Mission Stories

Title: Keep Searching!
Fandom: Naruto
Characters: Yoshi Aoki, Ryouichi Aoki,
Pairing: N/A
Ratings: K+
Warnings: N/A
Author Notes: And another set for arc 2 :v

Yoshi was still jogging around, trying to make the boy laugh as he and Ryouichi looked around the village. The fires were out, for the most part. Lots of people were digging through debris and whatever wreckage remained. The festival was in ruins, various stands were either burnt or destroyed entirely. Yoshi imagined various shinobi were spread across the area, trying to help as many people as they could. He saw a group of Kitsune and Mansei helping move some parts of a burnt building, either moving it with their brute strength or using earth jutsu to do so.

"Well, let's hope they don't start a fight with those Asukai we saw earlier." Ryouichi said. "That's the last thing we need."

"I don't know, I think it's kind of amazing that during times like these, they forget about rivalries and concentrate on what's going on." Yoshi said. "At least, that's what I remember from the Academy. Besides, this would be a terrible time for the Asukai to lose face to just start a meaningless fight."

"You got a point." He replied. "I'm just glad the Aoki don't really have a rival clan."

"Well, we do by technicalities since we're somewhat related to the Kitsune." Yoshi corrected. "So, if anyone thought about it, we could be considered an annoyance towards Asukai as well."

"But they don't seem to care?" Ryouichi said, though it was more of a question.

"Because we're not Kitsune." Yoshi laughed.

"Is that a bad thing?" The boy asked.

"I don't think it is." Yoshi said. "I think it depends on who you ask, but I like the bravado they have. They're always at least cheerful about something." The boy laughed and Yoshi teetered around for a moment, making the boy laugh even more.

"Hey, what's your name?" Yoshi asked. "I'm Yoshi and that's my big brother Ryouichi."

"I'm Isamashi." He said. "Everyone at school calls me Isa though."

"Nice to meet you, Isa." Yoshi said. "So where did your mother go?"

"Well, she was talking to Kishi's mom when we were playing Fox and Sword." Isa said. Fox and Sword, as Yoshi remembered it, was a game most kids played that reflected on the Kitsune and Asukai -- playing on the history of the clans and their intense rivalry towards one another. The game was down played so that kids wouldn't feel weird thinking they were killing one another, though it was more like a game of tag if anything, but the history about it was still as real and memorable to anyone who actually thought about it. He remembered seeing lots of non-clan kids playing it when they were in the Academy. Though he did often wonder if they realized the gravity and ruthlessness of the game itself.

"As we were playing, that's when those weird people showed up." Isa continued. "We got separated when the fire started to spread. I haven't seen Momma since." Ryouichi and Yoshi looked at one another, having a sense that the mother might not have made it.

"Well, you said she was where you were when you and your friend were playing, right?" Yoshi asked. The boy nodded, which made Yoshi look at his brother who did the same. "Then let's go look around there. She's probably at one of the medics' tents nearby and worried about you too."

"Okay!" Isa said.

Yoshi and his brother walked around where they had been when the attack started. They walked around for a bit before finding the area that the brothers had found Isa. There was no luck for a while until Isa started pulling on Yoshi's hair, trying to get his attention as he pointed at a nearby building. Yoshi put him down and told him to stay near his brother while he looked.

"Be careful, Yoshi." Isa said.

Yoshi nodded and walked towards the nearby building. It, like the rest of the area, was burnt up and nearly decimated by the flames. It looked like it was old anyways, with some of the extra vegetation that was crisped and burnt around the edges of the building. A few trees were burnt but it looked like someone had dealt with the fire. He couldn't see anything that stood out, aside from the burnt building. He walked inside, using his sleeve to stifle the smell and smoke. He didn't see anything but could smell something that was burnt nearby. He saw a body and walked outside.

"Hey Ryu, I need your help with something." Yoshi said. Ryouichi told Isa to stand still. He gave him the doll Yoshi received earlier to keep him busy.

"What's up?" He asked as he reached his brother.

"Ask him what his mother was wearing before they got separated." Yoshi said. "I think I found something but I'm not sure. Just ask something about a color. That might be helpful." Ryouichi nodded and walked towards the boy. He talked to him and looked at Yoshi. "He said she was wearing a red and orange kimono."

Yoshi nodded and walked back inside. He knew the answer before he even needed to ask but the reassurance didn't help. Instead it made it more difficult. With his sleeve covering his face again, Yoshi knelt over the body he found. It was Isa's mother but it looked like she and his friend's mother were trapped in the building as it burned. He looked back and guessed that either the masked men had did this themselves. It wouldn't be entirely impossible, since the chaos outside would have prevented anyone from hearing the them. It didn't make it any easier though. He found a hairpin in the mother's hair and took it. Maybe giving this to Isa would calm him but... he couldn't tell him his mother died...

Yoshi got to his feet and turned around, placing the pin in his haori. He decided to give it Isa later when they found the medics and other villagers. Maybe it would calm him down then? It still wasn't an entirely pleasing thought though but he couldn't imagine what Isa would go through after learning about this. He walked out of the building and shook his head.

"It wasn't her." He said. "Someone... was hurt in there but they were wearing a green kimono like mine."

"Well at least it wasn't your mother." Ryouichi smiled.

"She might be with the others." Yoshi added. "Let's go see if we can find your friend, maybe we'll find something that'll help?"

"Okay!" Isa said. "Can I sit on your shoulders again?"

"Of course!" Yoshi smiled and picked him up again.

Yoshi ran around like he did before, trying to make Isa laugh as he zig zagged here and there. Isa was laughing and having so much fun. Ryouichi has a tough time keeping up with them as they ran towards a nearby safe zone. They approached a medic and yoshi put Isa down. He pulled the man aside, as Ryouichi and Isa went off to go find something to drink.

"I found a couple of dead women not too far from here..." Yoshi said. "But they were stuck under some debris and wreckage. One of them was that boy's mother."

"I see." The medic frowned. "I can send someone to go get the bodies. Thank you for the help."

"What will happen to Isa?" Yoshi asked.

"He might be sent to the village orphanage, if he doesn't have any family around that is." The medic replied. "Most of the children might end up there for a day or two since it'll take a while to sort out everything."

"Will it be the same one that the Academy students go to when they're delivering food?" Yoshi asked. "I remember seeing quite a few and I know the Academy does its best to try and help them all out. The Akarikage was very strenuous about that from what I remember."

"While the Academy does contribute to the village and the orphans, there's only a few that are still around." The medic explained. "But it should be the one the Academy almost always does business with."

"Thank you." Yoshi said. "Oh, I found this on Isa's mother." He took out the hair pin he had. "I know it was rude to take it but it could have some value to him. Kids idolize their parents anyways so having this might have some effect."

"I'll make sure this gets into the right hands." The medic nodded. "Again thank you again. It must've been hard seeing all that."

"It was harder to not tell him." Yoshi said, looking down. "But thank you again." Yoshi walked towards where his brother and Isa were. Isa was playing with the doll he was given as one of the medics was giving him a check up. Ryouichi stood next to the medic, trying to help make Isa behave. When Yoshi approached, Isa nearly jumped out of the bed and hugged him.

"Yoshi!" Isa said. "The nice lady said I'm not sick or anything!"

"Well that's good." He smiled.

"You might want to give him a check up too." Ryouichi said. "He ran into a burning building."

"Well someone had to help that family out." Yoshi said. "And it's not like you were going to do it." Isa laughed as Ryouichi's face turned red out of embarrassment. The female medic giggled at his expense. Well, it's not like this was the first time Yoshi would ruin his brother's supposed love life anyways.

"So are they gonna try to find my momma now?" Isa asked.

"Yeah, I told one of the medics here so they might be able to direct it to someone else that could do a better job than me." Yoshi said.

"Oh, here's your doll back." Isa said, handing him the doll the girl had given him a while back.

"No, you can have it." Yoshi smiled. "I'm sure you'd have way more fun with it than I ever will."

"Thank you!" Isa said, hugging Yoshi again.

Yoshi hugged him back but felt guilty. He didn't want to tell him what happened to his mother but he did want to see him happy. Ryouichi seemed to pick up on it but didn't say anything. He simply told Isa to sit down so the medic could finish her check up. Isa did as he was told and Ryouichi pulled Yoshi to the side. He told Isa they were going to get some water and something to eat as they walked off. Once they were far enough, he turned to his brother.

"What happened?" Ryouichi asked. Yoshi frowned and looked down.

"She was long gone before we could even do anything." He said. "I think the masked men had a hand in it but I'm not sure. I asked the medic we ran into earlier what would happen to Isa, he might end up at the orphanage."

"Wow..." Ryouichi gasped. He looked down and crossed his arms. "That poor boy."

"I did get something from his mother but I gave it to the medic." He continued. "I think it's best if they had a hand in it instead. I mean they'd know where he'd end up going besides, carrying around something like that wouldn't have any value to either of us and... well I'm not looking forward to whatever consequences carrying a dead women's belongings may have."

"Well it's good you recovered something." His brother said. "If that happened to our parents, I'd want something to remember them by." He paused for a moment. "But I'm going to find out where he ends up. I think it'd be good if he had someone that cared about him."

Yoshi nodded and watched as his brother walked off. For someone that wasn't trained to be a warrior, he was always looking at things differently than most. That was something Yoshi loved about him though; always perceptive about whatever was going on. He followed his brother and returned to Isa a few moments later with some water. He then wondered if his parents would consider taking the boy in. It wasn't unlike a family within a clan to take in a non-clan individual but it was rare. Though that would also mean making the case to the elders and the leader of the clan as well. It might be hassle but then again, if he and his brother visited Isa as often as they could, it might make the same difference.

Yoshi was so lost in thought that he hadn't noticed Ryouichi trying to get his attention to look at a few sad groups of people. Well, he had something to do now. He could think about this a later time. For now, the people who lost their homes needed his help.