Her Eyes, Her Future

THE PAST: Part 3- The Campfire Impact

(WARNING: This chapter is inspired by and contains some words from Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto Shippuden: Episode 480)

The next day Kashwini decided to take a break from training, and decided to go for a walk. She couldn't help but think about what happened yesterday. What was the reason for a group of rogue ninja to go after her? Was it because of some made up rumours that were spread around the village that got leaked outside? Was it because of her unknown ancestry? No, none of those reasons would make any sense to go after a little girl like her, she thought.

As she was strolling around the village, thinking about more conspiracy theories and reasons, she bumped into the boys from the academy. She totally forgot that she is a girl who can get easily bullied, as she did not fully perfect her ninjutsu, nor taijutsu yet. As usual she ended up stranded beside the waters. Why? Why does this always happen to me? What did I do wrong?

"I see you're having some trouble." Kashwini turns around and gets up. An old man appeared before her. It was the third homage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"The hokage?!" Kashwini gasped. "What is someone like you doing here?!!"

"I see you were attempting to go for a walk," he said.

"Y-yes sir!" Kashwini stuttered.

"Now now, come along," Hiruzen laughed. "I thought it might be nice for you and I to go for a walk somewhere." Kashwini was quite confused why the hokage was being polite to her, but accepted the offer as she knew it was very rare to have such an opportunity. As they walked by the river they noticed a boy. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. He looked a lot like the same age as Kashwini. Then she remembered, it was Naruto Uzumaki, that one boy in her class at the academy. The one that would yell that he would become hokage someday. Lord Hokage approached him. Kashwini followed. Naruto was quite startled at first. For some reason, the third did not tell Naruto who he really was. However, Naruto did know that his classmate, Kashwini was here so it was okay for him to trust the 'old man'. He even shared his fish with them.

"It's pretty good if you ask me." Kashwini said.

"It looks really tasty as well!" lord hokage grinned.

"Well I was the one who caught it. So, of course it's going to taste really good." Naruto exclaimed.

"Just look at all those stars. Each one of them is a sun, like the one that shines down on our world," the hokage stated, as they were eating. "What do you two think? The sheer amount is incredible, aye?"

"The sun? That giant that shines in the sky during the day?" Naruto asked.

"Heh, that's right. The universe is limitless."

"Yeah? Wow, you sure know a lot of stuff, gramps."

"To call the universe limitless is quite amazing," Kashwini said in awe. She never heard anyone tell such amazing stories like this. When the third said the universe is limitless, it made her feel like he was saying that the impossible could one day become possible.

"Compared to the vastness of the world, the existence that each person leads is insignificant. The things that we inconsequential humans worry about are often very petty indeed," explained lord hokage.

"You're right. So this world is as big as all that, huh?" Naruto asks. The third nods his head.

"Seems like things can just go on and on," Kashwini sighed. All three of their stomachs grumble. Nevertheless they laugh together. It was very rare for Kashwini to laugh. It was a once in a while thing. Soon, Naruto shared with both, Kashwini and the third, some mushroom soup.

The next afternoon, Kashwini decided to take another walk. This time, she was prepared at what or whoever was coming after her. However, she may have missed a spot in her preparations. She passed some trees when she saw Itachi and Shisui at a cliff. She hid behind the tree and observed the situation. Shisui seemed to have given Itachi something. It looked as if one of his eyes were bleeding. Suddenly, it came clear to her. Shisui has given Itachi his eye. But why? She looked behind her to make sure no one saw her. She looked back, but with a blink of an eye, she heard Itachi yell Shisui's name. Kashwini's eyes were in pain. Shisui was gone.

Kashwini went running home. Tears running down her face. She couldn't believe it. Shisui, the Teleporter, was dead. He was like a brother in a way to her. How could this have happened? Kashwini went inside her room, locked her door and fell on her bed, face flat. Shisui. Shisui Uchiha. Why did it have to come to this? Why did Itachi not save his friend? Well, one thing was for sure. Itachi did not kill Shisui. She saw with her own eyes that Shisui had fallen off the cliff, on his own will. Would she ever tell anyone what she saw though? No. She couldn't. Did she know why? No, she didn't. She thought of what the third said. That the universe is limitless. Small indeed she was, in this world. Small indeed Shisui was, in this world. Things might go on and on, but she realized that even the small things in this world can change. She knew Shisui died for the sake of protecting something. For the sake of protecting the village, the Village Hidden in The Leaves. She didn't quite understand its main purpose, but eventually accepted it and moved on.

Later that night, with the money she had, she spent it on some new clothing. A black t-shirt, black shorts and a black mask. This mask, as she thought, would not only help her hide the flaws on her face, like the birthmark under her lip at the left, but also represent the new her. It was time Kashwini would walk into a new era, another one waiting for her years to come.