//------------------------------// // Land Of Waves VI. Looking Forward // Story: Sunset Shimmer: Kunoichi // by RIPoste //------------------------------// Twelve dead, twenty injured, not counting Kakashi-sensei, the three of us, Zabuza and Haku. Considering that about seventy-plus villagers came by to aid us against Gatou’s hundred and odd men, it was nothing short of a miracle that we got away with what casualties we had. Surprisingly, Kakashi-sensei acquiesced to Haku’s plea to allow him to leave our custody, on the condition that they do not resume hostility against us. Sasuke and I weren’t exactly happy about it, though since it was an order, we didn’t really have a choice about it. Naruto, on the other hand, was perfectly elated about the fact that all of us weren’t enemies anymore. On that note, we finally found how Naruto knew Haku. Turns out that he met the pretty boy during one of his training sessions, and became quick friends with him. Sasuke and I exchanged exasperated looks when we heard his tale, though we couldn’t blame him, considering that Haku was in civilian clothing and the fact  that we did not even know what he looked like. Regardless, I kept my distance from him. Especially considering the fact that I was the one who killed Zabuza, even though Kakashi-sensei was also complicit in the very act as well. Still, unlike Kakashi-sensei, I don’t exactly possess the skills needed to face him one on one even if he comes after me. I was really relieved when he finally left, carrying Zabuza off on his back. Naruto was the only one who waved goodbye while Sasuke and I watched him leave warily. No sense letting our guard down since our mission had yet to end. Thanks to all the ‘excitement’ that had occurred, Tazuna decided to postpone building the bridge for at least another two days, so that his workers could recover from the state that Zabuza had left them in and also so that the other villagers could settle the matter of their dead. Truth be told, I think he did it out of concern for both the three of us and Inari, just so that we did not need partake in the cleanup of the bodies. It was nice of him. Unnecessary, but nice. That night, we took turns to stand guard, though Naruto and Sasuke were called in early by Kakashi-sensei. From the sound of their discussion, he was probably counselling the boys on the conscience of a ninja, a thing that was taught to be necessary but also extremely fatal to a Shinobi. Necessary so that a ninja did not take to killing like a serial killer, but fatal in that being too merciful had cost more than a few fledgling shinobis their lives. Though I guess that would make me a hypocrite, since I did not actually took it to heart myself. Don't get the wrong idea about me though, while killing people never really bothered me too much, I would not say that I particularly enjoyed it myself. Perhaps that was why I never did mix well with the other kids back in Oto. I didn’t mule over it too much myself. I made my very first kill within weeks of arriving in this world. My first assignment in Otogakure was to kill one of the trainees in my group and I had probably killed many more since and watched plenty others get killed with these two very eyes. Like Ume... No idea how many I had slain though, it was far easier to forget. That way I could still sleep properly at night, unlike some of the other kids. It was not a pretty sight, I’d tell you. Many of those other children I trained with could not get over the trauma of their first kill, it was unnerving how many of them just stopped. Those were put down mercilessly by the instructors, an example to us all of the consequences for failure. That was the moment when I realized how Orochimaru ran things in Otogakure. Fear. I could get behind that, considering that it was how I did things back in Canterlot. Of course, I didn’t really enjoy that feeling of fear hanging over my head, but Orochimaru-sama did save me, and let it be said that I always repay my debts. I still have morals to uphold after all. Footsteps behind me alerted me to Kakashi-sensei climbing up onto the roof to join me. “Hello, Kyoku-chan, you can go in now.” He said, hands in his pockets as he balanced himself perfectly off the edge of the roof. “I’d like to stay up a little more.” I replied. I wasn’t feeling especially tired, having taken a little nap just now before my turn on the watch. He sat down beside me. “Couldn’t sleep?” he said, as he looked at me, concern in his eye. I noticed unwittingly that he had placed himself just on the edge of my ‘field’, my attack radius with my kunai. Close enough showcase his sincerity, but far enough that he was not too close. “Just had a nap.” I clarified, stretching my arms a little, keeping my tone as casual as possible. From the way he was acting, he was probably going to give me the talk that he had given the boys as well. Better make sure that he did not get the wrong idea as soon as possible. “Not exactly too tired.” The last thing that I needed was a question and answer session with him. “It’s not your first time, isn’t it?” I looked at him warily. Who told him? Naruto? Sasuke? Then again, it was perhaps too much to hope for the two kids to keep that thing a secret. “No, they didn’t tell me.” Sensei reassured me as though he had just read my thoughts. “But I know that they knew, seeing how they acted just now when I was talking with them.” He looked at me, “So, want to talk about it?” “About what?” “Your first kill.” He replied solemnly. I looked away from him. Truth be told, I didn’t want to talk about it. Death was never pretty, and my first time taking a life in this world was not exactly something I had wanted to remember. In fact, what if he continued asking about what happened afterwards? How would I link how I killed the child to how I ended up in the care of Shiratama? I could lie, but something about Kakashi-sensei tells me that he would be able to see through it easily and I doubt that I was good enough to fool a jounin at my current skill level. Better to just tell the truth… “I don’t want to talk about it.” Silence dropped between us. I daren’t lock eyes with him in case I gave myself away, so I continued looking at the moon. “Are you sure?”  He asked, “It’s not good to keep these sorts of things bottled up inside of you.” I bit my lip, desperately trying to come up with a reason to throw him off my tail. “One day.” I steeled myself and looked him in the eye, giving him my best ‘determined’ impression. “I’ll tell you when I’m ready, is that okay, sensei?” He studied me intently, and I felt cold nervous beads of sweat roll down my back. Was I convincing enough? It would really suck to be found out here of all places. “Alright.” He replied brightly and looked me in the eye, “I’ll hold you to that.” Looking away, he stood up. “Come in and call me when you are ready for a shift change. Got it, Kyoku-chan?” “Yes, sensei.” I nodded and was surprised when I got my hair ruffled affectionately in response. Something was caught in my throat when he did that, though I paid it no mind as I watched sensei leapt off the roof. “That was close,” I muttered, looking back to the moon hanging overhead above us. Too close. Kakashi Hatake knew that he was many things. He was a worthless shinobi who could not protect his teammates. He was a pitiful man who had lost both his father and father figure. He was a hopeless cause who would much prefer reading Icha Icha Tactics rather than head off on team missions. He was many things, but being stupid was never one of them. He knew that there was something off about the little kunoichi in his team. Something extremely wrong with her, but he had not confronted her about it mainly because he had no idea what it was. So he watched, and waited. From what he had seen, Kakashi had deduced many things about Kyoku Asagami. One, she was hiding something. Two, she genuinely enjoyed the company of the other two genins on his team. Three, she was one of the smartest people that he had ever met. As of this moment, he had to change one of the three things he knew about her, and add one more to the list. Originally, he had thought that her Kekkei Genkai was the reason why she was so secretive. Not exactly an uncommon fear to possess, considering that she was from outside the village. That was definitely not the case, as seen from his observations these past few days. She had so casually revealed her Bloodlimit to two nuke-nins, and had hardly panicked over it.  As such, what she was hiding was definitely something that she considers far more important than her own abilities. As to what Kakashi had found out today, it would be no exaggeration to say that it troubles him deeply. When he had looked at her, it was not her forced expression that caught his attention, nor her trembling fingers that gave away her fear. It was her eyes. By the Hokages, he had never seen eyes filled with so much pain before, not since… Kakashi closed his eyes, clearing his mind of the morbid thoughts as he focused back on the issue at hand. There was a problem with one of his genins, a sickness within the mind. That much he knows of, and as a team leader, he had to solve the problem.  But how? Confronting her was definitely useless. She had proven to be incredibly stubborn on that, as shown recently. He doubt that she could go willingly to the Yamanakas either, and it would be extremely troublesome for him as well, considering that he had already planned on entering his team into the Chunnin exam that was in the upcoming months, something that he had agreed to with the Hokage along with Asuma and Kurenai mere weeks ago. It would cause him no end of headache if he were to back out if the treatment came back and Kyoku was deemed unfit for duty. Kakashi sighed.  There was only one way about this, it would seem. He had to go to the source. It looks like he would need to schedule another meeting with the girl’s foster father, Shiratama.