Chapter 1: Back again, But it's not the same

Rain pounded down on the dirt tracks as a young woman trudged towards the main gate of Konoha, her head down in an attempt to shelter her exposed face from the harsh elements. The weather had taken a negative turn over the last few hours and the sky had dampened to a dull, overcast grey. The ground had become saturated with the rain and was now a thick, mushy pulp of mud squelching against well-worn boots.

Stood -half a mile away beside the gate in the shelter of an open-faced guard tower, a middle-aged, portly Shinobi yawned and scratched his head as he continued to plot his next chess move against his colleague.

"Koichi."

A younger sandy haired ninja sat opposite to him addressed his opponent.

"Yes Jin?" Koichi looked up at the younger man.

"Somebody is coming towards the gate." Koichi followed the young man's gaze and caught sight of a dull shape moving steadily towards the tall gate. Squinting he could just about make out the medium build of a woman.

"Were we briefed to expect a visitor?" Jin asked cautiously scratching a patch on his blonde crop.

"I don't think so, nobody's come to Konoha for a few days now."

"Should we make contact with the traveller? Find out a name we could check?"

Koichi paused thoughtfully for a moment, "I'm sure it'll be fine. We'll have wait until their closer and then we'll have a bash at verbal contact."

Jin nodded at his Superior's decision and turned his attention back to the match, he was already down to a King and three Pawns.

15 Minutes Later...

"Check-mate."

Jin growled and wiped his defeated King roughly from the board once again. Koichi chuckled at his win and fought the urge to rub in his victory. The two sat in companionable silence for a few more moments until they heard a loud knocking far below them at the base of the gate.

Jin quirked an eyebrow, "It seems they've arrived, probably in a rush to get out of this bloody storm."

Koichi nodded and stood up on the creaky floor boards, not hesitating to finger the sharp kunai strapped to his hip, he always stuck with the sensible philosophy, 'Better safe than sorry', and it had served him well over the years.

He walked over to the edge of the stilted hut and leant over the edge to view the visitor. The long hair of the traveller confirmed his earlier inclination that she was a female. The cloak-clad woman jumped slightly when he called out to her loudly through the mumbling drum of rain.

"Welcome Miss, what is your business with Konoha?"

Her face shot up to the top of the control tower and she swept some of the sodden hair from her eyes.

"I'm back to report my mission to the Hokage," she paused thoughtfully before calling again, "It's been a while since I've come back."

Koichi didn't recognise her, and felt no way inclined to believe her, times were tense at the moment and Konoha had attained many enemies, many of which had tried a similar excuse to enter the village. Koichi had lived in Konoha as a Chunin for the last three years and not once come into contact with said Kunoichi.

Furrowing his brow he looked over to the younger shinobi, "Looks like we got ourselves a spy," unsheathing a compact katana he cleared his throat, "Let's make this as quick as we can, Mariana's roasting a duck tonight..."

Jin nodded and checked the multiple kunai strapped at his hip. He never had enjoyed dispatching people, but it was part of the job, and essential to advance in rank, especially as he didn't fancy spending the rest of his life opening the gate for vegetable carts seeking the Konoha market square. Not that he wanted to become as advanced as a Jonin though, he shuddered slightly at the thought. 'The things they have to do... I've seen them around, a sad bunch, they never seem to live too long either...'

Down on the ground...

The young woman shivered and pulled her jade cloak tighter around her muddy form - it had been a long journey on foot and the cold wind did little to revive her. Yawning she waited patiently for the man to open the gate, 'How long does it take to pull a stupid lever? I'm freezing down here...' The precipitation dripped from the bridge of her hood and trickled down her nose, sending a shiver down her spine as she stood silently.

Slowly, silently Jin waited moving cauciously towards the edge of the hut. The open window was well chosen as his route to their target. Watching Koichi carefully for the signal he exhaled sharply as he observed the subtle nod and mouthing of "GO". Propelling himself from the window into the empty air he felt the cold air whip against his body chilling him to the core, silently he adjusted himself for landing - legs bent, kunai positioned for impact.

At break neck speed he headed straight down parallel with the rain, hoping to catch the Kunoichi before she had a chance to notice. Jin's silent skills did not betray him as he shot straight and true above his target. Years of honing his techniques had left him to rely heavily on good balance and speed as he was not a large (or particularly strong) build.

Twitching her brow she frowned, something sounded strange, all of a sudden the rain no longer pounded against her hood. Darting her gaze to the muddy puddle below her, she could not see the rain distilling the murky brown water either but the rain continued to fall a small distance away from her. Snapping her head up, her eyes widened slightly at the sight of a black shape speeding towards her, silver kunai poised for the kill.

It took a nano-second for her to register her position before she swiftly made several definitive hand seals. Jin cursed loudly as he went into a a cloud of grey smoke; the waste product of her teleportation. Hitting the muddy floor like a cat he straightened up and whipped his eyes around the woods perimeters,

"Damn it... where did she go?" He growled quietly to himself. Suddenly he heard a whoosh of air, and the presence of someone radiating near him, but he was stopped abruptly from acting when the unmistakable sting of steel greeted his thin throat - which he promptly cleared (he couldn't pretend he wasn't nervous).

"Man Jin. Come on now, even after five years," he heard a a soft chuckle and the kunai was removed promptly from his neck, "You still suck."

Whipping round his eyes widened like dinner plates as he recognized the pale, wet young lady standing there.

"...Katumi??"

Her drenched face split into a grin that seemed to spread through her entire body. Katumi barely had time to think as she was locked into a death grip, strong enough to kill a small child. Laughing quietly she patted the younger man's back 'even now your still more of a girl than I ever could be' slowly and seemingly reluctantly she was released from Jin's vice like hug. His cerulean eyes looked suspiciously damp, but then again it could of been the torrential rain beating on both of their heads like bone drums.

"It's been how long?" Jin asked, his voice slightly higher than before.

Katumi fought the urge to sigh, "Five years... three months...six days."

Jin gave her another quick hug, and Katumi breathed in his familiar scent combination of candy and pine trees.

"I can't believe your here."

"Neither can I." Katumi admitted solemnly.

Jin shifted his feet slightly, seeming a little uncomfortable, "People thought you were dead."

Katumi's eyes widened 'dead?'. Well it wasn't like she wrote letters often, in fact she hadn't sent anything in over two years, it was far too risky when so close to their target. It seemed a logical enough thought, it wasn't like they had any reason or evidence to believe she was alive.

"But I believed in you, I knew you'd come back one day... it seems I was right."

Katumi's face brightened a little and she smiled at him, and finally was taken aback slightly by his slightly altered appearance.

"Look at you! Jin! You're taller than me finally! Hang on what's that on your chin?..." She let out a small chuckle as she touched his chin and recognized the rough grate, "Stubble?", her thin pierced eyebrow raised in amusement.

Jin laughed and scratched the back of his head, a habit that was the same as when she'd left, so long ago.

"Five years can do a lot to a person," Squinting slightly he regarded her face, the only part of her exposed from the large jade cloak, "Man... You look pretty different yourself."

He could see all too well the pale gauntness to her usually rosy cheeks and the shadowy bags marring her green eyes. The mission had obviously taken its toll on her physically, she looked exhausted. A ghost of her former self, a fitting enough title with so many people thinking she was deceased. Their conversation was cut short by a middle aged Chunin shouting from the tower through the grey downpour.

"JIN? YOU KNOW HER?"

Jin looked apologetically at Katumi, "Koichi moved here with his family a couple of years ago, after you left, he doesn't know you."

Katumi nodded understandingly at the younger ninja who was calling out her details to the portly shinobi. The details were apparantly in order as Koichi vanished back into the gate tower. Promptly mechanical noises rang out through the air, gears grinding, metal clanging. The rustic gates peeled apart slowly, revealing Konoha.

'Home...'

The up close sight of it took her breath away. Five years had been snatched away from her but the place looked exactually the same, a haven of familiarity in a world of malicious fog. She might of left Konoha yesterday from the look of the place.

Feeling a gentle hand pat her damp shoulder, she exhaled a breath she didn't know she'd held.

"Good to be home, huh. Place hasn't changed much."

She barely heard Jin. Her feet felt rooted to the saturated ground , which is a good thing seeing as her knees probably would of buckled. She could hear the blood pumping in her ears, a storm echoed through her brain; a combination of apprehension and overpowering excitement.

"You ok?..."

Whipping her head around, Jin noted the huge cat-like grin plastered on her dripping face.

"I'm home...I..." She trailed off but Jin understood, five years was too long to be away. He gave her a playful push forward, "Well then Kat - what you waiting for then?"

Looking at his eyes for a second they were two kids again - horsing around in the training fields, dreaming of the future. But dragged back to the present, the hardships and exhaustion of her journey peeled off like old skin. Vigour renewed she nodded at Jin. He grinned back at her.

"May aswell come back to life."

"Well your certainly gonna turn a few heads," His blue eyes twinkled, "Mine nearly fell off."

A distant call crowed out through the storm to them from high above, "OY! Jin stop bothering the traveller and help me close this damned gate."

Jin chuckled and scratched his soaking mop, "That's me, but don't think you've escaped me so easily - come down to the bar tonight and we'll catch up together.. No doubt you've got lots of stories to tell..." he paused thoughtfully, " and lots of old faces for you to get reacquainted with."

He turned and scrambled his small frame up the bendy ladder leading up to the tower. Katumi watched him evaporate from her sight, turning back to the colorful town she took a deep breath before stepping forward towards the welcoming gate, back to the only place and people she'd ever loved.


Stepping into her old apartment on Main Street she dropped her heavy dripping bag onto the laminated walkway. The place stunk - a welcoming combination of musty old air and food long past it's expiration date. 'It appears I left in a hurry. Funny... I can't even remember that night, it seems so long ago.'There were maps and weapons strewn all of the floor, packing had never been her fortay.

She carefully peeled off the drenched cloak and shivered slightly at the draft on her bare arms, the central heating would take at least three hours to reboot. Stepping out of her flat leather boots she felt reluctant to see the rest of her home. When she had left, it felt like she had also left her life, this life behind. A sacrifice she had made for the mission. She felt like a fugitive of death, like she shouldn't be stood in her own home in the present.

Frowning to herself she shook off those oh-so pessimistic thoughts that she'd become so fond of lately and switched on a light, the mild orange glow expelled into the corridor and living room made the place look slightly more homey. Walking slowly she suddenly became aware of the dull ache in her legs, six days of straining them up and down hills had taken it's toll on her joints. Setting her sights on the squashy lemon coloured sofa she sunk back into the supple cushions.

"mmmmmmmmmmmmmm..."

Pure bliss, she couldn't remember the last time she'd enjoyed such luxury. 'Probably before I left Konoha' she thought dryly to herself. The last few years had not been kind to her and more often than not she'd ended up in places that could easily be labelled 'poverty'. She was only thankful that she got to leave those places, but some people still lived in those awful rural conditions, struggling to survive - not ever knowing differently.

She had seen a lot of terrible things in her journeys, but no matter how out weighed there were still spectacular sights in her memories. Her favourite was stood atop the great mountain Yukinsaragai, crouched between snowy crevices watching the mighty eagles glide through the clouds.

She drifted in her memories, darkness tugging her weary eyelids till she fell into deep, relieving sleep - returning home was almost as hard as leaving.