-1Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of those characters. Kishimoto does.
Ch.5
"I'm sorry…"
"…For what?…"
"For everything…"
"…What's everything?…"
"Ignorance… Idiocy…For not opening my eyes…"
"…Are they open now?"
"Yeah…"
"Hmm…"
"Do you hate me?"
"I could never hate you…"
"Do you forgive me?"
"…always…"
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Rain, rain…
"Atsuka?"
Go away…
"Atsuka…"
Come and play some other day…
"Tsukatu!"
"Huh?"
Atsuka came back to herself then, once foggy reality under the tree became clear once more through the slits in her white, cat like mask, painted with one simple, curving stripe of red on each cheek. She tipped it up atop of her head to regard the person before her.
"We're moving out," Shinji told, his icy blue eyes like a beacon of light compared to his raven locks. With her own tied back, bangs curtaining her face, she nodded and rose from the damp grass. The rain's onslaught made the four members shiver and silently curse the weather. The long, garnet scarves draped about the shinobi's did little to give them warmth.
Tugging at the ends of her long, black gloves, Atsuka looked down at the same colored ANBU tattoo that stood out starkly against her fair skin. Tracing a finger over it, she sighed as she slid her mask back over her face, the cool porcelain not too noticeable due to the fact that her face was numb, mostly her nose and ears. She muttered things like toe-sickles under her breath, mentally cursing ANBU for their lack of warm clothing. But, she had to admit she would rather wear what she had then a thick, water drenched coat that could greatly slow her down.
They had been on the move for two days, and expected to be at the edge of fire territory by the next. A ferry was set up by the Hokage to take the four to the island of the water country. The Hokage also gave them a fair deal of money to snare the ferry man into staying put to take them back. It rang blackmail to Atsuka, but she couldn't argue seeing as she would rather take a boat back then waste precious chakra to run their way back to the fire land over the water.
The four all nodded at one another, and darted like arrows into the trees.
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"Hey, Hatake?"
"Hmm?"
Kakashi looked down from his spot in a tree to see who other than Shiranui Genma. Not bother to close his reading material, the silver haired copy-nin merely placed it over his leg and rose a questioning brow at his friend below.
"Yes, what it is, Shiranui?"
"You're sounded a heck of a lot like Atsuka," Genma responded with a large grin and frowned when he didn't get a reaction from the sharingan user. "Where is the brown haired beauty, anyhow?"
Picking up his book once again, he continued reading. Genma wasn't new to Kakashi's lack of haste, and waited patiently.
"She's business with ANBU," he finally told after a longer than normal session of silence. Genma wasn't sure if he was teasing him, or caught up with something in that book of his. But when he said that, the senbon in his lips almost fell to the ground.
"ANBU? She's on a mission?" he asked a s little too quicker than he would have liked. He wasn't sure if Kakashi knew about the nights he and Atsuka shared now and then, and didn't want him to think that he was too worried about the more then capable kunoichi.
"She is," Kakashi gave lazily in return, and Genma silently did a 'Thank God' when the copy-nin didn't show any notice of Genma's haste reaction. Like Atsuka, Kakashi found it hard to stay mad at his friend, but what Genma didn't know was the secret anger Kakashi held towards him at the moment.
"I guess… he made me feel… used…"
Atsuka's words confession from the other day rang through his mind over and over again. He knew the two were in fact becoming friendly, but not that friendly. He, in fact, didn't ever think Atsuka would stoop as low, not that Genma wasn't a good guy, he was just unstable. She said she knew it would happen, and that if she could go back and change it she would have.
"You know, it's your fault, Kakashi, that this thing with Genma happened…"
"I know… I shouldn't have let him come…"
But the next day, as he thought back on the matter, he realized that 'I know' meant more than feeling sorry for letting Genma be able to 'get to know her better' those days he was too busy. He knew that she was merely being sarcastic, but he couldn't take it that way. It did seem like he was the one who caused it.
"I'm a bit behind on my reading, Shiranui. How 'bout we catch up later?"
"Sure thing, Hatake," he told with a devilish smirk as he turned about and left the way he came. Fighting the urge to throw a well placed shuriken at that leaf marked plate of metal on the back of Genma's head, Kakashi took in a deep breath and said to himself over and over again Genma can't help but be Genma… Genma can't help but be Genma…