A Promise Kept [P]

She’d smile slightly at his laugh. Her concern for him sloughed off her shoulders, metaphorically lifting the weight off her already weary body. ”Yes, I can see that you’re fine,” she said, nodding automatically before her words registered in her head. And Komon (featuring the Uchihas in the closet) would be treated to a sputtering genin. ”No, wait! You’re not fine. I mean, you are. Attractive. Objectively speaking. What I meant was that you’re fine, physically.” A small pause before she amended again. ”In a medical perspective.”

Heat travelled up her neck and cheeks and all the way to the tip of her ears. Damn Komori and his way of twisting words. Every encounter the girl had with Komon’s brother was stressful, and induced a lot of eye-rolling from her whenever the Hozuki would actively “misinterpret” his fans’ words to tease them. Saya cleared her throat and sobered up at the mention of her mentor.

The absence of Senshi was and will probably always be a sore spot for her. She didn’t want to talk about him or how she was coping with his “death.” Saya still flipped-flopped between accepting his demise and denying it, preferring to sticking with him being missing-in-action. Her arms closed in around herself, wrapping around her torso for a brief moment before settling into crossing them over her chest.

”I’m doing well, Komon. Thanks for stopping by.”

Her voice - it was cold and impersonal then. ”If that’s all, you may see yourself out.” Saya gestured to the open door and the hallway beyond it. ”I’m busy.” With a quick heel turn she began to make her way towards her desk whilst glancing at the closet, still slightly ajar. Yeah, busy trying to keep a pair of fugitives a secret.

Hopefully, Komon would be put off by her attitude and leave before anything alerted him that something was out of the ordinary.

WORD COUNT: 327
TOTAL WORD COUNT: 1490 + 327 = 1817

Yurei sat still, paralyzed - captivated. Not by Saya’s antics and attempts to throw Komon off of her trail, but his friend. He knew it was him. The voice the name, it was perfect. Aged. Hardened, if only slightly, but it was the man he knew - he was certain of it. The alabaster-skinned Uchiha turned his head, tilting through the space at and angle he saw him - the eyes - his Byakugan. It was all but confirmed.

His silvery eyes darted to Saya, noting her nervousness. She had hidden it well before, but confronted by Komon, her composure had broken. The effort was admirable nonetheless, especially for one so young. The girl hadn’t possessed any jacket signifying chuunin or above. It was likely she simply had elected not to wear it, or, perhaps, they simply didn’t even exist in Kumo. Either way, the lower her rank, the higher respect he had for the raven-haired girl.

Yurei’s eyes flashed at Komon once more. Staring at the two, he and Saya, felt like walking through a portal in time. Kamui allowed him to manipulate space, but to see this, to witness his friends as he had before, when the sun was much brighter and the colors more vibrant, it felt more like home than anything he had experienced in a long time.

The Uchiha smiled, the grin stretching across his face. He hadn’t smiled like this since before Akio had died. The Uchiha’s white eyes turned to Damon, glistening in the sunlight that peaked through the crack of the closet. He gave a soft nod, unsuppressing his chakra. He let it pour out of him like a soft snow, chill, but inviting, though lonely as it was. He felt Komon’s, and, though he hadn’t memorized it, he knew it was his. It felt so familiar, so right, like a rainstorm in the sunlight. Sadness and warmth bled together.

The alabaster-skinned man’s chakra fled to his feet, guiding him as he pressed on the closet doors with his thin hands. He ducked, stretching his body onto the floor. The relief was immeasurable, but he was careful to be silent. The doors swung open, Yurei not visible to the Hyuga’s pale eyes until fully open.

“Komon,” he said, his spiked hair shifting over his shoulders. Instinctively, the Uchiha raised an open palm to Saya, giving her a simple nod before turning back to the Hyuuga. “It’s been a long time. I’m not sure if you remember me. I’ve grown up a little,” he said with a tilted head. His long hair parted as one mass, revealing his face in full. His smile, though a thin one, still present. His eyes looked tired, heavy. Frankly, he was surprised Saya still remembered him given how much about him had changed. Where he had aged years, she looked relatively the same. Though, skin and hair as white as Yurei’s was not particularly common.

Komon, on the other hand, had aged. Not to the degree of Yurei by any means, but the long hair, especially, added some years to the pupiless man he’d come to call friend. After all this time, years it felt like, Yurei remembered the man had said that he was a chuunin, Yurei himself only a genin at that time. Surely he had risen in the ranks, and, if not, his rank was most likely higher than Saya’s. As such, he was the one the Uchiha needed to speak to.

Yurei’s smile receded, shifting to a look of concern. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions. Damon and I need your help,” he said, gesturing to his dark-haired clansmen with a slight flick of the wrist. “Damon,” the Uchiha started, glancing at his brother. “This is Komon. The girl is Saya. I’m sorry I didn’t introduce you earlier, but, given the circumstances…” Yurei trailed off. “Well, they’ve been a little less than ideal.”

WC: 648

To say that Saya was nervous was an understatement. She was tense, both in posture and mind, as she rounded her desk and began to busy herself by shuffling papers into their proper folders and such. Her ears, perked, for Komon’s awaiting exit. Emotions warred within her at his unexpected appearance - elation at his visit, bitterness because it was about Senshi, anxious if he were to find out about the men in her closet, and overall uneasy if things were to go wrong.

Hoping to all hope that Komon go back to where he came from (lies, because that meant [REDACTED]), a lot of Saya’s unease would drop exponentially. The dangers of sheltering rogues would be pushed aside, for now, and her planning would also be less stressful. Unfortunately for the girl, Yurei seemed to think the opposite. His chakra seeped into the very room, throwing her back into an empty village with falling feathers and the taste of dango on her tongue.

Her body reacted, releasing her own hold of her chakra and trying to drown out Yurei’s as she placed a hand on her desk and vaulted her body over the furniture in attempt to distract Komon. Or something. Saya was kidding herself. The Uchiha was no doubt leagues above her and there was no possible way that her own blast of chakra could cover his. Her steps faltered when her friend pushed open the doors and stepped out as if coming out of the closet was a common occurrence.

Saya fidgeted under Komon’s questioning gaze and remained quiet for the duration, letting the men exchange words. Both men knew each other, she observed. Damon, Yurei’s partner, seemed to be the only one out of the loop of connections. ”A pleasure, Damon.” Saya replied stiffly, not because of him but of the situation they were in.

She wondered how the other man felt at this moment. It wasn’t easy to simply up and leave their home village. Well, in her perspective, it wasn’t. Saya knew that Kumogakure’s hold on her was deep seeded. There was no way she could see herself abandoning her village.

”I-I…” Saya was at a loss for words when Komon’s attention shifted back to her. Involuntarily, the girl hunched her shoulders, seemingly trying to look smaller than she already was. ”I promised to help them.” She said after clearing her throat, though her voice had lost its confident edge. ”Telling anyone else… It would have compromised them in some way or form. And if someone else found out and decided to help, they’d be putting themselves in danger.”

That was truth. How could she even pull anyone else in? This was her mess to solve. And if they were caught, at least her head would be the only one rolling in the dirt.

WORD COUNT: 473
TOTAL WORD COUNT: 1817 + 473 = 2290

Alex has given me permission to gmod his character, Damon.

It stung.

The way Komon demanded an answer from her then refused to acknowledge her...  It stung. Saya licked her lips and uncharacteristically lowered her eyes when the jounin's attention shifted back to Yurei and pressed for more detailed information on their story. What events led them to defect, their reasons for sanctuary, and how they arrived within their village without proper documentation. Infiltrating a hidden village was difficult and nigh impossible (especially one as militaristic and thorough as Kumogakure), but such events did happen on rare occasions.

Yurei moved to seat himself on the armchair facing the closet. She was glad that he was comfortable enough to relax in their presence. The girl peeked through her lowered bangs and saw that Damon had followed his comrade’s actions, though he opted for the psychiatric couch near the windows. It did not surprise her that he did. He remained quiet, however, seemingly content in allowing his friend do all the talking.

That was an odd thing, Saya mused. While Yurei was their link to Kumo, she wondered if the dark haired man would eventually participate in the “discussion.” It would be his livelihood, after all. Wouldn’t he want to add in his own point of view and opinions on the matter? Perhaps she could ask him later on when things were settled. Or maybe not if the Fates deigned to make their lives miserable.

Saya blinked before shifting her attention solely on Yurei; she had not missed the way Komon’s fists balled together tightly nor the way he let out an irritated breath. His angry disposition made her squirm. She was not used to such displays, except for when he showed power over her yearmates in their first meetings. But back then it was not aimed at her. In this very moment, however, Saya knew that he had not been happy with her withholding delicate information.

Knowing that they were in for a long story, Saya slipped quietly to hall table situated behind her desk. It was where she kept a tea set for herself and visitors. Hot water, thankfully, was always replaced after a surgery. Pottery clinked together as she prepared the proper amount of cups to fill with tea. Once she was done pouring chamomile tea with hints of honey into them, Saya went around and offered it to her guests.

The girl went to Damon first, who accepted it with a gruff “thank you.” Then she moved to Yurei, placing a ceramic cup on the coffee table in front of him, and finally to Komon. Saya stood awkwardly a few feet from him and presented a cup to the Hyuuga. ”Tea?” Her head was turned away, afraid to see his hardened expression.

WORD COUNT: 457
TOTAL WORD COUNT: 2290 + 457 = 2747

"How did Hoshi betray you, why do you need refuge, and what have you lost?”

Yurei’s eyebrows thinned, loosening. His eyes grew wider, the strain on his facial muscles lifting. For a moment, he stared blankly at Komon, uncertain of what to say or do. He swallowed, pursing his lips, not breaking eye contact as he thought. Saya, much like the wind, coursed throughout the office, placing tea at the coffee table sat before Yurei. He offered a slight nod and and equally soft thank you, sipping from the heated beverage. He lowered his long, sweeping arm, clanking the porcelain cup against its matching plate. He gave a silent sigh, nodding. His eyes were sluggish, glossy, when he glanced at Komon. As if he were on the brink of a meltdown. It was the only indication, the rest of his face a blank canvas. When he parted his lips to speak, the saliva that caked his mouth parted with a soft pop. ”Relax,” Yurei said. It was all he said, a whimper, a murmur, but cold, clean. The Uchiha raised his long, skeletal fingers from his arm rest, pointing at Komon’s eyes - eyes that matched his porcelain hands. Chakra flooded within him, initiating the genjutsu.

The cozy office Saya had taken residence in shifted, a black smoke swirling around the room, swallowing Damon, then Saya, then Yurei himself. The very ground changed, fading into a darkness. The room rumbled with change, the tiled floor shifting to that of wood paneling, the bathroom shifting to that of a kitchen. Komon was left untouched, an observer in the shifting world around him. Light grew from the darkness, revealing the room to be a home, Yurei’s home.

A man with black hair and tanned skin, Roshi Uchiha, leapt from the bedrooms, a hall dedicated to such directly in front of Komon. Yurei road on his shoulders, no less than five. Toothed smiles cloaked either’s face, Yurei’s partially silhouetted under a homemade Samurai helmet of his own crafting. The pair, father and son, descended through the hall, running past Komon and out the door and disappearing into a fog erupting from their skin.

A disembodied voice echoed throughout the room, soft and childlike. It was Yurei’s. ”Gotcha,Dad!” Materializing from thin air, Roshi fell before Komon, crashing onto a small wooden table that splintered on either side. He gave out a fake moan of agony, Yurei standing above him, kendo sword in hand. ”You are to, under no circumstances, go into that academy. Do you hear me? I won’t have you fooling around with shinobi in… The tanned man rose, erupting with the sounds of the undead as he grasped Yurei, the child delightfully screaming, laughing as he did so between breaths. His mother, Takia, a fair-skinned woman, laughed in the back, snickering at her the battle between the two.

The vision shifted once more, Yurei’s voice echoing outward at the scene changed to that of the ninja academy. ”I’ll fix all this hatred, just you wait! The Academy zoomed, changing into a room. A Hyuuga sat before Yurei, awarding him with a headband engraved with a star. Smoke overtook the scene, Yurei appearing alongside his mother and father once more. The three sat together, Yurei’s headband missing from his forehead.

”Name’s Yurei. Pleased to meet you, Damon!” The area around Komon flooded with fiery light, Damon appearing at his feet in tears. The orange light faded, shifting to the view of Yurei’s index finger, the Ephemeral technique, the very same jutsu Komon was under now. ”I’m sorry, Damon! I didn’t mean to!"

"...I’ll change this world. I’ll show everyone what it’s like to be a shinobi. If I develop my genjutsu far enough, I can change everyone in this village and unify us all. I just need to train really hard for..." Over the imagine, the zealots of Hoshigakure appeared, cursing the shinobi name, even killing them before Komon’s eyes. It felt real, every detail, every pore in their skin.

Again, it changed. Every problem that has ever existed for us has been because of those damned ninja, and now you’ve joined them! Shinobi have come so close to destroying all life as we know it! The voice belonged to Roshi Uchiha, the sounds peering through the air, through darkness. When light returned to Komon’s eyes, there was a pop. A slap that crushed bone. ”Roshi! Roshi stop it!” The voice was Takia’s. At Komon’s feet, Yurei fell, panicking to raise his finger. Light filled the room for a brief moment, then faded, Takia cradling Yurei in her arms over Roshi’s body. His eyes pierced through the darkness, his Sharingan revealed. Tears streamed through his eyes.

”I’m so sorry…. A grave faded in and out of view, Yurei clasped against the tombstone.

Red lined the floors, drenched in blood. Yurei stood, panting over the unconscious bodies of zealots. His home rested behind him, flames scorching it, fires started from those at his feet. Yurei showed him all. All of it. The pursuit. The zealots. The temple. The burnings. His mother’s screams. The second tomoe in his crying eyes. Then the third.

My father… killed by zealots… the fires…

Smoke took Yurei, his home, the streets, fading into the next image. A man with jet black hair and his dog stood before Komon, walking through him to greet Yurei alongside Damon. ”Anyways sorry about the whole situation… My Names Akio, and You’ve clearly already met Esu… I’ll pay you back for the dumplings and a new pair of pants.” The young man said, Damon holding his side. Their laughs echoed outward as one vision became the next, Yurei and Akio laughing alongside one another in succession, Damon flashing by in memory after memory like a collage. Talking. Attending Roshi’s funeral. The Uchiha’s confession of his father’s death. The comradery. The laughing. Practicing. Performing missions.  The image of Akio’s smiling face was taken by shadow, seeping out of the image first, then followed by Damon and Yurei’s faces.

The Hogokage’s chambers appeared, setting Komon between Yurei and a dark-haired man. “You realize you just asked me to let you into the Hogokage’s office when the man isn’t there? With the money for the village inside of it? The answer to that is no. Even if I’m with you we have no right to be in there. Especially when I have the file for your friend having deserted the village and becoming a missing ninja sitting in my desk. I was looking at it when I heard you knocking on the man’s door....”

Komon’s vision tilted, the room turning as if pages in a pop up book. There was a scream, a look of disgust and horror on Akio’s face as he fell, blood oozing around him like a puddle. The shadow of his killer crept over his body, ending the vision as quickly as it had began.

The Hogokage…

...himself...

...cover up…

”They lied to us…

Orders are orders…

The image of a deathly pale man, akin to Yurei flashed before Komon. His eyes were red, blood-like.

Just following orders…

Damon’s summon… they killed it...

The image of Yurei’s Mangekyou Sharingan bled into the vision, tears running from them. It was before Komon, massive, flooding him in an ocean, and abyss of lightless water.

Light peered beyond the void, a tunnel with a woman, Takia, stepping through at the end. Komon’s arm became Yurei’s, stretching out for her. The white light ran further and further away until it closed, and the face of the Uchiha’s attacker rested before Komon, the Hyuuga standing in his place. Visions of the assault flashed in Komon’s mind - the attack. Takia’s burned face stared at the shinobi, Yurei’s voice crying out to her. His silent scream. The pain in his, and thus, Komon’s chest. As if it were to burst. “You’re my son. And I can’t even love you. I spent every day watching you grow up since he died. Watching you master jutsu after jutsu - training to become more and more what killed my husband. You killed your own father and that didn’t stop you. You couldn’t stop. Not even for me. You had to ‘prove him wrong.’ You damned shinobi are all the same, and there’s nothing you can do about it. You hear me? You’ll die trying. And good riddance. I hope it’s as painful as Roshi’s.”

Yurei sat, Akio’s dog beside him, and Damon far away. He sat in the emptiness of Kamui, floating, monochrome structures stretched around the void.

You’re nothing but a murderer. My Yurei Uchiha died a long time ago. With my husband.”

And it was cold.






The genjutsu subsided, black mist transforming the genjutsu into the real world, Saya’s office. It was over as soon as it had begun, Yurei wincing if only briefly at the end of the jutsu, clutching his arm rests as he leaned back. He said nothing. Just sat in silence, breathing. His eyes fell to the floor, glossed with tears.

He took a deep breath, his air rattling, before he spoke once more. “I'm sorry. What you experienced, then, I experienced. All of it. And now I’ve felt it again.” He swallowed, parting his lips, his voice almost hushed. “There’s nothing more to those memories. I just did it to show you why we are here, not for sympathy. Pity.”

Yurei’s pale eyes shifted back to Komon, half-closed, straining. “That’s how Hoshi betrayed us. That’s what we lost. And it was everything. But what we need now, refuge, is nothing more than just a desire for a home.”

WC: 4228