Mirror, Mirror

"Genno performed certain spiritual rituals, and begged the spirit to consider her spiritual salvation, until finally Hoji relented and swore to never haunt the stone again."

The room was silent, eyes wide in awe and curiosity as a young woman stood at the bottom of the lecture hall, her tiny frame lost amongst the sea of people in the crowd. They had listened to each of her words with the utmost attention and dedication as every individual syllable passed her lips fluidly; each sentence full of unbridled excitement and passion, as she paced regimentally up and down the stairs. Reina smiled, her ochre eyes flittering from one entranced face to another.

"Arigato gozaimasu! That will be all for tonight I'm afraid, so for next time I would like you all to research Kitsune's. I would like you to include your own accounts of the Kyuubi attack as much as a taboo as it is…" She spoke softly, aware of the savage malice some hold against the Kyuubi…against Naruto.

"So if you would like to make your way out through the exits behind you and I shall see you all next week, again Arigato gozaimasu."

A roar of applause erupted from the crowd, hands pounding together as they commended the young woman; she smiled politely bowing from the waist as the claps echoed and bounced around the room unreservedly. She stood from her full height, which admittedly was not a lot, raising her hands quietening the crowd miming her 'thank you's' as they slowly filtered out of the room, until only herself and her clone stood amid the array of cramped, folding theatre chairs. Positioning her hand in an all too familiar position, her clone dissipated into a cloud of smoke, the whispers dispersing till nothing occupied the space. Reina sighed quietly, running her fingers through her dark locks, letting them fall wherever they decided to, too tired to care.

"Home time at last!" she murmured, neatly placing all of her papers and books into the patterned bag, size order of course, on the table; its seams also bursting and ready to cry out 'No more! No more!" as she continued to pack paper after paper into the confined space. Heaving the brick-like bag onto her shoulders, her frame became lopsided as she held the strap, goading it to stay put where it was. Reina made her way up the steps of the lecture hall finding herself in an all too familiar hallway, the gleam from the newly polished parquet flooring disappeared as quickly as an extinguished flame as she flicked the light switch, the floor now giving off a soft subtle glow from the exhibit lights, each individual tile striving to outshine the next.

This was the time of day she favoured the most, the time when there was no one inhabiting the many corridors that were normally filled with children and adults alike. No, she liked it quiet, it was peaceful, calming. It was a welcomed change to the clash of kunai and kiai's of snarling ninja for definite. If only she could avoid the bloodshed that was constantly around the corner, waiting, stalking. But that was inevitable, there would always be bloodshed no matter how much one tried to avoid it; it was a part of life, even if you did not want it to be.

Pulling herself away from her crimson tainted thoughts she averted her eyes ahead of her, noting just how far she had walked without realising before her senses went on hyper-alert.

She was not the only one here.

Lowering the lead-like bag to the floor silently, she unsheathed a kunai from her pouch, making sure that the sharpened metal did not glint in the exhibition lights. Freezing in her place she almost resembled one of the mannequins littered along the hallway, however they were dead behind the eyes and she was very much alive. She narrowed her eyes attempting to determine what the sound was, it was neither footsteps nor the murmur of voices, listening harder, the sound became apparent to her- it was screeching glass.

Reina's eyes widened both in curiosity and anger- who would wish to steal from a museum, yes the obvious occurred to her such as thieves, but the department she had wandered into was not that of priceless artefacts, but that of ancient relics that belonged in folklore, the stuff of supposed fantasy. What could someone possibly want with ancient pottery fragments or faded texts whose stories ignite the inquisitiveness of man? It simply didn't make sense.

She kept her breathes silent, the only sound that echoed down the halls was that of the glass case crying out in agony and distress. By the sound of the shrieking glass the intruder was directly behind the exhibit she was stood in front of, the array of exhibit cases standing back to back against one another proudly. Reina turned peering into the decoratively adorned case, the armour of a once distant samurai standing proudly, the embellished lustre of the breast plate enhanced by the small display lights. However the breast plate was not the only thing to gleam in the light, Reina's eyes glimmered with concentration, the gold flecks of her irises dancing as she whispered a single word, it barely making a sound upon her rose-tinted lips.

"Soujuu."

Upon whispering the solitary word she inhaled deeply clutching the kunai tighter in her grip, readying herself for what may lay on the other side of the glass cabinet. She placed her hand on the glass pushing ever so gently upon the window pane; the next thing that happened was but an all too familiar thing to Reina. As she pressed her hand firmly on the panel her hand sunk into it, the glass almost hungrily devouring her pale flesh as she moved further and into the cabinet without disturbing a single artefact. Now she stood inside of the cabinet not one layer of dust disrupted by the unfamiliar presence; once again she placed her hand on the solid structure of the case this time inhaling once more before exerting a swift push, her calves pushing off from the ground swiftly as not to waste any more time.

The perpetrator had not sensed the young kunoichi's presence, instead he carried on filing away at the glass, to him this was a window of opportunity, what lay behind this thin layer of glass would clear him name, it would wipe the slate clean. He would be free. He did not care what lay behind the case, to him the artefact, if you wished to call it that, was just an object, nothing special. To him it was just a silly book which socially inept people had conjured up back in the day, a time before social civility and a hierarchy of legitimate power; in his mind this mouldy old book was just his meal ticket.

After moments of hacking away at the glass, it finally gave way, cracking neatly where he had filed it, he paused, sheathing the serrated metal file before he popped the circular shaped cut out from the main sheet; it fell crashing into many pieces as it collided with the base of the cabinet, the book now covered in an assortment of shattered glass, almost resembling glittering ice in the soft light. He reached into the case, his hand outstretched ready to grab the ancient text, as his fingers grazed the slightly withered and crinkled pages another thing brushed against his hand, but this was not artefact. It was a stern looking kunoichi- and she was not happy with him.

The room was dark, and the stagnant odour of damp radiated throughout the dingy, cramped room. The lone light that was present could hardly call itself a light, flickering woefully as if fighting the ever potent darkness that was sure to win eventually. The light dangled almost melodically from the ceiling, the said light resembling that of a metronome, rhythmically swaying to and fro, to and fro. A rickety table just about stood in the middle of the room, its legs rotted, adding to the already foul smell of the room. With his hands bounds behind his back, the thief from the museum sat motionless on the small, uncomfortable chair, his head hung, his chin resting upon his chest, too scared to look up into the eyes of his captor.

Ibiki Morino.

The jounin stood at his full height, his form daunting and foreboding; he paced around the table with slow and long strides as if stalking the bound thief. He finally spoke, cutting the silence like a katana through a bamboo shoot.
"Kurozawa no Touzuku. Why do we have the honour of you presence in Konoha? Most of all in the antiquities department of the museum? I didn't realise ancient texts were now your forte."

Ibiki stepped closer to the now quivering male, the scar tissue on his skin glistening slightly in the dull light. Touzuku dared not look at the giant man beside him; he knew of his reputation as a ruthless shinobi and did not want to be on the receiving end of his sadism. Ibiki could sense Touzuku's pulse quicken, each thump ringing in his ears.

"I just thought it would catch a few yen on the market, some merchant was bound to want it…" Touzuku muttered, still averting his eyes from his interrogator.

"Ahh so you're working for someone huh? Who are they, and why would they want the book?" Ibiki replied, quirking a brow at the dark haired male.

"I didn't say tha~"

"Oh you didn't? Well, in that case since you refuse to admit who you're working for then I guess I'll have to get my little friends to persuade you to change your mind." A dark, sinister smirk spread across the jounin's face, his sadistic intentions crystal clear.

Reina stood quietly, her arms crossed over her chest as she gazed through the mirrored pane of glass of the interrogation room. Midnight had crept up in no time and she still couldn't piece together just why a petty thief from the black swamps would want the Kojiki. In some people's eyes the Kojiki is simply a withered leather book filled with incomprehensible gibberish, and obviously Touzuku was one of them people, so why would he go to all that trouble to steal it.

It didn't make any sense.

She turned her back when Ibiki brought out his favourite torture toys, unable to bear watching the current situation any further. Picking up the granite like bag once more she smiled politely to the guard, waving a small goodbye before making her way out of the cramped room.

It was peaceful at this time of night, the stars casting a soft glow over the now less hectic village. In the distance she could hear the one of few night clubs still blasting the heinous sound they call music, she couldn't fathom why people would want to stand about in an oven like room and dry hump one another like rabid dogs in heat. The idea disgusted, in fact repulsed her. She could think of far better things to do with her time than that.

She carried on the walking, the racked having silenced long ago. The gravel that formed the roads of the village was now overgrown with soft, feathered grass and wild azalea; the array of pastel coloured petals scattered across overrun pathway. It wasn't long before her family compound came into view, the sturdy wooden frame standing proudly in the moonlight. Silently she entered, the wrought iron gate closing without a sound behind her, with her shoes in hand she snooped inside, feeling almost like a teenager who if caught would be grounded for a month. She smiled fondly remembering when she had been caught sneaking in late one night covered in mud and scuff marks all over her from sparring, her hair tangled in knots like a freshly made birds nest.

She let a quiet chuckle pass her lips as she slid back the screen door, the light from her grandmother's room ebbing gently through the paper screen from down the hallway. Reina knew that if she went to see her grandmother now she would not sleep for at least another few hours giving that her grandmother had the gift of the gab. Using whatever ninja ability she possessed Reina snuck past her grandmother's room silently like a spectre until she reached her own room further down the hall.

Success.

Closing the her door behind her Reina let out a quiet sigh, placing the lead like bag down, her body rejoicing in sweet, sweet victory. After such a long day and night her bed had never looked so appealing and delectable. Simply peeling away her jounin jacket and letting it fall where it pleased she crawled into bed not even bothering to slide under the covers, solely curling up into the abundance of multi-coloured pillows that inhabited her bed.

She welcomed slumber with open arms.

The air was filled with the scent of freshly brewing matcha, the fragrance flittering throughout the entire Hitori household as Tomo carefully whisked and simmered the aromatic tea, rousing her sleeping kin. She smiled, the many wrinkles inhabiting her face accentuated by the soft morning light, having heard an all too familiar sound grace her ears.

"Ohayō Baa-chan."

Tomo turned, teacup in hand smiling at her granddaughter with the utmost fondness.

"Ohayō my Reina-chan, sleep well?" She handed the steaming cup to Reina, kissing her on the forehead before beckoning her to sit whilst she continued cooking.

"Like a baby, thank you." Reina smiled at the small kiss, a family tradition between the pair, settling down at the table, folding her legs under the already warmed kotatsu. Tomo continued to cook breakfast, the simmering rice steaming up her glasses; glancing over slyly at her granddaughter as she innocently stirred the miso soup.

"You were in awfully late last night Reina-chan…Where you~"

"No, no I was not with a boy Baa-chan" Reina interjected, shaking her head in slight amusement at her grandmother's inquisitiveness…and imagination. Reina would give her that, the woman was imaginative. Tomo held up the chopsticks defensively, chucking away to herself before dishing out breakfast and joining Reina under the kotatsu.

In between mouthfuls of rice and dainty sips of green tea Tomo observed her granddaughter inaudibly, noting the small shadows beneath her ochre eyes. It was obvious she was working herself too hard; a constant assortment of late nights and early starts with hardly any time to catch her breath, and it was safe to say that Atsushi was not helping either, with his ambitious and crafty ways. Tomo was torn from her thoughts when Reina spoke, her voice laced with slight confusion and uncertainty.

"Baa-chan…Why do you think someone would want the Kojiki?" Tomo raised a brow, unsure as to where this question had come from.

"I don't know Reina-chan, the Kojiki as you know is full of myths and purification rituals, most which are well known. Why, has something happened?" Tomo set down her chopsticks, giving Reina her full attention. Reina paused for a while before speaking again, this time looking up at her grandmother, the same uncertainty that had tinged her voice, now stirring in her eyes.

"Someone tried to steal it last night, that's why I was so late home. I managed to catch them and hand them over to Ibiki but…I don't know I just, I just have a feeling that there is more to this than meets the eye." She pursed her lips slightly in thought unsure whether she was overanalysing the situation or whether she was on to something. Tomo blinked in disbelief, unsure if she heard correctly.

"And what have they found out? Do they know who the thief is and why they tried to steal it?" Tomo replied, now equally as interested as Reina, her own orbs dancing a little with curiosity. Reina nodded, sipping the final bit of her tea before setting the ornate porcelain cup down.

"Yeah, apparently the thief is Touzuku of the Black Swamp. Ibiki seemed to know him, or at least have information on him, but I left before they started the more…rigorous interrogation. I'll have to go back later to find out…"

"Find what out?"

Reina recoiled further under the kotatsu wanting the ground to swallow her whole at hearing that all but familiar voice ring through the air - it was like nails clawing down a chalkboard. Atsushi entered the kitchen, his dominant and arrogant aura suffocating the formerly warm and homely atmosphere.

"Whether or not the asylum will permanently put you in solitary confinement and throw away the key, that's what." Reina spat, curtly standing and bowing out of spite to the elder male, swiftly kissing her grandmother goodbye, wanting to avoid any conflict that would most certainly occur if she remained there.

"How dare you speak to me with such insufferable rudeness?! You get back here you ungrateful and intolerable child!" He snapped with equal malice, the venom practically dripping from his lips.

Atshushi glared at the young woman as she fled down the hallway, her eyes meeting his in a clash of mutual distaste, before disappearing from sight. He turned his gaze to Tomo, who was oblivious to the heated squabble that had occurred before her. She simply shrugged her shoulders and patted the space beside her, gesturing him to sit. He did so, continuing with his routine, his mind however, pensive and still swirling with thoughts about the quarrel.

The day that he would teach that child a lesson was nigh, and he could not wait.