6Horse and Snake
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto the TV series or the Manga (although I would kill to have it)
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Last time: A message from the local spirit animals and demons made Tanar leave and complete her mission/ A tortuous bit her (may all reptiles die)/ (News Flash) she swore a blood oath never to kill a ninja from the Hidden leaf village/ After a little scuffle with Kakashi she convinced him to join Line (tiger) and her to complete her mission/ The question of this chapter How will the Alpha males (kakashi vs Line) handle the other?
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Line's POV (remember that Line is a feral tiger so the events that pass are told in a feral animal's perspective)
The territories were set. This is the first time in my long and majestic life that I have been able to express my true mentality; however more superior to the other male's mind. I wanted to cover the female Tanar's back. I believe I am the one of the two who should have the privilege of remaining near the female's back. The facts of the matter are as follows. The girl may be the one leading our party but because I am the most poised of the males she placed me in front to discover danger. The male carrying the woman's cargo is behind her now. I dislike this action from the girl, though I do not hold her solely responsible.
She has been acting strangely since I saw her manipulate the green force of Nature itself take shape. I know she is fighting inside herself because I am higher in character then the male on two legs. Well I will regretfully admit it was because she smells differently. Her gift I had known all along (not really) was subdued inside her. It was not until I informed the other feral souls like my own (although I am better then them) that she was the one who had the gift. I remember that night of sending a message from my spirit to her informing what I wanted. I mean what we wanted. Now because of my great powers of persuasion she will learn her power, although I am surprised she has not mastered such a wonderful gift before. She is a marvel to me. Her persona is much more developed then any other two legs. Yet she cannot do many things that I was born with. She cannot smell the air as I do. She does not see as sharply as I do. She is not as strong as I, but somehow I know what she is. The male two legs is an entirely different fang.
He has evaded my every try to subdue him. He is a young beast that can't even tell what the female is. I'm not even sure that if I wasn't here the other male would even know what to do with her. He smells like other two legs, but he is by far the most repulsive I have seen. I try as much as I can to keep my eye on him while he walks in the back and me in front, but I cannot. The female becomes concerned for me and thinks that there is danger. I keep trying to tell her that there is. The male behind you is your biggest threat. I can handle anything that comes from the forest, but the male you have for company has enough strength to kill you. You allow him to come to close to you. You and I are so much better then him. Let us leave him groveling at our feet in submission.
We have been traveling in this company for one full cycle of the sun and moon. The two legged male continues to follow. I hunt for all three of us. My body is the only one of the three of us that has caught two deer in one sun passing. I lie beside the female at night to protect her and she soothes me with her hands on my fur. I wish for her to continuing talking to me at night, but the other male has seemed to silence her. She no longer makes vocal voice but she and I continue to talk to one another, but only about the necessary environment. I want her to become less rigid like before. I miss her voice in my ear.
Out of Line's POV the travelers have finished there first day of travel and today they will reach the village. If nothing goes amiss.
Tanar stopped instantly and grabbed a knife for the 50th time. Line had looked back again for the 50th time. For the 50th time Line shrugged his shoulders and walked on. She was near to the point of boiling over. The past 24 hours have been a living nightmare. The tiger had never deceived her before but this was ridiculous. And Kakashi was a constant source of concern. She had healed most of his wounds but he still had to replace all that energy. She mostly ate on the run but Kakashi unknowingly made her actually stop and eat. He needed rest from her little scuffle with him. She had used several techniques that exhausted the body physically and sapped away the Chakra in that body. (This technique was a combination of Gentle fist and Physical arts.) He probably had not even realized just how exhausted he was. If he tried anything to strenuous he would collapse. She also had to put on a disguise before she got to the town. She pondered the consequences for stopping now and changing or going all the way to the town the way they were. Kakashi couldn't escape her and the person that had been following them meant no harm which is probably why Line had not signaled her in earnest. She couldn't get a hold of what the thing was that was following them, but he hadn't tried anything yet.
She stopped and so did Line but Kakashi managed to run into her back. He was reading Come Come Paradise. She thought Kakashi would be more aware of his surroundings. (Kakashi also thought that he would be more aware) He mumbled an apology she paid no heed. She shrugged him off and motioned for him to come closer. She began to grabb some nearby sticks and made a teepee pile of little sticks. Kakashi watched in ignorance as usual while Line watched warily wondering what strange new action the female was making. She took out flint and steel and began to strike them. She wasn't having much success, but she didn't want to use another option that involved ninjitsu. She didn't have to. Kakashi walked up to her and told her to back away. She did so and watched as Kakashi made the fire through using ninjitsu. She interrupted him after he had sparked the fire worried. "Don't over exert yourself ninja" she said in contempt. He stopped his flow of Chakra and Tanar took it from there.
Kakashi thought it odd to make a fire in the middle of the day but he did not argue he knew better. The boy had naught talked to him in one complete sentence for the whole day. The boy did watch him. Kakashi was still slightly surprised that this was the Blue Wood Assassin. The renegade Assassin mercenary was known for any task, stealing looting, murder, and great at disguise. The Assassin was known for being a monster going to sick lengths to get what was needed. The massacre in sand country was the assassin's first appearance of great magnitude. The whole Blue Wood was a pleasant mystery that could be pondered for hours. There was a branch of Blue Wood ninjas that had been destroyed in that massacre. He still wondered not how the boy became the Assassin (Kakashi had risen to the elite ninjas at a very young age) but why the Assassin had become what he was. It was like professional curiosity.
Tanar interrupted his train of thought by speaking the first words Tanar had said to him in many hours. "Watch the fire" She was crouching over the fire and took out a water skin. She placed it nearby the fire. She stood up and told Line to stay put and watch Kakashi. She turned to Kakashi and with surprising command spoke "Don't runaway and don't follow." She walked a ways back in the trail and took out her extra clothes. She made sure that the man who was following them was not nearby and concluded that he had waited by the camp as well. She changed into those clothes. The shirt was a soft brown and the pants were a comfortable black she also took out a headband. She always hated wearing this. It looked like arrows cut in half and going in different directions.
This was the symbol of the Blue Wood Ninjas that were all wiped out. This was her family. It was also her disguise she had to keep a professional view. She put a green vest over her brown shirt. And she took down her bandana and instead bound her hair in a ponytail. She would wait to put on the head band. It always seemed to burn her flesh when she put it on her. It was like the scars on her arms. Marks that she hid with all her heart.
She stalked back to the camp and found Line and Kakashi waiting. From an innate sense she could tell Kakashi was speechless about her sudden change in gender, but his only physical betrayal was him looking at her. She kept the mask on but bandana remained. He scanned her like some sort of new weapon. She hated him already judging and calculating how he would use her as a tool and a weapon. That was all ninjas thought about their lives in using others as tools to be bought and sold. She couldn't stand it. She watched the fire and then looked back into Kakshi's only visible eye. With satisfaction she knew that he was to weak and he wouldn't have enough strength for them to continue until tomorrow after he got another nights rest. Until then he was as useful as a wet rug. Tensions were high enough Line was continued to reject Kakashi's company. At least Kakashi seemed not to notice. He was good at playing ignorant.
For her to finish her disguise the fire would have to continue to burn until it was a pile of ashes. She sat down and began to pluck the grass. She always like plucking grass it was her way of showing mother earth that nature might be all powerful but Tanar could remain a pain in the butt. Kakashi took out his book and began to read, again. She waited until she grew bored and not moving tried to sense who was following them. She talked to Line as well. He seemed overjoyed by the fact that she was giving him attention and not Kakashi. From him she gathered that he had followed them from the village and so without a doubt she concluded he was a ninja. She was poking the fire with a stick when she spoke loudly to the forest were she knew the stalker was. "Come out already unless you don't want me to feed you some of our dinner" she added in a maternal voice "We've got venison Jerky" Line perked up his head and growled. Another male A man with wild white hair stepped out into open view. He opened his hands in kindness. She didn't know what or who he was, but Kakashi seemed to know. She noticed Kakashi was shaking. His excitement was seeping out of him. She pointed a finger at the stranger "You are?" the sudden gasp from Kakashi made her turn her head. "You don't know who this man is," he breathed in utter surprise. Kakashi leaped off of his feet and jumped around the stranger like some sort of puppy he yipped "This is the Sannin of the village, Jiraiya" She appeared out of no were and grabbed Kakashi by the ear and pulled him back to the fire. "I didn't realize that ninjas could have fan clubs excuse my brother's over excitement" she said in contempt. That stopped Kakashi and the stranger in their tracks. They said at the same time "Brother?"
She sat down and began to pull out some Jerky that Line had caught. "Yes, Brother, Kakashi we will be posing as siblings and believe me the way I hate you they will not question me" The stranger started to laugh and so did she, Kakashi swiveled his head form one to the other in a confused arc. "Call me Sannin please" and he dropped to the ground next to her and she offered him some meat. They touched hands and Line's growl turned into a snarl. Sannin looked at the tiger with utmost contempt "Whose mister possessive over there," Line stopped growling "What kitty Cat got your tongue" He doubled over in laughter. He was roaring at his own joke, and Tanar thought it was a bad joke to. Kakashi on the other hand wanted to impress his most admired person in the world. (Sannin is the author of Come Come Paradise) Kakashi started to also poke fun at the cat. Saying things like Line wanting milk and fur balls, along with curiosity. He also took a twig and stabbed Line in the ribs. That did it and Tanar smiled behind her mask. The snarl that arouse again turned into a roar as Line leaped in aggression at him and Kakashi landed on the ground and yelped in surprise.
Kakashi would later swear that Line was foaming at the mouth. Tanar knew that she had to intervene. She would at least wait she loved to see ninjas squirm. For some reason watching Kakashi was even better and this was the second time. She took out a flaming branch from the fire and spoke to Line "stop it Line" he answered his paws trying to rake out Kakashi's throat. "He will not be your mate, I will" She lowered the stick she shouted in anger "MATE!" she also leaped up and hit Line right on the head with the burning branch. She didn't realize how far her anger could boil over into her strength. The tiger slumped over on top of Kakashi. Kakashi was huffing. She pushed the tiger out of his way and helped Kakashi up with an arm around his waist. He let her. He couldn't understand. First it was a boy now a girl. First the boy nearly killed him then healed him, then his own anger made him fight revealing his Sharingan Eye now the girl was helping him. He was astounded by her. He just began to puzzle out that the girl he had met in the village was her. When his idol showed up. Now the damm tiger was after him. The girl saved him. Why couldn't he defend himself unless, unless the girl was a ninja and he was weak because of their last battle. No one had ever beaten him before.
She gently placed him on the ground. She knew she owed him an explanation when he couldn't even protect himself. She was still fuming at Line's sudden revelation. She would not give the answer unless he answered the question. Normally she would have let the stronger of the two fights it out. If one of them got killed then so be it. She was a shadow and the stranger the Sannin would never know who she was. She shouldn't care who died or who lived, it was not her choice. She couldn't care, she had seen to many deaths to many fights, to much blood. She did care that was the unthinkable and not understandable, the implausible ideal. She wanted both of them to live, the tiger she wanted to live because she wanted to torture him later on. How dare he think about mating? Was that all men thought about? She did care for the man beside her. His broken body she had healed again and again, but he was a ninja. What was wrong with her. She watched as Kakashi healed his hurt pride. She waited for Line to awake. She sat by the tigers huge sides. The stranger watched all with an amused eye and waited.
The sun began to set. Line woke up to his beloved female beside him stroking his head. He purred (that sounded more like a rumble of thunder) and she patted his head and then looked over at Kakashi and the stranger. They were sitting together talking over some Jerky. She wondered what they were talking about. The fire burned low she had kept it lit all day. She waited until it was dark. To dark to see much detail or color. She got up and the men stopped talking. She took her water skin and poured it onto the fire, immediately dousing the fire and the light. "Hey what was that for" said the Sannin. She suddenly didn't like him or his saucy attitude. He had been trying to talk to her all day.
She let the fire cool and then began to pick out all the still large branches and threw them away. That left a good sized pile of soot and ash. "Perfect" she muttered. She took of her bandanna letting her hair fall down into her shoulders. Kakashi watched with fascination as the girl picked up a fist full of ash and then began to rub it into her hair. But she was careful not to get it on her face. He concluded her action and categorized them as genius. She was dying her hair black with wet soot. It was inventive and it was a good disguise. The Sannin stood up and said in a defeated voice "I have tried everything I know to get to you, but you have resisted all my advances thanks for the dinner and good luck in whatever you are doing." He turned around in the dark and proceeded to walk into a tree. Sannin rubbed his hand furiously on his head to try and stanch the pain, and the embarrassment. She was finished and walked up to him. She said in the most maternal voice she could "Want me to kiss it to make it better pervert"
He perked up and smiled "Well if it's what you want" She took down her mask thankfully because it was dark no one could see her face very clearly. "You should have just asked Frog Hermit" she said playfully. He stuttered in surprise "How did you?" She kissed him right on the lips. (It was not her first time she had lip locked and it most certainly would not be the last.) He was passionate she'd give him that. He put his arm around her and everything. They stopped at the same time. She licked her lips. He was breathless (He would stick to peeking for the rest of his life no more kissing) She gently gave him a nudge into the woods "Bye" she said as if nothing had happened. She loved doing that acting like she could play with guys as much as they play with girls. He jumped into a tree and ran off as if in fright.
She spit onto the ground in disgust. "The sooner I get into town the sooner I wash the ash, the grime, and now the saliva off of my face" She turned around Line and Kakashi were both staring at her. She ignored Line he wouldn't be interested in kissing she was slightly annoyed and a bit revolted. "What you want some too Kakashi" she picked up her back pack and beckoned to Line "We will sleep a little away from the fire" Kakashi still stared dumbly at her. She stopped "Coming?" he shook himself. The girl was creepy and so well collected. He followed again wondering if he would regret dealing with the assassin.