a/n okay, so it's been a while. SORRY!!! I haven't been in the mood-Naruto is more of a fall thing for me. actually every season but summer thing--but now I am in it, though I ca't guarantee it will last.
here's chapter five!
I've Got No Strings
Chapter Five--Poison
"Hina. Hina, wake up," a female voice whispered in my ear early in the morning. Slowly, my eyelids flickered open and I found myself staring into my older sister's dark eyes.
"Hey sleeping beauty," she greeted, smiling slightly. "Come get dressed. Breakfast will be served soon, and I'm hungry."
"Ugh," I grunted in response. Carelessly I threw the covers off of me and got to my feet. My backpack was sitting in the corner; I stumbled towards it and began rummaging around for my clothes. But they weren't there. Panicked, I instinctively began tearing the room apart. I needed my clothes! I couldn't just walk out there in my pajamas, and I most certainly couldn't travel in them!
"Hina. Hin-HINA!" Satoko half-shouted. I looked over my shoulder and saw her standing behind me, a blank expression on her face, my clothes folded neatly in her hands.
"How did you--?"
"Etsuyo-san washed them early this morning," Satoko interrupted, smiling kindly at me. "They're already dry, too. Here." And she deposited them into my outstretched hands.
"Arigato," I whispered as my older sister turned around, giving me as much privacy as she could so that I could change without getting to self-conscious.
After a few minutes Satoko glanced over her shoulder at me. "You ready?" she asked.
"Almost," I replied, smoothing down the front of my shirt. I bent down and reached into my bag for my forehead protector. Before I could even pull it all the way out though, Satoko stopped me.
"Don't put it on," she whispered, suddenly kneeling beside me.
"Nani?"
"Don't-put-it-on," Satoko repeated, burying it beneath some other junk in my pack. "Yoshi-sensei said not to. We told them we were from Gekkougakure yesterday, and who knows whether or not they know the signs of the villages. If they do, they'll know we've lied, and that wouldn't be good."
"Alright. But what if they saw it yesterday?" I inquired in a low voice, zipping my backpack closed.
Satoko shrugged. "Then we can tell them it was a mistake. It's easier to prove them wrong if they've only seen it once. Now come on. I think I hear dishes clattering."
Satoko pulled me to my feet and pulled me along after her as she moved down the hall where everyone else had already gathered for breakfast.
"Good morning Hina-san! Good to see you're up!" the old woman greeted. When she smiled her face was so filled with wrinkles it looked as if someone had crumpled it up as they would a piece of paper. "You two are just in time for breakfast. Please, come; sit down."
"Thank you, Etsuyo-san," Satoko politely said. "What did you make?"
"Apples with hot butter and cinnamon," the old lady replied. "Please; sit," she insisted. Satoko moved forward and took a seat on the empty couch. I awkwardly followed suit.
"Thank you for cleaning my clothes, Etsuyo-san," I squeaked, remembering my manners. "That was very kind of you."
"You are quite welcome. Now here. Eat up," Etsuyo said in her crackly voice. She handed first Satoko, and then Hina, a plate of breakfast.
It really does look appetizing, Hina said to herself, staring at the full plate. The apples were peeled and coated completely in butter and ground cinnamon. Etsuyo came back around before either Satoko or Hina could touch the dish and sprinkled a load of sugar on.
"Eat, please. You three are just skin and bone!" the woman shrieked and then bustled off to go eat her breakfast in the kitchen.
It was only then that I noticed Haruki had taken a seta beside me on the couch. He grinned through a mouthful of apples at me and then got back to work on chewing the delicious breakfast that had been prepared for us.
Satoko also seemed to have forgotten all of her manners and was practically stuffing her face in the plate. It had to be just as appetizing as it looked then, if even Satoko was being a pig about it.
Carefully, I poked my fork into one of the apples and put it in my mouth. It was, to put it simply, delightful. I had never tasted anything quite like it, though that wasn't saying much considering I ate practically the same thing every day.
"Good, isn't it?"
Yoshi-sense stuck his head between Satoko's and mine, grinning. "Chikako helped make it."
"Well...she did a good job," Satoko choked, glancing over at our sensei, an unreadable look in her dark eyes.
"Well, I think I'm going to go have more!" Yoshi declared, straightening up. "If you guys want anymore, you're going to have to come quick. It's going fast!" He glanced down at our plates. "You've barely touched yours, Hina. Unless those Are your seconds?"
I shook my head.
"Well, eat up. As Etsuyo-san said, you're skin and bone!"
And with that, our white-haired sensei bounded back to the kitchen to get some more and I quickly began to eat. Haruki soon got up and joined Yoshi-sensei and the other sin the kitchen.
Satoko, on the other hand, looked disdainfully at her plate half-full of apples. "I'm not hungry!" she announced, and stood to go deliver the food to the kitchen, where someone would no-doubt eat it.
I didn't like being left alone; it gave me the creeps, especially while in the house. There was something eerie about the place and its inhabitants. I didn't really want to be around long enough to learn what it was, either.
I hope we leave soon, I said, taking another bite of apple. I want to get to wherever we're headed fast.
And secretly I hoped that along the way, I'd find out the secret of that odd sand that I had found the day before...
"Please, we want to help out around the house!" Satoko begged Etsuyo late that morning. She was bored and she needed something to do, and seeing as there was no place for her to train, helping out was the only other option. She hadn't brought any form of entertainment, not anticipating that she'd need it.
"You need rest," Etsuyo-san insisted, pushing Satoko's shoulders until she sat down. "Please. Chikako and I will take care of everything."
She smiled at Satoko and I, showing of her teeth--and lack there of. There were so many gaps in her mouth that I wasn't sure whether there were more teeth or holes.
"But--" Satoko sputtered; I had never before seen her so desperate about cleaning.
"Please, just rest."
"But you put Haruki out to work!" Satoko argued.
Etsuyo-san smiled again. "Yes, we did, you got me there." The old woman sighed. "Alright, if you insist upon it."
"Arigato, Etsuyo-san!" Satoko gasped. She jumped to her feet and ran off to find Chikako so she'd know what to do.
"And you, Hina-san? Would you rather rest or clean?"
I felt rather awkward. To be honest, I'd prefer leaving, but seeing as that wasn't happening, I'd like to rest. However, it would be wrong for me to be the only one not working. Sighing heavily, I said, "I'll work." Besides, with Satoko working, I was left bored as well.
"Go find Chikako then. She'll tell you what needs to be done."
Ever the obedient child, I did as I was told and ran off after Satoko to find the young woman.
"Satoko? Satoko, what's wrong?" I asked, coming to a sudden halt. Satoko stood, frozen stiff, outside the doorway I knew to be Yoshi-sensei's. Slowly, she turned to look at me, her eyes as big as saucers, and her face paler than usual.
"Satoko-nee-chan?" I whispered, worried.
It was then I saw the tears welling up in her eyes. She opened her mouth to croak something out, but nothing would come.
"I'm going to see if I can help out outside," she eventually managed to say, hoarse. Stiffly then, she walked away, and I took her place in the doorway.
Yoshi-sensei and Chikako were laying on sensei-s covers, asleep, the woman's head on his lap.
"Why does that upset her so much?" I whispered.
"You sure are oblivious, aren't you? Uncle Hiroshi sighed; I gave a start, having forgotten about him.
"What do you mean?" I whispered, pushing a stray hair from my face.
"Figure it out yourself. You aren't completely helpless."
I frowned. He was always so sarcastic, and usually unhelpful, and I didn't appreciate it. I really only talked to him when I was desperate about something, anyway, unless he spoke to me first.
"Well I'm sure she isn't upset about Chikako being asleep. She doesn't really want to clean that much!"
"Just...think about it, and in the mean time go ask the old lady what to do."
Glaring at where his voice came from, I headed back down the hallway to where Etsuyo-san was, rubbing the worn coffee table with an old rag.
"Satoko-san tells me that Chikako and your sensei are asleep in his room," she said disapprovingly. The way she stared at me with her small eyes, it was as if she believed it was my fault. "This isn't the first time such a thing has happened. Chikako doesn't seem to understand that she's engaged to Hideki. I'll go wake her. In the meantime, you can start cleaning the kitchen."
The old woman handed me a bucket, a rag, and a sponge. "You can fill the bucket with water outside, and there's soap in the kitchen."
"Okay," I replied, smiling slightly. "But where's Satoko-nee-chan?"
"Your sister is outside working with your brother and Daisuke-san."
"Thank you," I said softly, bowing slightly to the older woman. Then, with the cleaning equipment in my hands, I hurried outside.
"I don't like that Yoshi guy," growled the old man. "He seems too..." But he couldn't find quite the right words to describe the young ninja.
"Neither do I," the younger man, Hideki, agreed. "Have you seen how he is with Chikako, my fiance?"
"Aye," growled the old man, Daisuke. "And I don't like how she looks at him either."
"Nor do I."
I peeked around the corner to get a better look at how close they were to me, my heart beating wildly in my chest. For some reason I didn't think I should be hearing this conversation at the watering hole.
"So, what do you propose we do about it?" Hideki whispered, leaning closer to Daisuke.
The old man shrugged. "I say we get them out of here tonight. Chikako will get over him, just like she's gotten over the other guys."
"Oh, yes. Of course. That's the...sensible thing to do," Hideki agreed, though it was obvious by his tone that he wanted to do something else.
"I'll feel bad kicking those kids out though," Daisuke said in his gravelly voice. "They seem awfully nice."
"Get the feeling they aren't being completely honest though?"
Daisuke gave the younger man an odd look. "No, I don't. Now come on. Let's get back to work."
My heart rate increased. I rushed away so that it wasn't as if I could hear and then slowly made my way back, passing them on the way.
"Konichiwa Daisuke-san; Hideki-san." I bowed.
"Konichiwa," Daisuke grumbled.
"Hello Hina-san," Hideki said, smiling. I didn't like his smile; it wasn't honest.
I smiled nervously at the two men then hurried to the watering hole to fill my bucket.
Hideki walked back into the kitchen after being forced to wake Yoshi and Chikako, a bitter expression on his hard face.
"Sleep well?" he asked Yoshi-sensei stiffly, who was following him.
"Yes," Yoshi-sensei yawned. He spotted me at the small counter space, scrubbing away, and flashed me a small smile; I sent an unsure one back.
"I'm sure you'd like something to drink?"
Yoshi-sensei shrugged. "I am thirsty," he reasoned.
"Please, sit then."
Yoshi-sensei took a seat at the small table that sat in the middle of the kitchen and stared at his gloved hands. I glanced at him, then at Hideki-san, who was smiling maliciously as he poured a thick, brown liquid out of a wooden jug.
"Here you go, Yoshi-san," he said quietly, sliding the small glass across the table at him.
Yoshi-sensei either saw the worry in my eyes when he looked at me, or he was suspicious himself, because he sniffed at the liquid and said, "What is this?"
"A family recipe. Etsuyo-san made it fresh yesterday," Hideki said with a smile. "Try it; it really is quite excellent."
Yoshi-sensei seemed to calm when he heard Etsuyo made it, but I was still suspicious. I didn't trust Hideki. There was something about him that was dishonest, that was vengeful, that he had it out for Yoshi-sensei.
Yoshi picked up the small glass and gulped it down in one swallow. Satisfied, he placed it back on the table, wiped his upper lip, and said, "Thank you, Hideki-san," to the young man with the ponytail.
"You are quite welcome," Hideki said quietly in reply. He grabbed Yoshi-sensei's empty glass and placed it in the sink.
"I'm going to go work now," Yoshi declared, standing. "Thanks again for the refreshment."
And with that, he was gone.
A moment later, Hideki walked out, too, leaving me alone with Uncle.
"What do you suppose that really was?" Uncle whispered in my ear, sending shivers up my spine.
I ignored him, however, and continued scrubbing at the counter. I had learned long ago not to go snooping about where it wasnt my business. People in my village, though friendly to most people, liked their privacy, and didn't appreciate people poking around; me being me, they tolerated it even less when I did it. My father had to punish me on behalf of the townspeople, and since then I had learned to keep my nose out of other people's business.
"Go on; take a look," Uncle Hiroshi pushed. "You're cleaning in here anyway! Come one!"
"Why don't you look if you're so interested?" I snapped after ten minutes of this.
But before he could reply, Haruki rushed into the house from outside, wiping sweat from his brow and panting heavily.
I emerged from the tiny kitchen, curious.
"Haruki-nii-chan, what's wrong?" I asked weakly, fearing the worst.
Chikako, Hideki, and Etsuyo had all assembled around Haruki as well, curious.
"It's Yoshi-sensei!" he finally managed to get out. "He's collapsed!"
As everyone else hurried back outside to where he had been working, I slipped back into the kitchen, my suspicions aroused again, and checked the bottle.
What I saw shocked me. The bottle slipped from my hand and crashed. The wood, which had been old, smashed and the brown liquid oozed everywhere.
"What was it? What did it say?" Uncle Hiroshi's ghost asked urgently.
"Poison..."
"His pulse is low!" Chikako-san sobbed, burying her face in her mother's shoulder.
"What happened?" Satoko croaked, tears welling in her wide eyes again.
Haruki shook his head. "I don't know. He was just pulling weeds out of the...garden," at this my brother cast a glance at the large square filled with weeds and dying plants, "and he suddenly collapsed."
"Aye," Daisuke said, nodding solemnly.
"We have to get him help!" Satoko exclaimed, brushing his silver hair out of his calm face.
"Aye," Daisuke said yet again.
"I'll go!" Haruki offered.
"You don't know your way."
"I'll find my way into town!" Haruki growled. "Unless someone wants to come with me."
"I will," Hideki quietly offered.
"No, you bets stay here. Comfort Chikako," Etsuyo said firmly. "Daisuke..."
"Will you be able to keep up?" Haruki asked incredulously.
Daisuke glared at Haruki. "I'm not as out of shape as you'd think," he growled. "Now enough chit-chat. Let's get going!"
A moment later, Haruki and Daisuke were off with Yoshi-sensei in their arms.
"Let's get back inside now," Etsuyo ordered. She guided the sobbing Chikako into the house with Hideki's help.
Satoko looked stricken as she stiffly followed along behind.
"You don't think he'll...die, do you?" she croaked, staring at me with her saucer-sized eyes.
"No, no of course not!" I assured her, though I wasnt exactly sure myself. I didn't know Yoshi-sensei very well, but I didn't want him to die. I hated death, and by the look on Satoko-nee-chan's face, I think she'd break if he did, which would make me hurt, and I couldn't deal with any more of that. Besides, Satoko was one of the only people that I felt close too, and I wouldn't be able to deal with that...
"Stop thinking; you look stupider than usual", Hiroshi sneered.
I glared at him then stepped into the house, where I found Hideki staring at the kitchen floor.
"What happened here?" he hissed; the way he stared at me was much different than it had been the night before.
"It...fell off the counter," I stuttered, avoiding his gaze.
"You know," he said, more to himself than me. "You know."
"Know what?"
"Follow me," he ordered curtly. I made no move to follow, afraid.
"Follow," he ordered, grabbing my sleeve. I was pulled all the way down the hall and pushed into his bedroom, which he promptly closed the door to.
"Do you know?"
"Know what?" I snapped.
"What was in the bottle," Hideki hissed.
"Yes, I know!" I snapped. "It was poison, poison! You did that to Yoshi-sensei!"
It was then that I realized that the door had been opened, and Satoko stood in it. She chose the best moments to appear.
"Wh-what?" she stuttered.
Hideki whirled around and stared at Satoko, who was paralyzed to the spot.
"Get in!" he hissed.
Satoko absently obeyed, and the door was closed behind her.
"You two--sit!" he barked, pointing at the floor.
Satoko, in a trance, sat down beside me. I turned my head to stare at her, then suddenly there was a pain in the back of my head and everything went black.
a/n oooooooooooooooooh!! what happened, do you think? agh, so mysterious! OOOH. lol. soryr. anyway, hope you enjoyedz! I'm goign to go out up the fourth Sunrises. don't know when I'll update again, but please don't punish me by not reviewing! I lvoe to know what my readers think.