Chapter 7
Haruko had been in the village for about a month now. Most everyone had gotten used to the idea of her at least being there. Tsunade had given her her own headband and, just like her other one, she wore it around her neck, the shiny metal plate reflected brightly from the sunlight.
She had recently started taking walks in the woods outside the village. She liked being able to go out into warm clear days. The mist was always so foggy and cold.
She was making her way back to the village one day when she heard a loud rustling in the tree branches above her. She stopped for a second, the sound stopped when she did, "Hm...Must be a bird." She kept going, a bit faster this time. No one would attack her in broad daylight, right?
The rustling started up again, it almost seemed to be following her. She picked up her pace and was right in front of the village gates when someone jumped down in front of her. A silver haired Hunter Nin. Haruko backed into a tree, "You're here to take me back I assume?"
"No," he said, removing his mask, "I have to kill you…"
"Toushi…"
He looked awful. His always nicely brushed hair was all messy and matted. He had dark circles around his puffy eyes, like he hadn't slept in weeks, "Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"
"Well, pretty worried by the looks of you." She said with coldness in her voice, crossing her arms.
"What the hell happened?"
"I was caught, wounded, and brought back here," She turned, "I agreed to stay."
"So you're a traitor?"
"Oho, big talk." She turned her back to him, "If you're going to kill me, you'd better do it."
Just then one moment she was standing there, just fine, the next blood was flying through the air. It hit the open gates of the village and splattered on the trees around them. She put her hand on her chest, blood was pouring from it. She fell to her knees, coughing, "That…was fast…"
Toushi stood in front of her, "You're my best friend, I can't let you die slowly now can I?"
He knelt down and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him, "You know, I always thought you deserved to be the best shinobi in the village. Now I'm not so sure." He slammed the blunt end of his kunai into the side of her face, breaking the bone next to her eye. He picked her up by the face and slashed her once across the throat, then he dropped her. He looked down at her curled up body and something told him to stop, "I-I can't do it…" He pulled her up into a standing position, "I'll tell them I couldn't find you…" He dropped her again and she curled up into a heap on the ground, "I have to give this village a good show though." He grabbed her arm and dragged her off to the side into the wooded area, staining the grass with blood. He hid her in the trees and turned, "You're lucky this time. Next time you may not be." Hi disappeared into a mass of bubbles.