THE SPIRITS DO NO HARM TO MEN
Keeping her sedated is drawing too heavily on my chakra reserve, I need to rest for a while now.
Itachi slowed his pace through the branches and descended to the ground. Kaya's head lulled back on her neck and Itachi gently knelt, dropped her off his back and sat her against a mossy tree trunk. Turning around, he found another tree nearby to rest against. Itachi sat and closed his own eyes while still sensing her presence to prevent any escape.
He had closed his eyes for only a half hour when he heard her groans. His eyes flew open and he immediately activated the Sharingan. He watched her for any signs of resistance, but none came. She clutched her head, her fingers weaving through red hair turned dark by the fading sunlight. Itachi had been running and keeping her unconscious for nearly twenty-four hours. He watched her eyes flit to the sky and then over to him. She stared at him for a full minute, avoiding his Sharingan. Itachi made no response, the disturbing silence brought tears to Kaya's eyes and a sob sneaked its way out of her mouth. Itachi broke the stillness, trying to stop the display of emotion that he knew would soon come.
“What is your name, onnanoko?”
“My name is Kaya.”
“That is an interesting name for someone like you.”
“Why? What is your name, obake?”
“I told you I am not a spirit. My name is Uchiha Itachi.”
“I would say that your name is more interesting than mine. But It does not seem like the name of a yokai... Still... how did you get those eyes? Only a yokai...”
“These eyes are called the Sharingan, a blood trait of my clan called a Kekkei Genkai. I think that you have something similar, a different ability. Isn't this why the villagers spurn you?”
Kaya's eyes grew so large that Itachi could see the whites even in the failing light.
“How did you know?”
“What do you know about ninja?”
“They are strong people who learn to use their life energy called chakra to fight... that's all I know.”
“That is right, but there are some ninja that have inherited abilities that can not be learned. You have a unique ability to control and sift through someone's mind at contact, just as I have the ability to use my Sharingan to create illusions in a person's mind.”
“So, you're a ninja, not an obake.”
“Yes, foolish shojo.”
Renewed panic entered her mind, the only ninja she had previously encountered might as well have been an akurei.
“But why are you taking me away from the village?!”
“Why do you care about that village when they abandoned you so easily even though you saved them from the rogue ninja?”
“It's my home...”
Itachi blinked his eyes in surprise, Kaya noticed that those words had affected the otherwise detached man. He continued unemotionally, but Kaya thought his face seemed a degree softer than before.
“I am taking you to meet my Master. He expects me to train you as a shinobi, and that you will join our organization, the Akatsuki.”
“You will teach me to be a shinobi? This is so sudden... surprising...”
Kaya was stunned, but her shock faded into a desire for acceptance. Itachi watched her countenance lighten, she looked directly into his eyes and nodded in compliance to this fate.
“Did I answer enough of your questions for now?”
“Yes, but--”
“I'm going to sleep now, don't try to run, I'll just find you and sedate you again. It will be a waste of energy for both of us... Here.”
Forming hand seals, Itachi walked over to a pile of wood left from previous travelers. He drew his pinched fingers to his mouth and blew flames to ignite the wood. Kaya shrieked and fled behind the trunk of the tree she was leaning against. Itachi went on like he hadn't noticed her moment of terror.
“Now, you try to sleep, onnanoko. We have a long journey to make.”
“Y-yes, Itachi-san.”
Itachi turned and laid on the opposite side of the fire facing her. She nervously scuttled from behind the tree and watched for him to fall asleep, praying he wouldn't open his eyes to see that she was not sleeping. She thought it was odd that the perplexing young man would ask her to sleep when she had been comatose for a whole day. Kaya stared through the flames at Itachi's still body, he was not so stern when he was asleep. His face was pleasant and the creases under his eyes noticeably diminished. In that moment Kaya knew he would not harm her and she decided to trust him unwaveringly.
I can tell that you know what I feel, Itachi-san.
In deep thought, her vision blurred out of focus on Itachi's face and she began to concentrate on the fire separating them. The flames crackled and sparks flew from the peak of the smoldering pyre. Kaya followed the path of the sparks streaking up through the sky just under the moon. The lunar brilliance contrasted the red flare of the sparks and she noticed that stars shone around the moon that night.
In such a relaxed state, Kaya discerned that she was actually quite exhausted and that Itachi was right in commanding her to rest. She laid down next to the fire and drifted off, naturally this time.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Kaya awoke to the smell of soot and ash. She looked around and saw that the fire had burned out. Searching out Itachi, she found him standing next to the tree she had sat against the night before.
“Are you ready to leave?”
“I am ready, Itachi-san.”
He leaned down with one knee touching the grass, expectantly waiting for her to hop on. Kaya hesitated, afraid to willingly touch such a person whose very presence conveyed forbidden physical contact. He turned his head in annoyance.
“We must hurry.”
She smothered her hesitation and climbed on his back. She tightened her arms around his neck and her knees at his waist, surprised again that his body was tangible. The wind whistled past her ears and she understood that riding on Itachi's back while alert would be difficult for her stomach.
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Chapter notes: I tried to make this one longer... but for some reason the dialogue seems weird to me, but I hope you enjoy it my friends... :)