A/N: My sincerest apologies for getting this out so late. I've been going through a lot these past few months, but hopefully things should slow down enough soon to where I can actually continue this story.
Chapter 7: Lulu
A young girl with white-blonde hair and ocean blue eyes watched as the blonde boy fell over, her face set into a small frown. She looked down at her right hand, the one she had used to help him up earlier, and proceeded to clench and unclench it in much the same way blonde had. Her eyes then turned back to the blonde child, glaring at him hatefully. Yesterday may have been the first day she had met the boy, but she knew who he was the second their hands had made contact. He might have all these innocent people fooled with his 'innocent child' act, but not me. He's a child of monsters, and needs to be put down. The girl thought, whipping a kunai out of her pocket.
She aligned her shot before throwing her kunai, watching with satisfaction as it flew towards the boy. Suddenly, there was a clang as the kunai was thrown off course by another. The girl's gasp was cut off as a gloved hand found its way over her mouth and a kunai was held to her throat. Sheik lifted his head up, blinking sleepily a couple times before yawning and passing back out again. The girl's eyes widened with terror, sweat beading her brow as her eyes darted back and forth, trying to catch sight of her attacker.
"I don't know who you are, but I don't really care for people who attack my friends. Now, I'm going to lower my hand and, when I do, you're going to tell me who you are, and why you're trying to kill Sheik," said the soft, deadly voice behind her.
The girl nodded, judging by the sound of the voice that it was a young boy around her age. The boy lowered his hand slowly, yet his kunai never wavered from her throat. Despite her predicament, the girl couldn't help but admire the boy's resilience and stealth, managing to catch her off-guard and protect his friend simultaneously.
"My name is Lulu Kaze. I'm not from around here, then again, neither is that monster. Although, I'm sure you already gathered that much, whoever you are," the girl said, keeping her voice as low as the boy's, her eyes never straying from Sheik.
The boy's grip on his kunai loosened slightly in surprise before he quickly retightened his grip, his voice when he spoke again was calm and soft, giving nothing away as he said, "What do you know about him? Why did you call him a monster? Why are you trying to kill him?"
"Tell me your name, and I'll tell you what you want to know," Lulu replied icily, rising ever-so-slightly in pitch.
Sheik grumbled and rolled over in his sleep, as he did so, Lulu noticed the boy behind her tensed slightly before relaxing when Sheik did not awaken. Lulu wondered briefly why he had tensed up, but the thought vanished when the kunai pressed tighter against her throat.
"Kakashi. Now, answer my questions," the replied coldly, lowering his voice even more.
"Your friend there is from the same country I am: Shikar. It's a land far to the east, on the opposite side of the world. Within that land are six different tribes, each representing a different element. I come from the Wind Tribe. Your friend, Sheik, comes from the Fire Tribe," Lulu said, a scowl forming on her face at the very mention of that tribe.
"How do you know that?" Kakashi asked, curious despite himself.
"Does he seem to change when he fights? Does he get more angry and vicious?" Lulu replied evasively.
"How did you…?" Kakashi began, letting his question hang off.
"It's a defense mechanism in his tribe. All tribes have two types of chakra: the regular chakra that everyone, including you, possess, and the chakra specific to their elemental tribe. Being of the Fire Tribe, he possesses a fire-natured chakra. Now, fire, in and of itself, is a thing of power, and destruction. It consumes things that make it stronger, and it is wild and uncontrollable. Now, this chakra is active at a very early age, and often causes its wielder to go insane, which is why a master sealer is brought in to seal the chakra up, only allowing it out in times of trouble or when the holder gets hurt. As the person ages, however, the seal weakens, and the chakra leaks out more, circulating alongside the normal chakra lines.
"As dangerous as the chakra is to the person, it also has its benefits. It learns from its surroundings, and takes on things to make it stronger, things that'll make it easier to protect its holder," Lulu paused, not knowing what else to say.
"You're talking as though it's a living thing. But, how can that be?" Kakashi pondered, the grip on his kunai slowly relaxing.
"Fire is a living thing, is it not? It needs oxygen to survive, it grows, it eats, are these not the signs of a living thing? " Lulu countered, noticing his loose hold on the kunai.
Kakashi retightened his grip before spinning the girl around and pressing her up against the tree to face him. Lulu raised an eyebrow at his strange appearance, the mask covering up half his face, the sideways silver hair, and the scarf wrapped around his neck. Kakashi arched a brow right back, daring her to say something, his eyes roving her own face as well.
After a moment, Kakashi slowly said, "When you said 'it learns from its surroundings', does that include Justus?"
Lulu frowned, pondering the question for a moment before she said, "I suppose it's possible. Then again, I've never had the pleasure of fighting someone from his Tribe. They tend to keep to themselves, when they're not causing trouble or invading other tribes. What I told you is pretty much the extent of what the other tribes know so far. There's not much else I can tell you other than this: the fire chakra is another part of Sheik, another personality or being existing within him. The seal is starting to weaken and, when it finally breaks, Sheik might not recognize friend from foe when his other personality takes over."
Kakashi's eyes widened and briefly flicked over to the boy laying in the center of the training ground. Sheik had rolled over onto his back once more, a small, peaceful smile on his face as his chest gently rose and fell. Kakashi lowered his kunai knife and stepped away, not taking his eyes off of Sheik as he did so. Lulu stepped away from the tree cautiously, turning and looking the same direction Kakashi was. Her eyes softened at the scene before her, and she felt a pang of sympathy within her heart as she thought about how short the boy's life was about to become. She was about to step toward him when a small hand found itself on her shoulders. She looked back, her heart tearing to shreds at the sad, desperate look in the boy's eyes.
"How does he come back? Whenever he's fighting, and that other personality takes over, how does he go back to being Sheik?" Kakashi asked, his obsidian eyes roving over her face.
Lulu gave a half-hearted shrug before responding, "I'm not sure. Maybe the Sheik side of him manages to overpower his inner Fire? Maybe the seal comes back into effect? That's something you'll have to ask Sheik, when he wakes up."
"When he wakes up? You mean—?" Kakashi began.
"I'm giving you a chance to save him, Kakashi. Maybe you're the reason he goes back to being Sheik? Either way, good luck, Kakashi," Lulu said before giving a coy smile as leaves and wind began to swirl around her.
Kakashi raised his arm up to cover his eyes, and when he lowered it, the girl had disappeared. Kakashi sighed, a hand running through his hair as he thought about what he was going to do about Sheik. Should he tell him? No, he couldn't do that. Not yet at least. If the fire chakra within him truly was a sentient being, then who knows what it'll do once it learns that others knew of its existence. He had to tell Minato, that much was certain. He was a seal master, maybe he could figure out a way to keep the chakra sealed permanently.
Kakashi shook his head tiredly; this was way too much for an almost four year old to deal with. He then turned his eyes to Sheik, who was sitting up, blinking his eyes and looking around. He soon spotted Kakashi, who gave a small wave and forced a smile on his face. Sheik leapt to his feet and ran over to him, skidding to a halt right in front of him, kicking up dirt, grass, and leaves as he did so.
"Hey, Kakashi! What're you doing out here? Are you here to spar?" Sheik asked, bouncing up and down excitedly.
Kakashi gave a small chuckle of amusement, Lulu's words about him not being able to recognize friend from foe in battle ringing in ears as he said, "Nah, not today. How about we get some food, my dad's treat?"
Sheik raised his hands up triumph before grabbing Kakashi's arm and dragging him to the Hatake residence.
Three days passed since Kakashi found out who Sheik was, though to him it felt like an eternity. He had been focused on keeping Sheik from fighting or getting hurt-which was difficult considering how hyperactive and stubborn that kid was. As though he realized something was up, Sheik continuously asked Kakashi to spar, forcing the boy to come up with some sort of excuse why they couldn't do so. From time to time, Kakashi would spot Lulu as they walked through the village, and Kakashi would run towards her, stopping suddenly in the streets when she suddenly disappeared. At these moments, Kakashi would turn back to Sheik who would be wearing an unreadable expression on his face-which was strange considering Sheik always made himself an open book when it came to emotions, except when he was doing something he shouldn't be doing.
Sheik, for his part, was growing increasingly irritated and also slightly concerned with his friend's behavior. As much as he enjoyed Kakashi's company, Sheik wanted to get back to learning the Rasengan-which he had yet to complete. He kept envisioning how it was supposed to look, yet for some reason he found it difficult to get it into a controlled, spherical form. His Rasengan liked to flail about wildly, whipping out in all directions before Sheik finally cut off his chakra flow. He wanted to practice on his own some more- alone just in case he might harm Kakashi.
Sheik finally got his chance when Kakashi was forced to visit some old lady friend of his dad's, whom Kakashi was so pleased to see. Sheik gleefully bounced-literally bounced- all the way to the training grounds, carrying a bunch of deflated balloons with him. He sat down, taking the balloons one by one and blowing them up, accruing a sizeable pile beside him. He picked up one of the balloons and held it away from his face, funneling chakra into it. Almost immediately, the balloon exploded, the chakra whipping wildly, scratching him on his left cheek. He quickly released the jutsu, his hand rubbing the side of his face painfully.
"That looked like it hurt," came the voice of young girl.
Sheik whipped his head about wildly, finally spotting a familiar girl his age sitting upon a tree branch. He narrowed his eyes, thinking about when he had seen her. A few seconds passed when it dawned on him: he was the girl who had run into him four days ago then yelled at him!
"Hmph. Nothing I can't handle," Sheik replied haughtily, his hand slowly lowering from his face.
The girl leapt from the tree, walking over to him slowly, Sheik watching her apprehensively all the while. The girl kneeled beside him, placing her hand on his cheek. A soft, white light shone briefly before she took her hand away, a small smile on her face. Sheik raised a hand to his cheek, surprised when he found it back to its normal smoothness. The girl sat back on her behind, tilting her head to the side as she looked at Sheik curiously. After a moment, she held out her hand for him to shake.
"I'm Lulu, Lulu Kaze," she said, staring into his sky blue eyes with her ocean blue ones.
Sheik stared at her hand suspiciously for a second before grinning and gripping her hand with his own, saying, "Sheik, Sheik Namikaze."
