I finally reach my apartment, my conversation with Natsuye still ringing in my head. It's not easy to let go of a memory that is too precious and fragile to you. The pocket watch represented that memory and the only way to take that memory from me was to pry it from my cold, dead fingers.
I fumble in my pack for my key before unlocking the flaky green door. Inside the air is stuffy and humid, I hadn't stepped foot in it for over two weeks. I open the windows and let the cool air inside. It did feel good to be home. I took a quick shower before collapsing on my crumpled bed. I had also neglected to make it before I left but it didn't matter for I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.
"Well that was easy!" I say, tying my new headband over my forehead. The silver plate caught the sun and it made golden spots on the ground.
"Yeah! Now we're officially genin!" Reika claps her hands together.
"I wish we were genin too!" I turn and see Masumi pouting, her friend Akari stands next to her with an equally disappointed look.
"Don't worry! You guys are still in the Academy. Just another year and you'll be out too!" Reika says brightly and they smile slightly. Reika always had the power to make people feel better.
"Hey! You guys gotten your teams yet?" Genma waves us over to where a large group has gathered by a sheet of paper hanging on the door to the Academy. People exclaim in joy as they see who is on their teams. I finally push my way up to the front and eagerly scan the printed names.
"Reika! We're on the same team!" I shout to her and she gives me a thumbs-up sign.
"Who else?"
I quickly scan the list again, hoping that one of our other friends would be with us but my heart quickly drops when I read the third name. "It's Aoki."
"Oh… okay!" She says after a quick pause. I scan the group for Aoki. I finally spot him and he makes his way over to me.
"So we're on the same team?"
"Yeah I guess." I take a deep breath. Aoki had been one of the most annoying kids in the Academy. Always trying to prove everyone wrong and usually ended up putting his foot in his big mouth.
"With Reika-chan?"
"Yep, that's me!" She says brightly, shooting me a warning look. "Don't be mean" it seemed to say.
"I wonder who our sensei is." I say.
"I think I can answer to that." I hear a cool voice behind me and turn to see Hisoka walking towards our group, her long blonde hair billowing out behind her.
"Hisoka-san! I mean sensei!" I say. She was one of the best medical-nin in the village and I looked up to her.
"I'm glad I have you two on my team." She nods to me and Reika and quick introductions are made.
Suddenly Natsuye runs up. "Sar! Who's on your team?"
"Reika and Aoki" I motion to them and she nods.
"Cool. I'm with Genma and Raidou."
I feel my insides curl with jealousy. I had been nursing a crush on Raidou for a while and was extremely disappointed when he wasn't on my team. Now my best friend got to be on his team. I secretly wished I could swap Aoki for Raidou, but that would be so rude as Reika would say.
"Well maybe we'll team up sometime!" I say nicely and she smiles back.
"Okay! Got to go!"
"Come on now, let's start training." Hisoka-sensei says and we follow her out of the yard.
"Our first B-rank mission! And we're still genin!" Aoki exclaims as we head out of the village.
"Don't get too excited." Hisoka-sensei says in a soothing voice. "We just need to deliver these medical supplies that Sunagakare are in need of."
"But it's still cool!"
Reika and I exchange a look. It had been two years since we had been on a team with Aoki but we still hadn't got used to him. I shouldered the backpack full of syringes and fluids. A severe drought and sandstorm had settled in on the Land of Wind and supplies were low. We were supposed to deliver supplies for people suffering from dehydration and heat stroke.
We were nearing the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Valleys.
"Keep your heads up everyone. Even though this is a peaceful mission and we should have direct passage through to the Land of Wind, we have warred many times with the Land of Valleys and they still may be suspicious of us. Just keep an eye out for patrols." Hisoka says to us before turning back onto the path. We move back into our positions and I frequently scan the trees. They grow sparser and sparser as we walk further from the Land of Fire and sand soon replaces the grass. I take a quick glance and see a small reflection behind a charred pine tree. It almost looks like the glint of a mirror.
"Hisoka-sensei? What's that?" I point to the tree and she turns her head to look in the same direction.
I am not prepared for what happened next. A large shuriken had come flying out of the trees and effectively lodged itself in Hisoka's back and neck. Needles immediately fly from all directions onto us and I dive to the ground. I feel running footsteps and immediately gauge that there are four shinobi. I leap out of the sand and whip an arrow out of my quiver and launch it to the nearest target. It impales a large man and I pull out another one to let it fly into the eye of another. I hear the whistle of a kunai by my ear before it clangs to the ground after bouncing off of Reika's sword. She launches one of her own kunai into the trees where I hear it connect with soft human flesh.
Three down, one to go.
I scan the trees quickly; I do not know where Hisoka-sensei or Aoki are. A leaf flutters down by my face and I look up to see a shadow flit from one branch to another. I carefully aim an arrow up into the trees and close my eyes before releasing it. In the next moment the body lands at my feet. It's headband is inscribed with the Tanigakure insignia. So much for peaceful relations.
"Are you hurt?" I hear Reika ask and I shake my head.
"Where's Hisoka-sensei? And Aoki?" I ask, fear rising in my throat. I look down on the ground and see a long trail of blood leading off of the path and into the trees. I follow it and a few feet away Hisoka is leaning against a rock, the shuriken still lodged in her side. I collapse by her side and begin o perform healing jutsu on her. It is weak for my hands are shaking uncontrollably.
"Don't worry sensei. We'll fix you then get you back to the village." I try to keep my voice level. She weakly puts up a blood-soaked hand and pushes my hands away, breaking the jutsu.
"Look at me Sarami."
I bring my tear-filled eyes up to meet hers. Her amber eyes are glazed over in pain.
"When they call on you… do not refuse. Help us. Fight for us." She says weakly, her breath barely escaping her throat.
"What do you mean sensei? You're going to be fine…" I take her hand in my own and squeeze it. She shakes her head slowly in response and I hear her heartbeat fade. The tears streak down my face and I bite my lip to keep from wailing.
"Sarami! Sarami!"
I am snapped back to reality with Reika's bloodcurdling screams. I race through the trees to find her and I finally see her standing in a small clearing.
"Reika we have to get back, Hisoka-sensei… she's… she's dead… we need help!" But my pleas trail off as I take in Reika's shocked face. I finally reach her and look to where she is looking.
Aoki's feet hang off of the ground, a long wooden stake has been pierced through his chest and is pinning him to the tree. His white hands grasp the stake as if he was trying to pull it out; his eyes are widened in shock. And that's when I know it was all over.
I wake later in the hospital; I do not remember how I got there. My mind feels numb and I can tell they have me hooked up to something to calm my anxiety. I hear a door open and close and I call out, my voice hoarse, "Nurse, can I have some water?"
The curtain is opened then drawn shut again but the person who turns to me is not a nurse. She is dressed in a completely black body suit with a scarlet red cloak over the top. She slowly unties her porcelain mask shaped like a cat to reveal an older kunoichi. I had never seen her before.
"Sarami. My name is Shigemi. You do not know me but your sensei, Hisoka, recommended you for our program. We are willing to accept you if you wish."
"Are you ANBU?" I ask.
She smiles slightly. "No, we are better than that. I am part of an organization called the Red Corps. We take highly specialized kunoichi only."
I pause in my response and my face must have shown a look of apprehension for she smiles reassuringly.
"Of course I will give you time to think it over, with you being in the hospital and all. Here is my card." She hands me a small index card died to a deep red. All it reads is an address.
She ties her mask back onto her face and draws the curtain open, "It would be a way to honor your sensei's wishes." And then she is gone.
I wake up shaking, my hair is matted to my sweaty face and the sheets lay tangled around my legs. And so began the journey that was never going to end. I wiped the sweat from my eyes and pulled the blankets back around me, trying to calm my racing heart.
I almost float off into sleep before my eyes fly open again. A shadow has fallen across the moon and there is a subtle tap, tap on the glass of my window.