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 31: The World as a Canvas

As the night grew deeper, Yuki finally decided to head back to the forest, her heart still uneasy and her mind still bothered by all the thoughts that went through it. The lights in Konoha were all bright and festive looking as many were still celebrating the finished repairs done to the village and the arrival of the new Hokage. Although Sasuke's absence affected them all, the village remained the same. It should come at no surprise to Yuki that one's absence wouldn't change the dynamic of a whole entire village. After all, people came and went all the time. However, directly affected, his absence felt much larger than it should be. On her way back to the house in the forest, she passed by Sasuke's apartment. It felt just as cold as before, if not colder. She passed by quickly, trying not to pay too much attention to it. She gave it one quick look before disappearing from the village in a whirlwind of snow. She had flashed herself back to the house in the forest.

It was still weird for to call this place home. The house was not exactly welcoming. It mostly reminded her that she was trapped in the Root organization, a group she despised so deeply. Yet, this was home. As much as she felt like she didn't belong, the place felt familiar. When she got back, there was light in the kitchen. She could see it through the window. Sai's shadow was going back and forth. He seemed busy in the kitchen. She pushed the front door open, only to find a lot of smoke escaping through it. Sai was coughing in the kitchen, trying to put a fire out. Yuki quickly used one of her water ninjutsu to stop the fire. It stopped immediately. Dinner was seemingly ruined as well.

"Is this your first time cooking?" asked Yuki as she got closer to the food that was prepared. It didn't look bad, but it was definitely inedible at this point.

"It is my first time making congee. I read somewhere that people who are sick and are recovering from illness have an easier time eating that. Since you didn't eat anything earlier, I thought this would help."

Yuki couldn't help but smile at Sai's innocence. It was funny to her how being emotionless didn't suit him, yet his lack of empathy and ability to feel was something that was, at this point, innate to him.

"This is the first time I see you smile. It seems..."

"Genuine?"

"Yes. I read somewhere that when someone smiles genuinely, their face will light up. I didn't understand it until now. See, I'm not very good at it. Danzo-sama often told me that he could always tell when I'm faking a smile."

"We can always tell. There's no real happiness in a fake smile."

"I don't know what happiness is."

"I think it's more like you can't remember what happiness felt like."

"How can I remember something I've never felt?"

"Is that true?" Yuki asked as she took place at the dining table after throwing out the ruined congee. "You did live with your brother, after all. I'm sure there were moments..."

"I can't remember any of those moments." Sai replied, looking down at his feet.

"What about when you draw or paint? I saw a lot of paintings in your room as I walked by."

"I just paint. I don't feel anything when I do it."

"Nothing at all."

"Nothing."

"That's a lie. Your tone tells me otherwise."

"You must have your ears checked out then. I'm heading to bed. Goodnight."

He went into his room and closed the door. Yuki sat there, alone, silent. Her feeling wasn't wrong. He felt sadness from not being able to feel happiness. Her heart felt sad at the thought that someone could be distanced from such positive emotions. She also wasn't wrong in having interest in Sai's character. Who was he? What kind of person was he really? As much as she despised the Root still, she grew to like him as a person despite not knowing all of his traits. There was something special about Sai, something different that made him unique compared to the rest of the ANBUs she had met. He was trained so perfectly that he wasn't one of them. He had heart. He had a will. It lead him to read a lot. However, without experiencing it, he couldn't understand. Feelings are not theories, they are practical. They change, they evolve, they have a certain individuality to them. To read plain definitions wasn't enough to comprehend their depth. Yuki stared blankly at his room's door, wondering what he was thinking about in there, by himself, left to deal with his emerging emotions.

The first sun rays started sneaking into their little house. It was enough to wake Yuki up from her sleep. She never entered a deep sleep state unless she was ill or injured. She walked out into their kitchen, grabbed herself a glass of cold water to drink and went outside to exercise a little. Yuki never stopped training. Despite many thinking that she was already very strong, she never wanted to stop improving. She knew that physically she was lacking. She started her day by running a few kilometers. She then did many series of exercises that would improve her muscle strength along the way to the top of the mountain behind her house. She reached the top before the sun rose higher than the mountain top. Someone was already sitting there, on a rock, at the edge of the mountain. He was frantically drawing the sunrise.

"You are up early." said Yuki as she took place next to him.

"Good morning." he said as his eyes did not move away from his drawing.

"It's quite nice."

"Do you like it?"

Yuki nodded. He didn't say anything else. He kept drawing. Yuki stayed there silent, admiring the sunrise as he finished his artwork. The sun was now high up in the sky. Abruptly, he handed her the painting.

"Here."

"Oh, you are done. It looks really good."

"It's for you."

Yuki took it from Sai's hand. He didn't look at her as he handed it to her. He seemed to be avoiding her eyes. She took a closer look at the painting. She smiled. Although Sai always said he felt nothing as he painted, his artwork said otherwise. It was filled with a beauty that was not present when just looking at the sunrise. There was more to it in his painting. Each stroke seemed to want to say something.

"Thank you. I'll cherish this."

He started packing his things into his backpack. She tried helping him. She grabbed a few paintbrushes, tied them together before handing it to him. As she did, she noticed he was holding a very old drawing book with him, drawn on one side, and another on the other side of the cover. She didn't want to ask him about it as she noticed he put it away very quickly into his backpack.

"Let's go. Danzo-sama said that he wanted to see you this morning."

They were now that Foundation's headquarters. Yuki still felt the pain on her tongue every time she would come to this dreadful place. Its darkness and its coldness drew her insane. The hairs on her body would just rise by itself. She wasn't one to usually fear things, but this place was just as scary as it looked from the outside. Danzo was standing there, by himself, looking down on the ANBUs who were undergoing training.

"You are both here."

"Danzo-sama, I heard you wanted to speak to us." Sai said politely.

"Yes. I have a mission for you both, individual missions."

Yuki was not expecting it. She thought she would be followed by Sai for the duration of her stay with the Root. It surprised her that Danzo would allow her to wander off on her own. Then again, there was always a chance that she would be tracked by other ANBUs.

"What does it entail?" she asked monotonously, trying not to show her bafflement.

"I went through your file and you seem to be a very proficient spy. Although the new Hokage believes in cooperation between the villages, as you probably heard about her request to have the Sand assist the Genins on their mission, I believe that they are not trustworthy enough and that they could turn against us at anytime. I want to send you out there to gather as much intelligence as possible about the different villages that are so-called allied to Konohagakure."

"That's it?" she asked. "I'm surprised you only want intel on them."

"Are you questioning my orders?" he asked her.

"When have I not..." she murmured inaudibly.

"If it helps make sense of it, I also want to keep you away from the village." he then said. "I want to remind you of what an ANBU is. He is a shadow of the village, an extension of it. He is not part of it. He follows it, he always exists, but never in the light."

Yuki bit her lip. That was what she always believed in until recently.

"Where should I start?" she asked him. "And how do you want me to approach this?"

"Anywhere. Any method you would like. Just stay away from the village. Send a report back every week."

"What about him?" she asked pointing at Sai who had remained silent this whole entire time.

"I'll talk to him in private. You are excused now." Danzo said as he turned his back to her.

Yuki could still hardly understand his intentions. Danzo was indeed the complicated character that her grandfather had once described to her. His mind was mysterious and, even with her intelligence, she couldn't decipher the cryptic missions he sent her on. She knew things, yet those things never added up. Danzo just had this way of layering things on top of things, not allowing anyone to see beyond the layer where they were standing. As much as she hated him, she grew a sense of respect for his mind. She walked away from them as she felt Sai's eyes following her. Without a proper goodbye, she was off, once again, on her own in this grand world.

End of Chapter 31

Thank you for reading!

I really wanted to take Yuki out of the Leaf's Village setting and have her interact with the different villages' character. I hope you'll enjoy it.

xox

Krystal