War Torn {A Naturo Fanfic}

Page 25

Getting frustrated by him going easy on me I conjured up wind again, ready to do the same thing to him that I had Hidan in Yugakure. Before I could he was behind me. Just as soon as I came to that realization I was soaring through the air. I landed hard on my right arm and rolled a ways. I got to my feet, spending no time on the ground as I stopped.

Kakuzu had loosened his stitching and was hunched over, the mask gone from his face. Millions of threads shot at me. I cut the first stream easily enough, but the next coiled around Juryoku. It jerked me up from the ground as I refused to let go and another stream of threads caught my ankle. I thought I was doomed.

[Flashback]

"Daddy, what does Juryoku do?" My five year old self asked my father. He was a very good looking man. His face was free of scars. His hair was long and the same color as mine. His eyes were vibrant and green like Chiya's. He was always smiling.

"Juryoku does a lot of things Etsuko." He said and crouched in front of me. "Juryoku protects me, "He pointed to himself. "It protects you and your sisters." I smiled as he ruffled my hair. "Juryoku protects anything worth protecting and it will do so until there is no one left to wield it." That was his answer.

"But how daddy?" He chuckled at my eagerness and took my small hand in his scarred one.

"Come, I'll show you." We walked to a large room in our house with many candles. He sat me in the middle of the room and towered over me.

"Juryoku has power over all the elements. Like fire." He swept the blade clockwise, setting every candle in the room alight. The flames danced on the walls and reflected in my glistening eyes. "Like air." He swept it counter-clockwise and a gentle breeze took out ever flame and toyed with my free hair.

"It uses water also." Juryoku was suddenly covered in a coating of water. He flung it at the paper wall and it tore right through.

"Nanashi!" My mother yelled from somewhere in the house, obviously seeing or hearing the damage my father had caused.

"I'll fix it!" He called to her, looking and sounding a bit panicked. Hell hath no fury as a woman's scorn. That is what he would tell me every time mother was angry with him. "Ah, anyway." He turned back to me. "Juryoku uses earth as well." He touched the blade to the floor and extended the wood upwards in a pretty spiral.

"It can also direct lightning, but that isn't such a good idea in here. It's dangerous." He told me sternly and cut the spiral from the wood before crouching in front of me again.

"The most important thing about Juryoku is its control of spirit. It latches itself in here," He said and put a hand over my heart. "And whoever wields this sword will always feel it there. It gives you the power to go on and tells you what to fight for." He smiled and kissed my head.

"One day Juryoku will be yours Etsuko. Use it well." He told me.

"I will daddy! I'll protect my family and Yugakure just like you do!" I told him proudly before hugging him.

[End]

I found myself still in the air and suddenly I knew what to do. I focused heat into Juryoku's blade and tore through the threads holding it, and then the ones holding my ankle. I landed on the ground, on my feet and charged Kakuzu. Juryoku sliced in and out, behind me and at my feet, quicker than I had the ability to move. It was all Juryoku now. I was just its vessel and the fuel to its fire.