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 35: From Memory
Unknowingly, Yuki started to join the Sand Siblings on their missions. At first, she was just tagging along because she felt bored, but as she spent more time with them, she felt like she was a part of the team. They also gladly had her join them. Temari was hard to convince at first. She wasn't too pleased at the idea that they had to rely on an outsider to help. However, they quickly bonded over teasing Kankuro. As the atmosphere was lightened, their relationship also improved. They became just as close as sisters were.
There were a lot of ANBUs from Sunagakure that went rogue after the Fourth Kazekage died. A lot believed that their village was too weak to fend itself and lost faith in the village. Others believed that Gaara would become Kazekage and hated the idea. They couldn't stand the idea that a kid would lead their village, let alone a kid who was known to have murdered countless of people, including their peers. Most of the missions consisted of chasing down the rogue ninjas and to bring them back to the village. First, it was to prevent intel about the village to be spread out. Second, some caused harm and needed to be punished. Third, some were planning a rebellion against the current village. Because they were ANBUs, they were not easy to tackle.
Yuki also learned on the side the art of puppetry with Kankuro. He enjoyed teaching her and she enjoyed learning it. He was often impressed at how quickly she got the hang of thing. She, however, found the making of puppets a little creepy. When he would be making puppets and talking to them as if they were humans, she would be sitting in a corner, reading. On her free time, she would be a the Sand Village's library with Gaara. They would go through the basics of administration in order to prepare him for the day he would become Kazekage. She also enjoyed reading about medical ninjutsus. She was impressed at the amount of books the village had about it until she remembered that the famous Chiyo lived here. If there was one person that could compete against Tsunade when it came to medical ninjutsus, it would be Chiyo.
Just like that, the days went by for Yuki. As she got used to her life in Sunagakure, she began forgetting to send weekly reports to Danzo to update him. She even forgot for a moment that she was part of the Foundation. Every night, after having dinner with the three siblings, she would go back to her quarters, admire the beauty of the architecture of Sunagakure and fall asleep almost immediately. That night was no different. However, as she closed the window, preventing the cold wind from seeping in, and walked over to blow out the candle, she sensed a presence in the room. She grabbed onto a kunai she had placed by her bed. Someone, then, grabbed her by the wrist and pinned her onto the bed, arm bent behind her back, making her drop the kunai. He, judging by his stature, prevented her from forming signs with her hands to flash herself away from his grasps. He knew her well. Using her flexibility, she managed to kick him and got him to let go of her for a bit. She then, however, sensed something tying her legs up and she fell onto the ground. The same thing wrapped itself around her wrists and attached them to each other while separating her fingers to prevent any sign formation. He then grabbed her and put her back onto the bed.
"It's been so long you cannot even recognize my chakra." He then said.
"Sai!" She said as she recognized both his chakra and voice.
"Oh, you do remember."
"Can you let me go now?"
"Release."
As he said that, the ink snakes broke and Yuki's limbs were free.
"Danzo-sama sent me here because he hasn't heard from you in a while."
"I forgot to send in the reports. Just tell him nothing has changed."
"I read in a book that when someone says that, it means otherwise."
"You read too much." Yuki said as she went to light the candle to allow her to see Sai and her surrounding. "How have you been?"
"I've been completing my missions as usual."
"Did you kill a lot of people?"
"My fair share." He answered coldly.
"I wasn't expecting an answer."
"But you asked a question."
"Not all questions have to be answered."
"That's the first time I've heard that. I always answer questions I've been asked. I must answer them honestly too if they come from the Foundation. Just how I must answer to Danzo-sama about you."
"What did he ask you?"
"He asked me to check on you. He was worried since he heard no news."
"I thought you were supposed to be honest. I can't see Danzo being worried."
"He is though."
"Anything else?"
"No."
"You can tell him I was safe and sound until you came in here and assaulted me."
"You were going to attack me first."
"I just grabbed a kunai, you pinned me onto my bed and tied me up."
"You would have attacked me."
"But I didn't."
Yuki forgot how fun it was to argue with Sai. He was just so innocent. He always said everything that crossed his mind. He didn't know how to read between the lines. He didn't know how to judge a situation properly. He probably thought that she was actually upset, not that he would care because he couldn't exactly feel those emotions.
"So, is that all? I'm actually sleepy right now. I don't want to talk about anything else right now." Yuki said as she took place on her bed.
"Yes. I'm sleeping here tonight here too."
"What? Why?"
"That way I won't have to find a place to stay at this time." He answered casually as he took her blanket and spread it out on the floor.
"You can just sleep on a tree or something... Isn't that how ANBUs are trained?"
"It's cold outside and warm here."
She couldn't argue with that.
"Fine. You better leave when the sun rises. It will blow my cover if they spot you in here."
He nodded as he lied down and closed his eyes almost immediately. Yuki frowned. Even though she was comfortable around men, she wasn't too happy about having one in her bedroom. She always slept by herself. It was fine when they each had their own bedroom, but she didn't like the idea of him being able to watch her when she slept. It was going to be a sleepless night for her.
He was very fast asleep. Maybe it was because he knew he was safe, he did not budge at any sound Yuki was making. She snooped around a bit. It wasn't in her nature to want to look at people things, but she remembered that book that he had with him when he was painting at sunrise in Konoha. She was very intrigued by it and wanted to have a look at it. Somehow, she felt like it would reveal a lot about Sai. She went through his bag quietly. There were a few sketchbooks and at the bottom, she found that book. It was old, a little dusty, but the colors of the drawing were still vivid. It really was a self portrait on one side. On the other side, it was boy she had never seen before. He had light blue hair and a gentle face with big eyes. Sai's brother? She thought. It was a possibility as he was the only person said talked about. She opened the book carefully. There were drawings of them defeating enemies after enemies and then blank. There was nothing. It was incomplete. If she followed the logic, the two boys would have to fight each other. Was that Sai's story? Was that how his brother died? As that thought gave her chill, she put the book back at the bottom of the backpack. She then grabbed the other sketchbooks and looked through Sai's art. She was quite impressed with his art. He was able to paint both abstract and realistic work. She couldn't help but smile at the beauty of his work. As she flipped through more pages, she found the painting that he was completing that morning when she learned about his love for art. She turned a couple more and found herself painted. The next few pages were all of her. Eventually, it came back to the usual landscapes that he loved painting. As she went back to look at the portrait he did of her, she sensed a shadow over her head. She turned around and saw Sai standing there. Expressionless, he grabbed the sketchbooks away from her hand and put them into his backpack.
"I read it was rude to go through people's thing without permission."
"It's also very rude to watch and draw people without letting them know."
"I drew them from memory. I wasn't watching you or anything."
There was a silence. Then Sai went ahead and folded the blanket and placed it back onto her bed. He then put on his backpack. He wrapped his cape around him and walked towards the window.
"Are you leaving?" She asked him.
"It's almost sunrise."
"Did Danzo really send you here?"
"Yes."
"Was he really worried?"
"Yes"
"Are you sure? Or was it you?"
"Not all questions have to be answered."
He then opened the window and disappeared as he jumped out. It was the first time, despite his expressionless face, that Yuki felt something human coming out of him. It was also when she realized that, within the cold Foundation, there was someone who cared for her. A gush of wind blew into her room and she stood there, feeling empty, as she came to the realization that she knew nothing about Sai even though she acted like she did. The guilt ate her up. It was the first time she felt like she had made a huge mistake.
End of Chapter 35
I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
I wanted to post two chapters today as I probably won't for a few days.
Let me know what you think in the reviews!
xox
Krystal