The Water Maiden

7

For the past couple of days, nothing has happened. There wasn't anything that was suspicious or gave us a reason to be suspicious. The three boys were guarding the water and nothing happened. No one even went near the river. It pissed me off. I thought I was onto something good, but I guess I was wrong. I went to Tsubasa's shrine to waste some time. I wasn't needed by the team. The hokage's toad was in my arms.

"What is this?" He asked me.

"It's a shrine." I walked right in making him gasp.

"The air is so clean!" He said with awe.

I chuckled and walked up the stairs. "You see, this is where Tsubasa Kotone decided to put her shrine."

"A shrine just for her?" He asked. He was focused on the area more than anything.

I nodded happily. "Because of her immense power, she was seen as a god by many and the devil to others."

"So, not just anyone in the Kotone clan gets a shrine."

"That's right. There are six shrines around the world dedicated to a specific member of the Kotone clan."

"Will you be able to get a shrine?" The toad asked curiously, looking up at me.

"I'm not that strong, so I'm not counting on it."

We sat down and talked for what seemed to be hours. He was surprised to know I could breathe under water. An explosion could be heard right outside the shrine. My heart dropped with worry. "What was that?" I asked. The toad fought his way out of my arms and started running towards the entrance.

"You stay here. I'll go check." He shouted.

"Don't! If you leave, you won't be able to enter again!" He didn't listen. He was too far gone. I panicked when I heard another explosion.

"Calm down, Ellie. You can't be scared. There's nothing scarier than mama when she's mad. Yes! Of course! I'm sure it's just Kyoya pulling a prank on me. No one would attack me. I'm too damn cute!" I tried talking to calm me down, but it wasn't helping. Even the calmness of the shrine wasn't helping. I stood up with shaky legs. Another explosion. I flinched. "Itachi...what do I do?" He'd always come to me for help, but I still needed support. He knew that. I took a step and swallowed my tears. I reached up to feel the hairpin on the side of my head. "Kanade..." I can clearly remember her words. It's her way of protecting me. It's her good luck charm. Nodding to myself I walked down after looking at Tsubasa one more time.

Outside of the shrine, I saw a disastrous scene. Yama, Kyoya, and Hiro were lying on the ground. They weren't moving at all. They weren't making any noise. I could hardly hear their breaths. I heard the clash of kunai. Keisuke was fighting a man with red hair and blue eyes. I ran to Hiro's side.

"Hiro." Nothing. I shook him. Nothing. "Big brother?" Nothing. Tears welled up in my eyes, my hands shook with fear. "Big brother! Wake up! Big brother!"

"K-Kappa..." Kyoya's voice was quiet and strained. I ran over to him.

"Kyoya!"

"You need to get out of here. That man wants to kill you." He said weakly. I looked and saw Keisuke knocked back.

"But..."

"No buts! We'll make it. I don't want...I don't want to see Hiro cry because I let you die. I don't want to see Yama destroyed because I couldn't protect you." Kyoya said, slowly sitting up.

"Kyoya..." I saw Yama sitting up from the corner of my eye.

"Go." Yama said.

"I can't." I said. Kyoya fully sat up and set his hand on top of my head.