Reviews shall be answered later…

I'm going to focus a bit on Iruka and his past, so if you don't like it… DEAL WITH IT X)

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The freezing rain stung as it plummeted from the sky to the back of Iruka's neck; and yet somehow his team endured. It was midday and the clouds allowed only fractions of sunlight filter through their presence. Iruka and the rest of his squad had to go slower that usual seeing as the tree branches were slippery from the downpour, making for an extra long and eventless journey.

One of the men from his squad talked to his companion about his family. "I just can't wait to get home and see my daughter's smiling face. She's turning six pretty soon."

Iruka felt a pang of loneliness resound through his body, already trembling slightly from the cold. His thoughts turned to his younger sister, always enthusiastic and optimistic…even if it defied all logic.

Maybe it was the fact that the freezing rain reminded him of that faithful day, or the fact that he missed his sister. Maybe it was just plain old fatigue taking a number on his mental control. But for whatever reason, Images of the day his sister went away came rushing back to him.

Rain was pittering its solemn song on the rooftops of Konoha when three figures in dark raincoats, one smaller than the other two made their way across the village to the southern gate. One of the taller figures clutched a bundle of linen close to them, as if afraid the rain would wash it from their arms. When the gate finally loomed tall above their heads, two people, a man and a woman, dressed in clothes not uncommon to the farmers of the area, exchanged a few words with the three, and then exited through the gate to a small caravan beyond. Fading into the forests of Konoha were the shrieks of an infant, no more than three weeks old.

Reality came rushing back to Iruka like caffeine through the veins of a writer who stayed up too late and drank a glass of Pepsi to wake herself up.

(Sara: I'm not going to name any names, uhhh… --CoughISAScough--)

He felt another surge of loneliness, remembering the day his sister was sent off.

Iruka, as an eleven-year-old boy and ninja in training, was always told not to eavesdrop by his parents. That is, unless of course, he is sent on a mission to gather intelligence. However, what he was doing now did not fall under the slim category in which he was allowed to spy.

Through the doorway, he heard his mother crying and his father saying to console her, "It was the only way. If she stayed she probably wouldn't have lived." Instead of fulfilling its purpose, this only made Iruka's mother sob harder. Between muffled wails, he could hear her sniffling, "Curse this sickness! Curse it and may those who have been touched by it live their lives as they once did!" Iruka did not know this until long after, but she was quoting the Hokage's words from a speech that day; a speech that only adults were permitted to attend.

He sighed, his squad's progression picking up pace. He knew his parents had made the only choice they could: While the epidemic swept the village, they had sent their newborn daughter to live with Iruka's aunt and uncle on their farm. What else could they have possibly done? Just about everyone Iruka knew had been affected by the terrible plague one way or another, whether it be through direct infection or through loss of a loved one. Iruka was just thankful that no one in his family had been diagnosed with it.

Meanwhile…

Adnamia, Soums, and Leonid followed closely behind the cloaked man, unaware that every step they took, the darkness evaporated from where their footfalls had last struck. It was not a characteristic of Adnamia's to look back over her shoulder constantly, but tonight it seemed as though that's just what she was itching to do. However, she kept her composure. Looking at the stranger she thought, What is it about this guy that's got me so anxious. Her eyebrow twitched. She never wanted to admit anxiety, even to herself.

Strangely enough, Leonid, walking alongside her, apparently felt the same feeling of nervousness as his sister. This is what compelled him to do something he hadn't done since he was six: he grabbed Adnamia's hand and leeched himself onto her arm, as if stuck with glue. Once again, her eyebrow twitched, but she made no other gesture that would signify a desire for him to, "Get the hell off me!" as she often called it.

This abnormal reaction from her only did more so to Leonid's sense of growing terror. Something is definitely wrong here, they thought in unison.

With Nari, Ed, and Al…

Ed hated sleeping bags. He could sleep in any bed: a hotel bed, a bed infested with lice, ANY bed. Heck, he could sleep on the floor. There was just something about sleeping bags that made him feel, for whatever reason, vertically challenged. The fact that the particular one he was in at the moment was decorated with pink flowers, rainbows, and unicorns did not help his situation in the least.

Earlier, Nari had given him a big, navy, heavy-duty camping sleeping bag about ten feet too long for him. Noting this, she took out his current sleeping bag and said, "Whoops, you're two short. Here, try this one."

The events occurring after this comment was made have been removed due to violent content. These events are also the reason why they had cold ravioli for dinner. Nari, in her insane teenage mind, decided to file away an excuse for the stove, "It smashed itself up, Ed had nothing to do with it." I guess in her twisted mind, it probably sounded believable.

Back to the Terrific Trio…

"Adnamia!" Soums shouted at his sister, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? We WERE HOME FREE! WE HAD A DRY PLACE TO STAY THE NIGHT! HOW COULD YOU SCREW THIS UP?"

She looked nonchalantly at her screaming brother, watching as the cloaked man fled the scene clutching his now fractured arm. "DO YOU KNOW HOW SERIOUS THIS IS?" he continued to rage, "YOU JUST HAVE TO GO MAKING TROUBLE! NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO, IT'S ALWAYS THE SAME IN THE END! YOU EITHER MAKE THE PEOPLE FORCE US OUT OR YOU—"

"Shut up, will you. You're giving me a headache," Adnamia interrupted, her hand resting on her temple.

"No," Soums said in a quieter tone, "I will not shut up. You need to hear this." He gulped in a breath of air and then continued, "You can't just go around recklessly causing trouble. If people sense that disorder is amiss, there is tension. Too much tension causes people to act out. Acting out leads to chaos, which leads to innocent lives being taken. If I'm not mistaken you a know a certain innocent person who died because of this chain of—"

Once again Adnamia interrupted, though this time it was not to make a snide remark. She growled, "Never. Never speak of him like that. Not to me. Not to anyone. He doesn't deserve to be used as one of your little examples," her voice rose with anger, "One of your little examples of how people act. He's wasn't like any of them."

Soums, thoroughly angry himself, decided to tweak a nerve just because he could. To be mean. To attempt to show authority. He said calmly, "Adnamia, he's gone now. And since he is, you're going to have to accept something." He put a hand on her shoulder, "He was just like everyone else."

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Whoa. That had more drama than I had intended. But then again, as mentioned in a prior simile, I'm hyped up on caffeine. : )