Chapter 15: Emotions are Messy
"I can't believe you, Ki!"
There was a loud crash as a rock embedded itself in the spot next to her head.
"You can't believe me? W-what about you?!"
She had been holding the tears in all day, and she had had enough.
"Don't start," there was clear anger in his eyes, "You always turn it on us. All we did was think of you first."
"Of me? or of the Avatar?"
"What difference does it make?"
She was taking deep breaths but it still felt hard to breathe as her cheeks became wet with tears.
"All the difference...all the difference to me."
She turned away and ran, she didn't want any of this and she was sick and tired of being a puppet to everyone around her.
She had woken up on a cold bed with the only heat coming from her own body.
Food, she thought as she lifted her feet to stand.
She scratched the itch on her arm as she opened what they called a fridge. There were some things that were still new to her when they clearly hadn't happened or had been invented in her own world, but it was nothing some reading and investigation couldn't fix.
With last night's dream still fresh on her mind, she helped herself to a warm bowl of bland rice that had been stocked by the shinobi that had so graciously offered the apartment in the first place.
She wasn't sure if what felt like a dream was a dream when it still felt so close to her own reality.
"Good mornin' neighbor," she said as the grey-haired shinobi showed up at her door a few hours later.
She had finished eating, showering, cleaning, and a myriad of other things before he came knocking on her door.
"Is it?"
He trudged inside the small room and headed towards the stiff couch. It wasn't comfortable, but as he closed his eyes and slouched, he seemed to fall asleep.
She couldn't deny that the thought of quickly finishing him in one blow hadn't crossed her mind in that vulnerable moment. To simply stop the blood flow to his head with one swift and painless bend.
"Wasn't I supposed to report to you? Not the other way around?"
She was looking out the window trying to sense the level of light as she sat next to the kitchen counter. The bright rays of sun reflecting off her eyes let her know it was nearing noon and the sun was coming to its highest point.
"I got a message...early this morning," he mumbled out.
She wasn't very comfortable with his presence or his current attitude at the moment, and she couldn't trust herself to maintain a calm facade forever.
"-early this morning...," she repeated back.
He continued as she stood to open one of the kitchen cupboards taking out some chamomile leaves to warm up a pot of water.
"Mhmm..."
"And?"
"I've been keeping tabs on my...students," he said as he put an arm over his face.
"Okaaay," she said, dumping more than a few tea bags into the warming pot of water.
"...and one of them has a brother."
"Hmmm...Sasuke's. Yeah, how is the kid? Still in the hospital after his little run-in?"
He sat up slightly, putting his arm down to look at her blankly.
"...he's...recovering," he said with slight hesitation.
"I already met him, remember? I didn't expect his brother would fare any better than the lot of you did after meeting them either."
"...right, and in my defense, I was in the hospital because of you after that."
She tried to hide her grin as she turned her back to him, continuing to stir the tea.
"I'm glad you remember, but what does this have to do with me?"
"He's back in town..."
She stopped.
"And for now, it shouldn't be of importance to you, but anyone under Danzo's surveillance is sure to pique his particular interest, especially if he realizes you interfered that day," he said, pausing to continue as he began to walk over to her, an unspoken question in his eyes.
"Well, I'm not looking to get kidnapped anytime soon, so if you do your job right, I have nothing to worry about," she said turning to look in his general direction.
"Watch out for crows lurking around. If you see anything suspicious, my doors open," he said as he leaned against the counter.
"First of all, crows?," she said with feigned surprise as she turned towards him, "and second, I thought you didn't want me in your home."
"I said my door's open, not that my room, bathroom, and especially my kitchen, are open to you."
"Same thing."
"No, no it isn't. Anyways, just keep an eye out I guess."
"Definitely. Yep. Easy-peasy."
Kakashi had 'stayed' for the cup of tea, sniffing it and then swallowing it in one gulp as he brought his mask down the moment he thought she wasn't looking.
It made no difference to her, she could sense his general facial features if she wanted to.
She didn't want to.
He left promptly thereafter when another shinobi called him in on another task, and though it seemed rather urgent, she locked her door on her way out and headed back to the mine without a second thought.
"Cho-chan!"
"K-hoss! I hoped I wasn't gonna see your ugly mug today."
"Me too! Truly a pity isn't it."
They both grinned at each other walking back to Cho's previous 'office.'
"Where's the pineapple-headed nanny? Did he leave you already?"
"If anything, I'd say he's very loyal to the village. Too sweet for my taste, but also very dumb."
"Kakashi-sensei? Sweet?"
"What," she looked at Cho with a puzzled expression. Sensing Cho's face didn't help either when she couldn't understand what she was trying to imply.
"I also said he was dumb," she added with an indifferent tone, "Besides, I don't want to talk about him. Emotions, they're messy."
"I think you're mistaking feelings for paint."
"Hah! Besides, I'd rather hit him with my knife any day of the week. I hate being watched by a goody-two-shoes."
"I believe the technical term is stab, but I can't blame the village elders for wanting to be extra cautious about letting someone new into the village, and I may be getting to know you," Cho said as Kintsugi scowled at her, "...but that doesn't mean the elders know you, yet."
"Whatever. Kakashi said he'll be back. Maybe we can convince him to do some dirty work."
Kakashi never did show up that day, but she didn't care.
It was obvious enough she was still being watched, a few of the shinobi even walked inside the mine to look at some of the precious stones they had managed to dig out.
Between implementing a new system among the workers, additional structural support, and mapping out the mineral deposits, she was busy enough.
She hadn't realized she hadn't eaten yet until a bag full of warm, meaty skewers and fried cheese sticks had been left next to her workstation late into the day.
Not bothering to question whether they belonged to someone else or if it had been left there for her on purpose, she dug in.
"Slow down K-hoss, you're gonna choke," Cho said as she walked back to Kintsugi to report new numbers.
"If that's the price I have to pay to enjoy these savory delicacies, so be it."
"Enjoy? You're basically breathing them in."
"This meat is so tragically mouth-watering Cho-chan."
"Do you want some? " She was speaking between bites, greasy fingers extending a rather crumpled brown, paper bag to Cho as she paused for a moment.
"No, thank you. I came to give you...this."
"What is it?" Kintsugi said as she continued to eat, not bothering to reach for the paper.
"You may want to take a look yourself."
The younger woman narrowed her eyes as she looked up, "Is it a crisis? We can't have a crisis. My schedule is full."
"No, it's not a crisis. Just look."
"Do you happen to have any water?" Kintsugi frowned looking down at the paper.
"Water? I can get you some, but what do you think?"
"Well...I-I need some water."
Her mind was starting to swirl as light and dark spots seemed to dance across her vision.
"Why? What's wrong. It's good, right? All the numbers are there, I think we can...K-hoss?
"W-wa-ter..."
"Whoa, K-hoss," Cho reached over to catch Kintsugi, the last few remaining contents in the brown, paper bag spilling out as she slumped forward.
"What's going on?" A distant voice seemed to yell out as they approached the two women.
"I told you to run."
It was the small, bald girl again. She seemed so real and as Kintsugi reached a limp hand out to grab her, a heavier weight closed her eyes as she breathed a broken laugh.
A/N: Leave a comment, pwease? [^.^] I wasn't planning on making her pass out. But last-minute as I was typing in the last few sentences...let's add spice. Do you remember the bald girl?
