She just couldn't say no.
She couldn't say no to the hand that took hers hostage when they crossed the street but held on for one two many seconds after they were well across.
She couldn't say no to the bumped hips on missions as they jumped through the trees though she was well aware no Jonin in the Hidden Leaf Village could be that clumsy.
And she couldn't say no when it was so dark at night and the thunder was so loud that she was sure it would strike her down next and there was no other bed to hide in. Strike her down because the darkness and thunder knew her secret. Knew that she was loud, the loudest, brave, much braver, and capable of telling anyone in the world her mind, so capable.
Except one person. To him she just couldn't say no. To him she made her eyes blind, her ears deaf, her mouth dumb, and skin numb. She didn't want to taste or feel. But she couldn't make her mind stop. It always told her no. It always shivered when her shoulders would not in the wet mornings when she woke with a hand on her back that she couldn't tell no and she panted, not out of fear, she told herself, but because she had almost been found out last night.
To everyone else, it looked normal, but inside there was always something terribly wrong.
But no, she told herself. No. And she was everyone else.
And she would not see.
Nor hear.
Nor speak.
See no, hear no, speak no evil.