Prologue: House of Owls
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Spiky blonde hair swayed with the gentle breeze, illuminated by the patches of sunlight streaming through the protective cover of the leaves above. The clearing was silent, the birds had stopped chirping, the wind would not whistle- and Minato would not be the one to shatter the silence. Shining tears, a bouquet of roses- all were placed upon the memorial stone. Obito…
Minato cast his gaze skyward. "If… If I were to listen closely enough, if I were to wait long enough, Obito, would you return? Would I hear your voice again?" He waited, as if for a reply. What he did hear, however, was far different. The wind was becoming violent, swirling around him, yet not disturbing anything around. Even the grass he stood on stayed perfectly still. "Wha-"
His eyes, forced closed by the raging winds, were opened again to see a world far different from his own. A foreign sensation was crawling up his legs, and he looked down to see pure white. "...Snow." He heard the laughter of children, the curious barking of dogs, the call of mothers trying to reign their children in. A smile found its way onto his face, and fresh tears began to fall. 'Obito… You could have been like this. Cheery, ignorant of the world's hatred, happy despite all sorrow.' Something, or someone, shocked Minato out of his pondering. A slight tug was felt on his pant leg, and Minato, startled, looked down to see the inquiring look of a snowy owl, seemingly still in its youth. He was about to reach down to stroke its feathers when he heard a distant call. "Nyra! Nyyyyrrraaaaaaaaaaa!" The owl seemed to perk up upon hearing what was most likely its name, and was soon hopping around the snow, heading towards the voice.
Minato watched with growing fascination as a woman, looking to be around 15, came out from behind a snow-topped house. Upon spotting the beady eyes of the snowy owl, she visibly relaxed, smiling faintly. "There you are, Nyra. Who won the game?" The owl seemed to pout, puffing out its feathers and chirping quietly. After a moment, Nyra stretched out her wing, pointing it accusingly at what Minato had thought to be just another part of a snow-covered tree. Upon closer inspection, Minato realized it was another owl. One far smaller than the snowy, yet far more chipper and grown. Its feathers were completely formed, and little remained of the down it was born with.
Deciding that the woman was either ignoring him on purpose or too busy with the owls that were flying out from practically everywhere, Minato cautiously approached, careful not to step on any owls he could see. A few indignant hoots met his ears, and he winced, moving yet slower. The woman only now looked up from her work, spotting the blond-haired man coming towards her. She placed the owl that had been cradled in her hands on the snow beside her, and brushed off her hands. "Who are you, and what are you doing here? You aren't from around these parts, and you don't look like you're part of this world either. No idiot wears those clothes in this weather." Minato blinked, trying to register the foreign words. "N-Nani?" The girl blinked, laughing a moment later. Her voice changed, and Minato could now make out the words. "Dakara, nihonjin, gaikoku hito o hanashimasu ka?" He sighed, relieved that the girl seemed to know Japanese. (AN: I know translations usually go at the bottom, but I'll make an exception, as this is should be the only part that actually uses Japanese. All dialogue from here on out will be in English, and I'll leave it to the readers to assume it's still Japanese. "Nani?" translates to "What?", and "Dakara, nihonjin, gaikoku hito o hanashimasu ka?" roughly translates to "So you speak Japanese, foreign man?". I am not a native Japanese speaker, so the translations may not be exact.)
Minato nodded, smiling. "Ah, yes, I apologize for not introducing myself earlier, I'm Minato Namikaze. Really, I have no idea what I'm doing here. Are my clothes not the norm for this place?" The girl sighed, murmuring something along the lines of "Foreigners…" in an exasperated voice. "No, of course not. Our world is in an age of eternal snow, it's a wonder we've survived this long. I'm Kyouki, or at least, you can call me that."
"Ky… Kyouki?"
"That's my name."
"Who in their right mind names their child insanity?"
Kyouki stiffened, eyes narrowing. "Parents who don't exist anymore."
Minato shrank back, only now aware of his mistake at speaking his thoughts aloud. "I-I'm sorry for your loss."
"So everyone says. Not my fault they don't know that it was me that killed them." The girl shrugged. "It's not as if that's my real name or anything. It's more of an alias. If you were to ask for my real name, you'd get it in English. Regardless, it's unimportant. I don't even remember my real name anymore." Kyouki turned around, signifying a clear end to their conversation. Minato, still standing awkwardly in the snow, began to feel the cold. The excitement, the sense of danger, had kept him warm.
"Err… would you suggest anywhere where I could get clothes suitable for this world?"
"Nowhere. All shops are closed for the season. I doubt you'd have money they'd accept, anyway."
"True…"
"...That is, unless you'd like to stay here. The locals call it the 'House of Owls.'" Kyouki huffed, hands working a bit faster. "I've become lonely, and I wouldn't mind someone to help with the little ones."
Minato, gladdened by the fact that Kyouki hadn't begun to hate him for his stupidity, nodded, shifting a bit to view the entire field of owls. "What should I do?"
"Grab an owl, chirp, derp around."
"What?"
"Joking. Since Nyra seemed to like you, you can start with her. They love playing, regardless of breed, and they also seem to love impaling their wings on random branches. Just play with them, don't step on any, and make sure no one dies. Sounds nice?"
"Alright… I guess?" Minato, used to being the one ordering people younger than him, and sometimes older, around, had a bit of difficulty following orders. It's not as if he didn't respect them- As Hokage, there were few who could legitimately order him around. Sighing, he realized that in this world, where all was foreign to him, he would just have to deal with the odd girl, and listen to her, at least until he figured out how to survive.
Kyouki looked around, her sharp gaze, evidently used to spotting owls in the snow, scanning the treeline. "Scyre, hide and seek's over. How many have you won already? Isn't this your seventy-fifth victory?" A meek hoot responded from somewhere, and Kyouki smiled. "Hokage-san won't kill you."
Minato flinched. 'Hokage-san? Wha- How did she know? I never…'
"Women have ways of knowing things."
"What?"
"Your robe. It says Hokage- 'fire shadow.' It was either a name or a title, and it doesn't sound like a name."
"Neither does 'insanity.'"
"Point taken. Now, I dislike continued talking, as the owls will all die somehow. It's as if they consider it their life's work to annoy me with repetitive suicide."
Minato slowly exhaled, trying to calm down. No shinobi should be letting their emotions show just because some random lady was clever enough to find out their title. 'Wait… My cloak says 'fire.' Not 'fire shadow.' Even if she had been clever, she should've just thought I was a pyromaniac or something. So why did she call me Hokage?'
Minato sneaked another glance at Kyouki. Her flowing silver hair cascaded down her back, blending with the snow. All of Kyouki seemed to be part of the snow; she seemed more ghost than human. Pale lavender eyes, deathly white skin, silver hair, ashen cloak- 'Is she really human?'
The curious shinobi blinked once, twice, and Kyouki was gone. He instinctively reached for his kunai pouch, freezing when he noticed it was gone. 'It was there when I was at the Memorial Stone. Could Kyouki have taken it?' He narrowed his eyes, staring distrustfully towards the spot where the girl had been.
An inhuman shriek pierced the air, and Minato ran.
-xXx-
AN: Well, I don't think I did too badly, at least, for my first (and probably last, once people realize how bad of a writer I am) challenge. It's from Dreaming of a Black Fox, for those who want to know. I'm kind of inexperienced, and my stories rarely get past the prologue, and I usually end up deleting them right after. Oh well, I'll hope for the best! R & R!