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Title: as the wild current sings, clarity over skies

Rating: T

Summary: Nagase Kiyo. Former college student, part-time dish-washer; also the very unfortunate victim of a very fatal traffic accident. Currently the resident river kami of a small stream in the middle of nowhere. Or rather, as it turns out… "Damn you, Kishimoto. Shinobi world my ass!" [OC, Spirit!AU, Very AU]

Warnings: Nothing noteworthy so far.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

(AN at the bottom.)

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as the wild current sings, clarity over skies

09:

"The world is not as you think it is"

[A Tale of Tofu: 2/3]

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A fox. Or rather, kitsune.

Kiyo knows of these cunning fox-spirits, certainly… even though there are no tricksters running about in her forest, and she's never encountered one in person. Actually, it would not be inaccurate to say that most (if not all) of what she knows about these creatures called kitsune comes from a life-that-no-longer-is. The problem with that is that she has no idea how accurate those stories of wily fox-spirits from then translate into the current situation now.

In truth, the vast majority of what she knows of this world at this point is either gleaned as hearsay from the fickle wind-spirits or recently learned from her forest's inhabitants, which… isn't a lot to go off of. Being a land-bound spirit stuck in a forest in the middle of nowhere tends to do that to you.

But even though there is a valid reason for her ignorance, that's still no excuse. Kiyo is a kami, and that is a title that carries with it responsibilities that she will do her utmost to live up to.

… She supposes that it's probably a good thing that she has a grumpy old dragon to poke for information in times like these, given her own lack of knowledge. The other creatures of the forest certainly don't seem to know what to do with the fox-possessed man, at any rate. And Haku, for all that he'd been swift in incapacitating the man, was also equally at loss as to what came after subduing the fox-man so efficiently.

Zabuza does not seem amused at their dilemma in the least.

"… It's not even midday yet. I only left you alone for the morning," the old dragon deadpans, his gaze alternating between the unconscious man and the eclectic trio of embarrassed dragon, indignant forest mouse, and sheepish kami with a gradually-increasing twitch in his brow. Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to interrupt his nap. "How the hell did you find a fox-possessed in that time? Goddamnit, there aren't even any human settlements anywhere near this godforsaken place!"

Kiyo makes a small 'hmph,' defensively folding her arms across her chest and doing her best to shove down the embarrassed blush rising to her cheeks at the old dragon's words. "… Technically, Na-chan was the one who found him, not me. Do you know how to get the fox out?"

Zabuza makes a disgusted sound in the back of his throat, a low rumble that makes the ground beneath their feet tremble as he turns and uncoils his serpentine body, pulling himself up out of the riverbed and onto the banks in front of them. Nae makes a distinctly scolding-sounding chatter of discontent when she is doused head-to-toe by the water sliding off of polished dragon scales, fur puffing out as she desperately attempts to shake the water out of her now-heavy coat.

"There are… ways, to remove a trickster's influence over the host body." Zabuza concedes as he reluctantly cranes his head to look over the unconscious fox-man. Given his gargantuan size, the dragon's head was easily the length of the tall man's entire body and more –it was probably a good thing that the man was currently unconscious; there was no way anyone wouldn't be intimidated by a dragon towering over them in such close proximity. "But I would not advise sticking your hand in such matters, little kami-sama."

Kiyo tilts her head questioningly, and the old dragon rolls his eyes.

"For a fox-trickster to possess a human, there are certain conditions that must be met." The dragon turns a discerning eye on the little girl, "… You do not know anything about the human, nor do you know anything about the fox in question. Why would you try to interfere in this when it clearly has nothing to do with you? Don't you have anything better to be doing with your time?"

It makes sense, what he's saying. But Kiyo isn't asking because she's a busybody and a nosy little kami who happens to be too curious for her own good; it's because… it's because she wants to talk with a human. Not that she can really explain this aloud, of course, but… perhaps, if she was to approach this from a different angle…

"… What's the world like, beyond this forest?"

Silence. Kiyo bites her lip, aware of how tension suddenly ratcheted upwards as soon as the words left her mouth, but she can't really find it in herself to be regretting them, because–

"I'm… I'm sorry if it's a difficult question, or if it brings up unwanted memories." Honesty isn't necessarily always the best policy, but it's one that she finds herself defaulting to more and more, these days. "I guess I'm just a little curious. It's just like you said, Zabuza –there's not really anything around here, period. But even if I can't leave and see anything for myself, I'm still interested in learning in knowing what lies beyond the forest boundaries."

She's not sure if she's really all that successful in explaining herself to the dragons this way, but something seems to get across to Zabuza, because the tension in the air slowly dissipates as he looks away.

"… The world is an ugly place, little kami-sama. Ugly, and cruel. You know not of what you wish for, in your ignorance."

As harsh and biting as his words are, there is no malicious intent behind them, and they are not meant to harm. Kiyo knows Zabuza well enough by this point to see this.

"Enlighten me, then." It's not a petulant demand, nor is it an authoritative command. A request, a question. An invitation to elaborate. Kiyo cocks her head. "Is it really so terrible? Everything?"

She doesn't really believe that everything the world has to offer is bad (what would even be the point of a world like that?), but Kiyo is aware that Zabuza and Haku's experiences, prior to their arrival in her forest… suffice to say, they probably hadn't experienced anything good, if the mountain god Hayama's reaction to them was any indication of things. Even so, she can't stop herself from asking, can't stop herself from wondering what everything out there is like.

Most days, she can preoccupy herself with her forest and stop herself from thinking about the world beyond her forest. But it's true that there's always a vague curiosity in the back of her mind, wondering at what the world has to offer.

… It's probably human-Kiyo wondering that more than it is kami-Kiyo.

Surprisingly, Zabuza doesn't give her a direct answer, instead roughly turning to the fox-possessed human again in a blatant change of conversation topic. "Humans have ways of trying to drive out the spirits in those who are possessed, some clumsier than others. Stronger spirits are always harder to banish than weaker ones. This one… the fox's energies aren't that strong. Take a closer look, little kami-sama, you can see that for yourself, too."

… He's right.

Kiyo is a lot better at commanding the Flow now than she was in the beginning, but sometimes her spotty instincts as a kami still rear up and make a nuisance of themselves. When she looks at the unconscious human again –not just the a simple glance of a curious little girl, but when she looks, as the river kami of the forest, she sees fluttering pulses of blue-bright light scattered throughout the man's body like a thousand tiny fragments of fluttering stardust.

Lights that might as well be nothing, compared the veritable supernova that is Zabuza coiled next to the river.

"It's weak enough that you could probably command it to show itself, and it would have no choice but to obey."

At that, Kiyo pauses. "Wait, what? How does that even work?"

Zabuza arches an incredulous eye at the little girl-god. "… Do you really need me to explain this, too? Why do you think every little scrappy spirit in this forest is always falling to throw themselves at your feet?"

Well…

The dragon's brow twitches. It would be a funny sight, if it didn't look so out of place on the face of a dragon. "Are you fucking kidding me?!"

Kiyo turns to mild-mannered Haku instead. "Explanation, please?"

There's a faint expression of surprise on Haku's features as well, but at least Haku is still willing to put things into words. "Hierarchy and authority, kami-sama. This forest is your domain, so anyone who dwells upon your lands must defer to you. More than that, though… it is simply by nature. You are a river god, and thus you are elevated above the common spirits simply for the duties you perform, and for the power you hold. Other spirits will always recognize that."

"Basically, any kami can command most common spirits. Is that enough explanation for you?" Zabuza growls from the side, and Kiyo rolls her eyes, doing her best to hide how unsettled she feels by Haku's words. It's almost… unnerving. She hadn't thought too deeply about the automatic obedience of her forest's inhabitants before, always trying to just get used to the incessant calls of kami-sama, kami-sama, kami-sama–

(Does someone like her even deserve to be a kami?)

"Just command the fox to show itself so we can get on with this already."

Kiyo looks at the dragons. Looks at the unconscious human. Looks down at little Na-chan, who's been quiet as quiet as a mouse all this time, looking up at her with wide, trusting eyes.

And she knows what she, Kiyo, will do.

"… I've changed my mind. I'll just take him to the other side of the forest so he can just be on his merry way when he wakes up. He's not really in any danger; the kitsune doesn't seem strong enough to affect him." Kiyo bends down and picks up a leaf from the ground, closing her eyes and reaching for the ever-present Flow. A shimmering blue light covers the small leaf, and Kiyo thinks of the image of a bird, reflected in her river waters. Something to transport the human to the forest's borders; Kiyo thinks she's had enough excitement for one day.

"Hm… maybe I should do a little something to apologize for knocking him unconscious…?"

A sudden shift in the air.

It is all the warning she gets.

It's lucky that Kiyo is as well-connected to the Flow of the river as she is, because it's all instinct and nothing else that has Kiyo melting away in a splash of water when claws tear through her body from head to toe, sharp as knives. There is a guttural snarl from somewhere behind her; Zabuza, most likely –and Kiyo has just barely managed to re-form herself atop the river's surface when she catches sight of the mess and commands, "Stop!"

Everything freezes.

In a river-blue haze, everything freezes.

… She didn't mean to imbue her words with the Flow, didn't mean to call upon the slow, crushing pressure in the currents of the deep. Intentions mean nothing, though; actions mean everything.

Kiyo walks across the river, stepping barefoot onto the grass, and finally reaches the no-longer-unconscious man who'd suddenly sprouted claws and attacked her. Not tried to kill, because even if Kiyo hadn't avoided it, a spirit on this level would never be able to harm her. Kiyo knows this as surely as she knows each stone in her riverbed, knows this as surely as she knows that the sun rises in the east and slumbers in the west.

It's interesting that it tried to attack her, though, particularly given Haku and Zabuza's earlier explanation about a kami's apparently divine authority over common spirits.

"Care to explain, little kami-sama?" Zabuza drawls sardonically, and Kiyo heaves a mental sigh, inwardly preparing herself for another round of biting words about showing weakness and being indecisive– "I'm impressed. You've got guts, directly calling out a kitsune like that."

… Wait, what?

"I thought it was only a fox spirit," Haku murmured softly from the side, eyes contemplative. "I apologize, it's my mistake. I did not realize it was a tailed kitsune on top of that, weak as its essence is. Two tails, is it? … No. Only one tail. That's… that's the same as any fox spirit, isn't it? But then, how–?"

Tails. One tail signifies an average fox spirit. Two tails… elevated the status to kitsune, according to what he was saying?

Wait, wait, could someone tell her when fox spirits and kitsune became two different things?!

(Seriously, Kishimoto. As if it's not enough that you had to get the setup of the entire world wrong, you also decided to screw with the terminology? Seriously?)

The man –with slit eyes that glowed scarlet, elongated claws and canines that were nothing if not sharp– honest to goodness snarled at the little river god.

"I am Tsunami, the Untamable Tide, and I bow to none but He who is ruler of us all!"

…

Kiyo blinks slowly.

"… I'm so confused."

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Tsunami, as it turns out, is actually a fairly well-mannered guest, after calming down. Tsunami is also female, and it's… extremely disconcerting, to see distinctly feminine motions come from such a well-built, muscular man who practically screams masculinity.

… Alright, so she's exaggerating a little on that last bit. Zabuza has the human beat in that area, hands down, but does it really count as a point of comparison if they're not even the same species?

Calling her a kitsune… it was an accident. How was she supposed to know that fox spirits and kitsune were apparently two distinctly different things in this world? They're the same thing, for heaven's sakes! Wasn't 'kitsune' just 'fox?' … But no, apparently it was different. Fox spirit simply referred to any spirit of fox form, while kitsune meant a fox spirit who had at least two tails.

And apparently, there was some story behind why Tsunami had reacted so negatively to being 'recognized' as a kitsune. Zabuza and Haku seemed to know something about it, but given Tsunami's presence…

Kiyo thinks it would probably be better to ask later after the kitsune had left her forest.

As of the moment, though…

"Please accept my humble apologies," Tsunami lowers her –his?– head in an incredibly elegant gesture. Kiyo doesn't think she could ever replicate that feat if she'd tried. "It was not my intent to deceive you or yours, and I… I am sincerely sorry for my overreaction, earlier. If I may have the opportunity to explain myself and appease your anger, I– … I… If I may be so bold, would you please hear my story before casting judgment, kami-sama?"

To be honest, Kiyo isn't angry at all. Vaguely miffed, perhaps, but not angry, not like Tsunami seems to think she is. It's probably because the kitsune is currently so weak as to not even register as a potential threat to her senses that has her dismissing her –him?– so easily.

Kiyo is, however, curious.

"The stage is yours, Tsunami."

Sitting on the riverbanks with two dragons coiled around them and a mouse spirit sitting on her shoulder, the little river god props up her elbows on her knees, resting her face in her hands, and listens to the kitsune-possessed speak.

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…

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Author's Notes:

Merry Christmas! Chapter 9 complete. Apologies for the delay.

So, continuing on with Kaiza's story in this chapter. In case people still aren't clear on it by this point, Kaiza is the deceased hero of Wave in canon Naruto-verse, who was killed by Gato prior to Team 7's arrival. In wild current here, however, he is simply just a young chap trying to seek his fortune in this world. For now, anyways. Kaiza's section will end with the next update (hopefully), and after that we'll be moving on to a new episode.

Who expected to see Tsunami? xD No comment on our favorite bridge builder and his grandson just yet, though. If all goes as planned, they'll pop up much later on in the story. Should be fun, no?

No promises of regular updates quite just yet, sorry. I'll try to see what I can do over break, though.

Also, new fic: they seem like flowers, and yet. It's pretty short so far since it's just the intro, but basically it's a new plot bunny featuring an Iwa-nin!OC being reborn in Konoha. Check it out if you're interested in it?

QUESTION: What's the first thing that comes to mind for you when you think of New Year's? :D

Happy holidays, everyone!

-XxZuiliu