Numb
five
Three Years Ago
Konohakagure was beautiful, even if it was covered in a thick layer of snow.
I watched the children playing in the snow out of the corner of my eye, longing for the days that Shinobu and I had played games with the other children from our clan during the winter. The winters in the Land of Water were different than here, full of freezing fog that cut through clothing like kunai, horrid ice storms that went on for days at a time, and days spent hungry. Boats that carried food for our village couldn’t navigate through the ice bergs that littered the oceans quickly enough; they came every three months instead of the usual every month or so. We had to find ways to distract ourselves from our hunger. Playing silly games was one of those ways, along with building snow men and practicing jutsu that we barely had enough chakra to manage.
For a moment, I was happy just to watch the children in their joy, smiling at the snowmen they had made. Most of them were taller than we were, with fake Leaf Village shinobi headbands tied around their foreheads and pebbles for eyes. I felt safe within the walls of the city, content with wandering through the shop-lined streets for the time being. We had made it to Konoha, and we were safe, alive, our stomachs full of good food. My shabby clothes did little to protect me from the cold, but I hardly noticed it; the wind that ravaged the fields of the countryside was almost inexistent here, just a faint breeze that pushed my hair out of my eyes. The shinobi that we passed on the street knew nothing of our past, wished us no harm at all.
The going had been much easier once we left the thick, untamed forest behind us, staying just far enough away from the path that we wouldn’t be noticed automatically. There were just as many families as we had expected, each and every one of them welcoming. The longest that we dared to stay was one night, soaking in just enough of their warmth to carry us far enough that we found another family. Some nights we slept in barns amongst animals, others we dug out a hollow in the snow beside a tree and didn’t sleep at all. We moved quickly through the snow, our pace at least twice what we had been able to do before. Occasionally, we saw the faint spark of a campfire on the horizon, which kept us on our toes, wondering whether or not there were nin following us.
We didn’t dwell on it for very long. There were stupid bandits in every land, there were bound to be some in the Land of Fire. Shinobu called them the scum of the earth, too low to be considered actual shinobi. We had run into many of them in our travels, but once they realized that we had nothing more than kunai and jackets—that were too small for us, let alone a grown man or woman—in our bags, they left us alone. When we saw the fires for the first time, there were only several days between us and Konohakagure. That was enough to keep them off of my mind.
As we walked through the village, our shoulders touching, my brother spoke quietly, half to himself and half to me. “I don’t know how we’ll get past the Hokage’s guards. We won’t make much of an impression on them, obviously.” He looked down at our clothes and the bruises that covered every exposed part of my body, sighing. “It’s a wonder that they let us through the gates in the first place.”
“They saw that we were hurt,” I reasoned, staring up at the sky, “and that we’re young. Most of them think of us as children, you know.”
He didn’t say anything else, dragging his feet through the snow. The Hokage’s building was on the other side of the village, with guards patrolling the halls, the front doors, the desks. We made it there within the hour, passing through the doors without any trouble. The man seated behind the front desk eyed us with an air of suspicion, saying, “Can I help you two with anything?”
“We need to see the Hokage,” Shinobu said simply, staring back at the guard with eyes that hinted at desperation. “Please, sir. We’ve traveled very far.”
The nin looked between the two of us, his face showing confusion, and then back to the papers on the desk. He sighed heavily. “I don’t know if the Hokage is in a meeting right now. Please, sit down while I go ask if he will see you.” He motioned to the chairs on the other side of the room and stood, leaving us alone in the silent room.
Konohakagure was beautiful, even if it was covered in a thick layer of snow.
I watched the children playing in the snow out of the corner of my eye, longing for the days that Shinobu and I had played games with the other children from our clan during the winter. The winters in the Land of Water were different than here, full of freezing fog that cut through clothing like kunai, horrid ice storms that went on for days at a time, and days spent hungry. Boats that carried food for our village couldn’t navigate through the ice bergs that littered the oceans quickly enough; they came every three months instead of the usual every month or so. We had to find ways to distract ourselves from our hunger. Playing silly games was one of those ways, along with building snow men and practicing jutsu that we barely had enough chakra to manage.
For a moment, I was happy just to watch the children in their joy, smiling at the snowmen they had made. Most of them were taller than we were, with fake Leaf Village shinobi headbands tied around their foreheads and pebbles for eyes. I felt safe within the walls of the city, content with wandering through the shop-lined streets for the time being. We had made it to Konoha, and we were safe, alive, our stomachs full of good food. My shabby clothes did little to protect me from the cold, but I hardly noticed it; the wind that ravaged the fields of the countryside was almost inexistent here, just a faint breeze that pushed my hair out of my eyes. The shinobi that we passed on the street knew nothing of our past, wished us no harm at all.
The going had been much easier once we left the thick, untamed forest behind us, staying just far enough away from the path that we wouldn’t be noticed automatically. There were just as many families as we had expected, each and every one of them welcoming. The longest that we dared to stay was one night, soaking in just enough of their warmth to carry us far enough that we found another family. Some nights we slept in barns amongst animals, others we dug out a hollow in the snow beside a tree and didn’t sleep at all. We moved quickly through the snow, our pace at least twice what we had been able to do before. Occasionally, we saw the faint spark of a campfire on the horizon, which kept us on our toes, wondering whether or not there were nin following us.
We didn’t dwell on it for very long. There were stupid bandits in every land, there were bound to be some in the Land of Fire. Shinobu called them the scum of the earth, too low to be considered actual shinobi. We had run into many of them in our travels, but once they realized that we had nothing more than kunai and jackets—that were too small for us, let alone a grown man or woman—in our bags, they left us alone. When we saw the fires for the first time, there were only several days between us and Konohakagure. That was enough to keep them off of my mind.
As we walked through the village, our shoulders touching, my brother spoke quietly, half to himself and half to me. “I don’t know how we’ll get past the Hokage’s guards. We won’t make much of an impression on them, obviously.” He looked down at our clothes and the bruises that covered every exposed part of my body, sighing. “It’s a wonder that they let us through the gates in the first place.”
“They saw that we were hurt,” I reasoned, staring up at the sky, “and that we’re young. Most of them think of us as children, you know.”
He didn’t say anything else, dragging his feet through the snow. The Hokage’s building was on the other side of the village, with guards patrolling the halls, the front doors, the desks. We made it there within the hour, passing through the doors without any trouble. The man seated behind the front desk eyed us with an air of suspicion, saying, “Can I help you two with anything?”
“We need to see the Hokage,” Shinobu said simply, staring back at the guard with eyes that hinted at desperation. “Please, sir. We’ve traveled very far.”
The nin looked between the two of us, his face showing confusion, and then back to the papers on the desk. He sighed heavily. “I don’t know if the Hokage is in a meeting right now. Please, sit down while I go ask if he will see you.” He motioned to the chairs on the other side of the room and stood, leaving us alone in the silent room.
♠ ♠ ♠
thank you for reading!