Leaving to Recover and Eventually Return...

Akiko slowly and wearily opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling above her. For some reason she was finally starting to 'care' about the ceiling's patterning. 'I... feel so empty... inside... its like that ceiling... a field so blank, so empty, so bleak and void of life...' thought Akiko quietly and sadly. Ever since that night, ever since that night she'd felt so lost... as if she never really existed... She was still coming to terms with it and hurt her so much just to even think about it. She had tried to ignore it... forget it... tried to convince herself that it was a lie Yamiyo had placed within her memories... all to no avail. She couldn't possibly deny the fact she had killed Kazuki.


Sometimes, when she was walking around Konoha she thought she'd see her... see someone that looked alarmingly like Kazuki, but as soon as she began to move towards that person or that ghost of a memory she'd disappear, the real world would come flooding back to her reminding her again of what she'd done... how she could never atone for it... how much she wanted to go back and change time...

Yamiyo might have been able to help her, but each time he approached her, whether if it was within the confines of their minds or physically in the real world, she'd ignore him and tell him to leave her alone. As much as he wanted to disobey and try to comfort her, he knew he had already done enough to hurt her and that she had to come to terms with it herself before she'd ever allow anyone to become close to her once more.

The more Yamiyo thought about it... the more he realized why Akiko was so cold and reclusive. It wasn't out of choice really, nor profession, but rather... fear. She was afraid of what would happen if she became close to someone again. If she came to love someone as much as she had with Kazuki, or even more, how would she deal with it when they left... when they died? And he... he was one of those few people she had grown close to and truly cared about... but he had ruined that bond, destroyed it completely when he took away her memories. Little wonder why she rejected him so. Would she ever heal? He feverently hoped she would... someday... but for now... for now she was even more broken than before.


Feeling like a zombie, Akiko sat up in her bed and stood up. It was already mid-day and yet... it felt like an eternity had gone by in those few short hours. She didn't even know what she wanted to do anymore... Was it even worth it to be a ninja? Uchiha... Uchiha... they came from this village didn't they? Did any of Kazuki's family live here... had they lived here... No... she needed to stop thinking about it. Stop thinking about Kazuki, stop feeling so guilty... just... stop...

'I... I want to go to Kusagakure again... I need to see the place... the time... I... Will the Hokage even let me leave the village without suspecting I'm up to something?' Mentally sighing, Akiko went over to the window and gazed down at the streets below her with a blank, empty look. She hadn't acted like this when she first killed Kazuki, so why now? Why was it affecting her so much? She was a monster... a being that shouldn't have been born... she wasn't human at all. Her mother was a vampire... her father a vampire... She'd live for a long time, if not forever, at least until someone killed her or she killed herself... And yet she was still young, so, so, so painstackingly young compared to all the others who fell into the category of 'Old Souls' or 'Immortals'. She was the youngest amongst them, was she not?

Her eyes slid shut of their own accord and she stood there, leaning against the wall by the window, her mind void and blank of any true thoughts. And yet... and yet she found herself crying. When she opened her eyes and found her vison blurring she had blinked and raised a hand to her eyes to touch them and find her fingertips covered in the salty drops. Why? Why did she continue to cry? To grieve? It had been over fifty years since then, so why? She had grown, she had aged, she had changed, she was different... wasn't she? Had all those years of growing up, of living done her no good? It certainly seemed so, to her at least.


'Kusagakure... I need to see it again... And then Kumogakure...' And then, for the first time, she contacted Yamiyo, hesitantly she reached out for his presence. 'Yamiyo... would you... fly us out to Kusa?'

Smiling just a little, he nodded and reached out for her as well, letting his general good mood and ki envelop her. 'Just... relax alright? Embrace it and relax... I know I've done you a great deal of wrong, in my mind a greater wrong than that which you comitted decades ago. So please, at least allow my aura... my ki... allow it to envelop you and embrace. I know it hurts for you and you don't quite understand, but please... I hate to see you in pain.'

As they switched bodies, switching their presence in the real world... Yamiyo slipped out of the door to their room, heading down to the lobby and talking to the attendent down there. "My friend and I... Uchiha Akiko... will be leaving for awhile. Its a matter of urgency, one could say. We'll be back though. The young lady just misses her home very much and wishes to see her family again. Would it be alright if you sent such a message to Hokage-sama for us? She's gotten so depressed lately..."

"But of course. She has been staying in her room quite a bit, hasn't she?" replied the attendent, finding herself flustered and blushing a little in his presence, letting her eyes run over his body every now and then.

He nodded lightly. "Yes, she has. I'm worried... terribly worried that she'll end up killing herself at this rate. She hasn't been eating or drinking lately either." "Is that so? I... She seemed quite fine when she first came here though. Sure, a little aloof and distant, but I can understand that." "Yes... She wouldn't let me in through the door either, I had to come through the window and fetch her, finding her passed out on the bed. Its a shame... she was so... beautiful... so... different before..." "H-How long will she be gone and out of service? I'm sure Hokage-sama would wish to know that." "I'm not sure to be honest... but I do know we'll be back. She... Konoha's grown on her is all. I don't quite understand why, but it has for some strange reason. She'll be back before long. Besides, its not as if she's learned anything useful to betray Konoha with, right?" "Right... I'll send word to Hokage-sama right away. Please... come back soon. I do hope she'll be alright. By the way... who... are you?" "I'm like an older brother to her... in her eyes at least." "I see~"

For a little while he had just roamed about Konoha, wondering if anyone would come to try to stop him. It wouldn't be too hard for someone to identify him... after all he had 'come in' without passing the guards and didn't look 'normal' or feel 'normal' either. But no one approached him and tried to stop him. 'I do not understand why it is that you feel connected to this place now Akiko... but if you insist on coming back... then we shall come back. I hope you can make ammends on the trip... Forgive yourself for Kazuki's death in Kusagakure and... forget of Kiyoshi in Kumogakure... Things have changed since then. You may not pay much heed to who is in charge now that you no longer work for anyone, but I do for your sake. This world is changing... changing once more... and I know not whether we are but a pawn in this game now or something more...'


If anyone was going to stop them, they would have done it by now. Calmly, he walked to the village gates... He had given the attendent a letter to deliver to the Hokage as well, half explaining who he was and how he'd gotten inside without meeting the guards. Admitedly, he'd probably be more suspicious now and no doubt that when they returned he'd have questions for them. Questions... he wouldn't want to answer, but questions he thought Akiko would answer or at least half answer, as much as she was allowed to tell at any rate. That Hokage was going to be lucky... ... learning who Akiko really was... posessing a lost bloodline... posessing an ability that could aide all too well in the capturing and subjection of bijuu...

Would the guards stop him? Would they make him waste more time? He didn't know... he wasn't sure. ONly one way to find out though: meet the guards... He smiled a little though, his aura... it would make the guards feel like they were crushing on him at the very least. They wouldn't and shouldn't immediately pull weapons on him whether or not the Hokage was going to let him through or not. They'd be confused at the least... maybe even disgusted at themselves? He mentally laughed at this. It was... interesting, so very interesting.