disclaimer: i don't own naruto
ironic affairs:
My world had always been cold, dark and dreary. As a runaway ninja, I had no path to walk other than the path away from my village, my family, and my home. I left on my own and I planned to stand by decision of leaving the village; but I never said I was going to be alone.
Since the day I became clandestine, I've been wondering around aimlessly and conceited. My life changed when I met an orange-headed, female ninja named Sasame.
Sasame-san took interest in me in a very peculiar way.
Being a rogue, I was compelled to find ways of survival, and it just so happened that Sasame-san had something that I needed- food. When I engaged her in battle, a battle I shouldn't have fought, she stared at me upon pinning me to the ground, and I was certainly no match for her at the time. After blinking twice she finally spoke "This is going to sound a bit weird but you look so much like an old friend of mine."
"What the?" I replied. She released me after I stopped struggling and shared her food with me. She turned out to be pretty nice.
"If you wouldn't mind me asking, who were you talking about just now?" I asked her as we chugged down on some tea I made out of gratitude.
"An old friend. Hey, by-the-way I don't think we've been introduced," Sasame-san said holding out her hand to shake, "I'm Sasame from the Otto village."
"And I'm Komi, I'm not exactly from anywhere." I replied as I took her hand shyly. To my surprise, Sasame-san's face began to have an even bigger grin than before and she started to get really excited.
"THAT'S JUST GREAT!" She shouted, "You can come with me back to our village, I'm sure our leader's going to be alright with that. He is very kind to strays you know. So what about it?"
"Why not?" I replied hesitantly.
So this is how I ended up in the Otto village.
Upon arrival, Sasame-san brought me to the village leader's house.
"Oh, let me do all the talking okay, the captain isn't that fond of loud people" Sasame-san began explaining.
"Captain? Shouldn't he be called something-kage?"
"Well," Sasame had a slightly frustrated look on her face, "He's not from here, and he's got issues… a lot of issues… but the villagers just love him."
"Oh okay."
We were escorted to the courtyard where the 'Captain' was waiting for us meditating.
"Sasuke-san." Sasame-san began, "I've got someone with me…" he replied only with a nod, "Her name is Komi-san, and…" Sasame-san went on closer to him and whispered something to which made him open his eyes and look at me for a second.
That was the first time I've seen red eyes, it literally took my breath away- out of cold fright. That second felt like a boulder was pressed on my chest for a decade. The feeling was so intense that I immediately decided to leave, but Sasame-san returned to my side before my feet began to move.
"He said it's okay for you to stay with us. He wants me to train you a bit so that you'd be of use to the village; which is great!"
"Uh yeah… I guess."
"And until you find a place of your own, you could stay with me."
Sasame-san toured me around the small village afterwards. We went back to her apartment when it got dark to have some dinner. But those red eyes just kept on bugging me and I couldn't hold my tongue any longer so I went in and asked.
"His eyes Sasame-san…"
"Whose eyes?"
"The captain's… why were they red?"
"Uh…" Sasame-san figured that I was terrified of them and gave me a reassuring smile "Don't be scarred of his eyes, they're normally onyx but when I told him that you looked like that person, he couldn't help but check if you were dangerous."
"Okay… weird."
"Those eyes are special, there is only one other man who has them…" Sasame's face then turned a bit grim "And only one kid who has the potential of having them."
"Are those eyes a Kekkei Genkai?"
"Ahh yeah… they are." And Sasame-san turned silent.
That was the last time she entertained any inquiries about the captain.
As of last week, I've been living in the Otto village for about two years, and a lot has changed, especially with the captain.
On our second meeting, I was actually able to see him wholly. He was certainly a far cry from terrifying. I couldn't help but blush whenever I'd look at him. His weirdly shaped black hair, added a lot to the blushing, not to mention the quiet demeanor.
Sasame-san presented me to him alongside with three more ninjas. They made us spar to see our progress, as it turns out all three of us were adopted by the Otto village.
When the test was finished, he stood up and said, "Congratulations, you are now part of my special team." Then he left the room without another word.
The other three ninjas were Kaito, Tsume, and Riku. Kaito, an older guy of about 27, was a ninja who followed the captain here from Konoha on a special mission that he wouldn't say. Tsume, on the other hand, is from the cloud country; she's very private and chose not say more. And finally, Riku-san is a cheerful sand-nin, who left Sunna but was originally also from Konoha. The five of us, along with Sasame-san, were the Captain's right hand team.
And two years after that, I've made up my mind- my life is no longer cold, dark, and dreary.
We were called that morning to the captain residence for a briefing for our new mission. Sasame-san was the only one who faced us this time, saying that the captain was in no mood for people right now. She gave us a photograph of a five-year-old girl.
"This is Ayame-san. You are going to Konoha and escort her here."
"All four of us?" Tsume asked in disbelief. I knew what she was thinking- 'what's so special with this girl that all four of us were needed to escort her here?'
"Yes, all of you. There may be no threat to her life, no one would actually dare, but the Captain has specifically ordered that you four must keep an eye on her at all times."
"We'll do it." Riku answered sternly after staring at the photograph for sometime.
We left for this peculiar mission the next day and went on the three-day walk to Konoha.
At the gates, we were met by a Jounin named Yamanaka Ino, both Riku-san and Kaito-san payed their respects to her before she guided us to the Hokage's office.
"Oy, Riku-san" I whispered, "Who's she?"
"That ninja is Yamanaka Ino-san, she's part of the famous Konoha Eleven. They are somewhat like us in Otto but are a thousand times more powerful."
"Oh," was all that I could say. I've heard of the Konoha Eleven. They're famous for battling incredibly tough opponents even when they were still genins.
When we arrived, the Hokage immediately held an audience with us.
"So you're the guys that bastard sent to pick Ayame up?" The kage remarked with a sheepish grin. I couldn't help but put on a pissed expression with what he said, Kaito-san later reprimanded me for it.
"Hai, Hokage-sama. And Sasuke-sama asked me to give this to you." Kaito replied and handed this cheeky blonde ninja a letter that he immediately began to read.
"Uh, tell him that he has my permission to do so," was all that he replied, "So let's get down to business now shall we." He continued as he perked up again, "Ino-chan, call Ayame-chan for me please."
"Hai Naruto-kun." And Ino-san left the room.
"Ayame-san will just be a while, since she's still saying good-bye to Tsunade-sama. That little girl is so excited when she found out that Sasuke-kun has called for her." The hokage started telling us stories to pass the time, he kept on talking and Kaito-san and Riku-san kept on nodding as he did. And thank goodness the knock on the door finally came. Ino-san returned with a dark haired girl with green eyes who, oddly looks a bit like me.
Long hair- check, ghostly fair skin- check, and amazingly large forehead-check; that mean… well I don't know.
"Ahhh, Ayame-chan you're here. These are the guys Sasuke-san sent for you."
"I'm pleased to meet you." She politely, albeit coldly, greeted us. Oh yeah, she and the captain are related- the black hair and fair skin was a bit of a hint but the persona was a damn give away.
"Ayame-chan…" Riku-san called out to her in an affectionate manner, "I'm Riku-san." She finished by holding out her hand for the little girl to take.
"Hn… Riku-san. I remember you." Ayame-san replied as she took Riku's hand. "Naruto-jichan I'll be going now." And she bowed to the Hokage, but he did not let her leave without one final embrace.
"Don't forget that you belong here, okay" the Hokage said to her as when he released the little girl, "And tell Sasuke-kun that he better come home soon or I'll be returning him to the wanted list!" he finished jokingly.
"Hai, Naruto-jichan." Then Ayame-san turned to Ino-san who has been suppressing her tears all the while. The female ninja immediately broke down into tears and hugged the little girl. "Oh, Ayame-chan. Promise you'll visit me often okay… Oh man… this is like saying good-bye to her again." She bellowed, but the Hokage-sama beckoned her to release Ayame before she could say more.
After a while we went on our way back to Otto, with Ayame-chan holding Riku's hand for support.
"Kaito-san…" I began, "That little girl is she…uhm…well…"
"She's not his daughter." He replied, which made me blush to the hilt.
"What made you think I was going to ask that?" I denied panicking; he simply laughed at me.
Upon coming back, we were welcomed by Sasame-san who took Ayame-chan out of our hands. I looked at Riku-san as we said good-bye to the little girl.
"You seem pretty attached to her." I stated, seeing Riku tear-up a bit.
"I was there when she was born, and look at her now." She replied sobbing. "I'm sorry Komi-san, but I don't feel like anything right now so I'll retire okay."
"Okay."
Kaito also left earlier on, leaving me with Tsume, whose first words to me that time were "I'm getting a feeling about that girl."
"Huh?"
"She's dangerous."
"Why'd you say so?"
"The captain wouldn't have had her escorted like that if she weren't."
"But you saw how those Konoha guys were with her. They love her."
"Hn… but I'm still suspicious. I'll look into this a bit more."
A few days later I went to the captain's house hoping to find Sasame-san for some personal business, but instead I came across little Ayame who was alone in the garden collecting flowers.
"Hello," I said chirpily when I approached her.
She stood-up and bowed her head and said, "Good morning to you Komi-san."
"So what are you doing there?" I inquired.
"I'm collecting flowers for my room, I love their scent at night." She replied in sweet tone. I stayed with her there observing her.
"Are you from Konoha too?" she asked me.
"No, why do you ask?"
"No particular reason, you look a bit like my mother you see."
"You're mother huh? Could you tell me about her?"
"Well… she's very beautiful, and sweet smelling. Kaa-san always has this kind smile and look whenever we were together, she, my dad, and I." Then Ayame-san looked a bit sad.
"What's wrong?"
"I just miss them that's all."
"Oh… I'm sorry for asking."
"That's okay, I like talking about her; it makes me remember her." She replied turning to me with a wide smile on her face. But before I could make another statement the one I was looking for came to our presence.
"Ayame-chan, are you and Komi-chan getting along well?" Sasame-san asked cheerfully.
"Uhm, Sasame-baachan. Look at all the flowers. Do you think Sasuke-sama would like them?" she asked pleadingly.
"Gomene Ayame-chan, but Sasuke-kun likes only one type of flowers."
"Oh I see, what kind does he like?" the little girl answered with pang of disappointment.
"Cherry Blossoms." Ayame-chan's face began to shine once more, she stood-up and bowed her head to us once more then left saying, "I'm going to look around for them okay, Sasame-baachan."
"He's so cruel." Sasame-chan commented.
"Who?"
"Sasuke-kun," she answered, "that little girl has been asking for his affection for years, but he still wouldn't give it to her."
"Why would Ayame-chan want that so much?"
"If you were in her position you would too."
"So why won't the captain give it to her then?"
"He can't." Sasame-san paused for a while and beckoned me to accompany her to the market. We were going to have a celebration tonight for Riku-san's birthday.
When we got back, we were joined by Tsume to prepare for the night, but since I was no good in the kitchen, they cruelly kicked me out; so I decided to go around the house to pass the time.
As I went, I found the captain by the window watching something outside.
"Konbanwa, Captain," I greeted him, as I approached to meddle in his affairs.
"Komi-san," he said acknowledging me for a moment, looking at me for a second and the looking immediately away.
"What are you looking at?... Ahh… Ayame-chan" I smiled at him, 'so he did care about her after all' I thought. "Why don't you go down and play with her?" I asked.
"I'm not ready." He replied coldly and left, just when I was enjoying his company.
The night's festivities were amazing. All six of us had a great dinner, and Riku-san was really grateful for all our efforts. And before we were about to start drinking we found Ayame-chan already asleep.
"Sasuke-sama, why don't you take her to bed now?" Riku-san said with a stern, demanding look at the captain.
He sighed, but gave in. The captain carried the little girl off to her room and left us.
"THAT'S IT!" I bellowed. "Could someone please explain all of this, I don't like being kept in the dark, and entertaining Tsume's speculations!" everyone stopped at their tracks and was looking at me frightened, making me a bit embarrassed.
"Gomen, Komi-san for making you feel that way," Kaito started, "To tell you the truth I don't know much either, it just so happened that I knew Ayame's mother before and that's all, it's not that we're keeping you in the dark here. Actually Sasuke-san doesn't talk about it, nor do these two. So it's not only you and Tsume who doesn't know anything." He finished and turned to Riku- san for her side.
"Okay, I'll come clean. But you guys must understand that this topic is really, really delicate on all of us who are involved. It's like this…" but Sasame-chan cut her off saying, "Let me do it Riku-san, it's your birthday after all, no use for you reliving everything," then she turned to me, "Komi-chan, are you ready for this, I know how you feel about the captain…"
"What do you mean?"
"If I were to tell you the reason why Riku-san and I are pressuring the captain to be with Ayame-chan, I'm certain you'll be very depressed."
"I think I can take it."
"Very well then… Five years ago, there was a female ninja greatly respected by the five hidden villages, but she suddenly disappeared into nowhere. All of the people were shocked by her disappearance, but then a year later… the captain who had supposedly returned to Konoha for good, went home after a bloody mission with a little baby girl, who was named Ayame."
"I don't get it."
"'Cause I'm not done yet." Sasame-chan replied a bit annoyed. "After fixing all the necessary arrangements for Ayame-chan, Sasuke-kun returned to Otto in seclusion for sometime."
"But still you didn't explain why he won't come to her?"
"We'll that's something he's the only one who has the right to answer, and you of all people must not be the one to confront him about it." Riku-san answered with firm voice, and then she retired saying that she was tired already.
That night, as I walked home with Sasame-chan she started to talk more about it to me, "I was selfish to bring you here Komi-chan"
"Why would say that?"
"Your face, I wanted to use your face, so he'd get over the whole thing." Sasame-chan's words were indeed depressing to me so I refused to answer.
A few weeks later Tsume came to me with the information she gathered.
"Komi-san, look at this." She demanded, holding out a photograph to me. It was a picture of the Hokage's inauguration. That cheeky blonde guy was at the center, while I saw the captain standing on his right, and pink haired woman on his left.
"And this is?"
"Look at the woman on the left, just think about it, if she were to have a child with the captain, then how would the kid look like?" It got me thinking; the woman had green eyes like…
"The kid would look like Ayame…" I replied fading into depression.
"That's right, but… Kaito-san said Ayame wasn't the captain's kid." That last statement calmed me a bit.
"So what then?"
"I checked about this ninja, I think she's the one they were talking about. Her name is Haruno Sakura, a Sannin, and famed for her incredible strength and medical skills. She did disappear five years ago without any mention of what happened to her."
"Oh, Do you think she's Ayame-chan's mother?"
"I'm certain of it. But the question now is the father?"
"Hn… but why does this make her dangerous?"
"I'm not sure yet."
But then the answer came to us not long after.
We were once again called to the captain's house, but this time we were joined by a Sand-nin.
"I'm pretty sure you know the syndicate Akatsuki very well…" the captain began, "I was informed here that they are on the move again, led by a new leader. So I want you to be ready for anything."
"Like what? Tsume asked but then the answer came to her too. A heavy slash came from outside destroying half the room we were in, luckily we were able to sense the danger and were able to elude it.
"Something like that…" Sasame-san replied.
We all prepared to battle, and fond our fish-faced opponent, clad in black and red clouds of course, before us.
"Oi, Sasuke-san it's been a while." Mr. Fish greeted.
"Tss, What do you want Kisame?" the captain replied.
"We want our little girl back."
"No way will we give her to you!" Riku-san shouted.
"Ahhh, Riku-san I didn't know you're here now. She'd be really pleased to know you're alright."
"Shut-up!" Riku-san went into hysterics attacking the enemy rashly. Kaito tried his best to stop her but to no avail, it was done with one slash of the Fish-guy's sword.
"Riku-san!" I immediately rushed to her side, thank goodness she was still breathing.
"Oh, I won't kill her, the lady won't permit it."
"Teme!" The captain began to engage him in battle- beating the guy up cruelly.
It was not long before we found Fish-face lying on the ground. But when the captain was about to deal his final blow on the man, three kunais came flying in and in a glimpse fish-face was already with another ninja who wore the pattern in a sash rather than a cloak.
The captain, Kaito-san, and Sasame-chan stopped at their tracks aghast.
The ninja turned out to be a woman, a very beautiful one at that. She had reddish-pink hair, which she tied up in a high ponytail. Her skin was ghostly white, even ghostlier against that fitted black ensemble. This ninja had the curves to match her face, and she was not modest about them. She wore a very short skirt with boots ending in her mid-thigh. The matching sleeveless top, which ended below the bust, added a lot to the allure. The red clouds in her sash popped up because of all the black she was wearing. I looked in closer to find her forehead protector, and found it slashed, tied around her neck. This ninja was from Konoha.
"I should've known that Kisame-san wouldn't match up with you." She said turning her head to the captain, keeping her eyes half-closed at all times. "Don't worry Kisame-san, I'll heal you when we get back. Sasuke-kun wasn't very nice was he?" She kept on talking in a seductive voice as she made her way to the captain who was just standing there looking at her every move. She was now only a few inches away from him, making me really agitated, but Riku-san held on to my hand as she looked on as well. I checked Sasame-chan and Kaito-san, they were both ready to move incase of anything, giving me bit of reassurance.
"Give her to me…" the woman continued, wrapping her arms around his neck in a seductive manner, the captain placed his hands on her exposed waist. Riku's grip became tighter, apparently trying to stop me from exploding, well why shouldn't I, this woman comes out of no where trying to seduce my captain!
She was about to lean in to kiss him, but then suddenly, the captain had Kunaii ready to pierce her back, making her stop. "No way… will I give her to you," was the captain's reply, I relaxed a bit there.
"And you didn't even let me kiss you for it," she teased.
"No way when you're not you." Ouch! That hit me.
"You really are still in love with me aren't you?" she replied. Ouch again.
"Not with who you are now." Good I thought. With that they released each other, and started to fight.
I've never seen such an intense battle before; they were matched evenly.
"The captain's the underdog in this battle," Riku began speaking, "She's cold, and heartless. She'd kill him the moment she sees an opening, while Sasuke-sama on the other hand, couldn't do such a thing to her." It worried me very much, but before my own tears began to fall, I heard someone else's. I looked to the side and found Ayame-chan watching.
"Ayame-chan, get back inside" I commanded her. The two suddenly stopped fighting upon hearing Ayame's name.
The female ninja's face immediately turned motherly and held out her hand to the little girl saying, "Come to me Ayame-chan, it's me, your okaa-san." Ayame-chan just stood there shivering out of fright.
"No Ayame!" the captain bellowed, making his way to her, beating the female ninja to the little girl.
"Sasuke-sama, I'm scared." Ayame-chan said running to him crying. Sasuke-san welcomed the little girl in his arms protectively.
"I see…" whispered the woman, retracting her hand. "I'll come back for my daughter some other time. Ayame, I do hope you enjoy your uncle's company for now, I'm sure he does…" and with that she and fish-face disappeared.
Ayame continued to cry in the captain's arms as he took her to her room and waited until she fell asleep.
I waited for him at the end of the hall of Ayame's room.
"How's Riku-san?" he asked formally, again without looking at me directly.
"She's recovering, but she's in no danger."
"Good, watch Ayame-chan for me."
"Hai, captain," was all that I could say. I wanted to speak up about what I was feeling but couldn't surmount the courage required for it.
I stayed with Ayame-chan all night, but then she suddenly started to talk in her sleep. "'Tosan…" she kept on repeating. I went down stairs to look for the captain when I found that he was not in his room. I found him in the garden where Ayame-chan was playing before.
For the first time he looked at me straight in the eyes, it made me blush, the intensity of his stare and the softness of his face, took me away. I would've been happy if it weren't for his opening statements, "You look a lot like her when we were at that age." It crushed me. He did not see me, he saw her even after everything that had happened.
"She's calling for you." I blurted out, suppressing my tears.
"I see, thank you." He answered and left to be with Ayame.
I in turn, went to Sasame-chan's room and cried to her.
"Who is she? Sasame-chan?" she knew whom I was talking about.
"That ninja from earlier was my old friend. The one I used to talk about."
"But who is she to him?"
"Let me tell you how I met Sakura-chan…" Sasame-chan waited for my approval, I nodded and she began…
"I was only twelve years old at the time. This village was still under the prowess of a very evil man named Orochimaru. That old weirdo had us on a leash. The older members of my clan decided to join Orochimaru's forces, and upon doing so I lost contact with a very close cousin of mine who enlisted. In an effort to reunite with him, I agreed to three other ninjas to trick the ninjas from konoha into a trap. One of them was Sakura-chan, and the other was Naruto-kun, accompanied by Jiraiya-sama. They were here in pursuit of their close friend Sasuke…uhm that's the first time I've heard of the captain. While I was following the orders from my three other clan members, they caught me and I was injured. Seeing that I was a girl, Sakura-chan drove Naruto-kun out of the shanty we were hiding in and healed me. That's how I met her, Haruno Sakura." I found a very sad smile on Sasame-chan's face, then she continued after pausing a while. "We learned that Sasuke-san became Orochimaru's protégé, this betrayal broke the two of them. I latter learned that the pair didn't stop running after the captain until he returned to them. When he did finally return to their side three years after our primary meeting, all three of them remained in Konoha. But it was not long until the captain became restless and returned to Otto to see how things were here. It was during this time that Sasuke-kun finally admitted that he was indeed deeply in love with Sakura-chan as well, but decided to keep it to himself for the meantime while he was still unable to accomplish his ultimate goal. While he was overseeing the reconstruction of the Otto village, Naruto-kun suddenly came to us, bringing with him shocking news. Sakura-chan has disappeared with her apprentice Riku. Sasuke-kun immediately left with Naruto-kun to find her. He came back here broken, saying Sakura-chan was gone. I later found out that Sasuke-kun had succeeded in killing his brother once and for all, and that Sakura-chan had a child whom Sasuke-kun brought to Konoha to be cared for there. It took Sasuke-kun a whole year before he saw anyone else other than Naruto and me. Riku-san on the other hand, went to Suna Village, to recover from the events." Sasame-chan paused again for a deep breath; "I'm afraid, Komi-chan that it would be better if you'd discard your feelings for Sasuke-kun. You'll just end up getting hurt badly."
"But he's gotten over her hasn't he?"
"He hasn't. You saw his reaction this afternoon." She stressed, "It took him all his strength just to stop her."
"But still, I can be here for him."
"No, Komi-chan. No one can be here for him, not even me."
The next morning I found Tsume in my room once again.
"I told you she was dangerous." She began.
"How can Ayame-chan be dangerous?"
"The Akatsuki-guy said she was theirs."
"And?"
"I've figured who her father is."
"Who?"
"The captain's brother was the former leader of the Akatsuki…"
"Then Sakura-san had an affair with him…" now I get why the captain had so many issues.
"But Sasame-chan said the captain killed his brother."
"uhhh."
"He couldn't accept it…" Riku-san said upon entering the room, "Sakura-sama actually fell in love with Itachi-sama. I know… I saw it all. And the captain couldn't get over the fact that he was too late in realizing his own feelings for her."
"You were there?" I reacted.
"I was her student. When I found out that she was already with child, I couldn't let her leave Konoha alone, so I went with her. The akatsuki members dared not come near either of us; Itachi-sama demanded that they stay clear of us. It actually surprised me that he turned out to be the Akatsuki leader."
"You mean you also know how they met?"
"Yeah, he was badly injured and we found him, that's how. As it turns out, the captain was responsible for their meeting."
"What a guilt trip." Tsume commented. I could no longer take in the load of information coming to me so I had to go out for a walk.
I bumped into the captain as I walked.
"Hello…" I said.
"Hn …" he nodded at me, giving me permission to accompany him.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"What is it?"
"Is it because she's Ayame's mother… why you don't want to come near Ayame-chan I mean?"
He stopped for a while to think of his answer. "I hate Ayame, because she was born between them, but I love my niece simply because she's my last living relative, and I will take care of her until the day I get Sakura back to normal."
"Normal?"
"Yes, Normal. You see Komi, the real reason why I find it difficult to fight with Sakura-chan is because my sharingan doesn't work on her."
"You're eyes you mean."
"Uhm… my eyes have the special ability to meddle with the mind, but since Sakura-chan has more than one mind, it doesn't work on her. Back then her head was only split into three, with one fusing the other two together, but when she saw my brother die in my hands, she fell into severe trauma, locking her mind giving rise to this monster of a ninja that you see now. My brother expected this a bit, so with his dying words he made me promise to save our new family, so I took Ayame and brought her to Konoha because I was in no condition to take care of her."
"I see."
"Thank you for listening to me."
"It's not a problem," I smiled at him, "Just one more question… Do you find it easy to talk to me because I look like her?"
"Uhm" he replied.
"But I'm not her."
"Exactly." That made me very happy.
"Uhm… captain…"
"hmm?"
"Please be kind to Ayame-chan, she wants you very much."
We stayed silent during the walk back to his house where we were greeted by a frantic Sasame-chan.
"She's gone!" she wailed.
"NO!" was all that the captain could say. "Gather everyone, we're going after her."
We were assembled in no time, and arrived in Sunna village.
"What are we doing here?" Tsume inquired.
"We are here to meet with the Konoha Eleven." Kaito-san answered. It turns out that the captain sent out a message while he waited for us.
As we waited, we were joined by three sand ninjas, including the Kazekage. After less than an hour ten ninjas appeared.
"Wait I thought they were eleven?" I whispered to Sasame-chan.
"They're missing one stupid."
Then the Hokage stepped forward from the middle of the crowed to approach the captain.
"Good to see you again, you bastard," the blonde said holding out his hand to the captain.
"hn… Whatever you say, idiot."
"What are we going to do now, why did you call for us?" asked a lazy looking ninja who was standing beside the female sand-nin.
"We are going after them and finish everything once and for all." The captain replied.
While the men had their conversation, Ino-san came closer to us and inquired about Ayame-chan. When she found out that Ayame-chan was gone… she literally blew-up.
"SASUKE!!!!! YOU BASTARD… HOW DARE YOU LET THAT HAPPENED TO SAKURA'S DAUGHTER" Ino-san bellowed while giving the captain a whack on the head.
"Who do you think took her in the first place!" was the captain's reply.
"Oh…" was Ino-san's reply, "OH!" they all said in unison.
"So we're not only against the remaining monsters, but we're also against her," stated the lazy looking ninja, "this is going to be hard, especially on you two." He said pointing to hokage-sama and the Captain, who took the blow with annoyed faces.
"We can take her down." The Hokage retorted.
"I sure do hope so, you guys are the only ones who could match her, but I think Gaara and Neji should take care of Sakura-chan instead."
"No, we will do it." The captain spoke demandingly, everyone looked at him in awe. "She's our partner, we owe it to her."
"Fine, just promise us you'll be able to do it." The lazy-looking one finally agreed.
We went into battle, with the akatsuki. Our team was tasked in finding Ayame-chan so we were grouped with a female ninja with white eyes. She led us through the lair easily; she seemed to have laser vision or something. It took us about fifteen minutes to find Ayame-chan, only to see that she had been watching the match all this time.
"Ayame-chan!" Sasame-chan called out.
"Sasame-chan, Sasuke-sama won't kill my mother right?" she asked in an innocent tone.
"He won't, he'll save her." With Sasame's final statements, Sakura-san fell but was caught by Naruto-san.
"Komi-san," the white-eyed ninja began to ask, "is Sakura-chan's hair still cherry blossom pink?"
"No, they're reddish pink." I said.
"It's over then… she's saved." She replied to me. When I focused me eyes to them I saw that Sakura-san hair was the same color as her namesake. We were all relieved.
"Ayame-chan, run along to your mother now." I heard Sasame say.
We all came home to Otto village, with the Hokage of course.
Riku-san took care of her master's wounds as she recovered.
"I'm sorry if I hurt you, Riku-chan" I heard her say once.
"You weren't yourself master," was Riku's reply.
"So what are you going to do now?" I asked the captain.
"I'm going to ask her to stay here with me and Ayame, and I will take care of them as promised."
"But what about your feelings for her, won't it get in the way."
He smiled at me a bit, and replied, "I'll never get over her no matter what I do, at least this way I can make-up for causing her so much pain."
"Captain…" he looked at me, "I'm always here… okay."
"Thank you."
So I guess my life is still cold, dark and dreary, but at least I've found a path to follow. I no longer care if he were to love me back or not, I'm happy enough that I come home to his village.
THE END