-Part 3: Adolescence and The Akatsuki-
So, at fifteen years old, I left The Village Hidden In The Waterfall. There was nothing left for me there, no more reason to stay. My cousin, Yahiko, along with his two best friends, two other orphans, Nagato and Konan, had formed a group he called The Akatsuki. Under Yahiko's leadership, they were going to bring peace to the world. I had met Nagato and Konan a few times before when I had visited my cousin in the past. The three of them had lived together on their own for a long time. I joined my cousin's group, The Akatsuki, and I met them again, though, of course, we were all much older now. Nagato commented on how much my cousin and I always looked alike. It wasn't a perfect life, but I was kind of happy again. At least, I got to be with my cousin. Yahiko was, of course, older, so he kind of looked out for me. The four of us got to be close. But, like everything, it didn't last. I remember clearly the last time I saw my cousin alive.
"Hey, Kazumi. I got you a present." Yahiko said, handing me a small box.
"You got me a box?" I said, grinning.
"Hah. Funny, Kazumi." he said, smiling and ruffling my hair, something he would often do, "No, look what's in the box." Konan and Nagato were standing on either side of him. I opened the box. Inside was a necklace, a gold locket with a small mirror inside.
"I know how much you like mirrors." Yahiko said, smiling his boastful smile, quite pleased with himself.
"Thank you so much." I said, hugging my older cousin, "But, how could you afford something like this?"
"Nagato and Konan put some money towards it, too." Yahiko said.
"Thank you, too, guys." I said, looking at Nagato, then Konan, smiling at them. They both gave a shy smile.
"You're welcome." Konan said.
"Yeah, you're welcome." Nagato said.
The next day, there was an ambush, and my cousin, Yahiko gave his life to save me, Nagato and especially Konan, who I'm pretty sure he considered to be more than a friend. Nagato awakened a powerful visual jutsu called the Rinnegan, and killed all of the men who attacked us, but it left him changed. In Yahiko's last moments, he passed on his mission, his vision, his plan for peace, on to Nagato. I felt so empty. Now, my cousin was gone, too. I was grief-stricken, wasn't thinking clearly. I blamed Nagato and Konan. I needed to blame somebody, and, in my eyes, it was them that he had died to protect, so it was their fault. I was wrong, I know that now. It wasn't their fault. Yahiko had made his own choice. He was always determined, and there was no stopping him once he'd made a decision. But, I couldn't see that then. All I could see was that I had to watch one more person I cared about die, and in my grieving eyes, it was their fault. I was bitter. And, I left the Akatsuki. I couldn't stand to stay with the two people I blamed for my cousin's death. I left, and lived on my own after that.
