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Chapter Three: Early October

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Akane slowly turned the knob on the door going outside, as not to wake her family. She sighed as she stared at the morning sky; the sun was barely peeking over at the horizon, dying the clouds pink and orange. She breathed in the misty air. It would rain later.

She walked over to the side of the front porch and grabbed her bike, shifting it down the porch steps and onto the dirt path that led away from her house. She got on her bike and kicked up the kickstand, before shoving her weight against the ground with her foot and pedaling off. She gritted her teeth as she made her way up the hill near house and stopped when she reached the top.

She could see the village and the people just waking up. The shops were starting to glow with lighting. She grinned and looked down the slope that led straight into the village. Today she would do it.

She started to stand up, making it so that the pedals were evenly horizontal and shifted her weight forward. She had seen her brothers do this hundreds of times. Surely she could do it. It wasn't impossible.

Slowly, she made her decent toward the part of the hill that sloped down. Now it was getting a bit scary. What if she fell? Her brothers always did it perfectly. It had looked as if they were flying and when they were down, they always told her how wonderful it felt. ; especially this early in the morning. If her brothers could do it, surely she could.

Shifting her weight more, she finally went down.

The air hit her full blast. It blew her red hair everywhere and some strands got into her mouth. She smiled in triumph. The bike was shaking a little but she kept her grip on the handle bars firm. The village was getting closer and closer...

Maybe if she stuck her arms out...would she feel like a bird? Could she fly? Hesitantly, she slowly took her hands off the handle bars and waved them out wide. She closed her eyes and for a second she really felt like she was flying. The bike was shaking a little because her hands were off the handle bars. She felt the slope end, but she kept in her position.

Suddenly, she heard someone yell. Then she opened her eyes and groped for the handle bars. She tried to put her feet on the ground, but it was too late. There were no brakes on the bike except the ones that you had to spin the pedals backwards to get them to work.

She crashed head-on into a nearby stall in the market. She felt her head hit the wooden partition on impact and was slammed to the ground instantly, knocking the breath out of lungs. Some people yelled and screamed. Her eyes started to glaze over, trying to separate the black and white. Someone started shaking her, asking if she was alright. She tried to force her mouth to breath in air. ; her chest starting cramping up.

Her head lolled back and forth, trying to get her bearings. She felt a person pick her and they started running. She finally closed her eyes, feeling the darkness overtake her.

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Yuuki woke up to the sound of his older brother's snoring. He yawned, grabbed his pillow that was behind his head, bent over the side of the bunk bed, and then promptly threw his pillow at his twin's face. His brother grabbed it with both hands, moving it out of the way. They glared at each other for a few moments.

"Would you please quite throwing...in-in---" Yuudai stopped, trying to find the word. Yuuki sighed.

"He is WAY too much like Dad,"Yuuki thought to himself. "Inanimate," he sighed.

"---inanimate objects at me?!" Yuudai asked.

"I will when your snoring stops waking up the dead. I could have sworn I heard Grandfather start groaning last night in the belly of the Death God," Yuuki climbed out his bunk down the ladder.

"I do not!"

Yuuki stuck his tongue out at him and picked up their alarm clock. 10:13 A.M. it read. Yuuki was confused. He usually woke up at seven. Did someone turn his alarm clock off? Or did he sleep through it?

"I'll be right back," he said to his brother. Yuudai groaned.

"I won't miss you..." Yuuki heard him say back, crawling over into the corner in his bed, a pillow clutched close to him.

Yuuki opened the door to their bedroom and slipped outside, walking down the carpeted hallway. He passed his little sister's room, the new baby's room that his mom and dad were working on, a guest bedroom, and then one more bedroom. He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. The look on his father's face stopped him at the door.

His father was slouched over at the kitchen table, holding a cup of steaming coffee. He had purple circles under his eyes and he was dressed half-hazardly in his blue robe. His hair was a mess, draping over his forehead and over the sides of his face like a curtain.

"Dad...?" Yuuki called out. His father nearly jumped out his seat. Why was he so jumpy? His dad usually greeted him in the morning, happily eating a plateful of bacon, eggs, pancakes, toast, and a glass of orange juice off to the side. His mother always grabbed him and pulled him for a kiss on the forehead or the cheek and they would talk about what they would for the day. His brother and sister usually dozed for about an hour until they woke up and stumbled downstairs.

His father got up from his chair and pulled Yuuki in for a hug. His dad was very fatherly, but because Yuuki and Yuudai were getting older, he only hugged Akane now. They didn't like the affection anymore. It felt like they were being babied.

"Um, dad..." Yuuki said." Not that this isn't heart-warming or anything, but can you please let go? I just woke up."

"S-Sure," his dad replied shakily. He sat back down.

Yuuki sat down with him. "Did you and mom already eat breakfast?"

"No."

"How come? Is something wrong, dad? You've never acted like this before," Yuuki said suddenly. Something was wrong. He doubted his dad would tell him the complete truth. Maybe something bad had happened in the village last night that made his dad like this. Maybe something happened to his mother. He started to get worried.

Wait, was something--or rather someone--missing?

It hit him like rock. She was usually up by now, her red hair tousled, clinging to their father for warmth in the cool October mornings.

"Dad...Where is Akane?" He was almost afraid to ask. He was waiting for his dad to start laughing and say that it was just something trivial that got him all riled up.

"She's in the hospital," his dad didn't hesitate. "Please call your brother, Yuuki."

Yuuki did as he was told, and when his brother refused, Yuuki yelled that it was an emergency. Yuudai stumbled down the stairs moments later, a lamp in one hand, a wild look in his eyes.

"Where's the fire?!" he yelled, waving the lamp around.

"Put down the lamp, Yuudai," Yuuki sighed. "And if there was fire, why the heck would you bring a lamp? Idiot."

"Listen, you! It was a spur of the moment kind of thing, 'k? I didn't have much to choose from!" Yuudai yelled in defense.

"Boys, please," their dad begged. Yuudai's eyes traveled to his dad and widened.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked.

"Akane is the hospital," Yuuki responded.

His father sighed wearily. "She went out to ride her bike and rode down the hill. A bystander said she flying down it, her arms spread out and standing up on the pedals. He yelled to her, and she tried to stop, but it was too late." He sighed again, putting his head on the table. "She crashed into a nearby stall at the market, cracking her head open. She got a concussion and had to get six stitches on her forehead. Your mother and I heard from Tsunade at about seven this morning. Your mother is with her now and she let me know a few minutes ago that she still hasn't woken up."

The twins gasped. Yuuki felt tears sting his eyes. His precious little sister was the hospital. He could just imagine her tiny body hooked up to a dozen machines, her head wrapped up and six gangly stitches sewn into her forehead. She was probably a deathly pale color. He felt his stomach do flip-flops.

Then he realized something. She got hurt doing the exact same thing that Yuuki and his twin had been doing so much on their bikes. They had literally taught her how to and drove her into a deathtrap.

"W-When can we see her?" Yuudai stuttered.

"We can go now. You boys get dressed and I will, too." His father smiled, trying to be strong for them. "Maybe we can pick her up some flowers at Aunt Ino's flower shop. "

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They picked up some yellow sunflowers for their sister and hurried along to the hospital. The cool October wind chilled their bones and they decided to wear jackets and Yuuki even put on a dark green sweater.

When they got to the hospital, they relished in the warmth of the heater off to the side of the big main room. They shedded their jackets off. Their father walked to the nurse up front.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama," she smiled.

"Good morning. I was wondering if you could tell me where Uzumaki Akane's room is?" their father asked, putting on a false smile.

"Of course." The nurse flipped through a few pieces of paper until the last one. "Second floor, room 218. Will that be it?"

"Yes, thank you." They walked away from the nurse with a bright smile.

"How can someone be so happy in a building were people die?" Yuudai sneered in his head. Why should someone be working in the hospital if they were so optimistic? It was so stupid.

The boys walked upstairs until they reached the second floor, and then walked down a hallway until they reached a room that said ROOM 218 on a plaque near the side of the door. They knocked on the door, waiting quietly. Yuudai shifted the bouquet of sunflowers in his arms.

Their mother answered and she was in a mess just like their father was when they woke up. She had a hand over her swollen belly and brought their father in for hug, kissing him on the lips. Then she grabbed her twins, kissing them both on the forehead and smiling at the sunflowers.

"She'll love them," their mother smiled.

"The boys picked them out," their father spoke. Their mother ushered the boys in.

Yuudai wondered what Akane would look like. He thought she would look beaten up and terrible. But when he saw her, she looked okay. Neither good nor bad. She was in between the two. She still had her natural pale skin, not deathly pale. Her head was bandages up securely, and her stitches were black lines on her forehead, going in an obtuse angle. She was breathing slowing and gently, clearly asleep by the looks of it. She had an IV in her arm. He had never seen his sister so unlively.

Their mother took Akane's hand in her own two hands and stroked it gently. Their father stood behind their mother, a hand on her shoulder and his eyes on Akane.

Outside, Yuudai could hear the nurses shuffling around in the hallways and opening doors. Suddenly, he heard some loud thumps on the hallway tiles and someone crashed through the door. It was their Aunt Sakura.

"Naruto! Hinata!" she yelled. Her hair was tied up in a pony tail and she was holding her only son, Satoshi's, hand in her own. His dark green eyes searched the room and fell on Akane, where they stayed. "Do you mind watching Satoshi? I've got an emergency in--"

Naruto smiled. "Sakura-chan, calm down. Of course we'll take care of him." Sakura sighed in relief and kissed her son on the forehead, thanked them, and ran off. She left her son behind standing at the door.

"Good morning, Satoshi-kun. Did you sleep well?" Hinata asked him. She smiled gently at him, prompting him to talk because he was such a quiet child.

Satoshi shook his head. "Mother woke me up early this morning for her shift at the hospital. I slept a little bit in her office," he said.

"Ah, well, if you are tired you can lie down and take a nap," Naruto suggested.

"No, thank you," Satoshi replied.

"S-So monotone..." the whole Uzumaki family thought, minus Akane.

It was silent for a few moments. Yuuki looked out the window at the dreary gray sky. It was only almost lunchtime, but the sky resembled that of the night sky.

"It looks like it'll rain," a voice said. Yuuki jumped, and turned around to see his father looking outside the window as well.

"It does, doesn't it?" Naruto replied. He put his hand on Yuuki's shoulder and squeezed it gently.

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Next-- Chapter Four: Late October