The Last Elementalist

Part 17

Many people were approaching the threshold. They stepped over the barrier with no difficulty. Death, destruction, people screaming in the streets, total chaos. Blood. Blood. Blood. Death. Death. Death. No one has been left alive. Everywhere he looked he saw blood. Death. Death. Death and more death. Blood. Blood. Blood.His mother's white hair laid on the ground around her, dirty with blood and soil. Her lifeless eyes haunting his very dreams. The entire family, the entire clan, the entire village.They were all gone. He fell to his knees in the middle of the chaos, tears dripping down his cheeks. "No he sobbed  "Nooooooooooo" he yelled out. 

Yuri's eyes flew open, tears pooling in his eyes. Breathing heavily, drenched in sweat. A sob left his lips, tears fell from his eyes. The small boy crawled out of bed and went to his mother's room. He did have a little trouble getting the door open, since he was barely tall enough to reach the doorknob when he stood on the tips of his toes. He ran to his mother's room, dragging his stuffed rabbit behind him with its ears. At this moment his father, who had just returned from Konoha, came upstairs and saw his son. "Yuri? What are you doing up?" he asked his young son. The boy faced him, tears running down his cheeks. "Papa!" the boy exclaimed and ran to his father who caught him and picked him up. Yuri started sobbing in his father's chest. Kakashi was stunned to say the least. He just rubbed circles across his son's back, whispering soothing words. "What's wrong, Yuri-kun?" Kakashi asked, the child just buried his face further in his father's chest.

 Hikari comes out of the room, rubbing her eyes. Since the birth of her son, she always slept very lightly and had woken up when she heard the sobs. Her husband stood there with their crying son in his arms. It wasn't long before the boy was sound asleep once more. Kakashi put his son back in his bed and went to pick up the stuffed rabbit that had fallen to the ground while carrying the boy back to his room. He went back in his son's room and placed the stuffed toy in his son's arms and Yuri instantly hugged it close. The boy's thumb was firmly placed in his mouth. He brushed the boys bangs from his eyes, careful not to wake up the sleeping child. His wife stood in the doorway, looking at the scene. Concern was etched on her face. Yuri had been acting strangely lately. 

Kakashi stood up and walked out of the door, pulling it closed behind him. He embraced his wife and then softly kissed her lips. "How was you mission?" she asked "It went well, although I wished I could be here more often." he tells her "You're here now, that's all that counts." she tells him "I'm happy with any time I can get with you and so is Yuri. We missed you though."  she adds "I missed you too" he says with a chuckle and kisses his wife on her lips again "Besides I couldn't miss my son's second birthday, could I?" he says with a chuckle, Hikari bites her lip and chuckles a little "He's getting soo big, it's going waaaaaay too fast" she tells him with a sigh. A look of concern crosses her face again and Kakashi noticed. "What's wrong?" he asked her "It's just that...." she stops for a second and sighs "He's not been acting like himself for the past week. Something's bothering him and he won't tell us what it is." she tells her husband and looks him in the eye. "It's probably nothing" he replies "But what if it is?" she counters "What if he inherited 'the sight' and has seen something terrible? He doesn't even trust us enough to tell us about it!" she says and slides down against the wall. "Am I a bad mother?" she asks with tears in her eyes , her voice cracked. "Of course not" he says, taking her hands in his.

The morning came, events from the night before still fresh in their minds. Today was Yuri's second birthday, but the atmosphere was anything but jolly. Yuri, just like he had been the last two weeks, had clung to his parents as if they could disappear at any moment. Same thing for his uncles, his aunt and his grandparents. The rest of the village would be missed, but not all that much in his opinion. He had gotten lots of presents and lots and lots of sugary treats courtesy of his uncles, which his parents weren't really happy with. They usually already had a hard time getting the boy to bed, now he would become totally unmanageable. Yuri had found a new love for sweets and especially chocolate, but everything sugary would do. The kid apparently had a huge sweet tooth. At the end of the day, it was a joyous celebration of the youngest cub of the clan.