18 Chapter 17 (1/2)
”As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death.” - Leonardo da Vinci
It was relatively a calm morning, apart from the constant ruckus that arose from the tiny hut on the snowy mountain. Hitori was hastily packing her things to move in with Hikari at Konoha. Things would have been done well if she had done it beforehand last night but, being lovers as they are, their shenanigans last night wouldn't be of much help. Hikari, on the other hand, stood outside of the house, staring aimlessly on the falling snow. He was distracted since the day before but on that morning, it was worst. His face was of concern.
”Hikari-kun?” Hitori called for him as she peeked out of the doors. The boy wouldn't budge. She narrowed her eyes and made her way out of the house, concerned. She noticed that he was worse than before. When she arrived in front of him, his eyes didn't even catch her yet. It's like the light in his eyes had faded. She reached for his face and when she touched his cheeks, he immediately woke up from his trance.
”Oh, hey! Are you ready?” Hikari said and smiled at her. She didn't answer as she looked deeply into his eyes. After a while, she nodded.
”Something is not right is it?” she finally asked.
”Yeah, I felt a little off for a few days. It's like something bad is going to happen,” he murmured as he reached for her hands that were on his cheeks. But instead, she let go and disappeared to a few meters from him. She glowed brightly and the snow around her began to sizzle. The glow became brighter and larger and when she was finished, she was in her Phoenix form.
”Get on, we need to get you there now. I can always get my stuff later,” Hitori's voice was looming all over the mountain. Her tone was not to be messed with so he hopped on her back. She opened her wings and with one swift stroke, they were airborne.
Hikari was yelling all of the time. Her speed was not something he was used to and that is saying something.
”Hitori-san!! It's too fast!!!” he yelled as he gripped her fur hard. She suddenly made a dive and the speed was getting faster and faster. When they were a few shy meters from the bottom of the mountain, she stopped, flapping her wings and pitched up to level out the flight.
”Well that's one way to go down a mountain,” she giggled. ”Are you alright, Hikari-kun?”
A paler than usual Hikari was hugging the bird's back for dear life. He slowly raised his head and croaked.
”I think I'm gonna be sick.”
”Ehhhh? Forgive me, dear. I should have warned you beforehand. But I am worried about you so we should head to Konoha as fast as we can,” she reasoned. Hikari didn't say anything in return because he felt like he was going to barf something out and he held it in.
”I don't know if you wanted to hear this. One of my ninshu is the interplanetary travel,” she suddenly said and Hikari immediately swallowed his throat. ”Before you asked me anything; yes, I taught her the principle behind the technique but the one she developed ended up being another thing entirely. My ninshu can only connect point A to point B through a portal but hers was intricate enough to manipulate time and space continuum. That would explain how you can be sent to the future. Regardless, it was one hell of a complicated ninshu to do.”
”I know that it's a piece of disturbing news. I only said it to distract you for puking on my fur. Given that it did work. I am glad,” she continued.
”Actually, it answered some questions in my mind apparently. That solved the mystery of how do you both breathed in outer space and got here so fast. My mother said that she arrived through a door. It seemed ridiculous at the time,” he chuckled while she laughed along with him.
”Well, she isn't wrong. When we arrived at this system through my portal and she landed on earth alone and on my request, I stayed at the edge of the system to watch over the planet,” Hitori explained. There were a few moments of silence between them before they continue.
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”Thank you for distracting me, love. But right now, I am feeling the same thing as the day I lost her,” Hikari finally said. There weren't many words exchanged between them during the flight. She said that they would arrive in a few hours and advised him to take a rest for the time being.
A few hours later, Hikari suddenly rose from his slumber. He felt multiple chakra source fluctuates in front of them. Hitori was subtly increasing her pace.
”Is it?” Hikari managed to mumble.
”Yes, it is, Konoha is under attack. Quick, get into the sage mode! The enemy is not to be taken lightly,” she barked as she flapped her wings hard. Hikari shut his eyes and began to accumulate nature energy. She was at the moment at her fastest speed and still, they were quite a distance away from the village. When they arrived at Konoha, she circled around the village to assess the situation.
”Multiple fights have broken out. There is a large three-headed snake wrecking havoc around the village and the civilians are in danger,” she said. Hikari activated his Byakugan as soon as he was in the sage mode. He then saw the true extent of the battle, an invasion of Suna and Oto ninjas. His sensei, the Hokage was fighting someone inside a barrier. The Jounins was fighting Suna and Oto invaders. In a distance, his teammates were chasing someone and when he saw the person's chakra, it was Gaara's and he was chased by Sasuke and Naruto was catching up to the two. What intrigued him the most was both sides were feeling a tad nervous to see a giant flying phoenix on top of the sky. He took out his headband and tied it upon his forehead.
”Hitori-san, go for the barrier first,” he asked and she obliged. She dived down and landed on top of a roof next to the barrier. There was a pair of Konoha Anbu monitoring the fight between his sensei and the stranger. All of them were nervous at the sight of such a large bird and of course the heat it radiates.
”One of yours, I presume?” Sarutobi-sensei asked the man he was fighting against. The man rose his eyebrows.
”I thought it was yours,” the man said, ”sensei.”
Hikari suddenly appeared next to the ANBU while stretching his arms. The ANBU breathed a sigh of relief. Hikari's red, saged eyes were piercing through the man inside the barrier. The chakra and aura emitted from the man was pure evil.
”I left for a few weeks and this is what happens, sensei?” Hikari monotonously said. The man raised his eyebrows and turned at the Hokage and he was chuckling.
”One could never assume these things to happen. Well, Hikari-kun, meet my former student, Orochimaru,” the Hokage said. Hikari was immediately glaring at the man.
”Am I right to assume that he is behind all this?” he asked. ”Why didn't you beat him to a pulp yet?”
Orochimaru was laughing haughtily at the events that had unfolded in front of him.
”You still take students at your age, Sarutobi-sensei?” he said. ”Brat, I imagined that he passed down his weak notion of the will of fire to you. Tell me, how is it working for you right now?”
The Hokage didn't say anything but suddenly the bird breathed fire on the barrier. It was intense but no damage could be seen on it. Hitori then reverted back to her human form and appeared next to Hikari.
”The barrier, it's impenetrable. Plus, it...” Hitori concluded.
”It kills whoever that touched it,” the ANBU commander gritted, ”we're stuck outside, Hikari-kun.”
”Go and help the civilians, Hikari-kun. You're the only one fast enough,” the Hokage requested. What he had asked for was immensely logical and productive. The boy nodded and turned away from the barrier.
”You better win, Sensei,” Hikari said as he swallowed his unnerving uneasiness. ”Be ready at all times to intervene, ANBU-Nisan. Let's go, Hitori-san.”
Both of them suddenly flickered away from the rooftop in a ball of flames and appeared around the gigantic snake. It was easily the largest snake he had ever seen and three-headed too. The elite jounins of Torture and Investigation that was fighting it were having a hard time.
”Sandaime-sama's student? You look different,” a man clad in black suddenly appeared next to the boy. Hikari recognized him from the round trips he had done with Sarutobi-Sensei.
”Morino-san, is it? It's my sage form. Where must we evacuate the civilians? Sensei requested me to help with the evacuation,” Hikari answered.