forget me not || ambw || naruto

˜"*°•.˜"*°• chapter one •°*"˜.•°*"˜

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in waves

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off a foggy shore of a small village, there she rested in a shrine created by the inhabitants. ice was her cocoon. it protected her from the unknown as well as small sealing talismans. the civilians made sure that no one would disturb their goddess' slumber. she was to never be disturbed, for it would bring misfortune to their lands. they warned everyone to keep away. for generations, they advised others to admire and pray from afar. they couldn't keep the young one away however. no matter how many times they threated the little boy, he always managed to find a way to stay close to her. he couldn't physically touch her, nor see her beauty. however, he could hear her. every night, he could hear a voice humming a soothing lullaby that would draw him to that shrine. he had a connection to the lady of the shrine that no one else could see. he knew that when she woke up, he would stay by her side— forever

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

after an unpredicted battle, three genin and one jounin accompanied a bridge builder into his home. the bridge builder, labeled with the name tazuna, allowed the jounin to rest his injured body in one of his guest rooms. the three genin followed suit and rested for the night.

waking up to an aching body, kakashi the jounin sat up in his futon. his subordinates collectively awoke and prepared themselves for their new mission details. the leader of the squad informed his students that they needed further training. after all, tazuna failed to mention that an assassin would be after him. although kakashi was annoyed that tazuna left such an important piece of information out of the mission details, he had to plan his next moves accordingly.

"sensei, you said that we need to prepare", sakura —the pink-ette of the group— spoke up, "but how do we do that when you're injured?"

"that doesn't mean i can't train you", kakashi chuckled behind the mask he wore.

the students were confused on how the last minute training would make them stronger. kakashi cleared their thoughts, reassuring them that their teamwork in fighting the previous battle was enough proof of their improved strength. as they conversed, two small boys halted their conversation.

"nothing's gonna get better", one of the two children interrupted.

"inari...kioshi...there you two are!" tazuna welcomed his grandson and his friend into the home. inari stood with his small fists balled as his sides. the raven-ette spoke with confidence in his voice as he glared at the unknown ninja in his home. kioshi silently hid behind the more extroverted of the two.  his black hair covered his eyes as he peaked over his friend's shoulder.

inari ran into his grandfather's open arms. his mother chastised him for his rude behavior towards their guests. kioshi, now unprotected by his friend's form, stood on his own, gripping his pants in nervousness. team 7's eyes shifted between the glare of inari and the unseen eyes of kioshi. they wondered how two completely opposite characters were able to hang with each other.

"mom, don't you see", inari pleaded, "gato is gonna bring his men and kill them all!"

naruto —a blonde boy with black whiskers adorning his cheeks — yelled in protest that his team was strong. he tried to convince the boy that no matter who gato was, he wouldn't take them down. inari refused to believe a word that was said.

"not even the sea lady can save us...what makes you think you can!", inari growled. "you should go back home if you don't wanna die". the younger scoffed as he exited the room. kioshi could only silently watch as his friend's pessimism filled the room. truth be told, kioshi was worried about inari. ever since his father figure died, the boy has lost hope in seeing better days. inari didn't even believe in the village's worshipped goddesses. on the contrary to his companion, kioshi believed that lady mizu —their goddess of the water— had done more than enough for them. with these shinobi on their side as well, the silent boy knew that everything would result in a good result.