chap 3. i don't own anything but my OCs and this plot line.
Chapter 3: Adoption
Hotaru woke up to see she was curled in a planet of warm and safety. She blinked and saw the young man with the red fangs on his cheeks, the young woman with the same eyes she have, and the large white dog that a voice inside her told her was an elder resting around her. She crawled over to the young woman and nestled into her arms.
Natsuhi smiled when she saw Hotaru sleeping in her arms when she woke up. Carefully she got up to see Kiba sitting at the table thinking and drinking.
"Morning." She said sitting down and poured herself some tea.
"Morning." He returned with a smile. "I think we should find the chief and ask to take Hotaru and find out more information about her."
Natsuhi nodded. "I've got a bad feeling about her parentage."
"What do you mean?"
"Her mother died which meant she wasn't Ayame. Her father had to be Ayame. That raised the next question who is he and why didn't he take responsibility for his own child. I feel there is much more to the situation."
"Agreed but we need more information before we have a concise conclusion."
"But we can't stay here for long. The longer we stay, the more likely that the Akatsuki will find out about her. We need to leave as soon as possible."
"Let's just stay a few more days and see how the situation. It would draw a lot of attention if we came and took the girl."
Natsuhi thought about it. "Let's do it that way but we can't let her out of our sight. You go find information while I'll get some clothes and food for her." Kiba nodded in agreement.
Hotaru grabbed her bear when she woke up alone. "It was a dream." She whimpered as tears formed.
When they began to fall, the door slid open to reveal the same young woman holding a folded bundle of clothes in her arms with a tray of food. She gasped when she saw the tears. She set her burden down and took Hotaru's face in her hands. "Hotaru! Why are you crying?" she asked.
Wiping her tears she whimpered, "I woke up alone and thought I dreamed you up!"
Natsuhi's heart went out to the little girl as she took her into her arms. "Dear Hotaru what have you live through? I'm here for you. I just went out to get you some clothes and food."
She pointed to the bundle she set down. There was hot soup and bread and a brand new set of clothes.
"Come, let's get you washed and we'll get food into your body ok?"
"Miss, why are you so nice to me? I'm an outcast. Everyone hates me and they ignore me." Hotaru asked as she splashed in the tub.
"You can call me Natsuhi, Hotaru. I'm nice to you because no one deserve to be ignored. I want to help you control your powers. Do you trust me?"
"Natsuhi." She said as she started to tear up again. "A voice inside me told me to trust you and the dog man."
"You and I are a lot like." Natsuhi said. "I have the same powers." She used a little Ket Tan and raised her out of the tub. Hotaru started when she saw Natsuhi's purple eyes turned red like hers does.
"You and I are the same!"
"Yes but that power must be train or you could destroy everything that you love. Do you understand me? You must not tell anyone about your power or that voice in you. Don't tell others or else harm might come and I might not be enough to protect you."
"I understand."
"Good. I think you are clean." Natsuhi helped Hotaru into her new clothes, a simple purple dress with lilacs and matching purple ribbons for her hair. Natsuhi pulled her short hair into pigtails with the purple ribbons.
Kiba walked into the room as Natsuhi was eating with a clean and pretty Hotaru. "I'm back." He plopped down next to Natsuhi and Akamaru sat next Hotaru who accept the sniff and lick with giggles.
"Hotaru, my name is Inuzuka Kiba and that is my dog Akamaru. You can call Kiba." He said drinking the tea while regarding the little girl across from him with interest.
"Ok, Kiba." She said. "When do we leave?"
Kiba gave Natsuhi a look. "I told her we were taking her away from here." Natsuhi explained.
"I won't tell others." Hotaru told Kiba proudly.
Kiba nodded. "We won't leave for a few days. The current chief here said the only want for Hotaru to leave to this town is through adoption."
"A…a…adoption?" Hotaru asked eyes full of hope.
"Yes. The only way you can come with us is if one of us adopt you." Kiba said. Natsuhi rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"All right, let's go see the man." Natsuhi said.
The chief, a young man in his late twenties with dark brown hair and a tall muscular frame, smiled when they entered.
"I understand you want to take Hotaru away?" At Kiba's nod, he asked, "Where do you intend to take her?"
"We intend to take her to our aunt's house in the next port city." Kiba answered.
"We?" He asked.
"He means me, sir." Natsuhi said stepping in with Hotaru hiding behind her.
The chief stood out of his chair and stared at Natsuhi. He stuttered, "Oh…wow…um…my name Chief and I'm the Masato of this town. How do you between, you do?" he said. "I mean I'm Michi Masato, the chief of this town, how do you do?"
Natsuhi gave him a warm smile (Kiba glared daggers at the man) and said, "I'm well, thank you Masato-sama."
He pushed Kiba out the way and made a grab for her hands. He brought both of them to his lips (If looks could kill, Kiba would have killed the chief). "Don't be so formal. It's just Masato. You don't need to thank me. You are extraordinarily beautiful. Allow me to escort you around town?"
Natsuhi giggled as Kiba fumed and Akamaru bristled. "Thank you for the compliment but I already an escort and he does a most wonderful job." Natsuhi tactfully declined by taking her hands back to place them on a fuming Kiba who look ready to explode. "Isn't that right Kiba?" she asked.
"You mean, you two are…?" Masato asked disheartened.
"Yes." Kiba said angrily as he wrapped an arm around the petite beauty who smiled up at him just to make sure the picture was clear (also to reassure himself).
"oh."
"Masato, I want to adopt Hotaru." Natsuhi said.
"Yes. Here are the papers, please sign here." Masato said. Natsuhi signed.
"You know not many would want to adopt her. You do know her history don't you?" he asked.
"Yes but I believe I can help her. She's an amazing little girl. I think with a little help here and there, I sure she'll make a great person." Natsuhi said.
"All right. Here is all her birth papers." He said.
"Thank you." Kiba said as he tucked them into an inner pocket of his black jacket.
"Kiba, dear, I would like to have a small word with him." Natsuhi said. Kiba nodded and walked out with Akamaru following behind him (Hotaru was riding on him).
When they left, Natsuhi turned and looked at him straight in the eyes. "I'm sorry but you can't remember." She formed a few hand signs and looked at him, her eyes glowing red.
"YOU'RE JUST LIKE THAT FREAK!" he said.
Natsuhi ignore him as she erased all the memories of Hotaru. Once she was done, she turned and looked out the windows and erased the memories of all the other villagers. She didn't want them hurt if they didn't know about Hotaru. She didn't want the Akatsuki after them. Besides they didn't like her anyways, if she erase their memories they will live their lives without worrying about it.
She closed the door when she left. Kiba looked at her questioningly. She nodded once before taking Hotaru in her arms. "What should I call you now?" she asked.
"I think you call still me by my name, Hotaru." She cuddled the little girl to her. Kiba steered them both out waving to a few people.
"They're not ignoring me!" Hotaru whispered when a man commented on what a cute little girl she was.
"We will explain later, dear." Natsuhi replied.
"Have a safe journey!" the guard at the gate said. "What a cute little girl!"
"Thank you. We will!" Kiba said as they walked into the forest.
They walked a way more before Kiba said, "I think this far enough."
"Why didn't they ignore me?" Hotaru asked from the safety of Natsuhi's arms.
"Because they don't remember you in that way. They think we are a new family that had just stopped for a short rest. We can't have them revealing anything about you for your safety and theirs. It's best if they think you didn't exist so they don't tell people who want to harm you about you."
"Oh. You can do that, Natsuhi?" she asked.
"Yes. When you can control your powers, a lot of doors are opened." Natsuhi said.
"Now that we are out this far, I can tell you more. Natsuhi and I are both ninja from the leaf village, Konoha." Kiba told her as he put on his forehead protector. "See?"
"Does that mean I can be a ninja as well?" her eyes went wide.
"Yes but we first must return to the village." Natsuhi said. She handed Hotaru to Kiba and replaced her ribbon with the one that had the leaf symbol on it.
"You're going to ride with me. The quicker we get back, the safer it is for you." Kiba said as he climbed on Akamaru's back with Hotaru seated in front of him.
"Let's go." Natsuhi said and they leapt into the trees going as fast as they can.
Half way, Hotaru fell asleep. They took a quick break where Hotaru was switch as she strapped to the front of Natsuhi body. "We'll be there really soon if we could go through the night." She said.
"No, we will set up camp because we would useless if we deplete our energy." Kiba said wisely. "Natsuhi, we'll find a cave to rest for the night. It is already getting dark. Besides we'll reach Konoha. It's not going anywhere."
"I suppose so." She said making sure the straps were secured.
"Let's go then."