The Agni saga- Part I Drifting memories (Chapter Five- Contrasts)

[adithya]

Hey guys. It's been quite a while now, and I finally finished up this chapter. Hope ya'll like this one

Read the other chapters here:

https://www.shinobilifeonline.com/index.php?topic=2913.msg50195#msg50195

With that:

Chapter 5 Contrasts

 
Akaihono

A figure in blue, dancing, caught on fire. Face bent out of shape, irreparable. Screams that were too loud to hear, fears too real to comprehend. ‘Too much’ Akaihono thought.

‘Come on, hono. Finish your dinner. Is it not to your liking?’ asked Kino-san the caretaker. ‘It’s fine Kino-San, as always’ he replied with a smile. He thought a smile could hide a million things from many people. After all, how different is smiling to hide your feelings from talking ones way out of everything?

Kino-san smiled back at Akaihono. ‘Ha. See? No one realizes’ he thought to himself. ‘All right! Dessert time!’ Kino-san announced, when her co-workers Miachi-san and Shiromi-san brought out the pudding.

It was a fortnightly tradition at the Family orphanage, to have humongous dessert. Last time it had been cake in honor of the late Kino-san’s husband. The man who established the orphanage, the man who had first found Akaihono wrapped up in the black flame bordered cloak.

‘It’s sometimes best to forget, child. Not all memories present one the best of moods’ Kino-san told Akaihono as she monitored the dinner hall to make sure that the mischievous Hikari didn’t smuggle one for a midnight snack. Akaihono looked up at her, dazzled. ‘How did she know?’ he asked himself and remembered the answer to the question frequented by Hikari.

 Smiling, he replied ‘Yeah... Thank you Hino-san’ ‘It is the duty of a parent to advice her children through tough times’ she said. ‘Now go on, eat your pudding. Hikari might just have herself a second helping.’ ‘Ha! Like I’d let that happen!’



Sareko

Struggling to keep his moments straight due to his crippling hunger, Sareko scaled a volcano, in hopes of finding the village famous for its dumplings. With his black ninja vest slowing him down, he took it off and hid it under a boulder, where he hoped no one would look. Wiping the sweat and short hair (but growing) hair off his forehead, Sareko headed up the volcano to finally find a stable flow of food for himself. 
Upon reaching the village, Sareko felt a mysterious presence around the village. The atmosphere was eerie and the village was desolate. With complete silence and no human in sight, Sareko put up his guard. He walked through the old and damaged houses of the village and when he reached the biggest building, he felt a striking pain on his neck. He tried to turn around, when he felt his arm bleed and his vision blur.

Sareko fell to the ground not to be wakened for a very long time.


8 years later,
Somewhere deep inside a dark tunnel

‘I have returned, master. I have the information at last. The information from 10 years ago… It hasn’t been for naught, alas, Hiro Yagami was but an old man ready to give up.’ Said the voice of a man in his mid twenties.

‘And? What is it that you have found for me?’ the man asked.

With a vicious smile on his face, the white haired devil replied ‘Hiro Yagami’s last meal’



Akaihono

It was pretty late into the night, and past his bed time. Akaihono looked out of the wooden window from his shared hall where he slept with the other orphans. He leapt out and landed on the sunshade of the window of the hall where he had had his dinner earlier.
Silently creeping through the grass below, Akaihono climbed the biggest tree in the village, under which he loved dozing off during his chores.
With the moon at its peak and against his red hair, Akaihono felt a deeper connection with nature than he had ever before. Akaihono wanted to become a shinobi. ‘That’ll help me get stronger, won’t it? Stronger is better’ he thought out loud.
‘Not always, you know’ said a sweet voice.


Hikari

Tossing and turning in her bed, Hikari could not sleep. She had heard sounds, but was too lazy to get up and investigate. Luckily, her bed was right next to one of the windows. With nothing to do, Hikari looked out of the window to witness the almost glowing scarlet hair of Akihono, sending a chill down her spine. ‘What’s he doing up there?’ she thought.

Akaihono seemed to be talking to someone, but Hikari couldn’t see anyone sitting next to him on the big branch, so her eyes groped the dark areas finally reaching the end of the bark. Reina had been leaning on the bark, but with her dark blue robes, she seemed to blend with the shadows.

Hikari was frustrated at only watching their lips move. So, got out of bed and sat on the window sill. While admiring Akaihono’s glowing scarlet hair, she jumped down to the ground, landing on all fours.
 
As she walked up to the two of them who had now noticed her, she straightened her blonde hair and ruffled clothes.


Reina

Reina wanted solitude, away from the constant and repeated bickering of her parents. She had often found company with the moon during the nights, and so had come to climb the tallest tree in the village. Upon approaching the Giant sequoia, Reina saw that Akaihono, with whom she played often had found himself seated comfortably on one of it’s big braches.

The elders had told stories about the Sequoia, and had named it the Elder tree. The Elder tree, quite ironically was the youngest Sequoia amongst the villages nearby. Old man Shin had told Reina stories of how the Village hidden in the volcanoes, or the ‘Kazangakure’ had the oldest and biggest Sequioa tree in all of the volcanic lands. She had wanted to visit this village for the longest time, but her parents could never decide on anything, let alone a trip.

When she reached the 130 foot tall Elder tree, she heard Akaihono mumble about how being strong is always better. She thought otherwise. Reina had seen her father get enraged and push her mother. Once, he pushed her so hard, her mother had hit her head. She had never seen her father so sad and tense after that.
‘Not always, you know’ Reina replied to Akaihono’s thoughts on strength. Akaihono looked down at her and replied ‘you would know’ with a soft smile on his face. ‘Planning on going off to Kazangakure to learn jutsu, are you?’ Reina asked him.

‘I don’t see anything else to do right now. Life is good, but how long am I going to keep doing chores?’ replied Akaihono.

‘I can’t argue with that.... Promise me this, hono' 'take me with you. You know that you need to, don't you?'

'Of course I do' Akaihono finished.


Akaihono

Akaihono had always been sharp with people and recently he found that his instincts had become sharp too. When he heard the sound of a person landing on the ground, he ducked down, to avoid being seen by Kino-san.

‘Relax, it’s only Hikari’ said Reina. Akaihono turned back to see Hikari pull down her golden hair, which glittered in the silver moonlight. As she walked towards the Elder tree, Akaihono sat upright, and thought of a cheeky comment to pass on her being unusually awake.  ‘Don’t you dare’ said Reina sharply.

With half a smile on his face, Akaihono turned from the moon, to face Hikari, brushing past the thick branches. He felt a sharp pain on the back of his neck. Struggling, he picked out a thin wooden splinter from the nape of his neck. He fell from the branches to the ground, but he had already become unconscious by the time he slipped.


----END----


Thank's for reading. Tell me how you guys liked it, and how I can improve

[KimotoHaikye]

Nice! Good read.

[adithya]

Nice! Good read.

Thanks man

[StriderOtaku]

aah, sorry I missed this Adi.
It's a good read, as usual. I still like Akaihono most, lol
It took you long enough to get this chapter out, but it was great.

[adithya]

aah, sorry I missed this Adi.
It's a good read, as usual. I still like Akaihono most, lol
It took you long enough to get this chapter out, but it was great.

Thanks man

Glad you liked it and akaihono xD I was a little scared writing his personality but I think I know what kind of person he is now and that'll reflect on the next chapter