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"I thought we'd put that behind us? ... I'd rather have you visit these places alone, without worry, than go there with anxiety in your heart, Snow." replied the man. Her face then turned into a frown.
'Was not he the one that suggested this in the first place?' thought the female as she raised an ebony eyebrow in wonder. "was approached by a surgeon, while you were gone. They're looking for someone who might be able to help me. But, chances are, I'll--" paused Atlas.

Crystal blue eyes widened in fear. NO...that couldn't be...! "What is it senpai!?" inquired Yukiko with a somewhat higher pitch in her voice than usual.
"Do I need to call a nurse or something!?" said the young woman with a slightly bewildered look in her eyes. The LAST thing she needed was a brain tumor that had exploded inside the man's mind.

She then remembered that the surgeon had told him that they were looking for someone. Perhaps the Chuunin could help him in his search if it was someone in this village or in Kaminari no Kuni. "You told me the surgeon were looking for someone; is there any chance that I may help?" suggested the female.
She bit her lower lip while trying to calm down her haywire nerves. These sort of situations were NOT one that she enjoyed to be in.

"Seems like you didn't take my advice to heart." stated the male with a nonchalant voice. The female just let out a small sniff thinking 'here he goes again'. She was perhaps not that spontaneous but she had to be practical.
"Forget I mentioned it Snow. After all, what good is a trip abroad if you're going to be worried throughout the whole thing?" told Atlas.

He glanced up at her with a sad smile and Yukiko instantly felt a bit guilty. She had not meant to hurt his feelings or to act like some old stuck-up person. He then started to sort out the letters he had written into a neat pile that was ready to be sent away.
"All done. If you could take these to the federal post office on the other side of town, I would really appreciate it" said the man.

"I'll do it. But...I may take a little longer than usual" muttered the young woman with a small glint in her light blue eyes. A small smirk formed at her lips before she exited the room with the letters in her hand.
'Senpai won't have ANY idea of what hit him' thought the Chuunin as she walked out of the hospital. She WAS going with him, but she needed something to document their travels.

[Temporary exit]

"What would you say if I could take you to any one of those places right now? In the blink of an eye" told the male in a hushed voice. Her eyes widened...could he be talking about THAT ninjutsu? 'That must be how he had avoided my arrow back in the penthouse!' thought the female.
"Just close your eyes, Snow. Close your eyes and imagine it" told Atlas with a sincere smile.

"No. Wait a second" muttered Yukiko as she shook her head. "What do you think my PARENTS are gonna say if I disappear without telling them where I'm going first!? Plus that I don't have any equipment or extra clothes with me. Not to mention that you're NOT in the shape to go!" whispered the young woman.

"It's not that I don't want to travel but I want to be PREPARED. Plus that I don't want my parents to tell the Raikage tower that I disappeared without a trace when I visited you at the hospital. They're gonna put a bounty on my head and make me a nukenin!" exclaimed the Chuunin.
Her voice was low but there was no doubt that she was dead serious about this. Plus that she had a relatively wide-eyed expression that emphasized this.

"Actually-- I met her here, in Kumogakure. She'd come to participate in a couple of wartime advertisements then, representing the early alliance we'd formed with Yukigakure no Sato during the First World War. I was the head of her security team. Besides the fact that she treated me like her personal butler, we got along fairly well." told the male as he placed the first letter under some other papers.

"Anyways, behind her celebrity persona, I came to find that she was actually a genuinely amiable person. In that aspect, you remind me of her a lot. Well, that, and the ice blue eyes. You snow-folk all seem to share that" mused Atlas. "Yeah...it's probably a part of our national heritage" stated the female before she let out a small laughter.

"I'm not sure whether she survived the Great Flash. I'm not even certain that a 'Yukigakure' still stands today. But I'm sending a letter to her, too. Might as well try, right?" inquired the young man.
"Yukigakure IS still standing today. However...they are lacking a bit in manpower as well as houses" informed Yukiko with a somewhat energized look at her face.

She HAD visited Yukigakure a couple times after the war. The last visit had however been more memorable than the others for the wrong reasons. It was the visit where her heritage had been subdued because of the danger it could pose for her body.
The young woman bit her lower lip as she remembered the visit to the hospital where the family had undergone the treatment for about a year ago. It was NOT something they had wanted to do at their own will...


Flashback.

"Can the Fuyumori family from Kumogakure please come in?" inquired the nurse. The five people stood up before they went into the office with a grim look at their faces.
Kenichi was the one who seemed most reluctant with this since he had actually been borne with this bloodlimit. The fact that he had passed it on to his children did not make matters much better.

"As you all know, this injection will make your Yukina genetics less effective. You will still have the ability to learn the hyouton jutsus but not without knowing suiton plus fuuton. Do you have the permission slip?" asked the doctor.
"Here" muttered the man as he handed it over to the older male. "Thank you Fuyumori-san...I'm sure it must be tough but it's for your own good" assured the medic.

He injected the serum into the man with a small syringe until he moved on to the children. The Chuunin did not like the injection because it felt like a part of her now disappeared. Hyouton jutsus had always been a part of her and it was now gone.
"There you go" told the man with a warm smile. She sat back as Koji sat down in the seat with a dark look in his cobalt blue eyes.

End of flashback.


She shook her head slightly. "Anyways senpai...do you know what's going to happen with your stuff in the apartment? Do you have any relatives who will come over to clean it out?" inquired the female.
Perhaps this would give her some information about the inlaws or possibly the son he had. The boy would most likely show up at some point since his father was on his deathbed.

"I'm sorry..." muttered the male. 'You SHOULD be' thought the female with a raised eyebrow. She could tell that he was being sincere despite the half-bandaged face.
His green eyes (or eye) had a tinge of regret in it plus that there was no smile on his face. The latter was something quite uncommon for him.

"I don't want to lose you either. But you have to believe me when I tell you that I had no control over it. I... I wasn't myself after I'd gone to face the four-tailed Yonbi.
I'd lost my memory, and was literally at the brink of dying, before an old woman rescued me. She took me in, with her grandson, and gave me a new life in the countryside of Taki no Kuni. I was there, Snow Pea, for the past year and a half. Completely unaware of who I was, or what I had done. Everything before Taki no Kuni was a complete blur." confessed Atlas.

Yukiko raised both of her eyebrows in complete surprise in what she had heard. A part of her wanted to believe this because it could explained why he had not spoken to her any sooner. Her father had been one of the backup reinforcements when it happened, but thank Kami he was never called out for duty.
But this COULD also be something he partially made up to comfort her. A memory loss was dirt common when it came to cases like these that involved long-time disappearance or similar stuff.

Eventually, as the days in Taki no Kuni wore on, I started to recall tidbits of my life prior to being rescued. And, slowly, I was returning to myself again. I may not have long to live, Snow Pea... but I want you to know that I never meant to keep you in the dark, especially out of distrust" muttered the man as he looked at the bitten guava fruit.
'He's either really sincere or an incredibly good liar' thought the young woman. She decided to listen him out to see if there was a clear cohesion in his story.

"I only wanted to keep you happy. To keep you away from all the bad things in this world. And, yes, I know-- not a very bright notion, right? It sure as hell backfired on me horrendously" chuckled the former Raikage. She could not smile...this was starting to get quite serious for her.

"Just know that I did it because I care for you... okay? And, now that you've grown into the exemplary kunoichi you are today, I see that I shouldn't keep things from you anymore. So, as long as I have left on this world, I promise I'll answer any questions you have for me. Promise." finished the male. Her mind mentally replayed everything that he had said a couple of times to see if there was any flaws in his story.

'Thank Kami that my parents signed me up for Japanese lessons' thought the Chuunin as she repeated everything for one last time. She could not find any flaws or something that did not make sense in the story. The memory loss was a bit iffy, but the last time she had seen him was indeed prior to the Yonbi attack.
There was however a couple of things that the young woman wanted to ask him about. Such as his child as well as his former wife that he had not told her about yet.

"Snow Pea, could you do me a favor? I could use a notebook and a pen. There are some letters I'd like for you to send." asked the auburn-haired man.
She shook her head a bit to snap herself out of her reverie. "Sure...just give me a moment" muttered the brunette as she went towards the desk inside the hospital table.

She ripped off a couple of pages from the small notebook that guests could use before removing the pen from the small box at the left side. "Here you go" said the female as she handed him the things he needed. 'I think I should ask him something easy first...like the snow globe' decided Yukiko.
"Senpai...I noticed a really pretty snowglobe of Yukigakure no Sato in your bedroom. Was it for me or someone else that you knew came from there?" inquired the young woman.

[Enter]

'Wonder what happened to Atlas-senpai at the apartment' thought the female with a nervous look at her face. A small 'ding' could be heard as she entered the large hospital. It was visiting hours now, so Yukiko knew she did not have to sneak in.
She walked towards the counter where a couple of nurses were handling papers as well as talking to visitors. The young woman lined up in the small queue while her mind raced through what could have happened to the male.

"Next please" called the nurse wearing pink scrubs. She stepped forwards while trying to calm her nerves a little bit. "Hello...I'm here to visit Atlas Burabiya" told the Chuunin with a neutral voice.
"Just give me a moment please" replied the woman as she checked the register. "He is at room number 218; he was asleep the last time I saw him but he could be awake now" informed the nurse.

"Thanks" replied the female before she gave the older female a small bow. She then went over to the map to find out where the room was. '200-250 is at the second floor at the east wing' read the brunette while her eyes scanned the map.
She went up the stairs while she clutched the small present she had bought for Atlas. It was a small bag with fruits plus a magazine that she knew that he liked reading.

It did not take long for her to find room number 218, but her heart was beating at a really fast rate. What if he - no. He could not have died or the nurse would have told her that.
The young woman took a deep breath when she reached the room where the man was. She stretched out her hand and opened up the door to the room.

Yukiko let out a sigh of relief when she saw that the former Raikage was looking at the ceiling. A huge smile formed at her face before she closed the door to the room. "Senpai...I was so worried!" exclaimed the female with a relieved facial expression.
She walked over to the bed with the bag in one of her hands. "I bought you some guava fruit, mandarines plus that magazine you like" told the Chuunin as she laid the bag on the bed.

She wanted to hug him but he looked a bit frail laying in that bed. Not to mention that he had a couple of tubes attached to his arm that made her pull a small face. "What happened back there senpai?" inquired the young woman with a somewhat stern look.
He was noticably older than her, but she was no longer a little kid that she used to be. She wanted him to tell her why he had fainted after breaking into his old apartment a couple hours ago.

"We helped the orphanage in Kami no Shima. And I got you a two-way transceiver-- and a very special scroll, if I remember correctly." answered the male. The female felt shivers run down her spine...he was absolutely right.
A million of thoughts ran around in her head at this time. "Snow pea?" inquired Atlas at the other side of the door.

She took a deep breath before she opened up the door in a rather slow motion. Her eyes looked at the man who stood in front of her. The man had not changed much if anything; he still had the mask that hid half of his face plus the auburn hair.
"Senpai...I thought you were dead! Where have you been all this time!?" exclaimed Yukiko with anger blazing in her crystal blue eyes.

"Have you ANY idea of what you've missed!? First of all, you missed my 20th birthday last month. You've also missed my twin brother's promotion to Chuunin plus that I'm going to move out of my parents house quite soon.
Not to mention that you left without even TELLING me where you went! And don't tell me that 'it's a secret' or 'you're too young to be trusted'...I'm not an 11-year old Genin anymore Atlas!" yelled the young woman.

"Have you any idea of how SICK I am to be left out in the dark like this!? I've been your only student for seven effing years for Kami's sake!
But I understand if those secrets of yours involve manslaught or anything along those lines. Oh, I almost forgot that I met Asa last year after he had escaped some institution. But you probably already know since that was one of the things you weren't supposed to tell me" retorted the Chuunin.

She knew that she probably should not have yelled at him like this. Especially because he probably had not been here for that long. But he had not told her ANYTHING about his whereabouts plus that the female had just been told that he was dead.
To be faced with him like this was not an easy task at all...it was damn hard in fact. He better have a good excuse for this one.