A/N: I missed it. I bloody missed it. I forgot about Sasori's birthday on the 8th November. So sorry, this is a belated birthday gift for Sasori.
The changes in the space were small, but to Tsuki who had honed her senses to their maximum capacity it was as easy as detecting an oncoming kunai.
How long had she been sitting there motionless? Three minutes, half an hour? Or has it been a few hours already? She didn't pay much attention to small details like that and continued her meditation.
Finally, she could feel it coming. Ten kilometers, five kilometers, two kilometers, one mile.
She concentrated, bead of sweat rolled down her cheeks. Five hundred meters… It's getting closer.
She braced herself for the shift of space for fear of missing her chance.
Hundred meters…
Fifty…
Ten…
Three…
It's here!
In a moment, just like a mirage Tsuki disappeared from the shinobi world.
Tsuki's POV
Landing on the rooftop of the highest building in the country, the breeze of wind swept over my face. The smell of the polluted air made me nauseated, for I am used to the clear air in the shinobi world.
I'm back.
It wasn't exciting, nor did I feel any feelings of nostalgia for this place. After all, I didn't have good memories of this shallow world.
First I would have to get rid of my cloak. It attracts way too much attention. Placing my cloak in my shinobi backpack, my sweatpants and simple tank top could now be seen.
With just a simple genjutsu spell, I now appear to have black hair with brown eyes to normal people. Even my markings could not be seen. This makes things a lot easier.
Glancing at the sun, it tells me that it's around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Good, I still have enough time for the day. It occurred to me that I didn't really inform my landlord when I disappeared – Not that I can, though. He probably rented out the room to someone else by now… It wouldn't be a problem if I camped around, but I don't have enough resources. Tokyo is such a polluted place where you can't see the stars.
With that, I took off, jumping from roof to roof.
Narrative
The world was complicated. Even though it remains unknown to the people of the surface world, there are still dangerous people who lurk underneath carrying out duties that seemed to be myths.
People believed that shinobis no longer exist. Why is that so? As the world grows more and more developed, people forget about their roots, as well as the reason for their existence. No one believes in shinobis or special powers anymore.
However, there are people who believe in them, people who had strange encounters before and people who just believe in the fantasy world.
Tsuki felt bad. Even though she was anti-social, she did have friends. A few close ones.
It had been sometime since she had left the surface world, and coming to think of it, she didn't contact her friends at all.
Would they be worried? Would they be sad that she disappeared? She wondered.
Beep, beep, beep
Taking out her phone, which is the only thing that belonged to the surface world that she had brought along with her to the shinobi world, she stared at the phone screen.
'Mm… The signal is back…' The phone was vibrating nonstop – She waited a while.
After thirty seconds, Tsuki checked her phone and saw that she had 46 miss calls and 133 messages. 'Oh boy…'
Scrolling through the recent messages one by one, her stomach dropped.
From: Mishin Yuki ..jp
Subject: Please come back!
Time: 4th August, 7.46pm
Message: Tsuki-chan, where are you? Miki and I are so worried, where exactly did you go?
From: Tashiro Miki nandemonai.jp
Subject: Hey!
Time: 4th August, 3.51pm
Message: Hey, you! What the hell are you trying to do! Don't just disappear like that! If you don't come back I'm going to kill you, asshole!
From: Mishin Yuki ..jp
Subject: Where are you?
Time: 3rd August, 6.18pm
Message: Tsuki-chan, I don't know where you went, but please come back soon! You must come back, okay? T-T Yuki misses you~~~
From: Tashiro Miki nandemonai.jp
Subject: (No subject)
Time:3rd August, 11.51am
Message: Hey! You've been gone for a month already! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO HUH! AT LEAST ANSWER US DAMN IT!
Checking to see the rest of the messages, most of it was from them and a few random people like the landlord, school, her part-time job employer and such. The miss calls were again, mostly from them mixed with a few random other numbers.
Miki and Yuki were her roommates whom she rented her apartment with, and her only friends. She felt seriously guilty towards them for doing something so irresponsible towards them – Though it was due to her being unable to contact them, it didn't ease her guilt for even a bit.
Tsuki decided that she has something to do before she can start looking for her sister.
"Hey…" The girl with ash-brown hair was sitting at her desk; playing with a little Netherland Dwarf rabbit that was trying to grab her finger.
"Yeah?" The younger woman turned around to face the speaker.
"So… Any news yet?" Miki asked, the rabbit stopped moving due to her sudden movement as she retracted her hand.
Yuki just looked down sadly, her hands stained with flour as she stayed quiet.
"Sigh… I thought s-" The twenty-two year old woman's speech was interrupted by the doorbell.
The two roommates looked at each other and shrugged, and Miki stood up from her place to open the door. The rabbit tried to follow his owner but didn't succeed due to being stuck on the table and not being able to get down.
The door swung open and the guest looked up.
"Miki," She shifted to get a look over the older woman's shoulder. "Yuki. Sorry, I'm back."
"Wha-" Even though she tried to speak, her body reacted first by pouncing on Tsuki. They were soon joined by a crying Yuki who still had flour on her hands from baking a cake.
"Uwah! Tsuki-chan!" Yuki was crying uncontrollably while Miki tried not to look happy by putting on an angry façade as she broke apart from Tsuki.
"Y-You! Where have you been for this past month! Do you know that you made us so worried?"
"… About that… Let me explain…"
"…"
"… So…"
"…"
Yuki and Miki looked at Tsuki with doubtful eyes, yet they knew that even though it seems unbelievable, Tsuki isn't one to lie about anything.
If there's anything, Tsuki is honest to the point of even being mean sometimes.
"So you couldn't contact us at all?" Yuki asked, taking a sip from her tea, still trying to digest the unbelievable story.
"Mm. I got all the messages and miss calls just today when I got back."
"… I know you don't lie… B-but it's still kind of unbelievable." Miki cocked her head to one side.
"I don't really care if you guys believe me or not, but I'm not lying. Also, I'll be returning to the shinobi world once I find my sister."
"… So you'll be leaving… Again?" Tears were brimming at Yuki's eyes again.
"Yeah… Well I just came to tell you guys not to worry and maybe make a proper farewell this time." The younger girl hugged her good friend and started crying again.
"Pft… For goodness sake Yuki, stop crying!" Miki exclaimed as she banged on the table.
"Sniff… Tsuki-chan, can you at least spend a week with us?"
"…" The crying girl looked too sincere to be rejected. "Sigh, that's fine…" She paused. "Though I don't have a place to live at the moment. Let me find a place before contacti-"
"What're you saying? Just live here." Miki looked annoyed as she announced, sitting down while drinking her cup of tea to cool herself down.
Tsuki smiled and uttered a thanks.
Three girls sat in a café with their desserts in front of them, half-melted.
Miki scooped up her ice cream with her dessert spoon, looked at it and dropped it back into the parfait cup.
She glanced at the clock on the wall: Two-seventeen.
"Neee. Tsuki-chan, are you really leaving?" Yuki asked childishly, pouting.
The older woman just smiled quietly and finished her macadamia nuts vanilla ice-cream.
"..." Yuki frowned at her as she stood up forcefully. "Ne~ Tsuki-chan, won't you come back anymore?"
"…Sorry, but no."
Yuki's long lashes fluttered as she closed her eyes sadly and sat down once again.
"…Maybe… I'm not promising anything, but… Maybe I will come back occasionally."
Miki looked up from her ice-cream.
Yuki looked ecstatic.
"…Well… That is… If I don't die."
Yuki was flabbergasted.
The spoon dropped back into the cup with a 'clank'.
"I don't think I explained enough, but… The average lifespan of shinobis is 32. Some older, some younger." She sighed and leaned back on the red booth couch while folding her arms. "I – I am an S-class criminal. Once we become criminals, especially Akatsuki – Which is the organization I'm in right now – Our chances of surviving any encounters, is 70%."
"No way…" Yuki enveloped Tsuki in a tight embrace while Miki remained quiet.
"So… Maybe this will be the last time that I'll see you guys."
A/N: I am so very sorry that this is so short, but l didn't really plan about these two characters at all. (They were not on my original script.) Then again, I changed the story here and there, and I realized this (deadly) plothole in my original one, so I had to insert them to correct it. Thanks and sorry again!