"What's going on?" Naruto asked and looked back and forth at me and Kakashi.
"It's just like that time when we went to get Toshi from that town." Sasuke hissed and I sensed him stare at me. I felt timid and vulnerable towards Kakashi, like we were in the hot-springs. He didn't want to look at me as he still tried to get over what had happened. I sensed Sasuke walk over to me and stood stubbornly in front of me, blocking my view to Kakashi. He suddenly bent down a grabbed me hard by my collar forcing me upwards, closer to his hidden fury.
"What'd you do to Kakashi-sensei?" he hissed in a dangerously low tone.
"Sasuke, what're you doing?" Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm to make him stop, completely confused by the situation. With clenched teeth harshly closing the jaw Sasuke turn to Naruto, still holding the flabbergasted me.
"Don't you see it Naruto? She's hiding something from us so she can kill Kakashi-sensei and then the rest of us!" he spat. Naruto looked at Sasuke in disbelief for a moment.
"What?" he breathed and backed away to take a better look at me. There was something seriously wrong with me. My usually snappy comments had left me completely. It was like my brain had broken down completely and there was nothing left but the emotions for me to feel without begin able to do anything about it. What Sasuke said wasn't true, at all! I wanted to run over to Kakashi and beg for forgiveness and explain everything. I wasn't anything to them, so would they even listen? Sakura helped up Kakashi by his arm and he looked a bit dizzy. Sasuke let go of me and pushed me aggressively down to the ground again. That was when Kakashi looked at me (finally). But I couldn't stand the sight of his eye. Anger, disappointment and sorrow glimpsed in his eye as a shooting pain.
"Is that true Toshi?" Naruto asked
"We should just leave her here, like we should've done in the first place." Sasuke spat at me and looked at me with disgust.
I felt as if I for the first time had something to lose. I got scared because these people who were taking me into their lives now didn't want me there anymore. But I had weighted to far against the consequences and it was my own fault that they turned out this way; I made the problems in the first place. I wanted to cut the memories I'd seen out of my soul and just live with a gaping hole instead. And I was mad at Eien for having done this. Deeply, burning mad at her.
"Kakashi. I-I swear it wasn't on purpose. I was suddenly just dragged into—" Finally my brain began to start up again, but I stopped myself midsentence when I realized that the kids didn't know about my secret, although Sasuke had a clue.
"What's going on?" the clueless Mai asked. She didn't get one thing about what was going on.
"Sasuke…" Kakashi sent a glare that told him to cool down as he was still supported by Sakura.
I shuttered by the sound of his voice. I can't remember the last time I'd been so timid and silent. Kakashi looked tormented and tired after my brain-search. To think that I had been the course and reason for that. Sasuke turned disgusted away from me.
"Toshi. We'd prefer if you kept your distance from now on." Kakashi said.
"Keep my distance?" I repeated, not yet understand the size of his 'proposal'. Did he want me to stay away? He didn't even sound angry, just pleasant.
"Just stay behind the group and look out for any danger. And camp only near us." He said and seemed to man up and pulled himself away from Sakura.
"It'll be the best for now." He turned around and looked ahead.
His 'excuse' was very polite, keeping the kids of being too suspicious, everything considered. But the words still cut in me, making me speechless. Sasuke looked away with a sigh and trudged away from me with his hands buried deep in his pockets. I glanced embarrassed over at Naruto who was still looking at me.
"It wasn't on purpose." I mumbled and looked into the ground, knowing that words couldn't solve anything.
"Come on Naruto." Sasuke said to snap him out of whatever trance he was in.
He followed not dropping his eyes from me until he was turned fully around. Mai shot me a questioning look before she followed silently. I was left behind, still sitting numbly on the ground as I saw them disappear in the horizon of the road. I felt myself beginning to cool down, by brain automatically trying to erase my emotions towards them and what had happened. But instead of just blocking of, I knew that I had to turn my emotions into reason.
"Toshi? Why are you so upset?" The answer was obvious, and still Eien had to ask it.
"Well. There's only one answer to that question." I told her and felt pricking behind my eyelids. There was silence for a few moments before she spoke again.
"You're almost about to cry. That doesn't look like you. Are you really becoming so attached to these people?" she asked, her voice for once being genuine and low in my head.
"Isn't it obvious? Even you can feel everything he felt. And he believed in me Eien. He believed me when I told him about you. The emotions, they're stuck in me now and… I can't explain it!" I told her, frustrated that I wasn't capable of putting words – or understanding what I felt. I slammed my fits to the ground and growled angrily.
"… I think you're about to get your first friends." She said kindly and I felt her eyes on me.
My eyes widened when I heard her words. She'd never encouraged me to get friends, never taught me about love. But when I took action myself she encouraged me to a thing that hadn't even struck my mind. I was caught somewhere between stubbornness and relief not really wanting to admit what she had just said. I'd always told myself that I didn't need any friends cause they were for no use. But now when I had gotten a taste of it I wanted to explore the concept more. But I had screwed up…
"Don't worry. They look like they are very forgiving. Just do as Kakashi told you to, and keep an eye out for any danger. If something happens, go and help. It's very simple." She said to me again.
"It's not as easy as that. It doesn't feel very nice to be left alone. A sacrifice I was forced to face because I had you inside of me." I told her
"It was your own choice not to tell them." She snapped back. I pouted like a child and began to play with the grass sullenly.
"Don't be so stubborn Toshi!" she snapped at me again. I grunted at her and looked up in the direction of where the team had disappeared.
"Kakashi-sensei. Do you really think that Toshi will follow us? What if she runs away?" Naruto asked his teacher.
Kakashi glaned down at the blonde boy who resembled his farther much. He considered his words carefully, cause he could still feel her chakra and currently she wasn't moving. To be honest; he didn't know if she was going to run off or follow them, and this 'experiment' was pretty risky. But the more time she spent with the team and him (and she had spent a lot the past few days) – the more she opened up. This was to test her if she really had developed. But the plan had been a impulsive reaction to what she had done. He couldn't believe that she had seen one of his most precious memories which he had shared with no one in so specific details. If she was clever she could use it against him, and that was what he didn't like.
"If she runs away, we'll complete the mission and go find her after it. I have her old clothes so it would be easy to find her by using the dogs. " He sighed while Naruto looked into the ground with a frown.
"I really don't understand why she suddenly changes like that." Naruto mumbled thoughtfully.
Obviously the kids had different opinions about her. Sasuke didn't like her, Sakura liked her to a certain point but kept it hidden and Naruto pitied her and therefore had come to like her. Kakashi jerked a bit when he felt her move. He tensed up a bit, sharpening his senses and felt her move… He couldn't tell which direction yet so he waited patiently for some time and breathed a sigh of relief when he could feel that she followed them.
I marched stubbornly at the path the team had taken. Step by step I made sure to keep an exact distance to them as I countless times tried to block out images of the young Kakashi and how disappointed he had looked. I'd seen another, dark, side of him which his best friends had experienced and now one of them was dead. I didn't know what happened to the Rin girl. Perhaps she was his first love, perhaps not. I'd never seen her before, and shouldn't I at least have spotted her if they were friends? Maybe she was dead and Kakashi had begun chasing one nightstands cause his heart was too broken. Where'd I even get the one nightstand-thing from? I put a finger to my chin; he just looked like a one nightstand type of guy. And acted like one. I rubbed my forehead frustrated and confused and before I knew of it 6 hours had passed by without pause. Eien was silent, as usual which was find by me. I watched how the landscape slowly began to change. We were at the borders of the fire country and soon in the country of earth. Huge turf fields emerged rapidly and ended in forests again. The wind here was rougher due to the open lands and the fresh wind felt nice. The path became sandy again which meant that we were on the right track. The sky turned darker and clouds began to shred over it.
After some more meaningless walking the team seemed to finally stop. I looked up from the ground which I had taken a particular interest in the whole way. Just the thought of getting a good night sleep sent pleasant chills through my body.
As assumed the others had set camp somewhere in a small forest, and as I reached the outskirts I spotted a small teahouse by the side of the road. An old man came driving on his bike alone the road and greeted me with a smile as he passed by in a slow tempo, his basket filled with fresh vegetables. In my old town, no one would've smiled to me but here no one knew me. I stopped in front of the small wooden house and looked into vast dark clouds above my head. They hang like mighty flowing giants, threatening to spill their contents down on me. A raindrop made me jerk when it hit my nose. Déjà vu, I thought remembering the day I had met team 7 and Kakashi.
I sighed heavily my body finally beginning to sort out the emotions I had felt before. I trudged into the house before the rain got heavy, and inhaled the soothing sent of tea herbs in the warm house. An old half drunken, small man smiled to me sheepishly and lifted his cup of sake at me. Not many people where here and the few there were glanced up at me when I walked over the creaking floor, making my way to the counter and took place on a high chair. I had no money but at least I could get away from the rain without anyone would throw me out like the would've done in my old village.
"Can I get you something?" an old fat lady came to counter and smiled kindly to me, her eyes narrow with wrinkles around them.
"Um, I'm still thinking." I said and took a menucard up to my face to pretend that I would look the different teas through.
The tea-lady left me alone though, clever enough to figure out that I was seeking shelter for the rain. But eventually I heard someone enter. Being completely lost I absentmindedly glanced subtly over my shoulder to take a look at the new visitor. My body stiffened immediately and I looked away and hid my face in the menu card. It was Kakashi, and as soon as I'd seen him my heartbeat began to rise as my mind began to overheat, thinking of what the hell I should say to him. I didn't feel prepared or ready to face him.
Just, pretend you didn't see him. No, wait. He probably wants to discuss what has happened. Or maybe he has come to yell at me. Or maybe he's so mad that he'll ignore me. Am I supposed to start the conversation? Has he even seen me? I growled inwardly and listened as he came closer and closer to where I sat.
Calm down Tosh. Jeez why am I such a nerve rag? Just act casual! I dugged my face into the menu card pretending to read it VERY thoroughly. I pursed my lips into a narrow line as I felt him take place in a high chair beside me. I don't think I'd ever been such a nerve rag before, it was almost embarrassing.
"Hello sir, can I get you anything?" the old lady asked Kakashi. She was brave I thought.
"What teas do you have?"… Shit, I was sitting with card.
"Oh! You're a Konoha-ninja, what an honor. You can have the first one for free. Here I'll make you my favorite." The old lady chirped
"Thank you." Kakashi answered pleasantly, supposively smiling. I wouldn't know, I couldn't see him…
This felt beyond stupid. He sitting there, getting free tea because of his status, and then me hiding behind a menu card. I tightened my mouth stubbornly and stared dumbly into the menu, the letters blurring out cause they were too close. I took in a deep breath and prepared to apologize once again. I held in the gulp of air and listened to the silence of the tea house. I lowered the card and looked at him.
"M-master Kakashi?" I stuttered and gulped. I'd never pronounced him properly and only did it to ease his mood.
"Hn?" looked quite dumb-founded, like he had forgotten all about what happened. That lazy-ass expression evident in his eyes.
"Master?" he added. I couldn't help but cock an eyebrow a little irritated cause he didn't take the situation as serious as I did.
"Umm." Great now I was blank again, and it was his fault (I told myself). He sighed though and his expression changed drastically to serious. He looked me directly in the eyes, staring at me with such intensity that I flushed confused under his stare.
"Toshi." His eye narrowed briefly at me and my eyes flickered back and forth, waiting expectantly for him to say that everything was back to normal.
"You did that thing again, like when we first met you. If you really want to come out of prison you have to act more trustworthy or I'm afraid that you'll stay in there the rest of your life. But based on what you told me at the camp, and that you claim to not having done it one purpose I'll give you more time, and a chance to make up for it. Or else I would've seriously considered to kill you." He paused and seemed to scan my terrified face and continued.
"I assume that you still carry the information you picked from my brain—" his eyes became cold as when I'd seen him as a young ninja—" and what you saw was one of my most precious memories. You better keep it close yourself, better yet forget it. My memories aren't yours to suffer from." I'd thought the he was threatening me to not tell anybody, but he threatened me to forget it so I wouldn't be influenced by it the same way he did. Kakashi paused his talking and smiled to the old lady when she came with a warm cup of tea and handed it to Kakashi.
"Here you go." Kakashi handed me the cup while he eyed me warily. I blinked a couple of times trying to comprehend everything he had said, putting it all in order to gain a better perspective of everything. I looked away timidly and wasn't able to say thanks but just folded my cold hands around the warm cup.
"I'm glad you followed us though. To be honest I was pretty nervous about what you would do. I was afraid that you were going to run off." His eyes were kind and lazy again and his genuine warmth reached me. Everything considered, and he was 'afraid' that I was going to run away. That felt kind of positive.
"So… Y-you believe me?" that was just about what I could manage to form on my head at the moment and I mentally slapped myself for choosing such lame words.
"Yes I do." He said and put his arm on the counter to get support as he faced me.
"I've noticed something about you Toshi. It seems that every time I leave you alone you close up again, and I have to start all over with opening you up." He added out loud as if he was thinking to himself. I looked away from his intense gaze and played with my fingers.
"Too much to answer." I muttered and pinched the bridge of my nose.
"Take your time. The others are at the camp with Mai." He said.
"Well, firstly… God, no one has ever made me this insecure before. I want you to trust me. I-it's just hard because…" I stopped and sighed hopelessly. I didn't have the words in my mouth to explain or to answer.
"I know you're no ordinary ninja. You have your own problems. That's always in consideration in my mind." He helped.
"Yeah—"I looked away awkwardly—"Well, you're right about the closing up thing I guess. It's like I need someone to wake me up everytime.—"unbelievable, this was my first sincere conversation with Kakashi. I took in a deep breath and manned myself up—" I-I really want to be a ninja, and I want to show you that I can be trusted!" I stated and looked him directly in the eyes to show that I meant every word I said.
Kakashi looked at me thoughtfully and frowned the slightest.
"Fine. That's good to hear." He smiled calmly at me, and I honestly didn't know what to do with myself.
"Hey." The old man who had greeted me by the door said. Saved by the bell. He came over and stood between me and Kakashi and smiled widely at us. He was missing a few teeth and had almost no hair left on his spotted head. We both looked at him dumbly.
"You two. I can tell much about you just by looking. You resemble each other somehow. Wanna hear what I came up with?" he looked a little wobbly and lifted his sake cup. I had no clue in hell about what he was talking about! I shot Kakashi a what-the-hell glance before I looked at the man again.
"We don't resemble each other one bit." I stated as a matter of fact. The old man snickered at me and flashed me an ugly smile.
"Just listen young lady." He stuttered in his drunkenness. He had some nerves, coming up to two ninjas if you ask me.
"There may be a great fire in your soul, yet no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers-by see only a wisp of smoke. That is the resemblance." He nodded seriously to himself as he had looked back and forth at me and Kakashi.
I felt my heart sink the slightest remembering Kakashi as young yet again. I looked over at him and saw his eyes had softened looking at the old man. But his poem was surprisingly true about me as well.
"Old man Kojiki, don't disturb the guests!" the old lady came to the counter and made the old man go away with a mysterious grin plastered in his face.
"I'm sorry. He's an old poet and often make up poems to my costumers." She said as she cleaned a cup.
"It's fine." Kakashi said pleasantly as he looked after the old man.
It felt as if some of the bad tension had faded away with the old man. I wanted to ask him about what I'd seen and was about to open my mouth when he spoke;
"Look, it stopped raining. I better go back to the camp again." He stood up with a sigh and looked me in the eyes.
"Remember to sleep near camp. Even though the others are a bit scared of you now, it's important that you stay near us so that you aren't entirely alone." He smiled to me and I tightened my jaw and nodded stiffly to him. I tightened my grip around the cup when he was out of the house and looked at the spot of tea that was left. What was I supposed to do now? I didn't notice the old man by my side before a heavy smell of alcohol hit my nose. I snorted and looked at his grinning face.
"What do you want old man?" I sighed and looked solemn down at him.
"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours." He grated in wisdom and smiled genuinely to me. His words settled in me and seeped into my aching heart. If he was right, my future could be a lot brighter than how it looked now.
"Old man! What did I tell you before?" the old lady shouted and the old man and strode off with a satisfied smirk.
After a while I stepped into the night and breathed in the moist night-air. The stars hung like glitter in the sky very clearly. I sighed sorrowful and moved my eyes to the turf fields which were as dark as the pupil of Kakashi's sharingan. Only the reflection of the moon in swaying grass floated like a wave over the turf. I turned around and began to walk into the forest to find the team's camp-side. I could sense their chakra weakly and walked deeper and deeper into the forest which in daylight hadn't seemed so big. The high turf and plants licked the dew off on my legs, cold and yet soothing as I made it further in. The moon could barely shine in through thick petals above my head. Luckily I could soon see the light of the team's fireplace and I walked close enough for hearing what they were talking about. I settled in between two trees which stood closely together and leaned up against the large roots which formed as a perfect backrest. They were all silent around the fire, but all awake.
"Mai, could you maybe sing a song?" Sakura broke the silence and I could barely catch what she said. I could see the tip of Sasuke's head from my spot, but nothing else.
"Good idea. A song is always nice." Mai chirped.
"I use this guitar and put some of my chakra into it. By that I can bent the vibes into other sounds and rhythms." She explained happily.
Eventually the tones began to echo through the forest, soothing and relaxing as she sang. The tones vibrated and fit the deep darkness of the forest. Lonely and sorrowful;
Though we share this humble path, alone
How fragile is the heart
Oh give these clay feet wings to fly
To touch the face of the stars
Breathe life into this feeble heart
Lift this mortal veil of fear
Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears
We'll rise above these earthly cares
Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me…
I was half asleep when she ended the song, and was only woken up by Naruto's voice.
"Kakashi-sensei? Is Toshi sleeping all by herself out there"? He sounded kind of drowsy. I sharpened my hearing and heard Kakashi clear his throat being all aware of the fact that I was listening.
"Yeah she does. But I told her to stay near us. So don't worry." He answered.
"So she's sitting out there in the darkness by herself?" he said sounding awfully suspicious.
"Shouldn't someone be watching over her or something?" he added and chuckled nervously.
"Don't worry, she has slept alone all of her life. I think she can manage." Sakura said but her voice wasn't quite that convincing.
"I'll bring her some food." Naruto said suddenly enthusiastic and I heard a few branches crack, assuming that he probably had sprung to his feet.
"You idiot! What if she kills you?" Sasuke snapped and I could see him sit deadly still. My heart dropped though. That one hurt. Naruto was being so caring, and then Sasuke had to ruin it all.
"Listen you guys—" Kakashi sighed, about to explain something—"She told me herself that she has no intensions to kill us. And I could see that she wasn't lying. But as you all know she has had a tough life and it's hard to change as fast as we want her to." He paused. It was quite weird to have someone stand up for me. I don't think anyone had ever done that before.
"You have to understand the reason why she is with us on this mission and are joining our training at home. I've told you all before, but she's being educated just like you guys. The only difference is that she's an excellent ninja, but she has to evolve personally and socially to be a true ninja." Everything he said was something that I knew, but hadn't really given much thought.
Before I knew of it I woke up the next morning, sore from laying up against the tree. A few jets of sunlight hit my face from in between the petals and made me narrow my eyes at the suddenly bright forest. I then rubbed my eyes drowsy – to believe that I'd slept that heavily being alone in a foreign forest. It was probably because I hadn't gotten any sleep last night. I sensed activity in the camp nearby and could hear (and assume) that they were on their way. I sat up more straight and stretched out my arms and shoulders to shake some of the night's cold off. I blew in my cold hands to stop the morning chill as I just sat drowsily for some time, waiting for the team to move on. I wasn't and had never really been a morning person and hated people who were energetic at mornings, they was just beyond annoying.
"Toshi?" Eien's voice echoed in my head and I jerked my head up in surprise.
"Remember to keep your head cold. Don't lose your temper or do anything drastic. And consider carefully. You still don't know what will happen when you come back to the village."
"Have you even been following ANYTHING of what have happened!" I sneered at her.
"I can see things in your mind you haven't even noticed yet yourself." I frowned by what she said and rolled my eyes.
"If I'm not aware it of then let it be!" I said out loud with a big shrug before I took a deep breath in, annoyed by her sudden silence. She always decided to show up on the most weird places.
After the team had left their camp I began to follow them silently. I still felt a bit dozy and hated walking in the cold morning when being tired. You know; you just want to be cozy in the morning! Not that I often felt that, I mostly slept outside, but still! Lost in my own thoughts like usually I snapped my head up when I felt a drastic change in the team's chakra ahead. I was too far behind to see them in the steep landscape and began to feel nervous.
"Something's wrong." I thought feeling my heartbeat already rising.
"Now is your chance to show them that they can trust you." Eien said faintly in my voice as I began to speed up my pace.
I began to run as fast as I could cause I could feel something was seriously wrong. I ran as fast as I could until I arrived at an old open mine blocked by large boulders. A wild wind picked up in my clothes and hair as I stopped to pin point where they were. I heard loud voices from the mine and ran to large boulder to peep behind it. Far down in the hollow was three ninja's I didn't recognize and judging from how the team was spread – they definitely weren't friends. Sakura was helping Sasuke – he looked injured, and Mai stood not far behind those two. I moved my gaze to Naruto who stood in front of one of the ninja's guessing that he probably had done something impulsive if I knew him right. Kakashi stood further down the mine, unable to help his students from the one ninja by Naruto. My heart raced fast with excitement and fear. Apparently killing and having someone close to you be killed are different experiences. But for me the enemy had always had always been nameless and faceless and the reality of death only sunk in once someone close to me maybe was about to die… My mind began to race with possibilities and it was hard to focus. In a blink of an eye Kakashi was attacked by the two ninjas by taijutsu. I could tell that they were pretty fast, but not fast enough for Kakashi to use his sharingan.
"Tell us where Setsuko Toshi is boy, and I'll spare your life!" I snapped my head to Naruto again when I heard my name from the stranger. But Naruto was too stubborn to step aside and stood dangerously still. Great, so we had run into a bunch of bounty hunters. I knew my head was worth much, but sometimes I wondered how they hell they could know where I was.
Kakashi jumped along the steeps of the mine dodging attacks from the two male ninja's. The ninjas was too excited about the battle and obviously didn't notice how fast Kakashi had made a summoning hand seal and subtly put it on the steep. But there came no dog, or anything summoning-like. Was he out of chakra? No way, that couldn't be.
I moved my attention to Naruto again realizing how dangerous the situation was for the kids, and it was all because of me. It was stupid of me just stand and observe them fight – had I really learned nothing? The ninja in front of Naruto drew out a sword from his sleeve and everything in me just started burning in a new controllable way. Kakashi was too busy with the two others, what the hell was he doing anyway? He could easily take them down. But there was no one to block the sword for Naruto. In pure instinct I reacted and jumped forth, transforming into my lion form in a gust of wind. In what seemed like the blink of an eye I had my teeth buried in his unprepared arm in which held the sword. I could feel how his flesh surrounded my teeth and how his bone cracked from the force.
Naruto feel backwards when the tip of the sword barely brushed his jacket. He watched, almost terrified how the lion crushed his opponents arm and in the blink of an eye barely took in the sight of it. Its fur glistened in the light of the sun and he could see the large fletched muscles under the skin like it had just stepped out of a farytale. In a second it released its grip around the ninjas arm, opened its mouth once again and attacked the ninja by the throat before he had a fair chance of reacting. They disappeared from his sight as quick as it all had taken place and felt the earth shake further in front of him as a pile of dirt and dust swirled into the air not far from Kakashi.
"Naruto are you okay?" Sakura called from behind him.
"D-did you see that?" Naruto stuttered trying to make out the outlines of the lion in the cloud of dust.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes to be able to see through the cloud of dirt. His dogs had gotten one ninja down from under the ground and his other opponent had frozen completely just like himself. It was like a veil of silence had covered the whole mine now. Was it Toshi? A breeze crossed the mine and played with his hair and helped blowing some of dirt in the air away. He was able to see the outlines of a figure of something big. A few openings in the cloud revealed white fur of an animal and he was suddenly able to see a white lioness. Shocked he adjusted his foot better in the dirt while he watched how it hovered over a body, raising its head enough to see the damage it had done. Everyone waited anxiously for it to move again. The cloud blew away quickly and he could see clearly how blood dripped from its mouth like it had been thirsty and drunken greedily. It breathed hard through its mouth, the red blood dripping in an outstanding contrast to the white fur. There was no doubt about it; the ninja was dead. Kakashi's opponent squeaked in fear and began to panic but he didn't take any notice of it. Was that Toshi in her lion-form? No wonder she gave the people in her village a feeling of impotence. The creature before him made him feel small in awe. With such strength she could've killed the kids so easily. Her nose wrinkled up in a snarl as she moved ice blue eyes to the ninja held down by Kakashi's dogs.
"Wha-what is that thing?" the shouted terrified, cause he was held down by Kakashi's dogs.
Kakashi's opponent backed away, his eyes fixated on his dead comrade. And that was just about what it took for him to put his tail in between his legs and run off.
"Don't leave me you coward! Come back!" his comrade, trapped by the dogs shouted.
Kakashi's legs wouldn't move he was to astonished. But he knew that he had to be careful. He didn't know if it was "her" or that lion inside of her, controlling her moves. No, he rather didn't dare to move, afraid to provoke her. He jumped a bit when she raised her head up high and he couldn't fight the urge to just look at her. His eyes glad to the forehead of the lion where the pearl which usually sat in Toshi's neck, now was engraved into the forehead. It sparkled in the sunlight with a mix of purple, blue and pink. He moved his gaze to her eyes and caught his breath when she stared right back at him, her eyes glistening maliciously blue. But her eyes softened quickly and he could see that she had made up her mind that she wanted to protect the team and was in control. The more she opened up to him, the more fascinated he became of her. Something that wasn't like him at all. He blinked when she growled loudly exposing her sharp set of teeth. The felt the growl rumbled inside of him like small sound waves, pleasantly and safe.
"Pakun." He called without removing his gaze from her. The dogs released the ninja and he stumbled to his feet and ran after his comrade. Toshi remained calm as she watched the ninja disappear out of the mine.
Good for me that blood tasted better when in Eien's form. I could feel it dangling from my mouth and was actually disgusted by the sight. It had been a long time since I had used her body therefore it took more strength out of me. I didn't quite know what to do. Everyones gazes was directed at me, and I could feel – and see how Kakashi stared at me. He looked somewhat amused and it was hard to tear my eyes away from his. Had I scared them all now? Where the kids mad at me know? What I couldn't comprehend was that this was the first time EVER for me to have protected someone's life. The kids came running to stand in front of Kakashi, a few feet away from him, and I was able to release my eye-lock with him.
"Who are you?" Naruto shouted as he pointed rudely at me, his chest moving hot-headed up and down. Kakashi seemed to snap out of whatever state he was in and walked up behind Naruto.
"It's Toshi." He said calmly coursing all the kids to gasp.
I looked solemn down at the dead body and stepped away from, used violent sight. But I was confused and couldn't help but suddenly feeling small under their gazes. In reality it was ridiculous to be suddenly afraid of them, but it wasn't them I was scared of, but their reaction and so far no one had said a word. I transformed in to my human self and was afraid to look at them as I did. I was bending over slightly and reached up a hand to wipe away the blood from my mouth.
"That was totally awesome! How did you do that? Huh? Huh?" Naruto burst out and strode to me, his eyes glistening enthusiastically.
"Can you teach me that technique?" he shouted gladly and began to blab and plead. But I felt speechless as the other kids came over to me.
"I knew we could trust you." Sakura said as she tried to push the blabbing Naruto aside.
Mai joined in curiously for the first time looking genuinely grateful to me. There was only one thing wrong. Kakashi didn't say anything. He was simply standing there, staring at me obviously and thoughtfully. If I wasn't mistaking he was saying something to Pakkun, but I couldn't tell what because of all the kids who was talking to me. Maybe he was mad at me again? I found that I feared Kakashi's reaction; for some reason it mattered a lot to me. I'd seen much about him, felt what he felt, analyzed his difficult personality… Thinking about it no one had ever come this close to me let alone that I'd just rescued the kids.
I pushed the kids aside and began walking towards Kakashi. I mean; I had to force some kind of reaction out of him. I desired his trust more than anything at the moment. So what was up with him now?