'Thoughts/Signing'
"Speaking"
"Seal Symbols/Words"
A/N: I didn't like how Chapter 3 turned out, so I decided to redo it. I hope you still enjoy.
Disclaimer: I own nothing from Masashi Kishimoto.
Chapter 3
Sora let out a soft yawn as the lines began to fade away. Crossing her legs, she leaned forward to fold her arms on the table. Resting her chin on her arms, she looked out towards the garden. She watched in excitement as a herd of stags bounded out from the tree line. Each one had antlers reaching towards the sky. Uncaring that her feet was bare amongst the grass, Sora smiled brightly as she quickly got up and bounded out towards them. The oldest and largest of the six came towards her. As he neared, Sora could see his brownish gray fur coat glistening in the moonlight. He gave her an affectionate rub against her shoulder with his head.
She laughed while asking, "Are you guys starting your first migration towards the Nara forest, Chimon-kun?" The stag grunted in confirmation.
The others came to surround Sora. Despite being twice her height, they were gentle when giving her their own affectionate hello.
A dark brown stag with soft white tufts of fur along his back came to lick her cheeks in greeting. "S-stop," she let out a laugh, "that tickles, Usaku-kun."
A light brown stag with a white underbelly took this as his chance and began to search her sleeves for treats. Finding no treats, he let out a huff at her. When his older brother finally left towards the pond, Sora turned towards the sullen younger stag and reached over to pet his side. "Sorry, Enmei-kun. I don't have any treats. But there are some apples-." She trailed off as he quickly galloped away towards her bucket of apples.
A deep grayish tan stag came to nuzzle her hands. Looking at his clipped right ear, Sora smiled endearingly while rubbing his snout. "Did you have a nice outing, Chotan-kun?" He gave her hands a gentle nibble as if to say yes, before heading towards the water trough.
On the side, a chocolate brown stag with a scar along his snout flicked his tail as he waited for his turn to say hello. Once it was his turn, the stag softy brought her in to give her a hug by wrapping his head around her left shoulder. Sora returned the hug, "Welcome back, Yasashiku-kun."
The youngest and smallest one out of the bunch, bounded over to her and began to softly pull on her bun from up above her. On each of his knees were jagged scars. Eyes softening, she smiled, "Glad to see that you've made a healthy recovery Daido-kun." He let out a soft bellow as if to agree.
Noticing that the moon was getting higher in the sky, Sora thought, 'I should get ready for the trip to Konoha.'
Looking towards Chimon, she said, "You and your herd are welcome to stay."
She began to walk back towards her deck. Leaning down to pick up her dishes, she turned around to call out to them, "If you leave before I wake, have a safe journey little ones."
She then brought the dishes in and washed them. Leaving them on the rack to dry, Sora began to pack up and get ready for bed.
When morning came, Sora was already up and dressed in a crème yukata with forest green leaves, tied together with a brown obi. Her hair was secured into a bun with five hair pins. Each one was made of pure silver. Dangling from the tops were white doves. Walking towards the corner of her room, next to her headboard, she activated a seal. A set of stairs dropped down from above her. Sora walked up the stairs and into her attic which she had turned into her work room. Each wall had a window with a seal that hid them out of view from outside onlookers. Underneath each window were countertops with drawers. One countertop had dried herbs and tea leaves. Another had her seed nursery for her autumn plants.
The furthest countertop had lots of dark red scrolls with the symbol of Hi no Kuni in the center. Picking one up, she looked at it a few seconds before it glowed and shifted into a red butterfly. The red butterfly hovered over her hand before resting on her fingertips. Soon, the rest of the dark red scrolls morphed into butterflies. Some were green, others had shifting colors from gold to silver. When the red butterfly took off from her fingertips, the others followed suit from the countertops. They all glowed a golden color before shrinking into small little lights. A string of lights went out of her opened window and into the forest.
When she could no longer see the lights, she turned towards her worktable, which was in the center of the room. Once all her Daimyo seals were accounted for, she sealed them inside a blue storage sealing scroll. Once done, the scroll began to automatically roll itself closed. A pair of black strings enclosed around the scroll and tied themselves into a bow. Sora took the blue scroll and placed them into her left sleeve. She then descended the stairs and back to her bedroom. Raising a hand up, the stairs ascended back to the ceiling. The entrance to her workroom disappeared, leaving no trace whatsoever. From her bookshelf across from her bed, she grabbed nine deep green scrolls with the logo of her company. At the top of the logo were the names of her clients she had to deliver the scrolls to. She placed each one into her right sleeve.
Heading down towards her library, she turned the doorknob. Dark cherrywood shelves lined the walls from top to bottom. In the center of the room was a reading sofa and a table. Tucked in the right corner was a long lounge chair. Spotting a ladder in the left corner of the bookshelves, she pulled at it. As it glided along the rails alongside her shelves, she stopped in the center. Gathering up her yukata, she began to climb up to reach a dark brown book with a mustard colored butterfly on its front cover. Opening the book, the words began to shift and started to formulate into a seal. Once activated, the official documents of her becoming the Daimyo and her business permit appeared. Placing the documents into her left sleeve, she put the book back and climbed down the ladder.
Walking out of her library, she went towards her kitchen. Once there, she opened one of her door panels to look out towards the garden. Not seeing any members of the herd, she figured that they had already left. Sora stepped out towards her pear tree and started to gather some pears into her basket. Taking it back to the kitchen, she washed each pear and towel dried them. Placing each of them into her sleeve, she grabbed the scrolls on the dining table and locked up her house. As she turned to walk away from the front of her house, a seal was activated. If an intruder were to enter, she would be notified immediately.
As Sora began to go towards the capitol building, the trees whispered of the trapped little saplings underneath the rocks. Sora frowned but continued towards the building. Once there, she reached out to pull the doors opened to go inside.
She was greeted by two familiar faces who were waiting in the lobby. Sora bowed and said, "Good morning Lord Todiyori, Tana-san."
Lord Todiyori had a purple yukata with silver trimmings, while Tana had on a black yukata with white trimmings. Tana asked, "Are you truly leaving without an escort, Daimyo-sama?"
Sora nodded, "I must."
Lord Todiyori suggested, "Might it be best to let a delegate join you on your journey to Konoha, Daimyo-sama?"
Sora shook her head no. "If Konoha does not know about the change in Daimyo then I do not want to risk a delegate's life should things go south."
Tana balked at her implications. Lord Todiyori narrowed his eyes and stated, "That is treason, Daimyo-sama."
Sora gave a small uncertain smile, "A possibility only, Lord Todiyori."
Lord Todiyori sighed, "Tread carefully." Sora nodded in confirmation.
Tana asked, "When are you heading out?"
Walking up the steps, Sora answered, "As soon as I retrieve the papers."
Both Lord Todiyori and Tana accompanied her to the office. They watched in amazement as she tapped on the seal behind her desk and a hidden drawer appeared. She then opened it to withdraw a familiar dark red scroll with the symbol of Hi no Kuni in the center of it. She closed the drawer and it disappeared. Placing the scroll into her left sleeve, she walked up to them, amused at their astonished look.
Hearing her laugh, Lord Todiyori quickly muttered, "I'll never get used to seeing you activate seals, Daimyo-sama. It is different from the way that most shinobi do it."
Sora laughed at his comment. The first time he saw her activate one of her seals was when she was trading him one of her exotic purple fruits, the mangosteen, for some of his grains. She had sealed them in a paper bag to retain their freshness. All he needed to do was open it once he was ready to consume the fruit and the seal would automatically fade away.
The three went out of her office and down the stairs. Once they were back at the lobby, Sora bowed deeply to Lord Todiyori and Tana. "Thank you for all that you've done Lord Todiyori, Tana-san."
Lord Todiyori and Tana eyes widened before they quickly bowed deeply as well. "Thank you for serving Hi no Kuni, Daimyo-sama." Both faces somber as they knew that she may not make it back to them alive.
As they rose, Tana gently commanded, "Send word back the minute you are able to."
Sora eyes softened and nodded, "Of course, Tana-san."
As she turned around towards the exit, simultaneous voices called out, "Be safe on your journey to Konoha, Daimyo-sama!"
Sora quickly turned around and saw all the delegates as well as the assistant staffs bowing. Even Sato-san, dressed in a neon yellow yukata, was bowing deeply. Sora let out a heartfelt, "Thank you everyone. I will be back soon."
With a last look at Lord Todiyori and Tana, she smiled. They watched as their Daimyo walked out of the capitol building.
Once Sora was past the city's limits, she found herself surrounded be trees. For as long as she could remember, she has always been able to hear plants talk. Out of all the plants, the trees were the most fascinating because they told stories from long ago. Over the years, Sora discovered that the voices of the trees vary depending on the location. As she walked, some of the trees were whispering to one another about a Common Man fishing in the river. Others were whispering about how there was a family of owls living in their burrows. The deeper she went into the forest and away from the capitol, the clearer and louder the voices became. As if knowing that she was listening, the trees told her about a creature with a thousand hands who befriended a lonesome cat. How the two would walk amongst the land as foes but had then became friends. Sora found herself laughing at the silly moments in their stories, but there was much sadness as well.
Seeing that the sun was high above her, she found a nice resting spot on the side of the road. Sitting with her back against a tree, she pulled out her Food Cooler scroll from her sleeve. Opening it, she tapped on the words "Water Bottle". A water bottle appeared, while the number next to the words decreased.
Placing the water bottle besides her, she tapped a seal she had added last night. The seal was the single word, "Bento". While her prepared lunch popped out without a sound, a large cloud of smoke appeared. Trying not to choke on the smoke, Sora frantically waved her hands to quickly disperse it. She thought, 'I'm going to have to fix that so it's smokeless as well.'
Putting the thought to the side, she began to eat. While she ate, she watched the birds fly by. After a few minutes, a familiar bird call wrang out. Flying in circles above her, a crow landed beside her. Her eyes brighten as she reached out a hand to pet him, "Afternoon, Chujitsuna-kun." The crow let out a soft caw. Sora handed him a few pieces of her blueberries.
"What are you doing out of Konoha, Chujitsuna-kun?" Sora asked. Sora looked at Chujitsuna and saw that he was carrying an empty scroll carrier.
Sora then got a bright idea, "Ne, Chujitsuna-kun. I'll give you my strawberry if you deliver a message to Konoha for me." Chujitsuna hopped around a few times to look at her, then nodded to the deal.
Excited, Sora pulled out a blank dark red scroll, a brush, and an inkwell from her sleeve. She then started to write a message:
To: Hokage-sama
I am sending this message to inform you that
I am on my way to Konogakure and will arrive by late morning tomorrow.
Sign: Sora Fujiwara, the Fire Daimyo
She then closed the scroll, aligned the edges of the symbol of Hi no Kuni together. Pricking her finger in the middle of symbol, the scroll lit up as the seams sealed shut. The scroll now just looked like a cylindrical tube with the symbol of Hi no Kuni in the center. Placing the scroll in the carrier, Sora gave her strawberry to Chujitsuna. Once he was done eating, she petted him one last time before he took off.
Feeling hopeful, Sora finished her lunch and continued her way towards Konoha. As she kept going, she began to hear something odd. While the voices of the trees were loud and clear, there was one tiny voice, whispering as if it were afraid. The whispering tree told its neighbor about a dark Man who kidnapped little saplings and turn them into cold souls. Sora narrowed her eyes as she strained her ears to focus in on the voice. As the tree began to talk to its neighbor, its voice went from a scared whisper to a soft wail full of sorrow. The wailing tree spoke about how the dark Man then makes the cold souls trap little defenseless saplings under rocks to keep them from seeing the sun ever again. The story had reminded her of what she had heard from the trees this morning at the capitol.
Sora wondered, 'Who is kidnapping children?' She then thought back to her dream a couple of nights ago. Pushing that thought away to be analyzed for later, she quickened her pace.
Seeing as it was getting dark, she moved off the main road and into the tree line. Looking around for ten minutes, she found a tree with a thick trunk and tall branches. This one lovingly told her of the family of squirrels and birds residing inside it. Glancing up at the tree, she placed her hand on its trunk. 'Will you allow me to rest in your arms, gentle one?' she asked.
Underneath her fingertips, she felt the tree shook as if to say yes. As she reached up a hand to start climbing, she was surprised to feel a branch lowering down to aid her. 'Thank you, gentle one,' she said.
As she climbed to the top, Sora was careful not to disturb the inhabitants. Once at the top, she looked out towards the direction of Konoha and slept.
In the middle of the night, Sora was awakened up by an ice-cold sensation brushing against her fingertips. The tree that she was in gently demanded, 'Be still, Little Listener. They do not know that you are here.' The tree began to slowly shift its leaves to further hide Sora.
Sora placed a hand alongside its trunks, 'Thank you.'
The tree's leaves rustled slightly, 'Go back to sleep. We will protect our Little Listener.'
Sora was lulled to sleep as the trees sang to her a lullaby from long ago, all the while hiding their Little Listener from unwanted eyes.
From the bottom of the trunk, six pairs of eyes kept a look out as she slept. The largest one looked towards the direction in which the cold souls were. Fortunately, they were many miles away.
Sora was awakened by the sun's rays when they hit her face as it rose above the horizon. She squinted and looked around. She was still in the tree that she had slept in last night. The ice-cold sensations in her fingertips were gone. She then began her descent down the tree. Once she felt her feet touched the forest floor, she hugged the tree in gratitude, 'Thank you, gentle one, for protecting me.'
The tree's leaves rustled, 'Anytime, Little Listener.'
Sora took out her Toiletries scroll and began to do her morning routine. She braided her hair into a single braid. Tying it, she wrapped it into a bun, securing it into place with her hair pins. Once done, she went back towards the main road only to stop when she heard soft grunting nearby.
Gasping in surprise, Chimon and the others bounded from behind the trees. "Good morning little ones," she greeted.
They all greeted her. Pulling out a pear from her sleeve, Enmei rushed forward and took it from her before the others could get to her. Sora laughed at his antics as she reached into her sleeve again to draw out another pear. She gave each of them a pear while she had one for breakfast. When they were done eating, Sora smiled and said, "I best be off."
She had moved towards the main road only for Chimon to stop her by gently grabbing her sleeve to pull her in a different direction. Sora watched in confusion as the rest of the herd went away from the main road but towards the direction to Konoha. Sora turned her head to one side, "Did you want me to come with you?"
Chimon brushed his head against her should in confirmation. This was further confirmed as Daido lowered down besides Sora and gestured for her to get on top. Sora's eyes brightened with glee. While all of them were fast, Daido was the fastest amongst the six brothers. She had not ridden on any of them since she had become the Fire Daimyo. She quickly went to his side to climb up. Chimon helped her by giving her a boost with his head. Once settled, Daido carefully got up. Tightening her hold on Daido's fur, with a click of her tongue, they were off.