Hi there,

Apologize for the late update, I had to deal with the flu for the week(sniffle)

So please enjoy this chapter while I mourn the death of the many tissue boxes I mutilated...(I'M SORRY, TISSUE BOX-KUN)

When I come back from my little mission, my father is furious. Which I somewhat expected.

"You what!?"

"I went to go track down an Akatsuki, Father."

He paces the floor, mumbling to himself. Mother sits in the corner, looking baffled at Father's theatrics and folding origami. "Do you have ANY IDEA how dangerous that is?! You didn't even have a team - fighting against the Akatsuki is much too dangerous!"

I roll my eyes. "Father, I'll be having much more dangerous missions as an Anbu. And besides, I'm standing here in front of you, am I not? I fought my way out."

"Oh? And what else happened?"

I clench my fist in annoyance. "That. Is. All."

"Mizuki, I think what your father is trying to say is that, you facing the man that was your close childhood friend, it must not the most pleasant experience," Mother interrupts, shooting a glare at Father.

"I understand that, but I do not see why I require another lecture because I defended myself against a one of the most dangerous organizations in the Land of Fire."

My father seems to be unable to reply. I quickly say before he can continue lecturing me, "May I be dismissed, Mother? I need to wash the dirt off of me, and eat something." She nods, and I run out of the room as fast as I can.

Finally, peace and quiet. Note to self: If Sasuke asks, keep your lips zipped. Speaking of which, I should probably visit him in the hospital. Itachi got him pretty badly.

Later In The Week

I come to the village with a small bunch of flowers, and some of our fresh tomatoes. Hope he'll like these. Ever since Naruto and Jiraiya brought Tsunade-sama, Sasuke and Kakashi have been able to get an efficient treatment. Reaching his room, I find that there's no doctor - he's not even in bed, he's perfectly fine. In a chair by the window, my "little brother' stares out the window, his face unreadable. I put the flowers in a vase that is already full to the brim. "Sasuke?" He glances my way, then returns to his set gaze outside. "Are you alright?" He gets out of his seat and walks up to me.

"I'm leaving."

"The hospital?"

He shakes his head. "The village."

"Hn… Why… why am I not surprised…?" I massage my temples with my fingers. This boy… I am going to have a lot of headaches.

He is slightly taken back at my lack of dissent. "What, aren't you going to lecture me about how stupid this is, and the rest of that crap?"

"Not really. Besides, even if I did, you wouldn't listen to me anyways. It's your life, I can't stop you." I adopt a more stern tone. "You already broke your promise once - don't expect me to trust you like that again. Any trouble that you cause out there, will travel all the way back to the village….I'll do what I can here."Adding a pinch of sympathy at the last sentence.

He shoots me a slight grin. "Thank you... Nee-san."

I sigh. "You're going to Orochimaru, aren't you?"

"Yeah… How did you find out?"

I shrug. "Well, it's obvious. He branded you with his Cursed Seal, and offered you power. The one thing you want. Now that that's cleared, when are you leaving?"

"Tonight."

"You do realize that people won't be as understanding as me, right? And, you idiot!" I slap him playfully. "You boys are so dense, not even recognizing it when someone likes you."

He rubs his shoulder, where I slapped him. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"Gee, you really are dense. Sakura! Have you even seen how she looks at you and treats you so nicely?"

"All the girls do that."

"Well, you're certainly spoiled when it comes to attention. She's on your team, she's protected you when you were out in the Chunin exams against three Oto nin- that itself is very impressive. I heard now she's considering medical ninjutsu. She's doing this because she doesn't want you or Naruto to keep protecting her. She wants to protect, not be protected."

"I don't need to hear this." He replies in a bored tone and breaks eye contact.

"Oh, yes you do, mister. And from what I heard, you care about her too. Kakashi-sensei said you protected her in the Land of Waves, taking a bunch of senbon for her. And then in the Chunin exams, Kiba said that you looked pretty scary when you saw the condition that Sakura was in." He looks like he's blushing now - but at the same time, like he wants to kill Kiba and Kakashi-sensei.

I warn him, "If you lay a hand on those two, I will get you. And besides, you know I'm telling the truth." Oh yeah, he's definitely blushing now.

"Shut up! Besides that doesn't matter now. "

"Yes, it does! She's going to come after you, and Naruto as well."

"I thought you were fine with me leaving."

I glare at him. "Of course I am! But everyone else isn't! I'm simply warning you that those specific people most certainly are not fine with you leaving!"

"If they come after me, then let them come after me. The only thing that matter is that I kill Itachi!"

"Do you even care about your comrades' feelings?" I demand.

"They aren't my comrades."

I cross my arms. "If you do not care for your fellow ninja, then I refuse to follow your views."

"An avenger does not have comrades, they will just get in my way."

"Then what about me?"

"..."

"Oh, so I don't count as an enemy or a comrade?"

"I know how you feel about Itachi."

I clench my fist and take a step back. "You know nothing. Now if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to." Before I close the door, I toss over my shoulder, "Don't cause too much trouble." I find and follow up the stairs up to the Hokage's office. After a deep breath, I knock on the door.

"Come in" Lady Tsunade sits at her desk, busily sorting papers and signing contracts. "What do you need?"

I bow in respect. "Tsunade-sama, before the Third Hokage passed, he assigned me to be an Anbu in training. My training was postponed until a week after the Chunin exams. I was alerted that my training starts immediately."

"Ah, yes. Murakami Mizuki, isn't it?" She consults her notes. "An Anbu captain will escort you to your training." At that moment a male Anbu member comes through the expansive windows, landing at the side of the Hokage's desk. That was fast… His attire was made of the regular Anbu uniform, with a porcelain cat mask with green and red markings on the side. At the top of his mask, tufts of brown hair stick up.

"Hokage-sama." The man greets Tsunade. She curtly nods at him, then gestures to me.

"This is your new trainee." I swallow.

No going back, now. "Murakami Mizuki, sir."

BAM, done.

The Anbu at the end is an actual character, can you guess who~?

Well try your guesses, but unfortunately I have bad news(again)

I am 50% sure that the next upload will be delayed

BYE BYE!~Grai