Summary: Kakashi the reluctant hero sets off to free the mystery girl and her home. Leave not your name but memories behind.
AN: Hello everyone this story is inspired by Shikata Akiko's Pantalea!
It should only be a few chapters long and so, please enjoy!
For whose sake do we live so hard
Where the sun does not reach
And the birds have to part
A once bustling village with the echoes of idle chatter among gossipy women and friendly laughter among the men and giggles and squeals of playful children with sturdy wooden houses now lay in ruins with only the harsh sounds of squeaky dipilated wood and rusty hinges to accompany it.
There were no sweet chirps, not even in the distance making the place almost eerie but Kakashi ignored it. He gets to save on his accommodation fee and has adequate food to last him a few days. He places his foot down and it crunched down on the gravel and sand.
He walked further in, the golden brown ribbon - like path danced out of his reach behind him.
Strangely feeling a little cold even though it was hot just a moment ago, Kakashi brought the scarf wrapped around his face a little closer to his skin and his strawhat to his hair.
Large plots with scraps of some sort of dried up plants and huge broken down fences that surrounded a huge plot of land indicated a once wealthy village that relied heavily on farming.
It was strange, the village did not look like it had encounter a disaster or a dry spell as the old well had water though it was covered carelessly before everyone left. Perhaps someone had hoped that they would return but apparently not, as Kakashi dully noted the rotten wooden cover.
Finding a house that satisfied him for the night, he pushed away the torn cloth that hung at the entrance of the dark house and gently pushed a rusty cage away with his foot that laid harphzardly across the old floor. Placing his bag beside a wall, he walked to the run down fire place and tossed some old wood he picked up along the way. Then he got to work to create some warmth, deciding that he was not hungry.
As he rubbed the wood together, a slight wind entered and hit him. Then, again as if trying to get his attention. Undisturbed, after a flick of his one good eye towards the entrance, he continued on with his work.
I'd better get out another blanket.
He fell asleep wrapped in his thin blankets, huddled next to the small fire hidden from the dark sky.
The dark clouds continued to move, trying to accumulate yet fail.
It was not destined.
He woke up to a long died out fire and packed his blankets. Taking his time to eat, he left in the afternoon. He passed numerous dead trees and houses and just before he left the village, something caught his eye.
Just a few hundred metres away from the village, rows of huge and fairly tall trees nearly crowd one another, their healthy green leaves shining under the light. Their dark and smooth trunks added to their beauty. Some looked like they have white, pink and red leaves.
Mesmerised, his feet took him closer to the strange forest. Every step he took sent his heart racing. He wandered for years and never did he hear of such a beauty. He breathed in deeply, taking in the myraid of sweet scents. As he got closer, he realised that they were crabapples and fringes.
Stunned, his eyes could only roam around, desperate to memorise every detail. The red crabapples shone with passion and clashed with the sweet pink ones and gentle white ones. The white fringes that look so feathery, enhanced the forest's mystical feel. He was further entranced when the fringes swayed in the light breeze. The flowers were in full bloom.
He took another step closer, wanting an even closer look.
Then, he noticed a small white flower hidden among the tall grass of the forest floor. He bent down to take a closer look.
A daisy.
Gently, he placed his fingers on the soft petals, running his fingers on it, enjoying the feel. Never had he been one to really stop to admire the beauty of flowers and now, he was regretting it.
Brushing through the grass to find more, he was unrewarded.
Strange, but it only enhances that lone daisy's beauty. He got up, interested in the flowers on the trees more. He promised himself to come again after he was tired of roaming.
So pretty, it was so so pretty -
A huge gust of wind hit him, disorienting him. Starting to feel a little scared for some strange reason, he felt as if the thin branches were closing in on him a little too closely and that it was too - quiet. Darting his eyes around, he realised something. He gulped and wiped off a bead of sweat trailing down his temple, it wasn't even hot now.
Why aren't there any birds?
Why aren't there any animal calls or the mating sounds of insects?
His widened entranced eyes started to have a mix of another emotion - fear.
Nearly trembling, he took a few steps backwards, suddenly feeling that perhaps the red flowers were too red like blood and that the pink ones followed the red ones too closely and the white reminded him too much of the numerous funerals that he attended to grieve for his fallen soldiers. Even the fringes looked like they were just hanging there like a slab of meat hung on hooks at the butchers.
The flowers did not look that pretty to him after all. Tightening his bags, he turned his back on the haunting place that was once a beauty, his promise forgotten.
The forest still had its ethereal beauty even if it never took its eye off the strange traveller.
Please, help us...
Don't leave us...!
I beg you!
Days after he left the place, he slept worse than before.
Every night, a whisper or two would haunt him, a soft and sweet yet sorrowful voice would echo in his head. The same words repeated every night but he ignored them.
But then, images of the applecrabs and fringes appeared in his dreams. He would be there, just like the first time he laid his eyes on the haunting forest though in his dreams, he would enter the strange place and thin branches would reach out and try to strangle him. Sometimes, they pulled him down to the earth and suck him in. He would toss and turn as if he was in a trance on those nights. It was a little hard to wake up recently and he was starting to panic. He spent two nights, on an old rickety chair and gained dark rings.
On the third night, when he could no longer take it, he shouted at the voice. He needed his peace.
'Stop bothering me! I can't help or save anyone!'
Silence.
Please...
He slept a little better that night though a little unsettled. For some reason, he felt guilty.
The next night was different.
'I can see myself... Where's this place?'
On a large plain, the gentle breeze made his hair and the grass sway as one. He gazed and reached up to his face, feeling for his scarf. Assured, he tugged it up higher. Then, a woman appeared in the distance.
Slowly, dragging her clearly fatigued body, she made her way to Kakashi. As she got closer, he could tell she was probably no older than 24. She had slight dark rings under her eyes but she looked healthy. Her pure white dress was dragged across the ground but she paid no attention to it. Sensing that she meant no harm did not make him lower his guard. Her pink hair reminded him too much of the pink crabapples.
When she finally reached him, she smiled softly though it was a little strained. It was then he knew she must had been the voice.
I am sorry to have scared you.
Her voice sounded wispy today but it still held her usual gentleness and sorrow.
It took me a lot of energy to reach you. I had no choice.
Come sit with me.
She gestured to a flat slab of stone that appeared when, Kakashi did not know.
He shook his head, not trusting himself to not lash at her for his frightful sleeps.
She only shrugged and made herself comfortable.
You were one of the few to pass by the forest and even better, get close to it. I had no choice but to call you for help. Should have known it would scare you.
She huffed. Kakashi did not have the heart to tell her even if she had used another tactic it would have still scared him anyway. He hated it when people disturbed his mind.
Our forest used to have many animals and fairies. We lived in harmony and coexisted with the humans from that nearby village. We blessed them with bountiful crops and they in return worshipped us.
She took a deep breath and blinked - was that a tear he saw?
It did not last. A demon took control of us - he stole our Blue Flame, the forest's energy and then, he sealed it in a shrine. Then, he chased the villagers away.
Her fingers pushed her hair back and bit her lips.
No mythical creature can enter the shrine. He is vain and considers our forest his lair. He refuses to let the forest decay.
She started to rush through her words.
He has trapped every one of us in it with wards. I-I only managed to contact you as you came near us - and t-then... Then...
She took another deep breath, just glad this stranger was listening to her attentively, never mind the fact so that she could stop bothering him.
My friend... Asuma, a wind fairy, braved through the wards just so that me, one of those who live near the outskirts could reach and contact you.
She focused her forest green eyes on him.
'So that gust of wind was him?'
H-he protected me from the wards and died after I reached you.
Then, she burst into tears, covering her face, a sob escaped.
Please help us...
'Look,'
Kakashi sighed.
'Why should I trust you? If this Blue Flame is really that precious, I could use it to control you.'
The young woman hiccupped and brushed away a tear. The Blue Flame cannot be touched by humans. They'll become insane. I need someone to help remove the wards around the shrine. He has left to find another demon hence I could speak to you now like this.
'I see no merit in helping.'
Please, that village used to be a route many took to cross the borders of Fire. The country will prosper even more than now.
'What does that have to do with me?'
Weren't you a soldier of this country?
' How do you know?'
The distrust in his voice grew.
Please...
Then, her pleading face and the background started to blur and swirl. Soon, both her and the background faded to welcome the pitch black silence that rarely graced Kakashi after the war.
Kakashi awoke comfortably, not breaking out in to the cold perspiration that he was long accustomed to. Sitting up, he pushed the windows beside him open. He squints as the sunlight hits him and slowly adjusted to it.
The melodic chirps of the common birds and the crow of the rooster brought many to life. More people have start to crowd the streets, selling or buying produce. Children can be heard singing their folk songs -
When the fairies start to sing their beautiful songs,
Their melodious voices will reach the heavens and earth.
Many will awake and the animals will gather
Everyone, humans and spirits will dance
The door to the next day opens.
For the beautiful future
He shifted his attention to a puppetry stall. Puppets of numerous colours and intricate design were lain across the table. He did not need to go to the stall to have a closer look at the delicate toys. They were what he did not wish to see.
He dressed and went out of the cheap inn he stayed.
Did the children ever play like them? Perhaps some would be helping their parents.
Did the women sell bolts of cloth and pick out their produce?
The men would be busy in the fields -
They must have had a fulfilling life and then -
To reassure himself that he made no mistake, he looked for the trees. He saw no flowers.
He took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his coarse hair.
They weren't scary like the trees at the forest -
Kakashi remembers the beautiful trees that he saw with the mix of red, pink and white and then, that lone daisy -
The forest was way much beautiful.
Night came too slowly that day.
Slowly, he opened his eyes and he was not surprised to find himself in the plain once again. Though this time round, the woman was already there, looking at him. Clearly, she was waiting for him to speak.
He restrained from taking a deep breath. He wanted to show her nothing.
'I still do not trust you.'
She nodded her head in understanding.
'How did you know I was a soldier?'
Past soldiers have passed by the forest before all of us were trapped. They had the same look as you.
Slowly, she reached out to stroke his face as if wanting to comfort him but Kakashi moved back a step. She took back her hand immediately. She did not want to scare him away now that he was curious. She silently chided herself as she rarely had contact with anyone.
'You said the village was frequently passed by. Why have I not heard of it?' His lone eye stared at her, showing no emotion. She bit her lip.
Before everyone left, the demon swore them to silence. Many who came were deterred from the state of the village - except you.
She looked with hope in her eyes, hands clutching the sides of her dress.
Kakashi said nothing for a while.
'I am but an old soldier. I no longer have dreams of seeing this country prosper.'
The look in her eye deflated but before she could speak, he continued.
'However, I must admit, the forest is beautiful...'
If that's the case you are always welcomed! Just don't leave us, please...!
She had grabbed his arms, not minding that he probably did not like skin-ship from the way he immediately struggled to get away from her surprisingly strong grip.
'Okay, okay! Just let go of me.'
Still unembarrassed, she let go of him, overwhelmed by the fact that he agreed to help.
You have to go west from where you are. There's a demon slayer who specialises in breaking down demonic wards his name is -
She paused her excited words and then, strangely, she blushed.
I don't know his name.
Kakashi sighed. Trust her to make the whole situation more complicated.
'Then do you know his appearance?'
No... But I heard that he was...Eccentric. She scrunched her face, trying to recall what she was told of. Strangely, he found it cute.
'Shouldn't be too hard to find then,' His eye crinkled. It was too late to back out. Then, he patted her head.