I think I had fallen into an obsession the first time I saw their team working together. I mean, sure, I've heard of them- the infamous Team 7- but never before had I laid eyes on them. I had chosen not to go to the Ninja Academy and instead, with the Hokage's permission, had become trained at home with my clan. Being home-schooled left basically no interactions with the outside world, so I always leaped at the chance to run stupid errands. So on a bright Thursday morning I set off to the market to get that night's dinner.
Before I even saw them, I felt them.
Honestly.
I felt them.
They were both distinct, and yet similar. Masculine and feminine. Beautiful and scarred. Complete and damaged. Day and night.
Yes, instantly I felt them before I approached their training field.
Hair, the color of my favorite summer dress, bounced in the reflective glare of the sun. And those eyes. The same color eyes I once dreamed to have as a child. Clear water blue. And the power. The chakra radiating from him. It was like the size of the mountain lodged inside this..vessel.
My attention wavered as the Sun began to attack the Moon.
The Moon was what somewhat what I imagined him to be, unlike the Sun. Hearing the other villagers I had imagined the Sun to be some brute the way they talked and gossiped, but the Moon, he was beautiful like they said. Raven locks flew artistically as he flew towards the Sun. High cheekbones that any girl would mentally kill for, graced him, and eyes, eyes so dark and yet entrancing.
What really made be stop and gawk at them though was the pain and desperation that rolled off of them in waves. And the way it stopped when they fought. With every cheeky grin and fake-sadistic smirk, shouts of "bastard" and "idiot" that could be heard five miles away (well, the former at least)- it was breath taking. And before I knew it, I was standing in front of the posts that framed the field.
But right did I have in their lives?
Who was I to them?
My heart yearned to go in there, and introduce myself or just watch them all day.
But I knew my duty to my family. And I knew I wasn't welcomed.
And so I turned my back on that day, and cherished it. Besides, if it was meant to be..things would simply fall in place.
It had been years since I had thought of that particular memory. Training has consumed my life- almost to the point that I felt restless if I wasn't preparing myself until I could try for a Mastery. My clan worked differently than..well, the outside world it felt like. When one began to "honestly-to-hell-stop-acting-like-brats-and-start-acting-the-age-you-should", as Mothers says, you don't really leave the clan's grounds. To outsiders it sounds as if we're being imprisoned, and sure, the first couple months feels like it, but the problem is that whatever field you chose must be mastered before entering the real world. This rule is a god-sent gift for some, and a long torture for many. Most of the clan are sensitives and are gifted with empathy or elemental powers. With these gifts if we don't control them then we can be impaired in whatever field we pursue.
That's why no one in our clan can train with the clerks or the mine or the ninja academy or the flower shop or the armory or anything. The teachers there can't focus on us primarily, nor could they understand how to help us.
But man, after years of training and honing skills, I desperately needed to breathe..the real world and become the best Healer I could be. Not a lot of my clan chooses that profession.
Most of the girls around my age here train to be ninjas. They want to be a part of ANBU and fight alongside the boys, and of course most, if not all, the boys want to become "the greatest ninjas the world has ever seen".
I once thought that I too wanted to be part of ANBU or a ninja- one that any village could depend on, but an incident a couple of years ago changed that.
When I was around eight our clan was ambushed by rogue ninjas trying to discover our clan's secrets. Their plan was to take the children.
My eyes snapped opened and I promptly started scrunching my nose in confusion.
Glancing over to the left, the digital green clock blinked '2:45 AM'.
'Why am I awake?' A faint red glint shadow appeared in my head. 'I wish my powers would develop faster!' I sat up in bed but suddenly fell off, my heart clenching tightly, the smell of blood, screams in my head, and..and the happiness of seeing red. Abruptly as the feeling came, it vanished, only the scent of blood in my noise.
A creak sounded and a sliver of light appeared as my chestnut door was slowly opened.
"Mama?"
At the sound of my voice the door stopped opening. A pause, and then the door itself were blasted off the hinges.
Arms shot themselves out of the darkness and covered my mouth. The taste and scent of leather encased me. My foot thrashed out to try to connect with Leather Person's private parts.
WHAM
I grinned, until hands went around my neck. My nails stuck themselves into the hands around my neck as oxygen began to deplete.
"Kenji, stop it. We need them alive right now," a deep voice commanded somewhere from the door way.
The hands were instantly removed, but instead of leaving I was picked up and shoved on the stranger's shoulder, sharp armor poking and scratching me. Stepping out from my room, I heard the screams. The screams I heard in my head moments ago coming to life.
It was a mess. A bloody mess. Chaos. Noise. Endless screaming and body parts everywhere. And then there was darkness. It consumed me until I lost consciousness.
When I woke up again I was too warm, and there was silence, only the faint mummers of people crying. Arms were embracing me, limply around my small body. I looked up and there was one of my uncles looking down at me with a smile, blood surrounding us, and the foggiest, blankest eyes I have ever seen.
At that moment I knew I never wanted to kill.
My clan stopped the rogue ninjas from capturing all the children, but not before the deaths of my favorite uncle, six other relatives and even two children that I had played with as a toddler
It was surreal, not being able to do anything, but I didn't want to get revenge, I had just wanted to heal the wounds on my dear uncle.