AN: um, enjoy?

Warnings: none, not yet at least

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I own the little girl, who will be named later. ^^

Itachi once said, every person dies like they were born. A monster, a shinobi, or an innocent. I never believed him and I know I wasn't the only one. I liked to think that everyone could choose for themselves whether to die as a hero or a wimp. In my eyes, everyone could change, even such a loudmouth like Hidan. I never thought I would be that wrong...

I cradled the lifeless body in my arms closer. It has been some time since it last moved and even longer since its last breath. I ran a hand tenderly over the smooth surface and stopped at the chest. No heartbeat, never again. I feel the familiar sting of tears trying to come from my eyes, but they couldn't. I stopped crying a long time ago... I shook my head and laughed, laughed about my pure stupidity.

Sure, people could change, Itachi's own brother was the best example for that, but in the end, one would still die the way they were born. I was no exception. I will die the way I lived, as a puppet, tied to its master's strings till the very last moment.

- 17 years ago -

The little girl quivered and curled into a ball. She was so afraid. Where was her father, her mother and all the others? She remembered them telling her to run away and to hide, but then there were all those screams and noises that even the storm was unable to drown and suddenly everything had been silent.

She didn't know what to do. The girl whimpered and pulled her knees up to her chest. She was wet and tired and scared and there was no one around to comfort her. "Well, what do we have here…?" The little girl squeaked in fear and whirled around. She looked up and her eyes went wide. In front of her was a large man with a mask in front of his face and an emotionless pair of eyes looking down at her. She whimpered again, pitifully.

The man chuckled darkly and she saw something glint behind his back. "You are too small for a puppet. I shall let you die fast." A metal tail with an iron tip dashed forth, aiming exactly at her heart. The girl let out a scream and instinctively raised her hands in defense.

There was a moment of complete silence as she felt nothing at all. No pain, no relief, nothing. Why?

She peaked through her fingers and saw a single fragile thin thread coming from one of her fingertips and ending on the tip of the metal tail. The man looked just as surprised as the girl herself and neither moved a muscle as they looked at the thread. She gulped, not daring to lower her hands a bit in fear of being stabbed. The man eyed her critically before sighing.

"Seems like I have to take you with me after all.", he grumbled. The thread broke as the large tail wrapped around her waist and lifted her off the ground. Too afraid to make a sound, the girl just watched her tormentor horrified.

The man didn't seem to care at all, he simply turned around and walked back towards her house. Her eyes widened when she saw all the bodies scattered on the ground, surrounded by pools of blood.

The bodies of her own family.

She spotted her parents, side by side, and felt tears dwell up in her eyes. A small, almost inaudible whimper escaped her lips. The man holding her captive sat her down on the floor, ordering her with a simple glare to stay where she was, before he lifted up two of the dead bodies, uncles of her she noted, and lifted them up with his tail. He then turned around and made a move to lift her up as well, but as he saw with what fear she looked at the corpses already wrapped up in his tail, he sighed.

He let the bodies fall down, picked her up and sat her down on him just behind his head. "One complaint, one word, and I will kill you.", he hissed. The girl nodded and curled up a bit while the man lifted up the dead bodies and started to move.

They traveled long without a stop through woods, plains and deserts and the little girl was starting to feel hungry and thirsty. She hadn't eaten since two days, and even when her stomach growled, she hadn't moved a muscle, neither had she made a single sound, aware of her destiny should she do so.

By now, she was just tired and cold and wanted to sleep, and forget about all those horrible things that happened. The blood, the screams, the following silence. She just wanted to get rid of it and fall into an exhausted, hopefully dreamless sleep. Her clothes were clinging to her body like glue and they were soaked enough for the little girl to feel like she was wrapped in ice. It felt like thousands of needles pricking her skin and numbing her limb. She had stopped shivering about a day ago and to be honest, she already missed it. It had been way better than the pain she had to endure now…

Finally she collapsed onto the other's head, energy spent and body too weak to keep going. The man was about to shout at her to get off, when he noticed that she looked like she was about to die. She watched him through half-lidded eyes, weakly trying to keep them open. There was a silent plea for food and rest in them and he sighed. Damn that girl. If he was going to be late because of her, he would kill her without hesitation…

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