Chap 1
Staring blankly at the wooden wall across from her Hanare couldn't help but exhale a soft sigh, as she pushed herself from her seated position to stand up. She never did like mornings.
She scrambled across her little apartment in search of the music sheets she needed for her class today. After that incident with the Hidden Leaf Village and a certain silver haired ninja she had broken ties with her village and had been accustomed to travelling around the world. This was something she had dreamt of doing ever since she was a young girl, wanting to escape the strict confines of her village which denied her any access to the outside world. She made ends meet by completing simple tasks from village to village such as waitressing, cleaning, and performing her shamisen at festivals. She was able to utilize her espionage skills effectively to disguise herself in order to ensure that ninjas from foreign villages would not detect her.
She enjoyed her time on the road as she was able to experience things she had only dreamt of in her childhood. The constant chatter that was around her, along with the aromas of various foods street vendors were trying to sell, all of that evoked a new sensation in her, it was as if she were floating on cloud nine. Her senses had never experienced such a relaxed freedom before. However, there did exist those moments where she felt numbness in her heart at having to spend so much time on her own, not having any real friends or family to turn to.
When her thoughts did consume her they were always riddled with recreated scenarios of what occurred on that day atop the cliff. What if Kakashi's little squad of genin caught up to them and persuaded their sensei to let her stay. She imagined that the little blonde haired boy named Naruto would have definitely begged his sensei to let her stay in the village. Then maybe she wouldn't have to wake up so grumpy every morning, because she would know that she did not have to worry about being ambushed or caught by the enemy because she was surrounded by people she trusted and who would protect her. There was also the possibility of love blossoming in the Hidden Leaf Village, as her mind would then wander off to the tall team 7 leader Kakashi, who was shrouded by a mysterious aura and had a wall surrounding his heart higher and tougher than hers. She would have never thought that her petty crush from childhood would continue on even into her mid-twenties. She had only ever met the man twice and yet she could not fight the uncontrollable blush that made its way to her cheeks and her erratic heart beats every time she made eye contact with him.
She couldn't help but utter another sigh this time louder and more forced. Hanare scolded herself for allowing her mind to wander, Kakashi may have settled down and started his own family by now. He was also Hokage now, he would have no interest in a girl like her he'd most likely had married some noble princess by now. Despite his loner personality and masked appearance anyone could tell he was handsome. He had a lean and muscled figure and even though the mask prevented others from seeing his face one could tell that he possessed high cheekbones, and a sharp jaw line judging from how his mask fit with his face. She had heard words floating around from village to village about his heroic deeds in the Fourth Great Ninja war, as the Third Division Commander, so it was no surprise that women would swoon and the masked appearance only made him more alluring. Hanare couldn't help but grumble at the thought of Kakashi and another woman and slammed her apartment door behind her.
Walking down the village streets Hanare soaked up the sun's ray and exhaled loudly in delight. Shamisen strapped to her back and clutching her music sheets she made her way to the school. She would occasionally smile and greet the other villagers she crossed paths with. Although the war was over she could still feel the after effects, as villages tried to rebuild themselves economically, and socially. As a result, she had decided to stay in this quaint village on the outskirts of the Land of Fire, helping teach the local children. Many of the children were war orphans who had sought refuge in the village. Hanare couldn't help but grimace at those unfortunate children who had to lose their parents to a cruel war, considering she herself grew up without the love of a mother or father. That may be possibly why she decided to stay in such a banal village and took up a position teaching.
By the time she reached the entrance of the school she was greeted by the smiling faces of many of her students. She in turn greeted them warmly and gathered them into the building. It wasn't anything just a simple wooden house converted into a school with the rooms containing desks and drawings made by the students. Morning lesson had passed by in a breeze and now it was time for lunch she and her accompanying teachers were now supervising the children who were playing under the bright sun.
"Not a cloud in the sky, huh?" Megumi uttered whilst munching on a rice ball. Hanare followed her line of sight and looked up to the sky and it was true the clouds were missing.
Still staring at the clouds Hanare muttered, "Such a shame I really like clouds." She looked away in an attempt to get invading thoughts of Kakashi out of her mind and turned towards Megumi who was now staring at her curiously. Megumi then smiled slyly at her before latching onto Hanare's arm, "well, well, well lovely little Hanare is blushing madly," she leaned into Hanare's ear and whispered, "are these thoughts of a man?"
Hanare quickly jumped back feeling her face flushing and turning beet red. She vehemently shook her head trying to shake off Megumi's suspicions. Megumi simply replied, "just warning you Hanare us girls aren't getting any younger, and you're so pretty, any guy would want to be with you." Hanare couldn't help but stare in envy at the engagement ring adorning Megumi's finger. Megumi knew what Hanare was staring at and patted her on the back in comfort.
By late afternoon, classes had finished and it was just Megumi and Hanare who occupied the classroom and were doing some last minute clean up and lesson planning.
Megumi suddenly called out to Hanare, "Hey Hanare," Hanare looked up at Megumi expectantly. "A messenger ninja dropped by from Konoha and they were wondering if any students who possessed chakra wanted to go train there."
"On whose orders?" Hanare enquired cautiously, there were still a few bandit ninja roaming around targeting small villages.
"The Hokage, of course" Megumi scurried around her desk and picked up a scroll passing it to her. Hanare read the contents of the scroll in curiosity and Megumi was right it was an official letter from Konoha stating that the village would offer ninja training to children who possessed chakra. At the end of the scroll was Kakashi's signature.
"I'm guessing they would make such a request, considering most of the small village schools would have been destroyed." Hanare hypothesized and Megumi nodded in agreement.
"Do the kids know?" Hanare inquired shifting her gaze from the scroll to Megumi. She shook her head, "Not yet, I want to tell them tomorrow."
She continued, "some of them don't have any parents and are free to choose whether or not they wish to take this opportunity, and I was wondering if I could ask a favor." Hanare's brows furrowed, looking at Megumi's who looked like she was on the verge of tears. "I know your nature and how you don't stay in one place for long, so I was wondering if you could depart with the kids to Konoha."
Hanare was taken aback she didn't know how to respond to such a request. But it was true Megumi must have sensed that Hanare felt that she was over-extending her stay in the little village and would leave soon to another place. Hanare had always made her intentions to leave known to Megumi. But still to take on a request such as this would be out of her character, once Hanare left a place all ties she made from that place would be severed in order for her to start fresh somewhere else.
"I know it's a lot, but the children have become really accustomed to you and it would break their hearts just to see you go," Megumi began to sniffle, "so, it would be easier if you left with a proper reason that the children would be able to comprehend, besides a Leaf ninja will be assisting you in taking the kids there as well."
The tears were now flowing freely on Megumi's face. Hanare knew that it pained Megumi just thinking about departing from the children and breaking their friendship. However, Megumi was right it would be selfish of Hanare to leave the children behind without a proper reason. She stared at the scroll that lay discarded on the desk and made up her mind.
"I guess it can't be helped," Hanare said, "I'll leave the village with the children who wish to become ninjas."
Through tear filled eyes Megumi muttered a soft thank you to Hanare. Hanare's heart was gloomy at having to leave her dear friend, but it was bound to happen anyway. She looked out the window in hopes of spotting clouds to calm her down and over in the distance was a lone cloud, that looked like a dog. Hanare couldn't help but smile a little.