Notes: Part two of the civilian series.
Warnings: It's amazingly angsty.
HAPPY ENDINGS
When you're a child, being a ninja is the greatest thing ever.
"…and so the ninja brought the princess back to her village where she and the prince lived happily ever after." Her mother finished and kissed her on the forehead.
"Ne, ne, kaa-san, I want to be a ninja when I grow up!"
Her mother's smile evaporated.
"You can't."
Her mother was right. For twenty years she'd lived a normal life of a village girl from an affluent, high-born family, in a world separate from them. Most of her time was spent learning about maintaining the household and being an ideal wife, learning a few specialized skills to get by, and going out with friends. Her days were light and carefree and her future, if the message from the daimyo was to be believed, was secure.
She'd always wondered though, what if she'd taken that alternative path… An exciting life, dangerous adventures, unparalleled speed and agility, the ability to break through mountains and create thunderstorms… she'd heard all the stories, read the tales about the fearsome clans and unbelievable bloodlines, witnessed men jumping rooftops and walking on lakes, seen the metallic glint of weapons and felt the scars they left on the terrain…
She felt envious that she herself – nor anyone she knew – did not have such a thrilling and romantic lifestyle.
Long before the escort arrived, she worked herself into an understandable anticipation. A son of nobility from a small country had come through with a proposal. Word was sent that a team of shinobi would accompany her entourage through bandit country.
When they arrived, two boys and a girl wearing the distinctive headgear of the a Hidden Village, she had fretted over them – what did they want to eat, won't it be too cold with their rather thin clothes, did they care for some futons – until the female gently but firmly told her that it wasn't necessary, that they had survived in far worst conditions.
They were young, younger than her, but they worked very quickly and efficiently, wasting no time in loading up her carriage and conferring with her troupe about the mission plan.
"This is a B-ranked escort mission," The dark-haired rather handsome male explained, rolling out a map of the region. "The danger level is not high but the client requested stronger protection in case of kidnappers. The three of us should be more than capable. If you feel any potential problems cropping up, inform us so extra precautions can be taken. We'll take this route along the border and we'll probably be at our destination within three days."
He looked up to confirm that everyone understood and glanced at his teammates, a silent command in his gaze. They nodded and disappeared into the surrounding foliage to scout ahead for ambushes. The leader remained with their group, easily the youngest and shortest male around.
She stole a glimpse of his silent boyish profile and smiled softly. They were not at all as she expected.
She approached the girl first, a few hours into their journey when the team members switched roles. It was a likely choice, for brides-to-be should not be talking unnecessarily with younger men and, well, the girl was the least intimidating of the three. Small, if you looked past the bulky gear, and looked almost too frail for carrying the amount of equipment she had.
"Ne, cold, isn't it?" Of course, when in doubt, talk about the weather.
The girl turned to her, perhaps surprised at being addressed but didn't show it, and shrugged.
Her hurt must have shown on her face because the kunoichi relented. "We are nearing Snow country after all…"
She smiled at the attempt in conversation. "Yes, I suppose I must get used to it. I will miss this." She waved a hand at the scenery, rolling fields of grass slowly becoming dense forests.
"But, it must be an honor, surely, to be chosen for this." The girl returned gently. "Your family is happy and proud."
"Yes, yes," She waved it off carelessly, not wanting to talk of her impending marriage when she could learn so much right now about ninjas. "It is truly an honor, but I can only wish it will, well, develop into true love." She blushed, relieving her conversations with her girlfriends, hoping to make such a connection with this one. Ninja or not, she's still a girl!
"It will be different than what you expect, certainly" The girl answered diplomatically.
She frowned at the evasive answer then decided to be more forward. "Ne, what about you then? Wouldn't you like to marry for love?"
The kunoichi's gaze shifted for a moment. "Hai, I did."
Her eyebrows shot into her hair. "How old are you?!"
"I'm eighteen." The girl grinned, eye curving into happy slits.
At that age, she and her friends wore sundresses and flirted with the village boys.
Years of ingrained etiquette barred her from becoming too forthcoming with her next questions. How exciting it must be.
"Is it hard, I mean, since you're a ninja…?"
"It is worth it," The girl answered politely.
There was a minute of silence, in which she just stared at the kunoichi (who, in turn, was watching the terrain and frowning at the rapidly waning sunlight). "You marry young."
"We do not have the luxury of waiting." A pause and a sheepish smile. "Again, it is worth it."
They set up camp when night fell, three large pitched tents huddled around a small campfire. The trio of ninjas took turns keeping watch around the perimeter.
They fear the night more than we do, she thought to herself, frowning at their tense postures and silent paranoid gestures.
Right now, the girl and the leader were conferring together, talking rapidly. She approached them hesitantly, unwilling to settle for the night.
They noticed her movement immediately and stopped talking. The girl sent the leader a warning look and flew off.
She felt a bit hurt at the rather brusque reception. Maybe it had been too much to expect a girly bonding experience with a kunoichi.
The leader turned and automatically asked if she needed anything. His terse demeanor really did not fit with his boyish looks.
She opened and closed her mouth a few times, wondering if she was being too forward, then steeled herself.
"You seem close," She commented quietly. Could it be possible? Was he –?
The young man smiled, his face softening unconsciously. "She is my sister-in-law. My brother's wife… but we've known each other since we were kids."
Ah.
"Why is your brother not here instead?" She asked curiously, her face brightening.
The shinobi gave her a weird look then recomposed his face. "My brother is…different. ANBU." As though that explained everything.
"What is that?"
"You don't need to know," The male smiled, too sunny to be genuine.
"So, you'll be protecting her in his stead, right?" She teased coyly.
"I'll always protect her," He muttered to himself, rolling his eyes. He didn't seem to realize he'd said it aloud. "You must sleep now. We will be getting an early start tomorrow."
Then he left.
Her mouth was still hanging open as an unholy light filled her eyes.
He was in love with the girl. The poor bastard.
She nearly laughed. Maybe they weren't so different from normal people after all.
They encountered bandits on the second day.
It shouldn't have been a problem. Except that a couple of them had ninja training and were more difficult to incapacitate.
She watched it all with a kind of mute horror from her place behind all her escorts, watched three big burly men with large blades ganging up on the girl half their size, watched their leader move lightning fast against his own foes while dodging a rain of needles and kunai, the third one performing a series of hand gestures and releasing an inferno.
The danger had never been so real before. The stories never mentioned how messy it was. That there would be blood and sweat and spit and dirt stains on their clothes. That the clang of weapons and the crunch of bones and the sound of flesh being sliced apart would assault their ears.
It was over as quickly as it started.
Then she realized that it was getting harder to breath.
It was the kunoichi who first noticed her hyperventilating and ran to her, offering the comforts of a soothing hand and caring voice and kind words.
She tried not to stare at the fierce bruising or the fleshy iron smell of the shoulder she was crying on.
It was only after she calmed down that the girl let go of her.
She looked imploringly at the other girl's face, wanting desperately to let out the tension by talking about it, when she caught the kunoichi's eyes and suddenly felt betrayed.
The girl's eyes were as blank and untroubled as ever.
Was that some sort of psychological technique to get me to calm down?
Even their concern wasn't real.
Was there anything about these people that wasn't an illusion?
If she thought the second day was bad, the third day was much much worse.
Everything went downhill, only half a day from their destination.
It had started out normally enough, even though there was a new pervading silence and distance between the civilian and shinobi groups.
Suddenly, the girl appeared from above where she'd been scouting and threw a kunai into the trees.
"There aren't supposed to be spiders in this area," she whispered when everyone turned to her. "That was the third one I saw."
Two of them immediately went to investigate while motioning for everyone to arm themselves.
In less than a minute he was burst back into the trail.
"Get away from here, now!" (It was already too late.)
Two men stepped out after him at a leisurely pace, wearing dark robes with blood red clouds.
That was when the nightmare began.
This mind-numbing fear. This choking aura.
Everything about the sight made her want to scratch her eyes out and tear her own throat. Her blood felt frozen and she couldn't move except to quiver helplessly.
"Annoying, un,"
"I told you not to scatter those things around,"
"Fine, fine, I'll clean up,"
The sound of a something flying through the air. An explosion of blood.
"We got lucky," That was the first thing the leader said since he regained consciousness. "They were only passing by." His torso was heavily bandaged and only a stump was left of one of his arms.
"There's no point staying for a corpse. The most important thing is to finish this mission. Let's go – it's only a few more hours from here." He had to be helped up by his teammate, who had severe though less fatal injuries himself.
She cast a final glance at the makeshift graves and felt a wave of hot angry tears rushing to her eyes and a surge of terrible anger at his aloof face. Not six hours ago, that 'corpse' was your sister and comrade! How could you be so heartless?!
"The summons please," it made sense that their identities would be checked. There had, after all, only half the number of people expected to arrive – not to mention they all looked like they'd come from a warzone.
One of her kinsmen tossed it to the leader ninja.
He couldn't catch it. His companion had to pluck it from the cold ground to present to the guard.
"We have to talk to the head of your village. It's urgent."
The guard nodded and allowed them to proceed.
Half an hour and a wrong turn later, they finally arrived at the noble's house (their host would be no doubt horrified to learn the details of their journey).
"I'm sorry, I read the map wrong." The leader said, smiling that cheery smile again.
That god-awful cheery smile.
It was then she understood just how hard he was taking it, even before the smile wobbled precariously, even before he turned his head away sharply.
No ninja of his rank should have made such an elementary mistake.
And he still had to explain it to his brother… and their families… and their friends…
It would have been easier if she didn't see that face.
Damn, THAT had been real.
She felt like crying again.
Mission accomplished.
She stared at their fading silhouettes, him clutching the still-bleeding wound, the other sprinting behind ready to help, and never wanted to be a shinobi again. It was too cruel.
The prince and princess lived happily ever after. But the ninja would hemorrhage to death the next day.
Owari
Notes: The ninjas here are not Leaf, at least in my POV. They can be whoever you want. I just wanted to slap some background on some of the nameless faceless victims of Akatsuki. The POV of a sheltered, somewhat naïve but ultimately nice civilian.
Point: Happy endings don't apply to shinobi.
Extra Unnecessary Notes (to uplift the mood!): I had this Naruto-dream the other night. It started out a bit like the Chuunin exams and ended up something like American Idol. It's all the proof I need to know my brain's finally turning into mush.
Next up!
Pirates (on Epitome) – I'm still working on it. Darn, it passed 10,000 words and it's supposed to be a oneshot.
CALAMITIES (on Civilian) – What it means to be a civilian living in a ninja village. [Non-tragic this time. I've had enough of angst.]
"When a great bushfire ravaged the next village, we didn't even bother to worry. The next week, though, a couple of Uchihas had a fight and you know their elemental techniques…"
