Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Reading Totems ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

Shino Entrance Countdown: Shino will appear in the next chapter! Another Shino teaser if you've been paying attention. ^_^

 

Title: Reading Totems

By: GrizzlyTeddyBear

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and this makes me sad. I do own Paige Stone, my OC!

Main Pairings: Eventual ShinoxOC, NaruxHina, SasuxSaku

Rating: M for mentioned adult themes

Warning: AU, Post-series start time. Rookie 9 is 23-24 years old. Fic mentions pagan religions, if you can't handle it, don't read! Also is OC-centric. Hold your pants, all will be revealed as the story progresses.

 

Chapter Summary: Team Kakashi helps Paige buy the items she needs and settle in to Konoha.

 

***Chapter 7***

 

Blargh. That was the first thought that came to Paige's mind as she awoke. Last night had not been a good one. The nightmares of her fun time with the bandits appeared to be trying to make up for lost time. She had that one nightmare on the morning of her first official day with Team Kakashi, but she strangely hadn't had any since then. Every time she would drift off last night, she would only jolt awake to stare at a clock that insisted time was moving impossibly slow. Paige's head was pounding too, or was that her front door? She decided on both since there were two different rhythms. Maybe her head would explode if the rhythms synchronized?

 

Not caring what she must have looked like, she stumbled out of bed, through the living area, and jerked open the door. On the other side of the door was Team Kakashi holding grocery bags and shocked facial expression. Paige squinted and waved at them. Human conversation skills were too complicated right now.

 

“I think I understand the grizzly bears now,” whispered Naruto with wide eyes to no one in particular.

 

Paige stuck out her tongue at him.

 

“We brought breakfast, and some other groceries,” offered Sakura.

 

Paige nodded and stood to the side, gesturing them in. “Kitchen,” she replied to Sakura while pointing in the general direction of the small kitchenette. “Shower,” she grunted while pointing to herself.

 

Team Kakashi collectively nodded.

 

Paige nodded back, and stumbled to the shower after picking up her second set of borrowed clothes, towel, and shower supplies from where she had placed them in the bedroom the night before.

 

She came back from the shower a little more capable of human interaction, but not feeling more awake. Noticing the small kitchenette was already crowded with Sakura and Sasuke cooking breakfast, she opted to join Kakashi and Naruto who were currently lounging in the living area on the couch. Paige heaved a huge sigh as she flopped into one of the unoccupied chairs. She sunk into the chair and closed her eyes.

 

“Rough night?” asked Kakashi.

 

She cracked open one eye, “Nightmares. I didn't get much sleep.” Kakashi looked blurry, and Naruto looked…invisible. She had forgotten her glasses in the bedroom. “I should sleep wonderfully tonight though. Exhaustion does wonders for lack of sleep. Plus if I can get my meditation supplies today, I can ask my dreams to be safe-guarded.” Suddenly her glasses appeared before her, held out by Naruto. That explained the invisibility; he had gone to her bedroom to find them for her.

 

“I figured you'd want them. They look nice by the way. I don't think I told you that last night.”

 

“Thanks.” The world was more in focus. “So what's the occasion for the group visit? Not that I'd turn away a free meal.”

 

“You need clothes of your own, meditation supplies, and toiletries too. You also need as much time as possible to prepare for the council meeting. We figured we'd help out so you could get done faster,” Sakura stated while she arranged plates of food around the small dining table.

 

Paige scratched her head. “Who's eating standing up? There are only four chairs and five butts.”

 

Sakura handed the last plate to Kakashi. Paige blinked…the food was gone, and the problem of chairs was solved. And Kakashi's mask hadn't appeared to move.

 

While the rest ate around the table, she began to list some of the items she needed to buy and the rest of the group offered suggestions as to which shops she should probably look for each of the items in. By the time the dishes had been washed and dried, they had a plan for the day. Hopefully Paige would be done with the shopping by midday and get started on her medicine wheel work. Sakura would take Paige shopping for clothes and toiletries and Kakashi would walk her around the open air market to find items to build her medicine wheel. Sasuke and Naruto wanted to spar that day; they had come by just to check up on her. Apparently they didn't want the day off from training.

 

“Just so you know, I hate shopping with a passion. I tend to stick with the clothes I like instead of the latest fashion trends,” Paige told Sakura as they headed into a shop for women's clothing. They had just finished with buying toiletries.

 

“What do you like? Maybe we can narrow down the stores we visit a little more.”

 

Paige thought of how best to describe her usual clothes of nice tops and peasant skirts. “I like long loose fitting skirts. They are usually gathered, divided into three tiers, and flow with you when you walk. Tops I'm not too picky about, I just don't like looking like a box or a whore.”

 

Sakura lead them back out of the store. “This isn't for you then. Come on, I know where to find something you'll like.”

 

The next store contained what looked like peasant skirts. Paige walked up to one of the racks, pick up three different sizes and headed to the changing room to figure out how they cut their clothes in Konoha. Once she figured out which size she wore, she then proceeded to pick out several colors in the same size and style—dark blue, brown, dark green, black, yellow, red, purple, and white. They then headed over to where the shirts were displayed and the whole process was repeated finding colors that complimented the skirts, but not necessarily matching. Comfortable sandals and her customary sleeping clothes of T-shirts and cotton shorts also were found.

 

Sakura stared at Paige, “That was fast. I don't think I've known anyone to shop like that.”

 

She shrugged in reply, “I find what I like and then buy a bunch of it.” Paige looked around the store, trying to find the one last item of clothing she wanted. Finding what she was looking for, she lead Sakura over to the place where accessories were. She added some of the larger handkerchiefs in differing colors to the pile of clothes.

 

“What are those for?”

 

“Mainly for taming my hair. I don't know where the one I was wearing before I came here went to, but I like wearing them as an easy hair style. Alright, I'm all done with the clothes.” The two made their way over to the clerk and Paige paid for her items. She also arranged for her to be able to change into one of the skirts, tank tops, and handkerchiefs in the store. “I'll give you back your clothes once I wash them,” Paige stated as they exited the store.

 

“There's no need. I don't mind washing them. In fact, I can even take those bags back to your place while you're out with Kakashi,” Sakura offered while taking the shopping bags. Paige noticed Kakashi was standing on the other side of the street reading his book.

 

“Don't you need keys?”

 

“Ninja. Remember?” She made weird shapes with her hands, and with that, Sakura and Paige's bags, disappeared in a flurry of pink petals.

 

Paige was still blinking at the spot Sakura had been occupying when a chuckle brought her back to reality.

 

“Now you know how we feel when you tell us things about ourselves through totems,” Kakashi grinned at her. “Nice outfit. Different, but it suits you.”

 

“Thanks. I feel a little more like myself.” Paige gave Kakashi an accusing look. “How did you know we were here? Sakura didn't even know we'd end up here.”

 

Kakashi winked, “Ninja. Remember?”

 

“So you were following us.”

 

“Yup.” He turned around. “Next stop is this way.”

 

Paige sighed, rolled her eyes, and followed the strange man who read strange books and did strange things. After following him down a few streets and around a few corners Paige decided she was a little bored. “Kakashi?”

 

“Hm?” He hadn't put the book down, but at least he was paying attention.

 

“You know a lot about me, but I don't know that much about you.”

 

“What do you want to know?” Kakashi slowed down so they were now walking side by side.

 

“What are you willing to tell me? I know you're not one for personal sharing. The mask kind of screams that part to the world.”

 

Kakashi chuckled, “I guess it does.”

 

Paige figured she'd play 20 questions and see how far she'd get. “So how old are you? I know you're older than the rest of your team, they told me you used to be their Sensei.”

 

“I'm 38, but don't tell anyone. It might ruin my reputation as a ladies man if they find out I'm an old man.”

 

She made a face. “That's not that old. And if you can get ladies with the weird hair you have and one eye, then I don't think you have much to worry about.”

 

Kakashi chuckled again as Paige saw the most frightening thing appeared before her. It had dark hair in a strangely shiny bowl cut, and a green leotard. It smiled, nearly blinding her already fragile eyesight while proclaiming, “Kakashi! My eternal rival! I heard rumors of your return with a lovely lady and see now that both rumors of your return and her loveliness are true!” It then struck a pose. This guy was definitely strange.

 

Paige was fighting the urge to run and flee. She was hit with such strong emotions from this weirdo! It wasn't just curious, it felt more like CURIOUS!!! She felt her headache from the morning reawaken.

 

Kakashi sighed, “Hello Gai. This is Paige. She's new. Try not to scare her.”

 

The identified Gai had grabbed on to Paige's hand in an attempt to kiss it at Kakashi's last statement.

 

Paige let out a rather girlie squeak and pulled away. She was backing up when she backed in Kakashi.

 

“Gai, I said not to scare her.” Kakashi obligingly put himself between Paige and Gai to give her some breathing room.

 

Paige tugged on Kakashi's sleeve. “Do I even want to ask?”

 

“You don't have to ask!” Gai declared. “I am Maito Gai, Konoha's Green Beast and Hatake Kakashi, the copy-ninja, is my greatest rival!” He then struck that weird pose again.

 

She figured she'd at least be polite, but still stayed behind Kakashi. “Pleased to meet you. Kakashi was kind enough to show me to some shops I need to buy a few things from. Maybe I'll see you later? We're in a hurry.”

 

“But of course dear lady.” He turned to Kakashi, “You have beaten me in number of missions completed early, but I will regain my honor when you are not in the company of a lady! She should not have to witness your downfall.” And then the strange man left them.

 

Kakashi steered Paige down the next few streets while she recovered from that experience. “He's shinobi?” she questioned.

 

“Yeah. Don't tell him, but he's one of the best jounin we have.”

 

“I won't tell him. I'm afraid of the reaction.”

 

Kakashi laughed until they made it to the market. He turned to her, “Here you go. Have fun, I'll be around if you need me.”

 

Paige took her time exploring the stands at the market, slowly going down one side and then back up the other to get a feel for what each was selling. She then decided on returning to the stand which sold carrying bags of all shapes, sizes and materials. She bought two of the bigger sized cloth bags—one for worldly possessions and one for otherworldly possessions. It wasn't polite to the spirits to mix the energies of the sacred with the non-sacred. She also bought a smaller leather pouch which was going to be solely for the items she would make her medicine wheel from.

 

She made her last medicine wheel from a variety of things, precious stones, regular rocks, Native American fetishes, dried plants, and they all needed to be treated with respect and care. Gathering materials for a medicine wheel was difficult to describe. There were 36 positions to the wheel so she would need to buy 36 items to represent the unique energy of each position. What item went with what position was largely unknown until it `called' out to Paige.

 

The next stand sold blankets. It was true her apartment had come with a set of sheets, but this blanket would be special. It would go in her bag of spiritual items for her meditations. Paige liked to be comfortable while possibly sitting for hours in the forest or just in her own living area. She picked out a blue throw blanket which had some designs on it that caught her eye. After paying for it, it disappeared into her new bag.

 

Some notebooks from a stand which specialized in stationery were next. She bought several. She liked recording her meditations to think on them later. Plus it helped to be able to go back when a message from the spirits manifested in her life days later and write it in with the original message. She also had a habit of cross-referencing. Everything was recorded twice: once by totem once and by date. It gave her writers cramp, but made interpretation that much easier.

 

She then decided to visit the shop she discovered sold stones and gems. Paige was able to find most of what she felt was good for her medicine wheel at that shop. She then made her way to a stand that sold animal shaped trinkets. The stone and gem place had animal carvings, but these trinkets were different. Some were woven, some were carved, and some were sculpted. Paige was able to make the rest of her purchases there, including a small decorated fan to help with smudging and cleansing.

 

Sighing she got to the difficult part…going to the food stands to try and find materials good enough to make offerings with. She needed something for smudging herself for the cleansing part of the ritual, and something to offer up to the six directions for a good medicine wheel journey. Paige decided she needed some help when the chaos of the market made her head pound more, and being a head taller would let her see over the wall to wall people she encountered. She looked around for Kakashi, but felt a tapping on her shoulder from behind.

 

“Looking for me?”

 

“Yeah, I'm almost done, but I need some dried plant stuff still. I could use your eyes to find the stands I need to get to. There are too many people, and I don't feel like wandering aimlessly.”

 

Kakashi nodded his assent. “What do you still need?”

 

Paige closed her eyes and mentally tested what felt appropriate. She groaned when her head throbbed in response to being used spiritually again.

 

“You OK?”

 

“Headache. I think a nice quiet bookstore or something after this is called for. Then I need to look for a meditation spot, preferably in the forest. I rebalance best surrounded by nature.” Paige sighed and got back to the business of shopping, “Alright, I need dried sage brush, sweetgrass, unrolled tobacco, and some cornmeal.”

 

“You need a stand that specializes in imported plants and food items. Let's go find it.” Kakashi lead them into the throng.

 

Paige emerged at the other end of the market with all of the items she needed for smudging, cleansing, and making an offering. She had even remembered to grab some matches. Unfortunately she also emerged with one killer of a migraine. She couldn't afford to go home and sleep it off like she really wanted to. She needed to find a quiet spot for setting up her wheel, smudging it, offering it to the six directions, and doing a little wheel walking before nightfall. “What time is it?” she asked as she rubbed her temples to try and ease her headache.

 

“Afternoon-ish. I'm not good with time. But dusk is about 3 hours away.” Kakashi rubbed his chin through his mask and then turned a grin at Paige through his mask, “I remember someone mentioning a bookstore.” He waved his orange book at her. “I think the next installment of Icha Icha is out now.” He steered Paige presumably in the direction of a bookstore.

 

`At least it's quiet,' Paige thought to herself. Kakashi hadn't let go of her until he reached the bookshelf he was looking for and started scouring for his precious book. “Um, Kakashi?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“I kinda have work I need to do…finding a spot in the forest.”

 

His response was to wave at her in a shooing motion. “I wonder what Junko is up to,” he then mused to himself. “Maybe he'll find a damsel in distress in a forest.”

 

Paige was getting slightly annoyed. “Maybe, but I'm not too interested in Junko. I'm interested in meditation.” She began to tap her foot in her annoyance. Was he just going to ignore her?

 

“Maybe he'll run into her meditating in a forest…some place not too far from his new hometown, about a mile east of the open market…after a day of shopping.”

 

Paige smiled and walked out of the bookstore muttering to herself, “Damned crazy ninjas and their plausible deniability.” He had been giving her an out. She figured this way he could honestly say he didn't tell her to go off on her own. And by keeping his back turned he could say he didn't see her leave the store. Paige headed off back in the direction of the market to head east for about a mile and find a nice quiet spot in the forest.

 

***

 

She decided it was the small things in life that made everything worth while. Her headache had lessened to a dull roar when she reached the forest's edge away from people. Paige took a deep breath and took her time appreciating all of the gifts of nature before her. There weren't forests like this in New Jersey. It was simply breathtaking. How do you put natural perfection into words? The trees seemed to welcome her as she picked a path through the small amount of brush on the forest floor. She would definitely have to come back to this forest when she could afford to just sit against one of the trees and feel the life of the forest and truly appreciate it as the gift it was.

 

Steeling herself for another wave of pain, Paige opened the box in her mind slightly, hoping it would guide her to a spot in the forest suitable for meditation. Surprisingly not much of an increase in pain occurred. Maybe it was just lack of sleep and the noise of the market this time that had caused her migraine. Shrugging to herself, she set off further into the forest. It was after the village had just become lost through the trees that Paige felt it. A pull slightly to her right, but she was headed in the correct general direction. She turned so the pull was directly in front of her.

 

Her breath caught again as she reached her destination. It was a clearing where the trees parted for about a 30 meter radius. Walking to the middle of the clearing Paige set her bag down, pulled out her blanket, and sat to try and feel what had called her to this particular spot. It was hard to put into words. The forest as a whole was welcoming, but this spot felt like a homecoming. She was actually filled with an intense feeling of joy just sitting there and listening to the sounds of the forest. Surprisingly she didn't see any larger animals this far from the village, but maybe they were just a little frightened by her presence.

 

Getting back to her task of the medicine wheel, she took out the small leather pouch she had placed all of her items and then brought out the plants and herbs she had purchased, her small fan, and the matches. She decided on tackling the herbs and plants first. Unwrapping the sweetgrass, sage brush, and tobacco, she carefully separated them into four piles: three piles of mixed sweetgrass, sagebrush, and tobacco and one pile of just tobacco. Carefully she bound these up using the same twine from the original three bundles. She put two of the mixed bundles back in her bag and set the other two by the fan, matches, and cornmeal. Next she opened the leather pouch and noticed it was the kind you could splay completely flat. Paige decided to arrange her medicine wheel on the splayed out pouch.

 

After having set up the wheel she set about the task of cleansing herself and all of the items she had arranged around her, including her bag. From now on she would have to be careful who she let touch all of these items. If the handling is not done with proper respect to the energies they represent, she would have to cleanse them all over again. She decided on a combination of cleansing energies—chanting and smudging. She picked up the bundle made up of sage brush, sweetgrass, and tobacco and lit it with one of the matches. Using the fan, she proceeded to waft the smoke over herself from head to toe. She inhaled deeply imagining any negative energy leaving her body. She then used the same procedure while chanting for the rest of her gathered items. Carefully putting out the lit end of the bundle by partially burying it, she then picked up the bundle of just tobacco and lit it. Concentrating on her gathered materials she made an offering to the six directions declaring to the spirits that she wished this medicine wheel to have strong energy to aid her in the journey Mudjekeewis had sent her on for Wakan Tanka. She made sure to snuff the tobacco after she was finished. She then sent a prayer up for the safe-guarding of her dreams from nightmares that would keep her from her journey. Noticing she had a few more moments before sundown, she sat quietly, asking for any messages the spirits had for her. Comfort. Warmth. Encouragement. Satisfaction. Those were the emotions sent in reply to her request, but she also got another response. Images of insects then came to her. Butterflies—symbols of the elemental clan of the air, ants—symbols of strength and wisdom, beetles—symbols of resurrection and protection, and many other insects came to her. Paige was puzzled by this and asked for understanding. She didn't often work with insect totems. Patience. Comfort. Love. Encouragement. This reply reassured her that she was still on the right path at least. Spirits were known for only giving you what you need, and not what you want. She carefully recorded everything down in her notebook; she didn't want to forget anything. She also added in her vision with Mudjekeewis and her offering during her piggyback ride with Team Kakashi. Maybe tomorrow would bring further understanding. Collecting all of her belongings, Paige turned to walk back towards the village to think on her meditation, maybe have some dinner with friends, and get that much needed sleep.

 

***

 

Author's notes: Please review and let me know what you think. If you reviewed this story once, Thank You!! (otakutron, TheForsakenOne, DragonTamer94) And review it again! I feel special to have repeat readers & reviewers who give lovely feedback.