Moon's Light, Reality's Dream

Author's Note: Thanks again so much for the hits, reviews, and alerts. It definitely keeps us motivated to continue putting out each chapter as fast as we do. Hope you're all well, and enjoying the story.







Moon's Light, Reality's Dream

月の光、うつつの夢

Chapter Thirteen - 理論 (Theories)







ふらつく足を摩りあなたを待った

I rubbed my staggering legs, waiting for you

雨の音に紛れて聞こえる

It could hardly be heard in the sound of rain







The fabric mask seemed innocuous laying on her bed, but the moment she reached for it, that feeling changed. Hitori stepped away and pulled her dark red hair back into a ponytail. She felt slightly uncomfortable in the clothes she had on. Someone had brought them to her this morning and they looked a lot like something Temari would wear. Glancing down, she decided there was entirely too much ivory skin visible. After the encounter with Yomi in the forest outside of Konoha, and then the disaster in the mirrored room, she didn't have much choice, with only one uniform left. The ragged black outfit lay on the floor and she pushed it aside with her foot. She didn't really have the right to wear an Anbu uniform anymore. Shrugging off those thoughts, she slid her blade into the sheath across her back and quietly left the room. The black mask remained on the bed, forgotten and no longer necessary.



Unhurried steps carried her almost silently up the stairs towards the Kazekage's office. She would check in, but she certainly wasn't going to stay. Today she had better, more important things to do than wait for Gaara to find some random task to set her to. If she wasn't still so angry with him, and hurt - though she was trying to ignore that part, she'd probably feel guilty for creating extra work for him when he already had more than enough.



She heard Yomi long before she saw him, and thanks to the odd acoustics in the building, she wasn't certain if the echo of his unmistakable voice originated before or behind her. It wasn't surprising that he was still here. He couldn't return to Konoha, and somehow he and Kankurou had struck up some odd sort of friendship. At least, she'd seen them with their heads together, grinning like idiots, on more than once occasion since her erstwhile partner's arrival.



"H... Hitori chan?" The small man darted up behind her, then ran around in front of her, effectively halting her progress. She sighed softly as his wide eyes looked her up and down, lingering on the bare skin revealed by her shorts, then her uncovered face as he obviously struggled to speak.



"This is new. I never thought I'd see the day Yomi couldn't find something to say." A small smile managed to form on her face, and this, combined with her mildly teasing manner, only choked him up even more.



"Neee... " he drawled, his usual toothy grin creeping over his face as he fell in beside her. "No one ever told me you're a fox. That inu mask had it all wrong." His head shook and a feigned look of regret crossed his face, though the corners of his mouth twitched up now and then.



"Yomi, don't make me hurt you." Another sigh escaped her, though she felt like she wanted to laugh. His jokes had never really made sense to her before, but she was slowly coming to understand when he was being funny. It was an interesting sensation, and one of the things she actually liked about dealing with this crazy emotional mess.



"Oh, please do." His eyes creased upwards and his grin got even bigger, just a moment before he grabbed her arm and yanked her inside an empty room. Hitori stood there in stunned silence while the small Anbu poked his head out into the hallway, peering first one way, then the other, before softly closing the door with a satisfied sigh. "Good. We can talk in here and aren't likely to be interrupted." Only after speaking did he look around the mostly barren room they occupied, then seated himself on a slightly dusty crate, his legs dangling like a child's would.



"Talk?" After the confusing and painful incident on the roof with Gaara, she'd decided she didn't like it when someone said they wanted or needed to talk.



"Relax," Yomi said softly, yawning a little before carrying on. "I promise it's not anything bad, okay?" He patted the spot beside him on the crate. "Sit."



With obvious reluctance, she perched on the edge of the wooden surface and looked at him expectantly. "Go ahead then, but quickly please. I have some things I have to do."



Yomi nodded, his face instantly going from amused to serious. "I"m concerned about you."



"Is this about that assassin? Because there's nothing..."



"It's not about Ruka, though I admit I am a little worried about that, too." He eyed her sideways, noticing the odd look on her face and rushing to continue. "Not much, though. I think you can take that giant bastard without too many problems."



"What is it then?" Her eyes darted away from his, coming to rest on the smeared footprints they'd left in the thin layer of dust on the floor.



"You're very close to the Kazekage." The image of what he'd seen on the roof kept flashing back into his mind, and he knew what he saw in her eyes when she looked at Gaara, even if she didn't know it herself. Yomi was a lot of things, and perhaps he came across as too flippant to be Anbu, but he was actually very observant and quite good at what he did. Gaara was harder to read than Hitori, but harder didn't mean impossible. He watched her face redden a little as she bit her lip, and decided she probably wasn't going to reply. "Hitori, if you love him..."



Her head snapped towards him in shock, her skin going from flushed to pale as fear jolted through her. With a calmness she didn't feel, she rose to her feet and walked out of the room. Yomi never said anything serious without a reason, and her mind shrank from the questions his words had raised. She'd check in with Gaara later. For now, she was just going to go ahead and walk over to the training area, even though it wasn't yet time to meet Kankurou there.



"Well shit," Yomi muttered to the dust bunnies under the shelf next to him. "That didn't go as well as I'd hoped it would." Standing up, he dusted off his backside and headed towards Kankurou's room. In spite of himself, he'd decided he liked the puppet user after all.



Like a parody of a spy, Yomi glanced all around before cracking open the door to Kankurou's room and stepping inside. Immediately, the smell of wood oil overwhelmed him and he sneezed loudly, unintentionally announcing his presence.



Kankurou glanced up at him from where he was kneeling on the floor, tinkering with one of his puppets. "Ne, Yomi kun. How'd it go?"



"About like I expected it to." Yomi leaned back against the wall and slid down it, collapsing in a little heap.



"I guess it's a good thing I already had that message sent to Gaara, then...?" Grinning, Kankurou extended a hand down to Yomi and pulled him up off the floor. "Come on. I know you want to watch this as much as I do."



Snickering softly, Yomi followed him out. The pair of conspirators ran over to the training area, coming up on it from the wrong side, and then carefully climbing one of the huge rock walls. They'd scouted the area earlier and found what would be the perfect spot to sit and watch the fun to come without being seen.



Yomi peered over the edge and smirked a little, seeing Hitori already there. He giggled when Kankurou's eyes fell on her and the other man choked just a little. "Yeah, that's the same reaction I had." A wistful sigh escaped his lips as he closed his eyes, a silly smile on his face. "Your brother's a lucky, lucky man."



"I can't wait to see his reaction to the 'new' Hitori," Kankurou laughed, then quieted quickly, having spotted Gaara just walking onto the grounds. "Here we go."



Hitori leaned over to pull a kunai out of a target and saw movement out of the corner of her eye. "You're late," she said as she turned towards what she presumed was Kankurou.



"My apologies." Gaara's brow raised as he watched her stiffen upon realizing he wasn't who she expected. The new clothes she had on were flattering, in an entirely distracting way, and he was surprised to see her without the mask. He had a feeling his brother was up to something the moment he received the message, but now found himself unable, and unwilling, to take his eyes away from her to scan around for Kankurou.



"I thought you were Kankurou." She turned away again and went back to throwing kunai into the targets furthest from her, doing her best to keep her hands from shaking. It was probably too much to hope that he would just go away.



"My brother isn't feeling well, and requested that I meet you here instead." Crossing his arms over his chest, he continued on. "He felt you would want to train anyway, and I am the only person available right now."



Furious now, Hitori spun around and glared at him, her kunai still buried deep in the centers of the targets, and forgotten. "You're volunteering to train with me?" At his nod, she paused, closing her eyes as she decided she would prove to him that she wasn't the weakling he seemed to think she was. "Fine. But if you take it easy on me, I will..."



She never got to finish the sentence, but instead found herself crashing hard into the ground, her back stinging furiously. The giant sand claw was already drawing away from her and back towards him by the time she opened her eyes a second later. A grim smile crossed her face when the pain from his hit lingered even after she stood. That definitely wasn't taking it easy.



His eyes narrowed a little as she jumped back to her feet, but he didn't move, remaining in the same spot with his hands hanging at his sides. She obviously felt she had something to prove, and he'd let her do it, if it would mean an end to her anger.



Watching from above, Yomi nearly leaped off the wall when Hitori was sent into the ground. "That bastard! I'll..." His words abruptly cut off when Kankurou's hand clamped firmly over his mouth.



"If you don't shut up, we're going to get caught, and Gaara would not be pleased." He frowned hard at his tiny cohort. "Got it?"



Afraid he might suffocate if he didn't agree, Yomi nodded shortly. "I don't know if I can watch this." His face took on a slightly greenish cast. The memories of his violent encounter with Hitori were still too fresh in his mind.



Hitori suddenly darted to the side with a speed that was surprising, and Gaara sent his sand out after her. The look of anger on her face was quickly replaced by determination as she easily avoided his attacks, moving faster each time she turned. She was testing him, he realized after a few long minutes, and with each move she made, she drew a little closer to where he stood.



In spite of the first hit, Hitori began to wonder if he was merely humoring her after all. She'd no sooner had that thought than she saw his eyes narrow a little again and her feet were pulled out from under her. Closing her eyes, she concentrated her chakra, calling out "Otoshibuta." The giant boar shaped slab of earth crashed down towards Gaara and a wall of sand obscured her vision. She took the opportunity to move even closer, drawing her tanto as she ran up behind him. The flat of the blade swung at his shoulder and she swore softly as sand caught and held it. Using that jutsu had drained her more than she was willing to admit.



Gaara was surprised by her strength, and the ferocity with which she fought him. It hadn't been that long since she'd been confined to bed, and already she'd recovered so much. He could tell she was tiring quickly, though his attacks didn't slow or let up. She still moved in a blur, and he would remain unable to catch her, unless he could find a pattern to her movements.



More time passed while he studied her, and the pattern began to form in his mind. The next time she moved, he sent a sand claw to where he guessed she would end up and scored a solid hit, wincing a little as she impacted the ground hard and rolled across several feet of packed earth before coming to a stop and laying still.



Gasping for breath, Hitori let her eyes fall closed. Her entire body ached from that last hit, and she had no doubt she'd find bruises soon. She remained perfectly still, aside from her heaving chest, waiting to see what he would do.



When she still didn't move after another minute or so, Gaara let the sand fall and walked towards her slowly. The thought that maybe he'd hit her harder than he intended crossed his mind as he crouched beside her, reaching one hand out to roll her from her side to her back. The moment his fingers touched her shoulder, Hitori attacked.



Flat on his back, Gaara stared up at her, feeling the kunai pushing against his neck, though the sand kept it from actually touching his skin. At some point her hair had come loose from the ponytail and now fell around them both, brushing the ground on either side of him. He could feel the warm press of her legs against his hips where she straddled him. She stared right back at him, her breathing still rapid, but a small smirk on her face.



Satisfied that she'd made her point, Hitori leaned up and pulled the kunai away from his neck, tossing it into the ground beside them. She started to move away from him, but paused when his hands grasped her waist, holding her still as he sat up. This close, meeting his eyes was like drowning. A shiver passed through her as one of his hands slid into her hair, his other arm wrapping around her and pulling her closer a moment before he kissed her.



Yomi flashed a huge grin at Kankurou as the pair exchanged a high five, before climbing back down the wall. Once they reached the bottom, the Anbu glanced down at his hand slightly puzzled, then blinked up at the puppet user.



"Why'd we just do that?" A second later, recognition dawned in his brown eyes. "Oh! Oh, that's right. It was a hive five."



Kankurou laughed softly and started jogging lazily back towards the tower. "Yomi, man, it's called a high five. High five."



"Right, that's what I said," Yomi shot back, turning to glance over his shoulder at the training area.



Hitori's eyes were still open wide when Gaara finally pulled back from her. At some point, though she didn't remember doing it, her arms had wound around his neck. Her lips parted as she attempted to speak, but his finger raised and gently pressed against them. Their eyes met and locked, a moment of silent understanding passing between them.



--------



A cold rain started falling a few hours after she left Konoha, a seemingly never ending downpour. Thick drops soaked her, plastering the sodden fabric of her uniform against her skin, and causing thick tendrils of hair to wrap around her neck and arms, and cling. Nisei squinted, trying to see through the hazardous sheet of gray before her. A low fog had rolled in at the onset of the storm, and everything had a monochromatic, almost desolate look to it. The scent she had been following had suddenly vanished, most likely washed away by the heavy rain. Losing the trail so abruptly made the chase more dangerous than she could afford. Taking on an Anbu from Root was different than fighting a regular Konoha Anbu, vastly different. Konoha's Anbu still maintained a sense of right and wrong, holding to a strict moral code, but Danzou's mercilessly trained Root organization mindlessly did as they were ordered.



“It didn’t take you very long to find me.” She turned slowly, trying to discern where the voice was coming from, without appearing ignorant of it's location. The horrible weather gave her opponent a heavy advantage by muffling the natural sounds and smells she would normally make use of. It felt like he was close, though distant enough to remain hidden, and she knew he could have tried to kill her without warning. An unpleasant tickling sensation between her shoulder blades made her wonder if the game had been turned on her, making her the mouse instead of the cat.



“Ruka, from Anbu root.” Nisei could see him now, stepping out of the growth ahead of her, smirking a little. Long black and blond hair framed his face, his brown eyes staring calmly back at her. She briefly wondered why he wasn't wearing his mask, and then remembered it was referred to as 'unique' in the information Tsunade had. He probably didn't want to be recognized or remembered, and would refrain from wearing it until he'd entered Suna. Ruka was listed as a water style fighter, Nisei remembered reading, which gave her a much needed advantage over the elite Anbu. “You are wanted as a Missing Nin. You have turned your back on your master, and betrayed your village. I have been asked to bring you back without harming you. If you force me to fight, then that choice will lead only to your death.”



“Did you write that all out and then memorize it, just for the occasion?” The cool tone of his voice surprised her, especially in the face of her threat. She wasn't used to dealing with such an emotionless reaction, though his sarcastic way of speaking suggested he wasn't without at least a sense of superiority. If everything in the report on Ruka was accurate, then Nisei was fairly confident she had this fight won.



“You've set out to harm someone I consider a friend,” she murmured, bringing her hands up in front of her as she mentally prepared for the battle ahead. “I won’t let you anywhere near Suna!”



“My, my… Aren't we confident?” He chuckled to himself, pressing his hand against the tree he was suddenly leaning against. Nisei blinked, waiting for her eyes to adjust. Did all of Anbu Root have that speed? He might be even faster than Hitori, which was worrisome. Back when she fought the redhead in a training match, that speed had ensured Nisei's defeat. Ruka blurred before her eyes as he darted past again. Now it seemed he was just showing off. “I’ll make this fast. I don’t have time for children.”



She nodded briefly, her face taking on a look of intense concentration as she stepped onto firmer ground. Kunai appeared in her hands as she narrowed her eyes, taking less than half a second to gauge the distance between them before throwing both. His long range taijutsu was apparently very much like hers, their heavy daggers meeting halfway with a tortured, metallic crash, then rebounding in opposite directions to sink in the thick mud between them. Both were moving before the small explosions rocked the area where the kunai landed, the attached tags going off almost in unison.



As they closed with each other, she just managed to dodge the punch heading for her face before launching an attack of her own. His other hand caught hers with a resounding smack, his blocking very effective, though his speed was the overwhelming part. At the moment of release his leg came up, the bottom of his sandal connecting with her crossed arms just above her chest.



That blow had been aimed for her chin, and she shuddered to think of what would have happened had it connected with her face rather than her armor-shrouded forearms.The force from it sent her against the tree behind her, and she quickly turned to avoid the next hit. He was insanely fast and incredibly strong, though she couldn't say she was very surprised by that. Danzou only took the best into his elite ranks. She stabbed the opposite side of the trunk and waited for the exploding tag to curl as it burned, jumping back as the tree toppled over, making the earth shudder a little at its impact. Ruka stood there unharmed, just visible through the slowly dissipating haze of smoke. Nisei had expected him to avoid it, though she'd hoped it would prove just a bit more of a distraction than it had. She planted her feet more firmly on the ground and slid her katana from the sheath on her back.



Nisei held the blade out sideways in front of her chest, showing it to him in the traditional way Konoha Anbu were trained to start their battles. His ninjato stance copied hers, then their bodies moved in a dizzying rush, and they met with a violent clash of steel against steel, the blades grinding with a shriek of tortured metal until they locked. Ruka’s greater strength was quickly overpowering hers, and she could only think of one way out of this undesirable position. Clenching her teeth, Nisei allowed his ninjato to successfully pin her katana into the dirt, letting her body also lower, following the motion of her blade, and just missing his sharp reversing slash, losing several inches of her hair in the process. She tried not to think too much about the soft, cold whisper of the steel as it just missed her neck. It was like the promise of a deadly kiss.



He pulled the lock of hair from the blade, tossing the black strands aside carelessly as he pointed the tip at her. “If you do not interfere from here on out, I will let you live. But ‘If you force me to fight, then that choice will lead only to your death’.”



Already in motion again, Nisei didn't bother to answer his taunting quote of her threat, though she kept her eyes locked on him as she darted across the river. The rain thickened, the drops falling faster as a deafening roar of thunder rolled across the sky, seeming to shake everything around her. Nisei glanced around furiously, unable to spot her opponent through the downpour. Less than a moment later, the Anbu Root flashed in front of her eyes, and she found herself flying through the air to sink into the churning river. The water closed around her, prickling her skin with the odd burning sensation of ice, a shock to her overheated body. Her adrenaline rush seemed to be fading the more she lingered in the cold, liquid embrace.



Seeing Ruka's hand descending towards her, she moved quickly away, pulling herself out of the water as he stood there, watching her calmly. She gasped a little on the opposite shore, calming some when she decided now was the perfect time to use that technique. It was the only technique Kakashi had bothered to teach her when he was her sensei. Nisei being a lightning style user like himself, the Jonin felt somewhat obligated. Many Anbu don't know much when it comes to jutsu, usually only what their sensei decides they should learn. For Nisei's sake, Kakashi had taught her one.



‘Raiton…Hound…’ She focused her chakra into her right arm, and held it tightly. The eerie, chirpy noise of lightning swirling with her energy was loud in her ears, and growing louder as the rain fed it. The beast sprang forth, bolting in a jagged flash of blue and white towards Ruka. It tore easily through the water barrier the Anbu threw up to block the attack, as if shredding through tissue paper, and ripped at his side, grazing the skin just above his hip and leaving the entire area numb.



“That could have been dangerous…” Ruka murmured as he held a hand to his side, seeing blood when he glanced at it a moment later. The wound was not a serious one, but it was enough to slow him down a little. Nisei took the shocked look on the Root’s face for opportunity, darting towards him, intending to attack, when without hesitation, he brought his hand up and slammed it forcefully into her chest, stunning her. As she fell to the ground, the smirk of disregard he turned on her only fueled her anger more, though her body was begging for a surcease to her demands on it. Ninjutsu took a lot out of its user. Gasping on the ground, struggling to rise, she was now at his mercy. She had just regained her feet when his dark voice called out, “Suiro no Jutsu!”



The water prism closed around her and her feet left the surface, trapping her within the globe. She knew she couldn’t move. The more you felt like you weren’t breathing, the more you wouldn’t be able to, but that was just the side effect of panic at being seemingly trapped in a ball of water. You were able to breathe, and to speak even, but you weren’t allowed to shift, or perform a jutsu. Holding her this way was only a waste the Root’s time, so what was the point of using this jutsu? The more she wondered about his intentions, the more her heart started to beat faster. Every possible answer that bloomed in her mind was worse than the one before it.



“Raiton Ikazuchi no Utte!” As the words left his mouth, her eyes widened in alarm. A Thunder Funeral wasn’t exactly what she expected a water user would have up his sleeves. This was going to be even worse than anything she'd imagined. The bolt shot straight down from the sky, and hit the prism with a shock of electricity, consuming it with a blinding flare of light. Pain that had been unknown to her before, roared like an inferno through her entire body. A scream rose quickly in her chest and ripped from her throat, continuing until there was no more breath to create sound.



He released the prism immediately, and allowed her body to fall, smirking when Nisei remained motionless at his feet. “Stupid girl. You should have listened to me, or perhaps you should have joined with the Foundation. Oh well, decipher this as you may, in heaven.” The Anbu gave her a body a rough push with his foot, and watched as the current carried her downstream.



Warmth surrounded her, a soft feeling like afternoon sunshine on a spring day. Kakashi stood before her, regarding her with his usual bored stare.



"Would you repeat that, please?" He asked softly, not sure he'd heard her correctly the first time.



"I want to learn a jutsu! You promised you'd teach me one, Kakashi senpai." Nisei planted her fists on her hips and stared up at him expectantly. God, she'd been so young then. It was strange to see herself this way, as if looking down from a high perch. For some reason, she didn't feel the need to question why she was seeing this, though.



She saw a bright light, and then Kouki's smiling face, as he stood proudly with his new team, introducing her.

"Ne, you're a Captain now, Kouki kun! Congratulations." Jealousy burned within her, but she refused to let it show, choosing instead to be happy for her friend finally getting what he rightly deserved. "You worked so hard to get here."



"You'll make Captain soon, too. I'm sure of it." Another bright smile, a brilliant flash of his startling blue eyes, and then Kouki's face faded, to be replaced by the brooding gaze of the Hokage.



"Nisei chan, I know you're ready for this, but do you?" She remembered feeling that Tsunade's questioning wasn't meant as a slight, but more as a reason to push herself even harder to complete the mission she'd been given. There'd been so many over the years, she couldn't now remember specifically which mission followed this moment. "You're my most promising Anbu. Now I'm asking you to prove to me that you could be the best."



Cold, and the bitter smells of a battlefield, smoke in the air around a broken looking Kakashi as he turned to stare at her, his Sharingan eye blazing a fierce red in the deepening twilight...



The soft warmth of Kakashi's hand against her cheek, his body holding hers pinned to the wall as he leaned forward and kissed her. A swift pang of regret clenched at her heart when she thought about what they could have been, if only...



Hitori's broken body lying limp, half submerged in the water. There was something important about this face, and the flashes of photographs that followed it. Yomi... Enji... Ruka... She grasped at the feeling, but the harder she tried to reach it, the faster it slipped away.



Darkness, deep and comforting, holding her in a warm embrace as Kakashi's low voice echoed around her:

"I can teach you a lot of things, Nisei, but I can't teach you how to live..."



The words trailed off, leaving behind a fading sense of gentle questioning.



Kakashi looked up suddenly from his book, letting it slip unheeded from between his hands. The rain was falling heavily outside his window, tapping against the glass in a syncopated rhythm that had been making him feel sleepy. He stretched, trying to ease the tension in his shoulders, then sighing as it only grew worse. Pain shot up his spine in a jolt, causing a tremor through his body. Something felt wrong, and trying to place it was pointless when he could only think about one thing. The letter Nisei left him was still stuck between the fourth and fifth chapters of the book his eyes fell on as he glanced over at the small table next to his bed. The two pills sat there like a warning, as if saying his door was to bound to be opened by an angry Anbu Captain if he didn’t take them when he was supposed to. A strange feeling came over him, and he reached for the Anbu picture next to them, only to see the glass in the frame crack the moment his fingers touched it.



‘Nisei…’