Chapter One
"Do you want to talk about it?" Sayuri turned to her daughter as they walked through the door to their new house. The heat in Konohagakure was sweltering in the way it never got in Amegakure and both her and her husband were glad to finally settle from their long trip.
"No." Her daughter pouted.
Sayuri could see Oniyuri's orange hair disappearing deeper into the house. "Why did we even have to move here?"
Osamu let out a chuckle at his daughter's contradicting answer. "Because Amegakure was no place for a child to grow up."
"Why?" Oniyuri face scrunched up as she glanced into the bathroom. It was so… tiny. She could probably dangle her feet in the tub as she went to the bathroom. She didn't even know if her step stool would fit next to the sink like it had at home.
"Because the man that controlled it was a bad man." Sayuri followed her four year old as she explored their new house.
"Why was he bad?" Sayuri sighed, she didn't feel like playing the why game after traveling for so long she just wanted to sleep.
"He just was Oniyuri, you'll understand when you're older." Osamu said from around the corner. The house really was small Sayuri admitted. They were as far away from the entrance as possible, in what would be Oniyuri's new room but she could still hear her husband perfectly.
"But why did we have to move because of him?" Oniyuri asked again moving back to the entryway yellow eyes curiously taking in her surroundings. "Can't we go back? It's too hot here and it's small and-"
"Oniyuri, enough!" Sayuri's patience, already run thin from two days running with a complaining Oniyuri strapped to her back, finally ran out. "We're doing what's best for you!"
"Oniyuri, why don't you go explore the compound while me and your mother start unpacking." Osamu suggested gently. Oniyuri's lip quivered slightly but she gave a firm nod.
"Okay, Otou-San." Oniyuri whispered her voice thick. She almost ran out of the house orange hair flying out behind her.
"Sayuri, you were too harsh with her." Osamu turned his dark eyes to his wife were she was putting her own long orange hair up.
"No." Sayuri said firmly picking up one of the boxes of clothes." She may not know what we did to get out of that hell hole, but it doesn't change that we did it."
Oniyuri stubbornly whipped the tears away as she ran out of the house. She wasn't a baby anymore, and she wouldn't cry like one.
In the distance she could hear the screaming of kids as they played for a second she debated joining them but instead went in the opposite direction, she didn't need anyone to show her around she could figure it out on her own.
All around her she could feel the plants growing around her in a way that never happened in Amegakure with its metal buildings and paved roads. It was almost overwhelming, the amount of life blooming in every direction all of it at her beck and call.
Oniyuri let the plants lead her following them to the center of the compound. It wasn't just their house that was small, but every house all almost identical although some had dark curling vines intertwined on the walls and roof. As she past she let her hands run along them feeling the chakra sluggishly flowing through them.
Still further she walked and the buildings finally grew bigger vines creating walls cutting off her view. Oniyuri finally ran into someone, the woman's purple eyes glaring as they took in her yellow ones.
She ignored her as best she could her chin stubbornly raised in defiance. Oniyuri again ran her hands along a vines wall letting one strand twine around her arm as a defense. It curled like a snake onto her shoulders and she continued walking following the flow of chakra.
Oniyuri came to a stop at the sight of a huge greenhouse, bigger than any house in the compound that she's seen so far.
Oniyuri waltzed in even as the people inside glared, as long as they didn't touch her it didn't matter. She wandered around the greenhouse taking in the many sections dozens of people milling around the domed building. A sign popped out in front of a fenced off section, a white skull and crossbones on a bright yellow background. She knew what that meant, their garden back home always had to have that sign on them.
She pushed open the gate carefully. With a grin, she took in the array of poisonous plants. She could feel them reaching towards her chakra. Oniyuri sat down next to a berry plant, her short legs aching from the long walk. She could see the shiny black skin of the berries and grabbed one happy to finally get something sweet after the long trip from from her home.
"No! Don't eat that!" Oniyuri's yellow eyes landed on a young girl about her age who was frantically reaching toward her from the dead center of the path. "Hurry spit it out! You'll get sick!"
"No I won't. Poison can't hurt me 'cause my chakras special." The little girl still hadn't moved any closer to her or the plants on either side of the path.
"Why?' The girl's eyes were the same purple as everyone she'd seen so far, although her hair was grey, something she had never seen before on someone as young as herself.
The orange haired girl shrugged, "I don't know, it just is."
Oniyuri let the leaves settle on her shoulders as she leaned back into the poisonous bush.., "My okaa-san is like that too." she added.
"Really? My okaa-san's sister could do that too, she doesn't talk about her much but from what she says it sounds pretty awesome and a little bit scary ." Oniyuri was focusing on the plants, noticing how they seemed almost lackluster compared to the rest of the garden, but two words the girl said caught her attention.
"You're okaa-san's sister? Hey…. what is your name?" Oniyuri's eyes narrowed as she looked again at the young girl in front of her.
"Yeah my okaa-san's sister she doesn't live here 'cause of my Grandma. But I can tell my mom misses her sometimes." The little girl looked away almost thoughtfully for a second before turning back to Oniyuri. "I'm Kokoro and I'm the daughter of Naomi, the clan head."
"Oh," Oniyuri whispered her heart clenched tightly. "I have to go." She pushed herself up from the plants and ran out of the garden leaving a very confused Kokoro behind.
"Strange…" she murmured watching the orange hair girl disappear from sight.
"Kokoro!" The little girl twisted catching sight of her grandmother just outside the poisonous area. "Come here. I need to discuss something important with you… "
