Title: Under the Maple Tree
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
AN: If you're from Clouds Drawn by the Moonlight, welcome back! If you're new, welcome! So, I wrote the first few chapters of Under the Maple Tree a year ago but it was a mess and my writing was no where as mature as it is now.(Not saying that it's perfect as I still have room to vastly improve.) Honestly, I might just completely rewrite this but I wanted to see how it goes first. Now strap down because this is a long chapter. Enjoy.
Chapter 1
This is not my body. Not my home. Not my world. Not mine. I, Sierra no— Shikari Nara am currently living within an anime called Naruto.
Imagine my surprise when I worked that out.
I thought I was dreaming at first from how serene my surroundings were. One moment I was at a battlefield, filled with screams and death pounding at my very existence and the next moment, I was staring out a window, watching a scarlet tree shedding its leaves.
Okay. When I put it like that, I do admit I sound insane. But it was the truth. I guess here is my attempt at explaining what I think happened.
You see, my name wasn't always Shikari. It was Sierra… Sierra something. Yes, haha you can call me stupid for forgetting my own name, I hardly care but that was the proof that I was slowly losing the memories of my past life. Anyways, I was serving in the military, part of the first marine division and was deployed… well that hardly matters now. Let's just say to a foreign country to assist in cutting off the enemy's supply line, forcing them to surrender.
If I could put it lightly, war was a disgusting, ugly thing. Every heinous act of humanity bares itself in front of you. Sometimes without warning. And that was what happened with me.
I was one of the few women who were enlisted in 'actual' combat and served in the assault amphibious vehicles. My duty was to land surface assault elements of the marines' and their equipment from the ships to the beaches.
Every time I hit those shores, my fellow comrades and I would be risking our lives as the beaches shook with bombs, fighter planes, and the most feared: snipers. The waters dyed red and the beaches were littered not with umbrellas or beach towels, but with the fallen marines. I was in hell.
It was one of these trips to the shores where in a split second, everything changed forever. One moment, I was listening to my officer relaying our next orders and with a deafening screech of an explosion, I found myself lying awkwardly on the ground.
My breathing became labored and it was the only thing I could hear as I peered around my surroundings. All of my comrades, dead. The commanding officer, dead. Then noise boomed back into my ears and the pain— the pain was surprisingly bearable. Either I was unscathed or my body was in so much pain that it ceased to feel. Judging from the state of my comrades, it's the latter.
I slowly angled my face to my right where the explosion came from. A heavy artillery shell that landed in front of the vehicle had exploded, sending shrapnel to all directions. There was no way I wasn't hit with a piece.
When I finally found my voice, I called for a medic.
"Medic! Medic!" I uttered, my own voice sounding distant and alien to me. "Please, anyone!"
Sure enough, I hear the rapid shuffling of the red stained sand and a not so familiar man with his combat medical badge sewed meticulously within his uniform hover around me. He quickly assessed me, opening up my uniform and bulletproof vest and he paled.
He swallowed hard. "Oh darn… looks like you got a little splinter on your side."
He was trying to calm me.
One look at his face, and I knew. I knew I wasn't going to make it.
"Well, tell you what." His voice wavered. "That isn't too bad. Tell you what I'm going to do. I'll give you a couple of shots here and it'll take that pain away. You don't have to worry."
I nodded. It's funny how even at my last moments, his comforting words seemed to calm me. I knew from the number of shots he administered, that it was lethal enough to put me to sleep.
A hell of a thing to say, to put a person to sleep.
And slowly the thunderous roar of my old world began to fade and the reassuring words of the medic who tried saving my life also ceased. Thus, my story comes to an end.
Or so I thought.
A light had feathered its way into the lid of my eyes, making my face scrunch in annoyance and I felt a soft breeze warming me. It was quiet. No screaming from the dying, no howling of the bombs and shells being shot off, not even the flinging of bullets were ringing at my ears.
Heaven. I must be in heaven. Or you know, it could be hell too. Though, I'm not sure hell was this nice from the way my pastor had described it.
I slowly lifted my head from the position I woke up to and my breath hitched at my throat. This could not be heaven. If it was… it was very traditional. Traditional as in Asiatic.
Don't get me wrong, it was very beautiful but it wasn't something I thought of seeing right now: when I'm dead. The garden had a pond with lotus and lily pads donning its waters, an aged wooden bridge connected two lands together, and finally a tree with crimson leaves swaying lazily against the breeze. Its leaves fell like it was choreographed beforehand, almost rhythmic. I could tell it was a Japanese garden, a zen garden to be exact. Before my service, I was deployed to Japan for a year and during my breaks, I would visit the country's— holy shit.
Why is my hair black? It was a very common hair color except, I didn't have black hair and my hands— they were so tiny. I rapidly clenched and unclenched them, thinking somehow if I moved them enough, they would magically grow back to their original size.
I needed a mirror.
I whirled around, looking at the room I was in. Unlike the garden, it looked more modernized: with an electric clock, a metal bed frame painted white, and a closet full of modern-like clothes. I half-expected to find kimonos and yukatas within it instead.
I hopped off and instantly the chair I was sitting on loomed over me. Either it grew or I shrunk. Both of those don't make sense. I frantically scanned the room for a mirror. Once I located one near the dresser, I stumbled my way towards it and grasped it with my pudgy hands.
And fuck— this was not me. This was— I had to be dreaming. Yeah, that had to be it. Maybe I was still alive and on a hospital ship, barely clinging to life. That had to be the only explanation.
Out of shock, it slipped from my trembling hands, colliding on the ground with a loud clank and I shrieked until my throat burned. Because within the now cracked mirror, reflected a child with onyx hair and eyes with pale skin.
I backed away to a small corner and clawed at my small body, now terrified. Whose body was this? And why am I controlling it? Controlling a child's body?
My thoughts were interrupted with the urgent stomping of footsteps and the door to the room swung opened.
"Shikari!" A woman cried out and beside her was also a man.
They both bolted to my side, with the woman cradling me against her chest. "You're awake! Finally, you're awake!" She sobbed.
"How are you feeling?" The man asked, just as relieved and alarmed.
What in the actual fuck is happening? Who were these people? And they were speaking in a foreign language? I pushed myself away from the woman albeit forcefully as she was crushing me within her hold.
"Who are you?" My voice quivered awkwardly within the room and my hands immediately went to cup my mouth. Because just now, I also spoke their language. From the way their sentences ended with the particle 'ka' when asking questions, I think we were speaking Japanese. I don't know what's more bewildering; the fact that I spoke it or the fact that I could perfectly understand it. Last time I checked, I didn't know any Japanese but that was the least of my problems right now.
The woman and man's face instantly dropped, their faces flickered with confusion, hurt, and an immeasurable amount of sadness all at once.
"Sweetie," the woman quietly murmured, her face in complete disbelief. "We're your parents."
I just— what?
The ensuing hysteria that broke after I utter those infamous words, 'who are you,' was understandable as they are not the words one should say to their parents. But how was I supposed to know that? I didn't know these people; they were complete strangers. For two hours, my 'mother' bemoaned about her baby girl not remembering her own parents and at the same time questioned her own parenting skills for not watching me carefully that day. My 'father' however, paced around the room, calmly trying to find a valid reason for my memory loss and occasionally asked me if I truly did forget.
I was becoming frustrated with my current situation and devised a plan to lie that I was suffering from temporary memory loss and manage to gather some information about this child's body. It worked. So buckle down, because this is fucking insane.
One: My name is Shikari Nara
Two: I am currently three years old.
Three: The names of my so-called parents were Yoshino and Shikaku Nara. Mom and dad. Okay, got to admit, it was weird calling them that when my own set of parents were still fresh within my mind.
Four: I live in a place called the Hidden Leaf village, which had to have some kind of connection with Japan as the people here spoke the language. Hell, even I did and I know for a fact that I didn't learn it at some point of my short life. (I'll get into more depth on this situation later.)
And five: I've just woken up from a major accident that almost took 'my life'. But what, I don't know. They won't tell me yet.
So far this was all that I had gathered before my parents hushed me to sleep. And honestly, it explained nothing. It didn't explain why I was here. It didn't explain how I was here. It didn't explain why I was in this little girl's body.
I shuffled my body over, facing the window of my room. The moonlight softly hit my face as the clouds shielded some of its rays.
Was soul swapping a thing? Surely it had to be as it was the last reason, I could think of that had any amount of logic. I didn't care how little. At this point, I was willing to believe in anything to keep myself from going insane. I thought of everything, really from reincarnation to accidentally being sent to a different universe. Did I reincarnate to a different part of the universe? Far from the Milky Way? Maybe there was a whole different civilization deep in outer space and I was somehow transported there…? And if I did reincarnate, why did I become a three-year-old? I thought the whole point of reincarnation was someone had to be reborn as a baby, not as a toddler.
I slammed a pillow on my head, as it hurt from the thinking. Suddenly, my body stiffened at the thought of this girl. If my theory of soul swapping was possibly correct, then was she in my body? I grimaced at the thought. A child living inside a grown adult, whose body and mind were far too broken. I hope she wasn't.
After realizing I was truly stuck within this body, it took months for me to adjust to my new life and it wasn't easy. That was because I was still in denial. Those months must have been incredibly trying times for my new parents as I was unresponsive to just about anything they offered. It got so bad to the point they took me to a pediatric therapist, thinking I was traumatized by my accident. I mean, they weren't wrong. I was traumatized but for a completely different reason. I attended weeks of pediatric therapy which mostly consisted of me drawing pictures for them to interpret and even the professionals were clueless and ended up agreeing with my 'parents' that it was just trauma.
I have no doubt in mind that I came off as an odd, prudent child. Having much more experience in learning, my adult mind was capable of grasping things faster than the average child of my age and my parents were completely undisturbed by that. I would incessantly babble to my heart's content, which wasn't much considering my limited vernacular. Ah speaking of, I almost forget to explain my instantaneous understanding of a completely new language. I honestly have no idea how it worked. My theory was since the old Shikari already knew the language, it somehow transferred over to me when I took over? However unrealistic that sounds, I'm just thankful there wasn't a language barrier.
I was also a very impatient child when it came to reading. I winded up into a world where I knew nothing of it and to fix that, I needed knowledge and to acquire knowledge, I needed to learn how to read. Though I understood and could speak Japanese, I couldn't read or write yet. I would spend hours, sitting on my parents' lap, intently listening to them read my favorite book. When they finished, I would pester them to read it to me again and again. I'm pretty sure they had the whole book memorized from the number of times I asked them to.
As those months trudged by, I should mention my past memories were fading. Slowly and little by little they were being replaced by this girl's (or my?) memories. Which wasn't much considering she was only three. It started off unnoticeable, when Yoshino— mom brought up the time we went to see the cherry blossom trees blooming at the park. At first, I was indifferent to it like always but then the memory sprung itself from the confines of my young mind and I unknowingly responded with a giggle, reminiscing like it was my own memory.
It felt like I was brainwashing myself, thinking that I was really there when deep down I know I wasn't. Sometimes the memories mixed with the memories of old life, further pushing my already fragile and very confused mental state to the abyss. With this hybrid-Frankenstein memory phenomenon, I was able to figure out who the real Shikari was. The Shikari Nara before I came along was a quiet, shy girl that mostly kept to herself. The exact opposite of me. As a kid, I was loud, sometimes obnoxious and unafraid to voice my thoughts. She was timid even for a child as most children at this age would be bursting with energy. And guilt gnawed at my heart whenever I relive those memories. It felt wrong that I was stealing her life, stealing her own chance of experiencing life. But what choice did I have? I was stuck here. Whether I liked it or not I was going to live it.
They had me young, unlike the parents from my old world who preferred to start families in their later years. I wasn't sure if I could truly love my new parents because well, I was undeserving of it. Though, it was impossible not to love someone when you relied on them so much. I was not their Shikari Nara and I felt like I was keeping it a secret from them. Technically, I was. How am I supposed to explain that a twenty-five-year-old was now inhabiting their three-year-old daughter's body? Yeah, no. I'll probably traumatize them instead. Even weeks after I first showed up, I still hesitated on calling them mom and dad sometimes. Ultimately, they were the ones that will raise me and give me the constant affection that children need.
One day, dad took me to visit some of his friends at a flower shop called Yamanaka Flowers. During the walk to the shop, I asked dad who we were meeting and he simply replied with 'some friends.' When I asked why, he again plainly responded with to see you. I pursed my lips as I rested my head on dad's arm. Ah, so they must be close friends, possibly like brothers. Usually, acquainted friendships will just ask how their family is and that was that. But for them to specifically ask to meet me has to imply they had a closer bond. Or I could be wrong; it was just an intuition. I also had a feeling this had to do with my near-death accident.
The bells on the door at the flower shop softly rang upon us entering and two men, one behind a counter and the other casually leaned against it welcomed us. The man leaning on a counter was heavy set with fiery red hair and two purple markings on his cheeks. The man behind the counter had long, tied up blond hair with light green eyes and a forehead protector. I didn't know who they were and neither did old me as none of the memories indicated anything. Maybe she forgot.
Woah, woah. Back up. That forehead protector… I've seen it before. A strange swirl with a tiny triangle at the end of it. I was sure it was not from the memories of my life here. I think, I think it was from my past memories, like when I was still Sierra not Shikari. Now that I think about it, the blonde man was also wearing an eerily familiar green flak jacket. I intently stared at him, doing everything within my power to know why they looked so damn familiar.
"Shikaku, how have you been?" The blonde man asked whilst slipping out of the counter. "Ah, Shikari! It's nice to see you again."
The heavy-set man gave a nod at dad, acknowledging him and got on a knee to match my eye level. "Shikari? You've grown so much since the last time!"
Dad lightly nudged me out of my thinking trance. "Hello." I bowed just like how mom taught me.
The men retracted, surprised at my straight forward greeting. They were used to my shy response of grappling onto dad's leg and barely squeaking out a word.
"…well, I have a small gift for you." The blond man said before turning around to pick up a small bouquet of dwarf sunflowers, beautifully bundled with a pink ribbon. "For you, young lady."
I reached for the bouquet with both hands, bringing them up to my face to smell. "Thank you."
"Now, now, I know it's not meant to be a competition but I think you'll like my gift the most." The red-haired man declared as he reached behind him and brought up a big box, wrapped with the most elaborate piece of cloth that I've ever seen. "I wasn't sure what you liked, Shikari. So, I packed all of the snacks that I could think of."
The box landed on the ground with a thud because that's how heavy it was. I stared at it for a moment, unsure on how I could accept all of it.
"Chōza, this is a bit too much." Dad said wearily, while scratching the back of his head.
"Non-sense!" Chōza broke into a jaunty laugh, "There can never be too much food! Go ahead, try opening it."
I unwrapped the cloth that gave the box an extra layer of security and lifted the lid open. I think I just shed a tear from how dazzling the sight was. There were so many snacks, mostly made up of sweets. The box was filled to the brim with candied fruits, cakes, rice cakes, mochi, jellies, and that was just the top layer. If you can't already tell, I have a sweet tooth.
"Her eyes are sparkling… I think you won this one." The blonde man admitted in defeat.
Chōza crossed his arms, pleased with himself. "Of course I did and always will."
I giggle at their small antics. "Thank you. I'll enjoy them all."
From the amount of food that I consumed, I asked dad to carry me, (It feels good to be a kid again.) as I was feeling lethargic and tired, possibly suffering from food coma. Chōza's restaurant we ate lunch at was about eight minutes away from home but it'll probably take longer as he was carrying not only me on his back but the giant box full of sweets too.
During the entire meal, I kept my eyes on Inoichi, the blonde man who was wearing the forehead protector. The familiarity of it was killing me and I desperately wanted to know why.
We cut a corner of a street and walked past a few stores. I rested my head against dad's back, lazily watching the sellers advertising their products and the stuff they were selling on the display cases. The fashion of this world is strange to say the least. It was like a fusion of modern and traditional clothing: the quarter length pants, the mesh clothing, the short sleeved-high turtlenecks, the haori, and the sandals. Don't get me started with the sandals, even thinking about them made me miss my painful high heels. I didn't like the idea of them at first, thinking about how easily debris could attract itself between my toes. I honestly preferred combat boots like the ones from the army, those things could literally grip on any surface, keeping your feet protected and warm.
In one of these display cases, they sold an orange and black tracksuit. I grimaced. It was so horrendously ugly. The colors… were just so clashing to me, like something you would wear for Halloween and I wasn't fond of the color orange. I'm sorry, who in their right mind would wear— Naruto.The forehead protector. Orange-black tracksuit.
My body practically jumped behind dad's back, startling him and almost making him lose his balance. It struck me. It finally struck me why that forehead protector looked so damn familiar. I was in Naruto, the anime. I whacked my brain for anything, anything else I knew besides the main character and nope, that was pretty much it. I cursed myself.
Although I didn't watch anime, Naruto was pretty iconic enough that whenever you mentioned it, people knew exactly who you were talking about. The blonde kid with cat whiskers and orange-black jumpsuit. Since I didn't watch anime, I didn't watch the show and so naturally I was unfamiliar with my new surroundings. And because I lacked any knowledge of the show, this life was basically a fresh start for me. I very much regret that now for if I did watch it, I might've had a head start in adjusting into this new life and possibly use it for any important future knowledge. What a shame.
Now, here comes the fun part. Since this was the Naruto universe, ninjas existed. Correction: ninja with actual powers. And apparently both of my parents were ones, which meant that I was destined to become one too. Honestly, I was a bit disturbed by the fact they were literally raising child soldiers as the training started young. Hell, there was even a whole academy for it. Not to mention, the children in this world matured much faster compared to where I came from.
I first discovered my parents' dangerous careers when dad first showed me his shadow technique in the backyard. We waited until the sun waned on the horizon, as he stated, 'the shadows were longer and much stronger at that time.' He carefully placed me to the side, saying he wanted to show me something. With a weird hand sign, his shadow pooled around his feet and slowly extended out like tree branches. My eyes popped off of their eye sockets. I was baffled, also amazed but mostly baffled. Dad laughed at my rather theatrical reaction, breaking his concentration on the shadow.
"You will be able to do it too." He chortled while swinging me up.
"I will?" I softly asked, while petting his hair absentmindedly. With the way it stood up, I assumed it was coarse but it was surprisingly soft, silky even.
He hummed a yes as we went back to the house.
And here I thought I lived in a world somewhat similar to my old one. Again, an incorrect assumption because something crucial existed in this universe that doesn't in my past: chakra. Based on what I observed, it was the substance that breathed life to lifeforms. It was energy that was essential for even the most basic— what did they call it? Oh yes, jutsu. And to perform a jutsu, the ninja had to release two energies of chakra, physical and spiritual through pressure points called tenketsu. Physical energy is collected from the body's cells and can be increased through training and exercise. On the other hand, spiritual energy is derived from the mind's consciousness and can be increased through studying and meditation. When these energies strengthen, it will produce powerful chakra.
As a three-year-old, there was nothing much to do and so I would absorb up information around me like a sponge. That's how I knew so much about chakra. Whether it be by games, children books, or from mom and dad, I was always learning. Of course, I was very perplexed with the concept of it as I came from a world that had none. It was a peculiar feeling; the constant rush of chakra, pulsating steadily within me. I spent many days under the warm sunlight, trying to study more about it and during the process, I found that I could mold it within my hands and things stick to them. Armed with my new discovery, I would toddle around the house, touching everything that I could get my hands on. Pencils, paper, blankets, cushions, an apple— you name it and it will stick. All it needed was small adjustments of chakra based on the weight and size of the maneuverable object. Mom was rather ecstatic that her little girl was already expelling chakra at this age while dad was amused by the whole thing.
Though with all the fun, there came a heavy price to it. It was called chakra exhaustion and I was quickly made aware of what it was. Every shinobi has a maximum amount of chakra reserves that they can produce and use before running out. As a child, the reserves were naturally very limited, so serious training didn't begin until seven or eight years of age.
And that was how the first few months of my new life have been peaceful. Though, there was this one instance that I recalled where the shinobi life interrupted mine. Dad had been called for immediate action as war was declared on the village. It seemed no matter what universe, war plagued civilization ruthlessly and this world was not an exception. From previously being a marine, I've seen it all, the brutality, destruction and it never truly goes away. It sticks with you until you gradually figure out a way to deal with it over time.
He took these missions in intervals, coming back each time looking more broken than the last. His final mission took him longer than his previous ones as he returned just after my fourth birthday with livid scars donning his features. Yoshino didn't mind them, only hugging him tighter and whispered, 'close call.' Rather, I think he was worried about how I was going to respond to them because he didn't swing me up like he usually did. Instead, dad cautiously waited for me to approach.
"Daddy, your back." I ran up to him and placed my chubby fingers over his scars. His face relaxed after seeing my unalarmed state. Both missed his eye; one arched above his brow and the other on his cheekbone. I carefully ran my fingers over them, worried that I might accidentally poke his eye. They were bright red, but mostly healed. They made him look fierce, but I knew he was nothing but gentle and kind. It absolutely was a close call.
It was not until I turned four, I found out the true extent and importance of my family. Before, I had thought that my last name held no value, just a normal surname that only valued in gifting me the feeling of belonging to my family. Turns out, I did not just belong to a family, but to an entire clan. The Nara clan. And dad was the clan heir, which made me heiress. Oh joy.
It all started when dad sat me down one evening, saying that he had to tell me something important. He brought out a board game of some sort and started setting it up while talking to me.
"Shikari," He gently started out, "Do you know the importance of your last name?"
I thought about it for a second as I picked up the other pentagonal pieces of the game to help the set up. Importance? The only importance it gave me was that I had a family.
"No, not really…" I trailed off.
"You hail from a clan. The Nara clan." He answered for me. "A clan renowned for their ability to manipulate shadows."
I slowly blinked in surprise. I thought mom and dad were my only family, the only other Naras than myself. I mean, I knew I had uncles and aunts but it never occurred to me that there was a whole ass clan. My mind then began to think back to that day when he first showed me his shadow moving.
I peered at him from the board, "So that day… you controlled your shadow… so other people within the clan too?"
"Yes, it is a hiden technique that is taught secretly from generation to generation." He replied.
"I see."
"For thousands of years, shadows were thought to be a double side of the soul, a secret, evil side of the soul." He placed another piece on the board. "Thought to be the destructive, corrupted version of oneself, it was presented as a negative aspect of humanity."
"Negative aspect?" I parroted while mirroring dad placing the knight piece on the board.
He hummed a yes. "That is why we, the Nara must not self-destruct. We believe in self-acceptance as a way to curb that behavior. Like a shadow, we follow closely, watching from behind, calmly thinking to ourselves, 'what would I do,' not 'what should I do?'
Silence hung in the air for a few minutes. The pieces rhythmically clicked as we placed the final few pieces left on the board.
"Someday, you will have to lead this clan instead of my place and when that day comes, you must be prepared. You must take up the responsibilities as clan leader, to think of those before yourself, to act selflessly during situations in need, and to make sacrifices when necessary. You might not fully understand it now and that's okay. But someday you will and you must be ready by then."
I lowered my head, completely understanding his every word. I didn't like what he was insinuating here, with the words, 'instead of my place' which can loosely translate to 'my death.' Not going to lie, the future sounded terrifying with the way he phrased it and as of now, I didn't want to think about it. It was just too much, too dark. I still wanted to be a kid. And so, I responded with a topic change.
"What is the game called?"
"It is called shogi." He drawled, "now here is how you play."
Once I was able to read, a whole new world had opened itself to me.
I would read anything that I could get my hands on, soaking up the information offered to me. I started with the easy children's books, that conveyed the materials with a lighter, shorter tone and slowly made my way up in difficulty. I would read about science, mathematics to know if they matched the scientific laws of my old world and history to see how far back this world went compared to mine.
I also read more about chakra and the shinobi life. There were three ranks within the ninja: genin, chunin, and jounin, with genin being the lowest rank and jounin the highest. A ninja could progress within the rank from a test like the chunin exams or be promoted by the Hokage. The Hokage was the leader of the village, basically the president of this world with the Konoha council below to guide him. Remember how I talked about jutsu? Well, they are mystical arts of shinobi who utilize them in battle. There were three main categories of jutsu called genjutsu, ninjutsu, and taijutsu. Subcategories exist such as fuinjutsu and juinjutsu but the three listed are the main ones. Without proper control of their chakra, ninja will produce ineffective techniques which results in them wasting chakra quickly during a fight and to manipulate their chakra efficiently, hand seals are used. Now I realized why dad made the weird hand sign before his shadow began to move. He was using ninjutsu and a hand seal to manipulate it.
This was only the tip of the iceberg and there were so many things I have yet to read about. It was going to be a daunting task; I know but little by little I will learn about them all. Slowly a year passed by and I continued to research, take notes, and I began to understand.
I don't know if being in the Naruto world had anything to do with this but I began to notice the slightest changes in my life. They were obvious and something I wouldn't have recognized if I was still in my old world. Mom was changing. Within these few weeks, she looked exhausted and became more lethargic, waking up later than usual. Which wasn't like her at all. She was a strict, overbearing woman, who despised disorder. Dad thought she was just sick but I didn't think so. Her body felt… softer and from her frequent trips to the bathroom whenever there was food that evoked a sense of deep disgust within her and the severe morning sickness that woke both of them up some early mornings, she had to be pregnant. These symptoms began plaguing mom every day, with some days harsher than others and finally, they turned to a doctor. I was right. She was pregnant. The news elicited a sense of pride, joy, unfathomable joy within me and I was thrilled with the notion of becoming an older sister.
Soon, the seasons began to change once more, with the leaves dying from a healthy green to a crispy reds, yellows, and browns. The air became colder, carrying the aroma of the decaying landscape.
I waited outside the hall of the delivery room, anxious and silent with the only noise being the low hum that expelled from the walls of the hospital. Dad was at mom's side, doing whatever he possibly can do to keep her comfortable during her now eight hour labor. A nurse would visit me time to time, keeping me entertained whenever she wasn't busy.
Eventually, the door down the slide opened and dad emerged from the room, joy etched onto his features. I quickly slid off the chair a nurse had gotten for me and ran towards him. My steps produce loud taps each step of the way.
"He's here." He calmly said before leading me into the room.
Inside, mom was on the hospital bed, cradling a small blanket against her chest. Dark circles bagged underneath her eyes; her hair unkempt.
"Shikari, come on." She gestured to me over with a hand, "Meet your new baby brother."
I quietly made my way over, not wanting to startle my new brother. Mom then lowered her arms and— there he was. He was so wrinkly, and small. So very small.
"Can, can I touch him?" I asked hesitantly.
Mom nodded. I softly stroked his cheek with a finger, careful not to add too much pressure and I giggled.
Dad grasped my shoulders, "His name is Shikamaru."
"Shikamaru." I repeated as I stared at his tiny form.
Right then and there, I made a promise. I promised that I was going to protect him, to watch over him and that no matter what I will always be there for him.
Mom smiled. "Look after your baby brother, yes?"
I flopped my head back and forth vehemently.
Shikamaru burbled, cooing and giggling as I lightly poke his stomach. Mom had me watch him while she washed the dishes of our finished dinner. Just before I pulled away, he latched onto my finger, refusing to let go. My heart exploded.
"You can watch him, right?" Mom queried while wiping her hand on her apron. "I have to drop off dinner for your father."
As clan leader, dad had countless amounts of responsibilities such as attending clan meetings and tonight there was one, missing his dinner with us.
"Yeah, I can watch him." I picked him up from his mini bed on the couch and followed mom to the door.
"He already ate and I changed him not too long ago. So, he should be good." She put on her shoes. "I'll be back quick."
"Okay."
After seeing mom off, I walked to the engawa, the veranda of the house. I carefully sat on the boarded, wooden floor and placed Shikamaru on my lap. Tonight was beautiful, with the cool breeze carding through my dark hair and the wind chimes softly played their songs. The moon shined brightly, illuminating my surroundings.
I swayed Shikamaru in my arms, continuing to play with him when I felt it. The chakra. This chakra was menacing, overwhelmingly demonic, and malicious. Describing it as evil was an understatement. It was frightening.
The air became thick around me, crippling me, taunting me, choking me. I coughed, hacked and tightly gripped my clothes, not understanding why I was feeling this way. Shikamaru immediately burst into tears, screaming as if he too felt this terrifying chakra.
"No, no don't cry." I begged in between coughs, desperately trying to soothe him.
He screamed harder in response and the alarms rang terrifyingly throughout the once peaceful night. Like muscle memory, I ran into the house, frantically searching for the baby sling to securely tie Shikamaru into me so that I can run faster.
Konoha had a very intricate system of alarms, each conveying the level of danger. The silent ones were classified as level one, low to moderate danger and usually the secret task force(?) called the ANBU (I wasn't sure what they were. All I knew was they were very secretive) used them. The quiet alarms were classified as level two, considerable to high danger and the loudest alarms were classified as level three. The extreme danger of all. Mom had mercilessly drilled those codes within me and made me memorize all of the pathways to the shelter in case of an emergency.
Tonight, the loudest alarms ripped through Konoha, with the code conveying all ninja high alert and rapid deployment. High priority. ANBU respond. Evacuate.
Mom was a chunin and dad a jounin commander so both will be called into duty. My finger fumbled with worry as I tied the last knot, effectively strapping Shikamaru onto me. No. They will be okay. They will be fine. I repeatedly told myself as I ran out of the house. They will be fine.
At first, nothing seemed out of place, with the houses all intact and no one was around. But the moment I cut a corner of a street; my heart dropped.
Bodies. Bodies. Bodies. They littered the streets, mostly of the green flak jackets. The area surrounding me was destroyed beyond repair with chunks of buildings and power lines snapped from their original places, blocking the first pathway I thought of that led to the shelter.
I turned to the other way, clutching the still crying Shikarmaru closely to me as I ducked under debris, forcing myself in between tight spaces. The screeches and wails from the dying pounding at my ears, sending me back to the battle field where I perished in. I gritted my teeth and kept moving forward.
Every bone in my body trembled from the horrendous roar and when I looked up, I saw it. Nine tails, viciously swaying against the night sky. I clenched my fists, trying to keep myself from trembling in fear. It was obviously not working. I forced myself to keep running when I heard a female voice sobbing in an alleyway.
"Mother! Father!"
A split second within me was about to ignore it, to focus on myself and my little brother for it was every man for himself. Just as my commander taught me before I entered that beach a very long time ago. But dad's words rung louder, '…to think of those before yourself, to act selflessly during a situation in needs, and to make sacrifices when necessary.'
I switched my pathway and followed the direction of the cries. A girl around my age, was dragging herself while leaning against the building for support. She was going to the wrong direction; to the path of the horrifying creature.
"Hey!" I shouted. "Hey! You're going the wrong way!"
She instantly stopped crying and whirled around. "W-what?"
I held out my hand impatiently, "You're going the wrong way! The shelter is this way!"
Understanding my words, she pushed herself away from the building, giving her the momentum to rush towards me.
Right at that moment, an enormous claw of the creature peeked behind a tall building before disappearing. The surroundings exploded with a thunderous rumble and a blast of debris surged at our way.
My eyes widen. "Faster!" I shrieked and when she was at my reaching point, I grasped her wrist and threw both of us to the side. Shikarmaru whimpered from the sudden motion. "Sorry, sorry." I tried soothing again.
"Thank you." She stuttered.
"Can you stand up?"
She nodded.
"Then, we gotta keep going." I took her hand and was about to go when another large explosion shook us to the ground.
We heard an ear-splitting crack before multiple wooden power lines near us snapped. The girl yelped as I pushed her away from me and tried shielding Shikamaru with my body as best as I could. I didn't have the time to unstrap him from me and throw him to the girl as the power lines fell at full force. I knew it was fruitless but I had to try. I had to keep my promise. As long as he lives, everything will be okay.
I braced myself for the impact but nothing came. Instead, another ear-splitting crack vibrated me to the core. I curled my body tighter, squeezing Shikamaru tightly around my body.
"Itachi!" The girl called out.
"Are you alright?" A boyish voice asked from my side.
After a full minute, I slowly uncurled my body and sat up making sure my little brother was unharmed. I then examined my surroundings. The street cluttered with splintered pieces of the wood and stray electric cords from the falling power lines, completely destroyed. I was relieved but bewildered on what happened. I was sure those lines were definitely about to fall on us.
I continued surveying my surroundings until subsequently landing on a boy also around my age holding out a hand towards me. He had the same raven hair and eyes as mine and sharp bangs that covered his forehead. He too had a baby strapped to his body. Somehow this young boy had saved our lives but how was a question to be answered later.
I hesitantly took his hand and he helped me up. I promptly let go. The girl sprinted to our side, taking my right hand to hers.
"You're not hurt, are you?" She asked, apprehensively.
"I think I'm fine." I assured before turning to the boy. "Thank you."
He simply nodded, "Come on, we have to get to the shelter."
We trudged further up the street and joined the rest of the civilians trying to get to the shelter. About halfway, the boy seemed to recognize someone from a group of shinobi as he instructed us to keep following the crowd and that he'll meet us there.
The shelters were located high up on the side of the mountains in multiple buildings. I assumed the shelters were located underneath the mountain somewhere or at least within but nope. They're right on the sides. Honestly, I don't think it was a good location to house thousands of your civilians until the crisis was over.
My legs ached as we steadily climbed our way up and my heart hammered through my chest the entire time. There were no railings built at the side of the route and I was scared of falling off. We naturally clustered closer to the mountain like the other people.
When we were almost at the top, a few ninjas directed us to different shelters located on the mountain. As we waited for our turn, the girl kept on looking out for the boy, wanting us to end up at the same shelter and so we let some cut in front us. Since we weren't in danger anymore, I thought of striking up a conversation with the girl, to I guess lighten up the situation.
"Uh hey." I started out lamely. "What's your name?"
"Hm? Oh, I'm Izumi." She gave a weary smile, "What's yours?"
"Shikari." I replied.
"Well Shikari, thank you again for saving me back there." She lowered her head about to say something, when she noticed the strapped bundle of a blanket in front of me and her eyes brightened. "Is it your baby sister or brother?"
I smiled, "He's my baby brother. His name is Shikamaru."
"Shikamaru." She repeated while nuzzling his stubby hair. "He's so cute."
"Thanks." I shifted the straps around a bit, relieving my aching shoulder from carrying him for so long.
We continued chattering until the boy we were waiting for finally emerged from the crowd. Izumi waved her hands, yelling for the boy's attention.
"Why aren't you guys inside?" He questioned, breathlessly. I could tell like the rest of us, he was fatigued.
"We wanted to stick together. So, we waited for you." I quietly explained.
The ninja directed us to shelter number eight and inside, it was chaos. Babies were wailing, parents trying to find their missing children and vice versa, and the sobbing of loss filled the room.
We decided to sit near the window, where we can get some fresh air from the overstuffed room. More and more people arrived, and we were all packed tightly against each other. I'm glad I wasn't claustrophobic.
Shikamaru again, started bawling and I tried lightly bouncing him to sleep like mom does but it wasn't working. At the sound of his cries, the baby strapped against the boy also started crying. He, however made no attempts to cease his crying as blankly stared into the small window.
I followed his gaze and also peered outside, hoping to track the moon to find the approximate time. During my service in the military, we were taught how to find time using the position of the moon. You first divide the sky into quarters from east to west and look at the moon's position in relation to where it rose. Right now, the moon is a fourth of the way across the sky which meant three hours had passed since sundown. I flinched as the roars of the creature shook the building. This was going to be a long night.
"Um guys?" Izumi stood, "They're handing out blankets and water and since you guys have your siblings to watch over, I'll get them for us."
We thanked her in various degrees and watched her line up for the said materials.
I glanced at the boy next to me, realizing I didn't know his name due to the ensuing pandemonium. He was the one who saved us, or at least I think he did. I wasn't surprised that a mere child had the strength as this was the Naruto world. Anything was possible.
"So…" I awkwardly cleared my throat, "What's your name? I didn't quite get it from you know, the chaos."
"Itachi." He said plainly.
I waited, expecting him to ask mine but it never came. From his aloof demeanor, he seemed distant, erecting a barrier around himself.
"I'm Shikari." I informed him and my eyes flickered downward, "Your sibling?"
He softly smiled, a smile full of adoration and pride. Similar to mine when I see my own little brother. "Yes, his name is Sasuke." He gestured to me, "you?"
I tugged away the blanket that was hiding a part of his face, "My baby brother, Shikamaru."
The barriers that he erected around himself melted a little.
We spent the rest of the night at each other's sides, talking, and allowing each other to hold our siblings, despite Sasuke's cries. Our attempt to assuage each other during these grim times.
When the moon was about three-fourths of the way across the sky, about nine hours past sunset, the alarms rang again. This time from level three to level one, communicating that the civilians are allowed back to their homes but to be on the lookout. Shinobi still on standby.
One by one, they let the civilians out of the shelters and shortly, our shelter was let out too. We lumbered our way down the mountain, taking in the sight of our ravaged home. The once brightly lit up village was completely dark. Houses, buildings were demolished and parks were no longer parks but complete waste lands. Fires consumed half of the village with thick smoke blanketing the stars and now the moon. The damage was heartbreaking to see and the people's laments broke through the early morning of Konoha.
At the base of the mountain, we briefly stopped to ask each other where we lived only to figure out that it was around the same area or section of the village. Along the way, we passed through grisly sights, trying our best to overlook.
The place where Izumi and Itachi lived was a compound, instead of a house. The banners that hung at the front entrance bore what looked like two fan shapes, signifying that it was a clan. I've seen them before, in a book during my days of research. The Uchiha, one of the four noble clans of the Hidden leaf, reputed as the strongest because of their sharingan.
They were Uchiha.
"Looks like this is where we part ways." I waved at them, "Thank you for everything."
Izumi waved back, "Yeah, I hope we see each other soon."
Itachi just stared and without another word from either of them, I quickened my pace, continuing up the path. The Nara compound was still a fair distance away and I was anxious to get home, to see if mom and dad were okay.
"Wait."
I angled my face to the side, curious as to why they stopped me. Actually, it was just Itachi as he was running towards me. I knitted my brows in confusion. I'm sure his parents were worried about him and if this was about if we'll ever meet again, I think we will.
"Let me walk you home." He offered.
I frowned, puzzled. "Um, no it's okay. You have to walk all the way back and your parents should be worried about you and your brother."
"It's fine."
"No really, I'll be okay. You can go home." I turned to the direction of my house.
His footsteps followed steadily behind. Why was he so adamant?
"What if something falls on you again?" He argued.
"The attacks are over, I'm sure nothing else will fall."
"Let me walk you home." He said firmly.
I sighed; he technically already was and I wasn't in the mood to argue. "Fine…you're already doing it anyways."
We walked the rest of the way in silence as I was restless, fidgety about my parents' state and Itachi had noticed.
"You're family... they'll be fine." He quietly assured.
I peered at him from the side, a bit startled at his brusque attempt to comfort me.
"I hope so."
The destruction of the house wasn't too bad compared to the others' in the clan compound. There was a gaping hole on the side and the veranda completely wrecked but this was only the outside. The inside could tell a much different story.
I clenched my hands. Mom and dad weren't home yet.
"Thanks for escorting me." I quietly uttered. "And thanks for... everything." I inwardly cringed at the number of times I said thank you. He probably thought I was annoying at this point and my gratitude un-genuine.
"You're welcome." He curtly nodded and turned to leave.
I watched him until his clan crest disappeared within the dark horizon.
I dusted off the debris on a step of the staircase and sat, waiting for my parents. Shikamaru had fallen asleep to the soft rocking of my body while walking home and by watching him, my eyes were threatening to droop as well.
Mom came home at dawn, frantically searching for us around the compound and when she found us safe and unharmed at the house, she broke down.
And seeing the tears stream down her face, I too felt my eyes water. The emotions that I had balled within me were finally permitted to leave.