A Slightly Better Summary: Slight AU fic with no intended OC pairing. FriendshipOC. Also, this story is partly to vent out my frustration on the American government. Those bastards. Hopefully, this story will give a better sense on what it's like to live in a world where super-powered Ninjas run the show. Well, what I think it would be like.
Warnings: slow, reluctant updates. Unless you bug me multiple times a day, then it may come a couple days eariler. But don't get your hopes up ladies and gentlemen.
Author's Note: I'll get to the other chapters... later. After I get a decent review (AKA something more than 'update soon'). Also, sorry for the lame title. But... eh. Too lazy to change that too. Or not. I'm going back and forth on it.
Enjoy.
Go Home Black Sheep
Chapter One: A Young Girl Suspects That Something May Be Wrong
The sky was just starting to transition to night and the already dark sky darkened, growing into a solid black. Soot-covered lamp lights flickered on to illuminate light through dirty glass onto the ashen streets. Despite the darkness, the air is about body temperature- maybe warmer. The phrase "walking through soup" came to Hibana's mind. Through the poor lightning and sultry conditions, she hurried through the some-what thinning crowd around the town market, looking for ingredients that her mom will use to make dinner tonight. Hibana mildly began to wonder if her mother would scold her for being late again. She wisely chose to search harder instead of wonder.
Just as Hibana found a decent food stand and began to fill her hand-made shopping bag with fresh leeks and not-so fresh clams, her attention was stolen yet again. It was just a little piece of gravel from the top of the food stand that fell inches in front of her eyes. It was a scrap of debree, no bigger than the tip of her finger and as flat as paper but it was all the motivation she needed to look up.
Just a little flash of grey that matched the sky and the green bit of their uniforms. Hibana knew they were the Ninjas from the Hidden Leaf Village. She heard her Master, Yammamoto-sensei, talk about them. He said it could be very good or very bad news for the village, especially now that they're been visiting more often now than Hibana or Yammamoto can remember. She wanted to be on the optimistic side, but she really couldn't say. They stayed in one place for only a moment, Hibana may or may not notice their presence, and then they run off so quickly that Hibana couldn't even see their face; if they had a grim, murderous expression or a calm and peaceful one.
With a leek still in her hand, and her face towards the sky, Hibana watched they hopped away to... to wherever they're headed. And she stared even after she lost the sight of them in the darkness of the sky.
A man with a large belly knocked into Hibana's shoulder, breaking her out of her staring contest with nothing. "I must have looked like a class-A weirdo, just staring off into space like that," She thought with wide-eyes, embarassed expression. She straightened up her back and continued to fill her shopping bag with enough clams and leeks for a decent stew. She handed the elderly couple running the stand with some of the money her mother had provided to her.
Behind the head of the old woman, there was an old fashion clock inside the food stand that read 5:22 P.M. "That's not so bad," Hibana thought. "If I run now, mom won't try to kill me," And so she hurried home. But not without wondering what the expressions the ninjas wore may have looked like.
"... And yet the taxes are raising," Mrs. Rentetsu sighed in exasperation. She slammed the bowl of leeks she just washed on the kitchen counter harder than necessary.
"That sucks," Hibana sympathized with her mom- but dared not to say anything in a joking manner while she was angry. Her mother was a passionate, strong, no-nonsense kind of person. And the little, itty-bit of patience the woman had was reserved for her daughter and husband alone. And even then, her patience runs thin.
Hibana's mother continued to talk heatedly about the government and politics as she made dinner, slamming bowls and things around. Hibana couldn't even lift a finger to help without her finger coming back bruised so she stayed back a few steps and watched her mother work and listened to her talk.
"It's ridiculous. We're not just some rats, we're people! The government is supposed to help us, and look how fucking great the Village of Iron is now... damn pigs. I mean, 'dang pigs'. Hibana, you better not go around saying 'damn,'"
Hibana nodded, and reached up to rub her nose with her sleeve as if she had an itch, but she was actually hiding a smile. She found it funny that her mom, who must have been born with a potty mouth, is trying so hard to keep her daughter from cussing.
As her mom went on talking about politics, something Hibana doesn't know much about, she went over in her head of what she does know.
Hibana knew that her village was an industrious one and is located in Fire Country and a few mile from The Land of Tea and the Land of Swamps. Sometimes the Village is confused for the Land of Iron, because of the name. The village's original name is 'The Village above Hidden Darkness'. The darkness is referring to the iron, coal and oil deposits underneath the earth, but the name changed to be shorter. It seems that the village uses the coal and oil to make weapons for the Hidden Leaf village. Hibana thinks her mother called it an 'business alliance' or something like that. The Hidden Leaf is the only allied village the Village of Iron has. She thinks it has something to do with the two Great Ninja Wars. "What else..." Hibana wondered. Then Hibana remembered, and what her mother was talking about suddenly made more sense. The Village of Iron's economy and government is dependant on the Hidden Leaf. Being far away means bigger taxes.
But what Hibana can gather from what her mother was saying, the taxes are becoming too big.
"So it looks like we're all going on an extreme diet, or we can live like animals in the forest. But with the way things are going as they are, the worst is just around the corner," Her mother's lips were pressed into a firm line as she turned on the stove, bringing the gas powered stove-top to life. She set the pot with clams with water over the high flames.
"O-Oh," Hibana said without trying to hide her frown.
Looking over her shoulder briefly, her mother muttered a quick apology. "Sorry- I'm just kidding."
Hibana relaxed a little as the conversation drifted into silence. The clams were soon half-way cooked and Hibana's mom put the clams in a bigger cast pot iron pot Hibana's father had made with soup base and chopped leeks. She covered the simmering concoction in a watching cast iron lid and let out a little sigh. She turned around and saw that Hibana was just standing in the kitchen.
She only smiled and led her daughter out of the kitchen with her hand on Hibana's back.
"Just sit tight, watch TV, relax and I'll have dinner ready in a minute, okay sweetheart?" Hibana turned back to look at her mother. The woman had put on a calm smile, but something about how tense her hand was on Hibana's back and the over all uncharacteristic vagueness earlier made that smile seem dishonest.
"Okay," Hibana said.
Hibana's mom seemed to sense the distress in her daughter, and so she slowly opened her mouth. "Guess what?" Hibana's mother's jaw was set, but a smile was still on her lips.
"Mm, what?" Hibana replied as she settled herself in the old brown couch in the middle of their modest living room, and the TV set only four or five feet in front of the couch.
"Your dad has a very big surprise for you!" She put her hand on her hip in a concluding way.
Hibana felt a smile creep on her face and curiosity burning in her mind. "What is it?"
Mrs. Rentetsu smiled fondly at her daughter, smile lines deepening in a motherly way. "He'll tell you soon... you'll know soon," and with that, she walked her way back into the kitchen without looking back.
Hibana blinked at her mom's unusual delicate and subtle words. Usually, she would say what she wanted to. But this time… it was like she was hiding something.
She sounded hopeful, wondering if her husband would be in on piece coming back home, since he works days at a time at his work. And she also sounded sad, like she couldn't bear the thought of her love hurt in anyway.
She was always too confident in dad's ability to never get hurt, but this time she seemed troubled.
Even though she felt there seems to be something horribly wrong, Hibana keep her eyes on the flickering TV screen. She hopes the problem- and most importantly, the worry- will be lost in the bright, colorful, artificial light.
Today was Sunday and there was no school. A relief to Hibana who no longer liked going to school, ever since classrooms became larger and yet the larger classes are held in the same small classrooms made for only twenty or so children. There are forty-six children in Hibana's class.
But today, her mother let Hibana sleep in. But Hibana was wide awake and still lying in her bed. She compensated what her mother's strange words could have meant. A surprise could mean anything. But Hibana was debating with herself it is the good or bad kind. She didn't receive an answer. Hibana finally drifted to sleep when she was too tired to think anymore, and to her surprise (the good kind, definitely) she did not feel groggy in the least. Her mind was active and burning with that unstoppable curiosity that annoys her mother without fail.
For a few more minutes, Hibana laid in her bed. The room was in near silence, save for her thoughts and the sound of her fan humming before she decided to start her day. She kicked off her covers, promising herself to make her bed later. She slipped on a black work shirt and stepped into a dark, baggy fire resistant pants covering. When it was winter, she would wear the fire resistant material over regular pants like a pair of sweats. But during a hot late spring day like this, she went without cotton pants underneath. Over the years Hibana became used to the rough material on her bare legs.
Hibana opened her bedroom door to a considerably warmer hallway. She made her way towards the kitchen, where she could smell the remnants of her mother's cooking. And as expected, a plate of food covered in plastic wrap waited on the kitchen counter. "Mom must have had an early appointment," Hibana figured. Hibana's mother was a carpenter and only went to do her job with her co-workers if she was called up. Sometimes in the afternoon, sometimes in the evening- and even more rarely, in the morning. Hibana remembers when Hibana's mother could blow off appointments to wake up with Hibana in the morning. But now, it seems she is eager for any and all appointments.
Almost unaffected by her mother's absence, Hibana ate her breakfast without water or heating up the plate. As she finished up and was about to put her plate in the sink, she spotted a note on the refridgerator written in messy sprawl.
I have two appointments today and can't make lunch. Go to Yamazaki's and order food for you and dad. Money is near the door. Don't you dare touch the oven!
Hibana smiled weakly at the last part. "Her memory sure isn't fading," Hibana said to herself.
She went to her modest living room and looked at the family clock. It read 12:23 PM. "No wonder I don't feel sleepy," Hibana thought. It wasn't often she slept until noon. And she doesn't plan on brining her dad's lunch late.
And so she went to Yamazaki's, a family owned food stand. She brought her dad and herself a loaf of bread and some seasoned meat. She cut the bread in thirds, left a third for herself and did the same with the meat. She put her dad's larger potions in a plastic tub-ware and headed off to his workplace.
She opened the tall metal doors with grunt and was hit with the cooler air via air conditioning. Sometimes Hibana forgot how hot it was waved to the desk secretary, Kyoko, a stocky middle aged single mom with salt and pepper hair. Her eyes lit up and stood straight in her chair behind her desk as soon as her eyes meet Hibana's.
"Oh, Hibana-chan! What brings you here?" She chirped.
"Hi Kyoko-san," Hibana replied, "I'm just delivering some food. How are you doing?" Hibana's eyes widened a bit, instantly regretting what she said. How could she have forgotten?
It was no secret that Kyoko was struggling with the economy. Her house has been foreclosed for two weeks now after months of struggling to pay for other life necessities that had a growing tax. She had every bit of her money she made from her job towards her house, desperate not to lose it. It has been said that Kyoko's house, which had a traditional fireplace with swirling designs cut into the metal and was made mostly of flint laid in dark cement. It was a very rare commodity to come across a house in the Village of Iron that had not been burned during the Great Fire. Nearly all the buildings in the Village of Iron are new and cheaply made. But at the edge of town, where the house was too far away from other buildings to have caught fire, it stood tall and seemingly indestructible in its historical glory. The house was passed down from generation to generation and Kyoko's small family was very proud of it. But as they struggled to keep their historical house, Kyoko couldn't help but to notice when they would see each other on the streets, how Kyoko and her two children were becoming thinner and more often fatigued as they went around to live their normal lives.
Kyoko's smile strained, but didn't leave her face. It was sort of amazing how different she looked. It was like ripping off a mask. "Good," Kyoko said slowly, her voice thick in her throat. "I've been surviving." Kyoko's lips pulled into a small, humorless smile. "Is that for your dad?" She pointed towards the clear tub-ware.
Although glad the subject was changed, Hibana for a moment, wondering if she should give the food to Kyoko instead of her father. Would she be embarrassed? Offended, even?
"Yeah," Hibana said slowly after a moment of silence, "You should have some too." Hibana kept her eyes off Kyoko, hoping her suggestion did not anger Kyoko.
After another tense silence, Hibana built up the courage to look Kyoko in the eyes. Her face was uncharacteristically firm. She didn't look surprised at the sudden offer. Had other people try to lend help to Kyoko too? By the look on Kyoko's face, she was desperate.
It seems the once bright, energetic woman's pride was broken. "Yes," she almost whispered, "I-I would, thank you."
Unsure what to say, Hibana hastily pulled out her father's lunch and placed it on Kyoko's desk. Hibana wracked her mind for an excuse to leave. "I have to see my dad," and with that she slipped through the heavy iron doors leading to the blacksmithing workshop, leaving the tub-ware and the distraught woman behind. She would have sworn she heard a miserable sigh, the kind people make before crying. Hibana tried to ignore it and instead reach her dad like she said she would.
It was just a narrow hallway; the end of it was open to the workshop. The sound of blowtorches against metal, and banging sounds assured Hibana her father was working long and hard and would not end up like Kyoko.
In the hallway, there were two doors on the left side. One was a bathroom; the second is her father's office. Only looking back once at the metal door where Kyoko sat behind, Hibana walked into her father's office without knocking.
Her father was at his desk, calculator and pencil on his desk and blueprints in hand. The man had orange hair like Hibana, only cut much shorter, and with the same rounded shin and brown eyes. The door licked closed behind Hibana and her father looked over the blueprints and smiled.
"You caught me doing paperwork! Now I look uncool…" Hibana's father joked.
"Naw, you weren't cool before," Hibana smiled. With her father, unlike with her mother, could joke and play around.
The man straightened up in his chair. "So, you brought some lunch for me? Where's your mom?" Hibana's father asked.
"She had some work today."
Hibana's father smiled brightly and nodded. "Good, good."
"Yeah," she agreed, "So I brought you-" Hibana realized there was no food in her hands.
Hibana's father then also realized Hibana had no food for him. "You didn't forget about it at home did you, you space cadet!" He laughed.
Hibana felt herself tense, and even more so when her father's laughter ceased as he noticed Hibana's discomfort.
"You really left it at home?" Her father fretted. "Are you okay? Don't tell me you're having trouble breathing. God, you're not sick too, are you?" He pressed his warm, rough hand to her cheek, holding her face up so he could visually check of illness.
"No, dad. I'm okay. I gave the food to Kyoko-san." Hibana told him.
Suddenly his worried expression melted into a stern one. He licked his lips. "What did she say? Did she ask for it?" Her dad asked suddenly.
"Nothing... she didn't ask for it either. I-I gave it to her because... you know how she's doing." Hibana tripped over her words.
Her usually cheerful, loving father had a foreboding aura about him. Thoughtful, decisive, comprehensive.
"I embarrassed her, didn't I?" Hibana winced. She felt like crying. She didn't mean to upset Kyoko. Hibana likes Kyoko. And now her father is angry with her too...
"No, you didn't. Kyoko..." He trailed off as if he was about to explain what he meant to Hibana. But this time, he didn't. "Just don't give her stuff like that. Don't worry about her. If she needs something, I'll provide it for her. She is my employee."
The words comforted Hibana. "Duh! My dad wouldn't let Kyoko starve," Hibana reasoned with herself. "Okay." Hibana nodded.
"Well, I'll just get something from the market for lunch... you can go ahead and study at Yammamoto's." Her father suggested.
Again, Hibana nodded. Her apprentice training would start soon. Hibana went to reach for the door, when she remembered her mom's promise.
"Hey dad?"
"Yeah?"
"Mom said you had a secret for me. What is it?" Hibana looked her father in the eyes.
"... She didn't tell you?" He inquired. Hibana shook her head. Her dad chuckled. "That woman is such a softie..."
Hibana's face contorted up in confusion; her mother was anything but a softie. Grown-ups are so weird.
"Your mother will explain it at dinner." Her father declared with a smile. Why was both of her parents putting this secret on each other's shoulders? What are they hiding? Hibana suddenly found her father's smile dishonest.
Hibana could have stayed longer questioned that fact that her question has been avoided all day today, but she only nodded and went to apprentice training. The thought that her parents lying to her was very disturbing. And perhaps metalworking with Yammamoto-sensei could relieve Hibana of her suspicions.
Again, Hibana found herself running away from her own worries.
Yammamoto-sensei was an elderly man with left no leg. He had lost it when he was forty due to a smelting accident. The day Yammamoto-sensei told Hibana that, he had laughed at her horrified expression. She did not think it was a laughing manner. She too had burns from metalworking- but she could not fathom how much your leg being burned off would hurt. He didn't seem to think so badly of it. He told her he was lucky it was burned off because he didn't get an infection. Hibana hardly thought that was a reason to think that you are lucky.
But Yammamoto was a delightfully unusual man.
Most old men lived on memories of the past. But Yammamoto-sensei liked to live in the present. He even covered his missing leg with wrappings so the scars wouldn't show and used his cane as efficiently as a flesh-and-blood leg. He was a positive person who liked to have fun and tell jokes and tell amusing stories that are about unfortunate things that happen people in the village as he worked and showed Hibana how to make things. (Even though he handled hot metal mostly by himself; he left Hibana to do mostly whitesmith work or let her watch how metal should be dealt with when hot, and how to shape it to make objects.)
He was such a positive, open person. Hibana shared with him all her curiosities about ninjas- a subject her parents rarely touched.
"I saw some today. It was at the market. It was packed, but nobody saw them except for me!" Hibana explained with wide eyes. She would have waved her arms around in her excitement if they weren't gripping a a red-hot pipe she had heated in the fire-pit for Yammamoto-sensei. She had burned herself enough times to know you must be careful when handling near-molten metal.
She carefull placed the heated metal on a flat cast iron anvil. Yammamoto then started to strike the metal into a flatter shape with a hammer. Hibana stood back when the sparks flew, but watched as the sparks bounced off of Yammamoto, even off his thinning hair. It was like he was impervious to fire, now that he accidentally burned his own leg off. Hibana thought of it like paying a debt with pain. Now he was a master of blacksmithing. And she was his aprentice.
When the metal started to return to its normal grey color, Hibana put it back into the fire pit without being asked. She knew she had to keep the metal from changing temperture too much before dipping the finished product in water to make it hard, or else the metal could have weak spots. She held on strongly to the long tongs, so she could easily take out the metal if it starting to drip at the sides.
As the two waited for the metal to heat up again, Yammamoto continued the conversation. "How did you spot them?"
"A little peice of dirt fell in front of my face when he jumped from the roof of the stand I was at. He was so quiet, if I didn't see the little peice of dirt, I would've missed him!" Hibana reported with enthusiasm.
"You're lucky you are observant. But do you know why the Hidden Leaf ninjas are here?" Yammamoto-sensei's face turned very stern.
"Why?" was Hibana's immediate reply. The seriousness on his face grabbed Hibana's attention like a moth to a flame. Yammamoto told her all sorts of things her parents- or any adult- wouldn't tell her. It's how she knew about Kyoko, and how the baker across the street was having an afair across the street. The man gossiped like an old woman. Not that Hibana diaproved.
Dropping his voice down to a loud whisper, and Hibana's interest in the palm of his hands, he began his explanation, "The Hiddden Leaf is-"
"Yammamoto-san!" The chiding yell of Hibana's mother nearly echosed inside the small, dark work shop. (Yamamoto-sensei told her direct sunlight would cause dicoloration in the metal if wrought.)
Hibana yelped and nearly tipped the metal inside the fire-pit. It could have caused a fire!
"Ah, lovely day Rentetsu-san. How are you?" Yammamoto stood up (with the help of his cane that he and Hibana made) from his stool near the anvil and dusted off his fire proof leg covering as he greeted Hibana's mother with a kindly, grandfatherly smile.
It never ceased to amaze Hibana how he turned from mischevious old man to an edlerly gentleman so quickly. "A reguired skill," Hibana figured.
Hibana's mother gave a stern glare at Yammamoto-sensei, while he returned an innocent grin.
Hibana's mother opened her mouth, as she was about to scold the old man, but she held her tongue. "It's time to go, Hibana. Say good-bye to Yammamoto-san."
"Bye-bye," Hibana wiggled her fingers at Yammamoto-sensei, who returned the gesture.
Hibana's mother then dragged Hibana out of the dark workshop outside, where it was almost as dark. After a few moments, Hubana's mother broke the silence.
"We're having steak with cabbage," Her mother announced. Hibana perked up at her favorite food combination. "What's the occasion?"
Her mother said vaguely, "You'll see."
Hibana was becoming very frustrated with not knowing what was going on. Just what are her parents hiding from her?
"It's not like the Apocalypse is coming, or anything horrible has happened. Except for Kyoko-san. I'll make it up to her later," Hibana's thought rambled together, "And it's not even a special time of the year. It's just late spring, May twentieth... nothing special is going on, no festivals, no holidays-"
Wait...
Oh!
"May twenty-first is my birthday!" Hibana realized. How could Hibana forget about her own birthday? And Hibana didn't get a chance to wipe the soot off her face that sticks to her face, clothes and hair when she works at the Blacksmith with Yammamoto-sensei. She will probably look silly at her early-birthday dinner. Oh well. At least the news isn't the bad kind. Hibana found herself making it home with a bounce to her step.
After Hibana set the table and Hibana's mother finished up dinner, Hibana's father came home. Hibana could tell at a glance the man lost track of time and had to rush home. His pants were nearly sideways on his hips, his shirt in a similar condition. His hair was windblown too. But the funniest result showed when the man smiled and a black smudge on his teeth showed. "He didn't even check in the mirror after work," Hibana thought as she struggled to keep her laughter inside her pursed lips.
When Hibana's mother stepped out of the kitchen to greet her smiling husband, she burst into laughter. With a weakening will, Hibana full-heartedly followed.
Looking taken back and confused, Hibana's father said the only thing his mind could rack up. "What? Do I have somthing on my face?"
This only made Hibana's mother laugh harder and sent Hibana straight to the floor.
Still dumb-founded, Mr. Rentetsu found the mirror in the bathroom. "Oh, ha-ha you guys!" He called from the bathroom in a humourous tone, "Now I know I can trust you guys,"
Hibana's mom rolled her eyes, while Hibana continued giggling.
Dinner continued normally, and dinner shatter filled the air of their house, which had a creaky roof with many cracks in it. Hibana wasn't allowed to count all the cracks in the ceiling anymore, since Hibana's mother said it 'made her nervous'. Hibana thought it was cool that a ceiling with so many cracks can remain standing.
Soon, it was nearing the end of dinner, and Hibana was full and happy. As she excused herself and slid out of her chair to put her plate in the sink, her father's voice.
"Hey Hibana, why don't you stick back here for a bit." It was suggestion, but her father's voice was urgent.
Hibana walked back to the dinner table while still holding her plate. "Okay?" She inquried.
Her mother, the ever-conclusive, spoke first, "The big news is that you're going to the Hidden Leaf." She said in one breath.
Not expecting that as the big secret, Hibana froze. She was prepared for her father losing her job. Maybe even a divorce. But nothing this... unexpected.
"Why?" Hibana finally broke out of her stupor. "There's nothing there for me. I've never been there- or anywhere else before."
Her father bobbed his head along with Hibana's arguement. "Yes, but it'd not our decision. It's the Prime Minister and the President's wish."
"What do they have to do anything about my life?" Hibana gave a quizzical stare at her father. What he just said was the most ridiculous thing Hibana has ever heard.
Her father gave a low chuckle, "Oh you'd be suprised Hibana. They have everything to do with our lives."
"But-" Hibana was confused, but still wanted to fight. She didn't want to leave. "I don't want to go, so I don't have to!"
Her mother's eyes softened as she reached to hold Hibana's hand. "It doesn't work that way, Hibana. We didn't want you to get into trouble by following Mr. Tanaka again..." Hibana's mother trailed slightly. Hibana remembered doing that two years ago, when her father's pay was cut in half and no one would explain to Hibana why the Prime Minister would do that. She spent the entire day trailing Mr. Tanaka for answers. She never did find out why the Prime Minister would do such a thing, but he didn't notice Hibana was following him until her mother caught her. Hibana was proud of herself that day, even during and after her parents grounded her.
"So we packed for you. Your bag is ready in your room. And we also have scrolls from Yammamoto-san so you can continue your blacksmithing while you're there." Hibana's mother gave some time for Hibana to absorb the sudden information, "Someone from the Hidden Leaf is coming to lead you and some other children to the Hidden Leaf Village in the morning."
"This morning?" Hibana exclaimed, her finger's pressed into the plate that was still in her hands.
"No, that already happened," Hibana's father playfully pointed out.
"Next morning?" Hibana ignored her dad's teasing.
Her father's smile dropped and he nodded. "Yes, tomorrow."
"Who else is going? Where will I live? What about you guys? Am I coming back?" Hibana started in a panicked tone. Hibana's fingers were now white against her plate and Hibana's mother stood up to pry her fingers away from the china and pushed down on Hibana's shoulder so her body would plop down on her seat.
"I'm not sure." Hibana's father answered quietly.
"Then why are you being so calm about this?" Hibana's eyes were brimming with tears.
"We have faith that a Village like the Hidden Leaf can take care of you." Her mother answered. Like Hibana's father, her eyes were strong.
"I don't understand," Hibana whispered to herself. Soon, she felt a pair of hands gripping at her arms, coaxing her out of her seat. "Go to sleep. You can't wake up late."
"What about school?" Hibana argued weakly as her father lead her the hallway leading to her bedroom. Hibana was faintly aware of her mother trailing behind the both of them, her head bowed in uncharacteristic silence.
"They'll put you in a new one." Hibana's father said softly.
Hibana couldn't answer; her mind was swimming.
Hibana's father and mother led Hibana to her room and tucked Hibana into bed- something they never did after she turned five. It was comforting and terrifying at the same time. Why are they acting like Hibana will never see them again? "We love you," Her father said. A tear slipped from Hibana's eye. A finger traced her face gently, wiping it away. Hibana's eyes were heavy with fatigue and couldn't tell who's finger it was. She supposed it didn't matter.
For a minute or so, both of her parents stood in her bedroom. Her mother sat at her bed, stroking hair. Behind her, Hibana's father stood and watched Hibana with a very sad, very hard look in his eyes.
Hibana's mother evetually sat up to leave. She didn't say goodnight or goodbye. Her silence hurt Hibana.
"Don't forget where you come from." Her father said. Hibana wasn't sure what he meant by that, but she decided to not forget it. She repeated her father's words over and over inside her head.
The feeling of her father's warm, calloused hand on her cheek was the last thing Hibana registered.
However, before she drifted to sleep, Hibana thought she heard her mother crying in the other room.
Author's Notes: (You should probably skip the first part)
I bitch about the weather in the beginning of the story because I live in the Mojave Desert which is about an hour's drive from Death Valley. (That name alone should explain just how charming the area I live in is, but I'll go on anyway.) The Mojave Desert is the fifth hottest desert in the world and I hate every minutes when I walk into the sunlight here- which, by the way, feels like a cigarette buds being put out on every square inch of your skin. So if you go to California, for the love of god and all that is holy, go to the coast. It's just SO much nicer over there.
Review? (And for those who read the first part; did ya like the reverse-psychology I pulled?)
I'M LOOKING FOR A BETA! Someone very strong in story-structure, creating moods, and characterization in general. I don't want a nice Beta, I want a Beta who will help me out. And you must put up with me asking your opinion every aspect of my story.