Trepidation of The Red Sand

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

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    Two women sat atop a cliffside, the waterfall beside them, a forest behind, but below them was the burnt ruins of a village. The shattered remains of a home for hundreds of people was now reduced to little more than rubble. It took nothing more than a simple nod and the two shinobi dispersed towards either side of remains.

As they wandered the broken village it was clear that there had been a great battle, blood, weapons, corpses, and severed limbs coated the streets and covered the rooftops. In a single night the country had been destroyed, and now the remnants were burning away.  "Mei!” A girl's voice rang out, “We have a survivor!”

The shinobi headed towards her partner. When she arrived she saw her crouched above a young boy, not much more than a toddler. The boy’s limbs were trembling, eyes wide and tears had left tracks through the dirt and blood covering his face and arms. He couldn’t be more than five years old, and seemed to be in a lot of pain. "He's the only one, and he needs medical attention. What do you want to do?" Asked the other ninja.

"Let's take him back. Our mission is finished anyway." The masked girl answered as she retrieved the boy into her arms.

Two days later saw the three back safely to the Village Hidden in the Mist. The small survivor they brought back was thankfully only injured by a few sebon to his chest and arms. Possible that he had tried to protect himself. After a couple of nights in the infirmary and he was well enough for interrogation.  

"So, this is him? The boy the Terumi Sisters brought in?" Asked a small, green haired boy with bright pink eyes. Lord Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage. 

The young boy was sat stiffly in his chair. Unsure of what to do he looked around him and tried not to make eye contact. His brown hair was short and spiky and his vision was still a little blurry from waking up, but he could tell he was in a small dark room with a couple of other people. 

"Who are you?" He asked.

The man with green hair sat down in front of the child. "My name is Yagura, I'm the Mizukage. Do you know what that means?" He asked calmly. His voice was soft, but anyone who knew Yagura understood that that softness wouldn't last long. Sadly for young Shiro it didn't last very long at all.

It took nearly a week of constant, intense interrogation before Yagura was convinced of the boy's innocence. It was only after there was nothing left for the child to give that he decided to allow him residence in the mist village. On the condition he serve it well, of course.

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    *Three years later

    A tall, burly instructor stood before the desk of the Fourth Mizukage as he gave his report on his class. “Our top student is Nozawa Hemato, he far outstrips everyone else in the class and, if we can find a way to channel his aggression, I believe he will be an excellent addition to our rank after he completes his training. Next, we have Takani Shiromaru, he has shown significant improvement in the three years we have had him. He works hard and focuses on improvement.” Here he sighed and rubbed his face. “He would honestly be a perfect student if he didn’t lose his mind around Nozawa.” He shook his head, “A few more for your notice would be Koturo Hibaki, Hozuki Maigestu, Kizo Toruko, and Mokime Lei. Their files are all at the top with the other graduate hopefuls.” The instructor finished.

Yagura nodded. "Hemato is another adopted orphan correct? I believe he was found by the Demon Brothers close to our border. Set him and Shiro together with someone who will even them out.” The Mizukage stated as he read through the other file. He brought one to the top. "The Hozuki girl, that is our Mangetsu's sister is she not?” He didn’t wait for an answer before continuing. “Put her with the boys, maybe those savages can toughen her up a little." He decided.