Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Yamiko, and Kyuusaisha (A character introduced formally in this chapter)

AN/ Well, I hope you like this chapter people! It was fun, and I've gotten over my writers block!

Yuuki Toshi: Yup. The inner voice rocks.
Naash: I know. It's kawii XD


Yamiko slowly opened her eyes and looked up, to find that she was lying on the ground. She sat up slowly, and finding that she was not dizzy, she got to her feet. Gazing about herself she took in her surroundings.

She was in a small clearing, filled with lush soft grass. There were yellow and orange poppies dotted throughout. The meadow was completely surrounded by tall pine, and oak trees, with some slender pale birch intermingled. She was standing next to a fire; only now dying to coals, and there were five packs on the other side. She recognized one as her own, and the others as her teammates'.

She tilted her head to the side, and heard the gentle sound of running water. There was a stream nearby. She was able to locate the sound as coming from her right, and by turning her head to locate the sun; she guessed that the stream would be about Northeast.

She once again looked down at the packs, and suddenly wondered where her team was. Especially Kakashi. She felt her cheeks heat up and knew she was blushing.

Closing her eyes she felt Chakra off to the right. They were at the river, and heading towards her.

Since her team was coming to her, she sat on the ground and waited. Since when have a seen them as my team? She thought suddenly, and the idea did not startle her, as it once would have.

Because darling, they ARE your team…Her inner voice said with a chuckle.

"Oh, just shut up…" She muttered affectionately to her other self, a smirk on her face. She placed her bag behind her and reclined partially on it while she waited.

You know you love me. Her inner voice said with a chuckle as she obeyed her wishes and receded back into the depths of her mind. Smirking slightly once again to herself she brought her left hand up and pulled her finger-less glove and the underlying hand-warmer off –placing them gently on the ground by her pack- before she brought her hand close to her face and scrutinized her palm closely.

"The scar is still there…" She said softly to herself, examining the scar she had received so many years ago. It was a thin, hardly noticeable, straight white line that cut from the base of her thumb, all the way up to the base of her pinky. The scar was dissected once in the exact center of her palm -and the middle of the line- by a back-to-back crescent shape, the points of one aiming towards her thumb and pointer finger, and the points of the second aiming to middle and pinky finger. The thickest part of each crescent was a cm wide.

She remembered getting this scar, and oddly enough it was a happy memory. She was jolted out of her start down memory lane when she heard sounds coming from the forest, and already know who the sounds belonged to she sat up.

"Ah, I see you are feeling better Yamiko-chan!" Came a bubbly voice to her left. Turning her head Yamiko smiled softly at the cotton-candied haired Chunin as she came running into the clearing. Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi trailed behind her. Yamiko was startled –to say the least- when Sakura suddenly knelt down next to her and felt her forehead.

"Uh…I do not have a fever if that is what you are worried about Sakura-chan…" She muttered, embarrassed. Sakura looked at her for a moment, her expression flustered before she smiled sheepishly.

"I apologize." She said softly, a soft smile on her face. Yamiko smiled cautiously back -surprising her team- before she got slowly to her feet.

"So…what happened?" She asked slowly, refusing to look at the man in front of her and instead gazing at Naruto and Sasuke.

"Well, um, you ran off and Kakashi-sensei went after you and, uh, he came back…and you were unconscious, and he wouldn't tell us what was wrong but we made camp, and we were just getting water and came back and you got up and asked us what happened and-" Naruto said, very quickly. Yamiko was able to catch what he was saying, but when he started rambling and was about to repeat the whole thing over, she was very thankful indeed to see Sakura hit him upside the head. Sending him flying into a nearby tree.

"Thank you." She said with a smirk. She saw Sakura turn to her, a rather startled expression on her face. "Is he always like that?" She continued. At that Sakura's face turned exasperated and she sighed.

"Yeah. For the most part. Idiot." Sakura answered her, her hand clutching her forehead in disgust. Yamiko snickered slightly before noticing she had left her hand uncovered. Really not in the mood for more prying questions, ones she wished not to answer, she fervently hoped no one had noticed her palm. Surreptitiously she closed her hand into a fist and bent to pick her glove and hand warmer back up with her right hand. But alas, she noticed Kakashi out of the corner of her eye, and somehow knew that he had seen something. And unfortunately, Sakura had seen something as well.

"Hey…Yamiko-chan? Is your hand ok?" Sakura asked softly, kneeling and taking her left hand, forcibly into her hands. Yamiko was rather shocked at her force, but kept her hand in a fist as she jerked her hand away, almost violently.

"Yes. My hand is fine. Thank you." She said shortly, turning away from her team and quickly pulling the hand warmer and glove back onto place.

"What were you looking at?" Naruto piped up curiously, appearing in front of her so suddenly that it sent her tumbling backwards several paces in shock.

"Baka." She heard a low voice mutter. She knew it was Sasuke.

"Heh, sorry." Naruto apologized sheepishly.

"Yamiko…" Kakashi spoke up gently, coming around front of her. His voice sent very pleasant tingles down her spine, but she tried not to dwell on them.

Hah! You know you like him girl! Go for it! She heard in her mind, her inner-self cheering wildly. Trying not to show her shock, embarrassment and exasperation openly, she snarled at the voice inwardly.

I'm going to have enough trouble with this as it is! PLEASE do not bring my emotions into it!

Sheesh, I'm just trying to help, no need to be snippy. Was her reply. Sighing Yamiko just decided to ignore her.

"Ah…yes?" She asked softly, hoping she had not been quarreling with her self for overlong.

"I saw your hand, there was something on it, what is it?" He asked her gently, his one visible eye drawn in what her inner-self told her was worry.

"Nothing." She said shortly, turning on her heel and finding herself face to face with Sakura. Glancing to her left she saw Naruto, and Sasuke was to her right, leaving her back covered by Kakashi. She knew, knew very well that they meant no harm, but being hemmed up in such a way brought back terrible memories…terrible, awful memories, worse then when she had been blinded…

Screeching in incoherent fear as she tried to suppress the memories by sheer force of will alone. She vaguely recognized their faces and even less vaguely noticed expressions of worry and fear on their faces before she blacked out.


But her body did not fall to the ground. No, Kyuusaisha refused to allow it this time. It made an ideal time to communicate with her darling's teammates. Gaining control of Yamiko's body, she was able to look though her eyes. She saw that the four people around her looked very shocked indeed, for she was limp, but floating upright a few inches of the ground, and she had a barely perceivable glow around her.

Lifting her head up she brought the body to the ground and stood upright. The girl, Sakura looked utterly horrified, as did Naruto and they had both ran backwards several paces in fright when she had looked upon them. Suddenly she remembered why, her eyes, when she had control of Yamiko's body, were pure gold, know pupil, no iris, no white. From lid to lid her eyes glowed golden.

Shifting her gaze to Sasuke she saw him start but he did not run, and when she looked at Kakashi he looked angry. Enraged actually. Good. It meant he did care deeply for her Miko.

She lifted her chin up and looked Kakashi squarely in the eye, and she saw all three of the child crowd around behind him, looking at her, their faces mingled with horror, disbelief, and anger.

" Who are you?" Kakashi said in a deathly calm voice, his eyes narrowed in anger. She felt Yamiko's conscious stir in the depths of their shared mind, and put the locks in place which would allow her to keep control of their body once Yamiko came to. She had never done this before, she knew she could as did Yamiko, but she had always allowed Yamiko control, except for some times when Yamiko had been unconscious and She had taken care of the body. But she had always happily relinquished to the girl. Until know. She needed to speak with this man, and the children.

Kyuu? Yamiko asked softly, her voice muddled with half consciousness.

It's all right love. I just chose this as an opportune moment to speak to your team. Care to watch? She answered back, her voice cheeky. She feltthe girl's shy assent, and then felt the girl brighten in glee. Sending a feeling of un-worded love towards the girl, Kyuusaisha returned her focus outwards, and realized that Kakashi had been repeating his question and now looked furious.

Oops…she thought sheepishly.

" Get out of Yamiko now demon?" He yelled at her, his hand holding a very sharp kunai. The children also had several sharp weapons in their hands. She could not help laughing at the absurdity of it all. And her laugh of course also shocked them, because it sounded nothing like that of a demon's.

" I must say, you humans are indeed lack-witted." She said, her words cruel but her tone kind. They all looked insulted, especially the blonde Naruto.

" Hey!" He started indignantly, but she cut him off with the wave of her hand.

" First of all, what makes you all assume I am a demon? Secondly," She continued before they could answer, "If I truly was a demon, or of demonic descent, those puny weapons would hardly affect me, and even though I am hardly a demon, they still won't do me harm." She enjoyed the sheepish and embarrassed expressions on their faces, but Kakashi looked unconvinced. She spoke up again to complete her statement before he could comment. "And thirdly, even if those weapons could do me harm, they would kill Yamiko as well." She finished, stepping backwards lightly several feet. They all had identical expressions of horror on their faces, but no one put away their weapons. Sighing, she decided the fun was over, especially with Yamiko 'poking' her in annoyance.

" Ok, in answer to your demand Kakashi, I'm quite afraid that I can not leave Yamiko's body." She said with a small smile. If he was shocked she knew his name he didn't show it, but he did show anger at her refusal to leave.

" And just why is that?" he asked coldly, the three behind him looking angry as well. She felt her eye actually twitch and knew that her patience was coming to an end.

"… It will not help matters to get angry at me Kakashi. And you should in fact be thanking me, considering how much you care for the girl, and how much I've helped her survive." She said testily. She was fed up with the mortals' tempers. Oh, Yamiko's was fine; she loved the girl dearly, but theirs…

She saw Kakashi's eye widen, and saw the three children stare at him incredulously for several moments before all four of them stared at her.

" Good. It looks as if your foolish children are ready to listen to me now." She said calmly. She gestured to the ground and to her relief, the all sat down with only a minimal pause. Sitting in front of them she calmly pulled the gloves from her left hand, but did not show it to the humans yet.

" Now. My name is Kyuusaisha." She said slowly. She saw them look at her strangely for her odd name, and decided to re-alliterate.

" Kyuu-sai-sha." She repeated slowly. "It means, Savior." She added. She saw that Naruto looked lost, and Sasuke was still fuming, but Sakura was looking at her curiously, and Kakashi's face was blank. Good. That just meant that they all were actually listening.

" I am, or was, Yamiko's guardian angel." She said softly, feeling a soft smile cross her face. She was quite amused by the dumbfounded expressions on the children's faces, but saw a light dawn in Kakashi's eye.

" What do you mean…was?" He asked slowly. She slowly opened her palm and held it out to where they could see. They all leaned in and gazed at the scar for several moments. Naruto looked just as confused as ever, and both Sakura and Sasuke seemed intrigued. Kakashi examined it for the longest before pulling back.

" What does that scar mean?" he asked, his brow creased in confusion.

" It is a ritual scaring that Yamiko's mother gave her when she was three and her father started beating her. Her mother knew, knew deep in her bones, in her soul, that Yamiko's life would be wrought with terror and pain, and that she herself would be unable to help. So she made this scar on Yamiko's hand, and called her guardian angel down, binding our souls together as one. Therefore, I am Yamiko, and she is me, but we are both separate at the same time. This is Yamiko's body, it always will be. I gain control when she is unconscious, but I usually never take that control unless she is in danger, or like I am doing now, because I really need to speak to you all. This is the only time I have done this, and I will only do it with Yamiko's assent.

She sat in silence for several moments, and watched as many emotions played over the humans' faces. Finally understanding dawned on all of their faces, including Naruto's.

" But how can it be with her assent if she's unconscious?" Sakura asked, her head tilted to one side. Kyuu felt her lips quirk into a smirk.

" Her mind woke up after a moment. And she is awake now, seeing though our eyes. She allowed me to have control. And she is now…" She started before Yamiko 'slapped' her, actually causing her to fall. "…Hitting me…dang Miko! That hurt!" She whined. She smirked when an 'audible' huff was heard, in Yamiko's voice. She was enjoying the humans' flabbergasted expressions before continuing.

" As it is, I am her guardian, her conscience, he strength, her sense of humor as she has none…"She started before wincing. Yamiko was tired of Kyuu making her sound stupid and had poked her again. "I am her sister of the soul, and her partner of the spirit. I am also what kept her alive though all her traumas, and I do try and repress to memories from her…but…they are to powerful…and this is somewhere even I can not help her." She ended bitterly, her hair falling into her face. She heard the humans' shift and looked up. They were looking at her now, not in fear, but with admiration. Smiling She got to her feet.

" Now, because Yamiko will not want to explain this, I'll do it for her." She started softly, and feeling her heart wince from the shared pain of both their spirits she gasped, her hand coming up to clutch their heart. She saw the others scramble to her feet but waved them off.

" I'm fine…we share a heart to you know, and this memory hurts the both of us…" She said softly, smiling when they nodded in understanding. "I'm stronger then my darling whom shares my mind, but even I can not stand to feel our heart wrenched in grief." She added, mostly to Yamiko.

Damnit Kyuu! Just tell them already! Yamiko sobbed into her mind. Sighing she acquiesced.

"When she was seven, her mother gone on a mission, she was out training. She suddenly found herself surrounded by several of her 'father's'," She started, her voice mingled with hatred, pain, and rage on the word father. "No father I tell you a monster…" She added, almost to herself. "A group of…his friends had her surrounded. I tried to warn her, tried to make her move, but she was locked up…and they…raped her. A seven year old child, a baby, my Miko…" She concluded. She heard Sakura gasp in terror and saw that Sasuke and Naruto looked ill. Kakashi on the other hand looked ill.

Are you ready to be in control again sweetling? She asked softly. And to her surprise Yamiko said no.

No. Explain to Kakashi that I am not afraid of him, or Naruto or Sasuke. I just…Yamiko said, struggling for words. Kyuusaisha cut her off.

I understand. She said inwardly before returning her attention outwards once again.

"Ok. Yamiko wants me to tell you, that she doesn't fear any of you. And especially you Kakashi." She said, ending with a smile at Kakashi. She saw him blush, and saw the other three stare at him in shock.

"I do think she is in love with you Kakashi, and I think that you are the perfect thing for her to mend her soul where I can not." She said softly, smiling at them all. "All of you. She needs friends, please, do not allow her to close herself off from you. I'll be doing what I can, I am the only…'person' she trusts unconditionally because she knows I love her. Let her know you love her as well, show her you care. Be her friends." When she saw them all nod their assent she smiled brightly.

"Thank you." She said softly before deciding to do something on a whim. "I will most likely never be speaking to you all like this ever again, so allow me to say goodbye." She said softly. At their slightly nervous nods she smiled. She went and kissed Kakashi on the cheek before moving on and kissing Sakura on the cheek, and then she kissed Naruto on the lips, and then Sasuke. Kakashi looked slightly startled when she had kissed him, and Sakura had looked pleased, but both Naruto and Sasuke were caught flat footed when she had kissed them on the lips. She herself was a little startled at her boldness, and she felt Yamiko laughing at her.

Also, when she had kissed them, she had felt a jolt of their mind's. Kakashi was obviously very deeply in love with Yamiko, whether he knew it or not. Sakura was actually not as deeply attached to Sasuke as she had earlier hinted. In fact, she only still acted as if she loved him because she had no one else to ply her affections on. But, there had been an underlying factor, a blur which hinted at Naruto.

Interesting…She logged that away for further investigation.

Naruto's mind had been straight forward, but Sasuke's had been a maelstrom of pain and hate, hate mostly directed towards his brother, but some directed at him-self. She had felt something pass between them when she had kissed him, but decided not to dwell on it.

Done with her good-byes she smiled. "I'll shall remember my time with you all, and hope you remember my words. I'll not be seeing you again I think, and if I do have something to say, which really isn't likely, it will be passed though Yamiko more often then not. So, farewell."" With her parting comments she bowed, and as she bowed took the locks out of place and reverted to her position at the back of their mind, allowing Yamiko free reign once more.


AN/ Well? Did you like it? I'm toying with the idea of giving Kyuusaisha her own body, and pairing her with Sasuke. I'm not sure though, so if you review, please give me your opinion.