Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Zarien, the Tashima clan, and their kekkei genkai.
Author's note: Okay, this is my first fic, so please don't be too harsh on me. I don't mind flames, as long as they contain useful information on how to improve my writing. So, please, review! I need to know. Anyways, this fic is set after the chunine exams, but everyone is a little older, around 15 or 16. So… Read and enjoy!
Chapter 1: Budding Rose
A shape stirred underneath the blankets heaped on the bed. A small groan escaped the head buried under the pillow. "I sooo don't want to get up yet…" The shape settled back into sleep.
Suddenly the bedroom door crashed open. "Get your lazy ass out of bed, now!" Yelled the large, red-faced man in the doorway.
"Ahg!" A young girl fell off her bed with a loud crash. "Owww…" A tousled head of black hair over tired mismatched eyes peered over the bed. "I'm up, I'm up…"
Not that it would make any difference, as the man was already gone.
-()-
Tashima Zarien sighed as she sat up, brushing her long bangs out of her face. "Stupid Dad. Why does he always do that?" Zarien muttered under her breath. She rubbed her side where she'd fallen as she looked over at her clock. 6:00 am. Zarien sighed again. She knew perfectly well why he did that.
The tall girl stood up, warming her long limbs in the faint morning sun. Waist long sable hair swished like silk against pale skin as she walked across her small room to the window. She leaned against the windowsill, peering up at the clear sky before walking to her mirror.
Zarien looked at her reflection. Staring back at her was a pale face sporting to dark green slashes on each cheek, accompanied by a pair of mismatched eyes. She had always hated those eyes.
Those two orbs had caused her so much pain and grief. One of pale green, the colour of sunlight through leaves. The other clear cerulean blue. Visible proof of her bastard heritage.
She turned away from her image, away from the sight of her hated eyes. As she dressed, Zarien mused about her Father, her real one. She had always wondered who he was. When she was younger she had asked, but her Mother would never say. All she knew was that her green eye came from him.
"Not that it matters anyways, I suppose…" Zarien muttered. She pulled her glossy hair up into the high ponytail that every Tashima sported as she walked down the hall towards the compound kitchen.
The Tashima clan was a large but little-known family, being relatively new. They were originally from Suna, but the whole clan migrated to Konoha about 50 years ago. No one really knew why. They were all rather powerful, with and extremely unique kekkei genkai. Every Tashima could transform into one animal, and that animal was different for everyone.
Every Tashima except me, that is, Zarien thought bitterly. The reason that Father hates me.
-()-
"What do you mean, you don't have it?" Tashima Yamin said angrily. A trembling 7 year-old Zarien loked up at her Father and opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. A hand came out and hit her into a wall. "Speak, girl! Don't just stand there with your mouth hanging open like an idiot!" Yamin Snarled. The terrified girl stood and whispered the dreaded words. "I-I Don't h-have it. I c-can't transform."
A scream rang through the air as blow after blow fell upon a small form. "You useless brat! What am I supposed to do with a powerless bastard like you!"
Eventually the screams faded. All that was left in the dark courtyard was the sobbing form of a little girl.
A lovely woman with dark hair rushed out and gathered Zarien's bleeding form into her arms as she cried, stroking her arms and whispering, "I'm sorry, so, so sorry…"
So, what do you think of my first chapter? Review and tell me!