A/N: rewritten as of March 31st 2024
Here's another chapter, courtesy of the 'free' time I have while working night shift. There's a 50/50 chance I will get one more chapter up while I'm up here. I'm thinking I'll post it during my last shift, or while I'm waiting to board the plane, so that would be the tail end of the 22nd, or the 23rd in the morning; if it isn't up then, it'll be posted the same day as the next ID chapter. For those of you who are following ID as well, The next chapter for that one will be the first thing I post when I get back, so expect it between the 25th and 28th.
Hope you all enjoy this chapter~
Chapter II: Mother
There was something strange about the two. Undeniably so.
Sometimes their eyes held an awareness that shouldn't be possible for only being twenty-two months old… and she'd been noticing this from time to time since they were only three months.
At first the awareness and knowledge she spied in their eyes would never last more than a few minutes… but as they got older, these instances became more common, and lasted longer. It left her frequently wondering… why did she see such in their eyes, when their actions did not change from what was normal for a child? She spent a lot of time pondering the matter. Some of it with unease. Some of it with carefully managed calculatedness.
But there were moments when it was simply as though she could not help but to wonder.
That was probably how she'd started to feel genuinely attached. How the hate had slowly been pushed to the side… leading instead to the guilt.
It also concerned her.
Frightened her, if she were to be entirely honest.
Was this perhaps a sign that they had what he sought?
At first her concern was only that she keep it from his grasp if this really was the reason he had done what he had to her… and the others. But with the hate being sidelined, and the guilt building, the concern shifted towards their well-being. It was what… she was expected to do…
Sometimes she would play with the idea of not bothering.
But in the end she never could do that.
She didn't genuinely care about them when she had made her move though. No, it was still a mix of guilt and a fear of giving that man what he wanted that had driven her actions then. That had brought her to starting the fire as a distraction to allow her to escape with the two, who were just shy of thirteen months at the time.
She did not help any of the others. Not when she heard their coughing. Their panic. Their screams.
Their wails.
Only that haunting call for her to leave had made her falter, for a moment. She listened to that call, instead of the guilt it brought. She'd carry that guilt to the day she died.
It once almost drove her to abandon the two in the snow a month later. In fact, she had left them alone for an hour, telling them to wait there as she sought out food and shelter, when she had actually intended to never come back.
But she'd abandoned the others to save those two.
And it wasn't their fault.
The very same guilt that made her want to abandon them was what had driven her back to them, and forged her determination to keep them alive. That and the realization that if he wanted the pair so badly, then they could be the means to his destruction just as easily. It was purely for these selfish reasons that she had neglected herself in favour of tending to them from then on.
And then, for brief moments, their actions started to mirror the strange intelligence she occasionally caught in their eyes.
Words that she was fairly sure they had never heard came past their lips. Sometimes their speech changed from stumbling, short toddler sentences to something a little more comprehensible.
And then there was the sense that they knew she was their mother, though she never said it. Never referred to them as her children after they'd started to learn to talk. She hadn't even named them. They were just Boy, and Girl.
Not naming them was an effort to distance herself from them. First so as not to pin all her hate for that man on the two infants whose only crime was coming from the seed of that filth. Now in an effort to prevent her from growing more attached… from genuinely caring.
It was a losing battle.
They were special. There was just something different about them.
The occasional sad smiles she spied on one of their faces.
The knowing eyes when she denied them comfort.
The concern for her when she offered them food and went without.
It was unnerving.
There was just something distinctly not toddler about her two toddlers. One moment the brats were as brats should be. Full of aggravating energy and curiosity… and then suddenly they were subdued and thoughtful. They watched her with eyes that seemed to know everything, and yet were filled with questions. Questions they never asked.
As time went on… they'd become less normal toddler and more of that strange intelligent something. They fussed less, until eventually it seemed as though nothing would make them succumb to a temper tantrum. It was strange. Unnatural.
Heartbreaking.
But nothing that had happened before today's events made her wonder as much as what had occurred in the last few hours.
The Boy had called her Ka-san. It wasn't a word she had ever taught them, nor one she believed they had ever heard. She knew of course that they knew she was their mother. That didn't mean they could have the word for it. She'd been fairly certain they'd always been asleep when she'd taken advantage of the kindness of strangers, which was the only way they could have possibly heard some of these words she'd never taught them.
Then there was the Girl, who had not frozen up as most children should have given the situation. As she listened to the sounds of battle and faced down violence, the girl had moved with purpose (although awkwardly so) to put her back to a tree… and then later to her brother when she saw his unconscious form
She shouldn't have been watching the girl so acutely. Shouldn't have allowed herself to be so distracted. If she had been paying attention to the second man more closely, she wouldn't have endangered the pair even more.
But she also wouldn't have seen that.
She'd glanced at the girl and boy in concern one too many times. Left herself open. And her opponent had taken that opening, kicking her hard in the ribs and sending her crashing to the ground next them. The girl had let out a startled squeak.
The boy had woken up.
She caught a glimpse of his blurry eyes just as she heard the whirring sound of metal. A Kunai.
Flying right towards the boy.
He caught it.
Not without slicing his hand open in the process and covering his arm in his own blood. But he still caught the thing.
He wasn't yet two years old, had only been walking for the last five months, and had never received any sort of training (less than two was a bit young for training in any case). But he had caught a kunai aimed to incapacitate. Meant to seriously harm.
Most children who had the training and could manage to do that were at least twice his age. They weren't barely toddlers… they'd learned to move well enough that they certainly didn't awkwardly toddle about like the Boy and Girl did. It made no sense.
And yet it made her feel more certain as well, instead of the fear and unease that had been prevalent most of the time she considered how un-toddler her two toddlers were.
Her adversary had been just as shocked as her at what the boy had accomplished.
She'd had the presence of mind to use the opening this provided to end it. The kunai was out of the Boy's hand and into her own as she ignored the pain in her own body to push herself back to her feet and launch herself at the dark robed figure.
By the time he realized what she was about, the kunai was pressed against his chest, ready to sink into his flesh.
Hot blood splattered against her face and hands as she yanked the blade out before driving it back into him again and releasing the kunai from her grasp. But she'd stayed there for several more moments, staring at the man until she was certain he was well and truly dead.
Neither the Boy nor Girl flinched when they saw the blood. Their eyes just took it in… almost sadly.
The twins… her son and daughter, were very peculiar.
She'd never really thought the woman had it in her to put up a fight. Clearly she had been wrong. Despite her fragile, wasted frame, their new mother could fight.
Could kill.
Naruko hated death. Hated killing.
Oh, she'd killed before… but she'd always, always tried to find a solution that didn't involve killing her opponent first. When she had the time. When doing so wouldn't mean someone else died. So it wasn't really always in the end.
She hated that fact.
She hated more the truth that she felt no remorse for the death of their two assailants. None. She should feel some. She always had before. Her thoughts would be drawn to the family or other important people the now deceased might have, and she had silently wept for them in her thoughts (sometimes she actually did weep, once she was alone). There was also the regret that more hatred had been sown.
She felt none of that now. (She felt like she was losing grasp on herself)
Thoughts of those the two men could have considered important were twisted into they're probably just as bad as them. The stark difference from her usual thoughts left her dumbfounded, eyes wide as they stared at her mother and the man she had just killed.
The Woman however was looking past her, her blood covered face turned towards Naruto. Slowly Naruko followed the woman's gaze, looking to the boy that her counterpart now was. A shuddering gasp escaped her lips at the sight that met her.
Naruto's right arm was covered in blood.
Yet his eyes were wide and alert (despite the fact that he was slightly swaying and looked sickly pale). They held the woman's… Haruka's gaze firmly… yet with a hint of resignation?
Why?
Hoping to find the answer to this question, the woman-girl turned her attention back to her mother.
The woman's eyes were steely. Concerned.
Suspicious.
Oh
Haruka suspected something. She had for a while, Naruko knew. How couldn't she? The pair of them acted rather strangely for toddlers at times. But being grown adults, it was so hard to try and imitate the proper behavior of small toddlers whenever they did have control of their bodies. At least, Naruko thought so; they weren't the most mature, but she couldn't even remember what she acted like as a toddler.
And… besides that… they weren't in a typical environment for children to be raised in. They knew that there were dangers. It seemed her unease, her wariness… perhaps even her shinobi training, affected what her body did even before she had any sort of control of it.
But perhaps it had been a mistake to not reign in her emotions on all of that… to allow it to affect her toddler self so much. Even though Naruto had appeared to have done the same.
She and Naruto hadn't tried to discuss anything yet.
With good reason.
It was important they didn't make the woman suspect anything remotely close to what was really going on. As it was, she suspected something too much… they might not be able to play it off as simply being genius little toddlers. Their lack of an act of any sort until now… it could come to bite them in the ass. She knew that painfully well in this moment.
She could still hope though.
Please don't ask anything. She thought.
When the woman moved she couldn't help but tense. It wasn't a threatening movement however, instead, it was momentarily confusing. The woman turned away from them in favor of crouching down next to the man she had just killed, her hands busily digging through the pouches on his person.
She was pilfering the bodies.
For a moment, Naruko thought she was going to be sick. But the rational side of her told her that this had a purpose. A good one.
Supplies.
They needed all they could get. Food rations, medical supplies, weapons. The pouches themselves.
So it was absolutely no surprise when the woman began removing the pouches off the fallen man, after she had pulled out a roll of bandaging and several small ointment tubs. Her eyes flickered over towards Naruto, who was still somehow standing, and so she had continued what she was doing unhurriedly.
She didn't move over to the first fallen man when she was done however, but gathered up the medical supplies she had pulled out, as well as the bamboo water canteen the man had been carrying. The later item she opened, took a sniff of it, and then a swig.
Testing for poison.
Naruko swallowed, concerned it actually was poisoned when Haruka continued to stand there for what felt like minutes.
Then Haruka walked over to the pair of toddlers, knelt between them, and held out the bandages to Naruko. "Hold these, Girl." She instructed, and out of habit, Naruko immediately held out her hands to take the rolled up cloth.
Their mother set the bandages in her waiting hands, and then turned her attention to Naruto. "Give me your hand, Boy," she instructed, a gentleness in her voice that Naruko had not heard since she had first woken to find herself outdoors, on the run.
Maybe she really does care.
The woman's touch was gentle, a sharp contrast to her actions of minutes ago.
Who would have thought she had the strength and conviction to kill like she just had?
Who would have thought she held enough love for him to tend to his wounded hand so carefully?
Naruto couldn't help but be surprised. Couldn't help but stare in shock as his mother cleaned the cut along his hand. He'd not failed to spot the suspicion, mixed with concern that had been in her gaze. Yet her first priority was to deal with the wound he'd given himself, rather than ask about how he'd managed to do what he did.
It had been entirely a gut reaction. He'd seen the kunai flying towards him and he'd reached to catch it. However his brain had over compensated for the slower movement his toddler body could handle, and he'd caught it by the blade, his palm sliced open.
When the woman had taken it from him, somehow she was able to do it without damaging his small hand further. Naruto had no idea how she managed it. One moment the blade was biting into his little hand, and the next it was in hers, ready to pierce a man's flesh.
And now her hands were gently, deftly, wrapping up his hand and tying the bandaging in place.
Although that last bit hurt. Just a bit.
He grimaced despite himself, but the woman made no comment. He was starting to wonder why she wasn't calling out his weird behavior. He was a toddler with a sliced open hand and all he did was grimace. He wasn't balling his eyes out over his injury like most toddlers would be. If they even remained conscious.
Of course, he was actually struggling a bit with that himself. His vision swam, and his body swayed, making him feel sick to his stomach. But he refused to let himself succumb to it. He would stay conscious!
He flinched then as he felt a hand under his chin, before he relaxed, realizing it was just Haruka's bony fingers. She tilted his head upwards, presumably to look into his eyes. He couldn't exactly discern the features of her face at the moment.
"You must stay awake, Boy," the woman said softly after a moment. Concussion? Well, he had hit his head on that tree pretty damn hard. He nodded, and then groaned as this sent a wave of nausea rushing through him. Now that the adrenaline had passed, his head, and hand, pounded with pain.
Tears gathered in his eyes. Sure on the inside he was a seasoned shinobi of many years, and this shouldn't be much to him. However his body was different. It couldn't tolerate what he could have in his past life, and his reactions were not entirely in his control. In fact… most of them weren't. So this being the greatest pain his current body had ever faced, it should be at least somewhat understandable it would cry.
Still, he refused to actually cry.
"Girl, come here," the woman called out softly, and he made out the blurry movements of the other toddler. Then he felt his hand being placed in the girls before the woman before him stood. "Stay awake, Boy," she repeated softly, before she was moving away.
He couldn't really see what she was doing as she knelt next to the blurry form of the first fallen man. The one who had held a kunai to his throat. But he could hear the shuffling of fabric, much like he heard before she'd come over to tend to his hand.
His conclusion made the nausea worse. (another gut reaction he told himself he could not control)
The woman was pilfering the body for useful supplies. He couldn't blame her. They needed them. But that didn't make him feel any better about it. So instead he tried to push the knowledge to the back of his mind and concentrate on staying awake.
It was actually really hard. His eyelids now felt like lead, constantly dropping, nearly closing, before he could make them open only half way again.
And then the hot smell of blood met his nose. Or rather, he finally registered it. It had been hanging in the air for some time now, but his brain just hadn't had the capacity to process its presence.
He gagged.
Naruko squeezed his left hand lightly. He'd really like to get away from the smell.
"Come along now," the woman's voice reached his ear, and he felt Naruko tug lightly on his hand, guiding him towards the woman.
Then his hand had been pulled away from the girl's to be held instead by his mothers.
It was the first time her grasp actually felt like that of a mothers.
Her feelings were nothing but contradictions
She cared about the two. Cared about her children. A mother should. But she hated that she cared, at the same time as accepting that it had been an inevitable development. She had been a caring, heart on her sleeve type of woman before. She'd thrived on caring, giving her affection freely to those around her.
And then she'd been beaten down again and again. Her gentle smiles had been shattered, her caring heart battered… but she still cared. No matter how much she tried to shelter that part of herself, she really couldn't help it. (perhaps she should not have become a shinobi. Perhaps her father had been right about that, if nothing else)
At the same time she'd become bitter. Bitter and angry and hateful. She hated that man. She hated what he'd done to her. She hated those who worked for him. She even hated the other victims who had wailed and wallowed in self-pity before simply losing the will to care about anything. But most of all, she hated herself for breaking in the first place.
She lamented over what had been done to her. Over everything she had lost. Never being able to see her first born grow up… the child she had wanted. The child that had been her entire world, after that loss, before everything had gone terribly wrong. Before she'd betrayed everything because of a rumor.
A Rumor meant to lure her.
She had been so gullible.
But the guilt she felt over her foolish actions that had led to all of this was actually the easiest to shoulder. She'd followed her heart. Listened to her emotions. It had been absolutely dumb… but love made people do dumb things all the time. She'd accepted that she'd been a fool, but she also knew she would have probably done it anyway even if she'd stopped to think of how stupid it was. There was no point in beating herself up over a decision that would have been made regardless… unless she'd known how terribly wrong things would go. Although… even then she might have…
For the chance to rob that man of what he had desecrated for his goals. And again of what he'd hoped to make. (even if she wasn't entirely certain on what his goal was once obtained)
She accepted that guilt. Resolved herself to live with it, and move past it.
She could not so easily move past the guilt she felt about abandoning the other women in the fire that she had started. A guilt that was more from the realization that she was simply relieved she had gotten away, and didn't have to try and help any of them while on the run, on top of caring for her two burdens. A guilt over the realization of how jaded she had become. How cold she could be towards other humans… women who had suffered just as much as she, if not more so.
Children who had done nothing wrong but be born out of the sinister happenings in that place.
She'd left all of them to a painful death.
Or worse.
She had done that. Something she couldn't take back. With only a moment's hesitation brought on by someone asking her to do so themselves. If they hadn't… she wouldn't have even maintained that bit of her humanity that she'd found in the moment of her hesitance.
Oh, she was a shinobi. Well and truly. In the worst ways, she couldn't help but feel.
And then there was how she felt about the twins. The girl and boy she refused to name. She hated them because all she could see was their father; that disgusting, manipulative, treasonous pig. But she loved them because they were hers… they were innocent, and it wasn't their fault. She could see in them what she once was… and she could also see in them what her first child had been before they had become lost to her. She both loved and hated them for that. It was painful, bitter sweet, to think of her first child.
But they were not children she had wanted. They were not her precious first born. She felt guilty for being there, giving them the attention that should belong to the child that came first. But she couldn't abandon them. She couldn't leave them out in the world, while they were being sought after by that swine, and were too small to fend for themselves, let alone protect each other.
She loved them because despite it all, she could see they were concerned for her. See that they cared. And that they knew she was so terribly conflicted.
She hated them because they, in those strange moments, seemed to see right through her.
She hated them for keeping her from going back to her child. But she knew it wasn't actually their fault, and hated herself for being bitter and immature enough to blame them for even a moment.
But mostly she hated how soothing it was to watch the two now sleeping children cuddle up to each other for warmth. They looked so peaceful, so innocent, and so very precious. Even with the boy's hand wrapped in white bandages that were stained slightly red along his palm.
They were just children. Just Toddlers. Not even two years old yet.
She wasn't going to make it to their second birthday.
They had been found again.
Naruto could tell by the tenseness in his mother's shoulders. The way her eyes darted back and forth, and the firmer grip the woman took on his hand. He picked up his feet a little quicker so as not to trail behind.
His body listened most of the time. The best it could. He hadn't felt like just a spectator in his own body for weeks, since just after the last time they'd been ambushed. Nearly a month ago now. They weren't even two yet, and whatever seal the Otsutsuki had placed on them was useless now, if not totally broken.
At least, he didn't think they were two yet.
He wasn't totally sure, as he didn't know exactly when they had been born. But the leaves hadn't started to change colours yet, even though it was getting colder, and the ground they walked upon was often muddy from rain. Autumn was drawing in again.
The man-child was actually amazed they'd been faring so well while on the run for what must be nearly a year.
The better he and Naruko's bodies got at moving, the more they were in control rather than the toddlers that they appeared, the easier things had gotten. But that still didn't change the fact that they'd done this all without any reliable shelter or source of food.
It was never going to last. (How could it? This was a world that shinobi existed in. Shinobi with their ninjutsu that defied normal laws of the world.)
Naruto had thought the last time they'd been caught would be the end of it. He had known that their mother was wasting away, so how could she do anything against their pursuit once they found them?
And then the woman had fought, and he realized that she must have had shinobi training. Until then he'd never considered his mother to be anything but a civilian who'd been captured and abused by a group of missing nin. How painfully naive that was of him.
If it was true, they'd have died of starvation, the elements… or have been captured by now.
Not that he thought they could avoid one of those fates much longer.
Haruka was tired.
He could tell by the way her feet barely lifted enough not to drag. The way her lips were pursed in a thin line, and her eyes, though alert, were half lidded.
Naruto had to resist the urge to look around in search of their pursuers. He wouldn't see them. Even if it wasn't the middle of the night, with their surroundings further shadowed by the thick boughs above their heads. Letting them know that they were aware of their presence by looking around would just make them harder for the woman to locate.
Haruka had to figure out where they were before they made a move. If she didn't, then this would be the end of the world for them.
Naruto knew it for certain.
It was mostly luck that had kept them going since the ambush. And the thing about luck is that it always ran out.
But their mother clearly had more cards to play than he thought.
Her hands suddenly released theirs, and the woman turned on her heel, her hands blurring in hand seals.
In the next moment, the trees behind them were ablaze.
And as Haruka hefted the two up with her surprising strength, Naruto had one startling thought.
She's the one who started the fire the day we escaped.
She had to bite back a surprised, frightened squeal when she was suddenly scooped up after the woman between them had set the trees on fire. What a crazy, desperate thing to do!
But they were desperate, and she knew it.
And it worked. At least for now.
She just made out three shadows behind them as they were rushing away from the fire. Three shadows that seemed hesitant in what to do, standing among the flames.
It almost seemed as if they were debating putting them out or pursuing their prey. To her utter amazement they chose the first option, rather than the latter.
Why?
Naruko couldn't believe her eyes as she watched them perform water jutsu to put out the flame. These people didn't strike her as forest conservationists after all. They worked for, or with, a man who raped their mother and wanted something with the pair of them. Caring about the environment just didn't mesh very well with that image.
Unless they were putting it out so it wouldn't attract the attention of other people? Could that be it? Was this just a tactic to slow them down… or was it meant to draw people towards them?
Did Haruka know people in the area?
That would be a first. Naruko had never seen or heard familiarity in the way people had addressed her mother on their journey. Although their journey might have stopped if they had come across someone the woman knew, so it was perhaps not so strange.
Not for the first time, Naruko wished she had some idea on where they were. Then perhaps she'd be able to figure out if they were heading towards a specific somewhere, or simply trying to keep ahead of their pursuit.
She didn't have much more time to consider the matter however, as her stomach dropped down into her knees, her vision blurring due to the speed of motion that they could not follow. And then they were in the trees, the woman jumping from branch to branch with ease, the two of them under her arms.
Turning her gaze to the side, Naruko saw that her brother was facing forward, rather than facing backward like she was. And strangely she felt a slight sting of embarrassment at that. It took her a moment to process why.
Naruto must have resisted the urge to look behind them, when she had failed to do so. (What use was her shinobi training if she didn't use it? She needed to pull herself together.)
Behind them she could still see the red glow of the flames, but they were already too far for her to make out anything beyond that. How much further were they going to go?
As far as Haruka could get them she answered herself immediately. It wouldn't make sense not to. Either they would get to whatever populated area Haruka was trying to get to, or simply until she couldn't go any further without using what strength she would need to fend off an ambush should they catch up to them.
Not that Haruka would be able to hold off three of them without harm coming to the two toddlers, or one of them being snatched. Two had been a problem last time. It was only because they'd underestimated what strength the wasting woman still had that she'd been able to fell the first one and turn the odds in her favour.
It would not happen again.
It was only a matter of time before they were caught or killed.
Haruka would keep trying to remain a step ahead of them anyway. After spending so much effort, and neglecting herself to this extent, she knew the woman had resolved herself to keep them away from the man until her dying breath at least.
Which could very well be tonight.
Naruko couldn't help the bitterness that rose in her at that knowledge. It was all too ironic in a sense. Kushina Uzumaki had died to ensure she survived the day she was born… for the sake of her becoming the Jinchuriki of Kurama, so she could fulfill the destiny of the child of prophecy.
Now, Haruka was throwing away her own life for the sake of her's and Naruto's.
Am I not allowed to know what it's like to grow up with a mother?
She burned.
Her lungs felt on fire as she tried to take in even breaths to keep herself moving. Her muscles screamed in protest as she pumped chakra into them to keep them going, functioning. Her feet pounded dully as once more they impacted hard wood before pushing off to send her flying through the air again.
None of it was going to be enough.
She could no longer feel the heat of the fire she started on her back, but she knew that could just as easily be because they had already put out the flames. She'd only bought them some time. It wasn't enough to get away.
It would never be enough.
Her body was starting to give up on her. She couldn't keep pushing it in her mad dash to get to safety. She wouldn't make it. Wouldn't even make it close enough to be found before they had a chance to kill her and take the brats.
Running was not what she needed to be doing. It's what the two small bodies under her arms needed to be doing.
She needed to be creating one hell of a distraction so that they could get away.
Before she could consider how she was going to do that, her foot missed the branch, and she was falling forward towards the ground. With a curse on her lips, she pulled the children closer to her chest, and tried to twist her body in the air so she landed on her back.
She hit branches going down before she hit the ground, but her body would not listen to her. Hands full, she couldn't grab a branch to stop her fall. And more chakra just would not gather in her feet to break her descent.
She held the pair closer to her chest.
Then her head impacted a branch, her vision going white, and her arms slackening around her two children.
She felt their bodies fall away from her, moments before she collided with the ground.
The first time Naruto saw the woman cry was when he fully understood how much she really cared… and how torn she was that she did. He'd suspected it to an extent, but this was proof.
It hurt to see.
She was frantically looking them over, her bony hands seeking out even the smallest of scraps. Her eyes were haunted in their deep hollows, her skin a sickly gray and clammy.
Then her hands stilled and her eyes darted about, searching for any sign of those that would soon be upon them. She remained still for nearly a minute, before she grabbed the fallen, mud covered pouch she had pilfered a month ago from the ground. She took the cord of leather and burlap that it was strung to and shoved it into his tiny hands. "You must go now, Boy." she whispered harshly, yanking at Naruko's little hand and pushing it into his own free one. "You both must go, and not look back." She instructed in a hoarse whisper, even as her eyes darted about again. "Do not look for me. You will never find me," her trembling voice insisted, as her shoulders straightened and she took a few steps backwards. Away from them.
Back towards those who were after them.
She didn't question whether or not they would understand what she was saying. The typical toddler wouldn't, but she already knew they would.
Naruto knew what she really meant by that. The woman expected to die. Beside him, Naruko gave out a little whimper, and he wasn't sure if it was her or the child that she was. Whichever it was, it caused the woman to pause in her backwards stride away from them, eyes fixed solely on the girl.
A shuddering breath was expelled from the woman's lungs, before she closed the distance between them. She stood before them a moment, her face a mask of indecision, before it broke into the only smile he had ever seen there.
A self-deprecating, sorrowful smile.
"It's not your fault," the low, muttered whisper barely reached his ears. He knew she didn't think they would understand what she meant, what was unsaid, even if they did hear it… but he did know.
It wasn't their fault that their father had raped her and it resulted in them.
She stood now before them, wavering on the point of guilt, love and hate, all three emotions ready to burst forth. In the end he couldn't be sure if it was love or guilt that had won out, as the tears that began streaking down her face sent a mixed message next to the wry smile upon her lips.
"This is the last thing I will give to you, and I will only say it once," she told them urgently, the tears still streaking down her cheeks. Slowly she lowered herself to squat before them, and then placed one skeletal hand on Naruko's left cheek. "Makiko."
Naruto's eyes widened, and then he flinched as a clammy hand was placed against his cheek, his eyes fixing on the woman, and missing Naruko… Makiko's reaction. "Masato."
The cold hand left his cheek before his brain actually registered what had been said to him. His eyes widened further into great blue saucers, and his little mouth hung agape as the meaning sunk in.
She had just given him a name.
He wanted to thank her, or hug her… or maybe protest and say his name was Naruto. But he never got around to doing any of this.
Her hands shifted to their shoulders, and she leaned in until her mouth was next to their small ears. Then she whispered one more word, and was gone. Naruto would have questioned how she could possibly have the strength to shunshin away; If it wasn't for the bombshell of a final word she'd spoken.
A last name.
Their last name?
A name.
Her mother had just given her a name.
Makiko.
It was the only thing she had ever wanted to ask the woman for. A name. Something that connected them, showed that the woman really did care. Something that was proof of what she'd desperately been wanting. Of family.
But it wasn't just a first name that she'd given.
A last name. Something that connected them on a deeper level. Something that connected them to those who shared that last name. And she knew where to look to grasp that hope that she had Family.
She stared wide eyed, shocked, at the place where the woman had been. Haruka. Her second Mother. Loved no less than her first.
But the name she had wanted was also a farewell.
Haruka was gone. Intent on throwing her life away so that they had a chance. A chance to run, to survive, and to keep away from those who hunted them.
An abysmally slim chance.
But she absolutely couldn't squander it.
Swallowing back the tears that threatened to fall, the newly named Makiko squeezed her brother's hand and started to back away from the spot the woman had disappeared from. Away from the direction she assumed the danger was in.
Naruto, now Masato, squeezed her hand back. She turned her head to look into his eyes, which were wide in shock, but also showed that he understood. Not a word needed to be shared between them.
The pair took a few more steps backward, before they turned, and started off into the trees. They moved at a regular toddle at first, before picking up their pace a bit. They did not run. They were trying to conserve their energy for now. There was no telling how long they were going to have to keep going tonight. And their years of experience had taught them that the real key to endurance was not how they could brute force their way through things, or even their perseverance, it was knowing how to pace themselves.
This time their experience failed them. Because even what is generally true, can sometimes be wrong.
They should have started at a run.
It was only a few minutes later that they heard the sound of wood splintering, before something horrifying flew over their heads. A warm drop fell upon her cheek, catching her off guard.
And then she saw what the source was.
Her eyes widened in horror as it arced through the air before hitting the ground wetly and rolling to a stop several feet in front of them.
Little drops of red littered the ground between them and the thing. The mass. The same red that was on her cheek.
Blood.
Bile rose in her throat as her mind registered what she was staring at.
A pale, blood stained, bony hand.
Word Count: 6756
To the Reviewers:
Guest (anonymous): Thank you for your feedback, but perhaps next time you would like to share what you found confusing so I could try and improve it / clarify? As for the slow bit; well the story has just started, it's only natural that things are not moving quickly yet. The pace of story progression will pick up in later chapters.
KaixDecayx: It makes me happy to hear that the last chapter made you feel so much. That was the hope when I wrote it, and it's a great compliment to hear that I succeeded in that for you =) thank you very much~
Thanks for the reviews~
