Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Spring's Shadow- The Tale of Izumi Kumori ❯ Chapter 5:: Hinoiri and Hinode ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Izumi and Gaara had run through the streets. Finally, they came to the address that was assigned to the Kashiwas. The two children huffed the puffed, trying to catch their breath. They had run the whole time, and it was hard work for children (even ninja children).
"Here! Let's g-go in!" said Izumi, trying to act as if she wasn't as out of breath as she actually was.
Gaara smiled. "S-sure."
Izumi opened the door. An array of smells came to greet them: Mrs. Kashiwa's spicy peanut udon noodles, zoni soup (mochi rice cakes, broth, vegetables and chicken), and other mouth-watering smells. Izumi's mouth started watering the very second it struck her that her mother was making some of her favorite dishes!
"Wait! First, I have to ask Mother and Father if it's alright if Gaara-kun stays over here for dinner!"
Izumi turned to Gaara. "I'll be right back, 'kay? You can go sit down, or come with me, or stay here! Whatever you want to do!"
Gaara blushed. "I g-guess I'll just c-come with you...? Is that alright?"
"Sure! Come on!"
Izumi went into the kitchen, where her mother was bouncing between the table, the island, and the stove, trying to manage to get all of the food ready on time. Her father was sitting at the table, reading the report from Konoha Village.
"We have to train! That's all there is to it! The problems lay in the fact that..." Then he suddenly realized that the two children stood in the kitchen doorway. "OH! Izumi! When did you get home?"
"Just a few minutes ago."
"Oh! Who's your friend? He's such a cute little boy!" said Mrs. Kashiwa.
Gaara blushed. "T-thank you...ma'am..."
“This is Gaara of the Sand, Mother! He’s my new friend!” Izumi said smiling, proud of her new friend.
“Um...nice to meet you...” Gaara mumbled. Izumi’s mother and father smiled at the small, red-head boy.
“You can call me Mrs. Kashiwa, and this is Mr. Kashiwa.”
“Can Gaara-kun stay for dinner?!” Izumi inquired, excitement creeping into her voice.
“Of course! We’d be delighted to have you, Gaara-kun!” Mrs. Kashiwa said with a reassuring smile.
“Thank you very much, Mrs. Kashiwa!” Gaara said, a slight smile on his face.
“Dinner should be ready soon. Why don’t you guys go up and play in Izumi’s room? Izumi, it’s the first one on your right when you go up the stairs. All of your stuff is in there, but it isn’t unpacked, alright? You’ll have to do that soon, alright?”
Izumi grinned at her mom. “Of course, Mom! It’s not like I’m a messy person!” she said, grinning. Her parents laughed. Izumi was an organized person, but her room was “uniquely organized” as she liked to say. It looked messy to anyone else, but to Izumi it was as organized as the Konoha Village Library!
Izumi took Gaara’s hand. “Let’s go upstairs! Come on!” she said, then started running, almost dragging Gaara behind her. They scrambled up the stairs, and ran into Izumi’s new room.
The walls were bare, and the only pieces of furniture were a bed, a vanity, and a chest of drawers for clothes. There was one big window, with a window seat underneath. Izumi’s boxes of stuff were piled on the bed, each one labeled with the contents.
“Well, I guess this is my room!” Izumi said, smiling brightly. “Now, let’s see...I need to find some stuff to make one...” she said, searching through her boxes.
“To make what?” Gaara asked, clutching his bear tightly.
“To make a friend for your bear!” she said, pulling out an old shirt. “Here, this should work...I just need a few more things...I’ll be right back, ‘kay?” Then, Izumi set off out the door, and down the steps, trying to find her mother’s sewing kit. She heard her parents talking in the kitchen.
“Who is that boy? I seem to remember his name from somewhere...” said Mr. Kashiwa.
“Isn’t he the son of the Kazekage?” questioned her mother.
“Yes! That’s is! Does the Kazekage know he’s here?”
“Well, you better make sure that he does, Tazu. We don’t want the boy getting into trouble!” With that statement, Izumi’s father sprang up from his chair.
“I’ll be back before dinner, ‘kay?” Then, he ran out the back door, and jumped out into the night.
Izumi stood, hidden in her shadows. “He’s the Kazekage’s son? I wonder why he didn’t tell me...” Then, she stepped into the kitchen, trying to look ignorant. “Hey, mom! Um...where’d Dad go?”
Mrs. Kashiwa smiled at her daughter. “He went to go talk to the Kazekage about Gaara staying here for dinner. Did you guys check with him before Gaara coming here?”
“Well, no, but that Yashamaru guy said that Gaara could do whatever he wanted, so I figured it was alright. Is Yashamaru-san his guardian or something?”
“Something like that...Yashamaru-san looks out for Gaara-kun. Yashamaru-san is Gaara’s uncle.”
“Oh, I see...” Izumi started thinking. “I wonder where Gaara’s mother is...”
“So, Izumi? What did you come down here for?”
Izumi brought herself out of her thoughts. “I was wondering where your sewing kit was.”
Izumi’s mother laughed. “And, why would you need my sewing kit?”
“Well, you know Gaara-kun’s bear?”
“Yes, he seems to be quite attached to that bear. It must be very special to him. It’s quite adorable, too!”
“Well, I wanted to make an animal of my own! So, that way, Gaara-kun and I could play together!”
"Oh! Well, it's over there in that box on the couch. Just make sure you don't hurt yourself, alright?"
Izumi laughed. "Alright, Mom, but I don't think that I'll hurt myself!" Izumi went over to the couch, and opened up the box. Her mother's sewing kit sat inside the box. Izumi put her hands carefully around the box and tried to ease it out of the box without hurting anything else fragile in the box. The box took up both of her arms, and was pretty heavy for a six-year old!
"A-alright, Mom! W-we'll be u-upstairs in my r-room, so c-call if you n-need anything!" Izumi told her mom, struggling with the heavy box.
Kimiko laughed. "Are you sure you don't need help with that? It looks awful heavy."
"No! I'm fine! A shinobi must be strong, and this is nothing! I c-could be l-lifting a p-paper clip!" she said as she struggled up the stairs.
"Alright, I'll call when dinner's read!"
"Ok!"
Izumi went out of the kitchen, then gasped at what she saw:
"Gaara?"
Gaara was standing in the shadows, bear in hand, with a small, sheepish smile on his face.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were upstairs!"
"Well, I was upstairs, but then I realized that you might need help, so I came down."
Izumi stared at him. "H-how much of that conversation did you hear?"
"When your mom asked you what you came down here for, that's starts what I heard. But, I did hear mention of Yashamaru-san..." he said, getting quieter and quieter until he just stopped talking.
"Oh, ok!" Izumi said smiling.
"But if you didn't want me to hear anything, I'll forget that I did-"
Izumi interrupted him. "Before we talk, let's get this box upstairs, alright?"
She maneuvered over to the stairs, and started the climb. Gaara was in back of her, looking like he wanted to help more.
"Are you absolutely sure you don't need help?"
"Yes, Gaara. I'll c-completely fine!"
Izumi finally got up the stairs. When she did, she plopped the box down on the floor. She put her hands on her back and bent back, seeing if her back was stiff, and stretched, like she had seen her father do. Then, she gripped the sides of the box, and dragged it into her room. She and Gaara kneeled on the floor and opened the box together.
Millions of colors of thread spilled out of the box once it was open. It was like a mini rainbow, except with more colors. Needles and other tools for sewing were neatly arranged in the box, sorted by the type, size, make and function.
"Wow! D-does your mom sew a lot...?" Gaara asked.
"Yeah, she makes most of our clothes, so it suits us and the purposes we need for it: whether we need pockets to store shuriken or kunai on a certain side...that kind of thing!"
Izumi took out a color of thread that would complement the black shirt she had taken out. It was a beautiful, shiny thread that seemed to change colors when you shifted it or the light changed. Back from maroon, to a rich wine color, to purple, and back again.
"Wow!"
Izumi looked over at Gaara, surprised by his sudden words.
Gaara blushed. "I mean, I-I've never seen thread do that before..."
"Yeah, neither have I! It's perfect!"
"What are you going to make?" Gaara questioned, interested in what Izumi was going to make with black cloth and the special thread.
"Hmm...well, I think I might make a cat!"
"Why a cat? Is it your favorite animal?"
Izumi giggled. "Well, something like that. The cat is a wonderful predator, and would make a great shinobi...if it was a person, that is!"
Gaara laughed. "Well, that's an interesting way of putting it!"
Izumi laughed back, then started on her work. Gaara sat on the floor quietly, his bear sitting in his lap. Izumi couldn't take the silence anymore.
"So, your uncle is Yashamaru?"
Gaara looked up suddenly. "Y-yes...he is."
"And, you're the son of the Kazekage?"
Gaara continued with his confused look. "Yeah...but, how do you know this?"
Izumi dropped her gaze, a hint of a sheepish smile forming. "I kind of heard my parents talking..."
Gaara looked at her, stunned, then dropped his gaze as well. "...o-oh..."
Izumi looked at her friend, then tried to explain. "No! You see, it wasn't anything bad! They were just making sure that they had the right person, and that they were going to go tell your father where you were, so he wouldn't get mad, and hurt anything...not that he would! But, well...we didn't want you to get into trouble!"
Gaara looked up at her. "So, that's where your father went? To make sure I wouldn't get in trouble with my father?"
"Yes, exactly!!"
Gaara blushed, and looked down at his bear, shyly. "T-thank you..."
Izumi smiled at her friend. "No problem!"
They sat in silence for a while, and Izumi finally finished her cat animal.
"Wow, Izumi-chan! That's really good!"
Izumi smiled, proud of her work. The doll sat in her hands, about as big as Gaara's.
"Hmm..." Izumi said, thinking deeply. "What should I name it?"
Gaara looked at her, clearly confused. "Hunh?"
"S-shouldn't I name it? That is what you do, right? You have to name your animal, right?"
Gaara looked at his bear. "I guess I never actually named him...what should I name him?"
Izumi looked at the bear, considering the options that a stuffed bear could have. "There's always the simple Bear-chan, or Bear-kun. But, does he want something more original?" she thought to herself.
"I have an idea for yours, if you want to use it..."
Izumi looked at him quizzically. "What is it?"
"...Hinoiri..."
Izumi thought about it. "It means sunset...! That works so well!"
"Gaara-kun, that's perfect! It fits her! Great job!"
Gaara blushed at the praise. He wasn't used to being praised: it was clear to her, the way he blushed. "It's actually pretty cute when he blushes..." Izumi thought, blushing herself.
"N-now you have to name mine!" he said, excited.
Izumi dropped out of her thoughts. "Say again?"
Gaara smiled. "Now, because you liked my name and named yours, you have to name mine, 'kay?"
Izumi grinned. "Alright! I'll help, alright? But, if you seriously don't like it, you have to tell me, and I'll come up with a better one, alright?"
Gaara nodded, still smiling. Izumi thought. "What would I name his bear? If it was mine, what would I name it? Oh! I know!"
Izumi smiled. "What about Hinode? So, it's sunrise and sunset!" Then she paused. "...do you think that's a good idea?"
Gaara's eyes were shining, and a gigantic grin swept across his face. "I think it's great! Hinoiri and Hinode!"