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Chapter 15 - Of Water, Ramen, and Love
Amaya smiled as she heard a pair of shinobi say the word green and start laughing. Her plan was working. Her smile broadened; it'd only been two days. No one cared about a princess now that the renowned Sharingan Warrior was sporting a new hair color.
Today was Friday, the day of her interrogation. She wasn't excited but wasn't scared either. She was in good hands with Inoichi-san. Her thoughts turned to the looming weekend. That she was scared of. The tangle of emotions coiled in her mind was still there. She hadn't taken, hadn't wanted to take, the time to unravel them. She knew she'd hear Genma out; she owed him that much. But what came after…. She shook her head.
She had more important things to worry about at the moment. Like how she'd keep her interrogator from learning certain information. Information about Itachi, for instance, that she really shouldn't have known at all. But fate was fickle and her luck was good. She chided herself for even thinking about it. How was she supposed to keep someone from her memories if they were fresh on her mind? And then there was the other thing that was, perhaps, even more worth guarding….
No. She had to stop. Drawing a deep breath, Amaya slowed her pace, concentrating on creating a mental block around the secrets she kept, letting her body move on auto-pilot, trusting her reflexes to keep her safe. The neat parcel of memories she embedded with other memories, taking the information as deep as she dared, until it came to rest in the coordinates from one of her last missions before leaving. She didn't know if her trick would fool Inoichi, but she had to try. Returning her full awareness to her surroundings, the Jonin discovered she'd reached her destination.
Entering the Konoha Intelligence Division Headquarters, a nondescript building near the Academy, Amaya found Inoichi waiting for her. His long, blond hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. She noticed he still wore a red haori over his flak jacket and dark outfit. Metal guards glinted on the backs of his hands. A smile spread across his face, lighting up his blue-green eyes. "It's good to see you again, Amaya."
She smiled back. "It's good to see you too, Inoichi-san."
The Jonin motioned for her to follow and he led her further into the building. "So what's it been? Eight years?"
"Yes," she said as they stepped into a room that held only a single chair. "I've done a lot of traveling."
"Well, no need to tell me. I'll be seeing it all here shortly. I've been asked to not only make sure you didn't break your vows to the village but to also perform a psychiatric exam as well."
Amaya sat in the chair, ignoring the apprehension gnawing at her. "Let's just get this over with quickly."
Inoichi smiled and then circled the chair so he stood behind her. A few hand signs later, he laid his hand on her head and she drifted off to sleep.
The blond Jonin opened his eyes to find an expanse of blue-green water stretching to every side. Amaya's memories had been clear, so he'd gone on to the psych exam. Sunshine and a cloudless sky surrounded him. Salty wind whipped at his face as he stood on the prow of a sailing ship. Water lapped lazily against the sides of the stationary vessel. To his left, storm clouds rumbled in the distance but posed no real threat at the moment.
Iniochi was amazed. The last time he'd seen this place, seen into Amaya's mind, the sky had been dark with swollen rain clouds. Fierce wind drove the rain and whipped up the sea into massive waves. The ship had capsized. Lighting had ripped through the clouds. To see the changes, to see how much she'd taken control, deeply impressed the Jonin.
But he had to go deeper.
Unlocking her apartment, Amaya almost missed the note that had been slid under the door. She picked it up but threw it on the coffee table before collapsing on the couch. Dreamless sleep slowly drew her in as she closed her eyes. Keeping Inoichi from discovering the secrets she guarded had drained the reserves of chakra she stored in her tattoos. The ink was a special blend of dye and chakra that allowed her to funnel energy into the designs. She'd done just that for eight years and had amassed nearly ten times the normal amount of chakra she could produce.
It was all gone, along with a sizable portion of what she produced normally, enough so that she had fought to not go to sleep on the walk home. Every drop went into shielding her memories from her interrogator. She was glad her plan had worked; Inoichi was none the wiser to her secrets. No one else could know, not until it was time.
Inoichi bowed to the Hokage. "Here to report on Amaya Kato's evaluation, Lord Hokage."
Hiruzen stood staring out the window, his hands clasped behind his back. "And your findings?"
"She didn't break the vows she made and remained faithful to the village. Her evaluation showed that her mental state is stable enough for active duty. But she's hiding something."
"You don't know what it is?"
"No, Hokage-sama. I couldn't sense exactly what it was. She used massive amounts of chakra to hide it, but I do know that it has nothing to do with the village. I believe it was a personal secret she simply felt I didn't need to know. I can call her back if you'd rather I be sure."
The Sandaime gazed thoughtfully out the window. "No, I don't believe that will be necessary. Everyone has the right to a few secrets."
A fierce growling woke Amaya. She was up, a kunai in her hand, ready to defend herself, until she realized the sound came from her stomach. Shaking her head at her foolishness while relieved her reflexes were still so sharp, the Jonin returned the kunai to where it had rested on the coffee table. The unread note snagged her attention, so she unfolded the paper, briefly wondering why notes had become the way to communicate.
Amaya,
Let's meet Sunday at noon in the usual place. Come hungry.
Forever Yours,
Genma
The auburn-haired shinobi sighed. He was nothing if not determined. She glanced at the wall clock; she'd slept straight into Saturday afternoon. Well, today was as good as any to sort through the tangle of emotions still coiled in her mind. Her stomach gave another demanding growl, so she decided to bend to its will. Rummaging through her cabinets and fridge, she found nothing appetizing, but the Jonin found a coupon to Ichiraku that Naruto had given her. It expired today.
Her stomach rumbled, apparently choosing for her. Shrugging, she left, enjoying the walk through the warm afternoon sun. A familiar red dress caught her eye as she neared the ramen stand. "Sakura? I thought you said you were on a diet."
The girl didn't look up from her bowl as the Jonin sat beside her and ordered. Her voice was monotone as she poked at her barely-touched meal. "I quit."
Amaya cast a side-long glance at her student. Something else was bothering the girl. "Why?"
Sakura shrugged. "No reason. I just decided I didn't need to."
"I'm glad to hear that. You're too young to be worrying about that. Besides, you're a ninja. We don't gain weight unless we want to. We work our bodies too hard."
"Yeah, you're right."
Amaya remained silent for a moment. "So then what's eating at you? Don't give me that look. If I can read Kakashi, I can read you."
"It's Sasuke-kun."
The tattooed Jonin's food arrived, so Sakura's sentence hung in the air while the Jonin finished her meal. When she noticed Sakura still hadn't eaten, Amaya paid for them both and had the young Genin follow her as they strolled through Konoha. "So, what about Sasuke?"
"Do you…think he likes me? I mean, he's so distant all the time, but you can read him, can't you?"
"Sasuke is...focused. And not on girls." Sakura's shoulders slumped. Amaya laid a hand on her shoulder. "But I know you're important to him."
"But he doesn't like like me."
"Not in the way you want. I'm sorry. But wouldn't you rather date someone who likes you back, who'd be more willing to pay attention to you, more willing to voice their feelings?"
"Are you talking about that vision you showed me? I still haven't met him yet."
The auburn-haired Jonin sighed. Steering Sakura to the river, she sat them both on the dock. "You can't expect life to become a fairy tale overnight. Things just don't work like that. Be patient. You're young. You have plenty of time for romance."
"Have you ever liked someone who didn't like you back, sensei"
"No, but I've liked someone very much like Sasuke."
The Genin held her tongue, even though she was pretty sure she knew who her sensei was referring to. "I'm guessing it didn't end well?"
"No, not really. Neither of us were really ready for a real relationship and I was six years older than you."
Sakura stared down at the water as it lazily flowed beneath her feet. "Do you like anyone now?"
Amaya hesitated, but there wasn't that teasing, girlish tone in her student's words that meant she'd go gossiping about all this. So the Jonin told the truth. "Yes. Two someones really. One cares about me, but I'm not sure whether it's directed at the old me he remembers or at the new me he barely knows. The other…. I never thought of him as anything more than a friend before, but I think maybe we could work if I gave it a shot."
"Do you really think I should give up on Sasuke?" The pink-haired Genin played with one of the metal, weighted training bands Amaya had given her, making the band glint in the setting sun. The Jonin was pleased she was still using them.
"Yes, I do. I'm not sure he's ever going to live up to what you want and that's just going to lead to resentment. The person you choose to love should treat you as an equal. You should be comfortable with them but also leave yourself room to grow. I'm not the same person I was when I had my first serious relationship, and I left the village partly because I didn't have the room to take care of myself the way I needed to because of that relationship." Amaya stopped and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Hopefully, that all made sense. I sort of rambled a bit there. Apparently I'm sorting out my own feelings a little too."
"It's okay, sensei. Listening to you really puts things in perspective for me."
"I'm glad I could help. Trust me, there's no use in mooning after someone who will never care about you the way you want."
Sakura said she'd remember their conversation and left for home as the sun sank beneath the horizon. As Amaya walked back to her apartment, hands in her pockets, she realized that she might actually be looking forward to her meeting with Genma.
