A feral look was in her eyes; danger, deadly. Scared. She was crouched in a defensive position, her hands scratched up and bloody. Crimson hair fell around her face smeared with dirt with wide hungry beryl eyes that looked so…so old and yet…so innocent.
So wonderfully taintable. She looked around wildly, yet stayed completely still, as if she was in control of the situation. She looked around eight or so, yet what she was doing out in the middle of a deserted forest near Sound no less was lost to him. He made a move to walk towards her, his hands held up. He would not hurt her…yet.
"Little girl, may I inquire what you are doing in this forest alone?" He asked gently as she narrowed her eyes at him, confusion clearly taking up residence in her eyes.
"Stay away…" She said softly looking a little less feral and calmer. Her hands were held out in front of her as if she didn't notice the swirling red clouds on midnight black fabric. Most knew who he was without seeing his face or at least they ran screaming the other way or came up with some better defense than holding their hands out in front of them. Interesting. He'd hold off from scaring her too much just yet. "Stay away from me if you know what is good for you, sir."
Polite little thing wasn't she? "Why must I stay away, little one?" The man asked taking off his large straw hat revealing hair as crimson as her own set in a beautiful feminine face, blood ruby eyes staring at her intently, not betraying his curiosity though he was rather intrigued.
"Because I kill. I hurt. I…I hurt even worse than kill. I take peace away. I bring them back and I bring them pain. Stay away if you know what's best for you mister!" She warned taking a step back as he took one closer. What could the small girl done if she was abandoned and raving about hurting and killing?
For a moment and for a moment only a look softened his hard veiled eyes for a moment. She looked about as old as him when his parents…He shook his head. He wouldn't think about that. Tears rolled down her face, though through her slightly broken words, there was a mettle to her words that would lead no one to question if she was strong or not. She had stopped moving her body shuddering. He took the three giant steps to her, kneeling down to her level.
He wiped away the tears with the pad of his thumb. Her eyes grew wide and from a windless day, a stirring of a stormy breeze whipped her hair around her face. She could taste the darkness on him; she could taste the tint reaching his heart, wanting to claim him for its own. 'Daughter, your salvation lies here. You remember nothing but this is your punishment, your powers, and other things I have deemed useful for your use. Save him, save yourself…save this world.' A voice, so beautiful it hurt like the wind whistling through the trees at night mixed with a pack of baying hounds filled her small mind.
Though, with the mind of a five year old, she didn't exactly understand the meaning of the message. Yet, as the message of fear of a strange man approaching her finally caught up with her, her eyes widened considerably. "No, no, get away from me, please." She asked stepping back two steps. He put his calloused hand on her shoulder gently, to keep her from bolting.
"I just want to ask you a few questions, girl, you do not have to be frightened…"
"You're a stranger!" She said as if talking to a younger child, her eyes serious. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers…Mommy said so, but she told me not to be xenophobic, and use my best judgment."
'So, she has a mother…Interesting.' Sasori thought, his face blankly impassive. He could use that to his advantage. "Do you want me to take you to your mommy, little girl?"
"I don't have a mommy…" She looked confused for a moment. "I just remember her saying that."
"So you don't…Who are you staying with then?" Sasori questioned gently.
Willow thought for a moment and blanked. She thought of nothing. Why could she think of nothing? He was probably the cause of it. Suddenly her fear of him stirred up again, before she could rationally think things out.
"Ignite!" The word in Latin tasted so good in her mouth, tasted of power…tasted so wonderful she almost got lost within the power and why she did it in the first place. The heat of the fire though licked her face and reminded the girl that she wanted to get away from this crimson eyed stranger and began to run.
At a look back, that didn't seem like such a good idea. His voice held a cool anger, barely raised above his speaking voice, but it scared her all the same. "You little bitch, you just lit me on fire!" His cloak was burning fast; luckily, he had not transformed himself into a puppet. The man's eyes narrowed to slits as he whipped off his cloak, letting it burn, revealing the mesh undershirt with the black wife beater and simple linen pants.
'How the fuck did she do that? There was very little of her own chakra in that. ' The twenty five year old asked himself as he pumped chakra in his legs to catch up with extremely fast little girl. "You are so in trouble when I catch you, child!"
She made no response, but allowed her legs to carry her as fast as she could. She didn't want a stranger who could do Goddess knows what to her! She had to save her breath and couldn't bother bantering with him.
"I'm going to get you child and you will pay," He growled underneath his breath with a glare. Yet, something in him was only saying it in good warmth, the child appealing to the softer side of the hardened ninja.
Willow though was only a child, which meant outrunning a full rank ninja was almost nigh impossible, even with her abilities. Besides she couldn't use them to their full extent anyways, only knowing simple spells. She could already feel the tiredness sneaking into her bones, gobbling up her strength, and the heat of the day swirling around her ankles. She ducked into a hollow in a tree, to catch her breath, sending a quiet request to the tree to hide her for a moment. "Goddess, I can't go on much further…"
"Whoever you're praying to won't help you little girl." Sasori stalked where he saw her duck off. He tried sensing for her chakra presence; yet found it somehow miraculously hidden. How could one so young have so much skill? "Little girl, I promise I won't hurt you…if you come out to me willingly anyway."
Willow held her breath. She didn't want to be found by that scary man! She pressed her back against the tree, imploring it to help her mask her presence. She was terrified.
Sasori growled. How the hell had she disappeared into thin air, right in front of him? His voice was still passively calm, though he was boiling on the inside. "I will come for you later little girl." With a few handsigns he was gone in an instant.
Willow let out her breath and thanked the tree immensely. Somehow it had hidden the small girl from the scary man. She crawled out of the hollow and felt the cooling night air upon her skin. Her eyes widened, she didn't know how to survive outside by herself! She could only count five years...She backtracked some and picked up the man's cloak. It was only singed around the edges and it looked very warm. There were also some useful items in it, like knives and a small canteen, so Willow decided to take it. It could be very useful and she knew that she was going to need all the help she could get to survive and this would be warm and somewhere to sleep.
"Well…shelter first. That's the logical first thing." The small hollow where she was hiding moments before was too small for her to stretch out her body and it smelled a little funny. So, the young girl walked a while as the sun moved lower and lower through the sky.
As she was beside a swift moving stream to get a drink, she saw a cave not too off and smiled. She could build a fire cause of that neato thing she had done earlier with that scary man's cloak. All the while she had been walking she was collected fallen branches and twigs to start a fire with. And this cave was in the perfect spot! She took off her sensible sneakers, rolled up her pants, and waded through the shin deep water. As she approached the cave she heard a strange whimpering sound.
"What is that sound?" It made Willow slightly frightened to approach the cave, but she held her head up high, and walked towards it albeit a little more warily. She walked in, the dying light illuminating the cave poorly. Yet the whimpering sound got louder and more distinct. She set down her bundle of branches and twigs, quickly built a tepee out of her wood and whispered that word again. The fire caught and everything in the cave was put into high relief.
There were bones scattered everywhere. That almost frightened the little girl, but she found the source of the whimpering. Two small pups, one with a pure white coat with black around the eyes, and one with a pure black coat snuggled up to each other from the warmth that was supposed to be generated from the mother that wasn't there.
Immediately Willow's heart went out to them. No mother was around and Willow knew in her heart within heart that….the mother and or father wasn't going to come back. This cave couldn't host a pack, so being the smart little girl Willow was, she figured that these two were probably born to a lone wolf.
And she shifted her weight and realized there was something in her pockets. A plastic bag crinkled and she pulled out a large packet of beef jerky. Willow was very hungry and wanted to eat the whole thing, but…she glanced at the puppies who were whimpering. They were probably very hungry to, she reasoned. "And there's no reason I can't share…" She stated out loud, taking a piece for herself and chewing it good to savor the flavor that satiated her hunger.
The young redhead approached the puppies warily, not knowing if they were or were not accustomed to humans. She reached her hand out to their noses and they opened their sleepy eyes, one shockingly green and one icy blue. 'I'm here for you wolf puppies. My name's Willow…I'm here and I have food.'
They rose, two balls of fluff, not bigger than a German Sheppard puppy, and walked toward her. She sat down and they ran and snuggled in her lap. 'Mother dead, gone…abandoned us. Mother's mate, dead, gone, abandoned us. No food for three days…Willow…mother.' The two littermates thought in unison, Willow unconsciously picking up their thoughts.
"I…You can talk to me?" Willow shook her head. She took a piece of jerky and shoved it in her mouth. She carefully chewed it to a pulp, a little grossed out by the thought of having to spit it out, but she did. She repeated this process until there was enough for both of them. The puppies sniffed the proffered hands and dug into the masticated meal.
After they were full, they were warm due to Willow's fire, they snuggled up next to the girl who had curled up on the cloak (after she went outside and cleaned her hands in the stream) she had stolen from the deadly missing sand nin, and fell into a deep dreamless sleep and didn't wake up until the morning.
This might be confusing for the first few chapters, but it will clear up as we go along. Yes, my other stories will get updated soon, I've just been busy with life. Don't worry, this won't lose my attention and fall into the vast pit of nothing and if it does, I will put it up for adoption. This will get increasingly more interesting as Willow gets older and she draws attraction from...several people. My deepest thanks for reading, Over and Out~ArT-tHoU-StRaNgE.