Red Wind Lullaby

“Whore….” That wasn’t a word she wasn’t used to hearing. Its been over five years since she awoke in Konoha and five years since her son Ichiro was born. In the five years she may not have always heard the word, but it was in the women’s eyes when they first looked at her carrying her baby boy struggling to shush his cries. They all looked at her and she heard the young childless mothers criticize her, some of the older women who probably shared similar situations took a bit more pity on her and looked away when she had to sit and wipe his snotty face.
The women talked about her in the way women do, and she hadn’t been aware how much the men would talk about her or how much they noticed her until they caught her coming back from work in the late hours promising to pay the elderly women who had offered to watch Ichiro the following week. Usually then the men were drunk and one or two fools would grab her delicate wrist and yank her back to them asking if she wanted to play. Terrified she would plea that she had her son with her and they would insist he would know no different. She would scream and the Shinobi patrolling the village would stop and break up the whole thing leaving her to sit and hold her son to her breast in tears, shaking. In the loss of easy prey the man would scream obscenities, among the words would be whore.
“Ichiro, How old are you?” She set the groceries on the table while Ichiro set his own two little bags on the nearest chair.
“Five.” The boy stated simply. A young man of few words Ichiro was. Don’t be mistaken he can talk well enough, but “why waste words” he says.
“You’re lying. “ She sat in the chair tired as Ichiro begun to unpack bags.
“I’m not. You know that.” He smiled a little at his mom who was busy rubbing away a headache.
“Five years already?” She continued to massage away the pain around her eyes. “That makes me twenty one. Man I’m old!” She heard the bags rustle before stopping and the creaking of cabinet doors.
“You’re not old.” He began putting away the groceries.
“I will be!! When you’re ten I’ll be twenty six.” She sighed. “Oh well, comes the joys of being a mommy though!”
“Mama..” Ichiro stopped smiling and his usual hard stare replaced his face.
“Yes my darling.”
“I.” He stopped and knelt before his mother who turned her eyes down at him from under the hand that massaged the headache away. “I want to learn to be a Shinobi.” He watched her eyebrows furrow.
“What?”
“I want to be a Ninja!!” His gaze locked with hers and her lips pursed in. her hands moved to caress his white hair, she was fortunate such an obvious trait of hers stood out so blatantly in her boy. The more of her the better since she needn’t think of the man who raped her. “I want to be a Ninja!” Her son repeated.
Ninja…A word she hadn’t grown accustomed to hearing until she came to Konoha. In her sheltered life where men did all the fighting and protecting, here on this side of the world seeing men and women fighting to protect this village. As far as she was concerned this Ninja business was dangerous business, business that required training from childhood on. The same year she learned the word Ninja she had also learned the term Missing-Nin.
“A… Shinobi?” She looked at him. “Why?”
“You, you look so sad so much!! So scared!” His face, passive. His eyes, pleading. “I want to take care of you! Of this village! I want to be strong!” She smiled at him and touched his hair.
“Go finish putting the groceries away. Hinata-Chan will be here soon. I invited her to lunch today.”
“Okay…” Ichiro sighed softly and proceeded putting away what he could and Kanna putting away what he couldn’t. Not before long at all the door opened.
“Hinata-Chan. You’re early!” Kanna called.
“I’ll say where’s the food I was promised.” A voice made her jump and she turned to smile at Kiba.
“You weren’t promised anything.” Kanna leaned against the counter. “Today I remember distinctly telling Hinata-Chan she was invited to lunch.”
“I tried telling him that…” Hinata’s voice came from behind Kiba who was practically pushed out of the way.
“I think I should be fed everyday until the kid is eighteen. After all he would’ve been gone if I hadn’t smelled you.”
“Yeah, yeah. “ Kanna waved her hand at the guy who knelt on the floor and turned to fill a bowl for Akamaru who faithfully waited by the door. “I told you I was grateful for that.” Kanna quieted and crossed the room and set the bowl before Akamaru.
“You’re getting big.” Kiba ruffled Ichiro’s hair who merely brushed his hand away.
“Yeah he is. Hard to believe he’s five right?” Kanna washed her hands and set to work on lunch.
“Five?” Hinata looked at Kanna. “Already?” The female’s voice had grown stronger overtime, but with that last ‘already’ it seems she had regressed back to fifteen years old, shy and quiet.
“Oh! Five!” Kiba laughed and smacked the boy on his back. “You’re going to go to the academy right?” He laughed as Kanna’s spine straightened and Hinata shot her teammate a look.
“I.” Ichiro sat up straight and looked at Kiba. “I already asked to go, but I’ve not received an answer yet.”
“Why not? It’ll do him some good, rather than be his momma’s boy.” Kanna turned on Kiba knife pointed at him. If she got violent, dodging would be no problem, but he amused her and held his hands up.
“I have to think about it! I am his mother!” She turned back to her chopping block. “ And I have been. But that will be another time between my son and myself. Hinata can you cut the onion for me?”
“Y-yes…” Came Hinata’s soft reply, before the girl moved and took place next to Kanna at the chopping block.

“Five years….” The words rang deep and painful into her heart. “Good Luck, Naruto-Kun!” The very last things she ever said to him before he left…. Five years ago.
Five years since her Naruto-kun had gone off on that mission to find his friend. Five years before the trouble started. Five years since she that Haruno had come back, reporting the mission to be a flop. Five years since the report also contained information that Naruto had gone berserk and taken off the escaping Nin. Five years since any sign of Naruto and Hatake Kakashi had reached them. Five years since the label of Missing- Nin had been slapped upon the names of the two. Five years had passed and her mind was ready to declare him dead, but her heart…. Her heart pleaded t hat he be alive. Alive and come back to her so she can tell him all her bottled up feelings.
“I’m jealous of you.” Kanna’s voice made her jump.
“What?” Hinata looked at her eyebrows furrowed.
“To love someone so deeply that no matter how far away they go, or how long its been… you love him.” Kanna took her chopped onions and dropped them into the pot and handed over a napkin for the girl to dry her eyes. “Strong buggers, them onions. Thanks.” Kanna smile. “Go to the bathroom and wash your eyes, honey. It’ll stop the stinging.”
“Really Hinata, you’re going to let onions get the best of you?” Kiba scoffed barely flinching when Kanna had thrown a carrot at his temple. Picking up the fallen carrot he started munching.
“EEEK!” Kanna jumped making both her son and Kiba flinch as she caught her breath. “You’re ugly aren’t you?” She crossed her eyes to stare at the spider before her face making both boys sigh in slight annoyance as she grabbed a glass and a tissue to trap the spider.
“You really are an excitable woman. And I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.” Kiba rubbed his temple. Kanna just smiled crossing the room to release the spider.
As far as she was concerned the Dog-Nin was a wild thing. Although subdued for the most part, get him riled and that was that. Over the years as she wised up to the way things are really in the world rather than the naiveté she would have if she remained home she had come to find Kiba to have a bit of… well his sense of humor tended to lean to the lewd end of the scale, but he behaved for Ichiro’s sake.
“I’m gonna call you Seymour!” Kanna declared holding up the glass in which the spider was crawling about inside.
“The last one was named Seymour.” Ichiro sighed.
“Then I’ll call you… Seymour 2.0” Kanna declared happily stopping at the tiny garden she kept in her front yard and released Seymour 2.0. “Okay Seymour 2.0 if you make find Seymour behave and the two of you become friends. I don’t care if you make babies and live in my garden, just please don’t let me see you or your children. My son tends to smack first and ask questions later.” She waved the tissue as her farewell and stood. “EEEK!” She held her hand over her heart. A Few feet away stood one Aburame Shino silent and, well, just standing there.
“Is it another spider?” Ichiro stood. His mother was foolish for talking to spiders, but two shrieks in a five minute interval?
“Shino-kun, you really need to speak up from time to time.” She made room for him to come inside the house.
“Sorry.” Came the simple reply from the young man whose face she’d never seen once in her life, much less his eye color. He moved to follow inside the home, only when he moved did she notice the bags in his hands. “I bought, tea…” He put the bag on the counter and she took the bag from him.
“Thank you.” She nodded opening the bag.
“What’s this about? I thought you didn’t like girls!” Kiba declared.
“I finished her tea, last time.” Shino knelt as well.
“He replenishes… not just consumes.” Kanna rolled her eyes at the Dog-Nin.
“Hinata…?”
“Toilet…”
“Shino’s here…?” Hinata walked in right on cue still dabbing at her face with her sleeve. “That was fast.”
“No, the reporting was interrupted.” Shino looked at Hinata. “Naruto, returned.” He watched her eyes widen.
“Naruto…….kun?” The words barely left her lips. At her right Ichiro expressed his boredom by resting his cheek on his small hand playing with the chopsticks his mother had set out in preparation of their meal.
“If you’re so bored….” Kiba pushed the serious looking kid. “Why show me how strong you’ve gotten…and prove to you mom you really are deserving of the academy.”
“Okay.” The boy stood. “Mom. We’re going outside.”
“Alright, don’t get too dirty. Lunch is really almost finished.” Kanna called.
“Alright!!!! Come on Akamaru!!!” Kiba rushed outside with the child.
“Shino… did you bring the papers for the academy?” Kanna asked looking at her son fall into what he supposed was a fighting stance. From the day Kiba discovered the kid could walk he had been attempting to make the boy a Shinobi yet.
“Yes.” Shino tore his gaze away from Hinata and produced a medium sized scroll seemingly from nowhere.
“I knew someday he’d ask…” She watched her son charge forward at Akamaru who was obviously taking it lightly on the boy. “But I didn’t think so soon.”
“He’s protective of you.” Hinata snapped out of her stupor, suddenly unsure of what to do with herself.
“I’m all he’s got. When he finds himself a girlfriend oh! Woe is me!!!” Kanna turned off her stove and watched the boy fall on his rear. Like any mother she wanted to make sure he wasn’t in any serious obvious pain…He wasn’t and he charged forward his determination growing by the second.

“You’re far from ready!” Kiba taunted the kid as Akamaru charged back at the boy sitting on his sore rump.
“I am too ready!” The boy leaned back and rolled backwards never mind the dust on his back or in his hair.
Once upright he jumped back just out of harm’s way. Akamaru then moved once more on the attack and hit the boy across his stomach and the boy went flying back and rolled some feet away. In the corner of his eye he could see Kanna gasp from her place in the window, but Ichiro got up and dusted himself off rubbing his stomach and his minor scrapes. He made to charge at the large dog once more and got hit again.
“I’m gonna get it right…” Ichiro was pushing himself up off the ground. He was a child, he knew they were going easy on him. He was a child, he knew he could be seriously hurt. But if he can’t protect himself, how could he protect him momma. “I will go to the academy.” His small body was aching as he was pushing himself up from the ground. “I will be a ninja.” He dusted his knees off once more. Lifting his head he realized he was kind of dizzy. Rubbing his head in the dramatic way he had seen his mother do at the end of a hard days’ work , led to him rubbing across the bridge of his nose.
“Give up kid?” Kiba’s cockiness could be heard in his voice. Ichiro wasn’t old enough to understand why, but he was old enough to know that this cockiness irritated him a bit.
“Not. Yet.” Ichiro raised his head to look at Kiba and Akamaru. While Akamaru made his move to “gently” attack the boy. Kiba noted something about the boy… or more like right the flash of crimson in his eyes…. A crimson he hasn’t seen in years.