My shoulder ached terribly when I came around, a slight headache throbbing gently at the back of my head; I let a small groan leave my lips.
"Kakashi, she's awake," a female voice called, sounding from next to me.
I rubbed my face into the floor, which I'm guessing is wood.
"About time you woke up." The voice was quiet and smooth; it sent shivers down my spine.
"Don't be rude, Kakashi," a feminine voice scolded, and I felt light fingers prodding around my shoulder and arm.
I felt another presence next to me, moving closer to my shoulder.
"Yeah, you're just upset because she took out that nin," a third, male voice, chuckled.
I groaned again, swatting the hands away and rolling over, curling up on the... wood floor? My body tensed and reacted accordingly; I flipped onto my feet to face the strangers, eyes snapping open to investigate what the heck was going on.
"Where am I?" I snapped at the three jonin, frowning. "And who are you? And the old fart? Most importantly, do you have any food? I'm starving."
They kind of just stared at me for a while.
"No? Hm... That's a problem..." I muttered, rubbing my chin as my body relaxed; there was no reason for these jonin to be after me.
Ah... Ramen would be great... Mmm... Maybe I'll find some miso, too... But then, Dango sounds really good, too...
"Excuse me."
My head snapped up attentively, cursing my low attention span.
"I, young lady, am the Hokage of Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves. These are three of my jonin," the old man explained, as if I were a child (I couldn't blame him, what with my actions). "What is your name, and why were you fighting Hayao?"
"My name is Nakurama Whisper," I grinned, pointing at myself. "And, I have no idea who Hayao is!"
"The rogue nin you fought," he explained.
"Oh! I called his mother a-ha-ha... Um... He ran into me while I was walking on the road and I might have said something and... yeah," I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck.
"...I see..." He frowned slightly but still seemed amused. "Well, we were the village to handle the bounty for him, so to speak, so it seems we owe you," he continued.
"Dinner sounds good," I offered innocently and seriously, rocking on my heels; my tail would have been waving happily, had I not...
"Hm...The custom is to simply pay off the bounty," he replied, hefting a small but nicely bulging cloth bag. "But I suppose if you'd rather just have dinner...."
"Ah, actually, that will pay for my dinner," I replied, bouncing slightly on my feet in excitement.
The masked man sulked off to the side.
"If you prefer," the Hokage nodded, tossing it to me.
My hand moved to catch it, but a purple blur darted in through the window and plucked it from the air before me.
"Hey! Give it back!" I shouted at Shira, chasing after her; she loved shiny things, and coins happened to be very shiny.
"......"
There was a weird silence when I finally came to a halt and wrestled the little dragon to the ground, biting her tail to make her give the money bag back.
After I had safely sealed it away, I looked around; the room was trashed.
"Geez, who did that?" I asked, miffed, sitting cross legged while Shira's jaws stayed latched onto my sleeve angrily.
"..........."
"..."
"............Maybe you should assign her an escort, Hokage-sama...." the dark-haired man said.
"I was just thinking of it, actually..." the old man mused. "Kakashi. You're on leave until your ribcage heals properly anyways. Keep Nakurama-san out of trouble while she is in Konoha."
"I don't need an escort..." I pouted, flailing my arm in an attempt to make Shira let go of my sleeve; she ended up just ripping the entire sleeve off. "Shira..." I whimpered, eyes watering. "This was my favorite shirt..."
"So don't take my treasure," she sniffed, fluttering to perch on my head, dropping the sleeve in front of my nose.
"...As you wish, Hokage-sama," the masked guy replied stiffly after a moment.
I wiped my eyes with the fabric and tucked it safely into a pouch to be reattached later.
"You are dismissed, then," the old man said, seeming highly amused.
Kakashi nodded rigidly and turned to the door, glancing at me pointedly.
I blinked at him, then hurriedly got to my feet, earning a nip for unbalancing Shira, and scampered after him, trying to keep my eyes above his waistline (What? All ninja have good butts; you can't argue).
"What kind of food do you want?" he asked once we were out of the building, a book mysteriously appearing in his hand as he fell into a slouch.
"No fish," I shrugged, skipping happily along the road ahead of him. Hopefully he’d leave me be; I thought about finding a nice place to stay at for a while, seeing as how nice the village was.
A hand snagged my sleeve and tugged me down a side street.
"There's a decent restaurant down this way."
I stumbled slightly, flailing as I lost my balance (which I always easily lost because I had to hide my tail all the time).
He steadied me wordlessly, leading me to a small restaurant on the end of the street.
"How many?" the waiter asked distractedly.
"Three," I informed him chirpily, rocking on my heels.
"Mmhm...Right this way..."
We were led to a corner table; Kakashi took the chair that put his back to the wall and his eyes to the rest of the restaurant.
I plopped down, and Shira grew a bit so that she could comfortably sit at the table.
"Today's special is very unique; fried cat legs,” the waiter informed us, his eyes bugging at the sight of Shira.
"Hm. Is fried the only option?" the jonin asked casually.
My fists clenched and I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise slightly, barely containing a hiss.
Disgusting.
"No; you can have it baked, grilled, or smoked as well."
"Hm..." He pondered for a long moment, then said, "I suppose I'll have my usual, then."
I felt my eye twitch, and Shira's tail restrained me to my seat, luckily.
I want beef.
I mumbled out an order for beef skewers and salad, milk for my drink; my eyes stayed narrowed at the man across from me.
The waiter nodded and shuffled off.
"You eat cat?" I asked as casually as I could (which wasn't very), very much upset; I could be related to his meal, after all.
"Of course not," he replied, shooting me an odd look.
I opened and closed my mouth once, twice, and then left it shut, settling with making paper balls from my napkin; when I had a sufficient amount, I shot one through my straw at the jonin.
He coughed slightly, consequently avoiding the projectile.
I frowned, then stuffed another in the straw and re-fired once more.
He bent down to pick up a dropped napkin just in time to avoid it.
I tried one more time, aiming for the middle of his face.
He tilted his head to the side enough to dodge it as he cracked his neck.
A frustrated growl left me as I loaded a fourth shot.
Oooh… He’s good…
Every attempt was cleverly and casually evaded.
I finally turned my attack on Shira instead.
She incinerated my ammo and melted the straw closed.
Game over, Child...
I pouted, bored. My gaze flicked to the jonin, tilting my head to read the title of his book; my cheeks turned scarlet and my lips parted slightly in disbelief.
He giggled to himself and turned a page.
Oh Kami. I got stuck with a perverted escort.
Shira peeked at the text curiously.
I slapped my hand over her eyes swiftly, mortified; for a dragon, she was still quite young (430 something years).
He glanced up, arching a brow; the waiter brought us our food before I could answer.
He had a bowl of what looked like miso soup with lumps of...purple stuff floating in it.
I wrinkled my nose in disgust, watching the lumps float around in the miso.
…Purple…poo?
"Something wrong?"
"I think a purple puppy pooped in your miso," I answered childishly, not thinking about my answer.
"...Mm." He made a show of breaking apart his chopsticks, unphased.
"..........What is it?"
"Purple puppy poop."
My cheeks flushed and my lips twisted into a deep scowl at him.
"Seriously," I insisted, a bit irritated. “What is it?”
"Eggplant," he replied, his chopsticks hovering over his bowl.
I broke apart my own and plucked a piece, trying it; I switched our dishes to dig in.
"...that's mine..."
"Wha's 'ours?" I mumbled through my mouthful, Shira snapping up her beef.
"...forget it." He picked up his book and continued his reading.
Once I finished, I left money on the table and attempted to sneak out, intending on finding a hotel or something to stay at and sleep (my shoulder hurt like a mean word).
My escort popped into existence at my shoulder as I made it out the door, still reading.
I yelped, lucky I was outside (I jumped higher than the man), my heart beating a mile a minute.
He just waited for me to settle.
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So... Hi. Please don't be mad at me! This is the first time I've had a free moment to relax since school started; I'm a ninth grader this year, so, yeah. Anyways, how was it? Okay? Horrid? Do you like the re-edit? Or should I just forget it and finish up the other? GIVE ME FEEDBACK PLEASE!!! Luv you all! -Saphy ;P
P.S. Kakashi is too BA to get hit by a simple spit ball! XP