Return of a Nightmare

Serenity was talking on the phone with Megan when she heard someone knock on her door. "I'll call you right back Megan," she said, hanging up the phone after a brief goodbye. "One minute," she called. Hanging up her phone, she started to the door, silently wondering who it could be. It could have been someone coming in for a fortune, but she didn't have any appointments for the day. It could have been an outsider coming in for a healing, but she didn't take in anyone for healings, unfortunately. Serenity opened the door, and it took only a second before she recognized his face. In that second, the door was once more closed and her back was against it. "I-I'm sorry, I'm not taking anyone today!" she called out, her face paling. In those brief moments that she'd seen Dantes, she'd noticed that his arm was burned. But that was all she noticed aside from his face. It was as clear as her vision had been. What should she do? She couldn't call Felix, it would take too long for him to get back. Running over to her phone, Serenity quickly dialed Megan's number, running into the back room where she usually did healing, shutting that door behind her and locking it. "Oh god, oh god..." she muttered, shivering.

Dantes went to speak when Serenity opened the door, but it was closed a second later. "Hey...wait, I just need a quick healing." He said whens he said she wasn't taking anyone today. He gave a sigh. "Listen, I have to get this arm healed to help out this guy named Boreas in the Unknown. It's important." Dantes knocked on the door again. "Hey, you hear me?" Dantes didn't need this crap. For some reason, he thought he remembered her.

The only thing Serenity heard before she'd run off was that he needed a quick healing. If she hadn't been in such a state of panic, she would have sworn that he seemed not to know who she was. When Megan picked up the phone, she started speaking in a rush. "Megan, send someone over please. I don't care who, a ninja though. Please, just do it. Tell them to use the side door. I...I dunno. This man from a long time ago just showed up...he's really dangerous, and...I mean, it doesn't look like he remembers me, but...god, I'm so scared..." She didn't know what to do. Right now she wanted Felix home more than ever. She felt safe with him around, but...another thought struck her. She didn't want for Felix to see Dantes. Not after what had happened last time. Sliding down so she was sitting against the door, Serenity held the phone to her ear, shivering with the hope that Dantes would just go away.

Dantes frowned and knocked again. "Hey, I know you're in there! Listen Lady, I just woke up in the middle of nowhere, I am not in the mood for your crap!" He banged on the door even harder and waited. Okay, so maybe he was scaring her. Had she not said she wasn't taking people today, he would have thought he'd gone to the wrong place, but that was not the case. "It shouldn't take more than ten minutes. Come on, someone's life depends on this."

Serenity nearly started tearing up when she heard him banging on her door. "I'm going to hang up, just...please call someone. Maybe...see if they can convince him to go away first," she said, hanging up the phone after another few moments.

Another five minutes later, Thomas started towards Serenity's house. His captain had gotten a call saying that someone was bothering lady Serenity, and apparently Thomas was the only one under Izua's command who wasn't out on a mission. When he saw some guy standing outside her door, he walked up. "Hey, there something you need help with?" he asked. He'd never seen this guy around before. Not many people hassled Lady Serenity, so he was fairly curious. And suspicious as to why Serenity wouldn't just see the man.

Dantes looked at the guy when he walked up. Was there a reason this man was here? Had that woman called someone and said he was causing trouble? He wasn't causing any problems, he was just trying to follow through with his promise. Dantes raised his arms. "Yes there is, my arm. I need her to heal it so I can get back to the Unknown and help somebody out. The guy said it'll only take a second, but the lady inside won't see me for some strange reason."

Thomas gave a look of understanding when the guy said he needed to get healed in order to help someone out. In...the Unknown? Okay, that part confused him a bit, but it wasn't his business. "You must be from out of town. She hasn't been seeing anyone lately, considering she's on maternity leave," Thomas told the man kindly. "If you'd like, I can take you to see one of the doctors in the main hospital. They're not as good as Serenity, but they're still good at what they do."

Dantes looked at the man. "Oh...she's pregnant...." There was a light pause. "She could have just said so." He then gave a shrug. "I guess you should lead the way to the hospital then." Dantes kind of felt bad for bothering the lady. "Tell her I said sorry if she ever comes out," he said with a shrug. With that he looked towards Thomas as if waiting for the directions to the hospital. As he waited, he searched his memory for the familiar yet unfamiliar woman. He knew her, from somewhere....but where? Maybe she knew him too, she looked scared when she saw him. Had he done something wrong to her?

Thomas nodded at the guy's statement. "I'm not sure why she didn't," he admitted. "Will do. It's this way," he said as he started walking towards the hospital. "Mind if I asked what happened? That looks like a pretty bad burn. You mentioned the Unknown earlier." He paused and gave the guy a kind smile. "Were ya out treasure hunting? Most people who go into the Unknown are," he told the guy.

"I don't treasure hunt," Dantes stated rather sharply. "I woke up there this morning with no memory of how I got there. After some issues I ended up getting attacked by a dragon and this is what happened as a consequence." Dantes sighed. Treasure hunting, what does this guy think I am? I'm an assassin! The only treasure I hunt is those who are my targets. Dantes paused. Wait, I remembered that I'm not just a ninja, I'm an assassin. And that woman, she...she was....damn it...who is she? The wife of a former target? No, that can't be right, I've never been to the Crested until now.

Thomas held up in hands in defense. "My bad, my bad. No more questions," he said, giving a small, almost nervous chuckle. A lot of people would have a hard time believing that this guy was a ninja at all, let alone a top jonin. When they got to the hospital, Thomas called someone over. A male doctor approached them. "This guy here'll take care of ya." He looked to the doctor. "He's from outta town. Didn't know about Lady Serenity. Has a pretty bad burn from a dragon in the Unknown," he stated with a nod. "All yours." He looked to Dantes. "Take care," he said with a small wave as he went to exit the hospital.

"Thanks," he said when Thomas said. "You too." Dantes looked at the doctor. "Can you heal this in ten minutes or less, I have somewhere important to be." Dantes wondered if he needed to be back in the Sand. I wonder how long I've been out. Did someone knock me out? No...I'm injured way past being knocked.... The blue haired man frowned. That bitch! I know who she is, she was with Hunter and that Kuriyama guy. And those twin brats! She was supposed to lead me to that treasure in exchange for her life. Dantes could feel his blood boiling. She'd known who he was, that's why she'd panicked. I'll kill her. I'll kill them all!

Thomas immediately headed towards Lady Serenity's house after he left the hospital, to let her know that the guy was gone and being taken care of at the hospital. He wondered why she'd panicked so badly...

The doctor looked at the blue haired man, walking to the nearest room, beckoning for him to follow. "Not ten minutes, no, but within the hour, definitely," he told the man. When he saw the man look angry, he gave a shrug. "Sorry, I just can't work that fast," he said simply.

Dantes was even more annoyed when the doctor said within an hour. He should go back to Serenity and demand that she heal him. He almost punched the wall in frustration. Sitting down, he looked at the doctor with a scowl on his face. "Work as quickly as you can," he demanded. He needed to get back to his assignment, Boreas could wait. He had to find that sword, immediately and that woman was the only one who knew the way.

(Oh f***.)

The doctor sighed, nodding at the man's demand. "Alright, all right." It took longer than ten minute, more like thirty, but the doctor had gotten the man healed well enough to use the arm. In fact, it was pretty well healed, and there was hardly anything left to say that the arm had even been burned. "There we go," he finally said, standing up.

"Thanks," Dantes said as he moved his arm to make sure it was good. He then left and headed for Serenity's house. He was going to do this like it was any other assignment. With force. As he made his way there, he wondered if Boreas' sword and the sword he was looking for were one in the same. Probably not, but he could ask. Knocking on Serenity's door, he waited for her to answer. This time, he'd used a transformation jutsu, taking the form of Hunter. In his hand was a couple of flowers and a tiny box. The woman was bound to open the door!

Thomas had already come by and told Serenity that the man had been taken to the hospital, as well as inquired as to what happened. Serenity told him how Dantes Black was a seriously dangerous man, that something had happened in the past with him, and most of all, how scared she was that he was going to try something again. How she knew he was going to try something again. Thomas of course, offered to stay for a bit to make sure nothing happened, to which the healer gratefully agreed.

At the knock on the door, Serenity froze, wondering if she should answer it. Swallowing, she slowly stood up and made her way over to the door, Thomas waiting silently in the room standing up somewhere he'd be out of the way, a genjutsu now cloaking himself. Slowly and quietly he made his way next to Serenity, wanting to be close enough to her to protect her if something were to happen. Serenity lightly pushed open one of her curtains to peek through, sighing when she saw Hunter. She closed the curtain with as little movement as she'd opened it with, and reached for the doorknob, then paused. This was far too close in timing. Hunter comes from the Unknown, right where Dantes had been left after what happened with Felix. She didn't open the door immediately, but instead asked "W-who is it?"

"It's Hunter," Dantes spoke. "And I think you're in danger. I spotted Dantes leaving the Unknown," he spoke hurriedly. "I'm not sure if he's coming this way, but I came to make sure you're o-," Dantes paused. "Wait, is he already here," he dropped the flowers and tried for the knob. "Serenity are you okay?"

Serenity stopped for a moment to think as the person outside her door spoke. Had she told Hunter about Dantes? She wasn't entirely sure. She didn't remember. Okay, she'd let that one slide. She'd seen he had flowers. Why would he have stopped to get flowers if he thought she was in danger? Chances are, he wouldn't have. "U-uh, hold on a minute," she called to him, glad that she'd locked the doors earlier. Quietly making her way over to her phone, Serenity picked it up and dialed Hunter's number. In the Unknown, he wouldn't get service, but usually when he was out, he made sure that his cellphone was working in case she needed him. So either she would get a signal telling her that Hunter's phone was out of service, or she'd hear a phone ringing outside. If she didn't hear it outside...she wasn't sure what she'd do. She glanced to Thomas, who looked at her inquisitively, his back against one of the walls by the front door.

Hunter, the real one, was nowhere near the Unknown. He was off on a small expedition with a few Sand Ninja who were looking for a sacred scroll that had been stolen. It was like a treasure hunt to Hunter. He gave a tiny chuckle at how his name matched what he was doing. His grandfather would be proud indeed, aside from the immortality that was. It had been a while since he was able to leave the Unknown for such an extended amount of time. At the moment, the group was resting up and while Hunter would have answered his phone any other time, it was in his bag and he was scouting the area. So the voice-mail picked up. "This is Hunter, leave a message."

Dantes nodded when she said one moment. What was she planning? He looked over his shoulder and then to the door. "Is everything okay in there?" He asked. He was getting impatient, but happily kept that look of annoyance to himself because he was going to enjoy killing her.

Serenity waited as the phone rang, praying that she would hear some kind of ringing outside the door. When she didn't, her heart dropped. He didn't even ask why she was calling him. But the phone hadn't been disconnected, which meant that Hunter actually was somewhere outside the Unknown. The blue eyed healer could feel herself tearing up. It had been a long time since she'd been scared like this. But she wasn't scared for herself this time. Her hand was resting on her stomach as she looked to Thomas and shook her head. She was scared for her babies. Dantes couldn't kill her, but none of her children thusfar had been immortal. And even if they were, she didn't want to cause them any injury. "Please go away," she called to the door, placing her phone back down.

Serenity picked up her cellphone which was on the table next to the house phone, holding it to herself. It would be so easy to call Felix. She knew he'd do anything to get to her if she told him what was going on, and that scared her too. He'd probably have to kill other ninja just to get out of the Rock, with the trouble he'd been in lately. She wanted to call him so badly, wanted him home now more than ever, but...if she could settle this without him here, she would. She didn't want to start relying on him for every little thing, despite the fact that this was nothing but little.

Dantes sighed. He was getting fairly annoyed with her, but he'd go and come back at a later time. He'd watch her, learn her schedule, and then he'd kill her when she least expected him. Afterwards he would find Felix and kill him as well. That silver haired bastard had left him in a coma. Just who did he think he was? "If that's what you want," he said as he laid the flowers on the doorstep. He turned away and headed down the road. "No one makes a fool out of me, no one!" He turned a corner and nearly ran into an old woman. He gave her a glare, but continued to walk. When the woman spoke, he stopped and looked over his shoulder at her. "What did you say," he asked. The woman gave a sinister smile. "The Silver Rabbit is with the Black Bird, yet the Little Birdie is not unprotected. The man with Serpent Eyes keeps her protected. Wait until four years pass and then take away what makes them last." Dantes blinked confused as the woman walked away. "What? Hey, where are you going, what do you mean?" He followed after her, but she was gone when he rounded the corner. "What was that all about?"