Kakashi flickered into Chiisai's bedroom and cursed under his breath when he found it to be empty. How she had evaded him was beyond him. The covers were thrown aside, her pajamas scattered as if she had been moving while changing. He surveyed the apartment and only noticed a book missing from her bookshelf. One note lay on the coffee table, waiting for him.
'If you see me in your dreams again, kill me. Your Sharingan works in the dream world. Use it to your advantage. I'm going to fix this. And I'm sorry.'
Before Kakashi could take in her words, he heard the cracking of glass. He jumped to the back of the room, avoiding the ninja who had just kicked in the window.
It was an ANBU. Kakashi twisted from his reach as the two fought. But the room was small, and little could be done to maneuver. However, that didn't stop the copy ninja from using it to his advantage. The opponent was sloppy, as if he were drunk. Within seconds, Kakashi had the ANBU defeated.
Kakashi crouched down, coming eye level with the masked man. "Who sent you?"
The man didn't reply, didn't even flinch. Kakashi took hold of the mask, revealing the face of his attacker.
His eyes were half opened, but the man was sound asleep.
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A cheesy romance novel lay in Chiisai's hands, shielding her face from passerby's. Tori crouched beside her, eyes trained on a butterfly a few feet away.
Her shoes sat next to her, her attempt on drying them though the sun hid behind the clouds. It rained when she left, which was a good thing if anyone searched for her. Her scent would be harder to find now, but still traceable. Kakashi would probably find her soon, and then she'd have a lot of explaining to do. Her plan at first had been to flee the village, but realistically that wouldn't solve anything- she'd still be a danger to whoever was around her. She needed answers, but the only ones who could truly help were long gone. The Hokage needed to know how bad it could get, but could she really trust her? And Kakashi was a shinobi, she couldn't trust his motivations. But why did her chest clench at the thought of him?
Noticing a large group of people coming, Chiisai instinctively shoved the book closer to her face. This was worse than buying groceries on a busy day. Some days weren't so bad, like the day she met Gai and Kakashi. But today wasn't a good day, and she wasn't in a great mood either- especially since someone had just sat on the other side of the bench.
She glanced at the person. The man caught her eye and gave her a quick smile. Chiisai shoved her face back into the book, trying to remember his face. Brown hair, almond black eyes, weird headband helmet.
The man cocked his head to the side and said, "I've never seen someone whose eyes are centimeters away from a text. Do you normally read like that?" He seemed like a calm and collected individual, his body posture relaxed. He might be alright to socialize with.
"Oh, no! My face seems to get closer the more interesting the book is." She smiled.
His hand gestured to the novel. "Your book looks like something my senpai would read."
"Well," she leaned slightly towards him, "If your senpai likes romance, then I guess he'd like this."
He nodded. "You seem very passionate about books."
"I could read any genre for hours."
He gave her a short laugh. "Oh? Have you read any ones on architecture?"
His words triggered something in her mind, of children in tubes and wood sprouting from skin. She met his eye again, recognizing his face. Soon, his dreams spilled into her mind of skin hardening to bark and limbs twisting into trees. "Not recently," she said slowly. "Is that what you read?"
"Hai. I mostly read books about architecture in my spare time."
She swallowed, trying to stop her mind from pouring out images of his past. "You must go to the library a lot then," her words were slow.
"Yes." He looked at her quizzically.
"Chiisai!"
They both turned to the sound.
The corners of Chiisai's lips turned up as she said, "Oh, hey Koshuu."
He scratched the back of his head. "How's your concussion? I didn't expect you to be out and about so soon."
She laid the book back down in her lap and replied, "Everything's pretty good."
"That's great! Listen, I was wondering if we could go for a walk and talk about some things, if you don't mind. Where's Kakashi?"
"Um, I'm not sure where he is. But yeah, I'm not doing anything." She looked back at the ninja, who currently pretended not to overhear their conversation. "I'm sorry. It was nice talking to you, Tenzo."
He frowned as she hurriedly slipped her shoes back on. "Maybe I'll see you at the library sometime." Gods, what was she doing? She needed to get help, to tell someone that her own mind was about to destroy the village.
Chiisai nodded at Tenzo before falling in step with Koshuu. "Let's head toward the middle of town," she said. "I need to stop somewhere." She would have to confront the Hokage. Chiisai cursed herself at her stupidity, at her lack of trust. She shouldn't have ran from Farm Boy. But what would she have said if she faced him, apologize for stabbing him?
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"What?!" Her fist slammed into the wood, rattling the desk violently. Pakkun sat before Lady Tsunade, whose face reflected her fury. In her other hand held the note Chiisai had written to Kakashi. "I don't have time for this!"
"Kakashi's tracking her as we speak."
The door flew open as Shizune rushed in. "Lady Tsunade!"
"What now?!"
"The ninja in custody won't wake up, and Inoichi is still trying to find information. There have also been reports of other citizens unable to wake up, and the hospital is filling at an alarming rate."
"Dammit, what the hell is going on? Without Chiisai, we have nothing." She pounded the desk again, breaking it in half. "And get Izumo and Kotetsu, I need a new desk!"
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"I guess you don't have an umbrella either, huh," Chiisai said as the rain came pouring down. Tori hissed up at the sky, but Chiisai hurriedly hid him inside her jacket. He relaxed under her grip and nestled into the fabric.
"C'mon! Let's get out of this weather!" Koshuu grabbed her arm, pulling her with him.
Their feet sloshed against the mud as Koshuu led her down the street of old houses. An abandoned warehouse came in to view. She followed him inside the building, its windows broken. They left the door open, letting what little light they could in to the vast room.
"Whoa, is this abandoned?" Her voice echoed off the walls.
"Yeah, I used to come here as a kid with my friends. It shut down after the Kyuubi attack. Not the cleanest place, but we're out of the rain."
"Agreed." Tori peaked out of her jacket, his eye seemingly glowing in the shadows. With a smile, she pick him up, kissed his damp fur, and sat him on the ground. He brushed up against her leg as she shrugged off the soaked jacket. Her shadow elongated as she stood inside the doorway.
"I hope you don't get sick again." He stood a meter across from her, his hands jammed into his pockets.
"As long as I'm not on those meds." Gods, those drugs had made her so groggy, she could barely remember anything.
"You were very entertaining on them," Koshuu offered. He smiled down at her in the darkness and added, "I specifically remember you confessing you were desperately in love with me."
"Psh." She slapped his shoulder and replied, "Nice try."
"One day you'll say it," Koshuu smiled down at her. He lifted his hand up, his finger catching the water dripping off her nose. "You're going to be sick again with this rain."
"I'm fine," she said. Chiisai hesitated as Koshuu leaned closer. The rain pitter pattered against the tin roof, and she turned her head to look for Tori to distract herself. He would never run away, but having him out here had her worried. But Tori only sat in a corner, cleaning his fur.
"You know, you were saying some pretty weird things the other day. Dreams, nightmares- it was all very interesting."
She froze, but quickly tried to recover from shock. "Oh…I did? I must have really been out of it. Kakashi was telling me the exact same thing yesterday," she replied with a hesitant laugh.
He didn't laugh with her. Instead, he slammed the door close, and Chiisai suddenly took a step back.
Fear crept through her then, making her heart beat faster. She no longer heard the rain, or smelled the dampness in the air. All she felt was his hand now squeezing her wrist. His voice darkened as he said, "So, let's talk about you and Kakashi."
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Kakashi faced Izumo and Kotetsu, two chunin who never woke up this morning. He thought maybe his attackers had been under a genjutsu as Chiisai had said, but breaking it had failed. Whoever was behind this must have had enough practice, because these two were more precise with their attacks. Either Chiisai had been kidnapped and was asleep, or last night had been enough for the creature to seep out into the dream world.
The two charged from each side, both yielding weapons. Kakashi knew this assault and quickly used a substitution. He needed to immobilize them without hurting them, since knocking them unconscious had proved unsuccessful.
Suddenly, as Kakashi was fighting one, he noticed a wooden beam bending towards him. The jonin jumped out of the way as the wood wove itself around Kotetsu. Izumo was quickly immobilized too as a ninja landed beside Kakashi.
"Thanks, Tenzo."
"Why were they attacking you?"
"They're helping in one of Gai's challenges," he lied. Kakashi bent down in front of Izumo, slapping the side of his cheek. But the ninja remained in his dream state. The white-haired ninja straightened, shaking his head.
"You seem stressed, senpai. What kind of challenge is this?"
"Eh, it's nothing." He raised his head up to the sky. "The rain's washing away her scent."
Tenzo stretched his arm and flexed his hand. "Her? Speaking of 'her,' I met a girl that reminded me of you. She had your taste in books. Strange, really."
Kakashi was about to dismiss the conversation, getting tired of his comrade's match making suggestions. He stopped on hearing books, his eye now focused. "What did she look like?"
Tenzo placed a hand on his chin. "She was small, had a baggy jacket on. Long brown hair. The man with her mentioned you." He paused before adding, "And she somehow knew my name."
Kakashi placed his hands on his comrade's shoulders, startling the ninja. His senpai's eyebrow was furrowed, his eye threatening. His voice was hard as he demanded, "Which way did they go?"
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"What are you doing?" She tried to control her voice, to stay calm. Six Paths, she was an idiot.
"You and Kakashi. How well do you know each other?" His tone was hard.
"He's just a ninja who t-took care of me. We barely know each other."
"You spent at least a week together and you barely know him?"
"I had a concussion and was sick. What did you expect?" She tried to sound confident, but past fears kept creeping up, images of her father's strong grip around her wrists, leaving bruises that lasted for days.
"Are you sure he wasn't just using you?"
"You're hurting me." Her voice hardened as tried to yank away, but he adjusted his grip, pulling her to him..
A hint of a smile stretched across his face. He said, "I've never heard you act like a damsel, Chiisai. Are you playing to his wants?" He released her with a jerk, making her fall to the ground. His voice became distant, his footsteps echoing as he walked away. "Letting a ninja in your home wasn't smart, Chiisai. Remember what I told you? You're never supposed to trust a ninja." His words resonated throughout the room, and Chiisai was left frozen in fear.
No, she felt that grip and heard that disappointed tone many times before. Chiisai shook her head, not believing her own thoughts. She knew the extent of her abilities, of what it could do- like control people from within their own mind. And this wasn't Koshuu, not the Koshuu she had spend three years working with. Only one person had told not to trust a ninja though, no matter how much she tried to deny it.
Before she could blink, her ears caught the sound of a shrill hiss. Tori attacked Koshuu, the sounds of their struggle echoed off the bare walls. Chiisai got to her feet and pushed into Koshuu. He grabbed a fist full of her hair and yanked her back, forcing a cry from her lips as she fell.
Then she heard a clink of metal. The room was so dark, and she could make out nothing. "Tori!" She got up again despite her knee's protest and sprinted towards him. Shit shit shit she needed to find them before anything happened. She couldn't lose Tori, she couldn't-
But then there came a clear animal cry of pain. There was silence now, all except Chiisai's ragged breaths.
"Tori?" Her voice was a whimper, her heart pounding in her chest. She needed Tori. He was the only stable thing in her life, the only thing that kept her sane over the years. She remembered the first time she saw him in her friend's hands, barely sixth months old. He was the only thing he had of her past, the one good thing that had stayed. Tears stained the corner of her eyes as she tried to swallow. This wasn't happening. This was a dream, this had to be. Tori would wake her up soon. This couldn't be real.
She found herself sprinting toward Koshuu, her anger spurring her on. He turned as she slammed into him, knocking him off his feet. The palm of her hand slammed into the side of his face, and her knee dug into his groin. Koshuu grunted, and for a moment, it was quiet.
"Damn it, Chiisai, why the hell did you do that for?" His voice broke through, and Chiisai sighed with relief at his normal tone.
"Don't scare me like that," she said. "Oh gods, this isn't happening." She rose and stepped away from him, her eyes searching for her cat. "Tori? Tori, where are you?"
There wasn't a response, and Chiisai's eyes immediately scanned for a small mass, of any shadow that was darker than the others. "Please no. Tori, I need you to come. Please, Tori. TORI?"
Tears spilled from the corners of her eyes, a lump swelling in her throat. But then there was pain, not the sinking in her heart, but the kind that pierces skin and radiates through the muscle. Warmth spread across her back, and she staggered forward, her hand reaching for her lower back. It was warm and wet, and Chiisai's breath caught in her throat as Koshuu's voice whispered in her ear.
"You've gotten weak, Chiisai. And all this time I've gotten stronger by sucking up your power that's been seeping through the cracks. If only you had learned to control your powers, maybe this wouldn't be happening," his voice was harsh, his tone mocking. "Soon," he shoved her to the ground, "You won't know the difference between dreams and reality. You'll be lost, and I'll be here to take what should have been mine." His face was close to hers now, his breath grazing her neck. "I'll be able to avenge mine and your mother's death, my small crow."
Her black eyes were wide with terror, tears streaming down her face. "This. This isn't real."
There was a short laugh, a small rumble emanating from Koshuu's chest. "You never did know reality, did you?"
She felt his hand digging into her scalp, shoving her face forward. Her tears flew back, her body limp and mind consumed with guilt. If this was real, then she deserved this.
The room suddenly lightened, as if the sun had found a way into the room two seconds too late. She saw the cement floor and not too far ahead, Tori lying in a bloody heap.
She deserved this, she told herself.
Then she hit the ground.