My mother was a kind woman. She was the one thing that held our family together. But now she's gone.
She was the antithesis of my father. She loved my brother and I despite our freakish powers, despite the fact that we were born with white hair and electric-green eyes. She's dead now.
She died of a disease that no-one in our clan could treat. Our clan only knows how to end lives, not save them. Shortly after her death, our father did something he's wanted to for a long while-lock my brother and I up out of fear of our ability.
We've been trapped within that hellhole for four years, starved of our freedom, deprived of the light. I am now nine, my brother Kimimaro being ten. We think. It's rather easy to lose track of time in prison, as the days blend together. The only indication of the passing of days is our meager daily meal of rice and milk-both of which are typically quite stale.
Kimimaro and I whittle away our time by talking, sleeping, and staring into space. Occasionally, if we're lucky, we train together-but that's only on the rare event that the guard either falls into a deep slumber or leaves to take a break. My brother and I rely on each other completely-without him, I'd be lost.
I look over at my brother, and see that he is in a state of deep meditation, his hands on either side of a carving of a face that he made earlier in our confinement. I crawl over to him, being very slow and silent in the hopes of not disturbing him, but his instincts are too sharp for me to deceive.
"Yuki…" he whispers. "Have you ever wondered whether or not there is a god?" His question catches me off guard. I've never put much thought into the concept of religion, or the existence of gods, demons, or any divine being, for that matter. "Or, if there is a god…"he continues, "why would he allow such things to happen to us?" I've grown used to his questioning of why we're in here. The topic comes up at least once every couple of weeks, and has for the past year or so. Between the two of us, brother is the most philosophically inclined.
"Perhaps this is our fate…" I ponder. "Or some terrible, unjust form of 'divine justice.'"
"This is no 'divine justice!'" he snaps. "What have we done to deserve this?"
"We've done nothing…" I whimper, on the verge of tears. Brother rarely loses his temper, though when he does, he becomes quite angry. I hate it when he directs his anger towards me… I love him so much, and always feel so guilty when I upset him. He's the one person I trust, and life would become a living hell without him. As if it weren't already bad enough…
The two of us sit in silence for a long while, until he finally speaks again. "If mother hadn't died, none of this would have happened. You wouldn't have been abused, we wouldn't be slowly rotting away in prison,-"
"Brother! Just be thankful that father didn't separate us. We can make it through anything, as long as we have each other." Whenever the topic of the unjustness of our confinement comes up, brother always brings up the 'what-ifs.' Between the two of us, I have the short temper, and these 'what-ifs' are practically guaranteed to set me off. Thinking of what could have been will only hold us back, and in our situation, we need to look towards the possibilities of our future. Otherwise, we will surely wither to death.
I hear a great sigh come from Kimimaro. "Unfortunately, Yuki, I cannot protect you from everything…"
"What do you mean, brother?" I ask him, baffled by the sudden change of subject.
He looks at me, a mournful expression on his face. "I couldn't protect you from father's abuse…"
"If not for you, it could have been much worse. He could have continued-in fact he could still be doing that- if you hadn't stopped him." I reassure him.
"But Yuki, if I had been stronger-"
The door of the prison opens, illuminating us. I blink several times, adjusting to the change in lighting, as I do during meal time every day. A bulky figure walks towards our cell, and stands before us. But it's not the food guy. "Kimimaro, Yuki… it's time to put you to good use," he announces in a gravelly voice. Brother grabs my hand, squeezing it. I can tell that our thoughts are the same- this may be our chance for freedom! Our first, and quite possibly last, chance in four years!
"It is time for the two of you to prove yourselves. Use your ability to fight in the name of your clan!"
Kimimaro and I glance at each other briefly, and nod in unison. This is an offer we must not refuse (as if we even had a choice…)! The bulky man (who is a fellow Kaguya with brown hair) unlocks our cell door, and brother and I timidly step out. We both shield our eyes, unused to the intensity of the direct sunlight. We take step after step, feeling the soft grass beneath our feet. This is the farthest we've been since the day we entered our prison cell four years ago.
The three of us eventually arrive at a misty clearing filled with people- Kaguya clansmen, to be specific. A man stands in the middle of the circle, preaching to his fellow clan members. I look at my brother, and he nods in assent- it's our father.
"We shall attack Kirigakure under the cover of nightfall… they won't even see it coming! Kill every man, woman, and child you see!" The clansmen laugh, upsetting my stomach. After all, this will be my first real battle, and it sounds like it will be more of a slaughter fest than anything.
As the sun sets, our clan mates grow restless. The lust for blood and anticipation of the upcoming battle make the air grow thick with an electric current. I feel nervous, and start quivering.
"Is it time yet?" One brute asks, impatient.
"Nearly," the voice of father replies.
Five minutes later, the sun has fallen, the moon has risen, and the mist has grown even thicker.
"The time has come!" Father announces to the cheers of everyone but my brother and I. "Remember-kill every man, woman, and child in your path! The time has come for the destruction of Kirigakure!"
Everyone leaves us behind. We are completely overwhelmed by the events of the day. First, we are freed from our prison under the condition that we fight for our clan. Second, our battle is with Kirigakure- one small clan versus an entire village of shinobi. It is enough to overwhelm even a seasoned warrior, let alone two young children.
"Kimimaro, Yuki… I see that you have chosen to join us on this important night." We hear father's voice address us for the first time in three years- the first time since the end of my abuse.
"What do we do?" Brother naïvely asks father.
"Just follow your instincts. You know what to do…" he replies with a chuckle. "Perhaps your actions tonight will prove you worthy of being a Kaguya…" With a final, mad cackle, he leaves us to join the rest of the clan.
After a few moments of pondering his words, we find ourselves running, travelling the long road to Kirigakure. Neither of us wishes to fight, but we are too loyal to disobey father, despite all he's done to hurt us.
We sprint through the forest, down a path carved by several hundred years' worth of travelers walking the same road.
Brother suddenly halts in front of me, taking my attention away from the scenery and directing it towards the current situation- a man and a young boy walking towards us. Kimimaro and I create bone knives, obeying our orders to kill all in our path.
As they draw closer, the boy makes eye contact with me, and I hold his gaze. He appears to be around the same age as me…
Kimimaro asks the man, who is armed with a massive sword, whether or not he and the boy are of the Mist. I watch as the man grasps the hilt of his sword, his eyes on Kimimaro's knife.
"No," replies the man, his voice quite deep. Kimimaro lowers his knife, and the man relaxes his grip on the sword. Brother apologises for his rudeness, and begins to walk away.
I continue to analyse Haku's soft features, trying to learn as much about him as I can. He seems to be quite out of place by this man's side… a boy with such a sweet face ought to be at home, loved by his parents… not wandering misty roads at night.
Eventually the man with the large sword calls the boy. "Haku… Come." Haku…
I run after Kimimaro, the name Haku ringing in my head all the while.
In the distance, I see yet another figure standing on the Cliffside that overlooks the great shinobi village of Kirigakure. Smoke billows into the night sky, obscuring the stars' visibility. The screams and cries of battle form a haunting melody, one that I know I will hear in my dreams for many moons to come. A shiver runs down my side, and I stop in my tracks, feeling quite queasy. Whether my emotions are out of fear or anticipation I know not…
The mysterious figure is a pale figure, very tall and thin, clad in a soft green kimono with long, silky black hair that flows down his back. He appears to be absorbed by the chaos within the village below. I feel an immense power surging from him, one that I am afraid to approach, yet at the same time one that I want to grasp for myself.
Kimimaro, on the other hand, charges right in, preparing to attack while his foe's back is turned. In an inhumanly quick motion, the man spins around and backhands my brother, sending him through the air and into me, causing us both to fall to the ground.
He looms over the both of us, casting a shadow in the light of the moon. His face is that of a devil, his features serpentine-yet at the same time, he glows like an angel. He speaks in a voice that is soft, silky, and persuasive. "I believe that what you seek lies beyond this cliff." He pats each of us on the head, chuckling.
At the man's words, brother pulls me to my feet and we both run to join the battle.
Victory seems impossible for our clan. We, an unorganized clan of brutes with no government or military, have challenged the powerful village of Kirigakure who has both a strong military AND organized government. Not to mention, Kirigakure's forces outnumber ours of a ratio of at least ten to one. Even I, a nine-year-old with no knowledge of warfare can see that much.
The battle has only been raging for two hours and already the body count of my clansmen is high. After all, it is not difficult for a trained shinobi to kill a foolish barbarian who is only armed with a club or another primitive weapon.
I look over towards my brother, who nods as if to say, 'there is nothing better for us to do. It's not as if we have anywhere to go. We might as well fight.' I return his nod, and join the fray.
At first I stumble. It takes me a few seconds to kill a shinobi. My first kill sent a shudder of revolt through my body-I just stole someone's life. He may have had a wife, children, a great life ahead of him. My hands are now stained with his blood. After a few minutes, though, I become able to take down thirty-year-old jônin with one sweep of my bone sword.
A handful of opponents have fainted at the mere sight of my kekkei genkai, my bloodline limit. The sight of a nine-year-old girl sticking her rib cage out of her torso or pulling out her radius, ulna, and humerus is apparently not an everyday sight.
If an opponent sneaks up behind me, I merely calcify some bones and send them out of my back like stakes to skewer my foe. It's all too easy, once you look past the sight of the corpses and the blood dripping off of your bones, once you stop thinking of the life you just took, the look in the eyes of your victim.
Battle is a rush. Your life is on the line, and you have to fight in order to survive. To be honest, survival is my only purpose for fighting at the moment. I have no purpose in life-no home, only my brother to keep me company-and I don't know what life will throw at me after I leave this battlefield. If I leave this battlefield.
Soon enough, the battle is over. I look around and see only the soldiers of Kirigakure standing. And so it ends… It appears that no other Kaguya have survived. Except…
"Brother! I'm so glad to see you alive!" I run over to Kimimaro, and into his arms.
"I'm glad you're safe, too. And it appears that…" he scrutinizes me, "you don't even have a single scratch. That's impressive!" he squeezes me once more. I note my blood-soaked garments, my tattered clothing.
"Brother, what do we do now?"
"First, we leave this wretched place!"
To be continued in Chapter 2