She heaved a sigh. Ignoring the questions that flooded her mind, she didn't want to think, it was bound to become a downward spiral of nothing good. Besides, she knew what she had to do, it was just a means of doing it and not getting caught in some kind of mess.
She had a goal, one that she could reach, one that she could finally achieve, and the thought already got the blood flowing with adrenaline. It only made her feet silently thump on the ground faster, the wind blowing through her long golden locks more violently, breathing more shallow. And the burning sensation in her lungs only fueled her run.
Mina briefly closed her eyes and immediately a picture of her smiling brother floated behind her eyelids, the sparkle in his eye clear as the sun beating down on the black cloak that covered her. She pushed the image away, but someone else popped in her mind.
Lips twitching upwards, she had to bite her lip to suppress the oncoming smile. He wasn't smiling, frown etched on his face, but what was new? He always seemed to be frowning, always portraying that lazy attitude, always muttering 'what a drag' when something came up that needed a little more effort. But each and every time they locked eyes, she saw the glimmer in his brown eyes. She saw the softness in his eyes, the care, the curiosity, the knowledge, the intellect. She saw that his brown eyes held something she could never dream to hold, and it frightened her when she realised what it was. Mina could read someone like an open book in an instant when she locked eyes with anyone, and it wasn't any different when she would look into the eyes of Shikamaru, the only difference being that she didn't quite understand what she saw, all she understood was that he knew, he knew a lot. And it terrified her to think of how much he knew, always being a step or more ahead of herself.
Her feet stopped moving, as she quietly perched on the branch of the tree. Birds tweeting and leafs rustling, it was a peaceful moment, the fist breeze cooling her heated skin. Mina took a moment to appreciate the peacefulness, catching her breath and then-
"Sasuke~!"
Her violet eyes glanced downwards, her eyebrows shooting upward the moment they handed on the four people walking casually through the forest. She focused in on one person, in particular, ignoring the red-headed girl, the boy with a giant sword or the other one, that kind of looked like he was hiding something under the cloak. She spotted the dark-haired boy she once knew in the academy, his hair had gotten longer, and he looked a lot taller.
When she blinked, she saw it. She saw everything, the way his Chakra flowed through his body wasn't normal. Well, it was, but it had a different feel to it. The darkness that was there before had lessened, now it flowed with uncertainty and confusion. It was like the one goal he was working towards his whole life had been-
She was flying through the air before she had time to think.
Mina ignored the grunt that came from deep within Sasuke's throat as she pinned him to the tree. "You did it," it wasn't a question. And when she only got a blank stare in return, the grip on his collar tightened as she pulled him back and slammed him almost immediately back into the tree, the crunch not registering in her mind.
By now the other three were on edge, ready to attack if anything worse were to happen.
"Yes," Sasuke spat out, gritting his teeth and trying not to let any pain get to him, still not being fully healed from the recent fight.
Mina growled, eyes narrowing as she bit her lip to the point it started to bleed. Her eyes burned, as she stared at the bags under his eyes and the undeniable look of tiredness on his face. She brought her hand up, noticing the other people tensing, and brought it back down.
The sound of the slap seemed to echo through the forest, the silence so thick it was suffocating.
"You knew," the Uchiha spoke, his voice void of any emotion. Acting like it didn't hurt, and considering the pain he just went through, it didn't. Though he didn't know why Mina decided to hold back.
And the Uzumaki breathed in, releasing a sigh. She gathered her emotions and shoved them under the rug.
"So what'cha gonna do now?" she beamed the question, taking a couple of steps back, clasping her hands behind her and swaying on her heels.
"What do you mean?" the squeaky voice of the other girl standing there questioned, standing in a defensive position. Face morphed into a mixture of curiosity, anger and no doubt jealousy. "Sasuke's obviously becoming a leader," Mina's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"Oh Sasuke~" she sang, a grin playing at her lips as she turned back to face the dark-haired teen, ignoring the comments coming from the white-haired boy, "is wittle baby swaske being petty and needy?" she teased doing an almost forgotten baby voice.
Sasuke's eye twitched hearing her tone, thoughts flashing back to a time at the academy. Mina had always been the odd one out, and he expected her to be the same as the other girls, a fangirl, but the moment she started teasing him for everything he did, his tolerance of her was cut very short. He could stand the girls, sometimes going out of his way to impress them (it pleased his ego hearing them praise him) oh boy, did it infuriate him. Knowing that she was the sister of the blond dork, and in good terms with his family, made it even worse. How could his own family take better care of some dead-mans daughter than their own son? How could she get the affection of Itachi better than his own brother? He felt the hole in his heart increase just a little at that thought. But the unreasonable feeling was misinterpreted, she wouldn't understand. No one could. His own brother had massacred his whole family, clan, without batting an eye.
But the glint in her violet eyes said otherwise, and it angered him.
Mina was talking, but her words were nothing. Rambling about nothing, "ya know, you should've looked into it before, ya know, you kill-" and Mina was flying across the pathway in the forest.
The pain erupting in her abdominal, almost didn't hurt, but the choked breath she released said something else, "wha- hey! That hurt, ya know!" she complained, standing up and trying to rub the pain away.
She noticed how everyone was on guard, ready to attack. So sighing and raising her hands in mock surrender, "look," she started, taking a pause to look then all in the eye. The red eyes of the redhead and the large man, purple eyes of the other guy, and the bloody red eyes of Sasuke, the three black dots of his Sharingan staring right back at her. "I don't want to fight," she said gaining a scoff from the girl.
"Yeah, you just want to steal Sasuke from me!" the girl said, voice rising as she spoke. Mina gave her a pointed look, raising both eyebrows in slight surprise. "Not that you could--I mean, look at you!" She gestured to Mina with an exaggerated scan of Mina short height. "How could a rouge-" she pointed at the scratched headband Mina was wearing, "get this amazing man-" she pointed at Sasuke, who was staring at the scene with a blank face, and the others seeming annoyed by her. "Scum like you will never amount to anything. Even your brother-"
The girl choked on her words, suddenly finding it hard to breathe, the pressure of the calloused small hands on the throat increasing by the second.
Mina was fuming, feeling he blood boil, the steam already seeping out of her pores even if the girl was taller, the Uzumaki managed to push her to the tree and increase the hold she had on the redhead's throat.
"Listen here," Mina said in a dangerously low and calm voice, though the air thickened with a deadly and suffocating pressure. Sasuke raised his eyebrows, feeling the pressure but not doing anything about it, after all, Karen had gotten herself in this mess. He crossed his arms, noticing the other two male tense but did nothing about it, he did nothing about the cold sweat that dripped down his forehead or the weaver in his heart. "Say another word about my family and you won't get one with your precious Uchiha," Mina whispered in her ear, though the deadly undertone didn't go unnoticed.
Karen choked, from the pressure on her neck and the realisation she got while sensing Mina's chakra. She couldn't put her finger on it, the colours of her chakra mixing and becoming a blur. Red and purple were prominent, but the tinge of yellow was still there. It wasn't natural, she concluded, but after sensing how dark Sasuke's chakra is, she wasn't surprised that The Bloody Flash had some unnatural chakra.
She gasped for breath as soon as Mina released her, scrambling away from the retreating figure of Mina. And she decided it was best that she not comment when Sasuke and Mina had walked off alone, not to comment on how they actually looked good together when they stood at the edge of the cliff, talking with the sunset casting a warm glow on the pair. Not commenting when Mina rested her hand on Sasuke's shoulder, and she definitely decided not to comment when Sasuke pulled her into a hug, or when Mina wrapped her hands around him.
***
"You don't look so good," Mina broke the silence between them, keeping her eyes on the water below them, and how the sun reflected off the water.
"What does it matter to you?" Sasuke asked, the words coming out as more of a hiss than a response.
Mina only gave him a passing glance, "It's just..." She paused, looking for the right wording, "back then, uh, you sounded like you would, ya know, be happy when you completed your, ya know, dream."
Sasuke scoffed, masking the laugh that threatened to surface, "Hn," he grunted in agreement. "I am," a beat of silence, "I finally did what I wanted."
"You don't seem content, ya know." she heard as he sucked in a breath, a slight twitch from his body. "Listen," she started, turning to face him but leaving her body facing the sea, "I know back then we were never friends, but you and I both know that we didn't really hate each other-"
"I beg to differ."
Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance, but seeing a small upwards pull on his lips, she chose to ignore the comment and her growing grin.
"You can let it all out, ya know, it's not good holding in your emotions all the time, trust me, I know. But, ugh, if you want-" she lifted her right hand, the bracelet wrapped around her wrist glowing a soft golden before the three-bladed kunai was in her hand, "I'll be here to listen."
Sasuke glanced down at her extended hand, noticing the darker scarring around her wrist. "I don't need it," he mumbled, looking away. And suddenly he felt a tug in his pocket, the force pulling him down a bit. With wide eyes, he turned to face Mina, offended that she managed to attack him in that way.
"That outfit is ridiculous, ya know."
"What did you do?" He sneered, glaring at the blonde Uzumaki, taking a hesitant step back.
Mina grinned cheekily, clasping her hand behind her back and swinging on her heels, "I don't know, what did I do?" she teased, but put her hand up in surrender when Sasuke put a hand on his katana. "You wouldn't take the kunai, so I put it in your pocket," gesturing to the lower half of his outfit, "so if ya need me, flow some Chakra in there and I'll get notified!" with a grin she turned back to watch the sunset over the sea.
A peaceful moment of silence was cut short when Mona's soft voice broke it, "you never responded properly."
"Hn."
"Why do you look like you didn't achieve your goal."
A beat of silence and Mina didn't push for an answer but got one eventually, "Its all I've ever wanted." his voice was strong, clear with hatred and determination heard in his voice, seen in his eyes. "And I finally got it, I got my revenge."
Mina rested her hand in his shoulder, telling him silently that she was there, "but why do I feel so empty." he turned to her and looked straight in her eyes, bloody red Sharingan gone, and a pool of obsidian, an endless pit of emotion stared at Mona's bright blue-violet eyes. "He kill-killed my family, our family, the whole fucking clan and leaves me to grow up on my own."
"Maybe, and, ugh, don't quote me on anything, but, ya know, maybe the reason you feel empty is that you don't know the full story." Mina paused, noting the quiver in his eyes, and a sudden tense jaw, looking like he was holding back tears. And she gave him a small smile. "I also knew Itachi, he was a good man, for reasons you may not know now, but he was."
"I do know."
It was a simple sentence but filled with so much emotion. And for sure, it took Mina by surprise when he wrapped his strong bit lean arms around her, burying his face into her neck as she felt the hot tears drip onto her skin. It took a moment for her to respond and when she did Sasuke only choked on a sob when her small arms tried their best to wrap around him.
"This is new, ya know," Mina mumbled, still slightly in shock but smiled when he scoffed a laugh.
They stayed like that for a while, just embracing, and it felt good to know that someone else knew the truth about Itachi.
When the broke apart, Mina took a step away from him, a sudden gut-wrenching feeling appearing. A familiar one at that. But she dismissed it when the sun blinded her for a moment, and she turned around to face the water.
"What an unexpected sighting."
The voice made Mina raise her eyebrows, but recognising the voice, she didn't turn around. Although the stare from the one eye hole of the mask she knew he was wearing, was definitely felt.
Noticing that Mina wasn't turning around, the man completely ignored her, turning to Sasuke, with his black Akatsuki cloak poofing up due to the motion and wind. "I've got him, the transfer is ready."
"Alright." Was the only thins Sasuke responded with, before walking away, though not before leaving a short look at Mina.
The footsteps were still clear when Mina spoke, in a raised and calm voice, echoing around, "OI! Lollipop head!" She turned, looking at the man she met a few years ago. In response, the man stopped, turned and stared at the Uzumaki. "Did my shoe taste alright?" Sasuke heard the grin in her voice and rolled his eyes, but said nothing.
Not getting a response from the man, Mina continues, "It would be really nice if I could get them back, ya know, they were really nice shoes, fit just right ya know. And to be honest, they were a perfect surprise attack, would really like to have them back..."
The man said nothing as Mina continued to ramble, talking about the same thing over and over, just in a different way each time, and though he wouldn't admit, her voice and the non-stop talk was starting to get on his nerves.
"You have perfectly good shoes on now." He said, gesturing to the black standard ninja sandals she was wearing. Mina took no notice of what he had just said and continued with her rant, though he could feel as though she was coming to an end.
"You know what else I want back?" She asked, the question not sounding like a question at all. But he still responded,
"What?"
"Itachi." The word came out of her mouth so nonchalantly and smoothly that Sasuke had to do a double-take.
"No." Was the simple reply from the masked man. And as the mand raised his hand, Sharingan behind his mask shining through, he stopped abruptly with the words she said next.
"You've already taken the useful part of a dead shinobi." Mina looked at him, trying not to convey any emotion. But her sparkling blue eyes gave said everything that needed to be said. They stared at each other, one trying to mask her emotions and one that didn't need to do so.
So that's when she felt it, like the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle fitting into its place, she felt that everything that had happened, is happening and will happen has fit into its place. An end to a sentence, the last page of the book being written and the placed perfectly into its place on the book shelve.
"Fine." The man spat out, obviously reluctant but with a swish of his coat and a gleam of a red eye, and a swirl of air there was an extra body between the three.
With a clenched jaw and fists balled uptight at her sides, Mina gave a curt nod. Fearing that if she spoke, the words would get caught and tangled with emotion she was so desperately holding back. And in the silence of the crashing waves and the sleepy sun, she gave one last fleeting look at Sasuke, picked up the body and disappeared in a flash of golden yellow.
Barry-The-Berry