A/N: Wow, I've had a really hard time beating writer's block on this one! I am sooo sorry everyone! I hope that this chapter somewhat makes up for it and I think I finally have a few ideas to continue with! ENJOY!
FACING DEMONS: PAST AND PRESENT
Reyna and Kakashi dressed quickly and Reyna leaned against a tree as she pulled leaves out of her now tangled hair. She wore a grin that just refused to leave her face as she watched Kakashi rewrap his ankles. Finally they were both as presentable as they could be after everything they had just done and started back for the village walking side by side. The fact that he had wanted nothing more than to bury his teeth in her neck and shoulder still bothered the platinum haired man, but for the time being he didn't say anything to her about it again. He'd wait until they were alone to broach that subject. Reyna, however, seemed rather unconcerned about life in general at the moment and he couldn't help but let his lips flicker into a small smile under his mask.
"Are you hungry?" Reyna asked, glancing over at the man walking beside her and he nodded.
"Starving now," he grinned in reply and they headed to the barbeque shop.
"I haven't eaten here for a long time," Reyna muttered as they settled in at a table.
They ate in relative silence and Kakashi paid for their meal. By the time they headed back into the street, dusk was just starting to settle over the village and her felt more than heard Reyna sigh beside him. He cast a glance over at her and shook his head.
"Reyna?" he asked softly and she glanced over at him; a brief smile flickering over her face but it was gone again.
"Sorry, just thinking," she muttered and slid her arm through his, letting her hand rest lightly on his forearm before she laid her head against his shoulder as he steered them through the evening crowds towards his apartment.
"Well, how can I get my happy, playful wolf back?" he teased and she smiled again.
"Slap me every time I start to think?" she suggested and he chuckled as they headed up the stairs and into his apartment.
"How about I make you some coffee and then we get some sleep," he offered and she nodded against his shoulder before she let go of his arm and dropped onto the couch while he disappeared into the kitchen.
He appeared a few minutes later, holding a steaming cup in his hand which he handed to her before he dropped down beside her and she snuggled in against his side. He read while she finished off her cup of coffee and curled tighter against his side and he looked down at her finally. He sighed, having no idea what he could possibly do to make her feel any better about what was bothering her than what he had already done.
"Reyna?" he finally spoke again and she lifted her head to glance up at him.
"Hmm?" she intoned.
"Any ideas as to why the hell I wanted to bite you earlier?"
"Well…" she sighed and sat back away from him slightly so that she could meet his gaze. "You know enough about the pack to know that they mark their mate with a bite, right?"
"But I'm not a wolf," he reminded her and she sighed.
"No but that's the best explanation I have for you. It has to have something to do with the fact that I am. It's not like I have a whole lot of experience with this, Kashi."
He nodded slightly and laid his head back against the couch before wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her back against his side, "What would you have done if I had?"
She shrugged, "Honestly I had to forcibly stop myself from marking you. Although if I had to belong to anyone, you'd be my only choice."
He chuckled at that and tightened his hold around her shoulders, "That's good to know."
She smiled a little to herself and curled back against him again, stifling a yawn. Kakashi glanced down at her and shook his head before closing his book and nudging her up. Reyna drug her feet as she headed for the bedroom where she quickly changed into a pair of her fuzzy pants and a black tank top before sliding under the blankets and nestling into the pillows. Kakashi followed her and changed just as quickly before he followed suit and crawled under the blankets. It wasn't long before both the ninja were asleep.
Reyna was the first up the next morning, as was turning into the usual routine, and found that she was using Kakashi for her pillow with her head on his chest while he was stretched out on his back. Carefully she slipped off the foot of the bed, but Kakashi lifted his head, a slight smile on his lips and despite the fact that it was becoming somewhat normal to see him without a mask on, she always found that she had to pause and stare at him for a second; especially when he smiled.
"You're stealing the first shower aren't you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her and she nodded.
"Of course I am," she grinned in response and he flopped back on his back.
"Just checking," he muttered, draping an arm over his eyes causing her to laugh before she grabbed clean clothes and headed for the shower.
Twenty minutes later, Reyna emerged from the bathroom fully dressed and dragging a brush through her wet hair. Kakashi was still stretched out in the bed and she shook her head before walking over and poking him in the ribs.
"Were you planning on moving today?" she asked as he pulled his arm away from his eyes and stared at her with his grey eye.
"Maybe if I have a reason to move," he replied lazily and she shook her head.
"Well, not that I'm aware of unless you wanted to get in some actual training."
"Hmm, maybe if it turns into training like yesterday," he teased back but still didn't move from his spot.
"Nah I think I'd actually like to do some training that may save my ass in the future. Besides I need to work on my puppet master jutsu some more and I need someone to fight. I'll be nice and give you until this afternoon," she half whined.
"Alright, but that means you have to cook for me tonight."
She nodded, "Fair enough. I think I'm going to see if Jiraiya-Sensei is still around the village. Maybe I'll be able to get in two training sessions today."
"Aren't we ambitious," he muttered, finally starting to move as he sat up and swung his feet over the side of the bed.
"Well, otherwise if I end up having to face off against some of Zeke's more powerful soldiers, I may not be totally fucked."
"I never did ask how that all went," he muttered more to himself than to her but he looked up when he heard her sigh. "That good, huh?"
"I am royally fucked, Kashi. Hell, I wouldn't stand a chance against Kayha and she said that even she can't take on Zeke yet. She basically told me to hide so I spent the time that I was in the Sand training with Kankuro. I mean, I'm a great short range to medium range fighter, but long range? I'm screwed. I figured with the puppet master jutsu and my shadow techniques I may be able to strengthen that weakness. We have two excellent close range fighters but you're our team's only long range fighter so…really our team isn't as strong as it could be."
"So, you're saying you're royally fucked but you're not going to take Kayha's advice?"
"Basically; look, if I have a choice I'm not going to face off against these guys alone, but if for some reason I have to, I want to at least be able to hurt them. I have to find a way to at least weaken their numbers."
Kakashi suddenly smiled at her again, "There's my Reyna."
She quirked a brow at him, "As opposed to?"
"Whoever you've been ever since you learned that Zeke was after you too."
Reyna sighed, "Yeah, I know. I guess that defeat by Sasuke affected me more than I had realized and it took Master Jiraiya to make me realize that I had changed and I'd given up before I even tried."
"Remind me to thank him later. Now, I'm going to shower."
"Oh, bad Reyna; very bad Reyna," she grinned and he shot her a confused look and she grinned, "Mental images."
He disappeared into the bathroom laughing. Reyna shook her head, a small grin tugging at her lips as she headed out of the apartment and down into the village in search of her mentor. She found him sitting alone in the dumpling shop, munching away and watching the people pass the window where he was sitting. He raised a hand in greeting and she smiled back at him before she slipped inside and sat down across from him.
"I take it you're in a better mood than yesterday?" he finally asked as he laid the skewer on the nearly empty plate.
She nodded, "Yeah. What would I do without you?"
"Crash and burn," he grinned. "Now what are you doing tracking me down today then?"
"Hmm, I suppose I could be convinced to help you train although I'm not sure why you think you need to train more."
"You said it yourself yesterday; I never give up. I may stand a slightly better chance if my long range abilities were stronger. In order to get better, I need to train," she grinned and he sighed.
"Now you're starting to sound like Gai. Reyna, I'll help you in any way I can, you know that but I'm not the best person to help you with long range attacks and defense and you know it. Tell you what, rather than training why don't we just take the morning and deal with the real reason that you're throwing yourself into hard training again?"
She quirked a brow, "What are you talking about?"
"Agree and you'll find out," he smirked.
"Fine."
The two headed out soon after that and she followed Jiraiya out of the village, curious as to where they were actually heading. She had expected that he'd drag her off to the hot spring so that he could do his 'research', but instead she found that he was leading her off the path and into the trees around the village. She'd learned not to question his motives though and followed without a word until he stopped in a small clearing and turned to face her.
"Why do you want to spend so much time training today?" he asked and she quirked a brow at the serious set of his eyes.
"So that I stand some kind of chance against Zeke."
"No, that's not the reason and deep down you know it. You just aren't willing to admit it to yourself, let alone to someone else. It's not like Zeke is going to show up in the next five minutes and destroy you. He hasn't really played his cards yet and I'm willing to bet that his first move isn't going to be against you; he has bigger and tougher fish to fry. No offense."
"None taken, but I still don't know what you're talking about. Not that that's entirely unusual," she grinned and he glared at her light attitude.
"You don't want to deal with what's happening right here, right now. That's why you want to train so damn hard and so long. I know you, Reyna. You probably planned on training with me for the morning and then you had someone else lined up for the afternoon, right?"
"No…." she muttered, shifting under his serious gaze and after enduring his glare for a few seconds she sighed, "Kakashi."
"Exactly; now I'm not saying that you shouldn't better your long range attacks. You most definitely should, but you also have to deal with everything else first. You can't just keep hiding behind training; working until you're so damn exhausted you can't think at night. I've seen you do it, Reyna."
She sighed, "I don't even know why I'm doing it this time. Before I knew…with the pack and…"
Jiraiya shook his head, "You really are blind when it comes to your own being. You don't want to deal with Asuma's death."
Her gaze shot to his sympathetic look and she growled, "It has nothing to do with that."
"Then why so damn defensive? Look," he laid a hand on her shoulder lightly, "I know how you think. After dealing with you for so damn long, I should. You are actually worse than Kakashi when it comes from running away from what you feel. He feels it, he acknowledges it but he doesn't show it to anyone but he at least realizes it. You on the other hand, shy away from your own feelings and run from them, rather than facing them and dealing with it."
Reyna stayed silent for a long while before she shook her head, "You're wrong."
"No, I'm not!" he snapped and she jumped in surprise and his grip on her shoulder tightened. "You hide from that hurt; that pain. You see it as weakness, but in fact what you're doing is the weakness. You have to deal with this!"
"No," she ground out through her now clenched jaw.
"Yes you do. Asuma is dead. You cannot change that. Nothing you say or do will change that," he held her in place and forced her to hold his gaze. "It's not even just that that you're running from either is it? You're terrified that you're going to lose everyone that means anything to you. At any time the Akatsuki could capture Naruto…he'll die. Kakashi could die while on any mission, whether you're there or not," Reyna growled, struggling to back away from him but he easily held her in place; she never had been a match for him and doubted that she would be. "Even I could be torn out of your world leaving you with no one to turn to for help and guidance."
With a snarl she launched at her teacher but rather than stepping out of the way of her enraged punches, he let her connect. He kept just enough distance from her that she didn't connect very hard, but enough that she could feel it. Gradually she slowed down, her punches less powerful until she was barely grazing him anymore before she finally broke down with a half-strangled sobbing growl. That was when he stopped avoiding her. He hated to do it to her, but he knew that she had to be able to face herself and what could happen. She couldn't protect everyone all the time and even if she were there, she couldn't always stop the worst from happening. Finally she collapsed against his chest; sobbing and he wrapped an arm around her.
"Shinobi or not; wolf blood or no, you're still human and you still feel. You don't have to let people know that, but you have to acknowledge it yourself. Hell, I've even seen Kakashi cry on occasion, although he seems to time it when it rains," Jiraiya chuckled as he held her and let her deal with everything; he was pretty sure it wasn't just Asuma's death that she was finally letting out.
When she finally seemed to pull herself back together, Jiraiya released her and she stepped away from him slowly, wiping her tears on her shoulder before she finally looked back up at him, "I think I prefer training."
He laughed lightly at that and shook his head, "Sorry, Kiddo. No one ever said life was going to be easy or painless. Feel better now though?"
She shrugged, "Not really better. Lighter maybe, but not better. Now my eyes hurt."
He grinned and shook his head, "I had to do it, you know."
She nodded, "How do you deal? How can you…"
He sighed, "You're looking for a trick; an easy way to deal with the things that life throws at you. There isn't one, Kiddo. I wish I could tell you to just do this and everything would be fine, but it doesn't work that way. You know, I always wondered if I'd find someone that could carry on my will, but I've been severely blessed; I got two."
She shook her head and lowered her gaze, "I'll never be as good as you, Sensei."
He chuckled, "You don't have to have the same skills, just the same kind of heart and soul. I need to meet up with Naruto now; you gonna be alright?"
She shrugged, "Do I have a choice? There's only one direction to go right?"
He smiled and lifted her head with a finger until she met his gaze again, "Forward and don't you ever look back, no matter what's behind you. Always move forward; don't forget the past but don't let it ruin the present or the future." He started away from her then to meet up with Naruto when he turned around and faced her again suddenly. "Just in case you haven't been able to figure it out; I couldn't be happier that you and Kakashi are together. You'll see each other through whatever life brings; I know you will so don't let that slip away from you. Live your lives without regrets and don't fear letting him see this side of you either. Hell, I want to see you two married and with little silver haired wolves running around!"
She half snorted at that as he headed off again, now laughing loudly as she wiped her eyes again and headed back towards the village. She wasn't exactly happy that he had ambushed her the way he had, but he had been right; she'd been hiding from herself for a very long time and it figured that it would be Jiraiya that would force her to final face everything. She paused when she glimpsed a fiery red wildflower blooming nearby and on impulse she stopped and picked a few of them. On the way back to the apartment, she slipped into the cemetery and stopped, first at the Third Hokage's grave, leaving a couple of the flowers before heading on to Asuma's. Shikamaru was there as well and she approached quietly.
"Reyna-Sensei?" Shikamaru questioned as he turned and realized who was behind him.
She smiled a little and shrugged, "He was a good friend."
"Yeah, and one hell of a sensei," he added quietly.
Silently she laid the remainder of the flowers on Asuma's grave and turned back to Shikamaru, "If you need to talk, I'll be around."
Shikamaru nodded, "Thanks."
Reyna nodded and headed out of the cemetery and once again started towards Kakashi's apartment. Jiraiya's words still played through her mind as she walked and she soon found herself laughing under her breath as she started up the stairs and by the time she stepped inside the apartment she was having difficulty keeping it under control. Kakashi was sitting on the couch reading and glanced over at her, quirking a brow.
"Reyna? You alright?" her red rimmed eyes didn't escape his notice and she was still laughing when she dropped down beside him.
"No, but I will be. I was just thinking of what Jiraiya-Sensei said and then I got a really weird scenario playing through my head…" she chuckled again as the image apparently re-entered her mind as she told him.
"Oh? Do I even want to ask?"
"Probably not…Little silver haired wolves running around the village... Heaven forbid," she laughed, leaning back and closing her eyes.
"Nope, really didn't want to know," he muttered.
A/N: Alright so there we go! Jiraiya was a little OOC, sorry about that, but I needed to force Reyna to face her own emotions. I just realized that I had her running all the time! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed and reviews feed the muse! Please feed the muse!