Colliding Constellations

Chapter 3: Potential

Karasu had begun her tutelage under Kakashi-sama for the past three weeks.

Shortly after her mother had quietly revealed the knowledge of Kara's sensitive chakra, she had told her to embrace Kakashi as her new mentor and be ever grateful to him. Kara was no fool. She knew her mother was delighted with the fact Kara would be staying with Kakashi. With Sakura's hands full with duties in the hospital and being a sole mother to two daughters, Kara's stay with Kakashi gave her a much-needed breathing room, with the added factor it would support Kara in the future.

Kara wanted her mother to be happy.

This sole fact held such profound importance in Kara's heart that her somewhat ambiguous godfather's training began.

Kakashi was a relatively laid-back type of teacher, something Kara had decided early on.

He never said things out-right, his approach on things was dubious at best, and he expected his actions to speak for his less than helpful words. Kara had concluded that at the end of the day, he wasn't really a bad teacher. He just did things in a hands-off manner and expected his students to configure a solution by themselves.

Her mother had warned her that Kakashi wasn't going to hold her hand in everything he did, but Kara found herself liking his lax way of thinking and doing.

It wasn't as if Kara was doing much. She improved her stamina daily and studied over some fundamental chakra essentials. It was easy to predict what Kakashi wanted from her, and Kara found herself rather bored with meeting his expectations.

"Will you release the seal?" Kara had asked him.

He had patted her hair, "No, you would be unable to handle the influx of control it would force you to create. Every month I will ease the seal so that you grow used to functioning your own chakra."

"So then when will I no longer need it?" Kara furrowed her eyebrows.

"That depends on you," Kakashi had said ominously and left the discussion without further description.

Days passed in the same rhythm, and it was in her second week that Kakashi had begun to lead her to a meditative state, telling her to search for her chakra. Given that Kara was only five, her chakra had yet to mature, and with seal implanting an artificial flow in her network, it was even harder to search for what would be her innate control. Though Kara had developed a scary accurate knowledge of chakra systems and networks, she had yet to display her own chakra findings.

It was the third week that things began to change.

Kakashi, as promised, had loosened the seal at the most minor magnitude possible. It took barely seconds for Kara to feel a reaction, an almost overwhelming sensation. A warmth bloomed within her, and sitting in a meditative state; she took it in.

"Concentrate on the flow," Kakashi explained, "And move it to circulate."

But Kara had encountered something distracting. Still closing her eyes, Kakashi's hands on her back, it felt as if Kakashi's aura was brushing against her own, sending goosebumps rippling down her neck. His aura was a mixture of sharp edges and storms, and even though his presence was virtually unseen, she felt it with a rippling uneasiness.

Trying to ignore the awful sensation of aura brushing on aura, Kara quickly analyzed the flow, an image of its system appearing in her head, and started to circulate her chakra.

"Well done, that's enough, I'm tightening the seal," Kakashi complimented.

Kara nodded and opened her eyes, taking a well-needed breath. She breathed a sigh of relief at no longer needing to focus so hard, a migraine thrumming at her recent activity.

And yet-

The sensation was still there, the yucky aura brushing against her sense.

"Kakashi-sama? Have you tightened the seal?" Kara inquired. Perhaps it had yet to be completely sealed.

"Yes," Kakashi responded.

A pause. "Are you sure, Kakashi-sama?"

"Kara, is something wrong?" Kakashi's eyes were burning into her.

"..No," Kara said carefully.

"Kara," Kakashi's eyes were stern. He would not let her back down from the conversation.

"It's just," Kara stumbled, not sure what to say, "I feel something weird."

"Define weird," Kakashi's gaze was unrelenting.

"A sticky feeling coming off of Kakashi-sama," Kara began to explain.

"-From me?" Kakashi's eyes hovered on contemplations.

"No, like knives," Kara began to mutter to herself, "Maybe not knives, but sharp, and hot, like, like a storm, yet not quite."

An understanding was filtering through Kakashi's gaze now.

"Sensor," he muttered, and then he looked to Kara, "Kara-chan, it seems with lessening and tightening of the seal you have become more sensitive to chakra."

Kara was gazing at Kakashi, "Why does it feel so sticky?"

"Chakra in living things naturally react with their surroundings," Kakashi's head turned to the side, as if he was contemplating something, "It's odd."

"What's odd, Kakashi-sama?" Kara asked worriedly.

"It's unusual that you would be a sensor, Sakura was so obviously a genjutsu type, and Sasuke naturally inherited the Uchiha uncanny take to genjutsu," Kakashi muttered.

"What's genjutsu?" Kara inquired.

"The ability to form an illusion with chakra based by interacting with another's the nervous system," Kakashi gave a brief description, but didn't seem like he was paying attention to the conversation, "Kara, I want you to focus on the room."

"What?" Kara was still trying to comprehend his words when a horrible feeling caressed her surroundings. The room seemed as if it was filtered with a screen behind it, waves rippling in the air.

"Kara, walk to the door," Kakashi's voice came as if muffled by a wall. The waves rippled again, and a door appeared behind her, but all Kara could do was desperately gulp down air, her senses screaming out into oblivion.

"Stop it!" she yelled out, and with a sudden break, the waves seized to exist.

There pause in the air, then-

"Maa, that was something," Kakashi said quietly.

"She's a sensor?!" Sakura exclaimed.

"It's more complicated than that," Kakashi scratched his head, "It's more as if she is sensitive to her surrounding's chakra. It's something akin to being a sensor."

"I never would have thought," Sakura rubbed her eyes in exhaustion.

"You need to be careful, Sakura-chan," Kakashi warned, and Sakura looked up worriedly at his sudden change of tone.

"What's wrong?" she inquired.

"I thought she was a sensor at first," Kakashi's eyes darkened, "Until I put her under a genjutsu."

Sakura's eyes flashed, "That's a little dangerous for a five-year-old, no?"

"Maa, Sakura-chan," Kakashi waved his hands in front of him, "It was a simple disorientation."

Sakura huffed but still gave him a stink eye.

"My point is," Kakashi murmured, "A sensor and genjutsu type are innate talents. She's not a real sensor because what she showed during the genjutsu was where her real talent lay."

"What happened?" Sakura's eyes were shining with worry.

"She dispelled it," Kakashi said, "With the speed of some of the most genius Uchiha at her age.

Take Itachi Uchiha, for example."