"Where's Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked the group as they all clustered around the top of the crevice before the little girl and Gai's decent. Gai had jumped up to the top of the cliff to join the group.
"He's taking a long time going after her," Sasuke stated as he walked to the ledge and looked over the edge. Naruto rushed up next to him and shaded his eyes as he scanned the path.
"I don't see him," Tenten copied Naruto and shaded her squinted eyes as she looked over the path.
"I hope he's alright," Hinata replied meekly.
"C'mon! This is Kakashi-sensei we're talking about!" Naruto suddenly spun around and enthusiastically said to Hinata. "He'll be fine! He'll be back here in no time! He's just going to catch that little girl that looks like Rai-sama!" He turned around and smiled from ear to ear as he looked back out over the path.
"Naruto," Iruka's voice made him look over his shoulder and turn around. "We're not completely positive that girl was Rai, let alone human at all." Iruka explained to him.
"He's right…" Asuma concurred. "That may have very well looked like Rai, but it most likely is a demon that looks like Rai." His hands in his pockets and his stance relaxed as he relayed the information to the genin. "You're forgetting you're in a demon's world."
"But, the way Kakashi-sensei went after it like that…" Sakura paused, then shook her head and balled her fists. She looked up at Asuma in determination, "That just HAS to be Rai-sama! There's no other explanation for it!"
"We're not so sure what that was." Genma reiterated to the stubborn girl. "It might be Rai-sama, but it very well might be a demon."
"Well, whatever it is, that little brat bit me…" Gai grumbled, rubbing his right forearm. "So who knows what she will do to him." Gai looked at his arm where the little girl had fiercely bitten him.
"You best hope that thing doesn't have rabies…" Tsunade nodded to his arm, her arms crossed.
Several minutes passed, and then turned into about a half hour before anyone said anything.
"Should we go after him?" Ino asked as she looked over the cliff's edge.
"No," Shikamaru said from the ground where he was sitting. "The best thing for us to do now is to wait right here where he knows we'll be. If we move, we might not find each other in this twisted world." Shikamaru leaned over and heavily laid his head into his hand. "Man, this is a real drag…"
"Hmph!" Ino turned around and pouted, placing her hands on her hips. Roughly 15 minutes passed and everyone had moved away from the edge of the cliff. Several were in a light doze when they sensed something approaching them. It stopped at the base of the cliff before quickly jumping up and landing on top.
"Kakashi-sensei!" The genin shouted with relief. Kakashi had jumped up onto the cliff, his hands behind his back, holding something. He quickly knelt to the ground and pulled his hands out from behind him and a small girl climbed off his back. He stood up as soon as he was sure the girl was standing. The girl quickly hid behind his tall thin frame, clinging to his left pant leg with both hands, and hiding the right side of her body from the group in front of them. Her left brown eye scanned the strange people before her; however, she didn't like them very much and hid a little further behind Kakashi. Everybody got up and stared in shock and awe at the little girl, some knelt down on their knees, some bent over at the waist and rested their hands on their knees to get a better look, and others just stood straight up.
Kurenai was one who was bent at the waist and looked at the small girl before looking up at Kakashi and asking, "Is that really her?" She stood straight up and placed her left hand on her hip and let the other fall naturally to her side. Kakashi nodded his head slightly.
"Yes! I knew it!" Sakura cheered.
"But, it can't be!" Anko interjected. She was examining the little girl straight on before bending over slightly to get a better look. "She's too little!" Anko blatantly pointed out as she stood up straight, hands still on her hips. All of them kept a good distance, however, Naruto dared that. He walked right up to Kakashi and Rai and crouched down to get almost eye level with her. As he approached, Kakashi could feel Rai's fists tighten on his pant leg and her posture stiffen.
"Rai-sama, how'd ya get to be so small?" He came out and asked. He totally blew away the rules of decency and certain social aspects that should be maintain. However, this was Naruto, he had no boundaries. Rai let out a gasp and hid even further behind Kakashi so his body was completely blocking hers. Sasuke quickly walked up and snatched Naruto by the collar and dragged him back to the group. "Hey! What the-!?" He was completely caught off guard by this. Some adults shook their heads while others covered their face with their hand in shame.
"Is he really serious?" Ino asked no one in general.
"Naruto," Several people growled in annoyance.
"You've already scared her enough, dobe." Sasuke muttered and let go of the orange ninja's collar once safe within the circle of friends. Once the blue clad boy pulled the orange monster away from them, Rai peeked out from behind Kakashi's left leg again. Iruka waited a couple of seconds before taking several steps forward, watching the little girl's reaction. Once he took the step that made her tense, he took a step back and crouched down. She had freaked and hid behind Kakashi when he had gotten about two meters away.
"It's alright," Iruka's kind voice called to the child. Rai peeked a shy left eye around Kakashi's left leg. He had a gentle smile on his face. "We're not going to hurt you." She bit her bottom lip. She didn't know what to do, she felt like she could trust him, but she didn't want to, so she just stayed still. Iruka just stayed there. Patience was the game he had to play with her before when they first met, and patience is the game he has to play now in order for her to start to trust him. Sakura saw this and tried it for herself, crouching beside Iruka-sensei.
"Rai-sama, it's us." Sakura softly stated. Rai flinched and hid behind Kakashi again. This was overload for the poor kid. Sakura didn't like this reaction and looked up at Kakashi in concern. "Why doesn't she remember us?"
"She's roughly around the age of 8, Sakura," Kakashi said as he placed his left hand on Rai's head. Rai looked up at him. "She doesn't know you at this age."
"That's what I thought." Iruka stated as he curled his right index finger around his chin. "That does explain things."
"So, she doesn't remember any of us?" Tenten asked.
"I'm afraid not," was Kakashi's response.
"Then how come she knows you?" Kiba gruffly asked, crossing his arms and Akamaru on his head. Kakashi looked down at Rai.
"She's known me since she was born." He explained. "So even at this age…"
"She still recognizes you…" Asuma finished for him. Kakashi looked at Asuma and nodded. After several seconds of silence Tsunade spoke.
"So, now that we have the little brat. What are we going to do with her?"
"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune scolded her. Rai glared at the blonde haired woman and tightened her grip again on Kakashi's pant leg. Suddenly, a rumbling sound emanated from the group. Everyone's heads snapped towards Choji. He looked down at his stomach, one hand with an empty bag of potato chips, the other rubbing his belly. Everyone had a sweat drop going down their head. Several of the other's stomachs began to complain.
"We should probably find something to eat," Tenten complained slightly as she held her growling stomach. Rai's eyes opened a little and she reached up and tugged on Kakashi's left sleeve cuff a little to gain his attention. He looked down at her and then crouched down to her level. She cupped her left hand over the side of her mouth and whispered something to him.
"Really?" Kakashi asked her. She nodded. As the group began to complain, Kakashi stood up and interrupted their delicious thoughts, "Uh, guys… there's a place not too far from here that has some food."
"Really!?" Choji piped up.
"Let's go!" Naruto threw his fist in the air. Rai was paying so much attention to Kakashi, she didn't even notice Iruka.
"So there's a place nearby huh?" Iruka asked her, his arms crossed and a soft smile on his face. She snapped her head to him and tensed. "Easy, I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." Iruka clarified softly to her. Rai was still tense, but not as tense when she was able to wedge Kakashi between Iruka and herself slightly. Kakashi knelt down to allow Rai to hop on his back, which she gladly did, and he stood up. Now that she was eye to eye with this man, he didn't look too scary. He closed his eyes and smiled at her. "You're a good girl, Rai." That shocked Rai, hearing it come from someone else's mouth rather than Kakashi's. Iruka turned and began to walk away. Kakashi turned and began to lead the group with little Rai on his back. Rai guided them safely down the treacherous cliffs and into the dying and decaying forest. Every once in a while, she would look over her shoulders at the group behind them and get uncomfortable and turn and clutch to Kakashi's neck or whisper something to him.
He would just calm her down with words of comfort, "Don't worry, I'm here now. I won't let anything happen to you." He'd smile at her. She'd smile back and they'd continue on their way. She guided them to a small area where the trees thickened and the ground became uneven. She told Kakashi to go right, but if he went any further right, he'd go into a cave? Kakashi raised an eyebrow and looked at Rai. She just nodded. He crouched down and let her off his back. She walked into the cave and he followed, along with everyone else. In the cave, hidden under a rock, was a stash of nonperishable items, more like food pills, water tablets, and several edible herbs and plants.
"There's not a lot, but there should be enough for everyone." Rai's meek voice stated to Kakashi as she began to pull out small vial after small vial of food pills and water tablets, and wrapped in dried up leaves were dried fruits and plants that could be eaten. The maximum food pills that should be eaten are 4, so everyone took 3. However, they could help themselves to the water tablets and dried fruit and plants. Though the plants weren't very appetizing, they were eaten anyways. It was food which could be turned into energy. Kakashi had already had his fill and put some of the left over pills and tablets in his pouch. The dried food was eaten up with delight. Rai sat next to Kakashi, munching on a small piece of dried apple when he placed his right hand on her head.
"You did a good thing, Rai." Kakashi praised. Rai swallowed her food, looked up at him, and closed her eyes and smiled. Kakashi smiled back.
"Thank you, Rai, for the food," Iruka's voice caused her to snap her head to the other side of the cave where the group was gathered. He smiled at her, as did some of the others and thanked her. Though Naruto did some complaining about the food not being ramen, it was very peaceful. They finished up everything and placed the leftover pills and tablets in their pouches before standing up and heading out. Rai stuck closely to Kakashi's side. She literally almost looked glued to his left leg; somehow, even with his long strides, she was still able to keep up with him. They began to find themselves climbing the mountains again and traveling along a winding path. Kakashi purposely fell back to the rear of the group, knowing Rai's habits. They were just about to descend to the forest floor and head for Konoha when everyone froze as a cold chill ran up their spines. They all looked out over the valley, scanning the dying tree tops. They noted that some black birds were stirred by this as well and took flight in every direction off in the distance.
"What was that?" Shizune asked. She looked from the valley to the group. Several turned to look at Rai. Rai's head shot up with the attention and she jerked her head back and forth before shaking her head at the group that stared her down. Kakashi glared slightly out over the valley. He was sure he knew what that was, but he didn't feel it anymore. There was nothing.
"Let's keep moving." He stated to the group, still looking out over the valley. Rai looked up at him. She knew he knew something. She looked out over the blackened valley. Something was going on out there that he didn't like. She immediately followed his leg as he took a step to follow the path. The group nodded and continued their trek down to the forest floor. Once all down at the forest floor, they began to realize that the dead forest wasn't so dead after all. The forest was actually alive, despite its decaying and charred appearance. Rodents, birds, snakes, insects, and reptiles of certain sizes rummaged among the dead around them. As they continued their long path to the village, several fell back in the group to where Rai was. Neji was the first to fall back near Kakashi before he stopped and glanced around, falling behind Kakashi and little Rai.
"Asuma," Kurenai stated in a hushed tone as she glanced off to her right.
"I know," He stated, most of the group went on high alert hearing the conversation. Suddenly, a harpy came flying out of the sky and tried to swipe Rai off the ground next to Kakashi, who had immediately moved her out of the way with a simple shift of his body to push her behind him as he turned, dodging the feathered attack. It came back again for another go however Asuma jumped in between the assailant and Kakashi. It suddenly stopped in midair, flapping its brown feathered winged arms.
"Haagh, so you found the little brat, eh?" The harpy breathed out. She smirked, flashing her sharp teeth. Dead twigs began to break all around the group as demons began to make their presence known.
"Purrfect," purred a golden panther demon as he appeared along with several others who growled at the group. A man like demon came out of the darkened shadows, it was a death spirit, it's a man like demon cloaked in a hooded black robe but wore an animal or human skull in front of its black skin on its face.
"We'll take her off your hands for you…" The death spirit stated as he held up his hand, palm facing the sky.
"I don't think so!" Naruto stated, getting into an even deeper fighting stance.
"She's not going anywhere." Shikamaru warned, getting ready for his special jutsu. Kakashi felt something quivering next to him. He glanced down, it was Rai, she was quivering. He just placed a hand on her head to try and calm her down. The group slowly gathered themselves around Rai, slowly shifting into place and watching for the slightest hint of attack. After an intense battle of stares and glares, a brave two headed snake swiveled a little before lunging at the group, causing them to split in half. It then curled to its right, trying to get to Rai. The even smaller group divided in half again as the snake lunged for them. Kakashi was able to jump out of the mess along with Rai, who clung closely to his chest. Kakashi landed and skidded backwards, still holding onto Rai. He can't fight and hold onto Rai at the same time, he had to put her down. Asuma, Sakura, and Ino found themselves backed up against Kakashi, who had placed Rai down behind him.
"Kakashi," Asuma stated over his right shoulder, "Rai is their main target. Got any ideas?" Kakashi stood there for a second in silence.
"Just one and I hope it works." Kakashi said before he glanced back to Rai. "Do you trust me?" He asked the little girl. The girl glanced up at him and he repeated the question. "Do you trust me, Rai?" She nodded. He turned to the demons in front of him. "Here's the plan, Asuma, Ino, and I will create a distraction. Sakura, you take Rai and run as fast as you can." He felt Rai's grip on his pant leg tighten again, he knew she hated to be separated from him, but she knew it had to be done. "Ready?" Kakashi muttered, "Go!" The three lunged at the demons and took their attentions away from Rai long enough for Sakura to scoop up Rai and take off away from the mayhem. However, their stunt didn't go unnoticed. A different harpy managed to see through their ploy and followed the kids. Barely 15 strides from the battle and Sakura had to jump out of the way of the aerial attack from the feathered fiend. Sakura leapt far and the harpy dove, screeching and baring its talons at the duo. Sakura shifted in midair to avoid the sharp claws. She had to dodge the harpy several more times, but not without consequences, several times her bicep, side, and leg got nicked by the sharp talons and began to bleed.
"Stop! Put me down! It's me they want! You're just going to get hurt even more!" Rai shouted at the pink haired kunoichi.
"Not a chance, Rai-sama." Sakura sternly stated. All of a sudden, another monster joined in the fray. It was the large two headed snake that had attacked them earlier. Not only the snake, but as Sakura peeked over her shoulder, there were more in pursuit of her and the little girl. Rai noted this and squirmed around to reach for Sakura's weapon pouch on her back. "Rai-sama what-?"
"Just keep running! Don't stop!" Rai stated. Rai began to rummage through the pack.
'Stop, don't stop, make up your mind!' Sakura thought to herself as she gave a slight glare to the girl. Rai was able to dig out some wire and paper bombs and kunai. Rai now managed to squirm so she was over Sakura's shoulder and threw several kunai down in their tracks before she made several hand signs and made the last one as the demons approached the kunai.
'Tiger' "Fireball jutsu!" Rai shouted as she blew flames from her mouth towards the demons. The demons skidded to a halt in their tracks and were engulfed by the fire and smoke as the bombs exploded. Sakura felt the immense heat on her back and the concussions from the bombs going off. She slowed down to a walk and turned to look at the devastation behind them. She was in awe of what this little girl could do. Her mouth dropped and Rai smiled happily as Sakura looked at her in amazement. Rai looked at Sakura at closed her eyes, smiling. Suddenly, Rai felt herself jerked up by the back of her shirt.
"Rai-sama!" Sakura shouted from the ground. Rai snapped her head up to look at what was hauling her away. It was a harpy.
"I got you now, you little brat." She hissed. Rai began to fidget but was not strong enough to break the grip of the harpy's talons. Rai got an idea, shoved her hand in her pocket and took out a knapped stone.
"Damn harpy!" Rai muttered as she wiggled and managed to stab the harpy in the leg with the sharp knapped stone. The harpy screeched in pain and dropped the child. Rai fell, she twisted herself to try and slow her decent. She managed to fall into a tree, grab a sturdy branch, but her momentum caused her to flip. She flipped and landed on a branch lower, however, she still had more momentum behind her than she originally thought. So, instead of staying on the branch, her body kept going forward and she fell several meters onto her back, onto the ground. Rai sat up; using her arms to support her and shook her head, shaking off the fall. She stood up and began to brush herself off and check for any damage, "Well, that was graceful." Rai felt herself being picked up by the collar of her shirt again. 'Not again,' she thought as she scowled to the person picking her up.
"Well, well… what an easy catch." It was a death spirit. Rai's eyes snapped open in shock and slight fear. She wasn't expecting him. She then glared at him and began to squirm around in his grasp. "Now, now, stop struggling." He stated. He raised his free right hand and it became engulfed in an eerie fire. "It will all be over soon." He brought his right hand closer to Rai. Rai's eyes widened in fear as it drew near her. All of a sudden, Kurenai's foot kicked up and snapped the death spirit's right hand up and away from Rai. "What?!" He snapped quickly before Gai's kick did the exact same thing to his left arm, causing him to unwillingly let go of the little girl.
"Gotcha," Gai stated as he caught the girl.
"Why you-!" The death spirit yelled and lunged for Gai. Gai had to think fast.
"Iruka!" He shouted out as he tossed Rai towards him. Iruka turned to see Rai coming at him and he instinctively caught her.
"Oof!" She collided with him.
"Hi there," He stated when Rai squirmed around in his arms to a comfortable position before turning to glare at the man that threw her.
"I'm not a damn ball!" Rai shouted at Gai, her fist raised in anger. A sweat drop appeared on Iruka's temple.
"Wow, what a mouth." He muttered to himself as he watched Rai shout at Gai. Iruka felt something and jumped back and to his right. It was a female panther demon and she swiped her massive claws at him. She swiped at him several more times, each time Iruka ducked and dodged out of the way. Finally, she made a swipe for his head and he did a back flip and took off into the woods. Iruka did everything in his power to run and keep the pursuers away from Rai.
Iruka had his back pressed up against a black tree, sweating and panting, his head turned to his right seeing if more demons would come. Rai looked up at him from where he held her protectively to his chest. Once the coast was clear he sighed and slid down the tree so he could sit and let his arms loosen around Rai so she could get out of his grasp. He laid his head back against the trunk and closed his eyes, still breathing hard and sweat dripping down his face.
'He's tired,' Rai thought as she sat there in front of him, waiting for him to catch his breath. "Why are you doing this?" She asked him once his breathing calmed down.
"Huh?" Iruka opened his eyes, leaned his head forward and looked at Rai.
"Why are you doing this, protecting me?" Rai restated to the slightly weary Chunin. "All this is going to do is get people killed and in the end he will get me, even if he has to kill every one of you." Rai told Iruka looking into his eyes before looking away. She couldn't stand to see them getting hurt anymore.
Iruka watched Rai's demeanor change at her statement before he sighed, "Well." Rai looked up at him again. "You're important to us, Rai." Iruka said as he leaned his head back against the tree, but he was still looking at her. "Even though you may not know it, you've changed all our lives." He let out another sigh, still trying to catch his breath. "You're special, Rai, even to me." He was going to speak again when he winced and held his right arm.
"Iruka!" Rai shouted in shock. Rai was able to see that he didn't leave the panther demon encounter scot free. The panther managed to sink one and a half claws into his right bicep; it was a good clean cut. 'He didn't notice because of his adrenaline,' was Rai's thought. She looked at her left side, she seemed to be okay, and however, she was spotted with his blood a little. Other than that she didn't feel hurt anywhere. Some bushes behind them began to move. Rai stood up, turned and glared at the foliage, preparing for a fight. Hinata came into view as she emerged from the shadows.
"They're over here!" Her weak voice called out to the group. She quickly went up to Rai.
"Iruka is hurt," Rai stated as Hinata knelt down next to her. Hinata looked to Iruka than back to Rai. Rai shook her head, "I'm fine, it's his blood. I'm not hurt." Rai stated. Hinata turned and examined Iruka's wounded arm. She applied some of her ointment on it as several people came to see them. Slowly all the group gathered in the general area around the three.
"Thanks, Hinata," Iruka said.
"You're welcome." Hinata replied with a small smile. She stood up once she was done bandaging his arm. Shizune had helped make sure that Rai was alright and cleaned some of the blood off her.
"Alright, I've had enough of this," Tsunade stated, slight anger hinting in her voice. "This little brat has caused us nothing but trouble from the moment we started going after her!" Rai glared at the blonde raging woman. "Who's up for getting rid of the little shit?" She stated bluntly crossing her arms. There was a slight pause. Shizune was too shocked to correct her.
"No," A voice of reason spoke up, it was Kakashi who walked towards Iruka and helped him up. "We're not going to leave her," Kakashi said sternly as he walked over to Rai. Shizune stood up as Kakashi approached them.
"What?" Tsunade snapped at him, gnashing her teeth and glaring.
"You heard me. I don't need to repeat myself." Kakashi's voice remained stern though inside he was ready to kill something, or someone.
"Why you," Tsunade muttered to herself, she fisted her sleeves before throwing her fists down to her sides. "How dare you! How dare you defy your Hokage! I give you and order and you-!"
"And I what!?" Kakashi was ready to snap, however he still had a ways to go, he just had to get his point across. He turned and glared at Tsunade. "You're not the Hokage anymore! The village doesn't exist! Konohagakure doesn't even exist in this world! There is no such thing as humans, love, or hope! Everything we once knew is gone!" Kakashi snapped at Tsunade. Rai was glaring at Tsunade before Kakashi went on his rant; however she wound up looking at him, her mouth slightly slack. She had forgotten how mad he could get; she hadn't seen him this worked up in a long time. And she had to be honest, this was mild compared to the other times she'd seen him mad. There was a dead silence that fell over the group. Slowly, reality began to set into several people, even Tsunade. Tsunade's face slowly fell into slight shock.
"He controls everything here," Rai stated, standing next to Kakashi. "He can do whatever he wants, he's everywhere. He most likely would have noticed us by now with all the ruckus we've caused." Rai's right hand gripped Kakashi's pant leg. "He has eyes everywhere." Rai muttered.
"That's why we need to keep moving," Kakashi's normal tone returned, there was no hint of his previous rant in his voice what so ever.
"But, where are we going to rest for the night?" Tenten asked, arms crossed and a slightly worried look on her face.
"There is a cave not too far from here," Rai stated. She began to walk, tugging on Kakashi's pant leg motioning him to follow her. Rai wasn't that far ahead of the group, only two or three strides worth. Suddenly a large white muscular dog lunged right in front of her, scaring her, causing her to fall backwards, and gasping in surprise.