Tourmaline
Oh, and you had a lot of dreams that transform to visions
The fact that you saw the world, affected all your decisions
But it wasn't your fault,
wasn't in your intentions
See you had a lot of crooks tryna steal your heart
Never really had luck, couldn't never figure out
How to love
See you had a lot of moments that didn't last forever
Now you in the corner tryna put it together
Trying to figure out
How to love
Damnit! She could hardly move, her head was so sore and she felt so weak from loss of blood (blood that was still spilling everywhere, staining the snow, her clothes, her hands), but she forced herself to sit up, pushing herself upright with shaking arms. Disoriented, she ripped at her shirt, searching for the inner pocket of her black yukata, and finally, she managed to pull out two scrolls that she always carries with her.
Her strength was leaving her fast, and even though the bloodstains on the snow were spreading further and darker and it was getting harder to breathe, she had to use her chakra for this first, before she could even think of healing herself. She had to return this to her shishou and her baby cousin, so that if she couldn't make it, they will know why she did what she did and that she is really sorry for that.
Naomi took hold of the scrolls, noticing with a sense of mild dismay that she had smeared blood all over them, and hoping that they would still be legible, and she desperately tried to summon chakra to her hands. She didn't have enough strength left to move herself, but the lists were small, and she could use a transportation jutsu with some of the receptors' chakra to send them to Tsunade and Naruto. Her hands didn't want to cooperate to form the hand seals (the ache in her head was so persistent now that she could hardly even remember what they were), but she gritted her teeth and did it, and finally, they disappeared in a puff of smoke. She could only hope she'd done it right and they would find the right destination.
The fire-haired kunoichi collapsed again, her arms giving out beneath her, gasping for breath. She was still bleeding, and once again, she put her chakra-covered hands to the stab wound on her side, and rolled over so that her hands and the wound were right under her. The snow felt good, and she couldn't waste any chakra but she was drifting in and out of consciousness more so now than before, so that every few moments she felt like she was waking up from a deep sleep, and she couldn't seem to summon the strength or the concentration to direct the chakra to mend what was broken as well as she should have, because her mind wouldn't cooperate. Heal, she thought, as hard as she could, just heal.
The thought occurred to the young woman, vaguely, that these could be the last moments of her life. And with that thought, sprouted many long-buried memories and she couldn't summon the strength to expel them all into a dark corner of her mind again. She saw Konoha through her little kid eyes, her long ago beloved village. She saw her parents hugging each other affectionately, their love crystal clear in the couple eyes. She could even hear soft giggles and barely notice that it came from her younger self. The scenario around her changed and she found herself in the middle of a big park full of cherry blossom. She felt all the warmth against her little body when her farther took her in his arms and smiled brightly, saying that they should go home before kaa-chan gets angry again. For her displeasure, everything around her changed again, and now she is with her parents, oji-san and oba-san in the table, eating their meals when she hear her delicate voice ask her oba-san when she is going to give birth to the watermelon inside her big belly. Everybody looks astonished for a fraction of second, before her oba-san say that the watermelon is called 'Naruto'. They laughed and for Naomi it sounded like the most beautiful and sweet song ever played. She was home.
She felt the air be stolen from her lungs when a serie of bloody images take the place of the good ones. She remembered and felt everything again. She recalled from the uncontrolled Kyuubi attacking everything and everyone, creating chaos and destruction never ever seen, until the last words her father said for her. She recalled since the Hokage telling her that all the family she ever knew was now gone and that she only has that watermelon of Naruto, until the day she decided to go away with her former shishou, Yutakata, that mad old man. She recall herself like a teenage girl after Yukata's death, meeting Shizune-senpai and Tsunade-shishou, and later traveling with them for goods four years until they broke apart and follow their own paths... Hell, she is crying in her last freaking moments! Yukata and Tsunade would definitly laught on her face for this.
"Don't be a lazy ass, heal yourself girl! I bet you can do it." Tsunade-shishou whispers in his ear sharply.
"Come on, Naomi-chan, you wouldn't do it with your poor old shishou, would you? Put yourself together and go get some of that delicious-fresh fishes in the river for me...To train your Suiton techniques, of course!" The old lazy pervert murmurs in her head between giggles.
Another series of warm tears roll down her bloody face, only stopping in her soft-pink lips and spreading all the hot-mixed-metallic taste of her own blood and tears. All the pain in her head gradually disappears, and the young kunoichi feel a huge weight upon her body, only to realize with surprising calm that her body no longer respond to her commands. The fire-haired kunoichi look to the crimson snow around her and feel sadness take over her half-off mind. There were so many things to be done and said, so many mistakes to fix, so many expectations to fullfil... At least she could send the scrolls, right? She didn't planned to die like this anyway, in the freezing florest of Cloud, but it is no longer her choice to make and fate is like a wrecking ball. You can push it away with your so-called free decisions, but suddenly and fatefully it will come back for you, and even more letal than the last time.
I'm so sorry, you all. With a bittersweet smile, the tourmaline-eyed young medic let one more tear roll free before her heavy eyelids fluttered shut, and everything went dark.
The coffee had been made just how she liked it – strong, sweet, extra-hot, and vanilla-flavored, topped with just a little bit of cream. It seared Tsunade's throat with every sip, the sweet flavor and extra sugar helping her feel more awake, but she was too preoccupied to appreciate it as she normally did. She was still exhausted – she had been up late the previous night and it was barely dawn now – and her high heels were pinching her feet as she made her way toward her office, but the trivial discomforts barely registered. What had kept her up last night was what worried her now; the recent activities of the Akatsuki.
Tsunade sighed as she glanced outside the window that she passed, barely taking in the spectacular peach-and-pink sunrise over Hokage Mountain. It was only belatedly that she realized that it was now the eighteenth of November, which meant Naomi's birthday is coming and no news from her again. More one year without know what her former apprentice is up to. Naomi, that silly brat... When is she going to forget about the tragedy in her life and give place to new good things to come?
The Hokage still remember the petite redhead girl asking her to 'start already the apprenticeship thing'. Sometimes the blonde woman wonders what if Naomi never had left the village under Yutakata's care. If the young medic didn't left, Naruto and Naomi would become each others family or they would kept their paths apart? It's not hard to know, anyway. Naomi left the village because she couldn't haddle the life that Naruto was fadded to... She just couldn't bring herself to face her grief, longing and all the memories that were printed in every coner of Konoha. Somewhat, Tsunade understand the stubborn girl, she also felt this way when her brother and Dan died, and just like Naomi, she ran away. At the time, she couldn't care less with what happened to the village, and this went for a long time... Until that other stubborn Uzumaki brat remind her of that her grandfather, Dan and Nawaki would want her to do; every little thing in her power to protect the village that her beloved ones died for. So, Tsunade guess that she can't be the one to judge. When the woman finds her will again, she will be back. The Fifth Hokage only hope that it doesn't take so long...
Tsunade unlocked and stepped into her office, glancing around out of habit to make sure everything was exactly as she left it the previous night. Regardless of what her intelligence department told her about Konoha's security, as long as Danzou and his supporters were still around, she would always be wary of spies. At first glance, nothing looked changed, down to the placement of the half-empty sake bottle on her desk, but as she got closer, she could see that there was something there that she didn't remember leaving out the previous night – something that looked like two pastel color scrolls with a recognizable simple seal that only opens with a shot of the reciever' chakra. Getting closer, Tsunade did a few of simple hand seals and opened up the scroll with the kanji 'shishou' in it. Her heart skips a beat and squeezes inside her chest when the Fifth notices the known writing pattern with a few spots of dark red ink.
Dear shishou...
It's been quite a while, huh? How are you -still losing miserable at every single game you play? I hope yes, no one really enjoy when you end up winning.
Well, shishou, I'm writing this because I shall head back home and if I what I heard was true, you're now the Fifth Hokage -Why they chose you? Why did you accepted? Are you out of your mind?- and taked another aprendice, huh? Congradulations for the job and I wish all the good lucky in the world for that poor little thing...
Well, congrats and wishes apart, I would like to request your concession to step into the village oficially like a Leaf kunoichi with all the rights and duties that comes with the title. Fifth Hokage, Tsunade-sama, shishou... Accept me back in home.
With all the love and longing,
Uzumaki Naomi.
p.s: Make sure the other scroll find its way to him.
The good son makes it to home...
Nevertheless there is still the council and she has to make them believe in Naomi. But the blonde guessed that she wouldn't have so much trouble with this, her young apprentice is a well trained medic-nin and strong kunoichi. Hell, that girl was even stronger than herself in ninjutsu and her genjustu was average, almost acceptable, but her taijutsu was a truly mess... Yet, the slug princess has to consider all the years that the fire-haired girl spent by herself out there, she must have learned something or she'd be dead by now... And she isn't.
Tsunade frowned and took the other scroll in her hands. Yeah, right, now she just has to play the postman and go find that annoying blond, give it to him and also explain some things if he let her. Life is so unfair sometimes! Naomi is right, why did she accepted the job, anyway? A lot of papework and the olders always in her heels, she must have been insane when she said yes.
Oh, no, she wasn't insane... She just loose another dammit bet to another dammit Uzumaki brat! Yeah, life is unfair.
Land of Lightning
The wind was loud and harsh, howling through the bare, skeletal branches of the trees above them. The two young kunoichi were just coming back of another long mission in Yugakure, their bodies were openly disapproving the change of weather. Exchanging the warm and comfortable weather of Hot Water for the freezing winter of Lightning was too cruel for them, but the women needed to make it back home. They needed to make sure that all of their patients were alright and evolving in the healing process. Plus, the little village needed them both there to protection, they were just a civilian village and didn't have any idea how to defend themselves if something comes up. Nevertheless, they were all good and honest people that saved both young women when they were bleeding to death in the woods after a particularly hard mission, and later welcomed the twins in their home as if they belonged there from the beginning. Since then, Saigon Nozomi was their home.
Despite the thick blue scarf knotted around Yochida Harumi's neck and the fact that she was mostly covered by her heavy black cloak, the bitter cold seemed to tear right through her with every breath she took. Her health was weakened due to the hard battle they passed through, she could feel it. Her chakra was taking too much longer to recover and she couldn't keep up in the same pace her sister took for so long, not even if she put chakra in her feet. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to ask her sister to stop or slow down her pace, that bitch is so unbelievably tireless and she was NOT going to give her older twin the sweet taste of victory.
Harumi took a long breath and cursed her competitive personality. The blonde-haired young woman gave a quick look to her sister from the corner of her emerald-green eyes and could swear she saw the old-cow frowning in what she guessed was fatigue. Oh, sweet sweetie Kami, thank you, thank you soooo much!
The brown-haired medic put her most tireless-pretty-ironic-provocative-yet-innocent face and smile when she cleared her throat and turned her head to her younger sister. "Would you like to stop, sis? Seems like you are pretty tired for the look in your face. So, what you say, are we setting camp for the night?" she suggested casually. "Furthermore it's going to take us another one and a half days to get home, and the weather is getting worse. It'll be a pain in the ass to travel through a blizzard, and besides…" She stopped abruptly when she looked up to her sister eyes and realize that the frown was not fatigue but concern. Why is she worried? We're already in Lightning... "I smell blood since we left that little village in the base of the mountain. A lots of it and recent. I guessed it was a deer, if it was bleeding enough I could notice it from that distance, but I don't know..." Hikari said almost for herself. "But... How you were able to sense it and I do not?" Harumi asked, but repented the decision when she saw the ironic grin on her older sister lips.
"You were freezing and tired, it's only predictable that your nose is clogged and you could not sense the smell." Old stupid cow, she knew it the whole time! Yet, she could see why her sister didn't say anything. Harumi admits, she is a little competitive with her older sister sometimes, but it is a twin's thing, right? "Shall we check this out, sis? It always can be a person needing help. Besides, if it's a deer, at least we'll not have to worry about hunt for dinner." Hikari only nodded and expanded her senses to better catch the font of the smell. Despite the difficulty in track the exactly location of the blood, she couldn't help but feel a little amused at the obvious disappointment in Harumi's voice as the two of them began to follow her nose's lead. It guided them through the sparse forest with the same steady, unfailing accuracy that a dog on the hunt would show. Distantly, they could hear the howling of wolves, and could sense them moving quite a long way from there. They finally rounded a corner, breaking out of the forest, but then Hikari stopped abruptly, going very still. "Huh," Harumi commented behind Hikari's back, and the woman could hear the confusion in her voice. "Looks like it's not a deer after all…"
It was a girl, lying motionless on her side in the snow a few meters away, her back to them. Even she, with her frozen blurred eyesight, could clearly see that the snow around her was vividly stained with blood; the bright red that had soaked into the ice was just now beginning to be sprinkled with new snowfall. Harumi was equally stunned, she could tell, but she recovered with greater speed and in a blink of an eye she was just beside the petite woman, already sending medical chakra to her hands. Hikari pushed forward and strode toward the girl's body, kneeling down at her side. She touched her upper arm carefully, noticing her clothing and marking it uncharacteristic for a civilian – a black and red yukata with an equally red sash around her waist, fitted black shorts, tucked into above-knee black leather boots matching with a sock made of ninja mesh and adorned with a small bag of weapons, plus bandages on her thin arms and a delicate purple scarf around her neck. Not to mention the bloodstains on her clothes and serious injuries on her body. If she could bet, Hikari would say the girl is not a civilian but a kunoichi. However, she has no hitaiate, perhaps she is a freelancer just like herself and Harumi.
Her skin was very cool to the touch, as was to be expected, but it wasn't the eerie, somehow lifeless cold that meant that the person was dead. Perhaps this girl was approaching that state, but she wasn't gone yet. And if depended on Hikari and Harumi, she would not die.
Hellooooooo! Well, this is my first fic ever so I hope everyone enjoy it.
With that said, I have to confess that I'm a little nervous about posting it. Hell, I know that there isn't so many people that really like to read about Itachi with some OCC, or about the said OCC with anybody, but I just has to write this. It was freaking me out, really! I was even dreaming about possibly-future scenes!
Hikari and Harumi Yochida, they are medic nin - not like Tsunade, or Naomi, or Shizune- they are more like Sakura in training, ya know? They are twins and have polar-opposite personalities as you'll see soon enough.
Well, see ya! ^.^
p.s: if you are curious about how the girls look like, you can ask me via PM or review and I'll gladly send you the pictures of all of my girls.
