A few months had past and I had been struggling to take care of myself. But of course I was too young to find a job and make money of my own.
"It's not fair," I said quietly. I looked at myself in the mirror and almost began to cry noticing how different I looked. I had lost a lot of weight due to the lack of eating.
I took my squirrel and went for a quick walk outside because staying inside was only making me more miserable. I knew people heard about me living alone. They probably even planned on making me live with some stranger, but that's not what I wanted. I wanted to keep waiting. Some kids walked by and started to point and laugh at me.
"No wonder your mother left you! Look at you!" They shouted. I started to run off covering my ears to avoid hearing their nonsense. It was something that happened a lot now.
"I can't deal with this anymore!" I shouted and started to walk back to my house with tears streaming down my face. I took a seat on a bench and tried to calm myself down first. I wanted to keep waiting, but somehow I knew it would be a waste.
"So it's settled," I said quietly. "I leave tonight. But I want to say goodbye to a few people first." I walked around the village looking for that boy Gaara, but I couldn't find him anywhere. Finally, too exhausted to keep looking I walked to my house and saw some sand Shinobi inside.
"What the?" I started to say as I opened the door. They all turned to look at me as I felt myself go still.
"Are you Nayumei Akada?" They asked. I shook my head yes.
"You need to come with us," They added sternly.
"But why?" I shouted. "I want to stay here!" I told them.
"The Kazekage wants to see you," They added noticing my fear and trying to make me calm. I grabbed my already packed backpack and walked out the door with them. My toy squirrel was glued to my hand.
~.::.::.::.::.::.~ A few minutes later ~.::.::.::.::.::.~
We were on our way when the sand Shinobi heard a scream for help somewhere off in the distance. They quickly ran towards it and I decided to go see what was going on as well. I saw Gaara attacking someone, but his face looked so confused. The sand Shinobi yelled at him to stop. He looked over at them and then past them to where I was standing. I was shaking with fear as I our eyes met.
"What is he?" I thought to myself. I started to run towards the village entrance with my backpack while the sand Shinobi tried to settle down Gaara. All their attention was off me. The ninja at the entrance were distracted and I easily snuck past. I took one last look at the village I decided to leave behind. The very place my family left me all alone. The place with that boy named Gaara.
"You lied mother," I said angrily while I clench my fist.
~.::.::.::.::.::.~ A few months later ~.::.::.::.::.::.~
"I can't go on any longer," I said weakly. I lost a lot of weight and that was beginning to make an impact. I smelled food from a village near by and decide to go check it out for myself. I easily snuck past the gates and positioned myself high in a tree to observe and noticed a food place close by. No one was watching it, or so I told myself.
"This is my chance!" I thought and jumped down. I filled up my backpack and then took some other things like necklaces and etc... Thinking I could trade them in another village and make some money.
"Hey you!" Someone shouted and startled me. I started to run back to where I first came in, too afraid to look back.
"Someone stop that girl she stole a very important jewel!" They shouted. I suddenly felt stupid and knew I should have just gotten the food and left. I looked to my left and to my right and saw people running towards me. I took off as fast as I could.
"Hey where do you think you are going!" They shouted.
No matter how fast I ran they were still right behind me. I tried to run faster, but since I was weak from not eating for days I began to feel sick. My head started to throb and I just about dropped my backpack. I soon saw a river nearby and knew it was my opportunity. Though I knew jumping in would soak up all the food I just got, I quickly stuffed some in my mouth.
"This is my chance!" I shouted and jumped in without a second thought. I stuck my tongue out at them as I let out a laugh thinking I had beat them.
"Stupid girl! You'll pay!" They shouted. The river seemed to pick up speed and I saw myself drifting farther and farther away from them. They soon disappeared from my sight.
"Where did they go?" I said out loud. It didn't seem to matter though because all the food I just went through the trouble of getting, was soaked. I tried to hold back my tears, and soon noticed I was going even faster. I looked over and heard the sound of water falling and felt fear take over.
"Oh no! A waterfall!" I shouted and I looked for something to grab onto. A big rock was the only thing close enough and so I grabbed a hold of it and felt my legs smash against other rocks nearby. I felt the pain and cried out not knowing how badly they were injured. I began gasping for air as I tried to keep my head from going under the current.
"Help!" I shouted trying to hold my grip, but my hands were slipping. I started to move forward and grabbed onto another rock as quickly as I could.
"Oh no!" I gasped and screamed hoping someone would hear. I then saw logs coming towards me at such a speed that I didn't know how to avoid them. I looked over at where the logs were coming from and saw villagers waving at me. A log hit me in the face and made me lose my hold. I moved forward and soon found myself at the edge. I looked down and saw the huge fall that I knew I wouldn't survive. I was suddenly in mid air, reaching for a rock, but was quickly falling. I looked down and saw the pointy rocks on the spot I would land. I shouted and cried, when suddenly I felt myself fly towards a tree. I opened my eyes and looked up to see a knife holding the strap of my backpack against the tree. I slipped out of the other strap and fell to the ground. My pigtails then came undone and then my short brown hair was in my face.
"Did you really think you were going to get away?" Someone's voice called. I looked up and saw a shadow of a person before it went dark.
~.::.::.::.::.::.~ A few minutes later ~.::.::.::.::.::.~
I woke up and felt a pain in my arms and legs. I looked down and saw that I was now tied to a tree.
"What happened?" I asked while I looked around, no one was insight. I then noticed my backpack nearby; it had been opened and emptied.
"HEY!" I shouted angrily and looked for someone again."Somebody better untie me right now!" I shouted. I tried to free myself, but my whole body ached. I thought to myself, if only I was stronger than freeing myself would be so easy. If only I had listened to the sand ninja I wouldn't be stuck in this mess. I'd rather be somewhere hated, then roaming around trying to find a new home.
"Help me!" I started to sob uncontrollably.
"Shut up little brat you should have thought twice before you decided to go around stealing people's things," A man spoke as he came closer to me. I looked at him and noticed he was a rather large man and was carrying a sword. "We should keep you around as a slave to pay back for the jewel you lost in the river!" He shouted harshly.
"I just wanted some food…" I said shyly. He made a fist and threatened to punch me. Four other ninja came and stood in front of me.
"Do you think she knows?" They asked each other. They examined my face silently as I remained still and confused.
"We can't risk it, if she knows then she will surely spread the word," One said.
"Or maybe she was sent here," Said the fat man.
"Even so, she could be of good contribution to the village," Said another. "She looks like a homeless child."
"I think we should just gut her like a fish right here and now!" Yelled the fat man. He took out a knife and made a cut across my cheek. I cried out for him to stop which only made him angrier."Who sent you!" He yelled.
"What are you talking about?" I muffled. He made a fist and punched my stomach. A feeling I never felt and wish I hadn't. I coughed out a gush of blood and looked at the ground somberly.
"You came here for a reason, to steal our precious gem that can help us with our jutsus, and now it's gone!" He shouted and readied to hit me again.
"I didn't mean to!" I shouted angrily. He took a step back and stared at me.
"Whaat is that?" They shouted.
"Huh?" I asked confused. I turned my head and saw a grey snake wrapping itself around my waist and up to my neck. One of the ninja threw a knife at it killing it and stabbing my arm as well. I let out a terrifying scream at the pain. It fell to the ground and soon after my blood started to drip. I then thought back to Gaara and his reaction when he saw my blood. One of the ninja then came towards me and cut me loose from the tree.
"Let's get this over with, kill her quickly," He said while handing the knife over to the other ninja.
"Sure thing boss," He said excitedly and then raised his hand.
"No!" I shouted and closed my eyes. After a few seconds, nothing happened. I opened my eyes and felt utterly confused. The ninja fell to his knees and coughed up blood to my surprise. My eyes widened at the sight and instead of screaming I stared silently not understanding. The other ninja looked just as confused and started to look around cautiously.
"What happened?" They shouted. Then another fell to the ground and gush of blood squirted up and some drops landed my face. I gasped for air and then tried to close my eyes from the horrific sight. I heard the others scream in agonizing pain. Their screams were like knifes to my ears. My heart began to beat fast and soon that became all I could hear.
*Thump* *Thump* *Thump*
"Stop it!" I screamed as I placed my hands over my ears to stop the noise.
"Are you scared my child?" A voice suddenly spoke. It was a different one then the ones I had heard. My heart started to beat even faster. The voice sounded eerie and made the hairs on my neck stand. "There's no need to be scared, it'll be all over soon." I slowly opened my eyes and saw a man with long black hair, white skin, and yellowish snake looking eyes. My heart seemed to have sunken to the bottom of my stomach as I sat there frozen. He placed his hand on my head gently.
"Is it power you seek my child?" He asked with a grin on his face."I can give you all the power you desire, and more," He whispered in my ear and I started to shake.
"You can eat to your hearts content, if you had the power," He started to say. He leaned in closer and I found myself unable to move.
"MOVE!" I told myself. His eyes looked right into mine and it almost seemed like he was sucking my very soul out.
"Do you want that power, my child?" He asked. He moved in the blink of an eye and bit my neck, sinking his fangs into my skin.
I screamed out and felt the pain that was so agonizing I felt it quickly spread throughout my body. I fell to the ground trembling and holding onto my neck with my hand. It felt like my skin was on fire. I let out another scream and continued like this for a few minutes, but the pain wouldn't stop.
"What have you done?" I tried to shout, but it came out as a whisper. He stood over me with a grin on his face.
"Make it stop!" I begged and he turned to face the other way.
"If you are lucky and survive this gift, this curse mark," He started to say. "Then follow me my child, and you'll never go hungry again." He started to walk away and that was when I noticed all the bodies lying around from those fallen ninja. I gasped for air as the pain seemed to get more intense. I let out another scream and laid on my back as I watched the clouds slowly start to float by. I could hear his footsteps getting more and faint. My vision then started to blur and my heart beat seemed to slow down as well. His words repeated in my head over and over again. I could feel myself fading away as I took one last look at the sky before closing my eyes.
~.::.::.::.::.::.~ a few hours later ~.::.::.::.::.::.~
"Looks like you made it after all," Said a voice nearby. I slowly opened my eyes and saw a strange man that looked familiar.
"Follow me if you want to live," He said. I stood myself up and began to follow him, not knowing what else to do. He handed me a piece of bread and I started to munch away. Feeling a wash of relieve, after starving for so long. He gave me another one and smirked and then placed his hand on my head.
"It's a long journey home, my child," He finished off. I concentrated on eating the food he gave me and then I look up at him and examined his face. Not remembering what had happened.