Ch 127

I wake up slowly, the light creeping through the curtains. My body feels heavy, still trapped between sleep and wakefulness. 

But it's my lips that catch my attention—they're numb. Not tingly, just oddly absent of feeling, like they're not even part of me. 

I openly chuckle from the feeling, knowing the exact reason why they're like this. But when that person comes to mind, I realized that they weren't here. 

Itachi and Kisame weren't in the room. 

I closed my eyes, expanding my chakra around the area, trying to find any sense of their own, but it was nowhere to be found. They left a while ago, maybe just after the sun had risen. 

I hummed in thought, looking around the room, which seemed oddly empty now. 

I enjoyed my time with them. The calm before the storm, the feeling of everything being good and well, but it was time to wake up. Go back to reality while I still had a head on my shoulders. 

I quickly packed my things, it didn't take long, they were still in the same bag from when I left Orochimaru. 

I stood at the threshold of the room, my fingers brushing lightly against the wooden frame. The unfamiliar space felt different now, almost like I was standing in a stranger's house. 

It felt like it was lived in, but not by me. 

My heart fluttered for just a second. The place seemed empty without them, their presence still lingering in the air but distant, like a memory that wasn't quite ready to fade. 

I hesitated, staring at the closed door for a moment before stepping away, the soft click of it closing behind me echoing in the quiet. 

The town sprawled before me, a sleepy little place, still shrouded in the calm of the early morning. There were few people out, just a few figures moving through the streets, lost in their own thoughts. 

I let my gaze wander over the empty buildings, the weathered streets, the places I'd passed by so little times before. 

My boots crunched against the dirt path, the sound blending with the quiet hum of the morning. The town had always been quaint, peaceful—the kind of place where nothing ever happened—but now, it felt foreign, too small for me to be in. 

I pulled my cloak tighter around my shoulders, feeling the bite of the morning air against my skin. The forest was ahead of me, its trees standing tall like silent sentinels, their branches swaying lightly in the breeze. 

They always seemed so imposing, like guardians of some hidden secret, but today they felt like an invitation. I had always looked at the forest with a mixture of curiosity and fear. 

It was a place that could swallow a person whole, or it could be the bridge to something more. 

Anytime I was in a forest, something happened. When I left Konoha after the Uchiha massacre, when it was the chunin exams, coming back from being kidnapped, and so much more. 

My body was instinctively tense, with rightful reason to be. I was going into the lion's den, of course with the idea that I could be eaten whole. 

I looked up, watching the way the sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting everything in soft golden light. It felt surreal, like this wasn't even the same world I had known. 

Everything was so still, so quiet, as if the forest was waiting for something to happen. Or maybe it was all in my head, I was the one waiting. 

I almost felt like I was still dreaming. So many times have I been up in the morning, eager and scared. I have never been in control, but I nether lost my grip on the situation. 

Orochimaru was right on one part, I am a puppet to this world, but I am aware. I can't live in ignorance, that's too cruel to myself. 

My feet moved forward on their own, guiding me along the narrow path that wound through the trees. The ground beneath me was uneven, the earth damp from the morning's mist, but it felt right, almost comforting. 

The town's faint outline was already fading behind me as I walked, the familiar homes and shops disappearing like memories. 

There were no goodbyes, no lingering waves, no words of encouragement. There was only the path ahead, leading me toward what I didn't yet fully understand. I couldn't stop the fluttering in my stomach, the nerves twisting inside me. 

There was so much ahead, so much waiting for me. The excitement bubbled up within me, but there was something else, too. Fear. The kind of fear that came with stepping into the unknown, the kind that made my pulse race faster, and my breath a little shallower. 

But even so, I smiled. My mind wandered briefly to the faces I would encounter soon. Konoha. The Leaf Village. I never thought I would get this chance. I was ready to just wait everything out. 

If I am rejected, I leave. But I know that won't happen. Why would it? The chance to get a new ally and old friend back, or the chance to take down an old enemy. That's their opinions, those are mine too. And I'm fine with it. 

The old comrades, the friends, the enemies... everyone. I wasn't sure if they would recognize me, or if I'd even recognize myself when I saw them again. 

The quiet of the woods around me was comforting, and yet it was a reminder that I was so small compared to the world I was walking into. 

A part of me wished I could turn back, to return to the safe, quiet life I had left behind. But another part—the stronger part—pulled me forward, urging me to take that next step, to leave the past where it belonged and move into something new. 

My steps quickened, the trees now close enough to touch, their shadows stretching across my path. I couldn't help but think of the night before. 

A part of me wanted to forget it, to focus on what lay ahead, but another part clung to the memory, desperate to hold on. 

I remembered the soft pressure of his lips against mine, the heat that bloomed in my chest, the way everything seemed to stop, if only for a moment. 

It was a kiss I would never forget—not because it was my second by him, or because it meant something, but because of the way it felt. I had felt... seen. 

My fingers brushed my lips now, the memory fresh, and a smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. It was brief, just a fleeting moment, but it was enough. 

I pressed my lips together softly, feeling the faint trace of that warmth still there, lingering like the aftertaste of a dream. 

I couldn't think about it too much—not now, not when there was so much waiting for me ahead. I had to keep moving. 

But that smile, that small, quiet thing, stayed with me, like a secret I didn't have to share. 

The trees around me were thinning, the canopy opening up to a brighter sky, and I could see the distant silhouette of the village. 

Konoha. 

It wasn't far now. My heart thudded louder in my chest, my fingers tightening around the strap of my bag. 

Konoha was closer now, the familiar sight of the village gates just visible in the distance, a landmark I once knew so well. The air smelled different here, fresher, but unfamiliar. 

And just ahead, where the village gates were, I saw silhouettes. Looks like Asuma and the team were here, waiting for my arrival. 

A/n Midterm tomorrow and I'm doing this instead of studying, so you guys can't say I'm neglecting you! Enjoy~