The genin drew a blank. They gazed at each other and had a '?' over their heads.
"And you are?" Naruto drawled.
"Hmm?" She jerked her head slightly. "Oh duh…" She muttered to herself. They hadn't seen her in this form, or so she thought. She then chuckled a little. She placed a gloved hand at the base of her neck. "I'm Rai…"
The genin's mouths dropped open. They couldn't believe she was so young, they thought she was older. She tilted her head to the side, closed her eyes and gave a gentle smile.
"So… you're… Rai-sama?" Naruto asked speechless.
"Mmhmm…" She opened her eyes and nodded.
The genin looked at each other , jaws still drooped; dead silence. "EW!" They all screamed.
Rai was startled; she jerked her head back and frowned slightly. "Huh? What?"
"You and Kakashi-sensei!" They shouted. "EW!"
Rai was still confused. She had a '?' over her head.
"That should be considered sexual harassment!" Naruto shouted, pointing a finger at her.
Rai blinked in surprise. "Oh, no! Ew! Not that!" Rai explained hastily as she waved her hands in front of her chest and shook her head, blushing. Once calmed down she began to laugh, showing off her fangs. Naruto and Sakura inched behind Sasuke at the sight of them. "Oh, no!" She exclaimed through her laugh. Once she settled down, she explained, "It's nothing like that."
Sakura dared to speak up, "And, you're how old?"
"Huh?" Rai asked, she let out a quick humorous breath and placed her hands on her hips. "How old do you think I am?"
The genin looked at each other and said, as they looked back at her, "Sixteen."
Rai tried to hold back her laugh, but then bent over, clutching her stomach, and howled with laughter. Her laughing fit lasted for a good couple minutes. She finally caught her breath and stood up straight, whipping the tears from her eyes. "No, no, no…" She got out between breaths. "I'm not that young."
The genin looked at each other and yelled out again in disgust. "Ew! You're like fifty!"
Rai broke out laughing again. "I'm not even half that age!" She said between laughs. As she calmed down, she cleared things up. "Okay, okay, okay. I'll straighten things out for you." Rai took a breath, calming down completely. "I'm actually twenty-one."
"Oh…" The genin sighed with relief. They stared at her.
"So…" Sakura asked after several minutes of silence, "What are you?"
Rai cocked her head, a devilish look crept across her face. She smirked, pulling one side of her lips up, baring her left fang and teeth. The genin shuddered.
"You're worst nightmare." She said in a creepy voice.
Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto backed up clutching each other. Sakura and Naruto screamed.
Then Rai tried to stay serious, but she began to laugh again. This time she fell over, on to her back.
Kakashi walked up so that his shadow casted over Rai's form. Rai opened her eyes with a smile on her face, looking at him; she chuckled a bit, before finally stopping; however she still had that smile on her face.
The genin were cowering in a group. They began to calm down, seeing Kakashi there. They were still shivering, clutching each other. They were staring at Kakashi, and then would glance at Rai in terror, then back to their savior.
Kakashi noted this and gave a mocking questioning look at Rai.
She just smiled on her back.
Kakashi sighed and shook his head, "Looks like you finally get to see Rai in person."
Rai rolled up and sat cross-legged on the grass, slightly hunched over, as Kakashi came around to her right side.
The genin jerked away as Rai moved.
Kakashi noted this and glared at Rai. "What did you do to them now?" He asked.
"I did nothing!" Rai stated as if he was accusing her. "I was only answering their questions, and throwing in a joke or two…" She turned away and muttered the last part.
Kakashi sighed, "It's alright guys. You can stop freaking out." He instructed the genin.
The genin were still shuddering and taking deep breaths to calm themselves down.
"It's alright, she won't hurt you." Kakashi stated.
"Yeah!" Rai assured. "I can barely hurt a fly… unless it bugs the living hell out of me…" She smirked.
Kakashi bopped her over the head, not too hard, but enough to make her flinch.
"Hey!" She yelped as her head went forward, she raised it up and rubbed the back of it and glared at Kakashi. "That hurt!"
"Anyways…" Kakashi stated, "She's just a big softy." Kakashi placed his hand on her head. Rai looked up with her eyes, closed them and smiled.
"She has to act tough, but she's really a sweet heart." Kakashi said as he pushed her konoha down.
The genin finally calmed down; meanwhile, Sasuke pried the other two off him.
"Then, what's with the…" Sakura drifted off as she pointed to her mouth.
Rai cocked an eyebrow once she was done fixing her hitai-ate Kakashi had messed up.
Naruto pulled the corners of his lips, exposing his teeth. "What's with the fangs?"
"What? These?" Rai asked, lifting up her lip and pointing to her canines, after standing up.
The genin shuddered at the sight and nodded.
"Yeah, that…" Sasuke stated, having chills go up his spine.
Rai chuckled, then stared at the genin with a smile on her face. "Did Kakashi tell you how I'm" she did a quote gesture with her fingers, " 'dead'?"
The genin all nodded.
"So…" Sakura gulped.
"You're not human?" Naruto finished off for her.
Rai chuckled, "Well… half of me, anyway." Rai placed her right hand on her hip and flicked the left one out in front of her chest in a reassuring gesture.
"So…" Sakura continued, "You're a ghost?"
"Technically… No…" Rai stated, thinking. "I'm just as solid as any of you guys are." Rai tapped her temple. She then took out a kunai and pulled off her right glove. "I'm also just as human as any of you." She stated as she placed the edge of the blade in her palm and wrapped her right hand around it, tightly, making the knife cut deep into her skin, drawing blood to pool into her hand and drip out the crevices and down the knife.
The genin gasped in horror.
Rai took the knife out of her hand and shook it, causing the blood to fly off before placing it back in the pouch. She then faced the palm of her hand toward the genin, exposing her cut up hand.
Sakura went pale. Naruto looked like he was going to throw up. Sasuke looked a little green, too.
"But, I'm also not like you." Rai stated. And with that her hand began to mend itself, stretching the skin back into place, leaving not even a scar! "But you're also right. I'm not human either." She sighed, pulling her hand back, curling it up and holding it close to her chest, her eyes down cast.
"Huh?" Naruto questioned, scratching his head. "I don't get it! How can you be human, but at the same time not be?"
Rai looked down to her left.
Kakashi placed his hand on her shoulder.
Rai looked up at Kakashi, giving him a shy smile.
"It wasn't her fault." Kakashi explained. "She didn't want to be like this. She just wants to be normal." He referred to the genin. "As she said, she's not like you, but at the same time, she's just as human as any of you."
The genin were still confused, even though he explained it.
Kakashi sighed, letting his hand slide off Rai's shoulder. "Have you ever heard of Sankaku?"
Rai visibly tensed at the name, but the genin shook their heads.
"Well," Kakashi began, "he's a-."
Rai cut him off, "wicked and deceitful demon. He's known for his trickery and sorcery, known for his evil ways; merciless killing, putrid ways, and horrible actions." Rai explained, her head bowed, shadows casting over her eyes. She was still clutching her hand, slowly getting tighter. "He killed thousands, destroyed many homes and villages, ruined the lives of many… including the life of my mother." Rai was suffocating her hand now, shaking as she spoke through gritted teeth. "I was the reason people shunned her, threatened her, and tortured her. I was also the reason for her death."
The genin got really scared.
Rai's eyes were full of rage, which turned to sadness. "My mother didn't even get a chance to see me grow up. She was killed when I was six. Her life taken by the villagers because of me!" Her eyes turned cold and heartless at the last sentence. "They wanted me dead, for what I am and not who! They wanted my blood on their hands so Sankaku couldn't come and he'd stay away forever! They wanted payback for what HE did to them, destroying what was precious to them, so they would destroy what was precious to him… me…"
The genin felt pity for Rai. Naruto, after all, knows how it feels when a whole village hates you, but this was different, the whole village wanted Rai dead! They wanted her dead, killing everything and everyone she held dear.
After Rai calmed down she spoke again, "There was a prophecy…" Rai's eyes dulled. "But, I'm past the age and it still hasn't happened. People were afraid of me, scared of what I was to do and become. Only five people didn't fear me like the others. They didn't even hate me. They loved me, took care of me, and saved me." Rai paused a bit. She tilted her head up a bit, a small timid smile on her face. "And I owe my life to them." She looked over at Kakashi.
"Who are they?" Naruto asked, drawn into the conversation.
"Naruto!" Sakura whispered harshly, "That's personal information!"
Rai faced them, "My mother, Sandame, Yondame, and the Hatake family." She muttered.
The genin raised an eyebrow. They paused thinking, well, mostly Naruto. "Where does that name sound familiar?" He questioned.
Kakashi looked down, slightly out of embarrassment and a sweat drop appeared on his temple.
It was Sasuke's turn to hit Naruto now. "You idiot," Sasuke stated, "that's Kakashi's surname…"
Naruto held his head, then looked at Kakashi in surprise. "Really?" It took Naruto several seconds. "Oh yeah!"
Rai took the palm of her hand and hit it against her headband, or what would have been her forehead. 'He really can't be that stupid, can he?' Rai asked herself.
"What did they do!" Naruto asked, prying more.
Sakura gave him a left hook. "That's another one, Naruto!" She snapped at him.
"Thank you Sakura." Rai nodded. She pulled her fingerless black glove back on her bare hand.
"Well, what do you know?" A voice came from behind Kakashi and Rai.