A bright morning on the day of his orientation, Amano Kazuki waited by his sister, Amano Shikuri in front of his new school. Mother had claimed to be busy that morning, which was unusual, because she usually spent her saturday mornings tending to her flowers. The village recognized Amano Hinawa for her talent, and little gardens of sunflowers, her favorite, were scattered throughout the village. Kazuki clung to his sister's arm. Shikuri could feel his small hands trebling ever so slightly. She smiled at him, and patted him on the head in encouragement.
"Sou desu ne...my little brother is going to begin his training soon. I suppose he will be an even greater ninja than I, due to his skills even before he starts school," she said. She knelt down, to meet his height. His soft green eyes looked into hers, looking for the truth in her statement. He blushed bashfully, unaccounted to such praise. She poked his nose, and cocked her head in the direction of the line of people in front of the school. "Look, all of our neighbors are here, see? Even Hinata obaa-san is here," Kazuki followed his sister's eyes to the shade of an oak nearby. The elderly, yet sturdy woman was watching all of the children happily, silently welcoming them to their new career. She noticed the boy and his sister, and gave a sweet smile and a wave. Shikuri did the same, and Kazuki lifted his hand shyly and gave a small smile.
Later that morning, Hinawa was back home, busy making breakfast for her children. She wore an apron, and had long brown hair hat was tied up into a high ponytail. Amano Daichi sat at the table, polishing a new set of shuriken, and finishing off preparing a pouch for kunai. He had black hair that reached the bottom of his ears, and a warm face with milky, brown eyes.
"It's wonderful, isn't it? That Kazuki-chan decided to go through with going to school after all?" he said, leaving the products of his work on the table and supporting his torso with his hands on the floor behind him. "Although I'm a bit worried, since Shinobu-chan decided not to start school this year, how will Kazuki make any new friends?" By this time Hinawa had finished preparing the meal.
"Iie, I know he'll do fine. You raised him well, Daichi-kun." She swerved around, her socks catching on the slippery wood floor, and dropping the plate she was carrying. The strips of bacon flew into the air, and the silver tin plate clanged loudly onto the floor. Hinawa had landed in her husband's lap, in his attempt to catch her. The two stared at each other for a moment, but a harmonious laughter followed not long after. They kissed, and then helped each other up. Hinawa called their children in for breakfast, and Daichi smiled joyously as he watched her walk away.
Shikuri was the first one to return, followed by Kazuki and Shinobu, who had been playing together out in the yard. Shinobu had reddish, strawberry blonde hair, that reached her shoulders, and wore a bright smile, as did Kazuki, his green hair the same length. At first look they could be considered twins, despite their hair and eye color. Kazuki's were an odd green color, while Shinobu's were a smoke blue-grey. They sat down at the same side of the table, both eager to start eating.
"Ah, let me help you, mom," said Shikuri, already halfway out of her seat.
"Thank you dear, if you wouldn't mind taking the plate of eggs to the table-"
"I'm on it!" she interrupted, already carrying the plate. She settled it in the center, causing the younger children's eyes to sparkle.
"Sorry about the bacon," Hinawa apologized. "I had a bit of an accident." She glanced over at her husband, who returned the look, followed by a low chuckle under his breath. She carried with her a plate of toast and some utensils, and then they all began eating.
"Itadakimasu!" they said in unison. Shinobu was the first to take a helping of each food group, minus the meat, and lined everything up in a circle in the dip of her plate. Kazuki followed his sister's example, and soon everyone was taking bits of everything.
"Ah, looks like we may have some showers today," said Hinawa. "We'd best get the laundry in." Shikuri followed her mother out of the kitchen, after washing the dishes from lunch time.
[[Feel free to start playing this music when this part starts, it just fits well XP It goes up to 1:37 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwPn6jIxdTc ]]
The house was quiet now, except for the whispers of two small children on the side porch. Shinobu was wearing a troubled expression, and Kazuki could sense her dismay.
"What's wrong, Shinobu-chan?" he asked quietly. Shinobu held her gaze at the fence across from them; Grandma Hinata's house.
"Kazuki," she started. "When you graduate from the ninja academy, what do you plan on doing after that?" Kazuki looked at her with a puzzled expression.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Shinobu looked down.
"When you graduate...are you going to go away, too? Like my parents did?" her tone had changed, it was shakier. Kazuki looked concerned now. He remembered His mother telling him about Shinobu's past. How her parents had left her alone when they left on a mission. The village ANBU had found their bodies at the edge of a lake weeks after their mission. They had drowned. Kazuki looked sadly at the girl. She was his best friend. Other than his real sister, Shinobu was his first friend he ever made. She let out a small sigh.
"Do you know why I decided not to become a ninja, Kazuki?" she asked softly. A tender blush could be seen on her cheeks now. Kazuki shook his head slowly. Shinobu began again. "It was because...I know that you'll do some amazing things with your abilities...but with those abilities come pain, and I wanted you to know that...you'll always have someone you can come home to...whether I be family or not, you'll always have someone who will love you, wherever you are." At this, Kazuki lifted his head up quickly, is eyes widening. He embraced her without any hesitation. Shinobu's eyes were in shock for a moment, but then they closed, sealed by the warmth of her friend's body against hers. After a few moments, she pulled back, and smiled.
"Shinobu, I-" Kazuki was interrupted by the sound of screaming and the smell of smoke.
He stood up suddenly, taking Shinobu with him. He looked at her.
"You go find mom, I'll go see where that's coming from." He said sternly. Shinobu looked at him with a horrified expression. She took his hand in hers.
"No! I'm not leaving you." She argued. Kazuki shook his head firmly.
"I don't want you to get hurt. Go find mom and Shii-chan. Dad is probably already on his way to them." He urged. Shinobu held her shocked expression, but once she heard the explosion of gas and smoke, she lowered her eyes. Kazuki pulled her closer and kissed her long and hard on the cheek. He pulled away, and Shinobu released her grip on his hand. They headed off in different directions...
The flames had well-engulfed Grandma Hinata's entire house, but it was sturdy, and wouldn't go down easily. Kazuki figured he had about five minutes to get in, find Hinata, and get out. Without another thought, he climbed the fence dividing the two yards, and jumped onto the hot roof. Luckily, it didn't collapse. He climbed through the smoke filled window, and was overwhelmed with the chemical gasses. He collapsed to all fours, now inside the house. He coughed vigorously, and he could feel the heat climbing into his skin.
"So this is it..." he thought. "I never even made it to the ninja school...well at least Shinobu won't have anything to worry about. She knows exactly where I went. Yeah..."
Shikuri was now running across the wood. She stopped when she ran into Shinobu.
"Shinobu-chan! Where is Kazuki?!" She asked frantically.
"He-he ran over that way. He's headed right into danger!" Shikuri's eyes bolted upward, looking at the smoke coming from the house next door. She smelled something suspicious, and then realized what it was.
"Shinobu, duck!" she yelled, then threw herself on top of her to protect her sister from the oncoming blow. As expected, a gas explosion tore through the walls of the house, through the fence, and right into the Amano house. The flames spread like a wildfire, destroying everything ant anything it touched. Shikuri lifted herself from Shinobu.
"You ok?!" She asked. Shinobu nodded and got up. "Shinobu, you need to go with mother. She's over in the backyard. Father said he was going to go help find the source of the fire, just go!" Shikuri urged. Shinobu obeyed, the words escaping her. She got up and ran from the burning house, and into the back yard. Sure enough, Hinawa was standing in the grass. She hurried over to her daughter, and held her close, already covered in bruises and blood.
"Shinobu, it's going to be ok, everything'll be ok..."
Suddenly, a figure appeared out of the black smoke inside Hinata's house.
"You're not going to die here, you're not." It said. By now Kazuki was out of breath, he could barely hold his eyes open, let alone hear. The figure picked him up, and hoisted him onto his shoulder. He jumped agilely out the window and off the roof, just before the explosion. Kazuki looked up at is savior, his eyelids weak. He was slowly losing consciousness. The grey-haired, caped man lay him in the grass by the edge of the street. At this point, screaming and frantic activity could be heard all throughout the village. Other houses had caught on fire, and were slowly crumbling away. Kazuki meekly looked around, and his savior stood and backed away.
"Be strong, Kazuki." he said, and then dashed off. Kazuki was weak, and didn't process his actions. As his eyelids shut one last time, he saw another explosion.
[[Play this song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ4ChNgMLjQ&feature=related ]]
Kazuki found himself standing in a field that seemed to reach the furthest corners of the earth. Cloaked in sunflowers, the scent in the air was one that could calm any spirit. He looked around. The cloudless sky was a magnificent azure blue, and birds were chirping and flitting about, flying in peace wherever they wished to go. Suddenly, he heard a voice, one he recognized, and associated with warmth and comfort. His mother's.
"Kazuki-chan..." it said again. Kazuki started running towards the voice, and sure enough, his mother was standing in the field a few meters away. He ran to her and embraced her, her warmth flooding through his scared body.
"Oh mother...what has happened to everybody?" he asked, nestling his face into her dress. She smiled at him, returning the hug, and running her fingers through his hair.
"Everything will be ok, Kazuki-chan...I'm here now. There's nothing for you to worry about. Now, run along home. Everyone must be worried about you." Kazuki looked up.
"Where are you going, mother?" he asked. Hinawa smiled lovingly at him.
"I have to go away now, Kazuki," She looked up into the sky, and Kazuki's eyes followed hers. How beautiful the sky looked in contrast to the smoky, dark sky it had been earlier. "There's no need to worry. Where I'm going you can reach me any time. I'll be here." they looked back to each other, and Hinawa put a hand over her son's little heart. Kazuki felt his eyes well up.
"Don't go, mother, I'll miss you." he pleaded. Hinawa seemed to glow at this point.
"There's no need to worry, my little Kazuki," she said, her tone softer now. She placed a forefinger under his eyelid and caught a small tear. "No matter what, I will always be with you." A small breeze picked up, and seemed to carry Kazuki away with it.
"M-mother!" he cried. He held his arms out to her, but he continued to drift away further from the warmth of his mother. He could still see her smiling, but as he floated away, she seemed to become enveloped with sunflower petals, and was carried off into the wind.
"Always."
[[Background music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGm3bkPZELU ]]
A quiet rain splashed against the muddy puddles that had developed from an earlier storm. The air was calm, but the faint smell of smoke could be distinguished from the rubble that lay speckled across the village. Kazuki awoke, breathing heavily and sitting up instantly.
"M-mother?" he called. He got up and looked around. He didn't know where he was, unable to find his own home among the rubble. All he could remember was a fire, the rest was a blur. Had the sunflowers been a dream? He started running, searching for any forms of human life in the seemingly dead village. He had lost his shoes, and his feet were blistered from the flames, but he continued on. He passed the remains of the ramen shop, and a small crowd of about seven people were gathered under the shelter of it's roof. Kazuki headed inside. Immediately, the attention was on him.
"Amano Kazuki-chan!" said a man, it appeared to be one of the men that worked with his own father. His daughter, Kushimabe Aio, was standing behind him, clinging to his shirt. In her eyes shone sheer terror. Then again, all of the faces seemed to hold grief as well. Mr.Kushimabe walked over to him.
"Kazuki-chan, are you ok? Did anyone else survive? Shikuri-san was here not to long ago, she ran out again to look for you. Your father was here, too." Kazuki perked up just a little bit. His father and his sister; could that mean that Mother and Shinobu were ok, too? The other men recognized his expression of hope, but averted his gaze with sad looks in other directions. One of them offered to go find Shikuri, and headed out. Kazuki turned around, to look outside. Houses everywhere were burned down Some small fires had endured the hard rain, and were finishing their work, but they were of little worry. What had happened exactly? How did the fires start anyway? He asked Mr. Kushimabe, and he replied with a sigh of displeasure. Obviously he was deeply upset about something.
"We don't know for sure, but one of our ANBU reports said something about suspicious activity outside the village walls. It could be an act of terrorism, but who knows?" he gave another sigh. Kazuki recalled being saved by someone.
"I was in Hinata obaa-san's house when I was overcome by the smokey poison, and I was saved by a hooded man." he chimed. Suddenly, the attention was all on him again.
"A hooded man," said Kushimabe, questioning his own memory. "Was there anything distinctly odd about him?" Kazuki nodded.
"He had silver hair, and bright yellow eyes." he described. Kushimabe's eyes grew wide with a combination of understanding, and sheer terror. He muttered something, but Kazuki couldn't catch it. Not a moment later, Shikuri ran in the shop, followed by the younger man who had gone to fetch her.
"Kazuki!!" she cried, overjoyed to find him alive and out of danger. Immediately they hugged one another, tears flowing from each of their eyes. The familiar warmth and scent of one of their own family was an unbelievable joy. Shikuri's eyes looked red from a previous weep, but Kazuki couldn't find the words to ask what had happened.
"I'm so glad you're ok..." she cooed. Kazuki closed his eyes, still wet with sorrow, but now with a bit of hope. Even so, Shikuri's sad moans were more distinct, and Kazuki pulled back. "What's wrong?" he asked worriedly. Shikuri wiped her tears and looked outside. "Mom...and Shinobu...didn't make it..!" her voice cracked on the last word. Kazuki's eyes opened as wide as they could, sheer terror enveloped his entire mind and body. The sky seemed to be crying for them, as the gentle rain picked up again. Kazuki fell to his knees. He choked for a second, but then took in a large, raspy fill of air, and screamed at the top of his lungs. "MOOOOOOMMYYYYYY!!!!!!"
Outside the shop, a small garden of sunflowers had wilted.
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