Shizi pulled awake to the loud sounds of battle, the sharp ring of metal on metal causing her to flinch into the warmth beside her, cat ears pressed to her hair to try and block out the noise. A dull thudding reached her through the raging battle, rhythmic and even and calming. Like the beat of a far away war drum or bass line of an ancient lullaby. What was this noise anyway? The musky scent of earth, steel, and something intensely sinister and powerful reached her nose. Shizi snuggles closer to the source of heat to her right, rubbing her nose into the fabric that was once soft but now slightly gritty with dirt and sweat, drawing out a deep purr from her chest.
"Shizi-chan, you need to go back to the others. They've found the needed scroll and we are ready to head to the Tower." Her answer came in the form of grunts and groans and her moving ever closer to the thing next to her. "Shizi-chan, get up. Do you even know where you are?"
"Does it really matter? If I was in any real danger, you would've summoned yourself and dealt with it instead of waking me like you're my dad." Jingxiao chuckles darkly, inciting a spark of suspicion in her sleep-hazed mind. "Why are you laughing Jingxiao? What did you do?"
"I did nothing, Shizi-chan. I'm just amused by what I'm seeing is all."
"And what do you see that's just so funny?" Jingxiao shared his view, it was from a bird's eye perspective. Shizi was laying on her uninjured side, her body making a drunken S formation. A few feet from her, Sakura was battling the three Sound Shinobi all by herself. Despite the battle commencing a few feet from the neko, she was more concerned with Sasuke Uchiha.
He had scary-looking black markings running over most of his body and his Sharingan eyes were activated and shining brightly as he attacked the Sound Shinobi with harsh vengeance for hurting Sakura. Even more alarming than that was the source of heat she was currently snuggling.
The blonde Uzumaki had an arm over her waist comfortably, his chin resting on the top of her head that was cradled on the space between his neck and shoulder, and his legs were twined with hers. Jingxiao sent her back to her own mind and the girl forced her tired eyes open against the sunlight.
"Morning Shizi..." Mumbles Naruto from above her, reminding her exactly why she was awake in the first place. But he was so warm and comfortable that it drowned out the awkwardness she initially felt, making her purr some more and snuggling in closer to the boy's chest and neck.
"Morning Naruto." Shizi answers against his skin, a purr deepening in her chest to lightly vibrate the blonde boy's chest, making him chuckle at how it tickled. The battle between her friends and the Sound Shinobi had ended almost five minutes beforehand, the person who stopped it was Sakura by hugging tightly to the scary Uchiha until he calmed down enough to let the black markings retreat into the original symbol like a snake into its den.
"Are the other two alright? What happened to Shizi? All I remember was her fighting that Orochimaru character." The said girl's ear flicked towards Sasuke's voice as he spoke her name.
"Yeah, but it didn't end well for her. He shifted the entire right side of her ribcage. Did you hear what he said before that though? About her old sensei." Sakura whispers the last two sentences but the girl still heard her clearly.
"Yeah, how he killed Kandahar in the Land of Horses, where he assumed he had killed her as well. Poor girl, losing everything she's ever known." Shizi fought back tears as they spoke of her cherished old sensei and buried her face deeper into Naruto in hopes to block out the stinging pain in her heart at Kandahar's name. Naruto reacted by holding her tighter and moving the arm under his head to mingle with her thick brown hair.
"I know how you're feeling, Shizi-chan. I miss him as well. But he's gone, all we can do now is fulfill his last wish and keep him in our memories. We are all that's left of his legacy." Cooed Jingxiao in her head as she sniffles against the Uzumaki's skin.
"It'll be okay, Shizi, I won't let you lose anyone else like that. Not ever. Believe it." Whispers the blonde into her fuzzy ear sweetly.
"You shouldn't promise things you can't keep, Naruto." Shizi sniffs out and moves her nose into a more comfortable place, ending up with it pressed into the dip of his collarbone and her forehead against his jaw.
"I'll keep it no matter what." Sakura and Sasuke made the two get up so the trio could find their scroll before the night ended, Shizi's summons having already found theirs. Before the brunette neko left, Naruto caught up to her in the trees.
"Shizi, wait up!" The said girl pricked her cat ears in curiosity at the Uzumaki's voice as she stopped on a sturdy branch to let him reach her. As soon as he did, he took a second to catch his breath, and then quickly cupped her cheek and pressed his lips to hers, pulling away as fast as he connected.
"Good luck, Shizi." He whispered huskily, making the girl blush. Naruto smiled shyly and looked down at the tree branch. Shizi leaned out and up to gently and quickly peck his tanned cheek.
"See you at the Tower, Naruto." The said boy blushed and smiled before they went their separate ways, Naruto to his team and Shizi met with hers on their way to the Tower. She reversed her summon on her friends and walked into the building alone.
She read the writing on the wall and opened the scrolls, the person she summoned being Kakashi, who lazily salutes her with his typical saying of 'yo'.
"Did you understand the writing, Shizi?" Asks the white headed Jonin, as he reached out and softly petted the base of her right cat ear, her usual purr vibrating his hand.
"Mostly, it tells you to look inside and fix the flaw of your nature, right?"
"Yes, and which do you think of these is your flaw?" Shizi shrugged and leaned closer to his fingers as they found the sensitive nerve in her ear, her purr deepening in her chest.
"I'm not sure. I'd personally think all of them. I'm not as strong as I need to be but I'm also not as intelligent as I should be. I'm just a freak who doesn't belong in an Exam I'm not prepared for." Kakashi stopped massaging her ear to get her to look him in the eye, which was soft and kind.
"You'll do fine, Shizi. I promise." The white haired man leaned down and kissed her forehead, surprising them both with his actions. He looked into the distance for a few minutes before stepping back from the girl.
"The others made it to the Tower, if you'd like to know." Shizi flushed crimson when she thought back to the kiss Naruto gave her in the Forest of Death. Kakashi hummed and started to return to where he was before, stopping to say one more thing to the neko brunette. His sentence made her turn an even deeper shade of red before he poofed away in white smoke.
"And don't think I don't know about that kiss in the woods with a certain knucklehead blonde Genin.... I love you, Shizi." He's never said that to her before, not even hinted at it. The said Kunoichi stood in suspended dumbness. He said he loved her. A smile claimed her lips and she spoke, even thought he had already disappeared.
"I love you too, Kika."
YOU ARE READING
Beautiful Monsters
Fanfiction"The true measure of a Shinobi is not how he lives, but how he dies..." Shizi Yemao's pretty smile hides her secrets and her pretty eyes have cried too many tears. It's scary what her smile has come to hide, and she has gotten better at hiding the...
