Chapter 6 - Cat (Neko)
Like my brother, I was a master of trickery.
Although I didn't know it at the time, Toshi was a great liar. He had to be, if he was able to make me believe that he was the big brother that would do no wrong, especially when it was the complete opposite. I only found out about the real Toshi years after his death. That was when I learned about those skeletons that he kept hidden from his nearly everyone who knew him, like his best friend that was seven years his junior and the teammate that he treated like a little sister – Minato and Kushina respectively.
It explained why I could trick other people so well. It was something that ran in the family.
And so, pretending I was some orphan child, entering the Land of Earth with my newfound sister, was easy as cake. The emotions I felt after losing my loved ones wasn't hard to replicate for artificial usage. Thanks, Toshi. Thanks, Father. I genuinely didn't know that anguish could lead to the best performance I ever gave. But then again, the best lies have their root in truth.
My partner and I entered Iwagakure as beggar siblings. Wearing baggy and torn pieces of clothing, walking bare feet and rubbing soil onto our faces, we did all we could to look the part. That and resisting the urge to wash ourselves ever since the mission's start... The acting part sorted itself out. All I had to do was to think about Mother dying, or Father's corpse being taken away or Father burning Toshi... and the tears broke out like a flood. Although it wasn't that difficult, my tear duct was sacrificed for this mission. It must have exploded.
"Nee-san, I'm hungry." I sobbed like a helpless little boy who was lost and threw myself into my sister's arms to hide away from the gathering crowd's curious stares. Just like I planned, the crowd bought my act. All of that rattle was worth it, because seriously, I was so 'out of character' it wasn't even funny. I'd never be shy back home!
Well, I wasn't that hungry, but food and I have always been best friends. I couldn't live without food and I was always up for it, so the act I put on was even more convincing. Catching on quickly, my partner consoled her little brother with a weak smile. Through my greasy fringe, I spotted her eyes. They were dark chocolate that contained flecks of hazelnut. As I gazed into those eyes, I found something that I thought I would never find in her: gentleness. She looked around and opened her mouth to beg to the general public in the way we had rehearsed.
"Ladies and gentlemen, could you please spare us some change?" she humbly asked. It was funny how people believed we were siblings. We didn't have much in common apart from our black hair! Even then, mine was curly and hers was straight.
She continued to stroke my back, soothing my hasty breaths, and giving me another faint smile. I had to say that I really enjoyed it. I hadn't cried for ages and it was a pretty good excuse to let myself loose. Back at home, I couldn't and mustn't shed a tear. Mother would worry and the clan would look down at me and call me a sissy or a weakling. It was also good that someone was giving me a hug. I needed one.
"My brother and I haven't eaten for three days." That was a complete and utter lie. We had eaten only two hours earlier, before we passed the border between the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire. If I thought I was a good actor, she would have won an award for that. She was breaking into tears, too.
Even though it was all an act, I felt truly safe. She kept me in her loving embrace and returned people's kindness with the best smile she could offer. Some people walked away when they got bored of our act; others charitably put a few coins into the prop which we found in the landfill nearby. The prop was an almost-broken mug, complete with coffee-stains and its own personal stench from where we had found it.
As always, there were the kind-hearted and cold-hearted people. If there was no black, there would be no white. To make our entrance to the country convincing, we begged our way through the streets of the village for the whole day, giving me the opportunity to memorise the landscape while she was gathering information about the village, asking around as a newcomer to the country. Fellow beggars were the best resource for information; the Land of Earth even had a union for homeless people.
In this country, beggars were respected. They gathered and identified themselves as the Guild for Poor Men. The reason was that because these men were a powerful force that defended the village when it fell under attack. Like in the First War, for example, I had heard from Father that the Poor Men were the Earth's ultimate defence when ninety percent of its shinobi were out of the country fighting. To the common folk, they were indeed very skillful fighters. They learned how to fight after learning how to defend themselves from the ravenous dogs that always barked at them.
Most beggars had sticks to lean on to help them walk, and so a branch of martial arts that was now called Cane Combat came along. They would use their canes to lock up the joints of any parts of their opponent's body, making the opponent unable to resist. The principle of the attack was similar to the Hyūga's Jūken (Gentle Fist). And, of course, the most deadly hound of all breeds was human enemy. These beggars were frighteningly good at Taijutsu. On top of that, their spy network spread wide and provided a wealth of information.
The sun was just taking its rest behind the rocky mountains, signifying the end of the day. Dark clouds were shading the sky above and it would seem that a storm was coming. When merchants were packing away their tent stalls, a well-groomed elder man approached us.
"Children, it's going to snow tonight", the old man warned us, knowing that we had just entered the country. If I had counted right, we toured around the town five times that day. No wonder he remembered us... "Iwa is a valley village. It gets unbearably cold in winter."
When I looked up, I saw compassion in his eyes. He smiled and handed over two woolly blankets. I stared at the blankets, bewildered at his kindness.
"I sell these. Have it on me." He pointed to a narrow back lane. "There's a storage room that I own. I keep my products there. It's empty now, because they usually become sold out when weather like this comes to our village."
To me, it was bitterly cold. As I wasn't wearing any shoes, the chill went straight up my spine and spread throughout my body. The Land of Fire was a warmer country than the others were and coming from an average ten-degree winter in Konoha to a minus ten degree winter in Iwa was quite the surprise.
"You'll be safe in there. I'm happy to let you in until it goes away."
We stood at the same spot. We didn't expect to be treated so nicely. Suddenly, I let out a sneeze, but I wasn't even trying to act that time. Come to think of it, from time to time throughout the day, I had broken into a coughing fit. I was sure now that I had caught a cold.
He worriedly stared at us two. "Young lady, get your little brother inside quickly." I presumed I must have looked terrible.
"Thank you very much, sir." She recovered from the surprise before me. "Hey, Fukurō." She tapped my shoulder lightly when I was sniffing and dripping into her scruffily backcombed hair. "Say 'thank you'."
It took me a few seconds to remember that I was Fukurō.* Facing the old man, I bowed and gave the man a hasty thank-you; after that, he went home with a big smile knowing that he did a good deed.
The other beggars had looked out for us and shared the food that they earned; the old man had taken pity on us, and gave us clothing and a shelter to stay during the blizzard.
All because we were children.
Okay, in all fairness, we did look like two miserable children, but I couldn't help but begin to feel guilty about what I was actually doing to their country. Why must I do this? Why did I have to betray the trust of these people and be the reason their homeland would become a battlefield? Why couldn't we find another way to resolve all our conflicts in this disgusting war?
I didn't know back then. I still don't know.
We found the place immediately after he left. In Iwa, the majority of the buildings were made of stone and we were in one of the older ones, as well. Just as the old man had described, it was a storage room built of rocks. There was a door, and that was it. There was no light so we couldn't see very well. As it was in pure darkness, we didn't know there were a few steps into the basement. When I realised that my partner was about to fall down the stone staircase, I instinctively pulled her into my right arm and gripped onto the nearest stone wall with chakra. We both quickly regained our footing. In our alarmed state of mind, we slowly teetered our way into the chamber.
We walked around in each other's arms, just in case there were some horrific things around, like a mob of gigantic spiders. The Land of Earth was a country which was known for its abnormally big insects and arachnids. I kept searching the room with my right hand roaming my surroundings. Ouch. I just got a splinter in my finger. Even with that, I still trudged through the darkness.
At long last, I found a wooden torch discarded in the blackout. To light up the torch, I had to let go of my partner. She whimpered. It would seem that my intrepid nee-san was scared of being in the dark. Making a few hand signs, I sparked up the torch and lit up the dark room.
The room itself was very primitive. There was a fire ring the middle of the room and a torch hanger by the stairs, but the rest of the room was empty. Good.At least, there weren't any spiders around. After starting the fire ring with the torch, I put it on the hanger. I walked back to her and stood in front of her, gave her a reassuring smile, and she heaved a relieved sigh. Then...
"ACHOO!"
I had to ruin my heroic moment by sneezing into her hair.
I was shorter than her for almost a whole head and that cluster of white mucus that I had shot from my nose fell onto her hair. My eyes widened at the sight. Rolling her eyes, she walked away before I could mutter an apology. I stood still, feeling embarrassed for a few seconds before unpacking my own belongings.
We got on with our own separate tasks. She proceeded to write up the Intel while I drew a map of Iwagakure. After about an hour or so, we took a break to eat some rice balls that we received earlier in the day for dinner.
The atmosphere between us was unbelievably awkward now that we were alone together, especially since I had just sneezed on her. I couldn't blame her for being angry with me.
To break the tension, I tried to start a conversation.
"So, seriously, what's your name?" I asked the girl who was supposed - no - who was my older sister.
She turned her head and glared at me. She was my partner for this mission, so I thought at least I deserved to know what her name was. Nope. Apparently, that was not necessary. She knew I was Uchiha Shisui and I had no clue about who she really was, at all.
"Neko."**
She threw a scroll at me. It would seem that she had finished writing up the Intel. It was up to me to finalise the map before we returned to our commander, Shimura Danzō. Shaking a bottle of dry shampoo, she sprayed the powder on her hair and untangled the mess she made of herself. She went to wipe off the dirt on her face with cleaning tissue.
"Neko", she repeated plainly. She didn't bother to even look at me this time.
"No. I mean your real name, not your code name." Members of Root were raised to have no emotion. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to act her part in this mission. Danzō must have known about that little fact before assigning her to the mission.
"Shinobi that belong to Root do not have names."
It would seem my first hypothesis was wrong. She was a Root ANBU. I thought she was just another elite child weapon who just happened to be enlisted.
"I am as my mask suggests." There was an unexpected pause, but afterwards, she said, "Neko." But her voice cheated her. She might have wanted to sound detached and impassive about it. She was hurt.
No one wanted to be nobody if they could.
"You weren't raised in Root." I said confidently. She couldn't have been. "I saw that look in your eyes. It was the same as my brother's." She stopped in the middle of changing into her shinobi attire.
Her eyes dimmed after taking another look at me. I looked right back at her. She gave in. I was a very persuasive person, after all.
"I had a brother. He'd be as old as you now."
So, I reminded her of her younger brother. Although she was answering my questions, I could hear the unwillingness to bring up her past from her stale tone.
"What happened?"
My face was calm. I had learned with Tomoko that talking it out was a good way to deal with problems. I was trying to help her, since her shoulder had been my pillow for crying throughout the whole day. It was an act, but she must have found out by now that I was using the opportunity to cry like crazy. She didn't seem to mind, though. Now, it was her turn. I had to return the favor.
"War."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be." She was a tough kunoichi, and I could tell she would rather keep it that way. Continuing to change, she turned to face the wall again to take her pants off when I had walked away to send off the Intel. "Uchiha Toshi died the same way."
"If you know mine, why don't I get to know your real name?" Since she mentioned Toshi, I could safely assume that she knew my name.
"Because I'm a member of Root. I have no name", she shouted with much frustration behind her voice.
So that was her resolution. She made the decision to put her past behind her. I knew it. She hated being who she was. "And you're Sh - Fukurō."
That was my code name. Since I was an owl summoner, I was known as "Fukurō" during my time in the Child Division. There were parents who would name their children after animal names. Neko and Fukurō were actual given names, just like Itachi.***
I laughed, because I knew she was about to call me by my real name. "Say that again?" I smirked a little, confident that I had just proven my point.
"Fukurō."
"My real name? Say it."
I might have been a bit pushy, but I liked my name. With it, I felt a close connection to my family. Everyone's name in my family meant something relating to reflection. Father's name was Kagami, meaning mirror; Mother's, Kyōko, which is another name meaning mirror; Niisan's, Toshi, meaning mirror image; mine, Shisui, means still water on a pond surface, which is pretty much an elaborate phrase to describe a mirror.
"Fukurō." For professional reasons, she would not say it.
"Fine, Neko."
If that was what she wanted, I would respect that.
"Can you turn away?" She shot me a cold and threatening glare.
I was dumfounded, oblivious as to what that could have been about. I was looking at her because we were talking and I was always told that it was rude to disengage eye contact during a conversation. While I was waiting for her explanation, I kept staring at her face, not knowing what she meant.
During this long pause, I noticed that her facial features were generally petite, but well-defined. Apart from her eyes, they were quite large and alluring and her black, naturally straight hair grew down to just below her shoulder. I could easily conclude that she was one of the prettier girls that I had seen.
Sadly, we were on totally different wavelengths. After some time, she finally appeased me. And I was grateful; I was really getting impatient waiting.
"I need to take my top off." With only a t-shirt on, she had her arms crossed, shielding the developing buds that protruded from her chest. "Turn around, now." She fetched a kunai from her tool bag and took it in her hand. The implied threat lingered in the air: she was fully prepared to throw it at me if I turned around.
I did turn around, of course.
I didn't want to die so soon. The prospect of dying as a boy, at the hands of his partner for simply "peeking" at her while she was changing, before I could experience puberty and adulthood didn't sound good to me. But luckily, I didn't "peek", I "looked". Peeking has a different connotation; it means that I was looking at her secretly. However, I was standing and looking at her while she was right in front of me. There was no need for hiding. I honorably believed in what I thought. I was being polite and so I looked at her when we spoke, but my intention was misinterpreted.
We spent the rest of night in silence. She took the right corner and I took the left corner. We set our sleeping bags as far apart from each other as possible in the small room. We needed to regain our strength for the attack that would be staged two days from now. We went to bed early and we kept the fire burning to keep the room warm enough to sleep.
That was totally not what I had in mind. I wasn't interested in that back then. My playboy tendencies didn't surface until I reached my teenage years. With that being said, I could swear that I saw a glowing blush on your face, my love. What the hell were you thinking? I was barely ten and you were only twelve.
Info for Readers:
*Owl
**Cat
***Weasel
Kagami (カガミ, which takes the same pronounciation of the kanji 鏡) - meaning "mirror"
Kyōko (鏡子) - meaning "mirror child"
Toshi (トシ, which takes the same pronounciation of the kanji 利) - meaning "mirror image"
Shisui (シスイ) - Shisui's name has two interpretable meanings. Combining the words Shi (死, Death) and Sui (水,Water), Shisui would mean "death water", which is a reference to his death by drowning. "Shisui" (止水) alone means "still water" or "stagnant water", in which a smooth surface of water reflects images.
