Disclaimer: I do not own the manga/anime 'Gintama' nor am I making any money off of this fanfiction.

Author's Note: Hello, I've decided that my earlier stories are a bit lacking and looking back on them, I don't really like how I wrote it, so I've started to rewrite 'My Life.' Hopefully, everyone will like the change. Anyways, happy reading!

Prologue

Sakata Gin was a child left for dead by her birthparents after her loving grandfather's death. Before her grandfather died, he spent his time teaching his beloved granddaughter the way of the sword. And by the time she was five, she was better than people who had spent their whole lives moving along the path of the sword.

Abandoned in a time of war in a ditch effort to get rid of the supposed demon child, Gin was left to pillage the dead bodies of soldiers and although any normal child would have balked at the thought of doing such deeds, Gin wanted very much to live. So she did what she was taught to do; she fought. Fought to live her life and forge her own path.

And one day after pillaging the body of a recently deceased soldier, she met him; the person who took her in and loved her just as much as her beloved grandfather had.

Yoshida Shouyou was a wealthy young teacher and had already adopted two young boys by the names of Takasugi Shinsuke and Katsura Kotarou; both of which had led nearly identical lives such as Gin. He could easily afford to house another child and either way, the will that she showed to survive intrigued him and by the time that they were making their way to his-soon enough, Gin would call it her own- home, he loved Gin as the daughter he had never had and knew that his two other wards would prove to be fierce and protective brothers who would love their new sister very much.

When Shinsuke and Katsura first met their new sister, they were stunned. She was fragile looking and seemed as though if they even tried to play too rough with her, she might break something. Gin was a vision with a slightly tanned yet pale complexion and silvery-blue short, naturally curly hair that looked as though it might break into waves as well if it were to grow passed her neck.

A fragile, rounded little nose sat squarely above cupid bow, ruby red lips and above her nose were almond shaped eyes that were a pure crimson in color. Though, instantly the two were on guard seeing the nearly dead look in their little sister's eyes. Shouyou noticed immediately and after nodding to the two to hold their tongues, he led his precious new daughter around the large home and finally put her weary body to rest in her room. She didn't ask for it but when he had first shown it to her, crimson eyes seemed to spark in interest and Shouyou quietly gave her the room she had chosen.

After leaving his daughter to sleep in her new room he was instantly confronted by Shinsuke and Katsura; both of which proceeded to glare at him until he spoke.

"Gin has gone through many things in her brief six years of living. From what she told me, her parents didn't want her after she was born on the account of how she looks and her grandfather took her in after saving her from her parents almost drowning her. She's a survivor and despite how she looks, she's as tough as nails. I think that the almost dead look in her eyes is a protection against people that might try to harm her."

With a brief telling of Gin's life, Shouyou turned down the hall and made his way to his own bedroom; after all, it had been a long day. Besides, he could afford to rest easy now that the war was finally coming to an end.

Before he left the hallway though, he stopped and looked over his shoulder, "She's also proven to me that she is an extremely capable swordswoman; even greater than swordsmen I've seen following the way of the sword nearly their whole lives. Don't underestimate her."

Smiling to himself, he left the boys to their own devices and went to sleep.

The two six year-olds looked at each other in excitement. They had never met a person of the female variety who could actually fight and she was supposed to be their age!

The two were in the process of being taught the way of the sword, they had been learning it ever since Shouyou had saved them from their families and though the samurai code had long since been unused and almost forgotten, Shouyou thought it might be an excellent way to teach his two wards about life.

Of course, they were only around four years of age at the time so the way of neither sword nor samurai truly interested them until Shouyou started instructing them on how to fight with wooden swords. It was only then that the boys' true abilities were unleashed. They were naturals; just as Gin's grandfather had found out after teaching her.

Though the power they felt-even at the tender age of five- while wielding their wooden swords was certainly intoxicating at the beginning, the need to grow and protect what they cared for was even stronger. And now, now they had just one more reason to grow and become strong, even if Shouyou could protect himself and the new addition to their odd family was apparently just as good as they were when it came to fighting, they still felt the intense need to grow and become even greater.

After all, family was supposed to band together and be there for each other, no matter what.

ML

A year after Gin joined the once three person family, Shouyou decided to enroll them all in school, why he hadn't the previous years was for the simple reason that Shinsuke and Katsura needed to recover from the damage their respective families had caused and because he wanted Gin to feel more at ease with them.

Thankfully Gin had integrated into the family quite nicely and her and the boys were always found together whether it be sparring, playing pranks or even sleeping. Yes, the three of them were the closest friends and siblings that Shouyou had ever seen.

He was quite proud of his adopted children and that only seemed to increase after they had taken the exams to show how much knowledge they had to get into the school. All three basically tied for the highest grades ever.

Of course with their grades, they could have easily shot up the grade levels but the three declined, if only to spare themselves from the petty jealousy that no doubt would have made up most of their classmates. It wasn't that they didn't believe in their abilities to annihilate, oh no, it was just that fights such as those would have been pointless.

Sadly though, jealousy still followed them their first year of elementary when they entered the second grade.

All three were in the same class and all three dominated the lessons they were taught. They all tied their grades, even with the habits they displayed.

Katsura for instance; he was the most studious of the three, not quite a genius but certainly no simpleton either. Shinsuke often slept during his classes and glared when he wasn't, he despised his classmates with a burning fury. He despised that they dared to even contemplate bullying his beloved sister and when they tried, well, they were much too frightened to even think of anything but a demonic grin looming above them.

Yes, despite Shinsuke not paying attention in class, he still managed to tie with his siblings, it seemed as though he only had to read something to remember it correctly.

Gin, Gin however only ever looked out of the window she sat beside. It was peaceful for her; it almost reminded her of before, when her grandfather still lived. He had promised her that he wouldn't let anyone hurt her while he was alive. He had taught her many things and she was happy back then, but now, now she couldn't imagine being without Shouyou and her brothers.

Despite her window staring habit, she was quite adept at listening and merely stored all the information away after hearing it, thus earning her place among her brothers and earning her classmate's envy and jealousy.

She never responded to their silly antics and merely ignored them and when the students finally got fed up with her anticlimactic attitude about most of the things they did; it got worse.

Though, let it be said that they never did anything drastic. If one wonders why however, think of who her brothers were. Shinsuke was quite a twisted individual but he was always there for his most precious people and though Katsura looked as though he wouldn't truly care if something bad were to occur and was mostly enamored with his studies, he would glare harshly at whoever was talking of his little sister and when that person finally turned around after sensing such a harsh glare. Well, it was as if Sadako had truly come out of the movie and stepped into real life. At least, that was what the traumatized child said after seeing the school nurse for fainting in the middle of class.

The two brothers could often be seen smirking to one another and laughing after such an incident; yes, it was safe to say that they cared for their sister deeply. Gin knew of the things they did and though she felt quite a bit of annoyance at the interference, she couldn't help but find it sweet that her brothers cared enough to do such things.

Hm, perhaps the story should truly begin now, after all, everything starts, truly, within high school.