Chapter One: The Blood of Idiots
Note: Particularly long, italicized phrases are most likely thoughts. If it's just a word, then it was just emphasized.
"The most loving parents and relatives commit murder with smiles on their faces. They force us to destroy the person we really are: a subtle kind of murder."
― Jim Morrison
. . .
The sword sliced cleanly through me, like a knife through butter. The Kaguya woman smirked, lips curled into a sickening snarl.
"I've got you now, you brat! That'll teach you to laugh at me!"
She wasn't so beautiful anymore. Not in the slightest. Her smile was too insane to be beautiful, her body too rigid to entice. One too many battles had tainted this woman. Too much blood. Now, she couldn't get enough.
Her bloodlust had made her careless.
Her bone sword went right through me and ricocheted off the edge of my cast-iron bed frame. The ivory blade embedded itself in her skull with the familiar crack of shattering bone.
I kicked her body away in disgust.
"A wise shinobi always pays careful attention to their battlefield and their position within it. You shouldn't have underestimated me." I said, despite knowing she couldn't hear me.
It was painfully obvious to even me that the Kaguya weren't well-versed in battle tactics. If they were, the Kaguya woman in front of me wouldn't be dead. The Kaguya wouldn't even be here at all. They were careless, and they got what they deserved.
I tore the sword from the Kaguya's skull with a soft, bored sigh. A single strike had taken out this formerly "fierce" warrior, a warrior stupid enough to think she could defeat a Hozuki with physical attacks alone.
"Look at you, getting your filthy blood on my carpet."
. . .
Perhaps if the Kaguya had placed more value on their bloodlines and battle tactics, they would still be alive today. They should have trained their men harder and eliminated the slackers. They should have placed higher value on the Shikotsumyaku technique, not swordplay. You can't beat a Kiri nin with a sword. It simply isn't done.
They were outclassed before they even arrived. They should have known about us, the Hozuki Clan. Every single one of us, from infant to adult, were immune to physical attacks. Becoming one with water is not a hard thing for a Hozuki. It is the first thing we learn, before walking or even crawling. Because of this, our parents plot to kill us before we even open our eyes.
The first infant to activate their Hydrification Technique lives. The one who can't must be killed. The last thing the Hozuki want is another failure, another weakness. We lost so much strength when my uncle, the Honorable Nidaime Mizukage, was killed in a battle with the Nidaime Tsuchikage... If we lose anyone else, who will we have? The weak?
That's no clan at all.
We are separated at birth based on potential. The strongest are placed with the highest ranking clan members, the Head and his wife, or their children. The weakest, the slowest, are placed with lowly clan members- pathetic adult genin and elderly chunin. The average stay with their own parents. Like me.
The ones who can't protect themselves are drowned. It's the natural way to go, submerged in a bucket of icy water headfirst. Becoming one with the water is an honorable death.
I barely survived. I was a small baby, small enough to fit neatly within my father's hands, as if I belonged there. Most infants cry when they are born. I did not. My eyes were closed, as if I was sleeping.
"She will die before sunrise," The medic had murmured, not quite caring.
My father didn't even test me. He knew I would fail. My death was imminent.
"We'll do better next time," My father had whispered, throat thick with unshed tears. My father was soft inside, like a clam. He had a hard shell, but his heart was a bright pearl in a sea of blood. He had loved me.
My mother knew I would die. And she hadn't cared. She had no interest in a weak child, or any child at all. My mother was far from a traditional Japanese bride despite being the eldest daughter of the clan head. She had no interest in marriage or raising a family, but had married my father anyway to save face. It was logical, the proper response to an undesirable situation.
"Alright. Do it quickly."
She had not cared for me. My mother was beautiful, with bewitchingly bright eyes and smooth, ivory hair. When I was born, my cheeks were puffy and my thighs thick. I had not looked like a porcelain doll or a cherubic angel. I was not what she had wanted. She would be glad to see me go. This way, she could return to her life of bloodshed and scandal. I was not needed.
I would only get in the way.
. . .
Drowning is not something I can explain, because it is not something I have ever truly felt. When my father submerged me, all I felt was stillness. I did not panic or cry out. I simply opened my eyes.
The water became part of me, and I it. It was unity, synchronicity, and safety. The water was consistent yet ever-changing, and for two seconds of what felt like infinity, I was truly alive. You couldn't have drowned me if I wanted to. I was water.
I lived.
. . .
The Kaguya corpses stank of failure. They thought they could defeat Yagura and his men, and that is true idiocy. They had been strong, yes, but you can't beat what you can't injure. Fighting us at all had been their biggest mistake, and their greatest downfall. The Kaguya had almost encouraged their annihilation. It was only fair we had retaliated.
I kicked the body of my would-be attacker aside in disgust. She lay on the ground, grey-faced and broken, like a marionette.
Stupid woman, stabbing herself with her own sword. What did she think would happen, messing with me?
"Never underestimate Hozuki Chinatsu," I said to the corpse, lips curled in a dead-on impersonation of the Kaguya woman's last expression.
I took her sword into my hands, palms held taught over the grooving bone. It was a beautiful, deadly weapon. If only it had been put to better use.
I raised my arm, a wild smirk twisting my features.
"Stupid woman," I spat, mocking the dead Kaguya.
I lowered my arm.
Author's Note:
To answer Mark (a guest reviewer), yes, my OC is from the Hozuki Clan :)
Hopefully, this isn't too bad as far as chapters go. It's not my best, but I need to sort of get through this dismal beginning before I can go on to write the cool stuff, like her missions and Academy Years. Bear with me, please!
Yes, Chinatsu is creepy, arrogant and mildly insane. If you do research on the Yagura Era, my reasoning as to why she is this way will probably make sense. Both Mangetsu and Suigetsu are like this when they kill, for example. (She should probably grow out of this once she gets some friends, but that's for another chapter.) I just feel like she would be sort of terrorizing the corpse of the Kaguya in the same way it came after her, in a sort of revenge.
Also, much love to Shimmerwind, NagariMitsukari12 and Mark for being the first three reviewers on my story! Thanks for the support~
-MSM