(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: Woaw, my longest chapter ever! But still... Yeesh,
almost two whole weeks since I last updated... School and swimming makes
things tough. But school is first and foremost.
A little naruhina scene is in. Both characters are so cute and awesome!
It touches on the romantic side, since Naruto's crush on Sakura has faded
due to her absence, and his hormones are getting the better of him. But
I'm not sure if I want to pair Naruto and Hinata up fully for the sequel.
(Joann suggested putting Itachi and Hinata together. As original and fascinating
as it sounds — I'd probably screw it up. It would be way too complicated,
especially when the plot is already screwy. Sorry...)
"You heard me," Naoharu calmly answered. "Sakura and Potamos left on
their own. Minoru went out to stop them."
"Haruno-san could be killed!" Amano Takuji said, his voice full of worry.
"We've got to find her!"
"I don't think so," Linton impassively said.
Takuji glared at Linton.
"Oh, jeez, Amano!" Linton said in exasperation. "You STILL haven't figured
out whom she is related to?!"
Takuji frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"Never mind." Linton sighed. Much as the intellectual his half-angel
teammate was, Linton could see how naive Takuji was in the ways of celestial
duties and politiking. Amano Takuji did not even suspect the wrangling
his father's technology could cause, especially since it was such a recent
invention. Dimensional exchanges — going to entirely different worlds.
Another universe. Almost an entirely different reality. This used to be
a power that only gods could touch, and now it could be twisted in the
hands of angels, demons, and even humans. Maybe the gods did not care either
way — so far, nothing terrible happened through the higher ranks of celestials.
Maybe the gods intended for this to fall into celestial hands more often.
But if something got out, especially that a being like Haruno Sakura escaped
death and came back to their world because of the technology... It would
be a hard wake-up call for Takuji indeed should he find Sakura lying in
a pool of her own blood, executed by a demon — or worse, an angel.
Sakura had to go back to the other world; that was certain. Even if
she was not the Angel of Death, the girl had to go. She was needed elsewhere.
At least, that was what Angel Salvia told Linton in secret, so that he
understood the importance of this mission. As for his rival, Takuji — he
still needed an awakening of reality. Takuji clearly had a liking for Sakura,
even in the short span they knew each other in Minerva. It must have been
the love-angel blood in both of them. But Takuji, as the son of Love Angel
Daisy, had to learn duty as well as love. Sakura had a duty for another
world. That was just how things worked.
"We've got to follow them," Linton said. "Especially Minoru. I don't
understand him, but he is also an important force for Salvia-sama."
Minoru cut through the dead landscape like a hot knife through butter.
The stench of rotting dead around sickened him. Still, he was glad of the
trail of monster corpses. Such cleanly-sliced body parts could only have
come from a skilled swordsman with a high-quality katana. There were also
some pieces of frost-bitten flesh around. Sakura and Potamos were definitely
here.
An object flew at him from one of the ground holes nearby. Minoru jumped
away, and then drew an arrow in the direction of the hole. A molebear.
The elf released the arrow, and a feint squeak followed the impact. Minoru
sighed. Such a cute voice from something so prickly-evil, intentionally
trying to poison other creatures through its needles.
Minoru heard a whizzing sound behind him. He turned his head quickly.
It was the same flying object that the molebear threw before it was killed:
a boomerang made from a bone.
With a flick of his arm, the blond elf caught the heavy object before
it made dazzling impact with his head.
'I just caught a heavy undead weapon,' Minoru thought in amazement.
'Still, it is far too early to rejoice. I must find Sakura and Potamos
before some monster gets a hold of them. Especially vampires.'
Vampires. Damn, the memories were haunting him again.
He had to complete Angel Salvia's mission. Get the various ether, and
get Sakura and Potamos out of this vile place. Even if it meant dragging
them, kicking and screaming. Sakura may have despised Minoru now — but
the elf would not allow Sakura to die in a degrading manner in the Rifts.
Not Sakura.
He was not sorry for Sasuke, even now. The psychotic boy deserved it.
Make him drown deeper into the hell he created for Sakura. If his soul
was reduced to something less than human — which probably already was,
looking at the state of his curse — then Sakura would finally see the vile
person that he was.
Pity was wasted on the sinful. Minoru tried out pity fifty years ago,
and it ended along with his sister's life. And nothing came from it. Nothing.
(( "What do you mean, the village won't put her name with the heroes?"
Minoru angrily demanded. The disbelief sunk into him, like a weight at
the pit of his stomach. "Emerald DIED in the fight!"
The village elder's secretary, a bony-faced human lady, looked calmly
at the younger elf. "If you find anyone who knows how she died, and it
was in a right way — then we shall consider it. She was half-elf, the poor
creature. If she perished for the sake of this village, her name will be
added."
Minoru began to sweat. How Emerald died: that was the one thing he could
NOT tell about. Her name would be dishonored forever if it were found out
she was slain by her own lover — and a vampire, at that.
"If there is no indication if she died in battle," the secretary said,
"then she is simply a casualty of the attack."
Anger rose in Minoru. "Casualty?" he said in a cold voice. "Casualty!
There are plenty of casualties among the innocent elves and humans who
couldn't fight, and you're still honoring them. And you can't do the same
thing for Emerald?!"
"She was a TAINT," the secretary curtly answered. "A reckless little
child. Good as she was in magic and in swordsmanship, she did not have
what it took to survive the attack."
"Silence, human!!" Minoru shouted.
"If you continue to harass me, I will call for the village elder," she
said. "I may only be a servant, and a human. But I have my dignity."
Minoru glared at her. Dignity — Emerald had more dignity than this ice-bitch.
The half-elf girl had put up with harassment from the entire village ever
since his family took her in. Yet in the eyes of the council, his sister
was something less than a person.
Minoru strode out of the house, and slammed the door of the village
elder's house. He continued to walk through the streets, towards the forest.
As he came closer to the Tree of Life, his fury grew. His steps were fierce
and unforgiving, as if he were trying to inflict the ground with pain.
This continued on until he was halfway to the Tree.
His steps became slower — and finally, he froze in his tracks. Well,
his senses had certainly developed after THAT incident. Someone else was
near.
"Show yourself," the elf said in a monotone.
No movement. Minoru frowned. He unleashed his anger on the nearby tree
with a very hard kick of his boot. A yelp was heard from above, and Minoru
quickly stepped to the side. Someone fell down onto the ground next to
him, landing on his feet like a cat.
The elf drew an arrow and aimed at the man. "You are not a member of
Frida village," Minoru said, holding his weapon steady. As he studied the
intruder a little more, he realized that it was a human bandit.
"Yo, chill," the thief said casually, lifting up his hands in defeat.
He had messy, slightly long black hair, and had a purple bandanna around
his head. He appeared to be in his late twenties or so. Despite having
an elf aiming an arrow at his face, his visage showed nothing but a fun
mischievousness. "Honestly: I'm not here to raid the village."
"I actually would not mind if you succeeded in such an attempt," Minoru
answered.
The human thief gave a slightly-surprised look at Minoru's unusual answer.
His face cracked back into a grin. So this elf was not as patriotic as
the norm. 'Good.'
"What do you want, human?" Minoru asked. "There are no artifacts around
this forest to loot. And if the Village Guard finds you, they will kill
you. I advise you to leave."
"You know, that's just the thing, the Village Guard," the thief said.
He now knew that this elf did not like the village, so he probably could
take a jab at it without getting shot in the head. "The news of that little
attack is spreading like wildfire. Frida has the wrong strategy in directly
attacking the lands of Shadow, when the real mover of the pieces is running
around in various places of the Rifts. You want to hang around our little
organization? We get some business done at a faster rate than most village
councils. And we could really use your help as an elf."
Minoru rolled his eyes. A human trying to recruit an elf to his personal
army? "I don't have time for this," he said, turning around. The elf put
away his bow and arrow, and began to walk away from the thief.
"Woaw, wait up, bud!" the man laughed, running after Minoru. He was
like some stray dog finding an eligible new owner. "I'm serious. Don't
worry: our group actually has some CLASS. We only take the best, and the
most honorable."
"It sounds like a hoax," Minoru growled, still walking. "You rob, after
all."
"Aw, come on — that's such a nasty way of saying it. You can call it
'treasure-hunting.' Whichever way you say it, it's the exact same occupation!
We only aim for the rich when we have financial troubles. We do what we
need to survive."
"Survive then, and leave me alone," Minoru said. This was so irritating;
what kind of uppity human was this? He began to quicken his step.
The thief was losing him. He sighed. Elves were so stubborn. "You want
to get back at the vampire-leader, don't you?" the man piped up.
Minoru froze. He turned around. "How in the world do you know that the
vampires are behind this?" he asked.
"I have a little score to settle with the head-guy, let's just say,"
the thief said. "But I can't do it without some strong allies. Your heightened
senses would be perfect. You'll need to get another style of fighting though
— I can't guarantee the sharpest arrows all the time. How about knife-fighting?
It's easy to carry around a switch-blade or two."
Minoru sighed. "How many people do you have in your organization?" he
asked.
The thief scratched his head. "Um, the current number of staff is...
two."
"TWO?! What sort of rebel organization is that?" Minoru asked incredulously.
"This is pure entropy of my mental capabilities! I take my leave."
"Fight entropy! That should be our new motto," the thief said with a
flourish. "But you do want to give it a try, don't you? Even you, an elf,
can't defeat him on your own."
Minoru frowned. From what he knew of the human, the guy was pure-hearted.
And from how he landed after Minoru kicked him out of the tree-tops, he
was not bad in his gymnastic abilities. He was a real, professional thief.
Besides, the more Minoru thought about it, the more he realized that he
wanted to leave Frida Village. At least for a little while. When the real
enemy was defeated, he could go back home.
The faun-personality of him began to leak out again. Minoru smiled.
"I suppose I could provide assistance. What do you suppose I should fetch
from my home for the journey?"
"Hmm.... Every antique that you can carry?" the thief asked hopefully.
"Ha, ha," Minoru said sarcastically. "You are perfectly aware that elves
don't hoard large objects like humans. I was an idiot to ask."))
The breeze through the grasses whistled. A hand gently plucked a tall-growing
flower.
Hinata's other hand gripped the helm of her shirt, the sweat of her
palm moistening the fabric. Her Byakugan spotted someone. In her daily
gatherings of herbs, she always had encounters with a few people passing
by. They usually paid her no heed. Even if a few people did recognize her
as a ninja, they ignored her presence. But not this fellow who was lingering
in the trees, watching her intently.
He was no enemy. But his presence truly scared the wits out of her.
Up in the foliage, Naruto wondered just what the heck he was doing.
It began when he decided to do his morning training in a different area,
and then heard some rustling of grass. When he stopped to investigate,
it was Hinata. Before he knew it, he found himself studying her intently.
The girl was a strange little creature — one moment, he thought her timid
and shy, and then she looks terrified, and then she shows off a Hyuuga
battle-mode, and then she compliments him on his fighting.
Something inside him urged him to go down there, greet Hinata, and maybe
help her with picking herbs. She was a friend, wasn't she? Yet another
part of the fox-boy's mind warned that if he dared anything of the sort,
he would probably end up doing something moronic in front of her.
Wait, Hinata saw him do lots of klutzy or idiotic stunts. So even if
he made a total ass of himself right now, it would, logically, make no
difference.
So why was he so concerned NOW about how he acted in front of her?
The young kunoichi blushed crimson, knowing full well that Naruto did
not go away. 'No way!' her mind screamed. 'What do I do? What do I do?!?'
She tried calming down, reminding herself that it was just a teensy crush.
If she acted normal, then none of her emotions would show. It would be
so embarrassing if he found out, so...
Naruto blinked. He could only see a little angle of Hinata's face, but
he could tell she was blushing. It looked quite good on her, now that he
pondered it. He first thought it was a little weird. But now she looked
rather... sweet.
There was another voice in his mind: Kyuubi, the fox-demon himself.
Damn. 'Go after her, you growing little whelp...' the demon said with a
chuckle.
'No way!' Naruto thought. 'I could never...'
A vein pulsed near Hinata's opaque eyes. Naruto was losing balance in
the trees — and falling backward. He wasn't even reacting to gravity's
vengeance on him. A hypnotized look was on his face. Then panic. 'What's
happening?' Naruto thought. 'Am I falling?'
Before either of them knew it, Hinata jumped up. She caught Naruto,
wrapping
her arms around his upper torso, and twisted in the air before either of
them made bad contact on the ground. The landing hit her ankles hard, as
Naruto was extra weight. Yet the girl subdued any voice of complaining
— she did not want to show weakness again in front of him.
"Naruto-kun... are you okay?" Hinata said, slightly tired from the abrupt
rescue. The boy, meanwhile, was still in a daze. Was it his imagination,
or did Hinata just save him from a deadly fall? If he ever became Hokage,
he would have to thank her. Death before accomplishing his ultimate goal
would be a terrible hindrance indeed.
Hinata then realized that she still held Naruto. Okay, so it was only
her hands on his shoulders, but it was PHYSICAL contact all the same. She
let go quickly and turned away, blushing profusely.
'Hey, don't stop!' Naruto's horomones yelled out. The boy shook his
head. Bad, bad, images. He had to resist Jiraiya's influence. "Um... thanks,
Hinata," Naruto said sheepishly. "I... guess you saved my life there —
or at least spared me some major injuries."
"You're welcome," Hinata quietly said. Something told her to run, but
her knees wouldn't move. Plus, it would not look cool to run.
Naruto scratched his head as he sat amidst the grasses with Hinata.
He had realized something. There was only one way the girl could have reacted
to his fall so quickly — she had already knew from the start that he was
there in the trees. How could he have forgotten her Byakugan? That was
her family's signature trait! Now he really felt like an idiot.
Then again, he did not really think of her in terms of her ninja skills,
good as they were. She was not HYUUGA Hinata to him. She was just weird
little Hinata.
"I guess I really screwed up there." Naruto gave out an embarrassed
laugh.
The silence was terrible.
The blond teenager began to turn nervous; Hinata wasn't saying anything
back. Was she mad? He needed something to loosen up the tense atmosphere.
Without thinking carefully, he decided to say the first thing that crossed
his mind: "I guess I lost my concentration, you just looked so pretty there!"
He froze. 'WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!' a voice in him exclaimed.
The words sunk into the blue-haired girl.
"Ah, ah..." Naruto stuttered. Hinata was now turning a darker shade
of red. Was she that angry with him? There were a few girls around who
reacted violently against compliments regarding their looks, no matter
how pretty or beautiful they were. They were probably defending themselves
from being charmed by idiots. Idiots like him.
Hinata buried her face in her hands. The tears were starting to flow
out, try as she might to stop them. But she could not help it. Naruto panicked.
"Oh, Hinata — I made you cry! I'm sorry!! I'm such an idiot; I'm so sorry!"
"N-no..." Hinata sobbed. "It's not that. It's just..." Why didn't the
right words come out? The gasps turned quicker. "I've never had — anyone
tell me — that before," she managed to say.
Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. She was crying because she was happy.
Something inside him cheered. 'You made her happy! You rule, you sexy bastard!'
Hinata sniffed away the last of her tears. She hiccupped. "Naruto-kun...
did you really mean that?" she asked.
The shouts of manliness fizzed out from Naruto's head, as he saw her
unsure and nervous expression. Of course he meant the compliment — but
she doubted his words?
"Of course!" Naruto insisted. "You're pretty, you're strong, and you're
one of the coolest friends anybody could ever have!"
Hinata looked down. She gulped. And then a shy smile touched her lips.
Naruto had not realized before that the Hyuuga girl was so sensitive
to other people's opinions. It reminded him of the teasing he received
back in Ninja Academy. He tried to hide the shame — with pranks, a foxy
grin thrown in here and there — but it sure did not ease the pain. Hinata
was like him in more ways than one. Maybe the two of them could become
closer friends. Hey, he was kind of alone right now, besides the few C-rank
missions with random Konoha ninja who hated his guts, and the grueling
lessons with Jiraiya. Hinata probably needed some human companionship,
other than that god-awful family of hers.
"Um... Once we're done with our morning training — I mean, my training,
your gathering — I mean, our activities — um..." Naruto was stalling. He
had to say this now, or he would never be able to thank her properly. "You
want to eat breakfast together at Ichiraku?" he finally blurted out.
He grew extremely nervous when he saw Hinata's eyes widen. "Since you
saved my life and all," the young man nervously said. "My treat," he tagged
at the end. Sirens rang in his brain. 'Please say yes, please say yes!!
Or I'll die! Please don't reject me like Sakura-chan! It's just an informal
outing; at least DON'T HIT ME!'
Hinata looked stunned for a moment. "I'd like to," she answered. Her
voice turned calmer — still gentle, but the quaver was gone.
The dark-haired girl felt something in her melt away. It was like a
release of chains around her soul.
And her eyes felt strange. They were not in the active Byakugan-mode,
but they irritated her. She rubbed them, feeling some strange new chakra
drip into them.
'See the unseen,' a voice said. 'You are worthy.'
A peep escaped Hinata. "Did you hear that?!" she suddenly asked, making
Naruto jump.
"Um... no," the blond teen answered, giving her a weird look.
"Oh," Hinata said. A hint of sadness was in her voice again, ashamed.
The Kyuubi butted into Naruto's thoughts again. 'Actually, I heard something
myself,' the fox-demon commented.
"Wait, I did," Naruto quickly said. "...I mean, something inside me
did. I mean..."
Hinata bit her lip, and turned away.
'She thinks you think that she's crazy, boy,' Kyuubi said with annoyance.
Naruto sighed. Having a fox-demon inside one's navel was rather annoying
at times, even though it helped him out of tough spots.
"I don't think you're crazy," Naruto said. "Hinata-chan."
Hinata looked up, and saw that Naruto was sincere. She smiled.
Minoru felt a murderous intent nearby. He flicked out his blade from
his elbow, and imbedded the weapon into a something's gut. He glanced to
meet the hideous sight of a black annis, a blue-skinned hag who ate on
raw flesh. She had been rummaging through the various slain monsters around,
hoping for something with fresh blood to show up — failing miserably. She
spotted a handsome youth. His sweet-smelling flesh enticed her, and she
attacked — only to meet the quick stab of a knife. Minoru finished her
with a slice on her throat.
"What a blessing a liberal-martial-arts education is," Minoru said,
kicking away the screaming annis. The woman clawed at her throat, the blue
skin crumbling away in wet chunks around the wound.
Minoru groaned. This search proved to be more difficult than he estimated.
"I finally found you, Elf of the Vines," a voice laughed from above.
Minoru looked up. Damn, he was in deep shit now. A thunder-demon. And
a powerful one at that.
"Where's Haruno Sakura?" Din asked. His long, light-blue hair billowed
in the wind as he floated mid-air. "Are you not her guardian?"
The blond elf growled. "She is not here," he said. "Even if I knew,
I would not tell you — the only orders I take are from Angel Salvia."
Din smirked. Now he understood. "You lost Sakura, didn't you? I suppose
you are trying to follow her trail."
Minoru grit his teeth. "What do you want with her?" he shouted out.
"She has done you no evil."
Din raised his palms to the sky, crackling with blue aura. Minoru knew
what was coming up next — he ducked in safe place, and a loud blast sounded
out.
He looked up carefully. The tree nearest him had caught fire.
"Like my lightning bolts?" Din asked. The weather around him grew turbid
and violent.
Minoru called some incantations, preparing to lace the air with an enchanted
sleeping powder. There was no way he could win against a demon as strong
as this, but there was a chance to run away. Yellow sparkles of dust materialized
on the elf's palm. With the last word, they blew into the wind, aiming
for Din.
"Not a chance, lowly elf," Din snarled. He warped out of wind's direction,
and appeared in another spot in the air. The thunder-demon pulled out a
black wristband. "Ever heard of the legendary Dimension Ring?"
Minoru's eyes locked onto the bracelet. "The Dimension Ring?"
"The one and only," Din answered.
The elf was skeptical. Was that really the Dimension Ring? The forbidden
artifact, passed through generations of demons. With its powers, the spirits
of mountains and rivers gathered, bringing something of a temporary wormhole,
or blackhole (nobody exactly knew which, since anybody sucked in completely
would never came out). The talisman probably worked like Amano Takurou's
dimensional jumps — but Amano's technology was highly controlled and recorded.
The Dimension Ring, in contrast, depended on the power of Nature and the
cosmos, veryunstable. Wedding Peach herself barely escaped its powers during
one battle in the Great War. It threw its victims into something completely
random, or tore them apart.
"Impossible," Minoru said. "That item was lost years ago during the
war amidst the celestials."
"You want me to prove it to you?" the thunder-demon asked. He raised
his arm with the bracelet, and clear aura vibrated out of his palm. It
was not even black — the air around moved around in waves. "Negative Rest
Space!!"
A large column of air stirred around — and then billowed into a storm.
Large trees began to uproot.
Minoru felt the very air pull out his chakra. It was ten times the strength
of what the aura-sucking ropes could do. His limbs turned heavy, and he
fell, kneeling in the dirt.
Clutching his chest, the blond elf attempted to breathe.
"Meet your end, Elf of the Vines," the thunder-demon whispered.
Minoru yelled out in pain as he fell backward into the chakra-sucking
vortex. He forced his eyes open — the swirling colors around him were horrifyingly
bright.
The elf managed to shoot a vine from his wristband, painful and difficult
as it was to create in the vortex. The make-shift rope grabbed a hold of
a tree branch. Well-anchored, Minoru began to climb.
Din growled. "Useless!" He aimed a bolt of electricity at the tree.
The vine snapped away.
A brief shot of electricity went through Minoru's system. His elfin
body could handle the jolt, but it was enough to render him unconscious
within the next few seconds. This was rather an inconvenience, because
a vortex happened to envelop his body.
The hole was beginning to close in on him. Minoru felt his sight grow
blurry.
He failed Emerald. He failed his family. Not to mention, Sakura and
Angel Salvia. The Elf of the Vines finally was dying... he would never
see any of his friends again.
Minoru somehow felt at peace as his consciousness faded into a blank
white.
'Emerald... Sakura-san...'
The vortex closed up.
Sakura gasped. She stopped in her tracks.
"Sacchan, something wrong?" Potamos asked. "We've got all the energy-collectors
full."
"I just felt something of a chill..." Sakura brushed away some strands
of her pink hair. An image of Minoru flashed through her mind. She shook
her head.
Potamos twiddled with the petal-like ends of her red fairy-dress. "We've
gotta hurry: the nearest portal to Minerva will close up within two hours."
"Yes, I know."
A wistful look passed Potamos' eyes. "Y'know, I'd hate to say it...
But I kinda miss Mino-chan. He was pretty cool, in his own way. What did
he do to your boyfriend again?"
Sakura nearly fell over. "WHAT?! Boyfriend?" she sputtered.
"Well, he was giving nightmares to this Sasuke-guy, right? If you care
so much about him, enough for you to leave Mino-chan..."
"Sasuke's a friend," the human stated. "Just because you care about
someone of the opposite sex does not mean that he's your boyfriend." Sakura
huffed in irritation. Why did she not realize that fact sooner? It could
have saved her a lot of pointless heartbreak. "And Sasuke himself can go
to hell."
"WHAT?! You dump Mino-chan for some guy that you hate?" Potamos clutched
her head. "You're confusing me, Sacchan!!"
Sakura sighed. "I think I'm just frustrated over the nature of men in
general," the kunoichi said.
The water-demon giggled. "Maybe we can't trust men. But there are a
few nice ones."
A masculine voice entered the conversation. "You don't trust men, Sakura?
I must say, that is a VERY wise decision."
Sakura and Potamos looked up. Sakura squinted at the figure floating
in the sky. That blue hair... The being looked familiar.
(( "Listen, Viento. I am going to let you off again. I am not going
to kill you. But if I ever see her again, alone, I WILL kill her. Otherwise,
I cannot call myself a demon." ))
"Din," Sakura said. That look Din emitted towards her was unnatural.
"So you are courteous enough to remember my name," Din said coolly.
"Over-hybridized wench."
Potamos took Sakura's shaking hand into her gloved ones. "Stay away
from Sacchan! I swear, the two of us can take you on if you attack — and
who cares about her mix!"
"Oh? So you, Potamos, KNOW about Sakura's blood?" Din asked. "Moreover,
you go low enough to defend her. Your very actions dishonor your kind.
Are you even going to shame your own soul, when she's the very offspring
of your past foes?"
Sakura looked confused. "Past foes?" She turned to Potamos. "Do you
know anything about this?"
Potamos shrugged her shoulders. "He must be a lil' wacko up there,"
she said, making tiny circles around the temple of her head.
To her surprise, Din did not seem to become angry — indeed, a wicked
smile passed his features. "Fuuma Sakura," he said, "I will torture you,
making you suffer the way I have suffered."
Sakura's eyes narrowed in irritation. "I am a HARUNO!!" the kunoichi
shot back.
"Your demise will be nothing like the merciful execution I gave to the
Elf of the Vines," the thunder-demon said casually. "THAT, I can promise
you."
Sakura and Potamos froze.
Din smiled.
Sakura trembled. "...You're... you're lying!!" she shouted.
Din held up the Dimension Ring. "A nice little vortex consumed your
darling Minoru. It was brief, as I had to dispose of him quickly. He was
quite annoying, running after you like some noble knight."
Potamos shook. Some part of her was scared stiff — Minoru was defeated
by this terrible celestial. She, as a water-demon, had a serious disadvantage
against thunder magic and electricity.
Yet something inside her wanted to cut off this monster's head.
"YOU BASTARD!!" she screamed. The water-demon threw several kunai at
him.
Din evaded the weapons easily, and appeared in front of Potamos. He
let loose a powerful zap.
The Potamos in front of him fell apart into water. 'Water-clone,' he
thought. He closed his eyes, sniffing the air with its minute traces of
ozone. 'But I can sense your movements by the waves of particles through
the air!'
He threw a zap behind him, and hit Potamos before she threw a spear
of ice into his back. The demon-girl screamed, and fell into a heap.
"I'll deal with you later," Din mumbled.
Sakura put chakra in her legs and ran towards Din. She flicked her hands
together, and pulled out a green-glowing Tennyo, sharp and quick as ever.
'Nobody does that to Potamos while I'm around!'
A quick hum sounded out. Din jerked backward, startled. A tiny line
of blood showed up on his chin.
So Sakura learned how to put wind-power in her sword. And she had the
nerve to try and decapitate him.
"You insolent little whore!!" Din thundered, letting out a large wave
of dark-blue aura from his body. Sakura felt herself being pushed back.
A rough hand clasped around Sakura's throat, its nails long and sharp.
She did not even scream when Din slammed her head onto the frozen-hard
ground. Her mind went unconscious from the blow.
Din panted. Using the Dimension Ring and knocking these two out took
more effort than he originally expected. No matter. There was time.
"Don't worry — you won't die just yet," he said. The thunder-demon sighed,
rubbing the drying blood off from his chin. The wound was healing quickly;
it was no big deal. But the girl would pay for it nonetheless.
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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