Chapter 3

The only thing that brought Kimi out of her pensive state was quiet footfalls of another approaching. Against her better judgment, she allowed her ninja instincts take over and threw one of her kunai toward the source of the sound. "Your throwing was a bit off. Maybe you should work on it a bit more if you expect to be useful in that area," Satoshi stated while stepping into the clearing.

Kimi smirked and replied, "How do you know that I didn't miss on purpose? We are still in the village so it was unlikely that the noise came from an actual threat. Besides the kunai did its job in alerting you that I knew of your position forcing you to reveal yourself."

Satoshi stated with a light chuckle, "You will never change always able to rationalize a situation into your favor even when it is a lie, but I call your bluff this time. What kind of sensei would I be if I didn't know your weakness for throwing weapons?" By this time, he had already reached the tree where Kimi was sitting, and he stationed himself leaning against the tree with arms crossed.

"I highly doubt you came just to comment on my dismal throwing skills, so why are you here?" She asked lifting her head to meet his gaze.

He just sighed and replied, "I came to see how you were holding up. Don't try to fool me Naruto's return stirred some unwanted memories for you, didn't it?"

Kimi returned her eyes to the sky and waited for the right words to come to her. After a few moments of silence she said, "It is hard to stir up memories that have refused to rest. I don't know what to do? I want to be able to confront Katsuo, but I don't want to disgrace Norio's dying wish for my own selfish goals. Then there is the fact that even though we are short man power Tsunade sidelines me because she doesn't trust me."

"Kimi losing the team you trained with and who becomes like your second family is not an easy thing deal with, but do you remember the words I spoke to you that day," Satoshi asked.

"Yes, I remember them well, but I still do not understand how to not forget and recover. It seems like in order to recover I must forget," Kimi said while clutching her hands to the point of her fingernails cut into the palms of the hands.

Satoshi hated having to watch the final member of his team suffer so much and not be able to do anything to console her. All he could do was to offer this advice, "Don't let any single event or person dictate who you become because then you will never find your true path through the forest."

Kimi smirked, "Sensei I kind of understand what you trying to say, but I think you should give up trying to sound so prophetic. It really doesn't suit you."

"Now that is the Kimi I trained," he stated. After a while of comfortable silence he said, "Kimi you have to realize that Tsunade did not feel you would betray the village she just didn't trust your state of mind that leads to the second reason I am here. She feels that you are ready to be put back on missions more worthy of your talents than basic patrol."

"You mean I actually being allowed off my leash, but what is the catch?" she replied slightly upset that it took this long.

Satoshi sometime hated how intuitive his student was, and times like these it is best just to come out and say it instead of beating around the bush. "You are going to become a floater, which mean you are going to be placed on whatever team needs your talents for a specific mission," he stated while waiting for a reaction.

"I should have guessed because I am not yet strong enough to do missions alone, but there will not be a permanent team for due to the fact that there are no vacancies that are willing to be filled," she said bluntly. Her thoughts told a different story, "In reality, it is for the best. There is less of a chance to get attached if I am not permanently attached to a certain team."

"Now, now at least you are going to be back on missions. I would report to Tsunade today because she has your first one lined up, but said that you could come when you are ready," he stated.

Kimi glared up at him while she got up and brushed the dirt from her outfit. As she turned to walk away, she said, "I may be a female, but that doesn't mean people need to treat me like glass. I am not damaged to the point where a simple mission is going to send me over the edge." She continued walking toward the hokage's office.

-------------------With Satoshi-------------------

Satoshi watched her walk away from the training ground that held many memories. As he was about to leave, he was stopped by someone saying, "You guys don't give her enough credit." Satoshi looked up to find Daisuke sitting in one of the many limbs.

"So says the man who also felt it necessary to check up on her, and don't give me the 'I am her father and that gives me the right line'," Satoshi fired back.

"Hmph, well you caught me, but really she is a lot stronger than everyone gives her credit for. Think about it how many shinobi from this era of relative peace knows the lost that she has experienced," Daisuke stated quietly. "If you think about it, we have treated her too softly these past years because of the era we live in now. Back when we took up the life of a ninja, we were at war and very few were left unmarked from the pain of the death of one close to us," he continued.

Satoshi sighed before asking, "Is that why you refused to let her mourn?"

"Yes, if I allowed her to mourn longer, she would had started to blame herself more because she would not have just mourned but ran every scenario through her head looking for that one moment that could have saved Norio," Daisuke replied. He jumped out of the tree to stand next to the other man. "Besides it is not Norio's death that we should worry about, it is what she will do when she meets Katsuo again."

Deep down Satoshi knew that that was the main reason she was not allowed out on missions. He turned to look at the older man and asked, "Do you think the elders fear that she will take the same approach as Naruto will with trying to get Sasuke back?"

"Honestly, I think that was their thought process. The thing they don't understand is her personality. I don't know what you are thinking but I know for a fact that she is not a forgiving kunoichi," Daisuke said seriously.

"That is what I fear. I hope that she will remember Norio's words and not go out for revenge because I think that would completely destroy her," Satoshi said while looking at the girl's father.

Daisuke replied, "You are right that taking Katsuo's life will destroy her, but she will not betray Norio's memory by doing that. The problem lies in the fact that she will never forget the acts committed by him. If it comes down to the point where she has to kill him, it will not be out of revenge but in order to protect something more important. At this point, all we can do is hope that she never has to cross that path." With that Daisuke departed.

Satoshi remained leaning against the tree, but he raised his eyes to the sky and said, "Norio if you are watching over her help her to choose the correct path. I am sure that like me you don't want to see her in any more pain."

----------------------With Kimi--------------

Kimi stood at the door which seemed to only be for decoration considering the number of ninja who for some reason prefers to use the window instead. Her hand rested on the handle while she waited for the invitation to come in, and when it came she pulled the door open and allowed a minute smile cross her features. The only thought that came to her was, "My first mission in two years."