Chapter 16: Unspoken

The bright rays of light and the gentle breeze coming through the open window were enough to wake her from her much-needed sleep as the quiet beeping of a monitor droned in the background.

Struggling to sit up, she was slightly disoriented and sensed nothing in particular but the bed beneath her.

"W-what..."

Her voice was a rasped whisper in the empty room and as the sense of loneliness started to overwhelm her, the rash on her arm started to itch.

Despite the monitor's sound, Kintsugi could sense nothing outside of where she lay and the detachment from her surroundings unsettled her.

"Ah, you're awake."

The sound of a door opening and closing and then a person's familiar voice.

Kintsugi flinched.

"Didn't mean to startle you."

"Y-you're fine," she said as she dragged a hand across her face.

"Good news. As far as the doctor's concerned, you just need a bit of rest, there's nothing really wrong with you."

"What happened?"

"Mmmm," the man paused as he leaned against the wall next to her bed,"...they're thinking it was something you ate. Although they couldn't really tell at first."

"What I ate?"

"You don't have chakra, do you? Actually, now that I think about it, where are you from? The reports weren't very clear on that."

"I-I didn't eat until late in the afternoon. Just some pork skewers an- w-wait."

Kintsugi jumped off the bed in a hurry and headed to where she had heard the voice, not giving a second thought to what might be around her, what she might be wearing, or her lack of being able to fully sense her surroundings.

"Woah, hold on!"

Her hands had found his shoulders as she tightly held him against the wall.

"What time is it?!"

"W-wait a sec," he said trying to move out of her grasp, but her surprisingly strong grip kept him in place.

"It's 2 in the afternoon. Now, get off me!" He urged with a blush Kintsugi couldn't see.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Kakashi!" The man yelped out.

"I expected something like this from Kotetsu, but you Izumo-san? That's surprising."

"Stop kidding around and get her off me."

Kakashi sighed and with a more serious tone turned to face Kintsugi.

"Get off him, will you. Just take a deep breath or something."

"Take a deep breath? It feels like my insides are being ripped out!"

"It's probably the knocking agent. Doctor says it was rather potent."

But Kintsugi wasn't paying attention to a word Kakashi was saying as she scrambled to pull out all the wires and IV's the nurses had put in her, a billion thoughts racing through her mind.

"I-I need to leave. You boys have fun or whatever it is that you do."

"Woah there, where do you think you're going?"

Kintsugi hadn't taken more than a few steps before she seemed to stumble forward. It was clear she couldn't fully stand on her own two feet, yet she was still determined.

"You're not free to leave yet," Kakashi said as he stepped towards her with narrowed eyes.

It should have meant nothing to her, nothing to her at all, and yet that very sentence made something snap within Kintsugi. Her normally blank eyes seemed to shine with something foreign and the two men could sense something was wrong.

In a ball of wind, Kintsugi turned and jumped through the open window and onto the street below, hospital gown and all.

"Kintsugi!"

Kakashi sighed as her figure soon became but a faint blip of erratic dust.

"That was...interesting. I didn't know she could do that," Izumo said with mild annoyance at the dust that now seemed to fill the room.

"That makes two of us."

I'll leave you to it I guess. I only came to give her a new ID, but...I'll just give it to you instead."

The image of Kintsugi's blank face stared back at him, even then, seeming to silently ridicule him.

"By the way, how'd your meeting go? Is she staying?"

"...Dimyō-sama was very pleased to receive a rather large, golden bonus from the village's new tycoon. I still need to keep an eye on her, but...I was told to make her feel more comfortable, minimize her distractions and whatnot."

"You know how it is right now. By the time Jiraya-sama and Naruto-kun come back with Lady Tsu—...wait...did you have something to do with her being in the hospital?"

"Kintsugi? No," Kakashi said as he rolled his eyes.

Izumo paused to dust himself off as he studied the other man's face.

"Oh, it seems you already know who did it...don't worry, I won't question you too much seeing as you don't want to talk about it. I can tell when to stop, Kotetsu's probably shirking his duties again anyway. I should go."

A closing of a door later and Kakashi was alone with his own thoughts.

Taking a quick glance at the unkempt bed and strewn wires on the floor, he walked towards the window, propping one hand against the sill, and like the woman before him, jumped out.


Hungry, Kintsugi thought as her empty stomach growled in protest. She had ended up lost in what she could only tell was a forest. It had already been an hour and she still couldn't sense all of her surroundings as much as she wanted.

Had she traveled too far?

"You're not supposed to be here."

Kintsugi spun around, and then again, laughing silently at herself as her ears tried to look for the hidden voice she begrudgingly recognized.

"Me? What about you? You're not supposed to be here either."

"Then, that makes two of us."

"I don't know, feels a little cramped already," she said, her muscles already feeling sore from the tension.

"Enough. I didn't come to make small talk."

"Ah, my mistake," she said sarcastically. "I heard you were in town, but why are you here? I still have two days left."

She waited a moment before going down to cross her legs as she rested her hands on the ground. To anyone else, it would have looked like she was trying to enjoy the sun.

It was really just an excuse to try to find him through any vibrations.

"I'm not here for the money. You're lost."

He sounded closer.

"I'm not lost. I was just taking a stroll through the woods...enjoying the scenery, yeah."

"You're blind. What scenery is there for you to enjoy?"

"What! That's not true," she replied feigning hurt.

"Eye contact is way more intimate than words will ever be and I know enough to tell when someone is actually blind."

In less than a blink and he was standing right in front of her.

"So what? Are you mad?"

"I have no need to be mad."

A few moments of silence passed as she placed her hands in her lap. It didn't really make much sense to her, but if Itachi was here to help, no matter the reason, she wouldn't question him too deeply.

"Where's your friend?"

"He's not my friend," he sighed as he continued to stare down at her, "Are you going to get up?"

She stuck her hand out for him to grab but he remained still.

Fine, she thought.

With one wave of her hand, a small burst of wind helped her to stand as they now stood face to face. He didn't question her little trick as he quickly turned around and led her in what she assumed was the direction of the village.

"I'll have the money you need by the end of tomorrow," she said quietly, gradually gaining her senses by the minute. They were still limited but at least now she could tell what was more than a few feet in front of her.

"I know."

Kintsugi wouldn't admit it out loud, but the walk back was proving to be rather enjoyable despite Itachi's serious demeanor. The intermittent breeze and the stray warmth from the remaining rays of sun calmed her beating heart.

"We're here. You should head back by yourself the rest of the way."

It should have come as no surprise that they were a few miles from the mine's entrance instead of anywhere near her apartment. And despite it being late in the day, he still expected her to work even if she had originally planned on coming here herself anyway.

"Oh...okay. Thanks?"

"Don't thank me. Just go back to work."

"Where do you want to meet tomorrow?"

"We'll come to you."

She paused for a moment as she silently sensed her surroundings and as soon as she was sure there would be no one else on her way back except for a few mine workers, she turned to leave through the open brush.

"Wait."

She hadn't expected him to speak to her again and even less for him to hold out a couple Dango skewers from a bag within his cloak. She had never tried one before but it smelled deliciously sweet.

"Wh-"

"I told you to be careful who you trust," he continued as she took the skewer from his hand and proceeded to eat it without hesitation," and you shouldn't easily eat what others give you."

"Dish esh amashung," she said between mouthfuls.

Itachi nodded in agreement as he continued to speak.

"The people in power in this village are after you for what they have seen you do and what they still don't know about you. You need to be more cautious about how you present yourself. It wouldn't do either of us any good if you end up connected to us."

"I nuvur shaid I trushted-"

"Why do you think you ended up in the hospital?"

Kintsugi finished swallowing before offering a confused and mildly annoyed look in Itachi's direction.

"Who?"

"Danzo."

There was no hesitation in his voice, but there was hesitation in Kintsugi as she continued to ask.

"...who- who else knows?"

"Hatake."


It had taken a while, but after checking her apartment, the chicken and pork stands, the training grounds, and even the memorial, perhaps he should have checked the mine first.

"There you are."

"What do you need Kakashi-sensei?"

"You weren't discharged from the hospital. You could barely get yourself out."

"And yet I did."

"Why are you still here? It's getting late and most of the workers have already gone home. Actually...you should be home."

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Kintsugi said, loading another small box of tightly packed gems onto a trolley.

"Here," he said as he reached out to hand her the ID Izumo had given him.

"What is it?" she didn't even turn to look at him as she flipped through her papers, only serving to irk him more.

"It's your ID. The one you would have gotten if you had stayed at the hospital like you were supposed to."

"You should have left it at my apartment, you probably have access to it anyways."

"Okay, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong with you?" she replied back.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You tell me Kakashi."

Her tone was different. No -sensei, no -san at the end. And if he didn't know better, it almost sounded betrayed, but he didn't know why.

"I'll leave this here. It's clear you don't want to talk. I'll be outside."

Kintsugi didn't respond as she continued to flip through the mine's handwritten reports, sighing a breath of relief once she knew he was out of hearing distance.

She gripped the ID he had placed on the trolley and shoved it deep within one of her pockets as she turned back to work.


The moon and stars were out and all the workers had left and gone but a few hours ago.

She was sitting on a wooden box as she flipped through the day's ledger when Kakashi walked up to her.

"Let's go."

She didn't look up or answer as he continued to stand in front of her.

"How can you even see anything when it's so dark in here?" He said as he placed a bag of food next to her.

"I'm not hungry," she said as her stomach growled loudly in opposition.

"Really?"

Quickly placing her pencil down and tucking the ledger in her cloak, she stood, walked past Kakashi and into the open, chilly night.

The walk back to their apartments was a quick one. Anything really, to save her from the previous embarrassment.

And even though the smell of warm food called out to her from a few feet behind her, she resisted.

She resisted as she walked up the stairs. She resisted as she opened and closed her door. She resisted as she entered her room to finally rest and she resisted the urge to think on anything else but her desire for revenge. If only for a few hours.


A/N: Another chapter. Definitely longer. Enjoy!

Let me know if there are any grammatical errors or identical sentences. I found a few when I uploaded and deleted them. Not sure why that happened.