Darkness covered the land, turning everything a deep shade of blue as it blended into the dotted sky; everything except the fire that burned brightly against the cool shades and crisp air, bringing a sense of life and death into the night. Rolling hills that used to be lined with flourishing neighborhoods and gardens now lay neck and neck with the ground, smoldering in their fiery dismay. Where once great stone structures resigned is now carpeted in their rubble. Only a few stronger built houses stand, some with gaping holes on the sides, questioning how the structure is still standing; others still remain mostly intact, with nearly half of their side missing from explosive attacks. This is how it all started…
Running desperately, two young children, 4 and 7, attempted to outrun the two full grown ninja chasing after them. Their peaceful village was under attack, and the enemy wanted no survivors. The older of the siblings, the brother named Pein, held his younger sister's hand tightly as he led the way, the two angry men getting even closer to them. As the cold wind pricked the little girl's face like needles, she panted heavily as her lungs burned violently.
"Get back here, you little brats!" one of the two yelled at them, extending a hand to reach out and grab the girl. If they got the two, perhaps they could be taken prisoner. As the man looked up, he saw the two were getting riskily close to a forest. If the siblings reached the forest, they would surely lose them. Cursing under his breath, the man picked his speed, seeing a rather large tree only a few ten yards away.
"Nii-san!" the little violet haired girl cried, feeling a hand getting dangerously close to her shoulder. Just as she felt the heat of the hand by her head, she quickly dodged to the side, barely missing his grip. This was the perfect moment they needed to get all the time they needed. They quickly ran past the tree standing tall against the cool air, and into the thick shrubs that grew at the base of the trees. As they ran into the green foliage, they stopped, panting heavily as the back of their legs burned like the fire of their home. Tears streaked their cold, innocent faces, and smudges of ash on some places.
"I'm scared," the little girl mumbled, huddling up to her brother as the two ninja ran by them without noticing them in the flourishing plants. The older brother, his orange hair messy and lifeless, wrapped his weak arms around his little sister.
"It's ok, Murusaki. They're gone now," he assured in a soft voice, poking his head out to see that the men were long gone. In his mind, he knew they should stay where they were until morning, but his heart longed to return to their house still barely intact, and search for their parents. He remembers quite vividly how the parents forced them out the door, screaming at them to run as fast as they could. He wondered… Did they make it out safely? Were they alright? Or were they killed along with everyone else? His soft turquoise eyes looking down, he held his sobbing sister tightly. "In the morning, we'll go back and try to find Mom and Dad," he assured, helping her get comfortable against the nearest tree, using the plants as a source of warmth and safety.
The next morning, the little girl woke up to the smell of fresh dew on the grass she slept on and the dull smell of bark from the tree. She scrunched her nose at the intrusion of ash trying to avert her from the happy feelings of the forest. Standing up in her soaked and messy dress that her mother had made her, she rubbed the sleep from her robin blue eyes. At the sound of a bird singing high above the tree in front of her, she smiled softly, thinking of how wonderful it would be to live as a bird; you would never face extreme danger, and you could always just fly out of harm's way. With a final look down at her sleeping brother, she took it upon herself to start the way back home.
'If I find Mommy and Daddy, Nii-san will be so happy,' she thought to herself, smiling as she crawled through the green foliage. Before long, her knees were covered in soft mud from the morning's dew and grass stains on her yellow tinted summer dress; however, she had found her way out of the forest. In the orange morning light, she could see only a few houses left standing, most of which gained black marks from the fires. Dense smoke was still high in the air, she could smell it.
Suddenly a hand came down on her shoulder, and she quickly turned around to see her angry brother. "What were you doing? You could have gotten lost or killed!" he protested. Murusaki stuck out her lower lip in apology as her head hung low.
"I'm sorry. I was going to find Mommy and Daddy," she spoke softly. Pein sighed softly, letting his hand drop.
"We will, but you can't go anywhere without me, not with all these creeps hanging around," he explained to her. She nodded in agreement.
After nearly two hours of searching, they couldn't find a single person. Most of their possessions had been destroyed in the fire, except for a few glass ornaments and a necklace that their mother often wore to special events. Murusaki kept the necklace, putting it into her dress pocket. This was something special to her, so she made sure it was snug in her pocket. Most of their food was also burnt to ashes.
After another few minutes of wandering, they found it useless to continue searching, until Murusaki pointed out two figures approaching them. Filled with new found hope, they watched the figures closely, seeing that they were an elderly man and woman in thick robes.
"Dear, it must have took an army to cause this much damage," the woman spoke.
"I'm sure no one has survived," the old man replied.
"Wait, I think I see two children," came the woman's voice, squinting her eyes at Murusaki and Pein. "It is! There's two children over there! Hello?" she asked to them after exclaiming to the man.
"Hello," Pein replied, leading his sister towards the elder couple, knowing they could do no harm. He then noticed their odd clothing, and concluded they were not from the village. "Where are you from?" he asked.
"I'm from the Hidden Rain Village," the woman spoke, "and he is from the Hidden Sand," she motioned to the man. The man looked down at Murusaki carefully.
"How did you two survive?" he asked, knowing by their clothes and dirtied faces they were in the disaster.
"We ran," the boy explained. The elder woman nodded, and turned to the man, whispering something in his ear. To her, she could sense deep angry inside the boy, and she sensed a feeling of softness in the girl, yet she had a gut feeling the two were filled with potential. If they stayed together for much longer, they were sure to grow weak. Independence is key to survival. A nod finally came from the older man as he continued to look down at the girl. Both elders knew strong trainers who would be essential to helping the two, especially now without their parents.
"You two are very lucky," the woman finally spoke to them. "Please, come with us," she urged, motioning for them to follow. "We'll take care of you."
They walked along the hills, until the grass turned into dense forest. Murusaki gazed empty mindedly around at the birds that kept flying around them. It wasn't long before she grew tired, as well as her brother. The elders saw this as they approached the forking in the paths, each to a different village. They gave a silent nod and agreed to meet up again before the older man carried Murusaki one way, and the woman with Pein in another.
The smell of dirt filled her nose as she stirred. Strange voices were heard around her as she opened her striking blue eyes, now somewhat brighter. Suddenly they widened as she saw she was in some kind of mud made house, with many elders around her, all wearing a type of white robe. Her eyes scanned frantically, her brother was nowhere in sight. She called his name, getting louder until one of the elders walked up to her.
"Your brother is with another group, my dear child. We brought you here to keep you safe."
"Nii-san would never hurt me," she protested. She then jumped off the small bed, getting to her feet. Immediately her head grew light and she wobbled, unable to keep herself up, and fell to her hands and knees.
"Don't struggle. Here, we have brought you some food," another spoke more softly, helping her up and showing her the tray of healthy foods. She cautiously took a bite of an apple; it wasn't long before the tray was emptied. It had been nearly two days since she'd eaten anything.
"We know that you may miss your brother, so we found some kids who might be able to become your friends," a very old man spoke hoarsely. As he stepped aside, she saw a little girl about her brother's age with blonde hair in four small pigtails and a boy about her age with spiky brown hair and a cheesey smile. "Meet Temari and Kankuro," he explained.
Temari immediately walked up to Murusaki, holding her hand out for her to shake, and she did so weakly. "Hi! I'm Temari, this is my brother. We have another little brother, but he's too young to walk," she smiled brightly. "How about you?" she asked, and now Kankuro was beside her.
"I only have one brother," she spoke. "He's as old as you I think," she finished. "I-it's nice to meet you."
The elders smiled at the cute happenings, and left contently, all except one whose face was partially shadowed with his hat.
"That's cool. I'm gonna be a ninja someday!" Temari exclaimed. "And you should too. We could be ninjas together," she happily shadow punched the area at her side. Murusaki smiled a little; she seemed fun, but not the same as her brother. Looking over a bit, she saw Kankuro staring down at his feet, his face a little red, so she thought he was coming down with a sickness.
"Yes, Murusaki, you should become a ninja. And I have the perfect person to help you," he spoke, tilting his hat up a bit. "Follow," he spoke, turning to leave the room. "Temari, Kankuro, you stay here."
After following the man to an office type room, he gave her some new clothes. As she was removing the dress to change into a t-shirt and a simple pair of pants that seemed like cargo pants, she looked through her dress pocket. Her eyes widened greatly as she felt nothing; she had lost the necklace. She quickly tossed the dress aside looking around as she figured it must have fallen out when she took it off, but it was nowhere to be seen. Her heart raced, she had to find it! She then looked around the room, following her steps into the room, finding nothing.
Heart broken, she returned to the man in his office, her head low. He asked what was wrong, and she explained how she had lost her mother's necklace. He then promised Murusaki that he would find it for her, as long as she did the training he asked. Desperate for any way of getting the necklace back, she agreed. He then led her to the outskirts of town, to a small shack that looked as if it should be torn down. The man knocked on the door, and a man in his 50s walked out, in the middle of shaving a thick goatee. While the two talked, Murusaki looked around at the village. It was completely made of sand, and seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.
"Ok, Murusaki. This man will take care of you and teach you once you're old enough to fight," he smiled. "Don't worry, he's actually really nice, and has a good sense of humor too," he assured. "I'll come check on you tomorrow," he spoke before starting to walk away.
"Wait!" she called. "Will I see Temari and Kankuro too?" she asked. Smiling brightly, the man nodded.
"As much as you want," he promised before turning and walking away.
"Hm, how old are you again?" the man asked, letting her into his small shack to finish his shaving. He disappeared into a room with the door open to hear the girl.
"Four," she told him, looking around.
"Still pretty young, aren't ya?" he commented, and finally came back out, looking as if he'd shaved off 20 years instead of a thicket of hairs. "I'm Kago Tsukasa, but just call me Kago," he smiled down to her. His smiled seemed happy, and full of life. "Hey, wanna cookie?" he asked, walking over to a jar on his counter. Murusaki smiled as he pulled out a beautiful looking cookie.
"Please," she nodded, walking over to him. Kago smirked.
"Gotta reach for it," he held it just out of arm's reach. Murusaki jumped up, and grabbed it with a small giggle. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad. She nibbled on the delicious cookie, and it was soon gone. "Now, let's get you set up," he spoke, walking back to another room. From the outside, the shack looked small, but it also hid many rooms, one of which contained stairs leading down underground. He showed her to a new room, and promised he would eventually gather some more things for her. Murusaki smiled, feeling how soft the bed was. Even though her brother was still missing, she had a feeling that this stay with Kago wouldn't be regretted.
This is how her new life began…