Love Your Enemy

Chapter 3

          My eyes opened and I looked around at the dimly lit room. At first, I thought I was at home in the compound since it was decorated the way the room was. I stretched and sat up, noticing I was lying in bed in my black top with the fishnet bottom and my black, knee length shorts. My hair was down and curled around my face and shoulders. My orange jacket, gloves and shoes were folded neatly on the nightstand beside the bed. I swung my leg over and stood to my feet, walking over to the window and pushing a side the curtains. The light was a bit blinding, but I pushed the window sill up anyway. When my eyes adjusted, I sighed; so last night hadn’t been a dream.

          The village of Konoha shone brighter than it had that night. I could hear the sounds of the busy streets below and the conversations of people I couldn’t make out. I was…almost amazed since the Mist was almost always covered in…well mist. It also occurred to me in the same moment that I was alone in the room when yesterday, Ai and the three others had been with me. Where were they? My thoughts were answered when there was a knock on the door and I replied as I looked back at it, “C-Come in?”

          The door opened and a blonde woman came in that looked like she was about in her fifties. Ai came in behind her…dressed in a Konoha…jonin uniform? I turned away form the window to face them as the door shut, but I said nothing. The blonde woman looked back at Ai, who nodded, and then turned to me again, “Welcome back, Phoenix. It’s been a long time since any of us have seen you.”

          I narrowed my eyes at her, “What are you talking about?”

          “Phoenix, remember when Isao told you not to believe everything Kunio said?” Ai asked, taking a step forward.

          I glared at her, “Don’t act like nothing happened! I trusted you and you betrayed me!”

          “Phoenix, listen-”

          “I did and obviously I was stupid to do so!” I pulled my hair back up into a ponytail as I always had it and tied it there. I pulled on my jacket, shoes and gloves then went back to the window, ignoring the out bursts from Ai. As I was climbing out of the window, a statement stopped my in a heartbeat, “Phoenix, you’re not who you thing you are. Your name is officially Sora…Uzumaki.”

          “What…” I glanced back at the woman and she wasn’t joking judging by the look on her face.

          “I have everything on file. Birth certificate, finger prints, DNA samples. The whole nine yards. You were born in this village. This is where you belong.”

          I looked at her in pure shock, “Sora…U-…” I fell to my knees and my hair fell out of the tie I had it in, falling to my shoulders now.

          Ai came up beside me, helping me to stand to my feet again and walk back over to the bedside where she sat beside me, “Tsunade knew your parents and I’m sure she can tell you what happened all those years ago.”

          I looked up at this ‘Tsunade’ and asked, “Kunio…he…”

          She nodded, “Your parents were killed by the nine-tails shortly, which means about a day or two, after the birth of you and your brother which I will explain later. Your given god-father, Jiraiya, took you in and you grew up to the age of seven with him. As he remembers it, The Akatsuki ambushed you two while you were traveling and kidnapped you. That’s all we have as far as your history until now.”

          “I…met Kunio when I was nine…”

          “Kunio wiped away all of your memoires from before that day when he found you. He wanted you to be fully committed to him and his work.” Ai said, “Isao was a danger to him because of you. You are his greatest weapon, Phoenix, but that was only when you didn’t know. Now that he’s lost you, he’s as good as dead.”

          “Is…is Eiji…?”

          “Eiji is Kunio’s son. Of course he’s in on it. It was his job to push you so hard and make you become so focused on the pack.”

          “But why am I so important? What do I have to do with the missions!?”

          Ai looked at Tsunade, who responded, “Kunio believed that the nine-tails was sealed inside of you and that’s why that wolf form came so easily to you. That’s not true though; you were only affected by the presence of the fox, giving you that form. Everyone else had to copy it from you, minus Kunio that is.”

          “And they weren’t missions,” Ai continued, “They were innocent shinobi most of them that either was one of Kunio’s enemies or was just one Kunio thought would be a good target. Kunio is a known killer. The only ones that actually know who he is are the pack members, who are sworn to secrecy, and the ones that are killed; the victims. Well, that’s how it was…until now.”

          This was all so confusing and my head hurt, but somewhere deep inside told me that this all clicked and it went together. So it goes like this for the timeline of my life so far: Parents died, long lost brother, kidnapped from my god-father, kidnapped from my kidnappers, and lied to by a selfish, evil man from the day we met. The only hope I have left and can maybe live off of? My brother.

          “Tell me, who is my brother, exactly?”

          Tsunade sighed, acting as if I shouldn’t sound so hopeful to meet him, “I’ll go get him. You stay here with Ai.” She turned and headed out of the door and the room was thrown into silence. My gaze turned to Ai with a guilty expression.

           She smiled lightly, “I know you’ve had a lot come out today and you’re confused most likely. Don’t worry, though. We’re all here for you if you need it.”

          “How are you able to wear that vest unless you’re…?”

          “You guessed right. I was sent on a mission with two others to bring you home about seven years ago. It took a year to find you and then six to bring you back. The mission went into effect as soon as I was placed as your guardian by Kunio. Funny he didn’t even see his own demise in that.”

          “Did you…have any…”

          She shook her head, “No. I’m not married, no children, no family left. They all moved on.”

          I nodded and looked down at the floor, “I’m…sorry…about what I said.”

          She placed her hand on my shoulder, “Don’t be. You can’t help but be overwhelmed about this, I know.”

          I looked up at her again and tried to smile, but I only succeeded with a small one. I heard voices coming up the hall and turned my gaze to the door. Tsunade walked in first, followed by…wait…that’s…

          “Are you sure? I mean, really sure? Because I have a felling you’re just pulling my leg!” Naruto pointed at Tsunade accusingly.

          She sighed, “For the last time, Naruto. This is NOT a joke. You really do have a sister.”

          “Then where the heck did she come from!? I’ve never heard of having a sis-”

          He turned his head, realizing Ai and I were in the room. He looked straight at me and his eyes widened slightly, “That…the color…of your hair…it’s…”

          “What is it, Naruto?” Tsunade asked, trying to act like she didn’t know what he was talking about.

          “Your hair is the same color…as that wolf from the attack on the village a few weeks ago.” I winced, remembering that time and how it tore out my own heart.

          “It’s good that you remember that Naruto. This is her. Meet Phoenix, your slightly older sister.”

          He just stared at me for a long time, trying to register what he had just been told. Finally, he got it and it could see the shock and disappointment in his eyes. The disappointment was small, but I’d trained myself to recognize it. My heart dropped; even my long lost brother feels the same way I do about myself.