Riki woke up to the sound of soft humming and the smell of dampness and earth that reminded him that he was not at home.
[But he has not been home for a long time. A long, long time...]
He grunted a little, his small body aching for not being used to sleeping on the floor and his neck a little stiff from the sleeping position.
His black eyes froze in shock and hope at the sight of the feminine silhouette humming a lullaby. He stumbled and felt
suddenly alert, about to reach the woman with the word "mother" on the tip of his tongue.
His hopeful smile faded as the woman - no, girl - turned to him, her face too young and lacking in warmth to be his mother. He feels tears build up, blurring his vision.
He rubs his eyes furiously. He had already cried yesterday along with Katsuo, and he doesn't want Kana-neechan to think that he is a crybaby weakling. She was a ninja, and ninjas don't let anyone see them crying. They are strong, disciplined, and creative with countless jutsus - both beautiful and functional ones. It was amazing. He wanted to be like that too. He
wanted to be the best.
[He was. He was sure of it. But it didn't seem like enough, ever...]
"Hi, Kana-neechan." - He greeted her; a bit crestfallen.
"Hey." She replied, rocking the baby and singing softly. Riki bit back the urge to cry at the thought that his mother would sing to him like that too if she were with him.
[Or would it be the father? Uh, now he is getting confused. He was sure it was his mother, and yet...]
"We are leaving soon. Can you wake up Katsuo? He's in an uneasy sleep, and I think that maybe a familiar face could be good for him."
The boy studied his cousin face, who was in the fetal position and panting in sleep, an expression of pain etched on his face. Riki approached slowly and called out the name very softly,
worried.
"Katsuo-nii?"
The sleepy Uchiha grunted. Riki tried again, startled when not only did the older one gets more agitated but also started to look like he was out of breath. Placing his hand on Katsuo's shoulders, Riki recoiled in fear as the older boy began to scream
in desperation.
Pain tore through his small heart at the look of terror in the eyes of what he considered an older brother.
[As if he were dangerous. Like he was trying to screw it up . As if he was evil.]
He was on his ass and powerless to help his cousin, who seemed to be somewhere else.
The urge to cry resurfaced. He cried. And then the baby was crying too, and Kana frowned angrily.
"Indemnity. Absolutely."
"I-I didn't do anything, I didn't! He just... just..." Riki said, sobbing when Kana approached. She didn't answer, taking several deep breaths, asking the boy to accompany her. At first, Riki thought it wasn't working, but soon both Katsuo and himself were unconsciously trying to follow her breathing rhythm, which quieted them down.
"Katsuo, look at me. Do you know where you are?" He shook his head, responding. Kana continued to question him and make the child focus on the present, describing the things he saw until the only sounds were small wolves growling at the back of the cave and all the other kids were quiet.
Kana let out a sigh of relief.
"I think I got this."
"Anyway. Get up. After bathing Eiko, we will have a long and exhausting day. We'll have to ration the cactus water, as the two of you won't have the same ability to get to our destination with the same speed I used yesterday. It will be difficult, but you will have to walk as fast as you can, at a steady pace, so that we have time to..."
The kunoichi stopped talking, squinting suspiciously at the six-year-old boy who was shrunken and with a guilty expression.
"Riki?"
He shivered and mumbled something.
"What?" Katsuo asked Riki.
"I... kind of... gave the water to the wolves."
Silence hung in the air. Kana felt anger bubble up.
"You gave water. To the wolves." She said slowly, half in disbelief with the boy's stupidity and half trying not to hit anyone.
"They seemed thirsty! And I thought, as we had already drank it, that they should also drink... it seemed cruel to let them thirsty and you were taking their mother's organs right in front of them and... and..."
"They're not pets. They are our food. You two are going to have to learn soon that survival can be cruel. Pay attention, I don't like to repeat myself." She said, rubbing her temples. She couldn't sugarcoat things, doesn't even know if she could, but she knows that she has to be strict if she wants everyone to get out of this alive. It would be bad enough if they were children, but traumatized children?
"I don't get paid enough for this shit."
Her onyx eyes glare sternly at both children.
"We'll spend the next few years depending on each other. We have to think about ourselves first. There is no room for mercy, not even for a thirsty animal, without the consequences affecting us all. Now I won't be able to spend chakra to bathe the baby. She will be even more irritated causing her to cry more, probably attracting animals or enemies with the noise. We will become dehydrated, which will tire us more quickly, delaying our arrival at the river, and dehydration and stress may even impair my senses – the only person capable of protecting this squad. So Riki, what is crueler? Our food become thirsty or reducing the chance of survival of a baby, two children, and a teenager?
[Judging, always judging, none of them understands him, there was onlyone who understood him ...]
"I-I-I... I'm sorry!" Sorry! He cries and chokes, sobbing. Kana sighs.
"Let's go."
They moved and Riki was still sobbing and sniffling even after a few minutes of walking, which was getting on the Uchiha's already frazzled nerves in a bad mood. Kana snaps and invades Riki's personal space, poking his torso.
"Did I hit you, boy? No? So swallow this cry that my patience is short today."
Kana gets even more angry with herself and the situation because that's exactly how the orphanage matron would tell her to shut up for crying when she was grieving for her friends.
"These are going to be a few long years."
When they reached the river it was already dark. Kana watched her surroundings with alert eyes, her hand on the katana's sheath. Both boys were exhausted, and the baby was unusually quiet and almost voiceless after crying for much all day – she even worried if babies could die from crying.
Boiling and filtering some of the river water for consumption, Kana gave the child the liquid, hoping it would whet the little thing's appetite. Eiko had barely swallowed the chewed wolf meat Kana had provided. That was a concern.
"We need to clean ourselves." Kana says, after taking the excess dirt out of her diaper and Eiko herself away from the river, with the cactus bark serving as a bowl for the little one to wash.
Katsuo opened one of his black eyes, completely lying on the ground and exhausted next to Riki.
"No. Strength." He declared and closed his eyes again.
"Kana - neechan, we'll shower tomorrow. Now we…need some sleep…" Riki agreed, yawning.
The teenager bit her lip hesitantly before giving in.
"It shouldn't hurt for them to go another day without showering."
Kana, however, undressed herself and Eiko, entering the river.
"Only the girls will be clean, little thing." She spoke softly to the child, feeling herself relax a little. Eiko let out a weak cry, fidgeting.
The ten-year-old boy grunted at the noise the baby started to make, peeking to see what got Eiko into a bad mood. Katsuo stuttered, red, and immediately closed his eyes again – very hard, this time.
"Kana! Can you stop undressing out of nowhere, for God's sake!? What will Eiko learn from this? Frankly."
Riki looked too but shrugged. Kana-neechan was Kana-neechan. He doesn't know why Katsuo is so upset – she already said it was just a body anyway.
The Uchiha girl has an amused smile at her cousin's reaction and rolls her eyes.
"Katsuo can be such a scandalous mom."
The shower soothes her, and she feels a little more like herself when it's over, drying her damp clothes as much as she can with a wind-style Jutsu. Her long black hair drips. Kana thinks with a hint of annoyance that she would probably have to cut it if they didn't find civilization soon – she wouldn't be able to keep it hydrated and beautiful without the products, even with her good genetics.
"Speaking of beauty – or lack of it…" Her head snaps back to the path where she knew the body of that thing the wolves were eating yesterday was.
"I need to take a look at something. I'll be back." Kana said. The boys barely recognized that she said something since they were exhausted.
Eiko shifted and moaned softly in her arms, bothered by the stench of rotting flesh in the air as they approached the scene. She scrutinized what was left of the corpse, noticing that the skin looked rough and bluish-gray, the features were grotesque, and the ears were a little pointed.
"Definitely not human."
It appeared to be some warrior, at least from the pieces of armor and weapons. She stripped him of his sword, bow, arrows, and the dagger he possessed. Making a clone to hold the weapons unimpeded, she pondered what to do with the body. It occurred to her that someone might be after the fallen soldier, and she fretted at the possibility, quickly making her way back to where the boys were.
"Katsuo, Riki, stand up." She ordered, unyielding. When neither of them responded, she lightly kicked them both. "Now."
The two woke up and shot her with annoyed looks.
"When I found the wolf yesterday, there was a creature's body nearby. He looked like a soldier, and I'm not sure but someone can be searching for him. We'll have to sleep in the trees, I'll cast a genjutsu so we're not exposed. Riki, the dagger is yours. Katsuo, the sword."
"Did you find a dead man?" And why do we have to hide ourselves? Wouldn't it be better if they found us? We could discover where we are. Maybe they could even help us." Katsuo questioned while looking at the strange and heavy sword in his possession.
"Creature, not man. We have to hide because one should never approach a group of natives in a foreign land without enough information. We'll watch and then, if it's safe, we'll approach. Always assume the worst in people. Or, creature, for that matter."
They complied, moving awkwardly to a tree that looked strong enough to support them, with several thick branches. Kana perched on one, holding the baby. Katsuo stayed with Riki, on a branch close enough that if they fell asleep, Kana would be able to support them so they wouldn't fall.
She cast a camouflage genjutsu, another to put the wolves on the ground to sleep, and hoped she was just being paranoid.
Flames and heat floated around, and the sound of forged metal was familiar and comfortable. The happy song that the master was humming was soon followed by his own lips, in that vibrant atmosphere.
"What is it?" The master asks, after some time. He smiles, proud of his beautiful creation.
"It's my new work. Not as remarkable as the Silmarils of Fëanor but precious to me just the same."
There's a change in the air when he says that. The environment changes and where the flames and heat were once
pleasant and comforting, now it's too much. Where the Master's joyful voice had hummed before, it now turned into a terrible, thunderous voice.
"Master?" He asks, startled, and turns his gaze upwards, finding a large eye in flames, without lids.
Kana sees Katsuo and Riki's restless movements, both distressed. The youngest suddenly wakes up and would have fallen if Kana hadn't caught him with her free arm. The child gasps several times, confused.
"Mom?" He asks in a whisper, not distinguishing her despite looking directly at her. Kana swallows and awkwardly squeezes his arm gently.
"Go back to sleep, Riki. You are not alone."
Riki relaxes, leaning against Katsuo, and his breathing returns to normal. She hopes he doesn't have any more nightmares. Kana narrows her eyes when she feels watched and blinks in curiosity when she sees Katsuo staring at her intensely. The girl arches an eyebrow.
"He is." Katsuo says in a low voice, closing his eyes. "We all are."
They remain silent after that.
The odor is the first thing that tells them they are no longer alone. The guttural voices and strange language only confirm the presence of a group of creatures approaching.
"They don't have chakra. How is this possible?" She thinks, a little nervous: the energy she had noticed in nature was different from the chakra she was used to and she couldn't explain it in words, although it was more proof that they were intruders. Chakra looked so out of place there that it was almost distressing to her.
Her body tensed, a crease in her face at the sight of five of those creatures moving beneath them. She woke the boys as silently as possible, despite the genjutsu covering both visuals and sounds.
The two boys became alert the moment she gave a hush signal and pointed down. Kana hoped that at least Riki would try to scream, but surprisingly it was Katsuo who was most disturbed by the sight he was faced with.
Kana frowned as she paid more attention to what the natives were talking about, a shiver running through her body. She might not understand what they were talking about, but it was obvious they were arguing and looking for something. Also, probably Katsuo understood by now that those creatures were more likely to try to hurt them than help: there was something distinctly unreliable about them and it was more than just their grotesque appearance. Something she saw in countless enemies, allies (and even the mirror itself) after a particularly unpleasant mission.
"Darkness within. Hunger for violence." She concludes at the exact moment when the group is almost on its way. The biggest one stops and then sniffs the air. He narrows his milky white eyes right where Riki and Katsuo are, several times.
"Uh. Next time they will take the damn shower."
He growls something at another, who responds in the same angry tone, but picks up his bow and places the weapon, attentive. From where she is, she can see a sticky substance on the arrowhead. The same as she finds in possession of the dead one. A poisonous arrow.
He shoots.
Kana doesn't think twice before unsheathing her katana and cutting the arrow, stopping its trajectory. Less than a second later, she drops to the ground and severs the archer's head, pierces the heart of the one next to her, and rips the abdomen of a third.
The remaining two recover from their surprise and scream, attacking her. Kana defends herself and dodges the bigger one's ax blows and the other's sword with some difficulty thanks to the baby in one of her arms. She analyzes the sword's sloppy technique, slashing a gash across her thigh, and steps to the side as the large's ax passes within inches of the baby.
"They have physical strength but little training. It seems that they are acting on pure instinct rather than a proper military method. Good team coordination though."
The Uchiha rips off the arms of what appeared to be the squad leader, leaving him to scream and agonize in pain, but not kill him.
Kana turns to the last creature still able for battle and blinks in surprise when she sees Katsuo delivering a clumsy jab in Its ribs and Riki stabbing the creature in the back.
Surprise fades into silent understanding as the two boys continue to throw blows. She sees Katsuo's fury through the tears he sheds as he cuts through the tough skin in an inexperienced and brutal way. She sees the look of revulsion and the icy rage that moves Riki's hands to plunge deeper and deeper with the dagger.
Kana has a bitter smile on her face.
"Savagery is the middle name of a grieving Uchiha."
And for those kids, she'd gladly hone that side until they could make that bastard pay off for taking everything from them. She casts a brief glance at the spot where the wolf pups still slept under the genjutsu before turning to the male (she thinks it's a male) that she mutilated.
"Now, little thing, shall we see our lucky guest? Look. What do you think about him?" Kana asks and laughs when the girl starts to cry. The creature growls and snarls in pain, probably insulting her rather inventively by the increasingly venomous tone of that wicked language.
"I agree. He's ugly as hell."
The teenager has an expressionless face although a knot has settled in her stomach from what she is about to do.
"I hate this. Sorry, ugly one, but it's necessary."
The wind carries the pain howls of an orc whose last sight was blood-red eyes.