Chapter 8 “Echoes of the Past, Shadows of the Future”

I stood there very still, not knowing what to do now since I had just finished the last thing Orochimaru wanted me to do for today. It was ironic since I complained about not getting time for myself to Kabuto earlier and yet my mind drew a blank on what should I do for the spare time I now had.

"Katsumi…" I slightly jumped by the voice who called my name so suddenly.

I glanced over my shoulder and my eyes caught on Sasuke, which was a surprise to me because I thought he was long gone the moment after he walked past me; I didn't even sense his chakra there. He was that good.

Though he never stepped out of the lair, his back was facing me; he probably thought he no longer needed me until the very last second. What does he want from me now? I wasn't sure because I could no longer read or know from his eyes what he wanted; he hated the fact that he was predictable to me and he couldn't stand me reading him any longer.

Now that he trained himself to truly hide his feelings and learned how to immune his emotions, I was just as clueless as the rest of them.

Not knowing this just made me nervous; he could say anything and it would take me off guard.

"Watch yourself while I'm gone. And always keep your guard up around Orochimaru and Kabuto… I'm still not comfortable to trust them with you alone.

" He advised softly as his voice seemed to hint a bit of affection.

Did the great Sasuke Uchiha finally showed his concern for me? I don't know because I could've mistaken that for a warning, which he normally gave to others to let them know to never underestimate anything.

I was stunned to see said person glaring at me over his shoulder with his Sharingan blazing in crimson red. "Let me know if my help is needed…" He breathed lowly.

I stood there simply in awe; he slipped a bit of concern of me which he hadn't showed for over two years.

I took it all in as I slightly bowed my head to him. "I will, Sasuke…"

He nodded at my response then he turned his head away from me. The next thing I knew, he disappeared in a flash.

I forgot that his speed was incredible since I wasn't that fast myself. However my skills was higher than Sasuke and I could say that since he admitted that a while ago, though he didn't seem to care that much about it.

Now that I had completed my last errand of the day, I had no clue what to do. I would hang around Sasuke but he just left for a mission; no matter since I barely do that now ever since he changed.

Then there was Kabuto, and I stopped myself from gagging. It wasn't because I found him disgusting, he was simply so irritating and obnoxious.

It boggled my mind that people in my old village thought that Naruto was the most annoying person on the planet; to them I would laugh at their faces. I mean, maybe Naruto was annoying but I was born with great patience, so he doesn't really phase me at all.

To me, he was a cute, clueless, innocent boy that I held near and dear to my heart. I couldn't help it; he was one of the bright spots of my life.

Just the thought of him made me miss him much more. I always wished I could tell him face to face that I never meant him to go through what he did when Sasuke and I left; it was just not fair for him.

As I was saying, hanging around Kabuto would never be my first choice at all. Nothing personal, but I didn't like him.

In fact, being unbearable wasn't the only reason why I despised him. The moment my brother and I arrived at Orochimaru's hideout, I saw a glimpse of four eyes and I didn't know what to think.

At first I thought he too decided to join forces with the snake, but that wasn't the case at all. Long story short, it turned out the jerk went undercover as a Leaf genin to gain information on me and Sasuke, which made me livid.

When my team obtained both the Earth and Heaven Scrolls, I realized that he wasn't a jerk after he saved me from the enemy; I felt bad for how I treated him and I wanted to make things right so I proposed a friendship to him, which he happily accepted. I wished I knew that smile he gave me as he accepted my friendship was a fake.

When I saw him in the lair, he knew he backstabbed and betrayed me but he acted as if nothing had happened. Since then, I found him revolting.

After that long thought of things I could possibly do on my spare time, I realized I was still standing in the exact same spot like a lost child. I finally chose to go to my bedroom and find a way to past the time.

It took me almost ten minutes to locate my bedroom. The room was sort of like the dark long hallways of the hideout except it was lit by a candle on the desk— which stood across the room – and another on the nightstand next to my bed.

A mirror stood near the closer and I blindly moved myself towards it. I gazed at my reflection deeply as I took in how much I had changed throughout the years I had been here.

My soft, raven hair grew all the way down to my waist which was left straight instead of a high ponytail like I used to put it. My bangs grew out and I let them hung on the sides of my face, cropping my face.

I wore a cropped black, short-sleeved hoodie with a net shirt under it covering my stomach. I also wore black shorts that reach to my upper thighs with long high thigh boots that had small heels on each boot.