I walked through the tall grass, wanting to get away from the quiet chatter of my friends and only hear the quiet chatter of the grass and trees dancing to the tune the wind chose to play. All I could see was knee length grass now, my companions, my friends, blocked by trees. The wind rushed through it, making it all bend and it tickled my legs and feet.
I closed my eyes and took deep breathes. Where was I from? Who was my family? Do they know I can’t remember them? Are they looking for me? Do they even care? All these questions and more keep running through my head daily and right now was no exception. The main one, though, was ‘Who am I?’. That was the main question I don’t think I could ever answer.
I let out an agitated sigh. Kusagakure was close within our grasp, probably a few more hours. We had to take a good amount of breaks because of the horse needing them to rest from hauling so much luggage. I glanced back when I heard Kaede squealing with laughter. A smile pulled onto my face until it turned into a shriek. Akari was beside me in a second as we ran as quickly as we could, angled downwards and our arms trailing behind our backs.
We skidded to a stop to see Kaede whimpering as tears streamed from her eyes. Or I assumed since she was sniffling. We stood behind four men, two of them holding Haruko and Kaede. Haruko was slumped over and passed out, but I couldn’t be sure if she was injured. I flicked my eyes to Etsuo and he was looking around in panic, pausing at things, myself included. His eyes begged me and that was enough for me. I glanced at Akari and pointed to the two who had hostages.
“Now, how about you guys hand over all of your money,” said one without a hostage.
I didn’t wait for anything, nodded my head to Akari, and sprang at the one who held Kaede, being entirely silent. I slid my arm around his neck and pulled him into a sharp chokehold. He was startled and let out a gasp. I slammed my foot into the back of his leg and used his struggle and surprise to pull Kaede away and behind me where she clung to the back of my tank top.
I glanced at Akari to see her guy down and her picking up Haruko quickly and jumping back. I let the now unconscious man slide to the ground, crouched down and pulled Kaede on my back, and jumped back how Akari had. “I’ll take them and keep them safe,” Akari told me.
“Alright. Are you sure?”
“I am not someone who thinks that it’s okay to just hurt others, I feel more protective. I think you are a mix of violence and protectiveness. Have fun,” she said, a smile on her lips and determination in her eyes. I stared for a second before nodding. Ryuzo was standing protectively in front of Chizu, Masako, and Michiko. I could see Masako on the ground, blood around her, and Chizu and Michiko trying to staunch the bleeding. I took a deep breath before looking at Ryuzo.
“I’ll deal with it,” I called seriously. “Etsuo stay with him,” I ordered.
“Okay,” he said, voice rough. He had been scared for Kaede too.
“Oh, you’ll take care of us, will you?” the one who spoke earlier said.
I pulled on a cocky smirk and tilted my head. “Well, no, I’m going to beat you up so much you’d wish you were dead,” I told him coldly. “I take ‘caring for someone’ in a different way than you, I’m sure.”
“Bitch!” said the second one.
“Oh, don’t worry, you’ll be included to,” I told him in a demeaning voice with a sadistic grin.
“Let’s get her,” the second one said.
“Go right ahead,” the first one snapped. “Because I want her dead.”
“Sorry, only my wishes get to come true,” I shrugged sarcastically apologetic.
“Get her!” the first one shouted, charging at me. A few others came out of the trees and surrounded me. I took a deep breath and popped my neck. They all glared at me, six sets of eyes watching me. Before they blinked again, I slammed my foot into the face nearest me and watched him slam into a tree, head first, and crumple to the ground without a sound.
The others all jumped towards me, attacking at once. I could tell they were used to fighting together, but I was fairly certain I had more skills than them. I dodged and blocked for a minute, letting them show off their power that was fueled by their anger. I started hitting back when I defended, mixing soft hits in with harder ones.
I kicked out, but one of them caught my leg. I spun around and slammed my second foot into his head. I started actually fighting back, using their repetitive moves against them and causing them to hit each other before I knocked them all out. All that was left was the leader.
“Get everyone moving, Akari, I’ll catch up,” I told her.
“Right,” she called, taking Haruko and Kaede to the horse. Ryuzo sheathed his sword and scooped up his wife, taking her to the cart, and the others followed after him. Akari hurried them along, making the horse run. We would need to take Masako to a hospital. The guys around me started getting back up and I almost groaned in annoyance.
“Well, now that I don’t have anyone to protect, I can finish this,” I sighed.
Weapons appeared in their hands and I glared, my bangs shaded my eyes. They ran forward and I dodged, seeing the cut of the blade in one’s hands before he even moved it. I was shocked and got cut, making the men smirk. They charged and seemed surprised when I started dodging each hit. It got worse when I started hitting them back.
Too bad that the cut from earlier was pretty bad and pretty deep on my side. My white shorts were starting to become soaked in blood now. My vision darkened a bit before snapping back into place. Before I could do anything else, a few people appeared around me.
I put my guard up even more until they attacked the other guys. I let myself fall to my knees and clutched my side. That ability to see someone’s movements went away. I winced in pain and slammed my fist into someone when I felt them touch my shoulder. “Hey, hey, chill. We are just here to help,” a girl with slightly bloody, short grey hair said. She looked to be around seventeen.
I looked next to her and saw twins, two girls. They had the same hair style, both having princess curled pig tails, but one had golden blonde hair and the other a simple purple. They both had a small heart under one eye, the blonde a red one under her left and the purple haired girl had a blue one under her right eyes. A fourth person, a man, was tall and had shaggy black hair covering his head. All of their clothes were hidden from me with cloaks.
“Thanks,” I hissed.
“You’ve bled a lot,” the blonde said.
“My friend bled more than I did. I’ve got to catch up to them,” I said.
“We are from Kusagakure. Let’s take you and your friends there for medical treatment,” the man said. “I can heal you somewhat, but I’m no medical ninja,” he said, hands moving into weird signs that I didn’t recognize. His hand glowed green and I stared in shock. He reached towards me and I flinched, though he ignored it and placed his hand on my bleeding waist. “The bleeding will be stopped for a little bit, but it’s a quick stitch job. I’m Aito.”
“I’m the one who will carry you,” the grey haired girl said. “I’m Amami.”
“Those are the twins,” Aito spoke up. “The blonde is Hikaru. The purple one is Kaoru.”
I nodded in response. “Kagami.” Aito is affection. Amami is beautiful sky. Hikaru is ray of light. Kaoru is fragrance. “They should be traveling fast for Kusagakure. That’s where we were going to go,” I said. Amami crouched in front of me with her back to me and helped me climb onto her back.
“Alright. Aito, let’s rush it. I assume that blood on the ground is her friend’s. We need to make sure the bleeding is stopped until we can get her to the hospital.” It was only then that I actually noticed the head bands that sat on some part of their body. Hikaru’s was on her left arm, Kaoru’s on her right. Aito’s was on his forehead. Amami’s was somewhere I couldn’t see it.
“Right. Let’s move,” Aito ordered and we were off, running like Akari and I had earlier.
We made it to the team and I could see Ryuzo was about to have a panic attack. “Ryuzo, they are here to help,” I called out calmly and lazily jumped off of Amami. I shoved away my pain.
“Kagami!” Akari called worriedly.
“Don’t worry. I did get a little scratch but it’s mostly their blood,” I lied.
“Masako has lost too much blood,” she whispered to me, walking closer.
“Alright. Ryuzo, come here for a second.”
He came over and I could see his worry for his wife clouding his eyes. “Yes?”
“They are here to help us and take us to Kusagakure. They are ninja from there. They saved me. I lost a bit too much blood and I think I would have been fine in the long run, but I wouldn’t have come out unscathed,” I whispered. “I didn’t want the girls to worry,” I told Akari who was about to yell at me. “Though being covered in the blood of the enemies isn’t much better.”
“How far away are we from Kusa?” Akari called out.
“An hour if we hurry. Hikaru, Kaoru, hurry ahead and get a medical team to wait by the gates. Don’t dawdle. We need you to rush this as fast as you can, understand?” she asked the thirteen year olds. They nodded and disappeared. “Don’t worry, they are extremely fast.”
“Thank you,” I said, bowing and instantly regretting it. I stood up straight and grinned. “Killing isn’t a favorite past time of mine,” I laughed.
“I thought you were handling yourself pretty well until we saw the swords and kunai knives.”
“How long were you guys watching?” Akari asked.
“Well, it was probably after you left. She was surrounded by a good number but easily holding her own. We weren’t worried until she got scratched,” Aito said, taking into account what I said. I smiled my thanks and he returned it.
Kaede and Haruko were hugging Michiko who looked exhausted right now. “Thank you.”
“For what?” I asked her, slightly confused.
“For saving them. For saving us,” she said, looking me dead in the eye.
My brows furrowed in confusion. “Don’t people normally just protect?”
“No, actually. It’s kind of rare,” she sighed.
Etsuo looked at me and Akari before bowing, shocking me more. “You’ve earned my trust.”
Akari let out a relieved breath. “Thank Kami! I would hate it if one of my friends didn’t trust me.”
Etsuo looked surprised. “You considered me a friend when I was so rude?” he asked like he didn’t believe her.
I snorted out a laugh. “You guys saved us from utter confusion and being lost. Of course. We’d both protect you with our lives. It isn’t that hard of a decision.”
“Are you a ninja? Or something?” Amami asked, eyebrow raised.
“I,” I paused and looked at Akari.
“If we are, we remember nothing at all.”
“Nothing?”
“There isn’t any memory. I mean, we can talk and such, but that’s about it,” I laughed.
“The body remembers what the mind does not,” Ryuzo said, staring at his wife who was looking slightly better. “They were something by the way they fight, and I’m pretty sure it isn’t a samurai. Mercenary, ninja maybe. But, they were something.”
“And now we are dancers,” Akari grinned.
“What will you do if you ever remember?” Chizu asked, looking at us.
I glanced at Akari. “Well,” she said. “We’d probably still travel with you guys. But, I can’t say anything for sure. If we don’t know anything about ourselves, then we don’t know how we would respond to remembering if we ever did.”
“If I had family, if I remembered them, I’d go and see them,” I told them honestly.
“I would as well,” Akari nodded. “But staying would just depend.”
“Well, we rather enjoy your company. If you leave, we will keep in touch. If you stay, you are welcome to,” Michiko said, smiling at us. She didn’t exactly do that a lot. I’ve noticed she is very detached towards people she doesn’t personally know.
I nodded. “We should move out. Akari and I will scout ahead if you two wouldn’t mind staying with everyone?” I asked. Aito and Amami nodded, though seemed reluctant. “Akari, go left and I’ll take right. Be quick,” I ordered.
“’Kay,” she called happily and ran off on a different direction.
I smelled smoke and headed towards that direction. I came up upon two people in long, black cloaks with red clouds, a hint of red as an interior showing through the high collars they both wore. The fire light glinted on black nail polish on both of the slightly shaded people. Straw hats, which are called conical straw hats, laid next to their feet.
I looked at them from around a tree and cocked my head to the side. I felt movement behind me and swung my leg out towards the threat only to have it caught by someone with closed eyes. He had jet black hair that was pulled back in a low ponytail at the base of his neck that my kick jostled. His bangs were parted in the center and framed his face, reaching his chin. He had obvious tear troughs under his eyes.
“Sorry,” I muttered, quickly pulling my leg back and glancing at the man now alone at the fire. I could see that he had blue skin from here, but no other features were obvious to my eyes thanks to the fire’s light. “I didn’t mean to kick you,” I told him, huffing. “Reflex, I guess.” He opened his eyes and they were black, onyx eyes. They widened slightly and I cocked my head to the side in confusion.
He stared at me and a look flashed through his eyes, one that I couldn’t catch because it was dark and he stood in shadows. My vision swam for a second and I shook my head to clear it. “Sorry, someone tried to kill us earlier, some thieves, and we wanted safe passage. I apologize for interrupting you,” I told him, blinking rapidly again.
“You,” he murmured, eyes narrowing.
“What?” I asked.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“That’s a really good question,” I muttered bitterly.
He didn’t show much emotion. “Which means?”
“I don’t remember anything,” I told him, sighing with a reluctant smile. “But I’m going by Kagami for now. I mean, I need to be called by something, don’t I?” I asked him, grinning. I felt comfortable around him. Like I could joke and tease him. But, I felt like he should smile more, like he should tease back. I hummed but glanced back to the direction I came from. “Sorry, but I need to get back. It was nice to meet you,” I trailed off, wanting to know his name, needing to know it.
“Itachi,” he said cautiously.
“Nice to meet you, Itachi,” I grinned happily. I turned and started to head back at a run.
“Nozomi is a better name for you,” I heard a whisper say.
I glanced back quickly, but he and his friend had disappeared. The fire still blazed. I blinked rapidly but hurried back to the cart. I nodded to Aito, Amami, Ryuzo, and Akari. “All clear from my way,” I informed. “Some travelers, but they didn’t attack and left just as I came upon them, though they didn’t notice me,” I lied. I don’t know why I lied, but I was worried if I said something, anyone here might try to find them. I didn’t want them to be found.
“Good,” Aito said. “Akari-san?”
“No one that is breathing,” she said darkly.
I snorted a laugh out. “It’s like you’re bipolar.”
She blinked and looked up at the sky as we walked, cocking her head to the side. “I feel like it’s a normal occurance. I know for a fact that I don’t like my friends getting hurt. I recognized one of the men as the one who actually cut Masako. I suggest no one look,” she said.
“I don’t think I could be prouder,” I laughed, shocking everyone.
“The death was unnecessary,” Amami said.
“Well, he attacked me, and I believe in self-defense,” Akari said. She looked tired. She is a protector, not a murderer. I’d rather I dirty my hands with deaths than her. I nodded to Ryuzo and he sent me a small smile, a forced one, before he sped up to walk next to his wife, Aito following to keep track of her condition, Amami walking with her teammate.
Akari and I took up the back. “You okay?” I asked calmly and quietly.
“Fine,” she smiled softly at me. “Death isn’t my favorite thing to witness, let alone bring.”
“Well, whatever profession we had called for them or else we wouldn’t have been able to kill anyone,” I sighed.
“True,” she nodded.
I could see a large archway in the distance, it would take ten or so minutes to get to it at our pace, and felt slightly relieved. Well, that relief left me quickly when I saw Itachi and his friend walking ahead of us. I made no movements, having unnerving control to me at the moment – especially since I didn’t know where it came from – and paid them no unnecessary attention.
“Kagami,” Akari whispered.
“I see them, it’s fine,” I whispered back.
“And how do you know?” she asked, raising a brow at me skeptically.
“I don’t know for sure, just a feeling,” I laughed a bit, voice carrying enough for the two men in cloaks to hear. They both wore their hats, but I knew it was Itachi when he glanced back at us before turning back around. “See,” I grinned.
“That doesn’t prove anything,” she sighed, rolling her eyes as she smiled softly.
“Gut feeling, I told you,” I told her.