Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Shiro tottered on his feet, as did the majority of the line of refugees. Days without food and the blood seeping from the wound he had sustained when their outer rim village was attacked took their toll, as his ragged, filthy clothes clung to his body and he listened to the sounds of human misery in every direction around him.
In the back of his mind, Shiro wondered where his brother was, and prayed he was somewhere in that nearly quarter of a mile long line. His brother had always had a habit of getting into trouble; Shiro didn't want to think that that propensity of his extended to being killed by Iwa nin.
"Are you alright?" Shiro started when a small hand touched his shoulder and a soft voice sounded in his ear. He looked round. "You were starting to lag behind."
A young woman, no older than eighteen, dressed in a sweeping blue cloak, smiled a soft, subdued smile at him as she walked, decided and firm in her pace. She had pale skin and clear blue eyes with hair about the same shade. She twirled a strangely insubstantial kunai in her hands.
Shiro smiled slightly and nodded. "I'm fine. Just a little tired, is all."
"Well, we'll be to the outpost in a couple of hours. Just try to hold out until then."
"I'll try."
Of course, the quiet and the new feeling of peace settling over Shiro were spoiled and rent to shreds before he could even grow accustomed to it and drink it in. Iwa shinobi had a habit of doing that.
The refugee line scattered everywhere, but Shiro had not survived the attack on his village for nothing; he was going to stand his ground, uncaring of what it could potentially cost him.
Well, that didn't go so well.
Shiro found himself lying on his back in the grass that was beginning to turn brown as the ritual of summer moved closer to autumn, thanking God that the shuriken had only grazed him and had neither eviscerated him nor stuck in his stomach. He would most likely live out the day if his luck held out and no Iwa nin decided to finish him off.
A shadow from high above fell over Shiro, with the wings and slight outline of a giant bird. Shiro wondered if he had stepped into a world of clichés when he realized what he was actually seeing.
Just before he lost consciousness, Shiro smiled, and whispered, "I didn't know the Konoha military force employed angels. 'Specially not angels with paper wings," to the blue eyes that stared down at him.