Lines in the Sand
Arc 1 - A Shinobi
Line 5: A Promise (part 2)
The moment that Tanjiro lowered the rear panel, I quickly hopped out of the carriage and started stretching. My eagerness to get off so quickly resulted in a couple friendly chuckles from behind me. Tanjiro just gave me an amused look before commenting, "Eager to get out aren't you?"
"I'm sore," I explained truthfully, pulling stiff muscles and rubbing the spots that ached. I even considered massaging my butt because that was where I was the most sore, but that would've been too unsightly to do in public, even for me.
Until now, I've never realised how uncomfortable carriage rides truly were. Without any form of suspension or rubber tires for the wheels, you really felt each and every bump. The roads we travelled on only further compounded the issue. Unlike the even, paved roads you'd drive a car on, these were made of patted down dirt and they were littered with rocks and branches.
And believe me when I say they really made their presence known. Still, I suppose it was more comfortable than horseback.
We were making a pit stop at a clearing about halfway back to Konoha because the horses required some time to rest. It also served as a lunch break as we left in the morning and it was already noon.
After sorting out most of the kinks in my body, I scanned my surroundings for my target. I'd been wanting to speak to him the entire day, but I haven't found an opportunity to. It took a little searching because of all the carriages and people that were also part of this caravan, but eventually I spotted him on the far side of the clearing.
I ran up to Mom and gave her gentle tug on the sleeve to get her attention. "Can I go speak with Gekkō-san after we eat?" I asked, making sure to pair it with a sweet smile.
She gave me an uneasy look. "I don't know Yume," she placated, "I don't think it's a good idea."
"Please?" I begged again, "You know Gekkō-san is really nice. I won't be in any danger with him."
"I really don't think you should," she said again still unconvinced. Despite denying me, it wasn't a hard no just yet. The tone of her voice suggested there was still an opportunity to change her mind. It looks like it was time I busted out my new secret weapon, a recently learned skill I've only just added to my arsenal.
Taking a half step closer to her, I tugged her sleeve again and opened my eyes as wide as I could. "Please Mom? Pretty please with a dango on top?"
"Ugh," she groaned, turning away from me. "Don't pretend I don't know you're doing that on purpose."
"Please?" I begged again with another gentle tug. I turned my doe-like eyes up another level.
Making the mistake of looking at me again, her willpower began to wilt. "Okay, okay. You win, stop it with those eyes." She made an exaggerated motion of shielding her eyes as if she was looking at something too bright. "Just, please, stay safe. Don't do anything dangerous."
"Thanks Mom! You're the best!" I exclaimed and tackled her into a hug. She huffed and gave me an aggressive pat on the head. Contrary to her contrived attempt to appear upset, she was adorning jovial smile on her face.
"Neither you nor Kimura-chan can deny the little missy can ya?" Ryoki laughed as he came up to us. "Well, I don't blame ya. I can't either when she gets like that."
I gave the two of them an impish grin before pretending to whistle as innocently as I could. You would think that because I was mentally an adult, I should be above playing up my childish appearances to get what I want.
I wasn't.
Ryoki rummaged through his bag and produced a pair of onigiri. He handed me one as he spoke to Mom, "I'll look after the little missy here. Make sure she doesn't get into trouble."
After Mom gave him a thankful nod, he gave me a gentle push on the back. "Go on, lead us to your friend," he urged.
Receiving their permission to walk as I eat, I started munching on the onigiri while leading us over to where I caught sight of Hibiki earlier. As we passed by the numerous carriages and carts, I was reminded once again just how many people we were travelling with.
And how little people were responsible for the protection of so many.
I pushed the negative thoughts plaguing my mind and focused on finding Hibiki. When I finally spotted him near the treelines, I quickly scarfed down the rest of my lunch and rushed over. "Gekkō-san!" I called out with a wave when I was about a dozen metres away.
"Ah, Yume-chan!" he greeted back, halting his conversation with his companion. "I didn't see you around so I didn't think you were coming back in this caravan."
"We were just stuck in the middle this time," I answered a bit dejectedly.
"I see," he said with an understanding nod. "That's too bad. Did you enjoy your trip to the onsen?"
"Yup!" I exclaimed with perhaps a bit too much vigour as I was practically bouncing on my feet. I felt a blush form on my face and tried to tone down my enthusiasm. "I never wanted to leave," I said a bit longingly, "but all good things come to an end I guess."
Before he could reply, the girl next to him interrupted with a cough into her hand. "Ahem. Are you going to introduce me to your little friend here?" she asked with a strange inflection in her tone.
I gulped nervously and took a timid half step back. It wasn't that I was shy, but she unnerved me a little. I couldn't quite place it, but there was something about how she talked and the look she gave me. It wasn't malicious or in a way that made me fear for my safety, but I did feel in danger of a different sort.
"Oops! Sorry!" Hibiki laughed a little sheepishly while scratching his cheek, completely oblivious to my inner dilemma. "Yume-chan, meet my teammate, Nara Kanami," he said as he gestured to her. "Nami, this is Yume-chan."
She enclosed in on my personal space and crouched so that she was more level with me. "Yume-chan, it's so nice to meet you!" she said as her grin turned a little predatory.
Feeling even more apprehensive, I took another half step back and squeaked out a flustered, "likewise."
That turned out to be a mistake.
"Oh my God, you are so cute!" she gushed as she closed the distance and captured me into a hug. I tried to escape and fight her off, but my paltry attempts were no match for her enthusiasm. Much to my dismay, after her overly passionate hug, she started squishing my cheeks. "You're so tiny and adorable!"
Unable to save myself from this humiliation on my own, I looked towards Hibiki and Ryoki — who was watching a distance away — for help. I gave them my best deer in headlight eyes and mouthed silently, 'help me.' Much to my chagrin, neither of them saw fit to come to my rescue and started laughing instead.
The traitors.
After any dignity I may have had left was sufficiently extinguished, buried, and given a funeral, she cradled me from behind and rested her head on top of mine. "Can I keep her?" she asked Ryoki who finally made himself known to her. "I want to keep her."
"While I'm personally okay with it, I promised her parents I'd return her after this," Ryoki chuckled.
"Aww, that's too bad."
Somehow, even though I couldn't see her face, I just knew she was wearing a pleased grin. On my part, I simply kept glaring at Ryoki and Hibiki who sacrificed me to Kanami for their own amusement.
I will not forget this, and I will get my revenge. Just you wait.
"I should get started on patrolling the perimeter like Sensei asked," she sighed, dropping her playful manner. "Yume-chaannn," she whined, "play with me when I return." And then it was back.
After rubbing her cheek into my hair one last time, she finally released me. I hastily retreated behind Ryoki's legs and stuck out my tongue at her.
This only amused her further and her smile widened. Fearing that incited her to give me another hug, I let out a scared squeak and hid myself further. Thankfully, she just gave Hibiki a mock salute and disappeared into the tree tops.
The threat to my virtue gone and remembering who left me to the shark in the first place, I detached from Ryoki and returned to glaring at them. This sent them into another fit of laughter.
Hibiki was the first to stop. "Sorry Yume-chan, Nami just really likes cute things. I guess she found you irresistible. She means no harm, promise."
I hmphed and crossed my arms. "You owe me salmon," I declared with a mock angry turn away from him.
"Okay, okay," he laughed, "when we return to Konoha I'll treat you to some sushi. So, what did you want to talk about?" His grin turned a little smug, "Or, knowing you, what did you want to ask me about?"
Dropping my act, I gave him an eager smile, "You promised you would show me some Kenjutsu!"
"Oh right, I did. Let me find something to cut." He looked around a bit before walking deeper into the woods, gesturing for us to follow him. After he found a tree branch about a foot in diameter, he propped it up with a few others. As he created his makeshift target, Ryoki and I found a spot a safe distance away to watch from.
"This is called crescent slash," he announced as he settled into a somewhat low stance with his hand on his sword about a metre away from his target.
Katana, I reminded myself, he called it a katana.
He withdrew the blade out of its sheathe a fraction of a centimetre such that just the barest hint of silver shined through. Lowering his stance a bit further, he tensed his grip on the handle. Then, with a flash of silver, he was already sheathing it again.
Wait, what?
I blinked a few times as I tried to process what just happened. Did he already cut it? I wondered as I shifted my gaze to the tree branch. And sure enough, the top half was sliding off the bottom half.
As I retroactively pieced together the events, I felt my jaw go slack from the implications. Not only did he cut it faster than I could process his actions, but his cut was so clean that it didn't catch or drag either half of the branches with his blade. And he did it effortlessly while still being what? 9 years old?
I felt a shiver run down my spine.
Once again, the implications of what it meant to be shinobi made themselves known. Mom's words ran through my head and I found myself wincing at how completely mistaken I'd been. I thought I understood just how different Hibiki was. I thought I knew what he was capable of when I saw his athleticism on the way here.
I thought wrong, I underestimated him.
"Wow! That's impressive," Ryoki complimented him, completely unaware of my inner turmoil. He walked up to him and gave him a slap on the back, "So you're proficient in iaijutsu huh?"
"Hehe, yeah I guess," Hibiki shrugged as he bashfully scratched his cheek. "A lot of my family kenjutsu techniques revolve around iaido. I wouldn't exactly say I'm proficient in them just yet though. My mom only taught me a few techniques so far because she says I'm not ready. My brother is a lot better."
"Brother?" I wondered out loud, a little curious. There was something about him mentioning about having a brother that struck a chord with me, although I was unsure what.
"Yeah, he's called Hayate. I should introduce you when we get back. It's a shame he's a little sick, but he's a ton better than me. He is already…" his voice trailed off as he stiffened into an alarmed stance. He narrowed his eyes as they the woods.
I tried to find what he was looking for, but all I saw were trees upon more trees.
"Must've been nothing," he mumbled.
As soon as the words left his lips, running footsteps made us look back to the clearing. Kanami was running towards us with a grim look to her face. When she came to a stop, she quickly spoke to Hibiki in a very alarmed tone.
"Sensei saw some bandits about a kilometre north of here. He said they looked armed so he went to preemptively deal with them." She took a gulp of air to catch her breath. "things should be fine, but he wanted us to be ready just in case."
As she gave further instructions to Hibiki regarding what their sensei directed them to do, I felt some panic bubble inside me. I nervously searched for Ryoki's hand and clutched it tightly for some reassurance. He readily provided and gave me a gentle squeeze back.
After Kanami finished relaying instructions and ran back to where the carriages were, Hibiki turned his attention back to us. "Go back to your carriage and wait inside," he said in composed and manner. Then his voice softened as he spoke this next bit. "Don't worry. I promised I would keep you safe didn't I? Everything will be fine."
He walked towards me and gave me a comforting pat on the head. After sharing another nod with Ryoki, he disappeared after Kanami to fulfil his orders.
We lingered a few seconds longer watching his retreating back. Then, Ryoki gave me a tug and started walking back towards Tanjiro's carriages. "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about, normal bandits aren't a match for shinobi," he said in a consoling manner when he felt my hand shaking. "Plus, it sounds like they're on top of it."
I nodded stiffly and walked a bit faster, trying to suppress my panic. Before we could completely clear the woods, I felt a sudden chill run down my back. It screamed of malice and danger. A fear I haven't felt since the night of the Kyuubi attack returned. I spun around as fast as I could; just in time to see a glint of metal fly towards us from the woods.
"Watch out!" I shouted and shoved Ryoki as hard as I could to the side.
It wasn't fast or hard enough.
He screamed out in pain as it slammed into the back of his shoulder hard enough to knock him over. The fear I felt transformed into full blown terror. My first instinct was to run as fast as I could away from here. However, two steps in, another grunt of agony stopped me in my tracks.
Turning around, I saw Ryoki still lying on the ground, clutching his shoulder with gritted teeth. The sight left me paralysed with indecision.
What do I do, what do I do.
I bit my inner lip and rushed back to him. With as much strength as I could muster, I tried to pull him up and forwards. "We need to go, come on, faster faster," I shouted with urgency. He stumbled a bit getting up, only managing to take a single step forwards before faltering and falling down with a hiss.
His hand reached for the metal protrusion jutting out from his shoulder to remove it, but I slapped his hand away. "No!" I screamed. "Leave it, you'll bleed out. Hurry hurry," I urged again.
Another chill ran down my spine when an amused voice rang out from behind us. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? The little girl has a head on her shoulders."
I knew I shouldn't have looked back. That I should've ran, hid, screamed, anything but stopping and lingering because that was an assured death. But I couldn't help it. Like a moth to a flame, something about his voice captivated me and I turned around.
In front of us stood a gruff looking man adorned with a katana and an entertained look on his face. The sight of him and the weight of his presence rooted me where I stood. I could feel the despair overflowing now. It was overwhelming me.
My legs felt weak, and my strength left me. I fell down in terror, clutching myself and shivered. It was only when Ryoki shook me than that I snapped out of the trance.
"Go!" he screamed, "run Yume! Run!"
Despite knowing that I was as good as leaving him to die, I didn't have the will left in me to stick around. I squeezed my eyes shut, spun around, and tried to make a break for it. I barely got five steps in before I ran into what felt like a brick wall and collapsed back onto my butt.
Opening my eyes again, I saw him standing right in front of me with the same amused smile from earlier. "Sorry girl, normally I'd play a little first but I ain't got time." He swung his katana down towards me. I uselessly hid behind my arms knowing full well they wouldn't do a thing and braced for impact.
Instead of the sound of a blade cutting through flesh, a metal clang resounded through the forest air. His katana stopped mere centimetres from my face, blocked by another blade.
"Get up Yume! Go get Ryoki and go!" a familiar voice shouted at me. Then he made a grunting noise as he knocked the other katana away from me.
I crawled backwards away from the ensuing sword fight before scrambling up and running back to Ryoki. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that he was still in relatively the same state as when I left him. The shinobi, and I knew he had to be a shinobi now because he was wearing the damned headband, hadn't seen fit to kill him before blocking me from escaping.
Before I could help him back onto his feet to begin our escape again, a scream cut through the air and Hibiki was sent flying into the tree in front of us. Panic growing anew, my gaze transfixed back to where they were fighting earlier.
The uninjured enemy, still looking smug as ever, lazily sauntered over to us.
However, he suddenly froze mid step, standing in an awkward position with unnatural stillness. There was only the barest hint of confusion before his eyes travelled downwards and then towards somewhere in the distance. He made a frustrated grumbling noise before muttering, "Damned Nara and their annoying shadows."
Following his gaze, I found a very concentrated looking Kanami glaring back at him. "Hibiki!" she shouted desperately, "Get him! Quick! I can't hold him for long, he's too strong!"
Hibiki forced himself onto his feet, face distorted with pain. The moment his legs found purchase beneath him, he charged at the shinobi. For a second, it looked like the shinobi was completely locked into place and unable to defend himself. However, at the very last moment he managed to raise his katana in time to block Hibiki's overhead strike.
When Hibiki tried to follow up with a horizontal slash, it was also blocked.
The shinobi was no longer wearing an easy expression now. His face visibly contorted as he fought for each and every bit of moment he was making. Still, despite only having limited movement in his wrist and forearm, he managed to block each and every one of Hibiki's follow up attacks.
"Keep him still!" Hibiki shouted in frustration after another failed attempt to cut him down.
"I'm trying! He's overpowering me, I can't — fuck!" Kanami dodged to as a metal projectile sailed through the air at her. The shinobi somehow managing to find the opportunity to throw it despite being suppressed by the two earlier.
Now that he was no longer under whatever jutsu she was holding him under, his movements sped up. Unable to keep up, Hibiki started getting overwhelmed. Just as he was about to disarm Hibiki, a few projectiles flew through the air and forced him to take a step back. This gave Hibiki room to recover his stance and catch his breath.
"What're you still doing here Yume?" he screamed, "Go!"
Remembering where I was and how stupid it was to stay here and watch, I gathered my wits and helped Ryoki back onto his feet. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Kanami rushing forwards to assist Hibiki more directly.
We barely managed 10 steps before an unconscious Kanami smashed into us from the back, knocking all of us over. I crawled back onto my knees just in time to see Hibiki double over from a knee to his chest. The shinobi followed it up with a roundhouse kick to Hibiki's temple that sent him flying dozens of metres into a tree.
The horrific crack sound he made as he went completely limp against the side of the tree signalled the end of a very one-sided beatdown.
"Stupid little kids playing ninja. Old man Sarutobi must be going senile if he let these brats graduate," he remarked with the same casuallness you would when dealing with bugs that were completely below you. "Still conscious girlie? Too bad I gotta kill ya, I like the look in your eyes."
As he stalked closer, I scrambled and pulled one of the knives that spilled out of one of Kanami's bags. I uselessly held it against him, arms shaking so much I could barely keep it pointed towards him. My grip felt like it would falter at any moment and my legs were so weak that a stiff breeze could probably knock me over.
It was a pointless ordeal. After all, what good could I do against a monster that took out Hibiki and Kanami like trash. But what other choice did I have? It was either die defiantly or die with my back turner. Either way I was dead.
Stopping a metre away from me, he dramatically made a point of raising his sword above his head. He did it in an agonisingly slow manner, stretching out the moment to amuse himself, wearing a snide grin the entire time.
He was shinobi, and I was civilian. We both knew it didn't matter what he did, there wasn't a chance in hell I'd reach him before he cut me down. There wasn't a point in this other than to humiliate me further.
But if I was going to die, then I was going to at least choose when I died. Before he completely raised his katana, in one last act of defiance, I closed my eyes and rushed at him.
I heard the sound of a blade cutting through flesh, I smelled the metallic scent of blood, I even tasted it as drops fell into my mouth. However, I didn't feel it.
The blow never came.
I hesitantly and slowly opened my eyes only to find Ryoki hovering in front of me. My eyes widened as I let go of the blade that was now lodged into his stomach. As he collapsed forward on top of me, I saw the shinobi give an amused shake of his head before readying a second strike.
Suddenly, his eyes widened and he dashed backwards a dozen metres; just in time to dodge another person that landed where he stood just before. Our apparent rescuer wasted no time in engaging him in combat.
She had long hair and was wearing traditional Japanese attire. My eyes widened in worry when I realised she had no weapon of her own; however, she quickly disparaged my worries when it became evident she didn't need one.
They were too fast for me to track their individual movement, but I could generally understand their intent. He was being extremely careful to maintain a wide berth between them, always using his katana to create space. He also focused on dodging, never trading blows if he could help it. After she made an overcommitment in one of her strikes, he finally found the room to make a wide swing that forced her back several metres.
Using this opportunity, he created even more distance and broke out into a run. Although she chased him at first, she quickly came to a halt when he hovered over the unconscious Hibiki.
"Look, I wasn't paid enough to fight a Hyūga jounin and those useless guys obviously bungled the job," he drawled, hovering his katana near Hibiki's neck. "I have no reason to be here anymore. Let me leave and no one else dies."
Satisfied with the belligerent nod she gave him, he shifted his gaze to meet my eyes once more. "A little hint next time girlie, it works better if you keep your eyes open when you try to stab someone."
With that last mocking taunt, he disappeared into the treetops.
I felt my blood boil with anger. How dare he! Sure, he didn't just outright kill me and I survived as a result, but to ridicule me by using someone else as a shield? To force me to hurt someone I cared for just for his own amusement?
That was cruel.
But the rage and humiliation quickly morphed into horror when the realisation that I stabbed Ryoki sank in. I almost regretted it when I shifted my attention back to him.
There's so much blood. Why is there so much blood?
My arms started shaking from panic as I did my best to hold back the growing terror. I need to stem the bleeding, my mind snapped. Quickly, he's losing blood too fast.
A quick glance around didn't immediately show me anything I could use to bandage him so I started taking off my shirt to use as a makeshift gauze. However, before I could pull it over my head, the long haired shinobi stopped me.
I felt my anger rekindle. "What!?" I screamed at her and tried to shake her off. "He's bleeding out! I need to stop it!"
However, her grip held firm. "Stop," she said in a soft, apologetic tone. "Hold him tight and say goodbye."
Goodbye? How dare she. I could still save him, I can stop the…
My eyes widened and my arms went slack now that I finally got a good look of his back. There was so much blood not because of my measly stab or the shoulder wound, but because he has a gaping cut running the length of his back.
This was… I couldn't…
My eyes started burning and my vision began to blur. The bastard didn't use Ryoki to block my pitiful lunge. No, Ryoki threw himself in front of me to block his.
My tears started streaking down my face as I tentatively reached out to him. My hands found his and I clutched them tightly. I let out a gasp when he squeezed back.
"Little missy..." he said, fighting for every syllable he hissed out. He shifted his neck to get a better look at me.
I wanted to tell him not to speak. To save his strength and to not aggravate his injuries any further. However, there was no point. There was no saving his strength. There was no after this. This injury, it was fatal.
"Prom… ise…" he squeezed out in a much weaker voice before wearing his usual dumb smile. He opened his mouth again, but this time no sound came out. He mouthed out a few more words, but none reached my ears.
And then his grip went slack, his eyes glazed over, and the life in them disappeared.
