I'll Show You Insanity

Chapter 13

Yuma met her team at the required training grounds late. Like, two hours late.

"Ohaio," she yawned sleepily. "Did everyone survive alright last night?"

That unsettled them. Survived? Why would they have not survived?

But then Yuma laughed lightly and they forced themselves to calm down.

"I'm kidding," she grinned. "Damn, always so serious. You normal people are no fun."

They just stared at her. She yawned.

"Ah, ohaio," Kakashi said, appearing and looking over his team. As he had expected, Yuma stood to the side a bit and the other three stayed in they're own little huddle. He stifled a sigh. "Alright, lets begin."

He explained the rules. They had to try to get a bell from him or Yuma, who was handed a gold bell, before the bell rang. If they failed, they were tied to a stump, refused lunch, and sent back to the academy.

Simple enough, right?

Then he turned to Yuma. "Yuma, they'll have to come at us with the intent to kill. Can I trust you not to kill them and just keep the bell away?"

The three tensed as Yuma hummed, genuinely thoughtful as she pondered this.

"I dunno... Maybe," she shrugged.

"Yuma..." He said in a warning tone.

"Oh, fine," she said playfully. "I'll take it easy on them. I'll only use my left hand, okay?"

"No killing and no maiming."

"No maiming?!" She repeated, pouting. "No fair Bakashi!"

"Promise me Yuma."

She huffed. "Fine, fine. I promise. Cross my heart or hope to go sane."

He nodded. "Lets go then."

>Yuma: YAY! Time skip!<

"...pass!"

"What?"

"Don't question it, Baka no pinky!" Yuma yelled. "We win! Yay! And I didn't kill anyone!..... Wait... Awe, man...." She kicked a pebble. "When are we gonna go on a real mission?!"

Kakashi sighed softly as the other three leaned away from her.

Sometimes I forget killing is like her drug, he thought. It'll be a while before those three trust her.

"Well team, get some rest. In two days, we'll go to the Hokage and request our first mission," Kakashi said.

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke immediately dispersed, and Yuma watched them go. "They don't really like me," she said softly. "They're frightened."

Kakashi sighed, and set a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, they're just not used to you yet. Soon, they'll realize you won't hurt them and they'll see what a great friend you can be."

"Shika-kun and Cho-kun accept me. They already know I won't hurt them. They trust me."

Kakashi looked closer and found a soft smile lighting her face.

He smiled a bit himself. "Good, they're smart, and the others will learn too, soon, I know it."

Yuma shrugged in response. "I dunno Kashi. I think they're smart, keeping their distance. I'm dangerous. A monster."

"Yuma," Kakashi sighed. "You're not a monster."

"You said it yourself, on the first day knowing me."

Kakashi flinched guiltily. She had him there, but he already had a response. "But then I got past your... Different qualities."

"Heh. 'Different qualities'," Yuma laughed. "Right."

"Yuma, you don't really want everyone to avoid you, do you?"

Yuma stared up, at the blue sky. Kakashi could see the troubled look on her face.

"Most of the time, all I think about is killing, Kashi," she muttered. "I miss the blood, the screaming, it's like my favorite melody. Sometimes, I don't think about it as much. I don't know what I should do sometimes, when I miss the carnage and destruction. Sometimes I want to give in and massacre the entire village. But... There are people here I really don't want to hurt..."

Kakashi stared at her in shock. "The Hokage," he muttered.

She nodded. "I don't want to hurt him. Or you. Or Shika. Or Cho. You guys are nice, you've accepted me, make me feel like I belong. Even Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke are like family, the distant kind that hates me. Sometimes I dream that I've killed you all, and I wake up crying. I haven't ever done that before."

Kakashi wasn't sure how to respond. He had no idea.

"Yuma..."

"I think I need to kill, Kashi," she said quietly. "I'm trying not to, and its hurting me, like something's inside me, and that something needs blood. I feel like I'm being torn from the inside out. Like something is trying to claw it's way out. It hurts, and I'm not sure how long I can hold off before I accidentally hurt someone I care about."

She looked at him with wide, watery eyes, and Kakashi saw a pain he hasn't seen before, one she'd been masking.

One of real agony.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked.

"I..." She hesitated, flinching. "I was afraid..."

Afraid? He thought.

"Of me?"

She shook her head. "Nuh uh. Well, kinda... I was afraid you'd hate me. I dunno why, but I think of you as a brother, one I don't want to lose."

He was shocked and touched at the same time.

Suddenly, Yuma keeled over in pain, clutching her chest.

"Gah!"

"Yuma!"

Kakashi scooped her up.

"It... Hurts..." She rasped, looking up. Her eyes were red, her canines longer.

Kakashi remembered those eyes. The eyes that appeared the first time he saw her, and that night she'd nearly killed the asylum worker.

Her face pinched in pain, and Kakashi realized with a pang of concern:

Maybe something really WAS trying to get out.

"Don't worry Yuma," he said softly, hitting a pressure point on her neck that made her body go limp. "I'll find a way to help you."