With most people, I could watch and understand, see almost everything about them.

The man with the younger woman has a tan line in his left ring finger. Obviously having an affair.

The man walking along with his girlfriend was obviously gay. The girlfriend obviously wasn't aware.

The woman in the expensive kimono and jewelry didn't know that her husband has just lost all their money and fortune, probably from gambling.

That person was in love with that person, that woman hated that man, two best friends secretly loved each other, that person was broke, that person was rich, he was failing school, she was skipping... It didn't matter what it was; eventually I learned to see the truth just from watching.

I was good at it. I knew people. I knew how they acted, what they wanted, what they hated, what they loved, how they responded to certain stimuli, what made them tick.

This made it that much more confusing for me to look at the silver haired man and see nothing.

What did he want?

Who was he?

Why did I feel... Like I knew him? It was ridiculous: there's no reason I would know him. I was a Claw, all emotion stripped from me during the pain endurance portion of training. I should feel nothing when I look at him.

I should feel nothing, ever.

Why did he look so sad when I snatched at the side of my head, pain smashing through it as I thought and felt in ways that had long since been trained out of me, in ways I was conditioned to feel pain in?

And why did I care?

Why did he care?

I slammed my head into the metal bar of my cell, ignoring Kakashi's shout as the pain of my throbbing forehead helped control the searing burn in my mind. I breathed raggedly as my mind cleared from the haze of pain.

"What's wrong with her, Tsunade?" The silver haired man asked. Friend Killer. Cold Hearted. How did he earn those names? Was that who he was? Or was that just what he was called?

Or both?

"I... I'm not sure," the woman admitted. Tsunade. Fifth Hokage. Slug Queen. On our list. Not to die, but to be aware of. To watch. To send messages to.

Like Kakashi's death. That was supposed to be a message.

"She's obviously gone through a lot of trauma. PTSD is practically a given at this point. But it wouldn't explain why she doesn't seem to remember you, remember us, remember... Well, herself," Tsunade murmured.

"I am no one," I whispered, "I am nothing." It felt reassuring to say the words that had been drilled into me since day one. "I am a tool for the Rising Phoenix to use at will. I am here to serve the Rising Phoenix in mind, in spirit, and in body. I shall not flinch, I shall not feel, I shall not scream, I will follow the Phoenix till the end of the earth."

"At this point I'm thinking brainwashing. Notice how she flinches and grabs the side of her head sometimes?" I assumed Kakashi nodded, because Tsunade continued. "I believe that something causes her pain whenever she thinks, whenever she feels, or whenever she tries to remember."

"So... There's a jutsu or something effecting her?" Kakashi asked slowly.

"I believe that either there is a jutsu implanted inside of her mind or... She's been brainwashed. Or a mixture of both, of course," Tsunade explained. "We should get someone who can search through her mind in here. In fact, we should get a team."

"An entire team?" Kakashi asked.

"At this point, I believe it best that we treat her as hostile. We don't know what traps may be inside her mind."

Tsunade walked away, leaving Kakashi behind. I sat with my head pressed into the corner of the wall and bars, clutching at the iron rods.

"You have killed me," I told him, no emotion leaking into my voice as I spoke of my death.

"I've saved you," Kakashi replied, looking at me sadly.

"They will have sent an assassin after me by now," I said softly, "The replacement Claw."

"I thought there was only one Claw?"

"There is only one Claw. The Claw never changes. It is an image. A message. Stronger than just a shinobi. The person behind the mask may change, but the fear that comes with the Claw never will," I whispered.

"You said you were the best," Kakashi stated.

"I am. Which is why I will survive for a while. But only for a while. Soon... Well, there will always be someone faster, always be someone stronger, always someone bigger, always someone smarter. Eventually I will lose, as we all will."

"Depressing thought," Kakashi commented.

"Just a realistic one," I countered.

"Huh. That's more like the Cashile I knew." The corner of his mouth tilted upward slightly and he rested his hand gently on the cage they've confined me in.

It wasn't as cruel as I was normally used to, the cage. It was spacious and there was soft bedding on the floor in one corner, unlike the jagged edges and hard metal bars and the cold white snow seeping through between the bars of the cages the Phoenix kept me in.

Bad tool, bad tool, bad bad bad tool.

I couldn't resist flinching slightly, feeling the microscopic vibration from Kakashi of the Sharingan putting his hand on the bar.

What Cashile did he know?

Who was Cashile?

Memories bounced through my head causing painful spasms as the past memories were quickly replaced with torturous ones.

"Hey, hang in there," Kakashi said gently, trying to comfort me. But why was he trying to comfort me?

He sat in a chair, reading a book that he is thoroughly fascinated with, keeping guard over me. No doubt to make sure I do not escape.

I don't even attempt to. By this point They know I've been captured. They know I'm being held. And soon, they would kill me, to ensure that all their secrets would not be divulged from my mind. I'd been trained well to not release any information upon capture. But safeguards were in place.

It was too late for me: I had failed my mission. All I could do now was be a good tool to the finish and resign to my death.

But if I was going to die anyways-- No!

I shook every thought away, allowing the mind numbing persona of the Claw to wash over me once again.

22 hours and 42 minutes pass by before my next visit from the hokage. During these hours I sat up, still, alert, and ready to take action. Kakashi continued to read his books, shooting worried glances at me every couple of minutes the entire duration.

The sound of footsteps caused immediate alarm, forcing my body out of resting mode. My head snapped up from my sitting position on the ground, and I narrowed my eyes at the only entrance to the room, making a quick grab for the kunai that were no longer hidden, scattered over my body.

"How is she?" Tsunade asked.  My trained ears picked up on two pairs of shuffling feet that follow behind the Hokage.

Kakashi sighed, tired from his overnight shift. A black circle rimmed his eye. "No change, she sits there, in the same still position, awake and alert. Barely gets any rest." Worry laced his formal tone mildly. "Convinced that another assassin will end her."

There was a sudden, audible intake of breath, and a choked noise. I registered and analyzed where the sound is coming from.

It was a man. Intimidating. Interrogator-type. Long black coat, head cap.

Ah. Ibiki Morino. We only knew of him to know his torture methods. He preferred to break you without touching you. I do not flinch. Nothing... Nothing could ever compare to the pain They put me through.

And that was the point.

"How... How is this possible Kakashi?" The man asked in a deep, startled voice.

He brought his fist down loudly on the cell, and looked at me, a million different emotions swimming deeply through his eyes.

I didn't flinch this time.

Within the 22 hours and 42 minutes, I had taken the time to remember who I was; The Claw of the Phoenix. I am a tool. I feel no fear, no happiness, no sadness. I feel nothing. I am nothing.

Therefore the loud noise, the cause of shocking vibrations through the cage, did not scare me this time. I stare up at the man with emotionless eyes, saying nothing. There was nothing to say. I would die soon.

The man looked me in the eyes and I met his gaze steadily, assessing him. "You're dead."

The statement did nothing to shake me, to scare me. I was well aware of the fact by now. In the end, what did it matter if I died by Ibiki's hand or by the coming Claw's?

"No, no, Cashile," Kakashi hurried to reassure me, "He didn't mean it as a threat. Ibiki wasn't saying that he was going to kill you. It's just, we believed you were dead."

I switched my empty gaze back to Kakashi. "I am nothing but a tool. In the end, it does not matter if you take my life, or if They do. I will die."

"What is this?" Ibiki growled furiously, obviously getting over his shock. "Did she play us? Because everyone thought she was dead, but here she is, not dead. Did she fake her death? Did she fake it all?"

The intensity of his anger ripped through the air. He was mad at me?

Of course he was mad at me, I was trying to assassinate his fellow ninja.

But.. I faked my own death? Why would I do that? I was, after all, only a tool. Why would I need to do that, being the Claw as far as I can remember? 

Perhaps.. In order to achieve perfection in being the perfect tool,  I had to fake my own death.

That made sense.

Pain ripped through the side of my head once more as memories of a hyperactive blonde kid with blue blue eyes flash briefly across my mind.

I groaned slightly and clutch my head, unable to think anymore;  being here was making this worse. I'd never had this much pain for remembering, always able to push it back, push it away.

The pain ceased as the snapshots fade and once again, I am left questioning,"What are these images that are being withheld from me?"

I shook it off and, ignoring my audience, muttered the reassurance,"It is nothing. It does not matter. I am only a tool. The Claw of the Phoenix." I remained unaffected by the ninja's obvious pity or anger aimed toward me.

"You're a bitch, Cashile," Ibiki suddenly snapped. I turned emotionless eyes toward him, ignoring the inexplicable sadness and irritation that stung at me before I could stop it.

Ibiki stomped out, and with a worried glance towards me, Tsunade followed. I took the reprieve with relief. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and think.

I wanted to obey, wanted to serve the Phoenix; it was all I ever knew, my only purpose in this world.

But I had failed. 

And deep down, there was something I wanted more than to serve. Even though it was my sole purpose to obey the Rising Phoenix, to be there tool, more than that I wanted to survive.

I didn't want to die.

The realization shocked through me so suddenly that I felt the need to say it out loud.

"I do not want to die."

I said the words carefully, cautiously testing each one before letting it roll off my tongue. Saying it out loud only cemented my belief. I didn't want to die.

"Don't worry, Cashile," Kakashi whispered softly, soothingly, "We'll protect you. We won't let anything happen."

I tilted my head. "How can you promise that?" I questioned, "With all of the circumstances, events, and people outside of your control, how can you promise that nothing will happen to me?"

Kakashi gave a sad smile. "I just can, I guess."

"That is completely illogical," I whispered. "And yet maybe, between the two of us..." I shook my head violently, the searing pain seeming to melt my brain as the... Memories...? Were these snapshots of people my memories?

I had always suspected it was so, but I'd also known better than to mention them, to pursue them, to question them. I had always pushed them aside, forced myself to forget, the stabbing pain my assistant in attaining the mind numbingly blissful state of nothingness that came with being the Claw of the Phoenix.

But now I was no longer the Claw. I was no longer Their tool. They would kill me. Whether it was in days, weeks, months or even years... They would kill me.

And I didn't want to die.

__________________________

Are we breaking your heart?

It's 5:30 in the morning right now because I have work (reffing soccer). I have a 7:00 game to ref, I'm supposed to be there an hour early (NOT happening) and so I'm up at 5:30.

ANYHOW how do you like this chapter? Yes, yes, you all got it right: she's back in Konoha. Not that hard of a guess seeing as she was captured by Kakashi, a ninja of Konoha, last chapter. XD

Well, one thing hasn't changed about Cashile: she cares about her own survival. She doesn't want to die, guys!

Sweet. Okay, any fanart, oneshots, trailers, etc, PM us and we'll tell you how to send it to us! We love fanart oneshots and the like!

Alrighty! Comment comment comment!

Bye!

~gaara119

Hey guys!

Okay, so that was intense. It gets better too :3 I can't do a long note because I'm about to attend a funeral Dx

So comment! Fan and vote if you will

Thanks for the support :)

-S

Comment, Vote, and Fan!

Ja ne!

Insomniac_Lullabies