Chapter 1- Enemy
The smell of blood managed to reach his nose in spite of the mask he wore to protect his identity. Another clan possessing the kekkai genkai had been massacred. He had been ordered to search the vicinity for any survivors.
Bodies of dead husbands, wives, children, brothers and sisters surrounded him as he stealthily maneuvered himself around the already stinking corpses.
"What am I to do if I see a survivor?" He had asked his superior.
"Kill it and show no mercy at all." He had said.
He did not remember his birth name. Once he joined the organization at the tender age of nine, he had been stripped of his family name and had simply been given the name Ao.
The crying of a child immediately caught his attention. Being a member of the hunter nins had helped him develop an acute sense of hearing. The child was probably at least a fifty meters away from where he stood now. As he made his way to the source of the sound, he wondered how he would kill the child, be merciful and kill it off quickly or pleasure his sadistic side and watch the child die slowly.
The child wasn't much to look at. She looked as if she was seven or eight years old. Her rusty brown hair covered her crying face. Ao had seen this all before. The begging for mercy would soon start and he would have to silently end it with his sword.
Ao doesn't remember his age. He thinks he might be in his late teens or early twenties. He hasn't seen a calendar in a long time and the passing of days does not occur to him. Being a member of the hunter nins and village ANBU does not require him to remember such unnecessary details.
He removes his sword and points it at the trembling child. She could have been a fine kunoichi if she had been allowed to live. With her fearsome kekkai genkai, she could have Mizukage of the village. But it was all going to end now with his blade.
Her sobbing amplified in its volume and it disturbed his ears.
"Stop crying. It will be over in a few seconds." He ordered her.
The child suddenly became alert and performed some hand seals. A mere child of seven could already control the kekkai genkai? She must be truly remarkable.
Ao took a few steps back.
"Try to kill me and I will spit poisoned flames on you!" she shouted at him.
He analyzed the situation. If he tried to get close to the child, he would be burned by her flames. This was going to be a long range battle, he decided. That was fine. Long range battles were his forte after all.
He removes a few kunai from his pocket to throw at the child. He immediately identifies the vital parts of her body. One hit from his kunai and the child would be bleeding to death.
The child did not seem stirred and stood her ground. Her hair had cleared from her face. She had brilliant green eyes which would be embedded in his memory forever.
He threw the first kunai. He had purposely aimed at her knee. This child was interesting. Maybe the village could really use her in the future.
(*)
Mei Terumi woke up with a splitting headache. Her knee had been bandaged. The last thing she remembers is the masked man knocking her down after he hit her knee with that kunai of his. Suddenly the memories of her parents' dead bodies flooded her head. Her eyes stinged with tears and she swallowed hard to prevent them from falling.
The masked man walked in. He carried a bottle of water in his hand.
"Take a sip of this. The medical ninja said you might have a fever." He said offering the bottle.
She eyed the bottle skeptically. She was not going to take anything from a stranger. Let alone a stranger who had tried to kill her a few hours ago.
Seeing her reaction, the masked man simply shrugged and sat down on one of the nearby couch.
"You are to enter the academy in a week's time." He said to her.
"I don't want to be a ninja!" she protested.
"You already know how to control the kekkai genkai of your clan. But you must also master the other forms of ninjutsu along with other types of jutsus." He continued ignoring her protest.
"Why didn't you kill me! I want to be with mama and papa again! Why didn't you kill me?" she shrieked throwing the small blanket that covered her body off.
"You are to be an able kunoichi of this village and dutifully serve the Mizukage till your death." He said.
With that he walked out.
(*)
Mei found herself sharing quarters with the masked man. She absolutely abhorred it. He refused to remove his mask in her presence. The only words he said to her were orders for her to eat and sleep.
Mei would start the Academy tomorrow. She had heard rumours that students to graduate were required to kill their fellow students as a true act of being a shinobi. When she had gathered the guts to ask the masked man, he simply replied by telling her the practice had been stopped last year.
She barely ate as an act of protest. The masked man did not seem to care. He placed the food in front of her everyday dutifully and then walked out of the room. Her stomach grumbled but the face of her dead parents gave her resolve to carry out her hunger strike.
The most striking thing about her guardian was his blue hair. It was the only feature of the masked man she could see distinctively. Blue hair that reminded her of the misty blue sky that graced the sky of their village.
She couldn't sleep in the night. Nightmare after nightmare played in her mind. She often woke up with wet cheeks after a night of silent crying. Crying was an exhaustive exercise and not eating was taking a toll on her body. Her skin was losing color and her hair was losing its shine.
(*)
Ao found the little girl exasperating. She refused to eat and instead sat in her room gloomily the entire day. He wished to give her a few hits but her recent bereavement prevented him from doing so.
"Eat." He ordered placing the plate of hot rice and miso soup in front of her.
Today had been her first day at the Academy. It seems some child had looked at her as their personal punching bag and given her a few ghastly bruises on her face.
She simply mouthed a no and continued staring out of the window into the dark of the night.
"Eat." He repeated more harshly this time.
He sighed. He was the one who had taken her up, he was responsible for her well-being. And yet he could not get her to eat a simple bowl of rice.
He took some of the rice in his chopsticks and dipped it in the miso soup. He placed it in front of her mouth.
"Remove your mask, mask man sama and then I will eat." She pouted at him.
What harm was it going to do? None. He only conducted his missions wearing his mask. He placed a hand over his mask and removed it.
"Happy?" he grunted.
"Mask man sama has very nice eyes. Just like his hair." She giggled like the child she was.
She took the chopsticks from his hand and took her first bite.
"My name is Ao." He told her.
"My name is Mei." She replied.