Chapter 2. Identity

I woke up with a start, my heart racing. At my first memories of the previous days, I thought it had all been a dream, or a nightmare more like it. I looked around and saw a vaguely familiar place. The more I had thought, the more it looked like the infirmary. Then I looked down to my inner left elbow, and an IV was firmly resting there. Two in fact, one with whatever clear fluids the nurse put in there, and one with blood.

"Annakaara," a soft voice called out. I glanced over to where I had believed the voice came from. A nurse was standing a little ways from the door. She looked at me with kind eyes. "Annakaara, you're okay now. A young man saw you and brought you here as soon as he saw you lying unconscious."

"A young man…" I thought aloud. I remembered the conversation I overheard, the one with Iraki and the other guy. I began to get suspicious of who it was. The voice was really familiar, and it bothered me that I couldn't remember it right off the top of my head. "Do you know who it was, by any chance?"

"I can't remember exactly, but I think it was some Nara," she replied.

"Tsoni!" That's who it had been. Tsoni Nara, he was Shikamaru's cousin. He was always there for me. We would always ditch class and go to the meadow. We had the best of times. He always had my back, and was my only true friend. He's really nice. I've always had a crush on him in the academy. He's really smart too; he's good at math, and with battle strategies. I'm not near as smart as he is, it's a wonder how I even graduated the academy early. I never doubted he would, but I guess I had enough street smarts. I was really excited when they announced our squads. Squad thirteen consisted of Shikaku sensei, which happened to be Tsoni's uncle, Mennoah Akimichi, Tsoni Nara, and myself, Annakaara Uchiha.

The nurse spoke again, bringing me away from the past. "Yes, it was Tsoni, I remember now. He couldn't tell who you were, we asked and he just shrugged. You were unrecognizable; your face was completely mutilated, from all the blood torn flesh. It was quite a sight."

That day passed with not much happening. I was fine, had no visitors, why would I, and nothing out of the ordinary happened. They had released me the next day, with orders to speak with the Hokage, so I did what they told. Before I did that I went to a hotel in the middle of the village and got a room for the night. I got some supplies that I knew I would need: food, clothes, etc. I made my way to the Hokage's office, knowing I was in trouble. I knocked on the door.

"Come in," said the Third Hokage, so I followed his order. "Ah, Miss Uchiha," he stated calmly, "welcome back."

I bowed in respect. "Thank you, Hokage." My stomach dropped. I thought I might be sent to jail for my actions. Treason of the Village, leaving the Village without permission, faking my death, the list seems to be infinite of reasons I would be faced with a judge. The Hokage had a content grin on his face; he didn't look this least bit mad or upset. This scared me. I waited for the look to turn into anger, but it never happened. I started to get anxious, so I just jumped right into it. "I take for responsibility for all of my actions. I am a disgrace to the village. I'm sorry."

Then the old man just looked at me. I was starting to get impatient when he began to speak again. "It is not your fault, Miss Uchiha. I understand, although the Village may not. You may now be an outcast, which is why now that you have returned, I would like for you to keep your identity a secret for as long as possible, unless it is absolutely necessary." He gave me a sly wink. "Now, I'm assuming you still want to be a shinobi. So if you will just fill out this paper work." He pulled out papers from a file, which I then proceeded to fill out. Great, I thought, still a chunin. Oh well, I can't expect to be a higher rank than before, especially right after going AWOL."However, if you betray Konoha again, there will be consequences. I'm going to have the Anbu Black Ops keep an eye on you until I think the time is right. You may go now. Thank you."

I looked at him for a few seconds before backing up, and then I clumsily backed into the door. I'm quite a klutz, always have been. The Hokage laughed and I laughed with him, a little embarrassed. I then walked out and went back to my hotel. I put on my new gear that I got, the pants, the underlying mesh shirt, my actual shirt, my vest, and then I wrapped the remainder of my right arm with a bandage, like I've always done. I took a quick look in the mirror. I looked rough. It was the first time I've seen myself in around 2 years, and it wasn't a pretty sight. My hair was tangled and partially matted, so I started to brush it. The long black strands reached a little above my rear. It still had strands of blue in it, just like I remembered. My bangs lay lifeless on my forehead. I thought about what my face would look like, and began to get scared. I took a peak at it and was surprised at the results of the days past. I ran my fingers in the new gaps along my face. Just as I had thought, there were two deep scars from where I'd been slashed by Orochimaru's and Kabuto's kunai. One was on the left side of my face, running down from the bridge of my nose to my jaw line; the other on the left going jaggedly right above my jaw.

I wrapped my kunai holster on my left thigh. From what I know, I'm one of the only left-handed ninja in Konoha. It has its perks, and then again it doesn't. Almost no one can transform into me because, if anyone paid enough attention to me, they would see the holster on my left thigh, and usually the person who has tried to transform into was had it on their right, signifying that they were right-handed. Although, I have the same issue transforming into a righty, but usually I just switch the side the holster is on.

I pulled up my mask up to my nose for two reasons, neither of them bothered me. For one, I want to conceal my identity, like the Hokage said, and I also just want to hide my face. If no one sees my face, no one can see the hideous past I continue to stow away. No one knows who I am, and I intend to keep it that way.

Defense before offense Annakaara, defense, then offense. The man swung a fist at me, and I grabbed his hand just before it could hit my gut. The jonin were training in the training hall and didn't want to let me in, but I went in anyway. "We don't want you to get hurt," they'd taunt. I don't care. I've always been the underdog, and it's really amusing. The best part, is when the witnesses think you're about to break down and fail everything, and you give them the surprise of their lives, and pull through and impress everyone.

I continued to spar against the jonin. It's only a taijutsu match, with no weapons. Never said you can't fool with chakra, so I focused some to the palm of my hand and struck it to his gut. He dodged it just in time and then grabbed my hand, twisted it around so it was almost to my head, and pinned me on the ground. Everyone in the hall was staring. Now it's my time to shine. I twisted out from under him, let the chakra retract back in my body, and stood up. I gave him a few seconds to get up, and then I charged at him. He did likewise.

We both exchanged punches and kicks, and we both dodged. His speed was gaining and so I backed away and kicked off my shoes. I'm faster than I ever was. Ever since my training with Orochimaru, I've had speed that I didn't even think was possible to achieve. My shoes have weights built in to them, as to slow me down with them on, but when I kick them off, the beast is unleashed. My speed is now five times greater than his. I did what I had done before with my chakra, and sent it to my palm. As we got near I swerved around him to catch him off his guard, and punched him in the back.

He fell face first to the ground, and the room went into a lull. I can feel everyone's eyes piercing my back, which is facing towards them. I slowly turned around and the shinobi surrounding me, that were indeed staring at me, hesitantly started clapping. Some even began cheering. I looked over at the one who made fun of me, and he stared at the man lying motionless on the floor. He didn't dare look at me in the eye, which I think is pretty hilarious. Then he ran outside, and I put my shoes back on then followed him out. He was jumping the rooftops and looked like he was headed towards the Hokage's office. I bet he was just an undercover Anbu. What did I do wrong this time?

I left the training hall and went back to the hotel. It's dark outside now, so I decided I would get a shower. I like the water cold, not freezing, but not warm either. The shower felt really nice, but the water stung my face, I'm guessing because the wounds. Despite the ironic burning of the cold water, I washed my hair, then my body. I didn't stay in the shower long, only for about ten minutes, because it takes a while to wash all my hair.

I got out, dried off the best I could, because again, my hair is so thick and long, put on my pajamas (which is nothing more than an extra uniform without the vest), and laid in bed. I laid there for a good while and began to get restless. I stood up and went over to the window. The night sky is so beautiful. Sometimes I find it hard to believe Sasuke, Itachi, and I are under the same sky. My mind started going back to the dark side, as I started to plot for revenge. I only ceased my plotting because I remembered that I told the Hokage I wouldn't. So, I lied down once more. I started to calm down after an hour or so, and then I stayed there motionless and thoughtless only for a short while. Then, without any warning, the wretched and cursed memories invaded my mind.