SailorStar9: This is Chapter 9 of this fic. (Sighs) Every time I write these B.S. disclaimers I die a little inside. Remember, boys and girls, reviews are an author's subsistence.
Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for the plot bunny and the pairings.
Chapter 9: Miscellaneous Fights, Part One
"I have no idea there was a place like this behind the mountain." Sanzo admitted, the three adults following Lirin.
"Sanzo, shouldn't we stop Lirin?" Hakkai wondered.
"How?" Sanzo shot back.
"Well..." Hakkai trailed.
"You three are so slow." Tokusa scolded, having arrived at the ninjinka roots.
"Well, forgive us, princess." Gojyo joked.
"So this are the roots of the ninjinka." Sanzo noted.
"Look carefully." Tokusa nodded over to the roots.
"I see, human bulbs." Sanzo noted. "The ninjinka is using these people as fertilizer."
"Chinpu and Mingetsu!" Gojyo saw the two young monks entangled within the roots.
"Then, those on the mountain were..." Hakkai realized.
"Are you by any chance Priest Sanzo?" a voice inquired.
"And you are?" Sanzo looked over at the aged monk.
"My name is Chingenshi." the head monk replied. "I serve as the head of Gosoukan."
"Truly impressive." Hakkai admitted. "You've maintained your consciousness even in your current state."
"This is sure to end soon." Chingenshi replied. "The ninjinka's powers increase by the day."
"What happened?" Tokusa pressed and Chingenshi started to explain how the ninjinka sapling came to be.
"Wait a minute." Hakkai voiced. "Where did the fake Mingetsu and Chinpu come from?"
"They are the ninjinka fruits, obviously." Tokusa remarked. "In the course of its growth, the ninjinka steals people's genetic codes and is capable of creating clones."
"Clones..." Sanzo blinked.
"So when Goku and Lirin were trying to pick those fruits..." Gojyo trailed.
"They were being pricked by the ninjinka's vines." Hakkai finished.
"If that's the case, even he'll have a tough fight on his hands." Sanzo surmised.
"Stop." Sanzo stopped the ninjinka clones from capturing Goku.
"Sheesh, they made so many of those idiots." Tokusa complained.
"You should think more of the trouble it'll cause others." Gojyo joked.
"Illegal copies are an infringement of the copyright." Hakkai reminded.
"We knew you'd come back." Mingetsu's clone smirked. "Our true target is you guys."
"Which mean you're Kougaiji's assassins?" Sanzo questioned.
"Lirin has been turned into fertilizer." Tokusa supplied. "That's unlikely."
"In that case, the mastermind behind Kougaiji?" Sanzo suggested.
"I see." Gojyo agreed. "The twisted personalities seem to point to that direction."
"Useless talk." Mingetsu's replica retorted.
"Get them!" Chinpou's clone ordered.
"Die!" Sanzo blasted his gun at the charging clones. "Damn organic waste!"
"Beating up a gang of the stupid monkeys feels pretty good." Gojyo snorted, unleashing his weapon.
"Please don't mistakenly kill the real one." Hakkai chuckled, blasting his energy ball at the clones.
"Boys, more fighting, less yapping!" Tokusa snapped, her 'Whip Thorn-wheel' slicing through the attacking clones.
"Damn it." Goku cursed. "They're having fun defeating me. It really pisses me off for some reason."
"Why?" the Mingetsu clone was stunned.
"They should have the same powers as he does." his companion agreed.
"Don't underestimate us." Sanzo snapped. "Making copies all you want, they're still fruit. The Son Goku we know..."
"Is much more stupid." Tokusa finished, her 'Petal Dance' disintegrating the horde of clones.
"Next time you take a DNA sample from Goku," Hakkai smiled. "I suggest you do it when he's not hungry."
"You call these Goku?" Gojyo echoed. "They're really bad copies."
"Looks like you're out of tricks." Tokusa stated, standing before the ninjinka tree. "Time to end this game."
"Wait!" the Mingetsu replica shouted as Tokusa charged up.
"Fury of Grass Needles!" Tokusa released her demonic energy, causing the surrounding grass to stiffen and sharpen before she sent the needles flying towards the tree trunk.
"What the heck?" Goku muttered, the plant clones scattering alongside with the vine holding him down. "You should've done just that right from the start. You wouldn't have to fight them all."
"But that wouldn't be satisfying." Tokusa stated. "For you, that is. Hurry up and finish it."
"Listen up, ninjinka!" Goku declared. "You really taste like puke!" he jumped and landed the finishing blow on the tree.
Later...
"Tokusa," Hakkai voiced, under the tree the flower demoness was in, the rest of the group were already asleep. "We need to talk."
"About what?" the blue-haired woman asked.
"Us." came the short answer.
"I didn't know there is an 'us'." Tokusa remarked.
"Tokusa..." Hakkai begun, but Tokusa cut him off.
"I'm sorry Hakkai, I shouldn't have said that." Tokusa muttered as she avoided eye contact with human-turned-demon. "I need to get going anyways." she pulled a 'Body Flicker'.
Hakkai stood there speechless. As the scent of the sakura blossoms faded off, he leaned against the tree and whispered to himself. "I want there to be an us too; because I'm ready."
Time passes...
"Well, what perfect timing." Gojyo remarked, the gang having smashed their way into the vine-covered wall.
"You look good up there, Gojyo." Sanzo joked.
"Shall we take a photograph?" Tokusa smirked.
"Anything but that." Gojyo protested.
"Don't be shy, Gojyo." Goku snickered as Sanzo freed the hanyou.
"When in the world did you..." the plant demon demanded.
"A plant demon, again?" Tokusa exclaimed incredulously. "Seriously, what does the world have against us nature-type demons?"
"What?" Goku gaped, his bo striking the vines that shielded the demon with no effect.
"Be careful, Goku." Hakkai moved in, energy barrier in place.
"Damn it, there's no end to this!" Sanzo cursed.
"Hakkai, isn't there something we can do?" Gojyo asked.
"Easy for you to say..." Hakkai voiced.
"How about aiming at that?" Tokusa suggested, spotting the floating eye above her.
"Well, it sort of looks like a weakness." Hakkai agreed.
"Here we go!" Gojyo leapt towards the eye.
"Oh no, you're not!" the demon blocked Gojyo's path.
"Embracing Vines!" Tokusa's earth-natured tendrils pulled the demon to the ground.
"Take that!" Gojyo slammed his fist into the eye and causing the demon to disintegrate.
SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.