Konekomaru sighed as he looked at the blurry flowing waters of the river. He reached forward and dipped a hand into it, feeling the ice cold water run around his hand. It was a nice, warm summer day, and the monks had decided to take the day to enjoy some time at the nearby river. Somewhere to his left, Konekomaru could hear Ryuji and Renzo splashing around in the river. Konekomaru liked the water about as much as anybody, he just didn't feel much like swimming, so he was just sitting in the shade at the moment.

"Hey Koneko, watcha' doin' way over here?" Konekomaru looked up, shading his eyes against the sun's bright light, and saw a head full of black hair. From the voice, he knew it was one of Renzo's older brothers, Juuzo. "Come on, it's a nice day outside. You need to play outside more, you're too pale. Come on, in the river you go." Juuzo leaned down and picked Konekomaru up by his under-arms, lifting him in the air above his head. Konekomaru squirmed a bit as he was lifted into the air. He didn't particularly like it when Juuzo did this, but he was just too quiet to say so. Besides, the guy meant well. However, he did try to tell him he didn't want to swim, but the eldest Shima brother wouldn't hear of it. "Nonsense, you love the water, I know you do. And it's hot out here, it feels nice." He started to put Konekomaru into the water, but another voice stopped him.

"Juuzo, just leave the kid alone already, if he doesn't want to get in the water, then don't make him." Konekomaru, still being above Juuzo's head, could see a head of white hair. Even without the hair, though, he only needed to hear the voice to recognize Mamushi Hojo, eldest daughter and heir to the Hojo family.

"Aw, come on Mamushi, look at him." He held Konekomaru out for her to look closer at him. Konekomaru was made a bit uncomfortable at being dangled in the air like that, and he mumbled this quietly. "He's paler than a mouse. He needs the sun. And look at these little arms," at this point he pulled Konekomaru and held him to his chest with one arm, then encircled the other hand around Konekomaru's thin arm, "skinny as twigs."

"I don't care, just put him down already." Juuzo rolled his eyes and placed Konekomaru back on the ground.

"Alright, fine, I put him down. Happy?" Mamushi nodded and, with some argument, they walked off, leaving Konekomaru on his own. The small boy stared back into the river, watching the blurry water. He looked up and smiled when he heard something.

"Oh, it's you all." They were some of the river creatures, like the ones he played with in his little field. They were all about his size, but green, and they appeared to have water in their heads somehow. They gathered around him and chattered happily, splashing him with a bit of water in the process. Konekomaru smiled with joy. He pulled a few cucumbers out of his pockets and gave them to the creatures, who munched them down eagerly. Yes, it was going to be a good day for him.

–

Something was wrong. Konekomaru knew that much as soon as he left the path. First off, no small green creature came to greet him. Second, he seemed to scent a faint hint of smoke in the air. Fearing the worst, though he didn't quite know what that could be, he found his own way to the clearing. The whole thing was foreign to him, and he was slightly panicking.

The sight that he found when he got to the clearing was far beyond anything he could have feared. The whole field was barren wasteland. A few people in long black clothing stood in the center, objects held in their hands. (He couldn't make out what they were wearing and what they held, of course, because of his bad eyesight.) Konekomaru stayed crouched in the bushes and listened to what the people were saying.

"Jesus Christ, they were right, this place was infested. I swear, I couldn't have taken a few steps without stepping on one of 'em. Greenmen, dekalf, hobgoblins. I'm glad we got this place out of the way, it was basically a big death-trap. I'm glad we got this place cleared out before some kid wandered in here or something."

"I'll say," this one was a woman's voice. "Man, all I wanna' do after this mess is take a nice hot bath." Konekomaru, listening from the shrubbery, couldn't believe his ears. He didn't need to see properly to know that these people must have killed the creatures of the clearing. He could feel his eyes welling up with silent tears. How could this be? How could God, or Buddha, or any kind of deity be so cruel to a child that hadn't even done anything wrong. First his parents, and now his first friends. What had he done that was so horrible?

"Hey guys, you hear that? It sounds like we missed a couple." Konekomaru started when he heard this. Was it too good to be true, did a few of his little friends really survive the massacre from these strangers. He froze when he heard the sound of a gun clicking.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of these ones." Konekomaru looked around furiously, willing for his eyesight to be good enough to spot them. He felt a tug on his sleeve and turned down. He almost sighed with relief when he saw the familiar coloring of the creatures he cared for so much. One of them was one of the round creatures with the red limbs, the other was one of the tiny green creatures, the ones that smelled like plants. Konekomaru scooped the two into a hug, which they eagerly returned.

"Thank goodness you two survived," he breathed with relief. He tensed up, however, when he heard heavy footsteps coming towards them in the underbrush.

"I think they're over here, come on, before they get away!" Konekomaru put the two down and pushed them away. They looked back at him, but he shook his hands and waved them desperately away.

"Listen, you can't stay here. You have to go or you'll be killed! Please, I don't want you to die too." The two creatures stared at him, then turned back around and began heading into the forest. "I'm sorry, but I just don't want you to die." Konekomaru shed a single tear as he watched their colors fade away into the shrubbery. "I promise I'll find you two again, I promise..." He felt empty inside. He had saved them, sure, but now what? He was alone again, what else was he supposed to do?

He felt a sudden flaring hatred for the people who stood in his clearing. He hated them with a burning passion that most would not even believe possible for a child his age. Konekomaru began to walk away, when he heard a loud 'bang'. The tree trunk above him exploded in a shower of wood chips, they rained down upon him as he covered his head with his arms and dove down to the ground. He yelped at the wood pieces fell on him, and stood up again as soon as they stopped. He found himself looking up at the blurry face of one of the black-cloaked people.

"What the-" The one standing above him was smacked in the back of the head by another. They held their head as the new one yelled at him.

"Are you crazy or just stupid? You almost shot a kid just now!" It was the woman again, he could tell by the voice. "Hey kid," her tone was soothing now, "are you okay? Where are your mommy and daddy? Or some of your friends?" Konekomaru could feel the anger course through his veins, his tiny fists clenching tightly.

"My... my parents are both dead." He heard the woman gasp as he said this. His own tone had lost all emotion, completely devoid of anything. "And how... how could I be with my friends, when you just killed most of them?" He couldn't stop the tears dripping down his face, so he fled. He could hear the adults calling after him, but he didn't stop. He could tasted his own salty tears as they dripped into his mouth as he ran, breathing heavily. He didn't stop until he got to his own room. He closed the door tightly behind him and went straight to his little bed, pulling the covers over his head.

He just stay like that, curled up under the covers in a ball as the tears still flowed from his eyes. He sniffled as he tried to hold them back, but it seemed impossible to do this. So, finally, he just chose to let go. He silently cried. Making no sound, he just allowed the salty, sad tears drip down his face until he finally fell asleep from exhaustion and the toll all of the stress had taken on his tiny body. So, with dried tears on his face and his tiny being curled up like his namesake animal, the kitten, he slept.

Well, that's the tenth chapter point. I hope this provides a bit more insight into his past. Trust me, things in his childhood are gonna get a whole lot darker from here on out, so be warned. Next chapter, we see what two of Konekomaru's greatest fears are, so stay tuned!