Aki (A Naruto/HxH Crossover Fan Fiction)

The Thing That Killed Her

Aki

I had a premonition.

When I was a child, I had never felt as hopeless as when I watched Itachi-nii shoulder his burden. He was the person who taught me everything. And to see him crumble under pressure and make a choice that would undoubtedly put his life at the hands of fate.

Now, as I look at Gon's lifeless body lying on a pool of blood, I felt an odd sense of deja vu. It seems life always had a way of making me feel miserable.

"GON!!" Killua literally lept out of my hands and rushed towards Gon, dodging the creature—the vermin, as they called it. I looked at the beast, it's bloody red eyes gleaming with mischief.

Mine.

Its words echoed in my mind. Suddenly, I was heating up. Fury coursed to my veins as I snarled at the creature. Then, I charged.

"Aki, don't!!" I heard Nobunaga's voice from the background, not that I stopped to care.

Nothing else seemed to matter. All I could focus on was hunting this creature that dared to hurt what was mine. The vermin snarled, growling as he started to dart towards me. As it did, it slowly transformed into a more humanoid form. It went from running on all fours to standing up on its hind feet.

My hands formed hand seals as I made clones—one of which dashed towards Gon's side. My clones and I stormed the beast, cutting through hide and skin in a relentless attack. For a while, it was frazzled by the unrelenting attacks, swiping its paw to grab hold of my clones in an effort to counterattack. Once it realize how outnumbered it was, it jumped back a couple of meters away and clutched its side.

"C—curse you!" It spoke with a high-pitched raspy voice—oddly familiar, yet distorted by the growling sounds from the beast's throat. I was filled with dread when I realized whose voice it sounded like.

Haizel.

I took a quick look at my surroundings to find Haizel nowhere to be seen. Did she get eaten? The beast opened its mouth and out came its tongue. Using my kunai blade, I cut through the fleshy organ and pinned it to the ground. Cries of pain left its snout.

"A—aki!" This time, its voice had a child-like tremble. I froze.

It was Gon's voice.

"You... hurt... s—stop." I had no idea how the creature managed to speak with its tongue pinned to the ground, but was trembling at the thought that this creature was able to use voices of those it... consumed.

I heard a war cry from afar—a blood curdling scream that seemed to tear my throat apart. Before I realized it, I was charging towards the vermin.

"Killua, stop him! He's going to get himself killed!" I heard someone yell.

"Aki!!"

"Where's Con?!"

I didn't know what came first.

One second, I was rushing towards the vermin and the next, I was on the ground. Then, the searing pain came. No amount of words could describe the pain.

Fear not, Akira Shinikage's offspring.

It's voice reverbeated inside my head. I clasped my head from the headache I got, just listening to it's raspy voice, echoed by Gon's, Hazel's, and... my voice.

Soon, you will join your mother.

By this time, my vision was blurred. I wasn't sure if it was because I exhausted my Chakra, or because of the searing pain in my gut.