The sound of the seagulls came from the opened window of the inn room she had rented for the night. She laid on the bed for a long while, staring at the ceiling with an arm thrown over her forehead, remembering the dream of the previous night.
Her eyes opened heavily at the touch of someone's skin on her hand. Rin sat next to her bed, her soft hands holding hers. Gillie's hand was cupping her cheek.
"Did I wake you?" She asked teary-eyed, looking troubled for disturbing her but unable not to do so. She let go of Gillie's hand. Gillie shook her head, she felt rested and stronger than the day before, after a week of continuous, restless sleep. Rin's eyes went down with embarrassment. "I was so scared... I'm sorry I was useless to help-" She got interrupted as Gillie reached for her, her hand cupped the back of her neck and pulled her close into a hug. "You're not mad at me?" Gillie shook her head tiredly in the middle of the hug and took a deep breath.
"You worry too much because of me. That is all you ever do." Gillie said with a drowsy, nonchalant voice and Rin chuckled once, but she could tell by the tension in her shoulders that her sister was still not okay.
"You're the only patient that makes me freeze in the spot. I care too much about you-"
"I know... onee-san." Gillie let go and her sister slowly sat back down on her chair. "Thank you."
"Do not thank me, silly." Rin rubbed her eyes. "You're my little sister, there's nothing I could do that'd justify it."
For most of her life she had awakened to an empty room, but not one time had left her feeling so lonely as she now did reliving on the forgotten memory. A single tear rolled down the side of her face. Like during most of her life and unlike her dream, there had been no one by the side of her bed when she woke up.
"Oh, Obaasan! Obasaan! Look what the tide brought in again! Ah ha ha!"
Kiko Mitsuha refrained from rolling her eyes at the upcoming figure of a young woman running down the wooden dock, while her male companion helped her step out of the fishing boat that brought them to Hinansho Island. The island in question had a small fisher town by the north coast. The habitants weren't the most opulent across the Land of Fire but seemed to get by with their humble fishing businesses. They were kinder to foreigners than she remembered people from other villages being, but she supposed that's what happens when people are left on their own instead of being overcrowded on a full-scale village.
She hadn't given up on the island to grant her answers, but she'd had enough of the young kunoichi of the Land of Waves that had followed them around the previous week.
"Sukea senpai!" The man in question let go of Kiko after she was safely standing on the dock and turned to wave at the kunoichi.
"Hello again, Momo-chan."
Kiko forced herself to nod her head in acknowledgment, although the girl barely paid her attention. Momo-chan, on Gillie's perspective, took too many liberties on familiarity with the man she had just met. She tried not to be so harsh, since familiarity was something she'd had an issue with since she was a child. But-
"Senpai, only yesterday I was thinking of you! Ah ha ha ha!" The kunoichi twirled on her spot. She wasn't making the task easy for Gillie. "I revealed a picture I took of a seagull standing on top of a dolphin! You must see it!" The young woman shook the small camera hanging around her neck.
"That sounds beautiful, Momo-chan..." Noticing the impassive expression on Kiko, his companion proceeded to scratch the back of his head sheepishly. "But I am afraid, we don't have much time on ourselves."
"Eh?" Momo's bright face lost its light, before she looked from one another. "Are we still searching for the nomad?"
"Hn."
"But we searched everywhere, I made sure!"
"We," Kiko emphasized, meaning herself and her companion. "Are diving towards the south of the island."
"You're out of your mind, onee-san!" Kiko couldn't help the vein that popped on her forhead. Her younger self would have probably jumped on the girl and choke her right then and there. "I told you we don't go that way! There are giant spiders and other hideous creatures you can only see in your nightmares."
Kiko walked passed her without looking back. Nothing that plagued her dreams could ever come true. Unfortunately.
"Which makes it the perfect hiding place for someone who doesn't want to be found." She heard Sukea's sweet voice. "If you'll excuse us, we'll be on our way now." Kiko heard the man's light footsteps coming after her and a strange relief washed over, predicting they'd be set free from the kunoichi' s presence for the weekend-
"Sukea Senpai! Then, I'm coming with you too! Heavens know there's not much Mitsuha-san could do to protect you from the spiders! Ah ha ha ha ha!"
Kiko's jaw tightened as did her her fists beneath the long sleeves. At least, her back was turned when her eyes rolled.
"Gillie Nohara~"
Oh, no, not her. Gillie quickened her pace and buried her face inside the book she carried, wishing she never came out from the library.
"Oh, Gillie Nohara~" The lyrical voice sang again. "GILLIE NOHARA!" The voice roared and by intertia she began to run only to find her path, a few blocks away, blocked by a young woman with blazing red hair, wearing a long green dress. Her hair was waving with rage in the air, very much like Gillie's did when her ability activated, but on a smaller scale. Then, her face morphed into a warm expression. "I've been searching everywhere for you!"
"Kushina Uzumaki." She said stoically in defeat and proceeded to bow. "What can I do for-"
The woman grabbed her by the shoulders and began to move her from side to side, analyzing her.
"Maa, I thought you were told to put up your hair from now on. We don't want anything else to happen to that pretty head of yours!"
Gillie felt her cheeks burning as red as her stripes.
"I-I... It's hard with... given..." She'd tried to do something with it, but it was too long and heavy for any updo she'd tried on. It would come falling apart.
In any case, it wasn't something she wanted to talk about with the woman she barely knew, she was only hoping Rin would be back soon (as well as her team) to help her out with it, for even bothering Mama with it after the long shifts at the hospital didn't feel right to her. She didn't want to be the subject of any of Rin's minions out of pity either. She'd easily (surprisingly) slipped away from Kakashi at the library, and then from Obito at the dango shop, but she could tell by the decisiveness in the woman's eye that wouldn't be the case for Kushina Uzumaki.
"Why, I can help you with that!"
"I... don't want to trouble you with-"
"But it's no trouble, really!"
"I have somewhere to be-"
"I'm sure it can wait!"
"You don't need to do this-"
"BUT I WANT TO!" Kushina barked with fire in her eyes making the kid wince on her spot. The woman cleared her throat and composed herself before repeating in a more sweet tone: "I really want to help you, Gillie Nohara." Her closed eyes closed almost seemed to be begging. "Since you were injured during my future husband's leading mission, I wish to be of use to both of you! Will you let me, please?" The woman raised her hands together.
"Future... husband?" Gillie irked a brow with confusion and a growing dread. "Surely, you're not talking about..." But of course it had to be. Those two had clearly been dating since Gillie could remember.
"Oh!" Kushina covered her mouth. "A slip of tongue, I guess! He he, forget I ever said that, no one's meant to know yet!" Gillie sighed heavily, slouching down with a grimace on her face and Kushina took this opportunity to trap her by the arm and began pulling her away. "I think I just had the perfect idea on what to do with your hair! Did I ever tell you the story of when I fought side by side with a Yubo-nin?! It just gave me an idea! What do you think about braids?!"
"I don't know how to braid my own hair." She said stoically.
"I can fix that!"
Gillie looked up to the sky.
Rin, please, come back soon. She thought.
Kiko opened her eyes to find the face of young Momo mere inches away from hers.
"Were you sleeping just now, Mitsuha-san?"
She had a clear idea on what change to her environment had incited that memory on the spontaneous Uzumaki, but she refused to accept the relation. Kushina Uzumaki was nothing like this Momo.
Kushina... Gillie had been very fond of her. Or at least she had grown to be and wasn't exactly at the time the memory took place in. Why, even thinking about her now hurt, as it did remembering all the people she had lost, some more than others but all valuable.
She gritted her teeth and took a slow steady breath, waiting for the girl to move away, but she didn't.
"I was meditating." She lied with Kiko's thick accent resonating in the dark cavern they found themselves at. "You should try it sometime." In her defense, she hadn't been resting peacefully during the past months.
"Meditating is sooo boring." The girl groaned finally respecting her personal space before turning over her shoulder to look down at her. "You can be very boring sometimes, you know that Mitsuha-san?" Her voice was lighthearted but with a clear desire to insult. She could recognize it with clarity, for it was a tone she had used herself many times in the past. "How did you even came acquainted with Sukea senpai with such moody personality? A ha ha ha!"
Kiko blinked once (internally her eyes fluttered in surprise), while keeping the emotion at bay. It had just taken this mean silly girl to realize how emotionally alike her younger self was to the character she now portrayed. Moody, boring... she had worked so hard to get rid of those tags as she matured, only to be labeled again on them while playing her favorite part. How... disappointing. In any case, she'd been at the other end of this game, so she would not fall on the teasing trap, she had more important things to concern herself with an annoying 20 year old's crush on her partner in disguise.
"Where is he?" She asked standing up from the floor and searching for him.
"Mmm..." The girl shrugged her shoulders, beginning to toy with her kunai as it was clearly more interesting for her to look at than Kiko. "He said he'd be back and to keep an eye on you, but he's taking soooo long." Kiko walked past her.
"Hey! He said to wait for him!"
"He's not the one in charge here."
"Wait! Don't leave me alone!"
The two women walked side by side down the narrow rock corridor, dripping of cold water. The kunoichi kept her kunai raised in front of her face, looking at her surroundings, while Kiko kept a steady gaze in front of her and a blank stare. At a crossroads, she closed her eyes. She'd always been Chakra-sensitive, even as a kid. A Sensor, and perhaps, better than average, or perhaps just different. Everything about her was somehow different.
"This way." She told the younger woman.
"How can you be so sure?!"
She didn't answer and kept going, her long skirts and sleeves, being dragged after her on the muddy ground they left behind. Not even in this scenario would Kiko lose her style, although she worried about finding another beast before encountering the man. Her worry did not last for long, for they found him at a chamber, resembling a dome. She stopped on her tracks only her eyes moving surveilling the space.
"Sukea senpai! " Momo ran towards him, leaving her behind. "I told her to wait for you! But Mitsuha-san said she's the one who makes the rules and not you!"
Well, that wasn't exactly what she had said.
"She might be right on that one." The journalist smiled amicably at her, while Kiko slid across the chamber to meet them. "But you might want to lower your voice. Not only we don't want to attract any more creatures, but I'm afraid the structure of these caves isn't the most solid."
"W-w-what you mean?"
"Even being loud could make this place crumble down and bury us alive." Kiko plainly stated, before walking in front of them.
"Eh?!" Momo yelled in a whisper. "Sh-sh-shouldn't we return now then?"
"You're free to do so. I've come a long way. I am not leaving until I find what exactly left those human signs we found before." Kiko did not turn back, but she sensed the man turning to Momo.
"That settles it. I cannot leave Mitsuha-san on her own."
She heard Momo seething, while she went to kneel down on the floor and stare at the ancient engravings on the rocks forming some kind of closed entrance.
"I'm starting to question whether Mitsuha-san is paying you very well, senpai, or not enough."
"I'm sorry, Momo-chan."
"You should consider looking for a new job. Oh! Ojii-san is looking for people to-"
"Enough." Kiko hissed over her shoulder. "I cannot concentrate... This thing is a riddle." She said with contained realization, for nothing could take Kiko by surprise. The group fell into a silence, while she tried to decipher the task in front of her. After a while she looked over her shoulder towards Sukea. "Why didn't you try to solve it?" Kiko asked him.
"Mm?" He took a step closer. "I did try, but it's too complicated for me."
Liar. Kiko narrowed her eyes. He would've solved this in the blink of an eye. It was a rather primitive setting, a jonin, certainly even a prodigious chunin, would have the skill to unlock. Not a mediocre genin, like Momo though. It seemed Sukea was going all in for his character. In that case, she supposed...
"I shall need your assistance." She said standing up and looking his way. "I cannot bring myself to touch those surfaces." She raised her chin. "Too much grime."
Momo scoffed.
"What is he? Your servant-"
"It will be my pleasure." Kiko stood aside as Sukea neared the entrance, feeling a strange satisfaction watching Momo's indignation. Oh, well, Kiko might be used to this, but Gillie certainly couldn't permit herself to get used to it, especially in anything regarding her companion. They were just playing a part.
She instructed him what to do and soon enough the rock structure began to creak with an old, rusty mechanism hidden beneath it, ticking in a very characteristic way (she could've sworn she'd heard before) and taking its time to slowly open up. Kiko frowned watching Sukea's change of expression as it did and once a pathway appeared as a hole on the rock wall, her attention got lost beyond it, in the pure darkness awaiting them.
"I'm going first." The male member of the group spoke. "We need to be careful with these traps. In my travels, I've heard of them. Mitsuha-san," He looked down at her and instructed clearly. "Take 8 seconds after I'm through. Then, Momo-Chan," He smiled kindly towards the younger girl. "You must wait another 8 seconds."
"Why-why should I go last?"
"Mmm? I thought you came to protect us. Shouldn't you always stay behind to keep us safe?"
"I... suppose."
"I'm going now."
Kiko waited in the time and manner he said, unquestioningly, however just as she was done coming through, the trap door closed behind her, suffocating a screech from the other side as the last member was left behind. Momo was gone and they were in complete darkness. Sukea pulled a flare from somewhere on that backpack he always carried around and there was light again.
"You knew it would close" Kiko said stoically. "and you measured the time so it would happen in this way."
"Mm? I don't know what you're talking about. How could I have possibly known?" He said beginning to walk. "Maa.. poor Momo-chan. But I'm sure she'll be fine on her own if she just waits on the other side."
"Huh." Kiko scoffed and Sukea snapped her way with surprise.
"What was that?"
Kiko pursed her lips.
"Nothing." She turned the opposite way and smirked.
For someone of his age, the hermit was an excellent fighter, able to contain the two jonin, whose characters got lost in action. At the sign of threat, two large senbons had slid from each of Kiko's sleeves, so that every lash of her arms wouldn't happen without a cut in the air. Sukea, on the other hand, fought with his fists, showing an ability no normal journalist would ever have. It wasn't the nomad they found but a person who had been living in that place for ages if they could tell by how well carved and constructed was his home at the heart of the dark pit. He lived amongst spiders and learned to be with them. They acted as his guardians but once they were out of the way, it was just them against the man.
Sukea managed a choking hold on the dangerous man and after suffocating him for a moment, let go of him making the elder fall on his knees and face down on the ground. Kiko raised a senbon at him, which forced him to raise his face.
"We don't want to harm you, old man." She said with a breathy voice. She was drained, her chakra consumed by the constant disguise she'd maintained for the past few days, as well as the fight.
"Then, why yeh keep pointin' dat at my freakin' face?!" The man barked before snapping his head away. "Look what ye've done to my friends!" He was staring at the fallen human-sized spiders.
"Your friends weren't very welcoming either." Sukea said back to his mellow voice, but Kiko was slipping, Gillie was coming out.
"I'm searching for a nomad, a Yubo-nin! We found signs in the forest he came south the island. The idiot kept carving the trees on his way here- Now tell me what you know! Have you seen him?! Has he ever come this way?! Are you hiding him?! "
"Ehh?" The man exclaimed. "A Yubo-nin, you say?" Kiko nodded. "Yes, yes, I've seen that kid."
"Where is he?!" She barked senbon still aiming at him.
"He's uh... he's..." The man scratched his head. "He's gone! HA HA HA HA! That moron's gone! "
"What?" She appreciated her companion was allowing her to take charge of the interrogation, but as she turned to him at a lost because of the man's answer she expected him to talk. She was without words, her weekend trip had became a full-week trip, they had came all this way, starving, restless, gone a long way... And, he was gone?
"What's funny about it?" Sukea asked the man with a more severe tone than he'd ever employed.
"He's gonna die! They're all gonna die! HA HA HA HA! "
Kiko's eyes fluttered.
"The Yubo-nin?" She asked.
"The world! The entire world is gonna perish! HA HA HA HA! "
Kiko frowned looking at Sukea, staring back at her in the same manner, before turning towards the man.
"Explain. What are you doing here? What do you mean by that? And what happened to the nomad?" The man kept cracking up so she was forced to bring the senbon closer to his throat. That made him stop and gulp. "It's for today, old man! I'm not a patient person!"
"I-I-I-I'll talk, I'll-" He snapped his head around, looking scared of his surroundings, as if the cavern walls could hear. "I came here 50 years ago! Might've been a child still... I had a dream! The whole world perishing under a falling sky! All crushed beneath it!" Kiko rolled her eyes, growing impatient by the second. "One day, came a man, perhaps the only other man I've seen since. Oh, was he Yubo-nin! Of the Fire nomads! HA HA ha..." He quieted noticing her tired expression. "He said he left his family and was cornered by the Rift of the Drowned." The eyes of the two disguised jonin flickered to the other for a brief second. It was the name of the place they had first met. "He came to Hinansho. He was concerned the villagers would speak about his presence. He came to the south and we met! The kid stayed- Did I mention he was a kid?! Couldn't have been a year over-"
"Then, what happened? When did he leave? Did he tell you were he was going?!"
"I... I DUNNO! He just stayed for the night! We spoke 'bout how I came to be here, told him 'bout the dream, 'bout how I left my home; I ran to the coast, stole a boat and never looked back. Never went back... HA HA HA HA! But it's okay, because now I'm safe! My friends keep me safe! And down here the moon cannot crush me! HA HA HA HA! "
Kiko's arm dropped to her side and scoffed in defeat. Indeed, all those months worth of research only to find another dead end... This was it. She had ran out of ideas. Who could ever know where that damned nomad head towards.
"Who were you, before you came here?" Sukea asked suddenly and Kiko's features scrunched in confusion. What was he up to? He couldn't be implying this man was lying and that he was actually the nomad, could he? The ages didn't match and there was no genjutsu... But a long-buried muscle memory resurfaced then, she couldn't remember exactly what it was, but she'd been taught on it. It was a long time to remember, so her arms and hands simply moved on a very strange, almost foreign position. It was like making wide opened eyes with her hands.
"KAI!" She exclaimed.
Nothing happened... perhaps, it had been nothing. The old man looked at her with confusion, and then towards Sukea, dismissing her actions.
"I was 19 when my ojii-san died. Never knew my parents. He used to say mother died losing her mind and we were better off without father... he had a little hostal. Never worked for him... Made it into a bar."
"Mm?"
"Yes! Right by edge of town."
"In Hinansho?"
"No, no, back at the south coast... that dingy town... by the edge with the Waves! AH HA HA HA, would you look at that? I still got it? I'm not like Mama! "
"Where exactly was it?"
"I'd say... somewhere between the old apothecary and the abandoned temple." Kiko perked up on her seat, Sukea was looking down at her. "HA! A bar next to a temple! AH HA HA HA! "
"You scouted that town before, didn't you?" He asked and she nodded slowly.
"I remember... The apothecary has closed since then-"
"Wouldn't surprise me! Old Futo had a foot on the grave when I saw him last! Ha ha ha ha! "
"...the temple was still abandoned..." She continued slowly. "But that bar... the bar was open." She snapped out of her reverie and looked at Sukea. Lost was the candid warmth on the journalist face. He was a calculating, prodigious shinobi. Her own expression, she could tell, was no longer of the cold and unimpressed Kiko. She jumped on her feet and gulped. "Let's go." She said, before rushing away, even if ladies did not rush.
"Now, why are you interested about the last Yubokumin to desert before the Fall, Mitsuha-san? Considering this myth of a person must be in his 40s today I highly doubt you might have known him in the past."
"Because I am also looking for him." She said loud enough and leaning slightly over the counter, wishing the information to reach her prey's ears.
The prey in question showed the appearance of the man they'd met at the cavern about 2 weeks before. It had taken them a while to get out of the island and then Sukea'd had to leave for a few days for, er- business. She'd taken the time to maraud around the bar, to observe the place and the person orchestrating its functioning. As accorded, she had waited for her companion to return and now he was here. It was time.
"Why?" Sukea asked.
"He might just be able to help me with something-"
"Nonsense!" The bar man snapped barging into the conversation. Kiko's eyes glued on him as he came their way tossing the cleaning rag to the side. "If you two are smarter than you seem, you'll let go of that delirious dream of finding the nomad that has only brought our town trouble in the past 3 decades!" The old man fumbled, his thick mustache trembling with annoyance.
"Ojii-sama." Kiko began, while her insides boiled with a strange feeling of rage. He had been the entire time right in front of her nose. All this time, disguised as she had been doing as well.
Suddenly, Kiko lost her appeal. She'd had enough of hiding herself. She had no reason to hide. Kiko wouldn't do any better than she could, Kiko would not protect her from the uncertainties of life, the docile and elegant Kiko would not be able to make Mama Nohara any prouder, none of the men that followed her and never wanted to leave her would ever be her biological father, event the fun in dressing up would never be as satisfying as when her sister was around.
She didn't need Kiko, Gillie was sufficient.
She forced herself to smile as sweetly and wide as she could to the point that her eyes squeezed painfully. She shrugged her shoulders.
"Be careful, someone of your age should not get too angry. Besides, it is not nonsense." She opened her hazel eyes and looked at him wishing these would convey the man everything she wished she could say. "I promise I shall find the nomad..." The old man's expression fell, her wish being granted. "Or, should I say... I already found him."
She could sense it now, the genjutsu. The man moved as if meaning to stop her, but she quickly joined her hands, drawing eyes with her fingers.
"KAI!"
The deeply rooted genjutsu of the man diluted like oil melting off a canvas. With a poof, Kiko Mitsuha dissapeared and Gillie Yubokumin sat on her place. With a series of following poofs half of the customers in the bar disappeared, leaving the few real ones freaked out. The ones who had been eyeing Kiko from afar, looked betrayed at the new apparition. She stood up with a stomp.
"Out." She told the rest of the real customers, both bamboozled and disappointed. She joined her hands again, and her hair exploded around her surroundings. "OUT!" She yelled.
Some of them were thugs and in other circumstances wouldn't have so easily bowed down to a woman kicking them out of the bar, but when your drinking buddy has dissapeared, the chick you've been eyeing was a farse and in her place is a mad-looking psycho with freaking crawling hair, well... The bar was soon empty, except by Gillie, Sukea, the bartender and his assistance. This last young man ran towards the bartender and irked a brow at his boss. The bartender sighed in defeat, and the assistant also disappeared with a poof: a transformed shadow clone.
Gillie scoffed to the side before looking back at the man that was left behind on his own, while her hair recoiled back to its normal size and Sukea came to stand next to her. The man behind the disguise looked as old as Papa (Nohara-san, that is). His skin was a rich brown, just as Gillie's had been before Orochimaru's doing began to ban her cells. His hair was the same color as hers and reached his shoulders. He was no old, weak man. He was strong, with a strong jaw from which 4 red stripes circled around towards his cheeks. He looked like Mama.
Her heart skipped a beat and she found herself taking a step back.
He looked so much like Mama.
She thanked the touch of her companion on her elbow, taking her from her reverie. Her eyes fluttered and she cleared her throat.
"Do you know who I am?" Both the man and her said in one voice. She seemed more surprised at it than he.
"I've been looking for you." She said quickly, taking a step to the front.
"I know." He looked around the empty bar. "I can tell." The man paused for a moment, looking from her, to Sukea, then back at her. "How did you hear about me?"
"Well..." She huffed, placing her hands on her hips and looking everywhere around but his face. "Where should I start? Your story wasn't my bed story growing up, if you know what I mean... Of course, you weren't talked much about, you were a deserter-"
"Yes." He interrupted, sounding like someone who does not regret ever doing it. She took a deep breath, feeling the annoyance growing.
"I first heard about you somewhere around my teen years, I suppose... After I left Konoha, I was trying to find myself in the process... or something like that." She explained, although she had no reason to give the man explanations. "I heard about the deserter that should be alive, I heard about who he was, the son of the Head Clan. He deserted and two years later his sister disappeared and reappeared pregnant... Made the math... I guess, that would make you my-"
"Uncle."
"Yes." She gritted her teeth, unsure she wanted Kakashi to be witnessing this, even if most of these things he already knew.
Oh! That is, Sukea.
"Look, I'm not here for a family reunion, okay? I... didn't start searching for you because I wanted that. I..." She seethed with burning cheeks. "I need your help..." She looked down to the floor. "And now that I found you... we can do this the easy way or the hard way. You decide, but either way, I'll make you talk."
The man took his time to answer. He looked at her up and down, slowly repairing on her gray hands and pale face, he stared at the dark circles beneath her eyes and the hollows on her cheeks. The man took a step closer and then a second one. She froze feeling the touch of his hand over her head, her hair, then it slid down to cup the side of her face. Her eyes widened, staring at him. Before she could complain he was hugging her. She remained static.
"You look so much like your mother." His voice broke and it send a shiver down Gillie's spine. She felt an undesired knot forming inside her throat, and scowled wishing it would disappear. She took a deep breath and reluctantly replied:
"You do too."
Slowly, she closed the entrance door, noticing the sign that read "closed", before turning around feeling self conscious with her companion for what he had just witnessed.
"I..." She hesitated, while the man nudged the strap of his backpack over his shoulder, waiting patiently for her to speak. "Sorry to have disappointed you." The man made a funny, confused expression. "Kiko." She explained. "She was just an inside joke between me and my master...then became a bit of a defense mechanism-an addiction on my part," She admitted, looking down at her hands. The wind whistled bringing a strand of hair into her face. She straightened up. "but the truth is... she doesn't exist." She shrugged, raising her brows. "She never did." She paused. "It's just me, Gillie Nohara, so..." She met his eyes. "I'm sorry if you're disappointed."
For a moment, the man stared at her in silent.
"Not at all! Not at all!" He sheepishly waved his hand before turning around and inhaling deeply looking up to the sky. "This has been some adventure! By itself, it was self rewarding. Besides, Kiko Mitsuha was never my type." He sighed, looking her way by the corner of his eye. "Gillie Nohara, on the other hand..." He leaned her way.
Idiot, she never told her her real name.
"My, Nohara-san, you are so much more my type!" Gillie's eyes almost crossed staring at him so close to her. Her face burned red, before she stepped away clearing her throat. Right, this was still "Sukea, the journalist". Although, she had missed "flirt" as part of his character.
"Can I trust you not to publish anything about this?" She asked, continuing with the game, "I might even grant you an interview about myself, the "official last Fire Nomad"" She raised her hands in the air, before turning at him, "How does that sound?"
"How about a date?"
"Stop it, Kakashi!" She snapped with a stomp of her feet.
"I don't know what you're talking about..."
She scowled before her face morphed into a wicked grin.
"You SO couldn't go two years without me, huh? You just had to come searching for me, huh?"
"Still don't know what you're talking about~" He sang in the same static amicable smile. She wanted to punch him in the face.
"Go now!" She snapped, " Go! GO! " She pushed him away with all of her strengths, which somehow weren't enough to make him bulge.
"Maaa, as cranky as she was, Mitsuha-san never got physical..." He smiled teasingly, before turning around, "In that case..." He grabbed her slightly beneath the elbows, his skin touching directly hers. Her breath hitched at the sudden proximity, her dark eyes widened staring into the fake grey contacts. The good hearted man disappeared for a moment and it was like she could almost see beyond the layer covering his real dark eyes. He also stared right into her in a way that made her uneasy, wishing to step away, but also not so much.
What the heck?
Then, slowly, his hands started to slide towards her wrists. The roughness of his fingertips, stemmed from the scars no reporter could ever have, left a strange, pleasant feeling on their way. Why was it suddenly hard to breathe?
What. The... She frowned staring at him, fearing he could tell what she was feeling. It wasn't okay for her to feel like that. His head tilted looking at her hands, now a disturbing and pasty grey color, with an analyzing eye, as a healer would do. This observation made her feel embarrassed, of course he was just curious about her current state. She gulped, the tension leaving her body as quickly as it came.
"Take care, Nohara-san." He said barely above a whisper. "I'm looking forward to meet again in the future." His eyes winked close in a characteristic way of Kakashi 's. She smiled sincerely, feeling a warm feeling inside her chest.
"Thank you for helping me." She found her voice. "Truly."
He nodded once and let go. He walked away, without turning around and raised a hand in the air to say goodbye. She shook her head with a smile before he disappeared with a poof. Her own shadow clone disappeared and the real Gillie Nohara shivered absorbing the information into her real self. She shook her head and turned to see her Uncle packing his stuff for the long road ahead of them.
She stared at the man sleeping over the grass, using his traveling bag as a pillow, before she turned to her own self, sleeping across from the man. She'd be getting half the rest for the night, but she couldn't bring herself to completely snooze off and lose him out of her sight. Still, she was curious on whatever was going on inside her shadow clone's dreams.
"Who should go next?" Anko asked across the younger group of chunin. Good thing Obito had caught a terribly cold and was at home, he would've been dead embarrassed to be the only genin present and insufferable to listen complaining and bragging how he'd soon reach them and then become Hokage.
Yeah, good thing he's sick at home. Gillie thought, just as Might Guy jumped on his seat on the grass with an arm raised up in the sky.
"I got one! I got one!" All of them turned his way, seeing his enthusiastic face morph into a conniving expression. "I say... Gillie Nohara and Kakashi Hatake!"
Gillie winced on her place, next to Rin. Had she heard correctly? Was Guy trying to kill her?!
"Mmm. That sounds like an interesting combination." The older girl, taking charge of training for the day, said with a mischievous grin.
"W-w-what?" Gillie tried not to stutter again. "Me and Kakashi?"
"Kakashi and I." The silver haired boy corrected with narrowed eyes.
"Indeed, that would be really interesting to watch, Gillie-chan!"
"Are your really my sister?" Gillie narrowed her eyes, suspecting someone had abducted her and changed her for an impostor who didn't care about her well-being.
"Uh?" Rin shook her head. "Gillie-chan, you've already beaten Kurenai and I!" Of course she would employ the correct grammar...The other girl, the genjutsu expert with red eyes, looked bothered with her sister's comment. "I'm sure you can put up with Kakashi!" She leaned towards her ear and whisper: "Kakashi is better than Anko, trust me. She's jonin already!"
"What? Everyone knows he should be jonin by now!" She whispered back at her with exasperation.
"Yes, Gillie Nohara!" Might Guy jumped on his feet, fists raised, ignoring like the rest of the group what the sisters had been whispering about. "Remember our training!" He punched the air once. "You've got what it takes to kick Kakashi Hatake's behind!"
Gillie sweat dropped. Why did his teammate, friend and training dictator (he could really be one at it) have to be so uncool? Couldn't he just speak like a normal person and use the word "butt"? She turned towards her slightly cooler teammate, Genma, searching for his input and he nodded once at her.
"You got this, Gills."
She gulped and looked towards where Kakashi was already standing, waiting for her. She pondered on the idea of the challenge. Hadn't she been working earnestly to get better with her skills, all with the sole objective of making this same boy look her way, look up to her, only to have him fervently pining over her to get her sister's jealousy, for once? Sheesh, this was an opportunity given in a silver platter, yet here she was hesitating... She gulped and stood up.
The dream continues showing flashes of the actual fight, starting as a simple taijutsu battle, everything going normally as expected. Punches and kicks. He was stronger and quicker, but her smaller frame gave her an advantage... That is, until he did that. He actually dared to do that.
How dare you do that ?!
"NO ONE..." She pulled the lace from her left braid, "PULLS MY" She set the right braid free, "HAAAAAIR!" Gillie joined her hands together and it exploded into a sea of dark waves. Kakashi's eyes widened slightly at the sight of it and he found himself fighting around two dozen kunai wielded by the living strands of hair. Oh, was she mad!
That jerk! I cannot allow this!
In the background, she heard the cheers of her sister and friend in green. Listening to Genma cheering as well was a surprise though, he wasn't the loudest of people. This distraction made her lose her concentration, so after 8 minutes ( How pathetic! 8 minutes!) Kakashi was able to take the weapons from all his strands and sneak behind her back, placing a knife against her neck. The thing was, once people went through that barrier of hers, there was only so much she could do with her ability without injuring herself. At twelve, her control on it and its strength wasn't the best.
He didn't see the hidden strand she'd kept close though, that now pointed at his back with a kunai AND she didn't expect the shadow clone that jumped out of the earth and rode the strand with another kunai, menacing to cut it. She froze on the spot.
"You wouldn't dare..." She whispered with fear. "THAT'S CHEATING!" She screeched.
"That is real life." He said condescendingly. "It's the risk you take by relying on your ability." He wasn't going back, he was so decided to cut her hair. He truly wanted to send her to the hospital! Her eyes went towards Might Guy, wondering if this was his vengeance for the couple times she'd sent him there. Next to the boy in green, Genma and Rin were telling Anko to stop the fight, but Anko was watching it all delving into it with an entertained expression.
"Should I go ahead?" He asked nearing the sharp end of the weapon-
"I yield! I yield!" She screamed letting go of her own kunai. Her hair obeyed her and it began to recoil into its natural state, making Kakashi jump down from it. She sighed holding all of it by one side and caressing it as one would a shivering puppy, before looking up with a rabid grimace. Kakashi stared at her blankly, while Rin ran their way.
"Gillie-chan!" She grabbed her by the elbows, analyzing her as a mother does to her child who just fell from the jungle gym. "You are alright!" She sighed with relief. "You were amazing, you were really good-"
"Apparently, not good enough..." She looked at Rin, then looked up at Kakashi wanting to snap at his staring. Rin turned towards him.
"Maaa, Kakashi... Didn't you go a bit overboard by the end?" Rin told the boy coyly, he scowled beneath the mask which made Rin wince on the spot. Gillie's jaw dropped watching her sister bow down. "Still, thank you for going easy on my sister." Gillie's jaw almost dropped to the floor.
WHAT?!
"I'm sure Gillie-chan gave her best," She continued, "thank you for your consideration while making it interesting for her." Gillie wished for the earth to open up and eat her alive.
"Of course." The boy said smugly, crossing his arms. "It couldn't have been any other way."
Gillie heard her teeth grinding inside her skull, looking from child to child.
Why was Rin saying this?! Was she out of her mind?! OF COURSE, Gillie had suspected right away he was going easy on her, but daring to admit it out loud was an entire other level of humiliation. She wanted to scream then and there at the two of them. She was unknowingly belittling her and he was internally mocking her. They deserved that and more, she was seeing red!
But she didn't... Suddenly, her personal mission came back to her, the reason why she had been following Guy's every whim for the past months: she had to be better, train harder, she had to impress that very same dolt with her skills, she had to steal his frozen heart (OH, AND DEFINITELY PLAY WITH IT! DESTROY IT!) and, for once, be the victor against Rin. It would be her humiliating her sister and not the other way around... If she lost her cool right now, all her work would go to waste.
"I'm about to be sick." She confessed staring at the floor. Fighting this urge made her nauseous, the bilis formed inside her throat.
"Oh?!" Rin snapped her way. "Oh, no! Let me bring you a refreshment and a pill! I'll be right back!" Gillie squeezed her eyes shut, trying to regain her composure.
"You okay?" The same mocking voice of before brought her back to reality. She growled, snapping her head his way-then (again), she remembered: she levered on the grinding she applied to keep her scowl set and forced herself to smile, though it hardly reached her eyes. In reality, she might have looked like someone with a very bad case of diarrhea. Her right eye might have also twitched as the corners of her mouth were doing.
"I'm... fine!" She chuckled nervously, through her teeth.
Kakashi stared at her with a slight crease between his brows.
"Whatever." He walked away.
Once on her own, she slumped to her knees with tiredness. She sat there for a while, before a hand extended right in front of her face. Next to Genma stood Guy with his hands on his hips on a wide stance. She took Genma's hand and raised, just in time to Rin to return with a pill and a canteen filled brimming with water.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
"Hn." She nodded, before taking Rin's offering, she was very efficient like that. "Thanks, Rin." She said quickly, dismissively, before chugging down the pill.
"You were amazing!" She almost choked, after Guy patted her back with a bit of too much force. "You've come a long way, my friend!"
"Not enough to beat Kakashi." She said sourly and Genma irked a brow at her.
"No one expected you to beat Kakashi." He shook his head. "He is Kakashi after all. Still, you held your ground. That is more than any of us could say."
"Hn!" Rin nodded earnestly.
"My, it was like- Why, it was like watching Kakashi fight a hundred mambas!" Guy exclaimed, "Like-like-like watching Orochimaru-sama and his Manda! Like Tsunade-sama and Katsuyu! But you, my sister, you were a living explosion! A... very hairy one!"
Gillie tsked, kicking a stone, and began to walk out the training field. She didn't care to be an explosion, she just wanted to be good enough to beat Rin. Was she asking too much?
"You could be as great as one of them someday." Genma shrugged.
"As them?" Gillie irked a brow.
"A Sannin!" Rin chirped walking next to her. Gillie stopped on her tracks and idea popping into her mind. She didn't care about being a Sannin either, but perhaps Sannin-level would leave that jerk speechless. Sannin-level, surely, would have to make it, right? Her eyes fluttered.
"Mm? Gillie-chan?"
"Oh, no! That fight against Kakashi must have affected her more than we expected! I cannot blame her, I've only been able to hold my ground against him after years and years of training! My, she's only been a few weeks at it..."
"Gills?"
She knew where to get that type of training. She knew where she could find a teacher! A Sannin-teacher! That old man, Jiraiya, would do! She began to bounce on her place and pointed away.
"Would you look at that?! Look, look! It's my path of life!"
"WHERE? WHERE IS YOUR-?" Guy searched frantically before realizing his mistake, while Rin and Genma only barely got distracted before realizing the trick sooner. When they all looked back, Gillie was gone.
The dream ends here. That is why Gillie never got to hear Genma saying:
"I hate it when she does that." Before pulling out a lollipop from his pocket, opened it and exchanged it for the senbon in his mouth, before walking away. Nor Rin, saying:
"Gillie... chan?" With deep concern.
She, her original self, had fallen asleep at some point of the night. The shadow clone must have dissapeared once she did, submerging her into the dream previously owned by it. Now, leaning over her was the man she had aimed to surveil. She felt ashamed for failing at it, but at least he hadn't escaped while she wasn't looking (a fear that would not leave her since she saw him for the first irme).
"Um... the sun's coming out... I thought you wanted to depart before it did." The man offered a hand sheepishly. He was so trying to be on a good foot with her. She eyed the hand, uncomfortable with taking it and rubbed her face. She stood up on her own and continued her trek back to Master Jiraiya and Naruto.
"NOO! NO! NO! NO!" Naruto yelled as soon as his blue eyes came acquainted with the young woman walking their way with an older man. "NO, NEE-CHAN! NOT YOU! NOT YOU TOO!"
"What are you saying, kid?" Master Jiraiya looked down at him with his arms crossed.
"LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE, DIRTY OLD MAN! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE! YOU HAVE RUINED NEE-CHAN! SHE'S BEEN GONE FOR TWO WEEKS AND NOW APPEARS WITH AN OLD MAN! YOU HAVE MADE HER A SICK LITTLE PERVERT LIKE YOU, BELIEVE-OW OW OW!"Naruto rubbed the crown of his head after he received a bonk from Gillie.
"Ouh, Naruto!" She barked. "You're mistaken! THIS MAN IS MY UNCLE, YOU IDIOT!" Naruto winced at the spot, watching Gillie's face turn into a tomato. His eyes traveled towards the older man, looking at him with a horrified expression, then back at her.
"Er..." He balanced from side to side and began to chuckle nervously, before it turned into a loud crackle. He pointed at them with a finger. "I didn't see it before, but you two look very much alike! HA HA HA HA!" Gillie rolled her eyes, before looking back over her shoulder.
"Ignore the shorty one, we suspect he fell off the cradle when he was born-"
"Hey!"
"His name's Naruto and a fun fact about that is that his parents named him after a book I edited, so you could say I had a part on the naming-"
"Hey-EH? Say what?!"
"This is my master, Jiraiya-sama." She ignored the kid and continued, "I suppose he was after your time, but he's known as a Legendary Sannin." She spoke quickly to get over with introductions. "Naruto, Master, I introduce you to my Mamoru Yubokumin, also known as the deserter."
"Thank you for the warm introduction." The man said with a tight smile, before bowing at the kid and older man. Gillie shrugged.
"You're welcome. Now that we're all in the same chapter," She clapped. "We need to have a serious conversation. All of us."
"Mmm... I was worried you might say that." Jiraiya stretched up to the sky, before staring at the setting sun. "I was just thinking about going to bed... Can we leave this after we've all had a warm cup of tea and breakfast tomorrow?" Noticing her blank expression, the man huffed and turned to Naruto. "Kid, you go and fetch some... er... berries. Yes, berries!" Gillie stepped in.
"I believe this is something Naruto might want to hear..." She looked sideways towards her uncle, then back at Jiraiya, now looking interested.
They sat on a circle around the extinguished fire in the middle of the camp and the older man waited patiently for her to begin speaking, the same couldn't be said about the kid.
"C'mon, Nee-chan! What's taking you so long? I'm growing white hairs!" He snap his mouth shut when Jiraiya sent him the look, the look he had grown to recognize as the look he's given when he's expected to shut his mouth. Naruto gulped and looked down. This was no time to fool around.
"You're right... I better get done with this." She said barely above a whisper and turned towards the new man in the group. "Mamoru says even amongst the Yubo-nin, not all medical secrets were available to them. There were the chosen ones, the healers who carried all this information, and... well... they're all gone."
"Gillie..."Jiraiya spoke in an undertone, clearly sorry to see the fruition of her work didn't get her the results she wanted.
"There is... no cure?" Naruto slowly. He moved on fours and leaned towards the man. "I refuse to believe that! What are you hiding, old man?! Speak now, before I- "
"There is something, Naruto." Gillie raised her voice and waited for the kid to return to his seat before continuing: "He knows about this because..." She looked towards her only living Yubokumin relative.
"Because they tried it on my sister." The man continued. "On Gillie's mother."
"Mmm? What is it about?" Jiraiya crossed his arms and irked a brow, staring seriously at the man.
"It begins with the Yubokumin Kekkei Genkai."
"You mean that weird thing Gillie Nee-Chan does with her hair?"
"Naruto, no. Remember? That is... um... manufacturing defect." She said uncomfortably.
"Our kekkei genkai..." Mamoru continued. "Since days of old, our family possessed the power to the psychological realm. Not even the most powerful genjutsu ever fooled a well-trained Yubo-nin. It came in handy when our ancestors fought against the Uchihas, for only our kekkei genkai could rival their developed sharingans." Naruto gaped listening to the story. "Like the Hyugaa's byakugan, it allowed us to see through deceive; while they saw through the body and chakra network, we saw through the mind and the brain's synapses..."
"Yes." Jiraiya said continuing to be serious.
"It allows us to break any genjutsu and create powerful illusions, making our victims feel actual physical pain with it."
"It's kind of what Itachi tried on Kakashi and I. It hurt me but not as much as it did to him... I've never liked using genjutsu..." Gillie added.
"You still have it, whether you like it or not." Mamoru said looking at her. She grimaced.
"What does it have to do with Gillie's current situation?" Jiraiya broke the tension between them, "You mentioned her mother."
"As I was saying." He nodded towards the old Master. "Our mind power is like no other. We weren't a family that survived for centuries for no reason."
"Mmm..."
"Even now, I refuse to believe we're the only Yubokumin alive... but not all of us had Konoha's protection like my niece and sister, fortunately, did."
"Mm-hm."
"There is this technique, almost impossible to achieve, they tried to cure my sister with it... The problem was, because of her condition, she couldn't harness her kekkei genkai, and without it there was no way she could aim for it."
"Say, say, what is this super technique you speak about?" Naruto asked and Mamoru turned to him.
"It is known as the Technique of the Fifth Stripe. The Yubo-nin paint their skins with these four marks." He said pointing at the red lines on each of his cheeks. Unconsciously, Naruto tugged from his own whiskers. "But the Fifth Stripe is supposed to appear on one's forhead, by itself, once the technique has been achieved."
"What does it do?" Jiraiya spoke. "The technique." Mamoru frowned looking down and then up at him.
"It is only the maximum Yubo technique. The ability to, using sheer mental command, force one's cells to obey and regenerate." Naruto's eyes widened. "It is not immortality exactly, for our days are counted as any other's. But while we live, even on our last day, we can be at an optimal strength level. A deadly wound, by the force of mind, can be restored." Mamoru turned to her niece. "My mother's oji-sama-"
"O...Obaasama." The word flew out of Gillie's mouth with the same easiness as visiting an old beloved friend. Her uncle nodded.
"Your grandmother's uncle was said to live until his last day as the strongest of Yubo-nin. He was able to develop the ancestral technique, he unlocked the Fifth Stripe."
"This technique of yours... It sounds like Creation Rebirth no Jutsu." Jiraiya said tugging his chin. Noticing their curiousity, he proceeded to explain: " During the Third War, my teammate Tsunade Senju created Creation Rebirth. It leaves a mark on her forhead as well, but she pulls on her chakra and physical strength to restore her cells, while reducing her life length. This technique of yours sounds neat and all, but where is the catch? Creation Rebirth steals the life from you, what does the Fifth Stripe do? That is what I'm waiting to hear."
"The catch is... I have next to no idea what it does if it does something, neither do I know how to unlock the Fifth Stripe."
"Mmm... so it's just another asset lost with the rest of the Yubo-nin."
"Not necessarily. Our family was raided several times in the past two centuries. Scrolls of knowledge, indecipherable for others but ourselves, written in our ancient dialect, were stolen and scattered across the Five Nations." He looked at Gillie. "I know where we can find three of them. If we find the scrolls, we'll find the knowledge, maybe we'll find the secret to the Fifth Stripe."
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed slightly, studying the man across from him. Gillie turned towards Jiraiya and Naruto.
"So, this is were we part ways... for now." She told them.
"Nee-chan..." Naruto gasped and she smiled.
"I'm sorry... Naruto. I know I said I'd be there to watch you train and grow..." Her head lowered, before she leaned his way. "I promise I'll come back and help you search for Sasuke. Hn?"
"Gillie." Jiraiya's stern tone obliged her to look away from the kid. "Are you sure about this?" The young woman searched in the grass around her.
"I... want to come back to Konoha... I want to come back home where I am Gillie Nohara, I really do... But..." She raised her arms in front of her, where her arms had begun to lost its beautiful coloration all up to her elbows, "I'm ashamed to come back looking like this." She confessed. "This... this is Gillie Yubokumin's curse. If I come back, I want to do it as Gillie Nohara." She looked back at Jiraiya and irked a brow. "Will you let me do it, Master?" The man deeply exhaled through his nose.
"When have I held you back from doing what you wanted?" She smiled softly. "But as you've realized in the past... what you wanted wasn't always the correct thing-"
"This is the correct thing to do. It is the only way to go."
"Then, it's settled." He groaned, standing up. "Naruto, say goodbye to Gillie."
"Eh?!" Naruto jumped on his feet. "You're leaving now?! But you only came back!"
"The faster I leave the faster I'll be back, Naruto." She explained, coming to stand in front of him. "Be a good boy, hn? Listen to Master Jiraiya... As much as we like it, do try to eat other foods other than ramen, hn? So you grow tall and handsome... like your father!" She added, ruffling his spiky blonde hairs.
"Nee-chan..."
"Ouh!" She raised a fist and he squeezed his eyes waiting for the impact that never came. Instead, he felt her lips placing a kiss on his forhead. "I'll miss you, Naruto."
The kid bit his lips and took a step back lowering his head. Then she walked towards her Master.
"Before I forget..." She said looking for something inside her bag. "I finished it last night." She pulled the finished manuscript she'd been working on for months. The sequel to Icha Icha. Jiraiya's eyes brightened at the sight of it. "It's done. So take it to your agent and try to get it published. Hn?" A memory popped into her head, and it was more welcomed this way than when they did during her restless dreams. "Hey, Naruto, can you do me a favor?" She looked over her shoulder, barely getting to see the kid rubbing his face, before looking up with a fake grin and nod. "As soon as the preview copies arrive, if you see him before I do, give one to Kakashi on my part?"
"Hn!"
"And, do not read it yourself, you hear me!" She exclaimed with a waving fist in the sky.
"I hear you, believe it!" She smiled and turned back towards her Master.
"When can we expect a book of your authorship, Gillie?" She shook her head.
"I've tried." She said slowly. "But it's always the same sad story. About a jealous orphan" She scoffed, "and her dead sister."
"Mmm. Sound familiar to me."
"Right?"
"Maybe a biography?"
"Who'd like to read my biography?"
"Perhaps, right now, next to no one... But the future is there ahead of you, Gillie Nohara. Who knows what awaits for you? Who you will become, what you will achieve... Someone worth looking up to? The best kunoichi in the world?"
"Or a monster."
"Or a monster, yes, why not? That would be fun!" She chuckled and shook her head.
"I don't want the world's recognition, nor being the best kunoichi in the world..."
"You just need to excel over your sister." He sighed studying her face.
...
She lowered her head and looked up at him, looking sorry.
"Then..." She bowed deeply and stayed there for a while, before slowly raising up.
For almost 15 years, the longest time they'd spent apart was somewhere around 12 months, and although she'd told her friends she'd be back in two years (now one), who knew how long this would take her? How long would it be until she saw Master Jiraiya again? In the past, as a child, she would've kept her feelings bottled up, but she'd grown to know that wasn't always the best thing to do. Sometimes she needed to let out her emotions... but today would not be the day.
She took a deep breath and looked up at him.
"Do let me know when you're coming back to Konoha! You can always send a message with out of your frogs."
"You can send Guppy!"
She raised a hand.
"Goodbye, Master Jiraiya."
