Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Blindsided ❯ Chapter 1: Cars and Kids ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

The sound of Barenaked Ladies filled her head, she hummed along with the song, and walked on the metal rail of the train tracks. Her cellphone told her it was around 2pm, which meant that the train had already passed, and she could simply walk the half-mile home on the tracks, without worrying about getting hit by a speeding train, or a car on the nearby streets.

The book in her hand was, the 4th volume of Naruto, she was already half way through it. In her bag, sat another four volumes, all waiting to be touched. Sometimes, living in walking distance to a library, had it's ups. Even if she could only get the first twenty-two volumes at the local library, and would have to order the others. She supposed that was okay, since this was really the first time she'd actually read the manga. She had read up to volume four on the Internet, and then decided she'd rather hold the book in her hands.

Having watched the anime, she knew a lot of what happened, and with her skill for finding spoilers, she usually had a basic knowledge of what was going on in current Naruto issues. But it was always good to be able to back up your facts, right?

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, dragging her attention from Zabuza getting yelled at by Naruto, and causing her to pause. She slid her headphones off, tucked the book between her arm and body, then turned off her iPod. She pulled the phone out, and flipped it open,
“Smeet?”

“Where are you?” Came her mother's slightly aggravated voice.

Alyssa was quiet for a moment, and glanced around. “About... three blocks from home?”

“Are Leah and Alexis still with you?”

“No, I got them to drop me off at the library, I should be home in about ten minutes, give or take a few minutes.”

Silence fell, and she waited a bit impatiently for her mother to give the okay. It was a well known fact that Alyssa's mother hated it when she walked home, but she usually allowed it, if Alyssa had her pocket knife with her. Luckily, Alyssa kept it in her bag, away from sight, and still in reach.

“I'll be waiting.” Her mother replied, “See you soon.”

“Smeet, Mama,”

“Smeet.”

Alyssa smiled, and closed the phone. She looked up to see just how far from the road she was. It was closer than she had thought, and she was about to put her phone away, and pull her headphones back on, when she noticed a child on the tracks up ahead.

She hadn't seen him before, but after a simple blink, he seemed to just appear. Her eyes widened, as she watched the kid, who looked about three or four, walking towards the road. His appearance was a bit shabby, like a neglected child on some news special. He wore a baggy dingy shirt that may have once been turquoise in color, and a pair of black shorts. It all seemed to hang off of his body. He was barefoot, and his hair was a shocking dark green.

She couldn't believe anyone would let their child leave the house dressed like that. It was the middle of November, and December was coming fast. The chill in the air kept even her in warm hoodie, and she didn't normally start wearing her hoodie constantly until December was nearly passed.

She walked quietly behind the kid, taking note of the fact that he was maybe a full block ahead of her. As she slowly got closer, she noticed something red on his leg, dripping down. Her eyes widened, and she picked up her pace. “Hey!” She said, trying to get his attention.

It worked. The child paused for a moment, then took off running. She picked up her pace a bit, he was limping a bit, so he didn't move to quickly. It wasn't until he was off the tracks, and stopped at the road, that she began to worry. The red was definitely blood, she noted, hurrying even more.

The sound of a car coming hit her ears, and all the child did was turn to look at it.

“Kid, get out of the road!” She shouted, her legs beginning to burn as she forced her legs to move faster than she was used too. Her bag pounding against her side, arms pumping at her sides. She could hear the car horn beeping, but it didn't seem like the car was actually slowing down.

She got to the road at breakneck speed, snatched the child up in her arms, still moving, and could see the car, something big and bright red, out of the corner of her eye. Her legs took her off the road, and she tripped when her foot got caught in one of the wooden planks between the metal rails. She felt herself falling, the child had started to cry and scream, and she could hear the car screeching to a stop. Her eyes squeezed shut, waiting for impact with the ground. She turned her body as much as she could to try and land on her back or at least her side, instead of on the child.

When she finally hit, she felt grass and soft ground cushioning her fall. It was frighteningly different from what she had expected. Wood, and stones, and possibly even the metal of the railing. She also took note of the fact that she couldn't hear the car. She hadn't heard a door slam, and now she didn't hear the sound that should signify someone coming towards her.

She opened her eyes, and started to get up. The child was clinging to her, his face buried into her t-shirt. “Are you okay?” She asked him, one hand resting on his back.

He started to cry.

Her eyes widened. Carefully, she managed to slide him off of her, and sat him in the grass. He didn't move from where she sat him, just kept crying, hands rubbing at his eyes and nose.

She took the moment to look down at his leg, and try and assess the damage. There was a slightly jagged cut on his calf, it didn't look too deep. She turned her attention back to the fact that he was crying and sobbing. “Shhh, it's okay, calm down,” She tried to soothe him. She made cooing sounds, and pulled his hands away from his face, wiping away tears and snot, “Shhh,”

Slowly, his crying subsided, and he looked up at her. She gasped, as she realized he was blind. His eyes were a milky color, unseeing and void of light. His face was all scrunched up, and a soft whimper escaped his lips.

“Oh, shhh, it's okay.” She used the sleeve of her hoodie to wipe his face, and gave a smile, even though she realized he couldn't see it.

Suddenly, he began to talk, rapidly in a language she couldn't speak, but did recognize.

He spoke Japanese, and from the sound of, he spoke it quite fluently. Though she didn't know much, she could easily recognize a few words that any anime fan would pick up. Mother, father, 'desu'. Finally he said a word that seemed to not fit with the rest of his tirade. Of course, she barely caught it, “hebi”, which she knew meant snake.

She tried to figure out how the word snake could go along with mother or father. Desu was such a commonly heard word in Japanese, she didn't bother to place it. After a few minutes of pondering, she decided she really couldn't figure it out, and the few possibilities that came to her, wouldn't really be of much use to her in that moment.

She waited until he had calmed down a bit, “Daijobu,” (Okay) She told him, hoping it would help him a bit, and he just sniffled. He didn't start crying again, which was an improvement. She took this time, to open her bag and pulled out some things. This was one of those times she was glad that she always over packed. There was an un-opened bottle of water, with several of those little flavor-packets, now she opened the bottle. She used her pocket knife to tear her spare t-shirt into strips, thanking god that she had been on her way from a sleep over. She wet a few of the strips of clothe, and began to clean the wound.

The boy shrieked, and tried to get away from her, but she grabbed his leg, and made more cooing sounds to try and calm him. “Daijobu, daijobu.”(It's okay, it's okay) She told him, “I have to clean it, and wrap it up, it could get infected, please stay still.” She knew he couldn't understand her, but she hoped her words would be enough to calm him at least a little. "Matte, kudasai." (Wait, please) This was one of the very few phrases she knew, and it spilled out of her mouth finally, when she remembered it.

It worked better than anything else. He stilled.

Being more careful than before, Alyssa tipped the bottle over, letting it fall onto the wound, then wrap it. Suddenly, the first aid classes she'd taken, were very helpful. She just wish she'd remembered more from them.

When she was finished, she gave him a pat on his shoulder, and began to put what was left of her shirt back in her bag. The bottle was almost empty, but she didn't know if she need the little bit of water left, so she added it to her supply of things. Her eyes drifted back to the boy, who was sniffling, as his fingers gingerly ran along the make-shift bandage on his leg.

“Dare desu ka?”(who are you?) She asked him, when he only glanced up in her general direction, she reached out. She took his hand gently in hers, and moved his fingers around so he was pointing at her, “Alyssa,” She then made him point to himself, “Anata ka?” (You?)

For a moment, silence fell, and she was forced to repeat the motions. Finally, he responded, “Shizuka.”

She smiled, and let go of his hand. She closed her bag, and slung it back over her side, “Konichi wa, Shizuka-chan.” (Hello, Shizuka.) She helped him to his feet, and brushed off his baggy clothes, “Now, let's figure out where we are. Ne, Shizuka-chan?” She grasped his hand, and finally started to look around.

They were in a forest, that much was obvious, and she had a feeling that it was at least late spring. Everything was green, and it was warm. Her hoodie was no longer needed here, she slid it down so it didn''t cover her shoulders. “Okay, well, we're not in Kansas anymore,” She stated sarcastically.

“Nani?” (what?) Came the quiet whisper of Shizuka's voice.

She gave him a smile, even though he couldn't see it, and gripped his hand tighter for a second, “Nothing.” She responded, but he just gave a confused look. “Ikou.” (Let's go)
His face scrunched up for a moment, he didn't seem like he was going to move.

“Ano...”(Um...) She froze, and chewed her lip, “Aruite?” She asked, hoping she was getting the word right. It was supposed to be 'walk', but she didn't know if she was getting that one right.

Finally, he nodded, and walked with her. His steps were a bit hesitant, and he still limped. She was tempted to pick him up, but she didn't know how well he'd take that. So instead, she settled for just walking as slowly as she could. He clung to her hand, and stayed as close as possible to her side.

She felt like she was ordering a dog around, and wondered if he got that feeling too. She supposed he did, anyone would, no matter how young... Okay, so maybe he would think it was a game, she always did when she was little. But that didn't mean it couldn't be taken as an insult, right?

She sighed, and just kept walking. It didn't seem like anything was changing. Just trees and trees. There was no sign of the forest ending, and she feared that she may have been turned around some how. After a while, Shizuka started to slow even more, and finally, he stopped completely. She stopped as well, “What's wrong?” She asked him, then nearly hit herself, realizing he wouldn't know what that meant.

He tugged her hand, and put his other up. A motion she knew all to well, cause she herself used to use it, and her toddler cousin used it now. Pick me up. Sighing, she lifted the child into her arm, and balanced him against her right hip, opposite of her bag.

It wasn't until the sun started to go down, that she began to give up hope of finding a way out of the forest. She stopped walking, feet aching, and her shoulder hurting from the weight of her bag, her arms from the boy's weight. She was done for the day.

She shifted the boy, and let him slide down to stand on the ground, then sat down. Her back rested against a tree, and she pulled the boy to her. She set him between her legs, and wrapped her arms around him, letting her head fall back against the tree. “We'll rest for a while, okay?”

He struggled for a minute to get up, but stopped eventually, and just sat still in her arms. Soon, he was leaning back against her, breathing deep, and fast asleep.

She just sat there, staring up into the canopy of trees, seeing only the vague outline of branches and leaves. Sleep slowly claimed her, and it was welcomed.

To Be Continued.