Five years had passed slowly in Kirigakure
Five years had passed slowly in Kirigakure. Naoko was just an observer, not being allowed in anything. She was labeled insane, and the only people that came to visit her was her mom and unlucky foreign men that her mom kept on trying to convince her to marry. She felt sorry for the unfortunate Wind country merchant that had come. She decided to let him down easy and tell him what she had done. She didn't expect anymore merchants after that. She absent-mindedly stirred her drink as she headed into the living room. Her eyes wandered to the only painting she had ever bothered to put up. It was abstract, yet mirrored her thoughts completely. She knew that she wasn't insane, but insane people often thought that. She sat down in an antique chair and just stared into space. It had become her favorite past time. The door was opened suddenly and an all too familiar voice filled the hall.
"Oi!" The raven haired kunoichi called, setting her oversized weapon against the wall.
Naoko just stared at the newcomer, overcome with confusion. She hadn't seen Kotone since the… incident. She rose form her chair cautiously.
"What are you doing here?" She asked slowly, wondering what the hell could've brought her here.
Her superior made a face. She was obviously about to tell her something bad. Her old boss hadn't been great with these subtle matters. Kotone grimaced at her casual tone, but the words had started already, and there was no real way to stop them.
"Ok, so there were these missions that I wasn't allowed anywhere near. I had an idea of why that was, and somebody let it slip that they were in the Nami no kuni area... So... I really couldn't think of anywhere else to go once I left, and well..." She flinched. "I kinda found them."
Naoko's heart dropped. She knew who Kotone was talking about right away. She was filled with hope that something she tries might actually go right once. She started asking questions almost immediately after.
"Are they ok? Where are they now? Are they safe?" She managed to stutter out.
She remembered the face of the young boy when she had met him and she hoped that he would still have the same innocence. The image was shattered before her eyes.
"That's the thing, they were dead." Her superior replied evenly.
Naoko placed her hand on the wall to steady herself. She didn't try to stop the tears. She slumped to the ground and realized how utterly useless she was. She wasn't able to save Daichi, stop Kisame, or protect Haku. She was a failure.
"Why couldn't I protect them damnit... why couldn't you help me? Five years ago we could've saved them!" Her voice was rising now.
"There's more to it than that."
Naoko's fist slammed against the wall. "Really? Can you tell me then? I guess I misunderstood the part where you left them to die!" She was yelling and she lost all caution.
Kotone stepped back, her voice calm as ever, "Naoko, you know as well as I do how unforgiving our laws are." She paused, wondering how best to word this. "If I... no, If we brought them home, they would be killed."
Naoko tried in vain to get up. She didn't want Kotone to be right. She wanted Haku to be home and everything to be back to normal. She pushed aside her weakness and stood. She had just one more thing to ask her boss, and she desperately wanted the correct answer.
"Did you… did you feel anything when you found out?" She asked, her voice sounding pathetic to her own ears.
Kotone glanced out the window before replying, "Look, I just thought you'd want to know. I don't see how that's relevant."
Naoko lost all control. She hated the girl standing in front of her, with almost every fiber of her being at that moment.
"It just does! It does because…. I'll kill you!" She grabbed the nearest thing, an expensive vase her mother had bought her and threw it.
Kotone ducked the projectile, shielding her face with her hand as shards of the pottery went every. She grabbed her sword and headed for the door.
"There's a bridge connecting Nami no kune and Ho no Kuni now. They're buried near there."
Her superior departed the place quickly. Naoko was left alone. Thoughts swam through her head as she tried to steady herself. She ended up crying herself to sleep, in the hallway.
When she woke up, the pottery mess remained. She decided to try and clean it up, take her mind off the mess in vain. She couldn't stop thinking about people who were probably disappointed in her. Her eyes wandered to two pictures that had Kisame and Daichi in them respectively. She finally made up her mind, she wouldn't fail anybody ever again. She went to her tool shed and grabbed all the accelerants she could find. She soaked her house in them. She stopped to get her picture, but left it in the house.
"The old Naoko will die in the flames." She whispered to herself.
She grabbed supplies, it would be a far walk. She eventually had all she needed. She stepped through the moist air that was spring time. She set a match, and threw it into the house. It caught fire quickly, almost exploding. She looked around to see neighbors fleeing, or trying to put out the monster for their own sakes.
"Goodbye Kirigakure, mom, dad, Kotone, and the failure that was Naoko Aoyama. After this day, I won't let anybody die!" She whispered through grit teeth.
The fire grew hungrier as it engulfed more and more of the house. She turned, and started walking through the dense woods to get out of the village. She would make everyone proud.