Suzume Orfre - The Lost Soul

It was a weary day in the village. A slight wind blew and a little girl with waist-long black and ice blue hair ran through the street, giggling as she chased a rabbit. Her hair, covering her left eye, shone in the sunlight and her dress dragged around her ankles and it was covered in mud and grass.

"Suzume! You're getting your dress dirty!" her mother, watering roses, called.

Suzume stopped running, looking down at her filthy dress, "Sorry, mama..."

"Oh, let the child play. We can always wash her dress," her father mumbled.

Suzume smirked then started running again, heading toward the lake as she followed a blue jay. She paid no attention to the man watching her in the shadows. As Suzume ran, she bumped into a boy with spiky blue-black hair, "Oh, sorry!" she smiled.

"It's no problem," the boy grinned.

"He's kinda cute... " she thought to herself then she shook the thought out of her head and smiled, "My name is Suzume Orfre!"

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha."

"A Uchiha! Daddy told me a lot about them!" she thought.

Sasuke shuffled his feet, "I'd better go. My big brother is going to teach me a shuriken jutsu."

Suzume's eyes widened slightly, "Ok! I wish my brother, Staritu, would do that... well, bye then!" she smiled warmly at him them kept running toward the lake.

"You wish to be strong? I can make you strong. You want power? I can give you power. You want respect? I can give you respect."

Suzume whirled around, her teeth sharpening slightly, "Who's there?" She looked around warily, then her eyes locked onto a man standing a behind a tree.

"Kukukuku... my name is Orochimaru."

Her eyes narrowed and she didn't relax, "What do you want?"

Orochimaru smiled evily, "Whatever you want."

Suzume eyed him warily but took a step toward him, "What do I have to do to get stronger?"

He held up ankle weights, and a rope, "Come here."

She approached him curiously, letting her guard down, and he tied her hands behind her back and put the weights on her ankles, then slowly and painfully slit her wrist, throwing her into the lake. She sunk quickly, the weights holding her down. Already, she was running out of air. She didn't have enough time to take in any air. Her eyes were wide with fear and she saw dark shapes moving toward her. She feebly tried to swim away, but the ropes wouldn't let her move her hands at shapes moved closer, but she could still barely see due to the bloody water surrounding her. She quickly realized they were bullsharks. One of the sharks bit intoher leg, ripping a chunk off. She remained silent, not bothering to scream as the sharks continued to bite her. Before she faded into death, she thought to herself, "So this is how I was meant to die," then she slipped into unconciousness.

After what seemed like eternity, there was nothing. No pain. No sound. Nothing. The sharks had moved away, their thirst for blood quenched. Suzume opened her eyes, "How am I alive?" Her body was regenerating. Very quickly. She didn't understand. How could this happen? Her father never told her about this! Nor her mother! Where was Staritu? Where was her sister, Tala? Where was she? She couldn't remember. All she remembered was two names. Uchiha Sasuke. Orochimaru. There was a loud splash and she saw another shape moving toward her. It couldn't be a shark. It didn't have fins. Maybe it was Staritu! No, it wasn't big enough. Then what could it be? It's a boy, but who is it? She had never seen him before. The boy got the weights off her ankles and cut the rope away then helped her swim to the surface where Suzume gasped for air.

"What were you doing down there?" the boy's eyes shined with obvious worry, his hair hanging in his eyes due to the water.

"I- I, uh, I was... I was tricked," why was it so hard for her to talk? No one had ever made her feel like this. Who was he?

The boy sighed, shaking his head, "I'm Collin. You have to believe me when I say... you should get back home as soon as you can. You're Suzume Orfre, right?"

Suzume nodded, confused.

Collin looked sad and... sorry. Why was he sorry? "Come on." They got up and slowly made their way to Suzume's home. Collin eventually had to pick Suzume up and carry her. When they approached the small village, Suzume couldn't believe her eyes. Everyone was... they were all... how could they be... why are they all...

Dead.