It was autumn. You couldn't tell from the trees because they never changed, but the air was crisp and chill. The breeze only slowed; never once did it stop. The calmness was so immense you could almost touch it in the air. The grass on the mountain in the distance was yellowing. It gave off a glow of a sunset, even though it was only midday. The desert in the west was billowing with clouds of sand that seemed to evaporate the moment they reached the woods.
Maybe I'll wait another minute. I needed to get back to the small village I live in, but no one wanted me there so I didn't see the need to rush. I sat up without much effort and leaned against the large tree behind me. I was on a grassy hill above my village. It looked as if it was surrounded by a halo of light. Halo, yeah right.
"Aria! Get your lazy ass down here and get back to work!" Gretal called from the back door of the tea house. It was a large tea house because of all the travelers that were going to and from the Hidden Sand Village and I worked day and night at that tea house cleaning, washing, and waiting on tables of all the hate filled customers. Their contempt for me filled the air as much as the smell of the Jasmine tea brewing in the kitchen.
"One Second!" I shouted, a little hoarse from not talking for a while.
"You are not taking even a second! If you wait any longer than now, I will skin your hide!" I took one last look at the scenery and then descended into the heart of hell. I wasn't always hated by the other villagers, in fact, most of them used to like me. When I was little, our village was terrorized by the gremlin. It was an ugly beast with six arms and four legs. its skin was a faded green with grey patches, it looked like melting wax, drooping down and sagging. It had the strength of ten men and the ability to control all five elements in their raw form. Time and time again it destroyed our village and stole precious things from us, but there was nothing we could do. One night during an attack, a ninja from the Hidden Sand Village came and attacked the gremlin. He couldn't kill it so he took the closest healthy child to him and sealed the gremlin inside that five year old child. I was that child.
It's been 10 years since then. I barely survived the sealing and on that day the villagers began to treat me like a monster. Some days I can forget because their hate won't show as much, but then I screw up and the gremlin's power will shine through me. The hate always returns to their eyes. Once a kid fell from a cliff and I used my ability to create a ledge for him to land on. Another time I dropped a bucket and kept the water from spilling. It was always the same.
I peeled myself out of my thoughts and headed through the door of the tea house.
"It's 'bout time you got here, I'll have to beat you later for being late." Gretal whispered into my ear. "Now go start scrubbing!" I hurried to the sink and began to wash dishes. The suds seemed to soak into my skin and my fingers began to wrinkle after a couple of minutes. Gretal came into the kitchen to see if I was scrubbing fast enough, she noticed my wrinkled hands among the bubbles.
"You're getting gremlin hands!" She almost sounded afraid. "Go out and wait on the tables. Now!" The villagers had a fear that when my hands got wrinkled, I would turn into the gremlin.
"If you say so." I said without enthusiasm then quickly grabbed a pen and pad and threw on a uniform. As soon as I stepped out into the eating area, I felt piercing eyes on me. That wasn't unusual, but what took me by surprise is that I didn't feel hate in them. I scanned the room for something to do and to see who those eyes belonged to. I noticed a red haired boy about my age sitting with a blonde girl and a boy wearing face paint. His eyes were blue and he had a tattoo that read love on his forehead. Those are the eyes that were looking at me. I was shocked that I knew this because the person was no longer looking at me. I shook my head and walked over to wait their table.
"Hello, I'm Aria and I'll be serving you today. So what can I do you for?" I was wearing my perfected fake smile. So far I haven't met a person who could tell it was faked.
"Well Aria, we'll have three cups of tea and some dumplings for later." It was the blonde girl who spoke. I could tell from here that the three of them were ninja and that they were carrying around strange weapons, but my heart was still pounding and my smile suddenly became real. No one ever remembered my name.
"Anything else?" I just wanted to stand their longer. Even if it was faked I still liked that they were being nice.
"We took our order because we know what we want now go!" The guy with face paint growled. My smile faded to confusion.
"Don't be rude, it was just a nice gesture to let us recollect our thoughts." The blonde snapped at him. The red haired boy ignored their squabble and looked up at me in interest. I paused looking back not sure what to do.
"Did you want something?" I asked him. My question took him by surprise; it was like no one had ever asked for his opinion before. After a few seconds he cleared his throat.
"I would like a bowl of sticky rice." The other two immediately stopped arguing and looked at him in shock. They seemed to have expected a different reaction.
"One bowl of sticky rice, coming right up." I beamed a smile at him and then headed towards the kitchen and gave Gretal their order. About five minutes later I grabbed a tray and took out the tea and the bowl of sticky rice. The dumplings weren't ready yet. I walked carefully hoping this would be one of the few times my clumsiness didn't show. I was almost at their table when one of the other customers purposely tripped me. Usually I wouldn't care, but this order was special. I was watching the tray fall in slow motion when, on instinct, I reached out my hand and used the water in the rice and tea to keep them from falling. The food and drinks just froze there. The room was completely silent. I could feel the hate seeping out of the villagers. The glares they were giving me. Now the shinobi will hate me, for being a monster. I quickly dropped their order and bent down to clean it up. I didn't want what just happened to be real. The villagers began talking and eating and generally acting nothing had happened, only the hate was still there.
"I'm so sorry. I-I'll get you another order as soon as I can." I felt like I was going to cry.
"You better be sorry! After all that I have to wait longer." The guy with face paint seemed to be amused with my distress. The customer, Jin was his name, burst into laughter.
"Kankuro!" The blonde was shocked by his venomous comment. My mind began to drift in my despair, so much so, that I didn't notice the red haired boy stand up and walk around me, his eyes still held no emotion. He stood above Jin's table and crossed his arms.
"I can say whatever I want, Temari." He practically spit out her name. I was still floating in my mind, upset over what I had done when he spoke up.
"Apologize." Temari, Kankuro, and I whirled around to see the red haired boy glaring at Jin.
"Oh no, that isn't necessary." I said trying to stop the storm from coming.
"He tripped you, he needs to apologize."
"I don't need to do anything! You can take your food and shove it up your ass for all I care!" Jin stood up and loomed a full head above the boy and he definitely had more muscle than him. The boy just kept his arms crossed and glared at Jin.
"Gaara, sit down right now before you get us kicked out!" Temari whispered harshly. She was noticing all of the other customers standing up to help Jin defend his pride. So his name is Gaara. I thought to myself before chaos erupted.
Jin went to punch Gaara. His ferocious, violent hate seeped from his pores. The sand came from seemingly nowhere. It shielded Gaara in a bubble and everyone was shocked at its appearance, including me.
"It's the gremlin!" someone shouted "she's protecting him!" I received a kick to the back and I fell to the floor. From where I was I couldn't see what was going on. The pain, I was used to, but if anyone else got hurt it would be my fault. I began fading in and out of consciousness because of the blows and the loud, sharp cracks of my bones breaking. I wanted to stand up and help Gaara, but I was too delirious and unsure of what was happening. I was floating on a cloud watching the seasons change, feeling the breeze on my face. There were no names or faces. Eventually everything was black. What was I doing? Oh yeah, I wanted to stand up. I stood up on my wobbly legs. I felt no resistance standing up, but all the villagers were pushing me down and kicking me still. How come I don't feel it? When I stood up all the way, the villagers jumped back in fear and some of the women began screaming. What did I do? Why were they screaming? I was angry. They aren't any more of a person than I am. Why are they any better than me? Why do they have to treat me like that? Everything in the teahouse began to fly out and attack them. They all deserved to die for treating me that way. I hadn't done anything wrong. The broken glass hurled at them. They slipped on the tea and food strewn across the floor. I didn't want to see any of them ever again.
"Aria." I turned around to see Gaara, not a scratch on him, standing there. He wasn't afraid of me nor did he hate me. In fact, it looked as if he was worried about me.
My anger began to leave me and I started to realize the anger wasn't mine. It was the gremlins. I felt my feet touch the floor, I didn't even know I was in the air, and I collapsed from exhaustion.
"How did you know that would work?" Kankuro asked Gaara, he had an inquisitive look on his face. "Stopping her from destroying the place I mean."
Gaara stared blankly at his brother "I didn't."
"You mean you just gambled our lives without thinking about it?!"
"Well it worked on me." Gaara stated blankly.
"Why you-"
"I think Gaara was excellent!" Temari interrupted her brother.
"Are you okay?" Gaara looked at me expectantly.
"You-You're not afraid of me?" I was confused. No one in their right mind would still want to be around me after learning my secret. Everyone else had taken off to get away from me.
"After living with Gaara for a couple years I don't think anything could scare me." Kankuro mumbled. I felt confusion, fear, relaxation, sadness, and all these other emotions run though me, but most of all I was happy. Extremely, powerfully, and utterly happy.
"Thank you." Tears were streaming down my face and I began to wipe at them. "Thank you very much." I was so grateful for their kindness that my tears of joy wouldn't stop flowing.
"Uh, I didn't do anything!" Kankuro put his hands in the air and glanced over at Temari who was rolling her eyes.
"You're right; you were too busy watching the fight instead of fighting in it." Gaara pointed out. He raised an eyebrow at Kankuro testing him, challenging hin to prove him wrong.
"Hey, I slugged a few people in the face. Like, like… "
"Like an old lady?" Temari butted in and we all burst into laughter. They were funny, hilarious even. There was no way they hadn't known each other for a long time.
"Well I don't think we're going to want to stay here any longer." Temari said after she finished laughing. "You should come with us Aria."
I froze, unsure of what to say or do. I had just met these people, yet, they were offering to change my life, to take me away from this horrible place.
"Yeah, with powers like those, you would be a great and respected shinobi," Kankuro added. "but nowhere as great and respected as I am."
"A shinobi." I said to myself, the prospect of it dazzled and danced in front of my eyes. I wouldn't be a monster there. I would be a shinobi.
Gaara helped me up off the floor and pulled my arm over his shoulder to help me stand. "C'mon. Let's head back to the Hidden Sand Village." We walked out of the Tea house and into the old dirt road that ran through the village. I felt a weight lifted from my chest as we left my old home.
I am going to be a great shinobi.