Sumire's POV
A bed with a dark green blanket having shuriken prints on it, an old man smoking from a tobacco pipe while conversing with me, seeing a page from a book I didn't recall reading, entering a headquarters full of people wearing similar clothing and porcelain masks, an exhilarating run through an expansive forest with gigantic trees, a bright streak of lighting coming from one of my hands, and gazing at my reflection in a bathroom mirror but seeing a pair of mismatched eyes and a masked face instead of my own.
I saw these all in my head, a collection of events that had just happened recently, but I knew it didn't belong to me.
Several scenes like those have been crossing my mind lately. It's not a dream since it's too vivid and detailed to be one nor does it look like a memory from my past because I could identify the owner of those very familiar mismatched orbs and his eyes certainly didn't look like that in the past.
It started occurring in the second week of March. I just woke up one day and all these began happening out of nowhere, like a switch had been suddenly turned on.
I would instantly receive those in my mind at random times of the day, though most of it was during mornings after waking up, they're like short reels that would play in my head. My head would pound lightly and I'd feel slightly nauseous, making me a bit uncomfortable every time it happens, but its bearable so I don't mind receiving them.
But how can something like this happen?
I honestly do not have answers for it.
The strangest thing about it is that I knew it belonged to him, the silver-haired guy I continue to yearn for from afar. More questions kept popping in my head when I thought about it.
How do I have such a bizarre connection with him?
First and foremost, I feel his chakra within me. It's been there ever since I could remember and his essence had been deeply-rooted in my being, imagining myself without it seems impossible because I've lived my life always feeling him somehow even though I couldn't see him.
To add up to that, I now have glimpses of how his daily life has been going on lately. I see it through his perspective like a movie being played inside my head. I only see bits though, which is why I struggle to fully comprehend everything that happens from what I saw in my head.
I don't even know the reason why we're linked together like this. I'm not really complaining though, there's no other person I'd rather be connected to in such a way than him. Although, I have to admit that it's kind of weird, but it's the good kind of weird.
I frowned at the next thought that I had in mind. If I could see through his eyes, then does this work both ways or is it just on my end?
And upon thinking about it thoroughly, I believe there's a higher chance that he experiences this strange occurrence as I do rather than not.
As soon as I realized that, I quickly stood in front of the mirror and checked out my appearance. Maybe he saw glimpses of how I looked like the past few days, and as much as I hate to admit it, I look like shit.
This made me very self-conscious about my looks.
I glanced at myself in the mirror closely and noticed how haggard my appearance was at the moment. There were dark circles under my eyes and my hair was in a complete mess.
I didn't want him to see me like this so I tried to somewhat fix myself up by brushing the messy strands that's framing my face.
I had already dyed my hair black ever since I made the decision to stay in Shizukamachi, as opposed to relying on the Transformation Technique, so I don't have to worry about maintaining a henge for an extended period of time. However, it had already grown longer and now had a portion that revealed my natural hair color. This created the appearance of an ombre coloring in my hair, with the upper part in silver-blonde and the lower part in black.
I am aware that the people who were trying to capture me before might easily identify me now that my hair was turning back to its natural hue, but I really liked how it looked on me so I left it as it is for now. Besides, I knew I could protect myself better now since I haven't been slacking in my shinobi training and I am somewhat prepared in case I got threatened or attacked.
"I look sleep-deprived and very tired," I commented as I glanced at my reflection in the mirror.
To be fair, I lack sleep because I've been staying up late a couple of days in a row already, so having eyebags was unavoidable since I had been busy these days.
Even though I knew this strange experience probably happens to him as well, I still hope it does not, because I've been thinking about him way too much these days. Painting or drawing him whenever I miss him a lot was how I spent most of my free time. It would be too embarrassing if he would discover how much I'm pining for him, maybe it would even turn him off and see me as a fan girl who's crazily in love with him.
Well, there is some truth to it, but the point is that I want to maintain my dignity even though I really really like him a lot.
Scratch that. I think what I feel for him is way past the stage of just liking because I'm pretty sure that it's love.
Maybe I should focus on making scenic landscapes as the subject of my artworks instead of him.
My self-reflection was interrupted when I heard knocks on the door of my studio apartment, an envelope slid under the small gap between the door and the hardwood floor.
"It's just mail." I said to no one in particular then picked up the item.
There was only one person who could send me mail as she was the only one who I gave my address here at the city so I already knew who sent this, the art gallery owner here at Shizukamachi, and she only contacts me if she has important updates or news so I promptly opened the envelope to read its content.
A smile formed on my face after reading the letter. I've been invited to attend another art show in a village called Hanaoka in two weeks, not as Sumire but as my artist persona- The Nightshade.
The invite was sent through the art gallery, given that I have established a partnership with the galley owner when it comes to dealing with most of my art transactions. I met the owner during the very first art exhibit I attended. I didn't exactly win the monetary reward back then, but I managed to form connections with certain individuals in the art scene like her.
There were just too many strong competitors then and I saw a lot of really impressive paintings. My art style was also a bit unconventional compared to the traditional artworks across the elemental nations, so I get why my work didn't get an award despite many people showing interest in the new kind of style that I introduced through my artwork.
After that first defeat, I realized that anything new and unfamiliar takes time to be appreciated by the masses.
My artistic approach starkly differs from the traditional way. I've been practicing either realism or hyperrealism in all the artworks I've created ever since I started holding a pencil or a brush.
I learned about them in a rare art book I remember reading when I was younger. I recall it as part of the memories of the mysterious childhood that I've forgotten about, and it's mind-boggling how I got my hands on such literature because these styles are not widely embraced in the elemental nations and the neighboring countries. It's more prevalent in the Western cultures situated far across the blue seas that's why I have never seen any other painting or drawing having that style except for mine in this part of the world where I am from.
Why do I prefer to use those styles in my artistic creations?
Because the inspiration for my art comes from the forgotten memories of my past, that's the reason why I try to make my paintings and drawings look as realistic as possible.
I do that because I yearn for the life I've unintentionally left behind and visualizing my precious memories in canvas or paper is my way of connecting to my past. I make my artworks very lifelike, as if I was back in time reliving the moments of my childhood that I had trouble remembering about.
With that in mind, every artwork I create from portraits to landscapes almost breathes life. It's accurately specific even to tiny details, from every line and crevice, to make sure I capture the entirety of the moment or the subject I have in mind.
Despite the unconventional nature of my paintings in comparison to what was widely accepted across the elemental nations and beyond, I was still able to pique the interest of certain individuals. One of those people was the owner of a quaint art gallery in Shizukamachi, a very interesting woman five years older than me named Rei. She has brown hair, rocks a bob cut, and her eyes are a striking shade of blue.
She was the one who bought the artwork I submitted as my entry at the first show I participated in- an oil painting of a ship as it traveled across the Gaikotsu Bay at dawn. My inspiration for that was the breathtaking sights I witnessed during my journey across the nations after my escape at the Land of Sea.
As I quote what Rei told me after she bought that specific piece, "I've never traveled beyond the Land of Fire, but your painting was so good that looking at it made me feel like I was there with you. It looks unbelievably realistic."
Rei loved it so much that she put it on display at her gallery and refused to sell it to every one offering to buy it from her. All those people who saw my painting became interested in acquiring a piece created by The Nightshade after that.
She even talked to me about displaying the paintings I'm willing to sell in her gallery since there were multiple inquiries about my work ever since she hung that seascape painting I made. I was glad to have that kind of arrangement with her because it limited me from interacting with a lot of people, specifically the clients who are willing to buy an artwork or request for a commissioned piece from me because the transactions were all done through her at the art gallery.
Nowadays, a few people look forward to seeing my pieces whenever they learn that The Nightshade would be participating in an art exhibition. Even though I am not that widely recognized as an artist yet, I could say that I've somehow established a reputation because my works were now being slowly acknowledged and admired by the public.
Kakashi's POV
A few days after Sumire's eighteenth birthday, the conversation I had with Kurenai at the dango shop became the latest talk in the village.
Once again, my love life became the most interesting thing to gossip about in Konoha lately. I'm not really someone who would just blurt out something about my personal life without good reason, but I become everything but sensible when it comes to Sumire.
Some people were still surprised when they heard about it even though talks about me being interested in a girl have happened before, maybe they thought it was just a baseless rumor but something similar happening again might just have confirmed it.
I guess it's hard to believe because I may seem like someone incapable of love. My reputation and how I carry myself was probably to blame for that.
They probably thought I was just like those emotionless root agents under Danzo that were trained not to feel anything at all. I am actually the opposite of that. I am like this because I feel too much, acting the way I do is just my way of coping with the overwhelming emotions I have within me.
I was just often misunderstood because of the way I present myself in public.
The talk about "Kakashi's girl" had reached most of the shinobi forces, even within the ANBU division. Most people, except for my team, kept on guessing who the mystery girl could be and I wasn't a bit surprised about it because something similar happened before.
People often stare at me in wonder on the rare occasions that I could be spotted in the village nowadays, especially those women who had that dreamy look on their faces every time I crossed their paths, they probably realized that there's more to me than just the cold and uncaring exterior of the shinobi I have been known to be after all these years.
I am also a little bit worried about being given a new nickname because of this current talk about my love life, something cringey like "Lover-boy Kakashi" was not very becoming for an ANBU captain, so no thank you.
That would be a hilarious update to my bingo book information though.
However, that's the least of my worries at the moment.
I am more concerned with the changes I've been experiencing in myself lately. I think I am becoming crazier as each day passes by because all I've been seeing is all things related to Sumire.
I think this is not normal anymore.
At first I thought it was just dreams, but everything was too realistic just to be a mind construct I somehow formed in my sleep.
I could see her vividly in my mind. The strangest thing about it was I was seeing everything through her eyes, because I noticed I was looking at her through a mirror's reflection.
Her hair had now grown longer and now had two distinct tones- the upper part being silver-blonde while the rest was jet black. I think it suits her and she looks as beautiful as I remembered her to be.
In those dreamlike experiences, I was always in front of a canvas painting portraits but there's also a few instances where I had a sketchpad and graphite in hand. I was able to recognize who's the subject depicted in most of those artworks- it was me. The young version of me, the current me having mismatched eyes, sometimes it's me next to her from a childhood memory I recalled happening more than a decade ago. Everything was just about me.
Then there were instances where the images or scenes in my head would show me being inside an art gallery that I've never been to before, sometimes I'd go to a shop to buy a box of pickled-plum onigiri, or collect herbs and random plants.
Everything was too specific so I am sure what I saw in my head wasn't just my imagination.
Was this another bonded ability that only showed up now?
As I thought long and hard about what I'm experiencing lately, the only conclusion I could come up with was that it was indeed because of the bond that I have with Sumire since every vision I saw was somehow related to her.
We had this connection ever since we were younger, so I'm not really sure why these things just suddenly occurred out of the blue now that we're grown-ups.
Or maybe it only materialized now precisely because we've grown up already?
I have no answers to all the whats, whys and hows that keep on popping in my mind whenever I think about this new experience.
If it's really because of the bond, then I'm even more grateful to have this kind of connection with her because it made me feel somewhat closer to her even though we're far apart.
An ANBU operative suddenly knocked on my window, he did several hand signals, telling me that the hokage wanted to see me in thirty minutes and reminding me to arrive on time.
I knew this already as I was informed about it yesterday too.
Are my habits getting so intolerable that the sandaime felt the need to assign a person just to make sure I would be there on the stipulated time? Perhaps.
Much to the old man's dismay, I arrived at his office ten minutes too late.
"Sorry for being late. There's an old lady who needed help in carrying her bags." I apologized while closing the door behind me with my nose buried in my favorite Icha-icha book.
"That's probably the lamest excuse I've heard you say," Shikaku Nara retorted.
Honestly, I was borrowing Obito's lines whenever I'm late since he was always tardy during our scheduled team meetups back when he was still alive, but his reasons were probably real whereas mine isn't. I was only copying him because it somehow brings me back to those simple times.
I wonder what my old teammates and sensei would say now that my tardiness was even worse than Obito's.
"Let's get this over with. We already wasted ten minutes waiting for Kakashi," said the sandaime. The tone of his voice denotes how displeased he was with the delay I caused.
I closed the book I was holding and put it away in my pocket, then shifted my focus to the hokage since he was about to explain what this is about.
"I already discussed this beforehand with Shikaku so I'll only tell you the overview of your new mission." I only nodded at his words and waited for him to continue talking, "He would go to Sunagakure as Konoha's representative on my behalf for the renegotiation and strengthening of our alliance with them. You would accompany him, not as an ANBU operative, but as a jonin under his command."
"So it's guard duty for me?" I asked straight-forwardly.
"Not really. Shikaku doesn't need to be guarded per se, but the elder council deemed it necessary to have somebody skillful and feared by our enemies to accompany him as part of Konoha's delegation just to remind Suna 'to know their place', that's Danzo's words not mine though." I see the logical reasoning behind it. Knowing that it was the hokage's old friends who suggested that, it's more of a power move rather than a practical one.
I guess my reputation as one of Konoha's best would be put to good use by the elder council. However, I'd rather spend my time doing actual missions where my expertise and skills would be utilized than just be an eye-candy in a meeting room whose main purpose was to incite fear and put people in their place as per Danzo Shimura's words, but I have no say in the matter since the hokage's the one assigning me to this so I'll do this task with flying colors just like all the rest of the missions that had been assigned to me before.
"Then I'd guess more leaf shinobi whom other village fears would be coming along as well?" I asked with curiosity.
The sandaime nodded at my words. "Danzo, Koharu and Homura only suggested your name since your reputation precedes almost everyone in the village." Then he shifted his gaze between me and Shikaku Nara, "But there's four more spots to fill so both of you can recommend anyone you have in mind to join in as Konoha's delegate to Suna."
"How about master Jiraiya?" Aside from being a well-liked author by most of the male population and even a few of the female ones, he was also a formidable shinobi since he is one of the Legendary Sannins.
"No. He's too busy with his spy network these days," the hokage replied. Too bad, I would have enjoyed talking to him about certain aspects of his books as we travel on our way to Suna, but that's not possible at the moment.
"I recommend Shiusi the Teleporter," Shikaku-san suggested the famous Uchiha.
"He's a skilled jonin, serves in the ANBU black ops, and that Body Flicker Technique of his is quite popular and feared by enemy shinobi." I commented while giving a nod to the jonin commander's suggestion.
"I agree with that recommendation. This would also please the Uchiha since one of their own would be included in an important mission like this for the village," replied the old hokage with a pleased expression on his face.
"I'd say Tenzo, he has the wood style after all." I wasn't too sure if the hokage and his advisors would agree since Tenzo hasn't really been a public figure. His existence was even hidden by Danzo deep within Root for years before the Hokage was able to pull him out of there. The wood style was a highly valued skill and enemy villages would surely panic if they learned Konoha was able to produce a shinobi having the same ability as the Shodaime.
Our discussion reached about an hour before the sandaime finally agreed to all the names Shikaku-san and I had recommended.
The individuals who would be sent as Konoha's delegates under Shilkaku Nara's leadership were Shisui Uchiha, Tenzo, Ibiki Morino, Inoichi Yamanaka, and yours truly.
Ibiki and Inoichi were part of the Torture and Interrogation Unit in the village.
Everyone knew that Ibiki was Konoha's best interrogator. He probably had a lot of ways to inflict pain and make people squirm. Sometimes enemy shinobi only needed to take one look at the man's face and they'd be singing their secrets to him, he's insanely terrifying when he needed to be and his menacing presence in a room is threatening even to seasoned shinobis.
.Inoichi was known to be mind-fucking people using their clan techniques. It made his name to be notable far and wide since he's the best in using the Yamanaka jutsus and could literally know what's on your mind. It's hard to hide things from him since he could scan a person's brain and know every bit of information hiding in there.
Poor choice of words to describe the pair, but it's what makes them highly respected and feared, both by leaf nins and enemies alike. Together, the duo make up the T and I in Konha's intelligence division that's situated deep in the ANBU headquarters.
I've only now realized that everyone in the delegation were ANBU operatives. This just proves that the chosen people were very skilled and formidable, as being a black-ops operative meant that you are one of the most elite in the village since the missions and assignments in the shadow division were all significant and highly sensitive.
"You would be Shikaku's second in command," said the sandaime while looking at me. "The rest of the people going with you would be informed soon. Be here on time before your departure for Suna three days from now."
I replied briefly, "Hai, hokage-sama."
"Dismissed," commanded the hokage.
I gave the sandaime a nod and a bow before casually waving at the jonin commander, then left the old man's office while I resumed reading the Make-out Tactics book I have with me.
I might be looking at the current page of the literature I was holding at the moment, but my mind was racing with thoughts about my newly assigned mission.
Good thing no one from the hokage's circle of advisors would be coming along with us since they liked to meddle with things such as this most of the time. I'm glad the hokage hadn't permitted them to tag along, they wouldn't really be needed there and those old folks were not really fun to be around with.
Our group's presence wasn't really required at that negotiation either since the Nara was the only brain needed in that meeting, but we just have to show-up alongside the jonin commander to intimidate the opposing party as commanded by the hokage.
I guess the steely glare and the cold exterior of the copy-nin would be on full display for the whole duration of our stay at the sand village.