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Chapter 27: Sunagakure's Festival of Bonds
A week has passed since the short display of fireworks in Sunagakure. The village bustles with a cheerful aura as the village is decorated and more lively then it has been all year. The mood of the entire village has lifted from the solemn state that has plagued it in the months past.
Sunagakure's academy is even more lively then the rest of the village. The young shinobi candidates all in frenzies, anxious for the upcoming event later that night. The academy instructors are barely able to control their students.
“Geez this sucks!” Koichi says, walking down the halls of the academy alongside Ryoko.
“Quite complaining, a mission is a mission.” Ryoko scolds.
“But acting as substitutes for a bunch of academy brats is so annoying. I wouldn't mind if it were the upper class but we're essentially babysitting the nursery kids who don't even have a clue.”
“We're only genin and even though we've passed our exams, we're not qualified to teach the upper class since they're learning the skills we're applying to the field. Only difference between us is that we begin developing a style of fighting.”
“Yeah, that and the fact we're already miles ahead of every other genin anyway.” Koichi pouts under his breath.
The two genin make their way to the middle of the hallway to a door with the title 2nd year on it. They enter the room and they see several dozen kids all throughout the large room. The room is chaotic; several kids stand around talking, while others jump around the room playing “ninja”. Paper made shuriken fly through the room along with little balls filled with tiny amounts of powder that explode along the room as they're thrown.
“I got you! You're dead!” A kid says.
“No you didn't I blocked it!” Another says.
“You blocked it with your arm that doesn't count.” Another kid says.
“Fine then I just won't use that arm then.” The one says.
“Geez, these kids are so damn loud.” Koichi complains.
“Yeah, I can relate.” Ryoko says snidely rolling her eyes away from Koichi. Ryoko takes a deep breath and claps her hands together loudly “QUIET!” She yells at the top of her lungs in a stern manor. The room goes quiet in an instant and everybody turns their attention to Koichi and Ryoko. They all stand looking at them in silence for several seconds.
Koichi bangs his hand on the wall “Well what are you waiting for?! Sit!” He yells. The kids quickly organize themselves and take their seats. The entire room is filled from top to bottom with children, no empty seats remain in the room.
“I'm Ryoko Taiyou and this is Koichi Shichiyo, we are you substitute instructors for the day.”
“Where's sensei?” One of the girls in the front asks.
“He's on a mission away from the village right now and all the other instructors are busy with the upper classes so we're going to be your sensei for today.” Ryoko says. Her tone is rather plain yet stern. “We're going to go over the basics today: Ninjutsu, fundamentals and techniques, Genjutsu, text based, Weapons, basic tools and techniques, and Taijutsu, conditioning, understood?”
The children in the room begin to mumble to themselves and they pass subtle glances at Koichi. “Quiet!” Koichi shouts. He turns over to the board and begins drawing with the chalk. He draws a series of arrows with the blue chalk. He makes several arrows in rows with a space between each column. He then draws additional arrows on the other side in red chalk facing the other arrows, however he draws them clump and in no single file. “You are the red arrows and you're outnumbered by your opponent 5 to 1 but they have no sensors or people who can detect you from the distance you're at. Each row has the equivalent of 5 to your 1 and each row is distanced approximately 50 meters from their comrades in the row in front of them.” Koichi writes the distance between the rows and begins to turn around “You're about a kilometer away towards the left of their platoon high in the mountains, with several smoke bombs, weapons, and sensors at your side, what is the appropriate actions to take in this situation?” Koichi asks.
Ryoko looks at Koichi as he speaks and she has a puzzling look and slightly surprised look on her face. *Where the hell did this come from?* The snide reluctant glances at Koichi continue as many look at him fearfully.
“Somebody's gotta know?” Koichi asks, folding his arms. “You there, answer the question.” Koichi points to a kid sitting in the center in the first row...
“Well umm...” he begins reluctantly, “Use the smoke bombs and spread them out so that it causes confusion in the ranks and then have the sensors guide you and attack them while they're disoriented?”
“Good guess but that's incorrect.” Ryoko says. She points to the board and turns her head. Just then in the back row of the room in the right corner, Koichi notices three boys whispering to one another and one writes a note. “Even if you have the element of surprise, it's nearly impossible to deal with a 5 to 1 ratio in battle against your enemies. The best options would be to remain hidden and send for back up or retreat.” As Ryoko speaks, the boy writing the note tries to slip it to the middle section of the row to another boy. Just as he leans over Koichi appears on the steps and snatches the note.
“If you're at least going to slip notes, do it better then this.” The boys are amazed at Koichi's speed and they get a look of surprise on their face. Ryoko looks up at Koichi and sights. “What were you writing abou—” Koichi stops mid sentence as he reads the note. His eyes squint in anger and he crushes the note. He walks down the steps with an angered look on his face and heads towards the door.
“Koichi where are you going?”
“Finish the lesson without me.” He says in a low clam tone. He drops the crumpled up paper in the trash and walks out the room. Ryoko picks up on Koichi's vibe and immediately understands the content of the note. She turns back around and continues the lesson. She notices relieved faces on every one of the children's faces and begins to feel for Koichi.
“Alright, lets continue...”
~Near the End of Morning Classes~
“Now, is there any questions on the transformation technique?” Ryoko asks. The kids not their heads, relaying that they understand everything. “Alright then, before we go we'll hit one more—”“Excuse me, Ryoko-sensei, I was just wondering if you could tell us about the festival.” A young girl asks.
“The festival?”
“Well yeah, my mom says that the festival is supposed to symbolize bonds?” The girl says questionably.
Ryoko turns her head and looks at the clock. “Well I it's alright.” The kids all sit down at eager attention to hear the history behind the festival. “Well the Sunagakure Festival of Bonds is held on the anniversary of Suna's founding every year. Before Suna's founding, this country was in constant war within itself. Unlike in the other countries at the time, the Land of Wind wasn't united and they only fought amongst the ethnic groups within the territory. Other nations like the Land of Fire and Water and so on were united and generally fought other countries for neutral territory, resources, or military advantages. The Land of Wind was a desolate wasteland that no Daimyou or wealthy family desired due to it's lack of resources and plentiful grounds.”
“This country was nothing more then a bunch of shinobi clans and families that fought amongst one another for the sake of survival. The few grounds that were plentiful, water sources, areas that bore great herds of animals for the hunt, those were the priorities of the clans that lived there. The stronger families prospered and the weaker ones were killed off either by the stronger clans or for their inability to find the necessities. When word had gotten out about the village system that was started in the Land of Fire, many clans took liking to the ideas and began to migrate to Konoha to join the village. However very few made the journey for reasons of the trek; traveling with limited resources, nobody was assured passage out of the deserts because of their limited resources and other clans intercepting them and attacking.”
“It was a that time when the four strongest clans and families within the country came to their senses and began an alliance with one another. The Monzaemon family, the Shirogane clan, the Iga clan, and the Koga clans of the Land of Wind were the founders of Suna. They were the first to band together and begin the system. The clans allied themselves together first and began occupying the best lands in the country, forcing the attention of the other desert dwelling shinobi. The leader of the Koga clan, our first Kazekage would demonstrate amazing power and make a proposal to all the other shinobi and clans where they joined in on the alliance. Due to the situation, none of them could refuse and Sunagakure was formed. The times were harsh in the beginning and even old rival clans managed to swallow their pride for the sake of the village. Eventually a Daimyou who noticed the growing Suna population and claimed the land, agreeing to rule them and provide for them in exchange for their services.”
“The Festival of Bonds is held on the day when all the clans inside the Land of Wind, clans from all over the country agreed to band together and form Suna and bonds of trust and reliance were made between, even the most intense rivals.”
The children all look in awe after hearing the story. Just then the bell rings throughout the academy and all the kids shoot up and exit the room. Ryoko sighs and heads out the teachers door of the room. “You alright?” She ask Koichi who stands beside the door.
“Yeah.” He say unconvincing.
“They're just a bunch of kids, let it go.” Ryoko says.
“Fine, fine...good job telling the story.” Koichi says perking a smile on his face.
“Whatever, you think you'll suck it up and be able to help me with the afternoon classes?” Ryoko asks. Koichi nods his head and begins walking down the hall. “Where are you going?”
“To get something to eat, I'm starving. I'll bring you back something.” Koichi waves his hand in back of his head and heads down the hall way. Koichi walks through the halls getting his hands behind his head. He gets stares from everybody he passes. He pretends not to notice, however he can't hide the stabbing pain of ridicule in his chest. As Koichi exits the academy and heads into the village he sees a boy asking a girl to accompany him to the festival. The girl blushes and nods her head in acceptance.
As Koichi continues walking through the village he notices several other people asking others to the festival. He sees couples holding each other and people preparing for the glamorous night. Koichi enters a restaurant and sits down to order. The nervous waitress brings him a plate of dumplings and tea as appetizers, however after a few minutes within the restaurant, the air thickens with disdain and hatred. A moment later the manager appears at Koichi's table.
“Get out of here!” He demands of Koichi, “You're scaring away my customers.”
Koichi slams his fist on the table angrily, spilling the tea and startling the entire eating facility and causing the manager to step back in fear. Koichi remembers the incident a week ago with Koji, and remembers his words.
“...Is anybody going to take back any of their thoughts about you if you keep acting like this?!”
“*tsk*” Koichi sucks his teeth and looks down at his reflection in the spilled tea. He stands up slowly, however, the manager still acts with reluctance. Koichi places some bills on the table and walks out calmly. The hour passes for the lunch break and Koichi returns to the classroom and meets up with Ryoko.
“I thought you were going to get me something to eat?” Ryoko says with aggravated disappointment.
“Sorry...I forgot.” Koichi's expression isn't depressed but simply aggravated. Again Ryoko picks up on the negative vibe of Koichi and simply lets it go and the two genin head on with their mission once again.
~Night Falls Over Suna~
The long anticipated night finally arrives within Suna. The Festival of Bonds goes underway within the village. Radiant orange lanterns hang besides the doors on every dwelling and building of Sunagakure. The lanterns all bare the kanji for “Bonds” on them, as is tradition for the festival. Other colorful decorations hang all over the village as well. Ribbons of all color are linked between houses, and paper figures of different colors stand on windowsills.People dress in their most elegant yukata and kimono, the females carry their paper folding fans, their hair done up in traditional hairstyles, and they don their most beautiful traditional jewelry.
The village continues to be a bustle of laughs and joy as the air is filled with a positive aura. Smells from family stands cooking their family secret recipes, game booths are open all throughout the village and all sorts of festivities are held.
Along the mains streets of Suna, Koichi walks alone. For the first time since his secret was revealed, Koichi is not the center of attention from the village. The ostracizing glares are absent on this night even so, Koichi still remains in his funk. The images of families having a good time remind him of his parents and the time of the festival when he was a young boy. The image of his own parents begin to leave his mind as he starts to forget their faces.
So many years have passed and each passing day it's as if he forgets little pieces of his parents in his mind. Added to his isolation, he longs for the love of his parents to liberate him from his isolated agony.
“Hey...” A soft voice says from behind Koichi. Koichi turns around to see Ryoko. She wares a beautiful yellow yukata, her hair down back length with a butterfly hair clip in her hair. Koichi stares in awe at her beauty while Ryoko looks with her usual unexpressed face. “Stop staring at me like that you creep.” Ryoko demands.
“What are you doing here?” Koichi asks curiously as he remains in a state of awe.
“I'm going to the shrine to pay my respects to the dead, then I'm going to the cemetery.” Ryoko answers.
“I see...where's your father?” Koichi asks.
“Hell if I know, he disappeared yesterday and I haven't seen him since. He's probably on some mission.” Ryoko says walking past Koichi. As Ryoko walks past him Koichi doesn't turn around. Ryoko stops a few paces in front of Koichi and turns her head. “You coming?”
“What you mean you don't mind?” Koichi says sarcastically.
“We spend everyday together otherwise, why not and besides...don't you have anybody you wish to give your blessings to?” Ryoko asks, however already knowing the answer.
Koichi smiles and turns around and he walks up beside Ryoko. The two continue on their way and as they reach the end of the main district, they head into an isolated part of Sunagakure, near the edge of it's southern exit. The road they travel on is dark and individual candle lights illuminate the road partially. They make it to a large Tori gate, which leads to a large platform of sand stone steps. The steps lead to a temple at the very top. Several people are seen entering and exiting the temple, walking up and down the steps. Candle lights are aligned all over the steps lighting the path in the dark clouded area.
Ryoko and Koichi make their way up the steps and head for the temple. Atop the giant Tori Koji sits staring down at the steps below. He watches as he sees both Koichi and Ryoko walking beside one another heading up to the temple. Koji stares down with longing eyes at them and then turns his head to the sky. The dark gray clouds hiding the moons light and the reach of the candle lights are far from the sky's touch. “There's a dark humor and irony with this festival sometimes.” Koji says to himself as he gazes into the dark sky.
Author's Note:
Now, I know this seems long but that's only because of the little history lesson I decided to throw in there about the unannounced past of Sunagakure. It gets better xd. There should be about one or two more chapters left in this little block concerning events like these and then we get into more anticipated events. For those of you who actually read this please comment on the story. Tell me what you liked/disliked most about it. Tell me what parts I did good/bad on concerning the structure of my FF or in the story. For those of you who read/comment/rep this post, I thank you. Enjoy 
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