-Prologue-
There's only darkness around me. No matter how far or how long you walk, it's the same place. Over and over again. It's like you're walking around in circles and the energy you put into trying to escape is pointless.
It never ends. Where am I? How did I get here? Someone please, help me…
My story begins with me at an orphanage. I never knew who my parents were, and I've always lived at the orphanage until I was the age of 7. They say that I first arrived at the orphanage when I was 3, a few years after the 4th Great Ninja War.
I've often asked myself who I am. I'm probably just one of those people you see everyday but you soon forget because they're irrelevant in your memory. Ever since I was a kid, I frequently question myself everyday. I often asked myself questions like, "Why do I exist?" and "What's my purpose?" But that's what made my life interesting. The desire to unlock those secrets.
My name is Rei. My parents and clan are unknown, and when I first opened my eyes, I was at an orphanage. My first memory was me laying on a hard wooden bed, with a tall woman looking down at me. Her expression was dead serious, and there were no signs of kindness of her face. I looked up at her and stared at her. I was 3 at that time, of course, so I don't remember much of what happened. I was too little to comprehend and understand things, anyway.
The woman was the person who we would call "mother." We are to obey everything she says. This place is an orphanage, and according to mother, an orphanage is where children without parents are "cared for." Yeah right, "cared for." More like a place where they ruin kids from having a normal childhood. I hated staying at the orphanage. It was like living in hell.
At the orphanage, power is everything. If you're at the bottom of the chain, then your life would be very miserable the whole time you're in this place. You'd get beaten and used everyday. If you're at the top, everyone would cower in fear of your presence and honor you like a king. Of course, the adults didn't know of this. We hid it from them.
You are sent to the academy as soon as possible after your fourth birthday to learn to be a shinobi so we could be of some use. Mother said that we were useless hanging around doing nothing so the least we can do is become a ninja to protect the village. She should speak for herself.
There's no point in telling you every single tiny detail about my life, but ninja academy was a drag. Bullies cornered the weak. People talked and fooled around like wild animals. I don't want to be stuck here for hours everyday, but I had to. Mother made me. "You're a prodigy, Rei," she once told me while patting me on the head, "One day you'd be very useful to me."
One thing I don't understand is how everyone gets away with bad scores, but me. I have to aim for perfect scores, and if I didn't, I'd be punished by Mother. What did I do to deserve this? She never answered my questions, but she once did say, "Rei, my child. You will learn to face the consequences of your mistakes." This was unfair. Everything is unfair.
Life is unfair.