A/n: Remember the little girl Setsuna rescued in chapter 16? This chapter is from her point of view. My muse challenged me to include the change of Ame, from the lens of a civilian.
I choose little Miu. So, this chapter will view Ame from her eyes. It would be from the perspective of a five years old child.
Enjoy.
Chapter 19 : From rose-tinted lens
It was such a fine day in the newly-reborn Ame.
The rain has not yet returned in their unforgiving force like before, but instead only came in a little drizzle that started when the sun peeked at the horizon and lasted long enough for everyone to wake up and see the sparkling remnants of dew on the vibrantly blooming flowers.
Rare. Such a rare sight, but not one that was unwelcomed.
The stench of death from Hanzou's tyranny rule has faded now, being replaced with the fresh scent of spring. The first sound that followed after the sound of birds chirping was the sound of giggling children. At long last, the children of Ame could venture the village without the fear of accidentally annoying the wrong people.
Miu was one of those children, enjoying her morning by running across the newly-formed landscape of Ame right after she added light pink to her mother's once colourless cheeks.
It was a better day. Such a fine day—
"YOU IDIOT!"
Or not.
Miu looked up towards the once forbidden palace, wondering what has triggered such loud yell. By this point, it was no longer a strange occurrence. It has been a normal thing ever since the shift of power in Amegakure a few days ago. The other day there was a vibrant flash of light that almost outshone the sun, yesterday was a mortified shriek and today it was a yell.
Their new ruling power was significantly different than the previous one and the whole Ame seemed to love it.
But today, Miu paid more attention to the palace's shenanigan. She definitely recognised the yelling voice—she will recognise that voice everywhere—because the voice belonged to the goddess who helped heal her momma.
Momma used to lie in the death house, waiting for death to save her from her own rotting body but then, the rain stopped, and things started to change.
The goddess killed their cruel king.
The saviour arrived and free their people.
The god blessed their land with the sustenance they desperately needed.
Then, the angels in black started fixing their broken country, one step at a time.
In Miu's rose-tinted gaze, these beings were the answers to her years of prayers to the sky. She revered them with devoted trust and loyalty, looking up at them with trusting eyes, even in this short week after they arrived into her life.
Though, being godly in her eyes didn't stop them from getting involved in stupid amusing shenanigans.
Again.
A fine day in Ame indeed.
Being a civilian child, Miu viewed the heroes of Ame with a rose-tinted gaze.
The new king was a far superior upgrade than the previous one—a kinder man, a gentler soul and a more loveable human being than Hanzou ever was. The king's advisor was the silliest and funniest shinobi Miu has ever met, also a man that was equally loveable as the new king. The new general was so efficient in managing the nation that in just a few days, there was already an established devoted group of little girls that aspire to be like her.
Those three were the trio.
Then, there was THE trio—the foreign ones.
Miu viewed the foreign trio as godly beings.
To her, the foreign trio was not shinobi—not humans—because the air that the three of them carried were different.
Miu already has her favourite shinobi, and both of them were nowhere close to the trio. Her favourite shinobi felt human, despite the gift of chakra and kekkei genkai that both of them wielded. She could still feel a form of relation with Setsu-nii and Mari-nee, even though she was a civilian and they both were shinobi.
They were different in a way—shinobi and civilian—but at the core, Miu could still feel the human in them.
However, the foreign three didn't feel like they were human at all.
The goddess. The saviour. The god.
All three of them felt incredibly different than normal human or shinobi.
Even as a young civilian, Miu knew that the three of them were brimming with some form of divine inhuman power.
When she sat by Rin-sama's side, one hand holding her momma's pale one while the other fisting on her own kimono, the air that she felt emitting from the older girl was so powerful. It wasn't suffocating, was nowhere close to being oppressive, but there was raw power in the air. It reminded Miu that the girl in front of her was not one to be taken lightly.
Being around Nohara Rin reminded her of the description of the ocean that Tanaka once told her in one of his stories.
Calm and beautiful at the surface, rich with life deep inside, but with unknown power beneath. If that power is unleashed, the effects would be devastating. Beautiful an ocean was, it has all the capabilities to be unpredictably destructive and unforgiving against those who invoke its wrath.
But an ocean was so full of life too—a blessing for those who seek its tender care.
Miu watched the infected wounds on her mother's frail body healed under Rin-sama's glowing hands. Her heart felt a little bit lighter when colour returned to Momma's ashen face. Her lips quirked to a relieved smile when she heard Momma breathed a little bit easier. Her tears prickled at her eyes when she could no longer smell the rotten flesh of her mother's once beautiful body.
Momma was healed.
The realisation hit her with full force, causing her to burst to grateful tears.
"Do not cry for me," Momma has once said, the last time she was conscious to speak to her. "I will be fine."
She hadn't been fine. Not then. Not recently. Never.
Momma has never been fine ever since the scary shinobi man started taking her out.
Mission, Momma has told her once. She was helping out in an important mission for their king.
But they were civilian.
Civilians were not qualified to take missions as shinobi did. Civilians weren't supposed to go to missions. They shouldn't interfere. They weren't shinobi.
Regardless, Momma always went with the shinobi man, and would eventually return with fresh, untreated injuries and a little bit of extra food for Miu.
It went on long enough that "I will be fine" started to mean "At least, I'm still alive" in their small family.
Momma has never been fine.
But this time, Momma looked like she would be.
"You mother will be fine," Rin-sama has told Miu that day, her hand landing on top of Miu's head with gentleness so unlike the power she was radiating. "She might be a bit weak for now, but with time and medicine, she will be fine."
And she wasn't lying.
Momma has indeed become better. She was even strong enough to help with the harvest. Strong enough to yell at Miu for playing in the mud. Strong enough to nag Miu when she came back with a naginata and an amused Akatsuki trailing behind her. Strong enough to be worried that her daughter was learning to fight, even when the shinobi assured her that Miu would be trained by the best.
Momma was now strong enough to hold Miu warm and safe every night, secure in her once cold embrace.
Miu has witnessed the proof of Rin's words. She has experienced the heavy weight of the Sanbi jinchuuriki's power, has observed the magic the older girl has bestowed on her mother and has the knowledge that Nohara Rin was the one who put an end to Hanzou.
That was the moment Miu decided that Nohara Rin was not a human.
Like the ones in the stories that Tanaka used to tell them, Miu concluded that Nohara Rin was a goddess. She was one of the gods and goddesses that once roamed the Earth. There were many types of those gods and goddesses—some were kind, some were evil while some were somewhere in between—but Miu already knew what Rin-sama was.
A warrior goddess—the divine protector for the weak.
So, Miu started tailing Rin everywhere, as much as she was allowed to, without being a bother to any of the busy shinobi surrounding Rin.
Tailing Rin got Miu to closely acquaint herself with Konan.
If Rin-sama was a goddess, then, Konan-sama was an angel—the great general of the angels in black, because there was no other way for Miu to describe the intimidating woman.
It was a bit scary at first—despite she has once been carried by this woman—but unlike the soft beauty that her goddess possessed, the general's beauty was sharper. Her delicate porcelain face was sharpened with the unyielding curl of her violet-painted lips. The wisdom in her amber gaze carried the truth of her words, convincing Miu that everything will get better soon. Her voice was stern, carrying no room for disobedience or nonsense, which only aided her duties as the general for their new king with how quick she managed the new Ame, reconstructing their broken country from the mess their previous king has left behind.
Miu looked up the general with wide awed eyes, often wondering if a civilian like her could ever reach her level, to be able to stand at ease by the side of the king and the gods.
Tailing Rin also got Miu to be in close range with the saviour.
This one also didn't feel like a normal human.
Strange. He was so strange. Miu couldn't exactly pinpoint it, but unlike the devastating power radiating from her goddess, the saviour didn't exactly flaunt his power out in the open like that. He was more reserved in flaunting his power, concealing his presence in that fascinating shinobi way, so much so that sometimes, not even the new king could sense him.
But Miu knew that he was powerful—even more than her goddess, in fact.
She was awake that night after all. She couldn't sleep in the death house, worrying over her sick mother when the dark night suddenly turned bright with crackling white lightning. She was able to find a stool quick enough so that she could stretch on her toes and looked out the window just in time to see the silhouette of a white wolf tore through the dark clouds. She remembered staring in horrified awe, feeling that ancient fear growing in her heart upon hearing his piercing howl—the fear for the divine, her mother has whispered when the saviour left them alone after his routine check-up rounds—because even if the saviour still felt close like a human when he was concealing his power, Miu knew that this person carried the power of the gods.
But she also viewed him as a somewhat cute nii-chan.
Spirit of Peace. Hope of mankind. Saviour.
The adults called him with so many different names, yet, he seemed at his most content when the kids tentatively called him Sakuto-nii.
Miu would always remember the crinkles of those mismatched eyes, the genuine amused warmth in his voice when he healed the little scratches she and her friends had after a whole afternoon playing in the trees. She appreciated his impromptu self-defence lessons, grateful that he didn't scold her even when it was within his rights to do so as she was the one sneaking into the shinobi training arena that he was supervising. She appreciated his kindness for showing her how to defend herself, even without having chakra like the shinobi.
She clung to his words that she would do great with a naginata, that she has a talent in it, if she ever wanted to pick up a weapon on her own once she was older.
Miu's a civilian.
No one ever told a civilian that they have the talent in fighting, not when they have shinobi to compete against.
No one ever did.
His kindness made it so easy for Miu to view him as the elder brother she has lost long before she was born—someone that Miu willingly idolised and tried to imitate.
Though, if asked, she will still claim Setsu-nii as her favourite brother, because she couldn't possibly choose between the saviour and the god. Both of them would pout and sulk if she (or any other children in Ame, for all that mattered) chose one over the other, so she better let them both lost as she opted for the safest option.
Regardless, being familiar with both the saviour and the goddess has brought her closer to god.
Some of the angels in black have tried to correct her—tried to convince her that Obito-sama was just a shinobi, a human like the rest of them—but she heeded them no mind. The general and the advisor have tried to change her mind, though the king seemed to give up right after meeting her gaze.
Miu didn't fall for their lies at all.
She might be young and gullible, but these angels couldn't hide the god from her. Not when everyone already knew who was behind the blessing on Ame's land.
They couldn't hide the fact that there was a god walking among them on this land.
Once upon a time ago, Miu used to pray every night—hoping for her mother to heal, praying for the sun to shine on Ame, desperately begging for god to bless their wetland with something that could grow here—because she was sick of witnessing her friends dying one by one, with their ribs visible beneath their skin, failing to survive on the bare minimum of rations that their king distributed.
The shinobi needed to eat well after all. They were the one doing the work for the nation. They were the backbone that served the king's ambition. They were far more important to deserve good food.
Civilian like her only get the leftover scraps because they weren't as useful as the shinobi.
When the Earth trembled and threw tantrum beneath their feet, it didn't only remove her momma from the death house, but it also gifted them with trees and plants that bloomed in their harsh wetland. It was a blessing disguised as a disaster. A test for mortals like her, to test whether she could see the silver lining behind the destruction, to see if she was capable to realise the good beneath the bad, to see if she would be appreciative enough to pay her gratitude to the one that blessed them all.
The first taste of fresh peach on her tongue was so heavenly that Miu almost sobbed.
She has never had the chance to eat so freely, without worrying over her meal tomorrow.
This blessing could be temporary, because the rain has yet to pick up on its old unforgiving force, but no one was worrying over it. Instead, the adults were perfectly calm at facing such a prospect. They had a plan for it, Momma has assured her, but being a young child as she was, Miu wasn't included in the discussion.
All that she knew was that the adults were packing up, gathering and storing whatever resources they have on hands, as if they were preparing for massive migration.
"We're going to a safer place," Momma has answered when Miu asked her. "An abandoned land, once so rich and powerful but now a forgotten relic of the past. We're going there to rebuild our nation and revive their legacy."
It made Miu felt a little bit sad, because this was the land that so many of her friends have died.
In fact, there were pretty trees on the place where her friends took their last breath—a well-deserved marker for the graves of forgotten children—and to think that they were about to leave all of these behind has made Miu a bit disheartened.
She didn't want to leave her friends behind.
She didn't want to forget them.
Miu was sulking over this under the silver tree when she first had a conversation with the god.
He has approached her that afternoon, still hobbling on his crutches as he sat beside her hunched form.
As much as it should be weird for a god to have such flaw, Miu also remembered Tanaka's stories, and knew that some gods loved to trick mortals like this. It was a test too, because in those stories, those who displayed kindness to the gods while they were in this kind of vulnerable forms would be rewarded.
Not that Miu expected any reward.
Her momma's alive and recovering. Her tummy was full and sated. Her remaining friends are alive and happy. The adults said that they were heading to a better place and judging from the frequency Sakuto-nii and Yahiko-sama kept on disappearing, she was positive that there was a form of strong defence being organised at the new place. It was said that things grow easier at the new place, and that there were chances for fishing activities.
Miu has never eaten a fish.
She didn't expect any rewards. She was already content with the blessing that she has.
This god has given enough to her.
Though, when he leant his back against the pitch-black tree and offered her a hug, she gave in, breaking the stoic mask she has put up for her momma to expose her grief to him.
She confided everything to him. Like how she used to clasp her hands and prayed her grievance to the deaf god back then, now she buried her face to his chest and told him everything.
Despite the prospect of heading to a better place, she didn't want to leave her dead friends behind. It scared her to do so, because without the reminder of her friends, she feared that she would eventually forget them, especially if they indeed were going to a better place.
It was such a stupid fear.
But this god listened. He listened to every single one of her choked words and responded to her with kindness.
"You're not leaving them behind," the god has told her with a kind smile. "A part of them are still alive," he murmured, tapping her chest once, but was completely evading her curious teary gaze by tilting his head up to stare at the silver canopy shadowing their heads.
"How?"
She has asked him then, because perhaps the wisdom of a god made more sense than the reasoning of mortals.
"How can I be sure of that?"
The quirk of his smile didn't match the grief in his eyes, but he answered her with kindness and compassion regardless.
"Remember them," he answered, gentle and kind. "Perhaps it's the scowl they made whenever you argued. Or the expression they made when they were doing something they're obsessed with. Or the things they taught you. Or the vulnerable moments you shared together," his eyes softened considerably, and she almost thought she saw tears in his red spinning eyes.
It made Miu wondered—
Is the god grieving too?
He didn't address the glazed sheen of his eyes, but instead pulled her closer into his arms, pressing his cheek on top of her head. "It could be the tantrum he threw when things didn't go his way. Could be the way he pouted when both of you were berated for being troublemakers. Could be the way he rolled all over the field when he found a stray puppy. It could even be the general tendency he has to be an insufferable jerk," he hummed, opening her palm with his bigger hands, and placed a fallen silver flower on her palm.
Miu stared at the silver flower, fascinated with the way the petals gleamed under the warm sunlight.
"Remember them," the god told her. "Hold on to their memories to your last breath," he added, lips quirking to a smirk as he lightly tapped the tip of her nose, resuming, "But never let it hold you back from living your life. Remember the values they taught you, their dreams and hopes—embrace them all as your own, and they shall continue to live on within you. They will not be forgotten."
Miu has looked up to meet his red gaze then, but those red has shifted back to pitch black that shone with bittersweet glaze, and the smile that he gave her was more genuine this time—almost accepting in a way.
His words made sense.
If she continued on living for her friends, then they wouldn't be completely dead. She could grow a garden in their new place, just like how Momo always wanted to do. She could keep Tanaka's stories alive by passing them on to the younger children. She could keep Haru alive by being kind to everyone as he was. She could keep Madoka's spirit alive if she remembered what a positive soul Madoka was. She could keep Kaori alive by devouring every single knowledge she could get her little hands on.
Moving away didn't have to be the end of their stories. It didn't have to mean that they will be forgotten.
Not when she was still alive.
Live. She has to continue on living.
For the sake of her friends, she has to keep on living. Her friends will be the last children of Ame that perished unnoticed.
They will be the last.
Miu snuggled a little bit closer into his arms, taking advantage of the comfort from the power that he radiated because even though the trees radiated the same sense of comfort and security, it wasn't as prominent as being directly in his presence. Safe and comforted, Miu gazed up and past the tall gates of the palace, seeing the top of the trees which marked the graves of her friends.
She acknowledged the life that grew from the pain of their deaths, and the grief that struck her this time came wrapped with a fierce determination.
My dear friends, she vowed.
Miu then cast a determined gaze towards the shinobi training arena.
You will be the last.
The vow was the starting point.
A tiny step for a child, but a huge step for change.
Miu decided that she was going to survive this world. She was going to fight for her survival. She would keep on living for her deceased friends—that was her vow. Even if she wasn't a shinobi, there must be a way for her to survive in this world that they shared.
So, she started sneaking into the shinobi arena, taking Sakuto-nii's words to her heart. She stole a practice naginata when the shinobi was on their break. She practised at the darkest and the most hidden corner of the arena, imitating the kata that she saw the shinobi did in their warm-up sparring. She trained day and night, as much as her weak civilian body could bear, sacrificing her play time in favour of training.
She wasn't a shinobi. She was weaker than shinobi kids her age. A civilian like her was at the very bottom of the food chain in this world, so she must use everything that she has in order to survive.
It didn't even take three days before her secret was out.
Perhaps it has been out far earlier, because when she was caught almost stabbing herself with the stolen practice naginata, she was immediately escorted to the main arena. She was expecting to be scolded or executed then. After all, the memories of watching Haru being executed for learning to fight was still fresh in her mind.
It still terrified her.
But instead of a scolding, she was welcomed with open arms by the shinobi in the arena.
None of the disgusted look. No sneers. No mocking leers.
There was only concern mingled with amusement on the shinobi's faces.
It was surreal.
Then, she was handed over to Setsu-nii and Mari-nee, with the words that she would be training under their supervision.
Miu approached them with caution, shaking like a leave, because for once, she was reminded that they were actual shinobi who has fought in the war.
It didn't completely register in her mind before, despite both of them being her favourite shinobi and all. Setsu-nii was so miserable that he couldn't even open his eyes without swearing in pain, while Mari-nee was the nicest medic in the camp that Miu was dubious if the woman could even hurt a fly.
Miu has completely forgotten that Setsu-nii was from the Uchiha clan, the old clan that was infamous for their terrifying kekkei genkai as well as their ancestor, the legendary terror of the First War—Uchiha Izuna. Mari-nee was once an elite Iwa shinobi—the one famed for the ruthlessness of her nation that wouldn't hesitate to crush children if that was what it would take to complete their mission.
At one point, both of them had been killers and enemies to Ame.
So, this time, Miu approached them with caution.
The caution wasn't necessary, though.
As she approached them, Setsu-nii wordlessly handed her a smaller naginata—one that was polished sharp and proportioned to her size. Mari-nee smiled and handed her a bunch of scrolls—those of taijutsu and standard non-shinobi medical knowledge. Then, Nagato-sama—their new king—approached her and handed her a set of sturdy outfits that matched the one their esteemed general was currently wearing.
"If you wish to be trained, you need a proper outfit," the king said, gentle all the way from his smile to his inhuman purple eyes. "This kimono is hardly proper for training purposes."
Miu almost burst to tears, because never has any civilian before this received the approval from their king to learn to fight. They were forbidden to do so. Their previous king was terrified at the idea that his own people might one day turned on him.
Haru was executed for practising with a kunai he found in the mud.
Madoka was once beaten up because she found a shuriken and accidentally threw it to a shinobi.
Kaori almost died because she found a scroll on basic taijutsu.
They weren't even allowed the knowledge of proper self-defence before, let alone to have the privilege to be trained alongside the shinobi.
"Also, Sakuto-san has something for you," the king added, still so gentle as he wiped her tears away. "He is so sorry that he couldn't give it directly to you, but he has to leave to set up your new settlement," he smiled and offered a scroll to her. "He hopes you can find this helpful."
She gingerly opened the scroll, only to gape in awe at the sight of the runes of the gods.
"But—," Miu stammered—because surely they weren't mistaking her for a shinobi, right?—as she quickly thrust the scroll back to him. "My lord, sir, I do not have chakra. I can't possibly use this—"
"You don't have to have chakra to use it," Nagato assured, curling her fingers around the scroll, keeping her grip firm on the paper. "It isn't as powerful as the ones that shinobi could use, but there was once a nation so powerful with their seals that they created a way for their civilian to use their famed seals just like their shinobi."
Miu gaped and stared down at the scroll, seeing the hand-written instructions and diagrams.
"I can do this?" she squeaked. "Like shinobi do?"
"Only if you practice hard," Nagato nodded.
Miu gaped.
Trust.
This was a trust so rarely given to civilians.
She wasn't going to disappoint them.
"Shame that Uzushio was gone and forgotten," someone commented, but Miu wasn't exactly listening, still fascinated with the runes she never thought she would be capable to wield. "They treated everyone as equals."
"Not for long," Nagato-sama hummed. "Uzushio wouldn't stay dead for long."
She barely acknowledged him, too fascinated with the runes on her scroll.
Such a strange knowledge. Strange, yet so very fascinating. So many combinations, so many possibilities to explore, so many things to create.
Kaori would love to explore this, if she was still alive.
Well, that just mean that Miu was the one who needs to master this to honour Kaori's memories.
So Miu sat on the ground, surrounded by her new naginata and her scrolls with Setsu-nii and Mari-nee close enough that she didn't have to move if she has questions to ask, as she completely immersed herself in the knowledge that was gifted to her. The world faded around her. The king's voice was a mere background noise now. Miu's concentration was fully on the runes in her scroll.
"Ah, I guess you're right," that person commented again, a fleeting background noise to Miu's ears. "Your scary-ass cousin and her mate is in it too. It's inevitable now."
The king chuckled.
"Well, it's about time we revive our lost legacy."