IX

Sai Osia... One of the few ninja who could match the Hokage, even if it was Tsunade... Two days had gone by too quickly. I felt completely disoriented and out of place, even if it was only two days. The room I was in was plain. There wasn't much else besides the bed I was laying one, a window, and a side table. Curtains were dimming the sunlight that was getting in, but it didn't matter. I was going to be released today...thank god for that. The door, which was also white, was open. I could make out parts of the conversations of the people who had gone by, but nothing about Iruka had popped up.

"Morning. I see you're awake. Feeling any better?" A nurse had entered with a smile on her face.

Sitting up in bed, I took a deep breath. "Much. Thanks. Find anythnig unusual about it?" She had a confused look on her face. "You know the pattern... Find anything out about why now?"

"No, I'm sorry. Onto another topic, ready to leave?" I nodded. "Good. Your clothes are in there. I had some brought here for you when you were ready to check out. See you again in a few years...hopefully."

I nodded. Yeah... I hope so too... Crawling out of my bed, I walked over to the closet looking thing and changed into the clothes inside. "Crap! I forgot to ask about Sai...!" Exhaling, I looked out the window. "Iruka..." The door of my room creeped open and a pair of eyes were staring at me. "What's up?"

"Good to see you're feeling better. They said you were asleep the whole time." He walked inside with a smirk. "Too bad..."

"Nice to see you, too." It wasn't the best of 'hellos'. "What's too bad, Kenta?"

"Naruto. He still hasn't finished the task you assigned him." He was holding Naruto's needle and a small crinkled piece of paper. I took it from him and uncrinkled it. "He didn't find all of them in time. Sakura and Sasuke are leaving sometime today on a mission with Kakashi. What do you plan on having Naruto do as compensation?"

I glanced at him, not sure how to answer. Iruka's state entered my mind. I longed to know what had happened during the time I was asleep, but I also wanted to speak with Naruto. Decisions, decisions... I sighed, leaning against one of the bare walls. "I'll talk to him..." I looked Kenta in his visible eye, hoping for some response. "Tell me... You've heard about Iruka's condition, right?" He nodded back. "Do you know which room?"

He chuckled... "Yeah. Follow me. Can you walk?"

"What do you think!? I'm standing, aren't I?" I pushed myself off of the wall and put a hand on my waist. "Just take me to him." I looked down at the floor, praying for him.

Room 1272... Iruka Umino's room... As soon as I entered, I felt shattered, broken... His eyes were closed, he didn't respond to his own name... He seemed lifeless. Lying in that bed, hooked up to an IV and having a blood transfusion... A tear ran from my left eye. "Iruka..." There were several cuts on his face and arms, and his right hand was heavily bandaged. "Oh god..." I fell back into Kenta's arms feeling faint.

"Are you ok?"

"I just..." I sighed. "Take me home... I'm tired and I need some...time to think." Standing on my own, I backed away from him. "I'm sorry, Kenta. I need some time to myself today. And don't even think about shadowing me... I'm not in the mood." I brushed right past him, and yeah, I felt guilty about it, but what I said was true. I needed some time to myself, but, I also needed to hear some of the news that was flowing through the village.

At the Society, I was about to reach for the door once I heard a certain low-pitched voice. It was Sonia and Kana. I know that eavesdropping isn't a nice thing to do, and is considered rude, but hey... what else was I supposed to do? Barge in and ruin the perfect oppertunity to listen in on something? As if.

So you want us to eliminate them?

Yes. Both of them are no longer of any use to us, not to mention that she's lost her talent for killing. He's...coping with the loss of his student, but he'll get in the way later on, especially if he finds out. Kana, Sonia, you have your mission. Inform the others and carry it out as soon as you can. I need them dead.

So it's that important that Hitomi and Kenta are killed? Why do we have to go to all this trouble?

Simple... They can't know what we plan to do. Either way, they would wind up dead eventually, but the sooner the better. Sonia, I have a separate job for you. Once Hitomi and Kenta are dead, go after Jun. She'll side with Hitomi, and anybody who does, I want dead. Understood?

Yes sir. Eliminate Hitomi Yano, Kenta Kasama, Sai Osia, Naida Okisawa and Jun Kenda.

Go. You don't have much time... Oh, and before I forget... Kill them one by one when they're separtated from each other. Otherwise, both of you will die.

It seemed that those last words were the last of the conversation. Reaching for the handle of the doors, they cracked open and Sonia and Kana walked out.

"Hitomi... Feeling better already? I guess your injuries weren't that bad." She stared at me in my right eye. "I guess that you don't conceal it anymore."

"Sonia..." I didn't even look at her. "I didn't have any injuries to begin with...just my illness. Besides, what do you care? You're a Hidden Sound ninja, and last I checked, they're pathetic at everything. They can't even kill anyone without giving away their position..." You can tell that I don't like her, can't you? Kana was beginning to annoy me with her silence.

"How dare you call me pathetic! Hidden Leaf ninja are the weakest of all!" She was reaching for a kunai knife.

"Oh please... I could kill you here and now, no...both of you, and you wouldn't even have a chance to stike back or defend yourselves. I'm one of the best, and you know you can't kill me, so why even try to, right? Exactly." I turned my back to her. Who knew? Maybe I was getting myself into something that I couldn't get out of. Maybe I was overconfident in my own abilities. I would find out when the time was right. That...that I knew. "I have better things to do than waste my time here."

"See you soon, assassin."

I entered into the chamber, only to see representatives of the council stand before me. "Where's the Master?" I walked closer to the cedar desk, picking up a sheet of paper. "I was hoping to speak with him sometime today. Where is he?"

"You need not know."

I raised my eyebrows and sighed. It wasn't going to be easy to get what I was after. "Where is he?"

"You need not know."

"The location of Sai Osia?" I had a feeling...

"You need not know."

Yay! My feelings/ hunch were/was right! But I'm also not wrong as often as I am right about these things. (here, the simplified version: I'm hardly wrong and always right.) "Fine. I will speak with him eventually, and I will find out what's going on. Be assured." I turned my back on them, trying to block out the same annoying sentence they kept repeating over and over again. Closing the door behind me, I came face to face with Jun. "Hey."

"I see you've...recovered. Is Harlan here today?" Her voice was strained heavily with annoyance. I didn't answer her. "Very well. I guess we'll just have to keep trying to contact him." She closed a fan and stared at me. "How 'bout we go get some ramen?"

My eyes grew wide, but I followed her. It was just after noon, and I was getting hungry. After sitting and waiting for our lunch, we ate and talked about various subjects, including what I had overheard earlier.

"You're positive? For real?"

"Would I lie, Jun?" I couldn't believe it either, but I had to let the news spread. "I know what I heard, and I heard him say those exact words. We're on the edge... and we'll soon be over it. I don't know about you, but..." I was shattered and scared. I didn't know where to go or who to turn to. I'm just one person, after all.

"You're scared about what's going to happen, aren't you?" She looked over at me, and I nodded. "You're not alone. You know that. You have Kenta at your side, along with Kakashi. Then there's me. I know we haven't always agreed about everything, but I will stand with you." She set down her chopsticks and took a sip of her tea. "If you do speak the truth, I will stand with you and pray we overcome this ordeal. But to think the master would betray the beliefs he taught us? It sounds kind of farfetched... How could he do this?"

I set down my chopsticks across the bowl that was filled with ramen. "Tell me Jun... Have you heard any rumors involving Harlan or the Kagunin?"

"I did hear one, but I didn't think much of it at the time. Supposedly... rouge ninja have been appearing at numerous killings, along with Kagunin whose identities remained secret. Perhaps... Sonia and Kana were behind them?"

I slammed my fist on the table, losing control for a moment.

"Hey! Be careful!"

I looked up at the cook, apologizing for my actions. I turned away from Jun in an attempt to hide my anger and shame. "Jun, can I ask you a favor?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Just come with me to the monument. I need to see something." Dark clouds began to cover the sky. It began to rain and it grew colder. "Great... Rain."

"You're not going to melt."

I glared at my ally in a discouraging manner. "It's not that... Let's go to the flower shop first." A surprise was waiting for me once I entered the shop. The fragrance of all of the flowers was endearing, but it brought terrible memories that I prefered to surpress back. "Sakura!? What are you doing here? I thought you were on a mission with Kakashi and Sasuke...?"

"I'm working today, so it was just Kakashi sensei and Sasuke that went on the mission." She seemed depressed. "So... Can I help you find a specific flower or anything?" She was eager, enjoying her job as the clerk.

"Yeah, actually." Jun was standing behind me with her arms crossed, whispering in my ears. "Shut up. Sakura, does this shop carry any exotic flowers?" She nodded and guided us to the back of the shop which, I might add, was cold. She was holding up a small boquet of a mixture of flowers. They were beautiful, and painful to look at at the same time. The memories were coming back once more and I was beginning to feel faint. "They're nice, but... I'll take one of those and two of those." I picked out a lily and two red roses. Once I had paid Sakura what I owed, Jun and I left the shop and headed into the trees toward the monument.

Droplets of water ran right off the polished rock. As soon as Jun saw it, tears began to run from her eyes. I sympathized for her, because I was about to start crying. Setting down the flowers in front of the stone, I crouched down and began to pray. Jun had done the same with pristine teas running down her face. "Why here, Hitomi? Why now?" Her voice was cracked and filled with sorrow.

"To honor the past... To find out what lies ahead...and... To help move on from what's already happened... Don't you see? It's a thing of...of..." I froze. I was cold, crying, and I froze, unable to find the right word. "Realization. Can't move on without taking one step back, can you?" I stood, placing a hand on the stone. "Mother, Father... are you proud of what I've become, of the path I've chosen? What about you, brother? Forgive me for being so weak back then. I never meant any disrespect or dishonor. I beg of you... Forgive me. Please..." I was crying in the rain, asking for something that I could never have, so speak with the people whose voices would never be heard again.

"You'll never see them again, as I'll never see my little sister again." She stood, fixing her hair. "Where to next?"

"I'm going to heard out of the village shortly." The rain was clearing up, and a small amount of sun was breaking through the clouds. "Are you coming, or staying? If you're coming, go find Naruto and meet me in my apartment. See you soon." I left her alone to get soaked by the rain.

At home, I changed into a dry set of clothes and grabbed a few kunai and shuriken. I was only taking one katana with me. "And now to find Kenta..." I had walked out of my room and as I turned the corner, I ran into the person I was looking for. "Well, that takes care of that. Let's go find Naida. We'll come here after we've found her." I grabbed him by his left wrist, and he was confused about what was going on. Leading him out of the building and onto the street, I was nearly thrown to the ground when he released himself.

"What the hell is going on?"

I felt threatened by him. "Right... uh... I'll explain once we find Naida and meet up with Jun and Naruto. Just help me find her." I began to look around, but Kenta just pointed a finger. "What is it?"

"I found Naida." He was pointing straight at her. Kenta ran up to her and told her to come along, but she didn't seem that eager.

"Oh! Do I have to? I'm kinda busy at the moment." She stared Kenta in the eyes and then turned to me. "Hitomi, what's this all about?"

The streets of the city were not the place to tell her about what I had overheard, and I didn't want to make up another excuse. "Naida, there's a conspiracy involving certain Kagunin whose names I won't mention. The thing is... This isn't the place. Let's head back to my apartment and wait there for Jun and Naruto. THEN I'll explain."