That night, I sleep peacefully despite knowing what awaits me the next day.

When I wake, it's early, but certainly not early enough that I can hope to be up before Kakashi. I'm dressed in his clothes again – the large shirt and boxer shorts – which I changed into after my late shower last night, and I roll up the sleeves as I exit the room.

It looks like I'm up a bit earlier than I had been yesterday. He's at the breakfast table, reading his book.

"Yo," he says, barely looking up from his book. I blink at him. That's a strange way of saying good morning.

"How did you sleep?" I ask politely. I cross my fingers and pray that he's in a good mood today. Yesterday's events certainly made me happy, but only more confused in the long run. I still don't understand this man whatsoever.

"I slept well. And you?"

"Same," I say, giving a hesitant smile, but he's still not really looking away from his book. I'm going to have to read it and see why he's so interested in it someday. "I'm glad you didn't prepare breakfast yet. I bought some steamed buns yesterday because I noticed you had the equipment needed to cook them in your cupboards."

Then a thought occurs to me – maybe he didn't cook breakfast because he noticed the additions to his nearly-empty fridge.

"How thoughtful."

That's the best I'll get out of him, I realize despairingly. There's no on-off switch to him at all, and I can't push him to loosen up. Well, at least his mask is down this morning. I can't imagine it would be very hygienic – or comfortable, for that matter – to be wearing a mask all the time.

I sigh softly and fill the pot with water, cooking in silence. Out of habit, I begin to hum as I cook, something I've done for as long as I can remember. Today what comes to mind is an old love song I've known forever, and that I've loved forever. The words have been lost over time, but the melody is beautiful, flowing, and easy to follow. My mother told me that the song was about a woman having to let her lover leave her and suffer by herself just to allow her lover to live better, without her.

When I turn back, I'm surprised that Kakashi's book is lowered and his visible eye is on me.

I try to ignore this, even though it makes me tremble a little – in the best way possible. "Here's breakfast," I say, and I use chopsticks to place two steamed buns before him. I take one for myself – there are three left, enough for tomorrow's breakfast.

"Thank you," he says with a smile. It's still a bit of an impersonal smile, but it holds a hint of sincerity, and that's enough to appease me.

"Milk?" I ask, reaching into the fridge. Another item I picked up yesterday – I haven't ever gone so long without milk.

He makes a face. "No, I'm okay."

"You have something against milk?" I ask, feigning hurt as I pour myself a glass.

"I just don't really drink it."

Suddenly an image of Kakashi drinking milk pops into my mind – he's right, it just doesn't seem like him. I giggle, and the carton of milk slips in my hand, spilling onto the tiled kitchen floor.

"Oops," I say, even though the traces of laughter are still on my face as I grab a washcloth and lean down, dabbing at the puddle on the floor. One time isn't enough to dry all of it up, so I wring out the cloth in the sink and do it again. And for some reason I feel the intensity of Kakashi's eyes on me, though I'm not sure why.

"Are you going to be buying new clothes soon?" he asks quietly as I return to the table.

"Um, yes, I was going to today," I say, surprised, pulling out my chair to sit down.

Oh. My face becomes heated as I realize the shorts must have ridden up as I bent down to mop up the spill. A bit too high. That's why he was staring?

Our meal is eaten in a bit of an awkward silence, but it's more embarrassment on my part. Does it bother him? Or did it … do something for him? I blush.

"We should get going to the hospital," Kakashi says, pocketing his book as I finish clearing up the table.

"Yes. Let me just go change quickly."

It doesn't surprise that even early in the morning, he's dressed in his daily wear already – I wouldn't be surprised to know he sleeps with that mask on.

I pull on my own clothes quickly, which I suddenly feel are inadequate and peasant-like. Maybe it would be best to get the shopping done as quickly as possible.

The walk to the hospital takes us almost to the flower shop, and I decide I should drop by to let Kaori know that I won't be coming in today. Kakashi doesn't say anything about my decision, and merely nods, standing to the side as I venture into the flower shop.

"Kaori-san?" I call timidly. Someone walks down the stairs, and I realize it's not Kaori, but her husband.

"Hi Mirai," he says in a friendly tone, though he does intimidate me a little still. He's really tall, and the lines on his face suggest a difficult life. "My wife's still getting ready to come down. Are you going to be working here today? Or…" he glances up at Kakashi's unassuming form at the entrance of the shop. As always, he's reading his book.

"I'm not going to be staying long today," I say apologetically. "I … I have to go to the hospital to do some check-ups, and I just wanted to drop by and say that I'm sorry, and thanks to Kaori-san for all that she's done for me already."

He smiles at me warmly. "She likes company, my wife does. And I feel very sorry sometimes that I can't give it to her a lot of the time, so I'm glad a young lady like you is able to make her happy. I'll pass on your message."

"Thank you, Mr. Yamanaka," I say, and bow to him before exiting the shop. The two shinobi nod at each other. His obvious love for his wife … it's heart-warming.

Reaching the hospital only takes a few minutes, and we're greeted by Shizune, who seems to have been waiting for us. I apologize for our lateness, and she waves it away, saying that she was used to tardiness from Kakashi, leading us away without hearing out my explanation.

I glance at Kakashi, who doesn't react.

She leads us up a flight of stairs and directs us into a small hospital room with a single bed, where I see Tsunade and a girl with long, reddish hair.

"Hi," the girl says to me. "Mirai, right? My name is Amaru. I was an apprentice of Shinno's."

::~::

I step back in shock. Shinno's apprentice … in Konoha?

Even though we've long nursed a grudge towards Konoha, the survivors of the Sky don't deny that Shinno's attack on Konoha was premature and led to the destruction of our civilization. It was really his fault that we were tossed back into a primitive style of living, one that we'd just managed to overcome through years of hard work and effort to rebuild our civilization.

"No, don't worry," Amaru says hastily, seeing my expression. "I'm not like him. I help people now, in Konoha. Naruto helped me through it all, learning what Shinno-sensei was really planning to do… Please, I'm only here to help."

"I'm sorry," I murmur. "I was just … very surprised. I'm very grateful to you for trying to help me, and I apologize for jumping to conclusions."

The girl smiles in relief, and I chastise myself for making her feel uncomfortable with my hasty judgement. She isn't dressed in the medical-nin uniform, but rather in peasant-like civilian clothes, not much different from mine. She has slightly boyish looks, though her eyes are very feminine and quite stunning.

"Tsunade-sama asked me to tell you about my experience with a lesser-known demon. I was possessed by the Reibi, which was the source of Shinno's power." My eyes widen. Shinno had never said anything about utilizing the power of a demon … but what was I expecting anyway? "Hardly anybody else knew of its existence."

"It wasn't one of the nine demons formed from the Ten-Tails, which is why it wasn't widely known," Tsunade says. "But its existence proves that our knowledge of demons is insufficient."

"But," Amaru says, "I did manage to salvage some of Shinno-sensei's belongings after he … after he died." She bites her lip, but she doesn't hesitate to grab an thin, tattered book from the bedside table. "I've studied all the texts quite extensively. There is mention of many different demons here, but some of them are likely to be only myths."

"There are detailed descriptions in there," Tsunade says, "of the capabilities of each of the ancient demons, and symptoms of a patient who has come into contact with the demon's chakra. Or what we expect for your case, a patient who has the demon or part of the demon, sealed inside of your body."

"So you want me to tell you what symptoms I've been having?" I ask hesitantly. Tsunade nods. "Well … I had another vision yesterday," I admit, glancing at Kakashi. His masked face betrays no emotion. "It was quite similar to the first, except that … instead of just being able to hear what was being said, I could smell, as well."

"You had a vision of another place?" Amaru says sharply. "It was somewhere you've never been before?"

I shake my head, confused. "It wasn't somewhere I'd been … it was in a bedchamber, and … the man was hurting the woman." He raped her. "I … I think the woman was my sister."

"Your sister?"

I nod at the girl. "My sister, Tsubasa. She … I don't really know what happened to her, but when we were travelling to Konoha, she sent a message to me through a little bird and tricked me into thinking that she was in trouble and that she'd be harmed if I didn't come out alone. But it turned out to be her behind the whole thing. But … she's never … she's never been like this before."

"She's only Mirai's half-sister," Kakashi says. "She lured her there and told her that they shared only their mother's blood, and that the man Mirai had thought of as her father was really only Tsubasa's father. Then they fled when we came."

Amaru is frowning, seeming to be deep in thought.

"Are there any descriptions you recognize here?" Tsunade asks.

"Well… It seems as if there's some sort of connection between Mirai and her sister. I don't imagine it's because they're particularly close or anything. Could this possibly be genjutsu?"

"No," Kakashi says. "Both times she had the vision, I was there, and there was definitely nobody there to cast a genjutsu on her."

"A ninjutsu, then? Transporting her mind somewhere else?"

Kakashi shakes his head. "Again, nobody was close enough to do something like that, even if the jutsu existed."

Amaru pauses. "I have a theory, but I just want to make sure first that this really is demonic chakra. Can you check again, Tsunade-sama?"

I sit down on the bed obediently, and Tsunade tugs the back of my shirt up, placing a hand on the scar.

"Was there anything else that you noticed the two times you had the visions?"

I think for a moment. "Well, right before each time, my head started hurting really badly."

"Any … emotional turmoil?"

I blink at her. Now that she mentions it… The first time, it was when I'd first come to Konoha, and I had been torn with the realization that I would never call my Sky village home again. And I was fighting to stay strong in front of the shinobi I'd met. And the second time, it was when I'd been so frustrated and hurt by Kakashi's indifference to everything.

"The chakra definitely isn't natural," Tsunade announces, interrupting my thoughts. "It's not coming from her, but it's quite dormant right now. I wouldn't want to trigger the unknown, but we can't be completely sure unless we do that."

Amaru nods. "It's good enough." She's still waiting for an answer. Tsunade backs up so she's standing beside Amaru, and I'm left sitting on the bed, three pairs of eyes (not including the one Kakashi's covered) trained on me.

"Yes," I say quietly to Amaru.

A dark look passes through the girl's face. It's a strange expression to see on such a young person's face.

"I think I know what it is," she murmurs, and she flips through the dried and cracked pages of the book. "I'd hoped it wasn't this, because it was unlikely…" She stops on a page, and holds the book out to Tsunade, who takes it gingerly. "The ancient demons Li Zhi and Qin Gan." Her lips struggle to pronounce the names properly.

But just at the sound of the two names, my skin prickles and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Something within me recognizes it.

"Two demons?" Tsunade says sharply as her eyes lower to the page.

"Yes, but they came from one. Shi Xiang."

"It says the original demon was … a phoenix," Tsunade murmurs, reading off the page. "And its two halves … split into the demons Li Zhi and Qin Gan."

Something in my gut stirs again, like an animal raising its head during hibernation.

"The falcon and the sparrow," Amaru adds, nodding. "I thought this one was a myth, but it's so closely-linked to the Sky Country that it can't be just tossed aside. It says that the originally-peaceful demon Shi Xiang was so conflicted between two types of thinking – thinking with logic and thinking using emotions – that it had to split into two. But then its two halves were so extreme and violent that they began wreaking havoc in the Sky Country, and the ancient Sora-nin sealed it somewhere unknown. And that's all it says. But the connection between you and Tsubasa makes sense this way."

I feel Kakashi glance at me.

"Why did you say it was unlikely?" I ask quietly.

"Because it would have taken an incredible amount of chakra – perhaps even several sacrifices – to seal a demon of this calibre," Amaru replies. "The original demon was, for the most part, ignored because of its peaceful tendencies. However, it's said that the chakra it possessed was incredible, and that it's one of the oldest demons. But when it split, even though that chakra was halved for each demon, its might could have even surpassed that of a Tailed Beast. But it was widely unacknowledged because all of this happened in the Sky Country, and they kept it secret from the world.

"This demon – well, the two of them – and the Reibi are the only demons originating from this area of the world, near the Sky Country. I wouldn't be surprised if the Reibi had attacked the Sky Country in the past before, and it had been sealed away for some time as well. But while I can understand how Shinno reawakened the Reibi, I can't think how Li Zhi and Qin Gan would have been found and sealed in you."

The first thing that comes to my mind is that my father did it. "Keiji," I say out loud, but Kakashi shakes his head quickly.

"It couldn't have been him. I sensed his chakra, and it was completely unmolded. He's never had training."

"Who was the strongest shinobi in the Sky Country when you were younger?" Amaru asks.

"Shinno was, I suppose." It certainly was true. He had been the leader of the revolution for a reason.

"No, other than him. It couldn't have been him, because fusing with the Reibi had been his final trump card."

"Well … I guess the strongest shinobi clan was the Yamaha clan."

"The Yamaha clan? Did you know any of the clan members, or were they close to your family before you were born?"

"I … I knew Kiyosho."

Kakashi's head turns to me quickly. "Knew? Who was he?"

Was. "We were lovers."

Kakashi's eye widens slightly, but he wipes the emotion away quickly as if it was never there. "Could he be the man in the visions?"

A horrified feeling steals through me. "No!" I shout, feeling sick. "No, that's not possible." Was it? And as I think about it, I grow calmer. "No," I repeat firmly, shaking my head. "His voice doesn't sound like that. And besides … he … he's not alive anymore."

Silence.

I notice suddenly that Tsunade's face is uncharacteristically solemn. Sad, and even with a trace of pity.

"Was he a Sora-nin?" Amaru asks softly.

I nod. "But it wasn't like that. He never wanted to join, but his brother … his brother was always stupid. Kiyosho only joined so that he could protect his brother. They both died in the end."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Amaru says, casting her eyes down.

I'm sorry too. But now isn't the time for tears. I can't be crying now.

I turn to Kakashi. "Why did you look at me like that when I said his name out loud?"

"I heard you saying that name in your sleep."

I wince, surprised. It was probably the truth – it wasn't too hard to believe that I'd dreamed of Kiyosho, even here in Konoha.

"And was his family close with yours? Close enough that they could have had access to you and your sister close to when you were born?"

I think back to childhood memories. "I don't think so," I say slowly. "From my childhood memories at least, I know our parents weren't too fond of them, and they weren't happy when I met Kiyosho. But that's not to say anything happened," I add hastily, "because my father didn't really like anybody."

"We should do a check of your memories," Tsunade says. That's the first thing she's said in quite a while. "We'll get Inoichi to do it," she says to Kakashi, "if he's not busy today."

Kakashi merely nods, expressionless.

To my surprise, Tsunade walks over and places a hand on my shoulder. "You've done well," she tells me. "You've been very brave."

From the looks of it, Amaru is very shocked by the Hokage's behaviour. And if I'm not mistaken, I see a single tear seep past her eyes as she turns away.

::~::

All right! Amaru is here, and part of the explanation is done. So what do you think? It took me a while to think up this stuff about demons. So some explanations are below:

Shi Xiang – means "thought" in Chinese.

Li Zhi – loosely translates to "logic" in Chinese.

Qin Gan – translates to "emotion" in Chinese.

I'll Back Off So You Can Live Better by G. NA is the song Mirai is humming. I've been listening to it way too much – it's a wonderful song! Please go listen :)

I was very excited writing this chapter, and I have somewhere to go today, so I'm not spell-checking this chapter right now – sorry for any mistakes here. Hope you enjoyed!

As always, please review, follow, favourite!

-Jennifer *big bear hugs*