The Last Elementalist

Part 3 - Adventure time

AN: Edited: 18/01/23

It's all fake. Everything. They aren't as happy as they were pretending to be. They however, have never known it any other way than how it is now. It is not acceptable to show how you feel. It's frowned upon. You always just... smile and nod. Some that married into the clan have known it differently, but they don't say anything about it. Truth to be told... The Elementalists, although possibly the most powerful clan to exist to this day, are still afraid of the outside world and their judgement to everything that is different from the norm. Still scared that they will be hunted down like animals and truth to be told.... They are probably right. That is probably exactly what would happen if they came out of hiding.

Hikari, naturally curious as she is, has always wondered what it's like outside the comfort of the clan. She dreamed about leaving the village one day and explore. It has always been exiting for her. The unknown has something that has always attracted her. And honestly, she wanted a break from the village, from her clan. They were nice enough, but... Everything was so... predictable and boring. She needed something more than this life, she felt like something was missing from it, but she couldn't quite understand what it was. Maybe it was just the not knowing that was driving her insane. It always had.

She asked her parents numerous times when she was younger, but they didn't know either since they had never been outside the clan themselves. Nor did they have that desire. Safety above all, they believed and that is understandable. Didn't make her less curious though. Of course some people from the clan had been outside, how else would they have married someone from outside the clan if they didn't?  However they never went far. They mostly met in the woods right outside of the illusion that covered their village. A very strong genjutsu that wouldn't let you through if you didn't know where exactly the village was, you simply could not enter. So wandering in by accident will never happen, that would compromise the safety of the clan. If you had no knowledge of the village and its whereabouts, you wouldn't be able to get in unless someone from the clan brought you in.

Finally she built up enough courage to take the leap and leave. Only for a few minutes, an hour maximum. She would be back before anyone could notice she was missing. She took a deep breath as she stood at the edge of the illusion. And just like that, she was at the other  side. she looked back and a second she was second guessing her decision. Should she just turn back? Was this a stupid idea? What would her parents say if they found out? So many questions running through her head. But before she could turn back. A vision came to her mind and suddenly she was running. To where? She did not know.  

She got further and further into the forest. Suddenly she saw a grey haired guy with a dog mask on, fighting five men. She admired how fast and agile he was, but none the less he seemed like he was losing the fight and in her vision she had already seen him gravely injured, possibly about to die. She lifted her hand and vines all around her grew and wrapped themselves around the five opposing men. The guy in the dog mask turned to look at her as she made the vines wrap even tighter around the other guys and bound them to the trees  with the vines that were holding them. "You're welcome" She says to the grey haired stranger "I would've been fine without your help" he tells her. Hikari raises an eyebrow at him and lets out a small chuckle "Why can't you just be grateful that I saved your ass" she replies, turning back to where she came from. "I didn't need saving" he told her "I saw you die so.... you kind of did" she said looking over her shoulder. As she did she noticed the blood at his side. "You're hurt" she states and walked over to him. "I'm fine" the gray haired stranger replies and Hikari rolls her eyes "Let me take a look" she says and reaches over "I'm fine" he says agai, walking away from her. 

Suddenly the gray haired boy collapsed and worry crosses Hikari's soft features. She runs over to him. Hikari kneels down next to him and reaches for his shirt, but the gray haired stranger stops her hand. She sighs in frustration. "You are way too stubborn for your own good, now stay still and let me take a look" she tells him, her tone not making any room for argument. She lifted his shirt and saw a large cut across his side, Hikari could tell it was quite deep. He was losing a lot of blood. "Hold still. I'm going to heal you" she says as she places her hands above the wound. A bright green glow came from her hands and the wound closed almost instantly. 

"I have healed the wound, but you have lost quite an amount of blood. It's best to rest for a few days." She tells him as she finishes up her healing "No traveling for a while and definitively NO training or fighting" She adds with a stern tone to her voice. "Do you have some place to stay?" she asks. "No" he answers, Hikari debates whether she should bring the stranger with her to the village or not. "You could stay with me for a while" she says without thinking and almost immediately she debates if it was wise to suggest a stranger to stay with her, in a village that has been hidden because of ancient fear to be hunted down and killed. "You seem troubled" he states. She debates it for a second more. "The village isn't far" she says, ignoring his statement. He shakes his head "What are you talking about? The first village is two hours from here." he states, sweat dropping. "Actually it's about ten minutes away" she says with a small laugh, now he looks at her with confusion written in his eyes, but she couldn't see that because of the dog mask. She suddenly realizes that she hasn't even introduced herself. "I'm Hikari by the way" she says with a warm closed eye smile "Kakashi" he answers "Nice to meet you, Kakashi" she says "Could you maybe remove the mask so I can at least put a face to the name?" She asks with a small laugh.

The gray haired stranger, Kakashi, removed his mask. To reveal... another mask. Well at least she could see half his face now. "You wear a mask under your mask?" she asks with a small laugh. She took in his features. Well.... the part she could actually see. He had a scar running over his left eye, which was red for some reason. The other eye was black. From what she could see and a little bit of her imagination, he was kind of handsome. Kakashi took a good look at his savior, the beautiful deep blue eyes that looked a bit like the ocean, her hair which was very long and almost as white as snow. 'Stunning' was the only thing he could think.