As Chou sat off to the side at the outpost, her clothing and the gray scarf she wore covering her head and face covered in soot, she couldn’t help but look out towards the orange ball in the distance: the burning village of Sunagakure no Sato. People were still rushing past, victims of the blaze rushing to the outpost in search for loved ones while others – mainly shinobi – headed back towards the burning village to see if there was anyone else that could be rescued. Even though Chou had known that something bad was going to happen tonight – her father hadn’t seemed the type to bluff after all – she still hadn’t expected something of this magnitude. The way he had spoken his own assault was to be aimed strictly at those who were in charge – not this, not the innocents who had suffered. She just couldn’t believe that this was his doing. He was too kind, she saw too much gentleness still in his heart to believe he was capable of something of this caliber.


Each time someone tall and bearded headed past she couldn’t help but perk up, hoping and praying it would be Syekren safe and sound – yet each time she was equally disappointed. With yet another false alarm she slumped forward tugged down the scarf from her head, pulling it away from her face as well to reveal her naturally bright red hair. Her golden yellow eyes caught the flames in the distance, causing them to dance and gleam across the color as if they could just absorb the flames and snuff them out. If only it were that simple.


Even as her little legs began to move and sway, kicking the barrel she sat upon with a gentle thump noise each time, she couldn’t help but let her mind wander to darker thoughts. She hadn’t stopped to consider just how dangerous what Syekren was doing was, or what would happen should he fail. She had been so sure he would accomplish what he came for that she hadn’t stopped to think of what all he could be put up against. She hadn’t been realistic about the outcome of what was occurring, or the potential for it to all go wrong. ”Please let him be okay...”, she muttered to herself, the same thing that had left her lips two or three times now. It was something she had heard others utter around her, though they spoke not of her father but rather of their own family members and friends still lost in the blaze.

Of course, Syekren wasn’t the only one she was concerned about – though he was at the forefront of her mind. There was of course Izumi too, or “boob lady” as she had jokingly begun to refer to her as from time to time in her head. Izumi and her had rescued the Academy students and bring them to the outpost, and then both had went back to help some more – yet she was another person Chou hadn’t saw for a while, and she was beginning to get worried that something had happened to her, too. ”Please let Izumi be okay, too...”, she muttered with a worried sigh.


Chou glanced to the side of her, watching as a small family with crying children hurried past and into the outpost, they looked worse for wear and smelled the same as everyone else – like smoke – and Chou couldn’t help but to shake her head. It was then she felt a familiar tickle in her throat and brought her right hand up to her mouth even as a coughing fit began. She didn’t bother trying to hold it back as she knew it would only make it worse, and simply let it roll through her until it finished – by which point a good twenty seconds or so had passed and the violent force had caused tears to spring up along the rims of her eyes which she wiped away with haste.

Word Count: 731

As he ran through the burning village, the flames behind him greedily consuming everything its path like a gluttonous beast with an insatiable appetite, smoke was palpable and overwhelmed his senses, yet he continued running. His small, lithe frame, weaving in and out between the scrambling citizens who, just like him, was trying to escape the flames of hell that were moving menacingly in the foreground. Hands touched the ground, touching warm debris, as he was pushed by an older male who was trying to get away from the flames. Though he wanted to glare at the man, he did not have time for that, he had to keep on moving. Righting himself up, he dodged and weaved, jumping over large pieces of debris.

This street, it was familiar to him, the buildings that used to be in certain areas were no longer standing, consumed by flames, and becoming unrecognizable. The more destruction that he passed by, the deeper the frown on his face went. It was senseless. All of this destruction what was the point of it? So much loss of life, why? Why? Why was this needed? What purpose did it serve? He did not know the answer to any of those question; his mind not being able to comprehend the questions asked. The longer he transversed the path, the worse the destruction it became. A loud thump caught his attention, and he had to stop the bile from spewing out onto the destroyed payment, at the sight of a badly charred. Unfortunately, this was not the first body he had seen along the path he was taken. There had been others, but nowhere near as bad as the charred one a front of him now.

The longer he stared at it, the greater the urge to release his contents onto the payment. And, sure enough, the sickening and wet sound of vomit splattering on the side of the street was heard by him. The screams and other noise of chaos keeping the vomit inducing sound from being heard by anyone else as he continues to empty his stomach contents. During so, he was very much aware of the lack of attention those passed him by gave him. They being too busy running in the direction of the outpost. An outpost he had ran away from due to a nightmare. A nightmare that was fueling his right now.

“Disgusting.”, he murmured to himself, using the back of his hand to wipe his mouth. Feeling better, he lifted up his dark blue shirt, covering his nose with it, and continued on his destination. It would not be long now. His destination was not that far away from where he currently was. Taking a turn down an alleyway, dodging those who were helping with the evacuation, not wanting to be forced to return to the post just yet. It did not take him long to reach his destination. A destroyed charred house that was very familiar to him; his home.

Looking around, making sure no one was around, he began rummaging through the debris, looking for anything that survived the destruction. He did not know how long he looked, but he did manage to find a few salvageable things such as scrolls, books, jewelry, and a slightly burnt teddy bear belonging to his step-sister. Clutching the bear tightly, the reality of the situation truly bore down on him. “Mom.. . Dad. . .sissy. .. brother?”, tears freely fell from his eyes as he realized that he was all alone. That he had no one to count on or to be there for him. He was alone in this world, without no one to guide him.

As his thoughts began to turn dark, they were prevented from such an action as a shinobi landed beside him, questioning what he was doing out here, and where his parents were. The last question ushering more tears from his eyes that was quickly wiped away as he answered the questions. Getting a nod of understanding from the shinobi, Kishiko was led back towards the outpost, having mentioned the one where he was from.

“Don’t do that again, kay?”, Kishiko nodded at the mask shinobi words as he walked towards the outpost not that far away. He turned back and noticed the shinobi was still there watching him, making sure he did return and not go on another adventure. The items he had taken from his home was sealed up by the nice shinobi who found him. Making his way towards the outpost, one of the caretakers, a woman in her middle thirties, ran up to him, fussing over him, explaining how dangerous it was to wander back into the village while it is on fire. He nodded in understanding, rather this because he truly understood or wanted to get away from her, is not certain. After the caretaker made sure he was okay, she left him to his desires.

Watching her leave, he focused his attention on the young red-haired girl, seemingly around his age, sitting on a barrel. Yellow eyes focused on the other, showing signs of confusion as if the girl was an anomaly. And, to be honest, the girl was, he did not see many children sitting outside alone, they usually are accompanied by an adult of some kind. So, why was she out here? Though curious he might be, he did not approach her, kind of. He simply moved towards her general direction, sliding against another barrel on the opposite side of her. Pulling out the scroll that held his possession, he unsealed the slightly singed teddy bear, the sight of it invoking tears once more as his thoughts reverted back to his family once more, “I miss you.”

---

959

The words carried, perhaps because she was focused on them, that the shinobi said to the young child. It made her think that perhaps he had been here already and had left again. While it might have been difficult for an adult to understand why a child would leave so suddenly from a safe place for someone like Chou it made complete sense. If the little boy had had family left in the village he had likely gone in search of them. Or perhaps the unfamiliarity of the place bothered him. Either way he seemed alone, and as Chou began to watch his tears fall she felt her own heart clench.


Chou thought about the letter in her pocket, the one which had been delivered before all hell had broken lose, telling her to meet her father later on and where. She still had some time to go between then and now. More than enough time to help the boy who looked to be about her age who was in tears. If she could figure out how, anyway. Her social awkwardness, the constant bullying, had paid its toll as she had grown up. So she wasn’t quite sure what was acceptable and what wasn’t when it came to social behavior. ”I have to do something...”, she muttered beneath her breath as she got up off of the table, feet hitting the ground softly.

She squared her shoulders while mentally preparing her little self – socializing sometimes took its toll on the young Akimichi and after choosing to rescue people from hell itself she was already kind of worn down – before she walked over to the fellow child seated on another barrel. She sat down next to him, not saying anything for a moment as she wondered what exactly there was to say. What kind of comfort could she offer him? What sort of words were supposed to be spoken during situations like this? Should she tell him she’s sorry? That sounded so stupid. Sorry for what? Should she try and introduce herself and ask him what was wrong? Maybe… that probably seemed like a better option.


And then it hit her all of a suddenly. What had she wanted the day she had rushed home from graduation to find her parents lying dead and broken on the living room floor, blood splattered upon the walls. What had she wanted so badly and never got? A hug. Yes. A simple hug. The feeling itself that someone was there, that someone else cared. She didn’t want to be understood, she didn’t want people to be sorry for her, she simply wanted to know she wasn’t alone and that someone cared about her. It felt so normal to simply reach first one arm and then the other around the crying boy, to offer him a gentle squeeze while giving him the space to break away from the action if it was unwanted or to allow it to continue should he require it. Chou wouldn’t say anything for a moment, thinking of what proper words were needed here and now, and then they occurred to her so suddenly and so easily, ”I’m here for you. You’re not alone. I’ll be your friend and you can be mine.” She had no idea if he would accept her words, but it was the best she could offer up, the best that she could do – the best she knew how to do.

Word Count: 1,346

Memories, the final words of those close to him replayed in his head like a broken record. Constantly torturing him in reminding what was lost. He had no peace from them. When he sleeps, the words were accompanied by disturb visuals of the owner of the voices. Their bodies were badly damaged by the evil forces who sought to destroy Sunagakure no Sato. In seemingly impossible manner, their bodies, clearly broken beyond speech, spoke those words to him. Even when he tried to wake up from the dreams, trying to escape the reality his mind adamantly tried to deny, they followed him. An ever haunting presence being the final words of his parents that he had fortunate, or unfortunate, the chance of seeing them in the last moments of their lives. His face being the last one they saw before going to a better place. And if the words weren’t enough, then the gruesome images was truly terrifying. Though, if there was any solace in the matter, the macabre images of his family did not follow him when he tried to wake up from the dreams - only certain things and key phrases calls forth such imaginary. Still, it took a lot from him to wake up from his dreams, or the deep crutches of his mind when his thoughts linger too deeply on such things. For once they got a hold of him, it was a physical one and took a lot of might for him to break free.  It was only thanks to a loud noise this morning that forced to dreams to let him go, allowing to free away from their crutches. The dreams shook him this morning more so than usual, and he had to get away from everything, therefore, he snuck out.

Now though, with tears beginning to fall from his eyes, he found himself getting closer to the dark, murky edge was the images were lurking underneath the surface, waiting to snatch him at the moment noticed. Like a soothing lullaby, the final words of his family members echoed through the void, giving a sense of security to hide its sinister motive. With each step he took, Kishiko found himself get drawn in deeper, his guard easily being broken by such words that were now accompanied by the last images of each individual spoke. Overwhelming was the assault as a new thought slammed into his mind. He was the last thing they saw. Do they hate him for not trying hard enough to save them? Hate, it was something he could not fully grasp, but understood well enough, the emotion having festered in him from the words spoken by some of the older teens and adults in hush murmurs to keep the knowledge away from children. While his hate is directed towards the monsters who caused this destruction, and those who did nothing to stop the violence, he wonders, does his family hate him for not being able to save them?

A ridiculous notion considering he had even finished the academy; he still had another year to go. And while he might have shown promise in puppeteer and sealing field, at his current level, there was not much he could do. Sure, he could have potentially saved others, but that would have required the help of other willing people. He was not strong enough to help his home in rescueing the injured and the dying. And, considering how bad off his family members were when he saw them, any type of assistant he gave would have been more harm than good. Yet, in his mind? He thought he could have at least tried to get them help. Tried anything to save them. Anything.  .  .

Before he could step into the murky water, long shadowy tendons coming out to greet him, wrapping around his legs, the final words of his family becoming louder, something yanked him out of his mind, forcing the dark thoughts to go back to which they came.

Yellow eyes, clouded with tears that were streaking down his face, looked at what, no who, had pulled him from such thoughts. The girl. The same girl, he had wanted to speak to earlier, she was? Before he could comprehend what was going on, he found himself pulled into a hug. A hug? His body flinched at the contact before stilling for a few seconds. Asides from the smallest of touches from the caretakers and shinobi who found him, Kishiko hadn’t been touched by another person since his mother, right before she died. He tried to keep the tears from flowing, but he could not, especially when it came to his mother; someone he loved dearly. Though the chaos surrounds them, he could still hear the words spoken, and the dams broke. The girl, no older than him, saying words that no other adult, or anyone for that matter, had said. For a few seconds, he did not return the hug, but ever slowly, while still clutching the singed bear, he wrapped his arms around her.

“I missed them.”, words being spoken behind tears, “I miss my mom, dad, sisters, and brother. They are. . .they are gone.”, more tears flowed from his eyes. This was what he needed. A shoulder to cry on. While people had told him how sorry they were, none did what this unknown girl did. None gave him the comfort he sought, and reassurance that he was not along. Seconds turned into minutes, once a steady flow of tears became nothing more than a few droplets as the weight of the situation lifted a little from his shoulders. Not enough to unburden him, but, enough to give him some peace. Sniffling, he pulled away from the unknown girl, though stuck nearby her. Eyes shining with sadness, and a few tears, looked at the girl before him, “I’m Chikamatsu, Kishiko.”, he remembering his mother’s words of introducing himself to others. Looking down at the teddy bear clutched in his right hand that was scarred with a burn , he looked back at the girl, “And this is Teddy. He belonged to my sister.”, he did not know why he added that part, but he did, “What is your name?”

---

1062[2021]

She felt him flinch as contact was made, half expecting him to pull away from her hug, especially since it felt as if he had frozen within her arms. Yet, something told her not to let go and so she didn’t. She just kept holding him exactly as she had been, acting as if she were some kind of barrier to the outside world that could keep him safe from further harm. And then, as the dam the boy had been keeping on his emotions broke she felt his arms wrap around her as the gesture was returned. Feeling tears running from her own eyes and down her cheeks she found herself resting her head against his, tightening her grip on him in a gentle and soothing manner – all while ensuring she didn’t squeeze too tightly, she was after all much more hardier than he was.

Soothing noises escaped her lips before she settled on a soft hum that was gentle and yet filled with enough strength and understanding to mask the chaos of the world around them. She listened as he spoke of missing his family – his mother, father, sisters and brother – and each that was mentioned felt like a knife tearing across her hearts own healed wounds, flaying them wide open again. She knew what it felt like to face that kind of loss, she knew it all too well, and his tears affected her own by increasing the intensity of them.


She found herself making an oath as she held the boy in her arms, one that would have her seeing to him being able to come along with them – if he agreed of course. She could only assume he had no other family – especially since he was crying out here all alone – and she couldn’t allow herself to abandon him. She knew the pain he was facing, the pain he was in, and she would not allow him to travel that path alone. It was long and difficult, winding and twisting, with the slightest thing being able to trigger a response – either violent or sad. He would need help, and while she was likely no older than he was, she felt she was the best to be able to do that considering she had suffered in much the same way.


When he was ready to be released from the hug she did so, allowing him to pull away while noticing that he stuck close by regardless. She listened as he introduced himself, the surname or clan name given not one she recognized – but then again, she wasn’t from Sunagakure, as the headband around her neck pronounced. When he introduced the teddy-bear as well she found herself giggling softly. ”It’s nice to meet both of you. I am Chou, from the Akimichi clan. It’s nice to meet both of you.” Golden yellow eyes glanced around, noticing people still coming and going from the outpost and the village burning in the distance, before resting back on Kishiko. ”I’m sorry you have to go through this – but you’re not alone. My parents died a few months back, so I sort of know how it feels.” She paused, wondering how much she wanted to tell him, her own social anxiety still put on the back burner in an attempt to make the boy feel better. ”...They were killed in our house. Needlessly, too..”


”Do you have any family? I know what it’s like to be alone… I promise I won’t leave you that way...” No, she couldn’t just up and leave his side. Not after witnessing his tears and his pain. If he didn’t have anyone else to go to she was sure to figure something out – even though that might mean him coming to Konoha to live with her – or rather with Syekren. She hoped he wouldn’t mind if it came down to that – something told her he wouldn’t. It would make Chou less lonely too, and give her a friend her own age; she certainly didn’t have any now.


Word Count: 720 | 2,066

Reaction Time E2 to E3: 2,066 – 225 = 1,841
Reaction Time E3 to D0: 1,841 – 300 = 1,541

Perception E0 to E1: 1,541 – 75 = 1,466
Perception E1 to E2: 1,466 – 150 = 1,316
Perception E2 to E3: 1,316 – 225 = 1,091
Perception E3 to D0: 1,091 – 300 = 791

Speed E0 to E1: 791 – 75 = 716
Speed E1 to E2: 716 – 150 = 566
Speed E2 to E3: 566 – 225 = 341
Speed E3 to D0: 341 – 300 = 41

Discarding 41 words.