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Last Time

"For years we wondered what happened to them, we had a funeral, but there weren't any bodies to bury." I could feel the tears in my eyes and took a deep breath, mentally cursing myself when it came out shaky. Closing my eyes, I recalled that day so clearly. We didn't even have their bodies to bury!

"It was raining..."

This Time

Flashback

(Normal POV)

The sky is so dark and threatening, thunder rumbling in the distance. In a small group, Hunter and Blake moved through a cemetery with Sensei Amino and a few of the other Ninjas, friends of their parents, all dressed in dark civilian suits. Everything was gray, as if the world was crying with them. They approached another, larger group of people around two coffins waiting to be lowered in the ground.

Blake, a boy of not even ten, stood in his suit, wiping his face frantically as tears coursed down his cheeks. "I promised to be strong." he muttered shakily, trying in vain to stop the tears. "I promised."

"Blake..." A young Hunter, his hair shaggy even then, and his face pale with grief and pain, turned to his new little brother. They hadn't known each other long, but the fact that they were all that was left of the Bradley family, despite being adopted, brought them a new link. One that was even stronger than anyone could have imagined. "Its ok." he said softly, his own eyes wet, but his expression showing his absolute refusal to let the tears fall. "Go ahead and cry. Remember what mom used to say? 'It takes more courage to face your pain, then to push it aside and ignore it'."

"But, I promised." The younger Bradley insisted as he stopped wiping his face, more tears coursing down his already red cheeks.

"Mom would want you to cry." he stated, choking on the words. I want you to cry, to let it out. I wanna cry, too, but I can't.

He really did want to, but he was so afraid of starting and never being able to stop. He needed to be strong, not because of a promise, but because his baby brother needed the strength.

"I'll be the strong one." Hunter murmured as they grew closer to the caskets. To anyone else, it appeared he was saying the words to Blake, but honestly, Hunter thought he may have been trying to convince himself at the time. The tears shone so brightly, making his crystal blue eyes shimmer as if with an unspoken light. "I'll be strong for you, bro." And for Mom and Dad.

Sensei Amino was speaking to some of the other people, claiming himself as the guardian to the boys, and in a sense he was right. He was always there, and they knew him as a father figure. He took them in when their parents didn't return he raised them and gave them even the faint semblance of a family; although Hunter was sure he knew the pain was always with them.

There were so many people. Hunter recalled friends of theirs from their days off from the Academy, but he didn't smile or even try to act friendly when they approached. Instead, he drew into himself. He was there for Blake, reassuring him, protecting him, but he said few words at all, and refused to speak to the strangers at all. He vaguely remembered hearing 'my condolences' so many times he thought he'd be sick, and so many people wanted to shake his hand or hug him.

Why did you have to go away? Through all the haze, that was one question he remembered echoing through his mind again and again. Every time someone hugged him, he stood there, not returning it, not saying thank you, not doing anything. You're really gone? It took several hugs before he even realized people were hugging him.

As the people began to leave, he turned to Blake when Sensei went up to the front to say a few words. Hunter's mind wasn't on his Sensei, although he knew it should have been, all he could think of was Blake.

He was crying, crying hysterically. His face was red, his sobs were echoing through the group. It was still obvious in the elder brother's eyes that he was trying to fight it, but the harder he fought, the louder and more desperate his sobs became. He hiccupped, trying to breathe, and was close to hyperventilating.

Heart clenching in both pain and sympathy, Hunter moved and reacted for the first time. Walking the two steps to his baby brother, he gathered him into his arms and held him tight, rocking him as Blake shuddered and cried in his arms. "It's ok bro." he stated, his voice sounding so choked, and his throat raw from holding back the screams that wanted to echo forth.

The fact was, it wasn't ok. No one knew this was going to happen, no one knew they were gone or what happened at all. It was months since they just seemed to disappear, and no one held hope of them returning. Well, that's not entirely true, Hunter and Blake, both boys knew the other was still hoping their parents would turn up and yell 'surprise!'

Then they'd be mad, scream, throw tantrums, and then go on living like any other family.

"Hunter..." the voice sounded so weak. "You're not crying."

No, he wasn't. He wanted to, so badly, but he couldn't. He lost track of everything, control over his body, over his mind, over time, even. He had no idea how long he stood there, watching as the last of the people threw white roses on the empty but closed coffins.

No one even knew there were no bodies inside.

A little dirt was thrown on. Some people wanted the boys to go up and 'say goodbye' as they put it, but neither boy could bring themselves to go near the inanimate pieces of wood. Harmless the coffins were, but both boys associated them with death, and were terrified of them. Terrified, but it was mixed with a hatred. Those coffins represented that their parents were never coming back. They were so scared, and they hated those wooden coffins.

"It takes more courage to face your pain." Blake said softly, his voice rough and choked with sobs as he couldn't quite stop crying. He was hugging Hunter back so tightly, as if afraid of losing him. "Hunter, cry."

Sensei hit a button on the platforms the coffins were sitting on, and slowly, inch by inch, they began to lower into the ground. That was when he finally cried. He didn't sob, he didn't collapse, but the tears coursed from his crystalline eyes and down his pale cheeks to soak the white top and black coat.

"Am I...supposed to say goodbye?" he asked quietly, not sure why he was asking. Part of him still hoped they'd find his parents.

"Hunter, Blake."

Numbly, the blonde boy looked up at Sensei Amino, not saying a word or moving a muscle. He felt Blake shift and knew he was looking as well.

Smiling kindly, though it was clearly a sad smile, the elder man nodded a little. "Always remember, even if they aren't here with you in body, they will always be with you in spirit."

But I want them here in body. Still he couldn't bring himself to say the words. He stole a last, long glance at the sinking coffins and wanted to run away, to forget this was even happening. Then the arms around his waist tightened, reminding him of his little brother, and he felt more hot tears trickling down his cheeks, the painful sobs sitting at the back of his throat, hurting him. Yet, he still couldn't let go.

It had started to rain as Hunter held his trembling little brother closer, the cold water washing away the hot tears, even as more fell. A gentle breeze brushed through the cemetery as a woman offered an extra umbrella to Sensei before nodding sadly to the boys and walking off slowly under a man's umbrella. They were soaked, and Hunter knew they were beyond exhausted.

"I wish they would...come back." Blake muttered through a sob, his voice almost a whisper. "I miss them so much."

Me too. Hunter thought, barely registering as he stated it out loud.

Carefully reaching down, Sensei Amino took Blake's hand, leaving the other firmly in the grasp of his elder brother, and with a final look to the graves as a couple of cemetery workers came to start throwing the dirt back in, they left.

I miss them so much.

End Flashback

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A shorter chapter, but I made it as long as I could and may have added too many details already. Besides it being very sad, I hope you like it.

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"I don't feel so good."

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R+R please.

Thank you.

Tenshi