A/N: Not my best chapter since I was struggling to get it out, with the exams and studying and all that.

Chapter 25 - Promise

"Maiko-chan, do you remember what I said when I first agreed to put you in Anbu?" The Hokage asked me with a genuine smile, yet I couldn't relax under his watchful gaze. Just like what Kakashi had told me, three days after I woke up, the Hokage had summoned me and I was escorted to his office.

"You said that if I show any sign of mental instability, you would pull me out, even if it means forcing me to retire from the normal shinobi force," I answered in an emotionless voice, hoping that my nervousness wouldn't show.

"Not quite. I said if you show any sign that you are unsuitable for Anbu, I would pull you out. 'Unsuitable' counts for a lot more than just mental instability and physical injuries." The Hokage-sama kept his eyes on me. Sometimes, it was hard to believe that someone that benevolent could have such piercing power in his gaze, but I guess this was expected for the most powerful shinobi in Konoha.

"Can you tell me what happened during that mission. I want to hear your story, not just the events mentioned in the written report." The Hokage tilted his head a bit as he watched me attentively as if deciding whether I was a good resource or a liability. I didn't want to be a liability. Liabilities had no value, so they get disposed of.

"First of all, I had no choice but to engage Orochimaru in battle because he was threatening our survival. His snakes cut off any possible escape routes, so we had nowhere to run. I realised the wrong in my actions by excessively engaging him in battle when we had an opening to escape. I let my personal emotions run wild when he provoked me with my family history and my brothers. Thus, I accept any punishment you wish for me." I kept my voice detached so that my anger wouldn't show because just talking about that vile snake made me want to smash him to pieces. In the end, I kneeled and bowed my head in front of the Hokage.

"That's right, your actions there could have killed your teammate, and eventually killed yourself as well simply because of your unfamiliarity with the target. And that, that is unacceptable in the Konoha shinobi force." The Hokage-sama's cold and harsh voice rained down on me. The air in the room suddenly turned heavier, it pressed down on my body, threatening to crush me to the floor. I bit my lip and kept my composure. If we were talking about killing presence, I was not willing to let anyone push me down, not even the Hokage.

"However, I am not cultivating a force of cold-blooded killers. Every one of my shinobi has emotions, and I believe the love we have for others is what makes us strong." In an instant, the pressure in the air disappeared and I involuntarily let out a breath I'd been holding since forever.

"Orochimaru is dangerous on many levels, one of them is his ability to manipulate his opponent's emotions. You are not the first to lose, and you will not be the last. There's no point in reprimanding you of something that so many more seasoned shinobi have failed before you." I looked up to see Hokage-sama's benevolent smile. There must have been a glint of surprise in my eyes because he seemed very amused by my reactions.

"I don't know if this is much of a compliment, but you are not unsuitable for Anbu. All you lack right now is the time to adjust and gain more experiences in this line of work. I am not judging you on the same level as your captain, who has been in the force for more than a decade. However, let this be served as a warning for you, so that you may not act as recklessly next time."

"Your punishment will be two months of suspension from Anbu, and the official statement will be medical leave. In this period, you are not allowed to take any missions outside of the village or anything above a C-rank. Your captain suggested a suspension for four months, but I believe that your act of saving your teammate offers you some bonus points. After two months, your physical fitness and psyche will be tested for further decision. Do you agree with my arrangement?" The Hokage smiled.

"Yes, Hokage-sama! I mean, I don't have any objections to your arrangement. Thank you for your leniency." I dropped my head in embarrassment, but the Hokage just chuckled lightly at my flustered response. Two months of suspension? That was like the best I could ask for. No jail, no forced retirement… besides, I supposed that I did need some time to sort things out, whatever these things were. The only thing I should be concerned about was money, D and C-rank mission don't pay much, but at least I still sort of employed.

"Now that's settled, I would like to talk to you about the information regarding Uchiha Itachi." Just like that, the pressure in the room returned again and created that suffocating atmosphere.

"I am aware that he has now joined the international criminal organisation Akatsuki, although we have very little information on this said organisation other than some old mentionings of a rebellion in Amegakure. Is there anything else you would like to mention?" the Hokage asked me, careful with his words, as though he thought I would break if he mentioned his name anymore.

"Orochimaru mentioned Itachi destroying one of his arms when he tried to take his body. If Itachi joined Akatsuki after the massacre, then it would be plausible to think that Orochimaru was also in the organisation, at least until the repercussion of his actions affected him," I analysed. This was my first plausible information about Itachi since the massacre, and as much as I needed it, all I felt was a sense of dread when I heard the news. It could be false, giving Orochimaru's reputation, the possibility of it being real was quite slim.

"That complicates things, doesn't it. I would like you to remain silent about this, no one should be told of this." He said with scrunched eyebrows, and I nodded. "Are there any other questions you would like to ask?"

I stayed silent for a moment, not sure if I should take the risk, because the question I was about to ask could get me into a lot of trouble, and I wasn't even in the clear for this one yet. Finally, I said it out loud, nervously clenching my hands into fists.

"Hokage-sama, if I may, have you ever send any missions to recapture or eliminate Itachi?" He seemed startled by my question, more so than he should. Yes, it was a question that potentially breached all safety protocols, but he should have expected it. He didn't say anything for a minute. Just as I thought he would shoo me away, he answered in his mellow voice.

"No, we have no information on his whereabouts before this event, and because of the decline in police force after the massacre, Konoha does not have the resources to do a carpet search of a missing-nin. However, after this incident, I imagine that we would start with an investigation of this criminal organisation. A group made up of S-rank missing-nins sounds very…disconcerting."

There was a pause, the suffocating tension lingering in the air before he swiftly continued.

"And no, you cannot be on the investigation. I know you want to hunt down your brother, but you are far too inexperienced to deal with S-rank missing-nins. It would not do any good for you to be emotionally afflicted and get yourself killed." The Hokage said sternly before I could say anything. I wasn't planning on asking anyway. Okay, maybe I might have thought about asking him. Just a tentative thought.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. There's also the matter with my younger brother. Orochimaru threatened him, and he needs protection." Since the way Hokage spoke signified the end of that conversation, I moved onto the next order of business. He looked like he was thinking deeply, with his concentrated expressions under the hat.

"I will increase the village patrol and the village barrier. Although there is nothing I can do to directly give him protection, I encourage you to bring him to the Nara compound more often. I will instruct Shikaku about it, since being in a clan compound is much safer than being alone. I'm so sorry, my girl, but that's all I can do at the moment." There was a hint of regret and sadness in his voice, but I brushed that aside. I was far too concerned with Sasuke's safety right now.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama, that will be plenty." I bowed again to show my respect. It definitely wasn't enough, but for now, I knew that I wouldn't be able to get any guarantee.

"Good. When you are discharged, hand in your report of the mission to the Intelligence Division. Include lots of details on your battle with Orochimaru, I believe he has gained some interesting abilities. Also, there will be curious people asking about your battle and how you survived it, but you are to say nothing about it unless it's me. You can just use 'classified on Hokage's order' to deal with them. I want you to keep a low profile, and take care of yourself, Maiko-chan, don't do anything rash again." I nodded again at Hokage-sama's kind voice and excused myself. Just before I could exit through the door, he called out to me again.

"Oh, I almost forget, I heard there are some complications with your eyesight. Here, you can swing by this address to ask for some help. He's quite stubborn, but you can tell him I sent you." Casually, he wrote something down the paper and gave it to me. I had to refrain from raising an eyebrow as I picked up the note.

"Congratulations, you survived your first S-rank mission, and I'd say you completed it quite well under those circumstances. However, due to your suspension, I regretfully inform you that you will not be able to receive your pay cut. Have a nice rest, Maiko-chan." He finished the last sentence with a smile. Yes, the Hokage-sama does have a sense of humour, a very cold one.

(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~

I was discharged after a week. For some reason, the nurse kept me on painkillers for most of the time while I was in the hospital. Only a day before my discharge did they stop the supply of sedative, and that was when I understood that it was there to keep the healing process as painless as possible. So when I left the hospital room, I was a bit flimsy in addition to having most of my depth perception gone.

Bang! I walked straight into the door frame and let out a small yelp.

"Uchiha-san, are you okay? Do you want to stay for a checkup?" The nurse asked cautiously as I placed a hand on my forehead to ease the pain.

"No, I'm fine, thank you. Just a bit dizzy from the sedatives." I mumbled lightly as I pushed past her. I really, really wanted to get out of here.

"If you feel anything wrong, please come back for a checkup." The nurse called out as I stumbled out of the hospital. The first thing I did was to drop my report off at the Intelligence Division. I didn't get to see Shun, so I just left my report with Yamanaka Inoichi, who reminded me that I still had many psych evaluations with him, courtesy of my Captain.

Soon, after many stumbles and whispers of the most creative curses, I stood outside a grey apartment door, holding the piece of paper that the Hokage-sama gave me. The address pointed me to this apartment. It was close to the facilities at the village centre, but it didn't look very big from the outside structure, most likely a one bedroom apartment.

Hesitantly, I knocked the door lightly and waited curiously for any response. There was a minute of silence before the door creaked open slowly, revealing a bored Kakashi. He wasn't wearing his Anbu uniform, nor did he cover his sharingan with the hitai-ate.

"Um, good morning, Captain." Yeah, I had nothing better to say. The last time I saw him, he was quite angry at me.

He stared at me silently, as if debating whether or not he should slam the door in my face, which would have been a reasonable response, I supposed. He didn't say anything, instead, he tilted his head a bit and looked at me expectantly.

"So, the Hokage-sama send me here, since I need some help with my eye." I continued in a small voice. He continued to stare at me for a moment before letting out a sigh, then turned around and walked away, leaving me confused at his doorstep.

"What are you waiting for, a formal invitation?" Resisting the urge to roll my eyes at his sarcasm, I held my tongue. Slowly, like a cautious rabbit, I peered past the door left ajar and pushed it open a bit more. There was a slight creak as I stepped in. His apartment was clean but empty; there were only a couch and a table in the living room, and the wallpaper is a colour of greyish-blue. I didn't think there could be anyone else whose room was as bleak as mine, but his was close.

The funny thing about walking with one eye is that even if I could see the thing in front of me, the judgement of distance was always a challenge. It was kind of like walking in Suna's sand dunes. The fact that the sedatives were still making me tipsy was not helping my case. I raised my foot to step on the platform leading to the inner room and I miserably failed in judging the distance. My step wasn't big enough, so I stumbled and tripped disgracefully.

I did feel my head spin due to the sudden motion, but I never felt the impact of the cold, hard floor. When my head was clear again, Kakashi hauled me up by my waist and placed me firmly on the ground.

"Are you sure it's just your eye that's the problem, not your head as well?" His visible eye glinted in amusement and irritation. I couldn't see his expression under the mask, but I was sure it's full of mockery.

"Hush, I'm still dizzy from the sedatives, besides, it's just this one time." I defended in annoyance, dusting his hands away. Involuntarily, I placed my palm on my temple to ease the drowsiness. Maybe I should have waited a bit until the sedatives were out of the system, but this visual perception problem needed to go away as soon as possible.

"Sure, so it wasn't you who stumbled several times in front of the Intelligence Division?" Amused, he crossed his hands in front of his chest.

"How the hell do you know that?" I asked in disbelief.

"Accidental discoveries." That was all he answered as he walked away, so fast that it looked like a blur. I followed him into the living room; it certainly wasn't big, but it was quite spacious. Without any more words, he left the room while I stood awkwardly in front of the navy blue couch.

"Are you still angry at me? I apologise for my actions, it won't happen again." With nothing better to say, I asked the most important question on my mind, but immediately after I asked it, I regretted it deeply. That was a dumb question, of course, he is still angry at me, I jeopardised the mission and Falcon's life with my impulsive actions. One thing Captain hates the most are those who don't care about their comrades.

"You are obviously not sorry enough, if it were up to me, you would have a six months suspension." I heard a grumble coming from the other side of the wall, along with the sound of drawers opening and closing.

"Really, Hokage-sama told me you only proposed a four months suspension." Yeah, my attempt at making small, less awkward conversations sucks. If there was one way to piss off a Captain, it was to remind them that their decisions got rejected by a higher-up.

"I was being nice, but now I see that you don't need it. I don't mind adding a report about your mental confusion. Looking at your performance today, I don't think anyone would disagree." To my relief, he didn't sound particularly angry. There was obvious irritation in his voice that could be heard from a mile away, but also along with a minuscule amount of mockery. Soon, he opened the door and returned to the living room. As I stood silently in the living room, he walked past my left and disappeared from my view.

Suddenly, I felt a rush of piercing wind coming from my left along with a sharp intuition telling me to dodge for survival. Immediately, I turned, whipping my head towards my left and grabbed the kunai out of the air. The kunai blade was dull and unpolished, so I was able to grab it within one inch from the front of my forehead.

"Your reflex is much worse than I expected. The fact that your sharingan is so powerful means that it makes you rely on it much more than your other senses. Now that your eyes are experiencing problems, you need to learn to use your other senses. Sharingan is a powerful tool, but it's not the answer to everything. The only reason that the kunai is not embedded in your forehead is because of your exceptional instincts." Kakashi stood a few meters away from me, eyeing me critically.

"So, if I didn't catch it, I would get a hole on my forehead?" I questioned as I expressed my discontent by throwing the kunai back at him.

"Hence the dull kunai. So no hole on your head, but a nasty bruise to knock you back to your senses." He twirled the kunai until it disappeared to somewhere and asked, "How's your condition?"

"Physically, I'm getting there. Mentally however, apparently, my therapy sessions just got upgraded to weekly updates, thanks to you." I said in a flat voice, not at all hiding my distaste for any kinds of psychotherapy.

"How does dying feel." At first, I was a bit surprised by his sudden question, but then, the reality hit me again. I died, I was dead. But then, I came back. It wasn't like that time when I reincarnated, no, not at all. This time, I had no second chance. This body, this life, this rhythm of heartbeat… they were all I had, and I was getting so close to losing it all. Again.

"Dying was painful. Being dead was … just sad. And coming back, it was just so miserably heartbreaking." I whispered after a long pause. I could tell by the strange look Kakashi was giving me that my answer didn't make much sense. But this was the first thing I felt when I tried to remember my experience. The rawest emotions there were that pushed me back to life. "Overall, it sucked," I added quickly, deciding that I could sort out all these craps later.

"Good, now that you know how unpleasant it is for you and your teammates, don't do it again." I raised a brow against his warning, how does he expect me to control it? It wasn't like that I asked to be impaled. Still, I nodded.

"So, when do we start?" I asked in the midst of the awkward silence.

"Ten minutes, training ground 37. When you come back after the suspension, I don't want a useless liability on my team." Like a breeze of wind, he disappeared again. Despite what he said, I doubt he would reappear anytime sooner than three hours, considering that he was still mad. As I walked (without stumbling) towards the forest, I couldn't help but let out a small smile. Kakashi said "my team", so that probably meant he had more or less forgiven me, or at least he's less angry now that he was willing to put me back on his team again.

The wind was blowing my hair against my face and it was brushing over my eyes. The details were clear in my right eye, the texture of apartment walls; the splatter of tiny little ink droplets around the shop banners; the delicate petals of the newly bloomed flower of spring. No, it was not the details, but the world as a whole that was fuzzy and my sight was confined even more so now that the images seemed to cut off. It was fuzzy because I couldn't piece them together, and it was fuzzy because I couldn't see the direction where I was going far, far away. Ultimately, I couldn't perceive the world.

But for now, I knew I was walking towards training ground 37, where my captain would arrive late like usual, and then he would start the involuntary lessons of teaching me how not to die.

And that, that was good enough for now.

(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~

I sat on a flat rock under one of the few shades that existed in training ground 17. Against the flow of soft winds, I turned a page of the old black book in my hand and read it quietly.

"You are supposed to be working as an assistant teacher right now, Maiko. So can you at least act like you are doing something?" I looked up from the page momentarily to see an unimpressed Akira-shishou staring at me with a raised eyebrow.

"But I am doing something. Besides, it's a volunteer duty which I got dragged in involuntarily." I said with an innocent smile. Although to be fair, I didn't come here for the pay. It was actually Shishou's offer for some extra kenjutsu lesson that convinced me.

"It's called gratitude, kids these days…what are you reading?" Akira-shishou suddenly asked as he eyed my book suspiciously; he probably thought I was picking up Kakashi's indecent habits. I wouldn't deny that being around someone for so long did have an effect on my behaviour, for example, my tolerance for vicious sarcasm.

"It's a bingo book, Shishou, not whatever you are thinking," I answered, flipping another page in the process.

"Bingo book? Haven't you memorised all of them already?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I did memorise the ones from the major five villages, but this is the compilation from the minor shinobi villages, and it's not even current. I can only find the edition from two years ago." I told him the honest truth. After the discussion with Hokage-sama, I remembered him mentioning Akatsuki being related to some civil rebellion in Amegakure. So as a pastime, I had started some subtle research on Amegakure and their missing-nins.

"Hey Shishou, why aren't missing-nins from Amegakure in this book? Their village should be big enough to fit in this book, right?" I asked, flipping through the previous pages, but I couldn't find a single missing-nin from Amegakure.

"Amegakure? They have always been secretive before, and I think the censoring of information has become stricter in the past few years. I don't think you will find any information of their missing-nins in the official books, they stopped issuing their bingo list three years ago." Akira-shishou answered with a thoughtful expression, and I nodded slightly to his response.

"Then do you know about the civil insurgency back in the Third Shinobi War?" I asked again.

"Civil rebellion? I don't know much about that, but I believe it was around the end of the Third Shinobi War. There seemed to be some group in Ame that revolted against the Amegakure government, for what I don't know, but it had something to do with the war. It didn't last for long though. Ame's current leader, Hanzō the Salamander squashed them quickly." He said with uncertainty and I didn't blame him; information from other villages was always on a blockage.

"Hanzō the Salamander…," I mumbled, remembering all the information I had about him. S-rank, leader of Amegakure since the Second Shinobi War. Able to win against the Legendary Sannins. He didn't strike me as the merciful kind, so if Akatsuki really originated from the rebellion group, then it's quite unlikely that it was led by the same people. The first rule in a war was to destroy the enemy leaders and all those who had the potential to become one.

"Why don't you go search through the archives at the Intelligence Division? I don't know how much information they have, but it's definitely more than what I can offer you." Akira-shishou suggested and I groaned.

"Foreign shinobi information is hard to get, I had to do a bunch of errands for the Intelligence Division before they were even willing to let me borrow this book." Those pricks were all so stingy about letting out information as if I would leak them out to the enemy.

"Just ask Shun, you guys are friends. I'm sure if you asked … nicely, he would help you." I looked at my shishou unimpressed. I was pretty sure that he already knew about the tense and unhappy situation between Shun and I. Oh, we were still talking, it was just that we talked with silent anger pent up, and both of us were too stubborn to deal with this impasse.

"Seriously, you two are still fighting? I don't even know the reason for it. The two of you should be mature enough to solve this on your own. Maybe I overestimated your social skills… Just entertain me, what did you do? Refuse to pay the rent or something?" I sighed against Shishou's endless rent, but before I could return a single word, I noticed the group of three genins approaching us. As unfair as it might be, I really didn't want them to hear anything about me, especially not that boy from Grass who just randomly appeared here.

"Aren't the three of you going to take the Chunin exam in four months? If you don't practice, all of you will be wiping the floor with your faces." With a loud snap, I closed the bingo book as I warned the three genins dispassionately.

"Absolutely, you all need to be more prepared." Now that was a surprise for Shishou to agree with my snappy words, but then… "I should have told you about your Maiko-senpai's not-so-delightful experience in her Chunin exams. Due to the lack of preparation and training, she was almost flanked by puppets. And the worst of all, she almost lost to some random person with a sword and degraded my valuable kenjutsu lessons. So all of you should learn from her experience, isn't that right, Maiko?"

I glared at my shishou with disbelief. That was an exaggeration, I did alright, albeit with a few embarrassing performances now that I thought about it, but nothing worth digging up my personal history for. I suddenly had a feeling that Shishou was using me as a negative teaching material, seeing that I wasn't contributing much to any other aspect of his teaching.

Anyway, I wanted to leave, but I realised that the genins still stood there with no sign of wanting to move. Now, please don't tell me that they want an elaborate version of how disgusting and annoying puppets are. Like a pair of flustered hamsters, Momo and Satoru hid behind Ryuu as Momo poked him lightly, urging him to do something.

"Senpai, we were wondering if you'd be willing to spar with us, so we could gauge our abilities for the upcoming chunin exam," Ryuu explained as Momo and Satoru peered over his shoulders. Seriously, what's wrong with you people, I'm not that scary.

"That's a great idea, your Maiko-senpai was just talking about performing her duties as the assistant teacher today, weren't you, Maiko?" Before I could answer, Akira-shishou already decided a course of action for me. With a sigh, I put the old bingo book on the rock and strapped the twin swords on my waist by the holsters.

When we all positioned ourselves on the training ground with the three genins around me in a large circle, Akira-shishou yelled out our instructions, "Satoru, Momo, Ryuu, attack with all you've got, everything is allowed. Survive ten minutes against her, and you three win." Then he turned his attention to me, "Maiko, beat them in ten minutes, you can use your swords, but as soon as you leave the clearing, you lose." I nodded as he paused a bit, then continued, "Oh, Maiko, control your power, don't give them any permanent injuries. I still need them for the Chunin Exam." I nodded again, seeing how the bodies of the three genins tensed at Akira-shishou's nonchalant expression.

"Ready! Start!" With a loud yell, Akira-shishou disappeared from the training ground, leaving me surrounded by three nervous genins (or maybe it was just two, Ryuu seemed pretty calm). Akira-shishou's new genin team had an unusual composition, because while Momo and Ryuu were both training in kenjutsu, Satoru had decided to specialise in sabotage and trapping, thus he hid somewhere in the forest, supposedly out of sight. Momo was on my left, with a straight kodachi in her right hand. Her stance was standard and well trained, but I could see the uncertainty in her body. Ryuu, on the other hand, extended his katana on my right, his breathing calm, and his muscles tensed in concentration. Unlike Momo, his stance was still and confident and sharp. I could see why Akira-shishou was so fond of him; he had a natural affinity for kenjutsu because he wasn't afraid of sharp blades.

Ryuu was the first one to charge. He bolted like a bullet, swinging his katana in a smooth circle as he appeared in front of me. I caught his blade with my ninjatō before it could get anywhere near me, and then, Momo moved. She skidded lightly, thrusting her blade towards my chest as I was caught up by Ryuu. Momo's footwork was good, but her speed was too slow. I effortlessly turned my body and guided her kodachi straight towards her teammate. With a wide eye, Ryuu retracted his katana at the last moment to prevent it from impaling his teammate. I flickered five meters behind them, the tantō still sheathed at my waist as I waited for them to attack.

They looked at each other and nodded slightly before charging in again. I parried apart their attacks, twirling my ninjatō around playfully and occasionally slamming the flat of my blade into their bodies. Sometimes, Satoru would ambush me with shuriken or earth ninjutsu, but they were predictable and the damage was quite easy to avoid.

I deflected a few wind blades from Ryuu quite easily, but then Momo, with perfect timing, sent a few small fireballs to join the pathway of the wind blades. The wind nature increased the power of the fireballs, almost doubling their sizes. Immediately, I shot out three water pillars out of my right palm and willed them to move in a zigzag to extinguish the fireballs in its path. Momo's fireballs were solid, and their attack powers were decent, but she could only use them in a straight path for now. That meant after the water pillars destroyed the fireballs, the next target in line was the small kunoichi.

Ryuu grunted as I tilted his katana up and slammed the hilt of my sword into his ribs. I lowered my body as his movements halted for a second, sweeping my leg towards his in a small circle, and he was just fast enough to jump up to avoid being swept to the ground. He swung a half circle with his blade downwards, and I rearranged my body just a little bit to avoid the strike. Just to make a point, I grabbed his extended arm and slammed him into the ground. As his body hit the floor, he changed into a log. Replacement technique in the nick of a time, not bad thinking, I praised silently.

"Three minutes left!" Somewhere in the forest, Akira-shishou yelled, signalling me that I should probably get serious. Suddenly, I felt a pulse underground, it was like someone was disturbing the earth down below. I knew this familiar feeling, it was a jutsu that allowed the user to hide and move under the earth for a surprise attack.

The moment the boy resurfaced under me, arms outstretched towards my ankles, I jumped up just high enough to avoid his reach. Lightly, I tapped the flat of my blade to his exposed neck and sent a jolt of electricity down. In the matter of a second, Satoru was paralysed and stuck in the earth with shocked eyes. One down, two to go.

I found Momo next and she parried my swords away frantically. Her speed wasn't bad, and if anything, I'd say she was quite suitable for Akira-shishou's quick and fluid kenjutsu style. However, she had the same problem as I did a few years ago: her strength was severely lacking. Once she met an opponent with equal or faster speed, she was forced to fend herself with no time to make any hand seals for ninjutsu.

In a mere thirty seconds, I quickly dispatched her. After placing a strong hit to her leg, she faltered, then I smacked her kodachi away. Just like with Satoru, I symbolically tapped her neck with the sword flat and send some lightning chakra down her nerves.

I scanned the training ground for any signs of the last boy standing, and it wasn't long before a string of wind blades attacked me from behind. I waded through the sharp blades, deflecting them aside easily, and charged towards the black haired boy who raised his katana in an offensive position.

After a few exchanges of swords, I ducked under one of his swings and aimed for his legs. He was vigilant in trying to get away, but I had already smacked his right knee with the lightning chakra charged ninjatō. He resiliently stood his ground and blocked my blade aiming for his neck despite his paralysed right leg, but then I just hooked onto his shoulder and threw him over my head, slamming him into the cold hard ground, face down.

I was fully prepared to send a jolt of lightning chakra down his spine as I clutched onto his neck. Just then, my left arm went blank. It wasn't paralysed, no, I was very aware of the fact that my hand was strangling someone's neck. It was the chakra, it had stopped moving in my arm. Ever since I had come to this world, chakra had always been an integral system in my body, just like my circulatory vessels. The feeling when the flow of my chakra had stopped was…terrifying. It was like a part of me had just died, and given recent experience, that was not a good thing.

Immediately, I let go of him and jumped up, ceasing any physical contact with this unknown entity. However, before he could get up, I placed the blade on his neck, blade flat and pressed by his throat, tilted just a few degrees. At this point, the normal flow of chakra had returned to my left arm, yet I still stared warily at the boy as I emitted a cloud of killing intent.

"Time's up! Break apart everyone!" Akira-shishou arrived quickly beside me and Ryuu, and I dropped the killing intent and retracted my sword. Slowly, the boy got up from the ground and raised his hand to massage his neck. Now that he was up, I could see the light purple colour on his neck. Suddenly, I felt a little bit guilty for hurting him just because I freaked out. He was only a genin, and one of my Shishou's genin.

"We will debrief after the paralysis had worn off. Maiko, Ryuu, we are going to have a private chat." He eyed us without a smile and led us into the forest nearby.

"What the hell happened?" He didn't specify whom the question was addressed to, but by the glare he was sending me, I assumed that it was for me.

"I couldn't feel the flow of chakra in my left arm when it was in contact with him," I responded. For a second, Shishou was quiet, and I thought I found a tiny bit of guilt and embarrassment on his face.

"Yeah, that…I kind of forgot to tell you this, but Ryuu apparently had some sort of Kekkei Genkai. We don't know the specifics of it yet, but apparently, it has something to do with syncing chakra flow. He can slow down people's chakra flow if a part of their body is in physical contact with him. Technically, your flow of chakra didn't stop, it was just slowed to a level that resembled stillness." What? A Kekkei Genkai that deals directly with chakra flow? Never heard of it. Then again, Ryuu is from Kusagakure, and his heritage is a mystery. But will Konoha really let an immigrant with a Kekkei Genkai run wild without figuring out their bloodline's ability? No, they wouldn't. So they either knew the specifics or even they couldn't figure it out. Some Kekkei Genkais were complex, like Sharingan. Unless those with it offered their information willingly, it was hard for others to gain a complete image.

"And you thought this was not important because...?" I stared at my shishou accusingly. I could have killed him in my stupidly twitchy state if the bruise around his neck was any indication.

"I didn't think you would freak out that much." I only raised my eyebrow at this answer. Seriously? Who wouldn't freak out? Call it occupational hazard or something, but when I find something unknown or life-threatening or both, I classify it as a threat before anything else.

"Ryuu, you are not supposed to use it in practice battle right now, you know that you have to slow down your own chakra flow to sync it and it puts too much strain on your body." Next, Akira-shishou turned to the boy who started this fiasco, who stood calmly, showing not even the tiniest hint of guilt.

"Sorry, Sensei. It just kicked in against survival." He didn't sound sorry at all. "Can I ask a question?" Shishou rubbed his temple and waved his hand for him to continue.

"Senpai, if there something wrong with your left eye? Your reaction time for attacks from the left side was just a fraction of a second slower than the right." He said it so calmly as Akira-shishou slowly turned his attention to me, eyes narrowed at my left pupil. I really, really regret not killing - I mean, paralysing that kid. But seriously, he learned fast. The best way to get Akira-shishou to stop being mad at you was to direct his attention to something that would make him even angrier.

"Ryuu, go back to your teammates, start on the team exercise once their paralysis fade. I'll be there shortly." He said to the genin as he fixed his piercing gaze on me. It had been so long since Shishou was angry at me, the last time being when I accidentally got myself stabbed out of a mishap when I was ten.

"How can you not tell me something so serious? This is about your health and you should have kept me informed, what if something dangerous happened in our training sessions?. How long do you suppose you can hide it?" Akira-shishou questioned me in a furious tone. After a moment of silence, I turned to face his gaze with my eyes open and determined. There was no point in hiding now, so I showed him my discoloured eye without any fear.

"It's only temporary shishou, the eyesight will return soon. There's nothing to worry about." I claimed against his disbelief.

"There's nothing to worry about? We all worry about you because we care about you. Did you hide it from everyone?" I bit my lips lightly at his accusation, but I didn't answer him. See, I didn't hide it per se, but I also didn't tell anyone. A part of me just wanted to forget about it, denying so hard that it ever happened. Because admitting that I might lose my eyes forever is so scary.

"Stop being so aloof, Maiko. At some point, you have got to realise this, things you think only concerns you, doesn't actually only concern you. I assume that the reason why you and Shun argued has something to do with this attitude of yours." His tone suggested more than an assumption, more like a fact. A fact that I wasn't really willing to admit to.

"Fix things with Shun. It takes a lot to gain a true friend, through bond and through death. But it's awfully easy to lose one." That was the last thing I heard before I body flickered away.

The things I built through blood and tears, in hopes of gaining something, crumbled so easily in the end. I may not be all the reasons, but for so long, I had assumed that I was probably one of the reasons.

But maybe, just maybe, I can fix it. See, I made a lot of promises. I wouldn't consider myself a great person, but I am determined, and I don't intend to break my promises.

A/N: Confession time! To be fair, this is not a self-insert since my real personality is definitely not like Maiko. But if I were to be honest, just personality and habit wise, I would probably be closer to Shun (But it was a coincidence, I didn't even realise how much in common I have with him until my beta pointed out). Have a good day, people!