The Chain

Principal and the Shinobi

The Night Before...

Melissa was rather surprised as the night went on by the quiet, unassuming principal.  How had they not crossed paths before?  She was a little bit older than him yet... they both had grown up in the village and it wasn't that big of a place.  In all that time, they hadn't crossed paths.  He had admitted to seeing her a couple of times but no matter how much she thought about it, she hadn't seen him in all those years.  As she sat across from him, a glass of wine in her hand as she listened to his soft voice that was almost lulling in its soothing tone, she had to question if she had been out in the field too much.  There was no getting around, she was getting older.  Many of her peers had retired after the Fourth Shinobi War.  Most of the girls had gotten married and had a slew of kids now.  Perhaps it was time to look into something closer to home.

She must have lost her damn mind.  She had always loved bashing the shit out of people.  Sarah had once told her that she had always had a savage spirit to herself, especially when she was protecting something that she considered her own.  She had beat the crap out of a number of people in her defense over the years... of course, Sarah didn't know that.  Especially after she got pregnant as an unwed teenager.  Anyone that had dared say something in her presence had gotten at the very least a broken nose.  People quickly learned to keep their opinion to themselves when she was around.  Sarah would have been mortified had she known; yet... she was like her sister.  They had been friends for so long they were more like family than friends and no one fucked with Melissa's family.

"How long are you in the village, Melissa?"  Iruka asked after a long pause.

Melissa looked up from her glass of wine to meet his eyes.  Her lips curling up a bit, "I honestly have no idea.  I never do.  However... I have been considering putting in for a more permanent home assignment.  I'm not getting any younger and most of my peers already have retired... or been killed."

Iruka leaned forward, "You were in the fourth war?"

Melissa surprised Iruka as she smiled at the question.  There was definitely a fierceness to the woman that he found very enticing.  "I was front and center when Madara appeared.  I will never forget watching that man as he cleaved through our forces like they were nothing.  Never in all my days did I ever expect to see the sights we did in that war."

Iruka leaned forward, "So what was your dream?"

She froze at the question and felt her face warm a bit.  No one had ever asked her that question.  His eyes were a bit intense and she felt like she was going to be weighed and measured by her answer.  It was a very personal question.  Everyone knew that the reality was one in which the one in the Infinite Tsukuyomi lived their most secret desire.  She almost lied about what she had dreamed during the Infinite Tsukuyomi.  Yet... there was something compelling in his dark eyes that had her speaking truthfully before she could stop herself.

"I dreamed that I had never been a Shinobi and had spent my life in peaceful tranquility just outside the village.  I... had a garden and grew everything I needed."

Iruka was surprised at the answer.  He had the distinct impression that Melissa was a fierce Shinobi.  She would have to be to still be going out on missions.  To hear that her dream had been so far removed from the life she lived was revealing.  She wanted a peaceful existence.

"I'm curious..." he said in response.  "Why do you still do it when in your heart, you just want a peaceful life?"

Her lips slowly tilted up and the tension in her body visibly relaxed, "Because I'm damn good at what I do... and above everything else, above my own desires, I have one thing that overrides everything else.  I will do whatever I must to ensure the safety and security of the Leaf."