Four weeks later
Sasuke didn't come back to train with me anymore. I knew exactly what that meant. In some ways knew him better than he knew himself. He was planning on leaving, and he knew I'd see it and stop him if he was training with me. I wasn't going to try and stop him. They boy needed to make his own mistakes.
He had probably lost most of the respect he had for me anyway. How ironic is it that when I finally gain the trust of the village, I lose the trust of the one person who has trusted me since the beginning? I honestly couldn't care less about what the village thought of me.
At the beginning I did, when Itachi had first left, and I could see the accusing, hateful stares, I could feel them. It was as if I was the one who killed everyone myself. Part of me wanted to think that all of the villagers were blind. Did they not see that I was in the hospital, nearly dead? Did they not see that I was the one who saved Sasuke? That was when they watched me closest too, when I was with Sasuke. Every time I made a sudden movement they would all flinch.
But all of that has changed now. Everything's completely turned around. People wave at me on the streets. The civilians come to me when they need help or protection. They all think that I'm their savior now.
My missions were suffocating and boring until we got our new Hokage. Now they're just boring, as usual. Tsunade did have me training with her once a week. I don't know why, but she seems to take comfort in training me.
Talk about an infuriating woman. Her office is always cluttered. She refuses to do her paperwork. Most of the time, the paperwork is her problem. I normally find ways to ignore it. I only mind when I can't see her when I'm giving her my mission reports, like today.
"You did very well Kiyomi," she said from behind her piles of papers. "I have another mission for you now. This one's classified above top secret. I want you to find an old friend of yours."
"You want me to locate Itachi Uchiha?" I asked.
Him again, I thought. He already broke his promise can't I just forget about him? Either he broke it or was planning on taking his dear sweet time to complete it. I guess I can't trust his word after all. How well do I really know him now? I mean, I knew him then, and back then he always kept his word, even to his enemy's, but this is now. How much has he changed?
"Yes, it is necessary," she said.
I sighed. "Can I request permission to kill?"
"Kiyomi," she said. She sounded like she was scolding a child. "He was your friend."
"Was and is are two different things. I wasn't talking about killing him anyway," I replied sourly. There are some others on the team that deserve death. "If you won't grant me permission to kill I ask for permission to study. I want to learn everything I can about his allies before I attack with them on his side. I also fear that I do not know him well enough now to be able to win in a fight of this magnitude without death for one of us as a probable result."
"Okay. I want Itachi captured, not killed. Bring him back here and we'll take care of the rest."
"Yes ma'am. I'll depart as soon as I believe I'm ready."
"Good. You may leave." I did as she said.
She was defiantly better than the council. Granted, I got hurt more in training with her than with the council. I still liked her much better. She didn't resort to pain when she lost her temper most of the time. I felt as though I was more free to speak my mind near her than I was with anyone else who has a high rank in the politics of Kohana.
The sun was setting in the sky as I was walking home. It created beautiful colors on the horizon, especially when set against the water. I was so glad that my new home was on the water. I might actually keep this one. I swung opened the door and stepped onto the creaking wood floor.
There was a nice rug with a couch when you first came into my home. The rug was in a small hallway that led to the living room. I had some furniture in there and a nice fireplace, nothing extravagant, just workable things. My kitchen was decent sized, and had the usual appliances in it. The only really nice thing I had in my kitchen was an expensive set of beautiful kitchen knives.
My bedroom was the most lavished room in the house, because I was rarely ever home, and the only place I spend the most time was there. I owned a dark stained pine canopy four poster king sized bed. There was beautiful crimson drapes hanging from the bed frame, which matched my black bedding completely. A nightstand that matched the color of the bed's wood sat on either side of the bed. Both nightstands were decorated with books of many kinds. My dresser was the same wood material, and had a mirror on top of it.
There was a jewelry box on top of the dresser, holding jewelry I inherited from my biological parents. It was dropped off with me at the orphanage, and I when I was adopted my stepmother took it. I got it all back, plus some, when she was murdered. Most of the pieces were beautifully ornate, and the type of jewelry you'd only wear at an expensive gathering, like a ball or high end meeting. I've never warn any of it before, but didn't have the heart to sell it because it somehow makes me feel closer to my real parents by keeping it.
I went straight to the shower the second I stepped foot inside the door, and I stayed in there for a little while, letting the warm water soothe my muscles and heal the cuts that I got from my last mission. It was just a B ranked mission, not too hard. It didn't require much thought. I was going through an old tomb to find missing artifacts that were stolen from a family many centuries ago and giving them back to their rightful kin.
When I finally got out the mirrors were all steamed up to the point where I couldn't tell if I was looking at my reflection or that of the latest criminal I came in contact with. I couldn't help but smile when I saw my warm, fuzzy clothes laid out over the sink. I had forgotten that I had set them out; maybe I had done it before I left the house this morning. It was a black tank top that fit very comfortably and a pair of blue sweatpants that were fuzzy on the inside. I had to role the tops of them down a few times to fit into them properly, but I didn't care about that too much.
I got out of the bathroom and dried my hair with a towel before brushing it through. I fell backwards onto my plush bed. I picked up a random book from my bedside and began reading. It was an old story that no one had ever found the ending to. I had already read it about a dozen times, but each time I came up with a different ending for it.
To say the least my life was going well. Things could be better, but I don't have a genin to train. I don't have any stupid flashback moments anymore. I have a house by the lake. I get to watch the sunset from my bedroom window. I'm paid better than I was before. Tsunade has been training me. All in all I love life and it loves me back.
I set my book on my lap and looked out of my window to the sun set. I loved the colors in the sky reflected against the water. A soft smile formed on my face. The colors danced before my eyes, gently forming shapes and pictures.
I fell asleep in less than an hour.
The shadows danced against the wall as the moon climbed higher into the darkness of the sky. It cast shadows over her slender figure. The floorboards creaked slightly, but it did not disturb the sleeping girl in the least. In the entranceway to her house stood a shadowed cloaked figure, carefully searching the area for traps. He smiled slightly when he found none, and carefully continued with his mission. He started searching through her things, through rooms, trying to find something, anything.
He stopped in the kitchen, seeing the newest model of kitchen knives sitting on her counter. He picked one up, admiring the fine craftsmanship of the blade. He could almost see his reflection in the metal. He turned the blade around in his hand a few times, testing its weight, and balance. They were good, he noticed. He might have to get himself a set. He continued into the bedroom, not letting go of his newly acquired weapon.
The figure stopped before he entered the threshold, for he knew that she would wake up if he dared step closer. He was lucky that he had made it this far without being discovered, he wasn't about to test it anymore.
His eyes scanned her room, looking for anything that would hint at her attachments. All he could see that could even remotely have any meaning to her were the mountains of overused books around her house. There was nothing. This girl had nothing to tie her to anyone. There were no pictures of family members. There was not one single thing anywhere tying her to anything.
Still he could sense something. There was something holding her to someone, he knew it. There's always something, he just had to find it. He could sense that there was someone. It was almost strong enough to touch but there was nothing!
The man sighed and took one last look at the girl before retreating into the shadows.
