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Misaki was more or less at home with her surroundings that boasted a modest eating area, a comfortable living space with a nearby twin bed, and a bathroom that was a short walk away. The table under the open window bore the weight of a pile of textbooks. However, though she had grown comfortable in her surroundings, she was not relaxed herself. Misaki often wrung her hands in anxiety these days. The tension was always worse at night.

She was always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Still, somehow, she was always cheered by the sight of the floral blankets that she had selected herself. Misaki gazed over at the soft mounds of pink and yellow. Perhaps she should recede into them and prepare for another day...

A rapping at the door tore her out of her thoughts.

Misaki froze and gaped. Who was there at this late hour?

The crawling sensation in her guts had not abated. In fact, it had increased.

Maybe it was Ino or Sakura here to invite her out, but it was getting rather late for that. It might be better if she feigned sleep instead. Anyone could have been on the other side of the door.

As it turned out, Misaki should have trusted her instincts. When she swung open the door, she saw Kabuto standing there in head to toe purple. Misaki didn't know how to react. She went white as a daisy.

"Won't you invite me in, Misaki-chan?" he purred at last. "It's rude to keep one waiting."

Kabuto leaned towards her with his hand on the door frame.

It was as if Kabuto was the cat and she was the cream. He hungrily stared at her.

Misaki hesitated.

"Come now. We don't want to make a scene, hmm? Your neighbors wouldn't appreciate it."

Kabuto could start attacking them to persuade her. Not to mention to blow her cover. But did she want him attacking her inside?

No. He wouldn't. Would he? Kabuto would have more discretion than that.

Maybe he had orders to exterminate her from the pale man. Maybe it all ended tonight.

A false painted smile creased her lips. "Of course. Come in." She held the door open vacantly.

Kabuto smirked. "That's better."

She could hear his footsteps behind her. Misaki was on high alert. She was unsure.

"Can I offer you anything?"

She could at least be a good hostess; he expected it after all.

"So sophisticated," Kabuto commented wryly. "Is our little Misaki growing up?"

Kabuto's laughter was hard and brittle like a vase shattering against a wall and Misaki had been the spray of flowers in it.

Kabuto was different somehow. There was a harder light behind his eyes. Perhaps Misaki was imagining it.

It was impossible, wasn't? It was Kabuto. Only he would know where she lived and who she was. A secret that Misaki could never tell anyone about it.

"Just some green tea, if you don't mind."

Kabuto collapsed into a chair as if it was already his home. Again, the memories of the Otogakure came flooding back.

She couldn't mind. Not without encountering a problem.

Her hands trembled the pours in the cup. There was no point in hiding how nervous she was. Kabuto could already sense it.

But didn't green tea keep one awake? Then again, perhaps Kabuto didn't sleep like a normal person and ran missions all night instead. Those from the Otogakure weren't normal as Misaki knew too well.

Trying to stem the tremors in her hands, Misaki set the cup down in front of Kabuto.

"So, how's life?"

Misaki was reluctant to speak. "Fine."

She hoped that Kabuto didn't want information. She hadn't learned a damned thing yet. It was as if without the influence of Orochimaru and the Hidden Sound Village, Misaki grew wings even though she was all too aware they could disintegrate at any time.

"What are you doing here? Did Orochimaru-sama send you?" she dared to ask.

Kabuto glanced towards the window. "I felt like it. I just want some hospitality, Misaki-chan."

The window was wide open and anyone could hear them.

From a safe distance, Misaki watched him drank his tea. She prayed that he would leave quickly.

"I don't have any intel for you..." Misaki started.

Honesty was better than nothing.

Kabuto suddenly slammed the now empty cup down. "Don't worry about it. I came here for my own reasons."

Didn't Orochimaru-sama know about this visit? Was Kabuto allowed to move on his own?

She was confused. "For what?"

Kabuto grinned and raised himself from the couch. Within seconds, he was in her personal space.

"Maybe for this."

Kabuto laid his hand on the small of her back; she flinched at the intrusion. Misaki was witless when he nudged into his embrace.

"What? What do you mean?"

It was a dumb question. Kabuto's intent was obvious.

Kabuto's eyes twinkled. "I want something else before I go."

Still, something was wrong. Kabuto was not himself. Even the pattern of his words and the way he stood was different.

But, it had to be him, didn't it? Why would it be anyone else?

The rest of Misaki's thoughts were halted by a sudden kiss.

So. He wanted to take advantage of her. Misaki noted that the bed was close by. Too close. What would she do then?

The kiss was feverish and possessive. There was nothing playful or mocking about it. It was different from the last, and Misaki remembered.

Again, it was as if Kabuto was a different man.

Misaki was a quivering mess when he broke apart from her.

"Later," he whispered.

Kabuto left the door wide open when he left. Misaki softly closed and locked it behind him.

That was why Kabuto came? For a kiss?

The deep blush on her face had only been witnessed by the moon.

It was stupid. Stupid that she liked him. Someone who disrespected and abused her. Misaki was beyond help.

And now Kabuto knew where she lived.





---





Careful not to be spotted, "Kabuto" strode down the steps to the street of his birth place. How different yet the same it was now.

As he walked, Obito casually reverted to his masked cloaked form.

His fingers flew up to where his mouth would be.

Obito only reverted to his Tobi persona because it amused him. Obito supposed that even Tobi should have a voice about what had just transpired.

Because there was absolutely no reason to giggle so loudly. So idiotically.

"Tobi kissed a girl!"





---





Misaki lacked enthusiasm for her training and Ibiki seemed to notice. The bear of a man was not pleased.

She had been much more relaxed in her cell where no demands had been put on her, but there she hadn't even been a person.

"You have to put more spirit into it," Ibiki insisted. "You will be fighting for your life one day."

She just wanted to slump over like a slug hanging on to a leaf.

"Come on. Let's show the world that you're my niece. Okay?"

Misaki wondered when could just be herself for a change.

Ibiki was pressuring her, the pale man was pressuring her, Kabuto...

"Now, try again. Feet balanced and apart."

Misaki did so. She was horrible at most jutsus.

What if she didn't even become a genin. She wondered what the equivalent of one in the Otogakure was.

When she inevitably returned, would she be put back in her cell? Would that become her life? Her tomb?

"Misaki?"

Frantically, she sought to blot her thoughts out. Focus on dirt. A long expanse of dark soil.

"Doton: Kiretsu!"

This time, the chakra flowed through her untamed. She just to focus her will and channel all her frustration into the jutsu.

There. A crack of stress popped apart the earth. It was at least three feet in diameter. Misaki felt better now. It replaced the pathetic spiderweb of miniature cracks she had endeavored with on the first two tries.

Nonplussed, Ibiki hopped away from it.

Ibiki stood behind her. "Good try. At least you can use Dotsu. I wasn't sure if you possessed the chakra or strength. There are plenty more jutsus to try."

And Misaki was sure that he would try them. Her uncle was militant in his training. Thorough. If only he knew that Misaki felt like a crumbling cliff before it trembled and crashed to the bottom.

"It's all right, Misaki," he soothed her. "You're a work in project. It's a good thing that I pay attention to detail."

With a wink, Ibiki smiled at her. Still, it was a hard smile all the same.

It was only a matter of time before she was cruel like everyone else. The bonding with her uncle would end, and she would be made use of. Still, at least in Konoha, people sought love, family, and relationships. She had to take the sugar with the salt.

She had to pay the pale man back somehow. She could start by aspiring to become a genin.

Did it even matter if she sought to be good person now? Would the life she wanted always be out of reach?

"Well, I think that we should end it here. Come on. Let's go somewhere to eat. Have you ever tried Ichiraku Ramen?"

Misaki hadn't been eating as well as she should. Anywhere was fine with her.

"My treat. I know you don't receive a wage yet..."

Ibiki was the type to notice how much things cost. Money hadn't been an issue in the Otogakure. There had been nowhere to go and nowhere to spend it.

The girl known as Ayame set the steaming bowl of noodles in front of her and smiled politely.

If others knew the truth about her, how would they react?

Not well.