1. What Happened?

"Katuri! Isamu, they are here for her!"

Who's rocking me...? "... Mommy?"

"I know, Katsumi! Katuri, we have to go!"

Who's in my room...? "... Daddy?"

Katuri, half-awake, did not comprehend what was going on and felt like something was shaking her. It was her parents trying to wake her up. The little six-year old white-haired girl would not get up fully, so her parents delicately picked her up and wrapped her in a blanket.

There was a loud bang that came from downstairs and it startled Katuri's parents. Katsumi held Katuri, trying to wake her up, and Isamu went around upstairs collecting important belongings that will last them for some time-clean clothes for their little girl, her favorite teddy, ninja weapons that are hidden in the master bedroom, and their stash of money in random secret compartments. Then another loud bang, followed by a man yelling, "Hand over the girl and no one gets hurt!" Katuri finally woke up.

"Mommy, what is going on?" Katuri woke up to a nightmare that became a reality.

K&G

Before Katuri was born, her father Isamu grew up with only his dad, a well-known, infamous Sand ninja, and was physically and emotionally abused by him as a child. Isamu decided to run away from his father in his teens and has been on the run ever since. Katuri's mother, Katsumi, was raised in the Leaf village with her pacifist parents, but had aspired to become a ninja to make the world a safe place for everyone. She trained on her own with no one else to teach her the way of the ninja and was successful at that. When Katsumi's parents caught her in the forest practicing and punished her from learning the ninja way she ran away from her sheltered life and became a rogue ninja herself. By chance, Isamu and Katsumi first met in the Sand village and instantly fell for each other. They were inseparable.

Several years later, after her parents brought Katuri into the ninja world, they lived peacefully in the Mist Village and wanted to give her a stable, loving home; a home that neither parent had growing up but can give to their bundle of joy. But as gangs started to emerge from the Mist the family of three packed up and left. After this experience, the rogue couple knew they were meant to not stay in one place and want their daughter to learn and grow throughout their adventures all around the villages. Then her parents ran into a Mist ninja-no, a monster-by the name of Zabuza. Isamu protected his precious girl and beloved wife the best he could, but was defeated by having his right eye slashed off his face. Zabuza, luckily, spared him after Katsumi ran to cover her injured spouse and he left without a word or explanation on why he spared the family. They had to find shelter until Isamu healed up well enough to even make another trip. Her parents found refuge in the Sand Village several months ago. Isamu and the Kazekage were close friends growing up. But Katsumi was always suspicious of the man and never really liked him. She believed that he was always power hungry or always wanted things his way, or else. But as long her husband was by their side Katsumi would not worry for her daughter's safety. They were offered a free place to stay and medical help until Isamu was better. The Kazekage, however, had only one catch: Katsumi had to watch over his youngest son Lord Gaara from afar at night and see if there have been any "abnormalities" with the child. She agreed and did not question the task, for the sake of her husband getting any chance of help in his condition and giving her daughter shelter from the violence.

Katuri felt like she was fitting in. She was given a room to sleep and play in, had access to play with other children of the village, and befriended Temari and Kankuro, the eldest daughter and son of the Kazekage. When her and her parents were on the move they never bothered to stay in one spot. She was conditioned to change since she was a baby. Staying in one place was so unfamiliar to her but she was making the most out of it. As Katuri made herself at home in the small room, her parents allowed her to explore the village. Her parents had always wanted her to be independent at a young age, but would still always be strict on her curfews and such. Because of her father's injury, he had to retrain himself with one eye alongside his old friend the Kazekage. Katuri would sometimes join for practice if she was not busy with Temari and Kankuro. She barely got to see her mother because she was always sleeping during the day and working at night. The only time Katuri would see her mom was when she was cooking dinner for the family of three. She was never told the full details as to why they were staying for so long in the Sand village and why the Kazekage was telling her mom to do reconnaissance, but all she cared about was that both her parents were home safe every single day.

While in the play room, Katuri wanted to ask the Sand siblings a question that's been bugging her since her family moved in,"Temari, Kankuro, where is your mommy? I only ask because I have only met your daddy."

Temari replies, "She is not around anymore because someone killed her." Both her and Kankuro kept a straight face. As if they accepted that their mother is gone forever. Katuri could not wrap her adolescent mind around the situation and felt more sorrow for the two.

Katuri responds back with her condolences,"I am so sorry... I did not mean to hurt you by asking."

"It wasn't your fault that Gaara killed her..." Says Kankuro, followed by a harsh elbow hit from his blonde older sister. "Ow!"

Katuri then asks, "Does Gaara hur- I mean, kill a lot of people? Why hasn't anyone helped him? I am pretty sure he doesn't want to kill... Who is he?"

"Not who, what is more like it..." Temari adds while looking down at her feet and starts sliding her foot on the floor. "It's better to stop talking about It."

Katuri knew that nothing seemed to line up, so she thought about what to say next. "Why would Gaara do such a thing..." Then she blurted out without thinking "I would like to meet Gaara one day!" Both Temari and Kankuro looked at her shocked and scared. And Katuri knew that if she were to meet this "thing" then she would need to be brave for her new friends and fight for them. Katuri then adds, "I would like to show Gaara that killing is not the way to go and maybe he can be our friend!"

"This poor six-year old would never realize that Gaara is our younger brother... and was born a monster and cannot be changed." Temari did not want to ruin Katuri's spirit by being a great friend, and same did Kankuro. But they also cannot tell Katuri the full truth since she is too young to understand the turmoil they faced. Then they just thanked Katuri for her optimism and got back to playing together.

Katsumi would always report back to the Kazekage about Gaara's murders, and had no idea why he had this power to wield sand as a weapon of choice and why he wants to kill. She was worried that the other Sand ninja would not want to interfere with his "activities", but it also didn't surprise her because she was aware what he was capable of.

One day while she was out shopping for dinner, Katsumi noticed the young insomnia-stricken, red-haired boy on the swing set watching the other children playing kickball twenty feet away from him. She was watching out of concern for the kids. After some time passed she decided to walk away, until she heard a scream. She turned around and ran as quickly as she could to the playground and witnessed a very surprising scene: the young murderer used his sand to grab a ball that seemed to be kicked up onto a cliff by accident and placed it in his hands. Katsumi kept her distance and readied her kunai knife behind a play set and prepared for her attack. In the night she was instructed to not interfere Gaara's killings, but during the day she made it an exception.

"Here you go," Lord Gaara said while holding out the ball to the terrified kids.

Katsumi was shocked that he was actually aiding the children, not hurting them. She saw kindness, when all of the kids only had fear and anxiety on their faces. "What am I doing?" Katsumi thought."It was not this child's fault to bare this heinous power... His one and only protector, his father, the Fourth Kazekage, did this to his son. And that is unforgivable..."Immediately, she left the scene and did not want to participate in the duty placed on her by the Kazekage tonight.

On the same day, Katsumi told Isamu about what she witnessed. He was aware what Gaara was capable of from what his wife tells him. But he never questioned her safety since she was always cautious. And he started to get suspicious about his old friend the Kazekage as they train more and more each day. The Kazekage started talking to Katuri's father about how corrupt the world was and would always mention a weapon was being produced to protect the village. Its supposed to be even more powerful than the village leader himself. He trusts his wife more than anyone else. So they decided, after eating their dinner and tucking their little girl to bed and locked all the doors, they planned to go and see what secrets their close friend was hiding in the village.

After sneaking around the Sand ninja guards and avoiding security cameras, they find their way into the Kazekage's office. They looked through all of the files and was hunting for files on "powerful weapons", Gaara, and on the leader himself. A few minutes later, Katsumi then noticed a file on the Kazekage's desk with something written down and caused Katsumi to gasp in fear. The file had Katuri's name on it and opened it. There was only one piece of typed paper with a picture of her holding her parents loving hands. The paper read:

Use girl to lure Gaara to test out his true power during full moon. Dispose of parents first.

Isamu crinkled the file in his bare hands while trying to understand the betrayal his "friend" put him through by using two of his family members for his sick experiment. Katsumi was seething with rage and was trying to figure out why he wanted her out every single night watching Gaara's behavior. She was thinking of the possibilities, "Was it a plot to keep me away from Katuri on a full moon and while my husband was supposed to be resting? Did he try taking advantage of how vulnerable we are apart and pick out me and Isamu separately?"

"Katsumi, we have to hurry and leave." Says Isamu, snapping his worrying wife out of thought.

Katsumi gave her strong-willed husband a nod, "Right!"

Then there was a loud bang on the door and it was the Kazekage's voice, "Open up! You are not authorized to be in here!" The married couple booked through the window after the Kazekage barges in with a dozen Sand ninjas. He ordered the ninja to follow Katsumi and Isamu back to their place, kill them, and bring back their daughter alive.