Chapter 1 – The First Time
"Hey! Kankurou-Chan!"
A nine year old Kankurou looks up from his puppet to see a scruffy, dark-brown haired girl about his age running toward him. She looks more like a boy than any girl he's ever seen, and her too big and too dirtied clothes don't help matters. She sits on the ground in front of him with a cute grin on her face. Looking at her with a dismissive grunt, he goes back to fiddling with his puppet.
The girl points to Kankurous' puppet and asks, "What's it's name?"
Without looking up he replies, "He doesn't have one."
She leans back against the wall and watches for a few seconds before interrupting his tinkering again. She leans forward, looks into Kankurous' face and says, "Why doesn't he? Don't you know everything needs a name? If not, it stays weak and will die. Faster. Why do you think our parents give us names? And since that puppet is like your child, you should give him a name. By the way, my name is Kamen."
Kankurou looks away from his puppet to the annoying talkative girl and asks, "Isn't Kamen a name for boys?"
Kaman shrugs, happy to finally get Kankurou to talk. She asks eagerly, "So, do you want some help naming him? I'm great at figuring stuff out."
He shrugs and goes back to his puppet. With an air of boredness he says, "Maybe some other time, okay?"
She nods, obviously excited at the prospect. "I just moved here. My parents have always been traveling, but ever since my dad got injured real bad and mama died, we decided to settle down, but I think I'm gonna be a part of all the ninja of the Sand Village. I've always been learning how to fight and stealth has always been second-nature to me, so I'm not worried. But I'm definitely gonna wear a mask. You can't have a name that means mask and not wear 'em. Right?"
Kankurou just shrugs, appearing uninterested.
Kamen looks around, realizing that it's getting pretty dark out. She stands up and stretches, then looks down at Kankurou and says, "Hey, I'm going home now. You should probably go home, too. We should hang out again tomorrow, okay? I really enjoyed this."
She walks away, not in any hurry. Now alone with his thoughts and his puppet, Kankurou watches this strange new girl walk away. He says aloud to no one in particular, in a voice so low, even the wind and his puppet could barely hear him, "I liked it, too. Kamen-chan."
-End-
(To be Continued)