Oblivion [A Naruto Story]

Chapter Seven: Alone

Finally, she was getting answers.

'I was a shinobi.'

Arisu cocked her head, her fingers curled into the soft fur of her ninken. After a few moments, however, she nodded, although the words had been far from a question. At that, Reiki dropped her eyes to the notepad settled in her lap. Several wadded up pieces of paper sat in a neat stack at her feet, evidence of the questions she'd been asking. Unfortunately for her, many of them had been met with hesitation, then apologetic refusal on Arisu's part. She'd apparently been instructed to limit what knowledge she gave away.

Originally, Reiki had been a bit excited when Arisu showed up and announced that Kakashi had been summoned by the hokage. He'd reluctantly left her alone with Arisu, giving her this chance. That excitement had faded into annoyance as she realized her "friend" had already been sworn to silence. Initially, this meant that she was refused any information about her family, being told that Kakashi wouldn't like it if she told Reiki while he wasn't around. After that, Reiki found herself with only one thing left to question-- her life as a shinobi.

'What position did I hold?'

"Oh, I can answer that... I think."

'Just blame me if you're scolded.'

Arisu snorted.

"You really don't know Kakashi if you think that excuse would hold up," she retorted, flinching slightly as she saw the way Reiki tensed. "Oh, uh, sorry. Anyways... um, you were a jounin."

Reiki was only slightly surprised. She'd guessed that she must have been skilled. The village wouldn't be handling her so carefully if she'd been someone with meager skills. Still, her faint, strange knowledge of shinobi structure told her that she must have been above average if she'd been a jounin at her age. She'd been away from the village for several years at that point, which meant she must have been in her teens when she made jounin. That was unusual, right?

'I fought well?'

Arisu suddenly laughed, causing Reiki to practically jump out of her skin. This was followed by Arisu flushing and scratching her cheek in a sheepish manner. From her reaction, it was easy to assume that the old her must not have been so jumpy.

"Sorry, just, well is an understatement. I can't count the number of times you kicked Mitsuki's ass when we were younger."

'He's weaker than me?'

"Eh, in a way. You beat him completely when it came to taijutsu and genjutsu, but his ninjutsu is sorta insane. Like, he can even stand up to Kakashi for a few minutes... well, up until he gets his ass handed to him on a platter since ninjutsu is his only skill."

Reiki took this in. So, her skills in ninjutsu had most likely been average. The idea that she excelled in taijutsu made sense, as her mind instantly flashed back to the weapons that Kakashi had offered her when they were escaping whatever mess she'd woke to. Oversized, two-pointed sai weren't exactly something that someone without skill would prefer to use, were they? It was too easy to injure yourself on the double-sided weapons.

"Hey, that's not fair, I'm totally more badass than that."

Reiki jumped to her feet, spinning to face the single window in Kakashi's livingroom. Arisu, however, simply growled under her breath.

"What are you doing, Mitsuki?"

The pinkette lounged comfortably in the window, one foot propped up against the frame, the other dangling out the other side. He simply grinned in response to the question, holding one hand up in the air.