The Coldest Day
Disclaimer: A dedication piece. Set in the Konoha village. Kishimoto-sensei is a genius in my mind.
- One Shot -
It was not supposed to be this way.
The sun shown down on the crowd of black clothed ninjas. The age old ceremony carrying on efficiently. All too efficiently. Just another sign that this happened too often.
Not this way.
Men and women, even children laid down their lives carrying out missions and dying to save others of their own community. So how can it be that four heroes should be taken in such a different manner? Not killed by kunai or jutsu. Just the simple cold of an ocean's grip. Water and the beautiful, sunny, warm day that most would consider serene. That view has now been tainted.
Why now?
It is not often that ninjas die during vacation. They save so many lives throughout the year, no one ever feels it is possible that the heroes themselves could be ripped away so easily.
I stand here now, alone yet surrounded by others weeping before the photos. I cannot find it in myself to cry. I have seen it all too often. But there is still a sense of something important missing. The rain. It is a clear sunny day made for cheerful laughter and kids playing in the streets. No sadness in the weather at all. Maybe it is for the better. Like the day they left and how they lived. That is what we should be here about. Not mourning, but laughing.
Life is so fleeting, but day by day it never seems that way, till the ocean waves loll one to sleep, and life slips away.
---- In memory of the men lost who served in the Banner Elk Fire Department. Griff, Kevin, Arch, Shope. You were not just lost friends, but lost brothers. We will miss you dearly.