Obedience
-Chapter Eight-
"It's alarming honestly
How charming she can be
Fooling everyone, telling them she's
having fun"
_______________________________________________
~*~
After Kankuro had caught up to the group, they were on their way to meet up with Team seven, eight, and ten. It took a while but eventually they'd grouped together.
"Yes! They're having fireworks again!!" Naruto shouted with glee as he looked at the handout of activities he was given. Hinata giggled at his reaction, and Emiko flashed her a knowing glance. After all this time, she still had a thing for the blond."Where's Sasuke?" Emiko wondered. The group fell silent, and the atmosphere turned gloomy.
"He's left the village to avenge Itachi..." Shikamaru filled her in. "-I say we play some games!" Kiba suggested, with Akamaru to back him up with a bark. "You're on, mutt!" Kankuro targeted the Inuzuka."Oi! Don't call me, mutt!" Kiba yelled,"It's what you are" Kankuro shrugged."Yeah? Well at least I don't play with dolls."
"Oh shut up already, you two!" Sakura grumbled."Seriously.." Temari agreed.
"Say Emiko, where'd you go after you left here?"Chouji asked. The further the group had gone into the festival the more heads had turned. "Well.. I wasn't able to stay in one place really, I traveled from village to village. Most didn't take kindly to missing nins..."
"What I want to know is how you outsmarted the Ino-Shika-Cho trio." Shikamaru stated."Well..." Emiko sighed, not entirely in the mood for being bombarded with questions. Villagers were starting to notice who she was now. Some just stared while other's cast her dirty looks.
"You know that "Earthquake" that happened just outside of the village?" She emphasized the quotations around earthquake with her fingers. "That was me..."
"No way!? That's awesome!!" Naruto cut in. "Yeah..." Emiko trailed off with a weak smile. Though she could see the draw, her powers were nothing close to awesome. They were more of an unwanted curse if anything. Gaara scanned the girl, sensing she was upset.
"-Excuse me, may I have a word with you?" An older woman came up to Emiko. The redhead watched as she took Emiko aside. The woman had a noticeable baby bump and was probably in her mid 30s...She was wearing a dark green colored kimono with tacky embroidering to match. Her Black hair was pinned into a tight bun, chopsticks securing it. "Sure." Emiko chirped, and walked aside her. But something felt off.
"You're Emiko of the leaf, Am I right?" She smiled warmly, though Emiko was beginning to feel uneasy around the woman. Her smile soon faded,"I apologize for interrupting. You look like you're having so much fun with your friends over there." Emiko gave her a quiet nod.
"Listen.. I have a 3 year old son and a baby girl on the way. Because of people like you I fear for my children's safety. Why didn't you just stay out of the leaf? Why did you come back knowing the threat you place on this village?" Emiko froze in place.
How could she be so naive? Even though she did not chose to wield her abilities, if she made one mistake; if she is unable to control herself once more, she would threaten everyone around her. The lady was right. What made her think she was magically welcomed here once more?
"I'm...sorry..." With a swift bow, she slowly backed away from the woman and away from everyone...
~*~
"Emiko?" A voice echoed from behind the girl. Finally, the red head had found her. It had been hours since he'd last seen her and they were just about to begin fireworks. With a shaky exhale, she swallowed thickly and answered. "Hi, Gaara" Fireworks boomed into the air as he took a seat beside the girl. Her clouded Amethyst eyes watching them as a form of distraction from her emotions.
