The Past Catches Up

By Anko-dono

Chapter Five: I'm Disappointed

It was almost four o'clock when Mitsuri entered the Godaime's office. She found Tsunade enjoying a bottle of sake, her assistant sitting beside her. "Hokage-sama?"

"Oi! Mitsuri! You should be resting."

"Hey, Shizune-san. I didn't know you drank," commented Mitsuri, ignoring Tsunade.

"I don't!" Shizune poked her superior and stood up to leave. "I have to go now. See you!"

---

"What are you doing, Sakura?" Sasuke couldn't help but frown. The pink-haired girl was too clingy for his taste, and he hated being touched. Yeah right, a voice inside his head mocked him. If Mitsuri touched you... A little embarrassed with his thoughts, he politely took his arm from Sakura's grasp.

"Listen, Sasuke-kun," she said. "Why don't we go out later? You know, to catch up on things." She acted as though she hadn't gone around asking Tsunade or Kakashi about Sasuke's life. She knew that he had become a jounin teacher and that he was working with Mitsuri, but she wanted to hear it from the love of her life himself.

"I don't know, Sakura. I still have something to do early tomorrow morning-"

"Please, Sasuke-kun! We'll go home early, ne..."

After a few minutes of not really thinking, Sasuke consented. Sakura beamed and jumped up and down joyfully just as she always did when they were younger. Afterward, when he had reached home, Sasuke thought maybe he made the right decision when he agreed to go out with Sakura, because he needed a break from thinking about Mitsuri and what he found out about her bloodline.

She's just like me. The similarity of their lives unsettled him. He wasn't alone after all. Omitsu, second to the last head of the Keiko clan had gone crazy, due to old age and horrible experiences as a ninja. She became paranoid and finally resulted to killing her clan during a celebration to which she was not invited to. According to the records, she had thought that they were plotting to kill her and so she ended their lives first.

If what Tsunade said was true, then Omitsu would be Mitsuri's widowed grandmother. How did baby Mitsuri end up on the late Sandaime's doorstep? Sasuke shook his head and rested his head on the back of the couch. He'd been spending a lot of time on that couch lately.

---

She believed every single word Tsunade told her. There was no space for doubts, what with the mind-reading ability, the green hair, and the new development: the ability to perform techniques just by thinking it. No seals required. Rather confused about how she felt, Mitsuri went to the apartment of her former sensei.

"Doushta no? Mitsuri...?" Kakashi peered curiously at her blank face.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei. What do you think about the Keiko clan?"

"Hn? Keiko? They had amazing abilities. Excessive mental work, though. Why do you ask about them?"

"Tsunade told me I am one of them."

Eh? "I see." Everything became clear to him now. Her being able to read minds... her features.

"Do you believe?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I realize now that you look so much like her."

"Like who?"

As if lost in the sands of time, Kakashi fell silent. A pinch from Mitsuri brought him back. "My best friend."

"Best friend? I thought Obito was a he. And wasn't he an Uchiha?"

"Not Obito, idiot. I meant Oko."

"Who's Oko?

"She must be your sister. She was a couple of years older but she didn't mind hanging out with me. Because... because I was cool." He winced when Mitsuri boxed his face. "Hai, hai! She was just kind." Then mumbled, "She did think I was cool."

Wow. I had a sister. Like... like flesh and blood! Should I be happy? No. How can I be? They're all dead! All because of that baasan! But I can't blame her. I should blame the harsh life of the shinobi! "Kakashi, can you tell me more about Omitsu-san, and Oko-neesan?"

"Oko was the closest to your grandmother. I remember her worrying about Omitsu-san's health." Kakashi turned serious all of a sudden when he saw Mitsuri's crestfallen expression. "What's the matter?"

"I'm disappointed."

"Why's that?"

"My accomplishments are hardly anything to be proud of. Because I belong to a great clan." Then she left.

Quite startled at what the girl had said, Kakashi watched the door close and murmured, "No, Mitsuri. You couldn't read minds yet when you became a jounin. The clan's abilities weren't what got you through. It was your spirit."

---

Sakura glanced at her watch. Eight-forty. They had planned to meet at seven-thirty, so were was Sasuke? Perhaps he got tied up with something. She looked around the restaurant. He'll be here. He won't let me down. Right?

Chandarou! The waiters are starting to give sympathetic looks! How many girls have been stood up here anyway? Kosu, kosu... Stop looking at me you fools! Inner Sakura snarled and balled up her fists, very different from the calmly waiting girl on the surface. What if something went wrong? What if Sasuke-kun's in some sort of trouble?

One more hour passed and Sakura finally stepped out of the restaurant, red-faced and worried. 'I'll go to his house' she decided.

---

"What are you doing here, Sasuke? It's nearly ten," Mitsuri said when she opened the door of her apartment.

"I-I... I have to tell you something."