Emotionless? If Only...
Chapter 8: Everything is Reveled
I could only stand still as Montari charged towards Naruto and me with his katana poised to strike. I tensed my arm that held the kunai, praying that it would be enough to deflect his attack. It was no use through, Naruto's anger pulsated through my veins making my muscles rigid and unable to move.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and realized my paralysis justsu was wearing off. Naruto was trying his best to pull me back, but I stayed where I was. No way I'm letting him take a hit
Montari was a foot away now but before I could do anything vines of weeds shot from the ground, tackling Montari and tying him to the Earth. A move I've seen plenty of times while on my travels. Before I was able to do anything though Montari was gone with a poof and everything went black.
Star's Pov
Naruto caught Artemis before she hit the floor. "Is she alright?" I asked as Jiraiya and Aria enteredd the clearing, apparently Motochika got away as well. "She's fine," Naruto carried her bridal style, her head resting gently against his chest.
"We should rest for a bit," sighed Jiraiya plopping to the floor. I pulled out my sleeping bag and motioned for Naruto to lay Artemis down. He looked at the bag relunctantly but eventually laid her down. I couldn't help but notice how cute they looked together. I'm such a hopeless romantic, I thought to myself giggling. xD
"Star," Arie pulled me away from my thoughts, "what are you doing here?"
"I had a feeling something like this was going to happen," we all sat in a circle with the unconscious Artemis in the middle, "so I came to make sure everything was okay." I gave her a knowing look -more like glare- and her ears were flattened with anger. "Artemis knew the risks," Aria replied with a hiss, "she has her herbs."
"The herbs obviolusy didn't work!" I snapped, "Listen I just came to protect my best friend."
"Will you two stop!" Naruto glared at the two of us and then turned his attention to Jiraiya, "we can't stay out in the open like this. What if they try attacking her again?"
"He's right," Jiraiya stood up giving me and Aria a stern look, There's an inn just down the road. We'll rest there for the night while you two," he glared at us, "will explain everything."
***Once at the Inn***
We got two rooms that connected to one another that shared one kitchen and bathrrom. Naruto set Artemis in the room's bed while the rest of us sat in the other room in the dinning table's chairs. He carried her here the whole way without a single complaint. Jiraiya and I sat in the table, Aria sat on the floor with her head slumped on the table tiredly, and Naruto leaned against the wall that connects to Artemis' room. He had his arms crossed and glared at us waiting for an explanation.
"Well," Jiraiya set his eyes on Aria," You start first."
Aria sighed and sat up to start her story. "When Artemis and I left Konoha we left for a reason..." Jiraiya's eyes widen at that.
"You mean it's gotten worse?" he asked hoping it wasn't true. I looked down at the table sadly while Aria nodded. He put his hands on his face shaking his head, "but...the seals...she should be fine..." I noticed from the corner of my eyes that Naruto was clenching his fist. Obviously frustrated not knowing the whole story.
"Let's start from the beginning," I suggested. Jiraiya took his hands away from his face knowing what I meant.
"You see Artemis can sense other people's feelings," I explained. This got his attention as he left the wall to sit across from Aria. "I still don't see the problem thought," he gave me a questioning look," what's so bad about feeling other people's happiness, joy---"
"Pain, sorrow, anger, regret, and so much more..." I listed off, "Why do you think she flinches every time you yell? Or freezes up during fights? If she attacks her enemy she will feel the pain she caused."
"You remember how I told you that I felt chakra stabbing my chest that day Tsunade and I first saw Artemis in the Forest?" Jiraiya asked and Naruto nodded, "That was Artemis."
"H-how?" his eyes showed such confusion in them.
"When Artemis feels too much negative emotions her chakra expands and starts to attack the peron who's giving off that emotion." Aria explained, "luckily when she was taken to Konoha the Third Hokage put tatoo seals on her back that will keep her chakra levels under control. Though, there are times when she must use herbs to calm her chakra levels down but other than that her chakra levels have been in control."
"Which brings up the question," Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at the massive bengal tiger, " 'Why did Artemis leave Konoha'?"
"Want to know what happened?" a cold voice sounded from the door. We all turned to see Artemis leaning against the door's frame with her arms crossed, her green eyes blazing with anger. Everyone didn't dare answer, not even Naruto, she was giving off such a vibe that it even shut up the loud mouth ninja.
"I was part of the anbu at the age every other kid started to finish the Academy. I took part in plenty of missions by the age of 11; from protecting the Hokage from rivaling War lords to assasinating a militia that threatened war with Konoha." She looked at each and everyone of us in the eyes.
"My chakra was fine, it was contained. Hell, I even trained with Tsunade for years to block out other people's emotions! and everything was fine, until my last mission..." she trailed off to take a deep breath. "I was assigned to lead my team to retrieve a princess from a kidnapping warlord. While raiding the servant quarters we were spotted and attacked by mercenaries. And then....out of the blue..." she cleared her throat as tears threatend to spill from her eyes. I could tell how hard it was for her to relive these horrible memories, but she continued on anyways. "I couldn't move. I felt every single attack; kicks, punches, scratches made from katanas. All attacks made against my team mates and the mercenaries themselves. Visibly I looked fine, but the pain...
"Everyone noticed how I wouldn't move at any point, the mercenaries took this to their advantage to use me -the freaking team leader for goodness sake!-- as bait. And my team mates...they fell for it. I stood there while every single one of them died in front of me. They did it to protect me...
"The next thing I knew I was waking up in the hospital under critical care. Apparently under all the stress my chakra levels broke the seal and killed everyone in there--including the war lord and the princess I was suppose to rescue. The next day I went to the Third and requested permission to leave Konoha and I haven't been to Konoha since."
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Sorry it took so long :3
I felt a hand on my shoulder and realized my paralysis justsu was wearing off. Naruto was trying his best to pull me back, but I stayed where I was. No way I'm letting him take a hit
Montari was a foot away now but before I could do anything vines of weeds shot from the ground, tackling Montari and tying him to the Earth. A move I've seen plenty of times while on my travels. Before I was able to do anything though Montari was gone with a poof and everything went black.
Star's Pov
Naruto caught Artemis before she hit the floor. "Is she alright?" I asked as Jiraiya and Aria enteredd the clearing, apparently Motochika got away as well. "She's fine," Naruto carried her bridal style, her head resting gently against his chest.
"We should rest for a bit," sighed Jiraiya plopping to the floor. I pulled out my sleeping bag and motioned for Naruto to lay Artemis down. He looked at the bag relunctantly but eventually laid her down. I couldn't help but notice how cute they looked together. I'm such a hopeless romantic, I thought to myself giggling. xD
"Star," Arie pulled me away from my thoughts, "what are you doing here?"
"I had a feeling something like this was going to happen," we all sat in a circle with the unconscious Artemis in the middle, "so I came to make sure everything was okay." I gave her a knowing look -more like glare- and her ears were flattened with anger. "Artemis knew the risks," Aria replied with a hiss, "she has her herbs."
"The herbs obviolusy didn't work!" I snapped, "Listen I just came to protect my best friend."
"Will you two stop!" Naruto glared at the two of us and then turned his attention to Jiraiya, "we can't stay out in the open like this. What if they try attacking her again?"
"He's right," Jiraiya stood up giving me and Aria a stern look, There's an inn just down the road. We'll rest there for the night while you two," he glared at us, "will explain everything."
***Once at the Inn***
We got two rooms that connected to one another that shared one kitchen and bathrrom. Naruto set Artemis in the room's bed while the rest of us sat in the other room in the dinning table's chairs. He carried her here the whole way without a single complaint. Jiraiya and I sat in the table, Aria sat on the floor with her head slumped on the table tiredly, and Naruto leaned against the wall that connects to Artemis' room. He had his arms crossed and glared at us waiting for an explanation.
"Well," Jiraiya set his eyes on Aria," You start first."
Aria sighed and sat up to start her story. "When Artemis and I left Konoha we left for a reason..." Jiraiya's eyes widen at that.
"You mean it's gotten worse?" he asked hoping it wasn't true. I looked down at the table sadly while Aria nodded. He put his hands on his face shaking his head, "but...the seals...she should be fine..." I noticed from the corner of my eyes that Naruto was clenching his fist. Obviously frustrated not knowing the whole story.
"Let's start from the beginning," I suggested. Jiraiya took his hands away from his face knowing what I meant.
"You see Artemis can sense other people's feelings," I explained. This got his attention as he left the wall to sit across from Aria. "I still don't see the problem thought," he gave me a questioning look," what's so bad about feeling other people's happiness, joy---"
"Pain, sorrow, anger, regret, and so much more..." I listed off, "Why do you think she flinches every time you yell? Or freezes up during fights? If she attacks her enemy she will feel the pain she caused."
"You remember how I told you that I felt chakra stabbing my chest that day Tsunade and I first saw Artemis in the Forest?" Jiraiya asked and Naruto nodded, "That was Artemis."
"H-how?" his eyes showed such confusion in them.
"When Artemis feels too much negative emotions her chakra expands and starts to attack the peron who's giving off that emotion." Aria explained, "luckily when she was taken to Konoha the Third Hokage put tatoo seals on her back that will keep her chakra levels under control. Though, there are times when she must use herbs to calm her chakra levels down but other than that her chakra levels have been in control."
"Which brings up the question," Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at the massive bengal tiger, " 'Why did Artemis leave Konoha'?"
"Want to know what happened?" a cold voice sounded from the door. We all turned to see Artemis leaning against the door's frame with her arms crossed, her green eyes blazing with anger. Everyone didn't dare answer, not even Naruto, she was giving off such a vibe that it even shut up the loud mouth ninja.
"I was part of the anbu at the age every other kid started to finish the Academy. I took part in plenty of missions by the age of 11; from protecting the Hokage from rivaling War lords to assasinating a militia that threatened war with Konoha." She looked at each and everyone of us in the eyes.
"My chakra was fine, it was contained. Hell, I even trained with Tsunade for years to block out other people's emotions! and everything was fine, until my last mission..." she trailed off to take a deep breath. "I was assigned to lead my team to retrieve a princess from a kidnapping warlord. While raiding the servant quarters we were spotted and attacked by mercenaries. And then....out of the blue..." she cleared her throat as tears threatend to spill from her eyes. I could tell how hard it was for her to relive these horrible memories, but she continued on anyways. "I couldn't move. I felt every single attack; kicks, punches, scratches made from katanas. All attacks made against my team mates and the mercenaries themselves. Visibly I looked fine, but the pain...
"Everyone noticed how I wouldn't move at any point, the mercenaries took this to their advantage to use me -the freaking team leader for goodness sake!-- as bait. And my team mates...they fell for it. I stood there while every single one of them died in front of me. They did it to protect me...
"The next thing I knew I was waking up in the hospital under critical care. Apparently under all the stress my chakra levels broke the seal and killed everyone in there--including the war lord and the princess I was suppose to rescue. The next day I went to the Third and requested permission to leave Konoha and I haven't been to Konoha since."
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Sorry it took so long :3