Author's Notes: I'm sorry that this chapter took much longer to come out. However, I just finished finals. That should explain much.
I decided to change the genre of my fic to humor/drama for the time being. Horror and angst aside, I never meant to make this fic a particularly humorous one, but I seem to keep unconsciously putting it in, and it does come out pretty funny. Plus you guys seem to love it.
Also, there's going to be a lot of talk about chakra systems, which I'm not an expert on, but I can theorize. As I'm stepping on pretty new ground, if anyone notices that I described something completely wrong from cannon, please tell me.
I just noticed now that I'm really big on mood changes in my writing, abrupt or otherwise. I hope I don't offend someone out there with that.
Neji might seem a little OOC in this chapter, but he's really not.
A mild glimpse into Kisa's mind and origins will be seen towards the end.
Now the story continues, finally.
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"I see. Tell them to hurry." The Anbu in front of Tsunade bowed then left, leaving Tsunade at her desk as her brow furrowed in thought.
She just got word of this so-called lizard woman named Tanya. Team 8 returned to Konoha immediately, and Kakashi was bringing her to Konoha for questioning at this moment. As is normal procedure for such a case, Tanya would be treated well and fairly, but still be in a room under surveillance. That is, if she cooperates. The Anbu implied that she might not.
And right now, Tsunade was asking herself the same question Kakashi did. Did this woman have anything to do with Kisa?
On the subject of Kisa, Tsunade hasn't been keeping too close an eye on her since she left the hospital a couple days ago. She trusted Sakura to take good care of the girl, and as expected Sakura sent back thorough reports on Kisa and her mental state. So Tsunade hasn't been able to meet with Kisa again personally yet.
What she has been doing, however, was discuss her situation, in council, with other medic-nins, a few elite jounin, and Neji and Hinata, those who helped handle Kisa and those who hadn't but who's professional opinion still mattered.
Summing up their total knowledge of Kisa, from first contact, to the hospital stay, to her interactions with people, and her being free to move, one thing was clear to them. Kisa wasn't just simply strange, socially inept, or culturally different. Kisa was mentally unbalanced on an unprecedented scale, which made her quite possibly clinically insane. Not necessarily dangerous, but wholly unpredictable. All this was clear to them.
What was not clear to them was what exactly they were going to do about it.
Another medic-nin started by pointing out the obvious. Treating Kisa mentally might be difficult for them since no one in Konoha truly specialized in mental treatment. Psychology was a more common field among their elites, not their medics, but no one who studied it was in any way qualified to treat a mental patient. Incidentally, the only master of field they had was Ibiki, and everyone agreed, Ibiki included, that he wasn't suited to treating a girl.
In fact, there were very few mental doctors in the world, none of which lived in Fire country. But they were hardly anyone of renown or fame. The simple reason for this was explained by a jounin. Everyone who was considered insane tended to be highly dangerous criminals who were either in hiding, locked away in prisons, or dead. In other words, they were out of sight where no one thought of them. Milder cases simply remained at home or had a semi-permanent room in the local hospital. And among shinobi, those who had some mental imbalance were expected to simply deal with it or die in the field.
To these words, everyone simply had to think of Kisa. She was not a milder case who could simply stay at home with a housemaid. Despite her gentle personality, she did kill other shinobi in a frightening fashion, which gave credit to her instability. But neither was she a highly dangerous criminal. At least, as far as they knew. They couldn't simply lock her away or kill her. The Hokage was against that and no one argued. However, neither would she agree to simply making her leave, not after promising aid and sanctuary.
Tsunade had shared with the rest of them earlier that she was told by Kisa that there were shinobi out there who wanted to capture her, and that she killed only in self-defense. This was a credible explanation, due to her apparent blood-limit, though no one could guess exactly what it was, not even Neji or Hinata. They came to the scene after she was done, after all.
Another jounin then stated that they might be completely overeating. True, Kisa had some major quirks, unknown shinobi skills and an unknown blood-limit, but none of that meant that she was insane or dangerous to have. In fact, she might just be faking it to fool them. This was met with thoughtful silence, until Neji replied.
"Though it'd be easy for a trained shinobi to feign mental illness and act out a different personality, no one can fake the swirling green chaos I saw in her eyes." Hinata looked at her cousin in surprise. She didn't know why. It just didn't sound like something Neji would say. Then again, no one other than Hinata saw that Neji was quite shaken by his first impression with the green-eyed girl. This was met with silence also.
"You know…" everyone turned to one of the medics. "Since she's so polite and open, we could possibly just ask her what her blood-limit is, and she might tell us."
"…That's rather rude, though, isn't it? Blood-limits that no one knows are like that for a reason."
Tsunade was contemplative, then turned to the Hyuuga medic-nins and Neji and Hinata. "What can you tell me about her chakra?"
None of them quite knew how to put it, so Neji put it in as bluntly as he could. "Shinobi who've gone through my 128 strikes have more orderly and natural chakra systems than she does."
"Truly bizarre."
"Just… wrong."
The other Hyuuga medics were putting in their two cents. Tsunade turned to the silent Hinata, who spent the most time and effort in observing Kisa's chakra system while treating her. "What about you, Hinata?" She jumped a little at the question.
"Ano… I've never seen anything like it."
"Compare it with a normal chakra system."
"Well… a normal chakra system is vivid and static. It flows regularly and in even currents like blood, and tenketsu let it flow out of the body. Overall, it's stable."
"And Kisa's?"
"Kisa's is very unstable… and it makes me worried about her… overall health."
"Describe it."
"Well… her chakra pathways… shift."
Tsunade had to raise an eyebrow. "Shift?"
"There's not other way to describe it best. Her chakra pathways flow in normal directions, but they don't stay in place. It's also uneven in many parts of her body, but it's randomized where."
Tsunade felt genuinely worried and concerned. That didn't sound healthy at all. Chakra pathways were not supposed to do that. "How are her tenketsu?"
Neji resisted the urge to sarcastically retort 'what tenketsu.' It would be a strange statement with dark implications that Neji found true for all intents and purposes.
Hinata seemed to shiver. "Ano… it took me a while, but I found them to be even more unstable. Not only do they not stay in place, but also they can't seem to keep a regular, stable flow. Some let out more than normal, and others let out much less. And… and some seem permanently blocked, while some that should be there just aren't there! She even has points where no other human being does! And… and…" Hinata stopped, lost for words. The reason was very obvious to everyone present. Simply looking at Kisa's chakra system scared the hell out of the Hyuuga heir.
A medic-nin spoke. "A theory I have regarding Kisa's chakra system is that Kisa may have incredible difficulty using her chakra for precise applications, which would lead to regularly wasting chakra whenever using it, like for a jutsu. Completely detrimental in most shinobi, but Kisa has a surprisingly large enough store of chakra that it seems to compensate for it. However, we don't know how her chakra flow would look while she uses a technique. This is all theory, after all."
Tsunade was feeling scared herself. Specifically, scared for Kisa. She went over what she personally knew about chakra in her mind, as she herself was a very accomplished medic-nin. She could think of only two cases that were remotely similar to Kisa's. Kisa's malleable and unstable chakra pathways was something akin to a baby's chakra system, one that was just developing and getting used to a body. Kisa was not a baby, but having this kind of chakra could be a good thing. The unevenness of flow and abnormal tenketsu points was similar to what senile old men and women would develop shortly before they die. Kisa was nowhere near old age or death, and having this kind of chakra could be a bad thing.
But how can Kisa have tenketsu that no one else does and be missing points that others do? There were shinobi who could condition their chakra to do that, but that took many, many years. Then again, that could simply be overruled if Kisa had the chakra level of, say, a demon. Then again, though not shinobi, many animals had unique tenketsu, so Kisa could simply not be human.
Tsunade forced herself to turn away from those thoughts.
"Something else," Everyone turned to Neji. "Kisa's chakra system and mental state seem directly tied to each other."
Everyone was surprised, and moved in closer to hear him better. "Whatever do you mean? How are they tied together?" A jounin asked.
"I'm saying that when Kisa's mind is more stable, so is her chakra system. When her mind is more unstable, her chakra system becomes so."
"How are you able to tell this?"
Neji gave a slight glare. "Because that's how she looks. I can see her chakra, and I'm an expert at reading people."
Everyone was in thought again. "So there's some relationship between Kisa's abnormal chakra pathways and her mental instability?"
Neji shrugged. "I only know what I see."
While everyone else went into further talk on Kisa and all her abnormalities, Hinata approached Tsunade. Tsunade said, "I want you to come with me when I go meet Tanya, alright?"
Hinata nodded. "Ano… Kisa will be okay, right?"
Tsunade smiled. "I know some of this discussion bothers you, Hinata."
"It's like they're talking about Kisa as if she's some kind of experiment."
Tsunade agreed. She didn't like it any more than Hinata did. "Well, Kisa is very perplexing to all of us, and they're trying to figure her out the best they can." Tsunade turned full-body to Hinata. "However, I think the most important point has already been agreed upon, and that is that whether we decide to treat her or not, Kisa will be kept safe here."
Hinata was happy to hear that. "Ano… How is Kisa doing right now?"
"From what I hear, she's doing very well in Konoha."
"But is she safe?"
Tsunade frowned a little. "I know full well that Konoha isn't the safest place in the world, as much as we would like to think so." Tsunade then leaned back, pleased. "However, I have full confidence that at this moment, Kisa is in very capable and responsible hands."
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"Kay, Kisa-chan, now you slurp the ramen like this!" Loud slurp.
"Like this?" Equally loud slurp.
"Mhm," though it was hard for Naruto to speak with a mouth full of noodles. He was very pleased with himself. He made a new friend, and he was having ramen. It was a great feeling.
"There you are, Kisa- WHAT!"
Naruto and Kisa, seated at Ichiraku Ramen, turned their heads towards a horrified Sakura and Ino, chopsticks in hand and noodles hanging from their mouths.
"NARUTO-BAKA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO KISA?"
"DO SOMETHING, FOREHEAD-GIRL, YOUR TEAMMATE IS CORRUPTING HER!"
Kisa blinked while Naruto began to sweat nervously, hand behind his head. Sakura had that look again, that look that said she was going to pound something, usually Naruto. Contemplating and all oblivious-like, Kisa swallowed the noodles in her mouth and turned to Naruto. "By their implications, is there some taint in my food that you have not informed me off, Naruto-san?"
Naruto-san? Sakura and Ino mentally shrieked.
"No, no, of course not, Kisa-chan," Naruto replied happily, forgetting about the killer intent being directed his way. He then became more serious and reprimanding. "Ne ne, and what did I say about saying such hard sentences?"
Kisa blinked. Hard sentences…? "Is there something wrong with the way I speak, Naruto-san?"
No, NO! Sakura and Ino wanted to stop Naruto from melting Kisa's brain. They really did. But they still stared in horror, and began stewing in evil thoughts.
"Yeah! You don't have to speak like that all the time. It's like listening to someone reading off the dictionary. It gives me a headache."
Kisa was shocked. She was never aware that her words caused physical pain. "Oh, please forgive me, Naruto-san, for the… I'll…" Kisa stopped, realizing her mistake, then thought hard. "I mean… very sorry?" Kisa scratched her head.
Naruto grinned. "That's more like it, Kisa-chan, much easier!" Kisa smiled back, pleased that she was able to use simpler words.
Ohh…. Naruto, you are going to die a slow and painful death, thought Sakura and Ino.
"What were you doing here in the first place, Kisa?" said Sakura with a forced smile and in a strained voice.
"Oh, um…" Kisa looked a little ashamed. "I don't know. I just wandered… and I got lost. Then Naruto-san found me." Kisa brightened up then. "Then I met Naruto-san and he offered that I come with him to this wonderful eating establishment called Ichiraku Ramen! I have never had ramen in my life before, and despite the fact that I can practically taste the ungodly high sodium content, it's the best food I've ever had!" Kisa looked so happy.
Ino twitched. "So it's a kidnapping, is it?"
Naruto waved his arms. "Hey, it wasn't a kidnapping at all!"
"Excuse me, Naruto-san, but where's the nearest washroom?"
"Huh?" That was abrupt. "Oh, just down the street to the left."
"Thank you, Naruto-san." And without another word, Kisa up and left down the street.
"Wow, she must have really needed to go…" Then Sakura turned to Naruto. Naruto thought that now she was going to kill him, but as it turns out, Sakura wasn't going to. She wasn't even that angry anymore. "So what were you doing with Kisa, really?"
Naruto blinked, then shrugged. "I met Kisa-chan on my way to eat ramen. Is she new here, Sakura-chan? Do you know her?"
Ino got annoyed. "Are you that oblivious? Kisa is the girl that Neji and Hinata brought in the other day." Ino huffed. "The new girl that everyone around here likes to say bad things about."
Naruto was genuinely surprised. "Nani? That was Kisa-chan?" Suddenly, Naruto looked somber and serious. "That explains it then…"
Sakura and Ino shot him serious looks. "What? Did something happen with Kisa?"
"It's like I said, Sakura-chan, I was on my way to get ramen when I saw Kisa-chan all by herself. She was wandering around like she was half-asleep or something. And I swear her eyes were a little glowy, too, but I was probably just seeing things. But that's not what was important." Naruto suddenly seemed angry. "The people around her were whispering bad stuff about her, and Kisa-chan didn't seem to notice. I'm very sure one of them called her a monster. And that just… that really pissed me off!"
"I couldn't leave her alone like that, so I tried to make friends with her. Once she knew I was talking to her, she snapped out of it and acted more normal, butshe must have beenlost or something. I asked if she likes ramen, one thing led to another, and then you found us."
Sakura and Ino had listened silently and now remained quiet in their own thoughts. It was true then. Most of the citizens heard about Kisa, and they didn't like the idea of her being here. "That was very good of you to do, Naruto. I'm sorry I yelled," Sakura quietly said.
Naruto grinned and held his hands behind his head, happy with the compliment from Sakura. "Aww, thanks, Sakura-chan. You don't have to be sorry."
Ino smiled and shrugged a bit. "I guess you have some sense, after all. There's hope for you yet, Naruto."
"Ne, what do you mean by that?" Naruto asked suspiciously.
Ino sneered a bit. "What I mean is, that you're a weenie."
"Nani?"
"Hey, Ino, I'm going to go check on Kisa, kay?"
"Huh?" Ino and Naruto turned to Sakura, who looked worried. "What's the matter? She only went to the bathroom."
"That's the thing. I have a suspicion that Kisa didn't go to the bathroom at all."
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Which, turns out, was true. Kisa didn't, in fact, go to the bathroom. She was, in fact, wandering as far from every living thing in Konoha as she could, her mind in utter turmoil.
Kisa did her best to hide it when she was around people. She tried very hard. But today, her mind wasn't agreeing with her. How can it, when all Kisa does is rebel against her clan's nature.
She stumbled by a tree and leaned heavily against it, and the tree gently coddled her in sympathy.
She wanted to scream Stop, but there was no one to yell it to, no one who would listen. All her clan was dead.
Her eyes glowed their baleful green. The shadows moved. They had voices. Requesting, pleading, and demanding that she stop holding back already. It's hurting her. It can kill her. But she couldn't, she wouldn't. She loved her new friends and her new home. They must never know the Nakada.
Kisa, clutching her pained temples, glared up at the bleeding sky, at the sadistic sun that wouldn't stop laughing at her expense. Silly Nakada, stop pretending, it chuckled with mirth. Stop pretending to be normal. But Kisa wanted it so badly. She refused to cry in front of the sun, so the tree by which she rested cried for her, and it asked the sun to show a little love. But the sun was not in a caring mood today. He never shows love for her kind.
Relief. She needed release and relief. She needed it now.
As if on request, a flock of crows flew near and rested underneath another tree, picking at the ground for bits and scraps.
Kisa turned to the crows. Happy, glutinous, and apathetic to her pain. She begged them to forgive her, but they couldn't care less. Kisa formed two seals, Bull, Dragon, and stretched her mind.
The crows screamed in outrage and confusion, and turned on each other in murderous bloodlust. Few minutes later, they screamed no more.
Another blight on her soul, but she didn't care.
The tree fell silent and touched her no more, and while the shadows still moved, they no longer whispered to her. The sky had no more wounds, but the sun still laughed at her.
Kisa was a nice person, but god, she hated the sun sometimes.
No longer feeling so much pressure in her mind, Kisa got up and continued walking. She felt bad for leaving Naruto, Sakura, and Ino without warning or notice, but hopefully they would forgive her for being so rude. For now, she just wanted to be away from people. Right now, she just wanted to take a nap.
Soon, she came to a clearing with targets and posts. This must be a training area, she thought. It's awfully far away from most of Konoha, she thought. She asked a post who it belonged to, but all it would show Kisa was an image. A red and white fan.
What is that suppose to mean, she asked, but the post wouldn't talk to her anymore.
Ah well, it didn't matter. She curled up right next to the post and fell right to sleep, ignoring the constant murmurings around her and praying that this time she would not have to dream.
But it's dangerous for a Nakada to pray. They never know what might answer.
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