Between the Lines.15?

Between the Lines.15?

"Kirona!" Ai shouted in frustration.

The said person looked from the growing pile of papers at the red-haired ninja.

"Why are you going through Yuzuki's old papers? Why are you acting so calm after she just...past away."

"Died? You're having trouble admiting that she died." Kirona started shifting through the papers once more and smiled when she found what she was looking for. "Tell me, Ai, why do you think she killed herself?"

"Becuase she's nuts?" Kirona stared at her friend.

Sighing, she stood up and began to walk out of the room. "No. She did it for us."

"So now you're trying to make her sound noble? Did you forget she joined the Akatsuki?"

"She did that for Misaki."

"Say what now?"

"They had a way to get rid of demons, and she used it. Now, Misaki can have a normal life instead of going insane from the damned thing in the next few years."

"Okay, so yay for that. What about the curse?"

"She completed the jutsu by dying."

"What kind of jutsu is that!" Ai shouted in confusion and frustration.

"The kind that can used to be known as witchcraft." Kirona smiled.

"Are you serious? You know that doesn't exsist. Witchcraft is the whole reason that our village decided to hide itself. People started to assume we were witches." Ai laughed harshly. "How stupid is that?"

"It is true in some cases. Yuzuki must have found the right spell.." Kirona paused for a moment, wondering. "or charm. Curse? Whatever she found the right one."

Kirona was silent for a moment and Ai just stared at her back. They were now on the street, looking for Misaki and Kurumi.

"Are you going to explain it?"

Kirona stopped and turned to look at her friend. "Explain what?"

"'What'?!" Ai shouted. She stopped and tried to hold down her slowly growing frustration. "This. All of this. Becuase I'm still lost and apparently you know why Yuzuki did everything she did. So, are you going to fill us in of everything?"

Kirona smiled softly and nodded. "Of course I'm going to tell you guys everything. I can tell Kakashi and Tsunade-san too."

"Well, then we might as well head for the Hokage's office then."

"Why?"

"That's where we were going to meet. I told them that I'd bring you by."

"Okay then." Kirona said.

-

The Hokage's office was slightly crowded as everyone who had any contact with the Sakura ninja sat waiting for Ai and Kirona. Kakashi was busy reading his book once more and Tsunade was calmly staring out the window. Misaki and Kurumi were leaning against the wall staring at the floor. Naruto was figeting in the corner, catching the annoyed eyes of Shikamaru and Ino. Choji was snacking on a bag of sour cream and onion chips while Kiba tossed a small treat to Akamaru. Shino stood quietly behind his high collar and Neji had his arms crossed over his chest. Lee and Ten-ten were occupying themselves by staring out the window. Sakura stood quietly next to her mentor with Sai sitting quietly on the ground in his usual daze. Hinata stood quietly with Kankuro and Temari as Gaara quietly held Misaki's hand for comfort.

When the doorknob clicked a few times, everyone immidiately stared at the two ninjas as they entered.

"Uh...Hi?" Ai said. "What's with the looks?"

"What's going on? What was Yuzuki doing?" Kurumi questioned, looking straight at Kirona.

Kirona sighed and smiled. "I have a fairly good idea of what was happening, but before I explain, I think we need to teach the Leaf ninja's a bit of Sakura Village basics."

"What do you mean?" Tsunade questioned.

"If I don't explain a few things first, then no one will understand what happened and why." Kirona looked around the room and sighed. "Some history on the Sakura village was behind this. In our first history class, every Sakura ninja is told the story of our founders. That is, a goddess and an aritst boy."

"A goddess and an artist boy?" Shikamaru questioned.

"That's the story that they tell us but often you hear different verisons with a witch to replace the goddess or the pair of a princess and a sorceror."

"We never really know which one is true." Misaki smiled. "Though I assume that all of them sound a little odd or farfetched."

"That's true." Kirona laughed. "The story, nonetheless, is the same. A goddess and artist boy fall in love and agree to try to start their own country since they weren't accepted to the boy's village."

"It makes a bit more sense if it was the witch and artist boy." Ai added in after seeing a few confused faces.

"They marry and start a family. As their children marry and carry on the goddess' genes, unique abilities are found."

"Like being able to perform jutsues without hand signs." Kurumi finished.

"Right." Kirona smiled a grim smile. "Only a few ninja's know this in the Sakura village, but the reason we are able to perform jutsu without signs is becuase of something called 'The Reserve'."

"I heard of that." Kurumi said. "Wasn't it just a special type of chakra that can only be used under certain circumstances?"

"No. It's not chakra. The Reserve is in every Sakura ninja and it's one of the few genes that are still running through our bodies from the goddess. It sounds pretty strange but it's true."

"So? What is it?" Naruto urged.

"It's the gene for longer lives. Our oldest villager will be 218 years in two months."

"What?!" Some people shouted in shock.

"Who? I've never heard of anyone being that old in our village." Ai asked.

"Ora-san." Kirona answered with a smile.

Ai stared at her friend as if she had just eaten a live toad. "Are you nuts? She looks, like, forty."

"Genetics."

"There's no way that could be true. Immortality is a myth." Kurumi argued.

"I didn't say she was immortal. Kurumi, do you know why she's so old? It's becuase she chose not to become a ninja. That's also the reason why all of our ninjas die before they reach the age of fifty."

"So say this longer life thingy was true." Kiba said. "What's this got to do with what Yuzuki did?"

Kirona held up her hand. "I can't explain that yet. First I need to explain the petals."

"Petals?" Sakura asked. "The ones that mark your ninja rank?"

"Yep. When a Sakura ninja becomes a genin, we get our first petal. However, it not only symolizes that we are now genin, it also keeps us from talking about our village to outsiders. Inside the paint that is used for the petals, is a unique mixture of ingredients and chakra."

"So it was physically impossible for you guys to tell us anything about your village." Kiba said as he looked over at Misaki.

"Right. It also forbid us from explaining things that may cause an uproar in our village. So naturally, Yuzuki and I couldn't tell anyone else about the Reserve."

"Is that why a few ninjas hardly use it?" Ai asked.

"Right. They've sworn to only use handsigns unless they absolutly need to."

"Alright..." Tsunade pondered something for a moment before Ai shot another question, interupting her thoughts.

"What about that demon thing? No one explains that. As far as we know, it just showed up one day."

"The creation of the demon is unknown to me." Kirona explained as she looked at Misaki. "However, it's effects on the human it lives within isn't a mystery. After years of constant struggle for the body, around the age of nineteen or so, it finally gives out. First it starts with the brain and the person becomes mentally unstable."

Gaara gripped Misaki's hand a bit and Misaki turned to give him a reassuring smile.

"Not long after that, the person commits suicide."

"That's horrid." Ino whispered.

Sighing, Kirona smiled. "Now that everything's explained, let me tell you what Yuzuki was doing."

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expect the last chapter to be up fairly soon.....