Euphoric Dysphoria [A Naruto Fan Fiction]

Chapter 4 - Of Consequences & Future Dreams

"You never know the value of something until you lost it."

There was the sliding of the wooden door, the shuffling of cloth as the babysitter went to greet the newcomer. The pain in her veins from the flu was also present, and the foreboding feeling that something was horribly, horribly wrong. There were murmurs in the background, dim, hushed whispers of words that were never meant to reach her ears.

The sobs were the first thing she fully registered, the soft heart wrenching cries of their caretaker carrying through the corridors of the house. The news bearer offered apologies, of course. Ones that were void of meaning, empty of real emotion. The spoon that was in her hand dropped, clattering to the floor, a thunderclap in the quiet state of shock she was in.

Then it all came crashing down.

She screamed.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Kiyone sat grimly in the stiff silence, half-lidded eyes scanning the scenery as it moved. The dull brown and green hues of the forest that made up the majority of The Land of Fire flew by in a mixed blur, passing by her violet gaze the same way most of the trees in the past four hours had.

Another jolt. The wheels of the carriage ran over more stray stones, bumping and jittering along the rocky path noisily.

'Yet another difference between this world and mine-the roads.' She thought morbidly, shifting a little in the silent masked guard's lap. She really didn't see a point to wearing a mask; his hair was green, after all. Pink was ridiculous enough, but green was just...oh wait, she was forgetting Fuu. And Konan. Never mind.

She was brooding. Mourning. Sulking. Feeling sorry for herself. She supposed she could at least allow herself a bit of self pity, especially after the events that had taken place recently. After all, what did it matter if one insignificant life in the world was feeling depressed, especially if said insignificant life was nought but a barely two year old toddler?

Their parents were dead. They were really dead. Gone. She would never see them again.

It felt like a dream, really, just like her existence in this world did.

Kotone was sniffing in her sleep beside Mia (or something; Kiyone REALLY could not be bothered remembering), twitching every now and then, her blonde hair matted with tears. Both she and Kiyone were struck hard by the sudden passing of their parents, though perhaps the former a bit more than the latter. After all, Koizumi Daichi and Koizumi Umi weren't truly Kiyone's parents, or at least not her real ones.

Their burial had been a dim and quiet procession. Daichi and Umi's bodies had been cremated, burned in the vivid dance of the flames under the relentless sun. The whole village was there, standing stiffly in the heat. The atmosphere had been heavy, heavy like the stuffy black mourning yukata she had been dressed in. Heavy like the metaphorical stone in her throat that had lasted throughout the ceremony.

Kiyone had wanted to scream and shout at the heavens and at the people, in English or otherwise, how unfair it was. How they shouldn't have died, how someone else should have taken their place. She wanted to punch and kick and slap and bite at the various figures who came to pay their condolences to both Kotone and her, but mostly to Kotone. They only came because they learned of the sisters' heritage. They didn't even know the deceased couple.

But she had kept her silence, angry hot tears dripping down her face in the place of her words of grief, and sad nods accompanied with whispers of 'thank you' replaced the acts of violence.

Kiyone laughed wryly, startling Kotone from her sleep. Mia glanced at her with a look of worry, but Kiyone merely looked away from them. How hypocritical of her, to accuse the others of not knowing the couple when she herself didn't even think of them as her parents.