It was another normal day in the village of the ninjas, well as normal as it could get. I had recently met with one of the children of the village's head, the most honorable ninja in the entire world. The minute I saw him come out from his hut, I thought I was in love, his name was Garu. He wouldn't talk as much as his little brother, but I didn't mind since I was very much the same.
He had a full ninja suit just like his father and brother and had his hair up in pigtails which were tied with red ribbons, apparently they were for good luck. I tried my hardest to conceal my love for him, because I knew that he would soon take the vow of silence until he finished his training, which also meant he couldn't be with someone else until after he is done. I was disheartened when I found out it would be in less than a week's time, even though I had only met him a few days ago. However, his dad was also a clever one and was able to figure it out. At first I denied it, after all, I didn't want to dishonor him by not allowing him to take the vow of silence. But, his father smiled kindly at me and said it was alright, in fact, he said that Garu had similar feelings for me too. I immediately brightened up at hearing that and saw that he had been peeking from behind a tree and listening in on the entire conversation. I ran straight towards him and tackled him to the ground before he could figure out what hit him, but he didn't mind and hugged me tightly. Oh how I wish I could relive that moment now. My parents had been over and they laughed together with Garu's parents and decided to take a picture to keep the memory.
I came over to his house the day before he was to take his vow of silence and gave him a red felt heart to stitch onto his shirt as a good luck charm and so that he would remember me during his training. He gladly took it and asked his mum to sew it on to his suit for him later and then came back and kissed me on the cheek and thanked me. At first I was in shock, I didn't think he liked me like that. After I recovered, however, I went ahead and tackled him again and kissed him on the lips. He protested and tried to get away from my hug, but it was useless. He and I both knew who the stronger one was here, so if I hugged him, there is no chance of escape. I noticed, however, after I had let go of him that he was smiling gleefully so I knew he did love me back. A few minutes later, my parents came to pick me up. I turned around to see him one last time for the day and waved goodbye to him and saw that he wore the shirt with the heart on it. I smiled and left for my hut to await the next day.
Everyone in the village was preparing for the vow of silence ritual, it's not everyday a ninja takes this kind of vow since not all ninjas are qualified to take it. After several hours of preparation, Garu's father came up to me and asked me if I had wanted to be a part of the ritual as a request from Garu. I was overjoyed and agreed instantly. He brought out for me a vibrant red dress with black shoes and socks to wear and two red ribbons just like Garu's for my hair. I rushed to my house and got changed, but I was unsure how to tie up my hair. My mum came in and suggested to try the dango style, she said it was a very cute look on me and would be appropriate for these kinds of occasions. The dango style is pretty much like pigtails but instead in two buns. I agreed since it was a simple hairstyle but was also easy to do up. By this time, my hair was long enough to reach all the way down my back and little did I know it would be one of the last times I would keep it down.
After I was done and showed up at the ritual site with my family, we were told where we would sit. I looked through the crowd to see if I could find my beloved and talk to him one final time for years to come. Suddenly I feel someone poke my hair and I immediately turned around to make them stop not realising it was Garu. I quickly helped him up and apologised but he smiled and said it was fine and that he was always amazed by my strength. He then stood silent for a moment and looked at me clearly for the first time that day and I did the same. He was not in his usual outfit, instead he was wearing the ninja suit he had on previously for training and had sewed the red heart onto it with red gloves and black shoes and socks just like me. He then snapped back to reality and said to me, you look very pretty today Pucca. I blushed slightly at the comment and told him that he looked very cute in the ninja outfit. A comment which he didn't appreciate too much since the next minute he tackled me to the ground and tried to make me take it back, but he too was blushing and smiling as he did so. He hugged me one more time before getting up to start the ritual.