[center]WHEN THE SUN SETS WE GO HOME TOGETHER
EPISODE HOTARU - CHAPTER 0
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[color=black]CRIES FROM THE MOON VALLEY [/color]
[color=white]CRIES FROM THE MOON VALLEY[/color]
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The monster hurled at them and Chisato was the first to break free off his transe, quickly turning around and pushing Hotaru and Sayuri to move forward. [color=FF4500]“Move, move, [b]MOVE![/b]”[/color]

Hotaru peeked behind him and quickly found out he probably shouldn’t have, the thing was hot on their trails and was showing no signs of giving up. If they followed the man and his dog, they would probably be leading it right into whatever secret hideout the villagers had been able to set up for themselves! That really didn’t sound like a good idea. Besides that, Sayuri was visibly struggling with her stamina, he could hear her wheezing and, by now, he was already pulling her along by one arm; Chisato pulling her by the other. The thought that maybe they shouldn’t have pushed her so far on the hike there ran through his mind, but Hotaru quickly shoved it away. There were more important things to focus on now. 

[color=FF4500]“How much farther old man?”[/color] Chisato shouted ahead.

The man and his dog, who was keeping up excellently despite missing a leg, didn’t look back. They were obviously focused on the task of just getting out of this alive. 

[color=FF00FF]“We gotta split up!”[/color] Hotaru spoke up instead, giving Sayuri’s arm another tug as she lagged slightly behind for a second. [color=FF00FF]“Move damn it!”[/color] He shouted at her, frustrated when he felt her trying to tug her arm away from him. 

[color=00FA9A]“W-wait…I c-can…”[/color] She coughed and wheezed, barely able to speak anything clearly when she was so out of breath. They were forced to turn a sudden left after the man, and the beast crashed itself against a building, too big to properly turn after them so fast. 

[color=FF4500]“Save it,”[/color] Chisato chided her and turned towards Hotaru. [color=FF4500]“I can burn that freak of nature if you distract it enough to give me a few seconds to actually aim.”[/color]

Hotaru shook his head. [color=FF00FF]“I’ve never seen anything like this, we don’t know what fire is going to do. We need to have it ditch us first.”[/color]

[color=FF4500]“I know what fire's gonna do. It’s gonna burn this son of a bitch down, that’s what!”[/color] Chisato shouted back and suddenly jumping away, letting go of Sayuri who gasped at the sudden lack of one of her training wheels. 

[color=FF00FF]“Chisato!!”[/color] Hotaru growled after him but had no other choice but to keep moving. If he dropped Sayuri as well now, she’d be dead in the matter of minutes. [color=FF00FF]“Goddamnit!”[/color]

There was a sudden surge in heat and the sounds of yet another house being destroyed as Chisato released his pyromaniac tendencies in the background. Damn it, he was going to burn down what was left of the village if left unchecked; at least, it seemed to work as the light show attracted the monster away from them. Still, Hotaru didn’t drop his speed, the man and the dog were still running ahead and he wasn’t about to not follow the lead of someone who was still alive after dealing with something like this heaven knows how many times.

Somewhere in the distance, he heard Chisato curse loudly. Screw the village, he was going to lose his team mate if he didn’t step in himself. Hotaru stopped and Sayuri immediately fell down to her knees, face red from the exertion but lips pale. He couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her; it’s not as if they had come here expecting something of this scale. [color=FF00FF]“Sorry,”[/color] he sighed and tried to keep his tone gentle. [color=FF00FF]“I need you to get up and keep going after that man, find out where the hideout is.”[/color]

[color=00FA9A]“Wh-what…about…[i]haah[/i]…”[/color] She was still having trouble breathing. [color=00FA9A]“Mr.U-Uchiha?”[/color]

As if on cue, Chisato shouted in the distance again. [color=FF4500]“[b]DIE YOU MOTHERFUCKER![/b]”[/color]

Hotaru passed his free hand through his eyes, already feeling exhausted, and tugged the girl up. [color=FF00FF]“He’ll be fine. Get moving, don’t lose sight of that man.”[/color] He gave her one last push towards the man and his dog and didn’t look a second time to make sure whether she was obeying him or not. 

Without a charge to take care of, Hotaru felt a lot lighter as he dashed and jumped onto one of the houses’ roofs for a better look at the situation. Already a few blocks ahead, Chisato was having the monster crash through various buildings, setting various fire traps to grab its attention. But the thing didn’t show signs of feeling hindered by Chisato’s plan of action; in fact, it only seemed to grow increasingly furious.

There was no reason to unsheathe the Kinryuu just yet, Hotaru wasn’t aiming for a full attack just yet, not when the sun had already set and they were quickly losing visibility. 

He jumped through the distance as fast as he could but he found Chisato had already cornered himself between a large warehouse and the monster. The blond breathed in deeply and performed the necessary hand seals that allowed him to breathe out a gigantic ball of fire.

The creature they were facing screeched loudly as its body caught on fire, but it wasn’t enough to kill it as might have been Chisato’s intention. 

[color=FF00FF]“[b]WATCH OUT![/b]”[/color] Hotaru screamed even as the beast passed through the ball of flames and lunged at his team mate with all it had. Chisato’s movement, somewhat hindered due to still exhaling the Goukakyuu, was too slow to evade it fully this time and, as the monster crashed against the building, Chisato’s arm got lacerated as it was caught in the beast’s way. Hotaru heard Chisato’s painful scream, prompting him to create a Palace of Waves around his friend in order to protect him from any further damage.

Sadly, there was no body of water he could use for a Leviathan nearby.

[color=FF4500]“Couldn’t get here any sooner, could ya?”[/color] Chisato grinned, though his arm must’ve been killing him.

[color=FF00FF]“Be grateful I didn’t get here any later you fucking idiot,”[/color] Hotaru chided him with a growl, crouching near his friend as soon as he was close enough. He frowned as Chisato’s wound seemed to sizzle, as if acid had been poured down on it. Hotaru let his chakra flow through his hands and envelope his friend’s arm in a pretty purple color, stopping the wound from getting any worse. He would have liked to do more but, ahead, he heard the monster screech and wheeze.

It was making a comeback.

[color=FF00FF]“Call Inugami,”[/color] he ordered as he put Chisato’s healthy arm over his and jumped away from the area, trying to put some quality distance between them and the thing.

[color=FF4500]“That son of a bitch won’t be worth shit here,”[/color] Chisato tried to argue back but Hotaru was having none of that now.

[color=FF00FF]“Call him now, we need his help driving this fucker away!”[/color]

Chisato growled, clearly unhappy but didn’t argue further. He bit into his thump and formed the symbol. [color=FF4500]“[u][b]Kuchiyose no Jutsu![/b][/u]”[/color]