The Ultimate Weapon (Naruto Fanfic)

17-Waking Up

Aoi was close to breaking through. In fact, it seemed that one more touch would open the hole enough to easily walk right in. Reaching out, he touched the edge of the hole. A star lit up, flashing brighter than all the others before, drowning out even the colored light that spilled from the hole. Sheilding his eyes, Aoi blinked a couple times to clear the spots from his vision. When he lowered his arm, he was shocked by what he saw.

Unlike all the other scenes, this one was a complete area around him, not a simple moving 2-D picture. He was in a forest, and when he tried to take a step forward, he found he couldn't. The forest was dead silent, Aoi realized. A sign that a battle was going on. If there hadn't been a battle, Aoi reasoned that the animals of the forest would be scurrying or chirping. The other reason he knew this was because every scene now had some form of fighting in it, and he didn't see a reason for a change now.

Looking over his shoulder, Aoi saw a cottage. It was small, but it seemed warm and inviting. Smoke curled from the chimney, and suddenly Aoi was facing the cottage completely. There was a snap of a twig from Aoi's left, and then two girls appeared, giggling like mad. They seemed to be sisters, the elder no more than 8, while the younger was about 5. Their hair was long down their backs, and they shared the same glistening auburn hair.

A woman appeared in the doorway the instant the twig snapped. She seemed tense, but when she noticed it was just the two girls, she relaxed slightly. The woman had the same hair as the girls, and her eyes were a light brown. The similarities between the three were undeniable, and it was obvious the woman was the mother of the two girls. For the first time, the scene had sound, and Aoi heard the mother's words clearly.

"There you two are! I was so worried!" The mother descended the steps and swept the two in a hug, shaking slightly. "You should know better than to wander out of sight, Michi. Not to mention taking Migota with you, what would have happened if you had run into them?" The mother held the two at arms length, and they looked down.

"Sorry Momma, I was going after Migota. She had seen a bunny and went after it."

"Michi, promise that if that happens again you'll come let me know before anything else." The girl nodded, and the mother pulled them into a tight hug again. "Let's get inside then, your father should be back soon. He went to look for you."

When the door had closed, there was the faintest rustle of leaves in the trees. A soft thud announced the arrival of a person, and turning Aoi saw it was a shinobi. There was no headband to identify the man, but he smiled sadistically, in a way that would make many shiver in fear. Aoi remained expressionless though as the man walked to the side of the house. He stood under a window, then pulled out a paper bomb.

The man backed of a few paces, out of the range of the explosion. An ear shattering explosion rang across the small clearing that Aoi was in. Aoi tried to take a step forward, but all efforts were useless. It was nothing but a memory, and Aoi was forced to stand and watch it. After the noise of the explosion had died down, a screaming cry could be heard emminating from the house. Smoke rose from the hole, and flames continued to lick at the dry wood that was the wall. A flash of movement came from the shinobi as he entered through the hole.

Suddenly Aoi was inside the small cottage. The woman stood with a kitchen knife held out in defense. Michi, the older of the two girls, took her younger sister's, Migota's, hand. Migota was crying, tears and snot mixing into a disgusting mess. The two ran out of the room. A door slammed, but the mother didn't even glance in that direction. She continued to glare at the man threateningly as the knife shook in her grip.

Scoffing the man pulled out a sword that hung on his back. The woman blanched. In a blind throw, she launched the knife at the man before following her daughters deeper into the small cottage. Not expecting the action, the knife managed to cut the man's arm slightly as he let it flash by him. Touching the worthless wound, the man's hand came back slightly bloody. A smile crept over his lips, and he licked the blood before following after the trio of a family.