Chapter Eleven: Interlude

"It began with the founding of the Hidden Village of Sound," Suzu said, voice hushed so that only Iruka and Naruto could hear her. "The man who founded it, Mochida Yukio, was a shinobi from the Hidden Village of Rain. He left the Rain after one too many of his friends died in senseless clashes between political powers. Gathering others of like mind, he traveled north to found the Hidden Village of Sound and kept it isolated so that it would remain free from bloodshed. He and other shinobi who had settled in the village decided to train future generations of ninja to protect the Sound, but nothing more."

"Mochida Yukio was a musician as well as a ninja, and he founded the village on the principle of harmony; everyone and everything worked together to create a perfect, dynamic whole. He was also the originator of many of the musical techniques the Sound ninja are known for. He was a very great man."

"His son, Mochida Tai, inherited leadership of the village after Mochida Yukio passed away. Tai had been trained by his father, but was not nearly as levelheaded or calm as Mochida Yukio. He inherited the title of Otokage at a young age, so he was also emotionally unprepared to have the entire village depend upon him. He became afraid that the village would be attacked under his reign, and that we would not be prepared when it happened. To combat this, he began seeking out new techniques for the Sound ninja to learn, and encouraged his subordinates to do the same."

"Renjiro, the Jounin of our group and my former sensei, was a close friend of Tai's and was also trained by Tai's father. He became one of Tai's advisors after Tai gained the title of Otokage. Though Renjiro did his best to keep Tai from becoming too paranoid, it was difficult to curb all of the Otokage's impulses. Tai began traveling outside the village, sometimes not returning for weeks, to seek out new techniques. Eventually he returned from his last outing with Orochimaru in tow."

"Tai claimed that Orochimaru was a skilled shinobi who would teach the ninja of the Hidden Village of Sound wondrous techniques. He was half-right. Orochimaru did teach some of our ninja his techniques; those who he secretly made swear allegiance to him."

"I was a Genin at the time, so I didn't know most of this was going on. Juro, Tsuchi and I studied under Renjiro, and all I knew was Renjiro didn't like Orochimaru very much. Eventually Tsuchi asked to study under Orochimaru, and although Renjiro protested, Tai granted Tsuchi's request."

"Tsuchi?" Naruto said, surprised. "I think I remember her. She was one of the spies Orochimaru brought with him to the Chuunin exams."

"She defected," Suzu muttered, darkly. "It wasn't that unexpected, really, at least not to Renjiro. Juro and I are looking forward to paying her back for betraying us."

"At any rate, you can see how this is going. Once Orochimaru began training those Sound ninja who had a lust for power and questionable morals, he staged a coup and attacked the village from the inside. It was the middle of the night and everyone was asleep. Orochimaru and his forces swept through the village killing and destroying when we were at our most vulnerable. There wasn't time to evacuate; there was barely time to think. We were almost completely unprepared."

Suzu sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I was asleep in bed when I heard Juro shouting from outside my window. No, not shouting… screaming. They'd attacked his house first and killed his sister, Kimiko, while she was downstairs making a snack. He'd heard the noise and gone downstairs to investigate."

"You have to understand," she whispered, eyes shining with unshed tears, "Kimiko wasn't a ninja. She was a baker. She'd taken over the family business when her parents passed away. Juro was the only ninja in the Terada family for as far back as anyone could remember. Orochimaru had ordered his ninja to kill without regard to whether the victims posed a threat or not. He simply wanted to cause as much chaos and pain as possible to force the villagers into submission."

"Anyway, when Juro made it downstairs to find… to find Kimiko's body, he tore through the two ninja that had invaded his home. He saw others moving on the street outside and climbed out the kitchen window to warn his neighbors. I woke up in time to hear my father fighting below my feet. My mother was already -- she wasn't a ninja. She never had a chance."

"My father was a ninja, but he was caught completely unprepared. He fought valiantly, and managed to take down one of his opponents. I made it downstairs and Juro burst through my front door just in time to see the second ninja pulling his kunai from my father's body. Needless to say the second ninja wasn't long for this world," Suzu said, bitterly.

"Juro and I were both grief stricken, but we knew we had to keep fighting to defend our village. We left my house in pursuit of Orochimaru's forces when Renjiro arrived and begged us to come with him. Renjiro was badly injured. He told us he'd been at Mochida Tai's side when the village was attacked. They used to go out drinking together sometimes, so I suppose that was what they'd been doing at the time. He then told us that Mochida Tai had fallen to Orochimaru, as had several other elite ninja. The only reason Renjiro survived was because Tai had sent him away to protect his only daughter, Taya. That was where Renjiro was headed, but, as I said, he was badly injured and needed our help. We went with him."

"Upon reaching Mochida Tai's house, we met up with several ninja who were attempting to infiltrate it. We dispatched them and managed to make our way inside. There we met up with Taya, Eriko, who was acting as Taya's nurse and bodyguard, and Minoru, Eriko's nephew."

Something clicked in Iruka's head. "Eriko's a medical specialist, isn't she?"

Suzu nodded, "Among other things."

"And Minoru's her nephew?"

"Nephew-in-law, I suppose you could say. He's her husband's sister's son."

Iruka nodded and Suzu continued, "Once it was established that none of us were a threat to one another, we decided that we should all head to the ninja academy, since that was where we had been directed to go during evacuations. At least it would offer us some form of protection, since the academy was well fortified. When we arrived, we found Toshiro wandering its halls, shocked and shaking. Apparently the couple who had been caring for him had been killed in their sleep and he awoke to find their bodies. It's likely he wasn't killed because the opposing ninja had no idea he was in the house. Not knowing what else to do, Toshiro reacted as he would during an evacuation and headed straight to the school."

"Once we'd established that, then Keiji arrived with Mitsu. Mitsu was Tokiko's, Keiji's fiancée's, younger sister," Suzu explained. "Keiji headed to Tokiko's the moment he knew the village was under attack. Her parents were already dead when he arrived and Tokiko was mortally wounded. He managed to fight off her attackers, but not in time to save Tokiko. She died in his arms."

Iruka and Naruto were both looking at Suzu with horrified expressions. "Should – should I stop?" she asked, uncertain.

"No, please go on," Iruka said, gently, "I think we're just… appalled that all of you were forced to live through something so horrific."

Suzu nodded slowly, then, somewhat hesitantly, continued, "Keiji took Mitsu with him from Tokiko's house and brought her to the school. When we'd all arrived in the same place, Renjiro told us that Tai had mentioned a secret escape tunnel in the academy's basement. We went downstairs and, sure enough it was there. We fled through the tunnel and emerged deep in the forest some distance from the village. Renjiro said we needed to keep moving, to avoid anyone who might come after us, so we headed south. It was during the journey that Eriko learned her husband had been killed. He was one of the elite ninja who had fallen at Mochida Tai's side."

"Whose idea was it to come to Konoha?" Iruka asked, curiously.

"Renjiro's. We'd been traveling for a while, moving from town to town and hoping that Orochimaru's ninja wouldn't catch up. We were hungry and tired of hiding. Then Renjiro overheard a rumor from someone who attended the Chuunin exam in Konoha. He was told that the Hidden Village of Sound had attacked Konoha, but that the Sound had failed. Renjiro decided Konoha was probably the safest place to be."

Iruka just shook his head and even Naruto, for once, seemed speechless. His half-eaten second bowl of ramen had cooled considerably while he listened to Suzu's story.

"Well, you're here now and that's what's important," Iruka took Suzu's hand and she gave him a half-hearted smile. "I didn't mean to have you call up painful memories," he said seriously. "I'm sorry Suzu."

"I am too," said Naruto, looking supremely sorry in the way that only Naruto could.

"Don't worry about it," Suzu smiled for real this time, causing both her companions to relax, "I don't plan on brooding on it all day. Especially when I have such a handsome gentleman to distract me." She squeezed Iruka's hand and he blushed, pleased.

"It's probably about time to head to the festival anyway," Iruka took out his wallet and paid for his, Suzu's and Naruto's meals. He then rose slowly, offering Suzu a hand up.

"You're going to the festival too?" Naruto said, excitedly. "I'm supposed to be meeting Sakura, but maybe we'll run into each other."

"Maybe," said Iruka, extending a hand to rumple Naruto's unruly blond hair.

With a grin, Naruto waved goodbye and hurried out of the ramen stand to meet the pink-haired girl of his dreams.

"I see why you like him," Suzu said, smiling at Naruto's spirited departure. "I wish I had half his energy and optimism."

"He's one of a kind," Iruka agreed, also smiling with paternal fondness at the blond boy's retreating form. "Well… shall we?" he offered Suzu his arm.

"Definitely," she replied, and the two exited Ichiraku to make their way through Konoha's busy streets to the site of the fall festival.