Board Thread:Konoha Missions/@comment-30269418-20161109154158/@comment-30269418-20161112231109

'I wouldn't call it intense," Shotaro said. "Just a mission with loss." The little girl was peacefully on Kei's shoulder as if she were sleeping, her life currently ruined. It would be up to her to pick up the pieces. With no family and nothing but lonelienss to drag her in a deep hole that may or may not lead to her own death, she was truly on a path that could go bad.

Shotaro glanced at the man and shook his head. "I don't think he had any more will in what happened than I did." The remaining surviors in this area watched as the cave's entrance came crashing down.

As they walked to Konoha, Shotaro took hold of the little girl. He didn't quite know what to do with her; he couldn't fix her pain. Maybe, however, his mother could. She had a special way of making things okay.

When Kayame saw her child, she ran to wrap her arms around  him, being careful not to squish the little girl. She'd let go, and then give Kei a hug to show her appreciation. "Please, come to visit us any time. I'll always do my best to make a good meal for you. We owe you very much."

Shotaro held the child out to his mother. "He wants us to take care of her."

Kayame held a gentle smile. "Very well. We shall. Even if our home is destroyed, I think it would be good to settle closer to protection; after all, home is where my family is, even if my family does not have my blood." She took the child into her arms and cradled the little girl as if she was a loving mother with a newborn in her arms. She smiled at Kei as he departed. "Please, do return. If you're ever feeling lost, or needing a family.. we'll be here for you." She was sincere. She wouldn't mind having another son, should Kei ever decide to visit them; they'd be right there, in Konoha. The things he'd done were more than worthy of being called a son; even if they weren't close, she wasn't objective to calling Kei one of her own.

Shotaro sighed. "Kei, please be gentle with my brother. I don't think... I don't think he meant to do all of those horrible things. There has to be another reason." Shotaro had officially decided he wanted to be a shinobi like Kei. He wanted to save people like Kei saved them.

But, he was also right.

Kei wasn't the only one who'd seen the darkness in the world. A man that had left his home as a boy to find a way to protect his family eventually had a wish that became twisted; he forgot what he had wanted that power for, and therefore, became the thing his family needed to be protected from. He had lost himself, and in the end, was he really a man?

Who knew.