Hikari raced from one stark shadow to another, remembering byways and footpaths she hadn't had time to walk in weeks. She planned to eventually visit her parents. but before she did- before she succumbed to the guilt they surely had in store for her- she was going to have fun. She made the ram seal quickly and raced up a wall, barely catching the lip of the roof before she lost her hold and would have fallen. She made the seals for clone jutsu and sent her double over onto the roof across the street. They raced like children, she and her clone, her mirror image, her shadow, over the rooftops and then she released it as she slunk down into the dark alleyway
The redheaded girl peeped out to make certain that no one watched her, before she ran on... and on through back allies and over small homes. After hours of this, she stopped and rested atop a roof which overlooked the market. From here, she could see her old home. She smiled fondly at it then sighed and shook her head. She couldn't go back. Not yet. Not until she was truly a kunoichi, perhaps not even then...
She saw a student she knew approach the door and watched from her shadowed perch, as her mother invited him inside. "Hi, mother." She said beneath her breath, "You will be glad to know that I am learning. I know already, so much more than I did when I began. Tell father, I love..." She bowed her head, "Pitiful. Am I a child that I must spin fancy tales to myself from distances far? Am I a child that I need her approval? I am a ninja in training!" However fervently the child told herself such things, she felt an ache of lonliness. "Even if I miss you..."
The redheaded girl peeped out to make certain that no one watched her, before she ran on... and on through back allies and over small homes. After hours of this, she stopped and rested atop a roof which overlooked the market. From here, she could see her old home. She smiled fondly at it then sighed and shook her head. She couldn't go back. Not yet. Not until she was truly a kunoichi, perhaps not even then...
She saw a student she knew approach the door and watched from her shadowed perch, as her mother invited him inside. "Hi, mother." She said beneath her breath, "You will be glad to know that I am learning. I know already, so much more than I did when I began. Tell father, I love..." She bowed her head, "Pitiful. Am I a child that I must spin fancy tales to myself from distances far? Am I a child that I need her approval? I am a ninja in training!" However fervently the child told herself such things, she felt an ache of lonliness. "Even if I miss you..."