Disclaimer: I keep saying that I'll only write this once, but I'll probably keep on writing it for every chapter.
A/N: I'm trying to write a chaptered story here - (my HP readers are probably not the most happy about this) - I'm not sure if it's going to be any good. After all, this is my first long story for Naruto and the characters of this story are not even the mainstream. But I hope you'll support me through this; because unless I get through with this story, I don't think I'll ever write long stories for Naruto's other couples.
Let's see, a little bit more about the story: It's basically my semi-AU take to the events that lead up to Naruto. It consists of 5 rather influential women that are often overlooked in the story. This is my take of them. There is going to be a different tone in each chapter due to the characters' personalities. I will try to make each chapter link to the other as much as possible.
Mikoto
A summer breeze caressed the canopy of endless green, rattling leaves into a leisurely dance across the country. She entered the branches of the forest with a playful mind and lifted birds into the sky to soar under a blazing sun. She, then, with a sudden vigor, blew into a village embraced by trees and mountains, startling the men and women with her strong gust. She laughed gaily as girls pressed at their dresses and men pulled on their hats. She humored children with their kites and played music on the chimes for an old couple resting in their home. She stopped, curiously, at a swing where a lone girl sat. Her hands reached out to play with the girl's hair then to tickle her face. And as quickly as she had stopped, she seemed to lost interest and flew right pass the girl. Leaving her alone but soothed.
Mikoto leaned unconsciously into the touch of the summer breeze and smiled at the comfort it brought. She dug her heels into the earth slightly and pushed herself a short way off the ground on her swing. She looked at the sky as the swing brought her closer…then further away from its never-ending blue, trying not to think about the finalized arrangement in the morning but still wondering whether things would be the same again.
It was a nice day with blue skies and small white clouds. Mikoto wished everyday could be like this summer afternoon. But August was coming to an end, and soon the weather would change with September.
The idea of change made her feel odd like it never did. It wasn't that she hadn't expected things to change. After all, change was the only constant in the world, especially the one of Shinobi, the sensible part of her mind told her; but she had just thought, hoped, that changes for a teahouse owner's daughter would not be so grand and daunting.
She didn't think her shoulders would ever be wide enough to carry the weight of the change…she was only sixteen…
Mikoto scoffed at that thought and discontinued it.
She would have to, whether she liked it or not.
She pushed herself off the swing, slowed to a stop sometime during her train of thoughts, and looked at her watch before slowly making her way across the yard. She curled her long dark hair behind her ears and began to walk leisurely down the street.
"Mikoto-chan! You look well today!"
She turned to the old couple's house around the corner of her home and waved enthusiastically. She watched the old man lying on his wife's lap with a smile, and sighed wistfully when she was too far to see them. Mikoto continued to head away from her house.
People stared at her.
They stared at her as she walked past, and some, more rude, pointed and whispered. Younger children, those who'd barely learnt how to walk, toddled over to her, peering at her as if they'd never seen anything like her. And they probably hadn't- at least not one walking 'normally' down a street. She was one of the only teenagers in the village not in uniform or as she heard some babies cry to their mothers 'she's not flying!'
She continued on her way, smiling at the innocent and curious faces. But she tensed suddenly, as two uniformed men walked down the street in the opposite direction. The two men recognized her almost as quickly as she did them. They slowed as they approached and Mikoto slowed her step too.
Dark hair and even darker eyes looked at her. She tried not to shift under the obsidian gaze as she looked back into their faces. A thin slip of a smile crossed the mouth of the older one. She swore she had seen him at the Yui-no. He nodded politely, followed by the other man, and she returned the gesture, stiffly.
"He has made a good choice. Mikoto-san, you're as they claim."
"Thank you." She replied, glad that she sounded as dignified as her newly acquired status expected of her. With another saluting nod, she left the men, earning more stares from passerby.
When Mikoto arrived, the four of them were standing in a circle, closely knitted in the already empty yard. She watched in amusement as one exclaimed, with arms flailing out, "She said she was going to come!"
"Anko," another one said. "You know how her body is."
"That's why she should come!" Anko retorted. "She can breathe in more fresh air!"
"Yes, but the heat could make her sick, right, Shizune?" the other girl turned to her friend next to her.
The girl addressed, Shizune, smiled at her two friends nervously. "She will come, so let's not argue."
"She's here." The final member of the tight circle stated as she saw Mikoto.
"Mikoto-nee-chan!" yelled the two arguing girls as they sprinted towards her, smiling brightly.
"Hello, Anko, Rin." She greeted and was immediately presented with two dark color pieces of cloth with the symbol of their village carved into a thin sheet of metal on it. Her smile brightened a bit more as she exclaimed, "Congratulations! You two are finally Genins!
"I suppose Kurenai and Shizune are Genins too." She said, smiling at the other two girls who had just arrived.
They nodded and showed her their forehead protectors before putting them on their foreheads with a grin…the same grins that her brothers wore when they got their forehead protectors.
A sudden pang of nostalgia hit Mikoto. And it twisted her stomach so painfully that it felt like watching her brothers putting their very own insignia of the village again before half-disappearing from her life.
That was the end of their childhood. Their barely existing childhood was over.
Mikoto wondered whether the four girls understood the meaning of the forehead protector besides graduation from the Academy. Because forehead protectors were the sign of adulthood. It didn't matter that they weren't allowed to drink yet. It didn't matter that they didn't really understand their jobs. It didn't even matter that they had yet to know the functioning of their own bodies.
They had their forehead protectors. And that meant being adults.
Mikoto had never had one, nor would she ever have one. But she understood its many implications. She understood them all too clearly as she looked up and saw the woman who was her four friends' sensei. The woman, probably only slightly older than she was, darted away as soon as their gaze met.
They both understood the meaning of forehead protectors. And neither knew how to explain it to the younger girls. How did one explain death to a child?
Anko was only six and the other three, seven.
"Mikoto-nee-chan?" Kurenai's voice brought her back. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she assured, as she looked back down. "Just a little parched from the walk."
"Let's go to the Teahouse then! My choice! I love the dango Oba-chan makes!" exclaimed Anko, starting to pull Mikoto away from the Academy.
The weakening of the sun seemed to bring more onto the streets as they maneuvered into Mikoto's mother's teahouse that overlooked the streets. The Teahouse consisted of two buildings, one where geishas entertained and a small shop next to it. Miyu-baa-chan, who helped at the shop greeted them happily as they entered, claiming that her 'favorite girls' had came for a visit. The genins promptly ordered their tea and sat down on a table, waiting.
Rin immediately burst into conversation, eager to tell the rest about her team.
"I'm on the team with Kakashi and Obito!" she exclaimed. "You know, the genius boy who graduated the next year we started the Academy."
The newly made genins' smiles stretched wide as they congratulated their friend on having such renowned teammates. Mikoto smiled too as she overheard the conversation but her mind was contemplative. She was the only one in the group who remembered, if not knew, the son of the White Fang and the horrible incident that happened to the young boy. And upon remembering it, not for the first time, she was glad that she wasn't a ninja.
"This is going to be so great! I'll improve quicker and show them how great a kunoichi I am! I'll probably become a chuunin faster than any of you!"
"Rin-" Shizune nudged her friend and was about to reprimand her about getting ahead of herself.
"No you will not!" Anko said loudly, grinning challengingly at Rin. "I'll be chuunin first!"
And a fight was about to begin again, when Kurenai's calm voice interrupted, "I'm on the team with Anko and Heiji."
Quickly catching onto the cue, Shizune added in her part, "That's odd. Normally, it's a two male and one female cell. It's a great sign that we, kunoichi, are becoming better, ne?"
"Yes, of course!" Rin interjected enthusiastically. "We'll always be better than boys! Who's on your team anyways?"
"I'm with Genma and Raidou."
"Genma? Who's that?" Anko asked, her face deep in concentration as she tried to put a face to the name.
"He's the one you keep on pranking because you seemed to like the way his senbon fell out and got his foot last time." Kurenai reminded calmly.
"Oh." Anko said embarrassedly and tried to stir the conversation away from pranking. "I'm looking forward to start the missions. Aren't you eager about it? What type of missions do you think we're going to do?"
"Assassination!"
"Escort!"
"Espionage."
Mikoto smiled from next to the counter where she waited for their orders as they discussed excitedly. Miyu-baa-chan came to her with a tray of dango and hot tea.
"Mikoto-san, here are your orders and the cups you've ordered. They arrived this morning." Miyu-baa-chann said and then she leaned closer to whisper, "Mikoto-san, the Uchiha are in the house, maybe you should go over to greet them."
Mikoto thanked the older woman but told her, "It's okay, I'll stay here."
"I see you looking forward to your missions. At least I know now, you won't miss me." Mikoto said teasingly as she finally made her way to the table with the tea and dango in toil.
"Of course not! We'll all miss you, Mikoto-nee!" They exclaimed in union.
"I was only teasing." She smiled and was struck by a sudden wave of melancholy as the four younger girls, whom she regarded as sisters, bickered again. She wondered how often the five of them can spend their afternoons like this, now that they were all ninja of the village.
"Mikoto-nee, what are you going to do now that we aren't always here?" Shizune asked suddenly.
The rest of the table fell into attention, all concerned for the girl whom the question was directed to.
"Mikoto-nee-chan's getting married." Rin said eagerly, beating Mikoto to answer.
"What?" The other three exclaimed.
"Mikoto-nee is going to marry to an Uchiha." Rin smiled a bit smugly.
"How do you know?" Kurenai asked.
"A kunoichi has her secret." Rin replied mysteriously, knowing full well which boy on her team she had to thank.
"I don't believe that." Anko said defiantly. She turned to Mikoto. "You can't be getting married, can you? You're just a bit older than us."
It was hard to grow up. But it was harder to answer a question she had no answer for. She thought it was like asking why a bee flew and a bird sang or why a man died. There was truly no answer to some questions, other than that it was time…and duty, on her part. Time was her only answer. It had always been the answer, silent and forceful.
"She is." Shizune said, speaking for the first time since Rin's news.
Mikoto looked at her friends and smiled apologetically, "I am. I was planning to tell you today."
Her apology was answered by a still silence, so quiet that even the rackets of the other customers seemed to be drowned out by it. And then suddenly, the voices began talking at once again:
"That is so romantic!"
"I wish you happiness in your coming nuptials."
"When is it? Have you find an appropriate date? I'll help!"
All but one spoke, wishing their nee-chan the best of the futures. Anko frowned deeply as Mikoto confronted them with her 'news'. When Rin began congratulating her, Anko's lips drew into a thin line. She glared angrily at the table they were seated and remained quiet as her normally pale complexion turned into a rosy color. She didn't have the appetite to eat those lovely looking dango. Anko stood up loudly. She trudged angrily out of the shop and broke into a run.
The other three stood up, ready to give chase to the youngest of their group; but Mikoto motioned for them to sit down.
"I'll go find her." She told them and followed Anko's trek.
Anko had ran away and flung various projectiles at the school's target dummy. She, then, must have given the dummy a hard kick and slumped down at the base of the tree which the dummy hung on.
That was where Mikoto found her - arms wrapped around her knees and a swinging dummy with various sharp objects on it.
"You're getting married." Anko sulked.
She nodded.
"To those stuck up Uchihas." Anko blurted out. "They stare at me when they walk past. Just because I don't have any parents! Who needs parents anyway? I just need Kurenai, Rin, Shizune and nee-chan."
"The more reason for me to marry an Uchiha." Mikoto said.
"I don't want you to turn into them! You're my nee-chan. I don't want you to stare at me."
"I'll still be your nee-chan even after I've married Uchiha-san." The older girl promised. "I'll do everything I can to stop them staring at you."
"Really? You promise?"
She gave Anko a smile and said, "Come on back. I've bought five cups to celebrate the four of you making it to genins. We can keep them in the teahouse."
Anko stood up swiftly, calmer than she was but still not happy with the concept of her 'nee-chan' being married, and followed Mikoto.
Mikoto showed her friends the five simple cups she bought. Green, round and plain. Pouring swirling hot tea into the cups, the girls admired their gift and celebration of becoming a genin.
Green – because they were all nurtured under the same tree.
Round – because they were a tight circle.
Plain – because they had no secrets between each other. Absolutely nothing to hide.
"I think," Rin announced after sipping her tea, "this is very romantic, like the stories I've read."
"As in, like a charm that protects us?" Shizune asked.
"Something like that." Rin answered and took another sip before reaching for the dango. "Anko, don't finish all of them!"
"What do you think, Mikoto-nee?" Kurenai asked. "I will visit you often to use these cups."
Mikoto smiled. "Perfect. I think this is perfect."
This was the perfect piece of memory for their childhood.
This was the perfect prelude for the reality dawning- she was marrying dutifully into the Uchiha and they were walking blindly to their deaths.
"You're not happy about something." Shizune said later; as she and Mikoto sat at the porch while Anko, dragged Rin and Kurenai, out to play in the setting sun.
"No, I'm not." Mikoto admitted, honestly, as she raised her cup for sip.
"Why not?"
"Things are changing." She replied carefully. "Reality is slipping in."
"Oh." Shizune said, couldn't think of anything else to say. She too, raised her cup.
Yes, 'Oh'. Things were changing. They were growing. She was chained to a loveless marriage and they were given their death warrants.
Reality was slipping in.
Dreams faded away with the dying sun.
…Because Night was the reality of Konoha no gakure.
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"We'll still be the same, you know?"
A/N: Okies, I'm really nervous now, because I really would like to know what you think of it...and I'm also really scared that the comments are going to bad. Please read and review. I've made slightly changes to it because I think this way, the story would run smoother.
That was kind of a grim start; I assure you that it will not be that gloomy all the way through. I've got a couple of events that I'll will write about before this series is complete. You're welcomed to plop whatever events before Naruto started that you think are worth writing about.