Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

A/N: I finally put a jutsu in for you all, and a little bit of romance ;D I can't help it. I'm a softie.

Chapter 10: A Visitation of the Mind

Sora closed the front gate behind him and Yanagi. The Tsuchikage had turned up alright, but not only that, the entire council had as well. They were all currently squashed into the front room of the Mitsukai house. Many of them had grim faces, and Sora was sure that wasn't from being crammed in the room.

He heard a gentle sigh beside him. He glanced across to Yanagi. Her black, silky hair reflected the warm colours of a sun that was on the verge of crossing over to the other ends of the Earth. In the sunlight, Yanagi's eyes sparkled worriedly. Sora gently placed his hand into Yanagi's own slender hand. Unconsciously, the girl squeezed his hand.

"You okay...?" asked Sora in a concerned tone.

The girl looked back at him. Sora's dark orange eyes were full of care. She put on a brave smile that faltered. "I'm worried about Kita."

"How so?" questioned Sora, although he knew he had the same thoughts as her. He didn't need his psychic powers to know that

Yanagi's hand trembled in Sora's. She still hadn't noticed his grasp. "You saw the looks everyone gave her, Sora. If we didn't know her the way we do, we would probably have been giving her the same looks as well. It's hard to believe... that these people were once her friends. It's all that stupid cat's fault! When it showed up, everyone turned on her! And what's worse is; I used to be one of those people! I thought she was a monster, a traitor! I was her best friend too! And now..." Tears trickled down the black-haired girl's flushed cheeks.

"And now... that Kita's had her life turned upside-down even more, these people will only treat her worse," Sora finished for her, reading the raging thoughts in the girl's mind that refused to come out in her tearful state.

Yanagi nodded. Her thoughts were out, but her tears were not stopping. She felt warmth suddenly surround her as Sora pulled her into an embrace. He let her dry her tears against his jacket, then gently released her.

"Kita's been really strong through all this, but only because we've been there to support her. Even if the villagers sink to new lows, we gotta be there for her, and show her we're not like the others and that we care about her. That's she's one of our precious people. No matter what, we gotta be there for her..." Sora smiled. Just like how I'll always be there for you Yanagi-chan...

Yanagi nodded again, her tears almost gone. A smile returned to her lips. "You're right, thank you... Sora."

Sora grinned then ran ahead. He turned around briefly and waved wildly. "Come on then! We gotta get lots of fish for dinner!"

"But Kita hates fish!" yelled Yanagi, chasing after him.

"Exactly!" laughed the blue-haired boy.

Yanagi laughed as well. Suddenly, she noticed her hand was hot for some reason... Her heart gave a large thump as she realised Sora had been holding her hand that entire time.

You idiot Sora... you're just too nice sometimes, she thought and sighed. But my heart will always belong to Tansei-kun... I hope...

"Yanagiiii-chaaaan!" yelled Sora in the distance. "Come on!"

"Wait for me!" Yanagi waved and gave pursuit.

"I can't believe they ran out of bags!" Sora moaned, balancing a large stack of plastic containers in his arms.

"I'll get the gate then." said Yanagi, going to open the latch. The door swung open before she touched it and a swarm of councillors barraged past her and towards Sora.

"Ack!" yelped Sora, being pushed over by the stampede and sending the plastic containers flying. The lids flew off and a whole variety of different foods fell down towards Sora. Sora saw it and covered his eyes.

"Sora! The food... ah!" Yanagi watched in amazement as a blur of something leapt through the air and swept up all the falling food.

Ishi Benkeino, the Tsuchikage of the Stone, landed on the ground, all of the containers in his large hands. Sora opened his eyes and blinked. Not a single grain of rice had even touched him or fallen on the ground.

Yanagi ran over and bowed to the Yondaime Tsuchikage. "Thank you so much, Tsuchikage-sama! You saved our food!"

"That was awesome!" Sora grinned and stood up, bowing to him then brushing the dust off of his pants.

The man laughed heartily, his white robe billowing in the slight breeze. "You kids got to eat, so it's wrong to waste even a single grain of rice for those who will one day be taking over my job. And I doubt Hissori would have liked it if you had wasted his hard-earned money anyway." His laughter stopped and he grew serious. "You better go in and talk to Kita, you'll be happy to know that she's still a member of the team and she'll be treated like any other Stone shinobi."

"Ah, Tsuchikage-sama... I don't want to be rude, but..." Yanagi gulped. "How can we make people treat her like she's one of us? Wouldn't it be impossible to change what people think?"

"Unfortunately," replied the man, bending down to her's and Sora's heights. "There is no real way to change how someone thinks unless you show them that they are wrong. If Kita continues to be a ninja and helps the community... then you never know, but yes, you are right Yanagi. And it'll take a lot of work to change that. But you guys are smart and young. You can do it." He took Sora's and Yanagi's hands and held them up. "See these hands? With these, you can do anything. So keep working hard towards the future."

He stood up, ruffled their hair, then left.

Sora picked up the containers from the ground. "Let's go see Kita then."

"Right," nodded Yanagi.

Kita stared up at the bare skeletal arms of the sakura tree. Tiny buds were beginning to sprout on them. Spring was coming soon, but sooner than that was the night. The sun that shone today was nothing but a tiny lining of gold on the horizon. The new night air blew up a breeze and swirled around Kita's form, making her fur wave gently.

"Aren't you cold?" asked Sora as he and Yanagi approached.

Kita jumped a little, she had been too deep in thought to notice them. She smiled and shook her head. "I'm fine."

"Well I'm not!" complained Yanagi, rubbing her bare arms. "Let's get inside and eat."

"What did you get?" asked Kita, getting to her feet. She sighed as she smelt what was in the containers. "Fish... You guys are so cruel to me..."

Kita stumbled out of the house early the next morning into the front yard. It was still early; the sky was a sullen morning grey, tinged with red on the horizon. Kita sniffed the air; there would be rain later today. There was no time to watch the sunset though. Kita laid down and closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, the scene had changed. She was in a lush green field full of light purple flowers. However, the flowers had no scent, and Kita could neither feel the wind on her face nor the grass beneath her feet. It was only aesthetic, an illusion portraying the inner workings of her mind. Kita stood up on two feet. In the recesses of her mind she was a human.

She started to walk through the field. As she walked, she noticed changes. Dark black vines with sharp thorns snaked through the field, invading the beauty of the landscape. Each vine represented a piece of her personality that had been given to her by the Nekomata. She came to a stop in front of a small birdbath where a vine clung around it. She peered into the bowl at the top; there was blood in it. Every now and then, a bubble would rise to the surface, disrupting the blood and making it splash out of the bowl onto the vine that surrounded it. The vine seemed to grow larger every time it was splashed. Kita decided to walk on.

The grass beneath her became brown and lifeless as she continued. Soon it was completely dead and gone, leaving the earth bare and cracked. The flowers became twisted and black, much more murderous looking than before.

"Come to visit me at last, Nekomusume?"

Kita looked up into the face of the Nekomata. She nodded and looked down at its feet, which were heavily shackled to the ground, except for one which looked as though it had never been put on; probably as a result of the flawed sealing.

"I wanted to ask a question," Kita started. She looked up into Nibi's golden eyes. "These eyes of mine, they're different than what I remember."

"So you noticed that you no longer see the souls of the lost, nyan?" Nibi blinked lazily. "It is because I have allowed you to be able to turn the ability on and off, just as I am able to. But don't think that you can be happy thinking that you will never have to use it; because it is this ability that will allow you to become truly strong, so you will one day need to activate it. You understand, nyan?"

Kita nodded. "I suppose so..."

"But, for the moment, I would suggest you start re-learning how to use your new chakra. Don't come whining to me when you don't get it the first time however. Now go." The Nekomata waved a paw.

Kita nodded again and vanished. After she left, the Nekomata purred contently.

"Morning, Kitty!" cooed a voice in Kita's face.

Kita opened her eyes and blinked. Sora's grinning mouth was right before her eyes. Kita used a paw to push him away and got up. "Sora," she yawned, still dazed from her little 'walk'. "What are you doing here? And stop calling me that... it's irritating enough coming from Yanagi..." She glanced at the horizon; the sun was only just now peaking out.

Sora rubbed his chest from where Kita pushed him. "I slept over last night, but you were already asleep so I didn't tell you." He pointed over to the front room where a mattress had been set up. "Your dad said it was okay."

Kita looked Sora over. Her eyes came to rest on some bandages on his hand. A little blood had soaked through; forming what seemed to be the shape of a bite mark. "How'd you get that Sora?"

The blue haired boy hid his hand from view and scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, it's nothing, just one of my mum's random genjutsu attacks again... don't worry, I'm fine!" He smiled, though Kita knew it was fake.

She sighed, but decided to let it rest. Though, she thought, why did Sora stay over at our place then...? She felt worried about her team mate and his relationship with his mother. Poor Sora, all he wants to do is be friends with everyone, but because of wanting to be friends with me as well, his mother is horrible to him.

Sora subconsciously rubbed the injury on his arm and took a quick glance at his feline friend. Even without mind-reading, he was sure she was slowly working out what had happened last night after he'd gone home...

Last night, at the Kigaino home...

"Hey, I'm home!" yelled Sora, flinging the door open and jumping in.

Be quiet, Sora! whispered a voice in his head. Sora looked up to the top of the stairs and saw his older sister there. She had a worried expression on her face.

"What's wrong, nee-chan?" Sora whispered back to her, unable to communicate telepathically yet.

You shouldn't have come home tonight, she said.

"Huh? Why not?" asked Sora out loud, forgetting to whisper.

Sora! screeched a voice, both physically and mentally. The psychic voice was worse though, like nails on a blackboard.

Sora cringed and held his head. His sister fled from the stairs to her room.

His mother appeared... fresh from the kitchen and with a meat cleaver in her hand. "The next door neighbours have been talking about it all day! In fact, the whole town has been talking about it all day! They say the demon cat has possessed that wretched Mitsukai girl's body and is going to attack us at any minute! And they say that the Tsuchikage is allowing her to stay as a genin!"

"Wha? No!" replied Sora. He tried to stay brave in the face of his personal demon. "Kita's still herself, she's... just been turned into a cat, that's all. But it's still her on the inside."

"The inside? I don't care about that!" his mother screamed at him. "A cat? Can't you see how close that is to actually being the demon cat itself! The neighbours say she's as big as a mountain lion! She could take you out with one swipe of those disgusting claws of hers! I bet she's just as vicious as one too! A vicious, bloodthirsty animal!"

"Kita's not an animal!" retorted Sora. "She's my best friend; she saved mine and Yanagi's lives once!"

For a second, Sora's mother seemed dumbfounded by his comeback. She regained her senses as she thought about what he had said. "Tell me what happened," she ordered. "What do you mean by 'saved mine and Yanagi's lives once'?"

Sora opened his mouth, then stopped. He couldn't tell her about what happened. If she knew about the Nekomata showing itself...

After a minute's silence, Sora's mother slammed the meat cleaver into the wall, then stormed towards Sora. "I want to know what happened Sora!"

"I can't..." replied Sora, determined to stay quiet.

His mother's face twitched in rage. She had had enough. She performed a set of hand seals.

Sora's eyes widened. "Mum, what are you doing? You can't use that on me!"

"I have no choice if you won't tell me!" she yelled, finishing the seals. "Omoi kouhyou no jutsu!"

Sora felt like his head was cracking in half. He tried to stop his mother's mind from entering, but it was too late. Sora fell to the ground and felt his eyes become blurry as he started to relive the day Kita had saved them.

"Kita!" yelled Sora.

Yanagi opened her eyes and stared up in disbelief. "Kita...?"

Sora couldn't shut his eyes and look away, he was forced to see the sight again, that of Kita skewered on a sword with her life's blood running out of her... Her breath coming slower and slower... Her tears as she apologised... and finally her body slumping over in death.

"Kita!"

Hasaki shrugged and smiled. "That's the end of your friend Kita. I suppose I'd better dispose of the body for you. A funeral is in order- nothing fancy though." Hasaki swung his sword away.

"I won't let you see this!" Sora yelled. He could feel her presence, watching every detail. It was like a sick nightmare; seeing all this again. Everything was so real, just like that day. Even the smell of Kita's blood was there.

Sora tried to use his own psychic powers to break the jutsu off. But to no avail- his own psychic powers were no match for his mother's.

Kita started to breathe again. It was coming...

"No!" shouted Sora. Pain shot through his hand and up his arm.

The memory abruptly blurred and faded away. Sora's mother was shut off from it. Before she left, he could feel her boiling anger.

Sora opened his eyes, still groggy from the jutsu. He moved his hand and felt it burn with pain beside his face. He had bitten his hand so hard it had broken the skin. Blood oozed out onto the floor. He heard his mother come out of the jutsu as well. His eyes widened and he leapt to his feet, ignoring the pain in his hand.

"I'll be back later, bye!" Without giving a look back, he ran out the door and sprinted up the street.

I'll try and calm her down for you, bro, whispered his sister's kind voice as he left.

Ten minutes later, a tired and bleeding Sora arrived back at the Mitsukai house. Hissori nodded when he explained to him and let him inside.

"Would you like some breakfast?" asked Kita.

Sora snapped out of his reminiscing and looked at his friend-turned-cat. He put on a smile for her, glad to see that she was there and alive again. The image of her death flashed before his eyes. He shook his head clear of it. "Yeah, that'd be nice," he replied at last, following her back into the house.

A/N: Sora's mother... is scary...

About the Names:

No new names today

Jutsu Used:

Omoi kouhyou no jutsu (Mind Review no justu)(Special bloodline ability) (6 hand seals) A Kigaino bloodline ability that allows the user to read the opponents mind through past events.

This jutsu is actually quite dangerous to use. It can cause severe mental strain on the subject if the user does not know what they are searching for, as then the user will have to sift through memories, pulling them all out and putting them back at a rapid pace. In some cases where this has happened, the subject can go mad. The ability is often used to get information from prisoners however.

Till next time! -hugs-