The Avenger's Demon

Sithena’s new form was truly breath taking but something about her, her aura, didn’t feel right. Naruto and Sakura were at loss of words as they stared at their new found teammate. They had never seen her in such a form other than Sasuke. Kakashi, on the other hand, was not surprised, instead he was on his full guard.

What tipped him off? Her eyes, they held something different.

Sasuke looked on with unease, even he had to admit he wasn’t strong enough to take her demon form. The slits in her eyes appeared to be shrinking as she stepped closer, “let’s began!” Her speed was unbelievable. Sharingan couldn’t catch her movements as her tail wrapped around his waist, flinging him down on the ground. The air was knocked from Sasuke’s lungs. Sithena didn’t even stop as she flipped to send her tail down to smash him more into the ground but her tail had stopped.

Kakashi held it with a bit of trouble but was able to stop the blow, “You three have to leave” he uttered, pushing Sithena back with all his force. She hissed, her pupils now the size of a hair strand. The team hesitated, but Sakura and Naruto went to Sasuke’s aid. They pulled him off the ground, taking him away from the battlefield but Sasuke forced them to stop. “No! What’s going on?” Sasuke shouted to Kakashi who stared the demon down.

Sithena no longer looked composed and elegant, instead she looked like a wild animal, her eyes focusing on prey. “Her demon instincts…they are starting to consume her. This happens to all demons before adult hood…they have a chance of losing their minds and becoming the very animal they fought not to be” Kakashi explained as she came toward him, swiping wildly. Since Sithena had lost a bit of control, she wasn’t as accurate, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t strong if she did hit.

“Shadow clone jutsu!” Kakashi shouted as a few of his clones came rushing toward her, holding her down. “You have to go. It’s too dangerous for you three!” Kakashi shouted behind him to his students but Sasuke refused to move along with Naruto. “Come on we have to go” Sakura urged them to go but they wouldn’t budge.

“No! We have to help her. This isn’t her fault. She needs her friends to help her overcome this and that’s what we’ll do!” Naruto shouted, also summoning clones of his own.

Sithena chuckled, a demonic echo formed to her once soothing voice. Naruto’s clones came to attack but Sithena had put all her force to spin around, knocking all of Kakashi’s clones away and smashing her tail against Naruto’s clones. “You never know when to follow orders” Kakashi groaned as Naruto snickered, “Come on Kakashi-sensei, we were able to take on Zabuza and Haku” “And what better way to ready ourselves for the Chunin exams than to fight a demon?” Sasuke finished, preparing his weapons.

He wasn’t in fit condition to fight but he wasn’t going to leave Sithena in such a state. Sasuke readied three kunai in each hand. Sithena had let out a roar that scent fear shiver down the team’s spine. “W-what’s going on…I can’t move” Sakura uttered. Kakashi was struggling to move a muscle himself, “A roar that leaves her prey paralyzed for a few moments”.

Sithena slowly got on all fours, crawling leisurely to them as if mocking them. Sasuke saw her approaching Kakashi, like a predator riding of the alpha and the rest would be easy prey. He put all his strength into his arm, “I’m the one…you want!” His arm was free, three kunais wheezing between her and Kakashi, a menacing growl rumbled deep in her throat.

Her focus was then changed onto the Uchiha, ‘I have to distract her’ he thought. He stood ready, following her movements as she circled him. He made the first move, throwing the rest of kunai toward her as she knocked them away, but as she was distracted by the weapons, he took the chance to kick her right on the jaw.

Sithena was knocked back as Sasuke didn’t give her time to recover, lunging toward her and kicking her in the chest. She skidded a few feet but then jumped, landing on all fours again. She didn’t seem injured, as if those blows didn’t affect her. Standing on two legs, she gathered balls of blue fire within her claws, sending them like rapid fire toward Sasuke. Jumps, back flips, anything he could do to dodge each blow but he fire balls kept coming.

This time he wasn’t quick enough, a fire ball was about to strike but Sakura had grabbed him, pulling him out of danger. “Over here!” Naruto shouted, giving a round house kick to Sithena’s side. She wasn’t able to react fast enough before the blow sent her flying right into Kakashi who performed a few hands signs then thrusting his hands to major points on her body.

Kakashi was trying to immobilize her but it only slightly worked. Her left arm was useless but her tail struck him before he could finish. Attack after attack was blown to her. Each teammate not giving her a chance to make a move.

Suddenly her frustration hit the roof. Sithena let out a demonic scream, sending everyone backwards as she rammed her right foot to the ground, blue fire came like a wave outward around her then curled up to form a protective wall of ice. The wall almost appeared to shape like an exotic flower. The team slowly approached the wall, seeing Sithena on her knees, breathing heavily and holding her head.

“Sithena you have to come back to us!” Naruto shouted as he banged on the wall. “N…Naru…Naruto” Sithena whispered as her head flung back, her scream mixed with something demonic echoed into the afternoon sky.

Sasuke clenched his fists as he jumped high into the air. His teammates tried to stop him but weren’t quick enough. He was now inside the barrier, facing his teammate he had refused to leave behind. Cautiously, he walked up to her, his hand held out.

“You won’t hurt me…” He spoke softly, each step causing her to flinch or growl. She was fighting herself now.

“Sas…” She tried to speak but the rest of the words ended up in an animalistic growl. Finally his hand touched her head as Sithena gasped but suddenly lunged forward, pinning him to the ground. Her tail curled upwards like a scorpion, wings expanded and teeth bared. Sasuke’s eyes held shock, fear and worry.

‘You can’t hurt him! I won’t let you!’ Sithena screamed within herself.

The darkness that surrounded her started to fade as the once clouded vision was clearing. She repeated it as she saw her sharp claws raising to strike down at his neck.

‘I won’t let you!’ She shouted one last time, a glow admitted from her body as her pupils turned back to the normal cat looking eyes they were before and continued to form until they looked human again. Her dragon like features began to fade until she was only human looking.

“Sasuke…” Sithena’s soothing voice reached his ears as they stayed, eyes locked. For once, after so long, Sasuke gave the faintest smile. The ice barrier around them started to melt and as it did, Sithena’s eyes grew heavy as she collapsed onto her side. “Sithena!” Sasuke shouted, sitting up and checking her. She was breathing but her body had used all of the energy it had.

“You three go rest, I will take Sithena to the Hokage” Kakashi announced, walking over to her unconscious body. “What will happen to her?” Naruto asked as Kakashi picked her up carefully with help from Sasuke. “No, we need to find a way to suppress whatever does this to her when she fights. She has a higher risk when she fights but it can happen at any time” Kakashi disappeared with Sithena in his arms.

Team Seven decided to go out and eat together to figure out a way they would also help their teammate.

As Kakashi made his way to the Hokage, he gazed down to her clam features and sighed, ‘I shouldn’t have let you fight. I guess I had hoped you had better control’. He stopped in front of the Hokage’s building, ‘though Sasuke was able to bring you back and maybe Naruto having his own demon helped as well. You may just have a chance to live the life you want to live’. With that, he walked in with a sleeping demon in his arms.