The Demon They Once Feared. {BOOK 2}

|17|Surprise!

Ramen tasted so good. There isn't much to say but it was definitely the best tasting food out there, for Mina, that is. Finally, she could eat as much ramen she wished, enjoying the taste, the feeling it brought when it settled in her stomach. No worry about it coming back up, no worry of ever tasting the bitter and acidic taste of when she puked it up. She grinned a genuine grin, slurping up another bowl of the magical tasting food and ordering another. Just one more.

It had been at least half the day of operations, but Mina was already feeling the results of the tiresome hospital visit. Sakura had explained what was wrong with Mina and to her joy, it seemed to be one of Orochimaru's experiments that messed up her insides. At least it wasn't from the trauma, she thought, if it was I doubt I could fully recover physically.

Shoving another bundle of noodles into her mouth, she held in a moan of satisfaction. It had been a long time since she could fully enjoy a bowl of ramen. Now all I need to do is recover mentally!

"Easier said than done."

Mina's movements stopped in the moment the voice appeared in her head, her ears twitched, hoping it was just someone far away in the village who had shouted that. But the chuckle that came from within her head after she thought that, she knew that it wasn't. Continuing to slurp her noodles, at a slower pace this time, she tried to converse with the voice again.

What do you want?

"My my," The voice chuckled, "What a way to greet your friend, and here I thought it would be a friendly greeting, you know because we fought together that one time?"

Friends? The pictures in her mind flashed to the time a while back, the first mission she had when she came back. The time she went....berserk? It was fun, she had to admit, though if having fun on the battlefield meant killing your friends, then there was no way she would go 'berserk' again.

"Yes, friends. I helped you out back there, so that must mean we're friends, right?"

You didn't really help me out there, ya know? Yes, you gave me a power boost, but if you helping me out means that my friends will die, I'd rather not pair up with you at all.

"But, I thought-"

I guess you thought wrong, listen, swords-name-I-have-forgotten, if I had never picked you up back at the Chunin exams, I wouldn't have the mental issues I have now.

"Hmm," The voice chuckled again, "It seems that my efforts to become friends were useless," It laughed, "Mina, we've been together for a couple of years, I would have thought you'd at least remember my name."

Mina stayed silent hearing the words of the voice. Everyone has their own story as to why they act the way they do, and she had assumed that he was crazy for no apparent reason. Making her suffer mentally for unknown reasons, pushing her past her limits, killing all the people. Maybe it wasn't entirely his fault? Maybe, just maybe, there was a reason why he did what he did.

She had long stopped slurping her noodles, lost in thought. The longer she fed her thoughts, thinking about them, a question, that she had not realised was a very important one, surfaced from the depths of her jumbled mind.

Why was a katana able to communicate mentally with the wielder?

~~~~

Her name was called, loud and clear. Whipping her head around, she spotted someone very familiar. Her short brown hair bobbing up and down as the teenager ran towards Mina, waving a hand above her head. "MINA! I HAVE SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU~!" She shouted from a couple meters away.