The Offer

Chapter 3

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"GET BACK HERE GAKI!"

"YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME ALIVE! I'LL SET MYSELF ON FIRE BEFORE YOUUAAAG…!" The dramatic and desperate escape attempt was shot down quickly and efficiently, ending in a red-haired, green-eyed girl in the hands of the enemy – professional medical personnel.

Holly felt that those goodie-two-shoes with their 'You'll only make it worse!', 'Watch your stitches!' and 'It is physically impossible for you in that state to go anywhere, let alone take care of yourself!' alarmist bullshit were forever fated to be her Mortal Enemy… well, besides Riddle, and Death Eaters, and the people she pisses off, and those vampires she ran into in York that one time… *ahem*, yes, her Mortal Enemies with their prodding and their 'this is for your own good' righteous spiels! Rawrr, they wouldn't get their disinfected hands on this girl!!

Well, maybe they would – as was evidenced from the strong grip (was it just her, or was it unnatural for such a tiny old lady to be that damn strong?) from her most recent medical carer – who was actually supposed to be retired.

"Why can't you stay in one place, brat?" Crazy Lady asked in an exasperated voice that held a condescending edge.

"Because it's boring!"

"I don't care if it's boring, I care that you destroyed the ropes that tied you to the bed! If you make another attempt, you'll only end up extending the time you have to stay in there!" The old Tanaka's voice was equal parts exasperated and annoyed.

Holly pouted silently and crossed her arms petulantly as she was bodily dragged by the collar of an old shirt that Crazy Lady had forced onto her (because of the damage suffered to her original) back to the Room of Doom – or Healing – whichever.

She hated any kind of medicinal caring facility with the vehemence of a crate of a Blast-ended Skrewts, and enjoyed staying in one even less than she would like to position herself directly behind a twenty-foot version of the aforementioned creature.

"Hey! Be careful" Holly protested as she was manhandled into the bed and had the shirt pulled up to expose dark bruises across her ribs. Crazy Lady touched them, (making Holly flinch) seeming to derive some measure of satisfaction from this response (sadistic ama) and at length seemed to decide her latest stunt (Escape Attempt #32½) had not damaged the healing bones further.

Holly scowled. "This sucks! I've been in here for three days with absolutely nothing to do! I'll die soon, I just know I will! And if I don't, I'm going to set myself on fire so I can end my suffering!"

Crazy Lady was Not Amused. She hit Holly upside the head before saying "You WILL NOT, because I've gone to all this trouble to fix you, so I won't allow you to screw up all my hard work and tolerance of you through one stupid action! You will stay here, or I will drug you!"

"I'll be good" was the reply, pitched a little too high to disguise the very real fear incited at the woman's tirade and threats.

The woman narrowed her electric blue (creepy!) eyes and scrutinised her makeshift patient for a moment before saying in a clipped voice, "See that you do."

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Later that night, Holly or 'Rei', as Crazy Lady kept calling her (not like she could be bothered to correct her, anyway) sat obediently at the table finishing off the disgustingly healthy meal the old lady had cooked and forced her to eat 'to help with the healing process'.

After a few minutes eating in silence, she just couldn't contain the question that had been bugging her for the last few days and it burst out loudly; "How are you able to move so fast and drag me around, baba?"

…and hey, she could bad mouth the woman, no matter that she was the one who was healing her – after all, she was also the one who hurt her in the first place! It was her right!

The woman snorted. "I am shinobi."

"But what does that mean?"

"It means, gaki, that I am trained to control my chakra to create jutsu and enhance my physical capabilities. We shinobi – ninja – are the main military power of the Hidden Countries. Konohagakure no Sato, or the Village Hidden in the Leaves, is one of the five main powers and is in Hi no Kuni or the Land of Fire. Konoha also happens to be the village I used to be an active kunoichi for – 'kunoichi' meaning female ninja. Does that put it in a way you can understand, chibi?"

"Don't call me chibi" Holly grumbled.

"Why the hell not? You're a runt! Why, you don't even look… err, how old did you say you were, anyway?"

"…it just occurs to you to ask me this now?!"

"Yare yare, didn't anybody ever tell you that it's not a good idea to be mean to your doctor? I mean, I am responsible for your health, ya know. I could forget to give you some… oh, say pain relieving drugs, or decide it is unsafe for you to eat chocolate, what with all the medication you're on…"

*Gasp* "you wouldn't!"

"Ha! Keep telling yourself that gaki. Now, age."

"…it's eleven." After all, no reason to get her really confused by saying she used to be seventeen but because of a freak accident while offing a megalomaniac she'd lost (or would it be gained?) approximately six years – coincidentally the exact amount of time she'd spent being the scapegoat of the Wizarding World (sexist much?).

The woman guffawed. Her loud, grating laughter was especially aggravating on Holly's already strained temper.

"Y-you (snicker) rr-real-ly aare a… a chibi!!"

"I AM NOT SHORT!" Holly squawked indignantly, shaking her fist at the horrible Crazy Lady that had a fetish for pointy objects and could apparently do a good impression of superwoman, even though she knew full and well that she was a midget eleven year old. If she was lucky, she'd be able to eat more this time 'round and perhaps push past 5"2'.

Damn the freakin Dursleys and their food-withholding ways to Hell.

"Hah! You could pass for an eight-year-old at that height!"

- "SHUT UP BABA!"(1)

"NO, GAKI!"

- "HIBABA!"

"AHOU!"

- "MINIKUI!"

"BAKA!"

- "INOSHISHI!"

"ROBA!"

Simultaneously; "AMA!"

They were both red and panting, scowling furiously across the table at each other but for some reason Crazy Lady just burst into gleeful cackles, cutting off the insults.

Holly felt rather off-kilter. She'd lost her temper – again – and gotten into a screaming match with the only other human being she had met since arriving in this seemingly insane world that had super-powered ninja running around and was quickly becoming quite embarrassed at herself, not to mention questioning her own sanity – Shiori-obaasan was currently the only thing standing between her being tossed back into the forest, and was the only way for her to get directions out of the forest!

What couldhave possessed her to make such a stupid mistake? …There was just something about the woman that was walking all over Holly's last nerve.

It was probably the 'ex-doctor' thing.

Damn.

Holly blinked as her ears seemed to have deceived her, "…WHAT did you just say, baba?" 'Dammit, there I went again…'

The woman was wiping tears of mirth out of her eyes and grinning like a loon. She moved forwards and patted Holly heavily on the shoulder, laughter still in her voice; "Heh, I just said I like you, Rei-chan! You're the most entertaining thing to pass by my place in ages!"

Holly crossed her arms and grumbled, "Well, as long as you're having fun…" she muttered sarcastically.

Shiori gave her a sunny smile, "Exactly, chibi, exactly."

Holly's scowl deepened and she sank awkwardly back into her seat, only just realising that she had vacated it in the heat of the argument because of the twinges of pain originating from her ribs and leg.

She sat in sullen silence as the old woman gathered up the dishes and went about washing them.

The old lady paused in her washing up, keeping her back to the young girl at the table and asked softly, "Where are you heading, gaki? Where will you go once you get out of the forest? What will you do?"

Holly paused, caught off-guard by the question and considered it. What would she do? She couldn't think of anything in particular off the top of her head. Probably travel around, explore this strange world – that would be interesting, at least. And find a way back – those two seemed like good long-term goals. After a few moments, she said, "Ah… I'm not exactly sure. I guess I just want to travel around, see the sights…"

Shiori waved a hand, "No no, that's not what I meant – how are you gonna eat? Where are you gonna sleep?"

Holly paused. "Er… I'm sure I'll think of something."

The old lady snorted, continuing to wash the dishes. "Sure, sure… but you don't know all the things that could happen to a young girl such as yourself alone in the world – what if you encounter bandits, ne? Or get captured and sold to slavers? Or you can't find a job? In my career, I've seen horrible things happen to children that don't have anyone to take care of them."

Holly felt uneasy – just what kind of world had she stumbled into? The false bravado could probably heard clearly in her voice as she said, "Ah, well. I'll be fine!"

Holly flinched a little as she caught the old woman's gaze as she turned her head around and glared, "Don't be stupid, chibi."

"Stupid, eh? Well, why do you even care?! I wouldn't even be here right now if you hadn't attacked me!" Holly said defensively.

"You just don't get it! I'm a retired shinobi, baka – my attack wasn't even deliberate, just an old reflex! There are hundreds of shinobi out there, and a lot of them have no compunctions with killing civilians that get in their way – some even enjoy it! I'm WORRIED about you, ahou."

Holly snorted disbelievingly; "You've only know me three weeks, tops! Why would you worry about me?! I've met a lot of adults, and-." She cut herself off abruptly. No need to say she trusted adults less than she would trust Buckbeak with a box of dead rats. "And anyway," she continued, ignoring the line she had been on before, "I have no idea how to even begin using chakra, which sounds like the only way I'd have a snowball's chance in hell of surviving a confrontation with shinobi! If I have wacked-out chakra like you said, there's probably no way I can learn to use it, if I find someone willing to teach me – which would likely be very low, since the use is obviously restricted to official villages and it would be a poor trade secret if everybody could use it!"

Holly was a mite bit frustrated over being told she was unable to protect herself – she'd gone through hell to get about level with Voldie in a magical battle, and even then it had been large parts luck and sheer bull-headedness that had allowed her to come out on top. Holly had told been time and time again that she didn't know when to give up, but that had been the extra shove she'd needed to get the drop on Voldie in the end.

And now her wand was broken she was left with the last vestiges of the strength she had gained from all the blood, sweat and tears that had been shed to get into a position where she even had a chance against an insanely stronger opponent, not to mention no substantial defence against attackers in this world. Sure, she could set an attacker on fire (although she found the smell of burning flesh distasteful), she could apparate when she knew where the hell she was aiming to end up and she could also use mind magics – which desperately needed practise if she wanted to make it a viable option for her defence. Other than those, she had whatever was in her bag and the charms on her earrings, none of which would be any help in a fight.

All of which spelt TROUBLE if she was liable to be attacked by shinobi along her journey, which seemed like a very real possibility through how readily Shiori-baba had brought it up. People didn't mention stuff when the possibility of it happening was negligent.

"What would you say if I was willing to teach you?"

Holly had been about to continue ranting, but the almost-soft voice (a tone that was unusual for the woman she had most often referred to as 'baba') stopped her in her tracks. Her eyes were wide and she stared at the old woman, who seemed almost embarrassed at what she'd said. "Wha?"

"-I mean, I'd just be doing it out of professional curiosity – is it possible to level out your physical and spiritual energies enough that you will be able to control and stabilise it? And hell, you will never be a medic-nin as is my specialty – I may be able to get you using chakra, but you probably won't ever balance it good enough to do finicky jutsu we medics achieve, and I mean… just looking at you gives me the same freaking feeling of watching a primed explosive note – that unbalanced chakra can not be good for your health (or the health of everybody within 50 miles if you blow up some day) and you do have better than average reflexes, which should make it easier to teach you…"

The old lady trailed off, seemingly aware that her rushed explanation had been dangerously close to babbling, and turned instead to meet the emerald green eyes which were wide in shock and disbelief. She added lamely, "…And since I went to all the trouble of fixing you up, I can't waste my effort, gaki. So, waddya say?"

A hand ran through messy red hair as Holly tried to process the extremely generous offer. "…But what about trade secrets? What about the catch? 'Cos no one does anything truly for free."

The woman waved her hand, dismissing the first statement, "Heh, I'm an ex-nin, I don't have to worry about direct repercussions and it's very unlikely they'd ever know I helped you out unless you told someone – which you won't, got it? And for the duration of your apprenticeship under me, you will live with me because the nearest town is two days away at ninja speed, most likely two weeks at civilian pace – normal pace, that is – and it's also not like I'll be teaching you proper shinobi codes or nothin'. The deal will be me teaching you how to use chakra and taijutsu (which I have a feeling will be needed if we're gonna get your physical energy up high enough to use). I'll also let you access whatever scrolls I've got in my house, you hear? That should be enough to get you out of being killed on accident, at least, and make me feel better about chucking you back into the forest. In exchange, I expect you to fix up my garden, cook, clean and do any other housework that comes up while you are boarding."

Holly took a moment to consider it, although there really was nothing to consider. She'd done all the work for the Dursley's, so how hard could it be to look after one old woman and her house? And if learning how to protect herself was the exchange, well… "Count me in."

Crazy Lady smirked in a vaguely evil way and apprehension curled in Holly's stomach.

What had she gotten herself into now?

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1) translations for the insults:

Rei- "SHUT UP BABA!" (old hag)

Tanaka- "NO, GAKI!" (brat)

R- "HIBABA!" (great-grandma)

T- "AHOU!" (moron)

R- "MINIKUI!" (ugly)

T- "BAKA!" (idiot)

R- "INOSHISHI!" (wild pig)

T- "ROBA!" (donkey)

Both- "AMA!" (bitch)

=Chapter 3 complete=

Well, another chapter finished and hopefully fans satisfied and generally not willing to kill me for writing a crappy story. Oh, and if you have trouble with some Japanese words, just type them into google and you'll get an answer somewhere…

Review, pretty please with cookies on top :)

Ja, skyflyte12