Hey, so we've have reached part 10 of the story. :) Just wanted to say thank you for everyone who has been reading this story; hope everyone enjoys this part.
"Sensei! Sensei! What's our mission? What is it? Is it something really cool?" questioned Naruto bouncing up and down with excitement and impatience.
"Team 7 was specifically requested for this mission," Kakashi replied.
At this revelation Naruto's eyes grew wide and his voice became louder. "WE WERE? WHAT IT IS? WHAT ARE WE GOING TO BE DOING?"
Kakashi flinched at Naruto's increase in volume and sighed, "Not so loud Naruto."
"JUST TELL ME WHAT THE MISSION IS ALREADY!"
Kakashi let out another sigh. "We were asked by the owners of Neringoko Farm to help them out on the farm."
At Kakashi's response Naruto's excitement turned to disbelief. "What?! That's not a mission for a great ninja like me!"
While Naruto dealt with his feelings of disillusionment, Sachi also felt surprised by the revelation of their mission. However, while Naruto was disappointed, Sachi was pleasantly surprised. She knew from her own studies that beginning missions for genin were often of this nature, so the content of their mission did not catch her off guard like Naruto, however, she was surprised because she knew the owners of the farm-Nana and Goro Neringoko-and had often gone there with Reina's team and Hiro's girlfriend's team to help out on the farm. Sachi felt relieved that their first mission was at a place that she was familiar with.
As a feeling of relief settled over Sachi, something else suddenly occurred to her. Some of the times that she helped out she remembered seeing Sasuke there. She was usually with Reina and the other girls-Akane, Kohana, and Aiko-and the boys were usually assigned different tasks so she didn't really see him much or talk to him or anything, but now that she thought about it, he was definitely there some times.
I wonder how he knows Nana and Goro?
As Sachi thought this, her gaze turned towards the Uchiha and for the second time that morning she was caught off guard as their eyes met.
Was he staring at me? Or did we just happen to look at each other at the same time?
This question quickly faded from Sachi's mind as she became preoccupied with his cold gaze; she wondered why his onyx eyes were so cold and distant.
They weren't always like that. What happened to him? Along with this thought, Sachi felt a wave of sorrow wash over her. These thoughts and the feeling that accompanied them confused Sachi because she didn't understand where they had come from. She didn't understand them, yet at the same time they felt familiar, like they belonged to her, but like her missing memories, she just couldn't put them into context.
What happened? Why are your eyes so cold? These next words that ran through her mind were just as confusing to her, yet they also had that familiar, yet foreign feeling to them.
"What did you say?"
Sachi was suddenly jostled out of her thoughts by Sasuke's words. She looked at him for a moment before answering. "I didn't say anything."
She watched as he opened his mouth as though to reply, but then he froze, his eyes growing slightly wide as though he was surprised by something. It was then that Sachi noticed that his face had grown pale. A worried frown fell over her face.
"Is something wrong?" She asked.
"No," he replied, before quickly tearing his eyes away from her own.
"You sure? You look a little pale."
"I'm fine."
A frown appeared on Sachi's face, just like how she knew with Kakashi, she also knew that Sasuke was not quite telling the truth. However, while she was worried about him, Sachi also knew that prying would do no good, so she didn't press him.
"Sasuke? Sachi? We're heading out now." Kakashi's words abruptly reminded Sachi that her and Sasuke were not alone and that they were actually supposed to be heading out on their first mission. Sachi felt her cheeks grow warm; now wasn't the time for her to be sorting out her personal problems.
"Oh! Sorry Kakashi-sensei," she quickly apologized, while reminding herself that she needed to focus on the mission at hand. Even if the mission was at a place that she knew of, she couldn't let down her guard and had to be prepared to give it her all, because, after all, it was her first mission as a member of squad seven.
"What?! That's not a mission for a great ninja like me!"
Moron. Sasuke shook his head at Naruto's reaction to the details of their first mission. While Sasuke didn't think it was much of a mission either, they were just promoted to genin level, so he wasn't surprised that they received such a mission. However, the fact that the mission took place on that farm was not something that he was expecting.
A scowl came over his face. He tried to stay away from that place as much as possible; it reminded him too much of the past before everything changed. Of course, thanks to Akito's, the Neringoko's grandson, interference, he was dragged there once a month to help out; Akito said that Sasuke owed it to Nana and Goro and that showing his face made them worry less about how he was doing.
At least I know what to expect. And the sooner I get these low ranked missions out of the way, the sooner I can take on better missions that will actually help me reach my goal.
Yes, there was no use in dwelling on the details of the mission, he would just accept it for what it was and get it done, just like how he got through those monthly visits to the farm. As Sasuke thought about the monthly visits, it suddenly occurred to him that he remembered seeing her there. His gaze locked onto Sachi Aburame. He hadn't really thought much about it before, but he was certain that he had seen her there before.
Why does she help out there?
As soon as this thought came into his mind, another one immediately dismissed it.
Why am I even thinking about this? It has nothing to do with me.
With this thought, Sasuke resolved to return his attention back to Kakashi, but just as he was about to, Sachi turned around and their eyes met. All previous thoughts that Sasuke had about diverting his attention elsewhere fled from his mind as he was caught in Sachi's gaze. It was then that Sasuke realized just how unusual a color Sachi's eyes were. They were a vibrant shade of violet; he had never seen anyone else with such an eye color.
"What happened? Why are your eyes so cold?"
Startled by the sudden utterance of these words, a rare look of surprise settled over his face and an outburst, directed at Sachi, spilled out of his mouth. "What did you say?"
At Sasuke's outburst a puzzled look fell over the girl's face. "I didn't say anything."
Sasuke opened his mouth ready to insist that she did, but was stopped when he happened to glance into her eyes. He squinted. He swore he saw the faint imprint of a silver outlined star in her pupil.
"Is something wrong?" Sachi's concerned voice asked.
"No." Sasuke replied, tearing his gaze away from the girl's eyes.
"You sure? You look a little pale."
"I'm fine," Sasuke automatically replied. However, as he said this, he realized that he felt a bit lightheaded.
The girl didn't look convinced, but she didn't say anymore. She stared at him a moment longer and in that moment Sasuke couldn't help but to look at her eyes again, the imprint of the star he had seen before still fresh in his mind. However, when he looked back he could no longer see the star imprint.
At that moment before he could dwell on this matter any longer, Kakashi's voice reached them. "Sasuke? Sachi? We're heading out now."
"Oh! Sorry Kakashi-sensei." Sachi replied returning her gaze to their sensei.
Sasuke wanted to get one more look at the girl's eyes. A part of him scoffed at him for worrying about such an insignificant and unimportant thing, yet for some reason that he couldn't quite fathom, that star shaped imprint bothered him.
Unfortunately, after Sachi's reply, Sasuke's view of her was abruptly blocked by Sakura who began to chat away. "Sasuke! So are you ready for this mission?"
As Sakura chatted away and team seven headed out, the shock of the star imprint and the voice he thought he heard began to wear off, Sasuke chocked it all off to his imagination; after all, he hadn't slept great last night. Of course, remembering last night also made him recall the reason he hadn't slept well last night: It was all because of that dream. The one that had her in it. Not to mention that there was that dream this morning as well, that one was kind of hazy to him now, but she was in that one as well.
No. Stop. Sasuke shook his head. Why was he worrying about all this? None of it was important. He just needed to forget about it. He again reminded himself of the reason he had worked hard training all these years. It was all because of him. It was all for getting his revenge.
Yes, that was all that mattered to the young Uchiha; he had come this far, he couldn't let unimportant things get in his way.