Amnesia | Naruto Fanfiction

9. Tacenda

The heavens were crying.

  As Hibiki and Yua were preparing to attend the funeral, they could hear the rain harshly splattering on the ground, staining the cement outside. The clouds were a dark shade of gray as it lingered lowly on the ground.

  Before they departed, an elderly lady came up to the two girls, handing them a bouquet of pure white flowers. Hibiki traced one of her pale fingers over the petals, the texture smooth and delicate.

  "Baasama... thank you," Hibiki said as the elderly lady lightly held onto their shoulders.

  There was a brief moment of silence between all of them as they remembered the Sandaime Hokage in peace. None of them found a need to say anything - they all knew what the other was thinking about.

  The city felt deserted as Hibiki and Yua slowly walked down the cobblestone streets of Konoha. Hibiki wore her hair in braided pigtails, donning a white button-up shirt with a black cardigan over it. Her black skirt went just above the knees as her white socks went halfway up her shins. Yua wore almost the exact same thing as her, although she wore black shorts, white socks that reached the ankles, and black sneakers. Her chestnut hair hung loosely above her shoulders, and her vision was obscured due to the rain falling on her glasses.

  The two were silent as they made their way to the funeral. There, all of the shinobi had their heads hung down as they began to remember the man who protected them all from harm. The two girls strode up to Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, nodding their heads to each other before they began to pay their respects as well.

  'Even the sky is in mourning...' Hibiki thought to herself as her violet eyes focused on the gloomy sky above.

  She was surprised to see so many people keep their composure as they paid their respects. However, there was a young boy who was crying to himself. Hibiki assumed that he was close to the Hokage.

  Meanwhile, the rain wasn't giving up. It began to pour down harder, dampening Hibiki's hair as she walked up to place her bouquet of flowers beside a picture of the Hokage. She went back, not minding the rain as she bowed down her head to remember the selfless man.

  Where could she begin with the Sandaime Hokage? He was the one who saved her from death, and offered a helping hand in assisting her in finding her attacker. When she learned that she was going to become an official genin of Konoha, Hibiki was in disbelief. But, it was comforting, knowing that she had some sort of identity rather than "the amnesiac."

  And now, he was dead, with his future taken away from him by Orochimaru.

  Hibiki clenched her teeth as she thought of him. She wasn't going to allow him and her attacker to win, no matter what. Hibiki would never forget the man who gave her a chance at success, and she knew that she wouldn't allow his death to be in vain, nor an obstacle to overcome. Rather, he would become fuel for her determination:

  He would be a reminder of the friends and family she failed to save.

***

The next day, Hibiki could feel stares coming her and Yua's way. Everyone they passed gave them distrustful looks, and Hibiki wondered what they could've done to receive that reaction. Some of them didn't even try to mask their suspicion. Instead, they whispered to whoever they were walking next to.

  "Aren't they the girls who caused all of this to happen?"

  'Caused all of this to happen?' Hibiki thought to herself, giving Yua a puzzled look. Yua shrugged, unsure of what the reactions were for.

  'Do they... really think all of these events were caused by us?'

  And that stuck in Hibiki's head as she went to her usual meditating place. She wasn't able to find any peace in her current state of mind. Rather, she stared up at the now clear sky, observing the weak wind that gently moved the fragile leaves. The grass was still damp from the day before, but she didn't mind.

  'Now that I think about it, Konohagakure wasn't in danger before Yua and I arrived. After all, one of Konoha's jounin was murdered as a means of infiltrating the village, and the entire chuunin exams was basically one unfortunate event after another, all planned by Orochimaru. And since the attacker is affiliated with him...'

  But she was given no more time to think to herself before a kunai was suddenly thrown in her direction. Just in time, Hibiki launched herself away from the kunai, landing safely as the metal weapon stuck in the dirt. She quickly grabbed a kunai out of her pouch, holding it in front of her chest as she waited for the next move.

  After waiting for minutes, nothing came. It felt as if nothing happened in the first place, but the weapon lodged in the dirt was a reminder that it wasn't a dream.

  Suddenly, Hibiki could a feel a tugging sensation at her stomach as she began to dread the events that her intuition told her were sure to come.

  'Is... this really not the end of the attack on Konoha?'

***

"Somebody tried to attack you?!" Yua exclaimed as she listened to Hibiki's news.

  "Yes, but it was really strange. Only one kunai was thrown in my direction, and nothing came after it," Hibiki said, her eyebrows furrowing as she was thinking of what the intention could've been behind the attack.

  "Hibiki-chan, I think you should inform--" but Yua paused in her tracks as she remembered that the Hokage was dead. "No, although he's dead now, we cannot allow his death to be in vain. We'll solve this together, right? Anyways, I think we should tell Kakashi-sensei instead. He's the only other person we know who's working on this case."

  Hibiki admired Yua when she heard the girl's confident statement, but her admiration quickly dissolved, "No, I don't think we should tell h--"

  "Do you still not trust him?" Yua asked.

  Hibiki let out a slight sigh, "I don't know if I can ever fully trust someone, you never know if someone's going to betray you. Anyways, I still find the attack strange. After all, if they had the intent to kill me, wouldn't they want to launch another wave of attacks once I jump away? Based on the aim, the kunai would've only injured me..."

  Yua held her hand up to her chin, pondering the girl's logic. She was about to say something before she saw a jounin up ahead. He was leaning against one of the buildings, his right foot leaning against the brick wall as the other was keeping him steady on the ground.

  "Kakashi-sensei," Yua greeted.

  "I was trying to find the two of you, but it looks like you found me instead," Kakashi said, rubbing the back of his head.

  'If you were really trying to find us, wouldn't you not be reading your book?' Hibiki thought.

  "Do you need to tell us something important?" Hibiki asked.

  Kakashi nodded his head in agreement before he spoke up:

  "The two of you are coming on a mission with me."  

Tacenda: things better left unsaid; matters to be passed over in silence.

In other news, I realized I've never described Hibiki's or Yua's clothing. Maybe I should start next chapter?

Also, thank you for 50+ votes! I can't believe I'm almost at 500 reads, I honestly never thought I'd make it past ten, haha.