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Misaki was honestly having a bad morning. She felt out of sorts, and it was not helping her luck.

Or, perhaps she was finally starting to fray from the stress of it all. One foot in the darkness and one in the light. It was no way to live.

Her life was complicated at the moment. Bright, dark, happy, sad, fulfilled, lonely...

For one, she had the hairbrush caught in her hair. Somehow. It should have been impossible. But, with gentle effort and painful pulling, her tresses finally became free.

When she took her shower, Misaki eventually discovered that she didn't have hot water and she was forced to shivered through her shampoo. It reminded her of the showers in the Otogakure. No wonder sometimes she chose just to stink back then. She remembered that Kabuto hadn't been happy whenever she had refused.

Kabuto. Misaki's breath caught in her chest. No. Thinking of Kabuto wouldn't make her morning better either.

Later, when she opened the refrigerator in the hopes of a meal, an egg rolled out from the shelf and cracked onto the floor; the yellow yolk splattering against he bare foot. She grimaced before hopping over to the kitchen sink.

Clearly, the universe didn't want her to have a good morning; Misaki wondered if bad karma had attached itself to her.

So, it was little wonder why she was late to academy.

With too little time to spare, Misaki scrambled out the door.

She couldn't be late again. She was still the new student, but she wouldn't be forever. Then again, Misaki was sure that she would never finish her education.

"Akamaru, wait!" a voice pleaded.

A white dog was barking like mad as it streaked down the road. Behind the loosed animal was a boy with face paint ambling after it.

Misaki opened her mouth in surprise as she brought her hand up to her lips while she finished descending the steps of the apartment. Apparently, someone else's morning was stressful.

"My dog!" the boy cried. "Akamaru, bad!"

On instinct, she too ran after the dog until she found herself in the woods with the boy close by. It seemed that he had disappeared for the moment.

Misaki was pleased that she learned how to infuse chakra through her legs. She was actually retaining what she had learned in her lessons.

She threw the piece of bread that she intended to have as her breakfast on the ground. It was plain as she didn't even have the time to butter it. It didn't matter now.

Misaki smiled in triumph as the wild dog halted to a stop and curiously sniffed at it.

Just then, the boy burst out of the brush and grabbed it. The white dog whined. The game was over.

"Got 'im!"

With his pet captured, Kiba fully focused on her.

"So, who are you?"

Misaki was getting too used to introducing herself.

"Misaki. Morino Misaki."

The wild boy grinned. "My name is Kiba, and this is Akamaru. "Good running," he complimented her.

"Thank you."

Misaki was pleased that it seemed she had uncovered a talent for speed, but the other genins were leagues ahead of her in their jutsus.

Kiba snapped fingers. The action startled her. "Right. Shino was talking about you. The new girl. The executioner's niece."

So, Misaki had a nick name. She wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"I didn't know about you until now. Where have you been all this time?"

Suddenly, Misaki's brain jammed it as if falling stone severed her fragile stem. The petals above couldn't be supported any more. She just...fell apart.

"I...I don't remember."

Kiba's face fell. "Well, that's a bummer."

Misaki was all too aware. Kiba didn't need to remind her. Only was the pale man would know the extent of her history. She didn't how much Kabuto was aware of. Misaki didn't know why no one would her her own life. Perhaps the pale man and his medic desired her to suffer more.

"I mean, anything could have happened to you, you know?" Kiba continued.

Unbeknownst to Kiba, Misaki had collected sights and sounds that would never leave her memory.

The wails and moans of the other prisoners. An eternal chill that made her shiver. The constant hunger coupled churning perpetual fear. Deep black isolation...

Misaki could count herself lucky that she hadn't been nominated for any experiments.

Trembling a bit, Misaki bent down to distract herself to pet the dog. Akamaru yipped uncertainly.

"There you go. Don't be shy! Hey, are you a dog person or a cat person?"

She blinked a bit. Suddenly, she was back in the real world.

"Just teasing," Kiba laughed at her stumped expression. "Well, later. It was nice was to meet you."

Akamaru sniffed at her foot before Kiba called him away. She was alone again.

Misaki wasn't sure if she could answer the question. She liked birds. Butterflies. Fireflies. And rabbits. Maybe she was a rabbit person.

Misaki sighed deeply as she watched the fiery sunlight make the stone walls of the buildings around her glow. The ordinary turned extraordinary. Birds began to sing an encouraging tune. It was going to be a beautiful day.

"Misaki-chan, why are you out here?"

She turned to see Kakashi-sensei sternly eyeing her from under his mask.

Kakashi was Sakura's and Naruto's sensei. She had met him once before. He and Ibiki knew each other because Kakashi had once been ANBU She could trust him.

"I met someone named Kiba," she explained. "I'm a little late today."

"Obviously." Kakashi glowered at her. "The Ninja Academy doesn't appreciate tardiness. It's against the rules."

Kakashi trailed off. Misaki swore that she saw a flicker of sorrow.

"And you'll miss your friends."

"But I..."

"No more distractions," he rebuffed her. "I'll walk you there."

Everyone always made her guilty without fail to be fussed over like this. She didn't deserve it. She didn't deserved to be missed.

Before her feet started to move, she looked up at the sky the clouds above were hot and orange. A few were even red.

Red clouds...



---



This morning was an exciting one so far, and all he had to do was observe.

The masked man had lazily lingered in the woods for so long that others would swear that he was a tree.

Earlier, the blonde girl had been in his sights and he had done nothing to break the ice. He just wasn't in the mood. The time was not yet ripe.

It occurred to him to break his cover, but it just wasn't worth it with the other villagers so near. He had to speak with Misaki in private.

From a glance, he could see that there was nothing special about her. Her chakra bordered on weak. She was a spy and nothing more.

He did note how pliable she was. Maybe with a little effort, he could trick her to his side, or at the very least corrupt her mind.

That gave Tobi ideas, but how to properly execute them?

She was fundamentally useless to the Akatsuki, but at least he could perhaps use her to keep Orochimaru in check. Tobi could take his pawn as payment for running away and insulting his organization.

All he could do was wait. Luckily, that came naturally to Tobi.

He had waited almost twenty years for things develop to this point. What was it to wait a few days more?

He would watch her until later to see where she would walk home.

The girl might get some company when she least expected it...