AN: Hey, Ari here! Hope you guys like this chapter and the many more to come. :3
Prologue: .5 Ari
Running through the forest on silent feet, following closely behind Hibiki with her small hand clutching the hem of his shirt, Ari is frightened of what lies ahead for them. Fear thrums through her fierce and strong.
The hurried sound of pursuit assaults their ears, but louder still is the whistling of sharp objects hurling through the air.
Wincing, all too aware of what this will mean for him, Hibiki stops and thrust Ari behind him. There isn't anything that he wouldn't do for her. She is small and defenceless compared to him. This is his job, to protect her.
A harsh yelp of pained horror from the juvenile fox that had been scouting their way, resounds eerily as several sebon hit his vital points, and kunai rip through him. Blood spurts forth in a violent splash of crimson bathing the ground at his feet moments before he buckles to his knees.
A satisfied smile pulls up the corners of his lips as the light begins to die from his eyes. The chocked screaming of men tells him that those closest to them have been caught in his trip wire trap; buying them some time for him to say goodbye to Ari.
She appears before him, tears flowing freely from her troubled eyes. She knows that he is dying, and it is the most heartbreaking thing to see a child who has never experienced such great loss or pain.
He grasps both of her small hands as she cries feebly for him not to go.
"Don't die Hibiki. I'm not ready." She pulls at his shirt with surprising strength. "I won't ever be ready." She sobs quietly.
Stroking the short strands of hair framing her face, blood forms at the corners of his mouth.
Lying down with a pain grunt, he beckons her nearer so he can look into her eyes. With time being of the essence before more pursuers catch up to them, casting her into a genjutsu to express his thoughts, wishes, and emotions to her is the only way remaining for him to say his goodbyes, though it will steal hers.
The young fox nuzzles his cheek affectionately as he tries repeatedly to cast the child into a genjutsu, but she won't look at him. She keeps trying to heal the damage to his body, but too much blood has already been lost. Pulling out and throwing away the sebon, she sets to work with medical ninjutsu exactly as she has been taught in simulation. Green light surrounds her hands hovering over the bubbling wound that will be the death of him.
She cries out in anguish as this doesn't work. The blood coats her hands and ruins her clothes, leaving her with horrifying images she will never forget try as she might.
Hibiki lifts a feeble hand, placing it over hers, and for the briefest second she looks at him, and it is enough. He has her now.
Showing her what he hopes her to find in life, the place he wishes her to go, and a few of his memories that she loved to experience through his calming genjutsu, is all that he can manage before his heart stops pumping blood around his body, and his chest stops rising and falling.
Blinking open her eyes as the genjutsu ends, she witnesses the light die from his eyes as he smiles softly. "The fox will take care of you. She knows the way to where I want you to go. Just look for that symbol on the bracelet I gave you." His eyes closing, he whispers. "Goodbye Ari."
Screaming in horror, she leans forward and gives it her last effort to save him, but he is already gone.
After licking his eyelids shut, the fox barely older than a pup pushes Ari from behind insistently as a single kunai flies over her shoulder, cutting one side of her hair shorter than the other. The blue strands float to the ground as she stands to run.
