Chapter 40: A Mistake?

Nue's POV

"This is... Sasuke's older brother?" I said in disbelief. Sasuke started talking about how he's kept his hatred for him until he shouted, "It ends here!" and started Chidori before running towards Itachi. "Sasuke!" I called. Itachi blocked the attack like it was nothing, then bent Sasuke's wrist, making him scream in pain.

"All right, that does it!" Naruto said. He bit his thumb and started to do some hand signs. "Summoning-!"

"Too slow!"

Fish Guy slashed his sword down, but it didn't touch Naruto. "What the..? My chakra." Naruto said. "What's wrong?" I asked him. "I can't feel my chakra." He replied. "My Samehada cuts and absorbs chakra." Fish Guy said.

I gulped. No! Don't get scared now! I made a promise! "I won't run away." I said to myself, then got in a fighting stance. "I won't let you hurt, Naruto! Do you hear me?!" I shouted.

Fish Guy stared at me. "You have such confidence for such a small child." He mentioned. I gritted my teeth. "No, Nue! Stay out of this! This is my battle! I've waited for this day." Sasuke said. He won't be able to defeat his brother. He's not strong enough.

"You're too weak, Sasuke! You can't defeat him!" I said to him. "Just mind your own business!" Sasuke snapped. "Forget the legs. I'll just chop off the arms." Fish Guy said. As his sword came down on us, it was interrupted by a puff smoke.

When the smoke cleared, I saw a toad in front of Naruto and I, realizing he was the one who intercepted the attack. "The Toad Sage, Jiraiya, is here!" We heard Jiraiya say. I look behind me to see Jiraiya-sensei holding a woman over his shoulder.

I face palmed because of the way he looked right now. "You're late, Pervy Sage! These guys don't care who you are!" Naruto yelled. "Hey, could you not call me that in front of other people?" Jiraiya-sensei asked.

"Get with it Pervy Sage! We have bigger problems here!" Naruto shouted. "I said not to call me that!" Jiraiya-sensei shouted back. "Guys, now's not the time!" I yelled at them. "What do we do now, Nue?" Kiyoshi asked me.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking." I said as I closed me eyes, trying to think of a plan. I heard Jiraiya telling the cloaked men that their purpose was to separate me and Naruto from him, but what for? "Naruto is the prize to the Akatsuki." I heard Itachi say.

"I won't let you harm him!" I said to them, snapping my eyes open. "No, Nue. Stay out of this. These are S-rank criminals were dealing with here." Jiraiya told me. "They're also the people who murdered my clan!" I argued. "Stay out of it, Nue." I heard Sasuke say.

"The one who's going to eliminate him... is me!" Sasuke said as he activated his Sharingan. "Go away. You don't interest me at the moment." Itachi said to him in an emotionless tone. "Then, get interested!" Sasuke yelled as he ran at Itachi.

Itachi kicked him in the stomach while his back was still facing him, sending Sasuke flying to a wall. "Sasuke!" Naruto called. I ran to Sasuke, but my cloak was pulled back by a strong hand. Bad luck for me because whoever pulled my cloak back, also yanked it off my body, revealing my wings and tails. 'Shit!' I thought to myself.

"Well, well. Get a load of this, Itachi. Looks like she did make it after all." Fish Guy said. I growled. Itachi looked back to see my wings and tails. "With those things on her back, there's no mistaking it. That has to be her." Itachi said.

I gritted my teeth. I'm so screwed. "You're going to pay for what you did to my clan." I mentioned with a frown. I spun around, getting ready to punch Fish Guy, but he kicked me hard in the stomach. I fell on my back as a foot was pressed against my chest, keeping me down on the floor.

I began to struggle under the criminal's weight. "Listen kid. We're not the ones who murdered your clan. Don't you remember who we are?" Fish Guy said, quietly, so only I could hear him. I frowned at him. I know that's not true! It can't be true! Zabuza told me it was them!

"You're lying!" I snapped.

"Why are you angry, little runt?"

"Why... What?" I glared at him in confusion.

"I asked, why are you angry?" Fish Guy repeated.

"How can I not be angry when you're trying to take away my friend!" I said to him, angrily. He just chuckled at me and I glared at him. "I'll... kill you!" I told him as I began to squirm under his weight. I stopped struggling and started to laugh.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you laughing?" Fish Guy asked me with a smirk. "Kisame, get away from her. Now. She's-"

"It's too late now." I interrupted Itachi, my black bangs covering my eyes. "I should've just used her sooner." I continued before chuckling manically. Kisame stared at me, confused. I can't believe I've been referring to him as 'Fish Guy' this entire time. 

"After all, she is in my power." I said, quietly. I snapped my fingers and my shadow cat appeared.

She pounced at Kisame, causing him to step back. I took the opportunity to do a backwards shoulder roll and got up on my feet.

"Keep attacking him!" I ordered my cat. For some reason, I began to laugh manically. "Nue-chan! Your eyes!" Naruto warned. I quickly covered my eyes with my hands. 'Calm down, Nue. Before you lose control' I heard Yin Yang's voice in my head.

He's right. I need to calm down before I lose it. I heard Sasuke scream like he was in agony, so I uncovered my eyes. "Sasuke!" I called out in worry. I ran towards him, but stopped when I felt the floor shake and the whole room started to change into some red blob.

"Whoa... What is this?" I mumbled. "Nue, don't move." Jiraiya said. "Bleh! Thissss isssss dissssgusting!" Kiyoshi hissed, annoyed. "What's going on?" Naruto asked. "Keep still. Have trust in my jutsu." Jiraiya said. "Kisame. Come." Itachi ordered his partner.

Kisame tried to run forward,  but the red blob held his sword down. "Easier said then done." Kisame said. With a hard pull, he managed to get his sword out. "It's pointless to try and run away!" Jiraiya said to them, then the blob began to chase them.

"SSSome jutsu, I'll give him that." Kiysohi said. I went to reply until a crash was heard. "What the..? What the heck was that?" Naruto asked. Jiraiya ran towards the spot he heard the crash from. "Hey! Pervy Sage!" Naruto called.

"Go after him. I'll watch after Sasuke." I said. He nodded and followed Jiraiya. I ran over to Sasuke's body, then kneeled down to examine his face. He looked dazed, as if he just watched a horror movie. I used my hand to lift his chin a little so I could get a better look at his face.

"Why didn't you listen to me, you stubborn..." I trailed off as my hand fell to my side. "Nue-chan!" Naruto called as he and Jiraiya came running over to me. "How's Sasuke?"

"I don't know. He has a pulse, but I'm not sure what's wrong with him." I said. "I think I can answer that." Jiraiya spoke. "You can?" He nodded his head and began to explain that Sasuke was stuck in a genjutsu, a very powerful one.

"A genjutsu? Then, how do we get him out of it?" I asked. He was about to answer until a kunai knife was lunged at the wall. We all shared a confused glance until my eyes went wide when Guy-sensei came out of nowhere and kicked Jiraiya in the face.

"What'd he do that for?" Kiyoshi asked. He got his answer when Guy-sensei began to explain why he kicked Jiraiya. It was because he thought Jiraiya was an enemy; He couldn't really see him clearly from the reflection of his headband.

"You idiot." Jiraiya muttered. "I'll take Sasuke back to the village." I volunteered. "I'll come with you, Nue. So we can catch up on things." Gai said. What sort of things, I wonder? I just nodded my head my head to him and Naruto said that he and Jiraiya would continue their journey to look for someone named Tsunade.

Once I had Sasuke on my back, I waved goodbye to Jiraiya and Naruto. "Bye, Nue! See you later! And take care of Sasuke!" Naruto called as he waved to me. "Don't worry, I will! You can count on me!" I said with a smile as I waved back.

We parted ways and Guy-sensei and I walked to the Leaf Village. "Hey, Nue. I've been meaning to ask you something." Guy-sensei said. "Sure. What is it, Guy-sensei?" I asked.

"Why do you always wear that cloak on you?" Guy-sensei asked.

"This isn't the only cloak I wear. I have a brown one."

"Yeah, but lately, you've been wearing that one and only that one."

"So?"

"So, why do you wear it? Is it important to you?"

"Well, kind of."

It grew silent for a while until Guy-sensei started speaking again. "Nue... There's something else I wanted to talk to you about."

I started to get a little nervous, thinking he might bring up the day of the Chunin Exams, when he saw my wings and tails. I mean, I know he saw them. Him and Kakashi saw them. Hell, everyone saw them.

"I just wanted to say that no matter what you do in the future, or in the present, I think you'll grow up to be a great kunoichi." He said. I sighed in relief. "Thanks... Guy-sensei." I said. "We're not the ones who murdered your clan. Don't you remember?"

Kisame's words repeated over and over in my head. But it doesn't make any sense. If they didn't kill my clan, then who did? What if it's a trick? What if he only said it just to throw me off guard? I'm not sure anymore. 

When we finally got to the Leaf Village, we got Sasuke settled in the hospital. "Thanks for your help, Guy-sensei." I said. "Anytime, Nue. Let's get together sometime and train, okay?" He said with a grin. "Sure." I smiled a closed eye smile

Guy-sensei left and I looked at Sasuke's unmoving figure. "This is your fault. I told you, you weren't strong enough. And now you got yourself into this mess." I said, sadly. Tears started to escape my eyes as I gazed at him.

"I swore to protect you... and I failed. I'm so sorry, Sasuke," I began to cry silently so I wouldn't be heard. "Why... Why can't I keep those promises?" I asked. "Don't feel bad, Nue. It'sss not your fault" Kiyoshi said.

"But it is my fault. I promised I'd protect my friend and everyone I care about. But in the end... they just get hurt... because of me. It's all my fault," Tears dripped onto the mattress as I closed my eyes tightly, trying to force myself to stop crying.

"I promised... to protect them." I whispered, sniffling. "Promised who?" I heard a voice say. I opened my eyes and looked towards the window, spotting Yin Yang. "Yin Yang?" I whispered. He stared at me before jumping off the windowsill.

"Wait!" I called. I ran out of the room, then out of the hospital, searching for Yin Yang. "Yin Yang!" I called, my hands cupped around my mouth. "Where'd he go?" I asked no one in particular. I ran forward until I stopped when I spotted... I have no idea what that is.

Was it a dog or a man? (Soon to be revealed later on in the story)

"Um... Hi? Who are you?" I asked it. He, or it, didn't answer as he ran off and began to climb a tree. "Hey, wait up!" I called to it. I chase it up the tree, jumping from branch to branch.

But I had to stop when the end of my cloak got snapped on a branch. When I got it untangled, I gasped as I lost my balance and started to fall off the tree. "Nue!" I turned my head as I saw Shikamaru below me.

He caught me bridal style, but he ended up fall on his behind and still managed to catch me. "Shikamaru! I'm so sorry! Are you all right?!" I asked in a panic. "Yeah, but... you're a little heavier than you look." He grunted.

"I'm sorry." I said, crawling out of his hold. I sat on my knees as he stayed sitting where he was. "Ow, that hurt." Shikamaru said. "I'm sorry." I apologized. "Don't worry about it. What were you doing in the tree anyway?" He asked.

"Well, there was some a dog, or a man, I think, and it was climbing a tree, jumping from branch to branch. So, I chased it." I explained with hand gestures. "A dog man? Are you sure you didn't just see a cat?" Shika said as he rubbed his head.

"Nope, I'm sure. It was a dog man." I said with a closed eye smile, confident with my answer. "Uh... huh." He replied. "Wait a minute, Shikamaru. Just what are you doing here?" I asked. "I was just taking a walk around the village until I saw you running, so I followed you." Shika explained.

"Oh." I said. "Oh! That reminds me," I went into my pocket and fished out my bag of candy I got from the small town Jiraiya, Naruto, and I were in recently. "Here, have some." I offered with a smile. "Candy? No, thanks." Shikamaru denied.

"Why? Have you already eaten?"

"No."

"Then, you should take one."

"I don't have much a sweet tooth."

"But if you don't eat anything, you'll be sad."

Shikamaru stared at me with a confused look as I stared back at him with puppy dog eyes. He sighed in defeat, the took a piece of candy out of my hand. He put it in his mouth, began to chew it, then he swallowed it. "It's good." He said, his eyes closed.

I smiled and ate some candy myself. "Hey... What do you think of Naruto?" Shika asked as he looked at me. "I love him." I said, a bit cheerfully. "Why?" He asked. "Well, he listens to me, talks to me, he always finds a way to make me smile, and he's really nice." I said as I used my fingers to list out the reasons.

"That's not what I meant." Shikamaru said, sternly. "Hmm?" I stared at him, confused. "A guy who listens to you and talks to you. It just sounds... too easy." He said as he stared at the ground with a frown. 

"What do you mean?" I asked, unsure of Shikamaru's statement. Did I say something wrong? After I spent a little bit more time with Shika, I decided to take a short walk. Where was I walking, you ask? Just a little bit outside the village.

I just needed to think to myself for a minute. The Akatsuki didn't kill my clan? But... they were there. I have to find them. I need answers, but how am I supposed to get them? I stopped walking when I spotted something in the distance.

Huh? What is that? The wind picked up, making the straw hat it was wearing fly off into the air. I gasped when I saw it's true for revealed. It looked like... some kind of puppet. At least I think it's a puppet. And it wore the same cloak Kisame and Itachi were wearing while wearing.

"Hello?" I said to it. "We didn't kill the Houjuu Clan." It said in a deep voice. "But if you didn't kill my clan, then who did?" I asked. "You mean, you don't remember?" It asked. "Remember what? Please, tell me who killed my clan." I begged it.

"You'll know in time. Just remember that we're not your enemy." It said. A dust of dirt swept by, masking the puppet man. Once the dust was gone, the puppet was, too. He vanished without a trace. They're not my enemy? Was he talking about Akatsuki? The Akatsuki's not my enemy? 

I have to get to the bottom of this, find out more about the Houjuu Clan. But the only one who know about the Houjuu Clan is... the Akatsuki themselves.

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Hey, guys. I apologize if my updates are a bit slow. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Don't forget to vote and comment. Please comment. See ya later!!

Kureiji out~