Chapter 47: A Newfound Ability

(Picture of Aiko above; She's the girl who took Nue's eyesight)

"What do you mean the Houjuu Clan didn't exist? If my clan doesn't exist, then why do I exist?" I asked. "Calm down. Let me explain. The reason why the Houjuu Clan didn't exist is because no one knew they were alive and the clan kept it that way." Yin Yang said.

"Kept it that way? How come?" I asked, confused. "The clan wanted to keep a low profile. They knew if they were to reveal themselves to the humans, they assumed the humans would come kill them. Whenever a member of the Houjuu Clan wanted to step outside of the clan to get something, they had to wear cloaks in order to hide their identities." He continued.

I placed my hand on the cloak I was wearing. "Yin Yang, where is the Houjuu Clan?" I demanded.

"Why do you ask? You're not thinking about going there, are you?"

"No. I mean, even if I was planning to go there, I don't think I'd go far, seeing how I can't see."

"Well, it's good to know you're thinking clearly. But anyway, I'll tell you tomorrow. It's late."

"Really? It's gotten that late?"

"Yes. Anyway, rest."

"Okay. Thanks, Yin Yang."

I felt him hop off the bed and I laid my head on the pillow. I was asleep for a few hours until I heard someone's voice. "I'm coming in." I sat up alarmed. "Who's there?" I demanded as I quickly sat up. "It's me. Your bad twin." I knew she was smirking.

"Oh," I laid back down, pulling the blanket over me. "I haven't heard from you in a while. Why have you been so quiet?" I asked. "Because I wanted to see how stupid you've become. It looks like you can't get anything done without me." She boasted.

I frowned slightly. "You know, you're becoming a real pain in the ass." I said. "That's my job, smartass." She replied. I sighed and laid on my back like I was staring at the ceiling. Not like I could since I'm blind. "Not going back to sleep?" My twin asked.

"I can't sleep." I stated. "I see. So, tell me. When will you let me take control?" She asked. "How about never?" I said. "You can't keep resisting me. You will have to let me take control sooner or later." She said, getting a tad angry.

"Didn't you say that already?"

"Yeah, I did. I wanted to say it again so you know I'm not playing around."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

I turned on my side as I waited for morning to arrive.

I stayed up the whole night and heard someone come in. "Hey, Nue! It's Iri and Maria!" I heard Iri announce. I sat up. "Hey, guys." I greeted. "How are you feeling?" She asked. I just shrugged my shoulders. "Did you sleep well, Nue-sama?" Maria asked. "I didn't sleep." I stated.

"You didn't?" Iri asked, and I shook my head. "How come? Did you have a nightmare?" She asked. "No, no nightmare. I just couldn't sleep." I said. I heard the door open. "Nue, this is your nurse. I'm here to take your vitals." She said.

"We'll leave you to it. We'll be back to check on you later. Kay, Nue?" Iri said. I nodded my head and I heard them leave. The nurse took my blood pressure, then my temperature. "Are you feeling any pain anywhere?" She asked.

I shook my head. "Have you been having any headaches?" She asked. "No." I answered. I heard her writing something down. "Okay. Thank you for your cooperation. Get better soon." She said. "Thank you." I said. Once she left, I sighed and laid back on my pillow.

"Feeling bored?" I sat up as I recognized the voice. "Ying Yang, is that you?" I asked. "Of course it's me. So, how's your wound?" He asked.

"Wound?"

"The wound you got from the wolf eight years ago."

"Well, it's a little faded. But I think it's healing up."

"I see. So, then what do you make of it?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, come on. You don't find it strange that your body heals so fast?"

"Well... I have been a little concerned about it. So, I thought it was just a normal thing for me."

"It's normal if you're not human."

"......"

"Okay. I guess that was a stupid question to ask."

Wait, how did he know I was bitten by the wolf when I was young? I felt him lay his body next to me. "So, do you remember who you made that promise to?" Yin Yang asked. "Promise?" I repeated, confused. "The promise you made that you were going to protect everyone." He explained.

"Oh. No, I still don't remember." I said. "Well, have you considered what would happen if you broke that promise?" Yin Yang asked. "I'm sorry?" I asked, wanting him to repeat the question. "If you were to break that promise, what would happen to you?" He rephrased.

Suddenly, I started to feel dizzy as my head began to hurt. I grabbed the sides of my head and lied back on the bed as I curled myself up into a ball, grunting slightly. "Keep it together, Nue!" Yin Yang commanded.

I grunted again as the pain began to increase. After a few seconds, it faded as I began  to pant lightly. "I knew it wouldn't be easy for you to remember, but it's close. The time has almost come. You're nearly there... Nue." Yin Yang said.

"What are you... taking about?" I asked before blacking out.

I woke up a little while later and I couldn't tell if it was day or night. It's weird, though. When it comes to the daytime, I'm tired as well. But when it's nightfall, I'm wide awake. Crazy, right? Even Iri and Maria found it weird. I really can't blame them, though.

I stayed sitting up in bed until I felt a soft breeze. Is my window open? I gasped when I felt a pair of hands attack my neck. I began to cough and gasp for air as I grabbed onto the person's wrists. 'They're choking me' I realized.

"Time to finish what I started." I heard them say. "Get... off!" I yelled. I pushed the person off of me and rolled off the bed, landing on my hands and knees. This is bad! I can't see and it'll only get worse from here! I was able to get to the wall, but my attacker wrapped their hands around my neck again.

"No!" I shoved the attacker away from me and began to back away, feeling the wall for guidance. I heard their footsteps approaching me. I grabbed what felt like a curtain and clung to it. My window was definitely open because I felt the breeze again. So I guess wasn't imagining it.

I heard my attacker getting closer.

"Don't hesitate, you idiot! Jump!" My bad twin yelled at me. I flung the curtain to the side and made a jump for the window. Unfortunately, my attacker attacked my throat again and we both fell through the window.

I flipped myself on top of my attacker and kicked them down. I did a backflip and rolled onto the grass before getting up on my hands and knees. "That seemed too easy." I murmured to myself. Then, I felt water coming down on me. I didn't take me long to realize it was raining.

"Nue-chan/Nue!" I lifted my head when I heard my name being called. "Naruto? Sasuke? Is that you?" I called out. "We saw you jump out the window! Are you alright?" Naruto asked as I felt him and Sasuke by my side. "Yeah, I'm fine." I said.

"I'm surprised you survived the fall. Are you some kind of cat?"

"Anko? You're here, too?" I asked. "Of course I am." She confirmed.

What are they doing up this late? Why are they even here? "Well, well. Look who joined the party?" Wait a minute. That voice....

"It's you!" I said. It's the girl who took my sight! "I'm surprised you remember me." She said. "Give me my sight back, dammit!" I snapped. "Make me." She laughed. "Why are you doing this?! What do you want?!" Sasuke demanded.

"What I want is to make all of you suffer!" The girl screamed. "Who are you?" Naruto asked. "Aiko is my name. But that's all you'll remember once I'm through with you!" I heard Sasuke and Naruto run forward, probably going to fight Aiko.

I was still on my hands and knees, and I couldn't do a thing. There was nothing I could when I'm blind like this. "Lady Tsunade had a feeling the girl who took your sight would come back. She must be here to finish the job." She said. "Finish the job? What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means she wants to kill you. Lady Tsunade set up a barrier in your room so the girl wouldn't get to you. But it looks like she broke past it." Anko explained. "Anko, you have to do something! You have to help Naruto and Sasuke!" I said, urgently.

"10-4." Anko said before snapping her fingers. "Hey! Would you mind warning us next time you do something like that?!" Naruto yelled. "What happened? What did you do?" I asked. "I set her body on fire, but she's not burning. Either my jutsu was too weak or she's already dead, and you can't kill something that's already dead." Anko said, calmly.

"Some ninja you are." I muttered. "Quiet, smartass!" She snapped. I felt something warm land on my cheek as I heard Sasuke grunt in pain. "Sasuke!" Naruto yelled. 'He's hurt!' I thought in a panic. "She's too strong. Let's retreat for now." Anko said as I heard take a few steps back.

I clenched my hands in the grass. "You can retreat. I'm staying here." I said, seriously. "Are you crazy?! She'll kill you!" Anko said. "I don't care! I'm not letting my friends die!" I argued. I touched the blood that was on my cheek and licked it off my finger.

"No matter what, I am going to protect them." I said, slowly standing to my feet. The bandages around my eyes began to unravel. "I won't run away. I'll kill her, whatever it takes!" I said as I opened my eyes. Huh?! I can see! But how? No time! I need to worry about that later and help my friends!

I charged at Aiko as Naruto jumped away from her when she was about to punch him. I added chakra to my hand and scratched her side. Aiko froze in place, thinking some damage was done to her, but none was done because I didn't use enough chakra.

"Damn." I muttered. Aiko unfroze and went to attack me as she tried to throw a punch at my head. I backed up and pushed her hand to the side so she missed me. I hit her chin with the palm of my hand and she fell back, doing a few rolls.

She stayed on her back for a moment until she slowly started to get up. "You bitch." Aiko said, angrily. I panted lightly as I tried to think of a plan to finish her off. "Nue!" Anko called. I glanced over at her and she threw me a knife with the sheath on it.

I caught it with one hand, then slashed the blade down so the sheath came off. Aiko began to walk towards me as her eyes glared daggers at me. My semi-long hair blew through the wind, somewhat blocking my view.

"This is in the way." I said in annoyance. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail, then used the blade to cut it so my hair was short again. When I did that, my cloak flew off my body. At this point, I didn't care that anyone could see my wings and tails.

I just wanted to take care of Aiko once and for all. I closed my eyes and Aiko grabbed the top of my head. "Die." She said with a small chuckle. I opened my eyes to look at her and she gasped. "The Sharingan? But you can't be an Uchiha! There's no way!" Aiko said in disbelief with a frown on her face. 

"You mere lump of death..." I sliced off her hand, making her gasp. "I won't let you kill my friends." I said, frowning. I took the blade and dug it into her throat before slashing it out. Aiko grabbed her throat and fell to the ground as blood spurted out of the wound.

As I watched her die, a weird looking soul came out of her mouth and floated towards the sky. "So, Anko was right. She was already dead." I said, panting slightly. I fell to my hands and knees as my sight began to fade. "Nue-chan!" Naruto called out.

I felt him kneel down next to me and put something over my shoulders, covering my wings and tails. I can only guess it was my cloak. "Is everyone okay?" I asked. "We're fine, Nue-chan. We all are. But are you okay?" Naruto asked. I gave a small nod.

"How's Sasuke?" I asked. "I'm fine. She just grazed me, is all. How'd you do that?" He asked.

"Do what?"

"How'd you activate the Sharingan?"

"Beats me."

"Are you an Uchiha?"

"No. If I was, I would've known already." So, how did I activate the Sharingan?

"Come on, let's get you back to the hospital." Anko said before picking me up in her arms.

Once we were back in hospital, Anko put me back in bed. "Should I get Grandma Tsunade?" Naruto asked. "It's late, kid. Let it wait till morning." Anko said as she was wrapping new bandages around my eyes.

"If that girl was already dead, then how was she here?" I asked her.

"I'm not one for tall tales, but I heard Aiko used to be a shrine maiden. However, she used her powers to wake the dead and torment her people. One day, her people killed her so she wouldn't hurt them anymore and they buried her body someplace far away from their village. In an act of vengeance, she rose from her grave and started to punish the people for killing her, taking them down one by one." Anko explained.

"So, in reality, she was a ghost inhabiting an already dead body." I said. "Exactly."

"That's crazy." Naruto said. "I'll say." Sasuke agreed. If Aiko was a ghost inhabiting a dead body, I wonder what she really looked like? "Wait, now that Aiko's dead for good, shouldn't have the effect of her jutsu worn off?" I asked. Everyone went silent for a moment until Anko began to speak. "Good question. Let's look into the matter tomorrow." She suggested.

I gave a nod and Anko ruffled my hair. The three of them left as I heard the door close.

What if the effects of the jutsu are permanent? What if I'll never be able to see again?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Uh-oh. Did Nue make the right decision in killing Aiko? Will Nue be able to see again? Find out more in Chapter 48. See you next time, my insane children!

Kureiji out~