Forgotten

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Naruto (Shippuden). This is a story inspired by the original made up for entertainment purposes only. - Krystal

Chapter 10: The Blurred, the Cannots

The person that Yuki had to find every now and then wasn't one that was easy to find. She travels a lot and doesn't leave much traces behind. She was an adept of changing her appearances. She was famous, but unknown to most. She was noticeable, but doesn't try to attract to much attention to herself. When Yuki first met this person, she had just joined the ANBU. The encounter was brief, but long enough for her to be the trusted one to deliver information from then on to that person. That person seemed to not care about the village. However, after many talks, Yuki realized that that woman cared more about the village than any other women she had met. Yuki, very much, respected that person. She was a mentor to Yuki, an older sister in a sense as well. Their ages were very different, but Yuki's maturity and that person's youth brought them closer.

As Yuki went from place to the other, she couldn't help but think about Kakashi's team of genins. Three days had already passed since she placed that bet against Kakashi. By now, they must be doing some D-rank mission together. Yuki was confident that she had won that bet. Talking about bet, Yuki entered a well-known gambling village. While gambling was often looked down upon in other places, this village promoted gambling. It was part of an everyday routine. It was the day. The village wasn't too noisy as most people went out during the night. It was the perfect time for Yuki to gather information about that woman's whereabouts. Most of them answered that they haven't seen a woman that corresponded to Yuki's description. Always polite, Yuki thanked each of them. Every time Yuki had to go look for that woman, it would take her at least two weeks. She couldn't track her down with scents, because she would reek alcohol by night and coins by day. The alcohol scent also changed depending on where she was. Alcohol from different villages smell differently. Alcohol can also mask all body normal scent. Furthermore, no matter how talented Yuki was, she could only cover a small area with a smell detection. Her summoning animal was a rabbit. Although rabbits have excellent sense of smell, it was also very limited in terms of distance. They aren't usually train for such activity. Their best sense was after all the sense of hearing. The best question to ask, therefore is:

"Have you met 2 women recently who, most likely, lost a lot of money while gambling here?"

"Why do you ask that, little girl?"

"I need to find them..."

"I did. About 5 days ago? Or was it 3?"

The man she asked the question to seemed confused. His face was flushed by a great intake of alcohol, most likely.

"Anyway, yeah I did. They headed towards the Land of the Waves to get some money to pay us back. Apparently, they have a secret account filled with money there."

"Thank you!" Yuki said quickly before heading off in the direction that he indicated. If it was the Land of Waves, Yuki knew exactly where she would be. There's a person in that land that is indebted to the woman. Despite all her bad qualities and habits, she was a great person at heart. She saved may lives and his was one of those saved lives. That woman also would often seek refuge at his place when she was running away from debt collectors. The search this time was apparently much easier than the others. However, Yuki would have to rush as she moved around very quickly as well. She was already a few days ahead of Yuki.

It was now 6 days since Yuki last saw Konoha. Whenever she was on missions that brought her far from the village, she would get some sentiments that resembled homesickness. Throughout the years, Yuki has certainly developed great feelings for the village. Great didn't always mean good. Sometimes, there were bad feelings that emerged as well. For example, she had some resentment towards the village due to the sacrifice that Itachi had to make. There was great pain whenever she thought of Sasuke or Neji. On the other hand, there was great happiness when she thought about how Naruto has become much stronger. There was great love when thought of her adopted grandfather. The balance between happy thoughts and unhappy thoughts when thinking of the village hasn't shifted to one side yet. They are somewhat in perfect balance. Yuki wished there was more happy thoughts though.

Upon arrival in the Land of Waves, the mist was thick and there was a fine rain falling. The weather wasn't too cold, but enough to give one the chills. Yuki was never affected by the cold though. After all, she was born and lived a midst the cold snow. The place where that woman could be found wasn't much further. Yuki quickened her steps in order to make sure she wouldn't miss that person. The speed at which she was going hindered her view. The thick mist never cleared as though someone had put it in place with somekind of jutsu. The rain, though normally gentle, was hitting her face quite roughly. She started to strain her eyes. Her eyesight then began to deteriorate. Headaches usually followed. It wasn't the first time this was happening. As her vision got blurrier and blurrier, so did her depth perception. She tripped on a small root that came out of the ground. At the speed she was going, the fall had quite a strong impact and Yuki ended up a few meters from where she had tripped.

"You really should be more careful." said a very familiar female voice.

"I caught up..." said Yuki weakly as she brushed off the dust and slowly stood up.

"I figured it was about time we met up. It's been 3 months since we last saw each other, now?"

Yuki nodded. The woman's face was still blurry to her even though they were only half a meter away from each other.

"Are you hurt?" asked that woman as she got closer.

Yuki shook her head as a small green hue surrounded her whole body.

"You've improved greatly with your medical ninjutsu." said that woman with a smile.

"All the credits goes to you..." Yuki said as she continuously blinked to clear up her vision.

"Your eyes are still foggy?"

Yuki nodded.

"It's the after effect of when you are using it after you suppress it for so long."

"It just activates by itself. It's harder and harder to suppress it now."

"Many consider it a blessing."

"I think it's a curse. It has caused so many deaths..."

Yuki closed her eyes and began massaging her lids. Her eyes were still very blurred and the headaches were getting pretty bad.

"Come on inside. I'll help you relieve the pain..." she said and then hesitated. "... or Shizune will."

"You still won't perform medical ninjutsu?" Yuki asked as she followed the woman inside.

"It's not that I won't... I just can't."

"That's why you understand me better than anybody else." Yuki said as she pointed to her eyes. "I can't use these..."

"They bring back bad memories, don't they?"

End of Chapter 10

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Krystal