[center][img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjcyLmZkNmRjMS5UVzl0YnlCVFlXdDFjbUZwLjAA/eutemia-i.italic.png[/img] [color=hotpink][h3]Hidden Sand Village - Late at Night[/h3][/color][/center] Even with the growing number of residents in the village, at night, the Hidden Sand carried no noise louder than a whisper. As workers far and wide ended their days and journeyed home, the only sounds were of light laughter and praise of a job well done. The sun had fallen long ago and the moon was high, framed all around by the blanket of stars that seemed to cover the village. The strong day winds had calmed to a gentle breeze and the air was cool. Despite this, few people stayed out to roam the streets, save for the merchants who seemed too content with sitting and gazing at the sky. Many people returned to their homes, and one such person being Momo Sakurai, who carried her baby sister on her shoulders as she walked out from the center of town. Her pace was slow and she had her eyes lowered to the ground as she listened to the curious squealing of little Ayama. Her expression was neutral, her breathing even, but despite all appearances, Momo was feeling a deep sadness at some things. Some unknown things she would never care to share with anyone. And so, with her sister's cries of joy filling her ears, she looked up to the sky and lost herself in the starry expanse. By the time they reached their home, one of the few buildings yet to have construction done, Ayama was squealing for a different reason. One that Momo knew all too well. They were light cries of hunger. An alert that she had very little time before hell would break lose, and the peace in the night would be lost to the little girl's cries. Kicking off her shoes at the door and using her bare feet to kick it shut, Momo entered the cool house and immediately went towards the kitchen. She lifted the small girl from her shoulders and placed her on the fllor, watching as the little demon sped off at a speed crawl towards her toys in the living room. Thankfully it was where Momo could watch her while she made something for them all to eat. She began going through the motions she's seen her mother do many times. She gathered all the supplies she thought she needed and placed them on the counter in front of her. First she took some berries and prepared them, adding honey and other things to make them taste good before sticking them aside. She would prepare the fruit tarts to start, since those took the longest to make. She had to make a quick dough, checking a written recipie in a book that sat on the counter. When she looked through it, the familiar script of her mother brought a sad smile to her face. Momo followed the recepie as best as she could, though when she was done, it just looked sloppy. Despite this, she grinned, probably for the first time all day. She felt oddly accomplished. She put the tray of fruit tarts in the oven to cook and moved on to the main meal. Glancing over at her baby sister from time to time as she would squeal, Momo thought about what she could make that would be easy for the young child to eat. Frowning, she thought back to the times when she'd visited the Suna Day Care and asked about what she should feed Ayama. Considering she was nearly eight months old, that meant she could eat small solid things that were soft. Looking around, Momo grabbed first the rice as well as some veggies, tofu, and pork. She could make Sukiyaki, a dish they'd had many of times due to it being something she was good at making. Ayama could eat the rice as well as some tofu and veggies. She set a small portion of this aside for the girl to cook seperately, to make sure it wouldn't be spicy for her. It was just when she was finished preparing everything and set it to cook, that Ayama suddenly squealed and started to cry. Momo rushed over quickly, scooping the girl up from the floor and holding her out at arms length. She inspected the crying, wiggling girl for a moment, frowning as she brought the baby up to her face and sniffed. Smelled like new baby. Momo pouted as she realized Ayama was likely just hungry. She took the squaling girl with her to the couch and sat down, plopping the girl between her legs. Reaching up, she untied the ribbon that held her haid back from her face, her auburn locks falling down her back as she did so. She handed Ayama the ribbon, knowing she liiked them, and it caused her to quiet down. Sighing, Momo relaxed into the seat, her head falling back and a yawn escaping her mouth. Looking around boredly, her eyes stopped on a picture of her mother and reached for it. It was a beautiful picture of their mother. It was from when she was stil pregnant with Ayama. Before she got sick. Before she started to lose her glow... Just looking at it closely brought tears to Momo's eyes, which she quickly wiped away. [center][hider] [img]http://img05.deviantart.net/6e15/i/2014/309/1/9/the_last___miu_by_hebi_no_majo-d85cg4c.png[/img] [/hider][/center] Reaching in front of her, she handed the picture to Ayama, wondering if she could get any kind of reaction from the girl. Ayama just stared at the picture for a long moment before bringing it to her mouth to chew on it. Momo chuckled and pulled it away, wiping off the drool and placing it back on the table. A long moment of silence passed, where the only faint sound was of the bubbling away of dinner. Closing her eyes, Momo thought of a song she could sing to Ayama. A few came to mind, but she didn't feel like any of those were good. And so, with only the words on her heart to guide her, she parted her lips and started to sing. [center][hider=Song Momo Sings to Ayama] [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKE0F4-Jnb0[/youtube] [/hider][/center] [b]"That was beautiful."[/b] said a deep voice from next to her. Momo's eyes flew open and she was startled for a moment before realizing who it was. [color=hotpink]"Dad? What the hell...?"[/color] she sighed. [color=hotpink]"Don't scare me like that."[/color] she said, pouting and standing up from the couch, lifting Ayama with her. [color=hotpink]"How long were you there?"[/color] she asked him. [b]"Just a little while."[/b] he had said, turning and placing his Jonin vest on the wall hook. [b]"But more importantly, what's that burning smell?"[/b] he asked. Momo gasped and dumped Ayama into her father's arms, dashing to the kitchen to pull the fruit tarts from the oven. She looked at them, burned around the edges and sighed, placing them on the stovetop. She turned off the bubbling dinner then and started to set the table while her father and Ayama were catching up in the other room. At the dinner table, Momo ate quietly while her dad helped Ayama to eat some things. After a while, he asked her about how she was. She knew what he meant, but Momo avoided the question entirely. [color=hotpink]"I'm going away on a mission tomorrow in the morning. I'm pretty excited about it actually."[/color] she said, though she didn't sound excited at all. Thankfully, he got the hint and just nodded. They sat the rest of the meal in silence once again. [hr] [hr] [center][img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjgwLmUwMmU0Ni5XWFY2ZFd0cElGSmxhU0F0SUU1cFpHRnBiV1VnUzJGNlpXdGhaMlUsLjAAAAAA/eutemia-i.italic.png[/img] [h3][color=crimson]The Hidden Sand - After Midnight[/color][/h3] [img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3744/9342059829_aa5c9e1190.jpg[/img][/center] Yuzuki had gotten home late yet again. She wandered around the village, using a bit of her wind chakra to float around easily and with little effort. She was going to the various construction sites around the village, as she did every night, and checking to make sure no one was still out doing work. It was far past the time for people to stop their work and return home to their families, and Yuzuki knew there would be a few of those who would want to continue. She would go to these places and greet the people who strayed behind, urging them to go home and rest before their work resumed in the morning. As she made her way around, checking literally every street corner and back alley to make sure no one was working too hard. The occasional dozing street merchant, she didn't bother since they didn't seem to be doing anything extra. Her priority were the few who wanted to work more than their bodies could handle, and while she was grateful to them, she was going to have none of that. And so by the time she managed to find all the over-achievers and get back home, she was feeling more tired than usual. She quickly stripped down to her bra and panties, a sudden wave of heat sending a flush over her body. Yuzuki absently wondered why she was feeling this way, but at soon as her body hit the bed, she was out like a light, her mind forgetting any kind of worry she may have been feeling. [hr] [i]The room was cold, dark, and it was quiet enough for Yuzuki to hear the pounding of her heart in her chest. It seemed to be going abnormally fast, and as her blue-green eyes dashed around in the darkness, she had the feeling she wasn't alone. More importantly, she was unsure where she was. The soft pillows of her bed were no longer pressed into her back, rather she felt nothing beneath her. It was like she was floating in the darkness, unable to move or see anything. Her mind raced with thoughts. Had she been kidnapped? Placed in a genjutsu? She was unsure, but knew she had to escape somehow. There was something there in the space with her that felt wrong. It felt evil. As she tried to will her arms to move, a sudden weight came down upon her chest like a ton of bricks. The breath was knocked out of her and she gasped, unable to get any air into her lungs. Her vision became clouded with some kind of unknown mist, and she thought that perhaps it was some poison cloud or something of the like. Her eyes closed from the stinging and the gas filled her lungs and seemed to cut off her flow of air at the same time. The sensation of something being wrapped around her neck caused her throat to close up, where she was no longer gasping, but thrashing about with her mouth open and no sound coming out. What she was feeling could only be described as horrifying. She was sure she was going to die. She could feel it... her life slowly slipping away. And then she was falling.[/i] [hr] Yuzuki awoke with a jolt and sat up, clutching her chest. The sudden motion of her trying to get up caused her to tumble onto the floor, her legs too weak to support her. She had broken out in a cold sweat but the room seemed warm enough. Her skin was damp, her hands were clammy, and her face was pale, drained of color. As she curled up into a ball on the floor, she erupted into a coughing fit as she tried to get air into her lungs. She didn't try to stop the tears as they fell, as she was much more focused on not dying at the moment. Her body trembled as she slowly started to calm down, taking a dozen or so deep, wheezing breaths of air. Yuzuki sat up, extending her arms and pushing herself up off the floor. When she looked around her, her expression was one that was full of terror. What had just happened to her, she couldn't explain or even begin to wrap her head around it. She was no longer in the dark room, but in her own bedroom, still half naked, but still feeling the same emotions she was before. Perhaps it was a nightmare. That's what it had seemed like, but she had never expirenced something like that before. It was as if her body had stopped breathing on its own, and thus translated into her dreams as a nightmare. Leaning back against her bed, she was still panting heavily as she reached up to pull a sheet that had all but fallen off. She wrapped herself in the thin fabric, her body not ceasing in its trembling. There was no way she was going to get any sleep tonight. Not after something like that. Her chest felt like it was on fire, and she clutched it as her heart seemed to throb painfully. The bangs of her hair stuck to her forhead as if she had just gotten out of the shower. Yuzuki was too weak to care though, too tired, and too shaken to think about that. It was at times like these where she wished she had someone to comfort her.