A Collection of my Stories... enjoy!

Second Chances ~ Naruto (1)

This is a short Naruto story I'm working on. There are going to be around 3 parts, so enjoy!

Akako >>>

                “Ah, Akako, come in.”

            My feet carried me through the parted doors and into the spacious room that reeked of smoke. The walls were lined with the same old bookshelves and there sat the same old desk. Papers assembled in messy piles on the sides, stacking up high. The windows held the same old view; a safe and structured city of bright colors and happy folks. But something seemed a bit different. I couldn’t tell if the shelves against the walls held more or less books than last time.

            The man at the desk bowed his thinning head in greeting. I let my head dip a bit in respect as well. He was dressed in his usual white and red uniform except for the cap, but his face was of further age, wrinkles and bags extending under his exhausted eyes. He took a puff of his pipe, letting the ghastly smoke dissolve into the air.

            “Hello Hiruzen,” I let a small smile play on my young lips as I spoke. “It’s been a while.”

            “It has, hasn’t it, Akako?” he wheezed playfully.

            “How’s the village been?” I questioned. By the looks of it, it hadn’t changed much at all.

            “Ah, pretty peaceful,” he paused and glanced at the stacks of muddled papers lying on the desk. “But there has been a lot of trouble arousing so maybe things aren’t as good as they seem.”

            “Which I’m guessing is why I’m here.”

            “Hmm, you got it.” He picked up a piece of paper that sat atop top of one of the nearest piles. “I’m going to send you on a mission with a few of our jonin; if that’s okay with you, of course.”

            “What’s the mission?”

            He cleared his throat and began to explain in a serious tone. “There’s been someone tampering with our trade system between us and the other countries, most of that being imports. He’s been fiddling with the compasses and setting off ship courses, which cause the problem. We’re not getting our imports in time and at first we thought the countries we’re trading with weren’t giving us our goods, and that caused a lot of rivalry between us and them, as we were posing misleading threats. But it turns out there was someone who just set off the boat courses, and we know it has to be someone involved in the trading system, so mistrust has boiled up within the workers. Do you see where I’m going with this?”

            “Yes. You’d like me to help figure out who’s been interfering with the system.”

            “Not quite. You see, we already somewhat know who it is. I sent out groups of ANBU to spy in secret for a few weeks to find out who it is and when he drops by to mess around. We haven’t gotten a face yet, but we’ve tracked his daily routine and now we’re ready to take action.” He lifted the paper and waved it temptingly. “This has the entire schedule. We need to stop this mayhem before it causes a war, because at this rate I’m sure it will. How about it, Akako? Will you take the job?”

            I eyed the paper, thinking to myself and letting a few seconds pass. It seemed easy enough; I was ready to go ahead and capture this guy. But one thing was bothering me. “Why did you call me for it? Is there something I can do that’d be especially effective against him?”

            He chuckled slightly, gasping and soon wheezing yet again. He took another waft of his pipe and sighed it out. “You see,” he started again, “we’ve learned this guy is a taijutsu user, so he isn’t used to chakra control. That means a genjutsu user like you would be able to trap him easily without him knowing how to escape. It’s pretty simple when you think of it, and effective. Plus your clever wits are sure to outsmart that little punk. So…?”

            “Sure, I’ll do it,” I decided. He grinned a successful grin, as if getting me to work with him was the hardest thing in the world, when in reality it wasn’t. “But I’d like to know in advance who I’ll be working with.”

            “Ah, of course.” He glanced back down at the paper clutched tightly in his hands. He took yet another quick draft. “It’ll be you, Yuudai Mitsuri, Kurenai Yuhi, Asuma Sarutobi, and Might Guy.”

            Kakashi? I thought. We’ll be working together again, huh? I nodded and forced down a slight smirk. “Sounds good,” I said.

            “Great, here’s all the information,” he handed me the paper and I lazily took it. “You can stay in the usual house. You’ll all meet at the front gate at eight and start your mission from there. Thank you for your assistance, Akako. I expect prodigious things from your work.”

            “Thank you, Hiruzen,” I bowed my respect.

            With my hands at my side I lethargically turned around and strolled casually out the precipitously parted doors being held by the guards. My face held sternness and boredom, but my heart was ready to burst out of my chest. It’d been far too long since I’d seen Yuudai. Tomorrow would sure as hell be interesting.

            The house I’ve always known and loved was untouched, just like every other time I visited. The windows held distant memories and the steps plenty more. I remembered playing diagonal hopscotch on the steps with my sister. I would toss the stone and skip down, close to tripping each time, and then jump my way back up and it was my sister’s turn. She would toss the stone and it’d land on a line so she’d go pick it up and try again. Then she’d toss it and it’d land on a single square so she had to jump over it with her short little legs. And most of the time she would trip and start crying, so I would have to comfort her. The memory played in my head, and I recalled telling her many times: “It’s okay, you can try again.” And she would, and she’d make it that time; there and back again.

My eyes drifted to the window and I couldn’t help but let a nostalgic smile draw itself onto my stoic face. There in the window would sit two little girls with snow white hair and similar innocent green eyes. The one on the right would be older, but they’d looked almost identical.  The air outside was cold and musty and the rustic smell of winter was present. A small delicate snowflake would drift its way down from the sky and land neatly on the grass. The girls would gasp and grin with delight at seeing the first flake fall.

            I missed the times where all I had to worry about was an innocent little snowflake falling from the heavens. It’s funny when you think of it; how amazing the world seemed when you were a kid, compared to how corrupted it is now that you’re older. Sometimes I wish I’d never grown up.

            My feet that were glued to the ground carried me to the porch where I playfully skipped up the steps as if trying to mimic the old memory. I inserted the rusty bronze key and stepped into the sea of familiar memoirs. Portraits and paintings lined the dark soothing walls, complimented by familiar blankets and rugs and toys set neatly in their place. I pictured two little girls tearing through the house playing games and a pair of loving parents sipping coffee next to the fireplace. I recalled those moments that I wish I could relive for years and years. They were all there, right in front of me.

            I’m home.