When Kaiya opened her eyes, she was still falling. Instead of screaming again, she bit her thumb and made hand signs, while at the same time calling forth Jin's power. A burst of golden chakra exploded from within her, and her pupils changed from green to gold. "Summoning Jutsu!" she shouted, gritting her teeth. Please work…
Closing her eyes once more, she waited to see what would happen.
A few seconds later, she hit something soft, bouncing in the air a few feet from the impact. She peered out of one of her eyes to see where she was. Her eyes widened when she saw that she was at least seventy-five feet above the village, suspended in midair.
Wait, it wasn't midair. It was…furry and black. It was a wolf!
It was a wolf whose height put most of Konoha's buildings to shame. Kaiya almost lost her balance and fell off when she realized she had summoned such a beast—and just in time.
"Hmm?" The wolf looked around, its grey eyes scanning the area below it—the Village Hidden in the Leaves. His front half was inside the village, while the other half was on the outside of the gate. Kotetsu and Izumo, the gatekeepers, were hiding behind their stand, trembling at the great size of the animal that had just appeared before them.
"W-what the hell is that?" Kotetsu asked frantically. "It's huge!" His partner nodded in agreement.
"It looks like it might be…a wolf," he stammered shakily. "A giant wolf."
"How did I get here?" the wolf asked himself, glaring down at the village in search of his summoner. His voice was calm and quiet—for his size, anyway. He didn't seem alarmed or angry, just curious and quite possibly annoyed. "This is Konoha…so who could have summoned me?" After a few moments, Kaiya managed to stand on the wolf's back without losing her balance. He seemed to just notice her. "And how did you get on my back, little girl?" Kaiya frowned, crossing her arms.
"I'm not a little girl!" she protested. "And I'm the one who brought you here." The wolf's eyes narrowed as he scoffed, reminding Kaiya of her trainer.
"I'm sure it was Kuro Kensei, that bastard… Where is he?" he questioned, choosing to ignore her claim. She pouted, but pointed up at the cliff that was above them.
"I think he's up there," she answered.
"I see. I want to give him a piece of my mind before I return home." He turned his body, stepping out of Konoha and back into the woods, towering over the trees that stopped halfway up his legs. Lunging from the ground, he landed on the cliff in a single leap, and Kaiya had to grab onto his fur tightly in order not to fall off. Standing next to the cliff was Kuro, waiting. He had a satisfied grin, clapping his hands as the wolf appeared on the other side of him. Kaiya scowled.
"Hey! Wipe that smile off your face, you bastard!" she bellowed, pointing to him. "You've got some kinda nerve throwing me off a cliff like that!" The wolf glanced up at her, then back down to Kuro. If wolves could have facial expressions, this one would be irritated.
"You pushed her off a cliff, Kuro?" he asked disbelievingly. The man shrugged, straightening out his blank forehead protector.
"There's always a method to my madness," he assured the canine. "You should know that by now…Kumori." The latter lowered his eyes.
"Don't give me that," he barked, swishing his tail back and forth. The trees behind him swayed to and fro, almost snapping in two from the force of the wind he created. Kaiya's jaw gaped in astonishment. "Why was I summoned, you oaf? You know I don't like the Leaf Village, almost as much as you. I have better things to do at the moment than put up with you and this brat." Kaiya frowned, but she didn't retaliate.
"Kumori, don't you think it's strange that you would have ended up all the way down there if I'd summoned you?" Kuro wondered. "I know you're not stupid, yet you refuse to admit that the girl on your back brought you to this dimension." Kumori glared at the young man before glancing back at Kaiya, who was now sitting on his back.
"She's too young to summon me," he stated matter-of-factly. "There's no way a little runt like her could have enough chakra." Kaiya gritted her teeth.
"I'm not a runt," she snapped. "I did summon you, with the power of the six-tailed phoenix. Get it through that thick fur of yours, because it happened!" Kumori turned, peering down at Kuro.
"The six-tailed phoenix? Hmm…well, that explains it." He closed his eyes, lowering himself to the ground. Kuro nodded.
"Yep. She's the host of the six-tailed Legend."
"What's your name, girl?" the wolf asked.
"Kaiya Umachi!" she declared proudly. Kumori lowered his head onto his forepaws, his ears twitching back and forth.
"Umachi, you say?"
"That's right." He was silent for a few seconds.
"I suppose I should've guessed. Yasuo told me one of his children was the host, but it was so long ago, I'd pretty much forgotten. He was a mighty shinobi, that man," he told her. "He was able to summon me at quite a young age as well…though I was a lot smaller back then." He chuckled at the memories, just like the Third had done before. Kaiya's hard expression softened at the mention of her father. She lowered her head and clenched her fists.
"Why didn't he summon you when Orochimaru attacked?" she wondered sadly. Kumori let out a deep sigh, almost knocking Kuro off his feet.
"I doubt even I could do much against that snake," he answered truthfully. "I might have been able to save him, but then again…I might have only gotten in the way. Whatever the reason, your father made the choice not to summon me. And I respect his decision, no matter how much I wished I could have been there for him." Kaiya nodded, her exhaustion finally getting the best of her. Now that she had actually completed the jutsu, she didn't try to fight her body's tiredness any longer.
Kumori used his tail to pick Kaiya up and set her on the ground gently, next to her trainer. She lay down and closed her eyes slowly, quickly drifting off into a peaceful slumber. Kumori stared at her with hidden admiration, then turned to Kuro. The man still had a smile on his face.
"She looks just like him, don't you think?" he asked the man. Kuro nodded firmly.
"I think he would be proud of how the village has taken care of her," he commented. "Even though I hate it, I can't deny that the Third Hokage did well placing her in capable hands." The wolf smirked.
"Hn. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a soft spot for the girl." Kuro frowned, averting his eyes to a nearby tree.
"Don't be ridiculous. It's simply my wish to repay her father by training her, that's all. She's now my student, and I'm going to watch over her, just as he did for me."
…
Kakashi walked in the door well past midnight. He quietly fastened the lock and placed his sandals to the side as he stepped into the living room. The dim light of a lamp was coming from the kitchen, where Ringo was finishing some paperwork. He looked up at Kakashi and smiled, pointing to the couch. Kaiya was lying there, sleeping soundly. He could tell just by looking at her that she'd had a long day, but he was sure it was successful. It was the first time he'd seen her since she started training.
He walked past her and into the kitchen, where Ringo sat. The latter pointed to the fridge. "I saved you a plate from dinner," he said quietly, glancing between his friend and the stack of papers in front of him. Kakashi nodded a thanks, placing his hands in his pockets casually. He looked back towards the couch.
"Why is she sleeping there?" he wondered. Ringo chuckled lightly, shaking his head.
"Kuro dropped her off after sunset and she was already asleep, so I took her to her room. But she came down about an hour ago and asked about you; when she found out you still weren't home, she wanted to wait up for you. I told her you'd be back late, but she wouldn't go back to bed. She fell asleep a few minutes ago, so I decided to let you carry her to her room—if you're up to it. She wanted to see you, after all." Kakashi's eye lowered, but a smirk suddenly appeared behind his mask. He sighed, rubbing the back of his head.
"Well, if she's going to be that much trouble, I guess I will carry her back to her room," he decided. Ringo grinned.
"It seemed like she had something important to tell you, but she wouldn't let on to what it was." The silver-haired Jonin nodded. He went into the living room and picked Kaiya up, gently hoisting her onto his back. He carried her upstairs to her bedroom, setting her down on her bed. He covered her with the sheets and turned to leave, when Kaiya's hand lightly grabbed his.
"Kakashi?" she whispered, half asleep. He faced her again.
"Yeah," he said quietly. A small grin appeared on her face.
"I waited up for you." He nodded.
"I know." She let go of his hand, retracting her arm under the covers. "How's your training going?" he asked. Kaiya's eyes opened slightly as Kakashi sat down on the edge of her mattress.
"Kuro taught me the summoning jutsu," she told him with a smile." Kakashi looked impressed. "He forced me off a cliff to learn it, though." Kakashi's eye lowered. I can understand why the Third Hokage had his doubts about Kuro, but if she's improving, then I guess we can't complain. Though his methods seem a little unorthodox… "But while I was falling, I met Jin." Kakashi frowned in confusion.
"Who's Jin?" he wondered. Kaiya rolled over onto her back. She seemed a little more awake now.
"The six-tailed phoenix," she replied. Her eyes closed. "Now I can use his chakra freely." Kakashi's eye widened.
"So, you learned all of that in a week, huh?" he remarked. "And Jin is the phoenix's name?" She nodded.
"Yeah…so now I can learn more ninjutsu—even though I'd rather not." Kakashi grinned, resting a hand on her shoulder. Kaiya opened one eye to look at her guardian. "What about Sasuke? Is he ok?" He nodded.
"He's fine, Kaiya," Kakashi assured her. "He's fully recovered now and is training hard." Kaiya smiled, relieved.
"That's good to hear." Kakashi stood to his feet, placing his hands back in his pockets.
"Alright, that's enough small talk," he decided. "You need your rest, and so do I." Kaiya nodded, rolling over on her side, facing the wall away from Kakashi.
"Goodnight," she whispered. He grinned as he stopped at her doorway.
"Goodnight, Kaiya. I'm proud of you."
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