As the sunlight filtered in through the tree tops, a little girl sat in the middle of the forest running a long rope through her hands. Tears were running down her cheeks. She was no more than 7 years old with dark brown hair a little past her shoulders. She fiddled with her rope as if it was some sort of consolation for what was upsetting her. She was lost, more than physically lost, but emotionally as well. It had only been a few weeks since she had come to Konoha, the Hidden Village in the Leaves. No one even knew how she had gotten there. Rumors had it that she was brought by the aoinin plant shinobi, but such people were just myth. Bottom line was, she didn't know where she came from or even who she really was. Her memory was blank. Now she sat alone, lost in her thoughts and a forest.

"I should have stayed at the ranch and waited for Shikaku to come home," she thought as she started to cry more, "Coming out here by myself was a big mistake..."

A rustling noise came from behind her, but she was too upset to notice. A young boy, around the age of 8 years old, emerged from the shrubs. His white hair had a tint of blue where the sun hit it and his eyes were a green almost as unique as the girl's gray-violet eyes.

"Hey, are you okay?" he crouched down next to the little girl.

She shook her head 'no', but continued to stare at her rope. "I'm... I can't find my way home.." she cried.

"Where do you live? I can take you back, no problem!"

"The Nara ranch..." she sniffed. She looked up at him with cloudy eyes as she grabbed her rope tighter. He stood up and held out his hand for her to take.

"Nara, huh? You sure don't look like a Nara! Your eyes are way different than theirs!" she took his hand timidly and wiped her tears on her sleeve.

"It's... kind of a long story."

"Well we got a ways to go. Tell me about it," he said, "Oh! By the way, I'm Mizuki, what's your name?"

"Kyarii... Kyarii Nara." Saying her last name felt odd for her, she could sense that wasn't right, but she couldn't remember any better.

"Well, Kyarii, let's hear it. What brings you to the Nara's clan? They're an odd bunch if you ask me," he smiled and started to walk. She followed him closely and stared at him for a moment. There was something that clicked in that instant. A sense of security, maybe. Her grip on her rope loosened. She smiled through her drying tears and began to tell him all that had happened to her since she first arrived at Konoha.

That day marked the start of Kyarii and Mizuki's friendship, a friendship that would lead them both to believe there was nothing in the world that could tear them apart...

Mean while, just a few miles away, another boy mourned his father's suicidal death... alone, trying to hide his emotions by means of a simple facial mask. A mask that the public would never see unwrapped again.

- About 5 years later -

I could feel the sunlight warming the top of my head and starting to burn the back of my neck. I could smell the damp air of the forest around me and hear the cool morning breeze brush past me. I could feel the coarse threading of my rope as I played with it between my fingers. I don't know why I felt so attached to it. It was only a rope. Maybe it was because that was one of the few things that I had with me when I was brought to Konoha? But I think it was more than that.

Most kids had a security blanket as they grew up, but I had my rope. I always made sure to have it with me, usually tied around my waist as a belt. It was frayed a little at the tips, but other than that, it almost looked new. I did my best to take care of it really well, which was quite easy. I could just touch it and any damage it had taken reverted back to new. But I could do more than that, with one touch I could make it grow longer, shrink, strike out at the play ground bully, tie up the game caught on the most recent hunting trip, or make a knot around a sled. And sometimes, in heated moments, I didn't even need to touch it. This odd talent was the only thing that concretely reminded me that I didn't belong in Konoha, but it was also the only thing that connected me to my past.

It was a secret I had kept from everyone else. It wasn't normal to be able to make inanimate objects come alive like I could. Well, not for kids that weren't in shinobi training, like myself. I was afraid that if anyone found out they would make me join the Academy. And I had sworn to myself, and Mizuki, that I wouldn't give my life to violence and war. Becoming a Konoha shinobi was the last thing on my to-do list.

I breathed in deeply, taking in the surrounding nature. Ever since I had first seen this forest, I knew there was something that I liked about it. It was the forest of the Nara ranch, so I had easy access to it and often wandered in it. It was my escape from reality. I knew every tree and shrub. It became my place to relax, clear my mind, and try to remember anything from my past. I remembered the first time I had came to this forest. Getting lost... and finding Mizuki...

"Kyarii!" his voice echoed in the back of my mind.

I closed my eyes and gripped my rope in my hands, feeling my chakra flowing through it, causing it to wiggle like a worm.

"Kyarii, I know you're around here somewhere!" his voice came again. But my mind was focused. Every time I touched this rope, every time I shared my energy with something inanimate, I felt that lost memories would flow back to me at any moment...

"Haha! There you are!"

... but every time that feeling came to me, something interfered.

My eyes opened, and the rope went limp once more.

"What are you doing?" It was Mizuki. He sat on a tree branch not too far away from me, "We gotta go to class!" He jumped down and started to walk over. He always had to ruin my concentration. I stared at him as he came to a stop next to me.

"Well? Are you coming?" His gaze fell on the rope in my hands, and then his face dropped. He recognized my thinking position. "Kyarii... why do you do that to yourself? You're never going to remember what you've lost by forcing it like that. When the memories are supposed to come back to you, they will!"

I looked up at him and couldn't help but force a smile, I hated making him worry about me. "I know! Just thought I'd try. You'd think after 5 years I'd remember something... a name... or... face..." but I couldn't hold up the forced optimism and my face returned to an empty expression.

He held out his hand for me to take, "Forget it! Ha- oops! Wrong choice of words, but you know what I mean. Just forget it. You're Kyarii Nara, adopted child of the Nara clan."

I started to smile again, "Yeah... It's just worth a try every now and then, you know?"

He looked into my eyes and nodded, "I know, you say that every time.." He paused and then gestured his hand out to me again, "Let's go. We're gonna be late."

I looked up at him from where I was sitting and realized we were in this same forest and position when we had first met. It was a comforting feeling that I had such a pleasurable memory such as that. I took his hand and stood up, "Thanks, Mizuki."

Mizuki shook his shaggy white hair out of his face, "You bet." We started to walk back towards the entrance of the forest. "Hey, you owe me for all the times I've cheered you up!"

I laughed, "Who said I was upset?"

He raised an eye brow as if to ask why I would ask such a question, "C'mon, I know you better than anyone else in this entire village!"

I was just about to refute his statement when he took off out of the forest yelling, "Last one to school buys lunch!"

"Ahh! Mizuki!" I whined before my competitive spirit kicked in. I ran after him at full speed while yelling, "That's not fair you had a head start!" It took my full strength to catch up with him, but I did. We ran together out of the woods and into the morning sun, with the rope now safely strung back in it's usual spot around my belt loops.