Night fell.

My room became dark; almost too dark to see five feet ahead of me. I hadn't moved in forever, or rather, what seemed like it. I was still sitting in my little corner of the world; right in front of my door. If I looked up, I could see that there was no moon out tonight; the proof of that was my view of the window. Clouds, thick and heavy, hid any form of light. It was dark, I was tired, and I didn't want to sleep. My body felt heavy. If I wanted to move, I couldn't even hope to at the moment. It was impossible; my body would not listen.

And so I continued to sit there, wondering what would happen to me. I was living Konoha now, and I would be going to school soon. Whenever soon was. I was hoping it was going to be a long time from now. No one really knew who I was. I was new here. I was an outsider, yet they greeted me so graciously. But if they knew me, certainly they would hate me. If they hated me, then I could only guess what kind of hell my life would be like then.

And then I began to panic.

I had never felt fear before. It crept upon me, slowly but surely; it was here now. What would I do? If I was asked where I was from, what would I say? What was my story? What did my life mean at all? Why was I here? Why? Where? How? So many questions swirling around in my head, and yet only one answer showed its ugly face: you're no one. You do not belong. You have no home. I slid my fingers into my hair and tugged hard, hissing at the pain. It would shut me up. It would quiet these thoughts. I sighed, letting go of my hair and dragging my hands down my face. Something cold touched my cheek, and looking down into my palm, I saw my key.

I stared at it for a long time, turning it about in my palm, this way and that, examining it closely. It was unscratched and new; silver and cold—foreign. I inhaled and exhaled loudly. Then again. And again.

And then I stood, my arm brushing up against a light switch in the process. A humble light flickered on over a small table ten paces away with two chairs sitting on either side. It was a welcome sight, however; what caught my attention was not the table, but the sliding glass door beyond the table. I walked over to it, taking one small step after another, very aware of my lack of balance. The world seemed to sit at an angle tonight.

I leaned against the glass for support, gripped the handle and pulled—the door didn't budge. I leaned down and checked the lock. It was unlocked, but it wouldn't move. Had it somehow been sealed? Of course it had! I was a prisoner, for God's sake, I couldn't be allowed even the simplest of freedoms. Even then, I still tried to open the door. I yanked and pulled until my hands were burning and aching and I finally went crashing into the table.

I screamed in frustration, lashing out against the table. Ever since I had allowed myself to be captured, I had been holding in everything I had felt since then. I had kept myself from letting my emotions take hold of me. There was no room in this life to let anger or sadness, or any other emotion for that matter, get the best of you. I glared down at the bracelet on my wrist. I cursed under my breath and kicked the chair, but it didn't budge.

Just like the door.

I growled under my breath and kicked the chair again. This time it went tumbling to the floor with a satisfying clatter and then crack. Shaking, I took a deep breath to steady myself. Was my lack of freedom worth losing control like this? I turned and looked at the door. Then strengthening my resolve, I picked up the fallen chair when I had risen to my feet, leveled it, and then swung it at the glass. The window shattered, spraying glass onto the balcony. With the only thing keeping me from going outside gone, I stepped through the gaping hole, ignoring the fact that I was barefoot.

Cool air whipped my hair about my face. I smiled to myself and spread my arms out, reveling in the feeling of the fresh air. The bottoms of my feet stung a little, but they were warm, so I didn't really care. I knew it could only be a matter of time before I was surrounded, restrained, and thrown back into a cell; probably for life this time. I walked forward a little more, and then sat down in the glass, not really caring that it dug into my skin. I couldn't really feel it anyway.

I closed my eyes and began humming under my breath.

"That's a interesting song."

I didn't respond and just kept humming, ignoring the fact that I could feel the air throbbing around me. I closed my eyes tighter, hummed louder, and focused on the thunder in the distance. I didn't want to go yet. It was warm where I was sitting. It was peaceful. Why was it so difficult to get some peace in this damned village? Why couldn't I sit alone and sing without being watched and questioned?

"Naoko—"

"Do not speak!" I snapped, opening my eyes to glare at the boy standing to my left. He was staring at me, his eyes the saddest I'd seen them all day. I looked away and up at the sky, wishing for the rain to come before I was taken away. "I do not wish to listen."

They just kept coming.

No peace.

"You are in no place to make orders or have wishes, girl."

I could feel my heart twist painfully in my chest. Why was it painful now when it meant nothing before? "I have a name."

"You have a label," the man shouted. "Not a name!"

I pressed my hands against the ground, rubbing my fingers against the glass. I looked down at my hands and stared, mesmerized by the crimson pools that were rapidly getting bigger. It was warm. I did not want to move.

"Captain, she's bleeding," someone whispered.

"What was she thinking!"

They all fell silent when I looked up. I didn't know what they saw, but there was an expression that could be compared to horror on all of their faces. I turned and looked at Shisui. He was the exception. His expression was not horrified; just very sad. I don't know why, but it hurt to look at him more than it hurt to look at the others. And so I looked back down at the alarmingly large puddles of blood. I felt very light.

"I am no one," I whispered. "I have no home." I closed my eyes. "I am very tired."

I fell.