~Atro~

She just wants to be beautiful, she goes

Unnoticed, she knows

No limit, she craves

Attention, she praises

An image, she prays to be

Sculpted by the sculptor

But she doesn't see the light that's shining

Deeper than the eyes can find it

Maybe we are made of blinds so

She tries to cover up the pain

And cut her woes away

There's a hope that's waiting for you in the dark~

Like every day the silence reigns in the still morning. Mother and Father don't make eye contact with me. My eyes remain transfixed on the wooden table as I sit in my chair. I dig my nails into the bottom of the chair holding back the emotion, the overwhelming desire to cry and beg them to love me. I want to yell at them. I want them to yell at me. Anything to break the silence. Why give birth to something you didn't want? Or was I not what they expected? Mother puts breakfast in front of me then quietly disappears from the room as if she never was. I eat in silence blinking away tears and my frustration.

I finish quickly, slide off my chair and place the dish in the sink. I hear Dad opening the front door then closing it. I pull on my jacket and wrap my scarf around my neck. Outside, the air is sharp and crisp. The recent storm brought several inches of snow and ice making the weather more dreadful than usual.

I keep my head low hoping no one would notice me today, though, they always did. Some just don't bother to acknowledge my existence while others whisper and glare harshly. I'm unable to hide my long white hair, a trait uncommon in my village. I've heard villagers call me a failure and a cur, an insipid poison.

A puddle catches my attention, the sun melting away the ice and snow or someone trying to clear a way for the students to reach the school. I stare at myself in its still waters. The reflection isn't me—it never is. A white wolf with brilliant blue keen eyes stares back at me. I often wonder if this is why the villagers don't like me. Because I resemble a wolf? Its eyes suddenly drop as if empathizing with me—it's never done that before.

"Ysayle!" Someone calls out to me. I look up to see my Sensei scolding me. "What're you doing?! Get to class now!" He yells.

I follow him to my school and try to bury more of my face in my scarf. The children stare at me dangerously. Trying my best not to be intimidated, I walk past them and sit at my table. It's close to the window and separated from the others. Sensei calls attendance while I turn my attention to the outside wonderland of snow. I would rather be out in the cold than in here. What was the difference?

"Ysayle Cara!" Sensei calls my name and I raise my hand.

The wolf appears in the reflection wearing the same look from earlier as if it understood my loneliness, the contempt, the pain. I don't even pray anymore…such words and hopes are wasted on me for wanting something more. I touch the window feeling nothing but the condensation and the cold. The wolf lowers its head and it appears as if it were trying to press its head against my palm.

Sensei takes us outside today to spar. I stand away from everyone hoping that Sensei wouldn't pick on me today. Hopping seems like a false idea too. He calls me and another girl to the center of a circle he etched in the ground. Now we're supposed to lock fingers as a way of friendship but no one would ever do it with me.

I soon feel the girl slam into me and I tumble of the circle and into the snow. It doesn't hurt anymore—it hasn't hurt for quite a few years now…

Sensei calls victory for the girl and the others laugh and praise her victory.

"That'll show her!" They continue laughing, their mocking voices, echoes of my torment.

I stand and brush the snow off myself. Suddenly an explosion sends a tremor through the earth beneath us and knocks us down. Flames suddenly form around the village and surge upwards engulfing the sky in a sea of fire. Sensei calls for us to stay calm and follow him but the moment he moves multiple shuriken impale into his body.

I gasp sharply scooting back across the soft snow. His lifeless body falls into the snow, the blood changes it from white to a crimson. Before I'm able to comprehend that he was dead more shuriken rain down slicing at the others. The children scream as some of their classmates fall alongside Sensei.

Run! Now! A voice tells me. I don't think. I just run. The voice tells me where to go and not to stop. Don't look back. Don't turn back. The cold air catches in my lung and it burns harshly, my eyes water, and my chest pounds vigorously in my chest. The snow begins to rise as I get further into the forest. The steepness of the hill makes the pathing unbearable. I stop and duck behind a nearby tree.

Don't stop! They'll kill you! The voice warns but I'm unable to keep going. I've never run so far or fast in my life. I breathe hard and wipe my face of the moisture. A noise catches my attention, like something slicing air, spinning rapidly.

Go! The voice urges me. I move away as quickly as possible, the tree I was near suddenly splitting in half. I trudged up the hill with no other way to go. It is not hill. It is a gorge and behind me is an abyss of darkness. I fall back feeling sick from being so high and looking down.

Footsteps approach me, heavy ones crushing the ice and snow beneath their feet. A large man with a musical note on his headband.

"I was expecting even a failure to put up a fight like the other Jinchuriki. What does Lord Orochimaru want with you?"

My words are caught in my throat as I acquiesce to my fear. Who is Orochimaru? Why is this happening? Is Jinchuriki what the wolf is?

"Surely Orochimaru would like some data on the prototype?" He pulls a kunai from behind him and throws it at me.

I won't let anyone hurt you ever again. The voice howls and my head pounds in response. I soon feel a surge of chakra and watch as it expands outward. It is blue and resembles a wolf's tail. It deflects the kunai and I gasp in shock. I could feel the wolf's anger taking over me as another tail begins to form behind me.

"What's this? Just like the Nine-tails!" He begins weaving hand-signs and my body reacts rushing towards him. The tails dance madly around me keeping the ninja away from me and also preventing him from weaving signs. More ninjas in the same fashion rush from the forest and join the other.

"Did you agitate it? What were you thinking?!"

"They said it was a failure! That every other Jinchuriki died to it."

My body is not in my control as immediately charge at them and swipe at them with chakra infused hands. The tails keep them from approaching from behind me while my attention stayed on those in front. The wolf howls again sending out a shock wave that blasts all of them away.

No one will hurt you! Mine! Mine! The cliff shakes violently and crumbles underneath me. I'm unable to catch my balance and fall into the gorge.

The wind whistles harshly and my ears feel like they're going to explode. The cold air seems to cut at my skin. I don't hear myself screaming, only the howls of the wolf.

I awake with a startle. My body aches dully as I squint in the darkness. Moonlight showers in from an open window, the blinds dancing with the gentle wind. I'm in a bed, a small bed but it's comfortable. There doesn't seem to be much in the room…at least what I could see. It's a bit cold but not like earlier.

I slide off the bed slowly and make my way to the window. There isn't any snow. Tall green tress grew in abundance and there is also large boulders that seemed to create a barrier from the vegetation.

"Ah, you're awake." An unfamiliar voice says behind me in the shadows.

I turn swiftly behind me and feel suddenly feel sick. The figure practically glides out from the shadows. A man bandaged from head to two other than the right side of his face. He also wore a grey robe and carries a wooden cane.

"Don't move too quickly. You haven't recovered." He warns.

Bad! The voice in my head startles me. Its voice is loud and my head pounds violently again. Run! There was no way to escape, the building is rather tall, and I can't see the bottom. I would injure myself if I jumped from this height.

"Is the beast communicating with you?" He asks, his voice cold but not threatening.

"What's happening to me?" I ask holding my head. The howling isn't ceasing and it seems to intensify.

"The moon is full tonight. The beast is responding to it."

"There's something inside of me?" I panic. "Or am I the beast?"

"You're a Jinchuriki. It means you are the carrier of a tailed-beast—a creature of immense power. Intel told me that you're the only one to survive out of 40 other test experiments."

A realization that I could die any moment if the wolf wanted to makes me shudder. "Why hasn't it?"

The mystery man doesn't answer immediately, the silence almost torture.

"We don't know. But we do know a certain organization that may want you and we won't allow that. With you, our nation now has two Jinchuriki that can be weaponized. You don't have a choice."

I haven't had much of a choice in my life thus far…what's the difference now? I nod understandingly. I have no other options and with this constant howling, I can't think of anything else.

If he is happy with my answer he doesn't show it.

"Rest then child. We have much to do."

I stand watch over the Village of Konaha. It is night and the moon is full. It has been 10 years since I've made this place my new home and pledged to the Great One my allegiance. The wind blows just as it did all those years ago, gentle and, comforting…but something hangs thick and ominous. I find a nearby tree and use it as support to lean on. Atro is singing so I close my eyes and listen.

Forgive me, Ysayle. Am I hurting you? Atro asks but I shake my head.

"Your howls stopped affecting me long ago. May I join you?"

You're going to howl with me? He jokes.

When I concentrate enough I always find myself outside Atro's cage. A beautiful place painted white, stone flowers are scattered about with vines wrapping themselves around the large steel poles. He has been here since I was born and I wish I had known sooner how to connect with him. I stand outside the cage and watch as Atro approaches me, his pelt beautiful and snow white, his ethereal blue eyes so otherworldly, a majestic creature that didn't deserve to be imprisoned inside me…but we lack the key to open the cage.

I slide past the bars and join him on the other side. His 5 tails dance with excitement behind him and as he lowers his head for me to hold and press my own against. I stare into his gaze and I always lose myself in his eyes, so beautiful and overwhelming…it hurt to keep him here. But he never seems to mind. He then lies down and I sit next to him and listen as he sings to the moon. I lie against him taking comfort in his soft fur and stroke it gently.

It seems so odd to be in love with someone inside myself but Atro is all I need and want…