Chronicles of the Demon Children
Chapter One: Escape
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Kasumi Haruka was born into the world crying, like any other baby, taking her most painful first breath. Her birth was her mother's greatest fear. The day she first cried was the day the village cried, for now that she had survived childbirth, there was little hope in a childhood death. Not with the demon protecting its vessel.
Haruka never questioned her parents or their orders. She never wondered why she was never allowed outside. They visited her cage in the mountains everyday, bringing fresh fruits and vegetables. They gave her toys, books, and games. She was taught how to read and how to speak. Eventually, she learned how to wonder.Why was she living all alone in the mountains? Were there other people living inside cages? Perhaps she couldn't see them.
The Hidden Rain village had given the command to incarcerate her once the was able to live without her parents. Her mother and father told her to stay there. To be safe. To be alone. As she grew older, the visits with her mother and father grew more and more scarce. Eventually, they stopped coming to her at all. Haruka stayed silent, waiting for her parents for days. The only ones who visited her were mysterious shinobi in masks who begrudgingly giving her food.
"Where are Mother and Father?" she'd asked them. And they'd ignored her. Most of the time, she was all alone. Hungry. But according to her scrolls, she suspected that the village was going through hard times. Mother was sick. Father needed money. They couldn't waste it on her. They needed to live for themselves. But as her daily lifestyle grew lonelier and lonelier, she realized that she had been abandoned with only the silent masked men for company.
Every single day, she woke up and watched the sun pass her by. It would pass above her head. She wanted to reach out and grab it. It seemed so warm. She stopped smiling and stopped talking. The masked men seemed to like that. The paper on her bars burned her hands whenever she touched them to prevent any chance of escape. She didn't understand. The masked men could hold on to it as they reached to toss her her food all the time. Why couldn't she?
They burned her hands when she touched them. She touched them every day. It was a reminder there was still a tomorrow. She pretended she had a friend there. Her name was Yukiko. She visited her every day. Haruka hated her. She was a show off and a contemptuous little brat.
She never spoke. She never asked her questions. She always wondered. Why were there marks on her arm? Why did they glow and burn her the most whenever she touched the bars? They hurt her a lot sometimes. When she hurt herself somewhere, it hurt even worse on her arm, as if someone was reprimanding her. In fact, every day, it felt as if something were trying tp speak to her at the back of her head.
Then, the masked men stopped coming. Where were they? Weren't they going to feed her? What would she do without food? Water was easily obtainable by grabbing ice and mashing it into her mouth as quickly as possibly to ignore the icy pain. But food, on the other hand, was unobtainable from there.
After three days in complete isolation, one of the masked men returned. It was a new one. He was the only one that came now. He gave her a piece of chicken! Meat! Yeeeees! It was a rare treat to give her anything like that. Sure, they would give her meat from time to time, but it was in a mocking manner, as they tossed a slab of raw meat into the cage. Quite some time ago, she had attempted to eat it as it was. She got sick. Never tried that again…
He seemed to be a newer member. The one who gave her the meat. Haruka smiled. Perhaps it was her imagination, but the masked person smiled back. She couldn't really see his face after all. It was probably all in her head. He had long hair and baggy clothes. Nice, thick, and probably warm clothes. The nice masked man left for a bit, and came back with a jacket, a blanket that he wore on his shoulders, short pants, and a pair of the socks. He looked like he had lost weight between the five minutes that he had left. Was he wearing all that under those clothes? Amazing… Haruka hugged onto the warm clothes like nothing she had ever held in her hands before. Her parents rarely gave this many things in all the time that she knew them. This stranger had given it in a time span of ten minutes.
She had long since outgrown her old clothes. This was much warmer than sitting in worn out garments several sizes too small.
Every day, the nice masked man visited her. Each time, he gave her something new. Scrolls. It was a lot of scrolls. Books on kages, genjutsus, taijutsus, ninjutsus, legends, myths, and demons.
The demons mystified her the most. There were nine demon lords, the most powerful of all demons. Around twenty years ago, demons were being captured and sealed by the shinobi to use their powers and wage wars. However, the Nine Demon Lords retaliated and fought against their captives. The Demon Lords began to attack the human population, destroying village after village. Soon, almost all demons were captured or in hiding, but the only one who was able to completely escape, before being resealed, was the Kyubi. The hokage sealed the Kyuubi, the most powerful of the Demon Lords, into the body of a little boy. The kazekage captured one and sent it into the womb of his wife. It killed her and the baby boy was born with the powers of Shukaku, the tanuki. The Nekomata, a cat that lived in the mountains, was sealed by several shinobi of the Rain village (amazing! a Demon Lord residing in the very village she was born in!). The Sokou—a strange snake-rooster hybrid—was sealed by the Hidden Village of the Mist. Isonade, the fish, was sealed by the Hidden Village of the Cloud. Houko, the five-tailed dog youma was sealed in the Hidden Village of the Rock; it had control over the five elements. Raijuu, the weasel, was sealed in the Hidden Village of the Waterfall. Kaku, the badger, eldest sibling of the raccoon and the weasel, was also sealed. Hachimata the eight-tailed snake whose power rivaled the Kyubi's was sealed in the Sound very recently.
"A-are they still alive?" Haruka asked the nice masked man one day, summoning the courage and forcing herself to believe that he wouldn't leave the moment she got too close. "My parents, I mean."
"Yes," he said. "Last I've heard, they all are." His voice was higher than most men's. It was almost like Haruka's voice, only it seemed to sound even more feminine than her own. After about a whole three months of this man's company, this was the first time he had spoken to her.
"…My name is Haruka."
"Haha, yes, everyone here knows your name. I am Ka-...Karasu Miu," he said.
"Miu? Isn't that a girl's name?" Haruka asked.
"I am a girl. Well a woman technically, but I am female. Believe me, I've checked."
Haruka stared and blushed. "Go-gomenasai Karasu-san…"
"Call me Miu. It sounds cuter. But no worries. It's hard to tell who's who with all these masks on, especially with my hair all tied up and all the guys getting into "long hair" style. It's fashion, honey. I don't blame you for getting confused," the woman said. "Ugh, I hate the snow. You're really lucky you don't feel as cold as normal people."
Why didn't she? She wasn't normal?
The Miu froze. "Sorry, I mean, you're as normal as me, but... you've probably spent so much time up here you've gotten used to it, yeah? I mean, I can't stand the cold. I'm shaking in my boots!"
"Oh... Miu…san?" she tried.
"Hm…chan. Call me Miu-chan. It sounds better. So tell me, have you enjoyed the scrolls I have lent you?"
"H-hai…"
"Good. Because now I am giving you three shuriken and three kunai. Don't throw it out of your, ah…den."
"H-hai. Arigatou…Miu-chan. Ahm…"
"Hn?"
"Miu-chan, why am I in here?"
"Protection."
"From me?"
"And from the world."
"I want to leave."
"I would too if I were in your place. Alas, we both are not so fortunate." She put her the back of hand to her forehead and sighed dramatically. Haruka found that she liked this woman's company.
"Neh?"
"Nothing, Haru-chan," she said.
"Miu-chan…if I can't leave, then do I have to live?" She had read in books about how captives of the enemy shinobi had escaped through death. Would she have the courage to reach the beyond? Doubtful.
"Haru-chan, you read too many dramas. Death isn't the answer for everything. It's just the easy way out. You are a child of the Universe, no less than the moon and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the Universe is unfolding as it should."
"So I'm meant to stay here? Forever?"
"If things go badly, then yes. However, if things go well, you might have the opportunity to leave soon," Miu said with a mischievous grin.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Nothing. I must leave now. Go on and play with your little toys. But if someone other than me comes by, hide them, okay?"
"Yes, Miu-chan."
"You are the cutest little girl I've ever met. And you aren't spoiled either. Tomorrow is your birthday! I'll bring you something good. Promise."
Miu left. Haruka smiled. She didn't remember her birthday, but Miu wouldn't lie to her.
A large gray cat prowled inside of Haruka's cage, where she was not, pacing back and forth and flashing hot glares at Haruka with its silvery red eyes. It hissed and growled at her. Where was she? Haruka looked around. It were as if she were watching outside of her own cell, replaced by an enormous cat.
Where...am I?
You stupid human! it snarled suddenly. You hear me now? It...talked. Were animals supposed to talk? Well, Haruka had never really seen a real animal up close, let alone spoken to one. Maybe it was just some odd coincidence that all of the tomes that Miu had given her never mentioned animals with the ability to speak human words. Probably.
I hear you. Haruka said. But...what are you? And where am I? She looked around. What was she doing on the outside? She shivered. It was cold.
Idiot humans… Can you not tell a cat when you see one? You and your kind should bow to me—to us—the superior race! The, uh, talking cat had stopped growling that the girl to groom itself and look impressive. While in a cage. So all in all, it didn't look to impressive at all.
I know you're a cat, but... why am I dreaming of a giant cat that speaks to me? Haruka asked. Most of her dreams involved her being stuck in a snow.
Foolish child, you think this is a dream? If you have not noticed, in all your other dreams, you don't realize it is a dream. So now, you believe this to be a dream while you are "dreaming"?
What?
… Do you know who I am?
No.
…Oh.
Gomenasai. I suppose I should know who you are then? Please forgive me for asking, but then you are you?
I am Nekomata.
Nekomata…? Nekomata...it sounded familiar. It a nice name. I like that. My name is Kasumi Haru—
Haruka! Yes, yes, I know who you are, already! the cat snapped, it's fur bristling. She looked quite irritated with the girl. Probably from waiting so long just to be understood and heard by another being, even if it was just a human. I've been listening in on your mind for the last thirteen years!
Is that all you have been doing? Haruka asked. For thirteen whole years?
Thanks to YOU, yes, it is, the cat retorted.
Oh... I'm sorry...? What did she do?
Apology accepted, Nekomata said, grooming himself. This cat was just like any other cat. Haughty, contemptuous, and disrespectful towards others. Anyway, it's not as if I had nothing better to do here. 'Oh gee. Look a ROCK. In the CAGE. How very INTERESTING.' That's what I've been doing for the past thirteen years.
Ano…
What?
You say your name is Nekomata... I don't suppose you are… Demon Lord Nekomata, the Two-Tails?
Yes, I am, Nekomata said smugly.Haruka backed away nervously. The demon sighed at the sight of the human scared witless by the knowledge of her mind-mate (can't really call her a roommate, can you...?). Relax, human. I prefer my meat fat and plump. As bony as you are, you barely qualify as a healthy human being. I also prefer men. Much more interesting chewing them.
Oh. Haruka grinned nervously and looked quite relieved by Nekomata's taste in men.
But if you annoy me, then I will eat you, Nekomata said irratibly, seeing the girl relax a bit in her presence. Haruka backed away and cowered again. As queen cat, she ought to be feared and revered! Muahahahaha! She snickered at Haruka inwardly, not wanting to lose the girl's newfound respect/fear
Ah, Nekomata-sama...what are you doing in my dream?
I told you before, this is no dream! Haven't you been listening? This is your mind. And I am in it.
You're in my head?
Or your body. I was sealed into your body, Nekomata said. Haruka remembered the scroll Miu gave her on the Demon Lords. They were sealed into the bodies of humans as weapons of war... Was that why she was here? And there you go with that clueless thinking-face, you silly pink things.
So you can't really really kill me, right? Not dead dead...?
Don't underestimate me, child,Nekomata said. I can still make your life a living hell. However, you humans amuse me to no end. Creating a weapon only to incarcerate it... that is COMPLETELY idiotic. Now get out. This is my side of the mind. Stick to yours. And with that, Haruka was shoved away from the cage where Nekomata said grooming herself.
Strangely enough, it began to snow. In her head. She never liked the snow, but... it was somewhat beautiful. It didn't really scare her. The pure whiteness had always made her nervous, as if the snow would soon eat away at her body and cover her in nothingness. Perhaps years stuck in a cage on her mountain had screwed up her mind, not that she cared. Haruka watch the mountains in daze. She had stared at them for almost thirteen whole years, but never realized the majestic beauty of it all. It was so large, and had taken so long to form from the earth. It was a comfort, to know that it had started of several milleniums ago as a small moundin the ground. So she could become just as big and important as the mountain. In time.
The world seemed brighter. There wasn't any grass in this part of her mind, so it couldn't possibly be greener without something being terribly wrong, but it was brighter nevertheless.
Miu returned to the Hidden Village of the Rain in a good mood. Haruka's mother and father may have left her, but Miu was going to show her that she wasn't completely wiped from existence in society. When it was decided that Haruka was to be kept up in the cage, left to die of starvation, Miu found herself quite astonished by the cruelty and hate directed towards the less fortunate.
Miu had been adopted soon after the fiasco in which it was decided that, once the baby had no need for breast milk, her adoptive parents' original child was to be swept away and stuck in the cage near the top of Mount Gogyou for the rest of her miserable life. At first, Mother seemed rather out of it, dazed and always tired. Miu had suspected it to be the shock and despair of the terrifying fact that she had given birth to a demon and had her only precious child taken away.
It was the reason why Miu had been adopted—to erase the feeling of a missing child that a truly loving mother would subconsciously long for. She was a replacement for the demon she gave birth to.
Mother and Father stopped visiting their real child completely on the day of her birthday. Haruka probably didn't even know the exact date. During that time, Miu was becoming a most respectable shinobi of the Rain. She graduated that year as a jounin at the young age of eighteen and applied for a position as an ANBU.
And she got it.
Soon after that, however, the ANBU squad had stopped 'wasting their time' to bring food to Haruka. Learning her 'family history', Miu learned to despise her family, her friends, and her village. Were they so cruel, to lock up a child in a cage with nothing but her imagination to accompany her? With the village's decision to stop returning to that little cage in the mountains, Miu went up instead, against the Mizukage's orders, and fed her 'little sister'.
Irked by the newest Anbu's disobedient actions, the village leader gave her the position as 'extended keeper' and guard. In other words, he was pretty much giving her permanent duty. Not that Miu really minded, anyway.
Regardless of what the leader told her to do, guarding a thirteen year old child was nowhere on the list of her Top Priorities. Little did he know that Miu, being one of the most excellent escapists and strategists, was not planning on staying there for very long.
Oh no, Mizukage-sama, I'm going to get her out of here…right under your giant fat nose! Hahahahahaha...!
The first time Miu had come up on the mountain, which was Haruka's second day without any company, she had nearly frozen to death halfway up. She returned to her village, telling everyone of a new, secret jutsu she was thinking of that was too powerful and awesome to give in complete detail. Later, she'll just say it wouldn't have worked anyway. They'd believe her. She may have been the 'n00b' of the ANBU, but no one would suspect her yet. She made plans for the next day, bringing thick jackets and extra clothes. She wore a cap on her head too. She resembled a mad skier, with an ANBU mask, a wool mask, a wool cap, three thick jackets, a cloak, shorts underneath her pants, and three pairs of socks.
She got up on the mountain, but didn't come down with all those clothes. Haruka gave the girl the jacket, the cloak, the shorts, a pair of the socks, and some leftover chicken Mother had cooked the night earlier.
Every day, Miu visited Haruka with gifts that she probably would have received should she have been born a normal child: scrolls, food, blankets, and the warmth of another's company. It hadn't taken long for the leader of the Rain to find out, not that she cared. Despite the silence that always existed between the two of them and the freezing snow, Miu was actually rather comfortable with Haruka. She watched her 'younger sister' behind her ANBU mask. Most observations she made were insignificant, with nothing of any great importance of them. On the mountain, Miu continued her self-philosophy of the world and her twisted family.
A true mother shouldn't hate her child just because the cruelness of fate had left its mark on Haruka's arm. The seal of the demon, tattooed into the skin of her arm to keep the demon at bay for all eternity. A mother should love her daughter because of, if not despite, her...uniqueness. No one seemed to understand. Haruka was powerful. She was special. As a sacrifice to keep the demon from killing any more innocents, Haruka should have been revered as a hero, not tossed into a dark prison in the mountains to rot for the rest of her now meaningless existence. But it wouldn't be meaningless anymore. Miu had plans for the two of them. They could become all-powerful. Rumors of a man possessing the powers of a lesser demon were spreading. No one knew who he quite was, only that he was a skilled shinobi who managed to make a good life of his own. And the darker rumors that hardly anyone knew were that he had met a demon lord and, together, were making plans of 'world conquest'. They planned to destroy the world and recreate it to their own liking, without the negligence of those unfortunate enough to harbor monsters in their hearts. Both of the demon harboring shinobi understood both the advantages and the disadvantages of being jinchuuriki. People feared you and respected you. They never harmed you but they could despise you.
And, the silence became conversations on the third month. Miu was beginning to wonder whether the girl was mute when she suddenly asked about her parents. At first, she was surprised. Why care? They had abandoned her! Of course, you only get one set of parents in a lifetime (more if you were adopted by others). Having been kept on this mountain without the corrupted being too entirely exposed to her, pure heart of this child remained untainted. She probably still loved her parents.
On the other hand, she might not have known they discarded her like a child would a broken toy.
All the same, she didn't need to know and she didn't have to feel the pain of being forsaken by her blood parents.
They spoke for a little while and Miu found out that Haruka had thought she was a man.
"I'm not," she had answered the girl with a laugh. "Believe me, I've checked."
What Miu marveled about this girl was her endurance. The day she first came, Haruka had not been fed in almost over three days. And since the day she had been stuck inside this godforsaken mountain, she hadn't been properly fed at all. Yet, she had been pacing rather restlessly when she was there. Despite the cold and the bareness of her arms and legs, she barely seemed to recognize it. Aside from her constant shivering and jumping about, although that just accentuated her ability to tolerate pains and continue in life.
When Miu gave her the scrolls, Haruka practically ate them up. Not literally. But she was tempted to. Miu first read the scrolls out loud to her for a while, but realized that, from her childhood when her parents showed her letters, Haruka had remembered almost every single detail of it. Amazing. At times, it sometimes seemed as if Miu had frostbite in her brain, the way she just couldn't understand basic concepts. But in memory and advanced thinking, Haruka was further along than many scholars.
Once she got the hang of it, Haruka would read through everything almost every single day. It didn't take long for Miu to decide to "expand" the girl's skills by giving her not scrolls on legendary figures and beings, but specific scrolls on shuriken and kunai, taijutsu technques, types of different chakra training, and weapons. As a bonus for good behavior, Miu even decided to give her a shuriken and kunai to see what she would do with it.
Meanwhile, she was still wondering what to get Haruka as a gift. Food. That was a definite thing. Haruka loved food. And sweets. Candy, bubblegum, and a small cake.
Soon, shinobi gear would be of definite use. Haruka could get some of Miu's old shinobi clothes, and other shuriken and kunai. An explosive tag would be to hazardous to give a curious girl in a small cage. Things would get complicated if she blew herself up. Perhaps even ruin everything Miu had planned out so carefully.
Meanwhile, she also bought a map of the world, marking safe places she and Haruka could flee to. Of the nine countries, not many were the best choice to flee to.
Konoha was the ideal village to go to. The Kyuubi host who was sealed here, was not treated very well by most of the adults, but there was some sort of a decree of silence around him. Only the adults knew of his sealed youkai. The children were never told of it, meaning there was an effort to keep the host from unnecessary pain, right? So if they could reach Konoha, that would be where they were safest. The Sand Village was too hot, but that didn't really matter. What did matter, however, they had a great deal of fear for the demons. Not that anyone would blame them. The Hidden Village of the Mist was completely isolated from the outside world. Miu had no idea whether it was safe to bring Haruka there. The Hidden Village of the Cloud actually idolized the host that the youkai had been sealed into. The Hidden Village of the Rock hid all evidence of Mineko and her host. Kawauso the otter was not the most popular in the village of the Waterfall. The Sound was currently at odds with Konoha. It was a strong country, yet still a newborn compared to the others. There was no information on the Sound at all.
'Hm…all we really need is our shuriken, kunai, and clothes for warmth,' Miu mused. 'I could hunt food and make a shelter. I just hope Haruka knows enough sense to be silent and has enough skill to hide. Wait, what am I thinking? She's got a demon in her. Of course she could!
Duh.
Haruka waited for Miu early that morning. 'What a strange dream I had last night,' she thought to herself. She waited in the cage. Something fun was going to happen today! She knew it!
Of course, now that Miu had come, fun-er things were happening every day! She grinned. What was she going to get today? All of a sudden, Miu appeared in a cloud of smoke. Haruka jumped backwards, giving a little yipe.
"You sound like a little puppy," Miu said. "Happy birthday! Look, look, look! I got you cake, candy, a map, and pictures!"
Haruka stared at the treasures Miu held out to her."Why is it brown?" Haruka asked.
"It's chocolate! From some foreign place! Eat it, it's good!"
Hesitantly, Haruka tasted a piece of it with a plastic fork Miu gave her. It was…good. Yuuuum. Chocolate.
Seeing Haruka's reaction to the taste, Miu grinned. "You like it, you like it! I'm a genius! I knew you'd like it!" she crowed. "And look at these!" She handed the map and the photos.
"That picture is of Sunagakure, the Hidden Sand Village in the Wind Country. Well, the name is the Wind Country, but it's almost all desert. That's the Hidden Village of the Mist. It's hard to see because of all the mist, but it's there all right. That's the Hidden Village of the Rock. Good defense. Really…hard though. Everything, like beds, floor, house. Yeah…it's not the most comfortable place to be."
"Wow," Haruka said. "I've never seen anything like this before."
Obviously, you've never left this cage before.
"I know. Just wondering, but of those places, which would you like to go the most?"
'Um…the desert! It's bright and warm and I've never seen sand before! I wanna go to the desert and see camels!"
"Would you like to see it?"
"I just did. Except the camels aren't in the picture…"
"I mean, would you like to?"
"Yeah. I just did."
The frostbite in her brain must be back. "I meant: do YOU want to go there YOURSELF!"
Oooh. "…M-me? Out of here?"
"YEAH."
"O-of course! My family's letting me out?"
"I was thinking more along the lines of a little jailbreak," Miu said mischievously.
All of Haruka's happiness and courage disappeared at those words. "...B-b-but we'll get caught."
"Look, it's either you stay in this cage for the rest of your life, or you risk a fifty-fifty chance of a) getting caught and stuck back in here or actually live your life like a real person. They aren't ever going to let you out, you know."
"…I know." She realized that when she had her 'demonic vision'.
"Don't you want to live? To see the desert and the camels? It's near Konoha. We'll go there on the way. Throw the ANBU off."
"Wait, you're a part of the ANBU."
"Well, I won't be if we do this."
"They'll chase after you and hunt you down!"
"Not with my master plan they won't." Miu grinned at her sister's face. "Don't worry. You get a taste of freedom, I get a taste of rebellion, and the village gets a taste of a big pain in the ass! It's all good. No pain, no gain, right?"
"Yeah, well 'no pain, no pain', right?" Haruka said, twisting the sounds a bit. "This is really risky."
"Of course. If there's no risk, there's no fun."
"How can you say that? You're probably the worst gambler ever!"
"No, that Great Sucker Tsunade is."
"Who?"
"The Hokage of Konoha and the Fire Country."
"I thought Sarutobi-sama replaced Yondaime in the Fire Country."
"Sandaime-sama isn't there anymore."
"What? Are you serious?"
"Yes. The scrolls I gave you are the old ones. He's been gone for about two years. I'll fill you in once we get to Konoha if we ever do, alright?"
"…Alright."
"GREAT! Now move aside!"
"What are you doing?"
"I am breaking you out with my new excellent jutsu!"
"Right now?"
"No better time than the present, right?"
"… You're really spontaneous…"
"Well if people could predict what I do and how I act, I'll never be me, yeah? And I'd be the worst shinobi in the history of... of shinobi. Now move to the side." Haruka, watching Miu, walked to the side of her cage.
"You're sure this is safe, right? You won't blow me up or anything?"
"Probably not."
"Probably?"
"Close your mouth." Haruka did, just in time to avoid inhaling probably a whole ton of smoke, dust and dirt.
"Uh…Haru-chan?" Miu said hesitantly. "There's something you should know."
"…Do I really want to?"
"No. Just run."
Haruka began to flee the cave, grabbing several of her scrolls to find that Miu had already picked up most of them. Miu picked Haruka up too. Objects passed by as blurs that Miu could barely see.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Miu cried, partly in fear and exhileration as she ran a quarter of the way down the mountain.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!" Haruka cried, just scared.
Miu tripped over a rock and they both fell, rolling a bit.
"Ah, perfect landing," Miu said, ruffling her hair to get rid of the snow.
"Pfft! What do you mean perfect landing?" Haruka asked her, spitting out snow from her mouth. Too cold!
"I mean, I fell on this!" Miu said cheerfully, pulling out a bag near the rock she had tripped on earlier before the fall. "We've got toilet paper, shuriken, kunai, more explosive tags (custom made by moi!), extra clothes, my naginata and shinobigatana, your ninja clothes, underwear, two toothbrushes and—oh no! No toothpaste!"
"Any cash?" Haruka asked.
"I never had any in the first place," Miu saud, shrugging her shoulders. "So I couldn't pack any."
"…" "I get the feeling…that this was a bad idea…"
And it was.
(AN: Please review! Feel free to flame me but…don't leave me crippled, please. T-T I'm lacking inspiration right now. I am currently running on boredom, which doesn't give me the best of results when writing.)