July 2, 2005Neh yo yo yo! Guess what I just did! I editted one word in this chapter...becuase i found out Genma's last name at last! hahahaha.a...
CHAPTER 2-New Home
"Tsunade-sama…She's regaining consciousness…"
"Can you hear me, girl?"
I gulped. Where was the kind man who had rescued me?
"Um…Yomei…"
"Say what?"
"My name…is Yomei." I had always been told never to tell anyone my name, but since I was planning on starting some sort of new life here…
"Well, Yomei….welcome to Konohagakure village. I am Tsunade, The Hokage."
I said nothing. I already knew this; having had to do a mission that's sole purpose was to find information on the new Hokage…If only I had thought that suspicious at the time…
"Well…your injuries are not too bad, just a minor concussion and a sprained ankle. You should be fine very soon."
I nodded. I wonder if she knew I was blind?
"And yes, I know you are blind."
Holy Crap, could she read minds?
"Tsunade-sama, I don't think he's going to wait much longer, no matter how much respect he has for you…" Another voice came from the far side of the room.
"Your rescuer has been checking on you every hour on the nose. He had a fit when I wouldn't let him in this time. Do you want to meet him or would you rather rest?"
Every Hour! What a sweetheart!
"I'd like to meet him…but…"
"But what?"
"Please don't tell him that I'm blind."
"Sure…" Her voice was skeptical, but I was glad she did not question me.
Her footsteps moved away, and a door opened from somewhere on the left.
Years of training allowed me to hear the conversation at the door, which was probably not meant for me to hear.
"Is she alright?"
"She'll be fine. She wants to see you though, so you better get over there."
I fought the instinct to sigh at the word 'see'. It had always been a rather tender point for me, imagine that.
"Ah, um yes…"
"You aren't nervous, are you?" said Tsunade with a slight chuckle. "Get over there, you big baby."
I heard a rustle as she shoved him into the room, soon followed by the slam of the door.
"Hello…" He said awkwardly.
I found myself tongue-tied. What was I supposed to say!
"Oh, how rude of me; my name is Hatake Kakashi."
I bit my tongue to keep from laughing. Scarecrow? What kind of parents did this guy have and what drugs were they on! His footsteps were coming closer.
"So, how are you feeling?" He asked.
I groped about; trying to get out of bed, but a hand stopped me.
"Whoa there, have you forgotten about your ankle? You don't want to make things worse now do you?" He sat down next to me.
"Th-Thank you." I stuttered, feeling very dumb. I felt heat in my cheeks, which I know is blushing, though I don't remember now what it looks like. I hope I didn't look too much like an idiot.
"You're welcome!" His voice came, audibly relieved that I had spoken to him at all.
"So, why were those guys after you?" I looked away from him. What was I supposed to say to that? That I was on the run from an organization bent on world domination and only I knew their plans? Yeah right. I'd be locked in loony land faster than it takes to heat up ramen.
"Sorry." The guy said quickly. "When you want to tell me, I'll be here." There was a pause.
"So, what's your name?"
"…"
Years of habit mixed with my own tongue-tied ness prevented me from answering.
Just then the door opened again and the scent of food wafted through the air.
I moaned. Nice of them to bring him food…I always knew this village looked after their ninjas very well, but I was hungry too…maybe if I was cute and lovable enough he'd share with me…
"Meal time Yomei-chan!'
Say…What?
"Oh my, don't look so surprised. This is a hospital, Yomei; we take care of our patients!"
I smiled at her.
"Oh, and Kakashi-san, Tsuande-sama wants to see you."
"Okay. Yomei, is it? Well Yomei-chan, it was nice meeting you."
I smiled.
"Do you need help eating, Yomei?" This voice was from the nurse, but only after the door closed behind Kakashi. Obviously, she had been informed about my eyes, and also about how Kakashi was not to know about them.
"No, just put it on my lap." I said.
She did, and I quickly found chopsticks and began to eat.
"Tsunade-sama wants me to ask you a few questions."
"I'll try to answer them." I said between mouthfuls.
"Where do you come from?"
Uh-oh…"Um, somewhere in this country I believe…" I actually had a pretty good idea that the organization HQ was located in Konoha country, just near the border, so that was pretty truthful.
"Are you planning on staying here in the village?"
"Yes, I was planning to…" Uh-oh again! It hadn't occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to stay! Once out of this village I would have a lot fewer places to hide…
"Then we'll have to find you a place to stay…and the papers that will allow you to live here...legally. Of course you understand there's a process of becoming a citizen…"
"Yeah…where should I stay? I don't have any money…"
"I already have a great place for you!" This was Tsunade's voice, but I sensed someone else with her.
"Yomei, this isShiranui Genma. Genma, this is Yomei."
"It's Nice to meet you." Genma's voice came.
"Genma is in charge of a dorm for members of Konoha's ANBU. You know what ANBU are?"
I nodded yes.
"So he has extra rooms, and you will be staying there."
"Okay."
Yeah okay, so how am I going to get there with a sprained ankle!"I'll have Kakashi carry you there, as Genma is leaving on a mission immediately. "
"Okay…" I swear, this woman can read minds!
"Kakashi!" Tsunade yelled, and I winced. Hello people, concussion here, remember!
The door opened again
"Yes, Tsunade-sama?"
"Please carry this girl to the ANBU dorms."
"Carry her?"
"Unless you'd like to go make her some crutches-none remain in her size."
I fought the urge to chuckle. This new Hokage was funny, in an interesting sort of way…
"Okay, fine." Funny, he didn't sound at all opposed to the idea of carrying me.
Once again I was lifted onto his back, except this time, I was fully conscious and able to enjoy it. I draped my arms around his neck, with a slight smile; he was really warm…and muscular…
"Alright then Yomei, You don't mind if we go a little faster this time, do you?"
I nodded no.
"Alright, away we go!" I was now feeling wind in my face. Holy crap, did he just jump out the window! I mean, I've jumped out windows before, but not before knowing exactly what was below me or how far I was falling!
"Relax…" Kakashi said, sensing my discomfort. Oh yeah, he could see. I knew that.
"So, you're the quiet type, right?"
I said nothing to this.
"I'll take that as a yes."
I sniffed at the air, hoping to get another whiff of my favorite trees, but instead I was shocked to find a different smell ram itself up my nostrils. Something big was burning.
Apparently, Kakashi smelled it too, as he came to a rather jarring halt.
"Something's on fire!" We took off again in a new direction, towards the flames I could now feel, pleasantly warm on my face.
Fire was good; I had always been good with fire. Fire I could handle.
"Yomei, sit here, I'll be right back as soon as I help put this out…" He was going to set me down, but I knew that I'd have a hell of a time getting to the fire with a sprained ankle, so I clung to him tightly.
"Yomei...let go, its okay. I'll be right back, don't worry." He said gently, trying to pry me off. Humph, shame on him, assuming I was scared silly, like a child.
"Okay fine, if you're not going to let go, I'll have to take you with me." He said this in such a tone that I knew he was trying to scare me into letting go. He still must have assumed that I was scared. Instead, I broke into a huge grin.
He hesitated a minute, then jumped off toward the heat, muttering something about pyromaniacs.
I took a deep breath, then another.
Okay, so the sooner you put the fire out, the sooner you can go lie down. I told myself.
"Hold on tight, I have to let go of you." Kakashi's voice sounded like it was coming from far away as I formed the sign of the tiger quietly and focused my power. Immediately, I stopped feeling any heat at all.
This was my gift, my bloodline limit: the ability to control and manipulate fire. I didn't like telling people this; however, not even the organization knew about it.
With care, so Kakashi wouldn't catch the movements out of the corner of his eye, I spread out my fingers toward the fire, holding on to Kakashi with only my knees, as he had let go of me. These flames were spreading fast, they were more extensive than the ones trying to quench it realized.
But I knew. I could feel its enormousness…and I also knew that it was going to take a lot of my energy to stop it, enough to give me quite a headache afterwards. Normally I wouldn't have bothered, but I was ready to take a nap, and I didn't want to wait while Kakashi did things the normal way.
With a deep breath, I clenched my outstretched fingers into a fist.
"What the 'ell!" A heavily accented voice shouted from somewhere to my left. I quickly wrapped my arms innocently around Kakashi's neck, throwing in little whimper for good measure.
"It's gone!"
"It's like it just disappeared!" Well, judging by the sound of things, I had been successful.
"Kakashi-san, thank you!" someone said. Oh perfect, they thought he had done it. No one would ever suspect the pitiful looking girl on his back, which made me sort of happy.
"Um…you're welcome. I have to go." Kakashi jumped off.
"Yomei-"
Uh-oh. I didn't like the tone of his voice. Apparently whatever he was going to say was lost in the wind though, as he never said more than that. Phew, I thought for a minute he suspected me of being responsible for the disappearing fire. Which I was.
We came to another stop, and Kakashi set me down carefully. Huh, we were already there?
"Yomei, how did you put out those flames?" Uh, guess we weren't there yet…Now my question was where were we?
"Yomei." His voice was more firm.
"…" Like hell I was going to tell him. No one knew except my old master, and I intended to keep it that way. I knew damn well bloodline limits weren't commonly accepted.
"Yomei, this is important."
"…" The headache I had expected because of the power it took to put out the flames was now pounding its evil fists against my brain. This on top of the concussion was not a pleasant feeling.
Kakashi sighed.
"Fine, but I want to know, and I will find out eventually."
Ha! In your dreams Kakashi.
For the umpteenth time within ten hours, he lifted me onto his back, and we were off.
"Okay, here it is." He said after 10 minutes more.
I felt a slight change in temperature as we entered the building.
"Kakashi-san, what…?"
"Hokage's orders." Kakashi said simply. "Her ankle's sprained, so I'll have to carry her to one of your free rooms."
"But…this is an ANBU dorm, Kakashi-san!"
Kakashi let go of one of my legs in order to grab the shirt of the ANBU.
"Are you saying…that you want to defy the Hokage? This girl will be rooming here. "
"Y-Yes sir."
I shivered inadvertently. The way his voice went from carefree to deadly I found really scary. I Hope I'm never on the bad side of Kakashi.
"Perfect." His carefree voice was back.
"U-up the stairs to your right; there's a free room there."
"Thank you!"
He grabbed my leg again and took me up a set of stairs.
"This looks comfortable enough…" He set me down on the bed, which was very soft.
"Let me know how staying here works out, alright?"
"Th-Thank you…"I said, and I could not stop the stutter.
"Don't mention it!" He said as he closed the door to my new bedroom.
I lie back blissfully, with a huge sigh. Ah, sleep at last.
ha, took me long enough...lol R&R! tell me what you guys think of this chapter!
Thanks a bunch.
Fade