Chapter 38
"Do I know you?" asked Tomo in a confused manner. This man knew her name, but she was certain she had never seen him before. His voice, appearance all of it was new to her. Then again, it could be someone who had transformed their appearance. But still he seemed unfamiliar.
"No I am afraid we have never met before today. You have never seen me before, never spoken to me before. But I know about you."
"Oh…you do?" asked Tomo in an uncomfortable manner. Why did the creeps have to know about her? All the time?
"Of course I do" replied Kuraigu. "Tomo Takino, the girl that the power of the nine tailed fox was sealed within. You'd be foolish to think it's only a few people who know about this. For over a decade I have heard of the one with the fox spirit training to become a ninja. And now here you are."
"Thanks for the history lesson" said Tomo, stepping back slightly. She hadn't even thought of the demon fox for a long time. And now she had Mr. crazy here talking about it. "So what now? You want to use my power or something? Want me to help you?"
"No, no not at all" replied Kuraigu. "No I don't want to use you or call you comrade. I want to fight you" he stated calmly.
"F-fight me?" asked Tomo. "But I'm half the size of you and so on…" she said, not wanting to criticise herself too much.
"Yes but you may have a potential level of skill higher then anyone else could ever hope to possess. I want to fight the demon fox vessel, take on the biggest power in this land" he said clenching his hand into a fist. "I've been sent here to destroy this village. That is almost complete. But now I'm here, I want to do my own personal mission."
"But I'm just a student in training" she stated.
"We shall see" said Kuraigu.
With that the man charged. Tomo held up her own small sword, and was sent flying backwards as she just about blocked the blow. She smashed into the wall, narrowly avoiding a fall down the steps. She coughed and pushed herself up with shaking arms. She wasn't quite sure what she could do here- this guy was tough. Should have got help…
She watched in shock as the sword came towards her face, her eyes closing as she waited for the inevitable. The large sword tore into the stone wall, and now they were face to face. She felt his warm, and surprisingly nice smelling breathe against her face. He moved closer.
"You don't have to hold back on my account" he stated. "Show me your power!" He yanked the sword out of the wall and stepped back.
Tomo stepped forwards, still holding onto her 'sword'. It looked so feeble in her hands, looked so feeble compared to the enemies weapon. She should have taken Kimura's sword, he wouldn't have any use for it at the moment. She limped forward, crouching down as though attending to a shoelace. The man stood waited impatiently. She slowly reached into her weapons pouch and gripped two shuriken.
"Please hit this guy" she whispered to herself.
She jumped sideways, throwing the shuriken. The man looked surprised, but didn't even jerk back in pain as one dug into his side, and the other dug into his arm. As Tomo fell through the air she gripped a kunai blade and threw it, the blade striking the man in the shin. He grunted in surprise and reached down to pull it out. Blood spat out as the weapon was pulled out.
Sensing her chance Tomo charged. She could see his bare neck, unprotected, ready to be torn into. She hoped the strike would be true. Kuraigu swung up one large arm and his sword blocked the attack and sliced into her arm.
Tomo fell back again, gripping her arm as the sharp pains ran throughout it. The circle of burning torches meant she was able to see the deeply stained sleeve. Well that hadn't worked. And just in the distance she saw the vague outline of a net of some kind…perhaps a way to get down from the roof quickly.
"Damn it Tomo attack me properly!" he yelled out. "You managed to survive an encounter with Zabuza. You can do better then this!" he said angrily, passionately.
"T-that was mainly due to luck" replied Tomo, standing up. She wobbled slightly, her legs unstable. About the only thing she had against him was speed, but he seemed to be able to block any attack. She limped towards the man. Well, she had been faster then him. Didn't look that way now though.
She charged with the sword, gritting her teeth as pain pulsed through her injured leg and arm. The man laughed, preparing himself for something much stronger then Tomo could muster. Her sword struck against his, feeling surprisingly solid in her hands. The man had a look of disappointment at the weakness of the attack, and sent her flying back with a faint grunt.
She smacked into the ground and rolled before hitting the wall. She felt the wave of nausea come over her and promptly threw up. The vomit mixed with her own blood that was splattered on the floor. Her juddering hands reached out to pick up the small sword that had fallen from her their grasp.
"Alright Tomo!" boomed Kuraigu, the girl looking up. "I can see that you aren't going to just use your power. However I think I have a way to see it" he said.
He picked up one of the torches and turned away from Tomo. He considered her to have been so poor he didn't even have to watch his own back. As he walked away Tomo feebly tried to throw a shuriken, but it just fell between her feet. She slowly stood up as he marched to the net she'd earlier seen.
"Do you recognize these people?" he asked, holding the flame up to the net.
Tomo was jolted back out of her daze as she stood looking at the faces of Yomi and Kagura. Both had chosen to remain quiet so as not to distract Tomo during her fight. They looked scared and shocked as they saw their bloodied friend.
"I believe these are friends of yours" stated the man.
"Get out of here while you can!" called out Yomi. Tomo shook her head feebly.
"Now, do you really want to listen to her advice?" asked Kuraigu. "These two girls are hanging over the edge. They fall and they die. Tell me Tomo, do you want to live with the loss of their lives on your conscience?" he asked.
"Leave them alone!" said Tomo. "Please leave them out of this."
"They know Tomo Takino. About you. Because they know you, they will die. It is all your fault."
"Please let them go!"
Kuraigu thumped the torch into the ground and turned to a series of ropes. He laughed and pointed to them. Tomo felt a strange sensation in her chest, a mixture of anger and fear.
"The rope here has a certain weight limit. For example if I were to cut all but one of these ropes, there would be about thirty or forty seconds before your friends fell to their deaths."
Something...something else inside...
"Let them go" growled Tomo. "Let my friends go now."
Kuraigu sliced through the ropes with his sword, leaving just a single rope remaining. Tomo slowly pushed herself up, seemingly growling as she moved.
"Now what Tomo Takino?" he asked. He smiled as he felt the intense feeling of chakra from the girl. He had been vindicated- a strong emotional response from the girl could break part of the seal!
As the rope behind him started to strain, Tomo walked towards him, her chakra almost a physical manifestation. Her eyes were wild, teeth like fangs as she bared them. She didn't grimace as pain shot through her leg…she practically welcomed it. She gripped the hilt of the small sword so tightly it began to be bent out of shape.
"Yes! Your friends don't have long left! Show me your power so I can kill you!" called out Kuraigu.
"Stand before me so I can kill you" roared Tomo as she held up the sword. She marched towards him.
The power emitting from her was so strong! With a smug grin Kuraigu held up his sword as she swung. His eyes widened with shock as his blade was ripped away just above the hilt. A tiny piece of the fractured blade remained. He looked into those wild eyes, those murderous eyes. This was no longer a girl, this was a demon.
"Forgive me brother" he said as he closed his eyes. Tomo swung the sword once more and wrenched the man's head from his body. The body slumped to the floor as the head rolled away into the darkness.
Even as the rope snapped, she grabbed the net with one hand and pulled it onto the roof. She tore it apart with her bare hands, freeing the girls. She turned around and picked up some of the torches, throwing them to the ground below. They burned brightly. She spied the fallen head and picked it up.
She stepped towards the edge, a small group of Kuraigu's men looking up at her. She held the head up high as blood dripped through her fingers. The men stared in shock, the feral girl surrounded by a strange orange hue.
"Your leader is dead!" she snarled. "I tore his head from his body, and will do the same to you!"
Some turned to run, and from her vantage point she could see students and teachers returning from the forest, a second wave. With disgust she threw the head to the floor several meters below, turning away and hearing a splat. She saw Yomi and Kagura safe on the roof and then she was falling. She saw the floor approaching, and then there was darkness.