A giant spirit beast streaked through the sky, mindful of the small child he held in one of his massive paws. Madara was careful to firmly hold the boy so his struggles wouldn't cause him to slip from his grip. It seemed too easy to crush him and end his clan once and for all. But Madara would be damned before he was responsible for wiping out the Natsume clan. The screams of dying men and women had been left behind ages ago but Madara could still hear them ringing in his ears.
Those damned exorcists. Madara cursed.
After an hour of flying Madara felt the child go limp. Alarmed, Madara searched for a clearing to land. The closest one was an abandoned shrine in the middle of the dense forest. The spirit stumbled as he landed with only three of his legs. With as much tenderness as he could manage, Madara deposited Takashi Natsume on the soft grass. The child's face was red and streaked with tears, his eyes were noticeably swollen. Listening for Takashi's breathing, Madara could clearly hear he was breathing and was only asleep.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Madara realized he needed to ask for help. Of course, not directly, but bullying a lower level spirit to do the dirty work didn't seem nearly as humiliating. The only problem was finding one he could trust, that knew what it was doing, and wouldn't go running their mouth. He ran through a list of possible spirits, but none of them were competent enough to help raise a human child.
Resting on his haunches, Madara stared down at Takashi without seeing as he was lost in thought. It didn't feel like that much time had passed before the boy stirred. Yellow eyes snapped into focus as they watched the child startle awake. He looked around before he looked up into Madara's eyes. Takashi froze in terror before he started to cry into his hands again.
Madara clucked his tongue before he leaned down to the child slowly.
"Don't be afraid, Takashi. I won't hurt you. Your grandmother, Reiko, asked me to protect you." Madara reigned in his frustrations with the constantly crying child and managed a soothing tone. It appeared to work because the four-year-old boy quieted before he looked up once more into the spirit's eyes.
Ah, he has the same eyes as her. Madara mused. What did the humans call them? Fox eyes?
The child's golden eyes shimmered with tears as he tried to calm his breathing.
"Where's my dad?" Takashi asked meekly.
Madara's eyes were downcast as he responded, "Kid, your family-"
"Couldn't take care of you anymore? Honestly, Madara, vague as always." A new voice interrupted. Madara's eyes snapped to a blue haired woman in an extravagant kimono leaning in the shade at the side of the shrine. Her red eyes illuminated by her pipe as she inhaled the smoke. As she continued to speak, the smoke curled out of her mouth, "Madara, how dull your senses have grown during your time with the humans to not notice my presence until now." She mused.
Madara ignored the other spirit's goading as he stepped closer to Takashi. The child was staring at the woman in disbelief.
"Hinoe." Madara greeted. "This is Takashi Natsume." He announced as he locked eyes with the other spirit. There was a heavy weight to his words and Hinoe knew that those cursed humans had killed her precious Reiko. Her eyes welled with tears as she felt her throat constrict. She took another drag from her pipe and used that time to regain her composure.
"So, what do you plan to do with him?" Hinoe asked as she turned her gaze to Madara's eyes.
"I promised Reiko I would look after him. So, that's what I'm going to do."
"You look after him?" Hinoe laughed, "He's better off with whatever villainous cretins caused him to be left in your care."
With a snort, Madara defended himself, "I can't imagine you know how to do any better. After all, Reiko entrusted me with this job. Where were you when she needed you? Maybe there'd be someone else to look after Takashi if you had been there too." Instantly, Madara regretted his harsh words. But he didn't back down as he straightened his posture.
Hinoe's eyes watered again before she felt a tug on her kimono. She looked down and found Takashi staring at her seriously. In her surprise, she forgot to feel the overwhelming disgust at being touched by a man.
"Don't cry. Pretty girls should never have to cry." Takashi recited from memory. He had overheard his uncle telling his younger cousin that same line once when she had fallen and scraped her knee. It made his cousin giggle and feel better so maybe it would work on this nice blue haired lady.
With a sniffle, Hinoe covered her face with the sleeves of her kimono. "I'm not crying. I'm angry with the brutes who hurt your family."
"My family is hurt?" Takashi cried out in alarm. He turned back to Madara, "Where's my dad?"
"It's like I was trying to say, kid." Madara's said his face full of remorse, "They're all dead. Some bad humans killed them."
"When will they be better enough so I can go back?" Takashi asked worriedly. He hoped it wouldn't be a long time.
Madara and Hinoe looked at each other helplessly.
"Never, Takashi. They'll never be able to take care of you again." Hinoe answered gently. With a little willpower, she managed to pet his head to try and soothe the child.
Takashi's eyes welled with tears again, "Well, where am I supposed to go?"
"You can be with us, Takashi. We will take care of you." Hinoe offered. Madara's eyes met with hers and there was a silent agreement that passed between them as Madara's eyes filled with gratitude.
"Is this where you live?" Takashi asked miserably as he looked around at the abandoned shrine.
"Uh, it could be. Do you not want to?" Hinoe asked.
"I guess this is fine." Takashi conceded. He finished looking around before he looked at Madara and Hinoe, "Where's the bathroom?"
Hinoe and Madara turned to look at each other. There was a quick battle of wills before Madara sighed and turned back to Takashi.
"Okay, the bathroom is wherever you make it. Just don't do it too close to home. You find a nice tree on the outskirts of your territory, raise up your leg and-"
"No. Just…no, Madara." Hinoe interrupted. "Takashi, come with me." Hinoe called as she walked into the forest surrounding the shrine's grounds.
Takashi followed her.
Madara watched the two enter the forest and smirked as they vanished from sight, he knew playing ignorant would pay off. There were a few minutes of silence before Hinoe emerged first, her face paler than ever and her hand covered her mouth to muffle her chant of, "Humans are so gross. Humans are so gross." Takashi followed behind her, his face blushing at the act he'd just had to perform. At least next time he could go by himself.
Madara laughed at the pair of them for a long time after and would have a chuckling fit every once in a while for the next few days.
