Spectral Illusions (Naruto fanfic)

Spectral Illusions Chapter 21

Ooh, two chapters in two days, guys, whoop. This chapter's 1000 words longer than the usual, so enjoy!

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The village seemed a lot more alive when she could see it. Her eyes constantly flashed to and fro as she awkwardly tugged at her sleeves. It was no lie that she felt nervous, worried someone would recognise her. It was unlikely they would, what with her appearance, but her paranoia crept up on her again.

Her skull itched. The short, pixie-cut almost wig she wore was already bugging her, and it felt strange to have no hair falling down her back. She supposed she'd have to get used to it, now; in a fit of frustration, she'd chopped off most of her natural hair to be able to pin it up easily under her wig. She kind of liked the look, but she already missed her long hair.

Her eyes were stinging, too. She hadn't realised putting contacts in was so difficult, and she'd poked herself in the eye several times trying. Her eyes were now a shade of dark brown, almost black, and with the wig and contacts, combined with a mismatch of clothes she may or may not have pinched from Kakashi's wardrobe, she looked like a completely different person.

She wandered, for a while. Being able to roam on her own was a freeing feeling; she went to all the places she used to know like the back of her hand, like the old BBQ restaurant which was still up and running, and the training grounds Team Minato occupied most of the time. The latter was a lot different, now, run down and forgotten, like no one had wanted to tread upon it. Perhaps they hadn't. Maybe they felt it sacred to the Fourth's memory.

But, upon further inspection, she saw it wasn't just the overgrown clearing anymore. Further past the foliage and fallen trees lay a large, empty field, it's expanse stretching for dozens of metres before ending at another tree line. Not far to her left, she saw three logs sitting vertically up from the ground, and not too far from that, an oddly-shaped, obviously man-made stone.

Curiosity got the better of her and she ventured over. She carefully tread past the logs, running her fingers across the splinted rims and flinching when she felt a piece of wood dig into her fingertip. She should have known better than stick her fingers near broken wood, but she simply scowled and tugged the splinter out before slowly continuing to the stone.

It was strange; as soon as she seemed to notice it was a memorial, a drop of water crashed atop the stone.

For a moment, she was mesmerised by it. Her gaze wandered up to the darkened sky, holding up a hand to catch a few drops in her palm. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen rain. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been in rain. Felt it. Heard it crash against the leaves and soak into the ground.

It felt like forever before she finally looked back to the stone. By which time, she had remembered the last time she saw rain. The last time she felt it. She gripped at her shirt, hand just over her chest where she could feel her heart beginning to pound. She swallowed a heavy lump in her throat, free hand using the stone as support. 

The last time she'd seen rain was the same night she was torn away from everything she loved.

"Damn it, Mayako," she growled to herself, seeing not only rain droplets falling onto her hand now. Sniffing, she rubbed at her eyes and cursing for sticking contacts in when they just made her eyes sting more.

Her eyes wandered to the stone in hopes of changing her thought pattern. When her eyes landed on familiar names such as Namikaze Minato and Uchiha Obito, however, her sobs returned and she balled a fist against the stone surface.

She continued to glare at it for the longest time. Her eyes found a few target to glare at, and before she had even thought about what she was doing, she'd pulled out the one weapon she had.