Day 24

It was a nice castle, but neither Lee or Tenten were able to take the time to admire it. Having been 'adopted' by King Kaoru, the two were forced to go through the same process as the other kids. A tour of the castle, some new clothes, and one of the kids who've been there the longest explained to them their chores and the routine of the day.

Their guide was a twelve year old named Raisa who came from across the water. The boat carrying her, her family, and others had gone astray, robbed and then destroyed, and she had been the only survivor. Somebody had taken pity on the five-month old infant and had brought her to the king. She had been the first taken in.

Nobody else would take her, her being a foreigner. King Kaoru had been furious, his own daughter also being several months old, and his fatherly instincts acted up. He took her under his wing and shielded her from the hate.

"Raisa, what do you plan on doing when you're old enough to leave?" Tenten asked the child as she showed them the kitchen, where several children and the head chef were busy making the next meal. She was pleased to see that they appeared to be enjoying themselves.

"I will remain here. I am Princess Ikuna's handmaiden and it is my responsibility to be there for her at all times."

"Do you...Enjoy being a handmaiden?" She asked, unsure if the child's enjoyment of the task mattered much to the child herself.

"Very much. Princess Ikuna is my closest friend, and if I must spend the rest of my life helping and guiding anyone, I would choose her."

"That's lovely! To be so devoted to another, you must really love her!"

"As much as you love one another. Princess Ikuna told me why you are all here...And I understand that the reason for your being here is to find the pretty boy-"

"You've never seen him, how do you...He has a name!" Tenten interrupted her. She knew how much it would annoy Neji to be called 'pretty boy' and that same annoyance rubbed off on her, as if she was the one feeling insulted.

"The pretty boy is missing. But he isn't the only one. I know it isn't my place to ask, neither do you have to bother with such a thing, but I...I know you have another task to do. But..." Raisa led them out of the kitchen and she stopped in the hallway, silence resting around them.

"What is it?" Lee asked gently. She turned towards them, but kept her gaze to the floor.

"As the Lady's handmaiden, I see a lot of things that she does not take the time to see, and I hear what she does not. People think that I am different, and I am, but they believe that my being different makes me stupid. Which I am not. I have the same education as the Princess herself, and I don't consider myself as intelligent as her, but I believe I can keep a good conversation going. Sometimes though, it is useful. People say things in front of me because they don't believe I understand, or notice, or care.

People keep secrets to protect themselves, and then their loved ones. The bakery in town is run by a nice family, a mother and a father, and their two daughters. They also once had a little boy. This little boy, whose name I do not know for it was kept secret, was blind. They are a good family, but religious. Such a thing as blindness is frowned upon by their kind. The eyes gone, taken by the bad one, or something of the sort. I do not know, but...They kept the child a secret. Nobody knew he existed except for me and his family.

He came to me once while I was there, that is how I found out. I promised the family to keep it a secret. One day, he went missing. His family loved him, but they had cursed him. Keeping him a secret had made it impossible for them to ask for help. All would shun them if they knew that they had kept their little boy hidden from the world for so long. I told them I would search, but there is only so much I can do...It has been a month and I have found nothing." She bowed her head, as if in shame.

"Do you think he was kidnapped?" Tenten asked.

"It is difficult to tell...A little blind boy could get as easily kidnapped as he could get lost. The family had kept him in the house while they worked at the bakery and while the daughters were at school. One day, when they returned he just wasn't there. There were no traces of hiim leaving, or of a struggle, or anything. It was as if he'd vanished."

"What does he look like?"

She stared up at them, shocked, "You will help?"

"Of course!" Lee replied immediately, flashing her his famous thumbs up.

She smiled brightly, "Thank you! I wanted to do it on my own, but I just can't...He is a small six year old, with blonde hair and the brightest blue eyes. He is a very pretty boy. I was thinking that while you are looking for your pretty boy that if you happen to find this one..."

"It would be our pleasure to help you find this child! And I assure you it isn't any trouble for us. Our eyes can search for more than one person at a time."

They wanted to find Neji, they truly did. No thought was more dominant in their mind than the one telling them to find their missing camarade. But while they were at it, why not also search for a little six year old boy with blond hair and blue eyes? It would get their minds more focused on their task and less into their own worries.

Now that they knew what it was like to have a missing loved one, they knew how important it was to people to have those loved ones back. To them, it was more important than even the rotation of the earth.

OoOoO

The energy to care or be offended didn't come to him, as he curled into a ball in the room of seclusion. The truth was that he wasn't a threat anymore, and thus they didn't have to keep him chained to the wall. Throw him in and lock the door, that's all they needed to keep him tamed.

The time of intense hurt and longing for his forehead protector, his family, his friends, his home, had passed. During, it had felt as if it would never end, and the tears would not stop. He wept for the freedom he had never known, or accepted, that he had until it was truly taken from him.

All he had left were his pants, having left his shirt in Takeo's room. He'd been too busy getting thrown out, or more appropriately, dragged out, to take any notice to his own appearance. He'd lost his hairband and his hair now fell around him in a way that had once been comforting, but no longer was. There was nothing that could comfort him anymore.

His wishes of going back to normalcy faded with his tears. His eyes burned, his throat ached, his cheeks were wet, but his heart felt hollow.

Takeo was right. They weren't coming for him. Maybe Ryo had been right about his teacher, about innocence, about everything. Maybe Takeo was right about the world being a bitch and having to take what you can from it. Maybe...But it didn't matter anymore.

Somehow, the hollow filled once more with sadness and the sense of loss. He cried dry tears for the loss of his team, his family. Without realizing it, he reached out his hand, reaching out for them. When his hand felt nothing, he withdrew into himself, knowing that there would never be another hand to hold onto.

AN: Well, isn't this depressing. I had warned you all about darkness and angst right? Good...I'd like to know if you guys like the OC's? I'm not a fan of them, and they aren't a main part, but if requested I'll try to put less of them in. On the other hand, are the OC's easy to identify? Or are all the random people confusing?

As for Raisa, the name is russian. I was looking at a map, and right next to Japan there are the Kuril Islands, which are russian. Raisa came from outside of the hidden villages, which is why she's a foreigner. Make sense?

Okay, now for this...Holy hell. Peoples! You are fabulous! Over 100 reviews? I love you guys! I am overjoyed to thank EatEmUp, sushiunicorn, Cole-Hyuuga, lucky2beeurfwind, Angelheart17, darkstardragon432, appletree98, AUehara, and la tar de michael jackson for reviewing! You equal pure awesomeness.

Now, to conclude this mammoth of an author's note,
Thank you for reading!
-MewMew