Masked Koi: Chapter 20. "Circular"

"Y-yes, Hokage-sama?" Gai asked, inching a little towards Kakashi, as if to hide behind him. Kakashi offered no sympathy. Minato was never mad. Never. If he was, Kakashi believed, something must be serious. If it was something serious, it was no time to be acting childish and scared. Not even if the room was overflowing with Minato's angry aura. Kakashi tensed a little. It felt stuffy.

"My son showed proficiency in performing a forbidden taijutsu move. Did either of you teach him the Lotus?" Minato asked, his words clear and sharp.

"No," Kakashi said. "I haven't taught him any taijutsu."

"Neither have I," Gai said.

Minato laced his fingers together and his blue eyes settled on the two Jounin. "Kakashi, did you ever see Naruto practicing this move?" Minato asked, his voice even harsher and low.

"No. If you're wondering about when he was taught by…your ANBU," Kakashi glanced at Gai briefly, "then you should ask Shisui. He was her partner. I'm sure he dropped by sometimes to observe."

"I've already talked to him. He never came by to watch. He trusted her to teach him enough, I think. If I were him, I would've done the same thing," Kakashi said.

"Who?" Gai asked. Kakashi sent him a look. Gai opened his mouth in protest, but Minato spoke again, cutting off and silencing the green clad Jounin.

"Gai, I'm sure you've heard of the Suna Jounin sensei who broke into the basement of this tower and attempted to steal multiple scrolls. She is still well contained and restricted. As Hokage, I approved of one of the less cruel punishments for this crime: public torture. To make sure she and any other Suna or foreign shinobi doesn't attempt to break and steal the scrolls again, her torture will be very traditional and will last for a bit as longer than usual. For one hour, Nori of Sungakure no Sato will be physically and mentally tortured. Kakashi and Shisui have both declined to be part of the torturing group. In addition to asking you about my son, I wanted to ask you if you'd like to help out my ANBU," Minato said, his words as smooth as water.

Gai's mouth dropped. "If Lee or Neji or Tenten see me being cruel to a fellow Jounin of a fellow village no matter the circumstances, they'll fear me! I understand that her crime cannot go without punishment, but aren't you overdoing it?"

"Gai, what would you do if someone hurt or kidnapped Lee?" Minato asked. "And, she'd asked for basic information on Naruto before the Exams. You aren't a parent but as a sensei, I think you can understand why I'm 'overdoing' it, as you say. I'm taking the necessary precautions. Naruto is strong, but he isn't as strong as he could be to stand up to foes in the future. Every day we grow weaker and older while our opponents just keep getting stronger and growing in population."

Kakashi frowned under his mask. "Not to be…rude or anything, but this is the first time I've heard you this concerned and, well, involved with anything regarding Naruto. But, better late than never, as they say. Back to the first thing you were talking about, who do you think taught Naruto that move?"

"Nori, probably. I don't know why. She might have her own agenda to use him as a weapon," Minato quipped. "The two did talk and fight during his first C-Rank in your mission report. I read that over and over. They know one another. She might've extracted something out of him, like of shinobi tactics or where shelters are or things like that. Shisui is still writing up the report on what he found when he searched her mind."

"Shisui's involved, huh? So that would explain why he wasn't there to cheer on his team during the preliminaries," Kakashi noted.

"And the same reason why Nori wasn't there either. Her team looked especially nervous. Maybe I should question them, too," Minato mused.

"Minato-sensei, don't. If Nori wanted information, she could've gotten it herself. She's a Jounin. Reconnaissance doesn't work well with three clumsy Genin causing racket and setting off every trap. Don't give Suna more of a reason than this to cut ties with us. The kuonichi on their team is the Kazekage's daughter and one of the boys is his son," Kakashi said.

"That's all. Go home," Minato said, waving idly. The two bowed and left.

The following day, a crowd of people had gathered around a large area in front of the Hokage tower. ANBU made an inner ring, an inner circle. The civilians had enough sense to know that something had happened, something drastic. The shinobi, mainly the Jounin, knew a little of the story. Elite Jounin knew most of it. Chuunin and Genin were on the same level of knowledge: zip.

After an hour or so, most of the Genin had heard about it and stood close enough to see what was going on. Aki and Haru stood together off to the side and Gaara and Kankuro stood far apart. Naruto, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Hinata, Neji, and some other Genin also stood randomly sprinkled in the crowd of few civilians and multiple shinobi.

Then, the doors opened to reveal Minato heading a group of ANBU. He stood facing the crowd with a serious and grim look. Naruto looked at his father with confusion. Then, the ANBU brought out a woman, blindfolded. Her clothes were stained with blood and puncture wounds, burns, scars, and other telltale signs of torture riddled her body. Her hands shook slightly and her black hair looked greasy and unkempt and there was a layer of grime and sometimes a sheen of something unidentifiable on her legs. She allowed herself to be dragged, but began to fight back when she heard murmurs, a lot of murmurs.
To her, it was obvious there were a lot of people surrounding her. Before, the sound-blocking seals had been take off and she could hear. She wanted to cry, a small part of her really did, but she didn't. She was a shinobi through and through and she'd be damned if she cried.

"What's going on?" someone in the crowd asked. "Who is she?"

Naruto's eyes crawled all over the woman. There was a seal on her neck, a long scar on her back, a scar on her stomach, burns on her shoulders, feet, arms, and long marks where a kunai or something of the sort had been dragged across and into her flesh. He winced. It must've been excruciatingly painful.

"This is a foreign shinobi from a country Konoha has had peaceful relations and strong ties with both politically and socially. Recently, she had broken into a high security area of the Hokage Tower and attempted to steal multiple scrolls, scrolls that the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages had sealed their forbidden and secret jutsu into. These scrolls are exclusive to Konoha only and stealing them can be punishable by death; this is a high security risk to village safety and could lead to war. However, war is not an option. To ensure that no other foreign shinobi or country is tempted to do this again, she will serve as our example to the world. We do not tolerate," Minato turned to glance at the woman, "deplorable crimes such as this."

Naruto watched as the woman was bound with her hands behind her back and tied to her feet as she knelt. Even without seeing her eyes, he could see there was bewilderment and disbelief on her face. She doesn't think it's real…

The ANBU's blows came down as a harsh marker that it was real. It was reality. Nori gritted her teeth, refusing to give them the satisfaction of being able to see her suffer more than she suspected her body looked like. They'd invaded her mind, overturned every memory she had, every insecurity she'd had. She felt violated.

She coughed and her mouth was metallic. Blood. She felt it dribble down her chin and onto her lap and the sun's heat only made her more miserable. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to ignore the pain that each consecutive blow magnified. Her body felt as if it were on fire, but she knew that wasn't true. She couldn't smell rotting flesh. She was somewhat relieved that they weren't going to kill her.

Gaara looked at Kankuro. 'Isn't that Nori-sensei?' Kankuro mouthed. Gaara nodded, much to her older brother's shock.

It was at that same time that Naruto realized that it was Nori. Anger flooded through him, but he held back. He clenched his teeth and left the group of onlookers.

Nori didn't move. I think if I do, all the blood will rush out of me and I'll die. I can't die here. I can't let these bastards have this satisfaction. Damn this village. I shouldn't have come here.

She would've opened her eyes, but she was still blinded by the cloth tied over her eyes. She didn't even know why. Shisui hadn't even told her why he'd looked at everything she knew and experienced, which honestly hadn't been much given her amnesia. Her eyes weren't special; they were black and ordinary. Shisui's were the same, but he had a kekkei genkai, a whole other story.

Betrayal ripped across her heart. She hadn't liked Shisui or anything, or Kakashi. They were just people she was friendly with and grateful for taking care of her wounds when those people had appeared out of nowhere and attacked her and Gaara on a little trip out of the village. She'd been excited to go to Konoha, hearing about its less arid weather and nice trees and being able to not see her bratty Genin and just muse about how much they'd pissed their pants and how many times they'd almost died in that Forest.

I wonder how they held up.

Jiraiya was someone she'd helped to get past the Suna guards when he'd heard about her. She'd written a book out of sheer boredom and it caught the man's eye. She didn't write erotica the way he did, but her book did fairly well. The two got along swimmingly and she did admit her apartment for the time being during the Chuunin Exams was nicer than she'd expected.

But none of them did anything to stop her torture! She hadn't even done anything! If she tried hard, she could remember a room of scrolls and then white masks, but that was it! They couldn't torture her for something she hadn't even done!

Her sigh came out as a gasp. I'd thought I could've trusted them, but I was wrong. If trusting them meant that something like this could've happened, then I can't trust them. I was so wrong. I thought they were kind, but they're just a village full of assholes and liars. I hate them.

I hate them!

No one noticed as the ANBU carried the woman away, but tears stained the cloth on her eyes and her ears rang.

Her ears rang even more painfully when she felt the horrible feeling of some kind of antiseptic liquid poured and rubbed into her wounds. She barely heard the smooth voice of some nurse or doctor nursing her wounds and patching her up.

"…calm do…"

Nori moaned in pain. She tried to move, but restraints on her wrists tying her down to the bed held her back.

"…st sleep…"

Nori complied gladly. She let herself drift off for a long time until she heard an annoyed voice and a painful punch to her arm. On her bandages. She felt the wound reopen but didn't react.

"Nori, open your eyes," a familiar voice said. "There's no blindfold, now."

"Leave, all of you," Nori said quietly.

"As if you're in any position to be making orders," Gaara sneered. "Look at you, pathetic."

"Gaara," Nori said sharply. "Shut up. I've had enough of your shit. Leave."

Gaara was taken aback but complied for once. Nori sighed, listening to the footsteps drift away. The man who'd asked her to open her eyes was gone too. She was alone. For once, she was glad.

She opened her eyes tentatively and saw a familiar face in the window. It was Naruto. She looked at him with distain, but he opened the window and came in anyway. With a kunai, he broke the restraints but could do nothing for the chakra suppressing seals. She looked at her hands for a long time and Naruto seemed content with the silence on a chair.

"Damned Hokage…" Nori muttered. "Damned Konoha. Damned scrolls."

"What happened?" Naruto asked. "They don't tell anything to us Genin."

"Did my team pass?" Nori asked, avoiding the question entirely.

"Yeah. I'm fighting Gaara in the Finals," Naruto said. "What's she like?"
"You came to get information," Nori realized. "Figures. That's all what you Konoha bastards want anyway. You can all rot in hell for all I care."

"…" Naruto didn't comment. "Gaara seems different. What's with her?"

"Naruto, you're a smart boy. However, I have no interest in talking to you Konoha shinobi. If Konoha deems me a threat—if my show was any indicator—then you shouldn't be here. You've got a reputation to uphold. Leave, kid," Nori said.

Naruto sighed and stood. Nori glanced at him with a hard look. "Naruto, be careful around Gaara. That's all I'll say. Leave."

Naruto left through the window.

There was an air of fear in the air and Naruto was glad for once that it wasn't directed at him. He supposed Minato's harsh and rather terrifying decision to resort to public torture wasn't sitting well with the shinobi and civilian alike. Naruto admitted to himself that he was surprised by Minato's sudden iron fist-like change.

Because Naruto had moved out of his father's home, ignoring Minato's will against it, he initially had no 'home' to call his own. He had a regular income from missions as a Genin and slept on the roof of the hospital. No one ever noticed him there. For hygiene, he either snuck into the hospital with a henge as a doctor or male nurse or simply a patient. There were showers there and sinks and towels. When he felt that it was too suspicious that a nurse or doctor or patient was brushing their teeth and washing their face there, he went to the bathhouse to wash up and soak. The bathhouse wasn't actually all that expensive and it was very relaxing.

When he wasn't sleeping after training until he had no chakra, Naruto was eating at various restaurants. He didn't eat a lot because he saved his money for kunai and wire and other ninja things like that. By now, most of the waiters and waitresses knew him and teased him about being so thin and why not order something with protein like pork or chicken or beef? Naruto had no reservations against meat, but it was simply more expensive than vegetable dishes.

Tonight, though, Naruto found himself at a place where meat was practically the only thing they served. He leaned his head on his palm and watched the meat slowly lose its pink color and tuned out Sakura and Ino's excited chattering and the other Genin's talking and chewing. He wasn't all that hungry.

"Naruto," Haru elbowed the Hokage's son hard. Naruto's eyes slid over to look at his teammate.

Naruto noticed something, or rather, a lack of something. Everyone had stopped talking and eating to look at him. Naruto felt an embarrassed blush make his cheeks hot. He looked at Haru expectantly.

"What?" Naruto demanded.

"You aren't eating," Haru pointed out. "You don't look so good."

"And?" Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Naruto, here," Kakashi put a piece of meat on his plate. The conversations continued again and it was a relieving roar to the Hokage's son. Naruto nibbled at it a little. "I'm full…" he muttered and left the restaurant making everyone wonder what was wrong.

As Naruto was walking to his humble futon on the hospital's roof, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He turned his head just enough to see who it was and saw Kakashi. Naruto turned around. "What?"

"What's on your mind?" Kakashi asked, his single eye shining with a knowing glint and his hands resting nonchalantly in his pockets and he slouched a little. Naruto sensed Kakashi was serious; he wasn't even holding his erotic book.

"Nothing," Naruto answered with just as much nonchalance.

"I'd like to say I know when I know my student's got something bugging him. Come on, I'll let you sleep in my apartment without mosquitoes getting you. I don't think going to the bathhouse or showering in the hospital is all that private, even with a henge," Kakashi said.

Naruto hid his surprise well. Not well enough, though. Kakashi eye-smiled with a smugness that Naruto couldn't seem to hate as much as he usually did. Naruto shook his head and walked away towards the hospital.

Death said, "You may eat and drink and be merry, for you are going to leave my home. But, the lips that touch the cup and the delicate fingers that hold the cake and grip the cup and that rest in my hand are going to stay. It is because someone back there wants to call you back and throw you at tears and regret and win."

The newcomer looked at death.

"Is that all?"

Death gave a grin. "I had hoped not. You are an excellent addition. But, they need you. You are the second exception. It is hard for you, I think, but you will manage. Give me your head."

The newcomer bowed. Death rested a hand on the head of hair, soft light hair, and frowned. "You will do better off without these." Then, the whole everything turned white and there was icing on the cakes and sugar in the tea and death was an incredible dancer.

Ibiki and Inoichi and Shisui looked at one another. "A whim."

Ibiki frowned even deeper. "That doesn't explain anything. On a whim, you'd steal scrolls, Unclassified scrolls, without having any prior knowledge as to where they were and how to get past security? Shisui, that's ridiculous."

"The report," Shisui said.

"I read it, from both of you. I know," Ibiki said. "I'd thought that those with motive and memories were more dangerous. I was wrong, for once. This Nori girl, is she even from Suna? With her skillset and that taijutsu move she performed with Naruto on his mission, I'd say she was from Konoha."

"Yet there is nothing to back that up, either," Inoichi said. "She's an anomaly. It's as if she dropped from the sky. But, her personality is of one in a Suna culture. Not Konoha. If she were a Konoha shinobi, she'd be a little less stubborn and excitable."

"Sure," Shisui scoffed. "Sure."

"What?" Inoichi narrowed his eyes. "Am I wrong?"

"Yes," Shisui said dryly. "And, I don't forgive you either. Years might've passed, but time doesn't heal wounds like that."

Ibiki sighed at Inoichi's dismay and said, "Koi. She should've applied for a job here. Her mere presence would've greatly helped make Nori tell us something. There's that weird seal on her neck, too. Maybe she has memories stored here and maybe would've cracked the seal, considering the she was Kushina-sama's student. Shisui, you don't think you can crack it, do you?"

"That seal isn't a normal one," Shisui said. "It's feeding on her chakra. Slowly, perhaps a whole clone's chakra is eaten up in a year. But, that seal isn't something I can break. We need to call Jiraiya-sama. He's the only seal expert left."

"What about Minato?" Inoichi asked.

"You saw him yesterday. Do you think he's going to of any help, calm help? Patient? No. He's got his heart and mind in knots over village safety and the fact that Nori had asked for basic information on Naruto and he gave it out and what if this and that," Shisui said.

Inoichi gasped. "So he thinks that Nori was going to use the Kyuubi with the scrolls?"

"Yes," Ibiki said. "Minato likes Naruto, even if the kid hates him."

"Hates him?" Inoichi asked.

"Minato was so caught up in grief over Kushina-sensei that he forgot all about their kid. A friend of mine trained the kid for two years and acted as his parent, unwittingly. That friend has been dead for seven years now, but the things that Naruto knows, like his impeccable taijutsu and ninjutsu are a product of being trained. Naruto hates Minato for not being like her, for not being there for him, for the neglect. Minato is very lately realizing the error of his ways, but Naruto doesn't forgive him. It just makes Minato angrier, frustrated, and depressed. So he took out his anger on Nori," Shisui said. "That's why we can't get in his way. We've got to tread lightly."

"How do we get Jiraiya-sama here?" Ibiki asked.

A knock came at the door.

Inoichi opened it and to his shock, saw the tall white-haired Sannin with a grim look on his face. Jiraiya turned to look at Shisui and there was an accusatory look directed at the Uchiha. "I was eavesdropping. Seal, right?"

"Yes, this way," Inoichi said, leading the way to the hospital. They entered her room to find the woman buried underneath a pile of towels, blankets, and pillows. It was obvious she'd broken into the supply closets and stolen them and brought them here. The only concerning thing was that her restraints were broken. But she couldn't mold chakra, thankfully.

"Nori," Jiraiya said.

"Fuck off," Nori hissed from under her mountain. "Leave."

Jiraiya sighed and took off the pillows and blankets to find the woman looking pale and a little too thin. A lot of her skin was covered in white bandages and she was curled up. She didn't want to move.

"Nori, you have amnesia. I think that the seal on your neck can help you regain your memories," Jiraiya said. "Let me see."

"Didn't you hear me? Fuck off," Nori said, her voice low and sharp. Jiraiya made a reach for her arm to sit her up, but she lashed out, prompting the other men in the room to hold her down.

Jiraiya first placed his hand over it and pulsed his chakra through it. Shisui held her arms down, face to face with the seething woman. Resent and betrayal was clear in her eyes, along with overflowing hatred. Shisui pursed his lips and gave her an empathetic look. She only seemed to get angrier and rebelled against his force.

Jiraiya suddenly jumped back, holding his hand with the other in pain. "I can't break it."

"What?" Ibiki said. "What do you mean? Why not?"

"This…is the kind of seal that doesn't come off. Or is broken. To put it another way, it's like a scar. The only way to take it off is to go back in time to prevent the seal from being put on, or for another chakra to be put into the seal and drive out the other seal's chakra. But, this chakra is corrosive. I can't feel my hand," Jiraiya grimaced and looked at his hand.

"But, does it hold memories?" Shisui asked.

"No," Jiraiya said. "It's like the Hyuuga's seal on their Branch house. With this seal, the caster can take control of the person it's on. Whoever put this seal on Nori intended to use her."

"Shisui, you said she had no motive to steal the scrolls. Maybe the person who put it on her intended to frame her and get the scrolls," Inoichi said as the three men let her go.

Ibiki turned to Nori. "Who put the seal on you?"

"How should I know?" Nori sneered. "And none of you should care. I'm a foreign ninja; I'm not one of you. You're all Konoha shinobi and I'm a Suna shinobi and if you don't want the Kazekage to hear about this you'll back off. All I want is for my students to become Chuunin and leave me alone, including all of you. I have no debts to repay and I have no one that I'm obliged to spend the rest of my life with. I complete missions for my village and maintain its reputation as a Jounin. That's why I live. I don't live to be questioned by stupid men who don't understand when I say 'I don't know'!"

"Hey, calm down. We never meant…" Shisui trailed off. Nori gave him a challenging look.

"You've searched my mind, searched my body, and ripped away any trust I could have in this village or its shinobi. You've hurt me and then you can't even back it up because you can't find any motive for me to even steal those scrolls! What don't you understand about 'I don't know how I got there'? Don't you understand what amnesia even means? It means I have nothing! If I have friends, or family, they must think I'm dead! I can't find them because I don't know who they were! I can only look to the future, but what is there?!" Nori's eyes burned holes into Shisui. "And I haven't gotten any of my questions answered, the burning one being what's so dangerous about my eyes? They're just regular black ones, the ones so many people have! Tell me, Uchiha!"

Shisui remained silent. "I can't say. My orders—"

"Then let me leave. If I cause more trouble for reasons that neither you nor I can explain or comprehend, then you can just kill me. There's no one waiting in Suna anyway," Nori snarled.

A knock on the door again interrupted the tense atmosphere. The door opened a moment later. "So Jiraiya-sensei, have you seen Naruto?" Minato walked in. He sensed the atmosphere and saw Nori seething.

"I'm honored to be in the presence of Hokage-sama," Nori said sarcastically. "What else can I do for yet another piece of garbage? Would you like to search me for any reason I could hurt Konoha? Oh that's right, I have no reason. Right, Minato?"

Minato stiffened. "Nori-san—"

"Ah, I get '-san', do I? I'm flattered. I'm flattered by the welcome present I was given as well. I think this should be my new look, these white bandages. They could protect me from sunburn. I'm grateful you look out for no-name Jounin you seem to think can take a beating without any repercussions. Very grateful," Nori said.

"That's enough from you," Ibiki said harshly. Nori gave a smile and tilted her head, as if to say 'oh, is that so?'

"Hokage-sama, you're under no one's orders but your own reservations. What is dangerous about my eyes? My regular, unimpressive, average eyes? What's the worst I could do, see?" Nori crossed her legs and leaned her elbow on her knee and rested her head on her palm and listened intently with an innocent glimmer in her eyes. "Go on."

"I've just read the newer report on your memory and I see that there was no motive you ever thought of or had to steal those scrolls. But, before I answer you, I'd like to know why you taught my son such a dangerous taijutsu move. Are you after him? Did you steal the scrolls to get him?" Minato asked, his eyes cold.

"Minato," Nori said, her voice dripping with sickeningly sweet syrup. "Naruto is the Hokage's son. That's the only remarkable thing about him. His taijutsu is good but I assume that's because you train him. You were quite the shinobi back in your day, so I hear. It's no wonder he's strong. Now, why would I be after him? So what he's your son? I already take care of two of the Kazekage's brats; I don't need another spoiled Kage's kid. I can tell he's got an attitude and even if I wanted to ransom him, you'd probably just find me and kill me before I had the chance to blink. I might not have anything left in this world, but I still like living. He's a regular teenager: spoiled, angry, frustrated, and unsure of how to deal with those emotions. I don't like children," Nori said.

Minato breathed out through his nose and his eyes softened a little. "Your eyes aren't the ones you were born with. Upon closer examination, there was scarring behind your eyes, presumably from an eye transplant. The eyes that replaced your old ones are from Konoha's clan, the Uchiha clan. And you're sure you don't remember anything about your eyes?"

"I don't remember anything," Nori said, exasperated. "And, Uchiha? Is that why Shisui's been hanging around me? You're all afraid I'll trap you in some horrible genjutsu?"

The room was a little uneasy. Nori grumbled something obscene. "Whatever. Just let me go back to my apartment. Keep me under surveillance if you're so worried. After all the shit you all pulled on me, I'm tired. So tired. If you want to seal my eyes away, go right ahead. Not like I'd know how to use them anyway."

A nurse walked in and squeaked at the amount of prominent people in the room. She pointed at a few things on the chart to Minato and then scurried away. Minato looked at her. "I'll have you under surveillance. I'll send word to ask your Kage, but do you mind helping me set up a stronger security system? If you, a Jounin, were able to break into it so easily, I think I'd need to step up my game. Are you willing to help?"

Ibiki and Inoichi's heads whipped around to look at Minato with disbelief. "Hokage-sama, that isn't a good idea! She could rig it to break in again, or let someone else in!"

"I'm well aware of the risks, with her being a foreign shinobi. However," Minato sighed. "She reminds me of someone. Someone I trusted. Trust me on this, okay? I don't think Nori would betray me and my orders, considering the consequences of simply breaking in," Minato gestured to the bandages covering a large portion of her body. "Maybe she'd lose a finger, and as a result, her jutsu. And, she is from an allied nation. I could easily get a detailed report on her and if she does betray me, I'd be able to transport myself to her place and kill her."

"Hey, I never agreed!" Nori protested. "What if I don't want to help you? And when did you mark me?"

"It's on arm, on your ANBU seal," Minato said. Nori's eyes widened. "AN…BU?"

"Yes. Do you remember being an ANBU?" Minato tilted his head slightly. Nori sat on her bed, looking at her hands, covered in bandages. Her ears rang.

"Registration number: 009721. Here is my application." Behind the counter, the man frowned. "That number was retired a year ago." Nori heard a girl's voice sigh loudly before saying, "Look at the insignia at the top of the application. Override." The man agreed with the loud 'approval' stamp being stamped onto the girl's paper. There was an aura of victory, smugness, but to Nori, it was foreign. The man handed the girl a mask. By the coloring, it somewhat resembled a fish. Again, an aura of glee filled the air, but the man was oblivious to it. The girl skipped away after receiving her uniform. Then, everything went black.

Nori felt sick. She looked for a trash can and leapt over to it and vomited. She was even paler than she had been before and knelt with her head bowed and her arms being the only thing holding her up. Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead and she refused to cry. She refused to cry. Refuse. Her shoulders shook, but she refused.

Refuse!

Nori hugged herself, the only person who could hug her. Nori was the only person who was there for her because she was alone with her hand out blindly; hoping she'd get pulled up and sees things again, see those she must've loved. Just…get pulled up by something. A memory of a smiling face, a memory of a window in an old house. Anything.

But her hand was out blindly because she thrust it into uncharted waters, into darkness. The seals on her body revealed nothing about her past and held nothing about any future she could have. Her hands, the muscles in them remember how to throw kunai, but that is all. The only future is a shinobi, a lonely killer.

Hey, did you know? Know what? That those kinds of shinobi go crazy! They go on killing sprees for fun! Ne, Nori-chan, you don't have any hobbies, right? It's a really good hobby! You'd be really good at it and then you'd attract attention and then everyone would know you and then, and then, (the best part!) maybe those who you forgot would recognize you and come to you, but you'd kill them because you're crazy!

Nori dug her fingernails into her knees and bit back a sob. She couldn't kill it. She couldn't kill the sob with her tempting hobby. She refused her hobby, refused her tears. Nori felt blood seep out of her knees. If I keep refusing, will nothing want to come back? If nothing comes back, I won't have anything to look forward to. I'll be stuck here, I'll be stuck at today, at yesterday, and no one will be able to find me. Because they're looking for me in tomorrow. In next week. In next year.

"I was never an ANBU," Nori said, her voice an arrow shooting through the smoke and making it to its target. Clear. Nori forced her eyes to turn back to black and then stood. She pushed past the other Jounin and walked out of the hospital, having a feeling Minato was going to discharge her anyway.

She kept walking forward. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Keep going… She stopped at a forest of trees that weren't normal trees, but bamboo. She flopped down on her back by a lake and looked up at the bamboo that looked so free and able to see their future: up. Envy streaked her mind, but she reminded herself that as a bamboo, she couldn't move and wouldn't be able to enjoy Black Thunder.

Her eyes closed and the ANBU assigned on her surveillance found her asleep in the bamboo forest.