Iris [Naruto Fanfiction]

Secrets

Kakashi and I were now sitting in the room where he slept. He shut the door quietly after checking to see if anyone was nearby. When he sat down across from me, with the box sitting between us, he seemed quite tense.

Kakashi let out a heavy sigh before he began speaking. "I'll tell you the story that every man, woman, and child in the Hidden Leaf Village has heard about the witches that came decades before us all. There was a group of a dozen cloaked witches that moved into a small village in the Land of Fire. They all lived in one, large house on the outskirts of the village. One night, the entire village was awoken by the smell of smoke and burning flesh, and the sound of a blood curling scream. It was coming from the house the twelve women stayed in.

"When the villagers arrived at the scene, they saw eleven figures, all wearing a red cloak with a pointed hood, surrounding a woman who had been tied to a wooden and post and being burned alive. The villagers watched the scene before them in shock and fear. One person yelled at them, asking, "Why?! Why are you doing this?!" One cloaked figure looked over her shoulder at the man and said, in a monotone voice, "She betrayed the coven."

"The next evening, the villagers approached the witch house with pitchforks and torches and spears, ready to kill them all. This only made them angry, and they walked outside and slaughtered them all, and disappeared without a trace. When ninja from Leaf village arrived at the village, they saw what remained of the once peaceful village. There was one lone survivor. He caught the attention of the ninja and they were able to save him and bring him back to the main village.

"There, he told the story of what he witnessed. He said people were lifted off of their feet and thrown around like rag dolls. Others twisting and turning in place, breaking their bones and spitting up blood. Some simply dropped dead. He spoke of some of the words they said in a foreign language. The one he remembers best is the word "Crucio." He said one witch said those words while holding her hand out at him, causing him to drop to the floor from the excruciating pain he felt because of her actions. Those eleven women were never seen again. Most say they're dead, others believe they're still out there, plotting. The news got around, and soon spread to other great nations and villages. When people think of witches, they think of evil. People are terrified of them ever coming back. Do you understand now?"

My body felt paralyzed. I could move. The story he just told me made me scared of my own being.

People at the academy already hate me. I'm pretty sure my teammates and I aren't best friends. And now the entire village, no, the entire world will distance themselves from me because of who I am. While I'm still here and people know of what I am, my life will forever be miserable.

I inhaled sharply and remembered Kakashi's question. I simply nod, not making eye contact, and instead staring intently at a wall behind him.

"There are many dangers you'll face if your secret gets out. The villagers will be scared, and angry that you'd will be living in village. There are also witch hunters, who still believe the witches are out there. Their goal is capturing one, to either experiment on them, or handing them over for money, or to even kill them themselves. That's why I'll keep this a secret."

I finally looked at him with teary eyes. "You will?"

"Yes. But so think you should at least tell your teammates when you're ready. Or even let the world know- if you're brave enough."

I sniff and fight back the tears that are threatening to fall onto my cheeks. "Thank you, Kakashi sensei."

***

We were all gathered around the table for dinner. I asked for a little bit of food, since I lost my appetite but didn't want to be rude and decline Tsunami's meal. I spent the rest of the time reading the spell book that came in the box. It's all in english, except for the actual spells, which is most likely Latin.

"What are you reading?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," I say as casually as possible. "Just a book I found."

"What's it about? Can I see?"

"No," I said quickly. "It's nothing interesting. You'll be bored out of your mind, trust me."

"I doubt it's boring. You've had your nose in it since dinner started."

"Um, well, I just like the pictures in it." There were no pictures.

Sakura leaned over and snatched the book out of my hand. My heart began racing as I thought about my secret being revealed and being ignored by my teammates before we even became friends. She flipped though the pages and scanned them with a confused look.

"What language is this? How can you even read it?"

My heart rate slowed down and became calm and collected, knowing she can't read it. She flipped the book to the cover that shows the star with the circle around it.

"Hey, this sign looks familiar. I just can't put my finger on it."

My heart started pounding against my ribs once again. I took the book from out of her hands and placed it back on my lap. I wasn't going to read this around others for now.

While Sakura and I were having our little chat, Naruto and Sasuke were basically racing to see who could eat the fastest. Just so they could throw it back up. Gross.

We were drinking tea when Sakura asked, "Why is this picture torn? Inari, you kept glancing at it during dinner. Someone else was in the picture but they got torn out. I mean, it's kind of strange, isn't it?"

Tazuna, Inari, and Tsunami's bodies became stiff, showing how tense they got from her question. I swear to God if she doesn't stop asking so many questions.

"That's my husband," Tsunami answered.

"They used to call him a hero in this land," Tazuna says. Inari got up from his chair and walked quietly out of the room. Tsunami followed him before scolding her father for talking about him.

Tearfully, Tazuna told us the story of a fisherman named Kaiza who came into their lives about three years ago. He and Inari became very close after saving him from drowning, and slowly became a part of their family. He even saved the town from being flooded during a rainstorm and became the village hero. I smiled hearing about how happy Inari used to be with Kaiza there as his father figure. But it all changed when Gato came into the village and had Kaiza publicly executed for standing up to him. None of them have been the same since then, even the townspeople lost faith.

Naruto stood up and instantly fell on his face. "I think you should rest for the night," Kakashi says. "You've used up so much chakra. If you use any more you might just die."

"I have to prove myself," Naruto says determinedly, standing up on his wobbling legs. "And I have to show Inari that heros do exist."