Second Movement, Part Three

Night had already fallen, and the nomads were gathered around the large bonfire dancing the night away when Shinpi returned. Lupa detected her almost immediately as Shinpi walked into the light of the fire. She was tired, pale, a starving. Her feet were sore for all the running she did around town, looking for her mystery man.

Lupa came over to her and helped sit on one of the benches at the table and promptly got her a large bowl of food.

"Are you okay, Shinpi-san?"

Shinpi sighed despairingly before she took a bite of her food. "I couldn't find him. It was so strange," she said in between bites. "First I see his shadow, and then he disappears. Then his back is visible again, but whenever I start to follow him, he turns into thin air. It's like he didn't exist at all."

"Perhaps it was just your imagination," Lupa said casually.

"Impossible! We all saw him at the market. He was real! And I'm going to look for him again tomorrow, until I find him."

"What about your job?"

"I don't have anything on my plate tomorrow."

Lupa looked down at her hands and knees and fiddled with the cloth of her yukata. "I'm envious of how confident you always are."

"Hm?" Shinpi muttered as she sipped from a bowl of warmed miso soup. "What do you mean?"

Lupa down at Shinpi, who appeared to be even smaller as she sat down next to her, "You always seem so confident in everything you do. Like when you are on stage in front of everyone at the festival parade, when you talk to people, even when you stand up against Chikako. It's like nothing can bring you down."

Shinpi giggled and then smiled at Lupa playfully. "That's not true."

Surprised and confused, young Lupa's eyes grew wide.

"I'm often extremely nervous, especially on stage. I'm always facing the pressure of doing a good job to keep up with my reputation."

"That sounds difficult."

"It is, tremendously! But that's also the challenge. Kaimu often said that humans need to challenge themselves in order to learn and grow. Quoting Kaimu: If humans didn't give themselves challenges, we would just be a lump of rotting flesh."

"What a blunt way of wording it," Lupa commented quite bluntly herself which caused Shinpi to giggle shyly.

"Yes, Kaimu was extremely blunt and straight forward. Even until now, I still have no idea how I absorbed all the things he crudely taught me as a child."

"Well, I think you turned out alright, Shinpi-san," Lupa said.

Shinpi flashed the young girl a confident smile. "Thanks, Lupa. I'm going to sleep now. I'm going to need all my strength looking for that man tomorrow. Wish my luck," Shinpi said as she hopped off the bench and headed in the direction of her inn.

"Good luck tomorrow!"

At the first light of the morning, Shinpi left the warmth of her blankets and strolled through the chilly frozen air of the early Amegakure spring morning. Like a ghost, Shinpi slide closed the door to the inn even as the innkeeper lay asleep. She clutched the handle to her kokyo case tightly as she walked down the humble dirt road.

A soft wet breeze combed through the branches of the budding plum trees above her head and sent tiny petals floating down around the beautiful girl as she headed toward the docks where she had first met her mystery man.

The green grey waters splashed against the stone docks at the push and pull of the wind. Shinpi stood at the edge looking into the water where she would have fallen if he hadn't come to save her. She played the scene from her point-of-view again, trying to remember more of his face under the straw hat.

Shinpi closed her eyes. She remembered his pale skin and jet black hair as dark as the night on with a new moon. He was tall, taller than most, though she couldn't be a good judge of that, but she knew he was strong. Shinpi opened her eyes. She guessed he must have been a ninja of some kind. It would justify his unfriendly nature and sudden disappearance.

Once again she closed her eyes and pulled out his image that she imprinted in her mind. His eyes, she tried to remember, his strange red eyes. Though she could only see one of them, it had a frightening aura. Shinpi gasped as she opened her eyes again. Those glaring red eyes were menacing and evil. Every nerve, muscle, and pore in Shinpi's body warned her not to get any closer to him, but her heart only beat louder and faster with every thought of him.

Shinpi traced the road she followed him the day before, up to the place where he disappeared in front of her. She looked to her right and left, then back in front. There were only tall buildings around her. The only way out was the path she blocked and the space above the roofs.

She walked back out the alley as baffled as she was yesterday. She walked to the village square where the locals have started to set up for their new day of festive business. Shinpi stopped by a snack stall and bought herself a little to eat as she sat down near the fountain at the center to plan her day before she started to randomly wander around the village.

People must have seen the man before since everyone avoided him like he was the plague yesterday at the docks. Shinpi closed her eyes again to attempt at recalling the clothes he was wearing, but all she her mind would be distracted by his face.

Shinpi opened her eyes and lightly knuckle punched the temple of her face. "You're no help at all," she said to her brain and tried to remember again, this time mentally blocking out the man's face replacing it with Toroki's hateful one.

With the distractions taken care of she was able to concentrate much more on the rest of the mystery man. Shinpi remembered his large straw hat. The wind was blowing as usual at the docks and paper hangings were dancing gracefully from the brim of the hat. His clothes were strange. A long black robe adorned with red clouds.

Shinpi finished her food as she finished working out her master "I-spy" plan. With the description of the mystery man it would be easy getting information from the local people. It was just a matter of time now.

Shinpi waited until more people starting filling up the streets before she asking around. Many people shook their heads frantically. "I can't help you," they would say and nervously walk away quickly without giving Shinpi a second glance. Some would give her a more calm reply, but still refuse to offer her any help at all.

Finally, near the afternoon, Shinpi came upon a large group of teenagers younger than her.

"You're looking for the Akatsuki!" one of them how seemed to be the ring leader announced loudly so everyone on the streets could hear. "You hear that?" he asked turning to his friends in laughter. "She's looking for the Akatsuki! How stupid!"

Shinpi's eyes narrowed dully at they continued to humiliate her with obnoxious laughter. They became so delighted in her idiocy that they totally forgot she was standing there and wandered off on their own blissful land of laughter.

Shinpi sighed loudly and let her shoulders slouch just one time in her life.

"I heard you were looking for the Akatsuki," someone said as they came up behind her. His voice was oddly familiar and it only took Shinpi half a second to recognized the mystery man's voice

Shinpi twirled around, her heart already beating faster than a new born chick's, only to find a face she didn't recognize. The man that stood before her was the total opposite of the man she searched for. His face was plain and his hair was so sun washed it was almost turning into a yellowish brown at the ends. He had on a pair of round wire glasses that didn't fit him. Shinpi's eyes instantly lost their inspired glimmer.

"Oh, sorry to startle you," the man said awkwardly, taking a step back since he had thought his sudden encounter had frightened Shinpi. "I heard you are looking for the Akatsuki."

"Apparently, I am," Shinpi said, looking away disappointed. "I'm looking for a particular man clad in black with red clouds. Have you seen him?"

"Well, there are many men wearing the same thing," he said honestly. "It's their uniform. But you would be smart and avoid them, forget about that man. He's no good. They are all killers and wouldn't think twice to murder you in cold blood. Stay away. Stay alive," he said with his finger in the air like a stern teacher hammering facts into his pupil.

"I don't believe he's as horrible or terrible as you or any of the citizens here accuse him to be. The other men of this Akatsuki might be, but he can't be. He saved me just yesterday from falling into ocean! And believe me when I say that I'm going to find him," Shinpi said almost too sternly.

The man backed away holding his hands up, palms facing her. "Calm down, little lady, I didn't mean to offend anyone. I just wanted to give you a fair warning. And you would be wise and forget, but if you're so set out on finding him then I can't stop you. But here's a tip: if this ninja doesn't want to be found by you, you probably won't ever be able to find him. Just a heads up for disappointment," he said and walked away slowly.

Shinpi's harsh glare almost bore a hole through the man's back as he sauntered off. Once he was no longer visible behind the crowds of people and turned swiftly as if to shake off the possibility of disappointment and continued on her quest nonchalantly.

The man leaped off the roof of a tall building, unnoticed by everyone, into the dense forest around. In an instant his unattractive features and dirt colored hair disappeared faster than a hummingbird's wings in flight. His long black robe clothed him as his handsome face returned to its attractive valleys and hills. His red eyes pierced through whatever he looked at as his jet black hair framed his perfect face.

He didn't move, only thought about those eyes that have plagued his dreams though he hasn't had a decent dream since he was thirteen. Only when he heard the snapping of a twig did he wake up from the daydream. It was his blue companion.

"Oh, there you are, Itachi-san. I was looking all over for you since yesterday," Hoshigaki Kisame said as he walked into the clearing. His partner only glared at Kisame making sure the blue fellow had no intentions of prying into his private life. Kisame put up his hands up before himself protectively, "Don't worry. I don't care the girl at all. But I'm suggesting that you get rid of her quickly, otherwise I will."

Itachi whipped around so his back faced his disagreeable partner. "I'll take care of her, so stop thinking about it altogether."

The months quickly passed. The festivities were now coming to a close and just as the decorations were slowly stripped from their posts after weeks of celebration, Shinpi packed away her instruments one by one. At the end, she has still not found her mystery man as she searched between gigs and appointments. The oddest thing was, she was sure she had seen him many times in the crowds of people, but as soon as she started to follow his shadow he would disappear, as if he never existed at all.

It was the last day of their stay in the land of Ame. Shinpi, with her kokyu as usual, dragged her feet along as she took one last trip around the town square, hoping to catch a shadow again and perhaps this time succeed in finding her mystery man. Among the crowd of people eager to get their businesses back in order after the long celebration, she caught another glimpse of his tall dark shadow.

Her eyes glimmered and she picked up her pace, weaving between people to get to her goal. When she finally got there though, he had disappeared again. She whirred around, her eyes darting one place after another until she caught sight of him again.

Tried of their game of hide-and-seek, Shinpi glowered angrily. "Fine, let's get this over with," she said to herself quietly as she followed him one step at a time.

Itachi had led her out of the busy town and into the dark alleys, then back again into the light, hoping that she might get tired and give up herself before he had to force her. But with every passing second it only seemed like her determination grew instead of waning. Something about her eyes scurrying around in search of him so desperately made him feel just slightly uncomfortable. No enemy had ever tried to seek him out like she was.

Finally, he gave up.

Shinpi spun around for what seemed like the hundredth time in a crowded place, thinking to herself that she would find him standing at the corner of some dark alley, but almost ran into his chest with her nose. She tilted her head so far up that it almost seemed like she was looking directly at the sky above. He was standing so close; she had forgotten how angry she was at him for toying around with her.

It seemed like he was about to say something, but before he could utter a sound she grabbed his hands and dragged him away from the crowd. Surprised, for the first time in his life, he walked step by step as she tugged him along, her lilac eyes shining like amethysts in the light.

She brought him out of the town and up a rural hill he wouldn't have imaged her climbing before, but now that she's here it seemed as if she belonged on the grassy top than in a fanciful costume, playing for a client.

"This is my favorite place in all of Amegakure," she explained to him. The breeze had began to pick up on the hill top and her hair blew around her small body as the petals from the blooming cherry tree behind danced along. The image left him almost breathless.

He watched her enjoy herself upon the grand landscape as she danced like a little girl dangerously close to the cliff edge only to be brought back to his side by the wind as she slipped on the dewy grass and tumbled into his arms.

"Wah! Sorry about that," she said with a bright smile, her cheeks rosy. He grabbed his hand again and had him stand near the tree. "I'll play for you!" she declared and opened her box. "You know, the kokyu is my specialty. Nobles and rich businessmen pay large sums of money to hear me play. I'll play for you for free, as thanks for saving me from falling into the docks.

"If you hadn't come, this little one would be ruined by now," she said stroking the instrument softly. "Please, enjoy. I promise you won't regret it."

She set the bow at the delicate strings and magically the melody flowed out merrily twisting and spinning with the wind and petals as she had just a little while ago. The piece only lasted for three minutes, but it seemed like centuries have passed in that peaceful realm she introduced to him.

After the song ended, and she opened her eyes once again to look at him, he walked two steps closer to her.

"What do they call you," he asked.

Shinpi's mouth opened ever so slightly at the sound of his voice. It was thick like honey, and more beautiful than she had ever imagined it to be. She glanced away shyly. "Shinpi," she answered, "because my existence is a dark and lonely mystery."

He scoffed at the name. It was ridiculous.

"That name does not deserve you," he said, the words seemed foreign to him. "I won't call you that. I'll call you Mayuri," he said possessively with a tone he hadn't known he could achieve.

Shinpi's cheeks bloomed into a pretty red and she swore that she heard raced up to her brain, since she heard it so loudly. "What should I call you then, since we're exchanging names and all?"

"Itachi," he said. "You will call me Itachi. Maybe you'll play for me next time we meet."

A confident smile stretched across Mayuri's pretty face. "I'm a minstrel, I won't be cheap."

Itachi's fingers touched the edge of his hat and tilted it ever so slightly in a bow, then walked to the cliff and disappeared.

Quite used to him vanishing into thin air, Mayuri spun with her hands in the air laughing in her own merriment. Finally she became dizzy and fell into her own little field of wildflowers, still giggling like there was no end.

She looked up at the sky, watching the white fluff of clouds as they drifted away.

"Itachi," she murmured to herself followed with a giggle. "Mayuri," she repeated. She turned into her side and picked a lily from one of the flowers. "Mayuri."

So who else feels so relieved that the story is finally moving on its wheels. I DO! But not so much, since I've only got a few chapters that are pre-written before we catch up. But don't worry, I'll have them finished by the time we need to post, to prevent writer's block. Don't forget to review!