Ayaka feels the warm summer sun on her face when she tilts her head to stare up at the canopy, the light filtering through the leaves in tiny cracks like stars. In that moment, she forgets, more than ever, the faded dreams that haunt her even in the new day, and the crawling creature inside her that is always trying to crawl out almost seems content.
But like all things, especially the good, it does not last. Naruto calls out to her, and she almost decides to ignore it, but if she wants to keep being friends with him for more than a few minutes, that is probably not a good idea. Ayaka almost decides to do it anyway. Like fire, she is a fickle creature, and at the moment, she cares far more about enjoying a small moment of peace than any potential fun to be had from messing with the caretakers. Unfortunately, the blonde doesn't take the hint, and only moves closer, tugging at her arm until she faces him with a loud sigh.
"What?" Ayaka moans annoyedly, instinctively. Then, she takes in the nervous look in his eyes, the way he flinches under her sudden ire, and she frowns. "What's wrong?" It can't just be because of her mood. Or maybe not. Ayaka's definitely scared and angered enough kids, some friends, to know that she can apparently be pretty scary.
But then, the warmth of the forest suddenly seems dimmer, and she remembers, with sudden clarity, what happens to children who wander the forest alone. Looking around quickly, she seems to glimpse shadows lurking amongst the trees, and she shivers, feeling cold. Something flickers in her memory, and she tries, futilely, to chase it, before she loses it completely, when Naruto speaks up again.
"Ya still wanna be my friend?" The voice is small and distant, and Ayaka blinks, looks into eyes so blue she forgets about the darkness, and the faded dreams that have always haunted her almost as much as fire.
Still a little slow to respond, Ayaka manages to say, confusion trickling into her voice. "Well, yeah. Why do ya even ask?"
For a moment, she wonders if he realized her plan, and feels a small stab of guilt. Okay, so maybe she wouldn't have bothered to be his friend if not for that, but it wasn't like she hated him or anything! That was more than what everyone else seemed to think, at least.
When Naruto finally mumbles a response, Ayaka only feels guiltier. "Even if it makes 'em angry at ya?"
Ugh, stupid kid, Ayaka thinks briefly, wondering why he couldn't just leave it alone. Shaking her head, she decides to go for the truth, sort of. With a scoff and a grin that's only slightly slightly forced, she boasts, "Please, I love it when they get angry! It's funny watching them get all red and screechy."
Naruto scrunches his face, looking torn between disbelief and laughter. The caretakers get "red and screechy" all too often around him. He's always found it confusing (and hurtful) not funny. But, now that he thinks about it….
The blonde haired boy cannot stop laughing, and in between his gasps of air, he manages to huff out, "T-they… do look.. f-funny!"
Because laughter is infectious, and his expression looks so ridiculous, Ayaka starts laughing too, and the forest rings out with their laughter, bouncing off each other, wild and free.
-o-
In the orphanage, children often come and go. It's not uncommon to see some just completely disappear one day, out of the blue,vanishing as though they'd never been there in the first place, while any pitiful personal items they might've left behind get nicked by the other kids.
If they're lucky, it's because they got adopted and went to a better place (a real home even). If they're not so lucky… well, some go to "a better place", up amongst the stars, as the caretakers say. Others, who are even unluckier, might not even have that. Instead, they are taken by various unscrupulous groups who take advantage of the fact that few people care to look too hard for a missing orphan or two. What happens to them after they get taken? That is not a story that anyone is able to tell (because they'll seal off your tongue and make sure of your silence) but everyone knows (there is no hope, no life, once you have been taken).
-o-
There is a boy, about the same age as Ayaka, who loves to draw. He has short dark hair and dark eyes that are always pointed down at the little notebook he carries around with him. His name is Sai, and he does not talk much to the other kids, preferring to stay by himself under the shade of the trees with his notebook for company.
He is perfectly ordinary, and frankly, rather boring. Ayaka would not give him much notice, except that, sometimes, she looks at him and feels a flicker of something she cannot describe. There are times when she sees that dark hair, the figure crouched over paper, and for an instant, seems to see someone else. He reminds her of someone, someone she can no longer recall, but it was someone she had once cared for, she is sure.
The empty feeling she gets, that tug of longing, it's the same as when she thinks of fire, when she tries to remember the myriad of dreams that always fade upon the waking world. Ayaka thinks this must be important somehow, that he must be important, but she does not know why. Some part of her doesn't want to know, doesn't want to care.
Though Ayaka longs for fire with a fierce and reckless desperation, she cannot help but feel flickers of fear at the thought of this quiet boy and the nameless shadow he makes her think of. The light might burn her, but she is sure the ghosts will never let her survive (not when they are dead, not when she-)
-o-
Ayaka has always had plenty of friends (and even more enemies), and she does not think befriending Naruto as well will affect this fact at all, because why would it? Naruto is Naruto, and her other friends are each their own, after all. But it does.
Though Ayaka does not mind the caretakers' words or their anger, most of them do. They like her well enough, of course, but not enough to go directly against the adults. It's a bitter lesson in friendship, one that hits her harder than she expects.
Though she's always been a wild, flighty creature who marches to her own beat, she's also a social creature who thrives in a group that responds to her. Isolation has always been the worst punishment to her for a reason, after all.
When former friends start to avoid her, making pathetic excuses or bluntly pointing in Naruto's direction before scurrying away, Ayaka is more hurt than angry. But only for a moment. Anger has always come easy to her, with a quick temper that flashes sudden and fierce. In retaliation for the perceived betrayal, she brutally pranks all old friends, staging crimes that she pins on them, and generally embarrassing them in various ways until she is laughing so hard she forgets to be angry.
During this time, she finds out what a good friend Naruto turns out to be.
-o-
Though at first, Ayaka hangs out with Naruto just to piss the caretakers off, she quickly finds that the boy isn't a bad friend to have at all. The kid's pretty funny on his own, though he is most fun to mess around with, which is great trait in a friend, something she already knows from experience.
But he also messes back, which is a much rarer trait in her friends (mostly former friends now), and one she finds she finds she likes even more. The two quickly turn from vague acquaintances to somewhat antagonistic "friends" to partners in crime.
When Ayaka decides to go on a pranking spree to punish all her former friends (and a few of her enemies just for fun), Naruto is right there with her, coming up with ingenious plans that have them both sharing wicked smirks.
After that, the orphanage more or less quails in terror at their combined forces, and no one is safe from their pranking sprees, which continue on despite heavy and frequent punishments against them both.
-o-
One day, Sai disappears.
-o-
It takes Ayaka about three hours before she notices.
She and Naruto are hanging out amongst the trees close to the orphanage grounds, idly climbing while they discuss plans for their latest prank. When her eyes sweep over the courtyard, she does it out of habit more than anything. It takes several long moments before she realizes something is missing. Or, more accurately, someone.
"Hey, Naruto, when did last you see that Sai kid?" Ayaka says abruptly, interrupting the blonde's long-winded monologue on the merits of classic pranks like the water bucket over the door.
"Uh… who?" Is the unhelpful response she receives.
Ayaka rolls her eyes before she elaborates, "The dark-haired kid with the notebook? Always drawin'?"
"Oh, him." Naruto says, before he scrunches his face up in thought. "I dunno. I think I saw him a few hours ago? He was headin' to the forest, I think."
"What?" The brunette's eyes are wide in surprise and alarm. "Why?"
Her friend only shrugs, looking supremely unconcerned about Sai and his wandering. "I dunno. He saw something, maybe? What'sa big deal?"
-o-
Orphans who walk into the forest, often don't come back. There are few better opportunities to snatch a wayward child then under the shade and anonymity of the woods.
-o-
Ayaka has a bad feeling about all this, and so she says to Naruto, "How do you feel 'bout a forest adventure?"
A/N: So, because there's only a limited number of character slots I'm just gonna update it with whoever is the most relevant supporting character in the latest chapter xD Hope that's fine. OC and Naruto will remain constant tho, as the two main characters