Eyes Upon the Moon

"Are you going to die for them?" Tsuki demanded.

Netra and Neeti squared their shoulders and got into their paired stance. They had been fighting together since they were young. Neeti was the eldest, by a year. Netra had always looked to her sister for guidance. Neeti was the stronger fighter; together they seemed to ebb and flow like a sandy hill in a strong wind. One was strong where the other was weak.

Tsuki gave a short laugh. "Pathetic. You let them ruin you."

Neeti was the first to move. She sparked with lightning, her hands moving through a series of advanced signs. "Crow, Dove, Mountain, Dragon, Horse, Ram, RAM!" she called. "Mega Wind! Lightning Attack."

There was a small explosion, which gave Netra the opening she needed. She whispered to herself, "Mental God: Ancient Axe!" She had always hated how loud her sister was, how she seemed to give away their next move. It was something they all did, an old honor their guerrilla warfare had outgrown. Why did they need to let the enemy know what they were going to do? Still, she found herself mouthing the move even if she didn't shout it.

She flexed her fingers and watched as two blue birds exploded from her palms. They dove at Tsukie, exploding into metal the moment they reached her outer aura.

Tsukie grinned. "So, you wish to battle? I will give you one more chance, girls, to leave with your lives. I do not like killing women."

Tsuki gave Neeti and Netra a hard look. "Or children."

Neeti exploded into her next move, expecting Netra to follow. It was a series of loud, bossy moves. Neeti was all power, while Netra felt her own moves filled in the gaps of skill. Nothing seemed to hit Tsuki. Netra felt something in the back of her mind, something that seemed wrong.

"Neeti!" Netra called. "Back."

But Neeti didn't seem to hear her. There was a constant call of moves, but Neeti seemed to grow slower with each one. Netra stepped towards the battle, inching around the smoke and lightning. She was trying to find an opening, trying to see where Tsuki might be weakest.

It was then that she heard the scream of pain. Neeti!

Netra felt her rage building. She unleashed The Wind in the Valley hoping to clear the smoke. Instead, she found her own ability aimed at her. Somehow Tsuki had managed to erect a mirror barrier. Netra heard her wrist crack as she hit the wall.

That had been years ago. Neeti had been dead almost seven years now. It still felt like yesterday. It still felt so raw.

xxx

How Mama Baba told it, Tsuki had been looking for Sita, Vihaan's eldest sister. The girl was the heir to the Takeda clan and considered the most powerful member of the clan's heirs. Vihaan had the Gift, but Sita had the Spirit of the Clan. She was the first girl born in almost twenty years. The Takeda clan had married outside their clan for decades, trying to find the right mix of abilities and talents.

Tsuki had been from the same clan as Sita's mother. There had been a lifelong fued between Aahana Kondo, Sita's mother, and Tsuki Kondo. Vihaan had been born from Bana Takeda and his second wife, Lia. That had saved his life. Lia and Vihaan were spared, but Bana, Sita, and Aahana were found dead in the ruins of the family home.

Why? No one could really tell. The Kondo clan had picked up and moved, telling Tsuki to never return. They didn't seem to care that one of their own was dead. It was the Kondo way, to forget those who left their fold. They did not seem to care for Aahana the way the Takeda clan did. And that was all the more reason for them to leave the area.

Konoha had accepted them, willing to take on more powerful clans. They had lost so many during the wars. With the Uchiha clan gone, they needed more Blood Limits. So the Baba and the Takeda had joined together and left. Leaving the memory of the children lost, of the friends gone, of the clan they used to be.

Netra had left her sister buried under the hot sands, uncertain she would ever forget the loss.

Tsuki was the last person she wanted to see.

Tsuki Kondo, the Slaughterer was not her problem. She promised her mother to never go looking for trouble like that. And she would keep that promise.