Three Dreamers

Scroll Two: Flames of Departure

Anei

We had to hurry, the army of rogue mechanical shinobi would be here soon. It was dark now, 8:45 pm. The streets were now more dangerous than any other time of day. My sister and I were sitting ducks in this house. And whereas it held some of our favorite memories, it also held some of the most sacred information of our family.

"Okay, I've got our weaponry" said Haruka as she came down the stairs with our ninja packs.

"Okay, did you find my chains?" I asked her

"yeah umm….I think they're in the closet" she replied and dashed back upstairs to retrieve them. I felt so bad for her, a girl of 10 should not have to have seen half the stuff she has. Somehow she was able to take it all, the death, the killings sprees, the battles every night. I hated to admit it but she was stronger than I could ever be.

"Here, there's the chain sword. I'll go get some food and the tarp" she headed off to the Kitchen. I watched her long dark red hair flow behind her as she walked away. It puzzled me how we looked so different. My hair was pitch black and un-kept, seeing as how I chopped it short when I was 9. Haruka had these eyes of blue that stood out from the rest of her sharp angled face. Her eyes could tell you anything, she was an open book. Ready to take on life with open arms, she had so much to learn. My pitch black hair curtained my piercing cold green eyes. My face was hidden behind my stone wall exterior covered in pale skin. We were two different people, but I would kill anyone who threatened us.

"Got 'em…let's go" she said heading towards the door, we both stepped out. Turning around we took a look at our home. "What are we going to do Anei, we can't let those Jerks get what they want…how do we hide the family secrets under the house?" she asked

"simple…we have to set it on fire….the ash will cover it all up" I replied

" B-But…we can't burn down the place we grew up in…what if everyone comes back and we have no home to live in?" she was near tears. I pulled out the kerosene from the front lawn.

"Haruka, our house can be rebuilt if it must. However, we can't risk anyone coming after us…you can't be protected forever. We'll make it look like the last three guys died in their own explosion along with us." I said as I poured the kerosene across the wooden porch. I lit the match from the front lawn and watched as the house burned.

"Yeah….you're right…soon we can start looking for mom and dad on our own." She said wiping fresh tears from her eyes. I caught a glimpse of myself in the ember covered window. Piercing green eyes stared back at me. I had to burn down my own house to stay safe, years of memories turned to ashes in just a few seconds. I watched Haruka as she sat on the ground chanting a prayer, the carving of our family crest was now completely engulfed in flames. We turned our backs and began sprinting away. Trying to remember a face was hard, trying to remember a split second last glance of my house will be a challenge.

We made it out of the city walls without a problem. It was at least a three day trip to Konoha on foot if we didn't stop to rest. We were careful not to make base camp in the middle of the woods seeing as it was the perfect target for rogue ninjas. Often times we would camp on the outskirts of cities, our money was low so we couldn't afford a bed. We had a tarp, and that was all we needed. It was easy to prepare, shielded us from rain, and quick to take down incase we were attacked suddenly. The days consisted of traveling, long miles in the sun. It was bright and warm outside, I began to admire the land of fire for their beautiful scenery. There were trees everywhere, waterfalls that sparkled, and calm rushing rivers that could nearly put you to sleep. The nights were quiet, so quiet you would swear you heard the grass growing below you. I became envious of the peacefulness of this land. Growing up in fearful silence hardens a person, I couldn't understand why anyone living in the land of fire would have any problems. It was almost like a dream, those three days on the road. The only people we had to fight were a few small bands of thieves who wanted what little money we had. They were simple to defeat, all we needed was hand to hand combat. So many time Haruka would handle them, it gave her taijutsu practice.

"Hey sis, you think I'll ever learn something other than taijutsu?" asked Haruka.

"Of course you will, why wouldn't you?" I responded while counting the money from our last thief encounter.

"Well, I mean I'm 10 and I know nothing else. And if I recall correctly, you graduate the academy at 12 back home right? Shouldn't I have started practicing ninjutsu and genjustu by now? What if it's too late to learn them? What if I fail and can only do hand to hand combat?" she ranted on worried and quizzical.

"Haruka, all the stuff you know right now is self taught. That's impressive enough that you haven't had a teacher since you were 4 and you're this skilled at 10. Trust me, you have the ability to use ninjutsu AND genjutsu, you need them both to use your Kyuumu Protector. You aren't a failure, trust me" I attempted to calm her down.

Haruka had this worry a lot. I was 6 when I was able to perform my protector technique. She didn't have a teacher at 6, I tried to teach her and failed. She was already 10 and she was nearly to the point of a taijutsu expert. She could beat me in a hand to hand battle every time, and I graduated first in my class at the academy.

"Okay, I guess you're right sis. Hopefully this guy we're going to meet at Konoha can help me with all of this stuff. How much farther is it?" she asked for the fiftieth time.

"The next town coming up should be the last one" I said.

"the last town, oh sis can we please stop at a ramen stand? Oh please, I haven't had good real food in so long. And I'm sure once we find this bossman he'll have plenty of money to give us and missions to send us on. Just one bowl of ramen?" she was practically on her knees begging.

"No"

"what?"

"No ramen"

"why not?"

"It's nearly noon, we're going straight through this city, and we should reach Konoha by evening. We have to go straight through, no fancy food till we reach our destination. We'll have to use what we have left." I replied, rather annoyed at her childish tone.

"Fine, no yummy, slurpy, savory ramen. With warm miso soup, and…oh and pork strips, gosh…what a feast" she was daydreaming about food, I think I could hear her stomach eating itself. It was near torture going through the last city. Every person was selling some type of food. That means that every five seconds I heard, "oh they have yummy looking dumplings" or "wow, check out that gyoza" or my personal favorite while passing by a fish market, she leapt over my head "HOLY MACKEROL…get it, cuz they're fish, OH MUH GAWSH LOOK AT THAT ONE IT'S AS BIG AS MY HEAD"

"it's normal size"

"It's not that size when we buy them. They're like super fish on CRACK!"

"there's no such thing as crack in the naruto world Haruka"

"Of course there is…what else would that random mob of people from the zabuza arc sell for money?"

"HARUKA, YOU'RE BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL!"

"oh, sorry"

Yes, traveling through cities with my sister may have been the most annoying thing I've ever endured. I had to remind myself that she was 10, and therefore she was still a kid.. I preferred her playful side, it reminded me that our hard lives hadn't completely sucked the happiness out of us. I wasn't one to show my emotions so easily though, my face was often a blank unreadable page. My mother used to tell me that she thought that emotions were something beautiful and they should be seen by everyone. My father, however, believed that emotions were something that needed to be left out of a ninja's life, they were a warriors biggest downfall.

Our parents were like night and day. Haruka probably hardly remembers much of them. My mother was strong and embracing. Dad was demanding and stern. Our mother was the one we ran to after training with daddy, she gave us hugs and bandaged our wounds. Dad taught us fist fighting, while mother taught us our secret family jutsus. Each of them was their missing half. Someone should be so lucky as to find a partner like that in their lifetime. How I longed to have them return home. I would sit at that window all day watching for some kind of movement outside the gate, waiting for them to come back home. The only movement I ever got was from enemy ninja trying to steal our family secrets.

The road became covered in trees and foliage. I could tell we were almost to Konoha. The sky outside was turning auburn, evening was settling in. We stopped, I looked up the road. There in the distance a few yards away, stood the great gates of the city hidden in the Leaves, Konoha.

"Finally after three days and 6 hours of walking we've finally reached Konoha" I said.

"Gosh this place is pretty. Are we going to be living here with bossman from now on?" asked Haruka.

"No…..bossman doesn't live here, but you will." I replied.

"well then where does he….wait….you said you. What do you mean by just me. Aren't we going to work for bossman together?" she asked me looking very scared .

"No Haruka, you're staying here in Konoha, I want you to become a ninja and do some good."

"what? But we're sisters? We always dreamt of leaving the city and going to work for this boss." she was on the verge of crying.

"No Haruka, you were never meant to work for the boss. He never knew you existed." I said

"He what? Why not? I've met him….no wait…I never have…who is this guy? Why is he taking you away from me? Why can't I come? I can't be apart from you Anei I'm only 10? I need you sis" she was bawling.

I wiped the tears from my face, "He's the man who has supported us since this whole mess started. When I met him it was just me, he only asked me. I always wanted a better life for you. You aren't supposed to join this crime group and kill more people for your next meal. I want you to go to Konoha and become a wonderful ninja, that's what you're meant to do Haruka. Learn your nin and genjutsu, find a master that can teach you everything. Become a ninja that can fight off a whole army of criminals" I said, my vision was blurry from the tears that were welling up. Haruka fell on the ground crying. I stood her up and hugged her, holding her so tight I'm sure I cut off her circulation.

"now go sis" I said looking at her, "go and make me proud" with that I hit her over the head and knocked her out. I picked up her unconscious body and carried it as close to the gates as I could. I placed her down on the side of the path, so it looked like she'd fallen out of a tree. I jumped up into a tree right next to the entrance, pulled out a bomb and threw it just outside of the main gates. Two shinobi came out. They noticed Haruka unconscious in the dust of the explosion. Quickly, they retrieved her and took her into the city. I took a last glance at my 10 year old sister, turned around, and began my way to the meeting spot. My job was finally done, She was finally able to get the training she had always deserved. I hated having to force her into it, but she was my sister. She was my better half, we were the only ones there for each other growing up. We survived for each other, for the sake of finding our family together. It was sad that we had to live like this. For the first time in years, we were separated.

I leapt into a tree near one of the village watch towers. A figure dressed in grey walked out. I instantly knew who he was, he was one of the boss' men come to fetch me. I used to meet him in town back when Haruka and I went grocery shopping, last time I saw him he told me to get to Konoha. I jumped down from the tree.

"Anei, good to see you again, and finally have you in the group" he said, cocky as ever

"yeah, um, is he here?" I asked

"yeah, follow me"

I followed him for a good long ways through the forest. I'm sure the boss wouldn't be caught dead close to one of those watch towers. The forest was thick and I could barely follow his movements, I wondered if everyone here was this good at jumping through trees. We finally made it to the spot on the very outskirts of Konoha territory. We stood in a clearing for a few seconds, then bossman showed up. He was very much taller than me with skin paler than death. His hair was pitch black and as long as a middle aged woman's. On his waist he wore a purple rope tied in an upside down bow behind him. He looked at me and smiled with a toothy fanged grin.

"Anei, welcome, so nice of you to join us finally" he said, smirking.

"It's good to finally join you too, Lord Orochimaru" I said bowing to him in respect. After all, this was the man that kept me and my younger sister alive during our darkest times.

"Kabuto, good job on not screwing up the coordinates" he said to the guy next to me

"Lord Orochimaru, I would never fail in retrieving a new member" cheeky bastard

We began walking, I wasn't sure how far away the sound village was, but I felt a lot safer.

"How old are you now Anei? I forget" Orochimaru asked

"16, I turn 17 in a few months" I replied

"perfect, that's a good age for ninja to be at. Means you're smart enough to figure things out, and I'm positive you're capable to fend for yourself." he said

"yes, I'm quite happy to be out of that empty village"

"Now, was it only you in that house…certainly you couldn't have fought off all those guards alone?" oh no, did he know about Haruka, did he? No, I wouldn't allow it.

"No, it was just me. My childhood house was riddled with barriers and boobie traps, luckily I had learned enough to protect myself before everyone got kidnapped" c'mon buy it, buy it, believe that's the truth.

"Ah, I wouldn't expect anything less of the Mousoka clan" he replied, "nonetheless, the sound village is a few days away, and you'll be living with plenty of other people to fight with you. No need to worry, right?"

"Right" I responded. Hopefully this gang in the sound village wouldn't be too bad. Maybe I can get back to training and not fending for my life every second of the day. Maybe one day I can get to finding mom and dad. Maybe…..Haruka can actually act like a kid instead of a strong grown woman.

Good luck little sister, make me proud!

Chapter NI! hehe NI...get it...anyone? monty python...anyone?...EH HEM...anyways, thanks for reading all the way up to chapter 2...keep going! it gets better :D so click that blue button right there...and tell me what you're thinking about...hopefully my story...yep...kay thanks bye!