[center][b][i]Chizuko Irozaki - Kumogakure ANBU Commander[/b] Summary: For some time she has been hiding the fact that she is slowly losing her mind. Though her comrades still dont take notice, it is becoming increasingly hard for Chizuko to find a reason to continue on her current path. Plagued by hallucinations from her past, she finally comes to accept that there is only one thing left keeping her tied to the Cloud and quite frankly, this life.[/i][/center] [hider=Thoughts] [i]"Well now Chizuko, you have such an eye for details. Always thinking of the littlest things... Such a quality is good to have for a future Kunoichi. To reckognize your mistake in foot placement is very well done."[/i] [i]"Thank you father."[/i] [i]"Alright now lets see that technique again. Adjust and do it correctly this time."[/i] [i]"Yes, father."[/i] ....Had that been the last time her and her father had exchanged words? All this time had passed and from what little fragments of memory Chizuko could scrape up from the depths of her mind, this one was always prodding at her heart. What was left of her memories from that time had all been buried away. It was so easy to bury the memories. But the pain was not so easily covered up. In the time Chizuko spent outside her office, she would simply sit atop the tallest building in the villiage, and look out amongst the people she worked so hard to protect. She would spend....no, waste her time wondering if they were happy. If they had felt safe and secure in their homes. If any child had to worry about their parents being ripped away from them in the middle of the night? If it were so, was there anything more she could do to ensure their safety? Was her being around even helping at all? Despite her efforts, recently every day it would end the same. She would sit and waste time thinking about her past before returning to do her work... only to eventually stop and think about her future. How would it all play out? Was her work here really making a difference in changing the fate of this villiage? It was usually the same memories that came back to her, and though every time she had told herself that next time, she would be okay, things didn't always end up that way. --- [i]"You know Chizuko, I don't believe in fate or destiny at all." her father's voice would ring in her head. [i]"To think that everything has been set up and meant to play out like a script is simply crazy talk! I think that life is all about timing. Don't you agree?" "Sure thing Father." "Ah, lighten up. Your so dull for a little one... eh... how old are you again? Wait, where are you going? I have more inspiring things to teach you, my daughter." "Save your breath, I have work to do."[/i] --- [b]"Work huh? Funny how badly I now wish I would have stuck around to listen."[/b] Chizuko said as she presently crouched next to her plant she kept in her office. At times to calm down, she would slowly pluck off the dead leaves of the plant in an attempt to keep it green for longer, and she had been doing a good job she thought. A soft clearing of the throat made her head turn towards her door where someone was standing and waiting to be acknowledged. [b]"You sent for me, Commander?"[/b] Slowly an eyebrow would raise behind the woman's mask. [b]"Did you knock?"[/b] she asked, her voice a soft hiss. Everyone had to know by now that not knocking on doors was her pet peeve. She noticed the man go rigid before nodding. [b]"I did. Three times and I waited. I heard you breathing and thought something might be wrong since you didn't respond, so I let myself in."[/b] What a nice save. It was odd though she had not heard the knocks. She had made another mistake then. Getting too lost in her thoughts when she had work to do. [b]"I need you and a few others to collect some intel for Lord Raikage."[/b] she said as she walked over to her desk and began to look for a scroll that contained the objective for this particular team. [b]"You won't lead this team, however the leader is presently occupied with a few things. I'll personally speak to him to see if he is up to the task and then you and the others listed on this scroll will be notified later if he or someone else will be leading you."[/b] She walked back over to her fellow ANBU and handed him the scroll. [b]"Be sure all the others read this and that it is then destroyed. Fail in this and I'll have to deal with you myself. Understood?"[/b] The man nodded and vanished right before her. Once she no longer felt the presence of anyone nearby, she sighed and fell to her knees. She removed her mask and let it slip from her fingers before looking up at her ceiling. [b]"Father... what is happening to me...?"[/b] she asked as a hand rose and was placed over her eyes. [b]"Why is it suddenly I'm wanting something more... I've never questioned the path others have laid out before me. Why now? What has happened to me? It is as though my work is no longer enough."[/b] [i]It is because this path is not one you have chosen yourself. It is exactly for that reason, that you are now starting to question everything.[/i] [b]"Wether I chose it or not, I have always been sure this is what I was meant to do. To follow in your footsteps and carry the name Irozaki with pride... So, how is it that things don't seem right anymore? And... it had begun so suddenly, as if overnight... Now I start to see faces and hear voices. You mostly... mother sometimes. I don't understand what they tell me. The voices scare me and then I think that maybe if I just joined you and mother, that I'll finally be at peace inside my head."[/b] When she removed her hand from her eyes, Chizuko was stunned to see her younger self staring down at her. The look on her face was... sad. A cold sweat broke out on her head then as she watched images flash before her eyes. Each one, the younger her wore the same expression. One of a child who seemed lost even as she was guided down a clear path. [i]I could always tell you were being misguided, but never once did I try to change your course. It is because I thought that perhaps you would eventually decide wether you would stick to it or not.[/i] Her father's voice was clear in her mind as though he were really there. She knew he wasen't... he was long dead... and despite this, she still listened. [i]You, my daughter, have the power to change this path if you no longer see it fit for your life. But everything that has happened so far won't just go away if you take your own life.[/i] [b]"That's right... It's too late isin't it. There are people counting on me.."[/b] she said, her voice barely a whisper. As her eyes went back into focus and the images faded, she turned her head and looked around the room. She no longer heard his voice any more, and after the sunlight in her room faded hours later, she finally stood on her shaking legs. [b]"If I decide that this is no longer what I want... I'll have to leave. And then I'll probably be killed."[/b] she said as she closed her eyes and vanished from her office. It was not until she felt the breeze whip through her hair that she opened her eyes once more. She now stood on the roof above the Raikage's office and looked out amongst the villiage. Slowly she sank and sat down above one of the windows to her friends office. [b]"But if I leave then I wont.... get to see him anymore..."[/b] she said aloud. Saying it made her heart sink but still Chizuko smiled. [b]"It has always been me needing you hasen't it?"[/b] she said again after she no longer felt the familiar presence nearby. Resting an elbow on her knee and then her chin in her palm, she sighed. [b]"If there's a chance we can settle down one day then ill endure this a bit longer. Before, I suppose I stayed on this path because I wanted to protect people and make my parents proud when they looked down on me... But now that no longer is of any interest to me. Now it is just you that keeps me going."[/b] As tears began to fall town her face, she brought her knees up to her chest and cried silently. [center][i]I don't know how much more my heart can take. I may have skills in fighting, but I have never been the stronger Irozaki. It has been you... Alone for so long you have managed to keep going, but even when I am surrounded by comrades, I can't manage to pull myself together. I need your help... You have to save me, Chase.[/i][/center] [/hider]