The Phoenix Child

By Ayesha Raees

Chapter five
Work

We were suppose to meet everyday at five in the morning on the bridge for our team meeting which mainly included of Naruto yelling on top of his voice, Sakura punching him to silence and we all waiting for Kakashi-sensei to appear which he finally did at eight when the sun was shining brightly in the sky and making Sakura groan about getting a sunburn. When Kakashi-sensei would finally appear, there was, yet, another commotion that resulted, again, for the Uchiha threatening to use his fire jutsu which made everyone shut up including Kakashi.

And I also realized that Kakashi's excuses weren't that great as I had thought of before. I had used one of those excuses with my mother and she had, at once, said that it was wrong to lie.

So he was lying.

I sighed loudly, staring at the blue sky as I relaxed my muscles against the wooden bridge, feeling slightly tired out even though I had a good night's sleep. It had been two weeks since we had graduated from the little test that Kakashi had given to us. I remember the excitement on my first day of Genin only to wait for three long hours, feeling slightly small as either everyone ignored me or stared at me for too long.

Our first mission was picking up the garbage on the river. Kakashi disappeared, Sakura whined, I couldn't touch the water so I made a lame excuse of finding Kakashi and ditched the work.

Our second mission was weeding an old person's garden and we did that and I was glad that this time, I was some help. Naruto got scolded because he pulled out all the plants. Sakura was whining that her hands were getting dirty. Kakashi had, again, disappeared. Uchiha was silent.

Our third mission was taking the dogs out for a walk. Kakashi was reading. Sakura was making noises at the poodle, I led a Russian who kept jumping on me, knocking me into the mud and licking my face, making me giggle as everyone stared at me. Uchiha had a terrier which was obedient and didn't even need a leash. Naruto had a bull dog that almost killed him.

Sigh.



And so on… our so called mission ranged from cleaning the statues to picking up the garbage. Like we were sweepers or servants that had to clean the village. It made me felt even lower than before. Maybe we were, all, mislead into being servants… maybe Iruka-sensei actually trained kids into maids or servants on the excuses of ninjas!

Shivering at the thought, I suddenly relaxed when Kakashi suddenly appeared in front of us, reading a book. No, it can't really be possible that we were maids… we were just beginners so we needed to do… servant work.

After another half and hour of commotion, Uchiha at last said the same threat and everything settled down with a final growl directed to Uchiha from Naruto.

Kakashi cleared his throat and looked at us.

"Well today we have a ton to do like always. First we have a mission to clean up the training grounds and then we need to help in the hospital. Then we are going to help out in a famous restaurant," he stated as though they were so important that failing them would destroy Konoha.

"OH GREAT! CHORES!" Naruto yelled on top of his lungs.

"Yeah! Like my mother isn't enough!" Sakura snapped.

Uchiha grumbled something under his breath and I gave Kakashi a weary expression.

Kakashi was, unsurprisingly, reading his book again and then with a bored looked, took the lead towards the training ground.

After five hours

Cleaning the training grounds and then helping in the hospital took quite a long time, especially when Naruto and Uchiha kept getting into a fight and either Sakura or Kakashi had to break them up. Those two were so different from each other.

Surprisingly, Sakura liked working in the hospital more than any one of us. Especially at the baby department where Uchiha, me and Sakura had to handle the crying babes. I was horrible, I tried to shush them and they cried even louder. I begged and they still cried. Uchiha wasn't even trying… he was just leaning against the far off wall, his eyes closed, and a blank expression on his face.

In the end, Sakura did something ridiculous like singing a melody or kissing them and they all finally shut up.



Naruto wasn't really in the hospital because he was kicked out by a nurse because he did his oh-so-famous sexy no jutsu in the OPD.

This, of course, resulted in riots. Kakashi was beyond embarrassed when we told everyone that Naruto didn't belong in Team 7 and was just a stray. Well, Uchiha said that and it resulted in another commotion.

Naruto was officially banned from the hospital. Poor him.

When we got out of the hospital, we met up with Naruto who was talking to the Hokage's grandson. Naruto whined that they go for ramen so that he could get his energy back and then get to work.

His work: irritating everyone and ditching work.

So we all went to Ichiraku's Ramen stand and I was glad that they made stuff that was warm. The last thing I wanted was to be dragged into an ice cream shop… I would be beyond scared, explaining to them that I could not eat cold things because I was the Phoenix Child. They would ask why and then I would be clueless because I had no idea about this whatsoever.

So ramen was ok.

When we had our bowls and we started eating, I was pretty much surprised that we were all conversing rather than being quiet. Even I, the ugly wallflower, spoke two to three times. Well… but I shut up when Naruto, rather frankly, asked.

"So Ugly Red, what's up with this Dragon's babe stuff thingy?"

I choked at what he had just called the Phoenix Child. First Ugly Red and now Dragon's babe? Sure Ugly Red was there for a reason but Dragon's Babe was absolutely stupid and made up. It didn't describe anything at all.

But I suddenly realized that most of the villagers didn't know anything about the prophecy or the fact that I was blessed with the power of a Phoenix to send judgment in this world. They just knew that I had a monster inside me, was distorted and was dangerous. Lack of knowledge lead to fear.

Not that I am blaming them, the last thing I wanted is go around, telling everyone about the prophecy.

Apart from Naruto's very curious gaze, Uchiha had narrowed his eyes towards to me too, Sakura had stopped complaining about hair fall and even Kakashi had lowered his book, aiming to listen to what I had to say.



Which was absolutely nothing… I mean, I can't seriously tell them about the prophecy… thinking now, I didn't know much about it myself.

I looked up at Naruto.

"It's not Dragon's Babe… it's the Phoenix's Child,"

Naruto looked not a bit concerned about calling the wrong name. Sakura giggled and then looked at me.

"But aren't Dragons and Phoenixes mythical beasts that do not exist except in fairy tales, Kimiko?" She said in a very sweet, fake voice, calling me by my name that simply indicated that this was all bullshit.

I felt my face go red.

"I don't like her at all,"

"You can say that again,"

I ignored her… I mean how could I certainly define myself? Phoenixes were mythical creatures… or maybe not. I was really confused… so I ignored her.

"Seriously," Sakura continued, "I think you are just making everything up so you can get more attention,"

"Who the hell would want attention that leads to the whole village hating me? I would give anything to live a normal life,"

I didn't answer again. I turned my gaze towards my ramen and started to eat again. It was only lies and rumors… stupidity. Those stares, hate… I didn't care if they didn't believe me… I just wanted to fit in. Maybe this was for the better.

But it still hurt… she was insulting me and my phoenix.

My phoenix had dignity and it hates being insulted. Especially if it was by a pink haired kunoichi who had no idea about anything except how glossy her hair looked and how soft her skin was.

I suddenly felt a burning sensation in my stomach and I tried my best to control it.

"Phoenix! Control yourself!"

Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes.

"So… er… you haven't really answered my question," Naruto said uneasily.



I felt the burning sensation in my stomach falter and my Phoenix swirled around uneasily before settling down.

I looked away from my half eaten ramen bowl and stared directly into Naruto's sapphire eyes. I felt his body go stiff and there was an uneasy silence.

I suddenly gave him a small smile.

"I will tell you when I feel like it,"

"Which is never,"

I looked away again and started to eat again. I felt Naruto shiver before ordering another bowl, Kakashi concentrating on his book again, Sakura moving her gaze from me to her nails and Uchiha, monotonously, tore his concentration from the conversation and started to eat again, probably lost in his own thoughts.

"I wonder what Uchiha is brooding over all the time,"

"Well probably thinking how to kill his older brother,"

I almost choked over on what I was eating. Easing my coughing, I wiped my mouth with a napkin shakily.

"WHAT!! WHY!?"

"His older brother killed his whole clan and only left him alive, giving him a mission to avenge his clan,"

"WHO IN THE HELL WOULD DO THAT!? I mean… he killed his OWN family? His mom? His dad? Everyone?"

"Yes. He did."

"God. What a monster! What was he thinking?"

"He must have hated his clan or something,"

"Yes but… I hate my family too but… BUT I won't KILL them!"

"Wouldn't you?"

I felt a huge knot in my throat.

Suddenly I felt sick.



Working in a very famous and posh restaurant wasn't easy as everyone had expected. Kakashi-sensei had, as usual, disappeared, leaving us in the entrance alone. The hotel was so huge that, thanks to Sakura's information, had twenty halls, all of them so big that they could fill almost fifty thousand people at the least. There were almost five thousand rooms and it didn't take a genius to figure out that every piece of furniture probably cost a fortune.

And when the manager, who was the one who had requested the so called mission in the first place, was a rough man who didn't care about how his tongue went when talking to employees, pretty much stunk… it was obvious that the so called mission wasn't going to go well.

It was a matter of fact when Naruto was boiling with rage, his face visible red and with Sakura almost strangling him so he wouldn't jump on the tuxedo guy and kill him. Even Uchiha got a comment on his hair cut saying that it was like a chicken's butt. Uchiha had narrowed his eyes and glared at the man but it was easily visible that he was offended by the given insult.

And when his eyes fell on me, I knew what was coming. I mean seriously, a guy like him who even insulted Uchiha, a guy who was perfect in everyone's eyes, why wouldn't he know of all the rumors and everything? His eyes, at once, filled hatred and he gave me a pure disgusted look.

He opened his mouth, tearing his eyes off me, and addressed to all of us.

"The reason I hired you four dimwits here is because tonight there is going to be couple of big dinners here and almost all of the halls are going to be filled. And when I asked the Hokage for some help, let me be honest, I didn't except kids like you to be here," his voice was hoarse and fat, filled with, of course, disgust. He didn't have any kind of charm that managers were supposed to have and that made me wonder how he got so many customers.

He cleared his throat again; a sound of a broken motor trying to come to life.

"So I don't actually have a choice except give you four useless brats jobs," he said and then pointed at Sakura.

"You are now going to help in the kitchen and then after an hour, become a waitress,"

I glanced sideways at Sakura, whose face was twisted, holding her anger behind her forced sweet smile.

"Will I get a cool outfit?" she asked.

The manager raised his eyebrows at her.



"Yes," he said in a sarcastic voice, "You will get an outfit, pinky,"

Sakura gasped her eyes wide. She gulped loudly, her hands twisted into fists. She, again, forced a very evil fake smile on her face.

The manager tore his eyes from her and looked at Naruto.

"You are going to help in the furnace room with this…" he glanced over at me with a scowl, "… this thing over there,"

"Thing?"

"WHAT!? A furnace?! But I wanna work with Sakura-chan!!" Naruto whined loudly.

"Is that or the garbage person," the manager said with a smirk.

Naruto opened his mouth to protest, for a minute thought something, and then closed his mouth, his face forming into a scowl.

"And you chicken butt guy… you are with the pinky,"

"YES!" Sakura yelled, throwing her arms in the air in triumph, her face lighting up in pure joy and happiness. "SASUKE-KUN IS WITH ME! YEAH! YEAH! SAKURA RULES! HOORAY!!"

She was actually doing a happy dance. Uchiha looked horrified for some reason or other and covered his face with his right hand in embarrassment. Naruto glared at the raven haired boy and the manager looked disgusted.

"OK, I change my mind… Blondie!" he gave a sharp look at Naruto, "… You are with the Pinky…" Sakura, at once, stopped dancing, facing the manager with sudden tears of hurt and anger in her eyes but the manager ignored her and kept on going, "Chicken-butt, you are with that thing… GOT IT!? GO!"

There was a sick silence as nobody moved. Sakura kept staring at the manager with big glistening teary eyes. Naruto had a huge goofy smile on his face. Uchiha looked somehow relieved.

And as of me… there was only one thought in my poor little head.

"Thing? What thing? Why did he call me that? He could have given me a nickname too you know… why call me a thing? I am a human being with a phoenix planted in her. Why? Why? Why?..."

"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY SIGHT AND GET TO WORK!!" The manager yelled so loudly that the chandeliers above us, on the ceiling, trembled.



I squeaked, scared out of my skin suddenly and started to walk towards nowhere, seeking for the so called furnace room.

"OYE! THE ROOM IS OVER THERE!" The manager yelled at me again and I jumped again, my hands shooting towards the place where my heart was and I clutched my clothes tightly, my face paler than usual as I followed the manager's finger towards a door in the direction opposite of where I was going.

Uchiha, sighing and still at ease, slipped his hands into his pockets and started to make his way towards the door.

He was a good way towards it when my mind told my body to follow him. A glare was shot from the manager to me again as I walked towards the door, just behind the Uchiha who was oblivious of me even being there.

I entered through the door, leaving the brightly lit corridor behind me and heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"I am not a thing," I muttered to myself, arguing and convincing to myself to an invisible boundary of confidence which ended up in a futile try.

It was after some time when I realized that the Uchiha had turned to stare at me with his black onyx eyes. I hated his eyes. They were so dark and deep and frightening. I blushed in embarrassment and looked around.

We were in a dark, dimly lit, long corridor which smelt of diesel and oil.

I felt a headache coming. The Uchiha started walking again and I followed his closely, my hand shooting towards my nose, wishing that the smell would go away and it would be replaced by something more pleasant… like rose water and mint. Something my mother used to put in my baths when I was still young and clueless.

Even thinking of the smell, made me feel a ton better and imagining a fantasy of my mother doing the same for me when I went home, made me feel so much better that my hand dropped from my nose and I didn't even notice the heavy smell of diesel and oil anymore.

I looked in front, staring at the back of the raven haired boy and suddenly felt an unlimited amount of grief fill inside of me, making me look down at my feet. I hated my family, that was a fact, and if my family suddenly disappeared one day, I would still feel a mixture of grief and regret. Grief because they were my blood and it didn't really matter how they treated me because blood was blood. And regret because I didn't say goodbye or asked them for forgiveness for all the pain I have caused them or just smiled at them. It wouldn't have hurt as much as thinking them as suddenly gone.



But thinking now, as I stared at the grooming boy's back, I had always remembered him as a silent, dark, anti-social brooding boy. But now I knew the reason. Uchiha, unlike me, must have loved his family and his family must have loved him back. How old was he when his family was massacred? Probably eight or even younger. He must had no idea what death was and how painful it could be but experiencing something such as his whole loving family disappearing into a puff of smoke, and that too because of his older brother, must have been terribly painful. His older brother. Maybe Uchiha had looked up to him, smiled and played with him, got piggy backs on him and spent his younger days with him. Wasn't older siblings, apart from hers, supposed to look after their younger siblings. They had some kind of loving bond didn't they?

But now, I felt sick as I imagined how Uchiha must have felt when his older brother was the cause of the rest of his family's deaths… he must have been all alone, feeling isolated. It was like destiny had set his future for him, like mine. I was the phoenix child and I had to pass judgment… it was decided and it couldn't be changed. Likewise, the Uchiha was alone and had only one goal and that to avenge his clan. And that was destiny… he wouldn't go anywhere except for that path.

I covered my face with my hand again as tears gathered in my eyes and rolled down my cheeks.

I wasn't misfortunate like I always thought… there were people out there who shared the same pain or maybe worst. I felt bad for the Uchiha… He had experienced death… but me? I haven't… ever… experienced death.

Sure, there were name calling and rejection but never death.

Images of my mother, my beautiful mother, lying dead on the floor in a puddle of blood flashed through my mind, making bile rise to my throat and my feet staggered to keep balance.

"Stay close, I see a door uphead," Uchiha suddenly said.

I blinked and suddenly sniffed.

"Yes, Uchiha-sama," I whispered, my voice quivering, simply indicating that I was upset.

He suddenly stopped and turned around to face me. I couldn't see his face properly as it was so dark but I was glad of the darkness for once, if I couldn't see his face, it meant that he couldn't see mine.

Most probably.

"Are you crying?" he suddenly asked in surprise.



"Yes,"

"No,"

I waited for him to turn away but I felt his onyx eyes on my face.

"It's the oil… it's stinging," I said in a quivery voice again, wiping the tears from my face with my sleeves. Trying to sound assuring, I said in a firmed up voice.

"It's heavy here… the diesel and oil, Uchiha-sama,"

Uchiha sighed loudly and turned around.

"Don't call me that… I have a name,"

I blinked in surprise as I started to follow him again.

"Is Sasuke-sama ok?"

"I am your comrade, there shouldn't be any difference in status here," he tried to explain.

"I… umm… ok but… its seems disrespectful if I address you informally," I tried to reason back.

He sighed loudly.

"Just call me Sasuke,"

"Sasuke-san,"

"No, Sasuke,"

"But… it's seems disrespectful!"

"Do I call you Kimiko-san?"

I blushed at the sound of the name.

"No,"

"Then should I?"

"NO! I wouldn't like that… it sounds…formal," I argued to myself more than I was doing with him.

"Exactly. I have a name so call me with that with no suffixes,"

"Oh… okay," I said uneasily.



Since when did I get so frank with him? I actually started an argument with him and I don't even know him. Sure Naruto is a huge chatterbox and Sakura says a lot of mean things to me and the only person who hasn't talked to me IS him. I bit my bottom lip.

Sasuke suddenly stopped in front of a door and I almost bumped into him. He opened the door and an air of over 50 degrees temperature hit my face.

I entered the room and gasped.

It was huge! With heaters and machines and heat and warm… it felt great, my body felt like it belonged there, there at the middle of the room.

Today was the day; I truly felt like a phoenix child.

"I like it here," the phoenix stated.

Smiling slightly as a strange warm cozy feeling started to fill my stomach, I glanced at Sasuke who wiped some sweat from his brow and sighed in irritation.

"That bastard of a manager," he muttered under his breath. He glanced at me and raised his eye brows at my cool composure.

"Er… you know the whole Phoenix Child thing. Well heat doesn't really affect me," I explained sheeply.

He rolled his eyes and started to walk towards a group of workers. I, feebly, followed him.

"So it's true… the whole phoenix thing?" he asked suddenly.

"Yes," I answered.

He opened his mouth to say something else but one of the workers beat him to it.

"Oh great, newbies! Come here you two, we need a hand!"

Sasuke closed his mouth and pressed his lips, gave me a closing cold glance and turned away to help, leaving me behind in the growing heat.

I suddenly felt sick again.

It wasn't hard at all, especially for me. Most of the workers got exhausted because of the growing heat, heavy smell of fuels, ashes in the air and pretty much trying not to get hurt. There were constant breaks and shifts every twenty minutes in which the workers would get a cold drink and rest to gather up their strengths so they could work again.



And the person who had instructed us wasn't a bad scowling mean person at all. For first, he addressed Sasuke and me with our first names and that pretty much made my day. Also, he wasn't really concerned, as it looked like, about my appearance or was disgusted as for the rumors. He had instructed in a cheerful voice and told us to do some jobs.

And as the time passed, almost all of the workers knew that I wasn't really getting affected by the heat. For one thing, I wasn't sweating, my hair weren't sticking at the back of my neck like everyone else's but it was the same open red curtain like always. Second thing that I had accidentally touched a boiling hot iron piece and if it wasn't for the worker's panicked yells at me, I wouldn't have withdrew my hand because the molten steal felt great on my hand. But as Daichi, our instructor, came with the first aid, he was pretty much shocked that I had no burns or bruises… in fact, I was fine.

There were some curious glances but everything settled down. Sasuke had fixed me with a very intense stare that almost made me feel like dying and it had lasted for a good fifteen minutes until he tore his eyes from my spotless demeanor. I guess he did understand that I was the Phoenix Child.

Sasuke was a mess though. Sweat, dirt and scratches filled his body and when Daichi had asked him to take some time off, he had shaken his head and told him that it was fine and said that this was good training. And that had made me wonder if he cared about anything else except for perfection and training

So pretty much… everything was going smoothly, everyone was way to damn busy to notice me and I was considered as one of them… a strong hard worker, when I loaded in coal and oil into the huge fire. Although I wasn't sweating, I was dirty… more than any worker because I was something that almost none of them were… and that was careless. I had tripped a couple of times and fell onto the VERY dirty fuel stained floor, my hands, who had picked up countless of coals, buckets and stuff, had been cleaned by my clothes even though Daichi has given us both towels and there were black marks on my bare arms and on my face.

I sure needed a bath.

In one of the breaks, me, Sasuke, Daichi and a couple of other workers were resting and drinking, when Sasuke had asked about the purpose of the furnace room and Daichi, quite cheerfully, had explained that there were baths in the back of the hotel of which the hot water was needed for. Also, he had told us, that there were about plenty of customers that needed hot water and as there were a lot parties that day, a lot to be used in the kitchen.

So much to be done only for hot water.



Sure it was tiring and head aching, but weirdly I had a lot of fun. Mainly because almost all of the workers weren't mean losers who gave me disgusted looks but they all accepted me as one of them even though I had helped around only for a little time. During breaks, they would chat, make lame jokes and asked questions that I answered, first hesitantly, but then cheerfully. Daichi had praised me for my hardwork countless of times and I realized that Sasuke could get exhausted too. It was all a very good experience and for some distorted reason when in the end, I felt dirty, exhausted and tired… I felt a rich goodness fill inside me.

And then I realized that when a person pushes himself to an end of his limits, he then knows how to truly live a life.

We worked there for almost three to four hours until all the workers were satisfied and Daichi said that they no longer needed any more help. He had excused us with a proud smile and with a few encouraging words: "Work hard you two and one day you will become a great team!"

It was kind of embarrassing but I felt happy. Even Iruka-sensei, who I considered very caring, never said something like that. At that moment, I felt like I could become someone.

Me, Yesha Kimiko, not The Phoenix Child. But as me. A normal, hardworking person.

And that, for some reason or another, felt really reassuring.

Sasuke and I were walking back towards the exit, through the same diesel filled corridor, panting in exhaustion when I decided to speak something and break the ever lasting silence.

"That was fun," I stated sheeply, trying to cancel all the pants that were coming rapidly.

"Hn,"

"What?" I asked confused at the noise he had made. Was he sick?

"… nothing," he muttered after a pause.

"Oh,"

So much for breaking the silence and starting a conversation.

But I, surprisingly, was in a good mood and for some diminished reason, felt like talking.

"Naruto-sama and Sakura-sama are going to be surprised when they see us like this," I said, referring to our VERY dirty demeanors.



He didn't answer; he didn't even spare a glance at me. He just closed his eyes and ignored me. I tried my best not to twitch, I looked upwards, thinking that I would see a plain white ceiling but I was faced with darkness.

"Daichi-san was nicer than the manager, don't you think?"

Sasuke stopped suddenly in his tracks, spun around and glared at me, his onyx eyes narrowing and for a second I mistook them as crimson slits. Gulping suddenly, I took a step back, suddenly feeling small and scared.

"Is this your idea of small talk?" he snapped angrily.

"Uhh I…"

"Don't talk to me. You are irritating," he snapped again, turned around and started to walk again.

I bit my bottom lip, taken aback at his sudden outburst towards me. What did I do? I was just talking. Was talking that bad?

I ducked my head down and started to walk again, keeping sure to keep distance from the dark brooding Uchiha.

"I wonder why Sakura likes him. He has a lot of mood swings,"

"Like you don't,"

"I pretty much don't," I argued inwardly, "But he does,"

"Sakura is a fake, stupid, annoying and useless idiot,"

I frowned.

"Awww, are you still angry at what she said?"

"I have every right to be angry at her… she insulted a power that she can never understand, forget obtain it,"

"Don't be like that. I bet she is a wonderful person in all that… rudeness,"

"Grrr… you are too kind,"

I smiled brightly at the darkness. I could see Sasuke open the door a couple of feet away from me and disappear. Knowing that I was now alone in the darkness, I stopped, sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. The scar that I had obtained on the third training ground was now gone.



"Phoenix, can I ask you something?"

"Yes,"

I bit my bottom lip hesitantly.

"Why did you choose me as the Phoenix Child? Why not… why not someone else?"

There was a minute silence in my mind. The smell of oil was getting to my head and I could feel another head ache coming.

"Can I ask you something too?"

Surprised at such a response, I blinked a couple of times. Never before had the Phoenix said something like that. Us being one, it meant that we knew everything about each other. I frowned. Well, I didn't know much about the Phoenix as most of the questions about the prophecy was shunned by it saying 'I will answer when it is time,' and that left me really confused and impatient. But I could feel the Phoenix when it was angry, sad, cross… I could feel it. But sometimes… I didn't understand what was going on with it… sometimes it was too silent.

Once I had asked him a question that concerned the relationship we both shared and it had answered that it was my guide to the world far and wide. It was my guardian.

So didn't it mean that it knew everything that was going on in my head? Then why was he asking me something like that?

"Ye-yes… what do you want to know?"

There was silence again, the sickening silence. My mind was silent, my insides felt empty… it felt like The Phoenix had left my body and it was replaced by sudden cold silence.

"Why do you hate me so?"

I felt a huge knot form in my throat, as though suddenly somebody was strangling me. It became tighter and tighter, bigger and bigger and I couldn't breathe. I felt my heart clutch again and again, as though screaming for blood; I felt my lungs gasp as though thirsting for air. I felt my head pounding, screaming, yelling, thrashing… paining. My body felt heavier than lead and I hardly felt my knees hit the fuel stained ground and I hardly felt my hands shot towards my throat, trying to loosen the invisible grasp that was strangling me to death.

"Why don't you understand that you are blessed and not cursed?"

"Ph-phoenix… it hurts… stop it,"



I couldn't feel anything anymore. The darkness looked even more evil than usual but somehow I could see it shape into cloaked shadows, toothlessly smiling at me, offering me their hands for me to take. But my hands, they felt numb, cold, heavy but they were still clutching each other near my throat. No… no, I can't take them.

"This is what you are… this is what you deserve… when you have power, you need to control it! Not be pathetic!"

"Stop… please… stop,"

The shadows were becoming tempting and it was strange that I had never noticed them before. They shifted and changed. They were dark and concealing. And they were offering me to hold them. What could possibly go wrong now? Everything was a blur anyway… I couldn't see anything… maybe it was the tears that were flowing from my eyes or the fact that my mind was dead and I couldn't breathe. What was the point of it all anyway? Save the world and new evil will be born… destroy the world and nobody is there to love you still… what was the point anyway?

The shadows were so tempting.

"There are people around you who hate you and you know what… you hate them! You hate me! The whole problem is you! For how long are you going to cower and cry? You are blessed for something important. People are dying to be in your place!"

The voice in my head seemed to be yelling but I couldn't understand it anymore. It was also a blur to me… the voice was faded and gone. And for some reason, I didn't want to try to hear it… it felt disgusted, angry and aghast. Why would I want to hear something like that? It was heart aching anyway… everything was heart aching.

I released my hands from each other and raised them, touching the shadows. They were cold, metallic cold… so this was what cold was. So cool and nice but maybe a too metallic… forced. I had always wondered how cold felt like… and it wasn't that bad. It was not so fierce like fire but it wasn't too harsh either… it was… relaxing.

The shadows were silently laughing now. So is this how a person dies?

"… Try to sacrifice sometimes!"

Even though the voice was faded and dull, I could hear the words that made me blink again and again. Sacrifice? Something? That voice didn't understand… it was just nonsense, yelling, screaming… paining, killing. It was yelling again but I didn't bother to listen to the next series of words. The shadows were hovering just above me; I had touched their hands for a second but they want me to hold to them tightly.



I raised my hand with strength that I had no idea where it was coming from and grabbed the shadows hand tightly. It smiled cunningly at me. Was it happy?

I felt my eyes close and I welcomed the darkness come over me, slowly… it was like being swept with nice cool calm water. The shadows became my blanket and I fell into its depths, feeling slightly relieved and numb. I let myself go.

Sacrifice? I sacrificed everything. Everything I had, I wanted, I wished… everything.

What was it yelling about? That faded old dull voice? What was its problem? Weren't we friends? Then why did it kill me?

There was something in the shadows now… a light; an orange fire, as small as a candle light. It was like a lighted spot in a middle of swirling black cloaks, it didn't belong there… it shouldn't be there.

The dull faded voice had suddenly stopped and there was an agonizing silence. The light flickered. The darkness swirled.

I was five years old, my hair too long for me to handle, drooping down my eyes, clutching a rag doll in my right hand, its legs touching the dirty ground. I was crying I think or maybe it was blood, I didn't know. I was just standing there.

And suddenly there were panicked screams, yells, shouts… too much noise that I couldn't understand but it was like a bomb had exploded in my head, creating chaos. I trembled as my small hands reached to grab my head, nails digging through the strands of hair into my scalp.

There was a loud bird's cry followed by more pain streaking bird shrieks. It was like they were in pain… agony… on fire.

The candle light wasn't flickering anymore and then suddenly, it blew up and everything exploded into a rush of fire, drowning me into it too. The heat was agonizing, the fire was hungry and everything was, again, a mixture of cries, yells and blur of colors that could not be identified.

"He had killed her", he mused over the thought and sighed, running his hand through his short crimson bangs. Crimson as blood streaked with a tinge of blue here and there. His eyes were an agonizing color of pale yellow that shone in the darkness of the forest in which he was present, looking both angry and calm… a mixture of impatience and disappointment. He sighed hotly, a small series of ashes erupting from his throat and out in the cold moist air, extinguishing after a few minutes of glow.



"Kira-san, he is here,"

A small voice whispered from beside him, making him straighten up and cross his human arms under the red cloak he was wearing. He turned and glanced at the person standing stiffly beside him. A girl with chin length crimson hair and steel cold electrifying blue eyes with slits. She wore a crimson cloak just like him but it had a tint of blue at the bottom.

He smirked, motioning his eyes towards the ink colored sky and even though there was no source of natural light that specific night, he could see a big crimson bird, abnormally larger than any bird found on the planet. Its wings were three feet long as they flapped a couple of times before outstretching themselves in the night's sky as it allowed its body to hover around. A trail of fire was lit on the edges of the wings and the tail, burning in the night's sky and giving out a warm bright light which lighted up making the darkness fade away into nothing. Its eyes, pale yellow, rotated here and there, scanning the area and searching around for something when his eyes fell on the two standing figures in a middle of a random clearing. It soared in a circle, descending slowly and came into a firm landing on the ground.

The boy named Kira raised his eye brows at him, a sneer coming on his face. The girl beside him shifted in impatience, her hands clutching into fists inside her cloak.

The Phoenix straightened up, tugging its wings and fixing the two with an intense stare before ducking his head down in rejection. Suddenly a fire began to brew from its claws; it was slow first but after a second the small flames erupted in a burst of crimson fire, enveloping the bird's body entirely as it disappeared.

As quick as the fire has started, it ended with a sizzling crack into the air, leaving behind a smell of ashes.

Where there was a bird, now stood a young boy, his hair, all crimson, ended till his chin in a straight cut, his eyes were crimson and were probably too big for his very pale face. He was wearing a full sleeved red T-shirt with a black and red leather jacket with a hood on it. On the bottom he wore black capric and red boots. On his neck he wore a shining konoha forehead protector. The same outfit as the girl he had just killed.

There was silence as he stared at the two figures before ducking his head down in regret and shame, his bangs falling forward on his eyes which slowly closed shut.

"So the great Kaji-sama, bearer of the Phoenix Child, is finally here," the girl spat out angrily. She, threateningly, took a step forward when Kira's arm shot upwards to stop her. Blinking in sudden confusion, she looked at him in a questioning look.

Kira, taking a deep breathe, looked at the boy a couple of feet away from them.



"Please explain your actions Kaji-sama," he asked in a forced patient voice.

There was silence again as the boy called Kaji looked up slowly and opened his mouth hesitantly before closing it again, feeling uncomfortable and uneasy. He bit his bottom lip.

"I lost… I lost my temper," he said.

Kira frowned.

"Lost your temper? You killed the Child! She was the person that we were supposed to serve! Our hope! The person who has to pass judgment! And you killed her only because you lost your temper!?" he yelled.

Kaji closed his eyes again.

"She cant be killed,"

"That doesn't matter! She will remember everything that happened! She wont trust us anymore!!"

"So what? She hated everything about the prophecy and us anyway!" Kaji suddenly yelled, his voice echoing through out the silence of the forest.

There was a minute of sickening silence. Kira shut his mouth and looked away and the girl standing next to him looked pale and shocked.

Kaji breathed out deeply, trying to calm himself down. He looked at the two sedately and sighed.

"It's just… humans are so complicated. There are really hard to understand," he tried to explain.

"Kaji-sama, I don't think so she hated us," the girl suddenly said frowning.

Kaji looked at her in confusion.

"What do you mean Hina-san?"

She hesitated a bit before speaking.

"Humans like her just don't hate others. They just hate themselves. That's what Daisuke-sama told us a few centuries ago, remember?" she said.

There was another minute silence.



"I guess I made a mistake," Kaji suddenly said, sighing and burying his face in his hands.

Kira looked at the sky and exhaled a few more sparks of fire.

"You are the bearer Kaji-sama and even we, legendary beasts, make mistakes. But I am only going to state the obvious before we leave," he fixed the other boy with a serious gaze, "There won't be any relationship between us and her if she doesn't trust us anymore. Somebody else killing her is a totally different thing than ourselves, her power, killing her. She is our last hope and I suggest you that you fix this. The time might be quite near… you need to build up that trust again,"

Kaji closed his again, thinking over what he had said. It was quite true and he knew this deep down himself. He was supposed to be the most able phoenix to become a bearer and, even though he didn't want to admit it, but he had just blew up everything.

"Farewell and good luck Kaji-sama," Hina whispered as they both retreated into the shadows. After a few minutes, the darkness was pushed back by a powerful fire and before he knew it, two phoenixes erupted from the trees and were flying away, towards the horizon.

Sighing, Kaji allowed himself to sit down on the ground, troubled.

He, strangely, didn't care anymore if the prophecy would come true or not or whether the world would be destroyed or saved. It was ironic, he, being a phoenix, had devoured such feelings but strangely he treasured them inside. Because you can get power if you worked hard for it but you can't find happiness until the others allow to give you some. And now sitting, he remembered the times they both had shared. He was her… her guardian… someone who was supposed to look after her. He remembered how they both had laughed, shared… they both had met people and they both had consoled each other.

They were something called friends. A word invented by humans.

"Humans," he thought quietly, "are so complicated,"

He expected a laugh from inside his head or a comment.

And there was silence. The agonizing, torturing silence.

I am going to post some cool tidbits or quotes from now on at the end of every chapter. :p

here is today's!

Everything is falling into pieces but that its place so I am not going to say this agonizing phrase anymore. I am going to say something so much alike yet so much different; everything is just falling into places.

Did you know...?

Nani, in japanese, means what. But Nani in Japanese means grandmother in Urdu. :D
Lolzzz...

Okay anyway... a few things... the last page breaker wasnt edited so there is probably a billion embarrassing mistakes there. god... anyway... my chapters are so long that it takes a lot of will power to edit. :p. anyway... sorry for the LATE update... I found a new hobby; photography and I was snapping away pictures a.k.a wasting time. I am ditching school for 10 days because I am on vacations :D but I am going to go to school on monday and I will be even more busy. Gomen nasai! :(

Thanks for all those wonderful reviws. I lub you guys!

and Yeah... the red head guy, Kaji is the phoenix inside kimiko after he had killed her. Kaji means fire.

Next chapter would be more heart breaking than this one. I guess. I made Sasuke a meanie! A curious meanie... but still a meanie! :p