Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Shinobi and The Miko ❯ Fear ( Chapter 18 )

 

Kaguya gave a soft sigh. Cleaning the library was a daunting task. She was reshelving books by running her fingers along the spines, feeling the names of the authors and placing them on the shelves alphabetically. Libraries hadn't always made her feel lonely, but now they reminded her of things sacrificed for the sake of her present self. Was this what people called regret, perhaps?

 

She frowned at the thought and replaced the last tome, running her forearm across her forehead. It was stuffy in here, the air was stale and smelled of the leather that most of the books were bound with.

 

“Oooh… it looks so clean in here!” Tobi's voice was rather high-pitched, and her sensitive hearing caused her to cringe slightly. She had no idea why Madara insisted on assuming this guise, but at least she could feel him coming this way, since he allowed himself to give off chakra. Perhaps it was because he didn't want the other members of Sasuke's party knowing who he was?

 

“Do you need something, Tobi-san?” She asked patiently.

 

“No, not really. I just thought you might like to know that your friend is back.” Tobi turned in a weird, dancing circle through the room. He was oddly childlike when he was like this. It was so convincing, she had at first thought he really did have multiple personalities, that only the voice was the same. But she had soon discovered that Tobi's aura did not match his action. He was just as cold and calculating now as she assumed he always was.

 

She stiffened. “He's back? Already?”

 

Tobi stopped mid-twirl and shrugged. “Guess he got done faster than he thought. Are you going to go see him?”

 

She pursed her lips, briefly considering before answering. “Yes, I suppose I will.”

 

“Good!” He exclaimed, hopping to her side. “I'm coming too!”

 

She suppressed an urge to be as far away from him as possible and headed toward the front of the fortress? Hideout? It could be a castle for all I know… Her companion hadn't explicitly told her that this was where they would be, but routine dictated that the group gave reports to Tobi here, and he ostensibly gave them to “Madara” directly. She suspected that only she and Sasuke knew that there was no difference.

 

Sure enough, through a few dank-smelling hallways and a scrupulously-polished kitchen area, the group was waiting in the front room.

 

“Helloo~” Tobi called cheerfully, entering the room in front of a more reserved Kaguya. This approach earned him disdainful looks from Suigetsu and Karin. Sasuke kept his face impassive, and Juugo was preoccupied studying Kaguya. She didn't look happy, he decided. Not that she really did all that often, but usually she appeared impassive at worst. Today she was decidedly…uncomfortable.

 

“The mission was a success,” Sasuke cut in before the obvious question was asked. His tones were measured, and he made no specific references to what actually happened. Tobi seemed to accept this, however, and after some comment about “lightening up” he left the room in much the same way as he had entered.

 

The silence that ensued was rather awkward. Kaguya wasn't really sure how to go about asking Sasuke to speak with her, especially with the others present. But if she waited until he was alone, he might already have received his next assignment and gone. She was about to be risk it and ask directly anyway when Juugo spoke.

 

“Karin? Suigetsu? Would you follow me for a moment? I need you to look at something.”

 

“What? Do it yourself, Juugo,” replied Karin rudely. “Or better yet, Take Suigetsu and the girly with you.” She slid her eyes rather pointedly toward Sasuke, who ignored her.

 

“Go with him,” sighed Sasuke. “I'll be by shortly.”

 

Karin scowled, but at a rather harsh look from Sasuke, she followed Suigetsu out of the room, Juugo bringing up the rear.

 

“I take it you want something?” Sasuke asked quietly. He'd been trying to avoid this conversation. Frankly, he was surprised it had taken her so long to confront him. She really was something of a doormat. Or maybe just too polite, it was hard to tell.

 

She swallowed audibly. “You don't talk to me anymore.” The statement wasn't an accusation, and there was no edge in the voice that made it, though he sensed an undercurrent of something he couldn't identify.

 

“I'm busy.”

 

She bowed her head in a small acknowledgement, but the excuse wasn't going to work this time. “You aren't right now.”

 

He sighed. “Fine. Follow me. We should take this somewhere there is no danger of…roving ears.”

 

She nodded and followed him.

 

***

 

Sasuke sat on the end of his bed, legs crossed in front of him. Kaguya was perched on the only chair in the room, looking to all the world as though she might have to leap up and run at any moment.

 

“Look, just calm down, would you?” He asked, allowing an edge of irritation to creep into his voice.

 

She responded by sinking back just a little bit into the wooden chair. He rolled his eyes and continued. “You wanted to talk, so talk.”

 

His tone seemed to shift something in her, and her own expression hardened somewhat. “Sasuke, I've been living in this place for weeks, without even knowing where it is or who I'm living with. You just disappear for days at a time, and I have no idea where you go or what you're doing.”

 

“It's not anything you need to worry about. It's safe here, and we're with allies. Isn't that enough?”

 

“No!” She gasped, taken aback by the force of her own outburst. There was silence for a few moments, and hen she began again haltingly. “No. You say I'm with allies, but that's not what I feel. Madara is dangerous, Sasuke. Surely you know that. And I… I'm wary of the others that come here. None of them… they just… my instincts tell me they're not to be trusted.” She shook her head, frustrated at her own inability to express what she was feeling.

 

Sasuke, however, seemed to understand. “I never said you had to trust them,” he said, his voice almost a whisper.

 

She frowned. “But you did say they were our allies.”

 

He snorted. “In a world like this, you're better off trusting nobody but yourself.”

 

“How can you say that?” She bit off the question in a choked whisper. “Don't you trust me?”

 

His eyes widened as he realized what he had implied. “Of course I do,” he backpedaled quickly. “But, you're different from them. From me.” He shook his head. What am I saying?

 

She bit her lip. It was obvious even from the distance between them that she was shaking. “You don't understand. How it feels around here. I'm…I'm afraid of these people.” There it was. She had finally put a name to the unease that had surrounded her these past few weeks. And she knew that it was true. Madara scared her. And their comrades, except perhaps Juugo, made her uncomfortable at the very least.

 

Sasuke watched uncertainly as her shoulders began to heave silently with dry sobs. This wasn't like her at all. Frankly, he didn't know how to handle it. Uncertainly, he got off the bed and moved to pat her awkwardly on the shoulder.

 

“Hey, it's fine. Nobody here's gonna hurt you or anything…” He searched for something appropriate to say, but found nothing. They hadn't exactly covered this in ninja training, and that was basically all he knew.

 

She slipped off the chair and to her knees on the ground, still sobbing. He crouched with her, trying to prevent her from hitting the floor or something. Instead, she fell against him. He stiffened, but she didn't seem to notice, instead burying her head into his shoulder. He sat there for a few moments without doing anything, then wrapped one of his arms around her back.

 

“I swear,” he said softly. “I swear that nobody here is going to hurt you.” He couldn't help but notice right then that she smelled like a pleasant mixture of light incense and lilies. He also noticed that they were close together. Touching, in fact. For once, he was glad she couldn't see him, for he was pretty sure his face was an embarrassing shade of red at the moment.

 

She must have, however, been able to hear his heart rate increase, because after a few moments she pulled away and held him at arms' length.

 

“Are you alright?” she asked him, voice still a little strained. It appeared that the medic in her was taking over though, because it was increasingly replaced with a gentle concern.

 

“I'm fine,” he mumbled, grateful that she was back to something more like herself.

 

“Are you certain? Oh, I'm terrible. I thought of nothing but myself and wanted to question you before you had even rested. You should sleep now; I'll go fix everyone something to eat.” She exited the room almost noiselessly, leaving him to contemplate fear, vulnerability, and the smell of water lilies.

 

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Kiku's Corner:

 

Ok, so this chapter is a little different from most of what I write. I'm not comfortable writing romantic stuff all that much, so hopefully it doesn't suck.

 

Oh, and I found a beta! So thank you Beth for volunteering.

 

Also, sorry the update took so long. My computer (Winston) died when I tried to install an antivirus of all things. But, he has been resurrected, so hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner than this one.

 

A continued barrage of gratitude to everyone who reviews or favorites or even just reads.

~Kiku~