Kingdom by the Sea

Hinamei once recalled catching a fly in a cup, when she was younger and less concerned about everything. For a long while she sat there and watched it struggle, beating itself furiously against the glass cup like it stood a chance of breaking free. She had walked away and when she returned, it lie on the counter, unmoving and lifeless. She had never felt so guilty as she had that day. This must have been what it felt like. Currently, she sat on a beaten old chair in a house that hardly counted as a living space. Her eyes darted between the only two windows and she wondered if by any means she could escape. The old man, whose name she still didn't know, had left her alone for five minutes now. Nervously, she wondered if maybe he had finally kicked the bucket. Judging by the way he walked she guessed he didn't have much time, but he really could have picked a better time to bite it. A scuffle sounded off in the back bedroom and her head shot up, eyes burning with fear. "Tsukiyo was your name wasn't it?" The unattached voice said loudly and she shifted uncomfortably in the chair.

"Yes." Though her reply was dry, the man hastily stepped into the living room and eyed her brightly.

"You can call me Kame, so, you're a shinobi are you?" He seated himself across from her and she tried her hardest to make eye contact at anything but him.

"Well not exactly. I didn't make it past the academy." Kame let out a loud laugh and she startled herself rigid. She wasn't trying to be funny and she couldn't decide wether to stay scared or to get insulted. She went with the first option.

"Then why do you carry a sword if you can't weild it?" Instinctively, her hand flew to the sheathed blade and she lightly ran her fingertips across its glossy surface.

"Because someone very dear to me gave it to me. It goes where I do."

He studied her long and hard until he nodded to himself and held his cane directly in front of him. "I have a theory about you, I've lived long enough to know when someone is lying to me." She glanced up and gave him a hard stare. "There's something in those eye's of yours..." Hastily, she looked away. Without warning however, the man sprang up, more able than he seemed just seconds ago. He lunged at her neck with his cane in his hand and from the stick he pulled a small knife. It was brandished at her throat before she could scream and instantly, red flags were waving. A deep breath of air forced its way into her lungs and quickly she clamped her eyes shut.

She hadn't meant to activate her sharingan, it had a mind of its own those damn things.

"Remarkable..." Slowly, she reopened her eyes and was but inches from Kame's face. "You're from the Uchiha clan then?"

"Don't say that name out loud!" Her hands clapped to her eyes and she forced her knees under her chin. Maybe being alone wouldn't have been such a bad thing. If she didn't learn to control her eyes, everyone would know. Something she knew would have ugly repurcussions. "I'm not one of them! No, not anymore." Hot tears ran through her fingers, wrapping around the delicate curve of her wrist and she felt the chair pull back. Kame reseated himself across from her and she listened to the click as his knife slid back into his cane. Images of Itachi and Shisui flashed behind her eyelids, burning them with the ghost of black memories. They were playing in the forest. They were training, eating, laughing. And just like that, they were all dead. Face to face she stood from Itachi, a sword foolishly brandished in front of her and he came, eyes red like hellfire. He showed no mercy but instead he laughed cruelly as she slunk back against the wall. His blade raised above his head and he whispered, 'Hinamei, how naive can you be?'

With a sharp thrash of her body, she threw herself to the floor. Angrily, she yelled, begging for the memory reel to stop repeating itself. Like every nightmare that plagued her sleep, she couldn't escape it. "Breath, girl." At first it was a struggle, but when she did the air slid down her throat like water. Once her breathing had righted, she opened her eyes and was met with the eggshell color of the low ceiling. Staring back mockingly at her pain. "So you're from Konoha are you? Tis' a nice place to be, I lived there once." Dully, she slid her eyes up to him. He didn't look at her but instead watched out the window as the water splashed against the rocky tide pools. "Long ago, when the second was in command. I've always wanted to go back and see it now, but I never got the nerve to. How is it?" She was reluctant to respond but with a sigh she rolled over and curled up, secure.

"It's lovely. This time of year the tulips are in full bloom. And the sunflowers, they are the highest they'll be all year." He smiled knowingly and nodded, eyes adrift with images of flowers.

"Tsukiyo, being in that village I picked up many things. Some of them you might find useful. Tell you what, you help me around here and in my shop and I'll give you a place to live and teach you what I know. How does that sound?" Hinamei shivered at the thought. It wasn't that she didn't like Kame, more so she didn't like the aspect of working and living on this rock. But her choices were limited. She rolled over onto her stomach and looked up at him warily.

"What kind of things will you teach me?" He grinned coyly.

"For starters, how to properly weild that sword of yours. Back in my young age I was quite renowned for my skills as a swordsman, you could learn a thing or two from me. I also know a few genjutsu tricks that I picked up once ago, not much but you can build upon it."

She sighed loudly and put her head down. "Fine," she said into the wooden floor.

It was either that or learn to fish, and she never really liked the latter.

*****

It was common knowledge that the village shifted between two different extreme temperatures. It was either grey and cold or, like today was, sweltering hot and beachy. But without the playing in the sea type of fun one would expect. And to make matters worse, Hinamei was dying.

Or so she thought she was.

Her face was red and small wisps of hair clung to her damp forehead. She took in deep shallow breaths and was forced to close her eyes. "This is outrageous, you're insane." She spat out between shuddering gasps. Kame stood tall over her, a deep frown on his face. Two months she had been there and she had still not adjusted to the weather. Every day she said the same thing. Her black eyes darted up and she clutched the wooden bokken tighter. "I'm going to die," she said with all seriousness. The old man wobbled backwards, using his own weapon to balance on. She should have given him more credit. Not only could he withstand the awful weather but he was fast. His assualts were tough to avoid and when they did hit her, it felt horrible. She could already feel tender bruises forming on her ribcage where just moments before he had delivered a mind blowing strike. She had yet to hit him, which was the first trial she had to pass to advance to real weapon training.

"Stand up girl, I'm withered and old and you still can't get me." She groaned and forced herself upright, using a single hand to wipe the sweat beads off of her forehead. "Weapon out." Slowly, she pushed the weapon ahead of her and glowered sadly. "Ready?" With a stiff nod she agreed and in an unbelievable flash he was coming at her again. She raised her weapon in defense and his bokken slammed against hers, sending a shudder down her hands so hard she had to struggle to hold on. He shifted and brought the weapon down, using its side to strike a blow straight at her knee. Her mind was elsewhere and this was evident as she let out a loud cry and collapsed to the ground, her face distorted in pain. Her weapon clattered to the dirt. Kame sighed and placed the tip of his weapon into the ground. She was everything he needed. She had the power, the bravery, the knowledge, but she lacked something vital. Motivation. And without that he would get nowhere. "It's not often I take in apprentices," his eyes rested on her wobbling figure. "You need to start taking this seriously." It wasn't long ago he had thought he had found the proper student, when Tashiro first stumbled into his sights. He had what Kame needed as well, but it wasn't right. His power was too weak, it was obvious no matter how hard he trained, he never had it. A deep part in him hoped he hadn't made that mistake again. "You're useless." He didn't mean it exactly, but he knew the type this girl was. Jumpy and eager to prove herself. If anything was going to set her on edge it was going to be an insult. He made to turn away, hand at the ready as he did so. Hinamei hissed deeply, letting go of her knee and she glanced up at the old man who towered above her.

It hadn't been too long ago did she hear those exact same words, coming from the mouth of the person she detested most. A sudden flare of energy propelled through her body and she was ignited with rage. Hearing those triggering words, she narrowed her now hellfire red eyes at the man's back. Despite the searing pain in her leg, she darted forward on the ground and wrapped her thin hand around the handle of the bokken and she used every ounce of her strength in her body to swing it upwards. Kame was ready for her strike, but not her power. His bokken smashed against hers but the collision forced the weapon from his hand and it skidded six feet away from him. "Don't underestimate me, ever." Slowly, she stood up. Eyes drilling holes into the ground. When she looked up and met his gaze, Kame couldn't help but repress a shudder. She was young but she had seen things some grown men never would. He almost didn't want to consider it. "I'm not useless!" Hinamei darted forward, bokken raised like a katana and Kame dodged left. But he didn't stand a chance against her sharingan. She countered his movements and in a second had the man pinned against the wall with her bokken inches away from his head. A smirk adorned her rosy lips and she couldn't help but feel sick at the pose she had taken.

Just like Itachi had done to her.

Quickly, she tossed the bokken aside and stepped back. "Why didn't you hit me?" Kame asked quietly, looking upwards at her as she walked farther away.

"I don't need to hit you to pass, it's obvious I can." She replied almost haughtily. Kame smiled and bent down to pick up her disgaurded weapon. It seemed he was wrong, she had everything he was looking for. Strength, courage, and mercy. She had it and she damn well knew it.

"Alright Tsukiyo, good girl. You've passed. We'll start weapon training tomorrow. What do you say we call it a day?" Hinamei looked back at him, eyes returned back to their charcoal tones and she sighed in relief.

"I thought you'd never say that." Her eyes widened and she smiled cheekily. "The going home part, I knew I'd pass."

When they returned to his home, Kame immediately set off towards the kitchen to cook a dinner for the two of them. Hinamei seated herself at the kitchen and rested her chin in her propped up hands, eyes following every moment Kame made. Despite the small time that she had spent training, she had never felt as worn down as this. Even when Shisui and Itachi had trained her, neither of them made her feel like she was actually making progress like she did now. It was an empowering feeling almost, like she could take on anything (even if she knew she couldn't). A small smile graced her lips. As she watched Kame mix his vegetables in the searing pan a thought crossed her mind. Kame had mentioned he hadn't taken up many apprentices, and at first whereas she had disregarded it, now thinking back she realized pieces didn't fit. Kame didn't know her or anything about her up until he had seen her sharingan. The chances of him actually taking her in to train seemed slim from the start, but she hadn't even needed to ask. Her eyebrows knitted together and her body tensed. There was something going unsaid here. "Kame-san?" The man turned halfways towards her and nodded in response. "Why are you training me?"

"Do you not want to learn?" Immediately she back pedaled and let out a nervous laugh.

"No, no that's not what I meant. I mean, is there any particular reason you are training me?" What she thought was an innocent question now had her worried as Kame stiffened and drew his gaze away from her. He was silent for a minute before he sighed and laid his spoon to rest on the side of the pan. He sat himself across from her.

"I've been looking for a long time for someone like you Tsukiyo. I need you to do something important for me." Just when she thought she had escaped all complications here came one, rearing it's ugly head right in front of her face. She held back the urge to scream and run out the door, intent on throwing herself into the ocean to just give up forever.

"What is it?" She whispered almost regretfully. Her dark eyes looked up at Kame, innocent and wide with fear. She couldn't do this, not again.

"Tsukiyo, I-"

The image melted away and Yukio blinked at his surroundings. He was back in Tsukiyo's dump of a house. And right in front of his face blinked an older but still as angry Tsukiyo. "Alright, I've been waiting long enough. Why won't you answer my question?" The katana was in her hand, tucked protectively behind her back. Her bottle of sake was nearly half empty, he had been in his trance now for a while. When the present hit him he sighed and leaned back, rubbing his hands against his eyes.

This girl was hiding a lot. And he had just gotten to see most of it first hand. No wonder she was as delirious as she was. At first he considered playing it off like it didn't work but judging by the expression on his face she wouldn't have accepted that. "Who-" He shook his head and she blinked dumbly back. "Hinamei?" He finally decided to say, it was the only thing he could that would make the situation instantly clear. Her dark eyes widened and then suddenly narrowed, angry and confused at the same time.

"What?"

"Tsukiyo isn't your real name. It's Hinamei. Uchiha Hinamei." He said quietly, trying to look at everything but her. He couldn't shake the images from his brain. It was a lot of information at once and he nearly regretted feeling so eager. Her story wasn't anything to be excited about. Hinamei slunk back against the floor almost in defeat and she slowly wrapped her hand around the bottle by her knee and brought it to her lips. The sharp flavor whisked away everything. "Who was-" His nervous eyes glanced at her, "Itachi?" She choked and the bottle clattered loudly to the floor. Sporadically, her hand groped around till it righted the bottle up straight and she forced the liquid back down her throat. Her eyes closed painfully, Yukio didn't need to ask why.

After a long drawn out silence, Hinamei reopened her eyes and spoke, "you can read objects?" He nodded and she slapped her head into her hands, shaking it back and forth. "No, no, no..." she repeated quietly to herself. Finally, she looked back up and to Yukio's concern, she stood up tall. "Alright," she finally said, unlatching the katana from its sheath. "I have to kill you kid, I'm sorry." Yukio's mouth dropped open and his eyebrows tilted upwards.

"What?"

Hinamei shook out her hair and she sighed, rolling her eyes upwards. "You heard me. Now sit still or you'll just draw this out." She replied calmly. The realization hit him and every nerve in his body tensed up.

"What? No, no. Absolutely not! You can't kill me! That's against your code of honor!" He yelled desperately, hands clutching at the fabric of the chair. Hinamei's dark eyes widened and she opened her mouth in a loud wail.

"I know it is but what else am I supposed to do!" She tossed the weapon down and put her hands atop her head, weaving her fingers through her hair. "I mean, you know everything!"

"I won't tell anyone!" Yukio was ready to dart out of the room but he was sure that if he did do that then she really would try to kill him. Her fingers clutched harder at her hair.

"I'm panicking. I can't believe I messed up this bad, and I thought I was doing pretty good too. I mean, you know everything." She groaned loudly and flopped helplessly down on the chair behind her. "Everything." She said again with wide eyes. Yukio's heart was slamming against his rib cage but he needed to think. Hinamei was bordering between two drastic lines and the situation was on the edge of becoming completely uncontrollable. And judging from what he saw, he would have been surprised if she didn't have some serious mental problems. His eyes nervously darted to the floor and he did the only thing he could think of. His hand scrambled around the neck of the sake bottle and he shoved it hard into Hinamei's arm. Like a baby to a bottle, she took it quickly and downed a large amount.

She sighed loudly and her body went limp. "Are you-" Yukio inched back uneasily. "Are you alright now?" Her dark eyes slowly glanced up at him and slowly, she nodded.

"I'm sorry. I guess this is partially my fault. I didn't think it through." Sheepishly, she looked away. "I wasn't really going to kill you, you know." He didn't answer, partially because he didn't believe her, but mostly because he thought she was a total basket case. And any minute she would snap again. Hinamei's curiousity edged upwards and as where she probably didn't want to know, she just had to. "Yukio?" Blue eyes met hers and she continued, "how much did you see?" The boy sighed and tucked his arms in close to his body.

Sure he was on edge, who wouldn't be? But truth be told, she had torn him away at a very bad spot and he was itching to know what that old man had wanted. "Most of it, I saw your clan." He glanced at her carefully and after reassuring himself she wasn't going to pounce on him, he continued. "I saw you...leave. You were training here in this village with a man, that's where I left off at." Her eyes were glossy and staring off, a thin smile warily coming through.

"Your powers, their amazing. You must be a pretty revered group in your village." Yukio looked away awkwardly. "So you know everything right?"

"I guess so."

"Everything?" He looked up dryly and she smiled cheekily. "Alright, fine. But I'm going to have to lay down some ground rules." He fought back the urge to groan and she continued. "You have to call me by Tsukiyo, at all times. Understood?" He nodded dully. "And refer to yourself as my brother while you're here. That's the best excuse we can give for why you're living with me." She took another swig. "And don't talk about this to anyone. Ever. I hate to say this but potential danger is still out there. I changed my name for a reason."

"Are people after you too?" She quirked an eyebrow and he quickly backtracked. "I mean, are you on the run from something?"

"No, it's not like that. Everyone thinks I'm dead, or well, the Uchiha part of me anyways." Her next thought was interrupted by a wide yawn and she blinked back the tired tears from her eyes. "Look, I've got a lot to do tomorrow, I better be going to bed." She stood up and Yukio watched her carefully. "I'll show you around tomorrow, how's that sound?"

"That sounds...nice." He decided, that day was taking a toll on him as well and he suddenly felt more tired than he had five minutes ago.

"You won't run away tonight will you?" Hinamei asked quietly, eyes soft and steady. He shook his head firmly. Even if he had wanted to he doubted he could have found the energy to do so. "Good. Night kid, I'll see you in the morning." The Uchiha girl made to walk away when a sudden thought flashed in Yukio's mind.

"Uh, Tsukiyo?" She stopped and looked back with an amused smirk on her face. "I was meaning to ask you, your trainer, Kame? Well, I never got to hear what he was training you for." Her smirk faltered and she turned back towards the hallway, her back towards him.

"He wanted me to help him die." She replied quietly, and she moved back towards the hall with her bottle of liquor firmly clutched in her hand. He figured that bottle would be gone come morning. He waited until he heard her bedroom door shut to relax. His muscled ached from how nervous he had been and he sighed loudly and forced himself upright. Pulling on his gloves, he stretched a little and let his eyes linger on the dark hallway. He felt bad for her, he really did. And it wasn't like him to pity anyone, but for her he felt endlessly sorry. He wouldn't say it outloud but he thought, for everything she had endured she hadn't turned out half bad. Slowly, he made the way to his bedroom after he turned out the light and he collapsed on the creaking bed with a moan. He couldn't help but think to himself, what had he gotten himself into now?

*****

The stars blinked in the night sky, shifting throughout the midnight blue space. It was impossible to count them all but that didn't keep him from trying, over and over again. Next to him, Kisame stirred in his sleep, mumbling something bitterly before rolling over. Itachi reaverted his eyes to the sky and began counting once more.

Anything to focus on. Anything to keep his attention in one place, secure.

He had tried hard not to think about Hinamei since the day he left. It was a tie he had cut, just like all the others. Or so he had thought. But lately, whenever he slept, he found himself dreaming of his childhood. Shisui, Hinamei, and himself. The fearless threesome. It had gotten so bad that he had just decided to cut sleeping out as much as he could. It wasn't worth the flashbacks. He was where he was now for a reason, he was a criminal, a killer.

And here he sat too often reminisicing about things that were long gone now. It was disgusting. And confusing. And a million other things he shoved to the back of his mind. The weariness was growing on him and he rested his head back against the side of the tree, closing his eyes to the brilliant night sky. Even with all his forced will power, he couldn't help but wonder what the years had done to her. He knew she would look different but it was impossible to see past that little girl image he so fondly remembered. Itachi hadn't changed much, with his sleeping less frequent, the long creases under his eyes became more pronounced and his face had thinned out a lot. He looked like an adult now and it seemed so often he wore a mask of complete emptiness. It suited him. But Hinamei, she had to look different. His dark eyes snapped back open and he narrowed his eyes. This was not acceptable. He was on a mission and clearly he didn't have the option of letting old, withdrawn emotions get in the way. It was the exact reason Madara chose him to do this, to prove himself. He had gotten so far now, he couldn't let something as miniscule as this get in the way.

He forced his eyes back into the sea of stars and with a long, withdrawn breath, he began counting once more.