Kaze No Kokoro (Naruto fanfic)

The broody teammate.

Midori woke up to the sound of the alarm clock Kakashi had given her, signaling it was 4 in the morning. Unlike her teammates she woke easily and refreshed.

After her morning ritual she left the apartment where Kakashi lay asleep. She arrived at the training grounds early, no one else was there yet.

After settling in a tree she waited patiently for the other genin to arrive. The first to do so was Sasuke which wasn't that surprising to her.

She wasn't at all hiding but she understood how it could seem that way as Sasuke was now glaring up into the tree like he was offended that she thought she could fool him so easily.

Midori just glanced down questionably before sensing the small jerk of Sasuke's head signaling her he wanted her to come down. She did although she didn't understand why since he had never bothered talking to her before.

"How are you at jounin level?" The question surprised her and she wasnt sure how to answer. Apparently though, Sasuke was in an impatient mood and didn't wait for her answer. "I trained my whole life and then you show up just like that, small, blind new and manage to not only pass the graduation exam but be acknowledged as almost jounin level by our teacher?"

"Where did you come from? How can you be so strong? And why the hell is our teacher your brother isn't that preferential treatment?" The questions where invasive and made Midori have a sense of discomfort that ran her through like a knife.

She knew she had to answer, that she couldn't back down. Sasuke was going to be her teammate and, although she knew nothing about working in a team, she was smart enough to know that it wouldn't work if you don't know the others at least a little.

Apart from that the questions felt like accusations not just against her but everyone that had helped her in this village and she couldn't stand to let it be.

"As you know I'm not from here Kakashi and some others found me a few miles outside the village. I can't tell you a lot more other than that I was held captive and trained by cruel people. I might be strong but I had to go through hell to get there while I didn't even want to. Kakashi was the one to find me, I trust him, and since most of the information about me is classified it's only logical that the one that obtained that information is the one to be my teacher. I can assure you that he will, in no way, give me any preferential treatment."

Sasuke was surprised, he had expected some sort of answer but he had never heard her say so much and, apart from the introduction, nothing personal. Yet what she said was very personal and he couldn't help but feel a slight tinge of guilt and pity. Only now as he truly looked at her for the first time did he see the slight evidence of scars not completely covered by her clothes. He could only imagine how many lay hidden beneath, covered just like her emotions, only occasionally peaking out.

That didn't subdue his anger however, he was trying so hard to become stronger, to be able to exact his revenge, yet she was so much more powerful than him and hadn't even wanted to be. It frustrated him to no end especially since she became so powerful without even half of the anger and hatred he felt every second of every day.

Yes, she was alone like him but she never knew the love of family, or the pain of having it ripped away. Midori sensed the conflicted emotions the boy felt and was tempted to say more. But what could she say? Her life away from society had left her ignorant of the etiquette of conversation. She eventually decided to ignore that ignorance for now, after all he had asked intrusive questions himself, why couldn't she?

"Why do you want revenge?" These words startled Sasuke and for a moment he wanted nothing more than to tell her it was none of her business, after all it wasn't, but neither was her life any of his.

He asked sensitive questions and she answered the best she could, though he wondered why, he couldn't deny that simple fact. "My brother massacred my family."

Midori was surprised she couldn't imagine someone murdering their family, their blood, when they were lucky enough to have one. She was angry for Sasuke's sake but didn't believe revenge was the way to go about it. After all she didn't want it, in fact she never thought of wanting it. Her goal had always been to stop others from being hurt like she was and although she wanted Orochimaru stopped she wanted his end to be just. She knew how many people he had hurt, made suffer, experimented on. They deserved to be able to feel closure and killing him by herself would take that away from them, it would be selfish.

She also knew that she wouldn't be able to take him on by herself, maybe she never would. But that didn't matter to her after all she now had a family, she had a friend. When the time came she would much rather fight beside them than feel even the smallest bit of loneliness she felt for most of her life.

The path to revenge was a lonely one, one Sasuke was willing to follow, she knew that and it made her want to stop him from going down this path.

Midori had nothing more to say, she knew he didn't want her pity and she knew she would never be able to understand his pain so there was nothing else she could offer. Besides she already sensed Sakura coming, so she simply jumped back into the tree closing her eyes and feeling the wind blow through her hair.