Warring Times

|C:1|TJA|Part:3|Being A Shadow

When they first walked through the village gates, Kazuko was confronted by the sight of eight, buff-looking men beating up on, and intimidating, a local merchant. "Where's our money, Eiji?" They'd ask fiercely, glaring at the man. Some of them laughed as the others beat the poor man, who looked to be in his forties.

Kazuko stood on the dirt ground, watching from a fare distance as the man was beaten in front of his own shop. Punch here, kick there. The fighting wasn't very trained, which told Kazuko the men were civilians. However, a select few were emotionless, or at least wore an emotionless mask, their posture straight, and their stances were different. At an angle, so their back was to the store, therefore they could see everything else. Ninjas. From a village, or rogue? Kazuko couldn't be sure. They wore no head protectors, but some ninjas chose not to. She took a tentative step forward, only to be pulled back by Sakumo.

"Not our fight." He shook his head, a look of pity on his face as he watched the man. He averted his eyes back to Kazuko, and expanded on his statement at the look she gave him. It was somewhere between questioning and mad. After all, she knew he was capable of taking down the ninjas, and he knew she was capable of taking down the civilians. They were beating an innocent man, so why wouldn't Sakumo allow them to do something about it. "Look kid, I'm gonna be blunt, many people are after me. If you're with me, that means they're also after you. I could fight those men, but this is a small village. The story would get around. This is also a merchants village, so people from other villages frequent often. The story would spread to other villages that we're here, and we'd all be in trouble then."

She grunted, looking down. "I thought ninjas were supposed to protect." She said, recalling Sakumo's words. She looked at him, a sharp look in her eyes. She felt Junko squeeze her hand, so she looked at her with a strained smile. "It's okay, Junko-chan. Even if we can't save that man, we'll be okay."

"Exactly." Kazuko scowled at him, but nodded none-the-less. Sakumo took out his wallet, pointedly ignoring the cries of the man being beaten up. "Time to go to the shops." He said, earning nods from the girls, so he started walking down the streets, Junko and Kazuko following him.

Kazuko changed into her new clothes, which consisted of pretty simple things. Tight, long-sleeved white shirt, a black short-sleeved shirt over that, and some baggy, black pants. She wrapped her thigh in bandages, wincing at the place where the sharp vines used to be. She pulled an actual pocket for kunai and shuriken around her right thigh. It felt much better than her previous one. She also had a pair of dark blue ninja sandals.

Junko wore some white shorts and a top that had daisies on it, along with a pair of civilian sandals. Kazuko smiled at Junko in the mirror, as she was sitting behind her, while doing her hair. They had both just taken showers, and Kazuko was fixing Junko's wild main of pastel blue hair. She gently pulled it back, tying it into a sectioned French braid, just like her's.

"Thank you, Nee-chan." Junko jumped up, kissing her sister on the cheek before running to the sliding door that led to the backyard of the hotel, which had a swing set on it.

Kazuko watched her from the window of the hotel room, which had two beds, with a small smile on her pale face. "She's a bundle of energy, hmm?" She asked, feeling Sakumo's presence behind her. She heard a grunt of agreement. "Sakumo-san, even if Konohagakure refuses my entry, they'll let her stay right? It... it was my Kaa-san's dying wish."

A hand was placed on her shoulder. "I promise you, Kazuko-kun, if you're not allowed entry, I'll look after Junko-chan for you. My wife and I have always wanted a kid, but with the war..." Sakumo smiled, dreamily looking off at the thought of his beautiful wife, Hanako.

Kazuko nodded. "I understand." She whispered. "Nii-san's fiancé was beautiful. But, because of the war... she didn't see him often." She mumbled.

"You'd love her, Imouto! She's gorgeous... and sweet."