I do no own any Naruto characters or settings. I only own my OC, Musei Shiro.
I hope you enjoy this nostalgic chapter of Shiro, the Weeping Samurai of the Land of Iron!
~~~*~~~
She could remember the snow, swirling and dancing like little white birds, soaring through the dark gray skies only to float gently back down, propelled by the chilling wind that breathed from the east. A little girl stood in the middle of it all, her long glowing white hair waving in the frost as if it were elongated strands of the ice itself. She stood there, with her back turned towards her, a pair of white katana clutched in the two tiny pale hands folded behind her back.
From the fog of the blizzard arose another figure, another little girl, but her hair black as midnight. It stuck out of the frigid snow like a raven's feather, glossy and gleaming in an icy undertone of indigo. Her pale arms were crossed in front of her smaller figure, her back still turned towards her. She gazed to the side though, her little head tilted up as she admired her elder sister.
Shiro gasped, widening her eyes as she was launched back into reality.
She sat up in her spot, inhaling a deep breath as loudly as her lungs could project. The gasp echoed through the tunnel, bouncing off the cold walls and reverberating out into the yellow light that looked to be the exit of demise.
The bright light blinded her, groaning and shielding her eyes with a weak hand as she awoke from her seemingly endless sleep.
Where was she?
"I see you've decided to wake up, Shiro-san," a familiar voice called from the large beam of light. The sound echoed through the harsh tunnel, bouncing off the metallic rounded walls to fade off slowly in the distance behind her.
Shiro blinked her eyes a few more times, squinting them as she tried to focus her gaze onto the sphere of brightness.
"I...Itachi-san...?"
"It's about time," the ninja responded indifferently. "I thought you had actually died early."
A shadow emerged from the middle of the circle of light, Shiro's graying eyes now focusing more on the scenery around her.
It seemed she was in a sort of iron tunnel, the steel walls covering her from the sun that blared its rays outside with the vibrant yellow light. The coldness inside definitely contrasted with the warm air that breathed in from the outside, tingling her frigid skin as though it were being defrosted. Shiro narrowed her graying eyes, dull and no longer filled with the fire that had once enveloped them. Still, she was fighting, and this wasn't going to end until she got to see her sister again.
"I'm not dying yet," she murmured softly, flickering her lifeless eyes away from Itachi.
The shinobi blinked, sighing as he hid his pale face behind the tall dark collar of his robe. Without saying a single word, he reached into the depths of his cloak and unveiled the two blinding white sheaths that meant so much to Shiro. He held them out to her, to which she took them with a hesitant and trembling hand.
"A-arigato..." she whispered.
Itachi stared at her with a dark gaze, an unreadable expression of some emotion glinting in his charcoal eyes.
"How do you feel?"
Shiro huffed gently, rubbing her temples in her long pale fingers, bony as a skeleton's.
"Terrible," she sighed with frustration. She closed her eyes as her slender hands massaged her throbbing head; she could feel the iciness of the white Chakra coursing through her hollow veins, wrapping its cold talons over what was left of her conscience. "How long was I unconscious for?"
The ninja in front of her was silent, the bottom half of his face still obscured by his black cloak. His expression grew cold, but remained calm all the same.
"I don't know what happened back there, Shiro-san," the man said grimly, "but it's been three days since we arrived in the Land of Rice Paddies."
Shiro's groggy eyes widened in shock as the realization overcame her misty mind.
"And it took two days to cross the Land of Fire..." she breathed. "So that means..."
Itachi averted his solemn eyes from hers, softening his cold gaze in a sort of sorrow.
"This will be your last day, Shiro-san." Itachi sighed. "Your week is up..."
A moment of quiet plagued their ears, nothing but the rustling of leaves outside providing any sort of sound or movement. Shiro stared with quivering eyes up at the man, who now stood towering over her collapsed skinny figure. She pressed her lips tightly into a thin line as she lowered her gaze down to stare at the cold ground. She closed her silver eyes, ebbing away from the life that had once haunted her, the remaining black Chakra that had been stored in there corrupted and succumbing to the white aura that overflowed her frail body. She let out a shallow breath.
"We don't have a lot of time..." she said, slowly rising up from her spot on the stone ground. "Show me to where she is, and I'll take it from there."
"Actually," the raven-haired shinobi interjected, grabbing Shiro's arm firmly as she slowly sprouted from the ground like some sort of snow lily, "that part has already been taken care of."
"Nani?"
"Sasuke can detect us," the ninja's scarlet eyes darted to the side. "He's been aware of our presence since we got here; of course, he doesn't actually know who we are."
"So...Sasuke has informed Orochimaru about some suspicious activity nearby," the white haired girl murmured. She was quiet for some time. "So that means Yoru is also aware of our location as well."
"Soudesu," the ninja confirmed, nodding his head once. "Once you emerge from this tunnel, you'll know."
Shiro lifted her eyes from the ground to the shinobi's gaze, a somber look shimmering in her silver orbs. She blinked them once, landing a soft hand on the one that gripped her arm; his skin was warm to the touch compared to hers, which stabbed into his flesh like needles of ice.
"Itachi-san," the girl whispered, her voice low and almost inaudible. "There's something I must tell you first...before I must go..."
Itachi blinked his scarlet eyes in confusion.
"What is it, Shiro-san?"
Shiro breathed slowly, staring into a void as she collected her scattered thoughts that floated around aimlessly in her scrambled skull.
"These past few weeks..." she started carefully, "have been...a pleasure for me."
There was a hint of surprise in the shinobi's widened gaze, but he remained quiet.
"You had taught me a lot, and I'm sure that I can manage this now, knowing what the outcome of this will be. I will certainly die before midnight strikes tonight, but in the back of my mind, I know I'm already dead."
Shiro paused, organizing her thoughts once more.
"But when I'm with you..." she breathed. "I feel like some life had reentered my body, and that there's still a motive for me to go after Yoru-chan, even though her mind is set on my own doom...so Itachi-san..."
Shiro shifted forward, shuffling into the shinobi's chest and wrapping her thin arms around his body. She buried her face in the cloak that clung to his figure, gripping the back of the fabric so tightly it seemed she thought he would disappear if she didn't grasp onto him hard enough. The look of shock upon the shinobi's pale face shattered every barrier that seemed to protect his normally bleak expression, his scarlet eyes growing wide as he felt the girl's shivering cold body cling to his own.
"S-Shiro-san..."
"You're the only person who has shown me kindness since the death of my parents..." she went on, her voice trembling. "And for that, I must thank you, Itachi-san. You've been supportive of me in every way possible, and I will forever be in your debt."
The girl closed her eyes and sighed.
"So if there is anything you want me to do now before I go, please say it now."
The simply baffled look on the shinobi's face scared her, but she still refused to release his torso until he parted his mouth, a choked sound escaping his lips.
He cleared his throat softly.
"Shiro-san," he started, staring at the girl in front of him with solemn black eyes. "We've endured a lot together these past few weeks, but all I can really say now is..."
He paused, flickering his eyes around the iron tunnel before focusing them back on Shiro, who stood there silently with her hands folded in front of her delicately.
Itachi sighed.
"Just don't die..." he whispered, lowering his sad eyes as he refused to look at her anymore. "Death has been my life since I was young, and I certainly don't need anymore of it than necessary...
"So Shiro-san...please don't die."
The girl stood there with distance, almost aloof eyes that penetrated deep into the shinobi's tall but insignificant figure as he stood there too, the thick cloak upon his toned shoulders draping down to his feet. Shiro, who closed her glazed eyes with sorrow, resided frozen in her spot for only a minute, letting those precious words sweeten her bitter mind before taking a few steps, gripping her two katana sheaths tightly in her hand.
She suddenly unsheathed a single glittering blade, Raiha, with lightning speed. In a single fluid movement, she grasped a handful of her long white hair and ripped her blade through the thick locks, severing the snowy hair from her head so the remaining strands fell down to the base of her neck.
Itachi stared at her as she released her rather loose grip on her hair, which fluttered to the ground and piled up in a white heap. Upon the ground though, the frosty strands began to morph, the blinding white fading to a dark midnight color as thought it had been drained from the energy of life itself. It sat there in the cold, collected in a messy pile as Shiro stepped forward, a blank expression set upon her porcelain face.
The shinobi continued to gap at her, his dark eyes glittering as he parted his mouth ever so slightly, which still stayed hidden behind his tall dark collar.
"Shiro-san..." he whispered. "Please..."
The girl, unfazed, just sheathed her right blade and walked on, the bottom of her flowing dress fluttering above the stone ground; her silver eyes narrowed, sucking in all of the warmth that emitted from the outside and transmitting it to the coldness that was her soul.
The sleeve of her white kimono brushed passed the shinobi's dark one, the samurai letting out a shaky breath and shedding a single cold tear with shut eyes; her now short white hair still flowed behind her in a sad wind as she whispered one tender word, dripping with regret with the tear that shimmered as it tumbled down to the ground.
"Gomen'nasai..."
~~~*~~~
Surprise, surprise!! Bet y'all didn't see this one coming, didn't you? Yeah, sorry about not updating this for like THREE MONTHS (honestly, it felt like an eternity for me), but hey! I this one out, and I'm happy to say that there is indeed more chapters that are going to come out, as well!
So, I hope you enjoyed this long-awaited chapter of Shiro's emotional roller-coaster, and I hope you comment on what you thought of it, VOTE, and also follow me for future updates and works!
And as always, thanks for reading!