Chapter One - Traveling
"What!?"
"I said, you have been entered in an arranged marriage. The boat will arrive for you tomorrow."
That's how it had all started…
She was running. The deep blue waves crashing against the rocky shore did nothing to distract her. Neither did the white and grey birds flying above. She was used to all of this.
Her head band shone in the morning sunlight. The black band was tied loosely around her pale neck, tied in a neat bow.
She had been running for fifteen minutes when she saw the boat. The boat that would lead to her future.
"Laysha!!" She looked up into the familiar blue eyes of her twin brother Lucas, coming towards her, angry. "The boat has been ready to leave for twenty minutes!! Where were you!?"
"I was saying good bye to mom! When I leave, I wont be able to visit her grave anymore. He probably won't let me." She was shouting now, but you could hear the sadness in her voice. Lucas looked at her apologetically.
She gathered her things and walked down the old dock to get aboard the wooden ship. Her long black hair blew in the sea shore wind. Her blue eyes, that mirrored her brothers, were deep with the sadness of departure.
It was a three day trip to Kohona from her village. She spent most of the boat trip sparring with Lucas. They fought until it started to get dark, both using no hold backs. But the captain had called them in for supper.
"Look, Laysha." Lucas had said to her at supper. "The village is grateful that you're doing this, it will strengthen our ties with the leaf village a lot!"
She nodded and faked a smile..she was NOT happy.
The boat hit the shores that night. They all geared up for another night of running. It would take them ten hours to arrive at Kohona. But Laysha and Lucas were both perfectly fit for the run. So they started off through the trees.
Laysha had never realized how much she loved the trees. There wasn't very much of them where she came from. She loved how the green leaves would dance in the wind and play with the breezes. Although it did remind her of him…
The wind was blowing as she stood beneath the trees. Her father had brought her here as official village business. She was playing with one of her dolls under a tree.
"My doll and I hate that there is no water here!" She said with a frown on her little face.
Then a dog came over and ripped the doll out of her hands. She was upset but she just stood her ground. She tried to take the doll from the little dog but it was intent on keeping it.
"Hey! What are you doing to my dog!" a little boy with scruffy hair and two triangles on his face was running over. He looked like a dog too, but he was sort of cute.
"He stole my doll! I want it back!" she was very angry now.
"Hey stupid, don't blame the dog! He's rescuing it from your ugliness!! It's a stupid little doll anyway!! Common let's get outta here!" He signaled for his dog to follow him but he had dropped a small leaf pendant. She cried as he ran away. That had been her mother's doll. Back when she was a kid. Back when she was alive. Before the fire.
She took her pendant in her hand and scowled. Now after all these years she wasn't going to find him. Sneaking away from the village for days trying to discover where it was her father had taken her proved effortless. She was going to be stuck in this village and would never be able to search for the boy who had been so rude to her as a child.
They arrived at the village the next morning. She was sweaty and exhausted from the over night run. But she stood tall as she entered the village gates.
When they entered, they were greeted by the Hokage. He gave them a warm smile when he saw them.
"Hello, let me welcome you on be half of our village. I am very pleased that you are going to be marrying one of our citizens. There is a small hotel where you can rest up before meeting his family and me for dinner. Shikamaru here will show you how to get there." He nodded to a boy with a spiky ponytail before bowing and walking away.
"Hey, let's go." The boy said lazily. Then he turned around and walked towards the hotel.
Lucas spoke up as soon as they had started walking. "So, Shikamaru was it? Do you know the boy my sister is supposed to marry? Father didn't tell us anything."
"Yeah. I know him. Not too well. He was on another team. But I've seen him around." Shikamaru then waved off the question saying that he wasn't supposed to reveal anymore.
They arrived at the hotel a quick two minutes later. Shikamaru led them to their room, bowed and informed them that someone else would be coming to take them to dinner.
As Laysha walked into the bathroom to freshen up, Lucas notified her that he had found a blue summer dress and some dress clothes in a bed room. She thanked him and proceeded to hop in the shower.
After both of them had taken showers and rested, Lucas had helped Laysha put her hair in a high pony tail, and then there was a knock at the door.
Lucas opened the door to a small girl with black hair and white eyes. She played with her fingers nervously as she told them that she was Hinata and that she had come to escort them to supper.
Laysha wanted to ask Hinata if she knew the future groom. But she decided to wait until she met him. They exited the small hotel and proceeded to walk down the street.
Lucas and Hinata seemed to be lost in conversation as they talked about each others villages. So Laysha held back a little and took in the scenery. Then she saw it.
A tree standing all by itself in a park. She had seen that tree before, but where? It looked so familiar. NO! It couldn't be!! She absentmindedly grabbed her leaf pendant when it clicked. That was the tree from her childhood. That was where she had met him all those years ago. An evil smile came to her face when she got an idea.
Even if she did have to marry this guy, she was going to look for him. She didn't know his name and all she remembered was the bushy brown hair. But she was going to look for him. And when she did, he would pay.