Destiny Ninja 2 - Where the Sun Waits

Where the Sun Waits

The faint crying of a young boy with cerulean hair and amber eyes echoed through the dark chamber. He sat in the corner of the room with his knees to his chest and his face buried in his arms, his body trembling as he sobbed.

"Why did they abandon me?" he questioned the empty air. "Why did they put me here? Did I do something wrong?"

He wanted so badly to believe that his parents had sent him to the hidden village for his own good, but he just couldn't convince himself of this void fantasy. He knew in his heart that no loving father and mother would send their son to such a cruel place for his own good. They sent him here because he wasn't quite what they wanted. He wasn't good enough, strong enough, fast enough. He was nothing like Kaito.

The nights stretched on, the days blended together. This wasn't a training camp, it was a prison. It was torture. Who on earth would make little boy go through this? Who would isolate a child from the world under the excuse of doing it for their sake? For those long years of his life, all he could remember was pain and darkness. It was enough to drive the weak, sensitive child he was to the brink of insanity.

But there was one thing that kept him going. Or rather, one person.

In the front of his memory, through all of his misery and suffering, he was always thinking of the little girl of the same age. He remembered seeing her not long before he had to leave the Summer Village.

"I have to go away soon," he had told her in that field where they would always play. "I won't be able to see you for a while... but please... don't forget me."

He still remembered how the girl had smiled at him to lift his fears and comfort him. "Don't worry," she replied. "I will never forget you."

From that moment on, the boy had vowed to himself to get stronger. He would come back from the hidden ninja village someday and be the one to protect the girl and comfort her when she was upset. It was for this sole reason that he endured all the pain, all the sadness, all the loneliness. The little boy lost himself to the darkness for her.

He kept his word, and she kept hers. He returned one day, a few long years later. He refused to face his parents and opted to live with his childhood friend, Kaito. The chieftain's family welcomed him with open arms and respected his privacy on the topic of where he had suddenly disappeared to for so long. Of course, he eventually confided in his friend about the hidden ninja village, but decided to keep most of the details to himself.

The boy also learned that he had somehow gained a second personality along the way, one that acted quite different from him. However, it caused little trouble, so he chose to ignore it for the time being.

Then, finally, he was given the chance to see her again. His savior.

She was visiting with her father to get some training on the work of a mediator between the different villages, and since they went to see the Summer Village chieftain, the boy was able to meet the girl again. She was overjoyed when she learned of his return, and he made sure to smile brightly in front of her. He vowed to keep his inner demons locked away, because she only deserved the angelic side of him. She deserved happiness, not pain.

As the two of them walked towards the meadow where they used to spend much of their childhood, talking and laughing, the boy couldn't help but compare her to the sun. She was the source of light, strength, and hope for him. And he was the sunflower.

"Shiroya?" the girl called.

"Yes?" he responded, breaking away from his thoughts.

"I really missed you," she said with a warm smile. Her eyes sparkled so beautifully.

He grinned at her with his eyes closed. "I missed you too! Don't worry, I won't ever leave again."

This was his home, this was where he would stay, for this was where the sun had waited for him.