Quite early the next morning, before the sun had even risen, Mimei's camp was alerted to the royal guard finally leaving the village ahead. They were given an extra two hours to make certain that they had really left before heading in, and the sight that greeted them promptly horrified them beyond measure.

Shinji stared openly at the corpses piled in the streets, only some beginning to be moved by the people. Nausea churned in his stomach as he regarded a couple of siblings, their hands tightly clasped together even in death, staring right at each other with wide-open eyes as their intestines trailed out of their bodies and onto the path. Burgundy blood still stained the area and he actually had to fight the urge to vomit when he noticed that someone had stepped - likely quite intentionally, given the diameter of the splatter - directly onto their guts and sprayed liquid all around, some having gotten on the brother and sister's faces.

He had to look away, raising a hand to cover Hideki's eyes as he walked next to him. Even though they were covered, the boy was still frowning, and he could feel warm liquid seeping onto his hand and down the boy's cheeks.

"This is a scene straight from the bowels of Hell itself," Sumire breathed weakly in disbelief, raising a hand to her heart when she noticed a fallen young woman with her neck discolored and twisted at a fatal angle.

He silently agreed with her, discomfort twisting his heart in his chest. "What in the world were they thinking? Disrespecting even the dead like this… if I had ended up here, would that be me, too?"

Shinji shuddered at the thought and looked up to find Aika gazing at a young lady with cropped hair, a saddened expression on her face. Her hands were clutching loosely at her own throat, where a lengthy scar stretched across it. She glanced up, meeting his eyes, and shook her head slowly.

He reached for her and she took his hand tightly, bowing her head. Crystalline tears had gathered in her eyes and she looked exhausted already. With the amount of gore around them, it was no wonder. In the time he'd known her, she had too tender a heart for something like this.

When the rest of the group finally made their way through the square, Tsunade knelt before a frail-looking teenager with messily-braided silvery-blue hair, saying something quietly to her. The girl, holding a young child, tried her best to smile at the taller blonde, rubbing her heavy-lidded eyes. She looked up at the rest of them - so wizened beyond her years for someone so young - and cleared her throat to speak up.

"On behalf of the remaining citizens of Morino, I thank you for coming to our aid, Mimei." She spoke clearly and loudly, her pale jade eyes scanning the crowd with a sharpness that made the rest of them stand up a little straighter. "As the de-facto village head, I, Akiyama Daitan, the youngest daughter of the late mayor Akiyama Harue, once again humbly ask for your assistance and protection during the tragic and turbulent events that have stricken us. Please take the utmost care of us and help us regain both our strength and our hope for a brighter future. Please lend your strength for us to lean upon until we can finally stand alone as a community once more."

Her speech concluded, she carefully bowed to Tsunade in deference, her eyes fluttering shut as the woman's hand gently came to rest atop her head. The girl's shoulders began to shake, but as she looked up, she gave a trembly smile, not yet about to cry. The baby clutched to her chest opened its light-violet eyes and gave a small, gummy grin at the taller blonde.

Shinji found himself oddly moved at the sight. Aika squeezed his hand and he turned to see her give him a soft look, a smile playing with her lips.

He found it hard not to smile back at her, squeezing her hand back just as tenderly.


The rest of that day was spent first burying the dead, then taking a head count and assigning orders. The majority of the able-bodied were put to work helping the village rebuild, chopping down and shaping wood for new homes and gathering enough mud for temporary brickwork.

Daitan spent her time either engaged in conversation with the leaders of Mimei or helping the children. Once Tsunade had arrived, she seemed to have lost some of the weight that pushed down her shoulders and she walked with more poise and confidence than before - although the exhausted bags still hung at her eyes and she looked dead on her feet. Still, she walked about when not with the children, inspecting everyone's work and making idle chatter with a few of the rebels. She introduced herself to Hideki and it was like the two clicked immediately; her smile seemed much more relaxed while they talked over a water break that afternoon, and by dinnertime he was talking animatedly about taking babysitting shifts with her while not interning under Shizune.

Sumire watched him with mirth in her eyes, his infectious enthusiasm getting even to her. She'd been in poor spirits ever since they stepped foot in the broken village, and seeing all of the dead in such states of decay wasn't helping. So many innocent lives had been lost, so many had been trampled asunder by the soldiers - and it made her blood boil. She wanted to scream, to cry, to storm right back to Konoha and tear it apart, brick by bloody brick - but just when her grip tightened dangerously on the cup she was holding, a little girl shyly toddled up to her, pulling hesitantly on her sleeve.

She looked down at the cute little thing, her deep green hair held by two curly pigtails, her large gold eyes staring up at her with tears clinging to her lids as she held up a bleeding cut on her palm.

"M- Miss, it hurts," she whined, her tiny voice making the pinkette's heart clench.

Her eyes softened and she set the teacup down to gently take the girl's hand. "Oh no, let me see. That's nothing I can't fix, don't worry."

She smiled at the little girl and held up her other hand. "Do you want to see something cool?"

Sniffling, the girl nodded, her pigtails bobbing with the movement.

A mint-green light soon began rising around Sumire's hand, and the little girl's eyes widened in wonder. They followed the light as Sumire gently clasped her hand over hers - and when she lifted it, the cut was totally healed.

"Whoa," the girl gasped, inspecting her tiny hand. She looked up at the woman, who was smiling fondly at her. "How'd you do that, Miss?"

"It's magic that helps people feel better," she winked, making the girl giggle as she booped her little button nose. "Maybe someday you can do it too."

"I wanna do the magic!" She cheered, her cheeks pinkening as she laughed in joy. "Can you teach me the magic?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little bit longer," Sumire responded, patting the girl's head. "If you learn how to practice magic a little too early, you might hurt yourself, and I don't want you to get hurt."

"Aw, okay," the girl sighed, her good mood dissipating. But she still looked up with eager eyes and a shy smile. "Thank you for healing me, Miss. When I grow up, I'm gonna be just like you and do magic to help people!"

"No problem at all, sweetie," she responded with a chuckle, giving her another headpat.

As the girl turned and ran off in the direction of the mayor's daughter, Sumire felt her heart twist in sympathy. The girl tugged at Daitan's pant leg until she hoisted her into her arms, a fond smile coming across her weary face as she settled the girl in. She hugged Daitan, resting her head against her chest and closing her eyes. The sight was so incredibly heartwarming that it momentarily made her throat tighten, and she had to look away to blink back sudden tears.

"When I grow up, I'm gonna be just like you and do magic to help people!" The little girl's words, so full of childlike wonder and innocence, came back to her and she sighed. That was what she'd always done, use her talents to try and help where she could. Even when she failed, people still smiled and thanked her. It didn't make much sense; no matter how much she failed, people always acted like she'd done the impossible and defeated the odds.

"I wish I had her optimism still," she thought, glancing back at the girl. "Even with her family likely dead, she still can find ways to smile and act her age."

"The whole reason I came here was to help," she decided, picking the cup back up and taking a sip. "I came because they need me here… not because of any hostility between us and the capital."

As much as she wanted to hurry up and avenge the fallen, as much as she wanted to commence Operation Firestorm, she would have to wait. People needed hope, and much like the little girl, they still craved assurance.

Sumire had to be there to give them that assurance, no matter how much she was breaking on the inside.


Later that night, Hideki was awakened by a noise. He sat up in his sleeping bag, listening carefully past the sounds of the men snoring around him. He turned to the door, where he could hear a crunching of gravel.

Was someone awake? Why, at this hour?

And then he heard the faint sound of someone crying, and he sat up straighter.

Seeing as he wasn't about to get to sleep any time soon, he decided to take his chances. He slipped out of bed as quietly as he could so as to not awaken anyone before heading to the door. He pulled on his sandals and gently cracked the door open, poking his head out to see what was up.

Sitting on a low-hanging branch, he could see a girl in a pale-blue nightgown, her head bowed and her shoulders shaking. Her bare feet hung there, rough and stained with dirt, her toes clenched.

Hideki watched her for a second more before stepping outside, shutting the door carefully behind himself. He approached the crying girl slowly, and the sound of his shoes crunching on the gravel made her crying slow.

She turned, and he could see a familiar face, red and stained with tears, her lip trembling. Her hair, long and tangled, stuck to the wet patches on her face., trying to hide away her splotchy face.

"Akiyama-sama, what's wrong?" He called quietly enough so that only she could hear. "Are you alright? Why don't you have shoes?"

She sniffled and wiped her nose with her sleeve, looking away in embarrassment. "O- oh, Sato-san. I didn't know that I woke you up, I apologize for that."

"No, no, I was already awake." He rose his hands in defense, his face falling in concern. "Are you alright? You look pale…"

Daitan tried to smile, though it came out worse than she would've liked and she turned her face away. "I- I'm fine, just a silly nightmare…"

Hideki nodded silently, his frown deepening. "So that was what it was."

He gently grabbed the trunk of the tree, calling his chakra to his hands. Very carefully, he climbed up, and Daitan stared at him in surprise when she noticed the branch shaking.

"What are you-?" She began, blinking widely.

"I feel horrible just leaving you here so miserable, so I'm gonna cheer you up." He explained matter-of-factly, smiling softly at her. "Everyone gets nightmares, and I'm not gonna think badly of you for having them. Especially not after what happened."

She looked down, the awe in her face melting away into sorrow once more. "... Oh. Thank you, I guess."

"I'm sorry about your dad," he offered, clasping his hands together in his lap. "Do you… wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," she answered in a quiet voice, shutting her eyes. "I just… needed to get away for a little while, that's all."

"Okay," the ginger-headed boy nodded, leaning back a little on the branch. "We can just talk about whatever, then. Um… what's your favorite color?"

Her face scrunched up in confusion, and Daitan looked over at him. "Um… if I had to pick one, I guess I'd say gray?"

"Cool. Mine's yellow!" He gestured to his pale yellow tee. "What kind of fruit do you like?"

"Uh…" she tipped her head to the side, her eyes narrowing in concentration. At least she wasn't crying anymore, though she was still sniffling. "I really like pears, I suppose. I used to eat them all the time."

"Me too!" He exclaimed softly, and she fought the urge to smile as he got an enthusiastic look on his face. "Hey, maybe we can find some pears in the food supply! It's been forever since I've had one, and if you like them too…"

"You are certainly spirited," she giggled, covering her mouth with her sleeve. "I must say I envy your attitude."

"Well, someone's gotta smile when others don't, otherwise nobody will find happiness again!" He replied, his smile disappearing slowly. "I know I need someone else to cheer me up every once in a while… people help people, y'know? I guess that's why I joined Mimei."

"My father…" Daitan hesitated for a moment, but his encouraging look made her continue, "... my father often spoke fondly of your group. Even though my older brothers used to speak of them with derision and mockery, he would never utter a single unkind word of you. My mother never gave her opinion, but I like to believe that she supported you too." She shifted uncomfortably on the branch. "Before she died, she asked me to do whatever I could to keep the village safe, even if it meant calling upon you once again. I intend to keep that promise the best I can."

She paused, doubt filling her eyes. "Is that… a bit too heavy?"

"No, not at all," he slowly shook his head, his gaze softening. "It's… really awesome that you can even talk about it. It took me a long while to talk about what happened to my parents."

"Well, a leader must remain strong enough to help her people," she sighed, her shoulders sagging. "I've tried my best to rein in my emotions before them, but I could only get so far by myself."

"Holding it in is only gonna hurt you more in the long run," he replied, reaching out to touch her arm. When she looked over at him, he was teary-eyed. "No matter what, even if you have to run away once in a while to cry, it's better to cry. I'm… still learning that lesson myself. If anyone tries to tell you it's not okay to let out your emotions, I'm telling you right now that not only is it okay, it's better."

Daitan sat there silently as he smiled at her through watery eyes. "So why don't we help each other that way? We can keep each other honest and maybe it will help the healing process more."

Her throat tightened at the kind look in his eyes. It was something she'd always found in her father, weary as he often was in his middle age, back when she was a young girl. Even now that look made her throat raw with emotion and she found herself sniffling again, tears rolling down her face.

This time, she smiled back, nodding at him and gripping his hand tight. "Yes. I- I think I would like that, Sato-san."

"Hideki," he gently corrected. "We're friends now, right? Then you can call me Hideki."

"In that case… my name is Daitan," she responded, and he shook her hand firmly. "It is good to properly greet you, Hideki-kun."


A/N: Please tell me what you thought.