In Their Shadow

Chapter 3

It was an important morning for the six-year old Yuma. He had just turned six years old a day prior, and was visited by the Hokage! Yuma was told by the Hokage that if he wanted to, he could have his very own apartment. Yuma was too young to know what an apartment was, but he was excited nonetheless, after all, he would be leaving the orphanage today! With a smile full of cheer and an extra bump in his step, he headed to the hokage's tower, eager to be led to his new home.

Upon making it to the main road, he became more impatient due to the excitement he was experiencing and started sprinting through the streets. He continued to run in glee until he ran around a corner and-

"Oww, that hurt, what did I run in-?!"

Yuma's complaining immediately ground to a halt, standing before him was an elderly man with short black spiky hair, holding onto a cane and smiling down at the the child. The old man oddly reminded Yuma of a mummy, as his head was covered in wraps from the left side up.

"I'm so sorry mister, did I hurt you at all?" young Yuma asked, worried for the old mans well-being.

The old man laughed gently at the child and gave Yuma a look of kindness.

"No no, not a scratch on me, though if you don't mind me asking, why are you in such a rush child?"

Yuma smiled excitedly at the seemingly kind elder, happy to have someone pay attention to him.

"I recently turned six, and was visited by the hokage, i'm supposed to be meeting him right now. He said that he would give me my own apartment, so now I don't have to live at the orphanage anymore."

The old man frowned slightly at the young child, giving Yuma a sad gaze.

"Oh you poor thing, you must be one of the children that suffered from the Nine-Tails Attack." The old man stated, causing Yuma to look up in confusion, slightly tilting his head cutely to the side.

"The Nine-Tails Attack? Whats that mister?"

The old man continued to frown sadly at the child.

"You poor thing no one has told you, have they?"

Yuma continued to look at his elder in a confused manner, before the old man continued on.

"The Nine-Tails attack happened on the night of October 10th, about six years ago, the time you were born. It laid waste to most of our village and took the lives of many ninja on that night, leaving many children like yourself without parents."

The old man told Yuma in a serious tone, causing Yuma's good mood to dampen.

"...Do you think my parents might've...you know...?" The young Yuma asked, unsure if he truly wanted to know the answer.

"I'm afraid it is likely so young one, your parents might've been apart of the valiant Ninja force, who laid down their lives for our village while the fourth hokage dealt with the tailed beast ."

The old man told the young boy, who had now become downtrodden, his good mood evaporated.

Yuma looked down sadly at the ground, clearly distraught after learning of the reasoning behind his status as an orphan. The old man stood there and reached his bandaged hand, patting the young Yuma's head.

"Why did no one tell me, I mean if the hokage knew this then why did he not explain it to me, he's visited the orphanage more than once, so why am I just learning this now?"

"...I'm unsure of his reasoning behind not informing you of this, I'm sorry I had to be the one to tell you.." The old man continued to give Yuma a look of pity as the young boy held his head down, clearly out of sorts upon learning this new information.