Prologue: Reluctance
"No, you can't stay here. You have no one to take care of you with your parents… gone," the lean, pale, red-head insisted.
"With all due respect, Kazekage-sama, I don't need any one to take care of me. I am almost 16 years old," I spat coldly, trying to hide the concern for my parents. They had disappeared on their latest mission, and no one had received any word on if they were okay or not. I was convinced that they wouldn't be coming back.
"Be that as it may, you cannot stay by yourself. Do you have any family members you can stay with?" he asked, concerned.
"No, sir," I growled. It was the truth; my parents were the only family I had, but I never really was bothered by it; it was no big deal. I mean, it's hard to miss people you've never met.
"Hm," mused Gaara deep in thought, his wide sea foam green eyes flashing like frozen fire, clouded over his thoughts.
After a while, he finally said, "I have a plan, but I know you're not going to like it…" I twitched nervously at his tone.
"Yes, Gaara-sama?" I knew this wasn't going to be good.
"I am going to send you to Konoha. Many people I trust are there. They can take care of you while the ANBU do their best to find your parents."
"K-Konoha?" I stuttered, trembling inwardly, "That's three days worth of travel… and although I do appreciate the fact you are doing all you can to find my parents, I can't just leave Suna! There is no way I could leave you, Kazekage-sama..."
"You have no one to take care of you, Tori-san," he said calmly.
Alone in my room, I started packing my things. I figured that you don't argue with the Kazekage. They generally seem like they know what they are doing. I stress the word 'generally.'
As I sat there, folding my plain clothes, mumbling to myself, trying to find something positive of having to leave my village because my parents left me alone. I've never done well at seeing the good in anything, but this was different. I shook my head, doing the best I could to remove it of all negativity… which proved to be impossible, because I've always been kind of a 'downer.'
"C'mon, stop it, you moron! Quit sitting around feeling sorry for yourself! You make me sick," I yelled at myself.
"Maybe it won't be so bad…" I thought, sitting there gloomily. I knew I was horrible at convincing myself once I put my mind to how I 'knew' it was going to turn out.
"Think! You could make friends…"
"Yeah, and you have SO many friends here," I snarled back at myself in my mind. Seconds later, I heard a knock on the door.
"Whether or not you come in or stand outside like a fool makes no difference to me," I responded bitterly. The door opened, and in walked a wiry shinobi that I didn't recognize.
"Tori-san, Lord Kankuro is outside waiting for you. He and I will be escorting you to Konoha." It seemed he tried to try to comfort me, by giving me a weak smile.
"I'll be down in a minute," I said, trying to return the kindness, but I was too frustrated. He closed the door, leaving me to myself. I slipped four shuriken and six kunai knives into the pouch I had strapped to my thigh, secured my scroll into my backpack, walked over to the door and automatically touched three doorposts and floor, allowing for a rare moment of sentimentality, took one last look at my room, and left.
As promised, Kankuro was waiting for me with the other shinobi I had met earlier.
"Ah! There you are Tori," called Kankuro. "You ready to leave?"
"Could I ever be ready? I know it's not like I am gone for good, but… I don't want to go, Kankuro…"
He gave me a brotherly hug. "I know, Tori, but Gaara always knows what the best thing to do in tough situations like these is. He is always thinking of his people."
The way he put it almost totally convinced me.
"And, I'll do my best to visit whenever I can," he said, smiling.
"Let's go."