Chapter 3

"Kenzo, stop teasing your sister! Kanna, come here... Kenzo I said st-". The front-door bell rang and resonated through the corridor. Miru glanced at the clock hanged over the cupboard at the entrance. 11:47 pm. They didn't expect anyone coming at this hour. Her mother had departed early in the morning and was supposed to come the day after. Guessing the situation, Kenzo took his sister from his hand and dragged her to the kitchen, much to Miru's relieve. He was impossible to deal with sometimes, but when things got serious Kenzo had always proved to be reliable. When she heard the click of the kitchen's door, she walked to the front-door and snatched the key set from the cupboard's surface. Miru stopped before stepping down to the entrance and groped for a katana in the umbrella stand at her right.

"Who is it?" No one answered, but the light shuffling noise coming from the other side confirmed that there was indeed someone behind the door. Burglary was one of the sad aftermaths of the last War, and their neighborhood was being targeted twice in the last month. She might have become paranoid, but she didn't want to take any risk. He or she better had a good reason to knock at someone else's door, if only they presented their intentions as soon as she had asked. It sounded too suspicious, and the fact she couldn't get her hand over the the katana was making the situation all the more annoying.

"I said WHO-ARE-YOU?"

"Care to let me answer, young lady. I thought I raised you with some manners." At the familiar faded voice, Miru rushed to unlock the door. "Kids, you can come. It's grandma! Why it doesn't- I always mistake these two... Just wait a second, mom." Kenzo was the first to arrive, closely followed by Kanna who was holding her bunny tightly between her arms. When she finally opened the door, the the child and the teenager sneaked by her sides and jumped on the old lady. Atsuko laid a hand on each head as she finally stabilized her equilibrium axe: "Good to see you're doing well. Now go inside, 'might catch a cold." Kenzo nodded and took her sister inside. She then turned to her daughter who was still standing on the porch with an expecting look in the eyes. The old lady extended her arm and the young woman bent forward for a hug and laid her cheek on her mother's chilly one. "I didn't expect you to come at this hour mom." Atsuko snickered softly at the bizarre turn the situation have taken: "Hey, I'm old but I still have some energy left. No, actually I was too tired to spend a night outside so I decided to come back tonight ". Miru parted first and kissed her mother on the cheek then took the luggage inside. "Did you eat? There are some leftovers from dinner. Rice curry and omelet. Tonight I'll let you be, but tomorrow I who is this mysterious prisoner you needed to meet for your research. I can't believe you went so far just for a single meeting. You're 86 now mom. I hope this will be the last one..." Miru's warm smile faded as she crossed the mixed look of sadness and tenderness that she rarely sighted from the older woman. "Miru, can you come with me? We need to talk."

Miru closed the door of her room, trying to make a little noise as she could. When her mother told her who she went to see and what she was planning to do she hadn't found the strength to say a word. She just hummed and nodded as if she had understood her mother's intentions, then she hugged her mother and wished her good night before leaving. What a hypocrite. Miru closed her eyelids in an attempt to take under her stomach that was threatening to throw up all the food she had ingested.

How could her mother do something like that. After all her family went through.

Three years of coma and two of detention in some guarded hospital cell in Konoha. Five years of her life wasted away while her sister and her husband let a son and a disabled daughter she didn't even know the existence. Back home was awaiting her the remains of a broken family, so she had made a choice - she had internalized everything and made her best to take care of them all. But then, after another five years of sacrifices, the person she trusted the most, her own mother, went to meet the very person that had destroyed her life with the excuse that she would finally 'be able to move on'.

She couldn't help but snort as she replayed the conversion in her mind. 'Move on'. What had she been doing in the last five years? She had given up the seat she was proposed in the Cypher Division with the Mizukage's recommendations to focus on herself and take a break from Shinobi life. Even when the Fourth Shinobi War broke out, she decided to stay in the village to protect civilians instead of the going to the battlefield. No more traumas, it became her motto. then, with the end of the war came the news of Hoshigaki Kisame's death. It was done. After ten long years, she could finally bury that dark chapter of her life and start anew.

Then why? Why did she do that?

Because she's just obsessed with her job as she has always been. It had always come first after all... 'Move on'? Me? Liar...

She took her head in her hands and slid her back down against the door. That throbbing pain in the temples was clouding her mind. She was so angry. Against her mother. Against her fate. Against herself.

The headache was tearing her apart. Her hands clenched into fists on a tangled strands of hair. She wouldn't let it know. She would just do as she always did. This time too she would take it all on herself. She was the strong one, and she could make it alone.

By the time the pain ceased, she fell asleep on the floor.

"Ouch! What the... Oh, noooo... Not my headphones..." Reika picked up the string on which were hanging two separate ear-covers and stared at the broken plastic band with an annoyed look. Listening to the radio was the only worth distraction she had when she worked at the takoyaki stand next door. The streets of Same were deserted during the day, and except watching seagulls fishing and fighting for their food – which didn't happen that often – there wasn't much to see or to do.

Reika looked for a scotch roll in the items spread around her futon. The apartment was too small to have any more pieces of furniture besides the nightstand and a card table, so Reika never really tried to tidy it up.

Found it.

Satisfied, she wrapped the two pieces together with the brown strip, and tried it on. They worked. The esthetic result was terrible, but she couldn't afford to spend more money on a new pair. Ever since the Mizukage decided to carry out the new Reform, which essentially consisted in diminishing the number of missions assigned to the members of the infamous clans related to the Bloody Mist, the members of the Hoshigaki clan had to look for other means of livelihood. Something very complicated for people used to live as Shinobis for generations. It didn't bother Reika much. She passed the Graduation exam because it was the traditional coming-of-age ceremony, but she would have gladly avoided to be sent on murderous missions - fighting wasn't her cup of tea. As she pushed the thick curtain to the side, Reika enjoyed the early sun rays warming up her face. Not long ago, she had heard an old lady saying that the Hoshigakis life was pretty different before they had been subjugated by the Land of Water. But that was more than a century ago.

A thud brought her back to reality. Two boys on a bicycle landed their faces on the trash bins for the umpteenth time. She really needed to go. On her way to work, she wondered if today she would receive her paid. She needed a pair of new sandals.

Notes: I keep changing some BIG details of my story and I know how annoying it could be, especially since my writings are not beta-read... So a big thank you for all those who keep reading it, I love you!