Anko
"And then?"
"I woke up on a chair! My hands were tied, and everything is dark! Something was tied around my eyes, so I couldn't see anything! Then I heard someone enter the room. But before I could ask them what's happening, someone injected something into my arm. The other one forced me to open my mouth, and then put lots and lots of pills there. They covered my nose, so I have to gulp the pills down. They did this a lot, several times, for days or weeks, I'm not sure."
"What are those? Medicines?"
"I don't know!" Kaeru whined, as he threw his hand up in the air, before he slowly put them down on the table, and leaned his head on them, "But it feels weird. It makes me feel happy for no reason, then suddenly I feel like crying, after that I want to scream, it really makes me confused. I don't know whether I was angry, sad, happy, or whatever!"
My tears began to blur my sight. I tried to wipe them away, but it doesn't work.
"One day, when Kaeru woke up, Kaeru was already in Obito's room. Kaeru never ate those pills again. But Kaeru started having headaches. It hurts so much that Kaeru couldn't even think."
"Leader-sama was mad at Kaeru..." He continued, looking down. I didn't fail to notice how his speech changed into third person's point of view when he was sad, or worried and upset.
"Who is that?"
"He's the one that orders Kaeru and Obito around. He starts beating Kaeru up every day."
"Until one day, something inside me snapped!" He exclaimed, as he starts giggling, "I killed him! I killed him for giving me these ugly lines!"
I flinched, and slowly backed away, as his giggle got louder and louder.
"They dragged me away from the corpse! And then they locked me in the metal door! But it's fun there. I think they called the place 'asylum'. Anyways, I felt bored, so I kill everyone who 's rude to me!"
His giggle broke into a fit of laughter. It made me snapped. I couldn't hold back my tears anymore, and so I rose from my seat, and ran out of the kitchen.
| × | × | × | × | × |
It has been about 2 hours since I left. I couldn't hear anything from inside my room, but it seemed like he didn't try to find me, either.
I let out a sigh. Kami, how I miss the old innocent Kaeru.
But... it's not his fault if he became a psychopath now, right? So why did I run away? I should have stayed there for him.
Taking a deep breath, I stood up, and exited my room.
"Kaeru?" I called, as I entered towards the kitchen. It was empty, but I narrowed my eyes. Something seemed off. How tidy he put the chair, that it looks suspicious. And I found that one of my knives is missing.
Don't worry too much, Anko. It's nothing. You might just forget where did you put it.
"Kaeru, where are you?" I asked again, approaching his room. As much as I'm already think that now a murderer is running around the village, I still want to check inside the house.
And I'm right. When I opened the door, Kaeru was standing in the middle of the room. The lights were off, and the aura scares me a bit. His back was facing me, his hands on his chest, and his whole body was trembling slightly.
"K-Kaeru? W-What are you doing?" I asked nervously, and slowly made my way towards him. I heard a small gasp, and something in his grip shine, just a little glint.
He raised his hands, holding the object just a few inches from his chest. As he brought it down, my eyes widen in recognition, and I jumped onto him. I grabbed his wrist tightly, and the knife fell onto the floor with a loud thud.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?!" I exclaimed, glaring at him, pinning him down. He gritted his teeth, as he tried to reach the knife beside him. His gaze kept moving, from my eyes to the tip of his fingers that almost touched the blade's hilt.
"Anko is scared of Kaeru! Obito is not here, and Aniki hates Kaeru! Daddy killed himself, and Mommy is dead! Kaeru is a very bad boy, Kaeru kills people! No one loves Kaeru! Why should Kaeru even live?!" He screamed.
My breath hitched. Is he trying to commit suicide?
I studied his expression. Then notice it. He's not insane. He's just broken. When I look closer, his eyes shows more than just the blood lust, more than just the sadistic gaze. His dark orbs held confusion, sadness, and loneliness. I was so drowned in those eyes, that I failed to realize his actions.
The next thing that happened, my instinct took over. My hand quickly reached my weapon pouch, and took out a kunai, blocking the kitchen knife Kaeru was about to use to stab his own heart.
No One
"Kaeru... Please, don't. I can't lose my little brother again. You're back already. Don't leave, please." Anko begged desperately.
"Kaeru doesn't want to stay!" Kaeru yelled at her, as tears began to fall from his eyes, "Kaeru always suffers! Kaeru never felt happy! Kaeru hates this world! Kaeru wants to die!"
"Kaeru, you have a brother. You have me. You can't just-..."
"NO ONE CARES! No one cares about Kaeru! Mommy's gone, Daddy's dead, Aniki left! Kaeru's alone! Always alone! No one cares! Everyone's afraid of Kaeru! No one will miss Kaeru!"
Anko's eyes widen at the 2 last sentences. She released him from her grip, as she sat on the floor, and covered her mouth with her hand, trying to hold back her sobs.
"... I will..." Anko whispered, looking down, "I will miss you."
Kaeru turned away. He closed his eyes, gritting his teeth.
"I'm sorry about earlier. I'm not scared of you, Kaeru, I left because I just can't hear how those things happened to you."
"Because you made me who I am today, Kaeru. You were the one person who always pushed me to be me!" Anko said quietly. "Thinking all that time that you were dead, and that I would never see you again, was the hardest time of my life." She said weakly, catching eyes with Kaeru. Kaeru could see the sadness is in Anko's eyes.
"I know it sucks when it feels like no one cares about you. I know it sucks when you feel like your life is crumbling down and nothing can fix it. But Kaeru, I'm here. I'm not going to leave again, I love you, Kaeru." She said.
And it was like he was like an animal. He crawled across the floor, whimpering quietly, laying his head in Anko's lap. Her hands rested on his silver hair, and she ran her fingers through the matted messy hair and soothing noises passed his lips.
"A-Anko-chan... Why does Aniki hate Kaeru so much..." He whispered, his voice cracking as if his heart shattered as the words passed his lips. Anko thought about it for a few minutes, but she couldn't come up with an answer.
And by the time that Anko went to reply that she didn't know, Kaeru was fast asleep in her arms.
| × | × | × | × | × |
By the time the sun was about to rise, Anko was already awake. This was a complete shock to anyone who knew Anko, because they knew how lazy she could be. But she wanted to make sure that Kaeru had something good to wake up to. So she went out and bought him dango.
Kaeru woke up in the room Anko prepared for him. And he didn't know where he was at first. He sat up quickly and began to swung his arms around crazily, screaming "Kaeru's a good boy! Don't hurt Kaeru!"
Hearing his screams, Anko flinched. She ran to his room, to find him sitting on the bed, hugging his knees, and buried his face on them. His whole body is trembling, and he was on the verge of tears.
"Kaeru... I'm here..." She muttered, as she rubbed his back soothingly. His shoulder tensed, but soon relaxed at the touch.
"Come on. You need to eat breakfast." She said, as she pulled him up. He tiled his head.
"Eh? Breakfast? Eat? You mean, I got food?"
Anko frowned, but nodded. "Why won't you?"
Kaeru looked away. "Isn't it too early? Beside, we ate just a few hours ago. And I haven't done anything, why should I get food?"
Anko flinched, but she grabbed his hand and starts dragging him out of the room.
"You came back. That's what you do. This place is not like that 'asylum'. If you feel like you need something, tell me."
Kaeru furrowed his eyebrows, as he sat in front of the table, across Anko.
"What do you mean, Anko-chan?"
Unconsciously, she clenched her fist upon hearing the questions. She really hates how people treated Kaeru, and changed him, until he became like this.
However, she smiled, and ruffled his messy silver locks. "Just eat. I'll explain everything later."
| × | × | × | × | × |
"...-and walk on water?! That's so cool, Anko-chan!"
Anko smiled at Kaeru's antics. It was hard at first, explaining chakra and other shinobi-related stuff to him, but now that he understands the basics, he became so excited.
"Yes, Kaeru, walk on water!" She said with a smile, as she reached out slowly and tussled the boys hair, slightly timid. She didn't want to freak the boy out in any way.
"And I can run really fast and walk up trees?!" He said, bouncing slightly in his seat. "Will you show me how to Anko-chan?! Please?!" He said excited, and Anko nodded her head with another laugh.
"Of course I will, Kaeru. We have to start with the basis of it first though. It'll take a few days to learn though, if you're okay with that." Anko said, and Kaeru just viciously nodded his head.
"Of course, Anko-chan!!" He said as he patted her head in a way to show affection in the only way he could know how.
"Would you like to go get you some new clothes from downtown, maybe some shinobi clothes so that it'll be more comfortable to train?" She asked, and Kaeru nodded slightly and quickly jumped up, bouncing towards the door.
"Come on Anko-chan! Let's go!" He said happily as Anko chuckled softly and followed after him with a smile.
| × | × | × | × | × |
"This is kind of... creepy." Anko muttered to herself as she looked at the clothes that Kaeru had picked out. A blue pair of ninja pants with a blue shirt, a crisscross belt that went across the from of the shirt, and a mask that covered only the loser half of his face
He looked just like Kakashi the last time that Kaeru would have seen him before he went insane.
"What do you think, Anko?!" He said happily as he bounced over to Anko with a bright smile.
Anko didn't reply, but instead she just bit her lip. Kaeru frowned and tilted his head. He left and later came back with a grey vest over his previous outfit.
"How about, like this, Anko-chan?"
Anko sighed, and finally nodded. "But don't wear the mask, will you?"
Kaeru giggled. "Okay!" He said, as he pulled down the fabric, so that it only covered his neck, "Let's go home! I want to train!"
"Alright~"
| × | × | × | × | × |
"Anko-chan! Look! Look at me!"
The voice made Anko snapped out of her thoughts. Her eyes widened at the sight.
Kaeru was sitting at a branch near the top of the tree, swinging his legs, waving and grinning at the jōnin.
"I did it! Look here! I finally did it!"
A soft smile crept onto her face, as she teleported and appeared next to the boy.
She grinned at the boy sitting next to her. "You did great, Kaeru! I'm proud of you!" She exclaimed, patting his head.
Seeing his eyes lit up in happiness made her heart almost melt. It was so sweet, how she can see his innocence, even just for a second.
Kaeru smiled. "Thank you, Anko-chan! Thank you for teaching me, and saying that!"
She sighed lightly, and looked at the setting sunset. "It's nothing, Kaeru. I just taught you the basic."
"But you will help me to be strong, won't you? I want to be a great ninja like Daddy, so Aniki will love me!"
"Don't worry. I know you will be. You're smart, and fast. And you're strong, too."
He giggled, before he noticed what was holding her attention. "It's just like years ago, right, Anko-chan? We watched the sun go to sleep, but that time you brought me up to the roofs. Now I can climb by myself!"
A tear fell from her eyes, but she quickly wiped it away.
"Yeah. Just like the old time."
| × | × | × | × | × |
About 2000 words... I'm pretty satisfied with this.
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