Kaida hung upside from the tree near the village gate. Her eyes were closed as she meditated. Her ōdachi leaned against her pack on the ground.
"Why is the girl doing that? Does she have nothing better to do?" Tazuna's voice breaks the pink haired girl's concentration. She ignores the conversation below her, still meditating. He has a slow, but hardworking spark of a faint misty blue.
"She's meditating. Naruto-kun, don't mess with her. You're still on thin ice from waking her up two weeks ago," Hinata says softly. She had a strong, quiet spark of white and lilac. Naruto laughs sheepishly. He had a brightly burning red and orange spark of stubbornness and the Will of Fire.
Kaida opens her eyes when she senses Kakashi's spark. A wolf, hardworking and loyal, of a silvery blue.
"Hello, my insufferable little Genin!" Kakashi exclaims in cheer.
Kaida turns her head and gives her sensei a small, unimpressed stare. "You are here. On time. Impressive."
She swings off of the branch and gracefully lands on her feet. Kaida brushes any dirt off of her short kimono dress before grabbing her pack and her ōdachi.
"Woah! Kai, that looks badass! Where'd you get it?" Naruto exclaims staring at the sword with starry eyes. Kaida smiles softly while she tucks the sword into her obi.
"Mom gave it to me. She said it was meant to be a surprise, but she wants me to be safe." She stares down at the ōdachi. "It's a bit too big for my size, but I'll get the hang of it."
"Don't lie to yourself, Kaida. You know what this means. It was meant for you, remember?" Inner sneers before disappearing. Kaida ignores the statement.
"Are we all ready to go? And yes, I have extra seals for you to work on, Naru-kun." Kaida gives a teasing smile to the blonde before the five start the week long trek to Nami no Kuni.
"Man, this is so exciting, dattebayo! Going out of the village!" Naruto exclaims loudly.
"It is quite exciting," Kaida agrees, making the blonde and Hinata stare at her with deadpan expressions.
"Kaida-chan, you've travelled across the entire Elemental Nations," Hinata points out.
Kaida glares at her, a small blush forming on her cheeks. "I have never been to Nami no Kuni, so it is just as exciting for me as it is for you. And I have not travelled across all of the Elemental Nations. Iwagakure no Sato and Otogakure no Sato are still... finicky with my clan for our allegiances, so I have not visited them."
"Doesn't your uncle live in Iwagakure?" The mention makes Kaida frown. Yes, Haruno Mitsukane.
"Mitsukane-oji is still estranged, but yes. He and his family reside in Iwagakure," She confirms. They continue conversations, walking at an easy, slow pace.
Kaida feels a flicker of two sparks, both sinister in intentions, coming closer. She doesn't mention it, but casually looks around.
"Puddle." The pink haired girl spots the large puddle and frowns slightly. She discreetly raises two fingers towards her friends, gently placing a hand on the hilt of her ōdachi. They quickly–still appearing oblivious– slow down to flank Tazuna on both sides. Kaida takes the lead, turning around to walk backwards.
"What is your home like, Tazuna-san? From Gachi-oba's stories, I heard it is a beautiful country," She strikes conversation with the old man.
"It is and don't let people tell you wrong!" The sparks from the puddle flare out. Kaida unsheathes her ōdachi and blocks a serrated chain. She scrunches her nose in slight disgust when she catches a whiff of a tangy smell. Poison.
"Hinata." The blue haired girl nods her head before jumping in front of Tazuna.
The chain bounces backwards as a two men race towards them. Another chain wraps around Kakashi and makes Kaida snarl. She ignores how he's sliced in half to pounce towards the closest man. Kaida pulls in her ōdachi before swinging it out, slashing the man before he dodges. He curses under his breath and shoots out another chain from the contraption on his arm, something the pink haired girl just noticed.
"Duck!" Kaida falls forward, dodging two sets of chains from hitting her. A kunai impales her leg and Kaida quickly swings her ōdachi, blocking two other kunai. Kaida stays leaned over as Naruto vaults over her and throws shuriken at the two hostile shinobi. Kaida ignores the kunai in her leg and pounces forward, chakra surrounding her nails. She raises her chakra claws up, slicing one of the shinobi's face.
"Fucking bitch!" The shinobi curses out, hand over where his left eye used to be. Kaida notices the scratched out hiai-ate tied around his forehead and narrows her eyes.
"Kirigakure no Sato." Kaida flips back, avoiding posioned metal claws. She glances at her peripheral vision and sees Hinata in front of Tazuna, Byakugan activated. She sees Kakashi's spark behind them, in the trees. "Substitution Jutsu then."
"Kaida, focus!" Inner Kaida's shout startles Kaida. She turns back around just in time to see another claw coming towards her. She barely brings her ōdachi up before the claws hit her. One manages to slice the left side of her face.
"Argh!" Kaida cries out, instinctively closing her eyes from the pain. She pushes back the shinobi and jumps away, holding a hand to her left eye. Blood starts to drip down.
"Kai!"
"Kaida-chan!"
She lets go of her face and grips her ōdachi, blocking another attack. Kakashi appears and swiftly takes out the two Missing Nin. Kaida growls under her breath and kneels to the ground, holding her eye.
Naruto races forward, eyes flashing red for a moment and kneels in front of the pink haired girl. "Kaida-chan, let me see..."
Kaida carefully takes her hand off of her face and leans forward. Naruto gently grabs her face and inspects the wound.
"How–how bad is it?" She asks nervously, watching the blonde wince. Hinata rushes over, taking out her medpack from her bag.
"Here, Naruto-kun..." Hinata trails off, glaring heavily at the two knocked out Missing Nin. She walks over after handing Naruto her medpack and helps the silver haired Jōnin tie them to a tree. Kaida hisses in pain when Naruto starts to disinfect the wound.
"Their weapons were poisoned... Can Kura-kun get rid of the poison?" The pink haired girl whispers the last part, making Naruto scowl. His eyes glaze over and his expression goes blank for a few moments, still disinfecting Kaida's injury. Naruto blinks back into reality and nods his head.
"You ready?" The blonde asks quietly, placing a hand over Kaida's injury. She nods her head and takes a deep breath. Kaida cries out in pain, but forces herself to stay still as Naruto's glowing orange hand burns her.
"Naruto! What are you–"
"Kakashi-Sensei, he's saving her. Calm down." Hinata stops him from interrupting the blonde by grabbing his wrist. "He knows what he's doing."
"You don't know what–"
"We know. Naruto-kun does too," She whispers to him, making sure Tazuna doesn't hear her.
Kakashi blinks and stares down at the blue haired girl in shock and a small amount of horror. "Y-you know about–how did you find out? It's–that is an S-Rank secret!"
Kaida, overhearing the whispering, takes a shaky breath when the searing pain disappears and Naruto lifts his hand. She slowly stands up, left eye and the left side of her face still bleeding freely.
"Tazuna-san, are you injured? Naru-kun, can you dress my leg?" Kaida asks softly. Tazuna is startled from his terror filled panic and shakily nods his head.
"Y-yes. I–thank you." Kaida nods her head, expression alarmingly blank as she turns to face Kakashi.
"My father will not allow me own a Bingo Book until I become a Chūnin. Who are they?" She goes straight to the point, staring at the two Kiri Missing Nin.
"What the fuck was that?! This is a C-Rank Mission! We weren't meant to be attacked by Missing Nin!"
"I don't know, Inner. How's my eye? Will I... will I be able to see once it heals?" Kaida dreaded the answer. She hopes she can still see through her left eye.
"Shit it's going to scar..."
"No shit, dip shit! I don't know. Continue with the mission and I'll figure it out." Inner Kaida fades away as Kakashi answers Kaida's question.
"They're the Demon Brothers. Chūnin from Kirigakure, which–Tazuna-san–begs the question. Who were they after? The Leaf Shinobi, or the bridge builder?" Kakashi answers, voice devoid of emotion. Tazuna gulps nervously, sweat beginning to form on his forehead.
"I–I'm just a bridge builder! Why–why would they be after me?!" Kaida scowls at the obvious lie. So much for a C-Rank.
Hey! Hope you like the new chapter! Things are getting interesting, eh?
Hope you all are enjoying the story so far! Bye.
WhovianWhoudini