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 38: Secrets
It was pouring outside. Yuki had set up a tent and was sitting by its opening staring at the gloomy weather. She forgot how often the rain poured it this country. She was in proximity of Amegakure, a village known for its constant downpour, but nothing else. She was going to set up camp nearby for a few days before wandering in direction of Kumogakure. She always had an interest for Kumogakure for many reasons. First, it was the amount of shinobis who had lightning as their nature transformation. Kumogakure was known for having knowledge of the most extensive lightning ninjutsus among the Great Villages. Secondly, she often read about the Fourth Hokage's encounter with the current Raikage. No one was said to be able to match his speed. She wanted to see for herself. Finally, she wanted to see what kind of people lived in Kumogakure as they were known for being quite despicable in their diplomacy. Because she was an ANBU, she knew that many promises that were made by the Hidden Village in the Clouds were not kept. They also, too often, kidnapped people from other villages for the sake of knowledge. An example that Yuki could think of was the Hizashi Hyuuga incident which left Neji to be all by himself, resenting the Hyuuga clan.
As she thought about her route, Neji's name came up in her mind. She felt sad when thinking about him. There was a sentiment of longing, but also there was a feeling of relief because she didn't have to talk to him. There wasn't much she could explain. However, she didn't want him to keep on wondering. She kept going back to the fact that she didn't probably bid him farewell as she embarked on this lonely journey. She then remembered about Gaara and his siblings. She also left Sunagakure without a word. She wasn't good at saying goodbye. It was perhaps for the best.
The rain got heavier as the night grew. The water washed out everything and its sound also silenced every other surrounding noise. Yuki didn't mind it. She always enjoyed listening to the pouring rain. As loud as it was, she found it calming. It was in its monotony that she found comfort. It left her thinking that nothing was happening. It was only then that she heard a scream that managed to break the silence created by the rain. It was the sound someone made when being slashed by a sharp blade.
"Foolish spies..." said a deep voice. "How dare you even..."
"Shhh...There might be others here." Another one said.
She, then, heard them leave. They didn't spot her. The moment she heard the scream, Yuki had collapsed her tent and hid herself in a tree, looking from above down to the scene that unfolded in front of her eyes. The two voices were from shinobis wearing the Amegakure's forehead protector. Both were seemingly highly skilled in the art of assassination as they finished off two Iwagakure spies who both carried the typical ANBU uniform from their own village. The assassination was carried out quickly and left very little traces, besides, any traces would be erased by the rain. It was already draining the blood away from their dead bodies. Yuki climbed down the tree and took a look at the two corpses. As she took a step closer, she realized that there were exploding tags on them. Just as they were about to go off, Yuki flashed herself away, back to her tent which was a few hundred meters away, far from the perimeter of the explosion. Such ruthless methods, yet effective way to prevent anybody from getting intel. She thought as she grabbed all her things. It wasn't wise for her to stay longer here. She was probably not going to find out much about the village. If she did, she probably would end up like those two Iwagakure spies. At least she learned one thing: Amegakure had a lot to hide. It was something that nobody knew and that they wanted to keep that way.
A few days passed and Yuki was now close to the Hidden Village in the Grass. There wasn't much about the village that interested her. They were allies of Konohagakure and had very little military force. Even though it didn't mean that they weren't a threat at all to the village, Konoha had means the get rid of them if it wanted to. To Yuki, it was just nice to finally see the sun. As much as she liked the rain, the warmth of the sun brushing on her skin was something that she missed having. As she sunbathed a little on a hill with her eyes shut, she heard footsteps coming towards her. She smiled. If she wasn't wrong, she knew who they were. There was no way she would mistake his chakra for another's. She was actually happy to stumble across them. The journey was just starting to feel very lonely.
"Ah! Yuki!?" A very cheerful voice said. "It's so nice to finally see a familiar face!"
"Same. It's nice to see you, Naruto." Yuki replied opening her eyes and smiling at him.
He was accompanied by Jiraiya who also had a smile on his face, but looked slightly uncomfortable as he was clutching onto his chest with one hand. He looked at her and she grasped an idea of what was going on.
"Naruto," she started. "There's a really nice waterfall nearby where you could bathe in. I'm not saying you smell, but..."
"I gotcha..." He said, pouting a little.
"I'll buy you ramen if you go wash up?"
"Hehe, you always know the best way to get things done your way. I'll see you later, Ero-sennin! You better not run away, Yuki!"
He cheerfully ran towards the waterfall Yuki alluded to. Yuki's smile turned into a frown as Jiraiya finally collapsed onto his back, his hand still on his chest.
"I almost died."
"Let me have a look at the wound." Yuki said. "I might not be as skilled as Tsunade-sama, but I can at least relieve you from the pain."
"Always just as observant."
"I couldn't help but notice. You are not very good at hiding your emotions, Jiraiya-sama."
"Fooled Naruto, though."
Yuki chuckled. Naruto was indeed an innocent and simple minded person. Anything could fool him. It was something she liked about him. When she was around him, she didn't have to think about much. Things that she wanted to hide, she could simply hide. He wouldn't question it. He wouldn't even be aware of it.
Jiraiya loosened his top and allowed her to examine the wound. It was deep, burnt and still bleeding in multiple spots. Jiraiya did his best to bandage it, but it wasn't treated. She took off the bandages and started healing the open wounds first. Jiraiya's face twisted at the pain.
"It won't last for too long. Once all the external wounds are closed, the pain will subside as well. This will definitely scar though."
"I'm so glad we ran into you. I really would've died, if not."
"You would have lived, but you wouldn't have been able to hide it from Naruto."
"He knows he injured me."
"He came to his senses immediately after?"
"I sealed it in time before he lost all his senses."
"How many tails?"
"4. He can still hear you after the fourth tail emerges. However, it's only a matter of time before he can't recognize his friends any longer. I've been trying to teach him to use the chakra to his advantage, but without allowing the Kyuubi to take over him. I guess that day we pushed a little too hard."
"Is that seal the only thing that can contain the chakra?"
"As far as I know, for now, yes. It requires this little tag here." Jiraiya said as he pulled it out from his pocket. "It's a chakra-suppressing seal. It worked up until this point, but if he ever..."
"Let's hope not."
All the wounds were healed. It did leave a scar like Yuki said earlier. However, Jiraiya was no longer in pain. It was still uncomfortable for him to move around as the skin was crumbled up, but it was much preferred over the previous unbearable pain. He sat back up and wrapped his shirt back tightly before asking:
"You are now working under Danzo?"
"I guess you could say that." Yuki said as she sighed. "I never liked the man."
"Me neither. I don't understand why..."
"I might be mistaken, but it is most likely because of these." Yuki said as she pointed to her eyes.
"Your eyes?"
"You haven't heard?"
"I might know a lot, but I feel like you are someone with a lot of secrets I don't actually know."
"I assumed Tsunade-sama told you."
"I guess she thought it would be best for you to tell me yourself."
Yuki closed her eyes and opened them. Jiraiya couldn't help but to show his surprise.
"You..."
"I don't know why either..."
"The Sharingan?"
"Not just any."
She blinked once again and its pattern changed once again: double rings around the pupils with a petal pattern from the edge of the iris to the center.
"Mangekyo?!" Jiraiya said in astonishment.
"My sharingan first appeared when I learned of the Uchiha's massacre. I was so close to Itachi. I couldn't believe that he would kill his whole clan. The Mangekyo appeared when the Third died. When I saw his body on that rooftop, these eyes just changed and I saw it clearer than I ever wanted to see his death."
"Danzo, in all of this..."
"Kakashi once told me that his eye was targeted by a member of the Foundation. I don't know why Danzo wants the Sharingan, but I know that he does. I don't know if he knows I have these eyes, but I just assumed he did."
"He does have eyes and ears everywhere in the village. Especially, after the Third passed away, he probably got someone to watch everybody who was close to the Third."
"That's what I thought."
Yuki then sensed Naruto's chakra coming closer and stopped Jiraiya from saying anymore:
"Let's head into the village and grab some ramen."
Jiraiya nodded as they both walked over to Naruto. As they walked down the hill towards the village, Yuki sensed another presence nearby. She couldn't pinpoint it. However, she felt watched all of the sudden. She chose to ignore it as Naruto was around, but she remained on her guard, just in case.
End of Chapter 38
I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
xox
Krystal