They See Me Walking Round Town

Looking around the office he notices a stack of messy papers on the desk, half covered by the blue hat with the symbol of the Mizukage. Closing his eyes his nose begins to twitch as the smell he's missed for five years causes his tense body to relax.

Suddenly his eyes snap open as he turns towards the door. At that moment the door bursts open and five Anbu speed into the room.

"Intruder!" They all draw their swords and attack simultaneity without even asking any questions.

Zitsu's right-hand moves like lightning as it performs hand seals. As he walks leisurely towards the door a chakra pulse is released from his body.

"Phantom reality"

The Anbu members run right past him and begin chopping and slashing at thin air as though they're in a fierce battle.

Leaving the room he looks at the familiar halls for a moment, noticing not much has changed. With a thought, his chakra scan quickly covers the entire Mist Village.

"It's grown." As the words leave his mouth his body transforms into a blur.

Pakura walks into the training center. Besides the Clone sitting in the middle of the pool, the place is empty. The other six came to this place less and less over the years as they began performing missions in groups of three.

The Clone opens his eyes as he senses Pakura enter "Five years, I wonder who will leave first? My time is uncertain, but you will leave in five more years."

"You still won't tell me what happens in five years? Why I have to wait till then to return?" Pakura sits across from the clone.

He looks her in the eyes before releasing a long breath "I" the clone pauses for a moment before his face becomes serious "In five years the Sand Village will"

Before the clone can even finish his sentence Zitsu appears behind Pakura like a wild beast ready to pounce on his pray, his arrive caused no noise, not even the slightest ripple as his body seemingly blends with the water itself. If the Clone wasn't looking right at him he never would have noticed.

Only after seeing the reflection in the clone's eyes does Pakura react, leaping forward to her feet. Quickly turning around she sees Zitsu standing there like an illusion, a trick of the eyes. Her brow furrows as she looks at him. The differences between Zitsu and his Clone are too numerous to count, but she has spent almost every day of the last five years with his clone, so she can recognize him slightly.

Not a single piece of wasted tissue can be seen on Zitsu's body like the whole thing has been molded to perfection. "How could you sneak up on me without me even noticing?" Pakura can't help but frown, he could have easily taken her life at that moment. She was in a relaxed state, but not to the point someone could sneak up on her.

Zitsu looks at his Clone for a moment before glancing at Pakura. "You are in the water, this is my domain." His eyes flicker towards the Clone. "Did you get them?"

The clone takes a deep breath "No."

Zitsu can't help but frown at his answer. The Byakugan was an important part of his plan.

"Well, I'll just come up with something else." Zitsu shakes his head.

"Wait!" Pakura raises her hand.

But at that same time, Zitsu opens his mouth "Kai"

The Clone disappears in a small puff of white smoke.

All at once five years of memories assault his head. Every thought, every action, every emotion, the clones pain, his feelings of joy, his sorrows, and his feelings all hit him at once.

The five painful years Zitsu spent in the swamp where the very next second could be his last. The constant fear of losing his mind or exploding from the chakra he couldn't contain. The possibility of instantly turning to stone from the overwhelming amount of Natural Energy he needed to balance his chakra. The bloody battles he had to endure, coming within inches of his life on multiple occasions. The feelings of wanting to see his Mother, to hold Mei one last time is all that kept him from giving up.

All those memories are overlapped with those from the clone. One mind experiencing two different lives. His mind twists and turns as it tries to balance the two.

His feeling for Mei is like a bright crimson flame burning in his heart, stopping him from turning into an uncaring killing machine. Of the twelve years he's spent in this world, eight have been bathed in blood. The crimson flame is his warmth, his beacon, and the only thing stopping him from truly becoming a beast and devolving into the new Three-Tails completely.

As the memories fuse in his head, the flame slowly dims as his heart turns cold. A fine line exists between love and hate. The love the Clone had for Mei slowly turned towards something darker with every rejection.

But to Zitsu Mei was his anchor! His mind roared as it tries to push the hate the Clone felt for Mei aside, the Crimson flame slowly rekindled as his longing acts as fuel.

But he was too focused on that one thing, while his mind was sheltering the flame from the negative emotions that rained from above, a tiny green flower began to sprout.

The fire tried to burn it to cinders but the rain-damp petals continued to bloom. Compared to the fire above the flower was tiny below, its stem standing proudly in sand.

Pakura's raised hand clenched into a fist as she sees Zitsu's eyes go blank for a moment.

It only took a moment for the memories to combine, completely turning into his own. And at that moment Zitsu realized the problem, the feelings that weren't his own.

"Welcome back Zitsu." Pakura forces a bitter smile.

As he looks at Pakura's transformed state he can't help but feel different. Both the Clone and Pakura knew they were getting too close, but neither acted on their feelings so it never developed to something more. Now that the clones five years of experiences are mixed with his, he can't just wash those feelings away.

"Pakura" His words stop, without her the Clone would have been in a Dark place, if he knew this would happen he never would have left a clone here! But the affection is already there, and there's nothing he can do. Only time, only time can help it fade.

Stepping forward he reaches out his hand to caress her cheek.

She slowly touches the back of his hand as her eyes turn tender.

Pulling his hand away his fingers slowly close as he takes a couple steps back. Looking into her eyes for a moment his body becomes a blur as he disappears, not even leaving a ripple in the pool.

Pakura touches the side of her face as her eyes gently close and the corners of her lips curl.

Zitsu flickers through the village as he heads for a solitary location, trying to push the thoughts to the back of his head. His eyes turn calm as his face hardens, if he can't erase the feelings, then replace them.

While the village may be new to his eyes his Clone traveled the expanded streets many times. Dozens of new buildings have been carved into the mountain range with winding stone roads connecting them all. Even though its shrouded by mist he moves around like it's not there at all.

With all the new clans in the village, they thought it would be inappropriate for the Mizukage to live in a normal apartment, so a separate building was made. It's not far from the office but Zitsu took the time to enjoy the clean air himself as he traveled, so it took him a few seconds longer than it should. Even with the memories of his clone he still spent five years in a swamp, and mostly in the mouth of a crocodile so he wanted to get that burnt smell out of his nose.

Suddenly he flickers in front of a multi-floored rectangular building. The base is a large rectangle carved from stone with a smaller square taking up ⅔ of the roof as a second floor. In the entire Mist Village, this is the only non-cylindrical building.

As he approaches the door a girl in an Anbu mask appears before him.

"Stop! This is the Mizukage's residence!" She slowly pulls her sword.

Zitsu's hair is longer and his face less childish than his Clones. With the three dots on his forehead, he doesn't find it strange people don't recognize him. Even Samehada on his back looks slightly different. Besides the crimson red on the middle tips of the scales, the other two are now dark green from absorbing Natural Energy.

"Step aside Ruma" Zitsu glances at the familiar Anbu before him.

"Zitsu?!" Hearing the voice and looking closer she can see the resemblance. How could he change so much? She just saw him a week ago and where are his clothes?

"Either open the door or move aside." He speaks again.

This time Ruma steps aside curiously. As she's been guarding the Mizukage these years she has never seen Zitsu enter this house. Five years ago she thought they were extremely close, but over the years she has seen Zitsu less and less.

Zitsu steps forward and twists the knob. Seeing that it's not even locked he walks inside. Entering his eyes are greeted by a large living room filled with nice furnishing. The design of the house is very open so he can see the kitchen and dining area from where he's standing.

As he walks towards the stairs leading towards the second floor Samehada slides from his back and begins crawling on the ground like a snake using its scales.

"Be good" Zitsu glances at the sword before walking upstairs. Arriving on the second floor he sees a small square area. In front of him, to the left, and to the right are doors. He doesn't look at the other door for a second longer before walking directly forward.

Opening the middle door he walks straight in. A bedroom greets him but he continues to move, his steps silent. Reaching another door he pulls it open to reveal a bathroom with a large stone tub.

Laying in the middle of the tub her auburn hair floats atop the water like silk. Her pale skin glistening as light reflects off the water's surface. Her body half submerged with her spread toes breaking the surface of the water, her two creamy breast keeping her afloat as half her head remains below.

Hearing the door open she quickly sits up in the large tube, water flying as her hair whips about, but seeing who entered her eyes go wide.

Others may not have recognized him, but how could she not?