After the Processions

Kana had gone to the Kage's funeral, of course. After her parents had died, he'd been the only one to stand up for her. She'd never actually figured out if it was out of some promise to her father, or because he actually felt as if she was family to him. She wanted to think it was the latter, but...

Shaking her head lightly, the brown haired shinobi walked up to the empty grave of the Kage. Empty all except for the flowers that littered it. Mostly red roses, all of which had their thorns removed. Kana never understood why people put thornless flowers onto the graves of the dead. What was the point.

It's been two days since the Kage's death, and Kana was only now putting her flower down. She was wary of being seen at the Kage's grave. Wasn't sure why. Maybe she didn't want others to see someone like her at the grave of someone so great. In her hand was a single white rose with a note attached to it. The sky was overcast, and it was gloomy out, but it wasn't raining. Instead, a light snow was falling. Even so, Kana knelt down on the small coating that was already on the ground, her eyes sad, but she wasn't crying. She hadn't cried at Kymin's funeral, and even for something like this she found there were no tears to be shed. Even so, her heart ached. The Kage had been the only person in the village that she could trust. The only one who seemed to give a damn about her.

Kana sat there for at least ten minutes, staring silently at the grave. There was a thin layer of snow on her jacket, but she didn't really care. Taking a breath, Kana finally put the rose on top of the others, careful to make sure it's thorns didn't prick her. "Sorry Hayashi-sama. You tried your best, didn't you...seems people like me just don't change," she whispered sadly, standing up. It would be hard to live in this village after this. He'd been the only thing she had. Her and Tamero had lost touch a long time ago, and Renji was long gone. Turning, Kana started back to her apartment without a word, her gaze on the ground the whole way.


On the note attached to the rose read a phrase that the Kage had once told her a long time ago:

"A rose without it's thorns loses half it's beauty."