Chapter 8

(Setsuna's POV)

I glanced around the dark and musky room. There was a single bed, but it couldn't even be considered a bed with the way it looked. She would never give me any covers for warmth or anything to rest my head on. There was no futon, only a single thin blanket which was stained with dried up blood.. my blood.

I would never get enough food, perhaps a single slice of bread or two per day. The water was muddy and I had no idea where she even got it from. Even though.. I still lived. No matter what she did, I stayed alive. Even if the life I had was hell itself. I reminded myself that I had to live.. for him at least.

I walked over to the door, although It was more like a prison cell door with many locks, than a normal wooden one. Placing a hand on the door, I swung it open, revealing a blinding light. Soon enough, my eyes saw through the light. However, what I saw instead.. is something I'd never wanted to see ever again.

Bloodied bodies littered the ground where I stood, almost leaving no part uncovered. I felt my skin quiver, but had no idea as to why it did so.

I began to walk forward, even though my mind kept telling me not to. 'Where's Sentaro?' I found myself asking. He was nowhere to be seen, neither was he one of the bodies on the ground.

Suddenly, I heard a voice coming a way from in front of me. My breathing quickened and I felt something weird. 'Is this.. fear?' I wondered. Nevertheless, I shrugged the question off and began speed walking to the voice.

When I got there, what I came face to face with was mere horror.

'Sentaro!'

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My eyes shot open and I immediately sat up. My breath came in short huffs and beads of sweat came down my forehead. I furrowed my eyebrow and touched my cheek. There was a single warm wet trail of something running down my face. '..Tears?' I questioned to no one other than myself. Once my breathing calmed down again, I glanced outside, only to see the sun coming up. My gaze shifted to the other breathing source in the room. Sasuke was still sound asleep.

Standing up, I made my bed and grabbed my clothes before walking into the bathroom. I decided to have a shower so that i'd feel fresh for the day ahead. Once again, I used the strawberry smelling shampoo and the cherry smelling conditioner to wash my hair.

When I finished, I dried myself off and began getting dressed. I wore my usual outfit - A midnight blue Kimono which went down to my mid thighs and had long sleeves that freely fell over my fingertips by around 25cm. Short black shorts underneath and white wrappings above my right knee which holds my kunai holster. I placed my black sash around my waist which has gold intricate patterns on the back and made sure my two earrings were still in each ear.

After tying my headband around my neck, I walked back into the room and grabbed my Shamisen, deciding that it would be a good idea to train with it today. Sasuke was still sleeping peacefully and had not once yet stirred.

Opening the door, I soundlessly left the room and walked down towards the kitchen, where i'd grabbed an apple for breakfast. As soon as I strolled out the house, I noticed Kakashi sitting down on the porch reading his book.

His glanced up at me and gave his usual closed eye smile, but I didn't return the gesture and merely began walking away. However, I was soon stopped and questioned as to the where abouts that I'd be going to "Where are you going so early in the morning, Setsuna?" I didn't answer for a moment, but did in the end '..Out'

With that said, I vanished from his sights and began tree jumping towards a quiet area where I wouldn't be bothered.

Minutes of running passed before I found the perfect clearing to train in. It was quite large and surrounded by many tall trees. Jumping down into said clearing, I placed my Shamisen on the ground gingerly and sat before it.

Suddenly, the trees to the left of me rustled and a loud growl could be heard. I slowly turned to head to look at what the cause of the disturbance was and out jumped a larger than normal sized black/blue panther. I noticed the large chain around it's neck which slid along the ground behind him.. or her. Standing up, I began walking towards it at a slow pace. However, it crouched down low and bared it teeth at me, as if daring me to come any closer. Which.. I did.

Without any fear, I kept on walking up to the wild animal and as soon as I was close enough, I lifted up my hand to touch it. Thinking I was going to do something else, the animal bit down on my outstretched hand tightly. I didn't show any expression of pain, or fear and simply let it continue to dig it large pointed canines into my skin.

After a short while, realisation crossed over it's face and it let go of my now wounded hand, licking the blood off in the process.

This time, when I went in to stroke it, it did not bite back nor did it bare it's fangs. Instead, it lay down on the ground and purred. I decided to check the animal over for injuries and if he had any, i'd heal them better.

Like i'd thought, he had a broken hind left leg and many scratched around his body. The worst wound was a deep gash nearby his heart which could mean death if not healed soon enough. Without a second thought, I activated a different part of my Kekkei Genkai and began reversing the time around the animals wounds. Not even a moment later were they all healed. A strange look crossed his face as he stared at me "Thank you. You have saved my life and I am truly grateful"

It didn't really surprise me that he could talk to be honest. There are many animals in the world that have this ability, but are just not found yet. Nodding, I went and picked up my Shamisen before sitting back down beside him. 'What is your name?' I questioned, my voice still like a passing wind, it echoed through his mind.

He glanced around from left to right trying to locate the voice, but then something must have clicked since his neck snapped around to face me. Silence passed by us as he continued to stare at me, however soon enough he spoke "My name is Mayonaka" I thoughts about it for a moment before replying 'Midnight huh.. it suits you well' "And what is your name?" '..Setsuna' "Calm snow.. your calm at all times and you look as fragile as snow. Your name suits you as well.. Setsuna" I nodded in appreciation.

Silence passed by us, although it was not at all an awkward one. I noticed Mayonaka's head turn to look at the instrument in my arms and I wondered. 'Would you like me to play for you?' He didn't answer me, but by the way he was looking at my Shamisen, I could tell that his reply would have been "Yes"

Pulling up my long sleeves (which passed my fingertips by around 25cm) to show my snow white skin toned, bony hand, I placed the instrument in the correct position and moved my fingers into their starting places. I decided on a calming song that you could most probably fall asleep to. Closing my eyes, I began to play, moving my fingers along the thing strings elegantly. "A/N The song she plays is on the side. I just found it on youtube and like the way it sounded :D)

I could feel the wind around us begin to move, as if dancing along to my playing. It circled Mayonaka and myself, carrying the fallen leaves along with it. It was easy to tell that Mayonaka liked the sound of it as I could hear his constant purring in the background as well as his calmed heartbeat.

Once the song ended, we lapsed into another peaceful silence. I opened my eyes, only to find Mayonaka's face right in front of me, his icy blue eyes bore into my own midnight blue ones. "Your music is so angelic and bewitching. I've never heard anyone make such appealing sounds before" Giving a nod in thanks, I stood up and began making my way back to the others. The sun was already high in the sky and I'm sure they were already training.

As I kept on walking, I began to hear shuffling from behind and footsteps soon following after. I stopped and turned around, only to find Mayonaka walking towards me. Noticing my confusion, he chuckled huskily and stated "You saved my life.. I want to come with you so that I can protect yours" '..First, show me your real form" His eyes almost bulged out from his sockets "H-How did you find out?" 'Your chakra, it doesn't feel like an animals. It feels more like a shinobi's' He sighed deeply and gave a curt nod.

After a second of silence, his body began changing and his limbs became arms and legs. Soon enough, standing before me was a young man looking to be the same age as Sentaro with midnight black hair and icy blue eyes. He was tall, perhaps slightly taller than my brother and had a nice build.

Mayonaka chuckled playfully "You like what you see?" Seconds passed as I stared at him expressionless, my eyes lifeless and dull. This seemed to confuse him as he came up to me and looked over my face closely "I've just noticed. You havn't laughed, smiled, frowned, gotten angry because I bit you or anything since we met. Why not?" I tilted my head slightly '..I do not know how to feel such things, nor do I ever want to' I said this with a straight face and serious, as I always am.

Mayonaka frowned and pulled both sides of my cheeks up. I didn't wince in pain, do did I move away. However, soon I had to go, so I moved his hands away and began walking. "Hey!" Mayonaka yelled as he ran to catch up with me.

The walk back to Tazun's was quiet, just the way I liked it. Although, every now and then, Mayonaka would look my way from the corner of his eyes. This.. I was quite confused about, but I didn't think to ask him why.

As we came up to a clearing, I could hear grunts of pain and the sound of someone running up trees. In my head, I knew it would be Naruto and Sasuke. However, Kakashi and Sakura might not be there as they had to protect Tazuna.

Just before entering the clearing, I stopped and turned to Mayonaka 'My team is over there..' "Your a ninja huh?" I nodded and pointed to the leaf village headband from around my neck. "I came from the village hidden in the clouds" '...' With that cleared up, we made our way towards my teammates.

Kakashi was the first to see me and as soon as he saw Mayonaka, he took out a kunai and crouched down into a fighting stance (Even though he couldn't do it that well with those crutches) "Setsuna! Get away from him. He could be working for Gato" My sensei called, catching the attention of Naruto and Sasuke from behind him. They also took out kunai.

I shook my head and began walking again, Mayonaka following suit.

Once I was close to Kakashi, I pointed to my new companion and simply stated 'Mayonaka' Kakashi rose an eyebrow in question, as did the other two. Mayonaka stepped forward and decided to say 'hello' "Setsuna saved me and I decided to stay with her from now on to keep her safe. This is whether or not you allow it" This seemed to spark a fire in the other two as they growled "Kakashi-sensei" Naruto shouted "You don't really believe that do you? He could be pretending for all we know" Sasuke nodded and 'hnn'd' in agreement.

Kakashi turned to me and sighed "Well, if Setsuna trusts him.. he can stay. But, when we get back, he'll have to see the Hokage" Mayonaka smirked smugly and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the village. I glanced back at the others, only to see Kakashi as if he wanted to sleep and the other two as if they wanted to kill someone.

I blinked, confused as to why they would look like that, but left it alone and continued on towards the village.

The villagers were mostly poor and sitting down on the ground outside the shops as if they were dying. Mayonaka scowled at nothing, but didn't say anything. 'What's wrong?' I asked, even though my voice didn't express what it should have. He glanced down at me for a second before turning back to the front of continuing to scowl "It's horrible that these people have to live like this. Don't you agree?" I blinked once, twice and finally a third time before answering 'I don't know' He stopped abruptively and frowned before patting me on the head.

"Don't worry, we'll get those feelings back soon enough" '..Your just like Sentaro. He thinks he can get my emotions back, even though I don't want them' He rose an eyebrow "Who's this.. Sentaro?" 'My brother-' He sighed and I continued 'Who's not related by blood' This made him scowl again, but I didn't bother to ask as I wouldn't possibly understand.

We arrived at the bridge where many men where working. Sakura was standing beside the railing and yawned. She looked tired, but as soon as she saw Mayonaka and I walking towards her, she perked up. Especially at Mayonaka. There were hearts in her eyes and once we were in front of her, she began fawning over him.

"Hey Setsuna, who's your friend?" Sakura began fluttering her eyelashes as she asked this. Pointing to Mayonaka, I simply said 'Mayonaka' She giggled "My names Sakura Haruno. It's nice to meet you" Mayonaka, surprisingly rolled his eyes and looked away.

"You always this lazy?" I turned around to see Tazuna with a working hat on, carrying a long metal bar "Where are you friends? The blond kid and the one with the attitude" "They're training climbing trees" Was Sakura's answer "To tough for you?" "No! In fact, I'm the best-" Mayonaka snorted at this, for unknown reasons. Perhaps he just doesn't like girls like Sakura.. who knows? "That''s why sensei sent me here to guide you" "Hm.. and what about you?" His question was directed at me this time.

Turning my neck, I stared him in the eye and.. blinked. He sighed and began working again, but I could hear him mutter under his breath "What's wrong with girls these days?"

"Argh!" A cry of pain came from down the bridge, bringing me back from my thoughts, and I decided to see what was wrong. Mayonaka, noticing that I was walking away, began to follow me. Sakura, however, being the lazy girl she is, stayed behind.

Once where the commotion was, I stared down at the man who's leg was trapped under the bar. He was unconscious and a few other men were trying to get it off. But that wasn't working so well. I turned to Mayonaka 'Can you lift it off?' He nodded and bent down to wrapp his hands around the end. The men who were watching this happen, stared in amazement and clapped once the large piece of metal was off.

This time, it was my turn. I strolled doll-like over to his leg and sat on my knees before healing him. However, Instead of having bright green chakra covering my hand, there was a dark black chakra. The man I was healing flinched slightly, but didn't move out of the way.

Once I was done, I stood up and was instantly pulled away. Mayonaka smirked down at me "Not only are you a beauty, but your talented as well" I tilted my head at the beauty part. 'There's no way i'm a beauty' I thought to myself.

I tugged on his top to get his attention and as soon as he looked my way, I pointed to the working people. Mayonaka raised an eyebrow "You want us to help?" I nodded and began walking over to the pile of metal bars. Picking one up, I carried it past many other workers, who looked at me in awe. "Wow, your really strong little lady" One man called out to me, while the others chuckled.

From beside me, Mayonaka began working as well and smiled as he rushed by. I gave a nod in return and for the rest of the day, the two of us were busy buidling the bridge. Sakura on the other hand, stayed to the side and helped 'protect' Tazuna.

As we made our way back towards Tazuna's house, we decided to stop and shop for food. There was barely anything there, however. Nonetheless, Tazuna collected what we needed. All of a sudden, Sakura screamed and roundhouse kicked a man in the face. "What happened?" Mayonaka asked in an uncaring tone. "Oh! Nothing. I just taught him a lesson Mayonaka-kunnn~" She dragged out the 'kun' part whilst fluttering her eyelashes flirtilly.

Snorting, Mayonaka grabbed my arm and began dragging me away. I tilted my head, slightly confused 'Why do you look at her like that?' He grumbled in an angry way "I hate girls like that. Always trying to make guys fall for them instead of working on being a better shinobi. Don't you?" I stared at him and merely blinked several times. He sweatdropped and scratched at the back of his neck "I forget, you don't know how to feel hate" With that said, we continued on our way back to Tazuna's house in utter silence.

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"Don't eat so much if your just going to puke it up!" Sakura shouted with an irk mark as Naruto and Sasuke had just released their stomach's of the previous eaten food. But, they didn't bother listening and stated that it would make them stronger.

We began eating again, but I was merely eating an apple as usual. "Anyway, why are you letting him eat with us as well?" Naruto questioned angrilly, pointing an accusing finger at Mayonaka. Said person rolled his eyes and ignored the blond. "Because he needs food as well and Setsuna trusts him so we should to" Kakashi stated as he placed his chopsticks down onto an empty bowl. 'When'd he eat that?' I mused to myself.

After dinner, Tsunami placed tea on the table for us to drink. As we drank, Sakura walked up to a photo hanging on the wall and asked as to why there was a part missing. "It's my husband" Tsunami answered after a moment of silence. I felt as though it was their business and not mine so I deiced to leave the room. "Where are you going?" Kakashi asked as I made my way towards the front door. Glancing back at him, I simply said 'Out' and felt as though this was becoming a habbit. The last thing I heared was his deep sigh and him muttering something like - "Why are girls so hard to handle these days?"

As I walked through the woods, I clutched my Shamisen closer to my body and suddenly felt like playing it. Leaning against a nearby tree, I slid to the ground and played the same song which I played for Mayonaka this morning. It was soothing and would calm anyone down instantly. The forest became extremely quiet as I played and the wind would flow more easily, bringing many fallen leaves to dance along with it.

Once I was finished, I opened my eyes, only to come face to face with Mayonaka himself. However, this time, he was in his panther form. "Why did you leave so suddenly?" He questioned as he lay down beside me. 'It was none of my business' "I see" He dragged on and chuckled.

After a while of simply sitting/laying there in silence, we made our way back to the house and went to our rooms. Mayonaka decided it'd be best to stay in the room I was currently sharing with Sasuke so that he could 'Protect' me. I wondered about what he meant by saying that, but decided to leave it be as I usually would.

That night, I went to bed and had a dreamless sleep.

A/N Picture to the right is the closest I could fins (so far) to what I picture Mayonaka to look like :D