Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything in it.


General Warnings: AU (later on), (most likely) GEN, language, violence, OC-centric


Summary: I saw men tortured, women raped, innocent children gutted like pigs. I watched my friends fall to the whims of a madman, my clansmen vanish off the face of the earth, my world crack and crumble before my eyes. I felt the earth groan and tremble beneath my feet, chakra itself scream and protest at the twisted malevolence that blanketed the world, and yet I could do nothing.

I see the future, but I swear I will change it.


Chapter 1

"Yuki! Yu-ki!" I turn my head ever-so-slightly towards the waving, grinning menace barrelling in my direction.

"What?" I ground out. I was at a good part in my book.

"The ritual's coming up!" Ren blurts out excitedly the moment he catches his breath. His enthusiasm is (sadly) not at all dampened by my less-than-enthusiastic reply. I raise an eyebrow.

"So?" He pouts. I swear the boy acts even younger than me ― and I'm supposed to be the baby of the clan.

"You should be more excited! It's your first ritual! I was bouncing everywhere when I had my first ritual-"

"You always bounce everywhere, Baka-Ren. It's a wonder the clan is still standing," I deadpan.

"I do not!"

"Do too."

"Do not!" I return to my book, refusing to get caught into the childish "Do not, do too" argument that ― the last time we had degenerated into ― had continued for half an hour. Ren can be such a stubborn ass sometimes. (I ignore the fact that I had out-stubborned him and won in the end.) He lapses into a petulant silence that I blissfully enjoy.

Ren gives first, after only about ten minutes. I am just mildly disappointed.

"So so so!" He babbles, bouncing as he walks beside me. Clan members smile at us as we pass. This is a rather common sight ― his bubbly chattering and my irritated silence. "I heard Tou-san and the elders talking and we're gonna start heading to Kaze no Kuni pretty soon! Maybe even today!" I flip a page absently, listening with one ear as he prattles on. There were some perks to having the clan leader's son as your (self-proclaimed) friend. One such perk is almost always having inside information first.

We reach our typical lunch spot, Ren chattering amiably about everything and nothing, and me inserting snarky comments every now and then. I open my lunch (onigiri) and Ren, as always, swipes a couple. I let him. I had packed more for him anyway, not that I would ever admit it.

"Umai!" Ren sighs, as he bites in. "I like your onigiri."

"Get your own, asshole," I scowl. He is not at all fazed by my potty mouth. There's a short moment of silence.

"You're seven right now, right?" I blink at this non sequitur.

"Duh. Did you forget how old I am, Baka-Ren?" He scowls, cheeks red.

"No! It's just that," He leans in. "I heard Tou-san and Osamu-sama talking about you-" I am instantly suspicious. The clan leader and a clan elder talking about me?

"Did they mention me by name?" I interrupt, raising an eyebrow. He splutters.

"Well- no-"

"Then how do you know they were talking about me?"

"There's only so many girls in the inner circle this year-"

"There's Kimiko." I can't help but turn my nose up ever so slightly at the mention of her name. Unfortunately, Ren notices and grins.

"Maa maa, don't be like that. She can be..." He trails off, unable to think of anything that could make her seem any more agreeable. "Nice." He finishes lamely. I snort.

Kimiko and I...didn't quite get along, despite her being the closest to my age in the clan. She was giggly, fussy, vapid. and basically, downright irritating. I would even grudgingly admit that Ren was better than Kimiko in terms of people-I-would-rather-spend-time-with. At least Ren was useful (sometimes) and could make decent conversation (if incessant, mostly one-sided chattering counts as conversation).

Kimiko was just...

"Miyuki-chan!"

Speak of the devil and he (or she, in this case) shall appear. I stifle a groan. Beside me, Ren plasters on a fake smile as the small, white-haired girl flounces up to us, her pink, frilled dress bouncing in a rather annoying fashion. (Who in their right mind wears pink, frilled dresses as their casual clothing? Bright pink to boot.)

"Ah, Ren-chan, ohayo!"

"Ohayo, Kimiko," Ren greets her with a nod and (pained) smile. She frowns down at us, hands on her hips.

"You shouldn't sit on the ground like that, Miyuki-chan, it's unladylike! And look at the awful state of your clothes-"

I sigh (mentally). One of the more unbearable parts of Kimiko (more unbearable than normal anyway) is the way she typically alternates between treating people as babies and expecting them to be perfect (eg: like her). And, as I am the only clan member actually younger than her (physically at least; I am leagues ahead of her mentally), I am a constant victim.

"-are you listening to me, Miyuki-chan?" I nod obediently. She huffs, looking at me expectantly.

"You didn't listen at all did you? I said not to sit on the floor!" The most irritating part of Kimiko, is, of course, the way she expects everyone to obey her. I wonder briefly if her parents knew this when they named her.

I am brought back to earth by Kimiko stomping her foot.

"Miyuki-chan!" I sigh softly.

"Listening does not always mean obeying, Kimiko. As much as I appreciate your concerns, there are, sadly, no dining tables within vicinity."

Ren doesn't quite manage to hide his snort. I make a mental note to drill him mercilessly in the art of keeping a straight face later.

"You shouldn't eat outside then!" Kimiko shrieks, her face flushing, glaring at Ren as if he is the cause of all of my uncouthness (which is hilarious because, if anything, I am a bad influence on him). I wince internally as she opens her mouth to unleash another long diatribe. Luckily, we are interrupted.

"Oi, 'Miko!" Kimiko's mouth snaps shut, and she turns.

"Aki-kun!" Aki stops in front of us, huffing in extertation. Kimiko beams, bouncing up to him, rather reminiscent of Ren's typical form of travel. Aki gives a slight grin, the typical tense set of his shoulders melting away in the proximity of Kimiko ― which I have never understood, since it is usually the opposite case for me, but Aki has always been odd. To each their own, I suppose.

"Drop the 'kun' already, 'Miko," Aki sighs, rolling his eyes ― a rare act of flippancy, considering how he usually acts around people who are not Kimiko or Hiro-nee. "It was funny the first time you tried it, now it's just gotten old. Oh, hey Ren, Miyuki," he greets us before turning back to Kimiko. "What are you doing anyway, 'Miko? You were only supposed to find Miyuki and Ren and then come back. Your sister's been looking all over for you. Something about needing to pack all your clothes."

"Are we moving again? Now?" Ren blurts. Aki looks faintly exasperated.

"You didn't even tell them?" He asks Kimiko, sighing again. She looks slightly sheepish.

"I got distracted." Here, Kimiko frowns down at me, still sitting on the floor. Aki catches the look and quickly intervenes.

"Anyway, yeah, we're moving again, so you guys should get back soon too. C'mon 'Miko, Hiro-nee looked really pissed the last time I saw her!" I quickly scarf down whatever's left of my onigiri as Aki leaves with Kimiko hot on his heels, and turn to Ren.

"Hurry up, Baka-Ren." Ren nearly chokes as he attempts to inhale his food under my frigid stare. I snicker inwardly.

"I'm done! Let's go, Yuki!" Ren jumps up and grabs my arm, yanking me along as he scampers back to our camp.

"Baka-Ren, if you don't let go of me, I'll make sure you have no hand." He lets go, bounding ahead with an enthusiastic laugh.

"Come on, Yuki, you slowpoke! I bet even snails can crawl faster than you!"

I growl, but my lips quirk up ever so slightly as I catch up to the idiot and bop him over the head.

~ : {TDOM} : ~

Our packing is done quickly and efficiently ― we are a nomad clan after all; moving quickly and on short notices is practically second nature to us ― and our clan is on its way to the Wind country only a few hours after being informed of our move.

That did not, however, mean that we were all travelling peacefully and quietly.

"Hide!" Shou squeals as he rushes past me.

"Take-nii's on the warpath!" Ryou exclaims as he dives under our wagon after Shou.

"Yuki, help!" Ren had evidently been caught up with Ryou and Shou's antics. Again, I might add. I sigh, innerly amused.

"What have you idiots done this time?"

"Nothing!" Ren yelps.

"Shh, he's coming!" Shou hushes, peering out. Ren eeps and dives under to join them.

"Don't give us away!" Ryou pleads. My lips twitch.

"No promises." The three give me horrified, wounded-puppy looks. I raise my book to hide my smirk.

"Yuki!" They dive back under the supposed safety of the wagon as Take-nii thunders past the line of wagons and people towards us.

"Take-nii," I greet him.

Takeshi, at the age of seventeen, is the eldest of our generation. Moderately tall and muscled, with our clan's typical white hair, and his late father's ice blue eyes, he can make a pretty intimidating image. It wasn't hard to see why he was one of the prime candidates for the next clan head. Luckily (for Shouta and Ryousuke, our twins-in-all-but-biological-parents pranksters) he is also quite easygoing and has a great sense of humor.

"Did Ryou, Shou, and Ren come by?"

"Yes." I can sense Ren's horror, even from here, and I resist the urge to snicker. "What did they do this time?" Take-nii looks torn between amusement and irritation. Whatever they did must not have been too bad.

"They stole Kaa-san's cookies and left a jack-in-the-box holding a note saying 'IOU a thank you for 12 cookies' in its place." I blink. Had they finally decided on a proper calling card? I vaguely remembered that the last time they had pulled a prank, they had tried spray painting their names, and the time before they had somehow tailored some miniature fireworks to spell their names.

"That sounds...rather tame for them."

"They also proceeded to clean our pantry of anything remotely interesting. Including our dinner. That's why I'm chasing them." He informed me. I snort.

"Ryou and Shou, food thieves extraordinaire," I catch a muffled, indignant protest from under the wagon. Luckily, Take-nii doesn't seem to hear.

"So, where did they go?" Debating over the issue briefly, I decide to take pity on them.

"Dunno. I was reading." I wave the book in my hand in his face. "And you're interrupting. Go away." He eyes me doubtfully. I was rather good at paying attention to my surroundings, even when I didn't look it, and everyone in the clan knew it.

"Really?" He voices skeptically. A weaker person would have caved under his piercing gaze. I, on the other hand, prided myself in having the best poker face and acting skills in the clan. I sigh, as if giving up.

"They went somewhere that way," I wave somewhere behind me negligently. It isn't completely a lie. The wagon they are hiding under is behind me after all. Take-nii grins.

"Thanks!" He tosses over his shoulder as he bounds off in the direction I indicated.

I wait a few minutes after his footsteps fade out of earshot before deciding it is safe.

"You idiots can come out now." Ren is the first to scramble out.

"Yuu-ki!" he cries, throwing himself at me. "My saviour! Thaaank yoouu!" I fend off his glomps with an air of practiced ease.

"I didn't do it for you, I did it for the cookies." I tell him bluntly. My eyes shift to Ryou and Shou. "Hand some over."

"So meeaan," Ren whines. Shou snickers as Ryou passes me three cookies. Kaa-san shakes her head at us in fond exasperation as we crawl into the wagon to enjoy our goods.

"Ami-obaachan's cookies are the best!" Ren says happily, spraying crumbs everywhere.

"Shut up, Baka-Ren," I say, swiping the last of his cookies. "You're gonna clean that up."

"Hey!" He wails. "My cookie!" I crawl out of the small space to the wagon seat and lean back, ignoring him. I hear Shou laughing as Ryou tries ― and fails ― to distract Ren from the loss of his cookie.

The wind swirls past, warm and dry.

I stare up at the clear blue sky above, Ren's grumbles, Ryou's helpless snickers, and Shou's raucous laughter behind me, and wish this kind of peace would last forever.

The wind picks up, a touch of sand behind it, but promises nothing.


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Edited: 8/18/2015