Just A Kid

Chapter 27

As Araile and Takumi walked along the edge of the village, the ground started shaking violently.

"What's happening?" she said as the ground continued to shake, causing the girl to fall to her knees.

She closed her eyes tightly and waited for the shaking to hopefully stop. Beside her, Takumi snarled loudly as numerous explosion sounded nearby. Araile opened her eyes, but immediately wished that she hadn't. In the horizon was the biggest snake the girl had ever seen. Even worse, the snake had three heads.

Her pupil's shrank as fear consumed her body, freezing the girl on her hands and knees. She hated snakes. Takumi growled loudly and stood in front of his terrified companion, his teeth as a threat. All around the giant snake, unknown ninjas began attacking and running into the village. Through her fear, she could hear some people screaming and Konoha ninja shouting out different orders.

Takumi barked loudly and ran straight towards the giant three headed snake.

"Takumi! Come back!" Araile shouted as scrambled to her feet and raced after the dog.

An enemy ninja then jumped in front of her with a kunai from behind a building. She gave a small scream; the momentum from her running making it hard to stop suddenly. She skidded to a stop, slamming right into the enemy ninja. Both her and the enemy flew backwards, the enemy ninja landing on top of her. She snarled loudly as she raked her nails across the ninjas face, giving him 5 long jagged gashes. Blood spurted from the wounds she inflicted as the ninja cried out and jumped off her.

Araile got up, glaring at the enemy.

"Why you little runt! I'm gonna kill you!" the ninja shouted as he took out a kunai.

Before she knew it, a black shape streaked across the ground and slammed against the enemy ninja. Araile blinked as scream-like howls echoed from the black mass.

"Takumi!" she cried out as she watched her friend take care of the enemy ninja as he delivered a bone-crushing bite through the ninja's trachea.

Takumi looked up and padded over to her, but stumbled along the way. Araile rushed and caught the exhausted dog just before he hit the ground. She then noticed a wide gash on Takumi's hind leg; blood streaming down.

"Takumi, what happened to you?" she said worriedly as she noticed Takumi's body trembling slightly.

Araile gently hugged the dog's head, sitting in that position for a while as she stroked his face and ears. She smiled softly when her companion fell into an exhausted slumber in her arms. Her head snapped up when she heard a twig snap nearby. She placed the sleeping dog carefully on the ground and stood up. Another twig snapped closer to Araile and she whipped around, a growl starting at the back of her throat. She was ready to defend her wounded companion just like he had protected her only minutes before.

Her eyes widened when she saw Kane stumble out of the bushes and on to the ground. Her hands flew to her mouth as she held back a scream. Her brother was a mess: he had numerous gashes all over, blood covering most of his body, and a large deep cut on his left temple.

"K...Kane?" Araile whispered, walking slowly towards her brother.

Araile reached her brother and knelt down beside him. She gave a small sigh of relief when she saw his bloodied chest rising and falling slowly. She put a hand over her brothers forehead and brushed away a few stray strands of hair. Even though her brother had almost killed her in the preliminaries, Kane was her only living family. Araile grabbed Kane's shirt and slowly managed to pull him beside Takumi. She would protect them both. With everything that was going on, she felt exhaustion consume her body and mind. She rested her head against Kane's uninjured shoulder, and fell into a light sleep. She would rest her eyes for five minutes and then be on guard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yes sir, the patient is in stable condition. We were able to stitch the large gash on the patient's left temple," someone stated through the haze of Araile's mind.

Her mind cleared as she opened her eyes, one by one.

"And you say that you found Araile beside the patient?" the voice continued.

Araile noticed as her vision cleared that a blanket was wrapped around her body, and she was currently leaning against something squishy.

"Well Jiraiya, you do have a knack for finding people," the person joked.

Araile blinked and saw a familiar face beside her.

"Hi Mister Jiraiya! How did I get in the hospital?" she asked, now sitting up from the chair she was snoozing in.

Jiraiya laughed and gave her head a pat. She looked over and saw the same medical nin that took care of her when she was in the hospital.

"Where's my brother?" she said, looking around the room now.

"Your brother is in stable condition," the medical nin stated, not really answering her question.

Araike stood up, glaring up at the medical nin.

"Where is my brother?" she asked again.

"Now now Araile, don't give me that look," the medical nin scolded, looking down at the irate nine year old.

"Just tell the kid where her brother is," Jiraiya said as he sat up and stretched.

The medical nin hesitated, then nodded and led the two to another room down the hall. As the medical nin opened the door, her breath caught at the back of her throat. She timidly walked in, looking around the small room. Her brother was asleep on the hospital bed that was off to the side, just beside a window. Enough space was made so a chair could fit in comfortably. She sighed in relief when she saw-with relief-that all her brothers wounds were stitched up.

"I think we'll leave these two alone for a bit," Jiraiya stated and he and the medical nin left the room.

Araile smiled slightly at the Sanin's back, and then sat in the chair beside her brother. She rested her chin on her hands and sighed, looking over at her brothers face.

She smiled slightly when she noticed how relaxed Kane seemed when he was asleep.

'I'll be here when he wakes up,' she decided in her head as she shifted her body in a more comfortable position.

Before she knew it, her eyes closed for the second time that day, and Araile entered the realms of sleep. Unknown to the slumbering girl, Kakashi was watching her from the other side of the door. He smiled softly and walked away, Takumi following with a bandaged leg.