"Usually we walk around constantly believing ourselves. "I'm okay" we say. "I'm alright". But sometimes the truth arrives on you and you can't get it off. That's when you realize that sometimes it isn't even an answer-it's a question. Even now, I wonder how much of my life is convinced."
~ Markus Zusak, The Book Thief
...
Inoichi placed his hand on the top of her head. He wondered who would greet him this time. She does not accompany him on his walk. Mitomi's mind has always been such a carefully constructed place. Organized, clean, and now… his brow furrows… now it's just blank. He didn't believe that she needed to see it or would be any help in the matter.
There is a humanoid figure sitting in the middle of the open empty space. No eyes, no defining features of any sort. Just a void being. Androganius, ambiguous, unnatural. This being did not belong inside her head. They were not of her creation.
Hello there. I will be leaving soon. Don't worry, I'll let her keep some things. She still has work to do.
The voice echoes around the empty space. Inoichi raises his brow at the creature. "You do not belong here. What have you done to her memories?" He questions, and is greeted by a shit eating malicious grin.
I took them, they are the toll. A price had to be paid… she wanted to stay. Now.. get out. I am busy.
Then Inoichi is pushed out of her mindscape with great force. What the literal hell was that thing. Mitomi's whole face has gone stark white, she looks absolutely terrified. "Inoichi?" He has to work to steady his breathing, his heart rate jumped. That wasn't a normal creature. His eyes narrowed at the Uzumaki girl, what had she done?
But one look tells him that this was not even her doing. Whatever that thing was… it was not of her creation or will. It does not belong in her head.
He clenches his fist at his side. "Her memories are gone. Some things may come back over time… but for now she's starting fresh. We will do regular mindwalks to evaluate the condition of her mind as the weeks and months go by." Inoichi tells them as he turns away from the teen to give his report to Tsunade and Shikaku. Neither look pleased by the assessment.
"Very well. I will prepare the release forms. Shikaku, go make a footnote in her jounin file 'removed from active duty due to retraining from an injury'. Inoichi please wait with her until Kosuke arrives to take her back to the compound." Tsunade turns her heel and leaves, a certain urgency in her step. Shikaku offers the red head a quick grin before leaving.
Mitomi stares down into her shaking hands… why… "I'm sorry." tears stream down her face before she can stop them. She hears Inoichi sigh.
"Never apologize for being alive Mitomi-chan. Memories are not, there are a lot of people here who would be heartbroken if you had died." He wants to ask her if she'd known, but he knows it's pointless.
Even if she had made the deal willingly, it wasn't like that thing would have let her remember that. His lips pursed at the thought of that being, whatever it was… he wanted it out of her head as soon as possible.
I'll be leaving soon.
He twitches at the thought. Inoichi had no desire to play mind games with some ethereal being.
…
Mitomi frowned at the man with long red hair, the same shade as her, this was the first time she was meeting him. Why couldn't it have been Naruto or Karin? She was at least familiar with them, but this person hasn't been by to see her yet. "Your brother's team was pulled for a mission, and Karin-chan is working at the chunin corpse office today. Come along Mitomi-chan, let's get you home." The only thing she can think of in regards to her uncle is...proper.
He is very stiff, holds himself to a high standard. He guides her along the busy street with ease, they only stop once to pick up some produce from a stall run by a boisterous man. Her hands linger over a shiny plum… she doesn't pick it up. The hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
She doesn't like the way her uncle is staring at her.
…
It takes Mitomi to get adjusted to this new life, a month to figure out where things are, who she knows and all of that. During this time she avoids being alone in her home for long periods of time. Something feels wrong there. It's too quiet, like something is missing. She bites her lip thinking about it. Brow furrowing as she goes through the series of stretches she'd been shown and instructed to do.
Muscle memory has apparently remained, even though her actual memory is gone. She was bitter about the whole thing… Not knowing how she knew how to do things was irritating. Like deja vu.. Except she knows that she's done this before. She just doesn't remember doing it.
"Excellent form Mitomi-chan!" She dropped the bukken. Concentration completely broken. Fuck. Mitomi looks up to find a green jumpsuit clad teenager. Who is immediately bonked on the head by who she was going to assume was his teammate. Another male, long brown hair, pupiless gray eyes.
Sparrow.
A bird's name? No… a bird in a cage. A gilded cage… but still trapped. She files the information away, she'd look into it later. He hands her the dropped blunted weapon.
"Add another one, you work better with duel swords." So another one of her friends then, Mitomi nods, eyeing them both warily. What did they want from her? Mitomi felt like these days everyone just expected something from her… and she didn't know how to perform to their expectations anymore.
She wasn't a monkey.
"May we assist you in your training Mitomi-chan? It is much more fun to practice with comrades than alone." The green boy asks, his tone cheerful but somewhat cautious. She considers before nodding.
"I do not see a problem with that.. But would you both please tell me your names?" Because she just doesn't recall them… it was irksome. The green one holds out a thumbs up. His teammate stops him before he can start a tangent.
"This is Rock Lee, and I am Hyuga Neji." He doesn't clarify their previous relationship… and for that Mitomi is extremely grateful. She gives a slight bow of her head.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance Hyuga-kun, Rock-kun."
…
Umeko holds her bleeding and burned shoulder. Her dark mahogany hair falling from the immecantculant bun she kept it in. Chest heaved, lungs burned. She stared at her attacker with a distasteful glare. Dark eyes set and focus, she used the blood coating her hand to write an array on the ground by her feet.
"Why are you doing this Kosuke?" Distract, by herself time. She would not allow him to take her memories too. What she knew was too valuable to let fall into his hands. Especially since he's gone darkside.
His eyes glint in the darkness, a malicious crackle follows. Umeko grits her teeth. "Why Ume, you know why I have to do this! It was me after all who allowed all those Kiri shinobi on the shores of Uzu. I want to be king! And my sweet little niece is going to ruin my chances." His maniacal laugh fills the air. He misses what she's done. Umeko would count it as a partial success.
Umeko presses her hand into the array by her feet, a doorway opens up underneath her and she lets it take her. She'd make sure he didn't get away with what he's done. But first she had to heal.
How would she protect the last princess of Uzu from the grave? She couldn't… and her granddaughter was Konoha's thus she'd never understand what it meant to be a protector to the Uzumaki clan. Umeko was the only protector of the Uzumaki clan left. She was the last line of defense for the Princess of Uzu.
She would not fail a second time.
XOXOX
In which Kosuke shows his true colors….
Hey guys! Sorry for the wait for this chapter, the holidays were hard mentally on my family this year so inspiration has been lacking. I hope to have another chapter up by the end of the week because I'm still fighting a bout of depression so.. Please be patient with me :)
Thank you for reading!
~LaRae
