Dream Skirmish

Chapter 11

"Yeah, you can have her back."
Kakashi turns to Jiraya with a slightly curious look. "Her? I figured you'd be more eager to get rid of Naruto."
"I would have thought so too, but..." The Sanin pauses as a grim expression comes to surface. "She's... I can't help her..."
"I could have told you that if you had asked me, her jutsu is pretty out there... Limited as it may be, but it's definitely rather unique."
"That's not what I mean... Surely you've noticed it yourself. Even Naruto has and he's as oblivious as a blind, deaf man."
"It's gotten worse?"
The tall man grumbles a yes, never taking his eyes off the eccentric boy not far from the adults and his sister seated next to him. "I'm afraid it has... She seemed fine until recently."
"What exactly happened?"
"I don't know what happened between when she left and when we found her, but something stirred her up... we followed the strench of burning wood and when we found her, boy was she agitated. Nearly killed herself with some jutsu, yelled at her brother for trying to help before finally passing out... she was acting like an injured, wild animal." a soft sigh passes his lips. "It was hard to watch. I'm not even entirely sure how she managed to recover from it so rapidly, she should have been hospitalized for a few days at least..."
"She and her brother are extraordinary like that... They both have a strange chakra pool that regenerates quicker than it should at their level."
"I'm still worried about them both... I've seen this before." He frowns sadly, his long white hair shifting as he hangs his head a little. "So much anger that it tears the seemingly inseparable apart at the seams..."
Silence briefly grips the men, before the Jonin breaks it. "Did anything else noteworthy happen?"
The man nods, his hand rubbing his chin. "We were clearly being followed. I'm not sure by whom or why, but I had this strange feeling one of those two or both were the target."
"That's troubling."
"To put it lightly. Anyway... She's all yours, Kakashi. I'll continue training Naruto, but I think the further away she is from her brother, the better... For his sake."
The Jonin doesn't even bother to look up from his book as he approaches his students, of which one is still shoveling in all the ramen they can lay their hands on, while the other is silently savoring their serving. Kakashi takes a seat next to the young boy, never once looking at him as he speaks.
"Naruto... You should go home and get some rest... I'll bring your sister home later, I need a word with her."
"But I'm still hungry!" The blond protests with a pout.
"You can have more in the morning, the ramen isn't going to run away..."
"Oh, alright... But it's your treat!" He exclaims, greedily slurping down the last bits of liquid in his bowl before dashing off.
"You wanted to talk to me?" Blacky states with no emotion present in her voice.
"Yes... It seems you didn't take my last lecture to heart... So you'll have to listen to another one and you have no one to blame but yourself."
The young girl briefly looks up at her sensei, pushing the leftover serving away. "If this is about me passing out, it was my own doing... I was practicing a new jutsu that drained me more than I anticipated."
The both wordlessly rise from their seats heading towards her home at a leisurely pace as their conversation continues holding its grim atmosphere.
"It's only partially about that... what else happened?"
"What do you mean?"
Slightly disgruntled his visible brow furrows. "Don't play dumb, Blacky. What riled you up so badly?"
She turns her gaze away, licking her front teeth in annoyance. "Kabuto..." Blacky looks up at her teacher for confirmation for her to continue. "I heard he was spotted near by... and I wanted to be ready to kill him..."
"Was he?"
"I... I never got to find out... Naruto and Jiraiya took me home before I could investigate further."
Kakashi nods understandingly. "Then what will you do now?"
"Continue training I guess until I find the bastard and put him out of his misery."
"Leave everything after 'training' away and I'll help you, but I won't encourage your path of vengeance. It won't end well, it never does."
"If I actually cared about it not ending well, I wouldn't be so focused on it." The young girl crosses her arms in protest. "I 'will' kill Kabuto."
"And then what? Is it even what Hell would want you to do? Seriously, think about it rationally."
"I'm not sure what comes after it, I don't exactly plan on anything too far ahead, one milestone at a time... as for what Hell wants-" she briefly pauses, her gaze leaning up to her teacher, "is irrelevant. Vengeance is a selfish act. If she doesn't agree I'd still do it, even if it's just to get rid of that lingering memory of my failure."
The man lets out a long sigh, mentally scolding himself for ever deciding to becoming a sensei to brats like his team. "At least you seem to kind of understand what a mess you're getting yourself into, but I will tie you up in a guarded cellar if that's what it takes to stop you."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me, Blacky. I won't stand idly by and watch you descend into such a dark path. Now, forget about Kabuto and focus on more important things or you and I are going to have a little problem. Do I make myself clear?"
Trying to act ignorant of his words, Blacky avoids giving a direct reply and instead wishes him a pleasant night. She walks into her home, her Sensei's words weighing on her more than she'd ever like to admit. Even as she lies down to sleep her heart and brain won't stop arguing, depriving her of getting a good night's rest.