A/N: Hope you guys enjoy, I thought this chapter was pretty good. tell me what you think, review!
~Unknown~
I listened to the girl sleep and noticed she seemed to be coming out of her fever on her own, though it also seemed that whatever she was dreaming about was upsetting her. Her eyes slowly opened and I looked down at her face to see gray eyes looking around curiously. When they landed on me she cried out in shock and before I could say anything a wave of power shot out from her and threw me back. I landed on my back and groaned as I sat up, rubbing my head.
"That was unexpected."
I said as I looked at where the little girl sat with her knees pulled up to her chest as she squeezed herself between the side of the cave and a rock. I could feel her chakra signature and was shocked at how powerful it was, though it was wild feeling and she was obviously untrained. I got to my feet and moved back to where I had been. I moved towards her, but stopped when I heard her whimper.
'Is she afraid of me? Why?'
I wondered, but didn't try to approach her anymore. I simply sat down next to the fire and held my hands out to warm them up since the storm was still raging outside and the temperature had dropped some.
"I'm not gonna hurt you you know."
I said without looking away from the fire. I could feel her chakra fill with shock, then confusion, then settle back on fear.
"It's kinda cold. You sure you want to be that far away from the fire? It's really warm."
I said and almost smirked when I heard her move out from behind the rock, but still stayed away.
"I promise I won't hurt you. I'm the one who found you. You had a fever so I brought you here so you could get better."
I said and felt shock and confusion replace the fear in her chakra, then curiosity joined them. I looked up to see her crawl on her hands and knees from her spot over to the fire before sitting and drawing her knees up to her chest again.
'Quiet little thing isn't she?'
I thought to myself as I saw her scoot closer to the fire.
"T-Thank you."
She whispered and I barely heard her above the howl of the wind outside, but I had.
"You're very welcome. What's your name?"
I asked and noticed she started to play with her fingers.
"You don't have to tell me you know."
I said after a while of her hesitancy. She looked up at me and I smiled at her which made her look away.
"My name's Jiraiya the Toad Mountain Sage."
I said standing up and striking a pose which only made her stare at me for a bit. I frowned when I thought I'd scared her when she suddenly burst into a fit of laughter. I frowned more as I sat back down.
"It's not that funny you know."
I said with a pout and that only seemed to make her laugh even more.
'Well, at least she's not scared.'
I thought with a small smile.
"A..Alixa."
She said when she finally got her laughter under control. I looked at her confused until I realized she'd answered my earlier question.
"Well Alixa, it's nice to meet you."
I said with a smile and she looked up at me before smiling slightly in response.
"What were you doing in the middle of the forest anyway?"
I asked and noticed her smile disappeared instantly. At first I didn't think she'd answer me, but she did.
-Alixa-
"What were you doing in the middle of the forest anyway?"
He asked and my smile dropped.
'Can I really tell him or will he react the same as the villagers?'
I wondered slightly fearful of having someone so kind turn out to be so mean.
'Relax child, he will not respond the same. You can trust him.'
I heard the tiger's voice say within my head and nodded.
"I had been run out of my village because they all thought me to be a monster."
I said.
"Why would they think that?"
He asked and I played with my fingers before answering.
"Because I turned into a tiger and killed the men who were trying to capture me to sell as a sex slave."
I said and waited for him to get fearful and attack me, instead I felt anger from him and flinched until I heard his words.
"How dare they!"
He said and I looked up at him in shock.
"How dare they try and sell a child as a sex slave, and what kind of village just runs one of their own out for defending themselves!?"
He yelled and I was confused as to why he was so angry, but it made me a little happy to know someone cared so much.
"What village are you from Alixa?"
Jiraiya asked suddenly and I blinked in surprise.
"The…The Village Hidden Beneath the Moon."
I said in a small voice and his eyes widened a bit before placing a hand on his chin.
"That makes sense. I've heard that the founders of that village had spirits of hunters housed within them, so it'd be no real shock if you did seeing as you are a descendant from them. Though it is rare for one of you to be born now."
He said and I stared at the white haired man in shock.
'How does he know so much about my village?'
'Calm down child, he is a sage. They are very intelligent, plus this guy is a lot older than you. He has wisdom we know nothing of.'
The tigress said and I nodding in understanding.
"What about your parents? Where were they when the villagers ran you out?"
He asked and I looked down at my hands.
"Alixa? What is it?"
He asked concerned and I felt tears stinging my eyes at the thought of my parents.
"They were murdered."
I said and felt him still from his place across from me.
"They were murdered by a yellow eyed man named Orochimaru because he wanted to use me for what I am."
I said with hatred for the yellow eyed man lacing my voice.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
He said and I looked up at him to see him looking into the fire with a pained look in his eyes.
"I'm going to kill him."
I said after a while making Jiraiya look at me in shock.
"What?"
He asked.
"I'm going to kill him. The man who killed my parents."
I said and heard Jiraiya sigh.
"How are you going to do that when you have no training in the ninja arts at all? If you face him the way you are you will die and join your parents."
He said and I frowned. I knew that, I wasn't naïve enough to think I could take him, but I couldn't stand the thought of him walking around alive when he'd taken my parents from me.
"If you really want to kill him…."
Jiraiya said after a while making me look up at him.
"I can train you myself."
He said and I looked at him in shock.
'Why would he do that? I'm just some random kid he found, why help me?'
I wondered to myself and as if reading my thoughts he laughed.
"I don't know what it is, but something about you makes me think that with the proper training you might actually be able to do it."
He said and I smiled at him.
"In that case…."
I said as I bowed to him.
"Please take care of me!"
Jiraiya agreed to let me travel with him while he trained me, but I had no problem with that. Once the storm passed later that evening we set out. I was slightly excited about the idea of training, but at the same time nervous. I had no idea what to expect or what kind of teacher Jiraiya was. I looked at him as he walked ahead of me. Jiraiya was a tall man with waist-length, spiky white hair tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs that framed both sides of his face. He also had red lines that ran down from his eyes and had a horned forehead protector with the kanji for Oil on it. He had on a green short shirt kimono and matching pants. Under that I could see he wore mesh armor that showed out at places. He also had hand guards, a simple black belt wrapped around his waist, and sandals. I looked down at myself and blushed when I realized I wasn't in my clothes, instead I was in a pretty well made makeshift red top that hung off my left shoulder and red shorts. The top had a yellow dot on my chest and the shorts had a dot of the same color on the right side.
"Hey Jiraiya…"
I said getting his attention.
"Hm?"
He asked as he turned to look at me.
"Where did these clothes come from?"
I asked and noticed he looked away from me and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Umm, well your clothes were dirty and tattered so I made you some clothes out of my haori."
He said and I looked back down at my new clothes in awe before smiling to myself.
"Thank you."
I said and he just nodded in response. Maybe my life isn't as bad as I'd originally thought. At least someone cares about my well being.
