VI - 01.06

The gates of Konoha. A sight that usually filled her with pride had been replaced by an unending pit in her stomach. She tried her hardest to not think about what had transpired, but every resting moment of the past week of travel, that bone-man entered her thoughts.

Her hand glazed over her forearm. Shion had done a decent job of patching it up, but she'd still need to see an iryo-nin. Her father had always told her stories of his time in the war, and how he'd met many great friends who'd never end up coming home.

Reiko felt sympathy whenever she heard the stories, but those feelings were nothing compared to what she was feeling now. Although Akio had only recently joined the team so that they could meet the four-member requirement, she found herself warming up to him as they traveled.

The older man always had interesting stories to tell, and would comfort her whenever she felt a little homesick. He was a great mentor to Shion in the little time they spent together, and showed her teammate how to better use his bo staff as a weapon.

But Chen, just thinking of her nearly brought the Uchiha to tears. Chen had been her best friend for as long as she could remember, the memory of their mothers introducing the two a decade ago still fresh in her head.

She'd been so excited for the Chunin Exams that she worked herself too much. They'd only been on that mission because she thought the time away from the village would serve as good practice for the second round of the exams. Reiko constantly had to remind her to rest, or she'd only burn herself out. The Akimichi never paid attention to her warnings, claiming that she'd have ample time to rest once she was a Chunin. 

Reiko had to wonder if she'd still be alive if she headed to her warnings.

Shion had been unusually quiet for their entire journey back to Konoha. Reiko hoped he was doing well, but it'd seem hypocritical of herself to try and check up on her teammate. She had also contributed to the deafening silence that surrounded them as they made their way across the Land of Fire.

Now that she was back, Reiko considered what her next approach should be. She desperately wanted to return to the Uchiha compound, where she could interact with her family once more. She was sure that seeing Daigo and Honoka would brighten her mood, but she had a job to do.

The pressure that seemed to constantly surround the Hokage tower pressed against her harder than it ever had. The bulk of her reports about their uneventful journey through the Land of Fire towards the Land of Waves had been lost when they fled the caravan, and she wasn't in the right mindset to write new ones on their way back.

She roused through her brain in an attempt to construct an accurate story of what occurred. She cursed Shion for letting her report first, especially since he still had his written reports with him. The sound of a bell rang through her ear. The secretary at the desk in front of her looked up, motioning with her head for Reiko to advance towards the Hokage's office.

The Uchiha paused once she reached the office door. A couple deep breaths filled her lungs in an attempt to calm herself, but they hadn't been successful. She bit her lip and knocked anyway, the aging voice of the Hokage beckoning her inside.

"Good afternoon, Hokage-sama," she bowed immediately as she entered the room, not wanting to look the 'God of Shinobi' in the eye. The man said nothing, instead taking a puff of his tobacco.

An awkward silence filled the room. It was clear that the Hokage wanted her to continue, but she didn't want to look at the man at all. The watchful eye of a man as powerful as he would only make her feel worse about her failures. With gritted teeth she rose, taking another deep breath to steel her nerves.

"I'm here to report the events of my team's mission to the Land of Waves. I'm sorry I don't have a written report; it was lost in the event that caused us to flee," the Hokage's eyebrow raised slightly, and he took another puff of tobacco.

"Our journey through the Land of Fire was rather uneventful. We faced a few bandit attacks here and there, but beyond the abilities of even the civilian guards. Traveling through the Land of Waves was going smoothly at first, but after we passed Wairudo we saw an increase in attacks."

Reiko slightly fidgeted with her fingers as she approached the reason why they'd had to retreat. "The bandits were stronger than they were in the Land of Fire, but even then they were still manageable. We were just a few hours away from Kairui Port when we were attacked again,"

"It wasn't a mere group of bandits this time… He was a kid, even younger than I am. He was alone, but was able to overwhelm us and-" tears started to form within her eyes. The Hokage rose to his feet, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Take your time," his aged voice soothed over her. She could smell the puff of tobacco overhead.

"He… He… He couldn't have been a bandit. He was alone but fought all four of us. He used Ninjutsu to separate Shion and I away from Chen and Akio. After we made sure Mr. Shigoto and his men were safe, we rushed to support them, but…" her voice trailed into a whisper. Her fists tightened, trying to will her through the rest of the story.

"He killed Chen. Shion and I got there right when it happened. My eyes started to burn and the world began to slow, and I fought with everything I had. It just.. It just wasn't enough."

"He used some sort of bone technique to fight. It was something I'd never faced before, so I didn't know how to work around it. Before Shion and I arrived for support, he'd been able to injure Akio. It affected him throughout the entire battle, and he was the next to go…"

"Shion and I fought with everything we had," the tears inside her eyes grew in intensity. "If we'd have gotten there earlier, or if I had just a little more stamina we'd have beaten him. Chen and Akio would still be alive, and we'd be finishing our mission in the Land of Waves right now. Instead.. Instead–" 

The Hokage's hand moved to soothe her again. "Get some rest, Reiko. I know you're hurting about what happened, and forcing you to relive those memories was something I shouldn't have done. Go home to your family, you deserve it for the efforts you had," Reiko stood silently for a few seconds before nodding, slowly wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Thank you Hokage-sama. Something like this will never happen again." The Hokage shook his head.

"You are a great Shinobi, Reiko. Don't let anyone, even yourself, convince you otherwise." Reiko bowed her head in gratitude before exiting the office.

Her body moved on its own as she passed through the bustling Konoha streets. The same question for the past week danced across her mind; what could she have done differently? The countless hours poured into training with her friends as well as her instructions with her father made her think she was good enough. It felt as if the world had been hammering the same message onto her for the past few months. She wasn't good enough.

Part of her wanted to curl in a ball and never move, so that she'd never feel this way again. Another part of her screamed in fury, wanting to push her beyond even what she was doing previously. She had unlocked her Sharingan, she couldn't retire into a pit of sadness.

Maybe she wasn't good enough, so she'd have to work her hardest to rectify that. Two hour training sessions would turn into four. She'd start sparring with other clan members to better diversify her opponents. She'd go sit through hours of her mother's boring lessons on chakra control too.

Hundreds of ways to improve herself coursed through her brain until she finally found herself at the place she'd called home for all thirteen years of her life. She hesitated a bit, wondering what her family would think of her failure. Her mother and father would understand, but would Daigo? He was convinced she was the strongest Shinobi in the world. What would he say about her losses?

The world began to slow once more, this time uncaused by the Sharingan. She shut her eyes and breathed deeply, the creak of the door opening grating her ears. The back of her mother's head caused her to wince, the long black wave similar to her own.

She couldn't deal with this, not now at least. She forced the door shut and began moving. To where, she knew not. Her body would take it where it wanted to go. The Uchiha compound shrunk as the distance between them grew. Even when she could barely see the compound, she kept moving.

The bright afternoon sun was replaced by the shining white of the moon, but she still kept going. It wasn't until her muscles screamed for rest did she stop. She stood hunched over, desperately trying to catch her breath.

She probably wasn't in Konoha anymore, traveling deeply into the thick woods nearby. Luscious trees surrounded her from all angles, showing no signal of where she could be. She searched around for a bit, but found herself completely lost.

Her eyelids began to grow in weight, weariness finally setting in on her. She'd wanted to go back home and apologize to her family, but could feel the previous events weighing down on her.

She slumped against a tree, sleep working its way throughout her body. She'd find her way home when it wasn't dark and she wasn't exhausted. 

That night, she dreamt of a graveyard of walking skeletons.