Nomad to Leaf

Chapter One

I couldn't believe I was doing this. Why the hell was I doing this?

Sure I was only eight, but the thought of living in a house... Staying in the exact same place just... It made my head spin. The longest I had stayed anywhere was in my Mother's womb, since then I've always been moving around. Stealing, robbing, fighting, gambling, anything to make ends meet.

My cousin, Michio had done the same. Although he had been older.

I walked past tall buildings and firm houses, squeezing through small allys, sensing my direction with my strange ability.

"Amaya! Oh come in out of the rain," Nara Yoshino said.

She was my Uncle's sister, but only half. There was so much family drama it was hard to keep up sometimes. But I wasn't here for a cheery visit, or for a family reunion.

I was here because my remaining family had been slaughtered, and I was the only one left.

"Shikamaru!" Yoshino called. Her son, my age, quite skinny, came in mumbling something about it being too troublesome. "Shikamaru," Yoshino began, placing an unwelcome hand on my shoulder, " this is your cousin, Amaya. She's staying with us from now on," she said.

Shikamaru analyzed me, and I did the same to him.

He had his dark hair up in a ponytail, and wore simple grey pants and shirt.

"She'll be troublesome..." he mumbled. His Mother could only roll her eyes as she sent him to show me my room.

He opened a door, revealing a small room with a large window and a single dresser. "Bathroom is down the hall," he said, walking back to what I guessed was his room.

I closed my door, set my bag down, and stood quietly for a second.

I could here the droplets from my hair drum against the hard wood floor, the sound of thunder rolling into Konoha, and the talking from downstairs.

Yoshino and her husband, Shikaku were speaking about me.

"Masanori sent the note a week before the inccident... Like he expected something to happen. It speaks of his son but very lightly, it's more about Amaya," Yoshino said.

I listened more carefully now. "I see... According to this Amaya isn't overly social and won't like a home setting much. It sounds like he was simply warning you of the challenge you quite blindly took on," Shikaku said. I rolled my eyes. Of course my Uncle had warned Yoshino about me.

"His only demand is that we enroll her in the academy and to let her have much free reign... It makes her sound... Unstable," Yoshino said.

My muscles tensed, knowing she had no idea what 'unstable' meant.

"I will speak with her," Shikaku said. I sat next to my bag, trying to act like I had not heard the conversation, when Shikaku knocked on my door.

I went up to the door, and opened it. Shikaku I had only seen once before, when I was extremely young, but even so the jagged claw mark across his face did not intimidate me.

"Amaya," he said, in a gentle voice. "Would you like to talk about what happened?"

"No," I told him simply.

"Are you hungry?"

"No."

"Would you like to enroll at the Ninja Academy?" he asked.

I blinked. I was a very skilled Ninja already, what with having my Uncle train me, but to enroll at a school for that purpose? It sounded crazy, but I was all for it.

"Yes," I said. He smiled, patting my head.

"You begin tomorrow," he said, walking from my door.

Then, just as I was about to close my door, Shikamaru came and knocked on my door.

I opened it. "Yes, Shikamaru?"

"Are you going to Ninja academy?" he asked.

"Yes, I am," I said.

He sighed, leaving me in my own door way, and I could just hear from him say "here we go."