〔 十一 〕 the self-portrait illusion

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Another day of waking up . . .




Kyo had to live.

At first, she didn't know how to. She had no basic skills when it came to cooking and how to do house chores. She was pretty spoiled when her parents were still alive, but now, all she had was herself.

Unceasingly, she was given a new day, and for a young mind, it felt like she was always on a daily battle.

Living alone is never easy.

As a matter of factly, Kyo never had to worry about everything, since the Third Hokage assured her that all of her necessities would be provided.

Yet Kyo never liked the idea of owing him in the future, thus she strengthened her broken resolve and decided to face everything on her own.

The last money she possessed right now came from the wages of Minato and Kushina's death. She wanted to reject it as well, but she had to act and think wisely, so she accepted the money in the end.

On that day she lived independently, she needed to maximize her time to learn all of the essential things.

The reason why she got into the Konoha Academy was they managed to tamper the truth that Kyo came from the Land of the Mist and moved into the Leaf Village.

During the first month in the Academy, she dedicated herself to learning the Shadow Clone Jutsu. It would be very convenient if she did.

Certainly, it was a jōnin-level jutsu, and maintaining the perfect form for a long period of time was difficult, especially that no one was there to teach her, relying alone on herself.

Going to school was normal for her, but she made no interaction with everyone. Except for Izumi from the Uchiha Clan who kept on showing up.

Not to mention that she was the bridge why Kyo's path had crossed to the person she desperately wanted to be with.

She heard everything about Itachi: his admirable achievements, and being already a candidate to graduate this school year. Even the rumors spreading against his clan like a wildfire.

Kyo wanted to talk to him and tell him all of her afflictions that tormented her daily. She remembered them well, and her soul was downcast with her. God only knew how much she wanted to say that Akane was still alive . . .

Yet she kept all of her small desires inside her chest, although it strangled her to death. Sighing, she only thought that this, too, would become a memory.

Like how Akane became a memory to Itachi.

She had always been having her sights on him.

Always and always.

But it seemed like Itachi had gotten over Akane's disappearance to this world.

It hurt, but it should be that way.

Akane should be history. A memory. Just like a dream. Nothing to grasp, nothing to harness.

And for Kyo, no matter what, she would always be proud of Itachi. Always.

Even though Itachi might not pay a glance to her, it would be okay. Seeing him moving closer and closer to his goal was more than enough for Kyo. Supporting him from the shadows was the only thing she could do for him.

In spite of that, Kyo couldn't afford to slack.

After school, she'd train her Kage Bunshin. Then she discovered that once a clone disappeared, all of the information stored would transfer to her. Thus, she took advantage of it.

After a week, she managed to make one perfect clone that could last for at least six hours. The first thing she did is to find a part-time job.

Her job wasn't that heavy. She found a local herbal medicine shop in the village, and an old lady who was managing it alone. Kyo thought that it'd be the best place to earn some cash and learn all about herbs. So then she used the clone in attending the class whilst staying in the shop.

The Konoha Academy might be hell to attend to. But not for Kyo. Some might be forced to study hard for the written exams, and Kyo could have perfected each one of them, but she was strictly ordered to lay low. Because if she stood out—which she already was after confronting the bullies—some would be suspicious of her.

Especially to Itachi.

They must've acknowledged that Itachi had his own way of seeing things. Yet, the good thing was her disguise was flawless.

The elders never mentioned it to her, but Kyo had already perceived the other benefits of hiding the truth about her identity: it was to separate her from Itachi. Even to Shisui-san.

All because of a single rumor, saying that the Uchiha Clan was the one who unleashed the Kyūbi.

There was no way they did it. The Uchiha lived in the same village. Why would they harm their own kin? The higher-ups of this village were easy to prejudice. None of them possess the real meaning of integrity, thus they were quick to discriminate their identity, race, and political status.

Kyo felt like they were protecting her from the wrong people. She could've told Itachi about this foolery if she wanted to. But she was also aware that her existence might be a hindrance. She had lost her sense of direction and didn't want him to drag him down, because her future was now uncertain. There was no way of telling if the sun would shine on her for tomorrow.

Then even so it had to be done, living as if she'd die today.

The following week, she could do two clones. One was staying in school, one in the herbal shop, and the original form was making acquaintances to the farmers in the village. She wanted to learn how to plant, though it was a bit too late for her.

Autumn had arrived, where most of the plants had withered, and Kyo had to do something to survive winter.

That was why she was befriending the farmer and helping them with their work, hoping that they would return her help.

And after a long day of work, she would train at night. She couldn't do the Hiraishin anymore, even if she wanted to improve it. But unfortunately, her jutsu-shiki couldn't be activated again.

It was either she had forgotten how to actuate it, or she just lost her soul—the who she is.

So Kyo had focused on her shuriken jutsu, taijutsu, and chakra control. Those two techniques were enough for her to learn. She really didn't need to learn some high-class techniques. It wasn't that she'd become a shinobi.

She only sighed.





Another season had passed, winter had gone. She survived winter with the help of the farmers she met. The people were very friendly, kind, respectful, and warm. It was nice to be friends with them; people like them were so sincere.

Spring arrived expectedly like a gentle spirit, and Kyo had welcomed it already.

It was a new day and she must go on. After three months of training, schooling, learning, and living alone, Kyo was pretty confident to say that she had gotten used to it. She even had no idea if she'd be happy about that or not. She was living all by herself, but she wasn't really taking care of herself.

She wasn't getting the right nutrition in every meal she was taking every day; having good nutrition it would help her maintain a healthy weight.

She woke up slightly early for today, and couldn't prepare herself a breakfast. Leaving her apartment, she thought that she'd be getting ramen for today, since she had extra cash from the herbal shop.

As Kyo entered the shop, she was being welcomed already.

"Come in," said the owner gleefully, Teuchi-san. "Same order, young missy?"

Kyo grinned sideways and nodded her head. The ramen chef started assembling her order as she sat down on the stool.

Soon, her order was served and she clasped her hands, thankful for the meal.

In the middle of her meal, Kyo began to speak.

"Say, Teuchi-san," she said, "is ramen healthy?"

The man smiled, jovial as he answered her question. "I wonder as well, but on a daily basis, I'd say it's unhealthy."

Kyo made a long 'o' sounds. "I'm not eating every day, so."

"That's right," he chuckled. "But a single bowl of ramen can be considered as healthy."

"How?" she mumbled while slurping the noodles. She had to eat quickly before the noodles become soggy.

"For starters, the broth was made with bones of red snapper fish and chicken. The fish was roasted first to extract the minerals from the bones into the broth, darkening it and adding another layer of flavor. I simmered it for eight hours, and added kombu that brought the ocean salinity to the broth."

"I see, that's a lot of dedication, Teuchi-san," she commented.

He laughed once again. "That's just the broth, you know? The noodles are made out of double O flour and have approximately 11% to 12% protein to this ramen."

As far as Kyo knew, the protein was an essential nutrient of body tissue; could also serve as a fuel source and provide as much energy density as carbohydrates.

"And just like the traditional ramen," Teuchi continued, "it is topped with chashu, bean sprouts, lemon, scallions, and a hard-boiled egg for additional protein."

"So, in other words, it's healthy."

Teuchi-san laughed, bashful. "I'm sorry, am I too talkative?"

"Oh, no," Kyo chuckled while shaking her head. "Thank you for the information, Teuchi-san, I might start my ramen business as well."

Her statement amused him. "You really think like an adult, huh? Oh, by the way, young missy, have you heard the news spreading lately?"

Kyo said no. She didn't care about the news, for she didn't care about the world.

"You should pay attention to it, y'know!" The ramen old man scolded her, his face was serious.

"Why?"

"You see, a lot of people had been missing recently."

Kyo started to get worried. So it wasn't something to be cast aside. Particular to the fact that she was just living alone.

"What happened to them, Teuchi-san?"

"Uh, well, as the news said, there are eight individuals who had gone missing in two months span, and the three of them are found dead. The corpses had one thing in common: the upper part of their heads was cut horizontally and their brains were missing."

Kyo felt the shivers on her nape. That was . . . Diabolic, inhumane.

"In response to this, Sandaime-sama ordered the elite ninjas to do a wide search and rescue to find the remaining victims and capture the serial killer."

The girl kept quiet, feeling a little troubled.

"I'll take care of myself," Kyo calmly said, regardless. "Thanks for the food."

Then she left. Kyo knew various ways of self-defense, so there was nothing to worry about.

Now, now. The young lady had works to do. She went to an alley part of the business district and did the gesture to create shadow clones. Quickly, two clones of her appeared after the smoke subsided. The three of them shared the same thought, thus they had left and executed their agendas for today.

As per usual, one was accompanying the old lady in the herbal shop, one was in the school, and the original form was with the local farmers.

She liked staying with them, fascinated by how simple and peaceful their lives were. Throughout the season of winter, the farmers didn't stop working. The winter months were a time to prepare for the coming year by budgeting for and purchasing things like seed and fertilizer. And by this time, they must have started planting.

Kyo continued walking through the forest like the usual. The trees hadn't recovered well, but the spring buds were becoming noticeable.

Then, in an abrupt, inexplicable way, Kyo got stopped in her tracks.

She saw something suspicious.

Strange shoeprints.

The shoeprints obviously showed that the owner was walking backward. Along with it, there were long trails of a heavy thing, it was as if it was being dragged.

It left marks, because of the melted ice from the last season, and the soil would presumably become moist.

Kyo followed the tracks without hesitation. It didn't feel right, but she was reminded that she had to do something.

Inhaling deep, she forwarded courageously. A thrilling sensation vibrated in her ears as the fear of the unknown had bled graciously from the chilly setting.

The only time when Kyo took a pause on her feet when the trails had cut.

She got herself thinking. Why would the prints disappear just like that? Did it fly?

Fly?

Must be.

Perhaps the heavy thing got thrown away. There was also a huge possibility that the person took the same steps and went away.

She wasn't sensing anybody nearby, so she continued.

She looked all around the surrounding. In this certain part of this forest, it had different species of bushes with nasty thorns.

When Kyo stepped out of the shadow of a tall tree, she could anticipate what her eyes were telling her already.

Under the thick bushes, there was a certain object lying under it. Kyo rushed over it, pulled the thing to give her the full sight.

It was a rolled carpet. A couple of it, maybe. She hadn't uncoiled it, but she could already tell the foul smell lingering.

In a quick move, she unrolled the shagged carpet, and thick, burrowing blowflies scattered in every direction after being disturbed. There were even larvas and pupas fell on the ground upon opening it.

Kyo fell on her back, surprised by the countless flies that broke free. The smell became sharper and it almost killed her respiratory system.

As soon as the flies calmed down, she couldn't believe her eyes, seeing what was in front.

There was a corpse . . .

The adrenalin flew over her veins like a river, wanting to run, but she couldn't move a single muscle. Not even a scream unleashed. The absolute terror completely paralyzed her, and the more she looked at it, the more she felt discouraged and utterly terrified to move.

The corpse was almost empty of skin and pitted by gouging insects. The gender of the corpse was uncertain, for most of its body had decayed already.

There was something more peculiar with the corpse. Then she remembered the description Teuchi-san gave her.

The upper part of the skull was cross-sectioned and the brain was gone.

This was the doing of the serial killer.

What she had just seen way worst like a nightmare.

Slowly regaining her composure, Kyo turned around and stood up. Her stomach started to churn, her nostrils filled with the scent of rotting flesh. Horrific image covered her mind. And now she had seen something her eyes wouldn't ever be able to erase.

Kyo began to run, stumbling and staggering.

This place was the forest near the Naka River, across, was a half-mile away from the Main Entrance of the village. She knew that she would find ninjas there to seek help.

She ran as fast as she could, leaving blur images of her behind.

Once the village's portal was on her field of vision, she embraced herself for a faster run. The ninjas of the barrier team were posted on their station.

Kyo grabbed the hand of the ninja who had a long, spiky, black hair and a strip of bandage running across the bridge of his nose.

It was Hagane Kotetsu, surprised by the kid who had just grabbed him all of the sudden.

"What?" he confusedly asked, the little girl had a face as pale as a sheet of paper.

Kyo was speechless. Her pulse was spiking up from the horror and fast pace to head in this place. The adult tried to calm her down. He told her to breathe slowly to relax her nerves, and she did what she was told.

Once her heart rate had returned to normal, she stuttered, "I-I . . . T-There's a corpse . . . I saw a corpse!"

Her words grabbed his attention. Along with his comrade Izumo Kamizuki, they asked Kyo to bring them to the exact location where she saw the corpse.

Kyo led them, taking the same route towards the place.

Soon, they arrived. The two adults had an unimaginable expression rendered their faces. All along, there was a dead body lying in the middle of the forest unknown to the citizen.

Hagane asked Izumo to report this to the investigation team. The man responded fastly and left.

Kyo wanted to go, too, because she had nothing to do with these serial murders. Yet the ninja ordered her to stay.

"Why?" Kyo questioned.

Hagane Kotetsu sighed, answering, "You're the only corroborative witness in this crime, we'll be needing your testimony."

Is it a bad thing that I discovered the cadaver alone?

It was as though Hagane noticed her anxiety. "Don't worry," he said, "We're not suspecting you. There's no way a kid can commit such felony, don't you think?"

Kyo only stared down as she answered, "You seem to underestimate kids."

Then she eyed the decaying flesh. Seeing it the second time wasn't the same as the first time. She got unaffected by it, apparently.

Something was odd to the scene. The only clues remained were the trail marks. Maybe, the culprit used the trees as its path to escape.

Kyo roamed her gaze around, looking for some traces. She made it look like she was just strolling.

There was one time that Shisui-san took them both Itachi to a crime scene, teaching them how to spot clues. One of the lessons remained in her mind that a culprit would always leave traces and shreds of evidence behind.

She started to climb on one of the trees, inspecting it. If she didn't find some clues on a single tree, she'd move to the next one.

And after some time, she didn't get disappointed. On the branch, a footprint left a mark. But it had grown moss, almost erasing it.

The development of the moss indicated how long that footprint had been there.

She jumped down the three and returned to where the ninja was.

"Say, mister," she stated, "how long do you think the person had died?"

"Hm, based on the body, it already turned from green to red, (the cycle of blood decomposition), and the organs in the abdomen are accumulating gas, thus, I reckon between 8 to 10 days after death."

Just like what her intuition told her. The suspect must be good at hiding and erasing clues. Then, the perpetrator must be a skilled shinobi.

That would be a problem.

Kyo sat down on a nearby tree where she could watch the full view of the crime site. She wanted to see things from a different angle. She was lost in her thoughts as well, trying to understand the mindset of the culprit.

Staring at the trail marks, she noticed something.

She went near it to look closer. It was a different species of plants. It wasn't like the plants growing within the vicinity of the forest. The single weed that was covered with the dried mud.

She picked it up and secretly hid it. Good thing that Hagane Kotetsu was a blatant carefree and laid-back person.

After a little while, the investigation team of Konoha had arrived.

"Oya?" There came a man, spoke in an adenoidal tone.

Kyo angled her head up, and saw a person with dark hair tied up into a spiky ponytail, as well as a goatee.

The little girl made a moue expression.

When they

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