"Silver!" Ari spotted her cousin in Kali's arms. The child just barely pulled her head off her sempai's shoulder to look at her cousin. "What happened?"
"She got a small cut and it scares her senseless to even glance at it." The Shinobi No Mono replied.
Ari walked around, gently picking up Silver's arm. It's almost healed?!? Gently touching the slightly red skin, she smiled. "It's alright little one. Everything is okay now."
The child looked into the medic's eyes. A lot of inner turmoil still wreaked havoc in her mind. She wanted to thank her, but her throat felt dry, so she just nodded before putting her head back on Kali's shoulder. "She'll be alright Ari. The cause of this will be resolved quickly." The medic looked down as she nodded, when she looked up, they were gone.
*******
"Kuri!" Tekeshi slammed his fists down on the kage's desk. "Stop lying! Aisu has even told you to leave Silver alone."
The head of the Shinobi No Mono merely looked at him calmly, "I've never even seen the child."
"Stop!" Both heads turned to the third voice. The kage sighed, "Tekeshi, bring me proof that Silver has been attacked by Kuri."
"I'll be right back." He vanish in a poof of smoke.
*******
Kali carried Silver back to the base. She had fallen asleep. "Kali." a voice said.
She stopped and turned. "Yes, Captain?"
"I need Silver for a moment." His voice was emotionless, which was never a good thing.
"Why?" Usually, she wouldn't question Tekeshi like this, but with Silver, it was a whole different story.
"The kage wants proof that Kuri attacked her." Kali's eyes widened, "You can't be planing to take Silver to Kuri!"
"I have no choice." The girl took a step back, "No! She's already scared enough, you can't!"
"Kali. It's the kage's orders." "For Silver or for proof?"
"Proof and she's the only proof we have."
"No she's not. We have Aisu-sama." Silver opened her eyes sleepily. "Silvy-chan? Could you let the voice you were telling me about out?"
"I don't know how." Her voice was showing just how drained her body was. I'm right here kit. Just sleep. the voice coaxed. She nodded, before her eyes closed.
"You called?" the older voice sounded strange coming from the child, but this was who they needed. Tekeshi bowed,
"The kage refuses to believe that Kuri attacked. I need you to prove this to him."
"Kali-san, please put me down." The girl did as she was asked. "Let's go." Both disappeared within an instant.
********
"I don't understand why we're waiting." Kuri sighed, "He has no proof."
The sound of soft footsteps landing behind her alerted his return. "Kuri has tried to kill my host on two different occasions." said girl's hair stood on end and her eyes widened as she turned slowly. Blue met lavender, "What? You have nothing to say for yourself?"
"Ai...Aisu...sama." the fear was evident, the truth was out.
The kage glared at Kuri, "I made you head of the Shinobi No Mono and this is what you do! Take yourself to a cell and await for punishment." She dropped her head and left. "I apologize for my blindness Aisu-sama. I beg your forgiveness."
"I shall grant it." the child replied. "Tekeshi," the captain turned to face his kage. "I'm giving you Kuri's position. Silver shall be reassigned within the week so you may fulfil your new responsibilities."
Tekeshi bowed, "I thank you for you gracious offer, but if I must choose, I would prefer to keep my student."
"Students are fleeting, are you certain?"
"Very much so. However; I do know someone who I believe would make an excellent replacement."
"Mihi?" Tekeshi nodded and the kage smiled, "I thought of your sister myself. She has the prerequisites for the job." he thought for a moment, "Send her to me when you get back."
"Yes sir."
"As your squad will then be one member short, I am assigning Silver Kayou to squad 9 as a full member of the Red Opps."
"What?" he gasped, "She's not even eight!"
The kage grinned, "I believe that you will find age doesn't matter much once she pushes past the pain of her losses."
"But," he paused, there was no changing his mind. Tekeshi sighed, "Very well."
"Dismissed." he stated as he watched ice blue fade to red.
"Tekeshi-sensei? How did I get here?" curious eyes studied his expression.
"It doesn't matter now, we're going home." She nodded and followed him out of the room.
*********
Tekeshi opened the door for Silver to walk into the Red Opps headquarters. "Silvy-chan!" Kali called out as she picked the child up. "Are you okay?" The child nodded. "Would you like a cookie?" the response was brightening of her eyes and a rapid nodding of her head.
"Kali! You never offer me cookies!" Takai whined. The blond laughed, "Of course not! You can get them yourself. Silvy-chan can't reach the cookie jar."
Mihi laughed as she watched the trio walk towards the kitchen. "Tekeshi." the captain turned to look at his sister. "What happened?"
"Kuri has been removed from her post and is currently awaiting punishment." Mihi nodded, "...and the kage has requested your presence."
"You don't sound happy about that."
Tekeshi just smiled, "No, I'm very happy about it, because I know why he wants to see you." he took a deep breath, "You should go. We'll be awaiting your return." with that he followed after the rest of his squad. Leaving the brunette staring after him for a moment, before she left the building.
***********
"Kali-sempai?" the child asked.
"Yes Silvy-chan?"
"Can I go to bed? I'm tired." Kali smiled and nodded, as the child left the table.
Once she was gone, Tekeshi spoke. "I have some news." All eyes turned to him.
"Shouldn't we wait for Mihi to get back?" Takai asked.
"That's partially what this is about." the captain sighed, "She's been reassigned."
"What? They can't do that! Mihi stays with us!" Kali all but screamed.
"Kali...Mihi is taking over Kuri's position." Everyone froze and stared at him. "The kage wanted me to take the job, but I turned him down. I nominated Mihi. She'd be good at it."
They all nodded, knowing he was right. "However; that leaves our team one man short." Fox stated.
"That's already been taken care of." Kali and Takai almost began to protest, but Tekeshi continued, "Don't worry, you'll like her. But in my opinion, she can't know she's been assigned to the squad yet. She has some mental issues to work out."
Takai rolled his eyes, "Great...they're sending us a lunatic."
"Her name is Kayou, Silver Kayou." All eyes stared at him waiting to hear that this was some sort of strange joke. "I'm not kidding. The kage ordered it and yes, I know she's only seven, I brought that up. At this moment though, it's still a secret."
They nodded, before numbly staring off in random directions.
************
Silver rolled up into a small ball on her bed, she sighed, the voice always told her sleep and she couldn't figure out why. She sighed as she drifted off into unconsciousness. Opening her eyes, she was standing in a large room. It was finely decorated, with lots of pictures on the walls. "Where am I?"
"You're in my world little kit." the voice stated. "I brought you here to answer your questions."
Looking around she asked, "Where are you?"
The voice laughed lightly, "Turn around." Feeling a soft breeze hit her back, made her eyes widen as she turned slowly. Before her, lay a huge black fox with ice blue eyes and nine tails. "What...What are you?" "Do you not even recognize you're own kind?" the child shook her head. "I suppose that is to be expected, as you know nothing other than humans. Everyone in here in Taishu is a ninetailed fox. I am their hero, Aisu." Silver gasped and took a step back, "You're the black fox." the creature nodded, "You're the one who killed all those ninja that night!" she nodded again. "How could you!" "They were going to kill you child." "No!" she screamed as she clutched her head. "Calm down little one, you mustn't fret, it's not good for you." "Their blood was on me, my mother blamed me!" Gently touching her nose to the girl's forehead, the large fox attempted to coax the child, "Little kit, your mother hired those ninja to kill you. She hated you because you were half ninetails. Not because you were bad. Simply because of your blood." Silver cried, she didn't know what to do. "Just cry little one." "Why?" She clung to the long black hairs on the vixen's snout. "Because she was afraid. She didn't understand our kind and we keep it that to try and keep things like this from happening." When the child's tears stopped flowing. She looked up. "What happened to Uncle Keji?" The fox tapped her right arm with her nose, "He's right here. In order to save you from death, he became the shield for you, entrusting me with your protection. Perhaps, he will visit you sometime." "How?" her eyes were curious, as the questions were answered, she felt more alive. "The same way I am little kit, in your dreams." "Um...Aisu, Can I ask you a personal question?" The fox nodded with an expression that seemed to be a smile, "How did you get here?" She laughed, "All of my containers ask me this. So that is not a personal question. Though the council may say it is." She closed her eyes and slowly her entire form changed, before too long, there stood a woman about in her thirties with long black hair and those crystal clear blue eyes. "It's easier for me to explain this with the pictures in this room. Years ago, I was like you." As she spoke, the room darkened and the pictures seemed to jump out their frames and move. "I was half ninetails. The first of our kind. I grew up in the ninetails village, with the council. But I went away on a mission, there I met this man. A very kind man and I grew to love him. There was one problem, he was human, I was not." A picture showed a young boy with blond hair and bright green eyes, with what Silver thought of a goofy grin. "He knew I wasn't from his village, so I had my own mission to carry out, but we saw each other regularly. But one day, he asked me to marry him. I lept at the opportunity of becoming his wife and when I told the council, they were upset." "He's human!" a member said. "I know, but he truly loves me." Aisu replied. "Kit, if you wish to marry this man, you must tell him what you really are." another member stated. "If he doesn't accept you, you must kill him." "How could they say such a thing." Silver whispered. "Because, if humans knew who we really were, they would try to kill all of us, like your mother did with you." the fox replied. "So I did as I was told, I told this man that I was half ninetails. He was afraid of me, in fact he panicked and ran off, begging me not to kill him." Silver watched the scene unfold as Aisu saw it. "But I couldn't kill him. So I let him go." She sighed, "That was my mistake. Over the next ten years, he grew stronger, in fact he grew strong enough to rival any one of our kind. I was on a solo mission, when he attacked. It was during that fight, I was forced to give up my human side and become a true ninetailed fox. When we do that, for the first few days, we are stronger than we will ever be again and so I was able to defeat him, but at a cost. He had created a jutsu he believed would kill me. When he used it. It tore my soul from my flesh, with the last of my strength I killed him. By doing so, he didn't kill me. Instead, I was forced into a newborn half-ninetails child like yourself. I had no control of the matter. It just happened." "So you have to stay inside someone like me?" the fox nodded, "So why me and not Serena?" She smiled, "For some reason, I think this will be the last time I have to tell this story. Because for years his jutsu has been weakening. Slowly but surely. Another few transfers and I will be free. What will happen then, I do not know, but I don't think I'll be getting those other transfers." "Why?"
She smiled, "Another time little kit, for now, sleep in peace." with that said the room faded away.