Aneko: So this is also a random thought that came a few days ago, and I wanted to post it. Drabbleish.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
One Thousand Bleeding Hearts
We never questioned any of the shinobi rules that we all studied back in those nostalgic days as academy students. But still, whenever we reached that one, we always had to wonder about it—never show your emotions. Never shed a tear. Had to wonder, what were they thinking when they came up with it?
Because it's really not as easy as it sounds.
We try—really, we do. We try to live up to what is expected of us as those who will protect this village. But sometimes, we just can't help it. Have you ever had to try and lock away your heart, pushing it farther and farther away until you can't reach it any more? If you did that, wouldn't it be kind of hard to find it again?
We tend to carry our hearts in our hands. We walk a thin wire that's full of traps and dangers. It's kind of dangerous, we know. You—our teachers—always reprimanded us, telling us personal emotions have no place in battle. Sometimes it's true, our hearts betray us to our enemies, and we only end up grieving over a new pain, a new loss.
But sometimes you're wrong. Sometimes, those strong feelings give us that last scrape of adrenaline we need to get through it all. They come from what we care about the most, and you can't stop that.
And please don't blame us. When you care, it's hard to pretend that you don't
We do know it's risky, though. It's so easy to get hurt. We've had a lot of close calls, and some that were too close to avoid. You know what we found out? Our hearts bleed just like anyone else's.
You have to wonder, how many times has this fragile glass, filled with anything and everything we hold dear, been cracked or broken? A lot. We've lost count. And we admit that sometimes it's painful, shedding our silent, dry, endless tears as we shuffle to bend over and pick up the broken pieces that have scattered. So painful, in fact, that often it feels like we won't ever be able to get back up again. We know that more heartbreak and wounds await us.
And maybe that's why they thought up that rule--they knew that with emotions, we would be too wieghed down with the pain to carry out what we must.
But we're proving them wrong.
We're not alone. All of us in this generation know a certain kind of pain, for different reasons, and together, we're somehow helping each other stumble through it all, lending a hand when we see someone whose legs are worn out and whose soul is nearly shriveled up. So we keep on picking up the shattered pieces of our hearts, and we patch it up and put the interlocking puzzle of ourselves back together the best we can.
It will never be perfect. We'll never be quite whole again. After all, there are some scars that just don't go away. But we're still going to keep going. We're going to finish seeing things through.
And our hearts still bleed. It's painful, but we're bearing it. Because it assures us of one thing, if just that and nothing else.
We're not weak. Only human.
Aneko: I really hope you like this one. I think in the beginning I was planning to make it turn out sad, but it has more of a bittersweet feeling to me now…