Omokage Taiyou, Metsuki Hisakata

Chapter Two: Kasumi Akiraka

Author's Notes: This is my first fanfic, ever, and all my Japanese is obtained from anime episodes and This means that any Japanese words that are used are probably in incorrect grammar and possibly even the wrong words. So… criticism of any kind, as well as corrections, are welcome.

The title of this story, Omokage Taiyou, Metsuki Hisakata, is supposed to mean "Face of the Sun, Eyes of the Moon". This chapter title ought to be translated into "Clear Mist".

The story is about, if you didn't read the summary (you did read the summary though, riiight?) several rivalries, two loves, one friendship, one sand, one water, one fire, and many other things that can't be numericized (not a word, I know). More directly, it's the larger-than-life story about a timid girl who finds a love she's never known, the impenetrable boy who awakens her heart, and the best friend who comes between them. It's also about a shady past hiding between an elderly caregiver, secrets, and the biggest betrayals of all.

Enjoy and, if you like, please read and review!

For the first time in a long time, it was raining in Konoha.

Nari hurried through the streets, a paper-thin black umbrella shielding herself. She wondered why there was no one else outside, or even any lights on in the houses. It wasn't terribly rainy, and it wasn't all that early in the morning, either. Besides, there ought to be a lot of people where she was going.

Where was she going?

She stopped uncertainly, and stared into the mist, where a familiar figure was emerging – a slender girl with waist-length oak hair and an accusing gaze. It was Miko! Miko stepped forward and, seeing Nari, her eyes widened.

"What's wrong, Miko?" asked Nari uncertainly.

"Monster!" screamed Miko in terror, backing away, back into the fog, crying, "Stay away from me!"

"Wait!" pleaded Nari, and a form re-emerged, but this time it was… Auntie?

Auntie shoved a finger shakily and angrily at Nari. "What have you become, you demon? Don't you dare come back to my household, you hear?" Her last words were drowned out as a gigantic wave suddenly crashed over the buildings surrounding them and swept Auntie away. Did I do that? Nari wondered, staring at her rain-soaked hands.

When she looked up again, Gaara was standing before her wordlessly, a hand gently outstretched. Come with me, his eyes demanded. As soon as Nari's hand met his, his image flickered and disappeared.

In his place was a mirror-Nari, appraising herself coldly. Mirror-Nari bent down to Nari and laughed tonelessly. "Look what you've done, you fool…"

Nari woke up in the comfort of her own futon, sweating although she'd unconsciously kicked her blankets off. What an awful dream! But just a dream, thank Kami-sama. I haven't had a nightmare since I was four or five years old, Nari realized. That's a bit more than a decade ago.

She tried to shrug the dream off as she changed from her nightgown to her mother's old, beautiful white kimono, the only thing of her mother's that she owned, along with an ivory comb in the shape of a howling wolf. The kimono was reserved for special occasions, but Nari wanted to make a good impression on the Fifth Hokage. Tying a wide obi belt around her small waist, Nari looked at herself in the mirror.

I wonder if I look like my mother, she speculated, not for the first time. With her short stature and delicate features, Nari could almost be mistaken for beautiful. But her neck-length raven hair, too thin for her slightly angular face, and too-wide eyes, which made her look like a deer in headlights, soon discouraged the illusion. Nari didn't mind not being pretty, although she knew Miko was. She was simply glad to possess any features that her parents had.

Boys had flocked to Miko in elementary school. Miko often had a new boyfriend every week, whom she'd rant and rave about the first few days. By Friday, though, she'd do nothing but complain, and it was always her who did the breaking up, not the other way round. Every time this happened, Miko would sigh dramatically to Nari, "Men will come and go, Nari, but you'll always be my unnofficial shisuta." Nari always felt secretly thrilled that Miko considered her a sister. She didn't understand Miko's obsession with the guys who were obsessed with her, but she didn't mind putting up with them. Some of them were actually quite nice, and she'd even befriended a few.

Nari hurried downstairs, almost forgetting to turn off the tap after brushing her teeth. She grabbed her agonizingly light (read: almost moneyless) wallet and called to her aunt in the kitchen, "I'm leaving!"

"What about breakfast?" Auntie called. (She didn't mean "What about you having breakfast?", she meant "What about you making me breakfast?".)

"There's bread and butter lying around somewhere in there," Nari shouted back, closing the door behind her. The fresh morning air whipped her hair around as she walked, and she stopped by a ramen stall for a small beef udon, using up half her month's meager allowance already. She was still eating as she arrived at the Hokage Building, but she deposited her unfinished udon before going in.

A spiky-haired boy her age was leaning against the wall, seemingly asleep. "Um, ohayo," she ventured.

The boy's eyes opened and he looked at his watch and swore. "Mendokuse, late again," he muttered, "Tsunade-sama'll have my guts." He eyed Nari. "Can I help you?"

"I – I'm the new paperwork assistant for Shizune-sama," Nari stammered.

"A bit dressed up for watching the Hokage sleep, aren't you?" he noted dryly. "Follow me, then."

Blushing, Nari trailed after him as he lead her to the top floor and knocked on a door.

"Come in!" someone cried regally inside, and the door was pulled open.

The Hokage stared at the pair for a moment and said dully to Nari's companion, "Oh, it's you, Shikamaru. I thought I told you not to bring your girlfriends here. After Temari –"

"She's not my girlfriend," Shikamaru protested, reddening. "Claims to be Shizune-san's new assistant, or something."

Shizune stepped forward, smiling. "You must be Nari-chan. I'm Shizune, Tsunade-sama's assistant. You'll be helping me with the mountains of unfortunate paperwork around here. We'll be working on the third floor." Shizune started off down the hall.

Nari bowed at the remaining two. "It was an honour to meet you, Hokage-sama, Shikamaru-sama."

Tsunade's raucous laughter followed her out. "Shikamaru-sama, eh? Are you sure she's not-" The door clicked quietly behind them.

"Tsunade-sama can be a little… loudmouthed sometimes," Shizune admitted as the two alphabetized papers from past missions. "And she tends to spend a lot of time drinking and gambling. Other than that, though, she's really a good person."

Nari wondered what Auntie would think if she knew the respected Hokage was a drinker and a gambler. All she said, though, was "What's it like to be… a ninja?"

"A ninja?" Shizune repeated in surprise. "Well, I wouldn't know, really, other than what my jounin friends tell me. But from what I hear, it's a hard and dangerous job. Sometimes even the most skilled ninja don't return from missions at all."

This reminded Nari of something, but she couldn't remember what. Instead, she asked shyly, "Did you ever want to become a ninja, Shizune-san?"

"I can't say I did," Shizune replied slowly. "I mean, I grew up around all my friends who did. They loved the excitement, the thrill. I think I found that a bit intimidating." Turning away, Shizune recovered a stack of folders. "Hey, would you do me a favour and bring these down to the Kazekage? He's just staying in the hotel across the street. I think these are some kind of intercity relations documents."

"T-the Kazekage? As in, from Sunakagure?" Nari inquired in disbelief. "You want me to deliver documents to the Kazekage? I don't even know what he looks like!"

Shizune nodded, laughing. "He won't bite, silly. Just say they're from the Hokage and leave. Pretty simple. He's the only one staying in Room 206, so you'll recognize him right away."

Nari's heart pounded as she crossed the street to the aforementioned hotel. Two kages in a day? She knocked on the door of the room number Shizune had given him… and was shocked when Gaara answered.

"G-Gaara-sama? You're the Kazekage?" Nari cried in surprise.

"Do I know you?" Gaara said blankly.

"I'm the girl from the hospital. I'm Tsunade-sama's assistant's assistant. She told me to give you this." Nari shoved the bundle at him.

Gaara flipped through the papers, and Nari turned to leave, unsure of what to say. "Have a nice day, Gaara-sama. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in Konoha." Blushing profusely – I sounded like some sort of hotel receptionist! – Nari all but scrambled out of the hotel.

Back home, she sank into her futon upstairs and sighed. I hope Shizune-san wasn't expecting me to report back to her before taking my day's leave, she worried. All in all, it hadn't been a terrible day, except for seeing Gaara again. That was just unnerving. Nari wasn't one to judge, but Gaara really did not seem like a responsible and dependable person, let alone Kazekage.

The door downstairs creaked open, and Nari heaved herself up. That would be Auntie, no doubt, returning home from a get-together with her equally old friends. And of course in a moment Auntie would be yelling for Nari to come and collect Auntie's coat, or hear the amazing tale her friend had told about a shopkeeper. Nari decided to save her aunt some voice and trooped downstairs. Someone met her with cold eyes at the doorway.

It wasn't Auntie.