The Village Hidden in the Leaves.
As the soft breeze flowed around my slim stature, a quiet calm seemed to settle over me. I could not help but smile with intense excitement. It had taken me a while to get here as I had gotten lost along the way, four times no less, but finally I had made it. Getting lost was a particular habit of mine but I always found my way eventually and it wasn't as if I were stuck with a time restraint, my orders had been to simply get to the village in one piece. Easy as pie, quite frankly, my adopted clan had worried too much and those escorts had been so much of a drag I'd left them behind days ago.
Treading in mud, leaves and numerous foliage from the forest including bugs, I entered the village with a vibrant pride as intense as my red hair. I had allowed it to flow freely around my shoulders in a tangled mess however it still flowed sleekly with every movement I made, carrying my pack over one shoulder as I made sure to pick up my feet and not trip over. As I walked I noted how the villagers stopped to stare at me, whispering behind their hands and a trickle of nerves began to infiltrate my mind, biting down on my lip before I shook them off and soldiered on. Soon enough I knew I would be stopped but for now I would just keep walking until I had reached the place where that old man would be, the Hokage. I was supposed to go see him first though all I wanted was to see my sister, Kushina.
In truth, I didn't really remember my sister. She was ten years older than I was, our parents having had a large gap in between us for no particular reason and Kushina had left for the village to learn how to be a ninja when I was still a young child, not even a year old. I had grown up on the stories my sister wrote back to my home where some of the clan was, however with our parents now both gone, we were all that we had left in the world and we both held a great responsibility. As a clan, we the Uzumaki were steadfast and durable, able to continue fighting and enduring for long periods of time under great strain, however there was only so much grief one person can hold alone. My father had died when I was young, so I don't remember him much but mother had been hard to let go of.
Pain stuck at my heart but I pushed it aside, masterfully hiding it from my expression as I momentarily thought about my mother. I missed her, but I must move on. Kushina is my sister and we shall look after one another from now on, so I do not need to be sad. "You there, red haired girl." A voice spoke and I stopped, politely keeping my hands in front of me where they could be seen and blinked up at the tall shinobi ninja who stood before me. There were two of them, a man and a woman and they both looked particularly serious and stern faced. "Who are you? We do not recognise you. State your business here and show proof of identification."
"Yes sir, ma'am, right away." I nodded and put down my bag, rifling around in my pockets as I tried to find my identification papers and pass to enter the village. "Um, it's here somewhere. You see I'm Yume Uzumaki, I'm Kushina's little sister and I'm here to learn how to be a proper ninja, you know." I stated, quickly going bright red in a fluster as I hurriedly tried to find the documents. Oh no, please tell me I didn't lose them! I am so hopeless, trust me to lose my own papers on the way here, where on earth could they be?
"Don't fool around kid, we're not finding this funny. If you've got no proof of who you are, you'll have to come with us and explain yourself. For all we know, you could be an imposter and a threat. Now come quietly or we'll have to subdue you." The woman told me sternly and I gulped, innocently blinking my deep magenta eyes up at them both.
"But…but…I want to see my sister. Could you please just get her for me? She'll know who I am I know it. I am sorry I lost my documents but I'm not a spy or anything! I'm from the Uzumaki clan of Uzushiogakure." I tried to explain further however when both of them growled and grabbed me roughly by the arm and hair, I squealed and panicked. That hurt! There's no need to be so rough, jeez I was going to come quietly. "Hey! Get off me! You dumb brutes, this is no way to treat a guest ya know!" Gritting my teeth I quickly narrowed my eyes then flung my weight forwards, swirling my legs around in a hurricane like motion which whipped up a minor whirlwind with enough strength to tear the two ninja off of me and I instantly made a break for the Hokage house. I'm guessing it's that big fancy building near the faces of the previous three Hokage, at the very least it's a place to start. "Ha! Can't catch me, I'm too fast for you dummies!"
Giggling gleefully with a belly full of ecstatic excitement I leaped upwards and landed on the roof, quickly sliding my bag across my chest so that I had both hands free. The two shinobi below recovered quickly and gave chase, yelling angrily as I hopped from building to building, arms spread wide like wings as I flew with graceful and acrobatic like movements, walking on my hands along the spine of a roof's crest before I then slid down and disappeared from their sight, reappearing several houses over. "Damn this one is fast, we'll need to head her off!" The woman called to her partner and I sensed someone coming at me from my left.
Instantly I vaulted upwards, spiralling with pointed toes and arms held out in a perfect pirouette before stretching out, the person below me crashing to the ground from where they missed, however in the air they now had me surrounded. "Get her now, before she escapes!" I laughed, enjoying playing this interesting game and as they flung their snares at me, I quickly made the hand signs for a substitution jutsu, replacing my body with the body of one of the other ninja whilst simultaneously transferring myself elsewhere. Using such a jutsu hardly had an effect anymore, I had become so practiced at it.
Whilst those dumb grunts pondered and scratched their heads over how they had been so easily tricked, I giggled behind my hand before hopping through the trees, my bright hair catching in the sunlight as I leaped from a tree and rose upwards, unable to stop smiling. Ah! It feels so good to stretch my legs properly, I'd taking it easy on the way and mostly walked as not to draw attention to myself, but now I could let my hair down and finally feel the breeze. Almost too distracted by the warmth of the sun on my face and the breeze through my cherry red hair, I only sensed the incoming projectile at the last moment so I dodged the shuriken, several of them following me along the tree before I swiftly jumped again, concealing myself away and balancing in the shadows on a slim branch.
"Wow, these guys are pretty serious. It's not as if I lost my papers on purpose, they should totally calm down a little it's not the end of the world." I complained, making a face before exhaling, sitting down on the branch however when I opened my eyes, I saw a boy crouching in front of me. Instantly I gasped, not having sensed him approach or heard him land, he was like a ghost! My eyes stared at him widely, seeing the peculiar pale silvery white of his hair and how he wore a cloth mask to cover the lower half of his face, keeping just his hair and charcoal grey eyes revealed. They were so dark they verged on black, but they were staring at me with equal shock and surprise for a few preciously slow moments.
Before I could even recover myself, the branch suddenly jerked, making us both look down to see it suddenly give way as we had both momentarily forgot to support our weight with our chakra, causing it to collapse. I cried out in alarm and flailed momentarily, my bag slipping over my head however I quickly grabbed onto it and twisted, kicking off the firm bark of the tree and sprung forwards with my other arm going around the boy's waist. He was slim and not particularly tall, in fact he felt quite average and rather light as I instinctively flung my bag down to the ground as we fell and, since I didn't have time to turn and protect him completely, I pulled his head into me and held it tight in my arms as we landed on my soft pack and bounced off again. Both of us yelped and grunted however before we could land on the ground a second time I suddenly felt his arms snapping around me and we twisted so that he landed first, shielding me from the fall as we rolled viciously and were covered with scratches, leaves and twigs.
"Ouch." I complained, dragging myself back from the boy as I rubbed my head. "What a pain, I wanted to at least look presentable for my sister but I guess that's not happening now. Oh well. Hey! Are you okay?" Quickly remembering the boy I placed a hand on his back and pulled him around to face me, looking at him with worry. "I'm so sorry I caused you trouble, I didn't mean for you to get hurt like that, you're not too badly scratched are you?"
"N-No, I'm fine." He finally answered so I beamed at him. Well, if he said he was okay then I guess I don't need to worry. "Um…I-I was sent to catch you." Shaking his head the boy quickly leaped to his feet and jumped back a little, taking up a defensive stance as I remained sitting on the ground covered head to foot in tree clippings and dirt. "So don't try to resist! You won't be able to escape me so easily." Hearing others approaching I momentarily got distracted as I felt something sticking out rather awkwardly in my back pocket. Reaching back I fished around, frowning thoughtfully before suddenly I brightened just as various weapons were levelled at me, an entire platoon of ninja keeping me carefully in their sights.
"Hey look what I found!" I grinned with laughter as I pulled out my documents and my identification which had my picture on it. "I had them on me the entire time! I always forget about my back pocket so I guess this means we're all good now right?" I asked them and I saw several hands slap their faces in despair, however when I sensed a particular chakra approaching quickly I stopped, turning my head just as a beautiful woman with brilliant red hair ran into view.
"Huh?" Kushina stopped, blinking at me before walking forwards. "Wait a second, let me see her." She requested and probably out of respect for her, some of the shinobi stepped aside to let her closer to see me. Instantly my entire world burst with brilliance and warmth as recognition flickered simultaneously in our gazes at the same time. "Yume." She knew who I was, she recognised me.
"Big sis! It's so good to meet you! I've been waiting for ages, ya know." I immediately dropped my papers and leaped onto her, flinging my arms around her waist and burying myself into her warmth as I felt everything finally feel a little better. I couldn't believe it, my sister was right here. She was warm, soft and gentle and full of life, I couldn't ask for a better-THUD.
"Yume! Why did you go around causing trouble for everyone, you should know better than that you little brat!" Kushina yelled after thumping me painfully on the head and instantly my fiery temper flared in answer as we growled at one another with near identical expressions.
"Hey what was that for? It's not my fault they don't know how to treat a delicate young flower such as myself! They were manhandling me and being all rude the least you could do is give them a whack for being such jerks to your little sister!" Sparks flew as we glowered with our eyes ablaze before suddenly we both laughed and Kushina seized me up into her arms and began to spin around with me, the both of us completely forgetting the fact that everyone was staring in astonishment.
"Oh Yume! You've grown so much and you're just the cutest thing ever, I'm so lucky to have an adorable little sister like you!" Kushina squealed before nuzzling my cheek. "Don't worry, once we get home you can have a bath and we'll eat whatever you like and you can meet my husband, Minato. I know you'll like him, but don't bully him okay otherwise I'll be mad." She warned me with warmth and affection as she put me down then apologised to everyone, grabbing my head and making me bow sincerely. I couldn't help but relax when next to her. She wasn't like our quiet tempered mother, she was full of fire and vitality known to our clan. When I stood next to her it was like standing beside a warm fire after a long day in the cold, equally as comforting as it was naturally inviting. As I bowed I turned my head slightly, my sister's hand still clamped down on my head however I caught sight of the silver haired boy close by so I grinned, waving to him friendlily in the hope that he'd forgive me for squishing him earlier. He seemed to go a little red as if the sun had caught his cheeks and looked away. Guess he's shy, that's quite cute, boys aren't usually shy it's refreshing.
"Right then Yume, we've got to go sort out this mess you made, ya know?" Kushina said and instantly I bounced upright, nodding my head enthusiastically.
"Okay! Oh, I have this letter for the Hokage from the chief, I'm supposed to deliver it to him in person." I looked down at the letter I had withdrawn from my inside pocket before laughing guiltily. "Sorry, I kind of dropped it in a muddy puddle on my way over, you know." Blinking momentarily Kushina grinned back down at me, our similar ticks already settling in. She ruffled my hair and assured me that so long as it was readable then there wouldn't be any worry, so I grabbed my things and waved goodbye to the boy one last time. "Bye-bye! See you soon little boy!" I yelled to him before running after my sister who giggled.
"That's one of Minato's students, Kakashi Hatake. He's a very gifted ninja and very serious, maybe you'd be good for him. Make him cheer up a bit." She suggested and I shrugged, thinking about it momentarily before putting it to the back of my mind. I was more focused on the fact that I was holding my sister's hand. I didn't care that I was ten years old, I wanted to walk hand in hand with my sister for the first time and I refused to let go. Between the two of us and our rather unusual hair, people stared at our locks and whispered, some of the younger kids pointing as they tugged on their mothers' skirts. I felt a little shy at this attention. I know my hair was messy but did it really look that bad? Seemingly sensing my fussing as I tugged leaves out of my hair, Kushina smiled down to me. "Don't worry, they'll get used to you very soon. They're used to seeing my hair now so it's just a little strange for them to see someone else with my red hair." She explained.
"Oh, that makes sense. So does that mean we are the only people in the entire village with red hair?"
"That's right." This made me feel a little smug and far more proud of my hair. I had always liked the colour it looked under the sunlight, almost turning to burning flames that would scorch you if you touched them. That paired with my unusual eyes of deep magenta, I was not your average looking girl. Not that looks in particular bothered me, but I was becoming more conscious of them. I guess it's part of growing up, becoming more aware of your body and for girls in particular, their faces. After I had been officially introduced to the Hokage, I handed him my letter and bowed.
"Yume Uzumaki, thank you for inviting me here old man Hokage!" I proclaimed rather loudly and bowed, however my sister choked on her breath and struggled to contain her laughter as everyone else in the room dropped their jaws in shock at my brashness. What? He was old. What's the problem calling it as it was? Adults are so weird. At least my sister thinks I'm funny. The old man in the funny hat blew out a wisp of smoke from his slim pipe before chuckling.
"She reminds me of you, Kushina. This is definitely your sister through and through. Make sure you take good care of her." He said before rising to his feet, stepping around his official looking desk to come and stand before me. "Yume, my name is Hiruzen Sarutobi and I am the Third Hokage of Hidden Leaf Village. I hear you caused quite a ruckus upon your arrival, so I would appreciate you trying to keep out of trouble for the time being. Can you do that for me?"
"Sure can!" I grinned, nodding my head and placing my hands on my hips. "But don't get too comfortable on that seat of yours old man, because someday I'm going to be kicking you out of it and taking over as the Fourth and first female Hokage!" I declared, pointing my finger at him and this time, my sister didn't hold back her laughter.
"You sure do take after me Yume. Come on, we'd better get back so I can prepare food for our celebration tonight." Kushina said, however just then there was a bang and the door flew open, revealing my four escorts as they practically fell through the door in a panic.
"Lord Hokage! Forgive the intrusion but we lost…you!" Deadly and murderous glares were directed towards me as I gulped before guiltily scratching the back of my head.
"Oh, hey you guys. What's up?"
