Chapter 5: Old Light

September 15

Arashi was excited. She fussed over a wrapped box and re-adjusted the bow. It was heavy enough that she could not carry it by herself. She smoothed out her clothing, checked the ribbon in her hair and pinched her cheeks until they were the right shade of pink. The smell of miso and eggplant wafted out of the kitchen.

It was Kakashi's birthday.

The little girl was ecstatic to have a reason to give her friend some gifts. Her eyes searched the box for any imperfection – it had to be perfect – she would accept no less for a companion. She was almost as excited for his birthday as she would have been for her own. She intended to pay him back for the kindness he showed her on the day of her fight, as well as for not ratting her out. Her parents found out, regardless, but a tearful explanation later they dropped it.

Arashi returned to the kitchen to help Kushina with the food, even though she was not of much help. She paid attention to how the woman prepared everything, with the thought that she could make this for her friend in the future once she was older. Kushina hummed to herself as she moved around the kitchen and checked the time.

The little girl tugged at the woman's apron strings, "How long until they're here?"

"Very soon! Any time, you kn-" She cut herself off. "Mm, I need to break that verbal tic."

"What's a verbal tic?"

"Well, uh, you know."

"You know!" Arashi chirruped.

The woman glared halfheartedly, "Now you're making fun of me."

Arashi chose that time to become interested in a spot on the floor. Kushina put both of her hands on her hips and waited. The girl hugged herself and peered up at the woman through her eyelashes.

"I think you're perfect the way you aw-are."

"Huh? Really?" The woman backtracked. "I'm so not-"

"You're my hero!" The girl declared. "Pw-pretty, smart, stw-strong – you're like the best kunoichi ever!"

The woman's eyes narrowed into slits, despite the blush on her face, "And you're the most manipulative kid I've ever met."

Arashi covered her heart and gasped.

"Oh, just can't handle the accusations, huh?"

The sound of the door opening and closing made Arashi forget about her ruse. The two scurried out of the kitchen and to the living room with matching grins on their faces. Minato picked the girl up, which earned a squeal, and then set her down to greet his wife. Kakashi stood next to the door with a hand in his pocket.

Arashi rushed over to him and took his free hand in both of hers. His eyebrows quirked, but he did not resist – there really was no point in it when dealing with the girl. She petted his hand and noted that it was still softer than it had been after she gave him lotion for the first time.

"Are you going to stare at my hand all evening or are you going to let me go?" He deadpanned.

"You're so silly." She huffed.

She led him over to the gift she had spent all evening fussing over. He looked at it, then Arashi, then Kushina and Minato, then finally back at the girl.

"Happy Birthday!" They chorused together.

His body stiffened.

"Open the one from me first!" Arashi tugged him onto the floor.

He gave her a skeptical look, but obliged. He untied the bow with a snort – she loved bows – and tore the paper away from the box. Arashi was almost vibrating with anticipation. When he pulled the top off the package he blinked.

It was packed full of various gifts.

"Mommy and daddy said I had too many ideas, so I had to limit myself to one box, so I put as much as I could in this one!" She explained in a rush.

He pulled out several tubes of lotion and set them to the side. The girl's fixation with his hands was odd, but she was a bizarre individual and he chose to not address it.

"I thought you'd need more." She explained.

"Err, yeah. Thanks."

The next thing he pulled out was a field medical kit. It had sutures, bandages, gauze, plasma pills, and an assortment of ointments and disinfectants. This was something that could be useful in the future.

"My daddy said that was a good kit." She watched his expression like a hawk.

"It is." He set it to the side. "Good job."

Next he found a set of body wash and shampoo.

"Do I stink?" He muttered.

Her eyes went wide, "No! Mommy has a store with all kinds of stuff. Makeup, lotion, stuff for hair, and soaps, and all kinds of stuff!"

"Alright."

His attention returned to the box and he fished out several combs, brushes, and a large supply of hair gel.

"Are you saying something about my hair?"

Her face was blank, "No." She was quiet for a moment, "Do you brush it?"

"Of course I do." He hissed.

"Aw-are you sure?"

Kakashi scowled through his mask. He held up a comb and tried to run it through his hair – tried – but it got caught. The girl's expression remained blank, but the glint in her eyes was enough to rub salt all over his injured pride. After he managed to pull it out, he set it to the side and dug the last item out of the box. It was a book.

"Mommy says it's the first one in a w-w-really good action series. She says everyone should w-read it." She rambled. "You said you were w-reading in the playground, so I thought you'd like it." She crinkled her nose. "But the name is so stupid. Ninja Island?"

His expression softened.

She threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder, "I hope you like everything!"

Kakashi looked at the assortment and sighed. He doubted he would be able to fit everything back into the box. It was a wonder she managed in the first place.

He gave her a stiff squeeze, "Yeah. Thanks for everything."

The girl released him and went over to hide behind Kushina and Minato.

Old Light

"C'mon, mommy!"

Arashi grabbed her mother's hand and pulled her into a faster walk. Naomi adjusted the purse under her arm and the clicks of her heels increased with their pace. She was a woman of average height and build. Her face was round, her hair was brown, her eyes were like honey, and her skin was lightly tanned. Her clothes were expensive, well-coordinated, and her makeup was tastefully done. Altogether, she and the girl looked similar enough that most would never realize that Arashi was adopted.

"Hurry, mommy! We're going to miss them!"

"I'm hurrying, baby!" The woman gasped out. "These shoes are hard to run in!"

Arashi looked over her shoulder at her father, "Daddy! You might have to carry mommy!"

The Jounin laughed and plucked the girl off the ground. Naomi breathed a sigh of relief and slowed her pace.

"Daddy!" She protested, "We're going to be late!"

"No, we're not, sweetie. We'll get to see our friends before their baby comes." He assured her.

She pouted and hung in his arms like a rag doll. Being tiny was a disadvantage in times like these.

-page break

"Look at you! You're ready to pop!" Naomi cooed. "Oh, Kushina-san, if I could bottle the glow you have, I'd be a rich woman!"

Kushina laughed, flustered, "I'm just ready for my baby to be here, but I'm kinda nervous."

"You'll be fine, dear." Naomi placed a hand on her shoulder. "Stay strong, Minato-sama looks like he's looking at a ghost."

The Yellow Flash scratched the back of his head, "H-hey, I'm just a little restless."

"Daddy, put me down!" Arashi wriggled.

Ookami chuckled and looked over toward Minato. His daughter was vibrating in excitement. The Hokage held his arms out and the medical ninja handed his girl over. Arashi wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes to enjoy his warm chakra.

"I'm going to miss you!" She mumbled into his flak vest. "I know you're gonna be too busy for a while to see me, but I'll be extw-tra good and work w-really hard in my studies, so when Naw-Naruto needs help, I'll be able to be there for him!"

Minato squeezed her, "I'm going to miss you, too, but I'll be sure to make time to check up on you. Naruto will be happy to have you for a friend in the future, I'm sure of it."

Kushina stepped over and tucked some of the girl's hair behind her ear, "Me and Minato decided that since we might not have a lot of time to work with you until Naruto's a little older that we'd put some stuff together for you to work on."

Her eyes widened, "Fuinjutsu homework?"

"Well, not homework exactly!" Kushina laughed. "You don't have to work on it."

"Ohhh." She grinned. "I will, anyway. It's much cooler than stuff the academy goes over."

Minato placed her on the ground and produced a stack of papers and scrolls, "This is enough to hold you over for several months, including introductions to things that we haven't gotten to yet. We made sure to keep it simple so that you shouldn't get lost while studying."

The girl's eyes widened and she bounced up and down, "Yay! I'll be like Kushina-san with her fuinjutsu someday!"

All four of the adults exchanged looks and smothered smiles. Naomi accepted the documents with a whispered thanks.

"Oh, but where's Kakashi-san?" Arashi tilted her head to one side. "I wanted to see him, too."

"Ahh, I gave Kakashi the day off." Minato explained.

"Ohh." She pouted.

Ookami pinched her cheek, "If you keep pouting your face will get stuck that way."

"Does that mean people will give me stuff forever without me tw-tw-trying?" She perked up.

Naomi covered her face and broke down in laughter, "I've made a monster!"

Arashi crinkled her nose, "Nu uh. Monsters are ugly. Are you calling me ugly, mommy?"

Naomi peeked through her fingers at the girl, "Of course not. You're a beautiful flower."

Placated, Arashi focused on the red headed woman again. She placed her hands on the womb and placed her ear against it.

"I look fow-forward to meeting you, Naruto. I'll always look after you, I pw-promise. You're going to be really special!"

"What does he feel like?" Ookami watched his daughter.

"He's very bwight!" She chirped. "And, um, he feels w-really, really nice. He feels kinda like both Minato-san and Kushina-san, but different."

"Ahh," Ookami crossed his arms. "What does his affinity feel like?"

She gave him a bewildered look.

"Don't you remember what I told you about signatures and affinities?" He urged.

"Oh! Yeah! But they're different, w-right? And, um, some people don't have one without working w-really hard?"

"That's right." Her father nodded. "Does he have a natural affinity already?"

She focused on the boy and her eyebrows knit together. "He feels kinda light and wooshy."

Naomi pursed her lips, "You mean like wind?"

"Yeah!" She nodded. "His changes a lot from being soft to being really wild when he's kicking."

Kushina gave Minato a look that clearly said: I told you the girl's a sensor type. The Yellow Flash shrugged and nodded his head in acceptance.

Ookami continued, "What does your affinity feel like?"

"Um, like Naruto's, but," she threw her arms out, "mine's fabulous!"

"Uh, yeah." Ookami choked out. "That's my little kunoichi."

The girl's chest swelled out with pride.

"Well," Naomi looked at the time. "I guess we should be going so you can get ready for the rest of your lives, huh? Your son is going to be so beautiful."

"Okay, I'll say goodbye, but I wanna see Naruto as soon as possible!" Arashi threw her stern look around the room.

"Alright, alright, we have accepted your terms and demands," Ookami managed to sound serious.

Arashi and Kushina kissed each other's cheeks. Minato knelt down and the girl jumped into his arms for a tight hug before he kissed her forehead and she pulled away with a loud giggle.

"I love you both, Kushina-san, Minato-san." Arashi declared.

"You're going to see them tomorrow, sweet heart. It's not the end of the world." Naomi sighed.

"We love you, too." Minato ruffled her hair.

Kushina's grin spanned from one ear to the other, "Tomorrow comes quick, y'know!"

"Oh, sweetie, it's late," Naomi looked up at the full moon. "We'll have to go home soon."

Arashi walked by her mother's side with a bag in her hand. To help distract the girl from her excitement of Naruto being born her mother had taken her shopping. The girl chewed on her lips and looked down at her feet. Something was not sitting well with her. It was like something dark was settling over the village and it left a bad taste in her mouth.

"What is it, Arashi?" Her mother frowned.

"It's noth-"

A roar shook the village.

The world stood still for Arashi in the next few moments. Her ears rang like bells from the force and volume of the noise. Everyone in the street began to panic and look around at once. Her mother's grip loosened around her hand just as the bag Arashi was carrying in the other fell to the ground.

Arashi's blood ran cold in her veins.

The secret – Kushina's secret – was out. Arashi's senses were on fire. Rage washed over her; a rage that did not belong to her, but instead to the demon loose in her village. Another shriek from the beast echoed through the night and the sound of buildings shattering made her knees weak.

Naomi tore the high heels from her feet and grabbed her child by the arm. Her eyes danced in terror, but there was a determined crease lining her forehead.

"Baby, come on. I'll keep you safe," the woman yelled over the screams. "Come on, my baby! Don't look at it!"

Arashi let her mother pull her into a run. Her short legs could hardly keep up and her mind was foggy. It was like all of her thoughts were trying to swim through tar. She focused on her mother and for the first time in her life she was devastated that this person was not truly her blood.

Naomi gasped, "Mikoto's sons!"

Arashi's attention snapped up to whom she was referring to and realization dawned on her. Itachi was running in the crowd with them. An infant, Sasuke, was in his arms. Mother and daughter pressed through the people until they were next to the boys.

"Itachi-kun!" Arashi yelled.

His dark eyes snapped to her.

"Itachi, sweetie, let me carry your brother," Naomi called to him.

The boy gave her a look that startled both the woman and Arashi. It was clear that he would sooner take her arms off than relinquish the child in his grasp. Naomi nodded and moved in position so that she could keep any adults from pushing into him. A fall would kill the infant and she knew it.

Arashi's limbs felt like noodles. She could sense the shinobi forming groups and circling the Kyuubi. The ground kept shaking under her feet and the sparks of many people were being snuffed out. It was worse than any nightmare.

Members of the Uchiha clan started to appear and direct the crowd's escape, but the terror did not lessen. Sasuke began to wail, despite his brother's attempts to soothe him.

"It's okay, Sasuke." He looked down at the infant, fondly. "I'll protect you." His lips tugged into a half smile. "My friend, Arashi-chan, will help, too, so there's no reason to be scared."

She reached out and touched his shoulder, trying with all of her might to refocus on his gentleness, but there was too much devastation.

Arashi tried to find Minato and Kushina's signatures. She could feel his, but the woman's was weak and she was not entirely sure it was even hers. Kushina had never felt less than exuberant and strong, but now it was like she was hanging on by the force of her will.

She was not sure how long they had been running. Their route had to change several times because of the damage done to the village. The jigsaw puzzle that she loved had been torn apart with her still in it.

Then, all at once, the ground stopped shaking and the evil presence was gone. Arashi's eyebrows knit together. Before she could be relieved, she had to know if her friends were alright. She closed her eyes and reached out to find them. Her heart skipped a beat in happiness to feel the Hokage's presence and even Kushina's, albeit even weaker – but there was something with them that was almost as bad as the demon. Arashi's throat tightened.

Minato's signature disappeared.

In disbelief, she let her mother lead her. She looked around at the people, unable to believe what had just happened. She hoped with all of her strength that she was wrong – that she had somehow confused him with someone else.

Then Kushina's signature disappeared.

A strangled cry made its way out of her throat. Her body went numb and she stumbled. Her mother grasped after her, but the mass of people pushed them on. Itachi's eyes met hers for a brief second and they both knew that she was going to be trampled and there was nothing the boy or her mother could do about it.

In a blur, a man snatched her off the ground and separated from the people. If she had been in her right mind, she would have recognized him as the leader of the Police Force, but all that mattered to her in that moment was that there was a pair of arms holding her. He regarded her with stern, black eyes as he looked over her for any injuries and frowned. The girl in his arms was fine, physically, but was clearly in shock.

"Were you with a relative?" He asked, turning his attention back to watching the refugees.

She rested her head against his chest as she choked on a sob. He resigned himself to carrying her while directing the civilians.

"Minato and Kushina are dead," she choked out.

He gave her a skeptical look, "How do you know?"

"I-I," she clutched his vest in her hands until her knuckles were white. "I felt it."

"I see."

The man adjusted his grip on her and remained silent.

When she closed her eyes, the constellation around her was noticeably dimmer. Like stars Minato and Kushina would stand out in her mind until she drew her last breath. It left a bittersweet taste in her mouth. All she had left were memories; they were just old light now – wonderful, beautiful, brilliant – but now their flames had been extinguished. They were precious to her and now they were dead.

The entire village turned out dressed in black to mourn the loss of many loved ones. Arashi walked between her parents. She held them by the hand with her vice-like grip, determined to not lose them. They were all she had and she was terrified that she would someday feel the life leave them.

The Third Hokage stepped up to fill the position again. Speeches were made, people wept, and memories were shared between them – but it all felt too surreal to her. She could feel Kakashi nearby, but that only comforted her a little.

She had never hated herself before, but now she felt the pricks of self-loathing settle in. She had not been able to help a single person. Her father was exhausted from working around the clock to help the wounded, her mother had opened up their home to refugees and had dedicated herself to helping those in need, but Arashi had done nothing but run and cry. She felt useless.

She wiped at a stray tear as her parents led her away. There was much work to be done to restore their village. All she wanted to do was find Naruto, but she was told it would have to wait.

"Arashi-chan?" Itachi called out to her.

She released her parents and turned to regard her friend. His parents stood behind him and she realized with a jolt that the man that helped her the night before was Itachi's father. Mikoto held Sasuke and watched with a pensive expression as her eldest son approached Arashi.

The little girl threw her arms around him and they clung to each other, wordlessly.

Fugaku gave them a flippant look. His heir, the boy that would one day lead the Uchiha, was hugging it out with an adopted girl from an undisclosed family. Ookami exchanged a nod with him and they busted their kids up in order to go their own way.

(page break)

Arashi shouldered her pack and walked through the streets on her way to the Academy. She tried to not notice how different certain parts of the village were now. It was still her jigsaw puzzle, these people were still the sparks that danced around her, and life continued. She tried to not focus on those who were not continuing with her.

It had been a week since the Kyuubi's attack. Classes had resumed and Arashi dedicated herself to her studies, full-heartedly. She was going to be stronger. Naruto was now carrying the demon and Arashi knew he would need her help more than ever now that his parents were dead. The first step she had to take was graduating.

Kakashi's presence caught her attention.

Her feet turned in his direction. She had not seen him since the funeral, but it had been even longer since she had last spoken to him. Her lips trembled, so she bit them until they stopped. She needed to be stronger.

When she found him, he gave her an empty glance and continued walking.

"Kakashi-san, wait!"

He did not even look at her. She huffed and grabbed his hand. To her dismay the skin was drier than they had ever been before.

"Your hands," she muttered.

"So what?" He glared down at her. "Why does it matter if my hands are dry? Will it matter how unhealthy my skin is when I'm dead?"

Her mouth fell open, "B-but."

"No. It won't matter. I'm a ninja. I'll serve this country until I die. The state of my hands does not matter as long as I can still use jutsu and weapons. Now mind your business."

"We're friends." She squared her stance. "And it matters to me."

"I'm not your friend." He snapped. "Now let go of me."

She stared at him; her expression brittle like one more word would shatter her already broken heart into even smaller pieces. Her entire world had fallen apart around her. He glowered down at her and tried to tug his hand away.

"I'll always be your friend." She whispered. "I pw-promised."

When she released him he walked away. Arashi watched him go until he was out of sight.

End

Well, I'm sorry that it took me so long to get this out, seeing as how it's shorter than I originally planned on it being. I suppose I was just so ready to be finished with this step in her life and I got so busy that it was hard for me to throw as much into it. I will continue her story, so if you enjoyed her now, hopefully you'll enjoy her a bit older. :) It will definitely take me longer on average to write the chapters for Part 2, so I apologize for that. Leave any thoughts or criticisms in a review, if you'd like, and I'll take them into consideration. Thanks for reading all five chapters!