Chapter 2: A Survivor's Determination
It had been a journey of recovery and self-realization.
Kimimaro stood over the small hill, his turquoise eyes overlooking the green pasture. The wind whipped up and blew past him, making strands of his hair sway about. The gentle cool of the breeze dried the sweat on his face. His heaving chest whistled with an unhealthy wheeze. Dark circles under his eyes told one and beyond that this young man had gone through suffrage and agonizing days for god knows how long. The muscles of his body begged for rest, which he had graciously given just a couple moments ago.
As the sole survivor of the Kaguya clan, Kimimaro had been alone since he was a child.
To be lonesome without the caring hand of another was something nobody should ever go through. Protection and security came hand in hand when in a family. Kimimaro didn't have that as a child when his clan was wiped out while viciously attacking Kirigakure. And though his family wasn't the best of means, it was still family.
It was the same with Orochimaru-sama.
He was family, rather a father figure in Kimimaro's eyes. Orochimaru had taken in Kimimaro as a child and used him to his extent when nobody else would come close.
The feeling of being needed by someone, anyone, was preciously irreplaceable. There was no greater feeling in the world than to be needed by someone; it was something Kimimaro greatly desired. And to be required by Orochimaru made that desire strive to serve and make his dreams (as corrupted and demeaning as they were) to come true.
His duty was to protect and serve.
Kimimaro had a sense of belonging. As Orochimaru's precious vessel (someone he gloated quietly over in the quietness of Orochimaru's lair), he had been the main importance in his eyes. When trained and ready, he had become the fifth member of Sound Four.
He had finally proven his meaningless existence.
And now it was viciously erased.
From the start of his wake, Kimimaro had roamed around the past four years searching and seeking for his master. The yearning need for Orochimaru nearly buckled the young man's spirit as it intensified with every passing second. And when Kimimaro had learned of Orochimaru's death, it crippled him.
The mention of the legendary sannin's death slaughtered the very existence of Kimimaro. The only man who had given him a second chance in life, who had fed, trained, and supported was now gone and never to return again. His chest concaved to a point where the heart lying within the cage of his ribs crushed beneath the invisible force of utter sadness. The wailing, broken sound of his voice, echoed through the night of realization that there was no one for him.
What did he live for now?
That question had relentlessly cycled in his mind.
And there was no answer to it.
The devastation of it disabled him from participating in anything of his surroundings. In different villages there were hunter-nins who discovered about his existence and fought to kill or capture. The first wave of attack had him wanting to surrender and follow his master into the other world. But the thought of carelessly throwing his life away, his life that was so carefully looked after and trained by Orochimaru-sama, peeved him. And so he fought, killing the men and women who attempted to take the only source of connection to Orochimaru.
But when it came to food and shelter, he neglected himself of it.
In some way, it was a sort of punishment. He disciplined himself from not being a strong enough vessel for his magnanimous lord. Had he still been alive, his master would've roved the earth.
Kimimaro would've still been important in this worthless world.
And though as hard as he tried to remove himself from this trivial world, Kimimaro found that he couldn't.
There was something out there, something out there to live for though he knew not what it was. He felt within the depth of his chest, something pulling forth towards Konohagakure. The connection was significant, strong and bold.
He hadn't felt it before. It wasn't until he reached his homeland (to obtain some sort of identity from his murdered clan) that he felt a small connection, a thin unnoticeable string really, tug him weakly towards Konohagakure.
And as he travelled towards the village, he realized it was growing sturdy and well built with each step. As it grew strong, so did his innocuous curiosity.
Kimimaro sighed and wiped the back of his hand across his beading forehead. The journey had been hard, but in an odd sense it was a journey of healing. There was no explanation to it. Kimimaro tried to delve within himself to discover what had made his soul thrive for living.
He needed to find out what it was here for him.
Kimimaro stood from his sitting place, dusting his bottom from the clinging grass. His eyes glanced down and stared fondly at the white flowers budding from the ground.
Turning his attention away from it, his eyes turned to stare at the enormous gates of Konohagakure.
It was time for discovery.
"I'm so sorry!"
Yamanaka Ino stood there with her arms crossed over her bountiful chest and foot tapping the floor of the flower shop with a slowness that only defined as the intent to kill. Her sea-foam eyes burned; lip twitching with annoyance as she stared murderously at the girl bowing at her repetitiously with apologies spewing from her mouth. "Momiji-chan, what did I say about the importance of time?"
Yikes! Ever since the woman had gotten pregnant, she'd been more ruthless than before.
Momiji laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head. "You said-"
"That's fucking right! I said every worker has to be on time, god dammit! What time is it?" Ino yelled.
Momiji's lavender eyes darted to the clock over the exit of the flower shop. The temptation to run for her life was great, but the knowledge of having an ex-ninja running after her completely diminished the thought. "…Three…forty?"
And suddenly, with those words, the strong bold woman broke down. "And I can't even fit in my wedding dress!" Ino sobbed.
Aw, shit. She did not need this.
"Ah, Ino-san, why don't-"
"It's Ino-chan, brat! I'm not that fucking old!"
Momiji cleared her throat. "Um…Ino…chan…why don't you head on home? I'll take care of everything!" It was dreadfully important to avoid the conversation about Ino's upcoming wedding despite the blond woman bringing up the subject.
Once it was brought, knives flew in the air.
Ino sniffled and turned her watery eyes to the clock. "I guess I should. Chouji's mom's had been mentioning about some herbal tea to calm the rascal's kicking." She turned away from the back of the counter of the counter to reveal her fifth-month-old stomach. Usually for women and their pregnancies, they barely showed at the second trimester, but with Ino…it was best not mention it unless the dire need to die was wanted. "Ah! I need to kick some ass. I feel like a fatass."
Momiji kept her mouth closed and busied herself with rearranging some flowers.
"Remember," Ino called out, sliding her arms into a coat. "Don't arrange flowers unless absolutely needed! You suck at it."
"Jeez, Ino-chan, thanks," Momiji's voice was full of sarcasm.
"What was that?!"
"Nothing!"
"Better be. I'll see you tomorrow. Remember to close the store!"
And with that, the blond was gone.
Momiji sighed and walked around the store, tidying a few flowers and items before sauntering towards the cash register and waiting for any customers to appear.
It had nearly been twelve years since she had been here, making this village her permanent home.
The thought of it broke her heart, but it was a necessity to stay here if she wanted to live.
When the caravan had neared Konohagakure, the rogues attacked everybody: man, woman, and child. It was horrifying. Luckily, some of the shinobi who were returning from a mission helped defend the helpless, inexperience merchants. But some were not so lucky on surviving.
Konohagakure's Rokudaime helped the caravan, allowing them to stay however long necessary until they were ready to depart and travel once more.
The caravan had left within a month, graciously thanking the Hokage for his help and moved on with their way of life. All except for a handful of the merchants, which included her mother.
Her mother had fallen in love with the village and out of a whim decided to stay. Her mother had found a job at Ichiraku and rented a small humble apartment off to the east of the village, and enrolled Momiji into an academic school. Even when Momiji begged piteously for her mother to register her into the Academy for future kunoichis and shinobis, her mother stuck to her firm answer of no.
Everything was wonderful until Momiji had tapped into her bloodline.
That was when her mother wanted to return into the protection of her original village.
Eight years living in Konohagakure and making it their home wasn't easy to ignore. Her mother knew that she didn't want to leave, but the thought of her daughter to be kidnapped and used as a soldier terrified her. The thought of safety for the past eight years didn't matter; she wanted to return home with her relatives and blood. The blind thought of it didn't deter her from her decision.
The Rokudaime had known about the incident of Momiji reviving their precious pet from the dead. There was nothing that didn't escape his attention and there were those who were fiercely loyal to him.
That was when Momiji actually met him, him and his baby blue eyes.
Never having met the Hokage of Konohagakure, Momiji was unsure of what to feel when Uzumaki Naruto recommended her mother to stay within the confines of the village.
Her mother was fierce and wanted to leave, saying that he had no reason to keep them. And when he had mentioned about Momiji's bloodline, her mother became a tiger. She said he had no power to keep them, and if he did it against their wishes, he was no better than Kirigakure's previous Mizukages. To confide a family within the village was no different than locking up a prisoner in a jail cell.
At the tender age of fourteen, Momiji did nothing but stay off to the side and listen to their argument. And when she and her mother were leaving in the dead of the night, she said nothing.
It wasn't until they were attacked at the front gates of the village, did Momiji's mother realized how right the Hokage was.
In her life, she had never felt fear as intense as she did that night.
The ninjas immediately separated the mother and daughter. There had been six in total, which only told how desperate they were for the girl who could bring back the dead. The group of shinobis had heard leaked information about the girl, and laughed openly at her mother's stupidity for leaving the protection of the village. Not only had they done that, but they also mentioned how they were going to breed Momiji like a cow for her bloodline, and it was her stupid mother's entire fault.
"Rasengan!"
Momiji will never forget the relief of hearing his voice.
And that's how she fell in love with the Rokudaime.
Of course, her mother had repeatingly apologized to the Hokage, asking for forgiveness. Her mother felt she was in dept to the Hokage. After all, he saved her daughter's life.
Momiji was given a chance to train under the famous Hatake Kakashi to become a kunoichi, but she declined it.
She had never come close to a shinobi before, and her impression had been given by the shinobis who attempted to kidnap her.
She never wanted to become like that.
It disgusted her even when the Hokage tried to assure her of the shinobi honor, but nothing could dissuade her from the images of the disgusting men punching and kicking her defenseless mother to the ground. It angered her.
Momiji sighed and cracked her neck. She glanced at the clock to see that an hour had gone by and there was nobody.
It wasn't that she wasn't grateful for the job, but damn, was there anything to kick up the dull atmosphere?
Her eyes swayed to the flowers, fingers tapping on the flat surface of the counter as she mulled over the idea of putting together some flowers as an arrangement. But once she remembered how Ino's reaction had been when she discover Momiji chopping up her treasured flowers was strong enough to discourage her from it.
It wasn't her fault she didn't have a green thumb.
Her stomach growled.
Great, she was hungry…again.
Sadly and unfortunately, her hunger was not worth the wrath of future Akimichi.
Perhaps after her shift, she should visit her mother and get some free ramen. The thought of it made Momiji's mouth salivate.
"Momiji!"
Instantaneously, her back straightened at the cheerful voice. "H-hokage-sama!"
Naruto washed into the small shop, grinning that infamous fox-like grin of his. His eyes looked around for any sight of Yamanaka Ino and sighed in relief when she wasn't present. "Momiji!" he greeted once again and walked towards the eighteen-year-old with determination in his stride. "So-"
"I'm not joining the academy, Hokage-sama," Momiji said shyly.
"Aw, come on!"
She shook her head, clearing her throat and tugging on a strand of brown hair that escaped from the confines of her hair tie. "You've been asking me the same question over and over again."
"I'm not going to stop asking. You've got real talent!"
Momiji giggled. "I haven't even done any training."
"Anybody can do anything! You can do it! Believe it!"
The bell hanging over the door chimed, bringing Momiji's attention to the Hyuuga woman entering with a shy smile just as equal to her own.
"Hinata!" Naruto said, laughing nervously as he scratched at his ear. "I—uh, I was going-"
Hinata politely greeted Momiji who returned her words before turning towards Naruto who looked as if his hand was caught in the cookie jar. "Naruto-kun, the elders have been asking for you for the past three hours. Where have you been?"
Naruto's mouth opened and closed repetitively without a sound until he came clean. "Aw, come on, Hinata-chan! I've been buried in paperwork since the old hag appointed me as Hokage! Don't you think I deserve a break?"
"It's," Hinata's pale eyes swerved to Momiji who busied herself with giving small touches to the flower arrangements near the windows. "It's an emergency meeting. They said they've received information about a previous enemy of Konohagakure."
The goofy, cheery personality of Naruto immediately dwindled.
He had taken his role as Hokage seriously when appointed the first second by the Godaime. Konohagakure was his village, and his family. Everyone was under his protection so long as they needed it. And at the slightest information about enemies came to his ears, Naruto threw away all childish acts and sacrificed all the time of his life to prevent war or invasions into his territory.
"Alright, let's go."
Momiji turned and waved goodbye to the Hokage and his wife, blushing madly when Naruto grinned cutely.
Ahhh, that Hinata was one lucky dame.
For the next couple of hours, Momiji was watering the plants, tending to the customers and watching the clock as it ever so slowly ticked away. The windows darkened as the sun disappeared. The colors of sky blue and gold disappeared and were replaced with blue and purple. Soon enough, the tiny lights appeared, decorating said sky with lights to the darkness.
When she glanced at the clock again, she groaned.
There was still two more hours to go!
"Why, why, why is this so boring?" Momiji whined, letting her head fall on the counter top. She was lucky that she had a job, but man, was there nothing she could amuse herself with?
The bell chimed again and Momiji sighed. "Welcome to the Yamanaka Flower Shop!" she said rather too bright and fake.
When she lifted her head from the counter, Momiji froze.
The young man who had walked into the store was filthy and stunk for miles. Dirt clung to his clothes, clothes that were ripped and obviously worn out. Soil was literally embedded and smudged onto his pale, deathly white skin. The dark circles under his eyes spoke in volumes of restless nights. Despite the fact that there was a highly suspicious homeless-looking male before her, it was his eyes that terrified her. Those turquoise eyes of his were dull and blank, staring at her rather angrily for some reason unknown to her.
She was petrified.
"Who are you?" he asked. His voice was soft, but it didn't dampen the hostility his body language shouted.
Momiji backed away from the counter as he approached her. She stared at him with wide eyes, her arms behind her as she sought for a weapon for defense.
"Who are you?" That steel voice of his cut through all of her sense of safety.
Momiji made her decision right there and then.
She let out a helpless cry as she ran from the counter into the backroom of the store. The loud sound of her harsh breathing blocked all other sounds, but that didn't mean she could feel him nearing her. Momiji started throwing things down as she ran, hoping he would trip and fall, giving her enough time to make a run for it in the streets and call for help.
As she made a sharp turn the sharp sound of something thrown through the air swept past her ear. Momiji cried out as several unidentified objects swished through the air and pinned her to the wall.
"No, no!" she cried, grunting as she attempted to remove herself from the wall.
"Leave me alone! Go away!" Momiji screamed as she fought against the restraints. It wasn't until she was actually looking at the objects that pinned her did she realize that it wasn't kunais and shurikens that fastened her to the wall.
They were bones.
Momiji started crying, hanging limp against the bones. The prospect of her to be kidnapped from her home was horrifying. "Please…" she begged. "Please, l-luh…leave m-me alone…"
And though she couldn't see behind her, she could feel his presence right there.
The sound of his sandals walking along the floor caused her heart rate to pulsate faster as it neared.
"Who are you?" he questioned once again.
His only answer was a strangled whimper and teary cries.
Momiji cried harder when her hair band broke, freeing her long chocolate hair. She stiffened when she felt his face press against her hair and when he took in a deep breath she felt like her world was ripping apart.
The telephone at the counter rang.
The man was now petting her hair much like an owner trying to reassure his pet from distress. "Who are you?" he asked again against her hair, in a breathy voice. "And why do I feel connected to you?"
"I…I don't know."
Kimimaro extracted himself from the young girl.
This feeling…this was the feeling of completion. It warmed his insides, filling in the emptiness of his chest cavity as if…as if everything was going to be all right. There was no room for worries, no room for anything but this pleasurable joy that sang within the very bones of his body. Kimimaro wanted nothing more than to bury himself within this feeling and never wake up.
Yes, the female was terrified, but that didn't put a damper on things.
This was it. This was what he was to live for.
This is whom he was to protect and serve.
Before he was able to apologize, he was violently shoved away. He hadn't been training religiously nor practicing his jutsus for the last four years, and because of that Kimimaro was blown away from his previous place like a shaken leaf in a hurricane. His body was thrown against one of the metallic shelves and pots of plants rained upon him. A grunt escaped his lips when one of the ceramic pots fell upon his head, placing a neat cut over his brow line.
The need to protect and serve roiled through his veins.
Quickly, he jumped to his feet and staggered a bit before grasping his holdings. Bones oozed from his skin, piercing through the air at the assailant who had attacked him.
Naruto deflected those bones with his kunais and was about to shout out his famous jutsu when he froze.
"Y-you!"
Kimimaro held still, his narrowed eyes studying the person before him.
He recognized this person.
But the only memory he could grasp was the image of a small boy two years his junior shouting absurd lines about life and choices. The person, the man before him was older, well defined and definitely wiser. His eyes roved over the blond man, studying him, as his position of offense didn't lighten up. "I recognize you."
Naruto's confused and astonished gaze moved from the young boy to Momiji who was detached from the wall by one of his ANBUs.
What the hell was going on?
Woooooooo! It had taken a while but here's the next chapter! I had a brainfart and couldn't think of what to write for the chapter, but now that I got the flow, I'm here to deliver! (:
Thank you my reviewers!
Kimimaro Of The Rock RustyHooker Bitches Be Crazy
Guest – here's an update! :DD