Hey guys! I'm back and Uni's finished for the year! Sorry for the long wait! but here is the next chapter!
Thanks go to Bleeding-roses-16 for betaing this chapter even though it took so long to be written! I hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 17
Throughout my journeys, I had the good fortune of weather. Of course that didn't always hold but it was plenty when travelling without much of a destination in mind. The rain wasn't too bad so much as my reckless decision of climbing those damn trees but then again that wasn't the last time I climbed them.
Sometimes one has to do reckless acts like that out of necessity, necessity that we can't explain or the necessity to save lives.
It was a miracle that I found that small borehole in that tree. If I hadn't, well I would probably have fallen again and might not have been so lucky to catch on some random branch on the way down, then all the wonderful things that was to come would never be, all the people I met, the hardships, the things I did. Erased in the blink of an eye.
But I digress… An old woman's rambling is something that can go on forever. Atsu became a dear friend of mine, and still is to this very day. Though I do feel some sadness on my part as I know that she will outlive me by years.
It's funny, most times a person remembers the small details rather than the big. I guess because it's the small things that make what you fight for worth it. The smells, the creak in the door, Kakashi's hate of tempura, Naruto's love of ramen and hate of Menna, all the small things…
Anyway, stepping in to Konoha was something else. My memory is a bit fuzzy and I'm pretty sure I still had some of that lingering delirium that comes with fevers when I met Izumo and Kotetsu. The two of them became great friends, especially since I passed the gates so often over the years. And still to this day, Kotetsu has never let me live down what I said to him in the hospital and I don't think I would let myself live it down either…
Come to think of it, I never saw Dr Ohori again after that second check-up. I had wondered where she had gone but there was that sinking doubt that came to mind when every time I asked about her and was told she was 'indisposed'.
Ahh… Those days were always something else.
An excerpt from the memoirs of Akiko Hatake nee Reko
Page 140
XX
Akiko stood at the stone gates of the hospital as she folded her appointment notification in to a neat rectangle and slipped into her travel-worn back pack.
Once it was again where it belonged, Akiko took to the streets intent on both getting some food and finding that hotel that Kotetsu had told her about.
The streets were made of tightly packed dirt which held the characteristics of being walking on for years by so many different people, the young, the old, the soldiers, the healers and the civilians all walked on these paths.
'How poetic.' Akiko mused with a soft smile as she took in the architecture of the building along the road which she walked.
Most of the houses and shops built so close together that it looked, at a first glance, that they were on top of each other or one large and long continuous building. Most of them were quite colourful and there were even a few that looked to be three stories tall, the tallest she had seen in the hidden village.
'And to be honest, this place is a bit daunting.' Akiko thought to herself as she walked the streets, still in search of food.
Many of the shops that she passes were similar to boutiques, selling furniture, masks, flowers, lights, paintings and so on however none of them were selling food. The one thing that Akiko wanted to find the most. Not just that but Akiko could smell the food.
'Not only that but I need a map of this place!' feeling helpless and lost was not new to her but it still left Akiko disturbed. Breathing out through her nose in a heavy sigh, Akiko continued to walk forward and if she still can't find food at the end of this street she'll ask someone for directions.
'Well it looks like my luck held out!' Akiko thought excitedly as she arrived in a street full of foods and just seeing the stalls had her salivating because she is hungry.
With a mouth that is slightly agape, she hurries down the street and stops at the first food stall she sees.
Without paying much attention to her surrounds, Akiko lines up to the counter and orders a set of 16 crab takoyaki balls.
As soon they were in her hands, Akiko immediately puts one in her mouth and savours the taste. It's an explosion of taste on her tongue, a wonderful change from all the nuts and herbs she had been easting on the road.
Her hunger gets the better of her as she wolfs down the rest leaving Akiko with a full belly. Releasing one sigh of utter satisfaction with eyes closed to etch the moment in to her memory, full of food, content and surrounded by people.
Opening her eyes, Akiko for the first time takes in the sight of the stall where she had bought her food.
It's different to the ones she had passed by in Gufu where they were actual stores however the one before her was a shop that had an indent where a 'breakfast' bar sat and the people sat on small round stools along with a set of six sheets of cloth with wave patterns that covered the customers back and head.
With a small shake of her head, Akiko turns her attention to the rest of the street, which was full of food stalls and restaurants. The smells alone had her mouth-watering even though she just ate however, she does have limited money and Akiko doesn't think she can get a job here, not with all the paper work and she is fairly sure that it's a condition of her staying in the leaf village.
'I do need to find that hotel that Kotetsu had told me about buutt, I guess I could have some snacks on the go' Akiko convinces herself as she wanders further up the street looking for small and cheap snacks.
Once Akiko reaches the end of the street, she has bought two deep fired radish cakes, one of which is now being nibbled on, and a box of chocolate pocky.
She slows as she reaches an intersection, staring at the three options in front of her.
'Now, left, right or straight ahead?' she muses as looks down the streets. Akiko still isn't sure where to go and she hasn't passed by any convenience stores yet leaving her to do what she had been doing for the past 4 years.
With that Akiko turns right and meanders down the dirt road leisurely.
X
Akiko watches the shops pass her by with a sharp eye, noting which restaurant to avoid, those that have ninja, which ones are cheap, a good ramen shop, and anything else that caught her attention.
Mentally noting down where the shops were, Akiko continued on her wanderings down a few more streets before deciding it was time to find that hotel.
X
Akiko stood in the shadows of one of the many buildings of the village as she searched for a person that looked kind enough to approach and hopefully direct her to 有缘没份 also known as 'Destined with No Paths'.
The name itself sounded like a cruel joke to any couple that understood that ancient Chinese idiom Akiko had remembered from her own mother so long ago. It meant To have the fate to love someone and yet have no path to live their lives together.
With a sigh full of sadness and regret for the characters in those stories, Akiko shakes her head and continues looking for that kind person.
Her eye is caught by a gently smiling woman, with raven hair, who appears to be buying groceries and chatting amiably with the baker that seemed to have followed her out of his store. And by her side is a small child with hair just as dark.
To Akiko it almost looked like the dark blue of the night sky.
Akiko takes quick steps to reach the pair before they vanish into the crowd.
"Excuse me?" Akiko asks tentatively, looking embarrassed as she speaks. And it's not just because she's asking a total stranger for directions.
'This woman is beautiful…' Akiko thought in stunned realisation.
The woman across from her looks at Akiko surprised, her black bangs framing her face in such a way the woman has the look of a youthful teen and the gentle look that she had seen from afar far enhances her beauty more.
"Yes?" The unknown woman responds, her voice soft and clear, matching her completely.
"Ah, sorry to bother you but I was hoping you could point me in the direction of a hotel called 'Destined with no paths'?" Akiko asks, her voice soft and shy around the flawlessly skinned woman before her.
There was some movement that had Akiko directing her eyes down to the boy, who had hair that was beginning to take the shape of a duck's butt, that stood by the woman. Akiko could see him shift with impatience and had an utterly adorable pout on his face.
Just as quickly as she had looked, Akiko's eyes returned to the mother in front of her as she started to speak.
"It's no bother at all." The woman speaks, and Akiko sees the vanishing of shadows that she didn't even know were there…or at least until they vanished. Akiko felt a flash of sadness for the woman in front of her. While she didn't know what caused them, there was the irrational urge to try and banish them forever.
There was something about her that reminded Akiko of her first life, of being on guard for the sake of her children and her family. Akiko forced herself to remain in the present.
"If you go down this street and take a left at Takeshita street, walk down until you reach Otome road. Turn right onto Otome road and the Inn should be on the left of the street." The woman directs kindly.
Akiko smiles brightly at the woman, her gratitude shown as clear as day on her face.
"Thank you so much!" Akiko beams at the woman who smiles in such a ladylike manner that almost makes Akiko jealous of her skill and demeanour.
Flashing one last smile to the woman with one of the prettiest faces she's ever seen and to that woman's child, Akiko turns away and begins to look for the street signs that will lead her to an inn where she wants to spend the next four weeks.
X
Once the strange woman with hair similar to that of a friend that she had lost had left, Mikoto Uchiha let her smile fall, an expression of puzzlement and old grief taking its place.
Her brows furrowed, for a second, she had mistaken the stranger for a ninja with a ridiculous amount of spiritual energy. Her hair certainly hadn't help. While it wasn't that blood red of the Uzumaki, the colour was still deep enough for Mikoto to mistake her for Kushina.
But she wasn't.
Then there was her spiritual energy, Mikoto was sure that the woman wasn't a ninja but even so she had never met anyone, let alone a civilian with that much spiritual energy.
Not only that but, for a second when the stranger fearlessly looked her in the eyes, there was a flicker of age, grief and wisdom. Her eyes looked so old, as old as her grandfather, when he was alive, or the elders as they are now but at the same time they held the energy of children, that joy, hope and spirit.
Mikoto stood where she was as she watched the vanishing back of the stranger who slowly disappeared into the crowd.
"Mother?" Mikoto looked behind her, surprised as her eldest son Itachi made himself known. He had a small frown that was only enhanced by the stress lines.
Mikoto wasn't blind to her husband's actions on her children. But she was trying, there was only so much she could do when Fugaku listened more to the elders than to her.
(She still loved her husband, she couldn't just leave him.)
Her son stood there, holding a bag of fresh tomatoes, Mikoto couldn't stop the smile spreading at the sight of Sasuke's favourite food. At least there was Itachi, who would always watch over Sasuke.
"Come on, let's go home." Mikoto gently herded her sons home, every now and then looking back at where the stranger vanished.
XX
Itachi had seen the strange woman who had spoken with his mother and he felt the power of her spiritual chakra but even a glance couldn't answer the question of how she had such power, especially since she was a civilian.
And neither was he blind to the sad grief and guilt in his mother's eyes or the fact that she kept looking back, as if expecting someone to return.
Even though he could see the possible paths of his clan, he still cared about his mother. Itachi didn't like seeing the shadows in her eyes.
Itachi follows his mother and little brother, intent on cherishing these small moments and dreading the storm he could see coming.
XX
X
Following the directions of the pretty woman had led Akiko to a wooden building that stood three stories high. There were some lights that she could just see on, if the moving shadows in the window were anything to go by.
There wasn't really a porch or a place to stand the separated the motel from the road, something she would have expected from a place spoken so highly of by Kotetsu. Instead, the dirt road went all the way up to the door which then abruptly became the hotel.
Akiko stares at the door hesitantly, she knows that it would take time to find another hotel and not only that but she didn't know her way around the village. But the thought of entering someplace new still held her back, it wasn't the place but…something else she wasn't entirely sure of.
Akiko frown, she wasn't sure of her apprehension or the reason why she was feeling it. With a deep breath, she pushed these small pebble of fear and anxiety away and opened with as little reluctance as she could muster.
Perhaps it was because she was in Konoha? After all, every one she has been hoping to avoid was in this very village.
X
The interior of inn was just as sparse and bare as the outside. There was nothing to indicate comfort or luxury. There were tables where there sat people who are either staying at the inn or are simply there for the food.
They sat at two long continuous wooden tables with seats being the same, just like the kind found in cafeterias. Food was being eaten off flat metal plates with wooden chopsticks. Akiko counted five people on the table, two women and three men all with varying shades of brown to back hair. None of them had even looked in her direction when she had entered and Akiko found herself thankful for that.
To the right, opposite of the tables, stood a reverse 'L' shape stood a stern faced woman who seemed to have an expressionless face. Akiko could feel the hair on the back of her neck rise from the stare. The stare wasn't emotionless and nor did it see her but through her. Akiko couldn't stop her shiver as she approached the desk.
The woman didn't even smile. Her face didn't even twitch and this unnerved Akiko a little bit more.
"How much is one bed for a month?" Akiko asked as naturally she could but it still sounded strained to her own ears.
The woman kept staring at her flatly.
"150 a night." Even the woman's voice was flat.
'Er….' Akiko though incredulously as she attempted to look at her with a neutral face. There was honestly something about this woman that set her on edge.
"That would come to 4,500 for the month. How do you want to pay?"
'She's certainly been educated. Then again, I doubt this place isn't under surveillance. After all it was Kotetsu who recommended the place, A leaf ninja.' Akiko sighed internally at her own thoughts.
'Well she certainly has the flat look down pat.' Akiko thought sarcastically as the woman continued to stare her down.
"Can I pay on a weekly basis?" A single eyebrow rose in response to her question and Akiko suddenly felt like she was a scolded child again.
The woman just looked at her with that same vision that she had felt with Eiko, like she was under a microscope. It was an unnerving feeling and not one she enjoyed.
"1,050 for this week." The woman's voice was as dry as her disposition. With a strained smile, Akiko counts the right amount from her small purse and hand over the money.
The woman grunted as she took the cash with one hand and passed over a clip board with a form in the other.
"Fill this up." If anything it seemed like her tone got harsher. Akiko didn't want to mention that it was Kotetsu who had recommended this place to her. No way. Akiko didn't care if she was being a bit of a scaredy cat, this woman made her not want to mention it at all. Then again it was an inn recommended by a ninja, what was she supposed to expect?
Akiko wasn't even sure of that herself. She never really had much interaction with the ninja of the leaf, let alone ninja from any other village for that matter.
And for all she knew, this lady in-front of her was a ninja too!
Akiko gingerly took the clipboard from her the woman's hand and started to fill up the form. It asked the same question as the entrance form to the village had except there more fine print at the end.
"I accept that any damages that have been caused by the customer will be paid by the customer." And "The inn 'Destined with no Paths' are not liable for any injuries that are inflicted onto the customer and the inn accepts no responsibility if the customer has been injured or their belongings have been stolen, damaged or destroyed by the ninja of the village.'
'Well I suppose the exclusions clauses are valid…considering the place I'm currently in.' Akiko thought considering as she weighed up the chances of her running into a ninja battle on the streets or even having one break in just to steal her stuff.
'Then again, I can't really rule anything out.' Akiko corrected, because she really couldn't. As a foreign person in a military run village, there really was a chance that her room might be broken into and her stuff would be stolen just to see if she was a spy.
Akiko read the terms over again and double checked that she had filled out all the needed sections before she signed her name at the bottom. She handed the clip board back to the woman and waited for her key.
As Akiko waited for the woman to finish checking her form, she searched the woman as discreetly as possible, looking for a name tag just so she can match a name to the middle-aged browned haired woman with the flattest expression she has ever seen.
'I don't even think I can pull this one off.' Akiko thought in disbelief as she stared at the woman's face.
Her eyes continued to roam the woman's clothing but couldn't find a name tag anywhere. Akiko frowned in consideration. If the name tag wasn't on her person, then perhaps it was elsewhere?
With that in mind, Akiko started to look in the most ridiculous places as inconspicuously as possible. She leaned back gently to look at the wooden beam above the counter, pretending to crack her neck to see the ceiling above the woman's head. And just as she leaned over to look at the floor, the woman spoke again.
"Are you finished?" Akiko flushed in embarrassment at the amusement in the woman's voice. She hadn't wanted to be caught look for her name.
"Em…yes?" Akiko answered uncertainly as she slowly met the eyes of the woman. While she wasn't exactly smiling, there was an amused twinkle in her eye.
"The name is on the desk." The woman pointed.
And there it was, on the desk, engraved in a small wooden pieces. "Hisako".
Akiko stared at the name plate. It had been right in front of her this whole time. Just there.
Akiko could feel the heat in her cheeks and the urge to smack her face into a wall for how stupid she was, looking everywhere but the most obvious place on the whole desk!
In an attempt to dodge the awkward silence, Akiko let out a small laugh while she could see Hisako shake her head.
"Room 5, down the end of the hall." Hisako points at the stair case right at the end of the hall.
X
With a heavy sigh, Akiko falls on the bed and stares up at the ceiling.
'Well I'm here now.' She smiles but it feels sad.
'Mamaru…' Her mind drifts to him and the family that they could have been. Even though it's been months, the wounds on her heart are still raw. It still hurts.
Akiko closes her eyes to fight off the tears she can feel building up with sadness proceeding it with great waves.
Though most of her tears do not fall, a few slipped through.
'Right! I need to distract myself!' Akiko sat up suddenly as she pushed away her feelings. She wasn't going to deal with them now, she couldn't.
Not yet.
'I'll see what the village is like!' She thought as the rush of excitement of being somewhere new flowed over her, though somewhat damped.
The orange-haired woman rifled through her bag, intent on taking only her money purse and leaving everything else behind in the room. After all, she wasn't here to work but merely to see and then move on.
Akiko would continue as she had been until she finds her ache and then...
'I'll see where I go from there.' She reflected with a wry smile as she gently closed and locked the brown wooden door with the key Hisako had given her.
As she descended the stairs, her thoughts wandered to what she would be doing in Konoha during her stay.
And as she walked past the tables where the five still sat, her eyes rested on one of the women who had hair that had been cut to her ears.
'Maybe I'll get a haircut.' Akiko pondered as she came to the realisation that it had been years since someone had cut her hair. She had always done it herself and in the crudest of ways. Simply getting her knife and chopping it off. Of course more times than not, her hair would have this uneven slant and even though the only mirror she looked into was the water, the mere thought of it still left herself conscious enough to wear her in such ways that a person could never tell.
'Hmm…I'll make this a treat for myself.' She thought resolute.
However, it appeared she had another obstacle before her.
'Where can I find a hairdresser?' That thought had her walking backwards since in her musing she had walked right past Hisako.
"Do you know where the nearest hairdresser is?" Akiko asked as politely as possible since for some reason this woman still made her want to blush from her previous embarrassment, which Akiko was trying to ignore as much as possible.
It's almost as if Hisako could read her because the stern woman quirks her mouth in what seems to be the start of a smile.
"Turn right and it's the last shop on the left at the end of the street." Her voice is to the point and even though it's sounds completely neutral, Akiko can't help but feel that the woman is secretly amused with her in general.
"Thanks!" Akiko gives one of her brighter smiles as she walks out of the inn and back on the road and the people on it.
Akiko follows Hisako's directions and it leads her straight to the hairdressers.
A place that was both familiar and foreign at the same time. It has been decades since she's last been to the hairdressers. For every instance in her current life, it had always been her or her mother who had cut her hair and even then it crudely done.
Without mirrors and done with a simple knife.
It would be a treat for herself and something she would gladly indulge herself with, especially since…
Akiko shook her head to dispel the memories, both the pleasant and the unpleasant.
This was something that is going to be for her and that is how she intended it to be.
The shop had that same open window design, letting both the patron and the people on the street see though the glass, though their chairs looked different. They didn't look as cushioned as the ones from her first life but Akiko wasn't going to condemn them yet.
Akiko approached the door and gently pushed it open, listening to the gentle tinkling of the bell that had been attached to the back.
When the bell chimed, Akiko saw how there was a subtle twitch in many of who she assumed to be employers while there was also a man at a small podium who stood there and his already wide smile somehow got even larger.
'That is…kinda creepy…' She observed with a subtle shiver. The smile seemed plastic, fake.
Regardless, if she wanted a haircut, Akiko would have to talk with the smiling person. And so she approached with cautiously.
"Welcome to the Green Star! How may I help you today?" The man spoke first with a cheer in his voice that had Akiko's insides quiver, and not in the nice way.
"Hi, I'd like to have a haircut?" Akiko stated and hated how she could hear the tremor in her voice.
"Of course! What kind would you like?" Akiko really wasn't feeling the cheer here and if all shop keepers in Konoha were like this, then she would be happy to leave sooner than her intended month here.
Akiko glanced behind the man at the counter to the sign board on the wall, detailing the kind of cuts and the price. She scanned them quickly, dismissing some for the price and other because they weren't for her hair.
However, there was one that caught her eye.
"Could I get a cut and wash?" Akiko asked quickly, pushing down her discomfort in favour for excitement.
"Sure! That would be 50 ryo." The man said politely.
Akiko smiled back as nicely as she could, ignoring the plastic smile as she did so and handed over the required amount.
"Thank you! It shouldn't be too long, please take a seat." He gestured to the four waiting stools that lined the wall to the left of the door.
Akiko smiled again and hurried over to the stools and made herself comfortable.
She looked around the shop and noticed that there were only to hairdressers and that there were two customers, both of whole were chatting quite amiably with each other and the other barbers in conversation.
Such flowing conversation that had Akiko thinking the barbers wouldn't finish if only to prolong the conversation.
Akiko braced herself for a long wait.
Around five minutes late, she was presently surprised when the one of the customers stood and brushed off the loose hair and waved at the remaining customer and the hairdressers and left, shoot her a quick smile.
It was a man, with light stubble and what looked to be smile lines.
'Well, he looks like a happy person.' Akiko though with small smile.
"Please follow me" Akiko smiled up at the aged face of one of the hairdressers and did just that.
X
Throughout the haircut, Akiko stared at the mirror in front of her. She stared at her reflection, something she hadn't really paid attention to.
Akiko is an average looking woman, that's what she's always thought.
She smiled at the mirror and studied it. Her smile is crooked with her left side always being slightly higher the right and it makes it look like she's always smirking. It isn't a feature that she's happy with. It doesn't help that her eyes reinforce the matter.
Then there are her eyes. They aren't small but they aren't exactly large either. The one thing she is happy with is the fact that they're more expressive than her face is.
Ignoring the man behind her, Akiko takes her hands and squishes them against her cheeks, pouting as she did so, she wasn't fat, and even though she spent a good 4 years wandering the elemental nations, somehow, her face always retained their slight chubbiness. Her face lacked the sharp cheek bones of or the stark definition of other beautiful women. Rather her face has the soft curves and the gentleness that she always reminds her of a caring mother.
But out of all her features, the one that she was the happiest with, is her hair. Despite the hassle to take care of it due to its length, since she only asked it to be layered, she does love the smooth gentle curves she inherited from her mother. The shortest parts frame her face, with the small curls at the end.
Her hair has always been her proudest feature, it's a gift from her mother and a legacy from her father. Something she wears with pride for she is a part of a dying clan.
X
When Akiko left the hairdresser, she had noticed the difference in weight on her head. And as frivolous as it was, the difference in weight was something that made her giddy. It kept her smiling throughout the afternoon as she wandered around the streets, shops and stalls that are in the general vicinity of her hotel. She'd rather not get lost on her first night here.
X
As it was already late in the evening when Akiko arrived at the hotel. She retired early back to her rooms, unable to dodge the amusement from Hisako but it had her smiling too and thus Akiko's first night in the Hidden Leaf Village passed without fanfare.
X
Akiko's week passed much the same way, with gradual exploration of the civilian sector, as she had later discovered with some small talk with the various shop keepers she'd met as she searched for various activities and foods to eat.
However, that wasn't the only thing she had learnt through her interactions. Akiko had also learnt that the native village people didn't like strangers, or rather foreigners. While the store keepers, were kind enough there was still some feeling of…distance and cold dislike that sent tendrils of uncertainty and discomfort down Akiko's spine and nestled at the back of her mind.
It left her feeling odd after every reaction and only deepened her impression that she wasn't welcome with every interaction.
It was something that she could easily push away.
X
During that week, Akiko had also followed up on her appointment time with Dr Ohori, who while still being as friendly as she was when Akiko first met her, was somewhat distracted. And while Akiko was thankful to the Doctor, she didn't feel that she as close enough to her ask.
Dr Ohori had informed Akiko that all the muscles had healed properly and she had the green light to continue with her travelling. But Dr Ohori had given stern warning for her not to repeat or do the acts that had led to her strained muscles in the first place.
Akiko sheepishly agreed.
Though she did have her fingers crossed behind her back.
(But Akiko had the feeling that Dr Ohori knew anyway, if that knowing look was anything to go by.)
X
It was in the second week that things started to become a lot more…involved.
X
As Akiko had seen all of the market district, which did put quite a dent in her pocket, she had taken to wandering to the outskirts of the areas she was legally allowed to visit.
On that particular Tuesday, Akiko had decided to veer away from the market districts and follow a path that she hoped to lead her to some peace. She came across an open field which had a nice grassy hill that she liked the look of and promptly walked to.
It was a small hill and she couldn't see much of the village, and that was fine. What it did have was the tranquillity and the sense of clam that Akiko had started to miss.
It was on her way down from the hill after spending a few hours there, that everything had begun.
Akiko came across a strange patch of ground that had her curiously circling it. It appeared that a section of grass had been sewn to the ground.
Akiko could see a flap and she, being extremely curious, reached out to touch it and just as her fingers brushed the edge of the strange flap, Akiko was tackled away by a body that felt smaller then hers. And practically immediately after, an explosion occurred at the very same place where the small square had been sewn into the ground.
Akiko stared up at the body that had covered her in surprise, her heart pounding at the scare. Her gaze travelled up a black cloth to a young and youthful face that looked down to her with a grin and Akiko's heart stopped pounding.
'A child.' Her mind echoed as she sat up, forcing the boy to move off.
"Woah, that was a close one!" He exclaimed in excitement and joy! The child wasn't even fazed that he was singed and that there was smoke still wafting off of him!
Akiko is less amused.
She immediately turned on the boy and started to examine where the smoke was coming off.
She runs her hands over the smoking clothing, looking for burns or injuries, ignoring the boy's reaction.
"Hey, Hey, Hey! What are you doing?!" The boy cried out as he pushed her hands away. Akiko raises her eyes and levels the boy with a flat and unimpressed look and watches him flinch.
"Are you alright?" Akiko finally asks, her tone as serious as her face.
The boy smiles at her, a soft, kind thing that leaves Akiko with a warm heart and a pool of dread.
"Nothing I can't handle!" His smile changed to a megawatt grin and something about that made her chest constrict.
Akiko didn't understand and she wasn't sure she wanted to either.
"You just saved me from being blown up! And you're charred! There is no way that you're fine!" Akiko exclaimed, gesturing to the still smoking blast-site for emphasis.
The boy just chuckled and waved her hand away.
X
Akiko missed his glance of calculation.
X
"Well, if it makes you feel better you can come me to meet my friends. That should prove I'm fine."
Akiko studied him, looking for anything that would say otherwise about his condition.
She pursed her lips in thought.
"What's your name?" Akiko asked as she stood up and offered her hand to the boy. He seemed to hesitate before putting his hand in hers.
'He must be a ninja and at such a young age too.' Akiko thought in almost sadness.
"It's Shisui. And yours is?" He left the end of the question open. Akiko smiled.
"I'm Akiko. It's nice to meet you Shisui." By now both of them were standing up right and facing each other. Akiko did notice the difference in height be said nothing of it. It might be considered rude if she did. Instead she spoke.
"Please, do lead the way." Shisui smiled and did just that. Akiko fell into step with him.
X
The awkward silence between the two was something that Akiko didn't know how to break. She didn't really know this person and the only thing that rang bell in her mind was that he had something to do with the main plot.
When she looked at him, there as a sense of…sadness. For reasons, she wasn't quite sure.
"So, why were you in a ninja training field?" Shisui's voice startled her out of her thoughts, his tone curious and teasing.
Akiko looked at him.
"This is a ninja training field?!" She asked in shock.
"Yup!" He answered with glee at her reaction.
"But...! There weren't any markings saying it was a training field!" Akiko protested She had expected fields like these to have a sign somewhere saying that it was a training field!
"We're ninjas!" he pointed out as if it answered all her questions.
Akiko opened her mouth to retort but stopped because it Did answer her questions. They were ninjas and not only that, this was also their own turf. Why would the name things? Things that only ninjas would use?
"…. You have a point." She conceded after a pause.
Shisui let a few chuckles escape as they continued to walk.
"So what's a civilian doing in a ninja training field?" The boy tries again, the laughter still carrying in his voice.
"I didn't know it was a ninja training field." Akiko muttered petulantly. "I came here because it was peaceful, empty." Akiko continued, her voice calmer as she gave her reasons.
"Calm eh? What don't like the hustle and bustle?" Shisui pried some more.
"It's not that I don't like it but I was born in forest Country and when you've spent as much time as I have on the road, going to a big city with a lot of people, after a while you begin to miss the calm and quiet." Akiko explained, unaware of his sudden stiffness.
"Forest Country?" He asked, still keeping his tone light and playful.
"Yeah, I left when I turned sixteen. Been on my own ever since." Akiko spoke quietly, not wanting to mention the times she spent in Rain. It was still to fresh, too soon.
"Why'd you leave?" Shisui asked and Akiko felt that he was genuinely curious.
"Clan traditions." Akiko told him. She didn't elaborate any further. She knew that clan secrets of the Reko were sacred and were only shared with your life partner. And it seemed that it extends to other clans in here too and that Shisui knew of this as well.
"Oh." He nodded and the conversation seemed to die there.
Akiko was sure how to pick it up either, instead she busied herself with observing the area around her.
It seemed that during their short conversation, Shisui had left her out of the training and were well on the way to civilisation.
X
Due to the silence between Shisui and her, Akiko paid close attention to her surroundings. She could feel the eyes on her and the hair on the back of her neck standing up.
'Why are they staring?' Akiko thought on edge, the hate and the fear from the civilians around her was almost palpable. It was different to when she was on her own, so why was it more noticeable now?
It took her more than half the time they were in the civilian sector for Akiko to realise that the looks weren't directed at her, well there were a few but the majority of the distain was directed at Shisui.
Akiko didn't quit understand until she slowed her pace slightly and her eyes caught sight of the red and white fan on his back.
There was this nagging at the back of her mind, like she should know the meaning of that fan. But every time she grasped at the memory, it easily slipped through her fingers. She knew it was a clan emblem, but which one?
'And I'm pretty sure the reason that everyone here is scared of him is also because of that fan on his back.' Akiko continued to ponder the problem of the white and red fan.
'Why can't I remember!' Akiko thought frustrated. She hated it when she forgot bits of her past life or information that could be important.
"Problem with being old." She muttered to herself.
"Hmm?" Shisui hummed his question to her and Akiko blushed, she hadn't meant for him to hear.
"It's nothing!" Akiko replied mildly.
"Well, we're almost there!" Shisui pointed ahead and Akiko's eyes followed his finger which had led her gaze to a fruit stall where there appeared to be two short boys waiting.
Akiko nodded her acknowledgement but kept quiet, as she studied one of the boys with squinted eyes.
'I think I know that hair from somewhere…' She had seen that strangely shaped hair before? Where had she seen hair that had the strangest angle at the end?
The closer they got, the clearer the two became to her until it got to the point where Akiko and Shisui were face to face.
There were no words that were exchanged between the Shisui and the other older boy but the first one to speak wasn't her.
"It's you!" Shouted the small kid with the strange hair, pointing at Akiko as he did so.
She stared at him, confused.
'Me?' Akiko mouthed to herself as she stared at Shisui with puzzlement.
"You made mummy sad!" The kid shouted again with righteous anger in his voice. Instead of clearing up the confusion, it only made it worse.
"Have you met the little tyke before?" Shisui asked, slight suspicion colouring his voice. Akiko couldn't fault him on it, especially if they were related and it certainly looked like they were.
"I don't know, I've been here two weeks and I've said 'Hello' to a lot of people." Akiko explained with a small shrug of her shoulders.
"But I have seen that hair from somewhere…" Akiko muttered as she stared intensely in to the cross eyes of the boy.
Her eyes widened as the sudden realisation hit.
"You're the kid who was with the really pretty lady!" Akiko practically shouted in her shock. Then her words came back to her.
'Oh god, I sound like a child.' The orange haired woman could feel the blush on her cheeks as she saw Shisui raise an eyebrow at her choice of words. It didn't help that she could feel the other boy's judgemental stare boring into her.
"She's my mummy! Not yours!" The small child said quite possessively, something that didn't surprise her given his age, but it was still slightly insulting, insinuating that she was going to steal someone else to be her mother when she already has one and doesn't need another, there was also the tiny fact that Akiko was most likely over than the woman anyway.
"I have my mum too!" Akiko glared at the kid as she bent over, stooping to the level of the child in terms of arguments. She knew she shouldn't but Akiko couldn't help it, it was nice to feel young again, even if it meant arguing with a child.
"Good! You stay with your mummy and stay away from mine!" The boy folded his arms in triumph that had Akiko smiling softly with an eyebrow raised.
Akiko kept smiling as she stretched her back and made eye contact with the other two more…mature children.
The still unnamed boy said nothing and simply raised a single eyebrow at Akiko but she carefully kept her eyes away from the judging stare.
Akiko turned to stare at Shisui, it was better than facing head on that stare coming from the boy with really long hair and a shine that many girls would kill for.
Shisui, as it turns out, was attempting to hold his laughter, which he was doing pretty well until Akiko raised an eyebrow at him.
And then he lost it.
The boy collapsed into gales of laughter, he was laughing so hard that tears were squeezed from the corner of his eyes.
Akiko knew that what had transpired wasn't that funny, not by a long shot but something told her that Shisui needed this.
Laughing was about as contagious as yawning and it wasn't long before Akiko joined Shisui in laughter.
When the two had finally recovered their bearings, both were faced with the indignant pout of the small boy and the exasperated aura of the older boy.
"Hah, so guys, this is Akiko. A civilian I found." Shisui introduced her and Akiko felt playful indignation at the statement that he had 'found her'.
"More like saved from being blown up." She muttered under her breath. She caught the flicker of his eyes, indication that she had been heard. Akiko wasn't if the other one had heard but then again, ninja.
"Akiko, this guys are my family. The small tyke with the hair is Sasuke." Shisui gestured to the small boy before whispering in her ear.
"Careful, he has the cute brother complex." Sasuke saw the motion and frowned at the two.
"Hey! What did you say to her!" The small boy demanded, obviously knowing that it was about him. Shisui just grinned at the boy and ruffled his hair. Sasuke sulked, arms crossed and an adorable pout on his lips.
"And this is my favourite younger cousin, Itachi!" Itachi remained impassive but there was the aura of exasperation and annoyance that seemed to radiate from him, which had Akiko smile slightly. She had seen this brotherly behaviour before.
At a guess, Shisui was probably the one that bugged Itachi and seeing how he had been conveying all emotion with a blank face, Akiko could see the older boy attempting to pry Itachi out of his shell.
The care between then warmed her heart, something that happened often when she sees familial bonds.
"It is a please to meet you." Akiko greeted formally, her lips twitching at the scene before her.
"And you." Itachi muttered back smoothly, his voice rich and low.
'This boy, well I can just tell that he's going to be a heart breaker with those looks and that voice!' Akiko felt almost sorry for the boy, she was sure that he would garner many, many fangirls by the time he reaches 16. Maybe even sooner.
"Well since I've seen you to your family, I'll be taking my leave." Akiko bowed slightly before taking a step back.
"Wait! Why don't you come with us?" Shisui had a hand on her shoulder, not an attempt to stop her but something to get her attention.
"I wouldn't want to intrude on family time." The orange haired woman rebutted.
"You wouldn't be intruding! The more the merrier!" Shisui seamlessly deflected the weak reason.
Akiko studied his face, and looked. His eyes were tired and haunted. He had seen death, and while she could recognise the same look in her own eyes, his were darker.
She had lost patients but they were always people she had not really connection to but Akiko suspected that Shisui had lost close friends. In battle.
'He is a ninja, after all.' Came her own sardonic reasoning.
"Fine," She caved to his request and walked with them, "but where are we going?"
"We're going to…" Akiko listened with diligence to the youngest member of this small group, smiling and nodding and asking question of boy. Akiko would continue to ignore the eyes of accusation and fear and instead enjoy her time with some new friends. Even if they were a bit younger than her.
X
As it turned out, they were heading to the stores to some grocery shopping, nothing too big. Shisui kept much of the conversation going with Akiko throwing in a story of her travels every now and then just to add to the richness of what was being spoken. Sasuke had stars in his eyes when he heard that Akiko had travelled all the way from Forest Country to the Leaf village.
"Where are you gonna go next?" Shisui asked with a causal grin as Akiko shifted the bags she was carrying.
"Hm, I'm not too sure honestly. I just going where ever the road takes me. I don't do much planning." Akiko answered with a shrug.
"Really? Just where ever? What if you hit a cross road?" Shisui asked, both fascinated and slightly disturbed with her way of travel.
"I toss a coin." A lazy grin spread on her lips. Akiko didn't like making plans when she travelled. Even though it was against common sense.
"That's crazy! What if you get caught in bad weather!" This time it was Sasuke who asked.
"Well then I just deal with it! I improvise!" Akiko shot a grin at the small boy whose face scrunched at the word.
She could see him mumbled the word under his breath before turning to Itachi who seemed to watch the conversation from the corner of his eyes, never really joining in. 'Though to be fair, he seemed to have more fun listening than talking' Akiko concluded as Sasuke asked his older brother what the word meant.
Akiko, noticing that she was nearing her hotel, figured that it was time to say her farewells.
"Hey guys, this is my stop." She stopped and waved at Sasuke and Itachi. Shisui pouted at her words.
"Aww! Why don't you come with us?" Sasuke asked with a cute foot stomp.
"Sasuke, Mother wants as home soon and Akiko is most likely tired from today's events." Itachi, being the diplomat, explained to his brother.
"Sasuke, tell you what, if you see me in the streets, you can run over and say 'hi'! Even come at me with a running hug!" Akiko smiled at the boy, giving gentle encouragement.
"Fine then." The small boy crossed his arms and pouted.
'He's so adorable!' Akiko gushed in her mind.
"I'll see you around Shisui!" Akiko called as she turned down Otome street and headed to her hotel.
Not before passing a stall with several items that Akiko thought would be good parting gifts for the trio when she left the village.
X
It seems that Akiko's luck had changed, since throughout that second week she had continuously run into the Uchiha trio. Akiko had the nagging suspicion that Sasuke had gotten Itachi to track her down simply so the small boy could tackle hug her.
Not only that but the other two were just as good company, alternating between endless chattering and story share and comfortable silence. It was quiet the experience, something that Akiko was glad for. There were a few times that Akiko had seen either Shisui or Itachi stare down civilians that had felt brave enough to approach them and sometimes just her, with less than pleasant intentions.
However, in the middle of her third week, Itachi and Shisui informed her that they could no longer meet up as they had a mission come up. Akiko told them that it was fine and then handed them three gifts she had gotten them earlier.
She had gotten Sasuke a book on the ninjutsu of the elements, Shisui a baby blue scarf and for Itachi, an empty journal. It was a small gesture but one of friendship but one that she meant completely.
Akiko felt a pang of sadness and regret at their retreating backs. She wishes she had more time with them.
X
Akiko sat in the common room of her hotel, somewhat at a loss of what to do. She felt restless but the same time, she didn't know what she could be doing. Akiko had already walked everywhere she could, seen the sights and tried the foods. What else was there to do?
She stared at the window and continued to watch as the night took old. Akiko stared in a trance like state, watching the dark spread slowly and softly over the street. Her eyes snapped into focus as she came to a decision. Akiko stood with wobbly purpose and made her way out the door, following a faint call in her heart.
X
Akiko didn't think, she just let her feet take her where ever. Her eyes passed over shops and landmarks without them registering in her mind. She simply wandered through the streets of the Leaf village.
The lights of the village and the people on the streets blurred together as she continued to move through them like water. Just as sudden as her revere had begun, it had also ended. Akiko stopped suddenly as she felt her mind focus on where she was. She blinked a few times to clear her head as she looked around. It seemed that her wandering had gotten her to the side of town that had all the pubs.
It wasn't a place she was too keen on staying in. With a light shrug, Akiko continued down the street she was on, this tome more aware of her surrounds. She looked around and took in the sights and sounds of roaring laughter, hoots and drunken civilians. As Akiko continued to walk, she noticed the atmosphere change and the patrons too.
It seemed that the people where she was now were sombre and quiet. There were some parties but they seem to be celebrating survival not an occasion like a birthday. Akiko frowned, if she was where drunk ninjas were then it would be in her best interest to not stay. Who knows what they could be capable of! Akiko didn't know when they were sober, but at least then they would have control over their mental facilities. But if they were drunk…Akiko shook her head, not wanting to think about it. Instead, she increased her pace and tried not to look like she was hurrying out of the area.
Akiko continued on, taking note of how the number of bars dwindled down until she was out of the area. With a sigh, she relaxed and resumed her leisurely pace.
'Maybe I should start to head back to the inn?' Akiko pondered as she walked.
She suddenly stilled as Akiko felt two arms wrap around her midsection and a face nuzzle into the side of her neck. Akiko felt her heart stop and at the same time felt her blood grow cold. She didn't think this would happen to her, not here either!
With her heart increasing in speed as her fear grew, Akiko braved looking at the person who made themselves overly friendly with her body. If it was a civilian she could take them but…if it was a ninja? Then she, in very apt terms, was screwed.
Her head turned slightly and her eyes widened in shock for another reason. The face that is nuzzling into her neck like some kind of dog, was a masked faced.
'Please not him…' Akiko pleaded as she turned her head further and caught sight of a shock of white hair and his face.
'No! It can't be!' She thought frantically but the deep timber voice rumbling in the man's chest said otherwise.
"Mine." Kakashi almost growled.
(Akiko stubbornly ignored her thing for deep voices.)
'Meeting Kakashi once was enough but meeting him again?! What the hell kind of luck do I even have? Did I piss off some all-powerful being? Seriously! Out of everyone here! In the whole damn village! Why did it have to be him?!' She ranted in the safety of her mind as she forced her body to remain still.
So far, all Kakashi had done was holder her tenderly like a lover and declare that she belonged to him. Akiko felt her face flush with colour at the pleased growl in Kakashi's chest.
(And maybe deep, deep in her heart, she did enjoy the sound of it.)
'I really didn't need this happening to me, right now.' She though embarrassedly as her…other parts started to react. However, there was another thing, Akiko could smell the stench of alcohol that hung on him like a cape of a jealous woman.
"Smells nice." Kakashi rumbled out again, this time clutching her closer. Kakashi is clearly drunk and also a ninja, who seems pretty happy with her around and Akiko wasn't heartless enough to set a drunk Kakashi loose on the village. Not the mention, she didn't think anyone would be able to pry him off her without some form of grievous bodily harm. Akiko sighed as she tried to pull herself out of his grasp.
It didn't work, he just growled threateningly before making his grip on her person even stronger. Akiko heaved a sigh.
"alright then, let's get you to bed." Akiko huffed gently at the drunken man.
"Okay!" He sings cheerfully but doesn't let go.
"You aren't going to let go. Are you?" She muttered rhetorically.
"Nope!" Kakashi answers cheerfully anyway.
"Right." The woman sighs tiredly before taking a few experimental steps forward. Kakashi mirrored them perfectly. Taking this as a success. Akiko begins her walk back to the inn, with Kakashi attached to her back like a leach.
X
The resulting walk was a surprising nice and languid one, that is one Akiko disregarded her own heart rate and the various stares of disbelief from the people who seemed to recognise Kakashi. Anyone that had tried to even come near the pair ended up backing off in the face of an audibly growling Kakashi. Something that every didn't want to face.
"So, why were you drinking?" Akiko asked, seeing as Kakashi seemed coherent enough while drunk, if just a bit animalistic.
"Celebration!" Kakashi giggles his answer in her ear. Akiko shook her head in slight disbelief. Kakashi and giggling is a weird combination.
"For what?" Akiko asks surprised. She had never pegged Kakashi as the type to drink at parties, let alone go to parties without someone else bringing them.
"Back on rosters" He crows to the sky happily and Akiko turns her head to look at him, she smiles fondly at the childish grin that she could see from the outline on his mask. Akiko assumed that 'back on roster' meant back on mission roster.
"Why were you taken off?" Akiko questions with surprise but she didn't think she'd get an answer.
"Can't tell! It's a secret! Shhh." He sang back gleeful at the idea of a secret, like a little kid who knew where their parents had hidden all the sweets.
'Should have expected that.' Akiko thought with a face fall, not entirely sure why she had some faith that he would tell her. They did literally just meet…technically this was the first meeting with him being semi lucid.
"Alright then, who set the party up?" Akiko askes without losing heart. He is a ninja and she highly doubts Kakashi is the type to throw a party for himself. Period. Instead he is more the type to be dragged against his will.
"My teammate! Beeeaver!" Kakashi drawls with drunk happiness.
"Beaver?" Akiko asks sceptically. She is aware that ANBU exists and that they wore masks to hide their identity, and that Kakashi was also part of the secret force of ninja. But that still begs the question, why is Kakashi's teammate called beaver? Is…that the name for his mask? Akiko wasn't sure and decided to just let it go, she figured more thing would make sense that way too.
"Yep! Beeaverrr" He sang this time.
When he didn't elaborate further, Akiko sighed and left it alone. There really wasn't anything else she could get out of him without Kakashi being cryptic, even though he is drunk.
The rest of the walk was silent but with a strange sort of comfort. The amount of people on the street had also lessened to the occasional couple or person who didn't give them a second glance. Of course there was the sniffing and dace rubbing, which made Akiko's face heat up, especially when accompanied with a low growl in Kakashi's chest.
By the time the two of them had gotten back to Akiko's inn, she was a bit aroused and very, very red. Hisako, the woman who had checked her in the first time and since then taken the night shift for the last three weeks, looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a very amused smirk. The suggestive wink was something else.
Akiko didn't think she could blush any harder. She was wrong.
Somehow, the implication was worse than what was currently happening. So with a red face, Akiko ran or rather walked quickly to the stairs and hurriedly entered her room.
This must have been some sort of signal for Kakashi as she could feel could feel the shoots of pleasure from him nibbling on her neck. He had taken off his mask.
Akiko couldn't stop the aroused most that slipped past her lips as Kakashi's hands took to wandering her body, seeking out pleasure spots.
'I can't let this continue, especially since he's drunk!' Akiko thought frantically and with slight difficulty as Kakashi is very talented with his hands and his mouth. Her body responded with a gusto to Kakashi's ministration on her breasts and Akiko could feel the smirk on his lips as let out a particularly loud moan.
Akiko isn't going to give him any hers since he had alcohol and she didn't think he would be drinking them at all, since his attention was elsewhere. So that left Akiko with pressure points and a drunk's natural propensity to fall asleep.
'Kakashi falling asl-ah-sleep doesn't look like it's happening anytime soon.' Akiko's mind stuttered as Kakashi had somehow managed to get his hands under her clothes without her noticing. That just left her with pressure points.
Akiko needed to act soon because Kakashi was hitting all sorts of buttons and his hands were getting dangerously close to one in particular. She turned abruptly to face him.
"Shirt off" She commanded breathlessly and as if by magic, the vest and the shirt were on the floor. And so was hers. She could feel his bare chest on hers and it sent tingles down her spine. Akiko let one hand trace down his exposed muscles and while Kakashi didn't make a sound, Akiko could feel him shudder with pleasure.
The heat that she felt in her belly, intensified. She felt it rush downwards, making her regret her next move.
Akiko rammed two fingers into the pressure point over Kakashi's heart and with a small sigh of regret and wistfulness, she caught the now sleeping man. Akiko slowly dragged him to the bed and gently dropped him on it, grunting from the effort.
"Definitely not lighter, if anything, you've gotten heavier." Akiko said to the unconscious figure.
Her only response was a snore.
Akiko wasn't sure what to do next. Hightail it out of here? Right now or stay in case Kakashi vomits and chokes on it and then leave. She must have spent too long standing there contemplating her options next to Kakashi because suddenly she was in bed with said ninja's arms firmly around her.
'A drunk ninja is still a ninja.' She remembered the words of Shisui when she had asked about ninjas after seeing some stumble out of a bar earlier in the day. Completely true and her own fault for forgetting it.
"Damn it." Akiko whispered, she should have remembered! There was also another thing, this was even similar to the last encounter Akiko had with Kakashi. She tried to wiggle her way out but Kakashi's arms just tightened their grip. Sighing her surrender and pointedly ignoring the warmth spreading from her heart, she needed to plan her next step.
Her next best bet of escape is tomorrow morning, when hopefully, Kakashi's arms would be loose enough for her to escape but until then, she needed sleep.
X
Akiko gave in to her guilty want as she snuggled into Kakashi's arms and fell asleep.
OMAKE
Genma scoured the rooftops for Kakashi.
'All I gave him was one damn pill!' He thought as he continued to search frantically, nervously chewing on a senbon.
He knew that Kakashi always drank on the anniversary of Obito and Rin's death but never his Sensei's, 'probably because of Naruto' he admitted to himself.
Se Genma wanted his fellow ANBU member to have a happy experience and so he had slipped Kakashi a standard, civilian grade happy pill that he had swiped off some doctor's office in preparation for this. That was it! He just gave Kakashi one pill and then…maybe a few drinks after.
It was working too! And then poof! Suddenly Kakashi was gone! Genma had only turned around to get another drink off the waiter.
"Honestly where the hell could he have gone?" Genma muttered to himself as he stopped by the memorial stone to check if Kakashi had been there.
Team Ro would skewer him if they ever found out what he did or that he lost Kakashi.
"Damn it."
Genma continued his search.
So thoughts?
Also if you want, you can check out the tumblr for this story! it's: thewanderingwomanofnaruto with the usual tumblr ending!