◦•●◉✿ GATO ✿◉●•◦
"Zabuza. I must warn you, if you continue to stay with Gato I will be forced to kill you and your boy."
The man scoffs.
"As if you could kill me?"
"Kakashi-"
"Help the boys."
"I don't take orders from you." The silverette sighs, pulling his headband up and keeping his eyes solely on the Iwa-nin.
"Please."
"Okay." His eye twitches as she instantly disappears from his sight.
"Tch. Your student needs to change her attitude."
"I know..."
Meanwhile, Keiko enters the mirrors.
"Are you an idiot!?" Sasuke scolds but she ignores him and instead focuses on freezing everything.
Successfully doing so, she blinks in shock when she sees the two-tomoe sharingan her cousin.
She grits her teeth.
To be honest, she didn't see the sharingan as a blessing. It was a curse. You obtained it's greater powers through trauma and immense emotional pain, and the side effects of the mangekyou were terrible.
Risking your sight for power was terrible.
Keiko walks up to the frozen figure of the fast boy and drives a kunai through his abdomen, she then swipes all the senbon away from them and unfreezes time.
Instantly, the mirrors shatter and the missing nin falls to the ground, clutching his wound.
"Gah!" Keiko walks up to him, with a slight deadpan and quickly uses one of the senbon he had thrown before to press a pressure point on his neck and knock him unconscious.
She hears Sakura run towards them as she sighs at Naruto's less injured body, and Keiko's barely injured body.
"Sasuke needs it first." She nods, hovering her hands over Sasuke and ignoring everything else, even his 'Brooding looks.' which Sasuke noticed she hadn't commented about.
To be honest...She hadn't really talked about him.
That was good right...?
So why did he feel bad?
What he didn't notice however, was the smirking Uchiha behind him who had secretly saw something like- like love flash through the raven haired boys eyes, but it was gone as soon as it had come.
"Some demon of the mist, you are! You're pathetic!" Keiko sighs, flashing in front of the short man and cleanly slicing his head off, forgetting about everyone who had seen the gruesome killing, three particular kids being forever traumatized.
She then grabs his head and dangles it in front of her. Her back faces her former opponent and teammates, hiding her threatening grin along with her piercing red eyes.
"Leave. Now! And if I ever see or hear about you returning, I will ensure that no one will be able to find a single part of your body to mourn you with!"
"Y-Yes Ma'am!" She watches in satisfaction as all the men jump off the bridge and cower away.
Of course...Just for good measure...
BOOM!
"Oops..." She snickers at the paper bomb she had thrown into the water, hearing a few yells.
Turning back, she saw Zabuzas relieved expression upon seeing Haku alive.
"Just as I thought..." She mutters and tossed the head to Zabuza, who quickly catches it tiredly.
"You should be able to collect his bounty...I believe it is in the seventy-millions? Other than that, leave us be or repay this land by helping fix the bridge you destroyed." Haku finally wakes up, both the nin shocking them by bowing towards them.
"Thank you..." Haku says, looking at Keiko.
"Do not thank me. I hate it." She stares at her hands, silently calling herself a monster once again though it didn't bother her too much anymore...
Okay.
Maybe it did bother her a little. But she wasn't about to show that to everyone.
Kakashi frowned once he noticed the very same look he had always given himself after a nightmare, or when visiting the cemetery. Just as he was about to place a hand on her shoulder, a flash of yellow passed by as Naruto successfully tackled his friend.
"I-I-You look so sad! Are you okay?!" He cried, tears running down his cheeks as she looked at him with wide eyes.
"I am always fine. I do not understand your concern but I do believe I am supposed to appreciate and acknowledge it..." She looked at Kakashi who nodded at this.
Zabuza couldn't help but snort, which eventually led to Kakashi and Haku laughing.
"Oi! Naruto! She's injured so get off her!"
"I am fine. All of my wounds have healed."
"..." Silence fills the area as she notices her slip up.
"I healed my body with medical-ninjutsu." They nodded, understanding now.
Of course...The three older ninjas narrowed their eyes, knowing she was lying.
"Inari? What are you doing?" She blinked at the boy who had run to her, latching onto her waist.
Everyone snickered as her expression turned panicked and hands froze in the air.
"Th-Thank you! You kept your promise!" She began sweating lightly and turned her gaze to the silver-haired man for advice. He snickered and demonstrated with his arms as she followed him until she was able to pull the boy into a proper hug.
"I have simply done as I should have. Forgive me if I was too brutal."
"Fathers death was worse."
"Mm Yes, I suppose so." She slowly called Naruto over and he quickly obliged.
She somehow managed to switch them so that Inari was clutching onto Naruto, much to the blondes dismay. But, he eventually cried alongside the boy.
Keiko noticed they weren't comical tears, but instead tears of a boy whos view of the world had changed.
He was no longer innocent.
She lowered her eyes to the ground, the only thing indicated that she was guilty for showing the children such sights.
How was she to restore the Uchiha name as the heiress, if she could not restore her own?
She couldn't.
But she could try.
"Hey...You okay?"
"I'm never okay." Naruto furrows his eyebrows at her.
"But you always act like nothing's wrong?"
"Hence the word Like my friend." She smiles at him before turning to Kakashi.
"Let us leave. I have many duties to attend to back at Konohagakure."
"..." A few moments of everyone following the young girl back to the small house and the villagers staying behind to celebrate, Naruto walks closer to Keiko with concern filled eyes.
"Hey, Keiko-Chan?"
"Hn?"
"Are you okay?' She huffed in amusement.
"Why would I not be?"
"...Because your crying...?"
"..." No one said anything for the rest of the walk, and as Naruto had mentioned her tears, they were gone as soon as they came.
" I suppose I am a human..." They heard her mumble but chose to ignore this as they entered the home of their client.
Chapter End.
Wave arc has ended.
(Edited may 14th, 2021. I'm currently stressed.)