Chapter 3: Shades of Blue
((Katsu POV))
Katsu stirred in her bed as sharp rays of sunlight hit her face. She opened her eyes, staring at the wall, the memories of last nigh coming back to her. She had been in such pain, yet it wasn't her pain, someone elses pain haunted her memories. Then Sasuke had showed up out of no where, she hardly remembered him coming to her. He had stayed all night. A shiver ran through her body as she remembered the unbearable pain. The screams of her memories echoed in her head over and over. She didn't want to remember.
Slowly she moved out of the bed, slipping out of Sasuke's arms, careful not to wake him. Why was he here? He didn't know her, and definatly didn't owe her anything. So why had he come? She had noticed when she greeted him that he was one of those arrogant boys, who didn't think about anything other than sex. He only wanted one thing from her. But she be damned if she was going to give it to him. She hated the way he had looked at her, like she was some small child trying to play with the grown ups.
The next hour she spent in the shower. Letting the sweat, the tears and the horrible memories from last night wash off her. The warm water felt good against her skin. The smell of Sasuke also washed away with everything else. She could finally relax and forget.
She dressed quickly, letting her hair stay wet. It was summer and it would dry soon enough anyway. She needed to get out of the apartment, fast. She had to find Kakashi, he was the onlyone she felt she could really talk to. Knowing him, she knew where to find him this early in the morning. While she was in the hospital recovering he had told her about his close friend and comrade that he had lost during a mission. The boy who had given him the Sharingan.
She had another reason for leaving the apartment as well; she didn't want to be there when Sasuke woke. She didn't want to talk to him. He had seen her in one of her most vulnerable moment, while she had been in an utter mess. She didn't like the fact that he had just walked right into her apartment either. Why had he been there in the first place? Her anger was building up inside her as she continued to think about the arrogant man sleeping in her bed.
"Kakashi!"
Katsu yelled out as she spotted her friend at the memorial stone. He was croutched infront of it, just staring at the stone with an emotionless face. She had no doubts about what was going through his mind, the pain of losing a close friend at such a young age had to be horrible. She didn't understand his pain, it was a different pain than her own, she knew that much. She knew better than to interregate him about it, she wouldn't like it very much herself, so she had let him tell her about it in his own time.
He turned to face her, a smile hiding under the mask. "Katsu-chan. How are you feeling?" He asked her, his voice was friendly, but she knew he was concerned about her. He didn't want to upset her, and she knew she could avoid the question easily, but she wanted to tell him.
"Better," she reassured him with a smile. "I kept remembering the same stuff, but I can't put the pieces together, it's too vague. The only thing I know for sure is that there was a lot of pain." Her face darkend a little at the thought of it. She didn't want to remember! She had been happy. Suddenly, as if struck by lightning, something from her memories popped up. "My last name is Kurohoshi," she blurted in a surprised voice. It had come to her so suddenly.
He studied her quietly, before getting up to stand. "I know," he finally said, a sad look on his face.
"What - -" Her eyes widened as she looked at him. "How?" She hadn't even known until this moment, how could he knew? She felt confused.
"That jutsu you accidently preformed yesterday," he hesitated a second before continuing. "It's a rare one. The only ones who knew the secret of it was the Kurohoshi Clan. I couldn't find much refrence to it, but even within the clan only a handful of people knew how to do it," he explained. "The thing is," he hesitated again, sighing. "The entire Kurohoshi Clan was murdered 2 years ago. They never found the killer."
Suddenly it all made sense; she had been there. When her family was murdered, she had seen them die. It was as if time had frozen. It all seemed a lot clearer now; the screaming, the dreams, everything. She had been there when it happened, she had seen it, she had heard it and felt it.
Not being able to stop the tears, they started streaming down her face. She couldn't stop the overwhelming feeling she suddenly experienced,. The grief, the pain and guilt for still living. She felt weak.
Her feet seemed to give in under hear and she fell to her knees. She hadn't even noticed Kakashi moving, but now he was beside her, pulling her into his arms. Their relationship had never been anything else than that of a sister and brother, or even father and daughter. There was no physical attraction, only compassion and love. It was complex in some ways, but very simple to Katsu. She trusted him.
She let her tears flow freely as she burried herself in his chest. She let all the sorrow just seep out of her. It felt good, somehow. It felt good to know and finally come to peace with it. Little did she know that was only the beginning of terrible nightmares and unpredictable flashbacks.
"Katsu-chan," Kakashi whispered softly in her ear. "I want you to be able to control the power within you, so I'll send you on a mission with someone who can help. You're strong, one day you'll be great." He let her go and looked into her eyes, studying her.
She gave a nod, she had known it would come to this. "Who?" was the only question she asked as she dried the tears on her sleeve.
"Uchiha Sasuke."
Later the same day
Why was she suprised? She should have known. Sasuke might no be the best, but he was more serious and had an amazing control over his emotions. Tch. More likely he didn't have any emotions, She thought despiteful. She knew Kakashi had no time to baby sit her himself, and besides, he had done enough for her allready. She didn't want to trouble him anymore. And Naruto wasn't even an option, athough he was a cool guy, he was far to irresponsible and knew nothing about how to teach control.
Sliding a hand through her hair, Katsu sighed. She was sitting on top of the railing on the bridge where she had met Sasuke and Naruto the other day. She was supposed to meet Sasuke there, and of course he was late. She wasn't looking forward to this at all. Honestly, she wasn't easily annoyed or angered, but he seemed to push every button she had every time he looked at her. She hated his attitude.
They were going to do an escort mission, from what Kakashi had told her. Nothing too big. They just needed to escort some high and mighty Lord to Wave country. A Lord Fukushima appearently. He patience was wearing thinner by the minute. What was it with these guys and being late? She felt offended by it, for some reason.
"Katsu?"
Hearing her name pulled her out of her own thoughts and she looked up to see Sasuke standing in front of her. Seeing him only made her anger worse, and he was standing too close to her. Who did he think he was? She gave him a hard push to make him move and jumped down from the railing. She walked towards the gate without saying a word, expecting him to follow her.
"You're late," she pointed out as he caught up to her, her voice was cold and not very different from the way he usually spoke.
Sasuke appearenly hadn't expected the cold tone in her voice and seemed a little taken by surprise. "Sorry," he muttered after a moment. He didn't explain himself, but she wasn't looking for an explanation either.
(Sasuke POV)
They had been walking for a while now. The sky was starting to darken, as the sun lowered itself behind the mountains. Katsu hadn't said a word to him since they started walking, she only chatted away friendly with Lord Fukushima; who was an elderly man. Because of the Lord they had to walk at a slow pace, which only made things worse.
He was sulking a little he knew. Every time he tried to say anything she would give him the 'death glare' and look away stubbornly. Sasuke was going crazy, for once he couldn't take the silende, atleast not her cold attitude towards him. What in the world had he done that had made her this mad? It couldn't be because he had been late, it had to be something else, but what?
He was honestly afraid to talk to her, it was a different side of her he hadn't expected. She had suddenly put a solid brick wall around her feelings, or at least that was the only explanation he could come up with. If this continued the entire way to the Wave country he would go insane.
"We should make camp for the night," he said carefully, trying to sound like his normal careless self, but failed. This girl was driving him crazy. She was different than the other girls he knew, and she was getting to him. He was experiencing a feeling he had never felt before. He couldn't tell if it was lust or love, or even hate because she was rejecting him so obvisouly.
"Fukushima-san, we are making camp," Katsu turned to the Lord, ignoring him completely. "We'll put up the tent for you, sit down and rest some." Her voice was sweet and friendly as she talked, and the Lord thanked her grateful to be off his feet. When she turned to Sasuke she once again gave him a deadly glare.
Katsu started on the tent while he made a fire. He had some soup they could make for dinner. While eating they had not spoken a word to each other. Sasuke constantly looked up at Katsu, but she didn't show any sign of noticing him. It was obvious she was ignoring him. What had he done? He groaned to himself, frustrated.
After dinner the Lord bid them good night and went to sleep in the tent, leaving them alone in front of the fire. Sasuke took the chance to find out what was going on. He wanted, no, he needed to know what he had done to piss her off.
"Katsu," He said calmly, watching her carefully for a reaction. "What did I do?"
"Nothing."
"Then why are you ignoring me?" He asked her, looking straight at her, trying to catch her gaze. He failed. She refused to look at him.
There was a long silence. It seemed to him like she was contempleting if she should answer him or not. She was hesitating. He knew there had to be something wrong. It couldn't just be nothing. Why was she hesitating?
"You walked straight into my apartment, into my bedroom! What right do you think you have to do something like that? I could have dealt with it myself. I don't need your pity! I don't need anyone to protect me, least of all you!" The words flew out of her mouth like an explosion and took him completely off guard. "You arrogant prick!"
Her face was red, She was really angry he realized. Last night he had just wanted to comfort her, he didn't think she would react this way to it. "I was worried," he finally answered. It was true, he had been worried about her. Why he had felt that way was beyond him, but it was true. It was the only explanation he could give.
"Tch. Give me a break!" She snorted. "You hardly know me, I hardly know myself!" Her eyes lifted and for the first time met his gaze. Her eyes showed anger, but what surprised him was how black they were. The blue color was so deep and dark it gave an illusion of being black. But, there was a sort of spark in them. A small light, like a single star on the black night sky.
As quick as her rage had spilled out it went away, and was replaced by a saddened look as she looked away. He could only guess what she was thinking. Most likely she had remembered something new, he had no doubts that her memories were even worse than his.
"Katsu," he asked as calmly as he could manage. He was still a little shocked about her outburst. "Did you remember something?"
She sat in silence for a while, not hesitating, just thinking. "Yeah," she finally answered, her voice barely a whisper. "I remember who my family was..."
Was? He stared at her. She had lost her family... Just like him? He knew how she felt then, he knew how it was to lose your family, to watch them die. "Please, tell me," he almost pleaded, he had the sudden feeling of wanting to know more about her.
"I was born into the Kurohoshi Clan."
"The shinobi of the Black Star," he mumbled softly to himself. He had heard about them, there were few who hadn't. The mass murder had been a tragedy, one even greater than when the Uchiha clan was murdered by his brother. The Kurohoshi clan was one of the most powerful clan's in the Star country, maybe the most poweful in all the 5 great countries. The Star countries Hoshikage was a Kurohoshi. But they had been a peaceful people, rarely involving themselves in wars if not directly threatened. It was unthinkable that one person could kill them all.
"I'm the last one."
He could see her lips tremble, she was struggling not to cry. He felt a need to hold her, protect her from harm. Which was utterly ridicules in itself, she was right, he didn't know her, he didn't know who she really was. So why was he feeling this way?
"You're different than any other girl I've ever met," he finally said after an awkward silence. He needed to get it out. He didn't know how to handle the feelings inside him, he had never felt this way before.
"Don't," she looked up at him, looking him straight in the eyes. "Just don't. I know everything about you Uchiha Sasuke." Her eyes seemed hollow, the sadness and weakness was gone. "I know what happened to your family. You'r brother. I know about the life you've been living up until now, every move you've ever made."
Sasuke looked at her startled. How did she know? Who had told her? Naruto maybe, or maybe even Kakashi? "How - - " He started, but she cut him off.
"You know, Konoha's ANBU aren't that good at keeping a watch over their members personal information. I know about you. Uzumaki-kun. Kakashi. Even the pink haired girl." She paused for a moment thinking. "What was her name again. Ah, Haruno Sakura, that's it."
Sasuke noticed that something in Katsu's face haf changed, a darkness he had never seen before seemed to creep over her sharp features.
"I know you would never admit this. But I know you secretly love the attention, the girls worshiping the ground you walk on. Now that you've found someone that seem to be untouched by your dark charms you see it as a challenge, finally someone to conquer."
Katsu rose to her feet, turning away from him. "You disgust me," she sneered and walked away into the forest.
Sasuke was in complet shock as he watched her stalk away. A girl had just told him off. Really told him off too. It had never happened before. Strangely enough, he didn't feel angry. It was a strange feeling being rejected. He had never even though about the chance that someone would reject him. Maybe she was right. Maybe he just wanted her because he wanted what he couldn't have. She was so different, so strong and independent. She didn't do anything to try to catch his attention, she never had.
Looking back on the day before she had ignored him then too. It dawned on him then that he really did want her, badly. Somehow he saw her in a different light.
((Katsu POV))
Katsu made her way through the forest. She had to get away. She was struggling to keep her composure when she was around him, it was even harder to keep the hollow look on her face. She knew what she had said, but she didn't know how she truly felt about him. She was confused. He was stirring something in her, but she couldn't accept it.
Suddenly she lifted her head looking around her. Her instincts told her someone was near, someone other than Sasuke. Her instincts screamed danger, but she kept calm and sat down on the nearest stone. She knew where they were, strangely enough she knew she could take them down. She waited. Then they attacked...
(Sasuke POV)
Startled Sasuke sprang to his feet as a high pitched scream reached his ears. He was on the move even before the scream could die out. Katsu was in trouble. Yet he couldn't feel the presence of anyone else than her around, and hers was weak. He panicked for the first time in his life. He couldn't let her get hurt, he just couldn't.
He found her in the clearing, the moon lighting the scene for him. There was blood everywhere. She just sat there, looking at her hands. She looked strangely eerie in the moonlight, her blond her shining. She sat there quietly, silent as the grave. Five dead ninjas were laying on the ground infront of her.
It took him a little while to get over the shock of seeing the dead fully grown men and her alive. She didn't seem to be harmed. She had taken on five men on her own? From what it looked like, the men weren't some inexperienced guys either. They were skilled, he could see as much, and she killed them all.
He slowly made his way to her side. "Katsu," he almost whispered, crouching down beside her. His hand reached out to touch her shoulder. As if his touch brought her back to reality she looked up, blinking, almost surprised to see him. Her eyes left him and lingered on the dead bodies in front of her.
"I'm fine," she finally said and scrambled to her feet with great effort. He reached out to help her, but she pushed him away. Then her legs gave away beneath her and he quickly scooped her up into his arms. "I'm fine," she protested and tried to get out of his grasp.
"No, your not," he said coolly and ignored her feeble attemps of escaping him. He turned his back to the dead men and headed back to their camp. She struggled in the beginning, but soon resigned and lay limp in his arms.
"Sasuke," she said his name in such an insecure tone. He saw her bite her lips lightly as she hesitate to go on. "I'm sorry," she finally said. It was the first time she had said his name. He felt strangly happy for a moment.
"For what?" He asked in an unusual soft voice that even surprised him.
"For everything." She paused again. "Last night - - I - - I didn't really thank you. I don't know if I could have managed to get through the night if you hadn't been there. Thank you," she repeated softly. Her eyes were downcast as she said it. Then she looked up at him, and into his eyes. Their eyes were the same, he realized. Dark.
He stared back at her, not breaking the eye contact. He was trying to put his head around her, she seemed to show new sides of herself every time she spoke. He hadn't even known her for more than 3 days even. Could one woman really be this unpredictable?
Sasuke stopped, they were back at the camp. He slowly lowered her onto her feet, but didn't let go of her waist, incase her legs gave in again. They were standing close, really close, and she wasn't pushing him away. She just watched him.
"Are you just going to star, or kiss me already?" She asked finally, a hint of a sly grin forming on her lips.
Taken back by her directness he couldn't help but gape at her for a moment. Just a while back she had basically told him she hated him, and now she wanted him to kiss her. Honestly, he didn't understand this girl.
"What makes you think I would want to do that?"
"Well, then I guess you could just let go of me - -" she made a move to walk away from him, but he grabbed her arm and dragged her back into his arms. "Wh - -" She started, but was silenced by his lips pressing against hers.
He had kissed girls before, of course, but somehow this felt different. It was as if their lips fit perfectly together. He felt himself get unusually aroused by just one kiss. What was wrong with him? He was acting weak, stupid even. Yet, he couldn't deny his own feelings; he loved her.