Red Is A Pretty Colour

27

Hiko's pov

When we returned to the village the news of Lord third's death spread like wild fire. It was all anyone could talk about. I couldn't blame them he was an amazing man.

A lot of us shinobi were gathered on top of the hokage tower for the funeral but I there were plenty of people gathered around outside as well. Not a single person I had seen today was wearing anything other than black.

The heavens opened the moment the ceremony began and as the sky weaped for such a great man so did the children gathered for the ceremony. One by one people left white flowers by his photo. I'm sure he was the only thing on everyone's minds. He was certainly the only thing on mine.

Flashback

' "Naruto, wait up!" I called as I chased after my brother.

"Hurry up before the old man finds out!" Naruto called back.

He made it seem like Lord third wasn't smart enough to figure out it was us. I mean who else in the village would steal all of his hats and hide them in the woods.

I just went with it, running after my brother through the woods. We didn't stop running until we reached the village again. When we arrived we leaned against the side of a shop, patting for air.

"That was awesome ya know! High five!" Naruto said with a grin as he held up a hand.

I gave him a high five before grinning back at him. My smile however fell quickly as I felt eyes on us. They were glaring, wishing we were never born, willing us to disappear. Naruto never seemed to notice it and if he did he never acknowledged it. It only ever happened when I was with him. Whatever it was that made them glare had something to do with Naruto.

"What's wrong Hiko?" Naruto asked.

"I just remembered I forgot to buy food for the week." I said and Naruto just smiled wider.

"Let's get ramen then!" Naruto cheered.

"Sure." I said.

"Yes! Ramen! Ramen!" Naruto cheered as he punched the air in celebration.

"Naruto!" Someone yelled making us gulp.

"That's..." I began.

"Iruka~sensei! Run." Naruto said as he moved to run away.

"Oh no you don't, not this time Naruto. You're in serious trouble." Iruka said as he grabbed naruto by the back of the shirt.

Iruka then began dragging Naruto away kicking and screaming. I went to follow when a hand came out to stop me. When I looked at the owner of the hand I was met by the kind smile of Lord Third.

"Lord third." I said.

"Hiko, why don't you come with me?" Lord third asked.

I nodded and began following the elderly man.

"I know that you helped Naruto brake into my office earlier." Lord third said.

"If you know I helped then why is Naruto the only one being punished. It's not fair on Naruto if I go without a punishment." I said.

"You're very mature for your age, aren't you?" Lord third said.

"Someone has to stop Naruto from getting into serious trouble. I mean honestly, you'd think he's allergic to common sense." I said making Lord third chuckle.

"That's a bit mean, don't you think?" Lord third said.

"It can't be mean if it's true." I said.

Lord third just shook his head as we continued walking.

"You have an amazing mind Hiko. There aren't many jonin who could get passed my anbu angents undetected nevermind academy students like yourself. Im impressed." Lord third said. "You'll be a great konoichi one day."

"Thank you." I said, smiling up at him. "But that still doesn't explain why I'm not being punished."

"My dear I know that as long as Naruto invites you to help him with his pranks you'll continue to do them. Your loyalty to your brother is absolute. Punishing you will do no good if Naruto continues to act the way he does." Lord third said.

"Iruka~sensei still hasn't figured that out. He keeps putting us in detention together, which is pretty stupid, he's just giving us designated plotting time." I said and Lord third ruffled my hair.

"Why don't you come and play Go with me in my office while we wait on Naruto returning?" Lord third offered.

"Sure if you want to loose. You've never beaten me before." I said. '

Flashback end

That day after Naruto was done being punished he came and joined our game. I won six more rounds after that. It was the day Lord third finally let slip about my father.

I hadn't even noticed the ceremony was coming to an end until Sakura spoke.

"Look, the rain, it's stopped." Sakura said.

I put a hand out and sure enough the rain had stopped.

"I guess even the sky knows that Lord third wouldn't want it to cry for him." I said.