(Tim Seltzer, seltzer@seltzerbooks.com) Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own Wedding Peach.
I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's
why I'm poor, okay?
Author's Notes: I have good news and bad news. The bad news is,
my trip has been extended. The good news is, my friend has a computer.
So for the sake of faithful readers, I'll upload another chapter.
"Sacchan!"
Sakura stopped her kendo practice. She turned to see Potamos at the
front gate of the Fuuma property. The purple-haired demon twirled about
in her red fairy dress.
" 'Sacchan' ?" Sakura asked quizzically. She slid Tennyo back into its
scabbard, and walked toward the gate.
"I can't call you that?" The water-demon pouted. " 'Sacchan' is so cute!"
"...It's fine." The kunoichi smiled, and opened the gate to let the
water-demon in. "But Potamos, you're a little early. It's one o'clock.
Our meeting's at three."
It was the afternoon before the Final Four of the junior tournament.
Sakura was down with a cold the previous day, and had to postpone the first
training day with Potamos. The result was a quick recovery — and a more
antsy water-demon, by the looks of it.
Potamos twirled around. "I just wanted to see if you recovered from
the cold, and you didn't tell me anything about chakra exercises yet. Now
that you're okay, you've gotta teach me SOMETHING, and THEN when I'm practicing
you can go back to your kendo!"
Sakura grinned at Potamos' long request. "Okay. Let's see... Have you
ever done tree-walking?"
The demon cocked her head to the side, utterly confused.
Sakura's eyebrow twitched. 'What ARE they teaching in that Ninja Mansion
in this dimension?' Yet she kept her calm. "I know you can walk on water,
Potamos, but I guess that was because you used your natural connection
with it. I want you to use your chakra in a totally, non-water sort of
way."
Sakura pointed at the great oak in the yard.
"Here's a basic practice I learned from a teacher of mine."
Potamos charged toward the tree. "Potamos is coming!!" she yelled out
in enthusiasm.
The water-demon tripped before she even reached the trunk. Her body
fell forward. She hit the hard roots of the oak — with her forehead.
"Owie!" She wailed. Sakura sighed.
A slightly dirty Potamos ran, and planted two clean steps on the trunk.
"YEAY!" she cheered to herself.
On the third step, a jet of water shot out from her foot, causing her
to spin in the air. Her head banged against the iron fence, and she crumpled
on the grass.
Sakura winced. That looked like it hurt. "Potamos, are you okay?!"
"Sacchan... Ya sure this'll help me on control?" Potamos asked groggily.
"Now remember, don't get frustrated or irritated."
A bruised Potamos kept a nice smile on her face. "Don't worry, Sacchan.
I'M PERFECTLY CALM!!"
The water-demon charged.
"Perfectly calm; that's me!" she sang. She made four steps up. "Minimal
ki, minimal ki!"
And minimal ki she did. On the fifth step, she had too little aura pumping
into her feet — thus, losing her balance and falling down. The ground was
turning soggy from all of her previous attempts.
Potamos got up from the mushy ground, glared at the tree, and aimed
her hand at it. "I never liked vegetables! DIE!!"
"Potamos, CALM DOWN!"
A family sat together at the dinner table. A green-haired woman passed
the bowl of rice to the two raven-haired men across the table. One was
her husband, and the other, her son. A green-haired, six-year-old girl
sat next to her mother. Takuji and his little sister, Kaori, were the spitting
images of their parents.
"Takuji, you and Sakura made it this far," Hinagiku said. "Do your best
shot! She's a tough nut."
"Kaa-san," he mumbled. "I'll do fine. But unlike her and the rest of
them, I'll do it with some honor."
"Don't take that tone with me, Takuji!" Hinagiku scolded. "You've done
well, and your father and I are both proud of you. Don't be so critical
of other people's fighting methods. Even Sakura worked with hers."
Takuji was wise enough to keep further comments to himself. 'I still
think it's dirty. I've worked so long for getting some aura out of me,
and still nothing.'
Takuji had recently earned his karate black belt, already at the age
of fourteen. His mother was his instructor — but by no means did he go
up the ranks because of their familial relationship. In fact, just to prove
to the other students that she was NOT favoritizing her son, Hinagiku made
him do extra stuff in the dojo. He was a hard worker, so he complied with
his mother's orders. With his good grades and mastery in karate, he was
known as somewhat of a prodigy.
Yet as they say: like father, like son. His father, Takurou, was teased
in school because he was a superstar in the academics and terrible in sports.
As for Takuji, he was teased because he excelled as a human, but failed
as a celestial. He took this very personally, just like his father did
in junior high.
His sister, Kaori, would certainly turn out to be a different story.
Like her brother, she was smart and loved martial arts. But she would get
less slack than Takuji. Why? Because she was a girl.
It was not cool to tease girls, especially the daughter of a martial
arts instructor and a famous scientist. But if it was their genius SON,
it was perfectly acceptable to pick on him. Torment the boy of his weird
deficiencies. He was a half-angel, yet he showed no signs of angelic powers.
He had glasses. He worked his ass off in normal combat skills and studying,
because that was the only thing he could do. After all: as a GUY, Takuji
could take it, right?
Takuji always noticed — both in the dojo and at school — that whenever
he achieved something, a girl doing the same thing would receive more praise
and attention. He felt a tiny hint of injustice with this.
It was not that Takuji held anything against women. Indeed: he adored
his mother's strength and courage. He loved and protected his little sister.
He dreamed about having a girlfriend.
But he could not understand the entire system of it. It was as if HE
was expected to do everything, take everything, achieve everything; while
for the opposite sex, they were encouraged and cheered on by friends and
family. Their slogan was, "Do whatever you're best at; we love you no matter
what." All Takuji got was: "Do it."
'Aren't I good enough?' he asked himself often. If he had any guts,
he would ask his family members — and maybe the whole damn world — the
exact same question.
Minoru was on his way home from a meeting. He decided to pay Sakura
a visit, but thought again when he heard yelling and screaming coming from
the Fuuma residence. He frowned to himself as he came closer.
"Potamos is coming!!" he heard a peppy voice sing. There was a loud
splash — a thud — and then a groan.
"That was better!" another called out encouragingly. Minoru immediately
recognized the two voices.
The elf rounded a corner, and peeked through the gates. The Fuuma lawn
sparkled with dew. 'Of course it's that demon,' he thought. 'This place
had been devoid of rain for two weeks. With that pest's control of aura,
becoming a spontaneous water-sprinkler would be easy as pie...'
Sure enough, Potamos was doing the tree-climbing exercise that Sakura
had demonstrated to Minoru. Sakura observed the water-demon's progress
from a distance, miraculously dry. The kunoichi rested the sheathed Tennyo
over her shoulder.
'It's only two o'clock,' the blond elf thought to himself. 'Why does
Potamos have to take away Sakura's time? Sakura has responsibility to no
one in this realm.'
Potamos ran up, and flew off with another spray of water.
Minoru rolled his eyes. 'I'll see you tomorrow, Sakura-san. I have no
wish of dealing with Potamos until I absolutely have to. And that shall
be quite soon.'
The blond elf quietly walked away from the Fuuma residence.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the Final Four round of the Junior
Tournament!" The announcement echoed through the arena, and seeped into
the waiting-rooms.
Sakura wished that the speaker did not make such a big deal of it. After
all, "Final Four" sounded just like "Final Eight". Really, it was nothing
that exciting. It was merely — higher in rank. And it was second in importance
to — the final round. And keep in mind: this was only the junior tournament.
'And only one day of practice...' Sakura slumped in her chair.
Her opponent was Amano Takuji — son of the Super Love-Angel Daisy. Takurou
and Hinagiku: they had a son. Sakura never met the boy, but Sakura could
bet that he probably was as smart as his father and powerful as his mother.
Sakura also realized that she had never actually fought an angel before.
Takuji may be only half, but that made no difference. After all, Momoko
and Yousuke were half-human, yet both of them earned their names as fearsome
celestials.
"First match of the Final Four: Haruno Sakura versus Amano Takuji!!"
'Would you just SHUT-UP, you god-damn announcer!? I already know
what you're going to say!!'
The kunoichi banged through the doors and strode towards the center
of the arena.
She carefully observed her opponent. Amano Takuji was quite handsome
with his intelligent-looking spectacles. His dark hair was identical to
his father's, except that it was cut short. All he had on was his gi and
a normal pair of zori.
Sakura frowned. 'What's he playing at, showing up only in a normal karate
uniform?'
Takuji kept a stern face, although he was really shaking inside. 'If
I had any guts, I would say this to you out-loud... Haruno-san, don't think
that I'll go easy on you. I will not treat you like a fragile girl, because
you're not! You are a worthy opponent — you are strong ninja. Because of
that, I will not hesitate to use any means in this battle, and I expect
you to do the same.'
Takuji took his battle stance. Sakura did likewise.
"Ready...GO!!" The whistle blew.
"Yaaaaaah!" Takuji yelled out. He charged at her.
"SHAAAANNAROOOO!" Sakura answered. Apparently, Takuji wanted to start
out with normal hand-to-hand combat. Sakura couldn't turn this down. She
was itching to put her taijutsu in practice again.
Takuji performed an excellent spinning kick, and Sakura ducked it. She
made a lower kick, which he blocked by falling his heel onto her foot.
Their sparring was a marvel to watch.
The two were nearly equal in hand-to-hand combat. Their styles were
by no means identical, but their bodies moved smoothly in sync. Takuji
had a better form and blocked more. Sakura was faster in evading. To the
onlookers, the fight almost looked like a dance.
Sakura realized that Takuji would win if she kept going like this. He
had more experience in physical combat — that was all. 'He's almost as
good as Lee-san. I've got to use a little chakra in my legs.'
Sakura's form disappeared.
Takuji's reflexes kicked it. In an instant, he caught Sakura's hand
before she hit the back of his neck.
"Quit it with that pressure-point stuff," he growled.
Sakura threw her other fist at him.
He saw an opening. He blocked Sakura's punch by grabbing the wrist,
and twisted her arm around his shoulder. Takuji elbowed her in the stomach,
quickly and efficiently. Sakura winced in pain. It gave time for Takuji
to throw her across the battlefield.
Sakura did not scream as her back skidded on the ground: she was too
busy digging in her shuriken holster. 'Think of the ninja training back
home,' she thought to herself. 'The art of distraction!'
From the cloud of dust, the half-angel saw two small objects fly out.
He dodged both of the shuriken. The dust settled, and there was a dirty
Sakura getting up from the ground.
'I don't care if you use weapons,' Takuji thought. 'Use whatever you
have.'
He felt a powerful kick behind him. He flew forward, going through the
Sakura in front of him — which disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Takuji quickly realized what had happened. 'I kicked Sakura away, and
within that cloud of dust she threw her shuriken. When I was distracted,
she left a clone in the dust, and the real one ran out and made a circle
behind me... I've got to be careful; ninja are escape artists!'
He heard a few whips against the air. 'More projectile-weapons,' he
noted. Takuji jumped up and ran, dodging the line of kunai Sakura threw.
Their blades stabbed into the dry ground.
'I have to rely on long-distance ninjutsu or genjutsu,' Sakura calculated.
'He's obviously better at hand-to-hand combat, and he's too fast for regular
weapon-throwing.'
Sakura thought of using her Kanashibari, but then pushed the thought
down. She had to learn how to fight in other ways. It was stupid to depend
on just one jutsu that drained too much chakra. And even if she could use
it, Takuji would probably counter it: some strong love-angels could see
through illusions.
Sakura gripped two kunai in each hand. She concentrated. Takuji was
far enough from her to give her time for powering her weapons.
Takuji took a fighting stance, waiting for Sakura to come after him.
He then noticed that the pink-haired girl's kunai were glowing a slight
blue.
He froze. 'She already know how to use ki for an offensive attack? And
in weapons, no less? I knew that she could walk walls and water, but this
is just...'
Sakura noticed Takuji's bewildered face. She became confused. Wasn't
he a half-angel? Why wasn't he chanting something and throwing a magic
attack at her right now? Come to think of it — why wasn't he using ANY
magic at all?
Then it hit Sakura: Takuji had no idea how to utilize ki, despite his
celestial blood and advancement in the martial arts. Sakura had originally
guessed that he focused on karate, just because it was his specialty. But
as it turned out, his angelic powers had not awakened at all.
Sakura gave a tiny grin. 'This weakness could play to my advantage...'
The kunoichi threw a kunai at him. The powered-up weapon was abnormally
fast: Takuji dodged it, but only barely. Its blade grazed his right arm,
leaving a stinging cut.
Takuji earned a black-belt in karate, but that was a short-distance
fighting style. In this situation, he had to get closer to Sakura. The
raven-haired martial artist started to sprint towards the kunoichi, and
she threw another aura-filled kunai.
The weapon sunk deep into his shoulder. Takuji yelled out in pain. He
grabbed its handle, and forcefully yanked the kunai out of his flesh.
Sakura quickly came up with a plan: 'I don't have enough chakra to perform
a genjutsu, so I might as well stick to basic ninjutsu. I'll make three
of myself, run around him, and while he's distracted with my clones I'll
throw shuriken at his legs to disable them...'
The kunoichi's fingers tapped together in a sequence, and she made two
clones of herself. 'Bunshin no Jutsu!'
Takuji was hurting. And it was not because of the wound in his shoulder.
He was hurting inside. He had nothing personally against Sakura. He was
glad that she was fighting him with everything she had.
But the way things were turning out, he would lose this match. It would
mark him as a failure. Sakura was a thirteen-year-old human — one year
his junior — and she already could produce ki attacks. It really should
not have mattered; he dodged most of the magic attacks his previous opponents
used. He beat them all in the end anyway.
Yet Sakura was winning. Oh, how his classmates would tease him now!
The great and all-mighty Amano Takuji, ousted by a human girl. What Takuji
hated more than anything was teasing, even if it was over some stupid little
thing. He could put up with them — after all, they featured his entire
life. But the insults were always the same. And they accumulated over time.
(( "Half-breed!" ))
(( "Is he really supposed to be Angel Daisy's kid? He can't even bring
out aura." ))
(( "He's just a teacher's pet." ))
All of the comments he got from his classmates echoed in his mind. He
couldn't take it anymore.
'If this is the end, then I might as well try it!' his thoughts screamed.
Sakura hid two shuriken in her hands. But then, she noticed a peculiar
change in the air. If there was anything to describe it... it was a sickly
green.
And it seemed to be coming out of Takuji.
Sakura's eyes widened. 'He CAN mold chakra?!'
"Shi Shi Houkoudan!!" Takuji shouted. A burst of ki emitted from his
body.
A column of green light charged at Sakura. It was too fast and had too
wide of a diameter: she couldn't even dodge it using chakra in her legs.
It slammed into her and disintegrated her two clones. The aura enveloped
her body.
'Shit,' Sakura thought as everything turned a bright green, and then
blacked out. 'I underestimated him.'
Notes:
"zori" - Japanese sandals woven from straw.
"Shi Shi Houkoudan" - yes, this comes from Ranma 1/2 (the character
Ryouga uses it). It was unoriginal of me to use it (look at the disclaimer),
but I could think of nothing else for Takuji's personality. How it works
shall be explained in the next chapter.
If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If
I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.
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