Infected

Chapter 29: The Spirit of Knowledge

"There, all done. I just need to grab my clothes from your house and I'll be finished." Mizu finished setting up her herbal table in the new tiny apartment. It had been a few days since the incident in the market. She hadn't told Gaara about the tryst because she didn't see a point in dragging him into her problems. Gaara stood in the living room looking lethargic and disappointed. She wanted to tease him, but she refrained.

"Where is Yoki going to stay?" Gaara eyed the tiny space.

"Outside. He's pretty adaptable in that regard. He knows how to stay out of trouble and keep a low profile. Thank you for your help." She gave him a peck on the cheek and made him blush.

He muttered, "You didn't have to leave."

"We aren't family, so it would look bad if I stayed. I'd look like a mistress." Mizu rolled her eyes.

Gaara stared at her blankly. "Then just become my family and there won't be a problem."

She forced back the weird sound that almost came out of her throat and cleared it. "What? You want me to adopt you as my little brother?"

He didn't seem to like the joke. "I already have siblings."

"Then, my son?"

"Mizu!"

She laughed until tears welled up in her eyes. Gaara reached over and brushed a tear away, looking concerned.

"Why are you crying?" He didn't seem to understand.

She shook her head. "Someday, Lord Kazekage, you'll know what happy tears are."

"There's such a thing?" The question was an innocent one.

Mizu sighed. "Yes, now hurry to work before you get scolded. Aren't you seeing Temari off tomorrow?"

Gaara nodded slowly and sighed. He smiled at her and she felt uncomfortable at his gentleness. His open and honest feelings left her guilty sometimes.

"I'll see you when I get off work?" Gaara looked at her expectantly.

"Yes, yes. It's your turn to plan the date. Have you thought of where to go?" Mizu pried, but Gaara only smiled at her.

"You'll see." He retreated out the door before she could get anything out of him. She stood on the balcony of her new apartment and watched his back fade into the distance before he turned a corner. Locking up, she headed back to Gaara's house to retrieve the last of her stuff and to tell Yoki that she'd finished.

When she arrived, she found Yoki wasn't waiting under his tree like she thought he would be. She headed inside to get her stuff. Before she could go to the guest room, movement through a window at the back of the house caught her attention. Yoki was standing in the backyard talking with a woman. Mizu exited the house and approached them. She paused when she recognized the woman. The unearthly being, with orange hair that flowed down her back in waves of silk, turned to her and Mizu flinched under the wise crimson red eyes. The woman wore a simple white kimono with an orange obi. Fox ears stuck out of her head and a bushy orange tail on her back swished with every movement.

Mizu fell to the ground and bowed deeply to Chishiki, the goddess sprit of knowledge. In her many years Mizu had met her only twice, and each time she found herself unnerved with the being's presence. Her predictions of the future were always spot on and her knowledge of the past was accurate down to the minute detail. Mizu had only ever met her in this human form, but Yoki told her that her proper form was that of a beautiful nine-tailed fox. Once Mizu asked her if she had any relation to the nine-tailed fox spirit that rampaged in the leaf village. Chishiki had laughed, saying that she was much older than the spirit in question and that the nine-tailed fox spirit was like a baby cousin to her.