1. Just the two of us
Land of Wind, Somewhere south of Sunagakure
A destroyed cart and 3 bodies were what remained at the aftermath of an unprovoked attack by an unknown shinobi. A set of paw-prints in the sand made by a giant tanuki was also left behind just metres from the attack site. No true shinobi would ever leave a trace of evidence implicating them. Or even survivors to tell the tale.
One of the bodies, that of a female toddler got up as if she was resurrected. Sand swirled around her and when it dissipated, it revealed her mint-green short hair and a tattoo of the kanji for one on top of her left eyebrow. She collapsed on her knees, crying and sobbing at the horrible atrocity that no child as young as her should ever go through.
"Mom, Dad, please wake up." she wailed, her mind not being able to comprehend what happened.
"Please, help me. My parents won't wake up anymore and I don't know what to do."
Despair started to overcome her, unable to fathom why no one would come to her aid. She could only cry more, the only thing she could reasonably do.
"Even if it's those demons from Mom's bedtime stories, just help me please."
Deep inside her mind, something answered her cry.
The girl's consciousness
She became frightened, thinking that she was being taken somewhere where she could never get out as she was dragged towards a room. Upon arrival, she saw a giant, sandy brown tanuki with markings around its body except around its belly, a large tail, and eyes surrounded with black sclerae.
"You were calling me." It replied in an annoyed tone. "What is it you want, little girl? I'm trying to plot my revenge right now."
"Please help me giant scary tanuki." she replied to it. "My parents won't wake up and I don't know what to do."
The tanuki knew he was in a bind. He got tricked by the unknown shinobi thinking he had gold dust that he needed to gain an advantage over a certain nine-tailed kitsune. Now he was sealed inside the girl and is now stuck with her for the rest of her life. His plan now depended on her survival and much-needed training by someone that he knew before.
"Look here little girl. Both of us are in trouble because of that baka that tricked me and killed your parents."
"Killed! Does that mean that they will never wake up again?" she said, about to cry.
"Unfortunately for you, yes. But I have a plan to find your parents' killer and still do what I want to do." he said, knowing that he can at least have an influence on her without wrestling control from his new vessel. "We're going to meet an old container of mine who can train you to become a shinobi that will rival the Nanadaime Hokage."
"I don't understand tanuki-san. And I'm hungry." noticing that her belly rumbled.
"My last container wasn't as annoying as you. But then at least he had a dad around." he said sarcastically.
The girl started to cry again. "Are you mad at me tanuki-san? Am I a bad container?"
"Calm down, little girl, I was just being sarcastic. And stop crying for goodness sake. If we are going to get revenge, then you need to start acting like a shinobi. And they only cry at the right time when no one is around to kill them."
He overlooked that she only had enough strength to get to the nearest town. "But we have to go now. Just do what I say and all will be fine."
Attack site
The girl started walking towards the direction that the tanuki told her to face. While she did that, the tanuki started to sink the site into the sands with his powers. At least her parents' body won't be eaten by vultures.
"And one more thing little girl." the tanuki said. "Since I'm stuck with you for the rest of your life, there's no point in just simply calling me 'tanuki-san', so who are you anyway?"
"My name is Kira, tanuki-san." she replied to her in a weak voice, herself being drained due to constantly crying. "What's yours?"
"Shukaku, the one-tailed demon tanuki of the sand." he said with pride.
"Please don't leave me Shukaku. I don't want to be alone."
"I can't leave you anyway, even if I wanted to. Didn't I say I was stuck with you for the rest of your life."