A/N: I apologize for the uber long wait! D: I've been SUPER busy lately with Christmas coming up and all!
Speaking of which, Merry Christmas! :)
I am thinking of doing a Christmas special for my next update.. If I can get it done before January -_-
Also, I have uploaded the story pictures to Photobucket, as fujioka44. The 'albums' with these pictures with
passwords that I will give you at the end of the story, so please enjoy them at your leisure!
Once again, I am really sorry for the late update!
-:-
She wasn't angry anymore.
She wasn't very sad anymore either.
The tears had disappeared.
But the grin hadn't.
-:-
Her shadow was deadly. Her shadow did not obey its master.
It obeyed her.
So, whenever there was darkness, whenever her shadow was seen, she was uncomfortable, knowing the dark silhouette was dancing freely, mocking her, cursing her.
Her room had no lamps, no windows, and a single candle that looked new, but had been purchased years ago. That sole light was rarely used for finding her way through the room, but she had memorized where every piece of furniture was, so she had no trouble avoiding the small desk and matching chair, and the vanity whose mirror had long since been shattered, the glass shards gathered politely in a pile in a corner where she never visited.
When someone opened the door, she was sure to cower in her bed to ensure that her shadow did not bounce across the walls; that was when she was most frightened.
She cursed the light.
-:-
Sakura had been escorted home by Hiromi, who proved her case to be caused by stress by going to the site and noting Sakura's untouched basket of herbs. Aiko and Akio even inspected the area themselves and returned empty-handed besides the basket itself.
Aiko sniffed the herbs suspiciously, sighing, "I guess Miss Sakura was hallucinating from too much stress."
Akio tapped the wall with his finger nail a couple of hurried times.
Kotone picked on of the pink plants up, twirling it in between her fingers experimentally. It was shaped vaguely like a heart.
"Haruno-san would not panic as she did if it had been a simple hallucination."
"Perhaps then," Aiko added, putting her hands on her hips, "it was a genjutsu?"
Amaterasu shook her head, "According to my knowledge, Haruno-san is well-informed on genjutsu."
The trio was silenced, contemplating deeply. As Kotone raised the herb in her hand to press to her nose, Akio leapt forward and grabbed her wrist, his ocean blue eyes filled with realization.
"What happened?" Aiko asked, suddenly alert and unaware.
"Akio, what is it?" Amaterasu asked calmly.
The tanned teen snatched the herb and examined it thoroughly before his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
Hurriedly, he yanked open a drawer of the nearby desk and pulled out a clipboard and pencil, scribbling on it. When he was done, he flipped it around to face his comrades.
POISON.
-:-
Hiromi was able to smile throughout the day, though it pained her to fake her happiness.
Ever since Kotone's comment about losing hope, she had fallen into a semi-depressed state.
What kind of friend was she being, abandoning Maiko? The tomboy could've been lost out there, waiting for her, but Hiromi never even bothered trying to find her..
Shaking her head wildly, Hiromi tried to get rid of her heartless thoughts. She was being too hard on herself! She went searching! Surely Shikamaru could testify!
The blonde girl let herself fall to the ground in a comfortable squat, pressing her back against the wall behind her.
She was tired, mad, confused and stressed. Honestly, she would not be surprised if she was suddenly attacked by a black demon thing as well at the moment. Her mind was thinking a billion things at once and her heart wouldn't slow down. Hiromi let herself close her eyes, but opened them a few moments afterwards.
She nervously ran her hands through her mane. What if Maiko was still out there? What if the tomboy had turned into a savage beast, learning to live in the wild, adopted by a pack of wolves? Or bears?
Hiromi snorted. From what she remembered of the tomboy, she was a bird person, not a dog, or bear person. Her small streak of laughter was slowed to a halt. What did she remember about Maiko? Over the years, had her memories slowly disintegrated until all she remembered was the girl's death?
The night of Konoha was peaceful, random insects chirping. The noises faded to nothing as the blonde chunin gripped her head in panic, trying to dig up her lost memories.
Maiko's hair was mint green! Her eyes were black and white! She was below average when it came to school! She was athletic! She had a short temper! What else..? What else?!
"Yo, Hiromi!"
There had to be more! There HAD to be MORE!
"Hmm? You okay?"
Her voice.. What did it sound like?!
"Hiromi?"
In a rapid movement, the girl let out a uncharacteristic growl of frustration and threw her head back, startling her audience, Kiba, and banging her head on the wall behind her.
"Ow!" She yelped, rubbing her head tenderly.
Surely she would bruise.
"What the heck?" Kiba asked, his enormous dog seemingly alarmed as well, whining and sniffing the injured blonde.
"Oh!" The teenager turned towards her friend, feigning a smile, "Hello, Kiba."
The brunette kept his suspicious gaze as he took a seat beside her, resting his forearm on a raised knee, Akamaru laying down across the ground in front of the pair.
Hiromi reached over and pet the beast, having a tough time keeping her usual grin on her face. The strained smile did not go unnoticed.
"You've been like this all week," Kiba said, "What's up?"
The Sato girl shaked her head, "Nothing! I'm just tired."
It was her excuse whenever people asked her what was wrong. Kiba recognized it.
"What's really wrong?" He asked, adding with his characteristic grin, "You can tell me!"
Hiromi smiled softly in return. His grin always made her smile, too. She wondered why.
"Well," she sighed, beginning, "Kotone has been investigating things about Maiko."
Akamaru acknowledged the familiar name, raising his head a notch before resting it upon Hiromi's leg.
She continued, "She asked me about what I knew and I told her Maiko was dead. She didn't believe me."
Hiromi pulled her knees to her chest and tucked herself into a ball, causing Akamaru to whimper quietly.
"Kotone asked me when I had lost hope."
The trio fell silent. In a sudden movement, the young blonde pulled herself to a stand and slammed her eyes shut, hoping Kiba could not see her tears.
"I'm so weak!" She mumbled, "I've always been dead weight!"
Kiba frowned, standing as well, "That's not true!"
Hiromi shook her head vehemently, "It is, and you know it! I've always been the first to cry, the first to fail, the first to collapse!"
Akamaru watched from his curled up position as his master walked to the girl's side, his expression unreadable.
"It's not true. You're the strongest out of us all. The only person who doesn't realize it," Kiba buttressed with a smile, "is you."
Hiromi looked at him questioningly. Was he just trying to make her feel better, spouting nonsense? Or was it true..?
"Is that true?" She asked quietly.
The dog-lover kept a grin on his face, avoiding eye contact with the girl of his interest, "Yeah! You just hide it a lot because you're scared of what people will think."
"Well, someone clumsy like me," Hiromi protested, "isn't very strong."
"You are pretty clumsy," Kiba jokingly responded, "but when you put your mind to something, you do awesome!"
The two fell into an understanding silence, and Hiromi hid a gracious smile.
"Do you really think that?" She asked shyly.
"Yeah!"
Hiromi turned towards Kiba, her expression sharp. Her blue eyes were suddenly like that of a warrior and the brunette wondered vaguely if they had always been like that. Her blonde locks seemed to flow around her.
"Alright then!" She announced, "I'm never going to give up! I'm going to investigate! I'm off to find Kotone, so, umm," the girl smiled bashfully, "thanks a lot, Kiba."
The chunin rushed off, her hair dancing behind her in a trail of gold, and Kiba watched all the while, an excited grin plastered on his face.
-:-
A cold, pale hand wrapped around his thin neck, its grip tightening, prepared to snap the twig in two. He desperately clutched the claw, the white of his eyes growing until his pupil was nearly microscopic. The fear was palpable.
"Please let me go," He croaked, "I- .. I'll give you anything!"
"You don't have what I want."
"What is it?! Please, gods, someone help!"
"It's revenge."
"I-.. I know some guys! Just let me go! I-I'll kill whoever you need to be killed!"
"I must do it."
"Oh gods, does this mean you're going to ..? Please no!"
The demon flashed its sharp teeth, causing the man to whimper in fear. It snarled, and leaneds in close, causing sweat to drip down his neck.
"Your life is nothing."
"Please-.. Please-.. I-.. I have a family! A wife and two kids.. Gods, no!"
"Now, you will feel the pain I feel."
"GODS, NO!"
In a quick movement, the man was on his hands and knees, gasping for air. He looked around worriedly, wondering if the demon was going to cut into his skull with its twin swords or if it had fled, having a heart of some kind, but looked up and in fear realized it was towering over him, its dark ominous shape filling the bar.
"Are .. Are you going to kill me?" He asked meekly.
Suddenly, one of the doors to the bar fell to the ground and light shone into the room. The man looked up nervously and found himself staring into the demon's face. His expression filled with shock and confusion.
Its face was distorted in an array of pity, shame, and sorrow. Its eyes seemed glossy from tears.
The demon's hands twitched, reaching slowly to the twin swords. He whimpered, covering his head with his hands.
As he prepared for sudden death, he heard the creaking of wood and nearly screamed. The man snuck a peak and then realized something.
The bar was completely empty, and the only remains of the demon were his harbored breath and the red marks of fingers on his neck.
-:-
Hiromi rushed to Tsunade's office after her conversation with Kiba. She had to find Kotone! She swung the door open and turned red. Tsunade was sitting at her desk, speaking with a rugged-looking man. She had just rushed into an important meeting!
"I apologize, I'll come back at another time," She began.
Tsunade waved her hand, "Nonsense, come in."
The blonde chunin entered meekly, wary of the man who seemed in a panic, his hands shaking, occasionally rising to touch some marks on his neck.
The Hokage noticed the girl's concern and frowned, "Don't worry; He was just leaving. Isn't that right, sir?"
"Please, you have to listen to me!" he pleaded, "You've got to send ninja to check it out! I.. I can't go back there! It might come back!"
"What's happening?" Hiromi curiously asked.
The man eagerly threw his arms about, "A-a-a demon attacked me! It killed everyone else in the bar and nearly killed me, too!"
"A demon?" The maiden raised a brow.
That kind of sounded like what happened to Sakura.
"Th-that's right! Please, Hokage-sama, you've got to send someone out there to make sure it's gone!"
Tsunade rolled her eyes, "I'm not sending any of my perfectly capable ninja to chase after the monster hiding under your bed! Now, get out of my sight!"
The man hesitated, desperately searching the Hokage's eyes for a new hope. When he was threatened once more, he dragged himself out and Hiromi watched him carefully, her eyes following the deathly marks on his neck.
"What is it that you needed?" The elder woman asked, sighing in frustration.
Hiromi swallowed whatever else she might've said and asked, "Do you know where Kotone is?"
The Hokage pursed her lips in thought before nodding.
"She's downstairs filing paperwork," she responded.
Hiromi ran out after thanking the Hokage, but the picture of the icy strangle marks on the man's neck kept reappearing in her mind.
-:-
Kotone's desk was cluttered with papers from seemingly every human being that ever existed ever. She would've much rather been investigating the poisonous herb that Akio found, but the due date for her rent was approaching agonizingly quickly, and she would rather have somewhere her group could rest in peace than to live in the streets once more. The thought of her once luxurious palace entered her mind, but exited as quickly as it came.
"Amatearsu-hime!" Aiko exclaimed, entering the room with a traditional Azuma no sabaku (East Desert) salute, "Akio and I have finished our missions."
The princess nodded, running her fingers through her hair, wondering how she would get all of her work done.
"You have done well," She responded, "though we have much more work ahead of us."
Akio's expression saddened at the sight of the pounds of papers.
"Would you like our assistance, milady?" Aiko asked.
She did not know what she was getting herself into.
"I appreciate the offer, but I fear you will not enjoy this as much as the other missions laid out for you two."
The twins leapt towards their pile of papers, happily picking out physical labor, having the mindset that this would please their leader. They disappeared as quickly as they came, their arms loaded with papers, leaving Kotone to look over yet another file.
Before she could finish reading the first line, her door swung open once more, and she looked up, her expression warm at the sight of her precious teammate.
"Greetings, Hiromi."
The blonde girl nodded, "Hello."
She sat down at the seat nearby Amaterasu and opened her mouth to say something. Suddenly afraid, she closed it.
Yeah! You just hide it a lot because you're scared of what people will think.
"I'm sorry!" Hiromi exploded, "I'm so sorry! You were right; I lost hope, but now .. I'm going to help you with anything! I'll help you investigate Maiko."
The two teammates stared at each other silently, their thoughts occupying their minds.
"Thank you," Kotone said softly and simply.
Hiromi smiled. It worked.. It worked.. It worked! She suddenly felt very powerful, as though she could punch through a wall. She guessed it wouldn't be a good idea though.
"Do you.. forgive me?" Hiromi asked, "For losing hope?"
Amaterasu had never needed to forgive someone before. Does she really forgive her?"
"I don't know," she replied honestly.
The shorter lass nodded. It was probably still hard to show emotions; Kotone probably wasn't experienced with people's feelings.
"I have a map of all the places we've searched for her," Hiromi began bluntly.
Kotone nodded and began to make room on her desk, but was stopped by her teammate.
"I don't have it with me at this very moment," She explained, "Asuma-sensei has it; he nearly organized the entire search."
Before anymore could be said, Hanako burst in through the door, her messy hair flying about her, and her face paler than usual.
"What's wrong?" Hiromi asked immediately, standing hurriedly.
The elder woman swallowed a lump in her throat before saying sharply, "Asuma Sarutobi is dead."
-:-
End of Chapter
A/N: Ughh :C It was such a short chapter! I'm so sorry for it! I just needed to get something out there! I feel awful for taking ages to update too! Oh, btws, here are the guest passwords for Photobucket,
For The Puppet and The Puppeteer : fujioka
For The Free and The Enslaved : Kotone
Please keep in mind that these are just suggestions for what the characters may look like. If you have your own representation of what you believe the characters look like, please do not change it based on these photos. Also, please keep in mind what the characters are SUPPOSED to look like my checking out my profile which has the description of all the major OC's. Thank you!
Feel free to post your own pictures!
Thanks to..
(Reviewers)
[Yamiroo Alice] - Take your time :) You don't even have to post it if you don't want to; it's all up to you! Words cannot describe how much I appreciate it! :D Hahaha, what do YOU think it is? I hope you enjoy this new chapter! Sorry for being late!
[PixieKat6] - Really? The first? There are a lot more fanfics out there MUCH better than mine! :) Wow, that's so sweet! XD Thank you so so so very much! I've posted them on Photobucket :) You can use the guest passwords to look through the albums! I hope you enjoyed this chapter - Sorry for the late update!
[bored411] - She's very emotional ;) Here is my late update; Sorry! :D Thank you for your kindness! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
[Animefangirl95] - Thanksgiving! That was so long ago! Goes to show how late this update is ;_;
Ah, thank you :) I really appreciate it!
They are quite determined puppies :D
Really?! Thank you! I thought I was being kind of corny so that really helps c:
You did? I'm not very good at surprising people I suppose XD
Idk, what do YOU think about the creature? ;)
Hehehehe c: Aww really? A lot of people seem to like the same pairing XD Sorry for never putting them two together much!
The pictures have been posted to Photobucket c:
Thank you for reviewing ; I hope you like this chapter!
[MaoIsSleepy] - Who do you think it is? :) What do you think happened? ;) I like seeing what you guys think XD Thank you for reading :D I hope you like this chapter! Sorry for the late update!
[ShadowBloodNinja] - Hahaha :D Everyone has deep moments!
._. I love coloring books.
I would've voted for Batman.
A class before me got to go to fancy places like that too :C When I was in eighth grade, the majority of my class went on this field trip to Alabama where we lived like missionaries in Africa and we were all miserable and starving! It was still fun though :) Then the next 8th graders got to go to a luxurious island. Not even kidding.
Omg don't eat it then XD It'll make your tummy hurt! SPEAKING OF WHICH yesterday I pigged out BAD. I ate a THREE LAYER bacon burger, and 15 ounces of yogurt. I GAINED SO MUCH WEIGHT.
Would you like me to PM you instead? I'm perfectly fine with whatever you would like :)
I hope you enjoy this chapter! :) Sorry for being late!
[Fairytale-GhostPrincess] - Sorry for the late update XD Thank you so much c: Hahaha, thank you for your kindess :) I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
[tsuki-shinigami] - 12th grade is pretty rough D: But you can do it! As long as you are doing your best, grades do not measure your knowledge v.v Ah, yes, I did finish that story :) It took a while, though.
Thank you! You cried?! Was it really that sad?! :O I really appreciate that! It makes me feel succesful :D Wow, really? Thank you so much! :D
u wow, I'm honored! Thank you so much for your kindness! :)
It's kind of hard to make it seem like she has emotions without throwing them onto her XD What do you think happened to her? I would love to see what you think c:
u all of these compliments are overwhelming! Thank you SOOOO much! There was a little bit of romance... It's kind of hard to tie in some love because Gaara and Sasuke are dancing away some other place and I can't have Kotone go fly across the world XD and I don't want to force Kiba to do anything and idk where Maiko is so yeah
Hey! :O You can do it! When you put your mind to it, anything is possible! :D
Oh wow :O I'm truly honored! I have seen pictures of Kurdistan c: The art and architecture are very beautiful. Trust me, I know those feels. No one in my area knows what Naruto is. NO ONE. No one even knows what anime is -_- It's ridiculous. Whenever people call anime a cartoon I lecture them v.v
Thank you c: I really appreciate your support v.v I will try and update faster XD
A long review is perfectly fine with me c:
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I apologize for the late upate :D
/Followers\
(Cahppy and Yuki) - Thank you for following this story~ :D
(Aoi Kazuya) - Thank you so much! v.v
(EnjoytheSilence03) - Thanks! :)
(5H0KI) - THANK YOU.
[Favoritings]
/Cahppy and Yuki\ - THANK
/PrincessWindNight\ - YOU
/AnimeGirlieGirl\ - ALL
A/N: Please look forward to Chapter 7!