“Hello? Is someone injured?” she called, stepping over the ominous pool into the gloom. Her stomach plummeted when she realized it was unmistakably blood. She crouched down with a curious expression eyebrows knitting as she inspected the strange puddle of crimson liquid pooled on the fungus-coated wood. Hinata paused when a flesh of red disturbed the muted tones of gray and brown. Dust drifted out of the threshold, as the thing barely held on by half a hinge. Carefully, Hinata skirted the intact edge of the porch to meander up to the door. It protested considerably but thankfully did not yield. The wood of the porch groaned as Hinata tested her weight on it. Did they enjoy gardening? Did those once hold flowers or herbs? A cracked plastic trellis indicated a vinous plant, like strawberries, even. A few clay flower pots huddled by the side of the abode, overgrown with weeds and clovers. A frayed rope snaked across the yard, evidence of a clothesline once stretched from the window. Only so much could be gleaned from the spirits of lives past as Hinata wandered over the cracked, dirty stone that once marked a pathway to the porch, which had detached partially from the house and has sunk precariously into the earth, she spotted a few artifacts of those who had once called the cabin home. I wonder what a house is doing way out here? It was obvious that the home had been out of commission for an exceptionally long time. Hinata blinked slowly as she regarded the destroyed structure in the center of the overgrown yard. She tracked the senseless winding path through the lichen-coated trunks until suddenly it all fell away to reveal a sun-dappled clearing with a dilapidated house in the middle. Her fingers skipped over the emerald, spiked leaves of the bushes and brambles as her feet floated over the uneven, dense layer of detritus. The air hummed with the trills of cicadas and tunes of birdsong the musty odor of decaying leaves and rich earth floated up into her nostrils to fill her to the brim with a sense of grounding. Hinata found herself rising to cross the tide of petals to drift underneath the canopy of leaves, like a ghost wandering the astral plane to find meaning again. Pockets of forest dotted the Land of Flowers, little blots of mesocosms contained in the ocean of beauty. Hinata’s pale lavender eyes drifted to the ring of green framing the spacious carpet of colors in which she currently rested. The breeze caught their fluffy, feathery bodies to spirit them away into the great unknown, and Hinata watched through lidded eyes as they were carried off. Hinata plucked a dandelion blooming in one of the patches of light and brought it to her mouth so she could blow away the light, delicate seeds. Hinata hoped that it was simply rumor, for she couldn’t imagine who would want to brutally murder a twelve-year-old girl, but the world was a lawless, dangerous, and unforgiving place. Officials had caught wind of an assassination plot stewing, so they’d dispatched Team 8 along with a small cohort of Anbu Black Ops to guard her until the day of her thirteenth birthday passed that was the supposed date for the ill-gotten plan. Hinata and her teammates had been dispatched to the Land of Flowers for a month-long mission protecting the nation’s twelve-year-old princess. Hinata slowly walked to a lone oak tree sprawling on a small hill in the center of the field and then reclined amongst its protruding bumpy roots, inhaling happily as she enjoyed the cool shade. Their soft petals brushed against the fabric of Hinata’s ninja uniform as they swayed in the gentle breeze rolling over the horizon. The blooms stretched on in every direction, kaleidoscoping against the emerald green grass in bursts of white, yellow, pink, blue, and red. The Land of Flowers was aptly named the small village on the outskirts of the Land of Fire boasted many fields such as these. Dozens of honey-sweet aromas filled the air, wafting around Hinata’s face as she stood tranquilly in the expansive clearing bursting to the brim with hundreds of wildflowers.
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