||My Little Bird|| [Neji Hyuga x OC]

Chapter Sixteen

[Hey! Okay, so, sorry for the super long update. And sorry for writing crappily in this update ;-; I've been trying to squeeze in as much as I can in this chapter, but I feel as if it's super long. So I cut it short > < I really hope you enjoy this chapter regardless of my exceptionally sucky writing skills in this one.

I dunno, I kinda felt as if everything...didn't flow as it needed to. You know? ^^' Anyways, thanks for reading~!

-Rei-chan]

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Wake.

Kira's eyes snapped open. Sunlight dripped from the paper screens like thick gold honey, coating the floor in it's morning glow. The silken river blue kimono hung from the wooden drawer leaning against the wall, it's seams gleaming as the light touched it. She yawned, sitting up slowly and rising to her feet. Walking away from the paper screens to the bathroom across the hall, Kira heard the distinct shouts and laughs of children, the morning clamour as every villager began to prepare for the special day.

It was the day of the Festival.

The Festival never really seemed so much more important to the young mercenary than this day. Today, Kira had decided, she was going to initiate the first steps of her plan, the poorly planned one that wouldn't work if things didn't go exactly as they were. So for the next some hours before she would have to do...the deed, Kira began planning her farewells.

She stood in front of the bathroom mirror, brushing her teeth and combing her dark hair. She freshened up for the day, brightly greeting Sasuke as he shuffled down the hall, half awake. He squeezed besides her, mumbling "Move" as he began trying to tame the wild bed head of his. Kira giggled softly, no more than a breath of air, and turned towards him.

"It's been great staying here, Sasuke. As much as you'd hate for me to be this sappy, I'm glad to have been forced to move in here with you." Kira slipped in the well-worn chakra orb into her pockets, morphing back into Kimiko. She watched as Sasuke hesitantly casted her a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just been awesome coming home to some guy who won't act like a pissed off dad who tries to ground me for everything." Kimiko finished adjusting her hair, practicing smiles, and looked back gratefully as Sasuke, for just a moment. "This place feels so much more like home, more than any other place I had to stay at. It'll be sad to leave so suddenly."

"Then it's a good thing you're not due to leave as an exchange student for a long time. What are you implying?" His stoic face wrinkled into an unpleasant, but familiar frown.

"That I'll miss you, okay? Jeez, who knew you could be so oblivious. I was trying to be straightforward too..." Kimiko scoffed, walking out of the bathroom and back to her own room, Sasuke peeping in after her. The room sliding door was left ajar, the morning sunlight now brightening up from its honey-like luster before. Kimiko was leaning over the dresser on the wall, the kimono resting on the unmade futon. She was trying to scrounge up an old pair of leggings, to warm her up when night falls. The kimono was warm, sure, but it wouldn't be enough.

"I guess...I'll miss you too." Sasuke slowly said, letting the foreign words slip off his tongue. He had a temptation to take it back, he wasn't usually emotionally forced to reveal his feelings about other people. But, on this certain day of the year, Kira seemed off. Resigned to fate, as one might say. Too accepting of what might come, and he kind of feared it, more than usual. He always knew that she, obviously, wouldn't be staying forever, but at least...longer than a few months.

Kira only gave him a light smile. Finished packing her bags, she slid the refilled chakra orb into her pocket and poofed back into Kimiko. The familiar weight of her little bag on her waist and side brought the girl comfort, knowing what she will have to do tonight. Her twin black bladed katanas, the ones she luckily didn't need to use as often as she thought, were tied tightly to her back, secured with the old red silk that came with it.