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Onari by DigiAnimeArtist

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Chapter 2

Nightfall: A rabbit comes to roost!

She crouched low in the snow, trying to avoid eye contact from anyone who might see her. Her body was cold to the touch, her long, black hair covering her face, trying to keep it warm. A cat walked down the road in between two shops, meowing its complaints about the weather. The girl lay on the snow, tilting her head, watching it. She wanted to touch it. The lady who owned the cat would be angry if she found out. The cat came closer, curiously watching her, then sat down. Come here, kitty. Here, kitty, kitty.

The door opened to the side of one of the buildings. She looked up in alarm as a figure came out of the door. "Here, Miki. Where are you, you silly kitty? I've got some nice fish for you and a nice warm bed," the woman said.

The girl watched from behind a trash bin as the cat went inside meowing. Why did the cat get to come in, but she could not? She tilted her head right and left, trying to figure it out. The wind blew a cold breeze down the road. Her skin was so cold, it appeared blue. Her body had begun shaking some time ago, but she was trying not to pay it any mind. It was always cool here. It either snowed, or was windy with cool breezes. Wasn't there any place warmer she could go?

The girl got up off the snow. She took one step and fell. Through gritted teeth, she looked back towards her feet. They were so numb, that she couldn't feel them. It wasn't going to be easy to walk with numb feet. It was rare for anyone to throw shoes away; especially ones that fit. Carefully, she got up and before going out onto the main road, she looked both ways to see if anyone was out there. It was starting to get seriously late, but to her, time was at a stand still.

The girl noticed there was one person walking far down the road. She knew everyone in the snow village, but him. His head was downcast and he looked rather distraught. It was too cold for him to be out.

Whoever he was, he was a stranger. The girl slipped out onto the road. The first few crunches of her feet caused her to wobble. Before she could regain her balance, she heard a male voice yell at her in an unknown language, "Oi, chotto maite! OI!" Not wanting to find out who it was yelling at her, she picked herself up and started to run down the street covered in snow.

"Hey, wait! HEY!"," Sasuke ran through the snow, the coldness in his body forgotten as he saw the girl trying to get down the road as fast as she could. "Wait! I'm not trying to hurt you!" She was moving fast. He figured she had to be frightened because he was unknown to her.

What had she done? She didn't know this person so there was no way for her to make him angry at her. Her legs were wobbling all over the place due to the cold. There was no way she was going to be able to keep this up. She had to get away from him!

Damn it! She's really trying to get away from me. Sasuke slid on his heels to try and see which way the girl had gone. He looked from side to side, even up, but there was nothing. It had taken him hours to find her and now she had disappeared again. He breathed hard, his lungs heaving. The journey to get to the village had taken a lot of energy from him. This was making things worse. I have to rest. If I try to find her, she'll elude me even more.

He turned on his heels, walking back to the Inn. All he could hope for was that the girl found shelter in this freezing weather. Sasuke hated to admit that the man he had spoken to earlier, was right. The child would not approach any living thing in the village.

(Scene Change)

Neji sat on the futon, his hands folded. He was meditating a little to regain his strength. However, his mind kept focusing on other things. It's impossible to meditate when the mind is not still. I need more training. The door slid open. He looked up with a concerned expression on his face. "You look terrible. Did you find her?"

"Sort of," Sasuke said exasperated. "I searched all over the place looking for her. I even asked some of the people in the village, but no one would give me a straight answer. I found her once, but she ran. It's exactly what an old man told me, 'She won't approach a living thing in the village'." He sat down on the floor next to Neji's futon. They were sharing a room while in the village. Rock Lee was bunked with Kiba, Mebae, and Shikamaru. He had no idea how they all fit into the room, but that was beside the point at the moment.

"Perhaps, you should not be a living thing for her to find," Neji said.

Sasuke leaned back, stretching his cold legs out. "What do you mean?"

"If someone told you the child won't approach anyone because they are alive, maybe you should pretend to be dead, in order, to get her attention." Neji watched Sasuke's expression. He wasn't getting it. Neji assumed it was the fatigue. "Why don't you become a statue, Sasuke. Stand, or sit in an area and see if you can gain her trust that way. If you don't move, she would figure you cannot harm her, right?"

Sasuke plopped onto his back. "I never thought of that. I wonder how long it would take me to get her attention, if at all."

"I am not sure. It is clear that she is not wanted here. It is also clear that Captain Tetsuyo Anamaraki does not want her to leave."

"How do you figure that," he asked.

"Did you notice the scars upon his arms and face? He mentioned that this village rarely gets outsiders. The only current outsider here is us and that girl. If there aren't any outsiders here to cause trouble, then how is he getting into fights defending the village? And why does he seem to have such a large group of ninjas under him?"

"I'm not really sure. I can't think at the moment, Neji."

Neji got up to turn the light out. "We will find out what is going on. I'm willing to help you find this girl. I don't like what is going on, either," he said looking out the window. Despite the frost in the air, the moon was highly visible.

Sasuke didn't manage to hear Neji's gracious offer. He had fallen asleep in his cold clothes. Tomorrow, he would try.

(Scene Change)

There was a knock at the door. "Hey, are you guys awake? We need to head out," Shikamaru said. He slid the door open. Neji was fully dressed. Yet, Sasuke was still asleep. "How come he's still asleep? Lee is going to start complaining if we delay searching for those herbs. This is a pretty big village."

Neji stepped forward. "He spent most of the night searching for the girl we saw hanging around that shop we were at. Tell you what. I'll take up his load for the day. Lee shouldn't have a problem with it."

"Alright, if you say so, but Sasuke has to search, too. It's not fair for the rest of us," Shikamaru said with his hand behind his head. "Come on, Lee and Kiba already left."

Neji followed him out silently slidding the door behind him. For today, Sasuke could rest, but tomorrow, he would have to participate in their search. As big as the town was, it was going to take all of them to find those special herbs. Lady Ainori wrote an awfully big list. Why is it important herbs grow in the farthest places from where one stands? Neji shook his head.

Sasuke opened his eyes. How long had he been sleeping. He sat up tiredly, rubbing his eyes. Neji was already gone. The sun was hanging high in the air. Noon. The others must have headed out already. Should he go ahead and join them, or do what Neji suggested.

"If she won't approach anyone in the village that is alive, then pretend you are dead. If you stand, or sit as a statue, you may gain her attention. That way, she will know that you aren't out to hurt her."

Sasuke got dressed. It was time to put Neji's idea into play. But where exactly should he stand, or sit? The snow village was busy with people. A lot of people were shopping for their families for the holidays. The holidays bugged him to bits. Ever since he was little, he dreaded it.

This town is huge. Where would she go? He wished he knew. It worried him for a child her age to be out in the snow at night. The temperatures were decreasing rapidly. He started to walk down the snow covered road, passing mothers holding hands with their children as they shopped. How was she able to survive this long in this place? It's freezing out here. Not only that, but no one wants her. I would have left. What if that Anamarki guy is the one that is really keeping her here? And why..?

Everyone around him appeared to be happy. Why was the kid he saw the only one left out of it all? He looked up at the sky. There were only a few clouds, but it wasn't any warmer than it had been earlier. That girl became an orphan at the same age I did.

(Scene Change)

There were people everywhere. The girl looked around cautiously, stepping out of her hiding place. It had been freezing last night. The blanket she had managed to find in a trash bin was so tattered that it had offered her no relief. Her stomach growled.

The girl walked on for some time, avoiding everyone as much as they avoided her. She could hear people talking about her, but was only able to pick up a few words. They were words she knew from others who yelled at her and threw things. What was that over there?

She ran to it and stopped abruptly. Tilting her head, she examined it, but at a distance. What was that? Cautiously, and carefully she approached the figure, her head tilting all the while. It was a man. Wasn't he the one who had been yelling at her the night before? The one that chased her?

The girl stopped some distance from him. His eyes were closed, as if he was thinking about something. She didn't want to go closer. He might grab her and hurt her. He could take her to that mean Captain that guarded the snow village. She stayed her distance, not moving, just watching.

A long time passed. The snow on the ground glistened. The man sat in the same position, eyes closed, hands folded on his lap. He had dark black hair, like hers. His clothes were strange. He wore a green vest and some kind of strange blue shoes she had never seen before. She had forgotten about being hungry.

Her stomach complained painfully. The child closed her eyes, feeling sick. It had been a long time since the old woman had left her out a bite to eat. She wondered if she could sneak over there. No, it wasn't dark yet. The woman was afraid of being seen.

The people kept walking by. Sasuke kept his focus on remaining still. It wasn't an easy task. A few times he felt an itch. Worse factor was how cold it was. He had to trick his mind into imagining a nice hot place. I hope this idea of Neji's works. I've been out here so long I forgot what time it was.

"Come on, Chihiro. We're late for dinner. Your mother is going to kill us," a man said to his daughter. "It's almost closing time for the shops, but we were lucky weren't we? They only had one left!"

Closing time. So it's already dark. My hands are so cold I can't feel them anymore. I wonder if the guys managed to find some of the herbs Lady Ainori wanted. She sure can be unreasonable. He couldn't hold the pose any longer. Reaching his hands up, he placed his elbows on his legs, and folded them, resting his mouth on them. As he did so, he heard something pull away in front of him. Sasuke opened his eyes.

There, in front of him, was a young girl with black hair, tilting her head left and right. She had been watching him the entire time. Neji's plan had worked. The girl sat up a little, almost like a rabbit examining its surroundings for predators. Sasuke watched as the girl squinted her eyes to see if he would move. Her eyes.

Sasuke's eyes widened a little. The girl's eyes were yellow, like a bird's. He noticed a strange black circle within them. They reminded him of someone he didn't particularly want to remember. The girl moved farther back because of his reaction. He had to. If she ran now, he wouldn't be able to gain her trust again. Sasuke was running out of time trying to save this girl. "Hi," he said lowly, trying his best not to scare her off. She tilted her head at him. "Do you have a name..?"

The girl tilted her head again. There was no yelling at her coming from this person. He was speaking lowly. I don't understand. What are you saying to me?

"Hi," Sasuke said again. He released his shoulders. Body language was important. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea.

The girl tilted her head again. "H...H...H...i," she forced out, her voice cracking. It had been years since she had last spoken.

"What's your name," he asked carefully. The girl didn't understand. He could tell by the tilting of her head. It's never easy, is it? Sasuke slowly pointed to himself, "I'm Sasuke." He moved his hand to point at her. "You are?"

"Boku wa Sasuke desu. Oma wa?" The girl shook her head. I wish I knew what he was saying. At least he's not yelling at me.

"You have no idea what I'm saying, do you?" The girl was shaking her head constantly. He pointed to himself. "Sasuke." He pointed at her. He waited to see if she got it. Lets try that again, kid. "Sasuke." Back to her. She shook her head. This time, he only pointed to himself.

"Sah-s-keh," she said. The man smiled at her. Did she say the correct word?

"Good girl. Now you know who I am. Although, I don't know who you are." He remained in the same pose he was keeping. He was afraid if he moved suddenly, she would run.

The girl pointed at him. "Sah-s-keh." She held her finger pointing until he nodded his approval. She lowered her arm.

"Hmm. You seem to have an accent. I wonder where you are from," Sasuke said.

"Hey, you little weasel! You're not supposed to go near anyone in this village," a man shouted.

Sasuke watched as the girl flipped her head around. The man who yelled was coming at her. The child quickly got up and took off at high speed with the man chasing her. "Damn it! You idiot! It took me all day to get her to approach me," Sasuke yelled at him. "Why the hell did you chase her off? She was not bothering me!"

The man came back brandishing a nice, finely tuned broom. He stared hard at Sasuke. "I have heard about you, stranger. You're the one that has been going around asking about that girl! You were even warned! That girl is not to be trusted! If I see you around here again, I'm going to tell Mr. Anamaraki," he threatened.

Sasuke had to cool it. If that man told, he would be in trouble with the rest of the group. They were here on a mission. If they got kicked out now, Lady Ainori wasn't going to be the only one he had to deal with. It was utter bull, in his book. He still didn't know where the girl went at night, or when he was going to see her. He needed more time.
Chapter end notes: Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
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