Two

He exited the ruin remains of the small home and walked along the main road of the desolate village. It was dusk now, the sky was filled with beautiful shades of purple and orange harmonizing together perfectly as if kami himself painted it by hand. The wind that blew on the shinobi was a little cooler now so he adjusted his shawl a little tighter around him. He man his way to the outskirts of the ruins towards what use to be the north gate entrance and something caught his eye. There was someone kneeling down with their hands over their face near the destroyed walls of the village, he could not make out any distinct features to determine if it was male or female. He kept his left hand on his hilt,the person could be a scavenger and attack him in hopes of obtaining food or supplies. He walked closer cautiously, the person looked up as tears flowing from her almond-shaped indigo orbs stained her dirty face as she stared at him with a surprised face. Upon seeing her face he dropped his guard and the woman stood up on wobbly legs. She whipped the tears from her face with her black long sleeve and moved the loose strands of her long, steel grey hair back into the band that was holding the rest up in a loose ponytail.

"Suisei? Oh Su!" She exclaimed in distraught,while quickly closing the gap between them and pulling him into a tight hug as if she was hanging on to him for dear life. The shinobi,known as Suisei, wrapped his arms around her to comfort her in a awkward way, he never was good handling these types of situations. She pulled away from him leaving the chest area of his shawl wet from her tears.

"What are we supposed to do now!? Every else is returning to a home and we have no home to return to! Look at this shit!" She motioned her hands to the wasteland that use to be a village. "I can't handle this right now Su, we already lost Kujira sensei and now this!? Why do we even have these forehead protectors on? There isn't even a Hidden River village anymore. She roughly ripped of her protector and threw it on the ground.

The symbol still reflected what little light was left outside. It had three octagons,representing the 3 main branches of the village:political, financial, and government. The three shapes were covered by a shape on both sides that connect on the right side of the symbol. It was the Great Susanoo River, the body of water that surrounded the small village. The village was so unknown that they did not receive the new united protectors that every hidden village had. While it was still around it was a very prosperous village, but not enough to become a major power.

Suisei picked up the protector and placed it in her hand.

"Kozue, I know you're sad, I feel the same way. This was my home too. All the precious people I met and struggled with. All the precious memories we made here. I understand I really do."He still had his hand on the protector as it laid in her shaky hands.

"These protectors we have is the only visible evidence of our home, so why throw it away?" He closed her fingers around the protector as she looked down on it while wiping away more tears from her eyes. "We are the last shinobi of the Hidden River, be proud of what we accomplished and how far we came. Look at you, you're a jounin, who would have thought lanky legs would have became so strong?" He gave a small smirk as she returned a weak smile

"Leave me and my legs alone." She gave a soft laugh."I guess you're right though. As I look at the symbol it does reminds me of everyone I love. Kujira-sensei,Tora, mom, dad, even you Su. I'll cherish this until I die."

She put on a brave face and tied it back around her forehead, giving of an resolved disposition.

"Thanks Suisei, you know you always been there for me ever since I met you, trying to cheer me up whenever I was down. But What about you? Don't be so selfless all the time. One day you're going to explode.

All he did was give a small nod to her, not finding words to say at the moment. He never was the type to put his own burdens on others but was so quick to lift theirs off their shoulders. Kozue was the first person he helped and ever since then they had an unbreakable bond.

They left out the gates of the ruined village. Neither wanted to see their former home in such a condition. Kozue followed behind her companion, shielding her eyes from the dust. She pulled the collar of her black overcoat over her mouth to prevent the dust from coming in.

"So we have no home, no family, and no missions to do. What do we do now?" she asked while catching up to Suisei, walking beside him.

"I'm going to the Hidden Leaf. You don't have to come if you don't want to"

She frowned at him. "Of course I'm coming! But why are you going there of all places?

"My dad found out that my mom was from there. I'm going there to find out who she is and what's so special about my eyes."

"Oh seems like the old man wasn't just sitting in the house after all. He never could sit still,even when he was sick." She said with a sad smile on her face.

"Based on everything father found out, we should be there in two weeks if we keep a steady pace." the wind blew through his uncontrollable locks as he turned to look a Kozue.

" I only have enough food to last us two days tops so we will need to hunt every once and a while and set up camp. So we might get there later than what your father predicted."

"As long as we get there"

"Agreed"

…..

"Ouch! These damned mosquitoes, I don't see how these leaf people deal with all this forest and wildlife! Kozue exclaimed while slapping at a mosquito buzzing by her neck.

"Come on just deal with it. I'm sure we are almost to the village by now." Suisei said in an irritated 's been a whole month since they first departed from the ruins of the Hidden River village. The lack of food caused them to constantly stop and detour, slowing them down in the process.

"It's easy for you to say because they don't want your blood. The want the blood of a beautiful young wom- ouch!" She slapped her neck and wiped her hands clean of the insect she just killed

Suisei abruptly stopped causing Kozue to run right into him causing her to stubble. " Hey! what's go-"

"Shhhhh" he dropped low and she did the same, also sensing a chakra signal. They saw a figure in the distance, and they only could make out some dark raven colored hair. Suisei and Kozue made eye contact, nodded and broke apart. Suisei quickly made his way up a tree to get a bird's eye view of the person, but soon as he looked down the figure was gone. He saw Kozue to his far left and she had a puzzled look on her face, matching his own. Suddenly the sound of kunai could be heard whizzing through the air heading straight for Suisei. He quickly jumped of the tree dodging three of them and in mid air blocked the last with his chakra katana. He landed in a clearing katana out waiting for the unexpected attacker to make the next move.

"Fire style: fireball jutsu!" A voice said and a blazing ball of flames was hurled in his direction

"Water style: water cannon jutsu!" Kozue called out after jumping into the clearing. Her cheeks puffed up and she exhaled a rushing wave of pressurized water strong enough to cut the toughest steel. The two Justus collided causing a large blast in the area. The two shielded their faces from the gushing wind. A thick film of steam covered the area they were in causing them to barely see around them. Suisei stood completely still, chakra katana in hand ready to strike. Kozue was back to back with him with her special double-headed kunai in hand, eyes narrowed down, calculating where the aggressor will strike next.

"Who are you and why are you here?" A emotionless,stoic voice rang out towards them.

" We are going to the Hidden Leaf village. We do not want to fight unnecessary." Suisei said to the unknown.

"What business do have there?"

"Why does it concern you?" There was a brief pause and immediately the two sensed danger approaching

"Amaterasu"

Instantly they moved as the spot they once were burst into black flames. The intense heat of the fire quickly dissipated the film of steam in the area.

"Why is it of my concern you ask?" The person said in the same stoic voice. He walked through the black flames, not being affected by the everlasting flames at all. He had on a long beige shawl with designs of a darker shade on it going across in a symmetric pattern. His black raven hair was wrapped in a bluish grey cloth and it stuck up at the top wildly. The most distinct feature that he had was his eyes, Two legendary orbs, the eternal mangekyou sharingan on the right, and the rinnegan on the left. His face was stern and serious as he looked upon the two with those powerful eyes

"Because I am Sasuke Uchiha of the Hidden Leaf."

….

Sasuke makes his appearance! What will happen next? Please stay tuned for chapter 3.

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Until Next time

-Sigz.