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 39: Blindsided

"It's still not as good as Ichiraku's ramen." Naruto said as he finished his second bowl of noodles.

Yuki chuckled as she paid for the meal as promised. As they left the ramen stand, Yuki looked at Jiraiya and smiled:

"I guess I'll get going then. It was nice seeing the two of you here. It really made my day."

"Eh?! Already?!" Naruto asked.

"I have my own mission to complete, sorry, Naruto." Yuki simply replied.

"What do you have to do? Maybe we can help!"

"Sorry, I can't tell you that."

"But we are from the same village."

"Naruto, you know missions are confidential."

"Naruto," Jiraiya finally intervened. "You shouldn't make things difficult for her. We are not heading the same way anyway."

"But..."

"No, buts!" Jiraiya scolded him.

Yuki chuckled. She enjoyed seeing the interaction between the two of them. They were both so lighthearted, cheerful no matter what. It made her happy just watching them. She was also glad that Naruto found himself another figure to look up to. As Naruto continued to beg Jiraiya to get her to tag along, Yuki vanished into the thin air with a smile on her face.

It was many days of walking before she finally entered the Land of Lightning. She knew the location of Kumogakure was hard to find as they remained very secretive, even to their allies. She figured she would have to wait until she stumbled upon a shinobi from the village heading back to his home. She wandered around the Land for a bit, going from village to village. She constantly felt like she was being watched. However, every time that sensation came to her, it would immediately disappear with a head turn from her part. Because of this, Yuki avoided empty areas. It felt safer to her to be surrounded by people. Despite not knowing who was a friend and who was a foe, at least, if anything happened, there would be eyewitnesses.

Maybe it was her luck, eventually, she did cross path with a shinobi from Kumogakure. He was still very young. He was probably around her age. He was accompanied by an older man wearing sunglasses and who kept on blabbering in rhymes. It was probably his teacher. She decided she would follow those two in order to figure out where Kumogakure was located. She kept her distances, however, in order to ensure that they wouldn't discover her. Konoha and Kumo weren't exactly ally, nor were they enemies. However, they kept their businesses as private as possible. Yuki wasn't sure she would be welcomed if they found out she was a shinobi from the Leaf.

She stepped foot outside the town that hosted her for the past five days for the first time. It was nice to be out in the open once again. For a moment she forgot about whoever was tracking her and simply enjoyed the fresh air the wilderness had to offer. As she felt refreshed, she felt a cold blade resting on her neck. An arm wrapped around her shoulders as her own hands were immobilized by some substance. She could no longer move. She felt a body right behind her as the arm tightened its grip. She could tell it was a man, not much taller than her. As she closed her eyes, she sensed his chakra. It was too familiar. She wanted to deny his identity, but there was no way she was mistaken.

"You..."

"You kept asking about my mission. I guess you figured it out now."

"Then push it in." Yuki said, in a calm voice. "What are you waiting for?"

"We could do this the easy way."

"There's no easy way, now is there?"

"I'm not after your life."

Yuki chuckled. Was this mercy? She could sense him moving a little behind her. His grip loosened a little, but it went back to the way it was instantly. He wasn't one to be weak. He was just taken aback by her reaction. With his movement, however, the blade made a slight incision into Yuki's neck. A drop of warm blood touched Sai's skin. He quickly moved his tanto out a bit as she could sense him staring at the wound he had just made on her. Even though it wasn't a deep injury, the fact that it was someone she cared for who made it, it felt much worse. It wasn't just the open wound that was hurting her. Her heart felt pain as well. It was a gut wrenching feeling to have someone she trusted, with doubt perhaps, but still trusted betray whatever bond they had for the sake of a mission.

"Wouldn't be much easier with me dead though?"

"I only do what's necessary of my mission. I don't want to harm you."

"And yet this blade is resting against my skin, ready to end my life at any moment."

"Like I said, we could do this the easy way." He repeated himself.

Yuki could tell that he truly didn't want her dead. Perhaps it was because there was some form of bond that they have created over the months of knowing each other. However, she knew that if it was someone else's head between his hands right now, that person would've been dead a while ago now. As she remained in the same position, he shifted his hand upwards and the blade was now just in front of her eyes.

"These are all I need."

"You can't have them while I'm alive."

"Yuki, this is very unnecessary."

"What is truly unnecessary is Danzo having them."

"I know nothing about that. All I know is that this is the mission I've been entrusted with."

"I guess we will have to do this the hard way then." Yuki replied as she pushed him back with her whole body before falling onto the ground.

As the blade was near her, in her fall, it slashed her arm, near the shoulder and stained her snow white hair with the blood remaining on the blade. A few strands of hair was also cut and fell onto the grass just like snow crystals would have. Yuki couldn't move much despite not being restrained by Sai. Her hands and feet were covered in his ink making it impossible to weave signs or to run. She had landed on her front. She couldn't see him behind her. She could feel tears of anger and frustration filling her eyes up. He was so despicable to her. He walked over and turned her around, onto her back. He was standing over her with no emotions behind his eyes. His face was just as cold as ever. She forgot how cold he always looked because she had convinced herself he was more than what he made himself seem. As he went on his knees and looked at her in the eyes, she spat at him. She didn't know what else to do.

"You seem angry."

"You would too if you were in my situation."

"I wouldn't feel anything."

"I can't even look at you right now."

"Soon enough, you won't have to."

He raised his hand that was holding the tanto and brought it close to her eyes. He stopped however. He took a moment to stare at her in the eyes. He liked her eyes. He might not have been able to express it, but he was always mesmerized by the light in her eyes. Something about the way she looked at him, or just anything really, made him feel something that he couldn't explain. It felt like a shame to him, but it was his mission, to gauge her eyes out and bring them back to Danzo. He just wanted, one last time, to see that sparkle in her eyes. However, her eyes were filled with anger at that moment. There wasn't a light there. It was more filled with darkness. It was hatred. It was the look Sai read about too many times, but couldn't understand until that day.

"I think in this situation I must say I'm sorry." He said.

"You should feel it."

"I don't feel..."

"You are lying." Yuki said as her eyes filled up with tears.

"I'm sorry..." He said as he brought his weapon even closer.

Yuki closed her eyes as the tears rolled down her face. She prepared herself to lose sight of everything around her. She swore to never look at him again, listen to him, to smell his scent, to feel him again. She regretted everything. She regretted thinking that he deserved her thank you. She regretted thinking that he was more than just a pawn to Danzo. She regretted believing in him despite seeing what he could do. She regretted ignoring the fact that he was a cold-hearted ANBU. She regretted seeing him as a human being. At that very moment, at the moment she thought of Sai as a monster, she heard a metal clashing sound and footsteps rushing towards her. She passed out after that sound, finally breathing since she had closed her eyes.

End of Chapter 39

Hope you enjoyed it!

xox

Krystal