Master of All Beasts

Chapter 6 : Kashi-kun... Gomen'nasai...

Yūsha sighed, looking at his master. He was glad that his size has returned to normal.

However, he knows that Karasu is not fine. She's not used to how kind Kushina and Minato treated her. The size of Konoha scares her a bit, and Kakashi's attitude made her feel worse. She felt as if that village is not her place.

'Yūsha?'

-Yes, Ara?-

'You're having that thinking face again. What's wrong?'

-Nothing. I'm just thinking about what will happen now, as we already live here.- Yūsha lied smoothly.

'That reminds me; Tou-san wants us to go to his office.' Yeah, Karasu had called Minato 'Tou-san' and Kushina as 'Kaa-san'.

Kakashi become his bodyguard, under the order of Minato himself. Kakashi didn't protest. He found it entertaining, watching the girl talking to her tiger, or reading bingo books, or even, braiding Kushina's hair when she's sleeping. Of course, the Red Hot Habanero was shocked, but to his surprise, she's not mad. And she didn't create any chaos.

-Let's go, then.-

Karasu raised from her seat, and tugged on Kakashi's shirt. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Take me to Tou-san's office, please?"

Without saying anything, Kakashi stood up, and walked towards the door, followed by the girl and the tiger.

As Kakashi had expected, they attract many attention.
A 13 years old boy, with only his right eye visible, with a 4 years old girl carrying a giant axe, and an adult tiger following them.

They stopped in front of the Yondaime's office. Kakashi knocked the door, and from inside, came the reply, "Enter."

They both walked in, to see Minato and Kushina there, reading a scroll. Minato turned at them and give his signature grin. "Perfect timing, Ara. Thanks for taking her here, Kakashi. You may go if you want to."

Kakashi nodded, but stayed. Karasu ran to Kushina, who lifted her up, and put her on the large desk. "This is the only scroll we can found about your clan. We decided to show you, because we ourselves know nothing about them." Minato started.

"What did it say?" Karasu asked, trying to hide her excitement. Kushina and Kakashi nodded, wanting to know as well. Minato began to read it out loud.

"This is about our clan, the Kigaeru. Our clan, is one of the strongest in the Shinobi World. Most of us are stronger than the Uchiha, Senju, or Uzumaki. 

Our Kekkei Genkai, is called 'Chōkyōshi'. It has 5 stages in it. Almost everyone in our clan will get the first and the second stage. The third and the fourth are pretty hard to reach. In history, only 5 people has ever been able to reach the fifth stage."  Minato took a deep breath, and continued reading.

"The first stage of our Kekkei Genkai let us communicate with animals. Some members can talk to Tailed Beasts. The more 'special' ones can tame them. It didn't require any chakra, but taming a Tailed Beast is a whole different case. It's very mentally tiring, and we might die doing it.

The second stage gives us 'guardians'. When a Kigaeru is dying, or badly wounded, they will meet their guardian. The form differs, from an insect or even a tiger. The larger, the stronger. The guardian will follow his master's order, no matter what is it. The master and the guardian are connected, so they can communicate through telepathy, and feel each other's pain. The weaker the master is, the guardian will also became smaller, although the guardian's form is also depends on the master's wish. Each guardian will have one specialty, it depends on the master's personality. They will be loyal forever to their master."
Minato stopped, and looked at Yūsha. "So, he's your guardian?" He asked calmly. Karasu nodded, motioning him to keep reading.

"Most members can reach the third stage. When a shocking event occurred, and gives the member a trauma, it will awakened the third stage. Their appearance will change along with the flow of their emotions. Either from their hair, eye color, or even sometimes skin color. These changes won't be permanent, but it's not easy to turn back to normal. These can also affect their skill at fighting. They will have one special ability of their own. No one has ever got a same ability."

"On the fourth stage, we will be able to change into animal. Either the whole creature, or just a part of it. We can gain its ability as well. This enable us to breath in water, infiltrate enemy's base with ease, and so on. How long the transformation is, depends on the chakra supply and of course, training. This stage is usually reached by someone whose guardian is dying, or dead."
"The last stage, is the strongest, and hardest to reach. At this stage, we will be able to create, summon, or even transforming into-"  Minato stopped. "Into what, Tou-san?" Karasu asked immediately. Minato put the scroll down, causing everyone to gather around the desk.

"See? This part is burnt." Minato stated, pointing at the part after 'into'.
"It seems like someone burned it on purpose, dattebane." Kushina commented. Kakashi nodded in agreement. Karasu just raised an eyebrow.
"Well, it's fine! So it will be a surprise!" She cheered, smiling widely. Minato chuckled.
"Okay, that's all for now. I'll tell you if I found something else. Here, Ara, keep it." He said, giving her the scroll.

"Thank you! And bye!" She exclaimed, dragging Kakashi out of the room with her.

Minato let out another soft chuckle, watching the girl trotted away, with Kakashi wincing slightly, giving his sensei a pleading look.
"What do you think, Minato? She's going to be a good big sister for Naruto, right, dattebane?"
"Of course, Kushina. She will, I can guarantee you that."
*/*\*/*\*
"Come on, Kashi-kun! Can't you walk faster?!" Karasu exclaimed, trying to pull the Hatake, who walk calmly, ignoring the girl's rage.
"Where are we going, Ara?" Kakashi asked with a heavy sigh, obviously too lazy to follow the girl.
"Dango shop! You owe me, remember?"
"Wha-?" He asked back, wide-eyed.
"Our shogi game yesterday. You lose, right?"
Kakashi finally nodded in defeat. He's a genius, but the girl is smarter.
"You really are annoying." Kakashi muttered, as they entered the shop. Hearing this, Karasu began to fake crying, holding a small white tiger cub in her arms, which is actually Yūsha. And again, Kakashi ignored her. He sat in front of the counter, and ordered 10 sticks of dangos.
"Hello, Kakashi. What are you doing here?" Someone greeted. He turned, to see Shisui, with Itachi next to him.
"Paying my debt." Kakashi replied.
"Same here." Shisui added, chuckling. "Who's that?" He asked, pointing at the girl.
"She's-"
"Excuse me, but I can introduce myself!" The girl yelled, punching Kakashi's shoulder, causing him to fell from his seat. He groaned in pain, glaring at the girl.

"Geez, no need to hurt me." He protested.

"Well, that's my revenge."she retorted back, crossing her arms.

"Revenge for what?!"
"For cheating when we played shogi!"

"But you still win!" he whined, his eye twitching.

"I don't care! Cheating is cheating!"

Kakashi was about to protest, when they heard a snicker. Shisui began to laugh.

"You're so cute!!!" He squealed, pinching the girl's cheek. An irk mark appeared on her forehead. Without warning, she punched his face, sending Shisui out of the shop.

"Don't touch me like that. I'm not a doll." She muttered, as she began wolfing down all the dangos. Itachi just watched the scene in amusement, as the 2 boys whined in pain on the floor.
"By the way, I'm Karasu. And this is Yūsha." She introduced herself, petting the tiger's head. "So who are you?"
"I'm Shisui. He's Itachi." Shisui mumbled, still holding his throbbing head.
"You're cool." Itachi said all of a sudden. Karasu turned, looking at Itachi, raising an eyebrow.
"Well thank you." She replied, with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Hey, I'm serious! No sarcasm intended!" Itachi shrieked in panic, obviously not wanting to face her rage. He put his hands up in the air, afraid to meet the same fate as his cousin's.

"Fine then. I don't care, anyway." She replied, as she put the last dango in her mouth.

"Kakashi! Can you give me more?"

"My wallet's empty. Haven't got any money for a while." he told her, as he sat up.

"You're so lazy, Kashi. You should do more missions." She stated sarcastically, pouting.

Kakashi sighed as he stood up. "How can I find money for myself, if you just keep using it for yourself? I don't have any time to do missions; I have to babysit you."

This caused him to received another hit on his head. "Babysit? It's more like guarding me! Besides, it's not like I want you to take care of me!"
"But still, you're wasting my time." Kakashi muttered. Karasu's eyes widen.
Those words.... The words that had haunted her for nights. 'Waste of time, waste of money'
Karasu clenched her fists, biting her lip.

"I'm sorry for being a burden to you." She said, her voice is shaking. Then she grabbed something from her pocket, and threw it at him, before she ran off.

"Aw, man." Shisui muttered, elbowed Kakashi while letting out a sigh. "You hurt a little girl's heart. You made her cry. Who is she, anyway?"

"She's Minato-sensei's adopted daughter. And also the last survivor of the Kigaeru clan."

"Amazing. How old is she?"

Kakashi stayed silent for a while, looking down with a frown on his face. He slowly opened the envelope she threw, to find a pretty large amount of cash in it.

"She's not even 5 years old."

Shisui's eyes widen, and he gulped.

"Hey, Shisui-kun, you look scared." Itachi commented innocently, causing his eyes to twitch in annoyance.

"Well, see you later. I have to talk with her." Kakashi said, and poofed away.

*/*\*/*\*

Yay! Done, at last!