A couple of weeks have passed. Bri has been sticking to her schedule since day one; she's found an unexpected comfort in always knowing what's next, and what's next at this moment is the graduation at the academy.
The older children became special to Bri over the last few weeks. The twelve year olds are not anything like the normal civilian children she grew up with, they're unified, they're devoted and they're downright intimidating. Spending time at the academy only cemented the ideas she already had about the Konoha ninja, they are born and bred to be the best, and their reputation is well deserved.
As Bri begins to set up the chairs in the auditorium she notices a row of photographs on the far wall. They're all class pictures, every year is accounted for. She begins to examine them all, infatuated with the many generations of excellence. She finds the year she would have been twelve and takes notice of the children that may have been her friends. If she had lived this life, what would she have been like now? As she continues down the line she finds Iruka and to her surprise he looks indifferent and empty, she takes a step back placing her hands into her pockets.
"That was the year dad died," Iruka's voice suddenly echoes through the empty room "did you learn about the Kyuubi attack in your school?" he asks.
"We did, actually I remember when that happened. When my mom found out Ikkaku was killed by it, she didn't come home for a week…and now that I think about it, Kinzoku-sensei was acting really weird too." She turns away from the photographs to face her brother "I'm sorry you had to go through that alone."
"What can we do? We have to play the cards we're dealt. Look at us now; I'd say it's finally working out, wouldn't you?"
Again, Iruka's words and aura remind Bri of Kinzoku. Her eyes widen "OH! Do you think…" she runs down to the end of row of pictures "Iruka come here! Tell me which picture those old crotchety council members are in!"
Iruka walks over; the pictures on the wall are becoming older and more faded as he gets closer to Bri. "Well, I suppose they would be in one of the first ones, they're about 70 years old so… ah, here they are, you can tell because that's definitely Danzo-sama right there looking like an asshole," He laughs at his own joke as his sister pushes him out of the way "Uh, why exactly do you want to know?" he asks "If you're wondering if they're robots I'm right there with you."
"They told me they went to school with Kinzoku-sensei! That mean he should be in this picture, right?" she's running her finger over the dusty frame pausing briefly to examine each boys face, she almost reaches the end when she suddenly stops and beams at the photograph "This is him! Look at him Iruka! He's so cute and small! …What is that he's holding?" she turns to her brother inviting him to come take a closer look.
This picture is in black and white, but the light eyes of the boy are still stunning, he's squinting one eye and a sideways smile runs across his face, he's cradling something in his hands "It looks like, maybe, a wind-up toy? Like a metal bird?" Iruka's face is about an inch from the glass "It's so hard to see Bri, I'm not completely sure."
He turns back to look at Bri and catches her wiping the tears from her cheeks, she quickly closes her eyes and smiles, "That makes sense! He made me a wind-up toy for my birthday one year. I couldn't stand to look at it anymore, it's long gone now."
She moves closer to get another look at the picture "It's weird; I would have done anything to grow up here, have friends like that, to graduate from a school like this. He had all of that and just left it behind to become some nobody out in the country. He never even told me about this place."
"I guess the lifestyle here is enticing to outsiders, but the kids that grow up here have to witness and do really horrible things. Some people are less resilient than others, they can't handle it. They want to contain their past in some type of box, throw it away, start over and try and forget. Your sensei was probably like that, and, I mean, isn't that really why you're here?"
"Well no, I came here to find you." Bri replies.
Iruka raises his eyebrows "Those types of people eventually find out it's impossible to run from their past. Your experiences define who you are, just keep that in mind."
With that Iruka begins to walk towards the door "I've got to go check on a few things before the kids get here, try and finish setting up the chairs please!" he calls to Bri as he closes the door behind him.
It was a weird feeling, to look the past in its face. Bri was staring at the one thing Kinzoku never wanted her to see. He didn't even look very different, the light was there shining out of his blue eyes, and the peculiar tilted smile. No matter what had happened to him, he somehow managed to get back to that boy. That boy was the man that Bri knew and loved.
But that's wasn't the person he died as. He died as a desperate man, a hopeless man; maybe that man was the past he was running from.
The day Bri was brought in for questioning, she lied. Kinzoku wasn't killed by thieves; he was killed by his own hand, in the presence of thieves. But she couldn't tell anyone that, especially the Hokage who thought so highly of him and the other villagers already looked down on him as a deserter; it would only add another unnecessary stain to his name.
But that was only a small part of it. They would have demanded to know why he did it. Surely, a man like that had a choice, he was in a home filled with weapons he had built himself, he was strong, he had a reason to live, a child to take care of. So, why?
The Joryoku twins; the two kids whose existence Bri had kept a secret from everyone in Konoha. The ones whose faces she has been desperately trying to bury under piles of new experiences.
That night had been the turning point; it was the moment where Bri ceased to be a smiling kid in a dusty class picture. She heard the entire thing from under the floor boards. To this day she can still recall the confrontation in prefect detail.
"Alright you old fuck, where are they?" one had said. Then there was a crash. A shuffle. The distinct sound of a cough full of blood. "We can do this all night my friend, it's been two generations since a trained Joryoku has shown up, there's nothing you can do. Your life isn't worth shit to us." Heavy breathing. Something shatters. More shuffling.
"Fuck you." The sound of Kinzoku spitting. The sounds of Kinzoku being choked.
"This piece of shit thinks he's gonna die a hero?" The sound of a forceful hit and a body hitting a shelf. "I bet you wish those Joryoku kids were here right now, huh gramps?" Another loud noise. Another blood filled cough. "They must have really loved you huh? After all you taught them, they're not even here when you need them the most!" The sound of a group of men laughing. "Listen my friend, even I got a conscious. I can't keep fucking up an old dude like you, either you talk now or I let my buddy here take a nice long look into that demented old brain of yours."
The sound of her sensei clearing his throat "Dirty hands like that are never going to touch my students. I'll do what it takes to make sure you never find them."
Movement. A scuffle. A breathless heave. "Watch out! You old fuck! You can't stab us all with that shit piece of porcelain!" The sound of someone falling to their knees. The sound of people moving. The sounds of her sensei struggling to escape.
"Get that fucking Morino boy over here RIGHT NOW!" Another crash. The bump of heavy boots walking over her head. "Find out where the fuck this guy is hiding the kids! Do it now rookie!"
The sound of silence. The sound of something dripping down onto the basement floor. The taste of iron on her lips. The relieved sigh of a tired old man. The feeling of her blood pumping faster inside of her head.
"SHIT! This old fuck. The psycho cut his own femoral artery. You fucking sick fuck!"
The feeling of all the breath leaving her body at once. The feeling of her knees splitting open and she collapsed onto the dirty basement floor.
"Someone wrap this guy up! Morino get the fuck over here we still have time!" The sounds of men arguing. The deafening beating of her own heart.
The sound of her sensei spitting out his last resolve "I won't let this happen again, not over my mother fucking dead body."
An overwhelming dizziness. A vision of fading light.
Bri woke up that next morning completely hallow. She emerged from the cellar to find an empty blood soaked house. Her sensei was laying lifeless in the middle of the room, the morning sun illuminated him like some fucked up ancient painting.
There had been a hint of triumph frozen in his eyes, but his face was broken. It was almost as if she could read his last thought I'm sorry, tell me this was the only way. Forgive me. Protect them.
Now, how could she come clean? How could Bri tell all of Konoha, she couldn't protect the children that her sensei gave his life for? How could she tell them that his death only pushed the twins closer to the edge? How does she begin to explain that it was unavoidable, that he died in vain; that those two children are out there right now using their powers exactly how those thieves wanted them to?
She can't admit that. That was the part of her life she desperately wanted to place into a box and bury. That was the regret that bubbled up every time she watched the carefree children spar at the academy.
Maybe if she had been stronger. Maybe if she had been able to somehow play that night over for the twins, the way she saw it. Maybe if she was somehow able to remove that anger that ran through their Joryoku blood for endless generations.
The clamor of the graduates began to echo through the hall. Bri rubs her eyes and plasters a smile across her face. She could hear the box in her mind locking up once more.
"Bri-sensei! Did you miss us?!" a young brunette girl comes ripping down the aisle and gives Bri a big hug "I hope you picked a good genin team for me! You know I'm gonna get the first S-rank mission in the class! OH HEY, are you in this picture?" the girl gets on her tippy toes and tries her hardest to find Bri's face in the black and white crowd.
"Oh my god, you don't really think I'm that old do you?" Bri replies as a genuine grin lights up her face, maybe right now there's a real chance that everything will work out.
"BRI! What have you been doing?" Iruka's voice startles the teacher and her student "You forgot the set up the chairs! Everyone is outside already!"
Bri cringes at the little girl and sends her away "Ah, I'm so sorry I got a little carried away looking at these pictures, Just give me five more minutes!"
The graduation ceremony went exactly as planned. The parents all cried, the kids struck stupid little poses as Iruka handed them their diplomas, there were laughs and there were long dramatic speeches. It was bitter sweet, but it really dragged on. Bri couldn't wait to get out of there.
She had been spending a lot of nights at home the past few weeks. Iruka was busy with testing, Kakashi was busy avoiding the Hokage and the elders, Genma was well…she didn't want to hang out with him, and Yamato was sent away on some Anbu mission.
But today when she reached her front door, she felt the sudden need to be surrounded by people. She didn't want to be alone with her thoughts, they haven't been cooperating today. So she walked over to Naruto's apartment, maybe he could distract her for a while.
It takes almost a full minute for the teenager to answer the door, when he does he's out of breath "Oh! Bri it's just you…I just cleaned up for no reason!"
Bri looks over Naruto's shoulder and into his apartment, it's a disaster area. There was a reason seventeen year old boys weren't supposed to live on their own.
"…you cleaned?" she said with an eyebrow raised.
"Well yeah! No one ever knocks on my door, I thought it mighta been someone important like Grandma Tsunade, or Captain Yamato," He pauses and looks around Bri "so, uh, what's wrong? Is someone bothering you? Is it Sai? Please tell me it's not Sai! Last time he didn't leave for two whole days!"
Bri scratches her nose in an attempt to hide her smile "No, actually I just wanted to see if you were hungry. Do you want to come over for dinner?"
Naruto tries and fails to hide his surprise "Uh, just me?"
Bri blushes "Ah, I'm sorry is that weird? I just..."
"What no way! It's totally cool! It's just that no one has ever invited me over for dinner before."
She sends him a confused glance "Really? Well, I'm not the best cook but I guess that doesn't matter now does it?"
They make the short trip next door and Bri begins to prepare the meal.
"You know you and Iruka-sensei are super alike," Naruto says as he sits down at the kitchen table "He was the first person to take me out and buy me food, and you're the first person to cook me food! Why are you guys so obsessed with food?"
Bri lets out a laugh as she chops the veggies "Feeding people is a good way to show you care about them. Ask Sai, I'm sure he read that in a book somewhere."
"Ugh, don't remind me about Sai. He probably back from his mission with Captain Yamato by now. I bet he'll be over here first thing in the morning…he still thinks it's HIS mission to watch you."
"Oh really they're back already?" Bri fails to hide the excitement in her voice; thankfully teenage boys are perpetually oblivious.
"I think so. They didn't go too far away, something weird happened up north of here. I don't know what exactly but they didn't have to leave the land of fire."
Smells of lemon and chicken filled the apartment "Ooh exciting, I wonder what it was. I used to live up north you know."
"Hopefully it's the beginning of an S-rank mission! I've been so bored since the war! I need to get out of here."
Bri laughs loudly as she places their dinner onto the plates "You mean the war where you saved us all?"
"Well…I guess, yeah."
"Honey, there's a good chance you hit the peak there. You might be doomed to boredom forever."
"I can do better. We can all become better than we were yesterday." He says as he sits down at the table with Bri.
"Hey, that's pretty cliché!"
"Thanks!" he replies, mouth already full of food.
Bri smiles, It was overwhelmingly nice to finally hang out with a stupid happy kid again. Also she was now super excited about the morning, she's really curious to find out what happened up north.