Chapter 63 - Arc VIII: Death of the Flesh-Chapter 13

(( If you are able, please listen to the following song during this chapter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbjnNPu01ms&NR=1
Song: Akai Namida
Artist: Mami Kawada

Lyrics at the link below
:http://atashi.wordpress.com/2007/09/23/shakugan-no-shana-the-movie-insert-theme-akai-namida/
))

At that range, Yuji’s arm would have been torn off. But Pain had stopped his jutsu. Or, rather, Yuji didn’t hear it. Instead, he found himself surrounded by a pink, fleshy tunnel. Something had dissolved the tree, which freed Yuji.

Shoki was right there, checking Yuji’s arm. He had a hypodermic needle in his hand, taken from Yuji’s pack. Yuji was no medic-nin, so he carried medicines with him. The shot hurt for a second, but then relief from the pain kicked it. And when the haze cleared, Yuji realized where he was.

“You okay, kid?”

The voice of Jiraiya was the one questioning Yuji. He knelt down in front of him.
“You did good, Yuji. You kept Shoki safe.”

Yuji groaned and sat up further. “And Pain?”

Jiraiya exhaled, apparently tired. “You gave them a hell of a fight. They weren’t ready for me when I showed up. I managed to run them off. The tracker toad you dispatched got to me just in time.”

The toad croaked in apparent agreement. Jiraiya must have came in through it’s mouth.

Yuji leaned his head back, eyes closed. “But Miko…she didn’t make it…damn it.”

Through the wall of the toad stomach (as Yuji now realized it was) came Miko’s body. It came through the wall with a ‘squelch’ sound, and plopped down at Yuji’s feet.

“I thought you’d like to bring her body back to the temple,” Jiraiya told Yuji solemnly. “And I’m sorry. I know you were going to marry her…”

Yuji looked at the ring on Miko’s finger, and the matching ring on his. He choked back tears.
“Yeah. We weren’t in love romantically…at least I don’t think so…but still…It was a bad idea to begin with. I wanted to adopt Shoki after we’d been married long enough. It was supposed to be only for a couple years, until Shoki could go to the ninja academy and find a better home. She was going to go back to being Uzume, and I was going to…go back to what I do now.”

Jiraiya gave a slight smile, clapping Yuji on the shoulder. “It’s better you don’t adopt Shoki. You don’t need to be tied down right now, Yuji. Besides, you’re the trainer he needs, and the big brother he’d hoped to have. That’s a good position for both of you.”

Yuji agreed by nodding quietly. He noticed that Jiraiya’s feet had taken an odd shape, and his nose was slightly different somehow. He looked questioningly at Jiraiya, who sighed.
“The next part of Naruto’s training. Sage Jutsu.”
--
--

Yuji carried Miko’s body back the whole way. He had covered her with his jacket. His shirt had been burned away by his own fire wings, but he didn’t care at this point. He just walked forward, his eyes straight ahead. No one got in his way, even when he reached the temple. When Asuna came to perform a ritual, Yuji stayed near the body. He didn’t hear any of the prayers; he just looked at Miko’s face. Not a scratch on it, or anywhere on her.

Her predication had come true.

She told me there was nothing I could do. But I couldn’t accept that. And I still can’t. Even though I couldn’t save her…I just can’t accept it.

Storing some of his remaining chakra in the ring on his finger, he slid it off and opened Miko’s mouth. She was not yet stiff with rigor mortis. He pushed the ring in and under her tongue.

It’s her chakra. It can’t bring her back, but-

Miko sat up, blinked her eyes, and smiled at Yuji. Her hand caressed his shocked face.
“Thank you, Yuji. You would have made a good husband. Even if there was nothing between us, companionship for even the shortest while would have been welcome. And I didn’t die alone. So…don’t be hard on yourself, okay? That’s not what I want, and not what you deserve.”

She slumped back down, eyes closed peacefully, a small smile on her lips. Yuji sank to his knees, stunned. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He whipped his head around, seeing Asuna looking at him curiously.

“What happened? Are you okay?”

Yuji blinked, shaking his head. “You…didn’t hear that? Or see that?”

Asuna narrowed her eyes. “See what? You’ve been standing here the whole time.”

Yuji started to tell her what happened, but snapped his mouth shut. “I was just…dreaming. Sorry. I didn’t mean to nod off.”

Asuna seemed to understand. She gave him a sympathetic hug, then left. The others filed away as well. All but Jiraiya, Shoki, Sakura, and Naruto. Sakura wanted to tend to Yuji’s wounds, but held back.

“I…” Yuji began, but couldn’t finish.

“I heard it, too, sempai. She talked to me, too.”

Shoki had been quiet as well. Now Yuji knew why.

“It must have been the chakra in the ring. It was her chakra; the chakra she had given me. She’s amazing. I…”

Yuji felt the need to tell the whole story to Sakura and Naruto. And he did. They were shocked to hear he was going to be married to Miko, even when they heard why. Eventually, they left Yuji and Shoki alone with her body.

“A grave…We need to make a grave. Come on, Shoki.”
--

An hour later, the two boys had dug a deep grave and made a grave marker. Using their collective abilities, they fashioned a stone cross with her name engraved on it. Yuji had used his coat as a burial shroud, and so still stood shirtless.

“Our exile is over, Shoki. Now we go to Head Devil Village. To learn more about your eye.”

“That’s good, sempai,” Shoki told him. “My eye is…changing.”
--

Yuji had quietly asked Naruto, Sakura, and Asuna/Uzume to watch his back while he healed himself. His stomach release was still undone, although he had since cleaned up the blood that was all over himself. The little ‘X’s’ still showed up now and then, but they were minor.

“In case Pain attacks again, I just need cover long enough to snap out of my genjutsu and re-release the seal,” he explained, hating to ask for help. “This is my first time doing it. Re-trying my curse binds, I mean. I’m not sure what it entails exactly, but Miko gave me instructions. So…”

“I’m really sorry for your loss, Yuji,” Asuna told him. Her eyes were still moist from her tears, though she had maintained her dignity the whole time. She truly was a strong girl. “Miko and I were like sisters. So I…really can understand.”

“Were you ever really married?” Naruto asked, earning him smacks in the head from the others.

“You idiot!” Sakura hissed, giving Naruto a smack on the head. “You don’t just say that!”

Yuji rolled his neck, trying to loosen up. “I don’t mind. No, we never actually got married. Like I said, it wasn’t a romantic love thing. It was for Shoki’s future…and her protection. I didn’t tell her that, but I suspect she knew.”

“Huh? Protection?” Naruto’s tone held a question.

“Yes. She told me that she was going to die. I though that if I married her and stayed close to her, I could protect her. But there was nothing else I could have done. I’ve run the scenario in my head a thousand times. No matter what, the option I…we chose. The option we chose was the best one, with the best odds of succeeding. And since it’s really thanks to her that Shoki and I made it…”
Yuji shook his head, exhaling as he did.
“I didn’t get much more intel on Pain, either. But he’s really afraid of Shoki’s abilities. And now that we’ve tested them, we know they’re effective. And protecting him is even more imperative.”

Shifting to a kneeling position, then bowing so low his head hit the floor, Yuji faced Naruto and Sakura, his eyes down.
“Should the worst happen to me, please see to it that Shoki is adopted in the Leaf. I know they’ll take care of him there. Until then, please watch over him…”
Raising his eyes, Yuji almost physically swallowed his pride.
“I beg you, Ojousama; Naruto-dono. He may be our best chance. But I don’t want it to come to that. I can trust no one else…OW!”

Asuna gave Yuji a smack. “You can’t trust anyone else?! What the hell am I?! And what about your girlfriend, Azami?! Idiot! You’ve got all the back-up in the world!”

Yuji just kept his head down. “Yes…I do. I have the best comrades a man could ask for. Which is why I’m able to beg like this. I swore I’d approach no one on bended knee like this…but pride doesn’t exist among comrades.”

That was the first time Naruto and Sakura had heard Yuji talk that way since he had been made their servant. And though his actual time spent as their servant was short, it had been a miserable period for him. To see him calling them ‘comrades’ now was welcome relief.

Sakura and Naruto each grabbed an arm. “You know you can count on us, Yuji. I’m just glad you realized it, too.” (Sakura)

“Yeah! We’ll get him in the academy and everything! But you’ll be there, too, so none of this ‘if I don’t make it’ crap!” (Naruto)

“And of course, you’ve also got me to rely on. In fact, you should, Yuji,” Asuna said thoughtfully. “I know about this ‘exile’ thing, but I also know it’s a sham. And with Miko dead, you don’t need to go there. Not right away.”

“I shouldn’t stay here…if Pain comes back…”

Asuna grabbed Yuji’s shirt, holding him up. “And what? Pain comes back, you get killed, and Shoki is screwed since he’s with you! Wake up to reality! You can’t protect everyone! Now, you’re going to stay here until you heal completely. Understood?”

“I-”

“UNDERSTOOD?!”

Yuji nodded. “The powers of a female are truly remarkable…”

“Nice of you to notice,” Asuna shot back, tossing her head back to snap her hair into place. “And wise of you to notice, too. Since you’ll totally wind up tied to some girl’s apron strings.”

“Or her hakama cords, hmm???” Naruto wheedled, leaning in closer to Asuna, a smirk on his face. “You’re not looking’ to get into HIS hakama, are ya?”

“Heh. I have the worst luck with women,” Yuji chimed in, chuckling. “I never bothered to tell my first crush how I felt; my second crush tried to kill me, then told me I was too good for her- go figure THAT one- and then, when I forget about love and try to get married anyway, my wife-to-be gets killed. Maybe I’m just bad luck to girls. They know that instinctively, so they keep their distance…”

Everyone burst out laughing at that, despite the sad truths that lay within the statement. If Yuji was joking about it, he couldn’t be feeling too bad. Even so, Yuji’s mind was on his next task?

“Would you care to join me? Naruto-dono? Ojousama, I would request your presence, if possible…”

Yuji was about to go into his protective genjutsu. But this time, he was going to attempt to re-seal his own curse bindings. He’d never done it before, and even in a genjutsu where he didn’t allow himself to get hurt, his real self might react and his genjutsu might collapse. If so, then Sakura could be of help. Naruto…he was only there to be sure that Yuji didn’t try anything with Sakura. It was at Yuji’s request, as a gesture of good faith.
-

Yuji entered his genjutsu state, followed shortly by Naruto and Sakura. He strolled through it, unconcerned with his paradise. Sakura had been here before, but not Naruto. This was a first for him, and he was amazed. This really was perfect. The temperature, the light feeling…everything.

He nudged Sakura, whispering “If he can do this, does this mean he’s mastered genjutsu?”

“Come to think, he can do it without hand signs. Kind of like Itachi…” Sakura murmured in reply, understanding Naruto’s thought process. “But he’s no genius. He’s not outright as powerful, but he may be clever enough to give Itachi a decent fight…”

Itachi would lead to Sasuke, they knew. Maybe Yuji would be the ally they needed to reach him.

Slowly, they became aware that Yuji had stopped. There was a dark corner to his paradise. The last time Sakura was here, she had seen doors sectioning it off. Inside was a Yuji that was constantly tormented and hurt. This time, there were no doors. Sakura could see right inside the dark area, and she wished she couldn’t. With all her heart, she wished she couldn’t. Even more, she wished she could help.

The ‘other’ Yuji was standing there normally, but there was a tight collar around his neck. In front of him was a grave with a headstone in the shape of a cross. Above the cross floated two purple eyes, with pupils like the ripples in a pond.

Out of nowhere, black swords pierced the ‘other’ Yuji from all angles. He cried out and cringed in pain, but couldn’t move due to the collar.

Yuji himself stared blankly at the scene.
“I…don’t understand. I…I…”

He shook his head, looking away while raising two fingers. A wall sprang up around his other self, with only a small window on the top of the structure. The structure itself was gray stone. Large stone blocks that even a Rasengan couldn’t break. It was clear enough that Yuji didn’t want to deal with this right now.

“I’m going to begin the healing process now…”
Damn them. The Akatsuki. Pain will pay for this.

With that, Yuji manipulated his real body, forcing his hand to use the Transparent Hand Jutsu and begin to tie the knot inside his stomach. He was glad he was in this genjutsu where illness was not allowed. The feeling of his own innards made him feel sure he would vomit any time now.

Naruto and Sakura were supportive and as kind as could be. Yuji would have welcomed that any other time. But now, everything felt condescending. The universe itself was mocking Yuji’s inability to protect Miko. Even his own genjutsu paradise had thumbed the nose at him. He didn’t need any more motivation to want to rip Pain to shreds. But he didn’t want any motivation to hurt these two. So he smiled when he wasn’t totally freaking out that he was tying a knot around the area of his digestive system.

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