AUTUMN SONG
CHAPTER 1
"Kaori! I'm leaving to go to the store!" announces twelve-year-old, Urumi Makura to her nine-year-old sister as she slips on her shoes at the front door of their apartment in Konohagkure. Kaori climbs down from the couch in the living room and rushes over to her sister.
"I wanna come too!" she demands as Urumi smiles and hands the girl her shoes.
"Alright, but you have to remember to stay close to me." she advises as she opens the door to the apartment and heads into town.
"Urumi! There's balloons outside!" cooes Kaori as a man pushing a cart of balloons walks by the store.
"I'll get you one later, but we have to buy groceries so we can eat something else other than ramen tonight." Urumi sighs as she walks over to the produce aisle of the store.
" But I wanna balloon now..." Kaori whines and wanders around the shop while her sister rummages through a basket of apples.
As she does, a man comes up from behind her and steals her wallet from the pouch hanging off her hip. She accidentally elbows him in the stomach when she reaches out for a bag and he falls to the floor. She turns to apologize and he scurries to his feet. Urumi notices the familiar looking, orange and sky blue, panda-shaped coin purse in his hand.
"Hey! That's my wallet! Give it back!" she scolds as he runs off. She chases him out the store and down the street.
"I've gotta lose this brat!" the thief huffs as he weasels his way through a massive crowd. Urumi ricochets off of building to building to avoid getting mixed up in the crowd. The thief bursts out of the mob and jets towards the woods. Urumi jumps off the roof of a bakery and glinds through the air after him.
"Get back here with my wallet, you scumbag!" she screams as he disappears through the trees.
"What's all that noise? I wonder what's going on..." yawns twelve-year-old, Naruto Uzumaki as he wakes up from his nap in the woods. He had been here all afternoon training until he fell asleep. He dusts off his coral and blue jumpsuit as he rises from the grassy ground.
The thief bumps into Naruto when he emerges from the nearby bushes. "Give me back my wallet!" shouts Urumi as she follows the trail to the clearing where Naruto and the thief were.
"So you're a thief, huh?" puffs Naruto as he crosses his arms over his chest.
"What's it to you, pipsqeak?" he scoffs as Naruto performs a series of handsigns.
"I'll teach you to steal from me!" Urumi grunts, emerging from the bushes with her hands balled into fists.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" cries Naruto as he clones himself three times. Urumi freezes dead in her tracks as she watches the blonde and his clones beat the snot out of the thief.
"I remember him from school... Where did he learn such an advanced jutsu like that?" thinks Urumi as Naruto pries the wallet from the thief's hand. He chuckles and walks over to her as he holds out it out to the stunned girl.
"I guess this is your's..." he smiles as his piercing, blue eyes glimmer under the sun beaming through the leaves of the towering trees. She hesitantly takes the coin purse and drops it back into the pouch on her hip.
"Thanks, I appreciate your help." Urumi says, walking over to the thief slowly crawling away.
"I gave you back your wallet! What else do you want from me?!" he sqeals as she hovers over him with a scowl on her peach-colored face. Urumi drives her foot into the back of his head and stomps on it repeatedly.
"If I ever see you again it'll be to kill you! You understand that?!" she threatens as Naruto watches in astonishment.
"What a bad temper..." he thinks as she kicks the thief to the other side of the clearing. Urumi pulls down on her teal, short sleeved shirt under her sleeveless, fishnet halfshirt and turns to Naruto as the thief disappears through the bushes.
"I'm Urumi Makura bytheway." she announces as he laces his hands together behind his head and smiles broadly. "Yeah, I know. We're in the same class. I'm Naruto Uzumaki." he chuckles as the girl returns the kind gesture.
"Yeah, that name does sound familiar... Aren't you the one that's always goofing off during class?" she asks as she plants her hands on her hips. "I'm surprised I'm actually being noticed..." sighs Naruto as silence sweeps over them.
Suddenly, Urumi's jade green eyes widen as she looks around frantically. "Where'd Kaori go?! She's probably wandered off by herself by now!" she cries as she turns to leave.
"Do you need help finding her?" asks the blonde as she looks back over her shoulder. "No, I've troubled you enough already for today! See you later!" she calls back as she disappears through the bushes and runs back into town. Naruto sighs and leans back against a nearby tree until his stomach gurgles to life.
"I guess I should get goin' too... I'm starving!" he thinks aloud as he pushes himself off the trunk and walks into town.
...
"Where is she? Where is she? Where is she??" panicks Urumi as she races around the grocery store trying to find her sister. Meanwhile, Kaori was out stalking the balloon man.
"Because you're so cute, I'll give you a balloon for free. How does that sound?" the balloon man says with a smile as he hands her a yellow and green striped balloon.
"Thanks Mr. Balloon Man!" she cheers as he waves and walks away. Now alone, Kaori looks around for her older sister. She was about three blocks away from the grocery store, but luckily she knew her way around town.
By this time, Urumi had left the store and was over by the sauna asking people if they've seen her sister anywhere.
Naruto walks past the grocery store to get to the ramen shop and notices a little girl with mahagany hair in low-set pigtails sitting on the curb in front of the store crying. Naruto glances down the road in the direction of Ichiraku's, then back to the helpless girl. His stomach growls and he sighs just before heading over to help her.
"Are you okay? Why are you crying?" Naruto asks the girl, kneeling down next to her. She rubs her dark brown eyes and looks up at him. "I can't find my sister anywhere..." she sniffles as something clicks in Naruto's brain.
"Your name must be Kaori." he states as the young girl's eyes widen in surprise. She nods hesitantly and wipes away the tears still streaming down her face.
"How do you know my name? I've never seen you before..." she asks as Naruto stands.
"I know your sister, Urumi. Do you want me to help you find her?" he answers as she grabs his hand and smiles brightly.
...
"I'll never find her at this rate..." sighs Urumi, resting in one of the stools at Ichiraku's ramen shop.
"Mister! Mister! I see her!" chants Kaori as they walk past the ramen shop. "C'mon, I'll walk you over there." Naruto says, just before crossing the street.
"Hey, Urumi. It's nice seeing you again." he greets as Urumi looks warily over her shoulder to see Naruto standing behind her. She raises an eyebrow and turns completely around to face him.
"Naruto? What are you doing here?" she asks, pushing her fingers through her long, auburn hair.
"I think I found something that belongs to you..." he chuckles as Kaori jumps out from behind him and hops into Urumi's lap.
"We found you!" she cheers as a smile illuminates Urumi's face. She sighs in relief and hugs the younger Makura in her arms lovingly.
"Thank you so much! I don't know what I'd do without you!" she chuckles as Naruto sits next to her.
"No biggy!" he grins as the man behind the counter approaches them.
"Are you kids going to order something or not?" he asks as Urumi's mouth gaps open. "I forgot all about dinner! It's already past seven o'clock and all the stores are about to close for the night! What am I gonna do?" she panicks as Naruto pulls out his frog-shaped wallet and sets it on the counter.
"Well, I could treat you guys to some ramen if you'd like." he offers as Urumi flashes him a humble grin.
"I guess it won't kill me to have ramen for one more night..." she thinks to herself as Naruto orders the meals.
They talk and eat ramen for hours until Kaori falls asleep in Urumi's lap.
"Hey, I'm getting ready to close up shop. You kids should be heading home." announces the man at the counter.
"I guess that's our cue to leave." chuckles Naruto as Urumi smiles and hoists the slumbering child into her arms.
"Yeah, you're right. We should get going. Thanks for everything Naruto." she says as he leaves the money for the check on the counter next to the stack of empty bowls he ate from.
"I told you already. It's not a big deal." he smiles as he laces his hands together behind his head again as they walk down the street side by side.
"Yeah, it is..." she laments as Naruto's bright eyes widen and gazes at the girl walking along side him.
"What do you mean?" he asks as she turns a corner and walks into a shrine for her clan.
"My entire clan was destroyed in the Great War by the Nine-Tailed Fox demon. My mother told me that my father died in the war along with the rest of the clan. She also said that she tried to make him stay, but he said that fighting was in the blood of the Makura's and that if he didn't fight he'd disgrace the entire Makura name. At the time, she was pregnant with Kaori and I was three years old. We had to move out of our house and into the apartment we live in now because my mother wasn't making enough money at her job to keep it. Two years ago she died of an illness she had been keeping secret from us, and now Kaori and I are the only ones left." Urumi explains, kneeling down at the large alter in the back of the room and lights a couple of candles with a lighter sitting next to a vase of flowers.
As she lights the candles, the room begins to glow a dim gold and a flag hanging up on the wall behind the alter emerges from the darkness. On the flag was her clan's emblem, which was a cirlcle in the shape of a yinyang with a light gray and navy blue side. Urumi bows her head in a moment of silence, then stands to face Naruto, who was now holding Kaori.
"Do you come here every night?" Naruto asks after a cold silence engulfs the shrine. "Yeah, I usually come here at night when Kaori's asleep because she cries when she comes here." Urumi answers as Naruto hands the nine-year-old back to her.
"I'm sorry about your lose." he apologizes as they leave the shrine. "You don't have to apologize. It's not like it's your fault." she comforts as Naruto lowers his head.
"Her clan was killed by the fox demon that is now sealed within me. I know that I had nothing to do with their deaths, but I still feel guilty about it..." he thinks to himself as she lays a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you okay?" she asks as he lifts his head and nods. He rubs the back of his neck, his cheeks tinting a light pink.
"Yeah, I was just thinking, that's all. Don't worry about it." he assures her as they approach the apartments. She smiles and unlocks the door.
"Thanks for walking me home, but you really didn't have to, you know?" she says as he pulls out his key from his pocket.
"Well, actually, I wasn't. I live here too." he chuckles as he unlocks the door next to Urumi's.
"You live next door to me and we're in the same class- I think we were destined to be friends, don't you think so?" she asks as Naruto grins his infamous, goofy grin.
"Yeah, I do..." he agrees, a hint of sadness hidden in his voice.
"I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow then." she says as he waves before watching her head inside.
Naruto inhales deeply and enters his own apartment. He drops his keys and kicks off his shoes before flopping onto his bed.
"There's so many lives that were taken because of the Nine-Tailed Fox and now I have to live with the hatred that everyone has against this beast. I just hope she doesn't turn against me like everyone else..."
