A/N: I am not dead. Just VERY VERY lazy.
Sorry for the long wait, everyone!
Also, this is a short chapter, and I apologize for that. I just have a lot of crud going on.
ELECTION DAY.
Omg do you guys like the story cover? I'm so happy I found one XD
Side note #1- Those of who you read Chapter 3 BEFORE October 19, 2012, please do go back and reread some of it. Some things have changed. Thank you.
Side note #2- I have pictures of Kotone, Maiko, Hanako, and Hiromi. If you would like me to upload them somewhere, I would gladly do so, but I need a safe website. Thank you.
Anyways, enjoy the chapter!
-:-
She stopped crying. She reasoned that there was very little blood left in her body.
She was so alone. She was so lonely.
Suddenly, she was crying again.
-:-
Hiromi clenched her fists at her sides, her face tilted down. She was so ashamed. Fat, warm tears fell down her face and she felt as though she should hide.
"She went missing .. three months after you left," her voice was so shaky it was disgraceful, "and I looked everywhere.. I looked everywhere."
The chunin attempted to wipe away some of her waterworks, but failed. Her tears continued to fall.
"Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Sensei and I.. we.. I .. We looked all day, every day. Constantly. And.. and.. we never found anything."
Azure eyes revealed themselves, puffy and red, waterworks continuously plummeting down her face.
"One day.. Shikamaru found a bloody cloth outside of the village.. It was Maiko's blood.. It was.. I.. I .. The Hokage told us to keep her death under wraps… There's some sort of secret she won't let us know.. I .. Maiko is…"
Hiromi couldn't finish. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed loudly. She lamented.
"I .." Her voice cracked, "I should've kept looking.. Maybe I could've found her before .. Before.. she.."
The blonde collapsed to her knees. She howled in grief, so afflicted that she could not form any more vocabulary. The chunin wept.
Kotone had staggered back during the rant. Maiko Arakawa.. had died? No. It wasn't possible. In fact, she would go looking!
.
.
.
The usually indifferent princess's brows knitted together with distress. Was Maiko really dead? Gone? Forever?
"I'm so sorry, Kotone!" Hiromi wept, "I'm so sorry I couldn't keep the pact we made.. I'm sorry I didn't protect my sister.. I'm so sorry.."
"It's not your fault," Kotone whispered, "Do not blame yourself."
For the seemingly first time in her entire life, Amaterasu 'comforted' someone. She leaned down and wrapped her arms around Hiromi's shaking shoulders. The pale damsel rested her cheek upon the blonde's crown and spoke in a soft tone.
"It's okay," she breathed, "Maiko must be out there somewhere."
Hiromi responded in a small voice, "No, Kotone.. No. She's gone. It's been years.. Where could she have gone? Where?!"
The blonde girl nearly shoved away her friend, but the princess's iron grip held her steady. Hiromi was glad. She cried into Amaterasu's kimono.
"It's .. It's all my fault," She struggled to say.
Kotone shook her head, "Maiko must be out there somewhere. She must be. The girl we both knew would never.."
Her voice trailed off as Hiromi gripped her tighter.
"I'm so sorry.." she whispered.
"It's not your fault," Amaterasu insisted, "It's not. Don't blame yourself."
Hiromi sat up, looking up into the dark sky with blank eyes. Her cheeks were stained by her tears and her teammate felt as though no more embracing was needed.
"If only I had been stronger. If only I had known. If only I had seen the small signs. If only I wasn't me."
The two sat in an unfortunate silence for a while longer.
"She has to be out there," Kotone ensured, "Maiko Arakawa would never die so abruptly."
By this time, it was unsure whether or not she was trying to convince Hiromi, or herself.
Hiromi laughed grimly, wiping some tears from her eyes, "Shikamaru believes that, too. He still thinks she's out there somewhere."
She tucked a stray strand of gold behind her ear, her graze not breaking from the dark sky, lit dimly by the lights of the village.
"I don't believe it for a single second" she whispered.
Amaterasu stood. Her posture was stiffly straight, as per usual, but her expression remained unreadable. Her white eyes were clouded with thought.
"Tell me."
Hiromi turned from the sky to her teammate, "Tell you what?"
"Tell me where the real Hiromi Sato is."
Amaterasu did not give the blonde girl enough time to respond, for she continued.
"Tell me when you lost hope."
The colorless damsel got up and left without another word.
-:-
The last thing she wanted was a visitor. The Hokage had had a long day, filled with paperwork after paperwork after paperwork, and after trying to figure out some of this Akatsuki nonsense, she decided it was time to take a break.
As Tsunade leaned back in her chair, breathing a sigh of relief, her door received a knock. At first, she believed it to be Shizune, calling out "Come in!" immediately.
The door creaked open, and the buxom woman was greeted with the sight of Kotone.
"What are you doing here so late?" Tsunade asked, "I thought Hiromi needed to see you."
The stone-faced princess ignored the question completely, acting as though the Hokage had not said anything at all.
"Maiko Arakawa. Tell me everything."
The Hokage's expression tightened, but she kept a cool demeanor.
"Get out of my office. It's late, and I'm leaving. Whatever questions you have can wait until morning."
"She's not dead," Kotone pressed on, "There is only a forty percent chance that she's not dead, but I believe it wholeheartedly."
Tsunade gritted her teeth, "I .. said.. get .. out."
"The whereabouts of Maiko Arakawa are my business, along with Hiromi's, and Hanako-sensei's. Whatever secrets you may be hiding are going to be held against you."
The Hokage growled angrily, "I don't have time for this! I'm busy enough with all this Akatsuki business! What makes you think I've got information about Maiko hiding out somewhere?!"
"You think she's alive," Kotone pointed out coolly, "And you think she's in hiding."
Tsunade bit her tongue harshly.
"Who do you think you are, barging into my office and bombarding me with questions?!" She snarled in return.
It took her seconds to realize the unfamiliar emotion on Kotone's face. The teenager's eyes held grief and lost hope. Her lips quivered in the slightest of manners. The fists at her sides seemed rigid.
"I'm her teammate," Amaterasu spat.
Tsunade's heart ached. She stood from her chair and opened her mouth to yell, but closed it hurriedly. No more information could be revealed in this conversation.
"Shizune," the elder woman addressed her assistant who had appeared in the doorway, "escort this girl out of my office."
The brunette's gaze shifted from the Hokage to the princess of the Nishi no sabaku [A/N: West Desert] forlornly. She felt ill when thinking of withholding information from her fellow villagers, but obeyed her orders nonetheless. Shizune reached out to grab Kotone's shoulder gently, but the girl turned away from Tsunade and glided her way out of the room, her long white kimono brushing the dark-haired assistant as the damsel disappeared.
"Milday," Shizune began after an extended hushed moment.
Tsunade walked to her large window and closed her eyes thoughtfully, "What is it."
"You should tell them," her assistant proposed meekly, "They deserve to know."
"It's dangerous."
"It's honest!" Shizune argued.
Tsunade snarled, "What makes you think the three of them are ready for this?!"
The two fell into a meticulous stillness. The Hokage peered out at the village during its night hours. It was lit beautifully by the lights of the villagers. She cared for each and every one of them.
"Nothing, really," Shizune whispered, "I just think that it's time to reveal the truth."
"No one knows the truth."
"You do."
"That's different. I have to. And even now, I wish.."
Tsunade let a stray tear slip from her right eye.
"I wish I didn't know."
-:-
Hiromi woke up early, in the clammy and cold morning. She sat up in her bed and massaged her temples. She had a migraine.
The blonde stumbled out of her bed, tossing her heavy blankets back to her bed as they tried to follow her to the hallway bathroom.
She looked into her reflection and hissed at her tearstained cheeks. Some mascara still remained, dripping unattractively from her eyes, and she washed away the grime immediately.
As she looked back into her hideous eyes, she felt the burning sensation of incoming tears. Taped to the mirror was a copy of the Team 14 photo. Hiromi let her tears fall as she stroked the paper delicately, wishing for those easy, blissful days to return.
She cried.
-:-
Kotone did not sleep well. She sat in her bedroom, alone (she kicked Aiko out to have some time to think), with her face lit by the dying light of the moon. The damsel's eyes felt heavy, but when she closed them she saw pictures of Maiko and did not want to see them.
"Milady?"
"Enter."
The door swung open silently and the sound of light footsteps caused Amaterasu to turn and look at Aiko. The foreign girl had purchased some pajamas (Kotone was unable to bring herself to change into them) and seemed very comfortable in them as she made her way slowly to her princess.
"I think there's something you want to see."
Amaterasu looked away, back again at the window. She did not want to go anywhere. In her mind, she knew the emotions she was feeling. Sadness. Anger. Laziness. Sometimes she wished she was still a puppet.
"There is a one hundred percent chance that I am feeling very.. sluggish at the moment. Please leave me."
Aiko persisted, not budging an inch.
"It involves Maiko."
Her sluggishness had vanished.
-:-
Hanako gently tied the sash on Haru's dress. The little creature was humming silently, a song she had probably heard from the festival. When Hanako reached up to brush her child's hair, Haru screeched.
"No, mommy!"
"Why not?" She asked, swallowing an exasperated sigh.
Haru crossed her arms stubbornly, "I don't want pigtaiws."
"But you look so pretty with pigtails."
"I want my hair spiky!"
"Why is that?"
"I wanna wook wike Daddy!"
Hanako shrugged, placing the brush in her daughter's hands.
"Go nuts," she ordered lazily.
The little demon ran to the mirror in her small room, her mother's eyes following her. When the silver-haired babe was out of sight, Hanako began to clean.
She did not necessarily like cleaning, but the medium-sized apartment needed it badly. There were toys everywhere and the ground was not as visible as it should've been. Hanako snatched a doll off the floor and rolled it around in her hands. Its eyes were a beady black, and its hair was sticking up straight in the sky, kudos to Haru (and Kakashi for leaving the peanut butter jar open).
Hanako dumped the poor creature into the sink, planning on cleaning the nutty snack out of its stringy mane later. She picked up an empty laundry basket from nearby and began piling toys into it, tucking strands of hair behind her ear every once in a while.
"You look busy."
The woman nearly threw the basket up into the air, but caught herself, and settled for nearly slipping on a teddy bear that had somehow found its way into and out of the toilet.
"Iruka! You frightened me," Hanako sighed.
She would've prettied herself up some more had she known she was going to have a guest. In the present, Hanako wore a pair of yoga pants and one of Kakashi's shirts. She felt like a mom.
"Ah, sorry," The tan teacher said, "I didn't mean to."
"Where are my manners?" the dark-haired mom said, laughing elegantly, "Please, take a seat wherever you like; I'll make some tea."
"You really don't have to-" Iruka began.
"Nonsense!" Hanako said, resting the laundry basket on her hip and waving her other hand nonchalantly, "Sit down and make yourself at home. I'm sure Haru's around here somewhere."
Iruka didn't have time to refuse as he found himself suddenly sitting at the kitchen table.
"Haru-chan!" Hanako called, "Iruka-sensei is here!"
The woman sent the teacher a friendly wink before disappearing (to rid herself of the basket of goodies). Haru came bounding out of what looked like her bedroom with her hairbrush in her hand as though it was some sort of weapon. She looked upon Iruka with a friendly smile only a child could manage and she climbed into the seat beside him, making sure to move it closer to him than it was originally.
"Iwuka!" She announced cheerfully, "Hewo!"
The teacher couldn't help but return her grin, "Hello, Haru-chan. What are you doing?"
The toddler remembered the brush in her hand and passed it to Iruka in a very serious manner. Using her hand, she pushed some hair out of her face before beginning her explanation.
"I wanna wook mowe wike Daddy!"
I want to look more like Daddy, Iruka translated in his head.
"Ah, really?" He responded.
Haru nodded enthusiastically, nearly causing the flowery headband she had shoved on her head earlier to fall off, "Yes! I wanna have spiky hair!"
To emphasize her point, she threw her little arms up in the air.
"Ah, that sounds like fun."
Iruka could only imagine how many foods the child had stuck in her thin, silver hair to make it look like Kakashi's. He suddenly felt very bad for Hanako.
"Iwuka!" Haru suddenly exclaimed, reaching over and tugging on the man's hand, "Come see my woom!"
Before Iruka could translate, Hanako appeared in a doorway, her hair pinned up in a messy bun, her hands on her hips.
"No, Haru. Iruka and I need to talk."
Hanako strolled over to where her daughter was located before scooping her up (followed by a squeal on Haru's part) and placing the toddler on the ground.
"Go brush your hair," the jounin ordered, and her child obeyed, running to her room.
The two adults listened to the sound of her bare feet on the wood floor until they heard her door shut and Hanako sat down at the kitchen table.
"What's wrong?" She asked immediately.
Iruka responded hurriedly, unsure of how much time he had left until Haru came out again, "Kotone's back, right? And you told her about Maiko?"
Hanako leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms across the shirt that was not her size. She chewed the inside of her cheek nervously, attempting to conjure up some words to make the situation better.
"I didn't tell her anything," she said coolly, "Why do you think I did? Don't you remember the meeting Tsunade-sama held?"
"Of course I do! It's just," Iruka glanced at the window anxiously, as though Kotone would suddenly appear and bombard him with questions (why hadn't she yet, Hanako wondered, Iruka was the only one who would spill the beans under pressure), "Apparently she went to the Hokage and nearly got herself killed."
Hanako leaned forward again and laced her fingers in front of her lips, hiding a smile successfully.
"Really?" She asked, feigning astonishment, "What happened?"
Iruka fell for it, responding, "She wanted to know all about Maiko."
Good girl, Hanako thought to herself.
"So," she asked, losing her fake tone, "Why are you really here? You're not here to gossip; I know that much."
"Did you say anything to Kotone?" Iruka asked, cutting to the chase, as well.
The dark-haired jounin shrugged, "Nothing to reveal information."
She lied blatantly. Iruka glared.
"Please tell me the truth."
"All you're going to do is get me in trouble."
"You're getting yourself in enough trouble as it is!"
"And?!" Hanako growled, "I have a right to know about my own (curse.) student! How would you like it if they withheld information about Naruto from you?!"
The two paused, glancing obviously at Haru's door, wondering if she heard the ruckus. When there was no response, Hanako continued.
"I love my students with all my heart, and when one goes missing they shove a piece of bloody cloth in my face and tell me she's dead!? I don't think you'd sit down and take it either, Iruka."
"Please," he pleaded, "This is for the good of-"
"Of what? The village? Tsunade? Hiromi?" Hanako slammed her hands on the table (if Haru wasn't aware of her mother's anger earlier then she was now), "That little girl lost a sister that day. She's broken."
"Hiromi is fine!" Iruka fought back, but bit his tongue after he said so.
Hanako glared into his eyes furiously.
"I know what losing a sister feels like. And I was not fine."
Haru's door swung open and the toddler waddled her way into the kitchen, not acknowledging the stiff atmosphere.
"Mommy."
The woman smiled at the little girl, but it was forced, "Ah, sweetie, say 'bye' to Iruka-sensei!" She added with a banal expression, "He's leaving."
-:-
Kotone ran as fast as she could, with Aiko and Akio in the lead. They found something. Clues.
The twins turned a sharp corner and their leader followed. Amaterasu's kimono danced behind her as she ran, her shoes making its clacking noises.
Another sharp turn causes the princess to shove herself of a concrete wall to try and catch up. How a blind woman and a mute man were so good at running, she did not know. Suddenly, she realized that she did not know how they got their information.
"How did you find this out?" Kotone asked, nearly slipping on some dirt that was wet with dew.
"Akio and I were looking around the village when you went to see the Hokage," Aiko responded vaguely.
The twins suddenly turned another abrupt corner and as Kotone followed, she realized they had stopped.
"And this," Aiko said silently, "is what we found."
Amaterasu slowly made her way around her frozen subordinates. A humble house made itself known, and the princess gently touched the gateway to it, tracing the title of 'Arakawa' on the gate.
She kept her gaze down on the ragged stepping stones until she was stopped.
By crime scene tape.
A/N:
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Mysterious cliffhanger?
Side note #1 - Once again, for those of who you read Chapter 3 BEFORE October 19, 2012, please go back and reread some of it. Thank you.
Side note #2 - Once again, I have pictures of Kotone, Maiko, Hanako, and Hiromi. If you would like me to upload them, please give me a safe website where I may do so. Thank you.
Thanks to..
(If your name is 'censored' or you cannot see it, I apologize!)
[Reviewers]
{a Wiccan} - I love streamers as well :) They're just a pain to clean up ._. Thank you for reviewing! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
{MaoIsSleepy} - Sorry I didn't update very fast XD Hmmm, I wonder if you found out anything in this chapter ;) I hope you enjoyed Chapter 4 - Thank you for reviewing!
{Animefangirl95} - Thank you! :) Oh, Kiba v.v So desperate for her love. Tsk, tsk. Just kidding XD I hope I don't make him sound desperate!
Hiromi is a wonderful cook :) Hanako is a decent cook :/ Kotone is not allowed to enter the kitchen XD
Hmm, I wonder ;)
They don't wanna get lost in big bad Konoha XD
Thank YOU for reading and reviewing v.v Please do enjoy this new chapter.
{Fairytale-GhostPrincess} - Awww, that's so sweet :) But I will thank you anyway because without readers I would not be encouraged to make these stories! So, thank you! :D
{bored411} - ... - (Can't respond because I would spoil everything)
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
{Psychotic Addict} - ... I wonder if you will believe Shikamaru and Kotone?
Please do enjoy this new chapter v.v Thank you for reading and reviewing!
{suzie1107} - Thank you for liking Maiko XD
... I wonder if you will believe Shikamaru and Kotone? Thank you for reading and reviewing~ I hope you enjoy this new chapter v.v
{ShadowBloodNinja} - Thank you c:
...
Ah, you like Kotone? :D Sorry for nearly killing her off!
o_O you can pelt me with them, now. I updated so slowly.
OMG RIGHT IN THE BOOB UGH EVERYTHING HURTS WHEN ITS IN THE BOOB
Anyways XD Thanks for reviewing and reading!
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Please be looking forward to Chapter 4 of The Free and the Enslaved.