I could only stare in shock as I looked at the young child that I was pinning down. I shook my head fiercely just to make sure that I wasn't hallucinating or something but the innocent face of a nine year old still remained in place. Somewhere in the distance I could feel my father was approaching, probably hearing the small take down from far off. Finally, I stood back up and placed my weapon back in its pouch were it would be safe from causing any harm. Looking back down the girls frighten expression had change from horror to complete and utter confusion. But as soon as I took on step towards her so I could help her up she was back on her feet and slashed a kunai at me. At that moment I had never been so thankful of my years of training because if I hadn't dodged out of the way in time I would have had a large cut across my face that would of probably ended up scarring knowing my luck. Again the child leapt for me but this time I was more prepared and stepping to the side so the weapon would go past me I grabbed the arm and twisted backwards into a rather painful position.
"Drop it kid! I don't want to hurt you more then I already am!" I commanded yet the small girl still continued to struggling against the uncanny position I had her in.
"Did I miss something?" My father's lazy toned voice echoed somewhere behind me. I could do nothing but roll my eyes at the silly question, sometimes I wondered if he was actually insane or if it was getting worse from old age. The child stilled when she heard the other voice add to the group and her eyes widen like she feared she was a robber who had just been convicted for his crimes and would have to face the noose.
"I found whoever was attempting to spy on us if that's what you're asking." I exclaimed and turned the child around to face him, expecting my father to be just as shocked as I was but instead he tilted his head to the side and looked at her as if he was remembering an old memory. I wanted to know desperately what was going on but instead I bit the inside of my cheek and kept my mouth shut.
"Aren't you a little far from your village?" Kakashi asked the young girl casually like he had done this a million times before (in fact he probably had) the girl just snapped at him like some wild animal that had just been caught and was fighting against the restraints she was not use to.
"I won't let anymore bandits steal from our village!" The small child hissed back at my father. It took a little while for the information to sink in but then I finally got it. She wasn't attacking me out of the blue; she thought we were robbers; though I found it a bit offensive that she still tried to attack me even though I hadn't caused any serious harm to her.
"We're not bandits we're leaf shinobi." Kakashi informed the child and pointed to the symbol carved into his headband to prove it. "We've been sent to help find a cure for the Midorimomo village." He informed her and at that instant I could feel all the tension in the girl's body suddenly disappeared.
"Really, you're here to help my village!" She cried out hopefully, more of a statement then a question, my father nodded in response. With the girl calm I thought it was about time I let her go and carefully placed her arm back in its normal position. Once the girl realised she was free she stepped away from me, rubbing the poor shoulder I had trapped behind her back just moments ago. It was clear the girl had taken a liking to my dad but not to me as she sent me evil glares. Well you started it! I wanted to yell back but knew was not the best time to act like a child did my best to reframe myself, though I could not hold back the dark glare. Little brat, I thought, usually I was very good with children but something about this girl just rubbed me in all the wrong places.
"Would you do us the honour of leading us back to your village?" My father asked, sensing the tension that was dangerously building up. Looking away from me the girl gave him a smile.
"Sure." She beamed and began walking. Both I and my dad gave a funny look at each other before shrugging and followed the girl through the woods.
It did not take us long to find the path back on to the main road which led to the village. The girl went on to explain how she had been on patrol looking for any bandits since their raids had increased lately and was really effecting their food supply, not to mention stealing some of the medicine the village doctors were trying to use to help the sick. Despite having a bad vibe about the girl I did feel sorry for her. Here was a nine year old girl out every day trying to find bandits to take out so she could protect her home. In a way her spirit was similar to the will of fire and probably would fit in well with our own village; if she wasn't so annoying of course. Finally after about ten minutes of listening to non-stop banter, we came to the village main gates. For such a small village I couldn't help wince at the sight of the amount of fortifications that had around the walls; obviously the situation must have been worse than expected if a small village like this was just as well fortified as a hidden village. As we approached the gates a tall man with blue hair that had flecks of white in it and a hard mouth approached us, holding out his katana in case we were enemies.
"State your name and purpose." He ordered, not bothering with any formalities. Dad stepped forward with a scroll and handed it over to the man.
"Kakashi Hatake and Nariko Haruno from the village hidden in the leaves responding to the urgent call you sent out." His tone emotionless but not cold as he address the guard and with one swift swipe, the head guard took the parchment from my father's hand and started reading through the continents. Earlier my father and I decided it was best that we let him handle the formal situations, since he had more experience with this type of stuff then I did. After reading through the documents, the man handed the paper back.
"You're late." The man said coldly, glaring at the copy nin but it was a waste of time since it just seemed to bounce off my dad as he shrugged in response.
"You see there was this black cat on the road..." My dad began and I couldn't help but slap my hand hard against my forehead. The man was impossible to take anywhere, I swear his accuses got worse and worse or he repeated old ones he used just a week before. Seriously, the man was a trained ANBU agent who was meant to know how to speak bullshit in tight situations! Couldn't he just use a bit of that to make at least some half decent ones; so much for being formal. However, I was not the only one who was not amused as the guard just stared at him with an angry burning look in his eyes.
"How is the situation at the moment?" I interrupted, trying to turn the guards' attention away from me and not on my dad because the expression on his face looked like he might kill my dad any second.
"It remains the same, the doctors from the other villages have made some process in making the patients comfortable but no one understands what it is or how the disease is spreading." He informed her. After finding out more about the situation we were allowed to enter the village and had to wait for someone to escort us. The site wasn't pretty. There were many funeral pyres from where the death had been stack up and burnt, since it was to unhygienic and time costing to bury them in graves. Small houses were all bordered up and the ones that weren't were closed shut, the only people that were outside were mostly children who had possibly lost their families and had nowhere else to go. My heart ached at the site, how something could like this happen, I wondered trying to keep back the tears as I tried to take in the situation. I had only been here for a few seconds and already I was falling apart. A small tug on my shorts dragged me out of my depression thoughts long enough to see a small child around the age of five with messy hair, a dirty face and large green eyes that had a desperate plead in them.
"Do you have any food to spare kind lady?" The child asked and held out his hands with his puppy eyes still staring at her. Instinctively my hands went into my rucksack and pulled out a loaf of bread I had brought a few towns over to make sandwiches with; now it would serve a high purpose.
"Here you go." I smiled sweetly as I placed the food into the hands. The toddler looked at the bread like it was a wonderful magic trick; obviously he had not been expecting so much. Suddenly the child disappeared over to a dark alley.
"I wouldn't do that again if I were you." A croaky old voice warned me and I turned to see an old woman with a hunched back, walking towards her with a cane to support her weight. "Keep feeding them food and they'll never leave you alone." The old hag explained as she hobbled towards me. I couldn't help but feel I was being approached by an ancient spirit with the deep heavy wrinkles that sunk from her face, the shocking white hair and dark eyes that squinted hard for sight.
"I thank you for your kind words but it doesn't bother me unlike some people, I will do what I can for them." I replied, shocked by my own confidence. Everyone that stood close looked a little taken back excepted from my dad who had a proud smile that was hidden by his mask that only an expert like me would know it was there. Finally, a young man approached us and bow deeply.
"Welcome shinobi of the leaf, I am Kanda, I will escorting you around." He smiled politely. Something about him reminded me about Aunty Hinata with the formal way he held himself but still a warming presence that made him opening. Directing further into town we followed him, it was at this moment that the girl from the woods decided to speak up for the first time.
"Are you crazy? You can't talk like that to Old Batty Brain!" She cried out when she was sure they were far away another to be out of hearing distance. Old Batty Brain? I repeated in my head, not sure whether I should laugh or scowl.
"Oki! Don't call her that it's rude." Kanda scowled at the young child (saving me the trouble of doing anything) they young girl just huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"It's not like I have to worry, I'm not the on that's going to be cursed." Oki muttered under her breath and I wasn't going to ask what she meant because I didn't want to know. As Kanda guided us through the small village we saw more decaying bodies just laying in the streets as people walked through just ignoring them as they tried to get on with their every days lives. My stomach did somersaults in my body as I felt the need to vomit all the time. Our guide tried his best to keep us happy and tried to point out important buildings that we needed to know but everywhere we looked there was something depressing along with it. Finally, we were led to the make shift hospital tents which had been set up because the hospital was very small and over following already. Anything seemed to completely normal at first as we walked along but the a sudden pain explored into my head as millions of voices tried to talk to me all at once. I screamed in agony.
