Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Pieces of Our Past ❯ Chapter 3: Amaya ( Chapter 3 )

(A/N) Once again, paralleltodarkness here. Chapter three is up, and… well… there's more about Lizo and Amaya in this chapter, as usual. I wrote this chapter, and Crystalazer read it over. ^-^ Let's all give her a big hand, shall we?

Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto, but we do own any OC characters in this fic.

 

Chapter 3: Amaya

 

“Lizo-san,” a voice called, ringing throughout the empty street. A head turned to see a dark figure running up behind, waving frantically. “Hey! Wait up!”

 

“Ohayo, Amaya,” he said, his lips giving a small turn upwards.

 

Amaya smiled. “I thought I might run into you here, I wanted to talk to you.” She glanced at the twelve-year old boy standing next to her, and grinned at his tense expression. “Were you ever good at talking to girls?” she teased, giggling as he turned several shades of red.

 

“What do you want?” Lizo muttered, starting to walk away from her.

 

“It's about Ghiki-kun,” Amaya replied brightly, jogging slightly to keep up with Lizo.

 

His body tensed.

 

Not noticing, Amaya continued. “I was talking to him the other day, but I haven't seen him around lately. You're his best friend… you think you could pass on a message?”

 

Amaya tilted her head as she looked at Lizo. “Hey… what's wrong?”

 

“Forget about it,” Lizo spat, running off, leaving a startled and confused Amaya behind.

 

“What's wrong with him?” she muttered, kicking a random rock that was sitting near her. “I only wanted to ask him if he could give me my book back.”

 

--

 

“I will now announce the groups that you will be placed in,” Matsu said, looking down at his list. “Each of you will be placed in a team of three, and be assigned a number. Generally, a group will consist of two males and one female.”

 

Amaya glanced around the room, looking for Ghiki. “Damnit, he told me that he'd be at the explanatory meeting, where is he?”

 

“Team Six, Kaikoza Lizo, Maemi Amaya, and Juko Haizaki,” Matsu announced.

 

Amaya narrowed her eyes. Same team… as Lizo? The same guy with that temper problem? Haizaki… well, she didn't know so much about him. He was Ghiki's brother though.

 

“And that's it for the teams,” Matsu said brightly, rolling up his scroll.

 

--

 

The dark-haired Jounin pored over a sheet of paper lying on her desk, her eyes tired-looking and drooping.

 

“If you work yourself too hard, it's not good for your body,” a voice whispered behind her. Amaya wheeled around to face the person in her room.

 

“Oh, it's you,” she said. “You really should be getting off to sleep. We have a mission tomorrow, and it can't be completed without you.”

 

Lizo sat down in the chair beside her. “Same goes for you,” he said, peering to see what she was working on. “After all, you know all the details. Didn't Kage-sama tell you about what we're doing tomorrow?” He reached over to pick up the paper.

 

Amaya impatiently slapped his hand away. “That's none of your business.” She picked up her pen and started to write.

 

“Hey,” Lizo whispered, after a few moments of silence. “You remember Haizaki?”

 

Amaya's emerald eyes flickered slightly, her tired face seemed to grow darker in the dim light that lit her room. “How could I forget?”

 

“Then you'd remember our first mission,” Lizo said gently. “I… I was just thinking of it. I wanted to see if you remembered too.”

 

Amaya gave him a small smile. “Of course I remember… but there are some things I just want to forget.”

 

Lizo sighed and stood up. “Get some sleep, Amaya,” he smiled. “You need the rest.”

 

Amaya nodded, smiling slightly.

 

“Sometimes you confuse me, you know?” Lizo asked, turning around. “One minute you're happy and laughing, like you were in my room. But then all of a sudden you get all depressed and silent.”

 

Amaya lowered her eyes. “I… I…”

 

“Yeah?” Lizo asked. “You what?”

 

“Nothing,” Amaya said, brushing aside her thought. “It's nothing.” She raised up her head to look at her friend. “Get some rest then.”

 

Lizo nodded briefly and smiled. He sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. “I know what you're thinking,” he whispered, ignoring her startled eyes. “You tell me to let go of the past… I think you should too. Forget… Leave behind all your memories about him.”

 

Without another word he turned and left the room.

 

The Jounin crawled into her bed, thinking about what her friend had said, trying to sleep. But her thoughts drifted back to that mission that she had wanted to forget about for so long.

 

--

 

A twelve-year old Amaya leaned back against the tree. “Hirana-sensei…” she moaned, putting on a pouting face. “We've done so many D-Rank missions… you think we can do a C-Rank mission?”

 

“You guys are still Genin,” Hirana said, his voice stern. “Just out of the Academy. I don't think you guys are qualified to go on any C-Rank missions just yet.”

 

The young girl rolled her eyes. “Oh come ON!” she said impatiently. “We're SO bored doing stuff like weeding gardens and doing dishes and stuff like that! It doesn't take ninja skills to baby-sit little kids either.”

 

Hirana narrowed his eyes. “I suppose… you guys have been training for a while now.”

 

“Exactly my thoughts,” Amaya said brightly. “I mean, we may be Genin, but we are so ready for the C-Rank missions that await us.”

 

“Do you ever get the feeling that she can be depressed and girly at the same time?” Lizo muttered to Haizaki, who was standing right next to him, but was immediately silenced by a glare from the dark-haired girl.

 

“Well, there is one,” Hirana said thoughtfully. “It's an escort to the Hidden Village of Sand. We're escorting a Sand-nin that has been residing here in Rain for the past ten years back to Sand.”

 

“We can take that,” Amaya responded brightly. “I mean, it's fine with me, what about you guys?” She shot a threatening glance at her two teammates.

 

“Fine,” Lizo replied quickly, as did Haizaki.

 

“See?” Amaya asked, brightening. “We'll take the escort job.”

 

--

 

Amaya crept quietly into Lizo's room.

 

He was sleeping soundly, sprawled out over his bed. A thick book lay on his chest, and his steady breathing showed that he wasn't having another nightmare.

 

She quietly walked into his room, and gently picked the book up, placing it on the table next to his bed. He grunted and turned over, now facing her.

 

She gently pulled his covers over him, and sat down on the edge of his bed.

 

Looking at her sleeping companion, tears began to form at the corners of her eyes.

 

She gently brushed the bangs out of his eyes.

 

“You told me to let go of the past…” she whispered, a salty drop of liquid sliding down her face. “You told me to forget him.”

 

The moon shone brightly throughout his window, and a bird flew across, its shadow flitting across the room. Amaya swallowed the lump that was rising in her throat.

 

“But… I just can't…”

 

--

 

(End Chapter Three)

 

(A/N) I think Naruto has gone to my head, because I've been saying “Anou sa, Anou sa” a lot. And angst… I think I'm losing that touch too, which is NOT a good thing. But hey, read and review!