A/N: Okay. This chapter will be based on Ritsuko's past. Hope you'll understand. I had to fix a lot of crap in my notebook where I wrote this fic. If you'll see this chapter in my notebook, it's totally different but they both have the same idea, anyways... Okay then. R&R please...
O-O-O
After the six spent the rest of the day together, they decided to go home for a good night's rest. Ritsuko, Mei and Yumiko aren't from Konoha, as explained before. Yumiko and Cello stay at Yumiko's own apartment near Yakushi Kabuto's. They're cousins... Mei, also being cousins with someone in particular, TenTen, stayed at TenTen's house. Ritsuko, on the other hand, doesn't have anywhere to stay. The last time she went to Konoha, when she met Naruto four years ago, she slept on a tree branch in the forests outside Konoha...
The six ninjas said their goodbyes and went their separate ways home. Ritsuko and Nell were left with Naruto by then. Simply, they walked to Naruto's apartment but stopped just right outside of it.
"Hey Ritsuko, uhm, why not stay here tonight? Don't you have nowhere to stay while here in Konoha?" Naruto asked. Ritsuko shook her head as to answer "no" to the blonde shinobi.
"So...?" Naruto asked Ritsuko for her decision. Ritsuko just shrugged.
"There is no harm in staying here in your... apartment." Ritsuko said, considering the place as an apartment. She heard from a lot that it was full of random things at Naruto's place.
This made Naruto smile that fox smile he always had. So, with no other word, they, including Nell, went into the apartment.
Naruto closed the door. Ritsuko saw how messy the one-room apartment was. People were right then, she would think. She had to move aside some of Naruto's... things, as he may call them. To her, it was junk. So she had to move some junk to make room on the floor for her to sleep on.
"Uhm, sorry. I know it's messy. But, you know, having so many missions, I don't have time to clean my own place." Naruto explained, scratching the back of his head and looking at Ritsuko. Ritsuko didn't seem to care about his reason why the place was a junkyard because all that was heard was an "hm" from the Sound ninja as she lay on the floor, looking up at the ceiling.
Naruto looked at her in thought, remembering how she hasn't changed since the time they met.
"Hey Ritsuko, for the four years we knew each other, why are you still so serious? I mean, you have friends now, and..." Naruto asked, breaking the silence. In respond, he heard Nell chirp. Nell knew that the last sentence that came out of Naruto's mouth was a big mistake.
Ritsuko slowly sat up and looked at Naruto. Though Naruto can only see Ritsuko's left eye, her right one being covered by her bangs, he clearly saw it change from green to silver. "Do not say that I have friends, Uzumaki Naruto. You know, very well, why." she said as her eye shone in the moonlight.
"C'mon, Ritsuko. That's the past. Your mom would be happy if you-"
Unable to finish his sentence, Naruto felt strong wind blowing from where Ritsuko sat to different parts of the room, making everything a mess once more. Naruto closed his eyes and looked away. When all the wind just disappeared into a breeze, Naruto opened his eyes and looked back at Ritsuko. She was lying on the floor, asleep. She probably didn't want to wreck the place so she stopped but lay unconscious. Nell chirped, worried that her owner was hurt.
The 17-year-old blonde walked to Ritsuko's side and sat down. Nell chirped once more, hoping Naruto would do something to help. Naruto patted Nell softly. "It's okay, Nell." he said, assuring the chick that nothing wrong happened.
Naruto stared at Ritsuko. He was sure of why Ritsuko was like this. He knew why Ritsuko was like this. It's because of what happened when she was 7. What she did when she 7...
She killed her own mother...
Since then, she never made friends with anyone. She was extremely close to her mother. She then stayed as the only girl with her father and brother, Hisoka. But she never knew she killed her mother. She was told by her a father multiple times that she died of sickness. But she got hints from other Sound ninjas at their village. Sometimes she'd hear people say things such as "It's her." or "Isn't she the one with the worst monster?" though she wasn't sure, then, if she was the one they were talking about. She didn't know. She didn't want to know if she was the one they were talking about. A lot of people from Sound were strange. But was it her who was the most unusual?
It was months, no, a year after they met did she find out that she was the one who murdered her mother. Not only did she find out that painful fact but she also found out that she was not alone when she killed her mother. She was controlled by a demon which, until now, no one knows what kind of demon it is. And that demon had horrible silver eyes and silver chakra, the one that Ritsuko possesses.
It is sad. Naruto, he knew, of course, had a beast within him, himself. He was also hated by many but now, no more. He has friends to be there for him, to support him when needed. But where the two differs is that Ritsuko was used as a weapon from time to time whenever Sound was in danger. Ritsuko, as a young girl, didn't know what she was doing while in battles. And being used as a tool was not what Naruto wants for others like when he had met Haku...
Naruto snapped out of his thoughts. He noticed that Ritsuko was still there, still asleep. He stood up, went to his bed and lay on it. He took one last look at Ritsuko. "Hope you sweet dreams, Ritsuko." he whispered before dozing off into a deep sleep.
O-O-O
It was pitch black. Nothing could be seen. Nothing was heard either. All there was was emptiness and a slight breeze. That's all she, Kagachiwa Ritsuko, felt, the wind touching her skin. Her long-sleeve, yellow, turtle-neck top and her long, wavy hair swayed along with the relaxing breeze. It almost seemed peaceful. The thing she has always waited for was this, a moment where in she felt so untroubled... She wished that she'd never leave this moment... This dream...
But as a lot have heard, probably a million times, that we should be careful of what we wish for, because dreams can turn into nightmares...
The wind stopped. Then Ritsuko started falling downwards, falling in what seemed like an empty, dark and endless pit.
But after a while, she landed on her side. She landed on what felt like grass. She opened her eyes since her eyes were, like anyone who just fell from a great height, closed. She turned to face the sky. She stood up and brushed the grass and dirt off her shirt and jeans. She looked around to try to figure out where she was. She found herself in a place so familiar. Wide-eyed, Ritsuko realized where she was.
She was in the park her mother and she, herself, would always go to, to spend time together. Those times from long years ago... the times with happiness, times with laughter... The laughter...
She heard it. She heard laughter. She heard her own laughter of joy.
She turned to look around once more. She wanted to know where the sound of laughter came from. Then a different laughter was heard...
It was her mother's laughter. The laughter she had longed for ever since the death that she had caused.
Looking around for the last time, she listened carefully. After knowing which direction the laughter came from, she ran to that direction, desperate to see her mother once again. She was running and panting, but she did not stop until she reached her mother.
After a while, she finally arrived... But it was too late...
A different, very different laughter was heard this time. To her horror, Ritsuko saw her mother dead on the ground...
Her mother's once beautiful, long, brown hair was stained with blood, and so was her white gown. Her mouth was open in shock; here eyes were wide. Those used to be shining so brightly with utter happiness, those emerald green eyes of her mother, but they were now blank as she lay still, not breathing, not alive... but dead...
Ritsuko looked down at her own, younger self of nine years ago. Her back was facing her. Silver aura was surrounding the child. The past Ritsuko turned to face the present one. The silver eyes of the demon were staring at Ritsuko's own green ones. Her younger self was laughing, laughing like a complete maniac!
"You... You are me,
are you not?" the demon's harsh voice asked.
"No. I-
I'm not a monster! I'm not like you at all!" Ritsuko burst out
with tear filled eyes.
"How can you not be? I'm inside of
you. You cannot escape me."
"No!"
"You
killed your own mother, yes?"
"No! You-"
"You're a murderer!"
"No!"
The past Ritsuko smirked, showing awful, sharp, bloody teeth. She walked slowly to the present Ritsuko.
"NO!"
The demon jumped high above her, ready to attack. But before Ritsuko backed away, before anything else could happen, a flash of light blinded Ritsuko...
"Is that her?"
"No, keep away from her!"
"MONSTER!"
Ritsuko opened her eyes. She saw a number of Sound ninjas surrounding her. Some had torches, others had kunai knives.
"No! Stop!"
Ritsuko cried.
"Get lost, you- aargh!"
A man just suddenly screamed in pain. Ritsuko felt like she was burning. Though her vision was blurred, she could see the silver aura once more; this time it surrounded her...
Screams of pain... Shouts of fear... She was causing all of those... She was causing murder...
"NO!"
O-O-O
Ritsuko cracked her eyes open.
"Ah..." she murmured as the morning light shone upon her face. Nell's chirping was heard and Ritsuko knew that the chick was happy to see her owner awake at last.
"Awake?" came a cheerful voice from a loud-mouth. Naruto's face came to view. Unlike last night, his expression now was relief. He was so worried last night though seeing Ritsuko okay now made him feel better. Ritsuko sat up and crossed her legs as Naruto sat beside her. "Don't say a word." Ritsuko blurted out.
"Ritsuko, I-"
"I said not a word."
"Ri-"
"Uzumaki
Naruto!"
Naruto stayed silent. He stood up and walked to the door. He turned the doorknob, opening the apartment's door. "You sound like a mother." he said before leaving the room and closing the door.
"Mother..." Ritsuko whispered as she stared at the floor. She lifted her right hand and started circling her index finger. As expected, silver chakra appeared. The silver, spiral string of the demon's energy was visible. Ritsuko heard her mother's lovely voice sing her favorite song. She wanted to get those happy times back. But even if she can listen to her mother sing by using the powers of sound, there's no way she can bring her back to life...
The singing stopped.
She can never bring her back to life...
"That's how your mom sounds like, huh?" a different voice was heard. Ritsuko looked up and saw Naruto leaning on the door frame.
"You came back."
"I didn't go anywhere, Ritsuko..."
Ritsuko looked back down as Naruto sat beside her once more. And once again, there was silence...
"Naruto," Ritsuko spoke, the silence disappearing, "Why... Why do you... care for me? I'm mean to you. I don't understand it..."
Naruto couldn't help but smile. "I do, I care for you because I can. I can because I want to. And I want to... because you said that I couldn't..."
Ritsuko looked at Naruto who looked at her, too. Naruto's smile wasn't that fox smile he had. His smile was one that was calm. He seemed somehow relaxed as he leaned closer to Ritsuko. He brushed her bangs, revealing Ristsuko's right eye, so now he could see both of her green eyes. He held the right side of her head with his left hand. The two stared at each other. A pair of blue eyes staring at a pair of green... Naruto leaned a little closer, also pulling Ritsuko close and gently, making them nose-to-nose. Naruto closed his eyes. Then...
SLAP!
Naruto opened his eyes and blinked a few times, confused, as Ritsuko stood up. He looked up at her.
"You know, quite well, that never in my life will I kiss you, Uzumaki Naruto." Ritsuko retorted and marched right out of the room, followed by Nell.
Naruto rubbed his left cheek with his hand. It was red and it stung, but he managed to smile that usual fox grin. He stood up and followed Ritsuko as he thought "For the four years we knew each other, she hasn't changed one bit..."
O-O-O
A/N: That's all. I tried to make it long... Was it long enough? I mean, is it long enough? Reviews please... Thank you...