Archived File [Error?]

chapter four.

to live your life in solitude
is to never truly live.

- - -

Children were easily distractable, mad as Tsunade had been not even a few minutes before she was right excited when Orochimaru had given the idea of having a contest regarding who could make the best sandcastle.

The blonde had agreed with a haughty smile that screamed I'm going to win. It was almost hilarious to watch her gawk at Orochimaru's intricate looking sand castle that, unlike hers, was standing upright with finger patterns traced in as well as a small moat around it. Mine made her pout furiously while Orochimaru had laughed, declaring me the winner of our sandcastle contest. (The sand castle I had made was four pillars with walls interconnecting them, if you were to focus on them then you'd realize they were held together not just by water but by chakra; it wasn't cheating, just innovative thinking.)

Orochimaru went left for home a few hours after our sandcastle contest, a woman I presumed was his mother had approached us with a smile that was undeniably proud; "Hello Orochimaru-kun, I see you made friends."

Orochimaru had nodded his head, a shy smile on his face as he waved Tsunade and I goodbye. Tsunade had left soon after, though the Senju brothers had long departed another member of the Senju clan had been ever-present in the park watching the Senju heiress. She'd taken his hand without much preamble, giving me a sunny smile as she left telling stories to the Senju shinobi who was smiling at the blonde; indulging her childishness.

 With the other two toddlers gone Niko and Kure were quick to finish their own game of 'Merchants, Bandits, and Shinobi,' wary to leave me to my own devices for too long especially when it was getting dark. Child stealing wasn't an incredibly common thing that happened in Konoha anymore but children knew better than to stay out too late past the setting sun. Plus, by the time we would arrive home it would most likely be time for dinner.

Our sandals clicked against the worn dirt road as the sun's light began to fade from the village, Niko was chattering happily about their time in the park. General nonsense about how no one had allowed her to play the bandit; being the merchant was surprisingly boring the only plus being you were allowed to boss the other children around. Kure squeezed my hand gently causing me to look up at her in question, she was smiling with that familiar mischievous light dancing in her eyes,  "You made friends today Aoi, I'm happy for you."

Niko laughed, "I'm surprised actually, Aoi is such an introvert I thought she'd only make friends with her textbooks."

I hummed, a small smile gracing my lips as I swung my sister's hands, "Well, my books are my best friends you know, they'd be oh so jealous if they found out I had replaced them." 

Both of the older girls laughed at that, our arms swinging higher and our feet skipping off the ground as we chattered on the way back to the house. Our words were all nonsense, unimportant topics such as how we'd spent our time in the park and jovial jibes at one another. It was nice, talking nonsense and not worrying about having to be wary when talking to other people.

It was nice to be a child.

The smell of stew was strong when the three of us entered the house. Stew was an incredibly common meal within this household, it was easier to freeze and unthaw it because while electricity was common in Konohagakure only the richest of people had gas stoves and other electric appliances such as fridges, freezers, and other such things.

The only electric appliance our family owned was a medium-sized freezer.  We did own a stove though it runs off wood, the gas stove was too expensive for our clan to afford one for every household. Despite us being literally related to the current clan-head, our family was often stiffed in terms of upgrades, as seen with our too-small house and over-worked parents. Thankfully Hashirama had, when making the village, made it mandatory that every house no matter civilian or shinobi had clean running water; an essential to life that shouldn't be hoarded away.