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 Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 4:09 pm
 In the shadows of the city
A hero's waiting for the call
And all the angels are waking up
And all the devils start to fall My muses are running rampant, so while I wrangle them to get back to work on Rites of Passage I decided to work a bit on a randie idea I got last night. Let me know if you like it. Table of Contents. Chapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FiveChapter SixChapter SevenChapter EightIn the shadows of the city
They're dying for a thrill
They're going out over the edge
They're moving in for the kill
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Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 4:10 pm
Chapter One
They traveled, from town to town, from country to country, never staying in one place for more than seven days. No one ever saw them come in or out, one sunrise they appeared, a large tent surrounded by a caravan of wagons and carnival attractions and rides, and on the seventh sunrise after they entered town, the tent and carnival and all the people within disappeared, almost as if the wind and the dark of night carried them away.
It was called the Dark Star Carnival, and the only clue of it’s approach were flyers that appeared three days before they did, telling the dates and location. Even those who camped at the place never saw their arrival, they always seemed to fall asleep and they awoke as the dawn came, only to find that it already arrived. After a while, people simply shrugged it off as a mystery. When they saw the flyers, they made plans to take their children to the shows, have a bit of fun for once.
They even pretended that there was nothing sinister about the carnival and it’s strange participants.
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“Where are we going this time?” the red-haired twins chorused as they looked up to the woman sitting on top of the cart they were walking next to, “The last town seemed pretty lame.”
“It wasn’t all that bad now was it?” the silky smooth voice of the woman came down as she flicked a strand of raven black hair back behind her ear, the rest of her long locks tied in a loose bun, “We had some very interesting visitors to our attractions,” she clicked her tongue at the horses she was holding the reins for, “I believe that new act you started was a rather large success. Who knew my little darlings would be such adorable clowns?”
“I think the entire troupe guessed that Lady Lucier,” they pointed out with crooked smiles on their faces, “Besides as serious as Dad and Chi are, someone in the family needs to have some fun.”
A brief sorrowful smile passed over her face and she turned her amethyst eyes towards their intense blue ones, “There is a reason for your father’s seriousness, besides, I couldn’t ask for a better stage manager than him. We would be grossly behind if he hadn’t taken over from our last,” she turned back to the horses, “Darlings, go and tell the others that we’ll be setting up very soon, within the hour in fact.”
They nodded and stopped for a second, letting the main wagon go forward before turning to the next, “Set-up’s soon,” they said to the brown haired man steering that one.
“About time,” he said as he yawned, “We’ve been riding for far too long.”
“It wasn’t that far,” the fiery haired girl sitting next to him smiled, “But it’ll be nice to rest a bit,” she looked down at the twins, “Hey, tell Mom that we’ll be coming to dinner at her wagon tonight.”
“And tell Gaara that I want to talk to him about my act,” the brunet grinned, “I got a couple of new puppets that I want to try out.”
“Sure thing Uncle Kankuro,” they said, “And Karin, you’re always eating at our wagon, poor Uncle can’t eat your cooking.”
“For your information, he eats everything I cook,” she retorted as she crossed her arms.
“That explains the stomach bug he had last week,” one twin smirked.
“You shouldn’t eat dangerous things,” the other admonished Kankuro, “You’ve got one of the main acts.”
They gleefully ran to the next wagon as Karin leaned over the puppet master in an attempt to scratch them, “Brats!” she yelped.
“Don’t worry about it,” Kankuro said as he lifted her back to her seat, “Little brothers like getting on your nerves. It’s what they live for.”
“Somehow I don’t see Sandy-daddy getting on any of yours,” she said giving him an odd look.
“Well, yeah, but you should have seen some of the stuff I did to Temari,” he smirked, “There’s a reason she hates those imperial festival dolls,” both chuckled as their wagon continued on.
The twins ran to the next wagon, “Set up’s coming Kaze!” they called, “You and Hayato ready for the next town.”
“Why can’t I use the mirror maze again?” the silver haired man asked as the hawk next to him ruffled his feathers, “I thought it was a great hit.”
“Dad said that you can set it up, but you can’t actually grant any of their wishes,” they said, “We all got in a lot of trouble because of all the chaos that was being caused. How’d you do that anyway?”
“Give me a fourth of your abilities and I’ll tell you,” he smiled, then yelped as the hawk next to him flew to his shoulder and nipped his ear, “Hayato! That hurt!”
They waved to him as they ran to the back of the cart, peeking in at the two white snake-like faces surrounded by long black hair as they watched the scenery pass by, “We’re stopping soon,” they said.
The girl smiled and poked at the boy, “Hey Yuuko, we’re almost there. Wanna see if we can get any of the rabbits set aside for the lions when we stop?”
“I heard that there was a lamb, Yuurei,” he said wistfully, “Think we can get it in one bite?”
“That’s part of the happy family exhibit,” one twin pointed out as they left the snake children to discuss their appetites, “So off-limits.”
“Besides, the lamb’s probably already eaten,” the other said quietly, “Which reminds me, Dad had a message for that guy too.”
“Just think, after this week, Chi will be taking care of running all the messages to everyone and we’ll have our own wagon,” the first grinned, “We’ll have lots of fun then.”
His brother nodded, “Making up our own act was the best thing we’ve done,” he frowned, “Wonder why there weren’t any clowns before. Those other circuses we ran across had some.”
“Lady Lucier isn’t fond of clowns,” a voice said and they looked up to see the fourth wagon being driven by a pale man with his black hair in a low ponytail, “In fact, you two were the first to make her laugh since I’ve been here.”
“Still strange,” one twin pointed out, “We’ve got two magicians but no clowns.”
He touched the red bandage wrapped around his eyes, “Sin and I have different acts. I’m a hypnotist, he actually conjures where I simply create illusions and suggestions,” a gentle smile flashed across his face, “You have more messages to run, better get on your way.”
As the two ran off, the smile faded, “None of us laughed until there were children here,” he said quietly, “I suppose I ought to be grateful that it finally happened,” he frowned as he looked ahead, “Still… why now after so much time has passed since…” he shook his head, “She has a reason to have allowed it. There must be something coming on the horizon.”
The two ran to the next wagon, looking up at the frowning silver haired man and the gently smiling autumn golden haired woman, “Soon!” they said happily.
“Hoshi will be happy that she can get out and stretch her legs,” the woman said quietly, “She and her friends have been in the wagon discussing their act.”
“We knew we would make them insanely jealous,” the two smirked, “Surprised Yuri’s in on it though.”
“She doesn’t like being left out when Chain and Hoshi are together,” the man pointed out, “Tell Haru that I’ll help with setting up the rides when we get to the new location.”
“Will do Uncle Sin,” they chorused, “And Auntie Phoe, Mama said that she wants you to help her with the dinner.”
“I’ll come to the mess wagon right away,” she promised as they ran off.
A window opened on the side of the wagon after the two ran by and a small girl with silver hair in pig-tails peeked out, “Hey!” she called, “Can you ask Auntie Temari if I can sleepover tonight?”
“Will do Hoshi!” they yelled back, “Let us see Chain’s juggling act tonight!”
“How’d you know it was that?” she asked with an air of wonder.
“What else would it be?” they teased, “All he ever does is toss those swords around.”
They stopped, letting the other wagons pass by, yelling messages to those that needed it and giving the general news that they troupe was setting up soon. At the last of the living wagons, they grabbed the ladder, waving to the few wagons carrying equipment behind them as they climbed up, “Sai said he can’t promise that his paintings won’t wander in the town, but he’ll try,” they said to the man that looked like an older version, except for the kohl rimmed eyes and the longer hair barely hiding the tattoo on his forehead, “Neji asked to just work on the rides again, he doesn’t want to have his own act. Chain’s working on something though. And Haku offered to help Kaze with making a new mirror maze, and Zabuza promised not to scare any of the small children coming.”
“We’re stopping soon, correct?” he asked quietly, “When we do, gather the other children near the kitchen tent, not one of you are allowed to step outside until we’re done.”
Both nodded, it was a normal happenstance of the set-up. Once they had tried to peek, only to find that outside the tent, there was nothing, no grass, no people, no sound… just a massive blackness that they couldn’t see past. Lady Lucier had come to them a few seconds after they snapped the tent flaps shut in terror, along with a strange blond man with blood red eyes that they had never seen before.
“This is the price those that have been lost have to pay,” she said quietly, “But you who were born into this life have a choice, now that you’ve seen. You can walk out of that door, and past the darkness is a life of normalcy, one that if you choose, you can never come back to the troupe of death.”
Her strange words gave more questions than answers, and she gave until they left that town before she expected any answer, letting them go into the mundane world and seeing for themselves what it was.
In the end, none of the children chose to go past the barrier separating them from the world, all of them choosing their strange but happy life.
Still, they wondered what she had meant by “those that have been lost.” They asked around, trying to ascertain when their parents had come to the troupe, but all that they could find out is that they had been there for a long time, that their mother and Karin were there the longest, with the dark haired illusionist and Haku and Zabuza coming a little while later.
“How much older than us are you anyway,” they asked Karin one day, and she shrugged, merely answering that she was almost grown when Sandy-daddy and his brother and sister joined.
Any more information was out of their reach, at least while they were merely gophers for the other members of the troupe.
Now if they really joined, made an act, got into Lady Lucier’s elite circle… then maybe…
The wagons came to a slow stop, and their father jumped down, giving out quiet yet powerful orders to the ones behind them, before looking up at the twins, “This will be your last time waiting in the tent.”
Nodding, they climbed off the wagon, opening it up and grabbing the muted fabric that marked the troupe members only cafeteria, “We got it Mama,” they said as the fiery haired woman came out of the back of the wagon, “And Auntie Phoe said that she was coming to help with the cooking.”
“I better get started then,” she smiled as she patted her abdomen, “It takes a full day and night to get this place set up, and I know that everyone is going to be hungry by the time they’re finished.”
As the other children of the troupe piled into the tent, the twins looked out at the wooded clearing, wondering just what sort of place would be there at the next sunrise.
And once again they wondered at just what it was that they would find once they became official members of the troupe.
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Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 10:23 pm
Chapter Two
The streetlights flickered as the raven haired boy rode his bike to the vacant lot that the fliers had promised the carnival to appear at sunset.
Stopping for a second he looked around the empty lot, then turned to the highway leading to it, watching the few cars pass by, before getting off his bike and stuffing it beneath one of the bushes surrounding the property. “I’m going to see it come for sure this time,” he muttered as his black eyes searched the area.
“Karasu!” a voice called and a girl with wavy hair and a boy with short almost bowl cut hair came pedaling on the sidewalks.
“You two are late,” he said stuffing his hands in his pockets, “Come on, let’s get a good spot. Kano, did you bring your mom’s camera?”
“She said that I had to bring it back straight away,” he said proudly, “And Daddy said to ask if they are having a strongman contest this year!”
Karasu covered his face with his palm, “Aiko, explain to him that we’re sneaking in to see the set-up, we can’t just ask them stuff like that.”
“I tried,” she sighed, “You know he was waiting for me at his front porch. His dad probably already called our parents!”
“Come on,” Karasu sighed in defeat after looking at the bright eyed boy, not wanting to hear how lying is unyouthful, “I saw the perfect place to hide, they won’t see us,” he pointed to the bushes, “Put your bikes there.”
Both did as he said and then followed as he crept across the parking lot, to the small shed that was on the other side, “Here,” he whispered, “Kano, what time is it?”
“Two fifty-five,” Kano looked at his watch.
“That gives us five minutes,” Karasu opened the door, “We get in and look through the loose boards there, Come on, hurry!”
Aiko and Kano nodded, flattening themselves on the floor after they entered. Karasu held out his hand after he closed the door behind them and did the same, “We’ll get them for sure and solve the mystery,” he smirked.
Outside there was the smell of wysteria and cherry blossom petals, “Here it comes,” Aiko hissed, her red eyes widening as she tried to peer through the slats in the boards, “See anything?”
Before either boy could answer, there was the sound of gentle singing and then suddenly all three were sleeping.
The door to the shack opened, “This was a good idea,” the dark haired man with the red-bandages wrapped around his eyes pointed out to the autumn haired woman, “At least they put some thought into it.”
“It may not have harmed for them to see a little,” she said sadly, “I don’t like using my powers as such.”
“Lady Lucier would have to add their souls to her collection if they saw,” he bent down to examine the children, “And these three are far too young to lose that.”
There was a voice from outside, calling for Phoenix, and she turned, “We’re needed, they’ll sleep safely here.”
“There’s a place that they can sleep even safer,” he said, and she nodded, waving her hand and singing again, causing the three to disappear from the shed, “I believe that their bikes are in the bushes across the lot.”
“Sin will send those back,” she said quietly, “Though I imagine that will only serve to provoke their curiosity.”
“Once we’re established, it’s fine, they can come all they want,” he said as she nodded and walked away. His blind gaze seemed to look at the spot where Karasu was sleeping, “That boy…”
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“Sora, I can’t believe that you’re doing that,” Hoshi said with wide eyes as she watched one of the twins bend over so that Shinsetsu could apply the raven colored hair dye.
“It’s part of our new act,” the other twin explained, “I’m going to be the red twin and he’s going to be black,” he held up a long sleeve shirt, “Our hair’s the color of blood anyway, so this is just a neat way to make it work for us. Now we just need some names.”
“I’m looking,” snapped the red-haired girl with her red hair in twin braids, “Akai and Kuro is just too simple. It needs to be something like Blood and Death - Chi and Shi.”
“Yeah, but we call you Chi,” the blond boy who was juggling several swords commented, “How about Day and Night? Or Light and Night or something like that?”
“Birth and Death,” Chihiro said suddenly, “That will fit you perfectly for stage names for what you guys are planning on doing. “
“Don’t like that,” Haru said, “Sora, you’ve got any ideas?”
“I like Kaze and Kage,” he said grinning at the other children, “How long do I keep this in Shinsetsu?”
“About twenty minutes or so,” the feminine looking boy smiled as he stood up and went to go wash his hands, “I’ll check it then. Just sit tight,” he smiled, “So what’s the make-up going to be like?”
“I’m just happy that we can finally tell those two apart,” a girl with icy blue hair spoke up from where she was perched on a stool, “I remember when I first came here at being amazed that everyone didn’t even seem to look.”
“It’s easy once you hang around them enough,” the green haired girl sitting next to her said as she looked through a botany book, “Kokoro, you should be able to now even without Sora looking like a goth emo.”
“I resent that,” Sora said as he crossed his arms, “I’ve always looked goth, and I’ll never be an emo.”
“Besides Yuri, I seem to remember you making a pass at that girl with the gothic Lolita look going on in the last town,” Hoshi pointed out, “Even changed your looks a little to attempt to bring her to the troupe.”
“I see a pretty girl crying, I can’t ignore it,” Yuri shrugged, “You and Chain weren’t exactly discouraging me.”
Shinsetsu sighed, “It’ll be nice if I can find a cute boy in this town and convince him to join up.”
“Stop thinking about romance,” Chihiro snapped, “Haru and Sora, you’re going to tell us what you find out right?”
“And let us stay in your wagon the first night?” Chain asked, “We’ll have a party!”
“Sure thing,” Haru grinned, “We’ll get to the bottom of whatever it is that our parents are hiding.”
“I’m hoping it’s that easy,” Sora mused, “I guess my make-up should be white and black and yours red and black.”
“And opposite each other,” Hoshi added, “Hey, did you guys see that the blond man was back?”
All of the children turned to her, “What do you mean?” Kokoro asked quietly, a small bit of fear in the young girl’s voice.
“I saw him,” the silver haired girl’s voice lowered, “Last night when we stopped for camp, he was by the wagon that Dan resided in.”
“Come to think of it,” Yuri frowned, “I don’t remember seeing him today, did any of you?”
“No, his wagon was being driven by Shin,” Sora said quietly, “He said that he and Sai were going to move into that one, and that they were going to make that little one they used to live in into a storage unit.”
“So did Dan leave the troupe?” Chain asked the question that was on all of their minds.
“I met that man before too,” Kokoro said quietly as she hugged her knees, “When I was hiding from Papa in the mirror house, he was the one who took me to Lady Lucier,” she shivered, “His hands were colder than Uncle Haku’s and Shin-nii-chan’s ice magic.”
Before anyone could respond to that, the tent flap opened, “Alright children,” Lucier smiled as she clapped her hands, “We’re done setting up, so get some rest before we open up in the morning.”
They all looked at her for a brief moment before standing and heading to the wagons that they lived in. Shinsetsu paused by Sora long enough to check his hair, “It’s set, go rinse thoroughly and you’ll have a pretty shade of black,” he smiled as he took Kokoro’s hand, “And if you two want me to, I can do the make-up tomorrow.”
“We’ll take you up on that,” Haru grinned, “Kokoro, don’t worry about it alright, we’re happy that you came to us.”
“Very,” Shinsetsu agreed as he picked the small girl up, “Haku-daddy and I love you to pieces. So does Zabuza-daddy, but he’s the quiet type that doesn’t show it,” he left the tent, following the others, leaving Lucier alone with the twins.
“So black is it?” she tapped a finger against her lips as she looked him over, “I have to say, it suits you Sora. You both have new duties starting tomorrow, so rinse that off and get some sleep in the few hours that we have to spare.”
They both nodded before running out, and she watched them leave with a strange look in her eyes, one that seemed far too old for what age she seemed to be.
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Sun rose over the city, reflecting off the skyscrapers as the light traveled west, bringing forth a new morning to Heiwa, a city founded over three hundred years ago on the grounds of a village once known as Konoha.
In one of the brownstone townhouses, there was already loud bustling going on as Karasu slowly opened his eyes, shocked to find himself in his room instead of out by the parking lot in an abandoned shack. Sitting up, he rubbed his head, ignoring for now the sounds of his younger half-brother and half-sister arguing at the breakfast table downstairs.
“When did I get home?” he wondered.
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Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 11:50 pm
Chapter Three
Chihiro walked through the carnival, not yet open for the day, as she hugged her jacket closer to her in the crisp autumn air. Hearing voices she turned, “There he is,” she sighed, “I should have known, it’s the same thing every town.”
She walked towards the conversation, not surprised when she ended up in front of the tent reserved for the bone dancer, stopping a moment when she saw her father and the pale man with white hair standing outside.
“There were some serious injuries in your audience the last town,” Gaara spoke quietly, “I distinctly remember asking you to keep a safe distance from the people who visit the show.”
Kimimaro shrugged slightly, “You think I like that those happened? One of those injuries was a brat that grabbed one of my bones to see if it was real.”
Chihiro cleared her throat, and both men turned to her, “Sorry to interrupt,” she spoke, “But Daddy, you said to tell you if I was leaving the grounds.”
“Going to find the local bookstore already?” Kimimaro asked with a raised eyebrow, “I’m amazed that you read all of the ones you got last time.”
“Be back before we open at three,” Gaara glanced over at her, “Today you’ll be assisting Kimimaro to ensure that his act is safe enough that he won’t have to work behind the food booth.”
“Of course,” she bowed to Kimimaro, “I’ll be happy to help with your act,” she said before turning and running off.
“And how do you know I won’t use her as target practice?” Kimamro crossed his arms.
“Because the small grudge you have against me does not stretch out to her,” a brief smile passed over his face, “And she always brings you back a new book and a new potted flower from a greenhouse she finds along the way. Don’t think I missed that collection of yours.”
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“We can’t skip,” Aiko said loudly as she biked through the town after the other two boys, “Nara-sensei would know exactly where we were.”
“You can go on to class and flirt with the homeroom teacher, but I want to check out that place,” Karasu called back, “We’ll just ride by, it doesn’t open until this afternoon anyways.”
“But we will be late if we take that route,” Kano pointed out, then chewed his lip as the Uchiha boy shot him a look, and their ride continued in silence as they turned onto the highway that the lot was on.
“How did they set that up in four hours?” whispered Aiko as they stopped their bikes and looked past the bushes at the large festival beyond, “It’s not possible. Other groups that come through take a whole week, and they don’t have near as many rides or…”
“We’re coming back this afternoon,” Karasu said quietly, “Let’s get going before we’re late,” he and Aiko pedaled away, not noticing that Kano was busy staring into the carnival grounds at the small red-haired girl that was walking towards the entrance.
“You coming?” Aiko called back, and he blinked and looked forward to see her and Karasu looking back at him, “Come on, you were the one who didn’t want to be late!”
“On my way,” he called as he followed them, stopping again when he passed by the girl as she turned onto the street. Watching her walk away, he turned back to the others, “I will meet you at the school. I…uh… forgot something.”
He got a wave in response, and chewing his lip and admonishing himself in his head for doing something as unyouthful as lying, he turned his bike around to follow the girl.
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Shinsetsu yawned as he sat up, smiling when he heard the snoring caused by Zabuza in the next room of the wagon and looked up to see Haku chopping up some vegetables for breakfast, “Morning,” he said as his father looked up at him and smiled gently.
“Kokoro’s already outside playing with the rabbits,” Haku said as he placed a bento on the counter, “Could you take out the breakfast for you both while I wake up your other father?”
“Of course,” he got up, quickly getting dressed, “I have to apply Haru and Sora’s make-up, so I’ll be late to the grand opening for the rides.”
“That’s fine, but tell Kokoro that I expect her by lunchtime,” Shinsetsu took the bento from Haku and kissed him on the cheek as he left the wagon.
“Don’t freeze Dad!” he called over his shoulder, “He hates that!” he turned as the door closed and counted mentally to ten, grinning when he heard the loud scream from inside followed by giggling and a crash as some sort of furniture was banged against something.
“Oh, breakfast!” Kokoro said as she saw her brother come around to the rabbit cages and hold out the bento, “Are they at it again?”
“Absolutely,” he ruffled her hair, “And aren’t you a little young to know about that?” She shrugged in response and placed the rabbit she was holding back in the cage, “Hey, want to see if there’s a toy store in this town?”
“I don’t want to,” she whispered, “I don’t like people in the towns.”
Before he could say anything to comfort her, someone reached around his waist, “Oh Shin-chan, you’re so cute when you worry about your sister like that,” Haru teased.
“Come on Kokoro, at least let your big brother go and buy you some ridiculously cute plushie,” Sora said as he took the bento from Shinsetsu, “When you came you were sad and lonely, so he’s going to try everything he can to make you happy.”
“The hair looks nice,” she said pointing at Sora’s head, “Shin-nii-chan did a good job.”
“We’re hoping he does just as well with the make-up,” the two chorused, “So we’ll meet you at our wagon in an hour or so?”
“Sure thing,” he smiled, then turned back to Kokoro as they walked off, “Ready to eat?”
She nodded, then smiled, “Did Daddy make the bunny-shaped onigiri?” Neither child noticed the soft stare from inside their wagon.
“She’s still suffering,” Haku sighed as he leaned back against Zabuza’s chest, “What if we can’t get through to her like we did Shin-chan?”
“You worry too much,” the larger man said as he held him tighter, “You were like that once too, remember?”
“And that makes me worry about something else entirely,” Haku giggled.
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Chihiro opened the door of the small used bookstore, “Hello?” she called as she entered the dark room.
“Welcome,” said the elderly man behind the counter, “Isn’t today a school day?”
“I’m home-schooled,” she said quietly, “Before I start browsing, there are a few books I have a hard time finding,” she took out a list, “Do you have a copy of Blake’s Poems of Innocence and Experience, Spenser’s The Faerie Queen, Dante’s Divine Comedy, and,” she blushed, “Adam’s Watership Down.”
“That’s an interesting list,” he said as he turned to look at the shelves, “You read a good deal?”
“That last one I read when I was five,” she exclaimed, “I just had to return it to the library we were at, and Uncle Haku really wanted to read it, so I told him I would buy it for him!”
“Even for a young child that’s a harsh book,” he gently smiled, “You’re in luck, I have all of those books,” he placed the volumes on the counter, “Do you want me to hold them here while you browse?”
“Yes please,” she said as she looked through the shelves, “Do you have any favorites?”
“You live in the carnival don’t you?” he asked quietly, “I remember the last time that you came through here.”
“It was only last year,” she said as she picked out a book and looked at the title, “That really wasn’t that long ago. I don’t remember this store being here though.”
“The last time the Dark Star Carnival came to this town I was fifteen years younger,” he said as he stared at her, “I remember seeing you come to the bookstore where I used to work, the only change I see is that your hair is a slight bit longer and you’ve grown.”
“That’s not possible,” Chihiro whispered with wide eyes, “We were here a year ago. I remember it clearly.”
“Perhaps my memory isn’t what it used to be,” he shrugged, “I always found joy in reading Heinlein’s Job: A Comedy of Justice, it makes me think of my late wife.”
“I’ll try it,” she said, as he added it to her pile and then brought the books she chose to the register, “I’ll pay in cash for these,” she took out her wallet as he rung up the books.
“This is quite a bit for a little girl to carry,” he pointed out, “You might think of asking that young man that’s peeking in the windows to hold them for you while you run your other errands.”
“I only have one more stop,” she said as she glanced out, chewing her lip as she saw Kano, who blushed and ducked when he saw her looking at him, “Is the greenhouse still where it was the last time I was here?”
“They have a lovely selection, despite the season,” he smiled, “Tell your Ringmaster to not wait so long to come back next time.”
Giving him an odd look, she hefted the bags and left the store, looking down up at the dark haired boy who opened the door for her.
“I can carry those if…” he started.
“There’s no need,” she said quickly as she walked past him, “Why are you following me?”
“Because you are a maiden with a pure heart, and you seem…” he said as he closed the door.
“Idiot,” she interrupted, “I’m not interested.”
“You look like you are lonely!” he called out, and she stopped and whirled around to him, “I mean… it must be hard moving from town to town and not making many friends.”
“I have enough,” she snapped, “Besides, I like my life,” she stared at him for another moment before sighing in defeat, “Fine. If it’ll make you happy, you can carry the plants I’m going to get.”
“With much happiness,” he said, “I’m Kano, what’s your name?”
“Chihiro,” she turned away from him, trying her best to ignore the slight blush that swept across her face, “Hey, do you remember the last time my carnival came to your town?” she asked suddenly as she turned back around.
“I only know that it was before I was born,” he said, not noticing that her blue eyes had widened at that information, “This is your first time in Heiwa is it not? I will be happy to show you around!”
“That isn’t necessary,” she whispered, “Come on, I need to get back soon.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 1:00 am
Chapter Four
“That’s rather plain for a clown costume,” Shinsetsu said as he set up his make-up kit, “I like that you’re each going with a basic color, but aren’t you supposed to draw a bit more attention to yourselves?”
Haru and Sora shrugged as they glanced at each other’s long sleeve shirts with the four straps hanging down, “We like simple,” they chorused, “Besides, we’ll draw enough attention as it is.”
“Alright,” Shinsetsu smiled at Sora, “You’re first for the make-up. You wanted just the star over one eye right?” he got out the white and black, “You know, Yuri’s right, this does make you look like a goth-emo.”
“Eh, I’d still do him,” Haru teased with a crooked smile on his face, “Did you see that kid that followed Chi back to the carnival?”
Shinsetsu shook his head as he took out a sponge, “No I… wait, there was someone with her when she gave Dad that book,” his eyes widened, “She let someone follow her?”
“Something’s bothering her,” Sora mused, “She wanted to speak to us, but not with him around, so she’s been trying to get rid of him, but ended up getting so flustered by his attitude that she promised to spend today and tomorrow with him. They’re in Kimimaro’s place now, cause she got put in charge of safety there.”
“His attitude?” the feminine looking boy asked, “Sora you stay still, Haru can tell me.”
“He’s weird, even for someone from the Outside,” Haru said, “He’s overly optimistic and has this strange sense of honor. He was trying his best to put things over mud-puddles and carry things for her.”
“How sweet!” Shinsetsu exclaimed, “A modern-day knight!” he frowned, “I wonder if he’ll stay the same after he sees her abilities.”
“We’ll take care of him if he doesn’t,” Haru promised with a menacing smirk.
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Kimimaro stared at Kano from his place behind the curtains as Chihiro brought the boy into the tent, “This is usually Dad’s job, but last time he wasn’t able to. Uncle Kimimaro can’t help it really, but Dad thought that he might have had some more control,” she was saying as she went too the front of the seats, pulling out some strange urns and taking the cork off of them, “Something happened between them years and years ago before I was born, but I haven’t a clue what. They’re constantly arguing with each other. Dad thinks Uncle’s too dependent on someone or something. I’m not sure what.”
“There is sand in these,” Kano asked, “What is it for?”
She cracked her fingers, “Since Dad doesn’t want what happened last time to happen again, he put me in charge of stopping Uncle from getting too close to the audience and stopping any projectiles. The floor the audience sits on is raised, so the finale of the act shouldn’t do any damage,” she gave the boy a glance and then palms up, raised her hands, and the sand rose out of the urns, spreading thinly across the stage area.
She stared at Kano as he started applauding, “That is a wonderful trick!” he exclaimed, “The sand acts as a barrier?”
She slowly nodded as she lowered her hands, “And now I just keep an eye on it and strengthen the parts that are going to come in contact with the bones and catch anything that flies towards the audience.”
Gaara entered the tent then, “Good you’re here…” his voice trailed off as he saw Kano, “Chihiro, who is this?”
“I am Kano Lee sir!” he exclaimed as he stood up, “I have joyously proposed to assist the Lady Chihiro in her duties today and tomorrow!”
“He’s a weird guy who followed me to the bookstore and carried things for me,” she said as she turned towards the stage in an attempt to hide the furious blush stealing across her cheeks. She didn’t notice the momentarily widening of her father’s eyes and couldn’t see Kimimaro behind the curtain, who was gripping the fabric as he continued his stare at the boy.
“That’s why he looked so familiar!” he whispered, “The reincarnation must be in this town!”
“Then Chi, you must show your guest a good time,” Gaara said quietly as he turned away, “After Kimimaro’s show is over, take him around to the rides and games,” he stopped at the tent flap, “Have some fun. If you need me, I’m going to try and convince Neji to put on the fortune-telling stand again.”
“Dad…” Chihiro started, then chewed her lip as he looked at her, “I wanted to… thank you for this,” she mentally kicked herself for not asking, “Uh, I know Uncle didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
He studied her for a moment, “Take a break from the books for a little while. You can read when we travel again,” with that he left.
Kimimaro let go of the curtain, a small laughter escaping from him as he fell to his knees, “How is it then?” he said quietly, “The children of those I swore revenge on, handed to me like this?” he had decided long ago to give up on half of said revenge, the words he had taken as cruel from Gaara had long since been forgiven. “Lucier promised me a chance to ruin those who took me from Orochimaru-sama, but now that it’s here…” he looked back out at the two children, a slow cruel smile growing on his lips, “I’ll settle for watching him and seeing if he is as deserving as they are of mercy.”
Fireworks sounded outside, the sign that the Carnival was opening and audience members started to trickle in. He watched and entered the stage area when it looked like he had a decent enough crowd, “Welcome,” he started, “I want to thank everyone that came today, and I must warn the squeamish and faint of heart to leave now.”
Kano’s eyes grew wide as he started the first of his dances, “This is awesome,” he breathed to Chihiro, “How is he doing this?”
She didn’t answer, already Kimimaro was forgetting where he was and she had to concentrate on the sand to keep him from viewing the audience as a threat to an old master of his, a story that she wished that someone would tell her.
How many secrets are they keeping from us? she wondered, We always knew that this place was different than the other traveling circuses that we ran across, but how is it that fifteen years have passed since we were last in this town? What is the mystery that they don’t want us to find out, and why don’t they want to tell us?
A bone sword flew through the air and she acted quickly, commanding the sand to stop it, holding it in the air, and her eyes widening as she saw the point a mere inch away from Kano’s face. Whirling to Kimimaro she saw that he was bowing and retreating behind the curtain, his show over.
“Awesomesauce,” Kano exclaimed, “Chi-chan! You are very youthful about your duties! It added so much to the show!”
She blinked, “Uh… thank you,” she said as she took down the bone, “Wait here for me, I’m going to go give this back to him. Oh, um, can you put the lids back on the urns?” the sand retreated into it’s home, “That would be a great help and then I can show you around.”
“Consider it done!” he said happily and she blinked again, a quick inner question at why she didn’t try and chase him off.
She looked at the sword in her hands and shook her head, “Be right back,” she said as she went to the stage below, determined to ask Kimimaro why he had been trying to harm the strange boy.
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Karasu stuffed his hands in his pockets as he entered the carnival, trying his best not to stand out as he walked around, the other people here were either couples or families, while he was here alone, Kano having not even shown up at the school, and Aiko deciding to stay after to help Nara-sensei with something.
“Why am I always the only one handling things like this?” he muttered as he looked around at the attractions.
“You look way too serious to be here,” twin voices chorused, and he whirled around to see who was speaking to see no one there, “Trying to find out the mysteries of our carnival?”
“So what if I am?” he asked, trying to find the source of the voices, “You going to stop me?”
“Quite the opposite,” a red sleeved arm rested on his shoulder, “We want to know too.”
“So how about we make you a proposition,” a black sleeved arm rested on his other shoulder, “You help us out, we help you out.”
He looked from one set of blue eyes to the other, “And what could you offer?”
Both twins smirked, “We know that there’s something you want,” they whispered as they traced a heart on his chest with their fingers, “Once we know what it is, we can give it to you.”
He snorted, “Fine then, I’ll bite. What do you need?”
“A map,” Haru said as the twins backed away from Karasu, Sora leaning on his brother’s shoulder, “That’s all.”
“With the places our troupe stops at, marked with the dates… years included… of the last time we were there,” Sora added, “And the date that we came to this town this time. You can find that out can’t you?”
Karasu stared a the two, wondering why such an odd request, “That’s easy. I’ll just search it on the computer when I get home.”
“Meet us tomorrow then,” both twins smirked, “We’ll find you if you come to the fair. Now to not look suspicious, perhaps you better get in on at least one show.”
He shrugged and walked away, attempting to disappear into the crowds as they watched him go.
Sora turned to Haru, “For someone from the Outside, he sure feels like one of us.”
The older twin nodded, “Think it’s possible that he is?”
“Anything is in this place,” his brother said quietly, “But right now we can’t worry about it.”
Hand in hand, they took a step back, disappearing into the shadows, not seeing the pale woman that was watching them with amethyst eyes.
“So that’s how it is,” she smiled sadly, “Well then, what will you do when you find the truth of your home?”
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“Look at this Chi-chan!” Kano said happily as he pointed to a knife throwing booth, that was manned by Shin, “Want to try it?”
She shrugged, her mind busy pondering Kimimaro’s strange actions. When she had gone to return the sword, he was gone from the tent. He probably went to talk to someone. But what’s going on?
“You can win a real cute prize for your girl…” Shin blinked as he saw Chihiro, “Nevermind, if it’s something cute, she’ll just rip it’s head off.”
“Don’t give dickless any of your hard-earned money,” Sai said from where he was sitting in front of an easel, “Besides, if you want something to remember her by, something like those stuffed animals won’t do.”
Chihiro covered her face with her palm as Kano looked from Shin to Sai, “He’s not paying anything to either of you,” she started, grabbing his arm, “Come on…”
“We should get a portrait done!” he said with shining eyes, “Would that not be fun?”
“No! It wouldn’t!” she snapped.
“Besides with Sai drawing it, he’ll perfectly capture that sour expression of Chi’s. Why are you with such an uncute girl anyways?” Shin asked, “Heiwa only has guys now?”
“Be a dream come true for you then,” Sai said, “But I’m not painting portraits,” he turned to Kano, holding his paintbrush under his face, “Wrestle one of my lions and win and you can get something that she’ll really love,” he held up a book, “First edition, signed by the author, Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. I’ll even throw in a photo of her for you to keep once the carnival leaves.”
“You’re getting better at pulling in the saps,” Shin whistled, “Does he even have a chance?”
Sai shrugged, “That depends on him.”
Kano’s eyes were shining as he turned to Chihiro, “You really would like that book wouldn’t you?”
She blushed, inwardly cursing at why she seemed to be doing that so much around him, “Yeah sure,” she crossed her arms, not wanting to admit in front of those two that she really did want it, “But it’s not worth getting mauled…”
“Then with all of the youth I have, I shall win it for you!” he exclaimed, “Give me the strongest of your conjured beasts!”
Shin and Sai blinked, “I’m beginning to like him,” the silver haired man chuckled, “Don’t kill him Sai, there’s a chance that he might even get his first kiss sometime soon.”
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 7:02 pm
Chapter Five
Karasu ignored the music and the dancers, pushing his way through the crowd as he tried to find his way back to the entrance.
“I’ve passed this before,” he muttered as he looked up at the sign for the Mirror Maze, “How do I get…”
“Hi there,” he turned to see the feminine looking boy with his long hair held in a fabric covered bun, “I take it you want to see another part of the carnival?”
“Something like that,” Karasu stuffed his hands in his pocket, “Like the exit.”
“That’s not very nice,” the other boy said, “You haven’t really done anything since you got here,” his voice dropped to a whisper as he grabbed Karasu’s arm, “Haru and Sora told me to keep an eye on you, I’m Shinsetsu. And you do want to try some of the attractions here so that it won’t look strange when you come back tomorrow. They don’t want her finding out what they’re doing.”
“How come you guys don’t know anyways?” he hissed, “Don’t you live here?”
“We do, but we’re just kids, our parents are the ones that run the place,” Shinsetsu brought him to a food cart manned by a fiery haired woman, “Hey Auntie Mira, can I get some yaki-gyoza?”
“Sure thing,” she said, “Need anything to drink?”
“Two glasses of mugicha,” he smiled then turned to Karasu, “This will make you want to come back,” he whispered, “Between Dad’s and Auntie Mira’s cooking, no one here ever wants to not eat.”
“Here you go,” Mira said happily, “And Shin-chan, if you could, I have some deliveries…”
“I’ll be happy to make them,” he said taking the food and drinks.
“Wait until you and your friend finish eating,” she waved, “I haven’t even made the dango for Itachi yet.”
He led Karasu to a bench across from the stand, “There’s another reason we’re stopping here, Auntie Mira cooks for almost everyone, so if you hang out with me, you’ll see all the different people who work here. And since you’re an Outsider, you might notice something that we always miss,” he handed the other boy one of the teas, “Pretty smart huh?”
“Actually, it is,” Karasu smiled, “But won’t they be a little wary about a new face?”
Shinsetsu shrugged, “So many people are coming around here, that I’m going to guess at no.”
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The beast loomed over the two, filling the tent. “Isn’t this a bit much?” Chihiro asked as she crossed her arms and glanced over at Sai.
“I create the beasts based on their strengths,” he shrugged, “And I can tell that he has a good deal of strength.”
“I train every day with Father!” Kano said happily, “He runs a dojo here in town, you will have to join me there tomorrow.”
“Personally I think Sai’s just showing off,” Shin commented dryly, then looked behind him as the tent flaps opened up.
“You should have told someone that you were about to put on show,” Neji said as he looked up at the creature, “Gaara would have appreciated the chance to…” his voice trailed off as he saw Kano.
“This was a bit impromptu,” Chihiro explained, “And it’s for Sai’s booth so there’s no payment for watching,” she looked up at him and followed his gaze to the boy, “Something the matter?”
“Can you hold the contest for just a moment?” he asked quietly, then ducked out of the tent, leaving her blinking as she stared after him.
“Why the hell is everyone acting so weird?” she wondered aloud, then narrowed her eyes and whirled around, “And you two don’t say a damn word.”
Haru and Sora blinked at her from where they had appeared behind Kano, “What would we say?” they asked as they leaned their arms on his shoulders, “We just wanted to meet your new friend.”
He looked from one to the other in complete surprise, “There is so much wonderment here,” he breathed, “How did you appear so suddenly?”
“Trade secret,” they winked, “So wanna let us corrupt you a little bit? We know a few… HEY!” they glared at their sister who had grabbed their ears and pulled them away, “What the hell?”
“First off, just no,” she hissed.
“Aww, you never let us have fun,” they smirked, then their faces sobered at the serious worriment on their face, “What?”
“People are acting weird around him,” she whispered, “First Daddy and Uncle Kimi, and now Uncle Neji, I think it has to do with things we don’t know, and then today when I went to the bookstore…”
Both placed a finger on their mouth, “Tell us later, we’ll call a meeting,” they said, nodding towards the entrance as the tent flaps opened again and then they went to lean on Kano, “So you’re hanging out with our baby sister huh?”
She chewed the inside of her cheek as she watched Neji come back inside and go speak in hushed tones with Shin and Sai, then all three turned back to the children, “Are we going to do this then?” Sai asked as he opened his sketch book, “Apparently I’m being demoted to doing caricatures after this.”
“Your own fault,” Shin teased with a glance at the beast, “The Lady doesn’t really appreciate us trying to kill customers.”
“I am ready!” Kano exclaimed.
Chihiro didn’t pay much attention to the fight between the boy and Sai’s summon, she was too busy studying Neji’s odd stare at the boy, one that almost seemed of recognition.
For once she found herself wanting to find out the secrets of the carnival, not just going along with her brothers ideas just to keep them out of trouble. There was something almost sinister here, she could feel it now when for so long she hadn’t.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the crash and then splat as the large creature was knocked to the ground and then turned back to ink that traveled quickly back to Sai’s brush, “Congratulations,” he said, “That’s almost a record on the time.”
“The only one that would have defeated him faster is an old friend of mine,” Neji noted quietly.
The twins were applauding, “Pretty impressive,” they chorused linking their arms in Kano’s and leading him out of the tent, Chihiro rushing to follow, “Come on, we’ll show you to some of the best rides in town.”
“I’ll deliver the book to her wagon then?” Shin called, and the red-head girl ran back, bowing in apology as he gave her the volume then rushed to catch up with the other three.
“He does look like him,” Sai said quietly after she was out of earshot, “And those moves are similar, but he just could be a descendant.”
Neji’s gaze followed the children, “It was very close, but you’re right, it isn’t him.”
“Nothing to worry about then,” Shin said as he crossed his arms.
“It was his son.”
Both of them stared in wonderment at the Hyuuga as he walked out of the tent after that statement.
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She walked along, watching the people as she passed through the carnival. Every now and then someone would turn and stare at her, not sure if they really saw her or not. Though she was the one who was the mistress of this strange place, she preferred to stay in the shadows, only making appearances as ringmaster at the finale of the week, during the grand exhibition.
Until then, she watched both the people in her troupe and the people in the mundane world, searching for something in each person, waiting for the moment when their desires granted her an opening… hoping that it never happened.
A slight change in temperature caused her to turn and smile half-heartedly at the blond boy with deep red eyes, “You know there’s someone here then.”
“As things stand now, yes,” he opened up a large book, taking out a quill as he began to write, “Are you regretting the duties given to you?”
“Only always,” she said with a wry smile, “Just as you are, just as the last of us will when she takes the mantle. It is a lonely life playing the Devil and Oracle.”
“Try being Death,” he commented, “I think the last excitement I had was when I played chess against that knight,” he stilled the quill, “One of yours is on this list.”
“Do you think I don’t know?” she asked, “Not as one you’re taking, but as the cause, correct?”
“It could mean trouble,” he stated, “Unless someone is willing to trade their soul.”
She chuckled, “Do you want me to tell you how it’ll all turn out?”
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 8:19 am
Chapter Six
“There was a man so wise
He jumped into a sandy place and burnt out both his eyes!
And when he knew his eyes were gone, he offered no complaint.
He summoned up a vision and made himself a saint.”
Itachi looked up at the chanting, not recognizing the children’s verse that the woman was reciting, wondering why the battle was suddenly quiet, there was no motion or sound from the one he was fighting earlier, and in the darkness that surrounded him, he couldn’t tell where he was, just knowing that he wasn’t where he was before.
However he could tell one thing, the chakra control belonging to Orochimaru was gone. He was free.
As he was wondering at what that meant, light flashed into his world and he saw. He saw the inevitable fight that his brother would soon have, the two choices that lay before Sasuke.
“I can offer a third choice,” the woman that was chanting before spoke, and he turned to see her standing beside him, her long black hair flowing around her as she gazed at him with intense amethyst eyes that even he could not determine the age of.
He almost shrank back from her, then wondered at that, he had never let fear rule him, he had done unspeakable things, all for…
“His soul is in danger isn’t it?” she continued, “Either he will die in the next battle and it will be lost, or he will continue on this path of hatred and it will be even further lost. I can offer a third choice, one where he can walk in light once more, a hero as you wanted him to be.”
He stared at her, “Exactly why do you offer this?”
“Your soul called out to me,” she said quietly with a faded pained smile on her lips, “You who have given everything for your brother, are you willing to give that as well?”
There was a knock on the pole outside his tent flap and Itachi opened his eyes, reaching for the red fabric and wrapping it around his face before turning and going to see who it was.
“Auntie Mira sent over your dinner,” Shinsetsu said happily, but Itachi wasn’t looking at him, instead his gaze turned to the dark-haired boy next to him, “Oh, this is Karasu, I found him wandering around, not knowing what to try first.”
“It’s nice that you were able to make a friend,” Itachi said quietly, “Are you enjoying yourself thus far Karasu-san?”
He shrugged, “I guess it’s interesting to see the place from this angle. What’s your act?”
“I’m an hypnotist,” Itachi said quietly, “I make people forget their pains for a time and immerse them in a world of happy illusion.”
“You should see the lines he gets,” Shinsetsu added, “After the grand finale there’s a whole group of guys and girls wanting a private session.”
“Aren’t you a little young to notice things like that?” Itachi said with a wry smile, “Your parents will have my hide for corrupting you as such.”
“Do you ever grant any?” Karasu asked suddenly, “Or aren’t you the type to let that sort of thing happen?”
He turned his seemingly blindfolded gaze back to him, “A few times, but only once in recent history. I believe that it was the last time we were in Heiwa,” with that he thanked Shinsetsu one last time for the dango and retreated back into the tent.
“I bet it was that red-head!” Shinsetsu exclaimed with a grin, “She came like everyday when we were here.”
“You really like getting into other’s people business don’t you,” Karasu commented as he followed the boy to the next delivery.
“And you don’t have a romantic bone in your body do you?” he retorted, “Besides, we’re all family here, so I’m just concerned about Uncle Tachi’s happiness. Don’t you worry about your family?”
Karasu was silent for a moment before shaking his head, “They don’t worry about me all that much,” he whispered, ignoring the look of pity Shinsetsu gave him at that.
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“It’s getting late,” Chihiro commented quietly as she and Kano sat down on one of the benches across from the food stand, “Aren’t your parents going to be worried?”
He froze, his spoonful of curry halfway to his mouth.
“And you skipped school today didn’t you?” she crossed her arms, “Not very honest of you, I bet they don’t even know where you are,” she glanced sideways at him, and sighed when she saw that he was bright red and on the verge of tears, “I uh… could walk you home and explain to them that you got lost.”
“But then who would walk you home?” he asked suddenly, “It is not right for a lady of such beauty and grace to…”
“Stop it,” she snapped, “I’m not pretty at all, and I don’t have any grace. I can manage on my own, but it’s my fault that you skipped right? Let me talk to your parents and apologize.”
“You know Chi, you could always grab someone off-duty to go with you two lovebirds,” Mira chirped from the stand, inwardly chuckling at the bright blush that overcame her daughter, “And you’re pretty, stop thinking you’re not.”
“It’s not needed,” she snorted, “His house isn’t all that far away,” she stood, “Come on, the sooner I get you home the better.”
“Be careful then,” Mira called as she waved.
“It was so nice to meet you Sabaku-san,” Kano bowed as he stood, and she grinned.
“Just call me Auntie Mira,” she said, her hands flying to her face, “And maybe you can call me Ma…”
“MAMA!” Chihiro exclaimed, then grabbed Kano’s arm, “Come on, I should have taken you to Uncle Haku’s food stand.”
“He would have teased you worse than I did!” the fiery haired woman called after the two of them, then her smile faded, as she crossed her arms, “Still… I wish that you asked someone else to go with you guys.”
“Chi’s too independent for her own good,” Kimimaro said from where he was eating on the other side of the stand, “But she does have the sand with her.”
Mira slowly nodded, a worried look still on her face, then she turned to him, “So exactly why are you hiding from her anyway?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he commented, “It certainly doesn’t have to do with anything that’s your business.”
“Oh, so it’s dealing with that old fight with Gaara,” she leaned her head on her hands, ignoring his glare, “You know if you were to follow them and make sure that they’re alright, I could cover for you while say, you looked for a certain person that may or may not be in town here.”
“Why do you care?” he snorted.
“That’s what your deal was for right? So go get your happiness,” she went back to chopping vegetables, “Because if it really was for revenge, Gaara and the kids would have been long gone. You had plenty of opportunity there.”
“Most of them he gave me himself,” Kimimaro whispered, then shrugged as he left, “I’m off then. But not necessarily to follow after your brat.”
“Good luck!” Mira called, waving happily at him before turning back to customers.
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Neji looked up as the door to his wagon opened, “Don’t you knock?” he asked of Gaara before nodding at an empty chair.
“Only when someone isn’t hiding like a small child,” the red-head said quietly as he leaned against the doorframe, “What was your deal for?”
“Now you ask?” he glared at him, “What was yours? Rumors are it’s about the bijuu.”
“It was. How do you think that war really was won?” he sighed, “I couldn’t let Naruto be lost like that. I was rather surprised when you showed up a few years afterwards though.”
“My deal was made long before the war even started,” he said as he sat down in the chair, “And if you weren’t at the chunin exams, then I wouldn’t have even made it.”
Gaara stared at him for a moment, “The experimental surgery.”
“Even with Tsunade it was a long shot. And after all I did to him,” he sighed, “I don’t even know how she found me.”
“Same way that she finds everyone,” the red-head whispered, “She waits for a moment when we’re weak, willing to give up anything, she doesn’t have a choice in the matter,” he shook his head, “At least she waited for you to die before she collected.”
“I never told him,” Neji chewed the inside of his cheek, “She told me once that he lived to a ripe old age afterwards.”
“Can you imagine Lee as old?” Gaara commented dryly, “Something tells me that he had built a dojo on a mountaintop or something ridiculous like that.”
The Hyuuga smiled, “He more than likely made his students carry buckets of water as they climbed the stairs on their hands.”
“For what it’s worth…” he stopped as Neji held up a hand.
“He forgave you long ago, and you saved his life many times afterwards,” he said quietly, “We all pay for our own mistakes.”
“Will you go to see the reincarnation?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” Neji sighed, “The last time we were here, I was lucky in that he didn’t come, though I caught a glimpse of him passing by a few times. But now…”
“His son looks and acts just like him,” a small smile tugged at the edge of his lips, “Chi doesn’t have any idea how to deal with the new attention,” at that he walked out of the wagon, looking back as he stepped off to the ground, “Have you ever regretted?”
Neji thought for a moment as he looked around the carnival, “No. Strange as this existence is, strange as the circumstances binding us here are, I never regretted, not even when I was still alive and knowing that my soul was no longer mine.”
“This is a much better fate than we thought we would receive when the deal was made,” Gaara agreed quietly, “She had a way of granting us the happiness forbidden to us in life.”
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The next morning shone brightly over the city, and Chihiro opened her eyes, wondering for a brief moment where she was before remembering that Kano’s father had insisted that she spend the night there rather than walk back to the carnival alone.
“I’m surprised that I slept at all,” she muttered as she rose out of the bed and looked around the small guest room, “So this is a normal house.”
A knock came at her door, “Good morning Chi-chan!” Kano’s voice said happily, “Father made some joyful pancakes if you want to stay for breakfast, and then I can walk you back to the carnival before I go to school.”
She smiled briefly, “I’ll be right down then,” she said, then shook her head as she heard him walk away, “Why am I getting involved with him?” she asked herself quietly, “We’re leaving in a few days, and when we come back…” she hugged herself, “Why do I even care?”
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Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 10:18 am
Chapter Seven
“Thanks for calling last night,” Mira said to the dark haired man that was escorting Kano and Chihiro, “She wasn’t any trouble was she?”
“Not at all!” Lee said happily, “And Chihiro-chan, you are invited to the dojo later today. Kano has a class that he teaches to kindergarteners, but after that he would be happy to show you around the neighborhood.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said quietly as she bowed, “Thank you for letting me stay the night.”
He and Kano left, and Mira waved, waiting until he was out of earshot before turning and grinning at her daughter, “So are you going to dress up for your date?”
“It’s not a date Mama,” Chihiro sighed, and then blinked, “Wait… there’s a phone here?”
“Gaara made sure that we had one for legal reasons,” the fiery haired woman smiled, “Soooo, how was last night?”
“Kano’s father adds a good deal of spice to his cooking,” she turned and walked away.
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Mira said as she crossed her arms, a small smile on her face as she watched her daughter, “And boys, be nice,” she said as she turned to the twins that had appeared behind her.
“How’d you know we were there?” both chorused with wide eyes.
She winked, “That’s my trade secret. And I mean it, go easy on her,” she sighed, “She’s just like her father and won’t admit something that’s painfully obvious to everyone else,” she went to the back of the food area then, working on finishing up breakfast for the troupe.
“Think he knows how to treat Chi right?” Haru said as he folded his hands behind his head.
“Hmm,” Sora mused as he tapped his chin, “Bet Mama’s right though. Chi’s not going to admit to liking him,” a crooked smile appeared on his face, “We better call that meeting after breakfast, she found out something yesterday and Shin-chan’s picking up the map from that one now,” he turned to his brother, “Do you think Auntie Phoe showed Ho-oh how to tell the love fortunes?”
An identical crooked smile appeared on Haru’s face, “I remember hearing her tell Chain about it. Do you think she’ll go for it?”
“No… but Kano seems like someone that’ll be loads of fun to play with,” the younger twin pointed out, “How about we set up a reading for him?”
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Karasu pulled the paper from the printer, wincing as he looked at the clock, “Damnit…” he muttered, “I’m going to be late,” stuffing the map into his schoolbag he rushed downstairs.
“But why can’t we go to the carnival?” his blue-haired half-sister was whining to the man that looked almost exactly like an older male version of her as her red-haired twin brother was quietly eating his cereal.
“Because it’s no place for children,” Choujurro answered as he washed the dishes, “If it were a normal place, then sure, but there are too many distasteful rumors about that troupe.”
“But I wanna go on the rides,” Sachiko pouted, then pointed at Karasu, “He went last night!”
“Karasu is almost ten years older than you,” her father said, “Bento is in the fridge, and your mother wants you home by ten tonight,” he turned to Karasu, “I’d rather you get home earlier.”
Karasu shrugged as he took his lunch out, “I might have a project to work on with Kano and Aiko, I’ll call if that’s the case,” he said as he went out the door.
He got his bike out of the garage and pedaled to the end of the street, surprised to see Shinsetsu leaning against a stop sign, “How’d you know…”
“I just followed your heart,” Shinsetsu smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear, “It’s beating pretty loudly right now,” he placed his hands behind his back and leaned forward, “Almost as if you like me.”
“Don’t be stupid,” he grumbled as he pulled the map out of his bag, “That’s what they want right?”
“Why is it stupid?” brown eyes blinked in confusion as he took the paper, “I like you, you’re interesting and cute,” he planted a quick kiss on Karasu’s cheek before running off, “Make sure you come by the Carnival this afternoon, we’ll have loads of fun!”
The Uchiha stared after him, a rather prominent blush on his cheeks, for a moment before shaking his head and getting back on his bike to head for school.
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“Did you find him?” Phoenix asked as she noticed Kimimaro reentering the Carnival grounds, blinking as he suddenly held his left hand out to her.
“Where does it lead?” he demanded, “I know you can see it, tell me where to go!”
She shook her head as she closed her fingers over it, “It’s faint, he isn’t in this area, but…” she chewed her lip, “North, but very far… I can’t tell how.”
“Then it seems that you’ll stay with us for a little while longer,” a voice said and both looked to see Gaara standing there, “Phoe, Sin’s act is starting today, is it ready?”
“I was just on my way to see if he needed anything else,” she said as she gently let go of Kimimaro’s hand and left the two alone.
“You knew I wasn’t here last night,” the white-haired man said as he stared at Gaara, who met and held his eyes.
“Mira has a very hard time keeping things secret from me. I thank you for ensuring that no harm came to Chi last night.”
“She needs to be more careful, there are many more violent elements in the city than there were the last time we were here.”
“Do you really think that he’ll accept you just appearing on his doorstep?”
“My loyalty is still to him. Even if it takes another three-hundred years, I’ll return to his side to serve him,” Kimimaro turned away, “You could never understand what he means to me.”
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“I can’t believe that he found dates that far back,” Haru said as he and Sora looked over the map.
His brother nodded, “He was really thorough on his research wasn’t he,” both looked up to flash crooked smiles at Shinsetsu, “Good thing for you he pays attention to the details,” they chorused in teasing voices as he smiled wistfully.
“So the owner of the bookstore was right?” Chihiro asked as she crossed her arms, “It really was fifteen years ago when we were here last?”
“Wait…” Shinsetsu narrowed his eyes, “Then the next time I see Kara-kun, he might be an old man,” he sighed, leaning his head in his hands, “Is there a pattern that you could see?”
“Give me that,” Yuri said as she took the map from the twins, “If there is one, then I’ll see it.”
“Might as well make every moment with him count now,” they chorused to Shinsetsu, “Never know when you’ll get the chance again,” the two turned to Chihiro, “Sucks for you too. Think we can somehow kidnap the two of them?”
She glared at them, then blinked, “Come to think of it,” she turned to Kokoro, “You weren’t born here like the rest of us, you don’t happen to remember anything about how you joined us would you?”
The small girl shook her head, “Just that I was crying in that Uncle Kaze’s maze and then the blond scary man came and then the next thing I remember was a soft voice… I think it was Lady Lucier’s… and I fell asleep and woke up in Uncle Haku and Uncle Zabuza’s wagon.”
“You died.”
All the children turned to stare at Hoshi, “What do you mean?” Kokoro asked, with a little fear in her voice.
She chewed her lip, “I don’t know how I know, but I think that’s it… everyone here, everyone that wasn’t born here that is, is dead,” she scrunched her nose, “Well… Lady Lucier’s not, and Daddy and Mama aren’t… but they’re something different.”
“That makes you something different too,” Chihiro said, then slowly turned to her brothers, “That makes sense though. What was the first date on that map?”
“November first, about three hundred years from the date that he put on the bottom here,” Yuri said quietly, “I can only assume that’s the current date.”
“So this carnival has been wandering around for three-hundred years?” Chain asked as he chewed his lip, “How is that even possible?”
“That date’s important too,” Chihiro pointed out, “In some religions, it’s known as All Saint’s Day, the day when the living and the dead can meet. There are loads of different cultures that honor it.”
“You read too much,” the twins chorused, “And if that’s true, then wouldn’t there be more people in the troupe, what’s the difference between our families and the rest of the dead.”
“I’ll check the other dates on here and see if they appear on similar festivals,” Yuri said, “That’s a start at least,” she chewed her lip, “And there is an obvious pattern I can see from the locations, they form a really complex mandala.”
“Is it one you’ve seen before?” Hoshi asked, and the green-haired girl nodded.
“It’s the same as the one on the door to Lady Lucier’s wagon,” she said quietly.
“So any answers might be in there,” Sora realized, “This whole thing revolves around her, but why?”
Before anyone could answer the flap to the tent that the children were in opened, and Yuri and Chain hastily hid the map beneath them as Karin peeked in, “There you guys are!” she said, “It’s way past lunch time, and we’ve got a lot of work to do,” she blinked, “What are you up to anyways?”
“Chi has a date tonight, so we’re trying to tell her that she should dress up,” Haru and Sora chorused before they disappeared.
Chihiro was covering her face with her palm, her face bright red, “It’s not a date,” she growled, “I’m just going…”
“I have the cutest outfit if you want to borrow it!” Karin squealed, “And I can do your hair, those braids are just boring, and…” she blinked as her younger half-sister stomped away then ran after her, “Wait! Tell me about the guy!”
“Come on Koko-chan,” Shinsetsu said, “We should go see if Daddys need any help,” they followed behind.
Yuri turned to Hoshi, “How did you know?”
“I don’t know,” she said quietly, “But something’s about to happen, I can just feel it,” she shook her head and smiled at the two siblings, “So I guess we better see what we can do to make Shin-chan and Chi-chan happy!”
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 7:33 am
Chapter Eight
Kokoro sat on the bench next to Shinsetsu and Karasu, softly staring at the town outside the carnival gates as the two others were deep in a discussion that she couldn’t keep up with, something about a place called school that the raven-haired boy was going to.
She felt sorry for her adopted brother, if Hoshi was right, if that map was right, then after the seventh day he wouldn’t see this person anymore, at least it wouldn’t be the same.
“It’ll be fine,” Shinsetsu said smiling after they left the tent, “I’ll make every moment with him count now and make loads of nice memories. I’m one that might be dead already anyways, there’s no reason to get upset over it.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the twins going towards Lady Lucier’s wagon, “They’re going to ask her?” she whispered in surprise, then glanced over at Shinsetsu to see if he noticed.
He was waving at Chihiro who was walking out the gate, “Have fun!” he called out, then turned to Karasu, “You’re friends with that Kano right? Chi said that she saw you biking with him yesterday morning?”
Kokoro didn’t pay attention to the answer, she was clenching her fists over the skirt of her dress, What’s the point in trying to spend time with any of them? They’re going to be gone… they won’t even remember we were here, and when we come back they’ll be much older, maybe even dead…
Her vision blurred, and she suddenly yelped in pain, clutching her chest, barely noticing that she had fallen down to the ground, “Koko-chan!” Shinsetsu yelled, as he knelt beside her, then turned to Karasu, “Go to the black tent and get Phoenix, tell her to meet me at my wagon,” he pointed across the carnival, “It’s the one with a snowflake painted on the door, I’m going to take her to bed and start basic first aid.”
“My mom’s a nurse, shouldn’t we get her to the hospital?” Karasu asked.
Shinsetsu chewed his lip, “Just go get Phoenix!” he cried as he picked the small girl up, “We can’t go there… I’ll explain later!”
The dark-haired boy blinked, then nodded and ran towards the tent, not noticing the blond boy with blood red eyes that was watching them.
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“She’s not here,” the twins chorused as they entered the wagon, looking around at it’s rich decorations in dark purple and black.
Sora sat down, “I hate to say it, but if we rummage around, she’ll know,” his brother nodded as he sat down next to him, “She’s one of the few people that I don’t think we can deceive,” he added quietly.
“So how do we find out anything?” Haru asked.
“You could ask,” both turned to see Lucier standing behind them, “Just as you can’t deceive me, then I cannot deceive either of you. Your investigation is dangerous though,” she smiled sadly, “Have you thought about what might happen to one that has been given a life of dreaming if they find out about the deal after death?”
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“She’s rejecting it,” Phoenix said quietly to Haku, “I can ease some of the pain, but unless she chooses…” her voice trailed off.
He brushed a strand of hair from Kokoro’s eyes and placed a cool washcloth on her forehead, “She had a hard time as it was, Lucier erased her memories of that cruel abuse, but a small part of her remembered it. It was only recently that we had just gotten her to trust us,” he shook his head, “Maybe if we had just a little more time.”
Shinsetsu sat outside the wagon, quietly staring in, “Is she alright?” Karasu asked as he handed the boy a cup, “I figured that none of you wanted to get any food, so I went to Mira and got you guys something anyways. I can run your errands tonight if you need me to.”
“It’s my fault,” Shinsetsu whispered, “I shouldn’t have brought her along to try and find everything out. It’s because she knows that…” he closed his eyes, “She was so worried about it too.”
“What?” Karasu asked, “You guys found something?”
“Later,” he said, looking back towards Kokoro and the two adults, “I think this has something to do with it, I’m going to wait and see how she’s doing.”
The other boy slowly nodded, then squeezed Shinsetsu’s shoulder, “I’ll see if my Mom can come by,” he said quietly, “She’ll be fine, I promise.”
Both looked up as they heard the soft singing in the tent, “What is she…” Karasu started as he stared at Phoenix’s glowing hands on Kokoro, then blinked as his mouth was covered by Shinsetsu’s hand.
“It’s how she heals,” he whispered, “If anything will work, it’ll be that,” neither boy said anything else as they watched the small girl start to breath easier, then Phoenix saying hushed words to Haku who nodded as he brought the covers up to her chin, before the autumn-haired woman got up and left the wagon.
“What did she do?” Karasu asked after she had gone.
Shinsetsu smiled, “It’ll be alright now,” he said, “I’ve never known Auntie Phoe to fail. And we love Kokoro, she’ll have to stay,” he pushed away any doubts caused by the quiet conversation Haku and Phoenix had a few minutes before, though there was still one nagging question bothering him.
Just what is Koko-chan rejecting?
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“It’s whatever deal she made then,” Sora said as he stood next to Shinsetsu later that night, he and his brother staring quietly at the fire in the middle of the camp, “That answers a question that we had at least.”
“What question?” Karasu asked, and both twins shrugged, “And what do you mean by deal?”
“She’s dead already,” Shinsetsu whispered, poking at the fire with a stick, “And so am I. We died as children,” he chewed his lip, “I’m starting to remember some things now. I wonder if she’s having the same problem.”
“The difference is that she doesn’t have your cheerful way of dealing,” Haru pointed out, “She’s a realist.”
Karasu stared at the three, “None of this is making any sense,” he sighed, then looked at his watch, “And I need to get going, my stepfather has me under a curfew.”
“You said your mom works at a hospital,” Shinsetsu said quietly, “Is she not home right now?”
“She has the late shift, so she’s already at work,” he said shrugging, “And she won’t be back until after I head to school,” he got up, grabbing his bag, then pausing, “Come to think on it, Kano’s under a curfew too… shouldn’t that girl be back by now? She just went to see his class right?”
“What kind of date would it be if they just did something boring like that?” the twins chorused before they disappeared from sight.
“And you just worried them, even though they’ll never admit it,” Shinsetsu smiled, “Come back tomorrow, I just know Koko-chan will be better. Maybe you can help me convince her to go for ice cream or something.”
“I’ll do you one better, I’ll bring a treat here for her when I come,” Karasu promised, waving as he left.
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“Don’t tell me you want to have children too,” Lucier said as she quietly sipped on her tea, “For the two of you that might be a bit more difficult.”
“Nothing like that,” Haku promised, “It’s just that little girl in the last town got me thinking… I mean we were able to save her and get her to a safe place, but how many children are there like that… like I was. I want to save them.”
“All of them?” she raised her eyebrow, “That’s a tall order, I can’t even save a small percentage of those that need it, no matter how I try.”
He chewed his lip, “I’ve got to try. You have Death bringing you candidates for deals anyways, just ask for a few that were abused and left to die, let me take them in.”
“I can only bring you two,” she said, “One soul for each of yours. That’s the trade and your new deal.”
A moment passed, then the ice ninja smiled, “Agreed. But I’m not sure if Zabu…”
“I’ll agree with it as well,” a hand clapped down on his shoulder, “It’s the least I can do for ruining this child.”
“Daddy?” a whispered voice called, and Haku slowly looked up to see Kokoro rubbing her eyes, “Daddy, I had a bad dream.”
“It’s alright now Koko-chan,” he whispered as he pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly, “How are you feeling?”
“I don’t ever have to go anywhere else do I?” she sighed as her eyes slowly closed, “I can stay with you and Dad and Shin-chan forever and ever right?”
“Forever and ever,” he promised, “As long as you want to be with us.”
“I told you that we’d get through,” Haku looked up to see Zabuza standing at the doorway, “Shin had gotten sick like that once as well.”
“He had nightmares for a long time,” the ice ninja smiled gently, “You were the one that took care of him then, I was close to panicking.”
“You don’t remember that fever you had as a kid,” Zabuza said as he sat down next to the two, “It was just a couple of weeks after I found you,” he shook his head, “And all that time I thought I was just keeping my new weapon alive,” he pulled Haku and Kokoro to him, “I was an idiot for not seeing sooner.”
“No,” Haku whispered, “You’re just you. I’ve always loved that.”
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Chihiro stepped through the gates, frowning as she walked through the carnival to the wagon she lived in with her family.
“After midnight’s a bit late to be getting home.”
“If he comes tomorrow, tell him that I’m not here,” she said quietly, not even looking at her brothers, “It’s best to end this now.”
With that she opened the door and went inside, leaving Haru and Sora staring after her with a worried expression on their faces.
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