Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and Kagemaru belongs to M.T.
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-Chapter 4-
Kagemaru stared as Hikaru laughed with Amaya. She noticed he was looking at her and blinked.
"What?"
"What's with the sudden change of personalities?" he asked.
Hikaru tilted her head to one side. "What do you mean?"
"Never mind."
Hikaru shrugged.
Amaya looked back at them as they leaped through the trees. "Sound ninja at two and ten o'clock."
They landed in a clearing to find hundreds of Sound ninja waiting for them.
"So. These must be the shinobi who attacked the village," Hikaru observed quietly. Amaya and Kagemaru nodded.
One of the shinobi stepped forward. He had a mask on so his features couldn't be seen.
"So you are the ones Konoha sends to defeat the mighty Sound ninja. A handful of children! How pathetic! We shall crush you, slowly and painfully!"
Hikaru's eyes suddenly widened. Before anyone else could react, she darted toward Kagemaru, snatched the unseen kunai out of the air behind him, spun, and flung it back in the direction of the attacker.
A cry was heard and another masked figure dropped to the ground, clutching his shoulder.
"Don't underestimate us 'children'," Hikaru growled.
Before the shinobi could do anything, Hikaru, Kagemaru, and Amaya darted out, making quick work of the clones and the ninja.
Amaya yanked the knot in the rope securing the unconscious Sound ninja to a thick tree a final time.
"Well that was disappointingly simple," she retorted, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
"Yes, too simple," Hikaru murmured, stroking her chin.
"Freak." Amaya grinned.
Hikaru looked up. "What?"
Amaya shrugged. "You're a freak."
Hikaru sighed. "Amaya, Amaya, Amaya."
"What?"
"Pet the sheep," Hikaru intoned sagely, stroking the air in front of her.
"Oh, right. The sheep." Amaya, too, began petting the air.
"I'm confused," Kagemaru announced, shaking his head.
"The sheep," Hikaru explained, "represents peace. We came to that conclusion long ago. By petting the sheep, we bring the peace into ourselves, achieving peace of body, peace of mind, and also peace of spirit. If we spread the word, and more people begin petting the sheep, perhaps the world will cease its endless violence."
"That makes no sense."
"You're just scared," Amaya teased.
"Are not."
"Put your hand out, like so," Hikaru instructed. She held her hand out in front of her, palm down.
Kagemaru did the same.
"Now, gently stroke. Gently, gently. Don't injure the sheep." Hikaru began stroking the air.
Kagemaru did, too.
"Can the sheep feel pain?" he asked after a minute.
"No," Amaya answered.
"So why do we have to pet gently?"
"Uh…" Amaya couldn't think of an answer.
"Out of respect," Hikaru answered, nodding. "Respect for the sheep."
"Uh…sure." Kagemaru sweat-dropped, still petting the sheep.
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A little while later, they were leaping through the trees again.
"Pet the sheep," Kagemaru muttered, shaking his head.
Hikaru snickered.
"So, where are you from, Kagemaru?" Amaya asked, making conversation. "Do you have any family?"
Kagemaru was silent for a while. "No, they're all dead."
"Oh." Amaya's face fell. "I'm sorry."
"Never mind." Kagemaru paused. "What about you?"
Amaya smiled sadly. "Nope. Everyone in my family is dead, too. They were killed in a raid."
"I'm sorry."
"My mother, father, and older brother were killed by Sound ninja. That's why I'm glad that the Hokage chose me to go on this mission."
Throughout this whole exchange, Hikaru had stared steadily ahead. She had heard all of this before, when she first met Amaya. Back then, the blue-eyed girl had been an emotional wreck.
Suddenly, Hikaru stopped, her arms out to either side in a sign for the other two to stop as well. They came to a halt a few branches behind her, tuning their senses to their surroundings.
Hikaru's head jerked around as she yelled to Kagemaru. "Move!"
He stared at her. "What are you-?"
"Just move!!" Hikaru slammed into him, knocking him sideways just as a kunai struck the tree trunk where his head had been only moments before. A second kunai followed it, but missed the trunk altogether. It began to spin around the tree, again and again, as if it was self-propelled. Finally, it embedded itself deep into the trunk on the other side of Hikaru's head.
The red-eyed girl cursed quietly.
Amaya blinked. "What's wrong, Karu-chan?"
"I must congratulate you, Fujiwara-san." A deep voice spoke from high up in the trees. "It seems that you've found a comrade with an extraordinary talent for sensing chakra, a rare trait indeed. My kunai, you see, are connected with an invisible strand of chakra, so your friend is rather…tied up at the moment."
Amaya glanced to where Hikaru struggled with the hidden bonds. "Who are you?"
"Fujiwara-san knows," the voice answered cryptically. "Just look at him tremble with fear!" Laughter filled the air, causing a chill to run down the blue-haired girl's spine.
Amaya looked at Kagemaru, who was indeed shaking. She couldn't see his expression, but his hands were in fists, knuckles white.
"Kagemaru, do you know who this is?"
"Yes." Kagemaru's voice shook. He looked up with hate-filled eyes. "He's the man who murdered my family! Shindo Maoki!"