Brother?
Yeah?
Where's mom and dad?
... they're up in the heavens. With God.
Why are they there? When will they come back? I miss them...
They... They won't be coming back.
Why?
... I... I'll tell you when we're older.
... if brother says so.
...
Brother!
Jeez, don't give me that look. You know I don't like it.
AND I don't like seeing you get beat up like that! Don't get into fights.
How am I supposed to stand there idly when I can help someone? They were taking advantage of an innocent freshman.
Still! If that continues to happen, they'll pull you out of school, rendering the scholarship we worked so hard to get... useless!
... I'm sorry...
Brother, please, if they find out about this—
Ugh, I know, I know. You don't have to remind me.
Brother... Brother, you know I love you, right?
What's with that question? Of course, I do.
Nothing, nothing, just wanted to make sure.
...
Hey... Hey, this isn't funny.
()
Get up, dammit!
()
You're not supposed to leave me! You're not supposed to go to where mom and dad are!
()
Dammit, wake up! Don't just sleep like that! It's not fair! You told me you'll be there for my graduation! You told me you'll be there standing beside me for my wedding! Dammit, open your eyes! Open them!
()
Hey... Hey... you know I love you, too, right?
...
The first thing he realized... was the fact that a knife stabbing his heart did not feel painful at all. The second thing he realized... was the maniacal glint in his Uncle Henry's eyes. The third and last thing he realized... was the fact he was dying.
Dying...
He remembered the way the life in his brother's eyes faded like smoke. Were his eyes the same way? He was not sure. Many times, he had read that death felt different for every person. If he could describe his death... it was nothingness.
...
"You're not supposed to be on the to-die list."
Honestly? I'm surprised. My uncle has been meaning to kill me for a few months now.
"... you're pretty strange."
Aren't we all?
"Pfft— no, just you."
Really? That's surprising.
"Is it now? You're one of the few humans who can stare at Death's face fearlessly, you know?"
Death? You look too pretty handsome to be Death. You're probably pulling my leg, ain't ya?
"Pfft— you really ARE one of a kind. You're the only human— being, actually— to tell me that."
... meh.
"Say now, since you've entertained me after centuries of boredom, I'll do anything you want... just once, anyways."
Anything I want?
"Anything you want."
Can I rest peacefully now? All these talking's making me tired.
"... you're awfully weird."
Haven't we established that already?
"You're wasting a favor of mine to what I originally intended to do to you."
Well, I'm just speaking the truth.
"Nope. Nada. You are not wasting a favor of mine, you ridiculous human. Like it or not, I'm doing something for you... and that's final."
...
He blinked childishly.
No, rather, it would be more accurate if it was: she blinked childishly. A toddler with the brightest yellow hair and emerald-green eyes stared back. The toddler's arms and legs were pudgy, cheeks so squishy and painted with natural blush.
It was him.
No, rather, it was her.
She was staring back at a mirror and the toddler was her. Looking back, she saw another toddler with rose-pink hair and similar emerald-green eyes staring back at her. "Tamawa?" A word left the other toddler's lips.
A woman with blonde hair and similar green eyes entered. She could not find the reason why she seemed to brighten up at the sight of that woman. "Takara? Sakura? Are you both ready to head for the park?"
Takara?
Sakura?
Then, that other toddler... that called her Tamawa... was she actually trying to call her Takara instead? Then, that salmon-haired toddler would be Sakura, right?
What... What was going on?
Even though Takara still wanted to delve deeper into her situation, the woman had picked her and Sakura up, interrupting her train of thoughts.
...
"I gave you a chance."
I never wanted a chance!
"Why not?"
... my brother never got one, did he?
"And how would you know?"
I... I don't... I don't know.
...
Takara gently smiled as Sakura hid behind her. "I'm Haruno Takara. It's a pleasure to meet all of you." She gently nudged her sister who was hiding behind her. "I'm... I'm Haruno Sakura..."
Things were... a lot more complicated than she imagined. She woke up in a world where ninja were the norms and handling sharp objects as a kid seemed normal. It boggled her mind... like a lot.
She and her sister Sakura were seven years old when they decided to join the Academy. Takara, mostly, wanted nothing to do with being a ninja but Sakura... that sweet girl who was her twin sister... wanted to be one.
At first, the blonde reasoned with her parents with reasoning skills that obviously did not belong to a child her age. "It's dangerous. Being a ninja will only increase the risk of death." Kizashi and Mebuki— her parents— had thrown her looks of incredulity.
However, in the end, with just one teary-eyed expression from her sister, Takara relented.
She was a sucker for that kind of look.
They were seated somewhere in the middle and Takara had to resist the urge to arch an eyebrow to that kid who kept staring at her and her sister. They were probably a weird pair, she mused.
Around break time, Sakura found a group of girls she liked to hang out with. Her rose-haired sister tried to persuade her to join them but Takara denied.
She absolutely hates girls.
(Aside from her mother and her sister Sakura, of course.)
When Takara was just about to lie her head down on the desk, she found herself staring back at similar half-lidded eyes that stared at her with the same boredom glistening in them. "You think they're troublesome, too?"
The blonde found it weird that his head resembled a pineapple but she wasn't about to be rude by not answering him. "Girls are such a pain to deal with." The boy gave her a look of disbelief, one she couldn't deny was a bit hilarious.
"You're a girl."
"... and your point?"
"... good point. I'm Nara Shikamaru."
"You know mine already."
"... wasn't asking for it, was I?"
Takara rolled her eyes. This boy was going to be such a pain in the future. "Just stating a fact." His lips curled at her response and promptly kissed the desk after groaning. "Man, this is just the first day and it sucks already."
She wondered what he was doing here in the first place if he detests this building as much as she detests half-cooked meats. A yawn escaped her lips and was just about to lie her head down when she found her sister standing in front of her.
Takara blinked. It hasn't even been that long since she left with her new-found friends. Sakura smiled at her. That smile that made the manly heart in Takara's chest coo at how cute her sister was.
"I thought you were going to hang out with your friends, Kura."
The blonde inwardly cooed at her sister's embarrassed smile. "I... I want to hang out with Kara more. It's funner." The older blonde sister smiled at the rosette. She was so, so, so adorable!
"It's 'more fun' rather than 'funner', Kura."
"... ugh, sister-complex."
Takara glared. "Shut it, Nara."
Sakura blinked at her sister and her seatmate.
...
"It's fun, isn't it?"
Fun? You think me in a little girl's body is fun?
"Meh, why not? It's been so boring for centuries collecting unamusing human souls, you know. You're the first in a while."
... what about the others?
"The others? Heh, be glad you're in a... less brutal world. I could have sent you somewhere where the moment you were born; slavery, submission, suffering, and death await you where not even a peaceful moment exist."
... what about my brother?
"What about him?"
...
Takara yawned as she leaned against the green fence while watching Sakura interact with kids their age in the park. She would rather be at home reading textbooks than be here surrounded by snot-nosed brat.
(Aside from her sister anyways.)
"That's odd." She almost jumped to her feet when a voice suddenly spoke just beside her. "Most girls your age would be mingling with others by now." A young man with unkempt dark hair smiled down at her.
She absent-mindedly noted that he was sparkling. He was sparkling. "I hate girls." Her response made him raise an eyebrow but didn't persist any further inquiries. Well, at least that was what she thought just a few seconds ago.
"Why aren't you playing, too?"
"Is it mandatory to make friends?"
He was taken aback by her words, making him scratch the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "Well, no, not really."
"There you have it."
Takara saw him blink down at her, flabbergasted. "... the heck? You're like a mini-Itachi. I don't need another Itachi breathing down my neck just because he's wiser than me."
"Who ARE you anyways?" Because Takara didn't expect a stranger to suddenly talk to her with a beaming smile on his face. A smile that probably charmed half the ladies in the village.
His smile was sweet and boyish and somehow suited him even though he wasn't a young boy anymore. "Me? I'm surprised you don't know me, little lady!" He sheepishly smiled when she kept a straight face.
What was he expecting from her? That she was just going to jump around in excitement and ask him who he was with an eager look on her face? Yeah... that would never happen.
Ever.
"... I'm Uchiha Shisui, by the way."
"... ... Haruno Takara."
And that was the end of their little conversation...
"So, are you an Academy student?"
... and Takara was wrong to assume they've finished talking.
...
I hate this.
"Hate what?"
This... THIS! It's not me.
"Then, you just have to make it yours."
... make it mine?
...
During the night, Takara would have dreams of that pretty-faced Death. Contrary to popular belief, Death has blond hair like hers and the bluest eyes she had ever seen. It was the color of the sky, a solid color she couldn't help but be fond of.
During the night, her mind would swim through endless seas of thoughts, sometimes drowning and sometimes floating about. The night was a dangerous one. She kind of admitted that to herself a couple nights ago.
Because from Before, she liked the silent nights.
"Mm~ Kara, mama says staying up late is bad."
"Did I wake you from all the moving, Kura?"
"... no~ I... I woke up to... to go to the... the bathroom..."
"Then, c'mon, I'll take you there."
But on really rare occasions, Takara would have dreamless nights... thanks to her sister's presence.
...
"Haven't you come into terms yet?"
... no.
"This will be your reality now. Do you know that?"
... yes.
"Then, stop moping about, IDIOT!"
OUCH! Hey, why'd you hit me?!
"You're wasting the chance I gave you... and the entertainment I'm yearning!"
Oh, c'mon, are you really Death with that kind of attitude?
"... want to find out again?"
... no thanks, I'm good.
...
Takara had many mishaps from Before.
But this... this definitely took the cake.
Sakura was sick in bed and their mother didn't want Takara to get sick as well so the blonde twin was forced to go outside until the sun sets. Maybe her mother thought she had friends.
Takara doesn't have any though. She has no use for friends.
While deep in thought, she heard a loud shout from a few ways in front of her. She blinked. How in the world did she wander off into the forest? She shrugged her shoulders and searched for the source of that shout.
When she did, an odd sight greeted her. There were two men out in the clearing, doing what seemed to be only a ninja could do. They were climbing trees... without using their hands. She made the mistake of stepping on a twig.
The man in the spandex turned to look at her and then he... he disappeared. Takara could follow him with her eyes but her body could not react in time. "What's a youthful child doing here? Are you here to train to become a ninja, young one?!"
His voice boomed from behind her
She ran away, horrified.
...
"Came into terms yet?"
... yes.
"Finally!"
I'm... I'm going to live... just because I haven't done many things from Before.
"Atta boy!"
I'm not a dog, Death.
"You are to me, though."
Ugh~
...
Haruno Takara used to go by the name of Ezra Isles...
... and she decided to live a life with no regrets this time around.
...
Author's Note
Uhhh...
Thank you for giving this story a chance! Anyways, feel free to leave...
Reviews!
