A/N: I'm sorry that I'm rewriting this story… I lost my inspiration, decided I was doing a crappy job, and it needed to be re-done. I hope you all enjoy this version just as well and… voila! Here we go!
Chapter One: Lost and Found
"THIEF! COME BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BITCH!"
My chest heaved up and down as I struggled to get the proper amount of air into my lungs while running. Bare feet slapped against the dirt road in a frantic pace, drawing the attention of those walking by casually attending to whatever days business they had - as always, the eyes were curious at first but quickly became disinterested upon seeing the cause of the racket which had originally garnered their attention. After all, another homeless street urchin was not an uncommon sight; One who was running as though their life depended on it while clutching a piece of bread to their chest was even more common.
It was not that people were inherently mean spirited or uncaring, they were just desynthesized to the sight. Everyone struggled, especially among the working class, and no one had anything to spare. While no one will step in to feed a starving child like myself, at the same time they would not stop me either - they were just glad it was not themselves who had been stolen from.
A sharp feeling pierced through my lungs as they strained to keep up with this level of exertion and I glanced back to check if the man was still following. I took in his angry scowl and the determined set of his jaw before once again looking forward and trying to think about how I was going to shake him while internally I berated myself for picking the wrong target. Normally I was good at choosing the people who would give up quickly rather than chase a street rat through the village but my stomach had been cramping from hunger and the smell of the bread had made rational thought momentarily leave.
"Where can a girl find a decent drink around this dump?" I heard a blonde woman ask her dark haired companion. I barely heard the remark but at the same time I twisted my head around to see how close the man was now, causing me to bump into two women. The blonde stayed upright but the dark haired girl tripped, dumping a suitcase in front of me which had me in danger of tripping.
"Hey brat! Watch where-" I heard the woman begin to berate me but I could not stop to apologize. Without breaking stride I wheezed a quiet sorry and launched myself forward, the precious piece of bread tucked as close to my body as possible so it would not get dirty, and placed my hand on the suitcase as I flipped over it. I landed strangely on my ankle, causing me to curse and it to begin throbbing, but I quickly righted my balance and kept charging ahead.
My breath was even shorter now as I ran because of the most likely twisted ankle I now had. I needed to end the chase fast or he was going to catch me. If that happened, I would be lucky to have my hand let alone food. I scanned the road and would have sighed in relief if I had enough spare oxygen to do so - up ahead was an alley I knew had a loose board at the dead end which led to another street. The opening was too small for an adult but my six year old body could pass through it just fine and I could disappear before the man could figure out how to get to the other side. I could hear his shoes hitting the ground behind me and it seemed as though there was another person running behind him as well but I could be mistaken. My heart was pounding so ferociously and with the blood pumping through me, I could have been imagining things.
I let a small smile cross my features as I made it to the alley and my foot landed in a puddle that I paid no mind to as I focused on the wooden fence at the end of the alley. The man I had stolen the bread from stopped at the entrance to the alley, I could tell by the breathing and the sudden lack of noise from shoes hitting road. I bolted to the fourth board over and pulled on it, ready to slip through and eat my first bite of food in two days.
My heart stopped when the board wouldn't budge. The pounding in my ears became even louder and I grunted, crying out in frustration when the board wouldn't move. I turned around instantly with my back to the gate and watched the man approaching like a crazed animal. His breathing was only a little irregular while mine sounded loud in the quiet, my gasping breathes the only sound filling the alleyway until he began to chuckle darkly as he approached me.
"Nowhere to run or hide after all, huh, little bitch?" He asked with a sadistic twist to his pointy features.
"Please…" I said with one hand up placatingly and the other still clutching the bread in my hand.
"Too late for begging now, girly. Today is the last day you'll steal anything." He said as he flicked a knife out so quickly I barely caught the movement. He paused in his approach for a moment, as though considering his words, before he ominously added to his previous statement. "If you even survive. I hear if the blood loss doesn't kill you street trash when you get a hand cut off then the infection will. I just hope you die in some ditch somewhere so you don't contaminate the streets with your fucking filth."
"Please." I begged desperately, my eyes watering and frantically scanning the alley for anyway out. "It was just a piece of bread and I was so hungry, you can have it. Please."
"You think I want that back now that you've touched it?" The man scoffed with a cruel, mocking laugh added on the end. "That's just the excuse to cut, little bitch."
I drew in a sharp breath at his words and while I felt terrified, I began to feel a strange sort of clarity as well. I needed to do something or I could die - there was no one here to help me and this man had no mercy. My eyes locked onto the puddle I first stepped in when I got into the alley and an idea bloomed in my head, one which I was already acting on even as I apologized to my Mom for breaking one of her rules. I ran at him, ignoring the screaming and burning protest from the injured ankle, and I concentrated as hard as I could on the puddle the man was standing over.
"What the hell are you-" The man began but he quit talking, bringing up the knife to slash at me as I ran full tilt towards him. Just as I got within arms reach I slid on my leg like a baseball player from my old life and froze the puddle, turning it into ice. I let out a sharp grunt as the knife sliced my shoulder when he brought it down after realizing my change of height. My shoulder burned and I felt an all too familiar volcano of anger boil inside of me, threatening to erupt. I reached up to my shoulder with the hand not still holding the bread, feeling the cut, and then feeling the anger explode like a star going supernova at the sight of my blood.
"You're one of those freaks!" The man exclaimed in disgust instantly, looking from what was now a sheet of ice back to my face - something I couldn't be around to deal with. Mom, or Kaa-chan as I called her in this life, and Tou-chan had given their lives to get me out of Kirigakure and I had to honor them by staying alive. The man was now looking certifiably deranged and I knew he must have harsh feeling against ninja.
"Please stop, I-I don't want to hurt you." I said while trying to sound as confident as I could but it only amused the man.
"Are you going to cry me to death, baby? Mom and Dad are dead aren't they?" He sneered, making me clench my hands into tight fists.
"Shut up." I seethed through clenched jaw, the moisture at my eyes now because of aggravation.
"Or what?" He asked mockingly, taking a step towards me. "You can't even feed yourself! You aren't a ninja, you're some filth from a garbage clan that's been killed off. I just get to finish the job."
The man's eyes widened at something behind me but I wasn't looking - that was the last straw. The man screamed as the ice underneath his feet changed into spikes as I lost control and I felt the chakra drain out of me. I felt the chakra pouring out of my small body and my legs shook until I fell to my knees, then face forward onto the ground. I heard a feminine voice call out but it was distant, not important enough to listen too. I wonder if this was how long I was actually going to last in my new life... So short of a time. After dying and being reborn, all I got out of it was six years? Such a waste.
"Kid...Brat!" A voice was yelling
"La…. Please, I just tended to her injuries!" A second voice spoke up, making me groan in protest at the loud noises the two were making.
"G'me Five m're minutes." I mumbled, rolling away on the soft whatever I was sleeping on to get as far away from the noise as possible. It had been months since I had been this comfortable and even though it was probably a dream, I wanted to hang on to it for as long as possible.
"I'm not your Mother, brat! Now GET UP!" A husky but distinctly feminine voice yelled, the annoyance practically dripping from her voice.
My eyes shot open and I instinctively rolled forward, seeing the door opposite the bed. Coming out of the roll with my feet on the mattress, I coiled my muscles and launched myself towards the wooden framed exit - My feet made it off the mattress before I was yanked out of mid-air and thrown back on the bed as easily as if I was a fly.
My legs were brought up to protect my chest as I warily eyed the two people keeping me in what looked like a room in an inn. One of them had an irritated expression and a presence that seemed to fill the room - she had a huge bust and blonde hair, eyes that were a golden color, and was wearing a green haori. Her companion had a heart shaped face, a kind smile, and dark hair that matched her dark eyes.
"Hello there. My name is Shizune and this is Lady Tsunade." The dark haired girl introduced herself and the other woman in a soft, polite tone while never breaking eye contact with me.
"Hi." I replied warily, still eyeing them. They were kunoichi. I could tell from the way they were carrying themselves, it was the same way my Mom used to carry herself as well.
"It's polite to tell us your name too brat." 'Lady' Tsunade all but growled "And tell us what the hell you were thinking back there."
"I didn't do anything!" I retorted automatically, my tone defensive. "I don't know what that guy was talkin' about! I didn't steal nothin' from nobody!"
Lady Tsunade snorted and raised her eyebrow at me incredulously. "Really? Yeah, we believe that. I don't care if you stole the whole damn shop - We want your name and why you just used all your chakra like a moron."
"I-" I froze, eyes wide. They obviously saw what I did but Mom told me to never tell anyone or show anyone. It could be a death sentence. "I don't know what your talking about."
"The ice jutsu?" Shizune asked imploringly, sitting on the edge of the bed. "It's alright to tell us, we're friends."
"Street rats don't have friends." I sneered back unsurely, eyes flickering between the two women.
"You don't have any parents?" Lady Tsunade asked, eyes softening a little.
"So what if I don't?" I shot back rudely, hating the pitying look I saw. "I do just fine by myself."
"What's your name, kid?" Lady Tsunade asked again, joining the younger woman Shizune on the bed. I thought about it and decided there was no harm in telling them my name, as long as I avoided using Mom's last name. If anyone knew about Mom's last name… they might hear about it and come after me like they did before.
"Rei Uzumaki." I answered finally and my eyes looked up when my declaration was met with silence. The two women were looking at me with wide eyes and then one another, seeming to communicate without speaking.
"Could it be, Lady Tsunade?" Shizune asked after a moment
"Hm." Lady Tsunade hummed, looking at me with her piercing eyes for a moment. She started with my dark, red hair that was a shade darker than normal from how dirty it was. Lady Tsunade's eyes stopped, like everyone always does, on the scar that began at my cheekbone and ran diaganolly to my chin - a reminder of when my Mother gave her life for my own. She looked over my rather pale skin, which was streaked with mud, and the dark eyes before she finally nodded slowly. "She has the hair."
"I'm right here, you know." I told them, annoyed they were talking like I wasn't in the room with them.
"Where did you learn to do that trick with the ice, Rei-chan?" Shizune asked with an encouraging smile.
"I don't know." I lied, looking at them nervously. They were asking a lot of questions, now that I think about it. What if they wanted to sell me to those men? Or do something even worse? I needed to get out of here.
"Well you can't go around using all of your chakra like that. You're young, you don't have a lot, and if we weren't there you would have died." Lady Tsunade said plainly, gaining a reproachful glance from the other woman sitting down.
"I won't do it again." I promised, scooting to the edge of the bed and standing up. "I really have to go now."
I began walking towards the door again but was quickly jerked back once again by Lady Tsunade, my butt landing on the bed. "Oh no you don't, kid."
"My big brothers are going to be looking for me." I lied, crossing my arms. "They are huge, like seven feet tall, and they are ninja and they won't be happy that someone wouldn't let me go back. They'd track me all over the world."
"I'm sure." Tsunade said drily, shaking her head. She stood up and gestured to Shizune to follow her, where they went out of the room and left me sitting there. My stomach grumbled and I put my hand to it, frowning when I realized I never got the chance to eat the bread I had borrowed from that man. My eyes scanned the room and didn't see any food, but there was a bag lying near the bed. I ignored the black bag laying there, even though I was tempted to look through it, and instead scanned the rest of the room for any food.
'Grrr'
I looked down at my stomach as it made the odd noise and then looked at the door. Hurriedly, I slipped off the bed and was on my knees in front of the bag in seconds. Quietly, I unzipped it and dragged the zipper around slowly to avoid making more noise than needed. I sighed soundlessly when it was finally open, only seeing clothes. I lifted the clothes up and stifled a gasp at the bag of ryo's underneath - it was enough to eat for two years. My head shot up to the door, getting a strangle feeling, but nothing happened. I stamped down the guilt and reached into the money pouch, making sure to stay as quiet as possible.
There was just as much as I thought there would be. I took one thousand ryo and comforted myself with the knowledge that they had more than a million leftover. I put the clothes back on top of the money pouch and zipped up the bag. I swiftly pushed the bag back to it's original spot and jumped on the bed after securing the stolen money in the waistband of my pants. I didn't have shoes or pockets, so it would have to do for now. The next step was to find a way to escape while they were gone - I wasn't stupid enough to think I could get away from two fully grown kunoichis. I walked to the window and peered outside, internally cursing at how far the drain was. It was too far for me to be able to shimmy down. Maybe I could tie blankets together as a rope? The only problem is the Inn only had one blanket in the room.
The door opened and my head whipped around to watch as Lady Tsunade stepped through first, followed by Shizune. Her eyes glanced at the bag I had just rifled through and it felt like both lead was inside my stomach and my heart was frozen while she eyed the piece of luggage. I resisted breathing out a sigh of relief when she said nothing and focused her attention on me instead of the bag.
"Alright brat. We want to take you with us somewhere." Lady Tsunade declared, hands on her hips with an expression that asked me to defy her. I was never one to disappoint.
"You're crazy, lady!" I shouted, crossing my arms defiantly. "I'm not going anywhere with you two. Let me go."
"I'll buy breakfast." Shizune suggested, making my stomach rumble just at the thought. I flushed and Tsunade smirked at me, making my face heat up from embarrassment and anger.
"You can't bribe me." I sneered
"What if I told you I know another Uzumaki?"
I was silent at Tsunade's statement, shocked into speechlessness because I was told that our entire family was… dead. On both sides. Hunted down for what we are, who we are, and the abilities we showed. I felt a small kernel of hope inside myself, the one that showed when I heard about someone who could make ice or when I saw red hair in a crowd of people. Bitterly, I crushed it down because I knew this was probably just a ploy to get me to go wherever they wanted me too. Probably to sell me to 'them'. I was not going to fall for it.
"Fuck off, lady. Leave me alone." I said angrily
"What!" Lady Tsunade shouted "Watch your mouth!"
"All my family is dead! They all died in Uzu-" I stopped myself, snorting and turning away from them.
"Uzushiogakure?" Lady Tsunade asked, having adopted a softer tone when pronouncing the name of the village.
"Yeah." I said, trying to sound indifferent but the words came out sad instead.
"You're right." Lady Tsunade said and I looked down at the mattress of the bed, trying to ignore the jab of pain when the tiny kernel died again. I was so tired of being alone in this weird new dangerous world. "My Grandmother was Mito Uzumaki."
My head lifted, surprised, and I could only stare as she continued to talk. "The village I grew up in, we were allied with Uzushio - very closely allied with them. She married the Hokage of the village and lived there until she died. Before she did, there was another little girl who came there with the same last name - another Uzumaki. She has hair a lot like yours, actually."
"Really?" I asked, not able to hide the slight excitement in my voice.
"Oh yes. Kushina Uzumaki." Lady Tsunade smiled indulgently, a wicked smirk coming across her face as she kept speaking. "She's almost as annoying as you are too - must be in the genes."
"Shut up lady!" I shouted, lifting my fist up.
"Oh quiet down, brat, I was only joking." Lady Tsunade said dismissively before getting serious. "Look, I know she wouldn't mind meeting another family member. She lost everyone in the destruction of Uzushiogakure. Isn't it worth just coming to check out?"
"It's a lovely place, Rei-chan." Shizune added, smiling benevolently.
I thought about it. I didn't have much here and all the people in the town were beginning to recognize me on sight for being a thief - I was easy to spot with my red hair. I was going to have to move on soon anyway and it was never safe traveling alone in this world, let alone as a six year old. I had only moved once in the year since my Mother died and I was lucky enough to hide in a grain wagon as it traveled to this town. I didn't have any friends to speak of aside from the other homeless kids that sometimes let me stay with them in a dumpster they cleaned out for bad weather. I wouldn't be missed.
"Where would we go?" I asked hesitantly
"Konoha." Tsunade responded, the name sounding familiar to me for some reason. With my curiosity, hunger, and that stupid kernel of hope - I put aside my suspicious nature and decided to go for it.
"Okay, I'll come with you." I decided, nodding my head.
"Good. You won't regret it, Rei-chan." Shizune said comfortingly
"You think?" I asked, tilting my head to the side and making my bangs fall in my eyes.
"I don't think so kid. Just make sure you tell the seven foot tall brothers where you are going." Lady Tsunade said the last part with sarcasm dripping from the words.
"Yeah, yeah." I muttered, flushing.
"And give me back my money, brat. I'll buy you some damn food and shoes, you don't need to steal." Tsunade commanded, making me gape at her. The blonde kunoichi just smirked and shook her head. "Don't go through a shinobi's stuff, kid. You've got a long way before you can get away with going through MY stuff."
I huffed and handed the money I had stashed in my waistband. Shizune gestured for me to follow her, announcing we were going to get food, and I happily hopped up from the bed in order to accompany her. My mouth was watering and I reminded myself not to eat or drink too much unless I wanted to throw it all up later - I had learned that lesson the hard way when I found money on the street and ate too much. We were walking out of the room when Lady Tsunade stopped me with her voice.
"Oh, give me the damn earrings too." My eyes widened and I turned slowly, taking in the beautiful woman who had not moved an inch from her spot to check her bag and see if anything was missing. Slowly and hesitantly, I unwrapped the bandage on my right arm until it showed the emerald earrings I had stuffed inside, and threw them onto the bed. I quickly retreated, shutting the door and muffling the cackling laughter pouring out of Tsunade.
That woman was scary.
A/N: Obviously this is going in an entirely different direction - I hope no one is mad. I just lost the inspiration for the other plot and I know this will be better! Thanks for reading! I'm not sure what about the last story bothered me so much but I have this one much better planned out whereas the other was just winging it. Also, I'm going to be including a playlist in each chapter as well as the scenes it goes to.. Let me know if you guys like that.
Playlist = Song - Artist - Scene
1. Black Betty - Ram Jam - Running from the man chasing Rei.
2. Young Blood - Noah Kahn - Waking up in the room.
I hope you enjoy and feel kind enough to review! Thanks!