01.
[Kana’s POV]
“Nen-nen korori yo, Okorori yo.
Boya wa yoi ko da, Nenne shina~
Hushabye, Hushabye!
My good Baby, Sleep!”
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*
“I’ll race you there Kana!”
“No fair, you got a head start Kei! Wait! Slow down a little!”
“Yahoo!” a much younger Kei yelled as he jumped off a small cliff
After a moment’s hesitation, I followed suit, but not landing so gracefully.
After finally regaining my balance, I rushed after my slightly older brother.
“I beat you.” He said out of breath with an accomplished smile on his face
“That’s because you cheated!” I sulked
“It’s okay Kana. One day, you’ll be just as fast as I am. I promise” he reassured
“Hey Kana, I’ll race you there.” A much older and no so much matured Kei taunted lazily
“You’re just going to cheat. But fine.” I replied, only to notice that he was already running off in the distance
“I thought you knew me better than that, Kana!” he yelled from behind his shoulder
I sweatdropped. You’re never fair, Kei. I thought to myself as I sped off, attempting to catch up to my brother. My twin brother to be exact.
Off in the distance, I heard an distinctively loud crash. I know who it was unmistakably. “Oreji-shoku! Come back here and pick up these apples!”
“Ah! Come on old man, calm down will ya!”
I sighed to myself and increased my pace to see exactly what Kei got himself into now.
“There’s the reasonable one! Kana how in the world do you deal with this…this animal!” a local shop owner asked when I approached him.
I laughed lightly. “I’m not so sure myself Senpai. But please, do forgive Kei.” I replied while bowing respectfully
“Oh Kana. How could I not forgive him when you ask like that?” he asked with a warm smile
“I don’t know how you couldn’t forgive me at all.” Kei mumbled
“What was that! Don’t make me change my mind Kei!” the old man threated
I couldn’t help but laugh. I’m going to miss all of this.
“Bye ol’man!”
“Good bye, Senpai!”
Both Kei and I said as we finally departed from said shop owner
“Pssst. What a stick in the mud. I guess he’s too old to even remember what it was like being young.” Kei chuckled
“Kei, he really isn’t all that old you know.” I responded giggling lightly.
“Hm.” He responded as he slowly slugged through the village. “Kana?”
“Yes Kei?” I responded curiously “What is it?”
“Do you…ever think we’ll see mom again…?” he asked out of the blue, leaving me at a loss for words.
“I…Kei. I don’t…know.” I responded, slipping into deep thought.
I hope we do Kei.
[Kei’s POV]
Out of the corner of my eye, I looked over at Kana to see her –for a lack of a better word- heartbroken.
Why would you ever ask her that Kei? I scolded myself mentally.
“Hey.” I began trying to catch her attention “We will see her again. She’s an Eto after all, she won’t go down without a fight, and neither will we.” I reassured her with a bright smile
A small smile grew on her face while she nodded in agreement.
I unexpectedly drug her into a tight bear hug, causing us both to receive weird looks from everyone surrounding us in the market place.
“Kei. Stop it, you’re embarrassing me.” She said as she flushed intensely, attempting to push me away.
“Jeez. What’s a guy gotta do to get some love around her, eh?” I asked when I finally let go of her as rested my hands behind my head.
She simply laughed in response.
“Kei! Kana!” a familiar annoying voice called from behind us.
Simultaneously, Kana and I slowly swiveled around to see none other than the Kana fanatic, Dachi trailing up behind us.
“Bsst, Kana. Tell your boyfriend to leave us alone.” I whispered to her
“He’s not my boyfriend!” She whispered/shouted back
“You should tell him that then.”
“Hey! Did you guys hear??” Dachi asked slightly out of breath once he finally reached us
“Hear what Dachi?” Kana asked in her usual kind voice
“Oh. W-well um, did you two hear that you guys, myself and Sensei are all going to Konoha for some mission.” He responded while blushing lightly at Kana’s acknowledgement
“Pfflbt. That place? They’re nothing but a bunch of stuck of shinobi.” I responded bitterly
“Kei.” Kana said in a scolding voice “What kind of mission is it, Dachi?” she asked, redirecting her attention back to Dachi
“I’m not sure. Sensei said he wanted to meet us at our usual training spot. I’m guessing he’ll explain it to us there.”
“Well then. What are we standing here for, let’s go meet Sensei.” I said as I started jogging towards our usual training place.
“Senseiiii! Where are you?” I squealed out “Hisako Senseeeeiii-“
“Kei! Shut up!” a demanding ‘female’ voice commanded
“Jeez. I was just wondering where you were Sensei.” I responded innocently
She let out an exasperated sigh. “Anyways. I told you guys to meet with me here because I wanted to tell you three something very important, along with introducing the mission we’ve been assigned.”
“Alright. Tell us then Sensei.” I said as I took a confortable seat on the ground
“Well.” She began “First of all, I wanted to tell you three that I am so proud of you. During the war you displayed so much strength and courage. It blows me away to see how much you guys have grown right before me. Dachi, you’re so soft spoken, but your will to do everything in your power to help others makes you strong. Kana you’re intuition and modesty will without a doubt make you one of the strongest kunochi’s to ever be a part of this village. And finally, Kei. You’re annoying! But…you certainly are an exceptional shinobi. I am so happy that I had the privilege to teach you three.” She continued with a shaky voice “And that’s why I am more than willing to call you my equals. As of now, we are no longer “Sensei” or “Student” as of now, we are equals.” She concluded
All three of us remained silent, slowly process exactly what Hisako Sensei just explained to us.
“Forgive me, Hisako Sensei.” Kana began “But I can never feel like I have the authority to be on a first name biases with you. I will always refer to you as my Sensei, even if we are considered as equals.”
“Same here, H-hisako Sensei.” Dachi stuttered out
“Me too. I can’t not call you Hisako Sensei. It’s just too fun to yell.” I said with a wide grin on my face
Sensei let out a relieved sigh. “Good! Because if you didn’t call me Sensei, I’d just feel old!” she said completely ruining the “sweet” moment “Alright. Now that we’ve gotten that out the way, let’s go ahead and explain this mission. Your parents have been in Konoha for about a month now, so Mizukage Sama decided to allow you to go stay with your parents, and from then on out, you will decide if you are to stay in Konoha or not. What you decide will be completely up to you. Either way, I’ll always be with you so we can operate as a 4 man squad, got it squirts?”
“Yes, Sensei!” Kana and Dachi said at the same time
“So wait.” I objected “We have to stay with those stuck up Leaf Ninja?”
“Kei. They’re not stuck up in any way. But yes, after you have stayed there for around a month, you will then decide if you’ll stay there or not.” Sensei responded
“But. That’ll completely get in the way of Kana and I looking for our mother.”
She let out a constricted sigh “Kei. You haven’t seen your mother ever since the beginning of the war. It…it might be time to consider that she might be-“
“She might be what? Dead? She’s not dead. Trust me.” I interrupted slightly irritated
”I’m not saying she is for sure, but it wouldn’t hurt preparing for the worse.”
“How could you ever tell me that Sensei! You were always the one telling Kana and I not to give up, despite what everyone else said. Kana. Do you hear her? How are you so quiet about this?” I asked her with my irritated growing slowly.
“Kei…I-“
“Don’t tell me you think she’s dead also?” I asked quietly
“No! I would never think that, you of all people should know that! Just…maybe we should take a break for a while Kei.’ She replied
“Fine. We’ll go to the Hidden Leaf and pretend everything’s fine. Why not?” I said sarcastically “But as soon as that month is up, I’m going to go look for my mother, because she’s sure as hell not dead.”
“And I’ll go with you.” Kana said with a light smile
“A-and I’ll be willing to help also.” Dachi added
“And, I’ll support anything you three decide to do, always.” Hisako Sensei said
I took in a deep sigh. “Well… let’s get ready to go to the hidden leaf!”
I promised you mom that I would never give up. I’ll keep that promise to you even if it kills me.