To all the readers of Trust: scared you, didn't I? ^^ Even though giving my faithful readers a bit of heartbreak at the end of the story was my intention, I do feel bad about it. I can't tell you how many messages I got saying I couldn't end it there, and you know what? You all were right, even though I never planned to end it there.
Well, this is definitely the sequel by popular demand/death treats (no, I'm joking). I hope you all enjoy it as much as you did the story before!
Review, please! It motivates me to write more!
"I thought I'd forget you, but I guess I forgot to." - Unknown
"Lady Hokage, you can't possibly send Kyan and me out on this mission," I protested, trying to stand tall against the female leader sitting behind her cluttered desk in front of me. "Kyan is just learning and I'm not even the sort of Shinobi to do something like this!"
Lady Tsunade sighed in frustration and folded her hands on the surface. "I understand that, Haketa. However, chances are, the both of you will not have to participate in any fighting. We've already sent a team of Genin to retrieve him. All you've got to do is follow their trail and find any wounded. From that point, you should know what to do."
I tried my hardest to remain respectful toward her, but if something really were to happen, my younger sister and I could be seriously injured. Or killed. Sending a beginning Medical-Nin and a Courier-Nin out to track someone down was just insane.
"You're dismissed. Hurry and find them."
I could feel Kyan's anxiousness radiating from her body beside me as we bowed. "Ma'am," we both mumbled to the woman.
()()()
"This is ridiculous," Kyan hissed as we rummaged around the house, trying to find our gear.
I nodded in agreement, slipping on my black Courier-Nin outfit. Because I traveled mostly at night, Grandfather had made me a special full-body outfit before he passed away four months ago, woven from fine thread that was usually used to make the cloth on headbands.
In the past six months, many things had taken drastic turns. Kyan had regained her voice during the huge incident with the Chuunin Exams, an event I'd rather forget. Since then, getting her to shut up was almost impossible. She openly spoke her mind, working on her speech at the same time.
When she first started talking again, she had a serious stutter. Mother had told her it was okay to have because everyone understood her anyway, but she wouldn't listen to that. She worked her butt off to work on getting rid of it. It still happened sometimes, but for the most part, she spoke exactly how she did before she lost it.
Besides Kyan's voice returning, Grandfather had passed away. Poisonous fumes from the attack led by Orochimaru had entered his lungs and left him hospitalized for weeks until he finally went. Since then, Mother hired employees at the restaurant, giving Kyan and me the opportunity to pick back up on our Shinobi training.
Sure, we didn't turn out to be the type of Shinobi everyone else was, but it worked for us. Kyan decided to become a Medical-Nin while watching Grandfather die. All the medical terms and body parts had fascinated her. I, on the other hand, was appointed Courier-Nin.
Shortly after Lady Tsunade became Hokage, I was constantly making food deliveries to her office. Each time, she secretly timed me until she finally pointed out I was making it shorter each time. After that, I found myself on delivery missions to different villages.
The headband she awarded me was my most prized possession. When I wasn't out on deliveries to other villages, I wore it around my neck. Other times, it was tied around my forehead.
"Ready?" I asked Kyan, fastening my backpack onto my body. Her eyes searched my face, looking for my eyes. Sometimes I enjoyed the fact that my face was completely covered. People didn't know when I was watching them.
"Yeah. It's al-almost dark. We should hurry."
()()()
We rushed out of the village, scanning the destruction of the nearby forest carefully. There was obviously a large struggle. Not knowing who Lord Hokage had sent out after Sasuke made us worry. We didn't know who to look for.
The small radio on my hip made a soft static noise and Shizune's voice addressed me. "Haketa, have the two of you already set out?"
Kyan and I landed on a branch and I grabbed it off the black matching belt that hung loosely around me. I brought it up to my invisible mouth and replied, "We're about a mile out already. There are signs of fighting. Can you tell us who all you sent out?"
"Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Neji, Inuzuka Kiba, Akimichi Choji, and Nara Shikamaru as their team leader."
"Right."
I hooked it back onto the belt and we continued to search. Not far away, the sound of thunder boomed. I bit down on my lower lip, hoping it wouldn't rain on us.
()()()
"Oh man," Kyan whispered, kneeling next to an unconscious Choji, who was leaned against a tree. He was severely beaten and bloodied, and the destroyed trees and giant holes in the ground gave away the fact that he most likely killed his enemy.
I grabbed the radio with a shaking hand and took a deep breath before talking into it. "Shizune, this is Chikaku Haketa. We've found Choji." I watched Kyan's hand start to glow a beautiful pale green color before she nodded to me. "He's in critical condition. Please send someone right away."
"Will do."
I swung my backpack around and kneeled over it, digging around until I found the small smoke pills. After cracking two of them, I placed them on the ground and watched the pink-colored smoke rise into the air.
Kyan stood up from Choji's body and scurried to my side. "Lets go."
Not even ten minutes later, we came across Neji, who was laying face-down on the ground. There was a hole in the chest, big enough to see completely through. His long beautiful hair was clumped together with blood. He, too, seemed to have killed his opponent.
Kyan ran to him and gently flipped him onto his back, sighing in relief that the injury wasn't near his heart like she thought it was. Like with Choji, I contacted Shizune and set off two more smoke pills before gathering my things and hurrying off again with my sister.
As we continued along the path, noting the arrows carved into some of the trees, we both noticed four different presences of Chakra. I wanted to tell Kyan to turn around and go back to the village, but I knew she would refuse, especially when people came into view.
The two of us hid in the shadows of the leaves of a tree, watching them closely. I recognized three of them, but the girl of the group was unfamiliar. Kiba, holding a wounded Akamaru in his arms, sat against a tree, talking with…Oh, hell.
"Its Kankuro," Kyan whispered. My stomach twisted into knots painfully.
It was Kankuro, my ex-best friend/ex-boyfriend/I don't even know. I had met the Sunagakure local during the Chuunin Exams and it wasn't long before we were almost inseparable.
For nearly two months, we spent almost everyday together. I had told him everything to know about my life and my family, and he told me the same in return. Or, at least, I thought he did.
Right before the finals, he had begged me not to come watch him participate, but he wouldn't explain why. So, Kyan and I attended anyway. That's when the attack on Konohagakure started, with one of the Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru, pulling all the strings.
Kankuro's younger brother, Gaara, was the main distraction while our former Hokage was murdered. Sasuke had gone after Kankuro and his siblings away from the village to stop Gaara, so naturally, I followed with the help of Aburame Shino.
That's where I knew Kankuro had been planning to betray me the entire time. Shino and I attacked puppet master and in return, I found myself in the hospital because of Kankuro's attacks.
"He's going to hurt Kiba," I hissed. Kyan opened her mouth to object, but I grabbed a fist-full of her hair and dragged her down with me.
"Kyan?" Kiba mumbled, watching us land. Well, I landed on the ground. Kyan did a weird flopping action, thanks to me. Before Kiba had the chance to say my name, I rushed a finger to my unseen lips.
"Kyan?" Kankuro repeated, turning around to face us. I tried to ignore the urge to cry at the sound of his voice. For two entire months after the attack, I cried and moped because of him. I wouldn't do it ever again
The only thing that looked different about him was the design of his kabuki paint on his face.
Kyan hopped to her feet and pulled an emergency kunai knife from her pouch, holding it tightly just as I was doing. Both of us stared him down, watching his movements carefully. One wrong move and we would attack.
"Move away from Kiba," Kyan ordered, moving her gaze to the girl who stood next to Kankuro.
She was a bit taller than me with choppy blonde hair that stopped at her shoulders. Her green eyes watched Kyan and me with an almost panicked spark in them. Around her right thigh, her Sunagakure headband was tied tightly.
"We're not going to hurt him," Kankuro told her, holding up his hands. The girl copied his movements. "We saved the kid's life."
It was then that I noticed the signs of fighting. A large wooden puppet, somewhat resembling Crow, stood off to the side with blood trickling out from the cracks. The girl had a cut on her left ankle.
"He's right," Kiba defended. "If it weren't for them, Akamaru and I would be dead right now."
Kyan and I relaxed and she moved to the small dog. He whined heartbreakingly, struggling to open his eyes to look at her.
As Kyan held a glowing hand to the creature, I counted my remaining smoke pills. I had seven. Shikamaru and Naruto were still missing. I just hoped they weren't dead.
"Where's Haketa?" Kankuro asked my sister. Kiba met Kyan's eyes quickly before she answered his question.
"She's d-dead," she lied. "She never recovered from the fight you had with her and Shino. The p-poison ate away at her lungs until they collapsed."
All eyes fell on Kankuro. He stood motionless for a long time until a forced breath came from his lips. I almost felt bad for him, but then the part of me who still wanted revenge pushed that feeling away.
"Kyan," I said, making my voice deeper than usual. "Take these and go find the rest." I held out five pills to her, keeping two for myself. She nodded and gave Akamaru one last pat on the head before grabbing the small items and jumping off until she was out of view.
When I turned back to the rest of the group, Kankuro was sitting against the same tree Kiba was. The girl was kneeled in front of him, trying to get him to look up from his arms. Kiba gave me somewhat of an amused smirk.
"Kankuro," the girl mumbled. "Who's Haketa?"
"A really great friend of mine," he replied, glancing up at her. "Or, she was."
She sighed and lifted her hands, easing them under his hat and pushing it back so his mess of brown hair was exposed. My eyes widened when she placed a soft kiss on his forehead. He sighed in annoyance and glanced away.
"Serisu, not now."