In Their Shadow

Chapter 17

After Zabuza bid the four farewell in order to go find his companion, Kakashi had noticed something off about Yuma's arm. Naruko, Sasuke and Yuma were in the middle of hugging when Kakashi had noticed it. He approached the three teary eyed students, frowning beneath his mask at the strange development.

"Yuma...your arms are..." Kakashi with wide eyes.

They broke the hug to see what it was that had Kakashi worried. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and Naruko looked shocked. Yuma looked at his arms and realized it himself.

"...I see. Its made out of the same material as the black gunk, huh." Yuma said aloud, not really surprised.

Where Yuma's normal pale arms would be was now a black gunk appendage in its place. It looked as if it were made of shadow. To top it all off, his usual hands were now in the shape of a claw. His entire arm and his hands were now made of the same strange material that was splattered all over the plain.

"Yumito, is this your handy work or my wills?" Yuma asked aloud, creeping out the others.

"Yuma, who are you ta-!?" Sasuke tried saying, but was abruptly cut off.

"It is mine. Now that you have accepted my boon, two abilities have now been afforded to you."

On Yuma's now black, shadow like left forearm, two golden orbs appeared as Yumito spoke to Yuma, shocking everyone else.

"What the hell is that thing Yuma!?" Naruko yelled out in fright.

"Oh, this is Yumito. He's the being born from my will." Yuma said plainly as if it should be common knowledge.

"How are you so calm!? And what kind of answer is that!?" Naruko said, her eyes bugging out in a comical manner.

"Well, is there any other way I can explain it. That's all I know, sorry." Yuma said with a forced apologetic smile.

"Are you all done with your childish reactions?" Yumito's voice echoed out from Yuma's arm.

"Yuma, I don't like the tone your arms giving me ya know?" Naruko said with a pissed off smile.

Yuma shook his head at her, and then asked Yumito to continue explaining, forcing the others in the group to have to just accept the strangeness of the situation.

"After having your arms ripped off of your body, your bodies stress levels increased to unmanageable levels. Hearing your fervent wish to live, I decided to take matters into my own hands, and force the boon upon your person."

Yuma glared down at his arm, before huffing in resignation.

"Fine, there's nothing that can be done now anyway. Thanks for saving my life, Yumito."

The golden orbs on his left forearm shrunk in size, resembling the expression of someone narrowing their eyes. The golden orbs then began to pitter out, like a light bulb beginning to die.

"You used a lot of energy when first using my abilities, I require rest now. Before going, I wish to explain the abilities available to you now."

Yuma narrowed his eyes, nodding his head, signaling Yumito to continue.

"After accepting my boon, you have gained two abilities. The first is to meld with shadows or anything black in color. The second, is your arms are able to leave noticeable traces of its material on anything you meld into, such as the stain covering this field. This allows you not only to leave shadow stains to hop from shadow to shadow with, but also gives you the ability to shape shadows into anything you want and make them physical."