3 Shinobi

"Isui oniichan?"

The black-haired boy jumped to his feet after hearing his name. The girl next to him visibly flinched. Then she clawed at his trousers. Distress was readable all over her physical body. Her aura reached out to his.

"Isui oniichan, what is going on?" Himawari's voice was high-pitched and meager as if she did not dare to talk any louder. There was a downside to her sharp senses. She felt the tension rising, too.

From his raised position, he overlooked the mall. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Yet he felt like a cat ready to jump onto the ceiling with the hairs on his whole body standing on edge.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Isui ripped his head around to spot a tall wall of thick smoke developing approximately forty meters from him. Dump as a stone, he watched the last fiery orange glimmers of the explosions flickering through the air. Then he felt a hot wave of pressure washing over his body. People screamed a second later.

His brain abruptly went into overdrive. Isui almost fell over, clasping his hands over his mouth as his throat burned from the scream he had let out. A body slammed into him, and arms circled his torso.

His chakra flared in his gut, wild and boiling like never before.

Not caring to watch further, he gripped Himawari tight and jumped between the pieces of the ship wark. In the air, he tossed Himawari onto his back. But he was not prepared for her weight. The coercion threw him off center mid-flight and caused him to crash into the floor with a force that the skin of his knees plopped open like bubbles on a water surface.

Isui clenched his teeth at the pain. He swallowed another outcry. His hands balled, fingernails scraping against the blue material of the flooring. The carefully trained shinobi instincts urged him to stay focused.

He gasped for air in and out, in and out, in and out.

Isui cursed that he needed so long to calm his nerves, knowing he was helpless until he could think straight again.

In the meantime, Himawari had rolled down from his body next to Isuis. She stayed there silent and motionless her blue eyes stared blankly at the ground as she struggled to form a thought. Her whole body was shaking like leaves in the wind. Faces popped into her mind. Her daddy. Her mommy. They were not here to hug her to tell her everything would be okay. She turned her face to the side. Himawari only had her elder brother. He was struggling not to let the tears in his eyes flow over and bleed.

Isui saw the tears running down her face and steeled his reserve for her to protect her. He reached out for her and clenched her hands tight. The elder boy kneaded her knuckles with his fingers.

Himawari pressed herself against him. Her whimpers were the only thing he heard apart from the cries of children. Wait, Isui strained his ears. There were too few noises outside of the ship where he sat. He rose, lifting Himawari with him.

His knees burned as he looked around. Isui stumbled, with Himawari behind him, to the aesthetically broken wood of the ship's body. It would serve as an advantage point and to orientate himself.

Only to pause again, his pulsing eyes wide in pure shock at what he saw.

A milky lilac barrier from the floor to the sealing surrounded the playground. Children were hammering against it with their fists. They made desperate calls for Mum, Dad, Grandpa, and other forms of relatives.

Otherwise, he heard nothing and saw nothing from the outside.

No grown-up seemed to be caught by the barrier, only children.

What was going on?

The left pocket of his trousers became heavy as an object Isui had, up to this point, forgotten about made itself noticeable. The weapon in the zipped pocket burnt its way into his conscience. He always carried a small kunai with him. More or less sneaking it out of the house when he left. Isui suspected that his mother knew about his habit but was saying nothing. Even in these days of peace, it was common for children to be seen with weapons.

His mother understood that he and Sarada were mature enough to handle kunai and shuriken without much drama. And as long as nobody complained, she probably secretly was happy that her children were armed to defend themselves.

Isui pulled the kunai out of his pocket. Next to him, Himawari's aura flickered in surprise.

"What are you going to do with it?" she whispered in awe.

"I do not know," he answered truthfully. His gaze wandered over the playground.

After he had deemed the area safe, he let go of Himawari and walked up a few feet from the yelling mob of kids to the lilac wall of chakra.

He reached his hand out to the barrier and laid it flat on its surface. The texture felt strange on his skin, like rubber, but when he pressed against it, it became hard like a brick stone. Twirling the kunai in his other hand into a position of an ice pick, he jammed it into the wall. An action he quickly regretted as his hand, followed by his body, flew backward. He needed to do a series of funky steps to not land on his behind.

Shaking his head, he looked at Himawari, who was looking at him, clasping her hands in front of her chest.

"Well," he said. His voice was dry of any emotion. "The last thing you can do is try." He put his hand on her head, pressed her back to his body, and ruffled her hair.

Isui looked over his sister's head to the other kids who had not stopped balling rivers and screaming their tiny lungs out.

It was at that moment that Isui was grateful for Himawari's strength. Would she fall into a panic, he would follow. It was a surefire thing.

What would a shinobi do?

The boy looked around again. The barrier stood firmly, but so far, nothing else had happened. Should he go for it? What was he going for in the first place? Could the kids stop crying for a moment? He needed to think.

Isui breathed deeply three times.

"Quiet!"

He choked on that word, making the delivery sound like a squeaky mess of vocals. To his horror, it affected some kids. They turned their attention to him.

Their faces looked like they walked straight out of the makeup room for a horror drama. Pale masks with red tearstains and grotesque formed mouths of quivering bloody bitten lips.

His mind cracked open, forming a canyon under his feet. He fell headfirst into a void.

For a second, he could think of nothing, say nothing. Isui felt like someone had put a noose around his neck and pulled. Making him concentrate on the painful dryness in his throat.

Doubtful thoughts started to fill the void. Could Isui do this? Then there came an onslaught of piercing, clearcut memories. They immediately battled the other unwelcome thoughts for dominance. Isui remembered his training, text paragraphs from books, and every part of the events that had taken place in the last half hour.

Himawary and he had played a game called: 'I Spy.'

Then he felt the rising of a lot of chakra around him.

But there were only three simultaneous explosions at nine o'clock from him.

There was a cafe and a noodle place in that direction.

The explosion did not reach his body despite it being only about forty meters between them.

This meant paper bombs.

You do not need much chakra to make paper bombs explode, and there were even seals with the function to delay an explosion for several minutes.

So the bombs were a distraction for the less experienced security guards. To give the attackers more time to cast this barrier.

But what about Shinobi?

At least three shinobi from his village were present. He had checked them

out earlier.

They sat in the cafe where the explosions hailed from.

Then the bricks clicked into place in Isui's head.

The shinobi he saw were frauds in costume or traitors of the village. They placed paper bombs, most likely under the tables of the cafe. Then they mixed themselves with the people, probably with a transformation jutsu. To cast the barrier to trap the children in the playground.

We are hostages!

The realization was followed by a sudden calmness in his mind and body. He breathed in deeply. There was a pulsing burn behind his eyes. But it disappeared as he closed them and willed the pain away.

As he opened them, his black gaze was cold, jet serene. His new attitude reflected on his aura, letting it feel almost peaceful to anyone who thought out its touch.

Armed with an understanding of the situation. Isui decided to take charge as a Shinobi would do. He straightened his posture.

"You need to calm down and come to me."

This time his voice was not shaking. The cries stopped almost instantly. Isui was taken aback at the instant success. Still, he took his time to look straight into every set of red-rimmed eyes. He also gazed down at Himawari. Her eyes were piercing blue due to the redness surrounding them. He let go of her head, and she sat down on her knees.

Himawari was still afraid, but the sudden strange stability of Isui's chakra made her comply with her brother.

Isui seemed convinced. Despite the scary situation they were in. He had found the strength to sort his mind, and she knew he needed her trust to back him up.

She sat by his legs and looked at the other kids who followed her example. They also felt it.

It lay hidden in the stern gaze he gave them one by one. Isui signaled them his readiness to take responsibility for all of them.

Child by Child.

He was becoming their leader, their pillow.

Himawaris's big heart was filled with even more faith in her beloved elder brother.

He would be a good Shinobi one day. She just knew it.

Felling the weight of the other kid's eyes on him made his knees feel weak.

"Please help me Kami-sama." He prayed in silence. Having no other option, the raven-haired boy decided to introduce himself.

"My name is Isui."