This story is not dedicated to anyone in particular, except maybe my lovely, faithful reviewers from my previous stories. I know that the beginning may confuse readers, but it will all be explained in later chapters. All the same, I sincerely hope you enjoy this, and I urge you to review.
If you are confused about this, just remember, it will all be revealed in later chapters! But I find it hard to update if I don't get reviews. It gets me motivated, and lets me know if I should even bother writing. Thank you!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I only own my original characters and my original plot. No shit.
PROLOGUE: The day of the births of Sabaku no Gaara and Shirodaira Mariko.
Izumi was just pulling out her bedroll when an earth-shattering crash sent a shockwave, powerful enough her bring her to her knees.
"I've returned." A deep, sonorous voice announced. The greeting reverberated off the slick cave walls with an eerie ring.
"Oh really?" Izumi quipped, bringing herself to her feet. "I never would have guessed it."
The creature harrumphed, glaring down at the small figure with its strange, yellow eyes. "Now where do you get off speaking to me like that? Remember, I could annihilate you with a mere fraction of my strength."
"I haven't forgotten." she replied smugly. "Lucky for me you find me so amusing… Right, Shukaku?"
The One-Tailed demon erupted into a rumbling, boisterous laugh and treaded further into the cave, and none too gracefully at that. But for a great creature of his immense size how could one expect otherwise? A small thud and a few metallic clanks against the cavernous floor made Izumi's ears perk.
"What did you bring me then?" she inquired. "More spoils from the poor town you've ravaged today?"
"Indeed. Come and see for yourself why don't you?"
Izumi inspected the bundle of goods and discovered several canned vegetables, four loaves of bread, and dozens of instant ramen containers. A few had been crushed, or badly dented by the demon as he tried to pick them up, but none were completely ruined. Shukaku always brought home food and other edible items after a rampage. Like a dragon hoards its gold, Shukaku hoarded food, though for less selfish reasons.
Izumi chuckled. "That's a lot of food Shukaku. I don't know if I can keep up with my girlish figure; you spoil me so."
"You'd better maintain your current form, or else you won't fit into your other present."
"I beg your pardon? Other present, you said?" she asked, genuinely confused.
Shukaku merely nodded at the sack, motioning for her to check again. Izumi turned and retrieved a deep blue bundle of material out from the depths of the bag.
"Is this… a dress?" she breathed, admiring the rich blue color and soft material. "Oh Shukaku, it's beautiful! I don't know what to say!"
He snorted; "Say nothing, I just recalled you saying your current ensemble was falling to pieces and thought this would shut you up."
His words were stony, but Izumi was grateful nonetheless. "I'm going to try it on now. I'll be right back." she announced.
She gently draped the dress over her arm and settled behind a large rock formation that resembled a three-headed ghost. She stripped her current outfit and carefully pulled the silky outfit over her head. She smoothed out the fabric and stepped out to present herself to Shukaku.
"It's a bit too fancy for a girl who lives in a cave. With a legendary demon no less." She sighed and tugged at the long, skin-hugging sleeves.
"Maybe," she wondered aloud "maybe I could wear this to visit my brother. His wife is due any day now, you know."
Skukaku gave an indecipherable grunt. "Ah yes. The new baby. I don't know what you see in such ugly, loud, little beasts. I'm sure your sister-in-law will regret the thing when it's born."
"Don't say that!" Izumi cried, completely outraged at his callousness. "My soon-to-be niece will bring nothing but joy to my brother and his wife!"
The cave shook with the demon's rumbling laughter. Izumi glared indignantly. Every time she spoke passionately about something Shukaku always mocked her for it. He simply didn't take her seriously. The laughter only grew when her features scrunched into a frown, and she finally threw in the towel.
"I give up!" She threw up her hands in surrender. "I'm going outside."
Izumi stepped out into the cool, night air of the desert and exhaled in relief. What she needed was a little… joyride to get her mind off things.
She closed her eyes and let the familiar weightlessness overcome her. Her body was gently lifted in the air and a soft, iridescent light began to form over her heart, spreading to her fingertips.
It was a sight. Her entire form, though its shape remained the same, was glowing with shifting colors, the light from her translucent skin rolling off her in waves. Her hair floated behind her, appearing as if she were emerged in water.
Izumi willed herself to fly up, slowly at first, the faster as she shot out into the open desert sky, letting the cold air soothe her hot attitude. She drifted downward until her bare feet touched the sand, and she immediately extinguished her supernatural glow.
A glinting string hung in horizontally from one large rock to another, almost invisible to the naked eye.
Izumi froze. She was no kunoichi, but she recognized the ninja trap right away. It had to be a booby trap set for Shukaku. Once he stepped out of the cave and tripped the wire, who knew what would happen to him?
There could be more. She reasoned with herself.
Slowly, she turned in her place, straining her eyes for more traps. She spotted a second one, only a few feet from her, stretching from rock to rock. But, was that all? Izumi bent her knees hoping any remaining wires would catch the moonlight.
"Oh shit."
Dozens of wires surrounded her in clusters, in webs, and by some miracle, she had unwittingly managed to avoid them all.
The phrase "WhatdoIdowhatdoIdowhatdoIdo?" was her only passenger on her train of thought as she stood frozen in terror. She didn't dare risk flying out since the first time was just dumb luck. Should she try walking around them?
"Do I have a choice?" she muttered.
She picked up handfuls of her dress and hiked it up her thighs. She lifted one leg and gingerly stepped over the first wire. This continued for what seemed like hours, dodging and ducking until she was only a few meters from the cave entrance.
"Almost there." she huffed and crawled under another wire. "Im in the clear. Think positive. Just a few mo-"
SNAP!
"Oh."
In that single, brief moment before the fiery inferno that would envelope her body, she thought about her brother's baby, and how she would never have the chance to meet her.
And at the second her young life so suddenly ended, the miracle known as birth occurred.
Izumi and her newborn niece would have more in common that she imagined.
Fourteen Years Later
Mariko…
Fire. There was fire all around her reaching high up into the sky above her head, twisting like hands desperately try to grasp the air. The air in question was thick and black with smoke, choking her with toxic fumes. The heat seared her skin, and her eyes stung with painful cinders.
Mariko…
And through the flames, she saw a dark silhouette standing before two monstrous yellow orbs glaring back at her. There was a great, earth-shuddering roar, and she screamed.
"Mariko!"
"AH!" The girl shrieked and shot up bolt right. "Holy hell! Yuuta! What are you doing in my room?"
"It's past midnight. You were supposed to meet me an hour ago, you lazy cow! I had to come in through the window." the boy Yuuta hissed. "And keep your voice down. You'll wake your folks."
Mariko let out a ragged sigh and flicked on her beside lamp. "That's right. I was working all day today, and I just sort of dozed off. Good thing you came and got me though. I had that damned nightmare again."
"The one with the fire?" His brow knitted together.
She nodded. "But this time there was more. I saw a dark figure, and this giant pair of golden eyes, and it… it roared at me. Like a horror movie monster."
His concerned countenance vanished and turned into a smirk. "Must be a crappy B-rated movie."
She thwacked him with a pillow and giggled. "Stop helping." she tried to reprimand him, but her grin betrayed her.
"Whatever you say, you lazy cow." he sneered.
"Bitch. Go home." She swung her pillow at him again but he dodged it with ease.
He placed a hand over his heart, feigning offense. "Aww, and here I thought you were my best friend!"
"I mean it. Its too late to hang out now." she turned off her lamp and pointed to the open window. "Begone, Midnight Devil! And haunt me no more!"
He sighed dramatically and padded over to the window. The moonlight glared against the metal of his Suna hitai-ate. "The day after tomorrow, then. Promise?"
She rolled her eyes. "Cross my heart and hope to die."
"Stick a needle in your eye." and then he vanished out the opening without another word.
XxXxXxX
Are you sure there are no mice?" the older woman asked uncertainly. She fumbled with the hem of her apron as she watched her daughter emerge from the dusty crawlspace.
"There are no rodents in our crawlspace, Mother." Mariko repeated for the umpteenth time. "Unless you count dust bunnies."
Her mother frowned, clearly unconvinced. "Well I swear I saw vermin skitter under there a few moments ago."
She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I can't stick around mom, I need to make a delivery."
"Well, on your way back, be sure to buy some mouse traps! I mean it, Mariko!"
XxXxXxX
A few hours later Mariko bounded into the kitchen, house keys in hand. "Another satisfied customer." she announced cheerily. "Have we got any new orders, Mom?"
"Matsuda-san still wants the cherry rice pudding for Thursday, and Friday we have a chocolate cake for Koyomi-san's birthday."
"Right. So lets take care of that pudding tonight, then."
My mother raised an eyebrow. "Why tonight? It's a little late, isn't it?"
She grinned. "I wanted to see Yuuta tomorrow morning. Oh, come on Mother, I haven't seen him in ages!"
"Say no more." she sighed resentfully. "That boy is always pulling you away from your work."
A frown. "Mother, please."
"Oh alright. I'm sorry."
Mrs. Shirodaira stared down at her cook book, mumbling to herself as she read on. "Oh, Mariko. It calls for a crock pot, but the new one just broke earlier today. Do me a favor sweetheart and fetch the old one from the attic, please.'
"Oh fine." she begrudgingly agreed and padded out of the kitchen.
Once in the dark confines of the attic, she began rooting through boxes in search of the fabled crock pot.
A piece of yellow hair fell in front of her face and she brushed it back with a wave of her hand. In the same motion, her hand accidentally bumped a stacked of strategically placed boxes, bringing the load down on her head.
"Ow! Crap! Ow!" she cried out, clutching her sore cranium. She eyed the heavy contents of the box with hatred. "You did this to me, you bastard."
She growled and began gathering the fallen items back in the box when she picked up a pack of photographs.
She shuffled through them, recognizing them as pictures of her father and his parents until she came across a face she did not know.
It was a young woman, perhaps a year or two older than she, standing in front of her grandparents house next to a younger version of her father.
"Did you find that crock pot yet?" her mother's disembodied voice called from below.
"Not yet." she replied, still gazing at the picture. "Hey, who's the chick in this picture?"
She climbed down the ladder and relinquished the photo to her mother. Sadness was suddenly etched into the woman's face.
"This is your Father's sister." she said quietly. "Shirodaira Izumi."
Mariko's brow knitted together. "I have an aunt? Why haven't we talked about her before?"
"She died some time ago. Your father doesn't like to talk about it." She sighed wearily and gave the print back to her daughter. "Put it away please and find that crock pot."
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