Those Who Are Lost
Chapter 5
The Girl Who Lost Everything
Well here it is guys! The next chapter of Those Who Are Lost.
Sorry it took so long but as you can see it is a longer chapter. I was originally going to split it across two chapters but I thought it flowed much better as one and was important for plot progression purposes.
Hope you enjoy and next chapter our two mains are going to meet.
Disclaimer: I do not in any way claim ownership of Naruto or Naruto Shippuden nor any of its sequels or spinoffs. These are all the rightful intellectual property of Masashi Kishimoto, the true Sage of the Six Paths.
Now then enough of my senseless prattle! On to the story!
Something had changed in the past few days. Himawari found she couldn't quite put a name to the feeling only that it made her hackles raise in anticipation. If she were forced to describe it she would say that it felt as though there was a charge to the air, as if the air itself were crackling with energy, bubbling with excitement.
Himawari was sure that she had felt this… thing before but no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't remember what it all truly meant. The only thing she did know was that she was sure that something terrible was about to happen and she didn't know how to stop it or if she even could.
Despite this feeling which she only seemed to be aware of if Kouda's cheery demeanour was anything to go by, she carried on as if nothing were amiss for his sake. Himawari was sure that she didn't want the old man to add her paranoia to her symptoms of amnesia.
Ever since they had returned to the clinic from Dustwall a week ago he had been treating her differently. Himawari had grown tired of the strange looks and confronted him about the situation on the second day of their return.
The man merely gave a nervous laugh, rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and then told her to look in the mirror.
What she saw not only horrified her but also changed the way that she saw herself as well. Her iris had changed from her natural sky-blue colour to one of pale lavender.
"You didn't notice it?" Kouda asked her, his tone tinged with slight concern. Obviously he had thought that she had been aware of such situation. She shook her head, too transfixed with her eye's transformation to reply.
"Well then I guess that settles it girl. You're a shinobi brat and that's a kekkei genkei… Fire Country would be my guess; those bastards love their eye jutsu so much." He told her, injecting some levity into his voice.
Himawari only scowled at him in return for a brief moment before once again facing her own reflection.
"Why is it like this?" She asked quietly losing herself in the pool of lavender.
From her peripheral vision she could just make out Kouda scratching his chin in thought.
"My guess? Well since nothing horrible has happened yet like the house catching on fire or me being left a drooling mess on the floor from an accidental genjutsu I'd say that right now you're not using it but rather it's a cosmetic change due to stress or some other change in your emotional environment."
Himawari turned away from the mirror, looking at Kouda as if he just started speaking in tongues. Kouda sighed and muttered to himself about uneducated children in today's world.
"Calm down and centre your breathing." He instructed gruffly, crossing his arms and watching over her to ensure she did as he told her.
It took a few tries but eventually after following a few more of the old man's directions the lavender pupil faded and turned back into blue.
"I did it!" She whooped, smacking her fist into her palm in accomplishment.
"Well done girl, now clean yourself up and come help me make breakfast. " With that Kouda left the room and the girl alone with her thoughts as she continued to gaze into the mirror in wonderment.
She wasn't sure but she swore that she heard him mutter softly to himself about; 'stupid shinobi brats'.
The next day
It was cold. Kouda told her that what they were currently experiencing was apparently the coldest winter to hit the frontier in over thirty years. Even here from her seated position in front of the fireplace she could feel the chill seeping into her bones and scooted as close to the flames as was reasonably sensible. It had been two weeks since she had discovered her eye trick and she had spent that time in front of the mirror trying to master her power.
So far her success had provided a modicum of success. She had, to a certain degree, learned to prevent her pupils from activating the phenomenon whenever she found herself stressed or startled.
She shivered unexpectedly and craned her neck to find the source of the sudden cold breeze that had swept through the room. She found her answer at the sound of the front door opening and closing and the softly muttered curses of an old man.
It seemed that Kouda had returned from his trip to the village and didn't appreciate the current weather conditions any more than she did.
"I'm back" He called out to which she responded with a simple 'Hm'.
"I have some news" He told her, walking into the room and settling himself into a comfortable position in his favourite armchair in front of the fireplace.
"I take it that it has something to do with the letter in your hand?" She asked after turning her head to look at the object clutched in his hand.
"I told a friend of mine about you. He lives on the border of Fire Country and he seemed quite surprised when I told him about your eyes." He told her, leaning his head back and closing his eyes, no doubt tired from his journey through the snow.
At this, Himawari turned to face him, her attention keenly focused on him now.
"What did he say? Does he know who I am?" She struggled to keep the excitement from leaking into her voice.
"No but he knows where you might be from." He told her with a tired chuckle. Taking a deep breath he stretched his feet out and then let out a contented sigh, obviously enjoying the huff of impatience from Himawari as he purposefully delayed telling her what he knew.
"Your eyes are apparently similar to a Kekkei-Genkei originating in Fire Country known as the Byakugan. It seems girl that you might come from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Konohagakure just as I suspected."
"Konohagakure?" The name she whispered to herself felt familiar somehow, the word buzzing at the back of her brain like a bee that had found itself trapped inside her skull. The more she said it to herself the more her head began to ache, as if some memory were trying to claw its way out to the forefront of her mind.
"The weather's getting worse. Far worse than I thought it would." Kouda muttered, more to himself than her. Himawari shook her head to clear it and sent him a small smile.
"Good thing we stocked up then just in case this happened."
Kouda merely grunted softly before falling into a gentle slumber. One last sentence managed to slip through his lips before his snores filled the room.
"We'll go see him once the weather clears."
The night after.
The two of them found themselves in front of that fireplace yet again. Looking outside, Himawari could see nothing except for black and white. The blizzard had indeed gotten a lot worse and it seemed that everything was covered in snow and ice now.
But she found herself feeling uneasy this night.
What is this feeling? Like someone poured expired milk into my belly…
Whatever it was that was causing this she knew two things for certain; that she didn't like the feeling at all and that something bad was coming.
"Are you alright Hima? You seem unusually tense tonight." Kouda actually seemed concerned instead of amused that time.
She opened her mouth to reply but was cut off. Both of them sat up from their respective seats to look at each other in bewilderment. That was the sound of someone banging on the front door. For a few moments they looked between themselves and the hallway which led to the front door.
"I think you've got patients." She told him gently, hoping to prompt him into getting up and answering the door. Clearly she was more than content to let him answer and remain warm and comfy by the fire.
Kouda frowned at her.
"It's not possible girl. We're a ways from town and there's a snowstorm outside; the roads are all blocked. The only people who could reach us right now would be the mad, the desperate or…"
Himawari without realizing it began to tap her forefingers together in agitation. That uneasy feeling only grew and she wanted to tell Kouda not to answer it but she couldn't figure out why.
"Or what?" She asked nervously.
"Get in the crawlspace." Kouda ordered, getting up and making his way to the edge of the room. It was clear from his now strained voice that the matter was not up for debate.
Himawari hesitated for but a moment before she nodded minutely and got to her feet. Hurrying over to the wall opposite the fireplace she moved aside the single chair propped up against it and started feeling along the wood.
"It's to your left, six inches from your thumb." The old man informed her, narrowing his eyes as the frequency of the knocking increased, their guests obviously becoming more and more impatient with them.
Himawari mumbled a quiet thanks to Kouda, cursing herself as she was restricted to only half a field of vision. Her fingers brushed the hidden latch and with a small 'click' the crawlspace door opened and she made her way inside. Turning around she reached out and grabbed the chair's legs, dragging it back to its original position before closing the crawlspace door and, without any shame, peered through the small slats hidden between the wooden planks.
This was the first time she had been in here and when she asked the old man why he would have such a place he would merely shrug and reply that it had come with the house. Himawari just tried not to think about the spiders and other insects that might have made the hiding spot their home.
Kouda let out a small sigh before making his way to the front door.
Taking a quick peek through the spyhole the elder cursed.
Can't make out a thing!
All he could tell was that there were two of them, cloaked and wearing sedge hats to better protect themselves against the weather. One of the figures was of average size but the other was enormous, a real behemoth of a man.
Sucking in a deep breath he opened the door.
"Yes? Can I help you travellers?" He kept his voice even and plain so he supposed that was something at least.
He felt the pool of dread in his stomach grow when he took in their appearance. The giant was as he suspected, a man who looked at Kouda with a strange glint in his beady black eyes. With every breath that he released into the cold air it seemed to Kouda that a steam vent was blowing in his direction.
The other was to his slight surprise, a woman. He could barely make out any personal details as she kept the collar of her cloak high so as to cover most of her features and in the end all he was able to make out were venom green pupils and a strand of similarly coloured hair that had fallen in front of her face.
What caused him such dread was the ninja headband wrapped around the big one's right bicep. Upon the protector was the strangest symbol he had ever seen, one that certainly didn't belong to one of the Five Great Hidden Villages.
They're definitely ninja.
"Are you Kouda-san? Some of the townsfolk nearby told us you were a doctor?" The woman asked him, something about her voice sending a chill down his spine and all the way to his toes.
"I'm probably the closest thing to a doctor in these parts I suppose." To this, the woman nodded slightly, her eyes crinkling as though she found such confirmation to be pleasing.
"Wonderful! My name is Sae and my companion here goes by Jinbo." Her introduction was short and her tone was almost sickeningly sweet. Jinbo the Giant growled when his name was given as if in warning to Sae.
A long silence fell between them as both parties looked at each other.
"May we come inside Kouda-san? As I'm sure you can see, the weather has turned dangerous."
After a long hesitation, Kouda stepped back and to the side, allowing the two to enter.
Himawari couldn't help but to press herself against the wall as much as possible when she saw three pairs of boots step into the room.
One of them was massive while the other one seemed to be quite… dainty.
"Can I offer you some tea to warm yourselves from the cold?" Kouda bit out, his adherence to traditions slightly winning out over his equal distrust and dislike of the duo.
The kunoichi's eyes crinkled slightly as if she were sending him a smile before shaking her head minutely.
"No thank you Kouda-san, we won't be staying long enough for tea. In all honesty we've come here for one thing and one thing only. If you would be kind enough to aid us then we will be on our way and all will be well, Kouda-san." The woman's voice was simultaneously sweet and dangerous.
Kouda felt as though his blood had frozen but despite that he soldiered on, licking his lips and forcing his tongue to make the words. "I'm afraid I don't understand… did you not come to me looking for shelter?"
He barely had time to let loose a gasp before large, strong hands placed themselves on his shoulders and pushed, forcing Kouda to seat himself in a nearby chair with a crash. Jinbo slowly removed his grip when it became clear that the old man wasn't going to struggle.
Himawari just sat there with her hands clasped over her mouth, afraid that her shallow breathing would be enough to give her position away and terrified of what she was witnessing.
She swore that every shift in movement she made, every muscle of hers that twitched might give her hiding spot away. Even the rapid beating of her heart sounded like crashing waves to her own ears.
The woman, Sae, walked around the chair and leaned forward against the back of it so that she was looking directly into Kouda's eyes.
"We and several of our… comrades have come to these lands searching for a particular someone." Sae told him, reaching out to caress locks of the man's hair.
"Who're you looking for all the way out here beyond the borders?" To his credit, Kouda kept his voice as strong as he could and managed to hide his surprise and worry.
"A young girl, coming all the way from Fire Country if you can believe it." Sae kept her tone light as if they were having a conversation about the weather.
"You don't say… What does that have to do with me though?" Kouda asked tightly, trying not to put any strain on his voice and give anything away.
I'm a fool! I never should've opened the door!
Sae's venom-coloured eyes narrowed into slits, obviously catching onto the man's nervousness.
"People talk Kouda-san. Merchants do so love their gossip and talk more than most and we have people everywhere, listening in for anything that might be of interest to… us and our allies." Seeing that she had hit some sort of pressure point, the woman pressed on with an unnatural eagerness.
"We know you have the girl Kouda-san. Tell us where she is and let us take her away and we will depart, leaving you with only our deepest gratitude."
"You're wrong, there is no girl."
"You're lying to me Kouda-san." Sae told him sweetly before moving on from playing with his hair to grasping his chin firmly.
"Where. Is. The. Girl?" Something in her voice turned dark but Kouda remained resolute despite knowing his deceptions were seen through.
"You'll never get her! She's strong in heart and in spirit! More so than you petty mercenaries! You-!" His voice cut off with a pained gasp.
"I think we'll manage just fine. Thank you for your hospitality Kouda-san." Sae finished for him, removing her kunai from his chest with a quick pull, wiping the blood off the blade with Kouda's shirt.
"Can I eat him?" Jinbo grumbled deeply accompanied by a sound eerily similar to teeth grinding against each other.
"Not until we've searched this place top-to-bottom Jinbo-san. We must find the girl or Master will be displeased with-". Both shinobi fell silent as a piercing howl filled the air. Moving quickly, Sae peered through the window and out into the storm before sighing softly.
"It seems the mutt and his squad have caught up with us again Jinbo-san… torch the place and then join me outside would you?" Sae ordered.
"My pleasure Mistress."
Reaching into the fireplace, Jinbo retrieved a single log and, seemingly unaffected by the heat or the flames, dropped it onto the floor. Turning to Kouda's form still sitting in the chair, Jinbo snorted planting a solid kick into the old man's stomach causing Kouda to fall out of the chair and onto the floor.
"I'll chew on your charred bones when all is done old man. It'd be pointless to waste the food after all." And with that, the monster left.
Finally allowing herself to make noise, Himawari couldn't even begin to stop her wailing, scrambling out of the crawlspace, smothering the burning log and then hurrying over to her fallen friend.
"Kouda! Come on old man, wake up!" Himawari screamed, rolling him over onto his back and placing her hands over his wound trying and failing to stop the blood from pouring out.
"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Again and again she screamed but to no effect. Kouda's face had already begun to lose its colour, turning pale as the blood spread across her hands and the floor beneath them.
It's not fair… It's not fair, it's not fair! You shouldn't have to die like this because of me!
"Please! Please don't leave me alone old man… I don't want to be alone again." She begged reaching out with one hand and placing it on his cheek.
"-wari…" The words came out as little more than a broken whisper. She didn't care though and gasped as tired old eyes focused on her own.
Eyes of glowing lavender.
"Kouda?" She whispered back. She wasn't relieved she couldn't be, her old man was dying and there was nothing she could do to save him.
It's all my fault.
Reaching up with shaking arms, he cradled her face.
"Y-y-you h-have t-to run… M-m-make it to the t-temple… S-s-sora will… get you home." His words were broken just like him and blood began to trickle down from the side of his mouth.
"I am home; you are my home old man…" Himawari told him, shaking her head furiously in denial.
"No… no I-I'm not girl." He told her this with a sad smile, placing his finger against her lips to silence her, letting Himawari know that he had more to say.
"I failed my family already… I won't let you fail yours before you've even found them." With that his hand fell away. Slowly reaching into his pocket he retrieved something. Reaching around her neck he fiddled with the clasp of something before finally clicking it into place.
"Take this… keep it close… it was my daughters'. It's the only memento I have of hers I-" Looking down, Himawari noticed the silver chain necklace with a small silver heart as its centrepiece. A locket of some kind.
Why me?
"Stop it old man! Y-y-you're going to be fine! It's just a scratch, you'll heal and one day give it back to your daughter yourself!" Even as she said it she knew she was just trying to comfort him.
"You're sweet for saying so my dear but… this is it for me. I've lost too much blood and I'm too old to recover. I can't move and you can't carry me and those shinobi are just outside." Taking a deep shuddering breath he continued.
"If you need to… sell it. It's not worth much but if it'll get you home then don't hesitate, no matter what." Himawari could do nothing but choke in response and so instead settled for a tearful nod.
"R-r-run now girl… run and don't- don't look back."
"D-don't cry Himawari… just keep on living." With those last words, Kouda closed his eyes for the last time.
Himawari nodded fiercely no longer able to see much of anything through the river of tears that now blurred her vision. Shakily she got to her feet and stumbled towards the door determined not to look back at the body of her friend.
Taking a deep, shuddering breath she knelt down to peer through the keyhole, trying her best to get some sense as to what waited for her out there. Unfortunately the young girl wasn't able to make out much in the weather other than distinctly dark shapes.
She recognized the two who had murdered Kouda but opposite them were several other shadowy figures including some kind of beast like a wolf or a really big dog.
Listening closely she found herself just able to make out what they were saying over the sound of the wind and falling snow.
"Did you really think you could escape us bitch?" One of the unknown figures growled. The woman, Sae merely smirked in return.
"Kiba Inuzuka-san, you are proving to be a constant thorn in my side."
"Cut the crap Sae you're going down this time! Now where's the girl?!"
"Oh my Kiba-kun, you're so forward today! No interest in a little light flirting this time?" The woman raised her hand in front of where her mouth would be, as if she found their banter to be very amusing.
"With you?! Don't disgust me, now where is she?!" Clearly the Inuzuka felt very differently.
"I have no idea." She told him lightly. Beside her Jinbo started to growl deeply, reaching into his cloak and withdrawing a surprisingly large Tetsubo war club, smashing the tip of the weapon into the snowy sheet next to him. Upon closer inspection, Himawari could just make out what looked like several fallen bodies surrounding the monster.
"Can I eat him?" Jinbo rumbled out, his grip on his tetsubo tightening in anticipation.
"I suppose so Jinbo-san. Such a shame too, he was so handsome."
It was at that moment that the very Gods themselves decided to scorn the young eavesdropper in favour of misfortune. Himawari leaned too heavily against the door in an effort to hear what was going on outside and forgot to check the door.
If she had then Himawari might've noticed that when the murderers made their exit they did not pay mind to closing the door properly behind them as the left.
With a yelp, Himawari tumbled through the entranceway face first into the snow.
It seemed as though the whole world fell silent for one single moment. The wind died down and even the falling snow made no sound. Apparently though the Gods refused her respite and all too soon the moment passed.
"Himawari?" The dog man whispered, his voice seeming to carry through the silence. Sae for her part recomposed herself from the surprise of it all and nodded towards Jinbo.
"I guess today isn't a complete failure Jinbo-san. Get the girl. Now and try not to hurt her too seriously." The shinobi, Kiba obviously didn't appreciate that and rushed forward to intercept the giant only to find his path blocked by Sae's lithe form. In response the other shinobi backing him up raced forward in order to support his offensive.
"Your fight's with me Kiba-kun or have you forgotten? You want the girl then you'll have to get past me first." She told him, her eyes crinkling to indicate the grin she bore beneath her high collar.
Kiba gritted his teeth looking between his current opponent and that of the monster slowly bearing down on the still dazed girl. Cursing under his breath he dashed forwards and locked kunai with his female opponent.
"Akamaru! Get her out of here!" He yelled back before sidestepping left in order to avoid Sae's second kunai from shanking his side.
Shaking her head in order to clear it, Himawari couldn't help but to let out a frightened squeak at the large fingertips inches away from closing around her throat. Luck seemed to be on her side though as the hand retracted with the sound of a snarl and a roar of pain.
Dazedly Himawari was able to make out a large white dog of some kind was latched onto Jinbo's arm and was refusing to let go despite the giant's vigorous attempts to shake the mongrel. Deciding not to waste his opportunity the girl got to her feet and made a break for the forest, desperate not only to get away but to get away from the madness of this night.
She could faintly hear the one called Kiba yell for her to come back; that he was a friend but the voice inside her head told her that she couldn't be sure, couldn't take that chance. After all, Kouda did and the old man paid for it with his life.
So Himawari kept on running. She kept going until her chest burned and her legs felt so sore that she thought if she were to keep going she'd leave them behind her.
Sometime later
She couldn't be sure but it felt like she had been running for perhaps maybe an hour. Falling to her knees she took deep, stinging gasps of air trying to regain her strength.
She had to keep moving. Shinobi were inhuman and would have no problem catching up to her or following her trail. She had to keep moving or she'd think about Kou-
Himawari snapped her head up before shaking it side to side in a savage fashion.
Thinking about him won't do me any good now. I have to keep moving or I'll freeze to death out here.
"So here you are. You're mine now bitch!"
She turned as fast as her weak and exhausted body would allow but before she knew what was going on she was found herself laid out flat on her back with the monster, Jinbo straddling her small, frail form.
His form was grotesque. The ninja dog had done a good job and it looked as though half of the man's face and arm had been clawed, gouged and bitten. For a brief moment in the moonlight, Himawari was sure that she could see parts of the man's skull showing through the draping flesh. Despite that, his injuries did not seem to slow him down.
This time his hands found her throat, wrapping around it tight like a steel vice. Desperately she started beating at him with her fists but that Jinbo merely let out a throaty laugh at her efforts.
"That's it Hyuuga! I love it when they struggle!" He told her, his grip tightening.
I don't want to die! I don't want this beast to eat me!
This was bad. Her vision was darkening and her lungs felt like they were about to burst from the lack of oxygen. Flailing underneath him in an attempt to escape but with little success, Himawari turned to her last chance.
Her hands went from beating uselessly against the man's side to scrabbling around, looking for anything that might help her.
That was when she found it; just behind the giant, by the small of his back and underneath his robes was a handle for some kind of weapon.
For one split-second she hesitated, wondering about the consequences of what she knew she had to do. Her dilemma resolved itself instantly when Kouda's face and dying words flitted across her mind's eye.
I am not going to die here!
Quicker than she thought possible she pulled the dagger from its sheath and slammed it upwards, burying it up to the hilt underneath Jinbo's chin, causing a torrent of blood to spray out and cover her. Almost immediately the man rolled off of her and for one moment tried to remove the blade before his eyes rolled up in his head and he stopped moving for the last time.
The giant was dead, the blade having penetrated through the base of his chin and upwards into his brain killing him almost instantly.
For the longest time Himawari stood there, staring at the corpse of the man she had just killed.
What did I…
Dully she looked at the man's armband and the strange symbol engraved upon the metal.
A single musical note stared dully back at her.
When she finally understood what had happened, the enormity of the act that she had committed, she promptly threw up.
What was wrong with her? Every time she looked at the body she couldn't help but to vomit or start sobbing.
She kept on trying but the tears just wouldn't stop. It was only when she heard a howl in the distance that she managed to pull herself together long enough to get to her feet and start shuffling forward away from the person she had just murdered.
I have to keep on running… I have to keep living.
And so she ran. She ran into foreign lands, hunted by forces unknown and without anything to call hers. Not a past, home, friends or family nor a single thing to her name save for a locket that wasn't even hers.
No longer was she the girl without a past. Now she was just a girl who had lost everything.
Kouda… I miss you.
Well there you guys go!
Hope that you enjoyed it and I hope that I might get some reviews. I cannot stress enough how important they are to Fanfiction writers as a source of motivation even if they're good or bad reviews.
See you next time on Those Who Are Lost with the next chapter.
Chapter 6: The Shinobi and the Girl.