Gomen Girl
By ShyDragonne
Summary: Today is Suki's twenty-fifth birthday, but she is not feeling very happy. Clumsy, slow-on-the-uptake, and single, she spends her days painting by Lake Uchiha. What happens when an old friend swings by to wish her the best?
Chapter 1: Lake Uchiha
Suki yanked out a paintbrush that she'd stuffed in her big, black bun and dipped it into the dish of red oil paint. She had camped out by this lake for days trying to get a good impression of the sunset, but hell, she might as well have been trying to find a four leaf clover. They both required luck and skill, two things that she certainly did not have.
Speaking of the lake, Suki had named it Uchiha after the boyfriend of a friend and the shape of the lake itself. Because it started narrow and widened out, she had named it in her own native Japanese for "fan."
She sighed and stared at the stars, twinkling as if mocking and defying her.
"What do you want from me, Kami? "She silently asked the heavens.
Suki began to paint the night sky, something she'd done many times before when she'd failed. She spaced out and her mind began to wander.
FLASHBACK
She couldn't believe that she'd be leaving Konoha, the whole Konohagakure, forever. All of her old friends came to see her off. Obito, Rin, Iruka; they were all there. Except one. Stupid masked boy hadn't left her a note, a message, nothing.
She gave up all hopes of a final goodbye when she saw the gates of the village slam shut behind her. "Are you okay?" her mother asked. "I'm fine," she lied. She turned her back to her parents and brushed away a silent tear.
Suki had been seven.
END FLASHBACK
Suki yelped when she realized that she'd let a brush loaded with yellow paint slide across the canvas and down her black capris.
"Shit," she muttered as she peeled of her capris and slipped on her pajama bottoms. She got up and rinsed her capris as best she could in Lake Uchiha.
Suddenly, Suki opened her jaws wide and a monster yawn escaped.
"I really should be getting to bed," she thought. She unrolled her sleeping bag and settled down for the night.