This is what you've waited so (coughs) patiently for... THE FINAL INSTALLMENT OF THIS STORY!!!

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Sound Ninja Aren't All Bad… Are They?

Chapter 5

Toshi woke because of the light streaming in through her window. She grabbed one of her pillows and placed it on the back of her head, planting her face on the other pillow. Realizing that she could not go back to sleep, she tossed her pillows aside and swung her legs over the side of the side of the bed. The bandages on her arms were fresh, meaning that she had been treated before being taken home. But when? How? She wasn't even aware of telling any of the Konoha shinobi where she lived, let alone any that she had already met.

Toshi rubbed the sleep from her eyes and quickly got dressed. She had just attached her weapons pouch to her right thigh and was preparing to go down for her shoes when she heard a noise outside the window. She opened the window, leaned out, and cam face to face with none other than Uzumaki Naruto.

"Toshi-neechan, remember you promised you would take me out for ramen, dattebayo," he said, frowning.

"Didn't I tell you not to call me 'neechan'? Oh, well, I guess I still have to take you out for ramen, don't I?" Toshi mumbled. "Just wait for me outside the door to this building." Like a normal person, she added silently. She closed the window and, grabbing her money pouch, she trudged to the ground floor of the apartment complex, only pausing to pull her shoes on, and out the door. She left her hair in the messy state it had been in when she woke.

Naruto led Toshi to a ramen bar called Ichiraku. While he made his determined order, Toshi took in the village scene. It was much bigger than the Sound, and there were many more people. She was so enthralled with observing the village that she didn't even notice that Naruto had ordered for her until the old man behind the counter set a bowl down in front of her. Toshi almost laughed out loud when she saw that Naruto had ordered naruto on her ramen. Noticing the same thing on Naruto's ramen, she asked, "Shouldn't this be considered cannibalism? After all, Naruto is eating naruto."

Naruto stopped eating and looked at Toshi, obviously not getting the joke.

Toshi grinned at Naruto, and then burst out laughing at his shocked expression. The two people behind the counter laughed as well, leaving Naruto even more confused.

Over the course of the next month, Toshi and Naruto would meet between missions and eat ramen, taking turns paying for the meals. One night, Naruto asked Toshi why she was so distant most of the time.

"The other shinobi don't trust me," she answered, looking glumly at her bowl of ramen.

"Why, Toshi-neechan?" Naruto asked, his eyes shining with innocence.

"Because they have no reason to," Toshi said before going on. "According to Tsunade, my mental state is extremely delicate. I could fall into a relapse given the right stimuli, and the medical ninja still haven't figured out what that is. When she was testing my abilities, just a genjutsu sent me into shock, and I collapsed. The next time I have a relapse, it could be worse. I might hurt someone, or maybe kill them." Toshi avoided Naruto's gaze.

"I trust you, Toshi-neechan," Naruto said quietly.

Toshi jumped out of her stool at the ramen bar. "You idiot!" she yelled, slapping Naruto across the face. "Didn't you hear anything I just said? I could kill you without even realizing it, and I'm sure that no one wants that!" Toshi's eyes filled with tears as she ran to the outskirts of the village. Naruto found her the next day in a tree, her left leg hanging down. Noticing the young genin, Toshi threw a heavy branch at him, yelling "Go away!" She stayed in the tree for three days without eating or sleeping.

Finally, a group of medical ninja retrieved the sleep-deprived jounin from her perch. Dark circles had formed under her eyes, which darted angrily back and forth and were gradually fading. Toshi yelled and swore and fought the medical ninja to no avail. One of the medical ninja pulled out a syringe filled with a strong sedative and pushed the needle into the back of her neck, causing almost instant unconsciousness for easy removal to the hospital.

Naruto learned from Sakura that Toshi had had a relapse of a more severe kind. If she hadn't run off like she did, then Naruto would probably be dead. Of course, Naruto didn't hold this against her, but pitied her.

Toshi was kept away from Naruto for a long time. The medical ninja still couldn't figure out what stimulus it was that caused her relapse, though. She had several in her absence from Naruto. But when the medical ninja finally cleared her to be able to see Naruto again, she was saying goodbye. While Naruto was gone, Toshi grew colder and colder to those around her. After finding out that there was a criminal organization and where it was from a knowing villager, she looked for an opening to leave Konoha. She found her opportunity some time between Naruto's departure and his return while she was on a solo mission. Making sure that she had all of her Sound equipment, including the hitae-ate and her flute, she removed her Leaf forehead protector. Taking a kunai in her hand, she sliced open a deep gash in her left palm. She grasped her Konoha hitae-ate in that hand and held it tightly until a good deal of blood had soaked into the fabric. She walked on the river she was following until she found a clearing. She threw her blood-soaked forehead protector as hard as she could, then cleaned and bandaged her left palm. She traveled down the river into the River Country.

Epilogue

When Naruto returned from his training with Jiraiya two and a half years after his departure, he was informed of Toshi's death, and that they had never found her body. The only trace of her existence left was a Leaf hitae-ate soaked with her blood. Most remembered the circumstances of Toshi's arrival and suspected that the tracking ninja had finally bested her. A few suspected suicide, but they were wrong too. None would ever imagine the deep blue eyes glowing in the darkness of a cave, belonging to a person wearing a hitae-ate with a music note and a single slash, a black coat with red clouds on it, and a ring reading "lullaby"…

End of Story, "Sound Ninja Aren't All Bad… Are They?"

Now go and start reading the RP, because you get to see Toshi in it, as well as her teammate whom she loathes with a passion.

This has been Author Ayumi Ishii, signing out…