The Yukiko and the Yamaki [P][Navi/Ayama]

But she was fighting a loosing battle, the bond was not strong enough to channel such power, and did not hold the stability her bond with Hisoka had. She was loosing, she was weak, she couldn’t help Navi.

Navi's Raven Style chakra would continue to splash furiously against the demon's crimson energy, creating an effect of two saw blades grinding together across different parts of his body. Having temporarily forgotten about the outside world, he remained deadlocked in the intense inner struggle. Navi's hands would remain clapped together and his eyes would slowly dull over, as if his consciousness was draining from his body.

[Mental World]

Navi didn't remember anything, this vivid representation of him would find itself lost in a strange and dark place. The boy felt lost and unsure, and slowly looked around to try to figure out where he was.

The place was only dimly lit by a few torches, the rest of the colossal room being comprised of only darkness. Navi took a single step towards the darkness, causing a resounding echo of this insignificant movement to bounce from the walls. Navi activated his dojutsu and peered into the darkness, hoping to unravel this strange place. Unfortunately, even his Navagan proved ineffective, unable to pierce the veil of black.

"You fool... even with your silly eyes you can't see what's within your own dark side."

Navi's gaze narrowed as the demonic voice echoed across the room, taunting the boy with a deep voice. A pair of glowing eyes would appear in the depths of the darkness, staring back at him with an almost tangible feeling of hatred.

"Shut up. It's not like you're getting out of my body anyway, you've been sealed within me."

The demon made a sinister cackle before responding. With a few loud steps that made the room shake, a small part of the beast would reveal itself and look down at Navi with its massive form.

"I've been sealed within you, but nobody bothered trapping me here. They merely placed my energy inside you, almost completely unbound. If I can kill you here, then I will be re-released into the world."

A small but dense crimson ball of energy began to accumulate in front of the beast's open mouth. Navi's eyes grew wide and he reacted quickly, summoning forth his chakra with a quick handsign and causing a wave of blue light to begin to accumulate in a small ball in front of him. In perfect unison, each ball fired forth in the form of a brilliant beam. The two energies clashed in the center, causing a firework display of chakra sparks as each laser bore into the other.

For a few moments, it seemed like the crimon beam would overpower the other, causing Navi's energy to give way. A moment later however, Navi would hear another distant whisper enter his mind. Although he was unable to make out the exact words he recognized the voice as someone he could trust. The indication of a friend which he desperately needed in this time of conflict.

A moment later a tiny beam of purple light would burst forth from the ceiling, granting a small feeling of empowerment to the boy. Navi channeled this energy, causing the purplish chakra to blend with his blue attack, pushing back the crimson beam slightly. While this boost was indeed helpful, it was lacking, and he would need much more to win this fight. Soon after, a second surge of purpose energy would come forth, granting an additional boost against the beast.

This time the combined force would force the crimson beam to give way, causing Navi's attack to slam into the beast and cause it to fall backwards into the thick darkness. However, the Nanabi would be outdone, with the flash of a crimson tail, the demon would latch onto the beam's of purple chakra that were streaming into Navi. With a powerful push, the demon yanked the energy cord. Immediately Navi lost all connection to the power source he had been given, but strangely the dark purple residue did not dissipate.

"What was that..." the boy wondered to himself as he looked down at the puddle of purple chakra that laid a few feet away from him. The crimson tail would slither back into the darkness and the beast would laugh again before saying something cryptic.

"Let's see if I can't meet who these friends of yours are."

I have friends?

A strange glow now emitted from the purple chakra puddle, but the boy remained unaware, keeping his gaze on the black void across from him. While the real Navi remained in a temporary stasis, Navi's consciousness knew only one thing: it needed to defeat this demon.

[Real]

Ayama would lose consciousness immediately, her energy and mental awareness now slipping away as she was dragged into the depths of Navi's mind.

For a second she felt elation as the battle began to turn. They were pushing the Bijuu out, she could feel her mind working alongside Navi and Hisoka and for some reason it made her happy.

Then it went wrong.

The Bijuu lashed out again, but this time at her connection to Navi. She felt a splitting pain in her skull, an instant agony that made another shrill cry escape her lips. She was only briefly aware of her body slumping over into a puddle before she felt herself separated from her physical form. It was a weird sensation at first, a sense of not being. She had only ever felt it through Hisoka’s memories. But slowly she became more aware. Her body felt lighter, airier and far less sturdy than she would have liked, so she focused on that.

The purple puddle of chakra that was Ayama’s detached mentality began to bubble and pulse, rising upwards and slowly forming the silver haired girl.. But it was slightly different from her current physical form. Her skin was paler, closer to cream than the sunny toned color she normally bore. She wore a white dress, plain and innocent looking. Her hair was loose, flowing down her back in silver ripples and framing her tiny face. Most importantly though her features had rounded out to look far less intense. Her pupils were normal round instead of slitted and her teeth, if anyone cared to look, lacked their normal points. Although the confused and wary expression on her face removed much of the cuteness from her appearance.

She settled into a wary fighting stance, her entire body tensed to flee as her blue eyes darted around the space. Finally they settled on the sole occupant she knew and her form relaxed greatly.

“Navi,” she gasped taking a step towards him, “what is this? Where are we?” but a prickle ran up her spine causing her to stiffen once more. A malevolent chakra permeated the atmosphere, darkening the strange realm she had entered. Slowly she turned to face it, her hands clenching nervous as she faced the cruel power.

“Bijuu,” she murmured, it was the only word she could squeeze out through her own fear, she had never faced such purely evil power before. Not even her fathers jutsu had come close. She felt herself freeze up despite herself in the face of this new over whelming adversary.

She settled into a wary fighting stance, her entire body tensed to flee as her blue eyes darted around the space. Finally they settled on the sole occupant she knew and her form relaxed greatly.

His head whirled around to face this new intruder, with the flick of his wrist a kunai blurred into the grasp of his right hand and his eyes narrowed.

“Navi,” she gasped taking a step towards him,

He stopped, loosening the grip on his knife and staring at the girl who had just appeared in front of him.

"How do you know my name?" Navi said, barely audible.

“what is this? Where are we?”

Normally Navi would be irritated by the questions, even belittling to anyone who struck him as annoying. However, he felt a strange sense of trust and loyalty to the person in front of him that he couldn't place. With a long pause he would ignore her questions and speak out to ask his own.

"Who are you?"

A moment later, a crimson tail of the Nanabi would emerge from the darkness. With barely enough time to react, Navi would whirl around to lash out with his knife. The blade would nick the limb, causing a small spurt of crimson chakra to evaporate into the air. While still aware of the girl, Navi would now maintain a readied battle position while facing the void. His eyes pointlessly attempting to see through the darkness, while his ears would listen to what the newcomer had to say.

"Who are you?"

Ayama was justifiably stunned, her mouth opened to crudely ask if he was joking when the tail of the Bijuu struck out at Navi. She went to call a warning to him but he obviously didn’t need it. He turned and pashed out with the kunai he had summoned upon her appearance. The tail of evil chakra dissipated but she remained tense, wishing dearly her mental self wore something that she could move in easier. A dress was not ideal.

“You don’t know?” her voice sounded hurt. How could he not know her? The tail of the Bijuu’s chakra, the strange scene, her own changed appearance, one common in dreams and mental visitations with Hisoka, she had deducted her whereabouts. She was in Navi’s mind, and for some reason, the projection of his consciousness didn’t remember her.

“My name is Ayama,” she replied deciding that even if his mental projection didn’t remember her, Navi certainly did. This was his mind she was currently in and she would not simply watch the version of her Navi attempt to fight off this overwhelmingly evil being. She moved forward to stand next to Navi, following his gaze into the dark void, “I’m here to help you.”

“You don’t know?” her voice sounded hurt.

Navi's eye twitched in irritation as he stared into the depths where the demon tail originated, preparing for another attack.

"Yeah, I wouldn't ask if I didn't know" he thought to himself.

Finally the girl would tell him, after displaying a look of befuddlement across her face which Navi was only further confused by.

“My name is Ayama,”

Admittedly, the name sounded a little familiar. Like he read it in a fairy tale, or heard the name in passing while walking down the street.

"Ayama huh? That's a strange name."

Navi let his mind wander for a moment, as if trying to recall where he might have met her before. He wouldn't be able to think much on it however, as a loud rumbling began to sound from the void of darkness across from them. For a moment he would clutch his kunai knife tighter, darting his eyes back and forth nervously. Then he would hear the footsteps of the girl behind him approach, and stop once she came to his side.

“I’m here to help you.”

A weird feeling of relief panged in Navi's chest as she took up a battle position next to him. This strange girl had so easily cast aside any notions of personal safety and had taken up arms in a battle she didn't need to fight. The action caught him off guard, and he wondered what had inspired Ayama to display that loyalty so readily.

"Alright... thanks."

The creature would waste no time now, the loud rumbling evolving into a violent shaking. The ground around them would shake rapidly and several crimson arms would burst from the darkness, all lunging for the two young ninja. Chakra flowed into the boy's knife and he glanced over at the girl next to him. The demon roared, and Navi looked back towards the several incoming attacks, narrowing his eyes and timing his movement for the last possible moment.

"Alright... thanks."

She gave a small nod and settled into a basic kenjutsu stance. She didn’t really need weapons to fight this battle. She needed the sharpness of her mind and the power it held.

Chakra would be nice too.

She focused and a kind of projection of her mental strength began to form in her hand. It only took a little prodding for it to take a shape similar to that of her katana and soon a faintly glowing blade was formed. She spun it experimentally and was satisfied with the feel and look. She was a projection mostly, the detached consciousness of Ayama Yukiko who had been drawn into Navi. This was a mental battle, one she would fight with mental weapons.

She curled her lip and glared into the shadows. Navi tensed beside her as they faced down the adversary.

“You go right I go left,” she said to him calmly, raising her blade. Then, before she could tell if Navi had agreed to the plan she attacked the now very close tails. She swung her sword at the first of the three tails she had chosen to attack. Her blade struck the tail, causing it to flinch back, leaking malevolent chakra. At the same time though the other two struck out, attempting to encircle her. She danced away, spinning from the reach of one and bringing her blade down hard. The tail lost its tip before dissipating and a mighty roar of pain echoed throughout the space.

“take that monster,” she hissed, her face alight with unholy glee and she continued to fight against the other two tails. She would force back this beast and help Navi, she refused to be too weak.

“You go right I go left,” she said to him calmly, raising her blade.

He had never been one to listen to outsiders, but something about this girl made her seem special and trustworthy. Navi's gut told him to listen, so without a moment's hesitation, he did, jumping to the right at the last possible second as several crimson tails slammed into the ground of where he once was. The cluster of tails pursued Navi has he flew through the air, viciously lunging for the boy at an incredible speed. He lashed out with his knife at the tails as they attempted to grab and bind him, causing sparks of chakra to fly up as they shrunk away.

Another tail shot out of the darkness, wrapping around his ankle and causing Navi to cry out in pain from the burning sensation. Falling to one knee, he turned his waist and stabbed down onto the tail with his blade, severing the chakra binding and freeing himself.

To fight this monster Navi needed to focus entirely on the demon alone, and would have to trust that Ayama could take care of herself. A low rumbling would shake the room again, and a pair of glowing eyes would again appear in the void.

Without even the clapping of his hands, an instantaneous aura of glorious blue chakra would surround him, the signature guardian wings sprouting from his center followed by the silvery and black glow of this Death Angel form. The activation of Navi's Kekkei Genkai came with the glow of the ring on his finger, empowering Ayama immensely. For the first time in battle, she would feel the power that came with his blessing and be able to use it to defeat a demon.

A jungle of crimson tails surrounded them now, and the demon laughed maniacally as it peered down at them through the darkness. The creature exemplified fear itself, a tangible feeling of death and horror manifesting itself clearly. The void began to surround Navi and Ayama until even the floor itself vanished. Everything around them began to fade to back, until all that was visible was the faint glow of the crimson tails, a pair of demonic eyes, and the two ninja alone in the dark.

Ayama was dancing, a cheshire grin upon her face and mad cackles of glee echoing into the dark corners of Navi's mind. Her movement were sleek and flowing, not a single motion wasted as she parried, blocked, attacked and dodged bijuu tails with stunning accuracy. She felt so damn GOOD, like nothing could touch her. She was faster stronger, hell she felt as if her responses were better than normal. She had no idea HOW but she didn't care, she was dancing and having fun this tail slashing thing was a blast!

Then as she lunged forward in a too daring move to slash a tail one brushed her ankle. The shock of pain broke through the euphoria and some of the glee vanished, then it all sunk through her gut like a hole had been punched in it.

She noticed for the first time the darkness closing in, the shadows coiling ever closer to her and Navi. Almost immediately, the completely irrational fear she'd thought she'd gotten rid of reared its ugly head and made itself very VERY known. Her heart began to race, the blood rushing through her ears. Her hands clenched over her sword the knuckles whitening as she stared into the darkness with ever growing terror. Like a dear in the headlights she was stuck, staring into the black abyss that now surrounded her. Her sword tip fell to the ground, clanging against the dark floor as she realized just how dark it actually was.

Then a tail took advantage of her distraction and slammed into her stomach knowing her back several feet, closer the Navi in fact. She instinctively jumped back to her feet and glanced at the man briefly judging his own state. He was doing good it appeared and the ethereal glow of his Raven style was comforting, the light she needed to distract herself from the shadows. She returned to her own fight, slashing fiercely at the tail and ignoring her stinging stomach.

But despite her best efforts the darkness continued to plague her, she shadows lingered in the corners of her vision, taunting her. The darkness brushed cold fingers down her spine, chilling her to the bone and causing her to waste precious moments glancing over her shoulder in open paranoia. Her heart raced her vision blurred and her once smooth movements became jerky and slow. She missed blocks and strike she shouldn't have, she faltered on dodges she never usually would have. Burns appeared on her arms and chest from slow reactions and missed dodges.

"Navi!" she called hiding her growing panic under urgency, "we need to end this soon!"

If it lasted much longer the fear would take over her mind and she would become a serious liability.

The battle had erupted with raw intensity, and a mixture of chaos among the two ninja and crimson tails raged. The power of his bloodline emanated strongly now, but it seemed to have an even stronger effect on Ayama. A slightly unsettling grin appeared on her face as she accurately slashed through each onslaught of attacks, her deadly skill with a sword being noted by Navi with uneasiness.

Navi slashed out with his own knife, not nearly as brutal or efficient however, as it was at this point that Ayama seemed to be bearing the brunt of the weight. It didn't seem like she noticed, but it came to be that almost every attack was directed towards her. The battle ensuing made her seem untouchable, while Navi slowly began to bear the marks of burning wounds when the tails managed to slap against his flesh.

But then all her glee vanished, and immediately the tide was turned for the girl. The demon would sense the fear, exploit her mistakes, and quickly she would begin to be desperately fighting a hopeless battle.

Through her fear, Navi would grow stronger. A shift of power that came with the blessing of protection given from a guardian. Impossible dodges now became simple, and seemingly uncounterable attacks were easily parried. It became clear to him that it was not the tails that had begun to defeat Ayama, but the darkness itself. A strange an overwhelming fear that would begin to occur and mentally dominate the girl.

Her urgent call was heard, Navi's mind racing as adrenaline coarsed through his veins. He needed to suppress the Nanabi at source, and this meant confronting the Bijuu directly. Ayama needed to fight on her own, however desperately, against the onslaught of merciless tails.

"Hold on!" he called out to her, there was no time to speak comforting words, she would just need to hold out.

Into the depths of darkness Navi flew, his angelic wings spreading out as he dove into the abyss towards the ominous eyes of the demon. The beautiful illumination of his Raven Style form would slowly fade, leaving Ayama all alone in the dark.

Ayama growled in frustration turning her head to snap at Navi with all the sharpness her tongue possessed. She wouldn’t be yelling at him to hurry the hell up if it wasn’t urgent! But any nasty words died on her lips at the sight of his retreating back. The darkness swallowing him and his blessed light whole. Her mouth opened to scream, to call him back but a tail lashed out and she was distracted briefly with fending it off. By the time she turned again to call out he had vanished, leaving her alone.

She was never one hundred percent sure how much Navi knew about her fear of the dark. She guessed he suspected she might have some paranoia about it but she doubted he truly understood the depth. To her the darkness wasn’t just some cover for unspeakable horror, it was a monster in and of itself. When faced with a pitch black room and an S-rank ninja she would draw her sword and face that ninja whether or not it resulted in her death.

“Ayama”

She spun around staring behind her, the hairs prickling on the back of her neck as they stood up straight. There was nothing there, only the pressing darkness met her eyes. She shivered once more, whirling again to block an attack from the tails. She slashed at it in retaliation dispelling it and desperately trying to ignore the chills parading up and down her spine. The tails were relentless, distracting her somewhat as she fought to beat them off, preserving her sanity with the sinister red glow they emitted. But it wasn’t enough, her heart was caught somewhere between dropping to her feet and jumping to her throat, its erratic beating filled her ears. The adrenaline raced through her veins dulling the throbbing ache of her burns and increasing her speed. But with Navi gone she felt significant weaker and slower than she had before. Tiredness was seeping into her mind clouding it and her reactions were barely able to keep up with the monsters tails.

Then she saw a black flicker out of the corner of her eye. Her head snapped to the right to see it more clearly but there was nothing there. While she was distracted one of the tails took the opportunity to slam in her stomach sending her flying. Skidding across the ground she hissed in pain, gingerly probing the raw red area across her stomach. Her instincts drove her to her feet, still holding onto her sword. She glared venomously at the oncoming tails and then froze.

Behind the tails, behind the red glow stood a man clad entirely in black, a thick cloak hiding his body and face. But she knew, she knew exactly who this man was. Pure horror froze her feet to the ground and once again the tails knocked her over, purging her lungs of breath. She hit the ground hard, groaning in pain and just barely managed to bring her sword up in time to block a tail from impaling her through the heart. Her arms quivered with the effort of holding the demon’s tail at bay black spots flickering across her vision as her heart beat lost all rhythm and began to pump furiously in her chest.

“Please hurry Navi,” she whispered to the shadows.