SuiGaa: This is my first story. I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. The only thing I do own is Emiko.
I stumbled through the forest on tiny, chubby feet. My steps were unsure and wobbly, having recently mastered the ability to walk without assistance. Twigs dug painfully into the soles of my feet and tree branches cut painfully at my exposed arms. But still, I trudged on, tripping and slipping and yet still enduring all the same.
Just give up, a deep, bitter voice growled in my head. You'll never survive. There's no use trying if you're just going to die in the end. This is an endless cycle of hate; no one can ever escape it. Even if you do live on, you will never be loved. You're life is worthless, so just give up.
I shuddered as the voice intruded my mind, the cold tremors cutting deep into my resolve and melting away everything that I thought I knew. I shivered at the sudden absence of warmth that it caused and hugged myself tightly. It made me feel small, alone, vulnerable, and worst of all, unloved. I tried to convince myself that I was, that Papa loved me more than anything else in the world, but...I wasn't so sure anymore. The voice was making me second quess myself.
That's right. Succumb to the hopelessness. Feel how little power you truly have. You can never win in this cruel world, so just give up. Lay down and die...Drift into the despair and meet your own demise swiftly. Death is easier than life, you'll see...
Light erupted behind me, large plumes of red energy snaking high above the treetops. I froze as the columns of bubbling crimson rose higher and curled even closer to my current position. Waves of killing intent rolled toward me, carried by the strong night air. My limbs locked up automatically and my heart rammed against my chest frantically. I was scared, no terrified.
Terror. My favorite feeling ever. Doesn't it make you feel so alive?
My legs gave out from under me, and I sunk to the ground. Trepidation shook my body and thoughts laced with panic raced through my mind.
What is this feeling? Hate? Spite? Anger? ...And yet...Sadness? What...what could possibly generate such strong feelings.
I saw movement in my periphrials and my eyes shifted over. There, something large rose above the treetops, gathering itself up to its full, terrifying height. It was a mass of white with four long, knobby horse-like legs supporting it. Five yellow tipped horns extended from the back of its head and behind it five long, billowing tails waved menacingly.
Inside of me, something clenched. It felt exactly like when my heart ached, but different. It was almost as if my heart was breaking, only it wasn't my heart. Somehow though, the feeling tingled through my body and melted into my own heart. It clenched, and I couldn't stop myself from wondering what exactly had caused this feeling. I wanted it to stop, to end this feeling that was bubbling up inside of me. It hurt like hell, not physically but emotionally, and I didn't think that anyone deserved to feel this way.
The bitter voice sounded again, but this time it was much weaker and...sad.
Those bastards...how dare they...how dare they...
My heart clenched further at the solemn words, and I just couldn't help myself. The voice may have been mean to me, and said so many bad things, but did it really deserve to feel this way.
It's okay, I told it. You're going to be okay. I won't let them hurt you, I swear.
Shut up. There's nothing you can do. There's nothing anyone can do. This world is too cruel to live in, you need to realize that now, you little brat. No one can understand how I feel, and there's no way that some little baka like you could change anything.
I was ready to say something back, to defend myself, but before I could say a word, arms looped around my midsection. They pulled me up and into the safety of someone's arms.
"Subject found," a clipped voice said from behind me, before being followed by the buzzing static of a radio.
"Understood," a deep voice rumbled from the other side of the radio connection. The arms lifted me up and carried me away from the collection of red energy. That also meant that I was being carried away from something else: Papa.
"No!" I screamed, kicking at the unknown person's arms. "Papa's back there! He's in danger! You have to help him! You have to get him away from the scary monster!"
The voice inside of my head snorted.
Scary monster? I should have figured. You humans are all the same...
The arms around me tightened and I was barely able to turn around. A white mask stared back at me, styled to look like a mouse and having blue markings carved into the design. The Iwagakure symbol was carved into the forehead of the mask. The figure didn't say anything but they simply continued to carry me away, jumping through the trees at a fast pace, away from the scary monster, and away from Papa.
"No!" I cried, tears pooling in my eyes. "Papa! Papa!"
Something hard hit me in the back of the head and I slumped. Blackness seeped into my vision, and then there was nothing...
I blinked my eyes open, and grey filled my vision. Above me loomed a low ceiling, cracked and scattered with dots of moss.
I turned over in my bed, wincing when my head throbbed painfully. I peered around and realized that I was in a cave. A rather dark and damp cave to be exact. Everything was black and then-a dash of red. My eyes halted on the familar color and I shot up in bed.
"Papa!" I cried out and rocketed toward the familar man, dressed in his common fighting armor, which was a rich red. My arms linked into the folds of his battle armor, seeing as I couldn't fit my small arms all the way around his large form. "I thought you were gone. What happened Papa? What was that big scary monster doing? It appeared just after you sent me away. What's going on?"
He brought me back to the ground and knelt before me, still managing to hover high above me on his knees though; Papa was a very large man. I often felt incredibly small around him. He looked into my eyes, large orange orbs staring deeply into my own.
"Sweetheart, do you remember all of those times that we took that red stuff out of you?" he questioned me quietly.
I nodded vigorously.
"You...you called it chakra...Bijuu chakra," I remembered, before scrunching my face up in confusion. "What does that mean Papa?"
"Nothing you need to know, Sweetheart," he told me. "Some really bad people tried to take all of the bijuu chakra I collected though, and Papa just had to get it back, okay?"
I nodded again.
"But what was that scary monster doing?" I asked quietly.
"That's just what the bijuu chakra does when there's a lot of it, Sweetheart. It can form some really scary monsters sometimes," he told me.
"Okay, Papa," I said, and yawned. "Do we get to go home now, Papa?"
I rubbed my eyes tiredly and he gave me a sad look. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, or even feeling, because his armor also covered most of his face. The only thing you could actually see of his face were his eyes, but they looked sad now.
"Actually, Sweetheart, it's gonna be awhile until we can go home. It's not safe here for you, Baby, so you're going to have to go away for awhile while Papa makes it safe again."
My eyes shot open.
"No, Papa, I don' wanna go! I wanna stay with you!" I protested, slinging my arms around his neck in a hug. My chubby arms didn't fit all the way around his neck, but that didn't stop me from trying. "Please don' make me go, Papa, please! I'll be good, I swear!"
His arms snaked around my back, and when he spoke, I could clearly hear the emotion in his voice.
"I know you will, Baby, I know, but you have to. Papa doesn't like it either, but you have to."
And we stood there, hugging and crying-me openly and him secretly-as we said our farewells. I didn't argue with Papa, even though I did beg to stay with him, because I knew that if Papa thought something wasn't safe, then he was right. Papa was a strong man, and if he felt as if that he couldn't protect me, then it was serious. That night, I left on a covered wagon heading south toward an unknown location. Where I ended up would be decided by fate, and as fate would have it I ended up in the Fire Country and more specifically the first established elemental village.
Konoha. The Village Hidden In The Leaves.