Chapter 10: (sort of a filler chapter) Enjoy
He went down on one knee and picked up her hand instead of kissing her. "Little one. Wake up." He chafed her wrist.
In the next moment, she rolled over and emptied her stomach into the grass.
"You are not very feminine," he said. he withdrew to allow her privacy for her suffering. Perhaps if he could make her angry, she would forget her discomfort. Anger chased other emotions away.
He had but a small ache behind his eyes from the strange journey, and whatever else he felt, the overwhelming feeling was exhilaration. He was home, in a place where all was familiar, where all made sense. Here-and nowhere else- he could reclaim his honor, his reason for being.
"I need a drink of water," she called out to him."
He turned around. She was sitting cross-legged, her gown tucked about her knees. Her face was almost its usual color. Wind riffled the short golden strands of hair on her forehead. She looked childlike and yet womanly at the same time.
"Come." He offered her his hand. She stared at it warily, then took it. He helped her rise, then steered her away from the cliff and up the mountain. "The village will have water, and medicine for your belly."
She trembled as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I'm feeling better, but my mouth tastes like I ate your fur coat."
He smiled. Her humor was returning. She would survive. She stumbled. He tightened his hold on her and looked down. Her tiny feet were bare.
He lifted her into his arms.
"What are you doing? I can walk. The grass is nice and soft."
"You may be able to walk, but your pace will slow me down."
"And here I thought you liked me," she said.
When she wrapped her arms about his neck, he grinned. How well she fit in his arms. Then he lost his smile. It was liking her that complicated everything... liking the taste of her mouth...
"I like all women." Her arms loosened their grip."Your presence is a complication I can do without. The Hokage will see to your care and perhaps figure out a way to send you home."
Her body tensed in his arms. "You're going to leave me here? What's the point in that?"
"I did not ask you to come."
She arched and twisted in his arms, breaking his hold. He almost dropped her. She shrieked and pushed. He let her go.
"Are you mad?" He rubbed his neck where her sculpted nails had scratched him.
"Yes. I am mad. How dare you blame me for this? I didn't want to come with you. You held my hand. It's your fault I'm here."
Kakashi stared at her for a moment. He expelled a long breath. Like it or not, he was responsible for her safety.
"We will not argue who is at fault. You should have stayed in your chamber; I should have pushed you away. Now let us proceed." He held out his arms.
"I'll walk." With her little nose pointed into the air, she stalked off through the meadow.
The trees opened and there stood Konoha. They walked quickly down the street until they were at the center town and in front of the Hokage office. "Should we knock?"
He grinned at her as he pushed open the door. He inspected the room quickly and returned to Miranda who stood at the threshold.
"The hearth is cold and the ashes swept she must be away on a mission."
"What does that mean for us?"
Kakashi forced himself to remain impassive. The last thing he expected was for the Hokage to be away from the village since it was so rare. "There is another place I can look for her. Often she has to meet other village leader at a disclosed location."
"You meant we didn't you? We can go look for her. I'm not staying here alone."
Kakashi opened his mouth and then closed it. "You are ill equipped to sustain yourself. Evan the smallest child in Konoha can snare food, choose the proper herbs, catch-"
She held up her hand. "Enough. I get it. I'm incompetent to survive in the wilderness. So that why you should take me with you."
Kakashi sighed in resignation. "We must deal with your feet before you can make even the shortest journeys." He retreated to a few doors down and Miranda followed behind him. As she came closer she had to sidestepped the flurry of objects he tossed her way.
"Ohhh." She picked up a silvery trinket. It was a chain of large links that was too long to be necklace and might instead be a woman's belt. Every other link contained what appeared to be a ruby. "This looks like it belongs in a museum-in the ancient-stuff collection. It's beautiful."
Kakashi looked over his shoulder and shrugged. "Many are grateful to Konoha ninjas."
She stirred the growing pile of tributes with her toe." Some payment."
Dusting his hands on his thighs, he rose. "Try some."
An assortment of shoes and boots lay tangled in jewelry, leather belts, daggers, and cooking utensils. A few moments later, he fitted her on a side sword, and sled her feet into a pair of slightly heeled boots.
Kakashi touched her shoulder. "How does your belly feel? I am sorry there is no water or food to offer you here at this time."
"What are we going to do? How am I going to get back to Ocean City? All I wanted to do was apologize. I felt really bad about calling you stupid. I was unkind. And now..." She paused and licked her full lips. " I see that all you said was true. This place does exist. I'm so, so sorry, and-"
"Enough. I do not need your apologies." She looked pathetically small and out of place. She was out of place, he reminded himself, as out of place as he had felt in Ocean City.
He shoved the remaining objects back into the closet. "I am leaving."
Without a backward glance, he turned and went through the doors.
"Wait for me," she called, stumbling in her haste as she followed him. "Where are we going?"
"First, to find you water. Second, we will seek out the Hokage's secret cave. Maybe we will be lucky and she'll be there and not on a mission out of the country."
"I'm not very fond of caves."
Kakashi shrugged. "I, too, do not care much for caves. They are dark, wet, and ofttimes inhabited by creatures."
"When you say creatures, just what do you mean?"
"Within the cave or without?"
"Oh, let's start on the outside." She had to hurry to keep pace with him, as his stride was almost twice hers. Low brush caught at her hem, hampering her movement, but he did not pause to accommodate her.
"The Gulap range these mountains, feline, fierce, and black of heart."
"Remind me not to run into one of them." She glanced over her shoulder, anxiety written on her small features.
He placed a hand on her shoulder. " A Gulap wants only the sweetest morsels-you are safe. And also we have snakes, much like the one about our snake man's arm."
"That's Neil, please." A cold wind swirled about them. Miranda gathered her nightgown closer to her legs." Geez, it's cold here. I might as well be naked.
Naked. He did not want to think of her naked, either. "Other creatures you must fear are men. S-class criminal range these foothills often."
"You do know how to use that knife, don't you?"
Kakashi made an impatient gesture with his hand. "You would do better to be wary of men rather than the woodland creatures."
"Slow down. I feel dizzy. Anyone with...any...sense..."
She stopped as if rooted to the hillside. Without a sound, she fell to her knees. Her eyes rolled up into her skull. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.
"Mira?" Kakashi caught her as she slipped into unconsciousness. He touched her forehead. It was damp and cold, as were her hands. Gently he lifted her into his arms.
The rest of the trek took twice as long as Kakashi would have like, and it had nothing to do with the womanly burden in arms. Once he needed to backtrack and take another ancient path. Few feet trod the way to the Hokage's cave, and marker were nonexistent.
He came to a tumble of rocks in the hillside. The rocks were reddish in color. He placed Miranda on the ground next to a small stream. Using the hem of his cloak, he soaked it and touched it to her cheeks. As he drew the cool cloth over her lips, she moaned and stirred.
"Kakashi?" she whispered. "Are you trying to get in my bed again?"
"No, woman. And it was you who tried to get into my bed."
Miranda sat up and pressed her hand to her temples. "Oh my head." She looked about and up at the brilliant amethyst sky.
He watched tears well in her eyes and down her cheeks.
"I thought it was a dream."
Kakashi crouched on his haunches. "We have no time for your tears."
She wiped at her cheeks. "Well, I do! I'm thirsty. My head hurts. I'm in my nightgown in a stupid, purple place."
"Stupid? Did you not just offer your apology for speaking thusly to me?" He cupped his hand in the icy water and offered it to her. " Typical of a woman. I should have known your words meant nothing. You withheld the dagger. And now..."
Miranda ignored his outstretched hands and crawled to the low stream bank. She scooped up the cool water, splashed it on her face, and gulped it down.
"Sorry. I feel like a petulant child, but I can't help it. I was calling this place stupid, not you," she said. "I can't believe you're still miffed about the dagger. I did apologize. I told you, I thought you were playing a hoax on me. How was I to know you really were Kakashi and needed that knife? Can't you put that behind you?"
He looked over his shoulder. "What? Put what behind me? You speak in riddles."
"It's an expression that means accept my apology."
Somehow her words did nothing to assuage the bubbling irritation he felt. "Your words come too late. Now move." He took her arm.
She stumbled along with him. The followed the stream downhill for a least a mile longer. As they hurried along, Miranda paused repeatedly to exclaim over the delicate ferns and tiny, bright red flowers nestled by the water's edge.
Finally he halted. Miranda rubbed her arms where he'd held her.
"Are you recovered yet?" he asked as she wayed and stumbled for the tenth time.
"Things are a little blurry still, and my head pulses with every step, but don't let that hold you up."
She planted her feet into the soft, muddy banks. "That's a slit, not a cave. I'm not going in there."
He sighed. "You will find it opens up almost immediately, once inside...or so they say."
"Who's 'they'? Elves?"
His eyes narrowed. "Elves?" What are elves?"
"Little magical people."
"We have small people, but they have no special powers.
He reached out and skimmed his thumb over her cheek, rubbing a red spot high on her cheekbone. She sighed, the sound stirring a memory of the small sigh she'd given in response to his kiss. "I am sorry you are cold. I will give you my cloak."
Her small hands wrapped around his, preventing him from removing the cloak. "No absolutely not. You can't give me your cloak . You'll freeze.
The heat of her hands held him immobile. A mad desire to clasp her hands tightly against his belly sept through him, but the she jerked them away. "I hear a voice behind us."
"The cave is empty." Kakashi sighed and turned his attention to behind them when he noticed that Miranda was right.
They moved quietly along the curving rocky wall. Ahead loomed a tons of foliage and the river that just kept going. Miranda shielded her eyes from the sun; just when out of the shadows stepped a woman.
End Note: This is sort of a filler chapter. The next chapter will have more action. Be patient with me. I did not want to jump into the next adventure quite so fast. Hope you still enjoyed though.