Title: A Demon's Tale
Author: swiftstar85
Genre: Drama/Friendship/Romance
Rating: T for some strong language, violence, suggestive material, and crude humor.

~Chapter Eighteen~

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, though I wouldn't mind if I did.

It was out of respect for the two undead Mist Ninja did Alea, or Yugito Nii, the Leaf Ninja and the Port City villagers redo the graves for Zabuza Momochi and Haku. They did not have bodies to replace in the graves but they set the sword back up right where it rightfully belonged.

After that, the Leaf Ninja were back in Tazuna's house, listening to Alea, or Yugito Nii, tell them what had truly happened to her. She had finally decided to tell them the truth of who she was and why she was pretending to be someone else. And why she pretended to be suffering amnesia. She had been expecting an outrage from Tazuna and his family, from Inari. She had been expecting them to call her a monster cat and order her to leave their house and never return. To leave Port City and never come back.

But instead, all three family members smiled faintly before they all gathered the astonished girl up into their arms into a warm hug. It had startled her but she allowed them to hug her while she stared at each of them.

"We knew that you had had a hard life, Alea. But we would have never guessed that it was that bad." Tsunami said with tears in her eyes before she pulled away and wiped her cheeks. "I...I never knew that it would have been so terrible like that. I didn't think that you were being hunted down like that. Just because...just because you're different. I always knew that you were different from everyone else but not like that. And it sounds like you've lost everything you've ever had."

Tazuna nodded as he looked at her softly, placing his arms on the table. "We understand why you wanted to hide your identity from us. You were just trying to protect yourself from being found out by those terrible people." He looked directly at Gai, who was smiling along with Lee and Tenten. "And you tried to protect yourself from enemy ninja. If your enemies would have found out who and what you were, I can understand why you would be afraid."

"She won't have to be afraid of us, Tazuna-san." Gai said almost gently. "We may be from different villages that once were great enemies, but because of the Akatsuki, we share a greater enemy. This makes us allies with you, Alea. And if you let us, we will protect you."

Both Lee and Tenten nodded. Neji was silent and carefully staring at the girl sitting between Tazuna and Inari. He wasn't sure what to think. He hated the Cloud Ninja greatly. But with this new situation..."You should probably come with us, Alea." He finally spoke up, surprising everyone, even her. "With that battle we just had with Jirati, it's going to attract the Akatsuki's attention. They will come here, looking for you. And if they find you still here, they will stop at nothing to catching you."

There was a long pause as everyone listened to his words before Inari stood up quickly, his eyes starting to tear up. "We can protect her! We will protect her!" He suddenly burst out, looking at Alea, or Yugito Nii. "I won't let these jerks hurt you, Alea!"

With a soft sigh, the Two Tailed Jinchuriki shook her head as she softly placed her hand onto Inari's head. She knew he would do anything to protect her. But she also knew that if the Akatsuki came to the Port City, finding her there, they would destroy it and its people to capture her. She couldn't allow that to happen. She had to do everything to protect these wonderful people from getting hurt by her enemies. She could not let them get pulled into a travesty like that. "Thank you, Inari. But Neji is right. I can't stay. Now that I've used Nekomata's power, the Akatsuki will come looking for me. And if they find me here, they will destroy all of you." She quickly wiped a tear from Inari's face as he started crying for her. "I have to protect you by leaving. Don't cry, Inari. I promise. I will be okay." She looked right at Gai. "I should be. If I'm with strong Shinobi like them, I think I will have a chance of surviving. Besides, I've always wanted to meet other Jinchuriki besides Bee and myself. And if I meet them, Gaara and Naruto, maybe we can join together and go find Killer Bee. I have to know that he's safe, along with my village." She said, before her face darkened with the seriousness of her thoughts. "And together, we will take down the Akatsuki for what they've done. Will you let me come with you?"

Team Gai merely glanced at one another before they all smiled, even Neji as they dipped their heads into nods. "You will be safe with us, Alea. We will take you to Naruto and Gaara." Lee said, gently.

Yugito shook her head as she smiled softly at him and stood up, moving around the table towards him and his three team mates. She then pressed her hands together and bowed respectfully to them. "Please, from now on, call me Yugito Nii. Alea was my name here. And here I will keep that name for the safety of the people. But I can't hide any more. I have to be who I am. It is a pleasure to meet you, Leaf Shinobi." She said pleasantly.

And in return, the four Leaf Ninja bowed their heads right back to her.

"The pleasure is all ours, Yugito Nii." Tenten simply stated before smiling at her and offering her hand. "Welcome to Team Gai."

Smiling, Yugito Nii nodded before wrapping her hand around Tenten's wrist, sharing the same hand shake she had offered. She felt so happy that she was actually making more friends. And even better, they were exactly her age.

"We must probably return to the Leaf Village immediately and find out what's going on. And we should probably alert the Lady Hokage about Yugito." Gai simply said before looking back at Tazuna. "If you have any more problems with the renegades and the Samurai, you know who to call for. We will be back to settle it with them for good."

Tazuna barked a laugh as he slapped his thigh and nodded over to Yugito who was smiling, along with his daughter and grandson. "Please, Master Ninja. I don't think those gaki will be coming back any time soon. After watching Zabuza Momochi and his student, Haku return from the dead, even for a short time, I think they might be smarter than coming back here. They won't want to deal with a pair of undead Ninja like that again. Even if it was Alea and her cat who had brought them back or not. We owe her a lot for scaring them away. And we owe you for helping her. We thank you, Leaf Ninja, greatly, for what you have done for our village." He told him.

Everyone just nodded before Lee's eyes lit up brightly and he shook his head as he threw a hand into the air. "Wait! We cannot leave yet! There is still one thing I must do before we can!" He said brightly.

Everyone frowned at him with confusion but Yugito's eyes sparked up as if she realized what he was talking about and she had to smile and shake her head. "You just never give up, do you?" She asked, earning a grin from Rock Lee.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls of all ages!" The Announcer boomed into the microphone brightly, catching everyone's attention the bridge and bringing them over to the stage. It was the very next day and quite the day too. Everyone was on the bridge, looking up at the tight rope stage as their very own Alea stood on the post for the very last time. She was smiling brightly as she looked around the crowd. "I have an announcement to make! Please direct your eyes and ears towards me! We have quite the show for you! This will be the very last time to see our very own Tight Rope Champion perform the Tight Rope Challenge!" He nodded, looking saddened as people began to murmur. "Yes, yes. I know, I know my friends! I shall very much miss our beautiful Alea but she has told me that she is going on an adventure to train! She has told me that she will return when she has found even better inspirations for her performances! And when that time comes, she will have the greatest show for us! Please, my friends, let us express our gratitude for her wonderful performances! Put your hands together and let her know how much we adore her!"

A blast of cheers and applause as everyone on the bridge began show their gratitude for their Alea. People all over the bridge screamed and cheered Alea's name, making her smile saddly but happily at the same time. It made her feel even better to know of how much these people cared for her even though more than half of them had seen what she had become the day before.

And yet, they still seemed to love and care for her. She felt grateful for them.

Glancing down at the announcer, who looked back at her and bowed his head respectfully to her, Yugito Nii reached into her belt and pulled out her own microphone before turning it on. She smiled around at the crowd as they died down, waiting for her words. "Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, I have a special treat for you! My greatest performance yet! We shall start with the Tight Rope Challenge! Who will take the Challenge and win a kiss from me?" She called into the crowd.

For a moment, it went dead silent as people began looking at one another and their neighbors. As much as most of the men in the crowd wanted that kiss from Alea, they didn't dare to try and walk the line. A few murmurs and chuckles began to break out as some teased one another, telling their friends to go for it. But no one stepped forward until...

"I will take the challenge!"

Many people spun around to look to the very back only to have many people start laughing when they recognized the Leaf Ninja, Rock Lee from the first day. Some even shook their heads and started laughing at jokes as they made about the Leaf Ninja with thick eyebrows.

But unlike them, Yugito just smiled brightly and waved over to Lee, who put his bag down and hurried through the crowd, running up the other pole till he reached the top. "All right, Leaf Ninja! Let's see if you can do it! Let's see if you can win my kiss." She said, winking at him. "Now, everyone, will you please hush and watch as our new Tight Rope Champion walks the line!"

As she had requested, everyone went quiet to watch. Some were expecting the Leaf Ninja to make a complete fool out of himself like he had before. Some snickered but they all hushed to watch.

For a very long moment, Lee just stood there, taking a deep breath as he gathered his nerves. He even closed his eyes as if finding the peace he needed to do this. He took several breaths before opening his eyes and looking straight at Yugito, who smiled back at him and gave him a nod.

Grinning, Lee nodded right back before he bent over and flipped onto his hands on the pole, surprising quite a lot of people. He ignored the surprised murmurs as he carefully began walking out on the line on his hands, with his feet straight up into the air as he slowly began to move out on the rope. He started sweating as he got about five feet, swaying a little on the line and making everyone shut up again and hold their breaths. He could only grit his teeth, keeping a grin on his face as he crawled across the rope. He made it to the middle of the rope and people were still holding their breaths with wide eyes.

He was finally five feet away from where Alea was standing, still with a smile on her face as she watched him with a hand on her waist.

And finally, he reached the post, where toppled over to the side, making many gasp loudly. But instead of falling, Lee swung around the rope before flipping over to the post and grabbing a hold of it as he held tightly onto the line, looking up at Yugito, his feet pressed against the post.

Smiling, Yugito shook her her head before swooped down into a crouch. "You just never give up, do you, Lee?" She asked before she reached down and pecked him on the cheek, causing him to blush.

The crowd exploded with cheers and applause while some laughed loudly that 'Alea' had to kiss a complete weirdo. But all the pretty young girl did was merely glance at them before she smirked at Lee, who grinned back. "Ready to give them that extra performance, Rock Lee?" She asked.

"Ready when you are, Yugito!" Lee said brightly before he kicked off the post and flipped upward while Yugito quickly stood up and began to cartwheel along the rope, making the crowd begin to cheer loudly as they watched her. They watched her as she landed on one hand on the other post and sat there, smirking to where Lee was now standing on one foot, holding his balance very well.

What surprised most of the audience was when Japanese drums began to play, along with a flute, turning into quite the interesting tune for their performance.

Still smiling on her post, Yugito quickly flipped backwards back onto the rope, onto her feet and began twirl carefully in circles on the rope before she lashed out her hands and fire exploded from her palms, surprising the crowd. She smiled brightly as she began twirling her arms all around her, almost dancing on the rope.

"Leaf Hurricane." Lee said softly to himself before leaping high into the air and began spinning rapidly across the rope above Yugito who let the flames grow higher until they were nearly spinning all around the Leaf Ninja.

People on the bridge, oowed and awed as they watched the spinning Leaf Ninja be engulfed in flames until smoke exploded from within and the flames shot off into just sparks and he came spinning out of the smoke and landed heavily on his feet on the ground right before the crowd. He wore a big grin on his face as he tilted his head upward and looked up to see Yugito now spinning rapidly around on the rope before she let go and did the very same thing as he did, falling towards him. They both ignored the gasps of alarm as they watched Yugito drop.

Before she hit the ground, Lee threw out one hand and Yugito landed right on his palm, standing with one foot high above her head and one hand thrown out to the side, smiling bright.

The crowd exploded again as they applauded as Lee carefully let Yugito jump down from his hand and they grabbed each other's hands, holding them as they smiled at one another. Together, they threw their hands up into the air and then bowed to the audience, earning another loud wave of cheers and applause. Together, they stood back up and smiled to the back of the crowd where the rest of Team Gai were standing with Tazuna and his family, smiling and shaking their heads.

"Well, that was the most exciting show I've ever seen you do, Alea!" Tazuna said brightly as he walked with the Leaf Ninja and Yugito towards the end of the bridge. "Can't wait till you come back with some more material. Everyone will be looking forward to it."

Yugito just smiled as she shouldered the travel pack that Tsunami had given her. She had packed some new clothes for herself as well as anything that she might need while on the road with Team Gai. "I will come back, I promise. And next time, I'll bring them, Naruto, Gaara, and their friends and I'll even bring Killer Bee with me. You will love him. He's crazy but great." She told them.

"We can't wait. You just take care of yourself, Alea." Tsunami said before she pulled the young girl into another hug and then stepped back.

Inari rushed forward and hugged her tightly around the waist before doing the same. "Alea, I'll keep practicing! Someday, I will be a Ninja, just like you and Rock Lee and Neji! And Tenten and Gaara and Naruto! I promise!" He said brightly.

Yugito just smiled brightly as she reached over and ruffled his black hair before looking at Tazuna and gave him a hug next. She held him the longest though before pulling back. "Thank you, Grandpa Tazuna. For everything you've done for me. I will never forget it. And I promise, I'll make sure that the Akatsuki don't ever come here and bother you and Port City. I'll make it safe for all of you." She swore to him.

Tazuna merely nodded as he lightly patted her on the head before stepping back with his family. "Just be safe, Alea. And take care of yourself, Naruto and Gaara." He looked right over to Lee standing next to her. "Protect her, Rock Lee. I'm counting on you." He told him.

"I give you my word!" Lee said grinning as he gave him a thumbs up.

And then they gave their final good byes before the four Leaf Ninja and the Cloud Ninja turned and walked down the path that lead towards the Fire Country.

Of course, no one saw the head sticking out of a tree, frowning as serious as death could be. It was a wonder why no one noticed the black and white face peering after the five Ninja, leaving the Port City. "Target found."

"Leader, we've got a little bit of a problem." Zetsu hissed as he narrowed his golden eyes after the retreating Ninja.