Dreaming of mercy street,
Where you're inside out,
Dreaming of mercy,
In your daddy's arms,
Dreaming of mercy street
-Mercy Street; by Opus Orange and Emy Reynolds
Izumi felt a sigh leave her lips. She was currently in her bedroom, sitting by her window with her knees drawn to her chest, her arms wrapped around her legs. She was looking out her window, watching the citizens of Konoha go about their daily lives. She was fascinated by them, intrigued by what they were doing. Izumi always seemed to have a fascination about how people lived their lives. Everyone had their own routines, their own way of going about things. It was peculiar, in her eyes, how different everyone was. Looking away for a moment, the young girl rested her chin on her legs, her eyes looking at the wall in front of her. Her mind was beginning to wander, going to all these different places faster than she could keep up with. Izumi would remember the training she had with her mother and how quickly it would go sour. She'd remember visiting her father at his apartment, and how often she enjoyed how easy he was to be around.
Her mind would go back and forth between the brutalities her mother put her through, and the silent calm her father seemed to radiate. But since Izumi's mother was determined to keep all of the twelve-year-old's time at her place, the young girl found herself seeing her father less and less. It also didn't help that her father was a shinobi, a successful one at that. He built quite the reputation for himself, one that Izumi both admired and feared. While she knew she had no real reason to fear her father, part of her was a bit uneasy when it came to him. He'd killed people, countless people, before. Not only that, but the number of times he almost lost his life was astounding. Izumi couldn't believe it. His reputation, the knowledge that he'd actually killed, the thought that he could die at any given moment — those were some of the reasons why she was scared and uneasy.
He's doing what's necessary for the village, Izumi thought. Anyone in their right mind knows that.
Letting out a soft groan, the young girl quickly sat up, groaning at the sudden movements. She'd been training with her mother since early morning, and the evidence was beginning to show. Bumps and bruises, cuts and scrapes — they littered Izumi's body. Her wrists especially bore the worst when it came to cuts. Blood was essential when it came to training, and sometimes it was important to improvise. But then again, sometimes physical fights weren't necessary.
Stretching, Izumi hoped she could focus herself on other things. She didn't think it was really necessary to keep her focus on the training her mother had in place for her. But at the same time, Izumi saw importance in reflecting everything she'd experienced. So her mother's harsh physical training was one very important piece to reflect on. Each training session was different, and Izumi tried to go over each fighting technique she practiced for the day. And then there was the not-so-physical training — it was more mental training than anything else. She had to keep her mind sharp, her senses had to be at their best, as well. If they weren't, then things would go to shit fast. And if things went to shit, then. . .
"Izumi!"
The sharp exclamation from her mother caused the twelve-year-old to jump where she stood. Her heart pounded against her ribs, her breathing becoming quick and shallow. That was the kind of power Izumi's mother had on her. Even when she wasn't training, the young girl had to be on edge around the very woman who was raising her.
"What?" Izumi called. She took a deep breath and let it out, hoping to calm herself down. She had to keep herself composed.
"Your father's here. Do you have all your things ready?"
A feeling of relief washed over the young girl. She'd forgotten her father was coming by. Izumi would be spending the next week and a half with him, which meant there'd be a bit of a break from the extensive routine her mother built up.
"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute," Izumi called.
Oh God, she felt so much better now.
-0-0-0-0-
It took about five minutes before Izumi made it to where her parents were. The silence that emanated from the front of the house was almost deafening. It made the young girl's stomach twist anxiously.* Izumi's parents had been pretty young when they had her, deciding to never legally marry due to differences in views. It wasn't until a year after Izumi was born that her parents went through a bitter separation. They never truly recovered from it. They attempted to make things as civil as possible in order to co-parent their child, but the bitterness and iciness still remained, even after eleven years.
Once Izumi made it to the front of the house, she could see her parents standing as far away from each other as physically possible. The two were standing as stiff as a board, avoiding all eye contact and refusing to properly acknowledge each other. Maybe their relationship — or lack thereof — could be seen as a lot of things; childish seemed to come to mind a lot, but they tried their best for Izumi.
"Hey, Papa." The deafening silence was overwhelming Izumi, filling with her with an almost suffocating sensation of anxiety. "Sorry it took so long. I had to make sure I didn't forget anything."
When her father looked at her, a flash of emotion swept across his face. Or, at least his eye. Izumi's father had a habit of covering up, so seeing facial expressions was nearly impossible to make out. Only people who really paid attention to his features could see what as being shown.
"I see you've been busy," he stated, his tone calm and relaxed. His gaze quickly flickered over to Izumi's mother before going back to his daughter.
"Uh, yeah," Izumi stuttered. "Busy morning."
"You two should probably head out." Izumi's mother, Chihiro, crossed her arms over her chest, turning her head away from her ex and daughter. "I've got a lot of errands I need to finish. Plus I need to clean the house."
"Of course." Izumi's father, Kakashi, didn't bother looking at Chihiro before motioning for his daughter to come with him.
"I'll be back before you know it, Ma." The twelve year old threw a small smile her mother's way. The corners of Chihiro's lips twitched, as if she wanted to smile, but she refused. That was a common thing in the Chinoike household, or at least with Chihiro, where there seemed to be a lack of emotion. Izumi tried her best to be as expressive as possible, but she always seemed to have trouble connecting with her mother. There seemed to be some kind of barrier between them.
As Izumi and Kakashi walked out the front door, the cool air hitting the two of them, a tension seemed to have released from the young girl's shoulders. Once the front door closed behind father and daughter, with Kakashi gently placing a hand between Izumi's shoulder blades, that's when conversations started.
"Did she have you training again?" Kakashi asked.
"Yeah." Izumi frowned a bit, her eyes cast downward. "She really went out this time."
As the two walked, unhurried, there seemed to be a heaviness that fell on them. The day was still young, but Izumi was waiting for it to be over.
Kakashi let out a heavy sigh at that. While he had no problem with Izumi getting extra training in, he feared just how far Chihiro was willing to go just to make their daughter stronger.
"You don't have to get upset," Izumi stated. "I'm getting stronger. Maybe I'll be as good as you were when I graduate."
"You don't need to compare yourself to me." There was a firmness in Kakashi's voice, one that came out only once in a blue moon. He hated when his daughter tried to compare herself to him, he didn't want that for her. He wanted Izumi to be her own person, to grow and develop at her own rate. She didn't need to pressure herself with any of the things he did as a child. "I can see you becoming a strong kunoichi," Kakashi went on, "without you making the same mistakes I did."
Letting out a soft hum, Izumi took her father's words into consideration. He had a way of being hard on himself sometimes. His past was complicated and full of pain. Izumi knew that, he made it clear to her when she was old enough to understand. But in Izumi's eyes, she couldn't help but think differently. She admired her father and all that he did. He fought in the Third Shinobi War, and after he lost comrade after comrade, he did his best to persevere. That's what Izumi found so admirable. He got through it. He didn't let all the negativity in his life get to him.
"Did you want to go eat once you're settled?" Kakashi asked, changing the subject. "I know you must be hungry."
"Sure." Izumi smiled up at her father. "Is Ichiraku's okay?"
With a smile of his own, Kakashi gave a single nod. "That's fine with me."
(A/N):
Sorry for the wait on this chapter. Also, sorry for the bad summary. I tried to think of something that may come off as interesting, but it came out really bad. So yeah. My sincerest apologies. Other than that, let me know what you guys think. Constructive criticism is a must, my friends.
Do I own anything in the Naruto universe? No. No I do not. All I own are my OCs, my subplots, and the laptop I'm typing on. If you've got ideas for OCs or subplots, be sure to PM me or leave a review. I'll add them in as soon as possible.
Also, I wrote a character description of Izumi in the "bio" section. I'll be adding more of my OCs in as the story progresses, so keep that in mind. I'll also be putting out descriptions in the "bio" for my other stories, too. But anyway, if you're curious on what Izumi looks like, or you're curious about anything else regarding her, I put out some basic info.
Be sure to leave a random fact in the reviews, my friends. It can be on anything you'd like.
I'll see you around.
Florida Mayers