Chapter 38 Memories in the Snow

The relationship between Mizuko and her mother had always been strained. The Shirasaki were strict in their teachings. Women were to grow up as geishas, and when they married, they retired from the career to settle down to have a family. The men were raised to be Kirigakure's finest warriors. Mizuko's father was one of the greatest of those warriors, becoming one of the Seven Swordsmen. She loved her father more than anything in the world. Naturally she loved her sisters and mother too, but that love had changed over time.

Mizuko was a failure at her geisha studies, no matter how hard she tried. She wanted to please her mother, so that way her mother would look at her with the same admiration she looked at her sisters with. Mizuko's mother, Yura, was a beautiful woman. He hair was the color of dark chocolate and it always smelled sweet. Her eyes were thin and seductive, but they also carried that motherly love. She was tall and she carried her self with both self-respect and a humble understanding of her position in the world. However, she was strict with the teachings of her children and wanted to make sure that they grew up to be the finest geisha in the Shirasaki clan. Mizuko was, in a sense, the disappointment of the litter. She loved her family dearly, but her mother expected what was impossible of her. Due to that, that relationship grew sour over time.

Mizuko's father was another story, when he wasn't painting the battlefield with blood, he loved being home with his children. While her sisters treated him with the reserved love and respect most parents expected of their children in the clan, Mizuko openly expressed, often receiving silent disapproval from her mother. But her father didn't care a bit. He always looked forward to coming home to a lively daughter who would come leaping into his arms. He would take her out eating, or play games with her, take her to the park and do what any ideal father would. Then, at night, Mizuko would listen at night to her father and mother arguing over the proper way to raise a child, and she would cry because she knew her parents argued because of her.

Mizuko's father and mother loved each other none the less though. Some people believed that her father had begun courting Yura because of her extreme beauty, but few people knew it was arranged. They hadn't loved one another when they married, instead they were more like two people who were just beginning to become friends. Love soon began to form after a year or two, but in the end, people wouldn't have been able to tell that it was an arranged couple.

Though she was supposed to be studying to become a geisha, Mizuko secretly longed to be like her father, but she never voiced these wishes. It wasn't until her father observed a scuffle that she had gotten into with some local boys that he realized she had talent. You see, her father had always wanted a son whom he could raise to be a fine shinobi, but alas, was give five daughters. When he saw Mizuko that day, he saw a chance to teach that unborn son of his through his youngest daughter. Thus, in secret, he began to train his daughter.

Mizuko had never been happier, and with the shinobi training her spirits lifted, and with her lifted spirits, her progress as a geisha also improved. Her mother steadily began to become proud of her, not even suspecting the secret training. Her father and her had been able to keep it under the table for almost a year, and Mizuko had made almost ingenious progress. At such a young age, she was able to master the art of the water affinity that was almost on par with her father's. He always told her that it was a shame that she had not been born into a family that would allow her opening pursue her passion, where she could show off her genius to the rest of the world. But it didn't matter if her skills had to be kept a secret, as long as her father was watching she was happy. However, neither of them had noticed that someone was taking note in her skills.

Everything was going smoothing until Mizuko's elder sister, Hazuki, stumbled across the training. Horrified by the sudden rebellion against the traditions of the clan, she ran back home that night to report to Yura.

That night, Mizuko and her sisters sat outside of the room where their parents angry voices could be heard. She received no comfort from her sisters, with the exception of the second youngest, who had always been the kindest towards her. The other just shot her hard glares. Her mother and father bickered back and forth, it was worse than any time that had come before. Her other's voice could have been called screeching if she were to raise her voice any higher. Her father tried to remain calm, but often raised his voice. She wanted to stick to traditions, to honor the clan, to honor the family and it's reputation. He wanted to honor Mizuko, he wanted her to be happy, to live off what she was good at, which was fighting, being a warrior.

That night she slept alone and he left the house for the night. Mizuko didn't sleep at all.

She continued her geisha studies and her progress improved, but she didn't have any of the enthusiasm that she had had before. Her father still treated her like his favorite daughter, but he hardly spoke with Yura, and Yura hardly even looked at Mizuko. The only time when Mizuko found joy was when she was with her father.

Then, he was sent to battle, and the family had faith in his as usual. He was gone for many days and nights. When the warriors returned, the women rushed out to greet them, even Yura couldn't hide her eagerness. Her father returned in the company of others, the ones who carried his body bag. Mizuko's mother broke down almost immediately, wailing and crying that it was her fault that he had died, because she hadn't had faith in him, because she had not let go of her anger. Mizuko was slow to the acceptance. How could she believe that the man who had always brought her joy was now gone? She fled from the scene, fled from the world, fled from life.

Still struggling with the denial, she was confronted by a traveler who wanted her money or anything valuable she was carrying on her at the time. She killed the man without hesitation, and the realization of what she had done wouldn't sink in until the next morning. She never told anyone about the incident, but another person, who had been watching at the time, was aware of the situation, already sensing the time to make his move was near.

All joy was gone from her life, and even though her mother had tried to mend their relationship, Mizuko ignored her family. She continued her studies, and soon began to attend parties with her "big sister" to better learn about the art. After awhile she was allowed to entertain small parties or single guests, which is how she met him. He was obviously not a resident of Kirigakure, he came from the mainland. Middle aged, part of him was very slightly attractive, but it was put off by his unsettling demeanor. He was graceful when he moved, he was graceful when he spoke, but there was a subtle malice to it. He was well dressed, but he didn't display riches. Mizuko was a little unsettled by him, but she was not afraid. He spoke kindly to her, but she sensed something about the way he spoke to her that was off, though she didn't know what it was.

Then he offered her a chance to be herself, asked her if she wanted to get away from this place that retrained her with tradition. He admitted to having had observed her over the past, and offered his condolences for the death of her father. His words sounded pretty and his offer sounded wonderful, Mizuko was greatly tempted. He explained the he found her ability to learn so quickly unmatched. It was the first time she had received praise from anyone other than her father.

She accepted the offer out of rebellious nature, to show her mother that she was going to be herself, and not what the world expected of her. She secretly packed that night and left that night without a word to anyone. She met up with the stranger at the rendezvous point, where they left without even a backwards glance.

The stranger's name was Orochimaru.

~*~*~*~

Mizuko opened her eyes slowly and stared up at the ceiling. She hadn't seen her family since then. A lot of the time she regretted deciding to follow Orochimaru, but she also knew she wouldn't be the person she is today if she hadn't. Which she wasn't sure if it that was a good or bad thing. But, if she hadn't, she would have the friends she had today. She smiled at that.

Luciano shivered and shifted closer to the fire. Sasuke eyed him warily, while I focused on cooking the snow hare we had been able to catch. Luciano didn't make eye contact with Sasuke, but every now and again he would look at me and I would smile, and he would smile back. I tried to speak to him in Japanese as much as possible so that way Sasuke could be included in our conversations, but he spoke it rather broken, so I had to help him along a bit.

After a while, he began to show me how his family had always prepared meat, and said that even though we didn't have spices, it still tasted just as good. We ate and turned in for the night, except for Sasuke who stayed up to watch. I dreamt peacefully that night. The curse mark boy did not visit me that night. Instead I dreamed of being in an open field where I was running. The grass was soft, and crunched lightly under my bare feet. The sun shone brightly over the field, making it seem as the though the tiny yellow wild flowers were glittering. My clothing whipped around me as did my hair, occasionally blinding me, but I didn't care. The field never ended, I never grew tired. Why I was running I did not know. Where I was running, I did not know. All I knew was that I was happy, that I was free.

When I woke up for the watch, Sasuke was watching me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You were smiling in your dream." He said softly. "Usually, you suffer from nightmares and sometime your cry out."

I flushed. I didn't know I cried out while I slept. I wondered what kinds of things I said.

"Does….." I paused. "Does the cure mark give you nightmares."

He closed his eyes.

"Yeah, not as often though. They used to worry me. Unsettle me." He opened his eyes halfway. "It's not a feeling I like to feel,"

I watched him as he debated whether or not to go on.

"Sometimes, they would take the form of Orochimaru, once it was me as a small child, I had that dream shortly after I received the mark." He paused. "Sometimes, my brother appears. Sometimes he says things, but other times he just stands there, silent. I try to hit him sometimes, but every time, my attacks have no affect."

"It means you feel powerless." I said.

He looked up at me.

"I've always been told that when you have dreams like that, it means that you feel powerless, that you can't stand up for what you believe it, or that you can't accomplish what you want to. You lack confidence."

I shifted, uneasily.

"You're so skilled," I admitted blushing. "I've always been jealous of your abilities. I don't think with your skills that you should be having dreams like that. But…..I don't think you're putting your skills to the right use, sometimes I wish that…."

I stopped, my face red.

He reached out, and touched my hair with his finger tips, but when he leaned towards me…

"Don't." I said softly. "Please don't."

He pulled away.

"You're my friend, Sasuke." I continued without looking up. "I don't want our friendship to be ruined over something like this."

We were both silent.

The fire crackled as it slowly died out. The moon lit up the snow which glittered ever so slightly. It looked beautiful, but in reality it was cold, and it got everywhere and became annoying. In here, in this small little cave made out of a collection of large rocks, it was warm, and we enjoy the beautiful illusion without reality reaching us. Off in the distance and owl hooted.

"You sleep." I said, forcing a smile as I looked up at him. "I'll start my watch now."

He nodded and made his way to his bedding.

I shifted towards the entrance of the cave and looked up at the glowing moon.

"Found it." Hiko said, quietly to Yukimaru who nodded in response.

They stared at the menacing fortress, huge in size, and heavy in defense.

"It's a killer fortress." Hiko said. "But they're not too smart."

"What do you mean?"

She pointed at the entrance and the area around it. "Notice something missing?"

Yukimaru stared for a bit. "There's no guards posted."

Hiko nodded. "They are too confident in the fortress' structure."

"Or they are planning an ambush and are purposely leaving themselves open."

"Good point." Hiko admitted.

She pulled out the headphone set from her pocket and attached it, hoping that they weren't out of range. She waited as she set out a signal to Sasuke's set. After about a minute, he replied.

"Yes?"

"We've located the base. I'd send up a flare but it'd give away our position, so-"

"Don't worry, were almost there, we have guide."

Hiko wondered but said nothing.

"Were going in now to check out the situation, and who knows, we might make it easier for you guys."

"Got it."

She removed the headphone.

"Let's go." She told Yukimaru, who nodded in response.

The two rushed forward, using the surrounding trees as cover. They reached the building but there were still no signs of any guards. Hiko observed the situation. A good few yards up was a window, which seemed like the best option at this point, considering she was sure they couldn't just waltz though the front door. They scaled the wall and slipped into the building, the window led to a catwalk that hovered above what seemed to be a library. They dropped onto the walkway silently, doing their best to make sure it didn't move or make any sound. Several shinobi, and what the pair guessed were workers were hanging out in the room below. They ran across to the opposite end as quickly and quietly as possible, until they found an air vent which they quietly pried of the wall and crawled into.

Moving around was easy for Hiko due to her small size, but Yukimaru was fairly tall and didn't maneuver as well. Hiko noticed his struggling, and decided that they would get out on the next opening that they encountered. Unfortunately, that nest opening was several feet from the ground. Hiko scanned the area, it was plain looking hallway and no one was in sight. She heard voices in the distance, but none were approaching, neither were any footsteps.

Hiko dropped down, tensed, and scanned the area before nodding and Yukimaru who followed. He stretched his arms when he stood up, obviously grateful to be free from the claustrophobic space. However, when the pair began to move onward, cautiously maneuvering around corners, Yukimaru stumbled over something. Hiko spun around at the sound of string snapping, and Yukimaru's eyes went wide. Not even a second later a high pitched alarm sounded off, red lights began to flash and a loud female voice began to call out:

"INTRUDER ALERT!!! INTRUDER ALERT!!! LOCATED IN SECTION B6-7114! INTRUDER ALERT!!! INTRUDER ALERT!!!!"

The pair began to book it, but it wasn't long until they became surrounded by Kyu shinobi. With a sharp click of the tongue, Hiko released the blades from her arms and attacked the nearest shinobi. Yukimaru glanced around frantically. He couldn't use his bow in such close combat. He took a few steps back, removed a kunai with a letter bomb attached from his pouch, and tossed it. It exploded and took out several shinobi, but since the distance was so close, the smoke enveloped both Hiko and Yukimaru. Hiko struggled, but was able to hold her own pretty wail, but since Yukimaru wasn't a close combat fighter and was now handicapped by the smoke, he started to panic.

Several times Yukimaru received painful blows, and by the time the smoke had cleared, he was on the floor panting. One of the Kyu shinobi was standing above him with a blade raised. Yukimaru squeezed his eyes shut, a tear leaking out and sliding down his face.

Ekima-san….He thought.

"Katon! Haisekishou no Jutsu"

Yukimaru's eyes snapped open. He watched ash began to envelope the enemies in front of him. He turned to see the ash emitting from between the lips of Karasu. Suddenly she bit down and the ash exploded into a great ball of fire. She straightened and wiped some remaining ash from her mouth, before smiling.

"Sorry for being late." She said with a smile.

Behind her, Sasuke was taking out opponents side by side with Hiko.

There weren't very many shinobi to begin with, but it was enough to quickly fatigue the group. After about five minutes, the group was already panting. Hiko was preparing to make another attack when one of the Kyu shinobi signaled for her to stop. She hesitated, giving him as confused look.

"If you surrender, and allow us to take you to our leader without any resistance." The man said. "Then perhaps you will be allowed to leave."

Karasu spit at the man's feet. "Screw you."

"What a pain you kids are." Said a familiar voice.

They all turned to see a familiar women emerge from the crowd, she gave them a friendly smile with her dark red lips and her red hair bounced as she approached.

"and to think I fed you guys." Osuzu said.

"I knew it." Sasuke muttered under his breathe.

Author notes: HAI GUYS!!!!

Yes, yes, and yes, I know I haven't updated in a REALLY long time, but I just haven't had the time, also, I've been working on more original stuff, so yeah, lol

Don't expect the next chapter too soon, I can't guarantee when it might come out.