"All right Kyra, are you ready?" Kakashi smiled, looking down at her. Kira stared up at him, her big ears lowered slightly by being belittled. She merely nodded, eager to see what her challenge was. Kakashi had never dealt with someone so young, so he tried to make himself seem as harmless as possible. This lesson was meant for a three student cell, but he though it would make for a good lesson with only one student.
"I have here one silver bell," he reached into his pocket and showed it to Kira. Her eyes widened, clearly fixated on the sound it made. He had caught her undivided attention now.
"Your job is to steal one from me before this timer sounds." He set a timer on a tree stump and pressed the button. He watched one of Kira's ears swivel in one direction as she heard the faint ticking.
"If you can't get one," he continued, "Then you don't get lunch." Kira's ears went back slightly. Her eyes fixated on Kakashi. He knew that now, his challenge had made her motivated. She was determined to seek out his weaknesses, making him her enemy now. Although this is exactly what the Hokage told him no to do, he felt it was necessary to see what her abilities were. It was for her own good.
Suddenly, Kira's ears shot forward and her tail bristled. Her hand shot out to which she pointed to something off in the distance.
"Aah!" she yelped, her fangs bared. Kakashi was put on full alert as he whipped around, prepared to defend his student. There was nothing to be seen or heard. As his eyes scanned the small clearing of the forest they were in, Kira snatched the bell that he had in his hand. Kakashi quickly turned around to see Kira holding the small bell in her hand. She looked up at him, smiling.
Is this a joke? Kakashi thought as Kira happily studied the sliver object. How could she take it so quickly from me? She already completed the challenge….
"Here," she smiled, handing him back the bell, "That was fun. Can we do it again?"
Kakashi gained his composure and sighed, scratching his head. He might have to put a little more effort into this.
"Okay, we'll try again," he said calmly, "And this time, I want you to go hide and try to steal it from my while my back is turned, okay?"
"Okay!" Kira smiled, wagging her tail.
"Go!" Kakashi commanded. Kira took off at an unknown rate of speed, laughing as she jumped into the forest with a rustle of leaves. Kakashi blinked.
"That was fast," he said quietly, reaching into his bag to pull out his book, "I've got a while before she can cook up some plan."
About five minuets had passed, and Kakashi had begun to wonder if Kira had run off some where. He wouldn't put it passed her; he knew that the Neko Clan members were skilled climbers and could travel faster on foot than any other ninja, so she could go very far in a short amount of time. He looked over slightly from his book to the forest surrounding him. The placid trees stood still, only their branches moving with the occasional wind. A large lake lay in front of him, rippling every now and then as water bugs perched on its surface.
Kira sat on a tree branch that was only a couple feet away from Kakashi, shielded from the sun rays. She lay on her stomach, resting her head on her arms. She studied him.
"How boring," she yawned, watching her teacher go back to reading his book, "Is he just gonna ready that book all day?" She felt her stomach growl in protest to lack of breakfast. Her mother had been confused when Kyra dashed out of the door with out breakfast.
"So that's why he didn't want me to have breakfast," Kira rested her head in her hand, swishing her tail, "Ah well, I'm hungry. Time to get that bell."
The sound of snapping twigs and branches awoke Kakashi from his peaceful reading. He snapped his attention to where the sound came from.
"Foolish," he smirked to his invisible opponent, facing the direction from which the noise came from within the brush, "How can you be a ninja when all you do is make noise?" While he waited for an answer from his opponent, he suddenly felt something push him so hard that he was thrown against a tree in front of him. The force was so hard that he barley had time to comprehend it. Struggling to regain his breath, he felt himself slump down the tree, his vision dizzy. What happened? His head throbbed when he realized that it was Kyra who had run into him from behind, pummeling him against the tree.
He quickly stood up, prepared to face her, now fully motivated by this violent move, but she was nowhere to be found. When his vision cleared, he saw no one. He scanned the forest, but could not find any sign of her. He however did see a small rock nearby the bush that he had been foolishly talking to.
"I see," Kakashi said to himself, rubbing his pounding head, "She threw a rock so I would think she was spying on me from the other side, and then ran into me, knocking the wind out of me. I can't believe I fell for such a simple trap." His anger slowly melted away as he reached inside his pocket, only to discover that Kira had taken the bell.
"What?!" Kakashi muttered in surprise, "How could she have done that without me knowing?!" It was impossible. He sure felt the impact of her charge, but had not heard her at all. What was this kid trying to pull?
"Well, better go find her," Kakashi sighed to himself, rubbing his aching back from where Kira had slammed into him. He had never been defeated before in his own challenge, and the thought shamed himself a little.
"Especially since the kid is seven years old," Kakashi muttered as he stuffed his book into his bag, "But, I guess I was given fair warning, so I got what I deserved. I should really focus on helping her, not competing with her."
"Hey hey hey! Over here, sensei!" a voice rang in his ears. Kakashi turned to see Kira perched on a tree branch in front of him, smiling and waving.
"All right, Kira," Kakashi put on a fake smile, trying not to get angry, "You completed the challenge in the space of five minuets," You little runt. "How about you come down here and we can go eat lunch?" Kira cocked her head upwards, thinking.
"Mm, nah," Kira shrugged carelessly, "I'd rather not." This is ridiculous, Kakashi thought, Why can't she just listen to me? Why does she have to be so catty? Kakashi mentally slapped himself for being so stupid.
"Come on, Kira, come down from the tree," Kakashi coaxed, holding back the annoyance in his voice.
"If you want me, you have to catch me!" Kira sang, jumping off from the branch and disappearing into the forest. Kakashi watched, speechless.
"Dammnit!" he cursed. He quickly shook off his anger when he realized how much trouble he would be in when they discovered that he had lost the last Kaze-Koneko in the world. Taking a deep breath, he quickly sprung from his position and entered the forest.
"They weren't kidding," he muttered as he landed on a large tree branch, surveying the tangle of tree trunks before him, "She is fast, and not only that, but she's got a natural complete control over her chakra so she can climb trees better than some Chunin level students can." Suddenly, his caught out of the corner of his eye something falling onto a branch. He turned to see Kira jump from a tree trunk right in front of him, landing without a sound on a branch. His mind leapt into action as he pounced for her.
"Gotcha!" he said, holding tightly onto Kira as she yelped in fright. Suddenly, there was a light pop noise and the figure disappeared in a shroud of smoke.
"What?" Kakashi said in disbelief as he looked at the empty space that he was clutching onto, "A shadow Doppler-ganger? How can she create one of those at such a young age?" He looked around the forest, wondering if the real Kira had not actually been there before at all, that after taking the bell, she had run off somewhere else?
"This is not good," Kakashi sighed, "If she gets lost, I can forget about going back to Konoha."
"Yo!" a voice chirped. Kakashi spun around to see Kira hanging from a tree branch, swinging playfully and smiling at him, "Hi Kakashi sensei! What's for lunch?"
"Get back here you little-" before Kakashi could finish his anger-induced sentence, she bounded away into the forest. Instinctively, Kakashi race after her. Weaving his way through the trees, he was a couple yards away from Kira as she lept skillfully from branch to branch.
"How can she have so much energy?" Kakashi said to himself. Suddenly, something jumped onto Kakashi's back and gripped his vest. He came to a skidding halt, reaching for a knife when he felt two hands cover his eyes.
"Gotcha!" he heard a familiar voice laugh. Before Kakashi could even lash out at the figure, it jumped off of him and bounded into the forest.
"How many of these does she have?" Kakashi panted. Before he could think of his next move, two more Doppler-gangers emerged from the brush, leaping ahead of him into the forest.
"Try'n catch us!" they sang, laughing widely as they disappeared. Kakashi sighed and shook his head.
"Well, no use chasing them," he admitted, "I let my temper get the better of me. Besides, they'll disappear soon anyway. My best bet is to start looking from where we started. Hopefully she's waiting for me there."
Once Kakashi got back to the clearing where they started, he had worked himself into an exhausted state. It wasn't trekking through the forest that was hard, but every once and a while a Doppler-ganger would pounce on Kakashi and do something like steal his throwing knives or try to pummel him into a tree. It was not like Kakashi to lose his temper, but this child seemed to make him do it better than anyone else. What was it about her that was so irritating? She didn't disobey or was disrespectful in anyway, it was merely that fact that she was running him ragged without even trying.
But once he got to the clearing, he had calmed himself down, hoping that he could just leave as soon as possible.
"If she weren't so cute, I'd have probably blown up at that kid by now," Kakashi smiled to himself. But he was soon about to find out that cuteness had nothing to do with what she did next.
Not only did Kira complete what no other student of his could, namely taking the bell, but she had gotten to her lunch at least five minuets ago and had already starting eating. Kakashi looked down at her in shock as she looked up at him while leaning against the rock where he had put their food, hoping to hide it from her. She grinned up at him, licking the crumbs of what remained of her shrimp tempura off of her mouth.
"Hey, Kakashi sensei!" she smiled, "This stuff is good! How'd you know I like shrimp?" If there was ever a time Kakashi would strike a student, it was then.
"You…you…You little insensitive brat!" Kakashi screamed down at the startled child. "You think this is just a game!? You think that you can just walk you way through this as if it were nothing!? Let me tell you something, you don't have what it takes to be a ninja! You can't take anything seriously! You can't even take your own teacher seriously! You're just a spoiled runt!"
A dead silence was omitted from the forest. Except for a few birds and the lapping water from the lake behind them, Kakashi stared down in silence at his shocked student. He could feel the heat from anger come and go from his face. Never had he yelled before like to a student; to anybody, actually. Now that he started down at his student, her big ears back, her big crimson eyes looking up at him, he realized that he was still towering over her, quivering in anger. Suddenly, Kira let out an almost inaudible sigh, her ears going limp. She turned her head away, before muttering in a sad voice, "You're mean."
Kakashi felt a sigh escape from his mouth. He felt his shoulders drop as she stared down at his student, his anger melting. What she said, even though it was so simple, was so clear. Kira turned away so that her back was to him, as she set down the lunch box. Her tail had curved its way around her legs so that it rested in her hands. She wrung it thoughtfully, before saying in a quiet voice, "I was just doing my job. Maybe you should learn to do yours."
Kakashi sighed again, rubbing his fingers through his hair wearily. This was exactly what the mission had not called for. His mission was to gain her trust in the space of at least two months, and in two days, he was already screaming at her. He looked down at his student. It was noon, and the sun was high in the sky, its hot rays glinting off of Kira's dark brown hair. He could hear Kira give a soft whimper to herself as she felt Kakashi's eyes on her. Kakashi wanted to take back everything he said, he wanted to make it all better, but there was no turning back now. It looked as though he had already failed the mission.
Taking some time to leave her by herself, Kakashi slowly walked over to the stump where he had set the timer and ate his own lunch. While doing so, he studied his student. He never realized it, but her ears and tail were a good way to read her mood. He noticed that they were now limp, which probably meant that she was upset. He couldn't believe he never realized this before. Her tail also was puffed out when he was yelling at her. Anyone could see that that was a sure sign that she as scared.
Looking back on his previous cells and previous lesson, Kakashi realized right away that even if he did tie Kira up against the wooden pole at the end, it never would have worked.
For starters, Kira could definitely untie herself from the rope. Being a cat, she could probably compress her body to make it smaller, so that she could slide her way out of the rope. Plus, he could never catch her to tie her up any way. And eating his own lunch in front of her wouldn't be any taunting gesture. Kira wouldn't care at all. She would be able to tell that he was doing that to spite her, and simply keep talking until she drove him crazy, forcing him to untie her.
She really was a different student.
But then, something clicked in Kakashi's mind. It seemed as if this lesson was not a benefit for Kira, but a benefit for himself. To gain Kira's trust, he must first be able to make a connection to her. What better way to find out more about her than to watch her in action; see how her mind works, and what skills she has? Kakashi laughed to himself quietly, quoting from the famous line that he had heard so many times, "Shinobi must read the hidden meanings within the hidden meanings."
"Uh, listen, about what you were saying," Kakashi trailed off, scratching the back of his head. Surprised, his student shot up from her crouching position by the water, where she had been washing her hands free of tempura crumbs, to meet her teacher behind her.
"Uh, what was I saying?" she asked, flicking the water off of her fingers.
"You were saying all that stuff about me not doing my job?" Kakashi looked at her. Kyra's eye flickered for a second.
"Oh," she hesitated, "Uh, listen, about that, I didn't mean it…"
"What are you talking about?" Kakashi asked, smiling, "I agree with you."
"Huh?" Kira flattened her ears slightly.
"I said I agree with you," Kakashi smiled warmly, kneeling down so that he was at eye level with her, "I never realized it, but you just may be the most important mission that I have been assigned to so far."
"Really?" Kira asked, scratching her ear, "I didn't think this was a mission or anything. I thought you were just my trainer."
"Technically, I was assigned to train you by my Hokage," Kakashi explained as simply as he could, "I was told that I would be dealing with a very different kind of student. And you are very different, Kira, but in a good way." A slight blush went across Kira's face. She never thought of different being any good.
"Ah," Kira stalled, her hand still behind her ear as she leaned back a bit, "I…don't really understand what you're saying. You mean…being different is a good thing?"
"It doesn't have to be," Kakashi said, "But what I'm saying is that you're special. Do you know why?" Kira looked at him sideways.
"Uh, 'cause I'm a cat?" she asked, holding her ears up with two hands. Kakashi laughed.
"More than that," he smiled, "You have a special power that very few Nekos have. Do you know what that is?" Kira shook her head.
"Wind," Kakashi smiled.
Kira's eyes widened; her ears perking forward.
"Yeah, doesn't everybody who lives here have that power?" she asked. Kakashi couldn't help but laugh again. Kira cocked her head, confused.
"Maybe you're a little too young to understand right now," he smiled, standing up, "But you will one day."
"I hope so," Kira sighed as she and Kakashi started back towards the village, the sun low in the sky casting a pink glow on the clouds, "All these secrets are no fun unless you have someone to share them with."