Chapter 1: Bitter Sweet Change
"So, are you excite to be going back home?" Jino asked.
Himai didn't understand why he asked that question if she knew that he DEFINITELY KNEW the answer to that question. Being who she was, she replied honestly.
"What do you think Jino. That I'd be jumping for joy to go back when I was sent away for some ridiculous reason. Took the old man 7 years to decide he wanted me to come back home. What's so bad about me that out of all my siblings I was the one chosen to leave the village for as he said 'a little while.' If seven years is a little while to him I wanna know what's a long time!"
Jino sighed. He knew he'd get this reaction from the girl for asking that question. Since her father sent them that letter saying she could come home, well, she hasn't been in the greatest of moods. Over the years she had built a resentment towards the man and his decisions. Due to that resentment she had become very "emotionally challenged", to say the least. The girl could go from being calm and serene to a blazing fire of fury to completely cold and unforgiving and back to calm in a heartbeat. Jino thought to himself
'I mean, you can't really blame her, to be told as a young child you have to leave your home without a solid reason and wait for a message to return home, it's no wonder she's like this. Still, I hope she doesn't kill the man at the first sight.'
Seven years ago
Himai sat in front of her parent, as well as the rest of the family council, not fully paying attention to the people's bickering. She was growing very impatient just sitting there, an eight year old can't really stay patient for the two hours, and these people were here talking forever, at least they got to talk. It must have been an important meeting if the Hokage was present. She wondered how the old man isn't dead form all the smoking he does.
"So it's settled then, Himai!" Her father's voice echoed in throughout the room
"What." She responded, her patience was growing very thin and she didn't care in the slightest that she had responded so rudely to her father. She didn't even know why she was here.
Her father's eyebrow twitched at her response. "As it has been determined, the next heir to the Okibi clan will leave Konohagakure and be on constant move from location to location until a message is sent for her return."
Himai stood up and slammed her hands on her father's table, using the chair for leverage.
"What?! Why?!"
"Because I am you father and I say so, therefore you should listen to your elders."
"What did I do to be sent away?!"
"It's for your own good!"
"My own good? What's so wrong with me that I have you go 'for my own good?!'"
"It's what's needed to help you!"
"With wh-"
"Enough!" Himai and her father looked to where the voice came from.
Two seats from Himai's father's right side was her grandmother, Zurui, or as Himai liked to call her, mood killer. Himai always felt scrutinized under her grandmother's gaze and never liked her input on ANYTHING.
"Young lady you will act respectfully towards your elders! You will do as you are told, no exceptions!"
Himai stared at her grandmother with disdain for a moment before sitting back down on her chair.
"Very well then," her father continued. "You will leave no later than by the end of the week. Paperwork will be filled out so that you may continue your academy training on your travels. Once you have reached the status of genin you will be given a special examination for your level up in rank if and when your guardian sees it fit. With the exception of your guardian and a few letters that I or the Hokage may send you during you time out you will have absolutely no contact with anyone from Konohagakure until you are called to come back. Do you have any questions?"
"Who's my guardian going to be? I should at least be able to know that before I go." Himai said sternly.
"Your guide will come from our guardian clan. It will be Hogosha, Jino."
At least it would be a familiar face. Jino was the age of her older brother and sister, six years older than her. According to rumors, he achieved the rank of ANBU the previous year, a truly gifted person. He was very close to Himai's sister, so she was comfortable around him. In her mind, it's the only right thing about this decision.
"Anything else, Himai?" Her father asked.
"No." She replied.
"I call this meeting closed" Her father said. Everyone stood, bowed to her father, and left silently. Himai's grandfather went to his granddaughter who was still sitting in the chair looking at the ground. He was a complete 180 degree change from her grandmother.
"I'm sorry, once they found out you knew how to mold chakra last year, there was nothing I could do. They have been planning this for a while now. I'm bound by secrecy not to tell you anything. I'm sorry little one."
"It's fine jiji, thank you for showing me in secret how to wield chakra before they found out. If it wasn't for you, I would probably be very bored just reading books about dumb laws."
They both laughed at the girl's comment, knowing that that laugh might not be heard for a long while after that. Her grandfather, Hikougi, hugged her before leaving the room, Himai following behind him.
Present Time
Jino thought to himself that though she had become so cold harded and thought everyone around her was an idiot, she had been able to achieve great things in seven years. Though being very young, she was given the title ANBU at the age to twelve, allowing her to assist Jino in his missions that were still given to him from Konoha. Before that time, Himai would have to stay in a specific location and wait for him to come back, if he did that is. Becoming an ANBU actually made his guardian mission a lot easier.
"We still have about two hours before we reach the village so I want to tell you what's going to happen the following week."
"What's gonna happen."
"Well, for starters, there's some skill training you have to go through, it's called bonding."
Himai looked at him as if he was delirious. The last time Himai had a "bonding" lesson was when she was still training to be a genin.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that even though you're a high ranked ninja, now that you're going to be a village shinobi, you'll be getting mission that require you to work with other people, not just me. So you'll be assigned two teams to co-train with a jounin sensei. Every week you'll switch between the two teams to train with them until the jounins of those teams see you fit enough to work in a team without being supervised."
"So basically I'm gonna be learning how to work with little kids? Might as well make me teach at the academy." Himai said annoyed. The only other person she has worked in any missions with is Jino, which was a piece of cake since the guy was very good at silent communication and understanding.
"Not exactly, see the teams have ninjas in your age group."
"But don't people become chunin or jounin by the time they're my age?"
Jino's eyebrow twitched. This comment was the exact reason why she'd be working on her bonding skills. Being so isolated from the world meant that she didn't have a good concept on human development, let alone human emotion.
"Not everyone achieve high ranks at such young ages, it actually very rare."
"What a waste of time."
"Some people don't even go up to jounin or ANBU. They'd much prefer being chunin or even staying a genin."
"What's the point of being a ninja if you just plateau and decide to stay at one stage?"
"Unlike you, some people don't want to and are forced to become ninja against their will."
"Then why don't they just do something that will inhibit then from becoming ninja's?"
"Fear of death or dishonor, pride, etc. You know, normal people don't really have such morbid ways of thinking like you." Jino argued. This girl desperately needed friends.
"Are normal people sent off for seven years for no reason?" Himai countered.
Jino growled. A major defect the girl developed from being so alone and in ANBU missions was that she became a master at twisting words. It got some good confessions out of criminals, but then she just started using it on a daily basis on Jino, countering his statements. He stayed silent.
"Didn't think so" She continued.
"Just try to make some friends. You wouldn't want people to think you're a self-absorbed weirdo whose only friend is an older guy who is forced to talk to her do you?"
"Isn't that who I am now anyways?"
"You know what I mean kid!" Jino yelled, smacking her upside the head.
Himai smirked after getting hit, knowing she stroke a nerve on him. This was one of her few sorts of entertainment.
"One more thing Himai" Jino said, catching her attention again.
"Hm?"
"You cant tell anyone outside my family any yours that you're an ANBU."
"More secrets? Why?"
"Because people will come after you AND the village wanting to kill you and harm others just because they want to test out how strong you are if you became an ANBU at twelve. Plus you'll scare your teams."
Himai sighed. "Fine, though I don't see what's the problem with other people knowing."
JIno stoped walking and waited for Himai to stop walking so he could speak.
"Look, now that you're going to be living in society so to speak, everything you do can affect others around you. Just because you're strong enough to take down a 50 person army by yourself does not meant you can keep your companions out of harm. You have to start thinking of others and not just yourself. This is going to be how you live for the rest of your life. And if you're going to be clan leader, then you BEST start learning how to do so immediately."
"Well it's not like I WANT to be head of a clan in the first place."
"Judging by how things have been in the past seven years, and the fact that your father didn't call us back sooner, it doesn't look like you have much of a choice."
Jino continued walking with Himai by his side. The rest of the walk was silent. Although she didn't want it to be true, she know that jino was right. It didn't look like she was EVER going to be free from her fate.
'I wonder if this is how those people who don't want to be shinobi feel, imprisoned. Is that the word? Yeah, I think so.'