if the ending bit is messed up, but I got super distracted. Promise to write a better chapter next time! So thanks for reading, hope the OCs are in character, and your reviews are greatly appreciated! ^^