Warring Times

|Prologue|

(A/N)
Hi~
If you are reading this, it means that I actually published this story. This story is my first long, thought out story, so I hope you enjoy it.

To make it easier on myself, I planned this book in Arks(I.e. TJA, TWA, Etc.)

I ask that you don't steal ideas or copy, without asking me or giving me credit.

Please tell me if I've made a spelling error, or an error in anything else, really.

Thank you for reading this, and I hope you enjoy.
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Togattahoshi Kazuko remembered times of peace. Before the second Ninja war started, and before her home, Amegakure, got raided by other shinobi villages, whom all started fighting. This event led to devastation in Ame, along with many deaths.

Kazuko's older brother, Hisoka, was the first to go in her family. He was cut down while walking through the streets, the raids that day had started earlier than usual. He didn't even get a funeral. His body was burned, along with the rest of the mountains of bodies in the streets.

Kazuko's father, Daichi, went next. He got sick, but because of the danger of stepping foot outside of the house for medicine, he didn't get any. He wasted away in his room for months before dying. She was never allowed to go see him, because he didn't want her to get sick.

Next, was her mother, Emi. Emi gave the last of her rations to Kazuko. She starved, not before informing Kazuko of how to survive though.

Kazuko stared down at her mother, tears falling from her eyes. Her younger sister, Junko, clutched onto Kazuko's long-sleeved, black shirt, sobbing silently and burying her head in Kazuko's side. Kazuko wrapped her thin arms around Junko.

Emi smiled bittersweetly at the two, seemingly reminiscent about how things were before the war. "Kazuko-chan... I never wanted this for you. I never wanted you to have to... Fight." Emi closed her eyes, releasing a ragged breath. "The world is a dark place, full of pain and suffering. But, to survive, I need you to leave Amegakure. Cut across the border, leave to Konoha. They'll question you, but they're the best village to go to. The others would... not be so accepting." The They would torture and then kill you for information, part of that sentence was better left unsaid. Neither of them wanted to upset Junko anymore.

"But Kaa-san... a Leaf ninja was the one who- who!" Kazuko protested, squeezing her eyes shut as if trying to forget the image of her brother, Hisoka, who was cut down by a Leaf ninja. She sighed. "They don't seem like nice people."

Emi's eyes shined with an unrecognizable emotion. Sadness, regret, desperation? Kazuko wasn't sure. "Kazuko, to live, you must learn this: very few people in this world are truly nice. I'm not. Your father wasn't. We all have a goal we're willing to step over people to get to. We all have people we're willing to kill an innocent for. I hate them for what they did," Kazuko could swear she saw her mother's eyes change, "but they're your only hope now. I'm going to tell you what my father told me: Pride is useless. It holds you back from asking for help, and stops you from doing things you know as right. Swallow your pride, and keep your sister safe. The only way to do that-"

"Is by leaving Ame." Kazuko whispered, her eyes wide, as if she had just realized something she never thought of before. She snapped out of it, tears refilling her eyes. "But, Kaa-san, I don't want to leave you!"

Emi sighed, rolling over in her old bed, which creaked loudly. The sheets and blankets were dirty, like most things in their house currently. She watched her two daughter's as they kneeled, the youngest holding onto the eldest for comfort. "You must, Kazuko-chan." She whispered, suddenly feeling sleepy. "Now go." She watched at Kazuko's pastel blue eyes widened. "I love you, Kazuko, Junko. Keep each other safe." She raised her bony hand to the back of their head's, gently kissing their temples. "The raids will start in forty minutes. We live three hours from the border. If you go now, you'll be out of the way of the raids."

Kazuko's eyes sharpened, and she nodded stiffly. Pushing herself to her feet, she pulled Junko up, too. "Take the scrolls, some food, and clothes. Remember what I've taught you, Kazuko-chan." Kazuko nodded once more, staring at her mother for a good minute. She tried to memorize her face, her eyes, her hair, her smile. Everything. For she knew she would never see her again.

"I don't want to leave Kaa-chan, Nee-chan!" Junko cried, the two year-old struggling to free herself from her older sister's grasp. Junko tried her hardest to get back to her mom, who paled with every second it seemed, but to no avail.

"I'm sorry, Imouto." Kazuko whispered. She pulled her sister along with her to the hallway, shutting the door to her mother's room before rushing around the dimly lit living room and finding her bag. She stuffed it with food, her sister's clothes, as the bag was small and she wouldn't be able to fit everything her mother asked if she also added her clothes, and the scrolls that were on her kitchen table. She kept herself strong, not wanting to upset Junko, who was trying desperately to get back into their mother's room, anymore.

Kazuko threw on her thin, black jacket, the only jacket she currently had without holes in it, and then put Junko's jacket on her. A lot of kicking and screaming was involved, but it eventually worked. She then rounded the corner into her brother's room, where she grabbed three of his thick, camouflage jackets. She put one on herself and two on Junko, figuring that Junko was more important and therefore needed to be the most warm in the raining and cold weather of Ame.

She put on her purple back pack, which had all of their supplies in it, and then picked up a struggling Junko. She raced around the house, blowing out all the candles. They were now in complete darkness. She walked outside, Junko on her hip, and turned to look at her house. It was small, but it was home. And now she'd have to leave it to be destroyed by ninjas who couldn't care less that she had all of her memories in there. Closing her eyes and breathing out deeply, she realized how hard it would be to leave home. She turned around, Junko still crying and attached to her hip, and started running towards the forest.

Kazuko had seen too much for a seven year-old. She had seen her brother be cut down mercilessly, the ninja who did so not even caring that he had killed a brother to two young girls, and the son of two loving parents. Of course they didn't though, they were ninjas. It was their job to kill without caring. And Kazuko had to become one, in order to protect her sister. It was then that she decided, leaping through the tree tops while holding her sister, running away from the only home she ever knew, leaving her mother to eventually die a slow death of starvation, she would change that. She would train her hardest and then she would learn to lead. She would lead people to peace, without fighting. It was a dream people would chuckle at, and she later realized how naive it was, but she never stopped reaching for that goal. So, with new determination, she leapt through the trees, limbs scraping her face, so as to not scrape her sister.

"It's all for you, Nii-san, Tou-san, Kaa-san."