a/n okay! third chapter finally here! I know I have like no fans of this story, but whatever. I'm going to continue to update. and if you DO read this story, I'd relaly appreciate it if you'd review to tell em what you think. it takes like, a minute if you know what you wnat to say. and I accept anonymous reviews.
"Hina! Hina, let's stop!" Haruki choked as he stumbled onward, barely able to keep moving. But he pushed forward, running onward.
I said nothing, just dropped to a branch lower down, still darting forward. Satoko and Haruki were panting heavily--but not as heavy as I was. Only Uncle Hiroshi knew that I was struggling not to drop down dead.
"Hey! Hina!" Yoshi-sensei shouted over the winds being made. He had no trouble catching up with me, and he showed no trouble breathing. "Slow down! Your siblings need a rest, and I'm sure you need one as well!"
I grunted something but would not turn to look at him; I wouldn't make any sign that I had heard what he had said.
"Hina! Stop being selfish and let's go rest! We covered a lot of ground today, and it's time for a break!" Sensei snapped. It was the first time I had ever really heard him get angry. Hesitantly, I slowed myself. I purposefully hid all signs of exhaustion from my face, and tried to appear relaxed, though I didn't think I pulled it off too well.
"I understand that you want to prove yourself, Hina," Yoshi whispered just loud enough so that I could hear it as we continued moving, "but there is no point in exhausting yourself while attempting to do so. And you definitely shouldn't take others down with you. Is that understood?"
"Yes Sensei," I murmured and came to a complete stop, just barely catching my balance as I came to a halt on the tree branch. My feet felt like they were made of rubber and they were going to slip out from under me any minute. I began lowering myself so that I could sit, but a chilling voice stopped me.
Weak. Stand straight, girl. That is if you wish to pretend you aren't a weakling.
Uncle Hiroshi.
""Im not a weakling," I whispered as I straightened myself, locking my knees tight so that they wouldn't tremble.
A look of surprise came over Sensei's face as he looked over at me. "Hina, I never said you were weak," he said gently, placing one large hand on my frail shoulders. "All I said that when proving yourself you have to be careful not to pass out--or make others pass out. I do hope you didn't misunders--"
"I know Yoshi-sensei. I was just...talking to myself, I guess."
"Oh! Um...alright-y then!" Yoshi beamed a grin not to be trifled with and then turned around. "Come on you pansies! Hurry up!"
Satoko stopped dead in her tracks and just stared at Sensei with a blank expression on her face. Even though she stood a good ten feet away, the look on her face was very clear. "Pansies?" she finally managed to say weakly while beside her Haruki was still attempting to construct sentences in his mind, which was in a fury at being called a name that suggested fragility.
I looked over my shoulder at my siblings, a small smile twitching at my lips.
And if Sensei, Satoko, and I weren't already sure about his agitated state, his next sentence made it quite evident. "Us?! Pansies?! Are you being serious?! It isn't OUR fault that Hina decided to dash off full speed out of the blue! It isn't our fault that she wouldn't let us stop for a whole three hours! And it is definitely not our fault that she felt--OUCH! Satoko, what the heck was that for?!" Haruki stopped mid sentence, rubbing his arm which was gradually becoming more and sorer.
"Just...shut up, would you?" Satoko muttered. I pretended not to notice as her eyes flickered towards me, and I pretended that the look in her eye wasn't there. A look that said she knew what Haruki was going to say--a look that practically screamed what it was that he was going to say--And it is definitely not our fault that she felt the need to prove she isn't weak
And then I wondered if they thought I was weak. I knew everyone else in the village did, but I never bothered to think about Satoko and Haruki.
"Will you let it go already?" Sensei sighed as he examined the stem of a leaf. Briefly he lifted his gaze, allowing his speckled eyes to dart from face to face, finally landing on mine and then lowering back towards the leaf. "Let's go. We all need to rest."
And without warning he was gone. I waited for the other two to catch up and then followed behind them, trying to ignore the coldness that was wrapped around my elbow--Uncle Hiroshi clung onto me during the drops. He said that they gave him headaches, although I didn't understand how they did that, in all honesty.
He had no head to actually even Ache.
But it was pointless to argue this fact to him. He'd just retort with some remark that would make me uncomfortable or would make me question things I'd rather not ever think about.
With pure luck, I managed to land flat on my feet after the final drop from branch to ground. Uncle released my arm and distanced himself.
Bravo, child. Maybe you should try doing that more often, hm?
"Leave me alone," I whispered, eyes moving to where I heard his voice coming from.
"Um, are you okay Hina?" Haruki cautiously inquired, cocking an eyebrow.
"Of course I am! Just talking to myself again, is all! It's a bad habit I've acquired since I decided to run away! I guess I should try to stop." I said the last word with gritted teeth as I once again looked in the direction I believed my uncle to be in.
"Are you sure you're okay, love? You said 'leave me alone.' And well, to be quite honest, that just isn't something people usually say when they're speaking to themselves..."
I narrowed my eyes at Satoko as I stared long and hard at her. "I don't like what you're insinuating," I said, only half serious. "Anyway! I'm fine! Just discussing things with myself in my mind--a very common thing with people. Come on. Let's go...find Yoshi-sensei!"
"Whatever you say," Satoko said as she began to set off; Haruki merely shrugged and ran after her, while I walked at a leisurely pace behind my older siblings.
How long ago was it that we had left the village? I couldn't remember exactly how many days, but I remembered it had been quite a few. And I still hadn't decided where it was we were going. Yoshi-sensei probably had somewhere in mind, why else would he have been steering me around when it was he who had said that I could lead and such?
Hina... For once Uncle Hiroshi's voice sounded a bit...frightened, maybe? Or perhaps it was wary, but either way it was an expression I wasnt at all used to.
"What is it?" I sighed.
I think there's someone--or thing--following us...
"What gives you that idea?"
It could be because I'm a ghost, I don't know, he snarled, but I hear footsteps. Perhaps it's another ghost, perhaps it's another ninja, or perhaps it's a wild beast thirsty for blood. Honestly, I don't know, and I hardly even care I'm already dead--what does it matter to me. But if I were you, I'd heed my warning...
My magenta-ish brown hair fell slightly in my pale eyes as I looked over my shoulder, curious to see if anything was in view. I saw nothing, and I was about to tell my uncle so when I suddenly heard a growl. I gave a start and suddenly began to ran although I felt like I was about to fall flat on my face from all I had already done that day. My throat suddenly felt very dry and my stomach very empty. My legs had turned themselves into jelly, but somehow I still managed to surpass Satoko and Haruki who had managed to get very far ahead of me in the short period of time that we had been in search of our sensei, who was no doubt half-asleep somewhere awaiting our arrival.
That could take forever.
None of us knew the area, or even the direction he had gone.
"Hey! Hina, what's wrong this time?!" Haruki called as he picked up his pace, a grimace making its way onto his face.
"Nothing! I just heard something behind me!"
"So you decided to run?! It would be a harmless creature!" Satoko reasoned, but I dismissed that with a shake of the head.
"No--it definitely wasn't. Besides! I um...like to run!" I lied, and they called me on it.
"You're a pathetic liar!" the two simultaneously said as they came up from behind me; I held back a sigh at seeing how agile the two were.
"I mean just because you've been making us run all day, that doesn't mean that you enjoy it," Haruki said with a grin; it pleased him when he was clever or smart--which wasnt often, if you asked Satoko or Yoshi-sensei.
"Well, you've got a point there onii-chan, but that doesn't really matter when there's something potentially dangerous following you!"
"But, Hina--" Satoko began to oppose, but I grabbed her forearm and dragged her into the shadows; Haruki quickly caught on and followed silently after us.
With baited breath we three siblings watched, hidden behind the trees, as shadow passed by on the ground where we had just been walking--but where was the shadow coming from? There was no person where the shadow was. Just as the shadow disappeared from our view, and Satoko was about to lead Haruki and I back into the light, we all felt hot breath on our necks. I figured they felt it by the looks on their faces--it was the same I had on mine. And we were probably all wondering the same thing--is this the owner of the shadow?
"Boo," came a monotonous voice from behind. That was enough for me--I jumped right out of my skin.
Right before my head hit the large branch I was standing under, my hands, rough, dirty, and callused from the days we had been traveling, grabbed a hold of the rough bark. I quickly pulled myself up onto the branch before I would loose grip age and fall with bleeding hands in a heap on the ground which seemed to be so far below me.
Perched there on the branch, I stared down at the scene which I had previously been a part of; Haruki was frozen, a kunai knife in his hand, while Satoko had stopped mid-hand seal. And Yoshi-sensei...he stared at my two siblings with a giant grin on his face and a twinkle in his eyes.
Slowly he looked up at me and waved. "Sorry for scaring you, Hina!" he called up; a thoughtful expression came over his face. "Although I suppose I scared you the most. These two were preparing themselves for a fight but...now they're kind of frozen in place. Curious, isn't it?"
"Um...yeah, I guess," I called back down, slowly straightening myself until I stood on the branch and stared down at my sensei. My legs were shaking. Whether from fright or because they were still tired, I didn't know. And honestly, I didn't care. I just wanted them to stop
Scaredy Cat.
"What?" I hissed
Satoko and Haruki were prepared for an enemy--they were prepared to attack. But you just get scared and jumped to get away.
"I was startled," I argued through gritted teeth.
They were too. True, they're frozen now, but at least they didn't jump. And they're probably only that way because they're so shocked that it was Yoshi-sensei there...
"Shut up," I whispered, staring down at my blue-clad feet.
Only when you learn to toughen up
"Maybe I could if I didn't feel you pressuring me and if you didn't sneer at me every time I "fail" something," I replied in a deadly quiet voice. I looked back up, light eyes flashing. Without warning I jumped back down to the ground, landing beside my sensei flat on both my feet.
"How do you suppose we could get them to snap out of it, do you think?" Yoshi asked me, leaning towards my ear as he said it.
"I've lived with them for twelve years; I know practically everything about them--leave it to me."
So I strolled up to Haruki, rolled up my arm-warmer on my right hand, and gently placed my fingers on my brother's side, under his raised arm. With increasing speed I moved my fingers, until finally Haruki keeled over, grinning and laughing like a little child.
"S-stop it! H-Hina...n-no!" Haruki gasped, trying to fight away my hand with his own free one. When that didn't work he had to also use the one holding the kunai--I quickly retreated but the blade still grazed over my skin. And although it seemed to have not broken the skin, it did. Slowly, blood began to surface.
Haruki's face fell. "Oh jeez, Hina. I'm sorry--I didn't mean to--"
But I cut Haruki off, lifting my hand and grabbing his which he raised to grab my shoulder. "Nothing to worry about. I should have stopped when I was sure you were out of your trance. Now enough of that. We need to wake Satoko up. And you know that takes the both of us, right?"
Haruki snorted in an I-can't-believe-you-doubt-I-know-that way. "Of course. Now which do you want to do, tickle her or play with her hair?"
"I think I'll do the tickling," I replied, eyebrows raised as I stared at him with a look that clearly meant something; Haruki paused and then nodded, moth in the shape of an 'o'.
He understood. That was a good thing.
So with a nod of the head from we, we both started at once. I began with the tickle attack and he began doing funky things with our sister's hair--after taking it down of course.
And immediately, Satoko's dark eyes flew open and she writhed about until she was out of our grasp. Glaring hard at both of us, she snatched her filthy red hair ribbon from Haruki and redid her hair.
Yoshi stared at me as I retook my place beside him. "Is that the only way to do it?" he inquired; I nodded. "So if you just play with Satoko's hair--"
"It won't work," I interrupted. "It has to be tickling and hair playing. That's why two people are required."
Yoshi-sensei chuckled, holding a loosely balled fist up to his mouth.
"Anyway! Haruki, Satoko, Hina--I'm sorry I snuck up on all of you like that, but I couldn't avoid the opportunity. What were you all staring at anyway?"
"We saw something odd," Satoko unsurely began.
"Or rather, we didn't see it," Haruki added. "It's more like we saw its shadow since...that's all there was."
Satoko nodded in agreement. "And if it wasn't for little Hina here, we wouldn't have even known it was there!" Satoko draped her arm over my shoulders and began giving me a noogie, messing up my already greasy, dirty, and well let's just say it--messed up magenta hair.
Well you wouldn't have either if it wasnt for me, Uncle Hiroshi said smugly; I could feel his gaze on me.
"Well that was a good call, Hina. Who knows what it could have been. Hopefully we don't run across its path again though..."
"Arigato," I muttered, ducking my head down to avoid everyone's gaze.
"Come on--let's get moving again!" Yoshi-sensei exclaimed, but I barley heard them. I could hardly hear the exclamations of agreement made by my siblings.
"Arigato, Uncle," I whispered.
You're Welcome.
My eyes bugged out when he said this. Had my uncle just been...POLITE?! I wasnt used to such actions--not in the least. But I kept my mouth shut about it and then just followed after my sensei and comrades.
Another day had passed, adding onto the list of days we had been gone. I had been informed of how many days we had been gone the day before, and that was thirteen--not including the day we had been in. So now...it was the fifteenth day we would be on the road.
Fun.
I was starting to feel miserable--almost as miserable as I had felt back home. And sadly, I was feeling miserably homesick. Yes, that's right. Sick for home--the place where I had been tormented, teased, and picked on 24/7.
"Ugh," I groaned, putting my hand to my heart and squeezing my eyes shut.
"...are you alright?" Yoshi-sensei inquired, gently laying his hand on my shoulder. I subconsciously shook it off.
"Um, yeah. I'm...good," I whispered, briefly glancing over at the man. But soon enough I was staring back down at my lap where I was holding my hands tightly together.
Or do I just miss the little love I got? I wondered Do I miss...Mom? Why...now?
I felt my sensei's stares on me for a moment before he stood. "I'm going to go scrounge up some food. You keep a watch on Satoko and Haruki. They were really worn out, and they'll be needing some rest. You could use some, too. So please, try."
"I can't sleep," I whispered. Yoshi gave me a sympathetic look and then walked off. I let my head drop down to my chest and brought my knees close to me, breathing heavily for no reason whatsoever.
Be strong Uncle Hiroshi said, as always. The way he put it was demeaning. How my mother had always said it to me, it was so much nicer.
Light up, my little Hina. Be the most you can be. She had always said that to me back when I played ninja. Even for a little while during my time in the Academy--but that was before she was murdered.
I stifled a sob at the thought of it. No one--to my knowledge--had ever figured out who had murdered my mother. Uncle Hiroshi probably knew, actually, and I was pretty sure he had mentioned it before. But for the life of me I couldn't confirm it, remember it, or bring myself to ask about it.
A light breeze passed through the area, lifting up my loose hair and whispering in my ears.
Light up, my little Hina. Light up.
My eyes bugged out again. Had she followed, too? Just like Uncle?
"Mommy?" I called out just softly enough so that it didn't disturb my brother and sister.
So you've finally gone insane, huh? I guess you need the teasing to live, hm?
"Ha! You're funny Uncle. But no, I can actually live quite well without it."
That's...good to hear, I guess. But why are you calling out to your mother?
And then I snapped. "I miss her, okay! I guess you don't understand that emotion though so...ugh, just leave me alone!" I buried my face further down and just sat there, silently crying to myself while Uncle Hiroshi chuckled and then fell silent.
After a while I didn't even know what I had initially been upset about, or if that mystery reason was still the reason I felt myself hurting. It wasn't just because I missed home anymore, and it wasnt because I was lonely. It was something much less obvious than that. So much so that I actually didn't even know myself.
But when Sensei returned with the little bit of food he had managed to gather I quickly hid any previous signs of having been upset and sat up straight.
"Konichiwa Yoshi-sensei! Welcome back!" I grinned, but he could tell I was being a phony.
"Hello little Hina," Yoshi greeted, smiling back; he took a seat beside me and opened up the little sack he stored the food in. "Take only a bit, okay my little faker? Leave the rest for Satoko and Haruki."
"Got it," I mumbled. Everything in there was small, and I grabbed the two smallest. Sensei noticed though and grabbed them both, placing them back in the bag and grabbing me the two largest.
"You need more strength than anyone, although I'm sure you won't admit it. Now after you eat I want you to rest, okay? No excuses. Even if you can't sleep just relax."
"Deal," I agreed as I began to nibble on one of the nuts I had received. Yoshi watched me, smiling his mysterious, twinkling-eye smile at me. Without speaking he brushed my dirty bangs away from my grimy forehead.
"I'll be on guard up in the tree, if you need me. Just give a call and I'll be right down here. If you get the chance, tell the others, too, alright?"
"Gotcha!"
And Yoshi was gone in the blink of an eye. I sighed and leaned back against the trunk of the tree, absently eating away at my food, all thoughts fleeting.
We were running again by the sixteenth day. It turned out we needed less rest than Sensei thought. After all, all we had done was run. And sure we didn't get much food or rest, but still.
We went from branch to branch, and then to the land, only to go back up to the trees. From the low row of branches I was jumping across, I noticed a stream of something on the ground below us. It was only once we got back down to the ground that I actually got to investigate it, although I had been curious about it since I had first seen it.
Kneeling down beside one pile, I stared at it intently. Just as I thought...
"Yoshi-sensei! Satoko, Haruki! Guys, stop for a minute!"
It was a miracle even ONE of them heard me, but they all did and came right back over to me.
Well lucky you, you discovered soil, Uncle sarcastically said, but I cast away his comment.
"What is it?" Satoko unsurely inquired, leaning downward to inspect what I was looking at.
"It's...it's sand," I said as the sand I had lifted slowly fell through my fingers. I looked up at my comrades, staring widely as if confused.
"Sand..."
a/n okay! so that was it. remember what I said at the top when you look at that 'Submit Review' button and think about not reviewing xD and I know I'm a nag---sorry!