Survival II (A Naruto Fanfic) [Completed]

Part 43

"My baby... you just have fun in the village alright? Be the spy for me." Orochimaru whispered into her ear as she had sunk into his embrace. "Tell me about Uchiha Sasuke... tell me about the Third Hokage. Tell me about Konohagakure. How are they doing...? How are the Chunin Exams? How prepared are they for an attack? How prepared are they for Yoru to return?"

His silky voice was all she could hear as darkness surrounded her once more. The daily sessions, sitting in Orochimaru's arms, hearing him speak of her life, his life, Kabuto's life, the experiments he conducts... everything.

"Yoru... a name of darkness. When you go to Konoha, I want you to go by Akira. Light. The light that will eventually banish the darkness from the lands. From everywhere. Soon, Yoru will be no more," He continued, unaware of her vision, gazing steadily up his chest to his neck, chin, eyes, deathly pale face.

It was disgusting to be held by such a man but... she hadn't felt any other kind of warmth except his 'love' for her as an experiment subject, as the most treasured(?) experiment subject.

Now, after almost a month in Konoha, she had already experienced so many greater emotions than all her times with Orochimaru. Some part of her wanted to rebel. Wanted to escape the fate of her mission. She had originally been assigned to mingle within Konohagakure and try to live a life. She hadn't understood the meaning behind those words but, now, she knew perfectly well what Orochimaru-sama intended. He wished for her, a girl with the same face, same background as Yoru, to distract the Hokage from the Chunin Exams. She, of course, had done nothing to actively achieve that. The trouble had found her.

But now, as she cast her gaze over the peaceful village, she felt something stir within her.

Akira.

The name was fitting for her. At least to some extent. She wanted hope, light, freedom to be symbolized in herself... the hope of happiness, the light of the world, the freedom of living a life where she wasn't looked at as though if she were a replacement.

She knew fully well that Yoru was the true replacement for her,  but somehow, she couldn't see how the other Yoru could be anything but Yoru. Anything but the her she was now...

Everything had become too much for her to comprehend. For her to understand.

Two Yorus, each lacking the other's memories, each hoping for each other's part of their lives.

The other Yoru wanted her originality. Wanted to know her origin. Her story. Behind Yoru the name. Behind her very existence.

While she, the true Yoru, wants to know of the life of the other. The other who had wandered the world for longer than she has. The other who had stolen the life she was supposed to have. The other who had been so perfect that Orochimaru almost gave up on her. The other who had been horrified at her existence. The other who is jealous of her. And she... she the true Yoru suddenly wished that she wasn't the original. She wanted to exchange positions with the other Yoru.

Then, wouldn't everyone be content?

The breeze lifted and blew her short hair all over her face. It had been a similar day when the Third Hokage came to find her.

After her conversation with Hatake Kakashi, it seemed trouble came like a magnet. Tenzo kept finding her and leading her around the village for fun... like a child. But he was far, far from a child. A man around the age of 24 leading a girl, seemingly 13, around the village was nowhere near appropriate. It seemed far. Far. FAR, from what she'd expected from the village.

But then again, the warmth she felt from being around Tenzo... that was incomparable to the coldness of Orochimaru's embrace. It was too great for her to comprehend. Why must he be so kind to her? Why...? They had merely met at a dango shop out of pure coincidence. She hadn't known that he was related to Yoru and he hadn't recognized her resemblance to Yoru. So... why was he talking to her?

There are so many things she needed to know. Yoru's past. This village full of mysteries.

Yoru...

Konoha...

Hatake Kakashi.

The Third Hokage.

Orochimaru.

Tenzo...

None of it seemed to click together.

Akira.

Yet she still reported to Orochimaru almost daily, telling him of what she discovered, what she experienced, whom she met. Every minute detail of the village, she told Orochimaru-sama as he prepared for the destruction of Konoha. Konoha, the village full of answers and questions. Full of her memories... her past.

Yet she continued to drink the medicine Kabuto prepared for her. Despite the fact that it was sticky, green, disgusting and slimy. Despite for hours after she consumed it, she could still feel it seeping around the cracks and corners of her body.

She wanted dearly to believe everything Orochimaru-sama had told her since she awoke. Since before she awoke. Yet some part of her body rebelled, her mind most likely, maybe her heart, if it was an organ she still had.

She sat down on the Hokage's heads and gazed down into the village streets. It was another bustling but peaceful day.

Where was she now...?

Orochimaru-sama sent her, Kabuto, Ukon, and Sakon on a mission for the Chunin Exams. Is she practising for the third and final exam? Or is she sitting down somewhere, gazing into the distance, thinking about her past in this village?

She wanted to know. She, as the original 'Yoru' wanted to know about the clone. About the other Yoru who had lived her life. She wanted to know how she broke free from Orochimaru. What kind of a life she had alone in Konoha. Or was she alone? Did she have friends... people who loved her? What happened next? Why did she appear in the base, lead by Orochimaru, to see her? To then leave without a second glance at her, the truth she had been lead to see? Then why did she return, years later, to Orochimaru, her head bowed and her red eyes... so lifeless. What had happened? Where was her determination? Why had she approached her in the base and asked her for her story? Why did she ask before leaving, the wretched expression hidden beneath the surface?                     Sympathy... was it?

Orochimaru had told her during their training that as she got stronger, the clone will get weaker. She had believed him. But what of that promise now is showing? She had trained herself to fight in a child's body. She had willed herself each night to grow. To mature. To be able to fend for herself. To be able to reach the goal. The original goal. But what of that original goal remained. It was only a shadow of the past.

Demolish the current shinobi world?

Establish another new system?

Kill all the Daimyos?

What was to be of all those wishes?

To revive Yoru, her brother?

WHAT WAS TO BECOME OF THAT???

The air around her seemed to shudder in agitation as she leapt up to her feet and let the most of her body dangle down the side of the rock.

If there was one thing she could still do...

It would be to find out about her. About herself. About Tenzo. About Konoha. About Orochimaru. About the world...

What was freedom?

What was liberty?

She needed none of that...

She just wanted herself back.