"So now that we have introduced ourselves, why don't you?" Kakashi smiled at her under his mask.
Makoto cleared her throat before briefly reporting her life story. "I only know myself as Makoto or the Slave Dancer. I was a guinea pig for the Akatsuki until I blew up their place and escaped with my dearest somewhat human friend, now dead along with her companion Shin. I also have a companion, Onigami, who is a black lynx…not a panther. He can be in one of three forms; a lynx, a cheetah, or a tiger. These forms are courtesy of the Akatsuki. When I ran away from the max prison, I entered a sacred highly spiritual village where I learned how to control my newfound gifts. Somewhere along the way, Asagi ditched me to go to some place saying that she needed to find her own way to cope. Yesterday I got a letter from Tsunade about Asagi's passing. Learning this, I knew I had to dispose of Asagi's belongings else they fall into the wrong hands. I went home afterwards to discover I no longer had a home. This all has happened over a span of one month. Oh! For 17years I've lived as an experiment, but everything else happened in a month."
Makoto stood up from the circle and left; leaving no room for sadness and pain. It seemed as if grieving was a sign of weakness to her. When she was out of sight of her untrustworthy companions, she hugged Onigami's strong neck and stifled her cries, tears the only sign of suffering.
"Hey Oni? Do you want to go for a run?" Makoto said suddenly as she got in a crouching position. "I bet I can beat you this time." She smirked.
Oni licked his lips and bared his fangs mockingly. His fur bristled and began fading into different colors. The phenomenon quickly spread like poison throughout his body. He became a cheetah. He bared his teeth once more.
"Oh you son of a…" Makoto began, but shut up once Oni took it as an excuse to get a head start. "I need the handicap if either of us needs one you jerk!" She laughed and took off after him.
Team Kakashi watched as a strange creature flew past him and headed deep into the forest. Before he could even comprehend what was happening, Makoto ran past them running like the strange creature.
"Shall we wager Oni? Let's fight to the destruction of each other's souls!" Makoto shouted excitedly. "Winner gets three dragon crystals!"
Makoto panted. She was right behind him. Just a few more inches, and she would grab his tail…
"Oof." Makoto said as she fell on her butt.