“Yes! We’re finally back!” a spiky-haired genin shouted as he walked back into Konoha village.
“Oh, shut up, Naruto.” The genin’s teammate, Sasuke Uchiha, said.
Their sensei sighed in exasperation. “Guys, calm down.” He said. He was the famous Copycat Ninja, Kakashi Hatake.
An anbu woman approached Kakashi while the two boys argued. “Kakashi, you’re needed by Inoichi in interrogation.” She said.
“Inoichi, huh? In interrogation?” Kakashi repeated. “Hm. Alright then.”
The anbu woman left as quickly as she’d come. Kakashi turned to his team.
“Sorry guys, but I’ve gotta go. You can handle the report, right?” he said.
Sasuke nodded as Kakashi left.
“He’s a weird one…” Sasuke thought to himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kakashi walked into the interrogation area. Inoichi Yamanaka stood, waiting for him.
“Good, you decided to come.” Inoichi greeted him.
“Who is she?”
Inoichi turned to look through the glass window. In the interrogation room sat a beautiful young woman. Her long, silky black hair fell across the table. She looked through the window right at Kakashi. Her silvery-grey eyes met his for the briefest moment, then fell again.
“Her name is Mieko Ogakura. She’s a spy for the Hidden Waterfall Village. I searched her memories, and I found something interesting.” Inoichi said.
Kakashi was silent, waiting for Inoichi to finish.
“I found you.”
Kakashi, startled, looked at Inoichi. “Me?”
“Yes. Do you know her?”
Kakashi took a long look at the woman. “No, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her in my life.”
“Interesting…” Inoichi murmured. “Well, the Hokage will want to see you.”
Kakashi nodded, and then headed off to gather his team members.
“Good. You’re all here.” the Third Hokage, a wise old man, said once Squad Seven had gathered in his office. “How did your last mission go?”
“Aw, come on, old man, just tell us what the mission is!” said Naruto.
“Naruto!” his teammate, a pink-haired girl named Sakura, scolded.
“Very well…You are to deliver a prisoner to the border of the Waterfall village in a prisoner exchange.” The Hokage said.
Naruto perked up, interested. “Really? Who? What’d he do, kill an ambassador?”
The doors opened. Two anbu led in the woman Squad Seven had seen being brought into the villge, the one Kakashi had seen in the interrogation room.
“Her?!” Naruto exclaimed. “But…but she’s…her?”
Sasuke sighed.
“The meeting takes place three weeks from today. You’re to set out immediately.” The Hokage told the shinobi.
“Understood.” Kakashi said.
The Hokage gestured to the woman. “She’ll be waiting at the gates.”
The members of Squad Seven all met at the gates at exactly the same time. The prisoner was standing there, guarded by two chunin.
“Good luck with her.” The older of the two chunin said to Kakashi, handing him the chain to lead the woman around by.
Kakashi took it, thanked the two chunin, and watched them leave. Then the shinobi walked outside the gates and headed towards the forest.
Once out of sight of the village, Kakashi pulled out his kunai and turned to the woman. He raised it high.
“Sensei! What are you doing?!” Sakura exclaimed.
Kakashi brought the kunai down. The woman moved back, in attempt to avoid the blade. It was not directed at her, but at the chain tying her hands together. It broke, and fell to the ground below with a dull thud.
The woman rubbed her wrists where the chain had been. “Thank you. But why?” she said.
“You aren’t trying to escape, so I trust that you’ll walk alongside us.” Kakashi explained. “But be warned: we’re watching you closely.”
The woman nodded, grateful.
As they walked, Naruto fell into step beside the prisoner.
“So…what’s your name?” he finally asked.
She was silent a moment. “My name doesn’t matter to anyone. I’m a tool to be used at my country’s will, and tools don’t have names.”
Naruto was taken aback at her words. “But didn’t your parents name you?”
“I was born to be a spy. I know no family.”
Sakura joined the conversation. “But surely you have a name.”
“I did, once. When I was a child. When I mattered.” The woman softly said.
“What was it?” Naruto asked.
The woman looked up, as if remembering.
“Mieko.” She finally said.
“Mieko.” Naruto repeated. “That’s what I’ll call you then.”
As the day wore on, the sun slowly set. Soon it was dark.
“We’ll camp here tonight.” Kakashi decided, stopping in a small clearing.
So camp was set up. When everyone was asleep, Mieko rose. She quietly walked out of the clearing, towards a river. She didn’t know Kakashi was awake, and following her.
“Where are you going?” he asked when she stopped.
She spun around. “I’m not trying to escape. I want you to get your friend back.” She assured him. “I just wanted to see the stars.”
“The stars?”
“Yes. Someone once told me that when I felt sad, or lonely, or forgotten, to look at the stars for comfort. The North star especially.” Mieko told Kakashi.
“Who told you that?” Kakashi asked.
Mieko looked at Kakashi intensely. “You.”
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