Hey, peoplez! n_n This is kind of something I've been daydreaming about for a while, and I wanted to see how it would work out if I wrote it out, because my imagination tends to want to skip details when I'm only thinking about it. xD;
So, let me know what you think about this. It's kind of AUish, I guess. For the most part, it takes place in the Naruto world; but here, normal people view ninja as myths or fairy tales. And even if they knew 'ninja' existed, they would certainly consider their jutsu to be complete fantasy. xD Also, right now, the only characters you see are OCs, but canon characters will show up in the next chapter. ;3
Kaida: Kaiti owns nothing but me and my son and his friend, along with maybe a couple other OCs that might show up later. And the plotline, I guess. And she KILLED my HUSBAND. *glares*
Kaiti: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't want to! But it was necessary to... I should probably be quiet now before I give away spoilers. D;
Ever since he could remember, bedtime was always Shikami's favorite part of the day. And not necessarily because he got to go to sleep, although that was part of it.
But the part about bedtime that he loved were the stories his mother would tell him. She described people, ninja, with extraordinary abilities called jutsu. And the way she told the stories, Shikami could almost believe they really existed, even though he knew they were merely fantasy, like Santa Claus or others.
There was one story in particular Shikami loved to hear, though he wasn't sure why exactly. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact his mom would only tell it to him once a year, on the same day each year, which made it feel special. Perhaps it also had something to do with the fact that it seemed even more real than the other stories because of the way his mother told it.
Shikami could guess why his mom didn't tell it often. It had a sad ending, and if there was one thing Kaida Nara could not stand, it was a tragic ending to a story. But then Shikami had to wonder why she told it at all.
His mom would never explain why. She would simply give him a sad smile and change the subject.
"Tell me the story of the two ninja," Shikami would request innocently on October third. He didn't need to specify which 'two ninja' story.
After a few years, his mom would laugh and ruffle his hair, saying, "I think you know that one better than me by now."
However, she would continue and tell him anyways. "This story takes place after the two ninja had been married for a couple of years. The boy shinobi, who could manipulate the shadows to do his will, was suddenly called away to a mission one day."
"But it wasn't too sudden, because it happened a lot," Shikami would interrupt on occasion.
His mother laughed ruefully. "More times than either of them could count. Anyways, once the Hokage, the leader of the village, had explained to him his mission, he set off with two other ninja in his squad."
"Did he know it was a dangerous mission?" Shikami asked.
"Yes, and he knew that on most missions many shinobi are sent on they have to put their lives on the line. But this one was even more dangerous than they had planned, and he and his team barely made it back in one piece." His mom's expression darkened and her voice quivered. Even after all this time, Shikami still marveled that she could act so well as though it had actually happened.
"What happened on the mission?" Shikami urged.
His mother's voice went soft. "A man who controlled snakes bigger than a house appeared, along with a few of his stronger men. He wanted something, and the shadow manipulator shinobi got in his way. His team followed him, protecting the object."
"What was it?" Shikami asked. His own voice had softened, because he didn't want to break the spell that the story seemed to cast.
"Nobody ever knew. But back at the village, everyone supposed they had succeeded, and they were given no reason to think otherwise. Two of the squad's members had been severely injured, but neither of them were as horrifying a sight as the shadow ninja. In spite of their own wounds, they carried back the dead body of the shadow shinobi."
"What about the kunoichi?" Shikami prompted quietly when his mom paused to blink back tears.
"She was horrified, and for a while, she refused to believe that he was really gone. But no matter what she tried to believe, the shadow ninja had died on that mission. Most ninja from the village had known and liked him and they all attended his funeral. His name was etched onto a monument for heroes."
"Heroes who were killed in action," Shikami finished in a whisper. Then one night he thought of a question that had never before been answered. "What happened to his wife?"
His mother wiped at her eyes and took her time before answering. "She fell into a terrible depression for days. Then one thing happened that kept her from choosing to follow her husband."
"What was it?"
She looked at Shikami like he was some kind of priceless treasure and answered, "She found out she was about to have a child. Someone else's life suddenly depended on her own survival, and that kept her going."
Shikami thought about that for a while after his mother had left him for the night. In her stories, everyone always risked their lives for everyone else, so he supposed it made sense for the story that a baby would save the woman from killing herself. But, in the real world, could a person really love someone else so much that suicide seemed like the only good solution?
Somehow that made him think of his dad. Shikamaru Nara, his mother had told him. Shikami had inherited the first part of his name, the same way he had from his own dad, Shikami's grandfather. And his mom told him often how much he looked like him.
His father had died sometime when Shikami was young – though how young, he was never told. He had no memories of his dad. Shikamaru had died from a freak accident when he and Kaida had been on vacation somewhere.
Shikami hated whatever or whoever it was that had killed his dad. His mom was so sad over it that she didn't talk about it at all unless questioned, and even then she gave very vague answers. So after a while, Shikami had just dropped it. No one else he knew had known his dad, so they could never give him any more specific information.
Years later, when Shikami was twelve, bedtime was still his favorite part of the day, because of the stories he had never outgrown. However, he also loved other parts of the day that were not consumed by school. His mother had taught him to play strategy games like chess and shogi, as well as others. On one lucky occasion, he even beat her. Cloud-watching was another passtime he enjoyed. And he also liked to hang out with his best friend Ethan, who was one of the few people who even gave Shikami the time of day.
Not that he minded. Being too popular would've been a real drag, and he and Ethan had fun together. They talked, they played, they shared silence, and other stuff as well. Sometimes, Ethan would even ask to hear some of the ninja stories Shikami knew.
"Man, some of this stuff is so cliché," Ethan commented from time to time.
Shikami shrugged. "It's more interesting than real history."
And on that, Ethan emphatically agreed.
So what do you think? Good, bad, good but needs work, etc? *pokes review button below*