Obedience
-Chapter Twenty-Six-
Clean Slate
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"Look! It's the Kohana 12!" A child shouted from afar. Emiko flashed Sakura a glance, which she returned and Naruto sighed in accomplishment. "Wow this is great" he flashed a wide grin while scratching the back of his neck. "I can't lie" Sakura laughed behind her hand, "It is sorta cool"
Currently, the whole of the Kohana 12 were sat together at a Cafe in the center of town, happily chatting about old memories and funny moments. Emiko was back in the Leaf and so was Sasuke. With the war declared a victory, life in Kohana couldn't be happier for the group of ninja. The sun was high in the sky and a comfortable breeze aired by the group. The sky was blue with white fluffy clouds...life was truly as peaceful as ever.
"We were youthful on the battlefield!" Lee clenched a fist in the air. "Look at us now" Shikamaru folded his hands behind his head. "As troublesome as it is, I think we're famous."
And it was the truth, too. Because of their efforts in the Fourth Great Ninja War, the Kohana 12 were famous. And they were basking in the limelight. A lot has changed between then and now. Emiko was now honored rather than feared and it was a whole new experience for her. A clean slate.
Now, instead of being refused service from people, she was able to receive discounts and sometimes even eat for free. People said hi to her in the streets and she even developed quite the fan club.
"Emiko-chan" a group of boys came trotting toward the group, with smug faces. The middle one approached her first, staring her down like she was the most delectable meat he'd seen. "How about you and I have a bite to eat?"
Emiko narrowed her eyes at the boy, as her friends awaited her response, nearly on the edges of their seat. She took a large bite of the scone that was placed before her, and then chewed slowly. Once she was finished she pointed to the treat, "I don't go out with boys that don't pay attention to detail." she remarked, flashing him a wink. "But nice try"
The group burst into laughter as the guy had nearly fallen over with a nosebleed. "You're more relentless than usual today," Ino pointed out with a sly smirk. "What gives?"
"It's not easy having fans, you know" she joked, earning a laugh from Naruto. "You can say that again"
"Oh shut up, you love it" Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yeah" he laughed to himself. "It's pretty nice" Chouji laughed with a mouthful of food and then pointed his chopsticks at him,"Your fans give you things" he explained, "Hers just harass her" Emiko pouted at the accuracy of his comment. It was true, ever since she'd left Sunagakure it had been this way and she wasn't sure why.
After a while, the group split off their separate ways, leaving Emiko to be held captive by Ino and Sakura. It was torture whenever Hinata went on a mission."It has to do with Gaara, doesn't it?" Sakura pinpointed it so accurately it hurt. The edge of Emiko's lip twitched, as it was a very sore subject for the girl. "What happened between you two anyway?" Ino crossed her arms, "Spill the beans, we know it has something to do with Sasuke"
"We had relations while my mind was erased" she murmured softly, as a pang of pain wrenched in her chest for Gaara. "That idiot came to me and demanded that I go back to him"
"Oh, so it's like some kind of love triangle, eh? Classy" Ino laughed to herself. "No...it broke us. So I left to give him some time to think things over."
"Does that mean you're over?" Sakura asked. Emiko's Amethyst gaze dulled with pain, "Yes." she replied, "I think so. Otherwise...He would have come already."
***
It had been early evening and Emiko had just finished her Anbu mission, so naturally, she was on her way to see the Kazekage to report the mission was a success. The Darkness pulled her in as the sun had gone down much faster than she had expected. Currently, she had been walking in one of the shadier areas of Suna leaving only the moonlight to illuminate her way.
