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Light From the ShadowsChapter 1About ten pounds.Ten pounds was all his life had amounted to in the Fire Nation, and it rested squarely on his shoulders as he passed through the Fire Nation capital city’s main gates under the cover of a cool fall night. Even through his mask his breath puffed out as steam in the brisk air and he felt the bite of the temperature in his lungs. For some reason it seemed cleaner than any air he’d breathed in a long time and Kakashi wondered if this was what they meant when people said they could taste freedom.“Kakashi! Off on another of your patrols? You’ve been picking up a lot as of late.” He turned back to the gate and looked up at the guard on sentry that night. His signature bowl cut was covered by their standard issue helmets, but Kakashi would be able to place that ridiculously bright smile anywhere.“Nah, not tonight, Gai. Just out for a walk. The air is cleaner out here, keeps the youthful spirit fresh.”“Right you are, my rival! How about it? Up for another race around the capital when you get back?”“Sure. See you later.”Kakashi gave him a little two-finger wave and left his self-proclaimed rival behind. He had a feeling it would be some time before that challenge could take place, and the thought that he was leaving this man as the last person to see him weighed on his shoulders; who knew what the consequences for allowing him to desert would be.It didn’t do to dwell on it, so he pulled his bag higher on his shoulders and walked a little faster. Anything to put the eternal scent of soot and ashes as far away as possible.Speed would be his ally in the escape after all; the longer he stuck around in the Nation the easier it would be for the Fire Lord to catch him.Kakashi managed to stow away on a barge headed for the Earth Kingdom, but his luck seemed to end there. Only a week passed before he noticed out of the corner of his eye that he was being followed. The Fire Lord had sent out several recovery operatives and after discovering it didn't matter to them if he was dead or alive, Kakashi put a stop to their pursuit. None of them were even close to skilled enough to take him down. At least, not until the Fire Lord got serious. After almost a year the pursuit teams thinned out and got good. Good enough that Kakashi started to get paranoid when he stopped noticing them.He knew he was never alone, there was no way the Fire Lord had given up on him, so whenever he felt a lack of other presence, it set him on edge. At the very least if he was being followed, he wanted to know where they were. When he couldn't sniff them out whatsoever, it made him nervous. He grew suspicious of everyone he met, every food he ever ate, and every direction he was given. He kept to a low profile, learning what he could of local customs to fit in better with the local population. Disguising never worked for long, and he would always have to move on just as he started to relax. He cut his hair and let his beard grow out, trying anything to throw them off his trail. His lovely 'friends' grew bolder with each passing week, finally resorting to full-on attacking, regardless of location and audience.The final assassin the Fire Lord ever sent was a persistent one, a silent and deadly opponent, and Kakashi had true difficulty fighting them. There were several close calls in corners and back alleys, when they came too close to killing him to be comfortable.The Fire Lord had been strategic in his hunt, sending the young, inexperienced, and disposable members after him in the beginning when they were sure to perish. They were essentially there to wear him down and they had done just that. Kakashi could never sleep for more than an hour or two without fear of waking up to a blade or worse, never waking at all. He was so exhausted there was little drive to fight back against this last opponent, and they knew it. Had spent weeks taunting him. If they had wanted to kill him straight away, they would have done so by now, instead of dragging out his misery.In the end it took everything he had to fight back against the assassin, and while he did manage to succeed in ending the other's pursuit in a bloody mess, the fight hadn't left him unscathed; several direct hits from the man's flame daggers had caused nasty wounds across his back. They would need tending, badly, not to mention those from their previous skirmishes that he'd yet had the time to stop and clean. The loss of blood made his vision foggy and while he wanted to reach out, Kakashi came to realize one truth about his decision before he lost consciousness: despite his severance from the Fire Nation, he could ask no one for help.He was truly alone....The next thing Kakaski knew was a deep pain in his back and a rocking world around him, the air in the room smelling strongly of fish and salt. A creaking noise came from above him and the sound of rolling waves crashed in along with bright sunlight."Ah! I see yer awake!" A scraggly looking man peeked in from the deck hatch, "how ya feelin? Took some nasty hits back there on the docks, ya did."Kakashi rubbed at his face to try and wake a little more and sat up on the makeshift hammock the man had probably made up for him."Did you save me?" he wondered out loud, incredulous that anyone would take the time to help a stranger like him, let alone
if he had found out
he was Fire Nation."Just patched ya up a bit, heard ya helped mah sister up the road just a ways and I just couldn't let such a pal up and die.""Thank you."The fisherman threw open the hatch completely and rummaged through a barrel across the room from Kakashi. He dug out a couple of apples and tossed one to him."So where are ya off to, stranger?""Anywhere safe. Preferably somewhere I can forget about the war," he sighed and took a bite of the apple."I know exactly whatcha mean. You ever heard of Kyoshi Island?""Like the Avatar?""That's the one. From what I hear, they've remained neutral on the war front, and it's an island, how much quieter could you get? Anyways, not trying to sway you, but that's where my next haul of fish is going and I'd be happy to get ya there."Kakashi held on to one of the ropes supporting his hammock as the boat hit a rather steep swell, "I-I couldn't ask you do that for me, you've done more than enough already."The fisherman nodded and gnawed at his own apple, "Well, if you really feel like ya gotta earn it, how's about we make a deal? I'll take you to Kyoshi and you help me out some chores and with the haulin' when we get there?""Sounds like you got yourself a deal."...It took them approximately another week to reach Kyoshi Island, and during that time, Kakashi was determined to earn his keep on the ship, untangling and rewinding rope, scrubbing the decking and helping with the general upkeep of the small vessel, as much as his wounds would allow anyway. The old man was named Chey, and from what Kakashi could deduce, was a simple fisherman trading between the mainland and the islands just off the coast. Kyoshi was one of his regular stops.When they finally reached the island, Kakashi fulfilled his part of the bargain and helped Chey unload the large bins of fish from the boat. The old man traded them with a merchant in the village and they parted ways.Judging by what little weight was left in his pack, Kakashi thouht he might have enough to stay in the inn there for a short time, a month at the longest, and if the island proved to be a worthy hiding spot, then he'd worry about a more permanent solution.
...The islanders proved to be a very suspicious folk for the first few weeks, always asking personal questions and trying to figure out his character. He wasn't sure how many times he heard 'grumble grumble Fire Nation spy grumble grumble' in the inn after he first arrived, but to be fair to them, he didn't have a permanent job beyond helping in the shipyard and appeared to simply be loitering around the island; anyone would look suspicious. Not to mention the fact that he technically was from the Fire Nation.Mrs. Shamiro proved to be a saving grace for his life on the island, and was the first to approach him for anything other than prying gossip fodder."So you're new to Kyoshi Island. I'm Mrs. Shamiro. Are you just a tourist relaxing for a couple weeks or are you looking for something a little more permanent?""I'd love to find something more permanent, just... looking for something a little more mentally challenging than fishing or farming.""Have you tried getting on at the school? They had a teacher leave for BaSingSe eons ago and they haven't found a replacement yet. Is that mentally challenging enough for you?"Kakashi was reminded of his time mentoring in the Fire Nation and it brought a small smile to his face."Yes, that's exactly what I mean. I was a culture studies mentor in my village before they were raided."
Not entirely a lie, after all.
The woman nodded in understanding and clapped him on the back, "All right, let me introduce you!"It seemed the entire village drank at the Turtle Lion Inn at night; Kakashi was introduced not just to the schoolmaster (who was ecstatic at the thought of a new teacher), but also to a carpenter (who offered to build him a house), a few other artisans, and the head of the Kyoshi Warriors, Tsunade.Who subsequently challenged him to a drinking contest."If you beat me, I'll let you join my warriors." She offered as bait, swirling a large bottle of who knew what on the table before her.Kakashi took the bait. Who wouldn't be interested in one of the only non-bending military groups in existence? And because he had never felt the burn of anything but the Fire Nation's hottest Kitsunabe whisky, he accepted the challenge. Beating Tsunade turned out to be child's play. He was quite warm on their last round , but it was still nothing like the drinking contests he'd participated in with Gai when he was in a mood for a game of Dragon's Tongue."What are you," She slurred, tapping out of the next round of shots, "some sort of demon?""Hmm, no. It seems I'm your newest recruit."She groaned and rested her head on the table, much to the laughter of the small group still surrounding them."So when's morning practice?"
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
That night had been eight years ago now, and Kakashi had since made a life on the island, immersing himself completely in the quiet
ways of the islanders. It took time for the nightmares and paranoia to die down, or at least be hidden behind a smiling facade and his signature facemask. There were only so many times one could pull a knife on someone for touching him unexpectedly and play it off as a refugee's nervous demeanor, after all. The island's head carpenter had indeed built him a home and he was now the World Studies teacher for
Kyoshi's
school. He spent each morning with the Warriors before heading in to class and
somehow,
he
had made exactly (1) friend, just
one
person he allowed within arm’s distance. That wasn’t to say he wasn’t on amicable terms with most of the island’s inhabitants, he simply didn’t care to take the relationship any further with the rest. This, and if something were to happen and his true identity were exposed, less people would be hurt by it.
Sakura wasn’t like the rest of the villagers, and in discovering his occupation and the wealth of knowledge he possessed (her words not his), she just couldn't leave him alone.
Her upbeat and perky personality
had washed up on
Kyoshi's
shore much like himself about three years ago.
When she stepped off the boat, the first thing he noticed was
a giant pack even larger than herself strapped to her shoulders and overflowing with books and scrolls, and the fact she didn’t seem to be bothered by its weight. A bright smile
and a sense of excitement was evident in her springy demeanor as she took in their tiny island village.
Her bright pink hair had been tied back with a cloth bandanna and her
green eyes looked starved for new experiences.
What he could see of her skin had been tinted bronze, and he wondered where she had come from to spend so much time in the sun. Her passage had been gained through
a fishing boat from the mainland just as he had five years before, though he doubted her circumstances were as dire as his.
Kakashi had been with the Warriors when they questioned her arrival on the island. Even as happy-go-lucky as she appeared, anyone could be a Fire Nation spy, and the
Kyoshi
Warriors were not about to let anything happen to their home. Sakura accepted the scrutiny with a fairly open attitude and admitted she didn’t have any official papers beyond a letter from King Bumi to prove who she was. They would later find out just how
incredibly intelligent
and powerful this
woman
was
who had insisted that she was just a traveling scholar, simply there to learn everything the island could offer before moving on to the next stop on
her journey. The mayor had allowed her to stay after confirming her identity as an
Omashan
citizen, and so began her ‘temporary’ stay on the island.
Three years later, she was still there, had taken up a 'semi-permanent' post in the
Kyoshi
Warriors,
rented a home from Mrs.
Shamiro,
and consistently spent the rest of her time badgering him for new information to write down in a notebook she somehow always had on her person.
Today was one of her particularly insatiable days, where she spoke too fast and her train of thought moved a million miles per hour. It wasn't that
Kakashi
truly minded the questions or conversation-there weren't many on the island who were
even half as
curious about the rest of the world, let alone had the level of prior intelligence she possessed-
just some days he wanted to simply
relax, to
set down and read a book after dealing with children all day instead of debating the existence of a rare
beetle
in the Si Wong Desert, or other equally obscure topics.
On
days like these,
he pulled out
a volume of Icha Icha and just let her talk, opting to listen instead of actively participate.
They were walking around the perimeter of the island that afternoon, part of Sakura's guard duty was to patrol the island in shifts with the other warriors, and having someone there to talk to (read: listen), helped the
shift
go by faster.
It was, however, an unfortunately hot, humid, and sticky day in the middle of summer and he knew they were both sweaty and ready to go home. (Much like the kids in his classes that day). There were a multitude of tall birch trees growing on the island and shading their path, but they did little to cut the humidity.
"So,
what was your lesson for the kids today?" Sakura asked at
one point while they
plodded along the well-beaten path around the island. Kakashi didn't even look up from his book.
"We're still going over Northern Water Tribe politics, as there is a lot to sift through there, but on days like today it's practically torture for them to hear about icy places they'd rather be. They were quite distracted
by the thought of water benders being able to make popsicles whenever they wanted."
"Ha! Man, I could really go for a popsicle, too.
You can't really blame them,
though,
if I didn't have to wear
clothes
I might just go naked it's so hot out. Everything feels heavy, don't tell me you aren't positively
dying
in this heat."
Kakashi looked down at his knee-length shorts and the thin tunic sticking to his chest. It was about as cool as he could dress without warranting a public indecency charge.
"It could be worse." he responded, gesturing with his book at her thick warrior uniform and armor, complete with a shield and katana at her back and fans tucked at her waist.
"Ugh. Don't I know it."
Sakura tugged at her collar to try and get some relief, but it did very little for her and she continued walking. There was only a short distance left before they made it back to the village and she could pass off the duty to the next warrior. Kakashi clapped his book shut and tucked it into his pocket.
"You know what would make this go faster?"
She looked back over her shoulder at him, questioning.
"How about a race back to the village? Whoever loses buys the first round at the Turtle Lion?"
"Oh, you're
on , old man!" She
teased and took
off toward the village at a sprint.
Kakashi was never a man to pass up free booze, and took off after her.
...
The Turtle Lion Inn turned out to be just what Kakashi expected from the sole
lodging establishment/bar on the island: a regular watering hole for all the locals to catch up on gossip, and should they be lucky enough to host a traveling merchant for a night or two, find out just how the outside world was doing.
Sakura had beat him to the village this time, and he begrudgingly paid for their first round of drinks at the bar. There was nothing quite like a cold iced tea in the summertime heat, and he was sure the multitude of bodies in the inn felt the same way. That night a small troupe of musicians
had
gathered in the corner and played random songs in the background, adding to the barrage of chatter and clinking cups. The establishment was far too loud for any regular conversation and contained far too many bodies to be
anything but sweltering, so after their drink, Kakashi suggested they leave.
Sakura accepted and they left
for his home. This had become a sort of evening ritual between them: no matter what happened during the rest of the day, even if both had been entirely too busy to see the other, they would meet up at Kakashi's house in the evenings, share a cup of tea, perhaps read a book or talk about some new topic Sakura had decided she wanted to learn more about, or just generally enjoy each other's company.
There was something to be said about finding a friend that you were so comfortable with you could set in silence and not feel an awkward need to say anything.
It was quiet, his
life on
Kyoshi, the biggest dramas ever faced being
the rare bully in school,
merchants trading without licenses and
fisherpeople
trying to cast in the bay where the endangered elephant koi lived. Kakashi found himself to be happier on the island than he ever had been in the Fire Nation.
Sometimes
he
wondered if he could be any happier, if this was the paradise of peace he had been looking for, and then
the little inky, black and vile voice in the back of his head slithered into his thoughts and
he remembered that no one on the island truly knew who he was.
It reminded him that the villagers simply liked a smiling, middle-aged man who knew far too much about the world and
enjoyed reading
pervy
novels
in his downtime; they had no reason to suspect him of being a Fire Nation deserter who wore a fake smile, knew far too much about his past targets' cultures and the multitude of ways he had employed to kill them, and that his skin could be dyed red permanently with how much blood he had spilt.
How would they treat you if they knew the truth?
If they knew you used to be the Fire Lord’s preferred assassin?
If they knew you were personally responsible for hundreds of lives, ended?
After Sakura left that night waving to him with a smile as she walked home,
completely unknowing of his inner turmoil,
Kakashi flopped down in the middle of his floor and wondered if he would ever gather the courage to tell her the truth.
On one hand, it would be nice to have even a single person in the world to share the burden that was his past existence with...
But on the other, if he told her, she could end their friendship right then and there, turn him in to the mayor and end the peace that was his life on
Kyoshi.
Kakashi sighed and rolled to his side. He watched the moon’s bright beams streak across his living room, casting an iridescent glow that didn’t quite reach his fingers. He was too far in the shadows to be touched by
light, and with that thought, he decided not for the first time that the pain would have to remain close to his heart. Revealing the darkness brought too much risk of losing the one person in the world that he cared about.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
In the later weeks of summer, when the days grew longer than the night, and the evenings started to cool off, the island always threw a huge harvest festival. Every street was decorated with hanging lanterns and paper mache koi, made by the kids in the village school. Musicians, artists and bending entertainers traveled in from the mainland and all over the island to share their expertise with the masses. Games, challenges and endless booths of various enticing greasy foods lined the dirt pathways throughout the village. It was one of the high points of the year and the committees in charge always went out of their way to make each celebration better than the last.It probably sounded like great fun to the average citizen, but Kakashi was not the extroverted kind of man who liked to be squished in the middle of a huge crowd. That wasn’t to say he didn’t like games, music and a bit of overzealous drinking, he'd simply rather enjoy it on a smaller scale, where the noise wasn't so deafening he could actually hear himself think.Thus, when the festival went on, Kakashi typically stayed home, locked his doors, closed his blinds and made every excuse possible not to leave. Sakura, Mrs. Shamiro, and Tsunade were the only ones who ever wanted him to join anyway, the first for company, the second because he always helped with the preparations so shouldn't he come out and reap the rewards?, and the third because she always wanted a rematch for her latest loss in alcoholism against him.Unfortunately, this year was different. This year he had somehow been persuaded that the school, more specifically-his classes, had to be involved in some way because he was the 'culture studies' teacher. Technically world studies, but who was he to argue with Oyaji? So he wound up volunteered to participated in the ‘cultural’ harvest festival.As much as he hated the thought of being so involved, the kids had so much fun with the prep work, he started to get into it as well. He couldn’t deny the contagious nature of their positive attitudes. His classes decided to put on a short play of Kyoshi Island’s origin story during the first evening’s festivities, including the exciting ‘fight’ between Avatar Kyoshi herself and Chin the Conqueror.Kakashi wasn’t the kind of person to just slap his name on something and do a half-assed job, so he saw to it that their play would be a success, spending extra time with kids in class on their lines, building props, and painting backgrounds.All in all, he felt it was a well-prepared production, and was proud when the students nailed their lines, narrating and acting out their parts without issue.Their play received high praise, especially the portion when volunteer earth benders had split the makeshift stage in half to simulate Kyoshi’s lavabending, and the students involved were full of smiles as they rejoined the crowd for the remainder of the night’s festivities. Kakashi himself had been quite pleased with their performance and thought it had been vastly more entertaining than any show he’d been forced to sit through on Ember Island. He wouldn’t vocalize this, however, as the longer the play stuck around in everyone’s memory, the more likely it was they’d ask him to do it again the next year.His hope of escaping this future was short-lived; just before he could slip away around the edges of the crowd, one of the committee members in charge of the festival stopped him with a stiff hand on his shoulder. He immediately reacted, almost pulling a knife on the poor guy before realizing who he was. Kakashi had given him what nervous smile he could from behind his mask and they took it as an invitation to talk.Unfortunately, by the end of their short conversation, Kakashi had somehow been twisted into suggesting the kids have a permanent spot in the festival’s lineup in the future, and before he could take back the statement, the committee man was gone. Their interaction left a bitter taste in his mouth that had yet to dissipate when Sakura approached to drag him around the rest of the festival."Your classes’ play went so well," she mentioned after they left a crab puff stand, "why are you so grumpy?""Ehh... I am happy the kids did well and enjoyed themselves, I’m just... not looking forward to when they inevitably ask me to do it again.”"Oh no, poor Kakashi, can't have a little fun ruin your reclusive lifestyle?""Hey,” he frowned and stole one of her puffs, “I happen to enjoy shirking social niceties. That, and there’s too many people involved; you know how I feel about cramped spaces, I don't like not having a way out.""I know, I know. But since you're already out of your hole, care for a game of Poundy Poundy?""Will they actually let you play after what you did last year?” Kakashi asked, reminded of her absolute destruction of the game’s bell the previous year."Shh, if I hide my hair maybe they won't notice!" She gave him a playful wink and ate another puff."What other games are there?" He asked, thinking there might be something they both could play without being ran off and having shoes thrown at them."Well, there's Pin the Fan on Kyoshi, a dunk tank, Lemur Ball...?""I suppose we could try Lemur Ball? Though they don't use actual animals do they...?""Have you never played?" She gave him an incredulous look."Can't say I have...""And here I thought our ‘world studies’ professor of all people would know games from around the world? It was made up by the Air Nomads, you know."He filed the information away for later and followed her to a row of said Lemur Ball booths. She explained the game with a short demonstration: the goal of the exercise was to roll the 'lemurs' (wooden balls painted to look like the animal) into various sized rings attached to a backboard above a smooth inclined playing field. The smaller the ring, the higher the points, etc.As it turned out, Kakashi was quite good at it; the game was very similar to one he and his father had played many years before at a Flame Festival in Konoha. It was one of the very few positive memories he still retained from his time in the Fire Nation.
'Kakashi, now roll the ball like this, put some strength behind it and just a little spin, and it'll go right through the small hoop.'
'Why the small hoop?' he had asked, and his father squat down beside him to put them at eye level with each other.
'It's strategy, Kakashi. You could aim for the easier targets and they'd still get you points, but you should aim for the smallest, hardest hoop, it will get you the most points and the most tickets for prizes!'
Kakashi had smiled through his mask and tried his luck at the game. He hadn't been very good, the balls were solid, heavy metal and he wasn't strong enough to throw them accurately yet.
'It's okay, Kakashi. A good general knows when to retreat and fight another day.'Now that he was older, and the implements in question were solid wood instead of metal (not to mention his strength and motor skills were much higher), the game was easy. Kakashi sunk the lemurs in the smallest of the goals every time and broke the high score at his booth. Just beside him, Sakura seemed to do just as well, even if she angered the boothkeeper by rolling one of the lemurs hard enough it punched through the back of the small goal ring. Their scores earned them a multitude of tickets and the awed applause of a pair of children that had been watching and waiting their turn.He gave them a small smile and collected their rather sizeable amount of paper tickets from the boothkeeper, who looked none too pleased with their minor destruction of his game.“And what shall we do with these?” Kakashi asked, gesturing to their tickets.“Generally, you turn them in for prizes. Shall we go checkout the various silly trinkets they’re giving away this year?”"Sure.” he shrugged and followed along, instantly regretting this decision when he realized the absolute sea of people between them and the prize booth.At least she’s having a good time, he tried to remind himself as random strangers kept touching him, drunkenly dancing and stepping on his toes, laughing too loud, too close, and of course there had to be the handful that recognized him and tried to talk. Kakashi tried to press on and ignore it, but people pressed in on all sides and Sakura had to pull him out of the mob and up to the prize booth.“Just about lost you in there!” She smiled and let his hand go.“Good evening!” An older, moustached man in a striped white and red suit greeted them, “It looks like you two have been busy! So how about it, see anything you fancy? We have imitation Kyoshi Warrior fans, truly authentic Kyoshi makeup, as well as stuffed animals and a multitude of other wonderful prizes.”“Hmm.”Sakura handed over her tickets and browsed the various wares the man had to offer. Many were created with children in mind, thus limiting her options. She only debated the decision for a moment before pointing at cameo necklace of Kyoshi hanging on the far right board.The volunteer counted up her tickets and gave her a sound of strained disappointment, “Ah, miss, so sorry but it seems you don’t have enough tickets for that prize.”“How many more does she need?” Kakashi asked, pushing his own tickets forward. He wasn’t particularly attached to them and there wasn’t anything behind the counter that interested him anyway.The total amount of tickets were counted up and the moustache man gave them a big smile, “Perfect! Just the right number!”He swept all their tickets into a large barrel and retrieved the necklace for Sakura.“You sure you’re okay giving up your tickets, Kakashi?” She asked.“Of course, it’s not like I was attached to them or anything of the sort,” Kakashi took the necklace from the man and unclasped the ends, “Turn around, I’ll put it on you.”Sakura gave him a smile and did as she was told. It was lucky that her long hair was swept up that evening, as it eradicated the possibility of tangling. He passed the rather cheap-feeling chain in front of her before reclasping it behind her neck. They didn’t have a mirror, but the chain was long enough she could pick it up and look at it when he stepped away.“Aaah! It’s beautiful, thank you, Kakashi.” She gave him a bruising side-hug before walking away toward the shoreline. The sun had gone down at this point and the lanterns lit the streets in pleasant shades of orange and yellow. The fireworks would soon begin as it was now dark enough to see them.They chose a spot quite a distance away from the rest of the crowd, much to Kakashi’s relief. A deep sigh of contentment escaped him when they flopped down in the sand to wait for the show to start.He wasn’t expecting to enjoy it so much. During his typical hermit behavior in previous years he had always been (purposely) asleep by the time the fireworks started, and spending the evening watching them with his best friend somehow made up for the earlier claustrophobic torture.The fireworks lit up the beach in brilliant rainbow hues, exploding in the sky with loud booms that made the children squeal and Sakura jump with each loud noise. It was a little funny, and Kakashi thought to himself that she made the cutest little squeak when she was surprised. At a point in the show, Sakura sat up and brought her knees to her chest, laying her head on them as she watched. A stray lock of hair fell in her face and he watched the pink shift between purples, oranges, and blues as the fireworks went off around them.She really was quite beautiful, and his heart ached. What for, he wasn’t entirely sure, but that little voice in his head had spectacularly horrible ideas.Just this once, he ignored them, and spent the remainder of their evening watching beautiful flowery patterns blossom over the horizon.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Sakura
Just... one more look, one more and I'll leave.
Sakura turned back to the grand library that had somehow become
her
home and with a heavy heart made peace with her departure.
It was still early morning, the sun just barely kiss
ed
the horizon line, but the desert air around her was already growing hot; it was
time
to leave.
"Good luck." Wan Shi Tong spoke
out from the tower of his library.
She looked up to the black wing waving from a t
all
window far above her. Sakura returned the gesture and gave him a smile.
"Thanks for everything!"
She hopped in her sand glider and threw her overstuffed pack in the cargo hold. Books, scrolls and other various texts threatened to burst from the tight leather confines, everything she had been allowed to take with her. S
akura
bent the sand under the glider and made her way across the desert, watching Wan and his library disappear in the shifting sands as she went.
Her allotted five years with
the
spirit
for learning
and completing various trials
,
missions
and errands
across the Earth Kingdom were over and as if to mark the occasion, Sakura had finally completed her spirit training with him. Her last test had been to cross alone into the spirit realm and make it back in one piece;
she had passed with flying colors. Afterward, Wan had told her there was little left
he could
teach her that she couldn’t learn elsewhere in the world, given her his seal, and even signed a contract of summons. (For reliable information sourcing, he had insisted.)
Regardless of true purpose, a summoning contract was a feat not many knew about in their world anymore, let alone could boast possessing. It was a very personal thing, this contract, and tied their very essence together. It was much more than just
scribblings on
a paper. Very few spirits knew how to complete the ritual, and even less were willing to make such a contract with any being, let alone a human. The weight of the proposition was considerable, and she almost needed convincing to accept it.
Wan explained to her that if they were to go through with it, Sakura could shed a single drop of blood and summon him at any moment. She had to admit, with a war going o
n outside, a giant, all-knowing
spirit on her side
sounded quite useful and the terms of the contract were reasonable: She would contribute to his library everything she learned, to never abuse this knowledge, and
to
do her very best to keep it and the location of the library itself out of the wrong hands. In return
,
he offered the Summoning itself
and free access to his fox messengers.
In the end, she had accepted. The ritual had been completed a few days before her departure, and the testing sessions had gone as expected. With her current spiritual power, she could summon a fox every time, and sometimes even a small version of Wan himself.
It wasn’t going to be an instantaneous thing, and the spirit had told her as such.
With time
and focus,
her reserves would grow in the seal he had given her on her forehead, and she would eventually be able to summon him in his entirety.
….
The glider hopped over the top of a large dune and it was with a stroke of pure luck that nothing flew out of her cargo hold in the landing. Sakura was
sad that the library had completely disappeared in the distance at this point and she
forced herself to
continue on, focusing on a straight path out of the desert
and what would be the start of her worldly adventures.
As the library was sorely lacking on most things military (due to a lapse in judgement several years before and the entire northwest wing of the seventeenth floor having been reduced to ashes) and Wan refus
ed
to teach on this subject anything
more
than bending and self-defense, Sakura decided it would be her first subject of study. There were various forces alluded to in
Wan's
books, and she discovered a few in person while traveling for the spirit, but the one that intrigued her most were the
Kyoshi
Warriors. They were one of the few, if not the only, non-bending military force in the world.
Thus
Kyoshi
Island was her first destination.
Soon
Sakura
passed the point where she would have turned to go to
Omashu
and let it float right
by, not even hesitating
. The city had once been h
er h
ome, but that had been before her parents disappeared. If she went back now, would there be anything left of her former life? W
ould
her parents' home still
be
there or had a new family moved in to overwrite the memories clinging to the walls?
Even
this long
after their disappearance, the thought of them still made her heart ache.
The only 'closure' she had ever gotten was a letter from King Bumi, sending his condolences for the loss of two Earth citizens.
Sakura
had been in denial of their death and left the city to find them
herself. The time she had spent in the desert hallucinating on cactus juice and wandering in circles was immeasurable. It did however, come to an end the night she was kidnapped by sand bandits. They had only made that mistake once, and she c
a
me out with a new sand glider.
Soon after she had found the library
at
the end of a week-long hallucination in which she attempted to drink sand and explain to an illusion of her father
that the library
itself
was fake and that they needed to be getting back to their
hogmonkey
farm. Reality hit her quite quickly after that.
And that had been five years ago.
...
Once she reached the edge of the desert, Sakura passed through the forests lining the shore of the Earth Kingdom and left her sand glider with a pair of elderly acquaintances in Chin Village
. T
hey agreed to give her passage to
Kyoshi
on their fishing boat
, and just
one week
later Sakura took her first step onto the island’s sandy shore.
Upon her arrival she was questioned by the very people she wished to join.
"What is your purpose on
Kyoshi
Island?" A tall blonde woman had asked with a hand on her fan,
a
n
air
of hostility evident in her gaze.
Sakura had set down her massive pack and rolled her shoulders, popping her back and neck.
"I'm just a traveling scholar, here to learn what
Kyoshi
and her people have to offer before moving on. Especially your Warriors."
"And why should we trust you? You could be Fire Nation in disguise. A spy, here to learn our secrets," the woman brought out a fan from her sash and held it at Sakura's throat, "Kyoshi
has stayed out of the war so far, we don't intend to change that."
The blonde retracted
the
fan, scraping her throat in an unstated threat.
Sakura felt he
r
neck
where the sharp edge had almost cut and laughed shortly, "Ha,
ahhh, I don't blame you for being mistrusting, but I promise you I'm the furthest thing from Fire Nation," she pulled some sand up from the beach with her bending and crushed it into a small ball before letting it float
,
then
dissipate and fall from her open palm, "I'm an
earthbender
from
Omashu."
"Do you have proof of your identity?" The blonde warrior asked.
"Ah..." Sakura rubbed the back of her neck and looked to her bag, "not really. I do have a letter from King Bumi in my pack containing my parents' death certificates...but that's about it! I know it's not much, but I really am just eager about learning about new cultures and your non-bending military group is
truly
fascinating."
She took in the green armored uniform of the few warriors questioning her, the silk undergarments, the thick padded armor around the upper body, the gold accents
, the deadly fans
.
"I think she's telling the truth." spoke out one of the warriors, though their voice was decidedly masculine.
A man? I thought...
"I suppose we could investigate this letter of yours." The woman offered
,
"Where is it?"
Sakura pulled her bag forward in the sand and dug in one of the many pockets, retrieving a thin leather roll from the densely packed luggage. The blonde took it and opened it, inspecting the letter before closing it again and handing it off to one of the other warriors.
"Take this to
Oyaji. He has the final say in international matters."
"So
...
I can stay?" Sakura asked.
“Ah-ah-ah, not just yet, we’ll wait for
Oyaji’s
decision.”
...
An old man had eventually come to the beach and deemed her worthy of a temporary stay on the island. The warriors had left her to her luggage, the tallest among them staying behind just for a moment.
“You may have won over
Oyaji
, but to
learn the Warrior’
s
secrets
, it’s going to be a little more difficult.”
“How so? You’re a man and
you
seem to have won them over.
” She crossed her arms and gestured to his uniform.
“
It wasn’t easy for me either.
You have to convince
Tsunade
.”
She frowned at the weight of his words, “Who is this...
Tsunade
person?”
“The
pretty lady who could have killed you with a flick of her wrist?” The man laughed, started walking away, and waved back to her, “Don’t worry too much, I’m sure you’ll become well acquainted soon enough. Follow me, I’ll take you to our dojo.”