Shizi ripped into consciousness in the middle of the night, jolted awake at her own cries of terror. Another nightmare, but this one was different than the others. This one wasn't a Shinobi War, but something that was much closer in the future. She watched herself as she tore through the Hidden Leaf Village with brutal ease. Everyone was dead, everything was gone. And it was all her fault.
"Shizi, are you alright?" She jumped at the voice of Kakashi at her door, the girl lightly hissing in her throat in case it was an enemy. Kakashi lifted his hands to show he wasn't dangerous to her in any way as he walked into her room. He knelt at her bedside so he was in the moonlight and able to be seen by her. His unmasked and lightly smiling features caused her to flash back to the dream.
"Shizi, what have you done?" She opened her eyes to see that she had stabbed the silvery Jonin through his heart with her own clawed hands. She ripped them out with a sickening sound of tearing skin and sucking blood as she backed away from him in horror.
"Kika?" He coughed up blood onto the dusty streets and she stared at her bloody hands. She killed him.
"I can change that, child." Shizi whipped around to find who said that, but nobody was there.
"Who said that?"
"I did. Gomon. I can save him, all you have to do is let go."
"No, I can't let you out, you'll kill everyone. You're lying."
"Maybe I'm not. Do you want to wager his life on the possibility I'm lying? Look at him, brat, you did this to him. I can take it away but you have to let me out." She stared down at the dying man with tears streaming down her ash coated cheeks. What if Gomon was telling the truth? He could save him.
"Shizi..." The fading voice of Kakashi at her feet broke through her depressed thoughts. He had pushed up to his knees, blood gushing through his flak vest and down his front to pool around his knees. Shizi crouched down to his height to try and staunch the blood flow but it was useless.
"I'm so sorry, Kika." He reached out a bloodstained hand and massaged her ear like he always did.
"This isn't... your fault...Shizi..."
"You're wrong Kika, it is my fault. I hurt you."
"Baby girl... listen to me... You've done nothing wrong... I'll be fine..." Shizi shook her head no as Kakashi held his forehead against hers gently.
"But you won't be okay, you're dying! But I can fix it." She stepped away from the silver man and took in a deep breath. Kakashi realizes what she meant and so tried to force his dying self to his feet to stop her.
"Shizi... don't listen to... the Hell's Wildcat... It'll kill us all..."
"He said he could heal you, I have to try."
"No, please... don't do it... Please..."
"I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, dad."
"Shizi?" Kakashi reached out and gently patted her cheek to catch her attention. "Did you have another nightmare?" She numbly nodded and her large grey eyes began to water as she remembered the horror she committed.
"I-I killed y-you." Kakashi hummed soothingly and reached out to pull her to his chest in a warm hug. She could hear his steady heartbeat, and the idea that she could be the one to make it stop scared her beyond belief.
"It's okay, it's all a dream. It was just a bad dream."
"It felt so real..."
"It'll be okay. Do you want to tell me about this one?" Shizi sighed and nodded against his skin. Kakashi picked the tiny girl up and settled himself on the mattress with her cradled to his chest in silence. He patiently waited for her to begin her story.
"I dreamt I had lost Jingxiao to the people hunting me for him. Gomon was breaking out as well and I couldn't stop him no matter how hard I tried to. Then you appeared saying that the reapers had been forced to unleash their Forbidden Form. But then, Gomon took over completely and... used me to... kill you. That's when I woke up." She could feel herself relax in his hold as his long fingers trailed through her thick hair.
"Are you scared of the people hunting you?"
"Not them, but what they have the potential to do. And what could happen if they succeed in taking Jingxiao from me. All the innocent people I could hurt." The silvery Jonin lifted her chin up to look at him. He wiped a few stray tears from her tearstained cheeks and kissed her forehead.
"I promised to keep you safe, Shizi. I don't plan to break it now or when they get here. I will always protect you." He started to slide out from underneath her, but was stopped when she holds tighter to his black muscle shirt to keep him close.
"Please don't leave, what if the nightmare comes back." Kakashi lightly smiled at his daughter and resettled in his place against the wall.
"Of they come back then I'll be right here to scare them away." Shizi smiled sleepily and snuggled close to his warmth. He wraps his arms around her thin frame and relaxed with her soft purrs vibrating his body with every breath she took. He knew she was terrified of hurting those she loved most when the hunters find her in the village and how scared she must be with that knowledge.
She's stronger than anyone could have ever dreamed, stronger than him or the Sanin sages or even Naruto and the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon within him. If the hunters take her reaper from her they unleash a brutal monster with the power to level nations and bring the Shinobi Nations to their knees. And if the reapers are forced into their Forbidden Form, their immense power will attract that beast to it like a magnet. Should the two forces meet and connect, everything will be lost and everyone will be slaughtered.
"I love you... Dad..." Shizi murmured in her sleep, catching the male's attention.
"I will always be here to scare the monsters away, I promise you. I love you too, my baby girl."
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...
