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
- 7
- 8
- 9
Repost (from ch. 7) Author�s notes 2.0:� Ox King�*author peeks around*�I�ve got ya
covered, but I don�t want to reveal too much of the plot!� ^_~

Author�s general note:�
Wow�just wow.� I�m truly
flattered by all of the positive feedback I�ve been getting from my lovely
reviewers.� Ego-stroking definitely keeps
me posting!� To the compliments of my
researching and the �flow� of my writing that a couple have mentioned, I have
to say I�m glad my hard work is appreciated!�
The fic idea just kinda smacked me in the head one day to the point that
the only way to get it out was the write�and well, I�m a believer in knowing
what you�re writing, so I dragged out my books and made up a totem reference
sheet for every character I could think of.�
The consistency and flow of my writing�well, I�ve made it a point to
write waaaaaay ahead (25 chapters and counting) of my postings so I can catch
inconsistencies and correct them.� That
being said, this is a self edited work, so if I�ve let things slip through, let me know!� This chapter goes more into the medicine
wheel, as written by Sun Bear.� I felt I
should give people a little more knowledge, and well, it worked for the plot!� I hope I don�t get too �theoretical� since one
review praised me for not getting bogged down in theory.

OX King, HumanInfiltrator, Lady Slave, kodama, MsMina,
eva24, Alaskantiger, Darksteel1992, Pan12398, this is for you guys!� And now�Enter the Aburame!

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.� I like
to take my time.�

Chapter Summary:�
Paige and Team Kakashi conspire to give her some alone time and she
meets a mysterious man in the spot she has chosen to practice her meditation
in.

***Chapter 8***

The Sun.� She couldn�t decide if she liked it, or hated
it.� It had woken her up at sunrise when
it peeked through her curtains, so she was guaranteed to have a lot of time
available for wheel walking today.� And
she was definitely grateful she would have an abundance of time for
preparations for the council meeting.�
Paige was still hoping to get some more information about what all of
those bug totems were about.� She hadn�t
mentioned it at dinner last night with all of Team Kakashi.� She wanted to wait until she had more
information.� She was still contemplating
these new mysteries in her life in the shower when she heard banging on her
front door.� Sighing, she wrapped a towel
around herself and trudged out through the living space.� �Who is it?�

�It�s just me.�� Buffalo.�
Sakura.� It was safe to open the
door in a towel then.

�Come on in, I�m just about ready.� Just need to throw on some clothes and tame
the hair,� Paige said as she let the medic in.�
She was careful to stay behind the door when she opened it too.� It wouldn�t be nice to scandalize the
neighbors.� Paige walked back to the
bedroom to change and left Sakura to wait around and make herself comfortable
for the few minutes she needed.

�Have you eaten breakfast yet?� Sakura yelled.

�Yeah, I ate before my shower.� So what are we doing today?�

�Thinking of creative ways of losing you to do your thing in
peace,� the medic replied with a smirk as Paige reemerged from the bedroom with
another tank top and skirt outfit with a handkerchief for a headscarf.

�Sounds like fun.� Did
you hear about how Kakashi �lost� me yesterday in the adult section of a
bookstore?�

Sakura laughed, �No, but that sounds like him.� It won�t be a bookstore today.� We�re going to the training grounds where
we�ll lose you in the surrounding woods after a few hours.�

�I thought Kakashi gave you guys a few days off from
training?� Paige questioned.

�He did, but Sasuke and Naruto spar every day anyway.� And now Kakashi�s claiming he�s getting too
old and needs me to help him with his training,� was the explanation.

She giggled, �I must have given him ideas with that comment
I made yesterday about his hair and mask�right before we ran into Maito
Guy.�� She shuddered at that memory.� He definitely wasn�t a bad person, but he
seemed so�off.

Sakura looked at Paige with sympathy.� �If you thought meeting him was interesting,
you should see Lee, his student.� It�s
like a mini version of Gai.� Putting the
two of them together is an experience.�
They�re both great shinobi, but kinda strange when they start posing and
going on about the �springtime of youth�.�

�I think I�ll just deal with that when the time comes.� Come on; let�s go to these training
grounds.� I have my bag.� I�m ready to go.�� The kunoichi and the empathic totem reader
walked out the door.

***

�Kakashi, you�re on time?��
Paige was guessing when he told her yesterday he was bad with time that
he wasn�t kidding if Sasuke�s, Naruto�s, and Sakura�s reactions were anything
to judge by.

�I think you hurt my feelings, Naruto,� was Kakashi�s
comeback.� It was 8:00AM.

The team had met up on a little red bridge which overlooked
a small stream of water which Paige was currently staring at.� She hadn�t noticed the team walking off until
Naruto came back and tapped her on the shoulder.� �We�re going now.�

�Sorry, sometimes the elements kinda make me space out and
meditate even when I don�t want to.�

�You look like you have a lot on your mind,� he offered.

She smiled, �I think that�s the understatement of the
year.� But yeah, I have lots of questions
and maybe I�ll get a few answers today.�

***

Watching Team Kakashi train was definitely a treat for
Paige.� She didn�t know human beings
could move that fast!� She almost
couldn�t follow their movements with her eyes!�
Naruto and Sasuke seemed to relish the spar too.� Every time they would momentarily stop to
catching their breaths, she could swear she saw them smile.� They were out in a clearing, but sometimes
took to the tree line.� She was sitting
underneath a tree away from the sparring action with Kakashi and Sakura.� Well, Paige was sitting and so was Sakura,
but Sakura was sitting on Kakashi while he did one finger push-ups.� Looking back at the sparing of Naruto and
Sasuke, a few questions occurred to her, �Do all of you have that level of
skill?�

Kakashi paused for a moment and replied, �More or less.�

Sakura gave a snort and explained, �Kakashi more�Me less.�

She considered this.�
�Somehow I think you�re less is still way more than average.�� She paused before she voiced the other
question that bothered her.� �So then why
did four ninja of your level get sent on a mission for those bandits?� One of you probably would have been
overkill.�

The medic explained again, �Vacation.� It was supposed to be an easy mission we
could end early, but instead of returning right away, we enjoy ourselves in a
little town away from everything.�

Paige scratched her head, �But why didn�t Naruto get to
bring Hinata?�

�Basically because he�s married to her.�� At Paige�s confused look, Sakura continued,
�Team Kakashi doesn�t get to see much of each other anymore.� Sasuke and Naruto belong to a top secret
division of shinobi but are on different teams, I�m at the hospital, and
Kakashi often gets paired with jounin from his own age group.� Naruto went up to Tsunade-shishou and
demanded something be done about not seeing his friends and according to her
sense of humor, a mission is a vacation between friends.�� She then went back to counting Kakashi�s
push-ups.

Paige winced at the idea of building up to one finger
push-ups.�

Sakura noticed her wince and winked at her, �We used to do
this all the time, before Sasuke came back to Konoha.�� The sentence started off with a smile, and
ended with a far away look.� Paige
recognized it as similar to the one when Sakura was talking about the Uchiha
clan in the hospital.� She wondered at
what happened to make the happy woman so sad.

�I don�t know if it�s any of my business, but since I
declared you my friend, that means you can come and talk to me about anything
if you want to.� And it also means you
can tell me to shut up if I ask or say the wrong things.�

A sad smile was the response Paige received.� �Thank you.�

After signaling Sakura to let him up, Kakashi stopped his
push-ups and walked out to talk about something with Sasuke and Naruto.� He was getting sneaky in his perceptiveness.

Sakura settled down next to Paige and told her a little bit
more, �That story you told about the thunder bird is very telling of
Sasuke.� I just get sad sometimes when I
think about who he became before he rose from his ashes.�� After a few moments she glanced around,
�Kakashi�s lead the boys to the far end of the clearing, and I�m going to go
check on their injuries.� Don�t go
anywhere.�� The pink haired woman got up,
winked again, and then left.

Paige got up and left also.�
That had been her exit cue.

***

She decided to walk the path which leads back to the center
of the village for a little while before turning off into the woods in search
of the spot she had found yesterday.� The
slight detour was to avoid any stray kunai or shuriken from Naruto, Sasuke, or
anyone else throwing sharp and pointing things near the trainings grounds.� Thoughts of yesterday�s meditation came to
mind and she got out her notebook to go over what she wrote to see if anything
became clearer over time.� Paige was lost
in her thoughts, content to wander the beautiful forest to think out some of
what her message of bugs may have meant when she noticed she ended up in her
clearing.

Setting down her bag, she set up her blanket in the middle
of the clearing again.� Instead of
setting up her medicine wheel immediately, she decided to lie down and enjoy
nature for a few moments first.� While
lying in the clearing she again noticed the absence of any animals except for
some insects.� Sitting up, she reached
for her notebook and pen and made a note of this.� It might come in handy later.� Deciding her lounging had come to an end
Paige set up her medicine wheel as she had done yesterday�cleansing, smudging,
and offering to the six directions.�
However this time she did not have to recleanse all of her materials,
only herself.� Sinking into her mind, she
imagined herself sitting by a much larger medicine wheel, one that she could
literally walk around and through.� She
imagined herself sitting amongst all of the items which made up the medicine
wheel and asked the spirits for any messages they wished to give her.� Visualizing in this manner sometimes brought
her stronger insights and greater clarity than just sitting beside the
wheel.� Love.� Warmth.� Comfort.�
Along with these emotions the images of insects came again to her, but
stronger.� Strongest of all was the
presence of the beetle symbol of resurrection, protection, but it can also be a
sign someone is very closed off to others.�
Coming back out of the meditation, Paige took the time to thank the
spirits for their guidance as well as make sure she was fully back in the
correct level of consciousness.� Abrupt
awakenings were not fun.�

While she was recording her meditation, she felt the
emotions of a presence near the clearing.�
Annoyance.� Intrigue.�
Patience.� It was an
interesting combination.� Deciding to
take a chance, she spoke up, �I know someone is watching me.�

Surprise.�
Intrigue.

�You don�t feel threatening, so I don�t mind you
watching.� But I�d rather talk to you in
person than to the trees you�re hiding in.�

Amusement.� Curiosity.

��My name is Paige
Stone.�� She really hoped she was
guessing the intentions behind the emotions correctly.� She was used to relying on body language
cues.� �I�m using this clearing for
meditation.� It felt peaceful.� I�m going to do another meditation now.� You can come closer and ask me questions if
you wish, but don�t do anything to suddenly jar my attention please.�

Curiosity.

Paige sighed.� It
looked like this one didn�t want to come out of hiding just yet.� The presence wasn�t overbearing.� She should still be able to use her medicine
wheel.�

Paige returned to that place in her mind with the larger
version of her wheel and again asked for more guidance.� She was met with a stronger impression of the
beetle totem.� Wishing for answers and
feeling like she hadn�t received any, Paige did something she probably
shouldn�t have.� She let the stress of
the past few days catch up with her�she got frustrated.� Paige dove deeper and faster into that box of
her mind which held her abilities than she had originally planned for.� She vaguely recalled feelings of Amusement and Patience from the medicine wheel spirits and Alarm from the unknown presence watching her from the trees before
everything went black.� Paige had passed
out and toppled over onto her side.�

***

�Tap-dancing Tatonka,� was her first thought when awareness
began to creep over Paige.� She hadn�t
realized she had spoken aloud until she felt Confusion coming from that presence that was in the forest.� But Paige noticed the presence had moved
closer, and he was now carefully sitting next to her.� �Buffalo.� Tatonka means buffalo.� And they�re tap-dancing right between my
eyes,� she said while turning her head to get a better look at him.

Amusement.� Curiosity.

Paige took a moment to study the strange man now sharing her
blanket and carefully avoiding any of her arranged items.� He was being very respectful.� He was dressed in a pair of black pants with a
matching black dress shirt which extended to his mid-thigh.� The shirt looked to be cut into tails in the
front and back for ease of movement.� The
shirt also had a very high collar which covered up the lower half of his face
completely.� His hair was a dark brown,
almost black and held up in a fashion which drew her attention to his
forehead.� He was shinobi.� Paige recognized the Konoha hite-ate.� It was holding his hair up, but she couldn�t
tell much else because of the hooded jacket he was wearing with the hood
up!� What intrigued her most were his
dark almost goggle-like sunglasses.� She
was staring into those glasses when beetle
was made known to her as his totem.�

�Well, that explains the beetles at least,� she surmised to
herself.� �And he is definitely closed
off to others if his clothes are anything to judge by.� Isn�t he hot in all of those dark
clothes?�� The second thought which came
into her mind was wondering if he was hot under
all of those clothes.� Rolling her eyes
at herself, Paige struggled trying to sit back up from her sprawled position
only to find her movement restricted by the man�s hand on her arm.

Concern.

It looked and felt like he didn�t want her moving, but Paige
at least wanted to be comfortable.� She
was currently putting all of her weight on her right leg rather
uncomfortably.� She continued to struggle
to sit back up.

The grip on her arm tightened slightly.� Vexation.� Concern.�
Intrigue.

�Ok, ok.� I promise
not to do any back flips, but my leg is cramping really badly right now.� I want to shift my weight.�� The grip lessened.� Paige moved around on her blanket in a rather
ungraceful manner to lie on her right side, facing the man.� She didn�t quite know what to make of
him.� He had been concerned for her when
she had fainted, but he had made no effort to help other than move
closer�although, she had asked him not to jar her attention.� Paige figured startling her awake would be
jarring.� �I�m going to ground
myself.� I�ll be with you in a
minute.��

Confusion.� Patience.

�I promise not to any more stupid things�today at
least.�� After a moment she added, �The
bonus to this is that I got you to come out of hiding.�

Amusement.

Paige closed her eyes and concentrated on deep, calming
relaxing breaths�trying to feel her connection with the Earth she was lying
on.� She had no other words to describe
it other than feeling the Earth hold her.�
When she reopened her eyes, she noted her new arrival was still sitting
on the edge of her blanket.� She also noted
her headache had retreated once more to a dull roar.� �I feel better.� I�m going to sit up now.�� She was hoping he would let her this time.� Once more she struggled to sit up when his
hand gripped her arm.

Before she could protest that she was capable of sitting up
on her own, he spoke.� �Slow.�

It was good advice.�
Paige nodded dumbly while thinking to herself, �Tall, dark, and
mysterious with a voice like sex.� The
spirits are laughing at me.� Shawnodese
is laughing at me.�� She felt outside
feelings of Amusement and Love after her thoughts.� Shawnodese was the coyote Spirit Keeper of
the South�Guardian of emotions, love�spiritual teacher and trickster.� Her messages yesterday of insects along with encouragement
and love were starting to make some sense.�
Paige just hoped the spirits knew what they were doing, because she
wasn�t too sure about herself right now.�
�Thank you.�

She only received a nod in response.� He withdrew his hand from her arm.�

Deciding on another approach, she ventured, �Before I took
my nap, I noticed you were annoyed with finding me here.� I apologize if I am intruding.� I only found this spot yesterday, and felt so
peaceful that I wished to come back.�

�Why?�

�I�m meeting with the council in six more days.� I would like to come here to practice my meditation
for that meeting.�

Confusion.

Paige sighed.� She
kept telling everyone that she wasn�t used to sharing her secrets, but it
seemed that�s all she was doing in the past few days.� This guy didn�t feel threatening, but she was
feeling exposed from sharing her abilities with so many people.� Deciding that Shawnodese wouldn�t have put
her in this situation if she was truly in danger from this guy, she decided to
tell him everything�or almost everything.�
Paige told of how she ran in to Team Kakashi, her meeting with the
Hokage, and her abilities.� Throughout
the entire explanation the guy just sat and listened.� He didn�t seem to sit in judgment but with an
open mind.�

The silence afterwards would usually make her nervous, but
with him it just seemed natural.� What
could he say in reply to the telling of her story of how she came to Konoha
anyway?� They sat quietly enjoying the
clearing together.

Curiosity.� He was looking at her medicine wheel.

�I could explain it to you if you want.�

Patience and a nod
was her reply.�

Paige figured he wasn�t much for words, but that was
ok.� She had come to this clearing for
its peacefulness.� �Alright.� I�ll try to give you the short version.� I tend to get excited and ramble about this,
because it�s so special to me.� So just
find a way to redirect my attention if I do that.�

Amusement and a
nod.

She first explained the need for cleansing, smudging, and
making an offering to the six directions before launching in to some light
theory.� �This is called a medicine
wheel. �It�s a tool of spiritual
meditation, and for me, it allows me to communicate better with animal
spirits.� It�s my way of honoring and
communicating with nature and the creative force in all things that I call
Wakan Tanka.� As a whole it�s a symbol of
the cycles of all things:� life, time,
and other natural cycles.� We have two
circles, one inside the other, being connected by four spokes of the four
cardinal directions which is why it�s called a wheel.� I�ll point to the object and tell you the
totem and if there are other significances I�ll tell you those too.�� At another nod, she began, �In the center you
have the object for Wakan Tanka, that�s kind of self explanatory though, he can
be any animal since he is all things.�
The inner circle, going clockwise and starting just below East, has
objects representing Father Sun-lizard, Earth Mother-tortoise, Grandmother
Moon-loon, Earth or Turtle Clan, Water or Frog Clan, Fire or Thunderbird Clan,
Air or Butterfly Clan.� These can be
tricky to read because you have to take the totem and what they represent into
account.�� Paige paused and decided to
see if her visitor was following so far.

Interest.� He motioned with his hand for her to
continue.

�Next we have the Spirit Keeper stones of the four cardinal
directions:� Waboose of the
North-buffalo, Wabun of the East-golden eagle, Shawnodese of the South-coyote,
and Mudjekeewis of the West-grizzly bear.�
These objects you also have to take into account both the totem and the
element of direction�North is Earth and has physical energy, East is Air and
has energy of the mind, South is Water and had energy of emotions, and West is
Fire and has energy of the spirit.�
Mudjekeewis tends to visit me often because my gifts give me knowledge
of the spirits and that�s his department.�

Amusement.

�Now we get a little complicated.� The next 12 stones correspond with a cardinal
direction.� The three stones clockwise of
the Spirit Keeper stone are influenced by that particular Spirit Keeper.� For the North we have Snow Goose, Otter, and
Cougar.� For the East we have Red Hawk,
Beaver, and Deer.� For the South we have
Woodpecker, Sturgeon, and Brown Bear.�
For the West we have Raven, Snake and Elk.� Reading them requires taking into account the
personal and cultural meanings of the particular animal as well as the
influence of the Spirit Keeper.�

Interest.

�Still with me?�

The man nodded.

�Now traveling from the center of each Spirit Keeper object
towards Wakan Tanka in the center are Spirit Path objects...three for each
Spirit Keeper.� You can either actively
seek them as paths to getting closer to Wakan Tanka, or sometimes you just find
yourself there.� Again they are
influenced by their respective Spirit Keeper Stones.� North you have Cleansing-raccoon,
Renewal-Earthworm, and Purity-Dolphin.�
East you have Clarity-Hummingbird, Wisdom-Owl, and
Illumination-firefly.� South you have
Growth-rabbit, Trust-salmon, and Love-wolf.�
West you have Experience-whale, Introspection-mouse, and Strength-ant.� Reading these objects requires knowledge of
the animal in the natural world and also its cultural meanings.�� Paige paused.�
�Ready for the tricky part?�

A raised eyebrow was the response this time.� He seemed to be branching out in his
reactions at least.

�In total we have 36 objects but the medicine wheel is not
limited to strictly 36 individual meanings.�
Sometimes I�ll get a reading that is the opposite of its intended
meaning.� Sometimes I�ll read totems not
on the wheel at all.� Learning the 36 positions
is a beginning, but not the end.� If it
becomes truly spiritual it lets you communicate beyond the symbolism.� I use it to help in reading the totem animals
of people as well as to seek knowledge of whatever totems are willing to give
me lessons.�� Paige felt the spirits
respond once more with feelings of Accomplishment
and Love.� They appeared to agree with her explanations.

�Are you ok?� he asked.

She must have gasped again.�
Paige would need to work on not letting it show physically when the spirits
and totems communicated with her.� It
might be a sign of weakness to the council.�
She smiled, �I think the spirits liked my explanations.�

He nodded, accepting this as if it was something he heard
everyday.�

Paige liked that he was so calm and collected.� It was refreshing to not be scrutinized when
she said something like that.� Team
Kakashi had a tendency to look at her strangely for a few seconds before they
continued with what they were doing.� If
she hadn�t sensed his emotions before she would have sworn he was completely
unemotional, but he just appeared to be a guarded person.� He was shinobi after all.� It probably wasn�t good policy to have over
emotional ninjas on the battlefield.� She
giggled to herself when a mental image of what she called �Battle of the Emo Ninja� entered her mind.

He raised another eyebrow at her.

�Sorry, I just had a funny thought enter my mind.�� Paige returned to enjoying her surroundings
with her visitor.� After a while she
noticed sunset was not far away.� She
began to pack away all of her items with care and thanks to each totem and
energy.� She felt curious eyes on her
once more and again explained her actions, �It�s polite to say thank you when
you pack everything up.� And just to let
you know, it was good that you didn�t disturb anything while I was
unconscious.� It can upset spiritual
energies if someone touches medicine wheel objects without the proper
permission from the owner and respect to the energies.�

He nodded.

�I would like to be able to come back tomorrow.� I know I intruded on your spot.� Is it alright with you?�

He nodded again.

Paige blushed slightly when she decided to voice something
else, �I wouldn�t mind if you continued to come too.� I don�t want to chase you away.�� She paused and bit her lip.� �You�re a calming person, a good listener,
and good company.�

�I find I learn from listening to what is said and listening
to what is not said.�

Paige wondered what he meant by that, but decided to take it
at face value.� Had he noticed her
blushing and knew she kinda liked him?�
�Very true,� she eventually replied.

�You have the advantage of listening to more than most
people with the gifts you possess.�� And
with that, he vanished from her sight.

She blinked.� That was
very�insightful of him.� �Was it a
compliment?�� Sighing Paige turned to her
notebook to record everything that happened that day in the fading light before
she finally collected her blanket and left the clearing.�

***

It was rapidly becoming darker.� She had stayed a little too long.� Paige hoped she would be able to find her way
back in the growing darkness when she felt two totems make themselves
known.� She felt the beetle of her visitor
from the clearing behind her and the thunder bird of a shadow moving straight
towards her.� Looking back, she wondered
why her beetle visitor was following her.�
And then, suddenly, he was gone from her ability to feel his totem.� Paige turned to the thunder bird,
Sasuke.� �I�m over here!� I got a little carried away and lost track of
time.�

Sasuke then appeared next to Paige.� �This way.��
They headed back towards the training grounds Team Kakashi had been
using.

�Thank you.�

�How did your meditation go?�

She didn�t know how to respond to that.� She hadn�t done much meditation at all.� �Well, I got frustrated at first, but
afterwards it was good.� I�m gathering
information.� Still many more questions
than answers, but its something.�� She
wasn�t sure why she didn�t tell Sasuke about her beetle totem visitor.� Paige liked having a secret friend for
now.� If he came back, then she would
tell everyone after she found out more about her mysterious new
acquaintance.� Right now, she just wanted
dinner.� She hadn�t eaten since
breakfast.

***

Author�s notes:� More
reviews???� *Author gives puppy-dog eyes*� Pretty please??

...*scratches head*� Anyone into creating fanart?� I�m curious to see my creation visually�and
while I�ll admit to a modest talent in writing (because you keep bludgeoning me
with compliments and praise in reviews)�I totally suck at drawing.� I�ll amend my earlier statement and add
fanart as another way to keep me posting besides ego-stroking in reviews!
- 7
- 8
- 9
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