"We need to explain how things in the Neko world work," Masaru said while leaning back slightly. Kakashi looked around at the large table, surrounded by about a dozen people he didn't know, but they looked to be all Jonin proctors. Kakashi was slightly up fronted by the Shinobi that were in the room, who all seemed to be slightly cold, but he had no idea how serious the subject of the matter was.
"Explain away," Kakashi said serenely.
"The Chunin exams are made up of three grueling tasks," Masaru explained while resting his folded hands in front of his face, "The second one is taking place as we speak, and the last one is a battle, much like your Chunin exams, only one task short. Usually after a Genin makes Chunin, they under go the average Chunin lifestyle. For your student…," Masaru looked at the arranged proctors who stared back grimly. Kakashi was slightly confused. Had he done something wrong?
"…Is there something wrong with Kira?" Kakashi asked calmly, though his tone of voice didn't effect what he was feeling right now. Masaru sighed.
"Kira was brought up in a different world than this," Masaru shook his head, "She didn't have the proper teachings in the Neko Academy here in Kaze. Obviously, that isn't her fault, but it does impact her life greatly. There are certain things at the Neko Academy that you cannot teach them. For instance, a regular Neko student would start at the Academy when they were seven and stay until the age of nine, when they would enter the Chunin exams a year or two later. However, for you student, she was supposed to receive special training until Chunin exams at the age of five. Tell me, why didn't this happen sooner?" Masaru sounded somewhat aggravated at this news. Kakashi felt his tone change as he explained in a controlled voice, "No one knew who she was until about nine months ago. She needed a skilled Jonin to teach her high enough skills so that she would be at the appropriate level she needed to be at in her case."
"What skills did you teach her?" a proctor asked, staring at Kakashi through his shockingly blonde hair and intense blue eyes.
"Enough so that she would qualify to be Jonin," Kakashi said.
"Even if it is enough, she doesn't have the Neko attacks that she needs to be taught," Masaru explained, "There are bite techniques, claw techniques, stealth and climbing skills, special undercover maneuvers, and many other things that the average Shinobi have never heard of, and she hadn't learned any of them."
"…Is that so?" Kakashi lifted his head in surprise. No one had ever told him this.
"If I may step in, Masaru-san," a voice said. Kakashi turned to see Atari shuffling a pile of papers on the table, "But it says here that she has learned the basic wind techniques, such as Dai-Kamaitachi no Jutsu, Cyclone Scythe Technique, and Kirikiri-Mai, Blade dance." Masaru looked at Kakashi.
"Is this true?" he asked softly.
Kakashi smirked.
"I taught her much more than that. Look at the file." Atari, slightly surprised, scanned the paper. As his eyes moved down the paper, he looked up with wide eyes.
"You taught her that?" he asked in a shocked voice.
"Yep," Kakashi shrugged proudly, "It took a few tries, since she's so young, but she actually got it pretty quick for someone her age. In fact, she's almost mastered it as good as me." The proctors stared at the piece of paper and looked towards the Chief Examiner, waiting for an answer. Masaru looked at Kakashi.
"That may be the case," Masaru said, "But although she has learned some out of text attacks and some useful defenses, she needs to learn the Neko techniques. Without them, she can't function." The room was silent as Masaru sighed. Kakashi looked past him to where there was a giant window. Through the window, he could see the sky darkening as night approached. The trees had become dark shadows; not even a breeze disturbing a single leaf. Kakashi stared off at the trees.
"It's getting late," Masaru suddenly said quietly, noticing Kakashi's stare as he turned to him. Kakashi thought about Kira and where she might be at the moment. He winced when he thought about the hidden Jonin, and how many arrows wounds she would emerge with.
"How much do you want to bet that she comes back with out a scratch?" Masaru remarked coldly to his companions. Kakashi didn't remark. He only hoped that she was all right.
As night fell, Kira sniffed the air quietly. There was no rain coming; no distractions. She just had to make it to that tower. Slowly, she slunk her body across a particularly large tree branch. It was darker now, but with her eyes, she could see everything. Night birds squawked loudly, bugs hummed in the air, and frogs in a nearby bog croaked. The sounds were somewhat distracting, but Kira only flicked her ears and held her breath.
"I have to concentrate," she whispered to herself quietly, "One slip up and I'll be regretting it." The silver bell dangled below her, threatening to chime at the slightest movement, but with the way that Kira slunk, her body almost touching the bark as she most swiftly and silently, the bell only twitched.
Suddenly, a soft chime of a bell rang out somewhere. Kyra gasped as she heard the hissing of an arrow and the muffled cry of one of her teammates. There was a crashing of branches as she could hear her tumble through the leaves, falling on the ground. Kira winced, releasing her breath. She felt herself quake in fear as she tried to take another step forward.
"Hey, you okay?" a soft voice said. Kira turned to see Akemi's green eyes smiling at her.
"Yeah," Kyra nodded, wiping a bit of dirt off of her face, "Come on, we don't have time to waste."
"You got that right," Akemi whispered, taking a step forward from her crouching position. The air was actually somewhat humid, making the trip even more unbearable. Kyra licked her dry mouth, hoping to get there soon so she could get a drink of water. The bark was also somewhat soggy from a previous rainfall, making it slippery.
"Just concentrate on not moving your front as much," Kira whispered as she crawled further, "If you do, you might shake the bell."
Just as Kira finished her sentence, she heard Akemi's foot sleep off of the wet tree branch, the bell ringing out in protest.
"Akemi!" Kira whispered in fear as Akemi struggled to gain balance. In an instant, an arrow shot through the air and stung into Akemi's thigh. Akemi yelp, wincing in pain and holding the arrow.
"Akemi!" Kira whispered as quietly as she could, slinking over to her friend.
"Go," Akemi whispered, tears pouring from her eyes, "Go, I can handle this. You need to get to that tower."
"I'm not leaving," Kira whispered shakily, staring at the arrow in Akemi's thigh as it trickled blood, "I won't leave a comrade."
"Don't you realize what will happen if you don't make it?" Akemi suddenly hissed, her ears folded back, "Don't you know who you are?"
Kira felt her eyes close tight. She knew who she was. With each passing day so far, with each person that she met, bowing to her greatness and staring at her, she had grown to hate the person people wanted her to be. She didn't want to be the Kaze Koneko. She wanted to be Kira.
Kira suddenly grabbed Akemi's arm, her red eyes boring into Akemi's green ones, "You have no idea you I am," she whispered, "And I am helping you." Akemi shivered slightly at the glint in Kira's eyes, and the unusual domination in Kira's tone, but only blinked back tears and nodded.
"So, what do you suggest we do?"
Kakashi waited for Masaru's answer. He only stared at the papers in front of him quietly. The room was silent as the proctors awaited Masaru's orders.
"This girl," Masaru said quietly, picking up a file laid out before him, "She's remarkable. These attacks you taught her will help her, there's no doubt about that. But she needs to be with her own kind. Neko are already powerful enough, but to give them exceptional wind powers," Masaru shook his head, "Makes her the ultimate weapon." Kakashi stared back in slight surprise. He had no idea his student was called an "ultimate weapon". Masaru sighed heavily, his cold eyes meeting Kakashi's.
"After the exam, we were planning on giving her over to the leader of Kaze for special training, until she is ten. Then we will her to the Neko academy for the standard three years, where she will then be qualified to graduate to Jonin. Then she will spend a year at the Geisha school."
"Geisha school?" Kakashi asked.
"Neko society highly praises the use of seduction technique, so a year there is vital," Masaru explained, "At the age of fourteen, she can officially begin her missions with a Jonin cell, or, quite possibly, the Suna ANBU. I'm sure you've seen the letter of request they sent us." The table of proctors nodded silently. Kakashi waited for Masaru to finish the sentence, but Masaru only nodded as well.
"Excuse me," Kakashi suddenly said, "But, I will get to oversee her, right?"
Masaru turned to Kakashi.
"I'm afraid that's out of the question," Masaru said. Kakashi stared in shock.
"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked in surprise, "I am, after all, her only trainer. You can't expect her to suddenly start trusting a new one."
"She'll have to," Masaru said coldly, "We thank you for all you have done, but if we knew that the Kazekage was giving her a trainer that didn't teach the Neko ways, than we would have reconsidered your position." Kakashi felt his eyes narrow as she stared around the table of blank faces.
"Reconsider?" Kakashi asked quietly, equally as coldly, "I was assigned this prestigious student because of my ranking. Are you saying I'm not qualified?"
"Actually, yes, we are," Masaru said plainly. Kakashi looked towards Akira, who only nodded apologetically. Suddenly, Kakashi stood up.
"This is insanity!" Kakashi suddenly yelled, "You expect her to just forget about me? We're a team! I can't just let her go off with some stranger to teach her!"
"Stand down, Kakashi!" Masaru barked loudly, standing up as well. Kakashi glared back at Masaru. The room fell silent as proctors watched in amazement.
"She is not your student anymore," Masaru growled, his dark eyes glaring back at Kakashi's, "This kid doesn't stand a chance with you in her future. As Chief Examiner, and by orders of the leader of Kaze and the Kazekage, you have been ordered to go back to Konoha by the time the Chunin exams are over." Kakashi felt his hands grip the table, turning his knuckles white as Masaru suddenly snarled, "You can't hold onto her anymore. She won't survive with you."
Kakashi wanted to scream back at him that it was none of their business, that she had the right to choose what she should do with her life. But there was no denying it. Kira didn't need him anymore. She needed to be with her own kind, to learn the Neko ways.
He couldn't hold onto her forever. She would be better off with out him.
"Okay, I get it," Kakashi said quietly, "I'll leave after the Chunin exams."
"Thank you," Masaru said quietly, "We want to thank you for all you have taught her." Kakashi was silent, staring down quietly. The proctors stared questionably at the Jonin, until Kakashi said quietly, "It… was an honor to teach her. Please tell her that."
"We will," Masaru said quietly, looking out the window, "And if I'm not mistaken, the sun's about to rise. We better get to the front of the gate. There were Jonin at the tower who escorted them back to the front gate." Masaru looked at Kakashi, a slight smirk on his face.
"You might as well come; it would be a good chance to see how our Kaze Koneko did." Kakashi stayed silent and only nodded, following the proctors out the door.
"Yes," he said quietly, "Our."