Painting with Greed

Don't own it. Sorry folks. :] No Pairings Yet. Other than KakaSaku and ShikaTem.

Thoughts are not framed by '…' they are unnecessary. They are simply italicized.

Time is also italicized for obvious reasons.

"Speech" Bijuu Thoughts

Muse: Like a squeegee!

Listening to: Dying Breed by Five Finger Death Punch

Death Will Take Me If I Can't Be Free

When we entered the gates, they shut quietly, surprising, because of the texture they were. They must have sanded it and oiled to the point that it was as slick as a bar of soap when wet. I narrowed my eyes and glared at the finish of the tall protection, finding that my guess was correct. I felt a satisfied sensation whisk through me for now, but I knew that it would be to their disadvantage if the village was asleep, and intruders came in.

However, I stared as the young woman named Tou wandered over to a very large, shaved log, and lifted it up by the end, hoisting it over her head, and then with one crouch, she pushed it up, it swung over, and clicked into a lock on the other side. It...wouldn't be very pleasant if we had another 'Sakura' on the team. At least, I thought that it wouldn't, we could use more manpower -woman power- if the time came. Ugh…women are so troublesome.

I couldn't seem to focus, it seemed almost as if something in the village set me off kilter. My hands twitched lightly and I slapped them lightly against my thighs, no need to get irritated with how I couldn't think straight. My ears focused as the older woman chattered in a hushed tone to Tou, biting my lip to try and focus a bit more. She was using a jutsu, obviously, so that we couldn't understand her conversation. I felt like a child with ADHD, not that it was a bad thing.

"….here….village…dangerous," Tou muttered to the woman, my eyes pinning in curiosity. What exactly was she talking about? She would have to inform us if we were to protect this village safely…

"Know…yes…you…," The elderly woman bickered back, trying to look a bit cheerful. She seemed a bit like she was trying to make Tou relax, but the girl wouldn't release her tight grip on her jumpsuit's leg. How did I not notice that before? I tried to take notes, and made a move to dispel jutsu, but Sakura's hand stopped my own, looking at me with her deep green eyes. Somehow, I knew that she was telling me to wait. Was she starting to show a bit of faith for Tou? Shakily, a sigh passed my lips and Tou glanced back at me quizzically before she began bickering at the woman.

"No…not staying….I'm not..," the conversation ended with Tou's words, a frown marring the already wrinkled -though plump- face of the woman. Right, her name was Ren. Kakashi, I noticed, was staring at her for quite some time, and my knowledge of facial expressions told me that he was feeling a bit guilty, perhaps he had already performed 'kai' and was listening in?

"…who want's ice cream," Tou asked quietly, cocking her hip to the side as she had done many times before, I was actually starting to think it was her 'thing' instead of the Uchiha's 'hn', or Sakura's 'cha'. Naruto immediately rose his hand as to let her feel less awkward, and the rest of the group followed his action, albeit half-heartedly. Tou simply let her lips form a smile and I couldn't help but let a small smirk follow her actions, maybe she was a bit more influential than I thought.

Tou and Ren talked quietly again, the younger's right hand sticking against her side lightly, clutching her pant leg again, only for me to notice she had her pinky sticking out. So that's how she activates the speech blurring jutsu.

Oh well, there wasn't much to do about it, it wasn't like I knew her past the one time I met her…

Eight years ago, April Twelfth, The Playground

I suppose it wasn't much of a memory, but I was sure to remember a person with green hair, as both Naruto, with his blond hair, and Sakura, with her pink-tinted hair were also quite unforgettable. I had been sitting with Chouji in the sandbox, practicing our hand skills with crafting things. Our hands flicked up the wet sand quickly, a few teachers watching over us carefully to make sure we didn't injure ourselves. Since Chouji became my friend, I suppose my personality rubbed off on him a bit, his temper though, was still there whenever someone called him fat. I just sighed and shook my head as I formed a few hand signs and made a small symbol form into the sand, sticking a finger into it and rose a block of sand out of the ground.

I could imagine how proud my father was, that his son of ten years was able to form a perfect block, molded with a compact press of chakra.

Smiling proudly, I showed Chouji, only to have my concentration slip and the sand fell onto our feet, making me frown as he collapsed in laughter, "it's not funny!"

My ears caught a tiny giggle, and my head snapped to the corner of the sand-box, even though we were training, we still were looked at as children having fun within a child's toy. Pathetic? Maybe. My eyes locked onto a girl with dark green hair held in short braids at either side, barely passing her shoulders in length, and found myself gazing into the brightest, electric green eyes I had ever seen since I first opened my own.

She had a small smile playing on her lips, but it soon faded as she noticed I was staring and backed away, her shirt shrouding her appearance dramatically. Didn't she have clothing that fit? I wondered about this as she tugged at her sleeve, a shoulder appearing, a pale peach in color. She didn't look healthy…

The green haired girl backed away quickly, stumbling over a five year olds toy truck, and fell on her bottom, making the child squeal in surprise, grasp their truck in their chubby fingers, and dart to their mother as if they had seen a ghost. My hand whisked over as if to stop her, but she scrambled back and out of the area, through a couple bushes, and into the forest.

Chouji tapped me on the shoulder and questioned what it was about, but I shrugged and began trying to do the seal again, and repeat my sand molding action.

Women, as my dad said, were troublesome. And I now started to believe that.

Presently…

Our group, plus the two new women, made their way to the ice cream parlor that Ren was babbling about avidly. She seemed extremely happy, acting as if everything was peaceful. Most of our clients were frustrated with their village, and the way it was running, and we were supposed to solve it. She seemed as happy as the day before she had spotted Tou, then her mood crashed. Was Tou the problem?

My mind swirled into question, making me bite my lip again as I thought. My hands twitched as they wanted to assume my usual thinking position, but then Neji gave me a look, wandering over with a calm composure, "relax, there isn't a need to get worked up, she's simply trying to work things out."

The ice cream parlor closed into view and Naruto saw the sign, his eyes sparkling instantly, "wow! Jiraiya-sensei told me about this place! He said they had the most delicious ice cream ever! And that it was good f-"

Sakura quickly slammed a hand over his mouth, making him wince and whine, prying it away roughly, "I was going to say desert! But no! You had to slap your hand over my mouth! Sheesh Sakura-chan, you're really irritable today!"

Sakura could only blush, fidgeting and glaring at him lightly, "shut up, Naruto. I don't need this right now."

My eyes drifted down to the ground after I approached the parlor, taking a seat on one of the comfortable, cushioned seats outside, and a woman darted over, her hair a soft wheat color, and freckles stained her face like she had been through a disaster zone, not that it didn't look back. She could be, what Temari called, 'sun-kissed'. She had a light pink sheen over her lips and her hair was pushed away from her face like a soft, long lion's mane. It was quite a change to the harsh hair of my friends and Tou. Almost…natural. I gave a small smile and sighed, looking down at the menu as soon as she passed them out, spotting something that I knew I would like.

"I'll have the strawberry shortcake 'explosion' please," I drawled, seeing her nod and scribble it down quickly.

"And I'll have ah…um… oh right! Cookie dough," Naruto questioned himself for a moment, and then shook his head vigorously. He did like cookies, we all knew that.

"I'll have the..," Neji paused, his eyes going down to the ingredients again before he nodded in satisfaction, "blue bird."

The whole group, minus the three women who were new laughed lightly, knowing the metaphorical sense of the 'bird' in the Hyuuga clan. I watched as the rest of the people ordered and I stared at Tou for a moment, seeing her muttering to the woman while holding the cat carefully in her arms, almost like an infant, in all reality. The feline seemed to be asleep, its tail unmoving, and ears lowered lazily, no purr was heard, which was quite odd. Didn't they always purr? I received my ice cream in a surprisingly fast manner, taking a bite of the waffle cone and a chunk of the 'cake' with it, groaning lightly in appreciation. Naruto's sensei was right, this was really good ice cream.

The group smiled in agreement as we consumed the ice cream, Naruto was talking adamantly with a young woman, curious to know if they could get a place like this in Konohagakure, and she was always happy to answer, spurring more of a conversation than what would be considered normal. My eyes narrowed and I focused, seeing the curious, calculating glint in Naruto's eyes, and I peered up at the woman he was bringing his conversation towards. Her gaze keeps drifting towards Tou. Is there something she's wondering like the old woman?

This was quite troublesome, so I had thought, and stood, stretching as I finished off the cone from my ice cream, "so, we should get to a comfortable resting place."

"Oh yes! Right this way," Ren exclaimed and clasped her hands together happily, now grabbing Naruto and Tou's wrists and yanking them towards a very large building. I had to have noticed by now, that the town was very close knit, and dining was right next to living.

"That isn't good for the population is it, Shikamaru," Sakura muttered, leaning over to me. I couldn't say 'no' because with both knew that if those people across the street got poisoned from the food, they would somehow deliver it to the others of the village, it was a very violent reaction, which was why we put the people who ate out the much on the outer rim of the village, and the people who harvested their own food closer in, because when they harvested their food, it went to the restaurants, and into their own stomachs. So if they died, then we could cancel the production immediately and go to the greenhouse we had installed -since the incident with Sasori's poison- and bring out fresh, healthy food.

Many things had changed in Konoha since the Akatsuki had come and passed, and I had to admit, it was all for the better. The group of ten made everyone's eyes open wide and shine brightly with new ideas, and dare I say, Konoha was already working on something quite exciting, but that was top secret until it was fully developed, so I wouldn't really tell anyone.

We entered the building with careful, calculating eyes, hands held at our kunai holsters, and one in front of our chest as a precaution. Ren had wandered out as happy as ever as soon as Tou started talking with the owner of the inn, and bid them all a good rest. The green haired girl we had just gotten to know had motioned for us to follow, and with a half-hearted glance towards her, we did.

We didn't expect to sleep in such luxury though, but she had led us to multiple rooms, closely knit by doors, which she explained were escape routes instead of going into hallways and falling to your death from such a narrow spaced area. The beds were donned in down-feather white comforters, and silk pillows that were soft on the skin and hair during the night. The floors were a polished mahogany that boasted pride and few scratches from the movers placing furniture in the correct spots, and the light fixtures were all hidden behind tiny murals that were painted onto the lamp shades.

To Sakura, as I noticed, she had a far off look as she stared at a small coffee table lined with photos, this residence wasn't a motel, it was a home…and not anyone's home: Tou's home.

"I've…I remember this place, somehow," Sakura muttered, touching the frame.

Eight years ago, August Twenty-Ninth, Somewhere…

I couldn't remember, but I saw the colorful smudges of balloons floating in the air, and the same, eerily set bedroom as a bunch of laughter rang through the house. Naruto and Sasuke sat next to each other while I was fawning over Sasuke as if he would break. I brushed my pink hair away from my face as soon as I heard that the 'birthday girl' was coming home from her little trip, and we all smiled and cheered, taking our respective hiding places.

It was a surprise that I had erased from my mind: the first time I had seen someone cry.

I hadn't expected it to happen so quickly, but there was the rattle of a doorknob, a man with a white and red mask came in, and called for the owner of the home, and a woman with black hair and calm grey eyes moved forward with a frown.

All of us peeked over from our hiding places, including the few parents that were chaperoning, and saw the man mutter something to her that made her hands slap over her mouth and tears spring from her eyes, "no!"

The most simple word I have heard was so stressed that it set my own heart off ease, the woman's voice was hoarse and filled with so much despair that the adults had moved over to her, ignoring the oven and the timer that went off, "no!"

She wailed and collapsed into the ANBU's arms, crying heavily, grasping the fabric of his shirt as if it was the last thing keeping her alive. That was the day that Tou was kidnapped, reported killed by the blood at the site she had been stolen at.

Two days later, her mother had died of heartbreak.

She had lost her husband two months prior to the loss of her daughter. June Twenty-Ninth.

Tragedy had not ended there.

Presently…

Sakura had dragged herself out of reminiscing, looking to Shikamaru with a light shrug and a frown. He seemed to have recalled the exact set up of the whole building, and stared at Tou, seeing the look of remorse in her eyes. They had come to the conclusion that she did not want to be here, or that she was fighting her thoughts.

Tou's mouth parted as if she was trying to form words, her eyes concentrated, murky with the burden racking her mind. She moved over to a chair that resembled the moon and took a seat, feeling it's cradling warmth and sighed, staring at the floor, "I suppose you're curious as to what we were speaking about earlier."

It was blunt, and caught Neji and Kakashi off guard, and they too, took seats across from her, while Sakura took a seat beside her, as for Naruto and Shikamaru, they snagged the couch. Kakashi reclined a bit in the chair, finding that it had been plugged in, having heating pads all around it. He recalled that from the little time they had known her before her disappearance, she had started to like heating pads, as they made her permanent 'wounds' feel better, and to be honest, it made him feel pretty damn good as well.

"Yes…we would like to know, we were not informed of the mission's specifics," Neji spoke clearly, making her flinch a bit and sigh, rubbing her arm before trying to tuck it behind her body to get closer to the warmth. It was the arm she used with the illusion, Kakashi noted and frowned, It must be excruciating.

"To put it simply, you were supposed to protect me."

"What," Naruto exclaimed, shooting up with sparkling blue eyes full of surprise. He seemed a bit bristled about the matter, as his hands were clenched, and he glared, "then why were you leaving the village?"

"I was trying to lessen their burden. Ever since I had arrived there their attacks have risen," Tou answered, shivering and trying to press her arm against the warm pad behind her, making her wince and groan. Sakura jolted and fought the urge to move over to her, she didn't have much chakra from the last time she tried to heal the female beside her.

"So that's why Ren-san seemed so delighted when she saw us, but once she saw you, her mood spiraled downward," Shikamaru muttered, a concentrated look on his face, "I've never heard of your clan before, but I'm sure that most of them die before they are well into their forties, due to that hyper-reactive Kekkei Genkai you have. For example, if I picked up this coaster, I'd toss it at you, and your mind would trigger a defense from your body, and seize your body again…how big can your illusions get?"

"Colossal," she muttered, glancing up at them with miserable lime colored hues. She sighed and pushed her hair away from her face, leaning forward, "your mission was to find me, recognize me, and drag me back to Konoha 'kicking and screaming'. I didn't want that, so I gathered Heta, and a few belongings, and headed out. I encountered you anyways…but we came to a peaceful agreement. We could leave in the morning, I'll just have to pack up my photos."

"Right," they all muttered, pausing and looking at each other with grim looks. Was this really their mission? Was this why Tsunade hadn't told them?

I'll lead the pink haired girl and her fiancé to their room first, she thought and stood carefully, wincing and gritting her teeth as her arm and lower back complained. She needed to get that chakra pool out from there, otherwise it could become solid and hurt her in more ways than one. She grasped Sakura's hand after leaning down, and then moved her head from Kakashi's direction to the hallway, obviously leading them to their rooms. He stood up and the rest of the group followed suit, lining up one by one, though the hallway easily allowed for three people to walk side by side.

Tou's bare feet slid across the ground silently, as did the others who weren't tired, Shikamaru was another case, but that was expected of the lazy nin. With each room they were dropped in, they had viewed previously, except for one in which they passed, ignored due to it's coloring.

The door was black.

It sent Shikamaru's mind through a reel, wondering why such a depressing color took hold of a door, but then, as she deposited him into his room, she turned, looked both ways sadly, sighed, and retreated into her own room. The one with the dark door, things just keep getting more interesting as time goes by. It's such a change from the normal, boring life of Konohagakure.

Tou shifted into her room quietly, the bridge of her nose scrunched as she let a sneer and a hiss pass her features. She collapsed on the plush floor, the only room in the house that had pillows littered everywhere. Safety reasons, obviously. She groaned, the pillows were nice and warm on her arm, which felt as if it was being minced slowly, painfully, as was her heart. Her breathing came out in short pants, pupils contracting into slivers, instead of the normal slits, and she squeezed them shut, whimpering and moving onto her back, pressing her palms into her eyes to ease the pressure bursting at her skull.

A length-wise mirror stained with red and rust was on the other side of the door, leaving her to stare at herself, and she moved over to it careful of her weakened state. She looked at the window, then, once she deemed the coast was clear, she stuck out her tongue, heavy black lines staining it with gaps of pink no more than a centimeter in distance raced between them. One of the black lines was open and disappearing, staining her saliva black, and the veins on the inside of her mouth black as well. She shuddered as pain took hold of her again and coughed, accidentally hitting the mirror with the tar-like liquid.

The green-haired adult decided that she didn't need to burden them, so she grabbed the bottle of peroxide, a rag, and poured the liquid over the gash in her tongue, jolting painfully as she bit the rag to hold back the shriek of distaste as it sizzled at the self inflicted wound. Slowly, the sizzling stopped, and she grabbed a cup, spitting into it, and checked her tongue again. Scars littered her tongue everywhere, ranging from their depth, but never the size. Each were microscopic slivers, painful in appearance, and she glared back at her family lineage.

She hated them.

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