Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Kiai Shinobi ❯ The Tragedy of Kiaigakure ( Chapter 3 )

DISCLAIMER: You know I don't own it. You know I want to. There it is.

 

Chapter Three: The Tragedy of Kiaigakure

 

 

Anzu woke to the sounds of hushed voiced. Snuggling deeper into the warmth that surrounded her she listened in, trying to will her exhausted frame back into sleep.

“Kakashi-sensei, how come Anzu-san hasn't eaten in so long?” Naruto's voice was soft for once.

“Anzu hasn't had anyone to take care of her in a long while, I suspect.” Was Kakashi's gentle reply.

“Like me?” Did Naruto live on his own, too?

“No, Naruto. You have Iruka. He makes sure you are fed and doing okay when he can. Anzu doesn't have anyone like that anymore.” Kaskashi's voice was closer to her now. Anzu could feel him standing close to her. Where was she? Was she in bed? Whose bed was it?

“How long has she been alone for?” Anzu felt Naruto's face close to her own. She was too tired to care. How long had it been since she slept in a bed?

“I suspect Anzu's been on her own for about five months now.” Oh, that was how long. Had it really been almost half a year?

“What happened to Anzu's home? I thought ninjas couldn't leave their home once they started training so they wouldn't give away any secrets?”

“They can't, usually. Anzu is different. Last November there was a powerful spike of chakra from down south. Many different hidden villages sent jounin teams to investigate. I wasn't one of them since I was with you, Sasuke, and Sakura. But, when the teams returned they brought news of the horror with them. The island of Kiaigakure had been thrown completely upside down and into the sea. Anzu has no home to betray anymore”

“What? How is that possible?” Naruto asked quietly as Anzu felt him slip into the covers with her.

“We don't know, Naruto. Hokage suspects it has something to do with the large charge of chakra we all felt but after interviewing a few survivors we weren't so sure. It was as if it had suddenly happened on its own. No storm, no fight, no nothing. Kiaigakure just disappeared into the sea.”

“It was scary.” Anzu mumbled, her voice scratchy. Cracking an eye open she saw Kakashi-sensei leaning against a wall and Naruto snuggled up beside her, watching with a worried face.

“I was sleeping when it happened. It was nighttime so I couldn't see a lot. All I knew was suddenly the ground was shaking so bad I couldn't stand up after I fell out of bed. I managed to make it outside and the ground just started to split. There were people running everywhere, screaming. Things were on fire while other things were flooded. I couldn't find my family before the island started tipping.” Anzu blinked back tears.

“Tipping?” Naruto asked cautiously.

“Yeah. I grabbed onto a wooden scaffold attached to our Kinkage Mountain, raised myself up as high as I could so I could see what happened, and I watched…The entire island detached from the rock of the mountain and just tipped over like it was made of sandstone and the water was dissolving it. People I knew were swept away into this awful whirlpool.” Anzu couldn't help the sob that escaped. It was an empty sob, though. More from stress than actually sorrow. Anzu thought about Kiai every second of every day. It was hard to still be sad. It was exhausting.

“I stayed up on that scaffold forever it seemed. I waited for my mommy and daddy to come get me but they didn't. I could see a few people swimming for the other islands but they weren't them. Then I decided to wait for my big sister, Eri. She didn't come and even Chiyuu-sensei didn't come. I couldn't find any of them. After a while the pulleys holding the scaffold up snapped and I fell into the sea too. The wood broke in half but I managed to climb on the bigger half and I started swimming too. By the time I made it to the next piece of land the salt from the water had changed my hair and leeched all the color from my clothes. I went from village to village, and even a few hidden villages, before I came here. I think I like Konoha the best.” Anzu said, drifting off again.

“Why?” Naruto asked before she slipped away again.

“Because,” Anzu mumbled. “There's no water.”