At a Crossroads #Wattys2015

Blackmail- Mizuki

Mizuki didn't head straight home. Instead she decided to wander the dark, quiet village a bit on her own. There were so many stars out, they were impossible to count, like millions of diamonds had been ground up, their fine fragments thrown into the dark sky overhead.

Mizuki felt giddy. Her cheeks were flushed, her heart beating at an irregular pace within her chest. Nothing had ever made her feel that way before. What had that nosy ninja done to her?

She stopped to take some deep calming breaths. So what if he had made her smile? So what if they had danced together? She was still a dangerous monster, wasn't she? Everyone in the village would still prefer that she didn't exist, at least not amongst them.

Mizuki approached the rail of a balcony, a site visited by many tourists who came to their village. The site looked down upon the dark village, illuminated only by the soft, white haze of starlight. Mizuki could make out the stern faces of the five Hokages carved into the side of the mountain on the far side of the village, the last and most recently cut face none other than the village's current Hokage, Lady Tsunade.

The faces represented courage, Mizuki thought. Faith. Reassurance. A way to remind the Hidden Leaf Village that it always has a leader who would give their life to protect it.

Mizuki gripped the rail so hard her knuckles turned white. She bowed her head, hunching her shoulders. She felt something hot and wet running down her face. Tears, she realized with shock. She hadn't cried in years. She had forced her body to resist anything emotional that could cause her to spill tears of any kind.

She'd pushed people away. Turned her shoulder at insults and painful jeers. And she absolutely refused to think about her parents.

Why was she crying now? Her heart had been frozen for so long. Why did it feel like it was now beginning to thaw?

Mizuki's shoulders shook as the tears flowed, ceaselessly. She couldn't explain the emotions running through her. None of them were independent. She felt vulnerable. Exposed. Nervous. Excited. Guilty. Jealous.

Kakashi wanted to know her. Though he claimed it was solely for work purposes, Mizuki had experienced it differently.

She closed her eyes and placed a hand over her heart, crumpling the material of her shirt between her fingers. She felt a touch of warmth blossoming in her cold heart. Was this what friendship felt like? Or was this something else?

It wasn't a bad feeling. Not at all. But it frightened Mizuki, she had never experienced anything like it before. Had she really made her first friend?

Mizuki suddenly cried out like she practiced in training, swinging her arm in an arch. The side of her hand connected with the metal railing. And it never stopped, passing through the metal and breaking off a long fragment of the railing.

No! She had most certainly not made her first friend. Mizuki didn't have any friends. She didn't make them. And there were numerous reasons for it.

But Kakashi... No! He was a colleague. Nothing else. She didn't want to hurt him. And that would surely happen if she ever got out of control... if she didn't remain focused... But no. Mizuki was focused. Wasn't she?