Yay a knew chapter!
I really hope you guys like this one. I've been getting a lot messages and reviews
from readers who are getting a bit impatient about Toshi and Kakashi being
together. Buuuut I'm not going to spoil anything or tell you how soon they'll be, cause
I like to keep it interresting, and having the element of surprise, plus i think it's much
more exciting to read without expectations of how many chapters i will have to read
through before that thing I want to happen, happens :D So i hope you will enjoy this one ;)
Oh, and a big thanks to the reviews lately, they are really appreciated.
Kakashi forced his eyes away from an interesting chapter in his book and looked into the sky, trying to guess what time it was. It was ridiculous how Toshi could keep sleeping in this heat wave. They should've continued the mission hours ago, but he couldn't let go of his book and he also enjoyed watching Toshi toss and turn in the sun. She looked really uncomfortable, her arm planted across her face to make shade from the sun. If she didn't wake up soon she would get a really bad sun burn. He'd thought it impossible to sleep as soon as the sun had risen and had told himself that Toshi felt the same way. Apparently she didn't. She was seriously a heavy sleeper.
Even though his book kept him occupied he couldn't help but notice how his thoughts slipped to Toshi. He was honestly taken by surprise yesterday when she'd told him about his 'relationship to other people'. It took a great deal out of him to seem nonchalant about it, but he'd failed miserably! She was even closer than he'd imagined, and on top of that; she confronted him with it. It wasn't supposed to be like that at all and yet he couldn't help feeling glad and flattered about it, though his common sense told him otherwise. He groaned inwardly and rubbed his forehead frustrated. She was starting to mess with his mind, and that he knew was a bad thing… Or was it? He felt conflicted; it was against his principles to let anyone now that much about himself and—Toshi stirred in her sleep and started to come to life. He peeped over his shoulder as she opened her eyes groggily frowning when she seemed to realize that it wasn't night anymore.
"Jeez, how can the temperature change so much. Freezing at night, burning by day." She growled, sitting up and looking… well Toshi-cute.
"And you've gained a lot of color too." He said taking a notice at her skin color that was starting to look tan. She peeped at her arms confused.
"I have—" she mused—"I hope I won't get red though." She said letting a hand sliding down her arm.
Toshi's POV.
Great… Kakashi was so busy with his book that he'd forgotten the time and I was becoming sun-burned. Just great. I looked into the sky to see where the sun stood and guessed that it was around 7 am.
"You have forgotten the time Kakashi." I said looking at him reading his book again.
He'd taken off his ninja-vest and the sweatshirt and was wearing that tight ninja-tank-top thing with a mask attached to it. I'd always wondered if he got those special made for him. His broad strong shoulders showed… Kakashi peeped over his shoulder again, and I quickly looked somewhere else before I would start to blush. Why'd he have to look so good?
"We are?" he mused and clapped his book together.
"You know, it's a really bad habit you have there." I stated as I got up and took a good stretch while a big yawn made its way to my mouth. He got up smoothly too lifting an eyebrow at me.
"At least I don't sleep as heavy as you. You're an easy target when you sleep." He smacked right back in my face.
"I-I don't sleep heavily." I stuttered embarrassed, and crossing my arms dissatisfied over my chest. Kakasshi shrugged at me nonchalantly and turned to pick up his vest.
.
Having pulled up my messy hair in a ponytail, we once again walked the desert. The heat was almost unbearable as I'd never experienced anything like it. Kakashi looked completely unaffected by the heat… But he was, after all, an elite ninja. As we had walked a few hours the mountains came into view. A small spire of hope started to grow in my stomach as I saw the familiar green forests that started to grow on the mountains.
As we reached the luxurious, green area of the mountains the temperature began to fall drastically. I enjoyed the cold and moist air that hit me when we jumped through the tree tops. The air howled in my ears because of the speed and I finally felt as if I was back where I belonged. We jumped for a while in silence adjusting to the changes before I sensed two chakras nearby.
"Kakashi." I hissed under my breath.
"I know." He said, his professional mode kicking in.
We both stopped on the same branch, and I was making sure that I was going unnoticed, treading lightly as we stopped.
"Their chakras are too strong to be normal civilians." Kakashi said bending down in his knees to concentrate. He'd lifted his headband up to use his sharingan and I fought hard against the urge to look at it.
I nodded in agreement and we both moved closer to assess the situation and danger. Give me five seconds I said, and inhaled sharply as I closed my eyes, pulling out some of Eiens chakra. I felt two beings, two life forms ahead of us. Their minds were filled with ideas, corruption and obedience. I had a bit difficulties with the distance. It wasn't that I could read minds but just feel them, getting an idea of what was going on. I struggled with getting the actual mind-set they were in.
"I-I don't know—"I said already having opened my eyes—"I can tell they're ninjas and I get a bad vibe, but I'm not sure what is going on. At least I know that somethingis going on."
"Let's move closer." Kakashi whispered and we both jumped closer, hiding our chakra and sounds.
"We'll just sneak inside and take all her money. If that old hag is of any kind of danger we'll just kill her. Got it?"
I landed on a thick branch beside Kakashi and lowered my body so that I could faintly see and hear the two ninjas. I peeped around the tree, to see where they were heading and saw a clearing with a small wooden house. I glanced over at Kakashi who looked troubled, leaning against the tree with crossed arms as he looked down at the two.
"We shouldn't interfere." He whispered with a deadly serious tone.
"What? They're trying to kill someone innocent." I hissed looking up at him with a frown.
"And who does that remind you about?" he whispered back his tone carefully neutral.
Ouch, that was a mean call. I got up again looking at him in disbelief.
"Why do you say that?" I hissed, feeling hurt at what he said, even though it was true. I didn't want to start an argument now though.
He stared at me, his eyes glistening capriciously. I realized he was testing me. Taking in a deep breath, trying to get my stirring up temperament to cool down, I tried to whisper again.
"I can take them down quickly, just wait here." I said and crouched down.
It wasn't good that Kakashi'd decided to play games now, cause I felt my burning temper starting to pull in Eien's chakra and she pulsed under my surface. She was tuning in her instincts with my mind and the killer-mode started to kick in. Kakashi was in the blink of an eye by my side, putting is hand firmly on my shoulder.
"Toshi, I said no. Don't do anything stupid and rash." He pressed his hand down harder. I yanked his hand off with a low hiss and sat off.
But I was yanked back by Kakashi's strength and could barely sense what happened before I was pinned up against the very same tree. I could barely control the immense amount of chakra running through me and looked at him ferociously. I met his eyes and could see that he wasn't happy with my actions. He held his lower half of his arm across my throat and used the other to hold me by my collar as he pushed his bodyweight into the grip.
"What's wrong with you? You can't take I little teasing without going berserk? You don't know anything about the enemy, why are you so reckless?" His tall figure hovered over me, looking down at me.
His grey and red eyes were penetrating – trying futilely, I assumed, to lift the truth straight from my mind. The way he caged me made Eien go wild in my body and I still had my commons sense telling me not to hurt Kakashi.
"Let me go Kakashi." I snarled, forcing my eyes away from his and down at the two ninjas who seemed to be moving on.
He frowned, seeming to struggle with the strength he was up against.
"You're hopeless." He hissed. That sentence hurt me a bit, but it was nothing against the instincts that took over at the moment.
"I thought you had grown a lot more than this!" Kakashi hissed again pinning me even harder against the tree. I fought against him briefly with no luck, starting to gasp for air.
"I told you this could happen, didn't I? You don't know what it's like!" I faced him nose to nose, bewildered and stubborn, glaring at him full of frustration. I couldn't focus on suppressing her and every little thing seemed to build up. I was sure I was about to explode.
"Just calm down, okay?" his voice was more controlled now, calmer and more soothing. I sensed his arm that pressed on my throat roaming upwards and away like he was approaching something dangerous.
"What're you doing?" I hissed, seeing my opportunity to get away.
"Don't you see, that you're doing the exact thing that I confronted you with just moments ago." He explained.
He pressed his forehead against mine, holding my head in place. His eyes were so close to mine that I temporarily forgot about the two ninjas below. He held me in an iron-grip as his hand was now at my face tracing along my cheekbone and around to my neck. I tried once more to struggle against him but he kept me still, his eyes also locking me into place. I got confused by his closeness and started to become aware of him instead of myself. The touch of his finger around the pearl in my neck immediately started to snap me out of whatever state of mind I was in.
"What're you…" I hissed trying to act unaffected.
He started tracing around the pearl, never releasing the pressure of his forehead. I became aware of his warm breath coming down on me and felt suddenly absolutely captivated by the moment. My heart rate started to pick up in a strange way and it fluttered when I felt his tracing. I had no idea what to do with my fluttering heart, the feeling floating around inside me like small bubbles of joy and longing. It was exactly as I remembered it in the hot-springs – but better. I looked him in the eyes with no thought of being afraid that Eien would enter him. Just looking at his eyes staring back at me as if we suddenly understood each other while I enjoyed his touch. He was somehow tantalizing. My pride was long gone, and I felt bared but couldn't do anything about it and wasn't sure if I wanted to. My knees got weak and my speech was gone. Kakashi started to release his iron-grip and his eye-lock. I gasped out; apparently I'd been holding my breath for a while. I didn't want him to stop. Now he just stood in front of me with his hand still tracing around the pearl. I stared dazed at him to a great level of embarrassment as he chuckled.
"I knew this weak spot would come in handy some day." He said. He stopped tracing my neck and withdrew his hand while smiling.
It took a few seconds for me to realize the situation and my cheeks immediately flushed red in embarrassment.
"What the hell!" I pushed him in the chest, feeling completely blank about how to defend myself.
I was shocked that I was this weak towards him, and I'd never felt more embarrassed in my whole life. It was like he was looking at me naked and I had nothing to cover myself with.
"Wha… I-I." I had absolutely nothing to say that would help my situation.
"Look how fine and red your cheeks are. You look so healthy." He teased, smiling at me seeming to hold in a chuckle.
"Shut up." I hissed looking sour as a little child.
But I seriously didn't know what to do. I was just glad that he couldn't feel what I'd felt. He couldn't know how much he actually affected me. It wasn't just my weak spot - it was because it was him, and the way he did it. I was glad he didn't know that. At least he didn't know that he could also use my apparent feelings as a weak spot.
"That was a cheap shot you know." I muttered dryly holding a hand awkwardly to my arm while rubbing it.
"Why? It wasn't easy to hold you still you know." He said with a shrug.
I crossed my arms and muttered some incoherent things as a metallic swoosh echoed through the forest, and before I could react I looked at a kunai only inches from my face, Kakashi's hand securely around it.
"And apparently you guard goes down too." He murmered, glancing down at the attacker.
"Go now!" the ninja who'd thrown the kunai called to his comrade.
"I'll take the one who went for the house." I said and disappeared without waiting for Kakashi to say anything.
I chased the ninja to the clearing I'd seen before but was almost too late. I raced through the trees, as I saw him disappear into the small house with a mischievous grin in his face. I sprinted forward as soon as reached the grassed area but slowed down quickly when an old lady came out on the front porch.
"Go away Konoha ninja! You have nothing to do here! I won't allow any filthy killers here." she called angrily.
"Old lady, a thief just walked into your house." I called back.
"I said stay away!" she called as loudly as she could. Apparently I provoked her as I was still walking forward and she bit her thump.
I'd seen that before. I'd seen Kakashi do it. She made a few hand seals and slammed her hand to the ground.
"Wait, old lady—" I shut my mouth close when huge, grey cross breed looking lion lashed forward from out the smoke and landed on the ground forcefully digging up dirt and grass with its huge paws.
I felt a chill run down my spine. It looked like a cross between a lion and panther as its face was longer and thinner than of a lions. It was bigger than Eien. It's fur was a beautiful silver grey color, and it had a comb of longer hair growing along its neck like a young lion.
"Get away!Now!" Eiens voice roared inside my head so loudly that I almost stumbled over.
"What? Why?"I asked her inside my head, my eyes wide with a sudden fear. Never in my life had I heard Eien this afraid before.
"Just run already!" she roared, starting to stir up chakra again.
"Tell me why!"
I was starting get a clue that this meeting maybe could be a major brick the puzzle of my life. It seemed that Eien knew this fellow.
"I suddenly remember." She whispered as if she'd had a vision—"his name is Gin-iro no Honou (meaning silver flame.)He's strong!"
"What? You know him? What's going on?"
I kept my eyes locked at the lion before me, and he was staring right back at me.
"I used to be one of them."She whispered in shock. Eien's memories were gone up until she woke up inside of me. Apparently some of it was back now.
"We were once very close."She said
"So you're telling me that you're a ninja-cat? How on earth did you get inside of me?" I yelled at her. Something was starting to be unraveled and I wasn't sure if I was ready to hear it.
"I still don't remember…"she said, sounding disappointed.
Gin-iro roared at me and made me focus again. He sat off for me, stretching forward while opening his huge gab. I had barely time to react, and grabbed his two largest front teeth just in time. His hot breath rushed over me like a wave of damp. I slid backwards through the grass under his force, praying that I wouldn't lose my foothold. He was unbelievably strong.
"Gin-Iro no Honou listen to me! Someone walked into that lady's house. I'm trying to—" my voice came out shaky and I removed my hands just before his jaws clasped together in front of me. I backed away quickly.
"How do you know my name girl?" Gin-iro's voice was deep and bas-like. Frightening as hell.
"Um—" I held my hands up to pacify the grey lion in front of me—" Eien no Honou told me." I really had to no idea what to say.
Gin-iro's expression changed by the mentioning of her name. At first he looked shocked, but then his eyes widened and his lips curled up over his teeth.
"What have you done to her?" he leaped forward, furious beyond comparison. I got out of the way as fast I could, desperately trying to figure out his next leap.
"I knew there was something off. Her chakra is stuck all over you!" he roared, leaping for me once more.
"Tell him already!" Eien yelled at me. I'd never felt her acting so vulnerable before, and that started to show in me too.
"I-I was born with her in me! I—"I began to stumble over the words, concentrating on getting out his way as he kept leaping for me.
I tried to create a clone, feeling Eien's strength weaken in me. I was in some serious mess that I couldn't get out of and I couldn't reach the house either. If I got in between those jaws of his it was the end for me.
"Toshi what's going on?" Kakashi now stood in at the edge of the clearing, seeming confused.
"Long story short; ninja-lion, Eien is one of them." I shouted out for him to hear. I seemed to be quickly out of breath though.
"She's?" before I knew of it, Gin-iro changed direction, dirt and grass flying up from the ground under his force. He was in front of Kakashi in an instant. It was almost like my heart skipped beat and I acted out of pure reflexes. I too leaped forward transforming into Eien's form and lashed sideways into Gin-iro's neck.
But then it all went black, lights flashing and shifting around me. Air swirled all around, pulling in my hair and clothes until a warm wind calmed everything down in one breath. I stood in a white, bright room with no sound. It took me a few seconds to realize where I was but the room was familiar. I looked down my body to see myself naked, having a hard time to focus, or to feel any kind of bad emotion at all. This place I knew as the 'the center of my mind'. It was the place just where the spirit connected with the body. It was as far out as you could go in the mind, and as pure as the mind could ever get. It was here true bonds were connected. Being so in touch with another soul was almost impossible. But when I forced myself in here in another person's mind I would only see an illusion, a dim mirror of what that was truly there. I'd done it once before on another person and had promised myself not to go that far again; even for me when I felt how a personal matter it was. Munks, Buddhists were capable of entering this place but they didn't see it in such a visual way as I did, they just felt it. I could hear my own in and out breath, and knew that I'd been forced back by Eien's personality. I listened to the in and out breath.
"Eien… Give me my body back." My voice echoed through the room even though I didn't move my mouth. I spun around to look for her.
It hadn't been many times she'd taken control of me, but surely enough for me to know what was going on. I tried to focus on believing that I could see her somewhere even though it was hard to convince myself. Like dreams a part of this place was controlled by the thought and the will. If you truly believe you can fly in a dream you will and in the moment you remember gravity you start to fall and stop believing that you can fly, even though you did seconds ago.
A light breeze swooshed by me and like a clearing cloud, she appeared in front of me. She stood like a statue, proud and beautiful, eyes unfocused to somewhere in the distance. I walked over to her and reached out with my suddenly perfect hands, stroking her short white fur. She grew as I grew in age and strength, and was starting to look quite high. I pushed her once by her shoulder, but she stood still like a wall. I had no idea about what was going on outside. For what I knew off she could be attacking Kakashi… I couldn't feel anything but an eager to see him again, even though I knew I had to get out. With more will power I pushed her harder, pulled in her skin to get her to give me back my body. I started to feel some twitches in my finger, finally getting somewhere. I started to push her harder, believing that I could do it, that I had to do it. Then it felt as if a black curtain slammed down at me and I was back in my body.
I don't know how long I was out, but my senses came back to me quickly as soon as I started to gain consciousness again. I felt really disorientated and was apparently doing a lot of somersaults with, assumingly, Kakashi's chest in my face. His face came into view as we stopped rolling; he was looking up for something, hovering over me like a wolf. Obviously I had changed back to my human form. I panicked a bit about my dizziness and tried to look up as well.
"What happened?" I asked groggily. Looking around frantically.
Kakashi looked down at me as if he hadn't realized that I was awake again. He looked surprised.
"Good you're awake! You were almost ripped apart." He said without moving away.
"W… I'd hoped they were making up." I said now starting to realize that we were in a tree, and I had no idea how we got there.
"Didn't she—" Kakashi grabbed me around my stomach knocking the air out of my lungs as he pulled me with him just before the branch were crushed by Gin-iro.
"I'll tell you later." He yelled shortly and I noticed that he was using his sharingan.
"I really don't want to use too much energy on this battle. This wasn't supposed to happen, and he's pretty strong." He said as we landed again.
"Like when you use your sharingan too much." I coughed finally getting a hold of myself besides my breath. I saw Gin-iro from far away and saw that his expression could only be one of pain. Kakashi nodded and hid behind a tree with me.
"Eien tried to talk some sense into him, but they ended up in a battle. It took on him I think, but not enough." Kakashi explained.
I evaluated the situation carefully and played with the thought of using a jutsu I rarely used due to the enormous amount of chakra I used. I felt Kakashi alerted beside me, ready to move every second. I wanted an end to this.
"I have a jutsu." I blurted out, stating it more than telling it to him. I glanced over at him and met his serious eyes. He knew that I wasn't playing with something new.
"Either way; you'll have to get far away or you'll have to stand really close to me… And by that I mean really close." I said, not really caring what he choose as long as he didn't get in the way. I knew that we'd had a weird moment before when he'd rubbed my neck but this wasn't the time to think of him standing close again.
Kakashi's POV.
He nodded to Toshi, understanding that she was serious about what she said. She nodded back t him giving him one last look as if she was afraid deep down inside. He just wanted to let her do her thing. Jumping away from their hiding spot he watched her land in the middle of the clearing, exposed and vulnerable. That wasn't a good move. He wasn't sure if he'd ever seen her skills unfold to the fullest yet, and he was kind of hoping that he would catch a glimpse of it now, sucking every detail about her into his sharingan memory. It was odd though they'd just stumbled upon Eien's past suddenly. Could that mean that Toshi was unknowingly able to summon herself back into the world of the ninja-animals? A lot of new questions were unanswered. He'd asked himself a lot of questions about Toshi ever since he got to know her better and more questions just seemed to keep rising up. Everything about her was a mystery especially all her abilities. He would also have to remind himself that it was dangerous to use that weak spot of hers, because her defenses fell drastically.
Kakashi's eyes was focused on her, but he had to snap himself out of his thoughts as he saw Toshi start to manipulate the air around her, using slow wavelike motions with her arms. He had to make a decision quickly. Instinctively he calculated the best possibility for success. The distance between him and her was much smaller than the distance he would have to run away. Without a second thought he jumped over to her, standing closely behind her, as it was easier for her to make her movements.
"Closer." She said calmly but with an edge of impatience. He moved right up behind her, and couldn't get any closer without pushing her.
"Closer." She said again seeming to make the same movements over and over as if she was only waiting for him. He cursed at himself for complicating this but he didn't really know what to expect.
"Forcing wind of earth." She muttered so he could barely hear it, she lowered her hands as if she was walking on a thin line and breathed out…
A wind started blowing around them, but he immediately realized that it was coming from the ground. The wind got brisk and harsh and Kakashi's vest started to blow over his head. He looked at the ground in confusion; was he supposed to feel this? He lifted his food to stand even closer to her, but as soon as he did he could barely put down his foot again.
"Dammit, you have to attach yourself to me! What are you waiting for?" she snarled at him, her patience starting to run up obviously.
He didn't know why he hadn't thought of being soclose to her and he had no time to think. He struggled with getting his arms around her and his feet closer as the wind blew him forcefully upwards and he struggled to keep foothold. It felt as if sandpaper grinded his chins and thought that she should've been much clearer about what to do cause it was starting to hurt him. He hugged her tightly from behind, squeezing himself into her and digging his head into her neck and closing his eyes, positively sure that he was about to fly away. But just as quick as the wind had come, it took off and he couldn't feel as much as a breeze. Listening to Toshi's breath he opened his eyes and looked without moving. Startled he saw the wind tearing everything up from the ground around them and gasped when Gin-Iro came from the side trying to get to them. But he was torn up from the ground, his front paws trying desperately to hold on to the ground. Gin-iro tried to counter awkwardly but couldn't do much anymore.
"Come on!" he heard Toshi close to his ear and his grip automatically started to loosen when he realized how close she was. The wind started to pull his vest again, and he immediately tightened his grip once again and was left in shock over himself. How could he do something as fatal as loosen his grip in such a serious situation? Why did he hesitate? What had she done that could make him do that? She couldn't possibly mean so much to him that he would flinch away from her just because he was starting to doubt himself and his own feelings? What the heck was happening to him?
Toshi's POV.
I had a hard time on concentrating when Kakashi was literally hugging me. If it wasn't for him I could've gotten rid of Gin-iro by now. If he could just move his head away from the side of my neck so I couldn't feel his breath it would be a lot easier cause those butterflies would go away. Gin-iro was being stubborn, his lips pulling upwards, and holding himself to the ground with just one paw now. The tiles of the roof flew around everywhere and the roots of the trees were starting to show. Gin-iro roared one last time before his head was forced upwards as the wind grew even stronger. His fur was starting to fly off too just before he let go and flew upwards disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Finally I could relax my hands and the wind took off just as quick as it came. Silence filled the clearing and I breathed out just as branches started to fall to the ground. It was hard to breathe properly while using this jutsu and also with Kakashi attached around me…
"You can let go now." I breathed as he still hugged me tightly.
"Are you sure?" He asked, releasing warm breath into my neck.
I closed my eyes and gulped, trying to hold back the pleasant chills.
"I'm pretty sure." I said, holding my voice from quivering.
He loosened his grip slowly and I immediately felt I that I could breathe properly. I turned around to face him and took a step back as he was still close behind me. He looked startled and a bit sick. I told myself that it was a good thing that the notorious copy ninja looked so bewildered over my jutsu. But then his expression changed a few times in only seconds; first he looked a bit admiring, then scared and then dead serious. He put his hand on to my shoulder abruptly.
"That jutsu… Why have you never told me that you have such power?" He looked down at me as if he was mad somehow, but I felt that it wasn't directed at me.
"Well—"I had no idea what to answer—"maybe I thought you had a clue." I said with shrug starting to get confused by his behavior.
"I can't read minds like you." He pointed out taking away his hands.
It seemed that he sighed inwardly and decided to let go of whatever that left him in this strange manner, and then smiled with his eyes seeming to relax.
There wasn't much talking after that. I was annoyed by my body's strange behavior while Kakashi looked casual an unaffected as usual. I hoped though, that the old lady was alright. The house hadn't been ripped apart by my jutsu. I had so many questions about Eien and Gin-iro and my head started to fill up with all the thoughts. I tried to focus on the current situation though.
"You really don't want to listen to me today." Kakashi said, ripping me out of my thoughts. Apparently I was heading for the house. He stepped in front of me with a lifted eyebrow.
"I really want to know if she's still alive." I said, stepping around him to go up the two stairs that lead to the front porch.
I picked up a stool which was upside down on my way to the door and reached for it full of anxiety.
"Wait." Kakashi maneuvered himself around me once again, giving me a 'really?' look with his gorgeous eyes… No Toshi, don't think that!
I stared back at him with a lifted eyebrow as I put my hand on my hips, waiting for him to move. He sighed and I smirked at him as he gave up turning around to walk in first. Obviously he didn't feel very comfortable about me going in there first. He opened it slowly only peeping inside. I moved anxiously behind him trying to look over his shoulder but without any luck.
Kakashi grunted slightly as he took a step inside;
"What? What is it?" I asked pushing him a bit to the side so I could finally get a better look at what was inside.
I frowned at the sight of a dead body and the smell of blood. The old lady was laying in a puddle of her own blood on the floor. Her grey long hair mixed with the red liquid and the dirt on the floor and I felt how there was no life in her.
"He killed her." I breathed dryly.
Kakashi who probably could feel the same as I, kneeled down beside her and checked her pulse. I walked further inside the house, assuming that the thief was gone by now, since Kakashi looked so unguarded.
"Yup she's definitely dead." He said and raised his tall figure to look around the house.
I looked up at the wooden barns across the ceiling; they were clean. I assumed that the old lady cleaned often due to the lack of spider webs which should be found in a house like this. Countless papers and scrolls were scattered all over the place, though they had probably been in order before the thief was here.
"Look at that." I muttered and walked to wall filled with papers with writings.
"This surely wasn't an ordinary old lady." Kakashi stepped over her dead body to take a look at some of the papers on the floor.
My eyes caught an old piece of paper hanging loosely on the wall, flapping in the wind that came through the door. Aside from the other pieces of paper this one was an ink painting of something that looked like a lion. I walked closer to remove another piece of paper that was covering half of it. It was an old drawing; the lion's mouth open, baring sharp teeth and its claws extended. It looked demonic and strong. It was almost as if I could picture it before me, running through flames…
"Ugh." I bumped my feet into something on the floor and cursed a bit before I realized what it was. A giant scroll was laying on the floor and it was about 3,5 feet tall.
"Kakashi look at this." I said and bend down to brush some dust off it.
"Seems like they were only here for money." He muttered, not really paying attention to me.
I removed at chair which partly was laying over the scroll and lifted it up so I could see how high it really was.
"Seriously, you should see this." I said and brushed the scroll off some more.
I felt that I had his attention now, and listened as his changed path and walked towards me. He came to my side looking the scroll up and down, touching it barely as if it would break easily.
"That's a serious scroll you found." He said, sounding pondering and deep in thought.
"We should open it." I enthusted and began to unattach the robe which was holding it closed.
"Wait Toshi. This isn't ours. Someone will probably come along to visit her. Don't you think they have more right to her belongings than us?"He raised an eyebrow at me, looking as if he was hoping that I would make the right choice.
"But… I just want a look." I pleaded, trying my best to look cute (even though we all know that I shouldn't try such things).
"You're really not in the listening mood today are you?" Kakashi sighed, looking lazy again. "Fine, but go outside, there isn't enough room in here." He said glancing around the house.
"Sure." I replied, and started to lift the scroll with both hands, barely able to lift it through the house.
"Sorry." I squeaked when I accidentally stepped on the old lady's hand, haven forgotten almost everything about her. Well, it wasn't like I was used to the sight.
"Gross." I mumbled, dragging the scroll with me and out the door.
"You should respect the dead." Kakashi said walking right behind me and pushing me forward once.
"Yeah I know… Sorry." I said rolling me eyes at him. He could be so formal at times.
The scroll bumped into the grass as I made it outside, and I fell to me knees, ready to open the scroll like a kid on Christmas morning. Kakashi bend down beside helping me to untighten the robes around it. We worked in silence, and I felt that his close presence made me annoyingly nervous. As we had gotten the robes loose I immediately started to open the scroll, letting it roll several feet, before Kakashi grabbed my hand. I looked up at him in question, meeting his intense eyes while feeling that rush of energy running through me as soon as he'd grabbed my hand.
"Here. This is the important page. It is, as I assumed, a summoning scroll." He said looking down at the paper and pointing at the signatures with his free hand.
"A summoning scroll…" I said in wonder—" Like your Ninja dogs." I asked, mostly wondering why he was still holding my hand.
"Just like them. This is probably the scroll she used to summon the lion before." He said, his eyes reading the signatures through, as he slowly released my hand, looking completely unaffected and unaware of how long he'd actually been holding it.
He seemed tense though, like he was on his guard of everything around me, including me. I could tell that I his muscles tensed if I just moved the slightest. He straightened himself up a bit and took a finger to his chin as if he was thinking hard.
"You should write your name on it." He said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Wh-what? Me? Do you want meto have it?" I stuttered and looked surprised at him.
"Why not? Rather you than some criminal." He said with a shrug.
"Why thank you, you really know how to flatter." I said, my voice filled with sarcasm.
I looked down at the scroll feeling a bit annoyed, while considering his offer. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to use the scroll. I would have to make friends with the cats too. Maybe it would end up a pain in the ass.
"Just write you name there." He said and pointed to a blank spot on the paper.
"Kakashi, I don't think—"I was cut off by a hand smacking the back of my neck.
"Don't think so much about everything Toshi. This will only make you stronger if you choose to put some time into it. You just have to write you name in your blood." He said, now smiling at me.
"Jeez." I said and rubbed the back of my head, feeling insulted.
Listening to him would probably be the sanest thing to do. He had a tendency to be right about things. I shot him one last glare before I bit my thump just enough for a descent amount of blood to come out. I looked at the paper and wrote the kanji symbols for: Toshi Setsuko.
"Done!" I said, looking proudly at my bad kanji skills.
"Good girl." He said happily but with an undertone of sarcasm.
"I'm not a dog." I snapped as he rolled the scroll together just in time for me to remove my hands.
"But you'll have to carry it." He said and lifted the scroll upright.
"I knew there was a down side to this."I muttered while getting up.
"Strong ninjas bear heavy burdens."He quoted and rolled his eyes at me walking up behind me to put the straps around my shoulder.
I grunted when the scroll almost pulled me to the ground, and I felt myself stagger, as my arms were waving around in the air in a desperate try not to look like a giant fool in front of Kakashi. I failed miserably.
And then I fell.
… And to my huge mortification, he caught me in the upper arms and said:
"I know, it's a heavy scroll, huh?" sarcasm evident in his voice.
I looked up at him from the middle of his chest, laying my head back and blushing like a giant idiot, when he looked at me like this kind of thing happened to him every day. I narrowed my eyes the slightest bit as I pulled free of his grab, mentally slapping myself as the words slipped out:
"It was the gravity… It changed… It happens!"
Oh fuck no. Now I was using lame excuses. I was starting to transform into Kakashi… As a woman!"
I straightened up, jerking away from him as I looked at his innocent expression, as if he didn't get my behavior.
"Well? Should we move on?" I shouted, turning around to stomp in some direction that would make me forget my idiosyncrasy.
"You're going to wrong way Toshi." He said.
I stopped, my eyebrow quivering uncontrollably and turned around on my heels and was met by Kakashi's lazy expression. Oh well, at least it looked like he was thinking a bit.
"I knew that… I was just testing you." I said, pulling up in the robes around me shoulder and stomped in the direction he was pointing.
It was hard to hold the pokerface as I'd once again pulled off a lame excuse. I came to the conclusion that I was spending too much time with him. That explained my body's strange behavior and all the excuses I could suddenly make. Kakashi turned with me as I walked by him, smiling the slightest at me.
"What?" I hissed at him irritated. He looked awfully playful.
"Nothing." He hummed gladly and started to follow me.
Getting excited yet? :D I don't know how long it'll take for the
next chapter to come out, but I'll do my best at working on it :)
See you guys, and have a good summer :)