Gentle Forest

"Be back by nightfall!" A short and burly man, who looked to be in his early forties, yelled out to his son. The father had generic short brown hair and a beard with a few inches on it, and brown eyes. He looked to be of Kumo descent with his darker skin. He had an apron on and seemed to be finished cooking.

"Alright dad! See you later!" A young boy of similar features, except with bright green eyes, called out to his dad. He was a 7 year old boy, Takahashi Kiyoshi. As the young boy left his lone home in the forest, a young man body-flickered to the Takanashis' doorstep.

The young man wore a Konoha forehead protector, and casually knocked on the door of the older man. Takanashi Murata opened the door and slightly frowned. "Excuse me, are you Murata? I have come with a message from your wife."

Murata grimaced a bit harder, but tried to keep up a respectful gesture. "Why don't you come inside? I just finished breakfast, you must be hungry." The older man opened the door wider, getting a better look at the man.

The shinobi seemed to have a little less experience. He had a more awkward resting stance than a lot of the more experienced ninja did. Murata could tell he was a genin. "Sorry, sir. I do not have the time to stay around. I need to return to the village."

Murata sighed and let it go. He hadn't seen many people in the past decade since he decided to settle down in a nice home away from the village. The ninja handed the man a scroll and flickered away once more. "I'm gonna have to walk to the village to reply, won't I?"

Murata sat at the vacant dinner table inside the home, reading the message from his wife.

'My love

I am sorry I have to do this to you. The tensions between the Uchiha Clan and Konohagakure are tightening, and the village is requiring most children who have unlocked chakra to join the shinobi school. I know you wanted Kiyoshi to live a normal life, but I'm afraid that can't happen.

I know I haven't seen you much in the past decade, but this is the only thing I require of you. Enrollment begins in a month. Kiyoshi will live with me, so don't worry. I fear what happens in the near future. I want our child to be prepared for what's to come.'

Murata closed the letter and placed his head in his hands. A few tears leaked out from the usually-warm man.

------

Kiyoshi, completely unaware of the events that had transpired, ran quickly through the forest. He knew this place like the back of his hand, having grown up in this place. His coily hair bobbed gently in front of his face as he continued his parkour.

Eventually, Kiyoshi reached a beautiful lake. The lake was very small, but it seemed huge to Kiyoshi. On the other end, he saw various animals taking drinks from the water. Kiyoshi took off his shoes and put them next to the lake, and raised his pants.

Kiyoshi got shivers when he stepped inside the lake, it was somehow cold in the hot sun in the Land of Fire. He properly rolled up his pants and took a primitive spear from his back. A rope was attached to his back from the spear.

Kiyoshi aimed the spear, took a deep breath, and threw it hard. It hit a plump fish in it's eye. Kiyoshi pulled the fish back to shore and put it in a bag. He caught a few more before noticing something on shore.

"Hey… That's a shiny rock!" Kiyoshi picked up his bag, satisfied with how many fish he caught, and went towards the rock that shone brilliantly in the sunlight. Upon closer inspection, it was a black rectangular rock with green lines going down it.

Kiyoshi picked it up and rolled it around in his hand. He didn't notice that the other hand was more shard-like, and it stabbed into his hand. He was about to yell out in pain when he started to see something that he was sure wasn't meant to be there.

"Begin testing on H-"

"Isshiki-sama, please! I beg of-"

"I wonder what this seal does to another-"

"Nooooo-"

Kiyoshi quickly fell backwards, tears streaming down his face. He checked his hand to see if the strange rock was still stabbed in his hands, but all that was left was a grey circle on his hand. Kiyoshi thought it was a splotch of dirt or lint, so waved his hand in the water.

The mark didn't fade after all attempts of cleaning it off, so Kiyoshi simply left. He got his work out of the way and began to make his way back home. He was starting to see the sunset and quickly ran back home.

------

Murata sat at the table, in the exact same position he had been. His tears had already dried, but he still sat in the dim lighting of the house. He was dozing off when he heard the door slam open. "Daad! I'm home!"

The man quickly wiped his face with water and wiped it off, then came out to greet his son. He needed to keep a strong front, but could barely smile after the news. "Hey, Kiyo. How was it?" Murata asked, eyeing the bag in Kiyoshi's hands.

"I got 20 fish! But to a more concerning matter… What's for dinner?" Kiyoshi didn't smell anything when he came in, and Murata looked surprised for a moment. The two stared at each other for a moment.

"Food…" Murata muttered, quickly escaping back into the kitchen. "Yay! I get to help Papa!" Kiyoshi launched himself, higher than he could ever jump, onto Murata's back. He stumbled forward and caught onto the counter.

"Hey, that's dangerous! I have some news to tell you, so go sit at the dinner table." Kiyoshi pouted and walked away grumpily, silently taunting his father behind his back. He sat and waited patiently in one of the three vacant seats at the table.

After around ten minutes of Kiyoshi idly tapping on the table, Murata came back since the food was in the oven. He really hoped the faulty heating seal didn't fail on him this time. "Kiyoshi, you are going to get to see your mom."

Kiyoshi stared blankly at his father, before getting a beaming expression on his face. He leaped over the table and hugged his father with more force than he had expected, making the two fall on the floor.

"And, you also get to be a ninja!" Murata announced, lifting Kiyoshi in the air with one hand and tickling his sides. Kiyoshi giggled wildly before Murata set him on the ground. "Woo! Yeah baby! That's what I've been waiting for, that's what it's all about!"

Kiyoshi imitated what he thought a ninja was like, bouncing around the house and rapidly placing his hands together to make it look like he was forming hand seals. Murata smiled brightly, a smile he wouldn't have again for a while.