A District Built on Bones : Intro to Ame
Two years before the Salamander Arc-
Two children darted to and fro in the shadows of the city. Grime smeared their faces and their rags kept getting caught on sharp corners they ran past, tearing the holey cloth even further. Ducking into a water service tunnel, the girl leaned on the wall, chest heaving to try and get more air into her small body.
"Yahiko, I can't go on anymore today. Can we please just stop?" she begged. The ginger haired male that was her companion, looked at the bluenette then back out into the muddy street they'd just left. The sun was barely half down below the buildings. "Konan, there's still enough light to make it to the Market." Yahiko said, pulling on his friends arm to try and get her to keep going. "But, I'm so tired 'Hiko. Let's just…rest…" Yahiko could tell she was fading and he couldn't bear to move her if she really was feeling that bad.
They'd been travelling through the back streets of Ame for two days with little rest, and stole the food they needed from houses they passed, if there was any. They'd both skipped a few meals since the war had left them stranded and abandoned. No parents, no guardians, no anybody except the red and raw bodies that had once been human and held life. Being orphans left over from the war meant they were a sort of target. City officials had been told to gather all remaining children to rebuild the population. The Rain district had hardly won the war. But they were no worse off than any of the other participating districts. So it was only a matter of time before they got picked up and put into a home.
Shuffling behind him alerted Yahiko and he spun around to look at whatever was behind them. Beady black eyes on a fat body twitched whiskers and he breathed out a sigh of relief. "It's just a rat." He said out loud, but he caught the tremor in his own voice and shuddered, turning back to watch the entrance.
Ten minutes passed before Yahiko heard another noise behind him and scowled. "Damn rats. Leave us alone already! We're not dead yet!" Hearing just a snort in answer, he looked over his shoulder and saw a pair of ringed eyes staring at him. Letting out a startled yell, he fell back into a puddle and scrambled out of the tunnel. His yell woke Konan who looked around, trying to find the source of the commotion that had woken her.
"You may not be dead yet, but you are in my tunnel. And I don't take kindly to visitors, so please take leave before I remove you by force." The person belonging to the ringed eyes and annoyed voice stepped farther towards the entrance of the tunnel until he was visible. Konan stared at him, taking in the loose dirty blue robes with the white sash and his matching straight blue hair, several shades darker than hers. But what interested her most were his eyes, the white iris with light grey or purple rings that seemed so hypnotizing. His attention shifted back to Yahiko when he was done looking her over.
Looking between the stranger and Konan, Yahiko gained a pleading expression. "Can we please just stay here for the night? Konan needs to sleep." The other boy considered this before giving a shrug. "I suppose. Just be out of here by morning. I don't want word spreading that I've suddenly become hospitable." Yahiko let out a sigh he hadn't known he'd been holding in until the other said they could stay. "Thanks." He said to the back of the blue haired boy. "Nagato," Yahiko looked back into ringed eyes, "What?" he asked. Nagato smiled, the expression almost hidden behind his hair in the darkness. "My names Nagato." Before Yahiko could reply, he had gone farther into the tunnel.
Nagato sighed as he came to a relatively dry piece of the tunnel that split into three more holes in the concrete. Taking the left passage led him to an underground main passage. It was a spacious land area with more branching tunnels. Piled in the middle on top of a slightly wet sand dune were pillows and blankets Nagato had stolen to make his residence more comfortable. His spot was known to be one of the best hidey-holes in the city since it lay almost directly at the center of the district. Any inexperienced traveler to come across the tunnels would get lost immediately. Frequently, he'd had to scare off unwelcome visitors such as Yahiko and Konan. People weren't nice in the city heart. Every inch was fought for. Orphan or not.