Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Reading Totems	By : GrizzlyTeddyBear Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 1242 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
Title:� Reading Totems
By:� GrizzlyTeddyBear
Disclaimer:� I
don�t own Naruto, and this makes me sad.�
I do own Paige Stone, my OC!� All
information regarding animal totems was collected from Dancing The Wheel by Sun Bear and Animal Speak by Ted Andrews.
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.� And yes, Shino does appear, but not for a few
chapters.

Chapter Summary:�
After finding safety, Paige is forced to explain her strange abilities
in hopes of remaining safe.� How will her
saviors react?

***Chapter 2***

Her second waking revealed her second experience of being in
an unrecognized forest by a campfire.�
However, this time, no men were crowded around her.� Calm.� Safe.� Concern.� Sakura came into Paige�s field of vision to
help her once more to a sitting position.�
�Have some water, but not too much.�
You�ve had a rough night�internal bleeding, swollen organs, collapsed
lung, broken ribs, slight swelling of brain tissues from the migraine�but you
were probably aware of all of that.�

She sipped the water from the canteen handed to her as she
listened to her injuries.� �Yeah, they
weren�t exactly gentle in their paranoia.�
But shouldn�t I be in more pain then?��
Paige handed the canteen back to Sakura.

�I managed to heal most of your injuries.� You�ll have some stiffness and soreness.� You�ll need to rest as much as possible when
you get home.�

�Thank you,� she replied.�
And she meant it.� She didn�t
exactly understand how her injuries could be healed in a short period of time,
but gratitude was definitely gratitude.�
�Although the going home bit may be a bit difficult.�

�Oh?�� A different
voice, but one she recognized.� Paige�s
attention was now directed to the man she recalled as Kakashi.� He was leaning against a tree to her right
and reading a strange orange book.

She decided to talk directly to him anyway.� �I don�t know where I am or how I got
here.� I don�t even have my glasses to
even tell if we�re where we were the last time I was conscious.�� She felt a general sense of curiosity mixed
with some disbelief after this statement.

It was Naruto who decided to break the moment after Paige�s
little confession.� Standing next to
Sakura he beamed as he started, �Alright.�
Introductions all around then.� The lovely medic who healed you is Haruno Sakura.� The
guy reading porn over there, I�m sure you remember is Hatake
Kakashi.�� Paige squinted over at the now
identified book of porn in Kakashi�s hand, but Naruto continued, �Strong, dark,
and stoic over to your left is Uchiha Sasuke.�� She blinked at this information too.� Sasuke was a careful neutral on her emotions
reading radar.� �And my name is Uzumaki Naruto!� I
helped beat the guys that beat you up!�� Pride.� Accomplishment.� Naruto�s
emotions were strong, loud, and heady.�

Paige figured she could get drunk off of Naruto by standing
next to him if she wasn�t careful.� She
wasn�t sure if he was always so emotive, or if she was somehow extra sensitive
after everything that happened.� Smiling
she replied, �Paige Stone.� It�s a
pleasure to meet all of my rescuers.��
After a pause, she figured it was time she asked some of her own
questions.� �So, now that I know your
names, can you tell me where I am, how long I�ve been unconscious for, and who
those guys were back there?�� Looking
down and noting she was now sporting the blue clothes similar to what everyone
else was wearing, she added, �...and, whose clothes am I wearing?�� Paige was met with some blank stares after
she finished her litany of questions.

�You�re wearing my clothes, I figured you wouldn�t mind if I
did it.� And your old clothes were pretty
much ruined.� You were out for only 4
hours, which is unusual for how many injuries you had, even if I am a really
good medic.�� Sakura smiled at her last
statement about her own abilities.

�Good to know the warrantee is still good.�� She scratched the back of her head.� �You�re right about the clothes.� I probably wouldn�t have enjoyed wearing
those things anymore.� Thanks.�� Paige was now getting an overall curious
feeling from the group of rescuers.� �So
where am I, and who were those guys?�

�You don�t know?��
This was asked by Sasuke, although everyone seemed to be confused by the
idea of her not knowing her attackers or her location.� They were all wearing some form of confused
face.

Paige shook her head.�
That appeared to be the signal for Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to turn
and look at Kakashi.�

He sighed, put away his orange book, and walked over closer
to Paige, squatting down to be eye level at her.� �Those guys were a local group of bandits
that we were sent out on a mission to capture and turn over to the local
authorities in a village not far from here.�
We�re shinobi of Konohagakure, which is in Fire Country.�

Paige looked blankly at Kakashi after he said this.� He didn�t strike her as the type to say a lot
at one time.� Since she had no idea what
he was talking about after bandits, she figured she�d press her luck and ask
anyway.� �Shee-noh-bee?�
Kono-who in Fire where?

After trying to get her mouth around those strange words,
she looked at the group again.� They all
looked rather confused, but they still felt safe.� Curious.� Incredulous. Disbelief.� Shock.� Caution were the
group�s emotions.� Naruto�s were easily
identified since his face displayed something crossed between what eating a
lemon and smelling a rotten egg would be like.�
Well, she couldn�t blame them too much for the caution.� At least it wasn�t the instant paranoia from
the bandits.�

Sighing, Kakashi tried again.� �Shinobi.� As in ninjas.�� Tapping the etching on the strange metal
plate on a piece of blue cloth which he wore to cover his one eye and which
Paige noticed they all wore in some fashion.�
He continued.� �Konohagakure
or Konoha in Fire Country.� You�re
in Fire Country now.�

Paige tried repeating the highlights aloud to see if
understanding would come.� �Shinobi.� Ninjas.� Konoha.� Fire Country.�� She
took a moment and then thought to herself, �Nope, still nothing�Ninjas?�� She tried this last thought aloud again,
�Ninjas?� You�re all ninjas?�� The group nodded, except for Sasuke.� He somehow managed to look bored and
interested at the same time.� They didn�t
feel like they were crazy, at least not crazy in that special schizophrenic
sort of way she would recognize from her job experience.� And the only Fire Country she knew of was Tierra del Fuego.�
Deciding this was definitely not New
Jersey, Paige opted for statements instead of
questions, �We don�t have those where I�m from.�� Maybe a change of tactics would bring
inspiration?

�Where are you from?��
Sasuke again.�
Paige decided while he wasn�t much for words, he definitely got his
point across.

�New Jersey,
USA
country.�� The looks she received
were probably similar to the look Paige gave them after she heard Konohagakure
and Fire Country.�

Scratching his chin through his mask, Kakashi was the one
who spoke next.� �Hmm, don�t know that
village.� And I�ve been around enough to
know most of them.�

Paige kept silent, getting the feeling he was building up to
something.�

Suspicion.� His
visible eye then tried to pierce through her with its intensity.� �You don�t look like you�re lying, but you�re
being cautious with us.�� His gaze
relented slightly. Curiosity.� ��You�re civilian.�� This didn�t appear to be a question, but
Paige just opted to nod.� �How about you
tell us how you met you�re �friends� and how you managed to find our
camp.�� Anticipation.� Wary.� The last wave of emotions came from the group
as a whole.

Paige sighed heavily and wearily.� She�d have to play this one carefully.� If she told them every detail about how she
ended up where she was, they might think she
was crazy.� Even if she thought they were
a little crazy from Kakashi�s �ninja� statement and calling where they were
Fire Country, she was lead here by totems that she trusted, and she didn�t
sense any malice from them.� Paige did
not want to alienate these guys who were possibly her only safety for
miles.� �My brain is a little scrambled,
so I don�t know if all of it will make sense right now.�

�That�s understandable.�
Just tell us what you can and we�ll ask questions if we have any,�
Sakura smiled encouragingly at Paige.� Disarming.� Trust.� Harmless.�

Paige didn�t think there was such a thing as harmless
ninja�s, but she appreciated the unknowing comfort Sakura was giving out.� �Can I have some more water first?� It might be a long story.�

�Sure.�� The canteen
was handed back over.

Paige surveyed the odd group before her while she
drank.� She didn�t exactly think she
could tell them that she read totems.�
Heck, she wasn�t sure how she did it long distance!� Usually she needed her medicine wheel to
focus her attention and cautiously focus on one person at a time.� Wolf and fox indeed.� And now that she thought more about it, her
empathy seemed to be out of balance too. �It wasn�t usually this easy for her to read
emotions either.� Something was off.�

Paige sighed again as she rested the canteen in her
lap.� She then proceeded to rub her
temples.� Another migraine was
building.� Trying to figure out all of
the recent mysteries was giving her another headache.� Impatience.� Restlessness.� Expectation.� Naruto again.� He was fidgeting.� It was the last straw.� Trauma, stress, pain, over enthusiastic
emoting blondes, coupled with what was beginning to feel like an interrogation
finally got to cool, calm, collected Paige.�

She ended up doing what she was trying to avoid.� She snapped.�
She spilled everything with one not-thought-out sentence.� �Kit, if you don�t contain yourself, I won�t
be able to concentrate enough to answer!� she yelled.

Paige blinked at the eyes that appeared to be extremely
close to her own face.� She was now flat
on her back with something sharp and pointy sticking into her chin.� And the sharp and pointy object seemed to be
attached to Naruto.� Anger.� Fear.� Uncertainty.� Curiosity.� Blinking himself, Naruto pulled back up and
off of Paige, helping her sit up again.� Fear.�
Regret.� It looked like she
hit a trigger for him, and it was a reaction to something she did or said.� Naruto continued backing away from her until
he was on the other side of the fire, leaning up against a nearby tree.� Crossing his arms, he regarded her with a
steely blue gaze similar to the one he wore initially, when he was getting
ready for the bandits.� �If you�re not
from here, then you shouldn�t know anything.�
But you called me �Kit� and only he
has ever called me Kit.�

Noticing the positions the other three had taken around her,
she noticed she was surrounded by less than friendly faces now.� Paige decided some therapy skills with some
good old fashioned honesty were in order.�
�I�m sorry if I upset you.� I�m
truly not from here.�� She gathered her
courage.� �And I�m going to guess your
fox spirit is the one who calls you �Kit�.��
While Naruto nodded, Paige felt the group�s tension levels rise.� �I just want to emphasize �civilian�, and
�unarmed� before I explain myself.�� She
figured reminding them wouldn�t hurt.

�Got it,� Naruto half-smiled at her.� It was a start.

�You also might have some trouble believing some of what I
say.� I�m not even sure how some of it
works.�

�Try us.�� She
couldn�t immediately place the voice, unwilling to break eye contact with
Naruto.� It was short and to the point,
like Sasuke.� But it was also a
commanding statement, and Kakashi appeared to be the one the other three looked
to.

�I�ll answer all of the questions the best I can, but it�s
not easy for me to talk about some of it�I�ve gotten used to being an outcast
because of what I can do.�

Curiosity.� Then tension level went down slightly.� Naruto spoke into the pause, �What can you
do?�

�Two things, but they�re kind of related.�� Paige took her time in looking around and
making sure she made eye contact with everyone this time.� �I can sense people�s emotions.�� She paused again, feeling the wariness added
back into the group.� �And I can read
totem animals�animal spirit guides.� They
are basically beings which guide someone, protect them, and teach them life lessons.� They can also be associated with
emotions.� They can help me clarify what
I�m sensing from someone when I can match the totem animal, emotion, and other
context clues.� My personal totem animal
also protects me from getting�lost in my empathic abilities.�

�Lost?�� Apprehension.� Curiosity.� Sympathy.� Paige
sighed.� The feelings were mixed.� She was unable to place what emotion went
with whom, but the voice was Sakura.� She
was back to being a sympathetic ear.� She
and Kakashi appeared to not be as tensely coiled within the formation as
Sasuke.� However, Sasuke�s eyes were a
strange swirling red color.� Paige
decided eye contact with everyone was best, regardless of how creepy she found
red eyes.

�Lost.� Lots of people tend to take on little
personality quirks of those they are friends with or spend a lot of time
with.� I tend to take on their emotional
attributes as well.� If I don�t
properly�buffer�myself, then I don�t know where they�re emotions end and mine
begin.� I took up a spiritual meditation
tool called a medicine wheel in order to help with my empathy and appeal to my
sense of honoring nature.� The wheel
taught me I could communicate with totem animals.�� Paige took a moment to try and sense the
ninja�s emotions again.� She was trying
to judge how they were reacting, or if they believed her.� She never knew how to describe herself as she
used her empathy, but she figured it was similar to opening a locked box.� Paige reached inside herself and opened a
part of her mind that was usually closed off.�
She wanted to see if she could sort through the emotions despite the
pain of her rapidly growing head ache.�
Immediately she gasped at the sharp increase in pain and clutched her
head.� �Ok, bad idea,� Paige reasoned in
her mind.� She closed the door to her
mind again.� Dull throbbing with a dash
of mixed emotions was much better than feeling like you had an ice pick through
your temples

�Are you OK?��
Kakashi�s faced swam into focus.

Paige nodded and grinned sheepishly.� �I was trying to sense if you guys believed
me, but I guess recovering injuries and empathy are not totally
compatible.� I can sense Naruto loud and
clear.� I�m guessing he�s naturally
emotional.� But from everyone else I can
only get a mixed bag right now.� My
headache is getting worse.� So, I guess
I�m stuck asking�do you believe me?�

�Hm.� I don�t know.�
Tell us how what you told us before is related to you knowing about
Naruto.�� Kakashi backed away again and
regarded her with a cool eye.� He wasn�t
tensed, like he thought Paige was a true threat, heck, they were ninjas!� But her �Kit� comment still seemed to have
spooked everyone.� She began to think
some of Sakura�s smiles were from nervousness, and some of Sasuke�s careful
neutral was forced from tension.

�It goes back to my �friends� as you called them
before.� I woke up in their camp.� My migraine was just beginning, but I could
still feel what they wanted out of me.�
It wasn�t something I wanted to give�willingly.�� Paige shuttered at remembering the lust of
the bandits.� �I knew I couldn�t defend
myself physically, especially four against one.�
So I did what a lot of people do.�
I started praying�but I�ve never really gotten an answer
so�directly�before.� I wasn�t able to
keep my mouth shut, it was too overwhelming�and it was beautiful, too.� I felt this incredible feeling of Safety and a pull to my left�through
some trees.� And I was unable to stop
myself from telling them the answer to my prayer.�� She took a steadying breath and blurted out
the phrase that would determine her future.�
�I told them, �Wolf and fox have come for you.�� Remembering her physical abuse, she looked
down at her lap.� �They�reacted badly,�
she whispered and started playing with the ends of her borrowed shirt.

An orange-clad torso came into her view, and Paige found
herself pulled against Naruto�s chest in a light hug. �Tentatively she hugged back, not sure about
the switch in emotions from careful guarded Naruto to comforting Naruto, but
definitely needing the comforting.�

After a few moments, she pulled back to finish her tale
while looking at her lap again.� �I waited
until they were finished, until they weren�t paying attention anymore.� Then I ran in the direction the safe feeling
came from.� Hoping I would last long
enough to find the wolf and fox.� When I
stumbled into your camp, I found safety, a wolf, and a fox.�� A silence followed that to Paige, seemed to
stretch for a long time.

�I�m the fox.�

Paige nodded at Naruto who seemed a little more open towards
her again.

�Who is the wolf?� Sasuke asked.� His red eyes still bore into Paige, as if he
was trying to see through her.

�Kakashi.�� The named ninja raised an eyebrow at
Paige.� �There are other totems for both
of you, but considering my headache and my last result.� I think I�d like to wait until I feel better
to poke around more.� I need to meditate
for grounding and centering myself.�

�You need rest to finish recovering,� Sakura added.

�I need both.� I�ve
always had to balance the physical with my other abilities,� Paige amended the
medic�s prescription.� �And
unfortunately, I don�t have my meditation tools.� I didn�t wake up with them when I woke up
with the bandits.�

�How did you end up in such good company?�� Kakashi it appeared wanted to continue the
previous line of questioning with Paige.

�I honestly don�t know.�
The only thing I can tell you is what I remember happening before
finding myself with them.�� The ninjas
shifted on their feet at this revelation.�
Kakashi glanced at Sasuke who returned the look with those red eyes,
gave a slight nod back to Kakashi, and then resumed his gazing at Paige.

�Alright then, start with where you�re from again and go to
what you remember before waking up and going for a jog.�

Paige nodded and gave a slight smile at Kakashi�s sense of
humor.� �I�m from a small town in a state
called New Jersey in a country called the United States of America, or USA for short.� I�m a graduate student at a university near
by.� Most day�s I either go to classes,
or go to my job.�

Sasuke interrupted Paige, �What are you studying, and where
do you work.�

�I�m learning to be a therapist.� I work at the local psychiatric
hospital.�� After Sasuke nodded, she
continued her original line of thought.�
�I finished my morning shift, but it was a bad one.� We had a lot of new arrivals who were less
than stable, and it took a lot for me to be able to concentrate through all of
the confusion and anger on the unit.� I
decided I should meditate in the forest behind my apartment complex to try and
center myself.�� Paige chewed her lip and
closed her eyes while she thought back to the details of the meditation.� �I�m not sure what happened.� I know I passed out in the middle of the
meditation, and that�s happened once or twice before.� But I remember getting a very vivid
vision...my totem�no, that�s not exactly right, it was too powerful.� Now that I think about it, I think it was Mudjekeewis, the Spirit Keeper of the West came to me, in
the form of my totem.�

***

Paige glanced up from her position sitting before the
medicine wheel on the ground to notice the difference in the forest of her
vision than the forest near her apartment.�
These trees were taller, older, wiser in the ways of nature, and could
teach her much because they had seen much.�
Looking through the trees, she noticed a figure moving towards her
through the trees now.� It was a grizzly
bear.�

She wasn�t afraid.�
This has happened a few times before.�
She often wished for visions like this.�
Actually being in the presence of her totem was calming, comforting, and
empowering for Paige.� She could find
answers to questions by asking him; have him give her answers to questions she
didn�t know she had; have him question her to find her own answers; or just
offer his silent presence.� Sometimes the
grizzly would even come close enough for her to touch.�

This time something was different.� The fur had subtle differences, the dark
brown tones were almost black and the light tones almost shone with their own
light.� Paige watched in awe at the
magnificent creature making his way towards her.� She thought all bears were beautiful,
especially grizzlies, but this one was its own force of nature.� Her eyes widened as she realized who had come
to her in her vision.� True visions were
rare, and even rarer were the opportunities to work with Spirit Keepers in
visions.� She bowed her head.

�Mudjekeewis, Spirit Keeper of the
West, Grandfather to my chosen protector and honored brother grizzly bear,�
Paige addressed the spirit with reverence.�
�I am honored you have chosen to share your presence with me.�

The Spirit Keeper sat down on his hind legs and regarded
Paige.� �You may look at me.��

Paige raised her head.

�I have come to tell you that Wakan
Tanka is pleased with your work.� You have born the gifts we have given you
well.� You use it as healing medicine and
wisdom for the purpose of the growth of other peoples.�

Paige bowed her head again in acknowledgement of the
praise.� It wasn�t every day Mudjekeewis came to you and told you �good job.�� He was the leader of the Thunder beings, the
Spirit Keepers.� �I have always tried to
walk the way of the wheel and live my life for the good of all beings.�

Mudjekeewis considered this,
nodded, and then got back up on all fours.�
�It has been decided.� You will
walk with me for a greater purpose according to Wakan
Tanka.� Come.�

Not one to ignore such a request, Paige obediently got up
from where she was sitting with her head bowed, left all her possessions behind
her, and followed in the footsteps of the Great Spirit Keeper.

***

�That�s all I can remember before I woke up with the
bandits,� Paige concluded.� She was
playing with the edge of her borrowed shirt again, avoiding making eye contact
with the ninjas surrounding her.� She had
never told anyone of her visions before, afraid she
might end up a patient in the very psychiatric hospital she worked at.�

�She hasn�t lied.��
Paige was startled by the sound of Sasuke�s voice.� She looked up to notice his eyes were now
dark, almost black.� �You were nervous,
careful, scared, but never deceitful.�

Her attention was then drawn to Kakashi by movement.� He was scratching his chin through his
strange mask again.� �Then that settles
it.� You stay with us.� We take you back to Konoha to be interviewed
by the Hokage.��
At Paige�s puzzled expression, he added, �Our leader.� She will decide your future in our
village.�� Regarding her critically
Kakashi�s one eye seemed to convey all of the seriousness of his words, even if
his tone was light and joking.� �You are
too�interesting�to do anything else with.��
This appeared to be the cue everyone else in the group had been waiting
for.� They set about bedding down for the
night.�

Sakura rested a light hand on Paige�s shoulder.� �Time for that rest.� Konoha is a few days travel from here.� You�ll feel better with some sleep.�

Paige started to settle in for the rest of the night.� Sleep sounded like a gift from the gods right
now.

A deep chuckle came from Naruto, �She�ll feel better until
she has to deal with Oba-chan and Ero-sennin.�� Paige was definitely confused, but only
blinked sleepily at Naruto.� �But don�t
worry too much.� You still have your wolf
and fox.�� She nodded back at him, and
let the feeling of safety lull her to dreams.

Authors Notes:� Please
Review!!� Any constructive criticism is
appreciated.� I�ve actually written ahead
of what I�m posting, so there is definitely more to come!
- 1
- 2
- 3
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Reading Totems