Chapter 6

But just when I thought that, Naruto stretched his bandaged hands out. With a low grunt, I concentrated. The vines lifted off the fence, bristled like the fur of an angered cat, only to coil tighter around the plain wood than before. The blond jumped backwards, screeching at the definitely unnatural movements of the plant.

Kids. lp snorted. Have to touch the hot kettle again and again, huh?

My eyes dropped back to the sink, the lukewarm water sloshing around my hands. The metal of a knife was warm to the touch as I carefully peeled off the rest of breadcrumbs clinging to it. Behind me, the fire was burning happily, the kettle resting above it and warming up. Actually, I had to restock some medicine and tonics, balms and minor poisons. It would be a good day to stay inside mostly and cook a few up.

Beckoning it with a call, the trowel jumped out of a nearby shelf and flew over, dropping elegantly inside the kettle. Not even a minor sound of metal hitting wood was audible.

I smiled to myself. Another proof my control was improving. With a new swing in my movements, I proceeded to clean the knife, until I glanced again up and out of the window.

And shrieked. Big blue eyes stared right at me, the whiskered cheeks pressed to the glass and mouth open in silent awe. Pain slashed through my hand, closing tightly around the edge of the knife. Water splashed around as I retracted my hands, red mixing with soap and bubbles. It burned terribly. Sharp flames in ny palm, cursing through the surface right underneath and with another hissed curse, I inspected the wound, before throwing a hateful glance at the blond.

He had the dignity to look shocked. Hands clasped in front of his mouth, baby-blue eyes wide as saucers, obviously shocked and fearful. His eyes were locked on the bloody hand, streams of crimson running down the wrist and soaking into the hem of my sleeve, even though I tried to avoid it.

"I'm sorry!" he cried out, all the while I tried to hold all the hot rage inside of my stomach, "I'm so, so sorry, that wasn't my intention, believe it! Maybe Sakura-chan can take a look at it, she's pretty good with that kind of stuff!"

Livid beyond the levels of human capabilities, I tried to ignore him. Just when I decided to give them some time on the clearing. Just… fucking perfect. So typical. Gritting my teeth, I balled the hand into a fist, the pain flashing through my nerves like dull lightning. "I don't need her," I pressed through your teeth. "I'm fine."

"But it looks pretty nasty…"

"I can help myself just fine." More blood dripped into the dish water, drop by drop by drop, crimson spreading in the soapy liquid. A few more seconds, I only stared at the bloody mess of a once clear sink, then pulled my hand away and turned to my right. The shelf with all my small pots of balms, herbs and healing plants was there. Overflowing with green, emitting fresh and clean smells into the air and mixing with the faintest whiff of smoke, coming from the happily flickering fire in my back.

I had to stand on my tiptoes to reach for the pot with the soothing, mint-green balm for fresh, shallow cuts. There was no need to have it directly in reach, after all, people only came to me with almost hopeless and mysterious cases, not fresh wounds and bloody cuts. Finally, I managed to drag the brown pot closer, painfully aware that the ominous aura was still hovering in front of the window. Even without looking at him, I knew the boy was still there. Still staring and still intruding.

My fingers clamped into the cool pottery. Swiveling around, I hissed at him, what caused the boy to shy away, sadness crystal clear in his blue eyes. "I may have given you time in this forest, but don't think I welcome you in my life! You're just inconveniences, damn pests for my plans! Now, fuck off! Thanks to you, I have to patch myself up and I don't need any help from you brats to do so! You," a bloodied index finger was pointed at him, "you already did enough!"

Finally, he slinked away, out of view and out of the radius of my radar. It was nice to be able to forget about the dark cloud of aura again, at least enough to breathe in sharply and concentrate on the matter at hand. In my hand, basically. By now, the blood of the cut started to coagulate, but the damage was already done. Pulses throbbed through my hand to the rhythm of my heartbeat. Gently, I spread the balm on my hand, before checking again the surroundings.

Yes, none of the ninjas were close by. Not even the tortured soldier, Kakashi. Even after I double-checked, he wasn't to be found.

Good. With a wave, I directed a bandage out of a nearby basket onto my hand. I watched how it wrapped itself around my hand, laid over the cut and pressed against the callouses and hardened up skin. Blinding white, going round and round, wrapping up the cut and protecting it from the outside world.

I wish I could wrap myself also up. I'm a blank nerve, nothing can protect me from them. Any kind of defense I had once was ripped away by the years of solitude.

A low sigh dropped from my lips. Yes. It would be a long week and I had no idea how it would end, for any of the involved parties.

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The sun burned onto my head. Thankfully, I wore a wide sunhat. A wide, loose shirt without sleeves from yesterday and a baggy shorts, like this, the sun could only shine upon my exposed arms and these were covered by a self-made cream of different ingredients to protect my skin from turning bright red.

My hands were dirty, buried in the rich earth, carefully digging out a small yet strong plant. The aromatic scent whirled around as I lifted the body of the plant higher, reaching beneath it and trying to detangle the roots without ripping them apart. The bandage on my injured hand was by now unnecessary, but to hold up the play in front of the unwelcome visitors, the white linen stayed. Dirty and by now an ugly earth-brown, but it stayed.

Steps behind me made me stop everything I was doing, the small creature in my hands and head raised in silent alarm.

Those were not the steps of Naruto nor the ones of Sakura. Too light, too loaded. And you wouldn't hear the steps of Kakashi, so it must be…

"Go away." You lowered your head again after checking and finding the aura of the last one of the group. The one with the duck butt-hairstyle. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Mhm."

Silence. I waited, waited and waited while freeing the plant of the earth, loosening the roots and setting it aside, before throwing a glance over my shoulder. The boy was standing in a respectable distance away from the fence. Dark strands hung into his eyes.

Instead of speaking to him, like he probably intended with his sudden, silent appearance, I huffed lowly, before turning again to the plant who deserved my attention far more than any human ever would. The leaves clung to my fingertips when I caressed the plant, also known as Thymus Vulgaris, a natural disinfectant and inflammatory. Any day, the doctor could come in and want some of my balms, thus, I had to prepare yourself-!

"We're not here to hurt you."

One last caress to the plant, then I straightened my back. "Must be strange to be not worshipped. Can't say that I'm unhappy about it."

You could nearly hear the roll of his eyes in the way how he tried to ban the annoyance out of his voice. "Again, we're not here to hurt you or anyone else."

"Did you tell that also your blond mascot?"

"He's sorry about it."

"Lies." He became frustrated with me. A small smile stole its way onto my face while filling the first hole with the earth and digging my fingers into the dirt. "Why should I trust anything shinobi say to me? After all, it's in the job description to lie and deceive."

Another glance over my shoulder and this time, I smirked openly at the young shinobi. His frustration only grew, darkened, became visible in the creases of his forehead and in the wrinkle between his eyebrows. A state I liked to see him in.

Yeah. Feel some of the anger I harbor for you intruders.

With a special satisfied swing in my movements, I turned again on my heels and started to dig a new hole, just a few centimeters apart from the original thyme. The spawn right beside my right knee needed more space, thus, the resettlement. Maybe, I could give this one to the doctor, like this, he didn't have to bother me every spring for my healthy and freshly produced balms.

But until then, it would live close to its mother. Humming quietly to myself, I started the dirty work, positive that the teen would leave me soon alone if I showed myself this uncooperative a little bit longer. He didn't seem like the patient type, after all.

Earth wormed its way beneath my fingernails as I dug them right into the soil. Earthy, rich, calming in a way I could never recreate with anything else. Not knitting, not cooking, not baking. Just dirtying my hands in the best way possible.

I was so close to believe that I managed to chase him away. But no, the boy was still there and stared at my curved neck, protected by the sunhat.

When he spoke up again, my heart plummeted through my chest, right through my feet and into the ground. "We could've killed you the moment we stepped onto your clearing. You know that."

"I would've taken you with me". My power started to go wild and created a pressure that started to choke him. The boy looked at me surprised then smirked.

"Wait, are you threatening me?"(mc)

One eyebrow was raised at my question.

"No." he answered.

"Are you sure about that? Because," I pointed over my shoulder, right at the locations of the auras, "I can feel your friends waiting. Is that the thank-you for allowing you to stay here?"

Clearly, the teen didn't think I would be able to feel the rest of the group. Surprise flashed over his features before he regained control over himself. His eyes went red. "No one wants to hurt you," Sasuke started, taking a step closer to the fence, "We're just here for our mission and you're in…"

"In the way?" I asked. "Is that what you want to say? I'm in the way? Of your important mission?"

Even without any breeze, the leaves around the clearing started to bristle. Trees whispered, the grass moved and the wood of my house groaned weak warnings to the careless boy who thought he could utter ominous threats. Bewildered, Sasuke looked around, obviously not knowing what was going on and what angered the flora to the point of muttering and moving.

"What…?" he muttered, but I cut him off. I was too angry to care about the anxiety coiling in your stomach or the vague fear in the back of my head, with aching knees and dirty hands balled into fists.

"I knew it," I growled, "I knew it. You're all the same. Trying to manipulate me into giving in, to give you space. You know what? Yesterday's agreement is revoked. Leave this clearing, leave this forest. There's nothing here for you."

Sasuke tried to step closer to the fence, right arm reaching out to warily lay over the covered wood of the fence, but when the leaves bristled and shook like a heavy storm shook the plant, he instantly jerked backwards. "We don't want to hurt you," he started, voice calm like he wanted to sooth a wild horse back into submission, "They're just up in the trees to watch. This is not an attack and we're grateful that you gave us time here. Don't do this. We're here for-!"

Don't do this, do that instead.

Be useful for us, then we will treat you nice. Obey me, and no one will hurt you. You belong to me, I own you. You're mine.

Everything went black for a second. A curtain fell in front of my eyes at the realization that they indeed wanted to use me again. Like I knew from the very start, like I suspected since the moment this Kakashi knocked at my door.

Of course.

It started with the earth itself. Rumbles right below the surface, cracks appeared in the dirt, rattling at the fence. The fire vines loosened, rose from their place on the fence. Like snakes, they twisted and twirled through the air, turning towards Sasuke, who only stared darkly at the plants. Wind came to life, breathed sharply through the surrounding trees, turning their endless whisper into an angry howl.

I stood in the middle of the upturning of the nature, unfazed and unbothered. Only my fists shook by my side and a ball of clashing emotions curled in my stomach, curling tighter and tighter and waiting for the release. Dangerous thoughts, a dangerous situation.