I sat on my bed, frustratedly flipping through my manga. I tried to ignore the screams from downstairs as my parents argued heatedly.

Why does my mom always have to be such a bitch? Robert's good to us. Why does she always have to act like he's some mooching ass of a second husband? It's her fault she's such a temperamental freak. She can't just go around bitching and whining about her life like we aren't having our own troubles. And she can't go around cracking people upside the head or in the face whenever she gets pissed off.

I heard my mother stomping up the stairs, and I shoved my manga under my pillow, and quickly tried to pretend I was asleep.

"MCKENNA! WAKE THE FUCK UP! MOVE YOUR ASS YOU STUPID BITCH!" She screams from outside my door, pounding on it so hard that I heard some wood splinter.

I stomped across the room, and unlocked the door, before diving back to my bed. She crashed in, slamming my door into the wall so hard a framed picture fell, shattered glass scattering over the floor.

She grabbed a handful of my hair, and yanked me out of my bed. I fell to the floor, and smacked my head hard on the floor. Dazed, I let her drag me out of my room, but snapped back when she threatened to throw me down the stairs. I went into a frenzy, trying to grab a hold of the banister before I was flung down the flight of steps.

She kept on screaming, trying to push me down, when I suddenly pushed myself to my feet and shoved her into the wall, away from the stairs. She reached out and hit me hard in the face. I hit her back, harder. I was taller than her, and heavier than her. I used that to my advantage.

Tears clouded my vision as I fought back against her repeated blows, eventually over-powering her. I hit her in the stomach, close to her scar from pacemaker surgery. She doubled over, and toppled backwards. I shoved her into my step-sister's room, and locked the door. It was a cheap move, but I knew it would make her stop.

I ran back to my room, slammed the door, and locked it. My trembling hand flicked the light switch, and I stared at myself in the mirror. No matter how hard I'd fought back, she had still beaten the hell out of me. A large bruise was spreading across my cheek, and my lip was cracked, busted, and bleeding. Tears slid down my face as I gingerly lay down on my bed, trying not to burst out in tears, like a bawling baby.

I woke up at 3 or 4 in the morning. My door was still locked, and my face was still throbbing. I didn't want to take this crap anymore, from the woman who was supposed to take care of me, not hit me because she's having problems.

I stood up, and threw a large duffel bag on my bed. I stuffed in a few changes of clothes, some food I hid in my room at all times, and some shampoo and body wash. I don't know why, but I decided to treat it like I was going on vacation. I fit in a few Naruto manga, and all the cash I had. About a hundred and fifty dollars. I hitched the duffel higher on my shoulder, and silently crept out of my room after dropping the bag out my window and onto the front lawn.

I went slowly down the stairs, noticing that my step-sister's room was open. I thanked God that she was with her mother this week. Otherwise that four-year old would have to deal with this. The last time she had, she had been screaming so loud the neighbors called the cop. I blamed it on a horror movie, or something equally lame. I made a more believable story about a school fight to explain my black eye.

They left with a joke about scary movies and a warning to stay out of trouble. My mom was somewhere in her room sleeping off her screaming-fit. I had sent her and Robert over to his parent's house, and my mom had spent the rest of the weekend acting like a super-sweet, sugary-loving mom. It was sickening.

I quietly entered the foyer, and hesitantly placed my hand on the deadbolt. There was no way to avoid the accompanying noise as it slid out of place with a loud, metallic thlack that echoed across the living room. My heart stopped beating, and I froze. Nothing happened, so I slowly clicked open the (thankfully less noisy) knob lock, opened the door, and slipped outside. Feeling like some sort of beast-ass ninja, I snagged my duffel bag from the lawn, tossed it over my shoulder, and began to walk.

To who knows the hell where?

I scowled at the tree, which had decided it was my mortal enemy and had tripped me. I continued to shove crap back in my bag, when a reddish-orange blur lunged at my face. Its soft fur tickled my face as it licked my nose excitedly.

"WHAT THE FLYING KUNAI-Oh. It's a baby fox." I awwwwwed over it for a few minutes, like every girl would, and it barked happily. When I got up to walk away, it trotted after me, longue hanging out. I fawned over it again, and decided I would keep it.

I squatted, and scratched its head.

"Heeeyyyy little guy. Imma kidnap you…and you will be my Kyuubi, and you will be mine, and you shall be my Kyuubi." I giggled, and started walking again, Kyuubi following me like a faithful little puppy.

I decided to make camp a few hours (and miles) later. As I picked a clearing and dumped my stuff, I face palmed.

"Kyuubi, I feel like a Naruto wannabe right now. Camping? In the middle of the woods? This has completely passed fangirlism." I complained to the furry animal equivalent of a redhead.

I rolled out my sleeping bag, and decided it was imperative to make a fire. (Did I really just think imperative? I must be going crazy…) I used my awesome boy scout (yes, boy scout. I pleaded sexism when they wouldn't let me in.) skills to make sticks spark up and slowly let them catch the rest on fire, eventually adding in a few big branches I had broken off of the trees.

As warmth spread around me, I tiredly wiggled into my sleeping bag, Kyuubi snuggling in the crook of my arm, her face just barely peeking out of the top of the bag with my shoulder.

It was so adorable, it should have been illegal.

I woke up the next morning to a loud boom from deeper in the woods. I jerked awake, rolling over hard. I squished Kyuubi, and she nipped my shoulder. I flipped over again, and she crawled out, licking her foot. I glared at her, still tangled in my bag.

It took five minutes, but I finally freed myself from the clutches of the evil bag. I squished it back into its carrying case thing somehow, and stood. Kyuubi ran in excited little circles around my feet, when another explosion boomed across the woods. I swear I saw the trees shake.

I stumbled a little when Kyuubi dive-bombed my leg with a loud yelp. That last boom had scared her out of her little fox mind.

I looked around uneasily, and headed to the place I thought the boom had come from. As I treaded through the woods, I saw torn pieces of paper fluttering everywhere. They had something printed on them, but I couldn't tell what. After a quarter of a mile, I saw several decimated pieces of plastic book covering. Manga book coverings. I stared, realizing they were Naruto covers.

But…why are there Naruto manga all the way put there? And why so many? And why are they all ripped up?

And suddenly, another boom echoed, loud enough to make my head vibrate. I flinched hard, and dropped my bag. Another wave of ripped manga flew through the woods. I saw a black…thing in the clearing ahead, before a whole, unripped manga hit me hard in the forehead, and I blacked out.