So I have no self-restraint? Anyway, enjoy and tell me if you want this continued!

Chapter 1

It was dark. That was my first coherent thought and not exactly my smartest admittedly.

It was dark, sure, but it was also calm. Like weirdly calm. One could almost say, the eye of a hurricane; the calm before the storm. Instead it was affecting me, making me feel lethargic. It reminded me of when I had to take a whole bunch pills for allergies and the side effect was drowsiness.

Sleep.

Unfortunately, it didn't feel like it was going to end anytime soon, this darkness- nothingness- compelled me to just fall back to sleep. Just like I had been doing. Which was bullshit, I wasn't about to take orders from nothing.

Sleep.

What had woken me up? There must have been something, because this darkness wanted me to sleep so it wouldn't have let me be woken up. And, more pressing, where was I- this most certainly wasn't my room- and how had I gotten here? Was I dead?

...And who the fuck was I?

Ah, the question of the century. Shame I couldn't answer it.

Sleep.

Might as well, because I sure wasn't getting any answers. I was getting tired, so it wasn't like I was going along with the stupid darkness.

If anything, the darkness seemed to agree with me and so I allowed myself to be lulled back to dreamless slumber once more.

When I woke up again, the sense of wrongness was stronger and more potent to the point where I recognized it. Before I had just briefly sensed it and had awakened, but other than that I hadn't seen anything out of place.

Now I definitely could; the light was bright, especially in this pit of blackness. Strangely enough, there was light but there was no shadows; just dark and light.

Sleep.

I fought my instincts and drifted over to the light. It was strange and warm and the closer I got the more alive I felt. My heartbeat thumped faster, before it had been dead, lifeless really.

Then something else, or more precisely, someone else, appeared as well to my dismay. It didn't look human; in fact, it was more of an organic shape and seemed to glow blue. (What did I look like then?) Nothing came off as fellow human, but I just knew, it was a human. I was still disappointed though. Which was an alien feeling, because shouldn't I be happy I'm not alone?

As It drifted past me- what the hell?! It was going faster than me?- I sensed several things.

Innocence. Confusion. Joy. Nothingness.

The last one made me shiver; it was creepy but true. It practically radiated nothing, almost as if it was a blank slate.

...holy shit.

Was it a baby? And the light it was drifting towards, the body? (Side note: there was a slight possibility of me being insane. I faintly recognized this as a fact, but I was much more fascinated by the chance of it being a baby, because what did that make me?)

But wait, if I got there before It would that mean the body would be mine? Was I a baby as well? I didn't remember anything, was I a blank slate as well?

No. That wasn't right. I had been someone else before this, how else could I know what a human was supposed to look like? That meant I had died.

It also meant, I got a second chance if I got to the body first. I wasn't thinking of details when my mind was made up.

I was thinking of being alive.

Sleep.

Yeah, sorry baby, but there was no way in hell (ha! Get it?) I was going to pass up on this.

With that decided, I shook off the darkness that was trying to wrangle me back into my dead state and gave chase.

It was like swimming through syrup but somehow I managed to pass the baby who didn't seem to be having any difficulties. That really shouldn't have been too surprising; the light was the body it had been assigned too.

Sleep.

Ah well, as my dad used to say, tough luck.

I beat It to its own body so really, I was probably doing It a favor. It probably wouldn't have survived. It's not like I would waste the chance anyway.

As I touched the shining light, all my memories came back with a pounding vengeance and suddenly I could answer all those questions with clarity.

I was Puck, named after the mischievous fairy in Midsummer Night's Dream because my parents had been nerds to the very core. (And I wasn't insane apparently.)

.

And that was the story behind how I cheated death and stole a body.

Call me arrogant, but I doubt many people can do that, or have done that.

Despite it sounding really cool and all, being a baby again sort-of really sucks. There is a reason why we don't remember those days. I mean like, who wants to remember shitting themselves and having to cry to get someone to check your diapers? No one, that's who.

However, I will tell you that once you past those days, life's relatively fun.

.

I spent the time playing with a kid my age, not mentally of course, and he was highly entertaining. He had snow white hair that had a habit of coming in front of his face and was apparently expecting a younger brother later that year.

Meanwhile, I was an only child that had been formed on a one night stand and was continually shamed for that fact even though I had absolutely no power over who my parents were. Like how was I supposed to know the body I stole was a bastard's child?

...

Alright so maybe, I could've just not gone towards the Light and none of this would have happened, but still.

"Sayuri!"

I sighed. "What?"

"Look, look!" He shouted with a wide grin that threatened to tear his face apart. "My hand! Watch, watch! It's so cool!"

I rolled my eyes at his theatrics but still kept a close eye on his hand. I was curious, sue me.

Nothing happened and I gave him a skeptical look, but he was frowning too hard to notice so I was forced to go back to staring at his hand.

Then, right before my eyes, there was a drop of water, one, two, five now. His index finger became translucent, as though it was a ghost, and his hand was soon the same. There was a tint of blue but I ignored it. His hand had just become a specter! As in, like, dead and back to haunt the living.

(Here you may wonder why that freaked me out so much when that description might as well be me. The answer to that is I was a living, breathing human- not see through or haunting.)

"Oh my god!" I shrieked. "Get that ghost hand away from me! Mangestu, why would try and make your hand a ghost?!"

He seemed surprised but couldn't stop laughing as he brought the hand closer and closer to me. I was too scared to move, what if the ghost hand realized I wasn't living but dead as well and took me back?

It was so close and all Mangestu did was laugh harder at my apparent fear. If I got out of this, I would kill him. I squeezed my eyes closed and briefly wondered if I was hyperventilating. I brushed it away because who cared about that when you might just be dead in a few seconds?

Surprisingly, I was never pulled back into that blinding darkness; instead, there was this wetness clutching to my own hand. I opened my eyes and blinked. I blinked some more. Mangestu ghost hand was holding mine, but there was no 'crap, I'm dead again'. There was just 'why does it feel like water?'

Vaguely, I remembered our clan's specialty and flushed bright red. Well, wasn't that embarrassing, I seethed. "Oh." I said in a small voice.

"Oh man! That was great!" Mangestu crowed and I quickly put him back in his place with a jab to the stomach. "Ow! I didn't know you'd get so freaked out over it. Though ghost hand? Really? That's hilarious!"

"Shut up." I snarled and wondered if I should do well on my threat of killing him. I decided against it, because even if he was an annoying person and a pain the ass, he was the clan head's son and, somehow, I doubted killing his son would make him very happy.

He sniggered, "how do you forget our clan's bloodline though?"

"Um, I don't know?" I shrugged. "I just did."

"Why don't you learn it too?" Mangestu asked and I back away slightly, feeling uncomfortable.

"Bastard's child, remember?" I said, not unkindly. Yes, I was pissed I wasn't able to turn into water. Who wouldn't be?

He winced. "Oh. Right."

Forgetful ass.

"Yeah." I said awkwardly, and we shifted uneasily. "I should probably head home. Mom will want my help for dinner."

"Right, okay," he agreed and turned to leave as well. "See you tomorrow, Sayuri!"

I smiled, and we broke off as I went right and he went left.

As I wasn't a full-blooded Hozuki, I wasn't allowed to learn the clan justu. My mom had fought for me to learn it, but the clan head hadn't moved on his decision. While I wasn't happy with the outcome, all the times I had stood outside his house waiting for my mom to come out, I had met Mangestu, his son. After that, we formed a tentative friendship, so far I hadn't regretted it. Even if he was a brat.

I stopped in front of my house. It was made of white cement and had an oval with two lines symmetrical inside with a circle in the middle being divided by a straight line over the front door. It was the clan symbol. It was circular, which had been weird as fuck, let me tell you. We weren't closely related to the main branch, so we lived further away from Mangestu's house.

After tucking my indigo hair behind my ears, I opened the door. "I'm home."

My mom popped her head out from the kitchen with a soft smile. "Welcome back, Sayuri."

Slipping off my shoes, I went to go join her.

"Do you need help for dinner?" I asked politely, because my mother was an all great and powerful being. She had survived me for seven years already, and I wasn't necessarily the greatest child who listened all the time.

She ruffled my hair, ruining my slightly put together look I had achieved before showing up. "Help cut the carrots, will you?"

"Sure!"

Ding.

"Is Mangestu coming over?" My mom frowned.

"No. He wasn't supposed to, at least."

"Hm, well, you stay here." She said, worried for some reason I could not guess.

I nodded and she seemed to relax the slightest bit.

Her feet padded softly across our wood as she walked out of the kitchen and to the door. It opened with a click; I stilled, wanting to hear who it was.

"Oh," I could practically hear my mom's relief in that one word. "It's you, Sangestu. I thought it might be... nevermind."

"There is a clan meeting tonight at the clan head's house, you can drop Sayuri off with Mangestu." Sangestu said.

Sangestu was our nosey neighbor that knew everyone's secrets, whether you wanted him to know or not. It was a good asset for our clan, but sucked when he decided to act like a child and spill all the secrets he had collected. Which was surprisingly often. Of course, they were always the innocent ones to annoy my younger cousins, like who had a crush on who and who had finished the cake.

"Alright." My mom acquiesced. "Sayuri! Stop eavesdropping and start cleaning up the kitchen!"

I grinned sheepishly at the wall, she knew me too well, before putting the knife away along with the carrots. I took the potatoes mom had been cleaning just the moment before and stuffed them back in the fridge. Then, taking the washcloth, I wiped down the counter.

As soon as I was done, I joined my mother that had donned her simple jacket for the clan cloak that had the symbol in the back. My loose violet shirt that matched my hair already had it printed on the back, because, apparently, clans had a lot of clan spirit.

"Sangestu, go on ahead. I'm afraid it might take a moment." She said kindly.

He shrugged, "okay then. See ya soon Sayuri!"

The door closed once more and my mom raised an eyebrow. "Did you really think your hair was acceptable for even a moment?"

"Maybe," I replied with an awesome hair flip and she laughed with eyes full of mirth.

"Come over here." She said walking down the hallway, past the kitchen, to her bathroom. My mom rummaged through a cabinet and found the hair brush. Before even working on my hair, she gave a few experimental tugs on her own white hair.

I looked at the mirror and winced. I might as well have come back from a tornado with my hair looking like that. My purple-blue hair, for all intents and purposes, wasn't a clan trait. White and light blue hair was, and so at any clan function I stuck out like a sore thumb. It wasn't long like my mom that had long hair that reached her lower back. It was only slightly longer than my shoulders.

I might grow it out later to be more like my old self, who knows though? Having long hair and being a ninja didn't go together unless you were good enough.

The few things that identified me as a Hozuki were my bright purple eyes (that I loved), light skin complexion (vampire), and sharp teeth (what did I say, vampire). Disregarding my hair and name, I could fit in just fine. Probably anyways.

My mother turned towards me with the brush raised threateningly in one hand and I reluctantly walked up to her. She had no mercy on knots, or my hair in general. My poor seven year old scalp couldn't handle my mom's years of experience as a ninja.

Once she was done, I had unshed tears in the corners of my eyes but my unruly hair was straight again.

"Now let's go join everyone else, Sayuri." She said with an outstretched hand for me to grab. I nodded eagerly.

And yes, I was not mentally seven, but you know what? I don't care. I would hold her hand even if I was thirty! Alright, so that's an exaggeration, but whatever. I'm making a point!

Back to the matter at hand (pun so totally intended), I grabbed it and we walked to the center of our compound eve as the mist our village was famous for swarmed around us.

As soon as we reached Mangestu's house, I let go with a wave while my mom talked with her cousins, which might as well have been everybody. I strolled through the rooms, most of them full with clansmen, searching for my friend. In the end though, it was him who found me and not the other way around.

"Sayuri!" Mangestu jumped on top of me. "I was wondering where you were."

I scoffed and pushed him away. "If anything, it was me who was wondering where you were."

"Yeah right," he grinned with his sharp teeth gleaming. "Also are you going to the academy too?"

"No, my mom is going to teach me herself. I think Sangestu is also going to help but I'm not sure."

"Aw," he whined. "Why?"

"She said she didn't trust Yagura-sama." I whispered, not wanting to be accused of treason.

"That reminds me." He said, "I'm pretty sure this meeting has to do about him. My parents don't really like him either, but it'd be too suspicious if the heir of our clan didn't go to the academy."

That was true, if he didn't go, we might as well have announced our opinions to him and every other official. Poor Mangestu.

"Sorry." I apologized.

He shook his head, "no it's fine. If our parents are right about him, then I'd rather you'd not go."

"Aww, is Mangestu feeling protective of me~" I sang with a smirk.

He smacked me. "Shut up, Sayuri."

My obnoxious smirk stayed while internally I was totally falling for his sappiness. Ah well, he was like twenty years too young. But then again, so was I...

Goddammit, stupid Mangestu!

My mother found it fit to return to me and was smiling fondly at me as I internally seethed. Like no Mom, this is not the part where you smile, this is the part where you threaten to castrate him!

...I'm not this violent usually.

"Hangestu-sama, I apologize for my daughter's impertinence. It was not her intention to disrespect Mangestu-sama." My mom said suddenly. I glanced upwards and saw the clan head staring disapprovingly at me. I gulped while Mangestu sobered, losing his good-natured scowl.

Hangestu met eyes with her before saying. "Chose wisely who you chose as friends, Mangestu."

Then he left with one last disapproving glare.

"Sorry Mom." I said quietly, knowing I had reflected badly on her. I was also mad because the dude was obviously being an ass.

She sighed and just patted my head. "Don't you worry about me. Now don't eavesdrop on us, okay?"

"Right." Two crossed fingers were behind my back. Sorry Mom.

Mangestu gave me an exasperated look and I grinned mischievously. They couldn't seriously think that I would listen to them.

"C'mon Mangestu," I pushed. "We can't miss this. It has to do with our Mizukage for Kami's sake!"

"...fine." He said reluctantly.

Belatedly, I pondered if I had done something wrong but shrugged it off. This world had done something wrong, not me. Who, after all, created child soldiers for the norm?

We made our way towards the door where my mom had disappeared, elbowing and squeezing through the other clansmen. Mangestu kept saying sorry for me and I kept saying he didn't need to, if they weren't moving then it wasn't my problem.

I'm not sure he agreed. Oh well.

Unlike all the other rooms, this one was mostly empty save for my mom and Hozuki-sama. I guessed everyone else was still socializing. There was no stage for a speaker to stand on but there was a podium. Behind it was the clan symbol blown up to fill the majority wall, while in front of it were a bunch of chairs lined up.

"-ease, Hangestu-sama." Mom was pleading and my heart twisted seeing her helpless. "The tension is growing, civilians look at us with fear. She needs a way to protect herself!"

"You know as well as do about the risk." He replied darkly.

"Yes, but- I believe she could do it!" She said.

There was a beat.

"If she was able, then she'd be turned into a tool." A sigh. "I am doing this for her sake."

"I know-"

"Then you know that this conversation is done. I do not want to hear about this again."

Silence.

"…Y-yes, Hozuki-sama."

Mangestu and I walked away as fast as we could without attracting attention to ourselves. Once we were alone, I let out a breath I hadn't known I had been holding. I ran my small hand through my hair, effectively ruining my mother's hard work. My mind was whirling a mile a minute.

"What the fuck was that about?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Probably about you."

I glared at him. "Well, duh." How could he be joking after hearing something like that?

"I mean, Sayuri. We shouldn't get involved with whatever they were fighting about." He said, not meeting my eyes.

"Are you for real?" I hissed at him. If it was about me, than I had a right to know!

"Yes!" He snapped back, finally meeting my eyes. "I want you to leave tonight as though you obeyed your mom and didn't overhear anything. Like my father said, this conversation is over. For us and for them. There's nothing to find if they're done talking, Sayuri!"

My eyes stung and I took a step back as though I had been punched, but I kept my chin held high. "Fine. I'll forget this ever happened for you Mangestu. But if it comes back again, I will investigate it, got that?"

"Yeah, I got that. I'll help you too, okay?" He sighed.

I smiled weakly, "thanks."

"No problem." He looked out towards the main hallway. "Most people are going in the room, we should go too."

I took a calming breath and counted to ten before plastering a grin on my face that still had baby fat on it.

"Right. Let's go!" I rushed past him. "Slowpoke!" I stuck my tongue out at him. Childish, maybe, fun, hell yes!

"You're on!" he shouted grinning, running after me.

Our cousins shook their heads, but a couple of them held amusement as well as nostalgia. I wondered if any of them had been like this too when they were seven.

Probably.

We were the Hozuki clan after all.

To be continued, or to not be continued?