a note from the desk of ethereal damsel
Renovation Part 8: I only moved a bit of the beginning of the next chapter to the end of this one. This was simply because I like it better as the ending of this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. The only characters I own are Kanzaki Kaya and her relations, Kirei and assorted children and adults from the Village Hidden in the Clouds, and Aoyama Kiyoshi.
The next few days fleeted by, at least for Kiyoshi. Kirei managed to master herself and focus entirely on the task at hand, her instruction in the channeling of spirits. She even managed to channel a jutsu from some long-dead ninja: the water clone technique. Though she was unable to recall the same phantom technique again, the fact that she had been able to conjure up a jutsu at all was amazing in so short a period of time.
"Thought I couldn't do it, eh, Kiyoshi-sama? Thought I was a hopeless case?" she had said, smirking. Kiyoshi, of course, had uttered not a word. But he had nodded his head in assent, an action that surprised Kirei as much as her now seemingly existent ability to concentrate. She could not know how much her remote, taciturn companion truly treasured her existence.
"So, Kiyoshi. You say you have mastered that rock element technique I imparted to you?"
"Yes, Mamoru-sensei. I can demonstrate it to you if you like."
"Very well."
The tall and slender youth Kiyoshi had been at the time of his first meeting of Kirei was here in his old village. He seemed quite similar to the older Kiyoshi on first glance, but he then had a much lankier figure, and his eyes did not have the haunted look in them Kirei had grown to know and pity.
This Kiyoshi clasped both of his hands together and performed a series of complex seals before saying quietly, "Rock Element: Earthen Bastion."
A towering wall of clay mixed with slate erected itself from the very ground before Kiyoshi's feet.
"Excellent!" exalted Mamoru, with somewhat of a greedy glint in his eye. "If you continue to progress in such a fashion as this, you may even surpass the greatest of the Aoyama clan!"
"This is no great feat," Kiyoshi returned dismissively. "Only when it is constructed of pure adamant stone will I accept your praise. Until then, I must continue my training." With a wave of Kiyoshi's hand, his technique was dispelled and the great earthen wall seemed to crumble upon itself.
"Nii-san! Nii-san!" cried a small, impatient voice.
"If you will excuse me," Kiyoshi said to his sensei before taking his leave of him. He dashed off towards the source of the indignant cry, and found himself in the company of a tiny girl with tousled brown hair and icy blue eyes much like his own.
"Nii-san, you promised."
"Promised what?"
"You promised me a trip to the lake!"
"How could you think I'd forgotten?" said Kiyoshi grinning and pulling on his comrade's ponytail. "I had no idea my own sister thought so little of me."
"I don't, nii-san! I had no idea you thought so little of me!" The little girl's eyes welled with angry tears.
"No, Takara! Come now, I was only joking."
"Oh, good!" the girl whose name was Takara piped. "Well, in that case…" She kicked Kiyoshi in the shin, which was the highest point her stubby leg could reach. He commenced to laugh, with a pained sort of smile on his face.
"Well, aren't we going to the lake? Or will I have to kick you again?"
"Oh no, that's not necessary…"
As they walked in the direction of Lake Amaya, the loveliest mere in all of Hidden Rain, Kiyoshi looked down at Takara who looked back up at him, scowling. But Kiyoshi smiled at her, gently. She seemed to take this as sufficient penance for his actions, for she too smiled, and their walk continued peacefully.
Once they arrived, Kiyoshi led Takara to the edge of the lake and they sat upon the loamy soil and thick grasses.
"Here of old was the home of the Aoyama clan," said Kiyoshi.
"Our clan?"
"Yes. They dwelt here, a symbol of strength undimmed. At that time, no one dared challenge Hidden Rain, for it was protected by sentinels that fought with the very bones of the earth."
"Why don't we live here, full of 'strength undimmed'?"
"Well, the fate of our clan is very similar to that of what the Kanzaki clan of the Cloud suffers now. Slowly, the strength of our line waned, for we grew arrogant and foolhardy in the peace that had settled upon our home. The other villages came to know this, and knew that if there were to be any time in which the Rain was vulnerable, it was now. So they attacked. And thus, we came to one of the great wars of our time. Like the Kanzakis have commenced to do now, members of our clan left the village or died in the long watches of the night. Soon it came to the point where the Aoyama clan consisted of but one man, our father, who married a kunoichi and then brought us into being. But during a night raid, around the time I was starting at the Academy, our parents perished, and I was left with nothing but our humble home and my troublemaking little sister."
"But things have turned out alright, haven't they?"
"Yes, they have, Takara." He smiled at her again. "Well, it's getting late and you should be in bed soon. Besides, I have to go with my sensei to some meeting."
"A meeting? What for?"
"I believe it is about my joining the ANBU."
"ANBU! Wow, nii-san, that's great! You've got to be the youngest ever, 'cuz you're only thirteen."
"Yes, I am…"
"What's wrong?"
"It's just…I'm not sure I want to be. In ANBU, I mean. Our village has been involved in many underhanded dealings lately…and I don't think I want to be a part of that."
"Oh."
"I shall strive to do my best, though. Come now, let's head home."
That evening, Kiyoshi attended the ANBU meeting with Mamoru. It honors me, he had thought to himself. And yet I still am wary. I still do not like it. Many of the members seemed edgy and agitated; Kiyoshi had learnt long ago that if he were to be accepted by the ANBU, it was better to let Mamoru-sensei do all of the talking. These ninja did not take well to inquisitive young people, even those who had been endowed with the talent of their clan more than any other.
But the very air seemed thick with tension that night, an unnatural tension one did not often find among the even-minded members of the Assassination and Tactics Special Squad. Kiyoshi felt it, and he guessed that Mamoru felt it as well, for there was pallor about his swarthy face.
But Kiyoshi was accepted, as he knew he would be.
"Nii-san, did they accept you?" Takara asked anxiously, upon Kiyoshi's arrival home.
"Yes."
"I'm glad for you," Takara said, smiling. But inexplicably, her smile faded.
"What's the matter?" asked Kiyoshi concernedly, for his sister seemed suddenly quite glum.
"Well…you've always told me ANBU was a very demanding organization. Now that you're a part of it, I won't see you as much. What will happen to our walks through the village and to Lake Amaya? Who will take care of me?"
"We'll still take walks together, if not as often. And I've arranged for someone in the village to care for you in the case of my absence."
"But it won't be the same," Takara answered obstinately. "It will never be the same."
"I know," said Kiyoshi sadly. "But this, Takara, is the way of the ninja. And for us in Hidden Rain, there is no other way."
"You're right, as usual."
There was a silence that passed between the two of them.
"But just you wait and see," Takara said defiantly. "I'll catch up to you, and then we'll be in the ANBU together."
"So, I'll never be rid of you?" said Kiyoshi, laughing.
"Never," Takara answered, grinning.