Night Rain
Chapter Seven

"We did indeed," Kamiko retorted. "We got carried away."

"I think I'll be heading back," I looked up at the orangey sky. "It's getting dark and my mother is waiting."

"We'll go back together then," she took a step, shortening the distance between us.

I took a step back. My heart was beating so fast, it could probably be heard.

"Let's go," she grabbed my hand and grinned. Her eyes sparkled.

I instantly looked away, following one of the shinobi laws.

"Never look straight into the eyes of your opponent unless you know for sure it's safe." Iruka's voice echoed in my head.

It wasn't safe.

"Look at me," her voice was stern this time.

I shook my head.

'How can I be so stupid?! What do I do now?'

I sloppily tried to hide the fear from my face, although Kamiko could still sense it.

A sudden disruption of the air and I felt my cheek burn, under Kamiko's hand. Not a second after, she squeezed my chin between her fingers and forcefully turned my head towards her.

Everything went silent except my heavy breathing. With the corners of my eye I saw her tilt her head to meet my gaze.

All the training I had in the Academy suddenly left my memory. At this moment I realized I wasn't a shinobi that could act under pressure.

'Genjutsu…'

Dizziness followed right after I met her muddy brown eyes.

3rd person POV:

"Follow me," the purple-haired girl ordered and made her way deeper in the woods.

After making sure she is well away from the village and anyone's supervision she asked the other girl a single question.

"Will you tell me what bothers you?"

The conversation was normal at first sight; there was no shouting or any sort of tension between the participants. However, at a closer look, it was pretty obvious that one of the girls was manipulating the other.

"I know something bothers you," she smiled. "You can tell me anything."

For a second their eyes interlocked.

"There's a lot on my shoulders; a big burden."

The dark-haired girl finally said, though her voice was not louder than a whisper.

"We have a lot of time. Come on, tell me."

"You probably won't believe me but… I have been reborn in this world," she laughed. "I don't come from here, no. I've watched about the place on TV!"

Kamiko too forced a laugh, "Indeed sounds ridiculous."

"Oh, I know. Even more so when I know what will happen in the next 5 years."

"You do?" Kaniko looked in Amaya's eyes; she wasn't lying. "What do you know?"

"Hm, I wonder if I should tell you."

The aubergine-haired girl grabbed her arm, strengthening the genjutsu. She needed the information fast before she reached the limits of her chakra.

"Talk."

"Okay. At the Chunin Exams, for example, Orochimaru will attack the village in alliance with Sunagakure."

Kamiko's eyes widened. That was vital Intel. Her leader was going to be proud this time.

She looked at Amaya with pity in her eyes. For a second she wondered what to do with her. She didn't have enough chakra to hold the genjutsu until the base nor could she afford to leave her.

She sighed and untied the piece of bandage on her arm. On its wrong side was engraved a seal, holding various ninja tools. She summoned the rope she needed and swung it over her shoulder.

With a mysterious glow in her eyes Kamiko approached the girl, who under the genjutsu was as good as defenseless, and landed a steady hit on her head. Amaya collapsed immediately, unconscious, on the ground.

"That should hold until I return."

Dai passed by the blocks of flats for the third time, as he finished his lap around. The night had just settled in and the visibility was less than 2 meters.

He furrowed his brows, then let out a sigh – no conditions for training. He looked around in case someone approached him but everything seemed clear.

Biting his lip he thought back to the conversation he had with Amaya earlier. She had agreed to train with him. Then, where was she?

Going back to her flat was pointless. He had gone once and even then Amaya's mother seemed to become nervous; if he went again the poor woman would probably sicken with worry.

'Where could she be?' Dai asked himself.

It wouldn't be unusual for his best friend to take a walk but miss their appointment - that was not in her style.

Although it was already dark outside, it wasn't late so the main streets of the village were still crowded. Dai headed to the center without any particular plan in head. The chances of finding her there were minimal but he had to try. And if there's still no clue of her he'd head back and hope she's home.

Dai passed by several stores, which he had throughout fully searched for Amaya. The people slowly took to their homes, leaving his search area clearer but also minimalizing his hopes to find her.

He had almost gave up when he reached the ramen shop of Ichiraku. For a moment he wondered if there was point to check. Would Amaya really replace training for food? He chuckled, knowing it was indeed possible.

He opened the curtains and peered inside. To his disappointment, Amaya was not there.

"How can I help you, kid?" Teuchi asked, peeping from the kitchen.

"I wonder," Dai scratched his head. "Have you seen a girl with long black curly hair here soon?"

"Hm let me think about that..."

"Aye, Dai, you talking about Amaya?"

"Huh?" the brunet turned to the voice, having just realized there was a third person inside. "Oh, hi, Naruto. Yes, I mean Amaya."

"I've seen her!" the blond chirped, then frowned. "It was some time ago, though."

"Where did you see her?"

"She was on one of the busy streets, the one that leads to the woods, with another girl."

"What girl?" Dai raised a brow.

"Well," Naruto thought. "She looked strange and I think her hair was purple."

"Damn it," Dai spat out and left, mouthing a thanks.

Amaya's POV:

'Gen..Genjutsu.'

A voice in my head, so faint it was hardly detectable, kept repeating.

I slowly opened my eyes and became aware of my throbbing head. I groaned, then, looked around. Some deluded instinct that hadn't abandoned me in those few hours kicked in when I realized I was alone, in the forest and tied to a tree.

I struggled against the rope but managed to only rub my skin sore.

I stopped and thought back; I could remember, although faintly, what I'd done with Kamiko.

Something about this meetings with her rang a bell, unfortunately not loud enough for me to hear. I had to concentrate, which was easier said than done. I was practically defenseless in the dark near a shinobi village. Good or not in math, I could calculate the chances of potentially dangerous people spotting me and they were big.

I exhaled slowly and convinced my mind that if I hadn't been found by now two or so more minutes wouldn't make a difference.

'Genjutsu.'

My eyes widened as I brought my hands in a ram seal. Well, tried to. I managed to only bruise my hand when it brushed against the rope. I swore, regretting not carrying a kunai with me.

Something in the distance moved followed by the sound of breaking sticks.

Knowing that I was short of time, I looked around for anything sharp. That's what they did in movies, right? I could theoretically find a left over kunai or shuriken from some past fierce battle that had been held years ago.

Of course, nothing like that happened.

Twigs cracked again.

"Uh, there should be a jutsu for this," I whispered to myself.

I couldn't recall any of those being taught at the Academy and the ones that could be adapted required hand signs. Actually every jutsu did, excluding the chakra exercises from my childhood.

'Wait. I'm so stupid.'

I was tied with a rope! Rope as in Rope Escape Technique. I had never performed it successfully before and wasn't sure I would now of all times – under pressure and constantly repeating the events of the day. (Coming to that, I had already forgotten how I had met Kamiko today.) It was my only chance.

Hurriedly I began preforming it, praying to all Gods I knew it'd work.

Synchronized with the nearest bush moving, I freed myself from the rope's grip. I jumped away and took a fighting stance. I didn't leave the bush out of sight while wiping the sweat from my forehead.

A fox appeared from behind it, almost instantly running away after seeing the predator on its path; especially after this predator let out a much girly scream.

Without giving in to stupid emotions such as embarrassment and wasting my precious time, I brought up my hand to a half ram seal.

"Release!"

I kept repeating the events of the day I knew I'd soon forget.

'Come on!'

"Release!" I repeated, putting more effort.

A few seconds passed in silence, only the distant song of the crickets signifying time hadn't stopped. Slowly I released the seal and dug in my memory.

The part where I'd seen Kamiko and came here was missing but I could remember what we talked about.

"This is fucking bad."

If she said to anyone about my past it was the end of me. I couldn't afford it, I wasn't ready to deal with it and honestly, I didn't believe I'd be able to ever.

I took off to the only direction that seemed logical in a pointless attempt to stop Kamiko.

3rd Person POV:

The purple-haired girl leaped from branch to branch with a smirk on her face she hadn't lost for hours. She would never admit it but she kept imagining the approval she'd get form Danzo and, the most satisfying part, the envy in her co-members' eyes when they heard she'd found a gold mine.

Lord Danzo was a strict person considering his ways of producing shinobi. That's what some people said, anyway. For Kamiko, who had been raised from him, it made no difference. She didn't know any other ways to become a ninja.

Lord Danzo never had a bond with his students, even a blind man could see that, however she had a big devotion to him. She refused to look deeper and search for the reason but her feelings were well-known to her. He was the closest thing she'd ever had to a parent. Even the other members of the Foundation treated her bad because of her age. Also, she rarely saw Danzo so whenever that happened he wasn't in a mood to shout at her. Not that shouting impressed her anymore.

This time she'd make him proud. The mission she had been given of the tender age of 4 was nearing its end and it smelled of success.

She had been briefly instructed what to do and had known about the duration span. To say she got lucky was boasting but she really did. For all she knew, she could've still been in that shitty village, observing boring people all day long. Amaya had helped her greatly by distancing and raising her suspicion. That had triggered her force-taught instincts and made her research. That had brought her to the classified information.

What was about to happen to the girl was entirely her own fault.

Distracted by her thoughts, Kamiko almost fell from the branch she just hopped on.

"Stupid leaves," she hissed and jumped on another.

Now that she was reminded of it, her chakra reserves were indeed low; it wouldn't be a bad idea to stick to simple running in case she needed to use jutsu later.

Unfortunately, at most occasions, she had more stamina than chakra. And although stamina was crucial for a ninja, it became rather pointless when she didn't have what to waste it for.

In her training sessions as a young child, she'd run out of physical strength almost always. Having to deal with constant muscle cramps had been painful and she despised every single one of those days.

After being assigned to her mission there was no longer a person to torture her, in the literal meaning of the word, and she had put her training in the background. She wasn't necessarily proud of that and preferred to refer to it as getting off of her intense regime, because her childhood had been intense.

She continued through the woods with a pace, almost unnoticeably slower than before.

Dai stopped in front of the thick trees, signifying the beginning of the forest, to catch his breath. He definitely needed to work on his stamina.

He looked ahead at the endless green area and wondered how on Earth he would find Amaya. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Maybe he had to ask for help; tell Iruka for example or at least his parents. They knew he'd be seeing Amaya and wouldn't make a fuss if he didn't come home. He was worried for her mother. It wouldn't surprise him if she went to his folks and said the two of them were missing. Letting that happen would be disastrous.

He sighed and continued in; he didn't have time to waste.

To his relief there was a well-trodden path from the constant flow of shinobi that was heading to or out of Konohagakure. Of course, it didn't mean that one couldn't digress, which would be perfect in case they wanted to not be seen, but Dai had always been an optimist and believed he should not stray.

Amaya had warned him about Kamiko from the very first moment she'd seen her. She had that inborn intuition for people and everything in general. Dai himself wasn't that straightforward and didn't like to judge without reason. Sure, the purple-haired lassie was strange and didn't know how to approach people (or just simply disliked Amaya) but when he had talked to her alone she didn't seem like the monster his best friend described her as.

Nevertheless, Dai had known Amaya for as long as he could remember and trusted her with his life. Especially after the incident with her memory he had stored a little suspicion for Kamiko and didn't want them to be near each other. He believed that Kamiko was dangerous for her and only the thought that she was with her in the woods at nighttime made his stomach hurt.

It was hard to distinguish different forms in the darkness let alone footsteps but one place was so noticeably disrupted it made Dai stop and inspect.

The grass surrounding the path was trampled more than it should've been. It wasn't just one or two steps but it appeared someone had stayed there for more than a few minutes.

He went closer to one of the trees and picked up a rope that had been derelict there. He had to bring it to mere centimeters to his eyes in order to see it clearly.

It wasn't quaint to find leftover ninja tools at such places, particularly in forests, where most battles were held. Dai had been lucky to not come across an old booby trap so far.

He made a mental note to be more careful.

The rope he was holding was definitely left here not long ago as no dirt or any othermarkings signified otherwise.

Dai looked up ahead and gulped hard – by continuing, he'd either find Amaya or someone else with way worse intentions.

Amaya's POV:

I put all the strength I had left in those last meters separating me and Kamiko. Since I'd closed on her and she had sensed me she slowed down as if she provoked me.

I didn't put much thought into my future moves because apparently it wasn't my style. Also, more importantly, I couldn't think and didn't actually had time to.

My current plan was simply to improvise.

"Kamiko!" I shouted. "Where are you going?"

She stopped and turned, her pearl white teeth almost glowing in the dark when she grinned.

"To tell Root everything I learned about you," she laughed. "Really you shouldn't have come after me, I would've sent someone to pick you up. And cage you."

"You are telling nothing."

"Ah, you know you are troublesome? I'm way too tired to deal with you."

She turned her back to me and continued to wherever she was going. Her gait was carefree; her body visibly relaxed.

I bent down and took the first thing I got hold of, which happened to be a rock. I threw it at her, the thing brushing a strand of her eggplant hair.

Kamiko stopped. She faced me with a sick glimmer in her eyes. Her chakra was fiercely spreading killer intent in the air.

I smelled the upcoming fight. A supposed member of Root, Danzo's organization for the dirty work of Konoha, versus me – an Academy graduate, carrying no weapons or anything for a fight.

A/N: Okay, tension finally rises :D I hope the constant changing of the point of view didn't annoy you too much. 'till next time~