It had been summer when I met him, in the middle of July. It was only seconds after meeting him that I subconsciously started feeling something towards him. It was the end of July when I fell for him completely. It was the first winter when I left. It was the fourth winter when I came back. It was the end of winter when my heart was crushed and smashed to bits… and everything came flooding in, starting from the beginning…when we first met…
"Marite, please try to restrain yourself from killing everybody this time, okay?" Kisuke, my brother, furrowed his brow in concern, bending down to stare at my face. I pulled my heavy bag higher up my shoulder. I looked into my brother's shining light brown eyes, as he tilted his head slightly toward the right. His voice was slightly shaken, and his eyes were losing their lovely hazel color, turning into a murky dark color. We were standing outside Ichiraku, a ramen shop. We were in Konohagakure. My brother was about to leave me to take care of myself at Konoha. I didn't really think I was going to miss him that much but I still had this sense of dread. I was used to this, moving from village to village with Kisuke and him treating me to ramen, and then leaving me on my own. And then he would soon come again to bring me to a different village when I almost destroyed the entire village.
I had a special kind of chakra, one I could hardly control. So since I can't quite control it, I would usually get a sudden urge to kill, to see bloodshed. That was my dark side. My entire family had abandoned me because of it, or maybe I had just killed them all. I don't remember. Kisuke is the only one I have left, and he isn't even related to me by blood. I find it a wonder that he could actually stand me.
He had found me in the mountains when I was six, and brought me home. He raised me ever since but we could never stay at a single home so he soon began to bring me from village to village, so I could try to contain and manage my monster chakra.
"…..I don't want to kill anybody, in truth, Kisuke." I looked at my feet, this heavy feeling taking over my body. I really don't like unnecessary killing, despite the amount of power I have. It is rage that releases the bloodthirstiness. And I have a very short temper. I get mad so easily. Then the cursed demon in me is released. Kisuke sighed and ruffled my hair.
"Well, I'll be back to check up on you soon. Be brave, 'Kay?" He looked at me and smiled gently. I purse my lips and sucked in a breath. I paused for a moment, like I was in thought and slowly let my breath out. I forced a smile, which I was sure seemed pretty fake, but Kisuke seemed to buy it. He looked at me, as if in a sad way, and turned and walked away. I sighed, and bit my lip, a bad habit I have that usually causes my lip to bleed. Be brave?! What did he mean by that? I was never scared of anything much when I went to a new village. All I do is train at the villages.
I shook my head, sighing. I reached into my bag, looking for my map of the village. I rustled around my purple patterned bag, regretting buying so many things at the previous village, Sunagakure. I rustled around again, my hand digging through all that junk. I found some keys that I don't remember putting in and sighed. My brother had probably slipped it in and took my map. Oh well, I thought. I turned and walked away from Ichiraku and almost bumped into two guys. One was blond and wearing orange. The other had black hair, tied up. He had a fishnet shirt on, with black pants. Both seemed pretty out of it, I guess it was because of the hot weather.
"Hmm, who're you?" the blond asked. He had blue eyes and he resembled something like a fox.
"U-Uh, um, my name is Marite. I am new here. Pleased to meet you." I bowed and smiled. The other boy looked at me and grumbled.
"It's hot today. And I have to look after you." He looked at the blond and scowled. "How troublesome." I guess this one was the lazy type. "…a new girl, eh? Hi. I'm Shikamaru Nara. This here's the idiot Naruto." He nodded towards the blond.
"Hey, don't you call me an idiot! I am Uzumaki Naruto! And I will surpass all the other Hokages one day, you just wait and see!" Shikamaru rolled his eyes. I giggled.
"I'm sure you will," I said. The two boys looked about 16, one year older than I am, and we had just met, but I found myself already treating one of them like a kid. "So, um, where are you two going?"
"To Ichiraku, of course! We're going to eat ramen!" Naruto grinned.
"Ugh. I wouldn't be looking after you if Master Kakashi didn't ask. And Yamato-sensei isn't here either. But still, why'd it had to be me? Gah, how troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled. "Fine, let's hurry up and eat. Let's hope Kakashi comes back from his mission soon." He looked a bit in thought for a moment and looked at me. "Um, hey. So, where are you from?"
"Uh…E-Er..." I had no idea why, but I found it hard to speak. I swallowed a lump in my throat and cleared my voice. "I had previously lived in Sunagakure. Or, well, I pretty much had lived almost everywhere…heheh. But in reality, I don't know where I was born, who my parents were, and what happened to my family…" I flushed a bit. Maybe it was a bit too hot.
"Oh. Um…sorry..." Shikamaru said, looking a bit embarrassed. He cracked a smile, and I felt my heart quicken.
"Oh, um, that's okay." I tipped my head slightly to the left and smiled.
"Oh hey! You were recently in Suna?!" Naruto shouted. "Then you must know our friend, or the Kazekage, Gaara." I thought back, trying to recall how the Kazekage looked like.
"Oh. Um, the one with red hair and green eyes with black circles around them right?" I thought back about it. I remembered him. At first he seemed really intimidating, but he was actually a pretty accepting person.
"Yeah. That's him. He and Naruto are pretty good friends." Shikamaru said. He smirked at me. I felt hot.
"Awww….are you two done yet? I wanna eat ramen!" Naruto suddenly interrupted, startling me. I nearly forgot he was there.
"Okay, okay. Sheesh." Shikamaru scowled then turned to me. "Well, um, welcome to Konoha. Um, see you sometime?" I felt even hotter and my heart nearly popped out of my chest when he winked.
"Uh…um, sure. Yeah, see you…soon." I blushed a bit and bit my lip.
The two start to walk to Ichiraku.
"Bye, Marite!" Naruto waves and turns away. I walk away as well, still holding my keys and wandering aimlessly, my mind thinking about Shikamaru and I's conversation. I smile and look around. Then, I saw a tall blue building, with light yellow window sills. It was five stories high, just as Kisuke had described. It had a nice metal gate, a very nice and polished silver color. It was only about one to two feet high and it had very lovely intricate designs on it. I walk over to it and looked at my keys. There were four keys, each a different color. I grabbed the silver one and inserted it into the gate. I turned it to the left and pulled it out. I pushed the gate. It did not budge. I put the key in again and turned it right, then back to the middle. The gate opened this time.
As I walked down the rocky road, I looked around and saw flower beds, with all kinds of flowers. It looked even more beautiful now that I was surrounded by it. And the smell, it smelled beautiful and fresh, like nature. My shoes crunched down the thin road. I walked about five to eight feet and stopped in front of the doorway. It was a wooden door, painted a dark, navy blue. The door was a perfect rectangle and it was about six feet high. This time, I took the black key, or whatever color it was. It was dark, and not quite blue, but not quite black, but I guess I'll assume it is black. I insert the key in and turned right. I turned the knob, which was a nice milky greenish color. I walk into a bright hallway and into the lobby. The place seemed almost like a hotel. One of the walls was bright, neon green. Another was a bright hot pink with red strawberries on it. The other wall, behind me, was a nice purple color. There was a black granite counter, about four and a half feet tall, and a pretty lady in her thirties sat behind it. She was wearing a navy blue suit, and a matching skirt. Her strawberry blond hair was in a bun, and she looked very professional. She had magenta-like purple colored glasses on. The wall behind her was a sky blue color with puffy white clouds painted on it. It looked very calming and I felt relaxed.
"Yes, do you need something?" The lady asked, looking up at me through her glasses. Her eyes were a nice ocean blue. She smiled gently.
"Um, yes. Well, I'm new here, and my brother booked a room for me here…" I trailed off as the woman laughed. "Uh-Um, y-yes?"
"Hahaha…aw honey, you make me laugh. You make it sound like this is a hotel. Hahaha." She grinned. "Yes…well…you…are Marite?" I nodded. "Welcome. My name is Julietta Shiina. I believe your brother has already given you the keys?" She looked up at me.
"Oh, um, yes, yes he has." I dangled the keys by the ring they were all attached to.
"Yes, well. Your room number is 143. The floor above the lobby, corridor on the right. Your room will be on the left side; just keep walking you will find it. At the very end of the corridor is the higher numbers, the rooms nearest to the start of the corridor is the lower numbers. There are signs there as well, so I don't think you would get lost. If you have any questions, just come to the front desk, or call 032 to ask me. Please enjoy your stay here." Julietta smiled. I tried my best to remember what she told me. I have a very bad memory too.
I start towards the stairs, located right next to the front desk.
"Oh, oh yes! Marite!" I turn around. "I forgot to tell you. Your brother delivered your luggage a while ago. It will be delivered to your room shortly okay?" I nod, and thought back. I slightly remember him saying to leave my luggage to him. I hadn't thought much of it, and just shrugged. I had actually thought he would make me carry it all the way here so I didn't care much. I guess he really did take care of it.
I start towards the stairs, this time with no one to stop me. I guess I was sort of out of shape, because just walking up a small flight of stairs tired me out. I catch my breath a bit, and then put down my bag. I combed my dark, black hair back, into a ponytail and tie it. Then I twisted it into a bun and tied that. I always kept at least two hair ties on my wrist, because I would usually randomly want to tie up my hair, so I guess you could say I always come prepared.
I pick up my bag and start for the corridor on the right, just as Julietta had said. I look at the gold numbers carved on the doors. 139, 141…I read. And…143. I look at the lovely numbers carved onto the smooth dark brown door. I take the gold key and slip it into the gold colored doorknob.
As I opened the door and entered the room, I gasped. It was gorgeous. The room was pretty big, compared to where I had stayed at Suna. It was like maybe about 20 or so feet. There was a window, on the wall directly in front of me. It seriously was like a hotel room. There were only two different rooms; the bathroom and my bedroom/kitchen. Next to the window was a bed, parallel to the wall the window was on. The bathroom was lovely, the counter a milky white marble, the walls white, and the entire place was squeaky clean.
"Wow…Oh my god, this is amazing." I thought out loud by accident.
The kitchen was a sink, a stove and some cupboards. Though I didn't think I would be cooking, I admired how pretty the kitchen counter was. It was sparkling multicolored granite.
I dropped my bag on the floor and stretched a bit. I was really tired. I walked over to the fluffy blue bed and climbed on. It was only moments after my head hit the pillow when I fell into a deep sleep.