I knock on my Father's door.

A maid opens it, and almost immediately begins to close it again. I stick my foot in the door, stopping her. "I'm sorry, ma'am," she states respectfully, staring past me. "We were told not to admit you."

"I am not here as his daughter," I reply coldly. "And I will speak to him."

The maid finally looked at me. "Ma'am," she whispers. "Just go. He will leave you alone if you leave him alone."

I don't flinch. "No," I say, certain of my choice. "He won't. He will forget this lesson if I don't drive it in now. He is my Father. He will always be a part of my life, but he doesn't need to control it. I will be the one who controls this relationship."

The maid nods slowly. "Allow me to go speak to him," she murmurs.

I stand in at the front door for a long time, a stranger, abandoned. I have to force myself not to start when the door opens suddenly. "So?" I ask.

"He will see you." Surprise colors her voice.

I nod and enter, allowing her to lead me through my own home. But it wasn't mine anymore. And that was okay. The maid opens the door and slides it closed behind me. I raise an eyebrow at the tea and finger food spread before Father.

"I wasn't expecting you," Father drawls coldly. A fierce and vindicated pleasure courses through me as I see the bandage wrapping around his wrist and how he's forced to use his non-dominant hand to sip at his tea. "Some guests will be arriving soon."

"I hope I'm not imposing," I raise an eyebrow. We both know I don't care if I impose on him or not. 

"Of course not," Father replies lowly. "In fact, I would like to consult you about some aspects of this upcoming meeting. You are both a mediocre ninja and negotiator. Perhaps you can help, if only by accident."

I lean back slightly. "Is this how you get all your clients and allies to work with you?" I question innocently. "By insulting them?" Father is silent for a long minute. "How is you wrist, by the way?" I ask lightly.

Father's mask cracks for a split second, revealing an ugly scowl. I revel in the small success. "I apologize," he says stiffly. "Forgive me for the slight. I meant no harm by it."

I don't accept his apology, simply dropping the subject. "What is the purpose of this meeting?"

"There is a rather valuable artifact I lost possession of a few years back. I hired men to regain it, but they failed to do so before the ninja team guarding the artifact delivered it to the family who'd stolen it. That family lives in a different Land, so I've been unable to send anyone to take it back."

I nod slowly. "And why couldn't you hire konoha ninja to take back the artifact when it was first stolen from you?" Father gives me a slightly guarded, slightly condescending look. "Oh," I realize. "It wasn't really yours. In fact, the person who "stole" it from you was probably just taking it back. Correct?"

"Of course not," Father denied easily. It was the sort of "no" that meant "yes". "I gained the artifact perfectly legally. I will admit, however, that the family I gained it from may not have been completely happy with their loss."

"Of course," I agree. "Who are the men you hired if not Konoha ninja?"

"A collection of men who found being ninja too... constraining. They came together to form a group of sorts. You can hire them for the right price," Father responded. I nod.

"Why are you going after the artifact now? After so much time?"

"The current holders of the artifact are about to move it. This is the chance to regain the lost artifact," my Father murmured. "They must think I've forgotten about it after over two years, dismissed it from my mind. But no, I remember. They're fools to step foot outside of the safety of their country."

"What is this artifact again, Father?" I question, sipping the tea and not really caring for his answer.

"Something hat was stolen from me a few years ago," he dismissed. "I hired men to reclaim it, but they failed. The idiots ended up getting themselves killed. A team of ninja were delivering it and the men failed to regain the the item."

"Is that so?" I ask boredly.

"Hm," my Father nodded once. "Despite their failure I believe I'll be hiring them again."

"Oh?" I question, mildly surprised.

"Let's just say that they have... Sufficient motivation," my father said. "Actually, would you wish to stay? Maybe we could even have a...friendly spar."

I take another sip of tea, keeping my expression schooled. "Sounds interesting," I allow. "Perhaps I will stay to observe. And this spar, I assume you want the hired ninja's skills.... Tested?"

"Indeed," my Father nodded.

"Hm..."

I consider my Father for a long moment. He still tried to control me. Still was disdainful, condescending, insulting. It still hurt. But at the same time, he was my father, and I could take it because I knew that at any time , at any moment, I could stand up and leave and never even contact him again.

There was a knock on the door.

My Father shares a look with me. I nod slightly and allow my posture to slump slightly, forcing my body language to speak of a weak, unthreatening girl.

The man enters the room. He glances at me, but doesn't acknowledge me in any other way.

"Sir," he greets. I eye the sword he hadn't relinquished.

Father nods. "You know exactly what this mission will be. Your group failed last time; they were too slow and were beaten by an inexperienced ninja team."

The man shook his head. "Inexperienced? Far from it. The team was from here. Konoha."

My father's eyebrows shot up. "I was unaware of that," he admit. "But it still does not excuse your group's failure."

The man nods. I scoff slightly. He didn't care how much my father insulted him and his men; all he cares about was how large my father's wallet was.

"All the same. Before I give you this mission," my father begins again."I would like to have a friendly spar."

"With you?" Surprise colors the man's words.

"No. With my... Daughter," my Father replied.

The man turns towards me and studies me. "What level are you?" He asks.

"I am currently a genin," I reply softly, playing up the "helpless little girl" look.

The man turns away from me back to my father. "I cannot condone this," he says. "She's too young and too weak. A spar between the two of us would insult me and kill her."

"Sir," I interrupt. "If you believe that I will beat you and it will look bad in front of my Father, I understand."

The insult is so heavy handed the man might believe that I'm a stupid little kid who actually thinks that he's scared.

The man responds as planned. "I don't wish to hurt my clients daughter, but if that is what he wishes then who am I to disagree?"

"Nobody," I agree politely.

He scowls. "Where would you like to hold this fight?"

***

We stood behind the house in a sparring area. It was large enough to allow for ninjutsu.

I twirl the rope dart wth casual familiarity. Everything was open in this fight; nin, gen, and taijutsu. I was almost certainly better than this man at genjutsu, at the very least even with him at tai, and ninjutsu was unknown.

Daisuke had been great at ninjutsu.

I watch the man closely, waiting for him to make the first move. Father sat on the side, shaded from the sun and sipping on his tea. I would certainly put on a show for him. I wanted this to be an example for him, as well; an example of how strong I'd grown, how much he'd underestimated me, how little control he had over me any longer.

"Scared?" the man mocked. "You can't even move. Come on, first hit's yours. I'll go easy on you."

I could probably take him out with one genjutsu. The people I'd trained with had taught me a lot. The mind controlled everything. What you believe to be true is true, at least for you. People can be taken apart with a well placed genjutsu. No mercy.

But I didn't want to simply take this man out. I wanted to destroy him as an example for my father. 

The man, clearly growing impatient, took a single step forward. The rope dart in my hand snaps forward, slamming into his shoulder. It isn't enough for to break or dislocate his shoulder, but it would leave a nasty bruise. His mobility would be compromised, as well.

Hideaki didn't know I was here, I suddenly thought. I hadn't seen her since that conversation in the hospital. She'd gotten home late and I'd left early, this morning. She might be wondering where I was.

I shake the thought away, refocusing on the fight. I wasn't my sister's responsibility, and I certainly could handle this spar. 

I allow the rope dart to snake out once again. The man barely dodges, eyes focused on the dart as it hisses by his face. He never saw the kick coming.

My foot slams into his face, and blood spurts from his nose. I retreat, allowing him to recover.

"Damn you," he growls through the blood, and begins to make several hand signs. The rope darts out in an attempt to interrupt his signs, but he simply jumps backwards, retreating. Spikes of earth erupt from  the ground, speeding towards me. I dodge, pushing off one and allowing it to launch me upwards. The man searches the destroyed ground for a long moment, trying to find me. My rope dart makes the slightest whistle as I let it loose, the entire length of the rope taught as it hurtled downward along with me.

In the end, my shadow gives away my position and the man manages to dodge what would have been the ending blow. My dart slams into the ground, a plume of smoke rising from the slight crater. My eyes narrow as I'm forced to dodge several kunai. I wanted to put on a show, but I didn't want to appear challeneged. It was time to end this.

I make several handsigns and the man tenses, prepared to dodge whatever ninjutsu that might come his way. Cracks appear in the earth and he crouched, ready to jump away from any chasms that might suddenly yawn beneath him.

What he wasn't prepared for was the swarm of spiders, centipedes, an other generally feared insects to come pouring from the cracks.

He shouts, brushing at his skin and tearing at his clothes in his frenzy to escape. He manages to make the signs for a  fire jutsu, spraying the insect covered ground with it. I nod, suitably impressed at his control over two chakra types.

I wasn't impressed with his inability to recognize such an obvious genjutsu.

"What did you do to him?" Father asked as the man ripped at his clothing and sprayed fire at nothing.

"A medium power genjutsu," I reply, observing the man's antics. He'd torn off one the legs of his pants.

Father sighs. "Genjutsu," he murmurs distastefully. "Release him, please."

I watch him for a few moments, kunai in hand as I prepare to use the pain to release him. I began the motion, ready to release him from the miserable genjutsu. He screamed and ripped off his sleeve. The green skull tattoo on his forearm laughed at me, laughed at me and my stupidity and my forgetfullness and my life and my eyes widen, the kunai flies from my hand and embeds itself in the man's chest and I can't even begin to process everything that was happening.

"Dammit Fuzen!" Father's voice seems to be coming from far, far away. "This wound could kill him!"

I hear someone screaming and look up to see my mother in the window, pointing at me, mouth open. Imperfect, Imperfect, Imperfect. 

I begin to back away, back away from my father, who didn't even know what he had done, from the man, whose lifeblood was spilling on the ground, from my mother, who's crazy, fervent eyes bore into me because I knew, now. What a tragedy. What a travesty. I realize, now. I knew.

Understanding crashed down on me all at once.

Father had hired ninja to retrieve the stolen object.

The thief had hired ninja to return the object to its proper owner—though Father would argue that he was the proper owner.

My team had been chosen for the mission.

My father's team had found us, too late; the object had been returned.

My Father's team tore my team apart.

Killed Daisuke.

Crippled Shun.

Destroyed Sensei.

And then there was me.

_____________________________________

A lot of you saw this coming. I was pretty heavyhanded with the hints/foreshadowing.

GAH please comment super long and inspiring commments. If you guys do I think I'll be able to get out another chapter or two this week!!!

My high school soccer team ended up making it all the way to State Finals (it's so awesome to be able to say I was a starter at state finals). We were winning 1-0 with 40 seconds left in the half when the other team scored on a direct free kick. We went to overtime, remained tied, then wenth to kicks from the mark where we lost. We won 2nd place in the state, though! 

Please do me  a huge favor and check out Songbird's Cage by ArieShadowfall. She's an awesome writer and a good friend. Also, on the first chapter, Comment 

"Russian music is the best music. #Vitas"

It'll be funny. tRUST ME.

That's all for now! Comment comment comment!

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Bye!

gaara119